Chapter 8: Baba Kingyo, Michisato Lola
As she had predicted, Baba rolled into the tree next to the silent girl. The snow ball she was buried in wasn't thick enough, however. She could feel the impact on her right shoulder.
The other kids ran towards Baba, who remained laying down on the snow. She was, of course, waiting for a response by the gray-haired girl.
"That looks like it hurt!" One of the other kids said.
Baba instantly stood to her feet, exaggerating her grimace. "Daz right! Pay back time!"
"Wait!" One of the kids stopped her. "My dad said cold compress can help reduce pain."
"So?" Another kid asked.
"If we bury you in snow, you'll heal faster!"
"Daz right!"
Kids these days bury things in snow so fast, Baba thought. She was up to her neck in snow when the kids finished. This snowman-ification tired the kids out, so they've gone somewhere. Baba looked at the girl, waiting for some kind of response. There was none.
"You," Baba said. "What's your name?"
The girl looked at her, making sure she was actually buried to her neck. "Lola."
"Nice name."
"I don't really like it."
"Daz right, it's a bad name."
"It's a bad name," Lola said. She sat down on the snowed ground, laying her back on the tree. "That's why everyone left me." And she began crying.
Baba panicked. But the thing about kids' snowman craft in the 21st century was that they're too damn sturdy. Baba couldn't move an inch. In her panicked struggle she missed most of Lola's cries.
"Maybe I should've used the colour pen he gave me?" Lola said among her sobs.
"Daz right!" Baba said, still struggling. "Lola!" Her scream was enough to stop Lola crying, if temporarily. "This snowman is ready for you. Cry on my embrace."
Lola was silent.
"You can't tell but I'm spreading my arms wide open."
Lola stood up and hugged the snowman. For a few seconds there was no sobbing, but Baba could hear the girl's raspy breathing. She then pulled her face away from Baba the Snowman. "I can't breathe."
"Daz right."
"Huh?"
"When you hug the snowman, you can't sob or cry. You can only...relax. Let the cool wash it all away."
Miraculously, it worked. Lola nodded and then sort of...jumped into Baba the Snowman. This time she didn't bury her face into the snow body, so she could breathe normally. After a few seconds, she was silent and still.
Baba got one of her hands out of the snowman and patted Lola on the back. "I'm sure you'll meet your friends again."
Lola was silent. Baba got her other hand out and double-patted Lola on the back, for double the comfort point.
"Ahhh! The snowman is trying to eat Micchi!"
Lola jumped toward the source of sound, fortunately just in time to avoid the shovel being stabbed into the snowman.
"No! Mrs. Snowman is a good snowman," Lola said to the kid. "She's just being my friend while you're gone."
"I'm sorry, Micchi! My mum made me finish the homework first before I can play, so I can't even respond to your knocks. But don't worry! I'll be able to be with you for the rest of the holiday!" The boy gave Lola a thumbs-up and a smile.
For Baba, Lola's smile then was so bright it could melt the snow around her. Well, using the shovel stabbed into her snowman coffin she dug herself out. Her clothes were drenched, but she was content. After all, it was from wiping the tears of a lonely child.
[break]
"Her mum didn't accept that excuse and she was grounded for a week," Tadano said.
"Weirdly, I also had a story about one of those kids," Komi said, flipping to a specific page of her notebook. "I heard it from Gonzales, one of Manbagi's gyaru friend..."