I'm going to try and make this really short, for the sake of this already being the longest chapter I've written so far. Sorry for not updating sooner. School kind of got me with finals, and I've gotten overly invested in several games, one of which is ORAS (I bought both).

So this chapter will have two requests, which is about the average for each chapter as far as I've seen. The requests will be for Blaziken Critic, who asked for Mitsunari to shop for a gift for Ryoko, and Guest 6, who asked for a snowball fight with Kiyomasa, Masanori, Hideyoshi and Nene vs. Gracia, Ranmaru, Mitsuhide and Aya. I hope you both enjoy what I did with your requests.

As for my other requests left to finish, here's the to-do list as always:

Finished:
Gracia teaching Ranmaru how to skate (SoraKaze)
HanbeixRyoko mistletoe scene (SuClover)
Kenshin, Shingen and Ujiyasu having an eggnog drinking competition (Imperator Justinian)
YukimuraxRyoko scene; out shopping together (Blue Egg)
Explanation of where Nobunaga was throughout most of Conquest (Imperator Justinian)
Kotaro spreading the chaos (requested twice by Guest 5 and SoraKaze, respectively)
RyokoxMitsunari scene; shopping for a present for Ryoko (Blaziken Critic)
Snowball fight! (Guest 6)

Requests to do ASAP:
Kanetsugu and Masamune under the mistletoe (Twilightcrystalflame)
More HanbeixRyoko (Guest 7)
How Kanbei was convinced to wear the elf hat (Guest 8)
Motonari giving a history lesson on Christmas (Imperator Justinian)
GinchiyoxMuneshige mistletoe scene (Queen Absol)
KunoichixYukimura scene (Guest 9)
MitsubachixKanetsugu mistletoe scene (Guest 10)
Kids baking cookies with Nene (Guest 11)
Ina, Kai, Kunoichi, Okuni, and Ryoko battling (Cyoonhoi)
InaxHanzo mistletoe scene (Azai45)
KaixMasamune mistletoe scene (Jiyoon57)

Requests to Compete Later (Probably in order):
GraciaxRanmaru mistletoe scene (Guest 1)
Mitsuhide's reaction to GraciaxRanmaru mistletoe scene (Guest 2) KanetsuguxAya mistletoe scene (requested twice by Queen Absol and SoraKaze, respectively)
Kenshin's reaction to KanetsuguxAya mistletoe scene (SoraKaze)
Nene having Ieyasu dress up as Santa, and sub sequentially Tadakatsu being his elf (Imperator Justinian and Guest 3, respectively)
Secret Santas for everyone: Nobunaga, Hanbei and Ryoko asked for specifically so far (Guest 2 and SuClover, respectively)
RyoxOichi scene (Guest 4)
These last ones will be completed this way for a reason. You'll see why when we get to that part of the story. :)

I hope that you will all like this chapter. I did my best to keep the characters true to their vaguely established personalities and make it a fun and festive read. So without further ado, enjoy this very long chapter.


Mitsuhide tried to maintain a calm, collected head as he overviewed the damage done to the village's market, while simultaneously listen to the barrage of people shouting at him in a panic, as if he wasn't already aware of the situation.

"And they just came charging right through!" One villager was explaining to him, retelling the story of the giant herd of Walrein that passed through earlier today. "It happened so fast that no one even knew what happened."

"It's a blessing that no one got hurt." another person added.

Mitsuhide was about to agree with this, when a very disgruntled merchant spoke up. "That's the only blessing! All of the shops have been completely destroyed; almost all of the merchandise was broken!" A roar of agreement from the other storekeepers rang out, and Mitsuhide gulped and took a step back. He hoped that Nene, who had followed him out here to inspect the damage, would speak up, but it seemed that she was too preoccupied with inspecting the damage. Well, it looked like he was on his own, here.

"I am terribly sorry for this happening." Mitsuhide apologized with a bow, "Nixtorm castle will gladly pay for all repairs, and we'll try to have the marketplace in order before Christmas Eve. I'll also have some of my warriors migrate the Walrein herd to another hunting ground farther west, so this won't happen again."

As Mitsuhide continued to settle the concerns of the villagers, Nene turned and noticed two individuals coming their way.

"Well, what do you say? Not a bad prank to get the highest authority in this kingdom involved." Kotaro gloated. Kunoichi only huffed.

"I'm still not impressed." she responded.

Even though they were out of earshot, Nene was still able to feel the naughty vibes coming off them, and ran over to stop them in their tracks.

"Uh-oh!" Kunoichi snickered as she watched the other female ninja come over.

"Oh, so there you are, Kotaro!" she exclaimed, "You can just start apologizing now because I know that you're responsible for this, you naughty boy!"

Kotaro only chuckled and crossed his arms, not bothered in the least by Nene's accusations. "Why, I can honestly say I don't know what you mean, Nene." he told her.

Kunoichi nodded. "We've been wrapping presents; what happened here?"

