C³ Vol 13 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Snow-Melting Population Density Part 1

One day, Haruaki's peaceful sleep was interrupted more noisily than usual.

"Oh no... Oh no oh no... This is serious, it's serious! Haruaki! Get up now—!"

"Guah—!?"

A super heavy force crushed the peaceful dream world. Haruaki felt the air being forced out of his lungs.

Frantically opening his eyes, Haruaki saw—

A girl was sitting astride his chest.

"I-It's serious, I have to repeat this no matter how many times, it's serious! Get up now! Hurry!"

"Guh ooph... W-What's so serious?"

With an expression that resembled both nervousness and excitement, Fear was staring straight at Haruaki from above. In contrast to Haruaki's sleepy eyes, her eyes were staring wide open. Fear even went as far as to lean her upper body forward, making a fist in front of Haruaki and saying:

"Listen carefully... First of all, it's very white! White to the extreme!"

"W-White...?"

Definitely very white. Haruaki's hazy mind gradually grew awake. His sticky eyelids also opened slowly, causing him to see the color of white clearly. The white of Fear's lower body as she straddled his chest. The white beneath her skirt. More precisely, orange stripes on a white background. Haruaki frantically averted his gaze.

"Also, how should I put this? Hyahhh—! Like that!"

"A-A scream...?"

"Your guess is totally wrong! I mean it's very cold! Icy cold!"

Very cold? No wait, Haruaki was experiencing warmth. The warmth from the thighs on his chest. The warmth and softness of skin. Fear was inexplicably excited, omitting many keywords in her speech. Then she shook his body in agitation as though saying "You still don't get it?" Skin vibrating due to the shaking. Soft and warm thighs.

"Then there's the glittery s.h.i.+ne! I've never seen that kind of brightness! Hey, you already know what it is, right? You figured out what the serious situation is, right?"

Fear pressed her upper body's weight against him again. Her s.h.i.+ny hair was brus.h.i.+ng against his face. So bright. So ticklish. What dazzling, s.h.i.+ny brightness.

"Haruaki...? Are you listening?"

Oh, I'm still not fully awake. Haruaki could not help but reach out for that hair, with strong desire and tender affection. No wait, all he wanted to do was brush it away—

"Muumuu! You still look half asleep! In that case, I'll just have to let you see with your own eyes, get up now!"

"Eh? Ugh... Wawa!"

Fear grabbed Haruaki's extended hand, pulling him out from under his covers. In other words, she had forced him out of bed. With this, Haruaki's sleepiness was finally dispelled all at once. The thoughts from his semi-dreaming state and Fear's various sights he saw were suddenly making him very embarra.s.sed. Haruaki tried his hardest to erase these memories.

Fear pulled him by the hand repeatedly, taking him out of the room directly. Still in pajamas, Haruaki felt very cold. So cold that it was a bit unusual.

"Hey hey, over here, over here!"

Pus.h.i.+ng his back, Fear walked along the corridor. Then once they reached the veranda where the garden came into sight—

Haruaki figured out why Fear was so excited.

Taking a forceful leap, Fear jumped before his eyes. With the garden as the background, as though showing off the scenery, her silver hair scattered and flew as she spun around.

"See! It's amazing, right? It's very serious! I've never seen anything like this!"

"Ah..."

In that very instant—

Reflected in Haruaki's eyes, everything was equally bright and s.h.i.+ning.

Only brilliantly radiant objects existed before him.

Glittering, glittering.

The twirling silver hair.

Fear's proud smile.

As well as—Formed from the acc.u.mulated snow fallen in the garden, an expansive world of white.

Part 2

"Oh my~ But yeah, it's anyone's guess how many years it's been since we've had so much snow."

"It probably started snowing since last night and it's still going. No wonder I felt so cold."

While staring out at the snowscape, they chatted together as usual—However, this was not the veranda where they usually used to hang out. As a side note, apart from Konoha, there was a visitor present.

Haruaki turned slightly to look at the visitor beside him.

"Cla.s.s Rep, getting here must have been a tough journey. Sorry for inviting you so suddenly, but it's because Fear was making a ruckus, insisting that you come over."

"It's nothing. I happen to be free and it's a rare occasion of heavy snow. Compared to admiring the snowscape from my apartment's window, of course I'd have a better time over here with you... Cough, Fear-kun and the others to have fun together."

Amidst coughing noises, Kirika spoke in a serious tone of voice as befitted a cla.s.s representative's style. However, her expression was very gentle with a faint smile on her face.

"Really...? Glad to hear that. But the question is, can this really be called having fun...? I'm so sorry for making you help out in this 'labor' activity as soon as you arrive."

"It would be absolutely ridiculous if you underestimated the weight of snow. Especially this kind of old house, a very serious accident could occur as a result, so it's best to take care of it as soon as possible—That's why I'd gladly help out with the snow shoveling."

Saying that, Kirika moved the shovel in her hand lightly, scooping up snow that had acc.u.mulated on the eaves.

Indeed, they were currently on the roof of the Yachi residence. Due to the house's age, the consequences of leaving a whole night's worth of acc.u.mulated snow felt rather scary. Hence, the whole group decided to clear the snow first. However, Haruaki felt quite apologetic to Kirika for asking her to help out with snow removal as soon as she arrived.

"Yeah... Especially if the roof tiles crack naturally because a certain very heavy person goes on this house's roof. If the house collapsed spontaneously, it'd be totally troublesome."

"Don't let it weigh on your minds. After all, I'm the one who offered to help on my own. Also, since this is my first time shoveling snow, it's actually not a bad experience... By the way, did you invite Sovereignty-kun and s.h.i.+raho-kun?"

"Yes, we basically tried, but as expected, s.h.i.+raho-san found it too much of a bother."

"That's true... Definitely, neither vigorously playing in the snow nor having an elegant snow viewing would suit her personality. Despite this rare snow, I can imagine her saying with a scowl: 'What on earth is with this cold-producing device? I really wish for its hastened destruction.'"

Speaking of playing in the snow with full vigor—Haruaki turned his gaze and looked down towards the garden below.

Two girls with figures resembling little children—Fear and Kuroe—were playing with the acc.u.mulated snow childishly indeed.

Fear must be seeing this kind of heavy snow for the first time. She seemed to find everything refres.h.i.+ng, showing great enthusiasm for all things, laughing heartily one moment, screaming in surprise the next, meanwhile running about over the snow-covered ground. At this moment, she suddenly stayed in one spot, then using the gloves Haruaki had given her as a return gift last year for Christmas, she scooped up snow and sprinkled it over her head. Snowflakes landed on the tip of her nose. Fear giggled again. She was really enjoying the current situation from the bottom of her heart. Although Haruaki had no idea what exactly was so interesting, just watching Fear was enough to bring a smile to his face.

