"What's the point of decorating a tree anyways?" Shintarou grumbled as he grabbed a handful of ornaments. "It's just gonna die anyways."
"It's part o-" A short yet high "AH!" followed by a thud interrupted Ayano's response.
Simultaneously turning around, the two saw a short white fluff ball writhing on the ground, entangled in a lighted garland. Laughter erupted from one end of the room, but was quickly turned into a groan and another thud as Kano fell to the ground, moaning and clutching his stomach. Kido walked out of the room, silently disappearing into the hallway.
Shintarou remained expressionless, but Ayano couldn't hold back a giggle as she bent down to help Seto untangle Marry. It took ten minutes for the pair to full separate the fluff ball from the garlands (mostly because in her panic, Marry had managed to get her long white hair tangled with the red and green lights).
"Maybe you should let us handle these decorations..."Ayano said, patting Marry's head in a motherly way. "Why don't you and Kousuke hang the streamers?" She smiled warmly, meeting Seto's relieved gaze for a few seconds before turning back to the tree.
As soon as the two had left the room, Shintarou suddenly announced, "I have to go to the bathroom." and followed them into the hall. Ayano gazed at the empty doorway for a few seconds before sighing and returning her attention to the tree. She had really hoped he would decorate it with her.
Out in the hallway, Shintarou walked past the bathrooms and caught up with Seto and Marry sifting through the big box of decorations for some streamers. Glancing down, Shintarou saw what he was looking for, but he didn't take it. Instead, he whispered something into Seto's ear, who smiled, nodded, and promised to keep it a secret.
Having succeeded on his mission, Shintarou left the two behind and ducked into the bathroom. He closed the door and leaned against it, sighing softly. His heart was pounding a mile a minute, a sensation he wasn't used to. His usually calm, apathetic demeanor was momentarily broken by the butterflies in his stomach. He took a deep breath and walked over to the toilet, flushing it for effect. He turned on the sink and quickly washed his hands, wiping them on his jacket out of sheer laziness.
Ayano was waiting for him in the living room, holding up two garlands-one silver, one gold. "Which do you think would look best?" she asked, briefly meeting his gaze.
He hoped the blush had disappeared from his face as he shrugged and said, "Whichever." He reached into the box and picked up one of the lighted garlands Marry hadn't gotten tangled up in and started weaving it around the tree, sighing every minute or so.
Ayano chose the silver one and started working her way from the bottom up, quickly catching up to Shintarou's slow pace. She pulled back for a moment to wait for him to finish, sadly gazing at his bored facial expression. She really wanted to make this Christmas special; to make it a festive occasion for them as a family, but...
"Nee-san," Kano interrupted from the doorway. "When do you want to start preparing dinner?" he asked.
"As soon as Momo gets back from-" At that moment, the front door opened and a snow covered idol walked in, followed by two shorter companions.
"Look who I found!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the two kids following her. One of them was groaning loudly from being forced to carry most of the grocery bags, while the other was gazing with admiration at Momo. "They can join us, right?" she asked, turning around to close the front door.
"Of course!" Ayano said, welcoming the two youngsters into the living room. Hiyori pushed a grumbling Hibiya into the room in front of her, choosing to remain at Momo's side. Seeing this, Ayano suggested, "Why don't you and Momo-chan help Tsubomi in the kitchen?" Both nodded enthusiastically before disappearing.
Hibiya stood awkwardly by the tree, wishing he could be with Hiyori instead. He wished they had never run into Momo; then they'd be back home, just the two of them. Konoha was supposed to be spending the night elsewhere...
"Ayano-san." A voice from somewhere else in the room asked. The voice was soft, emotionless, and awfully familiar. It was a voice Hibiya had hoped to avoid that night. The voice was quickly followed by the appearance of a white haired teenager. "Takane and I finished wrapping the presents. Is there anything else you'd like us to do?" The girl beside him crossed her arms and shifted nervously. She wanted to get closer to him, but was too shy. She settled for leaning in his direction, half-hoped he would notice and make a move. He didn't, oblivious as always. This frustrated her more than anything, but she didn't let it show. He wouldn't have noticed that either.
"Can you two help Kano hang the lights on the house?" Ayano asked, pointing in the general direction of the front door.
With those two gone, only three remained in the living room, leaving the large space in total silence. Suddenly remembering something, Hibiya said "I gotta get Hiyori's present. I left it at home!" and left, running past Seto and Marry, who were carrying a box of streamers into the kitchen, and out the front door.
Only Shintarou and Ayano remained in the room with the half decorated Christmas tree. To avoid Ayano's gaze, Shintarou pulled out his phone, pretending to look something up. The disappointment on her face stung, but he had to keep up the act until midnight. He glanced at his phone. Still seven hours to go.
The first hour ticked by so slowly. Ayano finished decorating the tree by herself, then asked him to place the presents under the tree. He grumbled as he walked to the other end of the room, starting with the largest and heaviest presents.
