KOF Extras

Christmas Vacation in Cannes (Part 5)

25 December
Shingo woke up to his alarm and yawned as he sat up. He made it a point to wake up earlier since there was something that he wanted to do.
Since he didn't want to leave those two alone at home, Shingo decided to order breakfast and surprise them as soon as they wake up. He got some frittatas, cinnamon rolls, and some buttered chocolate croissants. Right after ordering, he got ready and went out of the room to make sure that they were still asleep.
To his surprise, they were arranging bags and presents near the living room window. Meiten turned to Shingo when he heard him and smiled before pawing at Shun.
"We decided to set up our gifts here since we didn't have a Christmas tree," Shun explained. "When can we have our gift exchange?"
Shingo scratched his head. "After... breakfast?"
"Oh, where are we going?" Meiten asked, rubbing his hands together in excitement.
"Nowhere," Shingo shrugged. "I'm having them delivered."
The two of them nodded. "Yeah, good call," Shingo stretched his arms back. "I'm actually kinda tired after last night."
"Yeah, same," Meiten yawned.
Shun smirked and gave Meiten a dig in the ribs. "You're always tired, Meiten. Always sleepy too."
Meiten sleepily looked at him. "Don't blame me if this is the way I'm wired." He smirked. "Just like how you're wired to always wear headphones."
"Right," Shun snorted. He turned to Shingo. "When will our food arrive, I'm actually getting quite hungry."
Shingo pulled his phone out to check and realised that the food was five minutes away. "It's near."
Just then his phone started ringing. Shingo groaned when he realised that it was his older sister. He sighed and answered it.
"Neesan," he said as soon as he pressed the phone to his ear.
"Shingo!" Ayako piped up. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas to you too."
A moment of silence passed on the other end. "How... how are things going there? Have you had breakfast?"
"Not yet," Shingo shook his head like she could see him. "Food's on its way."
"Oh..." silence. "You know... it's pretty boring here without you."
Shingo sighed. "Well, I'll be coming back on the twenty-seventh. We can celebrate together for Oshogatsu.
"Right, right. Your Christmas presents will be waiting for you," Ayako awkwardly chuckled. "Who are you celebrating with anyway?"
"Just a few kids from the tournament," Shingo said. "They didn't really have anyone else to celebrate with, so I decided to take them with me."
"That's... nice..."
"And they see me like a big brother too," Shingo tried to keep the venom off his voice but it was hard. He sighed. "I hope you guys have a great time."
Ayako sighed as well. "Well, it just isn't the same without you, Shingo. Riri has been asking for you as well."
Shingo frowned. "I'm sure she is." Just then, his phone started ringing with another call. Shingo looked at his phone to see that it was the food delivery person. "I'll call you back, Neesan. My food's here."
Shingo answered the phone a second time as he went to collect his food.

