I found this today while searching through my old fanfictions… so I edited it a little and then realized, why not post this? It's a one shot.

Whoever Thought Christmas Gifts Cost So Much?

By Fade

Summary: It's Christmas, and Chiharu has no idea what to get her long-time friend Takashi, likewise for Takashi.

Rating: G

Fifteen year old Chiharu Mihara sat on her couch, miserable. It was Christmas Eve, and she still hadn't gotten her best friend Takashi Yamazaki a present. She wanted it to be something special, but she didn't really have the money for something really good. All she had was twelve dollars and eighteen cents! She had spent all night tossing and turning, worrying, and now it was eight o'clock in the morning. She got up, and trudged to the window. It was flurrying. She sighed; normally she would have clapped her hands and called Yamazaki to come over and they could have a snowball fight once there was enough snow on the ground. She hit the window, moaned in pain, and ran upstairs to put it under some cold water.

After running it under water, she looked in the mirror, and stared at her reflection. Her waist-length bouncy auburn curls were down, and they shone in the fluorescent light.

Now, Chiharu's curls were her most prized possession, more important than her collection of stuffed animals! She might not have been very tall or curvy, but she could quite honestly say that she had the most beautiful hair at Tomoeda high. And anyone and everyone would agree. To her, her hair was like Yamazaki's skateboard. He had gotten it four years ago for his birthday, after wanting one all his life. He always used it to go to school, and to work. He spent all his time with Chiharu in the mall parking lot, practicing everything, from ollies to impossibles. Meanwhile, she would be braiding her hair, or looking through a hairstyling book or magazine for new styles to try.

Her eyes lit up; she had finally decided what she could get Yamazaki! One of those cool sticker collections to put on the back of his skateboard! He had been wanting them for a long time. Everyday after school when they were walking to the parking lot, they would pass by the skateboard shop, 'Board to Death'. He would always stop to admire the box, with all of the cool stickers. They were usually either words, or faces.

Then her face fell. She'd never have enough money for it.

She looked at herself again, and her eyes once again lit up. Of course! She could cut her hair, and get money for it! With her hair, she'd definitely get the money for Yamazaki's gift! She turned around as a single tear splashed down her face, and onto the white tiles. She knew it would be a sure sacrifice, but her hair would grow back, right?

And so, she ran downstairs, put on her sneakers, her old blue jacket, and her mittens, and went out into the snow. Since the hair salon wasn't that far, she could walk it. However, with her enthusiasm, she decided to run it.

She reached the salon in good time, and nearly threw herself at Marie, her usual hairstylist. Marie was a large woman all the way from France. She had dark curly hair that reached her shoulders, and she always had it in a stylish French twist. She had a mole right near her mouth, and she always wore bright pink lipstick. She always smelled of cinnamon and raspberry jelly.

"Marie! I need a haircut! Cut my hair as short as a boy's! I want to sell it!" She panted. Marie looked at her like she was crazy.

"Why would you ever want a haircut?!" The lilt of her French accent wafted through her words. Chiharu sighed.

"I need the money so I can buy Yamazaki a Christmas present!" She replied. "And I won't take no for an answer." She added, sitting down in a chair. Marie smiled warmly, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, she walked over to Chiharu, and examined her hair with an expert hand. Finally,

"I can give you thirty for it." She said. Chiharu calculated in her head. Yes! She would have just enough! The sticker collection was forty-two dollars! She nodded happily, and didn't give her hair another thought, for she was imagining about how happy T-Yamazaki would be later that afternoon when she went over to his house to watch Christmas cartoons, and this year, give him a gift.

After Marie was finished, Chiharu stared at herself in the large mirror, with mixed emotions. Her hair was shorter than Yamazaki's. It lay in loose curls on her head, and she blinked back tears and smiled, shaking her head.

"Thank you, Marie." She whispered as she took her money, and ran three streets down to 'Board to Death'.

When she got home, she was exhausted. She flopped down on the couch after throwing the box in the close, panting. She ran a hand through her hair, but instead of it gliding through her fingers like silk, it was out of her hands in moments. She checked her watch; it was ten. She had two more hours. She decided to run upstairs, and try to make herself look as pretty as possible, with this short hair.

As she was running upstairs, a thought hit her. What if Yamazaki didn't think she was pretty anymore? She reached the bathroom, and looked in the mirror for the third time that day. There it was, her short auburn curls. She tried to run her brush through her hair, but as soon as she started it stopped. She sighed. Oh well, it would be worth it, she just knew it.

"It will grow back." She whispered out loud. One of her brothers happened to be going by, and stopped short in front of the door.

"What the…" He gasped. She stared into the sink, and didn't look at him, even as he came in and stood beside her. "What did you do?" He demanded. She burst into tears.

"I-I c-cut m-my hair, b-because I needed the money so I could b-buy Y-Yamazaki's C-Christmas pr-present!" She sobbed. He stared at her, and she wiped her eyes, smiling. "But it's okay! It will grow back!" She said. He shook his head.

