True to his words, Kaname made my room his office and quarters. While he worked, I stayed in the bedroom to give him the peace and quiet that he needed. When lunch came, we ate together. When I woke up from my afternoon nap, Ryuko-san informed me that he went to the omote to discuss a few matters with some visiting officials."There"s one love in a lifetime, our two hearts of a kind, these three reasons you"ll be mine," I sang one of my favorite English songs while braiding my hair. "Four when five and six are through, seven days without you[1]."
"That sounds beautiful," I almost jumped when I heard Kaname"s voice. "Mind telling me what it is about?"
"It"s a song about yearning for someone," I lowered my eyes to avoid his gaze. "The singer cannot wait to see his beloved again; he"s counting the days until they are reunited."
"What"s the t.i.tle?" he walked to the dresser and leaned his hip on it before crossing his arms on his chest.
"Seven Days Without You," I told him in j.a.panese. "It"s by Teddy Geiger."
"Is there a reason behind the number of days?"
"In the modern times, one week is equivalent to seven days," I explained. "I"m not sure why the singer and songwriters used it as the timeframe."
"Seven Days Without You," he smiled wistfully. "Reminds me of the time we were apart, although my absence was far longer than that."
I looked away, I felt inexplicably shy for some reason. "You"re not busy anymore?" I asked as I untied and retied my hair, his stare was unsettling.
"Mmm," he replied. "What about you?"
I couldn"t stop my laughter, "Kaname, since when did I ever become busy?"
He laughed as well. Its sound was as beautiful as his eyes and smile. "Would you mind going for a stroll?"
"But isn"t it still working hours for you?" I didn"t want to hear him play hooky.
"I"m done for the day," he replied. "So what do you think?"
"If you"re not busy then why not?"
~~~
Bundled up in layers of kimono, Kaname and I, along with my maids and I"m pretty sure his shadow guards as well, went to visit the area where I saw Ayaka and Mami for the first time. The place brought a certain sense of nostalgia as I realized how long I"ve been in this time and place. Adjusting to this whole experience had not been easy, every day brought its own challenges. I stole a glance at Kaname who was walking beside me, his eyes were on the bridge. He must have noticed me glimpsing at him because he suddenly turned his head.
"Something wrong?" I asked when he continued to stare.
"I just realized you"ve been here for quite some time now," he answered. "Hina, how long have you been here again?"
"Three months, more or less," I replied.
"It must have been difficult for you," he said. "Based on what you told me about your time, I believe you have everything you needed and so much more there. Whereas here, in my now, you have to live backwards and adjust to living your life with whatever this era can offer."
I tucked a few errant stands of hair behind my ear. So we were thinking about the same thing, our minds are surprisingly in sync. "It hasn"t been easy but I am in the company of people who try their best to make me comfortable. You"re one of them, of course. Thank you for giving me my basic needs, if we haven"t met then I don"t know what would"ve happened to me."
As soon as I finished speaking, I saw soft, white pieces of something unfamiliar falling from the sky. Today had been especially cold and gloomy, I almost didn"t want to go outside. I opened my palm to try to catch one of the white stuff and gasped when it melted on my skin.
"Snow?" I looked at him with wide eyes. "Kaname, it"s snowing!"
"It is," he frowned at the sky. "We"d better go back."
"No," I said as I tried to catch more of the frozen water. "This is my first time seeing actual snow, I want to experience it a bit longer."
"You mean snow does not exist in your time?" he looked so floored I had to laugh.
"It still snows, silly," I held my stomach as I laughed my head off.
"Oi, what"s so funny?"
"Your face," I managed to gasp. "You looked so shocked when I told you it"s my first time seeing snow!"
"But it is indeed surprising," he reasoned stubbornly. "You don"t have to laugh at me."
"The country I live in only has two seasons: wet and dry," I explained while trying to keep a straight face. "I have to sit in a plane and travel through a few time zones just to experience this."
"I see," he answered although he still looked annoyed.
When the snow started to fall quicker and in huge batches, he took my hand a pulled me to the nearby pavillion.
"Sorry, I touched you," he said as he let go of my hand. "Since you don"t want to go back yet, let"s watch the snow fall here."
"Okay," I replied simply before marveling at the beauty of my first snow. "It"s so beautiful."
"I used to hate winter," he said after a while. "I don"t like the cold and the longer nights."
I turned to look at him, "You said "used to," what changed it?"
"That"s one secret I"ll never tell," his smile was sphinxlike, it piqued my curiosity.
I raised one brow in response and didn"t say anything. I made a mental note to make sure to find out the reason in the future instead. A cold breeze blew. I shivered and hugged myself, it was starting to get uncomfortably cold.
"Let"s go back, Hina," he said. "You"re not one hundred percent healed, you might get sick again."
"Just a little more, please?" I begged. "I can still manage."
"But you"re shivering," he complained.
"I"m good," I said although my teeth were starting to chatter.
"Hina, let"s go back," he tugged at the sleeve of my kimono. "Your lips are starting to lose their color."
"Hold me then," I challenged.
"What did you just say?"
"Hold me, Kaname. Warm me up with your body heat," I told him boldly.
He didn"t say anything and just snaked his arms around my waist. He then rested his chin on top of my head before making a humming sound. I leaned back a bit to absorb more of his body"s toasty temperature.
"You"re so warm," I sighed contentedly.
"And you"re stubborn as always," he chided although he was clearly enjoying the moment.
We stayed like this for a little while longer; when we made our way back to the palace, Kaname held my hand to support me as some parts of the garden have become slippery. I was glad we braved this cold weather, seeing the first snow with him is another memory forever etched in my heart.
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[1] Taken from Teddy Geiger"s Seven Days Without You
Songwriters: Stephen Robinson Bertrand / Stuart Brawley
Seven Days Without You lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.