Grass

Himiko was fortunate enough to have been raised in relative seclusion. Although she sometimes asked about the lack of neighbors or children her own age to play with, between working and training Himiko had a pretty full life without the worry that some stranger would harm her in her own home. As such, Yamato had to ease up a bit of his "overprotective guardian" role when his little sister asked him if she could go outside to play shortly after her sixth birthday.

Yamato had bundled her up more than he usually did when he took her out, knowing that a cold would set their training back at least a couple of weeks until she regained her sense of smell. But after applying so many layers to his little sister that she was more clothes than person (much to her chagrin), he finally opened the door and let her slowly waddle outside.

It was bitingly cold outside, despite it having been an otherwise pretty mild winter. Very little snow was on the ground, and the first thing Himiko did upon achieving her freedom from the confines of the indoors was seat herself in front of a little pile of it. It was hard to move her arms around the many layers of clothes, but she managed to slowly fashion some sort of abstract sculpture from the frigid substance as well as the rocks and twigs she had found underneath it.

Having exhausted her amusement with that activity, she tried to maneuver her clothes-laden body to stand back up. Instead she only managed to fall back down ungracefully, cushioned by the four pairs of pants she was wearing. Undaunted, she rocked herself back and forth, trying to catch herself on her arms and use them as a means of getting back to her feet, but this plan, too, only ended with gravity as the winner.

Himiko glanced at the kitchen window for a moment, wondering if she should call for her brother's help. She sat still, giving this careful consideration, before deciding she didn't want to get him involved just yet. If she called out to him he would only bring her back inside, and she wasn't quite ready to return to the confines of her home just yet.

With that decision made, Himiko scanned her surroundings. If she couldn't get up, what was there to do? Well, if she couldn't get up, she might as well go down. With that, she let herself fall backwards unceremoniously, arms and legs spread-eagle. She moved them back and forth a little bit in a weak attempt at a snow angel, but finally gave up, staring into the gray February sky.

After a few moments of considerable study, the sky seemed to reward Himiko for her patience: the first few snowflakes fell down onto the part of her face that was still bare. One of the snowflakes landed in her eye, and she closed it for a moment, before opening them again to stare up into the swirling vortex of snowflakes around her. She cocked her head to the side, wondering if this was what the grass saw.

After a few more moments of wondering about the life and times of a blade of grass, a shadow fell over Himiko. She squinted, trying to see who it was, before raising her arms as much as she could manage. "Aniki!"

Yamato crouched down next to Himiko, eyeing the thin layer of snow that had begun to build up on her. "What are you doing here on the ground?" he asked her gently, sounding worried.

"I fell. Couldn't get up," Himiko said plainly. She rocked her way up into a sitting position, and then tried once again to achieve a standing position, her methods once again failing her. She looked up a her brother with an "I told you so" look.

"Why didn't you call me to come and get you?" Yamato asked, standing up and picking her up. He held her high in the air for a moment, before putting her back on the ground.

"I didn't wanna come in just yet," was the answer. As Himiko waddled toward the entrance of the house behind her brother, she looked at the spot where she had been laying down. "Ne, Aniki?"

"Yeah?" Yamato asked, lighting a cigarette.

"Can we move all of the snow away?" she asked, grabbing the railing of the steps with both hands as she waddled her way up sideways.

Yamato raised an eyebrow. "Why? I thought you liked snow."

Himiko nodded. "I do. But if the grass is all covered up, how can it see anymore?"