—The ski bus we boarded arrived at the pension where we were to stay at 5am.
Although it is a pension, it is a large one that can accommodate nearly 50 people.
On the other hand, it was not luxurious, as if it specialized in ski accommodation.
We spent some time in the lobby of the pension, and left the pension around eight in the morning, and headed for the slopes.
When Ishida and I got in line at the lift ticket counter, Meika arrived behind us.
Meika-chan came up behind me.
“Meika-chan, aren’t you with Enka?”
When I asked that, Meika-chan replied a little shyly.
“We promised to share our chances fairly in this camp. We decided the order by rock-paper-scissors, and it was decided that I would be the one who would be with Yuu-san today.”
… You said you decided the order of being with me by rock-paper-scissors-scissors?
“Does Touko-san know about that?”
I guess the dissatisfaction at the fact that the conversation was proceeding on its own without my knowledge was showing in my voice.
Meika-chan made a frightened expression.
“Eh, ha, yes. En-chan went to talk to Touko-san and . Touko-san said [It’s fine, I don’t mind. She said enjoy yourself].”
Seeing her like that, I reflected on my statement.
At least Meika-chan has no malice towards me, and it is out of line to reveal my dissatisfaction towards her here.
Then I remembered Touko-san’s words last night when I said that at the service area.
… I want the two of us to have as many happy memories, to think that [it was good that we took part in the trip]…
That’s right. Both Meika and Enka were invited by Nakazaki-san, the circle representative.
And the one who caused that was none other than me.
“Ah, no, it’s not that I’m angry with you. I was just wondering if Touko-san knows about that. Hahaha.”
I hastily said that with a smile.
Ishida, who was listening to me like that, said in a deliberately bright voice.
“Osh, then, do you want to enjoy skiing for the first time in a while? It’s been a few years for me too. Hasn’t your skill dulled, Meika?”
Meika also replied with a relieved look.
“I’m fine. On our previous family ski trip, I was better than my brother, wasn’t I? Besides, I work out every day at club activities! I’m not going to let my unathletic brother get the better of me!”
However, we only skied the first run together, the three of us.
When we got on the lift for the second run, it was Ayaka and Yuri, who are the main female first-year students in the circle.
“Oh, Isshiki-kun and siblings Ishida!”
Ayaka-san called out to us, saying.
“The three of you are skiing together, huh~”
For some reason, Yuri-san, who was standing next to her, grinned.
“Yeah. Meika-chan doesn’t know many people here. Besides, Meika-chan would probably be nervous among university students.”
Meika-chan is a normal high school girl, even though she has a strong temperament.
She is different from Enka, who can be surrounded by male university students without a care in the world.
When I answered that, the two of them gave a subtle laugh.
Then, when we got on the lift, Ayaka said.
“Isshiki-kun and Ishida-kun, ride together first. We and Meika-chan will ride together.”
And Yuri-san continued.
“Yes, we also want to have a little chat with Meika-chan. It’s okay to ride the lift with both boys and girls, isn’t it?”
This lift is for four people.
Ishida and I both reply with a simple “Okay”, and we both get on first.
When we got off the lift, Ayaka and Yuri spoke only to Ishida.
“Hey Ishida, why don’t we ski the higher course? It’s boring on the same course, isn’t it?”
“Meika-chan wants to get her instincts back on this course a bit more.”
What? When I looked at Ishida, he also looked at me for a moment.
But Ishida said.
“Yeah, it would be more interesting to ski steeper slopes. I’ll go that way too.”
He said.
“Well then, Yuu, I’m sorry, but please take care of Meika!”
And without waiting for my reply, he went with the two girls to the lift for the course further up.
… Hey, what the hell, everyone’s suddenly gone. Besides, if it’s just me and Meika-chan, we can’t talk…
Thinking that, I looked towards Meika-chan and she was looking up at me with a blush on her face.
“Ah, um, um, could you please stay with me a little longer?”
I can tell she is nervous.
If I took a strange attitude here, she would be even more nervous.
“Right, we can ski together. Ishida and the others can meet up with us again later.”
Meika-chan looked away a little when she heard that.
But she looks happy.
At 2pm, Me and Meika-chan went into a restaurant on the slopes to have a late lunch.
In the end, we didn’t meet up with Ishida and the others after that.
The restaurant was quite crowded at that time of the day.
When we finally got seated we picked up the menus on the table.
“Meika-chan, what would you like?”
We were quite hungry, having eaten nothing but chocolate since the morning.
After staring at the menu for a while, I asked Meika-chan, who was also staring at the menu, that.
“I’m having trouble. Which one should I choose between this [set of sauce pork cutlet rice bowl and wild vegetable soba noodles] and the [cheese-filled mountain burger]?”
