Girl's Berry/2017 Winter Issue
Girl's Berry (ガルベリ) 2017 Winter Issue was released January 30th 2017. It featured Masumi Usui and Sakuya Sakuma on the cover.
| Girl's Berry 2017 Winter Issue | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Girl's Berry 2017 Winter Issue | |
| Released | January 30, 2017 |
| Pages | 112 |
| Magazine | Girl's Berry |
| Publisher | Kadokawa |
| Purchase | Amazon |
Roommate Messages
Message from CITRON to SAKUYA
When I look at Sakuya's pure, pure~ eyes, I want to tell him a story about my country. Sakuya, thank you for always listening so intently. There are still many more stories I haven't yet told you. Citron's 'Hundred Tales' goes all the way to ten thousand!
Message from TSUZURU to MASUMI
Masumi, where are you going when you sneak out sometimes in the middle of the night......I've caught you. I get woken by your noise; put yourself in my place, honestly......When you come back at dawn, you smell a bit like curry. Could it be that you're......
Message from MASUMI to TSUZURU
Tsuzuru, your meddling in all of my activities is annoying. Thanks to you lecturing me every day, the Director won't come to my room......While you're writing scripts, I get annoyed by your noisy sleep-talking too. I can't believe you're even writing scripts in your sleep.
Message from MISUMI to ITARU
Can I have the triangle in your room? The one with lots of round buttons on it! We can even exchange it for the golden super Mr Triangle I have~ I'll be waiting for your reply!
Message from SAKUYA to CITRON
Citron-san, thank you for always telling me lots of interesting things I don't know! The story you told me the other day about how candy made in the atmosphere falls instead of rain due to abnormal weather in your country was really interesting. The world is such a large place!
Message from YUKI to TENMA
Hey, are you aware that I'm always the one cleaning up? You might have had a housekeeper at home, but put away the things that you take out yourself. This trashy actor is a really trash.
Message from TENMA to YUKI
Even though you're always calling me trashy, you don't know that I'm the one who looks after you when you fall asleep making costumes, do you? Respect me once in a while!
Message from KAZUNARI to MUKU
It's superly fun having tea and reading manga and drawing pictures every day with Mukkun; it's like, he's the best roommate ☆ Say, today's snack is those popovers you said you wanted to eat before, so let's have them together after~♪
Message from ITARU to MISUMI
Misumi, I'll look for that game you were talking about before where lots of triangles appear and give it to you, so stop sneaking into my room of your own accord and trying to steal my controller. If this goes, I'll die. Seriously.
Message from MUKU to KAZUNARI
When I fall asleep reading manga, you put a blanket on me, and you give me delicious sweets, and you discuss stuff with me, and......and ---! Anyway, thank you for everything! Thanks to you, I have tons of fun every day. I'm in your care from now on too!
Message from JUZA to BANRI
......Settsu, stop flaring up at me over everything in the middle of the room every day without fail. You're loud. You're bloodthirsty all hours of the day. If it's a fight you're after, make the punks over there your partners.
Message from BANRI to JUZA
Hyodo, what's with you acting strange and secretive right after you come back to the dorms sometimes? After coming back to the room, you're overly aware of me and keep glaring......it really pisses me off. I know you're hiding something under your arm. Do it better.
Message from OMI to TAICHI
The other day when I went to a camp with the club, I had a strange feeling before I slept......Once I returned, I realised why. If I'm not told 'good night' by you, I don't feel like the day has ended. Haha, I'll be in your care as your roommate from now on too, Taichi.
Message from TAICHI to OMI
Omi-kun, thanks for always waking me up in the morning! Hehe! Since moving in and sharing a room with you, I haven't been late at all; my teacher got worried, thinking there was something wrong with me. In return, I'll be your taste-tester for dinner anytime!
Message from AZUMA to SAKYO
I've been thinking this whenever I go to your room, but it really is a bit drab, isn't it? It might be good to put a few more small items around. Ah, that's right. Why don't we try being roommates? We're both adults, and we both like our drink, so I think it'd be quite good. ......Hehe, just joking.