Meanwhile, Kuroe was currently picking up snow in her tiny hands, then staring at the ma.s.s of white snow with her blank eyes as usual, she looked like she was pondering something. For sure, she must thinking of a new and original way to play with snow.

"Those two girls, seriously... Clearly they should be in charge of moving the shoveled snow away."

"They're already prepared after moving the wheelbarrow out from the storeroom. I guess they're just waiting for us to issue orders. After all, we did say earlier to wait until a certain amount piles up before moving the snow. Yeah, speaking of which, there's quite a lot acc.u.mulated down there now, it's almost time for—Oh?"

Just as Haruaki was about to stand up and call for Fear and Kuroe, he slipped. Luckily, he only lost balance slightly, but that was enough to send chills instantly down his back.

Finally regaining his balance, Haruaki then felt something pulling lightly on his waist. Looking down, he saw that the belt extended from Kirika's sleeve had already wrapped it self around his waist. It was just a tiny accident and actually did not need such a frantic rescue, but even so, she still extended her belt towards him immediately to serve as a life line.

"Th-Thank you. Don't worry, I only slipped slightly."

Hearing Haruaki, Kirika and Konoha frowned and objected.

"I was just thinking, this work is unexpectedly exhausting for both the mind and the body. Your legs are probably losing strength because you are tired, Yachi. You should hurry and leave the roof."

"Indeed, just leave the rest for Ueno-san and me to handle."

"Really? Yeah, I do feel a bit tired then I'll take your advice... Okay, I'll go help Fear and Kuroe down there. You two be careful too."

Haruaki decided to leave the roof obediently because it would cause everyone trouble if he really slipped and fell off the roof. Descending slowly down the ladder, he met up with Fear and Kuroe in the garden. In the middle of playing to her heart's content in the snow, Fear looked up.

"Hmm, what's up? Things are finished up there?"

"I've been fired because my legs are starting to get shaky. My next task is to supervise you two. Okay, stop playing. There's quite a lot of snow shoveled from the roof, so you need to move it over to a corner—Hey Kuroe, what are you doing...?"

Narrowing his eyes, Haruaki looked towards Kuroe as she started engaging in strange behavior.

Still displaying sleepy-looking eyes as usual, Kuroe was slowly adhering chunks of snow in her tiny hands against the chest of her coat. Adhering, again and again. Seeing the snow about to fall off, she plucked her own hair to use as wires for reinforcement. Hence, what she produced was—

"Th-This is... Truly a new sensation of weight! I wasn't just trying out a snow bra without thinking too much into it, but never did I expect to manifest a simulation of our ideal futures! Reporting! I predict this to be the state of things by next summer!"

"What a fast approaching future! Say, I can't believe you're indulging yourself in crafting this kind of simulation, leaving me behind as the leader of the Ladylike Bosoms Alliance, that's going way out of line! ...C-Cough, I'm relying on you for my share."

"A piece of cake~"

Fear puffed her chest out while Kuroe patted and piled snow onto her, inserting hair into them for reinforcement. "Those two children are playing bizarre games again..." Konoha could be heard grumbling in exasperation from above.

"There, there, How's that?"

"Oh... Ohoh...! So big, no, it's extra big! They feel so heavy!"

"Experimentally, I've copied the size and shape of nearby ready-made products. This is for the sake of realism... Hmm, speaking of realism, let's upgrade the level of resemblance slightly. This time, it's an experiment with heavy emphasis on detail."

Holding a bundle of hair in her hand, Kuroe began to sculpt Fear's snow bra cautiously as though she were playing one of those mold-carving games at festival stalls. Shortly after, Kuroe made a sweat-wiping motion on her brow as though going "Okay, done!" and stepped back from in front of Fear. Hence, Haruaki was finally able to see what she meant by detail—

"Pfft...!?"

"A-Absolutely ridiculous!"

This time, two people's voices were heard from above.

Rather than a bra on top of Fear's clothing, the finished product was more like an extremely realistic model of b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The mounds of snow bulged in an extremely natural shape, tracing out flowing curves, then under Kuroe's skillful rendering, the protruding tips were tiny—

"Hold on, Kuroe-san! Such realistic b.r.e.a.s.t.s are too immoral and unwholesome in public decency—Hmm? Hmmmm?"

Konoha warned Kuroe frantically but her sentence suddenly turned into a question. Kuroe answered calmly with confidence:

"I believe that erotic art like Venus de Milo is publicly accepted, you know? Also, just as I said earlier, I referenced the size and shape of ready-made products. If you want details, it's my memory from having a bath together. Even I can't help but think how fortunate it is that I always stared intently just in case it might come in handy one day."

"Ready-made products... Somehow I find the shape rather familiar... No way..."

Konoha's voice began to tremble. In contrast, Fear pouted slightly as she looked down at her simulated snow b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Hmm~ I get it now, so this is an experimental imitation of the enemy, I guess. My shoulders feel so heavy, it's difficult to look down and it's so heavy that I feel like it's life threatening... Ohoh, I can't believe it's this unsightly, this ugly and this much of an embarra.s.sment! Also, it s.h.i.+fts my center of gravity to a weird spot, making me walk unsteadily, what a weird sense of balance. I knew it, for something existing on this planet, these things are way too unnatural, the culmination of recessive bad genes that need to be purged from evolution immediately!"

"A-Ah... Awawawa! H-Haruaki-kun, it's not like that! Although its excessive realism makes it look real, that's not actually the real thing and there are slight differences from mine. I don't think the tips are like that either, so I hope you'll believe me—Awawa, despite those clearly being mounds of snow, why do I get this embarra.s.sing feeling like I'm getting seen topless by others!?"

Haruaki could tell simply from her voice that Konoha was totally panicking. Hence, without thinking, Haruaki looked up at the roof where the two girls were standing. Accidentally, unavoidable. Even though he was not supposed to look up.

"N-No, uh, let's put this aside for now, you should be careful where you step... Ooh!"

"What are you going 'ooh' and telling me to watch my step for!? Compared to that, taking care of Kuroe-san's creations must be prioritized!"

Haruaki carelessly looked up at Konoha and Kirika who were standing on the roof. Naturally, since they had not started the day with the intention to go snow shoveling, consequently, neither of the two girls were wearing clothing meant for the task. Instead, they were dressed as usual—having climbed to the roof in skirts. And now, Haruaki was looking up at them from below, accidentally.

