Author's note: For this arc, I decided I would separate it out for everyone's different points of view. There'll be Katsuo, then Ushio, then Haruki, then Tomoyo and Sunohara, then Yuki. What can I say, I love Christmas chapters~
Also the chapter would've been really long if I'd involved all the events I wanted to happen for all of these characters.
Chapter 7
The Tiny Palm's Christmas
Katsuo's route.
Katsuo sat down at the table to wait for the other guests, holding the present for Ushio fervently. He still hadn't let the others see the small box. It was bad enough that he'd only gotten a present for Ushio and no one else. If Tomoya saw what it was, he would probably end up lecturing Katsuo even worse than he had before. He looked down at the box. It had taken days of searching to find this gift; he wanted to give it to Ushio in private. Of course, Ushio being Ushio, that would be a task worthy of Hercules himself.
"What are you looking at, boy?" Tomoya asked.
Katsuo looked up at Tomoya. Ushio's father had made it very clear that he was to sit as far from Ushio as possible, which made Katsuo's work even harder.
"It's nothing, Mr. Okazaki. I'm just waiting until the others get here." Katsuo replied.
Tomoya didn't appear convinced, but Tomoyo shook her head, "Leave Katsuo alone, Tomoya-kun. Besides, the others will be arriving soon."
Sunohara nodded, "Tomoyo-ch- ACK!" He shouted. The kotatsu table shook as Tomoyo delivered one of her signature kicks.
"I said don't call me that. Look, they're starting to arrive now." Tomoyo said.
A voice came from behind him, "Oh my goodness, is that you Katsuo?"
Katsuo turned around, beaming. It felt nice to be remembered. He immediately recognized the owner of the voice.
"Fujibayashi-sensei?" Katsuo asked.
His old kindergarten teacher, Kyou Fujibayashi , smiled at him, "You look so much bigger, Katsuo! You're almost as tall as me now!"
Katsuo stood, almost revealing the small present. He swiftly put it down just out of sight and laughed nervously, "It's been a long time, Fujibayashi-sensei."
The woman giggled, but her eyes communicated that she had seen, "Come now, Katsuo, you're making me feel old!"
"Sorry. What do you prefer that I call you?" Katsuo asked.
"Just Kyou will do." She replied. She looked around the rest of the room, "Tomoya, how are you doing?"
Tomoya gave a mischievous smile and a thumbs up gesture, "I feel better for every second I was away from you!"
Kyou looked at Nagisa, "Do me a favor and smack your husband, please?"
Nagisa shook her head, "Sorry Kyou, no can do."
Tomoya embraced his wife, "I love you so much, you know that?"
Nagisa smiled, hugging Tomoya back.
Kyou rolled her eyes, and sat down next to Katsuo. She smiled and whispered softly, "So who's the present for?"
"I'd rather that be between me and the person." Katsuo replied.
"Ah. It's for Ushio, then." Kyou inferred.
Katsuo turned red, "N-no it isn't!"
Kyou gave him a knowing look, "I'm certain."
Katsuo turned away, and a girl who looked almost identical to Kyou sat down next to his old teacher. Katsuo recognized her as Ryou, Kyou's twin sister. She'd come into the class a few times, but her wild fortune telling made her very memorable. On one occasion, she had even forecasted that Katsuo would end up marrying a supermodel.
Katsuo smiled at the woman, who smiled back, "You're one of Onee-chan's students, aren't you?"
Katsuo nodded, "My name's K-"
"Don't be silly Keita, I remember you!" She interrupted.
Katsuo's face went blank and Haruki started to hold his breath in anticipation.
"Sorry, but that's wrong. My name is Katsuo, Keita was one of Hanabiyo-sensei's students, if I remember correctly." Katsuo replied.
"Awwww…" Haruki whined, folding his arms, "You're no fun anymore, Katsuo…"
Katsuo smiled. He had been working on controlling his reactions, and he didn't act up as much when someone didn't remember him anymore. It still irked him that he'd been mistaken for someone that was in a completely different class, but he didn't feel the need to slam his face into the walls any more. It helped that Ushio remembered him, of course.
A sound came from downstairs. It was the unmistakable noise produced by a well-tuned, well-played violin. Nagisa's eyes widened, and she turned to Tomoya. The two smiled at each other.
"Kotomi-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed.
Tomoya nodded, "It sounds like she's gotten better with that violin too!"
The two of them stood up, and began to rush downstairs. Curiously, Katsuo stood up as well, tucking Ushio's present safely into his jacket pocket. He went down the steps, where a violet haired girl stood. He'd never seen her before, but she was holding a violin in her hands. Strangely, it appeared that she wasn't holding a bow. She smiled, holding up a recording device, which appeared to be the source of the sounds. She clicked the button, and the music stopped.
"I was hoping to sneak in some quick practice before coming up. I was planning to imitate the sounds coming out of the recorder on my violin." Kotomi explained, pulling out a bow and placing it tenderly to the strings.
"Kotomi no!" Tomoya exclaimed.
Kotomi didn't hear him, "Here… I… Go…" She whispered, and started to play the instrument.
Katsuo fell to his knees, the sound piercing his ear canals. It resembled the screams of a thousand bloodlust demons uttering a loud war cry as they charged upon the heavens. He tried to scream out the words "Make it stop," but the hellish noise was too loud. It grated his brain, threatening to make him bleed out of his ears. After an agonizing two minutes of this noise, it waned away. Kotomi smiled delightedly.
"It's so pretty…" She whispered, "It turned out really well, considering my studies abroad and subsequent research didn't allow me much time for practice."
