Ok, so here is short little Christmas story featuring the classic 'Nico as Santa' idea!
I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays!
"Alright Yazawa-san! Your shift is over, the other Santa has arrived! Pick up your paycheck from the manager's office before you leave."
"Thank god."
"Alright, thank you very much!"
Nico sighed as trudged over to pick up her much needed paycheck. Because the holiday season required a lot of extra spending, she had decided to take up a seasonal part time job at a local department store. She was originally going to be Santa's elf at a department store, but found herself working as a short Santa Claus instead when another worker called in sick. Since Nico is very thin and short, the manager had insisted she wear a cotton sack tied around her waist to make it seem more Santa-like. So that she wouldn't look pregnant, the cotton was spread evenly all around her waist. Because of the extra weight she carried, Nico found it difficult to move around the store. She would take it off, but since the knot was tied behind her back, she couldn't reach it herself. She would just have to wait to get home to have her mom untie it. Plus, her siblings would probably enjoy having a visit from Santa, although it was making it very inconvenient for Nico at the moment. It didn't matter though, now that she had extra money to spare. Browsing through the department store she picked out a few items for her siblings. She also picked out stuffed reindeer to keep in her room. She like decorating even her room for holidays. Pushing her shopping cart around, she searched for one more gift. The one gift she was nervous about buying. The gift for the rich, beautiful, Maki Nishikino. While the red head was a beloved member of Muse, there was the undeniable fact that she was a rich heiress and could probably having anything she wanted for Christmas. On the other hand, Nico was working on a budget, and couldn't really afford to splurge on an expensive item for the pretty girl even if she wished she could.
"Maki isn't like other rich girls. She's different and special. That's why I love her."
"Oh."
Nico stopped at a display of handbags of various colors and designs. But there was one that caught her eye. It was a soft pink bag with delicate gold chain handles with additional small beaded gold chains loosely dangling from where the handles attached to bag. Rather than a smooth surface, the bag was quilted with a large diamond pattern with a bow made of the same material as the bag attached to the upper right hand side. It was perfect. The bag was feminine and cute and even looked like a designer bag. Nico took a deep breath before checking the price tag.
It wasn't too bad. It was just above her budget though. But with her employee discount…
Nico grinned mischievously. It really was perfect.
She grabbed the bag quickly, before any of the other shoppers could snatch her perfect find. People laughed and said 'Merry Christmas' to her as she hurried buy to pay for her items. Luckily, the store offered gift wrapping, so Nico didn't have to worry about sneaking the presents into the house without her siblings seeing what she had gotten them. After paying Nico rushed out into the cold to begin the walk home.
"I might as well stop by Maki's house. It's Christmas Eve after all…any later and there won't be a point to giving her a present at all."
Finding her shopping bags an annoyance to carry Nico decided to stuff them in her sack she had used at the store for her Santa costume. Slinging it over her shoulders, she headed in the direction of Maki's house hoping someone there could take off the awful weight she wore around her stomach. As soon as she saw the house in sight she picked up the pace. It was getting dark and Nico wanted to get home as soon as possible to spend Christmas Eve with her family. Arriving at the door she rang the doorbell to find Maki's mother open the door moments later.
"Oh Santa-san!"
Nico laughed and pulled her fake beard away from her chin, the elastic band snapping it back into place once she let go. "No, it's just me, Nico. I just came from work where I had to dress up like Santa for the kids. Do you mind if I come in to give Maki a present?"
"Maki is actually taking a nap right now. She prefers to sleep a lot today so that she can try to stay up to see Santa-san come tonight."
Nico rolled her eyes. "Are you ever going to tell her?"
"Maybe. She's happy believing in Santa though, and I don't want to ruin Christmas for her."
"Ah yes, of course."
"You can come inside and leave your present by the tree though, my husband just placed some under the tree as well."
"Oh great thank you!"
Entering the home, Nico struggled to get through the door with the extra weight tied around her waist.
"Do you mind taking this cotton sack across my waist off? It makes it so difficult to move around."
"Oh! Of course!"
Mrs. Nishikino fumbled with the knot. After a few minutes of struggling, she sighed.
"Oh Nico dear, the knot is so tight! Do you mind if I cut it with a knife?"
"Not at all!"
"Alright, I'll be right back once I find some scissors. You can head to the living room and set down you gift for now."
"Sure!"
Nico found her way to the family's living room, gasping at the sight of the magnificent tree that stood in the corner of the room.
"Way fancier than what we have at home."
Scattered under the tree were numerous present of various sizes all elegantly wrapped with wrapping papers that complimented each other. Nico breathed a sigh relief after noting that her present was wrapped with a paper similar to the others. At least it wouldn't stand out too much. Nico set her sack down and had to lower herself onto one knee, since bending over seemed impossible with the weight she carried.
