Winter had a way of making things feel so much more lonesome than any other season. This was what Yukine mused on as he walked, steps resounding in a soft crunch as he paved his way through the snow.
It's as if you could scream until your voice gets hoarse, yet no one would hear you.
The sky was cast in an ominous gray; a looming promise of more snow to fall before the day ended. The hafuri wouldn't have usually made the trip out with it so cold like this, but today was special—and he hadn't visited in a while, now.
The sakura tree… it was just as he'd left it, wrapped up to protect the hollow from the oncoming onslaught of white powder that had spread throughout Japan. Yukine approached the tree and stopped, craning to look up through the still, bare branches. With each exhale, a plume of white curled from his lips, before dissipating as if never having been present at all.
"I, it's kinda fleeting, isn't it?" He spoke, yet no one visible was around to hear him. "One moment, you're here, and the next—carried away with no evidence of having existed."
He placed a gloved hand against the trunk, spreading his fingers out over the faintly carved inscription, one bearing a promise that was never kept.
"You've missed out on a lot—," he stopped, eyes turning downwards, "y, you didn't know, but our masters were enemies. I think, because I was able to meet you, it worked out in the end. We're allies now."
A smile breached his lips, but just barely.
"Christmas is coming up, you know. I don't know how Bishamon-sama celebrates it, but Yato's gone absolutely crazy with the holiday spirit. He actually wanted to put the tree up the day before December," he laughed quietly, a sharp chuckle that caught in his throat, "I, I told him to wait and he ended up throwing a tantrum. Just like a little kid, or something. He won out, of course."
Loosening his scarf, Yukine was able to pull a thermos out of the front of his jacket. He unscrewed the cap, looking down into the chilled, milky beverage.
"I've never actually had this stuff before, but Daikoku-san said I'd like it. Good a time as ever to try it I guess, huh?"
He raised the thermos up, as if making a toast. Taking a long swig of the drink, he mulled over the flavor and licked his lips before lowering the container and recapping it.
"Kind of sweet, but with a weird aftertaste. He was right, as always."
He tucked the beverage away then, once again looking up through twists and turns of the tree's branches.
"I wish we could have spent the holiday together. You had so much more to share, and I wanted to learn. I'm…doing the best I can to take care of everything for you, y'know. I'm going to keep getting stronger, and I won't let what you lived for die. You existed, Suzuha. You were my friend, and I'll never forget you."
A breeze picked up, slow and caressing as it moved through the tree's limbs. Yukine shivered.
"B, because…"
He looked down, smile faltering.
"I don't have the ability to forget…but that isn't a bad thing. I don't want to forget my friends. That's the difference though, you see? We can't stay in people's memories. But we have each other. And maybe—at the end of the day, that's all we really need. Isn't it?"
Reassured with his train of thought, he grinned.
"We can create our own lives, Suzuha. And we can live it however we want!"