CubexCursedxCurious:Volume13 Chapter4

Chapter 4 - Snow-Melting Population Density

Part 1

One day, Haruaki's peaceful sleep was interrupted more noisily than usual.

"Oh no... Oh no oh no... This is serious, it's serious! Haruaki! Get up now—!"

"Guah—!?"

A super heavy force crushed the peaceful dream world. Haruaki felt the air being forced out of his lungs.

Frantically opening his eyes, Haruaki saw—

A girl was sitting astride his chest.

"I-It's serious, I have to repeat this no matter how many times, it's serious! Get up now! Hurry!"

"Guh ooph... W-What's so serious?"

With an expression that resembled both nervousness and excitement, Fear was staring straight at Haruaki from above. In contrast to Haruaki's sleepy eyes, her eyes were staring wide open. Fear even went as far as to lean her upper body forward, making a fist in front of Haruaki and saying:

"Listen carefully... First of all, it's very white! White to the extreme!"

"W-White...?"

Definitely very white. Haruaki's hazy mind gradually grew awake. His sticky eyelids also opened slowly, causing him to see the color of white clearly. The white of Fear's lower body as she straddled his chest. The white beneath her skirt. More precisely, orange stripes on a white background. Haruaki frantically averted his gaze.

"Also, how should I put this? Hyahhh—! Like that!"

"A-A scream...?"

"Your guess is totally wrong! I mean it's very cold! Icy cold!"

Very cold? No wait, Haruaki was experiencing warmth. The warmth from the thighs on his chest. The warmth and softness of skin. Fear was inexplicably excited, omitting many keywords in her speech. Then she shook his body in agitation as though saying "You still don't get it?" Skin vibrating due to the shaking. Soft and warm thighs.

"Then there's the glittery shine! I've never seen that kind of brightness! Hey, you already know what it is, right? You figured out what the serious situation is, right?"

Fear pressed her upper body's weight against him again. Her shiny hair was brushing against his face. So bright. So ticklish. What dazzling, shiny brightness.

"Haruaki...? Are you listening?"

Oh, I'm still not fully awake. Haruaki could not help but reach out for that hair, with strong desire and tender affection. No wait, all he wanted to do was brush it away—

"Muumuu! You still look half asleep! In that case, I'll just have to let you see with your own eyes, get up now!"

"Eh? Ugh... Wawa!"

Fear grabbed Haruaki's extended hand, pulling him out from under his covers. In other words, she had forced him out of bed. With this, Haruaki's sleepiness was finally dispelled all at once. The thoughts from his semi-dreaming state and Fear's various sights he saw were suddenly making him very embarrassed. Haruaki tried his hardest to erase these memories.

Fear pulled him by the hand repeatedly, taking him out of the room directly. Still in pajamas, Haruaki felt very cold. So cold that it was a bit unusual.

"Hey hey, over here, over here!"

Pushing his back, Fear walked along the corridor. Then once they reached the veranda where the garden came into sight—

Haruaki figured out why Fear was so excited.

Taking a forceful leap, Fear jumped before his eyes. With the garden as the background, as though showing off the scenery, her silver hair scattered and flew as she spun around.

"See! It's amazing, right? It's very serious! I've never seen anything like this!"

"Ah..."

In that very instant—

Reflected in Haruaki's eyes, everything was equally bright and shining.

Only brilliantly radiant objects existed before him.

Glittering, glittering.

The twirling silver hair.

Fear's proud smile.

As well as—Formed from the accumulated snow fallen in the garden, an expansive world of white.

Part 2

"Oh my~ But yeah, it's anyone's guess how many years it's been since we've had so much snow."

"It probably started snowing since last night and it's still going. No wonder I felt so cold."

While staring out at the snowscape, they chatted together as usual—However, this was not the veranda where they usually used to hang out. As a side note, apart from Konoha, there was a visitor present.

Haruaki turned slightly to look at the visitor beside him.

"Class Rep, getting here must have been a tough journey. Sorry for inviting you so suddenly, but it's because Fear was making a ruckus, insisting that you come over."

"It's nothing. I happen to be free and it's a rare occasion of heavy snow. Compared to admiring the snowscape from my apartment's window, of course I'd have a better time over here with you... Cough, Fear-kun and the others to have fun together."

