Katawa Shoujo Forums

Hisao slinks along the corridor, head down, a hunted expression on his face. He has arrived at his classroom just after school is due to start but before Mutou usually makes an appearance, hoping that he will be able to avoid the unsettling encounters that have been a feature of the last few days. However he forgot to account for the other person who follows the same schedule.

"H-hello Hisao," she says with a shy smile. A shy, adorable smile that plays on her full, kissable lips as she looks up at him with violet eyes that he can not help but stare into, drowning in their limpid depths. "Are you... looking forward to the p-party?"

Her words jolt him out of the reverie he had fallen into. "Not really. I'm tired after the exams, I'll probably sleep through it."

Hanako looks crushed. "O-oh no you can't! It could be our last chance t-to..." she trails off as she sees Mutou appear at the top of the stairs.

"We better get inside before he decides we're late," Hisao says in relief and hurries through the door. He is aware of the stares that track his progress to his desk but keeps his eyes down until he has taken his seat. Seeing that Shizune and Misha are absent he breathes a sigh of relief as he gets out his school supplies and feigns interest as Mutou takes off on another of his flights of fancy.

***

Hisao jolts awake to the sound of laughter and is surprised to see that several of the girls have gathered around Miki's desk; the classroom usually empties quickly on Saturday lunchtimes. He is packing his bag when he notices Hanako walking over to the group and shyly tugging Miki's sleeve. His heart falls when they all turn to look at him in response to what she says. Miki stands and sashays over to him, the sway of her hips mesmerising him. "Hey Hisao, what do you think of these party costumes?" she asks, throwing a copy of Tiger Girl magazine onto his desk. It is open to a page of pictures that has him blushing and hurrying out of the classroom in search of a quiet lunch. "You better turn up tomorrow, my stocking's not going to stuff itself!" she calls as he disappears down the corridor.

"My my Hisao, what has you in such a fluster today?"

He is surprised to see Lilly's elegant form appear around the corner, lustrous blonde hair framing her face and cascading down her back. He wonders what it would be like to run his fingers through those gleaming locks, how she would feel if he took her into his arms and...

"Hisao?"

"Err, oh s-sorry Lilly I didn't expect to run into you here. How did you know it was me?"

She giggles, "you have a distinctive gait and I do believe that you are the only one in the school who uses that particular brand of shower products." She leans into him conspiratorially and whispers, "Akira has provided me with some... Christmas cheer. Come to my room tomorrow night, I can promise you a memorable after-party." With that she glides off towards his classroom, an enigmatic smile on her lips.

He stares after her, eyes wide with disbelief, and decides to abandon his trip to the cafeteria. He retreats to his room, locks the door, switches the kettle on and scans his collection of instant ramen to see what takes his fancy. He sits on his bed with the noodles and a fresh library book and settles in to wait until sleep takes him.

***

When his alarm clock wakes him at the usual time he dresses in his running kit and walks through the dawn to the track. The morning run is the fixed point of his day, the companionship he shares with Emi has helped them both through the ups and downs of the last few months. He smiles when he sees her already stretching, her sole concession to the season being a stripy elf hat in place of the beanie she started wearing as winter drew in. With a nod he joins her in warming up and then launches into the day's programme.

As usual they do not speak until they are cooling off, when Hisao brings up the strange behaviour he has been on the receiving end of
recently. "Oh Hisao!" The bell on her hat rings merrily in time with the laughter that shakes her body. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed, it's no surprise you get teased a lot. Also there's more girls than boys in the school so being single makes you a target, and what better place to show off a conquest than the Christmas party?"

He frowns, "I'm not an accessory to be shown off! You're single too, have you hunted down a trophy date?"

She shrugs, "nah, don't want any dead weight slowing me down, I've got a shot at junior nationals this spring." She starts jogging towards the medical building. "I'm off to see Nurse, you coming?"

"Not today, I don't want to risk another... encounter so I'm heading to my room."

"Coward!" she jeers, her beaming smile taking the edge off the jibe. Hisao watches her disappear before trudging back to a hard earned shower, the tinkling of Emi's bell fading into the distance.

***

Hisao finishes his book and stretches, noticing that daylight has faded into twilight. It feels like months since he has been able to enjoy a full day of solitary reading and it has gone a long way towards helping him recover from the stress of the week. Starting to feel restless, he steps over to the window and sees that it is snowing. As he watches the snowflakes floating gently through the still air he is suddenly filled with nostalgia. Nostalgia for childhood Christmases, for the parties thrown by his grandparents when they were alive, for hanging out with Mai, Takumi and Shin and laughing at couples setting off to be fleeced by avaricious restaurateurs. With the nostalgia comes a desire for human contact, a need to be with people that he has not felt since his stay in the hospital. He thinks about the Christmas party and the expectations of the girls. He likes them well enough, enjoys their company when they are not being weird, is acutely aware that they are all desirable in their own way. He just does not feel a connection with them, not like he does with the one though he has never felt confident enough to pursue it.

His mind made up, he opens his door and hears the muted sound of Christmas karaoke. He heads to the cafeteria with a smile on his face, hoping to find the human warmth he has developed an unexpected craving for.

***

He is standing in front of the cafeteria door, excited and appalled by the prospect of pushing it open and walking in, when the music changes and a rich contralto voice starts singing 'All I want for Christmas is You'. Steeling himself, he grabs the sprig of mistletoe hanging over the door and makes his way into the room. He pays little attention to Hanako's singing, Emi and Rin's elaborately choreographed dance routine and Miki's barely existent Christmas costume. He scans the room, hoping to see... There! Mistletoe in hand, heart beating frantically, he strides through the centre of the room, dodging slow-moving couples, towards the figure leaning against the wall. He holds the mistletoe up and leans in for a kiss, savouring the manly scent of garlic and the rough texture of the stylish scarf.

