“So that girl of yours is real depressed, huh?” Said the manager after hearing out a bit of Hakuta’s story. “A shame to hear about her being all alone all the time, especially during Christmas.”

“But what am I supposed to do?” He asked, hoping to get some timely help. “I already had my gift lined up, but now I’m not sure if it’ll be enough.”

“The fact that you were braving that harsh cold just to be able to buy something for her, even though you already know someone else is gunning for you. I think you already have enough for her.” Was the answer he got, which didn’t seem useful at all.

“What? No it isn’t.” He replied. “I wish it were, but some dumb ring isn’t going to make some girl happy just because of how hard I worked for it.”

“I’m not talking about the ring.” He clarified. “You said she was important to you. Even if you won’t go out and admit what everyone else sees. I know there has to be a reason why she’s important.

“Shiuka…” Hakuta paused as he gave it thought. “Well, she did kind of change my life.” While he was forced into the situation with her, it was all her friends that gave him the craziest last six months of his life. All that was because of her.

And not only that, but because of her he also wanted to stay in that home. She went from someone he despised as a gyaru to someone he deeply cared about and wanted to be with for a long time. “She’s such a bright and cheerful girl and someone like me is so gloomy. You’d almost never expect we’d be friends.”

“When you say she changed your life, I get the feeling there’s more people in it now.” The manager beckoned him to continue this train of thought. He had seen this before with others during his time as a convenience store manager running the night shift. Eventually he too will come to see it in his life.

“I used to be all alone, thinking I preferred being a loner. But now I’m surrounded by a lot of people.” Hakuta thought about everyone. His friends, who had always been there, along with girls such as Ninka, Iruka, Ino, even Rouko. “Even though I complain a lot, I’m real glad they put up with a grump like me.”

Thinking all this then made him frown and tear up a bit. He wished it was from joy of their memories, but it only served to highlight Shiuka’s own poor situation. “She really loves everyone, but when it matters the most, she’s all alone…” While he had already had an idea of what had caused her wintertime blues. Only now did fully understand the weight of it all on her.

“Now you’ve figured it out.” Said the manager, smiling from the satisfaction of guiding his underling. “So with the true problem in hand, you can find the true solution. And don’t worry about that because I got an idea. I only hope you’re as right about your friends as you think you are.”

***

Finally the fated morning had arrived. The day was quiet as Shiuka found herself opening her eyes with the window shade cracked open just enough to allow light inside. She yawned as she peeked through to see a world covered completely by a blanket of white snow. Untouched by nature or man.

It was clean like a newborn, but her body felt the complete opposite. Her eyes had bags and they were tired from all her tears. She had spent the past couple of days during the weekend leading to Christmas sulking about. The only times she left her room were to use the bathroom or grab something to eat.

She did this to try her best to avoid Hakuta, but it seemed he was always around to try and strike up a conversation. The girl maintained pleasantries, but never delved deeper. Instead she just bided her time and hoped to last through the rest of the holiday so she could put this disaster behind her.

While she was awake, she heard another door closing. It obviously was Hakuta, as he was the only person here on this day. Just another year for her to spend Christmas without her father.

Unable to resist the temptation, she cracked her door open a tiny bit and spied with her eye him walking down the stairs. The boy seemed to look around as if worried about her being around to see him, but assumed she was still sleeping at this time.

Hakuta was dressed up with a coat and pants, a sign of him being prepared to survive the harsh cold outside. To no surprise, he stepped outside the front door and left.

It seemed that he had actually taken her advice after all. He likely was going out to see Ninka as she told him. Though despite being the one to suggest he do so, Shiuka had hoped deep inside he wouldn’t.

A part of her wanted him to find a way, like he always did to make her feel better. It was a strange feeling, but it was nice to have someone who could be relied on. Yet here he was, leaving her all alone on Christmas. Just like she asked.

Shiuka closed the door gently, sat with her back to it as she slid into her knees. This was what someone as miserable as her deserved. Today was just a terrible day for her every year. Her father always being gone, all her friends being too busy to be with her. It all began when her mother had passed away shortly before the holiday arrived when she was much younger.

Thinking of this, She recalled moment early on when Hakuta first moved in. When they had confided in each other about the impact of their moms’ deaths. It was the first time they finally had understood a part of each other deep inside. One would say it was the first time they began walking the path to become friends.

“If you know…” She murmured to herself. Shiuka began to tear up as she tightly grasped her legs and pulled herself into a fetal position. “Why? You know how I feel, so how come you left me?” The girl lamented the situation. He truly had betrayed her if he did exactly what she thought he did. “What happened to doing it together? I thought we’d always stick together.”

It was all too much for a young girl like herself. Shiuka burst into tears as she sobbed to herself, knowing that not only was this Christmas awful like all the others. But that she might’ve pushed the closest friend she ever had away. No, more than just the closest friend. The one boy in the entire world she could say she was in love with.

All this time she had been holding it in, but now when she finally admitted it. The chance of having those feelings realized was already over. He was better off with Ninka, not some loser such as herself.

After she finished her short crying session, Shiuka heard the front door once again. It was very quiet, very hard to notice were the rest of the house not so silent. It sounded like someone closing the door in an attempt to not have anyone else hear.

She felt her nerves getting fried. It was already bad enough to be in such a depressed state, but an intruder would be the worst thing today. Especially one Christmas of all days.

Shiuka peered outside her door once again. She didn’t see Hakuta, whom she hoped this was just a case of him forgetting something important before he left for the day. She knew she’d see him since that boy would have to go to his room, therefore entering her sight.

Carefully, she grabbed her trusty baseball bat and slowly inched out into the hallway. She didn’t see anything or anyone and despite it being daylight, the lights being out meant she couldn’t see much downstairs.

But there sounded to be movements, which meant she wasn’t alone. Shiuka took a deep breath, knowing she’d have to walk downstairs to encounter the unknown. The girl steeled her nerves and walked down carefully, keeping an eye out for any person wishing to do her harm.

Carefully, she hit the bottom, which was unfortunately dark and made things difficult to see. Finally, Shiuka one more deep breath and rushed to turning on the lights. She flipped the switch and tightly gripped her bat, ready to swing.

“Surprise!” However, what she got wasn’t some evil intruder wishing to steal or do her harm. Instead when the lights were turned on, she was greeted with all her friends and their families as they yelled out the magical words as if this was her birthday party.

The living room she could’ve sworn had been plain and empty as if there was no holiday was decked out in all the Christmas decorations. There were stockings, wreaths, and even a tree with all the ornaments and lights placed.

“Wh-what?” She spoke, unsure if the situation she was in was just a dream or not.

“Merry Christmas.” Hakuta spoke, standing before her wearing his santa costume from work. “This is all for you.”