Snow still was something that Kagura couldn't wrap her head around. She had seen pictures, heard and read many stories about it, but nothing had really prepared her for the reality of it. Her first winter in Magnolia. Snow was nice and pretty when you were sitting behind a window, mug of hot chocolate in your hands. Kagura enjoyed the thought of snow.
But now... well, now there was nothing that Kagura hated more than snow. That was the reality of her first winter in Magnolia. Snow was a curse. It was cold, stuck to her shoes and clothes until she was left a shivering soaked mess.
"What do you hate the most?"
Kagura glanced over her shoulder to find Millianna standing in the middle of her room awkwardly. Millianna was one of the few friends that Kagura had managed to make, and she had been spending a lot of time at her place with the rest of their small group, today being no exception. It was odd to see someone look so awkward in their own home, but Kagura knew exactly why.
"Snow or still me for forgetting your textbook in the cafeteria?"
Kagura finally faced away from the window to give her full attention to her friend.
"I don't hate you, Milly," she assured, "We wouldn't be having a sleepover if I did." A shrug shook her shoulders. "I'm just frustrated we couldn't find it."
Millianna offered her the brightest of smiles and wrapped her arms around her for a tight hug. Kagura was hesitant as she returned the embrace, body stiff at the physical contact; until recently, her brother had been the only person who hugged her.
"Let's play some games before we go to bed!"
Nothing was more infectious than Millianna's excitement and bubbly personality.
But even a night spent playing games and relaxing with her and the others couldn't erase the frustration of a lost textbook. And having to walk in the snow to get to their campus in the early morning could ruined anyone's good mood.
Millianna was shivering, complaining about the cold and how inhumane it was to allow for such terrible weather to happen - as if someone could magically prevent snow from falling. It wouldn't surprise Kagura all that much if her friend believed that someone out there had powers to control the weather. And well, if such a person existed, Kagura would have happily driven a sword through their chest. Idiotic imaginary weather person.
"Kagura!"
She startled, her eyes falling on Millianna who was bursting with energy, nearly bouncing on her feet - a sight that made very little sense so early in the morning, in the snow. A minute ago, her friend had been more akin a slug than anything else.
"I've just saved your textbook!" she grinned brightly, so agitated by excitement that she couldn't stay put. "You don't need to murder me anymore!"
"I never planned to murder you, Milly."
Millianna pouted, "Tell that to your death glare..."
Kagura let out a small sigh; all she wanted to do was escape the cold and get inside the main building, but she was well aware that Millianna was too excited to care about anything.
"How did you save my textbook exactly?" she asked against her better judgment.
With a hand proudly settled on her hip, Millianna all but shoved her phone in Kagura's face. She grabbed her friend's wrist and pushed it away so that she could actually see the screen, though it did nothing to help her understand the situation. The messages she was looking at were confusing at best. Whoever Millianna's correspondent was, they were terrible at texting.
"What am I looking at?" she questioned, a frown creasing her brow.
"A friend of mine found your textbook!" Millianna explained excitedly. "She says she'll be by the weird fairy fountain in a few minutes!"
The weird fairy fountain. Kagura was now standing by the 'weird fairy fountain', freezing as she waited for whoever Millianna's friend was. All that for a textbook that Millianna had misplaced when they were in the cafeteria. In the end, it was all Millianna's fault if Kagura was fighting against the cold, socks already drenched from the snow seeping through her shoes.
Even if she might finally get her textbook back, Kagura couldn't help but feel like today had to be one of the worst days possible. She didn't even know what Millianna's senior friend looked like. 'She's easy to spot' was the only description, if so it could be called, that Kagura had received. What did that even mean? On their campus, easy to spot made little sense - Kagura had seen a boy with pink hair, a guy so tall and large that he barely could get through the doors and Millianna herself stood out with her obsession with cat ears.
At the sound of snow crunching under footsteps, Kagura turned on her heels.
"Are you Milly's friend?"
Faced with who had to be Millianna's senior friend, Kagura now understood what she meant. Surrounded by the halo of white created by the snow, this girl looked like an angel. The stark contrast between the purity of porcelain skin, delicate snow and scarlet hair left Kagura breathless and at loss for words.
"I'm Erza," the girl said, taking a few steps closer to Kagura, the discreet smile on her lips was sincere and beautiful. "I'm the one who found your textbook," she explained.
Kagura nodded, still unable to form a sentence or to even find words. She noticed a snowflake landing on the girl's- Erza's hair, a star in a blood-stricken sky and she swallowed at the sight.
"Your name is Kagura, right?" the girl asked as she rummaged through her backpack. "Milly told me you're Simon's little sister."
"You know my brother?"
Erza looked up from the content of her backpack - it looked too heavy and full of things that one probably didn't need to go to class - and offered her a smile.
"I have a few classes with him. He's very nice."
Kagura watched silently as Erza struggled with her backpack.
"Ha!" she exclaimed suddenly, her expression triumphant as she managed to extract Kagura's textbook from her bag. "Finally!"
Kagura reached for the textbook, and when her fingers brushed against the warmth of Erza's hand, she all but yanked it away, clutching the book to her chest as the beating of her heart became erratic.
"You're freezing, you should hurry inside."
The softness on Erza's face could have melted anything, except for the snow that stubbornly stuck to her red hair. Kagura opened her mouth, hesitating. She knew that she needed to be polite but thanking the other girl would mean putting an end to this conversation, having to say goodbye and potentially never having an excuse to talk to Erza again.
"Thank you. For taking the time to bring it back to me." Kagura bit on her lip, unable to meet Erza's eyes.
"It's nothing, really!"
Kagura looked up at the girl's face, and for a moment, they stared at each other in complete silence. It seemed like neither of them had the rights words to say.
"Hey! Erza! Stop flirting and get your ass here!"
Kagura searched behind Erza to find who had called out for her; it was another senior, one whose hair almost blended in the color of the snow. Was she really wearing a crop top and leather jacket in the middle of winter?
"Shut up, Mira! I'm not flirting!"
"She's your type and you're flirting!"
Kagura could feel her face burning in spite of the cold, and Erza's face had turned a bright red that matched her hair.
"Ignore her, she's weird," Erza said, her voice lower and more hesitant than before. Her smile was shy now, but still as pretty.
"I'm friends with Milly, I'm used to weird."
Erza chuckled.
"Can I be bold?" Erza asked, and, confused, Kagura blinked. "Can I have your number?"
What was happening?
"In case you lose your book again, you know," Erza added, averting her eyes.
Kagura bit back a smile. Whatever was happening, she was pleased with the situation. Exchanging numbers with someone she had just met wasn't something that she usually did, but if this girl was friends with Simon and Milly, she couldn't be bad.
And maybe Kagura was looking for an excuse to talk to her.
"But if you don't mind, I might not wait for you to lose your book to text you."
"I wouldn't mind."
Erza nodded in the most solemn of manners.
"I will text you soon, then, Kagura."
"Thanks again for the book, Erza."
The name felt odd on her tongue, heavy with meaning and something that Kagura didn't understand. And though she was freezing, she watched Erza retreat to join her friend. The image of that perfect scarlet hair against the white winter would be ingrained into her memories for a very long time, Kagura had no doubt about it.