Hi! This is my first story here, so, well...We'll see how it goes.

Warning: Genderbending below!


Frostbite crawled up Mokou Fujiwara's fingers.

She did not care.

The moon peeked through swirls of grey clouds. Behind it stared the chasm of the universe, staring at Mokou, who stood atop a hill that was clothed in a veil of short grass and splotched with layers of frost and snow. A lonely tree jutted out from the hill's side, its shadowy leaves gently rustling against one another by a breeze that also lifted strands of Mokou's pale-white hair. She paid no attention to her surroundings, however, but kept her gaze firmly on the moon. She also ignored the footsteps that approached her from behind.

"It's c-c-cold."

"Yeah, it is," Mokou replied, not looking back.

"Do you want to h-head inside?" The voice was soft, gentle, but possessed a well-trained enunciation - the clear speaking qualities of a schoolteacher - even against the chattering of teeth. "Please? I- heavens, your hands!"

Mokou felt her hands jerked to her side and saw a young man holding them, his brows furrowed over the purple blisters covering her fingers. She winced; now that she could see the damage, she felt suddenly aware of the pain.

The young man was now caressing and massaging the areas of her hand that the frostbite had not reached. His deep brown eyes were wide and full of worry; the thought that they looked like puppy eyes almost brought a grin to Mokou's face. "Let's head inside, okay?" he continued. "I'll get some warm water-"

"Keine," said Mokou. She made a half-hearted attempt to pull her hands back. "You know there's nothing to this…Listen, I just forgot, that's all. Happens a lot, haha." She smiled while at the same time realizing that her attempt at brevity only made her seem more callous.

Keine sighed. "I know, I know. But please don't do this; it's just not the right way to...to live." He stopped at the last word as if choked by its mention.

Mokou smiled again. Only, this time, the smile was real; it stretched the corners of her mouth and pushed at the edges of her eyes. She brought her head toward Keine's until it rested against his. His breaths brushed warmly on her cheeks. "I'll be okay," she whispered.

The breeze carried her voice away across the moonlit field of grass and snow. Mokou looked at her hands, and she felt Keine move his head to follow her gaze. The skin on her hands was white, clean, the frostbite nowhere to be seen.