Christmas Eve, 1992—just outside of Gotemba, Shizuoka.
The world stood still, wrapped in a serene, frozen grace. Gentle snowflakes drifted steadily down from the sky, each one dancing through the crisp winter air before settling softly on the ground below.
Mariya, Leo, and Ayaka—the youngest among them and Leo's sister—were on their way to Sakura Park, hoping to savour the last bit of time they had left.
The only ones who missing were Kobayashi Yamiko, Mariya's longtime best friend, and Saitou Tatsuro, the student committee chairman. They were probably busy off somewhere, "having some alone time," as they often did.
"Onii-chan, can I play with the children over there?" Ayaka pleaded, pointing eagerly toward the park. "Please, please, please. I won't run off this time, I promise."
Leo hesitated, his breath visible in the frigid air. Yet the moment Ayaka met him with those pleading, sympathetic eyes, his mind changed almost instantly.
Before he could even respond, she was already sprinting off, her small footsteps leaving imprints in the fresh blanket of snow.
"Lively as always, isn't she?" Mariya murmured, casting Leo a knowing glance. "She's a lot like you, you know?"
He let out a soft chuckle. "For someone her age, she sure acts way too childish. I was never that chil—"
Before he could finish, Mariya released his hand and cupped his cheeks, her touch gentle but firm. "You're way too serious for someone your age," she murmured. "If you keep acting so uptight, I don't know if my temper will keep up."
Leo froze under her touch, caught between her words and her deep blue eyes. In the end, Mariya simply drew him closer and pressed a kiss against his jaw.
"You lovebirds need to get a room already. Jeez," came a raspy voice from somewhere nearby.
Turning around, Leo spotted two figures making their way up the sidewalk.
Okamura Kenta and Hiramatsu Hitomi.
"Father, why are you here?" Leo asked, easing himself away from Mariya.
Hitomi, Mariya's mother, shot them both a playful side glance. "You do realize public displays of affection aren't exactly appropriate, right?"
"Then again, I'm hardly one to talk, am I?"
Mariya shot her mother a deathly stare. "What are you doing here, mother? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"Aww, come on, Mariya," Hitomi replied, her thick Russian accent slipping through. "Don't give me that look. It's Christmas Eve. We should be spending it together." She added the last part with a hint of sarcastic teasing.
Mariya, however, wasn't particularly fond of the gesture. Instead, she quickened her pace, leaving both Hitomi and Kenta trailing behind.
"Teenage love," they thought.
"It would last forever," they thought.
But as they watched Mariya and Leo walk ahead, Hitomi's smile faded, her eyes softening. "Ah, youth," she murmured, her voice tinged with both nostalgia and something unreadable. "They think it's forever."
Kenta, standing beside her, gave a small shrug. "Sometimes it is," he said quietly to himself.
Mariya's footsteps grew louder, the distance between them widening, but the air between them was still heavy, like unspoken words hung in the winter air.