Yo, hisashiburi. Kore wa Remmirath desu. I died about a year and a half ago due to a dreadful disease called writer's block. But now I've been reborn, and is made to make up for the all those—actually I shouldn't have used 'all'—for those two pathetic things I've written.

Sore jaa, kono 'appetizer' o itadaku onegai shimasu…

"Samui!" tte

Translation: I said, "It's cold!"

Author's Notes: This is my first AnC fic, and my first fanfic as well. Actually, it's my third, but I've decided to eliminate the first two I've made, since they were so absolutely pathetic (gee, that was redundant now, wasn't it?).  I liked them somehow, though. And nobody flamed me for them, but I still think they're somewhat stupid. Anyway, don't mind those anymore, and please start getting used to the new me. (Well, for those who had the time and the chance to know me, if there are any.)

Disclaimer: Ayashi no Ceres, Aya Mikage and Yuuhi Aogiri, just like Fushigi Yuugi, Yui Hongo and Suboshi, are all creations of Yuu Watase-sama and can never be anyone else's. 

~*~

"Hachoo! Mou, we've been walking for hours already. Let's just face it, we'll never find our way home," Aya nagged as she stomped through the trapping snow. "This is all your fault!" she exclaimed to her boyfriend, as she loosened her grip from his hand. "If you hadn't left the bus for whatever stupid reason you have, we would've never been here, all wet and freezing in this dumb snow. And I feel sticky too. And itchy… and tired, and hungry, and thirsty…"

Yuuhi just marched in front of her, clearing the path of thick snow and guiding his loudmouth girlfriend through.

"You should've never left that dumb bus… I hate you."

"Hey! Don't blame it all on me. I told you not to leave our seat, didn't I?" Yuuhi finally lost his patience and answered. "If only you waited inside, you, at least, wouldn't have been stranded in this place."

"Well, I was worried about you. I was supposed to be, wasn't I? And besides, none of this would have ever happened if you didn't get out in the first place. And I don't even know why the heck you did that for…" she started to cry.

At this, the young man had to stop and calm her down. "Hey, come on. Don't cry, Aya. Please stop crying. I'm sorry, okay. Look, there's a bus stop over there. Maybe we can catch a ride somehow." He took her shivering hand and marched off. "Let's just wait here, okay? Just in case we're lucky enough to have a bus pass by."

It was a shabby old resting place, which looked like as if it had been built decades ago. It stood with its cemented walls, all covered with graffiti. There were huge cracks on the pillars. The roof had holes in it, and now the melting lumps of snow had dropped to the ground and produced several puddles of water.

They sat down a wooden bench, which looked even worse than what surrounded it. Two of its legs were wet and moldy, so the left part of the bench was already bending over and lying on the ground. Nails stuck out from the broken arms, and you can see some termites feasting over the bottom part beside Yuuhi's seat. It seemed really unstable. Move a little bit too much, and you're sure it will completely succumb.

There was a crowded garbage bin beside it. It was filled with assorted junk and litter, and looked like it hadn't been visited by the garbage collector for weeks, no, even months…make it years! It was surrounded with flies, and you can see little worms and maggots sprouting out.

"Ugh. That is so disgusting," Aya puked.

It was an absolutely pathetic and unreliable place. Not to mention gross and smelly.

Yuuhi sighed, "Well, at least we have a place to rest."

"Ts," grunted Aya. "Yeah right."

They just sat there for the next few minutes, staring at nothing but the tedious white plain. The road that used to be there was now extinct. They've been waiting for some time now, but no bus came to pick them up.

"I don't think we're ever going to catch a bus in this dumb old place. We should've just stayed where we were. It would've been a lot better."

"We won't be able to find a bus there either," Yuuhi replied. "The one that we missed was the last trip. And besides, the store there has closed down already, so we still would've been out in the snow even if we stayed there. It's better that we find our own way home, don't you think?"

"No," Aya answered stubbornly. "I believe that that place is definitely better than this. Any place would be! I can't imagine anything worse than this situation."

"Well, would you rather walk again? After all, we won't find a bus if we stayed here, right?" her boyfriend sneered. He stood up and slowly walked away from the bench. "Aren't you coming?"

She looked at him, and stared at his eyes. She noticed the little sparkle in it, and immediately knew that he was only mocking her. The girl felt embarrassed and pissed off by her boyfriend's attitude. "I'd rather not," she then said. And she watched as her boyfriend went farther away from her. "You big idiot!" she yelled. "Don't you dare leave me!" and she rose to her feet, following him. And finally, once again, they were on their way to a wonderful and enchanted place called 'nowhere'.

A cold and hustling wind suddenly passed by them and blew Aya's hat off. "Hey!" but she didn't mind it and just let it go. For some time, again, they have been walking, and walking, and just, well, walking. The air was so nippy and brittle, it began to scorch Aya's skin. It tingled into her flesh, and somehow felt stingy. Moments of heavy wind blows also came by, and these thumped into her body, like a big bully punching her against the ground. She looked at Yuuhi, and noticed that he didn't seem so bothered by the attacks. Actually, he seemed rather comfortable. Then, she realized that Yuuhi has been wearing a jacket all along!

