Winter - Chapter 10

Chapter 8 Miyuki couldn't believe her eyes. She was so weak that she thought maybe what she was seeing in the distance was her mind playing tricks on her. But marching onward, the village before her became more real than mere vision. Time had badly worn away the buildings. Many had collapsed while others looked to be on the verge of doing the same. One home, however, seemed to have stood the test of time. It stood out for that reason, but also because its windows and door had been boarded up.

With the weather beginning to take a turn for the worst, Miyuki felt she had no other choice but to seek shelter inside. Fortunately the boards and nails were weak enough for Miyuki to pry them from the door, making it no problem for her to gain entrance. Using her cell phone for light, Miyuki found the home looked to have been left untouched since it was last inhabited. Dust covered everything but, other than that, the home looked just as it had looked several hundred years ago. Looking through some of the items in the home, Miyuki deduced that the home had once belonged to a woman.

She was validated in her assumption when she discovered a journal lying in plain view with a familiar name written in it. "Natsuko," gasped Miyuki after flipping open the journal and finding the woman's name on the first page. "This was her home." Miyuki had no real feelings about the home, but after realizing that it had once belonged to Natsuko, it became a sad and lonely place. The small bed, the table with only one chair and the scant amount of dishes now took on a new significance. With great curiosity, Miyuki began reading.

The first pages that piqued Miyuki's interest were those that concerned catching the eye of a neighbor named Kaito. But the further Miyuki would read, the more enlightening the content would become. I caught Kaito looking at me again. I'm too shy to look back. What can I do? He's so handsome and I'm so plain looking. And he's a married man. He has a child. But I don't care about those things. I can't fight these feelings I have for him. I just want to be with him no matter what the cost. I know that others have seen Kaito looking at me. I know they don't like it, especially the women.

I see them whisper to each other every time I walk by. They're spreading rumors about me. I don't care what they say about me. I just don't want them talking badly about Kaito. He doesn't deserve it. Ijust worry about what kind of rumors these women are spreading about me. I hope they aren't saying things that will get me into trouble. After flipping through a few more pages, Miyuki found that the infatuation eventually became an all-out romance. Kaito and I have been meeting in the woods at night. It's the only way we can see each other without being discovered.