It wasn't as if the boy had a sixth sense or any special powers, but that morning as his eyes flew open at an ungodly hour (even early for him), it was as if there was a little bit of inborn instinct in him.
He had been waiting for this; he had even watched the news for days in anticipation. And it was finally here.
"KARI! KARI, LOOK!" The girl woke with a start, blinking in confusion. Was that…Jun's voice? And what time was it? A glance over at the alarm clock made her grown. Four in the morning? Really, this was ridiculous, even for him.
Worried that Jun's incessant calls would wake her mother, Hikari grudgingly slid out of bed, drifting over to the window and throwing it open, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What is it, Jun?!"
The boy sat on a branch outside of her window, still in his pajamas, barefoot, and grinning widely. "Look, Kari!" He spread his arms out wide. "It's snowing!"
It was very, very hard for the girl to resist slamming the window shut. "…you woke me up for that?" She ended her statement with a long yawn, struggling to keep the scowl on her face. "Jun, it's four in the morning! The sun's not even out!"
"Aw, come on, Kari! Aren't you excited? It's the first snow of the year! And look how much is out here!" The boy was right; the ground was already covered in a thick layer of white from the snow falling all night. "Besides you always sleep too much! You'll get fat that way, you know."
"Shut up, at least I don't eat like a pig—Jun, why aren't you wearing shoes?! Or a jacket, for that matter!" Her jaw dropped in disbelief; didn't he ever get cold?
Despite the pink tinge to his cheeks and the warm puffs of air escaping from his mouth, Jun looked completely comfortable outside in his thin pajamas. "It's not that cold, actually! Well, I guess my feet are a little cold." He wiggled his way down the tree from branch to branch with expert ease, having climbed it many a times to talk to the girl since they were little. "Anyways, I'll come over later, so you better be ready, okay? Remember, it's a million dollar fine if you take too long and all the snow melts!" The blond speed off to his house, leaving the girl shaking her head. Sometimes she wondered about her friend.
Hikari tried her hardest to get back to sleep, but in all honesty, she was just as excited as Jun was for the snow. It seemed like she had just closed her eyes before her mother was knocking on her door, announcing Jun's arrival. She jumped out of bed, quickly putting on her clothes and brushing her hair and teeth before heading downstairs.
"What took you so long? We're going to miss all the snow!" The boy stood from his seat at the kitchen table, only to be pushed back down in it by the girl.
"I'm not going anywhere before I eat breakfast! And I doubt you've eaten anything either!" The sheepish look he gave her proved her point.
"I had a feeling something like this would happen." Hikari's mother sat a plate down in front of both of them. "I made enough for everyone. Don't stay out too long, you two."
"But what if we don't get anymore snow for a long time? We have to make use of it while it's here!" He shoveled food into his mouth, only pausing to take huge gulps of oranges juice to wash it down. Hikari watched as he ate, half fascinated, half disgusted. She ate her own breakfast, not nearly as fast, but she didn't waste any time either. She was itching to get her hands into the snow.
Prodded by Jun's stare, she finished her food hurriedly, putting on her jacket and scarf before following the blond out the door.
Jun let out a whoop of joy, spinning around as he laughed. "Yes! There's so much! Perfect for making forts and having snowball fights!" He rushed up to the girl, face flushed with happiness. "Right?"
Hikari smiled as well. "Right." She shoved him roughly, pushing him into the snow with a smirk. "And that's for waking me up so early!" It was her turn to run off with a giggle, leaving the stunned boy in the snow.
After a bit of chasing (which only ended up with Jun flat on his back in the snow again; he made a snow angel to hide his embarrassment claiming "he let her trip him") the two of them called it a truce, deciding to make a snowman. Jun worked on rolling two snowballs, both of them working together to place one on top of each other.
They both stood back from their work, scrutinizing it.
"He's…kinda bland you know, Kari?" Jun tilted his head, squinting. "Just like two marshmallows piled on top of each other.
The girl had to agree; they hadn't added anything special to him. "Maybe we should give him arms—HEY!" The boy swiped the hat right from the girl's hair, plopping it on the snowman's head.
"Much better! Now he's got personality!" Jun nodded, smirking a bit. "But if he has your personality, I guess it's like having no personality at all!"
"You shut your mouth!" The girl gave a swift tug to his scarf, forcing his head down before smacking him on the forehead. "You talk big for someone who STILL can't beat me in a battle!" She unwrapped his scarf from his neck, draping it over the snowman shoulders. "There. Now he's brain-dead as well!"
The two glared at each other before bursting out in giggles.
