Christmas, a day of joy and good will. A day to be with friends. Yet somehow, there was a sense of unease in the house. Nine friends were all sat around in a circle, opening gifts one by one. They had agreed to do a secret Santa and, after a few weeks of gift buying, as well as explaining to Marry what a secret Santa was, the day had come to open the gifts.
First up, as per his request, was Shintaro. It was quite the hefty present. Relatively large and heavy. He opened it reluctantly, remembering what Kano got him last year. It was a big box of 20 cola cans. "Wow, this is perfect! Who is it from.” Kido raised her hand. “Ah, thank you very much Kido!” Not looking at him, Kido said, quite modestly “No problem.”
Next up was Momo. Her present was wrapped quite delicately and was rather small. She opened it, very carefully, as someone had clearly gone to some lengths to keep the wrapping quite nicely. Inside was a pair of sunglasses. Ayano spoke up before Momo had a chance. “I got you those to help with your ability. If you’re having a hard time controlling it, just slip those on and you should be fine.” Ayano’s voice was soft and kind. Momo smiled and hugged her friend. “Thank you Ayano. Further proof you’re too good for my brother.” She said, sticking her tongue out at Shintaro.
Following her was Kano. Kano’s present was poorly wrapped on one side and very well done on the other, like someone had done their best but needed help halfway through. He tore the wrapping paper away and a small cat statue was revealed to him. Kano laughed slightly. “Thanks Marry, I’ll treasure it.” Marry looked up and blinked. “How’d you know it’s from me.” Kano chuckled. “Only you could wrap so… uniquely.” Marry smiled widely and giggled at her friend’s praise.
Seto was next. He opened his gift quite quickly, clearly having bottled his excitement for some time. Underneath the paper was a box. Within the box were several hairclips, all different colours. Seto’s eyes widened seeing them. They were extremely pretty and had been arranged to form a rainbow. Seto looked around, waiting for someone to come forward. When he was met with silence, he smiled and said “Thank you very much Shintaro. They’re beautiful.” Shintaro looked embarrassed and just about managed to put together the words ‘You’re welcome’ before the group decided it was best to move on fast.
Marry picked up her present and eyed it carefully, trying to work out who had been her secret Santa. She seemed to struggle with opening it, but the truth was she didn’t want drop it before it was even open. Her patience paid off, as when the box was finally opened, a crystal snake and frog dazzled in the light. Marry knew exactly who had got it for her and her face became redder than the stockings hung around the room. “Seto, they’re gorgeous. I-I don’t know what to say.” Seto laughed and replied “You don’t have to say anything.” In a spur of emotions Marry jumped on Seto, gave him a massive hug and kissed his cheek. Although she almost dropped the frog and snake in the process.
Ayano’s turn was next. She quickly tore through her present’s paper and stared lovingly at the amazing handmade card in front of her. Takane spoke up. “I didn’t know what to get you so I made you a card myself. I know that’s dumb bu-” Ayano cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “It’s perfect Takane, honestly it is.” She beamed warmly at her friend.
Haruka looked concerned when picked up his gift. It was quite tall, bigger than him for definite. But the wrapping was all over the place. It looked wide enough to be a wardrobe. Yet, it was merely air. A lot of paper, used to conceal a heart shaped object. After a few minutes of Haruka ripping through the near endless paper, he was left with a container. It was indeed a heart shape and within it were messages from the entire group, all full of support, love and happiness. Kano smirked and gave a sly smile. “I got ya that cause I got the impression you need to be reminded how important you are to people every now and again, ya know?” Haruka could barely respond. There were tears welling up in his eyes, completely shocked by how far Kano had gone to make him feel good about himself.
Takane was quite nervous when she took hers off the ground. There was a 50/50 chance that Haruka had got her this gift. Her heart was pounding at the thought of it. She slowly picked up the gift and shredded the paper quickly, but ensuring she didn’t go so far as to damage the gift lurking below. She was staring at a copy of the game she had made with Haruka, atop a pillow, which read ‘Sorry I’m sleeping, I can’t help it.’ A small smile drifted across her face. She quickly disposed of it and turned to Haruka. “I know this was you dummy. Who else would have this game just lying around?” Haruka chuckled innocently. “Ah, you got me. I thought you’d like to keep your work. The pillow is for practicality. Now you can always make sure your head goes on something soft.” Takane blushed quite heavily. “Th-thank you Haruka. I… I appreciate it… Not that I like you or anything, but… you did good.”
Finally, it came to Kido. By a process of elimination she knew that Momo was her secret Santa. Yet there was no present to unwrap, no box covered in paper. Nothing. Had she forgotten? No, that’s impossible. This was Momo after all. She remembers everything like this. Birthdays, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, you name it, Momo will remember it. After a small, awkward silence, Kido spoke up, looking directly at Momo. “Did you forget about the secret Santa?” Momo giggled. “Nope. You just look so cute when you’re confused.” She got up and sat herself next to Kido. “Your present has been above you the entire time, you just didn’t notice.” Kido slowly tilted her head up to look at the ceiling. There, above her, hung some mistletoe. “Now, I’m sure you know what to do her her, but let me help you out anyway, ‘kay?” Kido gave a warm smile to Momo. “I wouldn’t have it any other way Kisaragi.” With that, the two kissed tenderly and hugged lovingly.