A/N: Flashback chapter! Sorry this one is kinda shorter than normal but it's mostly just to establish some of the things Setsuko might talk about in later chapters.
Crackling flames danced in the middle of the quiet snow covered village. Far from most other homes and people, the tiny burning house fell apart bit by bit. Ashen smoke rose up high, turning what snow that fell into a black blanket. Roaring flames barely covered the sound of wooden beams falling to the ground with thunderous thuds. A bone chilling wind blew through the house only making the flames climb higher. Feet away from the destroyed house, a little girl sat on her knees clutching a soot covered book and crying. Her salty tears cut through the snow beneath her making tiny holes in each place they dropped. Her tiny fingers curled around the book as tight as they could go, never planning on letting the object go. A loud, drawn out creak made her look up to see the support beam of the house fall over and topple most of the house with it. More tears flowed from her eyes as she screamed in pain and sadness.
Medium length, platinum blonde hair fell from its ponytail to drape around the little girl's shoulders, her big, innocent, blue eyes pink and puffy from the crying. She sat in the snow barefoot and in nothing but a small blue kimono with a white obi sash, covered head to toe in soot and burns. Her tiny body only shook from the waterfall of tears that the let run from her eyes, the cold not even a concern for her. Shaking her head, her hair bouncing around in the process, she tried to make it seem like a nightmare but every time she would open her eyes again she would see nothing but reality. It couldn't be real!
"Daddy!" the little girl screamed at the top of her lungs, as if calling to him would miraculously save him. He had run in to save her after she went to save the book she now clutched in her small hands.
Wiping her eyes, she slowly began to stand. Her legs shook and buckled, causing her to fall back to her knees in the powder soft snow. All her crying had caused her to become weak. Feeling tired and unable to keep her drying eyes open anymore, she closed them, falling over in the process. The book lay between her short arms while her almost white hair seemed to blend with the snow around her; the only thing to distinguish her from the snow was her blue kimono. Long after the fire had begun to die on its own feet appeared beside the little girl. An older man, with graying black hair, looked down at her with such sorrow in his blue eyes. Slowly he bent down and picked her up, making sure to take the book she seemed to cling to as well.
The feeling of swaying caused the little girl to let her eyes flutter open. Her eyes looked towards the grey sky above them, watching snow fall to the earth around them. A beautiful silence often befell the village with the snowfall. The villagers attributed it to the death of a person because it often happened after death. It didn't even have to be people from their village, if someone died, the heavens cried for them. Although she wanted to cry and scream, her body wouldn't let her. It was as if she had gone numb; unable to move or speak.
"Oh, so you're awake," the old man said with a smile. She didn't say a word. "You had me worried for a minute there. Falling asleep in the snow like that, you'll catch your death if you do such crazy things!" She stared at him but never once replied to him. "What's your name little one?" he asked, looking at her with a sweet look only an old man could give.
"Setsuko." Her reply was short and quiet, nothing more and nothing less.
"Well Setsuko, I hope you don't mind but I'm taking you to a place where you'll never be alone again," he said as they walked through the village, Setsuko still covered in soot.
At first, Setsuko had no idea what he meant. The grip on her book tightened as she thought about being alone for the rest of her life. She was orphaned now; no one would ever be there for her again. She had no family and no friends. There was just emptiness where there should be love. How could this old man change any of that? Her parents left her alone in the world to fend for herself; nothing could change that. Blue eyes flickered up to see a big imposing building made of ice and snow. It almost looked like a castle with its pointed roof tops and arched stained glass windows. The big double doors swung open and were far bigger than either of them could ever hope to be in their lives. Standing in the threshold of the building was a stern, sickly looking old woman with long stringy hair and boney fingers. Her eyes were a dull shade of blue from aging and looked as if they cared little for anyone or anything. She held a cane with a beautiful crystal snowflake on the top and tapped it against the echoing stones to grab the attention of a much younger woman walking across the courtyard that seemed to lay behind the doors.
When the two of them reached the doors, the old man set Setsuko down to stand on her own two feet. Looking up at the old woman from her 3'1" stature, she couldn't help cower behind the old man. Her body still had trouble staying still from the crying fit she had only moments ago, causing her to tremble against the man's leg. With bangs covering most of her blotchy face, she looked past the old woman when she saw kids running around the courtyard. There was laughter and smiles from many of them. Setsuko couldn't remember the last time she had heard the voices of other children; her father and her lived too far away from the village to really interact with many people. Without realizing it, a hand gripped hers and started puling her closer to the giant building and crowd of kids. Looking back at the old man, he was already gone, as if he had never even been there.
"We'll get you cleaned up before meeting the other kids okay?" the young woman holding her hand said as she guided Setsuko through the courtyard.
"There's no need for that. She's more than capable of meeting the other children now," the old woman spat in a voice only befitting a witch. She stole Setsuko's hand from the younger woman and harshly dragged her over to the other children, ushering them in with a few strikes of her cane. "Children!" she called, earning their undivided attention. "This is Setsuko Ayani, she's a new arrival. Make her feel welcome."
