Chapter 219


    Suffice to say, snowboard training wasn''t going well. For all of us. Hhan was doing her damned best to instruct us how to ride properly. Starting at the kiddie slope was for our safety, and thank god we relented to it. Because…


    "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—"


    Kana and I watched Hana blow past us at high speeds. People dove out of the way to avoid getting hit, and she mmed into a tree. The impact shook snow loose from the branches and buried her underneath a mound. A group of kids gathered around,ughing and pointing.


    "Hana!" Hhan slid next to the speedster and deftly grinded to a halt to start excavating her out. "Is she okay?!"


    "Hana''s a subus, too. She can take a bit of pain," I exined.


    We helped Hhan dig Hana out. Like I expected, she was perfectly fine. Her eyes were spinning and looking a bit wobbly.


    "Uwaahhh… I think I lost some brain cells…" Hana said.


    "Ah, you didn''t have any to begin with!" Mio, who still had the snowboard attached to her feet, gingerly flew to the ground using her wings.


    "Mio, what did I say about cheating?" Hhan scolded her.


    "Crashing hurts! If I have wings, why can''t I use ''em?" she asked, throwing her arms out in exasperation.


    "Hmm. It''s just that if you rely on them that much, it you won''t really be learning… Look at Kana. He''s getting the hang of it." Hhan pointed to Kana who was gliding down to us with amateur ease.


    "You''re giving me too much credit. I''m still making a lot of mistakes!" Kana rubbed the back of his head.


    "I think it helps that you used to skate between elementary and middle school. No surprise you''re picking up faster than us," I said.


    We went up the slopes to try again, leaving Hana to recover from dazed state alone. Most of the afternoon was spent gliding down short distances. Hhan was a great teacher, it''s just… We weren''t good students.


    "Awawawa! Me and snow don''t really mix—!" Kaede iled her arms wildly before facenting.


    "Kahaha! At this rate, we''re just making snow angels!" Mio cackled.


    "Come on, Mio. Trying to me!" I was able to slide with some control as long as the slope wasn''t steep.


    Mio hesitated, like she was afraid of making a fool of herself. Hhan offered some words of encouragement and seemed to get through to her. I waited as my girlfriend psyched herself up, then slowly slid down the slope towards me.


    "You''re doing it!" I cheered.


    "I am! I''m doing it! Ahah! Holy shit. Alright, how do I stop though?" Mio asked on the way down.


    "Bend your knees ande around on it! Toes facing the direction you''re sliding!" Hhan instructed from the top.


    Mio started swerving left and right, picking up speed instead of slowing down.


    "It ain''t working! I''m going faster— aahhhhh!" She was on a crash course towards me.


    "M-Mio? You''re going to crash into me! Mi— oof!"


    Mio mmed into me, and we both hit the snow. My head was spinning. I was pretty sure I saw heaven over the horizon, too.


    "You two okay?" Hhan asked as she slid up to us.


    "I didn''t use my wings…" Mio replied with her face in my chest.


    "Don''t worry. We still have the next three days." She pulled out her phone to snap a picture of our unfortunate position. "For now, it looks like everyone''s pooped. Wanna take a dip in the hot springs?"


    Everyone began to pack their things to return our equipment.


    "Mama, what''s that?" a child asked their mother.


    I nced back to see a kid kneeling in front of a small pool of ckish water, like someone spilled a bottle to the ground. It looked weird in the sea of white snow. Someone was probably just ying a joke on them. I ignored it and followed after Hhan and Mio, who were both shouting for me to hurry up.


    Farther down along the boulevard that our hotel was on, was a family-run bath house that had been operating for over a century and a half. We got in before the early evening rush to enjoy a much needed soak, with the added bonus view of two of Rusutsu''s snowy mountains.


    "Ahhh. Hot springs feel the best after being in the cold for so long," Kaede said, sinking into the water until only the upper half of her head remained.


    "You said it…" Hana floated past us on her back.


    "Hana, was it really okay for you to leave school? You''re also the student council president, right?" I asked.


    "Yeah, yeah! I already delegated most of the work to my underlings. That''s what presidents do after all! Even Prez said so!" she exined, although I was unconvinced.


    "If you say so… Don''t goining when you find a pile of workload waiting when you get back."


