Strangely enough, it was Yukiko's idea to visit the spooky village shrine in January, just a few days after New Year's Day. Chie agreed, because there was a special, winter-only steak skewer sale at Souzai Daigaku nearby. I joined in quickly, the lure of real food far too tempting after three straight days of instant ramen and cheap supermarket bento. Even New Year's Day hadn't convinced old man Daidara and I to buy anything more expensive and lavish than a sushi spread.

I was still woefully unprepared for the cold. Walking across the wide snowy floodplain was dreadful. The wind would pick up strength, buffeting me like a crowd of invisible and irate bouncers. It infiltrated the holes in my jacket that I hadn't patched up, billowing under the material, trapped between my clothes and bare skin. All I could do was wrap myself up tighter in the jacket, maximizing whatever meager defense it offered against the elements. Every second spent out in the open was unpleasant, and I found myself wishing that the whole outing would simply pass quickly. Or at least skip to Souzai Daigaku, to the refuge of an outdoor heater and piping hot food.

Braced for the winter, I was not.

By the time I reached the shrine, I was dismayed to find only Yukiko waiting at the entrance. That meant having to stand around waiting for Chie. My raven-haired friend, in contrast to me, had sensibly donned on a sturdy looking tan coat, and wore thick black leggings. Spotting me walking down the road pass Tatsumi Textiles, she smiled and waved.

"Hello Saito-kun. Chie will be late, she says she's just dropping by Junes to run an errand."

"Gah, o-okay. I hope she hurries though, I'm not holding up well to this weather at all."

"Oh dear," she gasped "I'm afraid this is normal for Inaba at this time of the year. In fact, some years there is even more snowfall."

I groaned. If this was normal around here, I didn't even want to imagine three cold months repairing aerials in the heavy snow.

"Well Yukiko, I guess I know what I'll be praying for at the shrine later. Don't be too surprised if there's a warm spell next January."

Yukiko laughed. "Don't worry too much, it's just a passing season. 'Come February, spring arrives as winter flies, and snow fades swiftly.'"

I eyed Yukiko's sudden melancholic expression. That, combined with the sudden haiku recital, was an obvious sign that she had something on her mind. Falling back into old habits, I instinctively began reading the dozens of micro-expressions that my friend had shown, attempting to deduce her underlying thought processes.

She seemed preoccupied by the concept of transience, impermanence and of the insignificant nature of passing things. It affected her somehow, at a deep, personal level. But what was the connection with wint—oh, of course. Yuki, as in snow. She thought herself as a fleeting, and therefore worthless existence? It was an unexpectedly depressing point of view from my usually level-headed, if goofy friend, disquieting me greatly.

I grinned, "As expected from the Amagi princess, a haiku out of the blue. 'Is this a challenge? Should I rise up and accept? Hang on I just did.'"

Yukiko gloomy eyes turned into one of confusion, before widening in comprehension. Giggling at the hastily thrown together improvisation, I was relieved she was successfully distracted from her angst.

"'So why the long face? Yukiko Amagi-san? Troubles shared, are halved.'"

Holy shit I'm good. I should make this a hobby, I totally should.

"Saito-kun, traditionally, haiku is supposed to describe the seasons. You're not supposed to use it for any subject under the sun," she pointed out.

Somewhere out there in the world, a player needle scratched across a record.

While I grumbled under my breath, Yukiko's bearing turned serious. She dipped her head, as if contemplating something deeply. I trailed off and stayed silent, waiting, a pregnant pause hanging over us.

Snow continued to fall, quiet and noiseless as our breaths.

I saw the spark in her eyes that signaled a made up mind. She spoke slowly, carefully considering every single word.

"Have you ever felt…trapped, Saito? As if there were no trail to lead you out of the forest, no key to open the glass vault that locks you in. Each day is spent dreaming of escape, and the heart yearns for where the body cannot follow. When every action is as pointless as the next and the one before, for none of them fulfills any desire, contain any meaning or richens one's life."

She looked up at stared me in the eye

"Tell me, friend. 'What blessing to seek, when the world passes by you, behind gilded bars?'"

She had a quiet voice, steady, yet tumultuous with emotion. It was a side of her I seldom got to see, hidden beneath the manners and beauty, beneath even the honest and simple kindness. Every time Chie excitedly talked about her plans for the future, or whenever I grudgingly told the happier stories about the city, that facet of her would surface. That mixture of curiosity and wonder, gradually turning to resignation and longing.

