Gaze: It's less than a week away till Christmas so I came up with a one-shot.
Disclaimer: I so don't own anything. And yes, one of the characters is narrating the story.
Merry Christmas!
My feet felt cold as I stood barefoot outside as I examined Max...
Max was a troubled kid who went on sugar high on the worst of times…and today was one of them. Christmas was today and only six hours to ago until Dec. 26th andMax still hadn't thought of a way to wreak havoc in Tyson's dojo. I should be relieved but somehow for some apparent reason, I wasn't. I felt that the worst has yet to come.
'Hmm…' he thought as he sat outside the dojo near the pond. Snow gently fell from the skies as he sat still. I could feel the cold air whisked my cheeks as I tried to make out the blonde's new mischief.
"Ooh! I know!" he jumped up in delight. Cursing under my breath, I hid behind the door, grumbling bitterly.
"I can't wait to tell them about this!"
Oh no. Maxie, you idiot! I came back inside, praying that it was not one of those times when Max does something really stupid. I strode over to my slippers and came back inside where it was warm.
There I met up with the grouch, who I'm entirely fond of. He sat next to Tyson, who was talking non-stop, "How come you don't like Christmas?"
"I just don't," he said blankly. Why doesn't he like Christmas?
"There's turkey," Tyson said, "Like last year."
"Uh hn," he glared at the navy-blue-haired boy.
"It just needed to stay in longer in the oven," I flashed a smile of reassurance.
"Hilary, it was still alive," Kai informed me, his eye twitched as he spoke.
Oh. Yeah. Heh, I forgot.
"Okay maybe the turkey was screwed but come on there's presents!" I cried in protest.
"Yeah, presents!" he cried too. He clasped an arm around my shoulder.
"Hn, whatever," Kai said, "I put mine under the tree." He punched Tyson's arm off my shoulder. His arm went limp as he cursed and whined. Tyson should've not done that anyway…
"I smell catnip," I said. "You better not come close to the tree with that."
"Whatever," was his dull reply. Why doesn't he ever listen to me? Grunting, I sprung out of the couch, leaving those two behind. Just as I stomped out, the blonde ran in with a wide grin across his face. "I have an-"
"Max!" the other two boys called in unison. "Shut up!"
'Whatever,' I thought grimly. At the same time, Ray barged in a forlorn look in his face. I was already in the next round when I heard Ray's booming voice,
"THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING TO DO THAT!"
The gods must hate me…
For hours later as I emerged from the guest room, I was in complete shock. Christmas trees filled one whole training hall after another. The scent of evergreen filled up my nose and I couldn't see anything but green. Why does it feel like it was one of Max's schemes? One tree twice my size nearly fell as I stood frozen in my tracks. Rage clouded my mind and only one thing was written in my mind: Kill MAX.
"Ehhhh?" I muttered in fear. "MMMMMAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXXX!" I screamed.
"Oh hi Hilary!" Max cried happily, hiding from my wrath. I could tell. He popped up at the back of a tree just meters ahead. Hiding, where I can't reach him in time before he could run away, he laughed.
"WHAT IS THIS?" I huffed. What have you done now, you dimwit!
"Christmas trees!" Max cried happily.
I gritted my teeth, "Pre-tty obvious." I let out a deep exasperated sigh. I was going to be okay, I repeatedly reassured myself. "What are you going to do with these trees?" I asked, trying to control my anger.
"I'm planning to sell them. I just need a place to store all of them," Max replied.
"And you thought, "Hey why don't I put them inside the house when it's snowing outside!"" I huffed.
"How did you guess?" Max laughed, hiding himself deeper into the forest.
"I'm still guessing. Did you get this from a guy in a pub?"
"No! From, a guy in a dumpster!" he squeaked and finally disappeared. Oh no. He had to be kidding!
