Chapter 1- Roses and Ice
"Hyuuuuu-kun! Guess what, guess what?"
The boy's brow crinkled in irritation as he blearily opened one eye. "What?"
"I made a snowman! It's really really really really good! Come on, get up and look at it!"
Hyuu growled as he pulled himself up from the Aspertia Outlook bench. Rubbing his eyes, he gazed over in annoyance in Mei's direction. "Please tell me this isn't one of your..." He groaned as he saw Mei's recent creation. A snowman with angry pebble eyes stared at him, with sticks poking out in all directions from the head.
"It's another Hyuu-man! Tee hee!" Mei giggled, adjusting the sticks to mimic Hyuu's spiky hairstyle. "Heh, Hyuu-kun's hair is so weird...!"
"You're one to talk...Donut Head," Hyuu muttered under his breath, flushing red and turning aside.
"Aww, don't be like that, Hyuu! Come on, come on! Let's build one together!"
Hyuu crossed his arms. "No."
"Let's go sledding?"
"No."
"Snowball fight!" Mei grabbed the nearest chunk of snow and nailed Hyuu's gut.
Hyuu doubled over and clutched his stomach. "I said no," he snarled, grasping the railings as he staggered up again.
"But Hyuu," Mei whined. "It's the first snow!"
"It'll snow again in a few days. What makes this one so special?"
"Well...it's the first time in a year that I got to play outside with Hyuu-kun!"
"Wh-what?!"
Mei smiled happily, her rosy cheeks dimpling. "Remember the first snow last year, Hyuu?"
Hyuu huffed, recalling the incident in which Mei had twisted her ankle whilst ice skating. "Yeah...let's not do that again."
At the steps of the Aspertia Overlook, a blond-haired boy emerged from below. "Hi, Mei-chan, Hyuu-senpai!"
Mei started and looked toward the boy. "Oh, heya, Shiro-kun! What's up?"
Hyuu watched bitterly as the two struck up a conversation. His eyes narrowed as he saw Mei's azure eyes light up with laughter after Shiro told a joke. He sullenly squatted and wrenched out a particularly hard chunk of ice from the frozen ground.
"Yeah, so, I was thinking that we could actually go sledding together later..?" Shiro asked, his cheeks flushing red as he stared into Mei's eyes.
"H-huh? Just me and you?"
Hyuu jolted up and broke off a chunk of ice from the slab.
"That sounds..gr-"
Mei's words were interrupted by a block of ice hurtling toward Shiro's direction. The force of the impact threw him to the ground. Gasping, Shiro staggered up, clutching his side and looking around wildly for his assailant.
Mei gasped. "Sh-Shiro-kun? Are you okay?!"
"Yeah...I just need to find the bastard who-"
His face paled as Hyuu descended upon him with a glint in his crimson eyes. He held up a gloved hand and displayed the dollops of ice that rested in his palm.
"Snowball fight," he whispered ominously.
Shiro squealed and scurried away, slipping in the snow as Hyuu aimed his deadly ice projectiles in the boy's direction. Shiro hurriedly dropped a sheet of paper onto the ground, then skidded down the steps and bolted for his house.
Hyuu smirked triumphantly and stood with his hands on his hips as he watched Shiro flee. After the boy disappeared from his sight, he made his way through the snow to pick up the paper Shiro had left behind. His gloved hand stretched toward the sheet that fluttered in the winter wind...
...when suddenly a vicious kick to his shin sent him tumbling across the snow.
"M-Mei?!" Hyuu exclaimed, wincing as he clutched his leg.
"That was not cool, Hyuu!" Mei yelled, nudging Hyuu's cheek with the toe of her sneaker. "You're such a bully!"
"What are you talking about? That guy was clearly hitting on you...I just wanted to protect you from being taken advantage of," Hyuu scowled.
"Shiro-kun? He's...just a friend," Mei stammered, averting her eyes.
Hyuu snarled. "Aw, hell. Don't tell me you actually have a crush on him!" He reached out and snatched the piece of paper, expecting to see a love note or some other form of a confession.
Instead, all he got was a battered picture of a piece of cake, plus "SHIRO'S BIRTHDAY" scrawled underneath the image.
"Forget it," he groaned, crumpling the sheet up and tossing it to the side.
"H-hey! That's..." Mei protested, going over to retrieve the sheet.
"Mei," Hyuu growled, causing the brunette to freeze in her tracks.
She turned around, apprehensive. "Hyuu...?"
"As...as your senpai...I order you...to get back here and leave that sheet of paper alone!"
Mei's lips twitched as she fought back a smile. Hyuu glared at her almost in desperation, narrowing his eyes as the corners of Mei's mouth turned upward.
"Hee...haha...ahahahahahah!"
Hyuu scowled. "Wha...what's so funny?!"
"Hyuu, you're so desperately jealous it's hilarious. Hee!" Mei collapsed onto the snow, arms extended to either side of her.
"Jealous? Psh, why would I be jealous?" Hyuu scoffed, averting his eyes as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"I dunno, Hyuu. Why else would you care about who I was going out with?" Mei asked innocently, turning her head so her sky-blue eyes could stare into his.
Hyuu's eyes bulged. "You're going out with him?!"
"What if I said I was...?"
"You...you can't! I thought...I...well..." Hyuu blustered, furrowing his brow as Mei started grinning again.
"I'll tell you if you give me that piece of paper."
"N-no! I'm not letting you go to that stupid birthday party...I mean...there's nothing...uh..."
"Oh, so it was just a birthday party invitation? Tch." Mei flopped back onto the snow. "I guess I can't go."
