Chapter Text
Sendai-san.
A voice floats around in my head, and I open my eyes to the ceiling of my room.
Just as quickly, my surroundings wash away into darkness, and my body sinks into the bed.
Sendai-san.
My name reaches my ears again, and the ceiling brightens. The sleep that was clinging onto me reluctantly releases its grip, and I blink groggily to adjust to the light.
“…It’s cold,” I mutter.
Despite being under the sheets, the temperature of my room feels like it’s dropped by a few degrees. It’s unexpected for even the winter season, and I wrap the blanket around me tighter.
Knocks sound against my door, followed by a persistent “Sendai-san”.
I release my grip on the blanket and sit upright. Letting out a yawn, I reply with a “Coming” before planting my feet on the floor.
Miyagi is waiting for me.
Despite wanting to go back and sleep, I walk over and open the door.
“Good morning,” I mumble, and in turn Miyagi responds with a “good morning” of her own.
Her hair is still messy, so she must not have woken up much earlier than me. Despite that, she seems to be in high spirits, with no signs of sleepiness. Her voice is light, and while her expression is neutral, there’s no creases or a frown on her face.
I stifle another yawn. “You look happy. What time is it?”
“I’m not happy. And it’s some time past seven.”
“Why so early? Is there something happening today?”
It’s the weekend, so we don’t have university. We didn’t make any plans today, either. While Miyagi has woken me up early before, nothing pops up in my memory which explains her doing so now.
Her eyes drift away from me to the curtains.
“It’s snowing.”
“Eh?”
Miyagi's words throw me off.
While it does get cold this time of the year, it rarely snows.
It didn’t snow last year, so I assumed it would be true for this year as well.
I turn around and draw the curtains back. Indeed, as Miyagi said, snow gently drifts down outside the windows. Looking below, patches of ground are blanketed in a thin layer of white.
“It really is snowing,” I murmur.
Making my way back to Miyagi, I ask her, “Is this your first time seeing snow?”
“It is.” She glances again at the windows. “What about you?”
“Same for me.”
It never snowed where I lived with my parents, and I did not travel with them to places that did. My only experience with it was through stories and television screens.
Hence, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of childish wonder experiencing it in person for the first time.
Even though I just woke up, the last bits of fatigue have fully vanished, replaced by a keen curiosity to go out into the snow.
I smile brightly at her. “Miyagi, do you like the snow?”
I ask while reaching for her hands, but she swats mine away.
“I don’t know. I just thought you would want to see it as well.”
“I did. Thank you.”
Stepping out into the shared space, I close the door behind me. “Let’s go downstairs.”
“Downstairs?” She echoes, her eyebrows knitting.
“So we can take a closer look at the snow.”
“But it’s cold. I’m already feeling cold here.”
“In that case, we can cuddle together to share our warmth.”
“Stop speaking nonsense, Sendai-san.” Miyagi grumbles, lightly kicking my leg.
“Alright, we don’t have to cuddle. But let’s go down. We can change into thicker clothes if it’s too cold.”
“If you want, you should go by yourself.”
“I want you to join me, Miyagi. Just for a bit.”
The first thing Miyagi did after waking up early was to tell me about the snow.
Even if I don’t know how she feels, I think she wants to see the snow.
“…If it’s a little while, then it’s fine. But what about breakfast?” Miyagi asks, averting her gaze.
“I’ll make breakfast now, and we can go right after eating.”
“But it might stop snowing by then.”
“Just a quick breakfast then. Is toast and jam okay?”
Miyagi nods, and so I lead her by the hand to the table where she sits on a chair. Putting the bread into the toaster, I set two glasses on the table and pour in orange juice.
Once the toast is ready, I spread the jam in even strokes and serve them on plates.
Just like that, breakfast comes together in an instant.
On this day that isn’t quite like any of the days beforehand, we say “Let’s eat” in unison and dig into our food.
Midway through eating, Miyagi calls me. “Sendai-san.”
“What is it?”
“…Never mind.”
The question she wants to ask me vanishes into thin air, and she stares at the half-eaten toast on her plate.
“You can just ask, Miyagi.”
“It’s nothing. Hurry up, Sendai-san.”
“Okay, okay.” I reply before taking another bite of my toast.
Soon enough, we both finish our breakfast, and Miyagi washes the dishes. We talk a little about trivial things, but she quickly cuts me off and pushes me towards my room.
I smooth out my hair and change into a set of casual clothes, before taking out the coat I wore for winter last year.
When I exit my room, Miyagi is still preparing, so I quickly take the time to brush my teeth and freshen up.
But she’s still not ready even when I leave the bathroom.
Miyagi was the one who was pushing us to finish quickly, so I can’t help but worry that something might have happened to her.
I gently knock on her door. “Miyagi? Are you ready?”
“I’m here, wait.”
