Under a Sculpture of Ice

Eka looked left and right. Steam rose from her mouth as she breathed. It probably would have been easier had they done this in reverse, with Harumi looking for Eka. The Georgian girl was on the taller side, especially in Japan, but Eka had been the one who recommended getting the hot chocolate, so it was up to her to go and get that done. Her blue toboggan made her a few inches taller, accentuated by that white floof ball on top. She was quite the athlete, but her lithe body was concealed by a winter jacket that made her look like a middle linebacker. It was okay, she thought. She would be with Harumi, and everything looked better with a smile on her face, which may as well have been etched in when she was with the Judoka.

The hot chocolates in her hands were getting colder now, and she wanted Harumi to have it when it was still piping hot. They called it a winter festival, but really it looked like an ice palace. There were these giant ice sculptures everywhere, depicting stampeding horses and nutcrackers and a giant fox. Eka found them especially beautitful, as they were illuminated by all sorts of colors. Almost as pretty as Harumi, she thought.

She remembered being close to the ice sculpture of the ship, but couldn't remember exactly where. Her blue eyes scanned the crowd once more. She shivered. The wind picked up, and not even the throng of people was enough to defray the icy blast. Her gloves kept her hands warm and the scarf protected her face, but the wind permeated every fiber of her being. She wanted to find Harumi, and quickly.

It was an incredibly nice evening so far, but so were most evenings with Harumi. The Judoka was yet recondite to her, as Eka could not find her. Japanese morals dictated that one ought not to shake the boat too much, but she felt that she didn't have any recourse. There were going to be a bunch of eyes on her, and she was just going to have to live with that. She took a deep breath in, and the chilly air filled her lungs and stung the inside of her nostrils. Her pronunciation was not excellent, which embarrassed her, and she would have to be loud. The steam rising off the hot chocolates became thinner now, and Eka was a woman on a mission.

"Harumi?" She called out, trying to find her friend. Her high voice rose above the din of the crowd.

The chilly air of the outside world had been nipping at Harumi’s ears since she stepped out of her apartment. It had been a long while since he stepped out into the real world for purposes other then working out, doing chores, or heading to work. She had noticed it was cold in the morning as she did her pre-exercise jog, but it seemed even colder now than it did before. Even as she locked up her apartment door, the chill seemed to slip into her winter coat and embrace the body underneath. Such discomfort made Harumi zip her dull grey winter coat up even further, and wrapped the soft blue scarf around her neck.

Still, even with the cold, the small smile etched on Harumi’s face didn’t dwindle even a bit. Excitement was swirling around inside her, a newfound pleasure pumping through her blood as she was about to experience something she had never really gone on before.

A date.

Eka had called her earlier in the week and invited Harumi to come along with her to the winter festival. The two had been seeing each other lately…going off to the gym together, visiting one another when their busy schedules allowed. Last time they had seen each other, Eka was studying for a big test coming up in her studies. Now they were going to a winter festival, which sounder so much more…romantic.

Harumi didn’t own a car, so she simply walked. She would meet Eka over by the festival, the cold temperature doing nothing to dampen her spirits. It felt as though no time had passed since she began to walk, and before she knew it, she was there. There was already a decent crowd coming and going inside the festival, but not even they could hide the beautiful sculptures that sat near the entrance. They were like something out of the stories Harumi’s mother had told her when she was little. If it were not for Eka standing so close to the entrance, Harumi wasn’t sure she could resist walking in alone to admire the sculptures splendor. Thankfully, Eka was actually a rather adorable sight to see. Her cardigan and heavy winter coat made her stand out more so then her height. The way the Georgian smiled and waved Harumi over warmed the Judoka’s heart, the silent woman nearly melting in her weather boots.

The two exchanged pleasantries, Harumi leaning in to kiss Eka on the cheek before heading inside. Really, not too much could be said between them. Harumi was a bit too enraptured with the fine craftsmanship on display. The festival had been a stable of the city, and yet this was the first time Harumi had ever been. There was a judo tournament that always came around this time of year, one which her family’s school always participated in. Normally, her father simply had Harumi and her siblings stand by as assistant coaches, something to help the student’s keep their nerves. This was the first year she wasn’t going, and while her father was furious…Mother was able to convince him to let her go.

Not that Harumi wouldn’t have shown up anyways.