Hyuu narrowed his eyes. "You're not going?"
"No...because I'm going to spend that time making snowmen with Hyuu-kun, right?" Mei winked mischievously.
Hyuu inwardly groaned and sank back down into the bed of snow. "Yeah...right."
For a few seconds, there was silence between the two. Then Hyuu said uncertainly,
"You're...not actually going out with Shiro, are you?"
Mei groaned. "No!"
"Okay, okay! Just checking."
Mei pushed herself up and glanced at her Hyuu-man one last time before turning away. "Let's go home, Hyuu. We have to check on Granny's flowers and make sure they don't wilt in the cold."
"Why doesn't the old woman just bring them inside?" grumbled Hyuu, following suit.
As the two made their way to Old Granny's apartment, Hyuu fumbled for Mei's hand and grasped her chilled fingers. Hyuu couldn't figure out whether the red on Mei's cheeks was from the cold or from bashfulness, but she didn't move her hand.
"My, my, dearies! You must be cold from running around in that snow. Come to check on the roses again?" said Old Granny, her gnarled hands resting on the arms of her old rocking chair.
"Yes, Granny," chirped Mei, pulling Hyuu over to the balcony door.
"It's nice to see you two still playing together," wheezed Old Granny, happily rocking back and forth. "Hyuu, are you treating the little girl well?"
"I hope so, Granny," muttered Hyuu, blushing.
"He bullied Shiro-kun today because he was jeeeealous," sang Mei, pushing down on the handle of the balcony door.
"Hoo-hoo! Jealous, you say?" chuckled Old Granny, cutting Hyuu off before he could respond.
"Yeah, he was jealous 'cause he thought Shiro was my boy-"
"Quit it!" snarled Hyuu, clapping a hand over Mei's mouth. "Uh, erm, old woma- I mean, Granny...we'll be checking on the roses now!"
Old Granny smiled to herself, rocking back and forth. "Oh, I do hope those two get married," she murmured to herself as the door closed in front of her.
The two escaped outdoors to the flower garden on the balcony, puffing as the cold air stung at their lungs again. The "garden" consisted of rows of flower pots that contained brightly colored blossoms. The majority of the flowers were roses, which bloomed in magnificent hues of red, white, and pink.
"What was that all about?" blustered Hyuu, almost dropping the watering can as he wrenched it from the side of the flower garden.
"Aw, don't be mad, Hyuu-kun! I was just kidding. Besides," Mei grinned, bending down and pretending to examine the roses, "I thought it was kinda cute."
Her words caused Hyuu to blush as red as the roses in the garden. "Let's just water these and get out of here," said Hyuu gruffly.
"I'm so glad they're not wilting. Aren't you, Hyuu?"
He didn't respond. His eyes were directed upward, toward the cloudy grey sky.
"Um...Hyuu? Are you-"
"Get out of the way!"
Mei yelped as Hyuu tackled her aside. The shining particle that plummeted from above lodged itself in Hyuu's eye, causing Hyuu to gasp in pain and cover his right eye with both gloved hands.
"Hyuu-kun!"
Mei scrambled over to Hyuu's side, trying to pull away the arms that covered Hyuu's eye. "Hyuu, are you okay? Come on, say something! Hyuu-"
"...Shut up."
Mei fell silent, her mind desperately trying to comprehend the words that Hyuu had just uttered. Not once in his lifetime had Hyuu ever spoken in a tone that made Mei feel threatened. His uncovered eye glared at Mei darkly, boiling with a type of dark fury Mei had never seen before.
"H-Hyuu-kun...w-why are you-"
"I said...shut up!"
Mei cried out in horror as Hyuu aimed a kick toward the rows of flower pots, sending dirt and roses flying everywhere. He flung his arm out, sending numerous pots crashing to the paved path below. "Hyuu?! Why are you doing this? Hyuu, stop it!"
She tried to pull Hyuu away from Old Granny's precious flowers, only to be viciously elbowed in the side. She collapsed to the ground, wincing in pain. "Hyuu...please...stop..."
"What's this here?"
Old Granny had limped to the balcony, milky eyes widening as she viewed the destruction of her beloved flowers.
"Granny, I tried to stop him, I did..." wailed Mei, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"You disgust me," snarled Hyuu.
Both females turned to Hyuu, aghast at his venomous tone.
"Now, Hyuu...why don't you go home and take a nice rest...I'm sure this is all-"
"Shut up, old hag!"
Hyuu stared down at Mei with eyes filled with hatred. "I can't believe I keep hanging out with such a dumb, deformed loser. You're just as ugly as these stupid flowers!"
He stomped on a red rose, flattening the petals, and crushing the stem underneath his feet.
"You think anyone else would like you? You think anyone else would want to be your friend? Friends with a annoying brat like you? A repulsive-"
"Hyuu, that's enough!" shouted Old Granny, pointing a trembling finger at him. "You...get out of this place immediately!"
Hyuu snarled and spat on the balcony floor, sending one last hateful glare to Mei before stomping back into the room. Mei listened to his footsteps down the stairs, and finally heard the front door open and close with a slam.
"Granny...I'm so sorry," sobbed Mei, sinking to the floor. "I don't know what happened to him...He got something into his eye, and he went berserk...I'm so sorry!"
Mei stared at the forlorn flower with its crushed petals as Old Granny hobbled over with a broom. Her tears dripped down the bridge of her nose as she tried to comprehend her friend's actions.
Hyuu...that thing you protected me from...what exactly has it done to you?
A/N: Criticism is welcomed. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Feel free to follow this story if you want to read more!
.~*LadyMeiLian*~.
