20th December
All Seigaku tennis club regulars are planning to go out shopping for Christmas presents. All agreed to come along except for our resident Mr. Chibi, the Prince of tennis, and youngest regular of Seigaku tennis club, Ryoma Echizen.
"Yadda! There's no way I will go with you guys!" said Ryoma.
"Oi! Come on its just Christmas shopping, it won't kill you or anything," said Momoshiro Takeshi, the best friend of the one and only Echizen.
"That's right, that's right! Nyaaaa~!" said the ever bouncy neko-like senpai, Kikumaru Eiji, the second closest to Ryoma in the team. That's if always having to pay for all the burgers that both Ryoma and Momoshiro eat counts as a reason for him to become the second closest to the chibi.
While Momo and Eiji are convincing their shortest kouhai to go with them, the rest of tennis members just watch in amusement as Fuji keeps on taking pictures of the three for unknown reasons. In the end, Ryoma gave in and got dragged along after the ever stoic captain of Seigaku tennis club, Tezuka Kunimitsu stepped in after he got tired of listening to the supposed never-ending word fight of the three. Of course, even if it's Tezuka, Ryoma did not let himself get dragged along just like that without protesting.
When they arrived at the Christmas bazaar at the shopping district, they decided to split t into four groups to make the shopping faster.
"Alright! Here is the list of the groups. The first group: Momoshiro, Eiji and then Oishi," said Tezuka as he read the list that he and Oishi came up at student council room.
"Yosh! Let's go!" said Momoshiro and Eiji as they ran into the east side of the market with the ever-worrying mother of Seigaku, Oishi Shuichiro following them. All Oishi can do is yell to them wait for him, not to run too fast or else they might get get lost.
"The second group: Kaidoh, Inui and Kawamura,"
"Fssssh…" hissed the Kaidoh
"Ii data," said the data player and the brain of Seigaku, Sadaharu Inui while writing God knows what in his notebook.
"Alright! Let's get this started then" said the power house player, Kawamura Takashi, and they headed to the west side of the market.
And the remaining members, Tezuka, Fuji and Ryoma went to the northern area of the market.
While searching for gifts to buy, Tezuka, Fuji and Ryoma met Yuuta and Mizuki Hajime. As usual, the elder brother ignored Mizuki's presence and started a conversation with Yuuta, much to Mizuki's annoyance. How come Fuji Syuusuke, his destined rival ignore him? He has no idea what he has done to make Seigaku's tensai ignore him each in every chance they meet.
(N/A:Really Mizuki? Are you sure you don't know what you have done to make Syuusuke ignore you like that?)
After the chance meeting with the Saint Rudolphians, Tezuka, Fuji and Ryoma met Oshitari Yuushi, Kabaji Munehiro and the self-proclaimed king of tennis, Keigo Atobe. They were there to buy expensive gifts. Fuji and Ryoma had to look up to see a towering Kabaji, hands and arms full of shopping bags, each printed with a brand that is known to ne nothing but top class and expensive.
Tezuka on the other hand, can be heard saying "No.' with that stone face of gift when he was asked by Atobe if he would like to receive a Christmas present from him.
Atobe did not have to ask though, because Tezuka is already on his list of people whom he'll give gifts to.
After seeing, and getting awed by the shopping powers of the Hyotei people, they also met up with Shiraishi Kuranosuke and Tooyama Kintaro.
"There sure are a lot of familiar people all over the place today," Ryoma sighed, eyeing the Ponta displayed at a nearby vendo machine.
"Saaa, it's almost Christmas, everyone must be busy thinking and buying gifts for their family and friends," Fuji replied even if he wasn't need to.
"With all these people, we don't know who we are mingling with thieves and pickpockets are surely mixed with the crowd. Fuji, Echizen, keep an eye on your belongings and don't let your guard down,"
"Koshimae! Come on, let me play with you! Ko! Shi! Ma! E!" Kintaro's ear blasting voice can be heard all over the shopping district. Even the other regulars who were on the east and west areas knew that a certain super rookie from Osaka is somewhere within the shopping district's premises.
"He knows that an overcrowded shopping district is not a place to play tennis, doesn't he?" Ryoma turned and deadpanned to Shiraishi, who he knows is the only person who can let him continue his "peaceful" Christmas shopping with his senpai tachi.
"He really likes you, you know,"Shiraishi replied and smiled at Ryoma.
"Yep, I can see and hear that," Ryoma replied sarcastically.
Sensing that Ryoma had not the interest to play with Kintaro, Shiraishi had to threatenhis own kuhai that he will remove his bandages and started reminding him of his made-up stories about his poison hand and dragged Tooyama after saying sorry to Ryoma for his kuhai's behaviour and waving goodbye to Tezuka and Fuji. Shiraishi's lecture on Kintaro's Japanese vocabulary can still be slightly heard even after they left the Seigaku regulars.
"We can ACTUALLY shop now, can't we?" Ryoma sighed.
