"I jus' don't get it!" the boy cried, stomping one booted foot on the hard-packed snow in a display of helpless frustration. He continued to rub his reddened eyes with one mitten-clad fist, but the movements weren't enough to keep tears from streaming down his pink cheeks, which were chapped and half-numb from the bitter winter wind. He was tall for a nine-year-old, nearing four and a half feet in height already, and seemed to be appropriately lanky, with arms and legs stretched so long he appeared to occasionally have difficulty using them properly. His coarse brown hair was cut rather short, but what little of it there was looked as though it had not seen a comb in weeks, falling in a tangled mess around his ears and the back of his neck. In his free hand, he clutched something dark blue and pliant, crumpled tightly against the bulky mass of his bright red coat. "He wasn' like this b'fore..."
A few feet to his right, a girl with waist-length crimson hair cast him a sidelong glance; her expression was mostly impartial, but there was a subtle hint of concern in the way her eyebrows knit together and in the way her deep chestnut eyes focused intently on his partially-concealed face. Though she appeared to be no older than her companion, there was a certain air about her that spoke of an uncanny maturity - either that, or she just seemed several times more mature when compared to the decidedly childish boy beside her. She was dressed rather strangely for the season, wearing little else besides an elaborate ankle-length black dress, framed with white lace at the ends of both sleeves, the bottom of the hem, and the throat; with her eerily pale skin and rather blank expression, the child looked very much like a lovely porcelain doll. Still, despite her minimal attire, the girl did not seem cold at all, even as a harsh wind began to blow that elicited a shiver from the boy beside her. Finally, after a few quiet moments in which the only sound was of her friend's muffled sniffles and heavy breathing, the girl spoke.
"Junpei," she began, averting her eyes as he finally lowered his arm to turn his watery, baleful gaze onto her. "maybe you're just imagining things. He's your dad, and that means he can't hate you."
"No!" Junpei shouted, shaking his head hard and squeezing his eyes shut to hold back the tears that threatened once more. "I'm not imaginin' it! He's been gettin' madder an' madder lately, an' then, this last time, he... he..." He shut his mouth abruptly then, locking his jaw and dipping his head low, reaching one hand up to gingerly pat at a slightly-swollen stretch of skin on his left cheek. The girl beside him was silent for a few moments, simply watching him with something quite like sympathy etched across her delicate features as he attempted to compose himself. Finally, he spoke up again, his voice little more than a mumble. "I dunno what I did, Chidori... I wanna say sorry, but I don't even know what I did to make him so mad at me..."
The redhead leaned towards him then, her pink lips turned down slightly in what was almost a frown, and balanced herself precariously on the tips of her calf-high black leather boots to reach high enough to place a few gentle pats atop the boy's scruffy head of hair. Dropping back onto her heels, Chidori clasped her hands behind her back and tilted her head to get a better view of Junpei's face. "I'm sure it will all be okay. He'll tell you what he's mad about eventually, and by then, he won't be mad anymore. My dad does that sort of thing sometimes, too, but he always forgives me in the end," she added, apparently trying to reassure him.
"But... what'm I gonna do about Christmas?" Junpei asked, his voice suddenly hushed and anxious. He began to fiddle nervously with the object in his hands, squeezing it tightly and twisting it back and forth against his stomach, and he stared at the ground, his expression gloomy and abashed. "What if he goes out on Christmas Eve, like he does ev'ry night, an'... an' doesn't come back in time?" The brunette finally stopped fidgeting, his shoulders drooping visibly as all the fiery spirit of a few moments prior seemed to leave him. "I don't even care about the presents or any o' that stuff... I jus'... What if he misses Christmas?" he asked in a whisper, looking almost haunted at the thought.
