Scarlet

15. Frost

Gouenji didn't keep Kira company at the dinner table and afterwards, when she went to their room, he was already asleep. He had never done that before and Kira knew she had inadvertently hurt him. She was sorry that all of it had to happen but she knew what she was feeling was real. She wasn't ready to give up the sun just yet.

She sat down on her knees beside the bed to level with it. He was on his side, facing her. His hands were in front of him and the burn wound hadn't entirely healed yet.

She carefully took his hand, making sure he didn't wake up in the process and bandaged it. She had wanted to do it immediately but he didn't let her, and he still wouldn't have if he had been aware of her doing it.

Once she was done, she remained sitting there for a while, staring at his face that was illuminated by the moonlight. Every time she did so she always found herself unable to look away.

She certainly stared at him a lot longer than she did at the sunset.

...

When Gouenji woke up at dawn, he was surprised to find his hand bandaged and Kira sitting by his bed on the floor, fallen asleep. The shuffling made her wake up.

"Oh, it's dawn already! The window!" She mumbled as she quickly rushed to close it before the sun came above the horizon.

"Sure you don't want to view the sunrise too?" Gouenji said.

She turned to him, shook her head and gave a one word answer, "No. " She drew the curtains and returned to bed. Her eyes were fixed on him as he turned to his side to face her.

She anticipated for him to say something but he closed his eyes again.

...

Kira did continue to view the sunsets often, much to Gouenji's dismay. He didn't speak of it or made an objection to it because knowing her, he understood that it would not be well received and might even make things worse.

On Kira's part, she made sure to convey her love to him even more now. She would often do so in the evening immediately after her sunset viewing. She would find him grumbling in the drawing room or sulking in the library. He, however, did not protest and accepted her fawnings quietly, letting her throw her arms around his neck and spare kisses generously.

She had anticipated him to eventually get used to their new arrangement but he refused to come around to it. He still saw it as a great offense to draw away the curtains anytime other than when the moon had risen high in the sky. Even if there was no risk of him getting hurt, of course Kira remained the utmost careful of it, the mere act of doing so rubbed him the wrong way.

And now she had really begun to worry that she was causing him unnecessary distress. But since he didn't speak on the matter, she wasn't sure of the extent of his displeasure and she too was afraid to bring up the matter for the same reason as he did.

Two more months passed like this and soon tiny flakes of snow began raining down upon them almost every day. They would stick to the window panes and form heaps on the ground, turning the entire garden white. Kira stared at them for hours, hypnotized by their free falling.

The sun was nowhere to be seen now. It never found an opportunity to show itself from the thick clouds that were constantly overcast. The window could now be left open freely for Kira to look out of. And now that he knew, Gouenji too sometimes stood beside her to watch the snow with her. The weather may have turned cold but his heart, in turn, was warming up again.

"Join me by the fireplace now," He said, "You have been standing here for too long. You'll be sick. "

"I will in a moment. " She answered absent-mindedly.