Chapter 1

It was a clouded, snowless morning when Aizawa Yuuichi touched down at the airport in Hokkaido, but with a thick winter storm having passed through the day before, it did nothing to stop the woe of delays on the ground. Not only had he messed up the transfer from Chitose to Sapporo, but the express line to Asahikawa had been delayed almost an hour. And with someone waiting at the station to pick him up, he was beginning to get impatient. It was 1999, and though cell phones were becoming quite widespread in Japan, he still had yet to buy one. When he arrived that was the first thing he'd do, he swore. But while he lamented his lack of planning, nothing could be changed now. So instead, he let his mind begin to wander, staring out the window as the train traversed the endless landscape of white, shimmering fields.

It had been seven years since he'd last seen such a winter display. To someone his age, it was half a lifetime. His family used to visit every year when he was young—his mother was from Hokkaido—but he couldn't seem to remember one bit of it. Childhood memories were like that. Faces, names, a couple of vague and frosted images: they all just blurred together. For all he knew, it was the same for everyone else. Just a simple shortcoming of a growing child's mind.

He was seventeen now, going on his last semester of the second year of high school. You'd think it would be a bit strange for someone like him to be traveling just after New Year's, so close to the next semester. And, well, it was: this was no simple trip. It was the start of a whole new life. In a short few days, he'd be at a new school, living in a new house, in this new place. His parents always had a passion for charity work: so when they'd received an opportunity with the Overseas Volunteer Corps, they packed their bags and headed off for Honduras, leaving their only son behind in Japan. At least they were sane enough to see that dragging your child off to a third-world country wouldn't do wonders for their education. So instead, his mother called up her sister Akiko, asking if she'd be willing to look after their teenage son for the next two years. Of course, she offered to pay for his living expenses, too; but Akiko, being the stubbornly kind person that she was, couldn't take the money. He did feel a little bad—like they were taking advantage of her—but it was something of a relief to know that he would at least be in good hands.

Now, what would be new to him was that this was the first time living away from his parents—though in truth, even that wasn't too far from the norm. Because of their work, they were usually never around. And for the same reason, their family tended to move around a lot when he was young, so he learned to never get accustomed to any single place. Maybe that was why he never seemed to have any real friends. If he was moving away again in another year or two, what was the point? It sounded quite lonely when you put it like that, but Yuuichi didn't really mind. He became quite good at just enjoying things as they came, living in the moment, and then parting ways without looking back. He might have even said he took pride in it.

In fact, it had only been just a few short days, and already he could hardly even remember the last place he'd been living. To him it was all the same. That was probably why when his mother reminded him of how they'd always used to visit, he couldn't even picture it. It was true, of course: he knew it was, and he could recall a list of facts. He remembered his cousin, Nayuki. He remembered Akiko was nice. He remembered it was cold. But beyond that, it was a wall shrouded in darkness. He could feel its presence, something looming there in front of him, but he couldn't quite see it. So in that sense, did it really even exist?

The rhythmic "clack-clack" of the wheels began to slow, and the intercom buzzed with its little musical chime, a voice announcing: "We will soon be approaching Inarizaka Station. Inarizaka…"

Before he noticed, a city had emerged from the white countryside. Yuuichi picked up his bag and waited as they rolled into the station. With a hiss the doors opened and he stepped outside, quickly assaulted by the frigid air, and felt the warmth leave his body like his soul had up and gone to heaven. He looked around; the beams of the overhead shelter were painted in rust, black mold dripping down the exposed concrete walls. Nothing was familiar. Spotting the entrance to the building at the end of the platform, he quickly rushed inside, navigating through the hallways and ticket gates and out to the drop-off area, where he had expected to find a very slightly annoyed Nayuki waiting to greet him.

Since Akiko didn't have a car, she was sending her daughter to go pick him up. They lived about fifteen minutes or so from the station, so it wasn't too much of a walk. They agreed that she'd be waiting for him in the plaza out front… the empty plaza covered in about half a foot of snow. There were just some businessmen walking past. Maybe she'd gone inside? It was pretty freezing out here, after all. But he didn't see her anywhere inside the little station. So, figuring she must have just gone off to buy a drink or use the bathroom, he cleared a seat for himself on one of the benches and waited.

