Prompt: Snow Day
Setting: Living World, Post Thousand Years Blood War
The wind blows gently. Every other minute, the temperature seems to drop by a degree.
Karin adjusts the scarf around her neck and looks up at the sky. There is no blue in sight, only the gray and white clouds. The first ice crystal finds its way on her lower lip. Soon, snow is falling everywhere.
She returns her gaze in front of her and open her hands, catching the cold, little, soft things in her palms. A sigh escapes from her lips just as the snowflakes melt in her skin.
This kind of day used to make her really happy, but for years now, nostalgia has overriden the feeling of excitement. Snow always reminds her of him.
It has been years since the last time they saw each other. Most of the times since he was gone, she finds herself thinking about him especially during snow days.
Try as she might to dismiss the idea, she can't deny that she misses him greatly.
She misses his infrequent smiles; those smiles as mesmerizing as the falling ice crystals. She misses his character; that one as cold but comforting as the winter. She misses his stories; the random little facts about ice and snow that he seemed to be fond of telling her.
She can't help but silently chuckle at the last thought, remembering those occasional moments when he would ask her something about a snowflake. But in the end, it was him who would answer his own question.
"Do you know what the smallest snowflakes are called, Kurosaki?" He asked her one time when they were sitting down on the rail guard, watching the falling snow in lieu of the missing sunset.
"Call me, Karin. And what? You have a name for it? Aren't all snowflakes the same? So what's with naming them differently?"
He gave out a smile. Faint (but it was there), rare (which made it more special), and warm (despite the frosty weather).
"They are called 'diamond dust'," he answered, brushing off of her subtle gibe. "They are very small and lightweight that they often seem to float in the air. And in the sunlight, they appear like sparkling dust."
He turned to her, only to meet her thoughtful frown. "And interestingly, Karin, no two snowflakes look exactly the same. Each of them is unique."
She blinked slowly, looking as if she was trying to process the information. It didn't take a minute for her expression to return to its carefree nature. "I wonder how much of this snow stuff do you know, Toushirou."
In response, he smirked. "You'll be surprised."
"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "Or maybe not. You are after all a son of ice and snow so I should have expected it."
They fell into a comfortable silence for a while, contented with looking at their white surroundings. After a few minutes, Karin spoke again. "But they do sound interesting, the snowflake trivia. You have to tell me more about it, Toushirou." Quietly, she added, "Once all of this is over."
"Over," he repeated the word just as quietly, "I wonder if there's such thing. I wonder if there really is an end to it."
"You will come back, right?" she asked, diverting from his philosophical response.
"I am not sure." Sad as it was to hear the words, they both knew that it was the truth.
A weak smile crossed her lips. She didn't want to look at him, didn't want him to see the sadness in her eyes. "Then do me a little favor. Just... please... no matter what happens, you have to stay alive, Toushirou. Promise me."
"There is no guarantee that I will survive from the battle unscathed. If I will survive at all. Same goes for all the people who's going to join the war." It was him who turned to her first. "But I don't exactly plan on getting myself killed either."
The answer was enough for her. Despite his uncertainties, Karin knew that Toushirou would try his hardest to fulfill what she asked from him.
So stay alive, he did. She knows that he survived along with his other comrades. Her Ichi-nii told her a lot about it when he himself came back from the war.
But Toushirou has never been in the Living World again.
She can't blame him for that. After all, he made it pretty clear to her that going back here is not one of his priorities. She knows that he has great responsibilities. He has a bigger life beyond this world, her world. And Karin understands that, but it doesn't change the fact that she is upset of the way it is.
She shivers just as the wind blows again. Fisting the front of her jacket, she wraps it tighter around her body in an attempt to warm herself.
It's getting seriously chilly. If Toushirou is here, Karin would have been scolded for staying long outside despite her being aware of the nipping atmosphere.
"What are you doing, strolling around in this cold weather, idiot?"
Like that, yes. Toushirou is surely going to tell her something like that if he sees her right now.
Karin suddenly freezes, though it has nothing to do with the snappy temperature of her surroundings but with the realization that the question (which sounded annoyed) didn't come from her internal musing.
Wide-eyed, she whips around to get her confirmation.
And there he is, standing a few feet from her. He looks unimpressed but (more importantly) very, very real.
Karin is not a big fan of sappy reunions. She has never been into giving a too romantic reception. Maybe for that same knowledge that Toushirou does not expect her to run to him and jump into his arms.
With one of them caught of guard and the other not caring, they lose their balance just as Toushirou instinctively wraps an arm around her waist. They fall to the ground with her on the top of him.
For years, Karin has been wishing to see Toushirou again, and now that he is here, any kind of drama is the last thing that she wants to toss at him. She is just happy that he came back.
So when she brings her head up to properly look at his face, the first thing she does is to snicker at his surprised expression. There is a big question behind his wide eyes but she is not in a rush to give him the answer.
Instead, she grins at him and fires her greeting, "Hey, Toushirou, do you know that snowflakes are not white?"
As quick as their awkward position is ignored, Toushirou's shock is replaced by fondness. He smiles affectionately at her. "Yeah. Because they are actually transparent or clear, aren't they?"
Her response is a press of her lips against his, which he welcomes with no hesitation. In the middle of falling snow, they let the other know how much they miss one another.
The original idea was to write Karin being reminded by the snow about Toushirou. Just that. I was aiming for something angst-y not adorable (damn it!) so I never planned to reunite them here. I was pretty much in control at first but in the middle of writing this, my hopeless romantic muse took charge (again) and ended it this way. Yeah. So if you feel like the ending is a little bit rushed, it's probably because it's not even supposed to be there in the first place! I am not impressed with this sappy side of me D: but maybe it was thinking (it has its own mind. hah!) most of you would rather have a happy ending anyway.
