I endured the humiliation and humiliation while being besieged by the ghost story elder sister.

The blush that appeared on Fanxia's fair face was almost exactly the same as the blush that Ximiao had when she came out of the room.

She waited for a while but didn't hear Xi Ling comment on whether the yukata suited her, so she couldn't help but ask towards the sofa.

"Mio? Do I look that bad?"

"...No, it's just that I don't know what to say for the moment."

As soon as she finished speaking, Fanxia saw Ximiao holding her phone, the camera pointed at her, the flash going off as she snapped a series of photos.

Startled, Fanxia rushed forward, pretending to snatch Ximiao's phone and delete the photos.

After a playful fight on the sofa, both of them, whose stamina was already evenly matched, ended up slumped on the sofa, panting heavily.

"Mio! Delete that... photo!"

"Don't~"

"I'm going to be angry!"

But in the end, she still couldn't get Xiling's phone to make him delete the photos he had just taken.

……

Friday.

Early in the morning, Ximiao was packing her luggage, leaving two suitcases casually on the living room floor.

He neatly folded his clothes and put them into his suitcase, preparing for a two-week trip.

Fanxia, ​​who should have been packing her own luggage, was leisurely sitting on the sofa, watching Ximiao busy herself.

"I already told you~ Mio, you can just tidy it up casually, is it necessary to put it all out so neatly?"

She couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"No means no. If you just stuff your luggage into your suitcase like you did before, it will be a real hassle to find things later!"

Seeing how serious Xi Ling was, Fan Xia stopped arguing with him and picked up a piece of toast from the side, chewing it in small bites.

As for the flight they were going to take, it departed at noon, just in time to catch the in-flight meal provided by the airline.

There was still plenty of time before the flight's departure time, and the two, who were used to waking up early, naturally had ample time to prepare.

And downstairs from the two of them.

Arisa, who had also gotten up early, was talking to her cat maid, Peros, about what she needed to bring.

She had Bailu prepare her travel luggage, while she, like Fanxia, ​​leisurely sat on the sofa, looking at travel guides.

On one side of the sofa, there was already a packed suitcase, which contained mostly the luggage that Ashi had prepared.

Until 9:30 a.m.

They took a car to Xi'an Xi'an International Airport, went through security according to the procedures, obtained their boarding passes, and checked their luggage.

Public rest area in front of the boarding gate.

Exhausted, Nozomi sat on a chair to rest, looking like a lump of mud.

As the only boy in the group, he took the luggage for the others without their permission, even though they didn't ask.

then.

As expected, Nozomi's stamina was completely depleted.

Arisa, who was watching this scene from the side, couldn't help but chuckle and teased, "Clearly terrible, but insisting on pretending, now look what's happened~"

"How was I supposed to know that you had so much stuff in your bags and suitcases besides your suitcases?!"

Somewhat exasperated, Hiyo said this in an annoyed tone.

Volume Two: The Snow Woman's Tenderness

Chapter One: Arrival

On a flight to Hokkaido.

Sitting in first class, Nozomi felt extremely uncomfortable with the flight attendants' meticulous service, but there was nothing she could do about it.

As for why it was first class… he did ask Aunt Ashi, and the answer he received from her was—

"The plane ticket they gave away in a mall raffle was a first-class ticket!"

It was obvious that she was just going through the motions with Ximiao. The devil was using some tricks to get something for nothing... Not bad~ He liked it.

Nozomi couldn't help but think that.

Would you two like some more orange juice?

A flight attendant passing by pushed a cart full of drinks and paper cups through the aisle next to them, looked at Nozomi and Honoka in their seats, and asked.

Before Xiling could answer, Fanxia handed her her empty paper cup.

"Another drink, please."

"Okay~"

Seeing this, Nozomi silently handed over her paper cup.

Several hours later, the flight landed safely.

As soon as Ximio got off the plane, she ran straight to the airport restroom, leaving Fanxia, ​​who was following behind her, shaking her head helplessly.

"What's wrong with Mio...?"

Asa asked with some curiosity.

"I drank too much orange juice." Fanxia calmly explained to Ami and Arisa, still holding the backpack that Nozomi had hurriedly thrown to her earlier.

After Ximiao returned, the group retrieved their checked luggage, boarded a car to the hotel, and left the airport.

Along the way, he looked out the car window at the beautiful white snowscape, but after looking at it for a while, he felt a little dizzy and subconsciously rubbed his eyes.

"Don't stare at it for too long, or you'll get snow blindness."

Noticing that Hiyo had been staring out the window at Honoka since earlier, she couldn't help but remind the boy. Only then did he slowly turn his head back, close his eyes, and look somewhat uncomfortable.

"I knew something felt off, now I know..."

"You'll be fine after a short rest. Remember to wear your sunglasses later."

While the two were discussing precautions for going out, Arisa, who was sitting to the side, was taking pictures with her phone and posting them on social media.

In no time at all, they arrived at the hotel they had booked in advance, where they would be staying for the next two weeks.

Each person carried a heavy suitcase as they entered the hotel. Having recovered her senses, Ximiao looked around with great curiosity.

Meanwhile, Ya was there, telling the receptionist about their reservation information and confirming the room.

"Alright, there are only two suites in total. Honoka and Nozomi will share one, and Arisa and I will share the other. Is that alright?"

She handed one of the room keys to Fanxia and said this.

Arisa, who had originally intended to say that she shared a room with Hio, swallowed back her words after seeing her mother's ambiguous smile as she looked at her.

Ashi then called to everyone, and they took their luggage to their respective rooms.

Their second-floor suites have private hot springs to enjoy, or they can go to the hotel's first-floor hot springs to relax in the hot spring water.

As for sleeping, there were two very warm-looking futons on the tatami mats for them to sleep on the floor.

After looking around their room, Nozomi and Honoka were at a loss for words.

It was much more traditional and simple than they had expected, but they didn't really care. After casually throwing down their luggage, they rushed towards the soft bedding.

"Woo~"

Stretching up, the weary traveler, Himio instantly felt alive again and let out a comfortable groan.

"This is the first time I've come this far with you, Mio... Mio, don't you need to tell your family back home?"

Fanxia, ​​who was also lying on the bedding, looked at the adorable-looking boy and couldn't help but ask.

However, Nozomi looked at Honoka with some confusion.

Why should we tell them?

"Aren't they worried about you, Mio?"

Now it was Fanxia's turn to be a little confused. Although she had spent so much time with Ximiao, she had never heard the boy mention anything about his family.

It seems that Xiaoling doesn't have a very good relationship with her family.

All that could be heard was Xi Ling speaking slowly.

“They don’t really care about me. Anyway, my allowance isn’t much. If it weren’t for the fact that my allowance is sent on time every month, I would have suspected that they had forgotten about me.”

Ximiao muttered to herself, looking quite helpless.

Seeing this, Fanxia did not continue on this topic.

Before they could lie down on the bedding for a while longer, there was a gentle knock on the door not far away.

"Hiyo, Honoka? Are you alright here?"

"The room has been arranged and everything is fine," Aya called from outside the door.

Then, Nozomi reluctantly got up from the bedding and hurriedly came over to open the door for Aunt Ami.

Then, as expected, he saw Arisa, who was following behind her, greeting him with a smile.

After the group entered the suite, Arisa's purpose was very clear. She immediately lay down on the bedding where Nozomi had just been lying, not treating herself as an outsider at all.

"What happened?"

Upon seeing Ami and Arisa arrive, Honoka couldn't help but ask them curiously what was going on.