The sudden silence in the room is broken by the sound of a dozen glasses being dropped in unison.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NoticeMeOppai wrote: Hisao has somehow made it to December without committing to any of the girls (or falling off a roof) but now the Christmas party is coming up and more than one girl has started hinting they're expecting something special.

Thank-you for the fabulous prompt, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! It was interesting to work out what sort of Hisao would get through to December without falling into a relationship (or onto a hard pavement), and unrequited love was one of the pieces in the puzzle.

Okay, it could take me some time to get through Crafty's story, so for now:

Rooftop Repartee:
Nice story, though I always feel sad when Nomiya is portrayed that way

All I Want For Christmas:
Hmm. Honestly I was expecting it to be Iwanako.
You did a very good job disguising the target of his affections ("kissable lips", "lustrous hair", "gleaming locks", blushing over pictures etc) - maybe a bit too good...

Scroff wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 5:43 amAll I Want for Christmas

I guess it's my prejudice against Kenji showing--I figured out that the object of Hisao's affections was male, but Kenji never occurred to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I was thinking, Lelouch? Takashi? Taro??

Lots of fun, in any event.

Hi... you all have never seen me. This is actually my first ever post in this forum as I continue to plan and write a full length fan fic. And it's going to be a rushed holiday fluff piece based on another person's prompt. Done probably on Christmas after an all nighter and battling probably severe jet lag. Hampering my already shoddy understanding of grammar and spelling. And making the learning of how formatting works on this site even harder.

I'm sorry in advance

But back into the holiday spirit and not dwelling on the shattered urn that is my life, my prompt is from user monkeywitha6pack. His prompt was "Emi tries to surprise and make Hisao a Christmas Dinner". Well, without further excuses, here is my story. I hope you all have (or had depending how late I get this out and accounting for California time zones) a very merry Christmas.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holiday Hunger Humbug

I'll be back around 8:00. Another visit to the cardiologist. I swear one little blip and I'm suddenly about to keel over. Sorry I can't be there for most of Christmas day, I'll try and cut this short. Love you, can't wait till I get to open my presents tonight. <3 <3

Oh don't worry Hisao, I'm gonna have something special for you to unwrap tonight. But also something your never gonna expect...

"Do you ever think the clouds get jealous of the homes during this time?" Rin asked from her cat-like position on the top of the sofa. Just about the only routine she ever does.

"No, why would clouds ever be jealous of houses?"

"Because they are usually so grey at this time of year. Houses light up this time of year. It could be taken as mocking." Why do I ever think asking for clarification will get me so with Rin?

"Well that can go for ever there is a rainy day. I mean then the clouds over Tokyo must feel sad all the time then and-this is not why I brought you here today!"

"Then why did you," shot back Rin as she continued to stare out the window. "I thought the normal thing to do during holiday times was to spend time with one's immediate family. You complained to your mother over the phone I wasn't. My purpose thus is very grey. Maybe that's why I'm thinking about the clouds..."

Okay now I feel slightly bad. When I heard that Rin was apparently gonna stay over in the school during Christmas from Miki while I was giving her my early gift, I knew couldn't just leave her there. She may be difficult, especially ever since that whole exhibit debacle, but we were still friends in my eyes. Still didn't stop me from giving the real reason I was coming home late that day to mom and Hisao. But I knew they would understand. And they did. Now it was time to surprise them.

"Well one reason you are here is that so you won't be stuck huffing paint while everyone is eating good food," I start, soon dragging her into the kitchen. "And another is that you are going to help me make the food we get to eat this year!" I then motion over to the stack of raw ingredients I have already laid out over the table. Had to buy them today while mom is still out on "business" with a friend. I wonder when she'l tell me she's dating nurse. Maybe she'll bring him over. Great now I'm distracting myself.

"I thought it was mothers that cooked during the holidays. And also that hands were required for the process. I meet neither of these requirements." Rin said in her deadpan manner, starring in an unfocused gaze over the loaded table. Why did I bother arranging the indigents for her again?

"Well not this year it doesn't! My mom always makes the dinner but it's about time I start taking that over. Ever since I got with Hisao, I've been secretly honing my cooking skills. I don't want him eating all that fried chicken everyone else during this time. His diet doesn't have room for it and I need him for the long haul!" I strike a valiant pose, thinking back to the time I caught Hisao trying to sneak that fried garbage that was served at the school festival. To think it all started with a rooftop lunch between me, Hisao, and Rin. I think I right word to use there would be picturesque. At least I think so from the way Mr. Nomiya used it in that one art club meeting I attended. Had to see this blind mastermind Rin wouldn't stop talking about.

"Does that mean you're gonna be dragging me to a wedding soon as well? I don't know how many special event interruptions my schedule can take."

"Rin! Why would you say that?!" I said, trying to shoot an annoyed glare at her. Though it probably doesn't register with the cranberry face I now sported.

"Isn't cooking a wife skill? Your mom told me during one of your track meets that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. She never mentioned she was ever a doctor so I asked how she knew and she said it was just 'wifely wisdom' or something. You think Hisao can comment on this when he gets back. I always forget to ask him."

Rin... I want to shake sense into you so bad sometimes. but I need you right now, so it can wait.

"Well you can ask him after he asks you how you helped me make the awesome meal he's gonna eat!" I am definitely going to keep things on track this time I swear. "I read on the internet that a Christmas dinner in America has things like ham and mashed potatoes and and cranberry sauce. These things take forever to get done and we don't have that. So I need you to help me keep track of things so nothing explodes. It can't be that hard right?"

