That should be when all the stories have not yet begun.

The winter in this country was no different from what he had experienced before, and the cold and damp breath swirled around the outside of the house with suspicion, trying to penetrate the heated interior through every crevice.

This year's heavy snowfall seems to be a rare occurrence here, even near the city center, the streets are still covered with black and dirty snow, and the balconies outside the houses are dyed white.

The boy, who was about ten years old, withdrew his gaze from the fluttering snowflakes and flipped the page of the book in his hand down again.

The content of this "Strange Tales" by Koizumi Yakumo is quite interesting, especially the part he is reading now, which happens to tell the story of the snow girl who haunts the winter sun, and with the scenery outside the house, it can't help but produce an immersive sense of tension.

Just as I was reading the plot of the Snow Maiden who was named Yukiko leaving with the wind, a click like a knock on the door suddenly sounded.

He was startled, and then immediately laughed at himself: "It's just the wind, this is the second floor......"

Even if my father is engaged in folklore research, he should believe in science.

Click, click, click.

A clear, short, and short voice rang out persistently.

Whew-

The door to the balcony was opened.

He almost jumped out of his desk and took a chair as cover in front of him.

Thief or robber? If you give the location of your belongings, can you ensure your own safety?

He regretted his rash act of not locking the balcony door, and poked his head out to look at the uninvited guest who had suddenly entered.

Neither.

"Snow Maiden......?"

Unconsciously uttered the noun that had just been imprinted in his mind.

When I opened the door, I didn't step into the room, but I was standing on the balcony with a youkai-like girl.

It's not that the appearance is vicious, but it exudes a strange aura. The delicate face of a doll lacked expression, only the slightly fluttering eyelashes and clear eyes indicated that she was a living creature, and the round-necked blue sweater was stained with snowflakes that had not yet melted, reminding him of a white-sided penguin covered in blue and white feathers.

Fairies that visit humans in the snow, and dolls that move on their own in the winter – if these imaginations could manifest themselves in reality, this would probably be what they would look like.

Because the situation was too much for a schoolboy to anticipate, he stared straight at the mysterious intruder as if his brain was down, unable to react like a sailor captured by a siren, until the fairy in the snow spoke softly—

"Not the Snow Maiden."

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry......"

Thanks to his inherited linguistic talent and hard work, he was barely able to start a conversation.

No matter how late he realized that he was dealing with a living human, it was just too beautiful to be true, and just as he was about to apologize before figuring out what was going on, the conversation slipped into the unexpected again.

"It's aliens."

"Huh?"

"From the B612 asteroid."

"Little Prince, you?!"

"What should be the house number of Neverland......

"I see, you came to Earth to visit Peter Pan, right—who are you lying to! I remember, you're the neighbor's kid! ”

Because the dreamy atmosphere was completely shattered between conversations, he remembered that he had met this guy when he first moved here.

"Ahh

"Let's talk about it first......"

Only then did he notice that the other party was only wearing a sweater, the collar of the white shirt protruding from the collar of the sweater, and the lower body was a plaid skirt and white cotton socks, and he was trembling imperceptibly on the balcony.

I don't know if I was very satisfied with the fact that I had just picked up her words, and she entered the room obediently.

He closed the balcony door, keeping the cold wind out of the air, and just then cracked the intruder's modus operandi - the balcony door on the opposite side was also open.

The strange girl's face finally became flushed because of the heating, and at this moment she was shaking like a cat that had just fallen into the water, slapping the snow on her clothes and hair, leaving a little trace of water on the neat floor.

"Hey—forget it, what's going on in your house?"

Even though the distance between the two houses is not too far, it is still dangerous for an elementary school student to jump from the balcony, so he thinks of some things that are not very good, such as domestic violence, robbers breaking into the first floor, etc., and he can't complain about it.

"Mom said that the boy next door never went out, and I didn't have any friends, so I asked me to play with him more, so I came over."

As if to say that one plus one equals two, she said very blandly.

"Who's going to come out to play on the balcony?"

He breathed a sigh of relief that the imaginary bad had not happened, and instead complained about what was clearly beyond common sense.

"Rinko Hori."

