A Girl's Turmoil

Chapter 29 - Christmas

If there's one thing that everyone has been waiting for, especially children themselves, it would be Christmas. It is late in the morning, and it is already revealed that the entirety of the city has been engulfed by the heavenly snow. What makes it more endearing on this particular day is that today is exactly Christmas Day. Making it more beneficial for the students is that today, school is off, meaning the students won't have any lessons to suffer through.

But no one is more joyful for this day to come than Sakurako herself.

Aside from the Christmas party and celebrations, she personally had a platonic relationship with winter. She herself felt already strange that she somehow came up with that word. There was something so... enchanting with the glimmers of the snow. Despite the stark whiteness the snow had encompassed over the city, it paints the modern town with such magnificence that one has to question how one blank color is able to beautify the landscape within a day. In her eyes, the sight of the snow itself can be described as delicate pieces of cotton that she could sleep on anywhere and anytime she wanted.

From within an exquisite restaurant sat a gazing Oomuro by the large window. With a pair of bored eyes, she watches the pedestrians and children passing by, seldom counting how many people have passed her. Occasionally she pays attention to the droplets of snow falling gracefully onto the ground, layering themselves upon its white brethren. She felt herself a little entranced by the sight of dancing the snow continuously compel from the heavens. Dancing of spirals, straight diagonals, and recently, waves. She forms a small smile as she interprets those snow droplets as playful children.

A slight form in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and sees a pair of teenagers walking on the sidewalk across her, high schoolers, it seemed. A girl is clinging onto the boy's arm, smiling at each other in the comfort of their own warmth. And then there's another pair from her right, who are hand-holding as they traverse through the cold winter. Christmas has been particularly the best day for people to begin dating, or so she heard since Christmas is a day of unity for either family or loved ones. As she watched those pairs come and go, another thought came into mind.

"Isn't what we're doing now really is Christmas date, though?"

The reason for that form of thought is not because she got invited out for a date but because Kyouko is at it again to find a way to have a fun time during Christmas. The first thing that Kyouko happened to come up with was obviously a Christmas date. She turns to her pair, Himawari, unsurprisingly. As to how she paired up with her, is that Kyouko used a lottery box filled with random numbers, the persons who have the same number will be a pair, and Sakurako and Himawari had the same number.

Sakurako did not complain, though, and so as Himawari. In fact, Sakurako found her blunette friend a bit thrilled to be paired up with her. The restaurant they are currently in? Himawari picked it for her. If Sakurako were to admit, it's a good spot she picked. Aside from the large view they could get there, she felt herself charmed by the Christmas-theme decorations, foods, and loving atmosphere within. Not to forget, there's this sense of nostalgia, the kind that she couldn't help but keep reliving those good old days and feel herself getting lost in it.

"Sakurako. Hey, Saa-chan."

Sakurako immediately snaps herself and levels her sight toward her eyes. "H-hai?"

"You looked distracted," Himawari stated. "Something's on your mind?"

"Oh, I was just...," Sakurako paused. "I was just daydreaming a bit."

"About what?"

"Well... previous Christmas."

"Oh, so you felt it too?" Himawari formed a warm smile. "Well, I think this time would be different."