Amidst coughing noises, Kirika spoke in a serious tone of voice as befitted a class representative's style. However, her expression was very gentle with a faint smile on her face.

"Really...? Glad to hear that. But the question is, can this really be called having fun...? I'm so sorry for making you help out in this 'labor' activity as soon as you arrive."

"It would be absolutely ridiculous if you underestimated the weight of snow. Especially this kind of old house, a very serious accident could occur as a result, so it's best to take care of it as soon as possible—That's why I'd gladly help out with the snow shoveling."

Saying that, Kirika moved the shovel in her hand lightly, scooping up snow that had accumulated on the eaves.

Indeed, they were currently on the roof of the Yachi residence. Due to the house's age, the consequences of leaving a whole night's worth of accumulated snow felt rather scary. Hence, the whole group decided to clear the snow first. However, Haruaki felt quite apologetic to Kirika for asking her to help out with snow removal as soon as she arrived.

"Yeah... Especially if the roof tiles crack naturally because a certain very heavy person goes on this house's roof. If the house collapsed spontaneously, it'd be totally troublesome."

"Don't let it weigh on your minds. After all, I'm the one who offered to help on my own. Also, since this is my first time shoveling snow, it's actually not a bad experience... By the way, did you invite Sovereignty-kun and Shiraho-kun?"

"Yes, we basically tried, but as expected, Shiraho-san found it too much of a bother."

"That's true... Definitely, neither playing vigorously playing in the snow or having an elegant snow viewing would suit her personality. Despite this rare snow, I can imagine her saying with a scowl: 'What on earth is with this cold-producing device? I really wish for its hastened destruction.'"

Speaking of playing in the snow with full vigor—Haruaki turned his gaze and looked down towards the garden below.

Two girls with figures resembling little children—Fear and Kuroe—were playing with the accumulated snow childishly indeed.

Fear must be seeing this kind of heavy snow for the first time. She seemed to find everything refreshing, showing great enthusiasm for all things, laughing heartily one moment, screaming in surprise the next, meanwhile running about over the snow-covered ground. At this moment, she suddenly stayed in one spot, then using the gloves Haruaki had given her as a return gift last year for Christmas, she scooped up snow and sprinkled it over her head. Snowflakes landed on the tip of her nose. Fear giggled again. She was really enjoying the current situation from the bottom of her heart. Although Haruaki had no idea what exactly was so interesting, just watching Fear was enough to bring a smile to his face.

Meanwhile, Kuroe was currently picking up snow in her tiny hands, then staring at the mass of white snow with her blank eyes as usual, she looked like she was pondering something. For sure, she must thinking of a new and original way to play with snow.

"Those two girls, seriously... Clearly they should be in charge of moving the shoveled snow away."

"They're already prepared after moving the wheelbarrow out from the storeroom. I guess they're just waiting for us to issue orders. After all, we did say earlier to wait until a certain amount piles up before moving the snow. Yeah, speaking of which, there's quite a lot accumulated down there now, it's almost time for—Oh?"

Just as Haruaki was about to stand up and call for Fear and Kuroe, he slipped. Luckily, he only lost balance slightly, but that was enough to send chills instantly down his back.

Finally regaining his balance, Haruaki then felt something pulling lightly on his waist. Looking down, he saw that the belt extended from Kirika's sleeve had already wrapped it self around his waist. It was just a tiny accident and actually did not need such a frantic rescue, but even so, she still extended her belt towards him immediately to serve as a life line.

"Th-Thank you. Don't worry, I only slipped slightly."

Hearing Haruaki, Kirika and Konoha frowned and objected.

"I was just thinking, this work is unexpectedly exhausting for both the mind and the body. Your legs are probably losing strength because you are tired, Yachi. You should hurry and leave the roof."

"Indeed, just leave the rest for Ueno-san and me to handle."

"Really? Yeah, I do feel a bit tired then I'll take your advice... Okay, I'll go help Fear and Kuroe down there. You two be careful too."

Haruaki decided to leave the roof obediently because it would cause everyone trouble if he really slipped and fell off the roof. Descending slowly down the ladder, he met up with Fear and Kuroe in the garden. In the middle of playing to her heart's content in the snow, Fear looked up.