Rin just looks over all the ingredients again and shrugged. It might has well been a thumbs up coming from her. But it didn't matter because I am determined to make this Christmas the best on for both me and Hisao. And I would be because of my cooking. Time to get to work!

***

"How can anything with this much sugar still be considered a sauce and not a sweet jelly?" I double check the measured out amount of sugar. It looks like it could fill an entire snow globe.

"Maybe the cranberries also feel like clouds and need more than normal," Rin chimed in with after nudging another piece of bread onto the metal tray in neat order. It would be baked and cut up for stuffing later "Sugar is sparkly in light so maybe it's food Christmas lights."

"More like this recipe came from an American website no doubt. They always tend to blow up portions. I'll just use half. Can't hurt that much right?"

***

"Wait, I'm suppose to use milk and heavy cream?" Stupid google translate, getting grammar all wrong. I really should had taken Lilly up on those English tutoring lessons. "No matter, it says it's optional anyways. I just need to use two cups then... Rin?"

"What?"

"You said what we had in the fridge was whole milk right?"

"Yes."

"Well it's not! It's two percent." I said actually looking at the bottle in my brief moment of going between mashed potato bowl to still cooking cranberry sauce."Why did you say it was whole?"

"The milk box seemed completely intact to me."

***

"What do you mean cook the vegetables until they become invisible?" I ask Rin already starting to stir the onions and celery into the melted butter.

"That's what it says. What else does translucent mean?" Rin asks blankly not even looking up from the paper.

"I... that's a science word Hisao used one time... I'll just go until their soft."

"I think the cranberries are going translucent as well. At least the bubbles popping off are."

"EEP, they're done!"

***

"Okay, so maybe the American's were right about the sugar amount. It's very... tart. But, we'll make up for it with sweet honey ham! All I need to do to start is score the meat all over."

"Did it compete in a sport? Seems a bit late to be award anything to it." Rin said, somehow keeping a straight face as she stirred the slowly heating cream.

"Well I don't if there are organized sports for pigs but all I know is I gotta o give this thing quarter inch incisions all along it. Now only call me over when it's time to drop in the spinach, I need to figure out what a quarter inch is on a knife."

***

"I don't think the ham is suppose to look like those paper flowers the boy does in the art club. Unless that was your plan. In which case maybe you should have invited him over to help instead because his stuff looks better."

"Yeah I can see I cut too deeply. Just continue brushing on the honey thing, I'm sure it's thick enough to cover some of it up. You're painting skills should be helpful here then."

"Usually when I paint the stuff stays on the canvas. Or wall. Or general surface of application."

"...So it's too thick then."

***

"Okay... well the spinach came out good..."

I looked over all of the finished products of the day. The extremely tart cranberry sauce. Note to self, really use a lot of sugar. Next was the not so smooth mashed potatoes. Another note to self, use whole milk, cream, and add in at the end "incrementally" instead of all at once by accident. But the stuffing was good... in the places it wasn't burnt because I forgot I turned up the tempature for the ham. Not that it mattered in the end because the ham was a half glazed mess.

All still edible but nowhere near as good as it should be for Hisao. For mom. For anyone really.

"God I really messed up Christmas didn't I? I wouldn't want to eat this!" I pount towards Rin who just looks just as disinterested as she started. I drop my head into my arms and try to think of a way to salvage all of this. But I can't can I? Now Hisao gonna regret staying away from his family, mom not gonna trust me to cook ever again, and-

"I think it doesn't matter if you want to eat it," Rin said before going to sit down next to me. She sniffed the ham for a second before going for a fork. "I think it's a matter of if we want to eat it."

"What?" I looked at Rin, trying to decipher what she actually is saying. Better than throwing a pity party for myself.

"There were times when you brought up rice balls that were overcooked and felt like they were angry for being in my mouth." She popped a loose hanging bit of meat into her mouth in a motion that never ceased to slightly amaze me. "Normally I would just spit something like that out because I'd feel bad for it. Like I do for the clouds."

"Geez, thanks. I don't usually try to make my food pissed off before i serve it." I stir up some mock anger from inside of me, quickly breaking down into a little giggle at the thought of angry little rice balls. "I still don't see your point though. You saying my cooking has always just sucked?"

"No, it's just that you had an off day. And I could tell you being really busy that day from amount you were sweating. And the fact you were later than usual as well. Too many clouds passed. Anyways, I could see that you tried really hard on those rice balls to get them to me. Even though I don't like it when you force me to eat. So I forced myself to like it. And it was easy because I was with you. You make things sweeter when you're around. Like Christmas lights for sad clouds. Now that you made a sad could, we just have to Christmas lights for it to be good."

"Rin..." I looked at her through my watery eyes. I moved over to give her a full hug, a bit awkwardly as she still had a leg jutted out but I still made it work. "That has to be the most nonsensical thing you've ever said that actually made sense. Thank you."

"Hey! Sorry I'm late, I figured I would see if I could pick up some KFC for us to eat and the lines were..." Hisao burst throughout the door with a KFC bad dangling from one of his hands. The other held a covered box. He stopped in his tracks seeing my hugging Rin behind all the food we had made. His face dropped when he seemed to finally understand the scene before him.

"You cooked dinner already? I'm sorry Emi, I should have known you were planning something like this. Maybe we can save this for tomorrow for breakfast and-"

"No, don't worry! I think you'll see soon enough we're gonna need extra food. I think I failed in providing us a whole Christmas meal here." I finally let go of Rin to help Hisao get the bag of food onto the table. I concede to you this year colonel, but just wait until next Christmas. I give him a kiss and a deep hug.

