Hated by You ☆ | Riki Nishimura

第32章

Christmas Eve

Hitomi haven't been doing almost anything the first break days. She slept and read books mostly. Now it was the morning of the Christmas eve. Hitomi and her mother were going to Nishimuras today, but they are going there in the afternoon, because Emiko still has to wrap some presents. 

Hitomi had a small gift that Yuma gave her before the schools ended. She fought the urge to open it, but she vowed to save it with the other gifts later in the evening. Hitomi felt a little bit bad, when she didn't buy anything for Yuma, but he said it was okay. Yuma gave Mina a same looking gift, so she thought even more what could he have given to them. 

-

When Emiko called Hitomi downstairs, she saw her mother carrying two big bags filled with gifts. Her mother was already putting on shoes and ready to leave. "There you are. Are you ready to go?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah, but why do you have so many presents?" Hitomi asked in disbelief. 

"This is not even much. Just help me carry them." Her mother urged. 

"Ugh, fine." Hitomi gave in.

-

They arrived at the same apartment building that Hitomi visited for tutoring earlier this week. This time they used the elevator that Niki didn't seem to prefer and because they had the huge present bags, which her mother dragged along. 

The lift stopped on the fourth floor and Emiko knocked on the door, which was right opposite the lift. The door was opened by the beautiful blond-haired woman who was, of course, Reina, Niki's mother. She excitedly hugged both Emiko and Hitomi and then let them in.

Emiko and Reina sat in the kitchen and started talking about their own. Hitomi wandered in the living room that was in the same space as the kitchen. Reina, or Niki, probably by her command has hung up so much Christmas decorations on the ceiling, that the color scheme could've made her faint. 

"Oh, Niki is outside playing soccer with the neighbor's son, if you're looking for him." Reina informed Hitomi from the kitchen counter. 

"Okay." Hitomi answered, even though she wasn't even looking for him. She approached the big living room window and saw few people at the backyard. The figures looked small from the fourth floor, but she was sure the  other one was Niki. And the other, a child? Maybe a 9 or 10 years old boy. 

Hitomi couldn't help but to smile. It looked so adorable. She had no idea that Niki got along so well with children, but there he was, kicking a ball with a child, while the snow kept falling from the sky.

-

The front door opened and Hitomi knew it was probably Niki, after she sat down on the sofa and scrolled down some instagram. 

"Wait there." A voice said from the vestibule and Hitomi identified it as Niki's. She heard another door open and Niki probably went to his room that was right next to the vestibule.

"Hello! Mrs. Nishimura!" Another voice was heard from there, but now she didn't recognize it anymore. It was probably the boy Niki was with. From the vestibule there was straight view to the kitchen counter, but from the living room sofa, Hitomi couldn't see there. "Oh, and hello, you another pretty lady." The boy added after he noticed Hitomi's mother there.

"Well hi Taiga, was it a nice game?" Reina asked the boy in a tone that people talk to younger children.

"It was amazing! I beat Niki all the time! He's quite a bad player, hah!" Taiga rejoiced out of breath. Probably because of the playing and climbing the stairs up there.

"I gave mercy, because you're younger." Niki defended, when he stepped back to the hall. If a random person would've said that to Niki, he would probably have lost his temper and started a fist fight, but he sounded like he wasn't offended at all. Though, he indeed gave mercy. He's the best player of his school. 

"I do not believe." Taiga denied. It was few seconds quiet and then Niki handed a wrapped gift to him. "Merry Christmas, mate." He wished. 

"Wow! Thanks, ani! You're the best!" Taiga clarified.(Ani means a older brother in japanese) "But, I need to go. My parents are waiting. Merry Christmas everyone!" 

Taiga left with Niki's gift in his hand and Niki stayed in the hall to take off his jacket. He didn't know that the Hayashi's arrived already, but after he saw Emiko, he realized. He greeted Emiko and walked into the living room. Hitomi was still sitting on the sofa and Niki noticed her and walked towards her. 

"Hi, Hitomi." Niki shortly said and sat next to her on the sofa. Hitomi didn't reply anything for a while. She observed Niki's look quietly. He didn't look the same as he looks at school. His hair wasn't brushed down neatly, it was messier. And sure enough, he was no longer wearing his school uniform, but a black hoodie and gray sweatpants.

"Taiga seems like a nice boy to play with, but I thought you'd hang out with your age people." Hitomi guessed after the brief moment of silence. 

"I would. But I can't. There is no my age people in this neighborhood." 

"Oh, well. Mentally you're the same age as him, so.." Hitomi trailed off and directed her gaze to another direction from firm his gaze.

"Did you just come here to joke at my expense, huh?" Niki inquired in disbelief.

"I actually came here because I was forced to, but you can think it like that too." Hitomi sarcastically answered. Niki just gave in, didn't reply anything and turned the TV on. 

-

It was getting pretty late. Niki and Hitomi helped the mothers to prepare the Christmas dinner. They sat on the kitchen table for a long time while eating and talked about any topics. After the dinner they'd start opening the presents. Hitomi wasn't so excited about it anymore as she used to be as a child. Actually she didn't wish for anything this Christmas. She didn't think she needed anything. But, of course her mother still buys her some presents.

They sat in the living room floor. Only Niki was sitting on the sofa with Bisco on his lap, like he wasn't expecting any gifts today. Reina took Bisco's only gift and gave it for him to open it himself. It took a while before the gift wrap was torn open and Bisco had found a raccoon toy inside. 

Hitomi received a white and fluffy shirt with bear ears on the hood as a gift. Hitomi thought it was cute and Niki said in amusement, "I better see you wearing that."

She got a pair of bracelets from Reina. Hitomi had no idea that Reina bought a present for her too. And she definitely didn't know that her own mother bought a present for Niki. Emiko handed them both the same looking presents at the same time. Hitomi unwrapped it and first she saw a keychain that was pink and had the letters H.H as for Hayashi Hitomi. The background was full of small red hearts in addition. Then inside the wrapping there was a scarf with the same colors as the keychain. 

Hitomi glanced at what her mother gave for Niki and her jaw immediately dropped. "Mom! Why did you gave us almost matching keychains!" She whined in disbelief. Niki looked at her direction too and saw what she got. They were the same except for the colors and the letters in the keychain. His scarf was black and blue and the keychain had blue background with black stripes. The letters in his keychain was of course, N.R.

"Well, why can't friends have matching stuff? I think it's cute." Emiko answered heartily. Hitomi glanced at Niki who looked so amused again and smiled at her mischievously. "Yeah, it's cute." He teased.

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