[January Month Long Holidays]

//Hot Tea Month//

Oshitari Yuushi sat down in the study. He grabbed one of his favorite English romance novels, Pride and Prejudice, and sat down in his favorite chair. However, he could sense that something was amiss.

Figuring it might be the lack of a lit fire, he promptly lit one and sat back down.

Still, the atmosphere wasn't quite right. Sitting in his chair, novel in his lap, he tried to play it off as all being in his head. However, he still couldn't read.

Pondering just what it was, he put his book down and began drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. Suddenly, it hit him.

He was missing a cup of nice, hot, tea.

As he headed to get one, he couldn't help but think how lucky for him it was that they had stocked up, as January was Hot Tea Month.

//National Oatmeal Month//

Akaya did not like oatmeal. It was kind of lumpy. And mushy. It was a cross between a solid and a liquid… and it was gross. Sure, you could add sugar or honey or any number of fruits to it, but that didn't make it much better… in the end it was still lumpy, mushy, and gray.

Plus, the man on the box scared him. Seriously… the guy was creepy. And he just stared at you until you finished eating your gross oatmeal. At least normal cereal boxes had interesting information on them – and sometimes games on the back or something. But no, the oatmeal man just sat there being a creeper.

Groaning, Kirihara picked up his spoon and poked the mush. Why, oh, why did January have to be National Oatmeal Month?

//National Hobby Month//

It seemed like Kuwahara Jackal had gone through everything. Writing, reading, beading, painting, sewing, graphic designing, singing, volunteer work, video games, sculpting, random trivia knowledge, tatting, cleaning – you name it. He had been trying, for the longest time, to pick up a new hobby, but he just couldn't seem to find one that stuck.

Sure, he had tennis (he would always have tennis – or so he hoped), but he felt he needed something outside of tennis. Because while tennis was all fine and good, tennis was purely athletic (okay, not purely athletic, there was a veeeery small portion that was strategy), but he really just needed a hobby that was much more craft-related.

Sighing reluctantly, but determined, Jackal picked up a square piece of colorful paper. Opening an origami book he borrowed from his sister, he began to follow the instructions.

After all, even if this didn't work out, he still had the entire month of January as National Hobby Month.

//National Braille Literacy Month//

Aoi Kentarou closed his eyes and felt the pages. His fingers ran over little bumps and he tried, to no avail, to understand what exactly they meant. Unfortunately, he had really no idea. They were just little bumps on a page, arranged in some super secret code than he would never understand. And though he should probably be thankful that he didn't have to understand them – that he was born with eyesight and didn't have to use the strange language of bumps, he really, really, really wanted to learn Braille.

Giving up, he closed the book. Tomorrow, he thought, he would try again.

After all, all of January was National Braille Literacy Month.

//National Blood Donor Month//

Shishido Ryou did not like needles. Being punched? Fine. Falling off of a building? Fine. Breaking a bone? Fine. But needles? Well, needles were a whole different story.

So why was it that, when Choutarou had come to him and asked him to come donate blood with him, that he had agreed? He honestly wasn't quite sure… after all, he hated needles with a passion. Still… the way Choutarou had asked… the promise that they could go out afterward… and of course the random free pants they gave you, he had agreed. It was only once, right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately for him, National Blood Donor Month was just that - all month.

He didn't care if he got free pants or if Choutarou had asked him nicely, he thought as the nurse stuck a needle in his arm and he tried not to pass out. He was never, ever doing this again.

//National Soup Month//

Shishido Ryou didn't normally like soup. After all, it was supposed to be a food. But it was a liquid. And food is solid. So soup couldn't be a food... but it was. Which, for some reason, annoyed him. Plus, the entire idea behind soup was just like the entire idea behind stew and the entire idea behind pot pies - you just threw whatever you had in your fridge in a pot with some water, cooked it until it was a gross and mushy liquid, and ate it.

Choutarou, however, made the best soup; that, Shishido could not deny. Even as much as he hated soup, when Choutarou made it - whether it was tomato or chicken noodle or lentil or pea or miso or whatever other crazy kind of soups there were out there, it managed to taste good. Even the soups he hated, like cream of carrot. He had asked Choutarou as to why this was multiple times, each time never receiving a good answer. They were always things like, "Oh, well, I cooked it longer" or "Oh, well, I added some extra pepper". After those answers, Shishido had begun to think that he was just imagining things.

Oh well. At least if he had to eat soup for National Soup Month, Choutarou would be making it.