𝚈/𝚗'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅
A single sigh escaped my lips as I grabbed the canned drink that I had ordered from the vending machine.
I leaned against the wall and took a sip of it before something in the corner of my eye caught my attention.
It was a bear...a bear that was standing? It had something on its back as it passed by where I was.
Walking out of the alleyway, where that vending machine I had ordered from was, I stared at the bear that scanned its area. It looked confused.
The bear then turned around and gasped as soon as it saw me. I deadpanned as I stared directly at Emma's face.
"Hi, I'm a bear." Emma introduced herself as something that she was not. I stared at her with a blank expression.
"Should I pretend I didn't see you?" I lightly chuckled. She asked why I had to come out of that alleyway, so I told her that there was a specific drink that could only be found in that vending machine.
"More importantly, why are you walking around with a bear outfit?" I asked. It's the first week of December.
If she was planning to dress up as a not-so-scary bear for Halloween, she should've done that a month ago.
"I thought I'd use it to scare everyone since no one would expect to see a bear." she confessed. Why all of a sudden?
"But it looks like my first try had already failed." she sulked in the corner as I tried to comfort her.
"You know, your face is still fully visible, so they'd probably be more surprised than scared." I pointed out.
"Fear not, my dear friend, for I will not allow such foolish mistakes." she mischievously giggled as she pressed some kind of button.
Pressing the button allowed her to cover her whole face. Not gonna lie, I would indeed be scared of that feature.
We decided to walk together to school. Emma wanted to find someone else to make as her target.
"There's my next victim." Emma smirked as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to hide behind the bushes.
Ray was leaning against the trunk of a tree as he blew on his hands to keep them from freezing in this cold day.
"Is Ray waiting to meet up with you?" I questioned. Now that I realized it, Ray would always appear at places I would always go to, then we'll go to school together.
"If that were the case, he would have noticed that I was trying to scare him from a mile away." Emma argued.
"You have a point, seeing as this is Ray." I agreed with her.
"This is what's going through his head while he's waiting, 'Y/n's late. Did that dummy oversleep again? There's so much snow piled up today that it's getting cold. I hope she gets here soon.'." she teased.
"Now then, I must get going." Emma whispered, making me nod. She then commenced her 2nd attempt. I have a hunch that this is gonna fail.
Emma jumped out of the bushes and roared at Ray, who just stared at the bear that contained Emma.
Emma nervously roared again, but she kept failing. She was so desperate that she started dancing to freak Ray out.
"I'm crushed." Emma whimpered as she walked over to me, collapsing on my chest, making me sigh.
"It's best if you give up. Bears don't dance the way you did." I comforted her by patting her head.
"What the heck's going on?" Ray groaned, seeming confused at the situation. I don't really blame him.
A random bear, standing on its two legs, roars at you, and starts dancing. Who wouldn't be confused?
We then decided to walk to school together. Emma refused to remove her bear costune, even though we tried to argue about it several times.
"So, Ray, were you waiting for Y/n to pass by so you could go to school together?" Emma inquired.
"I wasn't." Ray immediately retorted.
"But you guys often come to school together." Emma argued. At this point, Ray began to walk ahead of us.
"That's because we bump into each other in the morning sometimes. It's not like we have a place where we meet up or anything." I explained.
"Knowing Ray, he'd probably change when and where he bumps into you every day, just to make it look perfectly coincidental." Emma poked Ray's shoulder several times with a smug face.
"Right?" Emma smirked at Ray. He turned around and shook his head with an embarrassed blush, making Emma surprised.
"Come to think of it, where's Norman? He's usually with you on the way to school." I questioned.
"I told him to meet with me somewhere so I could scare him. I'm going to scare Norman enough to make up for the both of you." Emma declared.
"Now that I think about it, Norman would be the type to get frightened easily." I recalled.
"Yeah. He'll get scared." Ray agreed. Emma just muttered to herself as she began to get excited.
"Try not to go overboard, understood? If you do, you'll probably scare his neck off." I warned her.
"His neck?" Ray repeated with his brow raised. We then spotted Norman walking by. He didn't seem to notice us.
While Emma was hiding behind the corner to wait for Norman, Ray and I decided to get a drink at a nearby vending machine.
We got some hot chocolate to warm us up on this wintry day. Sitting on a bench, we began to drink it with the sound of Norman's screaming in the background.
"A bear is chasing me on its own two legs!" Norman shrieked as he began to run away from Emma, who chased after him.
"Mission..." Ray paused before taking a small glance at me. I'm assuming he wanted me to finish his sentence.
"Success." I continued for him. It was a weird habit we had. He starts it and I continue, or vice versa.
Once things have settled down, well, not really since Norman had collapsed on the snowy sidewalk due to utter exhaustion.
