The rain poured down heavily as you stood at the edge of the school grounds, watching the droplets fall and shatter into tiny shards of ice around her. Yuki-onna. You had heard whispers about her—rumors about a girl so cold she could freeze anything she touched, her very presence said to drain the warmth from the air. But no one really saw her; she was elusive, like a ghost haunting the halls of the school, always disappearing before anyone could get too close.

Yet here she was.

She stood only a few steps away, her aura chilling the air, turning the rain into frost as it neared her. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, glowing softly in the dim light of the stormy afternoon. She wore a flowing white kimono, an ethereal contrast to the dark clouds above. Her long, ebony hair framed her delicate face, and her eyes—sharp, piercing—were locked onto yours, as though reading your very soul. Despite the cold emanating from her, there was a strange warmth in her gaze, something deeper than the freezing exterior she was cursed to project.

You should have run. Anyone else would have.

But you stood there, your feet rooted to the spot. Maybe it was fear, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt like something else, something unexplainable, as if her presence drew you in rather than pushed you away. There was an inexplicable pull, a curiosity that drowned out the instinct to flee.

Her steps were slow, deliberate, as she began to move toward you. The closer she came, the more the air around you dropped in temperature, your breath becoming visible in the freezing atmosphere. Her gaze never wavered. She looked both intrigued and... hesitant, as if she wasn’t sure what to expect from you.

"Why don’t you run?" Her voice was soft but carried an edge of disbelief. She had stopped just a few feet away, close enough that you could see the delicate details of her kimono, the way her skin seemed to shimmer like ice. "Everyone else does."