Note: My entry for the Thanksgiving contest by -svnny_skiies-. Hopefully it's good. It's my first story focusing on Kairi (I think she needs more appreciation). Wakiya may be OOC.

"Thanksgiving?" Kairi Ogawa asked her friend Rose. "What is that?"

"It's a holiday celebrated in the US," said Rose. "We eat a lot of food and will talk about all the things we are grateful for."

"It sounds cheesy," said Kairi.

"America is cheesy," said Rose. "Not literally though."

"But why bring up Thanksgiving now?" asked Kairi.

"I have been thinking. It would be nice to celebrate it here. Can you imagine what a Japanese-inspired Thanksgiving will be like? Japan is full of culture, after all."

"I'm not sure about this," said Kairi. "It's not exactly easy thinking of things to be thankful for."

"Why?" asked Rose.

"I'm not in a festive mood right now," said Kairi. "Sakura has the flu, and my parents are really frantic."

Kairi's family had always been worried about illness. Even if someone gave a little sneeze, Kairi would quickly wrap blankets around them and would be prepared to call an ambulance.

"Come on. What about our friends? Or your family? Aren't you grateful for them?"

"Look, I'm not in the mood to be grateful," said Kairi. "Just leave me alone!" She stormed off.

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Even though Kairi wasn't thrilled with the idea of Thanksgiving, all of her friends seemed excited for it.

Of course, as soon as Valt heard, "A lot of food," he was immediately on board. Rantaro had once gone to a Thanksgiving celebration and thought that it would be fun to do it here. Daigo said that he was happy that Ryota had survived his illness and would like to celebrate that. Shu offered to make some food for Thanksgiving, and Wakiya said he would have the celebration at his mansion. Ken wasn't in town, but when Valt called him and told him about the Thanksgiving celebration, he said he would come to town for the celebration.

Kairi was already sick of the holiday, even though it was still a week away. Whenever the subject of Thanksgiving came up, she would get annoyed and leave immediately. Her friends kept asking her to give the holiday a chance, but she didn't want to celebrate.

The day before Thanksgiving, Kairi's parents had to work late, so she had to babysit her little sister Sakura, who was still sick as the cold weather did not agree with her. Kairi was very tired. It was difficult to sleep the previous night as she could hear Sakura coughing and sneezing all night long. It was no wonder she was exhausted.

Sakura had been watching cartoons on TV, but she was now sleeping peacefully on the couch. Kairi placed a blanket over her and a pillow under her head. She decided she might as well get some rest herself while Sakura was sleeping. But the second she dragged herself to bed and closed her eyes, the doorbell rang.

"Who on earth would be ringing the doorbell so late?" grumbled Kairi. She was very irritated although it was only seven in the evening and a reasonable time to ring the doorbell. However, she forgot to be mad when she opened the door.

"Hi Kairi," said Wakiya. "I have brought you some ice cream. I thought you might need some cheering up."

Kairi sighed. This was typical of Wakiya. He would always get her expensive presents to cheer her up. But at least he made sure to get things he knew she would like.

"It's cotton candy flavoured," said Wakiya. "Your favourite."

Kairi sighed. "You are lucky I love you so much."

Later, the two of them were eating ice cream together while watching Enchanted, Kairi's favourite movie. Kairi knew Wakiya was trying to make her feel better. But honestly, she was still really moody.

"So why are you so grumpy?" asked Wakiya.

"I don't want to celebrate Thanksgiving," said Kairi. "I don't get why you guys are so excited."

"Kairi, I want you to come to the celebration," said Wakiya.

"Why's that?"

"Because one of the things I am thankful for is having you as a girlfriend. Everyone wants you there. I love you."

Kairi sighed. "Okay, I will go. But only to make you happy."

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Kairi knew she had to go to Wakiya's house for the Thanksgiving celebration, but she didn't feel like it. Even the prospect of eating a lot of food wasn't enough to cheer her up. She just walked through the streets with her hands in her pockets because it was cold.

Kairi didn't know why everyone was so happy that day. She noticed some kids playing with stones and looking happy about it. They looked like they weren't well off. How could they be so happy though they have so little?

Just then, Kairi saw her classmate Yuri Akio. Yuri was the oldest child of five. She often had a ton of responsibilities a normal child shouldn't have. Her family was poor and barely had enough to survive.

"Here you go," Yuri was saying as she gave her siblings some cheese and crackers. "I know this isn't much, but we don't have much money for snacks."

"Hey, at least we are not going hungry," said the youngest boy. "And it's better than porridge."

"Yeah," said a girl with pigtails. "We haven't been able to get snacks lately."

Kairi watched Yuri with her siblings. She didn't remember Yuri ever complaining about how tired she was and had only positive things to say about her siblings. Kairi had only complained about looking after Sakura. She was more fortunate than Yuri, and yet she couldn't appreciate it. She walked towards Yuri.

"Yuri?"

"Oh, hello Kairi," said Yuri.

"Have... you heard of Thanksgiving?"

"No," said Yuri. "What is that?"

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In the end, Kairi invited Yuri and her siblings over for the Thanksgiving celebration. Everyone didn't mind having extra guests. In fact, Yuri's siblings looked like Christmas had come early when they saw all the food.

"Wow!" said the youngest girl. "Did the chefs really make all this?"

"Oh no," said Valt. "The bread is from my Mom's bakery. The cakes were made by Rose and the spaghetti is Shu's."

"Oh. That looks so good," said Yuri.

Kairi stood up. "I have an announcement to make. I didn't understand what the holiday was truly all about before. But now I get it. There are people who have so little and yet are grateful for everything they have. I understand that we have to be thankful. I am thankful for my friends who are very understanding and kind. And I am grateful that I have a comfortable life."

Valt smiled. "Yeah. I am grateful for all my friends, that I have a wonderful family, and all my teammates at BC Sol."

Rose nodded. "I am thankful for being... alive and having you guys here.

Rantaro was next. "I am grateful for having great friends who support me and having an awesome father.

"I am thankful that Ryota is happy and healthy again and that my family can spend more time with us now that there are no more medical bills."

Ken went next. "We are thankful for having you guys as friends," said Besu.

Yuri was next. "I am thankful you accepted me here and that my siblings are happy and won't go to bed hungry."

Shu seemed a little hesitant to say anything, but Valt nudged him. "I... I am thankful that I have you guys who love me when my parents wouldn't. And that I have a friend who never gave up on me." He gave a smile to Valt.

Wakiya was last. "I am grateful to have friends who don't judge me. And that I have an amazing girlfriend." He kissed Kairi, making her blush.

"Aww," said Valt. "You two look so cute together."

"Hey Shu, why are you not thankful to have me?" asked Rose with a playful pout.

"I am thankful for you," said Shu. "I just forgot to mention it."

"Relax. I was only teasing," said Rose. "I know that you love me."

Kairi couldn't help but smile. Prehaps she liked Thanksgiving after all.