Chapter 156
[Your sister, Airi, and Reina’s sister, Yuko, also wanted to join the trip, but you refused them, bringing only your wife to the winter-bound Yoshida Town.]
[You stayed at a hot spring inn in a small town near Sora no Ike. In an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people, the only thing familiar to you was each other. And so, everything unfamiliar faded into the background, leaving only you and her center stage. The small town felt like a paradise prepared just for you two.]
[Your bond grew even closer.]
[Every night, you soaked together in a circular hot spring bath filled with warm water, gazing through one-way glass at the forest behind the hotel and the sky above it.]
[You often stayed in the bath from dusk to nightfall, watching the clouds and stars and guessing whether it would snow the next day.]
[By the end of the month, the first snow finally fell.]
[You drove the rental car, taking Reina to the lakeside of Sora no Ike.]
A vivid memory scene unfolded.
The snow continued to fall, tiny white flakes drifting down and blanketing the entire expanse of Sora no Ike. The lake was surrounded on three sides by mountains, their slopes covered in snow.