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An overslept Mahiro entered the café, searching for her friends with tired eyes. Since it was Saturday, the place was far more crowded than Mahiro was used to. Normally, she and her friends would visit after school when finding an available table was much easier. As she navigated the venue, she nearly collided with one of the waitresses. She bowed and apologized to the young woman before a familiar voice caught her attention.
"There they are. It can be quite beneficial at times that Asahi is so talkative."
She sights.
“And like a waterfall she drowns you… in words, I guess. Hehe”
She proceeded in the direction of the voice, finding amusement in her “linguistic creativity”. Mahiro finally spotted her friends gathered around a table next to the window. As Asahi noticed her, she paused her monolog and waved towards Mahiro.
"Mahiron! We're waiting for you!" the brown-haired girl said with a big grin on her face. Nayuta, Miyo and Momiji, who seemed strangely tense, greeted Mahiro as she took the empty seat next to the last mentioned.
“I am sorry that I only arrive now. Mihari was already in the university and I may have forgotten to set an alarm for myself," she said with a weak smile. “Again,” she added as the group started to laugh about Mahiro´s tendence to oversleep. Following this, Asahi seized the opportunity to continue her story from where Mahiro's arrival had interrupted it.
"Where was I? Ah yes! ... and when Asahi entered the room, I found my shoes filled with candy and even some five-hundred-yen coins." Asahi paused, stood on her chair, and made a theatrical gesture.
"But something was odd; the shoes weren't where I left them in the evening!"
She made a dramatic pause but this time she stopped with her eyes at Momiji. Asahi did note the slight shiver on her friend’s skin. A short smile did creep over her face.
"Sooooo, what happened? It is certain that Saint Nicholas will fill your shoes but will not relocate them!” She leaned back into her seat, noticing Nayuta eagerly following every word she said. Asahi chuckled, knowing that Nayuta still believed in Santa.
Poor girl.
Asahi knew that Santa is not real, but Nikolaus is real as the ice parfait she was eating between her words. Or so she thought. After taking a small spoon into her mouth she quickly swung herself up again.
"Someone is messing with Saint Nicholas’ good work! This leaves only one conclusion. We had a ghost in our house!"
A loud squeaking noise echoed through the café, drawing the attention of the other guests to their table. Mahiro squeezed her eyes, shocked by the loud sound directly next to her. She then noticed something firmly gripping her shoulder. Despite the high pressure it applied to her skin, it still felt remarkably soft and warm.
"Hehe this feels nice…” she mumbles smiling, embracing the moment. However, before she had time to sort her thoughts, a voice interrupted her.
"Ara, arara," Miyo exclaimed excitedly.
Panicking, Mahiro opened her eyes to see Momiji's arm around her own. She held onto Mahiro with a firm grip, reminiscent of a koala clinging to its mother. Feeling her friends' stares, especially Miyo's, only made Mahiro more panic.
"Mo... Momiji-chan. Could you please let go of my arm? Please?” The result of her question was not as expected as Momiji now grabbed her other arm too while burying her face into Mahiro’s chest. After a brief pause, she said something in a quiet voice. Mahiro could hear the words "Ghosts" and "Scary”, but the rest was lost in the soft fabric of Mahiro's dress.
Is she doing this on purpose? Asahi, why do you do this? Still in her thoughts, Mahiro glanced over at Asahi. She was checking whether Miyo was still breathing by repeatedly poking her cheek with her fingers
"Asahi-chan! Stop this! And you should not just tell made up stories, just to scare Momiji-chan." Asahi let go of Miyo and looked at Mahiro with serious eyes, resting her head on her hands.
"Asahi does not make this up. It really happened. You believe me Nayutan or?" The young girl nodded and spoke softly in response.
"It appears that the Ghost desires the same level of affection that Saint Nikolas receives. However, due to his lack of experience compared to Saint Nikolas, he occasionally makes errors. It appears he simply needs to improve his skills.“ Nayuta swiftly grabbed her tablet and wrote a reminder in her calendar.
"I will wish for Christmas that Santa will help the Ghost to be a better helper to his friend Nikolas."
Under normal circumstances, Mahiro would have had to stop herself from explaining to Nayuta that neither Santa Claus nor Father Christmas was real. But at the moment, her thoughts were focused on the girl in her arms, who was clinging to Mahiro even tighter every time the word "ghost" was mentioned. She looked around into the group of her friends. Miyo was undoubtedly in her own world. For the last few minutes, she just stared at them. Her eyes were in a spiral shape and a small amount of saliva was dripping down from her mouth.
I think Miyo-chan gone ... but what do I do about the others? I just hope that Onee-chan doesn't find out about it. How could I explain to her why Momiji ...
She blushed before she could finish her thought. Competently ignoring the conversation of Asahi and Nayuta, she looked at the trembling girl in her arms. Momiji kept mumbling that ghosts weren't real and there was nothing to worry about.
“Oh Momiji-chan ... Poor Momiji-chan,” she said before patting her friend on the head. Just as she realized that she hadn't even been able to order an ice cream, she heard a soft voice.
"Mahiro-chan?" She looked down at her chest and saw Momiji's brown eyes looking straight at her.
"You... you don't believe that… ghosts... are real?" She paused briefly before proceeding.
"I mean ... Asahi is just Asahi, or?" As she finished her sentence, she looked up at Mahiro. It was a sight that Momiji immediately found extremely soothing.
"Momiji-chan. Who do you think knows her better? You or I?" Mahiro smiled softly at Momiji while stroking over her hair.
"It's again something like the Pillow-monster, all imagination. Look at them both." She pointed with her eyes at the girls across the table, missing the slight blush on Momiji's face.
"Just let them have both have fun." Mahiro looked at Momiji again, speaking in a whisper.
"I could not bring it over me to tell them that Santa or their "Nikolaus" ghost is not real. But let them both have fun. They, ahhh WE are kids." She stopped shortly to go through her next words in her mind before continuing.
“I think when we get older, we won't have this fun anymore. Let's let them have this fun. Let us be the “old” ones.” Now a wight grind slipped over her face.
"We both already know how it feels to be ...more mature. "Momiji began to laugh quietly as she slowly unwinding herself from Mahiro.
"Ok. Let's be the responsible ones!" Momiji said as she reached for her ice cream. She scooped some from her cup and brought the spoon to Mahiro's mouth.
"Say Ahhhh, Mahiro-chan."
Feeling somewhat nervous, Mahiro was about to take a bite when a loud crash suddenly shook the entire table. The place where Miyo was sitting just a few seconds ago was suddenly empty. Mahiro quickly looked under the table to see Miyo lying on the floor with a bruise on her chin and twisted eyes.
"Miyo-chan! Are you alright! Help her up!"
But Miyo just tilted her head a bit to the side, mumbling:
"'This is what heaven looks like..."
END