Previously, the fact of their attire did not matter when he was together with them on the roof, but now it was bad. Very bad. Just as this occurred to Haruaki, Kirika and Konoha seemed to notice his gaze as well.

"Taking care of that... Ah, kyah! H-Haruaki-kun—!"

"Y-Yachi! Hey! Absolutely ridiculous, w-where are you looking at—!"

As a result, the two girls tossed away their shovels at the same time and frantically held down their skirts with their hands, squatting down reflexively. However, they were currently standing on a snow-covered roof and forcing themselves to squat down while leaning forward, due to throwing criticisms at Kuroe's snow b.r.e.a.s.t.s and giving panicking explanations. No matter how good their athleticism, they still lost their balance, of course—

"Uwawawawawa! «Black River»... N-No good, I can't grab anything...!"

"Oh no—! H-Hurry and move out of the way, Haruaki-kun, move out of the way now—!"

In the next instant, reflected in Haruaki's eyes was a pair of figures flying off the eaves at high speed like ski jumping off a take-off ramp. Namely, they were Kirika and Konoha, holding their skirts down with panic all over their faces. The two girls fell straight down, falling on Haruaki while he was looking up at them.

—Then came the final impact.

"Guff!?"

Haruaki felt his consciousness leave for an instant but immediately regained his senses. It took him a few seconds to realize that the coldness against his back meant he was currently lying on the snow-covered ground. In contrast, the front side of his body felt rather warm. What was going on?

"Muguugo...?"

Despite clearly opening his eyes, Haruaki found his view totally dark. Rather, black was the only color he could see. Furthermore, he found it inexplicably difficult to breathe. In other words, something black was pressing on top of his mouth—

"Kyah! Hold on... Yachi, Yachi, ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!? Listen carefully, don't move and don't speak anymore! And don't move your nose either! Not allowed to breath, even! I'm getting up straight away!"

Haruaki felt a hard sensation on the tip of his nose, similar to a zipper. No way, could this be Kirika's that? Fortunately, his brain's natural defensive instincts kicked in and proactively gave up on clearing up the issue. I neither know anything nor understand anything.

Then he noticed the weight on his lower body. Another object was covering his body below the waist. Naturally, he could not see because a certain black object of Kirika's was blocking his view, but based on touch, he could discern that there seem to be two ma.s.ses on top of his lower body. Moreoever, they were very soft, very warm and quivering with gentle softness, sandwiching his lower body—

"Ouch... Wah! Sorry, Haruaki-kun, are you okay? Did you break a bone somewhere? Are you alright?"

Accompanied by the nervous voice, Haruaki felt that sense of weight press even harder against him. Almost enveloping his entire lower body, this softness and warmth. No good, I can't allow myself to think about that side either.

At this moment, he suddenly regained light in his view. Stumbling forward to separate from his face, Kirika crouched down partially nearby, reaching behind to hold down her skirt near her bottom. Whimpering with her face flushed red, she was looking at Haruaki, possibly glaring at him.

However, Konoha's weight was still resting on his lower body—more precisely, that weight of Konoha's was still pressing on him. Haruaki was unable to move as a result. What should he do in order to move away? Konoha did not seem to be listening to him. Was it okay if he simply pushed her away? But pus.h.i.+ng her would require touching that directly, which was actually a huge problem—Just as Haruaki's brain was spinning at full speed, pondering the monumental difficulties of this mission—

"I'll say this again, the sense of balance is very weird just as I thought. I don't want this kind of thing. I'm throwing it away."

A certain white ma.s.s flew past. Then—Smack!

A ma.s.sive piece of snow directly struck Konoha's head while she was still mounted on Haruaki's lower body worriedly. The snow instantly flew apart into fragments. Haruaki went stiff all over. Naturally, the snow came from the imitation b.r.e.a.s.t.s that had been installed on Fear's chest a moment ago. After taking a look at Konoha, who seemed frozen in time with snow all over her braids, Fear nodded with satisfaction.

"I've heard of the game known as a s...o...b..ll fight. Yeah, so in other words, what I want to say is that udders of this size have no value except for being used in a s...o...b..ll fight while preventing shameless behavior at the same time—Take that! Next comes the shot from the left b.o.o.b—!"

Plucking off a (temporary) body part from herself, Fear threw it forward. However, Konoha slowly separated from Haruaki's lower body from her originally frozen position. Just as Haruaki saw her standing up—

"..."

A flash of the sword. Sliced cleanly into two, the snow breast fell tragically by Konoha's feet. Retracting her karate chop, Konoha bent over lightly and picked up the remains of the snow breast.

"What is with this sense of guilt...? But rest a.s.sured, I shall avenge you."

"Owa—«A Hatchet of Lingchi»!"

This time, Konoha fired a white bullet towards Fear. Taking out the Rubik's cube from her pocket reflexively, Fear transformed it into a torture instrument to deflect the s...o...b..ll. Clang! The sound of a metallic collision rang out.

Probably reeling back from the impact, Fear readied her hatchet in a stance unsteadily while Konoha was holding the remnants of the snow. Slowly closing in on each other, both girls were grinning maliciously.

"Fear~-san~ Although I was originally planning to have you work properly... Since you want a s...o...b..ll fight that badly, there's no helping it, I shall accommodate your wish. Nevertheless, my s...o...b..ll fights will not be so gentle."

"Took the words right out of my mouth. Since it's my first s...o...b..ll fight, I'm sorry that I don't know how to adjust my strength. If I go too far, feel free to cry surrender in all unsightliness. Or better yet, surrender now!"

In the next second, s...o...b..a.l.l.s began to fly back and forth. Using the hatchet to dig snow by her feet, Fear made giant chunks of snow to throw at Konoha. Using karate chops to engage, Konoha sliced the pieces of snow, making small s...o...b..a.l.l.s out of them, then catching the s...o...b..a.l.l.s in midair and launching them in succession. Sometimes, she used spinning kicks to deflect the incoming snow. On the other hand, Fear turned her weapon into a drill instantaneously then using it as support to jump like pole vaulting, she evaded all the attacks. Then the two girls glared at each other, cautiously adjusting their distance before starting another wave of intense attacks—

Haruaki could only watch the scene with a stiff smile. At the same time, Kirika seemed to have finally recovered from her confusion earlier, coughing drily.

"Yachi, shouldn't we stop them?"