Message from TASUKU to TSUMUGI
I've known you for a long time, but this is the first time we've lived together in the same room like this. And even though we’ve been together for 20 years already, I was surprised that there was this one side of you which I still did not know of... As for the details, I'll keep them in my heart.
Message from TSUMUGI to TASUKU
I kept silent about this until now, but during the times when we're practising, Tasuku’s sleep talking gets worse. As for the content, for Tasuku’s pride, I will keep it silent from everyone. Anyway, it's a good thing I'm your roommate......and I'll leave it at that.
Message from HOMARE to HISOKA
Hisoka-kun, how's my poem for a pleasant sleep? You were able to sleep soundly thanks to it, right? Ahh, I don't need your thanks. I'm just doing the natural thing to do as your roommate ♪
Message from HISOKA to HOMARE
Arisu, what's that song you sing when I'm sleeping? It's noisy......And sometimes you secretly eat my marshmallows. Three each day. Next time, buy me ten bags as a replacement.
Message from SAKYO to AZUMA
Yukishiro, I don't hate your taste in rooms. But stop surreptitiously leaving your style of interior design magazines in my room. I'm the sort of person who only wants to put the bare essentials in my room. I told you the other day when we drank all night as well......I won't let you say you were drunk and don't remember when you're so good at holding your liquor.
Side Stories
First New Year's Cooking
December — on a day approaching the end of the year, Tsuzuru, who was resting in the common room with the other members of the Spring Troupe, spoke up.
"Mm~, what should I do......" he moaned, crossing his arms with a frown.
Seeing that he looked as if he might be thinking up a new script, Sakuya worriedly called out to him. "What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking about New Year's at the MANKAI dorms."
"New Year's? Tsuzuru-kun, aren't you going home for New Year's?"
Sakuya cocked his head at the only the only member of the troupe with a big family, surprised.
"I'm planning on spending New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I'll go home on the second."
"Is that so? You're staying here too, right, Itaru-san." Sakuya passed a glass of water to Itaru, who was playing a game nearby.
Itaru nodded without looking up from his phone. "The trains are crowded around New Year's, so I never go back."
"Masumi-kun and Citron-san?"
"I'm not going home. I'm spending New Year's with the Director."
"We'll be here too, you know," Tsuzuru retorted immediately, upon hearing the steadfast response. Masumi had devoted his life to the Director.
"I'll be here too for New Year's[1]."
"You're not allowed to get yourself a priest[2]. It's New Year's." As he corrected Citron's reply the way he always did, Tsuzuru let out another mm. "If everyone's around, we'll need osechi."
"Eh? You're going to make New Year's dishes!?"
Tsuzuru was one of the people on cooking duty. Sakura's eyes shone at his words.
"No, I'm a bit concerned. I was talking to the director the other day, and we decided not to because it would be terrible making portions for this many people, but......it really is sad not having anything at all."
When Tsuzuru explained the reason why he'd been moaning earlier, Sakuya leaped from his chair and drew close. "Let's make osechi! I'll help!"
"......I see. With more people to help, we might be able to make it work somehow."
Swayed by Sakuya's enthusiasm, Tsuzuru's heart began to waver.
"Masumi-kun, you'll help too, right? The Director would definitely be happy!"
"......If it'll make them happy, I'll help."
Masumi nodded, nicely caught by Sakuya's words. Citron continued, "I'll help too!"
"Then, shall we make it. When you talk about New Year's, it's gotta be osechi after all."
"Cheers."
"You have to join in too," Tsuzuru said to Itaru, who had been listening to the flow of the conversation while staring at his phone as usual.
"Seriously."
At first, Itaru had often acted independently, enough so to disturb the peace; however, now he had become quite cooperative. Even if he hadn't given a clear YES, all the members knew he would help out.
When New Year's Eve arrived, the members of the Spring Troupe gathered in the dormitory kitchen, which was sparkling now that they had finished a big clean-up of it.
"Are you done, everyone?"
