'twas the night before Christmas, when all through the town
Most were fast asleep, with not a single frown
Three individuals were raiding, former idols of their school
Dragging with them, a very unfortunate fool
/
/
"Why am I even here?" Eli Ayase asked nobody in particular.
It wasn't that she didn't like hanging out with her friends, oh no! It was simply because she doesn't want to hang out with three specific friends when they're together. She knows that whenever the three of them dragged her out for a night of fun, things would turn very badly for her.
"You're the one who wanted to come." Nico said as she tied her hair. Perfect, now her attire was adequate. "Something about wanting to prevent us from doing anything foolish."
"That's right ~nya! Eli-chan has no trust in us whatsoever!" Rin chimed in, already dressed in her own Santa outfit.
"Right. Name one thing we did that would count as 'foolish'." Honoka challenged.
"The Trainwreck incident."
"Well, it was kinda the deer's fault for that. Poor deer, though. He would never play poker with us ever again." Honoka defended herself.
"Serves him right, though. I've lost a lot thanks to him. How can a deer be so damn good in poker?!" Nico asked her junior.
"He said there's nothing better to do in the wild ~nya." Rin explained.
"The Catapult incident."
"I'm really sorry for Umi-chan about that. But did you see how far she flew? Like, that's humanity's achievement right there!"
"You totally deserved that slap at the end, by the way. Wait, did you make up with her after that? She cried, you know." Nico asked the ginger.
"Yeah, I even bought her flowers and everything."
"Isn't Umi-chan allerg-"
"Yes, yes she is." Honoka cut Rin's question before she could do more damage to her ego.
Let it never be said that Honoka forgets about her friends' condition.
"The Goat incident."
Truthfully, Honoka has no excuse for that. Poor, poor Mary. She could never look at goats the same way ever again.
"Okay, name one incident that no matter how foolish, isn't awesome?"
Okay, now Eli has nothing to say to that. Even though the Idiot Trio would do idiotic things from time to time, none of those incidents weren't awesome. That time Nozomi got thrown into a pool of chocolate? Priceless. She didn't know what happened after that, though. Nozomi said that she doesn't want to talk about it, hiding a blush. And the way Nico left the room right after looked somewhat suspicious if you asked her.
"I still think breaking into the girls' homes wearing what appears to be a poor excuse for a slutty Santa suit so you could put a few presents in their stockings isn't proper." Eli narrowed her eyes at Honoka.
"It's still awesome." Honoka grinned, but then it turned into a frown. "Hey! I had to negotiate long and hard with Tsubasa-chan to ask for her help in making these for us!"
"Wait a second." Nico realized something. "What did you negotiate her with?"
"Everyone's three sizes. It's funny how she's still really interested in us even though our group disbanded months ago."
Rin gasped. "So that's why Honoka-chan asked Rin that out of nowhere ~nya!"
"You said you wanted to know because you wanted to buy me a present!" Eli looked madder than usual. Or was that red face due to embarrassment? None could tell at this point.
"You know better than to trust me, Eli-chan."
"She's got a point there." Nico backed her up.
Eli sat down, hugged her knees, and proceeded to feel really embarrassed. She also seemed really teary-eyed. Honoka wondered what could possibly make Eli want to cry like that. Oh well, as long as it wasn't her fault.
"Now let's go! We've got a lot of houses to go to, and we don't have all night!" Honoka led the members, grabbing Eli's hand as she dragged the unwilling blonde with them towards the location of their mission.
As they left Honoka's house, Yukiho came out from the house, looking at the four's back.
"Poor Eli-san." Yukiho pitied the poor girl, and proceeded to go back to eating her Christmas treats.
/
/
Location: Nishikino Family Villa, 12:24 a.m
"I can't believe our first mission is with the girl who pins so much of her hopes and dreams on Santa Claus." Nico looked at the villa they've not come to before. "Are you sure we can't push Maki towards the end?"
Honoka was thankful that the Nishikino family went to a villa a little closer to their homes. It's only like a half an hour ride by train, compared to other villa they went to.
"Nah, it's precisely why she believes so much in Santa that we have to come in here earlier." Honoka replied. "She would be up a lot earlier than everyone because she's so excited. I don't want to risk being a little later than our schedule and failing the Maki-chan mission."
Eli stared blankly at Honoka.
"You... actually thought this through."
"Wait for it ~nya."
"Did you know the Nishikino family also serves bread for Santa? They're so nice."
"I should have known." Eli facepalmed.
"And that's the Honoka-chan we all know and love ~nya!" Rin exclaimed, hugging her senior.
As the two laughed, Eli wondered.
"Wait... How do we get in?" Eli asked the three.
Honoka and Rin stopped their laughing, looking at Eli as if she just asked something that was so blatantly obvious that they could do nothing but just... stare at her. Nico raised an eyebrow and proceeded to motion her hand to their uniform.
"Oh no."
Too late, Eli.
/
"This is a terrible idea."
Eli found herself on the rooftop of the building with the three idiots looking through the chimney. It was as if Santa himself was testing her. Had she not been nice enough this year? Yes, maybe she did act out of line by fighting with her professor that one time, but she was a jerk! How dare she make fun of her necklace! Honoka gave it to her for Christmas the previous year!
"Terrible, as in terrific?"
Eli glared at Honoka.
"Besides, how could a ladder just be lying around?"
"Because I placed I there, silly." Honoka laughed.
"How the-"
"Eli, you're in a Santa suit now. Act like one, or I'm throwing you off this roof." Nico threatened, interrupting Eli's question.
"You can't even push me from my chair."
"Valid point." Nico pondered. "You really need to start dieting."
"I'm not fat!" Eli was offended.
"But Eli-chan has that layer of fat on her chest ~nya."
"That has nothing to do with it!"
"Guys, focus on the mission." Honoka brought the three back into their objective. "We have uneaten bundles of bread down there and we need to rectify this!"
"Wasn't our mission to give a present to Maki?" Eli asked.
