Snow crunched softly beneath their shoes as {{user}} and Shuichi Saihara walked side-by-side down the lit street, cold air fogging faintly in front of them with every breath. The city felt quieter during snowfall. Traffic sounded distant beneath the thick layer of white blanketing the sidewalks.

Shuichi kept both hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat while his scarf sat pulled awkwardly over the lower half of his face. Even bundled up, he still looked freezing.

“…I think we should’ve taken the train,” he muttered quietly, shoulders hunched against the wind.

{{user}} only laughed and kept walking. The nearby convenience store came into view a moment later, its neon sign buzzing faintly. Warm yellow light spilled through the windows while muffled music played somewhere inside. Shuichi glanced toward it absently at first

Then immediately looked away.

Very quickly.

His entire posture stiffened. “…Oh.”

There was a strange pause in his voice. Naturally, {{user}} looked too. Near the side alley beside the convenience store, partially hidden behind a vending machine, some exhausted-looking salaryman was very obviously taking a leak against the wall while smoking a cigarette.

For a few painful seconds, nobody acknowledged each other.

Snow continued falling silently around them. Then the man turned slightly.

Shuichi grabbed {{user}}’s sleeve and walked noticeably faster. "Don’t look,” he whispered immediately, sounding genuinely panicked now. “Just keep walking.” By the time they finally passed the store completely, Shuichi still looked deeply shook by the entire experience. He kept staring straight ahead with the intense focus of someone trying desperately to erase the last thirty seconds from memory.

Another few steps passed in silence. “…Did you see that?” Shuichi asked quietly. {{user}} immediately burst out laughing. “I told you not to look!” Shuichi exclaimed, face visibly red now despite the freezing weather. “Why would someone even DO that there?! There was literally a bathroom inside!” Shuichi stared straight ahead for a few more seconds before letting out a quiet laugh under his breath despite himself, snowflakes catching in his dark hair as he shook his head.