Yuki (Snow)

Second chapter. Hikari�s Winter

Steady beats of my feet…constricting throat, threatening tears…run away…run away…away from…them…

 

It was still dark when I woke. Blinking the rest of my sleep away, I sat up. It’s been a while since I’ve had that dream. I wonder why now…?

Then I heard the quiet footsteps outside of my door. There was the unmistakable click of the door closing. I glanced at the red letters of my alarm clock. 7:22. I would be getting up in eight minutes anyway. I slipped out of my sleeping clothes and put on a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and a pair of thick socks.

As I turned to close the door, something made me stop. Something was moving outside the window. Snow…

The small creak of the stairs drew Hikari’s eyes to mine. She had been pulling on boots over jeans. A dark jacket covered her blue-purple shirt. She smiled.

“Oops. I’ve been found. Did I wake you up?”

I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest. “Sort of, not really. You’d fail as a spy anyway.”

“Ehe. I guess I would.” She stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’m going with you. To make sure you’ll come back safely,” I added to answer the unspoken question her eyes asked.

She nodded and I went and got my jacket. She waited for me to tie my shoes. She couldn’t stand still and kept glancing out of the window. As soon as I stood up, she was unlocking the door, eager to get outside.

The winter wind whipped our faces, making my eyes water. We went underneath a snow-frosted tree and watched the dance of white. Small clouds escaped from our lips. We stood close, keeping each other warm.

When the wind died down, we went out and watched the snowfall. We were quiet because there was no need for words. The wind, trees, snow all spoke for us. Then without saying a word, we went back inside, both knowing that we would come back.

 

Even though it had been three months since Hikari had been living with me, the rumors still blazed high. When we got off the bus, her then me, whispers flew among the watching crowd. Hikari was unmoved by the people’s unwavering watches. Shifting her bag across her shoulder, she looked straight forward. I admired her strength. I could feel the burning looks from them and ignored them as well. Her friends caught up and soon they went to the science wing. I strolled in another direction towards the English wing.

“Hey, Hoshino!” a tall boy came to my side. His ruffled black hair fell into his eyes. His shoulder bag was dark green and he held a yellow package in his open hand.

“What’s up, Alex?”

“Not much. Hey,” he handed me the packet. “Nelson wants you to read this for basketball.” I wasn’t listening. I glanced in the direction that Hikari had left. “Hello?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah, sure.” I shook my head a few times and took it from him. I put it into my backpack, mind still set on her.

“She’ll be fine,” he said, guessing my thoughts. “Stop worrying about her.”

“I wasn’t-” I stopped. It wasn’t as convincing as I had hoped it was.

“Then you’re still thinking about that? It was so long ago. I thought you would’ve gotten over it by now.”

“Oh, shut up.” I said crossly. Then I turned to where she was talking with her friends. “C’mon," I whispered. “Even I have things that I can’t forget.”

 

Darkness was falling when I got off the bus. Snow was lightening up, turning from large clumps to small bits. Unlocking the door, I found the kitchen dark. I turned on the light and walked into the living room, finding my dad sleeping on the couch with a newspaper on his stomach. Geez, I thought, glancing at the dark circles under his eyes. He works too hard. It’s not good for his health. Sighing, I pulled a blanket onto him.

            I carried my bag upstairs. I worked on an essay for AP US History on World War I. After an hour and a half, I went to take shower to wash off the sweat from basketball practice. The water ran warm over my body. I washed quickly and, when I came out, I heard the front door slam. As I went down, Hikari’s voice drifted.

            “Hey mom,” she called, “where should I leave this?”

            “Um…over there will be good. Yeah, good, thanks.” My mom wasn’t bothered by Hikari calling her “mom” but quite the opposite. She had always wanted a daughter and she loved Hikari as her own.

            “Welcome back,” I said, leaning to the counter.

            “Oh!” my mom said, looking up from a cabinet. Hikari went outside again. “You’re home early. Did you have practice today?”

            “Yeah, but we ended an hour before usual time. Peter had something to do.” Seeing the brown paper bags confirmed my guesses.

            “Dinner will be ready soon,” Hikari came back inside. She carried her overflowing bag towards the counter.

            The bag swayed a little. “Here,” I said, offering a hand. “Let me take it.”

            “It’s ok,” she replied quickly. “I-I got it.”

            I watched her worriedly. She made it and plopped the bag down. She wiped her hands against each other. Smiling, she said “You can go work now. You have a lot, don’t you?”

            “How did you know?”

            “You are fidgety,” she said simply. “Go on, we’ll make dinner.” She winked. “You owe me one now.”

            I remembered it was my turn to cook that night. “Right.”

            The door closed with a small click and I slid into my chair. I stared at the page. She works so hard, too, I thought. Always trying for the best with a smile on her face. So much like him… I shook my head and began to work. 

 

 “Are you sure you don’t want me to do the dishes?” I asked for the third time.

“Absolutely, definitely,” she said firmly. She picked up a dish and started to wash.

Seeing no point in arguing, I turned upstairs.

“Um…Ryoto?”

“Hmm?”

“Um…do you have more work?” she asked, eyes on the water.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” I glanced over.

“Well, I wanted to see the snow…”

“You can go by yourself,” I said, turning towards the stairs. “I trust you won’t get in trouble.”

“Well, I…wanted to see it…with you…” she muttered, turning a light red.