"Well I'm sure it can't be all bad if it's with you. Besides, you left room for my dessert at least."

Hisao set the box from his other hand down onto the table, making it clear it was a bakers box. He lifts up the top to show a tradition strawberry cake. Atop the elegant white frost was a circle of strawberries surrounding a jolly looking Santa sitting on a script of name.

"Merry Christmas Emi."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that was my story. Please tell me if it was any good or not, look forward to my big project in the works for here, and have a very happy new year. Peace to you all, I'm gonna overdoes on Advil and sounds of the ocean to try and sleep now.
-Brister XD

Scroff wrote: Tue Dec 25, 2018 5:43 amAll I Want for Christmas

That was fantastic, thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed writing it.

I'll come back on and comment on everyone else's properly soon, just wanted to respond to my Santa whilst I had a few minutes.

And that was my story. Please tell me if it was any good or not, look forward to my big project in the works for here, and have a very happy new year. Peace to you all, I'm gonna overdoes on Advil and sounds of the ocean to try and sleep now.
-Brister XD

First of all: Welcome!
I think it was a good story, though since my cooking skills are as good as non-existant I can't say much about the intricacies of it
About the only thing that stood out to me was the tenses - most of the story is past tense but in two or three places you slipped into present.

Good Luck with your project, and Merry Christmas!

Another KFC reference FTW!

Okay, this one is posted on behalf of an old hand here - you can find some of his writings here.

Writer: Vekter
Victim: Feurox
Prompt: A Silent Jive under Miseltoe and Snow - I’d like to see Hisao and an likely character enjoying each other’s company before leaving Yamaku for the holidays

___________________________________

Hisao sighed as he turned a page in his textbook. Studying on the last day before vacation wasn’t really what most kids would do to relax, however, he was out of recreational reading and the library had already closed. Plus, the last thing he wanted was to get rusty before the new term starts.

“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell”, he muttered, jotting the note down on the study book next to him. Just spending time doing something constructive was enough to distract him. Most of the student body had already left for winter break, but his parents wouldn’t be by to pick him up until the next day. For once, Hisao had the dorm common room to himself. Peace and quiet, no Kenji ranting, no rough housing.

“Hey Nakai, term’s over. You can put the pencil down.” He started at the sudden sound and turned to see Suzu Suzaku sitting next to him. “Mind if I join you?” She waved a light novel in her hand. Hisao read the cover, something about a girl named Haruhi, one of the popular books among the students.

Hisao nodded. “Sure, I could use some company.” He paid her little mind as he went back to his book. Despite not interacting with her much, it was definitely nice to have someone else nearby.

A few pages of notes later and he heard an odd sound, followed by a thud against his shoulder - Suzu had dropped her book on her lap and fallen asleep, her head landing squarely on his shoulder. Hisao sighed; he knew he couldn’t get much studying done like this, but he didn’t want to wake her up. After all, she looked quite peaceful.

Hisao put his textbook to the side and did his best to unseat her from his shoulder, then grabbed one of the many blankets around the room and covered her up. ‘She’s kind of cute when she’s asleep…’ he thought, grabbing her book and flipping through a few pages. The story seemed interesting - something about a girl with magical powers she didn’t know she had and the impact she had on the world around her.

‘Seems interesting enough. Maybe she’s right, I can study later.’ He sat and read in relative silence, Suzu napping peacefully. It made for a nice scene with the snow falling outside, both of them warm and relaxed, enjoying each others’ company.

Short and Sweet. Some nice implications that don't push too far and fit the spirit of my prompt, really is just a calm, slice of everyday interaction between relative strangers. Thank you Vekter and Thank you Prof for posting this on their behalf. Beautifully done.

Ended up throwing my own story in its own thread because it was a little long for just one post Merry Christmas to you all and gibzx specifically!

The Great Yamaku Holiday Bake Off

Looking forward to reading everyone else's this weekend when I get some more free time!

Since I'm not qualified to make a new thread, here's my submission as a gift to Mineoa.

I kind of bastardized the request, and since the request would be a spoiler for the story, I'm not going to include it here (I have no idea how to do spoiler tags). If you really want to know, it will be at the end.

Anyway, here goes (arggfgh formatting)

------

Hanako awoke with a gasp, the rushed breath grating against her raw trachea. She must have been screaming again in her sleep. For a moment, she feared that she might have woken someone up – but then the veil of sleep started to lift from her mind.

There was no-one here tonight. There was never anyone here.

Hanako sat up on the bed, closing her eyes and pressing her hands together in front of her face and sucking in a deep breath through them. The effort helped her focus and calm herself.

As usual, after her night terror she didn’t feel like staying in bed. Even though her room was cold, she convinced herself to clamber out of bed and go to the toilet. It was a simple action, but it was “real” – something that would sever the ties to the dream-world of her nightmares. She had lost count of how many times she had woken up like this in the past; the experience had moved from one of shock to a routine task. Scare yourself awake. Breathe in. Pee. Sleep again.

When there were others around her it was more of an issue. Hanako knew what was going on in her mind and that she didn’t need anyone to comfort her when the night terrors struck. But to anyone else within earshot it would sound like she was screaming for her life, which usually resulted in people running to her: something she wanted to avoid.

But that was no longer a problem. No-one would come running to her anymore.
Before dragging herself out of her room, Hanako checked the time on her phone. 23:47 on the 24th of December. To millions of children this would have been a magical time, but Christmas was never anything special for Hanako. It simply wasn’t a special day for her. Santa doesn’t deem it fit to visit orphans.