In response to Tsuzuru's call, everyone arranged each of the dishes they had been entrusted to make on the kitchen counter.
"Oi, this is......"
The dishes laid out before his eyes sort of did, and sort of didn't resemble New Year's dishes. Tsuzuru was lost for words. For some reason, there was a roll cake, heart-shaped chocolate, dried kelp still in its bag, and a decorative New Year's pine lined up before him.
"To be honest," said Sakuya, shamefacedly showing him the roll cake, "I've never eaten a proper New Year's meal......When I asked Citron-san what that round yellow thing you often see was, he said it was a roll cake......"
"It's definitely not."
"I've never eaten osechi either. But there are dark things in it. I made something I thought they'd like."
Tsuzuru's shoulders slumped. He shook his head at Masumi, who held out the chocolate with full confidence. "The dark things in osechi are black beans or seaweed wraps."
Immediately, Itaru presented his dried kelp. "Seaweed wrap."
"It's not wrapped! That's the dried kelp you just bought!"
"I looked at a guidebook! You use this to decorate the entrance!"
"New Year's pine isn't even for eating!"
Having corrected everyone in one go, Tsuzuru was was so out-of-breath it was beyond pitiful. He was oozing fatigue.
"......I understand. From now on, all of you have to act according to my instructions! You're not allowed to do your own thing!"
"Y-Yessir!"
"Understood, leader!"
"OK."
As if bending under the pressure of Tsuzuru's demand, everyone nodded.
Thus, the osechi making began anew under Tsuzuru's guidance. Progress was slow, but things were heading in the right direction.
"Wait a minute, the New Year's event is......
"You there, no gaming!"
Tsuzuru immediately blocked Itaru as he reached out for his phone. But as he did, Citron, who was in front of the pot, was about to sprinkle a suspicious spice into the root vegetable stew.
"It's the taste of my homeland."
"No customising, either!"
Tsuzuru took the bottle of spice from Citron just in time. Beside them, Masumi was silently and diligently making seaweed wraps.
"Masumi! Don't make the seaweed into hearts! It's not just the Director who's eating these!"
"Ugh......"
Masumi, who had been making an endless string of hearts with the seaweed, began to knot them tightly at Tsuzuru's words.
"Osechi really is a New Year's tradition. It's nice."
Sakuya, who was stirring the beaten eggs which would be used to make the rolled omelette, broke into a smile.
"I know. The 'o' in osechi stands for 'open your eyes and wake up', the 'se' is for 'seeing as it's finally New Year's', and the 'chi' is for 'children shouldn't be late'. It was created to warm people not to stay home and do nothing on New Year's."
"Eh!? Really!?"
"No way!"
Tsuzuru, who couldn't forget to correct misinformation even while making the candied chestnut with sweet potato, was working several times harder than when he did things on his own.
After a whole day of battle, the New Year was about to come around.
The Director, finally allowed into the kitchen, let out a joyful cry as she entered. "You made osechi!?"
Her eyes widened at the tall stack of boxes, enough for over twenty people.
"Everyone helped."
Tsuzuru informed her of the result, completely exhausted. Beside him, the members of the Spring Troupe were all sitting looking like they'd burnt themselves out too.
"Amazing! The seaweed wraps look delicious too......Huh? They're heart-shaped?"
When she looked more closely, there were heart-shaped seaweed wraps, spices half-sprinkled in the root vegetable stew, ingredients with the skin still on, a roll cake next to rolled omelettes — there were strange things going on in various places.
"Well, it's MANKAI osechi."
Just figure it out. Taking in Tsuzuru's feeble words, the Director huffed out a laugh.
"Hehe, it really does have that MANKAI Company feel. I'm looking forwards to eating it with everyone!"
The moment the Director's smile reached full bloom, there came the sound of the watch-night bell ringing once from afar.
Their first New Year at the reborn MANKAI Company was just around the corner.
First Snowball Fight
One early morning in January, and the Mankai dormitory, bathed in the morning sun, looked completely different to how it had been the previous night.
