"Sir? Where did you want us to put the garland?" Isane wondered. "Did you want to come look at the lobby?"
Seinousuke climbed down from the ladder and went with her to the lobby. His gaze stopped at the brightly lit tree. "How long has it been?" he murmured to himself. "It looks very nice, Isane...Hanatarou." He scanned the room. "I'll leave this room to you. Decorate it how you like."
"Sir? I'm surprised you're having us decorate our headquarters," Isane remarked quizzically. "With everything going on..."
Hanatarou gave a knowing smile. "I think that's the reason...Isane."
His brother shrugged. "Why not?" A mischievous smile crossed his face. "Yume's going to be surprised when she sees how much we've gotten done." He left to finish hanging mistletoe in the doorway of his captain's quarters. Ever since he had become estranged from the rest of the Yamada family, he had spent Christmas at home, watching the snow fall while enjoying a cup of his favorite coffee with Yume.
His thoughts were interrupted by Yume's soft voice. "Sei-kun...we back." Her laugh rang out loud and clear. "Not need so much mistletoe."
"Of course we do," her husband grinned. "And it occurs to me that we're both standing under the mistletoe." He climbed back down from his ladder and kissed her lovingly on the cheek.
"Sei-kun...come help. My Sousuke...I...get lots of things...in Rukongai #15." They went to the conference room, where Aizen was unloading their purchases. "Time to wrap presents."
"Yamada, close the door," Aizen instructed. "I must admit, I am surprised by your sudden generosity. Using Squad 4 funds for Christmas is unlike you."
"We've all been working hard. And besides, I can't really spend Christmas at home this year, right?" Seinousuke's soft voice trailed off.
"I see..." Aizen answered, thinking better of asking for more details.
Yume skimmed the list of planned activities. "What 'ugly sweater' contest? Not hear of it before."
"It's something people do in the human world. People wear the ugliest holiday sweaters they can find, and then the person with the ugliest sweater wins a prize." He pulled out a sweater and handed it to her. "Here's yours."
"Sei-kun? Not wearing this!" Yume raised an eyebrow at her husband, who had a twinkle in his eye.
"But you must admit, it IS ugly." He grinned at Aizen, who himself was trying to stifle a laugh.
"You let me judge contest. Not wearing ugly sweater," Yume sniffed, pushing the sweater away. She pulled out a beautiful red kimono. "Wearing this."
Her husband whistled approvingly. "Do I get a sneak peek?"
Aizen cleared his throat. "Yamada, I did not see a sweater for you."
"I had...intended to be the judge myself. Did you want a sweater, Sousuke?"
"That is quite all right, Yamada. Perhaps we should forgo such a contest." He nodded at Yume, who was only too happy to agree. "Low-key festivities seem to be in order, all things considered."
"My Sousuke...what you want...for Christmas?" Yume wondered.
Her son lowered his eyes and sighed quietly. "I...do not actually know, my mother."
Yume and Seinousuke looked questioningly at each other. They both knew that Aizen was used to being alone and spending normally festive days on his own. Somehow, though, it didn't seem right for this year to be the same.
"My Sousuke...still want to get you something," Yume insisted sadly. "Bought presents...for Hanatarou...Sei-kun...Squad 4."
"Yume-love, we'll talk about this later," her husband assured her. "Let's look at the rest of the list."
"Coffee tasting? Cookie decorating contest? Karaoke contest? Snacks? Exchanging presents? Photographs?" Aizen began to smile. "You are enthusiastic, Yamada."
"It's...been a while since I celebrated...or had a reason to celebrate Christmas," Seinousuke murmured pensively. His dark eyes clouded over once again.
"Sei-kun...where...Ichigo and friends...spend Christmas?" Yume asked with concern.
"Ichigo said something about going to the Shiba house. Seems Ganju invited them all."
"That good. They...far away...from home."
"Let us finish wrapping these presents, then," Aizen suggested.
As expected, Aizen had no difficulty wrapping the presents. Yume wrote out tags while her husband (calling himself "all thumbs") stuck with sticking the tags and bows on the wrapped presents. Once all the presents were wrapped, they carefully placed them under the tree.
"Older brother!" Hanatarou called. "How do you like the stockings?"
"Why is mine the smallest?" demanded Iemitsu.
"Everything looks great. You want to come look at what I have planned?" the older brother asked Hanatarou. They went to the conference room to read the agenda. "Close the door. I want to buy something for Yume," he whispered.
"You're pretty ambitious here, older brother," Hanatarou laughed. "Photographs? And I see you crossed out 'ugly sweater' contest."
