From Snow to Sun

Author's Note: A SatoSugu "White Day" fic.

I just wanted to try writing baby leopard Satoru being pampered by Fox!Geto at least once, so this fic is mostly self-indulgent, lmao.

Hope you'll enjoy this, guys. ^^

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A locked room, a barred window that only the smallest birds can pass through, an array of talismans decorating the walls and ceilings, intended to seal a spiritual entity in place, never to let go.

On the old tatami floor, Geto Suguru lies unmoving. The black fur on his supposedly fluffy ears has lost its shine; his once-majestic nine tails droop weakly on the ground, making not even a single twitch. His gaunt face wears no expression; in his dark eyes, there is barely any light to be seen — a soul bereft of will and hope.

How long has it been since he was first brought here? How many springs and winters have passed out there? This room that serves as his prison allows no chance for him to see the outside world. At most, he can only tell day from night by glancing at the barred window that is far too high for him to reach, occasionally discerning the faint scent of flowers and grass carried into the room by the wind.

"I wonder if they're still waiting for me..."

A wave of memories flashes through his mind — of a lush green forest expanding as far as the eyes can see, of a towering mountain standing at the center, with its snowy peak hidden in the clouds, and of the spectacular view that one can see from the summit. He sees himself standing on that same summit to watch the sun rise and set. At his side, those he holds the dearest always keep him company, putting a smile on his face despite the ugliness of the mortal world below:

The two young girls he saved from captivity, one quiet and sweet and the other bright and lively, a pair of innocent souls he has long accepted as his own.

And that certain someone whom he stumbled across purely by fate, who always clung to him and insisted on telling him words of proposal day and night from the moment he gained the ability to speak.

Are they doing fine? Are they eating well? What has become of them ever since they were separated that day? In this prison of a room, Geto finds his mind perpetually filled with worries for his beloved, as though forgetting that his own life is soon to be forfeited.

Or perhaps it is because he knows that his life is coming to an end that he cannot help but think of those he misses.

"If I knew this would happen, perhaps I should've accepted his proposal a long time ago."

The corners of his chapped lips curl slightly into a mocking smile, one that is directed at himself. Regret indeed always comes too late. No matter how much he wishes he had done otherwise, there is no way for him to change the past.

Closing his eyes, Geto curls on the floor. Resigned as he is to accept his impending doom, he cannot pretend that he does not feel the sharp bitterness pricking at his chest.

If only he could go back to that time...

"I'm sorry...Satoru..."

Thus he says in his heart, and let himself sink into a world of dreams.

***

A snowstorm descends upon the mortal world. The sky is clouded by shadows; the wind howls into the distance, like the anguished cry of a cursed spirit sealed for eternity. Whether it is day or night, one can no longer tell, for neither sun nor moon can be seen above, only an expanse of dark gray spread to the horizon.