"Toshiro-kun!" she called out to him.
Her eyes were sparkling with chocolate warmth that could have almost melted the snow on the ground. Her innocence shined through her grin and her long, coal-black locks spun into the wind like snowflakes in the blistering winds as she ran towards him with her scrawny figure fighting the current of the heavy breeze.
Toshiro smiled warmly as he greeted his friend. But his voice did not reach out to her; no sound had left his mouth. A dark figure appeared behind her and a gunshot roared. Blood flooded the air between them as innocent brown eyes widened in shock. She collapsed to the ground like a fallen butterfly defeated by winter's frost and laid still as death slowly began to claim her.
Pure blood stained the snow, glimmering like rubies in the light. Toshiro stood there frozen as he was unable to move. The figure was moving away and all Toshiro could do was stand there and watch the red blood pouring and pouring…
Hitsugaya gasped as he awoke with a jerk. A thin layer of sweat covered his skin as he panted arduously. Looking out to his window, he realized that the sun was slowly crawling out from the horizon and the sky was painted in various shades of purple and pink. As he arose, he walked to the restroom and splattered his face with water. Gazing into his own reflection, azure eyes full of weariness stared back at him. The bags that clung under his eyes seemed to be growing with the passing sleepless nights.
He had never been able to recall anything from his previous life on earth; it was a blank void in the back of his head. And now with these constant nightmares, he was almost beginning to wish that he wouldn't remember. Rubbing his face and shaking off his fatigue, Hitsugaya stretched and yawned as his long frame nearly touched the ceiling.
In these past several years, Toshiro had grown and become approximately 17 in human years. He'd grown from his mere four feet four inches into a whopping six feet five inches. His general hairstyle had remained the same, pure white hair that spiked about messily around his head. His blue eyes appeared wiser and still had his razor sharp intelligence.
Toshiro had developed into quite the young man and became a favorable topic among the female shinigamis. Although the young boy had bloomed into a handsome captain, there had yet been a young woman to catch his eye and some captains were beginning teasing his love orientation. Hitsugaya could only roll his eyes at these remarks and go on patiently with his life.
Toshiro looked out the window; the sun had risen to another morning. He dressed himself and prepared for another day.
"Daaaiiijjjooouuu!" Matsumoto said ever so sweetly.
"What is it Matsumoto?" Toshiro asked as he didn't even bother to raise his eyes from his work to his vice captain's trivial comment.
"It's so late and we've been working hard all day long, I think it's time that we go and reward ourselves!" she declared and grinned mischievously.
"Matsumoto, have you even finished your paperwork yet?" Hitsugaya questioned as he signed another sheet and added it to the large stack of papers beside him.
"Of course I have!" Matsumoto answered as she kicked the couch behind her, a shuffling of papers could be heard, "Let's just go and have ourselves some fun! I heard that they opened a new entertainment house exclusively for the shinigamis; I think we should give it a shot. I mean after all, all of the other captains and vice captains have invited us to go and try it out. Daijou might even find himself a lucky lady." Matsumoto suggested and winked.
"Matsumoto, I'm not even done with-" Hitsugaya began.
"Alright!" she exclaimed and grabbed his arm as she ran out to join the other captains on a night out.
"Another round for me and my friends please!" Matsumoto requested and the maid nodded shyly and momentarily left.
Hitsugaya declined any offer of booze and helped himself to his tea. The entertainment house had been enjoyable with the performers, a great number of them being geishas, kisaengs [1, or some type of performer originating from the Asian oriental areas. So far there had only been very exciting performances with thundering music and amazing stunts or lively dancing which received heartfelt applauses from all of the shinigamis.
Some of the female entertainers remained to pour tea and shared small conversations with the other shinigamis. One was clinging to Hitsugaya. She was in the clothing of a geisha. Her obi was a bit obtrusive since its large and flashy bow was hard to direct. It was her arms that were either always around his or her thigh that would constantly rub against him as she poured tea for him. The white haired youth was about to make a complaint until the rice paper door opened.
The host entered the room and bowed deeply, greeting all of the higher positioned shinigamis with great dignity and grace. Her long gray hair was tied into an elegant bun and her kimono was a simple shade of dark blue with cherry red flowers embroidered at the hem of the robe.
"I am Itsumoto, Tsuki of the Kaoru no Ran [2 entertainment home. This haven is very proud to be hosting the famous captains and vice captains of the shinigami brigades. Therefore we have summoned our greatest entertainer, our very own prodigy who has mastered all forms of the arts. We bring her with hopes that you will be very pleased and will desire to come again," she stated and deeply bowed once again before she arose and opened the rice paper door.
