Christmas Special

*This chapter is canon and takes place at a later date*

Hiroshi jolted awake. He had been woken up by somebody insistently banging on his door. With a yawn, he got out of bed and walked over to open the door. He was about to greet the visitor with a tired grumble, until he got a face full of snow.

“Ow! What the hell!” he yelped out, scraping the snow from out of his eyes. He couldn’t see, but that adorable giggle clued him in to who the culprit was.

“Hahaha! You should see your face, Oshi!” Wisteria laughed hard as she held her stomach. Hiroshi sighed to himself.

“Where you even get that snow from?”

“Oh, here in our world, weather events like this blizzard, for example, are very common. Look around you! Come outside!”

Begrudgingly, Hiroshi stepped outside into the cold breeze. He could see his breath in the air. He examined the area where he first met so many new people. The whole area was covered with snow as white as paper. His eyes lit up and his cheeks grew warm. Even though he never had a true family, other than his care home, he always loved Christmas time. It resembled Christmas a lot. Children playing in the snow. Laughing. Smiling. People spending time with their families. It was wonderful.

“Wow, Wisteria, it really is something,” he gasped.

“See! You do have a heart,” Wisteria chuckled. She felt like she was finally getting him to come out of his shell a lot more. “The children were asking for a snowball fight earlier. Care to join us?”

“Oh no, I really can’t, Wisteria,” Hiroshi said bluntly, blushing slightly.

“Ah, come on, don’t be like that! It’s so much fun!”

“But I have never had a snowball fight before.”

Wisteria’s jaw hit the floor. “What?! Well, we got to change that right now!” She took Hiroshi by the hand, and no matter how much he protested, she took him into the village center where all the children had gathered. The snow was so deep, it was hip height on most of the smaller children. Hiroshi’s footprints were left in the snow. It was truly magical.

“Hey, children!” Wisteria called out in a happy tune.

“Hello, Miss Wisteria!” they responded back in unison.

“Mr. Hiroshi would like to play with us? Is that ok?”

“Yes, Miss Wisteria!”

“Now make sure to go easy on him. It’s his first time playing snowball fights!” she winked at Hiroshi. He grumbled under his breath.

“I hate you sometimes, Wisteria.”

Just as Hiroshi was about to argue, one of the children hit him in the face with a snowball.

“Ow! Not again!” he got behind a wall of a house, kneeled down, and began making a small snowball.

“Oh, you little rascals! You’re gonna get it now!” he cried out, aiming his shot. Wisteria laughed under her breath as she made her own snowballs. They threw snowballs back and forward, all through the day and into the night. They played until the children were called in to dinner. Wisteria went over to talk to Hiroshi, who was looking on in the distance.

“You know, I have never seen you smile so much before. Were you, enjoying yourself?”

“What? Yeah, I suppose I had a little bit of fun,” Hiroshi admitted, a small smirk spreading across his face. He enjoyed it a lot more than he cared to admit. “I thought the children would be scared of me.”

“Not around this time. We all come together and spend time with the people in the village. Especially people we cherish and care about,” Wisteria whispered with a blush. Hiroshi nodded with a smile.

“Well, thank you for an amazing day, but unfortunately I have a lot of work to get done,” Hiroshi said, lying straight to Wisteria’s face. He didn’t think he deserved to be viewed as a good person for any longer. However, just as he turned around to head back home, he felt a strong hand bring him back.

“Hiroshi, you’re not spending today by yourself. Come back to my place. My parents are cooking a lovely dinner,” she grinned at him with a goofy smile. Hiroshi thought for a moment, before replying with a reluctant “sure.” Wisteria did a giddy dance and dragged him to her house, despite his constant protesting.

Despite his moaning, Hiroshi was secretly loving it. Being asked by someone to spend time with them on a special day. It meant a lot to him. He felt wanted and loved, which is something he didn’t feel often.

He had a wonderful dinner with Wisteria’s family. Laughing. Joking. Playing games. Hiroshi felt like he belonged there, in the presence of a loving family.

At the end of the day, Wisteria finally allowed Hiroshi to go home. He stumbled inside and belly flopped onto his bed from the tiredness. He sighed to himself.

“Kuro-Yami?”

“What?”

“Is it just me, or do humans have a nice side too?”

“We have discussed this. Do not forget our objective.”

Hiroshi snuggled down in his bed, feeling warm. For one of the first times since coming to this new world, he had to disagree with the demon inside his head.

It was a wonderful time of year with wonderful people in a wonderful world.

Have a great Christmas everyone!