Unseen

'Yuki'

"Say, Yujiro. Do you really not remember anything at all?" I asked munching on a Dango that I bought when we went out a few hours ago. We were back at it again after that rainy yesterday. I couldn't help but lay down on the soft grass of the forest, it 

"Mide, how many times have I told you already? I don't remember anything about my parents. Why don't you stuff your brain into trying to remember the things that happened when you were a kid?" Yujiro said. Her voice was pitch black, but I could feel her heart pounding with hope that a lost memory would resurface.

I thought about that for a second, thinking that I was a smartass while liking the stick of my Dango. 

"Ah!" I suddenly cut myself on my chin while daydreaming, trying to put down the Dango stick, "That little stick!" 

I felt something ice cold touch my chin where I cut myself, only to look down and find Yujiro touching my cut. 
It stung as she ran her finger over the wound, I couldn't help but flinch.

I couldn't help but wonder why she was so cold. Her skin was like a ghost's, maybe she was one. No.
 If she was one I wouldn't be able to see her, let alone touch her.

"Such a pussy." Eh? What did she say?

"Eh?" wait a second, "WHO YOU CALLING A PUSSY?!" I shouted as I grabbed her hand with unintentional, boiling rage.

A sudden shock ran down my spine. She really was as cold as ice...

Yujiro forcefully pulled her arm out of my grasp. I flinched for a second and then touched my cut. Wait, I was sure I it was there. I ran my fingers all around my chin trying to find the scar, but it wasn't anywhere to be found. I looked at my hand to find no blood on my fingers. 

What did she do? 

"You done?" Yujiro asked as she stood up and walked towards a path of leaves that was strangely laid out again.

"Yu-yujiro! Wait!" I ran after her, she seemed to be a very fast walker. 

When I finally caught up, I looked up at her panting and saw a signboard. We were at the opening of the forest.

"Did you ever see a spirit stranded anywhere when you came here?" Yujiro asked as she read the warning board in disgust.

"What do you mean? Spirit's don't exist." I am getting the chills about where this conversation is going. I don't actually believe in ghosts, and since I'm a Canadian who watches a lot of American ghost movies, what I'm hearing could go either left or right. She might actually be a ghost.

"The summer festival is coming around the corner, and it seems that your birthday is too." Yujiro smiled, casually changing the subject. It almost seems as if she could see right through me. Although, her smile looked very familiar, almost as if she was here.

"I-I told you didn't I?" I managed to choke out with an embarrassed face. 

Yujiro chuckled a little. Hey! She laughed! Victory!

I laughed along with her and then she turned her head towards me with a confused look. A long silence filled the air, almost chilling. I stood up and stared directly at her before I ran to one of the trees and swung around it. 

I laughed as I ran around the forest aimlessly. Yujiro seemed to be at a stand still as I ran around like a child. 

She suddenly dropped her guard and ran along with me, laughing. 

We played an unspoken game of hide and seek tag. I eventually became 'it' and I chased after her, it was harder than expected. She ran like the wind, dancing between the trees like flowing water running down a lake.

She ran endlessly through the forest and teased me every now and then telling me I could never catch up to me, though her words were only gestured and unspoken.

The sun smiled through the trees' leaves as we played. Yujiro suddenly slowed down and I didn't waste this opportunity to tag her. 

I reached out for her and her head whipped towards me. I ended up grabbing her mask. Without realising it I pulled my hand back and got a slight glimpse of her face.

Holding her mask in my hands, Yujiro turned whipped her head away from me, almost in a flash. She hid her face and ran to the nearest tree.

"Yujiro?" I asked as I walked towards the tree she was hiding behind, "You alright?" I walked behind the tree and found her hiding her face with her hands, sitting on the ground. 

She stood up and with one hand covering her face, she held her hand out to me and said, "返して。(Give it back.)"

Yujiro's light tone turned heavy. Every second I held her mask, the more tension I thought I built up.

"No." What the hell, Mide! You trying to pick a fight here?

"Mide, please just give it back." Yujiro snapped. A long silence fell upon us as she waited for my reply, still holding out her hand. I'm surprised that she's not tired yet.

I let my hand dangle on my side, then in a voice I haven't heard for a long time, I straightforwardly said, "顔... 顔を見せて。ゆきちゃん。(Let... let me see your face. Yuki-chan.)" 

Yujiro stood her ground for a while then to my surprise, her hand she held out dropped, her hand covering her face fell as well.

I was shocked at her face, she really looked like a ghost. Her hand had revealed a scar that ran all the way from ear to ear, she had one white eye and one green. The scar looked deep and old, could she actually see me? Her lime green eye was half covered by her white curtain hair. Her cloudy eyes poured with tears as she fell to the ground, weeping.

"Yujiro..." I kneeled down beside her and she suddenly hugged me. Without a clue at all, my body moved on it's own. I hugged her back, clinging on like a scared child. I ignored the pain that ran through my head, because all I could feel now was her ice cold, soft embrace. 

"もう一度。その名前をもう一度言ってください。(One more time. Say that name one more time.)" Yujiro whispered in my ear.

"はい、ゆきちゃん。(Alright, Yuki-chan.)"