The members of the Summer Troupe, about to head to morning practice, were the first to discover this looking out from the glass doors of the courtyard, and cried out in delight.
“Ahh, the world’s turned silver!”
“I did think it was rather chilly.”
“I’m cold......”
Beside Muku, whose eyes were sparkling, Tenma was nodding in agreement and Yuki was rubbing both arms irritatedly.
“This is seriously awesome! Get pumped! Let’s take a photo!”
“Snowball fight~”
“Sounds good! Let’s do it!”
Kazunari and Misumi flung open the glass doors without hesitation and leaped out energetically, as if to usher in the bitingly cold wind.
“No way.”
“It seems fun, but we might catch a cold......”
“We have local plays to put on, so that’d be bad.”
“That’s right......What if I catch a cold which turns into pneumonia, which ends up getting me hospitalised, and then in a turn of bad luck gets worse, and they end up finding a separate illness, so I stare at the last leaves on the big tree outside from the window of my hospital room, telling you all my last will and testament......! I’m a weak and sickly stir-fried bean sprout, you see......”
“Bean sprouts are delicious stir-fried, so that’s fine.”
As Yuki and Muku carried on this conversation, frowning at the view on the other side of the window, Tenma muttered, “I’ve never had a snowball fight.”
“You haven’t, Tenten? Not even once?”
At Kazunari’s shocked words, Tenma nodded nonchalantly. “Nope.”
Tenma, who had been busy working as a child actor since he was young, had scant experience with the sort of things normal children did for fun.
“That’s happiness,” said Yuki, dryly. “You’d be correct to continue living that way from now on too.”
At that, Kazunari shouted energetically, as if to drown the words out, “Then, let’s all have one!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We can only do it on a snowy day, after all.”
Muku, who understood Kazunari’s desire to give Tenma experience having a snowball fight, agreed.
“Yay~! A snowball fight~!”
When Misumi ran off into the pure white show as fast as he could, the other members also followed after him.
“Seriously......?”
Yuki, left behind on his own, stared in shock at the other members running around like dogs.
“Come on, quick, quick!”
At Kazunari’s insistence, Yuki sighed and finally stepped into the courtyard.
“What sort of rules are there in a snowball fight?” asked Tenma, with a serious expression.
Muku tilted his head to the side. “Hmm, as far as rules go, there aren’t particularly any — ”
“The head is three points, limbs are two points, the body is one point; when you’re hit you get points subtracted, and when you have zero points left you have to take one item of clothing off,” explained Yuki coolly, interrupting him. Muku’s eyes widened at that information.
“Eh!?”
“They’re pretty harsh rules.”
“Sounds fun~”
“No, I’ve never heard of those sorts of rules — ”
Muku hurriedly tried to refute them to Tenma, who looked accepting, and Misumi, who was getting excited, but Kazunari was faster to cheer.
“That’s right! Then, after you’ve stripped, you start again from ten points!”
“W-Wait, even you, Kazu-kun — !”
“Got it. I’m going to get serious.”
Tenma had rolled up his sleeves and was looking completely invested. He had no idea that Yuki and Kazunari were struggling to contain their laughter beside him.
“Tenten, we’re going to have a serious match, okay.”
“You definitely can’t say after that you won’t strip or anything.”
“A man never goes back on his word. I’ll strip.”
Tenma spoke with finality, clumsily putting together a snowball. He was as serious as he was when he stood on stage.
“No no no! That’s not true! If you do that, you’ll catch a cold and you won’t be able to practice, you know!?”
Just as they were about to start the war, Muku jumped in.
Tenma blinked, dumbfounded. “It’s not true?”
When they saw Tenma’s expression after he finally got a hold of the situation, Yuki and Kazunari couldn’t contain themselves any longer.
“There’s no way I’d participate in that sort of snowball fight.”
“Ahaha, soz! I didn’t think you’d take it seriously! I just tagged along with what Yukki was saying.”
“You guys......”
Furiously, Tenma threw the snowball he was holding at Yuki and Kazunari.
