Ice Flower

Chapter 15

Snow had been silent since Glacier had vanished. Her arms hung limp at her sides and she hadn't even glanced at her duel disk to suggest that she was considering to keep working. she just stared at her feet dismally as they walked, lost in her own world.

"Think that she's okay?" Blue Maiden asked.

"I dunno." Soulburner shrugged. "I'm not really good with kids."

"She's not a kid!"

"Okay, preteen then. What do you think?"

Blue Maiden sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea too. She seems like she really looks up to Glacier, and is also kind of socially anxious. I was wondering...do you think that they're sisters?"

"Sisters?" He considered it. "Maybe. I mean, they both look alike and seem pretty tight, so that makes sense. Also, the chances of them meeting in Link VRAINS or in the real world seems kind of slim."

"I was just thinking the same thing." She glanced back at Snow. "Well, one way to find out."

She stopped walking and fell into step besides the younger girl. "Hey Snow, have you found out anything else?"

"No." Snow didn't bother looking up from the ground. 

"Oh. That's alright. You've been really helpful so far. How did you get so good at hacking anyway?"

"My brother taught me."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah. Or I used to anyways." Tears filled her eyes.

"I'm sure that he'd be very proud of you." Blue Maiden smiled. "Just like Glacier."

"Glacier is...proud of me?" Snow looked up at her, curiosity in her eyes. 

"Definitely. I was wondering...are you two sisters?"

"No. She found me a few years ago. It had been a couple weeks since my brother died..."

She sniffed, her face burried in her knees which were pulled up to her chest. Her parent's accusations rang out in her mind again on autorepeat.

'It's all your fault. Your brother died because of you. I can't imagine how upset he'd be.'

More sobs came, nearly choking her. A bicycler rode by, splashing her with water from the rain when they didn't notice her. She didn't care. She deserved to suffer after what she had done to her brother. She should have listened to his warnings and not run out into the road without waiting for him. The car's headlights flashed through her mind, along with the horrified look on the driver's face.

She shuddered, but that might have been from how wet she was.

"Hey. You okay?"

She looked up to see a girl around her brother's age watching her with evident worry.

"Yeah." She looked down again. "I'm fine. You can leave me. I don't deserve help."

"Why's that?" The girl sat down next to her despite the rain that coated the concrete sidewalk. Her umbrella hovered over them.

"I killed my brother today!" She burst out. "I ran out in the road and was going to be hit by a car. He saved me, but...but the car hit him instead and he died. My parents hate me now, and I don't blame them."

"Well, I do." The girl crossed her arms. "Their your parents. It's okay for them to be upset, but they don't need to lash out at you. They should be comforting you, not getting wrapped up in their grief."