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Hazy Shade of Winter

There was once a strange shop called the Haven, and in any era it appeared in, it served as a safe place where souls could meet. In modern ages, it appears as a coffee shop, in past times, it was a tavern. It takes the appearance of any place that instantly made one think of warmth and friendship.

Eccentricities surrounded the place, it never stayed in one place for very long, and then there was the mysterious owner that was never seen, the strange pile of robes that sits by the hearth or on the other side of the counter, depending on how the Haven appears, or the two boys that travel with the place, seeming to choose a customer for their own strange purposes.

The strangest rumor that surrounds the place is the one that no one can be sure about… that the place grants dreams or nightmares, it’s chosen has a wish, one that will be granted.

But at what cost? And who would dare to open that black door that leads to the owner’s room to try?

“What are you waiting for?” a voice asked, and the dark haired boy turned in surprise at the pile of robes on the counter, only then realizing that there was someone in the robes as a pair of piercing jade eyes glared at him from beneath the hood, “If you hesitate, then you’ll lose your chance.”

Karasu shivered, feeling that the air by the strange door was far colder than even the air outside, and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking back to where other students wearing the same Konoha Academy uniform were sitting.

“So you’re in this country on vacation then?” the fiery haired woman who was serving them smiled, “I heard that Kiri is famous for it’s hot springs, is that true?”

“Don’t you know?” a girl asked with wide red eyes.

“We’ve only recently set up shop,” she smiled, then turned to Karasu, “Did you find what you were looking for?” he shrugged in response and she set a cup of tea in front of him as he sat down, “Don’t worry, it just means that you don’t have the reason to find it yet.”

He ignored her as he sipped his drink then paid and left with the rest of his class, “What a cute cafe!” one of the girls in front of him was saying as they walked out, “Wouldn’t it be nice if they were in Konoha?”

“I got us a thermos for the hike to the shrine,” her friend said, “I bet even if the Yuki Onna was there, we would still be warm now.”

Their conversation moved to other things, but Karasu stopped for a moment, his eyes saddened, “I wonder if he is still there.”

“It can’t be helped,” his mother said as they entered the old mansion, “Your grandfather insisted that I come home for a little bit of time. Until we get back on our feet, we’ll just have to stay here.”

He was five at the time, and didn’t understand why his parents had separated, only that now he was with his mother taken from his real home to this series of islands.

Even worse, it was winter and far colder here than it was in Konoha, he was warned not to go out even to the courtyard to play because snowstorms could crop up at any moment, but one day, bored with the insides of the house, he snuck out the kitchen, just wanting to explore the area, thinking that since it was a clear day, there would be no problem.

The clouds gathered even before he left the property, by the time he had stepped to the forest behind the mansion, the first of the snow had started to fall. Within a few minutes, it was a blizzard and he was hopelessly lost.

He had no idea how long it was that he had wandered, just that he was cold and hungry, and getting more tired by the minute. When he finally fell to his knees, thinking that he was going to die out here where no one knew where he was, there was a hand in front of him, on that he looked up to see the small pretty child attached to it.

“Hey, don’t be sad,” he said in a soft voice, “I’m Shinsetsu, come with me and get warmed up okay.”

Hours later he arrived back at his grandfather’s house, much happier than he had been, and the next day he left again, spending the rest of the harsh winter with his new found friend.

Until the day before the spring thaw, he found Shinsetsu crying in the clearing where they had met, “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“The snow won’t come anymore until next year,” he hiccupped, “Daddy said that I can’t come out because of it.”

“You’re weird,” Karasu said, “We can’t come out because it’s snowing, I’ve been getting in all sorts of trouble because of this, Mom was afraid that I was gonna catch a cold and die.”

Shinsetsu was strangely quiet at those words, “You were supposed to,” he said, his eyes strangely serious, “That’s what my kind do. Humans are usually so mean to us.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you human?”

He shook his head, “I’m a yuki-onna,” he said, “That’s why I can’t come back until the snow starts again.”

Karasu stared at him, “But you’re a boy!”

Snow began to gently fall down, and he looked up, “I don’t even remember where Grandfather’s house was,” he mused as he followed his class, “Mom sold it the day he died, and we ended up back in Konoha,” he sighed, “Shin-chan probably forgot all about me by now.”

“Talking to yourself is a sure sign that you’re going crazy,” a teasing voice said.

“Or it just means that you’ve got something real heavy on your mind,” an identical voice added, and he turned to see the twin red-haired boys that were walking behind him, both wearing the uniform marking them as students of his school.

Yet, “Who are you? I don’t remember seeing you two before?” he demanded, his eyes narrowed at them.

They flashed him a crooked smile, “The school trip looked like fun so we tagged along,” they chorused, “Why didn’t you open that door?”

He whirled back around, “None of your business,” he snapped, stomping away from them.

Both easily kept stride with him, “You’re not scared are you?” they teased, “He’ll never know unless you tell him right, but you don’t even know where to look.”

“Like you do,” he scoffed, “Or even what’s going on.”

“Maybe we do,” they winked, “There’s a reason she brought the place here after all,” he stopped to stare at them, “Course the real question is whether or not you can afford her services.”

And with that, they seemed to disappear, though he was almost certain he saw the shadows of two foxes running amidst the flurries of snow.

