Gouenji didn't keep Kira company at the dinner table and afterwards, when she went to their room, he was already asleep. He had never done that before and Kira knew she had inadvertently hurt him. She was sorry that all of it had to happen but she knew what she was feeling was real. She wasn't ready to give up the sun just yet.

She sat down on her knees beside the bed to level with it. He was on his side, facing her. His hands were in front of him and the burn wound hadn't entirely healed yet.

She carefully took his hand, making sure he didn't wake up in the process and bandaged it. She had wanted to do it immediately but he didn't let her, and he still wouldn't have if he had been aware of her doing it.

Once she was done, she remained sitting there for a while, staring at his face that was illuminated by the moonlight. Every time she did so she always found herself unable to look away.

She certainly stared at him a lot longer than she did at the sunset.

...

When Gouenji woke up at dawn, he was surprised to find his hand bandaged and Kira sitting by his bed on the floor, fallen asleep. The shuffling made her wake up.

"Oh, it's dawn already! The window!" She mumbled as she quickly rushed to close it before the sun came above the horizon.

"Sure you don't want to view the sunrise too?" Gouenji said.

She turned to him, shook her head and gave a one word answer, "No. " She drew the curtains and returned to bed. Her eyes were fixed on him as he turned to his side to face her.

She anticipated for him to say something but he closed his eyes again.

...

Kira did continue to view the sunsets often, much to Gouenji's dismay. He didn't speak of it or made an objection to it because knowing her, he understood that it would not be well received and might even make things worse.

On Kira's part, she made sure to convey her love to him even more now. She would often do so in the evening immediately after her sunset viewing. She would find him grumbling in the drawing room or sulking in the library. He, however, did not protest and accepted her fawnings quietly, letting her throw her arms around his neck and spare kisses generously.

She had anticipated him to eventually get used to their new arrangement but he refused to come around to it. He still saw it as a great offense to draw away the curtains anytime other than when the moon had risen high in the sky. Even if there was no risk of him getting hurt, of course Kira remained the utmost careful of it, the mere act of doing so rubbed him the wrong way.

And now she had really begun to worry that she was causing him unnecessary distress. But since he didn't speak on the matter, she wasn't sure of the extent of his displeasure and she too was afraid to bring up the matter for the same reason as he did.

Two more months passed like this and soon tiny flakes of snow began raining down upon them almost every day. They would stick to the window panes and form heaps on the ground, turning the entire garden white. Kira stared at them for hours, hypnotized by their free falling.

The sun was nowhere to be seen now. It never found an opportunity to show itself from the thick clouds that were constantly overcast. The window could now be left open freely for Kira to look out of. And now that he knew, Gouenji too sometimes stood beside her to watch the snow with her. The weather may have turned cold but his heart, in turn, was warming up again.

"Join me by the fireplace now," He said, "You have been standing here for too long. You'll be sick. "

"I will in a moment. " She answered absent-mindedly.

"You must be so cold. " With that, he wrapped a thick blanket around her. He would have liked to pull her in an embrace too but his ever-frigid skin would only make things worse.

She let out a low sound of satisfaction feeling the warmth and comfort of the blanket.

"See, you are in need of some warmth. Come back now. " He said as he drew out the curtain once again to break her spell. This time his hand didn't burn.

Finally, Kira looked up at him and smiled at his determination. She then returned to the fireplace, managing the blanket around her. A content smile remained etched upon her face for a long time.

"We can go outside, you know?" He suddenly stirred the silence.

Kira peeked through the window to assess the situation outside. She got up and studied the thick overcast clouds.

"I suppose we can. " She concluded and together they happily marched towards the main door.

Kira's face instantly lit up when she found herself surrounded by so much snow. She giggled and looked around with awe. The garden was a perfect winter wonderland. All of the plants were covered with a thin glassy sheet of frost and the snow occasionally rained down from the crevices of the trees where they had collected.

Gouenji was enjoying the view too as he had been out after months. He examined everything with great interest too and looked up at the clouds with his white, sparkling eyes.

Suddenly a heap of snow came towards him with momentum and hit him in the face. His eyes immediately darted in the direction in shock, only to find Kira giggling and clapping triumphantly.

"I have always wanted to do that. "She said as she picked up some more snow, balled it up and threw it at him again. This time he caught it in his hand with his supernatural speed and smirked mischievously. Kira's eyes widened as she knew what was coming next.

He threw the snowball back at her at a normal speed. Kira shielded her face with her hands and cried joyfully.

"This isn't fair! You can't use your special capabilities against me!" She pouted.

"Alright, I won't. " He chuckled.

And hence began a very long snowball fight. They kept playing for hours, chasing each other, throwing snow and laughing uncontrollably.

"I'm so tired and you seem completely unaffected. " Kira said as she bent down with her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. Gouenji stopped too, waiting for her to catch up.

Suddenly Kira's eyes fell on the snow and the cold hue of it seemed to disappear and the entire place seemed to gain a warm golden hue instead. Panicked, she looked up to see that the clouds had begun moving and the sun was slowly beginning to peep out of there.

Gouenji had noticed it too and he seemed to have frozen in shock, having stood in the middle of the garden with no place to hide. He didn't have enough time to run inside, or even if he did he was too panicked to think straight.

Kira screamed and ran towards him. They both fell on the ground as she quickly threw herself on top of him to cover him.

"Are you okay? Or are you hurt?" She asked breathlessly.

"I'm okay but I can't move from here now. " He answered. Even an inch of movement meant risking burning up.

"I'll protect you. Don't worry! I won't let anything happen to you." She was down to a whimper at this point, she was so scared for him.

The sun had now kicked away all of the clouds around it and was shining proudly. Thankfully, it being winter time, it wasn't strong enough to burn him through his clothes, yet his face and hands were completely defenceless and needed to be protected.

Kira took off her coat and draped it over both of them like a makeshift tent. He was still lying still and she was on her knees by his side, hunched over him. As soon as she took her coat off she began shivering so much that the rattling of her teeth could be easily heard.

"You're cold!" He exclaimed in worry.

"It's alright. I'm sure we won't have to stay like this for long. " She spoke through a shaky breath. As her knees dug deep into the snow, she could feel the pain of the frost creeping up in her veins. She bit her lip to hold herself stable but the pain intensified and drew tears in her eyes.

And all Gouenji could do was watch her suffer. He was as close to her as one could be and yet there was nothing he could do to help her. He regretted being so careless and decided that he would never do so again. He would shut himself in darkness forever.

A few more moments passed and finally, some thick clouds won over the sun again, engulfing it entirely. Gouenji sprang up swiftly and wrapped her coat around her tightly. He then took off his own and wrapped that around her too.

"Let's go inside fast. " He said as he tried to help her stand up. As soon as she did and took a step, her knees buckled and she fell again.

"I can't feel my legs!" She cried, "And my knees hurt so much!"

Gouenji wasted no time and picked her up. He brought her near the fireplace and sat her down on the chair. He pulled the chair closer and poked the fire to revive it. He himself, sat on the floor to level with her.

"You will be okay." He assured her as he cupped her cheek with his palm.

"Can...you...not...touch me right now?" She spoke in a shivering voice, and then meekly added, "You're cold. "

He quickly moved his hand away regretfully.

"May I?" He asked as he gestured towards her knees. When she nodded, he pushed up her skirt to examine them.

Her knees had turned extremely pale with patches of blue and purple.

"Of course, you are frostbitten. " He stated solemnly.

"What does that mean? Will I not walk again?" She panicked with tears in her eyes.

"Of course you will! You will heal in no time." He assured her.