"I thought our mission was to ensure the survival of John Connor ~nya."
"That was last Tuesday." Nico clarified.
"Oh."
"I'm not even going to ask." Eli chose not to pursue the subject.
When Honoka told them to, they lined up in front of her with Eli in the middle.
"Now, as for who will go down first, we'll settle this in the most respectable and civilized method possible." Honoka closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened it. "Not it."
"Not it."
"Not it ~nya!"
Eli looked at Nico.
Eli looked at Rin.
Eli looked at Honoka.
Eli was dumbfounded.
"Now that's just unfair!" she cried.
"Sorry, Eli-chan. You know how powerful the universal 'Not it' protocol is." Honoka gave her a wry smile.
"It's almost as powerful as the universal 'shotgun' protocol." Nico added.
"Down you go, Eli-chan ~nya." Rin pushed the girl towards the chimney.
It took several moments of calming the girl down and ensuring that the chimney is safe until Eli gave in, although reluctantly, and proceeded towards the chimney.
"If I die, I'm haunting you three for the rest of your lives."
"When you die, can I have your bras?" asked Nico.
"No." Eli answered instantly. "Wait- What do you want with my lingerie?"
"I don't know." Nico answered honestly. "I can reuse them and give them as gifts for Nozomi each Christmas."
"And you think she would wear them?"
"On her head, yes." Nico shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea in my head."
"Then I change my answer." Eli breathed in, and then out. "Absolutely not."
"You won't know about it when you die." Nico smirked.
"But I'll know." Honoka interrupted. "Dibs."
"Damn." Nico cursed.
"You forgot the 'Dibs' protocol, huh Nico-chan ~nya?" Rin put a hand on her senior's shoulder.
"I swear she always wins dibs." Nico looked at Honoka with a mixture of surprise and admiration.
"No, you are not calling dibs on my underwear." Eli glared at the ginger. "And what would you do with it?"
The seductive smile on Honoka's face spoke volumes.
"That's for me to know, and for you to never ever find out." she then addressed the more important issue at hand. "Anyway, you can descend now Eli-chan."
"Oh, right. We're actually doing this."
Eli proceeded to climb onto the chimney and descend into the villa.
"Well, here goes nothing."
Eli took a deep breath and released her hands from the chimney, descending and letting gravity do its work.
Well, she would have descended if it weren't for a small problem.
Or a big problem.
Eli said nothing.
Honoka said nothing.
Rin said nothing.
Nico, however...
"Are you trying to make me angry?" Nico glared.
Eli was stuck. Something was stopping her from descending down. Make that two somethings.
"Wow, those are big." Honoka admired Eli's breasts that were sticking out more than usual thanks to being stuck on the chimney.
"Amen ~nya." Rin thanked the heavens for the delightful sight.
"You really need to start dieting." Nico looked at Eli with anger.
"It's not my fault my chest is this way!" Eli shouted, almost about ready to cry.
In the two years they've known each other, they've come to know the real side of Eli; the crybaby side of her. Not many of her friends and admirers know this, but when Eli is backed into a corner, whether it be from being teased or simply because she made a fool of herself in front of everyone, she would most likely cry. And when Eli cried, it took a whole lot of pampering before she would calm down.
And they don't have the time right now.
Completely unwarranted banter? Now that, they have time for.
"Okay, Eli-chan. We're going to push you down now." Honoka gave the girl a pat on the head. "We're going to push your chest, and you'll have to try and go down from there. Okay?"
Eli nodded, sucking up her tears. She was now back to her usual self.
"Guys, give me a hand." Honoka called for the other two.
"You do it. I'm not touching those. It's like they're laughing in my face." Nico was still glaring at Eli. Or more specifically, Eli's chest.
Eli's breasts went boing.
"Did you do that on purpose?!"
"What? Do what?!" Eli is confused.
"Present bag, remember ~nya?" Rin pointed at the bag she was holding.
"Well, just give it to Nico-chan."
"Are you sure you want to leave the presents in Nico-chan's hands ~nya."
"Huh... You have a point there."
"Am I that untrustworthy?" Nico asked no one in particular.
"Okay, Eli-chan. Here I go." Honoka warned her first before grabbing Eli's breasts.
"Wait- Honoka, I'm not ready y- Ahn!"
"Wow, that moan." commented Nico.
"Ugh... They won't fit even if I push this hard? Your chest is too big, Eli-chan." Honoka said, a blush creeping on her face.
"Don't touch there! Those are my-" Eli again was interrupted herself with a moan.
"... Are these..."
"Those are my nipples, you idiot!"
The blush on both of their faces was so clear, even in the dark of night.
It took a few moments of trial and error before Honoka finally succeeded into pushing Eli's chest hard enough so the girl could fit inside the chimney. Crawling her way down, Eli then succeeded on their first side mission.
On the rooftop, Honoka was covering her red face with her hood.
"Shut up, shut up both of you."
She doesn't even need to look to know that the two of them were giving her a very, very annoying grin.
"It's Christmas night, and they're being so intimate." Nico asked.
Honoka groaned.
"So the top's done. When will you move to the next phase down below ~nya?"
Honoka slammed her head on the chimney wall.
/
After Rin descended down with ease, the four of them finally made it to the living room where the lights are turned off and before they could do any scavenging (Honoka), they were stopped by a sudden voice from outside the room.
"Mama, I think I heard something."
It was the voice they've all come to know and love.
"Maki's awake?!" exclaimed Eli with a whisper.
"Quick! Hide behind that conveniently placed large box for hiding purposes!" Honoka led the team towards the box which could just barely fit four people.
"How come there's a conveniently placed large box that could fit four people?" asked Eli ask Rin entered the box.
"Because I've asked Maki-chan's mom top place it there? Duh." Honoka answered, as if it were obvious.
"How did you-?!" before Eli could ask any more, Honoka pushed her into the box after Nico and went inside, closing the lid after.