"Hmm, what's up? Things are finished up there?"

"I've been fired because my legs are starting to get shaky. My next task is to supervise you two. Okay, stop playing. There's quite a lot of snow shoveled from the roof, so you need to move it over to a corner—Hey Kuroe, what are you doing...?"

Narrowing his eyes, Haruaki looked towards Kuroe as she started engaging in strange behavior.

Still displaying sleepy-looking eyes as usual, Kuroe was slowly adhering chunks of snow in her tiny hands against the chest of her coat. Adhering, again and again. Seeing the snow about to fall off, she plucked her own hair to use as wires for reinforcement. Hence, what she produced was—

"Th-This is... Truly a new sensation of weight! I wasn't just trying out a snow bra without thinking too much into it, but never did I expect to manifest a simulation of our ideal futures! Reporting! I predict this to be the state of things by next summer!"

"What a fast approaching future! Say, I can't believe you're indulging yourself in crafting this kind of simulation, leaving me behind as the leader of the Ladylike Bosoms Alliance, that's going way out of line! ...C-Cough, I'm relying on you for my share."

"A piece of cake~"

Fear puffed her chest out while Kuroe patted and piled snow onto her, inserting hair into them for reinforcement. "Those two children are playing bizarre games again..." Konoha could be heard grumbling in exasperation from above.

"There, there, How's that?"

"Oh... Ohoh...! So big, no, it's extra big! They feel so heavy!"

"Experimentally, I've copied the size and shape of nearby ready-made products. This is for the sake of realism... Hmm, speaking of realism, let's upgrade the level of resemblance slightly. This time, it's an experiment with heavy emphasis on detail."

Holding a bundle of hair in her hand, Kuroe began to sculpt Fear's snow bra cautiously as though she were playing one of those mold-carving games at festival stalls. Shortly after, Kuroe made a sweat-wiping motion on her brow as though going "Okay, done!" and stepped back from in front of Fear. Hence, Haruaki was finally able to see what she meant by detail—

"Pfft...!?"

"A-Absolutely ridiculous!"

This time, two people's voices were heard from above.

Rather than a bra on top of Fear's clothing, the finished product was more like an extremely realistic model of breasts. The mounds of snow bulged in an extremely natural shape, tracing out flowing curves, then under Kuroe's skillful rendering, the protruding tips were tiny—

"Hold on, Kuroe-san! Such realistic breasts are too immoral and unwholesome in public decency—Hmm? Hmmmm?"

Konoha warned Kuroe frantically but her sentence suddenly turned into a question. Kuroe answered calmly with confidence:

"I believe that erotic art like Venus de Milo is publicly accepted, you know? Also, just as I said earlier, I referenced the size and shape of ready-made products. If you want details, it's my memory from having a bath together. Even I can't help but think how fortunate it is that I always stared intently just in case it might come in handy one day."

"Ready-made products... Somehow I find the shape rather familiar... No way..."

Konoha's voice began to tremble. In contrast, Fear pouted slightly as she looked down at her simulated snow breasts.

"Hmm~ I get it now, so this is an experimental imitation of the enemy, I guess. My shoulders feel so heavy, it's difficult to look down and it's so heavy that I feel like it's life threatening... Ohoh, I can't believe it's this unsightly, this ugly and this much of an embarrassment! Also, it shifts my center of gravity to a weird spot, making me walk unsteadily, what a weird sense of balance. I knew it, for something existing on this planet, these things are way too unnatural, the culmination of recessive bad genes that need to be purged from evolution immediately!"

"A-Ah... Awawawa! H-Haruaki-kun, it's not like that! Although its excessive realism makes it look real, that's not actually the real thing and there are slight differences from mine. I don't think the tips are like that either, so I hope you'll believe me—Awawa, despite those clearly being mounds of snow, why do I get this embarrassing feeling like I'm getting seen topless by others!?"

Haruaki could tell simply from her voice that Konoha was totally panicking. Hence, without thinking, Haruaki looked up at the roof where the two girls were standing. Accidentally, unavoidable. Even though he was not supposed to look up.

"N-No, uh, let's put this aside for now, you should be careful where you step... Ooh!"

"What are you going 'ooh' and telling me to watch my step for!? Compared to that, taking care of Kuroe-san's creations must be prioritized!"

