The Bell In The Snow

Chapter 1 - Lust at First Sight

Suzu Yoko, a pretty young woman with blonde hair that covered her right eye, lay on her bed staring at the blank white ceiling. She sighed letting her chest rise and fall softly and deeply. The soft cloud quilts moulded around her slender body. Suzu pushed herself up with her elbows and looked in the shiny mirror directly opposite the bed. Her eyes had mascara running from them and her normally pale cheeks were red, and still wet, tears still falling from Suzu's soft eyes, even though she hardly noticed. She heard a ring and turned to her phone. She reached across her bed to her side table and picked up the phone raising it to her ear. "Hello?" She said softly, trying to make it sound like she hadn't been crying.

"Hello Suzu it's Mizuki!" The sound of her cousin's voice said cheerfully down the phone.

"Oh hello Mizuki, how are you?" Suzu asked smiling a bit. It was always a pleasure to talk to Mizuki who had been more of a sister than a cousin to her all these years.

"Suzu, I was wondering if I could ask a favour of you today?"

"Sure Mizuki, what do you need?"

"Well, you see, there's this author who's a bit troublesome, and I cant seem to get his latest manuscript." Mizuki started sadly. "I was wondering if you'd go and get it from him!"

"Uh, yeah I'll do it, but two things, one, who is this author? Two, why me?" There was a small silence on the other end of the phone after Suzu had said this.

"Well, it's Yuki Eiri, and well…" Mizuki seemed reluctant to say the other reason.

"Let me guess, he's a sucker for a pretty face?" Suzu said sighing. It always seemed that way, men were so shallow.

"Well, sort of, he's on the rebound right now…well has been for about two years, he's been sleeping around more than usual, and so is even more ready to comply to the request of a pretty girl." Mizuki explained.

"Ok, I'll do it, any words of advice?"

"Just be careful, other than the fact that he's handsome himself, he always has a way to get what he wants." Mizuki said. Suzu sighed.

"Ok I'll do it tomorrow…"

Eiri Uesugi, or Eiri Yuki as he was more popularly known, sat at his desk in his office. His finger was hovering over the letter 's' as he struggled to think of what to type next. He sighed letting his hand relax and sweeping his other hand through his golden yellow hair. His amber eyes rested on his lighter that was by his laptop. The strawberry pink hair of an important person seemed to aggravate him. He grimaced and picked up the lighter throwing it across the room in a fury of rage. Two years and it still bothered him this much. He got up from his desk in a strop, and slammed open the door to the rest of the place he called home. It seemed so quiet and calm, like how he liked it. Everything was clean and there was no trace of liveliness or the familiar strawberry scent that Eiri had grown to love. He sighed and walked into the kitchen pouring himself a mug of coffee.

Suzu closed and locked the door to her home. Her black trench coat covered her black jeans and bright green, v-neck, t-shirt she was wearing. Her large black boots could not be seen under her jeans and her short blonde hair brushed against her shoulders. She brushed her hair out of her right eye, only to have it fall right back into place. She started walking looking at a piece of paper with writing on. She looked at the paper then turned down a road. She did this often throughout her walk. After going through a park she finally came to a quiet road. She checked the road sign with her paper and nodded. Suzu walked up to the house she was meant to be visiting. It looked right. Big, many cars, clean cut, stone path, no garden. Her boots sounded like thunder against the quiet surroundings she found herself in. Suzu looked at the side of the house and pressed the doorbell for the right place. A husky voice came out of the speaker. "Hai? What is it?"

"Oh, I'm Suzu Yoko, I'm hear on behalf of my cousin Mizuki?" She said nervously.

"Mizuki?" The voice said questioningly. There was a long sigh. "Alright, I'll buzz you up." He said. He sounded exhausted and Suzu was starting to wonder if this was a good time to collect his manuscript.

Eiri sat on the edge of his bed. His eyes were red and tired and his hair messy from constant tossing and turning. Why couldn't he get that brat out of his head? It had been two years already. The night had seemed longer as sleep was impossible these days. Instead Eiri had been up almost the whole night in an attempt to finish his manuscript. He had eventually, but it didn't seem as good as the others, but, no one would probably be able to tell the difference. Finally at 4:00am Eiri had attempted to sleep again, but his efforts were fruitless. By 7:00am He had given up and settled with just lying on his bed thinking. He tried to think of ideas for his books, things he had to do, places he had to go, people he had to see, but every time; the same pink hair and violet eyes returned to his mind. Eiri sat on the edge of his bed his elbows on his knees with his head resting in his hands. His fingers clutched at his hair like he was attempting to yank it out. Around about 10:00am he heard his doorbell ring. He sighed annoyed and pushed himself up from his bed quickly putting a shirt over his topless body. He pushed and held down a button and said into the speaker, "Hai? What is it?" A soft female voice replied.

"Oh, I'm Suzu Yoko, I'm hear on behalf of my cousin Mizuki?" It was nervous and shaky.

"Mizuki?" Eiri replied to the girl. 'At least I've finished the manuscript, geese Mizuki never rests.' He thought. He sighed. "Alright, I'll buzz you up." Eiri said. He pressed the button that would open the door for this Suzu Yoko, and went to dress properly. Putting on a pair of tight fitting blue jeans and buttoning up the white shirt he had put on previously he returned to the hall were he knew soon this girl would be.

Suzu slowly pushed open the door and walked up to the lift. She pushed the up button and the doors opened immediately. She stepped in and pushed the right number for the right floor. Out of nervous habit she tried to get her hair out of her eye once again, but failed for the third time that day. The doors opened just as Suzu's hair fell back in front of her eye. She took a deep breath and walked up to the door. She knocked.

Eiri was leaning against the door frame of his bedroom which faced the door to his home. His head dropped as he felt himself falling asleep. The knock on the door pulled him back to his senses and he walked to the door and opened it with his hand that wasn't holding a freshly lit cigarette. His yellow eyes had fallen upon a beauty of a girl. Her light blonde hair lightly touched her shoulders, as her side fringe fell over her right eye. Her eyes were wide and brown like large saucers, yet Eiri could tell they could easily turn sharp in a second. She wasn't smiling, and she didn't look sad, she looked nervous, intimidated and slightly shocked. Maybe she hadn't expected for Eiri to look quite like he did. Her outfit fitted her perfectly and even though it didn't show any skin, it still made her look as sexy as a teenager at a club.

Suzu let her arm drop down at her side as the door opened. Her conversation with Mizuki seemed to come through her mind like a shot, yet she caught every word. "Now remember, even if he looks kind he can be a real jackass, he's very cold to people even if he loves them, it's just his way." Mizuki had said. Suzu looked up at Eiri, slightly shocked. When Mizuki had said he was handsome she had no idea she meant quite like this. His blonde hair was messy but it looked sexy that way. His golden eyes were sharp and had Suzu's dark brown eyes entranced. The white shirt he was wearing hung loose around his body, and was undone half way so his well worked out chest could be seen. His blue jeans hugged his waist perfectly and were of a tight fit showing off his figure. One hand was still holding the handle of the door and the other was holding a lit cigarette. It was lust at first sight.