りゅうせい の クリスマス – Shooting Star Christmas

It was that time of year once again.

Hoshikawa Subaru lamented this period. The streets were covered in white, while houses and shops decorated themselves with gaudy lights and displays which brought bright reds and greens jarringly against the pure snow. With December the twenty-fifth just around the corner, families had reunited, bringing faraway loved ones back to their families to celebrate a holiday characterized by cheerfulness and union. Such merriment was exactly what Subaru hated in it.

It wasn't always this way. Back before everything had happened; when Hoshikawa Daigo still walked the Earth, Subaru had rejoiced in the Christmas spirit just like everyone else. Back when you could still hear his hearty laugh fill the room as he appeared early in the morning in a Santa costume he had bought when Subaru was still a child. It was the three of them: one happy family.

One complete family.

"Hey, Subaru, why are you looking so down? It's Christmas! Go start a snowball fight with Gonta or something." War-rock exclaimed, donning the same grin he always had when he was up to trouble. At least one of them was feeling the spirit.

"Not right now War-rock… Maybe later."

"That's what you always say! Dammit Subaru, one of these days I'm gonna…" Subaru let out a melancholy sigh as the AM-ian spouted his list of threats. Seriously, it seems to get longer every time…

The boy stood up from his desk and dropped his transfer down. It hit the desk with a dull bang, shutting the alien up.

"Hey, boy, where're you going?"

"Just walking. I'll be back in a few minutes. Why don't you go virus busting or something?" War-rock stayed silent as Subaru exited the room.

"…So he still misses him after all…"

Grabbing his coat, the brown-haired teen proceeded towards the door with languid movements. "Going out?" his mother asked with her omnipresent smile. The boy simply nodded and continued, moving with slightly more purpose. "Will you be back for lunch?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll buy something from the convenience store." He replied, quietly. At that, he opened the door and stepped into the cold winter day.

The air nipped at his cheeks as he walked slowly through the snow. He found walking was therapeutic, but the snow was seeping through his shoes and socks, making every step squelch with liquid. Subaru sighed again, watching as his breath turned to a white puff of mist before him. He slipped his hands into his coat pockets, and continued down the road.

Slowly, his eyes glazed over, as he was caught up in the monotony of his movements. All focus was given to his thoughts, most of which were of his father. When he had met Hoshikawa Daigo in space after meeting with the FM king himself, Cepheus, hope had filled his wounded heart again. However, for reasons he still couldn't understand, his father hadn't returned to Earth with him. Instead, he had been left alone again, with no tangible proof that the man was truly out there somewhere. Forlorn, he wished he could return back to those short moments, when he could still feel his father's warmth on him hands. For those short moments, he had been happy again. Now, he couldn't even share that small blessing with his mother. Despite her insisting that she still believed in Daigo, Subaru never really knew what was going on in her mind, under the calm façade. She was after all, a single-parent, who's only duty was to make the last member of her small family smile again. He himself hadn't gotten over his depression, he had just reached a new level of hiding his feeling. Like his mother, no one could see his true feelings either, anymore -he wouldn't let them-. Of course-

Lost in his thoughts, Subaru hadn't noticed a girl in front of him. Like waking up from sleep, he was pulled from his thoughts. Only then did he realize that he knew the person standing before him. He would recognize those blonde drills anywhere. They protruded out of the hood of her coat, falling in front of her awkwardly.

"Ah! Sorr- Subaru-kun! Merry Christmas!" The girl shouted, voice brimming with energy, and she brushing her fringe out of her eyes. Groaning inwardly, he put on a fake smile. He really wasn't in the mood for a conversation, especially not one with Shirogane Luna. He noted that she was wearing a purple coat, with wool covering the edges; matching purple mittens, and a short skirt with long black socks that came just above her knees. Obviously, the girl cared more for her appearance than the comfort of the upper part of her legs.

"Merry Christmas, Inchou," Subaru replied, "what are you doing out here in the cold?" The girl paused.

"A-actually I was just going to wish you a merry Christmas, but…" She averted her eyes slightly, embarrassed. "I sort of got a little lost." Suddenly, her voice picked up. "I-it's the snow's fault! Everything looks the same." She explained curtly. A small blush staining her cheeks. Subaru, who wasn't really paying much attention, failed to notice.

"I see…" There was an awkward silence, and Subaru wondered whether it would be socially acceptable for him to start walking again.

