No One

Dan was one of the first to wake that morning, mainly due to the fact that his mind had been on the task before him. He was going to Shun's old dojo in an attempt to coax his friend out of his holiday slump, and maybe even convince the raven-haired boy to attend the Marakura's party.

The brunette loitered about the mansion for a couple of hours, waiting for the others to wake up and join him that Christmas Eve morning. He didn't want to just leave without saying a word to his friends, for none of them knew about his plans for they day. They all assumed that he was going to stay at the mansion with them.

It wasn't much longer before Runo and Murucho emerged from upstairs. Their hair was still messy from where they hadn't groomed it after waking up, but I was sure that they didn't care how their appearance was; friends could look messy among friends. Murucho let out a yawn and said to me, "You're up already, Dan?"

He nodded, not yet wanting to tell his friends that he was planning on going over to Shun's; he's most likely tell them after they all sat down and ate their breakfast. Soon after Runo and Murucho joined the brunette, Alice and Julie did the same.

They looked a bit more awake than the bluenette and blonde had, but they still had a ting of sleep in their eyes. Murucho said to us, "Why don't we go ahead and move into the dinning hall? Breakfast will be served shortly." Nobody protested as the short blonde led them through the maze of hallways and to the massive eating area. When they reached our destination, they broke off and sat at their usual seats.

Although, Dan couldn't help but realize that one seat wasn't occupied, and it hadn't been for several years. It was the chair that Shun normally sat in whenever he was with them. True, it was rather far away from the others, but that was just how Shun was at times.

He liked his space, and Dan didn't blame him, but he did find it rather annoying at times when his friend didn't want anything to do with everybody else. Dan shook the memories and thoughts away when Kato began to bring out their breakfast. There wasn't much fancy about the spread before them; eggs, bacon, cereal, some toast, and other breakfast related items.

Dan, who would have normally been shoveling the food down as if it would have run away, ate almost at the speed of the others, if not slower. He didn't realize it, but he was unconsciously trying to prolong his departure time. The brunette was worried that his plan wouldn't come to fruition, and he would return empty handed.

But this had to be done, and the brunette knew it. Shun couldn't continue to keep doing this every year, it wasn't good for him, or anyone else around him. Dan knew that one part of Shun's alienation was so he wouldn't cause the others worry or grief, but the raven-haired boy's cause had a different outcome.

The others did worry, for they hadn't seen or heard from Shun in several years. Without realizing it, Dan had finished his breakfast, and was now staring before his empty plate. Alice mentioned to him, "That took you a while to finish. Do you feel sick, Dan?"

The brunette snapped back to reality and said with his cocky smile, "Nah. I'm fine." This seemed to quell his friends' worries, for they went back to eating their breakfast. Dan then stood up, and strode across the room towards the door that led to the main lobby of the mansion.

From the table, Runo asked him, "Dan, where are you going?" Dan didn't exactly want to tell them what he was about to do, for they would most likely want to tag along and try to help. Although, the brunette would have applauded them for that, he knew that this had to be a one on one thing; anymore people, and Shun would have only been more likely to refuse this proposition.

"I remembered I have something that my mom wanted me to do for her today. Don't worry. I'll be back later," he told them. His friends bought the little lie and allowed him to leave without another word or question. As Dan made his way towards the exit, he snatched up his coat and slung it over his shoulders, then stepped out into the cold, Christmas Eve air.

No One

Sun filtered through the slits in the blinds, hitting Shun right in his eyes. They twitched for a moment, then opened, revealing two amber orbs. Now that he was awake, he knew there wasn't much of a chance of him falling back asleep. But even knowing this, he laid there in his bed.

Shun had desire to get up, for there was nothing to do; all he would be able to do, would be walk aimlessly around the house. Going into town was out of the question. All of the businesses would be closed because of what day it was, so going and walking around a mall or something to keep his mind occupied wouldn't work.

Regardless, it wouldn't work anyway. All of the tinsel and lights would bring back the bouts of memories, which in turn, brought back the pain. So, Shun rolled over on his other side, facing his back towards the sun, and brought the blanket up to his chin so he could retain some warmth.

Normally, this day had been one that the raven-haired boy had looked forward to when he was younger. Then again, most kids that had been his age did as well. But he didn't look at it as the day before Christmas. No. He looked at it as the day when what little family he had got together and set aside any differences they may have had at the time.

He remembered how the house and all of its rooms had been filled with laughter and light-hearted jokes, creating the most pleasant and warmest of atmospheres. It was enjoyable to be around everyone, and the reason for the gathering had been his mother.

She had been the one that had contacted friends, and everyone that was left in their family. But after her death, fewer and fewer people showed up because they lost touch, or for some other reason. His grandfather had tried to keep a state of normalcy during the holidays and kept contact with as many people as he could, friends mainly. But when the old man died, so did the tradition.

Shun didn't have any of their numbers, and also had no desire to bring people over for the holidays. They just weren't the same. Shun buried half of his face into his pillow, feeling newly forming tears staining it. He couldn't keep going on like this every year.

There had to be something that would keep his mind off of everything and ease his still-grieving heart. Shun, feeling his eyes growing heavy, was about to try and seek refuge in his sleep, when a knock on the door startled him awake.

