1 A Cold Night

"I'm going out again, alright?"

I say to Yoshimi, my adoptive big sister.

She has been taking care of me ever since my dear parents passed away from falling off a cliff while traveling. I still remember how unhappy I was when I heard the news.

"Be back soon, okay? I don't want you to catch a cold, Uchinomi.", Yoshimi replies.

As I walk out the house, a cold gust of wind passes in front of my face. There were some children throwing snowballs at each other, and one snowball happened to pass in front of me. Startled, I step back and tell the other children to be careful when throwing snowballs.

I walked on the crunchy, cold snow on the ground, on my way to sit on my favorite spot beside a tree.

My feet halted in the thick snow, as I stare at a sickly looking young boy sitting in a small staircase leading to the front door to his house.

He stares at the children playing a game of hide and seek. It seems like he wants to play with them.

I walk to the young boy. Of course, I don't want to intimidate him with my usually loud voice, so I decided that I should talk to him in a soft voice.

His lilac eyes shoot at me like an arrow. An arrow that, for some unknown reason, made me feel kind of pleased.

This boy right here... Looks like a boy with the innocence of a little child, and the pure face of a never before seen angel.

He stares at me as I walk to him. I stop walking and I take a seat beside him.

"Um.... Hello."

I say with a soft voice. He just stares at me for a few seconds and continues to look at the children from afar. He probably doesn't like socializing much. Maybe asking some questions will help?

".... Quite a cold day, huh?", I say to him.

He looks at me and nods. I don't know, but I think he's a person who always daydreams. His innocent eyes seem to be wandering off in a long, distant stare.

It's been half an hour, and we haven't talked to each other much. We just kind of stared at the sunset while sitting on the staircase. I don't like awkward moments, so I spoke to him again.

"So... um.... what's your name?"

I asked such a normal and boring question again, but I think it's necessary to know someone's name before starting a decent conversation topic.

He looks at me, and then looks at the ground.

"Ritsuki. Hanako Ritsuki."

Oh god. His voice is making me feel weird. Not in a bad way though.

His voice is deep for a child like him. He looks like a 10 year old child.

He finally speaks to me after half an hour. Huh.

"Oh... I see.. Well, my name is Fuyuhashi Uchinomi. Nice to meet you." I say, while trying to cover myself in my haori.

"Aren't you cold? You should probably go inside."

After telling him to go inside, he looks at me again and says "No, I'm fine."

I don't believe that, though. His hands look cold.

I touch his hand, and it was freezing.

"Hey. Your hands are freezing."

I say to him in a slightly worried voice.

He looks at my hand touching his, and then stares at me.

Before he could open his mouth to speak again, his parents come out of the door behind us.

"Ritsuki! It's so cold out there, come inside!", his parents yell.

His father looks at me, and then looks at Ritsuki.

"Oh, you made a friend? That's nice. But you should really come inside, it's freezing out there."

Ritsuki agreed to go inside, as his father commanded.

The sun has set completely, so I guess it's really needed to go inside.

Me and Ritsuki stand up. I told his parents that I'll be back to meet Ritsuki again tomorrow.

His parents look kind.. I guess Ritsuki's looks were from his father, who was the one who looked like someone who wouldn't hurt a fly.

His parents agreed, so I ran to my house, where Yoshimi is probably worrying about me.

I enter the door to see a slightly angry-looking Yoshimi. Well, I guess I deserve a scolding from being out for so late.

I braced myself for a truck-load of words to come at me, considering that Yoshimi is a strict but caring adoptive big sister.

"Uchinomi. What did I say about coming home late?", Yoshimi said.

"Well.... I made a new friend, instead of playing in the snow..."

I tried telling her about Ritsuki, and how he lived just a few houses away.

She surprisingly didn't scold me that much. Instead, she said that I can meet Ritsuki again tomorrow.

Warm dinner was waiting on the table as usual, and Yoshimi's cooking is amazing. Her rice balls are really tasty, in fact, rice balls are her specialty.

We ate dinner and went to bed.

I just kept thinking about what I'll to with Ritsuki tomorrow. I don't want another awkwars sunset-viewing hour with him tomorrow.