A rose in winter

"Miss Kinryuu?"

"I hate rain," a woman exclaimed, her fingers were smashing the keyboard of her computer.

"Miss Kinryuu?" she then realized a person was calling her. With a twist of the head, her eyes met those of the girl's.

"What is it, Sawada?" she responded, her voice sharp and precise, like her eyes.

"Well, it's time to go home. You've already done enough," the girl explained in a calm and soft voice, she was a little intimidated by the woman's eyes.

"Oh, I didn't even realize," the woman began to pack her stuff, "Sawada, care to walk with me?" she requested. The girl gave a warm smile.

"Y-yes, I would love to," the girl gladly accepted the offer.

Kanna Kinryuu, the only daughter of a very wealthy businessman. At the age of twenty-four, she had already saved her company from being bankrupt, "I'm surprised you have no boyfriend or husband yet miss Kinryuu," the girl asked her, Kanna just scoffed, "I mean, you're beautiful, you're talented, you're rich, yo-"

"What? Are you confessing to me?" Kanna responded with a grin, at this, the girl blushed.

"You're also a little funny," the girl whispered, but Kanna heard it.

"You see here, I would only have a relationship with somebody I know a lot. Like, someone that knows me for a long time. That's someone I would want to have a relationship with," as Kanna described her idea of a perfect relationship, the girl gave a sly grin.

"I guess that's the reason why Mister Namoko and you are so close?" the girl teasingly said. Kanna blushed a little, "See, you like Mister Namoko, he even has a cool first name, Rashirana," the more the girl talked about this man, the more Kanna blushed.

"My home is over there, see you tomorrow Sawada," Kanna tried to suppress her blush, she pointed in a direction and immediately ran to it.

"Alright, see you Miss Kinryuu," the girl waved at Kanna as she continued to walk.

Kanna was getting closer to her home, her thoughts were plagued with what the girl was saying. When she reached her house, all of those thoughts washed away as her face turned ice cold. Her eyes, sharp. Her mouth, slightly frowning, "I guess, I'm home now," she told herself as she got out her keys.

When she opened the door. A man was seen cleaning the tables. He quickly turned to Kanna, his eyes surprised, his mouth trembling. But it wasn't because of fear, "Good… evening, Kanna," the man spoke in broken Japanese, his mouth turned into an uncomfortable smile.

Kanna looked at the man, "Good evening Nicholas," she responded whilst entering her house, "I'm going to take a bath, don't worry about the food, I already ate at work," she was lying, "I'm tired. After I take a bath I'll sleep."

The man stared at Kanna for a while, "Y-yeah, bath… you go. Then sleep. Good night," he responded.

Nicholas Gabi, Kanna's husband. A twenty-four-year-old man from the slums of Manila. Kanna's father forced her to marry Nicholas because of reasons she doesn't know. She doesn't hate Nicholas, but she hates that he's her husband, "Yeah, thanks," she responded in an ice-cold tone.

After her bath, Kanna walked into her room. There she found Nicholas in his bed. She just looked at her husband, he was sleeping silently, his position pointed at their glass wall, opposite of Kanna's bed, "Why did he come here to Japan? He barely knows anything. For everything he has done, this has got to be the worst thing father has done to me," Kanna argued inside her mind as she got into her bed, a tear flowed from her eyes, "Why can't I choose how I live my life?"

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Kanna woke up from her slumber. She looked around, Nicholas was still sleeping, "Woke up just in time again," Kanna stood up and instantly left the room. After taking a bath, she got into her work clothing, "I've got three hours, I'll stop by the cafe, then go to wor-" Kanna's thought was interrupted by the sight of a homemade fish soup on the table. It was inside a food cover, "Why didn't he put that in the microwave?" Kanna asked herself as she exited her home.

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Kanna entered the workplace, hungry and early, "Why was the cafe closed? It's Wednesday," Kanna told herself. She got to her workstation with a rumbling stomach, "Break is in… FIVE HOURS!!! Awww," Kanna was about to smite herself for not eating the fish soup. But then her savior appeared behind her.

"Kinryuu?" a voice of a man called out, "You didn't take your breakfast again, didn't you?" The man was Rashirana Namoko. Kanna was initially surprised, but then she calmed down a bit.

"Yeah, I was going to eat at the cafe. But it was closed," Kanna sighed, Rashirana stood there for a few minutes, contemplating what he should do.

"Here," Rashirana, then gave his lunch box to Kanna, "Since it's not officially working time. You can eat this," he said as he turned away, trying not to hide his red cheeks.

Kanna was also flustered, "Rashirana Namoko, my first crush," Kanna said to herself as she began to dig in, "Why couldn't he be my husband?"

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Nicholas rose from his bed like a zombie. His hair covering his view, "I should get a haircut," he said to himself in his own language. Nicholas looked behind him. Kanna's bed was unkempt. He sighed, "I guess it's the time of day," he got both of the beds tidy. Then he went downstairs. At the table, Nicholas saw his fish soup. It was untouched, "I guess she didn't want it," he said to himself as he got a bowl of the soup, "Like she wants any of my cooking."