Meika must have been quite hungry.
Both are pretty hearty choices for a girl.
“That’s odd. I’m having the exact same menu right now, and I was wondering which one to choose. They both look delicious, don’t they?”
Then Meika-chan raised her gaze from the menu with a shining expression.
“Well then, Yuu-san. Why don’t we order separate things and split it in half?”
“Eh?”
“Because, if we do that, we can enjoy both, you know.”
I hesitated for a moment.
It would be fine if it was something you could eat one at a time, like a sandwich or rice ball, but it’s a pork cutlet bowl, soba noodles and a hamburger.
Meika-chan must have noticed that too.
“No… . Is it?”
Her expression shows shame and loneliness.
I regretted giving her that expression.
“No, it’s not no good at all. Yes, I want to eat both of them too, lets both order different things and exchange half of them.”
Meika’s expression brightened up again.
Soon after, the food arrives.
In front of me is a set of sauced pork cutlet bowl and sansai soba noodles, and in front of Meika-chan is a mountain burger with lots of cheese.
The waitress gave me a plate to take away, and I started to share the sauce katsudon.
The sansai soba was served to Meika-chan, who said, “You can eat it first”.
Meika-chan also starts to cut a big hamburger in two with a knife.
The two large hamburgers are sandwiched together and look a little difficult to cut.
“Where do you want to put the fried chicken and fries that come with it?”
Meika asked.
“Anywhere is fine. I mean, I don’t have a plate, so if there’s any left over, I’ll take it as I see fit.”
When I replied, Meika-chan stared at the fried food for a while.
Then she suddenly stabbed the fried bean curd with her fork and held it out towards me.
“Ah~n!”
Meika-chan said, making a bright red face.
“Eh?”
Then Meika-chan uttered the same words with an expression that seemed as if she was ashamed.
“Ah~n!”
Her face turned bright red. And the fork that had pierced the fried food was trembling slightly.
As if pushed by her spirit, I involuntarily opened my mouth wide.
Meika-chan shoves the fried food into there as if in a hurry.
I looked at Meika-chan with my eyes rolled back in my head as I chewed on a mouthful of fried food.
Meika-chan was so embarrassed that she looked down at her red face.
But when her eyes met mine, she said, “Eh, hehehe. I was too aggressive,” she laughed happily.
—The ski bus we boarded arrived at the pension where we were to stay at 5am.
Although it is a pension, it is a large one that can accommodate nearly 50 people.
On the other hand, it was not luxurious, as if it specialized in ski accommodation.
We spent some time in the lobby of the pension, and left the pension around eight in the morning, and headed for the slopes.
When Ishida and I got in line at the lift ticket counter, Meika arrived behind us.
Meika-chan came up behind me.
“Meika-chan, aren’t you with Enka?”
When I asked that, Meika-chan replied a little shyly.
“We promised to share our chances fairly in this camp. We decided the order by rock-paper-scissors, and it was decided that I would be the one who would be with Yuu-san today.”
… You said you decided the order of being with me by rock-paper-scissors-scissors?
“Does Touko-san know about that?”
I guess the dissatisfaction at the fact that the conversation was proceeding on its own without my knowledge was showing in my voice.
Meika-chan made a frightened expression.
“Eh, ha, yes. En-chan went to talk to Touko-san and . Touko-san said [It’s fine, I don’t mind. She said enjoy yourself].”
Seeing her like that, I reflected on my statement.
At least Meika-chan has no malice towards me, and it is out of line to reveal my dissatisfaction towards her here.
Then I remembered Touko-san’s words last night when I said that at the service area.
… I want the two of us to have as many happy memories, to think that [it was good that we took part in the trip]…
That’s right. Both Meika and Enka were invited by Nakazaki-san, the circle representative.
And the one who caused that was none other than me.
“Ah, no, it’s not that I’m angry with you. I was just wondering if Touko-san knows about that. Hahaha.”
I hastily said that with a smile.
Ishida, who was listening to me like that, said in a deliberately bright voice.
“Osh, then, do you want to enjoy skiing for the first time in a while? It’s been a few years for me too. Hasn’t your skill dulled, Meika?”
Meika also replied with a relieved look.
“I’m fine. On our previous family ski trip, I was better than my brother, wasn’t I? Besides, I work out every day at club activities! I’m not going to let my unathletic brother get the better of me!”
However, we only skied the first run together, the three of us.
When we got on the lift for the second run, it was Ayaka and Yuri, who are the main female first-year students in the circle.
“Oh, Isshiki-kun and siblings Ishida!”
Ayaka-san called out to us, saying.