"A-actually, I wanted to- I wanted to give you this." Luna reached into her bag, and retrieved a small box wrapped in florid paper, which she thrust abruptly before her. It was roughly the size of two Transers together. The words, 'From Shirogane Luna to Subaru Hoshikawa' were neatly printed on the label attached.

"Thank you." He smiled politely and took the gift tenderly from her hands. Despite his desire to leave, he wasn't about to forget his manners. They had been engraved into his soul by his mother's careful guidance. Luna's face heated up even more and she turned so he wouldn't be able to see the crimson tinge her cheeks had taken.

"I'll- I'll be going then! I have to-" She thought quickly, "I have to go see Bud and Zack! You know how those two are, always following along after me." He shouted a quick goodbye as she ran off, and he started walking leisurely once again, holding her gift in his hands. It was light.

As he returned to his home, he stopped by a convenience store to pick up something to eat. Lazily, he browsed through the selection of Onigiri. While bending over to pick up on of the rice-balls, heard the store-bell ring, notifying him someone else had entered the shop. Knowing his luck, it'd be someone who would want to start a conversation... It was a small town after all. As if on cue, a rough voice sounded behind him.

"Subaru-kun! Merry Christmas!" It exclaimed, a large hand smacking him on the back, almost knocking him into the products before him. Inwardly, Subaru groaned again, as he turned his head reluctantly to find none other than Ushijima Gonta towering above him. The boy grinned and smacked him again. "Good to see you!" He was wearing a simple orange coat over his normal attire, with only a pair of earmuffs in addition. It was surprising the male wasn't cold. I suppose fat is a good insulator…

"Good to see you too," He lied, shooting him a quick smile. "What brings you here?"

"Actually, I was looking for Inchou, she said she got trying to get to your place and got lost. Not sure what she was planning on doing though…" His beady eyes caught a glimpse of the present in Subaru's hand.

"Wait… What! You- you got… You were given… Inchou gave you a present!" His mouth hung open, and Subaru shrunk from in his gaze, as well as the eyes of the rest of the customers, whose attention had been caught by the larger boy's shout. "Even… Even Kizamaro and I don't get gifts from her..." The boy looked down, disheartened by his new discovery. Worried that he was going to have to deal with a sad, or even worse, jealous Gonta, the brown-haired boy patted him on the shoulder. Now what could he do to console him…

"Don't worry Gonta-kun! I'm sure she will… this year. L-look I'll… I'll buy you some food! How's that?" Immediately, the gluttonous boy lit up, a grin adorning his face once more. Subaru sighed, obviously the affection of Shirogane Luna was nothing compared to the appetite of such a… well-fed young man.

Finally the hero of the earth had the freedom to return back to his home. By now it was 2 pm, and the Sun had passed its peak in the sky a while ago. He far more exhausted than he had planned to be. Too many random social situations had left him weary. It was difficult to fabricate smiles and laughter for others all the time. He wasn't exactly an actor. If there's a god, please leave me alone… Of course, if there was a higher power, it had other plans. Now all that's left is… he paused in his thoughts. But there's no way she'd be here, so that leaves Kizamaro-

There was a sneeze from around the corner.

"Ah! I should wear more! I don't want to catch a cold." A preppy voice said, seemingly to itself. Geo froze for a moment and considered breaking into a run in the opposite direction. Desperately, he looked behind him, but his hopes were shattered as he realized his footprints would look awfully suspicious to the curious intellectual. Kizamaro had always liked mysteries. There would be no escape from this encounter. Subaru found himself drawing parallels to an FM-ian approaching. Where was War-rock when you needed him? Now that he thought about it, it was surprising the AM-ian had let him go in the first place. Maybe he had misunderstood the green mass of electromagnetic waves. Of course, maybe not -he couldn't imagine that the aggressive battle-maniac had understood him better than even his mother and his friends-, but perhaps, just perhaps, he had misjudged his partner. He made a mental note to thank the alien later, no matter what the reality of the situation was. In spite of his querulous attitude, War-rock certainly was easier to talk to than-

"Oh, hello Subaru-kun."

Finally home…

Ironically, the savior of the world, Rockman, found himself more lethargic after engaging in three obligatory social situations than he had defeating what was supposed to be the strongest machine in the universe. He shuddered remembering Andromeda. Luckily, there hadn't been any strange EM waves around recently, and it seemed there was peace in the world, at least for that fleeting moment. It seemed peace was a strictly ephemeral concept for a hero. He walked up the stairs languorously and entered his room, and was surprised at what he found.