"I'm not asking your name, it's a rhetorical question! What do you think of an ordinary gate? ”

The girl who was supposed to be called Rinko Hori fell into deep thought: "...... What do you think? ”

"Ask me?!"

I can't stand it anymore.

There is definitely a fault in this person's thinking circuit, as if they are really in contact with aliens of the third type, and the gears that communicate with each other are all idling and unable to bite each other.

He sighed and waved his hand perfunctorily: "Okay, okay, let's go back to your own house if there's nothing to do, we've talked for so long and we've played, I'm very happy, don't come next time." ”

Instead of moving, she sat down on the bed with her knees folded, pressed the hem of her skirt with her hands, and then posed as if she was thinking.

I don't know what the other party is thinking, and it's quiet now, so let's let her stay there for now.

So he sat back at his desk and opened "Strange Talk".

"Ahh

She suddenly shouted, and the book almost fell out of her hand.

"What's wrong?"

He turned his head and found Rinko Hori looking at him with her upper body straight, "What is the Snow Maiden?" ”

"Back to the original topic at this time?!"

She didn't speak, and continued to stare quietly.

In the spirit of satisfying her, maybe he would go back, he spread out the book in his hand and showed her: "It stands to reason that you should know better than me, the Snow Maiden is a kind of monster in the legend......"

It doesn't feel bad to retell the story you've just seen to others, especially if the listener is cooperative.

"Oh-"

She let out a prolonged exclamation and clapped her hands with some admiration: "It's like a sage who gives the protagonist of the story popular science knowledge." ”

Although the manner of praise was somewhat strange, the feeling of being admired was evident in satisfying the vanity of the elementary school boy, so much so that he felt that the uninvited guest had become much more cute.

"It's nothing, I'm just looking at it from this book."

He said with a false humility.

"But you also knew the story of Planet B612 and Neverland before, but the boys in the class didn't."

"It's just a coincidence—wait a minute."

He keenly spotted the loophole in the other party's words: "You say 'story', you also know it's fake, why do you still call yourself an alien to deceive people?" ”

Rinko Hori wilted like snow that had been transported to the sun, and even made him feel like he had done something wrong.

She stood up with a red face and rushed to the balcony door like a run: "No lie. ”

"Go home and walk through the main entrance!"

He desperately prevented Rinko Hori from jumping back the way she came.

This abrupt visit ended inexplicably.

The next time I heard her name was from her father, who came home at night.

"The kid next door is called light, right? I heard her mom say she came over to play today? She said she had a lot of fun. ”

"Maybe."

In the end, I ran away, but were you happy?

He thought she was probably just dealing with an adult.

"Don't stay at home all day long, how about making friends with people?"

"I'm not like you."

He looked away, "and...... I don't know when I'll move out again. ”

He still hasn't figured out what his father's occupation is, anyway, according to his self-proclaimed excavation of ancient tomb exploration ruins, folklore flavor mythology, and he has friends all over the world.

Local friends will only add to reluctance and sorrow when parting.

"When you grow up, I won't take you with me."

Although Daddy said this in the end, he didn't pay attention to it and went back to his room early as usual.

Across the balcony, the room opposite was lit up with orange lights.

"I don't think I'll come again."

told her not to come next time, and in the end, it was a kind of unhappy breakup, and I couldn't think of a reason to appear again.

He fell asleep in silence.

The next day, he was woken up by the sound of running water.

"Suck and suck."

In the room, a girl is sitting at a desk drinking hot tea.

What a surreal sight.

He closed his eyes and reclined into the covers.

"Suck and suck."

"It's not okay to pretend you can't see it!"

He half-sat up, "What are you doing?" ”

Hori Rinko gave him a strange look: "Drink tea." ”

"I know- I locked the balcony door yesterday, how did you get in?"

She raised the curved wire in her hand.

"Criminal!"

Hori Rinko shook his head, "It's not a crime. My uncle, who came to the house yesterday, said I could come in as I pleased. ”

She pulled a key from her neckline: "And gave me your favorite cracker of the main entrance." ”

"I don't like the front door."

Is it you, Daddy!

Rinko Hori patted the table, "Is today's yokai lecture ready to start?" ”

"When did I make an appointment with you for this daily activity?"