Haruaki carelessly looked up at Konoha and Kirika who were standing on the roof. Naturally, since they had not started the day with the intention to go snow shoveling, consequently, neither of the two girls were wearing clothing meant for the task. Instead, they were dressed as usual—having climbed to the roof in skirts. And now, Haruaki was looking up at them from below, accidentally.

Previously, the fact of their attire did not matter when he was together with them on the roof, but now it was bad. Very bad. Just as this occurred to Haruaki, Kirika and Konoha seemed to notice his gaze as well.

"Taking care of that... Ah, kyah! H-Haruaki-kun—!"

"Y-Yachi! Hey! Absolutely ridiculous, w-where are you looking at—!"

As a result, the two girls tossed away their shovels at the same time and frantically held down their skirts with their hands, squatting down reflexively. However, they were currently standing on a snow-covered roof and forcing themselves to squat down while leaning forward, due to throwing criticisms at Kuroe's snow breasts and giving panicking explanations. No matter how good their athleticism, they still lost their balance, of course—

"Uwawawawawa! «Black River»... N-No good, I can't grab anything...!"

"Oh no—! H-Hurry and move out of the way, Haruaki-kun, move out of the way now—!"

In the next instant, reflected in Haruaki's eyes was a pair of figures flying off the eaves at high speed like ski jumping off a take-off ramp. Namely, they were Kirika and Konoha, holding their skirts down with panic all over their faces. The two girls fell straight down, falling on Haruaki while he was looking up at them.

—Then came the final impact.

"Guff!?"

Haruaki felt his consciousness leave for an instant but immediately regained his senses. It took him a few seconds to realize that the coldness against his back meant he was currently lying on the snow-covered ground. In contrast, the front side of his body felt rather warm. What was going on?

"Muguugo...?"

Despite clearly opening his eyes, Haruaki found his view totally dark. Rather, black was the only color he could see. Furthermore, he found it inexplicably difficult to breathe. In other words, something black was pressing on top of his mouth—

"Kyah! Hold on... Yachi, Yachi, ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!? Listen carefully, don't move and don't speak anymore! And don't move your nose either! Not allowed to breath, even! I'm getting up straight away!"

Haruaki felt a hard sensation on the tip of his nose, similar to a zipper. No way, could this be Kirika's that? Fortunately, his brain's natural defensive instincts kicked in and proactively gave up on clearing up the issue. I neither know anything nor understand anything.

Then he noticed the weight on his lower body. Another object was covering his body below the waist. Naturally, he could not see because a certain black object of Kirika's was blocking his view, but based on touch, he could discern that there seem to be two masses on top of his lower body. Moreoever, they were very soft, very warm and quivering with gentle softness, sandwiching his lower body—

"Ouch... Wah! Sorry, Haruaki-kun, are you okay? Did you break a bone somewhere? Are you alright?"

Accompanied by the nervous voice, Haruaki felt that sense of weight press even harder against him. Almost enveloping his entire lower body, this softness and warmth. No good, I can't allow myself to think about that side either.

At this moment, he suddenly regained light in his view. Stumbling forward to separate from his face, Kirika crouched down partially nearby, reaching behind to hold down her skirt near her bottom. Whimpering with her face flushed red, she was looking at Haruaki, possibly glaring at him.

However, Konoha's weight was still resting on his lower body—more precisely, that weight of Konoha's was still pressing on him. Haruaki was unable to move as a result. What should he do in order to move away? Konoha did not seem to be listening to him. Was it okay if he simply pushed her away? But pushing her would require touching that directly, which was actually a huge problem—Just as Haruaki's brain was spinning at full speed, pondering the monumental difficulties of this mission—

"I'll say this again, the sense of balance is very weird just as I thought. I don't want this kind of thing. I'm throwing it away."

A certain white mass flew past. Then—Smack!

A massive piece of snow directly struck Konoha's head while she was still mounted on Haruaki's lower body worriedly. The snow instantly flew apart into fragments. Haruaki went stiff all over. Naturally, the snow came from the imitation breasts that had been installed on Fear's chest a moment ago. After taking a look at Konoha, who seemed frozen in time with snow all over her braids, Fear nodded with satisfaction.

