Snowball Fight

[K.Matsuri]

I know, I know, I haven't finished the other story yet. But, well, my characters were impatient. After learning that snow can be used to induce sneezes out of Salmon, this idea struck me and I just HAD to write it!! So, without further ado, let's get this started, shall we?

***

"Ha...HACHOO!" Sniff.

Part rubbed his runny nose with the back of his hand, then pulled the thick navy blanket more tightly around his shivering body. Cold water dripped from his shaggy chestnut hair, remnants of melted snow dragged in from the outdoors. Nestling his pink-tinged face into the warm folds of the blanket, he sniffled wetly.

Soft, slippered footsteps approached the fireplace from the adjoining kitchen. Hana carried a mug of hot chocolate in each hand, careful not to spill any as she knelt down next to the sniffly boy. She placed her mug on the carpeted ground, then grasped the remaining mug with both hands and blew gently on it, dispelling the steam in all directions.

"Thangks," Part uttered appreciatively when Hana placed the mug in his outstretched hands. An awkward smile lay on his chapped lips, and it took a bit of willpower to keep his nose from dripping in the hot beverage. Hana smiled in response, nonchalantly tossing her black hair behind her ear.

"You know, you could have put up more of a fight out there," Hana teased. "You got absolutely throttled! Haven't you ever been in a snowball fight before?"

Snowball fight? Part thought to himself. More like a snow barrage. He took a sip of the cocoa, careful not to burn his mouth.

"Oh that's right," Hana remembered, placing a slender finger to her chin in thought. "You don't get much snow where you're from. Sorry about that!" She grimaced sheepishly.

Part sniffled in response. She was probably seriously enjoying this. He thought back to how he had gotten to this state.

***

It was winter break, and instead of going straight home to the west coast for the entirety of the vacation, Part had accepted an invitation from Hana to spend a week or so with her at her family's ski house in the northeast. They arrived at the cottage shortly after finals let out and settled in quickly.

The cottage itself was quaint, with dark wood floors and woven throw rugs scattered about. The open kitchen connected to the living room which housed the stone fireplace. There were large bay windows that provided a view to the sparsely wooded area outdoors. The entirety of the downstairs was visible from a loft overhanging the kitchen, and led to bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor.

Hana and Part had slept in the first few days, exhausted from the all-nighters and cram sessions they had endured in an effort to complete their finals. Too tired and having gotten up too late to go skiing, they decided instead to lounge about inside.

While playing board games on the rug in front of the fireplace, they couldn't help but gaze at the shining layer of snow that coated everything outside the windows. It sparkled with an inviting twinkle that lured the college students outside, playing to the childish desire to make snow angels and generally frolic about in the shivery white.

Unable to resist any longer, they put on their jackets and boots, dashing outside to the wide expanse of the yard. The sky was clear and blue, and it was just cold enough to nip at their noses, but not to freeze their fingers straight through their gloves.

Is there any way to properly capture the energy of children playing in the snow? Running about, looking at the footprints left behind...rolling about, clumps of white sticking to woolen scarves and nylon jackets...gathering small amounts to make a sculpture...and then, the mischievous streak arrives.

Playing in the snow was a new sensation for Part. While he'd walked through it numerous times on campus, this was the first time he'd really gotten to interact with it with his entire body. He liked the crunching sensation it made when he lay on it, and how cool and firm it felt against his back. He was lying on his back staring up at the blue sky when suddenly he heard Hana crawl up behind him.

"AAH!" Part yelped and sat bolt upright, the sensation of ice cold water dripping down his back. Hana sat back in the snow and giggled maniacally, her brown-gloved hands barely covering the insane grin on her face.

"What'd you do that for?!" Part glared at her. While having ice cubes dropped down the back of his shirt was acceptable in the summer, it was slightly different in the middle of winter. Hana just sat and giggled.

It didn't take long for Part to plan his retaliation. Gathering some snow in his gloved hand, he lunged at Hana, grabbing the back collar of her jacket with his free hand and shoving the frozen liquid down her scarf.

"Eek!" Hana's eyes widened and she gasped, mouth ajar. She honestly hadn't seen it coming. Quickly she regained her composure and prepared some snow for the next strike. It was on now.

The two continued to stuff snow down each other's jackets until Hana lost her cool and simply flung the snow in Part's face as if she were splashing in a swimming pool. The wave hit Part square in the face. He clenched his eyes shut as a reflex to the sharp cold and blindly started flailing, hitting snow back at his attacker.

The snow-slapping fight continued with the two of them running about the yard throwing snow at each other until an opportune hit by Hana landed some snow right near Part's nose. The crystals began to melt, dripping along the side of his lightly-pinkened nose and catching in the slight indent above his nostril. It clung, freezing the cavity until it began to tickle.

Part stopped and thrust his hand forward as an indication for Hana to take a short break. Hana watched his face carefully; his eyelids were beginning to flutter, his head was tilted back slightly, and he was starting to take shallow breaths...

"Hih...ha..."

Yes! Hana thought, grinning visibly from ear to ear in anticipation.

"HWAchuh!" Part sneezed powerfully, his body thrust forward with the force. Hana squealed with delight.

"Oh my god, you just..." She was flustered. "Was that...what did that?"

"The snow, I think," Part began to look a bit scared. He knew that look on her face. "My nose got really cold..."

Hana wasn't listening at this point. She had darted off to the side to gather a small ball of snow. Gripping it tightly in her hand to compact it, she sidled up next to Part and pulled him next to her in a side-hug, pressing the snow against the side of his nose with her other hand.

