January 22, 2021: Fuubutsushi

Piling up on the railings,

Damming pathways and pavements,

Blanketing the formerly luscious greeneries,

Indurating oceans, rivers, and ponds which stripped them off of their capability host life,

Robbing everyone of the warmth they sought solely that period of the year, but took for granted any other time,

They were the clusters of frozen crystalline water that leisurely descended from the achromatic morning sky.

The snow transformed the surroundings into an enormous canvass, to be painted on by the people who were just trying to live their lives, despite the weather making their struggles a lot more strenuous.

Upon opening the door to her apartment, Syn shuddered almost feverishly because of how colder the interior was compared to the alfresco. It did not help that the temperature that day was the lowest recorded for the season.

Although, it was not all that surprising since the residence where she was living was borderline dilapidated. It's not optimal for her already vigorously exhausting lifestyle, but she had to bear with this kind of living condition, else she wouldn't be able to save a single penny.

Syn breathed out air into her bare palms that were intertwined, hoping to warm them up and lessen their rigidity ahead of stepping inside her room.

The layout of the 18 square-meter rectangular room accurately visualized its cheap rent.

The first half of the studio was occupied by a two-meter long entryway on the right side of a four square meters washroom. A kitchen counter equipped with a stove and sink was mounted on the wall beyond the lavatory. The rest of the space was simply a wide area dedicated for whatever purpose the tenant intended.

It was beneficial that Syn did not have plenty of moveables. Except for the washing machine and bed frame provided by the landlord, what was left in the room as hers were the cooking and eating utensils, mini-fridge, mattress, other necessities, and a few personal possessions.

Once she had closed the door behind her, she went straight for the electric heater. It was located underneath the window sill at the farthest corner of the room opposite the bed. Syn hurriedly connected its plug to the socket, starting its main function.

No sane man would attempt to thrive in that season without a heater.

A breeze unexpectedly grazed Syn's nape. It alerted her that the window above the heater was narrowly ajar.

"Why is this unfastened? Is the lock broken again? No wonder it's so cold in here."

She immediately shut the window, unable to bear any more second spent with the chilly waft. After she stood motionless in front of the device, hoarding the heat for a good minute, the young lady finally dropped her items of baggage on the floor.

Syn then walked towards the kitchen cabinet to pick up a kettle and fill it with water in the sink. As soon as the kettle was fixed above the burner, she walked back to the area in front of the heater. She sat down on the wooden floorboard and proceeded to organize her things.

The lady carefully took the stuff out of their containers and arranged them into rows in front of her. The contents of the shoulder bag were the same items she brought with her yesterday.

There were two paper bags that carried piles upon piles of medicine boxes containing either tablets, bottles, or syringes, all of which differing in sizes. Simply looking at it made Syn feel the aggravation of adhering to constant reminders in the coming days.

She sighed a deep one, a bit reluctant to accept that her routine suddenly became more intolerable.

Thereafter she was done, Syn stood up to put the items in their respective cabinets. Finishing up took her the time needed for the water to boil. She turned off the stove and proceeded to wear an oven mitt before handling the kettle.

Steam enveloped the cramped bath as Syn poured the water into the tub. When kettle was emptied, she placed the pot on top of the lowered toilet seat cover. The lady then exited the bath to prepare her clothes and procure the phone that she left on the nightstand.

Syn desired the kind of torridity that would make one reminisce of the seas under the scorching summer sun, when the water made it feel that the heat was a tight embrace.

She dipped her toe in the tub to check if the temperature was to her liking. It matched her preference right away, so she readily immersed her whole body into the water whilst making sure to not wet the phone in her hand. As for her hair, she already pinned it up, considering it was a pain for her to dry it off in the frigid zephyr of winter.

Staying for two days in a hospital without having the chance to clean her body made the bath taste more dulcet for Syn. She could not even be bothered to shower prior to submerging into the bathtub.

The position she decided on, to the care and feeding of her relaxation, was to fully stretch out her legs with the back of her head rested on the edge of the ceramic tub.

Syn used that opportunity to check on all of the unread e-mails and texts that she had accumulated. Unsurprisingly enough, her worrywart of a mother sent the most number of texts.

Since she fancied to read her mother's messages without interruption, she set them aside first to view the communications from her colleagues and acquaintances. Besides a couple of notices questioning her sudden absence, the messages were all about reminding her to get well and to contact the senders as soon as she was able.

"I knew it. That manager wouldn't let a blunder like this pass." Syn spoke with a manner of surrender upon perusing the last text.

She was just fired from one of her part-time jobs over the mail. It was not a high paying work, but a loss was still a loss when every cent of her earnings counted.