"I've heard of the game known as a snowball fight. Yeah, so in other words, what I want to say is that udders of this size have no value except for being used in a snowball fight while preventing shameless behavior at the same time—Take that! Next comes the shot from the left boob—!"

Plucking off a (temporary) body part from herself, Fear threw it forward. However, Konoha slowly separated from Haruaki's lower body from her originally frozen position. Just as Haruaki saw her standing up—

"..."

A flash of the sword. Sliced cleanly into two, the snow breast fell tragically by Konoha's feet. Retracting her karate chop, Konoha bent over lightly and picked up the remains of the snow breast.

"What is with this sense of guilt...? But rest assured, I shall avenge you."

"Owa—«A Hatchet of Lingchi»!"

This time, Konoha fired a white bullet towards Fear. Taking out the Rubik's cube from her pocket reflexively, Fear transformed it into a torture instrument to deflect the snowball. Clang! The sound of a metallic collision rang out.

Probably reeling back from the impact, Fear readied her hatchet in a stance unsteadily while Konoha was holding the remnants of the snow. Slowly closing in on each other, both girls were grinning maliciously.

"Fear~-san~ Although I was originally planning to have you work properly... Since you want a snowball fight that badly, there's no helping it, I shall accommodate your wish. Nevertheless, my snowball fights will not be so gentle."

"Took the words right out of my mouth. Since it's my first snowball fight, I'm sorry that I don't know how to adjust my strength. If I go too far, feel free to cry surrender in all unsightliness. Or better yet, surrender now!"

In the next second, snowballs began to fly back and forth. Using the hatchet to dig snow by her feet, Fear made giant chunks of snow to throw at Konoha. Using karate chops to engage, Konoha sliced the pieces of snow, making small snowballs out of them, then catching the snowballs in midair and launching them in succession. Sometimes, she used spinning kicks to deflect the incoming snow. On the other hand, Fear turned her weapon into a drill instantaneously then using it as support to jump like pole vaulting, she evaded all the attacks. Then the two girls glared at each other, cautiously adjusting their distance before starting another wave of intense attacks—

Haruaki could only watch the scene with a stiff smile. At the same time, Kirika seemed to have finally recovered from her confusion earlier, coughing drily.

"Yachi, shouldn't we stop them?"

"Haha... Once it develops to this point, stopping them won't be that easy. Oh well, instead of a hand to hand brawl, this is more like a snowball fight. They're mainly throwing snowballs at each other, that's all. As long as they keep this level of understanding, it's much safer than their usual fights—"

"Just when you think that, an enemy lying here in ambush appears! Openings to exploit!"

"So cold——!"

Suddenly feeling a wave of coldness against his back, Haruaki could not help but jump to his feet.

"Nwoh—!? Huhee, huha, huhahaheehee!?"

"Hyah... S-So cold... What is going on!?"

"Kyah!?"

Apart from Haruaki, three other people also cried out at the same time, straightening their backs. Haruaki could not help but find the scream coming from a certain person beside him especially adorable, but decided not to dwell on the issue. Naturally, the culprit was the final person who had not screamed.

"I am the woman intoxicated by the joys of betrayal... Ahaha~ Dance for me~"

"Guh, Kuroe! What are you doing!? You stuffed so much snow into my back!"

It turned out that Kuroe had secretly manipulated her hair to stuff snow into the clothing of Haruaki and the others simultaneously. Reaching behind himself, Haruaki pulled out his shirt's lower hem and shook off the snow that had invaded his clothing.

"Hooha, so cold, so ticklish! So that's what it feels like to have snow getting into your clothing. I guess that's a lesson learnt. But anyway, huheehee! I-I must hurry get rid of it!"

In addition to Haruaki, everyone else also had snow stuffed down their collar relatively normally. Fear, Konoha and Kirika were desperately clearing snow out from under their clothing. Fear was frantically lifting the front of her shirt, pulling her skirt down, giving tantalizing glimpses of her navel and other parts. Konoha had pulled her collar open, hence almost offering a glimpse into her cleavage, then perhaps because snow was stuck inside, she was reaching into there with her fingers. The sight looked quite dangerous. Under Kirika's clothing, the black object, which was not supposed to be seen, was also flashing in and out of view seductively—Haruaki frantically focused his attention on clearing snow from his clothing. But after cleaning up, Haruaki still pretended to continue, pulling at his clothing meaninglessly, trying his utmost to enter a realm of oblivion. Is everyone done yet? Hurry and straighten out your clothes.

