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Part One
“Hakamichi residence. That’ll be 3,500 yen. Have a nice holiday folks.” The taxi driver says. I pull out my wallet and pay our fare, thanking him for the long drive from the town by Yamaku and wishing him a merry Christmas. Stepping out into the snow, I make my way around to the back of the cab to retreive our suitcases but find that Shizune and Misha have already taken care of it.
I take hold of Shizune’s hand, taking one of the suitcases from her in the process, and give her a warm smile as we make our way to the front gate of her family’s home. Holding the gate open, I allow Misha to pass through with her pink titan of a suitcase, which doubles as a snowplough for those walking behind her.
[Nervous?] Shizune asks, a teasing smile on her face.
[Just a little bit. It’s our first Christmas together, it’s a big thing. And I still don’t know what that surprise you were talking about is.] I reply, stumbling with my signing through the thick gloves I chose to wear.
[Don’t worry about it, you’ll find out very soon.] She reaches up and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, wrapping her arm around me as we follow Misha up the driveway. I'm surprised to see that the house is dressed in full festive attire; multiple large pine trees line the path to the door, each one with different coloured lights draped over it; small colourful bulbs hanging from the underside of the roof; a holiday wreath hanging from the door.
Raising my hand to knock, I look back at the girl hanging onto me. She smiles up at me, urging me to go on. Heaving a sigh, I knock on the hard wooden door. A few seconds pass, then a voice cracks into existence from the small speaker to our left.
“Hakamichi residence. The door is unlocked, come right in.” The voice says, a voice I don’t recognise. I look at Misha, and she is equally confused at the unfamiliar person. Neither of us bother translating for Shizune, so I turn the handle and push the door open. Misha enters first, tossing her heavy coat off and hanging it quickly on a hook in the lobby.
I offer to take Shizune’s coat, but she shakes her head and tells me to go on ahead with Misha. I hang my own coat up, placing my gloves in it’s pockets, and follow Misha into the guest bedroom.
“So this is where I’m sleeping?” I ask, glancing around at the beige walls. A few abstract paintings hang in a staircase layout above the bed, they remind me of Rin’s style, and a large mirror covers one of the walls.
“Yup~! I’ll be sleeping across the hall Hicchan~, so no funny business! Wahahaha~!” She laughs, echoing through the large building as she bounces into her room, presumably to unpack. I decide to leave my suitcase at the foot of the bed and make my way to the living room, where Hideaki and Jigoro are both reading, sporting glittering Santa hats.
“Ugh, still wearing those damn sweatervests? Well, whatever, just as long as you don’t huff glue anymore.”
“I never did. I see you still wear those tropical shirts. The hat is new though, nice touch.” I rebut, drawing an irritated grunt from him and something that sounds like a ‘thank you’. I look at the book he’s reading, though it isn’t much of a surprise that he’s reading his own autobiography. Looks like he made Hideaki read it too.
“Hey Hisao. Merry Christmas,” is all I get from him before he buries himself in his dad’s book again, telling me I should look for conversation elsewhere. I pass through the living room to the dining room and back around to the main lobby, heading upstairs in an attempt to find Shizune. Pushing open what I think is her bedroom door, I see a few posters of boy bands and musclemen on the walls. Not her room.
Stepping back out, I turn around to see Shizune standing in front of me with her hands on her hips and an accusatory look on her face.
[I was looking for you.]
[So why were you in Hideaki’s room? I’m in this one,] she points over her shoulder, into an open door across the hall. [Come help me unpack.] She adds, not giving me a chance to reply before turning on her heel and entering her room. I follow her in, looking around the familiar space with fond memories.
[It’s been a while since we were in here together. Wasn’t there a chair last time?] I tease, causing her to frown and throw a pillow at me.
[That won’t be happening again. Not here anyway. Here, put these on the shelf,] she tosses a few photos at me. Looking through them, they’re mostly of us, but the one that catches my eye is our graduation photo.
[You kept this? I thought you said it made you look childish.]
[It does, but it’s the last photo of us as Yamaku students. We can’t really replace it.]
I think back to our last days at Yamaku and how eventful they were. Fixing things up between Shizune and Misha; passing control of the school down to the new student council; organising the graduation ceremony; attending the ceremony. She’s right, we can’t replace the photograph, there are too many memories behind it.
[So when do I get to see this surprise?] I ask, pulling myself out of my reverie and back to the present, as much as I enjoy re-living past memories.
[Once we finish unpacking.] She signs as she tosses a pile of underwear at me, telling me to put them in the drawer to my left. I sort the mess into three catagories, separating bras from socks and anything frilly, much to Shizune’s disapproval. [Stop playing with them and help, idiot.]
[I wasn’t playing with them, I was sorting them. I thought you liked things neat and orderly.] I tease, making my way to the suitcase.
[Shut up, put the shirts on hangers then go downstairs and check on Misha, I have to get changed.] She says, grabbing a few wire hangers from her closet and tossing them on the bed for me. [And you should probably unpack your own things too.]
[You know me too well.] I chuckle, putting her shirts on the wire frames as she digs through the case. She pulls out a familiar black and white dress, red belt included. [You still have that dress? I thought you threw it out months ago because it felt tight on you.]
Smack. Another pillow.