    Hana waved a dismissive hand my way, clearly unconvinced. Some people just needed to learn the hard way.


    "Ufufu~ Hana has the right idea, you know? While you''re on vacation, work should be thest thing on your mind. You especially, Saeko. How has college been treating you and Mio?" Yumi asked.


    "School sucks!" Mio shouted, then dunked Hana into the water as she passed her.


    "Second." I nodded in agreement. "It''s a lot harder because I had to open my trap about being independent to my parents. We had to get part-time jobs to pay ourselves through. Honestly… I hate it. I feel like I have a lot more freedom and a lot less freedom. It''s hard to exin. Things felt a lot easier when I was a kid."


    The water shifted. Yumi scooted behind me and started massaging my shoulders. They kneaded all the right ces, and I turned to puddy in mere seconds.


    "There, there. I know it''s diffcult as the subus queen, university student, and part-time worker, but I know you''re more than capable. When it bes too overwhelming, a little rest to unwind like this is your just reward," Yumi cooed.


    "You really should quit being a school nurse and be a counselor instead…" I was about to fall asleep due to thebined assault of her massage and hot springs water.


    "Ara. You think so? But I rather like being a faculty member at school. I was thinking of applying to the city''s elementary school," she said thoughtfully.


    "Please, don''t…"


    Someone snuck up on us like a shark, but without the fine. Kaede popped her head out of the water. Just the eyes though, and stared at me and Yumi.


    "What are you doing?" I asked.


    "Humu… Since my sketchbook and tablet will get ruined if I bring it in here, I''mmitting to memory this image of you and Yumi together. Ahh~ I can already see it. The mature older sister x cutesy little sister really is the best pairing!" Kaede eximed passionatelly.


    I pushed her head back into the water.


    "Uwah! We''re being attacked by ck slimes!" Hana cried.


    We followed her panicked gaze to the inlet pipe that funneled hot water into the pool. Something ck and slushy poured in, discoloring the water entirely. I grabbed Kaede and jumped out before it reached us.


    "What is this…?" Hhan asked, kneeling by the edge.


    "This ain''t slime. What the fuck?" Mio scooped a handful up only for it to slip past her fingers.


    It wasn''t oil. Not sewage water either, and it didn''t smell funny. We got out since we were getting wrinkly and informed the proprietors what happened. Apparently, their other pools were facing the same problem. They apologized profusely and tried to offer a refund, but we declined, having already had our time in there anyway.


    Kana wasn''t out yet, so we waited in the lobby and drank some hot coffee from the vending machine.


    "Kana sure is taking a while," I said worriedly.


    "You don''t think he drowned in the ck stuff?!" Mio gasped.


    "What kind of person do you take our boyfriend for…?"


    The old proprietor couple were whispering about something behind the counter. They seemed particrly spooked. Their daughter, a woman in her 50s with light wrinkles around her eyes scoffed at their conversation.


    "Uhm! Has this bath house ever had this problem before?" I came up to them and asked.


    "My… Not in my 60 years of working here," the old missus said, and her husband nodded in agreement.


    "It must be an angry kami," he huffed.


    "Pft. Kami this, kami that. Why are you so hung up over that? We probably have a burst pipe that needs recing," the daughter said.


    "Wait, I want to hear more about this angry kami! Do they have a name? How do you know they''re angry?" I asked.


    The daughter heaved a sigh.


    "I''m going to get to the bottom of this. In reality." She waved dismissively and left the room.


    "My father," the elderly man began, "used to say all the time that if we don''t tend to a kami''s shrine, then we will incur their wrath. There was a time when enough of the snow would melt, and shrine priests and maidens would journey up the mountains to tend to the many shrines. Unfortunately, winter in Hokkaido has beensting longer than usual and our summers shorter. Snow piles up faster, and snowmelt makes it too dangerous to venture until certain times of the year. Eventually, the ones who usually tend the shrines gave up and stoppeding."


    "We''ve been meaning to go ourselves, but.. It''s been so cold, and you know how age can get to you," his wife added sadly.


    "I can do it! If you can point me in the right direction, I mean. You know where it is, right?" I asked.


    Although they briefly shed with relief, their smiles flipped into frowns.