"Yeah. Yume put her foot down on the 'ugly sweater' contest. And...an awful lot of people want their picture taken with her. If you can believe it, some of the girls want their picture taken with you and me, too."
"Me?" the youngster sputtered. He cleared his throat. "What did you want to get for Yume-san?"
"She's had her eye on a kimono, but I had my eye on a tea service for her. She's had to use the one here, and Iemitsu keeps giving her dirty looks." Seinousuke grinned at his younger brother. "Good call on giving that Scrooge the smallest stocking."
"Uh, older brother? What's a Scrooge?"
"Oh yeah, you never had to read human-world literature. Let's just say that Iemitsu's personality is like Scrooge's." He laughed. "Anyway, don't you need to do some shopping? You know, for Isane?"
"Older brother! Stop teasing me!" Hanatarou begged, trying not to laugh. "I wanted to get something for you and Yume-san."
"All right then. We're taking a family trip to Rukongai #15 tomorrow morning. Sousuke can come with us. Then when we come back, we'll cover the clinic and let the others do their shopping."
"Where are we getting the snacks?"
A devious grin came to the older brother's face. "You're the cooking expert. Weren't you going to help the kitchen staff make the cookies?"
"Uh... the kitchen manager said they could make a special dinner for us. Nothing fancy, just some assorted appetizers and desserts. I told them that sounded great."
"Ah yes. Thanks for staying on top of that."
"Hey, older brother?"
"Huh?"
"What do you think Isane-san would like?"
"An engagement ring, probably."
"I'm being serious here!"
"Women like clothes. She's always admiring Yume's kimonos."
"Aizen's hard to shop for, too. But if he's part of the family now, we should get him something, don't you think?"
"Yeah. I guess inspiration will hit us."
The rest of the preparations whizzed by, with all the Squad 4 members abuzz with excitement and anticipation. Hanatarou had never seen so many presents in one place. Everything was coming together nicely, and it was all Yume could do to keep quiet about what she had purchased for her favorite men.
Finally, the afternoon they all had waited for was upon them. Seinousuke closed the clinic during the festivities and put a sign out saying, "Emergencies Only." Everyone assembled in the dining hall, where Hanatarou and Isane had placed name cards. Since Seinousuke had insisted that the officers mingle with the unseated members, Isane and Hanatarou had had to content themselves with sitting at adjacent tables. Yume, as a guest, informed her husband that she would be sitting with him and Aizen.
As the squad members served themselves from the buffet table, several of them nervously approached the head table to thank their officers for the much-welcomed break. "This is really nice, Sir," Jou gushed, flanked by Ogido. "And that's your prettiest kimono yet, Lady Yume!" She blushed. "Could I get a picture taken with you afterward?"
"I...take picture...with anyone...who ask," Yume answered politely. "We do it...after we eat...go where tree is."
Next was the cookie decorating contest. After clearing the tables, the kitchen staff brought cookies and decors to every table. Still feeling like a bit of an outsider, Aizen offered to serve as judge. Much to his pleasant surprise, many of the girls in the squad had decorated their cookies to match the pattern of Yume's kimono. After deliberating with Yume, he finally chose Ogido's table as the winners. Their prize was a day off, for which Ogido couldn't be more grateful.
"You ready to sing our song, love?" her husband asked mischievously. With aplomb, the couple took the stage and sat at the piano. "I said I really can't stay..." Seinousuke started. The squad members smiled adoringly at Yume and the banter between her and her husband. By now, Yume's lovely face was almost as red as her kimono, but her husband simply opened the microphone up to everyone else. After plenty of laughs and fun, open microphone time was over.
Next, senior officers passed out small gifts to unranked members. Hanatarou gave his own mischievous smile as the gifts turned out to be either catalogs of Yume's old designs or reprints of Seinousuke's and Aizen's photo books.
"Oh yeah," the youngster added brightly. "I told everyone you'd give out autographs."
"Is that so?" his brother asked, eyebrows raised. Once the tables were cleared, he made Hanatarou set up a table for autographs. Naturally, he didn't expect anyone to want his or Aizen's autograph.
As expected, Yume's line was out the door. "You designed all the clothes you're wearing, Lady Yume?" Jou gushed. "You're amazing."
"Sei-kun?" Yume started, nearly in tears. "Wrist hurt. But glad people like me."
Gently, her husband started a low-level healing treatment on her wrist, which was tired from signing so many autographs. The family made its way to the lobby, where squad members eagerly got photos taken with Yume. Hanatarou nervously approached his brother and whispered, "Don't you think this is a good time to get our picture taken together?"