…or rather, what he didn't find. War-rock had obviously taken up his suggestion, and gone out to destroy some viruses or something of the like, for the beast was nowhere to be found. Subaru quietly rejoiced in the silence, and carefully placed Luna's gift on his desk.

"Subaru!" His mother called from below, and the boy poked his head out from his room. "I'm going to go give Amachi-san a present for Christmas! Would you like to come?" Usually, he would have accepted, but he knew the buses didn't run on Christmas, and he was exactly ecstatic at the thought of making the two and a half hour walk. It was virtually dark out anyway… Frowning, he shook his head.

Akane expression didn't falter, but he could tell she was slightly upset. She was always trying to get him to go out, and her son didn't usually mind seeing the man. He had been the closest to Subaru ever since Daigo…

"Well, I'll be back in a few hours then! I've left dinner on the stove. Bye now!" The youth nodded in affirmation. I guess I'll eat now, and sleep right after. Subaru made his way towards the kitchen. He heard the door slam while he transferred the food from the small wok onto his own plate. He ate with deliberate slothfulness, mulling over his thoughts of earlier today. I miss you Dad… more than anything. When are you going to come back to us?

Subaru finished his dinner. Just another Christmas… In spite of the boy's regretful thoughts, a higher power had other plans, yet again.

Weary, the dejected youth ascended the flight of steps leading to his quarters in order to retire for the night. With the most eagerness he had expressed in the whole day, he pulled on the door-handle and entered. Without bothering to switch on the lights, he made his way to his bed and lay down. There was silence, finally a time of peace following a stressful day. Strangely, as he listened, his breathing seemed a bit louder than usual. He hadn't exerted himself in any way, and despite the fact that the day was enervating enough for him to sleep at 7 o'clock, it wasn't enough to make him short of breath even now. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and he realized that he wasn't alone in his room, and even in his bed. The girl rolled over, facing him, and their faces were inches apart.

Subaru stood up abruptly, and quickly switched on the lamp that sat next to the stairs in his room. His face had lit up, with luster and intensitt that rivalled a certain red-nosed reindeer. Now that sight was somewhat restored to him, he could see the other person on his bed. Her hair was a purplish-red hue, which hung down above her shoulders in a somewhat spikey manner. From what he could make out in the dim lighting, the girl was wearing a female Santa costume, including sleeves which fluffy woolen ends, and the strange red hat of the iconic symbol of Christmas; the white pompom dangled in front of her face. The dress was cut above her knees, with wool at the last two inches like her sleeves. Long white socks that extended up to her thighs completed the outfit. It seemed she was sleeping soundly, but that still didn't explain how she had gotten into his bed in the first place. Slightly more relaxed, he sat on the other side of the bed and lightly shook her in order to get her up, his face returning to a more pallid tone.

"Misora. Wake up."

The girl stirred and immediately jolted forward, allowing her arms to support her, as she had almost crashed in to the boy in front. Their faces were awfully close, causing a certain brown-haired male's face to light up. He was thankful for the veil of darkness, although slightly illuminated now.

"Subaru-kun! Merry Christmas!" She smiled widely, and the aforementioned male wondered out of the two, which the abnormal one was. Misora promptly hopped out of his bed, and immediately felt the loss of warmth. Nevertheless, it seemed nothing would faze her. "How have you been?"

Subaru sat in transient silence. "I-I'm fin- Wait! Why are you in my bed?" He almost shouted, flustered by the current events.

She giggled, and his cheeks became redder, this time embarrassed at his abrupt showing of emotion. "Well…"

-Roughly one hour ago-

"So as I was saying," War-rock coughed, still brushing himself off from the sudden attack from a certain harp FM-ian, "I want you to go meet Subaru for me."

"Eh? Why me?" Misora replied.

"I'm afraid the kid's going to enter his depressed state again… and having a depressed host really sucks… So I figured he'd feel a little better if he spent his time with someone... in a similar situation." The girl grinned.

"Ah… I understand, but you'll have to do a few things for me first…"

-Present Time-

"I was in the area, and I thought I'd drop by!"

"How'd you get into my house?"

"I wave changed! I thought that was obvious." Subaru almost hit himself for not thinking of it earlier. How else would the slightly eccentric pop-star make her entrance? "Although I sort of fell asleep waiting for you." She rubbed the back of her head, retaining her grin.

"So what were you planning on doing?" Her eyes lit up, and the male wondered whether he would regret asking the question in the near future.

