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It’s winter. Snow is coming down everywhere and the fountain in front of the school is completely frozen over. Instead of being inside like any sane person, though, you’re out here with someone, chatting and try to ignore the cold.
If it were anyone else, you seriously doubt that you could be coaxed to come outside. But, when Mahiru came by with her bright smile and the unrivalled stubbornness, you couldn’t really tell her ‘no.’ As such, the two of you ended up sitting around the frozen fountain, laughing like it were just any day – discussing school assignments and how pretty the snow is, Mahiru occasionally stopping the conversation short to get some special shot. But you can swear that the mood would do a sudden whiplash as Mahiru turned the camera towards you – and noticed your hands. Her face contorted into a frown. You could already feel the lectures coming…
“Hajime, you have gloves, don’t you? It’s below freezing out here! Why aren’t you wearing them?!” She instantly took on the motherly tone you had gotten used to in all of the time you had spent hanging out with her, and you respond, with a sheepish grin and an overall embarrassed expression:
“Yeah, I do, but I forgot them in my dorm. I’m sorry.” You see her ‘angry mom’ expression and brace yourself for the coming storm…
“Ugh! I was right to call you the ‘Unreliable Hajime!’ What if you get hypothermia or something? Then you’ll be out of school for, like, a week! You’ll be so far behind that it won’t be possible to catch up!” She instantly goes off, and you look down at your feet in a mixture of shame and embarrassment. She continues her rant for a minute or two before she gradually begins to slow down, until eventually, she isn’t saying anything. You look up at her and see a look of guilt on her face – one that quickly reflects on your own as you realize what you did.
“You don’t have to look so annoyed … I-I’m sorry…” Mahiru begins with a downcast expression on her face, and you give her one of the best smiles you can. “Don’t be sorry. It’s really nice to know that you’re that worried about me.” You respond, and you could swear that you see Mahiru’s face get redder.
The two of you sit in mute silence for a little bit, watching the sun set around you. As it does, though, it gets noticeably colder. You shove your hands into your pockets, desperate to warm them up – Maybe I’ll listen to Mahiru next time after all – and exhale, looking at your breath becoming visible in the cold. It was getting really cold.
It doesn’t take long for Mahiru to notice your struggles to stay warm and when she does, she looks away for a moment, as though debating with herself before, suddenly, you a feel a sudden warmth against your cold hands, before you recognize Mahiru’s hand grabbing onto your own and her arm across you and her entire body leans onto you. Your face turns a shade of pink as you look down at your side and see Mahiru wrapping her arms around you in a hug, almost like she was trying to cuddle you.
For a few moments, you’re not sure what to say. Random moments of affection like this from Mahiru were actually pretty rare. But you quickly hear Mahiru stammering out something from beside you, where her face was buried into you. “D-Don’t think that this means anything. I’m just trying to keep you warm.” She stutters, and you find yourself smiling at her denial as you wrap your arm around her and pull her in closer. She stops voicing how this just to keep you warm as you do, and you both fall silent, just enjoying being in each other’s arms.
Until it’s time to head back into the buildings, anyway. She nags you a little bit more about remembering your gloves next time, but you can tell her heart isn’t really in it. She seems way too happy, even throwing herself around you in another hug before running back off to her dorms for the night.
If it always ends up it little cuddling sessions like that, you figure you should forget your gloves more often.