“Ah, ah, I said sorry!”
“Hold on, that’s dangerous.”
“Has the snowball fight started~?”
Seeing the interaction between the three of them and misunderstanding, Misumi picked up a snowball from the mountain he had created in the blink of an eye. The snowballs had been squeezed into triangles, just like onigiri.
“No! Wait, wait, Sumi! What’s with that mountain!?”
“It hasn’t started yet — ”
“Ya~y! Triangle balls, rapid-fire~!”
Perhaps Misumi couldn’t hear the two of them speak. He began hurling the snowballs in Yuki and Kazunari’s direction faster than the eye could see.
“That plain hurts!”
Unable to withstand the concentrated assault, Kazunari began running around trying to escape.
“It’s because you told a lie.”
“Divine punishment.”
Muku and Tenma, who weren’t being targeted, watched Kazunari become covered in snow from a distance. They felt he was getting just what he deserved.
“You’re leaving me to fend for myself!? Yukki!?”
When he looked around in search of his partner-in-crime, Yuki had quietly hidden in the shadow of a tree.
“Evasion.”
“That’s mean, Yukki!”
“Snowball fights are fun~!”
“Hold on, wait a minute, I surrender! I said I surrender!”
Misumi’s joyful voice and Kazunari’s pained shrieks resounded around the dormitory with a vigour that blasted away the cold, frozen morning air.
First Karaoke
One day after practice, Banri suddenly said to the troupe members who were assembled for a meeting, "After this, go to karaoke."
"Huh?" they all said, stunned. He told them Tsuzuru, who was in charge of the scripts, wanted to make a musical, and had said to introduce singing into their practice.
They had never been to karaoke together as a troupe before, and he'd never seen them sing, so they were all unknowns when it came to their singing ability.
"It's been a while since I've been to karaoke. Juza might be surprisingly good at it, mightn't he?"
When Omi pointed him out, Juza shook his head.
"I've never been to karaoke."
"Ehh!? Really!?"
Taichi's eyes widened in disbelief. Sakyo, beside him, agreed with Juza. "I've only ever accompanied people, too."
"Then, let's all go together!" Taichi exclaimed. Banri shook his head carelessly.
"Ah, I'll pass, by the way."
"Ban-chan, why!?"
"What sort of punishment game is it, going to karaoke with Hyodo. Is it the recital of some egotistical guy in an orange T-shirt."[3]
"Isn't it fine? Since we have the opportunity, it'd be more fun to go together!"
Despite Taichi's insistence, Banri was starting to play a mobile game, showing absolutely no interest. His unwillingness to accommodate others hadn't changed from the start.
"Then why don't we compete with points to see who's the best?" said Taichi, who was completely used to dealing with Banri.
"It's obviously me," said Banri, without looking away from his phone."
"You don't know until you try," Juza told him, in a low tone.
The moment he did, Banri looked up, glaring challengingly at him. "......Heh, fine then."
"It's decided!"
Taichi shouted joyfully at their success in skilfully bringing Banri out.
"In the end, he doesn't act unless it's a match."
"It can't be helped."
Omi and Sakyo, who had been watching the progression of events, could only shrug their shoulders helplessly.
When they arrived at the karaoke shop in front of the station, Taichi promptly handed the song input device to Sakyo.
"Then, first up is our most senior member, Sakyo-san!"
"I see......"
As Sakyo was looking through the song selection, unsure how to operate the unfamiliar device, a hand stretched out from beside him and tapped a song.
"This one's for you, Aniki!"
"Why are you here."
Sakyo frowned at Sakoda, who had appeared beside him in the blink of an eye.
"I'll be your back-up chorus!"
"Trust him to have a full-time chorus......"
"He's something else!"
Sakoda already had the maracas on hand, Omi and Taichi were moved by how like a faithful dog he was.
In no time, the intro to the song Sakoda had selected began to play.
"Well, whatever. I'm safe with this song."
Holding the microphone, Sakyo began to sing. The song was a ballad from a male artist; it was suited to Sakyo's austere voice.