The result was almost instantaneous. As soon as the snow touched his skin, Part's breath began to hitch again. He struggled, trying to push Hana's hand away, but the icy water continued to pour down his face. He tried to hold back, but the tickle was growing stronger...his nostrils were freezing, and it was extremely uncomfortable...

"HACHOO! HaNGXTchu! HUHschoo! NGTchu!" Part exploded, sneezes flying freely despite feeble attempts to cover his mouth with his hand. Hana squealed with glee with this newfound trick, watching the boy sniffle helplessly. Giving him barely seconds to recover, she approached again with a new clump of snow.

Part wasn't going to fall for that twice. He got up quickly and attempted to scramble to another section of the yard, but Hana leapt at his legs and grabbed them, pulling him to the ground. She slithered beneath him to get a good view of his face, wielding some snow she had scooped from beneath them. Part tried to roll away, moving his head to dodge the white assault that was trying to violate his nose. Hana was relentless, shoving the snow every which way, until Part shoved her aside and made a break for it.

"Oh no you don't."

Hana eyed the snow in her hand, rolled it up, and threw the ball at Part, who was halfway across the yard. It hit him square in the back with a satisfying "thwack", then shattered into flakes.

"Two can play at this game!"

Part retorted as a spark of competition lit inside him. He began to approach again, scooping up a ball of his own. THWACK. The snowball hit the puffy sleeve of Hana's pale blue jacket.

A storm of snowballs flurried between them as they dashed back and forth, trying to attack without being hit themselves. Their cheeks grew rosier by the minute, burning with the heat of motion while chilled by the air around them. They began to grow tired, and their aim got sloppier.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

Hana had chucked a snowball at Part...and hit him square in the nose. Having had many a snowball to the head in her youth, Hana had been careful not to aim above the neck while attacking Part. However, she had miscalculated, and stood looking slightly mortified, but also slightly curious as to what might happen next. Snow AND being hit in the nose...?

Part fell to the ground clutching his face. His nose began to stuff up from the combination of the impact and the cold. He began to sneeze violently, hot tears streaming from his clenched eyes. Suddenly the snow wasn't fun anymore.

He was no match for Hana when it came to snow warfare - he wasn't very good at baseball, and hadn't had years of snowball fighting experience under his belt due to having grown up in a warmer climate. Hana had landed hits on Part quite a bit more often than Part had been able to hit her, so his clothes were quite a bit more soaked. Snow had crept up the bottom of his jacket and under the edge of his shirt, making the skin on his back cold and clammy. The bottoms of his jeans were soaked as well, clinging to his ankles and making him shiver.

The snowball to the face was the last straw.

"Hada, I wandt to go idside." Part sniffled, rubbing his pink nose gingerly. Hana dropped the remaining snow she was holding and knelt beside Part.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologized, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I didn't mean to...I got carried away...and..." She looked a bit defeated.

"Idt's okay. Really."

Hana sighed and regained her composure. She smiled weakly at Part.

"Okay, let's go inside."

Hana helped the cold boy up and they walked inside the house, stripping off their snow-covered boots, jackets, scarves, gloves and hats. Hana began to strip her blue jeans off as well, revealing a pair of what appeared to be black leggings. Part looked at her slightly puzzled.

"Part, your pants are drenched. Why are you just standing there?"

"I, uh, dond't have adything underneath," Part blushed.

"What? You went out in that without long underwear?!" Hana gasped. "You must be freezing! Go, change, go go go! I expect you in front of that fireplace in dry clothes stat, mister!"

"You dond't have to tell be twice." Part dashed upstairs to the bedroom.

He thought about what had happened as he changed into dry flannel pajamas. How was he supposed to have known to bring long underwear? He'd never owned a pair in his life. His family had never been one for winter sports, and he'd been lucky his first year of college because it had been a fairly mild winter. As much pleasure as he knew Hana took in seeing him sick, he knew she wasn't one to hurt him intentionally. She must have just taken the knowledge for granted.

Still cold despite the dry clothes, Part had walked back down the stairs, grabbed a thick blanket off the couch in the living room and sat down in front of the fire.

***

The scalding burn of hot chocolate on his tongue brought Part back to reality. The steam was making his nose run. He needed a tissue.

"Hada?" he asked the girl sitting beside him, intently sipping her hot cocoa. "Dissues?"

"Ah, of course." Hana got up, grabbed a box off the table next to the couch and placed it in front of him.

Part put down the ceramic mug and pulled a white square out from the box. Clenching his eyes shut, he blew and blew, filling one tissue after another. Hana watched intently, an absentmindedly amused smile dancing across her lips.

Once he finished, Hana scooted a bit closer to Part and put her head down on his shoulder. He opened the blanket to encompass her, gratefully welcoming her body heat. The two of them continued to drink their hot chocolate, watching the fire crackle and burn. Part began to warm up, and the two of them gradually began to drift into a state of restful sleep on the woven carpet.

[lalaland~]

When I saw this my face went like and so I just had to click on it and read it!

hehe *giggle* that's so cute! I'm glad they made you write this!

Hana's so sweet and at the same time teasing him, I like that!

*is now giggling like crazy and can no longer type anything coherant*

Snow, eh? I'll have to try that on my bf...too bad we only get snow like, once a year here

yay thanks so much for writing this!

~LaLa~

[girl_in_love]

This was great!

Love

~*Jilly*~