/jp/ - Otaku Culture

She pointed toward the treeline again, but this time, I realised that it wasn't the treeline she was pointing to. Rather, it was the bottom of the tree. Where there was a bare foot and an arm sticking out. Blankly, I turned back to Shizuha, who had headed over to the arm and grasped hold of it. "It's okay, little sister. I found someone who can help." She looked back at me, so I sighed and stepped over, then crouched down. I'd been a little worried that I was about to be kidnapped, robbed, or worse, but I didn't think these two seemed like a big threat. Shizuha looked a little listless already.

I crouched down and - Really wishing I had gloves - began to scoop big armfuls of snow out. While I was doing so, I asked Shizuha if she and her sister stayed out all Winter. "What? Er, no, no way. It's not Winter yet, anyway. Starts...Uh, in a few days. Solstice should be early morning on the day after tomorrow." I asked her how she could possibly know that. "I'm an Autumn god. Of course, I know when my season ends. Not that it's really even worth it in the run up to Winter, since all the leaves are gone." I scooped away another big handful of snow, then found that I could...Er, see her little sister's bloomers. "Oh, for - Hey, Minoriko, this guy's looking at your butt. Should have fallen on your back, huh?" At that the leg which was sticking in the air kicked out and I yelped, falling backward. "Whoa, relax, little sis. Unless you want to stay there until the snow melts in Spring."

The kicking stopped, thankfully, so I got back to digging the snow away. I was focusing on where I thought her head probably was, since I wasn't entirely sure she could breathe. I asked Shizuha how she'd gotten so stuck, anyway. "It's...Have you never seen a tree well? Er, a spruce trap?" I was familiar with the concept. One of the big things that Miss Kamishirasawa had made certain to warn everyone at the Temple School about every Winter were tree wells. At the bottom of the tree, underneath the branches, the snow wouldn't pile up like the surrounding area, and would instead create a space underneath. Anyone who walked near it would then fall - Usually face-first - into the void and very quickly be buried under the snow, just like Minoriko had been. Since they were falling face-first, they might even get injured or knocked out, and unless someone was around, they wouldn't be able to get out. The snow would pile over them densely and that would be that. You'd likely suffocate, but it would be slow. If you weren't knocked out, you'd...Know it was happening. It wouldn't be a pleasant way to go.

All of that was the horror story that Miss Kamishirasawa had told us, and I'd been terrified of stepping anywhere near trees during the snow for years afterward. I'd wondered if she had exaggerated, until a few years prior, a villager had died and been found in a tree well, just like Miss Kamishirasawa had described. "So, er, she was talking to me about hibernation until next Autumn, and she wasn't looking where she was going, and...Yeah. Straight in." That'd do it, I muttered as I scooped yet more snow out. Shizuha helped, but she didn't seem particularly strong, so it was mostly up to me. It was exhausting work, far more than I'd initially thought, but finally, I saw a tuft of blonde hair and knew I was close to her head.

A few seconds more, and I'd uncovered part of her hat and her face. She breathed in gratefully. "Oh..." She took in another deep breath. "Th-Thank you..." She told me, sounding exhausted and cold. "Th-That was h-horrible..." I told her that she was going to be okay as soon as I'd had a second to catch my breath. "Um, okay..." I fell back slightly and focused on getting breath into my lungs, and Shizuha took my place.

"Hey, little sis." She muttered. "Really need to watch where you're going, huh?" She did look relieved, though. She was shivering, now that I looked at her properly. I couldn't imagine that either of them were very warm, so, feeling a little bad, I took my coat off for a moment and dropped it on Shizuha's shoulders. I was sweating from the exertion regardless, so the cold was helpful more than anything. "H-Huh?" Shizuha looked at the massive coat. "Um, thank you...?" She did seem to draw some warmth from it, so I took that as a win. I was certain that I was going to get that cold now, since my hands were freezing cool too, and I was lying in a pile of snow. At least my silly hat was keeping my head from getting cold again. After a minute or so, I felt like I'd recovered enough to have a second go, so I got back up and fell to my knees, then started scooping out snow again.

>>14437466