"MAX!" I screeched again. "I CAN'T SEE A DAMN THING HERE!" I cried out as I mindlessly walked into the place, avoiding the evergreen mass. Then I bumped with Kenny who was dressed in an army uniform. I didn't notice him there. Quickly, I scanned him. Dizzi was no where to be seen. Usually, he had his laptop clutched close to his chest…now, she was gone.
"Who are you supposed to be?" I asked in ridicule.
"I got separated with my platoon-"
I pushed him into my room, "Yeah, yeah…Get right over there, private!" He was going to protest."STAY!" I ordered with fire burning in my eyes.
With a whimper, he closed the wooden doors of my room.
Aimlessly, I walked deeper into the forest then I tripped over the couch. There, finally, I sat and waited until the others find out. With a grunt I jumped into the couch and sighed. 'I'm trapped,' I concluded.
Not a minute later…
"MMMMMAAAAAAAXXXXX!" Tyson yelled.
"Oh, how did you know?" Max whined, appearing next to me. I shrieked in fear, backing away from the deranged blonde.
"MAX! WHAT DID YOU DO?" another voice called.
"Not you too, Ray. You guys, can't you blame Hilary?"
"NO," Kai said loud enough for me to hear. Oh, so he was here too.
"I AM SOOO GOING TO GET YOU MAX!" Tyson said groping through the forest.
"OHH MAX, LET ME SEE YOU FACE TO FACE AND MAYBE WE COULD THRASH SOMETHING OUT!" Kai yelled. He too walked into the forest.
"Not if you catch me first!" Max hid himself into the forest.
Ray stayed in one spot. There were a few cries and groans of frustration. Then a few calls.
"MAX!" Kai called out.
"MMAAAAAAXXXXXXX! Guh!" Tyson cried out.
"MA-ouuhhfff," Kai tumbled over the couch. "HILARY!"
"Hey Kai," I greeted sweetly. I stacked the magazines on the table nicely.
"Don't you see—…what the hell are you doing?" Kai asked.
"Tidying up," was my simply reply.
"Oh, I see," Kai rolled his eyes and he laughed nervously like a maniac. His shoulders shook uncontrollably. "Everyone is insane around here!" Kai yelled finally. Then there was a crash of something.
"OOPS! I think I stepped on something!" Tyson yelled. "Oh my god, it's Dizzi!"
From a room they all heard a cry from Kenny, "NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH OHHH NOOOO! DDDDDDDIIIIIZZZZIIIIIIII! MY PLATOON, GO ON WITHOUT ME!"
"I REST MY CASE," Kai pointed out.
Yup, it's official. We're all nuts. Well, not me. Yet.
"Ugh, this is all Max's fault!" Tyson yelled. "Where are you Max?"
He poked his head and self out a meter from Tyson.
"COME HERE YOU!" Tyson roared.
"Relax, don't do it!" Max sang. "Relax, don't do it…when you wanna come…"
Tyson tried to get hold of him but Max disappeared giggling.
"That is so gay," I said.
"Ditto," Kai muttered. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his fingers on his strong arms. I couldn't help but blush. He then stopped and noticed my gaze and my face, "Something wrong?"
"Haha. No. You're-I mean- it's hot in here. Phew! Those arms-I mean those trees are keeping the cold air from coming in!" I babbled. Oohh why am I like this!
Tyson came after Max then Max popped up in the other side of the forest.
"Weren't you…how the hell did you get there?" Tyson bellowed. His eyes were going to fall out of his head.
"Wood craft. I guess Tyson; you should have had second thoughts of throwing me into that bus to Cub Scouts!" Oh yeah, I remember that. Tyson had decided to play One Way with Max by pushing in a bus going one way.
"I'll wood craft you!" Tyson groped through the Christmas trees. "Come back here!"
"Not if you say please!" Max cried happily, hiding behind a Christmas tree.
"Never!" Tyson yelled, stubborn and idiotic as always.
"I'll give you toffee if you come here!" Ray cried.
"No you have to do the funny thing!"
"No!" Ray defiantly shouted.
"Do it!" Kai roared, fire burning in his eyes.
"RAY!" Tyson angrily yelled.
