“H-holy crap, it’s freezing out here!”
The cold in Wakkanai was far beyond anything I’d experienced in Sapporo, Otaru, or even Cape Kamui. The low temperature was bad enough on its own, but when combined with the strong winds and heavy flurries, it was like I could feel my face literally turning to ice with each successive microsecond of exposure. All of the excess body heat I’d built up on the bus was drained in no time, and now I felt chilled to my core.
I looked over to see that Ushio’s teeth were chattering too.
“S-s-so what do we do now?” she asked.
“Let’s get something to eat,” I said. “I’m so hungry, I feel like I’m about to keel over… I know there’s a ramen place nearby. You wanna just eat there?”
“Yeah, sure… I could go for absolutely anything right now, as long as it’s warm…”
“All right, let’s do it.”
We made our way to the ramen shop from the bus terminal as fast as our legs would carry us. I’d already seared the map of downtown Wakkanai into my memory on the drive up here—not that it had been difficult to do, since it wasn’t a very big place.
While it was only about 8:00 p.m., the streets were virtually abandoned, even right here outside the station. I supposed that made sense. Even if the locals were used to this kind of weather, that didn’t mean they wanted to be out and about in a raging blizzard. If you weren’t careful and got lost along the road, or tripped and fell somewhere, it might just spell your doom.
“You still with me, Ushio?” I asked.
“Y-yeah, I think so…” she said.
She was trailing a little bit behind—and she was in way better shape than I was. It only went to show how much of a toll our long journey had taken on her, not to mention the snow and hunger. That I still had a bit more energy than her was something I chalked up not to a difference in stamina but to my sheer, inborn obstinance.
I wiped the snow from my eyelashes. For a moment, I considered pulling out my travel umbrella. It was only one of those flimsy collapsible ones, so I figured it probably wouldn’t be very effective in this weather. Plus, the snow here in Wakkanai was fairly dry and powdery, so it wouldn’t make a huge difference in terms of wetness.
We made it to the ramen shop in about five minutes. It wasn’t a long walk by any means, yet it was still enough to make me feel both physically and mentally exhausted. After patting the snow off of our clothes, we stepped into the restaurant. It was a fairly cramped space, with only counter seating. There were just two customers aside from us.
After taking a quick look at the menu, we both ordered the same ramen. I got mine with fried rice on the side, while Ushio picked the gyoza. Neither of us had the energy to talk at this point, so we sat there waiting for our food in silence.
“Here y’go, kids.”
Yes… Finally, some food.
This was our first proper meal in almost twelve hours. My mouth had been watering so much in anticipation that I thought it might overflow, but I gulped it down and started ravenously slurping up ramen noodles instead.
You could tell that Ushio and I were completely famished from how fast we wolfed down our food. Finally getting to enjoy a hot supper after twelve hours trapped on a bus would have made even the most average bowl of ramen taste like heaven, and this one was definitely hitting the spot. The salty broth, the fatty sliced pork, and all of the other ingredients came together to fill my empty stomach with pure, unadulterated bliss.
I drank down every last drop of broth and didn’t leave a single grain of fried rice on my plate. Neither Ushio nor I said a single word until we were both done eating. Only then, when my belly was full and my mind was at ease, did I finally break the silence.
“Okay,” I said. “So what’s our next move from here?”
“I suppose we’ll have to find someplace to stay,” said Ushio.
“Right. From what I saw online, a lot of places close for the winter. Even the business hotels here are either far from downtown or ridiculously expensive. I could only find one real candidate that was even remotely realistic for our budget, so ideally, that’s where I’d like for us to stay, but…there’s one small problem.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s about a thirty-minute walk from here.”
Ushio grimaced.
Back in Tsubakioka, a thirty-minute walk would hardly be worth mentioning. But as we’d learned on the walk from the bus terminal here to the ramen shop, these were not exactly suitable weather conditions for a leisurely stroll around town. We might even get frostbite if we tried to make an arduous trek like that right now.
“Could we just call a cab?” asked Ushio.
“Believe me, I’d love to, but…I barely have enough money left over to cover our hotel. How much do you have on hand right now, Ushio?”
“Ten thousand yen, plus some spare change…”
“Yeah, I think we’d be cutting it a little close…”
Mmm… What are we supposed to do, then?
Obviously, we weren’t going to be making an arctic trek through the tundra or anything like that—but the cold and wind still posed a threat, even here in town. I didn’t want us to have to batter our already tired bodies any more than we needed to, let alone risk one or both of us getting frostbite.
As we sat there mulling over our options, I noticed that the other two customers who’d been sitting at the counter before we arrived—a pair of middle-aged men—were now eyeing us curiously. They leaned in and whispered to one another.
“Wonder what brings a couple o’ young folks like them ’round these parts…”
“Must have business up here or somethin’. Can’t imagine what, though.”
They were obviously talking about us. Ugh… Man, this is uncomfortable.
Judging from the look on Ushio’s face, she’d overheard this too. They must’ve been able to tell we weren’t locals based on our conversation. Now I was getting a little uneasy; perhaps we should’ve watched our words a bit more.
“Let’s go, Sakuma,” said Ushio.
“Yeah… Agreed.”
It seemed we’d just have to brave the storm.
In the end, we opted to try making the long walk to the hotel after all. Thankfully, it was right along the main road, so we didn’t have to worry about getting lost or anything, at the very least.
Braving the ongoing blizzard was another story.
I was cold. Maybe colder than I’d ever been. Even with gloves on, I could feel my fingers growing numb as my extremities slowly iced over. And my clothes weren’t doing much to block out the wind either, so every gust sapped even more of my stamina.
“Huff, huff…”
I felt like a mountaineer making a push for the summit in the dead of winter. It hadn’t even been that long since we left the ramen shop, and already I could hear Ushio’s breathing growing haggard beside me. I wiped my wet face with my sleeve, uncertain if it was sweat, snot, or snowmelt at this point.