One snowy night

…

「A-are…you okay?」

『A-ah…』she turned her gaze to Alto, it was still the same purple gaze that he saw 10 years ago.

『Yeah…It’s just the snow.』She wipes off her tears with her finger and blinks a couple of times before she breaths out water vapor. Seeing her in front of his eyes, Alto’s body can’t seem to hold off both his excitement and fear…

N–n-not again…I can’t seem to forget it!-

YOU’RE SUCH AN STUPID CHILD!!!-

I was…trying to save him-

Listen here you damn brat-

he trembled as he started to recall that horrifying image from the past.

「I-I see…」

W-w-what should I do now?

He wanted to say something to her but he just can’t do anything, there are so much of things going on in his mind until he realized that…she knows the cloud’s name, the one thing he was so passionate about.

How…could she know…the name of that cloud?

「L-l-like...since when did you learn about their name? It’s not like everyone knows about it」he said, trying to strike up a conversation with her.

N-no no no, I should have apologized to her right away! this is not the right time to-

『Ah…the cloud…? Well…I just happen to stumble across it and get into it.』she faintly smiles as her delicate and soft voice reaches Alto’s ear, as he turns his body to her.

Ah…her voice is…

「Is that so…?」

『Well…I found it to be interesting, though we see them every day it’s not like we’re going to see one as beautiful as this one』she rubs off both of her palms as she continues her answer, Alto looks at it and gazes into her purple eyes.

I…only remembered how she saved me…and makes her cry, but I have never realized…

『Like you really had to look up and maybe…take a picture of it and paint them, that’s what I do』as Alto thought she has finished, but she still continues her rambling and he listens to her with both of his eyes gazing at her faces, looking up and down on her eyes and soft lips, he also notices that she’s pressing both of her palms into each other, while her fluffy white hair weaved delicately from the gentle winter wind.

Just…how beautiful she is.

『Though…I only have just started on it, and there has been overcast all of this winter…it really sucks you know?』she then folded both of her palm’s fingers into another and put it on top of her skirt, now replying to Alto’s gaze.

「Ah…W-well…I get that feeling, it’s just all altostratus, altocumulus, and nimbostratus, right? They mostly form during the winter because there are a lot of ice crystals in the atmosphere」he jolted and blushed after noticing her gaze.

『Really? That dark clouds had a name? I thought it was just a bunch of regular clouds?』she tilted her head to the side.

「Hahaha, o-of course. I bet you only know the name of exotic clouds am I right?」he giggled a little.

『I guess so…It seems like you know a lot about clouds aren’t you?』she grinned to Alto’s response, and it seems to have caught Alto off guard again.

Ah. Crap. I can’t say it’s because of her….just yet.

「A-ah- well t-t-that’s because of…well…yeah. Quite a lot…」he nervously answered.

『Aww, I envy you! Ah! If that’s the case then do you perhaps know the name of…-』she chuckled before reaching out for her pocket, Alto leaned in closer to her.

『This cloud?』she turned her phone to the side and showed Alto the screen. He looks at the image she had just shown and immediately clicked on it.

Under the blue background, the white masses were floating in the sky occupying a large area. It's as if it were a hanging pouch, bulging from the underside of a larger cloud structure.

「Wow, that looks captivating…when did you take this shot?」

『Hehe, thanks a lot! And oh…! It was after a snowstorm a couple of weeks ago…why do you ask?』

「Well…It usually came out after a thunderstorm or a snowstorm, and that pouch-like appearance is one of its key features 」

『I see…so what’s their name?』

「Looking at them, what do you think it looks like? A cow has one looking like that too!」

『A…cow?』

「It’s their udder! Don’t you think it looks the same?」

『W-w-what…? So it’s an Udder Cloud?』

「No silly! It’s called a Mammatus Cloud! Get it?」

『...I see』

…

『Ah-』

『Pfftt~ hahahaha! I see! I see! So that’s how you tell its name! Ah…you know them very well too!』she tried to hold off her laughter but in the end, her expression seems to be beaming with a smile as soon as the street lights turned on, highlighting her face even more, though she covers most of it with her palm, Alto can notice it clearly.

She laughed…

Then…maybe I can…make up for it in this way.

「Well...」

『Hmm…?』she tilted her head once again.

「If you want…I can teach you more about those clouds. What do you think?」

『Ah…Is it really okay for you? It seems that everyone seems to be working hard for college prep.』

「You know…I actually had a lot of spare time since I have already prepared most of them…But…if you are busy then…it’s alright」he scratched the back of his head before looking at Sana in the eyes, he lowers his gaze.

『Well…』she averts her eyes, and she seems to be blushing and holding her left cheek with her right hand. She scratched her hair with the same hair and lets out a sigh before water vapor comes out of her mouth.

『Y-yeah…T-that sounds like a good idea…』her white hair bounced when she nodded. Then, as the winter wind blows the snowflakes away from them, the corners of her mouth lifted delicately into a sincere smile, it was as if time had been stopped for Alto.

To think that I have finally been able to see the person who saved me 10 years ago…

「That’s nice to hear hehe.」Alto lends out his hand to her as he’s giggling.

After all this time…I have finally met you.

「Nice to meet you, I’m Alto from class 3-E」

『Nice to meet you too Alto, I’m Sana, class 3-A』they shook each other hands before letting go.

Sana.

…

Though…she doesn’t seem to remember me, should I just ask her? It wouldn’t hurt, right?

「...this is a bit of a weird question but…have we met before?」

Alto waited in anticipation, her eyes seems to be hovering all over his face and even his bike and she stopped before pressing both of her palms into each other.

『…I don’t remember it sorry…』

「...I see.」

No…of course it’s her, maybe she doesn’t remember it because of all of that…berating and…a slap. It seems that he still couldn’t forget the pain of seeing her in pain, no one does.

『It’s getting pretty late, isn’t it?』

「Yeah…and it looks like it’s going to snow heavily tonight.」

『Well, I think we should have gone home now, don’t you think so?』

「Of course…my home is pretty far away too」

『Then…see you tomorrow! Let’s see each other again tomorrow Alto!』she beamed with a smile and fidgetted around as she walks over to him, offering a fist bump.

She…is asking for a fist bump? Well, I can’t be surprised, she jumped into the river all by herself that day.

「See ya, Sana」as both of their hand met, the street light turned on and they exchanged one last smile before parting ways on their bike.

Sana…it doesn’t look like I can just tell you about the past…

I’m sure that…it would only bring back that pain so instead…

Let’s start out as a friend.

…

What’s this feeling? My heart is beating so fast yet…

It feels…so good.