Youna made her way towards her parents. While they didn’t need her in any manner, she didn’t want to seem like she was lying to Ishi. As it would turn out, they did need her for something.

“Oh, it’s a good thing you came along.” Her mother commented as she walked up to them. “There’s a problem, we’re running out of drinks.” There were a lot more people than they anticipated here, so supplies were running low. “At this rate, we’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“I can just run down to the convenience store and pick up some more then.” Youna offered to help out. Compared to her parents, she had done a lot less of the work. So it seemed fair that she take this job without being asked.

“That’s wonderful.” Her dad responded with pride in his eyes. “But the weather’s taken a bit of a turn, are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Of course I’ll be fine.” She assured them that this trip wouldn’t be much of a challenge. After all, the store was merely down the road. While this snow might slow her down, a regular trip only took a few minutes. So this shouldn’t be too bad of a delay. “Just let me get changed and I’ll head out.”

With that she headed for the stairs. Meanwhile, Ishi was not enjoying the supposedly exhilarating story that Ryugi had to tell to him. Since he wasn’t paying heavy attention to it, that meant the boy did see Youna heading up the stairs.

“What’s Youna up to?” He asked out loud. This prompted the other girls to turn their head, barely able to see the girl as she disappeared upstairs.

“Are you some weird stalker?” Already, Ritusko had harsh words for the boy. “She’s just going to her room. Or maybe she’s heading to the restroom.”

“You better not be thinking of peeking on her while she’s there.” Non added onto the insults, since for whatever reason people liked to call him a pervert these days.

“Relax girls.” Ryugi was the only one on his side. “He already knows she doesn’t want him up there. Except I bet he’s envisioning her right now.” She had to throw in that last part to not seem suspicious to her friends.

“She’s just been acting a little off lately.” He replied, not too concerned about how they viewed him. “I’ll just ask her about it when she gets back down here.” And so he waited for her to return. When the girl did, he was surprised to see change outfits once again. This time, she was covered up with various winter clothing designed to keep her warm. People could hardly even see her face with how much stuff she had on.

“You better not ditch us for long.” Said Ryugi as he got out of his seat.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” He responded without missing a step as he approached the young girl. “Are you going somewhere?” Ishi asked.

“Uh?” She was a little surprised to see him so soon after she returned to the party. In fact, it was a little difficult for the girl to even see him with her layers of clothing. “I just need to stop by the store for some extra drinks. Don’t worry about me.”

“What about the weather?” Despite her words, he did worry over her. “The snow’s really picking up now.”

“I’ll be fine.” She was actually also concerned about the snow that was really building up now. However, Youna wanted to be a stronger girl that didn’t need to rely on him all the time. While he filled her already warm body with warmth that he continued to care about her; the girl was aware that this wouldn’t win over his heart. “I promise I’ll be back in 15 minutes.”

“Okay then…” His voice lacked the usual confidence Ishi normally held. This feeling had popped up in his body before, such as when Rinse nearly drowned. There was a part of him, perhaps instinct that told him that this was going to pose great risk to the small girl. “Just make sure you keep your phone safe. I’ll call you if you’re not back in 15.” With that, Youna opened the door to brave the harsh weather outside.

Ishi returned to the table that sat the gyarus. While they might’ve been an annoying bunch, he did find solace in their dumb conversations to aid in getting his mind off things.

“Gosh, you’re so boring.” Since he hadn’t been contributing to the conversation, some vitriol was thrown his way by Ryugi’s friends. “this really the boy you keep ditching us for?”

“I mean, sure he’s a little on the quiet side.” She responded, noticing that even his demeanor had changed today. “But that’s just because parties aren’t his thing.”

“They aren’t, but it’s just because I’m looking over at the clock too.” He informed them that it had nearly been 15 minutes since Youna left. Either that girl was going to be walking through that door any minute now, or he had a call to make.

“Let’s go.” He was too disinterested in them, so the gals were ready to just leave him alone. “Ryugi, come with us to sing on the karaoke machine. It looks like Rinse is almost done with it.” There had also been a major crowd gathered there, which appeared to be the much more hip place to be than sulking with Ishi.

“I’ll be there, don’t worry about me.” However, she delayed leaving him as her friends simply turned up their noses to her response. “Ishi, are you sure you’re all right?” Ryugi asked with concern in her voice.

“I’ll be fine when Youna comes back.” He told her, pulling out his phone. The 15 minutes were up now, so he went to go give that girl a call. However, his cell phone rang and rang and rang until it went to voicemail. “That’s not good.”

“Maybe she’s just walking with all that stuff, so she can’t answer her phone.” Ryugi tried to assure him that everything would be okay. “Really, it’s the class rep. We didn’t vote for her for nothing.”

“You guys only voted for her because you didn’t want me being the classroom representative.” Ishi reminded them of that fact. “I think I should go look for her.”

“I can try calling her.” Ryugi followed him as the boy made his way for the door. Unlike Youna, he definitely was not dressed to handle the harsh snow growing worse and worse by the second. “Why are you being so hasty? You’re never like this.”

“I’m just worried, that’s all.” He replied. It was true that he was feeling more fear in his body than ever before. “I’m getting the same feeling I did when Rinse almost drowned.” Unlike before, he was going to listen to his gut feeling. Not telling them how he felt that day almost cost that girl her life. So he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

“Fine, but before you go, let me do something first.” Ryugi then quickly dashed away from him. The boy was confused, but was willing to wait one minute for her to return with hopefully something good. Ishi was nearly ready to head out of the door when she rushed back to him, out of breath.

“Doesn’t look like you got anything.” He commented on the fact that she came back the same as she left.

“I just asked Youna’s dad if you could borrow one of his coats.” He finally regained her breath and pulled the boy aside to where the clothing was kept. They were kept away from the public eye as she pulled out a wool coat that was made for an old man.

“Thanks, I didn’t think to ask for something like this.” He said as he put it on. It already made the boy feel warmer in this well heated house. Hopefully he would continue to feel the same when he left. “Have you tried calling her yet?”

“I’ll do it right now.” Ryugi attempted the same thing as him, yet the result was the same. Something seemed to be preventing Youna from answering their calls.

“It’s set then, I’ll head out and look for her.” Ishi turned from her to head for the door. Then Ryugi grabbed his shoulder and turned the boy right back around. “Is there something else you need?” He asked her, irritated that she continued to delay him. “She could be in some serious trouble, so please be quick.”

“Of course.” Ryugi now lost her usual composure. The girl played with her fingers while staring at the ground. There was now silence between them as he waited impatiently for her to speak.

“Just save it for when I get back.” He couldn’t wait any longer. “I’m going now.” Ishi turned once again to leave her, but the girl once again took his arm. However, she did something different upon getting him to face her. As now she directed his face towards her and kissed him right on the lips.