"I'm glad you asked Subaru-kun! She grabbed his wrist and quickly pulled him with her down the stairs to his computer where she pulled a sack from under his desk. He would have noticed earlier, if not for his somnolent mind earlier. Vigorously, she untied the string at the top, and from the contents, removed a stick of butter, two bags of sugar; caster and brown, vanilla extract, flour, chocolate chips, and lastly, a small carton of half a dozen eggs. I'm surprised none of those things were spilled…

"We're going to make cookies!" She announced, joyously, almost jumping up in excitement. She's cute when she's excited… he thought, absentmindedly. Ah… To hide his embarrassment from his own thoughts, he questioned her.

"Why?"

"Isn't that what people do on Christmas?" Indeed, he remembered back to happier times, when he would engage in such activities as a child. Sighing, he decided not to question her any further, understanding that things would probably go a lot quicker if he complied. The girl's peremptory manner didn't exactly allow for adverse opinion. Misora smiled widely and tossed him the ingredients she had just pulled out, keeping the eggs in her own hands, and proceeded to exit the room.

"Why do I have to carry everything?" He complained, a smile gracing his own lips.

"You're a guy! You get to do the manual labor. I, being a delicate girl, will carry the delicate items!" He laughed. I've seen you take down FM-ians by yourself... So much for delicate. As if reading his thoughts she continued; "Or can the savior of the Earth not handle a few groceries?" Touché.

As the duo arrived in the kitchen, Misora rattled off instructions to her friend. Subaru found that she was surprisingly adept at baking cookies. "I used to watch my mother cook a lot," She explained, "So I learnt a few things." Her expression saddened and she averted her eyes, looking to the ground for support. The hero felt guilty for bringing up the subject, albeit unintentionally. He patted her on the head, and she looked up, surprised at first, and then very happily continued ordering him around. Suabru didn't mind. If his physical exertion could make another person happy, he didn't mind at all, especially if that person was someone important to him -someone who understood him-.

The two teens looked at the inchoate form of the mixture they had created; or rather, that he had created and she had directed. "It's a good attempt," She said blankly, "for a first time, I suppose…"

"Well, I didn't have the great Misora Hibiki helping me, so it was a little difficult." He replied, sarcastically.

"But I did help you!" He had admit, things would have turned out much worse if not for the girl, but she seemed to have wanted to get him to do it for himself. Misora huffed and pouted, taking and placing it the oven carefully.

"So… now what?" He asked.

"Do you have a fireplace?"

"Yeah."

"Take me there." Her change in attitude was a little jarring, but he complied, and led her to a small room with a couch and a fireplace. They sat down together, and Misora switched off the lights upon entry. "It's better this way."

A comfortable silence settled in, as they enjoyed the warmth of the fire in each other's company. Misora slowly leaned to the side, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"My Dad used to spend a lot of time here. He said it was the nicest room in the house." Misora didn't reply, so he continued, "He always switched the lights off, just like you." His tone became more reminiscent. "I used to sit here with him."

Silence

"I miss him…" The girl embraced him from the side, and he was a little taken back, but she avoided his gaze, a moment of shyness from the extroverted young girl.

"You know, you don't have to be alone anymore. You have your friends now. We can be there for you. I can be there for you. War-rock, too." Subaru slowly comprehended her words, tossing them around in his mind. He savored the dulcet of her voice. It calmed him, as the fire crackled softly in front.

"Misora, I-" The boy was swiftly silenced by soft lips pressing against his. He sat, dazed, but there was no way he was going to resist. The girl leaned forward, pushing him back. Falling slightly backwards, he rested his back on the armrest of the couch, while she pushed against his chest lightly. With a ding, the oven sounded, bringing them back to reality and causing them to break their… amorous engagement. Turning, the two blushed a deep crimson. When he looked back to her, she meekly gestured upwards, where he saw a small, floating plant of green and red in the air. He made a mental note to thank his AM-ian companion later.

"Merry Christmas Subaru-kun!"

"Merry Christmas Misora-chan." Grinning foolishly to himself, he thought, maybe Christmas isn't so bad after all…

End

Merry Christmas everyone! Or Christmas eve for most of you... I might edit later, just something I thought I'd do late last night, and finished this morning. Apologies for any inconsistencies, etc. Also, I tried a more casual style of writing, so if it's a bit more lax than you expect, apologies. Thanks for your time! メリ一クリスマス!