The room was filled with silence as the graceful figure entered the room. The shifting of fabric could be heard as she turned and bowed low. She covered her face with her sleeve as she bowed, showing the off the blushing pink silk with red peony embroidery. She wore the traditional garments of a kisaeng. A long white cloth was on her wrist and extended from her hand to the floor. Her hair was the only thing that was untraditional; she had it tied back into a humble, single braid tied back by a gold ribbon. She wore no makeup and her pale skin shimmered underneath the light. Her face was genuinely, yet unconventionally pretty. However her brown eyes that were filled with kindness glittered with joy and warmth as she gave a dimpled smile at her audience.
"I feel very privileged to be performing in front of such a prestigious group and hope that I may provide a good time for all of the guests. My name is Cho [3, Yuki and I am very glad to be here. Are there any requests?" she stated with her pleasant soprano voice that echoed throughout the walls of the rooms and the ears of all the people. She looked up and momentarily met her eyes with the young white haired captain.
Hitsugaya suddenly felt his heart thundering beneath his chest. His eyes were slightly wide as he could only gawk at the female that had just entered the room. Her every step seemed to float like flower petals in a stream and her sweet, earthly eyes seemed so familiar to him. The girl that was on his arm glared daggers at Cho. Her blood red lips were pursed together unattractively and her green eyes were narrowed with utter dislike. She looked as if she wanted to vaporize the girl on the spot.
"Dance for us!" Captain Kyoraku suggested. Her lips curled in response and she nodded her head.
Yuki looked towards the mistress who moved her way behind a haegeum [4 and picked up the bow. A soft tender melody began to flow into the ears of all the people in the room.
Cho swayed to one side and began her dance; she could already feel the mood of the song flowing into her soul. Her incredible poise followed into every move as the song and the dancer combined into a wave of astonishing emotions. As she spun, her violet skirt spun in the air, forming the shape of petals on a flower. She was able to move around easily with her white baggy pants billowing with her every move. She flicked her wrist, causing her sleeves to float in the air momentarily and then fall gracefully as she shifted her small feet.
As the song came to its climax, her spinning slowed and she moved one arm out in the air and the other in front of her face. As the vibrato fell upon the final note, Cho bent down to her knees and raised one leg up with one arm out behind her and the other placed in front of her chest.
A roaring of cheers and applaud bellowed throughout the room as requests flew from every mouth. She beamed with joy and prepared for her next act.
Matsumoto had already left to celebrate with her fellow female comrades, leaving her captain to walk back to his office alone. Hitsugaya continued his way and couldn't help but to think of Yuki. The way she had moved in her dancing and the way her voice sounded to his ears was an amazing wave of ecstasy to him. However he could have dealt without the clinging geisha making snide remarks and spiteful expressions. Yuki seemed so familiar however, and he didn't know why.
"Neh, neh, Toshiro-kun, I can't seem to sleep!" the little girl cried as she lay down in her futon next to Hitsugaya.
"What am I suppose to do?" Toshiro asked, his tone slightly annoyed.
"Tell a story!" she begged her eyes wide and pleading.
"Alright, alright. What should the story be about?" Toshiro solicited.
"A butterfly fairy!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"Like you in our games?" he teased.
"Exactly," she nodded with eyes bright with excitement.
"Ok, then what am I?" he inquired, even though he knew the answer.
"The great dragon king of winter!" she declared and clapped her hands together.
"Ok, I think I have a story now," the white haired boy said.
"Tell me tell me!" the girl pleaded.
"Of course I will. Just pipe down so I can hurry up and tell you," he shushed her and she obeyed, wanting to hear the story.
"A long time ago, there was a butterfly fairy…"
She lived in a land of warm sunshine and eternal spring. It was a land that was always filled with flowers and other happy creatures. However, in another land, a land of eternal snow and bitterness, there lived a great dragon king who was cold hearted. Everyone feared the great king, everyone except the fairy. She knew that he was a kind soul who was only lonely and covered up his heart because he was afraid of being hurt. She desired to melt down the icy walls surrounding his heart. The fairy succeeded, and she and the dragon lived happily together for a short while. She did not survive long in his cold domain, but tried her best to stay well. She and the dragon king became very close and both developed feelings for one another. Until one day…
Hitsugaya stopped for a moment. The little child had already fallen asleep. He pulled the blanket up to her face, it was winter and this tiny frail girl had no endurance when it came to the cold. She was a strange child, but was delightful company. She warmed his heart with her pointless chattering and was always full of energy to annoy him, but received forgiveness through her heartfelt smile. He laid down in the futon next to her and watched her as he slowly began to fall asleep himself.
Hitsugaya opened his eyes. Sunlight hit his face as he irritably rubbed his eyes. The dream had not been so horrifying this time and he wished that he had never awoken from such a pleasant dream.
He quickly dressed and realized that he had nothing much to do other than his large stack of papers which he decided could be dealt with later. He decided to go on a walk and strolled by the entertainment house which was closed since the seasonal cleaning was going on.