Her muffled voice helps me keep my cool, and I take a step back as the door opens.
Miyagi looks at me with a sulky expression. “What is it, Sendai-san?”
Instead of replying, I reach out to grasp the sax-blue scarf wrapped around her neck. It’s the one I gave to her as my Christmas gift.
Maybe—
She was taking a long time because she was deciding on what to wear.
I push away such indulgent thoughts, but it still makes me happy seeing her wear it.
“It suits you.” I say softly.
“You gave it to me, after all.” Miyagi mutters, peeling my hand off. “Are we going now?”
“If you’re ready, let’s go.”
The two of us leave the apartment and make our way down the stairs. The temperature immediately drops noticeably, and Miyagi complains once more about it; yet we still continue downwards.
Our shoes make a crunching sound as we step on the snow. Snowflakes leisurely fall from the grey sky, and I reach out to clasp some with my hands. My lungs chill as I breathe in the cold air, and a burst of hot steam escapes my mouth when I exhale.
Truly, it’s snowing.
My eyes travel to Miyagi, who’s crouching down and scooping up the snow.
She forms it into a small ball, before adding more snow to the top, creating two triangle shapes as ears.
“Is it a snow cat?” I ask.
“It can be a dog, too.” Miyagi replies in a lighter tone.
“It’s a cat, then.”
When she’s done forming the snowball, she looks up at me, and I smile. “Cute.”
“Everything is cute to you, Sendai-san.”
“Only Miyagi and what she does is cute.”
“Be quiet, Sendai-san.”
She pokes me through my jacket, and I laugh.
Crouching down beside her, I scoop up some snow into my hands. “Let’s give the cat a friend.”
The snowball that is a cat is very cute, but we can’t take it back to our house. Without a companion, it will be very lonely.
So, I shape a ball as well, giving it two round ears on top.
“Now the cat has a dog to stay with.” I say as I present it to Miyagi.
She takes the dog with one hand, and gently prop them on the ground.
It’s cute.
So cute.
I take out my phone and quickly snap a photo of the two snowballs, then another of her.
“I didn’t say you could take a photo of me.”
“You didn’t say I couldn’t, either.”
“You’re so annoying, Sendai-san.”
Miyagi frowns, reaching out to me. “Give me your phone.”
“What? No way.”
These photos will undoubtedly become precious, capturing a memory frozen in time.
“Sendai-san.”
“I want to keep these photos.”
“I won’t delete them, so give me your phone.” Miyagi says, kicking my leg.
With no other reason to refuse her instructions, I pass my phone to Miyagi. She bends down with her back to me, forming another snowball.
“What’s that fo—”
Miyagi turns around, and my world turns white.
I take a step back, surprised. My cheeks freeze from the snow, but they burn from embarrassment.
The snowball in Miyagi’s hand has vanished, finding its way onto my face.
She snaps a photo of me, then shows my bewildered expression to myself. “Since I didn’t delete the photos, you can’t delete this one, Sendai-san.”
I take back my phone, rubbing my cheeks to warm them. “You’re so unfair, Miyagi.”
While Miyagi looks cute in her photo, I look goofy in mine.
It’s so unfair. But the fact that Miyagi took a photo for me dispels any complaints I have, and I smile.
In retaliation, I make my own snowball, and toss it lightly at Miyagi. It lands squarely against her coat, breaking apart into pieces.
“Got you, too.”
“My turn again, Sendai-san.”
Miyagi forms another snowball, but I move to one side and dodge her shot.
“That’s not fair.” Miyagi complains.
“You can dodge mine too.” I point out as I grab another fistful of snow.
This back-and-forth of ours soon breaks down, and we’re throwing snowballs at each other as quickly as we can. Despite our best efforts to dodge, our shots often hit each other. Snow splatters across both our coats, and I laugh.
Right now, Miyagi’s rare childish side is showing to me.
I’m in the first snowball fight of my life, and I’m having fun.
So much fun, that it doesn’t hit me until a few moments later.
But when it does, it’s like the world has stopped moving.
The snow has frozen midair.
The sun breaks through the grey clouds and shines on me.
I can’t move my legs.
Because right now, Miyagi is smiling.
Miyagi smiles when she’s with Utsunomiya. She smiled when we went to the aquarium for the first time, and saw the penguins flying over us.
But right now, she is smiling.
For the first time, Miyagi is smiling at me.
Her cheerful expression, directed at me, is burned into my retinas. My heart swells, almost painfully so.
Seeing her happy makes me so, so happy.
I wish that time would stay frozen, so I could live in this moment forever.
But such wishes are not possible, and time resumes as I get a snowball in my face.
“You’re slow, Sendai-san.” Miyagi complains, but her smile remains.
Perhaps she doesn’t know that she’s smiling, and I’m afraid that if I tell her, this radiance will vanish from my life.
So I bite back everything with another laugh before I throw a snowball.