Disclaimer: Don't own, nope. I write this because I'm bored.
Warning: This may seem confusing at first. Just try not to think so hard. You'll hurt your brain.
It's told in Hayate's POV. Enjoy!
In the Winter
Finally morning came. It seemed as if I was waiting for it in my sleep, as if I was awake the whole time. I wasn't tired when I awoke in my bed. It was cold. I wasn't surprised, it was winter.
I sat up, causing pain.
What happened to me?
I could barely fell my arm. It wasn't because of the bandages wrapped around them. It hurt, badly. So did my forehead. There was a patch there.
I looked around the room. It was the room I usually slept in. And even though it was freezing, there was a single sheet covering me. I was surprised I didn't catch a cold overnight. And I could tell by the dull color of the room that the sun wasn't out.
I started to get out of bed when I noticed my clan attire around my lower half. Then it came to me. I was running through the forest in the snow sometime in the afternoon. But I couldn't remember if I was chasing someone or if I was running from them. It wasn't like me to run.
I decided to forget it for now. I would remember later.
I walked over towards the window. It was open, letting the cold in. I closed it. The snow outside covered everything. It must have been at least a foot deep. It seemed as if I was looking out into a world of nothing. The sky was white, the trees were white, & the ground was white. There were little specks of brown in some places, the trees' trunks.
I was about to turn around & leave the room when I noticed a figure not far from the hut. Whoever it was, it was walking this way. Slowly, taking its time. It was clad in black & it was small in height. Then I noticed the purple top.
Ayane?
Her figure slowly became visible through the snow. She had her wakizashi in her hand, which she quickly sheathed. She was coming into the hut. I decided to meet her at the entrance. Hopefully, she would know what happened to me.
I quickly went out of the room until I was near the door. She was inside already with the door open. She was wiping her hands together as if there was something on them. I watched her from behind the corner. She slid the door shut then stood there with her hands still on it.
Doesn't she know I'm here?
I said her name to get her attention. She started to turn her head my way then stopped. Then she finally looked at me. A smile slowly appeared on her face.
"You're up," she said.
"Yeah."
She turned fully around, "Do you want something to eat?"
Before I could answer, she said she would cook something for me, dropped her sheath on the ground, & then walked off towards the kitchen. I sighed before I bent over to pick up the sheath with my good arm, my left.
I told her so many times to stop leaving it here.
I took the sheath into the weaponry room & set it on the table beside the mass of other wakizashies. Then I left towards the kitchen. Ayane had a pile of vegetables on the counter. She was chopping them one by one with a knife. It wasn't like her to cook. Most of the time I would cook for her or she would go out & buy food that were ready to eat. I never liked them. They tasted as if they were artificial.
I walked closer towards her when she spoke, "How's your arm?"
I looked down at it & tried to move it. It was still a little numb & it still hurt. I could only move my fingers & arm just a little.
"You fell into the ditch," she said.
Her back was towards me when she stopped cutting.
"You were going in the wrong direction," her head was slightly turned my way.
The ditch?
I watched her continue chopping.
"What was I doing?" I asked.
"I'm making soup! It's easier," she said, ignoring my question.
"Ayane, what was I doing? I can't remember."
She didn't say anything back.
Is she trying to avoid what happened? . . . What did happen?
I walked till I was next to her. She was chopping hard as if she was angry.
"Ayane, you should be careful. You don't cook often."
That was when she slammed the knife down, cutting her finger in the process. I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was lying there on the cutting board & she wasn't doing anything.
"Ayane . . ." I whispered, too shocked to speak louder.
"What?!" she asked, angrily & turning back to look at me.
"You . . ."
I looked at it again.
What . . .?
It was just a carrot.
"I thought you . . ." I couldn't believe what I just saw.
"Thought I what?" she asked me, more calm now.
" . . . Forget it . . ."
I must have a fever.
"It must be that lump on your head," Ayane said, smiling at me.
Then she went back to chopping.
I need to lie down.
I walked into the living room & laid down on the carpet, closing my eyes. After a few seconds, there was a rush of warmth. I opened my eyes to see the fireplace across from me blazing. I looked behind me towards Ayane in the kitchen. She was still there, stirring into a bowl. I looked back at the fireplace.
Was it on earlier?
I was getting a headache so I decided to disregard it & closed my eyes again. Soon I was asleep again.
"Hayate!" I heard Ayane's voice shout.
I opened my eyes then turned over to see Ayane standing over me, "Here's your soup."
I took the bowl & started to stir it up. I saw something in it. I picked up the spoon only to have a couple of what seemed like bones dropping off of it. I picked up a bone out of the soup. I looked into the soup. All there was were bones.
The ditch . . .
I knew what ditch she was talking about now. The one inside the forest. It was steep & filled with rocks & bones. They could have been from animals or humans. It was hard to tell, they were in pieces.
I looked up at Ayane & watched her swallow a spoonful of bones.