The two young lovers were having a great time. It was Eka who eventually brought up the idea for hot chocolate. It was a kind gesture, one Harumi hardly had time to confirm or deny before the overexcited Georgian moved off to go and get some of the piping hot drinks. She didn’t know how, but Eka maneuvered the crowds rather well. She was swallowed by the population in the blink of an eye, and Harumi moved towards a nearby wall to wait for her.

Minutes passed by, which slowly piled on. Eventually, Harumi grew worried that Eka had gotten lost. It was a common occurrence in Japan, getting swept up in the sea of people. Perhaps she should have followed Eka, made sure she was okay.

Harumi was beginning to push through the crowd, nudging people aside to look for Eka just as a verbal call rang through the crowd.

“Harumi?!”

The Judoka’s emerald eyes flashed as fast as a blade being drawn, quickly seeing the tall woman with the blue toboggan standing near the center of a group. Harumi raised her hand in order to be spotted and quickly moved towards Eka.

“Here Eka!”

It wouldn’t be long until Harumi popped out of the crowd in front of her girlfriend, the judoka gently smiling as she approached Eka with a wave.

“Sorry about that…um, thank you for the chocolate~”

Eka had a lot of anxiety that she dealt with on a near constant basis. Some of her concerns were rational, like whether or not she was advancing in her career in academia as she intended to or whether or not she was making enough progress in the gym, to help her out when it really mattered when she was wrestling. Other concerns were over matters that were far more trivial, such as whether or not her students made fun of her for her accent, either when she was speaking English or Japanese. But at the moment, the only source of worry for her was if she was going to find Harumi. Her eyebrow furrowed. It had only been a second, but it felt like a thousand years.

Suddenly, Harumi appeared from the throng, like a herald from the heavens. Eka's shoulders had been tense and she was crossing her arms, but the second that she laid eyes on her green eyed girlfriend all of the tension dissipated, like a string being cut or a bubble bursting. A wide smile spread across her face. When she breathed a sigh of relief, the steam in the air rose to the sky alongside the weight that had been lifted off her.

"Harumi!" It was certainly unnecessary to call for the judoka's attention now that they had spotted each other, but Eka was excited to have spotted her date once more. She offered the hot chocolate up to Harumi before taking a sip of her own. The chill in the air stung down to her very bones, but with a bit of hot cocoa in her belly and her friend standing in front of her, she was starting to feel awfully warm. When they had first met up, Harumi had planted a kiss on Eka's cheek. The saliva was still there, freezing her cheek. But it felt wonderful now.

She took another sip of coffee. It was not the nice kind that you could get in coffee houses, but Eka was okay with that. It was sugary and hot and did what she needed it to do, which was to warm up a bit and impress the judoka. The lights from the ice sculpture were dancing in Harumi's beautiful eyes, and Eka found herself downright enchanted for a second, unable to call up any sort of coherent thoughts.

"You are very welcome, yes?" Eka smiled widely. "I can not tell you how much it means to me that you didn't go to the judo tournament. I will do everything that I can do to make sure that you are going to have a very nice time, yes?" Those words were meant to be cutesy, but there was a certain seriousness to her thoughts. Family meant a lot to Harumi, and Eka wanted to make sure that it was worthwhile for the judoka.

She turned away from Harumi for a second to look at a giant sculpture of a pagoda. It was very intricate. She could not have even imagined all of the time and effort and love that went into crafting it. "Next year you and me are going to do an ice sculpture, yes?" Eka joked.

Harumi winced a bit as the hot chocolate bit her upper lip, the liquid still warm enough to give the unsuspecting woman a slight jolt of surprise. The cup in her hands kept her hands warm, she really didn’t know why the small jolt of pain was so surprising, especially since she had dealt with so much worse before.

Well, and the very least she could just hold it. Even through her gloves, the heat was just enough to give her a dull heat source that was just barely warming up her hands. The hot chocolate would be cool enough to drink comfortably in only a few minutes, and Harumi was a patient woman at heart. Eka was nice enough to wait in line and bring it to her, so she would use this gift to the fullest. There was plenty of other things around that could occupy her time.

The two walked side by side, Harumi taking an especially long time observing each and every sculpture like she was a child viewing magical creations. She kept her composure, of course, but she didn’t let one detail of the sculptures go unnoticed. These were someone’s works of art, their pride and effort pushed to their limits. There was no doubt whoever made these did hours upon hours of work in order to create these marvelous depictions of fantastic architecture, animals, or even people. Real passion was needed to go through such difficulties, and that passion shined in the sheer magic each work managed to capture with it’s life like detail or it’s beautiful extravagance.