"It's cold," she whispered, expecting that Yuuhi will give her his jacket just like in those 'romantic' scenes from T.V. shows and movies. 'Oh I just love those things! They're just soo sweet! It was a dark and foggy night. Actually, I don't think it's even five o'clock yet, but what the heck. A boy and a girl were walking through the woods, lost and all alone. We're not in the woods either. I can't even see a single tree…oh, there's one! Oops, just an illusion. Anyway… It was freezing and the wind was bitter. The boy gives his coat to the girl, so that she could be protected from the cold, despite the fact that he would be the one with a chill. And then he puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, saying, "Don't worry, I'll never leave you…" Oh My Gosh! And now, Yuuhi will be doing the same thing for me. Placing his jacket over my shoulders, telling me not to fret, for he'll always be here for me, to take care of me, and protect me…because… he loves me so much!' she started giggling and mumbling all about.

It didn't work that way, though. Yuuhi just went on there, looking across the road, and never did what Aya had hoped for; which she found absolutely disappointing, and had made her lose her temper.

"You were supposed to give me your jacket! Place them around my shoulders, and whisper to me, 'Aya, I love you so much…I'll protect you from that mean nasty cold…" she yelled, "but, NO! You just stood there as if you didn't care about me, as if I wasn't here at all…as if…as if I was nothing to you!"

But still, there was no answer.

'Darn it.' "Give me your jacket!" she scuffled on to his sleeve and tugged it.

"What? No way! Why would I want to give it to you?" the boy said childishly, as if he didn't understand what Aya meant about what she had just said, "This is my jacket! It isn't even enough to keep me warm, so why the heck would I share it with you?!" This made her blood boil even more.

"It was supposed to be like one of those love stories which I like so much!"

"I hate those mushy stuff!"

"I don't care! I like them, and I want our relationship to be just as sweet. But even once…even for just one stinking moment…" she paused. "You never even gave it a chance!"

There was no reaction from Yuuhi about this. "Will you just stop nagging and let's get going. It'll be dark soon. To think you've been blabbing like a big fat hen over this useless jacket of mine, when you know it won't do you any good anyway."

"GRRRRRRRRRRR! DARN IT! YOU BIG IDIOT! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A BIG FAT HEN?!—"

"I didn't call you one. I just said you're acting like one."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! You've been acting like some kind of MORON, ignoring and insulting me, and…you're just being a JERK! I. HATE. YOU!!! And to begin with, I'm not just complaining over that dumb jacket of yours. You left that freaking bus without any reason, and got us lost in this…in whatever place this is. Then you make me stay in a stinky old bus stop, thinking that it's such a 'perfect little place', and assuming that I feel comfortable being there, but then eventually running off to leave me behind—"

" I was walking."

"—and now, just one little thing…one little thing you can do to make me feel better. Just a little jacket to keep me from the cold…just one simple act of giving it—no, even just lending it to me—and you refuse to do it!"

"I told you, it's useless anyway—"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO HERE ANY OF YOUR STUPID EXCUSES ANYMORE! YOU'RE A BIG IDIOT!!"

"Ano…sumimasen," Yuuhi cut in once again, with a change in tone. "You must be pretty angry now aren't you, Aya-chan. So that means, your blood must be boiling mad. Boiling blood makes your temperature rise, doesn't it? So…are you feeling any warmer, miss?"

"What are you TALKING ABOUT?"

"Well, I was trying to make you feel warmer…by making you angry," he said this with a big smile on his face. "I was hoping you'd be grateful for it."

"WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU HAVE TO DO THAT FOR?!" Aya said frantically.

"I just said it now, didn't I?" he was back to his original mood.

"You mean to say that you've been making me scream my lungs out on purpose?"

"Yup."

"Just to show your concern?"

Nod.

"Oh Yuuhi, I didn't know you cared so much," she went closer to him. "You went to all that trouble to make me feel better?" She placed her cold hands on his face. She gave him a sweet little smile, made it bigger…and then squeezed his cheeks, pulling on them hysterically.

"Some boyfriend you are. What a great thing you've done. I'm just so touched by the way you care about me…yeah right." Tears started to flow down her eyes. "Kurushinda. This is so vexing."

"Well how about this then?" Yuuhi went closer, took her in his arms, and held her tightly. "Does this make you feel better now?"

Aya moved her eyes to see his face, and saw Yuuhi's face swollen from where she pinched them. She let out a little laugh at this.

"Stupid. You were the one who did that, so don't go snorting over it."

"Sorry," she giggled. "It's Yuuhi's fault too, you know. You look so silly—I mean—that was a very silly thing you did. By the way, I thought you hated mushy stuff."

"This isn't mushy…it's just sweet—just as you wanted it."

Aya closed her eyes and settled herself in Yuuhi's arms.

"But, it would still be better if you gave me your jacket you know."

"Hmph. In your dreams…"

^o^

Corny, wasn't it?

There are two reasons why I wrote this: 1) I wanted to post a fanfic already, and the one I'm working on isn't quite finished yet because I'm lacking a speck of inspiration. 2) I've been so irritated by that clichéd 'girl feels cold—boy gives his jacket to look smashingly cool' scene in mushy TV shows and movies, that I just had to break the chain. In other words, it inspired me to write a fanfic wherein the same thing would NOT happen.

Well, as I said, that was just an 'appetizer'. The 'main course' will hopefully be up soon. Please pray for me so that I'll be able to fully recover.

Oh yeah…Please review!