I’m an eighteen-year-old man, yet my height is four feet and eleven inches.

I stopped growing two years ago.

I have an effeminate face. A thin chest. Puny, boney limbs.

Meanwhile, Akari is larger than life. She towers over all, with a captivating strength I’ve yet to fully see. Even so, her gentle and timid demeanor relaxes me. She’s like a benevolent blizzard, who leaves behind mounds of elegant, pure snow. She comes when all are indoors, wrapped under blankets on their couches, their only exposure to the elements being the beauty beyond the windows.

I follow her like a mere flurry, who will never catch up, who will sputter and dissipate before leaving any beauty behind. I told myself that I cannot fall for her. I have to keep a certain distance. But… how could I? When she’s the one who will guide me, when she’s a sanctuary within this hell? Become stronger. Face your destiny as a man. But can I actually do it? Is it wrong for me to cling to her? Am I a lost cause?

That question, “Can I truly become strong?” For a moment, Akira wonders if it is antithetical to these newfound feelings, yet he immediately remembers not to dwell upon such attraction. He shakes his head, and tells Akari, “I want you to be honest with me. I won’t be offended.”

Akari, attempting to sound as gentle as possible, replies, “I’ll ask first… How is your experience with the gym?”

“I’ve gone with my father, but I was always paced too fast. I… burnt out quickly. This time, I was hoping to try again with a more proper pace.”

She forces a smile. “That’s a good start.”

“But is it enough? I’m, well… I’m skin and bones. Can you be honest with me? Am I… a lost cause?”

“I think it’s more important to think about,” Akari answers, “why you want to become strong. I’d like to believe you can do it no matter what, so long as you have a good motive.”

“Akari, the truth is,” Akira confesses, “I want to become a better man.”

A better man? Akari gulps at the comment.

Akira continues nervously, “My whole life, I’ve been someone who can’t protect. I’ve been weak. I want to become strong, so I can be the ideal man.” His voice cracks as he then clarifies in a panic, “Oh, I’m not saying you’re masculine, though! I-It’s just that, for men specifically, I’ve been taught that they should be strong by default, for the benefit of society, more or less…”

Akari smiles, wanting to comfort him. “Don’t worry. I do wear masculine clothes after all.”

“By chance,” Akira asks, “do you struggle with your self-image too?”

“Yeah. Because of how I look, I feel more comfortable dressing like a man.”

“Ah… I know it doesn’t mean much coming from me, but I think you’d look fine if you dressed in the school’s female uniform.”

Akari blushes at the pseudo-compliment. “M-Maybe…”

Akira blushes too, wondering if he should not have said that. “I-In any case, what do you believe?”

Akari thinks, If this is something he truly wants, he can succeed with incredibly hard work. But if he’s only doing it out of obligation, he’ll fail. It’s not like I know what’s best for him; I shouldn’t propose to him a crossroads, not now at least. “I believe it’s worth giving it a shot.”

Akira beams. “Thank you!” And Akari can’t help but reciprocate his massive grin.

—

Northern Peak University is located in a tiny village, also named Northern Peak. Roughly an hour away from the area is the major city of Mount Snowwind, where Akari and Emilija are from. In fact, it is said that one in five Northern Peak students comes from Mount Snowwind.

The university hosts a population of only five hundred students, a puny amount even for a rural school. However, the students are not the institution’s sole breadwinners. The college is both notorious and discreet; everyone knows that the school is a center of corruption. Politicians, police, corporations, and even crime syndicates invest in the institution, purposefully maintaining a sadistic status quo. The incentive goes in two directions: For the academically strong yet financially burdened student, Northern Peak offers unbelievable scholarships, exploiting the desperation that arises from poverty. Meanwhile, for delinquents who shall burden everyone else, Northern Peak willfully provides them with opportunity—mind you, not to change their behavior—but to embrace it, and contain it within campus boundaries.

Thus, Northern Peak is a haven for both violence and study. Generally, the Honors students keep to themselves, silently enduring intense assaults as they pursue their education. Meanwhile, we can divide the Troubled students into two categories: the fighters and the bullies. The fighters generally value fairness, and will only attack the strong, or those who provoke them. However, the bullies live with an ungoverned hedonism, and often target the defenseless.

All that said, for those who refuse to capitulate, who pledge to fight for change… there is a force that watches over Northern Peak’s campus. It is not the local police department, but rather a student organization. Known as the Blizzards, they do not seek to eliminate violence, recognizing the improbability of achieving such a goal. Instead, they seek to control the violence, in such a way as to protect their peers.

Yet the Blizzards face innumerable obstacles. The college administration permits them to operate, but with intense limitations, seeking to maintain “balance” between justice and depravity.

However, soon the Blizzards—and this campus at large—will experience a wide reckoning. For one woman, who embodies the very concept of a turbulent yet elegant snowstorm, and the cute flurry she will come to love… have arrived as new students, uncertain, yet determined.

—

The next morning, Akira walks to Central on his own. Emilija said to stick to crowds, right? But this campus only has five hundred students. Maybe I should have asked Akari to walk with me? No, no! I can’t rely on her. He gulps as he walks towards the Square: the busiest part of Central, hosting the Union, a dining hall, and various paths to the rest of campus.

The Square is a hub where, facing forward from the Honors District, you have a dining hall to your right, the Union to your left, and two paths forward—one to the Troubled residence halls, veering left, and one to the academic halls, veering right. The Square sidewalk looks just as bad as the sidewalks of the Troubled District, but the buildings look fine enough. Akira can see more odd stains on the path leading to the Troubled District compared to the path towards the academic halls.

Central itself includes both the Square and the academic halls. The academic halls are a mixed bag. The classroom environment and higher presence of faculty brings a degree of peace to the hall interiors, but fights still happen outside, if less often than in the Square.

Akira simply wants to try out the Central dining hall, familiarize himself further with the campus, and practice walking his class schedule.

But, just as he enters the Square, Akira notices a man from afar staring him down.

Who immediately gives chase.

Akira runs for it, back to the Honors District. He’s going to catch up to me! He’s going to… No! NO!

“COWARD!”

Akira winces as he hears that shout from far behind him. He keeps running, though he is already well into Honors territory. He eventually stops, turning around as he catches his breath, to see the bully nowhere in sight. Instead, two Honors students walk over to him.

“Be careful,” one of them says. “Only go to Central when it's busy.”

Akira frowns with both shame and resentment.

The other man says, “What is a guy like you doing on this campus, anyway? You’re puny!”

The first man says, “Seriously, you’re not going to survive here.”

Akira clenches his fist. “Tch!”

He wants to sprint back to his dorm, but he’s already run as much as he can without causing breathing problems. Instead, he stomps away from the other students, with tears in his eyes. Forget it! Why do I even bother?! I’ll just wait for Akari to come around!

Stuck in his head, he trips and falls over a bump in the sidewalk.

His chest tightens as he lays on the ground helplessly.

He doesn’t get up.

He feels he doesn’t deserve that much.

What a man I am… What… a pathetic man.