    "I wish we could tell you. It''s been so long. Nobori is a good start. Might have been near a stream, I think?" he exined.


    At least I had more information to go on than ten minutes ago. I finished the rest of my coffee just as Kana wasing out of the men''s side.


    "Sorry, I took so long. My side started leaking ck stuff, and… judging by your looks, you guys experienced the same," Kana said.


    "Where were you anyway?" Mio asked, tossing him an unopened can of coffee.


    "I''ve helped my dad with a burst pipe before. Thought I could give a hand," he exined to our unease.


    "Did you get some of the ck water on you?" I recalled the sludge.


    "Yeah, but I''m sure it''s nothing. Might be some minerals in the mountain leeching into the water, that''s all."


    We set our worries aside and headed back to our hotel. Kaede holed up inside the room, scribbling into her drawing tablet while the memories of bathing subi were still fresh in her mind. Hhan was pooped enough that she needed a nap.


    "I''m gonna take a snooze. Wake me up when it''s dinner time," Hhan said, also retiring to the room.


    "That''s not until eight. Is two hours even a nap at that point? What do you guys n to do?" Kana asked as we dropped our stuff in themon area.


    We called into a Korean barbecue ce and made a reservation a littleter in the evening. That gave us some time to do some searching.


    "Mio, Yumi, Hana, and I are going to see if we can follow up a lead on the shrine. I''m thinking maybe the ck stuff and untended shrine have something to do with each other," I exined.


    "If we''re back soon, let''s have a quickie before dinner!" Mio gave Kana a smooch before following us out.


    Following a map, we soared to Nobori located on the eastern side of Rusutsu. I hadn''t flown this high andst night was pitch ck, so it didn''t ur to me just how covered in snow everywhere was. Nobori was mostly t for ski and hiking trails. A lift ran through it, ferrying people across the mountain stretch. Even as it was getting dark, plenty of people braved the cold to get their thrills in.


    "Dokuko!" Mio shouted into the mountains.


    "He''s a god inside a shrine. There''s no way he can hear us." I put a hand to my face.


    "If you got a better idea, I''m all ears." She folded her arms.


    Mio was right though… It was going to take forever scouring Rusutsu for a shrine we didn''t even know looked like or the exact location.


    The four of us split up. Unfortunately, there were no signs of a buried shrine. There were, however, tiny shrines like stone and woodennterns off the side of the road, but none of them were dedicated to a god named Dokuko.


    Hana and I descended down to what used to be a stream before it was frozen over and covered in snow. We couldn''t find anything that indicated a shrine.


    "Any ideas, Hana? Think you got anything in your arsenal as a dryad to magic up a shrine?" I asked.


    "Whaddya take me for? I''m a subus, not a seer. What if we sted the entire ce with fire? Melt all the snow down and search for the shrine that way?" Hana suggested seriously.


    "That''s going to take a lot of fire… and we might destroy the shrine. Also, we would need a lot of sexual energy— Actually, why am I even humoring you? That sounds like an entirely stupid idea!"


    Before I realized it, Hana''s hands were glowing with fiery magic. She exploded them into the ground, sending dirt and slush into the air which proceeded to shower us. I wiped the dirt from my face and stared angrily.


    "Aha… Think on the bright side. We can take a dip in the bath house again!" Hana shed a thumbs up.


    "THE BATH HOUSE IS LEAKING BLACK WATER REMEMBER?!" I yelled.


    My echo traveled much farther than I expected. The ground started rumbling. Hana and I turned our attention to the mountain as a tsunami of snow came rushing down to us. We took flight but heard someone screaming for help. Three hikers were running for their lives.


    "Hana!" I pointed to them.


    "Got it! Got it!"


    We beelined toward them. I picked up two, and Hana got the other. We lifted the three up as the avnche consumed the ground where they were in a split second.


    "Thank god. You''re an angel— Oh, god! You''re not an angel?! Wait, you''re a subus!" one of the men cried.


    Fortunately, the avnche didn''t travel far. We brought them down to a road some ways from it just in case.


    "Is this the part where we get to have sex with you?" the other guy asked, only to get elbowed by the girl in the group.


    "Sorry about them," she said. "Thanks for saving our hide. We was hunting for a deer when the avnche started rolling."


