Tsuna hated the cold.
Cold always meant the absence of warmth- the feeling of loneliness and anxiety, remorse and regret.
Tsuna hated winter.
Winter was always a time where it was unbearably cold (unless you were in the Southern hemisphere) and where layers of snow lay thickly on the ground in Japan.
In winter, snowsports thrived in Japan and there were occasional flocks of tourists who came to visit. He didn't understand them if he was being completely honest. The cold was always the brunette's least favourite.
There were good things about winter, of course. As with any other season, there were pros and cons. For Tsuna, the cons usually outweighed the pros when it came to winter.
Warm sake was something he always enjoyed. There was nothing better than coming home from an ugly and chilly day to a warming cup of warm (or hot) sake.
He also couldn't deny the wonderful feeling of sinking into a steamy outdoor bath, or rotenburo as they are called in Japan, while snowflakes fell around you. However, it was not-so-nice when you finally decide to leave and the cold nips at your once warm and toasty body.
One thing he would never miss, however, was the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri, a snow/winter festival of massive proportions. He always allowed himself to take a break and settle down at that time, booking a flight to the capital of Hokkaido.
Tsuna was always impressed with the ice and snow sculptures decorating the streets. To say that they were big would be an understatement- the sculptures are 20 feet tall and 30 feet wide!
It had become a yearly tradition for him to visit the festival for the few days it would be celebrated. Toboggan-runs, games, and ice bars, among others, were also put on for the all-out celebration. He enjoyed them all.
Although Tsuna had to book accommodation in Sapporo months in advance because of how popular the festival is, he didn't mind.
...Or, rather, he didn't, until Reborn and the gang asked if they could come with him a month before the festival.
He knew that the Arcobaleno all celebrated Christmas. Tsuna didn't really see the point in it, so he didn't really celebrate it. The festival began on the 31st of January and ended on the 11th of February.
You can imagine Tsuna's surprise when Skull knocked on his dorm's door on boxing day with the rest of the Arcobaleno behind him. It took a lot of planning and pulling strings behind the scenes for the appropriate arrangements to be made.
Or, in other words, the Varia ended up threatening them.
Tsuna's POV:
My nose was runny. It was probably the absolute worst thing to happen on a plane with loads of people, but my nose was runny and I didn't like it at all.
I never liked the cold. I was more of a summer person myself, and winter always threw me off. My toes and fingers would go numb after being in the cold for so long, and it seemed that I would always be cold.
I could put on fifty layers and I would still be cold because, for some reason, Japan can never do anything normally. It's all or nothing, and at times like these, I wished it wasn't. This is stupid. Why am I here?
The journey wasn't that long to be fair, but it was just that my mood was a bit down.
Reborn and the others insisted on coming with me. Colonnello and Lal wanted to try and climb Mt. Fuji. Skull also wanted to do that, but it was more because he wanted to bike down Mt. Fuji. Reborn wanted to experience more of Japan and its cultures and festivals.
To be fair, Verde didn't want to tag along, but the others bribed him with the fact that he could learn more about humans and the cultures (I didn't agree with this). Mammon assured me that he was only coming along because he needed to make sure that the other's wouldn't waste money. I'll believe it.
The clouds were pretty from above. They were misty but still a solid block of colour. The sky was different this high up. It was pretty. "What's on your mind, Tsuna?" Reborn asked from beside me. I looked over.
Colonnello, Lal, Skull and Mammon were sleeping, while Verde was just looking out of the window. He didn't seem bothered by anything right now, even though Mammon was drooling on his lab coat and Skull was snoring loudly by the mist user.
Lal and Colonnello were a row ahead of us.
Surprisingly, Lal was quite a passionate reader. Whenever I saw her, she would always sneak a book into her gym/workout bag. Sometimes, she'd forget to take the sticky notes out of the pages she liked most. I think it's cute. Lal doesn't seem to think so.
"Just stuff," I huffed, placing my head in my hand again to look out of the small window.
Reborn's hand instinctively went to my nape, thumb circling the contract mark. I found that whenever one of us was uneasy or upset, the other would immediately go to touch the mark. Usually, it was involuntary. I'm not sure what to really think of it, but I didn't care. Not really. Not when Renato was massaging my neck gently like this.
I knew I was blushing. My entire face was warm. "Well, let's enjoy this week," he said.
I smiled. "Yeah, okay."
