Merry very early Christmas! Hope you guys will have an awesome Christmas and New Year!
Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep!
The alarm clock screeched informing the girl who was sleeping in the room that it was time for her to get-up. Miyuki quickly turned the alarm off, not due to annoyance but excitement. Yes, it was that time of year again. Time where people gave out present to one other, light decorated around the streets, and hopefully snow. Yes, it's the Christmas season. Miyuki sat up from her bed and stretched her body out fully to wake herself up.
There was a large grin pasted on her face. She happily glanced around the room she was currently occupied in. It was technically not hers, but it was the room where she would stay whenever she visited her aunt, Komatsu. She had waited a long time for this day. It was the day where she and her aunt would go and get a real Christmas tree. She had not done this since she was adopted into the Hayashi family household. The adoption was eight years ago, when she was only five. However, the memory of her, her mom, and her aunt picking out a Christmas tree was still clear in her memory.
"Today is the day!" Miyuki said to herself as she practically leapt out of her bed. She quickly grabbed the clothes she was planning to wear today and ran to the bathroom to get herself ready. Within ten minutes, she was already done. She ran downstairs and there was already breakfast placed out on the table waiting for her. Sadly her aunt had to work on this joyful day, but that did not bring the girl down. Because there were other people who were kind enough (or more like wanting to) join her on this search for the perfect Christmas tree.
Flashback (Shitenhoji's Tennis Court)
The Shitenhoji tennis team was currently getting ready to end their practice. Most of the players could not wait to go back inside where warmth was. At exactly 5:00, the team's captain gave his final speech and then announced the dismissal. As soon the captain finished talking, everyone hastily ran inside for some warmth.
"Yuki-chan, you really didn't have to come and watch us practice. It's getting cold out here; you'll catch a cold," the captain of the team, Shiraishi, said as he walked up to the girl.
"Ah, Ku-san," Miyuki faced the captain. She did not expect him to change and get ready so quickly. "It's fine. I'm enjoyed watching you guys. That's enough to keep me warm, and…" Miyuki was interrupted when her phone suddenly rang. When Shiraishi signaled her to pick up the phone, she answered, "Hello… Ah, Aunt Komatsu! Yeah, I haven't forgotten that this weekend is when we're going to pick out the Christmas tree! Why did you ask?" Miyuki paused to listen for her aunt's reply. "What? You have work that day… But… Yeah, it's okay. It's no big deal…"
Shiraishi, who was standing by, could see how disappointed Miyuki looked and decided to step in. He lightly tapped Miyuki on the shoulder to gain the girl's attention.
"Ku-san?" Miyuki removed the phone from her ear and looked at the boy. He then signaled her to give him the phone, which she did.
"Hello, Komatsu-san? It's Kuranosuke. If you want, I can take Yuki-chan to buy a Christmas tree." Shiraishi offered. "Yes, of course. Alright, see you later then."
"Ku-san…?" Miyuki spoke after Shiraishi hang up her phone and gave it back to her.
"Guess who's going to Christmas tree shopping with you?"
"Thank you!" Miyuki clapped her hands together and gave him a hug.
"Christmas shopping? I want to go!" Kintaro shouted, hearing about half of their conversation. His shouting was loud enough that the rest of the regulars heard it too, and soon all of them wanted to go as well. In the end, they decided to gather at the tennis court and then head to the place where the trees are going to be sold.
"Ku-san?" Miyuki was surprised to see the ash-hair boy was already in front of the clubroom, waiting for everyone else. She thought that she would be the first one there, since she left so early today.
"Hey, Yuki-chan," Shiraishi waved at the girl. "Glad I'm not the only on time."
"You're not just on time; you're early," Miyuki joked. "I thought for sure I would be first."
"Well, I don't like to be late so," Shiraishi explained. "And I really don't like it when people are late." He pointed out that none of his teammates were here at the moment. They then patiently waited for the rest of the team to show up, which they all did after about 5 minutes of waiting.
"Um… Kenya-kun, Gin-san, Koharu-kun, and Yuuji-kun, why are you guys dress like that…?" Miyuki asked in confusion.
"Why?" Kenya repeated. "You said we're going to get a Christmas tree, right? So we're here ready to cut the tree!" The four of them were wearing the normal tree-cutting outfit, with a red button-up shirt, blue jeans, and low-cut boots.
"We're not actually going to cut any tree down," Miyuki laughed. "We're just going to the market where they sell trees."
"What?" Kenya asked in surprise. "They sell that?" Kenya shockingly asked. Yeah, sure, his family had put up a Christmas tree before, but all of those trees were fake since his parents said a real tree was too much work and a safety hazard.
"Yeah," Miyuki replied, kind of surprise that the Speed Star did not know about that. Zaizen, in respond, was shaking his head annoyed by his sempais' stupidity. "But I'm sure you can cut your own tree somewhere," Miyuki quickly added trying to reassure the boy. "I just want to go buy one though."