I could half-understand where she was coming from. I too felt imprisoned in Inaba, sentenced till death, destined for a lifetime of shunning. I barely made it into school, was damned lucky to find a high-risk low-pay job, and will never be allowed to shake off my past. No matter how good some days seemed to be, it was an inescapable truth, as imposing and heavy as the mountains surrounding the city. But where she felt hopelessness, I felt frustration. Where she felt lost, I felt injustice. Where she was willing to give up, lie down and watch; I felt hot, mindless fury and the need to break something.

She was the song bird in a cage, Rapunzel in her tower. I was a rabid mutt, pacing up and down a pen.

I shook my head and put it out of my mind. Focus on your friend, Saito!

For a while, I stayed silent, unsure of how to answer Yukiko.

"I guess…I'll let you know when I myself finally find out," I answered lamely, "Good friends to lean on I suppose. That's always a good place to start with."

Geeze, that was clichéd, but I soldiered on anyway. I couldn't let it die out just like this.

"You've got Chie, as solid a friend as anyone can hope to find. She'd fight her way through a hundred thugs to rescue you, just like you would. And she'll just find some way to break into any prison, any vault, any fort. She'd ride right up to the gates of the castle, and if it didn't open when she yelled it to, she'll run in and tear it down with her own bare hands—well, legs, to get you out. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. But, no matter what, at every step of the way, you're still more than worth it to her. Who you are, what you've done, your fate and your life, all hold immeasurable value to her. So, in the end, how could that possibly make your life pointless?"

I finished, sucking in a deep breath. In the end, I did what I always did. I told her what she wanted to hear. I had to give her a hero, a knight in shining armor. Who better than the girl by her side, always so eager to extend a helping hand to anyone who needed it. Did that make it a lie? Maybe. I certainly didn't believe it would work for me. But, I did believe Chie and Yukiko would do all that for each other.

Yukiko smiled, to my secret relief. I mean, I knew she would. They always do. I've done it plenty of times to others, to hook them and reel them in. I…just wasn't sure how it would work in a non-criminal context.

"Thank you, Saito. I guess I know what to give thanks for at the shrine too."

I shrugged "Don't mention it. I'm just flattered you chose to share this with me. Oh, and Yukiko, that last haiku you used wasn't season themed either."

"It wasn't, was it? Ahaha…"

She gave an embarrassed laugh, lifting the heavy atmosphere and reminding me again, that I was still freezing in the open. I fought to control the chattering of my teeth.

Cue the Enter of the Dragon.

"HEEY GUYS! Sorry for being late! I couldn't find Yosuke at Junes."

I didn't need to control the chattering anymore. Mostly because my jaw had fallen off and dropped onto the road. Sprinting up the street was Chie, wearing a green, fur-lined jacket…

And a skirt. In winter. Without any leggings or leg warmers.

I didn't hear Yukiko's response; my mind was too busy howling in disbelief. Here I was, a tough-as-nails ex-gutter rat, accustomed to a youth of exposure and hard living, and I was barely controlling my shivers! Her lighter attire obviously wasn't due to some local born immunity; Yukiko and a lot of the people I'd walked past were dressed for the weather too. Nonetheless, gleefully roundhouse kicking reason in the face, were Chie's bare legs, toned to exquisite perfection and smooth as marble. As my gaze followed them all the way up, a smoky saxophone solo started playing in my head.

I turned around, and smacked my face noisily against a light pole.

"S-Saito! What are you doing?"

Personally, I felt it was an ingenious solution. It shocked my brain back into decency, as well as providing a convenient explanation for the eminent nose bleed. Suddenly, I was very glad for the cold, although my face felt unusually warm.

"Bi vought bi beard vomebone ball ve vrom behind (I thought I heard someone call me from behind.)"

Surprisingly, Yukiko hadn't burst out in yet another fit of laughter, and was instead busy taking out a handkerchief to stem the flow of blood. Chie simply sputtered, wearing a gob-smacked expression and alternating between exclamations of incredulity and questions about my health and sanity.

The rest of the day was spent at the shrine and conversing over steak croquettes. I enjoyed the food and the company, and while I tried to keep my mind out of the gutter, I couldn't help enjoying the view of my friend's snowy white legs. The way they crossed and uncrossed under the table, the way they dangled freely from the edge of the chair. My imagination ran a thousand kilometers an hour, imagining myself trapping them in a leg hold during one of our spars. Or getting trapped in one. While we toppled onto the floor and she pinned me down and…

*bash*

"Saito, why did you punch yourself for?!"

"I was losing the feeling in my face from the cold."

"…"