"Are you okay, Norman?" Ray asked. Norman confessed that he was scared to death when he saw the bear running after him.
"I guess if you encountered a bear, who sprinted after you like a pro athlete, you'd be terrified." I chuckled.
I'm surprised he managed to run away. I've never seen him run like that, not even in Ms. Krone's class.
I suppose the idea of death, staring at him in the eyes, managed to make him go beyond plus ultra.
"It does sound like something out of a horror movie, now that you mention it." Ray admitted. It does, doesn't it?
"It was really terrifying." Norman sighed as we helped him get back on his feet. Emma then locked eyes on another target.
"Ah, it's Barbara." Norman mentioned. Emma began her plan to scare Barbara, the Secretary of the school, as well.
"What's wrong?" Ray asked when he realized that Emma wasn't charging at Barbara like she did to us.
"You think it'd be more effective to attack her with a direct approach?" Emma pondered about it.
"I guess if you put too much effort into being flamboyant, Barbara would see through it." I said.
"Running on two legs or four...I wonder which would be better." Emma rubbed her temples.
"I think it'd be best if you just scare her and go from there so she doesn't have time to react." I mentioned.
"A bear sledging on a sleigh heading straight towards you at a high speed. How's that sound?" Ray suggested.
"We're not trying to kill her, though..." Norman sweatdropped. In the end, the suggestion was approved.
"Well then, let's go for it!" Emma cheered as I got ready to use almost all of my strength to kick the sleigh.
"Bye-bye." I said before kicking the sleigh with almost all of my strength. She was then lunged forward at full speed.
"Get away from me, you cursed demon!" Barbara shrieked in fear.
It was supposed to end up with Emma stopping perfectly in front of Barbara, but an empty can just had to get in the way.
The sleigh made contact with the empty can, causing Emma to fly out of the sleigh and headbutt Barbara.
Mission was a fail.
"Are you guys alive?" I called out to the two, who had collapsed on the floor when they hit each other's heads.
"I-Is that you, Y/n? Explain to me what just happened." I heard. Poor Barbara, her spine and neck are in the wrong places.
"Right after I saw a bear on a sled zooming towards me at the speed of sound, I get slammed with a headbutt?" Barbara's body twitched.
"Is your head still alive after that one?" Ray asked. Barbara said that she didn't know anymore.
"A-All things considered, I think I succeeded in scaring Barbara." Emma struggled to stand up.
"I hate to admit it, but that was an amazing attack." Barbara confessed.
Well, the two of them went flying.
"Oh! I spy Ms. Mujika up ahead! Let's start our bonus mission." Emma grinned widely to herself.
You just got hurt and you're willing to do it again? Plus, you're planning on doing that to a teacher? I hope you won't drag us with you to your expulsion.
"All right, I'll join you." Barbara announced. I guess there's no point in trying to stop the two of them.
"If you chase Ms. Mujika alongside Emma, then it'll be obvious that you guys are pulling a prank." Ray pointed out.
"Hm, probably. That's why I have something prepared. I'll go like this." Barbara informed, wearing a paper bag with two holes in it.
"Inspired by our one and only Historian, Zazie." Barbara added. If I was a policewoman, I'd arrest Barbara on the spot if she looked like that. Good thing Zazie's a cutie.
"All right, we're off." Barbara and Emma gave us a thumbs up before running towards Ms. Mujika.
"That's quite the look they've got going there." Ray remarked. I do have to agree with that, though.
"Ms. Mujika! Good morning!" Nigel greeted. Ms. Mujika greeted him back.
"Ms. Mujika, good morning!" Emma chirped. Ms. Mujika was about to greet her back until she saw the bear costume.
Ms. Mujika shrieked in fear as she staggered backwards in an attempt to get away from the bear, but she bumped into something or someone.
"Good morning, teach." Barbara greeted. Ms. Mujika hesitantly turned around to meet a person with a paper bag over their head.
The two of them placed Ms. Mujika on the sled and ran off with her as if they were kidnapping her.
I have no idea what's happening...
"How far are they planning to go with that?" Norman seemed shocked by their sudden idea to capture our Fine Arts teacher, Ms. Mujika.
"As far as the school, I suppose." I guessed. Norman decided to run after the playful girls while Ray and I just watched Norman run.
"Let's go." I ushered before walking ahead of Ray. I could hear the crunching of snow, so I assume he's following me.
"Ah, Ray, about this morning." I mentioned. This seemed to have gotten him flustered.
"I wasn't trying to bump into you." Ray quickly retorted. That's a lie.
"How about we meet up before we walk to school? Let's walk together starting tomorrow." I suggested.
"Um, sure, but why?" Ray questioned, looking at the ground.
"Hm, because the mornings have been cold lately, I guess. I wouldn't want you waiting in the cold." I answered.