“The three of you are skiing together, huh~”
For some reason, Yuri-san, who was standing next to her, grinned.
“Yeah. Meika-chan doesn’t know many people here. Besides, Meika-chan would probably be nervous among university students.”
Meika-chan is a normal high school girl, even though she has a strong temperament.
She is different from Enka, who can be surrounded by male university students without a care in the world.
When I answered that, the two of them gave a subtle laugh.
Then, when we got on the lift, Ayaka said.
“Isshiki-kun and Ishida-kun, ride together first. We and Meika-chan will ride together.”
And Yuri-san continued.
“Yes, we also want to have a little chat with Meika-chan. It’s okay to ride the lift with both boys and girls, isn’t it?”
This lift is for four people.
Ishida and I both reply with a simple “Okay”, and we both get on first.
When we got off the lift, Ayaka and Yuri spoke only to Ishida.
“Hey Ishida, why don’t we ski the higher course? It’s boring on the same course, isn’t it?”
“Meika-chan wants to get her instincts back on this course a bit more.”
What? When I looked at Ishida, he also looked at me for a moment.
But Ishida said.
“Yeah, it would be more interesting to ski steeper slopes. I’ll go that way too.”
He said.
“Well then, Yuu, I’m sorry, but please take care of Meika!”
And without waiting for my reply, he went with the two girls to the lift for the course further up.
… Hey, what the hell, everyone’s suddenly gone. Besides, if it’s just me and Meika-chan, we can’t talk…
Thinking that, I looked towards Meika-chan and she was looking up at me with a blush on her face.
“Ah, um, um, could you please stay with me a little longer?”
I can tell she is nervous.
If I took a strange attitude here, she would be even more nervous.
“Right, we can ski together. Ishida and the others can meet up with us again later.”
Meika-chan looked away a little when she heard that.
But she looks happy.
At 2pm, Me and Meika-chan went into a restaurant on the slopes to have a late lunch.
In the end, we didn’t meet up with Ishida and the others after that.
The restaurant was quite crowded at that time of the day.
When we finally got seated we picked up the menus on the table.
“Meika-chan, what would you like?”
We were quite hungry, having eaten nothing but chocolate since the morning.
After staring at the menu for a while, I asked Meika-chan, who was also staring at the menu, that.
“I’m having trouble. Which one should I choose between this [set of sauce pork cutlet rice bowl and wild vegetable soba noodles] and the [cheese-filled mountain burger]?”
Meika must have been quite hungry.
Both are pretty hearty choices for a girl.
“That’s odd. I’m having the exact same menu right now, and I was wondering which one to choose. They both look delicious, don’t they?”
Then Meika-chan raised her gaze from the menu with a shining expression.
“Well then, Yuu-san. Why don’t we order separate things and split it in half?”
“Eh?”
“Because, if we do that, we can enjoy both, you know.”
I hesitated for a moment.
It would be fine if it was something you could eat one at a time, like a sandwich or rice ball, but it’s a pork cutlet bowl, soba noodles and a hamburger.
Meika-chan must have noticed that too.
“No… . Is it?”
Her expression shows shame and loneliness.
I regretted giving her that expression.
“No, it’s not no good at all. Yes, I want to eat both of them too, lets both order different things and exchange half of them.”
Meika’s expression brightened up again.
Soon after, the food arrives.
In front of me is a set of sauced pork cutlet bowl and sansai soba noodles, and in front of Meika-chan is a mountain burger with lots of cheese.
The waitress gave me a plate to take away, and I started to share the sauce katsudon.
The sansai soba was served to Meika-chan, who said, “You can eat it first”.
Meika-chan also starts to cut a big hamburger in two with a knife.
The two large hamburgers are sandwiched together and look a little difficult to cut.
“Where do you want to put the fried chicken and fries that come with it?”
Meika asked.
“Anywhere is fine. I mean, I don’t have a plate, so if there’s any left over, I’ll take it as I see fit.”
When I replied, Meika-chan stared at the fried food for a while.
Then she suddenly stabbed the fried bean curd with her fork and held it out towards me.
“Ah~n!”
Meika-chan said, making a bright red face.
“Eh?”
Then Meika-chan uttered the same words with an expression that seemed as if she was ashamed.
“Ah~n!”
Her face turned bright red. And the fork that had pierced the fried food was trembling slightly.
As if pushed by her spirit, I involuntarily opened my mouth wide.
Meika-chan shoves the fried food into there as if in a hurry.
I looked at Meika-chan with my eyes rolled back in my head as I chewed on a mouthful of fried food.
Meika-chan was so embarrassed that she looked down at her red face.
But when her eyes met mine, she said, “Eh, hehehe. I was too aggressive,” she laughed happily.