"Wohh! Wohh! Foo! Foo!"
Whilst dealing with Sakoda's occasional wild interjections, he sang flawlessly at the top of his voice, and his final score appeared.
"82 points! That's my Aniki, getting a high score!"
"Your outbursts subtracted quite a bit from it."
As Sakoda rattled the maracas in celebration, Sakyo sighed, resigned.
"That was a good song! What song was it!?"
When Taichi asked that, the other members all nodded as well.
"That's the first time I'd heard it, too."
"Me too."
"Does nobody know it......"
Although it had dominated a past generation, for the high school and university student members it was a song from their childhood. Realising that, he was shocked.
"I learnt it from listening to Aniki sing it, too!"
At the final blow from Sakoda, who should have been his loyal dog, the vein on Sakyo's temple throbbed. "......I'm not coming to karaoke with you guys anymore."
"Ehh!? Why's that!"
Sakoda let out a sad cry. Beside him, Omi placed the song input device on the table.
"I haven't decided yet, so someone else can go first."
"Then I'll go."
Banri entered the song with practiced motions and held the microphone.
When the up-tempo song by a popular male group began to play, he sang perfectly in tune."
"As expected, Ban-chan's good!"
Right to the end, there wasn't really anything that could be called a mistake.
Looking at the score displayed at the end of the song, Juza and Sakyo murmured in admiration.
"95 points......"
"Flawless."
Banri took the praise in stride, shrugging.
"Then, I'm up next."
When the intro to the next song began to play, Taichi leaped up and took the microphone.
"Would you usually sing such a full-on love song in front of a group like this?"
Next to Taichi, who was passionately singing the romantic ballad, Banri looked weary.
The all-male room playing love songs had an inexpressible atmosphere.
"It's surprising. I thought he'd sing a lively song," Omi said, as the song was finishing up.
"True," agreed Sakyo. "It's a ballad."
For Taichi, who was always bright and lively, the two of them shared the opinion that an up-tempo song would suit him.
"This song was the most popular song with girls at karaoke this year!"
"He never changes."
Sakyo nodded, understanding, at Taichi's strong announcement.
"Tch~ 85 points, huh."
"That's plenty, isn't it."
When Taichi saw the score on screen, he hung his head in disappointment. Omi clapped him on the shoulder supportively.
"Next is Juza, huh. Have you decided?"
"......Yeah."
Matching the song that began to play without pause, Juza started to sing. He had chosen a calm ballad by a veteran male singer.
Hearing him sing, Banri's brows shot up.
"You're pretty good, huh!"
"Yeah. You have a good voice, and there's no problem with your ability."
"It seems my predictions were correct."
When the song was over, all the members praised him. Juza bowed his head a little, awkwardly.
"You scored 90 points, so it's my win."
Banri, the only one who hadn't said a word of praise, gestured to the score on the screen with his chin.
"Huuh?"
At the provocation, Juza's eyes turned fierce.
"It's amazing that you got 90 points on your first try!"
"But I got 95 points."
"Are you picking a fight, you jerk?"
"Come now, you two. I put in a song too."
In order to calm the dangerous atmosphere, Omi picked up the microphone and stood.
The song he had chosen was a song by a talented male duo, which perfectly suited his impression.
The moment he started to sing, the air in the room froze in place.
"T-This is......"
"Seriously......"
"Omi-san......"
"So there was an ambush awaiting us......"
Unable to hide their shock, they all averted their eyes. They stared at the floor of the room, unsure what expression to make.
"......It's safer not to do a musical."
"......Right."
Banri nodded deeply at Sakyo's serious declaration.
First Little Disaster
On the last day of the Winter Troupe's Winter Training Camp, it was decided by the Director's almighty directive that they would do winter sports activities.
In spite of that, on the day itself, the Director was nowhere to be found on the slopes.
"To think the Director would catch a cold when she was looking forward to it the most..."
"I'm worried, but she said she'd be fine if she rested, so we'll carry on with practice by ourselves today.
