#fluuuuuff

He was back at the gate. He'd have to beat him eventually, right? Right! He'd have to... He had to. Spamton didn't need the key. Due to his broken nature, he could glitch right through the invisible door and straight into the void Jevil called home. He never knew what to expect when entering the jester's domain. The decor changed quite often, although it was always themed around the circus.

The stairwell above echoed with the sound of Spamton's heels tapping against the hard floor as he walked near the bars. The inside was just as dark as always, making chills go down Spamton's spine. He couldn't chicken out now no matter what. Before Spamton could glitch through the door, the imp materialized himself from the shadows, bells jingling behind him. 

"BOO HOO, BOO HOO, UEE HEE HEE! SO LONELY, SO LONELY I BE.. BUT LO, THREE VISI-" Jevil paused as he recognized Spamton almost instantly. "OH- ITS NOT A RESET, RESET! WHAT A WONDERFUL SURPRIZE!" The jester exclaimed in an illusionary tone of jubilation. "OH COME OUT, COME OUT! LET YOURSELF OUTSIDE, SPAMMY! WHAT FUN WE'LL HAVE, HAVE!"

Spamton groaned, already tired of the clown's antics. A small door appeared within the wall of bars before him. Jevil seemingly created it as a gag. Spamton walked through the door, only to step into a clown-themed tea room, but instead of there being a teapot, a gallon of carbonated 'Clown-Juice' sat in the middle of the table. There were various other jester themed decorations around the room, some that made sense... and some that didn't. Jevil proceeded to turn the chairs around, their backs against the table. 

"HERE! I EVEN PUSHED UP YOUR SEAT FOR YA!"

 The imp sat down in one of the chairs, holding up a spades teacup and slurping his drink as loudly as he could. 

"I'M NOT A [[kids 6 and under]]! AND YOU'RE [[insane deal]] IF Y OU THINK I'LL [[one big gulp!]] ANY 0F TH4T [[WHOOPY JUICE!!!]]" Spamton shouted, trying to establish some ounce of dominance in the clown's realm. He had been here many times before. Even though it wasn't his pocket of unreality, Spamton was now quite familiar with the place... or at least used to expecting the unexpected.  "Y0U KNOW DAMN WELL WHY I [[cruising around town]] DOWN HERE AND 1T ISN'T FOR A [[dinner for two]]."

Jevil went oddly quiet, however his smile widened. The table disappeared, and Jevil began to chug from the teacup he had in his gloved hand. After he was done he tossed the glass behind him, and it exploded similarly to how a certain prissy and popular queen's glass would back in Spamton's dark world. 

"ENLIGHTEN ME, ENLIGHTEN ME!" Jevil started, a smirk replacing his usual cold smile. "IS IT TO PLAY A CARD GAME? OH! OR A GAME OF TAG? OR- OH! I KNOW! YOU WANNA TELL JOKES, JOKES!? OH I LOVE JOKES, AND LAUGHING! I BET IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE YOU'VE LAUGHED, RIGHT?" Jevil's word vomit was soon cut off by Spamton who was taken aback by that last query.

"I'LL HAVE YO U KNOW THAT I [[unintelligible laughter]] PLENTY, ESPECIALLY AFTER I [[GAME OVER]] YOU [[juggalo]]!" Spamton countered, gritting his teeth. Admittedly, he was starting to feel the adrenaline rush and the nervousness right behind it. He wouldn't lose again. He WOULDN'T, but doubt was fluttering in his stomach. He could never tell what was going on in Jevil's mind. As an Addison, Spamton was used to predicting people's habits, wants and needs, but Jevil was a severe outlier, and that drove the salesman nuts.

"UEE HEE HEE!" His laugh was hollow, but imitated glee. "SO ITS THE OLD NUMBER'S GAME YOU WANT!" The clown tapped a gloved finger to his chin a moment in genuine thought, before snapping his tail similarly to fingers. He smiled widely at Spamton, his eyes sparkling with an unknown intent. "IF YOU INSIST... I'LL PLAY THAT GAME! BUT I WONT GO EASY ON YOU PINNOCHIO, CHIO~" 

Jevil turned Into his devilsknive, cracking the ground open to where he and Spamton would fall through into the endless void of space. It was the perfect place to battle... an empty canvas of freedom.

"AAYEGUFFFAH! [[$!?!]] WOULD IT [[killed]] YOU TO M4KE IT A SOFTER LANDING? [[JIMINY CHRISTMAS]]" Spamton exclaimed as he slowly got up, rubbing his bottom to relieve the pain from the sudden fall. He quickly shook it off. He had a fight to win. He couldn't let a little surprise like that throw him off. That was Jevil's whole shtick. Surprises. He huffed, getting himself ready for anything.

"BETTER BE QUICK ON YOUR TOES, TOES!" Jevil teased before healing Spamton up with magic for a fairly unfair battle, touching his shoulder to transfer the magic to his HP. "WHO KNOWS, KNOWS... MAYBE YOU'LL OUTSMART ME FOR A CHANGE!" Jevil vaguely encouraged, making spamton feel a little more hopeful... for only a few seconds. "EMPHASIS ON MAYBE." The puppet would scowl at the Imp if he could. Jevil disappeared, reappearing way across from Spamton, dancing and putting on a stage show for the lone audience member. "YOU CAN HAVE THE FIRST MOVE, MOVE!"

"OOOOH NONONO. I'M NOT F4LLING FOR   THAT [[tips and tricks]]. IF I GO FIRST YOU'LL [[uno reverse]] ME. [[Ladies first]], I INSIST," Spamton replied with a devilish grin of his own.

"OKIE DOKIE~ IF YOU INSIST THAT YOU INSIST!" Jevil shrugged, summoning his cliche card-deck bullets, shooting them in various patterns at Spamton, the puppet dodging them effortlessly by jumping, and defying gravity. He had gotten better since the last thousand attempts at trying to beat Jevil... To say the least, the imp was impressed. However, Jevil couldn't let that puppet find out the truth.  That's honestly what made the clown refuse to let Spamton win... It was the puppet's motivation that scared the jester. That was why Jevil needed to win no matter what, or else... Spamton would lose that spark he himself lost so long ago.

The carousel appeared, however it was a bit different. The top and lower border were see-sawing while it spun around, and around. Jevil shot his arms out straight in a T-Pose, summoning various rocking animals with his chaotic magic as they followed along to the beat of the carousel. ... However, despite that fact, Spamton was keeping up, and only got hit once. This was making Jevil kind of nervous..

The nervousness Spamton was feeling before began to wane as he was off to the best start he'd ever had. The carousel was one of the more difficult moves for Spamton to dodge, so this success was a promising sign. So long as Jevil stayed on his script of magical acts, the puppet had a chance.

"IS THAT THE [[Best in the business!]] 