/
"I swear I heard something... Like,... voices I've come to know for a long time, but I can't put my finger on it..." Maki walked into the living room, her mother following behind.
"Now, dear. Don't you think you should go into bed now? I don't think Santa would come if you're up at this hour." Maki-mama pointed out.
"But Mama! I can't sleep, thinking about what Santa would bring me this year!"
"Oh, dear. You don't want to be in Santa's naughty list for staying up so late, now do you?"
That stopped Maki. She doesn't want to be on Santa's naughty list. Ever.
"Okay, Mama..." Maki dejectedly left the room and went to bed.
"Now that's my good girl." Maki-mama hold the doorknob. "I'm sure that it was just four little mice making all that noise. I'm sure they won't be any louder now."
She closed the door from the outside.
/
"Maki's mom knows about this?!" Eli asked.
"She said not to be too loud. So shut up, Eli." Nico warned.
"Can't... breathe..." came Honoka's muffled voice as she was facing down in between Eli's breasts.
"I- Idiot, don't move too much!"
"At least you have a soft cushion, Honoka-chan. I'm face up into Nico-chan's straight back ~nya."
"I'm facing directly at you... and that's my chest."
"Wow, no wonder it's so flat ~nya."
After that, they left the box and proceeded to find the stockings to put the present in place. Well, most of them, anyway. Honoka was devouring the bread and cookies.
"What did you get her?" Eli asked the two as Nico put the small present in the stocking.
"Honoka got it for her. She said Maki got jealous that you got the necklace last year. So she bought another necklace for her. I don't know why she chose this specific necklace, though. I'm sure there's a story behind that." the shortest girl answered.
"Is that so..." Eli looked blankly at the present in the stocking.
Nico and Rin looked at each other worriedly.
"I'm sure it's just nothing. Don't worry about it." Nico assured her.
"Huh?" Eli looked confused. "Oh, no. I'm not worrying about anything."
Then there was that smile.
That smile Nozomi always showed her when she's hurting, that smile Kotori always showed Honoka when Honoka's hanging out with the her and Rin, the smile her mother always showed her and her siblings when their father couldn't make it home in time for Christmas.
It pained Nico too see that smile.
And she would make it right.
"Okay, now that we've completed the mission, let's move out." Honoka came with crumbs around her mouth. "Whoa, what's with the strange atmosphere?"
"I'll tell you later." Nico smiled. "You have crumbs all over your face."
Honoka realized it and leaned in towards Eli.
Eli giggled and wiped the crumbs off of Honoka's face with her handkerchief.
Nico and Rin looked at each other again.
They were so perfect for each other.
Why can't they see it?
/
"This is a lot harder than going down."
Eli was trying to climb up, now only an eight of the way to the top. At least she now isn't visible directly in front of the fireplace.
"Just try harder. I'm sure you'll manage." Honoka said as she looked up from the fireplace.
"Make your chest as small as possible." Nico said as she looked up from the fireplace.
"Eli-chan can do it! Rin knows you can! Eli-chan is awesome!" Rin said as she looked up from the fireplace.
"You three sound a little too nice about this. Even Nico's insult is lacking."
Eli tried to look and see what the three were doing, but her chest was obscuring her view.
The trio looked at each other.
"Black, huh?" Honoka smirked. "Eli-chan you're so daring."
Eli's face was now as red as her costume.
/
/
Location: Hanayo's household, 1:36 a.m
"Now, how do we get inside?" Eli asked the three who were behind her.
"Oh, I've got the keys right here."
Honoka took out a set of keys from her pouch, each labelled with a sticker. True enough, one of them wrote that it was a key to Hanayo's house.
"You had keys with you all along?!" Eli was furious. She saw that another key was a key for Maki's villa. She even had one for Maki's house in case Maki's actually in her house.
"Of course I do." Honoka said as if it was obvious. "Remember last Easter?"
/
Eli woke up with a start, suddenly finding herself inside a train. She remembered sleeping in her own bed and not in a train. She looked around and saw familiar faces. Faces that she shouldn't be seeing because she was in college and didn't come home for Easter. She looked at her phone, thankfully in her purse, and saw that her parents and roommate was calling her since early morning. This should not be happening. She looked at the familiar sleeping faces and realized three individuals were missing.
The same three individuals that always caused trouble for all of them.
Eli groaned.
Then, the others woke up, almost in unison. Nozomi stretched but doesn't seem to be too bothered with it as if she knew what was happening all along. She wouldn't be surprised if Nozomi really did know about it. Umi was extremely worried why she was here and why Honoka didn't tell her anything. Kotori was trying to calm Umi down, failing miserably at it, too. Hanayo was worried about everything as well, though her worries lies in her daily breakfast ritual containing rice. Maki have already given up on trying to figure out what the Idiot Trio were doing by now so she continued to sleep.
She didn't sleep long though, because here comes Honoka.
'Welcome one and all!" Honoka shouted in the megaphone.
"You don't need to shout, Honoka-chan... We can hear you quite well, actually." Nozomi smiled at the ginger.
"Honoka, what is the meaning of this?!" came Umi's rage.
"Now, now. I'm sure Honoka-chan has a very reasonable explanation, Umi-chan." Kotori tried to calm her down, but she already knew Honoka doesn't have any sort of good explanation.
"Please, don't waste my time with any of this..." Maki pleaded. "We'll see each other in Thanksgiving, anyway."
"My rice!" Hanayo exclaimed happily as Rin brought her her breakfast.
"I'm surprised there's no one in the train at all." Eli sounded amazed.
"That's what you get when you put my ability of good looks to use." Nico sounded proud.
"Oh, Nicocchi. You're the one who emptied the train? I always knew you'd be the one who let us down!" came Nozomi's praise.
"Yes, praise me- Wait... You're wording it out differently!"
"Now now, everyone. I'm sure you have many questions." Honoka said, not using her megaphone anymore. It was only to wake everyone up, after all. "But know that today, we will be going on an Easter Bunny hunt."
