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The door swung open, and snowflakes drifted into the corridor like scattered salt.
As I stepped halfway out, the wind swept my hair to Kyojuro's lips. He instinctively reached out to tuck it behind my ear—his fingertips brushing my earlobe like a spark igniting a flame.
“It's snowing!”I exclaimed, reaching out excitedly to catch a few flakes before turning back inside on a sudden impulse.
I instructed my maid to fetch the cashmere scarf my brother had brought back from the West. I chose the red one.
Holding it up, I saw its folded length matched my height.
So beneath the snowy curtain, I wrapped the scarf twice around my neck, then held the long, warm end aloft. Rushing toward Kyojuro, I suddenly encircled him with it.
He was forced to lower his head, his forehead nearly touching mine. Our breath mingled through the cashmere's weave—like stealing sips from the same warm tea.
“Don't move.”I whispered, guiding the scarf's tail around his Adam's apple with my fingers.
My fingertips brushed his pulse, his heartbeat drowning out the snowstorm.
Walking down the street, the old man at the corner flipped open his iron bucket with a clang. The scent of honey wafted through the cold wind into my nostrils.
I pinched the smallest one, but it was so hot I yanked my hand back. Kyojuro grabbed my hand and blew on my reddened fingertips. His warm breath touched my skin, and for a moment, it felt like it seared straight into my heart.
He cradled the sweet potato, peeling back the charred skin. Instantly, a sweet aroma filled the air. The golden, honey-dripping core steamed, releasing puffs of white mist into the snowy day.
Seeing my hungry expression, Kyojuro burst into laughter.“Here! The first bite is yours.”
I lowered my head and took a bite from his hand, my lips accidentally brushing against his thumb.
Sweetness exploded on my tongue. I smiled contentedly,“So sweet!”
Snowflakes landed on his eyelashes, melting into sparkling droplets. I gently wiped them away with my fingertip—as if erasing every tear he might shed in this lifetime.
In that moment, enveloped by the mingled scent of roasted sweet potatoes and winter snow, I was utterly surrounded by happiness.
“There's a saying about snow in my world,”I suddenly spoke up,“If we walk along in the snow and get our hair all covered by snow. But also be counted as old age together.”
Kyojuro gazed at the snowflakes settling on my crimson hair, smiling as he nudged me with his fluffy head.“Yes, why wouldn't it count!”
In that instant, the regret of being unable to grow old together because of our Demon Slayer Mark faded.
After returning home, candlelight cast flickering shadows. I spread the two remaining scarves on the bed:black and blue, like night and dawn.
Sabito and Giyuu were nearly the same height. If they stood side by side, the scarves could be tied in the middle, leaving a gap for the wind—and a gap for their flirtatious thoughts.
I had someone deliver the scarves to them, propping my chin up with a mischievous grin. The rest depended on whether that two boys could understand my sincere kindness.
The first time Sabito wore the black scarf, he'd been chasing demons for hours. By the time he got home, sweat had soaked the strands of hair at his forehead.
“Useless,”he muttered, yanking it off and shoving it into a cabinet corner.“Real men don't wear such fussy things. I'm not cold. I don't need it.”
Until that day, returning from a mission. His body, warmed by the fight, was suddenly hit by a cold wind, sending an uncontrollable shiver through him.
Giyuu waited at the bridgehead. The biting wind raged, yet the blue scarf remained immovable around his neck, revealing only a pair of eyes as still as water.
“Your lips are turning purple,”Giyuu remarked calmly, lifting his hand to loosen his own scarf a few turns before wrapping it around Sabito.
The cashmere, still warm from his body, wrapped inch by inch around the fragile neck. Their most vulnerable points were now connected by this thin scarf. A suffocating sweetness suddenly surged in Sabito's heart:So this scarf was meant to be shared by two people; a double scarf wasn't just for warmth, but to exchange breaths openly.
This mingling of breaths felt utterly forbidden. Slow to realize it, both flushed crimson, walking home in silence.
Snowy night, deserted path home. Moonlight sliced the snowy ground into two mirrors.
Sabito halted abruptly. Giyuu was forced to stop too, turning to look at him. Snow clung to his lashes, his gaze like spring streams thawing.
“What is it?”
Sabito, face flushed crimson, gazed into Giyuu’s luminous eyes. Closing his own eyes in resolve, he cupped Giyuu’s face with both hands and leaned in to kiss him.
Giyuu’s lashes fluttered before he closed his eyes and returned the kiss.
Their breath mingled, white mist rising to envelop them in the same cloud.
In the distance, a dry branch snapped softly. Snowflakes drifted down, showering them with a quieter snowfall.
When Sabito released him, Giyuu’s ears were redder than frost-kissed maple leaves.
“Let's go.”Sabito murmured hoarsely, gathering the ends of their scarf once more. He took his Giyuu’s hand in one palm while wrapping his other arm around him—
This time, they stood shoulder to shoulder, their breath mingling. Their loose hair intertwined in the gusts, and nothing could tear them apart.
Snow settled on their shoulders, piling whiter and whiter.
Neither could bear to free a hand to brush it away.
——END——