A Very Talented Christmas

The Christmas of my first year at Talent High School was no ordinary one. While depressing stories were all too common in the news, this holiday season seemed bleaker than ever as the world continued to slide into despair. We didn't understand what was happening until it was too late, and even if we had, we most likely couldn't have done anything to stop it.

At the time, we were simple high school students, imagining that the growing turmoil had nothing to do with us, even though the genesis for the Tragedy had been in Hope's Peak Academy. We looked forward to the holidays, not realizing that the next time they came around, the world would be irrevocably changed. I was no different, since for me, this Christmas had a very special significance.


Immediately after school let out on Christmas Eve, our class threw a party in our class, on the first floor of the school. Despite Talent High School's reputation, it was a modest affair, with cake, juice and a few holiday-themed decorations. Nagato-sensei even wore a red Santa hat, but pointed out that the fact that her skirt suit matched her hat was nothing more than a coincidence.

Out of consideration for Mizuhara-kun, there were absolutely no nuts whatsoever in the food that was served. Since he knew better than anyone how severe his allergies were, that tidbit about himself was one of the first things he'd told us, after his name and his talent.

I found Mizuhara-kun standing with Katsura-san, off to the side, clearly not enjoying himself as much as he should be.

"Is something on your mind, Mizuhara-kun?" I said.

"Not much, Miura-san," Mizuhara-kun said. "I do feel a bit guilty that you all have to bend over backwards to accommodate me."

"Please don't," Katsura-san said. "Since it's a question of your health and safety, your needs outweigh all of ours."

"She's right," I said. "Besides, it wouldn't be a very good party if we had to exclude you due to something you had no control over."

"I appreciate it," Mizuhara-kun said. "Of course, it's a bit of an adjustment to have people be so considerate of me."

"Well, I guess the only thing you can do is show the same consideration to anyone else who needs it," I said. "After all, the Golden Rule says that you should treat others the same way you want to be treated."

Mizuhara-kun nodded.

"That makes sense," Mizuhara-kun said. "I guess no one here wants to eat something that would get them sick- or worse- but they don't want to be left out, either, right?"

"Exactly," Katsura-san said. "Nagato-sensei put on this event for our entire class, including you."

"I understand," Mizuhara-kun said. "Thanks, you two."

Satisfied that Mizuhara-kun was doing better, I rejoined the others, and saw Mitamura-san standing with Yuuki-san- or rather, Ami-chan.

"Hi, Mitamura-san, Ami-chan," I said.

"Hey, Kaori-chan," Ami-chan said.

"Merry Christmas, Miura-san," Mitamura-san said. "By the way, I did not know that you called Yuuki-san by her given name- I thought Edogawa-san was the only one with whom you were that close."

I was a bit surprised that Mitamura-san was surprised, since it was clear she was quite far out of the loop. Not only did I call Sae and Ami-chan by their first names, but I also did the same for Sayuri Sasaki, the Ultimate Manga Artist, albeit using "-san" out of respect for Sayuri-san being older.

"Yeah, Kaori-chan's been doing it for a couple weeks," Ami-chan said. "I'm really glad, since it feels like we've gotten a lot closer, even if she's not as close as she is to Sae-chan."

"Well, Sae's.… special," I said, "but I'm glad to call you one of my closest friends here."

"Me too, Kaori-chan," Ami-chan said. "I'm really happy, too."

Mitamura-san nodded. While she was a serious person by nature, something seemed a bit forced about this gesture, and I couldn't help but wonder if I'd offended her.

"I'm sorry, Mitamura-san," I said. "I didn't mean to snub you."

"Me neither, Reiko-chan," Ami-chan said. "I think of you as a friend, too, honest."

"There is no need to apologize, Miura-san, Yuuki-san," Mitamura-san said. "For the sake of my duties here, I must keep a certain distance from you all. I can understand if you would be closer with others who more easily confide in you."

"That's... kinda rough," Ami-chan said.

"Your concern is touching, but ultimately misplaced," Mitamura-san said. "While I am expected to serve as a leader and do my utmost for those in my community, I also derive great fulfillment from it. I could not have achieved what I did without making sacrifices, but I believe those sacrifices were well made."

Mitamura-san then softly smiled.

"Still," Mitamura-san said, "despite our differences, Yuuki-san, I am flattered that you would think of me as a friend. Perhaps I cannot fully reciprocate the sentiment, but I do appreciate it."

"Gotcha," Ami-chan said. "All I can say is- you're welcome, Reiko-chan."

I nodded to concur. Ami-chan and Mitamura-san were polar opposites in almost every regard, so I could hardly imagine them getting along. Not only had they managed that, but they were as close to being friends as Mitamura-san's personality would allow, so perhaps it wasn't unreasonable to expect that someday, they'd be actual friends.

