Winter was now in motion. Snow was falling slowly but surely and the rivers began to wear their coat of ice. Cherry trees were shedding their petals, being replaced with bare wood and snow. Sweaters and jackets were coming out of closets and hot chocolate was being bought faster than the skiers that were now adorning the mountains. Hitori’s boots crunched in the pale snow as he walked to school, Nonkina walking beside him. Ever since he started school, he had made good friends with Nonkina. They hung out at lunch together, studied together at the library and talked over the phone almost every day. Although they had never been to each other’s homes, they were stringing together an unbreakable bond.

Hitori is a normal, teenage boy who lives with his mother and their cat in the small town of Kuni, Japan. He is referred to by his friends as a “Country Bumpkin” since he lives out in the grassy headlands instead of in the city, where most of his friends live. He attended Manabu Middle School until just two years ago and now he is a full-fledged high school student. Now, he was helping his mother haul the last box into their car to take to their new home in the big city.

Hitori is a normal, teenage boy who lives with his mother and their cat in the small town of Kuni, Japan. He is referred to by his friends as a “Country Bumpkin” since he lives out in the grassy headlands instead of in the city, where most of his friends live. He attended Manabu Middle School until just two years ago and now he is a full-fledged high school student. Now, he was helping his mother haul the last box into their car to take to their new home in the big city.