𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬 // 𝐌𝐇𝐀

6: 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐔𝐩 𝐌𝐲 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐬𝐞

LEGEND - Languages
╰┈➤ Japanese: normal text
╰┈➤ English: italicized text
╰┈➤ Tagalog/Filipino: bold text

A Christmas Special //

.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

'It's freezing.' Shouta thinks to himself. Normally, he would be at home right now, avoiding the cold. But his mother asked him to buy some ingredients, so now he has to endure the biting winter cold. It was also one of the rare moments where she was home so he couldn't bring himself to refuse her. Thinking about the warm, soft, and comfy bed that he will spend the next 15 hours on, he feels a sense of happiness while walking back home.

"Is that you, Aizawa-kun?" He stilled.

"SHOUTA??! WHERE??"

Just great. He can already feel a headache creeping up on him. Turning his head toward the voice's direction, he watches as Keia and Oboro approach him with wide smiles. Ignoring the instinct to run and hide, he stands still and waits for them to reach him.

"Aizawa-kun, it's nice to see you. I must be really lucky to run into you and Oboro-kun today." Keia says with a smile.

"Before we continue, let's move out of the way. It's not exactly the best idea to converse in the middle of the street." Shouta says before guiding them to a nearby bench. The three sit in silence for a few seconds until Oboro comes up with a suggestion.

"Do you guys wanna celebrate Christmas together?"

The suggestion catches Shouta off guard. But before he could say anything, Oboro goes on and on about how they can invite Hizashi and Hime, do a Secret Santa, and play games.

"How about we do it at your place eh, Shouta?" Oboro suggests out of nowhere.

"What? Absolutely not." Shouta says with conviction.

"C'mon, you're parents won't be home anyway right?"

Hearing this hit his heart hard. As true as it is, it didn't change the fact that he wishes his parents would be home more. It has always been like this but he still isn't used to it.

"Okay, fine." It was about time he started to accept the fact that his parents wouldn't be home all the time. So he'll take this chance and have some company during the holidays for once.

"ALRIGHTY! IT'S CONFIRMED, OKAY? NO BACKING OUT OF THIS NOW. OKAY SHOUTA?" Oboro says as he lifts his fist into the air.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," is all he grumbles to the overly excited boy.

"Sure! I've never celebrated Christmas with friends before actually." Keia says shyly.

"Then we'll make sure it'll be your best Christmas party yet! Let's meet next week to draw lots for Secret Santa," Oboro huffs while tilting his head and doing a thumbs-up.

"I'll contact the others about the details then," Keia says with a boxy smile.

At the sight of his very excited friends, he just sighs and accepts it even though he already feels that he'll regret this.

° ° °

Shouta is not excited. But he has no choice and begrudgingly stands up as he hears the doorbell and opens the door to the gaggle of kids he calls "friends".

"Come in and leave your shoes here," he gestures to the rack.

"Hello to you too!" Hizashi all but shouts. The others echo a greeting too but all he replies with is a grunt.

After leaving their shoes and coats by the door, Shouta leads them to the living room which was beautifully decorated with lights, stockings, and a big Christmas tree. Although he was always alone during Christmas, his parents still tried their best to decorate the house to make him feel less alone.

"Woah, didn't take you as the festive type eh Aizawa," Hime says in awe as she looks up at the tall Christmas tree.

"Cool right? Shouta's parents always go all out with the decorations."

"What's wrong, Keia?" Oboro asks the girl who was squinting her eyes at the decorations.

"I don't know... It just feels... incomplete," the girl mumbles while digging into her bag. "Ah, I got it!"

Everyone turns their head to her as she pulls out sticks, string, different colored papers, and various decorating materials like glitter and stickers.

"My family," Keia starts while putting the materials on the floor. "...always has these up for decoration during Christmas so I thought we could make some together," she finishes while beckoning them to sit with her on the floor.

"OOOHHH PAROLS!" Hime exclaims.

"Parols?" Hizashi asks.

"Paroles? Isn't that what criminals do?" Shouta deadpans. At this, Keia and Hime burst out laughing.

"Wh-what?? No- no! It's a star-shaped lantern!" Keia quickly explains. "W-wait, I'll just show you guys a tutorial," she says while rummaging for her phone. After which she types for a bit and turns the screen to them, showing a simple tutorial of how to make it. But even before the video finished, Hizashi, Oboro, and Hime were already in their own spots in the room, busying themselves with making their lantern.

° ° °

Satisfied with his work, Oboro turns his body to face his shaggy-haired friend who, to no one's surprise, was making a black-colored lantern. "Shoutaaaaa~ are you done yet?"

"Yes. I was the first to finish, actually."

"EEEEHHH?? SHOUTA, YOU'RE DONE???" Hizashi exclaims.

"Yes, I am. Now go finish yours."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! WE ARE SAVING THIS MONSTROSITY OF A CHRISTMAS LANTERN," Hizashi resolves as he holds up Shouta's, even though very well-made and sturdy, plain and boring lantern.

"Hime get th-"

"I'm here." She responds immediately, carrying a variety of colorful decorations on her arms. In the blink of an eye, the three were decorating Shouta's lantern with the goal of trying to 'save it.' Frozen in shock, Shouta could do nothing but stand there and watch as the three threw a bunch of colorful things on his lantern.

° ° °

"NOW IT LOOKS PRETTY." Hizashi huffs, proud of his craftsmanship

"PRETTY?! IT LOOKS AS IF A UNICORN PUKED ON IT!" Shouta says, exasperated at the sight of his once 'perfect' lantern that was now covered in purple, pink, and blue glitter.

"It's like a galaxy 🤩," Hime compliments. "Oh, I know! We should add star-shaped holes so the light would be shaped like stars!"

Keia smiles at the sight of the three continuing to "decorate" Shouta's lantern.

'How cute,' she thinks to herself, eyes zeroing in on Shouta. But as quickly as her smile appeared, her smile faded into nothingness.

Suddenly remembering how the latest events in the manga made Shouta so depressed and broken before she "died," she was hit hard with a feeling of melancholy. But that wasn't the only thing she remembered. She also thought about how the same Oboro sitting in front of her would be gone in the future. And even how Hizashi, the same loud and always happy Hizashi in front of her, would fake a smile and act like everything was fine. But before she could spiral deeper, she saw Shouta smile and laugh.

'You don't know me all that well yet but, I promise I'll do everything to keep that smile on your face.'

Finishing up their work and adding their last touches to Shouta's lantern, they switch on the small light inside the lantern and watch it shine through the star-shaped holes.

'I hope we'll continue bringing light into his life, even if it's a tiny spark.' 

.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

Author's Note:

Can you tell we don't know how to make titles //