TLPSO 33

Chapter – 33

The December Wind and Our First Promise…

December arrived, and the town began to sparkle as if someone had cast a spell over it. Christmas trees filled the shop windows, and every breath I exhaled turned white and melted into the sky.
And just like the coming of winter, my relationship with Rei-kun had grown even calmer, even warmer.

Meeting at the school gate in the morning had become our natural routine.

“Here, Hina.”

“Ah—so warm…!”

He gently placed a warm milk tea from the vending machine into my cold hands. That small kindness seeped into my heart and warmed me from within.

During lunch break, the two of us would go up to the roof and open our treasure—our “Future Plans” notebook.

To Rei-kun. I heard the library at the university in California is huge!
To Hina. This article is interesting. Is this the kind of thing you want to write?

We exchanged messages written on sticky notes, sharing little fragments of our dreams one by one. I loved that time more than anything.

That afternoon, after school.
Walking home with Rei-kun after his basketball practice, side by side.
The row of trees near the station was decorated with countless tiny lights, forming what looked like a tunnel of shimmering glow.

“Wow… it’s beautiful.”

When I stopped in awe and gazed upward, he too looked up at the soft lights beside me.

“…It’s that season already.”

“Yeah. Christmas is coming.”

I gathered a bit of courage and looked up at his face.

“…Hey, Rei-kun. Are you free on Christmas Eve?”

My voice trembled just a little.
He didn’t look surprised at all. Instead, he just smiled—so gently.

“…I was going to ask you the same thing.”

That alone was enough.
Our hearts were always in the same place.

Beneath the shimmering lights, we made our first promise as a couple—for our first Christmas together.

“…Hey, Hina.”

“Hm?”

“Is there… anything you want for a present?”

He looked a little embarrassed as he asked.
I thought for a moment, then pointed my finger upward with conviction.

“Actually, I’m going to knit you a scarf!”

“…Huh?”

“So for my present, you have to wear that scarf on our Christmas Eve date, okay?”

He blinked in surprise at my sudden declaration, then suddenly burst out laughing, as if he just couldn’t help it.
After laughing for a while, he looked at me with eyes filled with something unbearably tender.

“…Alright. I’ll look forward to it.”

That night, I was in my room, struggling with two knitting needles I had never touched before.
The yarn was a deep, deep shade—like the night sky—something I knew would look good on him.
I tried following the shop clerk’s instructions, but the yarn only got tangled and refused to take shape.

(…Will I really make it in time?)

For a moment, doubt crept in.
But when I remembered the happy expression on his face earlier, strength welled back up inside me.

My story, which had begun with quietly observing him from afar, had somehow transformed into something warm and certain—
a story of cheering for his future, and of knitting him a scarf with my clumsy hands.

This year’s Christmas would surely be the most wonderful one yet.
With that happy feeling, my heart overflowed.