Chapter 13: Snow of Second Chances
Shino searched frantically for Airi. "Where could she have run off to!" He stopped to catch his breath. "Kiba wants me to help find Airi, but what should I do when I find her? She hates me." He looked down. "We were such good friends and…I shouldn't have gotten attached to her like that. If I had just told her about…me…a long time ago, I wouldn't feel like I do now…" He sighed. "Airi, where are you?" He climbed to the top of the hill that overlooked the village. He looked around and sighed. "Where could she have gone?" He could hear faint sniffling ahead of him. Could it be…? He walked over and found the confused youth. "Airi?"
Airi got up and spun around. "Shino!" She backed up. "S-Stay back!"
He winced at her words. They cut through him like the sharpest of swords. "Must you avoid me so earnestly!"
"What choice do we have! We're harmful to one another!" she yelled.
H-Harmful? "What do you mean by 'harmful'?"
"The Bugs of Destruction live within you! If I have to, I'll use force to keep them away from me!"
"But Airi--" He shook his head. Airi, I won't hurt you!" He slowly got closer.
"D-Don't come any closer!"
He didn't stop. "Over these past weeks that I've known you, how many times have I hurt you? How many times have the bugs within me hurt you?"
"Shino-"
Shino was only a few feet away from Airi. "We're friends Airi! You know that!"
"Those bugs living within you are dangerous!"
"But what does that have to do with me!" She froze when he was right in front of her. "They may live in me, but I'm not going to hurt you, not ever. I'm not going to turn evil or anything like that. You have to believe me."
"Sh-Shino…" She looked away. "If it were that simple…I-If things were different…You can't just expect me to accept something that's tormented me for nine years." She started to back up again. "Nothing is that simple…" She started to cry again. "N-Nothing…" Her right foot slipped off the edge of the hill. She gasped as she fell backwards.
"Airi!" Shino jumped forward and grabbed her right hand. "A-Airi!"
"Shino!"
Their hands started to slip. "Ugh, A-Airi! Give me your other hand!"
"N…No! Shino, just leave me be! Maybe I'll…" She looked down. "Maybe I'll finally be able to find peace…"
"S-Stop talking like that!" He winced. "Airi, come on!" Their hands slipped apart.
She shut her eyes tearfully. "…Mother…Father…Forgive me…" She awaited her swift death, but nothing happened. What is this? She opened her eyes and looked up. "AHH!" Kikai bugs were crawling up both of her arms.
"Airi, I'm not gonna let you die!" Shino used the bugs as a bridge to Airi.
A…Airas… Airi passed out from her fear.
"Hey! Stay awake!" He pulled her up using his bugs. "Airi?" He panted as the hundreds of bugs crawled up his arms. "A-Airi…" He shook her. "H-Hey…" She was out cold. "Ugh…too much…chakra used…" He fainted.
XXXX
Wh-What? I-It's so cold. Where…Where am I? Airi shook her head as she sat up. "Oh, what happened?" She looked around. "I'm still…alive?" Cold air pinched her cheeks. She looked beside her and there was Shino. "Sh-Sh…!" She scrambled away from him on her hands and feet. "What is Shino to me? My friend or…my enemy?" She watched him breathe. "…H…He's gonna catch a cold like that…" Shino…? "What is Shino to me? All of the things that he's done for me…Everything that he's showed me…What can that be called? Is he a friend? Friend. What's a…friend? That's like friendship. I think that's what it's called. Friendship…" She sighed. "Shino helped me a lot. Is this something that friends do?" Those bugs… "Those bugs are responsible for everything and they live in him…But…But he hasn't used them against me." She blinked back tears. "I don't want to be alone anymore. I want…friends." She crawled over to Shino. "Sh-Shino?" She shook him. "Shino?"
"Ughn, my body hurts…" Shino sat up and looked at Airi. "Airi, you're alright?" She nodded shyly. "Airi I'm…sorry…" He sighed. "I'm sorry that…I'm me. I wish that I had told you earlier about the bugs. If I had done that, then everything would be okay. We wouldn't have gotten…close. Then it wouldn't matter if you hated me…"
"D…Don't say that!" She shook her head, small tears rolling down her cheeks. "You should never regret being who you are!"
"Wh-What?"
"Don't make the same mistakes I did! I…" She looked down. "I'm the epitome of regret…"
"Airi, what're you saying?"
She shook her head. "No, disregard that. But Shino, even though I said those nasty things to you I realized something…I…" She blushed. "I realized that you're…my friend. Friend, ha. That's such a new word to me. Friendship. That's what we have." She smiled cheerfully. "We're friends."
Airi? Shino gave her a curious look. "Airi, I…" Little snowflakes dropped into their hair. "Huh?" They both looked up.
"It's snowing…" She smiled. "It's snowing Shino!" She stuck out her tongue. "Snow. So this is snow. It tasted just like I thought it would…" She looked back at him. "Shino…I show remorse to you. I apologize for what I said to you. I didn't mean it. What Kiba said was just so sudden…I don't hate you Shino. I really don't. You're my friend, yet those bugs live in you…I'll try to get used to it, okay?"
"O-Okay…" He looked up at the snowflakes. "It's…pretty."
"Yes, it is. Snow really is the symbol of pureness and rebirth, just like I heard..." She stood up and danced around. "Snow, snow, snow!" she sang. "I love it, love it!"
Shino laughed. "You're quite strange every now and then." He shakily stood up and walked next to her. "This village…I never knew it could be this beautiful."
"Yes, it reminds me of home…" She looked down. "…Home…" Airi looked over at Shino. Shino…everything that he's done was for me. He doesn't give up. He saved me once again. I owe him so much. "Shino, thank you."
"Huh?" He looked at her through the corner of his eye. "For what?"
Airi grabbed the front part of her shirt. Shino is wonderful…He's amazing! He's nothing like Kiba…! Shino's giving me feelings that I don't get from Kiba! Her heart began to pound against her chest and her breathing seemed to stop. "Shino?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I…I th-think…"
What is this? I feel as if my joints are freezing up! It burns! Shino's eyes drifted closed and he fell to his right.
"Shino?"