They Met One Winter's Day
The skies overhead were cast in a dull grey, relieved here and there by yellow and white and green patches from the city beneath. Steady, leisurely tumbled flakes of thick white wet snow from the clouds to the white fluffy blanket clinging below to the hills and the fields and the fences in the surrounding countryside. In the city the streets and the sidewalks were slushy as people and cars and buses went to and fro between warm and gaily-shops. Many were couples, huddling together under an umbrella, or snuggling beneath a newly-bought scarf.
In the park by the silver glittering ribbon of river a crowd of children ran and played. A cluster of boys were fashioning a wall of snow, and gathering a pile of snowballs as though expecting imminent assault. Snow-beings of various descriptions were being made around the periphery.
A battered, pale-blue economy car, that clearly had seen better days, pulled into the nearby parking lot. The headlights briefly illuminated a group of boys carrying just as many snowballs as they could manage attempting vainly to sneak up on the snow fortress.
The front passenger side door opened, and a shriek of delight was shortly followed by a young blue-haired girl of perhaps five or six years. Her wide, blue eyes glimmered in pure delight, her face was lit by a glowing grin, her soul buoyed by the unflagging optimism of the young. She dashed away from the car. The driver side door opened.
"Miki Sayaka, put on your hat!"
Miki Jurou was a middle-aged man with the same blue hair and eyes as his daughter. He had, perhaps, once shared her playful and enthusiastic energy.
"Ok dad, geez!"
She pulled on a blue knit cap, that matched the blue snowflakes printed on her white coat. Scruffy jeans were tucked into sturdy tan boots. They were actually boys' boots, but the ones for girls had been too flimsy and cutesy for Sayaka's taste (though she hadn't objected to the cuteness of her coat). She darted off before her father could notice her bare hands, and over to the cluster of children.
The boys had begun their attack in earnest, and Sayaka giggled as she watched the efforts. Somehow, the boys huddling behind the snow wall managed to achieve a truly devastating volley of snow, forcing the attackers to retreat, with shouts and laughs and accusations of cheating.
Sayaka shook her head, and looked around. Two boys were standing off to one side laughing about something. Three girls, one of which she recognized from kindergarten (what was her name, anyway?), were busy making snow angels. The girl on the ground was giggling. She sat up with a huge grin. She was almost entirely covered in snow, from her purple knit hat with its white pom-pom, to her lavender coat, white gloves, black skirt and woolen tights, to her glasses.
Sayaka shook her head and chuckled. Now, if she only could remember her name ... oh well. She glanced around further. Everywhere the kids were in clusters of friends, or schoolmates, or siblings.
Miki Sayaka could never be accused of being shy. That said, she didn't feel much like forcing her way into any of the groups. She briefly considered joining the girls making angels, when she noticed off to one side of the park a girl on her own. She was about Sayaka's age. She was wearing a green jacket, knee-length white skirt, black tights, and green snow-boots. She struggled to roll out a sphere of snow. She noticed now that the two laughing boys were watching her. Her lonesome effort was apparently the source of their amusement. Sayaka grumbled something about idiot boys.
"Hey there," Sayaka said, shamelessly trotting over to the other girl.
She looked up. Her pale, refined features highlighted green, piercing eyes. Wisps of moss-green hair straggled out from under a white felt beret. She smiled.
"Hello."
"Looks like you could use a hand?"
The greenette shrugged.
"I suppose so."
Sayaka grinned, and settled in beside the other girl.
"You should probably wear gloves, however."
"Geez, you're as bad as my dad."
The greenette frowned.
"Sorry," Sayaka said with a shrug.
"No, it's ok. I just wouldn't want you to get cold, that's all."
Sayaka giggled, and pulled on knit white and blue gloves.
"You don't even know who I am, and you're worried about me being cold?"
"My father told me that it is best to be kind and concerned for everyone, even if you do not know them."
"Some kinda saint?"
Now the greenette giggled.
"Not exactly. However, if it concerns you so much, then I suggest that we introduce ourselves. That way I do not have to be concerned for the welfare of a stranger."
"Heh. You talk like a grown-up. My name's Miki Sayaka."
"Well, then it is a pleasure to meet you, Miki Sayaka. I am Shizuki Hitomi."
"Ok then, Hitomi-chan. Let's make this snowman!"
Hitomi smiled widely.
"Okay."
Sayaka and Hitomi leaned down to the uneven, haphazard sphere of snow.