"Haha... Once it develops to this point, stopping them won't be that easy. Oh well, instead of a hand to hand brawl, this is more like a s...o...b..ll fight. They're mainly throwing s...o...b..a.l.l.s at each other, that's all. As long as they keep this level of understanding, it's much safer than their usual fights—"

"Just when you think that, an enemy lying here in ambush appears! Openings to exploit!"

"So cold——!"

Suddenly feeling a wave of coldness against his back, Haruaki could not help but jump to his feet.

"Nwoh—!? Huhee, huha, huhahaheehee!?"

"Hyah... S-So cold... What is going on!?"

"Kyah!?"

Apart from Haruaki, three other people also cried out at the same time, straightening their backs. Haruaki could not help but find the scream coming from a certain person beside him especially adorable, but decided not to dwell on the issue. Naturally, the culprit was the final person who had not screamed.

"I am the woman intoxicated by the joys of betrayal... Ahaha~ Dance for me~"

"Guh, Kuroe! What are you doing!? You stuffed so much snow into my back!"

It turned out that Kuroe had secretly manipulated her hair to stuff snow into the clothing of Haruaki and the others simultaneously. Reaching behind himself, Haruaki pulled out his s.h.i.+rt's lower hem and shook off the snow that had invaded his clothing.

"Hooha, so cold, so ticklis.h.!.+ So that's what it feels like to have snow getting into your clothing. I guess that's a lesson learnt. But anyway, huheehee! I-I must hurry get rid of it!"

In addition to Haruaki, everyone else also had snow stuffed down their collar relatively normally. Fear, Konoha and Kirika were desperately clearing snow out from under their clothing. Fear was frantically lifting the front of her s.h.i.+rt, pulling her skirt down, giving tantalizing glimpses of her navel and other parts. Konoha had pulled her collar open, hence almost offering a glimpse into her cleavage, then perhaps because snow was stuck inside, she was reaching into there with her fingers. The sight looked quite dangerous. Under Kirika's clothing, the black object, which was not supposed to be seen, was also flas.h.i.+ng in and out of view seductively—Haruaki frantically focused his attention on clearing snow from his clothing. But after cleaning up, Haruaki still pretended to continue, pulling at his clothing meaninglessly, trying his utmost to enter a realm of oblivion. Is everyone done yet? Hurry and straighten out your clothes.

"Hey Kuroe! What are you doing!?"

"Since it's not every day that we get snow, I suggest opening your hearts and having as much fun as possible. In other words—clearing the acc.u.mulated snow that was shoveled from the roof can be done later! Also, how could I let Ficchi and Kono-san start playing on their own? Now is hte the time when everyone should join in for a blood-boiling s...o...b..ll battle royale! What I just did was the first wave of attacks to declare war!"

"Listen here... I was simply looking to punish Fear-san a little. If you want a s...o...b..ll fight, just play on your own with the others, Kuroe-san."

"Just so that everyone will play seriously to their heart's content, I've got a suggestion. Uh... The winner of the s...o...b..ll fight earns the right to command one of the losers present, how's that?"

"Oh... One of the losers... present...?"

For some reason, Fear and the girls spoke simultaneously then for merely an instant, their sharp gazes all seemed to converge on Haruaki... Perhaps. It could also have been his imagination.

"Cough, I've changed my mind. It's not a bad idea to relax and play like a child at heart every now and then."

"Yeah, this is a rare chance with so much snow fallen. Having as much fun as possible is the only way to go."

"It would be truly and absolutely ridiculous if all I did before going home was shoveling snow and having tea after being invited over on this rare occasion. Sure enough, it's better that I get some exercise and have fun."

The three girls changed their minds with inexplicable readiness, expressing their intent to join the s...o...b..ll fight with casual tones of voices. However, the only things casual were their voices and the expressions on their faces. Their actions stood in stark constrast.

Konoha knelt down and began to cut up the snow by her feet, using karate chops that moved so rapidly that afterimages could be seen—processing them into the shape of s...o...b..a.l.l.s. Fear swung the spiked club of metal at air, leaving Haruaki puzzled as to how she intended to use that weapon. Kirika also started using the cursed belt, the «Tragic Black River», to pick up s...o...b..a.l.l.s and practice throwing. Completely opposite to their claims which sounded like "no helping it, I guess I must partic.i.p.ate," their actions were full of seriousness. Tension hung in the air. It was as though the girls were declaring they would show no mercy no matter what.

So thirsty. Despite his bafflement, Haruaki felt a sense of foreboding. He gulped hard.

"U-Umm, I haven't said whether I'm joining in or not, but I guess I have to, right...? Uh, oh, right! While you girls are having fun, I can clear the snow leisurely, wouldn't that be a good method to make everyone happy, right...?"

But the three girls—including Kuroe with her blank eyes, four warriors—ignored him, of course.

The four of them faced off against one another while giving off an atmosphere as though fighting would break out any moment.

The tension in the air heightened further. The s.p.a.ce of pure white was distorted so much that it sounded like creaking.

Hence, just as the sense of nervousness peaked—Konoha's gla.s.ses flashed as she asked:

"I forgot to ask, but what are the conditions for victory?"

"Obviously the last one standing. After all, it's a battle royale."

"Then conversely, allow me to ask... What are the conditions for defeat?"

"Isn't that obvious? It's when the losers scream surrender on their own——!"

With Fear's yell as a signal, the heavy pressure, feeling as though time had stopped, exploded instantly.

Then with s...o...b..a.l.l.s, karate chops, torture instruments, a leather belt and human hair flying all over the place, amidst resonding shouts and roars, an ordinary s...o...b..ll fight took place.

Part 3

"Hoo... Wars always make you feel empty inside..."

Reaching the realm of enlightenment, Haruaki sipped hot tea while sitting on the veranda. On his left and right, Kirika and Konoha were also sipping tea respectively, utterly exhausted mentally, catching their breath.

In addition, next to Konoha, Kuroe was totally limp and unmoving from exhaustion, looking as though her soul had left her body. Due to the snow b.o.o.bs incident earlier, Konoha had focused her ice-cold attacks on Kuroe, forcing Kuroe to surrender early on. Apart from Kuroe, as well as Haruaki who had given up first thing(surrendering unconditionally, one could say) out of concern for his life's safety, the other three girls had not settled the contest between them... Since the rules required losers to admit defeat, conversely, no winner was possible if none of them were willing to surrender. Naturally, it resulted in total exhaustion on all sides.

In the end, the s...o...b..ll fight turned into an invalid match of total stamina attrition without any winner at all. However...

"Here I go, here I go!"