A gasp.
"Santa-san?!"
"Oh hell no." Nico froze. She knew that voice. She knew exactly who had spoken. And that person was supposed to be sleeping.
"Santa-san! Is that really you?!" Nico heard Maki give a very out of character squeal.
Nico slowly began to turn around, mind running through countless of ideas of how to deal with the current situation. Just when Nico was about to explain that she wasn't really Santa Claus she caught sight of Maki's mother enter the room. They made eye contact. All Maki's mother did was shake her head slowly with a look that clearly said. Don't you dare.
Nico gulped. Time to avert that plan. Maki, completely unaware of the interaction between her mother and the would-be Santa clapped her hands excitedly.
"It really is you! You're here so early! I woke up just in time to see you!"
Nico took a quick glance out the window to see the sky had grown completely dark since she had arrived at the Nishikino residence. Taking a deep breath, she spoke the lowest voice she could muster, the same voice she had used while she was working back at the department store.
"Well, gotta start delivering the presents right when it gets dark! Ho ho ho!"
Maki's eyes glimmered with happiness and she rushed forward to hug Nico tightly.
"Oh thank you! Thank you thank you thank you! Does that mean my house was one of the first ones you visited?"
"Why yes dearest child, in fact, I bumped into a friend of yours on the way here."
Maki's eyes widened with interest as she let go of Nico.
"Who Santa-san?"
"A girl that told me something very cute. I believe it was 'Nico Nico Nii'"
Maki's mouth shaped into a cute little 'oh' "Nico-chan!"
"Yes yes, she told me to give you this." Nico reached into her sack to pull out Maki's present. "Here you go, it's from your friend, Nico. Wait until tomorrow to open it though."
"Oh! Thank you Santa-san!" Maki took the present in her hands happily, setting it down amongst the other presents.
"Now, I must be heading off! There's so many houses I need to visit! So many good children need to get their presents too you know."
"Of course!"
Nico stood up again and walked past the tray of cookies Maki's family had left out for 'Santa-san'. Nico grabbed the tray and held it up to show Mrs. Nishikino who stood at the doorway watching the entire exchange.
"Thanks for the snack, Miss."
Maki's mother laughed lightly in response while Maki grinned proudly.
"Maki made those with lots of love Santa-san. I hope you enjoy them." The women winked at Nico.
"Oh, I will."
Nico then began to make her way to the front door of the house so that she could leave this awkward situation as soon as possible.
"Aren't you going to go through the chimney Santa-san?"
Nico inwardly groaned. "Oh hell no."
Turning to Maki, she instead answered, "Well my dear, normally I would! But today the reindeer decided to land in front of your house! I tried to tell them to land on the roof instead, but you know how they are sometimes."
Maki squealed again. "Can I see them?!"
Nico laughed nervously, "Well you know…they are very shy…and they usually prefer to stay invisible!"
Maki's face fell looking slightly disappointed. "Ah…I see."
Nico felt guilt build up at the pit of stomach seeing the girl so disheartened. Reaching into her sack again she pulled out the stuffed reindeer she had bought for her own room. She smiled as she held it out to Maki.
"Here. Since they're so shy, I'm sure they would want you to have this to make up for it."
Maki's face immediately lit up. "Oh thank you! Tell your reindeer I say thank you!"
"I will! Now be a good girl and go back to bed my dear! Ho ho ho! And Merry Christmas!"
"Of course! I'll go back to sleep right now! Thank you so much!" Maki hugged Nico again. "I love you!"
Nico blushed furiously as Maki let go and scampered back to her bed in her excitement, clutching the reindeer as if her life depended on it.
Nico turned Maki's mother who had been hovering in the background. Sighing, she pointed at the elegant woman.
"You owe me a ride home for that."
Maki's mother laughed loudly. "Oh don't worry about that! Our driver has already been notified. Maki's father heard the whole commotion." She pulled out an envelope from her pocket. "Here, this is from us. Thank you for playing along."
"It was no problem."
Nico sighed as she lay back in the car as the Nishikino family's driver drove her home. Taking a scissor that Mrs. Nishikino had given her, she cut the cotton from around her waist, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt it's warmth escape her.
"So much for my family seeing me in the costume at it's finest. That was way too annoying though."
Nico played with the envelope Maki's mother had given her. Shrugging, she decided to open it now. It didn't really make a difference if she waited a few hours to open it on Christmas day. Using the scissors, she was able to cleanly cut the envelope to find a Christmas card inside. It was normal enough. Opening the card she say a hastily written.
Thank you for everything Nico-can. Merry Christmas. Enjoy.
Nico's eyes widened in shock. Inside was a cash. A lot of cash.
"Rich people..." muttered Nico. She smiled nonetheless and leaned back in her seat again.
"Merry Christmas Maki."
I hope you liked it!
Please review!
