The first time she held it was during the accident. She squeezed it as hard as she could, not just to comfort him, but to stop herself from crying too. They ran all the way to the hospital without letting go, and they kept their hold until his parents arrived.

He was the one who let go first, walking to the barely opened door and peeking inside. His parents were discussing his brother's condition with the doctor. When he heard that he most likely wouldn't be able to walk again, by extension meaning he'd never play soccer again, the tears finally burst out. His mother came out to comfort him.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted her own brother standing at the end of the hallway. He must've spotted them running and followed.

He pointed to the stairs with his thumb, signaling that he had to leave soon. His eyes were asking if she was going to come along. She shook her head slightly, quickly glancing at her crying friend as indication of what she wanted to do. He gave a nod and a single wave before leaving.

Once the arrangements for his brother were made, they headed home. The tears kept falling even as he was led to their car by his mother, all the while she walked a little ways behind them, asking his father if she could stay the night. His father thanked her for her worries and gladly offered to let her stay in her friend's room.

After cleaning up, she and her friend headed for his room, with him immediately dropping to his bed. But knowing that she was staying, he had left enough space for her to get into.

The moment she tucked the blanket over them, his hand landed on top of hers.

"C-Can you do that again?"

He had already run out of tears, but he was still shaking. She gave the best smile she could manage.

"You don't have to ask."

She entwined their fingers and squeezed as tight as she could. He did the same.

They fell asleep that way.

The second time she clearly remembered was years later, around the new year. If it was just a regular day, then they would've been playing at the park as usual.

But that time was different.

It had snowed quite a lot overnight, and another storm was predicted to happen that afternoon too, so they decided to stay inside, with her staying over once again. With his parents away on a business trip, they decided to spend the day experimenting and making up their own meal for dinner.

Everything was going well.

"Ow!"

Until she accidentally cut her finger.

Hearing her yelp, he lowered the stove's temperature before walking over. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her to the sink. "This might sting a little."

She nodded and let him guide the cut to the running water, flinching only slightly. Then, he went to grab the first aid kit from a cupboard by the stairs before going to the living room.

Not once did he let go.

He sat down on the couch, gesturing for her to do the same while placing the kit on the coffee table. As he wrapped the bandage around her finger, he said, "I've never done this before, so sorry if it looks messy."

She chuckled. "It's fine, it's fine. I think it'd be worse if I did it on my own."

"How did you get cut?"

"Ahaha... I was spacing out..."

"Wha... That's the one thing you shouldn't be doing when you're holding a knife!"

"I can't help it! I keep thinking about how good this soup's gonna be! Those potatoes were the final thing we wanted to put in!"

"That's still no excuse!" He huffed as he finished up. "Put the kit back. I'll take care of the rest."

"Eh? Why? It's just a small cut, I can still help!"

"Putting the potatoes in the pot is a one person job. You've done your part in helping prepare all the ingredients, so I'll finish mine and make sure it's perfectly cooked."

Well, he had a point there.

When he let her go to return to the kitchen, she shivered. She didn't remember the air being that cold.

Another time she remembered was the weekend of the worst birthday of her life. Well, the day itself wasn't bad, but all the events that led up to it made it hard for her to enjoy it.

It went as far as her needing to run away from home. She thanked her past self for not ever mentioning where her best friend lived despite being friends with him for so long. Though she had to be extra careful when going out, especially around the afternoon. Her family knew her routine of heading to the park or the hospital around that time, so they moved their schedule to morning and got back by lunchtime.

However, it was only for that weekend. After talking to both brothers, they had decided to keep the details from their parents. Not that they knew all that much in the first place, but they had managed to convince her to go home, even with her friend's reluctance.

Or rather, they thought they did. In reality, she had been feeling bad for burdening them for the past couple of days. She was already thinking of going back just to give them a sense of peace, but didn't have the courage to. Their encouragement was the last push she needed.

They told his parents about it during dinner, and they agreed that they'll drop her off at the train station while his father drove him to school. She'd be taking the first train of the day.

"You sure you want to go back this fast?" He only asked once they were inside his room.

"If I don't, I might end up staying here forever." She tried to joke, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't smile. The pain on her back was still present.

