The first time Kita Ikuyo saw him was in winter. Unusually, it rained that day. It should have snowed on that winter day, not rained, right?
Kita Ikuyo had always thought so.
So she never carried an umbrella in winter. A senior in sixth grade once told her that winter is the end of the four seasons.
So many, so many, so many beautiful things would retreat into the soil, or be frozen to death in that unseen, untouchable, yet palpable cold winter.
Kita had always believed that there would be nothing beautiful outside in winter. She had always believed that, until today. In her yellow-green eyes, a boy was sitting blankly on a bench.
He was wearing what should have been a white shirt, but it was stained with paint.
It could be called colorful, but definitely not dazzling. Dull, he was being struck by raindrops like a delicate flower in the rain.
Pat-a-pat.
Kita, standing under the eaves of the convenience store, couldn't take her eyes off him.
He lifted his face, his broken purple eyes staring blankly at the sky. Raindrops hit his eyes, then flowed down his eye sockets like tears.
He couldn't see.
At that moment, Kita Ikuyo suddenly understood this.
So this time, on the same day.
She rummaged through all the pocket money in her pockets, then walked into the convenience store.
Under the numb gaze of the convenience store clerk, she bought an umbrella.
Then she walked towards the boy in the distance. As she got closer, Kita Ikuyo could see him clearly again.
On his pale skin, there was a sickly, almost broken kind of "beauty." His face was splattered with a few specks of paint, the same source as the paint on his clothes.
His soft black hair was wet with rain, clinging to his cheeks. Kita Ikuyo's heart inexplicably tightened. She slowly walked to the boy's side, opened the umbrella, and shielded him from the falling raindrops.
The boy seemed to notice someone beside him. He turned his head blankly, his broken purple eyes silently watching Kita Ikuyo.
Just kidding, he couldn't watch.
It was as if he were trapped in a dark box; the beauty of the outside world, those tangible things, were all shut out by those purple eyes.
Kita suddenly felt very sorry for him.
How pitiful, if he were like this, wouldn't he be unable to see anything beautiful at all?
"Hello..."
The boy's voice had no inflection.
He was such a person, a person rejected by the other beauties of the world.
Why... "Hello..."
Kita looked at the boy, her lips trembling. She slowly extended a hand and then gently touched the boy's cheek.
"How are you still so beautiful?"
"...What?"
The boy's voice held confusion. shook her head.
"Nothing, I said something strange. Can you not see?"
Kita asked.
"Yes, I can't see."
The boy's voice still had no inflection.
"My name is Kita Ikuyo, what's yours?"
"Nekoyashiki Haru."
"Why aren't you sheltering from the rain?"
Kita Ikuyo sat down beside Nekoyashiki Haru, ignoring the soaked bench.
"...It feels quite comfortable..."
Nekoyashiki Haru said, reaching out to catch the raindrops in the air.
"The shape... the temperature, the moment it touches me, I can feel a little, even if it's just a little."
"..."
Kita pursed her lips.
"Do you like to draw?"
"I used to like it very much."
Nekoyashiki Haru said.
"And now?"
Kita narrowed her eyes.
"Now..."
Haru fell silent.
"Don't you like it?"
Kita's foot gently tapped the ground.
"Someone told me that in winter, beautiful things no longer exist."
"Whether they exist or not is meaningless to me."
"I know... you've been rejected."
Kita said, looking at the ground.
"What are you doing here again? If it's out of curiosity about me, you should be satisfied by now, shouldn't you?"
Haru dismissed her.
"You can go back, take your umbrella, then go home, take a shower, and sleep comfortably."
Haru closed his eyes, and Kita Ikuyo suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.
"If you stay here, you might catch a cold."
"Are you concerned about me?"
"Perhaps."
"Why?"
"What?"
Haru tilted his head in confusion, and Kita asked.
"Why... do you care about me?"
"...Do you need an answer?"
"Yes."
"I don't want anyone to suffer because of me."
Haru's fingers intertwined.
"Whether you are curious about me or feel pity and worry for me, please don't suffer because of me. That's something that doesn't make me happy."
"...Isn't it beautiful?"
"What?"
"Don't mind..."
Kita shook her head, then repeated.
"Don't mind."
Then she fell silent beside Haru, not saying a word.
"...How old are you?"