[I got it refitted. Go help Misha, I’ll be fine from here.] She signs, pointing out of the door and smiling at me. I bend down and give her a kiss on the forehead as I pass, receiving a quick peck on the cheek before I stand up and head back down to the guest bedrooms.
At the bottom of the stairs, I bump into Hideaki, giving him a quick wave as I try to pass. He stops me before I can get away, asking what I was doing upstairs.
“I was helping your sister unpack. Why, what’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. Just curious, I noticed you haven’t unpacked your own things yet and I – ”
“You went through my stuff?”
“No, not this time. I only looked around the room and saw your suitcase wasn’t open.” His voice cracks a lot while he talks, and I can’t help but chuckle a little. I mess up his hair a bit before walking away, heading down the hall to the guest rooms to go help Misha.
“Hey Misha, you decent?” I ask, knocking on the door across from my own.
“Oh, hey Hicchan! Hold on~!” A cacophony of loud noises comes from inside, and just as I’m about to offer help, the door swings open and I’m met with a beaming smile. “Sorry, it’s a little messy in here~! Wahahaha~!”
“Oh, uh, Shizune sent me down to help you unpack, but I’m guessing you already did… Want any help putting everything away?”
“You already unpacked, Hicchan?” She asks, a confused look plastered on her face.
“Well, no, but I’ll have time to do that later. I was thinking we could do something together after dinner, just the three of us. I’ll unpack when I feel I need to, don’t worry.”
“Well, if you say so~! Come on in! Wahahaha~!” She laughs, stepping to the side and inviting me in. Climbing over a pile of clothes much too large for our short stay, I turn back to Misha.
“You brought this much? We’re only staying until the end of the month, you know. It looks like you brought everything you own with you.” I tease, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true. Misha laughs again, falling backwards onto the bed and sitting up.
“I didn’t want to leave anything important~ behind, so I brought most of my clothes!” She protests, trying to justify her incredibly flawed logic.
“Including this?” I ask, holding up a bikini with a raised eyebrow. “When are we going to the beach?”
Thump. Pillows love me today. I pick it up, tossing it back to Misha. She decides against throwing it at me again and instead opts for hugging it while she talks.
“It’s for the hot tub~! Stop being a pervert Hicchan! Wahahaha~!”
“I’m not being a pervert! I just didn’t expect you to pack so much. Look, there’s even a pair of sandals here – ”
“Those are for wearing around the house~!” She interrupts. There’s no point trying to argue, she’ll come up with a reason for every ridiculous item of clothing she brought.
“Fine, but know that I won’t be helping you re-pack everything when we have to leave. You’ve got to learn not to do things like this somehow.” I concede, receiving a stuck out tongue in reply. “So, you gonna help put all this away?”
“Aww~, I have to help? Wahahaha~! Okay Hicchan!” Misha laughs, hopping off of the bed and diving into the mountain of clothes, sending undergarments and shirts flying in every direction. I stay away from her ‘delicates’ and start hanging her shirts in the mirrored closet.
A startled yelp from behind me causes me to turn around, catching sight of Misha hiding something behind her back and blushing furiously.
“What is it this time, a Mrs Claus outfit or something?” I ask, causing her to shake her head quickly, pursing her lips as an internal debate as to whether or not she should show me rages on. Eventually she caves, pulling a book from behind her and tossing it over to me. The cover is in English, so I can’t understand it. The number ‘50’ stands out as part of the title, slapped onto a grayscale picture of some kind of mask. I don’t understand why she’s embarrassed, but I don’t bother prying any further and toss the book back.
“You aren’t laughing?” She squeaks, her voice much higher than usual. It’s rare that I see her embarrassed like this, she doesn’t have much shame in public.
“No, I don’t know what the big deal is. I can’t read English, remember? Whatever that book is, your secret is safe with me. Just don’t yelp if you find anything else you don’t want to show me.” I chuckle, drawing another pillow attack from her, but I manage to dodge it this time.
“Get back to work Hicchan~!” Misha huffs, hiding the book in her night-stand and returning to the, considerably smaller, pile of clothes. I start grabbing more shirts from the pile and hanging them up, quickly learning that she won’t have enough hangers for all of them.
We stay in relative silence for a few minutes, sorting the pile of clothes into different categories and places, when a knock on the door pulls us out of our peaceful state. Misha leaps up, almost falling over her suitcase as she rushes to the door. The silence after she opens tells me that Shizune is here, unless Hideaki or Jigoro have decided to be silent.
“Tell her I said hi, I’m a little busy here!” I shout out to Misha, struggling with a very flimsy shirt that got caught on one of the wire frames.
“She says hi too Hicchan~! Don’t rip that shirt, it’s one of my favourites!” She pokes her head around the corner, glaring at me when she sees me wrestling with it. I give her a thumbs up as she retreats back to the doorway. Favourite shirt? I’ve never seen her wear it before, but her word goes against mine.
Finally managing to release the shirt from the hanger’s grip, I hang it up and reach for the pile of shirts I had, only to find it empty. I look to the heap in the middle of the floor, which has now been reduced to underwear and shoes, when Misha comes back in.
“Dinner’s ready Hicchan~!”
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Part Two
Feedback is welcome, as always. Merry Christmas!