Everyone blinked.
"Don't you mean an Easter Egg hunt?" asked Hanayo. She actually stopped eating her rice.
"No? An Easter Bunny hunt!" exclaimed Honoka.
"Where can we find an Easter Bunny?" Kotori asked, not really liking what she thought Honoka was going to say.
Honoka grinned and pulled out a Bunny Girl costume from her bag.
Umi raised an eyebrow.
"And who would wear it?"
Honoka looked at Umi.
Rin looked at Umi.
Nico looked at Umi.
Nozomi looked at Umi.
Hanayo looked at Umi.
Kotori looked at Umi.
Maki looked at Umi.
"You kinda brought it on yourself with that" Eli laughed as Umi groaned.
/
"Umi did not like being shot with water pistols." Eli reminisced. "Didn't she bite you that one time?"
"I still have a scar for that." Honoka showed the back of her neck and true enough, there were bite marks on it. Eli did not like seeing that mark. "Anyway, all of your parents thought you were kidnapped, right? So they warned me and forced me to tell them whenever we're going to do something."
"So their parents already knew about this?" Nico asked, unsurprisingly calm about it. She knew Honoka better than most, after all.
"Yup. Everyone gave their permissions to raid their houses. I couldn't ask Nozomi-chan's parents, but she said it's okay since she already knew. She knows everything." Honoka shivered. "As for Umi-chan's mom, she banned me from ever entering her house ever since the Pinball incident so I've already given her her gift in person."
"So we could have just entered Maki's villa without going through the chimney?" Eli looked... well, not happy?
"But what's the fun in that?" Honoka laughed.
For about three seconds. Her laughter died down when she realized Eli was not happy.
"You dug your own grave there." Nico snorted and backed away, pulling Rin with her.
/
Honoka rubbed the back of her head as she entered the house, the others following her with Eli pouting.
The team searched in the living room for signs of stockings where they could dunk the present in and be done with it. After a few minutes, their search resulted in nothing. Apparently, Hanayo didn't put her stockings near the Christmas Tree and placed it near her bed.
It took Rin a couple of minutes to remember that.
Eli decided against throttling Rin, only because she knows the house better than anyone.
"So, who's going to- Not it." Honoka called before even finishing her sentence.
"Not it." Nico called as well.
"Not it ~nya." as did Rin.
"Not it." Eli called, but it was too late. "Really?"
"You'll get used to it." Honoka laughed and pushed Eli towards where she assumed was Hanayo's bedroom. She was wrong, by the way.
/
Eli entered Hanayo's bedroom while the trio waited in the living room, probably eating the cookies. Surprisingly, there was also a cup of ramen next to the cookies. Eli decided not to pry on Hanayo's image of Santa. Perhaps she thinks that Santas are like those overworked salarymen who just wants to go home, grab some instant ramen and live a happy life.
As she looked at the stocking at the head of her bed, however, she found a note attached to it. Thinking it would do no harm in simply reading it, she did as such and what she read surprised her.
'Dear Rin-Santa-chan,
I'm probably asleep by now so I wouldn't really get to thank you properly, but I just wanted to say thanks for everything. I heard about what you were doing from Kotori-chan. She mentioned how you're going to be our Santas, together with Honoka-chan and Nico-chan. Are they with you right now? Tell them I also said thanks, and you should also check underneath the Christmas Tree. There's a present directed to each and every one of you.
And again, thanks for everything.
I love you all!
-Hanayo'
Reading the note, Eli couldn't help but smile. Perhaps there's something to this little fiasco after all. Just by reading the letter, she could tell Hanayo's really thankful for what the Idiot Trio are doing. Maybe some things, they could do right.
Placing the letter on the table next to her bed so she knows that Eli has read it, Eli put the present into Hanayo's stocking and was about to leave until-
"Rin-chan..."
She heard a whisper from Hanayo and turned around to look, only to realize that Hanayo was touching her hand.
Perhaps in a desperate attempt to stay awake and thank the three in person, Hanayo actually stayed late into the night, which she rarely did, and dreamt of Rin. Eli smiled as she placed the hand she was holding on the girl's head.
"I'm sure she knows, Hanayo. I'm sure she knows."
Hanayo smiled in her sleep and let go of Eli's hand.
Deciding there's nothing keeping her in the room any longer, Eli left.
/
"Really ~nya?" Rin asked, a smile appeared on her face as she listened to what Eli was telling them.
"Yeah, it's true. She said to check under the Christmas Tree as well, and that she prepared presents for you three." as Eli said that, Nico desperately ran and tumbled near the tree.
Both Rin and Nico opened their presents there and then.
"Gloves!" Rin exclaimed happily, wearing them instantly.
"A... mirror?" Nico looked at her present intently. On the lower side of the mirror, there's a translucent writing that says 'The Most Beautiful Gift of All' and cupped her hands to her cheeks. "Oh Hanayo you're such a womanizer~"
"Wow, I can't believe Nico's that happy with a mirror..." Eli said to Honoka, who wasn't opening her present. "Honoka?"
"You said that Hanayo-chan heard it from Kotori-chan?" Honoka asked the taller girl.
"Yeah, it said so in the letter. Why do you ask?"
"..."
/
/
Location: Kotori's Household; 2:43 a.m
"Okay, people. You know the drill." Honoka closed her eyes. "Shotgun." she called.
Everyone stared at Honoka.
Honoka realized her mistake.
"Wait-"
"Not it." called Nico.
"Not it ~nya." called Rin.
"NOT IT!" Eli exclaimed.
Honoka looked at the three of them in horror. She just made a really really bad mistake.
"This is unfair." stated Honoka.
"Welcome to my world." Eli grinned.
"Rules are rules, Honoka. It's your turn." Nico signalled Rin to give Honoka Kotori's present, which she did. Seeing the giant present half her size, Nico couldn't help but be surprised. "That's one big present. What do you have in there? A mini fridge?"
