Hi minna! I feel like I haven't posted anything in a million years here! Anyway, here's a Christmas fic offering from me! Winter is Ice's time =D Enjoy~

Windy Christmas

Christmas morning. Hino Eiji woke up to a cold breath on his exposed cheek- it was very cold on the only part of his body that wasn't surrounded by a thick blanket or a pillow.

It almost felt like his hand, the cold, rough, harsh winds.

"Ah no, Eiji, you mustn't think like this. Cannot, cannot," he berated himself, turning onto his back. The wind on his cheek withdrew, then returned when he stilled.

I hope the room air isn't cold. It was quite ok yesterday morning when I woke up. Ah, the blankets are so warm I don't want to get out… if I get out it'll be cold, I just know it, Eiji thought, eyes still closed. The wind slapped at him haughtily, as though saying, "Idiot, you can't lay in bed all day."

Indeed, too soon a moment later, knocking came from the door, accompanied by, "Eiji! Wake up! It's Christmas! Presents, you know, presents! Quickly, or we'll all have to wait till after we close to open them!"

That's right, Cous Coussier was open for Christmas- no better time to make money than on a holiday that was no less a Sunday, right? But they opened later and closed earlier than usual.

Reluctantly, the former Rider opened his eyes—if he could see, his ears will be less sensitive to noise—but did not move from his warm spot. Just a little while more; I'll count to 20, no, 50, and I promise I'll get up. Let's count it in English, since it's Christmas… 1… 2… 3… Hey I wonder if the Christmas Tree's up… Oh wait, it is. I remember the Cell Medal I hung on that fourth branch from the top… or was it the fifth… 6… 7… 8… 9… 10…

Unable to remember what came after 10, at least, not in English, Eiji sighed, and steeled himself for the cold that will soon assault his poor self once he got out of bed. The wind lifted and Eiji took the chance to peel off his blanket slowly. Maybe if he didn't move too much he could retain his body heat a little longer.

Unfortunately, when he was up and out of the blanket, a blast of cold air sent him shivering. Only then did he notice the slightly opened window of the room. Had he forgotten to close it last night?

"Eiji! You're finally up! Come on! Even Date-san and Goutou-san are here!" Izumi Hina dragged the returning traveller out of the room over to the counter, where Date Akira was singing softly.

"Jingle belt, Jingle cell, Jingle me-da-ru… Na na na nana na…"

"Date-san, the words are wrong."

"Gomen gomen, Goutou-chan, I've never learnt it properly. Oh, Hino, you're here! Chiyoko, Izumi, we can start!" Date called out towards the kitchen.

When everyone was gathered by the tree, half an hour before opening time, Chiyoko began handing out presents.

"This is for Goutou-kun… Hina-chan… Chiyoko… Eiji-kun… Date-kun… Shingo-san…" and it went on till everyone in the circle got their presents. All that remained was one unlabeled present still laying at the bottom of the tree.

Everyone stared at it, each contemplating its contents.

"Maybe it's for us staff? From one of the customers, as a gift of thanks?" Hina suggested.

Date shook his head, "Nah, then the mysterious gifter would have labeled it, 'To: The Staff of Cous Coussier', wouldn't he?"

"What makes you think it's a 'he'?" Goutou challenged.

Eiji stepped in before Date could retort anyhow, "Maa, for now, let's just leave it there, in case it's something someone left behind by accident before."

Izumi Shingo shook his head, "What if it's a bomb? Wouldn't it be better if we opened it to find out what it was instead of putting all the customers in danger?"

The others nodded in unison, especially Chiyoko. So it was decided upon a game of spin-the-bottle that Goutou would open the box.

"Be careful, Goutou-chan," Date cautioned him, himself tensed to launch himself at Goutou in the case of the contents being potentially harmful. He couldn't very well let his ex-assistant get hurt now, could he? He might need him again in the future!

Izumi and Eiji were shielding the other two women about 5 meters away from the box.

Goutou sucked in a breath, "I'm opening it," and with great care, he eased the pocket knife under the box flap, teasing it open and up. "The lid is oddly heavy," he reported, but went on, slowly revealing a black surface on the inside of the lid.

An epitome of bad audio ripped through the air in an extraordinary, "MERRIE CHRISTMAS!" followed by the black surface flaring to life (and in the process identifying itself to be, in fact, a screen).

Considering the tensed atmosphere, it was no wonder that the scene you see right after was made up of two women holding the two collapsed men who have fallen over themselves in surprise, and a rather crushed Goutou under Date whose knee-jerk reflexes had decided that bad audio was as bad a weapon as some of the world's WMDs.

"I'm so sorry, Chiyoko-san! Really, really sorry!" Eiji was apologizing profusely to Chiyoko as the others took the cake into the kitchen to save for later that night. He was bowing so quickly that Shingo thought he would get a headache from all that movement. And he was only watching.

Tearing his eyes away from the strangely intriguing scene, the policeman gave his attention to his presents. This was the first Christmas he would be spending with this bunch. As himself, that is. He wondered what he would get from them, and began unwrapping his presents.

"Keychain… useful. Underwear… useful, I suppose, though did it have to be red? Keychain… what do these people think I am? Coffee machine… pity. I don't like coffee. But Hina does. I can use it. Candy? And… Screen protector?"

Hina sat with Chiyoko, opening their presents on a table. I hope Onii-chan likes the coffee machine… She herself had gotten an assortment including a light green hat, a new bag, a watch, a sketchbook that had a very pretty cover (probably from Onii-chan, she thought), and weights, for some reason.

Chiyoko, on the other hand, received a book on ethnic tribes in the South-East Asian nations, a photo-frame with a photo of the staff members and instructions to "PUT IT UP!", and normal everyday items that she got every year. What, did these people assume that she had so many exotic things she had no more use for them?

Strangely, Goutou had gotten a few costume items—reindeer antlers, a pair of bunny ears courtesy of Date—along with underwear in an embarrassing bright yellow, a comb, hair gel, etc. Date snickered at the implications until Goutou dumped a palm-ful of it in his hair, smoothing it down into a plateau. He himself had gotten an assortment of interesting things—vouchers to an oden shop down in some mall, medical oil, and a mini-milkcan keychain that he found very cute.

Eiji had left the restaurant after opening his presents. A wallet, a phone, and a bag were some of the things everyone had decided to get him. He was grateful (and confused) but he had one very important thing to do today.

Producing a wrapped box from his coat, the former rider proceeded to lay it at the foot of a headstone. He had no idea what good this did, but hey, it was Christmas, and Ankh had been family.

It was against his better judgment to return to Japan for this holiday, and to head down to the nearest convenience store's frozen section to purchase the box of Ice Candies that the Greeed had loved so much in his life. But he was here, any how, in the end.

"Merry Christmas, Ankh. I hope you're happy wherever you are. Do they celebrate Christmas there too? If they do, I hope they have enough sense to gift something like these to you."

A breath of cold winter wind licked at the base of his hair—he'd forgotten his scarf. Perfect.

The wind grew stronger, ruffling his hair and expanding to attack his whole body. Luckily he didn't forget his coat—it was pretty impossible to forget it at this time of the year in this country.

Well, at least, with the wind, he didn't feel so alone after all. He could just pretend that he wasn't.

He closed his eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Eiji."

Please review! Thank you~