She stared at him unyieldingly.

"You go out first."

"If you don't play with me, you won't go out."

"Whew—I want to change my clothes! You'll come back later! ”

That night, he didn't lock the balcony door – just for fear of being picked up.

The accident happened two weeks after meeting Rinko Hori.

After a few more heavy snowfalls, it was a rare sunny day, and most of the snow had melted into mud.

"It's time for that guy to come, too."

He watched the door of the opposite room open, and Rinko Hori, dressed in a navy blue down jacket, walked out, waved at him, and then stepped onto the edge of the balcony as if he were customary.

His heart almost skipped a beat when he saw her fall halfway through.

When he came back to his senses, half of his body had leaned out of the balcony, but fortunately, the remaining reason forced him to return to the house and run down the stairs at full speed.

By the time he arrived, Rinko Hori was already on his feet.

The place where she fell was not high, not to mention that the snow had not yet melted, and she was wearing a thick down jacket, so she didn't look hurt at all, but her clothes were splashed with a lot of mud.

"Stupid! I told you to go through the main gate! ”

The chest that had calmed down was quickly occupied by anger, but the other party looked up at the sky without a deaf ear.

"You're not going to fall on your head and become a real fool, are you?"

Anger turned to worry, and Rinko Hori smiled as if she had finally noticed him.

It is as fragile as porcelain and gives a sad impression.

"I'm not an alien."

“…… Ha? ”

So far, what are you talking about?

"If it were an alien, it would be able to fly such a short distance."

"Not necessarily, but you're not an alien in the first place."

Once again, she showed a depressed expression like snow in the sun.

"So, I'm not special."

He vaguely felt that he was approaching something similar to Rinko Hori, and even had a sense of fear that he wanted to retreat.

Should you really ask?

"-What if it's not special?"

It's hard to take back the words that you asked.

"Everyone likes special people, they don't like ordinary, and only mother's children."

Hori Rinko is not sad, just plainly, but for some reason, it will give the listener a deeper pain.

"Nonsense."

The two stood in the mud and stared at each other.

"I've only seen my dad since I was born, but if anyone comes to fault because of this kind of thing, it must be his fault, one person is the fault of one person, a hundred people is the fault of a hundred people, it's nothing more than the difference between fighting and running away - the liking from them is not reliable in itself."

He racked his brains to organize the words, "And you're already very special - too special to be honest, I hope to be a little closer to us ordinary people......"

"Really?"

When she heard the second half of the sentence, her eyes seemed to light up, "Can you name at least two hundred and seventy-three places?" ”

"Don't be so embarrassed!"

He was on the verge of running away, "Like, uh, that's pretty good?" ”

Please forgive a boy of this age for the compliments.

"But you hate me too."

Rinko Hori turned her head.

He was anxious: "Why do you say that?" I'll admit it may have been a bit at first, but now we're friends—"

It was only when he said it that he realized this fact.

Friendship doesn't require any solemn ceremony, it only takes two weeks.

"Name."

Hori Rin looked into the other party's eyes with some grievances, "You haven't told me until now." ”

“……”

Really!

The scene of meeting this guy for the first time was too shocking, and I gradually got used to daily conversations in the subsequent interactions, and I didn't introduce myself formally at all!

"There was such a big omission......

Scratching his head and laughing, he searched for a dead branch.

"Li, Wu, write like this...... Do you know how to read it? ”

She leaned over, bent down with her hands on her knees: "Li Wu...... Xiao Wu? ”

"Sounds like the name of a miscellaneous soldier."

"Xiao Wu."

"Forget it, whatever you want."

"Xiao Wu!"

"Yes, yes...... Light? ”

Li Wu threw away the branch in his hand, thought about it and said with relief: "Although you are not an alien, it doesn't mean that there are no other possibilities, such as becoming a superpower, a magician, a martial artist or a brave demon king." ”

"What are those?"

"You don't know? Don't you usually read manga and play games? ”

"Nope."

"I happen to have a few books at home, so I'll lend you a good look - to be honest, I've always thought that aliens don't necessarily exist, but youkai may really exist......"

"Hmm!"

"Uh-huh, go and change your clothes first......"

(End of chapter)