My love index is at its maximum.

“It’s really wonderful,” she said.

"It's just waiting for snow."

Shiori Ninomiya looked up at the sky and confirmed, "The first snow of this winter will fall soon."

"How do you see that?" Tsukasa Tazaki looked up.

October 27th. Hokkaido's brief autumn has long since passed, and the clear autumn sky is now shrouded in thick gray clouds. Thinking back to yesterday when I was looking at the Tokyo sky, as blue as the sea, there's a strange sense of dissonance.

It's like we barely got to experience autumn 2021 before it was already fast-forwarded to winter 2021.

It only shows the beginning of autumn, omitting the process and the end.

“Experiences of living on this land.” Shiori Ninomiya yawned, taking a deep breath of the cool air to dispel her sleepiness. “We still have to change buses once, a two- or three-hour bus ride. Can Kiki handle it?”

Tsukasa Tazaki, carrying two suitcases, said energetically, "Let's go!"

Like most small-town train stations, Asahikawa Station was empty and deserted.

The benches were uncomfortable to sit on, the ashtrays were overflowing with cigarette butts soaked in water, the air was stuffy, and there were a few posters of tourist attractions on the walls.

Aside from Tsukasa Tazaki and Shiori Ninomiya, the only other passengers on the same train were an elderly woman in a camel-colored sweater and a mother with a four- or five-year-old boy. The elderly woman was completely covered up and sat on a waiting bench, engrossed in reading an H-book.

10 minutes before driving.

Tazaki bought two bottles of milk and two sandwiches. After the two finished their simple breakfast, they got into the bus to chat.

The bus is nearing the end of its service life.

The paint on the floor was mostly peeling off, the leather on the seats was almost completely worn away, the spring cushions looked like bread from a month ago, and the air, mixed with the smell of diesel and sour odor, filled every corner.

Tsukasa Tazaki frowned and opened the car window, letting in some fresh air.

"Kiki, I'm so tired." Shiori Ninomiya leaned back in her chair, her voice slightly hoarse, her little face covered in exhaustion.

I've been on a bumpy journey since noon yesterday, no wonder I'm exhausted.

Tsukasa Tazaki closed the window and gently took her hand: "I won't let you walk such a long way alone anymore."

Shiori Ninomiya gave him an innocent smile, her expression seeming to say, "You have to keep your word."

"Yes." Tsukasa Tazaki nodded seriously.

After about twenty passengers boarded, the bus slowly started moving and headed north towards Asahikawa city. The further north they went, the more desolate the streets became, with fields and wastelands beginning to come into view.

The sky cleared up a little, and the rooftops of the low farmhouses and the black plastic sheds were bathed in the weak winter sunlight, reflecting a faint sense of warmth.

Shiori Ninomiya quickly fell asleep again.

As the bus turned, her little head swayed and rested on Tsukasa Tazaki's shoulder, remaining still in that position.

Her small, cute lips were slightly pursed, and she breathed quietly through her nose, exhaling warm, moist air very evenly.

Tazaki Tsukasa kept his head turned to the side, his nose lightly touching the hair on her head, inhaling its fragrance. The girl's slender body swayed occasionally with the bumps of the car, reminiscent of a small sailboat rocking on an endless sea under a still rain curtain.

The sky was overcast, merging with the equally overcast sea at the horizon, leaving the small sailboat's future uncertain.

Soon after, the car disappeared into the mountains and drove along the winding road.

The scenery on both sides of the road changed from pastoral to a gloomy cedar forest. The boundless forest rose and fell in the howling north wind, and the lush coniferous forest was devoid of any sunlight.

The light was blocked, the view became dim, and even the temperature seemed to drop.

Shiori Ninomiya, who was sleeping with her head resting on Tsukasa Tazaki's shoulder, turned her head and hugged his arm tightly as if her hands were cold.

Tazaki Tsukasa felt a pang of heartache looking at her pale face.

From Hokkaido to Tokyo, this journey across mountains and sea was one she had always undertaken alone. Alone, she would carry heavy luggage, running between bus and train stations, searching for light in long, narrow, dark underground passages…

She's just a little girl who's just turned sixteen...

Beneath that energetic smile, how much bitterness does she hide that she is unwilling to reveal?

Thinking back to spring, when I first met her, I thought to myself that she must have grown up in a happy life, otherwise she couldn't have smiled so brightly.

When he finally got to her inner world, Tsukasa Tazaki belatedly realized how wrong he had been.

The bus turned left and right, leaving the cedar forest, and the view opened up again.

It appears to be a mountain basin, with the scenery stretching out flatly along the mountainside in all directions. Further away, a corner of the blue sea can be faintly seen.

During the journey, Tsukasa Tazaki admired the scenery outside the window and looked at the little cutie's face; while looking at the little cutie's face, he also admired the scenery outside the window.

At 8:30 a.m., the bus stopped in front of a small town.

The driver stopped the car and told the passengers that they had arrived at Hamanaka-cho and would stop there for a few minutes. He suggested that those who wanted to get off could get off and stretch their legs.

Tsukasa Tazaki reached out and pinched Shiori Ninomiya's cheek: "It seems like we're home."

"Ugh~" Shiori Ninomiya rubbed her eyes, stood up, and stretched out a big yawn.

