Love Comes After Simulation

[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.

The sky was a grayish blue, the ice on the lake surface a pale white, and the grove of dead trees in the lake, wrapped in ice and snow, glistened with an elegant charm.

Yuuki Minami was reminded of the snow globes he often saw as a child. The stunning, surreal Sora no Ike before him looked just like a scene carefully arranged inside a snow globe. The mountains surrounding the lake and the low-hanging sky above formed the base and glass dome enclosing the scene.

A gust of wind blew by, lifting the snowflakes upward as if someone had turned the snow globe upside down, making the snow fall in reverse.

Within this snow globe, the most breathtaking sight was Reina’s smile.

Yuuki Minami turned to the girl beside him. The wind tugged at her long hair, which hung outside her knit hat. She let out a soft exclamation, quickly using both hands to gather her hair. Her movements were swift; as soon as the wind picked up, she had already grasped her hair. For a brief moment, her fair neck flashed beneath the strands, only to be hidden again by her dark locks.

Yuuki Minami pulled the hood of her down jacket over her head and tightened the drawstrings on both sides.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said, her gaze fixed on the azure surface of the lake. Beneath her fluttering lashes, a faint trace of blue glimmered.

“Don’t even think about licking it,” Yuuki Minami said.

“Hmmph!” Reina puffed out her cheeks. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. Who was it that secretly licked snow back in the hospital and got their tongue stuck?”

“That was a long time ago! And besides, it was only because you kissed me just three times a day back then!”

“And now?”

Yuuki Minami looked at the girl. Wrapped in her white down jacket, she seemed like a figure hidden in the snow. The blush on her cheeks stood out all the more, making her look irresistibly alluring.

Reina’s lips moved closer to his, and Yuuki felt as if he were touching two soft flakes of snow. At that moment, he understood the appeal of licking snow, just as she had done three years ago.

The coolness of the “snow” slowly melted and moistened between his lips.

The snow-covered scenery of Sora no Ike, a sight they had imagined and anticipated countless times before arriving in Yoshida Town, was indeed stunning beyond belief. Yet its beauty was not the main focus. It became secondary, dependent on the presence of the other. The beauty of the snow was fully transformed into the beauty of their shared moment, leaving them utterly enraptured.

As more visitors arrived at Sora no Ike, many photography enthusiasts came to capture its beauty. A young photographer snapped a candid shot of the two of them nestled together.

She sent the photo to Yuuki Minami, who thanked her. She then asked for permission to use the photo in a photography competition. Yuuki glanced at Reina beside him. His wife, looking at the photo—its dreamy composition featuring Sora no Ike in the background—smiled sweetly and nodded in approval.

After parting ways with the photographer, Yuuki Minami led Reina up a nearby slope.

He lay down on the snowy hillside, and Reina lay beside him, their hands tightly clasped.

“From here, the blue of Sora no Ike looks much lighter,” Yuuki Minami observed, gazing at the lake below.

“Mm,” Reina murmured, glancing around. The snowy field was serene, with no small animals peeking out at them.

She relaxed and moved closer to her husband, resting her head against his as they looked down at Sora no Ike.

From this angle, all that filled their vision was the blue of the lake and sky, and the white of the snow and clouds—blue embracing white, white nestled against blue’s chest, a pure and breathtaking beauty.

“When we pass away, let’s be buried here,” Yuuki Minami said.

“Mm.” Reina nodded earnestly.

“But,” Yuuki continued, “it’s such a remote place. It’d be a hassle for people to come and visit our graves. How does Reina-nee plan to make it up to me?”

“Huh?” Reina frowned in mock frustration. It was clearly Yuuki who proposed being buried here, so why did she have to make it up to him?

She truly loved Sora no Ike—loved being in this snowy northern world with Yuuki Minami. She didn’t question the suggestion but gave it some thought. After a moment, she sat up in the snow.

Leaning forward, she rested her upper body on Yuuki’s chest, her face replacing the blue sky in his vision. Her sparkling eyes reflected the pure light of the snow, illuminating her serene beauty.

Yuuki Minami gazed up at his wife, lying on top of him, her figure framed by the heavens. It felt as though he was embracing the sky itself.

Reina Minami looked down at her husband, lying amidst the snow. To her, it felt as though she were kissing the snow.

[The beauty of Sora no Ike paled in comparison to your love for each other. You pulled her down beside you on the snowy hillside, telling her you would be buried together in this union of blue and white. She agreed.]

[You kissed amidst the snow, letting the breathtaking scenery, your three-year promise, the sweetness of your past, and the hopes for your future blend into a happiness that left you both utterly intoxicated.]

[In the years that followed, every time the first snow fell in Yoshida Town, you and Reina escaped from all family obligations to share your private world by the shores of Sora no Ike.]

[The photographer who had captured your photo went on to win a silver prize at a photography contest, yet your image spread far more widely than any previous gold-winning entry. In the photo, your faces were hidden beneath the hoods of your coats. Your intertwined silhouettes, radiating pure and genuine love, added a romantic hue to Sora no Ike’s snowy landscape.]

[In university, you graduated early and began pursuing a graduate degree. Your sister Airi was admitted to Chikusa University. She often went shopping with Yuko Ibuki and frequently joined the Asano house for dinner.]

[After earning your doctorate, you joined the cardiac surgery department at Misaki University’s affiliated hospital. With your exceptional surgical skills and the necessary political maneuvering, you quickly advanced to become a lead surgeon and began making your mark in the field.]

[By the time you turned thirty, your family began urging you and Reina to have children soon.]

[In the timeline where the surgery failed, Reina, pressured by her impending death, had desperately wanted to have a daughter with you. But in this timeline, free from the shadow of death, your wife was completely absorbed in the joy of your shared life together and felt no urgency about having children.]

[You refused your family’s pressure. Although Reina outwardly seemed like any other person, her heart had not yet fully recovered to the level of a normal one. She still needed to take medication daily, and pregnancy would be a significant strain on her body. You weren’t willing to let her take any risks, no matter how minimal.]

[You discussed it with Reina, and the two of you decided to adopt a child first. If her heart fully recovered in the future, you would then consider whether to have a child of your own. Reina agreed to this plan.]