Hanako stood up and dropped her phone back on the nightstand with a dull thud. The noise reverberated around the small room, sounding like a thunderclap against the dead still of night; something that did nothing to help Hanako’s heartrate return to normal.

You can do this she said to herself, walking through the darkened room towards the door. The lock clicked open as she turned the handle. It was a bad habit, but somehow locking the door to her room made her feel safe enough to sleep alone.

As soon as the door was opened a fraction, light flooded in, tearing the darkness from her bedroom.

I didn’t think I left the lights on she thought to herself; her heart refusing to calm itself.

Hanako pushed open the door to the living room and the scene before her beggared belief.

“This… I-isn’t possible…” Her words were so quiet that they may have never left her lips, but the reaction from the forms stalking her living room certainly heard her. Possible or not, Hanako had to deal with the information that her senses were providing her with.

Those senses were now telling her that she was no longer alone in her apartment.

Somehow, three figures had managed to breach her building’s security, and find their way into her living room…

…all of them looking like…

…that.

“W-what are you d-doing here?” she stammered, trying not to let her terror leak through her voice. Don’t panic. She repeated to herself in her head. If you panic, they will know it, and then they’ll kill you.

The tallest figure turned slightly so that its empty eye sockets were staring Hanako in the face, the naked skull smiling fiercely at the frightened university student. Devoid of skin, Hanako was unable to decode its expression, only compounding her fears. It took a creaking, halting step towards her, slowly extending an arm towards her face. Hanako wanted to stand firm against the spectre approaching her, but her body recoiled from the bony, outstretched hand.

The skull’s jaw chattered open and closed, as if trying to speak, but no sound beyond the grinding of teeth could be heard in the small room. The tallest figure turned to the shortest before lowering its arm and shrugging, defeated.

Hanako regained her composure and examined the three skeletons in her room. The tall and short figures were both bleached bone-white, but the central figure was still wrapped in a brown, leathery covering. Its skin was yet to completely rot away. This one looked uncomfortable, shuffling its weight between its feet, as if it were anxious to say something, but couldn’t find the words.
Somehow, the horrific scene was all too familiar to Hanako, but she didn’t for a second believe what she was seeing.

The taller figure walked towards the shortest and placed a gaunt arm over its shoulder. With its other arm, it pushed the leathery skeleton towards Hanako. The uncertain figure lurched towards the petrified girl, but this time she held her composure. The figure clenched its fist in front of its chest before stepping forward, mouth agape. Again, there was no noise, only the slack flapping of dead skin.
“I don’t know what you’re saying!” cried Hanako – terror overriding her natural stutter. The figure stopped its advance and placed a rotting hand over its face before turning back towards the other skeletons. All three jawbones flapped silently for a moment, and Hanako could do nothing but watch. She knew that this was a possibility. She hadn’t been sleeping well recently – with good reason, she thought – and that had always been a trigger.

But never before had she reached this level.

The wall clock slowly ticked away the seconds as the subtle clacking of jaws continued.

The leathery skeleton stopped and nodded before turning back towards Hanako. Gingerly, it stepped forward, putting an icy hand on Hanako’s shoulder. She tried not to react, but felt a shiver run across her body. This felt real. It was real. There was a skeletal hand upon her shoulder. She felt it push her slightly to one side; allowing the skeleton into her room.

She watched as it walked towards the chest of drawers in the far side of the room; the chest of drawers that she hadn’t touched… since that day…

“No! D-Don’t! That’s… that’s not yours…” painful memories stirred in her heart. She didn’t want to see anything inside that chest. Her own clothes were still hanging in the cupboard. That’s just the way things were.

The skeleton hesitated for a moment before, turning its dead face towards Hanako. It tilted its head slightly. Hanako couldn’t understand what it meant, but she nodded in ascent. It turned back to the chest of draws; bony fingers grasping at the wooden knobs. There was a clattering, but the draw didn’t open.

“H-here… let me… let me try,” Hanako whispered, sensing the skeleton’s frustration. The leather-bound creature stepped out of her way, tapping on the top draw’s handle. Hanako fought back a tear and ripped open the draw.
Rows of boxer shorts and men’s socks sat exactly as they had for the last four months. Ever since he… since he put them away the last time.

The leathery skeleton made a pulling motion with its hands. Hanako nodded and pulled the draw out to its full extension. Something rattled against the cheap chipboard backing of the drawer. The skeleton jumped slightly, before reaching in and tapping on a small, black box.

Hanako reached out a trembling hand and grasped the cold box in her hands. The other two skeletons joined them in the bedroom; the smallest one making an ‘open’ motion with its hands. Hanako warily opened the box. She could see the sparkle even before the box was fully open – the stone inside had already caught the dim light from the living room.

“I-it’s beautiful,” Hanako gasped as the full glory of the ring in the tiny box revealed itself. Even through the fear that gripped her, Hanako felt a joy that had escaped her for nearly half a year. An unbidden sob escaped her lips as the swell of emotions became too much to handle.

“D-does this mean y-you’re…?” Hanako tried to speak, but the words didn’t come. But the skeleton understood, nodding for her. Wordlessly, she stepped forward, reaching around the ghoul and embracing it. Chills ran down her spine as the bony arms hugged her back, but she didn’t mind.

“S-so… are they…?” she motioned towards the two older skeletons, who were now standing arm in arm. They nodded in unison before embracing their daughter from the side.

“I miss you all so much…” Hanako wept as the skeletons held her tightly. She tried to squeeze them back… but they were gone. The only clue that they had ever existed was the ring box in her hand. Tenderly, she slipped the diamond ring onto her finger.