"Well... Still..." He let out a sigh, sitting beside her as she tucked herself in his blanket. "You have my number, right?"

"Mmhm."

"Then, call me if anything happens." He pressed his lips together before parting them again. "I'm not saying that I don't trust your family, but... Just let me know, alright? If everything goes well, then I'll just wait for you at the usual place."

"And the usual time." She nodded in thanks, but before he could move down to the futon, she grabbed hold of his arm. "Kyou... can you stay up here again tonight?"

She really didn't need another nightmare kicking in and wavering her resolve.

He shrugged before turning off the lights and diving under the covers with her. Positioned face to face, he laid with an arm under the pillow while his other was hanging loosely.

She pulled it between them and held it with both of her hands. Without needing to ask, he locked their fingers together.

She stared at them for a moment before looking up at him. "Hey, Kyou..."

"Hm?"

"Have your hands always been this cold?"

"Huh?" He blinked, completely caught off guard by the question. "Uh... Maybe? I never thought about it."

"That's fine. I actually like it."

"W-What?"

She held it close. She held it tight.

Soon, she was fast asleep, without a single dream.

~~~~~

Recently, they've held hands a lot. Mainly because he was the only one who ever noticed how much she shook, meaning he was the only one who could help stop that shaking.

But that had stopped.

She supposed that was what she deserved. She was the one who left after all.

She let out a sigh as she watched the purple sky grow darker and darker. Ichikawa had gone back inside to grab seconds from the banquet, and the others had already long-since mingled with one another.

Once again, I can't feel comfortable around them...

There were too many people. The atmosphere was too hot, too...

Too suffocating.

Even the alien air-conditioning system keeping it at a stable temperature of 16 degrees Celsius didn't help. Outside, being nighttime, it was quite a bit colder, but at least she could breathe. She'd take that over her other option any day.

Just as she thought so, a gust of wind went by, making her zip her jacket all the way up.

She only wished that...

"Kimiko... was it?"

She blinked. Turning around, she found the little ruler of this purple planet.

"Queen Lalaya. How may I help you?"

"Oh, no. I don't need anything at the moment." She said, slightly flustered.

A reasonable reaction given how their previous conversation was one sided. The small queen had just stood there, bewildered as she apologized for falsely accusing her of kidnapping her best friend. And before she could respond with more than an "I forgive you", she walked away.

Since she was to blame for the awkward atmosphere, she decided to help keep the current talk up. "No? Then, what are you doing out here?"

"I was wondering why you aren't together with everyone." She said. "Are you not enjoying the party?"

Of course that would be the queen's worries.

She gave a wry smile. "Don't worry about me. I'm having fun in my own way."

"Fun?" She blinked. "Is being alone fun to you?"

Wrong choice of words.

"Okay, maybe not..." She heaved another sigh. "But I prefer it more than being around so many people I'm not close to."

"You aren't close to the others of Earth Eleven?"

"Not as close as you think at least. Is it that big of a surprise?"

"W-Well..." Her cheeks turned slightly pink. "I was... under the impression you are all good friends. With how well you worked together, and hearing some stories from Tsurugi―"

She choked at that. "Kyousuke? Told you stories? Seriously?"

"They weren't exactly stories... He just says a single line when something reminds him of you all..."

"Like what?"

"Like... One time, when he offered to help in the kitchen, he spotted one of our newer staff members doing something wrong, and when we complimented his way of correcting them, he said, 'Kimiko did the same thing once, but at least you didn't space out like she did'... or something along those lines."

"He said that, huh..."

Funny how she was just thinking back to that time a little while ago.

"From what I heard... You must at least be close to Tsurugi, right? Especially with the way you trespassed into the castle to try and save him all by yourself..."

"He's the only one I'm that close to."

"Oh."

Why did she sound so disheartened?

"T-Then!" As if to cover it up, Lalaya cleared her throat rather loudly. "May I ask how close are you exactly? Are you just good friends or... something more?"

"There's no need to tiptoe around that subject. Kyou and I are childhood friends. We met seven years ago and have been..." She went stiff for a moment. "...almost... inseparable since."

"Almost?"

"... Life stuff happened. It's complicated, so I'll spare us both the trouble and not go into it."

"I-I see..."

"What about you? How close have you gotten to him with all the time he spent here?"

