Everything grows colder as the snowstorm rages on. I can see a silver mist coming out of my mouth while I rub my hands to keep warm. It is late at night, yet here I am wandering in the lonely hallways of the academy. My prison and death sentence. I just can't sleep. Everything seems to happen so fast. Like a melting snowflake, I couldn't sink it all in. The murder, the class trial, the ex─

No. I shouldn't. This is too much to bear. I find myself shaking. My surroundings changing into multiple colors.

Black. White. Black. White.

A body...a chain...splashes of blood...

I am suffocating. I clutch my shirt as I force myself to breathe.

Deep breaths, Shuichi. Deep breaths...

I do that until I can feel myself calming down.

I notice my other hand holding on to something. I check what it is and regret it. I put it back in my pocket and adjust my hat to keep it from coming off.

As I walk, I stumble upon something─ an empty research lab. For some reason, my hand reaches the door and opens it. The door creaks as the light reaches the room. I come inside. It hasn't changed a bit.

A wide room made of wood. Shelves that are filled with sheet notes of great musicians. There are more sheet notes that are scattered all over the floor. A wide window covered with blue curtains as it sways with the night wind. And finally, a grand piano in the center.

I go closer to the piano and touch one of the keys. A high note is played and echos across the room. For some reason, it gives me this sense of serenity. I feel...

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Huh?

I turn in shock. Facing me is a girl my age. She has blond hair decorated with Music Note hair clips. Her kind purple eyes look at me, making my heart beat so fast. She is wearing a uniform covered with a pink vest and a skirt decorated with black music notes. She smiles at me, but it only makes me look away. My hat covering my eyes.

It's impossible. This person couldn't be her. She's...

The girl sits on the piano, touching the keys. Her eyes look as if she is remembering something. I wonder what it is? Is it happy? Sad? It's just so hard to read what she's thinking. She then looks at me with a smile.

"Would you mind if I play something?" She asks.

I don't answer. I couldn't.

Regardless, she starts playing.

The moment she presses the keys, my whole world begins to change. I am surrounded by a field of snow with snowflakes falling before me. The pine trees are blanketed with snow and the moon is out tonight. Its moonlight makes this place more breathtaking. More magical.

As I turn around, I notice the girl. She comes towards me with a smile. She holds my hand.

"Come on. Let's go!"

After that, we start playing in the snow. We make snowmen, we make snow angels, we walk around in this winter wonderland as we watch the snowflakes fall from the sky.

Just as I take in this gorgeous view, I-"H-Hey!"

A snowball hits my head. My hat come off as a result. I'm about to pick it up when the girl starts throwing more snowballs at me. She laughs at my reaction. OK that's it.

I make a snowball and throw it at her. It hits her and now her hair is covered with snow. Before I knew it, we start a snowball fight.

Everything seems so surreal. We are laughing and having so much fun. It is as if everything that happened...

I stop making another snowball.

The girl notices and looks at me with concern.

"What's wrong," she asks.

I just...

"This...isn't real, is it?" I start, my voice getting louder. "This place, this feeling that's burning in my chest... They are all just things I made up inside my head, right!?"

The girl doesn't respond.

"Because...there's no way...there's no way..."

I look at her directly in the eye.

"There's no way that we'll be able to meet again like this!"

My knees buckle and I fall on the snowy ground. My heart is pounding and I can't hold back the tears. It's flooding out of me like a waterfall. Everything is turning gray.

"It's just not possible. We are having fun and talking as if everything is fine. But it's not! We are trap in a sick game where we're forced to kill each other! And then...you...you..."

I can't say. I mustn't say it. It will only make this even more painful.

A body...a chain...splashes of blood...

"It's my fault that it happened to you!"

All these feelings that I worked so hard to bottled up ends up rampaging like an avalanche.

What is it, exactly? Is it sadness? Agony? No. That's not it. What I'm feeling right now is much more deeper...much more darker than I could ever felt.

Despair.

I am swirling in an abyss of darkness. It seems like they come back to haunt me. My fears. My regrets. My failures. They are all closing in, ready to take me out in one swoop.

Then again, it might not be a bad thing.

Why am I even trying to live in the first place? Why am I still here? This situation is hopeless anyway.

Everything I've done is pointless.

Everything I am is worthless.

No matter what I do, everything I've loved and lived for will vanish into nothingness...

I should just die─

"Huh?"

Suddenly, I can feel an embrace. My tearing eyes look at hers. She's crying.

"Don't think like that..." She says. "Don't you dare lose hope in yourself! You never did anything wrong. What you did back then was the right thing."

My eyes widen by her statement. Why? Why are you doing this?! After what happened, you still...

"The right thing? How was that the right thing!?" I ask, my voice filled with frustration. "If I hadn't said anything, maybe..."

You would still be here.

As if she can read my mind, she shook her head.

"No Shuichi. What you did back then was the thing I want to happen. You must face the truth."

Huh? I look at her. She looks at me with a gentle expression and says:

"No matter how painful. No matter how much heartbreak you feel. You must always face the truth. Tell me Shuichi...what is the truth right now?"

I clutch my shirt. Tears are coming out even more.

"I can't...I just can't..." I say. "That would mean..."

"Do it Shuichi. You must do it. Not just for my sake, but for your sake. I believe in you so please...even if it's just once...believe in me."

I can feel myself shaking. For all my life, I always run away from the Truth. I'm afraid of it.

But, she told me to face it. She pushed me out of my comfort zone. And if I give up now, it would be an insult to her. I won't let that happen.

I put my hand on my pocket to take something from it. I look at it again with sadness. It's a hair clip shaped like a music note.

"Your name...was Kaede Akamatsu," I say as I restrain myself from crying. "You were the Ultimate Pianist. When we first met, we became friends. You believed in my talent as a detective. You believed in me even though I didn't. You were always by my side."

Tears fall on the hair clip I'm holding.

"But then...that murder trial. I figured out who did it. It was..."

Why can't I say it? I must... In order to face the truth...I must.

I ball my hands in a fist.

"The blackened was you. But not because of bloodlust. You did it to protect us. You wanted to kill the mastermind in hopes of saving us. But still you...were executed. In the most gruesome way, you were going to die. Yet despite that, you still encouraged me to believe in myself until your last breath."

Before I knew it, I couldn't speak anymore. My vision is blurred from my tears. I can barely breathe. But then...I feel light at the same time. As if...a burden is lifted off my chest.

Kaede starts to embrace me again. My face covered in her arms.

"I am sorry, Kaede. I am so sorry. I couldn't accept that you're gone. I can't accept the fact that you will no longer be by my side. Because of that, I tried to deny your death. I am so sorry. I will never do it again. For your sake and mine, I will not be afraid anymore. I will face the truth, no matter how hard it will be. That's a promise."

I look at Kaede. She is smiling. Everything seems to become colorful again. She then lets go and stands up. She is glowing, just like the moon that's high in the sky. She looks at me smiling, tears falling from her eyes.

"Thank you Shuichi. Thank you for being my friend."

And in a blink of an eye, she is gone.

The world around me shifts and I am back in the music room. I can still feel the tears on my face.

I notice that my hat is on the ground. I pick it up and is about to put it on until I stop. Maybe I don't need it. I take the hairclip from my pocket and place the two items on top of the piano.

I think it's getting late. I need to go. I take one last look at the music room and head towards the exit.

Perhaps, there is still hope to live after all.

"Thank you, Kaede. Thank you so much."

For the first time since her death, I smile as I remember her voice.

Her Winter Melody.