Author's Note: This is my first fic I ever wrote. I really hope you like it. R + R!! (Flame me... fine. But please don't burn me to a crisp ^-^;)

Warning: Tearjerker

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The winter frost bit him but he felt nothing. No pain ...just the loneliness that was eating away at his heart. He walked down the path not noticing the cheery bright lights on the tree or hearing the sweet carols that rang, clear and crisply, through the icy atmosphere. Even the candles burning behind the windows of a pizza store seemed to have lost its warm glow. Izumi Orimoto's cheerful image flashed in his head.

**flashback**

"I can't wait until the snow starts falling!" A fourteen-year old girl said with a heartwarming smile. She closed her eyes, and twirled in a land of her own where soft white snow covered the ground as far as one could see. Her light blond hair flowing softly around her. She opened her lively eyes and glanced at him, her cheeks flushed. "Christmas is just next week! Want to come and look for some gifts and decorations with me?" Without waiting for an answer, she dragged him out of the pizza parlor.

**end of flashback**

He shook his head, bitterly. Never again shall he see those warm, joyful aqua eyes. Never again shall those joyful aqua eyes see the land that was now blanketed in a snug sheet of fresh snow. His breath was heavy with sorrow and his midnight blue eyes filled with misery and grief. The wind had died down but the snow fell faster. A happy couple strolled by, hand in hand, walking towards some kids that were flinging snowballs at each other.

**flashback**

He looked up at the vast, white sky. 'The snow's coming down fast.' He observed, thoughtfully.

SMACK! "Hey!" he growled, annoyed, a smashed snowball plastered to the back of his blue jacket. He twisted around and saw her covering her mouth, giggling. He grinned and bent down and packed together a snowball and pitched it. It hit her side, soaking her. 'Sweet revenge' he thought, smiling to himself. Izumi made no move to retaliate but bent down and began talking to a little boy with a red scarf. He watched her for a moment as she spoke to the little boy, raised a brow and turned his glance to a little girl who was building a little igloo with her father.

SPLAT! WHACK! THWACK! He suddenly disappeared beneath a pile of snowballs. The red scarfed boy and a bunch of his friends grinned and gave a thumbs up sign to Izumi who doubled up. Laughter filled and warmed the frosty atmosphere.

**end of flashback**

His pained eyes stung, from unshed tears as the memories flooded his head. The joyful laughter was long lost, replaced by an eerie silence. Never will the world be the same again.

He couldn't save her. He remembered as he sat next to her bed in the hospital... She was pale, feverish, and inert. So weak, that she couldn't eat. A victim of an unidentified virus that had already taken the lives of many. She coughed and struggled to take in her last breath. "...Aishiteru, Kouji." She whispered, smiling. "Aishiteru, Izumi." He murmured softly, a tear escaped him, as the girl closed her eyes one last time. (*Aishiteru = I love you)

His glanced aimlessly upon the endless white road before him. She was his life, his love, his very soul. She was his reason to live. But Izumi Orimoto would never appear on the face of the earth again. And never would he see the world, as it really was, again.

Lost in a world of loneliness, he hadn't seen the speeding car in time. He opened his mouth in surprise as the car bore down upon him. The brakes of the car screeched frantically as it tried to stop in the slippery cold road covered in icy slush. Gasps of horror and hysterical yells came from witnesses and bystanders who watched the dreadful scene.

Agonizing pain shot through him. The pain blinded him with a dazzling bright light and he became limp. The impact of the car had hurled him onto the car--through the solid windshield. An ambulance siren wailed in the distance but they were too late. He sighed as darkness clouded his head. He smiled. "Aishiteru, Izumi."

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