Chapter 218 – Winter Trip!
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">With winter break upon us, our entire apartment was packed up to leave for the rest of the month. Tsukiji University''s break was longer than other schools. It went from the fifth of December to the second of January. Essentially a whole month away from school.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">Mio and I were in the middle of packing in the morning when Casey came into our room. She had two suitcases and a duffel bag behind her.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">"A ski trip, huh? How nice! I wanna go, too!" Casey pouted.</font></font>
<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">"It''s an open invitation if you can stille," Mio teased, knowing full well that she couldn''t.</font></font>
"Ugh. I wish! I want to hang out with you girls more, but my parents insisted on a trip to Ennd. I''ll bring you guys back some souvenirs, so bring me something back from Sapporo. Oh! How about one of those super cute mascots? I saw some up there dressed in full winter gear," she eximed.
"No promises, but I''ll keep an eye out," I promised.
Right then, Casey''s phone rang. It was her parents. We each gave her a goodbye hug, and she also went to give Kairi one before leaving. Not long after, Tsubaki came to pick Kairi up. We said our goodbyes to them, too, and were ourselves thest ones to leave.
Once we''ve packed our things, I drove us back home. The familiar pair of Hatsumi''s shoes was in the foyer when we entered.
"We''re home!" Mio shouted next to me.
"Ah! Wee back, you two!" Hatsumi called back from above and rushed down to meet us, looking giddier than a child on Christmas morning. "Guess what, guess what? Your dependable, beloved big sister survived the boot camp! I earned that raise like a champ. Which means… I think I deserve a little reward from my little sister?"
When Hatsumi puckered her lips, Mio hip-bumped me forward into her. I fell into my sister''s arms, and she gave me a lot more than just a tongueshing. Her hands grabbed handfuls of my butt, and we were full on making out with Mio watching lecherously from behind.
"Congratz, S… Sis… but you know… we have… mmph… a train… <i>chuup</i>… to catch…" I said between breaths.
"Oh, I know." Hatsumi parted from me atst and pouted. "I wanted to spend more time with my dear little Saeko, but Kana beat me to it. Are you two leaving now?"
"Yeah. We''ll take lots of pictures for you!" Mio promised.
After we dropped off some stuff, Hatsumi drove us to the station to see us off. It was her way of being in my presence for as long as possible.
"Bye, you two! Have fun and stay safe! Don''t stray from the paths, alright? Stay with your friend who''s familiar with the area!" Hatsumi waved to us as our train departed.
"Hatsumi knows we''re subi, right?" Mio chuckled.
"That''s just her being a worried sister." I sighed.
When we arrived at the station in Tokyo, Kana was there with his own belongings for the trip. However, it wasn''t the Shinkansen we were taking. Color me surprised, because there wasn''t a faster mode of travel than the bullet train.
Kana hailed us a cab to another train station somewhat less crowded than the station that serviced the Shinkansen. There were a lot more foreigners, which I assumed were tourists, at this station.
As we got our tickets and boarded the train, it dawned on me that this one took a more scenic route through the countryside. And, if it didn''t get any better…
"Wait, we have a private cabin?!" I gaped at the modestly spacious interior furnished with two bunk beds, a couch on the opposite side, and a pull-out table. A closetpartment beside the door allowed us to store our suitcases and belongings during the trip.
"I told you my parents went a little overboard," Kana said embarrassedly.
Usually, people heading to Sapporo by train took the Hakuto line from Hokuto to Hakodate, then change lines to get from Hakodate to Sapporo, for a total trip time of about eight hours. Since we''re not taking the the Shinkansen, this would be a somewhat long train ride.
"Whooo!" Mio jumped t onto the couch and sprawled out on it.
Very soon, the train departed and we were on our way to Hokkaido. In the meantime, the three of us went over some brochures and videos over what there was to do in Rusutsu.
"Hana''s going to skip school for this trip. She''s going to wait for Yumi to finish up some work and get to Rusutsu by tomorrow morning. What about Hhan and Kaede?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah. Hhan said she''d meet up with Kaede a littleter, then take the Shinkansen in the afternoon to Sapporo," Mio exined.
