I Chose the Plain Girl Instead of the Class’s Top Three Beauties, and Somehow She Became the Heroine - 65

Chapter 65: Splitting in Half

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《Hiroko Anno’s POV》

Behind the school building during lunch break, the zelkova tree’s shadow occupied only half of the bench, while the other half pretended it was still in the sunlight.

The fingers of the wind lifted the cuff of my uniform sleeve and gently nudged up the ends of my freshly trimmed hair. A kind of cold I had never known before touched the back of my neck, and I reflexively hunched my shoulders.

The lenses of my glasses absorbed a little of the sky’s whiteness. Sora-kun, sitting beside me, opened the bread package with his usual calm hands.

“Today I brought ginger soup.”

“That smells nice. The wind’s getting pretty cold, so having a nice ginger soup would help in warming the body.”

“Fufu, that’s true.”

“It might start getting tough to eat outside soon.”

Our time together at school, just the two of us. Losing that time because of the cold made me feel lonely. But the fact that Sora-kun drank the soup I made… That made me strangely happy, and I picked up one of the rice balls and let my gaze drift toward the distant sports ground.

Some of the boys had already finished eating and were playing soccer. A delayed chime rustled the fallen leaves, and laughter spilled from a classroom somewhere. The wind suddenly sped up for a moment. Leaves danced as if amused, and the sand at the edge of the bench slid toward us in a soft trickle. Just as I was about to raise the hot soup to my lips…

“…Achoo!”

Even I was surprised at how silly the sound was.

I hurried to hide my mouth with my rabbit handkerchief. My glasses slipped a little, tilting the edge of the world on their own. My cheeks heated in an instant, yet only my fingertips stayed November-cold.

“S-sorry.”

“The wind did that.”

“But it’s… It’s a little embarrassing.”

A thin whistle of wind brushed across my knees that were turned downward. In the next moment, a soft fabric touched my cheek. A texture that had absorbed some of the afternoon light. The scent of detergent mixed with Sora-kun’s smell. Sora-kun’s scarf, a pale gray one, had been wrapped around my neck.

“Here, wear this.”

“Eh? But then you’ll get cold, Sora-kun.”

“It’s fine. I’m trained, you know. I’m used to it.”

“You did win the karate tournament.”

“Yeah, and with karate,we only wear the uniform even in a cold gym during winter. It gets pretty chilly.”

His reasoning sounded proper, but his voice was gentle. Holding both ends of the scarf, I thought for a moment. The idea of only myself getting warm felt uncomfortable.

“…In that case, let’s split it in half.”

The moment I said it, my heart gave a loud thump. I leaned softly toward Sora-kun and placed the middle of the scarf between us. One end went around his neck, the other around mine. A single piece of fabric stretched like a small bridge between us. Not tied, not taken, just shared. That alone felt incredibly special…

The distance between us closed faster than the wind. Our shoulders touched and parted and touched again under the scarf. Each time they brushed, a light sparked at my neck and grew a little bigger. The cause was probably the ginger, but I was certain ginger was not the only cause.

“Now, we’re even.”

“Yeah… You’re right. It’s warmer than before.”

Winter sunlight drew a soft outline around his profile. Through the fibers of the scarf, I felt a bit of his breathing. Our breaths overlapped inside the shared warmth, their whiteness melting into each other. The cold wind still blew. But it no longer felt cold to me.

“The next tournament is at the beginning of December, right?”

“Yeah. The floor will probably be cold. It’s like learning the essence of winter through your feet.”

“I learned winter through a scarf.”

“That scarf is mine, you know.”

“Half of it is mine.”

“…That’s true.”

Our lighthearted words stretched into the sky like thin rising steam. I gently closed the lid of the soup and rested my fingers on top of the scarf. Through the fabric, I could feel his pulse beating a little faster.

“Hiroko-san, your hair… It really suits you.”

The warmth inside the scarf flared even more at his sudden comment.

“Thank you. This is my first time feeling winter on my neck.”

“That’s a good line.”

“It really is cold.”

“Then… Do you want to come a little closer?”

“J-just a little.”

Just a few centimeters. Along the grain of the bench, our shadows leaned toward each other. The tips of the zelkova branches rang in the wind, and someone’s choir practice unraveled in the distance. The world seemed to sync just slightly with the rhythm of our conversation.

“Your sneeze was cute.”

“Please forget that.”

“I won’t.”

“You must.”

Our soft laughter shook the lunch boxes on our knees. I set down my chopsticks and pinched the scarf lightly, pulling it closer. It wasn’t a knot that couldn’t be undone. Just a small, temporary knot to make today a little warmer.

The pre-bell announcing the end of lunch break rang faintly in the distance. It blended with the sound of the wind, like a gentle chime.

“We should go back.”

“Yes. But…”

“Hmm?”

“I… I started to like winter a little.”

“Me too.”

When we stood, the scarf tightened lightly between us and naturally pulled us closer. When we removed it, the November air slid back to my neck. It felt softer than before, maybe because my skin remembered the warmth the fabric had taught it.

“Hold onto this until after school.”

“Eh, but—”

“It’s my thanks for always receiving lunch from you. You can give it back to me on our way home.”

“…Alright. Return spot, the entrance hall.”

“Don’t be late.”

“I won’t.”

We put away our lunches and folded my rabbit handkerchief. One fold, then another. As if tucking inside the creases my sneeze, our laughter, and all the secret seasonings of the moment. When we stepped away from the bench, the fallen leaves whispered a tiny goodbye. The wind was still November, but inside my chest, it felt like a warmer season had quietly returned.

If only we could share the winter like we shared the scarf, I…

I folded that small wish in my heart and slipped it into my uniform pocket. On the landing of the stairs back to the classroom, I glanced back. A single line of light, thin as a pencil stroke, shone on the place we had been sitting. The wind erased it quickly, but the line inside me did not fade.

Instead of saying “It’s cold,” let’s share—half for each of us.

The time I spent with Sora-kun was more precious than anything and it seemed November was the season when I could learn words like that.

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