After splitting off from the two girls, I saw Sakuragi-kun, standing with Fukuda-kun. The two boys seemed to be surveying the classroom, seeing who was spending time with whom. By this point, apart from the two of them, as well as Inoue-kun and Tezuka-kun most of us had started talking with people we hadn't usually spent with- I saw Sae chatting with Akasaka-san, Kurogane-kun talking with Sugiura-san, Hoshino-kun chatting with Iwasawa-san, and Kagami-kun off by himself.

"Hey, Miura," Sakuragi-kun said. "Did any of the girls here actually manage to get Christmas dates?"

"A couple," I said. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering if anyone here got lucky, if you know what I mean," Sakuragi-kun said. "All the girls I talk to seem more interested in furthering their talents than any romance."

"And you aren't?" Fukuda-kun said. "I don't see you taking any time out of your busy practice schedule to try to woo any of the girls, since I spend most of that time with you."

Sakuragi-kun smiled wryly. I'd heard about his desire for a girlfriend before, as well as his lack of success. While it wasn't fair to assume he wasn't serious about it, like Fukuda-kun said, he hadn't put nearly the same level of effort into it as he had into running, or even his schoolwork. He wasn't necessarily lazy, as much as his teachers thought otherwise, but he knew where his priorities lay.

"Good point, Fukuda," Sakuragi-kun said. "You're right- I do want to make the most of my youth, but there's a part of me that would also like to settle down with a nice girl. I was just curious about Miura, since she seems like she'd gotten lucky."

"I'll... tell you if I do." I said.

"You heard her, Sakuragi," Fukuda-kun said. "I guess she's not ready to talk about it."

"Right," Sakuragi-kun said. "I guess that if I got a girlfriend, I wouldn't be yelling from the rooftops, so I get why you wouldn't be completely open about having one, either."

I nodded appreciatively.

"I know," I said. "Thank you both; I appreciate your being so understanding."

While my gratitude was sincere, I couldn't help but wonder whether Sakuragi-kun's choice of words were deliberate. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and had a tendency to put his feet in his mouth from time to time, but perhaps he knew more than he let on, even if he hadn't intended to admit it.

Moments later, I heard Nagato-sensei clap her hands.

"May I have your attention, please?" Nagato-sensei said. "I must leave fairly soon, since I have an evening church service to attending. I'll leave you all to have fun here- just clean up after yourselves, all right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Mitamura-san said.

"It looks like that's my cue, too," Iwasawa-san said. "I'll go get changed."

Nagato-sensei and Iwasawa-san left, and after a few moments, Sae did, too. Knowing the time had come, I bid farewell to the others and returned to the dorms.


As I returned to the dorms I saw Iwasawa-san leaving her room, wearing a long-sleeved red dress and carrying her belongings in a nice purse. Whille her outfit was far from black-tie level, it was conservative, tasteful and probably the best-dressed I'd seen her out of her uniform.

"Good evening, Miura-san," Iwasawa-san said. "I'm sorry I don't have time to talk; I'm on my way out."

"Are you heading to church?" I said.

"That's right," Iwasawa-san said. "Nagato-senpai invited me to come with her."

"Ah," I said. "She's Catholic, isn't she?"

Iwasawa-san nodded, picking up on the subtext I'd unwittingly given. While I still didn't know what denomination of Christianity Iwasawa-san followed, the tenets seemed to be more Protestant than the Catholic faith that Nagato-senpai had been born into.

"She is," Iwasawa-san said, "but she also believes that what unites us is more important than what divides us. She was quite glad to meet a kohai who shares her faith, but she also doesn't judge those of us who don't share it.

"That's quite commendable," I said.

Shortly aftewrard, both the Nagatos I knew- my senpai and my teacher- came to pick up Iwasawa-san, and she left with them. As they departed, I waved goodbye and wished the three of them a Merry Christmas.

Not long afterward, I saw Kagami-kun leave the party and return to his room. Considering that he hadn't spoken with anyone the entire time I was there, I wondered why he'd stuck around longer than I had.

"Good evening, Miura-san," Kagami-kun said.

"Good evening, Kagami-kun," I said. "You're leaving early, too, aren't you?"

"Perhaps," Kagami-kun said, "since events like this aren't my cup of tea. I can't speak for anyone else, but I suspect my reasons are different from Iwasawa-san's, yours... and Edogawa-san's."

I paused for a moment. While it was possible that Sakuragi-kun had simply chosen his words poorly, Kagami-kun's mention of Sae's name was too deliberate and too calculated to be anything less than an intentional drop of a hint.

"Do you... know about us?" I said.

"I'm pretty sure everyone does," Kagami-kun said. "It's not as though I've talked to everyone here, but if I've learned about it, I don't think there are too many here who haven't."

