Kristmas Karma

Wednesday the 8th: Kataoka

Karma goes out for lunch despite the rain prompting everyone to immediately start talking about their projects. I move over to Maehara's desk since he's out collecting girl's numbers at the main campus. I decided to stay out of it because he said it was "for Karma", whatever that means.

"Which shop did you want to start at?" Hinata asks, a nervous expression on her face. "I honestly have no idea where to start looking. And so many of them are really into their gifts, I feel like anything we get won't be good enough." She gently motions to everyone in the room with her eyes.

"Can't hurt to look." I shrug. "And if we have to try again, we'll be fine."

She stares at me in wonder. "I wish I was as cool as you sometimes."

I laugh, covering my mouth. "Oh, stop that! You're cool too!"

Mimura walks over, interrupting us. "Hey, so I was wondering..." He twiddles his thumbs. "Would you be willing to help voice your characters in my movie? Because of Isogai's schedule, he can only do it the morning of Christmas Eve..." He trails off.

"What do you mean by 'our characters'?" I ask, an eyebrow raised.

Mimura checks that Karma's still out. "I'm rewriting our adventures of this year and giving it a happier ending."

"A happier ending?" Hinata scrunches her brows together.

Mimura shrugs. "It's what he wanted. With more blood, of course."

She considers it a moment.

"Sure. My family plans aren't until late in the day anyway." I peek over at Isogai having a conversation with Sugaya.

"Then I will too." Hinata adds.

"Great!" Smiling, Mimura gives us a thumbs up and moves to the next group, giving the same spiel about his movie.

"That'd be really great!" Isogai nearly shouts, shaking Sugaya's hand with both of his.

"Yeah." Sugaya nods coolly. "I'm watching my little sister anyway and I'm sure they'll all get along. I also get a massive discount at the art store for being a regular. Let me know when you wanna go and I'll let you use it."

"You've no idea how much this helps me out!" Isogai shakes his hand one more time and glances over at me. "Oh, Kataoka!"

I try my best to pretend I wasn't just staring at him and lean over towards Hinata.

"Quick, avoidance!" I whisper.

Isogai reaches Hinata's desk when she laughs loudly.

"So anyway, oh, hey Isogai." She waves as if she just noticed him.

I hold in a relieved sigh.

This is why you're my best friend, I think to her.

"Hey!" He responds politely, turning to me. "I thought about what you asked yesterday and if it's not too much trouble, I'd really like some new bath stuff like mats or shower curtains." He scratches the back of his head. "I just noticed how tattered and frayed they are this morning. It's really bad." He laughs it off.

"That's really what you want?" I ask in surprise.

"If it's a weird thing to ask for, I made a list." He pulls out a scrap of paper from his pocket. "I'm happy with what I have, but I wouldn't want to be rude and turn down a gift opportunity. Besides, gifts aren't really about the receiver."

I wonder what he means by that when someone else calls his attention. "One moment!" He faces me again. "Did you want to take a look?"

I consider it quickly and decide that if that's what he wanted to ask me for out of everything on the list, I should honor it. I smile in return. "That's okay. It gives me a lot to work with, actually."