Y OU'VE GOT, [[FOOL]]!? AHEAHEAHEA!" Spamton summoned a phone and spun it in the air like a lasso before flinging it directly at Jevil. The jester shot up into the air to avoid the attack only for the ringing coming from the phone to echo and bounce around the invisible box they were battling in. Jevil danced around most of the sound waves, only being nicked by one.

The carousel started to slow back to its original pace, but kept seesawing. Perhaps Jevil would have to up his game!

 "FAR FROM IT PIKACHU, I'M JUST GETTIN' STARTED, STARTED! METAMORPHOSIS!" The clown transformed into his weapon form, boomeranging around spamton, and lunging at him every 8th of a second. After a few throuple hits, spamton caught onto the pattern, and used mini-spams as deflections to catapult the attention away from himself. Jevil growled a little in frustration as tiny baby Spamtons jumped in his way as he tried to hit Spamton. His smile, however, never left his face.

"YOU FORGET I HAVE [[the boys]] WITH ME AT ALL TIMES? SPEAKING OF WHICH, HOW ABOUT WE PLAY [[DODGE PIPIS!]]" Spamton exclaimed, hurling pipis after pipis at the jester like they were snowballs... Explosive snowballs!

Jevil had just changed back into his normal form when spamton attacked, catching the jester off guard. "OH SEAM IN THE ANGEL'S HEAVEN-" Jevil got hit by three, which knocked his head off his block, springing up and down on his coiled spring neck. If Spamton could use decoys, so could he! Jevil sped up, admittedly tiring him out more than he liked. He went so fast, duplicates of himself were summoned, and it was hard for Spamton to pinpoint a target. ... Jevil had to think of something QUICK, Or else.. that last speck of hope in spamton may die. Wait... he knew! Jevil just needed an opportunity to escape this blue egg barrage... 

"ALTHOUGH A BIT EGGS-TREME, YOUR MOVE IS QUITE A BLAST!"

"..."

Spamton stopped in the middle of a throw, his brain processing what he just heard. Dial-up sounds took over his speech while his glasses blue-screened temporarily. After a moment, he shook his head like a dog, coming back to reality... and he let out the biggest most tortured groan.

"UUUUUUUUHHHHG... THOSE PUNS WERE   SO [[rotten to the core]] I THINK I'M GONNA THROW UP! @c@" Spamton grimaced, glaring at the clown grinning back at him, proud as can be.

As expected, Spamton recoiled his attacks to revive from that hard, mental blow of awful punnery. Jevil teleported away from his spot, into the void, plotting a sneak attack Spamton would never expect out of the likes of him... at least not one in the midst of battle. After the doll was done cringing, he was about to dodge jevil's attack... when he noticed the imp was no longer there. Now THAT wasn't fair!

"HEY WISE GUY! WHAT'S THE BIG [[deal!]] HIDING IS [[cheater cheater pumpkin eater!]]" 

Silence. Complete and utter silence... until he felt two gloves vibrate into his sides, startling him. He spun around, only to see nobody there.

"AYEE! H-HEY! F4CE   ME LIKE A [[valued customer]]!" Spamton shouted, his voice cracking as he was surprised by the sudden assault to his sides. He did a decent job of keeping his composure. Now he needed to stay vigilant. That clown could be anywhere.

"FACE YA LIKE A VALUED CUSTOMER, CUSTOMER?" Jevil giggled, appearing behind him again, however this time the gloves were off. The devil poked slowly up, and down the glitch's ribs. "LAST TIME I CHECKED IT WAS OPPOSITE DAY IN THE DARK WORLDS, WORLDS! IM THE SALESMAN, AND YOU'RE THE CUSTOMER! CAN YOU GUESS WHAT I'M SELLIN~?" 

A mischievous smile stretched across the joker's features. Spamton wiggled, his hands shooting down to grab Jevil's fingers, but he had already disappeared again.

"GYA!TYEEHEEHE- [[$!?!]] THE PRESSES! W-WHAT ARE YOU    DOING!?" the puppet demanded, wide eyed and looking in every direction to locate the culprit. "Y OU'RE NOT PLAYING [[fair share]], CLOWN!"

"I'M NOT PLAYIN FAIR, FAIR?" The jester's voice echoed against the void. The joker in question  chuckled from the darkness at this new game that would surely tire this puppet out. "WELL THERE'S NOTHING IN THE RULES AGAINST A LITTLE..." Jevil now appeared in front of him, a devious grin spread across his cheeks,"GIGGLY, GIGGLY, TICKLE, TICKLE NOW AND THEN~ BELIEVE ME, I DOUBLE CHECKED AND IT'S COMPLETELY LEGAL!" Jevil wiggled his eight fingers at Spamton, dull claws catching the dealmaker's attention. He jumped back, tripping a little bit before putting his hand up in defense as Jevil floated closer with that playfully evil stare.

"W-W-WAIT! HOLD 0N! Y-Y-YOU THINK THAT [[silly billy]] MOVE WILL WORK ON [[number1ratedsalesman1997]]? HA! TOO BAD FOR Y OU! I'M NOT [[tickles your fancy]]," Spamton retorted, squaring up, crossing his arms defiantly, and standing his ground. He knew Jevil wouldn't buy what he was selling, but he had to try. Unfortunately, though he was a good actor, the sudden rosiness of his cheeks called his bluff.

"OH... YOU AREN'T?" Jevil pretended to look convinced, before shrugging. "WELL... GUESS I WAS WRONG! I KNOW YOU'RE AN HONEST, HONEST SALESMAN. HMPH...  FIGURES... GUESS ILL HAVE TO JUST USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK, ATTACK!" Jevil shrugged, sounding disappointed... Did Spamton's lie actually work!? YES!!! THAT HAD NEVER WORKED! It hadn't worked on any Addison that had asked him, or even Seam! But somehow it worked on JEVIL!? Spamton thought he would see through that scam! Jevil really was a fool... 

"WHAT A [[sham]]. GUESS IT'LL HAVE TO DO! IM SURE I CAN HANDLE [[Specil move]]."

"YOU SUUUUURE...? IT'S PRETTY HARD TO DODGE!" Jevil smirked, summoning Spamton's own smirk.

"AH! SHOWING YOUR HAND, HUH? WELL Y OUR [[light shower]] OF SCYTHES IS IMPRESSIVE, BUT NOT SPECIL ENOUGH T0 DEFEAT ME," the salesman replied cheekily. His blush receded as his confidence grew once more. He could handle this. Jevil's special attack was always that giant scythe move.

" LET'S GET THIS [[show on the road]]. THEN I'LL SHOW YOU A RE4L ATTACK!" Spamton taunted.

"WE'LL SEE SPAMTON, SPAMTON!" Jevil flew back over in position before metamorphosing into a scythe, and shooting up towards the ceiling. One scythe fell down, then another and another and another... Spamton knew the rhythm of this attack, becoming a pro at dodging the basic attacks Jevil would usually give the player. 

