Buying a Tree (Exposition)
"It's too big."
"I don't recall you saying that last night."
Satoshi had the decency to blush, Yoshiki on the other hand, did not.
It was their first year having Christmas together, in the same apartment at least. They had done plenty of secret Santa's in years past, but after the events at Heavenly Host, that dream seemed long gone.
Of course, Satoshi supposed it could have been much worse. They all could have died and stayed at that cursed school, but by some fortunate events, Satoshi had been able to change their cursed fate.
They had performed the charm wrong, though managed to escape. Everyone had gone home, yet had no recollection of their memories. Except Satoshi.
Originally, it had been hard trying to convince his friends that yes, if they did do the Sachiko Forever After charm, they would damn their existence to something far greater than the horrors of any hell imaginable. They had all called him a wimp, but Satoshi never regretted taking the paper doll and chucking it out into the rain.
They gradually regained their memories, and then some.
Ever since then, the group had been fractured. The thoughts of what their friends had done, the possibilities in the various split timelines.
The rift had been too large to simply put behind them.
Satoshi hadn't heard from Ayumi since graduation.
"I've lost... my will to live…"
"You need to find Shinozaki… and then… go home…"
"You're... a real jackass, you know that?"
"Check it out, Mochida! I killed her!"
"The filthy pig is gone now! You're free to be with me! Come on, let's get out of here together!"
"Heh, sorry, Nakashima. Looks like I get the guy after all."
In the end, neither had gotten the guy.
After gradually regaining their memories, after seeing what could have happened, they all realigned their priorities.
Naomi and Satoshi had talked it out. Naomi realized she loved Seiko, and it was clear that Seiko loved her more than anything. Satoshi respected it, hell, he was beyond happy for them. Seiko deserved happiness, and as one of Naomi's best friends, Satoshi knew Seiko would make her happier than Satoshi ever could.
Of course, Naomi had felt awful. It was no secret they had a thing going between them, but Satoshi had waved her off.
He was in love with someone else. And, similar to Naomi, it was his best friend all along.
Somehow, that brought him here.
"Yoshiki, we are not having a tree taller than our ceiling," Satoshi said, staring at the tree his boyfriend kept frantically pointing to with distaste.
"Pretty please! It would be hilarious," Yoshiki pleaded, giving Satoshi the best puppy eyes he could muster.
Satoshi merely gave him a flat look in return. He was used to puppy eyes, Yuka still had yet to grow out of trying that old trick. On the other hand, Yoshiki could not resist Satoshi's puppy eyes, ever.
Satoshi called it a blessing, Yoshiki called it a curse.
"You can pick the tree we put in the shop, but I'm picking the tree we put in the apartment."
Yoshiki briefly weighed his options, then proceeded to nod, "yeah, I can get on board with that. But what if the tree in our apartment is too small…" Yoshiki then began to grin, a mischievous grin that alerted Satoshi to the trouble that was coming.
Suddenly, the blond charged at him, scooped him up, and began to whoop, "how will I ever get my star on the tree! You'd snap the smaller ones!"
As Yoshiki ran forward, Satoshi couldn't help the laughs that bubbled up inside his chest. He was dating a moron.
A kind, amazing, lovable, moron.
"Put me down! If Seiko sees-"
Of course, speak of the devil and she will appear.
"Satoshi! Yoshiki! Scandalous! Darling, cover your poor virgin eyes!" A feminine voice cried.
Yoshiki finally slowed down and placed Satoshi on the ground. In front of the pair was two girls, two girls who were about to embarrass them into not leaving their home for a week.
"Hey Satoshi, think I could lift you?" Naomi teased, wrapping her arm around Seiko's shoulder as Seiko continued to cackle.
"Probably," he whispered, miserably.
The other three burst into fits of laughter, but Satoshi couldn't stop the reddening of his cheeks.
"Yeah, my girlfriend is just the absolute strongest!" Seiko yelled, smugly.
"False, mine is," Naomi countered
"Oh my god," Seiko said, "Did I just fall in love with you all over again?"
"So, who's the strongest then?" Satoshi asked.
"Anyone but you."
The group began to laugh hysterically at Naomi's comment. Satoshi glared at the wheezing blonde, willing him with his eyes to end this horrible teasing.
"Well, now that we've all laughed at my poor innocent boyfriend-" "One more mean comment and we may have to rethink that title" "-let's all saw down my tree!"
Seiko and Yoshiki went to work, sawing at the base of the tree as Satoshi scanned the other pines in the lot, trying to find a normal tree for their apartment.
"It's crazy, isn't it."
Satoshi spun around, giving Naomi a curious glance, "what is?"
"How did we get here? Seiko and I are getting married next summer, you and Yoshiki run a successful business, you're close to getting your bachelors degree, and… all because we survived a living hell. We're buying Christmas trees! That's so… adult!"
"Yes Naomi, we are adults."
"You know what I mean."
Satoshi did know. When he was at Kisaragi, he thought he had everything figured out. He'd go to school, graduate, go to college, become a teacher, marry a nice girl like Naomi, and have two kids.
Yet, things went so differently, and he was eternally grateful for that.
Because here Satoshi was, living in California, going to California State, running a successful business with not only his best friend, but his boyfriend, and he lived down the road from two of his closest friends, who were practically like two annoying sisters.
He couldn't have asked for anything more-
"Babe, I know you said you were picking the tree for the living room, but this one-"
Maybe he could have asked for Yoshiki's IQ to be just a few points higher.