As the minutes went by, he started to wonder if she really was coming, after all. A light snow was picking up, and he was getting tired of brushing it off his shoulders. They really should have chosen another meeting spot. What was taking her so long? Could she seriously have gotten lost? From what he could remember, Nayuki was a little ditzy. But surely not, though, since she was the one that lived here. Maybe something happened? Hopefully not. But just when he was thinking to look around for a payphone, he saw a figure in the distance: a girl running down the street in his direction. Yuuichi stood up from the bench, watching as she approached, stopping just short of him. She bent over with her hands on her legs, catching her breath, and then finally, she looked up.

"You're covered in snow," she said. Her voice had a certain warmth to it that almost put him to sleep. Somehow it burned away the grievance that had built up inside of him, boiling down to nothing but a tired disappointment.

"...Well, yeah," he sighed. "I've been here for half an hour."

She looked up at the clock outside the station. "Eh? I thought it was still around three…"

"That's still an hour later than we planned."

"Sorry… you must be cold, huh?" Nayuki brushed the loose snow off of his head. "I'll buy you something warm."

"I dunno, I think it's already too late for me. Might have to amputate something."

She laughed meekly, trying to ignore his snide response. "Seven years, huh…" she said, looking somewhere into the distance. "It's been such a long time. Hey, do you still remember my name?"

"Well, do you even know mine?"

"Yuuichi."

"Hanako," he said with utmost confidence.

"That's not—"

He shot up a finger. "Wait! …Jiro?"

"I'm a girl, Yuuichi..."

"Ah, that's all I got. I'm really gonna freeze if we keep standing here doing this." Yuuichi turned away and began to walk off. "Let's hurry up and get home."

"W-Wait! Do you not—"

"Nayuki," he said, stifling a laugh as he glanced back over his shoulder. "Come on, what kind of question is that? Let's get going. I don't wanna stand here all day."

She sighed in relief as she ran up to his side. Nayuki taking the lead, they headed off in the general direction of the house, and in the meantime Yuuichi explained the reasons for his delay. When questioned, however, Nayuki couldn't seem to place exactly why she'd been late on her part, and though he wasn't particularly annoyed, her evasiveness made him curious. Or maybe he really just enjoyed bothering her, something which he felt had always been the case. Eventually she conceded, hiding her face away as she tried to put it into words:

"I, um… saw this really cute cat, okay? And I started following it, and then all of a sudden I realized that I didn't know where I was…"

"What?" he laughed. "Wait... weren't you allergic to them or something?"

"I am, but they're just so cute, you know? Mom won't let me get one, so anytime I see them on the street I just can't help it."

"Jeez, talk about a one-track mind. Don't you have an ounce of self-restraint? Besides, how do you even get lost in a town you've lived in your whole life?"

"Shut up…"

"Well, anyway, we were both late: so let's just forget about it and call it even, yeah?" He gave her a nudge with his fist. "Here, I'll even buy you something, too."

Together they passed through the storefronts and businesses of the central district, catching up with some small talk about school and all the things that had happened. At the first vending machine they saw, Yuuichi grabbed a hot coffee for himself, while Nayuki chose a strawberry milk, and they continued on. The environment morphed into houses and playgrounds as they entered the neighborhood, and it all seemed very forgettable—a standard mid-size city in Japan, nothing special to him, but nothing bad per se. It was just hard to think that he had once been here before. If there was any proof, then he had yet to see it. But there were many days to come.

"I wonder how Akiko's feeling," Yuuichi said. "I hope it's not too much of a bother, me staying here."

"Don't worry! She's really excited to see you. It's been so long, right? You guys used to visit all the time."

"Yeah, that's what my mom said too. Feels like ages ago."

"Why did you stop visiting, anyway?

He scoffed. "Who knows? Same old reason, I guess. Parents are too busy for their own family. Work, those sorts of things. Important stuff."

Sensing the venom in his tone, Nayuki shrank back a little. For a while the only sound was the crunching of snow beneath their feet as she tried to think of something else. She didn't. But soon enough she saw the familiar-looking home just down the road.

"Oh! We're here," she said, pointing to it.

Yuuichi took a moment to pause, letting out a deep breath into the cold air. "This is the place, huh…"

Nayuki took him through the gate and up onto the porch, where she opened the front door. "Mom! I'm back!" she called out into the house.

"Welcome home!" her voice echoed from beyond. They heard her slippers clack as she appeared around the stairway, greeting them with a soft smile. "Oh, Yuuichi!" she exclaimed. "It's so nice to see you. You've grown so much!" The awe was written on her face as she gave him a quick look up and down. "I remember when you were barely up here," she laughed, putting a hand at her chest for a visual.