"You don't like meeting many people you know in one day, don't you, Echizen?" Tezuka asked the obviously annoyed Ryoma.
"Hello there, Hirakoba-kun, long time no see," Fuji said behind Ryoma which made the chibi turn around in annoyance.
"What the?! More people?!"
"Hahaha, just kidding," that wasn't really a nice joke from Fuji, specially for Ryoma who's hoping that the meeting of people from other teams should stop.
And so, the three went on and began their shopping. They went from one store to another, casually looking for items which they find good enough to give to the people on their lists.
So far, Tezuka's been the one to always enter bookstores and book bazaars, looking for good books to give to Inui and Fuji. He secured a giant yet cute Himalayan cat doll for Ryoma. Doing so made him keep sneaking away from his companions and was able to successfully purchase it when both Fuj and Ryoma were being distracted by Shiraishi and Kintaro. After all, he was the only one who's grateful for the appearance of the two. He also got magazines about bugs and plants and some vouchers from nearby hamburger store.
Fuji on the other hand is looking on his shopping list, making notes on what he bought for who. A cute Himalayan kitty doll for Ryoma, a new racquet for Momo, new shoes for Eiji and a new music CD of Oishi's favorite band, a Pandora bracelet for his sister, a Domo jacket for Yuuta, a pair of earings for his mother and a necktie for his father. After that, he made a note to stop at the next bookstore to buy some books about plants for Yukimura and Shiraishi.
While Ryoma, who's also checking on his list, found that he already brought: spare glasses and a case and some fishing hooks for Tezuka, cacti books and a new music CD for Fuji, burger vouchers for Momo, new dresses for his cousin and mother, a book on personality development for his father to reflect on his act and immaturity, and a pair of gardening gloves and a book about handling poisonous plants for Yukimura.
They spent a little more time to buy the gifts that they have not bought yet.
After all of the regulars finished their shopping, they met up at the market square and had their lunch on the food stands near the market. They all went home after that and used their spare time to wrap the gifts they brought.
Later that night, they all decided to come and have dinner at Kawamura's. They had to go home early though because Inui had brought up the idea of playing a penalty game that involved none other than his dreaded Inui juice.
-o0o-
December 25
Kawamura Sushi is closed for the day. The Seigaku regulars used the sushi bar to have their Christmas lunch party. After they ate lunch, they decided to start opening the gifts. For the sole reason of having fun, they made a draw lots on who's going to open their gifts first.
Tezuka, being the one who has to open his gifts first, gathered all his gifts around him and started unwrapping them.
From Ryoma, he got a new pair of eyeglasses and a nice matching case.
"You know my lens grade?" he asked, wondering if Ryoma got him the correct lens grade.
"Of course." Ryoma replied with a smug look on his face.
Along with the eyeglasses, there were also some shining fishing hooks and a picture book of the mountains of Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, which he really wanted to have.
"Thank you," he told Ryoma with a smile despite that stoic voice.
This surprised Ryoma and made him blush madly and earned then a gawking expression from everyone. Inui who apparently is collecting data on their exchange fit, dropped his notebook on the floor in shock and Fuji even opened his eyes.
Tezuka also got a new portable fishing rod from Oishi which he thinks would be a perfect match with his new fishing hooks. Protein drinks from Momo, a new pair of shoes from Inui, new racquets from Kaidoh, and a three-month free Unacha meal sets from Kawamura sushi, a new set of arrows for his archery past-time from Eiji and a new basic hiking set, "Lord of the Rings" and "Narnia" novels from Fuji.
Next is Fuji's turn. From Tezuka a book about the cacti that grow in the Gobi Desert in China and cacti caring kits. He a book from Ryoma that is boldly titled "How To Control Your Sadistic Nature". The title made him twitch, feeling a bit offended thanks to the snickering of Momo and Eiji and the smirk that formed on the faces of Kaidoh, Inui and Tezuka. Even so, he still accepted the book since it was a gift that his friend got him for Christmas. More cacti books and a music CD, still from Ryoma, More cacti care kits courtesy of the golden pair, a rare species of cacti from Kawamura, which made him really happy, and Inui gave him all types of Inui juice packed in different drinking bottles which made all the regulars scramble at least two meters away from where Fuji is seated, all of them with pale faces. And Kaidoh and Momo got new pair of shoes and a racket all in his favourite brands.
Momo turn revealed that he had a bunch fast food vouchers from Tezuka, Ryoma and Eiji.
"Ah! This much really? Hahaha it's gonna be a large haul of burgers then!"
"I say he'd get that all eaten by in three days nyaaa~!" Eiji betted.
"With that glutton, two days." Kaidoh said. Normally, this would be a readon to start a fight between the two. But Momo just let it slip in the name of temporary world peace.
"Mada mada dane, Eiju-senpai, Kaidoh-senpai. If it's Momo-senpai, one day is more than enough." We all know who said that.
Inui he got him a new racquet, which Inui noted, is the type that is very suitable for Momo's powerful shots.