Next, it was time to open the presents. Iemitsu opened the one box he received. "Uh, thanks, Sir...Mistress Yume," he mumbled, holding up the ugly sweater Seinousuke had tried to give Yume. "I always wanted a sweater."
Yume had a playful but satisfied smile on her lovely face. "He...deserve it," she murmured to her husband, who was trying hard not to laugh out loud. She thought she saw a faint smile on Aizen's face.
Other officers' gifts were much better received. Hanatarou blushed as Isane opened the brightly patterned kimono, which had been one of Yume's old designs. From Yume (and, by extension, her husband), she got hair ribbons to go with the kimono. "Now we just need a festival to go to," Isane sighed contentedly. "Open yours, Hanatarou-kun."
Hanatarou smiled delightedly as he pulled out a stylish blue trench coat. "I had to ask Mistress Yume and your brother for ideas," Isane explained. "I thought you could wear it when we go to the next festival." Excitedly, he opened his other presents, including a handheld music player from Ogido and a (not ugly) sweater from Squad 4 collectively.
"Open ours now," Yume encouraged.
"Wow...this is nice, Yume-san...older brother." He held up an elegant gray suit designed by Yume and a lavender tie designed by his brother. "We're having a New Year's party, right?"
"Look closer at the tie," his brother smiled.
"The Yamada family seal?"
Aizen smiled faintly as he opened his presents. He was pleasantly surprised to receive so many. From Squad 4 collectively, he got a sampler of teas from all over Soul Society. With anticipation, he opened the gift from Yume and Seinousuke. His brown eyes opened wide as he pulled out a collection of antique calligraphy books and supplies. "Yamada...my mother...you have my thanks," he whispered.
"Your turn, Yume-love," her husband urged excitedly, eagerly awaiting her response.
"My Sousuke...this...beautiful," she sighed delightedly, holding up a set of butterfly earrings and a gold cuff with butterfly etchings. "Love butterflies." She threw her arms around Aizen, who was obviously surprised by this response.
"I am happy to hear that you are happy with your gift," her son answered lovingly.
With anticipation, Yume opened Hanatarou's gift: a personal tea service featuring Aizen's calligraphy. Aizen was as surprised as his mother, who held the gift close to her. "This...also...wonderful gift...thoughtful."
Her husband moved closer to her. "The squad members love you. Look at all those presents for you." He squeezed her hand. "Save mine for last."
Yume continued opening gifts, including a variety of hair ribbons and a box to store her drawing supplies. "Everyone...so kind..." Finally, it was time to open her husband's gift. Her eyes opened wide with excitement as she held up an opulent gold princess dress designed by him.
"That's the only one in the world, love," he whispered. "I had the pattern destroyed once the dress was made. Would you wear it for New Year's Day?"
"Sei-kun? You...design this? Ugly sweater...just a joke? This...so pretty..." She started crying. "Love this."
"Yamada...it is time to open your gifts," Aizen said quietly. "My mother is excited."
"Sei-kun...open mine last," Yume requested politely. "Squad members...get you gifts."
Even the 'demon' hadn't been totally sure what he might have wanted, but he certainly wasn't expecting a picture cookbook from Hanatarou. "Are you trying to tell me something?" he laughed. "You know I'm hopeless in the kitchen, right?"
Hanatarou just gave a playful smile before leaving to find Isane.
"Sei-kun...my Sousuke...buy you nice present," Yume urged.
Indeed, Aizen had done admirably in selecting a present: a selection of gourmet coffees and a professional-grade coffee maker.
"This is going in my quarters," Seinousuke declared delightedly. "You know me so well, Sousuke."
"Share coffee with me?" Yume asked hopefully.
"But of course, love." With barely concealed anticipation, he opened Yume's present. "Yume-love...this is romantic." He held up a set of silk pajamas and a matching bathrobe, all featuring the Yamada family crest. "You designed these yourself, didn't you, love?"
"Special design...for you," Yume told him lovingly.
"I think that's it," her husband announced. "I guess we'll clean up. Then let's try out this coffee maker in the conference room." Once they were done putting away the gifts and discarding the trash, the trio went to the conference room for coffee and discussion.
"My Sousuke...you have...nice Christmas?" Yume asked. "Sei-kun...have nice Christmas?"
"This was better than I thought," her husband said softly. "No fighting."
"My mother...I was pleasantly surprised," Aizen added thoughtfully. "I enjoyed spending this Christmas...with family."
"Happy...to hear that," Yume smiled with relief. "Now...look outside."
They all went to the door and opened it with excitement. "Look there, Yume-love. It's snowing," her husband whispered.
"So pretty," Yume replied, her delight evident. "Merry Christmas...my Sousuke...Sei-kun."