Sakuchii: Although I promised to write Shirou x OC, I just really really wanted to write this one first! The special SOOC!

Aiko: We shall thank, Yuki-chan for lending her OC in our hands! (bows deep)

Yukiko: Ours? What do you mean ours? We are merely characters in writers' minds...

Aiko: Ahahahahaa... Right...

Pairing: Ichinose Kazuya x Aoi Yuki

Rating: T

Gender: Romance/Tragedy/Drama

Summary: She gave her life – he would give his love.

Ichinose: Sakuchii doesn't own Inazuma Eleven or the charas on it. She only owns her OCs and all the other OCs belong to their rightful owners. Also thankies to spinklesomesalt for betaing!

Love Has No Limits In Time And Space
~ Ichinose x Yuki ~

"Thank you for taking care of me!" Ichinose smiled happily as he walked out of the rehabilitation center. It was already late and the boy who had brown hair and black eyes with long eyelashes hurried towards the train station. He didn't want to miss the last train, because otherwise he had to walk more than five kilometers.

The cold winter air hit Ichinose right in his face, even though he had covered it with a big blue scarf. The orange quilted jacket that he had brought from America was nearly warm enough to endure Japan's winters. But Ichinose wasn't really fond of being transferred back to Japan: he had liked it more in America.

The brunet stopped for a moment as he felt a stabbing pain in his knee. He was currently recovering from a surgery because of his accident. He had been hit by a motorcycle while he was trying to rescue a puppy which had ran into the middle of the road. The doctors had told him not to strain his leg too much and to stop every time his injury throbbed, continuing only after the pain was gone.

Ichinose didn't remember much of the accident, it had all been so fast and sudden, but he had heard that the passenger on the motorcycle died after it spun out of control. Apparently, she had been a young girl traveling with her brother.

When the pain had finally subsided, Ichinose continued on his way. He was halted by a red light – his time was running out – and Ichinose decided not to wait for them to change green and turned to the left. He knew that this path was a little longer, but the train would be pulling in any minute and he had no time to waste.

The brown haired boy speed walked and arrived at a park. He knew that he had almost reached his goal – now he only had to walk through this park and he would finally arrive at the train station. The boy hurriedly ran forward, his breath coming out in puffs in the icy air as he strode through the path, but stopped when he saw an unusual sight.

There was a girl standing in the middle of the small wooden bridge that spanned a little brook. She was barefooted and in a short white dress, her pure white hair whipping around her in the midwinter wind. The girl tucked her bangs behind her ears and Ichinose saw her emotionless snow-white eyes, reflecting the frozen expanse of water beneath her.

Ichinose froze. The scene before him was literally so stunning that he forgot to breathe – never before had he seen such a beautiful girl. The ragged dress spun in the wind, and her hair almost looked like it was dancing. He was so entranced by her ethereal beauty that he completely forgot that he was in a hurry. She looked like an angel – all pure and white and innocent.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her – Ichinose stared at the girl and her unusual colorings. He couldn't understand how she hadn't caught hypothermia already with the flimsy dress she was wearing. It was so cold that his breath formed clouds in the air, yet the girl looked completely at ease in her surroundings.

But the most amazed Ichinose the most was her eyes. He had never seen such gorgeous eyes – they looked like snowflakes when the sun hit them at a certain angle, filling them with an icy sort of warmth as she smiled softly.

He was so absorbed in her eyes that he didn't realize that the girl had turned to look at him with an amused smile on her face. "Yes?" she asked, politely inquisitive and his eyes widened from the sudden question.

Ichinose was completely taken aback – what was he supposed to say? He had been caught staring at her, that was embarrassment enough. The girl looked at Ichinose, waiting for an answer as the boy desperately tried to come up with something that didn't make him out as a creepy pervert.

"No – I just – It's just that – Argh!" he cursed, trying and failing to come up with an excuse. The girl giggled lightly at his dilemma. Finally Ichinose decided to give up and sighed exasperatedly, "I was wondering why you were dressed so lightly when it's so cold outside."

The girl's eyes widened imperceptibly and she glanced at herself. All she had on was the sheer, strapless dress, whose jagged edges ended long before her knees. She wasn't even wearing shoes, standing barefoot on the frosted wood.

A fleeting look of surprise crossed her face before she turned to Ichinose, smiling, "Ah, you're right. I guess next time I should wear more clothes – that way I wouldn't look so strange…" her words drifted off into the air.

There was a short silence before Ichinose realized that he had left his manners somewhere before he met the girl. "I completely forgot to introduce myself, I'm Ichinose Kazuya," he bowed. There was a small smirk was seen on the her face as she bowed back, "And I'm Aoi Yuki. It's nice to meet you."

