Chapter 250 - 250: Enjoy Life While You Can!

Through the long Kengai Tunnel, and there lay the snow country.

The train cut across the Kanto Plain.

Outside the window, Tokyo's steel and concrete gave way by degrees to a northern landscape wrapped in silver and white.

Tsushima Kagami leaned against the glass, watching his own reflection surface there as they passed through the tunnel.

He'd never expected to see it for himself one day — the snow country, the spiritual sanatorium of Yasunari Kawabata's pen.

"Kagami, look! Those are the Uonuma mountains!"

Sayuri's voice came from the seat across, carrying an excitement she couldn't quite hold down.

She wore a cream-white turtleneck sweater, her cheeks faintly flushed from the warmth of the car.

Tsushima Kagami lifted his eyelids lazily and looked where she was pointing.

The distant peaks lay under thick snow, like a quiet woodblock print in the sunlight.

He gave a soft "Mm" by way of an answer.

"Honestly, how can you have zero travel spirit?"

Sayuri pouted, dissatisfied, and turned to Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko beside her. "Akane-senpai, Sonoko-senpai, isn't he just the dullest?"

Machida Sonoko was absorbed in a paperback and didn't respond.

Kosaka Akane was poring over a travel brochure with Yukinoshita Shizuku and the others.

"Getting Kagami out of Tokyo at all counts as a victory."

"He does call himself an energy-saving type of guy, after all."

Shizuka Hiratsuka said it with a laugh.

Seika Ijichi nodded, smiling too. "The money's already spent and he's already out here with us. What's he going to do, fly home?"

"Ah, true enough."

Sayuri glanced at Tsushima Kagami again and nodded in agreement.

Tsushima Kagami looked at the people in front of him, and the corner of his mouth curved up, very slightly, without his meaning it to.

Kosaka Akane had called it her treat, but he'd gone ahead and paid for the hot spring inn where they'd be staying these few days himself.

Everything else, Kosaka Akane had insisted on covering.

The train finally pulled into Echigo-Yuzawa Station.

The moment they stepped off, clean cold air hit them full in the face and swept away whatever drowsiness the carriage had left behind.

On the platform stood a weathered wooden sign bearing the characters 越後湯沢 (Echigo-Yuzawa).

The group hauled their light luggage along a snow-packed road that crunched under their boots, all the way to the inn they'd booked.

It was a traditional Japanese building, blue tile and timber walls.

In the courtyard, a few red pines had their branches bent low under the snow, which only made them look more resolute.

The proprietress, in a spotless kimono, welcomed them in with a gentle smile.

Tsushima Kagami's room was a washitsu.

Slide the paper door open and you looked straight out onto a karesansui garden laid with raked gravel.

"So beautiful…"

Hiroi Kikuri, PA-ko and Sayuri let out the same sigh of admiration at once.

Sayuri knelt at the edge of the veranda, both hands braced on the wooden boards in front of her knees, eyes shining.

Hiroi Kikuri and PA-ko wandered around inspecting the place together, and Hiroi Kikuri eventually spotted a row of vending machines inside the inn.

They were stocked with every kind of liquor. She stood there staring, lost to the world.

PA-ko hauled her away by the arm.

Everyone else went back to their own rooms to sort out their luggage.

That afternoon, they went to a ski slope suited to beginners.

The gradient was gentle, but the snow was fine powder of excellent quality, soft underfoot, like stepping on marshmallow.

Straight-trunked larches lined both sides of the run, their branches hung with ice crystals that caught the sun and glittered.

Kosaka Akane, Machida Sonoko and Shizuka Hiratsuka could all ski.

Kosaka Akane changed into pure white ski wear and tied her hair up in a high ponytail, the whole picture crisp and dashing.

Machida Sonoko wore pale blue, Shizuka Hiratsuka deep red.

Once Tsushima Kagami and the rest had come out in their gear, he was ready to hire an instructor — only for the three of them to head him off.

They'd be teaching everyone to ski themselves, they said.

So Tsushima Kagami let it drop.

Kosaka Akane volunteered to take him on.

Machida Sonoko and Shizuka Hiratsuka handled everyone else.

And so they skied the entire afternoon.

Or rather, most of them fell over for an entire afternoon.