Tasuku, with his body wrapped in rental wear and accessories, was also muscular, so from his appearance he exuded the air of an expert like an instructor. Tsumugi, beside him, had little experience, but looked the part in appearance only.
"Winter is snow~, blanc like a pure white angel; my heart is aglow~. Ahh, poetic inspiration is coming steadily to me.
Homare was like Tsumugi in terms of appearance, but it was all laid to waste when he sang poems while striking poses as usual. Other patrons were staring at him from afar.
Beside them, also unchanged from his usual self, Hisoka was sleeping. "Zz......"
"I might have some coffee at the terrace house over there."
On the other hand, Azuma was elegantly removing his goggles and looking at the cafe.
"Do these guys have any intention of playing sport?"
Looking at the troupe members, who barely did regular exercise, Tazuku sighed, amazed.
"Today is for working our bodies, Azuma-san. Come on, Hisoka-san, you wake up too."
The leader, Tsumugi, was good at looking after people, so he stopped Azuma, who was about to sit on a chair at the terrace, and woke up Hisoka, who was sleeping standing up.
"Zz......"
"I brought marshmallows in case this happened."
When Hisoka didn't reply to Tsumugi's call, Homare dangled a marshmallow in front of his nose. At that, Hisoka immediately ate it up.
"......It's a bit hard."
Watching Hisoka chew on the half-frozen marshmallow, Tsumugi let out a sigh of relief.
"Then, let's start our final day's special practice. Incidentally, has anyone here going skiing or snowboarding before?"
At Tsumugi's question, most of the members shook their heads. Tasuku was the only one to raise his hand.
"Then I might leave the training menu to Tasuku, who has experience."
"Then for the time being, once you're used to the expert course over there we'll head to the moguls."
Tasuku pointed to the guide board. The expert course and mogul barn drawn there clearly had different slopes compared to the others. "That's impossible for anyone but you, Tasuku. Since we're here, let's go somewhere we can all go down."
Tsumugi lightly declined.
"I'm tired, so I don't want to move much."
"I too would like to create poems without moving my body."
"You're completely rejecting the point of today."
Tasuku sighed at Azuma and Homare, who went at their own pace.
"If it's sledding, you just have to ride it, so that might be better."
There was a sledding course drawn on the map that Tsumugi pointed out.
"Hmm, this seems like a genuine sledding course, for adults only."
"If we just have to sit, that's fine. In contrast to Azuma and Homare, who looked keen, Tasuku was frowning.
"We came all the way to a ski resort and we're going sledding?"
"We used to ride together in the past, didn't we."
"When."
Though he grumbled, he was won over by Tsumugi, and in the end it was decided that they'd all go to the sledding course.
"It's cold, huh......"
The moment they disembarked from the lift, the piercingly cold air came blowing at them along with the snow, and Azuma began to shiver.
"It's snowing quite a bit, isn't it."
"It was so clear earlier, too."
"The weather on the mountains changes easily," Tasuku explained to Tsumugi and Homare, who were looking bewildered. Only Hisoka remained unconcerned, continuing to eat marshmallows.
"Just like the anger of the earth, a fallen angel's overhanging blizzard; I am a frozen pineapple~......"
"Come on, come on, let's go.
Pushing on Homare's back as he started to sing a poem again, Tsumugi herded the troupe members to the sledding course.
"The sleds are for three people, huh......"
The sleds readied at the boarding spot were big types, seating three. Tasuku brooded over the two aligned sleds.
"Here it might be better to have our master Tasuku-kun and Tsumugi-kun at the head of each of the sleighs and split into two and three to ride."
When Homare soon brought forward an unusually logical proposal, the other members immediately agreed. If they stood around in the snow storm, they'd get needlessly cold.
"Then, I'll leave the guidance to Tasuku."
"There's no need for guidance with sleighs."
While taken aback by Tsumugi's words, Tasuku sat at the head of the sled as directed.
"Hisoka-kun needs marshmallows, so he and I will ride with Tasuku."
