"Oh, you dyed your hair green again?"

Kayano laughed and twirled a small lock of hair with her finger. "Yup; Surprise!"

Yukiko shared a brief look with Okuda, before the two reciprocated her smile.

"So? You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah," the both nodded.

Now, you'd think the long path they were taking would be a tedious journey, but fortunately, these girls were used to it; they've been climbing this mountain for more than a year now. Besides, it didn't feel so long, thanks in no small part to Kayano's never ending chatter. It was quite endearing.

At last, they reached the top, where an old building greeted them. In those few moments, the joyous ambiance between the three dispelled, only for the girls to quickly don smiles again and walk over to the flowerbeds to say their prayers. It was how they greeted their late teacher, and Kayano especially upheld this tradition.

With that done, it was now time for the fun to begin.

"Ah!"

Another snowball hit Yukiko's back. She quickly scooped up some snow in her hands, shaped it into a ball, and turned around, ready to have her revenge on Kayano. She was greatly surprised to see Okuda standing behind her, covering her laughter with both hands.

Yukiko yelped again when another snowball hit her. This time, it was Kayano. Yukiko held up the snowball with her usual sweet smile— telltale for trouble.

Kayano laughed and scrammed. "Catch me if you can!"

"Challenge accepted," Yukiko yelled back as she began chasing the green-haired girl. Okuda chased after her, throwing multiple snowballs at Yukiko, but not all managed to hit her back. That's alright; she'll deal with her later once she's extracted her vengeance on the shortest girl of their group.

Soon, Kayano's legs began screaming for her to stop, or they'd collapse on their own any second. And here she thought running around the old campus would tire her pursuer first. Obviously, that wasn't going to work, so she finally halted her tracks, turned around, and held up her hands in the air.

"Okay, okay, I give up!"

As if that was going to stop Yukiko from hitting her in the face with a snowball; she gasped when Kayano fell back on the ground. Okuda too, had her hands covering her mouth in shock.

"Oh, Kayano-san!" Yukiko yelled, rushing over and kneeling by the girl's side. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to throw it that hard."

"It's...okay..." Kayano assured before Yukiko helped her sit up.

That didn't cease any of Yukiko's guilt. Right as she was about to apologize again, Kayano gently let herself fall back down in the snow and gave out a deep sigh.

"That was fun." She said in between pants, "Minus getting the snowball in the face."

"I'm sorry,"

"It's fine."

Yukiko watched her pant on the ground. "Maybe we should head inside for now?"

Kayano hummed and closed her eyes. "Not yet,"

"Hm? Why's that?"

Chuckling, Kayano suddenly began to move her arms and legs in the snow. "Let's make some snow angels instead!" She exclaimed, moving her limbs even faster.

Yukiko blinked. "Uh—snow angels?"

"Yeah," Kayano laughed. "You know snow angels, right?"

Of course she did, but she had never made one in her life. The idea of lying in the snow—in public—while she spread her arms and legs had always been embarrassing, even as a child. She never understood why other kids would do it.

Her uncertain gaze met Okuda's. It seemed like she too had never made a snow angel before. Surprisingly, she lied down close to Kayano and began mimicking her movements, leaving Yukiko to feel self-conscious for being the only one still standing.

"Come on, Kanzaki-san!" Kayano exclaimed.

After some contemplation, Yukiko lied down in the snow and slowly moved her arms up and down. She nervously did the same with her legs. Indeed, it was embarrassing—very, very embarrassing. It's a good thing no else was around them.

Her eyes traveled up to the happy blue sky and instantly, her mind began writing several fancy descriptions for it. It was a nice distraction from the ridiculousness she was currently partaking in, but Yukiko started to wonder, how would she appear from above? 'Like a snow angel?' She hummed. 'Three angels in the sky, carefree as ever…'

Her arms slowed down into soft strokes. Yukiko pictured herself up there; flying, twirling, and resting on the clouds while snow fell around her. Suddenly, she didn't feel so ridiculous any more. The embarrassment had faded completely, now replaced by a genuine and relaxed smile. 'This is fun.'

Sadly, the fun was cut short by a pile of snow dumped onto her face by her two traitorous friends, who were currently looming over her and laughing their heads off, especially Kayano.

As Yukiko calmly got up, the snow slid down her face, revealing a sweet, bloodlust-thirsty grin.


"Say, Kanzaki-san," Kayano spoke after sipping some of her tea, "Did you join a sports club or something?"

"Huh?" Yukiko turned to the shorter girl with slight surprise. "No; why would you think that, Kayano-san?"

