A/N: We're apologize in advance if anything following breaks your brains. :D But it was much too fun to think of and write.

Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, G39 - write a fic that explores physical illness. We just threw the crossover in for the funsies.

The Snow Falls in Summer

The snowy day seemed to have no effect on the girl, no matter how she moved. Despite how smoothly she walked, or how pale she seemed, the echo of her steps made her no more ghosts than the falling flakes around her. The white moved without a single wisp nor cloud, and even the cold air puffed out on winter days was either invisible or not there at all.

Unlike the body slowly being buried in flakes of snow. Whatever red had splayed it had long since soaked into the blanket of snow it lay upon. Perhaps it had gone a little pink. But now it was white, pure white. The snow had drank the blood.

Perhaps it was good that she hadn't gotten to drink any. That would make a mark she couldn't forget, and she would like to forget. The pain was enough of a reminder.

The living were enough of a reminder.

Was this all of them? There had to be more. That woman said there would be more.

She needed more. She needed to find them. Those others.

She cast a final, forgetting, look at the lump and then sprang off into the falling flakes, eyes darting this way and that, searching…

Searching for another reminder.

Ruko might be one of the more tolerable people in the world, but sometimes her actions spoke against that. Yuki sighed as she double-checked the address. Yep, that was the right sweet shop.

At least she was going to get free sorbet out of the errand. Chocolate with coconut flakes. And if they had any appealing cakes on display as well.

They might, but it was a bit hard to see with the girl plastered to the display glass. Her eyes, grey according to the reflection in the glass, were wide with delight. If the girl got any closer to the glass, she'd probably slip right through it.

Why would that person be here? Wouldn't the sugar kill them off entirely?

She wondered if she should reconsider that thought, then shrugged mentally. she decided she wasn't to fussed if ice-cream killed her. There were worse ways to die.

She tapped them on the shoulder anyway. She did need to see the displays after all.

Then she winced because that girl's grin was too painfully glaringly bright. Yuki grimaced and pulled back, already regretting said decision. The girl didn't seem to care.

"'i!" she chirped, and Yuki couldn't hide this wince. Even her voice was bright. "Did you want to see the cakes? Which one ya like best? I like all of the ones with sprinkles!"

Yuki was tempted to say none, but that would be a lie if she ever heard it. "I…" She paused and thought about it again. Did she even have one? She decided to simply nod. That answered the first question, at any rate.

And hopefully it was standoffish enough to suggest she didn't want to continue this conversation as well.

But the girl didn't take the hint. "Which one? Which one?"

"The ones without sprinkles," Yuki snapped finally, if only because she was annoyed. But it was the truth anyway. The sprinkles were too...bright.

Just like that girl.

Unless they were coconut.

The girl didn't seem perturbed by this, though it itched at Yuki's brain the longer she watched her. "Yay, we like different things!" She chirped to herself for a moment more, looking between each cake and bouncing from foot to foot.

Yuki almost groaned, but settled instead on a listless sigh. "May I get by, please?" The 'please' was almost forgotten. She just wanted to go in, deliver the message, get the cake, and leave.

The girl blinked, as if pulled from a trance. Then she nodded with another over-lit smile and skipped to the other side of the door.

Yuki crossed the threshold without another word. One word would lead to another, and then many more. Especially with one who couldn't seem to grasp the hint of a conversation stopper.

Then she realised she hadn't looked closely enough at the cakes to pick one to buy.

She shrugged to herself. She could just ask at the counter for a recommendation. Or Hitoe, after she'd delivered Ruko's message.

The girl stared after the other. There was just something about her…

She turned back to the cake displays, but suddenly, she wasn't feeling chirper any more. There was something. Something nagging her. About that girl.

She hadn't felt it though until the girl had gone into the shop.

She was at the counter now. She could see, over the cute little cakes on display. The cakes with their beautiful, bright sparkles.

She stared at the cakes. She stared at the girl. Black hair. Black clothes.

Her pale skin didn't suit her, she thought idly.

