First… I slept.
I really just slept, plain and simple.
As soon as we entered the hotel, I threw off my padding and thick underwear and changed into a T-shirt and shorts.
Then we dove into bed and just went straight to sleep.
No matter how comfy the private jet was, spending so much time in the air was tiring, right?
Corbin and I snuggled under the blankets and fell into a deep sleep.
Of course, I had turned on the heating.
In any case, did we sleep for about 4 hours, I wonder?
I woke up feeling really good.
I had the heating on and was covered with a thick blanket, so when I woke up, I was almost sweating… It was super warm and comfy.
“…Corbin.”
“Why…?”
“Time to get up… Let’s go out for lunch…”
I did wake up, but I couldn’t help but yawn.
Still, it really was time to get up.
Lazing around like this didn’t feel right anymore.
“Don’t we have to eat lunch…?”
“That’s true… Can we sleep a little more…?”
“We’re on a trip. We can’t just chill out like this on the first day…”
“Well… that’s… true…”
Honestly, I was the main reason for wanting to get up.
Of course, seeing Corbin respond immediately when I spoke showed that he was just too lazy to get up.
And I guess he had reason to, with the heating warm and the blanket covering us.
Naturally, it was impossible for him not to be comfortable right now.
Plus, being curled up together made it even warmer.
“Are you not getting up?”
“…just a little more.”
“Nope.”
Thanks to Corbin wanting to sleep more, I had no choice but to pull the blanket off him.
“Ah.”
“…Hmm.”
As soon as I did, cold air rushed in.
Even with the heating on, it was definitely colder than under the blanket…
In any case, it really was time for us to get up.
No more wasting time.
“Let’s get up.”
“Alright…”
“And look outside too.”
I was determined to wake Corbin up, so I even pulled back the curtains.
The sunlight flooded into the room.
Corbin immediately tried to block the bright light with his hand, but he had already seen the dazzling outdoors.
With the intense sunlight and the gleaming white snow outside, it was blinding.
But since Corbin woke up, that was good enough, right?
“Ugh…”
“Corbin, aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m hungry…”
“Then let’s get up and eat something. We need to go buy some clothes too.”
“…That’s true.”
While we had some warm winter clothes, they were just gifts from people.
But honestly, once we head back home… they might not be useful anymore.
Still, I couldn’t walk around here in a short-sleeve shirt and shorts.
We had to have lunch and then buy some warm clothes afterwards.
Annoying, but we had no choice.
*
Corbin and I put on the outerwear we received.
Underneath, we wore regular clothes like jeans and T-shirts, topped with the padding as we walked down the street.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Definitely something warm.”
“That’s for sure.”
I usually wasn’t one to eat warm foods.
Of course, I’d have pasta or meat sometimes… but they didn’t really give that warm feeling.
It felt distinctly different from eating a hearty bowl of soup.
But today, with the cold weather, I really needed something warm to fill my stomach.
After all, we were in a different place than usual.
In this chilly weather, warm food was an absolute necessity.
It was really… cold.
“Ugh…”
“Shall we just walk into any restaurant?”
“That sounds like a good idea. It’s better to eat something warm than to wander aimlessly.”
“Definitely.”
I had been sleeping for a while, and now it seemed good to just go in and eat something, anything.
Experiencing winter after such a long time was colder than I expected.
“Ah… this is warm.”
“…What do you want to order?”
We found a decent restaurant and immediately went in.
As soon as we entered, we grabbed a table and breathed a sigh of relief in the warm air.
I felt like we would end up going to a department store or clothing store to buy something soon.
Though it had been a long time since I’d experienced winter, it was incredibly cold.
Of course, the clothes I wore were all summer jeans and T-shirts.
I really couldn’t keep this up for long.
“There’s curry here, and also noodles. The menu is… surprisingly diverse.”
I was warming up while browsing the menu.
It wasn’t like I had to order immediately.
The menu items were mostly Asian-inspired.
Rather than pasta or steak, there were curries, ramen, and noodles.
“I think I’ll go with curry. What about you, Lindera?”
“I’ll have ramen. I still feel a bit cold.”
“That’s true.”
