Winter Mansion

Chapter 1

Of the four seasons, Echizen liked winter the best. He liked the cold wind that sent a chill up his spine, he liked being able to curl up on the couch in a warm blanket with Karupin, being able to buy hot chocolate at school; he liked making fun of Momo for forgetting to bring his jacket. But most of all, he loved the snow. Every once in a while he would wake up and look outside to see a thin layer of white outside his window and on the street. When these days approached, he felt a small pleasure in his stomach, though he would never let anyone know.

Echizen woke up that Tuesday morning and the feeling in his stomach grew. Never had he seen this much snow before. There was usually a little on the sides of the street from the snow plow clearing it away so it would be safe for cars to drive but today was different. He got dressed and went downstairs to eat his breakfast.

"Good morning Ryoma-san." Nanako greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Morning." He greeted her back as he took his seat at the table.

"Did you see all the snow outside?" She asked as she set his food in front of him.

"Ah." He answered as he took a bite of egg.

"I've never seen this much before. Oji-san, when was the last time it snowed like this?"

"I've never seen it snow this much. The paper doesn't say anything about it either." Nanjiro said as he flipped a page of the paper. "She doesn't seem to say anything about it either..." he said under his breath.

"Oji-san, are you really reading the paper?" She asked accusingly.

He didn't answer but kept saying things under his breath and staring intensely at the paper. Nanako walked behind him with a frown.

"Mou, Oji-san! If you don't stop reading these, I'll tell your wife!" Nanako reached inside the paper and pulled away one of his magazines.

"Ah! Wait Nanako-chan! There's no need to be rash!" He got up from where he was sitting and followed her.

Echizen gave an annoyed yet amused laugh. He looked at the clock, shoved a piece of bread into his mouth and went to the front door. He grabbed his jacket, shoes and bag.

"I'm leaving." He shouted to his cousin and father.

"Have a good day." Nanako shouted back as she moved the magazine out of her uncle's reach.

Echizen could hear his father complaining about he always gets picked on and never has time to himself anymore. He sighed and began to walk down the street to the school. The snow that was on the side of the road, which when it snowed was only an inch or so, was now up to Echizen's ankles if not higher. Not before long, he heard Momo calling his name.

"Ooooi! Echizen!" Echizen turned to see Momo speeding his way on his bike.

"Momo-sempai, if you go that speed on an icy street, you'll crash when you try to stop."

"What?" Momo couldn't hear him. When he tried to slow down, the wheels on his bike slid on the ground and caused him to crash into some bushes in front of someone house.

"Told you so." Echizen said nonchalantly as he walked passed Momo.

"Ow!" Momo popped out of the bushes and rubbed the back of his head. "You could at least help up."

"You were warned." He ignored Momo and walked towards school.

"Wait!" Momo picked up his wreck of a bike and caught up to Echizen on their way to school.