Fikush-ON!

Ch. 2: Winter Holidays

"God fucking damn it!" a yell echoed from the kitchen on a chilly winter noon.

I got up from the couch and took a peek into the kitchen, where I saw my big brother holding his finger under a running faucet.

"Fucking coffee, why the hell it has to be so hot?" he mumbled to himself.

I chuckled and grabbed a coffee mug from a kitchen cabinet. "You could always have ice coffee instead. Oh wait, you hated that shit."

"You and your damn coffee," my brother retorted.

I poured myself some coffee and carried it over to the living room's kotatsu. I sat down on the floor, sliding my feet under the blanket, and peered out of the half frosted window. I took a sip of coffee and took my phone out of my pocket, checking my messages.

"Sorry, I can't right now..."

"Unfortunately..."

Figures. My friends had better things to do during the winter holidays. With a sigh, I closed the phone's lid and took another sip from my coffee. My brother finally managed to cool his finger and joined me at the kotatsu with his own steaming mug. We heard someone coming down the stairs. It was our little sister, who headed straight to the kitchen, and a while later came back with a cup of hot chocolate, joining us. We just sat there, each drinking their own steamy drinks, thinking about their own things. Mom was still at work, and dad was taking a nap, so I guess we were the only ones up and about.

After a short while I took the mug to my lips, only to find it empty. I reluctantly stood up and took the empty mug to the kitchen sink. I leaned against the fridge, looking at the ceiling. What to do, where to go... Eh, guess I should go for a walk, maybe I'll figure something out. I moved to the foyer where I dressed in my winter attire.

"I'm going out for a while," I said towards the living room and opened the front door.

"Okay," my sister answered, and my brother murmured something unintelligible.

I was treading along the road, the shallow snow crumbling under my feet. It was pretty chilly, but the amount of snow made up for it. I scooped a handful of snow from top of a stone fence, patted it into a snowball, and threw it to a ditch across the street, after which I continued on my journey. I happened to pass by one of my friend's house and noticed that the lights were off, and the car was nowhere to be seen. Guess they really had something better to do, somewhere more interesting to be. I breathed in the cold air and exhaled it in the form of a sigh. Nowhere to go, no one to visit...

...visit?

I got some kind of an idea, so I started walking.

After approximately half an hour of walking, I started thinking about my idea more carefully. Maybe it's not such a good plan after all. Maybe I should just head back home and play some games to pass the time...

"Oh, hey," I heard a familiar voice.

Taken aback for a bit, I turned to face the direction of the voice. It was Hirasawa, Hirasawa Ui. I noticed I was standing in front of the Hirasawa residence, and she was out to grab the mail. Man, I got to stop thinking about things and just concentrate more on my surroundings.

"Nice to see you again," she said.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, sure," I answered a bit dazed.

A chilling breeze rushed past us, causing her to tighten the neck of her blouse.

She looked at the house behind her, and then back to me. "Do you want to come inside?"

I was processing her question, still a bit dazed, when another breeze blew past me.