It was finally the 25th of December—Christmas Day. Asahi and Fuyuka were having dinner together, as they had promised the night prior. The table had a lavish smorgasbord worthy of being called a feast: roast chicken that they had picked up at the supermarket, roast beef, cream stew, and prosciutto salad. It had taken them a considerable amount of time and effort to cook their dinner, but it had been more than worth it in the end. Every single dish turned out to be exquisite.
“Wait a moment, please,” Fuyuka said as she left the apartment to return to her room. They had just finished washing the dishes, but it appeared as though Fuyuka still had something planned for the night. Asahi found this peculiar. Now that they were on winter break, they didn’t have to worry about schoolwork for a while. In other words, there was no particular reason for Fuyuka to stay any longer than was necessary.
Asahi stared blankly around his apartment. There was practically a large question mark hovering over his head as he contemplated what Fuyuka had up her sleeve.
After a while, the door to his apartment opened once again. Brisk footsteps echoed through the hall, followed by a voice that was just as lively. “Let’s go onto the balcony, Asahi!” Fuyuka called out to him.
“H-Huh?”
“No time to waste! A beautiful scene awaits us!” she joyously exclaimed as she blew past him into the living room and opened the curtains in one swift motion. It was already pitch black outside, but the veil of darkness was thwarted by the occasional inkling of moonlight peeking through the clouds. The hazy illumination of the street lights and houses, in addition to the bustling neon lights of the distant cityscape, punctuated the horizon. The otherwise inky canvas of the sky was coated in an abundance of colors. Among all the vibrant hues, one in particular stood out—the sharp, dazzling white of snow.
“You weren’t kidding... It’s breathtaking...” Asahi murmured, unable to contain his admiration for the astonishing scenery. Fuyuka seemed to be satisfied with his reaction, indicated by her mouth naturally curling up into a smile.
They both stood at the balcony and gazed up at the night sky. Everything, as far as the eye could see, was covered in a thick blanket of snow. It provided quite the intimate atmosphere for the couples walking about the city. Perhaps God himself was on the lovebirds' side this Christmas, bestowing upon them a gift from above, or so Asahi thought. Given the heavy snowfall, it was not exactly an outlandish assumption.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Fuyuka asked.
“Yeah. It’s amazing,” Asahi agreed. “Didn’t the weather forecast say that it was going to be a white Christmas this year or something?
“They said it would be the first one in somewhere around a dozen years,” she replied.
“Huh, for real? Go figure.”
“You don’t sound all that excited.”
“Well, it did snow just last year, so...”
“It’s snowing on Christmas this year. That makes it that much more special.”
“Does it now?” he questioned, seemingly unconvinced.
“Yes,” she answered. Her caramel colored eyes sparkled in excitement as she returned her attention to the unique cloak of white. Fuyuka was utterly enraptured by the snowscape around her, paying no heed to the fact that it was also one of the year's coldest nights.
I guess girls like this sort of romantic setting, Asahi thought. He pondered if Fuyuka’s affection toward the snow was a result of the romance novels she had a habit of reading.