"Well…TOO BAD!" Max shrieked.
Ray grumbled then took a breath,
"MAXIIEEE! I'VE GOT TOFFEEEEE!" Ray yelled in a high-eerie pitch British accent, controlling the anger in his voice.
"OOOOHHHHH!" Max poked his head out next to Ray.
Kai followed Max's voice then quickly followed it like a sexy ninja…I mean ninja. He grabbed Max's collar and shook him until his whole brain rattled.
"GET THE TREES OUT OF HERE!" he said viciously.
"Fine…but do I still get toffee?" Max chirped.
"No," Kai said glaring at the blonde.
Then they all left…
"Umm. Guys? Help!" I cried in distress.
"I think we should rescue the damsel in distress…" Ray said turning back to the tree-filled training halls and the living room.
"I'll go," Kai said.
Within an hour the tress were placed outside in the back yard. The whole incident left me befuddled. How could a blonde 15 year-old carry all the trees inside? One Christmasstree nearly killed my arms but thirty six of them...that took a whole team to toil and drag them all out.
We sat in the nowempty living room in a circle. I took my silk ballet slippers off, revealing pine needles. "What should we do about Dizzi?"
"I don't know," Tyson shrugged. I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing from him! He broke Kenny's laptop, it was all his fault!
"If you weren't such deadweight, that laptop could be still alive!"I blamed Tyson.
"If that dimwit hadn't brought 36 trees into the dojo, I wouldn't have stepped on it!" Tyson blamed Max. Whimpering,Max hid behind Kai's back as a shield.
"You're a klutz and a deadweight," Kai added.
A vein popped on his head, "Are you calling me FAT?"
"Yeah, I've mistaken you so many times with the Buddha," Ray joined in.
"Do I look fat to you?" Tyson was infuriated.
"The Enlightened One," Kai said.
"It depends on which angle you look at it," I giggled, "Oh wait, I forgot, you're all round!"
Tyson punched Kai but Kai caught his fist, "Dude, why take it out on me?"
"WHY NOT?" Tyson yelled.
Kai blinked at the turkey Tyson carved. With a fork he pointed at it and asked, "Was this already dead when you put it in the oven?" Tyson kept silent. I instantly knew the answer. Ray and I exchanged worried looks.
"Ok. Now, I'm terrified of turkeys," he pushed his plate aside. Tyson laughed. I nearly choked. Yeah, I didn't check if it was dead or alive.
"Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick!" I rushed to the bathroom.
"Right behind ya!" Ray left the table. Kenny scampered away too, to fix or put together what was left of Dizzi.
After dinner, Kai had to get out and get something quick. Then he came back with a box on his arms forty-five minutes later, covered in white fluffy snow.
"I bought a new laptop for Kenny. Ray and Max wrap this," he threw the heavy box at Ray who barely caught it.
"Be careful idiot! It cost me 500,000 yen!" Kai said when Ray barely caught it.
"You tell me," Ray muffled.
"Aw that's sweet Kai," I said, smiling. I left the room in an instant to find MY present.
"So I guess that's everything," I thought out loud as I counted the presents under the tree. One for each one of us then the rest we'll open later. We wanted to open our secret Santa gifts first then the rest later. Hopefully mine was still alive…
I uneasily sat under the tree pondering who could have taken two people for Secret Santa. Heck, oh well.
"PRESENTS TIME!" I hollered cheerfully.
First to arrive was Max, definitely on sugar high as he ran in with Kai's famous white scarf. "Heehee!" he giggled as he trotted around the room. The next person was Tyson who was in the middle of an argument with Ray about his weight. Then Kai darted in, huffing for air.
"Loser, give my scarf back!" he said through long breaths. Max jumped up and down on the couch. Tyson grimaced and lifted it off to its side, ending up with Max falling to the ground, with the scarf still in his grasp.
"Hey Max!" I called as I passed him his gift.
He soon opened it and there it was a Hilary Duff CD, "AWESOME! Thanks Kai for the Hilary Duff."
