A/N: Since I'm more or less free now I've decided to pick up writing again as a hobby :) This short collection will consist of Christmas stories for you to snuggle up with a warm mugful of hot chocolate, hence the name of the collection! I'm also hoping to get into a Christmassy mood through this. Happy holidays, everyone!
01: Stealing
Summary: Natsume is not too happy to find out that his neighbour is stealing his gold Christmas decorations off his front yard.
Natsume isn't one for all of the Christmas hoo-ha, because he knows that Santa Claus does not exist, and reindeers cannot fly. Logically speaking, Nastume thinks as he pours himself his morning coffee, such an obese man with probably twice of his waistline cannot possibly fit into a chimney, let alone with a giant sack of goodies and land safely without injuries. And how do reindeers fly without any wings and such a dense bone structure? Pft, Natsume inwardly snorts at the poor children who have been tricked. Christmas is only a holiday to help people get past the cold, he concludes.
But despite that, Natsume decides to put out some Christmas decorations this year in his new house. His neighbour has already gotten a headstart, and he thinks that if he doesn't put out some soon, she'll probably annoy the hell out of him just so that he would. Be more joyful, Natsume, that's what she would scold. Natsume shudders at the thought of her whiny voice getting forced into his ears. To shove off the feeling, he quickly downs his coffee and sets about to searching for some Christmassy things. After a good rummaging, he manages to find a box full of decorations of red and gold assortments. He bundles himself up in a scarf and a winter coat before heading out into the yard with his box.
When Natsume is done, he stands a few feet away to observe his work. It's not bad, he nods approvingly. Even though he only managed to bag a C for Art back in middle school, the decorations are actually quite appealing and he thinks that if his teacher were to grade this, it would have been a B. Feeling satisfied, Natsume packs up and heads down to the mall to meet Ruka for dinner.
Natsume returns to his house with a happy tummy but his mood soon crashes when he realises that all of his gold decorations are missing.
All the red ones are still intact though. Natsume is extremely puzzled and he searches the grass to see if they've perhaps miraculously fallen to the floor altogether. After a good five minutes of standing in his backyard and scratching his head, he looks over to his neighbour's place and sees that the originally red-and-white themed decorations in his neighbour's front yard has an added colour scheme: gold.
The nerve of that stupid idiotic girl, Natsume curses in exasperation. His neighbour actually stole his decorations? And then she puts it for display in his face? Natsume resists the urge to face palm and as calmly as he can, stalks up to her door and pounds on the hard wood.
He hears a "Coming! Ugh, you don't have to knock so hard, I hope your knuckles fall off" before the door flings open to reveal a pretty brunette who is panting slightly.
He clears his throat. "Pardon me for my rudeness, pigtails," Natsume begins tersely, "but I must say that you are extremely stealthy about stealing my golden Christmas decorations. I mean, I totally didn't notice that you did because it was right in my face."
Natsume almost grins when her face turns red. The brunette, Mikan, sputters for a moment before she settles on, "Uh, Christmas is about giving?"
"Giving," Natsume emphasises, "is not stealing." He gestures to her front yard. "And that is stealing."
Mikan pouts. "But it was too pretty! I couldn't have your yard prettier than mine, Natsume." She clasps her hands together. "Can't I have them? Please? Pretty please! I'll do anything!" When Natsume doesn't reply her with anything save for a poker face, Mikan throws in, "I'll even let you steal anything from my house… um, take anything!"
Natsume looks at the girl in disbelief. There is silence as he contemplates, before he smirks a bit. He sees Mikan look at him through suspicious squinted eyes, before speaking. "Um, okay I change my mind I'll return them later bye—"
Before the girl can slam the door, he jams his foot into the space between the door and shoves it open again with his foot. He manages to catch Mikan as she stumbles, and swoops down quickly to push his lips to hers before she can collect herself.
"I've stolen a kiss. It's by installment, considering you stole half of my yard decorations. I'll come by again tomorrow. Bye." Natsume kisses her again, smirks and leaves the brunette standing by the door, mouth agape.
When Natsume enters his house and unbundles himself, that's when he hears the belated scream from his neighbour.
Natsume smiles. Okay, so maybe he did give Christmas a bit too little credit.
A/N: So how was it? I hope you enjoyed the first installment! Do look out for more :)
Do drop a review or a favourite if you will! Thanks a lot!