Game Gyaru

Gal Christmas 1

It was about to be the most wonderful time of the year. December had come and the Christmas season had arrived for Hakuta and his friends. Soon they'd be on their winter break without a worry of school or homework or anything. Instead everyone could be more focused on the upcoming holiday and all that it entailed.

One such important factor being that of the gift giving. Considering the status of his friends, the boy figured a lot of them were going to be giving out plenty of presents. For once this year as well, he could gather enough money buy more proper gifts as well. It would certainly be much better than him scrounging up a small amount to buy paltry presents for Yuusen and Itsuki.

So despite the holiday seasons usually being one of disappointment where he was closer to a grinch than a regular human being. Hakuta actually looked forward to Christmas for the first time in a long time.

"Good morning, Shiuka." He greeted his housemate with enthusiasm as they sat at the kitchen counter. There were still plenty of days before Christmas, but they still also had school until the holiday itself rolled around. That said, it didn't make him any less busy.

"Hey, Hakuta." She responded as if disappointed. Somehow during a time with cheer, they apparently had done a role reversal where he was the upbeat one and she was a downer. "You ready for school today?"

"Um, yeah." He replied, concerned with her odd behavior. "Are you alright? You're not sick or anything, right?"

"No, I'm perfectly healthy." She did little to assure him as she grabbed some toast and her bag to prepare to make the trek to school. With December not reaching past its halfway point, the weather had also taken a turn. A light snow had poured down over the past few days and slowly built up to make it challenging to walk to school. "Try to be safe, okay?" She reminded him on taking things slow as she put on her shoes and walked outside.

He sat alone to give her some time to get a head start over him. Hakuta thought it was strange for her to look so sad, but not tell him what the problem was. No matter how often he asked, she would just brush it off. While he waited, the boy looked over at a photo of the two along with both their fathers.

"Hope dad makes it back." He commented to himself as now it was his turn to put on his stuff and make the journey to class. If there was one thing his dad never failed to do, it was always having something for Christmas for his son. The only family he had left in the world.

But that would be worried later and more importantly he still had school. Not to mention Hakuta also picked up a short part time job after school which required him stand out in front of a store dressed up as a dumb Santa lookalike. He hated doing it, but the money was nice and he had plans for what would be saved up from that.

When he got to school, it was no surprise that most people were getting a bit ansy for the upcoming holiday. Not only was winter break a nice way to relax and enjoy some time away from class, but people were discussing their plans for when Christmas would roll around.

"Hakuta, what are you doing for Christmas?" Already when he sat down, Iruka asked him for his plans. "I'm looking forward to no school."

"I think you're always looking forward to that everyday." He replied, knowing that she got a bit antsy whenever school was just mere minutes from ending. "But I'm not entirely sure yet, just need to get my gifts for you guys all in order first."

"It's a shame we can't go shopping after school." She pouted and tapped on her desk with her long fingernails. "I bet we could find plenty of great things, but you're way too busy lately."

"It's just for the holidays." He assured her the job would be finished before Christmas rolled around. "And I promise that all my hard work will be worth it." Hakuta spoke a big game, but even he lacked some confidence on how truthful it'd be. The boy didn't want to disappoint any of them with the things he bought for them. For once, he'd actually be able to afford stuff people actually liked.

"That's great!" She did a small little clap for celebration. "Say, speaking of gifts..." She leaned in to whisper her next part as it needed to be private. "Do you know what's up with Shiuka?" She asked, knowing he'd be more connected with the girl as they lived together.

"Wish I knew myself." He answered. "It like she'd been getting more down as Christmas gets closer." Hakuta peered over to her as he talked. She seemed more normal now, but watching the trio of gals. He noted something oddly missing in their conversation.

Why weren't they talking about Christmas? Of all the people that went to this school, he figured they'd be the ones to really be into the holiday cheer. Yet it seemed as though nothing special was about to happen for them.

This would bug him all the way throughout class. Hakuta couldn't stop thinking about Shiuka. Something had to be wrong for her to be lacking in the same energy they all had. If even he was looking forward to it while she seemed to be more reserved, then something had to be clearly wrong.

Which is why he took the opportunity during lunch to talk to the girls about it. He'd normally leave them alone, or rather prefer they leave him alone, during lunch. But this time was different and instantly he went straight for the topic in mind. "You girls looking forward to Christmas?" He asked them.

"Of course." Shiuka was the first to answer, but her response did little to convince him. "Why wouldn't we? You don't need to worry about me." Judging from the subtle reaction from Ninka and Rouko when he posed the question, something clearly was wrong with her.

"Say Hakuta, you want to go grab some lunch in the cafeteria?" Ninka quickly stood up and ushered him away.

"Yeah, I want something to eat too!" Rouko followed suit and the pair both pushed him away from Shiuka for some strange reason. There was urgency in their movements as if their lives depended on it.

They pushed him all the way out into the hallway before he was able to regain the ability to go wherever he wanted. "We'll let that one slide, since you don't know." Said Rouko after they were alone.

"Don't know about what?" He asked in bewilderment. How could a simple question such as that be a problem? "You girls are being weird. Aren't you looking forward to Christmas?" While not everyone celebrated the holiday, he was confident he knew them well enough to know they'd take part of the festivities because it looked so fun.

"Shiuka's not a big fan of Christmas." Ninka explained to him. "So it's kind of touchy for her."

"She doesn't like Christmas?" He was shocked to hear this revelation. It was like hearing a plot twist to a mystery novel, except it seemed like nonsense to him. "Why?"

"Wish we knew." Rouko explained it from their point-of-view. It seemed like when she was younger, Shiuka was happy to celebrate Christmas. Yet it seemed like as the years past and she grew older, she seemed to get more and more depressed each time the holiday would roll around.

"We love Christmas, but since she seems to get all upset about it, we don't talk about it in front of her anymore." Said Ninka. It wasn't like Shiuka would fall apart and cry or anything about hearing it. Just that it was plainly obvious to anyone she was only putting on a good face to combat the feelings welling inside of her.

"We should've told you this before." Rouko realized that he must've been talking about it the entire time while living with her. Ninka may not have known the truth, but she did and should've realized he likely had been upsetting her without realizing it. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's not a problem." He didn't take issue with Rouko at all. Even though he promised not to bring up Christmas to her, Hakuta couldn't help but be concerned for her. It was not usual for Shiuka to get so depressed and it only seemed worse when it involved a day meant for joy.

He had plans on getting a gift, but it seemed like it would've been better not to... Except Hakuta wouldn't allow that to be the end. He needed to figure out the mysterious truth about Shiuka and Christmas, even if he needed to take a massive risk in doing so.