I shot a glare at Kai who said, "It's my favourite one, no problem."
Is he gay? Figures. I always knew he liked Tyson. Then Max got a Gwen Stefani CD, then Kelly Clarkson, Shakira…there were at least 24 CDs.
"I like all of them!" Max chirped.
"I like the Hilary one," Kai said letting out another hint.
"My turn!" Tyson yelled. He opened his present from Ray. It was a DVD of Windsor Pilates.
"Ha-ha!" Tyson said sarcastically.
"Can't you take a joke?" Ray asked the infuriated moron. He handed Tyson his real gift. It was a set of wristbands and head bands and other things, in other words, sports gear from Nike.
"Thanks Ray!"
"No prob," he smirked. "Keep the DVD too."
"Your turn Ray," I said handing him a present. Tyson instantly grabbed it and shook it hard, "Hey there sure is something in there!"
"Sure Tyson…I'll give Ray an empty box," my words filled with sarcasm, "Get a fucking brain, will ya!" I screeched, snatching it from his hands and handed it back to Ray. I squatted close to him as he tore it open.
"Why are there holes on the box?" Ray wondered as he tore the wrapping in the top.
"Hurry up and open it!" I gushed. I got him this present.
"Meow!" the present cried.
"It's a kitten! Thanks Hil!" Ray pulled an orange kitten with a spot on its face. "Hey kitty, kitty! Long at your long, sharp claws, you can cut anyone with those things."
"Sick him, kitty," he carried the kitten and faced it at Tyson, who fearfully pulled back. "Sick that fat kid that hurt you!"
Ray placed the kitten down and it instantly pounced on Tyson's face. "AAHHH! HELP ME! IT'S EATING ME!"
"Serves you right for shaking it," I grumbled.
"Is he serious?" Kai scoffed. "If a cat did eat him, it'd take years to get through his body. I can imagine the kitten die of cholesterol after he eats all that fat."
With brute strength he lifted the kitten off his face and threw it at Kai who sat behind him. "Oh shit," I heard Kai mutter as he held the kitten. These kittens scratch painfully…he felt it before. Instead of attacking him, the kitten purred and licked his cheeks, smudging his blue marks. Now there's a Kodak moment, I smiled pleasingly.
"Ok, here's the catnip!" he said taking it out of his pocket and throwing it on the floor. The cat went off of him and to the tiny toy. 'He got what he wanted…' I thought as I watched the cat stalk away.
I sweatdropped, 'I warned him earlier.'
From Tyson, Kai got calling card from a psychotherapist, a lot of chocolate and hmm…a silver Ipod. Damn, I wanted to get that. There was only one present left under the tree and it was for Kenny. What?
Kai nodded at everyone else. Everyone, except Kai and I left the room. When everyone was gone…he took me outside where it snowed mildly.
He faced me and said, "You must be wondering where your present is."
"No, I don't really care about the presents. Kenny must've had forgotten and he's grieving over Dizzi, but I seriously don't care. Christmas is about being together and the memories you make," I smiled in the cold wind.
"Hn, Kenny didn't do secret Santa," Kai said. "Thanks to Tyson's weight that broke Dizzi to bits. You could say…we were planning this the whole time."
"The trees? The toffee? Eww…Ray's voice and the turkey?"
"Except the turkey," he replied. He was hiding something behind his back. I tried to look but I couldn't see. Suddenly, he tilted my chin to look up and sure enough, over both of our heads he held a branch of mistletoe.
"Haha…" Oh. My. God.
He leaned into me and I did the same. He pressed his lips onto mine, into a kiss. My lips curved into a smile as we broke away. He was smirking. Then from his pocket he took out a velvet box with a ruby heart necklace in a golden chain.
"Merry Christmas," he said softly.
Indeed. Merry Christmas.
A/N: Ack, I hate writing kissing scenes. There you go! Please review! Merry Christmas! Hopefully, my mistakes are all gone since I've revised this chapter too.