Happy Holidays!

50 Themes: 20, 32, 40

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"Are you a fruitcake?"

The boy straightened. "What was that, Weasel?"

"A FRUITCAKE, idiot! It's this cake with fruit in it. It's a holiday thing."

They glared at one another over the desk.

"I know what it is," he grumbled at her. Impulsively, he ran a hand through his hair and then turned abruptly away stalking toward his seat.

Misao sighed. Sano was such a-

"Makimachi-san, take your seat."

Her mouth twisted into a frown and she plopped down. The teacher stepped in, slid the door closed and sat his briefcase on the desk.

"Pass your homework toward the front please."

Misao reached back to take the papers as they were passed up. She sat in the first row. Stupid teachers and their stupid seating arrangements… he just wanted to keep an eye on her. She glowered at her desk tucking her homework at the very bottom of the stack. This was her last year in high school. She could almost taste the freedom.

Better than that, it was almost Christmas. She loved Christmas. She dressed up in silly suits, bought bells to wear around her neck, bought and elaborately decorated packages for her friends and family, it was great. She propped her elbows up on the desk and wondered if the school would suspend her if she dyed her hair red and green.

"Makimachi-san, pay attention!" the teacher snapped.

When class ended, Misao was more than ready to go. Spotting a friend in the hall she grabbed her stuff and dashed out quickly almost dropping several of her texts along the way.

"Kaoru! I got a job!" she called excitedly.

The other girl slowed and turned back. "A job?"

Misao nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, at the mall, I'm an elf!"

Behind her there was a scoff. "Nah, you're a weasel."

She reached back to smack the boy following and missed. "Shut up, Sano!" He just grinned at her.

"What do you mean, you're an elf?" Kaoru asked.

"They have a Santa at the mall and they had openings for elves so I applied and they hired me! Isn't it great? I got my costume! I'm wearing green with these red and white striped tights and a cute short skirt and really cute pointed shoes with bells. And pointy ears! Actually, I have bells on my hat, too. I wonder if they'd let me wear one of those little reindeer headbands…?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Kaoru asked. "An elf?"

Misao turned back to face Sano. "She's clearly jealous."

Sano glanced at Kaoru. "Nah, she knows she isn't pretty enough, not even to be an elf!"

"WHAT!" Kaoru roared.

Sano took off and Misao sighed as Kaoru chased after. They didn't understand the joys of being an elf, obviously. She put on her smile and dashed outside.

Work tonight! Whoo hoo!

Misao was at full speed when she ran into the mall almost crashing into a guy in a suit by the Santa display. He was tall, much taller than her and his eyes were very stern. He grabbed her arms to stop her progress and sort of glared down at her. The dark material of his suit crinkled at the elbows as he held her there. Why was she noticing that? She looked up.

"You're late," he deadpanned.

She blinked and then frowned. "Hey, mister, that's no way to speak to an elf! I am a harbinger of Christmas joy!"

He blinked as though astonished. "You're… Makimachi-san, right?"

She nodded. "Heard of me?"

"No, you're the only missing elf. Get up there."

"Okay, no need to be pushy," she snapped. "What are you, the Grinch?"

"Shinomori Aoshi, I am the manager of this… event. "

She bit her lip as she stared at him. Dark hair, blue eyes, pale but nice complexion… Shinomori, huh?

"Aye, aye, Captain!" she saluted him and dashed toward where she saw the other elves on the stage amongst the piles of fake snow and Christmas trees.

She was insane.

The girl was insane.

She was given to dramatic utterances. She was skipping around. She was loud and the children loved her. Even the parents loved her, smiling amongst themselves. The girl had been right; she was a harbinger of Christmas joy. It was amazing.

"MAIL! Anyone have mail for Santa?"

He cringed. She was so damn loud! They could probably hear her clear down the other end of the mall. He longed for the tranquility of his apartment, perfectly organized, suited to his sedate personality. The mall was full of too many sights and sounds and distractions… He still had homework to finish for his classes at the University.

"What do you mean there's no mail? How could that be?"