I stared at her. “With me?”

“Uh-huh.” The red deepened. She glanced at me then quickly turned away.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said. Upstairs, I immediately started working on my essay. That’s strange, I wondered. Why do I feel so happy about it? 

 

“I’m finally done!” I said to no one in particular. Dropping my pencil down, I slumped against the chair.

“Good job, Ryoto,” Hikari said, smiling. She carried a tray of two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and small crackers. She set it on the floor and sat cross-legged. I stood up and sat across from her.

“Thanks,” I said sipping  from the warm cup. “Hey, did you have any homework today?”

“Very little,” she replied. “I finished most of it before I came home.”

“I see.” We sat in silence, drinking and chewing. I drank my last sip and put the still-steaming mug down. She put hers down too and I carried it downstairs. “I’ll wash it when we come back in.”

Her violet eyes shone. “You remembered!”

My only response was to pull on my jacket. She fumbled with the strings of her boots, hands shaking. “Calm down,” I said, glancing down at her, “we have time.”

“I know. I’m just so excited.” She tightened the last string and stood, wrapping a scarf over her dark green necklace. “Okay. Let’s go.”

The harsh winter wind bellowed a whistling welcome before calming down to regain its breath. I leaned against a tree and Hikari stuck her hands into her pocket. The wind caught its breath and resumed his yells. When another gust blew, I felt Hikari’s shoulder press against mine. I secretly thanked her warmth.

A few moments blew by, then the gusts calmed and settled into quiet snowfall. She stepped out, closed her violet eyes, and let the chilling powder kiss her face. A small smile graced her lips. Then they parted and she began to sing.

The song was quiet and flowed as easily as water. The notes danced among the snow, filling the air. I watched the girl in front of me. Her flowing black hair was speckled with snow. Her cheeks were flushed. I shook my head. What a woman she was. There surely was no one like her.

The silence told me that the song was over. She was still, lost in thought. I ducked out from the tree and rested my hand on her shoulder. She jerked up and then relaxed.

“I’m done,” she said. “Do you want to go back in?”

“That’s not my choice to make,” I said. “You are the one who wanted to watch.”

“With you.”

“Yes, with me.” I looked up at the dark sky that cried pearly tears. “Enjoy every moment here. You never know when you’ll get called back to Japan.”

She shifted her eyes away. She murmured something about “not going back” and “not wanted” while she combed her fingers through her midnight tresses.

“Your hands!” I burst out.

She cringed then tried to put them in her pocket. My hand flashed out and wrapped around her wrist. Sure enough, her hand was pink against the ivory and trembled slightly.

“Ryoto! I-I’m fine. Really…”

I ignored her protests and pulled off my gloves. Her hands were as cold as ice. I curled my fingers around hers. I felt the heat fade into her cold skin. Like her body, her hands were rigid, frozen. She refused to look up, staring intently on our hands. I remembered the first day I met her. That hand had been warm and callused. Faint clouds escaped her lips.

 

 “Kazuki! Kazuki! Look! It’s snow!”

 “Yeah. See it’s yuki. Yuki. Say it."

“Yu…ki?”

“Uh-huh. Good. C’mon. Let’s go play in the yuki.”

The clouded sky covered the sun’s golden face, raining tears upon the world. I ran around in the pure whiteness. Kazuki watched me, smiling slightly. He closed his eyes, dark hair falling into his face. Quickly gathering snow, I sent the snowball and prepared to run. It hit him straight in the face. Spluttering, he swiped the snow out of his eyes.

“Ryo! Pfft! Why, you-!”

“Haha! Got you! Try and get me!” I began to run through the mounds of snow that was slowly piling up. For the next hour, we ran and, when he finally caught me, we tumbled and wrested. Being bigger, he easily pinned me down. Huffing, he smiled in victory. I smiled in return, but not for the same reason. I wriggled free from his grasp and stood up.

“I give up,” he said, lying on his back.

“You always do,” I said.

He glanced up at me. “I can still remember when you were a little bundle of skin, crying all the time. I can’t wait when you’re bigger. We can do all sorts of fun things. Swimming, baseball, basketball…”

“I’ll get bigger quick,” I promised.

He chuckled. He sat up and ruffled my head. “I’ll be waiting.”

I reached out and hugged him. I didn’t want us to get older. If Kazuki got bigger, he would go away. Mom said that Kazuki still had at least eight years, but it would pass quickly enough.  I didn’t want him to go away…

We sat under the tree, talking and romping. Then, Kazuki reached out and enveloped my small hands in his large ones. “Your hands are cold.” He said.

I could remember clearly the flow of heat from him. These hands that would be holding mine forever. Brother Kazuki who I adored…

 

“I-I’m okay now,” Hikari whispered.

             I snapped back. Glancing down I first saw her violet eyes that shifted away. Her relaxed body that was close to me a moment ago now moved away. Then I was aware of our entwined hands. It dawned on me and I dropped my hands, stuffing them back in my pockets. She turned away and brushed some of the snow out of her hair. I shook my head. “Let’s…let’s go inside."

She nodded. Her face was reddening from the cold. We walked back in silence, enfolded in our worlds. Another winter wind roared and bid good-bye, but it was lost in the flurry of snow and waves of confused feelings.

Author's Note

Any suggestions?

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

This is some very fine writing, and I have no criticisms at all. It looks ready to be published.