Among the Wolves [Hakuouki]

Chapter 18

Rin lay snoring in her futon at noon. After waking up last night, she immediately drifted off into a dreamless sleep for once and refused to wake up no matter how many times Hijikata yelled at her to wake up.

Eventually, he gave up.

Rin stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes by a crack before rubbing the sleep out of them.

The room was darker than usual and she immediately found herself burrowing deeper into her futon with a shiver as the sudden cold air hit her.

Cold Air.

Suddenly, all signs of sleep vanished as she bolted up right with a grin, causing the silver furred kitten to wake up and lift its head. It studied the obsidian haired girl with its teal eyes before putting its head back down onto its paws and drifting off to sleep. Rin threw the covers off of herself and bolted to the door. She froze in front of it, hands shaking slightly before throwing it open.

A strong, freezing gust of wind blew in, hitting Rin's face with full force. The girl savored the cold breeze as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, her hair being blown behind her with the wind. When she opened her eyes, her vision was met with white.

"Snow," she mumbled to herself as her hair fell back into place.

She wrapped her arms around herself and stepped out of the room, her breath fogging with every slight exhale. She couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face.

Immediately, she ran out, jumped into the snow and rolled onto her back. A gasp escaped her as the cold seeped through her kimono and cooled her warm back.

"I always knew you were crazy, kitten. But I never knew you'd be this insane."

Rin immediately bolted upright only to find Souji have an amused feline smirk on his face. And just like that, the happiness in her vanished and the grin on her face faded away and was replaced by the dull aching in her heart that has seemed to have found a permanent spot in her chest. She made sure no to make eye contact with the brunette.

It was the first thing Souji had said to her since the festival. Or more precisely, it was the first time he could say anything to her since she wasn't dodging or avoiding him like the plague.

Souji seemed to have sensed the shift in mood since the smirk on his face was wiped clean. He walked over to the wooden steps and sank down onto one of them as he studied Rin intently. Rin merely stared at the ground in front of her. Eventually, she tilted her head up and watched the snow drift onto the ground like soft feathers.

"If you stay out like this for too long, you'll catch a cold," Souji said. He let out a weak chuckle before adding, "You're making me sound like Hijikata-san..."

A heavy silence filled the air.

"Rin-"

Souji was interrupted as Saito took a turn and walked down the corridor. He stopped and took in the scene before him before his ocean blue eyes shifted onto Rin.

A defeated sigh escaped him as he climbed down the wooden steps Souji was seated upon and approached Rin.

Rin looked up at him questioningly as Souji stared at him suspiciously.

"You shouldn't be out in the open in a kimono. As I am aware, your identity as a woman needs to be protected," Saito scolded Rin, adapting a big brother tone.

"Ah yeah...I just got really excited because it was snowing~ I don't wanna go back in now," Rin said playfully, cracking a grin at the Indigo haired man.