Work Text:
Snow.
Mafuyu did not like it per se – she would not know what “liking something” meant – but whenever it snowed, she would feel calmer. Snow was nothing but frozen flakes of water. However, it would ever so slightly cover up the ugly sight of the world in a blanket of white so that Mafuyu could pretend that she lived on a different planet where she held a different life from her own.
But such delusion would never last long. On the third day after Mafuyu had watched Shizuku construct a snow bunny after school, the temperatures have returned above zero and there were no longer any clouds to stop the sun from shining its harsh rays upon them.
Mafuyu had even stopped by the school on her off-day to take a last glance at the family of snow bunnies before they melted, but it seemed like she had come too late. The lumps of snow were now half their original size and misshapen, some of the ears made of leaves and eyes made of nandina fruit had already fallen to the dirt.
She had known that this would happen, right? Why had she even come to take a look? To witness the slow demise of something that had at long last brought a meagre warmth to her empty heart?
“I should head off to cram school now, otherwise I would be late,” she muttered to herself and walked away.
……………………
Cram school ended early that day, but in exchange, the students were handed more homework than usual. Mafuyu knew that she should return home soon, else she would have no time to finish the extra work. But the thought of having to encounter her mother when she returned home led her to slow down her steps as she walked along Miyamasuzaka Street – she was uncertain of why that was the case. She knew her mother loved her, and her advice must be useful for someone young and naïve as herself. Still, she could not stop the chill that would permeate throughout her body whenever her mother’s gaze landed on her, hence she could also not stop herself from wanting to escape from her.
“Asahina-san,” a familiar voice sounded behind her. She turned to see that, indeed, her archery teammate, Hinomori Shizuku, was the one who had called out to her. For some reason, they have been encountering each other more often recently.
Mafuyu did not know how to feel about someone like Hinomori Shizuku. Shizuku was a successful idol whom many would recognize throughout the nation. Mafuyu’s classmates said that when Shizuku was in an idol group called Cheerful Days, she had a perfect and mature image. Mafuyu had known Shizuku since last year and she never had that impression, but she did think that Shizuku was a genuine and sensitive individual, which was very different from Mafuyu’s untrustworthy and apathetic self. Even now that Shizuku had separated from Cheerful Days to pursue a different career direction with MORE MORE JUMP, she still stayed true to her dream of bringing hope to her audience through her performances. Now what dream did Mafuyu have? None. She did not even have hopes for her own future, let alone the will to bring hope to others.
The two of them were so drastically different that they ought not be friends. And really, Mafuyu was unsure whether she thought of Shizuku as a friend anyway. They were not even from the same class – their only interactions were at the archery club and the occasional encounter at school or on the street in today’s case. Hence, the other day when Shizuku had asked if she wished to confide in her and continued to show her support despite Mafuyu’s reluctance to tell her anything about the problems she has been facing, Mafuyu had been left confused. When exactly had Shizuku decided that Mafuyu was important enough for her to be concerned about? Was she not just one of Shizuku’s many schoolmates? How was she different from a faceless silhouette in the crowd waving a glowstick at her concerts?
But what Shizuku had said to her that day did not feel bad though. In fact, even just talking to her right now had eased a bit of the cold in her chest.
Shizuku had been looking for a store to buy a replacement for her broken umbrella. If Mafuyu was being honest, it was baffling how Shizuku had managed to become lost in her own neighbourhood, bringing up the wrong map and using postal offices as landmarks despite there being several of them in this area alone. It should be a hassle to show her the way, but Mafuyu offered anyway – maybe she was just looking for an excuse to not return home yet.
The store was cluttered and there were many customers shopping inside. It would not have been Mafuyu’s top choice for a place to visit on the weekend, but she did not complain as she followed Shizuku to where the umbrellas were located.
“Which one do you like, Asahina-san?” Shizuku asked.
Mafuyu gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I do not really know what your preferences are, Hinomori-san. My advice would likely be useless.”
“Oh, that is fine,” Shizuku replied in her usual airy voice. “I was just curious about your preferences.”
Mafuyu could not possibly tell her that she had no preferences, right? She decided to go with the rule of elimination. First, she eliminated the ones that were a different size from the umbrella she currently used. Then, she eliminated the ones with too bright a colour – the thought of attracting attention was unpleasant. She ended up picking one that had a faint teal background with patterns of white snowdrop flowers in the foreground.
“My, it does look pretty! And the background colour matches well with my hair. Alright, I will purchase this one!” Shizuku said.
So, she was seeking advice for her umbrella purchase, huh? Oh well, as long as she was satisfied, Mafuyu had no objections.
When they exited the store, Mafuyu could not help but ask why Shizuku had picked an umbrella of that size. The reason for Mafuyu having an umbrella that size was because her mother had insisted that it would keep her dry so that she would not catch a cold and miss school. She had seen Shizuku and the other members of MORE MORE JUMP practice in the rain though – did she really care so much about the rain that she would rather carry such an unfashionably large umbrella?
“I wanted to buy an umbrella that I could share with someone else if necessary. If Shii-chan, or Airi and the others were to forget their umbrellas, they would be able to share mine. Of course, you are also included on that list, Asahina-san. I was very thankful that you shared your umbrella with me last time, so next time, please let me be your umbrella instead!”
Mafuyu could say no more to such an explanation than a word of thanks. After they parted, Mafuyu noticed that her face has become warm.
……………………
At night, after dinner, Mafuyu received a text message from Shizuku. This was quite the rare occasion, as Shizuku was rather incapable when it came to using electronics, so if she must send a text message it would certainly not be to a mere acquaintance like Mafuyu.
Shizuku: Sorry to disturb you, Asahina-san. I just learned how to send photos through the messaging system, so I was eager to share these recent photos with you.
Shizuku then sent her a photo of the umbrella she had purchased that afternoon with a caption that read, “I just learned that snowdrops are the symbolic flower of your birth month, Asahina-san!”
The strange warmth that had risen to her face earlier in the day has returned again. Mafuyu wondered if she would have suggested that specific umbrella if she had known that snowdrops were the birth flower of January.
In the next message, Shizuku sent her a photo of the snow bunny family of eight that was built at the school courtyard. For some reason, the warmth Mafuyu was feeling has spread to her chest and has become so intense that her eyes were becoming wet. Why? Why did it seem like she was now…happy?
Mafuyu: Thank you, Hinomori-san. I will treasure the photos.
She saved both photos to her phone and set the snow bunny one as her lock screen. Then, with a slightly bashful smile on her face, she set the umbrella photo as her home screen wallpaper.