Years ago in Mia and Yuzan's original world . . .

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!"

A small Mia with her black hair in pig tails burst in her big brother's room.

"Mia-chan," Yuzan said, his features softening into a smile.

He closed his laptop and opened him arms wide. Mia smiled widely and ran then leaped in her brother's arms.

"Oof!" Yuzan exclaimed.

"Mia-chan, what brought you here? Did you miss your Onii-chan?" Yuzan asked while rubbing his cheek on Mia's cheek.

"N-nya! Stop it, Onii-chan. You're not a cat!" Mia protested placing her tiny hands on her big brother's face.

"Mia-chan is just so cute. So, what does my cute little sister want?" Yuzan asked.

"Snow!" Mia said.

"Snow?" Yuzan repeated.

"There's snow outside, Onii-chan!" Mia said.

Yuzan looked out his window.

She was right. Snow. It had piled up on the lawn outside. He had not noticed. Come to think of it, what time was it? It must be morning already because Mia was awake. Ah... He had forgotten to sleep again.

"Onii-chan?" Mia squished her big brother's cheeks.

"Does my little sister want to go outside?" Yuzan asked.

Mia nodded excitedly.

"Let's put on a jacket first, okay? Oh and boots too and a scarf! I don't want you getting a cold," Yuzan said.

Mia sucked in air in her cheeks.

"Please, Mia-chan?" Yuzan asked.

"Fiiiine," Mia said.

A few minutes later, the Hajime siblings were all dressed up to go outside. Mia was wearing a pink fur jacket with bunny ears and matching furry pink boots. Yuzan was elegantly dressed in a black winter coat and black boots.

"Onii-chan, snow!" Mia said gleefully running around the snow-filled lawn.

"Yes, Mia-chan, snow," Yuzan said.

Mia laid down on her back.

"Snow angel!" Mia said while making a snow angel.

Yuzan smiled. He wanted to preserve this memory. She looked so adorable. He wanted to always see her smiling and having fun.

"Onii-chan, the snow looks like ice cream," Mia said eyeing the snow hungrily.

"No! It's not ice cream!" Yuzan said and squatted down beside her.

"Mia wants ice cream," Mia said.

"Even though it's this cold?" Yuzan asked.

Mia nodded.

"Alright. Let's get in first. I'll get you ice cream," Yuzan said.

"Yey!" Mia said.

The Hajime siblings went back in their mansion.

"Mia-chan, change out of your jacket first. You'll catch a cold," Yuzan said.

"Okaaay," Mia said and went to her room.

Now, for the ice cream. His dear little sister's request. Yuzan went to their refrigerator and searched for ice cream.

No ice cream.

Oh no.

He could try ordering but the snow was getting heavy outside and it would take a long time for their order to arrive.

He looked around their kitchen for snacks. He couldn't find any snacks. Argh. Their parents must have forgotten to order snacks for them again. They should have ordered snacks because they have kids but no! They only ordered the "necessary" food for their nutrition.

There were fruits in the kitchen but Mia was craving for ice cream. Not fruits. He looked for other ingredients. He found a pack of rice flour which was used in making mochi. He also found condensed milk which they use for their pancakes.

"Onii-chan, where's the ice cream?" Mia asked with her eyes wide looking around the kitchen.

"Umm . . . It's because of the snow outside . . ." Yuzan began to make an excuse and trailed off.

Wait.

Snow.

Snow!

"Mia-chan, can you help Onii-chan make your ice cream?" Yuzan asked.

"Onii-chan is going to make ice cream?" Mia asked her eyes twinkling like he just said he could make it with magic.

"Yes, but Onii-chan needs Mia-chan's help," Yuzan said.

Mia nodded enthusiastically.

"Can you get the whitest and cleanest snow that you can find in the garden?" Yuzan asked.

Mia agreed excitedly. Yuzan gave her a bowl and an ice cream scoop to serve as her shovel. Mia dashed off to the garden to gather some snow.

Yuzan rolled his sleeves and crackled his knuckles.

"Time to get to work," Yuzan said.

He combined the rice flour, sugar, and water in a bowl then microwaved them for one minute. Meanwhile, he chopped some strawberries finely, placed them in a bowl and added sugar, vanilla extract, and milk to it. He went back the microwave, stirred the sticky mochi a bit and placed it back in the microwave to be heated for a minute again.

He looked around in the kitchen and found a pink food dye.

Ding!

Yuzan took the mochi mixture and added a drop of pink food dye to it. He returned the bowl to the microwave to be heated for the last time for only 30 seconds.

