Interulde 3
"Hmm, the wind feels nice... or not! It's cold!"
"It's already December. This isn't a place to visit in winter."
One of today's plans was to revisit places filled with old memories.
So, the two of them had come to the observation deck nestled in the mountains.
As always, this place had strong winds blowing through. To be honest, it's not really enjoyable to come here in winter, and there are no other people around. If anything, they should have come last month.
Ritsuka thought this as she adjusted her white scarf and moved closer to Okami.
Then, she shoved both of her hands into the pockets of Okami's coat.
"At least use one hand..."
"Well, it's cold if I don't put both in. Oh, by the way..."
"Hm?"
Before Okami could even think about it, Ritsuka forcefully slid her hands into the gaps in Okami's coat, using his body heat to warm up. Okami’s body temperature was being drawn into Ritsuka's hands.
"Cold!! It's freezing!! Stop!!"
"I'll stop once I’ve absorbed all of your body heat."
"Are you a snow woman?!"
"Maybe close!"
"You are close!!"
Since there was no one around, Ritsuka didn't hold back in being affectionate, even outside.
With her ability to manipulate ice and snow, calling Ritsuka a snow woman wouldn't be far off. Of course, she had no technique that allowed her to absorb body heat, and more importantly, even she, as a human, finds cold things cold.
"This place is nostalgic, huh? We used to come here on dates a lot."
"Back then, we didn’t have money, and we couldn’t travel far. It was a little escape from the everyday... wait, huh?"
At that moment, Okami finally noticed the discrepancy between his memories and the reality in front of him. It seemed Ritsuka had noticed it too, as she pulled her now-warmed hands out of Okami’s coat and said,
"Hey! The bell! That bell... didn’t it disappear?!"
"Ah, I just remembered when I said 'money'."
The bell that was supposed to be next to the observation deck had disappeared without a trace.
When had it been taken down? There wasn’t even a remnant of the spot where it had been.
"No way! It was there the last time we came, right?"
"That was when you were still in college, right? That was over three years ago."
"But to remove it... I was planning to ring it again!"
"We know the trick to ringing it, after all."
In the first place, Okami thought that the reason the bell no longer rang was due to poor maintenance or aging.
It had been left unattended for so long that strange rumors, like "Couples who ring the bell will be together forever," had attached to it. If it had collapsed, it would have been dangerous, so it made sense that it had been removed for that reason.
"The view from here feels different from the last time we came. The cityscape and the people, over time, change little by little. It can’t be helped."
"Hey."
"Ugh, it’s cold!"
Ritsuka had already cooled down, and with her hands, she squished Okami's cheek. Okami let out a pathetic scream.
"Acting cool, huh! This is the part where you should be honestly upset!"
"I’m not really that upset..."
"Why not? You could have rung the bell!?"
"I think only Akko-san would want to ring the bell that much... No, I mean, we've already become 'eternally bound' as the rumor said. I’m sure ringing it again wouldn’t give us any more benefits."
"Oh, now that you mention it, that was the rumor, huh? I completely forgot about it."
"You forgot about it...?"
It seemed that Ritsuka simply wanted to ring the bell for herself.
"I, on the other hand, was pretty caught up with that rumor for a while. I didn’t believe it, and I even denied it, but... well, since that time, I’ve already started caring about you, Ritsuka."
"I see... But for me, I started liking you from this observation deck."
"...Huh!? Really!?"
"Yeah. When I think about it, I realize that’s when it started."
In the end, during the earlier bowling match, Okami couldn’t knock down the split. So, he didn’t manage to get Ritsuka to tell him when she started liking him.
Unexpectedly, Ritsuka confessed at that moment, and Okami was flustered.
"Wait, but did I do something here!? I remember helping a little kid with you, but I don’t remember doing anything that would make you like me...!!"
"It’s fine not to know. Like you said, it doesn’t really matter when I fell for you. It’s just the beginning... what matters is everything after that."
"With that kind of wording... you know what made you fall for me, don’t you?"
"I’m not telling you any more."
"Ugh...! I said I fell for your smile, but this feels so unfair..."
Still, at least Okami had learned when it had happened, so he was somewhat satisfied.
For Ritsuka, however, it was because she didn’t really know herself.
It was too cold to stay for long. After getting their fill, the two decided to return to the bus stop.
Without either of them saying anything, their hands naturally intertwined. Okami thought that they should at least be wearing gloves since it was so cold, but Ritsuka never wore gloves when they went out together in winter.
Okami had an idea why, so he didn’t say anything about it.
Then, on the way to the bus stop, a girl could be seen coming up the hill from the front.
"Ah...!"
She was wearing a school uniform. She was probably a middle school student. Seeing Ritsuka’s silver hair, the girl let out a small voice, but this wasn’t anything unusual. So neither Okami nor Ritsuka paid much attention to it.
"Excuse me!"
"Hm?"
"Do you need something from us?"
The reason the girl had called out to them was something neither of them could figure out.
It seemed the girl didn’t have a particular reason to approach them either. She was carefully choosing her words.
"Was there... a tower with a bell further ahead?"
"Ah, yeah. It used to be there."
"I just saw it, but it’s gone now. What a shame..."
"But the view was nice. Are you just taking a break or something?"
"Yes... something like that. Thank you for answering my question. Please, take care."
"You too! Be careful, the wind is strong."
At Ritsuka's casual words, the girl widened her eyes—then bowed and started walking away.
Then, Ritsuka suddenly asked Okami. Maybe, just maybe.
"That girl from earlier... do you think she might be the one we helped all those years ago?"
"That middle schooler? No way, there’s no way that’s a coincidence. Besides, that was six years ago. In six years, a little kid like that could have grown into a middle schooler... I guess that’s possible."
Six years, in fact, was about the right amount of time. However, to reunite with that little girl, who was one of their memories from this place, during their visit to this spot after so many years... that felt like too much of a coincidence.
"Hmm, but if it is... what a wonderful coincidence!"
"Yeah. If that’s the case, let’s just go with that. It’s better that way—"
"—It feels like happiness!"
The cityscape and the people, over time, change little by little.
In that process, something may be lost, and there may be moments of sadness.
But on the other hand—what has changed might also bring new joys, and that happens often.
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