He looked up at the crestfallen voice. The girl was frowning. It wasn't anything like the frown she'd given him earlier. It was true disappointment. She whipped around and pointed to one of the other elves.

"You! Run down to the office store and grab some paper, pencils, and crayons! Hurry!"

Surprisingly, the other elf did just that. Aoshi watched wondering if he should intervene. The Santa project was an experiment to see if the mall would benefit from the appearance. That girl though… she wasn't the kind of girl to live in a calmly colored room.

She wouldn't be lonely.

She wouldn't spend her holidays by herself.

She wouldn't stay in her room and try to pretend it wasn't a holiday.

She was nothing like him.

Who had hired her?

She was, he had to admit, terrific for the job.

His eyes drifted back to her at a squeal of laughter. She was hoisting a little girl onto Santa's lap.

"Children! Wishing for giant mechs to destroy Tokyo is a naughty wish, not a nice one!"

He needed to focus or his count would be off. His job was to monitor the visitors, not watch the girl. He looked back to his clipboard.

"What? What do you mean 'are there fire-breathing reindeer?'"

"To melt the snow in case there's a snowstorm!" the enthusiastic child replied. He was a small boy in a red coat, head covered by a tiny Santa cap.

Aoshi's lips quirked at the puzzled expression on the girl elf's face. "Um… no… Reindeer don't breath fire, they fly. They might dance, but they definitely don't breathe fire. I think they dance, but I've never been able to catch one doing it."

"Then how do you get out of blizzards?"

"Do you mean how do the reindeer get out of the barn if they're snowed in or how do they fly through the blizzard?" she asked. She had crossed her arms and was now looking quite determined.

"How do they get out of the barn?"

"The only time that happened that I remember, Sasquatch dug them out."

"Sasquatch?" the boy asked eyes wide.

"He's a snow monster, but he likes Santa. Just because it's the North Pole doesn't mean all it does it snow. It just snows a lot."

The boy looked scandalized. "You're making that up!"

"I AM NOT!" She pulled on her hat, her bells jingled. "I am being doubted! Elf's never lie! Santa, is this boy on the naughty list?"

The man in the Santa suit laughed. "Come here, child… Tell me your Christmas wishes."

Misao frowned, her lips twitched. "Not believing me…" she turned to the next child.

"Who's the girl?"

Aoshi turned to see his boss standing over his shoulder, her expression taut. Takani Megumi was not a fan of Christmas, but he had heard her supervisors were interested in the increased revenue that might be gleaned from the Santa project.

"Makimchi Misao," he answered. "Should I remove her?"

"No, keep her name," the woman replied. "If I keep this stand open I want her back here."

Aoshi nodded.

"That was surprisingly exhausting." Misao sighed and collapsed onto the bench a space away from Aoshi. She turned toward him. "What do you want for Christmas, Grinch?"

He spared her a glance. "Peace and quiet."

"That's boring," she replied before her attention was taken by someone else.

"Hey, Misao! You got 27 letters for Santa, what are you going to do with them?" Another teenage girl in an elf suit came over and handed the plastic bowl to Misao.

"Mail them, of course."

"M-mail them? Are you crazy?"

Misao looked up grinning. "Of course not, lots of people mail Santa letters, they obviously go somewhere."

"Yeah, the post-office trashcan," the girl quipped.

Misao stood up. "You are NOT an elf!"

The girl backed up a pace. "You are the oddest person I've ever met. Ever. Can I get paid; I have other stuff to do!" she huffed.

Aoshi held out an envelope, the girl took it and stalked off.

"You need a better Christmas wish, Grinch. Want me to write you a letter for Santa and mail it with the others?" she asked sitting back down.

He ignored her.

"Here." He held out her envelope and she took it without a word.

"Thank you." She stood up languidly and stretched. "What a day… You look sad, Grinch, so take this."

He looked up to see a sprig of green being tossed at him. She smiled as the branch of mistletoe landed on his clipboard.

"Someone gave it to me on my way in the mall but I've been feeling kind of weird carrying it around in my pocket… I'm tempted to whip it out and maul someone with kisses or something so you better keep it. I think you're more responsible with such an awesome power."