Only when the sky darkened and the dim yellow floodlights came on over the slope did they reluctantly pack up and head back to the inn.

Before dinner came the part everyone had been waiting for: the inn's own open-air hot spring.

The men's and women's baths were separated by a bamboo screen.

On the men's side there was only Tsushima Kagami.

He stripped, rinsed off quickly, and let himself sink slowly into the milk-white sulfur water.

When he was done, he changed into the deep blue yukata the inn had laid out.

By the time he got back to the room, the proprietress had already set out dinner.

Nobody had gone to the bath yet. They were all sitting there waiting to eat with him.

The low, black-lacquered table was covered with local specialties.

Salt-grilled char, snow-cellar-aged wagyu that melted on the tongue, white rice cooked from Koshihikari so that every grain stood separate, and a small dish of house-made pickles.

But what drew the eye was the small ceramic cup set in front of each person.

And in the middle, a square tokkuri of local sake, the label reading 越後櫻 (Echigo Sakura).

"Come on! It's a happy day — we have to have a drink!"

Kosaka Akane picked up the flask first and poured herself a cup without ceremony.

Machida Sonoko and Shizuka Hiratsuka poured themselves small measures too, and raised them.

Hiroi Kikuri, seeing that there was actually alcohol on the table today and that the senpai seemed to be allowing it, happily filled her little cup to the brim.

Then she turned, beaming, to Seika Ijichi and PA-ko.

The two of them looked back at her, hesitated a moment, and then each poured a third of Hiroi Kikuri's cup into their own.

What was left they returned to her. Hiroi Kikuri's excited expression collapsed on the spot.

In the end, though, she didn't say a word.

Shimizu Nayotake, watching the others, poured herself no more than a mouthful.

Just then Yukinoshita Shizuku moved to swap Tsushima Kagami's cup for fruit juice.

Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko stopped her, smiling, and pushed the sake cup over.

"Have a little today, Kagami."

Tsushima Kagami shook his head with a smile. "I'll pass. Otherwise I'll only end up being a nuisance to everyone again."

He picked up his chopsticks and tried a piece of the grilled fish.

Kosaka Akane set her own chopsticks down, planted both hands on the table and leaned in slightly. "This is a holiday. There's no deadline chasing you."

"Just a little. Worst case, you keel over and sleep."

"That's right, Kagami." Machida Sonoko backed her up from the side.

"Besides, when you won the Akutagawa Prize back in February, none of us got to celebrate you properly."

"So this is perfect. Everyone's together — call it the celebration party we owe you."

"Yes, yes! The make-up party!"

Shizuka Hiratsuka nodded hard and raised her cup.

The other girls turned to Tsushima Kagami with smiles and lifted their cups too.

Tsushima Kagami looked at all those eager faces.

A line of Li Bai's came to him then.

"When life brings you joy, drink it to the dregs; never let a golden cup face the moon empty."

Joy? Perhaps that was too strong a word.

But here, tonight, one cup wouldn't hurt.

"All right."

Tsushima Kagami reached for the cup and glanced at Yukinoshita Shizuku beside him.

After a moment's hesitation, she poured him a very small amount.

The clear liquid swayed gently in the cup, giving off a crisp scent of rice.

"To a good trip, everyone."

He didn't hesitate again. He tipped his head back and drained it.

The sake went down with a faint sting first, then a sweet aftertaste, a line of fire running from his throat straight down into his stomach.

Everyone burst into applause, and the mood in the room hit its peak.

Little Kagami set his cup down with a small smile, then picked up his chopsticks and worked steadily through the food.

He didn't drop immediately. He only felt his body slowly filling with warmth.

His head grew slow, and the voices around him seemed to come through a thin film of water.

He drifted in and out of the conversation and finished the meal.

The alcohol caught up with him properly afterward.

He didn't even remember how he'd gotten onto the futon that had been laid out. He only knew the ceiling above him was turning, slowly.

Then his awareness dropped away into darkness.

The others watched Tsushima Kagami lying on his side in the bedding, his breathing gone even and long.

Seika Ijichi and PA-ko were already hauling Hiroi Kikuri — who had started going wild on her share of the sake — off toward her own room.

Yukinoshita Shizuku straightened Tsushima Kagami's clothes.