"Okay," Sayaka said, "what we have to do, is roll it in different directions. To keep it really round. And we need to make it big. Huge! We have to make the biggest snowman here!"
"Why?"
"What d'you mean why?"
"Why does it have to be the biggest? Maybe the cutest, or the nicest, snowman would be better."
They were rolling the sphere along, making it larger as it accumulated layers of snow.
"Well, because the biggest is the best, right?"
"Miki-san, I don't think that is always true."
"Okay. Well, we'll make it the biggest and the cutest, how's that sound?"
Hitomi laughed.
"Okay then."
Soon, they had a large sphere of snow standing just a little ways from the girls making snow angels. The three girls, including that one girl Sayaka almost knew from Kindergarten, laughed, and started rolling their own sphere. In a few moments, They rolled it over to the larger base sphere.
"Hey, how's this look," the glasses-girl asked.
Hitomi and Sayaka looked up.
"Not too bad," Hitomi admitted.
"That's the right size to be the middle part. You wanna help us?"
"Sure," one of the three girls said.
Together, the five of them pulled and pushed and rolled it up into position, atop the large base.
The boys decided to pitch in just when they were no longer needed ("Typical," Sayaka had muttered, to Hitomi's amusement), and the group now stood looking at the white, roughly human-shaped, pile of snow that they had constructed.
"Hmmm. It needs something," Hitomi said thoughtfully.
"Yeah. like a face. Here."
Sayaka reached into a pocket, and pulled out five buttons. Hitomi regarded them somewhat dubiously.
"Eyes and nose," Sayaka explained.
"I see," Hitomi replied.
Sayaka grinned, and stood up on her tip-toes, to push the buttons into place.
Two eyes, a nose, and two more buttons below to vaguely suggest a mouth. One of the other girls laughed.
"Like you have any better ideas?"
"No, but it looks weird now," said one of the boys.
"Does not," Sayaka shouted back.
"I think it looks lovely," Hitomi lied, diplomatically.
Sayaka crossed her arms in front of her chest, a smug expression on her face.
"See?"
"Yeah, whatever. C'mon Nakazawa, let's get outta here."
The two boys ran off laughing. The three girls wandered off as well, deciding apparently that making snow angels was more interesting.
"You lied," Sayaka said without looking at Hitomi.
"Well ... that is ... I thought you needed my support."
"And that was more important than the truth? You shouldn't do that, you know. You should just kinda come out and say how you feel!"
Hitomi shrugged.
"Now you are the one who sounds like a grown-up."
Sayaka turned to her, a huge silly grin on her face.
"Really?"
"Well, not now so much," Hitomi admitted with a chuckle.
Sayaka giggled.
"Sayaka!"
She looked up. It was her dad.
"Time to head off, kiddo."
"Ahh, ok! Look at the snowman we built, dad!"
The man walked over to inspect it.
"Well, it's not too bad, I guess."
"Yeah well ... a bunch of us made it, you know."
Her father nodded.
"Keep working on it, Sayaka. You'll get the whole snowman thing down soon, I'm sure."
Sayaka shifted uncomfortably.
"Meet you at the car, Sayaka. Don't dawdle."
"Ok dad."
She watched as he walked back to the car. She turned to Hitomi, who was trying to ignore the somewhat awkward moment by staring at the snowman.
"Anyway, I gotta go. Hope I see you around sometime later."
"Oh, of course. It was nice meeting you, Miki-san."
Sayaka smiled.
"Nice to meetcha too, Hitomi-chan."
Hitomi's cheeks turned pink.
"Well. Sayaka-san. I do hope we can meet again some time."
"Yeah, maybe before school starts up," Sayaka said, just a trace of bitterness in her voice.
"Or even better, if we were to go to the same school."
Sayaka shrugged.
"I just hope," Hitomi said, "that we can be ... friends."
"What d'you mean 'can be'? We made a snowman together, Hitomi-chan! I think that makes us friends for sure."
Sayaka grinned widely, and Hitomi giggled.
"Ok then, Sayaka-san. Friends."
"Friends!"
"Oi, Sayaka!"
"Yeah dad I'm coming, geez!"
She turned to Hitomi and rolled her eyes.
"Parents."
Hitomi grinned.
"I will see you later then, Sayaka-san."
"Yup. Bye bye!"
Sayaka turned and started to run off. Then stopped and turned, to wave at Hitomi, before crawling back into the car.
Hitomi watched it drive away.
"Friends," she whispered. And smiled.