The sound of a familiar voice drifted into the air. Hitsugaya followed the voice and saw Yuki wiping the floors with a rag as she was singing. He stood there watching and listened to her song.
"Dear fairy, with wings,
so bright with the colors of spring.
Your dragon lover calls to you in his land of frost and snow.
You answer his call and into his heart you mold,
but your color fades with each falling snowflake,
Your lovely butterfly wings with colors so bright,
are fading in this land of eternal winter- oh how his heart aches!
Loyal creature you are, you still stay by his side,
but you wither with each passing day.
Now here you lay,
Death has grasped you as your moments are passing by,
your lover, the great dragon king, begs you to stay with him,
but the hands of death are holding you tight.
With your last breath you bless him,
but you damn him to a life of sorrow now that you are apart.
How you sacrificed yourself to love until you eased the pain of his past,
and even made the great, cold dragon king surrender to your heart.
Alas with each passing winter as cold as the last,
The dragon lives on with only those warm memories.
No lady by his side, only the ongoing winter,
each as cold as the last.
He can only bear his sorrows for so long,
until he will be reunited with his fair maiden of spring…"
In his mind, the little girl from his dreams appeared in his mind. He could see her beaming at him and laughing joyously as her hair danced in the wind as she picked flowers in the meadow, humming the same melody. Hitsugaya felt his heart aching and unintentionally rolled his hands into tight fists.
Yuki stopped; she felt eyes watching her and turned to meet eyes of the deepest blue she had ever seen. For a moment she was silent and could only continue to stare into the deep blueness of his eyes.
Hitsugaya cleared his throat and Yuki blinked and realized her place.
"We are closed today, but is there something that I may help you with sir?" she asked as she placed her rag into her bucket and fixed the wrinkles in her skirt. She stepped into her shoes and walked forward to him, her head tilted and eyes full of welcome.
"I only heard a voice and followed it. Your voice is pleasant to the ears," Toshiro replied and couldn't help but to notice how small and fragile she seemed.
"Oh thank you sir, you are very kind," she beamed at him, her eyes full of joy.
"What was the song that you just sang?" he asked her.
"It's just a silly song I made up from when I was younger," she answered while scratching the back at of her head bashfully.
"It's quite lovely, although it makes me feel nostalgic," the white eyed prodigy stated.
"Nostalgic?" she inquired, eyes curious.
"It brings back memories that I didn't even know I had," his eyes were distant as he looked out into the sky.
She wrapped her shawl around her more tightly and slightly shivered. The weather of winter was always cold. She could never seem to handle the frigid temperature very well.
Hitsugaya noticed and stated, "I'm sorry, am I keeping you from work?"
"Oh no, actually I should be on a break right now any ways, and it's nice to have company since I don't talk to many people often," she answered as she shifted her legs so that she was now hugging them.
"No friends? What about those other entertainers?" he was perplexed and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm usually quite busy with practicing the arts and I am the youngest entertainer here," she said sorrowfully.
Hearing the pain in her voice he asked her, "Is it lonely?"
She quickly recovered with a smile, "I'm sorry, I seemed to have burdened you with my small talk. I do hope that I am not boring you. Is there something else you want me to do or get?"
"Could you sing that song again?" he asked.
She seemed startled that he would want to hear her childish tune, but then smiled and nodded.
"Of course," she took a deep breath and began to sing.
A soft voice filled the air with a wistful tune. Hitsugaya closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall and enjoyed the moment while it lasted.
"Oh goodness, the sun is setting; I didn't realize that we had talked for so long!" Cho exclaimed.
"It really is. Well I apologize for keeping you behind from your work," he said.
"Oh no it's ok, I didn't have much to do to begin with," Cho insisted.
"Well I suppose I should get going," Toshiro stated as he looked up to the sky, snow began to fall.
A single snowflake kissed his lips, he touched them.
"Wow, snow is always so beautiful, but it really is too bad that it's always so cold when it snows," Cho remarked her eyes were closed as she enjoyed the feeling of snowflakes falling against face.
"I suppose," he said as he watched the snowflakes falling on her smooth, pale skin. "Well I guess its goodbye until we meet again, that is if you don't mind," Hitsugaya waited for her reaction.
"Of course its fine, I'll look forward to it Hitsugaya-sama," Yuki quickly replied.
They said their goodbyes and he departed. As he walked down the street, Hitsugaya hummed a recent tune he had heard.
Yuki walked down the corridor and turned. A woman was leaning against the wall there and had her arms crossed. She looked up when she realized that it was Yuki. Her eyes were narrowed with fury and she was only in her under robe that was held in place by a red obi. She stood in Yuki's way and glared at her with eyes that seemed to bore holes in the poor girl.
"I saw you with Hitsugaya-san, what was that about?" she asked, her voice cold and demanding.