Her eyes widened, probably not expecting the question to be returned, but the expression she made after wasn't what she expected. The little queen was looking down, a sad smile on her face.

"I thought all I needed was a single glance to know all about him, but I was wrong... There's so much I still don't know, nor have the courage to ask about." She let out a sigh. "In the end, he had learned more about this planet within a month than I ever did in all my life... And all I truly learned about him is how much soccer means to him... I only found out he had a brother when hearing them joke around just now."

"Well, Kyou rarely talks about himself." She chuckled, almost feeling sorry for the shorter girl. "He prefers talking through his plays."

"That is true." Her sad smile was replaced with a genuine one, "It's one of his charms, I suppose."

"Oh? By any chance, do you fancy him?"

And then it turned into a strained one. "I am... not sure... It's true that I did ask him to undergo the marriage ceremony with me... But it was only because he looked so much like my father that I thought he would make the best king for this planet in his place..."

She thought back to that man's image, narrowing her eyes at the memory before nodding. "Yeah... They really are alike."

"Yes... But again, I was wrong to believe so." She sighed. "Father and Tsurugi are different people. They have different values, and different things they love and want to protect."

"Mmhm." Good on her for realizing that.

"But... Aside looks, there is one more thing they have in common."

That made a frown appear. Should she be worried, though? Is there even anything to be worried about?

"And that is...?"

"Their hands."

That was not what she expected, but okay.

"What about their hands?"

"Well, I've only held Tsurugi's once. After their match against Ixal Fleet was over, he came to me and..." She held her right palm as her cheeks turned pink once again. "It was big and warm... It made me feel safe."

"Is that so..."

"Have you held his hand too before?"

Kimiko hummed. "Yeah, but it's different for me."

"Different? How?"

"His hands are only slightly bigger than mine. His fingers are long and skinny, but not bony, so it's comfortable when we lock them together... but they're not physically warm. His skin gets cold pretty easily, actually. That's just how he is."

Her eyes widened at that. "R-Really?"

She gave a wry smile. "The climate on this planet is colder than ours, so I can understand why you think he isn't."

"Oh..."

"But, well, for me..." As she trailed off, her gaze went up to the sky. It had turned dark, showing the millions of stars spread across it. Unconsciously, her hand went up to reach for it. "That coldness isn't a bad thing. In a way, it... it saved me."

"Saved you?"

Closing her eyes, the unpleasant memories began to replay in her mind. "There was a time when all I knew was scorching hot pain. But even so, all I ever felt inside me was emptiness... Or rather, frigid hopelessness." His face suddenly came to mind, making her chuckle. "Ironically, his pale, cold skin was the only thing that could make me feel warmth. Everything... and everyone else is just too... suffocating."

"I see..." The shorter girl let out her own soft laughter. "That would mean he's the only one for you, is that right?"

Before she could reply, a familiar coldness wrapped around her outstretched hand, surprising both of them. Opening her eyes, she found the one they were talking about behind her, frowning slightly.

He turned to the little queen first. "Lalaya, Minel-san is looking for you."

"Oh! Then, I shouldn't keep him waiting! Excuse me."

He watched her bow and head inside before turning back to her with a look. "You missed dessert to freeze to death?"

She rolled her eyes at that. "Oh, please! I'm fine!"

"Your lips are turning blue," He then brought her hand to the front of her face. "And your hands are shaking."

"... Ah."

"Don't you 'ah' me!" He snapped. "Come on. Let's get you something warm to drink."

As he dragged her inside, her gaze fell on their hands. Their fingers were neatly laced together, one after the other. His grip wasn't so tight that it hurt, but it wasn't so loose that she could pull away.

Before she knew it, she was smiling.

As she was given the hot alien tea to drink,

As she was surrounded by all these people she wasn't close to,

As she was scolded by her best friend for 'being stupid as always',

Not once did he let go.

That night, once everyone else had gone to sleep, she snuck into his room. He was on the edge of the bed, as if he was waiting for her.

The second she dove under the covers, their hands entwined once again.

"You're always so nice to me, Kyou." She leaned up and nestled her head below his chin. "Thanks."

She hugged his arm as her mind began to drift off into dreamland, not noticing the small smile forming on her best friend's lips.