It wasn't hard to see what Kagami-kun was talking about. One time, I'd drawn a diagram of all sixteen people in my class, drawing lines between each of the people who had a somewhat close relationship, whether as friends or possibly something more than that (for example, Sae and I)- Kagami-kun was one of the few people who didn't have a line connecting him to anyone. However, when I added a second set of lines, showing the people who talked with each other on a regular basis (for example, Mitamura-san and I weren't quite friends, but we did talk somewhat often), I noticed that any two given individuals in this class had, at most, three degrees of separation, even without counting Sae and I. Because of that, any rumors would spread like wildfire, assuming everyone hadn't picked up on the rumor at the exact same time, so I had no reason to doubt what Kagami-kun had said.

"I see," I said. "Well, if you know that much, then I suspect you also understand that Sae and I aren't quite ready to talk about it openly, and we'll decide when we are."

"Got it," Kagami-kun said. "Merry Christmas, Miura-san, and I hope you have a nice evening, too."

"Merry Christmas, Kagami-kun," I said.

As Kagami-kun retired to his room, and I returned to mine.


I sat in my room for a few minutes, since I'd agreed to have Sae over. Before long, Sae knocked on the door, and I immediately opened it to let her in.

"Merry Christmas, Kaori," Sae said. "I suppose it's time for our 'private after-party' to begin, isn't it?"

"It definitely is," I said. "Come on in and make yourself at home."

I ushered her inside and shut the door behind me. As soon as Sae entered, I noticed she was holding her hands together behind her back, a bit like if she'd been arrested and handcuffed, and I could tell that she was hiding something. Moments later, Sae produced a red hand-knitted scarf from behind her back.

"Here's your present," Sae said. "I hope your expectations aren't too high; I only started learning how to knit the scarf a month or so ago."

"It's fine, thank you," I said. "If anything, you're probably better at making one than I am, since I started even more recently. Here, have a look."

I then got out my present, which also happened to be a scarf.

"It looks like we were thinking the same thought," Sae said.

"It seems that way," I said. "I was looking for something that would be within my ability to make, wouldn't cost too much and wouldn't require skills I don't possess. As they say, the thought counts, right?"

"It certainly does," Sae said. "I was thinking about writing a love poem, but I was never any good at poetry. The few attempts I have are either exceptionally corny, don't follow the basic rules of poetry, or both."

"Now you've got me curious," I said. "I actually would like to see them some time."

Sae and I shared a laugh, but after a while, Sae's expression turned concerned, likely matching mine.

"'Is something on your mind, Kaori?" Sae said.

"There's something I think you should know, Sae," I said. "According to Kagami-kun, everyone else in our class knows that we're going out with each other."

"But they haven't said or done anything with that knowledge just yet?" Sae said.

"Not that I know of," I said. "Sakuragi-kun and Fukuda-kun dropped some hints earlier, and Kagami-kun told me straight out that everyone else probably knew, but I don't think they're talking about it openly."

"That's a relief," Sae said. "I suppose that means that they've accepted our relationship, or at least as much as we could expect them to. If nothing else, I can live with the status quo."

I nodded. There were many things we were afraid of- our families or friends disapproving, possible backlash against us, or Sae perhaps losing readers- but not having to confront them for now was a relief. Of course, in hindsight, I would have chosen being disowned over witnessing the collapse of civilization itself, and the deaths of billions of people.

"On a somewhat related topic, Sae, I'm curious about something," I said. "How are things going with your sister and her boyfriend?"

"Fairly well," Sae said. "Father still disapproves of their going out and would prefer that they break up, but my sister doesn't take it too hard, even if her boyfriend is not entirely keen on visiting our home."

"I see," I said. "I guess we're not the only ones who have to deal with opposition to a relationship."

Sae nodded, having heard about how my paternal grandmother had disapproved of her daughter-in-law, my mother, before. Apparently, her father had similar difficulties with his father-in-law when he sought his blessing... and then came to understand the older man's perspective when his elder daughter started dating.

"True," Sae said. "There are times when my sister wishes that our father and her boyfriend would get along, but in the end, she says that being in a relationship makes her happy."

"I'm glad, too," I said. "There may be many people out there who don't approve of us, but right now, no one can see, much less complain about what we do."

I leaned in and kissed Sae on the lips, and as I did, she passionately embraced me. As for the rest... well, the most I'll say is that we kept our clothes on. Perhaps our classmates had some idea what we were doing at this moment, but a moment like this was meant to belong to the two of us, and no one else. Neither of us knew where the future would take us, but for now, we cherished our time together, and hoped we could spend Christmas together next year.


Author's Notes

I trimmed down this idea from its original size, which originally contained the days leading up to Christmas.

This side story reveals that Kaori and Sae were, in fact, in a relationship during their time at Talent High School (before having their memories erased), and the reason why the mastermind didn't put Kaori's sexuality in her weakness notepad was out of a (largely justified) belief that everyone already knew about it.