“Merry Christmas to you to, Hisao.”

--------

The request was:

Can I have my prompt be that Hanako has been getting presents lately from someone but she doesn't know who, but one day she walks into her room early and there's like two or three skeletons dressed up as santa clause and they're putting presents in her room? I just want the secret santa to be a couple of festive skelleton dudes. Otherwise the story can be anything.

I took the "...story can be anything..." route. I wanted to make it scary but I don't know how to.

That's a really lovely piece of Crud. Some minor typos (e.g. the 'to' at the end) but all is forgiven for great story.

Meanwhile, my own for Riakai is here. Sorry it's a little late. Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Even though it's still December 31st here, I still feel like I have to apologize for being late. It turns out the holidays were much more busy for me than I thought. Still, I'm thankful that I managed to get this out before 2019, at least from my perspective. Hopefully you guys enjoy it.

ProfAllister wrote:Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:48 am Your victim: Zerebos

Show how people can overcome their differences for the sake of the holidays

-----

Kenji Survives the Christmas Apocalypse

The moment Kenji heard the sound of sharp knocks on his door, he knew the feminist invasion had begun. It was the perfect time, of course, with it having been so close to the holiday. The feminists had tons of money from Christmas shopping that they could fund hundreds of wars if they so wished. Everyone's guard was down during the holidays as well, except for Kenji’s of course. He knew the invasion was coming, and he had time to prepare. His room was messy as always, but it was also a capable war room, as well as a makeshift bomb shelter incase the war took to the skies. Yet, he was not as prepared as he could have been. Hisao was missing in action, which Kenji feared had meant he was killed in his sleep by the feminists. Not only that, but he forgot to stock up on pizza before the invasion began, thus making his food supplies only consist of disgusting canned food that he could barely stomach. His milk supply was also running low, which was a very dangerous situation to be put in during a war. Not only that, but his shelter had been found out instantly, leaving him cornered with no means of a safe escape. The feminists had been one step ahead of him this entire time.

However, Kenji wasn’t going down without a fight. Though he knew how dangerous it was to look out his peephole, he was left with no options. Without risks, it was more than likely that he was going to die in here. So, he puffed his chest out and looked through the glass to see which feminist they sent to murder him.

Much to his surprise, it was the student council. He had his suspicions about them before, even with his comrade Hisao dating the president. However, after noticing the pink haired girl’s new hairstyle, he knew something was amiss. Bubbly and loud girls were dangerous enough, but with a haircut so short and so out of the blue, it could very easily mean the worst. Not to mention the student council president’s insistence on ignoring Kenji everytime they interact. It meant to him that she knew he was the greatest threat to the feminist invasion, and they came here to deal with him swiftly.

He wasn’t going to have it. He needed to strike fear into their hearts, enough to possibly scare them enough in order for him to make his escape. Kenji was strong, but not strong enough to take on two feminist warriors. After taking a deep breath and jolting at another set of loud knocks, he started unlocking the various locks on his door. He slowly opened the door, and before the pink haired witch could even utter a single word, Kenji bursted into his loud rant.

“I know why you’re here! To kill me! Well, guess what? It’s going to be a lot harder to kill me than any man you’ve dealt with. I’ve been preparing years for the feminist invasion, acquiring numerous skills the likes of which you wouldn’t even think were possible for a normal human to achieve! I’ve been chugging down protein and milk since I was a baby, growing into the strongest man in Japan! Trying to kill me is the biggest mistake in your lives! But I’m not like you merciless feminists, so I’m going to give you two one chance to walk away. If you don’t, then you’ll only have yourselves to blame…”

Kenji smirked, his confidence gratefully hiding the terror he’s feeling confronting his killers. He knew that if his speech failed to intimidate him, he’d be dead in seconds. Thankfully, the two girls looked completely dumbfounded at what had just occurred. Specifically, the pink haired one, who held her hands up, frozen in disbelief. The president was shocked too, but also a bit annoyed. She wasn’t annoyed at Kenji, though, but rather her annoyance seemed to be towards the pink haired girl.

The president nudged her partner with the elbow, moving her hands swiftly in the air for no rhyme or reason. Kenji recoiled in fear, expecting a curse to befall him at any moment. However, it never occurs.

The pink haired girl snapped out of her shocked trance. “Uh… Sorry to bother you Kenji, er…” she stumbled on her words, looking towards her protegee who only holds a blank expression. “Shicchan wanted to ask you for advice…”

Kenji’s raised his eyebrow, visibly confused at the offer. “Advice? Advice for what? And who the hell is Shicchan?!”

His yell, previously having frozen the student council in place, only manages to get a quick laugh out of the pink haired feminist. It was then that Kenji knew his life was over. “Silly, Shicchan is Shizune!” she said, looking to the president next to her who briefly waves. “And I’m Misha! But~... you probably already knew that. Wahaha!”

As much as he wouldn’t admit to it, he didn’t really know their names. Knowing the names of your enemies is important, but he figured learning their names will allow them to subconsciously attack him mentally at any moment. “Right right. What do you guys what?”

Kenji’s impatience was clear as day, which caused Misha to frown a bit. “Right. Shicchan was trying to surprise Hicch-... Uh, Hisao, with a gift. But, she thinks anything she'll come up with would be too obvious, and she's trying to out surprise Hisao.”

Kenji didn’t understand anything she said, but figured he was being shown mercy. “Out surprise? Why the hell does that matter? Just get him something nice and he won’t care.”

