Thursday: Autumn Wind

I walked behind her as we left school. She was wearing a light blue scarf and it was whipping backwards in the wind. I had never seen the scarf before. Maybe it was a gift from Kanji. I didn't want to think about it.

I wished I brought a scarf myself. It was getting late into fall and the air was chilly. I was half-tempted to walk over to her and ask if we could share the scarf, but I didn't. That would have been embarrassing. After all, she was a third year and I was only a first year. I had trouble approaching her normally.

I watched her back as we continue their walk. I knew that she wouldn't mind if we walked side-by-side. She would probably ask about her 'big bro' again and what he was like as a daycare worker and I would tell her again about how I was happy that he got me and his step-mother to start living like a family. I didn't though.

After a few more minutes of leaves crunching and trying not to shiver from the cold, Nanako stopped. I stopped myself and waited to see if she would talk to me. Her scarf was so pretty and it fit her. Yes it was most likely a gift from Kanji. A wave of jealousy came, but I pushed it away. He was too old for her-right?

"Yuuta-kun."

She said it so softly that I wasn't sure that she had spoken at all. But she was looking back at me.

"Yes Nanako-chan?"

"Are you okay? You seem to be cold."

I blinked. I was cold. The wind was not letting up at all. I usually didn't mind, but winter was coming after all.

"I-I'll be fine. You don't need to worry."

Nanako smiled at me and I tried to hid a blush. She didn't know I liked her or at least I didn't think she knew.  "Of course I do. You're my friend Yuu-kun," she said, smiling again, using her old nickname for me.

"Well I guess I am a little cold," I admitted. "But I'm almost home."

She shook her head, her long brown hair moving with it. She was so pretty it wasn't hard to see why she got so many offers for dates. She didn't accept a lot of them. As I was admiring her, I didn't notice she took off her scarf until she was starting to place it around my neck.

"Wha-"

Nanako smiled at me. "You can borrow it. You look like you need it more."

I started to take it off, my stubbornness coming through, but Nanako stopped me.

"Really, just take it. You can return it to me later. Besides it looks cute on you."

I stopped trying to remove it and looked away, blushing like mad. "Th-thank you Nanako-chan."

"No problem Yuuta-kun. I'll see you tomorrow." Nanako leaned in and kissed my now warm cheek and then ran off. I only stared in shock, touching the light blue scarf now around my neck.

"Yeah, tomorrow Nana-chan."