Finding a Chance to Spend Time Together

Everyone stood in the fountain plaza, in no hurry to leave.

Their gazes settled on the small hill at the far end of the plaza.

That was Mount Moere.

The mountain was not very high, and its slopes were gentle. It was blanketed completely in thick snow, without a single patch of ground exposed.

At the foot of the mountain stood a small hut. Faint smoke drifted from its chimney, and a wooden sign hung outside, written in Japanese: Snow Gear Rental, 500 Yen/Hour.

A few scattered tourists were slowly gliding down the gentle slopes on sleds or snowboards.

"Wow... You can actually ski here too!"

Kushida Kikyo was the first to react. Pointing at the slope, she sounded thrilled. "It looks even more fun than a ski resort, and there are hardly any people! The snow is so thick too!"

"Mount Moere becomes a dedicated snow-play area in winter. Lots of locals bring their own sleds here, though you can rent them from the hut at the foot of the mountain too. Five hundred yen an hour is pretty cheap."

As she spoke, she looked down at the time, a hint of regret in her voice. "But... we probably do not have time to play. We still have to visit the aquarium and Mount Moiwa. Neither is close, and both are fairly large, so we will need quite a while to look around."

"Ah... I see."

The light on Kushida Kikyo's face immediately dimmed. Pouting slightly, she looked disappointed. "We finally found such an amazing slope... I thought we could play for a bit."

"It's fine. There will be plenty of chances later. Hokkaido is full of natural ski slopes, so we can come whenever we want to play."

"That's true. Then we'll save it for next time."

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