No One

Dan stood outside of the old dojo, holding his sides as to retain some heat. His nose was stopped up from the cold, so now he was breathing out of his mouth. The brunette watched as his breath turned into cloudy little wisps to pass the time. Seeing that Shun hadn't immediately answered the door, Dan knocked again, a little bit louder this time.

He then began to wonder if Shun was even here. Perhaps his friend had gone out of town to try and escape some of the old memories that may have still be haunting him. Dan, just about to give up, sighed and started to turn around. But he paused when he heard footsteps walking towards the door from the

other side. Then, the door opened a bit, and Shun peered outside to see what the source of the knocking was. The raven-haired boy froze when he saw that it was Dan. What was he doing out here? It then occurred to Shun that whatever reason it was, couldn't be one that was good.

"Yeah?" he asked stoically. Dan was slightly taken aback by his friend. The raven-haired boy's eyes were tinged with the slightest of pink, but it was enough for the brunette to know that he had been crying. Dan shook himself back into focus and said with a gentle smile, "Hey, I was just stopping by to see how you were doing. Heck, I was beginning to wonder if you were even here."

He added in a chuckle for good measure, and as a means to let Shun know that he was there for friendly reasons. "I'm doing fine. Is that all you wanted to know?" Shun asked and appeared to be shutting the door. Dan acted quickly and held the door open with his foot.

Shun stared at the brunette in surprise. Dan said sternly, "Shun, just talk to me for a bit." The two friends stood there for a moment. The silence was broken by a sigh that escaped Shun. "Alright. Come on inside. It's too cold out here to talk," he said flatly and walked inside.

Dan nodded and followed him into the dojo. Inside, the lights were off, but things looked the same as always. Shun then said, "Sorry if the place is a mess. I wasn't really expecting any company." Dan thought he picked up on a hint of hostility. The brunette then began to look around at the living room.

If this was messy, he was afraid to know what clean looked like, for everything in the room was spotless and neatly organized. Perhaps Shun was just trying to fill a forming void of silence. Dan took a seat on the couch, and Shun sat in a chair across from him. Silence hung around in the hair for a moment, before the raven-haired boy finally broke it.

"Alright, why are you really here, Dan?" he asked with his arms folded over his chest and eyes adverted somewhere else in the room. Dan frowned, seeing that this would be more difficult than he thought. He told his friend, "I just wanted to drop by and talk. Catch up and see how things were going. I mean, you haven't even so much as sent a text to anyone, so how do we know what's going on with you?"

The silence returned to the room, but it was Dan that broke it this time. He asked, "So, how are you doing?" Shun closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them halfway and gazed down at the coffee table that sat between them. "I've been….Getting by, I guess," he said finally.

Dan nodded, knowing that it was best not to pry too much, or else Shun might end up kicking him out and refuse to let him back in. He had to approach this carefully, or else the brunette might set off a chain-reaction that nobody could recover from.

He said to the raven-haired youth, "I know that this time of year is still hard on you, buddy, but how much longer are you going to let it eat you like this? Trust me, Shun, I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must be to go through what you're going through, but you have to remember that you're not entirely alone. You've still got us. We're still you're friends."

This created a pang in Shun's chest. He knew that his friends would still be there for him, no matter how much he tried to push them away; sometimes, he found their stubbornness to be nauseating. But in all actuality, he wanted somebody to be there.

He wanted somebody that he could lean on when he needed support. But it was his own stubbornness that prevented him from opening up and allowing them to help. He had nobody to blame for these walls around him, other than himself. Dan had continued speaking without Shun realizing it.

"You can't keep going on like this. You've got to move on," the brunette said sadly. Shun cast his eyes away. He had tried to move on, many times at that. But no matter how much he tried, nothing seemed to work. He would be fine the rest of the year, but once this time rolled around, it all came back and hit him as hard as ever.

And at times, he worried that nothing would ever change. When Shun didn't say anything in response to Dan, the brunette frowned again. "Shun, if you think it will help in any way, have you given any thought to going to Murucho's Christmas party?" he asked. Shun stared at the brunette for a moment, then sighed.

"Not really. Dan, I appreciate you trying to help, but I don't need it," Shun told him, trying to bit back the tears that were threatening to spill over. Shun would have been fine just staying in bed all day, trying not to think about these kinds of things.

But with Dan here and him trying to coax the raven-haired boy out of hiding, there was no way that these thoughts would quiet themselves down now. Dan stared at Shun in surprise. He was sure that his raven-haired friend would have accepted the generous outstretched hand of help.

"But, Shun. You can't keep doing this to yourself. It's not healthy," Dan said, trying to reach his friend's common sense. The brunette was about to say something else, but Shun cut him off. "Dan, I don't need your help. Now, please. Just leave me be," the raven-haired boy snapped, trying to keep his emotions under control.

Dan stared at him for a moment, then sighed. "Fine….But if you change your mind, then there's still a place for you at Murucho's." The brunette stood up and was just about to leave from the dojo, but halted at the door. He then turned and said to Shun, "Nobody deserves to be alone and suffer like you do during this time of the year…Or any time of the year for that matter."

With that, Dan walked out of the dojo and left the property. Shun sat there in silence for a moment, and slowly, his gaze shifted towards the letter on the table. Nobody deserves to be alone and suffer like you do during this time of the year….

one more day till Christmas! woo! check out my profile for a poll and read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~