As the two of them approached a dazzlingly large ice sculpture of a Pagoda, Eka thanked Harumi for coming with her and promised that their date would be worth missing the judo tournament. Harumi looked over at the Georgian, a bit surprised she even knew about her family’s participation in such events. Perhaps she mentioned it beforehand…

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She said while taking a sip of her hot chocolate before smiling at Eka, “I’m having a great time. Really, thank you so much for inviting me.”

Eka’s gaze warmed Harumi, her cheerful tone and charming personality keeping the Judoka’s stoic mask away from her face, and leaving only a smile. The suggestion of making their own sculpture for next year dragged a chuckle out of the emerald eyed woman,

“If that is what you wish~ I can’t say I’ll do as good a job as the ones who made all of these…but I’m sure I can get close.” She said in a joking tone, moving a bit closer to Eka to keep the crowd from separating them.

Eka paused under each sculpture, just as Harumi did. As she did her best to spot all the fine details that the artists put into their pieces, but she felt like a little girl at an art museum. There was a lot to it hidden in the depths that she could not quite understand, but there was definitely meaning there. Maybe that understanding seeped into Eka's subconscious, bypassing the parts of Eka's brain where she would be able to articulate anything that she was processing.

What she could process, though, was how much it must have taken to make one of these sculptures. Real dedication was needed to go through such difficulties, and that dedication was on display now as every inch of the giant pagoda seemed like it someone summoned up straight from a period in Japan's history where such buildings proliferated the countryside. The yellow and blue lights gave it a sense of dynamism that made it seem more than what it was.

She turned to Harumi. The girl seemed like she had a face made from stone, given how pretty she was and how stoic she was. But now there was a lot of warmth, which made Eka happy on such a cold night. Her own blue eyes twinkled under the lights of the winter city. She looked up. It appeared that snowflakes were falling from the sky, each one coming down in loping descents, pushed thither and yon by the brumal gods.

Eka's attention returned to Harumi. "I could not do it, but you could do as good of a job, yes? Although, on second thought, it would be very fun to design it together. I would get out many books, yes? I would do everything I could do make it perfect. I would spend a thousand hours to get every small curve absolutely flawless, to truly represent my muse in a way that is worthy of who she is, yes? Because I would not do anything less than the best, because I would make a statue of you." With that, Eka leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Harumi's cheek.

She had another sip of hot chocolate. It tasted a little bit sweeter now. Eka pretended like she was looking around at the art just to be coy, then dropped the act and looked back at Harumi.

There were decent crowds surrounding many of the sculptures that grew thicker and more difficult to pierce through. Enjoying the details became more difficult as time went on, but well worth the effort. In the end, as beautiful as these sculptures were, it was nice simply to be with another person. It always felt so much better doing things together, even the smallest of things became warm blessings in disguise when in the company of someone very special to you. A relationship was like a sculpture in itself, one that was chipped and worked away at through a much longer period of time and took shape with the actions of the two people involved. Both Harumi and Eka were only just beginning their sculpture, but it was already starting to take shape.

The Georgian admitted that while her sculpture may not be the best, but she would happily work as hard as she could to create the best sculpture possible, no matter the difficulty. Her desire to work her very best was revealed to be because Harumi would be her subject. While many would have found such a sweet gesture a bit corny, Harumi actually had a giggle escape her lips. It reminded her of her early storybooks that were filled to the brim with chivalrous knights, speaking in a similar manner to their beloved princesses when they were finally freed from the terrible dragon. It was nostalgic, and the kiss on the cheek was a nice surprise the smaller woman didn’t quite expect. Eka played it off casually as she sipped her cocoa, leaving Harumi to hide her own smile with her cup as she took a long drink from her own cocoa.

Snow had begun to fall from the sky, Harumi looking up to observe the gentle flakes beginning to fall while Eka looked over the remaining artwork. The lights from the show occasionally caught the frozen crystals, making them shine ever so slightly as they joined the cold ice on the floor and the tiny amount of snow. Soon it would build, likely creating a thick and heavy blanket that would envelop the roads. It might slow the trains or make travel difficult.

Would…it be forward to invite Eka to sleep over again?

It was only then that Harumi noticed Eka’s sapphire blue eyes happily staring at her. The judoka finished her drink before exhaling the excess heat away. She would approach the question casually, almost strategically so.