"Wow, she's a lively one..."

Only Fear had recovered her energy and starting a while ago, she had been rolling a s...o...b..ll the size of a football.

Pus.h.i.+ng the s...o...b..ll rhythmically with her hands, she rolled it bigger and bigger with a serious expression on her face, resulting in quite a heartwarming scene to behold. Haruaki smiled faintly. The ability to enjoy a first experience from the bottom of her heart—Perhaps this could be considered a type of talent.

"Fufufu, it's looking better and better, then I'm gonna speed up! Here I go, here I go... Ohoh? c.r.a.p, I can't stop it anymore!"

Fear rolled the s...o...b..ll even more rhythmically, pa.s.sing in front of the veranda where Haruaki and the others were resting, rolling towards the entryway.

"Perfect, then I'll go outside directly for a walk like this! When I come back, it'll surely grow so large it'll be astounding... And it's almost enough to reach my next goal, to build a snow man. Please look forward to my return!"

"Slow down there, I can do whatever you want in the yard but not outside. The snow-covered streets are very dangerous. Also, more specifically, your s...o...b..ll could hit pedestrians or bikes and make people fall."

"Muu~ On the other hand, I really think it's wrong for people to go biking on a day like this."

"Although you have a point, it's still too dangerous, so just play in the yard... But judging from the way you look, you're not gonna listen even if I say that, right?"

"Duh! How can I stay cooped up at home on a special day like this!?"

"Can't be helped, then I'll have to go out with you to supervise you. Konoha, you girls can..."

"If you're going out, Haruaki-kun, I am coming along too."

"Then I'll accompany as well."

"Phew~ I've finally revived... Of course I'm coming together too~"

Haruaki was going to ask them to watch the house but Konoha, Kirika and Kuroe all expressed their wish to go out together. As a result, it became a stroll for everyone to take outside.

"Good, let's march, troops! Oh of course, I have to walk at the very front, because I want this little guy to absorb clean snow. Let's go, my s...o...b..ll, go on and store up a ton of snow energy!"

"Ficchi~ May I help? If you're building a snowman, you need two s...o...b..a.l.l.s, right?"

"You're right. Okay, Kuroe, I appoint you as lieutenant general! If you start rolling now, you'll make a s...o...b..ll that's just the right size to put on top of mine!"

"Yessir~"

Fear exited the front entrance while rolling her s...o...b..ll. Several seconds later, Kuroe followed after her, pus.h.i.+ng a newly formed s...o...b..ll. Immediately, Haruaki, Konoha and Kirika filed out after them.

As soon as they stepped out of the home, it was a totally different world outside.

Amidst a snow-white landscape, the girls were walking ahead, swaying their hair, silver and black respectively.

In the beginning, Haruaki had objected simply due to the one reason that he did not want Fear to wander around outside alone.

But this scenery was probably only visible on a special day like today. It was anyone's guess when another time would come again.

As soon as he thought that... Whatever, I guess this might not be bad after all.

Bearing a slight smile of wryness, Haruaki thought to himself while leisurely chasing after Fear and Kuroe.

Part 4

Fear was using both hands to push the pure-white ma.s.s of snow. Left, right, left, right. Bit by bit, the s...o...b..ll slowly grew large. This alone was already enough to fill her with joy.

The air was chilly. Looking up, one could see the ordinary town different from usual.

Utility poles covered with white snow. Wearing soft, fluffy caps of white, the post boxes looked very fas.h.i.+onable, different from their usual shade of pure red. White snow were piled upon nearby trees in long thin shapes, looking like marshmallows or clouds. Identical to the cotton decorations visible during the Christmas season—No, the a.n.a.logy ought to be reversed in the first place. At the bottom of a wall, which one would not normally notice, fluffy, clean, white snow was piled up, pristine and untouched. One could call this a zone of fortune for bolstering this s...o...b..ll. Let's go and absorb this snow!

"Here I go, here I go! I'm gonna make you big and pretty~"

Fear sped up even more, rolling the s...o...b..ll along the bottom of the wall. She wanted to make it even bigger, to make a s...o...b..ll so big that Haruaki was going to fall over in shock.

"Mufufufu... Hmm, on my?"

"Woah, be careful! Phew~ My beloved s...o...b..ll Goliath-kun (tentative), the one I've been nurturing till now, almost fell into the gutter. Ficchi! Why did you suddenly stop?"

"No, it's because it feels so lively over there."

Next to the road was a small park where roughly ten children were inside, playing happily with the snow on their own. In addition, there were two adults, a middle-aged man with an elderly man about to enter the latter stages of life. They were watching the group of children with tender eyes of affection. Somehow, Fear felt that the two men looked slightly familiar.

At this moment, the middle-aged man discovered Fear's group. Raising his hand lightly, he called out:

"Oh it's you, Kuroe-chan."

"h.e.l.lo~ I guess business must be bad after such heavy snow... Left without a choice, I've decided to devote all my effort to having fun. So what are you guys doing here?"

"I also left the shop for my mother to watch. Since it happens that a children's gathering was planned for today, everyone's all gathered so I've brought them to play in the snow here."

It sounded like this man was apparently one of Kuroe's friends from the shopping street. The other, elderly man also walked up and said:

"Since it's rare to have this much snow, it's good to let the children experience more of it... Oh, you must be Honatsu's kid, right? Hahaha, going out with so many cute girls, you're so blessed."

"Eh? Ah, uh, umm... h.e.l.lo."

Haruaki bowed his head as a greeting, not knowing how to react. In contrast, Konoha offered pleasantries with all smiles: "Such flattery, you really know how to talk, ohohoho." Kirika also nodded to greet slightly shyly.

At this moment, Fear suddenly sensed a presence approaching her. Turning to look back, she found a little girl, probably in early elementary school, currently staring at her and the giant s...o...b..ll.

"Hey lady, is this a snowman?"

"Oh? Fufufu, so you really can tell? Yes, you're right, it's a snowman... Do you want to see the completely a.s.sembled snowman?"

"Yes please."

The little girl's eyes glimmered brightly while she answered instantly. Now I really must respond to the kid's antic.i.p.ation.

"The size is almost ready... Okay, Haruaki, let's stay in this park for a while. I'm going to have the snowman combine here! Kuroe, are you ready?"

"Of course~ From the start, I've also prepared things like charcoal to put on the face."

"Excuse me... You guys don't mind if we join in as well, right?"

Haruaki asked the adults who were leading the children. Smiling genially, they replied: "Of course, you're very welcomed."

