Whatever sleep Kisuke got that night was short and restless.

He woke in the night feeling extremely cold, colder than he’d been outside the hut. His body was so stiff, so he cracked open his eyes.

He was still in the weathered hut, Fuyuki sleeping soundly beside him, only, they were not alone.

Against the sound of the wind came a sharp breath, followed by the fluttering of a white kimono. Kisuke’s eyes angled up, and he fought the urge to scream at the sight of a beautiful woman dressed in white standing over Old Fuyuki.

Her kimono was crossed with the right side over the left, tied with a matching silvery obi sash. She had no feet, as the end of her kimono dissolved below her waist. Long, black hair flowed behind her, falling from a ghostly pale face, with skin paler than the snow. Her eyebrows were thin above black eyes like endless voids, and with deathly violet lips.

Kisuke watched in fear as the woman in white inhaled, then breathed. Her breath became a translucent mist, which settled over Old Fuyuki. The old man’s skin began to turn blue, slowing the rising and falling of his chest.

The woman continued to breathe until the old man was completely blue, completely encased in ice. Old Fuyuki lay completely still, his body frozen in time.

Kisuke shivered in horror as he recalled the similarities of how his father had died.

Terror settled into his heart as he feared this would be his end as well.

He was going to die. He was going to end up like his father and Old Fuyuki. He’d believed his whole life until now that death was not the end, but Kisuke was not ready to leave this life behind yet. He still had his mother back home, and a future ahead of him, no matter how dull it might be.

It was unfair to think that the forest kami spirits wanted his life now.

When the woman in white turned her attention to Kisuke, the young man trembled in the presence of Death herself. He closed his eyes, waiting for her to take him, for he could not run. He was too cold and tired, resigned to her power.

But she did not breathe on him as she did Old Fuyuki.

Kisuke opened his eyes. The woman stared down at him, her black eyes observing him.

Then she spoke.

“I was going to kill you like I the old man,” she rasped, her voice faint and airy like a dry breeze. “But because you are so young I’ve decided to let you live. But be warned!” Her black eyes narrowed. “If you tell anyone about what you saw this night I promise I will find you and kill you!”

And without another word the woman stole into the night, flying through the door that swung open for her, then shut again after she’d disappeared into the woods.

Kisuke was so overwhelmed by what he’d just witnessed that he fainted.

–––––

Kisuke returned home to his village to mourn the loss of Old Fuyuki, who had succumbed to the cold one fateful night. He’d brought the old man’s body back so he and the villagers could mourn him. He went with Fuyuki’s wife to see him be buried, but Kisuke never told anyone what he’d seen that night.

His mother was glad to have him home, having laid awake all night worrying that he would share his father’s fate. She fretted even more for his well-being now, though Kisuke always tried to assure her otherwise.

Winter ended rather abruptly that year, and the villagers welcomed spring wholeheartedly, having seen enough tragedy for one year.

In the early days of spring Kisuke travelled to one of the nearby towns to sell firewood. It was strange not going with Old Fuyuki, but the old man was still with him in memory. Besides, there was little else for Kisuke to do than to continue on with his life.

Since the youth never thought much of what could be missing from his life, he almost missed spotting a familiar face in the town’s crowds.

Could it be? Kisuke wondered, second guessing himself.

With all that had happened he hadn’t thought it possible for any particularly good fortune to come his way. He chanced to follow the girl he’d seen.

She wore a pale blue kimono with her hair tied back in a simple bun at the nape of her neck. A pale pink sakura blossom rested behind her ear, and her smile held the warmth of a hearth on a cold winter’s night.

Kisuke approached her and asked for her name.

“Kasumi,” she answered. Then she recognized him as well. “Kisuke!”

Their reunion was merry, two childhood friends having found each other after so many years.

Kisuke asked after her family, if Takeshi and their sisters were alright. Kasumi told him that her elder sisters had married and had children, and Takeshi himself had recently found himself a wife. They would have a child soon, and their house would be too full for her to stay. Kasumi had come here to find work so that she might allow her brother and new sister-in-law some space to raise their child.

Kisuke asked if Kasumi would like to visit her old home, and she accepted without second thought.

She told him she would send her brother a message of her whereabouts later on. Thinking nothing of it, Kisuke took Kasumi back to her old village. Kisuke’s mother welcomed her back and opened their doors to the young woman.

Kasumi stayed with them the whole spring, helping Kisuke’s mother while Kisuke worked. Kisuke’s mother made quick work gossiping with the villagers of what a fine pair her son and his childhood friend made. It was no secret that she hoped her son might finally have found what–or rather, who– was missing from his life.

Some nights Kisuke and Kasumi huddled close to the hearth, sharing stories of their past.

Kisuke told Kasumi of how their childhood friends had grown and married. Kasumi told Kisuke of how her family had fared. Her mother had died, as had her maternal grandparents, so she did her best to help her siblings until they married out.

Both of them had lived quite ordinarily lives, and for the next little while they lived ordinary lives together.

They grew very fond of each other, and one summer’s day Kisuke (finally) asked Kasumi to marry him. The young lad had fallen in love with her, and wanted to stay with her for the rest of his life.

Kasumi bashfully accepted his proposal, and they planned to marry before the autumn harvest.