1 A Chance Encounter

17th of December, 2014

11:00am

It was a cold winter day when 10-year-old Shizuno decided to go for a walk outside. He slipped his thick winter jacket on and wore a dark blue scarf. He roamed his messy room searching for his gloves, when he found them, he immediately put them on.

Running downstairs, the kid seemed to be excited for no apparent reason.

"Mom! Dad! I'll be going out for a while! I'm going to meet up with my friends at the playground!"

He waited for his parents' reply before heading out the door.

"Okay~ have fun and don't stay out too late!" His mom responded in a cheerful tone.

As soon as he heard his mom's statement, he quickly headed out and made his way to the playground. He took his time and walked slowly even though the snow was thick and it was pretty hard to walk through it, considering his tiny body.

Along the usual route he has always taken, there's a cherry blossom tree that he loved. It was just beside a small bridge. Shizuno loved that tree because of its location. He thought that it looked more beautiful with the bridge beside it and the cherry blossoms falling into the water below, flowing along with it.

His feet stopped when he noticed a young girl about his age standing under the tree. She was standing still and was looking up at the sky. The young girl had long black hair and was wearing a white long-sleeved dress with a light purple scarf wrapped around her neck and knee-high boots.

Shizuno was stunned to the ground. He felt his heart beating faster, but he didn't really know why. At a very young age, he had no idea why his heart was beating fast at the sight of this stranger he barely knew. All he could think of was- "who is this girl?"

Finally snapping back to reality, he decided to go closer and introduce himself. So he walked slowly and approached the young and fragile-looking girl. Her skin was pale white and her hair was perfectly black; which was in contrast to her pale white skin.

"H-hey." Shizuno quietly said.

Upon hearing this, the little girl turned around to see who it was. Her hair flowed gracefully as she moved, following her turn. The girl had light brown eyes which complemented her pale and fair complexion, accompanied by her long black hair.

"......" the girl did not utter a single word. Instead, she looked at him, wondering.

"Uhmm.. This is a really nice tree isn't it? I like it because it blooms when winter comes." Shizuno said, building up his courage to start a conversation.

"Mhm." the girl nodded in agreement, looking up at the tree again.

"It's pretty." she said with a weak and gentle voice. She then turned around again to look at the boy who had approached her.

Shizuno was surprised when the girl spoke, even though she only uttered two words, he found her voice soothing.

I think... I want to know more about her. He thought, slightly blushing on the outside. But on the inside, he felt all warm and fuzzy. Stretching out his hand, he introduced himself.

"I'm Shizuno! Nice to meet you!" He said then flashed a big smile at her.

The little girl just looked at his hand, then averted her gaze to the other side. She felt a bit shy, not knowing what to do for it was the first time someone had talked to her for this long.

"My name is Rairi." she said, not sure if it was okay to be friendly to a stranger.

Shizuno felt a bit embarrassed when Rairi ignored his attempt for a handshake. But he was still glad he got to know her name.

He scratched the back of his head, trying to hide his embarrassment. In a cheerful tone, he asked.

"Do you want to come play with me? I'm meeting up with my friends at the playground not far from here."

Rairi looked at his eyes with excitement and doubt.

"I..." she murmured

"Rairiiii~! Rairi dear~! Where are you? We have to go home soon!" A distant voice said.

"I can't. My mom is looking for me. I have to go now. Bye."

Shizuno nodded and Rairi walked away. Sadness can be seen in her eyes. Shizuno watched her every step as she walked farther away from him, wondering if their paths will ever meet again.

As Rairi got into the car where her father was waiting, she glanced outside to see if Shizuno was still there.

"Rairi, who was that?" a deep and manly voice asked, his tone a bit scary and strict.

"No one, dad. He was just inviting me to play with him and his friends."

"Tch. Play? You know you don't have time for that. You have a lot of things to study." the man answered.

With that Rairi just looked down and answered

"Yes dad."

And their car drove away. Rairi was still wondering if she'll ever meet that boy again... The first boy who ever talked to her like that. Without thinking that she's too serious. Someone who saw her just the same- with no exceptions and special treatments. Just a normal boy.

Both of them... wanted to meet each other again.