Rolling her s...o...b..ll, Fear walked over to the center of the park. Since the s...o...b..ll had grown quite huge already, all the children's gazes were gathered here... It felt so nice. However—

"...?"

Not every child was looking towards her. Only one girl was uninterested, immersed in her own game. No wait, could that really count as a game? She was simply sitting on the ground, using a small shovel to randomly collect snow, piling it up to make a mound. From her expression, she did not seem to take much joy in her task. Sitting some distance away from the other kids, she did not even look in the direction of Fear's s...o...b..ll, simply alone all by herself...

"Ficchi, it's best to a.s.semble the snowman here, right?"

"Ah, yeah, you're right."

In any case, the snowman needed to be completed first. Rolling the s...o...b..ll, Fear placed it at a spot which would not interfere with the playground equipment, then Kuroe pushed Goliath-kun (tentative) next to it.

"So, the next part is key. Shameless brat, I won't allow you to fail. Show me some spirit!"

"I guess I have to help? Yeah, sure."

"Have you gotten a good grip? Okay, let's do it... COM. BINE—!"

Fear and Haruaki picked up Goliath-kun (tentative) together and placed it on the body. After carefully adjusting its balance, they released their grips lightly. Positioned. Maintaining perfect balance, it was positioned there!

"Ohoh...! Th-This is...!"

"Ficchi, it's still too early to feel moved. Now that we've reached this point, we have to pay attention to detail. I will use charcoal to make the snowman's face. Uh... It'd be nice if only there were other materials that could be used for the arms."

"Lady, let me go pick up branches, 'kay?"

"Then I'll lend the snowman my scarf."

"Ohoh, you're so kind and understanding, kiddies! Great, let's all cooperate to make this guy a perfect snowman!"

Originally just one s...o...b..ll on top of another, the snowman gradually obtained life after receiving the children's support. After the face was done, arms then sprouted and gloves were added. All this was so fun and delightful. Watching was enough to make one grow with joy.

However—In the end, that girl just now...

All lonesome by herself, she continued to build her mountain of snow, still not glancing over at Fear's snowman at all.

Part 5

"I-It's done—! Totally perfect!"

"So big~!"

"So amazing, it's like a snowman you see in picture books!"

In front of Haruaki, the children were looking up at the a.s.sembled snowman, cheering happily. Mixed among them, Fear and Kuroe also displayed satisfied smiles. Especially Fear, who also pointed at the snowman and said: "That part's really good, it's awesome. Yeah, don't you guys agree?", commenting on various things together with the children as though holding an appraisal conference.

"Oh my, that girl is called Fear-chan, isn't she? It's amazing that she's already become part of the children's group in such short time, isn't she quite talented in this area? It really helps us a lot."

"No no, I think she's simply doing what she wants, that's all."

"Indeed. Rather than a talent, I would consider her ability to get along well with kids largely stems from the fact that their mental ages are alike."

"Haha. But being able to approach anyone boldly is one of Fear-kun's strengths."

While the middle-aged shopkeeper was chatting with Konaha and the rest...

"Uwah! Ouch, it really hurts..."

"Ah—! Old mister Hatanaka really had a great fall!"

Seeing the children in a clamor, Haruaki's group looked over to see that the elderly man, Hatanaka-san, lying fallen on the snowy ground. He did not seem able to stand up, groaning in pain. The middle-aged shopkeeper hurried over to him.

"Hatanaka-san, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh, hmm... S-Sorry. My back..."

"That's why I asked you not to force yourself too much..."

Seeing Hatanaka-san in that state, the middle-aged shopkeeper shook his head slightly then carefully picked up Hatanaka-san piggyback style before casting a worried glance towards Haruaki's group:

"I'm really sorry but I'll have to send Hatanaka-san to the hospital first. He simply hurt his back from the fall, so I don't think it's anything serious, probably. So, as for the children—"

Pausing at this point, the shopkeeper suddenly displayed a thoughtful look with wavering eyes. He first glanced at the children behind him then looked at Haruaki's group.

"Umm, if you guys don't mind, could you help me watch these kids for now? It'd be such a shame for them if their gathering today in this rare snow had to be dismissed early because of this little accident. I'll hurry back as quickly as possible. All you need to do is take care that they don't do anything dangerous."

"I see... Uh, what are we going to do?"

Haruaki looked back to ask for the group's opinion. Fear nodded vigorously, the first to answer:

"Of course I don't mind. This counts as helping others and it's doing beneficial things for people. I don't have any problems with the request. Taking care of children is a piece of cake!"

"After all, our plans only consisted of playing for the next while~ If that's the case, all we have are extra guests when playing, right? I don't think it's a problem at all~"

Not only Kuroe but also Konoha and Kirika had no objections. In that case, Haruaki had no reason to refuse.

"Do you all agree? Wow, that's a really great help, thank you all!"

"I-I'm so sorry... My back is no good. That's what being old is like... Ouch."

"Please stay still, I'll send you to the hospital to see a doctor right away. Okay, sorry for the trouble, guys, I'm depending on you for the next bit."

The shopkeeper raised a single hand to express his thanks then walked out of the park, trudging through the snow. Although it was an unexpected development, now that they had been tasked with a responsibility, it was necessary to fulfill their duties in earnest.

"Uh, then what should we do first?"

"Hmm, if anything happens, it'll be too much of a pain to go yelling 'kids over there.' Rather, since everyone is a kid, there's no way of distinguis.h.i.+ng them."

"Because you're a kid as well."

"Cow t.i.ts, you're making too much noise. So first of all, let's have self-introductions. I'll start. My name is—"

With inexorable arrogance, Fear puffed out her chest and introduced herself. The rest of Haruaki's group also introduced themselves briefly, followed by the children. Since the children were yelling their names at the same time without any particular order, it took a fair amount of time and effort before their names could be learnt. Hence, after asking everyone's name—No, there was still one child whose name was still unknown. Namely, the girl who had been playing by herself all this time.

The girl was sporting a bob cut with a knitted cap. Kneeling on the ground with her feet outwards, calves against her thighs, she was using a small pink shovel to dig up snow, gathering it in front of her to build a small hill. Then—

She stabbed the pink shovel into the hill's center, causing it to collapse.

Repeating ad infinitum.

Neither talking to anyone nor making eye contact with anyone, she simply kept doing the same thing silently.

"Muumuu, that kid's been doing this all along, right?"

Fear c.o.c.ked her head with an expression of deep thought. On the other hand, the children exchanged glances among themselves with embarra.s.sed looks. Was there some kind of hidden story?

