Facade

Christmas Spirit

Finally Christmas came. It was supposed to be a holiday of Christmas and cheer, but that wasn't the case in the Akiyama house.

Everyone was nervous, Hui especially.

"No! Put that pink ornament higher on the tree!" Yui yelled at Saito.

"Why don't you put it on then?" Saito asked in annoyance because he was putting one ornament for fifteen minutes because of Yui's constant complaints.

"I'm too short." She crossed her arms.

Saito grunted and continued doing his decoration job. Though something happened.

Satoko slammed the door opened. This startled Yui and she pushed Saito. He fell on the tree and all the ornaments broke. Satoko only stared at the panicked Saito.

"It's your fault for barging in like that!" Saito yelled before she could blame him.

"It's actually my fault because I fell on you." Yui said calmly.

"It's actually you who fell on the tree." Satoko pointed at it.

"So its your fault." She concluded and crossed her arms.

"No, its not!" Saito argued back.
"You're even talking back to me. Give me all your video games. Now." Satoko ordered strictly.

"But its Christmas!" Saito whined.

"I don't care." Satoko said one of her most said sentences and waited stubbornly.

Saito however had enough. Yui sat down on the couch and looked on the floor. This is going to end badly.

"No!" Saito protested.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no!" He rebelled.

"I'll throw you out of this house, Saito!" She threatened.

"Good idea! I'm obviously not wanted anyway!" Saito screamed as he opened the door.

Satoko looked surprised and she looked like she was going to stop him. But before she could stop him, she stopped herself.

"That's what I thought." Saito ran outside and slammed the door shut.

As he walked away from the house he could hear Satokos and Yuis arguing voices.

It was cold and freezing. He didn't have a jacket on and he felt like he was going to turn into a snowman anytime. He didn't even know what he was going to do after he ran out.

Saito started thinking. He just wanted to get away from Christmas. What if he went to someone who doesn't celebrate?

Than something popped inside his head.

Hitomi.

He nodded in agreement with himself and decided to walk there. He was still too paranoid to run, in a fear that someone will catch him. This brought the suspicion of the P.E teacher soon though. Why is his fastest students suddenly one of the slowest?

Her house wasn't, unlike all her other neighbourhood, decorated. It was plain and you wouldn't even guess it was Christmas. He pounded on the door. Hitomi opened it. Her hair was messy and she was in her pajamas. She looked confused.

"Hi." He said awkwardly.

Hitomi rolled her eyes.

"Just get inside." She motioned towards the inside of her house.

He walked inside and looked around. It still looked as rich as ever.

"Do you need something?" Hitomi questioned.

"Some company would be nice." He sat down on her couch.

She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Are you sure you don't want something?" Hitomi sat beside him.

"I'm serious." He answered and admired the house.

He saw some video games that he wanted, but never got because of Satoko. He looked at her in envy. She probably got everything she wanted in her family. Hitomi noticed what he was thinking, but she was far too lazy to comfort him. She decided to go the fun way out of this situation.

"Wanna play them?" Hitomi asked in a very cheery tone.

Saito's eyes widened. She's being oddly nice. She only smiled and turned the TV on. She connected it to the video game and handed him the controller. He took it warily.

"You're oddly nice..." Saito said as he raised his eyebrow in suspicion.

"I'm just bringing the Christmas spirit." She said matter of factly and turned the game on.

"I thought you didn't celebrate Christmas." He said as he pressed start.

"I don't. I'm just bringing the spirit." She grinned as the game started.

It was a stereotypical shooting game, just a two player against each other. He couldn't believe that Hitomi beat him at every try.

"What... What the hell!?" He yelled.

"What can I say, I'm just good at video games." She smirked and threw the controller on the couch.

"You can't be that good!" He protested.

Of course he couldn't take defeat.

"Rematch!" He yelled and Hitomi obeyed with a huge competitive grin.

She won again, without breaking a sweat. His mouth was agape, not even comprehending what happened. Saito turned to glare at her, but she looked half asleep.

"Uh..." He said awkwardly.

"I'm just sleepy..." Hitomi yawned.

"Want me to go away?" He asked, suddenly full of understanding.

"Nah. You can sleep here." She sighed.

Saito blushed.

"R-Really?" He asked in amazement.

"Yeah. But on the couch." She added the last part.

He blushed again. Of course he wasn't gonna sleep in the same bed. He didn't even know why he thought that.

"I'm gonna go to sleep. Good night." She stood up and went upstairs.

He looked at the clock on the wall. It was only eleven o'clock. He heard her lock the door.

Why would she do that? It's not like he was gonna murder her... But then again, he did almost murder her. He felt guilty again. He knew Hitomi didn't forgive him.