But she wasn't one of them, so why did she care at all?

Then someone blocked her view. A worker, taking a slice of cake out with thongs. One without sprinkles. Then one with.

Her eyes longingly followed and she forgot the dark-looking girl.

Yuki would never admit it aloud, or at least, not without some incredible coercion and bribery, but Ruko had a nice smile. It wasn't too much emotion, but she showed her own pleasure well-enough with her eyes.

"Don't ruin it." She meant to sound scolding, but she ended up sounding more exasperated as Ruko almost spun with the cake in her hands. Ruko only smiled a bit more.

"But Yuki, this is great!" she said with a laugh. "This will really help me stay awake." She looked back at her stack of work with a sigh. "So much research… but I'll do it!" She smiled. "Because Yuki is doing her best too!"

Yuki had to wonder where all of the optimism came from.

"Ruko-chan!"

Yuki winced. From her grandmother, possibly. That woman was far too energetic for her age. Old women were supposed to sit quietly and knit - not skip about like she was still twenty.

If the old woman fell down and broke her hip, it wasn't going to be Yuki's responsibility.

And if Ruko did the same when she was that age...well…

"In my bedroom, obaa-chan?' Ruko called back, putting the piece of cake on a tissue. "Did Yuki bring a piece for herself?"

Yuki hadn't, but she had gotten that sherbet.

Ruko gave her an exasperated look, then broke the cake in half. Yuki winced. Poor cake.

Ruko all but forced half into her hands.

And Yuki had just taken a bite when Ruko's grandmother came in and broke the news. And she coughed, and Ruko's grandmother pounded her on the back until it hurt.

Where did that woman get her strength?

Ruko just sighed sadly and made a note. "That makes three."

She found one! She found one!

That had gone so much easier than she had thought it would. They were dwindling now, just a few more and then… and then…

Well, she'd just have to think about that when she got there!

Her mind drifted to the dark girl, the one that was too light and did she remember her? Was she important somehow?

She wasn't one of them; she was sure of that.

Maybe she was just like them.

Now what to do about that?

"Did you see anything?" Ruko asked.

"A girl that's too bright for her own good," Yuki returned. "Does that help?" She blinked at Ruko's sudden frown.

"Maybe,' she said, slowly. "That's quite sad, you know."

"How so?" Yuki didn't see how that could be sad at all.

"Remember what you were like before we met?"

Yuki grimaced. She didn't like being reminded of that. Then she frowned as well. "She has another personality." That explained that odd feeling inside the shop. When that girl's eyes had been looking through the cake display at her.

"Yuki."

She saw Ruko's normally thoughtful eyes grow solemn. "Don't do anything reckless. If she is doing this, she has a reason." Yuki saw the war on Ruko's face and smirked.

"You don't want me to kill her, am I right?"

Ruko shifted on her heels. "Well…"

"She's not going to stop if we ask nicely, Ruko."

"You don't know that…" Yuki did. But Yuki was a rare case.

That was what made it all so sad. "Hey...Yuki…" Yuki looked at her. "At least try and save her."

Yuki stared some more, then sighed. "I don't like her," she confessed, "but I'll try."

She couldn't find any more. Were they all gone?

The snow didn't keep her footsteps. They vanished as soon as she lifted her foot, leaving only a spread of white.

She wanted to kick at the snow in frustration. She wanted to toss it in the air. She wanted to make snowballs and throw them. She wanted to make a snow angel, a snowman.

There were kids in the park. They were making a snow man.

She grinned, giggled to herself, and plunged her hands into the snow. Within moments, instead of joy, she let out a ragged cry and pulled her hands away, cringing at the raw red she saw there.

Pain.

She knew what that was. Raw, ache, agony, twisting, blood-

She didn't like it.

She grabbed and twisted and tore and scrambled in the snow. Scrambled somewhere.

There were more. There were definitely more.

She had to find them.