After Misha attempted to put another curse on Kenji, Shizune glares at the man. Kenji closes his eyes and prepares of his death, but the only thing that comes is a reply from Misha. “Then it’s not fun! If you can easily guess what you’re going to get for Christmas, it loses the magic! So, you need to help~.”

It seemed as if he was being held hostage. Was this their attempt to torture him? He gritted his teeth, shaking his head in anger. “Fine. But if you think I’ll break from this torture then you are sorely mistake. I’ve been training my mind and body for numerous torture techniques, so you’re not getting shit from me!”

“Torture?” Misha asked, her face having betrayed her confusion. Shizune’s interest was piqued at the translation, which caused her to start signing with a smug expression. Misha looked to Shizune in shock. “Uh… I don’t think I should say that, Shicchan.”

This only confused Kenji more. Shizune wasn’t saying anything, and yet Misha was able to communicate with her. There was only one one answer to this. “Telepathy!” he yelled, scaring Misha. “You two are using telepathy to communicate, aren’t you?!”

The pink haired girl opened her mouth, only to say nothing at that comment. She looked both scatterbrained and annoyed at the same time. “L-let’s just go look for a gift…”

“Fine,” Kenji glared at the two and he entered the hallway and closed the door behind him. “Just stay out of my mind. I’ve seen stuff you two wouldn’t be able to handle, you know.”

“Uh, okay,” Misha agreed, still confused at the whole debacle that occured. Shizune appeared to be interested in the boy, but refrained from challenging him for the moment. Thus, the trio headed towards the city in silence.

---

The city was bustling with people, some heading to their jobs while others holding bags and boxes of supposed Christmas presents. To Kenji, it was all a blur due to his poor vision. Not only that, but it was a blur of ignorance. They live their lives, unknown of the terrors of the world that Kenji knows. It was sad. However, he had no time to educate them when he was being taken hostage.

The student council had to constantly guide Kenji throughout the city, given he’d often lose track of where he’s going. It was amusing the first few times, but after awhile it had gotten rather tedious. At one point, Kenji almost walked right into oncoming traffic, to which Misha had to grab him by the collar to pull him back.

“Hey!” he said, being pulled back to his previous position on the sidewalk. “You’re not supposed to be that rough with prisoners you know. Geneva Convention stuff.”

“But I saved your life…” Misha said, looking more annoyed than confused. Shizune started signing, to which Misha translated. “If you need the guidance, you really should just hold on to our shoulders rather than walking around with just a vague idea of where we are.”

“No way. That means I don’t have all my hands open in case of a sneak attack.”

Misha doesn’t question his reasoning, continuing to look over the various stores around the city in case anything piqued her interest. Shizune was doing the same thing, though she found it rather boring to window shop. There was no telling what was in the stores themselves, so window shopping produced no real results. Kenji, growing increasingly impatient at just walking around, sighed loudly.

“Why not just get Hisao a book?” he asked, stopping next to a store he thought was a bookstore, but in reality was just a coffee shop. “He reads all the damn time, you know. Like an addict.”

Shizune shook her head upon seeing the translation, signing her rebuttal. “No no no, that won’t do. Like you said, he reads all the time, so he’ll probably go through the book in less than a week and then forget about it. Plus, there’s no telling if he’ll like the book or not, or even if he’s read the book. Not to mention it’s way too obvious!”

“What does the president think about it, though? She’s his girlfriend,” Kenji said, completely unaware of Shizune’s condition. This didn’t shock Misha, who just sighed.

“She… She agrees.” Misha begrudgingly said, not wanting to have to explain that her companion is deaf to a man this deranged.

“Well here’s the problem, Hisao is too bland,” Kenji admitted, rubbing his chin in contemplation. “He only has a few hobbies, most of which he keeps a secret. He considers reading to be a hobby, which is already a bad sign. Reading ain’t a damn hobby, it’s just something you do. He’s gotta have more than that. I tried to get him into bowling one time, but he pussied out…”

“Ah, so you’re saying he’s like a manga protagonist! Super bland and super dense~.” Misha said, laughing to herself. Shizune nodded in agreement, giggling silently.

Kenji, who continued to think on just how boring Hisao was, eventually came to a realization. “He likes science too. He’s good at it, at least. He tutored me once when I was given a trick question that not even my brilliant mind could solve.”

Shizune looked interested at the idea, but have some questions before she went along with it. “What kind of science specifically? There’s way too many fields of studies that we’d need to narrow down before we even think about what to get him.”

“I dunno. Math related science, I think. He’s a numbers guy, which is an important kind of guy to have.”

“Physics?” Shizune asked from Misha’s voice. “I think Hicchan is good at physics, but I don’t know if he likes it, Shicchan. It’s way too boring~.”

That’s when Kenji thought of a brilliant idea. They needed a science that was not only math based, but wasn’t completely boring either. The perfect candidate fell right into his arms. He looked to the girls with a smirk. “We can get him a coding book.”

Shizune looked rather confused at the thought of a getting him what is basically a textbook. Though as she thought about it, the idea did become less and less ridiculous. Coding was math based and it wasn’t as boring as physics. Really, it was one of the only things that made sense to buy and wasn’t also vastly too expensive for them to afford. She nodded, walking back the way they came towards a bookstore they passed without a second thought. This confused Kenji, given he didn’t see the bookstore.

“Jeez, I thought it was good idea…”

After an explanation from Misha, the trio left towards the bookstore. Once they got there, they discovered it was pretty much devoid of life while the other stores around it were filled with people. The store itself was slightly bigger than the Yamaku library and had a variety of different books available. It took the trio a while to actually find the science books, but after asking around, they were greeted to a variety of different coding books all teaching different languages. It was intimidating, to say the least, especially when Kenji really only had barebones knowledge of coding.