After all the scythes fell, it left the giant undodgeable one to slowly fall. Spamton braced for impact, raising his arms above his head to protect his plastic noggin upon impact... but it never came. He opened a single eye to see two clawed hands hovering above his underarms, but he was too late to correct his fatal mistake. Jevil touched down, scribbling, and drawing shapes with his nails across the cloth of the salesman's jacket, which was surprisingly thinner than spamton had remembered. 

He tried to fight it, but he couldn't hold in what he didn't expect to come out!

"AYEEEEAHEAHEAHEAHEA! TH-THAHAHAT'S NOT HOHOHOW THIS WOR-GYYYAaAaAaA!" Spamton squealed out, clamping his arms down, knees buckling immediately. He was falling backwards into Jevil's hold due to his weak knees. The puppet took a deep breath to spit out the last coherent sentence he would be saying for a while.

"PLEASE-JEVIL-YOU-DON'T-HAVE-T0-DO-THIS-WE'RE-FRIENDS-R1GHT-PAL-I'LL-GIVE-Y0U-BEST-DEALS-4-LIFE-I-SWEAR!!!"

"JEVIL, JEVIL!?" Jevil paused as soon as he heard his name. His ACTUAL name... Spamton had never said his actual name before! "YOU CALLED ME JEVIL!!" Overjoyed, he squeezed Spamton in a rib cracking hug.

"AG-G-G-GYUH-Y-YOUR EARS MUST BE [[out of batteries]]! I-UHG- NEVER SAID [[legal name]]!" Spamton wheezed out, wiggling to free himself from Jevil's crushing grip.

Jevil loosened his hug a bit, however not enough to let Spamton out of his grasp. "HMMM... YOU KNOW WHAT, YOU'RE RIGHT! I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING BECAUSE OF HOW HARD YOU'RE LAUGHING!"

"WH-" Jevil started tickling again, one arm around Spamton's chest, raising his undershirt up, and the other hand trailing around the doll's stomach. 

"COOOOCHIE COOCHIE COO LITTLE SALESMAN~ ARE YOU TICKLISH, TICKLISH HERE HM? I THINK I CAN HEAR YOU GIGGLING, GIGGLING! I'M TOO DEAF TO HEAR REALLY ANYTHING, SO I'M NOT TOO SURE~!" Jevil noticed a little X where Spamton's bellybutton was supposed to be. He stored that information for much later in his playfully evil onslaught.

"STYAHAHAHAHEAHEAHEAHEA![[HOLY TOLEDO]] NYEAHEAHEAHEAHEAHEA!" Spamton cackled, squirming and kicking aimlessly in the clutches of the clown. He tried to grab at the offending hand exploring his sensitive belly.

Jevil pretended to just now notice his tail was plugging his ears. "OHHHH... THERE WAS THE PROBLEM! NOW I CAN HEAR YOU JUUUUST FINE! UHEHEHEHEEE... SUCH A TICKLISH LITTLE TUM-TUM, HM? GEEZ, I DUNNO HOW YOU CAN STAND IT, NO WAY I'D LAST! TIIIICKLE TICKLE TICKLE, TIIIICKLE~ KITCHY KIIITCH~"

"OHOHO MYHYHYHY GOHOHOHOHOD! SHUHUHUHUT YOUR [[PIE HOLE]] YOU- AYEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEE!" the puppet cried out. The tickling was already making him lose all control, and that was embarrassing enough, but the teasing? Jevil was going to kill him with all that sickeningly sweet baby talk. You could hardly make out Spamton's red cheeks due to how red the rest of his face was. All he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hide from his adversary, but he wasn't in a position to do that. All he could do was flail and squeal... But the part that truly made the salesman want to hide was the fact that... he didn't hate this... At all. 

BUT HIS WORST ENEMY COULD NEVER KNOW THAT SO-

"THIHIHIHIHIHIS IHIHIHIHIS [[AGAINST THE GENEVA CONVENTION]] YOHOHOHOHOU ANIMAHAHAL!"

"A WAR CRIME? KEHEHE~" Jevil stopped, letting Spamton catch his breath. The puppet relaxed, his giggling mixed in with static as he panted. "SMILING DURING A WARCRIME DOESN'T SEEM VERY ORDERLY... THEN AGAIN I WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT ORDER, ORDER! UEE HEE EHEE~ I THINK YOU ENJOY, ENJOY THIS, DON'T YOU SPAM-MAN?" Jevil questioned, a rare, genuine smile coming out.

"W-W-WHAT!? N-N-NO!!! THAT'S [[Crazy bread]]! I'M A PROFESSIONAL! I'M A [[BIGSHOT]]! BIGSHOTS DON'T-

DON'T -

DON'T -

DON'T -" 

Spamton glitched, his glasses blue screening again. His entire face to the tip of his nose was bright red, steam puffed out from the sides of his head, and a car horn beeped, the sound coming from Spamton's agape mouth.

Jevil chortled a bit, letting his battle buddy let the embarrassment out of his system. "DON'T WHAT? DON'T HAVE FUN, FUN? WHAT'S WRONG WITH A LITTLE GIGGLE EVERY NOW AND THEN, HM?" Jevil questioned out of curiosity, and assurance. "ITS OKAY TO BE GOOFY AND FEEL GOOFY EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, AGAIN! DON'T YOU THINK SO?" Jevil poked just a single digit on Spamton's side just above his hip, feather light to just get giggles out of the salesman.

"GyeYEEhehehehe NOHOHOhoho!" Spamton laughed, shaking his head and trying to hide his face with his hands. He was no longer trying to stop Jevil's hands, now focusing on covering his red hot cheeks. "J-JEVIL IHEEHEEHeehee CAHAHAHAN'T!" He jerked away from the prodding finger and was able to rock forward, still breathless with giggles as he weakly attempted to crawl away.

Jevil giggled sinisterly, floating after spamton before grabbing both of his ankles. "GYEHEHE~? NYOHO YOU CAN'T? TELL ME STOP AND MAYBE I'LL BELIEVE YOU~!"  Spamton fell on his padded tum as the devil pulled his legs out straight and sat on the back of his knees, hovering those ungloved claws above spamton's shoed tootsies. "UNTIL THEN, I GUESS ILL HAVE FUN WITH AN ENSY WEENSIE SPOT YOU DECIDED TO LEAVE OPEN~" Jevil playfully reminded, before slipping off both of those flat heeled leather shoes the salesman always wore. With no money to afford socks for those old shoes he found in the trash, Spamton's plush little feet were now completely exposed. 

oh. NO.

"W-W-WAIT! TH-THAHAHAT'S EVIL!" Spamton's eyes widened to the size of saucers when he felt himself get pinned under the jester's weight. "THOSE ARE [[fine Italian leather]] YOU [[little sponge]]!" A wobbly smile stretched across the peddler's face just from the threat alone. He curled up his toes, trying to get ready for what was to come.