So saying, Homare lined up behind Tasuku with Hisoka. Though it was a large sled, it was cozy with three adults on it.
"Then this sled is for me and Tsumugi. I'll be in your care."
"It's been a while since I've ridden a sled, so I'm not very confident, but I'll try my best."
Tsumugi inclined his head to Azuma, who was sitting behind him.
"That's going too far," Tasuku retorted, but he put his goggles back on and placed his hand on the control lever.
"Still, it's difficult since we're losing our sight in this snowstorm. Let's go down quickly."
He advanced the sled forward as he spoke and slowly began to descend the slope. As they started to slide down, the snowstorm hit them particularly hard from the front, covering Tasuku.
With his poor field of vision, Tsumugi, following after him, was also desperately concentrating on not losing sight of Tasuku's sleigh in front of them.
"If we make Tasuku-kun our shield, this snowstorm is no big deal."
Homare hid behind Tasuku's back while giving Hisoka marshmallows. Then, Hisoka was naturally drawn by the marshmallows to move to Tasuku's shadow.
"Munch munch......"
Tasuku's balance was suddenly disrupted by the pull from Homare and Hisoka.
"Ah, oi, don't pull!"
As he tried to correct his posture, he pulled down on the control lever.
"Ahh!"
The sled deviated wildly from the course and slid down a steep slope.
"—ngh."
Though he tried desperately to stop it, the steep downhill made them speed up so the control lever didn't work at all. When Tasuku gathered all his strength and pulled on the lever, the sled slid violently sideways, throwing them off, and finally came to a stop. "Owowow......"
In no time at all, Tsumugi's sleigh, which had been following, came to a stop nearby.
"Are you alright!?"
"Yeah, kinda......"
When Tsumugi rushed over, Tasuku and the others were completely white and covered in snow, whether from the storm or because they had been thrown off into the snow field.
"Zz......"
"Please wake up! This is what we call one of those places where you'll die if you fall asleep!"
Homare tossed marshmallows into Hisoka's mouth as he tried to sleep half-buried in snow.
"We've done it now. I can't see at all," said Azuma, looking around, but because of the snowstorm obstructing their view, nothing could be seen. Even the tracks of the sleds they'd just slid down on were already being covered over by the snow.
"Sorry. We're completely lost."
"Don't worry! No matter who was driving, it'd have been the same result."
"That's because you pulled on me," replied Tasuku, as Homare tried to console him. He crossed his arms worriedly.
"What should we do? Should we stay here or go down the slope......"
"For now, would you listen to the poem of my passing away?" Homare replied, very seriously, in answer to Tsumugi. Tasuku sighed.
"Don't say things like that."
"Zz......"
This time it was Azuma who shook Hisoka to wake him as he tried to sleep as usual."
"Wake up, Hisoka."
"Mmph, oh dear. I don't have any more marshmallows."
Homare turned the bag of marshmallows upside down and frowned.
"That's a concern......We have to look after Hisoka-kun," Tsumugi murmured. At that, Hisoka suddenly reached out towards the ground.
"Hm? He moved."
"He picked something up and ate it."
Homare and Tasuku watched Hisoka's actions closely. He reached out towards the white snowfield and picked something up, then popped it into his mouth.
"It's a marshmallow! When we were riding the sled, they fell out of the bag," said Homare, as if something had occurred to him.
"In other words, if we follow these marshmallows, we might be able to return to the course......"
"But on top of both the snow and the marshmallows being white, the snow is piling up......"
Even as Tasuku and Tsumugi were talking, Hisoka was gathering marshmallows and eating them, and gathering them, and eating them, on loop. There were small holes scattered here and there after him.
"He's digging them up."
"Is he a dog......"
While Azuma was admiring, Tasuku was flabbergasted.
"Alright, let's go, Hisoka-kun!"
"Nom......"
As Homare spurred him on, Hisoka continued straight on into the the snow. Perhaps he wasn't listening.
The next day, the Director cocked her head in confusion as she watched all the members take turns to provide the sleeping Hisoka with marshmallows and offer up words of gratitude.
