Takagi looked at all the displays behind the windows of every store she walked by. Frustration was visible on her face, as she has been searching for half an hour. Searching for what? A gift. One for her boyfriend, Nishikata. This Christmas was going to be their first one as a couple, and Takagi wanted to get her boyfriend a good gift. A really good gift. Not something too simple.
So far, every store the girl had inspected didn't have anything for Nishikata. She could get him some gym equipment, since he worked out a lot. But then she decided against that. She then considered a figurine of a character from his favorite anime, but then remembered he wasn't that kind of person. Takagi let out a sigh of disappointment, and walked away in utter defeat.
The girl's mother watched as her daughter looked down to the ground. "I take it you didn't find what you were looking for?", asked the woman. Takagi shook her head. Her mother gave her a sympathetic smile and walked with her back to their car. Once they were in, Takagi stared out the window with her head resting on her hand. "You'll find something, sweetheart", said Mrs Takagi.
"But when? For all I know I might not get him a present by Christmas." Mrs Takagi chuckled. "Want my advice?" Takagi listened to her mother. "When your dad and I had our first Christmas together, do you know what I got him? A cake." "A cake?" "Yes. And it was one I baked myself." Takagi was now interested. "How did he feel about it?" "He loved it", said her mother.
"At first I thought it was because he just loved to eat the cake, but then he told how special it was to him. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter what you get Nishikata. As long as it's from you, and you gave it as a way to show how much you care about him, then he will definitely love it." Takagi thought about her mother's words, then had a lightbulb light up in her head. "That's it!" The girl's mother smirked. "Looks like my work here is done", she thought. "Where to?", she asked her daughter." "Home", the girl answered.
. . .
Takagi flattened the dough with a rolling pin until it was a reasonable depth. Not too thick, but not too thin either. Once the dough was the perfect shape, Takagi took out a bag, beginning to calculate the size and amount of the cookies that could fit in it. Once that was done, she now needed to find the right sized cookie cutter. Upon continuous searching, the brown haired girl found a star shaped cookie cutter of the right size.
Mrs Takagi watched as her daughter made cookies for her boyfriend. Takagi carefully placed the pieces of star shaped dough onto a tray and placed it into the oven, which she had turned on earlier and was finished heating up. She wiped her forehead and let out a tired sigh. "So? How is it going over here?", asked Mrs Takagi. Her daughter looked at her with a smile. "Yep. In just a few minutes they're gonna be ready." Mrs Takagi looked into the oven at the cookies that were busy being baked. "They sure look delicious."
"Except they're for Nishikata." Mrs Takagi backed away with a chuckle. "I get it." Takagi laughed with her mother.
. . .
Nishikata looked on his phone with a smile, reading a message he had just gotten from his girlfriend. "That Takagi?", asked Mrs Nishikata. Her son nodded in response. "You still gonna give her that gift?" Another nod.
A knock came at the door. Nishikata walked towards it and opened it, seeing his girlfriend smiling at him. "Merry Christmas, Nishikata!" "Merry Christmas. You're here pretty quick." "Didn't you read my message?" Nishikata took out his phone and showed his girlfriend the message she had sent.
"You said you were coming to my house." "Yes. Coming. As in I was already in the middle of doing it." Nishikata raised an eyebrow. "But what if I wasn't at home?" "Who wouldn't be at home on the holidays?", asked Takagi. "Unless... are you seeing another girl?"
Nishikata freaked out a bit. "N-NO! I would never do that to you!" Takagi burst out laughing, making Nishikata realize he fell victim to another of his girlfriend's teasing. "Here", he said, giving her the gift he had gotten for her. Takagi opened it to see a stuffed rabbit. "I... thought it looked cute... so it reminded me of you", said Nishikata with a blush. Takagi did as well, and snuggled the toy close to her. "I love it. Thank you."
Takagi then took her gift to Nishikata and held it out. "Here. This is for you." The boy took it and carefully opened it, seeing the bag of the star shaped cookies that his girlfriend had made for him. "Their homemade. I couldn't find anything in the stores that was good enough to give you, so...." "They're delicious!", said Nishikata, who had popped one of the biscuits into his mouth.
"You made these? You're a really good cook." Takagi blushed at her boyfriend's compliment. "Wait, I meant baker. Or chef. Or....", said Nishikata trying to think of a better answer. Takagi laughed and kissed his cheek. "Are we interrupting something?", came a voice. It was Mr Takagi, and he was with Mrs Takagi. Nishikata looked away bashfully, while his girlfriend was confused by her parents sudden visit.
"What are you doing here?" "Nishikata's father called us", said Mrs Takagi. "Said that maybe you two would stay together for the whole evening, and suggested we could stop by." Nishikata stood aside, leaving the door open for his girlfriend's parents. "Come in." The two adults complied. Takagi looked at her boyfriend and took his hand. They shared a smile, and walked into the Nishikata residence together.