"Anyway, I have to ask for her name at least. I'm heading over!"

Fear ran over to the girl, then bent down slightly to say a few words to her. Then the girl shook her head lightly. Fear c.o.c.ked her head in puzzlement but after persevering and saying more, Fear apparently forced the girl to relent and put down her shovel. Hence, Fear took her hand with a smile and had her stand up. Although it was achieved through a slightly forceful att.i.tude, Fear did succeed in bringing the girl back...

"..."

However, the girl's expression and temperament definitely could not be described as cheerful. Head bowed slightly, her gaze was cast at her feet. Through her eyes, Haruaki could experience a sense of emptiness that should not belong to children, as though abandoning everything, feeking disappointment with everything in the world.

"So this is what we're doing, it's self-introduction time. Why don't you tell us your name?"

After a long time, the group finally heard a soft whisper.

"...Kadokura... Youko..."

She was speaking in a voice that was easily to miss if one did not perk up their ears to listen carefully.

After saying that, the girl turned around directly and returned to where she had been spending her time. Sitting down at once, she picked up the small pink shovel, then once again, she resumed piling snow up to make a mountain.

Fear simply stared at her back, probably thinking it would be forcing the girl too much if she chatted with her and dragged her over again. With sighing whisper, Fear said:

"Hmm... Youko huh...?"

"Kurako. Call her Kurako."

"Huh?"

Haruaki turned to look at the sudden voice beside him, only to find a boy standing there. The boy had a shaved head and looked quite mischievous. Haruaki recalled the name he had heard during self-introductions... The boy's name seemed to be Kouta.

"Kouta, you know her?"

Hearing Fear's question, the boy crossed his arms and kept a stiff poker face as though trying to act older than his age. Then with a "can't be helped" kind of vibe, he replied:

"That girl's name is Kadokura Youko, or in other words, Youko with the naturally gloomy personality, that's why we call her Kurako.[1] Everyone calls her that."

"What a disagreeable nickname. First of all, I would suggest that it'd be best if you guys came up with a different nickname... But let's put that aside. In other words, everyone came up with this unpleasant nickname because she's always acting like this?"

Kouta nodded simply after Kirika finished.

"Yeah, she's always like that. She doesn't talk much in cla.s.s, her personality is gloomy. No one knows what she's thinking about."

"Oh, so that implies that you're cla.s.smates with her, Kouta-kun?"

Hearing Konoha's question, Kouta froze for an instant before puffing out his chest immediately as a distraction and continuing:

"Hmm... I guess. Totally by chance. So, umm... Cla.s.smates have tried inviting her out to play many times, but she always ignores them. I only brought her here today because my mom said I should, being neighbors and all. In the end, all she's doing is gathering snow like that, making small hills then destroying them, I totally don't get her..."

"I see, so she lives next to your house?"

"Th-That has nothing to do with anything. Totally by chance, okay? Anyway, Kurako always acts like that! So it's best that you don't concern yourselves with her! Like me, I'm totally leaving her alone right now!"

Saying that, Kouta kept throwing glances at Youko. Completely opposite to what he was saying, he clearly looked quite concerned. And extremely concerned at that.

Haruaki's group exchanged looks among themselves. Although they could get a vague feeling for Youko and Kouta's relations.h.i.+p...

"So, what to do?"

"There no 'what to do?' right... It doesn't sit well with me to leave her all lonesome to play by herself. I really hope she can join a circle of friends."

"But it's not like we can force her. Even if we drag her over here forcibly, I believe it would be pointless if she still doesn't feel happy."

"Konoha-kun makes a fair point. So, what should we do...?"

While the group was pondering this question, the self-introductions concluded. The kids finally reached their limit of their patience and rushed up to surround them. Naturally, Kouta was among them.

"Like I said, forget about her! The important thing is for us to play now!"

"Yeah, lady, let's play together!"

"What s.h.i.+ny hair! Can I touch your hair?"

"Nwah, hey! Hold on, slow down, calm it—! Argh, there's no calming down at all! Sure, you can touch my hair, hwah, but don't pull it, ouch ouch...! W-What should I do!?"

"No helping it... Anyway, let's all play together for now? Then at the same time, keep an eye on that child's movements."

"I guess it's okay to leave things like that for now. And we can't leave this group of kids unattended either. Besides, perhaps the girl might change her mind after seeing everyone playing happily together..."

Although it was a very pa.s.sive choice, that was all they could do for now. "Since it's decided—" As a result, Fear picked up two handfuls of snow in an exaggerated manner then said in a joking tone of voice:

"You~ guys~ I can't believe you're so naughty, it's punishment time!"

"Kyah~ kyah~ Ahahaha!"

"Hey, stand still, not allowed to run away—!"

"She clearly went through a s...o...b..ll fight at home already, but she's really energetic... Pwah!"

"Hehe, don't lower your guard, mister!"

As a result, the situation naturally turned into a game akin to a s...o...b..ll fight. Without any rules, they were simply throwing s...o...b..a.l.l.s casually at one another. Because snow was hard to come by to begin with, this alone was enough to allow everyone to play so happily—That was what Haruaki thought.

However, just as he bent down to make a new s...o...b..ll, he turned his gaze at the same time.

There was no change in Youko's state despite the start of a rowdy s...o...b..ll fight. She was not even glancing over at them. Sitting knees together, s.h.i.+ns slanting gently outwards, she was using her shovel to gather snow to make a round hill, then after reaching a certain size, she collapsed it. Then she began to gather snow again—It was an incomprehensible game of solitaire that even went as far as to give an impression of asceticism.

"Take this!"

Haruaki felt a light attack agaist the back of his head. The other person had simply thrown a sloppy, powdery s...o...b..ll at him without compacting it hard first. Catching the sight of swaying silver hair in the corner of his eye, Haruaki understood that the culprit was standing right next to him, watching the same scene.

"She's not even looking over here... What should we do? Hey Haruaki, why don't you fulfill your role as the shameless brat and throw a s...o...b..ll at her or stuff snow down her clothes? She could very well join us, spurred by anger to get even."

"I don't think it's that simple. By the way, that would totally make me a villain!"

"Yeah, even if the plan succeeded, you would still have committed shameless acts against a grade schooler for sure. I will take responsiblity by calling the police, so don't worry."

Just at this moment, a shout was suddenly heard.

"Hyah——!"

"Ohoh. Hohoho, too naive."

Fear ducked lightly to evade the flying s...o...b..ll. Haruaki looked ahead to see Kouta going "Tsk~" and pouting. He immediately seemed to notice where Haruaki and Fear had been staring, saying:

"You guys are looking at Kurako again, huh? Like I said, just leave her alone."