Right after breakfast, Meiten insisted that they do their gift exchange. Shingo didn't mind that, went to his room and brought out the gift bags of things that he got for them. By then, they were holding onto the gifts they got too.
"This one's for you, and for you," Shingo said as he handed each of them a bag.
Shun did the same and so did Meiten. After that, the three of them sat on the carpet and unwrapped their presents. To Shingo's surprise, Meiten got him a nice memory foam neck pillow while Shun got him a crossbody bag with an embroidered chocolate ice cream cone on it. The bag seems sturdy too, and just the right side that would fit a lot of things yet not too big.
"Nice!" Shun grinned when he took out the gadget bag. He gasped when he unpacked the retro speaker. "Wait. Oh gosh, Shingo-niichan!"
Shingo grinned. "You like it?"
To his surprise, Shun gave him a hug. "I was saving up to buy one just like this." He pulled away from the hug and sat down again, a smile on his face. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Shingo smiled. He turned to Meiten and to his surprise, he was already asleep on the carpet, his holster under his head, teddy bear cradled at the crook of his arm, and blanket pulled up his waist. He even set up the night lamp beside him.
"Yeah, he likes the stuff," Shun chuckled.
Meiten sleepily opened his eyes and smiled. "Now I have a portable blanket and a teddy bear to hug. Thanks, Shingo-niichan."
Shingo chuckled. "I really like your gifts too. Now I can show my friends."
Shun frowned thoughtfully. "I wonder what Master Tung is getting us. He said he got us some stuff for Christmas too."
"I'm wondering what my family got me as well," Shingo added. "My sister called me earlier and she seemed interested in you guys for some reason."
Meiten grinned as he sat up. "Did you tell her that we're the amazing duo from the tournament?"
"Hmm... not really," Shingo shrugged. "Never mind, I'll show them the pictures that we took together."
"Nice," Shun smirked. "Alright, what are we gonna have for lunch? My treat!"
Shingo firmly shook his head. "No, you will do nothing of the sort. What do you guys want to have?"
"Well, we still have that cake," Meiten added. "And that other cake we bought."
"Yeah, we have those," Shingo couldn't help but agree. "But do you guys not want to go out? Go around for a walk, take pictures and stuff like that?"
"Maybe have picnic on the beach too?" Shun suggested. "I mean, it's not that cold, it isn't snowing or anything."
"Yeah, but we still better suit up," Shingo said. "And we need to figure out on where to get the food for said picnic."
"We still have the cake," Meiten said again. "We can bring that with us, can't we?"
Shingo frowned slightly but nodded. "Yeah, but you only wanna have cake? How about something warm?"
"I've got the perfect thing!" Shun smirked.

Shun produced a large flask of hot cocoa and poured it out into three ceramic mugs.
"Are those from the chalet?" Shingo asked, surprised to see the familiar mugs sitting with them on the picnic blanket.
"Yep," Shun said without looking up.
Shingo sighed. "Please be careful with them. Otherwise, we might not get our deposit back."
"Oh yeah, there's that," Shun frowned, realising that now. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine," Shingo said. "We just have to be extra careful with it."
"Yeah, don't fling it around," Meiten added, clasping his mug of hot cocoa with both hands. He took a sip and savoured it. "Mmm this is good..."
"It is," Shingo agreed, placing his mug down before picking up a piece of the cherry pie they got from the bakery. "Here, have some pie," he pushed the pie tin towards them."
Just then, Shingo's phone started ringing again. He frowned when he realised that it was Rieko this time. It seemed like all of them were taking turns on calling him.
Shingo didn't answer it. Instead, he declined the call. That made his phone buzz with a string of messages from her.
Niichan
Y r u not answering my call

I'm busy rn
I'm eating

We didn't get turkey this year
We got fried chicken

Tasty

Shingo sighed. Why was she telling him all of this? He got his answer straight away.
I miss you
The house is so quiet without you
Why did you go to France
Why not celebrate at home

I'll come home for New Year
We can celebrate then

But what about Christmas
It isn't Christmas without you

Yeah but I need a break
Especially after what happened last year

The last two messages were instantly marked as read, but there was no reply. Shingo placed his phone down and went on with his pie, talking to the rest about the weather. Suddenly, his screen flashed with a new message from Rieko.
I'm sorry for that
I was just playing around
Shingo frowned. Playing around? What about the hurtful things she said?
Sure it's fun for you
But it wasn't for me
I just need some space
I'll come back in two days

Ok...
I'm sorry
🥺🥺

Shingo didn't reply to that and just placed his phone down before moving on to having a piece of cake. This wasn't the first time his sister was apologising to him, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Why did he have to be the comic relief everywhere he went? Some people even associated him with Mr Bean just because of the things he had gotten himself into.
He turned to see Shun and Meiten. For the first time, he had people looking up to him instead of looking down on him like what many others did. He even won the KOF tournament more than once, but there he was. Even Benimaru didn't trust him on going for a vacation alone just because he got locked out of his room during his stay in Yokohama.
"Shingo-niichan?" Meiten called, placing a hand on Shingo's knee to get his attention. "Are you alright?"
Shingo nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He turned their attention towards the sea and it's waves gently sweeping towards the shoreline. It was a peaceful sight, even when it was winter. A beautiful work of nature.