Like Two Crows on a Telephone Pole

It's not until we get inside the front gate and the crowd spreads out that she lets go of my hand and the warm, fuzzy feeling surrounding me disappears. Now, I'm just back to being cold.

She spins around with a sense of wonder, taking in the surroundings. It's a symphony of sight and sound. The normally dull concrete-and-glass buildings are covered with holiday decorations- lights and evergreens and cutouts of Santa and his sleigh flying on the side of the seven-story liberal arts hall. The barren trees of the central green are wrapped in multicolored lights and giant baubles, and a large pine with tinsel, a star on the top, and gigantic fake presents occupies a spot of honor at the very center of the quad. All around the perimeter are vendor booths advertising every sort of food- hot chocolate and hot dogs on a stick and yakisoba and taiyaki- you name it, they have it, and the smells of three dozen types of festival food mingle on my nose, creating a mouthwatering aroma.

"Yakisoba!" calls one guy outside a food stall, and another replies with a louder "Cotton candy!" Beside us, a small sleigh being pulled by a dog wearing reindeer antlers whizzes by, with several very happy children in the back. A few seconds later, some concerned-looking students blow past us. I think that's the zoology department- I heard rumors that their live animal exhibits at the Christmas Market always went wrong every single year, and yet they kept doing them. One year, the donkey they used in the live nativity show got ornery and kicked some little kid. I have no idea how that didn't get the entire festival shut down for good. My senior in the photography circle told me that they didn't have any clue about what the nativity actually was- they just wanted an excuse to show off the donkeys and sheep that live on the agricultural campus. They copied their creche off pictures on the internet, but they decided to include some Japanese flair, so in the manger with the baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were Santa Claus, Colonel Sanders, D*raemon, and a guy dressed like Kazuchika Okada.

Hashigami looks the same way as when you're a little kid and you visit Tokyo for the first time. It's almost like she can't keep track of all the vendors and activities and other things. It's like a school cultural festival on steroids.

If my life had turned out a little differently, right now I would be behind one of those booths, trying to sell my mediocre photographs of rocks and school buildings on glossy paper to visitors- but at the same time, if my life had turned out a little differently, I never would have met Hashigami.

It's almost hard to keep up with her in the crowd, she's moving so fast. Her knit hat-clad head bobs and weaves in the sea of people and I pant harder and harder the more I chase after her. It feels like I've walked a mile before she finally stops.

Well, this is new.

In front of us is a makeshift ice skating rink. It's small, and the only people on it are a few little kids and a couple moms, but this doesn't seem to matter to Hashigami. She turns around, a sparkle in her eyes.

"I wanna do that!"

"I don't know..." I've never ice skated before, and the only people using this tiny rink that looks like an outdoor pool filled up with ice are children. We're gonna be so out of place-

"Come on!"

"Well, alright." Man, I just can't resist when she starts pleading. It's too cute.

The first thing that pops into my head when we're making our way to the small booth at the side of the miniature rink to rent skates from the Figure Skating and Ice Hockey Club is that I'm relieved I don't know the girl who hands us the beat-up rentals. The second thing that pops into my head is that 500 yen for 30 minutes is way too much money. The third thing that pops into my head is that I'm going to fall.

I do fall, right away. As soon as I put one skate on the ice, I tentatively move my foot forwards and then it zips out from under me, and then my other foot does the same thing, and I slam down to the ice. Ow. It's way too cold, and it's starting to melt. I really hope this doesn't end in hypothermia. And some of the kids skating around are staring.

Hashigami effortlessly glides up to me, looking down at my splayed-out form with slight concern. "Sakuta-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I try to struggle to my feet and just manage to get upright before coming crashing down again. Ugh. Now my ribs hurt.

She twirls around, stopping and starting, coming to rest in front of me. "I'll help you up. Slowly. Keep your knees bent...that's how you do it."

She bends over, reaching out her arm, and I slowly pull myself up to my feet. This time, she's supporting me from the side. We're touching. We're so close and we're actually leaning on each other. I've gotta keep my knees bent. Gotta keep them bent...

She releases her hold on me, and suddenly I'm gliding. I'm effortlessly moving over the ice-

And then both my legs immediately flip out from under me and I land straight on my butt for the second time.

If you're thinking I learned to ice skate and then we had a romantic moment with the sun shining and the birds twittering- nah. Not even close. I spent the entire thirty minutes falling. Hashigami was having the time of her life, but I could barely go a centimeter without taking a tumble. And there's no way we'd have a romantic moment- I mean, if you saw us right now, you'd- Actually, you probably would think we were on a date, but...ugh. I'm confusing myself now.

My rear end's so sore that I don't think I can get up from the bench I've parked myself on. It feels like a few Mallet Bros from Mayro went to town on it. Tomorrow morning it's probably gonna be so red and swollen it'll look like I put a couple basketballs down my pants.

Hashigami's bouncing around like an excited child. I already want to go home. I'm sore and it's bitterly cold. At least the one positive about today is that my doomsday scenario hasn't come true. Yet.

"You're really good at skating..."

She twirls a long lock of hair around one of her fingertips. "My mom did speed skating when she was younger. She taught me a little bit. I haven't done it in a while, though."

"She was a coach or something?"

"No." Hashigami's expression turns downcast. "She worked for a bank. She had to quit skating because she had me."

"Really? She couldn't have done it as a hobby? Did your dad make her quit or something?"

"It's nothing to do with that. She had to work. My dad...he left us. Before I was born."

The mood turns awkward as both of us fall silent. I have the distinct feeling I just pried into something that I shouldn't have.

When I was moving, I didn't notice the omnipresent chill as much, but now with nothing to distract me, the Tohoku winter grips me with its icy fingers as I sit on the cold metal bench. Hashigami's dressed warmly. I'm not. Even my Unaclo layers are no match for the oppressive wind.

"...Can we go inside? I'm starting to freeze out here..."

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't realize."

My glutes scream as I slowly pull myself up from the bench. I feel like any longer, and I would have frozen to the bench and the paramedics wouldn't be able to pry me off. All I can do is slowly waddle to the big concrete-and-glass building that houses the liberal arts departments.

When we get inside, we're instantly greeted by a blast of warm air, and then the sounds of a bustling building surround us. There are people roaming this way and that way, classrooms turned into makeshift vendors of books and pottery and everything else you might imagine.

A delectable scent starts wafting down the hallway the more we walk. Oh. Right. We're close to the cafeteria. I remember this building.

The scent of something frying grows thicker and thicker until we turn the corner, buffeted in the crowd. In the large, open cafeteria, several groups have set up stands identical to those outside, with different types of food and yelling club members trying to get you to buy, but the lines inside are much longer than the ones outside. These are the primo booth locations. The clubs that are running the food stands get placed via random draw, and the lucky ones get the indoor stalls where they can sell as much as they like without them or the customers turning into icicles.

Hashigami pauses, zeroing in on a food stand with red, green, and black stripes and a large "TAKOYAKI" in cursive font. "You want some, Sakuta-kun?"

"...I'm not really hungry."

"I'll share with you if you want some."

In that case...I gotta do the right thing. "I'll pay for it."

"You don't have to."

"I'll at least pay half."

"Alright. If you insist."

Ugh. I could have gotten a free snack if I didn't try to be all chivalrous- no, don't think about the price...don't think about the price...think about you doing a good deed instead...

"Sakuta?"