"Waya--" Isumi clawed his way out from under the comforter and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten!" Waya swung halfway into the room, laughing, his cheeks and nose red. "You've been asleep forever, lazy. Come on, come and see--" and he grabbed Isumi's wrist, hauling the older boy up off his futon and down the short hallway.

Isumi yelped and stumbled behind him, cringing a little as his bare feet hit the cold floor. "Waya! I didn't even get home until three--it's cold--wait!"

"No, no, you have to come see," Waya insisted, taking an abrupt right turn into the tiny kitchen and dragging Isumi over to the window. The floor was even colder in here, and Isumi's thin pajamas weren't doing a thing to keep out the chill. He clutched his collar closed tightly about his neck.

"Waya, I'm freezing, can't this wai..." Isumi's voice trailed off, and he stared out the window in something akin to shock.

It had snowed, all right. And someone had gone out and patiently stamped out a 9x9 grid pattern in the snow right under their kitchen window, and stomped around in little endless circles to draw 'go stones' on it, and those stones formed a heart, and suddenly Waya's bright red nose made perfect sense.

He glanced at Waya. Waya was grinning sunnily. Blushing, Isumi felt the need to say something, anything--"That's really a terrible game, you know."

"I know." Waya's voice was unrepentant. "And worse, it started in the center, can you believe it? At least black managed to claim two stars later." He wound his arm around Isumi's waist and nuzzled the side of his neck. "Happy snow day, Isumi!"

Isumi yelped and shrank away. "Your nose is cold..."

"Well, yeah, it's cold out there! Why do you think I only made you a nine by nine?" Waya drew back and rubbed his nose against Isumi's shoulder instead.

Isumi laughed, slightly, and leaned his forehead against the window. "Because the courtyard's too small for anything else?"