Chapter 417: Amid the Snow and Wind
Cold.
Too cold.
Although he had read the script and knew clearly that he couldn't avoid death, encountering an accident at sea like this still felt a bit too "drama". Even though there was foreshadowing — for example, the news on TV continuously reporting that the sea conditions lately had been terrible — but as the male lead, Sakurai Saki still felt that this script was truly melodramatic.
The seawater was very cold, but fortunately he didn't actually have to jump in and drown himself.
Indeed, a blessing in misfortune.
The final day of filming ended, and Sakurai Saki stepped off the boat.
"Congrats on finishing! Sakurai-kun, you really do have a talent for acting." A photographer walked over and patted his shoulder. For a young actor still in high school, everyone in the crew treated him quite warmly.
But that was probably also related to the person backing him.
Ueno Yoko — Ichika's manager — had arrived in Hokkaido two days ago. She was the one supporting Sakurai Saki as the male lead. Not to mention Ueno Yoko also had a very good relationship with Director Kinoshita, so Sakurai Saki instantly had someone "backing him"… even if only halfway.
Ichika was the one who truly had a powerful umbrella. But she was favored because her talent was simply too exceptional.
"Thank you, everyone is flattering me too much."
What followed was a round of pleasantries. Many people came to chat with him, and Sakurai Saki didn't show any attitude, responding to each person politely.
After finishing those meaningless social exchanges, Sakurai Saki walked toward Nino and Ichika.
The three of them had arranged to climb Mount Tengu today.
After all, Sakurai Saki was about to leave Otaru. If he didn't climb it, it would feel like a wasted trip.
A few nights ago, the three had already strolled around the entire Otaru Canal area. From there, they could even see the steep road made for ships to slide down into the sea — the Shipbuilder Slope — which they had passed by many times. Aside from that, they had visited almost all the nearby famous spots, intentionally leaving Mount Tengu for last.
"I already bought the bus tickets." Today Ichika had no scenes to film. And in the next few days, she didn't have many either — the second female lead had more scenes to shoot than her.
"The bus goes straight to Mount Tengu?"
"Of course it does, did the sea wind blow your brain numb?" Ichika teased him. For the past two days, the thing she heard most was his complaining.
She felt a bit sorry for him… but not really that much.
"It'll take about ten-plus minutes, really fast. Let's take the ropeway up later, okay? I looked it up beforehand, the ropeway takes about four minutes? If we skip it and try hiking up on foot, it'll take at least an hour and we still might not make it to the top." Ichika's tone was full of implication — in weather this cold, she had zero desire to climb a snowy mountain.
"Then let's take the ropeway. I'm done with work today anyway. Tomorrow Nino and I are going to Sapporo to ski. Ichika, if anything happens, call me."
Actually, Mount Tengu also had a ski slope, but the slope length wasn't enough to interest Sakurai Saki.
"If something happens, I'll call Yoko-nee, no need to call you." Nakano Ichika shot him a glare.
They were so far apart, what could he possibly help with over the phone?
Talking as if he was someone impressive.
"Alright, stop talking about that. It's still early, let's hurry up." Seeing the two of them chatting so naturally, Nino felt a bit guilty inside.
Honestly — it was finally her chance to go out with Sakurai Saki, and with Ichika tagging along, it really felt like a bother.
It had been like this the past few days too. She didn't even let her sleep together with Sakurai-san. What was she thinking? Did she really believe that doing that would cut off her connection with Sakurai Saki? — Nakano Nino grumbled in her heart.
...
On the bus, there were very few passengers.
This place wasn't a famous tourist city to begin with. The number of visitors each year wasn't high. The scenery was indeed beautiful, but because there wasn't much promotion, no matter how lovely it was, it could only become a "little holy site" in the hearts of a small group of people, never something widely known.
Who knew — after this film aired, would Otaru — this small port town — become a bit more famous?
"Mount Tengu has a ropeway. Don't you two think that's strange?"
Sakurai Saki tried to find a topic.
"I think it's strange too. Hokkaido is covered in snow year-round, yet a small, sparsely populated town like this is willing to go through the trouble of building an entire ropeway line."
And the ropeway leading to the summit didn't overlap with the one leading to the ski area.
That was the strange part.
"The Hokkaido from a few decades ago wasn't as cold as it is now. In summer it could even reach around twenty degrees, only in winter would it drop below zero." Nakano Ichika felt that these two people had way too little knowledge — just because it wasn't in the textbooks they didn't know?
Nino she could understand, but Sakurai Saki used to be a tutor and still didn't know?
"…So that's how it is? But this is only a rumor, right?" Nino opened her phone to check, and she discovered that such information really did exist.
But nowadays, whenever Hokkaido was mentioned, everyone's first reaction was — a land of white snow.
Hearing this, Sakurai Saki fell silent in thought.
Could there really be youkai under the sea recently? Otherwise how do you explain…
This topic didn't last long.
Because the bus soon stopped at the foot of Mount Tengu, where the ropeway tickets were sold.
After buying the tickets—
The three didn't have to line up and walked straight into the cabin.
The ropeway hung suspended in the air, slowly ascending.
Snow began to fall lightly, and it looked like it would get heavier. But since snow fell here every day, Sakurai Saki didn't pay much attention.
"It's so high…" Nino sat close to Sakurai Saki, hugging his arm as if she were afraid of heights.
Nakano Ichika turned her face away, too lazy to look at the two of them feeding "dog food."
Nino afraid of heights? Lies. Did they forget the Nakano sisters' luxury apartment was on the thirtieth floor? And with how Nino sometimes stood out on the balcony enjoying the breeze — she was afraid of heights?
When they went to the amusement park together previously, Ichika hadn't seen Nino afraid of anything.
But Ichika had gotten used to a lot during these past few days. These two stuck together so much that she'd grown accustomed to it.
Choosing not to look made her heart feel calmer, but the snow outside the cabin grew heavier and heavier.
If it got any worse, something really could happen.
"Sensei-chan, look outside."
"…The snow's getting heavy. Let's take pictures quickly and go back." Sakurai Saki suggested.
Ichika and Nino both nodded, not intending to oppose.
Under these conditions, lingering would be asking for death.
After getting off the ropeway, the three didn't head straight to the shrine next to the station but continued climbing a bit further, to the observation deck where the entire Otaru could be seen.
Nino took out her phone, snapped a picture, and posted it on ins with a short caption.
Very quickly, a flood of comments appeared — Nino was popular among her schoolmates, and she had female friends in nearly every class.
Ichika also took a few photos so that when the film aired, she could post them on her artist Twitter.
As for Sakurai Saki, he casually took a few shots.
Since the wind and snow were getting stronger, they couldn't stay long. Before descending the mountain, the three decided to visit Tengu Jinja.
They followed a small path cleared by people through the snow, and when they stepped past the torii — the gate symbolizing the territory of the gods—
A masked female figure appeared before them.
She wore a miko outfit, but on her face was a tengu mask.
The woman lifted her head and looked toward Sakurai Saki. Even though her face was covered, her voice clearly held surprise:
"Sakurai-sama… no. Welcome, honored guests, to Tengu Jinja."
Wait a second — what did she call him just now?
Ever since the snowstorm turned strange, Sakurai Saki had felt something was off.
Turns out he had run into a youkai. And judging from that form of address… she even sounded like a subordinate of his mother?
Seriously, could this be any more coincidental?
...