"REALLY!? I THOUGHT THESE WERE PLEATHER!" Jevil teased, tracing two nails down  tiny feet, the delicate jointed toes scrunching up in response. Spamton snorted, trying to cover his mouth to hide his giggles and high pitched squeals. He only uncovered it to speak. "IHIT'S UHUP TO PLAHAHAYER INTERPRETAHATION!!" His puppet hands slammed back over his teeth, one trying to keep his bottom jaw closed and the other attempting to block the puppet mouth gap.

And with that.. another finger joined on both feet, now swirling and wiggling. 

"OHO... IT ISNT HEALTHY TO HOLD BACK YOUR LAUGHTER SPAMTON! LET IT AAAALL OUT. KEHEHEE~"

"NNN-NNNGYKHKHKHK... MMM-PFFFFFTAHAHEAHEAHEAHEA!" Spamton finally burst out into hysterics. He was slapping the floor, trying to find relief from the sensations plaguing his tiny feetsies.

"OH MY FOX! SEE? ARENT YOU HAVING FUN? YOU SEEM TO BE ENJOYING YOURSELF! UEEHEHEHEE~" Jevil teased, ever so gently raking his nails over every inch of the doll's feet, including under and between those lil' toesies! "WE SHOULD BATTLE LIKE THIS MORE OFTEN! THIS KIND OF GAME IS SO MUCH MORE FUN THAN THAT OLD NUMBERS GAME!'' Jevil turned around slightly, seeing the jolly old puppet snorting, and thumping his fists on the ground. Snickering, the joker pulled away, turning around to face him, still on seated Spamton's knees. The imp temporarily stood to gently maneuver spamton facing up so the puppet could catch his breath easier. 

"YOUHOU OKAY PINOCCHIO?" Jevil asked, giggling a bit at Spamton's expression.

"@c@ I'M -pant- STILL [[breathing the fresh air!]]" the spambot replied, recovering from that last attack. He rubbed his feet together to shoo away those dastardly phantom tickles left behind. "BUT I WILL NOT CONCEDE TO YOUR [[TOMFOOLERY]]. NEVER..."

"NEVER YOU SAY, SAY?" Spamton should NOT have given the jester such a sweet treat of an opening... 

Jevil picked the puppet up under the arms, bringing the salesman onto his lap with a previous idea brewing to the forefront of his mind.

"PERHAPS THE RIGHT SPOT WOULD CHANGE YOUR MIND~" Jevil smirked, pulling Spamton's shirt back up from before revealing his plush tum, booping a side just barely with the pad of his finger, keeping his claws to himself for the time being.

"EEHEEHEEP! R-RIGHT SPOT? N-NO THERE ARE NOT MORE [[spot remover]] I SWEAR. Y-YOU'RE WASTING YOUR [[time sensitive offer]]..." Spamton rushed out. He giggled nervously and gave Jevil a pleading look... but he still never said the magic word. Instead, the salesman grabbed onto the jester's hands, holding them away from his body.

"NO MORE SPOTS? OH NO, NO, NO! I THINK YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, FORGOTTEN A FEW MISTER~!" Jevil giggled gently pushing Spamton's arms back, the salesman's arms still jelly after the prior attacks. "LIKE THESE TWO HIPS!" Jevil kneaded his thumbs into the joints, just barely skimming the doll's sides with his claws.  Spamton flailed, kicking those little legs of his faster than a roadrunner. 

"HAAEHAHEHEEHEA!! [[Fifty percent off!]] JEHEH-SNORT! [[Ha ha ha!]]AHAAH-" 

"OOOOOORRRR..." Jevil crawled his hands to Spamton's sides and started to tickle that stuffed tum of his! "THIS LITTLE SWEET SPOT RIGHT HERE, HERE!"

"GYAAAHAEHEAHEAHEAHEA! NAHAHAT THE [[tummy wummy]]! AYEEHEEHEEHEE!" The spambot was lightly slapping at Jevil's chest as he squirmed fruitlessly. "YOHOHOURE THE DEHEHEVIL!"

"NOT THE TUMMY WUMMY? AW! BUT YOU SOUND LIKE YOU LOVE, LOVE THIS ON YOUR TUMMY WUMMY!" Jevil cooed, slowing the tickles down to be gentle. "DEVIL IS IN MY NAME! DON'T WEAR IT OUT~ OH! SPEAKING OF BEING EVIL,"  Jevil trailed off, drawing a single swirling finger around the canvas of spamton's belly, slithering around his middle in circles like a snake. "I WANNA SEE WHAT KIND OF GIGGLY TREASURE I CAN GET FROM THAT X!"

"NONONOHOHOHO! THAT [[parking spot]] IS [[out of commission]]! D-DOHOHON'T Y OU DAHAHAHARE!" Spamton squealed in protest. He immediately slapped his hands over his belly button to guard it from the devious clown.

"WELL THATS NOT VERY NICE!" Jevil teased, a challenging grin stretching onto his face... did Spamton really think he would only use his hands to tickle him to snorts? "GUESS WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO THIS THE HARD WAY... SAY, SPAMTON," the imp stretched his tail around and bent the tips of the J to tuck under the dummy's arms.  "I DON'T RECALL, BUT IS THIS A TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY SENSITIVE AREA~? COOOCHIE COOCHIE COOO LITTLE ADDISON~"

"NYAHAEHAEHAEHAEHAE! YOHOHOU [[$!?!]]!" That clever move by Jevil did the trick. Spamton immediately clamped his arms down, bringing his fists up to his chest. "STYAHAHAP TEASING MEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!"

"DO YOU NOT LIKE BEING TEASED TO BITS, SPAMMY? ALSO, IF YOU WANT TO KEEP MY TAIL UNDER YOUR ARMS, BE MY GUEST! OTHERWISE, OTHERWISE YOU CAN RAISE THEM UP AND TRY YOUR LUCK! UEEHEEHEE!'' While explaining this in a playful tone, Jevil went back to swirling around the little belly pudge, getting closer and closer to the spot of buried belly laughs.

"AHEAHAEHAEHAEHAE! YOU'RE GOHOHONNAHAHA [[killed]] MEEEEHEEHEE! SNORT!" the salesman cackled, hardly able to focus enough to make any comebacks. He was losing his mind, but he wasn't ready to surrender to this fiend.

Jevil etched closer... and closer... until finally he swirled right onto the little X, before stopping entirely. Everything stopped in place, the movement under his arms, the swirling, all that was on focus was the finger sitting still on the little stitch. Jevil gave Spamton a cat-like look of mischief, not doing anything but waiting out the inevitable. "YOU KNOW WHAT? LET'S STAY LIKE THIS A MOMENT, MOMENT! YOU ENJOYIN' YOURSELF? I KNOW A GENUINE SMILE WHEN I SEE ONE~" In actuality.. Jevil was planning his ultra tickle attack in the back of his mind during this one-sided conversation before finally unleashing the mother of all tickles.