-----
Booking into our hotel was a bit of a hassle, but after everything was said and done, it wasn't as bad I thought it would be. I know I tend to overthink things a lot, but it's kept me alive this long. I was rooming with Skull and Mammon.
Verde, Colonnello and Reborn were in one room, and Lal had a room to herself. I hope that Verde would try to maintain some peace between those two at least, but it's unlikely.
I don't want to create a bigger mess for the hotel's owner. We've already been such a headache for them.
-----
The morning came faster than I expected it to. Lal and Colonnello had already head out with Skull on their tails. "Where to first?" Verde asked. I pondered the question for a moment. There were three sites for the festival which included the Odori site which was the main one.
It ran along Odori park. The second is the Susukino site, and the third is the smallest, called the Tsu Dome site.
"I guess... the Susukino site? It's only a subway stop away from Odori, and it has the most ice sculptures."
Renato nodded. "Okay. Let's go then."
The train ride didn't take long, but it was long enough for a very tense blanket to settle over our little quartet. Verde and Mammon didn't seem to quite fit with the rest. I don't know if it's because they're more guarded, or if they're just the only quiet, timid types of the group. I honestly don't know.
"I think it's snowing again," I pointed out. The other three seemed less inclined to look outside. I didn't like silences like this. It was like all of the times that my "dad" would take me and my brother to work. I hated it. It's why I go on vacations and trips alone.
People make things so complicated. I don't like it when people make things complicated. It's why l go on vacation by myself. I know what to expect from myself, but everyone else was a wildcard.
"The snow is weird," I said suddenly, scrunching up my nose. "These tiny snowflakes we can't see are all different and unique with their own patterns, only to fly down to the ground and make a huge pile of white snow."
"I suppose that is quite 'weird' when you think of it like that," Verde replied after a while.
I didn't reply. Mammon, who was sitting across from me, looked out of the window. "Huh... I guess you're right, Tsuna. It is snowing."
I can't explain why, not really, but the small reassurance from Mammon was somewhat comforting. "It's pretty."
"Very."
"Do you think it'll still be snowing when we arrive?"
"Maybe."
"Have you ever seen these sculptures, Mammon?"
"Once. My human then was. . . fond of the cold."
"Oh. Do you guys not share all of the Masutas you are contracted to?"
"No. Not all of them. Just the special few."
"Ah, l see. Did you not like any of them?"
". . . One. She ended up hurting us."
l didn't think that anything l said could change his thoughts. "Did you... feel betrayed by her and what she did?"
"We all were," Reborn said instead. l turned to him. "We were all... guarded, you could say, after that."
I looked out of the window again. "You shouldn't fight. You're all just tired and angry and hurt, and that's ok. Just don't take it out on each other."
l didn't look to see their responses.
The statues were gorgeous as always. They were big and beautiful, and surprisingly intricate. It was a welcoming sight for me. It was familiar, l guess? They were all so pretty and well-made.
"Enjoying the view?" Renato asked me. l nodded, smiling. We were walking along with the crowds, and l noticed some tourists as well. They were quite common to see here in Hokkaido at this time of year.
"Food here is the same price as food around your campus, but there are many signs saying that the prices have been marked down. Why is that?" Mammon questioned. l sighed, but answered anyway.
"They mark up the prices a couple of weeks or days before festivals so that when the festival does come by, they won't be losing money," l said, eyeing a 10% off tag in one of the windows.
"Interesting..."
Verde had slinked off at this point, so l didn't bother looking for him.
I gave Renato my phone, running up to one of the less crowded statues, posing cutely. He seemed to catch on and started taking pictures. l hope he took a lot, but l didn't check after he gave it back to me. l smiled.
There were sculptures of dinosaurs, famous landmarks, and stuff like dragons and other recognisable figures. My favourite is the sculpture of the leaning tower of Pisa near a couple of different others, including a really cool Chinese dragon!
These never fail to amaze me, honestly! l really think they're amazing. Just trying to imagine how long it took them to make all of these sculptures, not to mention the details like the raised scales and engraved lines for texture is tiring.
I wonder if they started the preparations in December of last year, or if they started at the beginning of this year. These kinds of things get me thinking, l guess.
I managed to take pictures of Renato near these statues, too! l looked at the most recent photo that l took and smiled. Seeing him wearing these casual clothes is really something else. Renato is wearing slim black pants that he rolled up a bit so that they showed some of his ankles.
A comfy, thick grey turtleneck was tucked into his pants. Over that, he wore a slightly off-white trench coat that stopped at his knees. His shoes were just simple, all-black sneakers with gold lace loops. He looked great!