Ichinose smiled, everything about the girl was intriguing – her clothing, her hair color, the faint otherworldness about her. He would have loved to stay and talk more with her, but then he heard the train's horn. His eyes widened and he quickly glanced at his watch – it was already late, but if he hurried he could make it to the last train.

"I'm sorry, but my train is about to leave, I really have to go now," the boy explained in hurry while Yuki just nodded understandingly.

Ichinose was about to run, but then stopped and glanced at the girl, "Would it be okay to meet tomorrow?" Yuki nodded again and a warmth spread in his heart, melting the ice he didn't know he had.

"See you tomorrow at 5 o'clock!" he shouted while leaving the angelic girl alone in the abandoned park.

The bell rang and Ichinose left school as fast as possible. He had to skip his club activities to meet with Aoi Yuki, but ever since the accident, he had been forbidden from playing soccer. Right now, it gave him the freedom to keep his promise with the mysterious girl.

The boy headed immediately towards the park near the train station where he had met the girl the day earlier. Hurrying down the empty path, he reached the wooden bridge where he had last seen her. Catching sight of a wisp of white hair, he called out, "Aoi-chan."

She gave a start before turning towards him. "Ichinose-san!" Yuki waved her hand and Ichinose was surprised how differently the girl was dressed. She now had on a proper woolen coat and a scarf around her neck. She was wearing a short skirt, but had on stockings and knee-high boots. However, every article of her clothing was still white. No matter where Ichinose looked, it was white, white and white.

"Sorry to make you wait, Aoi-san." the boy apologized as he walked towards Yuki. The girl smiled kindly and shook her head. "No, it's nothing, I just arrived," the girl giggled with a typical reply and continued, "And please call me Yuki."

Ichinose turned to Yuki and smiled, "Then you can call me Kazuya." Yuki's eyes widened before a light smile appeared on her face. Ichinose stared at the girl standing before him and couldn't stop his own smile from answering hers, "So what do you want to do, Yuki?"

The girl glanced at Ichinose and flashed the boy an inexplicable smile, "There is one thing that I have always wanted to do, but it seemed impossible…" the smile on Yuki's face faded away with her voice and the girl lowered her head to stare at the frozen brook under the bridge.

Ichinose was stunned to hear the beatific girl speaking in such a haunting tone. "And what's that?" he asked, curious, feeling an unexplainable urge to cheer her up. He wanted to see her smile again.

Yuki looked up, hope flitting across her features, but then she shook her head and closed her eyes, "I wanted to have a date with the person I love but – but he doesn't even know who I am, and I'm leaving this place tomorrow." Stifling a sob, she turned to him and looked up, her translucent eyes filling with unshed tears before she suddenly flung herself at him.

Ichinose stared down at the girl, who was squeezing his hands so hard she cut off his blood circulation, burying her face on his jacket to hide the tears that were appearing to the corners of her eyes. Ichinose let go of Yuki's hand – inwardly noticing how cold they were – and softly stroked her quicksilver hair while trying to calm the girl down, "Well, I may not know you that well – I may not be that special person, but I can go on a date with you…if – if that's okay with you…"

He didn't understand what made him say it. He barely knew this girl and had agreed to go on a date with her. There was something – something unfathomable that made him say those words to her.

Yuki raised her head and sniffed few times, eyeing him warily. Ichinose gulped as her watery eyes suddenly caught him in their gaze. "Will you really?" she asked softly. Ichinose nodded watching the wide smile that spread across her face as she started to jump up and down.

"Then let's go!" the girl laughed and held Ichinose's hand, dragging him behind her.

Ichinose had never been on a date and wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, it seemed that Yuki already had a plan on how to spend the day. The girl also explained that the person she loved was an upperclassman from her school, athletic, sweet and kind to everyone. Ichinose listened closely to her chattering and inwardly thought that it would be nice to be able to meet that person to whom Yuki was so attracted to.

The girl first took them to cinema to watch a romantic comedy – Ichinose stared at her instead of the movie – after what they went to a café to have something to fill their stomach with – Ichinose had ended up buying nearly the entire menu to satisfy the girl's sweet tooth. Then it was to the amusement park – he secretly reveled at the way Yuki clutched his arm with her icy fingers on the high rides – and at last the couple made their way to the mall.

"Here we are!" Yuki laughed happily as she walked inside, looking around at the many shops. Ichinose couldn't hide his smile when he saw the girl running around the mall like a little child.

