Chapter 348

"This was arranged by Hayato-kun, wasn't it?"

She smiled knowingly as she spoke.

Ishikawa Hayato smiled but didn't respond to her question. Instead, he changed the subject.

"Go up the mountain now, wander around for a while, and then take the last cable car down. You can see Beppu changing from day to night from the cable car."

"Let's go." Nijika smiled expectantly.

After buying round-trip tickets, the two of them sat close together in the cable car, watching the changing scenery as it gradually ascended.

At first, the cable car wasn't very high, but in just over ten seconds, it suddenly began to climb diagonally upwards.

A more detailed view than a distant glance, and a more expansive view than the mountains themselves, unfolds before your eyes.

Ishikawa Hayato was lucky to arrive at the right time; it had snowed heavily before he came, and the past few days had been sunny.

On a clear day, they could clearly see the snow covering the mountains, trees, and branches.

From the foot of the mountain, the whole mountain looks completely white, but as you get closer, you can see dark green evergreen trees hiding under the snow, as well as deciduous trees with fallen leaves, presenting a beautiful frost-like appearance.

The two types of trees are scattered and intertwined among the mountains, creating a more colorful landscape.

The cable car continued its ascent, and the view became increasingly expansive.

The snow-covered mountains, illuminated by the sunlight, appeared orange-yellow, while other parts, hidden in shadow, displayed the complementary color of orange-yellow: light blue.

The corresponding colors make the contrast between the undulating mountains even stronger, and the interplay of light and shadow at different heights even more breathtaking.

After watching for a while, Nijika felt as if she were melting into the mountains, and couldn't help but hug Ishikawa Hayato's hand.

Ishikawa Hayato snapped out of his daze and looked at her; Nijika, who had just grabbed his arm, also glanced at him.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"It's not bad to have a day like this once in a while, is it?"

Ishikawa Hayato knew that Nijika wasn't a particularly playful person, so he used the word "occasionally."

Nijika smiled and clenched her fist.

"Hmm, I feel so energized all of a sudden."

However, even the most beautiful scenery will gradually become ordinary after ten minutes. Nijika looked at the beautiful scenery, her heart gradually calmed down, and she calmly reviewed every thought she had from this morning until she got off the bus.

As she thought about it, she suddenly remembered that fleeting thought she had missed when she got off the bus.

Arrangements, plans, and today's date that she'll have all to herself...

After a short while, Nijika leaned softly against Ishikawa Hayato's arm and asked softly.

"Hayato-kun, do you have any plans for going down the mountain later?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"I just thought... I'm already satisfied for today, so Hayato-kun doesn't need to put in any more effort. You can just go... hug me."

Nijika's voice was soft and sweet, as if she could do whatever he wanted.

Moreover, that final hug was clearly not a hug in the ordinary sense.

Even though he had already hugged three girls, Ishikawa Hayato still felt his mouth go dry and his blood boil when he heard that Nijika would invite him to hug her.

Especially with Nijika subtly teasing his hand and her mature yet petite body pressed tightly against him.

But Ishikawa Hayato suppressed his emotions and shook his head.

"Nijika still misunderstood."

"Um?"

Nijika looked up at him in surprise.

Ishikawa Hayato looked at her with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I'm spending this day with Nijika because I've never dated Nijika before, not because I'm trying to seduce Nijika into doing *that Nijika with me."

He didn't want Nijika to think that he was only with her today for her sake.

"Ah."

Nijika realized her mistake, chuckled, and continued to let her gaze linger aimlessly on the rolling mountains.

My thoughts gradually drifted away.

As expected, Hayato-kun had a lot on his mind, both right and wrong, and she felt she couldn't even comment on Hayato-kun actions.

After a while, as the platform on the mountain gradually drew closer, Nijika asked again.

"Hayato-kun just say 'or' and make me misunderstand?"

"Eh..." Ishikawa Hayato looked embarrassed, as if he had been exposed.

His reaction gave Nijika more certainty, and although the reaction was slightly affected, she still asked seriously.

"Was what you did with them last night to deliberately make me angry? And was the way you lay next to me this morning to scare me so I wouldn't realize it?"

"... The first part is about improvisation, the second part is about planning."

Ishikawa Hayato weakly answered.

Upon receiving the answer, Nijika wasn't angry; instead, she smiled with relief.

"Hayato-kun is really... his methods are too amazing. I feel like if this continues, we might be fooled into agreeing to have a few more girlfriends."

Ishikawa Hayato's expression suddenly turned serious, and he raised his palm.

No, absolutely not.

His reaction made Nijika chuckle.

"I wasn't testing you."

"But I'm serious."

Ishikawa Hayato's expression was serious.

As the two spoke, the cable car gradually slowed down and arrived at the station, leaving them in the icy snow.

239. Kiss Me

Stepping out of the cable car station, the two finally realized how much snow had fallen there in the past two days, and how cold it was up in the mountains.

