Author's Note:
Some of you may know this Drabble already. It was originally intended for a Drabble Collection around Christmas that I sadly had to cancel because I did not manage to write a story for each and every day.
However this Drabble was quite popular on tumblr and it's not very "Chrismtas-ey"; so I decided to post it as a short, sweet Winter Drabble for the TakuMegu fandom.
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Soma, nor it's beautiful cast.
06:17 pm
2 minutes late
A shrill tone reverberated through the hallway as Takumi stumbled out of the room and his shoe soles roamed the floor. The call of his name behind him fell on deaf ears. His feet seemingly moved on their own and there was no time to stop and to properly put the jacket on. This had to be done while running.
06:18 pm
3 minutes late
Luckily the hallways were empty or else the half Italian probably would have run over someone in his hurry.
06:21 pm
6 minutes late
How could this happen? How was that possible? Why did that one boy have to distract him for so long?
06:25 pm
9 minutes late
It was freezing outside and he let Tadokoro wait. Poor girl standing all alone in the snow waiting at the agreed meeting point.
06:28 pm
12 minutes late
Arching pain started to raise in Takumi's feet that were on constant high speed. Adding to that, his lungs were on fire.
He didn't care.
He was already late enough.
06:30 pm
15 minutes late
Cold winds blew into Takumi's face as he stormed into the white outside. The icy stings that pierced through his skin didn't stopped his ever running feet though either and he kept his focus forward.
06:31 pm
16 minutes late
Finally his eyes found the shadowy, petite figure that he searched for emerge at the snowy horizon. This alone filled his feet with new speed. The figure became clearer and clearer with every rush and soon Megumi Tadokoro flinched a little as she saw her blonde classmate arrive next to her out of the sudden. His face glowed red in the white environment and heavy clouds formed around him as he breathed.
"Good...Day...Tadokoro...Sorry...Sorry...For...Being...Late."
06:33 pm
18 minutes late
"I...It's okay..." Megumi stammered while inspecting the exhausted Half-Italian worriedly. "I don't mind the snow."
A light laughter escaped Takumi's lips and his blue eyes filled with this familiar warmth. "Should have known. You're a girl from the north after all..." His smile faded. "...but keeping you waiting for 18 minutes is still something I have to excuse."
Megumi quickly shook her head, with such a fierce that her carefully, braided, blue locks flew around her head. "I assure you it's alright."
She stopped her headshake and let her golden eyes trail over him. Brown shoes and blue pants that were a sign for him wearing the standard Totsuki uniform. But it was covered by the long, warm, black coat.
Her gaze wandered further.
As it had reached his neck it stopped abruptly though and Megumi Tadokoro called out. "Takumi-Kun! Y...Y...You're not wearing any scarf!"
Takumi's blue eyes grew in surprise about the strange observation. He followed her gaze and saw that she was right.
His neck was bare and uncovered, exposing itself to the dangerous cold around him.
"A...Aren't you freezing?" Megumi wailed, focus attached to the bit of naked skin. "You'll catch a cold!"
"Merda." Takumi said under gritted teeth. Megumi looked up with innocent, yellow eyes that did lot knew any Italian swear words. Takumi's expression lit up immediately again and he laughed. "I was in such a hurry, I forgot it in my classroom. Clumsy, clumsy."
Megumi's face still showed worry. "You'll catch a cold..."
Takumi gave her a warm smile. "I appreciate your concern, Tadokoro. But I think, I'll be fine. We should get moving now. There is no time walking back to the classroom now."
Lips still pressed together, Megumi gave a slow, unsure nod.
Next time they met, Takumi was on time. If the definition for "on time" meant 30 minutes earlier.
He had spent his time on his mobile phone while patiently waiting for her in the cold, this time with a new-bought scarf.
His head immediately went up as the clock on his phone changed from 06:14 to 06:15 pm. Eagerly he looked around.
No Megumi right. No Megumi left.
Takumi tilted his head in wonder. But there was no right for him to complain, so he just decided to continue waiting.
And time went by.
One minute became two minutes. Two minutes became three minutes. Three minutes became four minutes. And four minutes ultimately became twelve minutes.
At the 13-minute mark Takumi finally heard that familiar, warm voice that reminded one of an angel.
The Angel was out of breath. "T...Takumi-Kun...Sorry..."
Megumi stood in front of him, her soft cheeks had the colour of strawberries and she was gasping for air like just having returned from a diving session. "Sorry..." She repeated but let out a weak, shaky laughter afterwards. "...Now our too-late count is even though..."
Takumi laughed as well. "True." He stood up to assist her calming down.
Megumi didn't even minded her heavy breathing and was already digging through her bag. "I..I've got you something..." She informed Takumi with a much more steadily voice.
Takumi only watched her in anticipation and confusion, as her blue head sunk more and more to truly inspect the bag.
"Ah, there it is!" She finally called out and turned to Takumi with golden eyes glowing in excitement.
Takumi watched her pale, small hand pulling a bundle of white fabric out of the yellow backpack.
The white fabric turned out to be long and decorated with orange frays at both ends. Just by looking at it only Takumi could tell that this long, white band must feel very comfortable.
A scarf.
A handmade scarf was what laid there in Megumi's hands.
Takumi's eyes widened. "Ta...Tadokoro..." He didn't knew where to begin and a thousands of possible sentences to say emerged in his head.
Luckily Megumi took over for him. "Ju...Just in case, since I thought you need a new one to get through winter...but, but..." She eyed his checkered, red scarf and suddenly she was the one to struggle for words.
Takumi's reaction followed immediately. Fiercely he grabbed the new-bought scarf and ripped it from neck, making Megumi flinch once again.
He took the white one out of her hands. "Really...I am...uhm...not the best sewer either...!" Megumi hastily proclaimed.
Takumi let his fingers trail over the warm, white wool. It was soothingly soft and even though there were a few minor mistakes, the bare eye could tell that it was knitted very carefully, even without knowing Megumi.
Megumi nervously played with her fingers while feeling the blood rushing into her cheeks as Takumi turned the scarf around.
Once again, Takumi's eyes widened in amazement.
On the right edge of the scarf you could see curved letters. Two orange letters, a little crooked to be fair but defiantly readable.
T. A.
"Grande!" Takumi marvelled in his native language. Megumi's eyes were attached to the ground. "...Again, I thought you might not have one with you..." She practically mumbled into her yellow scarf.
"It's perfect."
As Megumi looked up again, she already saw the blonde Italian wearing her handmade work around his neck, smiling brightly.
"It's perfect, Tadokoro." He repeated himself. "Don't talk it down. I am astonished you put in so much work for me and very grateful. Thank you very much."
He touched it carefully, as if it was possible for a scarf to break like glass.
"I will certainly never loose this scarf."
Thanks for reading !