Useless Notes: Merry (late) Christmas to all-well, on my side of the globe anyway, Christmas is already over.
Dedication: Think of this as my (late) Christmas gift to everyone reading this right now.
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and the song 'Christmas Alphabet" don't belong to me. What I do own is the DVD copy of the movie, which I got for Christmas this year.
Enjoy!
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Seigaku's Christmas Alphabet
C is for the candy trimmed around the Christmas tree.
As Inui stares up at the Christmas tree he and Kaidoh decorated for the club party, the wheels in his head immediately start to turn and his glasses start to glint in that scary habit of his.
"Inui-senpai, the candy won't work for your juice, trust me." Kaidoh suddenly says, as if reading his thoughts.
"How would you know for sure…?" Inui mutters, a smirk slowly forming on his face.
"Would you like to try some, Kaidoh?"
Kaidoh suddenly realizes that it was a better idea to have kept his mouth shut.
H is for the happiness in all the family.
It is Christmas and Taka-san is celebrating the holidays at school, with his club mates.
However, there is this unsettling feeling in him, giving him the idea that something else is missing from the celebrations.
He leaves the school with the same feeling and he can't get rid of it no matter what he does.
"Takashi!" a voice roars. He winces at the sudden noise. "Where have you been?"
"Ah…gomen, gomen. oyaji- I'll just go up-"
"Nonsense!" his dad laughs. "You're staying right here."
There is nothing else to do but oblige. He sits with his family- just the three of them (dad, mom, him) - and all three talk, laugh and eat, enjoying the simple party they are having, for nothing is more enjoyable than being with your loved ones on this special day.
Taka is too absorbed in their party that he doesn't notice the uncomfortable feeling slowly disappear.
R is for the reindeer prancing by the window pane.
In the Kaidoh household, it has long been established that if you were a good boy over the year, Santa would be coming on Christmas Eve with all his reindeer to grant whatever wish you wanted.
As a boy, Kaidoh Kaoru believed in this and so, he was always expectantly looking out his bedroom window in high hopes that he might catch a glimpse of Santa and his reindeer.
Although not all of his wishes came true (like the one involving Momoshiro and a disappearing act he saw at the circus), he still held vigil by his window until sleep took him. As he got older, he started to realize that Santa was nothing more than a make-believe character, brought to life once a year by one's parents, and so, started believing in the man less and less.
But this Christmas, he gives it a shot once more and sits by his window like so many years ago, looking skyward and desperately wishing that a certain four-eyed teammate of his at the tennis club would realize just how much he cared for him.
I is for the icing on the cake as sweet as sugar cane.
"Sugee!" Momo squealed. "Taka-san, you're a genius!"
Taka just laughed and scratched his head awkwardly.
"Ah, it was nothing-"
Racket.
"TOOK ME ALL WEEK TO DO IT BABY! NOW WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?"
Racket.
"Ah, so… dig in."
"It's mine!" Momo ran off towards the table, dragging Echizen along with him.
"Jeez Momo-senpai, it's only a cake…"
"Aa, but it was made by Taka-san." he was now walking to the table. "Makes it all the more special."
"You really are a pig, Momo-senpai." Echizen smirked, tugging his cap lower.
"What was that?" he grinned, getting ready for a headlock.
"Momo…" a voice called.
"Inui-senpai?"
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but seeing as you're the only powerful person around, will it be alright if you help bring up some water containers?"
"But senpai, what about Taka-san? I'm sure he'd be happy to help." Momo was already thinking about the cake he would miss.
Inui gave a small cough and started sweatdropping as he tried to cover Taka's body, which was now on the floor after being given a glass of 'Inui Hyper Remix Special 2000' to try.
"My mistake." Inui smiled apologetically.
"Aw okay… fine, I'll go." Momo sorrowfully left the room, but not before giving Taka's almighty cake one last look before it would be eaten by hungry people.
Echizen looked up at the cake and sighed in mock annoyance.
"Tch." he got a plate and sliced off a huge portion of the cake. "Even if he's not here, Momo-senpai's still being troublesome."
He set the plate aside and waited. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a hungry Horio going closer to his plate for seconds.
"That's Momo-senpai's share." he said, scaring poor Horio away.
S is for the stocking on the chimney wall.
Oishi gave a contented sigh as he lay back on his pillows on Christmas Eve. He had long believed that Santa Claus was real and that he really left you gifts in socks if you had been good all year.
Now, while he didn't think that he wasn't really that good over the past year, he definitely couldn't remember any bad thing he could have done to hurt anyone (except that fight with Eiji).
Which was why he had his own sock by the window.
His thoughts went to his teammates- his fellow regulars on the tennis team. He too, didn't think that they were really that good the past year, but he definitely couldn't remember any bad thing they could have done to hurt anyone (except Momo's fights with Kaidoh).
Which was why they also had their own socks by his window.
Oishi had really gone through the effort to make them their own, just so that they wouldn't be forgotten by Santa Claus this year. (They did deserve something, right?)
He smiles at the thought and leans over to face his wall, sleep already taking him.
Everyone in the club had worked hard this year and for the life of him, Oishi couldn't remember anything anyone in the club had done to hurt someone.
