Koujo Lin: The Account

Chapter 10: Dreams in the Snow

Winter reigned in Hong Kong China. A thick layer of snow blanketed the terrain, silhouetting it in a veil of white. Two young boys walked through the area, one with stark black hair that contrasted against the whiteness coating the ground, and the other with gray-white hair that matched seamlessly with the frozen environment. Both were dressed for the weather and laughing about some long since forgotten joke.

Neither were aware of the misfortune that would plague them in a few minutes' time. A tragedy that would claim the life of one of them, leaving the other to mourn the loss of his closest friend alone.

At 8:30 p.m, the boys separated. Both had curfew that they had to meet. The black haired boy was halfway home when he heard a scream ring out in the night. It was the white haired boy- there was absolutely no doubt in his mind.

He took off running towards the source of the sound, adrenaline powering his movements. He ran for what seemed like hours, but in reality must have been only a few minutes.

His friends house could be seen in the distance. Screams could no longer be heard. Rather, everything had become eerily silent, as if the world had suddenly went to sleep..

Closing the final distance between the himself and the house, the dark haired boy ran full speed to the small hut. He ended up on the far side of the, away from the front porch. Straining his ears, he listened intently for any noise aside from his own heart, which was pounding insistently in his ears.

His surroundings remained quiet. Beginning to think that he was imaging it, the wary and cold boy turned around slowly and began walking towards the direction of his own home. He was now incredibly late for curfew, and knew that his mother would have his head if he couldn't come up with a viable excuse for his prolonged absence.

He got no more than a foot away before he heard a pained sounding voice.

"Dad! Wha- what are you doing?" it was the white haired boy again. He sounded frantic. A raspy current of Chinese followed after, but Lin could not hear what was being said.

The black haired boy turned around slowly, and steadily began making his way to the front porch. He was within a few inches of it when two figures came into view. A taller, bulkier figure, and an figure of average height and thin stature stood a slight distance apart.

It was the other boy and his father. Taking a few steps forward, the onlooking boy stared at his friend worriedly. He didn't see the gun clutched in the father's hand until it was raised up.

Eyes wide and hands shaking, the older boy ran forward, uttering only one word.

"No!"

A loud bang ricocheted off the walls of the house. A body collapsed onto the snowy white ground with a heavy thud. Blood seeped in a steady flow from a wound in the white haired boys stomach, staining the pale white ground a sickening red. His father dropped the gun just as the dark haired boy bolted towards his fallen friend, tears already streaming from his gray eyes.

"Shun!" he screamed, dropping down onto his knees in the blood streaked snow. He leaned over his best friend, then steadily began applying pressure to the gun shot wound. It was obvious that his efforts would be in vain- with his hands having been pressed to the injury for only a mere minute, they were already coated with fresh blood.

Even knowing that it was fruitless to keep trying, he continued pressing his hands further into the wound, desperately trying to staunch the flow of his friend's life essence.

The white haired boy- Shun, flinched in pain as his friend attempted to prevent him from bleeding out.

"Koujo.. stop it. You're..making it hurt..more than it already does." he took a deep breath, clenching his teeth together to stifle the cry of pain that rose up in his throat. "You can't save me- you've got to let go. It'll only make it harder to accept if you don't stop hoping that I'll live." he grabbed Koujo's blood stained wrist, pulling the hand attached to it away from his stomach.