"Onii-chan! Is this enough?"

Mia ran to Yuzan carrying the bowl filled with a mountain of ice.

"Yes, you're so amazing, Mia-chan. Can you watch an episode for now? Onii-chan is almost done," Yuzan said.

Mia nodded and went to the television. A few seconds later, Yuzan could hear the opening song of the anime, Magic Knight Rayearth. Ah. He should give Mia her very own Mokona. Mokona is a cute bunny-like white creature in the anime. That was a good Christmas gift idea. He should get the voice actress to record her voice so that the stuffed toy would make sounds when Mia squeezes it.

Yuzan washed the snow with cold water, ensuring that there wasn't any dirt in it. He then mixed condensed milk and his strawberry mixture to it. He combined the ingredients until it became a creamy mixture that actually looked like strawberry ice cream.

He flattened the mochi that he made and cut them into circles. He then placed an ice cream scoop on each mochi circle and afterwards, he wrapped the ice cream with the mochi.

Mochi ice cream done!

"Mia-chan, it's ready," Yuzan said.

"Yey!" Mia paused the anime episode she was watching and hopped off the sofa.

"Ice cream! Uwaaaaa! Mochi?!" Mia said looking at the mochi ice cream balls that her big brother made. They were color pink and they looked so cute.

"The snow ice cream is inside. Take a bite," Yuzan said.

Mia nodded and took a mochi ball. She had an amazed look on her face. The mochi felt smooth and soft on her palm but also cold. She nuzzled the mochi with the tip of her nose. Yuzan chuckled.

"Mia-chan, a bite. Not a nose to nose," Yuzan said.

Mia giggled. She took a bite.

Her eyes lit up.

It was so delicious!

It was creamy and sweet and she could taste the strawberries and the mochi wrapping was so soft!

She gobbled up the mochi ice cream.

Yuzan chuckled.

"Do you like it?" Yuzan asked.

Mia nodded enthusiastically. She wanted to eat another mochi ice cream.

"Onii-chan is the best!" Mia said.

Yuzan poked Mia's chubby cheek.

"Really? Do you like your Onii-chan?" Yuzan asked.

Mia nodded again energetically.

"I loooooove Onii-chan!" Mia said.

"Onii-chan loves Mia-chan too," Yuzan said hugging her tight.

"C-can't breathe! Mia wants to eat more ice cream," Mia said.

Yuzan laughed and let her go.

"Sure. Let's take this in front of the TV and eat while we watch, okay?" Yuzan said.

"Yey!" Mia said.

The two sat on the sofa in front of the television while they ate Yuzan's homemade mochi ice cream made of snow.

"Mia-chan, you know Onii-chan loves you a lot," Yuzan said.

Mia was not listening. She was staring intently at the television entranced at the transformation scene of the sailor uniform changing into armor magically.

"Onii-chan will do anything to protect you," Yuzan said.

Mia did not hear him but Yuzan felt happy anyway seeing his little sister happy. It was a pleasant day. Their parents were nowhere to be seen as always but they had each other and it was enough.

*

*

*

At the present time in White Peaks . . .

"Here. Eat this," Yuzan said.

He was carrying a tray with a plate filled with his homemade mochi ice cream made with snow.

Sylvia stared at it curiously.

"You won't know the taste until you eat it. Hurry up and eat it," Yuzan demanded.

"Yuzan, you shouldn't talk to her like that. What if she finds you offensive?" Azmir whispered.

Sylvia poked it.

Oh.

It was soft and cold.

How strange. It didn't look like it was poisoned even though the boy was really rude.

She took one and rolled it a bit on the palm of her hand. She wouldn't die anyway even if it was poisoned. No harm in trying it then.

She took a bite.

Oh.

Oh!!!

Her violet eyes widened.

Oh my!

She chewed on it faster. It was so delicious! She loved how sweet and cold and soft it was at the same time. Ice? No. This was snow! Sweetened with milk? And there was some kind of berry added to it.

Ah.

She had finished it already.

She looked at the tray and was about to get another one but Yuzan stepped back so she couldn't reach it.

"So, do you agree to be our guide? Promise to us first that you'll help us get across the mountain and I'll give you the rest of these," Yuzan said.

Sylvia tilted her head and a small smile formed on her lips. How amusing. Perhaps she won't be bored this time around.

"I agree. Now, give that to me, boy," Sylvia said with her voice like the combination of a whisper and the icy winds.