When Winter Ends || Modern Naruto Love Story

o9

"Mayu!" She looked up from her plate full of food, pressing her blue orbs onto the same ones in front of her. A smiling Naruto waved at her face, along with a small piece of paper in his hand. "Look here!"

"What is it?" Quirking her brow, she couldn't see the entire paper as it was brought up to her face extremely close. The blond pulled it away and displayed the flyer against his chest.

"I heard there's a festival tonight, and I was thinking if you want to go with me," he explained.

Mayumi blinked, "A festival?"

He nodded. "Yeah! It's an indoor food market. Since you like crepes and stuff, I just thought you would like to go to this," he suggested, pointing at a specific picture that is Mayumi's favorite food. "See?"

He heard her hitch a breath as she was lost of words. Then disappointment reflected inside him once he saw Mayumi looking down. "Um, I've never been to one ," she answered. "But I don't think I can go."

"Why not?" He questioned. "I think you should 'cause you never experience these kinds of things. It will be fun!" The only reason Naruto tries to convince, or suggest, Mayumi to come to this event so he can manage to put a smile on her face.

It's already been a week, and so far Naruto unsuccessfully made no progress, not even a laugh from her. To coat their time together, he thought he might bring something new to her. So the festival might enlighten her enjoyment and he can see the cheerfulness on her profile.

Mayumi didn't reply to him right away, as she casted her eyes down in misfortune. "Will it?"

"Yeah! If you go, Mayu, I promise you won't be disappointed." Once his eyes smiled at her, there's a side in her that can't refuse that look of his. Staring at his hopeful face, Mayu looked away in wonder and finally nodded her head.

"If you say so, Naruto, then I believe you." Then the blond was erupted with excitement as a grin formed ear to ear on his lips.

"Alright!" He proudly said. "I'll come get you tonight. How's that sound?"

Nodding, Mayumi watched the blond internally celebrates, wishing for the night to go well with her.

*~*

When the day passed dawn, the town was already scented by grilled barbecues and complete chatters. The air was loud as many people surrounded the night market in warm clothing, walking in through the building to see stand up booths.

It looked delightful and exotic, according to Mayumi's eyes when she took the first glance in through the front door curiously. Naruto, standing beside her in a red scarf and green coat, scanned the huge area.

"Wow! I don't know where to start," he said, his eyes landing on every booth possible. Then he turned to the blue girl. "How about you, Mayu? Do you see anything you want to try?"

She remained silent, still amazed by the amount of people and food all around them. She heard him, unable to say the right words. "I uh... I'm not too sure either," Mayumi muttered.

"Well, let's not just stand here," grabbing her hand, Naruto led her the way where they greeted by the mist of ground beef and tofu. Watching him go up to a booth, he came back with two dango sticks in his hands.

"What's that?" Mayumi questioned which made his jaw drop.

"You don't know what a dango is?" She slowly shook her head. She's sheltered more than he expected. A snack like a dango is most common. Without making her feel foreign, Naruto tried to ignore the thought and lend Mayumi her stick.

"It's pretty good if you ask me. Try it!" Watching Mayumi smell the colored sweets is like a dog seeing its treat for the first time. Once she ate the first dango, her eyes lit up. Naruto smiled. "Good, huh?" She nodded.

"There's plenty more you need to try also! Come on, before anything runs out."

The rest of the night, Naruto felt like he colored her world. There's actually a lot of things Mayumi does not know about due to her lack of knowledge of food and games, especially events like these. Although Naruto couldn't get to see her smile, he can already see the joy within herself as she's with him. He can just feel it around her.

He may be overthinking, but he thinks he already shed a few layers from Mayumi, and little by little, he can sense the dim glow within her. The smile in her is hard to break, he admits.

Just when a performance is about to start, from the side of his view, Naruto can manage to steal a glance from the blue girl beside him. Noticing she's beginning to breathe in a steady pace, his eyes turned to her in concern.

"Mayu? Are you alright?" She can sense worry in his tone, finally facing her with a shocked expression. Unknowingly holding her chest, Mayumi tried to calm her breathing in order to talk. "I, I'm okay... Just need a little air."

"Do you want to go outside? It is a little stuffy in here," he suggested which Mayumi accepted his offer. The blond quickly led her out of the smoky building filled with crowds of people as they were greeted by the cold, snowy breeze. Standing under a heated lamp, Naruto sees a bit of relief of Mayumi's profile.

"Is that better?" He asked. She nodded in reply, slowly catching her breath and breathing through her nose.

"That air was... unsettling. It could be the food," she explained with sweaty eyes. This caused Naruto to look at her sympathetically. If only he knew what was going on with Mayumi, he can understand.

"Okay, just stay here. I'm going to get some hot tea for you. It will be good for your system."

"Yeah, perhaps that will make me better," she muttered.

Going back inside, Naruto bought two hot cans from the vending machine and hurriedly made his way out of the building. When he was finding his way out, he didn't recognize the crowd grew thicker and longer, making it suddenly questionable to him - as to why people are gathering by the front door than the booths inside.

Heads were turned and chatters were quiet by the end, reaching out of the front door finally. It was until he didn't see a standing blunette there, but she was lying flat on the white concrete covered in snow, sprawled.

This made him drop the remaining of their tea and shoot straight forward to an unconscious Mayumi, blacked out and slowly breathing. His eyes blocked out everyone as they whispered about the commotion, looking only at the motionless girl with a pale face.

His blue pools widen, pupils shrunk, and mouth gaped at the sight of her weak body. "Mayu!"