Thousand winters

The red scarf

He's the one he admires. He's the one guiding him. He's the one not minding him. Just like the snow that hasn't completly melted, I carry on these feelings inside me.

It's already pretty cold outside, the winter came earlier this year, so your breath is already freezing in mid-october. October...the month of halloween, everyone dressing up nicely and going out for candys or a party. And the month of 'bloody halloween'.

Chifuyu takes a big sigh and takes the toast out of the toaster. The crust turned dark brown and the toast itself shines golden.

"Chifuyu! How long will you stare at your toast?? You'll be late for school!", his mum looks down on him from the other side of the table. "Is everything okey?"

"Ah yeah- I was just lost in thoughts. I-I'll get going." Chifuyu gets up again and grabs his warm jacket from the chair.

"Were you thinking of it again?", the mothers voice smoothed down again and her eyes seemed to worry.

"No, I didn't. 'Till later mum." He smiles and then leaves the house, without eating his golden toast. He didn't even bother to put on some jam.

The tress besides the street and in the park already lost most of their autumn leaves, and the scenery reminds a lot of winter already. Most of the students already wear their winteruniform or a warm coat and scarfs.

Even Chifuyu wears a scarf already. A red one, just like all the romantic couples do in a romantic story. Just that his story isn't romantic at all.

---

"Hey Chifuyu!" His loud and deep voice goes through everyone's body as soon as you can hear him. Bajis strong voice is something your body will never forget.

"What is it?"

Baji laughes and approaches Chifuyu, one of his arms wrap around his shoulders: "You still ask that? Isn't your birthday soon?"

"Why do you ask? And it's just the beginning of November..." (Chifuyu's birthday is on November 19th)

"Well, I ask because I want to gift you something, you silly", Baji laughs and continues to walk besides Chifuyu, his arm still on his shoulder. "So whatcha got in mind buddy?"

Buddy...it's adorable how Baji talks to friends. How he talks to Chifuyu. He would never take harm on him.

"Uhm... I don't really wish for anything..and I'm sure well have a gang meeting on that day anyways, so-"

Baji laughed and stopped for a moment: "So I can just gift you whatever you want?"

Chifuyu sighed and also had to smirk: "You're not supposed to gift me anything! Gift me one of these romantic movie scarfs every girl gets gifted from their lover!, he jokingly replied and hoped that the thing was settled with that.

And then, on his birthday, Baji showed up at his home.

"Happy birthday buddy!" Bajis smile was pure and without any worries on that day, "I hope you will like my present! I worked hard on it..."

Is it just the cold winter, or are his cheeks more red than usual?

"Thank you Baji, but there really was no need to. Do you want to come in? It's cold outs-"

"No, sorry, but I have to go somewhere else with my family. It's soon christmas and stuff-... sorry buddy, I'll definitely hit you up later again!"

Baji smiled and left again, meanwhile Chifuyu opened his present. Only to find a selfmade red scarf, just like the one he jokingly wished for.

"He really did this scarf himself..." Chifuyu giggled while checking out the uneven parts of the scarf. He couldn't stop smiling at the red scarf. A scarf like the ones every lover gifts their lover....lover?

---

They always had fun together in winter. The gang calmed down with meetings, it was Chifuyu's birthday and christmas in winter. They'd often meet for tea and just read books together, study, or just spend quietly time together minding their own business.

All the winters they had together, all the winters they would have had together. They just shattered some day in autumn. The thousand winters shattered in front of him just like the first snowflake on the ground.

Time seemed to move steady or even fast sometimes, but then everything stopped. Everything got to a hold.

They say, when you meet the love of your life, time stops. But his time stopped when he lost his love.