"I-pant- [[dont trust like that]]... YOU... -pant- YOUR TEASING ME AGAIN! I-pant- I ADMIT TO NOTHING!" Spamton said defiantly. Maybe he could tough it out…

"DON'T TRUST ME? WHY SPAMMY! WHAT HAVE I DONE FOR YOU NOT TO TRUST ME?!" the joker questioned, feigning innocence. Spamton knew better than to trust a literal Jester devil after tickling him half to death when they were having a fair and square battle just before! Whatever happened to that anyway!? This wasn't fair at all! Spamton was getting tired. The look the doll gave Jevil after saying that said it all.

"AW... SPAMTON, I'M HURT! HEARTBROKEN, SHOT IN THE CHEST!" Jevil overdramatized, cocking an arm over his forehead, Spamton not seeming to notice both hands were off his belly. The puppet slowly but surely caught his breath as Jevil did his theatrics, all the while giving the purple imp a look of suspicion. After a moment, Jevil smirked, bringing a single arm around Spamton's ribs in a gentle hug to keep him still. "WELL, I THINK YOU DESERVE A PRESENT FOR BEIN SUCH A GOOD SPORT, AND HAVING AN ADORABLE LIL LAUGH!"

"I-I-I-I [[shut your yaps]]! WHAT ARE Y 0U PLANNING JEVIL?" the doll inquired suspiciously, his cheeks flushed from the embarrassing compliment on top.

"I DUNNO, DUNNO! I THINK IM PLANNING ON GIVING YOU A PRESENT FOR BEING A SNORTY, FLUFFY LITTLE GIGGLEBUG!" Jevil replied, his smirk unhindered. He leaned down just a little bit, trying to be inconspicuous.

"I-I'M NOT [[soft and fluffy]]! AND DON'T CALL ME A... [[ERROR 404]]!" Spamton squeaked in response, not wanting to repeat the new nickname. He didn't know what was going through that clown's mind, but he knew it was a grand finale. That look in Jevil's eyes said it all.

The look on Spamton's face read that the jig was up. With that, Jevil suddenly shifted his face downward towards the tummy before him, giggling a little before starting to ticklishly nom on the sensitive belly with those teefers of his! "OMNYomNYOMNOM~! I KNOWM YOUWH LOWVE WHEM SHAWM DIB DISH! OMNYOMMONCHCROMCHMOOMCH!" the devil teased playfully before bringing one claw down to tease a side while nomming away like a cat on a ball of yarn.

"AAAAHAHAHAHAHAEHAEHAEHAE! OHOHO [H E A V E N] IHIHIHI CAHAHAHAN'T! ICANTTAKEIT!" Spammy shrieked, shaking his head and pushing weakly at the little devil's shoulders. Tears of mirth were streaming down his rosy cheeks, and his glasses slid off his face and toppled to the side. He tossed his head back and curled forward over and over again, not knowing what to do. After 30 seconds or so, he broke.

"OHOHOHOKAAAAYEEEEHEEHEEHEE! Y 0U [[W1NNER]]! PLEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEE-SNORT-EEHEEHEASE! MEHEHERCYEEEEEHEEHEEE!"

As soon as the word was given, Jevil retracted his tail, and rose up from Spamton's tummy, letting the puppet recover from that final attack that left him breathless.

"AH... HAEHAE... HEHE... HEH... Ahhhh..." The puppet let the residual giggles bubble out of his throat while he breathed. He closed his eyes, feeling exhaustion take over. Spamton was waiting for Jevil to declare victory and kick him to the curb, back to his dumpster like the clown always did... But... He opened one of his eyes to see Jevil hovering with his legs crisscross, sitting on his tail, a genuine smile taking over his features.

"....SO?" The salesman asked, sitting up slightly to look the joker in the eye. 

"SO WHAT, WHAT?" the jester replied while leaning on two fists curiously.

"AREN'T YOU GOING TO [[dispose of any used needles!]]?"

Jevil's eyes widened in realization, before his face softened into an unnaturally gentle expression. 

"YOU CAN STAY HERE AS LONG AS YOU NEED, NEED! YOU DID JUST LAUGH YOUR STUFFING OUT AND ALL, "  Jevil explained, magically pulling a blanket out from behind his back and tossing it to Spamton, who caught it out of surprise. The salesman really didn't know what to think of all of this... The clown had never been nice to him like this. The other boss-darkner tended to be cold behind that mischievous, playful look in his eyes... He was that one step away from freedom, blocking his only escape to the real world.. HEAVEN. ... but never had Jevil acted like this before... It almost reminded him of a family he lost long ago.

The doll looked down at the blanket in his lap. Then up at the clown.

"I... um... thank you..." Spamton was shocked enough to lose the glitches that stole his speech for just a moment.  A sudden "POOF" from under his butt and a cushiony feeling alerted him to the cat bed he was now sitting in. He tried to take offense to that, but he couldn't. Instead he took the opportunity to get some sleep in a real bed...first time in a long time. He curled up, snuggled in the blanket. The salesman drifted off to sleep quickly, having not been this comfortable in so long.

Jevil hummed in content. He needed this. They both did. They were both being tortured endlessly by the game they lived in ... and them fighting all the time was tiring. In this moment they both realized how stupid it was, the endless fighting. They both understood what it was like to be thrown away, not only by society, but by the game itself. If anything they should be allies... No... friends.

Of all the things to make them see that... It was this particular fight. Jevil giggled at the prospect that something so silly may have just permanently changed how the two misfits saw each other.

That … That is something she clearly wasn’t expecting ; that one of her babies directly tells her that it’s over, that she isn’t a child anymore, that Santa Claus doesn’t exist and that she knows it and–

“But it’s okay Mommy,” Erena goes on, as if to reassure her –maybe she did see that her mother’s face is growing paler and paler–, “I won’t say it and I’ll act as usual, so I won’t make Kotori, Maki, Hanayo and all the others cry. I know they still believe in Santa. So, don’t worry, Mommy! I’ll do as if Santa is real.”

What.

Riko blinks several times –she tends to do that a lot when her children are around, as they manage to surprise her all the time–, still trying to recover from the unpredictable shock.

“Mommy?”

“I … Wait, Erena-chan … H-how?” Riko hesitantly asks in a hushed voice, as if Kotori and Maki were here. She is silently hoping that Erena is messing with her and that she was just cracking a joke, just like that, before they receive all their friends for Christmas Eve.

“Nozomi told us last time,” Erena answers, as if it were the most obvious and natural thing in the world, “She made Nico and Eli cry, and Anju even yelled at her. Tsubasa and I were the only ones who didn’t say anything.”

“O-oh … I see.” Riko is unsure of what to tell her daughter, the surprise still overwhelming her. She really wasn’t ready for that kind of news.

Instead, she focuses on her previous task : tying the little girl’s hair back. For a minute, she completely forgot about that.

