Together Always
The First Snow
Author's Note: And thus begins the Holiday Saga! From playing in the snow to Christmas parties to the beginning of a new year, it's all there!
Bit a quickie maybe, but I'm just getting warmed up-I hope you enjoy!
Winter was soon upon us – gray-white clouds blanketed the sky and the air grew colder. I huddled close to Sakaki for warmth, holding her gloved hand. We were walking, in our park as usual, among the bleak scenery. The grass had turned a dull yellow and the trees became bare skeletons, having tossed all their leaves away.
I rubbed my cheek, my face was freezing. I then looked up to Sakaki and had an idea.
"Hey Sakaki…" I smirked. "I could use some warming up…"
She glanced at me and smiled. She leaned towards me, and I stretched my neck, expecting…
Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!
I sighed, slumping my shoulders in defeat. It was her new cell-phone which her mother had given to her and it too often rang every few hours, especially when we were alone, much to my annoyance. Once or twice, I had been tempted to tell her to throw it into a ditch but knew better – it was important to her.
She wouldn't tell the full details but explained it like this – it was a way she could have her freedom with me and keep in touch with her mother without having to run home for permission or keep her waiting. I always assumed her mother was the worrisome type because of all these frequent calls, but I never thought it was something else…until much later…and it was too late then.
"Sorry," Sakaki smiled apologetically, taking her silver cell out and answered it. I could tell she was keeping her best to keep her voice from sounding exasperated. "What is it Mother?"
I kicked at the ground lightly as I waited for her conversation to finish.
"Mother, I'm fine," Sakaki said over the phone. "I'm at the park as always."
She turned my way, I gave her a small wave. "Yes, I know. Bye Mother."
She clicked the phone shut, putting it away.
I hugged her arm. "Why don't you just turn it off?"
"I can't," she would always answer with a weak smile.
"Too bad…" I shook my head and kissed her softly.
We resumed our walk; it was just us at the moment as it was still a bit early. I didn't mind – the more time for us two, the better. A thought then occurred to me.
"Say…" I started, "we never really talked about it…but…when's your birthday?"
I felt bit stupid for not having asked this sooner and added. "Mine's in spring."
Sakaki hesitated and lowered her head. "Um…it's passed…"
"Oh, when?"
She swallowed. "L-last week…that's when I got this cell phone…"
I was shocked. She didn't let us know? "Sakaki! Why didn't you tell us?"
"Um…" she sighed. "I-I'm sorry…but…I didn't want to put you through all the trouble…and Christmas is very close…"
"That's no excuse!" I retorted. "No matter what events come up, a girl's got the right to celebrate her birthday! Got that?"
Sakaki was quiet for a moment then nodded slowly. "Yes…"
"And next time, if there's something important going on, you can – and should – talk to me as always," I said, reminding her of our conversation few months ago. "Don't go keeping secrets, okay?"
"All right, I'll remember that."
"Hmm…" I frowned slightly, crossing my arms.
"I swear," Sakaki said, bending down.
I still said nothing, turning my back on her. I felt like playing with her a bit. She then grabbed me from behind, picking me up as I laughed. She hugged me close.
"Do you believe me now?" she asked.
"Of course…" I breathed out between chuckles, and she set me back down. "But I'm still disappointed with you for not telling me about your birthday."
"Sorry," Sakaki repeated.
"So…I want you to make it up to me by letting us celebrate it!" I smiled, she looked up. "Sure, it may be bit late…but I still want to do this, for you and us."
Sakaki sighed. "Yes…thank you…"
We stood for a moment, silence taking over. I needed to break it.
"Hey, watch." I elbowed her lightly and imitated an exhaust pipe, blowing out steam.
She giggled, which made me smile. Suddenly I pointed out with a "Look!" and ran down the sidewalk, leaving her bewildered.
It was a race now, but this time we were just having fun, and the deal was not to win, but keep away from Sakaki. She came running up close behind, I avoided her swipe. I led her off the path, towards our tree, where she then chased me around. I kept ducking away from her behind the bark, teasing her until she tricked me by hiding and came at my back. She spun me around once then nuzzled at my neck.
"Do I get a prize?" she whispered.
I let out a laugh and kissed her full on, wrapping my arms around her neck.
Afterwards, she raised her head. "Hey, look."
I turned to see that the pond had frozen over under the coldness of winter, but how frozen, we didn't know. Sakaki was interested; she walked over to inspect it.
"Hmm…" she bent over slightly.
"Careful," I warned.
She then raised a foot, setting it on the ice and pressed down. It kept firm. She tried again with both of her feet, the ice remained secure. She then stomped on it. I tensed. If she fell…
"Careful!"
"It's all right," she looked my direction. "It won't break."