Yuki broke into a run. She could feel it. The bloodlust. If she didn't hurry, somebody else was going to die. And Ruko would be sad if somebody else died. Especially if Yuki had been close enough to prevent it. And she'd lose any chance at some fun as well.

She found that girl, that painfully bright girl, dragging herself through the snow. There were children building a snowman there. They hadn't seen her.

Soon, they would be in range.

"So you've sunk to killing children now," she called, loud enough so the other would hear.

The girl turned around and stared at her.

Her eyes were a different sort of bright now.

Yuki would have smiled if she needed to, but she kept the amusement in her eyes instead, putting one hand on her hips. The girl in front of her had no such reservations, and smiled like a cat.

"I have to find them," she said.

Yuki wasn't sure if the brightness in those eyes was bothersome or not. "Do you?" she said, no longer raising her voice. "Are you sure it's not just that you want to?"

"No difference!"

"Plenty of difference." She smiled, fingers coiling around fabric. "One is a compulsion, the other is a choice. Which is yours?"

The girl blinked, then cocked her head and tried to think. Yuki could see the red blotches on her skin. But they didn't seem to bother her now.

They'd been bothering her only moments ago. She knew it had been.

Yuki scowled. Lovely. Ruined fun. "Whatever." She shrugged as the other failed to come up with an answer. Her face was like a child trying to work out which two puzzle pieces went together. It was pathetic. She was smiling. Not Yuki. There was nothing to smile at anymore.

How could things get boring that fast?

She didn't give the girl another glance, but turned and strode away. Knowing Ruko, she had saved her half of the cake.

Scary…

Those eyes…

Scary, weird. What were those? What did she know?

Tama… she wasn't doing anything wrong! It just had to stop, that's all. The pain, it had to stop, and getting rid of them...it was their fault, the kids had caused it. She wasn't doing anything wrong.

Her abdomen twinged again, and her mouth tasted like metal.

Ruko had saved her cake, and Yuki ate it to wash away the taste in her mouth. She didn't know where it came from and she didn't like it either. Nor did she like the strange look Ruko was giving her.

"What?" she asked finally, and a little waspishly.

"Did you want some tea?" Ruko said. "It's quite calming."

Tea actually sounded good, and it turned out Ruko's grandmother had been making some. So Yuki went and fetched two cups: one for herself, one for Ruko.

Ruko had another odd question when she returned. "You don't have a twin, do you?"

"No," Yuki said. "You know that."

Ruko looked thoughtfully at her notes. "I suppose I do. But…"

"Blood isn't the only thing that connects people," her grandmother commented, from the door.

Ruko looked up. Yuki set her cup of tea down. It was rather sweet. Not that she minded. "I was making cookies. Chocolate, since I know how much you like them." She aimed that at Yuki.

Yuki wondered if Ruko's grandmother was trying to kill her with sweetness that day. She'd already had a sorbet and cake.

But Ruko beamed and accepted the plate and Yuki took a few cookies from it.

Yuki found herself wandering again.

It wasn't for the first time. She always wandered when there was a clear night, and even on the most foggy. Tonight was snowing, and it was somewhere in between. If it was cold, she ignored it. Temperature only mattered in the loosest sense.

There was blood in the air, faint enough to miss if you didn't care to look for it.

Yuki always searched.

The smile at her lips was like her fingers wrapped around a knife. She strode and strolled, not darting her head in one direction or another. She didn't have to look; she would easily find her prey.

Her prey was screaming bright after all.

She was doubled over as she walked, but she was smiling. There were lots of them. The woman had said so, and they were there. Lots and lots. She could punch and kick and burn them all and watch as blood splattered on the snow, a vibrant red before the snow greedily sucked it up.

What would it take, she wondered, for the red, that vibrancy, that scream of life, to stay.

And then she paused. Something dark was coming. Something -

From the sweet shop. From the park. That girl too pale for her dark clothes and only slightly lighter hair. And this time, with something that made her want to skip excitedly, to punch and kick and burn with a frenzy.

She was coming with the intention to fight. To kill. To spill blood.