“After all, that’s true. It’s odd,” Erena continues, moving her hands as she talks, “How does Santa do to visit all the houses all over the world in just one night? Reindeers can’t even fly, and they can’t overtake a plane. He can’t do all that. Plus, he’s fat and he’s an old man, how can he keep up? It’s impossible.”

Riko can’t help but laugh at the last comment. How meanly adorable.

“Even if he isn’t real, it’s still a lovely story.”

“It is,” Riko agrees, her gaze softening, hands unconsciously combing the now perfect ponytail.

“Mommy …” Erena weakly calls as she tentatively meets her mother’s gaze in the mirror, “Are you mad at me?”

“Huh?” Riko raises an eyebrow, “Why would I be mad at you?”

The little girl gulps and starts playing with her fingers, nervous. “Because now I know that Santa doesn’t exist …”

“Oh, my baby …” Riko leans over and wraps her arms around Erena’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug. “Honestly, do you really think I was going to be mad at you because of that? Silly,” Riko chuckles as she pecks her daughter’s cheek, “I’m sad because it means that you’re growing up faster than what I want.”

“Of course I am, Mommy! It’s normal.”

“But you know that Mama and I don’t want you to grow up, because you’re our dear baby!” And, with that, Riko tightens her grip, causing Erena to laugh and playfully flail around.

“But I’m not a baby!”

“Tell you what,” a cheerful voice chimes in, and the two break the embrace, turning to look at the newcomer, “You’ll always be our little baby!”

“Mama,” Erena greets her with a wide smile, instantly mimicked by the brownish ashen-haired woman.

“Oh, my beauty!” You squeals while easily scooping her eldest into her arms, earning a ‘Heeeeyy!’ of protest, “You’re so cute with your hair up!”

A soft smile graces Riko’s features as You puts Erena down, before she unconsciously starts twirling the end of her ponytail, as if she were feeling melancholic.

“You-chan,” Riko’s amber eyes land on her wife “Before everyone arrives, I think you need to know that, um …” her voice drops in a whisper “Erena-chan knows the truth.”

“Eh?” Comes You’s puzzled and curious reply, as the latter blinks. “The truth? What do you mean, Riko-chan?”

“That Santa doesn’t exist, you know …”

“What?”

The two adults immediately freeze when a crystal-clear voice rises behind them.

“Oh no,” Riko breathes, aghast, when she realizes that her second daughter is standing there, in the doorway.

“What do you mean, Santa doesn’t exist?” Kotori repeats, her eyes already glistening with tears, her tiny voice tinged with disbelief and sadness breaking her mothers’ heart. She is tightly holding her own hands, as if she were ready to hide her tears and cry in them.

But before one of them can react and try to explain everything to Kotori –that it is not what she thinks it is, that she completely misheard and got it all wrong–, Erena steps in front of her little sister and puts a hand on her shoulder, patting it reassuringly.

“It was in the nightmare I had last night,” she says while Kotori tries to blink her tears away, “I was just telling Mama and Mommy about it. There was an ugly and bad elf who was stomping on our presents and he was screaming and telling us that Santa never existed …”

At this, Kotori covers her mouth with her hands, shocked, before she frowns and exclaims, “Why was he saying that! It’s so mean!”

“It is!” Erena instantly agrees, before shrugging, “I think he was just punished because he didn’t work as hard and as well as the other elves.”

A cute snort comes from the gray-haired little girl, and both You and Riko exhale, relieved.

“If Maki-chan had that nightmare, I think she’d still be crying,” Kotori giggles, before her eyes widen when three knocks echo in the corridor, followed by muffled voices. “Oh! They’re here!”

“Hey Kotori-chan!” You broadly smiles and extends a hand, “Let’s go greet them together!”

“Yeah!”

Vigorously nodding her head, Kotori happily takes her Mama’s hand, following her to the front door. You lets her open it, revealing the Matsuura family on the doorstep clad in warm clothes, scarves and even a cute beanie with cat ears for Rin.

“Aye aye, everyone~” You salutes, mimicked by Kotori who soon drops her hand and hugs her Mama’s leg, as if to fight the cold, “My gods, it’s freezing out there, please come in, quick!”

“Yeah, Auntie You is right girls,” Kanan says while pushing Umi and Anju inside, Honoka and Rin being already in the house, struggling to take off their coats and scarves.

“Wait a minute, you two.” Riko approaches Honoka, stopping all her movements and gently taking her scarf off before she squeezes it too much around her neck by pulling on it like a savage.

“Whew, thank you Riko-chan for the help!” Chika widely smiles, while taking care of Rin and her coat which is almost too big for her. “Hey Riko-chan, you have no idea of how happy I am to know that I’m going to see everyone again! So, how have you been doing? Oh, hello Erena-chan!”

And Chika goes on and on, quickly dragging Riko in the conversation.

“Oh Anju-chan, you’re so cute with this new haircut!” You coos the moment she passes next to her.

The little girl offers her blue-eyed auntie a bright smile, before twirling a ginger strand of her now shoulder-length hair.

“Thank you, Auntie You! I got it cut this morning.”

“Woah, really?” You grins, closing the door. “Is it for Santa?”

“Oh no, not at all!” Anju instantly replies, with this light and airy laugh of hers. It turns into a soft chuckle, and then in a bright smile when she meets one of her best friends’ eyes. “Erena-chan~”

And Anju launches herself into Erena’s arms without hesitating, greeting with that special hug only Tsubasa and her can have –okay, her mothers and her little sisters too.

“She wears it well,” You then says as she turns to look at Kanan, who is hanging her coat and scarf on the coat rack, “But I’m really surprised you decided to cut her hair that short. I thought you didn’t want to?”

“I didn’t want to,” Kanan agrees with a sigh, sliding a hand through her loose navy hair, “But Rin decided that it was a good idea to cut her sister’s hair yesterday evening.”

You gasps at that, eyes widening, but she quickly hides an amused smile and some giggles behind her hand. Kanan only rolls her eyes, before she winces and frowns in pure and comic desperation.

“You understand now that I couldn’t leave Anju with short strands here and there, and that I showed up at the hairdresser in a hurry this morning to fix it! Bless them for closing only after New Year’s Eve and not today.”

“But Mama,” a voice interrupts them, and the two childhood friends look down to see little Honoka tugging on the hem of Kanan’s sequin jacket, “Rin-chan wanted to try, and Onee-chan didn’t mind!”

“I know Honoka, they told me,” Kanan ruffles one of her twins’ hair, “But it doesn’t mean that it was a good idea, honey.”

“It’s in the genes,” You laughs, “Remember when Chika-chan tried to cut her bangs when we were little?”

“Ma did it too, nya?” Rin pipes in, reassured by the idea that one of her parents did this silly thing too.

“Yes, she did. Next time we go to Grandma’s inn, I’ll show you the photo.”

“Nya!”