"We don't know for sure," I called back. "There might be thin spots."
Sakaki remained, sweeping her feet across the ice then waved me over. "Come on."
"What?" I got the idea what she was asking, but I wasn't sure about it. I looked at the pond then back at her. "Are you sure it'll hold us both?"
"Positive," Sakaki held out her hands.
"Um…" I exhaled and put a hesitant foot on it, nothing happened. "Um…I've never skated…"
Immediately, Sakaki pulled me across, making me cry out in surprise. My feet slipped and I fell, still clutching at her arms.
"Oof," I rubbed my backside. "Well, you've got me convinced."
Sakaki picked me up and started tugging me gently along the pond. She then turned ourselves around. It had become some sort of a ballroom dance thing, and I enjoyed it despite myself not being able to dance. Sakaki did most of the leading, and even though we weren't wearing skates, our shoes had enough grip to help us keep our footing as we moved. We skidded along the pond's edges, twirled, and separated before meeting again (whenever we did that, I would start to lose balance and she'd catch me and we would resume skating). Of course, we went slowly since we were only wearing shoes, but I had the time of my life. (Have I said that already? There are so many moments I loved with Sakaki…)
She then embraced me, kissing me deeply as we spun. We soon slowed to a stop, still kissing on the frozen pond. The cold air breezed at us, but we felt nothing but pure, warm bliss.
It was definitely a movie-like moment.
"Happy Birthday, Sakaki…" I whispered to her after.
--
"Can you hand me another cookie?"
Sakaki nodded, handing over a plate of steaming chocolate chip cookies and I took one.
"Thank you."
We were at Chiyo's house, along with our friends. It was another study night. Yomi was looking over her notebook while Tomo was distracted with a pencil and Osaka was sleeping peacefully under the heated table. Chiyo just smiled, watching us.
I laid down beside Sakaki, propping up my notes while she wrote in hers. We still had to be careful when we were close as the others still did not yet know. Sakaki hadn't told me if she was okay with telling yet, so we remained quiet about it.
"Say…I just thought of something…" Tomo let her pencil slip off her nose. "Christmas's coming soon, isn't it?"
"It sure is!" Chiyo replied, nodding.
"Then I propose an idea!" Tomo immediately got to her feet, thrusting out her fist.
"Hmm?" Except for Osaka, we all stared at her.
"Let's have a party here!" Tomo declared.
I groaned. Not this again…She was always saying these sort of things, expecting they would be accepted. She took too much for granted, that was for sure.
But that is not to say I didn't find this idea intriguing. In fact, I looked over to Chiyo expectantly.
Last year…I had not been able to spend the Christmas with everyone on account of family – my dad. But this year, I was sure Dad would give me the chance to join the others…especially Sakaki…
Now that we were together, I was looking forward to this idea more than ever.
Please.
"Uh…uh…" Chiyo stuttered. "I don't know…my parents…"
"Don't worry, it'll be just us friends!" Tomo assured.
"Um…" Chiyo sighed, smiling slightly. "Okay…I'll ask…"
Thank you.
"All right!!" Tomo whooped. "But let's make this interesting!"
Again, we turned to her, even Osaka had awakened to look up at her.
"…We should do a sort of a Secret Santa!" Tomo leaned on the table. "I mean, isn't Christmas about sharing gifts and stuff?"
"Y-yeah…but…"
"That sounds good," I said immediately, I was expecting to get Sakaki a present.
"Yes," Sakaki nodded.
"Yay, presents!" Osaka clapped her hands.
Yomi said nothing.
Tomo looked over the group of us then grinned. "Well, it's settled!"
She then ripped a paper from Yomi's notebook and tore it up, much to her infuriation. It took all of the patience Yomi had to not punch the other girl as she wrote down whatever it was on those scraps. Tomo then threw the scraps into Chiyo's Giants cap, which she had picked up just then. Finally, she held the cap out to us. "Take your pick, whoever you get, you have to give 'em a present but no telling them till Christmas!"
Naturally, I went first and picked out a paper…To my joy, it was Sakaki's. I beamed, and only she knew what it meant and smiled herself. Next it was her turn, she picked out a piece and read it then smiled my way. We had each other.
Yomi took one out and looked at it in disbelief. I wondered who she had gotten.
Osaka took hers then promptly said aloud: "Chiyo! I got you, Chiyo!"
We stared at her then Chiyo giggled weakly. "That's nice Osaka, but you're not supposed to say who you got…yet…"
"Oh…" Osaka looked at her paper.
Chiyo picked hers next and giggled again, more cheerfully this time.
Tomo took the last one and sighed. "Figures…"
Sakaki and I just looked at each other, sharing our gazes. I was going to make sure I got her a great gift she would always cherish for a long time.