In the second hour, he didn't have much to do. The living room was being decorated with streamers, so he and Ayano cleared out. Ayano went to the kitchen while Shintarou went outside, just in time to see Takane fall flat on her face in the snow. The loud snickering that came out of his mouth cost him his phone, which took the better part of the hour to get back.
He chased Takane halfway down the street before his NEET stamina gave out. He tripped in the snow and knocked over a snowman. He wound up being stuck in the pile of snow, freezing his nose off.
One snarky remark and an embarrassing picture later, she dug him out and tossed his phone to him. She turned on her heels, her red Christmas skirt billowing lightly in the wind as she made her way back to Konoha. He was standing on a ladder, listening to Kano lazily instruct him on how to hang the lights.
The next hour was tediously slow. He spent it walking back and forth through the hallway. He stole glances into the kitchen, admiring Ayano's graceful cooking. He loved the way her eyebrows knitted together as she concentrated on measuring the amounts of pie ingredients. He smiled at the flour streaked on her forehead.
Takane, Konoha, and Kano walked in, covered in a thin layer of snow. Hibiya wandered in behind them, carrying a wrapped box which he placed under the decorated Christmas tree.
"Ki-do!" Kano whined as he lumbered into the kitchen. "Feed me I'm hungry." He draped his arms over her shoulders and wound up received an elbow to the gut that send him groaning to the ground. To avoid another attack, he slithered out of the kitchen, only standing once he was past the doorway. Despite keeping his head down, Shintarou could see a grin spread across his face.
Dinner was at a large table, which was really two mismatched tables pushed together. The chairs were mix-matched but nobody really cared. The food was laid out all over the table, in large and small dishes that Ayano, Kido, Momo, and Hiyori had spent two hours preparing. The rest of Mekakushi Dan sat around the tables. Shintarou saved the seat next to him and pulled it out for Ayano, suppressing a smile as she sat down next to him. His apathetic expression gave nothing away.
Dinner consisted of beef stew, green beans, mashed potatoes, a roasted chicken, a plate of pasta salad, and an apple pie. Three types of drinks were stationed around the table along with large bowls of rice and smaller bowls of salad.
"Itadakimasu!" Everyone said in unison, clasping their hands together. All of them excitedly enjoyed the food, talking animatedly as the plates slowly emptied. Shintarou paid attention to none of it. He kept stealing sidelong glances at Ayano, who remained utterly oblivious. She was too preoccupied pretending not to appear upset. The only thing she had wanted was a perfect Christmas as a family, or so she said. Really, she'd wanted to spend time with Shintarou. She'd wanted to decorate the tree with him so they could have some beautiful pictures to look out at and remember this Christmas. She felt she had missed so much time with him, and now there was a rift separating them. She felt further from him than every before.
As soon as dinner was over, every migrated to the living to play a couple of board games. Everyone except Ayano that is, who took all the empty plates to the kitchen while refusing any offers of help.
Midnight drew closer and closer. Everyone was getting tired. Takane, Konoha, Marry and Hiyori had retired for the night. Hibiya was leaving the room with Kano while Kido and Seto were putting away the board games.
Ayano walked into the living room as Kido and Seto disappeared into the hall with a stack of boxes, calling goodnight to the only two still up.
With five minutes to midnight, Shintarou was growing more and more anxious as the clock ticked away. He got up from the couch with one minute left, just as Ayano was sitting down.
"Where are you going?" she whined softly, letting her sadness show in her voice. The sound nearly broke his heart, but he didn't let it show.
Instead, he stretched and yawned loudly, mumbling the word "Bed." before heading for the door.
"Wait!" Ayano said. She stood from the couch, keeping her eyes glued to the ground.
Resisting the temptation to comply, Shintarou opened the door and walked out. "See you in the morning." he said, knowing she would follow him.
"I said wait!" Indeed she did follow him. She followed him into the hallway, right past his room, though she didn't seem to notice that, and into hers. She grabbed his wrist as he reached the doorway, and, unable to keep the tears from flowing down her face, she said, "Why are you avoiding me?" She looked up at him, an indignant yet despairing expression plastered over her face. "I just wanted to spend time with you and you keep avoiding me. It's like you can't stand to be around me anymore and-"
He couldn't take anymore. The only thing he had wanted since she had disappeared was to be with her, to be by her side and never leave her again.
Twisting his arm out of her grip, it was his turn to take her wrist. He pulled her into the doorway, right beneath the mistletoe he had asked Seto to hang, and kissed her.
The tears stopped. Her sadness was stolen away. Any doubts she'd had dissipated with the words, "I love you, Ayano. I always have and always will."
She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. For the first time that night, she was really, truly happy. For the first time in months, she felt close to the one she loved, and that was all she could ask for for Christmas.