A girl. Alone. Under the sorrowful branches of a weeping willow. Her face and body were only a pale shape. But those eyes. The deepest blue. But so. Sad.
The boy. Wanting to run to her. Frozen in place. Unable to move.
A tear dripped down her cheek. Reaching the tip of her chin, it fell. Before it hit the ground, it hardened. Shining and jewel-like, it hit the ground with a thump
Her lips moved. "Natsume." No sound came out.
Natsume.
Natsume.
"Natusme!"
Takashi Natsume woke with a start. He was no longer there. Here was here, sitting at his desk in the suffocatingly small classroom on a crisp December. Same-old, same-old.
"Dude, you've been spacing out all day! You okay?" Kitamoto asked.
Natsume managed a weak smile. They couldn't know. They could never know.
"You're lucky, man. I got caught snoozing just last week!" Nishimura said, coming over and throwing a casual arm around Kitamoto. "Anyway, you guys wanna hit the arcade today?"
Kitamoto rubbed his belly. "Only if we can get some burgers first. I'm starved!"
"Sorry, I've got something to do today," Natsume said, standing up and zipping school bag.
"Jeez, you're always so busy, Natsume. Is it a girl?" Nishimura joked. Kitamoto's eyes betrayed a bit of concern.
Natsume forced a smile. They couldn't know. They could never know. He buttoned his coat up and slung his bag over his should. "See you guys tomorrow,"
"See ya, Natsume!"
"You're gonna be missing out!"
Natsume made his way down the stairs to his show locked. He sighed as he swapped shoes.
Liar!
If you hang out with him, you'll be cursed!
What an odd child. He can't stay here.
He long stopped trying to tell. No one would believe him anyway.
He closed his locker and took a deep breath before pushing open the door.
The cold was a slap in his face, ripping away the last remaining fragments of sleep. He'd seen the girls for weeks now and it always went the same way: she sat under the tree, mouthed his name, shed the single tear. And all Natsume could do was watch it all unfold.
But that was all that happened. He always woke up just after her tear fell.
His feet dragged along the worn dirt path. It was that ugly part of winter. The one where Mother Nature decided not to grace mankind with the prospects of sparkling, pure-white snow. It was just bitter cold. Natsume sighed, leaving a cloud of white steam. Same-old, same-old.
His thoughts turned back to the dream. Maybe he could try calling out to her. But if he couldn't hear her, would she be able to hear him? And what was her name, any-
"Natsume-donooo!" A voice called out. Natsume turned to see Ushi. running towards him at a pace that was rare for his lethargic nature.
Natsume had given Ushi his name back at some point, though now it had been too long to remember exactly when. Ushi wasn't exactly a handsome fellow. With a cow's body and ridiculously large eyes, he looked more like a children's educational cartoon character. He topped it off with a flashy pink woman's yukata which just added to the absurdity of the whole thing. He also wasn't too terribly smart.
"What's wrong?" Natsume asked, pushing the lingering thoughts of the girl out of his mind.
Ushi came to a stop in front of Natsume, putting his hands on his knees, panting. "A girl-bushes-hurt-you-help-"
"Wait, what?" Natsume asked, confused. "What's going on?"
Ushi caught his breath and started off in the other direction towards a dense forest. "Hurry!"
Natsume quickly followed. Something must be seriously wrong. They made their way through the bare branches of bushes and trees to a small clearing. Natsume gasped.
A frail girl was curled up in a ball under the tree. Everything about her was white: her skin, her hair, her white kimono, even the thick piece of cloth wrapped around her eyes. All stood in stark contrast to the crimson blood pouring out her side.