Beneath The Silent Snow

The sun had only half-risen from the horizon when the sound of the ringing alarm clock broke the silence of a particular bedroom. And that ringing sound caused a certain maiden to be awakened from her slumber.

Or so it seemed like it.

To be honest, that black-haired maiden was already awake for more than an hour before the clock rang. And it was only four AM when she woke up. Well, there's a reason for her waking up earlier than what she had planned.

'I've dreamed of that one again,' she thought, and then she sighed before getting up from her bed and turning off her alarm clock. She then turned on the night lamp and opened the window after she drew the curtains. She smiled sadly when she laid her eyes on the rising sun.

Certain thoughts came rushing inside her mind the moment she had laid her sight on the sun. All of which were connected to the dreams that she's having these past few days.

But before she could think about it thoroughly, several knocks on the door disrupted the flow of her thoughts. And that made her glance at the door.

"Riya-chan, it's time for you to wake up! You'll be late for your flight!" a woman said from outside the room.

She barely smiled as she approached the door and opened it for the woman to know that she was already awake. "I'm already awake, Saeko-san. I woke up more than an hour ago."

The woman named Saeko looked at Riya with worries in her eyes. "Are you sure you'll be alright? You've only slept for three hours."

"I'll be fine, Saeko-san. I guess I could sleep better when I get there." And then Riya smiled at the woman.

Saeko sighed and faced her. "Alright, if you say so then. Be sure to get ready so could eat your breakfast before you leave." She nodded and closed the door afterward.

Her face turned solemn once again and gazed outside the window. But then after a while, something caught her attention from the side of her purple eyes. And this made her freeze to her spot in a way.

'That's...' But then she couldn't continue what she wanted to say. Instead, he walked towards that certain something and she was somehow stunned when she finally had a look at it. 'I was right! It was my diary... My first diary from five years ago.' She reluctantly took it from the empty bookshelf.

There's a reason for her having an empty bookshelf but her attention wasn't exactly focused on it. It was already on the diary that she was currently holding on as her hand began to shiver.

"I thought I lost this many years ago..." she muttered and then she began opening it, flipping the blank page to let the second-page show where the words were started to be written. She smiled bitterly as she read the words written there. "And to think I would find this on the day that I would leave this place..."

That's right. She's leaving. And that house that belonged to her paternal great-grandfather would be left in the care of her cousins and her Aunt Saeko just until she comes back.

If she ever comes back, that is...

She rashly shook her head in hopes of dispelling the negative thoughts rushing into her mind. And then she began reading the words written there carefully.

~~

December 24th – Christmas Eve

Winter time was the first and last time I met him.

I was heading home fast so that Mom and Onii-chan wouldn't scold me for being in the cold snow for so long. I just went to the grocery store to buy the other things needed for the celebration of Christmas and, of course, a gift wrapper. I can't believe I forgot to buy one yesterday. I thought it would be just a simple Christmas Eve like the rest.

But then I met him—the handsome boy with red hair and green eyes—everything around my world changed at that one instant... A change that I would forever keep here in my heart...

In any case, this is what happened...

~~

And as she continued to read, memories regarding that time started flooding her mind. Memories that she had been dreaming of for the past few days...

xxxxxx

Five years ago, on Christmas Eve; Hokkaido, Japan

The snow kept on falling slowly down to the ground, covering the earth like a thick white blanket. Not only covering the earth white but also making the temperature colder than anything else.

Plants, most especially the trees, shed their leaves to somehow withstand the cold temperature of the winter season. Rivers and lakes froze due to this reason, as well.

But even still, the winter season was very much enjoyed by almost everyone. Among them was a black-haired girl named Riya Miyuzaki...

...though she never realized it at first. She only did it when that single meeting change it all.

She was running fast but steady so she did not slip as she ran towards her house, carrying two plastic bags in each hand. When she stopped running to take a rest for a short while as she placed the bags on the ground, she glanced at her wristwatch and checked the time. Her eyes widened after that.

"Oh no! I'll be late! Mom would scold me, for sure," she exclaimed and took some heavy breaths before bending down to grab her stuff. But then, she saw something from the side of her eyes. She wasn't sure about it but it caught her interest. Whatever it was, she couldn't tell.

That certain something was covered by the snow but it still left a mark, as if saying something like "Hey, look at me! I'm only covered in snow but I'm still here!" to her. And somehow, she got the message of it.

She placed the bags she was carrying down to the ground again and crouched down to have a better look at the snow-covered "item". But then she frowned as she touched it and removed the snow covering it. And she was surprised to see what was underneath that small blanket of white snow.

"A rose?" she muttered and then she slowly touched it. "It's warm... as if it hasn't faced the worst weather of the year. That's weird. How could a rose like this one managed to survive the winter season without getting wilted? It's like..." But then she stopped muttering when she figured out that she couldn't find the right word to describe the situation.

And that got her into thinking.

"I think it's like an all-year-round kind of rose. One that could survive in any type of weather, worst or best," a voice suddenly said that she knew was coming from behind her.