"ICHINOSE!" the boy suddenly heard a familiar voice calling for him. He turned around to find two girls walking towards him.

"You're in the mall – did something happen?" they teased – it was well known that the boy didn't like crowded places.

"Yeah, well, I'm here with someone," he answered and laughed. He didn't notice the dark figure staring at him, clearly torn.

After Ichinose had concluded his conversation with his classmates, he turned around to search for Yuki. To his surprise, the girl was standing right behind him. "Oh, there you are. I was getting worried, where did you go?" he asked, confused as to why she was lowering her head and not meeting his eyes.

Yuki looked up at Ichinose, her expression bordered on miserable – she looked like she would cry any moment. "I guess it would be better if we ended the date here. It was a nice day, thanks for helping, but I need to go now," the girl said and walked past Ichinose, leaving him alone in the mall with a terrible sense of foreboding.

The brunet snapped back to his world when he heard the bell ringing. A few days had passed since his date with Yuki and he hadn't managed to see the girl anymore – she wasn't at the bridge, she wasn't in school, he had even gone back to the mall out of desperation. Her words had a tone of finality about them and Ichinose was afraid that he would never see her again.

"Ichinose-kun, can you take these to the music clubroom, please?" the teacher asked as he was about to leave the classroom. He agreed and took a pile of papers as a girl came up to help.

"I'll take half," Nogizaka Kaya, his classmate, smiled at him before reliving him of half his burden. Ichinose sighed in vexation, but at the same time, felt relieved.

The truth was that practically no one except for Kaya spoke to him – his class left him alone for the most part.

Ichinose and Kaya had almost made their way to the music class when the boy suddenly bumped into someone, dropping the papers and causing them to scatter on the floor. Ichinose quickly apologized to the person and started to pick up the papers. All of sudden a stack of papers appeared in front of his face, as if someone was handing it to him.

Ichinose looked up in surprise. Much to his shock, his eyes met with a pair of snow-white orbs identical to the ones he had seen nearly a week ago. For a moment, he thought that Yuki was standing before him, but then he realized that instead of white hair, the student had short, jet black hair – moreover, he was a boy.

"I'm will never forgive you," the boy said, his eyes hardening in a way that Yuki's never did, while dropping the stack of papers so that it made more of a mess. Shooting a bemused Ichinose one last glare, he turned around and strolled away, his hands in his pockets.

Ichinose was so stunned about the boy's reaction that he didn't even notice the two indigo-haired girls that were running around him, picking up the papers he had dropped.

"Yuuya-san, you're so mean!" one of the girls yelled and gave the papers back to Ichinose.

"That's not how you're supposed to speak to someone," the other girl - whom Ichinose recognized as the vice-president of stundet council - said to Yuuya's retreating back before smiling at Ichinose. Once they had collected all the papers, both girls ran off down the corridor that Yuuya had gone into. Ichinose stood up and glanced at Kaya as if demanding an explanation for the puzzling behavior.

Kaya closed her eyes and sighed, "He's Aoi Yuuya from 3-D. Apparently, it seems his younger sister died few months ago in an accident. He was driving his motorcycle while she was sitting in the back. All of sudden someone ran in the middle of the road, while rescuing a puppy, and he tried to swerve out of the way. He landed in a clump of bushes but his sister wasn't so fortunate."

Ichinose froze. He felt the memories coming back to him, the flashes of headlights and the fractured screams. He remembered the blurry images of the motorcycle, the shocked expression on the driver's face. He remembered the smile on the girl's face as she laughed, unaware of the danger. The smile she had died wearing.

The boy shook his head to clear his thoughts as his eyes watered. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Ichinose asked hoarsely, "What was his sister's name?"

Kaya raised her eyebrows at the unusual question, "Her name was Aoi Yuk –"

Before she completed her answer, Ichinose had already ran through the corridors, heading out of the building. Not bothering to change his indoor slippers and take his jacket, he sped through the streets – it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except seeing her again.

Panting heavily, Ichinose sprinted through the park and towards the bridge. The meeting with Yuki's older brother and Kaya's words had left him stunned, grasping at an explanation that made no sense at all. Now he finally understood why Yuki had acted that way all this time – she was never cold, her hands were like ice, she disappeared when his classmates showed up.

But he still wanted one question answered – why had she wanted to go on a date with him? Would have she agreed if it had been anyone else? He needed to hear her answer and the only place where he knew he would be able to find Yuki was the bridge.

Before he had managed to run even half of the way, he felt the stabbing pain in his knee. Ichinose winced, but kept running forward without stopping. At the moment the Aoi Yuki and his feelings towards her were more important than his injured knee. If it came to it then he would gladly sacrifice his leg so that he could meet with the girl.

