"Mom? Dad? Nii-chan!?" I woke up from the nightmare. Wait, where am I? A… hospital bed? What am I doing here? Remember Atsuya, remember! Was that not a dream, no I couldn't be real… it only happens on TV right? There's no way an avalanche could hit us. Everything was normal. Yes, I'm pretty sure I just hit my head somewhere and lost consciousness. Nii-chan will come to visit me soon. Yeah… that's it.

A nurse noticed I was awake and called the doctor to check on me. I answered all the questions he asked truthfully. But I couldn't help notice the sad look, the look of pity, in the nurse's eyes. I didn't want to think about it though. I pushed that thought aside so I could focus on what the doctor had to tell me.

"Your grandparents will pick you up tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll contact them myself, Atsuya-kun." The doctor mumbled at the end of the checkup.

I thought of the worst possibility that moment. I forced a smile and tried to keep my tears from dropping. "W-why my grandparents? I-isn't D-Dad or Mom coming? And what about Nii-chan?" the doctor and nurse fell silent at my questions.

No, it can't be. No. They're just playing games with me, yeah! It's not nice you know? Ha, ha… I felt a tear run down my eyes. Though my mind refused to believe, my body forced it to. I tried to rub the tears away, but the nurse held my arm to keep me from doing so.

"It's not a sin to cry, Atsuya-kun…" she avoided eye contact with me.

No…no, no, no, no, no! That's not what I wanted to hear. So it's true… that avalanche? It actually happened? I can't stay here any longer!

I grabbed my scarf and ran outside of the hospital room, avoiding the reaching hands of nurses and doctors I somehow got out. The sun beamed brightly outside and the fresh snow on the ground slowly started to melt. Without a second thought I ran towards the Northern Ridge. The place where the avalanche hit.

Part of me wished I hadn't gone. The whole area was barricaded so there was no way of entering, but the people around the area talked about what had happened none stop. Though not everyone's story was the same, there was one part which was.

The Fubuki family was killed.

I slouched down against a tree, far away from people. I looked up at the sky, the sun shone as if nothing happened. If this was a movie, it should be raining now, but nature wasn't that kind to me. The death of Mom, Dad and Nii-chan wasn't important enough for the world to weep about.

I couldn't remember fully what had happened when the avalanche fell atop of our car. I was certain, however, that Nii-chan saved me. Before the snow covered our car, he pushed me out to safety. That's why I'm still here.

I sat there until nightfall. My grandparents came to pick me up. They didn't have to say anything, I just followed. I'm glad they didn't say anything, the last thing I wanted to do was talk.

I'm not sure how many days passed. My grandma kept trying to persuade me to go to school, but I refused to leave my room. I didn't even have the energy to play the soccer I loved… that Nii-chan and I loved… soccer which took my brother away. If we never went to the game, we would all still be home together.

"So you now hate soccer?"

I looked around. No one else should be around me, but I'm pretty sure I heard someone. It was definitely not my grandparent's voice.

"Well?"

"That voice…" I angrily swung at the person behind me who easily jumped out of the way. "Retsuto! When did you get in here!?"

The blue haired boy smiled, "Heard you're here, so came to visit you. We're friends so it's not that strange…"

"I don't want to talk to any-"

"You're talking to me now!" Retsuto pointed out. When I glared it didn't faze him at all. "If you want me to leave, I'll do so, but only if you promise to come to school tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"Promise!" Retsuto repeated.

"Fine! Now get out…"

Retsuto brightened up, "I'll get tomorrow at 7, be ready by then!" he then skipped out of my room. I could hear him bidding goodbye and thanking my grandparents before leaving.

I collapsed onto my bed. School…huh. I just hate it; it's going to be awkward since everyone like Nii-chan more than me. If only Nii-chan was the one alive instead of me… No, don't think like that. Don't think like that.

"A~T~S~U~Y~A~!" 7 sharp, Retsuto was at the door. I didn't bother setting an alarm so I was woken by his call. I opened the door while still in my pajamas.

"Atsuya, school! You promised you'd come!" He frowned. "Hurry up and get dressed already…"

I was not a morning person, I purposely showed my irritation hoping he'd decide to forget about me and leave. But he didn't notice or care, "I'll wait."

"Uh… fine." I sighed and went back to my room to get changed and brush my teeth. I tried to take my time; maybe school will be over by the time I get ready.

"Wear this, Atsuya!" Retsuto had invited himself into my room and was digging through my drawers.

"What are you doing…" I tried to keep calm.

"Helping you get ready for school?"

I give up. I quickly got dressed and followed Retsuto to school. Nii-chan would've gone long time ago. Yeah, Nii-chan would of.