Kawamura got him a one month's worth of dining from Kawamura Sushi while Kaidoh gave him new shoes too.
Kaidoh's turn. He new bandanas from Ryoma and Momo. A black one from Ryoma with a skull and crossed bones, obviously a pirate-themed bandana and a green one from Momo, with a pair of viper eyes printed on it, obviously an item to annoy him. Nonetheless, he accepted it, because he knew the two items can be added to his bandana collection but he actually had no plan of wearing them, in public at least.
Tezuka and Fuji he got him new pair of running shoes, as a sign of their support to his vigorous training.
An information book about cats and dogs from Eiji and Oishi, the book about cats courtesy of Eiji and the dogs from Oishi.
Kawamura got him a DVD of Japanese drama and a compilation of his favourite Japanese songs.
And the gift that he was most thankful for was from Inui, an illustrated book on the history of Japan concentrating on the Meiji Era.
Oishi's gifts turned out to be a lot of Astronomy books from his 3rd year friends, Ryoma got him a lab coat, indirectly saying that he's supporting his senpai on his ambition on becoming a doctor. Kaidoh got him new T-shirts and a new Griffindor scart from Momo.
Disappointment came to Inui when all the gifts he received from everyone turned out to be the same. A book whose title went "How to Create Healthy Juices: What SHOULDN'T Be Put On Your Health Drinks"
"You really know my hobby, you guys." Inui commented as he twitched, feeling a bit pissed at the title of the book.
"Ma… We know you very well, Inui." Fuji replied, his voice alone reminded everyone of what happened on the day that Fuji's body wasn't able to stand Aozu.
Now, more books coming.
Kawamura got new cooks books written by different authors from everyone and Ryoma added a book entitled "Global Sushi: Integrate the Flavors of the World to Your Sushi" it contained very unique sushi ideas which made Kawamura really happy.
Kawamura wasn't even able to finish saying his thank yous to everyone when Eiji started unwrapping his gifts. The gifts he got made him so happy that he gave all hi team mates a bone-crushing bearhug only to stop when Oishi asked him so. He got cookies and cream flavoured toothpaste from Oishi, a book about bugs from Fuji, new pair of shoes from Momo, a cat motif towel from Kaidoh, and Inui and a an informative calendar that featured cats from all over the world from Inui, and cat themed movies from Tezuka and Ryoma.
"It's your turn o'chibi! Open your gifts, nyaa~!"
"Yadda! I'd rather open these at home!" Ryoma said coldly.
A chorus of whines from everyone came while Eiji and Momo just won't stop poking Ryoma, pushing him to open his gifts there and now.
Giving in, Ryoma opened his gifts and he got the following: a giant and soft Himalayan cat doll,a silver Himalayan cat necklace, memory card games for his Game Boy Advance from Tezuka. These stuff made him really happy which made him happy and flashed Tezuka his most wide smile, making Tezuka blush.
We can't blame Tezuka, Ryoma looks like a girl after all.
A small and huggable size Himalayan Cat doll which fits perfectly matches with his new giant Himalayan doll from Fuji, a case full of grape Ponta from Oishi and Eiji, a pair of wristbands from Momo, a limited edition grip tape from Kaidoh, a kitty key chain from Kawamura, and a special edition of monthly-pro tennis magazines from Inui.
After their party, they went home for a while to drop their gifts there and went out again to hang out for the rest of the day. At night, Ryoma enjoyed his mixed Japanese and western Christmas dinner with his family. He told them about the tennis clubs Christmas party. His mother and cousin found their exchange gift very thoughtful while his father was laughing so hard on the fact that almost all of them received books and keeps telling Ryoma that the Seigaku regulars could start a mini library from all the books they got from each other this Christmas.
THE END
N/A how is it? This is my and my Beta gifts to you all for this Chirstmas…hope you enjoying it! And maybe I will write a new year story too…maybe.
Comment corner:
Riku: Merry Christmas, Ice Spy-san!
Ice: Merry Christmas too, Riku-san.
Riku: What did you have for this Christmas Holiday, please tell us!
Ice: Oh, I did a lot of stuff during the Holiday. I had two photoshoots with my friend, organized an outing with my other friends after that and celebrated my birthday. It's not really my style to go really all gung-ho and only do stuff that are related to the season. But, speaking of the season. I have yet to receive any gift yet, aside from the ones I got for my birthday. But here in my country, we have dawn masses from the 16th of December down to the 24th , in Spanish, it's called Misa de Gallo. They say that when you complete the nine dawn masses, whatever wish that you pray for will come true. For the Christmas eve, I'm in charge in cooking everything that needs to be cooked on charcoal. Hahaha! My sis doesn't like getting her hands dirty so I have to do the job in her stead. How about you Riku-san?
Riku: Me? I don't celebrate Christmas because of my religion.
Ice: Oh, I see. But how nice of you to write a Christmas story for the readers!
Riku: Everyone, see you in my next story!
Ice & Riku: Merry Christmas everyone! :)