To mellow out her dismay, she opened the folder of her mom's messages. The lines were full of unease that she felt sorry for making her mother troubled to such an extent. That was why she sent her mom a text before going through the rest of the messages.

[[ Mom, I'm sorry for not contacting you. I did not have the time, you see. I'm doing fine. Is everything alright? ]]

It was crooked of her to lie regarding her true condition. However, it was a little mischief she's willing to do any time of the day.

Why?

Because it contributed to increasing her mother's confidence in respecting the reality that her daughter was now the head of the family.

It was no use anticipating a reply at 8 in the morning from her mom. The latter was probably asleep after sending off her three sons to school. Syn just went back to browsing the conversation with her mother. A picture message dated on the 19th attracted her attention.

"What a beautiful painting."

Knowing that her 11-year-old brother was the one who made the painting, and won him an award to boot, filled her with pride. It was certainly a talent worth celebrating.

She enlarged the image so that she could inspect every detail of it.

It was a scenic view of an entire forest of cherry blossom trees on a winter night. While the painting was colored dominantly with a palette of blues, the distinct pink shade of the cherry blossom flowers and the white specks of snow gave the illusion that the painting was a scene right outside the window.

Another point of interest was the five figures walking foot deep in the snow. Albeit the presence of only five individuals on the horizon, six trails of footsteps could be seen in the middle.

At an instant, a feeling of repugnance bloomed inside the heart of Syn. She quickly turned her phone off and set it down on the laundry basket nearby.

'Other thoughts, other thoughts, think about other thoughts.'

Syn was in a haste to divert her mind from the topic she was reluctant to dwell on. Thankfully, her recent regret popped into her head.

'I wish I could've taken those peonies home. Except, I do not have the knowledge required to manage such delicate flowers. I should visit Rosanna's shop if I want to gaze at them.'

She closed her eyes, entering a state of repose to rid her body off of the tension. Shortly past her moment of peace, her phone vibrated.

Truthfully speaking, Syn wanted to ignore the notification, if it were not for the fact that the phone did not cease vibrating. She reached for the device and read the display on the screen.

"Tristan?"

A call from Tristan was one she couldn't refuse, so she did the only thing that she could.

"Good morning, Sir sponsor."

{{ "What is with your endearment? Anyway, good morning. Where are you? I'm in the hospital and they said that you were already discharged." }}

"Yes, I'm currently at home."

{{ "Are you sure that you've completely recovered?" }}

There was a slight hint of reservation in Tristan's articulation that, in a way, amused Syn. His voice was indicative of wanting to know more, yet afraid of breaching a line not yet crossed.

It was a given that health records shouldn't be disclosed to people who weren't directly related to the patient. Tristan heeded this law, even though he could bypass it, for the sake of respecting Syn's privacy.

"Thank you for your concern. Exhaustion just caught up to me. I got sufficient rest during my confinement."

{{ "If you say so, then I won't probe any further." }}

"Hmm."

Tristan was not satisfied with her answer, to say the least, but he let it go. After all, he surmised that Syn was not the type to yield information willingly.

{{ "Are you busy? Have you eaten?" }}

"No and no."

{{ "Let's have breakfast." }}

"Okay, where and what time?"

{{ "I'll fetch you there." }}

"Now?"

Syn scooped up some water with her left hand and lifted it, allowing the fluid to snake down her arms. An abrupt craving to taunt Tristan came to visit her.

"If you come sooner, you can join me in the bath, Mr O' Connor."

Her whispers made Tristan clench his jaw as he attempted to calm his nerves down.

{{ "Are you... inviting me?" }}

"I guess? You don't want to? Being alone in this cool weather is too much for me."

Syn was strangely lecherous. She uttered every word amorously, intending to croon Tristan. Withal, this level was but a mere teasing.

"Won't you come and warm me up?"

A sharp intake of air was heard on the other line. Syn bit her lower lip, trying to prevent a giggle from escaping her mouth.

{{ "D*mn it, Syn. You are such a tease." }}

Before the woman could even say her goodbyes, Tristan hanged up. He must have been in a hurry to leave. Syn placed the phone at the top of her basket of laundries.

She slowly gave in to the narcotic effect of the bath. She leaned on one side of the tub to prevent herself from sinking in case she fell asleep. As her consciousness started to drift off, a knock on the door interrupted it.

'It has only been a few minutes since the end of our call and he's already here? He said 20 minutes away. How many traffic rules did he break?'

She rose from the bathtub, took the robe off of the hanger, and put it on. As her hand touched the knob, she halted midway when a chord of apprehension assaulted her straightaway. She kept her silence to determine why she had a bad feeling.

'What the-'

Then and there, she ascertained that the doorknob outside was being unlocked with a key.

'Key? I do no recall giving anyone my apartment key.'

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