I looked around, before setting the picture as my phone's background. In the picture, he was just standing next to a sculpture of an oni (Japanese demon) with shrine-like imagery and Sakura blossoms surrounding the oni. He was looking up at the oni, but his body was still facing toward the camera (me).
I even managed to take some pictures of Mammon! I don't think he noticed, but if he did, he didn't mention it at all. Mammon is wearing black ripped skinny jeans and black boots with grey accents.
He's also wearing a simple, oversized white t-shirt, a black hoodie and a warm black coat. His hood was pulled over his head, and he wore a black surgical mask just to cover his face a bit more. No one really gave him any second glances because masks like this were popular with younger people because of kpop and jpop idols.
"These statues must have been very expensive to make," Mammon commented, looking up at one of the Eiffel tower. I hummed in response. I didn't really know how much money these statues cost to make (sculpt?) but I suppose it would be a lot.
"Why do people spend so much money on these, mou," he asked. "They're going to be destroyed later anyway, mou, so why bother?"
I cocked my head to the side and looked up at the same statue. I guess when you put it like that, it is confusing. But then I looked down and saw how many people were happy to see these statues, and how impressed they looked.
"I guess... Sometimes, humans look for ways to be happy and creative. Humans like to look at art. These sculptures are art," I explained. Or, I tried to, I guess. I couldn't explain it very well.
Mammon looked around and nodded. "Art makes humans happy," he stated. "Interesting, mou. Tell me more, Tsuna, mou."
Despite claiming to have had many Masutas in the past, it seems that the Arcobaleno (with the exceptions of Renato and Verde) know little to nothing about humans and their different cultures and subcultures.
Though, Fon has been making an effort to learn about Earth's many diverse and unique cultures, old and new. I write a lot of sticky notes and let him borrow a lot of my books. Fon has been an enthusiastic learner, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud and happy that he was making an effort.
Lal knows a lot of locations, but those locations seem to be strictly for training purposes, like the various mountain ranges and rain forests that she knows the exact coordinates of. I don't know how she got a hold of those either, but that sounds like a question for future me to explore another day.
Colonnello is more well-versed in American history and culture than some people who actually are American, or at least live there. It's quite impressive. His complete and utter lack of knowledge of any other country, general world history, or other culture is baffling.
Skull just mainly seems to know about the northern countries, like Russia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Greenland and Iceland. I asked him if he knew where Brazil was and he asked me if it was some kind of exotic dish. I found this concerning.
Reborn has some general knowledge, of course, but he seems particularly interested in Italy and France. I honestly don't blame him- the landmarks, the architecture and the cuisine is amazing on both of those countries. Let's be honest, the only thing I'm really interested in is the food, and maybe the aesthetic. Mainly the food.
Verde is surprisingly knowledgeable on pretty much every country and its history, along with some interesting notes here and there on their cultures. The notes are mostly about the differences and the similarities between them.
Mammon is trying. He doesn't really know much, but whenever he doesn't understand something, he asks. He asks questions and it's been interesting to get a bit of a look into how his mind works. It's surprising how much you can tell about someone just based off of how they view things.
We didn't stay at the Susukino site all day. Eventually, we moved onto the Odori site to see more marvellous statues and some of the games and activities being put on.
There were lots of kids running around and playing in the snow, but their parents followed close by to make sure that they didn't accidentally knock into one of the sculptures. Mammon slinked away after one of the children tried to bribe him into playing some kind of game with them.
And then there were two.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" I asked. Reborn looked at me from the corner of his eye, before sighing quietly.
"It's... different from what I expected. The sculptures are grand."
I hummed. "I'm glad, considering you all dumped this on me a month ago." I am still bitter.
I didn't expect Renato's face to flush red, nor did I expect him to try to cover his face and look away. He seemed to act freer around me. "Right, that. We missed you at Christmas, so..."
I just smiled. "Then, let's spend the festival together," I said, linking our arms. We did celebrate the festival that day.
And if Reborn and I kissed when the firework displays were going off, well...
...That was nobody's business.
--={&}=--
The hiatus is still on, don't be fooled lol.
Hopefully, you like this little omake I managed to write up! I had fun writing it, and it's honestly the only thing I could actually write for this book. The festival, the places and stuff like that is actually real!
I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas, and an amazing New Year's celebration :)
-Bell
P.S. Thank you for 60k reads! <<33