Hated by You ☆ | Riki Nishimura

第33章

Glorious Stars

The night was so chaotic. Hitomi enjoyed it very much. If she would have celebrated the eve with only her mother, it would have been more calm and peaceful. But with Niki, the word peace doesn't exist. 

Suddenly Hitomi wanted to have some own time and she escaped to the balcony next to the kitchen, while the others were still examining their gifts. She had the white bear hoodie on, since Niki forced it on her. 

The weather was pretty cold when she stepped in the balcony and the shirt kept her warm. The balcony was small and there wasn't any furniture. She leaned to the railing and admired the glimmering stars above her. 

The sky was dark but it was full of stars. Like hundreds. It felt amazing to gaze at the stars and in peace. Hitomi took a few deep breaths and recalled all the scenes today. How and when did she became so comfortable around Niki? She hates him. No, she doesn't. Not anymore. But she should. All the things he did to her before, at school mostly. She haven't forgotten any of those. But Niki seems a lot different, like a whole new person now. Why?

Hitomi snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the balcony door to slide open.

"What are you doing alone here in the cold?" Niki inquired as he stepped on the balcony and walked besided her, leaning on the railing too. 

"I don't know." Hitomi answered. A cool breeze hit their faces, as they watched the sky from the balcony in silence. Not an awkward silence, a comfortable one. They were also both tired and couldn't talk much anymore. 

"Have you count them already?" Niki asked gently, referring to the stars above them.

"What are you talking about? There's way too much to count." Hitomi stated.

"I count them one night. There were one hundred and one." Niki said proudly.

"One hundred and one? Are you so sure? Maybe you missed one." Hitomi scorned.

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure I didn't."

"Yeah, sure." Hitomi gave in and went quiet again. She enjoyed the peace even though Niki's presence was still there. Hitomi's hands got cold and she was about to put them in her pockets. She felt something hard in her right pocket. It was the little package that Yuma gave. Hitomi took it with her from home and forgot to open it with the others. She pulled it out of her pocket and examined it. Niki noticed it and started to smile. "That's Yuma's. You haven't opened it yet?" 

Hitomi looked up to him in confusion. "How did you know Yuma gave it?"

"I was with him when he bought those for you and Mina." Niki told.

"Really? You seem to hang out a lot these days." Hitomi said, feeling  a little envious. It was true. Yuma has gotten really close with Niki and tend to spend a lot of time with him. But that's good, isn't it? To sometimes have your own gender company. 

"Mm. Open it." Niki urged. Hitomi began to untie the string of the package and remove the gift wrap. Under the wrap there was a dark gray box with an easy-to-open lid. After opening it she realized it was a necklace or a bracelet, but on the top of it there was a note. It was torn small from a pink notepad and had text on it. She lifted it closer to her eyes and read it.

Merry Christmas Hitomi!❤️

(Tho, Niki chose the jewel for you. He said "It'll look good on her"😉🤗)