📚Short Story📚 "Clumsy Stitches and Unhideable Warmth"

Hello!! This is Momiji Hiiragi.💖

Lately, it's been getting cold suddenly, then warm again, and it feels like I'm going to get sick.😨😨😨
It's cold, so let's make sure to stay warm.💕

I wonder if the flu has started to subside,

lately, the number of people wearing masks has become sparse.

It feels like crisis management has dropped a bit,

which makes me worried.🥲🥲🥲

That's just my own opinion.😌🥲😌

Setting that aside, don't you think winter scarves are versatile?

Not only do they warm your neck,
if you cover your mouth with them, they act as a mask,
they have a moisturizing effect,
and on top of that, you can hide your face even without makeup... (lol).🤔☺️🤔

From such winter-specific scenery, I have spun a story.💕❤️💕

A man who seems indifferent to love in his daily life,

but actually harbors love hidden deep in his heart.

The "hand-knitted scarf" his wife made
held a meaning far greater than just a piece of winter clothing.

It is a quick read, so
please prepare a warm drink and enjoy.

💖Momiji Hiiragi💖

"Hey, how long are you going to keep knitting? The room is covered in yarn scraps."

Kenzo, sitting deep in the living room sofa,
spoke with a sharp tongue without even looking up from his newspaper.

A Sunday afternoon with the scent of coffee drifting from the kitchen.

My wife, Yoshiko, slides her reading glasses down and chuckles.

Oh, I'm sorry. But they say this winter is going to be cold.
You have a weak throat, don't you?

I don't catch colds. It's a waste of effort.

Kenzo has always been this way. I don't even remember him saying 'I love you,' let alone 'thank you.'

In thirty years of marriage, no matter what Yoshiko did, he would either just silently accept it or, like today, give a blunt reply.

A few days later, Yoshiko finished knitting a charcoal gray scarf.

The stitches were by no means as uniform as something you'd buy in a store.

Here and there, the stitches were tight, or loose.

Here, it's done. Wear it for your commute.

...Isn't this a bit flashy?

Gray isn't flashy. Just wear it starting tomorrow, okay?

Kenzo snorted, took the scarf roughly, and

tossed it into his room. Yoshiko looked a little sad, but

she didn't say anything more.

The next morning, a biting north wind was blowing.

Kenzo's neck was bare as he put on his shoes at the entrance.

Yoshiko swallowed a sigh and called out to his back, 'Have a safe day.'

"……It's cold."

Kenzo, hand on the doorknob, muttered as if to himself.

Then, from his bag, he pulled out that fluffy gray scarf.

"Huh?"

Before Yoshiko could even be surprised,

Kenzo wrapped the scarf around his neck with clumsy movements.

He then pulled it up firmly, covering everything from his mouth to his nose.

As if to hide his face.

"W-what is that? That's a weird way to wear it." As Yoshiko laughed,
a muffled voice came from deep within the scarf.

"……Shut up. It's to prevent dryness. I can't afford to catch a cold."

She could see that his ears were turning red.

With more than half his face buried in the scarf his wife had knitted for him,
Kenzo continued in a low voice.

"Besides, this…… I feel like it's warmer than cashmere."

"Huh?"

"I'm off."

Kenzo opened the door as if to escape and leaped out into the cold sky.

......

[Afterword]

Thank you for reading until the end.

The gesture of pulling a scarf up to one's mouth under the cold winter sky.

At first, it was meant to be just for "protection against the cold," a substitute for a "mask" to prevent infection,

or perhaps a "wall" to hide one's shyness.

Before one knows it, it turns into a "towel" that catches overflowing tears.

—

I wrote this story because I wanted to depict that kind of clumsy form of love that cannot be put into words.

I wrote this story.

Perhaps it was only the warmth of the uneven stitches, not found in ready-made products, that could melt the heart of a stubborn man.

I hope you all stay warm in both body and spirit as you spend this winter.

💖This was Hiiragi Momiji💖

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