music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO9NoAMdnGY

An empty black abyss, deprived of light, stretched on and on, until the world's end. Not a sound. Not a flicker. Not a single movement. Only small shards simmered dimly as they came from the shadows and vanished into the darkness. A hollow shell without an exit. A room with not one window. The space was full of nothingness to its finest. 

[center][b]"Back to your usual logical nonsense, I see?"[/b][/center]

The moment that low quiet female voice spoke, the sparkles shined brighter and, suddenly, a screen of white engulfed one's vision. In a heartbeat's time, the positions were set. Two trees were facing each other, both of them completely bare. The sky stretched on into infinity and met the land, which was white, but not from snow. Quite simply put, no one had bothered to paint there, since it wasn't necessary to begin with. Small clouds of cream and gray were scattered left and right, whilst peculiar staircases lead upwards to doors without rooms. The ground was a checkered stone floor with cracks spreading much like the roots of a tree and grass glowing on the edges of most of the squares. Some still bore remains of yellow and purple paint, but only scraps and spots were left from their former beauty, as it was now being replaced by a more natural hue of colours.
Under one tree stood he, Hakuren Zabluda. A young man at the age of twenty, he examined the scenery before him carefully, taking a moment to acknowledge every minor detail, for he was most impressed with what he saw. The welkin's blue neither carried the iciness of winter, nor was its blue as deep as a summer's lake dive. Thus he presumed that it was either autumn or spring, but the conclusion confirmed the latter, for there was not one fallen leaf, but a few patches of snow were present here and there and the branches, under which he was, bore their first small buds.
Under the other tree stood she. A tall girl with white hair, which reached down almost to her waist, and eyes of a piercing icy blue. She stood there motionless, wearing a long dark blue coat, the edge of the hood of which was fluffy. The scarf on her neck, which was composed of blue, dark and light gray and white lines, slightly swayed to her left as a gentle breeze blew past them. The tree, under which she was, was not budding, rather, it had a few nests of snow and its branches reached out towards the heavens, like pitiful beggars wishing for a piece of bread. 
The two of them remained speechless for awhile. They were apparently in a forest, but the rest of the woods were vague, as if swallowed by mist. The lad allowed his gaze to rest on her once he had enough of his surroundings. She was an acquaintance, one so close you'd call them friends, but they both knew their relationship was far weirder than the weirdest pair of party goggles. Going under many ordeals together, they had a bond of a questionable state, for it always appeared at different ends to outsiders. Sometimes it looked as though they completely mistrusted one-another. At some other occasion, the duo like a married couple, with one remarking something about the other is a homely manner. Most of the time, they were presumed to be colleagues, two people who ran on the same business track, albeit the identity of the path was a big question mark. In the end, only they knew what they knew and no one could understand what these two people, peculiar in their own way, almost opposite to each other in their manner towards human beings, ever found in common with each other to keep meeting up and talking as if nothing was ever wrong. 

[b]"And you're as cold as ever, Aika."[/b] Hakuren finally responded.
[b]"You're going a little too far from shore this time, don't you think?"[/b]
[b]"Ships always crash in a shallow, but almost never at shore. My insight always brings profit."[/b]
[b]"It's not only your insight that's bothersome, it's your curiosity."[/b] the girl told him, but let out a small sigh a moment later and continued [b]"I always wonder...if it was the right choice..."[/b]

In that instant, everything around them became black, except the two trees and the snow on the ground, which was notably mostly on Aika's side. Small puffs of glowing light floated about, like miniature marble suns. Some were light blue, the majority were ginger and yellow, and the meekest ones were red. Not too far away appeared a figure, and then another, and then another. They were not in a group and stood on paths of light, their strength differing from person to person. All of them were facing with their backs, but the youngster could tell who they were. The boy with a long black coat and short black hair. The girl with the outrageously funny hoodie, which was patched here and there with hand-made pictures. The short-haired girl with her white and green school uniform. A man with flaming red hair. A boy with messy hair and strange headphones. The girl who held a pair of scissors. A blond lad. A cat-eared person. A man with a black fox's mask strapped to the side of his face. Many came and many went. They appeared and disappeared quickly, just like the shards that had sparkled and vanished before.

[b]"Was it really alright for us to move forward without offering them any personal help? Although we aided them, we assisted and gave them a hand...neither one of us...offered a shred of emotional support. If just once we had went over the wall and became personal...maybe this would have ended differently."[/b]

Hakuren had been looking at his companion the entire time, not once glancing at the people, whom he knew. Silence ruled for quite some time before and after the girl's question, but when he decided to interrupt this splendid rule of a queen so kind and noble, he did so by letting out a loud laugh. He began with a smirk, then a chortle and finally broke off into a laughter so hard, it sounded like that of a mad scientist. The figures in the distance vanished and the lights faded one by one. Aika simply stared, unfazed, as if stoned the way she was.
[b]"Heh, really, that's all you could come up with?"[/b] he spoke after taking a small breath through his parched mouth whilst looking upwards, then letting a "heh" to exhale as he lowered his head to meet Aika's gaze. [b]"In reality you are a far better conversationist. I always thought Aika had a guilty conscience about not helping people thoroughly, but now that I hear my own idea of it, it doesn't sound like her at all."[/b]
At that moment, he felt a tingling sensation on his legs, which slowly crawled upwards. His vision was getting slightly blurry as well.
[b]"Even if you were a Kuchisake-onna, I wouldn't tell you you're beautiful."[/b] he mumbled. This was all but a dream and he knew it well. Usually he was able to awaken the moment he wished, but it was much harder in this situation. His will was fighting and he could feel reality was only a bit away, but the overall sensation of dimmed senses and no gravitation somewhat troubled him.
[b]"What did you wish for, son of man?"[/b] the girl in front of him asked. Her intonation was different, naturally, because she wasn't truly the Aika he knew.
[b]"My wish?"[/b] he responded. The tingling sensation was already at his shoulders. [b]"An impossible wish only a fool would make."[/b]

A few moments passed in the haze of darkness before he finally opened his eyes only to see he was submerged under water. Seconds fleeted by as he remained numb and his eyes were stung by the water, but the young man regained his self-awareness and swam upwards. Once his head was above water, he coughed out a bit of water and breathed in slowly. Not a single other head could be seen around and the surroundings were all but fog.
[i]'Either I'm dead or this place has a serious weather problem.'[/i] he thought, but knew it was the second. He wouldn't die, not on his life.