CH 76

After arriving at the ski resort, we received the ski boards, poles, and ski wear I had reserved, each of us changed into them, and then gathered on the course.

Since it would be difficult to tell them apart if they wore goggles or knitwear with their rental ski wear, Natsuki was always accompanied by one of us.

Since all of us had some skiing experience, we decided to start skiing right away after a light break-in.

When we got on the lift, we had a fierce fight (rock-paper-scissors) over who would sit next to me, and Riko won.

“Fufufu, I guess I’ll be next to Yuuki Nii today.”

[If I didn’t throw a scissor there, I would have……kkuh.]

My sister and Natsuki looked regretful after they threw a scissor.

“Why would you say that much?”

“Yuuki Nii, you don’t have to worry about that right now ! Let’s go.”

Riko and I got on the lift together and headed up to the top. Riko is humming the whole time, which makes me wonder why she is in such a good mood.

I sense some discomfort in the air, but I don’t know what it is, so we get off the lift and start skiing after everyone is in place.

“I give you both a chance. The first one to arrive is the second. And the next person can ride next to Yuuki Nii. Then, let’s get started !”

“I won’t listen to your excuses !”

“Wait, you two !”

The moment my sister heard something strange from Riko, she start to slide as if she was rushing to follow her. Natsuki was a little late and followed them, leaving me alone.

I started to ski at my own pace while I had no idea why I was mysteriously attracting attention from the people around me. Their backs, which had been visible just a little while ago, has long since disappeared.

By the time I reached the bottom, there was Natsuki with a smug look on her face, Riko with a slightly disappointed look in her eyes, and my sister, who had completely sunk.

I was able to roughly predict the ranking.

“Come on, Yuuki kun, let’s go one more time !”

“Y-yeah. What kind of game have you been playing since a while ago….?”

Without knowing why, I kept up with the three of them all morning.

☆

After eleven o’clock, the game was called off for lunch.

Since the cafeteria would be crowded if we did not eat lunch early, we headed to the cafeteria. They each ordered ramen and curry, and began eating facing each other.

[Delicious….]

“The food at the ski resort is delicious. And since you eat it when it’s cold, it tastes even better.”

“Is this what it feels like to get a taste of home?”

“I guess so.”

Warm food is great for a body that has been cold from all the skiing. After eating the curry and ramen, taking care not to spill any of the soup, for some reason my sister got up from her seat.

What she brought back was four soft-serve ice creams, the kind of milky soft-serve ice cream often found at ski resorts.

“Shiori Nee, why did you buy enough for everyone?”

“Doesn’t it look delicious? I went to the trouble of buying enough for everyone.”

“I just got warmed up though……”

Riko raised her eyebrows and listened, and Natsuki dropped her shoulders. Seeing that, my sister just tilted her head, and I had no choice but to smile wryly. It was a moment that made me realize again that there’s something that is exquisitely missing.

“Shiori, I’ll take two of them, and you can split the other one 50-50 between Riko and Natsuki.”

“……? Well, that’s okay, but won’t it upset your stomach?”

“It’ll be fine? I think so.”

“Yuuki Nii. I’ll eat half of it and you eat the other half. The same goes for Natsuki, you eat half.”

Riko sees the exchange between me and my sister and says so the moment I hold two ice creams in my hand.

Does that mean I should eat one and a half? I looked at Natsuki and Riko’s faces and they were nodding their heads.

Since I had been told to eat first, I ate half of both of them first and then ate my portion. While I was eating my portion, I noticed that Riko and Natsuki were savoring the ice cream strangely well, but I decided not to pay attention to them.

When I managed to finish my ice cream, I was hit with a strong stomach ache. I knew this was coming, but it came so quickly that I was somewhat surprised.

“I’m sorry, it seems that this was an immediate effect. I’m going to the bathroom.”

“….? Be careful, Yuuki.”

“Then we’ll wait outside first.”

“I’m sorry, please…”

As usual, my sister was tilting her head curiously, as if she didn’t understand the cause.

Since I was getting closer and closer to my limit, I hurriedly walked towards the toilet.

☆

After holding myself up in the bathroom for a while, I rubbed my lower abdomen and started looking for the three of them. It was not a good idea to eat a lot of cold milk in winter. My stomach was getting very cold.

I found them a little farther away and started to walk away when I was suddenly approached by two college-aged women.

Excuse me, are you by yourself? We lost sight of our companions, so if you don’t mind, would you like to skate with us until we can rendezvous? ”

“No, um…….”

“Just until then, okay?”

“That’s…….”

“Let’s ski together.”

“Behind…..”

[Eh?]

I fearfully point behind them. The moment they turned around, the two of them  stopped moving as if they were frozen, and I felt a little sorry for them.

I don’t know how they noticed us, but my sister and the other three were standing with their arms crossed behind them, looking at them with a very unhappy expression on their faces.

‘”m, its……”

“What?”

“I-I’m sorry. Please take your time……”

The two were about to say something, but my sister said in a low, intimidating voice. The two of them trembled at that voice and walked away while trembling little by little.

I didn’t know what would happen if she questioned me with a voice like that either, so I made up my mind once again that it would be better not to offend these three, and I firmly resolved to make sure I wouldn’t betray them

After that, the three of them suddenly smiled and we started skating again.

☆

The afternoon brought another round of competition, that is, a continuation of the race they had just had.

Since we planned to stay at the ski resort until about 3:00 p.m., we all skied happily together several times. Riko won the last race and promised something to Natsuki and my sister.

As we started to walk off to go change, I, who had less physical strength than the three of them, was too tired to keep my feet on the ground and fell.

“Whoa.”

“Kyaaaah !”

A short voice let out, and I fell down in a way that pushed someone down. Fortunately, the snow was still soft, so we didn’t seem to have hit anything. I also seemed to have landed on my face on something soft.

I get down on all fours and apologize to the person who I had pushed down.

“I’m sorry, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you, Yuuki kun.”

“Are you in any pain?”

“I’m fine. More than that….I want you to move.”

Natsuki blushed slightly and averted her gaze as she said that.

I don’t know why she said that, so I stared at Natsuki. If I look closely, I’m holding down my hand, and I’m in a position to firmly push it down.

I looked at the situation objectively and realized what kind of position I was in, and hurriedly moved away from Natsuki.

“Yuuki Nii, you’re so bold even though we’re outside.”

“We don’t mind. Shall we do it next time?”

“What !?”

While getting Natsuki to stand up, I felt the danger of what my sister was saying and plunged into it. This was an accident and by no means did I want to do it outdoors or anything like that.

I apologized to Natsuki and headed for the locker room, hoping that my sister’s and Riko’s remarks were a joke.

By the way, when I apologized for the reason why Natsuki’s cheeks blushed, she seemed to remember what had happened earlier, and her cheeks turned red again.