"Oh it is nothing Midori-sempaii, we just happened to meet up and just talked," Yuki answered timidly.
"Just talked? It seemed more like you were trying get his attention through that whole conversation," she remarked callously.
"That's not it Midori sempaii, we are only friends. Please do not be offended, it was only a conversation. Excuse me, but I have an errand to run for the mistress," Yuki replied as she tried to get past the angry woman.
Midori grabbed the girl by the collar and slapped her loud and hard across the face. Yuki fell against the wall and whimpered as she held her cheek.
"Did you forget about what you did to my relationship with Otonashi?" Midori reminded through her grinded teeth.
"No, I didn't," Cho whispered mournfully.
Midori glowered.
"Don't even think that you have a chance with my dear Hitsugaya-kun. I claimed him when I first saw him, and you will not come between me and another man again," she snarled.
Yuki shuddered and looked into Midori's hateful eyes with intense fear. The woman's eyes were overflowing with coldness; Yuki turned her face to look away. Midori then grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled her face close before she softly whispered, "If you ruin me again, I swear I will make you know the pain of a thousand excruciating deaths."
She shoved Cho back into the wall and stormed away. Cho held herself and quickly ran out to the front and covered herself with a jacket. She sprinted down street, trying to get as far away from the entertainment home as possible.
Gasping for a breath, she leaned against a wall and held herself as a sob escaped from her mouth.
"Are you alright miss?" a kind voice asked.
Cho looked up. A boy with timid eyes looked at her with concern. His long dark hair was wet as he held an umbrella over her head.
Gathering up her nerves, Cho wiped her tears and nodded. The boy offered his hand to her. She took his hand and stood, trying to regain her calm composure she usually held.
"I'm sorry, you seemed to have caught me at an unpleasant moment, I do hope that I am not wasting your time," she mumbled, not looking at him directly, but rather at her feet from deep shame and embarrassment.
"Oh it's alright. My name is Hanatarou, I really enjoyed your performances at the teahouse Cho-san," the boy said as he bowed his head and smiled kindly.
She looked up into his kind eyes and couldn't help but to find herself instantly trusting the friendly person.
"Thank you," she replied.
"Perhaps this seems impolite, but what is bothering you? And goodness your cheek is red! Did a man try to do something improper with you?" Hanatarou began to rant incoherently about his worries.
She placed her hand on his shoulder as to tell him to be silent.
"It's not anything like that. I'm alright now, but something did happen back at the teahouse," she said, curing part of his concern.
"Perhaps I should escort you to where you are going, it's alright to vent to me," Hanatarou offered.
Cho raised her face to him and met his eyes. They seemed honest and his welcoming aura appealed to her.
"Yes I think that's a good idea," she agreed as they both made their way to the market.
It's been a long time since I've ever opened up to anyone. It almost hurts to speak about everything that I've kept secret for so long. The only thing that subsided this pain was those fond memories of a boy with white hair keeping me company in the field of white snow. I want to see him again…
End of Chapter 1
[1 I guess you could say that kisaengs are like the geishas of Korea. They are women who are educated in singing, playing instruments, serving tea and food, dancing, calligraphy, and many other forms art and entertained the courts with their talents. However in real life, they were actually sort of like prostitutes. You can read it up on Wikipedia. :
[2 I think it roughly translates to like the Scent of Lilacs or something. I don't know if it's Lilacs, but I do believe Kaoru means some kind of flower.
[3 Cho in Japanese means 'butterfly'. And her first name has multiple meanings, but it means snow for this particular character. So those two names together her name is Snow Butterfly, which I find to be very pretty and fitting to the story title.
Goodness, this took me awhile to vent. I've been so dead. I haven't really had a very good spark to write at all. I mean I'd rather write something that took me forever but was good, then something I wrote just to complete a story, but totally sucked. So, my other story, Dancing on His Flames, I'm slowly trying to revive that one, but I will definitely finish it. When, I really don't know.
Ok, so this story, I was watching the Korean drama Hwang Jini, and was wearing a hanbok (traditional Korean gown) and suddenly the character Yuki popped into my head and said 'Hello!'. And she was so adorable; I just had to do something with her. Earlier, I was getting worked up about how I didn't like Hitsugaya with Momo or Matsumoto, so Yuki came and I thought she'd be so cute with Hitsugaya and it worked! I'm pleased with how they're coming about in my head, but I just hope I'm expressing it well enough in my writing. Hopefully this didn't suck and you didn't feel like you wasted a lot of time reading this and don't think Yuki is a Mary-Sue.
Yuki does have a flaw, she is incredibly naïve. Which IS a flaw! And of course she's multitalented, training with an entertainment troop for years, I mean you have to be talented when dedicating all of those hours. I just wanted to get that across, I don't want people bashing on me or her. You don't have to review, but it is nice to know what you think so I know what to improve on. I hope you enjoyed it!