Even though the setting sun had not yet disappeared, the snow here showed no sign of melting and piled up outside the bluestone road.

Even on the cobblestone path, there was still a lot of snow falling into the cracks and along the edges of the stones.

Before they had taken two steps, Ishikawa Hayato suddenly reached out to Nijika and said something.

"It's so cold, Nijika, give me a hug."

Nijika rolled her eyes at him, then subconsciously glanced around and, seeing that no one was around, silently walked into Ishikawa Hayato's arms.

She didn't know how Ishikawa Hayato wanted to hug her, but she decided to let Ishikawa Hayato have his way.

However, Ishikawa Hayato simply leaned against her from behind, covering her ears that weren't covered with earmuffs.

Nijika was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant when she looked at the snowy scenery on the mountain. Not caring about the embarrassment of imitating his actions, she raised her hand and bent back to cover Ishikawa Hayato's ears.

Looking down at Nijika as she straightened up, Ishikawa Hayato asked.

"Isn't Nijika feeling unwell?"

"What should we do then, Hayato-kun?"

Nijika countered with a question, knowing that if this person had spoken, they must have a solution.

Ishikawa Hayato stepped back and walked to her side, pointing to her hat and then to his own back.

Nijika looked in the direction he pointed and tilted her head in confusion.

Ishikawa Hayato reached out and put the hood on her down jacket, then walked over and half-squatted in front of her.

Nijika realized what was happening and patted him on the back.

The slightly thick winter fabric made a dull thud when it was slapped.

"I don't want to memorize it."

Ishikawa Hayato turned to her again and asked, "How about a princess carry?"

Nijika whispered, "We're outside!"

Ishikawa Hayato said with slight dissatisfaction, "Didn't we ride on each other's shoulders before?"

Nijika couldn't help but recall how she had been tricked by Ishikawa Hayato into riding on his shoulders that time.

But seeing her deep in thought, Ishikawa Hayato clenched one fist and punched the palm of the other hand, making a gesture of Daigo.

Nijika snapped out of her daze upon hearing the sound, and was startled by his appearance. She quickly squeezed her legs together and looked around.

"Hayabusa... Hayato-kun, I'm still wearing a skirt."

Seeing that she was serious, Ishikawa Hayato smiled and waved his hand.

"Just kidding, holding hands is fine."

Nijika looked at his ears, which she couldn't tell if they were frozen or not, and was about to say something when she heard him speak again.

"And there's a special feeling about strolling hand in hand with Nijika in the snow."

Nijika was taken aback, her face flushed red, and she felt even hotter from wearing the hat.

But she took Ishikawa Hayato's hand, her red eyes gazing intently at the snow scene, and said softly and timidly.

"Hayato-kun always teases me and then 'bullies' me."

Ishikawa Hayato immediately smiled.

"Isn't the technology great?"

Nijika couldn't help but angrily bump into him, but her arm got pinched in the process.

However, she was still quite concerned about Ishikawa Hayato's ears being blown by the cold wind, and she was even thinking that it wouldn't have been a bad idea if she had just agreed to let him carry her.

She glanced at Ishikawa Hayato's hands and suddenly had an idea.

Releasing Ishikawa Hayato's hand, she began to remove her gloves, taking off both gloves and then putting them over Ishikawa Hayato's ears.

Ishikawa Hayato shook his head curiously and found that he hadn't fallen.

"It's quite sturdy, but what about your hand, Nijika?"

Nijika put one hand in her pocket, grabbed Ishikawa Hayato's hand with the other, and looked at him with a smile.

"Wouldn't this work?"

However, when she looked at him, she took a closer look at Ishikawa Hayato's appearance. This handsome boy had small, long gloves over his ears, and because he was good-looking, he looked quite cute and comical.

"Puff."

She couldn't help but laugh, then took her hand out of her pocket and covered her mouth, suppressing her laughter.

"Hayato-kun, the way you look..."

After taking a selfie with his phone, Ishikawa Hayato walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder.

Nijika suppressed a laugh and looked up to see Ishikawa Hayato making a peace sign with his fingers pressed against his cheek, smiling cutely as he said, "Yay~!"

"Pfft, hahaha."

Nijika avoided him and burst into laughter, laughing so hard she bent over backwards, her laughter carrying far across the mountaintop.

He even gradually started laughing so hard that he squatted down on the ground.

"I can't take it anymore, hahaha, I can't take it anymore!"

However, Ishikawa Hayato found her laughing so hard he couldn't help but tease her.

He squatted down and playfully made a lotus flower shape with one hand in front of Nijika, squinted one eye, stuck out his tongue cutely, and even shook his head, swaying his hands from side to side.

"Hold it in~"

Nijika knew she shouldn't have looked, but she couldn't help glancing at it anyway, and then immediately looked down, clutching her stomach and laughing.

"Hahahaha~ No, no, no, Hayato-kun, stop making me laugh, hahaha."