She lost her life – he was more than prepared to lose a limb.

When Ichinose arrived at the bridge, he immediately clutched the railing, supporting himself as his knee seared with the knifing pain. His hands were shaking and with every cold breath he took, it felt like someone was twisting a serrated blade in his lungs. He needed to calm down before he could do anything else, the hysteria was already threatening to overwhelm him.

Ichinose tried to look around him as his vision blurred and cleared, his heart beating as fast as ever, but soon realized that the girl wasn't there, just like the many other times he had tried to see her again.

Tears formed in the corner of his eyes, as Ichinose clutched himself, trying to subdue the aching feeling that arose from his chest. The agony of his heart was even overshadowing his lungs and his knee – it felt like a part of him was shattering, a part of him that he didn't even realize was there. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath before shouting, "Yuki, where are you? Yuki! I want to see you! I've missed you so much!" His words echoed around the desolate scenery but there was no sign of the pale, white girl.

Feeling something break inside of him, he lowered his head while letting the tears fall on the ground. He no longer had the energy to shout, but whispered, letting his words be carried away on the wind, "Why did you do this to me, Yuki? You left, without letting me say goodbye – and just when I realized my feelings for you. You disappeared, only when I finally knew that I loved – love…" Ichinose's words trailed off as he sensed a presence. Looking up, he gaped as he saw a young girl with snow-white hair and matching lucent eyes standing before him, wearing only the insubstantial dress she had worn on the day they had met.

"…you," he finished. He stood up and stared into the girl's eyes, searing into them as if he wanted to memorize every flicker and spark.

A shy smile appeared on Yuki's face as she chuckled, "It's so good to see you again."

Ichinose couldn't believe his eyes – couldn't believe that she was actually standing in front of him, couldn't believe that he could once more see the person he had fallen in love with even after her death. "You're – you're actually here? I thought that you – that you had passed on already," he questioned. He finally understood the meaning of the words she had last parted with.

The girl's eyes widened as she heard Ichinose's question. He had finally realized who she was – what she was. He knew that she no longer lived or breathed. He knew that she wasn't even a human anymore. Yuki lowered her head and placed her right palm on her chest, right where her heart used to be. There was no sound, no familiar rhythm, no dispute to the fact that she was well and truly dead. It was hollow inside.

After a long silence, Yuki finally dared to slant her head towards Ichinose and look straight into the boy's black eyes. "I should have," she murmured, "I should have left to the skies. I shouldn't have stayed back to walk the earth. The only reason why I stayed was because of you." Ichinose showed every sign of trying to interrupt but Yuki held up a hand to stall him. She didn't think she could finish if she heard what he had to say.

"My last wish is the only reason I'm still here," she blinked away a tear, "My wish to have a date with the person I love – you. My wish has finally been granted," the girl looked up and smiled, showing the warmth in her icy eyes.

"Ichinose Kazuya, I love you."

The boy's eyes widened as he remembered her earlier words. She had told him that she loved an upperclassman from the same school, someone that was good in sports and had an affable personality. But Ichinose that never considered the connection between himself and Yuki's mysterious crush. Even as he came to the startling realization, Yuki's figure was beginning to disappear. She had accomplished her final wish – now nothing was tying her to the mortal world.

She was free.

Ichinose wrapped his hands around the fading girl and closed his eyes. Yuki did the same, with arms that were nothing more than insubstantial vapors. Just before her soul vanished, she heard him whispering into her ear, "I love you too, Aoi Yuki." Yuki smiled, as light as air, and pressed her lips to his, the last moment of contact before she flew to the heavens.

Ichinose kept his eyes closed, feeling the warmness of Yuki's lips on his, the heat that didn't subside even though he knew she was gone. When he opened his eyes he was standing alone, staring at the gray sky, wondering where she had gone.

A little snowflake fell on Ichinose's cheek – a parting gift – and even though it was freezing cold, a sudden warmness rushed through his body.

He smiled at her last kindness, his mind overflowing with questions – why was this all happening to him? Why now? What if he had met her earlier? What if that terrible day never happened? What would he do now? Would she wait for him, wait an eternity in the afterlife until he joined her? But even with all this questions and all his doubts, he was sure of one thing.

He had fallen in love with girl, who no longer lived in the same world as he did.

Sakuchii: That's it for it!

Aiko: You make no sense!

Yukiko: Next time we see you with the "Shirou x OC" pairing!

Aiko: See you all then!

~ deshii