“It…looks like its beginning to snow. Do you have a safe way to get home? Because if not I wouldn’t mind having you come over again, if that is what you would like.” Harumi said as she tapped her empty cup, keeping her hands busy and distracting herself from her slightly racing heart. “I just bought a kotatsu at a sale…we can sit under it while I cook something…”

As the crowd grew thicker, it became more difficult to hear and to speak. Eka found herself leaning in slightly as she would hang on every word that would come out of Harumi's mouth. So when she heard a little giggle from Eka's proclamation she relaxed somewhat. The Georgian girl found herself calmer around Harumi, but there were always emotions like nervousness that would bubble up every now and then. She was worried that perhaps what she was saying was just too corny, and maybe it was, but Harumi had the good grace to laugh at her joke. The tension in Eka's shoulders dissipated.

Eka looked up at the sky, to find the snowflakes were like stars all coming down. She looked around and didn't see any statues that she didn't recognize. Harumi was right. The Georgian girl recognized that it was perhaps time for them to be moving on from this winter garden, as charming as it was. A Ph.D candidate's salary did not last very far in a city like Tokyo, and she was very grateful for the prospect that she didn't have to get a cab. Eka nodded instantly, confirming her desire to spend another night at Harumi's place. A second later, she tilted her head a little bit. The judoka seemed pretty eager to have Eka stay over there, and they were two athletic beautiful women. Harumi had not really pressed her that much when it came to the more amorous side of romance, but she supposed, there was a first time for everything.

"Yes, I would very much like to go to your apartment. But I am sure that it is very dirty, yes?" Eka teased. The last time she went to Harumi's apartment, she was nothing short of awed at how orderly it was. "But I am not sure what is a kotatsu?" The genuine curiosity in her voice carried over the crowd. The Japanese woman had intrigued her, and Eka's mind was racing with all sorts of possibilities.

She looked around. "We are going to walk to your apartment, yes?" They were standing near the end of the ice palace now, more vulnerable to the wind. Eka did her best not to shiver. It was almost certainly going to be a chilly walk back, but Eka wanted to be brave. She was not really sure why. Maybe she was trying to show Harumi that she was not afraid of th cold, or that she wanted to spend as long as she possibly could with Harumi.

Harumi had grown used to hiding her expressions, to the point where it had almost become second nature to her. While her stony expression would crack under Eka’s caring gaze, Harumi had a myriad of different expressions she could put on to hide the curiosity that was raging throughout her conscious. Eka seemed to be mulling Harumi’s suggestion around in her head, perhaps looking to find an ulterior motive in the silent samurai’s invitation. She would derive no clues from Harumi, the smaller woman admiring another ice sculpture that looked like a waterfall.

Harumi was silently relieved as the Georgian confirmed her desire to spend some more time in Harumi’s home. However, Eka did get a small reaction from her companion as she voiced her concern over her home. Harumi’s green eyes traced back to Eka’s own sky blue, shocked and horrified for a split second! The idea that perhaps her apartment wasn’t as clean as she thought was clearly written across her face. Such a thing seemed to scare the Judoka, perhaps she was not quite up to Eka’s standards!

Wait…didn’t Eka say she had a mess home when she first came over?

It took a short second before Harumi realized that Eka was teasing her. Harumi was only just remembering Eka’s reaction towards her apartment, looking everything over as though each piece was alien to her. This wasn’t the first time Eka had teased her on her organizational habits, but it wasn’t the first time Harumi fell for such simple teasing.

“Well…I didn’t get a chance to dust today~” said in a knowing tone before grasping Eka’s hand. The ice palace sculpture was right next to an exit, and Eka asked if they would be walking there. The judoka could see that her girlfriend seemed to be anxious about the chilly weather, her feet shifting about as she calculated how far Harumi’s apartment was.

EKa would suddenly feel a snug, soft fabric wrap around her neck and shoulders, Harumi’s emerald green eyes suddenly so very close. A scarf, still warm from Harumi’s own body, was being carefully wrapped and tucked around Eka as a warm smile shined up at her. Like a caring mother, Harumi made sure Eka was comfortable before grabbing her hand yet again.

“I bet if we walk fast, we won’t even notice the cold, right? Anyways, I’m sure you will love the Kotatsu! It’s like a table with a heating blanket underneath to keep you comfortable and…well, together.”

