I: Season of Snow
Every year, around this time, a beautiful thing falls from the sky; snow. And every year, I think back to when I was younger; when I was just entering adulthood.
...Snow maiden...
I still don't remember what that is.
But I've heard the name so many times before.
Maybe...I'm forgetting someone important...
But, I'm crying now...why am I crying?
Maybe...because I have to wait for her.
But, that was only 3 years ago...why can't I remember?
Why?
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"Keigo! Come on Keigo, wake up! We're going to be late!"
I slowly opened my eyes, and saw my sister standing over me; she had an impatient look in her eyes. However, she was fully dressed, and dropped a rather heavy bag on my chest.
"Come on! We have to leave soon, or we won't make it to the resort!"
I shook my head a bit, and took the bag off my chest before standing up.
"Alright, alright, I get the point, sis. Give me a few minutes..."
Sis was always anxious about this time of year, for some reason. She told me once that she loved the sight of snow; but I wasn't entirely sure why. That didn't matter right now; I threw on the first thing I could grab, and picked up the bag I had packed the night before from next to the door.
I opened up the door, and my sister was standing right outside; I would have run into her had I not been a morning person.
"Come on, Keigo! We need to go now, or we're going to miss our flight!"
For as long as I could remember, it had just been the two of us; our parents died in a car crash when I was 12; my sister, who was only 9 at the time, had a hard time coming to grips with it; and she still hates to talk about it these days. However, they left behind a considerable amount of money; so for as long as I could remember, I had been around almost all the time. She was the organized one, however; more often than not, she kept me in line.
"Let's go!"
I remembered I hadn't moved since I exited my room, so I ran down the stairs quickly, with my bag in tow. She followed behind slowly, and I stepped outside. As soon as I did, I was confronted by a beautiful young woman, my age; she was sitting next to my car, relatively unaffected by the fact that it was snowing outside.
"Keigo, are you ready to go yet?"
"I had to drag him out of bed!" My sis came running out of the door and hugged the girl sitting by my car.
"That's right, Keika. You need to kick him so he can get a move on it, more often than not."
"You're one to talk, Tsuki." I shook my head, and got in the car.
"By the way, Tsuki, where's your sister?"
"I don't know. She said she was sick, and that she suddenly couldn't come..."
"Weird, she's never missed this trip before..."
"It looks like it's just us this year."
Tsuki was a childhood friend; for all of my life, she had lived next door to me. Originally, it had been planned that she was to be married to me when I was 16; however, after my parent's death, that was dismissed and thrown out the window.
"Alright! Let's go, Keigo!" Tsuki sat in the front seat, while Keika sat in the back, with all of the bags.
Just as I was about to leave, the door to my house swung open.
"Weird...I must not have shut it. Hold on, guys, I'll go shut it real quick."
I got out real quick; the wind felt like it was being thrown against my face. I squinted; it got harder for me to see anywhere in front of me. As I walked towards the door, I heard something behind me;
"Keigo...I've been waiting for such a long time..."
I turned around, but nobody was there; the wind died down, and I saw Tsuki waving her hand impatiently. I screamed sorry real quick, then closed the door.
"What was that...?" I though to myself for a little while, then got back in the car, towards the airport.