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Kasumi stared out her bedroom window, idly watching the snow gently fall through the streetlights. It was Christmas Eve, and it was setting up to be one of her least favorite Christmases ever. The reason why was slightly paradoxical: It was because she had a girlfriend—her first ever girlfriend, a girlfriend whom she loved so much. Normally that would be cause for celebration, especially around such a romantic holiday as Christmas. But no. Her girlfriend was back home in Switzerland.
She couldn’t exactly blame Emma for going home for the holidays, especially since Christmas was a much bigger deal in Europe. She couldn’t blame Emma for wanting to see a family she had been away from for so long.
That still didn’t stop her from feeling somewhat… unloved. She knew that Emma going home didn’t mean she loved Kasumi any less, but that didn’t stop her from feeling like that anyway. She hated the way that Emma leaving for holiday made her think of the friends that left her during middle school. Maybe if she weren’t so kasukasu , they wouldn’t have left. In her head, she knew those two situations were completely different, but sometimes her heart didn’t listen to her head.
With a heavy sigh, Kasumi glanced over at her clock, doing some mental time conversion. It sucked having to wait until so late in the evening to talk to her girlfriend, but at least they still got to talk at all. Sadly, there were still a few hours left, and Kasumi had no idea what to do until then.
Her phone buzzed, and it made Kasumi jump a little. She quickly snatched it up and looked to see who it was. Her eyes widened when she saw it was Emma. Without any further hesitation, she accepted the video call.
Emma’s gorgeous, beautiful, perfect face greeted Kasumi with such a blindingly beautiful smile that it instantly dispelled the bad thoughts that had been running through her head.
“Emma!” Kasumi yelled, loudly enough to furtively glance over towards the door to make sure her parents weren’t coming to check on her. Satisfied they weren’t, she looked back to her girlfriend. “This is earlier than expected!”
“Well, I just couldn’t wait to see my little diamante on Christmas Eve.”
Kasumi’s eyes widened a little bit, and she couldn’t hold back the, “Really?” that escaped. She internally grimaced at sounding so needy.
“Of course!” Emma said, and the sincerity in her voice made Kasumi’s heart flutter. “Christmas Eve is a romantic holiday in Japan, right? I felt bad I couldn’t be there to spend it with you in person, so I wanted to at least spend extra time on the phone with you.”
Tears immediately pricked Kasumi’s eyes, and she tried to blink and wipe them away before Emma would notice. Unfortunately for her pride, Emma never missed little things like that. Her soft expression shifted to one of concern.
“Is everything alright, Kasumi? I didn’t say the wrong thing and hurt your feelings, did I?”
“N-No…,” Kasumi sniffled and wiped her eyes again. “No, you said the right thing, and it made me really happy.”
“Were you feeling lonely today on Christmas Eve?”
Kasumi looked down and nodded, an embarrassed blush forming at having it be said so plainly.
“Then I’ll stay with you on the phone until you have to go to bed, alright? No matter how long it takes. We’ll spend this special day together as best we can!”
Kasumi’s head shot back up, her eyes wide, and her jaw dropped. “B-But that could be hours! Don’t you want to spend that time with your family?”
“I have plenty of time to spend with them, so I want to make the most of my time with you!”
A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through Kasumi’s chest, and some of the butterflies in her stomach that she hadn’t even noticed flew away. How? How did Emma always know exactly how to make her feel better? After one final sniffle that totally wasn’t cute at all, Kasumi let herself smile properly.
“There’s my diamante shining bright again,” Emma said, returning the smile. “You’re always at your cutest when you smile like that.”
The last weight of anxiety finally lifted from Kasumi’s shoulders. Gosh she loved Emma so much.
“That’s right, the world’s number one cutest idol should always be smiling for her number one fan! Thank you, Emma, I love you.”
“I love you, too, Kasumin! So how has your day been? Did you do anything fun?”
From there, their conversation moved away from heavy emotion to more mundane topics. Kasumi had gone out shopping with Shizuku and Rina that morning, so she told Emma all about it. Though she specifically didn’t tell her about the cute little goat plushie she’d found and bought as a late Christmas gift. That was obviously a surprise. But Kasumi knew as soon as she saw it that she just had to get it for Emma. She hoped it would remind her girlfriend of Neve.
Emma talked about her town’s Christmas traditions, and Kasumi found it absolutely fascinating. It was so different from what she thought Christmas was based on the western media she’d seen. But the way Emma practically glowed when talking about it was so adorable that Kasumi was entranced by it.
During a lull in the conversation, Kasumi yawned.
“Getting tired?” Emma asked with a small smile. “What time is it in Japan now? It must be getting pretty late.”
Kasumi honestly had no idea what time it was—she’d lost track while they were talking—so she looked at the clock. Her eyes widened, and she looked back to Emma.
“It just passed midnight.”
Emma gasped, then her face lit up in a brilliant smile. “Then it’s officially Christmas for you! I get to be the first one to tell you ‘Merry Christmas’!” Merry Christmas, Kasumin!”
One again, tears pricked Kasumi’s eyes, but this time she wore a smile that rivaled Emma’s in its brilliance. “Merry Christmas, Emma! Thank you so much for tonight. You always make me feel so special.”
“That’s because you are special, my little diamante. And I will always love you, no matter how far apart we may be.”
Emma really did always know the perfect thing to say.