Which was why his whole wall was decorated with even more socks- one for everyone in the club.
Wow, what a guy.
He just had to make one for everybody in the club didn't he? Well, they don't call him the 'mother of Seigaku' for nothing, do they?
He only hopes that Santa won't run out of stuff to give out to his club mates- every single one of them.
I mean, they did deserve something, right?
T is for the toys beneath the tree so tall.
Although Tezuka's home is flooded with gifts every Christmas, Tezuka Kunimitsu himself was a firm believer in the philosophy that it was always the immaterial blessings that count.
Thus, when asked by family, friends and family friends for his wishlist…
"Nothing."
"Just nothing? You sure?"
"Aa." he nods. "But thank you for the thought anyway."
But then, here comes Fuji Syuusuke, the boy who would learn to make Tezuka's life more complicated, with a gift in his hands and a smile on his face.
"Merry Christmas, Tezuka."
Tezuka's startled eyes travel from the gift to Fuji, from Fuji to the gift.
"Aa." he nods, extending his arms to get it. It's the only thing he can do, for he really hadn't been expecting anything, much less from Fuji.
And then, his mouth curves upwards into one of his rare smiles.
"Thank you." he says.
And since then, life has never really been the same for Tezuka.
The immaterial things may have their meaning, but it's always the material ones that reassure you that you were at least, remembered by somebody.
M is for the mistletoe where everyone is kissed.
So far, Eiji's the only one who's noticed.
It's only when he stands perfectly still that everyone else begins to notice as well.
"Hoi Eiji-senpai, are you okay?" Momo wonders, completely oblivious to the whole thing until Echizen explains ("You didn't have to hit me so hard…jeez…").
"Fssh…" Kaidoh immediately goes off in the other direction- he doesn't want to be there when it happens (honestly, would you?).
"Haha…good luck with that, Eiji." Taka-san chuckles.
"Ii data…" is all Inui says, as he walks past Eiji, his pen in his hand and his notebook in his face.
"…" Tezuka hurries by- he's got a meeting to attend.
"Waiting for someone?" Fuji winks.
"Maybe." Eiji winks back.
And then, Oishi arrives, and before long, he notices it too.
"Eiji." Oishi says, looking up. "You're standing under mistletoe."
"I know." Eiji grins. "So are you."
A is for the angels who make up the Christmas list.
Just like all kids, Fuji, as a boy, would always look forward to the holidays. The celebrations, the food, the snow and most especially the gifts- these were what seemed to define Fuji's Christmas.
But this year, he's grown. He's matured and now he knows that these things weren't what made Christmas special. It was the people- the people who didn't forget him this season; the people who still went through the trouble of getting him something each year.
He called them his 'angels', each with their own distinct personalities: sweet, kind Yumiko, overprotective Yuuta, strict Tezuka, hyperactive Eiji, strong Taka-san, worrying Oishi, intelligent (in a disturbing way) Inui, hungry Momo, hard-working Kaidoh and talented Echizen.
These were the real gifts he got every Christmas, not the things they gave. It was always their presence that made his Christmas special and one of a kind. Because he was sure that even if his gifts get broken through the years, they would not. And it is because of this that he smiles the widest during the holidays.
S is for old Santa who makes ev'ry kid his pet.
"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christma- itai!" Nanjiro rubbed his head. "What'd you do that for, ya brat?"
"Too noisy." Echizen calmly sipped his Ponta.
"Funny. This used to make you happy when you were a kid." the older man shrugged, taking off his Santa hat and beard.
"Not a kid anymore, old man."
"Old man?" Nanjiro laughed. "Who you callin' old? Have you looked in a mirror lately, seishonen?"
"Shaddup." was the reply.
"Still, I wonder why you ain't happy any more…"
"Baka, I already am happy."
The monk quickly turned to his son.
"As long as you're here, I'm happy." Echizen looked at his dad, a smile on his face.
"You really are a worhless boy, ain't ya?" Nanjiro grinned. "Makin' your old man cry…really, I don't know what to do with you, boy." he laughed, slinging an arm around his son.
"Baka, not so tight!"
"I betcha I know something that'll make you happier, m'boy!" Nanjiro laughed, already going to his favorite magazine-
WHAM
"Itai!" he rubbed his head again. "How many times do you have to throw tennis balls at me, ya brat?!"
"Until you get some sense into your head." he sipped his Ponta again. "Baka oyaji."
"Like a sword in my heart!" Nanjiro clutched his chest, feigning hurt.
But both men knew the insult was only meant as a joke.
Echizen Ryoma has long stopped believing in Santa Claus, because really, who needed a fat old man when you've got a stupid, horny monk as your dad?
"It hurts, oh it hurts…"
"I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me." Echizen announced, going to his room. "Night oyaji, merry Christmas."
"Right back at ya, seishonen." his father winked.
Echizen Ryoma has long stopped believing, because there wasn't really anything to believe in the first place, because in the Echizen residence, Santa Claus isn't a myth; he's real.
"The youth today…dunno what I'd do with 'em, really…" Nanjiro chuckles as he takes another swig from his bottle.
Be good and he'll bring you everything in your Christmas alphabet.
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Merry Christmas!
