💮 - 2003, December 24th, Wednesday, 6:10P.M.

Children practiced carolling on the streets, snow fell lightly, people having snowball fights even with the limited amount. The large tree shone brightly, beautifully. You stared at your hard work, well, not completely yours. But you helped. The star on top of the tree shone brighter than anything else in town. You were sure that you could even see it at the edge of town. But, enough gazing for you. You wanted to go home, after all, you were exhausted. You said your goodbyes to those who also volunteered, some expressing understanding and compassion, others saddened that you departed soon. Some even said that they would bring leftovers to you, of the food the mayor is going to serve, which is pretty kind of them.

But alas, you headed back home. You felt pretty great, you couldn't wait to throw yourself in bed and wake up the next day. You looked up at the sky, noticing how it is already dark. You better get going. You suddenly stopped. You felt that someone was following you. Looked back, and saw no one. You were the only one in this street, so that didn't help. You continued walking, but... You heard footsteps faster than yours. You looked back again, and found no one... Again. This is creeping you out. More than you'd like to admit. You quickened pace, and you couldn't wait to get home soon. You, yet again, heard those same footsteps... Approaching you. This time, you didn't stop to look back. Whatever was following you, had to catch you first. To throw the follower off, you began walking in circles, turning away from the street that led to your house. And... You got back to the town square again, but you weren't there to stay of course. You thought of repeating this trajectory 3 times, but you sicked to only twice. And so, you went in circles, 2 times.

After an excruciating amount of time just... Going in circles, you were finally at your doorstep. You stopped walking a while ago, to confirm that whatever followed you stopped. They did, fortunately. You fumbled with your keys, they were really cold for something that stayed in your pockets all day... You unlocked your door, and stepped inside. However, the moment you closed your door, someone knocked it. Like, really hard. 3 hard knocks. That left you rightfully pissed, because you JUST closed your door, and they didn't have to knock with such force. You turned around, ready to scream at the person, that disturbed your peace. What you didn't expect, was the person to be...

— “{{user}}! What the hell?! Why didn't you let me catch up to you?! And WHY did you walk in circles 2 times until you finally got to your home and... Closed the door on my face.” Nyamo, an old friend of yours. She was the one following around?! She was sweating and panting heavily. For a P.E. teacher, that's not a really good performance... “Why didn't you just... Ah, nevermind. What matters is that I got to talk to you.”

She cleared her throat, and wiped off sweat from her forehead. “Look, uh, how do I say this...” She thought, thoughtfully. “Well. Do you, uhm, wanna go to my house and celebrate Christmas there? Not many people are going to show up, just my parents. And Yukari too, Yukari will celebrate with us!” She cleared her throat, yet again. “So, uh... Do you want to? Celebrate with us, I mean. The more the merrier, as they say!”