"W-Well, I'd be more surprised if I didn't…"

"Come, come inside. I'll get you some tea. We have a lot to catch up on."

She offered to take his bags, which he politely refused, and lugged them into the doorway where he could take his shoes off. Their house was… again, nothing familiar; but it was quite nice, very spacious for a family of two. It had a certain glowing warmth to it, with its wood-panel design and soft beige walls. Maybe that was on purpose, given how cold Hokkaido was. The living room was much the same, with a palette matching the cozy leather seats and rustic coffee table. While he and Nayuki sat down on the couch, Akiko returned with a pot of tea.

"How was your trip?" she asked, pouring out a cup for him. "It must be nerve-wracking, a young man like you traveling all alone."

Yuuichi nodded thankfully as he received his drink, blowing at the steaming cup. "It wasn't too bad. At this point, I'm used to these sorts of things. I'm always traveling with my parents, so I had a pretty good idea what to do."

"That's a relief, then. I was worried it'd be a bit too much to ask. I was thinking, maybe I should've gone to meet you there myself!"

"No no no, you don't need to do that!" he laughed. "I'm already asking a lot of you. It's nice enough that you're letting me stay here in the first place."

"Oh, you don't need to thank me for that." She set the pot down and ruffled his hair. "We're family—it's what we do. From today on, you're a part of this household. And don't hesitate to ask if there's anything you ever need. Right, Nayuki?

"Yeah! We'll take good care of you~" Nayuki added.

Yuuichi hid his smile with a hand over his face. "Thank you both," he said shyly, not sure how else to respond. Clearly, showing gratitude wasn't exactly his strong suit. They all shared a good laugh, together this time, and got on with some conversation. Akiko left to make them an early dinner, a quick stir-fried ginger pork with a heaping plate of rice and warm miso soup. After that, she guided him up to his room.

"Your boxes arrived earlier this week. I moved them up here so you could unpack them later."

"Thanks again. I think I'll unpack one or two and just head straight to bed."

"No worries, I'm sure you must be tired. Do you need me to wake you up tomorrow?"

"That's fine. I think I'll just sleep in."

"Of course. I've already prepared your bed, so you can hop straight in if you want. Goodnight!"

With that Yuuichi got to unpacking his belongings. The room itself seemed big enough, though maybe that's because there was barely anything inside of it. Just the bed, a desk, some boxes, and a space heater in the corner. He hung up some clothes and put his volumes of manga on the shelf. It wasn't long before his energy crashed, so he collapsed onto the bed.

"Okay, that's enough for now. Let's read some manga."

Then he rolled over to pick up something from his bag: the last copy of Shonen Weekly Magazine, which had the new issue of Tokyo Cleaners: Kuzujiya. It was a typical plotline about two young highschoolers living a double life working for a shady underground organization. This episode picked up where the last one ended off, with the main character Genji working to track down the location of a Russian suitcase bomb. Meanwhile, his headstrong partner Rin is returning home disguised with his student uniform. He encounters a couple thugs harassing this girl in a nearby alleyway, and decides to intervene even if it means blowing his cover. Jumping into action, he rolls up his sleeves and puts himself between the girl and her assailants.

Don't worry. I'll protect you. Just leave the rest to me.

And with that line, he makes short work of the guys with his Jeet Kune Do skills. As more arrive at the scene, he helps her make a quick getaway, and the chapter ends. And as most young guys do, Yuuichi wondered if—just maybe—he'd actually have the balls to do that himself. He pictured it now: the image of him (perhaps more muscly and tall than he actually was) standing between this group of thugs and a fair maiden, boasting bold words of reassurance as he prepared to lay down some justice…

"Nah! As if," he laughed, slamming the book shut and tossing it onto the floor. "Alright, I think that's enough for today…"

He got up to shut off the lights and buried himself in the covers, laying aimlessly as he let the thoughts come to him, distracting him from getting some rest. So many things had happened in the past day. He hadn't been sure what to expect, but he remembered Akiko's words—and it really felt like he was part of their family now. They'd been so kind to him. So caring. He felt something of a warm spark inside of him, those kinds of sappy, sentimental feelings you'd get from time to time. But then that same old voice crept out from the back of his mind:

You won't be here for long…

And the feeling was dead, overtaken by a flurry of frost. And with that, finally, he drifted off into the night.