I was definitely thinking of having something warm from the start.
So we went ahead and made our orders.
This was the real first meal of our trip.
Honestly… it was a surprise to be in such a place, but it was fun in many ways.
If only it weren’t for the cold… the scenery was nice enough, right?
The snow piled on rooftops and the sight of flakes falling from the sky felt like a long-lost memory.
It wouldn’t have been the same without it.
“Lindera.”
“What’s up? It’ll be a while until the food arrives.”
“No, I’m not talking about that; look out the window behind you.”
“?”
While I was fiddling with my phone, Corbin suddenly said that.
There couldn’t be anything behind, so why did he want me to look?
“Ah…”
“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Definitely… it is pretty.”
I set my phone down on the chair and turned to look out the window.
It was genuinely gorgeous.
Watching the snow fall from the sky and pile up on the ground was such a rare sight.
Even though I thought we had seen enough of it on our way here with Corbin, seeing it calmly like this was different.
It might have felt even more special seeing it together with Corbin.
It was something I could never see in Zone 07.
There was simply no way I could look away.
“…Next time, we definitely have to bring Charlotte.”
“You’re right.”
“It might also be nice to take the same car we took to the headquarters long ago.”
“That might be a bit boring for her, but it’d be fun.”
“Well… Charlotte would probably find it boring for the entire journey.”
Thinking about Charlotte’s personality, I bet she would hate spending weeks in a car.
Of course, once we got there, she would probably sprint into the snowy field without a care, I was a bit worried about that.
In any case, I felt sure Charlotte would enjoy herself once we arrived.
“I wonder what Charlotte is doing right now…”
“She’s probably having a blast with the boss.”
“That makes sense. The boss really likes her.”
“It’s funny how he thinks he’s hiding it, though.”
It was so obvious.
Anyone could tell that the boss had a soft spot for Charlotte, but he keeps acting like it’s not the case.
Charlotte, on the other hand, seemed to know her grandmother adored her.
“Your soup curry and tonkotsu are ready.”
Anyway… as we watched the snow outside, our meals arrived.
One thing was for sure… on cold days, you have to eat something hot.
The taste was completely different from the warm food we had in Zone 07.
Once again, I realized that the theory of eating hot when it’s cold and cold when it’s hot was definitely true.
*
“Shall we start by buying pants?”
“I agree.”
“Alright, let’s check the pants first… then we can look for tops and outerwear afterwards.”
After filling our bellies, we headed straight to the department store.
Honestly, I was a bit worried about having to visit various clothing stores if there wasn’t a department store, but fortunately, there was one.
And it was a pretty big 8-story building.
Anyway, after browsing through the department store with Corbin, we finally arrived at the clothing floor.
Our goal, as Corbin suggested, was pants first.
The jeans I was wearing were… super thin.
Honestly, I felt like I’d be warmer wearing black stockings than these jeans.
Though comparing stockings to jeans was kind of unfair.
“Corbin, how about this one? It’s lined with fleece and the style is pretty standard.”
“Really?”
“You’re always aiming for a clean style, right? Sometimes you wear hoodies casually, but… mostly you keep it neat.”
Corbin did tend to have a clean style with his clothes.
So I recommended something that looked simple enough.
He would clearly opt for comfortable clothes here anyway.
He’d probably end up wearing a decent sweater and pants topped off with a thick coat, right?
“Lindera, what do you think of this one?”
“A skirt…? You’re not wearing that…”
“Of course not; but I think it would look good on you.”
“…How can I wear a skirt in this weather?”
“With stockings?”
“…Aren’t the stockings the point?”
“…I don’t think so?”
“……..”
Is he seriously a pervert?
Even after secretly helping him out in the plane’s bathroom, seeing how much he’s influenced by desire makes me worried.
I wondered how pent-up he’d feel after not getting any for two weeks.
“…Let’s just pick Corbin’s clothes first.”
It was definitely easier to choose men’s clothes over women’s, and it took less time too.
Plus, Corbin was way more focused on what I wore than his own clothes.
I was sure he would nitpick a lot about what I chose for myself.
So we’ll start with Corbin’s clothes first… Sure.
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