In its stead, though, we were greeted by a light that nearly dazzled us. A light so intense it was almost as bright as the stars we saw in Hawaii.
“Wow, everything’s super shiny,” I let out.
“Super, super bright. Almost like it’s daytime,” Nanami returned.
We sounded overly dramatic, but every single one of the lights that had been off during the day was now lit up, making the place so bright that it was hard to believe it was actually nighttime. It almost looked brighter than it was during the day. Though I probably only thought that because our surroundings were still dark.
“It’s pretty, huh?” I whispered.
“It really is. But it’s pretty crowded now, so let’s stick together and not get separated,” Nanami insisted.
“I don’t think we can get any closer than this, though?”
“Not true!” Nanami replied, sticking herself to me like glue. With practically no space between us, though, it actually became a little bit difficult for us to walk. In the end, we decided that it was probably better to hold hands than to link arms. With too many people around, sticking together too closely would probably make us feel pretty cramped.
The things that were on sale at the stalls weren’t any different from what we saw last time, but the simple fact that all the holiday lights were on gave the place an entirely different feel.
We walked slowly, going along with the flow of the crowd so as not to get squished by the waves of visitors. As we studied the crowd, we discovered that there were as many different ways to enjoy the event as there were people around us.
People buying items from the shops, people chatting with the vendors, people talking while holding up their cameras and possibly livestreaming their visit, people taking selfies with their friends with the illumination in the background...
I see, so these are all the different ways that you can enjoy something like this. Given that I was still thinking about how one was to make the most of Christmas, the various examples all around us were a helpful resource for me.
As Nanami and I continued walking, we reached the spot where we had reunited with Yuki-chan the previous day. I guess Hitoshi had also been talking about mulled wine here too.
Mulled wine, huh...?
“Do you want something warm to drink, to fight off the cold?” I suggested.
“Oooh, sounds good. What should we have? Shall we go for some wine?” Nanami asked, grinning.
“No, we shall not. Let’s try the hot chocolate instead.”
“Darn. Here I was, thinking I was gonna be served alcohol and have you take me home...”
Like I would ever do that...though I guess I am going to take her home with me, in a sense. Though I feel like that’s not quite what Nanami means.
There were stalls here that sold a variety of hot chocolate, from simple ones to ones with gorgeous decorations. The decorated ones cost quite a bit more, but their visual appeal seemed to be a hit for those wanting to take photos for their socials.
“Should we go for the cute one, since we’re here?” I suggested.
“Oh, I dunno... It’s kinda pricey. We can just get a normal one,” Nanami said, giving a very practical response. I certainly didn’t mind the normal one, but I assumed girls favored cute things. Nanami’s decision was kind of unexpected.
Actually, no. Nanami doesn’t really take photos for social media anyway.
“You don’t really do stuff like that, do you? You know, like, take pics for sharing and stuff,” I remarked.
“Ah, I mean, they’re totally cute, but I don’t really do social media. So I guess I don’t really see the need to buy things just because they look pretty,” she explained.
“So that’s why it’s fine even if we don’t get the cute one,” I guessed.
“Right. I’m sure we’ll have different expenses that’ll come up in the future, so I should try to save money where I can. Though if it’s something I really want I won’t think twice about getting it.”
Wow, she sounds just like my mom. I’m kind of floored. We sounded less like high school students dating and more like adults who were already married, but her logic made perfect sense. I certainly didn’t have preferences either way, so I decided to go for the simpler version and bought two servings, handing one to Nanami. I wanted to be the one to buy these, so I politely declined Nanami’s offer to pay her share.
This was one of those things that was really debatable, but in this case, I wanted to pay because it was kind of like my gift to her. It wasn’t as though I was paying for things all the time, after all. That was probably why, when I gave her the drink, Nanami offered to get the next one. We probably felt the same way about this issue.
The drink we got looked like what it was: chocolate in liquid form. It was in a paper cup, and the contrast between the white container and the brown drink was striking. Under a winter sky that managed to chill me to the core, I could practically feel the radiating heat of the drink through the cup. Steam wafted endlessly from the hot chocolate, like smoke from a campfire.
Since it seemed dangerous to try to drink this in the middle of a crowd, we moved toward the large illuminated structure in the center of the venue. It was a triangular object that lit up its surroundings with yellow light. In front of it was a stage, where groups of girls and various couples stood to take selfies one by one with the object in the background.
We watched the people taking pictures as we sipped our drinks.
“It’s my first time trying this. It’s pretty sweet,” I commented.
“Yeah, I thought it’d be just like hot cocoa, but it’s kind of different. Maybe a little more bitter?” Nanami suggested.
I blew on the drink a few times before bringing my lips to the hot liquid. A nearly searing heat spread throughout my mouth, the scent of chocolate wafting into my nose. When I swallowed, I could feel the heat of the drink travel through my throat down to my stomach.
I truly felt like my body was warming up from the inside. If I drank too quickly I might burn my mouth, but the heat of it was really doing wonders in sheltering my body from the winter chill.
“Shoot, I should’ve blown on the drink and then given it to you,” Nanami muttered, pouting a bit.
“I guess it’s a bit too late for that, huh?” I said. I wondered, though, if it wasn’t difficult for us to do that with a drink. Given that it was liquid, it wasn’t really possible to feed it to each other either.
Nanami then held her cup in both hands and started blowing on it with more determination, her lips still in a pout. She looked as though she was trying to make up for not having done it for my drink earlier.
I followed suit, cooling down my drink before taking another sip. This time, I managed to get a bit more of the scent and flavor of the chocolate, along with its slight bitterness. Maybe because I had gotten used to the temperature, but I was able to actually taste the drink more. The smooth texture of the hot chocolate itself did a lot to bring out its rich sweetness.
I couldn’t help letting out a sigh. It was so funny how eating hot foods could make you do that—though maybe it wasn’t really a sigh, so to speak.
Precisely in that moment, though, Nanami also let out a sigh. She and I looked at each other...and laughed.
“Speaking of chocolate,” Nanami began, looking down at her hot chocolate and then bringing the cup back up to her lips. Did she recall a memory of her and something about chocolate, maybe?
It turned out, though, that she wasn’t thinking about her past, but the future.