"Okay!" Kenya quickly cheered up, not only because Miyuki tried to cheer him up but also because there was a chance that people can cut down the tree of their wish themselves. Afterward, Miyuki led the group to the place where her aunt and she used to get their tree.
"Wow, there're so many trees here!" Kintaro shouted, feeling like he's currently in a forest.
"Yep, but we got to find the best tree there is out here," Miyuki pointed out.
"Yuki-chan, what about this one?" Chitose asked, pointing at a tree closest to him.
"Nope," Miyuki shook her head as she walked toward the tree. "See those brown leaves on the tree? That means the tree is already too old; it won't last until Christmas."
"Man, Yuki-chan, you sure know a lot about how to pick a tree," Kenya pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I want to get the best tree possible so…" Miyuki smiled sheepishly. "Ah, speaking of which… here," she handed out a Christmas ornament to each of the regulars.
"What's this for?" Zaizen asked, looking at the red ball in his hand.
"So you guys can test to see if the tree is strong enough to hold ornaments," Miyuki smiled widely. Everyone, after hearing that reply, formed a small water-drop behind their heads.
"She's serious about getting the best tree possible…" Everyone thought, amazed by how prepare the girl was for the day.
"Okay, let's go!"
"How's the search going?" Miyuki asked Zaizen as she popped out from one of the trees.
"Fine," Zaizen replied. He was surprised when Miyuki suddenly showed up out of nowhere. But of course, as a genius, he would not show that he was scared by a simple act like that. "Ne, Miyuki," Zaizen said, gaining the girl's attention.
"Hai?"
"Why do you want to buy a real tree anyway? It seems like a lot of work to me," Zaizen said as he examined a tree to see if it fits the girl's standard.
"Why…?" Miyuki repeated Zaizen's word, trying to think of a reply. "I guess it's just a family tradition that I want to continue."
"I see," Zaizen nodded lightly. "Here, I think I find one."
"Really? Let me see!" Miyuki ran toward Zaizen and checked the tree he was talking about. She started to look at all the branches to see if any of them was brown or strong enough to hold heavy ornaments. "I think this is it! Zaizen-kun, thank you! You're amazing! It usually takes me forever to find the perfect tree!"
"It's no big deal," Zaizen calmly said.
"Ne, ojiisan!" Miyuki shouted, trying to gain the owner's attention.
"Little boy, please don't do that!" Miyuki and Zaizen heard the owner shouted.
"Kin-chan, get down from there!" Shiraishi's shout was soon followed by the voice.
"Yay! It's so high up here!" Kintaro shouted. After he shouted that, both Miyuki and Zaizen shifted their eyes' up toward the sky. When they finally found the red-hair freshman, they could not believe their eyes. Kintaro was currently standing on top of a Christmas, looking at the view the higher attitude had to offer.
"Shiraishi, you got to try this!" Kintaro tried to encourage his captain to join his act. "It's… Ah!" Before Kintaro could do anything else, the tree's trunk finally gave out, causing the boy to fall from the sky. Some people closed their eyes in fear of the poor boy's fate when he met the harsh ground. But Kintaro, as flexible as he is, did a backflip and landed perfectly onto the ground. The tree, however, was not so lucky. The tree began to fall as well, and it ended up hitting the trees next to it. And soon, all the trees began to fall like domino pieces.
"Kin-chan, are you alright?" Shiraishi asked soon after the boy had landed.
"Yeah, that scared me…"
"Wh… What did you do!?" the owner asked furiously, looking left and right at the damage the boy had caused. "My Christmas trees!"
"I'm sorry," Shiraishi quickly apologized, pushing Kintaro's head down so both of them could bow at the same time. "We promised we'll clean this up, right?" Shiraishi looked at all the regulars, as if he was blaming all of them (including him) for not keeping an eye on their kouhai.
"Right," everyone sighed.
"Eh, I don't want to!" Kintaro whined, jumping up and down in frustration.
"Kin-chan," Shiraishi said in a calm yet threatening tone. "You need to learn to take responsibility for your action." He then slowly unwrapped the bandage on his left hand.
"Ah! I'll clean it up! I'll clean it up! I don't want to die!" Kintaro cried as he quickly ran toward a tree and picked it up from the ground.
"That's a good boy."
"Guess, we'll be cleaning," Zaizen sighed as he joined the group in picking up all the trees.
"Yep," Miyuki laughed sheepishly as she walked next to Zaizen to help out.
As Miyuki was helping to pick the trees up, there was only one thought that popped out of her mind: "You know maybe getting a fake tree this year isn't such a bad idea this year…"
For this special, I decided to write it when my friend told me she was getting a Christmas tree, so I thought it might be fun to write one :)
Please review to tell if you like this side story or not :)
Anyway, once again, Merry Christmas!