Hakuta prepared himself to head outside during the harsh cold winter. Normally he’d never consider doing this, but he had collected all the money he had for Shiuka’s gift. So it was time to rush over to the store as quickly as he could so no one else could snatch up the ring he hoped to purchase before he arrived.

Just as he was about to open the door to leave. It opened on its own, causing him to nearly fall forward as he had his grip on the knob. Of course it didn’t just magically open on its own, but rather it was Shiuka coming back home herself.

“Oh, hey.” He greeted her normally at first. “I was just heading out to pick something up…” His words trailed off towards the end when it appeared to him that she had been crying. “Whoa, what happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She talked back to him without much of an effort in hiding her emotion. “Don’t worry about me.” Her words only served to make him so.

“Well, I know you’re not one to look forward to Christmas.” He brought a hint of what was to come. “But since we’re doing it together, I figured it’ll be fun this year around.”

“You shouldn’t do that.” She told him, which caused him to give a look of bewilderment to her. “I can be alone this year.”

“Seems a little random.” He responded. “Why?”

“Because, you’re better off not worrying about someone like me.” She explained in cryptic manner. “I’m used to it, so don’t go around wasting your time. You’re better off being with Ninka or something.” With that, Shiuka walked past him quickly to run up the stairs and lock herself in her room.

“What’s up with her?” He couldn’t tell what had gotten her so emotional. While everyone had already told him about her poor feelings about the holiday. It seemed something happened to make her this way.

He would soon find out when he received a message from Ninka telling him to meet her at a nearby park. According to her, it was urgent. He looked at the clock and worried if he’d be able to make it to the store in time. However she would quickly send a follow up with a bunch of emojis signaling her desperation, which meant it truly was a serious manner.

Hakuta told her he’d be there and made his way to the park quickly. She had already been there waiting for him impatiently. So when he entered her field of view, she rushed the boy and told him that Shiuka was upset.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty bad.” He had to pretend he didn’t already see that or else she might get suspicious on how he saw the girl already when she made it evident she was heading home. “Why? What did you do?”

“I wasn’t trying to do anything special.” She started off, withholding the information about him. “It’s just about Christmas. I already knew she was upset, but I said something that I didn’t realize would be so touchy for her.” Ninka turned her head down in shame.

“And what would that be about?” He asked, prodding her for more information to help him in attempting to resolve this issue.

“It’s actually about you…” She gingerly answered. “You know, I was just trying to figure out what would be a great gift for you.”

“You could’ve just gotten me-”

“Yeah yeah, a video game, I got that.” She had gotten tired of everyone giving her the same advice. There was no way someone could be that one dimensional, yet he was the one asking for the same exact thing. “But I wanted it to be special, but I guess you’re actually really special to her.”

“I am?” He never imagined himself to be a person of great interest for Shiuka. All this time he only viewed them as housemates. Housemates who shared an admittedly close bond to one another.

“The way she put it, made it sound like I was taking you away. But, I don’t understand why she would care about you being with me on Christmas. It’s not like that’s something that would affect her, right?”

“…” Hakuta found himself at a crossroads. He had an idea why she got so upset from the potential news, even if he had no intentions whatsoever of spending time with Ninka on Christmas. He had plans and none of them included her.

But there was no way Ninka knew why Shiuka would care. If he kept up the facade, what lie would make sense for a moment like this? Or rather, in spirit of the times, perhaps a lie wasn’t the right thing to do at all for someone who clearly looked worried for her best friend. “Ninka, there’s something real important I got to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“The truth is…” He hesitated, knowing that once he put this into words. There would be no turning back for anyone. “Me and Shiuka, we’re housemates.”

“What?” She shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean? Like, you live together?” He gave her a full, but brief explanation on how and why this came out to be. Following this he also gave his thoughts on why this was the reason for her getting so angry.

As he talked about it, knowing this now allowed Hakuta to understand why she was the way she was earlier. Because despite being upset about the situation, she still cared a lot for Ninka and only wanted the best for her friend.

“So, that’s just how things have gone for us.” He finished, which gave her the full picture in understanding how Shiuka also came to fall for him.

“Say, what do you think about her?” She asked, now wondering his position. “Do you… Like Shiuka?”

“People keep telling me this.” He responded with all his frustration on the matter lately. “I don’t know what they see in me that makes them think that. I just want Shiuka to be happy because she’s an important person to me. I don’t see how that’s love at all.”

“Heh, so that’s how it is.” Ninka laughed with a defeated smile. She knew how the cards had been dealt to her and now it was time to fold. “You know, you need to think about girls sooner or later.” She advised him. “We can’t wait forever.”

“I just told you that I’m not in love with Shiuka.” He spoke again with conviction. Hakuta looked at the time and realized he was running out. “I still need to pick up her gift, so I’m sorry but I can’t keep talking to you right now.” Despite all the setbacks, he was still confident that things could be turned around with the girl. Time was just too precious for them to lose out on such a joyous occasion together.

“I hope it’s a good gift.” Ninka commented as he ran off. “And I think you’ll need more than a pretty present to make her happy again.” While she might not have had any ideas to fix things. She was more than confident in his ability to save the day. Hakuta always did for them as she felt light tears falling down her cheeks. He would be able to save Shiuka’s day and she was more than willing to let that happen.

As he made his way to the jewelry store, Ninka’s words continued to run through his mind. For whatever reason, she wondered about where his heart was and it had nothing to do with her. In fact, she didn’t even sound jealous at all. As if she had already prepared herself for what she viewed as an inevitability.

Lately everyone had been telling him similar things to what she did. But they were just taking guesses about the situation based on how he acted. While she was someone much more in his personal life to have gotten a clue.

Maybe Ninka was right, a nice looking gift wouldn’t be enough to solve the problem. Hakuta wished he could do more, but he was at a loss for what someone as meaningless as himself could do to help Shiuka. A young boy like him just didn’t feel himself right as the one who could help her as he slowed his walk during his journey to the store. If this path he currently took was useless, what would be good?

“Ah, it’s you again.” He heard a voice speak. He turned his head to see his former manager heading to work at the convenience store. “Looks like you’re off to spend that hard earned money on a nice gift for hopefully a lovely gal.”

“Sir.” Hakuta couldn’t resist the opportunity. To run into his former boss at a time like this had to be a Christmas miracle. One that could not be wasted for a second. “I need your help.”