After the Matsuura’s storming entrance, it was Ruby and Hanamaru’s turn to show up, with Tsubasa and Hanayo. The shy youngest didn’t even have time to step in the house that Rin tackled her into a bear-crushing her, just like she did with Maki when she first arrived. Maki, who was forced to join in the hug, dragged by Rin. As for Tsubasa, she wanted to join Erena and Anju, but got slowed down by Hanamaru, who wanted her to ‘say hello to your aunties first, zura’.

They were followed by the Tsushima family, with their precious and funny twins, Nozomi and Nico. At first, the purple-haired little girl was disappointed to see that her dearest friend Elicchi still wasn’t here, but her Mom Yoshiko reassured her, telling her litol demon that it was probably Auntie Mari’s fault if they were late. And, either way, Honoka invited (dragged) her to play hide and seek with everyone else. Obviously, the game had a spectacular start, thanks to Maki and Nico. Indeed, they started bickering –and it was adorable for the adults–, as they tried to hide behind the same door. Umi, the seeker, didn’t have a hard time finding them first.

Finally, when the third hide-and-seek game started, Mari dynamically knocked on the door. She even started singing We wish you a merry Christmas when Riko let her enter. Dia seemed already bushed, certainly because of her wife’s antics. As for Eli, after politely greeting everyone, she followed Nozomi and hid with her, while Honoka ­–helped by Tsubasa– had to start counting again. She even had to count a third time after a few minutes, as Mari chose to gather all the children to tell them :

“Hey cutie pies! I bet you didn’t see that it’s starting to snow. We’re going to have a real white Christmas!”

All the little girls rushed to look through a window, and You caught their attention before they started pushing each other to have some place, telling them that it would be better if they were looking through the big patio door.

  “Should we place them like that?” Riko inquires, as You and her are both leaning over an oval-shaped plate with oysters –thank you Mari for them.

“Yeah.” You nods her head, before trying to place the last oyster between two others, doing her best not to move the rest too much. “Mmh … Riko-chan, you’ve never tasted oysters, have you?”

As their eyes meet, Riko slowly shakes her head. But her amber eyes soon widen when she notices You’s amused smile, and she takes a step back while her lover raises the last oyster and puts it in front of her mouth.

“Aw, come on Riko-chan! You’re not a child anymore!” You giggles, holding the flat shell with her fingertips, “You just have to gulp it down!”

The pianist’s face contorts in disgust, “Ew, no!”

“Oh come on, even Kotori-chan tried one earlier!”

“And she choked on it.” Riko pointedly looks at the brownish ashen-haired woman in front of her, turning her head on the side in order to avoid the oyster, like an obstinate child. “Plus, it isn’t appetizing : it looks like phlegm.”

You pauses at that comment, glancing at the oyster, before starting to laugh, loud and clear. Riko pouts, feigning to be hurt by her wife’s mocking laugh.

“You’re worse than Maki-chan,” You giggles, finally keeping the oyster away from Riko’s mouth. “She’s completely your spitting image!”

“And if you’re not eating it,” Mari’s dynamic voice chimes in. The blonde woman appears behind You, stealing the oyster. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to feed my darling~”

Mari is quick to plop down next to Dia, proudly holding the oyster.

“Mari­–“ Dia begins, only to be cut off.

“Baby, come on, please!”

Riko rolls her eyes in front of the familiar scene, before letting out a surprised but soft yelp when You catches her off guard with a peck under her uncovered ear.

“Y-Y-You-chan?”

“What?” You asks with an innocent voice, a teasing smile illuminating her face. “Can’t I kiss my wife on Christmas Eve?”

“O-of course you can,” Riko stutters, a light blush tinting her cheekbones, “But–“

Loud tinkling laughs coming from the smallest round table interrupt her, and she spins round to see Nozomi, Anju, Honoka and Rin roaring with laughter, while Nico seems to be pouting. But the latter soon joins them, just like the others, and Riko and You’s eyes soften.

Before telling the children to sit down at the table, everything was about to go wrong : first, poor little Hanayo almost made the Christmas tree fall, as she tripped over the wire of some fairy lights. In the meantime, Anju and Kotori both sneaked in the home office, where You’s sewing kit is. They hurriedly came back, blood all over Anju’s right fingers : she pricked and cut herself while blindly rummaging through a box to give Kotori the measuring tape. Also, Nico and Maki bickered once again, as usual, before tearing the only gold tinsel that was falling from the Christmas tree, as they both wanted to wrap it back and didn’t want the other to get in the way.

In not even an hour, after everyone arrived, the house became chaotic –and a real mess too, with toys everywhere, whether it be on or under the couch, in the kitchen, all over the carpet.

“I love them so much,” Riko can’t help but whisper, ignoring the fact that her heart skipped a beat when You slipped her arms around her waist. Her gaze unconsciously lingers on her three daughters, and she softly smiles, “I’m so proud of us, we did a great job.”

“Yeah …”

“Oi, the lovebirds!” Chika exclaims, filling all the glasses with wine, “We’re hungry! You’ll have the night to yourselves, you can wait a little!”

“Ch-Chika-chan!” Riko squeaks, stopping herself from throwing a dish towel right in her friend’s face.

“Momma …?”

Hanamaru finishes the verrine she was eating, puts it away and, the spoon still in her mouth, turns to look at her youngest daughter.

“What is it Hanayo-chan, zura?”

“Wh-when does Santa come?” Hanayo shyly asks, feeling quite uncomfortable because of all the pairs of eyes on her.

At that, Hanamaru shares a quick glance with Ruby, and then with their friends, before taking the little girl on her lap. Hanayo instantly snuggles against her mother, tucking her head under her chin, reassured by her warmth, regular breathing and perfume.

“Soon honey, soon …”

Hanamaru places a kiss on the top of Hanayo’s head, before she cradles her gently. It doesn’t take long before the others approach their parents too ; compared to them, their plates have been empty for a long time. And it is getting late now, and the fatigue is slowly kicking in. After all, the past few days were exciting, and today is the peak of the excitement of Christmas.

“Hey Maki-chan,” You calls while opening her arms, welcoming her red-haired daughter with a hug, “Did you tell your aunties what you’re going to do before Santa arrives?”

Maki shakes her head, before burying it in You’s neck as she reciprocates the hug. Riko smiles, pride bubbling inside her, and she takes Kotori on her lap.

“Ooooh~, what is our dear Maki-chan going to do?” Mari excitedly asks, placing her elbows on the table, widely grinning.

“Yes, what is it Maki-chan?” Maemi goes on, with Nozomi and Nico on her lap, too.

“Tell us, tell us!” Chika singsongs, clearly curious, “Auntie Chika wants to know!”

Maki is now hugging her flat snow leopard-like cuddly toy against her chest, just like her red and white pacifier and the white one. She whispers something in You’s ear, who whispers back –loud enough for everyone to hear, though :

“You want me to tell them?”

Maki nods her head, before snuggling against You again.