"You chased us for two hours straight." Kayano said flatly, "Where'd you get all that energy from?"

Yukiko shrugged and gently set her cup on the table. "Payback can be a good motivator."

"You've been spending a lot of time with Karma-kun and Asano-kun, huh?"

"I'm starting to sound like Asano-kun, aren't I?"

"A little bit, yeah." Kayano laughed while Okuda just smiled.

Yukiko chuckled as well. "Well, Asano-kun has been plotting a lot of contingency plans during our study sessions."

"What did Karma-kun do this time?"

"I'm not really sure what it was exactly, but it had something to do with bananas and duct tape."

Kayano sighed. "He never changes, huh?"

Okuda glanced at Karma's old desk fondly. "He never does."

"Let's just hope he doesn't wind in prison." Kayano said.

"Or in court with Asano-kun," Yukiko added.

"I'm sure he won't." Okuda said; earning suspicious looks from her friend. "He won't."

"Let's hope the same for Okajima-kun." Kayano said, "If he gets himself locked up, Kataoka-san will kill him."

"Out of everyone, he got lectured the most." Yukiko said with a sigh.

"I mean, he had coming." Kayano shrugged. "Itona-kun always got away with it, though."

"Korosensei, too,"

"Korosensei was a teacher; he didn't count."

"She did lecture him at one point though."

"And he never learned, did he?" Kayano admired her cup with a sad smile. "What a pervert."

Silence befell them, and while it wasn't in any way uncomfortable, it was still odd given how chatty Kayano could be. Yukiko turned to Okuda, letting their eyes converse briefly before they turned back to the other girl.

"Kayano-san,"

"Yeah?"

Yukiko hesitated and glanced at Okuda, who decided to take over and not beat around the bush.

"Why did you dye your hair green again?"

"We're just curious." Yukiko added.

Kayano nodded; her smile was still present. "No real reason, just...I just missed it, you know?"

Yukiko had a feeling there was more to it, and she could tell Okuda had the same thought. However, they both knew it was wise not to probe any further for what purpose would that fulfill? This reunion was meant to be a happy one, and if Kayano ever wished to tell them something, she can whenever she liked.

And so, they drank their tea and continued reminiscing about the pleasant memories they shared in this very classroom. As Kayano spoke, Yukiko let her gaze wander onto the black board. Even though Korosensei had long passed, it felt as though he was standing there, regarding her with his usual expression. Her heart clenched, and her vision began to blur before she quickly blinked the tears away before either Kayano or Okuda could notice; she didn't wish to upset them with this small display of sadness.

"We should build a snowman."

"Haven't you had enough fun for today, Kayano-san?" Yukiko asked playfully.

"No, but I would have if you didn't chase me for two hours."

Yukiko couldn't take it anymore, and laughed at the half-hearted glare she was receiving from her friend. Okuda joined her, and eventually, Kayano did as well.

And so, they finished their tea and went back outside to build that snowman. The body was soon complete, which meant it was now ready to be decorated, and they all had one specific idea in mind.

"Pebble after pebble; a smile began to form."

"Hm?" Yukiko turned to Okuda in surprise. The girl gave her a sheepish grin.

"Oh, I'm trying out that method you taught me." She explained, "I've been write a lot of nature-inspired paragraphs."

Yukiko beamed. "Paragraphs?"

"Yeah, but they're only two or three sentences."

"That's alright; the important thing is that you're improving." Yukiko said, "Can you send them to me, I'd love to read what you have, Okuda-san."

"Sure!"

"All done!" Kayano declared, stepping back to admire their work. "Not gonna lie, the grin was a little annoying."

"Mm," Yukiko nodded. "But it looks so nice."

"It's just like his." Okuda added.

The three friends shared a smile before glancing back at the Koro-snowman before them. Once again, Yukiko felt as though their teacher was present, staring back at them through those pebble eyes. She wondered if Kayano and Okuda felt the same thing or if it was only her. Regardless, it was still a pleasant sensation. 'Korosensei, it's good to see you again.'

As was this reunion; the girl reached for Okuda's hand, and gave it a gently squeeze—it was her way of saying just how much she treasured this friendship. With a smile, Okuda squeezed her hand back, and she did the same for Kayano's, who followed suit.

"Let's do this again sometime." Okuda told them quietly.

"Yeah, we should do that." Kayano nodded.

Yukiko nodded as well. "We really, should."


This one was inspired by Thorn's sketch of the three girls walking together.