“Oh, let me do it,” Nanami said, raising her hand giddily and hopping in place. Maybe because she was wearing her pajamas, but the hopping made a lot of things shake, so to speak.
Wait, isn’t she wearing underwear? How is there still shaking? Does it just seem like it’s shaking because I’m lying down?
I had to set aside my inappropriate thoughts—it was time for breakfast. We had leftovers from dinner, but I didn’t think we had a lot. And even if we were to make something, I wasn’t sure if we had any ingredients to actually make breakfast. I felt like we were out of bread too. Hmmm, what should we do?
“It’s kind of a pain to make something, so how about we just go to the convenience store?” I suggested.
“Seriously?” Nanami let out. “I should just make something. It’ll taste better than what we’d get at the store.”
“You’re definitely right about that, but... I kind of think eating convenience store food at a time like this is a little exciting,” I confessed.
I’d actually been to the convenience store late at night a few times before, and right now, I was feeling the same kind of excitement that I’d felt then.
Wake up early, go to the convenience store, pick up some breakfast, and come back. Just thinking about it sounded like a lot of fun. There didn’t seem to be anyone outside right now either. Or maybe it was less about the convenience store and more of just me wanting to take a morning walk in untouched, fresh snow.
“How about we make a walk out of it? My parents probably aren’t getting back quite yet either,” I said.
Nanami seemed to think about the question for a moment, then crawled on top of me with a groan. Because she was in her pajamas, her body seemed to fit mine more closely than before. She folded her upper body over onto mine and lay on my chest, then looked up at me and said, “That sounds kinda nice. Let’s do it.”
I grinned and nodded. I felt like we were about to go do something naughty. Nanami, too, was grinning back at me. We really did look like we were planning some evil scheme.
Now that that was decided, we had to get ready. First step was to change into daytime clothes. We decided that Nanami would change in my room, while I changed in the living room.
Since I was going to wear a coat over everything, I decided not to be too selective and pulled on a plain shirt and pants. Nanami was taking a bit more time; she was probably putting on makeup—though she still came out of my room relatively quickly. Her coat was hung up elsewhere, so she was wearing a normal shirt and a long skirt.
It was more everyday clothes, and there was something about seeing her this way that I liked very much.
Once we were ready we stepped outside, the cold air immediately piercing our exposed skin. Inside it was slightly chilly, but outside was a whole new level of cold; so cold that our skin was taut, cheeks stinging slightly, and even emotionally we felt cleaner somehow. Although the pain was more like a slight prickle, the chilly air—so entirely different from what it had been in summer—made us realize that winter had, in fact, arrived. It had been cold last night, too, but somehow the morning felt even more so.
“Jeez, it’s so cold,” Nanami wailed. “Yoshin, let’s hold hands.”
“Yeah, but then your other hand will feel cold. Here, use this glove,” I offered.
“You were using this yesterday too, weren’t you? I’m glad.”
Well of course I’m using it; it’s something you gave me, I thought as I handed her the glove she’d gifted me for my birthday.
It was slightly cliché, but Nanami put my glove on one hand and held my hand with the other. We entwined our fingers so that our hands would warm up...though I guess we had held hands this way even in the summer too.
Right now I was wearing the scarf, gloves, hat, and socks that Nanami had given me. The shoes were the pair that my parents had gifted me as well. Was this how game characters felt when they equipped all of their most powerful in-game armor and weapons, except in real life? I mean, that was how invincible I felt: that even in this world of stark white and silver there was nothing to be afraid of.
“Getting out early to step around in the snow is pretty neat,” Nanami said. “By the time I usually wake up my dad’s already shoveled it all.”
“True. Usually, it’s just annoying when it gets piled up, but today it looks really pretty. The morning light makes everything sparkle,” I added.
On the count of three, Nanami and I stepped onto the fresh snow, our feet making that unique squeaking sound one could hear in wintertime. There was a blue sky above us with white clouds that reflected the sunlight, and the air, as we walked through it, felt somehow both clear and tense.
“It’s cold, but the air feels nice and cool,” Nanami said.
“Snowy mornings are actually pretty neat, huh? Since there aren’t many people up yet, we get to have this all to ourselves.”
We were only going to the convenience store nearby, but because the snow had covered up the street, I almost had the illusion that our path continued on forever.
Experiencing such a drastic change of scenery overnight was something we could only enjoy in winter...though I knew shoveling snow later was going to be a real chore.
“I’m gonna have to shovel snow,” I muttered.
“Can I help?” Nanami piped up.
“No, it’ll be okay. I’ll do it with my dad. We’ve got a snowblower and a snowmelter,” I replied.
Although even if we did have machines, we still needed to do the more minute tasks by hand. If my dad and I did it together we would probably be able to finish it fairly quickly, though. Plus if it was only this much snow, it shouldn’t take that much time at all. If that were the case, then maybe I’d be able to do it all before my parents even came home.