With that introduction, Setsuko stared at all the eyes staring back at her. Some looked like they felt for her and others just glared, but with the statement made by the head of the orphanage, she couldn't help but feel tears begin to brim her eyes. Tearing her hand out of the older woman's, Setsuko ran away from the crowd even though she had no idea where she was going, she just had to get away. She ran and ran and ran, for who knows how long. Her little body gained as much distance as it could before it began to hurt and collapsed. She slid down against a snow covered tree and began to sob. Her knees were tucked against her chest, head buried in them as she cried and cried. She screamed as loud as she could, her voice breaking every few seconds from the strain. She just couldn't believe that her father was gone! Having never known her mother, it seemed even more heartbreaking that she was now left all alone in the world. In the moments she had to suck in air to keep herself from suffocating, she heard a voice calling to her; it was soothing, warm, almost motherly.
The voice called her name like a song, echoing in her ears. It told her to look up, to show her beautiful face and so, she did so. As she let her eyes wander up, Setsuko saw the strangest thing her three year old eyes had ever seen. There before her, was a glowing snowflake, almost as big as her head. The ornate details in each limb, the glittering reflection of the nonexistent sunlight; everything about it caused her to stop. She didn't know what it was, but something compelled her to touch the snowflake. The very odd, glowing snowflake. With eyes full of awe and wonder, she slowly let her hand stretch out and touched it every so gently. Suddenly, the ice made beauty reacted by circling around a few times rapidly before Setsuko watched it disappear into her body.
Her head snapped up when she heard voices coming her way. "Hey! New kid," a kid shouted, jogging over to her. She watched as three older kids made their way to her quickly, looking at her with strange looks; all three of them were boys. "Hey, how old are you?"
"…Three…" she answered quietly, hesitating in her words because she was unsure of what they wanted with her. The one that looked to be the leader, as he was standing in front of the other two talking to her, was much taller than her with white hair and piercing, deep, dark blue eyes.
The boy towered over her even though he was no older than ten or eleven and Setsuko felt a sense of dread deep in her gut. His once mock playful look turned into a scowl and it was all directed at her, "So you knew your parents huh?"
Setsuko fidgeted under his gaze as it bore holes into the top of her head, "Mm…just my daddy…" she replied slowly, still uneasy. Suddenly she was pushed to the ground, looking up at the boys with curious fear.
"Well aren't you just the lucky one, eh Princess?" he teased angrily as he violently pushed her down. He straddled her tiny legs as one hand gripped at the collar of her kimono tightly and a fist rose above his head.
"Wh-wha-what do you mean?" she squeaked in terror as she looked at the angry fire raging in his eyes, reminding her of only hours before. What was she supposed to do? She had never been in a situation like this before. All that she knew was that her body was frozen and she was terrified.
His scowl only deepened at her question. "I mean that you're the only one here to know either of your parents. That's more than the rest of us have!" he yelled, his fist clenching tighter and his knuckles whitening. Setsuko's eyes widened when she saw his fist rapidly descending towards her face, unable to react and understand his reasoning.
The boy's fist slammed against the side of her face, snapping her neck to the side. After processing the hit, her only known action was to start crying. She didn't know how to defend herself. She didn't know how to prevent herself from crying and take a hit like it didn't bother her; she was three years old, she didn't understand much. What she did understand was a strange feeling bubbling inside of her, like the rage of a caged beast that wanted nothing more than to rip apart the people that taunted it. She could feel it, slowly creeping up further with every hit after the first. Even though she was sure she was barely conscious after the first three, she could still understand, she could feel. Never in her life had she been in a fight and she never once had to be scared that her life was in danger, however, today seemed to be the exception. Her life had been in danger twice now.
"Stop!" her apparently sobbing voice choked out. She was in hysterics as she felt something different then a punch hit her. A swift, sharp pain to her gut caused the wind to be knocked out of her and that feeling that was boiling to the surface to be freed. The wind around her began to howl and rage like a blizzard as the soft powder around her turned to sharp shards of ice.
The boy that was holding her instantly let go, not understanding was what happening, "What the hell?"
"Hey!" a new voice shouted from behind them. A boy came running up to the scene and instantly punched the boy that had been harassing Setsuko without giving a warning. "Back off the new kid!" he scowled at all three of them. Turning to her, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled, "From today to forever, she's under my protection," his head whipped around to glare daggers at the boys, "If I ever see any of you touch her again…I'll rip you apart." He watched the boys run and turned back to Setsuko.
Hunched over and trying to keep whatever was happening to her at bay, she didn't notice the newcomer until he placed his gentle touch on her shoulder. She looked up and was greeted with a smile, "Wh-who are you?" she asked, tears still running down her face.
The boy beamed at her, "Maki. I'll be your protector forever Setsuko." He helped her to her feet and continued to smile down at her.
"You…you know my name?" she asked, blushing.
"Well, that old bag that runs this place did say it in front of everyone," he chuckled with a shrug. Looking at her, he sympathetically wiped her tears away, never once tearing his gaze away from her eyes, "One day, you and I are going to get married!" His gentle smile turned into a cheeky, confident and toothy grin after this sentence and Setsuko couldn't help but just stare silently.