The car slams to a stop, and Kira feels a crawling sense of apprehension. She had been in the mountains with Kaze, on their way up to a shrine, when the wind started to pick up. A storm seemed to be in the making; snowflakes began to thicken in density and swirl around the car. Now the car has stopped, though the gas is still full and the road looks clear enough.

"What happened?" she whispers.

"I don't know," Kaze replies. "I'll check."

He steps outside and closes the door behind him, careful not to let too much snow in. Kira watches as he opens the hood, but she soon loses sight of him in the spinning hordes of snowflakes. After a few minutes, Kira begins to worry. Why isn't he back yet? She has heard many stories of the dangers near the shrine in the winter. It is a family tradition for couples to visit before marriage, and she and Kaze are no exception. Her family has told her about the sudden blizzards, slippery roads, and other misfortunes that fell upon them. She knows the risk of frostbite and disease, which is even higher due to the abnormally cold conditions.

Kira cracks the car door open, hearing only the whispers of wind that grow louder. She wraps another scarf on top of the two she already has and decides to brave the cold. Outside, all she can see is an endless expanse of white. Kaze is nowhere to be seen.

She inches her way around the car, struggling against the harsh wind. She bends over the hood and realizes that nothing is noticeably broken. It all looks like it should work, but she doesn't know enough about cars to know for sure. Still, she wonders, what has stopped the car, what could stop the car so suddenly? Could it have been the wind? And where has Kaze gone? Questions peck at her brain, obnoxious woodpeckers drilling the sanity out of her. She knows the truth - that Kaze is somehow gone, leaving her alone, but it doesn't quite sound right. He couldn't have just left her, not in this storm. He certainly isn't ill or dead; if he was, she would at least see his body. There isn't a trace of evidence to prove that Kaze was there in the first place, other than the open car hood, which bangs in the surging wind. Kira shuts it in place and stares off into space for a few moments, wondering what on earth could explain this odd occurrence.

In that short time, the snow grows heavier. Soon, before Kira even really notices, she is surrounded by flurries. The wind whistles by her, but after a while, she hears a wispy female voice in it that chills her bones more than the cold ever could.

"He left you."

The words echo, carried on infinite shreds of wind.

"No." Kira's voice remains strong, though she wavers inside. She's too wind-stung and lost in her own thoughts to fully realize the danger of this faceless enigma or even to wonder why she, alone in the mountains, is hearing a voice in the first place. "He wouldn't leave."

"Are you sure? Men are fickle creatures. Think about it like this - why would he stay with you?"

The words are glass shards flung at Kira's heart. Kira has never completely believed that she was worthy of him, of anyone. She only sees the flaws in herself, and the voice only brings these to mind. Why would he want to stay? But her memories come rushing at his defense, eager to show that he would never abandon her. She remembers his quiet confession of love, his determination to win her heart over. She remembers sunny spring picnics and warm hot chocolate in the winter. She remembers the slight tremble in his voice a year ago when he proposed to her, unsure of her obvious answer. After all of this, Kira questions why she's listening to the faceless voice.

"He loves me. That's why he would want to stay. In fact, I'm not sure why I should even be listening to you. You know nothing about us, about everything that we've been through."

The wind takes a sharp increase in speed, and the snowflakes feel like weapons directed at her. Kira feels a few small shards of hail skim her cheeks, nearly sharp enough to cut.

"You underestimate me. I know things that you do not. I know of evils that you are oblivious to. Who are you to question me?"

The voice is clearly angry, and it scares Kira. Yet somewhere within her, she finds the strength to push on.

"Who-who are you to question me?"

The voice pauses for a moment, and Kira wonders if it could hear the slight tremors in her speech.

"I see. You are braver than you seemed."

The storm calms, and a translucent figure starts to form. Amidst the white all around her, Kira sees a waterfall of long black hair. Soon enough, a hauntingly beautiful face with icy blue lips materializes. Kira finds herself staring at this frozen perfection before her eyelids rise, revealing irises that seem too blue to be real.

"I am Yuki."

Kira is stunned. How had she not noticed Yuki before? How had she hidden so well?

"I am a snow maiden. You can be too, should you choose to join me."

Yuki's face stays incredibly stiff, showing no emotion.

"Why would you let me join you?"

"Because you and I are all too similar. We are more alike than you care to believe."

The snow maiden's face softens with familiarity, but Kira will have none of it.

"We aren't. You're wrong."

She shakes her head and takes a step back, towards the general area of where the car should be. It isn't there.

"You're looking for the car. For what? To go back home alone? What will they say?"

"I... I won't go home alone. I'll find Kaze; I will."

Yuki's face darkens and her tone takes a sharp edge.

"You insist on going back to that good-for-nothing oaf. Have you ever thought that maybe he doesn't want you back?"

"He loves me. Of course he wants me back."

Yuki shakes her head.

"You don't know what I know. I once loved someone too."

She disappears again into the snow, but her frosty voice still echoes around Kira.

"We were going to be married. Everything was all sunshine and rainbows. But things that good hardly ever stay. And this one didn't either."

The last part is spoken right next to Kira's ear, and she shivers with the cold of Yuki's icy breath.

"I was pregnant then. I thought he would be happy; I thought we would be happy together. No, the very word of a child scared the man. He sent me out of the house, and into the cold snow. Me and my baby."

She pushes Kira's back lightly, and Kira stumbles forward, shocked at the coldness of Yuki's pale hands. The wind is swirling now, a funnel around Kira.

"Men are fickle creatures. All of them."

"Kaze wouldn't leave me. Ever."

"Can you really be so sure?"

Kira feels piercingly cold fingertips on her stomach, and she realizes that Yuki knows. Kira starts to tremble, Yuki's words reaching deep within her and yanking out insecurities. She's too short; she's too whiny; she is too emotional. She has too many bad qualities and not enough good ones. She's not good enough for Kaze; she'll never be good enough.

"Remember, I too loved him. I thought he loved me. How can you be so sure that Kaze didn't just run away? Didn't just leave you?"

"I - I - I can't."

Yuki appears again in front of Kira, her face softer.

"You and I are more alike than you think."

"Yes - yes, I suppose we are."

Kira now feels saddened. The snow maiden's words have cast their spell upon her. No matter how difficult it is to believe, she is now convinced that it is the truth. Kaze left her.

"You're like me. Stay with me."

"We still have one difference. I'm not like you; I don't belong in the snow. I'm human."

Yuki arches an eyebrow.

Kira notices now that Yuki's touch never left her stomach. The cold had spread to cover her entire body, and she hadn't felt a thing through the numbness of her thoughts about Kaze. She lifts a hand and waves it, straining to see something, anything. All she sees is Yuki and the swirling snow.

A stark realization hits her. She isn't human anymore.

She's now a snow maiden - sickeningly free from the misery of life.