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There was a fresh snowfall overnight, leaving a blanket of the stuff all over the stone world. Their community had been working intensely to get the Perseus ready for ages now, and when they woke up to a winter wonderland it was Ryusui that had stood up on the breakfast table and declared it a snow day, laughing boldly.
There was no pushback there. Even Senku simply smirked at the snow and grabbed the newest sled coating he’d worked on during his free time, something meant to let the sleds gain even more speed. By mid morning the entire village was gathered, a flurry of snowy activities. There was sledding, snow boarding, snow angels, snow ball fights, building contests, something for everyone.
Ukyo settled himself at one of the community tables in the midst of everything. Francois had started brewing warm drinks before the snow day had even been officially announced, and now Ukyo warmed his hands on a mug of hot chocolate. He sipped slowly, listening to the happiness around him.
Ukyo didn’t enjoy a snow day in the same way many of the others did. He had been considered legally blind since back when he was a toddler. The kingdom of science didn’t quite know about this, other than Senku who had figured it out within a day of them knowing each other. It wasn’t that Ukyo was hiding it, more so that it never came up. He could still see, even if not clearly, and after so many years it was just normal. He got by recognizing shapes and colors, depth and distance, light and dark, and not much else. If he got real close he could read and distinguish things, hence his job as a sonar operator, but for the most part vision was just not the sense he relied on.
Snow admittedly presented more of a difficulty, blanketing everything in a uniform white, making it harder to rely on his usual visual cues, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy it. Ukyo closed his eyes, taking a long sip of his cocoa. On one side he heard Suika shrieking with laughter as she and Chrome careened down a hill on a shared sled. In a clearing on his other side a snow ball fight raged on, Ginro screeching for Kinro to save him as Kohaku lined up her next shot. A little farther down he heard the beginnings of a snowman building contest going on. Listening to the joy around him, Ukyo couldn’t help but smile into his mug.
“Hey, Ukyo!” Ryusui’s voice boomed excitedly. Ukyo turned to see the familiar blur of red and blue standing out in contrast to the white snow. “Come on, the snow built up a perfect ramp. Let’s go snowboarding!”
Ukyo gave a polite smile. “I’m alright here, but thank you,” he said. Before he could go back to his drink, Ryusui continued.
“Nonsense!” Ryusui said. “I insist you join me. I desire it!” He snapped his fingers to accentuate the words, and before Ukyo knew it he found himself strapped to a snowboard at the top of a small hill.
“No, really,” Ukyo said, “I’m perfectly fine with my drink and my bench, this really isn’t necessary-“
His mild mannered protests were completely ignored by the boisterous Ryusui. “Race you to the bottom!” He exclaimed, and gave Ukyo a shove to get him started.
The snowboard picked up speed faster than Ukyo thought possible. He would never admit to the high pitch shriek of surprise he emitted as he began rocketing down the hill, hand firmly on his hat to keep it in place despite the velocity. He tried to steer himself but he’d never actually been on a snowboard before, and his surroundings were nothing but a white blur. His board rammed into something and sent him toppling forward, faceplanting into a snow drift.
The snow was a comfortable landing pad, nothing was injured in the fall other than his pride. He felt his cheeks flush red with minor embarrassment, and he didn’t move from the snow drift as he processed the events of the past few moments. He had planned to simply let the snow claim him, but a hand grabbed the back collar of his shirt and hauled him to his feet.
“What a ride!” Ryusui said with a laugh. “I can’t believe you hit that drift, are you blind or something?” He said it jokingly, accompanying the phrase with a pat on the back so forceful Ukyo almost found himself face down in the snow again.
Ukyo gave a small laugh at that. “Actually, yeah,” he said sheepishly. “Surprise?”
Ryusui reacted with confusion, as expected. They got off the hill and sat back down at the table Ukyo had originally been at, although his cocoa had long gone cold. Francois brought them another round, and Ukyo explained everything to Ryusui, starting from the very concept of vision as a spectrum up to what exactly he could see.
“So, yeah,” Ukyo said, a slightly awkward ending to his explanation. He didn’t know quite what the social etiquette was for wrapping something like this up. “Basically I see shapes and colors until something is up real close.”
Ryusui had been quiet and let Ukyo explain. At the end, Ryusui burst out laughing. “No wonder you can’t snowboard to save your life,” he said. “But don’t worry, I’ve got something that will work.”
This time, mercifully, they finished their drinks before Ryusui was bringing Ukyo back up the hill.
“It’s a simple fix,” Ryusui said as they reached the top. “I’ll steer instead.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Ukyo wasn’t quite sure what exactly he meant until Ryusui swapped their boards for a sled. “Now hop on.”
Ukyo sat on the sled, cautiously lowering himself to the back seat. He pulled his legs into the sled, and that’s when Ryusui’s hands placed themselves firmly on Ukyo’s back and shoved him forward. “Shorties at the front,” he said matter of factly. Before Ukyo could say anything, Ryusui climbed in behind him.
The sleds were not very big, made more with the idea in mind that they would be for single riders, not double. Luckily Ukyo’s stature made it easy enough to fit the two of them together, even if it meant they were pressed up close. Ukyo could feel Ryusui’s heart beating against his back as Ryusui reached around Ukyo to grab the reins to steer the sled. Ukyo was glad he was faced forward so Ryusui couldn’t see the blush that rose to his cheeks at this proximity.
“Ready?” Ryusui asked.
Ukyo barely had time to respond in the affirmative before Ryusui gave them a shove and they started off down the hill.
With the velocity of two people, they picked up even more speed than Ukyo had on the snowboard. He let out a little yelp of surprise, and Ryusui let out a laugh of excitement.
The descent was much more controlled than Ukyo wobbling on a snowboard himself. The cold wind rushed past them as they sped down, the feeling was exhilarating. Before long, Ukyo found he was laughing in delight along with Ryusui.
When they reached the bottom, Ryusui gave the sled a sharp turn to bring them to a stop. The momentum of two people, however, proved too much for the sled and it tipped over, dumping them both into the snow in a pile of tangled limbs.
“Whoops,” Ryusui said with a laugh, and Ukyo was giggling along with him, neither in a rush to pull apart. After their laughs faded they still laid there, Ukyo smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.
“Can we go again?”