Ski Trip Day 3- In The Setting Sun

Close to an hour must have passed.

If night fell and absolutely no one came to rescue us…

“It looks like we might be spending the night right here,” Touko-san said, as if reading my mind.

“I explicitly told Kazumi-san which course I was going to search before I headed out, so it shouldn’t come to that, but…” I trail off, feeling a growing wave of anxiety myself.

…If I knew this would happen, I should have kept some chocolate on me…

Whenever I went skiing with my family as a kid, my father always made a point to ensure I carried a chocolate bar. He used to tell me, “If anything ever happens, chocolate is high in calories, so it’ll help you endure at least a night.” But once I became a university student, I had completely forgotten all about that piece of wisdom.

“It looks like our mobile phones are still dead too,” Touko-san noted, pulling out her smartphone. I had double-checked mine countless times already. It was still strictly out of service.

“If the weather shifts, the signal might reach us, though.”

“If night falls while we’re stuck like this, the temperature is going to plummet even further.”

Faced with Touko-san’s worry, I finally voiced a certain method I had been mulling over for a while. “If the bitter chill gets too intense, please tell me. Before our bodies freeze completely, I’ll attempt to strike a fire.”

“How?” Touko-san asked, looking entirely bewildered.

“I’ll dismantle my smartphone. The voltage of a smartphone’s lithium-ion battery is 5V. If I run a thin wire or a piece of foil directly across the contacts to cause a short circuit, it should generate enough heat to ignite something like newspaper sheets.”

I laid out the method I had been calculating. A standard dry cell battery only outputs about 1.5V, yet you can still strike a spark by running it through foil. A smartphone’s lithium-ion battery would definitely be capable of it. The real hurdle, however, was that it would completely ruin the battery…

“There’s no need to go that far. After all, if your phone is destroyed, we won’t be able to call for help even if the signal does return.”

“But Touko-san, you’ve been exposed to the freezing cold far longer than I have. I’m worried you won’t be able to endure it.”

“I’ll be fine, really. And besides…” Touko-san gently leaned her weight against my chest. “I was just thinking that if it all ends like this, being held within your embrace isn’t a bad way to go at all. It feels quite happy, even.”

“W-What on earth are you spouting, Touko-san?!” I panicked instantly. “Don’t go spouting such morbid, unlucky nonsense about dying alone! I absolutely refuse to let that happen!”

“In that case, would you prefer to come along with me?”

“If it comes to that, I absolutely will!”

“Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad either. Just the two of us… completely undiscovered by anyone until the spring thaw arrives… No, if the two of us could just remain together like this for eternity…”

Meticulously twisting her head back toward me as she spoke, she pressed her lips against mine. The softness of Touko-san’s lips sent a profound sensation rushing through me. Answering her touch, I locked my arms around her body, pulling her tight against my chest. As I held her tight, her frame yielded softly against mine, as if aligning herself completely with my embrace. Just as I felt a sudden heat rising through both of our bodies—

Bam, bam, bam, bam!

A violent pounding rattled the cabin door. The exact fraction of a second I threw off the newspaper sheets shielding us, the door burst wide open.

“Sister! Isshiki-san!”

The one who came diving into the room was Honoka. The moment her eyes locked onto our figures, she lunged straight toward Touko-san.

“Sister! I’m so glad you’re safe! I’m sorry! I’m so incredibly sorry!” Honoka wailed, locking Touko-san in a tight embrace as tears actively streamed down her face.

Touko-san looked thoroughly flustered for a brief split second, but she immediately softened her expression, addressing Honoka gently. “It’s alright now, Honoka. I know for a fact that it wasn’t your fault.” She ran a soothing hand over Honoka’s hair.

Eventually, Touko-san turned her gaze back to me, speaking with absolute composure as if nothing unusual had transpired at all. “It looks like our rescue party has formally arrived. Let us head out, Yuu-kun.”

The moment we stepped outside, we found that while the winds remained intensely fierce, the snow had ceased completely. Apparently, the storm had actually broken about twenty minutes prior. (Stranded inside a pitch-black cabin under a makeshift newspaper poncho, the two of us had been completely oblivious to the change.) Once the word spread, the entire club had mobilized to search for us, focusing their efforts around the forest trail I had headed toward.

Meika-chan was waiting just outside the cabin as well. “Thank goodness. You’re both completely unharmed,” she said, a massive sigh of relief washing over her face.

“I am so sorry, Meika-chan. To think we caused such a massive amount of trouble for you two as well.”

…Needing to be rescued by high school girls who only joined as temporary participants… I am an absolute failure of a university student. Wrapped in these self-deprecating thoughts, I offered a supporting hand to Touko-san as we navigated our way back onto the primary trail.

The moment we returned to the main forest course, my smartphone’s signal flashed back to life. I immediately dialed the number for the ski patrol, formally requesting them to dispatch a snowmobile to collect us.

The exact fraction of a second I concluded the call—

“Look at that!” Honoka shouted.

Following the direction of her finger, my eyes locked onto the horizon…

A section of the heavy clouds covering the western sky had split completely open. Piercing straight through the gap, the sun—which was right on the verge of dipping below the mountains—peeked out into view. Brilliant shafts of orange twilight beamed down, illuminating our figures. And all around us… the tree branches, which had been frozen solid by the sleet, began to glitter like an absolute display of orange electric illuminations.

Myself, Touko-senpai, Honoka, and Meika-chan. The four of us stood completely enveloped in a surreal, dreamlike halo of orange light. For a long while, we stood frozen, thoroughly captivated by the sheer beauty of nature’s artistry.

“…The jinx,” Honoka murmured under her breath. “They say that if you witness the rime ice glittering in the glow of the setting sun on the forest trail…”

Hearing her murmur made my heart skip a beat.

…Wait a minute. There are literally four of us standing here right now. Bigamy is an absolute crime…

Right then, Touko-senpai turned around squarely to face Honoka and Meika-chan.

“Thank you both so much for today. And I am truly sorry. I’ve caused an immense amount of trouble for you two.”

“No, please, don’t mention it,” Meika-chan replied politely.

“We didn’t mean to…” Honoka trailed off.

“However, through this entire ordeal, there is one boundary that has become crystal clear to me,” Touko-senpai continued firmly. “Up until now, I’ve been trying far too hard to save face and act like the bigger person, completely deceiving my own true feelings.”

Honoka, Meika-chan, and I could only stare at Touko-san with our mouths hanging wide open in absolute astonishment. What on earth was she preparing to declare?

“From this moment forward, I refuse to hold myself back. I will no longer endure in silence. Therefore, if either of you attempts to close the distance with Yuu-kun, I fully intend to use every single ounce of my strength to block you!”

Touko-senpai delivered her declaration with absolute, unflinching intensity. Honoka and Meika-chan exchanged a brief, knowing glance.

And from afar, the low rumble of an approaching snowmobile echoed through the quiet mountain.