"I don't like you being out there on your own."

Tooru sighed. "It's fine, nii-san. I promise. I've got the fireplace going and there's batteries for the phone, and I already took the o-sechi out so I don't even need to open the refrigerator."

"It's not safe," Isamu insisted. "You should have someone with you over the holidays." He paused, and Tooru could hear the guilt in his voice even over the phone. "If I could, I'd come back myself, but..."

"There's no way to get out here," Tooru pointed out, not unkindly. "And you already visited a few months ago. It's enough, nii-san. I promise."

"You shouldn't be by yourself," he insisted again. "Look, at least call up one of your friends. Make sure someone's expecting to hear from you. That Natsume kid, he seems reliable. And you know he won't see it as a problem, I've only met him like twice and I can already tell the kid's one of the biggest pushovers of all time."

"That's not nice," Tooru scolded, but she could feel herself blushing on Natsume's behalf.

She could hear the smirk in her brother's voice. "It is true, though."

"It's not!"

"Then prove me wrong. Call him." He paused. "I'm serious, Tooru. I'm worried about you."

She paused, then sighed. It had probably cost her brother a lot to admit it; he had a lot of pride. "All right," she agreed. "I'll let someone know. Just so there's someone nearby to check in with; I really am fine on my own."

"Whatever," he said. "As long as you do."

They chatted for a little while after that, but her brother was fairly busy, and so Tooru didn't keep him for long. She sighed, ears ringing a bit with the silence of the house as she put down the receiver to the landline.

The house was cold and dark, even though it was mid-afternoon, but that was to be expected; the power was out and the windows were covered in a few inches of snow, the sun outside obscured by thick clouds. Hitoyoshi was in the midst of one of the worst snowstorms it had seen, with several feet of snow already on the ground and more on the way.

Fortunately, there had been enough warning for families in the countryside to prepare; Tooru had gotten an alert yesterday and had joined the long lines for things like batteries and non-perishables (though she'd privately thought she could just keep food out in the snow, if it came to that). Her mother had called almost as soon as the warning had come out, to apologize for not being able to make it back for the New Year's holiday. Tooru wasn't really surprised, and had assured her parents that it wasn't going to be a problem.

Her brother, it seemed, was less convinced, but she didn't know why. It wasn't as though she was incapable of looking after herself, after all.

She sighed, and was about to return to the warmth of the main room and its stove when the phone rang again, making her jump. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and picked it up as it rang again.

"Hello?" she asked, wondering if it was her brother again trying to make some kind of point.

"Taki." Instead, she immediately recognized Natsume's voice—somehow, nobody else called her name quite like that. "How are you? Is everything okay at your house?"

"It's fine," she said immediately. "How about you? Are the Fujiwaras doing okay?"

There was a faint smile in Natsume's voice when he answered. "They're fine. Touko-san just finished her first round of calling the neighbors, and she offered to let me use the phone."

"That's so kind of her," Tooru said, smiling too. There was something about Touko-san that had that effect on people.

"Yeah," Natsume said softly. Then he made a small noise, as if realizing he'd gotten distracted, and asked, "So things are okay where you are? Your parents were traveling, right? Did they make it back, or your brother?"

"Well..."

And this was the part that was difficult to explain—to Natsume, or to anyone.

"They're not here, no," she said carefully. "But they're safe. With the storm the way it was, they put out travel advisories early, and my parents weren't sure they were going to be able to make it to begin with."

"You're by yourself?" Because it was Natsume, the concern was subtle, rather than overt, but it was still there. Tooru winced.

"Y...yeah," Tooru said. "But it's really not an issue—I have our old heater and a lot of batteries, and it's not like I've never prepared for a storm before or anything."

"This town's never been through anything like this, though," Natsume argued. "Look, Taki...I just got off the phone with Tanuma, and..."

"How's he doing?" she asked. She realized as soon as he'd said it that she should've tried to get in touch with Tanuma as well, but if she was being honest with herself, she'd been distracted by taking care of things at home. "Is his cold any better?"

"He's saying it's all but cured," Natsume said, and Tooru wondered if she was imagining the hint of dryness in his voice. Then it was gone, and all concern. "But his dad went out to help out with New Year's preparations at a temple the next town over, and now they're snowed in. Tanuma told him not to worry about getting back, just to focus on helping out—this has thrown a lot of the preparations for New Year's into chaos, apparently."

"So he's alone out at the old temple?" Tooru said.

"Yeah," Natsume said, sounding as concerned as she felt. "So, uh...I was wondering. I'm thinking of convincing him to come here. It's not that I don't think he can take care of himself!" he added in a rush, and then sighed. "I just...he shouldn't have to, you know? It was Touko-san's idea, and she kind of has a point, it's not a bad thing to stick together when there's trouble like this, and Nishimura and Kitamoto's families are both home so they're fine, but...well..."

"I think it's a good idea," Tooru said warmly. Nothing would stop her from encouraging Natsume at times like these—he was a kind person, but these moments where he reached out to others, where he admitted what he was thinking...they were still rare, and that made them seem doubly precious.

"Good," Natsume said, sounding relieved. "Will you come too, then?"

Tooru realized, quite suddenly, that Natsume had—neatly, guilelessly—trapped her. She choked a little bit on that, silently, glad that Natsume couldn't see her face.

"Uh, sure," she said finally, letting an awkward laugh color her voice. "I mean, it won't be a problem?"

"Not at all," Natsume said happily. "It'll be more fun with more of us."

"Then, uh, I'll just...pack up some things, I guess. Is there anything I can bring?"

Tooru spent a few more minutes with Natsume on the phone, planning, but he suddenly seemed eager to end the conversation. In fairness, she was pretty distracted herself.

After hanging up, she put a bag together and doused the fire, coughing at the small plume of steam and smoke it raised. She bundled up in a few extra sweaters, and sat down near the front window, waiting for the sound of the Fujiwaras' car. Her own house was perfectly silent, and more than a little cold.

Awkward or not, as much as she hated to be a bother, she wasn't going to regret this decision.