"Oh Nico-chan. Kotori-chan wouldn't like it if I gave her something so heavy. So I made a plushy just for her."
"You made that?!" Eli couldn't help but be amazed. Perhaps Honoka really does have something special to her.
"Of course not. I made Yukiho do it."
Scratch that. Same old Honoka.
"Yukiho-chan must love making plushie, then ~nya."
"You'd be amazed what you can make her do for two cups of pudding." Honoka grabbed the box and went to the door.
"Don't you need the key?" Eli asked, since the key was with her. She was the one who locked the door to Hanayo's house, after all.
"No need. She's probably expecting me." Honoka held the box with one hand and opened the doorknob with the other. Surely enough, the door opened with ease. "Wish me luck."
As Honoka disappeared into the house, Nico was the first one to speak.
"1000 Yen says she'll get molested by Kotori." Nico bet.
"No go ~nya." Rin passed.
Eli smiled.
"I'll take those odds."
/
Honoka walked into the house she came to know all too well. To be completely honest, she rarely came to Kotori's house ever since High School. Perhaps it's due to puberty or perhaps because she's lazy, she rarely went there any more. Kotori has always came to her house to hang out and she always went to Umi's house because said bluenette forces her to study there from time to time, but there wasn't much reason for her to go to Kotori's.
Besides, Kotori always found herself in Honoka's house anyway, so going to Kotori's house without said childhood friend wouldn't be much fun.
As she entered Kotori's room, she was hit with nostalgia.
On the shelves were volumes of manga Honoka herself recommended to her. Looking at it closely, you can see plenty of bookmark stickers sticking out of those books. Every time Honoka talked about the manga she recommended, Kotori would for some reason know a lot more than her. Did she research on it that much?
Why?
She put the box on the floor, to explore some more.
On the desk were pictures of them. Some of them were pictures of her and her parents, some were pictures of their group. Honoka chuckled when she saw the picture they took after going fishing. Umi was the most spirited that time while the others just casually looked at the girl's enthusiasm. Umi rarely let herself be free unless when it comes to outdoor activities. She then realized that most of the pictures were pictures of her.
She saw a picture of her in front of elephants, being goofy using her hands as trunks.
/
"Kotori-chan, look! It's an elephant! KOTORI-CHAN, IT'S AN ELEPHANT!" Honoka exclaimed as she was marvelled by the sight of those mammals. "Kotori-chan, quick! Take a picture!"
/
She saw a picture of her in front of the Empire State Building, hugging the wall of the building.
/
"Oh, Emmy. I'm going to miss you. We'll be apart for only a short while, my love!" Honoka whispered to the building. "Kotori-chan, don't take a picture! This is a private moment!" she pouted.
/
And she saw a picture of her in front of the sunset, smiling brightly as she shouted directly at the camera.
"Today was a lot of fun, Honoka-chan." Kotori said, but her voice was about to crack.
Honoka realized this and gave the girl a pat on the shoulder.
"Kotori-chan, you promised not to cry..." she told her.
"But Honoka-chan... Soon we won't be able to see everyone any more..."
"And that's why we have to show them our biggest smile ever." Honoka grabbed the girl on both her shoulders. "Look at me."
Kotori looked up and saw Honoka's reassuring smile.
"Do you still have your camera with you?" she asked.
"The one Honoka-chan gave Kotori at her 15th Birthday Party?"
"That one!" Honoka responded. "I still can't believe I never used my allowance for anything other than bread. Am I really living the teenage life right now?"
Kotori chuckled at Honoka's joke and took out the aforementioned camera. Honoka then grabbed the girl by the shoulder and looked a the camera lens.
"Selfie~" she called.
However, Kotori didn't even press the shutter.
Honoka looked to see that Kotori was looking at her the whole time with that beautiful smile of hers. Kotori used her free hand to lift Honoka's arm off of her and shook her head as she backed a little further, lining up Honoka with the beautiful sunset.
"I want to take a picture of just you, Honoka-chan." Kotori said as she readied the camera.
"Really? I think we should both take a picture. But hey, your camera."
Kotori smiled.
"Honoka-chan, you said that you wanted to show everyone your biggest smile, right?"
"That's exactly right!"
"Then why don't Honoka-chan shout the thing that makes you smile the most?"
"The thing that makes me smile the most?" Honoka grinned. "That's an easy one."
She cupped her hands to make a megaphone and leaned a little forward as she shouted,
"Kotori-chaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"
/
Honoka smiled as she remembered the scenes from each of these pictures. However, the picture she remembered the most was not a solo picture of herself but a duo. She grabbed the picture frame to look at it more closely.
It was a picture of her and Eli.
/
"I don't wanna let go."
"I don't think that's what graduation means, Honoka."
"You're graduating and I'm not. So I don't have to let go."
"For God's sake, Honoka let me go! You're embarrassing us all!"
Honoka was hugging Eli in front of the school where the other graduates were saying their farewells. She was hugging her for more than a minute now and to say Eli was annoyed would be an understatement. Sure they were friends, but people are watching now. She could hear people giving cat calls to the two.
"You're the student council president now! Don't you have any shame?!" Eli asked, a blush on her cheeks from being hugged so tightly by the ginger.
"You didn't when you ran for president."
"Oooh! Burn!" came Nico's interference.
The rest of the group were also there. Rin and Hanayo were with Nico and Umi, Kotori, and Maki were with Nozomi. They didn't know when Nozomi came, to be honest. She was just suddenly there one moment. Nozomi's spiritual like that.
"Nozomi, help me! You're my companion, right?!" Eli asked for help.
"You're on your own. At least spoil your cute little junior a little. It's the least you could do." Nozomi said with a knowing smile.
"..." Eli sighed as she hugged the girl a little more. "This will be the last time, okay?"
"Un." Honoka nodded.
"You're going to protect this school from ever facing anything like closure ever again."
"Un."
"And you promise not to slack off and give Umi a hard time?"
"..."
Umi looked pissed. "Honoka..."