"That's not gonna fly. This kind of game is only fun if everyone plays together... But anyway, she's always acted like this from a long time ago?"

"Uh~..."

Hearing Fear's question, Kouta stammered, looking like he had difficulty answering. Then scratching his shaved head, he replied:

"No... It only started last year. She wasn't like this before. Although she wasn't that cheery and lively to begin with, at least compared to now, she talked more often. I've also seen her go out and play with other girls who were her friends..."

"It started last year huh... Then do you have any idea what's the reason?"

After Haruaki asked, Kouta nodded: "Because we're neighbors, after all." Then lowering his voice, he said—

"Her dad pa.s.sed away."

"...!"

"Her dad was a nice guy. He played catch with me every now and then and I've seen him playing with her before, but—"

"I'm so sorry. I understand now. Thank you."

Haruaki interrupted gently and Kouta stopped talking, lowering his eyelids quietly.

Haruaki reviewed all the obtained information in his mind once more. Youko had started turning gloomy last year and gone reticent. Also, her father had pa.s.sed away. The father who had been quite close to her—

"This situation is quite common... But it's really heartbreaking. In other words, she still hasn't recovered from the blow of her father's pa.s.sing, right?"

"...Probably."

Haruaki and Fear looked towards Youko again. Without making contact with anyone, the girl simply played with the white snow all by herself.

By the time he noticed, Haruaki found Kouta also staring at Youko's back silently, using those eyes that had very likely started gazing at her from a very long time ago.

Fear murmured softly.

"Clearly there's someone who's been watching you all along... That's such a shame..."

Probably murmuring to herself, Fear nodded vigorously once.

"Hey Haruaki."

By this point, Haruaki already knew what Fear intended to say. But still, he asked her in turn:

"What's up?"

"I-I still wanna help her. I don't know if it'll work or not, but I can't leave her alone. I wish... she could play with everyone and talk more, smile more. But maybe this is just my willful and overconfident wish."

"...Not at all. I feel the same as you too."

Haruaki smiled while he spoke. "Really?" Fear nodded, slightly relieved and said:

"Then we have to think up a plan seriously! What should we do to help her join in the fun? Fufufufu, I'm not gonna hold back at all~"

Fear crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. But after hearing her dangerous announcement, Haruaki was not the one to raise objections.

"However, I would still ask that you show restraint in your course of action. You can't go throwing s...o...b..a.l.l.s at her deliberately to rile her up."

"Indeed, that could very well worsen the gap between relations.h.i.+ps. I have to say it'd be absolutely ridiculous."

"Hmm... A way to make her take initiative to play together... I guess we have to make her get interested in us? So, how can we do that?"

At some point, Konoha, Kirika and Kuroe had also gathered by their side. Probably having heard what Kouta had said, they seemed to understand the current topic of conversation for the most part.

—Originally starting out as a target to strive for, it was now a clear and concrete goal.

They hoped that Youko could play with everyone.

Since such a simple wish was already born, all that remained was putting in actual action. The members Haruaki's group exchanged glances to confirm one another's resolve.

On the other hand, Kouta, who was supposed to be closest with Youko, simply threw out a comment with a face full of indifference:

"I suggest you guys give up... It'll end up a total waste of effort."

Then he walked over to his other friends.

Part 6

"Take this——!"

"You're not going to succeed——!"

While sprinting, Fear and Konoha shot white bullets at each other. Then as though drawn in by some force, they stopped running in parallel and closed in on each other. Meanwhile, the two girls did not halt in their attacks, running past each other as bullets grazed each other's body. In the next instant, the two girls turned around, using their heels to control their momentum and brake all of a sudden. Purely in terms of physical skill, Konoha held the advantage. She was also the first to absorb her momentum and spring into action. Konoha unleashed a preemptive shot towards Fear who had yet to recover her balance. Nevertheless, Fear jumped sideways in desperation, rolling forward while firing three shots of white bullets simultaneously like a ninja counterattacking by throwing shurikens. The children watched in awestruck amazement at the series of spectacular battles, applauding and cheering in excitement.

But as though dismissing Fear's tactics of desperation as impossible to hit her, Konoha jumped up. Using the side of a set of monkey bars as stairs, she tilted herself and ran upwards, firing another shot along the way. While rolling forwards, Fear extended both hands, relying on split-second decision making to grab a horizontal bar that she was just about to pa.s.s under, spinning herself once around the bar to avoid Konoha's attack.

For an instant, the two girls looked each other in the eye, face to face.

"This will end everything!"

"Exactly what I wanted to say—!"

Konoha kicked at the monkey bars all at once, jumping high into the air. On the other hand, while using her angular momentum, Fear released the metal bar and slid over the ground with knees bent in a customary manner.

—From the air, Konoha rained down heavy artillery like thunder from heaven's wrath.

—Like a dual-wielding gunman from an action film, Fear slid on her knees for a long distance, leaning her body back while creating countless ammunition in both hands and firing randomly above.

One figure flew through the air while the other glided over the ground.

Both of them exuded steaming murderous intent while exchanging their relative positions of up and down.

Only for an instant, only for that very instant, time almost seemed as though it had stopped—

Konoha then landed, her eyes staring intently at the enemy from behind her gla.s.ses. Using the energy in her jump, she slid backwards on the ground while kneeling on one knee. As though break dancing, Fear used both legs to alter her body's direction, meanwhile noting the enemy's lingering vector while distancing herself. Lifting one knee to enter the same pose, she stared at Konoha.

Then they both clicked their tongues simultaneously.

"Tsk, you dodged it?"

"I originally intended to deliver a fatal blow, but it failed, I see..."

Instantly, silence shrouded their surroundings.

A beat later, having borne witness to the duo's spectacular snow battle that resembled an action movie, the children cheered thunderously.

Haruaki held his breath while watching the s...o...b..ll fight executed in the style of hard-boiled action, feeling his heart race while clenching his fist tightly.

...This'll work. This'll surely work!

Carrying this certainty, he turned his gaze hopefully.

However, the girl in front, the girl whom they were giving their all, trying to stimulate her interest—

"She's not watching at all—!"

Completely ignored.

Youko still had her back against the group, using her shovel to pat the hill she had made by collecting snow. How could she possibly ignore the scene just now? She should be glancing a bit at least? Even Haruaki himself felt very excited after watching the spectacular and superhuman s...o...b..ll fight that was filled with heart-thumping action.