"Which means they''ll arrive at Sapporo in the evening, too. By luck, we''ll all get there around the same time." Kana checked his watch and noted the time.
Since we were taking the scenic route to Sapporo, it would be about thirteen hours before we arrived.
"Fuck, I''ll be back. I gotta take a piss!" Mio bolted out the door, leaving me and Kana behind.
My body was getting anxious.
"Kana~ I''ve been having sex with Koga so much that his dick is all I can think about. Can you mold the shape of my pussy to suit yours again?" I grinded against my cute boyfriend.
"Have you always been so needy?" Kana asked, obliging me with a kiss.
As the two of us were exploring each other''s mouths, Mio returned from the bathroom. She stared at us for a good split second, then threw herself on top of us. The weight of her body knocked all of us down on the cramped bed originally meant for one person. I held both my boyfriend and girlfriend, taking turns kissing them. Our hands groped each other''s bodies and slowly shifted to theher regions. I felt Mio''s wet cunt, and Kana''s rock hard dick.
We had sex all throughout the trip, stopping only to take a piss. At some point, a train employee came through and knocked on our door asking if we wanted lunch. Mio threw the door open to the woman''s horror while Kana was in the middle of railing me. She bought a couple of drinks and snacks, then shut it right in her face beforeing back to us.
Atst, we arrived to the extreme winter chill of Sapporo which froze me to the bones. Mio and Kana, too. They were shivering like crazy. We spent a few minutes scrambling to grab our winter jackets from the suitcases. The instant Mio and I put ours on, our body heat took care of the rest and warmed us up.
Kana on the other hand…
"W-W-Why are you guys fine… and I''m not?" Kana asked through chattering teeth.
"Haha! Hhan was right. Good thing we got her to help us, right?" Mio nudged me.
"No kidding. I mean, it''s still cold. I''m just barely feeling it!" I eximed in awe.
We sandwiched Kana while waiting for a cab. Thankfully, the car that picked us up had the heater sting at max. It was another hour ride and a half drive, but since we couldn''t have sex in front of our driver, the three of us passed out. We snapped awake as soon as the car lurched to a stop in front of the hotel atst.
"Wow! Hold on. I gotta see this." Mio shedded her jacket tounch into the sky.
"Mio, wait!" I cried.
"It''s okay. You go with her. I''ll get us checked in," Kana suggested.
I left our stuff with him and flew after Mio. The biting cold got worse with every meter I went up. Part of me was afraid I''d lose Mio to the darkness, but the skies were as clear as diamonds. A million stars twinkled back at me. Once I caught up to Mio, her eyes were glued to the three mountain peaks of Rusutsu, West Mountain, East Mountain, and Mount Is. It was almost like looking at the pyramids of Giza, except nketed in snow.
For a brief moment, I was back to the school Okinawa trip with Mio, when we were in the eye of the storm together.
"You know, I''m always thinking how much of this I''d miss out if I didn''t trust you back then. I was a selfish bitch. Meh, probably still am a selfish bitch. But, man… Am I d I ended up choosing you," Mio said.
"That makes two of us. It''s only been a year and a half, too. We have so much more to experience. Until then… I''m starting to feel c-c-cold again… Can we go b-back already?" I asked, tugging on her hand.
"Kahaha! Yeah, alright. We still got some time before Hhan and Kaede get here, right? Let''s check out our pad!" She grabbed ahold of my hand and flew us back down.
We entered in awe of the tall Westin hotel. All of the tables and chairs in the lobby was upied by guests, enjoying their quiet early evening or returning from a recent ski trip. A wire statue of a deer and meticulously cared for garden weed us at the entrance. Kana was checking us in at the front desk. When he picked up the key cards, waved to us, and beckoned to the elevators.
It took us to the 15th floor, the perfect height for a view of the frosty whitendscape. Right through the door was amon living space. A couch and several chairs faced a television and a room-wide window offered glimpse of Rusutsu, but it was too dark to see anything. To the left was a small pantry area, no stovetop or appliances of course, only a mini-fridge, coffee machine and free packages, and cabs to store some stuff— of which we intended to fill with snacks after a trip to the nearby convenience storeter. Stairs along the wall led up to a loft with two rooms, one room containing two beds, another containing a single bed, and adjoined by a shared bathroom.