"Oh, Umi-chan. Giving you a hard time is like my raison d'etre."
"I'm surprised you know what that means." Maki looked shock.
"I saw it in a manga once."
"You should've kept your mouth shut." Maki glared.
Honoka and Eli looked at each other. They remembered the time they first met, the time they faced hardship, the time Eli took Honoka's hand, and the times they were together.
"I'm gonna miss you." Honoka said.
"And I you." Eli smiled as she gave the girl a pat on the head.
"Honoka-chan! Eli-chan! Look here!"
They both turned to the direction of Kotori's voice and saw her pointing her camera at them. With expert ease, Honoka showed a piece sign with a huge grin on her face while Eli could only lightly smile.
/
"Now that I think about it, you started getting all perverted ever since the Third Year's graduation , right?" Honoka asked Kotori.
The one under the blankets shook from the sudden question. Honoka smiled.
"I know you're awake, Kotori-chan. How long did you think we've known each other?"
Kotori smiled under the blankets and lifted herself up from the mattress.
"Did you wait long?" Honoka asked.
"Nope. Hanayo-chan gave me a call after you went to her place." Kotori showed the best smile she could muster.
"That's a lie." Honoka stated as a matter-of-fact and sat on the girl's bed.
"..."
"Just as much as you know everything about me, I know everything about you, Kotori-chan." Honoka said. "Though I may be a bit dense at times."
"A bit?"
"Okay, a lot."
Kotori chuckled and Honoka smiled. Kotori was one of the few who actually laughed at every joke she made. It's one of the reasons she befriended Kotori all those years ago.
"However, if I'm... not being a total idiot, then I could tell the times you're troubled, the times you're hurt, the times you're lost, and the times you want to cry. Just as much as you know me, I know you." Honoka held the girl's hand. "You're my best friend. My childhood friend, even. Even if you sneak into my bed in the mornings and completely abuse the childhood friend privilege that my mom gave you to touch me while I'm sleeping."
"I know not what you're talking about."
"See? You dropped your 'Kotori'. That's one of the points to tell when you're lying." Honoka snorted. "Plus, you just change your dialect."
Kotori frowned.
"Honoka-chan's being unfair."
"I wonder where my panties from last night went..."
"Okay, that's fair."
Honoka chuckled this time.
"Honoka doesn't really mind about that since I expected that from you." her smile faded. "But, Honoka needs to tell you something..."
"Kotori knows, Honoka-chan."
"..."
"Kotori knows everything about Honoka-chan as well. They way Honoka-chan is trembling right now from being so nervous, the way Honoka-chan reverts back to saying 'Honoka' when feels like she's doing something bad, the way Honoka-chan looks at her... Kotori-chan knows too much..."
"... Honoka's... really sorry."
"No..." Kotori shook her head. "Being childhood friends is nothing but a curse... You know everything about your significant other that it's become too difficult to move into the next step. Kotori wanted to make Honoka-chan hers, but something in my heart... Kotori already knows that nothing can be done. Kotori knows that I'm not the one for Honoka-chan."
"..."
Honoka couldn't say anything back, afraid of offending her best friend any more so what came after was only silence. Before she realized it, Kotori was crying and she was hugging her from the side, lending the girl her shoulder.
They sat there like that for several seconds, Kotori crying into her shoulder and Honoka patting the back of the girl's head saying "There, there..." like a broken record. Then, an idea came to her.
Honoka pushed the girl lightly away and walked to the box, unwrapping it there and then. Kotori looked at her, sniffling a little bit. After a few seconds of trying to not damage the wrapping, and giving up and forced them opened anyway, she took the plushy out of present box.
"Here you go, Kotori-chan!" Honoka handed the plushy to her excitedly.
Kotori reluctantly grabs it and examined it.
"Is this... an angry bird?"
"No, silly. It's a Koto-birdy!"
"Koto-birdy?"
Kotori examined it again, and surely enough it resembles her in some way, with the colour matching her hair and that tiny bit of what appeared to look like her hair on top. The more she looked at it, the more it looks like this plushy was modeled after her.
"Did... Did Honoka-chan make this?" Kotori looked at the girl, baffled.
"Nope. Yukiho made it. You'd be amazed-"
"Honoka-chan." Kotori glared at her. "Yukiho-chan is still afraid of needles."
"... Hehe."
"And Kotori doesn't recall there being gloves with Honoka-chan's outfit."
"... Tsubasa-chan told you about the outfit, huh?"
Kotori nodded. She gently grabbed Honoka's hand and brought her a little closer as she warmed her cheeks with those gloves.
"Thank you, Santa-san."
/
"I can't believe you made it out without being molested." Nico said as she paid Eli 1000 Yen.
"Does her holding my hand count as molesting?"
Nico held Honoka's hand. Honoka winced.
"I'd say no." Nico let go.
"Rin should've accepted the wager ~nya." Rin said to herself. "It's not every day that Nico-chan loses a bet."
"I think I'm beginning to blend into this team." muttered Eli. "I don't like this."
"Now let's not dilly-dally! Onto the final house of the night!"
"Wait- Final?" Eli looked at Honoka for the ginger's proclamation. "What about Umi?"
"I told you I've already given her her present last night."
"Why does that sound so perverted?"
"Because you're a pervert." Nico said as a matter-of-factly. "And because Honoka gave her some real nice time in bed."
"I didn't!"
/
/
Location: Nozomi's Apartment 4:01 a.m
"So we've come to this..." Honoka declared as they stood in front of Nozomi's door. "The final and most dangerous opponent we've ever faced so far."
"Nozomi usually puts the stockings on the head of her bed." Eli informed.
"Therefore, only one Santa shall go through this one and final trial. If the sacrifice- I mean, Santa fails too come out of the room within 30 minutes, or we hear screaming from the room, we'll ditch her and be on our way home." Honoka added.
"Did you just say sacrifice?" Nico lifted an eyebrow.
"Not it." called Honoka.