"Hey Kuroe! What are you doing!?"

"Since it's not every day that we get snow, I suggest opening your hearts and having as much fun as possible. In other words—clearing the accumulated snow that was shoveled from the roof can be done later! Also, how could I let Ficchi and Kono-san start playing on their own? Now is hte the time when everyone should join in for a blood-boiling snowball battle royale! What I just did was the first wave of attacks to declare war!"

"Listen here... I was simply looking to punish Fear-san a little. If you want a snowball fight, just play on your own with the others, Kuroe-san."

"Just so that everyone will play seriously to their heart's content, I've got a suggestion. Uh... The winner of the snowball fight earns the right to command one of the losers present, how's that?"

"Oh... One of the losers... present...?"

For some reason, Fear and the girls spoke simultaneously then for merely an instant, their sharp gazes all seemed to converge on Haruaki... Perhaps. It could also have been his imagination.

"Cough, I've changed my mind. It's not a bad idea to relax and play like a child at heart every now and then."

"Yeah, this is a rare chance with so much snow fallen. Having as much fun as possible is the only way to go."

"It would be truly and absolutely ridiculous if all I did before going home was shoveling snow and having tea after being invited over on this rare occasion. Sure enough, it's better that I get some exercise and have fun."

The three girls changed their minds with inexplicable readiness, expressing their intent to join the snowball fight with casual tones of voices. However, the only things casual were their voices and the expressions on their faces. Their actions stood in stark constrast.

Konoha knelt down and began to cut up the snow by her feet, using karate chops that moved so rapidly that afterimages could be seen—processing them into the shape of snowballs. Fear swung the spiked club of metal at air, leaving Haruaki puzzled as to how she intended to use that weapon. Kirika also started using the cursed belt, the «Tragic Black River», to pick up snowballs and practice throwing. Completely opposite to their claims which sounded like "no helping it, I guess I must participate," their actions were full of seriousness. Tension hung in the air. It was as though the girls were declaring they would show no mercy no matter what.

So thirsty. Despite his bafflement, Haruaki felt a sense of foreboding. He gulped hard.

"U-Umm, I haven't said whether I'm joining in or not, but I guess I have to, right...? Uh, oh, right! While you girls are having fun, I can clear the snow leisurely, wouldn't that be a good method to make everyone happy, right...?"

But the three girls—including Kuroe with her blank eyes, four warriors—ignored him, of course.

The four of them faced off against one another while giving off an atmosphere as though fighting would break out any moment.

The tension in the air heightened further. The space of pure white was distorted so much that it sounded like creaking.

Hence, just as the sense of nervousness peaked—Konoha's glasses flashed as she asked:

"I forgot to ask, but what are the conditions for victory?"

"Obviously the last one standing. After all, it's a battle royale."

"Then conversely, allow me to ask... What are the conditions for defeat?"

"Isn't that obvious? It's when the losers scream surrender on their own——!"

With Fear's yell as a signal, the heavy pressure, feeling as though time had stopped, exploded instantly.

Then with snowballs, karate chops, torture instruments, a leather belt and human hair flying all over the place, amidst resonding shouts and roars, an ordinary snowball fight took place.

Part 3

"Hoo... Wars always make you feel empty inside..."

Reaching the realm of enlightenment, Haruaki sipped hot tea while sitting on the veranda. On his left and right, Kirika and Konoha were also sipping tea respectively, utterly exhausted mentally, catching their breath.

In addition, next to Konoha, Kuroe was totally limp and unmoving from exhaustion, looking as though her soul had left her body. Due to the snow boobs incident earlier, Konoha had focused her ice-cold attacks on Kuroe, forcing Kuroe to surrender early on. Apart from Kuroe, as well as Haruaki who had given up first thing(surrendering unconditionally, one could say) out of concern for his life's safety, the other three girls had not settled the contest between them... Since the rules required losers to admit defeat, conversely, no winner was possible if none of them were willing to surrender. Naturally, it resulted in total exhaustion on all sides.