The two girls looked to Kenji, expecting him to pick out the perfect book for beginners. He looked over to them with a smirk. “I don’t know which one to pick.”

Misha frowned, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible. “Uh… I’m just going to ask an employee.” With that she quickly left Shizune and Kenji alone. Shizune didn’t really care, deciding to look over a book on C++ for a second. It was clear most of the concepts were going over her head, as her eyes squinted towards the words on the paper. She quickly put the book back, shaking her head towards Kenji.

“What? Too simple? Hisao is a pretty smart guy, but the basics are good if you’re just starting out.”

Shizune started signing as if Misha was there, which caused Kenji to take a defensive stance. “Hey, I thought we were past the incantation stage of the torture. It hasn’t worked yet, so what makes you think it’ll work now?”

Her expression betrayed her frustration. She quickly rummaged through her bag, taking out a small notepad from it. She continued to look through the bag for another second before sighing. Looking at Kenji, she started to move her hand across the page as if she were writing on it. He looked really confused for a moment, before sticking a hand into his pocket and handing her a pen.

“I dunno why you don’t just talk. Playing charades can be good if you’re trying to be sneaky, but I’m right in front of you, so there’s no point.”

Shizune began writing on the paper, handing over the notepad and pen to Kenji with a small message on it. “These books are like giving him homework. It’s too dense, and it won’t be fun.”

Kenji shakes his head. “That’s what makes it good,” he explained, saying it outloud rather than writing on the notepad. “It lets him read it for longer than a week. Plus with this he can learn a new hobby that isn’t completely useless when the war breaks out.”

Shizune tapped her finger on the notepad in quick succession, confusing Kenji even more. Regardless, he writes what he said on the paper verbatim. She looks it over, twirling the pen in her hand as she thinks of the situation. After a few seconds, she writes a note and hands it to Kenji. “It’s not perfect, is the problem.”

He looks at the words with an annoyed expression. Sighing to himself, he said out loud “You don’t get this,” before writing his note to Shizune. “You’re his girlfriend, pretty much anything you give him is perfect in his eyes. Even if it’s stupid or useless in the apocalypse, it matters cause it came from someone you know and care about.”

Shizune reads the note just as Misha returns with newfound knowledge. “Okay~! So the employee doesn’t know either. But she said that a lot of people buy the… Python book, I think she said.”

Shizune signed something to Misha, which caused her to frown. “Aww… Well, okay, we’ll come back another time,” she said, turning to Kenji with an apologetic face. “ Sorry Kenji, looks like Shizune’s gonna pass on this present.”

“What? Why the hell would she do that,” he asked, looking at the president with a glare. She smirked, signing once again to Misha whose face brightened up rather quickly.

“Oh~! It’s because this is your present to Hisao, Kenji. You came up with it after all!”

Kenji was shocked. He hadn’t really thought of getting Hisao anything for Christmas, though that was mainly because he didn’t want to fund the feminist agenda. The more he thought it over, however, the more he grew to like the idea of giving him a gift. Especially something that he thought Hisao would like. It was clear to Kenji that Hisao didn’t always care for his theories and facts on the upcoming feminist invasion, but he was pretty much Kenji’s only friend. Regardless of if Hisao felt the same or not, he wanted to give him something. He smiled softly, nodding at the student council as he picked up the python book from the shelf.

---

Kenji knew Hisao was leaving Yamaku today for a possible Christmas infiltration mission, but he was still unprepared for it. It was only a few days since he got him his gift, and Kenji had yet to wrap it up. Eventually, he decided it was best to just stick one of those cheap store bought bows on top of the cover and call it a day. The moment he heard Hisao open his door, Kenji started to furiously unlock the locks on his door to catch him before he leaves. Luckly, as he opened his door, Hisao was standing right there in waiting.

“Oh, sup dude?” Kenji asked, nonchalantly holding the book behind his back.

“Hey Kenji,” Hisao replied, looking rather tired, which Kenji noticed right away.

“Damn, you look shit bro.”

“Thanks for telling me,” He said, rubbing his eyes as he held the handle for his luggage. “Look, sorry, I have to go soon with Shizune, so I can’t exactly chit-chat about feminist conspiracies or anything.”
“Hey hey hey, what makes you think I’m gonna talk about that right now?” Kenji asked in an annoyed tone. “I just wanted to say goodbye, man. You know, wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Stuff like that.”

“Oh,” Hisao’s expression warms up surprisingly. He lets go of his luggage for a second and extends his hand out to shake. Before he could say anything further, Kenji extended the coding book out for Hisao to grab. It caused him to jolt in surprise, though he takes the book and looks it over. He reads the cover, skimming over a few pages for a second before closing the book. Looking back at Kenji, he gives him a warm smile, holding out his fist in front of him. “Thanks man. Merry Christmas.”

Kenji completely ignored the fist bump and went in for a bro-hug.

Thank you Crud. That wasn't what I was expecting and cought me completely off guard. That was a wonderful story and honestly I felt like I was about to cry when i realized it was Hisao. I mean, that caught me REALLY off guard. I really appreciate the story. It was fantastic.

Pablo, that is not at all the set of characters I expected with that prompt, but that's a good thing. I actually really liked the cast you chose and how you brought them together. Kenji stories like this are always hilarious and this is no exception. I think your characterization of him was pretty good for most of it, he just seemed a bit *too* receptive to being with Misha and Shizune. But him being too much of a dolt to realize she's deaf was perfect

All in all, I really enjoyed this, it was really unique. Thanks Pabs!