November 4th, in the deep night of Hokkaido, Dubian Che nestled in the warm, tender embrace of Xiaoquan Aonai.

Xiaoquan Aonai gently ran her fingers through his hair.

All around was silent, and Dubian Che gradually returned to his senses.

"Miss Aonai, is it okay?"

"It's fine." Xiaoquan Aonai blushed.

Dubian Che softly replied "Mm," his voice laced with a smile as he added, "It seems a bit late to ask now."

After a moment of silence, Xiaoquan Aonai's murmured words reached him:

"I've calculated my menstrual cycle."

Dubian Che was taken aback for a moment, then lifted his head, while Xiaoquan Aonai turned away, showing him her flushed cheek and ears.

"I see," he said.

What he asked earlier, whether it was okay, was about agreeing to wait until he graduated before doing this, not about her cycle.

But it was indeed something that needed attention.

He lowered his head again, feeling Xiaoquan Aonai's tender, warm skin against his face.

"I love you, Aonai."

"...I love you too." Xiaoquan Aonai hugged Dubian Che tightly, "I've loved you since I was sixteen."

Dubian Che sat up and embraced her in return.

Xiaoquan Aonai lay in Dubian Che's arms, caressing his cheeks, as if confirming whether this was reality or a dream.

In a daze, Dubian Che again saw Xiaoquan Aonai in a school uniform from her sixteen-year-old self.

He wished he could have hugged her back then when she was sixteen.

Wished to hold her hand, to spend their youth together.

"What's the matter?" Xiaoquan Aonai noticed Dubian Che's expression.

"I remembered you at sixteen." Dubian Che said, "I'll always keep that letter."

"It's okay to throw it away." Xiaoquan Aonai pouted.

The letter was so emotional, and she left after writing it, leaving her present self embarrassed—though it was indeed written by herself.

All that sneaking looks at Dubian Che, going to Tokyo, are just things to think about in her heart! Honestly!

Amidst the embarrassment, awkwardness, her heart was also filled with happiness and peace.

Ten years of forgetting Dubian Che, not remembering what happened that month, never falling for anyone else, her dream finally came true.

"Miss, can you tell me about what happened after you went back?"

"Mm."

Xiaoquan Aonai's high school life was dull, so much so that if it weren't for Akiko and Miyazaki Mieko, it could be summed up as just "eating while studying."

With Akiko and Miyazaki Mieko, the three of them studied together, and when tired, would grab flashlights and climb up mountains to shout.

"Shout what?" Dubian Che asked.

"Just things to vent the stress of studying." Xiaoquan Aonai smiled, recalling the past.

She remembered that when they first climbed the mountain to shout, she wore sandals, and when they came down, all of their feet were sore and scratched.

Later they learned and switched to sneakers.

"Venting words? Tell me?"

"Just ordinary, the ones you can think of."

"I've never had study pressure, I wouldn't know what ordinary is."

Xiaoquan Aonai formed a fist and lightly punched Dubian Che on the chest in dissatisfaction.

"Stuff like 'I must go to Tokyo', 'I want to get into Tokyo University', 'Screw you, math'." she said.

"That 'I must' was from Akiko, right?" Dubian Che asserted.

Xiaoquan Aonai punched him again.

"Oh, I remember now." Dubian Che realized, "Sixteen-year-old Aonai was a very fierce girl, so 'I must' was her."

"I wasn't fierce at all." Being with Dubian Che like this made Xiaoquan Aonai feel like she was sixteen again, "As the teacher would say, just a bit free-spirited."

"Free? The things you did to me in the changing room, are those also free?" Dubian Che asked with a smile.

"You know?!" Xiaoquan Aonai suddenly sat up.

"Know what?" Dubian Che looked at her puzzled.

"I already heard! Hmph, so you know. Alright then." Xiaoquan Aonai, her face flushed, resigned to her embarrassment, reached down, "I did it, so what now?"

"Miss, mind your image."

"Gentle? Hard?"

"Mm—just right, Miss, you're a genius."

"There's no such genius in this aspect!"

On November 5th, Dubian Che woke up and then gently woke up Xiaoquan Aonai in his arms.

She initially intended to go back last night but was convinced to stay by Dubian Che.

They agreed that while Dubian Che was on his morning run, he would wake her up so she could return to her room before others woke up.

"What time is it?" Xiaoquan Aonai lay under the blanket, her eyes dazed, looking very cute.

"Five o'clock." Dubian Che heard other sounds, "It's snowing outside."

"Snowing?" Xiaoquan Aonai's drowsiness faded almost entirely, "This is Hakodate's first snow of the year."

"Didn't it snow at the beginning of the year in Hakodate? Wasn't that actually the first snow?" Dubian Che asked.

"You're annoying." Xiaoquan Aonai gave him a playful glance, then happily got up.

On the tatami, the tea she drank last night had spilled; her yukata was casually thrown aside; Dubian Che's book had somehow ended up at the far edge of the bedroom.

Bending down to pick up the yukata, Xiaoquan Aonai's memories became clearer.

In the fervor of last night, she seemed to have kicked something.

'Did I kick it away?' She was overwhelmed with shame.

She donned the yukata and walked to the window, not even tying her sash, and lifted a corner of the curtain.

In the pitch-black night sky, under the light from the inn, crystal snowflakes gently fell from the sky.

From behind her long hair, Dubian Che admired the line of Xiaoquan Aonai's slender waist and hips, and his heart began to stir again.