Tomoya held up his thumb shakily, eyes swirling, "G-g-g-great job, K-k-kotomi…"
Kotomi smiled, "Thanks, Tomoya-kun!"
"Let's go up to the party, how about it?" Nagisa said, masking her shock.
"Sure!" Kotomi said.
Katsuo climbed up the stairs and sat back under the kotatsu table. Ushio smiled, "What was it?"
"You mean you didn't hear that?" He asked, incredulous.
"Hear what?"
Tomoya walked into the room, "It was an old friend of mine, she plays the violin."
Ushio smiled, "Really? I haven't met her yet!"
Kotomi walked into the room, "Hello, Ushio-chan. My name is Ichinose Kotomi. Your father and I knew each other when we were very young."
Ushio smiled, "Nice to meet you, Kotomi!"
Kotomi smiled back, then looked down at Katsuo. She smiled, "Are you Ushio-chan's boyfriend, perhaps?"
Katsuo turned red, "N-no, just a friend. That's all."
Yuki looked at Ushio.
"What?" The brunette asked, acting as if she hadn't heard.
Yuki rolled her eyes, "You don't fit the part of the Angel of Love in the least bit, you know that?"
Ushio disregarded the statement.
Tomoya smiled, "Well, it would appear that everyone's here! Let's get this party started!"
Ushio folded her arms, "You're forgetting Fuko Onee-chan!"
"Damn… I was hoping you wouldn't say that…" Tomoya whispered.
In that moment, the green haired girl entered the room, being carried by the Furukawas. Sanae smiled, "We found this one a couple of blocks away from here. Turns out one of the shops that just recently opened up sells sea memorabilia like hardened starfish. Akio nearly pulled a muscle trying to get the girl to move."
Fuko was beating away at Akio's back, "I wanna go back, I wanna go back!"
Tomoya sighed, "You shouldn't have bothered…"
Akio made a face, "I wasn't planning on it, but Sanae said Ushio wouldn't let us start unless her big sister Fuko was here."
Sanae smiled at Ushio, who returned the gesture, "Now we're all here!" The little girl said.
The party began. Unfortunately, Fuko was making it difficult for Katsuo to get Ushio alone. Every single time he tried, the little starfish obsessed cretin would show up and pull Ushio away. It wasn't until later on into the night that an opportunity showed up. All the other gifts had been dished out, and poor Fuko crashed like a bike with no brakes. Katsuo touched Ushio's shoulder.
"Ushio-chan, could you come with me for a second?" He asked.
Ushio looked at the others, then back at Katsuo, "Sure, I guess. Where do you wanna go?"
"Just somewhere quiet, preferably." Katsuo said.
Ushio nodded, "Let's go."
Katsuo took her outside, sitting down on the porch.
"What did you want to bring me out here for, Katsuo?" Ushio asked.
Katsuo's hands were shaking slightly, "Well, you remember what you told Yuki, about the robot?"
Ushio tilted her head, "What about it?"
"You said… You said that it reminded you that your father cared about you, right? And you said you were giving it to her so that she knew that you cared about her." He explained.
Ushio nodded, "Yeah. Is that what you wanted to talk about?"
Katsuo put his hand in his jacket pocket, feeling the box, "Well, yes and no."
Ushio furrowed her eyebrows, "Katsuo, what is that supposed to mean?"
"Well… I wanted you to know that… That I care about you. Ushio, you're one of the first people to have remembered my name without me telling you. You were also one of the only people who I felt comfortable being myself around. So… I got you this." He pulled out the present, handing it to Ushio.
Ushio opened the gift tentatively, pulling out the small package. Inside was a keychain, with three small, unmistakable figurines on it.
"Dangos?" She asked.
Katsuo nodded, "Yeah. Here, look. The yellow one, that's you. That green one right next to it is me. The orange one is Haruki, and the white one is Yuki. This way, all of us will always be with you. What do you think?"
Ushio smiled, holding the keychain close to her heart, "Thanks, Katsuo. I'll… I'll hold it with me forever."
Katsuo laughed, "You don't have to be so serious about it," He ruffled her hair, "Really, I'm just glad it made you happy."
Ushio looked at him, and her eyes widened, "A light!" She exclaimed.
Katsuo tilted his head, "Say what?"
"There was a light, it came out of your chest when you said that!" She explained, "You mean… You didn't see it?"
Katsuo shook his head, "No, I didn't. But hey, if you say it was there, I believe you."
Ushio smiled, "Let's go back and see how the others are doing, what do you say?"
Katsuo nodded, and stood up. He helped Ushio up, and turned to walk back inside.
"I hope you have a very good explanation for why you think it's alright for you to just take my daughter away from me like that..." Tomoya was seething, anger oozing forth from his very pores.
Katsuo gulped, "Um… I was… Just seeing how things were going for her. It's been a few days since I talked to her last, is all."
"Do we need to have a talk, boy?" Tomoya smiled malevolently.
"Uh… No, not at all, Mr. Okazaki, I just-" Katsuo didn't finish what he was saying.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TRYING TO STEAL AWAY MY GRANDDAUGHTER?!" Akio exclaimed, charging at Katsuo.
"AH!" Katsuo exclaimed, running away. Tomoya and Akio gave chase, screaming curses and dark threats at the top of their lungs like banshees.
Ushio smiled, "Bye, Katsuo! I'll see you at school!"
Katsuo waved over his shoulder, "Yeah, see you then!" He called.
Ushio giggled a little bit, then looked back inside, "That was fun, but I have some more business to attend to," She smiled, "I've still got some Angel of Love-ing to do~!"
Sorry for the long wait. I hope the chapter made up for it a little bit, as well as the promise that more chapters are on the way. Until then!