Their eyes met.

"You're a strange girl, Makimachi-san."

She beamed a smile at him. "I'm an amazing girl, Shinomori-san. Have a good holiday."

Aoshi watched her drift away, the bells on her outfit making tiny jingling sounds as she walked.

"KAORU! Hey! Look, I'm an elf!"

He watched another girl approach her, an uneasy look on her face. Likely the same age with possibly longer hair. "Misao…" she laughed. "You're amazing."

"I know," Misao grinned at her. "Actually, this was really fun, I'm glad I did this. I got 27 letters for Santa. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to get a picture of you in your elf suit, why else? You know I'm on yearbook club, right?"

"Ooohh! Take a pic! Wait, wait! By the Christmas tree!"

He watched as Misao pulled the other girl over toward the display. The elf girl started posing, waving, holding up a peace sign, blowing kisses.

"Take a picture already, Kaoru!" she whined.

"All right, already! I need a minute to adjust the camera. The school equipment is temperamental."

A moment later, he saw a flash and heard the bells tinkling again. He looked up again as he heard male laughter.

"What the hell is that?"

It was a boy, tall, lanky, brown colored hair. Was it the girl's boyfriend?"

She smiled sweetly. "You want a butt-kicking, Sano? I also deliver Christmas justice!"

"Come on, Misao, change and let's go shopping," the other girl, Kaoru, urged.

"No. I like Christmas, I like being dressed up this way, if you don't want to be seen with me, just leave." Aoshi turned his eyes toward the girl again, surprised at the sharpness in her voice. Was the boy not her boyfriend then?

"Makimachi-san," he called and her head turned toward him.

"Yes, Shinomori-san?"

Not grinch?

He stood smoothly and glided toward her. "Friends of yours?" he asked as he approached.

He slipped a hand into his pocket.

She crossed her arms moodily. "Maybe, we'll see."
"Misao! My gosh, you know we aren't into this holiday thing as much as you…" the other girl almost sounded as if she were whining, Aoshi thought. "Besides, aren't you really too old for this?"

Aoshi reached out and snatched the cap from the Misao's head, startling her and keeping her from replying. He towered over her. She looked up at him, her bright eyes wide.

"If you try to steal my hat, Shinomori-san, I'll smack you good." Her voice was caught between seriousness and amusement as if she were uncertain of his motivations.

His lips quirked at her. "I want you to keep the hat, Makimachi-san. I came over here for this."

He withdrew the green sprig from his pocket and watched her eyes widen in surprise. "Yeah, but I don't want that back, I told you already I'd probably attack some poor soul and-"

He extended it over her head with one hand and reached for her with the other, tilting her chin higher.

Softly, their lips met. He heard the other two, her friends, gasp in surprise. The kiss was short and chaste. He stood straight and peered down at her watching her cheeks flush.

"You have too much Christmas spirit to contain in one area of the mall," he remarked, reaching for her hand. "Let's go for a walk."

She nodded and gave her friends a half wave. She walked along beside him and he thought he felt physically lighter. Who was this strange girl that had barged into his life no more than four hours ago and assaulted his ears with nonsense ever since?

Why had he kissed her? Why had he taken a walk with her?

"Oh! Look!" She grabbed his arm and pointed to a video store where a cartoon was playing on the screen. "Have you ever seen that! That is an awesome Christmas show let's go watch!"

As she yanked him toward the store, he knew why he'd kissed her. He knew why he'd asked her to walk with him. He wanted some of that Christmas cheer. He wanted someone who wasn't sedate and colorless. He was tired of being alone.

Along the way, he tossed the sprig of mistletoe into a trashcan.

He wouldn't need it.

Clutched on his arm, she pointed up toward the TV. "That's the Grinch, he tries to steal Christmas. Oh! You want to do something even more fun than this, come on!"

He was beginning to think he might have a happy holiday after all.

AN: I could really see Misao as a Santa's elf in the mall. Ah, I amuse myself so...