"I told you it's not like that." Ray sighed as I began to walk ahead of him. I could hear him following after me.
"You're lying." I pointed out.
"Oh, shut up." he scoffed, averting his gaze. This made me sigh as we continued to walk to school.
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"Winter break is almost here." I mentioned, arranging my textbooks, and separating my notebooks.
"You're right." Norman agreed, realizing that our winter break is approaching, meaning we'll have time to get away from our studies, even if it's only for a little bit.
"Everyone, make sure you're free on the 24th of December." Emma said. Yeah, that may be a problem.
"Norman and I already have plans that day." I argued. It would be fun if spend it all together. How unfortunate.
"What did you say?! You two arranged to be together already?!" Emma gasped in surprise.
Ray accidentally dropped his books on the ground.
"Ray!" Emma exclaimed, surprised.
"What's wrong, Ray? You look really disappointed." I worriedly asked, concerned by his sudden reaction.
"It's not fair." Ray mumbled. Did I do something wrong to make Ray that upset? What's he talking about? What's not fair?
"Y/n, you just don't have a clue, do you?" Emma sighed, shaking her head at me in a disapproving manner.
"You mean, you have work?" Ray questioned before I could answer Emma's question from earlier.
"Yeah. Norman and I have work on that day." I explained, picking up the books that Ray had dropped.
"Yup." Norman confirmed, nodding his head a little. Ray grabbed the books and sighed in relief.
"Wait, why do you have work on that day?!" Emma panicked, frantically flailing her arms around.
"I don't have any other plans that day." I informed. Norman nodded as well, making Emma's jaw drop.
"No! Just when it's finally Christmas! Don't you have something better to do?" Emma inquired. I asked her for an example.
"Hm, like...being with your loved one from when you wake up until you go to sleep?" Emma replied, but it was more like a question than an answer.
"And reflecting on your life." Emma added.
"Since you want us to go so badly, is there something planned on that day?" Ray inquired, packing his things.
"I just wanted to have a Christmas party with everyone..." Emma sighed before turning her back to us.
"But that's just my wild imagination." she gloomily said before walking towards the locker and locking herself in it.
"Emma's really down in the dumps." Norman sweatdropped, scratching his cheek sheepishly.
"But it's fine. If you have other plans, don't worry about it." Emma sulked. She's talking strangely, too.
"Good. I don't want to spend my Christmas Eve with someone as chaotic as you." Ray rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.
"This means Y/n and Norman will spend their Christmas together, no? All alone...the two of them...like a couple." Emma deliberately provoked.
"We'll only be working!" Norman argued. That statement seemed to have shocked Ray since he joined Emma in the locker next to hers.
"Do you want to work with us too, as a temporary worker? My mother said she's looking for more helping hands." I suggested.
"Really?" Emma asked as the doors slightly opened. Two heads popped out of it as they stared at us suspiciously.
"Indeed." I confirmed. Emma quickly became ecstatic as she jumped out of her locker door. Ray came out of his as well.
"I'm in!" Emma raised her clenched fist in the air with a huge grin plastered on her face.
"I'll help you guys." Ray said, approaching us. That would be lovely, we'll all be spending our Christmas Eve together.
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"Morning!" Emma waved at us.
"Morning." Ray greeted.
"Oh, you're here. Good morning." Norman greeted.
"Lovely morning. I'm looking forward to today." I said. They all agreed with my statement.
After we had finished working on the outside decorations and signs, we headed inside to see my mother waiting.
I'm sure I haven't clearly explained what my mother does to support me. Allow me to explain that to you.
My mom works as a bakery shop owner. Inside of the bakery is a small cafe with a few tables for customers to eat and enjoy their fresh-baked goods.
Ever since I was a child, she would often tend to a small garden we had on the balcony of our rooms.
I shall explain our house structure for you, so make sure to understand, since it might be a little complicated.
The bakery with a small cafe-like interior has an upstairs. You could find the stairs in the room behind the cashier area.
Those stairs lead upstairs, duh. Upstairs is where my mom and I live. It ain't much, but it's honest work.
There are 2 bedrooms in total, and 1 bathroom that connects both rooms. In each room, there is a small balcony area, where we have a small garden.
Outside the room is a small living room with a television. In front of the television is a couch with a coffee table in between the two objects.
Now, you may be wondering, where in the world do you cook then if there's only 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a small living room upstairs?
That's simple. Downstairs is the bakery and a cafe-like interior, right? Well, that's actually just half of the downstairs area.
What's a bakery without the kitchen, am I right? So, there's a little kitchen next to the cafe-like area.
I hope my explanation was good enough and I hope it made you understand what our home is like.
"Thanks for helping out today." my mother thanked Ray and Emma for joining us today for work.
