So then that hoodie the girl was wearing and her eye patch with the crossed-out heart—they weren’t purple, either, but pink. These little details didn’t really matter, but Fuyumi found herself getting caught up in them anyway. Then something else occurred to her.
“Huh?” she said. “You mean there’s an ice cream shop open around here…?”
Fuyumi came to this part of town quite often, but she didn’t remember seeing anywhere that sold ice cream like the kind this girl was eating.
The girl pointed behind her with the hand that held the cone. “Yeah, right down there. It’s just a little place, but it’s got tons of flavors, and they’re all really tasty.”
“Down there? Wow, I had no idea.”
Another cold gust of wind blew. Fuyumi sneezed and brushed some snowflakes off her head. The silver-haired girl continued eating her ice cream, totally unconcerned.
“Hey… I’m sure that’s really good, but isn’t it a little cold for ice cream today?” Fuyumi asked her.
The girl thought for a moment. “Yeah, I guess. But you can only get this ice cream when it’s cold out.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“The store that sells this super-yummy ice cream is only open in winter. Once spring comes, it disappears. You won’t find it in spring, summer, or fall, no matter how hard you look. But when winter arrives, it reappears, almost like it came out of nowhere.”
Fuyumi’s heart gave a little leap. A store that sold ice cream you could buy only during the winter? The season and the kind of treat were different, but this was basically the same as in the picture book she loved so much.
This, I’ve gotta see…!
She couldn’t pass up this chance. She had to see it with her own eyes. And she wanted to try this “super-yummy” ice cream for herself.
“You said it’s just down this street here?” Fuyumi asked, her voice trembling with excitement.
The girl nodded. “That’s right. Down here. Keep heading straight, and you’ll get there eventually.”
Fuyumi thanked her and turned to look down the street, with its pale-blue streetlights. When she looked back, the strange girl had disappeared without a sound.
✦ ✦ ✦
Fuyumi walked past one streetlight after another, until the rows of houses ended and she found herself next to a park surrounded by trees.
And right at the end of that path was another light. This one came from several light bulbs hanging from the eaves of a tiny building.
As she got closer, she heard music. It was a bright, lively tune playing from a beaten-up old speaker in front of the building. Next to it was a signboard:
WINTER-ONLY ICE CREAM
“Wow, what a cute little place!”
Fuyumi clasped her hands in wonder. It looked so magical, its gleaming white walls shimmering in the nighttime. It was small, like the girl with the eye patch had said, not much bigger than a street stall or a food truck. Only one or two people could fit inside, it seemed.
“There’s no door, so…maybe you buy the ice cream outside.”
After taking a look around, Fuyumi found just one door, at the back. It was plain and unmarked, so obviously it wasn’t meant for customers. Probably a staff entrance.
Instead of a front door, there was a small window. It was covered with wooden boards, but an OPEN sign hung on one side of it, and some kind of intercom was on the other.
Below the window was a display case with plastic models of the store’s products, and above that was a cloth awning with white and pastel-colored stripes.
“I guess you choose the ice cream you want and then order it through the intercom?”
She stepped closer to the gleaming case, looking down at the colorful samples on display.
Milk, vanilla, yogurt, cheesecake, rum raisin…
Chocolate, mint, caramel, coffee…
Strawberry, raspberry…
Red bean, matcha, brown sugar syrup, sweet soy glaze…
Lemon, banana, grape, orange, pineapple…
“Ooh, I can’t decide…!”
Fuyumi’s eyes sparkled as they traced along the lines of flavors.
“Which one should I get? Chocolate’s my favorite, but maybe I should go for something simpler for my first pick, like milk or vanilla… Or maybe one of these marbled ones that combine two flavors… The raspberry-chocolate-chip one that girl was eating looked good, too…”
Then her gaze landed on the two-scoop sample. The sight of that really made her heart race. Plus, with two scoops, she could try out multiple flavors at once. Then again…
“It’d be one thing in the summer, but I don’t think I can eat that much ice cream on a day this cold.”
Somewhat regretfully, she decided to order just one scoop. After a little more thought, she made up her mind on a flavor: chocolate.
“Excuse me…,” she said, pressing the button on the intercom.
Bzzzt…
There was a staticky sound, followed by a voice that must have belonged to someone inside the store.
“Hello, hello! Welcome. May I take your order?” the voice asked in singsong.
Fuyumi couldn’t tell if the speaker was a man or a woman, but it was a perfect fit for the cheery music playing out front.
“One scoop of chocolate, please.”
“Coming right up!”
With those last words, the static on the other end of the intercom cut off abruptly.
A few minutes later…
Thunk!
Screeee…
One of the boards was moved aside, and the window slid open.