    "You were hunting for deer? Thiste at night?" I asked.


    "Well, not <i>hunt</i> per se. More like tracking it. Some of the locals reported that it got covered in some ck goo. We wanted to investigate. Anyway, we don''t wanna tempt fate any longer."


    The hunters made their way down the mountain after expressing their thanks.


    "We might be getting close. Wanna keep looking?" Hana asked me.


    I checked my phone. It was getting close to the reservation time.


    "No, let''s regroup with Mio and Yumi. We''ll mark this area as a ce of interest on the map. We don''t want to miss our reservation," I said.


    Apparently, those two didn''t have any luck finding the shrine either. Once we regrouped, Mio couldn''t stopughing at how dirty we were. Hana and I took a quick shower back at the hotel to rinse off the dirt, then went with the group to the korean barbecue ce.


    Nothing could be better than meat sizzling on the grill, warm food in my stomach, and being surrounded by friends. The only person on this table allowed to drink was Yumi, who was enjoying herself a nice cold beer.


    "What the fak, Yumi. I''m older than you! Where''s my drink! Where is it?!" Hana wailed.


    "Ufufu~ You heard the cute waitress, Hana. You''re too young to drink." Yumi giggled at her expense.


    Kana turned away and coughed. It sounded like he had a bug or something.


    "Did you catch a cold?" I asked.


    "God, I hope not. It''s onlly the first day. Did you two make any headway in finding that shrine?" Kana lifted a napkin to his mouth to cover the next cough.


    "Nope." I shook my head. "The only thing that seems to connect is the ck stuff for some reason—"


    "Get your chops off thatst piece of spicy brisket, Hana!" Mio snarled.


    "Yer gonna hafta fight me for it, varmant!" Hana challenged with simr fury.


    A war had started on the only piece of brisket left on the grill. Both of them started battling it out with their chopsticks.


    "Guys, we can order more. It''s an all you can eat! We already paid a premium to keep getting meat— stop it, you idiots!" I cried as their war reached maximum insanity.


    They managed to fling the piece of brisket, and it flew straight into Kaede''s throat. Her eyes went wide. She turned to us mortified, pounding at her own chest.


    "KAEDE?!" Everyone scrambled to help.


    "Move!" Kana pushed us away and performed the Heimlich maneuver.


    Once… twice… Kaede expelled the brisket back onto the grill, where Hana snatched it up and into her mouth. The pink-haired helion pumped both fists in triumph.


    I clocked Mio over the head, and Yumi did the same of Hana. Both them clutched their bumps in agony.


    "Oh, god… it''s was the spicy brisket, too…" Kaede croaked, reaching for the water.


    We got home around eleven at night with full bellies and cheeks sore fromughing so much. Mio was still brimming with energy. She wanted to get a round in with me and Kana, but our boyfriend was already tuckered out and needed to sleep.


    "So, you enjoying Hokkaido? We pretty much went to the pr opposite sides of the country in two years," I said.


    "You know I''d be having more fun between your legs, toots. Where do we wanna go next year? Or next summer!" Mio embraced me while we were in bed and Kana asleep next to us.


    "You''re already thinking of next year? This vacation isn''t even over yet."


    Our lips connected, still tasting traces of the barbecue we had earlier.


    While we were making out, a knock came to the door.


    "Saeko, Mio? Did we still want to investigate Nobori?" Yumi''s voice reached us from the other side. "Or perhaps, you two would like some privacy? Ufufu~"


    "W-We''reing!" I quickly pushed Mio off.


    We went out one more time. The four of us flew out to Nobori where we rescued the hunters, but instead of the nket of white snow… <i>everywhere was covered in ck</i>.


    "Eh? This ce was whiter than a bleached pussy before we left it, right? Saeko?" Hana gaped at the sight before us.


    "Y-You guys are sure this was the ce? Maybe you got it wrong. I mean, it''s dark as fuck. The light''s probably off!" Mio insisted.


    "No… Night has nothing to do with it. The whole mountain really is covered ck!" I gasped.


    "Gaaahhh! Are you fucking serious? I just wanted a nice vacation without having to worry about shit!" she shouted into the night.


    You and me both, Mio. Hopefully, this was something we could solve soon…