What a fun way to spend the night.

"Welcome, welcome," she chirped. "Are you here to kill them too?"

The girl's smile was as deadly a weapon as any. "I'm here to kill you."

An odd statement. She would be killed? For what? For wanting to live? How silly! This person didn't understand. She didn't!

"But why?" she asked. "Why, when we could have so much fun?"

"You're all the fun I need."

"What I'm doing isn't bad~"

"I don't particularly care if it's good." The other girl smiled all the wider. "It's just nice to see another monster."

She wasn't a monster. All she wanted to do was live, feel alive.

She took an involuntary step back as the other sprung.

She took a step back. Yuki paused for a breath, but the girl didn't switch. She just clapped her hands together and formed a ball of light between them. White light.

That just begged for her black. She clapped her own hands together, louder.

When the white shot towards her, she pushed it back with black. And she had momentum on her side, so back it went. The girl made a noise, and for a moment Yuki wondered if it was really going to be that easy…

But then the girl had jumped out of the way and was throwing a punch in her direction.

Yuki blocked it. Fist hit arm. She was strong, Yuki allowed. Stronger than she appeared.

Yuki was strong as well. And unlike the other, Yuki had Ruko on her side.

Too fast, too fast!

Block, duck, fire! So fun but so fast and strong and it wasn't supposed to be like that. Too much darkness, she couldn't see.

Swing wild, spin dodge to the side, crouch, roll from black. She sprang with a kick and giggled glee when she struck home but then the racing excitement was tempered by red, red, angry read with black tendrils and it hurt.

The other girl was still smiling, dark eyes no longer dark but many shades of blue falling all over each other.

"Look, see, that's better," she said, still grinning like there were nothing but canines in her mouth.

Tama coughed. Hurts. Hurts, hurts, hurts! Why? This was supposed to be fun.

The dark one stepped forward, still with that expression of knives. She, she was a monster. She was. "Haven't you noticed?" The question was framed with darkness. "You're smiling."

She touched her face. Smiling...she was smiling. And why not? It had been fun. Before the pain.

Then she doubled over and fell to her knees, throwing her other arm out. Fingers still touched her lips. Fingers still felt the smile even through the haze of fun.

The two quarreled. Fun. Pain. Fun. Fire!

The dark one swatted away the light as though it were a fly. "Have you thought of an answer to my question?"

Tama fired again. And again. She wanted to get up and punch and kick some more but the pain to her middle stopped her. And… and it suddenly wasn't fun anymore.

Why? Why wasn't it fun anymore?

Confusion. Anger. Pain. Fear.

She was still smiling.

She did look pitiful. But Yuki did not pity her. Not then. There was a difference between compulsion and choice and it was choice. The answer was choice.

"I'm going to kill you now," she said.

The look on her face only seemed to grow, and Yuki shrugged. "Maybe someone hurt you once, but that was a long time ago, you know? There's no good in letting you keep running around. You could hurt her, and I can't allow that. One monster around is bad enough."

She saw the eyes squeeze shut and still felt no pity. She was still smiling after all.

Then her prey started to cough. The cough grew and grew until blood joined it and she curled into a fetal position upon the ground.

Ah. It was gone.

She was boring again. Now what?

"I'm glad you didn't kill her."

Yuki shrugged. "She lost my interest."

Ruko smiled a little over her pillow. The snow still fell outside, but under the blankets it was warm. "Is that right?"

Maybe Ruko thought it was pity that stayed her hand. Or wanted to believe it.

If it made Ruko happy, Yuki thought.

"Will you go visit her?" Yuki stared. "At the hospital, of course." Ruko smiled.

Yuki shook her head at the absurdity of the notion. Visiting someone so irritating? That was definitely not on her list.

"Hmm…" Ruko closed her eyes sleepily. "Maybe I'll go tomorrow. And get something from the sweet shop as well. Did you want anything?"

"Something without sprinkles," said Yuki, "and get something with them for the girl."