"Not as swank as the inn at Okinawa, but damn. Now for the real test offort— hup!" Mio jumped onto the bed and bounced once before sinking into the overly cushionyforters.
"God… I appreciate my parents, but I don''t want to imagine how much this cost…" Kana looked sick to his stomach until I put a hand his shoulder.
"Your parents said you earned it, right? Enjoy it! We get this amazing vacation thanks to you," I said.
"Saeko''s right!" Mio sat up, grinning from ear to ear. "<i>As thanks,</i> maybe we can spoil you all night long~"
Kana gulped. We were about to go for another round until Mio''s phone rang. Her eyes lit up when she answered it.
"Hhan and Kaede''s here!" Mio eximed excitedly.
They came up to meet us, wrapped head to toe in winter gear. Kaede, however, unfortunate as she was, had put on maybe tenyers of hoodies to ount for not having the right snow jacket.
"And I thought <i>I </i>looked like a marshmallow," I snickered, and Mio and Kana were also holding back theirughter.
"Hokkaido… is colder than I thought… I already want to go home!" Kaede pouted.
"Yahoo! Thanks for the invite, Kana. Long time, huh?" Hhan shed a teasing smile.
"Y-Yeah…" Kana deted, recalling when he was also a girl and got roped into Hhan''spensated dating scene.
We helped them bring their stuff in. Kaede didn''t have much other than a duffel bag of clothes, herptop, and a drawing tabllet. On the flipside, Hhan was stacked. A bag for her personal snowboard, equipment in another duffel bag, an d a suitcase full of clothes to look cute.
"Anyone else wanna go down to get some snacks from the konbini?" Mio asked, zipping up her jacket alongside Hhan.
"I don''t want to go out anymore! Can you bring me back some instant ramen and hot tea?" Kaede pleaded to us.
"A, Kahi." Hhan pinched her cheek. "I might as well buy you a snow jacket while we''re down there."
"Uu… sowwy for not being pwepawed…" She groaned regretfully.
The four of us put our jackets back on and descended the hotel. Across the street was a long footpath lined with restaurants, amenities, a bath house, and several more hotels to amodate all the tourism Rusutsu received. After ying in the snow and mountains all day, people rewarded themselves with a nice hot dinner and stroll across the quiet, snow-dusted streets.
Right as we entered the convenience store, Mio disappeared in search of all things spicy like a honeybee to a flower. As the healthy young adults that we were, we made the terrible choice of picking a bunch of junk food and soft drinks.
"Say, Hhan?" I came up to her as she browsed some candy. "Have you been to Rusutsu before?"
"Oh, yeah! Parents pulled me along when I was in elementary school school. Been to a lot of ces since then," Hhan said nostalgically.
"Do you happen to know of any shrines around here that might have gotten buried in snow?"
"Hmm… Hard to say. Avnches are rare, but not impossible. Even if there were shrines up here, chances are the ones not buried are constantly being tended to and the ones not are likely buried ten feet in snow up in the mountains," she exined.
That deep, huh? Like finding a needle in a haystack. Finding Uta''s uncle was going to be a lot harder than I thought. Hopefully his shrine was among the ones tended to. I saw a couple of tiny shrines boxes on the way back to the hotel, but my resonating ring was probably Uta telling me they weren''t it.
"Kaede, we''re back!" I announced on our way in.
"Yo, I got your hot tea and ramen." Mio handed Kaede her bag of food.
"Uh, Mio? Did you buy me the Samyang fire noodles by mistake?" Kaede asked, gazing into the bag.
When I followed her eyes, it was ck packaging. The nuclear kind. I shot a re at Mio.
"Ahaha! Don''t worry, Kahi." Hhan took the stic and gave her another, including a separate bag with a puffier winter jacket. "This one is actually for me. Mio just thought it would be funny to y a prank on you. Oh! Here''s your jacket, too!"
The five of us spent the entire night catching up about college and life. I felt like I was in high school again, staying up with friends and just talking. Before anyone of us knew it, we had fallen right to sleep in themon room couch.
Morning came with Hana and Yumi making a loud, but not an unwee arrival. Ever the excited one, Mio went downstairs to y with them first while the others were only just getting up.
