Hand in hand, Kokichi and Himiko strolled through a park. Their boots crunched in the new fallen Christmas Eve snow. Street lamps glowed like fireflies, keeping the approaching night at bay. Laughing and shrieking, kids hurled snowballs at each other. Others made snow angels or built igloos. Snow and icicles hung off the trees lining the park.
Himiko laid her head on the shoulder of Kokichi's puffer jacket. Tired, Himiko closed her eyes and exhaled, her breath fogging up. Kokichi squeezed her glove, smiling.
They had lunch at Himiko's favorite coffee café, spent hours window shopping – both had already bought their gifts for the other – and now they were taking the scenic route back to Mrs. Yumeno's house. Her homemade turkey dinner was waiting.
As they walked, they found a small, two-section snowman. His branch arm sagged. No hat or carrot nose. One rock eye was missing. "Oh, hold on." Himiko bent down and found a replacement pebble for its eye. "There." Standing alone in the corner of the park, the snowman's tiny black eyes implored them. "He needs some love. Here, let's fix him."
Shaking his head, Kokichi crouched down to help. As they packed snow, Kokichi hummed "Winter Wonderland". Frowning, Himiko raised a brow. "Humming again?"
"What, you rather me sing in English and you get annoyed? It's not my fault Japan doesn't have awesome Christmas carols like America."
Himiko tsked. As Kokichi quietly hummed, they padded him with more snow to fatten his anorexic form. The mage stepped back, studying him. "He needs something else; something to show he's cared for." Himiko doffed her ice-blue yarn scarf and wrapped it around the snowman just so. Her tan double-breasted coat puffed out like a dress. A bow wrapped around her waist. Her nose shone like a cherry. Face flushed, she smiled.
Watching her, Kokichi exhaled slowly.
Himiko sang quietly.
"In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say, 'Are you married?'
We'll say, 'No man,
But you can do the job when you're in town.'"
Kokichi gasped. "How…? You learned…?"
Blushing, Himiko ducked her head. Ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, well you wouldn't stop singing it so…"
Kokichi glanced at the snowman, face burning. "W-wait, is he supposed to be the…?"
Laughing, Himiko smiled at him. She had magicked her barrette into some mistletoe. "You may now kiss the bride."
Smiling, Kokichi complied.
If you want more Oumeno Christmas, check out my other fic Home for the Holidays!
I can hardly believe I've been writing DR V3 for a year now. It's been a blast! If you ever read, gave kudos, commented, or bookmarked even just one of my fics, thank you so much for the support!
And of course, thank you for reading this. Merry Christmas everyone, or if you celebrate something else, Happy Holidays! :)