In the end, the snowball fight turned into an invalid match of total stamina attrition without any winner at all. However...

"Here I go, here I go!"

"Wow, she's a lively one..."

Only Fear had recovered her energy and starting a while ago, she had been rolling a snowball the size of a football.

Pushing the snowball rhythmically with her hands, she rolled it bigger and bigger with a serious expression on her face, resulting in quite a heartwarming scene to behold. Haruaki smiled faintly. The ability to enjoy a first experience from the bottom of her heart—Perhaps this could be considered a type of talent.

"Fufufu, it's looking better and better, then I'm gonna speed up! Here I go, here I go... Ohoh? Crap, I can't stop it anymore!"

Fear rolled the snowball even more rhythmically, passing in front of the veranda where Haruaki and the others were resting, rolling towards the entryway.

"Perfect, then I'll go outside directly for a walk like this! When I come back, it'll surely grow so large it'll be astounding... And it's almost enough to reach my next goal, to build a snow man. Please look forward to my return!"

"Slow down there, I can do whatever you want in the yard but not outside. The snow-covered streets are very dangerous. Also, more specifically, your snowball could hit pedestrians or bikes and make people fall."

"Muu~ On the other hand, I really think it's wrong for people to go biking on a day like this."

"Although you have a point, it's still too dangerous, so just play in the yard... But judging from the way you look, you're not gonna listen even if I say that, right?"

"Duh! How can I stay cooped up at home on a special day like this!?"

"Can't be helped, then I'll have to go out with you to supervise you. Konoha, you girls can..."

"If you're going out, Haruaki-kun, I am coming along too."

"Then I'll accompany as well."

"Phew~ I've finally revived... Of course I'm coming together too~"

Haruaki was going to ask them to watch the house but Konoha, Kirika and Kuroe all expressed their wish to go out together. As a result, it became a stroll for everyone to take outside.

"Good, let's march, troops! Oh of course, I have to walk at the very front, because I want this little guy to absorb clean snow. Let's go, my snowball, go on and store up a ton of snow energy!"

"Ficchi~ May I help? If you're building a snowman, you need two snowballs, right?"

"You're right. Okay, Kuroe, I appoint you as lieutenant general! If you start rolling now, you'll make a snowball that's just the right size to put on top of mine!"

"Yessir~"

Fear exited the front entrance while rolling her snowball. Several seconds later, Kuroe followed after her, pushing a newly formed snowball. Immediately, Haruaki, Konoha and Kirika filed out after them.

As soon as they stepped out of the home, it was a totally different world outside.

Amidst a snow-white landscape, the girls were walking ahead, swaying their hair, silver and black respectively.

(...)

In the beginning, Haruaki had objected simply due to the one reason that he did not want Fear to wander around outside alone.

But this scenery was probably only visible on a special day like today. It was anyone's guess when another time would come again.

As soon as he thought that... Whatever, I guess this might not be bad after all.

Bearing a slight smile of wryness, Haruaki thought to himself while leisurely chasing after Fear and Kuroe.

Part 4

Fear was using both hands to push the pure-white mass of snow. Left, right, left, right. Bit by bit, the snowball slowly grew large. This alone was already enough to fill her with joy.

The air was chilly. Looking up, one could see the ordinary town different from usual.

Utility poles covered with white snow. Wearing soft, fluffy caps of white, the post boxes looked very fashionable, different from their usual shade of pure red. White snow were piled upon nearby trees in long thin shapes, looking like marshmallows or clouds. Identical to the cotton decorations visible during the Christmas season—No, the analogy ought to be reversed in the first place. At the bottom of a wall, which one would not normally notice, fluffy, clean, white snow was piled up, pristine and untouched. One could call this a zone of fortune for bolstering this snowball. Let's go and absorb this snow!

"Here I go, here I go! I'm gonna make you big and pretty~"

Fear sped up even more, rolling the snowball along the bottom of the wall. She wanted to make it even bigger, to make a snowball so big that Haruaki was going to fall over in shock.

"Mufufufu... Hmm, on my?"

"Woah, be careful! Phew~ My beloved snowball Goliath-kun (tentative), the one I've been nurturing till now, almost fell into the gutter. Ficchi! Why did you suddenly stop?"

