𝑨𝑬𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑺 𝑴𝑬𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑳𝑰𝑨 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

the birds

Sometimes, dreams are better than reality.

Total darkness had long since overtaken the place people call 'sky.' The eerie feeling of walking in the middle of the night was strong—stronger than usual—but that could've been nothing more than the result of the chilling air biting at each and every exposed part of his skin. His clothes proved to be nothing more but the coverage of skin, since they did nothing to stop the cold from freezing his bones.

He disliked it, really. The coldness—winter.

There always was something else accompanying the coldness. He wasn't certain as to what it was, and yet, it was there, around each corner. There were no words that could describe the feeling—or was it just a feeling?

The frigid air had a way of keeping people in the moment, whisking away body heat faster than it could be replaced. The silence was deafening, there were no people outside to break it. That wasn't an unusual occurrence.

Who in their right mind would go outside at that time of day? No one.

_

Coldness licked at his skin and crept under his clothes, spreading across him like an icy tide on a winter beach. His teeth gently chattered as he tightened his arms around himself in an attempt to conserve the little body heat he had left. His eyes felt dry, and the over blinking caused them to grow damp. The thin strands of his eyelashes were wet from the wind-forced tears and had clumped together. As a result, light colourlessness of frost stuck to them from tip to root.

Thankfully, as soon as he rounded the corner, he was met with the sight of his house. However, he didn't quite expect any visitors. Especially the kind who waited on the doorstep in the middle of winter, shivering from the cold.

With growing reluctance, he made his way forward, inwardly exasperated at the newcomer.

As soon as the boy caught sight of him, he rose to his feet, a smile immediately curling his lips, "You're late!" He scolded, although the smile on his face didn't budge.

"I didn't know we had an appointment," he drily replied, "Nice seeing you, Yo, couldn't you have warned me before coming here?"

Yo huffed and rolled his eyes. A brief shiver shook his body and he, not-so-unnoticeably, wrapped his arms around himself, "Is that how you greet someone who trekked through the night, all alone and cold. Also, are you all right?"

Arashi wasn't impressed, "Why wouldn't I be all right?" That was a weird thing to ask, especially coming from Yo's mouth.

"Uh, is the bruise on your cheek invisible to you?" Yo said it as if Arashi was dumb.

It must have gotten even darker if he was able to see it in the middle of the night... "I got into a fight." Breathing out, he watched as a thick stream of steam left his lips, "Never mind that, why didn't you go inside? You're shaking." He raised his brows as he pointed at the boy's knees, which were visibly shaking.

"I'm not cold, what do you take me for?" Although he said that, his arms just tightened around him.

Arashi wasn't impressed at all, "Just get inside." He urged, already making his way past the boy and into the house.

The door clicked shut behind them.

"Where's aunty? Is she asleep?" Yo asked, looking around the dark house.

Arashi dropped his bag and shrugged off his coat, hanging it on the side, before he pulled off his shoes and settled them on the side, "She should be in her room. You can go ahead and take a shower to warm up, you can borrow my clothes. I need to give her her medication." Without another word, he went up the stairs and towards his mother's room.