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“Remember, don’t leave your rooms after light’s out,” the teacher was saying, “This area is known for their sudden snowstorms, and I don’t want anyone wandering outside and getting lost in one…”

Karasu ignored the rest of what was being said, instead trying to think of what had really happened that last time he saw Shinsetsu, his near adult logic telling him that he couldn’t have been what he said, that something else was the cause of their sudden separation.

He could barely remember the rest of his time at Grandfather’s mansion though, only that he was in the hospital for a time, but for what he couldn’t quite recall.

“You promise? We’ll be together forever?”

Blinking at the sudden voice from his past, he looked up, almost expecting to see Shinsetsu standing next to him.

The lobby of the resort was strangely empty, he could have sworn that his class was just there, listening to the teacher’s safety lecture, but no, they had all gone, along with the employees.

“Hey,” he called, “You can’t have all gone to the hot springs already…”

His voice trailed off when he glanced out the large window overlooking the forest, his eyes barely making out a dark-haired figure in white at the treeline, one that seemed to see him as a hand started to raise in greeting.

All of a sudden, voices surrounded him, and he brought his attention back to the lobby to see it once more filled with people, “You coming Uchiha?” one of the boys called.

“I left something in my room,” he said as he narrowed his eyes, still seeing the figure in the woods, “I’ll catch up in a bit.”

They nodded and left, and he started to head towards the hall leading to the rooms, waiting until he saw the teacher looking the other way before running outside into the snow.

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“Welcome,” the girl with twin red braids said as Karasu entered the diner, “Have a seat and I’ll be right with you,” she turned back to finishing the pot of coffee.

His eyes were wide as he looked around the empty room, “But I was outside…” he started, “How did I end up…” chewing the inside of his cheek, he went to sit down at one of the booths, bewildered as he tried to remember just what had happened.

“Looks like it’s going to be a bad storm,” the waitress said as she placed down a cup of coffee in front of him, “What’ll you have?”

He glanced up at the nametag on her pale green uniform, “What soup do you have Chihiro?”

“Mama’s got everything,” she said in a bored voice, “Just order whatever you want.”

“French onion soup,” he weakly smiled, “Just where am I anyways?”

“Who knows,” she said shrugging as she walked away.

He shivered, and went to pull his jacket closer to himself, blinking with surprise when he realized that he was wearing the yukata from the resort.

“Uchiha!”

“Karasu!”

He stood, “Did you hear that?” he asked as Chihiro placed his order on the table.

She cocked her head to the side, “Oh, they must be searching for you. You can still go back you know,” she went to a television at the end of the dining room, “Let’s see,” she said as she turned it on, then crossed her arms, “No wonder you drug in snow,” she said at the screen.

Karasu slowly got up, staring at the monitor, “But that’s…”

“You?” she nodded at the image of the boy lying too still in the snow, “Kind of stupid to go out in a blizzard without even a coat.”

“I’m looking for someone,” he said, then glanced over at her, “Why am I here?”

“Guessing it has to do with why you went out,” she said, “They never really tell me anything anyways. You were going to die even if Haven didn’t appear, that’s the rule they have to go by to choose someone. So there’s a reason.”

He turned back to the screen, “Hey, it’s showing something else now,” he said as the scene faded to a hospital, “That’s when I was five…”

“We found him collapsed in the woods,” a red haired woman was saying to the doctor’s, “I performed CPR right away, but his body temperature and breathing…”

“We’re keeping him monitored,” the elderly doctor assured her, “Luckily for him the temperature’s warmed up, otherwise he might not have made it…”

Karasu rubbed his temples, “That’s right, I said that I would go with Shin-chan… but his Dad appeared, he got in trouble.”

“Yuki-onna have rules too,” Chihiro commented, “Kids are off limits, even if it is your choice. Too young to be suicidal.”

His eyes widened, “I promised that I would come back,” he whispered, “I promised that I would follow him when I was old enough, and then I couldn’t find the way to the place anymore. Mom had sold the house because I wouldn’t stop talking about going to Shin-chan.”

“Would you like to be able to go now?” a new voice said and he turned to see the twins there, “Hey Chi, bring out some cake and hot cocoa.”

She sighed, “Don’t see what you guys are getting out of this one,” she said as she went to the kitchen.

“This one’s paid for already,” the eldest flashed her a crooked smile.

“He was worried that you wouldn’t remember where he was, and he just wanted to see you again,” the younger added, looking at Karasu, “Your choice about whether or not it goes any further than that, there’s still time to save your life.”

The door opened, and Karasu turned to see the feminine boy in the white dress that entered, “Shin…”

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The screen showed the funeral procession, the crying woman at the front of it, the blue haired man next to her and the two children behind them.

“Change the channel,” a dark-haired man at the counter asked, and someone reached up and turned the knob on the television, as the screen turned to static and then to two boys sitting side by side in front of a crystalline palace.

“Paid for in full,” one of the twins said as he placed a card down, “That one was easy.”

“Next one won’t be,” his brother said as he took a new card from the deck, “She always seems to stack up at least seven difficult ones for every easy mark.”

They looked up as the door opened and the inside of the building changed from the diner to that of a eighteenth centaury tavern and a man with long dark hair and white eyes walked in, looking around in confusion, “Since when has this place…”

“One thing’s for sure,” the eldest twin started, “She’s keeping her promise of us having a fun time.”