"Not it ~nya." called Rin.
"Not it." called Eli.
"Not-" Nico stopped. "DAMN IT!" she shouted.
"Wow, I'm really getting the hang of this." Eli said, a little proud of herself.
"I am not going in there alone!" Nico stood her ground.
"Stop being a sore loser, Nico-chan ~nya." Rin snorted at her senior.
"Yeah. Both Eli-chan and I had solo work. You're the only one who didn't."
"Rin doesn't, as well!" Nico pointed a finger at Rin.
"Rin-chan has bag duty." Honoka countered.
Rin tried to bite Nico's accusatory finger, but the shorter girl pulled it away fast enough.
"No matter what you say, I am not going in there alone. Do you know what happens when I'm alone with her? Bad things! Very bad things!"
"I could tell it's bad just from seeing her in a close proximity to you." Eli said.
"See?! Don't let me die!"
Honoka thought to herself for a bit and decided to flip a coin.
"Okay, what's the catch?" Eli asked, an eyebrow raised.
"What catch?" Honoka asked, confused.
"You don't just come up with something that doesn't sound completely insane. What's the catch? Is the coin supposed to only be flipped with a spatula and be caught with a baseball glove?"
"How rude, Eli-chan." Honoka pouted.
"That's right ~nya! We only flip a coin like any other normal person!" Rin backed her up.
"You can't flip a coin and turn it into something with impossible odds." Nico shook her head at Eli's obliviousness.
"Wait for it..." Eli closed her eyes.
"If it's Heads or Tails, we'll let Nico-chan go alone. If it's in between, we'll go with her." Honoka explained.
"Ah Honoka. You'll never let me down." Eli looked at the girl and smiled.
"Sounds fair to me." Nico nodded.
"Yup. Let's do that ~nya!" Rin exclaimed.
"I find it hard to believe that you call this 'fair'." Eli could only smile wryly.
/
"I can't believe that actually happened." Eli was still overcome by what happened.
"What are you so worked up about?" Nico asked the taller girl.
"The coin just stood on its end! How could you not react to that?!"
"That's pretty normal, Eli-chan ~nya."
"Have you never flipped a coin before, Eli-chan? That's what it does." Honoka informed.
"You guys are weird!"
The four were already in Nozomi's room, with Nico leading the pack. Rin was still holding the bag which contains a few more presents and Honoka was supplying special effects such as door creaking noises and the sound of one hand clapping (She's really proud of that, by the way.). Eli, having to pull her own weight, was tasked with Nozomi Watch duty and informing Nico if Nozomi's awake. She still doesn't know why she needs to do that since Nico would have had a clear view of Nozomi when she's placing the gift.
Nico couldn't say that Nozomi's pajamas doesn't hide much for the view.
"If I die, tell Eli... she sucks."
"Your face sucks." Eli glared.
Using that as a start signal, Nico went near Nozomi's bed, careful to keep her eyes on the stocking AND NOT ANYWHERE ELSE.
She placed the gift she bought in the stockings safely, and all she needed to do was not wake Nozomi up. Easier said than done.
Nozomi moved in her sleep and grabbed Nico, hugging her in her sleep.
The others gasped at the close proximity.
"Get a room ~nya!" Rin shouted quietly.
"We are in a room." Eli pointed out.
"We should leave the room ~nya!"
"No way. This is too golden." Honoka was already in spectator mode.
Nico cursed her friends for not helping her out as Nozomi brought Nico's face in between her chest, stopping Nico's ability to breathe. Nozomi hugged her tighter and Nico couldn't tell if she should feel suffocated or horny right now. Perhaps it's a mixture of both.
Then, Nico felt something touch her bottom. That something turned out to be Nozomi's hand, and it took all of Nico's sanity to not scream so close to the taller girl. If she screamed now, Nozomi would wake up and she would notice everything. When Nozomi notices everything, things would get awkward and Nico would have to explain things and Honoka and Rin would laugh and Eli would comfort her friend and and and-
"Nicocchi...?"
Nico looked up to see Nozomi's eyes half opened, looking a little drowsy. Perhaps she's half awake, or so Nico thought. She decided that the proper procedure is to not make her believe this is a dream, lest Nozomi would do something Nico wouldn't like.
"Nozomi, listen to me. This is not a dream, but I need you to continue sleeping. Please. For me."
Nozomi seemed to hear what Nico has said and smiled a little.
"Okay, Nicocchi..."
Nico thanked the sleepy Nozomi for being so understanding and prepared herself to get out of Nozomi's embrace until-
Nozomi brought her up, still half asleep and kissed her square on the lips.
Honoka's mouth opened.
Eli facepalmed.
Rin hyperventilated.
Nozomi was still half-asleep.
And Nico?
Nico screamed.
/
"So, uh... Nozomi's awake." Eli informed Nico.
"Oh, thank you. I didn't know that." Nico sarcastically replied.
"Yeah, just doing my job." Eli lifted her chest up in pride.
"So that really happened?" Nozomi asked Honoka who the only one who filled her out on the details. Every. Single. Detail.
"Yup. Right up to the flying robots." Honoka nodded.
"You didn't even say anything about flying robots, Honoka-chan." Nozomi smiled at Honoka's antics.
"I know. Just trying to brighten up the situation. That kiss was great. Do it again."
"Don't! Rin's not going to survive the next one! She's already hyperventilating like crazy!" Eli grabbed the short girl.
"No- Carr- Carry on-" breathe "I- I'm-" breathe "Good."
"You're not good at all!" Eli shook the girl worriedly. "And you didn't add any 'nya's! I know it's severe when you don't add it in a sentence!"
Nozomi looked at Nico who was glaring intently at her.
Nozomi smiled.
"Well, I suppose my dream came true."
Nico's blush could be seen from a mile away.
/
/
Location: Shrine steps; 4:53 a.m
"So, what next?" Eli asked the three. She was really enjoying this adventure so far.
The three looked at each other, and then at Eli.