Take your luggage from the mesh luggage rack and walk out of the carriage.

The driver was smoking in the bus shelter at the rear of the bus. The green parasol of the bus shelter swayed back and forth, like a coconut tree on a lonely island in the sea.

The north wind blowing in my face was chilly, cutting my skin like a knife.

Tsukasa Tazaki, carrying the luggage, freed one hand to put his arm around Shiori Ninomiya's waist, using his body to shield her from the wind. The town in front of them was small, bordered by the sea on one side and surrounded by mountains on the other three.

Several villages can be vaguely seen on the mountainside, and the flat land available for cultivation is not large. In front of the villages are terraced fields with distinct layers, but now there are no crops, just a bare expanse.

A middle-aged man wearing a straw hat was burning straw in the field, with a dog beside him.

“It would be so nice if autumn came,” Shiori Ninomiya said, pointing to the terraced fields. “They would be so golden and beautiful.”

"It looks even better when it snows," Tsukasa Tazaki disagreed with her.

"It's freezing cold with snow, it's no fun if everyone stays indoors."

"Snowball fights are a lot of fun. Just imagine, a group of kids playing and frolicking in the snow, and the flashes of snowballs as they break apart are really interesting, aren't they?"

"City kids really don't understand how people from the countryside feel."

“No,” Tsukasa Tazaki corrected her, “it’s that southerners don’t understand northerners.”

The two talked as they walked into the town.

It was a pitifully small town. It did have a commercial street, but it was so small it gave off a desolate impression. Most of the colorful posters on the shop windows were old and worn, and the rooftops were almost entirely dark and grimy.

That wasn't the color of dampness, but rather the appearance of something weathered by wind and snow over time, as black as ink.

Shiori Ninomiya brought Tsukasa Tazaki to the hospital, pressing her hands against his chest to prevent him from going in.

“There’s no reason to send a guest to the hospital right after they arrive,” she said, her expression both serious and childlike. “Wait here for me a bit. I’ll go tell my parents and then take you home to rest for a day. We can come back the next day.”

"I'll listen to Shiori." Tsukasa Tazaki nodded, took out a Qi and Blood Pill from the system and handed it to her, "Take this to your mother and see how it goes."

Shiori Ninomiya curiously examined the black pill in her hand: "What is this?"

Do you trust me?

"Believe."

"Then let's go." Tsukasa Tazaki ruffled her hair. "I'll explain it to you slowly once you're willing to come back to Tokyo with me."

"What if I don't want to?" Shiori Ninomiya's eyes were full of laughter, but her tone pretended to be nonchalant.

"Then we'll tie you up and take you back."

"Don't even think about it!"

The girl turned around happily and walked into the hospital.

Tsukasa Tazaki stretched his neck a few times, his gaze slowly shifting.

In front of the hospital was a windbreak forest, and further away stood three huge windmills, their white blades turning slowly in the sea breeze.

Not long after, Shiori Ninomiya came out again.

"Hey, nice to meet you, Tazaki-kun."

The voice came from the second floor. Tazaki Tsukasa looked up and immediately saw Ninomiya's father sticking his head out of the window and calling out to him, "I'm so grateful that you could come here as a guest. Shiori, that silly girl, has been talking about you every day for the past two months. Her mother and I are almost worried to death."

Tazaki Tsukasa chuckled lightly: "I miss Uncle too. Let's spar sometime."

"It's a deal." Ninomiya's father gave a thumbs up, then looked at his daughter, whose face was already flushed. "Shiori, treat Tazaki-kun well, okay? If you can keep him here, don't let him go."

"Dad, can you please shut up?"

Suddenly, the color spread from Shiori Ninomiya's face to her neck. "It's so embarrassing to say such things. It's so shameful."

"What's there to be embarrassed about?"

"Girls should be reserved."

"Your mother wasn't reserved at all back then, where did you inherit that reserve from?"

"...I don't want to talk to you anymore." Shiori Ninomiya turned her head away, refusing to look at her stupid father who never knew when to speak.

What an honest father-in-law... Tazaki Tsukasa suppressed a laugh and walked towards the little cutie.

Shiori Ninomiya's neck had turned completely red.

She had intended to turn her face away from Tsukasa Tazaki, but instead, she lowered her gaze in embarrassment. And as he approached, she slowly turned her face toward him.

"My dad just likes to talk nonsense..."

"I like this kind of straightforward country man."

“That’s true,” Shiori Ninomiya chuckled, temporarily forgetting her shyness. “After all, you Tokyoites are all such liars.”

"I already said that was Kawabata Yasunari's slander..."

"I don't care, Kiki is definitely not a good person!"

After uttering a scathing remark, Shiori Ninomiya led him to the parking lot and retrieved the Honda Civic. During this time, the sky grew even darker, as if it were about to rain.

"Will you drive or should I?" Shiori Ninomiya asked.

"I'll take it." Tsukasa Tazaki took the helmet and hopped onto the seat.

Shiori Ninomiya jumped onto the back seat and wrapped her arms around his waist: "Let's go!"

"Go on," she laughed heartily. In this small town where mountains and the sea stretched as far as the eye could see, her beauty was truly otherworldly.

The Honda Cougar's engine made a coughing sound as it sputtered and sputtered as it rushed out of the hospital.

“kiki~”