She thought the same.
--
It was getting late, Tomo and Yomi had already left, but me and Sakaki still stayed, at least for a bit longer.
Osaka was still around, but she was fast asleep, and Chiyo was busy clearing the table of plates which she had used to hand out the sweets. We glanced at each other and scurried over to a corner.
Knowing that Chiyo knew, and doubting Osaka would wake up anytime soon, we shared another kiss. I hugged her waist, moving closer to her.
Something brushed against us and we parted to see Mayaa climb onto our knees, meowing. We exchanged giggles and Sakaki picked him up, tickling his furry belly. Mayaa purred, causing her to blush. Smiling, I petted him on the head and scratched behind his ears, which he enjoyed.
I pecked Sakaki then stroked Mayaa again. "I'll get you something, too."
"Oh, look!" Chiyo exclaimed suddenly, looking towards the window and we turned to see snow falling.
"Ah, it's snowing!" I crawled over to get a better look. It was rare we got weather like this.
It was a beautiful sight – the first snowflakes settling on the windowpane. As we watched, the night scenery was soon covered in a light blanket of white.
"Hey, let's go out," I told Sakaki quietly, and she nodded.
As she and Chiyo went out, I bent down to Osaka and prodded her forehead. "Hey, you got to see this."
But she just mumbled and turned over. I shrugged and followed them.
We stepped out on the front steps, with no need for our warmer clothes as we would be out for just a bit. We watched the snowflakes fall slowly and gently; we had no wish to disturb its tranquility. I cuddled close to Sakaki, and she put an arm around me in response.
"It's so peaceful, isn't it?" I sighed.
"Yes it is…" Sakaki replied softly.
Mayaa soon joined us outside, looking at the snow-covered ground curiously. Being a tropical cat, he had never seen such a sight in his life and pawed at it, his fur bristling excitedly. He sniffed then leaped in, dancing around playfully. We laughed at him then I picked up a handful and threw it at Sakaki. She shrieked and dashed after me as I ran out onto the yard. She tackled me from behind, pulling us down into the snow. As Chiyo watched in amusement, we rolled and splashed each other. After a short while, she came over, too, and we built a small snowman before Mayaa knocked it down.
We certainly enjoyed ourselves.
When it grew darker and colder, we went back inside where we warmed up quickly. Afterwards, it was time to head for home, so I kissed her while Chiyo went to wake Osaka.
"See you later, Sakaki," I said. "I promise I'll get you a nice Christmas gift."
"Me too," Sakaki kissed again.
But we knew we would be happy either way, present or no present. That's what love is.
--
Sakaki had returned home after seeing me off; she checked her watch as she came up to her door. Just in time.
She entered and her mother looked up from across the living room, waiting. Sakaki knew her place and went to sit down before her.
"Tell me, what did you do today?" her mother asked as always.
"I went to the park like I've told you before," Sakaki sighed. "Then I went over to Chiyo's place for study night…"
She paused then smiled slightly. "It snowed, Mother…I played in the snow…"
Her mother simply nodded as she cared. "I see, I see, well it is nice to hear you're handling your free time and studies well…"
Sakaki bowed her head, saying nothing.
Truth to be told, she was getting bit tired of all this. Ever since after the escapade, her mother had gotten to become a demanding sort. Every day, she expected Sakaki to come home at a new time, ten p.m. or earlier unless otherwise noted (like if Sakaki planned to sleepover at a friend's). At least, it was better then having to come home right after school, but she was now also expected to tell about her days. Her mother would not get off her back until she did, and so she did, but not always in full detail. Still, her mother was satisfied.
On Sakaki's birthday, her mother had given her a cell phone, much to her surprise, but there was a catch. It was only for emergency and mother purposes. With it, her mother could keep in touch with every passing hour, making sure she wasn't up to 'something'. It got tiring...fast. But she put up with it, knowing this was the only way she could keep seeing me freely…almost…
"Well," she stood up from the coffee table. "I guess there's nothing to worry about."
Sakaki blinked. "What do you mean, Mother?"
"Well," her mother sighed, crossing her arms. "There no need to tell me about your daily time anymore, you have me convinced enough that you aren't doing any trouble."
Sakaki breathed. Well, that was at least one down.
"But of course, the rules remain the same," her mother frowned. "You still must come home by ten, no later, and I will always check on you...though less this time around."
She walked into the hall, stopping then she turned around.
"And…" she added warningly. "Still, if there is trouble with you, I will not hold back next time, understood?"
"Yes, Mother," Sakaki replied hastily, taking her mother's tone seriously.
"…Good night, Taira," her mother sighed as she went upstairs.
"Good night, Mother."