"Chiharu, you are either in love with Yamazaki or you're just mental." He said, walking out. Chiharu growled.

"I'M NEITHER!" He closed the door quickly as she threw a hairbrush at the door.

Yamazaki groaned, staring at the clock. He only had two more hours before Chiharu came! He picked up his skateboard, and boarded downtown, trying to figure out what to get Chiharu.

Hmm… she has too many stuffed animals already… She thinks skateboarding is stupid… she has all of Greenday's CDs…

He grabbed a light pole as he swerved into a sidestreet. He jumped off his skateboard, and sat down on a stoop, putting his head in his hands miserably.

I have no money besides… he thought, staring at the pathetic dollar bill in his hands. He closed his fist again, and blinked. He had to get Chiharu a present! But what?!

He stood up slowly, and exhaled, trying to think. He closed his eyes, and pictured Chiharu in his head. Average height… not very feminine… not very skinny like him… Beautiful amber eyes… and… long curly copper hair.

And then it hit him!

He grabbed his skateboard, not bothering to ride it, and raced down the street.

Chiharu spun around in front of the mirror in her room, staring at her reflection. She had a habit of saying small prayers for the smallest things.

Please let him still think I'm pretty. Then she stopped. Did Yamazaki think she was pretty? She sighed. Maybe my brother is right. She thought, grabbing a red hooded sweatshirt and pulling it over her head, making her look even more like a boy. She grabbed Yamazaki's present, yanked on her coat, and sped towards Yamazaki's house.

 The snow was an inch deep now. Everything was silent, with the soft glow of Christmas lights lighting up the gray afternoon. No one else was out, and the row houses of Yamazaki's neighborhood lay in neat rows, like a vegetable garden. Yamazaki's house was the prettiest house on the street because his mother loved to garden. The lights on their house were the old fashioned, big lights that wouldn't look out of place in the forties. They presented a soft warm glow through the haze of the snow. Chiharu climbed the front stone steps nervously.

Get over it… he'll still want to be friends with you even if your hair is short… C'mon, stop being ridiculous! It's just Yamazaki, for crying out loud! Why do you even care? She scolded herself mentally as she opened the screen door, and knocked on the glass of the front door. Yamazaki's brown and white cat, Tashu, sauntered into the foyer, and right up to the front door, staring up at her.

Chiharu smiled, and rapped on the door louder. Yamazaki came running to the door, his hair slightly wet, in a white tee shirt and baggy jeans. He yanked open the door.

"Hey!" He greeted brightly. He let her in, not noticing her hair because of her hood.

His parents weren't home, so they could eat as many Christmas cookies as they wanted. Chiharu kicked off her boots, and let down her hood nervously, after Yamazaki had taken her coat. He hung it on a hook in the closet, and turned back and gasped.

"You-" Chiharu cut him off, dragging him into the living room.

"My hair grows fast." She said, as they sat down on the couch in front of the TV. She turned the TV on, as Yamazaki was too stunned to do so. He stared at her with an unreadable expression. It wasn't anger, surprise, happiness, none of the sentiments that Chiharu had been prepared for. She sighed, and turned off the TV. "I'm sorry, but I didn't have enough money to get you a near decent present, and…" She trailed off. The expression hadn't gone away from his face. "Oh, come on Yamazaki! It will grow back!" She pleaded with him.

"…It's… gone?" He asked finally, looking around her head. She groaned.

"You don't need to look for it, it's gone!" She said, frustrated. He couldn't seem to grasp the fact that her hair was gone. "Please, don't let this ruin-" She stopped short when he put his hand out.

"No haircut could ruin our friendship, but… once you see the present I got you, you'll see why you had me going there." He walked back to the closet, and pulled out a small package, and he tossed it to her. She grabbed it, a little nervous. She tore it open, and screamed when she saw it.

The hair clips that she had wanted for over a year now were right there, in the palms of her hands! They were tortoiseshell, with small fake diamonds studded in the edges. She clapped a hand over her mouth. Yamazaki started laughing. Chiharu also laughed, and pulled out her present for Yamazaki. He opened it quickly, and froze when he saw it.

There they were, the stickers that he had wanted so badly! He couldn't laugh, scream, or cry. Chiharu clapped.

"Oh, get your skateboard! I want to see how they look!"

Yamazaki looked up, and shook his head, smiling. He dropped onto the couch beside her.

"Hey Chiharu… what do you say we… put away our Christmas presents for awhile?" He said, looking out at the snow. Chiharu stuttered.

"But…"

"I sold my skateboard, because I also didn't have the money to get you what I wanted to get you." He said quickly. Chiharu reached up to finger a lock of copper hair when she remembered that she didn't have enough to do that anymore. Yamazaki was still smiling. He stood up, and she did too. "Why don't we… have a snowball fight instead?" He suggested, a mischievous glint in his eyes. She nodded, and they both raced to the foyer to put on their coats and mittens.