"Sorry, Eli-chan. Now it's time for us to do something blatantly stupid." Honoka informed her.
"So, yeah. Good night." Nico said, storming off after Honoka.
"Good night ~nya!"
…
"You've got to be kidding me!"
END?
/
EPILOGUE
Location: Nishikino Villa; 06:07 a.m
"That's so beautiful, dear." Maki-mama said as she looked at the necklace her daughter had gotten. Perhaps letting the Idiot Trio prepare the present for her dear Maki wasn't such a bad idea, after all.
Maki looked at the necklace in-hand and inspected it. This couldn't be, right? It's the same necklace Honoka broke when they were out on a movie that one time. It wasn't Honoka's fault, and she didn't really blame the girl but perhaps Honoka took it as her fault.
"Did Honoka give this, Mama?" Maki asked her mother who did an undertake.
"W- Whatever could you mean, dear?" Maki-mama looked away.
"Papa?" Maki looked at her father.
Maki-papa didn't even say anything and hid himself behind the newspaper.
"... I need to go."
"Where are you going, Maki dear?" Maki-mama asked, though she already knew the answer.
Maki wore the necklace and headed out.
"To tell her!"
/
Location: Hanayo Household; 08:02 a.m
"Kayochin, you look beautiful ~nya!" Rin greeted her best friend as she hugged her.
"Hehe. Thanks for the scarf, Rin-chan." Hanayo pointed at the scarf she was wearing.
"I thought it would look amazing on you and I was right ~nya!"
"Oh, Rin-chan." Hanayo tried not to show any red on her cheeks, but failed miserably.
"I'm sorry!"
Hanayo and Rin looked at the direction of the voice and saw Honoka running away from Maki, Umi, and Kotori. The ginger was holding hands with Eli, desperately trying to not let the other girls harm Eli, but it doesn't look like Eli's willing to even go with Honoka at the moment.
"What the-" came Rin's unfinished question.
/
Location: Honoka's house; 06:53 a.m
"Honoka-chan~" Kotori tried to hug the Honoka in her bed,
-only to realize Honoka wasn't in her bed.
"Huh?" Kotori was confused.
"Honoka!"
Kotori heard a voice from the street, so she looked through the window of Honoka's room and saw Maki standing there, sweat drenched all over. Did she just run here? She doesn't seem appropriately dressed for jogging.
"Kotori? What are you doing here?!" Maki asked the girl who was in Honoka's room.
"And what is Maki-chan doing here?" Kotori asked the girl back. As far as she knew, Kotori only gave consent for Honoka to be with Eli.
…
"Honoka/-chan..." the two felt bloodthirsty.
/
Location: Umi's Household; 07:13 a.m
"Hehe..." Umi smiled with satisfaction as she looked at the ring Honoka gave her. Should she take it as Honoka's proposal? No no no, they're still too young...
"Umi-chan!" she heard Kotori shout from outside.
She decided that her friend is in dire need of her help so she left her house to meet up with her.
"Kotori? What's wrong? And why are you two drenched in sweat?"
"Umi-chan, did you get any gift from Honoka?" Maki asked the girl.
"Yes, this." Umi showed her the ring.
"..." the two looked at each other.
This is so unfair.
/
Location: Nozomi's room; 07:13 a.m
Nozomi looked at the reflection in the mirror, lifting her hair up a bit to show the earrings on her ears. She smiled, knowing that for some unknown reason, Nico really did listen to her ramblings. She said she wanted this earring months ago when they were out and now Nico really did buy it for her.
"Nicocchi, you're so cute sometimes." she chuckled to herself, remembering the look on Nico's face when she said her dream came true.
And she wasn't even trying to tease her.
Her dream really did come true.
She then wondered about her best friend.
"I wonder what Elicchi's doing right now."
/
Location: Eli's room; 07:13 a.m
"She didn't even say goodbye." Eli told the story to her teddy bear, already in her pajamas. She was planning to sleep, but the thought of Stupid Honoka was filling her head. "Honoka's such an idiot. That idiot. Honoka the idiot. Idiotic Honoka. She should just go out with some douche or something. See if I care."
She hugged her legs and buried her face in her knees.
"Honoka, you idiot." she mumbled.
"That's a pretty mean thing to say to Santa Claus."
Eli looked up and saw Honoka, dressed in the same Sana outfit as before, except this time, she was the one carrying the bag.
"Honoka...?"
"You know, kids who don't go to sleep won't get any presents."
"Honoka!"
Eli hugged the girl right there and then, surprising the shorter girl. Eli rarely was one to initiate physical contact, so she was rarely treated like this.
"Okay, okay. I'll give you your present. I was just finished with giving Nico and Rin their presents, as well. It turned out cows can go nyaa."
"What did you three even do?"
"That's another story for another time." Honoka dropped off the bag, and pulled out a present from it. "Here."
"And what's this?"
"Open it."
Eli did as told and found a piece of paper on it.
"A... Honoka coupon?"
"A Honoka coupon!"
"..."
"..."
"I will murder you."
Honoka chuckled and looked at her bag. There's one other present that's left, but perhaps she can actually play this joke off into something a little more... important.
"I'm not joking, Eli-chan." Honoka took a step forward as she spoke. "With that coupon, you can make Honoka do anything Eli-chan wants. You can make Honoka become a slave for your whole life, you can make Honoka do homework for you, You can make do..." Honoka gently pushed Eli on top of her bed and climbed on top of her. "many embarrassing things..."
Eli gulped, their faces were both red at this point.
"Or even perhaps, Eli-chan can make Honoka completely..." Honoka traced a finger on the blonde's lips. "yours."
Eli thought of the possibilities. She opened her mouth.
"I-"
There were plenty of possibilites she could choose. She could've just used the coupon to ask her if she loves her, she could've used the coupon to make her always obey her, she could use the coupon to ask if she can fondle her breasts.
Well, whatever she says, would do nothing because near them, three figures approached.
END