Frostbites

I blew small puffs of air to warm my hands, already frostbitten under the cover of red mittens. One of the many reasons why I hated my misfortune.

The winter snow had crowded in my curls, and I willed my numb legs to get to their destination. 'Move.' I thought impatiently. It's not like I've never been here before. But I had a purpose then. I couldn't imagine what I was here for now.

The answer to my prayers came in the form of Watanuki, pushing open the wooden door. "Himawari?" I pushed a smile onto my face, relieved to feel the warm air from inside caress my bare legs. "Hi." he seemed at a loss for words before the voice I had been dreading to hear cut him off. "Leave her be Watanuki. I know what she wants." Needs is more accurate a word, though.

The after effect of frostbite kickedin, and I had bad circulation to begin with. For the most part, it felt like shards of glass were skipping through my bloodstream. Watanuki led me to her lounge hesitantly, stealing worried glances at me. He had dealt with her 'clients' a lot, after all. According to the seer, wish granting was a shady trade with disastrous consequences. The scars on my back were proof.

Watanuki left us alone, but not without a furtive glance. The both of us waited for him to move, but he seemed to stay there. After a long moment he sighed and left, and we listened to his steps fade out and pad down the hall.

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"You know what I mean."

Yuuko made no move to answer, instead taking a long drag on her cherry sweet tobacco pipe. I waited, and let my eyes wander to their own accord.

As usual, her choice of dress left less to the imagination. She was sprawled across the deep red lounge chair, burgundy kimono with swirling gold patterns was thrown haphazardly over her body as if she hadn't had enough time to get dressed. I jealously wondered how Watanuki could work like this everyday and not be attracted to the beautiful, mysterious woman. My eyes scaled the length of her bare, pale limbs, dusted in a healthy pink. Her legs were parted and I knew what I would see if I simply looked and-

When I looked up, she was watching me with unreadable garment eyes. I cleared my throat nervously, the silence growing thick again.

She watched me for a moment longer, her expression not changing. "Come."

I hesitantly stepped forward, not knowing what to expect.

In an instant she had swung her legs around the edge, grabbed my hips, and forced me to straddle her stomach.

Her hands crept under my shirt, massaging my lower back tantalizingly.

"...I'm not looking for anything serious."

The sentence hung in the air, and for a moment I forgot to breathe.

Of course. What had I been hoping for?

I plastered a smile onto my face, one more unreadable than Yuuko's impenetrable stare, or Doumeki's stoic expression.

"Ok."