That somehow startled her and made her turn to look and have a glance at the person who just spoke. Only to get surprised to see that a red-haired boy was just behind her and worse (or not), their faces were too close.

She had a look of many green eyes most of her life but only a few were as expressive as the ones in front of her, locked to her amethyst ones. It's not only the eyes but also his face.

His handsome face was somehow unique from the ones she saw before.

She was snapped out from her musings when the boy she was looking at smiled at her in a friendly manner. It caught her off guard and made her fall down on her butt. Subconsciously, she caught the boy's arm to get support and to prevent herself from completely lying down but it seemed that it didn't give her help. That's because he soon followed her and they both landed on the cold white snow.

Riya touched the back of her head and groaned. But then she looked at her side and was surprised to see the boy fall, his face buried in the snow.

"Oh no! Are you hurt?" she exclaimed and then got up to approach the boy. But before she could touch him, he moved and got up all by himself. He sat on the ground despite the cold snow and faced her with a smile. "I'm sorry. I guess I was surprised when I suddenly saw you behind me," she said in an apologetic tone without looking at his face.

But the expected angry or harsh words to counter what she had done never came rendered her surprised and a bit nervous. When she looked up to see the red-haired boy's expression, she saw him smiling at her calmly. And that smile somehow eased her worries in mind about the incident. That made her return the gesture and looked at the rose just beside her. The boy also looked at the said flower.

"I've never seen a rose that managed to withstand cold winter before," she commented and then reverted her gaze to the boy. "Have you seen one before?"

"That flower belonged to me," the boy stated. "I planted it here a year ago as a part of an experiment. I guess it turned out to be a success in the end."

She was amazed when she heard that. "Really? That's amazing. Where did you find this kind of flower, anyway?"

But the boy only smiled mysteriously. "It's a secret that I mustn't reveal to the others. And that includes you."

"Is that so?" she said. In a way, she wasn't disappointed by the boy's answer. She just smiled again in conjunction with her response, saying that it was alright and she understood.

And then she looked at her wristwatch, only to be surprised to see the time. "Oh, crap! My mom's going to be mad when I come home late, for sure!" And she began standing up and picking up the bags she left a while back before facing the boy. "I'm sorry. I need to go home."

But before she started running her back, she heard the boy speak.

"Then take this with you," she said which made her stop in her tracks and looked at him.

She then saw him plucking the rose that they found before approaching her, handing the flower to her.

"I guess I could give this to you as a remembrance of our meeting here, even though it would be for the first and last time," he solemnly said as he was looking into her eyes.

Hesitantly, she took it from his hand, and from there, she saw that the rose was silver in color. She looked at him with questions in her eyes.

"But this is your experiment," she reasoned out but all she got was a warm smile as a response. And then he left her pondering as to what that smile was for.

"Just keep it. It won't wilt, I can assure you that," he said as he began to walk away from her.

"Wait!" she shouted. And that stopped the boy from his tracks. She saw him turn around to look at her. She heaved a heavy sigh to calm herself before she spoke. "May I know your name, at the very least?"

"What for? You're not planning on finding me, are you?" he said calmly while smiling.

"Of course not!" she blurted. "I just wanted to know the identity of the person who gave this magic flower to me." And then unknowingly, she blushed.

"Magic... huh?" he uttered in a soft tone but still, it was loud enough for her to hear it. "I guess you could say that." He sighed before facing her. "It's Shuichi." And then he began to run away, leaving her standing on that spot as she looked at him disappear from her sight.

Despite the cold weather, she smiled and looked at the silver rose in her hand. She placed it on her chest as she pondered on the words that the boy just said. And after a while, she smiled before facing the direction that the boy named Shuichi had gone.

"Thank you... Shuichi-kun..." 'I'll take care of this flower until the day fate would let our paths cross once again.' And after that, she finally left that place.

But that event had unknowingly left a mark in one corner of her heart at that time. One that she never knew would unveil the path of her fate and destiny...

...All I know was that his name was Shuichi-kun. But then it's okay. Even though I only met him once, I know that his name, his face, his voice, and his smile had remained inside my heart up until now. I have to admit that I'm terrible when it comes to remembering names once in a while. But somehow, the name 'Shuichi' remained intact as time went by.

Christmas... I guess I could say that in a way, Santa gave me one of the best gifts ever. And Shuichi-kun's only proof of existence in my life remained on the magic rose. I promised that I will keep it beside me... until I could finally return it to him as a solid proof that I treasured our short-term friendship beneath the silent snow of that particular winter season...

xxxxxx

She sighed after remembering that.

Like what she had written in her diary five years ago, the magic rose was still in her possession. Shuichi had been true to his words. The rose never wilted; its sheer beauty from the first glance never faded as time passed. That's one reason she called it magic rose.

She took something from her bed, particularly beside her pillow. It was the magic silver rose from that time, placed in a small glass case big enough for the flower's size.

And she could say that she stayed true to her words, as well. The rose would stay with her until she met Shuichi once again.

And when would that happen?

Only fate knew that. All she could do was wait for him.