"No problem!" Emma replied in English, having a Japanese accent. She has a fascination for the English language.
"We'll be in your care." Ray respectfully bowed. For some reason, he seemed kinda nervous in meeting my mother.
"For today, I want you two to sell Christmas cakes at the stall in front with my dear, Y/n." my mother gestured to me.
"While wearing Santa costumes." she added.
"Mama, does that mean I have to wear a costume, too?" I questioned, pointing a finger at myself.
"Please do. I'm sure it'll look great on you." she gave me a gentle smile. I sighed, nodding my head.
We then proceeded to get dressed. Emma, Ray, and I wore santa outfits while Norman got dressed as a waiter.
"Santa uniforms are pretty warm. Warm and fluffy!" Emma sighed in relief, enjoying the warmth of the clothes.
"It's a shame you can only wear it during this time of year." my mother sighed. Ray then crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall like an edgy wannabe.
"This look fits you very well too, Y/n." Norman complimented. Emma agreed. I could see Ray nod in the corner of my eye.
"You're a Santa that makes all boys and girls fall in love at first sight. I wonder what kind of exciting present is Santa Y/n going to give? It would definitely be something that would make your heart throb." Emma joked.
"If you've been a good boy or girl, I'll give you all the pleasure you desire." I said, taking it seriously.
Emma collapsed while Ray folded on the ground in his own pool of blood. It seemed he had fainted from a nosebleed.
"Don't say it like that ever again. Many will get the wrong idea." Norman scolded.
"My..." I sighed. My mother was busy arranging the cakes in the kitchen, so she didn't know about this commotion.
Norman and my mother worked on the deluxe cakes we will be selling at the stall in front of the bakery.
"Ray, Emma, come over here." I called out to them. They approached me and I handed them some hand warmers.
"Disposable hand warmers?" Emma asked, reading the lable of the object that I was offering to them.
"You'll get cold standing outside all day, so it'll be best if you use them." I explained.
After that, the three of us headed outside to sell the boxes with Deluxe Christmas Cakes.
"We'll be opening the shop soon, let's do our best." my mother encouraged before entering the shop with Norman.
Norman wanted to join us in selling the cakes, but due to him being a feeble man, he couldn't. He would get sick in the cold, we can't allow that to happen.
"Let's put all our effort into selling them." I cheered. Our day continued as we sold all of the cakes.
"Whoa, you guys working here?" someone asked. We turned to the direction of the voice to see Oliver and Zack.
"We're just helping out for today." Emma explained.
"Welcome. Are you two dropping by for a cup of tea?" I questioned.
"Yes, and to eat some cake." Zack added.
"So, this is your Stacy's Lovely Bakery's Deluxe Christmas cake..." Oliver mumbled, bending down to stare at the cake display.
"It's so good, it will make your nose bleed!" Emma exaggerated. That doesn't sound good.
"Nose bleed?" Oliver sweatdropped.
"What did you even put in it?" Zack nervously asked, scratching his cheek.
"I might as well buy a Christmas cake while I'm here. The neighborhood Oliver and I live in is holding a Christmas Eve party." Zack mentioned.
"I'll buy one too then." Oliver said as the two of them took out their own wallets.
"If you're going to buy cake, are you still going to eat some cake inside?" Ray questioned.
"I'll be taking this one to the party, so of course we're going to have cake inside." Oliver stated.
"Very well. Since you're such good customers, we'll give you a little extra." Emma mentioned.
"Santa Y/n will stroke your head as an early Christmas present!" Emma exclaimed, gesturing to me.
"Who would want that?" I groaned, smacking her head instead.
"I'm sold." Oliver and Zack both said at the same time as they slammed their cash on the table.
Oliver lightly chuckled while Zack just averted his gaze.
"Even you two?" I sweatdropped. Emma grinned as she also joined the line while dragging Ray along. I then patted their heads.
Nightfall then came when the table was completely empty, even though it was filled with boxes of cakes just this morning.
"Thank you for today. I have some cake for everyone." my mother exited the bakery to inform us about this.
"Yay!" Emma and I cheered. The two of us love eating cake. We would often go out and get some cake if one of us feels like it.
"Sure, ignore the calories and enjoy it." Ray provoked. This made Emma gasp in utter shock.
"Actually, a calorie is a unit of energy. When you hear something contains 100 calories, it's a way of describing how much energy your body could get from eating or drinking it. It doesn't exactly mean you gain weight." I explained.
"Exactly. You should know by now that calories are the enemies of women!" Emma pointed an accusing finger at Ray.
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(A/N: I'm so srry for the pretty long hiatus. I've just been going thru some stuff that needed thinking. Srry for the cringy stuff I wrote back then, my mind wasn't working properly so I thought I should get a break. Tysm for waiting!)