"Nngh… You go on ahead, Saeko… I need a few more minutes," Kana groaned, pulling the sheets over his head.
I nced over to the other couch. Kaede was balled up in both her new jacket and bedsheets. Hhan was up, lying on her belly and texting rapidly into her phone. She saw me staring and waved.
"I''ll catch up with you guys in a bit. Get ready for some snowboarding action— on the kiddie slope though," Hhan said.
"Guess I''ll go make sure they don''t tire themselves out too soon." I got up, got changed, and headed down to an unbelievable sight.
There was enough snow in the field surrounding the hotel that the early risers started a snowball fight to kick off the morning. The first thought that crossed my mind was— I wanted to go back upstairs.
"Uwwuooogghh! It''s an all out war!" Hana roared, flinging rapidfire snowballs all over the ce and knocking every poor human out.
"Hana, calm down! It''s not that serious—" I got nailed in the face.
"Ha! Now I shall im the mantle of queen. Bow before me— pwoof!" The pink-haired trickster took a snowball to the back of the head and stumbled forward a few steps.
It was Mio who had dealt the blow from above. She had in her hand another ball, throwing it up and down.
"Oi, that''s a cheap shot from up there!" Hana tantrummed.
"All''s fair in love and war! That''s the saying, right?" Mio asked me to make sure.
"As long as I''m not the one getting pummeled." I shrugged, reaching down to ball up a snowball of my own.
"Well, then. I hope y''all don''t mind if I tap into my dryad powers!" She sprouted tentacles from her back to make a ball out of.
Mio and I dove for cover because the sky wasn''t safe. We hid behind a tree under a hailstorm of snowballs thrown at hyperspeeds.
"There I was upstairs, wondering where you all were. Of course, you''re down here doing a snowball fight. What are you guys? Children?" Kana was making the trek over to us.
"Kana, don''te over! Hana''s on a rampage!" I yelled.
My warning came toote, and the machine gunner over there didn''t care. A volley of snowballs pummeled Kana into the ground, quickly burying him underneath a mound of snow.
"KANA!" Mio and I cried.
"Hahahahaha! Merely a casualty of war! No one is safe from my wrath!" Hana bellowed maniacally.
Mio opened half a dozen portals around us, all of which connected directly to Hana on the other side. She shot me a look and nodded, and I knew what she was suggesting. We gathered up a bunch of snowballs by the time Hana nced over her shoulders and noticed.
"Eh? Wait—"
"Take this bitch down!" Mio chucked the first ball.
We an unceasingly volley of snowballs through the portals, pelting Hana from all sides until she was buried in all four feet, five inches of her height.
"I… I give…" Hana, from god knows where, punched through the snow and waved a tiny white g in surrender.
Mio and I pelted that in snow, too.
"Ufufu~ It''s always so lively when you three are together." Yumi giggled from a bench and leisurely sipping coffee away from the fight.
We built a snowman monument on top of Hana as a dedication to our victory until Hhan came out. Kaede was sluggishly following behind her, looking none too pleasesed. Hhan herself was holding the bag that contained her snowboard, dressed in some goggles and a helmet, too.
"I managed to get Kahi out of bed. So, who''s ready to shred some snow?" Hhan beamed.
"Me!" Mio shouted, joined by Hana who popped her head out.
The two of them were excited all the way there, even as we were renting the gear. Excited, until we actually reached our destination. A rtively t field with slopes not much taller than a human being. There were mostly children around with their parents supervising intentlly. Mio and Hana''s smiles flipped upside down.
"What? You guys really didn''t think I''d take you to the mountains?" Hhan doubled over inughter.
"A. Come on!" Mio frowned.
"Yeah! Where''s the fun if I ain''t risking breaking my neck?" Hana shook her fists.
"Do you guys even know <i>how</i> to snowboard?" I asked.
"How hard can it be? You just… hup!" She got herself to a slope and tried to get down it.
Instead, Mio started tipping over. iling her arms made it worse— then she face-nted into the snow. A few kids zoomed by on their boards,ughing at her.
"Ugh… We''ll see who''sughing when I''m in the mountains!" Mio lifted her face and yelled.