After a few more minutes of work, they both agreed that the snowman was a handsome one; Jun had broken off some branches for arms while Hikari ran inside and grabbed a carrot for the nose and two unused Pokéballs for the eyes.
"Well, he may be boring to talk to and dumb as a box of rocks, but at least he looks cool!" Jun patted the snowman's shoulder. "Welcome to Kari's backyard, Mr. Snowman! I hope you enjoy your stay!"
"I hope he enjoys his stay too, but do you really think he needs my hat?" Hikari rubbed her frozen ears with gloved hands. "I think my ears are gonna fall off soon, and he's already made of ice."
"Aw, but he looks so classy with it on!" He took her hat off the snowman regardless, smirking.
"Yeah, but it's freezing out here and I really want to keep my ears where they are, thank you—EEK!" The blond hand forced the girl's hat back on her head, pulling it down to her eyes. For something that was supposed to make her warm, the had was doing the complete opposite…and as melt water started to drip down her forehead, she quickly discovered why.
"Ah, Jun! You jerk!" She ripped the hat off, shaking out the snow Jun had piled inside while the boy laughed hysterically. "Ugh, you big, stupid, jerk!" She tossed the hat on the ground in a huff. "Two can play at that game!" Grabbing a handful of snow, she pulled the boy by the collar, shoving the snow inside his shirt.
Jun jumped away from her with a yelp, trying to shake the snow out of his shirt as the girl laughed. She wasn't laughing for long though; the blond exacted his revenge by rubbing snow all over her face.
Soon, the two were in a all-out snowball ward, complete with makeshift snow forts and stockpiles of ammunition. Ever so often a snowball or two would fly through the air, but for the most part they were at a complete stalemate.
However, it was Jun impatience that eventually lead to his downfall. He tried to rush the girl, only to be pelted by balls thrown with amazing precision, driving him to surrender.
"Alright, I–GAH! I give—OUCH! I give up, just stop hitting me!" The blond put a hand to his heart, falling back into the snow comically. "You got me, I'm dead!"
Hikari stood over the boy, dropping one more snowball on his chest with a smirk. "Don't mess with the master. Don't you think I've learned a thing or two from catching all those Pokémon?" She helped him to his feet, the boy wiping the snowy remains from his body.
"Yeah, yeah, I see that…" He pouted for a second before the pout twisted into a wide smile. "Oh well, that was fun! And don't worry, I'll make sure to beat you next time!"
Hikari couldn't help but smile back, Jun's happiness infectious. "You can try!" She hugged her shoulders, shuddering a bit. "But…can we go inside for a bit? I'm freezing…"
"Huh? But it's not even—"
"—cold? Yeah, I know." She smiled again, giggling a bit. "If we go inside though, I'll ask my mom to make some hot chocolate!"
Jun thought about it for a second. "…well, hot chocolate does sound kind of good! Okay, you win again!" He grabbed her hand, dragging her behind him as he ran toward her house. "Let's go, hurry up!"
Hikari's mother already had mugs of hot chocolate ready for them as they walked inside the girl's house, smiling at them. "Drink up. Aren't you two cold?"
One shook their head no while the other furiously shook yes, but both of them took the mugs gratefully.
It was hard for Hikari to convince the blond to take off his shoes and his jacket. "We should just drink these really fast and go back outside!" However, Hikari eventually coaxed him shedding his winter clothes (and by coax, she meant forcibly taking his hot chocolate from him and holding it hostage until he complied) and the two sat on Hikari's couch, watching TV and chatting.
Hikari was the first to doze off, lulled by the warmth of the house and her already long and eventful day. Jun wasn't big on naps himself, but hearing Hikari yawn and fall asleep only made him sleepy as well; he closed his eyes, telling himself he would just let the girl sleep for a bit before waking her up and dragging her back outside, but ended up falling asleep himself, resting his head on top of hers as she slept on her shoulder.
Hikari's mother came to the rescue once again, draping a blanket over the two sleeping children and taking their empty mugs. "Good night, you two…" She smiled to herself, putting on a jacket. Time to go visit her friend and talk about their silly children.
A/N: NOT SNOWBOUND (DESPITE THE SNOW), BUT TWINLEAFSHIPPING. Kind of retesting the waters with this. And kind of an apology to all my kind and way too patient readers. I think my writer's block is finally lifting a bit. I find my old writing style sneaking back into my stories, so maybe...? HOPEFULLY, I BETTER, DAMMIT. -HEADDESK- There a bit younger in this, full of more whimsy~ I hope you can still enjoy it regardless...? ;w; HOPEFULLY I HAVE WHAT YOU WANT SOON. ;w;