𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 - 𝙝. 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙪

𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙮-𝙩𝙬𝙤

shinsou and i exchanged texts over the last few days. as december closed in, so did the party his mom was hosting.

in anticipation for the celebration, i frequented many stores looking for a present to give shinsou. i spent plenty of time up and down aisles but still couldn't find out what to buy him. it wasn't until i tagged along with my mom someplace to get one of her necklaces fixed that i figured out what i was going to give shinsou.

-

"are you sure you put all the presents in the car? you can't forget the one we got for dosei." my mom rushed downstairs.

"that one was in your closet, mom. i didn't go in there to check."

my mom turned back on the stairs while i headed out to the car. like she had told me, i checked to make sure all of the gifts were in the back of the car.

"mom!" i called from outside, seeing as she was already coming out of the house, locking it behind her. "hurry, we're going to be late. i don't know why you take hours to get ready, mom."

"i'm going, i'm going! now hurry up and start the car, girl."

-

"you're pretty dressed up tonight."

i glanced down at my mom. we had just run the doorbell. "mom, it's a party."

"i'm just saying. you rarely want to come to these things at hoshi's place. you leave for another semester at Yuuei and when you come back, boom, you're buddy buddy with someone you said you hated back in high school. and not to mention how you went out with him, at night."

i refrained from rolling my eyes at her. "mom, you're rambling. and plus, you spent all my childhood telling me to be friends with him and now that i am, you're questioning it?"

my mom became quiet for a moment and before she could respond, the door opened.

"hi, mai! come on in, hoshi's in the kitchen." a woman with dark red hair answered the door, i was entranced by the long ringlets her hair created.

"hi, i haven't seen you in forever. where have you been?" my mom swept the lady off in a flurry of conversation, leaving me behind.

i sighed, glad to see my mom was still as friendly as she was before i left for Yuuei. i closed the door behind me and wandered into the house, it's layout all foreign to me.

"y/n?"

to my right was a little boy, one i recognized to be tai.

"hey, tai. you look good, buddy."

the boy did a spin, nearly toppling himself over. "did you see that! i call it a ninja spin, what do you think?"

"wow, tai. you spun so fast, i could barely see you. it was awesome." i held out my hand to the boy, he slapped his smaller hand into my palm.

"i'm going to go find my friends, do you want to come?" the boy beamed with energy.

"i should go find your mom, kid. but i'll come back and find you once i'm done with that, okay?"

"okay!" tai bounded off to some corner of the house.

and like i said, i did try to make my way into the kitchen, where the lady mentioned hoshi was.

there was a cluster of people in different rooms of the house, they all seemed to be certain groups. with the kids all entertaining themselves in a separate room to a group of teens talking in another.

after a minute of searching, i managed to find the kitchen but there was no hoshi there. i sighed, wishing i had tagged along with my mom or at least followed from a distance.