Shimizu Nayotake knelt quietly off to one side.

Shizuka Hiratsuka yawned and stretched. "Ahh. I'm beat, I'm beat."

"I'm going to the hot spring. Aren't you all coming?"

"Going… going, of course I'm going." Kosaka Akane said it rather abruptly.

"I'll go too." Machida Sonoko lowered her head and fussed with the hem of her clothes.

Sayuri nodded along as well.

Everyone said they were going to the bath. Nobody moved.

They looked at one another, and one another, and in the end all laughed awkwardly.

Then, by unspoken agreement, they stood, slid the door open and filed out.

The footsteps faded away down the corridor.

The room went quiet, leaving only Little Kagami's steady breathing.

Some unknown time later, extremely faint footsteps sounded in the corridor.

The sliding door was eased open a crack, then quickly shut again.

Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko crept in on tiptoe, like two cats sneaking off with stolen fish.

Only a single dim wall lamp was left lit in the room.

Tsushima Kagami's sleeping face looked especially peaceful in the hazy light.

Kosaka Akane stood before Tsushima Kagami's futon, looking down at him, her heart pounding like a drum.

She drew a deep breath, as if steeling herself to some resolve.

She crouched down slowly and reached out a hand.

Her fingertips trembled slightly as they reached toward the collar of Little Kagami's yukata.

"Us... who goes first?"

Machida Sonoko's voice suddenly came from behind her, edged with tension and urgency.

Kosaka Akane's fingers froze. She turned around.

"I'm the one who thought of this trip, so... I go first."

Kosaka Akane bit her lip.

But Machida Sonoko, uncharacteristically, wouldn't back down.

She reached out and caught Kosaka Akane's wrist.

"Let's decide with rock-paper-scissors."

"Otherwise... neither of us gets to steal a taste!"

Hearing Machida Sonoko say that,

Kosaka Akane's face flushed red to the tips of her ears.

She opened her mouth to argue, but found she couldn't get out a single word.

"Fine... rock-paper-scissors."

She gave in at last, regret plain on her face.

The two of them knelt facing each other on the tatami and held out their hands together.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Kosaka Akane threw paper, Machida Sonoko threw rock.

"I win."

Kosaka Akane's voice carried unmistakable delight.

Machida Sonoko closed her eyes in frustration and let her hand fall limply away from Kosaka Akane's wrist.

Kosaka Akane turned back to Tsushima Kagami and reached out again.

But just as her fingertips were about to touch his yukata, the sliding door gave a sudden soft click.

Then it slid slowly open.

Both of them froze at once.

Sayuri stood in the doorway — she clearly hadn't gone to the hot spring after all.

"What... are you two doing?"

Sayuri's demand shattered the charged, ambiguous tension in the room.

Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko sprang apart at once, like thieves caught red-handed.

One pretended to be straightening the bedding, the other pretended to check the window.

The smiles plastered on their faces looked worse than crying.

"We... we... we just saw Kagami was asleep and wanted to help him change!"

Kosaka Akane chimed in too.

"Right, change his clothes!"

"This yukata... we were worried it'd be uncomfortable for him to sleep in!"

Sayuri stepped into the room and gently closed the door.

Then she walked, step by step, up to the two of them.

She stared at them without a word.

The air seemed to freeze solid.

Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko's smiles stiffened bit by bit on their faces, cold sweat sliding down from their temples.

"Um... Sa-Sayuri..."

Kosaka Akane finally couldn't hold it any longer and spoke up with a hollow laugh.

"Actually, this trip—"

"—was arranged for Sonoko's and my graduation in the first place."

"So... us going first, since we've graduated already... that should be fine, right?"

"That still doesn't mean you get to sneak off with Kagami's first time."

Sayuri finally spoke.

Machida Sonoko joined the round of excuses too.

"We were worried Kagami would feel guilty, blame himself."

"We're... we're protecting his sensitive heart!"

"Right, protecting—right, protecting him."

Sayuri looked at the two of them, the corner of her mouth curling up slightly.

"You're both just afraid Shizuku will beat you to it, aren't you?"

Both of them fell silent at once.

"You're afraid Kagami can't get past Shizuku."

"So you wanted to... strike first!"

Sayuri's gaze swept from Kosaka Akane's face to Machida Sonoko's.

