Chapter One
Falling in love with Winter
The time, an early Monday morning, around the crispy time of winter when the trees frost over, the ground covered in snow and your nose frightfully cold and red. The time in which Yui found the greatest time of year, the time of snowmen building with Ui, the time of snow fights with Mio, Ritsu, Mugi and her dear little Asuza too. The time of sliding on the icy pavement and trying to catch yourself before falling, the time of cosy togetherness underneath a woolly blanket and, of course, the time for only the best of friends to fall completely in love with the bitter cold that brings happy stories.
Yui thought of winter as a wonderful time, as she did with every season that brought a different air to her already bustling lifestyle.
However, what Yui didn't like, were mornings. Yui hated mornings so very much and wished they happened so much later in the day, only to realise that it wouldn't work. She hated the harshly cold floor which brought chills all the way through her delicate body to the very tips of her fingers.
Ui would often be the one to wake her, opening her door with a quiet swift flick of the door handle, peering inside only to see her sister no more ready for school than she did the moment she crept into bed. Ui would smile warmly and chuckle quietly at her sister's sleeping style, which was often the art of sprawling across the bed, legs and arms swinging over the edge of her bed.
Ui would call Yui several times before any sign of consciousness traced across the sleeping brunette's face, and before Ui knew it, she would bolt upright, often causing Ui to jump and laugh at her sister's spiky bed head. The older sister would look around quickly, reaching out for her alarm clock only to see how late she was for school. She would shriek and hurry out of bed, slipping and sliding over the floor and grabbing her clothes and then she would rush into the bathroom and ready herself for the day. Yui never took long in this particular activity, brushing her teeth and lazily changing her clothing, washing her face with her flannel and brushing her hands though her hair until it was in a satisfactory style.
Ui would often wave at Yui as she ran out the door, toast in her mouth and bag falling off of her shoulder, shoes in danger of coming off at any moment. Yui didn't like mornings, though she was glad she had her wonderful sister Ui to help her out.
"Good morning, Yui-Sempai." Azusa called out; waving at Yui with a small smile on her face, Yui immediately darted across the path and hugged Azusa tightly.
"Morning, Azu-Nyan!" Yui greeted while gripping the younger girl warmly and showed no signs of letting go, no matter how much Azusa protested.
"Y-Yui-Sempai! Don't do that in front of other people!" She spluttered, "What if you knocked someone over when you started running?" Azusa's cheeks turning a rather deep shade of pink and her eyes wide and flustered, though decided she quite liked Yui's hugs, no matter how embarrassing they tended to be.
"But Azu-Nyan, I missed you! I didn't get to see you much last weekend and I wanted to hug you!" Yui nuzzled Azusa's cheek with her own and smiled brightly. She let go once she heard the all too familiar voice coming from her left.
"Good morning you two," A beautiful blonde haired girl walked up to Yui and Azusa, smiling and laughing at their embrace.
"Morning, Mugi-Chan!" Yui beamed as she shifted her gaze from her blushing friend to her, leaving the before mentioned a few seconds to get herself together.
"Good Morning, Mugi-Sempai," Azusa smiled, placing her bag back on her shoulder, which so happened to fall off when Yui had tackled her into a hug. Mugi chuckled and walked with them into school, smiling whenever Yui called Asuza by her signature nickname, Azu-Nyan.
Mugi thought it was awfully cute how the two were inseparable in some respects; she loved how close the two were and thought it would be nice to have someone like that in her life too, someone that she could share anything with, could do anything with and be there for. She blushed and looked down slightly; she thought it silly of herself to be thinking about having one special friend, when she had four.
Mio had already placed her bag on her desk, sat down and had her gaze fixed upon a flock of chirping white birds floating through the sky when she was shocked out of her skin.
"Mio!" A loud shout from the doorway came ringing through her ears, making her shudder quickly. Ritsu always thought it was compulsory to make Mio jump and scare her senseless, she thought it very fun and tried to take advantage of Mio's easily scared nature whenever she could. She also succeeded in this, just about every day.
"Ritsu!" Mio shuddered and complained to her overly confident friend, while Ritsu was Mio's closest friend; she was also the most annoying at times. Ritsu ginned widely and sat in her usual seat, happy that she got to scare Mio before the bell.