“So,” the sea lover woman begins, giving her youngest daughter another hug, “Maki-chan is going to–“ she pauses a little, as if to add more suspense, “–give something to Santa …” another pause again “She’s going to give him her loyal pacifiers!”

“Oh yeah Maki-chan, you’re such a big girl!” Chika exclaims, ready to clap to congratulate her niece.

“Congratulations~”

The most considerate parents –like Maemi, Kanan or Ruby– give Maki their encouragement, clearly aware of the fact that Maki owns two pacifiers which are very dear to her. Before going to bed, for example, she needs the two, not just one.

“It’s because I’m not a baby anymore,” Maki mumbles against You’s shoulder, tightly holding the two objects though.

“And we’re very proud of you, sweetie.” Riko smiles at her daughter, who cranes her head to look at her –and Riko instantly extends a hand to stroke her porcelain-like skin.

But a high-pitched and gleeful yelp catches everyone’s attention, and the owner of that scream –Mari, of course– suddenly stands up.

“Hey girls, it’s still snowing outside!” she announces, taking Eli and Rin’s hands, “Let’s put our coats on!”

Hanayo, Kotori, Nozomi and Nico hop off their mothers’ lap and, with Erena, Tsubasa, Honoka, Umi and Anju, they follow Mari. Mari, who quickly turn to look at her old Aqours friends, winking at them. However, Maki can’t go with them immediately, as You keeps her in her arms.

“Hey Maki-chan,” she says, amethyst eyes meeting sapphire ones, “What if we put your passies under the Christmas tree now?”

As Maki slowly nods her head, You proudly grins and pecks her forehead, before caressing her light red locks.

“Okay, suck on them one last time, and we’ll put them under it, alright?” You then holds her hand in front of Maki, who doesn’t hesitate to high five her, “I’m sure Santa will be super happy, Maki-chan!”

“Yesh,” Maki mutters, before slipping her hand into her Mama’s, approaching the illuminated Christmas tree with her red and white pacifier in the mouth.

They both crouch down and share a glance, before Maki spits her first passy in her free hand. Seeing her mother’s encouraging smile, the little girl quickly sucks on the second one and finally drops her cuddly toy, freeing her other hand and taking the last pacifier in it.

“Where do I put them, Mama?”

“Under the branches, but not too close to the trunk. So, before he can put the presents here, Santa will see what you did and he’ll be super proud of you!”

Not far from here, Riko lovingly watches them ; it is only when a scarf is being shoved under her face that she blinks and looks at her eldest, who is handing her the fabric.

“Here Mommy,” Erena says, “Are you coming with us?”

“Of course I am, my love.”

“Mamaaaaaaaaa,” Honoka’s annoyed voice rises, “Why don’t you go outside with uuuus?”

“Because it’s too cold for me,” Kanan replies as she zips the ginger’s coat.

“It’s Auntie You who normally says that.”

“I know,” Kanan chuckles before she gets up, grabbing a loaf of bread on the table. She puts it into Honoka’s petite hand –and her face lights up in realization–, “Here sweetheart.”

“Mama! Thank you!” the little girl exclaims, hugging Kanan’s leg for a few seconds.

After receiving an affectionate pat on the top of her head, Honoka dashes outside, squealing with delight when some snowflakes get stuck in her ginger hair. She quickly spots her little sister and, soon, the two of them are throwing their heads back, ready to eat the falling snow –Honoka even forgets about the bread in her hand. As for the other Matsuura twin, she is busy taking off her dark blue gloves, to imitate Kotori who is trying to gather the snowflakes in her uncovered –and already red from the cold– hands. Next to them, Hanayo carefully pushes her foot in the snow, to make intact footprints. Maki soon joins her, even if she is a little bit unsettled. Meanwhile Anju is looking at Eli and Nico, who are struggling to make snowballs because Nozomi and Tsubasa keep attacking them with their own. Even if she is tempted, Anju does not move from her position, letting Erena adjust the scarf around her neck –because her hair is shorter now, and she ‘might get a cold’. But the auburn-haired girl suddenly bursts into laughter the moment Erena stiffens, the parts of a snowball already sprawled on the side of her head.

This is enough to start a snowball fight between the six oldest, soon joined by their youngest sisters as backup.

All of a sudden, Mari, who was staying by the bay window, opens it and screams, “Oh my gods, did I hear right? Is he here?!”

Those words cause all the girls to stop in the middle of a new attack, curiously watching the blonde woman –even if some faces are starting to get illuminated by the happiest smile ever.

“Yes!” You’s voice echoes, “But he’s leaving!”

“Oh quick!” Mari turns to look at her daughter and her nieces, opening the bay window even more. “Santa is here!”

She doesn’t have to say it twice : they are all rushing inside, hoping to see Santa Claus and be able to thank him for whatever he brought them –even if Nozomi, Erena and Tsubasa mostly want to see how many presents are under the Christmas tree now.

As they reach the front door, that Chika is holding open, they are utterly disappointed to see that no one is here. Or, well, You is here, looking up at the sky and waving, yelling :

“Thank you, Santa! Thank you for all the presents, you rock! Yousoro!”

The first one to react among the children is Honoka, who runs next to her brownish gray-haired auntie, cupping her hands around her mouth :

“THANK YOU SANTA!!”

“Thank you Santa, nya!”

“Thank you, and don’t get lost in the snow!” Anju adds, while hugging a shivering Umi next to her.

“Come back next year! See you!” Kotori waves, alongside her Mama.

A chorus of thanks follows, and You keeps staring at the dark sky with its falling white polka dots.

“If it weren’t snowing, I’m sure we’d see the reindeers and the sled!” You ruffles some of the girls’ hair. “Alright, now let’s go see if Santa left some things …”

“Of course he did nya!”

“We’ve been good girls, Mama,” Maki adds, not letting go of her cuddly toy.

“Oh, Maki-chan!” Kotori grips her little sister’s wrist, broadly smiling, “Do you think Santa took your passies?”

The two sisters soon get the answer. Despite the excitement bubbling inside them and the urge to open the presents on which their names are written, Kotori and Maki push some of them, eventually reaching the place where the youngest let her precious items. Their eyes shine when they realize that, yes, Santa took Maki’s gift.

“Maki-chan, you’re a big girl now!” Kotori hugs her sister, proud and happy for her –she, too, knows how the pacifiers were important.

The amber-eyed girl then takes Maki’s hand and they both join their Onee-chan –who slides an arm around Maki’s shoulders, giving her a side hug– and their friends, now able to look at the Christmas tree, dazzled by the amount of colorful presents underneath. There are so many : dark blue ones, multicolored ones, silver and white ones, golden and red ones, big ones, smaller ones, long ones, …

“So!” Riko claps her hands together, her smile never leaving her face, “Who would like to distribute the presents?”

The answer is immediate and ecstatic, as the girls all yell in unison :

“ME!”