"Didn't we agree, last summer?"

"The three of us together. Why are you sneaking off and leaving me behind now!"

"Then... then what do you suggest?"

Kosaka Akane's voice dropped low.

Sayuri took a deep breath, a flash of resolve crossing her face.

Her cheeks, though, burned red as fire.

"I... I want in too!"

Sayuri lifted her head, her gaze firm.

"The three of us agreed on this, so it has to be the three of us together."

"Otherwise I'm going straight to Shizuku!"

Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko exchanged a look.

In the end, they nodded slowly.

"Fine."

"Time's short, the job's big."

"Quick, while everyone's still at the hot spring..."

The three of them exchanged a glance.

Then, just like at the last training camp, all three reached out together toward the sash of Tsushima Kagami's yukata.

Just as their fingers were about to touch the sash—

the sliding door was yanked open with a bang!

"What are you doing?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku stood in the doorway.

She wore a deep purple yukata, her long hair loose over her shoulders, water still dripping from the ends.

She had clearly rushed straight over.

Her face showed no expression at all, but her eyes were as cold as the snow of Echigo-Yuzawa outside.

All three of them turned to stone on the spot.

"We... we..."

Kosaka Akane's mind went blank, her mouth moving before her brain caught up.

"We're helping Kagami change!"

"Right, changing clothes! Once he's changed, he can go bathe!"

Machida Sonoko and Sayuri joined in too.

"It takes three people to change someone's clothes?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku's voice held not the slightest inflection.

"And you need to untie his sash for that?"

The three of them had nothing to say.

Their hands still hung frozen in midair, only a few centimeters from Little Kagami's sash.

Yukinoshita Shizuku stepped into the room, closing in on them one step at a time.

Sayuri's face went red enough to bleed.

Machida Sonoko kept her head down, not daring to look at her.

Kosaka Akane opened her mouth several times, but no sound came out.

"We... we..."

Kosaka Akane finally cracked.

"We're going to the bath!"

She shot to her feet and hauled Machida Sonoko and Sayuri up with her.

Stumbling, the three of them bolted for the door.

Their figures vanished down the far end of the corridor, footsteps ragged and panicked.

Yukinoshita Shizuku watched the direction they'd fled, and let out a soft sigh.

Then she turned and closed the door.

The room fell quiet again.

She walked over to Little Kagami's side and slowly knelt down.

She reached out and straightened Tsushima Kagami's disheveled clothes, setting them right.

Just as she was tying his sash back into place—

her hands stopped.

Her face flushed, and she glanced around guiltily.

Then, as if steeling her nerve, one hand slowly reached toward the inside of Tsushima Kagami's trousers.

Just as Yukinoshita Shizuku thought she'd satisfied her curiosity, she looked at him — drunk enough that there was no chance of him waking.

Tsushima Kagami, sleeping even more dead to the world than usual.

She thought of the scene just now, of Kosaka Akane and the others nearly stripping his trousers off.

Yukinoshita Shizuku's heart gave a sudden lurch.

Hesitation flickered in her eyes for a moment.

With both hands she tugged the sash loose, then slowly slid Tsushima Kagami's trousers down.

She clapped a hand over her mouth in astonishment, her eyes full of shock.

Then she looked at Tsushima Kagami's sleeping face.

Her cherry lips parted slightly.

Slowly, she lowered herself down...

Meanwhile, in another room, Sayuri, Kosaka Akane, and Machida Sonoko sat side by side on the futons.

Kosaka Akane was the first to pick up one of the cream puffs they'd bought that afternoon and take a bite.

Rich cream spread through her mouth at once, sweet and cool.

Sayuri and Machida Sonoko each picked one up too, eating in silence.

Kosaka Akane swallowed her mouthful of cream and grumbled, muffled.

"Shizuku is way too domineering."

"She can't even close the deal with Kagami herself, and she won't let anyone else try either..."

"Kagami's going to end up depressed thanks to her, sooner or later."

"Mm-hm!"

Machida Sonoko and Sayuri nodded along as they ate their cream puffs.

Kosaka Akane swallowed the rest of her cream puff, her tone growing firmer.

"We have to rescue Kagami before Shizuku drives him into depression!"

____

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