Chidori did not speak for a few moments, simply staring at Junpei and then up at the gray sky above them, seeming to be deep in thought. "It's okay, Junpei," she finally said, turning back towards him with a small smile. She reached toward him, ignoring the way he seemed to subtly flinch away from her (probably because it seemed less out of any real fear than because he still believed she had cooties), and smoothly snatched the crumpled navy mass from his loosened fist. Just as the brunette opened his mouth to complain, Chidori shook out the bundle and leaned up once more to jam the baseball cap onto his head. She giggled quietly at the way the oversized hat fell down into his eyes, its brim crooked on his head, and the at the way the strange white symbol was distorted from how the hat had been crushed against him. As the boy grumbled and finally righted his father's cap on his head enough to peer out from beneath it with a pout, the redhead turned away, clasping her hands behind her back once more as she looked towards the horizon, upon which a familiar figure had appeared. "If your dad doesn't come home for Christmas, we can share mine. I promise."
Inexplicably, Junpei's face began to turn pink as he gazed at his friend with wide eyes and a tight-lipped expression of surprise. "T-that's..." he stammered, apparently at a loss for what to say. Finally, he turned away and crossed his arms across his scrawny chest with a quiet huff. "That's dumb. I don't wanna be with your dad, I wanna be with mine. B'sides, your dad isn't even really... y'know, your dad!" he countered, kicking at a small outcropping of ice on the curb beside him and still refusing to make eye contact with Chidori.
"And what difference does that make?" A soft, cool voice cut in on Junpei almost as soon as he had finished speaking, and the boy nearly lost his balance as he stumbled backward in surprise. As he finally righted himself and mustered up the courage to glance towards the source of the voice, his eyes fell upon he man he'd least wanted to see at that moment. The teen's shoulder-length, stringy blonde hair fell into his golden eyes, which were narrowed in mild distaste. His one heavily-tattooed arm reached for Chidori, a pale, long-fingered hand resting gently atop her head as he cocked an eyebrow and gazed at the startled brunette, evidently still waiting for a reply.
"N-nothin'," the boy muttered, hastily averting his eyes once more with an embarrassed reddening of his already-pink cheeks. "It doesn' matter... S-sorry." For several moments, there was silence, with the redhead and the blonde simply staring at Junpei, one in concern and the other in growing amusement. Finally, as though eager to break the eerie quiet, the brunette cleared his throat and asked in a forcibly casual tone, "Aren't you guys cold? It's friggin' freezin' out here, an' yer barely wearin' anythin..."
"Not all of us," the blonde began, cutting in on Junpei again with a soft sneer, "are able to afford appropriate clothes for the season." At this, he cast an appraising eye over the boy's bright red coat before turning away, bringing his hand down to Chidori's shoulder to guide her along beside him. "And not all of us need them."
As he turned to leave, the redhead paused, tugging out of his grip for a moment to turn towards Junpei one more time. "I still mean it, you know. If he doesn't come back, just come to my place, and you can spend Christmas with us!" The teen behind her grimaced, looking far from pleased with his "daughter"'s suggestion, but he said nothing, instead shaking his head with a quiet sigh. Chidori gave her friend a rare, warm smile before turning and slipping back to the blonde's side. "Merry Christmas, Junpei," she called over her shoulder, reaching up to grip the teen's hand in her own and disappearing towards the alleyways from whence they had come.
"'Not all've us can afford clothes,'" Junpei muttered once they were out of sight, pitching his voice a little deeper in a mocking attempt to mimic the tattooed boy's earlier words. Still, he clutched at his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face as he stared intently at the ground below him. "Sharin' a dad for Christmas..." he whispered, pulling the oversized cap off his head and hugging it to himself once more. "No way I'd ever wanna hang out with that creepy dude, but... Still..."
Shaking his head roughly, the brunette jammed the hat onto his own head once more, a small, pleased grin working its way onto his face despite himself. "Thanks, Chidori," he said with a sheepish chuckle before taking off down the snow-covered street. Somehow, just somehow, Junpei knew that whatever happened, this Christmas was going to be a good one.