An Orange Christmas (An Orange Fan Fiction)

Chapter 1

"Hagita! I said the red streamers went on the left, and the green ones went on the right! Now you're going to have to do it all over!"

"Like hell I am! Why does it matter which side they go on?!"

Suwa sighed as he set a box of ornaments on the ground, "Will you two just kiss already?"

Azu glared daggers at him, "I would rather kiss a pig!"

Hagita pushed his glasses further up his nose, "How attractive of a pig are we talking? Because I must say, there are some very handsome swine out there..."

"Ugh!" Azu pulled at her hair, "You're so weird!"

"Hey, it's a fair question!" he glared at her. "If you're going to compare me to a pig, add at least like to know how attractive said pig is. Would you say it was somewhere between a 4 or 5? Or more between a 6 or 7?"

Taka just shook her head as she set her box next to Suwa's. "Those two are going to be the death of me."

Suwa put a hand to his chin, "I don't know, it looks like they may kill each other first..."

"You are the most stupid, pig-brained person I have ever met!"

"The expression is pig 'headed' not pig brained. Also, how intelligent of a pig are we talking? Because pigs are known to be very intelligent creatures!"

"Why don't we leave these two to hash things out?" Suwa nodded as he and Taka walked into the kitchen. Currently, the four friends were decorating Azu's house for the big Christmas Eve party latter that evening. Her parents were going out of town, so they had offered to let them host it there.

"How do you think things are going with Naho and Kakeru?" Suwa asked as he began pouring each of them a mug of hot chocolate.

She shrugged and took a sip, "Knowing Naho, I'm sure she has already had a crisis over which brand of sparkling cider to get."

Suwa sighed, "Kakeru probably isn't much better. When Naho freaks out, he tends to go into his own form of panic trying to calm her down. Who's bright idea was it again to send the two most socially awkward of us to buy all the food for the party?"

"Yours." She smirked and took another sip, "I think you called it a 'couples bonding experience' if I remember correctly."

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah I guess I did." His laughter quieted as he looked wistfully out the window, "I can't believe it'll have been a whole year in a couple months."

"I know what you mean," she looked down almost sadly, "I know I shouldn't... but sometimes I think... what if we didn't actually change anything? What if... we just prolonged the inevitable? What if Kakeru still dies?"

Suwa smiled sadly, "We all have to die some time..."

Taka gave him a look. "You know what I mean. What if something happens, and he still ends up killing himself?"

"I have faith in Kakeru." He swirled the drink in his hands, "I know that the guy still has self esteem issues. He's told me himself. But I also know that he would never do anything that he knew would hurt Naho. He read the letter that Naho sent him from the future. He knows that his death greatly affected her. I know that he wouldn't try to kill himself again if not for himself, then for Naho."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She gave him another sad smile, "And you're ok with this future? Not marrying Naho? Letting Kakeru have her?"

"Yeah. I am." He went back to looking out the window, watching as snowflakes started to drop down from the sky. "They deserve to be happy. Besides," he turned back to her and smiled, "I'm sure there's someone out there for me too."

"Yeah..." she blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I-I'm sure there is..."

Suddenly, there was a huge crashing noise that came from the living room.

Suwa sighed and chuckled, "Duty calls..."

They both walked back into the living room and froze in horror. "What have you two done?!" Taka glared at them. All the decorations they had spent the last hour hanging were now strewn across the floor.

"Um well..." Azu's face was red with embarrassment. "Well you see, I told Hagita several times that he needed to switch the red and green streamers around, because it didn't fit the pattern..."

"Oh no! Do not blame this on me!" He cut in.

"Shut up you!" She glared at him and continued, "Anyway, when he refused to do like I said, I had to get on the ladder and fix it myself because I'm not tall enough. Well, dummy over hear bumped into me, and made me fall down, taking the decorations with me."

Suwa sighed, and looked over at the fallen Christmas tree. "It's ok. Accidents happen."

"Oh no, don't let them off that easy." Taka went up to them, and practically towered over them in rage. "Thanks to you idiots, we're going to have to start all over! Naho and Kakeru are going to be back in an hour with the food! What are they going to say when they see this mess?!"

"Sorry..." they both looked down sheepishly then glared at each other.

Suwa inspected the fallen tree. "This whole side of branches snapped when it fell over. We're going to need to get a new one. How about, Taka and I rehang all the decorations, while you two go pick out a new tree."

"Us? Together?!"

"Yes. Together." Take grit her teeth. "Or do you need an incentive?"

"No ma'am!" they both quickly grabbed their coats before dashing out the door.

~line break~

"Ugh! I can't believe you were stupid enough to knock me off the ladder!"

Hagita rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you were stupid enough to make such a big deal over which side of the room the streamers were on!"

"I just wanted... everything to be perfect..."

Hagita looked down and saw her wipe a couple tears from her eyes, "Hey... you ok?"

"Yeah I just..." she sniffled, "I just... after this year... everything with Kakeru... I wanted this to be the best Christmas he's ever had, you know?" She sniffled again, and he silently handed her a handkerchief. "Why do you have this?" she chuckled softly as she wiped her nose. "What are you, an old man?" the question had no bite to it.

"I use it to clean my glasses." He replied quietly.

She wiped her eyes and handed the cloth back to him. "I know Kakeru has Naho and Suwa, but I also want him to be able to rely on the rest of us. On me. I mean, I know I'm not as close to him as those two are, but I just want to do everything I can to make sure he has the best life possible..."

To both their surprise, Hagita reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure Kakeru appreciates it. He knows all of us are his friends. If he needs something, he'll come to us."

She smiled up at him, "Yeah, I guess you're right... Now let's go pick out a kick ass Christmas tree!"

He chuckled, "I don't know how a tree can "kick ass" but let's do it!"

"Great! Now get your hand off me perve!"

"What?!"

(A/N - Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Happy (almost) Christmas! I hope you all are liking it so far. I upload every weekend, so I'll see you guys then! :) Bye!!!)