Thanks to RayWest1982 for the lovely review, you are the first person to review my first fanfic, and on the first day of 2014 too! Awesome!

Disclaimer: I do not own Darker than Black. Do you?

Snow Angel

Chapter 2 - Awakenings

As the night grew deeper, the coldness grew more bitter. Yin pushed Hei and herself forward. It would have been difficult for anyone, but it was especially hard for Yin because she spent most of her time sitting and very little of it moving with any sort of urgency. The standard program that they gave dolls did not include any sort of static drive to stay physically healthy, and no one had ever ordered her to exercise. Neither did the program include boredom, after all, who would buy a security camera that would get bored and do unnecessary things? What the program did do was make it the easiest and most natural act imaginable to ignore literally any and all emotions, thoughts, and sensations, and so Yin ignored the cold, the weight, and the metal of one of Hei's tools under his coat that was sticking into her ribs, and was able to push onwards. The constant flurries of snowflakes hitting and melting on her face and hands allowed her to keep her specter watching the path ahead. She had her specter look at Hei for a moment. He was hanging his head, and his eyes were closed as though he was unconscious, but fortunately his legs were still moving. Something about the last words he had spoken came back to her... fun? The thought gradually left her mind as they trudged on through the shadows in the snow.

Hei opened his eyes, and was greeted by the familiar sight of his ceiling. He was warm and comfortable, and contented himself with examining the shadows left by the morning sun on the ceiling paint for a moment as his wits returned. Was my bed always this snug and cozy? No, something is definitely different. There is a weight on my left side. With his right arm, he grabbed the edge of his covers and raised it a bit. A blanket of hair, light gray, almost silver, with a hint of blue, was draped across his collarbone. He raised the sheets another inch. Yes, he was definitely seeing the top of Yin's head resting on the left side of his chest. Her shoulder was wedged into his armpit, and her arms were wrapped around his chest. He raised it another foot. Yes, that was most certainly Yin's soft, pale, smooth skin that curved and stretched and pressed against his bandaged side, and continued all the way to her delicate toes pressed against his ankles. If he had been acting as Li Shenshun in that moment, he would have yelled in surprise, leaped out of bed, and knelt on the floor while bowing and apologizing profusely. Yin exhaled serenely, her breath brushing across the skin over his heart, and he lowered the blanket. Not only did she get me home safely, but she saved me from hypothermia. Is this normal doll behavior? He shook his head. No, she has subtly yet consistently demonstrated thought and will beyond that of a normal minimally programmed doll. An image rose in his mind, of her making a half-smile by pushing her cheek with her finger. She was more than just a doll. She had decided to stay with him...

This time, Hei regained consciousness with his usual swiftness. It was close to noon, and Yin was still pressed against him, but her shallow breathing indicated that she was awake. "Yin," Hei murmured. She lifted her head and looked towards the side of his face. "How long have you been awake?'

"I don't know," she said. Hei suspected that she had been lying awake doing nothing for several hours, and he was right. The seconds dragged on, her staying still, and him just looking at her face. There was something about her... something that right now was making an uncomfortable, warm, twisty sensation in his gut. He didn't like it. Yin's neck was getting tired so she was about to lay it back down when Hei's stomach made a growl that nearly reverberated the entire bed frame.

Oh, I was just hungry, thought Hei. He sat up stiffly, his side aching, and Yin pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed with her back to him. He looked over; she was very skinny and pale, her ribs were easily visible. There was a deep bluish purple splotch between two of them, he guessed it was from the hilt of his knife from when she had been supporting him last night. He turned away and looked at his waist. The wrappings had soaked up quite a bit of blood, he would have to change them soon. He looked at the bed; it had a large red splotch in the middle, fringed with yellow. He sighed silently and hauled himself to his feet, feeling a bit lightheaded. "I'm going to make breakfast," he told Yin, and left the room.

Forty three bowls of omelet rice later, Hei sat watching Yin pick at the remaining half of her first plate. He knew that most people ate less than him, but this couldn't be normal. She definitely was not getting enough nutrition.

"Yin," he said.

She paused.

"You're too skinny."

She didn't move.

Hei sighed. He had probably made her feel bad. The reason Li Shenshun was socially awkward was because Hei often didn't know what to say. For so long, he had always been able to rely on violence, but he wanted to keep Yin safe and away from that. Just seeing her bruised made him feel bad. He tried to remember what he had learned from watching televisions in restaurants.

He continued. "I don't like seeing you unhealthy, you should eat and exercise more." He felt comfortable enough to keep voicing his thoughts, which would not have happened with the company of anyone else. "I don't think I've ever been parters with anyone as skinny as you. Soldiers and contractors usually keep very fit."

Yin looked at him, her head tilted slightly. Then she said softly, "You're right. You were heavy." Hei was startled, he hadn't even been thinking about last night. She used the finger from her empty hand to push up one corner of her mouth. A laugh escaped Hei's lips, and to his surprise, he kept talking. It was a strange feeling, to want to talk to someone. It was as though the floodgates that had started to open last night were now thrown wide.

"So Yin, do you like the candies I give you at your tobacco stand? I never thought to ask."

Yin nodded and paused her slow chewing to make another half smile. Hei smiled back, even though she wasn't touching any water.

"That's good. Also, I was wondering, where do you live? I only see you at the stand and at our meeting places. Where do you sleep?"

Yin swallowed, and Hei glanced at her neck. "The tobacco stand," she said with her soft voice.

"You sleep there!?"

"Yes."

For some reason, that made Hei angry, and anger was an emotion that was familiar and comfortable to him. He rose halfway from his seat. "What is the Syndicate thinking, making someone sleep in a tiny run-down shack like that!" Then, quietly, he echoed the words that Gai had spoken to him that day, "It's not right to treat anyone anywhere like some doll..."

He sat down again, leaned forward in his seat with his elbows on the table, and clasped his hands together looking pensive. Yin put a finger in her glass of water to look at him briefly, and then almost inaudibly said, "Thank you, Hei."

Hei reached a conclusion. "I'll ask my landlord if you can live here with me."

Yin's hand jerked, knocking her glass over and spilling water across the table. Hei stared at her; he had never seen her so openly startled, even though her expression looked as calm as ever. Now that he thought about it, moving in with someone was a pretty big deal, especially someone of the opposite sex. The more he reflected on it, the more it sounded like some romantic thing, like a girlfriend moving in with her boyfriend. That was the perfect explanation to give to the landlady!

"I'll tell the landlady that you're my girlfriend."

Yin stayed stone still, except for her mouth which parted slightly. Seeing Yin's extremely understated version of slack-jawed amazement, Hei couldn't help but laugh. Yin closed her mouth, pulled back her arm, and sat up straighter as Hei continued to chuckle. It felt remarkably good to laugh honestly. "Is that okay with you, Yin?" he asked her. She nodded wordlessly. An odd sense of contentment rose within Hei, and the warm twisty feeling returned to his belly, but it no longer felt uncomfortable. He wondered if this was what happiness felt like. Unknown to him, in a place hidden deep within her heart and soul, Yin was experiencing the exact same sensation.

The spilled water started dripping off of the table and plopping on the floor. "Oh," said Hei, "I guess I'll get a rag."