#{nel}

you knew it would be hard to get the grinch in the holiday spirit, but you hadn’t expected it to be impossible. even anri looked disappointed after overhearing his third “no.”

your fist clenched at your side. “why? those boys have been working so hard to reach their dreams. they haven’t been home in weeks, and now you’re keeping them here for the holidays? let me do something! it’ll boost morale.”

grinch-man’s ears twitched at the word ‘morale,’ but still shook his head. “holiday food isn’t in their diet plan. and they need to spend their free time training to be the best—“

“i’ll cover all expenses on my own.”

“—i suppose one day wouldn’t hurt.”

ego explained repeatedly how he would not help out in any way. you barely heard him over your giddiness, purposefully blocking out how expensive it was going to be to feed 20+ growing teenage boys.

once dismissed, you set off. the grocery store was crowded and near barren when you arrived, but you were able to find everything you needed. you would cook a traditional japanese meal, and make the most popular side dishes from each of the 5 countries participating in the nel. you decided whilst staring at a box of gingerbread that maybe the foreign player were sacrificing cherished time with their loved ones to be here as well. not all of them stayed, but you smiled as you collected ingredients for the ones who did.

after checking out and deliberately avoiding looking at the receipt, you planned to return straight to blue lock when you passed a shop selling cute little keychains outside of the store. immediately after taking in their various options, you decided you just had to get one for everyone as a holiday gift.

with your wallet in distress and your hopes in the clouds, you returned to blue lock and set to work.

you started with the dishes that needed the most prep time. you’d given yourself enough time for everything to be ready and warm by dinner. it was still dark when you’d returned from the store, and you doubted the boys would be awake after ego informed them they wouldn’t have training.

satisfied with your prep, you decided to use the time waiting for butter to soften and water to boil to separate the keychains and hang them off doorknobs. the shopkeeper had been selling several types, and you’d purchased two for each player (a crocheted creature/figure that either reminded you of them or that you thought they’d like and a colorful string of charms) and combined the two with some pliers and luck.

you took your abundance of gifts to each room with anri’s help and hung them silently on each knob. for the players that bunked, you hoped they’d be able to distinguish who’s was who.

after reaching the last hall and hanging the last charm (germany and a plush sheep with light blue beaded charms for hiori) you rushed back to the kitchen to continue cooking.

despite being told they could have the day off, many of the culinary staff stuck around to help you with your holiday meal. a few focused on sending out breakfast and lunch as usual to avoid the suspicion, and a faint smile tickled your lips when you overheard the boys excitedly comparing their keychains with one another.

“look, it’s a dolphin! my favorite! and the charms are yellow and black and this one even has a tiny bumblebee like meguru—“

“reo has a tangled charm! i’m jealous!”

“wow, even mr. loki and charles got one! where did these even come from?”

you didn’t feel the need to go and collect praise for the gifts; hearing their gleeful reactions was enough for you.

it took several hours, and your body ached terribly by the time you were done, but the sun was just about to start descending when you pulled the final dish out of the oven. the staff had long gone home to cook for and spend time with their families, but you didn’t mind one bit.

anri helped keep the boys distracted as you meticulously laid the food out and set the communal cafeteria up. it wasn’t much—just plating, silverware and chopsticks, and napkins. you didn’t trust a few boys not to try and pull a tablecloth out from beneath the items and skipped it all together.

when you were confident with the presentation, you shot a thumbs-up at a camera and waited a few seconds before hearing over the loud speaker: “all egoists please report to the eating lounge for dinner.”

you were contemplating whether or not you should hide when the doors were pushed open, and lorenzo blinked at you from the doorway. you blinked back.

the door was suddenly thrown open as boys stumbled into the room. “why were you guys blocking the door—!”

a beat of silence as they took the smells in. several eyes fell on you, and you found yourself kneading your hands. realistically, many of them were bound to enjoy at least something you’d made, but you wanted everyone to have a good time.

you wondered if you made too much or not enough as you raised a hand toward the dishes behind you. “it’s buffet style so you can grab what you want and how much. everything’s still warm, so feel free to dig in..!”

you were surprised when nanase was the one to move first, and not to take his plate to the food, but to run across the cafeteria and jump on you.

he yelled your name in your ear and you couldn’t help but laugh. “did you do all this? is this why we had a free day?” he gasped. “are you the one who made us those keychains?!”

“i had help!” you exclaimed through the air being crushed out of your lungs, your smile still radiant.

the others had broken out of their shock by this point, some moving toward the food while others swarmed you.

“yum, yum,” you heard kurona say as he shoved a piece of meat into raichi’s mouth. bachira was piling food onto isagi’s plate as the other boy balked at the weight. even rin was grabbing what he liked.

someone tapped your shoulder, and you looked back to see a blushing ness holding his plate, his sparkling keychain dangling from a finger. “you made german dishes for us, too?”

you grinned. “of course! hopefully it’s good; i’ve never cooked anything like it before!”

your chest swelled as you collected your hugs and thanks and “best manager ever”s from the boys. you waited until everyone was seated with food before quietly retreating to clean the kitchen, leaving enough out for anyone who wanted seconds.

you got two steps away from the door before: “where do you think you’re going?!”

glancing back, you saw everyone looking at you and blushed. “uh…”

aiku patted the seat beside him with a smile that was oddly soft. “there’s an extra seat right here. you didn’t eat without us, right?”

you hadn’t, but you also hadn’t expected them to want you to join. at your hesitation, the others in the cafeteria started cheering you on and encouraging you to join them.

completely red and bubbling over with laughter, you plopped into the seat and glanced around the room.

the cafeteria was too small for you to push all the tables together, but you’d laid out enough for everyone to sit with their teams if that’s what they wanted. maybe predictable, that isn’t what happened, and maybe that made you happier than it should have.

barou nudged you to your right, drawing your attention back to your table. “eat,” he said, gesturing to your plate that was now filled with food. “you did good.”

with a smile trembling only slightly at edges, you looked up once again at the laughing boys and felt your chest swell with pride. “happy holidays, my favorite egoists.”