The last Mondo had seen of Chiyo had been months ago, near the middle of August, to be precise. He'd picked a fight for her sake and made a huge ass of himself in some people's eyes, but he felt like he did what he had to do when confronted with that kind of circumstance. His regrets were few in that sense, but of the ones that lingered, the big one might be after not seeing Chiyo around since the day at the pool party, wondering whether he was partially to blame for her disappearance or not. He'd been pretty abrasive toward her and she was the sensitive and shy type. She'd seemed horrified when she saw the violence he had started, so he wasn't sure what kind of an affect his actions had on her. Considering he'd been in similar situations before with girls who detested his lifestyle, he could surmise that he put her off and scared her away for good. It stung to think about, but he was over it for the most part.

His thoughts weren't on her as he crunched through the snow, but they were now. Over there in the clearing was a girl with fins and a blue tail, quite amused by her own footprints as her voice rose into the clear wintry air. He froze where he stood, close to the copse of trees that did not immediately make his presence stand out to her just yet. He already accepted that she had probably gone away, but now that she was here so suddenly, all the feelings he'd tried to bury with her memory clawed out of their graves to play with his heart and mind. He wanted to call out to her, but hesitation buckled him back- who said he should? If he pulled her out of her carefree spell, he might make her upset and uncomfortable. He was good at wrecking shit, but this wasn't something he wanted to break.

"..." He chose instead to remain subdued, and walk along on his way. If she noticed him there, she could do whatever she liked, but he wasn't going to force her into his company.