"No, it's because it feels so lively over there."

Next to the road was a small park where roughly ten children were inside, playing happily with the snow on their own. In addition, there were two adults, a middle-aged man with an elderly man about to enter the latter stages of life. They were watching the group of children with tender eyes of affection. Somehow, Fear felt that the two men looked slightly familiar.

At this moment, the middle-aged man discovered Fear's group. Raising his hand lightly, he called out:

"Oh it's you, Kuroe-chan."

"Hello~ I guess business must be bad after such heavy snow... Left without a choice, I've decided to devote all my effort to having fun. So what are you guys doing here?"

"I also left the shop for my mother to watch. Since it happens that a children's gathering was planned for today, everyone's all gathered so I've brought them to play in the snow here."

It sounded like this man was apparently one of Kuroe's friends from the shopping street. The other, elderly man also walked up and said:

"Since it's rare to have this much snow, it's good to let the children experience more of it... Oh, you must be Honatsu's kid, right? Hahaha, going out with so many cute girls, you're so blessed."

"Eh? Ah, uh, umm... Hello."

Haruaki bowed his head as a greeting, not knowing how to react. In contrast, Konoha offered pleasantries with all smiles: "Such flattery, you really know how to talk, ohohoho." Kirika also nodded to greet slightly shyly.

At this moment, Fear suddenly sensed a presence approaching her. Turning to look back, she found a little girl, probably in early elementary school, currently staring at her and the giant snowball.

"Hey lady, is this a snowman?"

"Oh? Fufufu, so you really can tell? Yes, you're right, it's a snowman... Do you want to see the completely assembled snowman?"

"Yes please."

The little girl's eyes glimmered brightly while she answered instantly. Now I really must respond to the kid's anticipation.

"The size is almost ready... Okay, Haruaki, let's stay in this park for a while. I'm going to have the snowman combine here! Kuroe, are you ready?"

"Of course~ From the start, I've also prepared things like charcoal to put on the face."

"Excuse me... You guys don't mind if we join in as well, right?"

Haruaki asked the adults who were leading the children. Smiling genially, they replied: "Of course, you're very welcomed."

Rolling her snowball, Fear walked over to the center of the park. Since the snowball had grown quite huge already, all the children's gazes were gathered here... It felt so nice. However—

"...?"

Not every child was looking towards her. Only one girl was uninterested, immersed in her own game. No wait, could that really count as a game? She was simply sitting on the ground, using a small shovel to randomly collect snow, piling it up to make a mound. From her expression, she did not seem to take much joy in her task. Sitting some distance away from the other kids, she did not even look in the direction of Fear's snowball, simply alone all by herself...

"Ficchi, it's best to assemble the snowman here, right?"

"Ah, yeah, you're right."

In any case, the snowman needed to be completed first. Rolling the snowball, Fear placed it at a spot which would not interfere with the playground equipment, then Kuroe pushed Goliath-kun (tentative) next to it.

"So, the next part is key. Shameless brat, I won't allow you to fail. Show me some spirit!"

"I guess I have to help? Yeah, sure."

"Have you gotten a good grip? Okay, let's do it... COM. BINE—!"

Fear and Haruaki picked up Goliath-kun (tentative) together and placed it on the body. After carefully adjusting its balance, they released their grips lightly. Positioned. Maintaining perfect balance, it was positioned there!

"Ohoh...! Th-This is...!"

"Ficchi, it's still too early to feel moved. Now that we've reached this point, we have to pay attention to detail. I will use charcoal to make the snowman's face. Uh... It'd be nice if only there were other materials that could be used for the arms."

"Lady, let me go pick up branches, 'kay?"

"Then I'll lend the snowman my scarf."

"Ohoh, you're so kind and understanding, kiddies! Great, let's all cooperate to make this guy a perfect snowman!"

Originally just one snowball on top of another, the snowman gradually obtained life after receiving the children's support. After the face was done, arms then sprouted and gloves were added. All this was so fun and delightful. Watching was enough to make one grow with joy.

However—In the end, that girl just now...

All lonesome by herself, she continued to build her mountain of snow, still not glancing over at Fear's snowman at all.

Part 5

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Part 6

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Part 7

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Part 8

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Part 9

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Part 10

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Part 11

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