This whole apartment thing was her idea, and so Harumi didn’t mind sharing her scarf with Eka. The cold didn’t bother the silent samurai too much anyways, and she would place herself in a manner so that the wind would blow on her, but shield Eka. While Harumi appeared cool and collected, her heart beat was fluttering just as much as it was when Eka first visited that fateful day. Now that she was coming over for a second time, Harumi would take the chance to physically cool and calm down a bit.

Eka could not honestly report the last time she had dusted her apartment. She was pretty sure that she did not have any implements with which she could dust her apartment if she had the inclination, which she sorely lacked. The Georgian girl was dismayed that Harumi did not know that she was joking right away, as the shocked look on her face hung there for a moment. But Harumi's comment and the fact that the Judoka started holding her hand put her at ease. Eka's blue eyes were cast over the city streets, hustling and bustling with life. She looked back at the ice palace. It was a little more active than the street was, but the wintry street of Tokyo had a charm of their own, she thought.

She stayed still for a second as Harumi wrapped the scarf around her. The whole time Harumi went through bundling Eka up, there was a broad smile on her face. She worried about her girlfriend for a second but did not lodge a complaint. Eka was in a headspace now where she would let good things happen to her, especially when those good things were coming from such a pretty and interesting lady. Once again, Harumi held Eka's hand and they were off. It felt a little bit like Harumi was leading her around, and Eka kinda liked it.

"This kotatsu sounds lovely, yes? I think I already love this." The scarf was warm, and Eka stopped shivering. The snow was hitting her face, even her teeth with her big goofy smile, but Eka did not have a care in the world at the moment. "Tokyo is a beautiful place, yes? I would very much like to show you where I was born, and another city where I grew up. I am not sure if the little shack I was born in is still there, but the mountains are beyond anything you have ever seen before. It snows there, like it does here. Birmingham is, uh, a bit different, yes? It has its charms, but people speak very funny. The food is very good too." Eka always got a bit nostalgic when she was in a good mood.

And nothing got her more in a good mood than watching Harumi shield her from the wind. She reached around and gave Harumi a hug. The Georgian girl wondered what she could do to make Harumi happy the same way that Harumi had just made her happy.

Harumi was busy looking for the optimal path to cut through the crowds with her darling in tow. Even thinking of Eka in such a manner still brought a small blush to her cheeks, describing her in her mind as “Darling” or “Girlfriend” was a completely alien concept to her, and yet she had begun to think of Eka in such a manner not too long ago. Before her, the closest thing to a relationship Harumi ever had was back when she was a child. She had fancied a boy who had gone to her father’s class and went as far as to put a note in his locker confessing her feelings to him. The boy found it, and her Father found out…

Well, it was silly back then anyways.

Suddenly, a break in the crowd appeared! Harumi was set to move in and take advantage of the opened path, quickly but carefully guiding Eka through. Occasionally, Harumi would glance over her shoulder to make sure Eka was comfortable, that she wasn’t unintentionally dragging the Georgian along in a crude manner. It wasn’t until she had seen the broad smile on her companion’s face that she noticed how warm har touch was. It was strange, only noticing then how Eka seemed to glow when she was happy. Her natural beauty shined through the dark sky and cold snow, the woman radiating a warmth Harumi was only just experiencing. She cursed herself for rushing ahead without noticing such a sweet sight that was right behind her the entire time.

Eka had an eye for seeing things differently. She could see the beauty in things people pass by every day, and her remark upon Tokyo’s splendor didn’t hit until Harumi followed the sky-blue eyes. The setting really was like a work of art. The lampposts shined brightly against the dark sky, making the snow glisten. The frozen crystals reflecting the light back in gentle splendor as the cold air made their warm embrace feel even warmer.

“Your home? I wouldn’t mind seeing your homeland some day. I have been in Tokyo for as long as I can remember…I think the only time I ever left was with my father to participate in Judo Tournaments…It would be interesting to travel for purely recreational purposes. Plus, I wouldn’t mind trying something you whipped up. You seem like you would make an interesting dish.”

The two of them had finally emerged from a large portion of the crowds. They had gotten far enough along that they could walk together side by side comfortably. The wind had died down somewhat, but before Harumi knew it, Eka’s arm had slipped around her and brought her close for a sweet embrace. The Judoka giggled softly, returning the gesture as they continued to walk together, with Harumi’s apartment now in sight.