"Ayane, you're eating it!"
". . . Yes, I am," she was looking at me as if I were insane.
I looked down into the soup. There were vegetables in it now. I looked at the bone in my hand. It was celery.
Why . . .?
"I'm hallucinating," I put the celery back into the soup.
"Maybe . . . You don't have to eat it if you don't want to."
I looked up at her. She wasn't even eating bones anymore.
"I will," I said, "I need it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I didn't know what it was, but something woke me up. I was back in the room I awoke in that morning. Dark orange light lit up my room. I sat up to see the fireplace from my doorway. It was still blazing. But there was another orange light. It was coming from down the hall. I got up to see what it was. As I walked down the hallway, the light got brighter & brighter. It was coming from Kasumi's room. There wasn't much in there except her bed, dresser, & nightstand.
I peered into the room. Several candles on the dresser were lighting the room. A hand reached out & grabbed a lit candle to light another one. I looked over to see her, Kasumi, standing by the dresser.
What is she doing here?
We both stood there for a while until I realized that she didn't know I was there.
I stepped into the room, "Kasumi."
She quickly turned around to look at me. I noticed the kimono she was wearing. It was the pink one with white petals, the one she got for her seventeenth birthday. I had given it to her.
She had a big grin on her face as if she was enjoying herself.
What is she doing here?! Does she not care?!
"Kasumi, what're you doing here?"
"Nii-san, I-"
"I should kill you . . ."
". . . Nii-san, I wanted to see you."
"You can't!"
"I know . . ."
"Then why are you here?"
That was when she threw herself onto me, squeezing me tight.
"Kasumi . . ."
I was going to tell her to let go, but I couldn't. I loved her & I wanted to hug her as much as she wanted to hug me. So I did. I missed they way she felt. She was smaller than I was. Only up to my shoulder. I could feel her small hands on my back & her cheek on my chest. My arm was wrapped around her shoulders. I lowered my head & closed my eyes to take in the scent of her hair. It smelled like flowers as always.
When I opened my eyes, instead of auburn, there was purple. I blinked a couple of times to make sure I was actually seeing purple.
"You never hugged me like this before, Hayate. Usually I have to beg you for a hug," it was Ayane's voice.
I let go to see Ayane standing there, not Kasumi. But she was wearing her kimono.
I stared at her. It was her all along. I was hallucinating the whole thing.
"What?" she asked me.
"I," I began, "Why are you wearing that?"
I was about to tell her that I thought she was Kasumi, but I knew her reaction.
"I don't know," was all she said, looking down at it, "I don't really like pink, because it reminds me of her."
I wanted to tell her to take it off. It reminded me of her & I didn't want to have those thoughts. But I already knew how the conversation was going to go. She would ask why & I wasn't going to say anything back.
"That reminds me," Ayane spoke up, "The clan are out searching for her as we speak. They won't listen to me so could you call them back?"
Call them back?
"Why?" I asked her.
Ayane sighed then put a smile on her face, "Because it's pointless to look for something that doesn't exist."
Doesn't exist?
"Ayane, what're you saying?"
She sat down on the bed & leaned back on her elbows, "I'm saying she doesn't exist. I thought I made that clear."
Did she . . .?
"Ayane, is she . . . gone?" I couldn't say it.
"Been gone, for hours now. We don't have to speak of her anymore."
My heart jumped & I could barely breathe. Kasumi was dead.
My sister . . . It was meant to be. I shouldn't get hysterical.
"Hayate, are you okay?" Ayane asked me.
"How did she die?"
"I . . . um . . ."
I waited for her to finish, but already knew what she was going to say.
"I got rid of her. That's it," she was looking down at the floor & her smile was gone.
She was expecting me to be disappointed. I was, but it was meant to be that way. Kasumi knew what she was doing was life threatening, but she proceeded to do so anyway. And now she was dead.
I should be relieved . . .
I wasn't. I tried to as much as I could. But I couldn't get her out of my head. She was always happy, smiling, loved flowers, always doing things for me.
People die, Hayate, even the sweetest of ones.
"You're not mad, are you?" Ayane asked me.
"How did you do it?" I asked her in a whisper.
I wanted to speak louder, but my emotions were keeping me from doing so. And I was afraid of what I might hear.
"You were never able to do so in the past," I continued to speak, "What changed?"
"Hayate, I don't think that's important."
"Everything I ask you is important."
She was staring at me & I was staring back at her. I could tell by the blank expression on her face that she was annoyed. She didn't want me to find out.
She must have done something terrible . . .
Ayane got up & looked out the window, "Things die in that place, Hayate. I was wondered for you."
I stared at her reflection in the window. It was Kasumi. She was looking back at me, her head tilted to the side. It was the look she would always give me when she was downhearted. I hated that look.
Then I remembered. That ditch. It was cursed. At least that was what they say . . .
"Did you know, Hayate," Ayane spoke, "that you can only catch it in the winter?"
End.