Nene huffed and turned her glare to Kunoichi. "Don't play innocent, Kunoichi; I know that you're in on this, too! You have both been very bad, and you are going to be punished for it. But first, you're going to apologize to all of these nice people for what you did." She pointed over to the merchants that Mitsuhide was still consulting.

Kotaro and Kunoichi exchanged glances, smirked, and turned back to Nene.

"Y'know..." Kunoichi started, "I'm thinking that we're the victims here, Lady Nene!"

"Of what?!" Nene demanded.

"False accusation." Kotaro replied, "We've been in Nixtorm castle all day, and you're blaming us for something that we aren't accountable for. If anything, I think you're the one who should be apologizing to us, right little ninja?"

Kunoichi nodded, "I'd say that's about right."

Nene seethed. "But you ARE responsible!" she stated, "It's written all over your guilty little faces!"

The other two ninjas turned to each other, looking skeptical.

"Do I looked guilty to you?" Kunoichi asked, her tone almost suggesting that it was an actual question.

"Not in the slightest." Kotaro answered, also sounding completely serious. "How 'bout me?"

Kunoichi shook her head. "Shameless as the devil." she responded.

"Hey; pay attention to me!" Nene scolded them.

Kotaro smirked. "I really don't know what she's talking about."

"Maybe this high altitude mountain air is getting to her head." Kunoichi offered.

"Seems likely. If that's the case, I recommend that we give her some space." Kotaro said.

"Ooooh, you two are getting a punishing you'll never forget!" Nene vowed, running to grab them.

Kunoichi nodded. "I think you're right; we should leave her alone." she said. Just before Nene reached them, the two ninjas teleported away, jumping onto the roof of a building and snickering at the motherly ninja's expense. But Nene was not about to be counted out for her own ninja skills, and was quick to locate and follow them. The two didn't underestimate her long enough for her to reach them, and took off, with her in hot pursuit.

The rooftop chase caught Mitsuhide's attention, who could only make out three sets of blurs jumping from place to place, Nene's Crobat flying between the blurs, and then a Sneasel and a fourth red and black blur join in the confusion. He exhaled a long breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. If he had to guess, Nene had been right about Kotaro and Kunoichi being involved in this stampede. Even after he had made a rule specifically against pranks of any sort. Well, if Nene wasn't able to get a hold of them, then he'd make a point to let Lord Shingen and Lord Ujiyasu know about their ninjas' antics.

"Papa!"

The Nixtorm Warlord jumped and spun around at the sudden excited cry from his daughter. She ran up to him, dragging Ranmaru and one of the three boys that Nene had brought with her by their wrists. Both boys were trying desperately to keep up with her pace and not fall into the snow, but went face-first into the white powder before they could help it.

"Gracia!" Ranmaru groaned as he lifted himself up and began to brush the snow from his head and shoulders. Gracia ignored the scolding from her best friend as she ran up to her father and hugged him around the waist.

"I didn't know you'd be here, Papa!" she said. Mitsuhide sighed and tried to gently pry himself away from the death squeeze.

"Erm, well, there was something of an incident that needed my attention..." he began.

"Whoa! What happened to the marketplace?!" Gracia asked, letting go of her father and looking at the damage.

"As I was saying," Mitsuhide continued, "A herd of Walrein came through here and made a mess of things. The market's been destroyed, and I'll be having repairs made. Hopefully, everything can be taken care of by tomorrow, hopefully being the word."

"A stampede of Walrein?" Kiyomasa repeated with wide eyes as he inspected the damage.

"Whoa! I bet that would have been cool to see!" Masanori stated, and was immediately met by glares from several merchants, and Nixtorm's Warlord. "Eh... I mean, wow, that must have been terrible..." he corrected feebly.

"Aw, that stinks." Gracia spoke up, "I brought everyone here to see the marketplace."

"I'm sorry, Gracia, but you'll have to find somewhere else to go." Mitsuhide said. One of the merchants began to grow impatient with the distractions, and cleared his throat loudly to gain the ice-type warlord's attention. Mitsuhide looked at the crowd that was still present, and turned back to his daughter. "I have to attend to these people here; you kids go find something else to entertain yourselves with." He quickly turned and went back to discuss what to do about the town.

Mitsunari crossed his arms and looked at the little girl in their group. "Well, seeing as this turned out to be a waste of time, might we go back to the castle now?" he asked.

"Don't worry; I know plenty of other places that we can go!" Gracia assured them.

"We're not going ice skating again!" Ranmaru stated firmly.

"Nah, the pond's too far away from here." Gracia assured him, allowing the boy to breathe easy.

"Well then, where's the next closest village?" Kiyomasa asked.

"Not far; if we keep heading west by this road, we should..."

"Hey, what's that?!" Kiyomasa shouted, noticing something dashing over the rooftops of the buildings. The other four kids looked at where he was pointing, and saw several blurs jumping straight over their heads.

"It's a Pokemon!" Masanori shouted.

"It's Santa!" Gracia exclaimed.

"It's that crazy woman." Mitsunari deadpanned, watching as one of the blurs crashed into a pile of snow next to them, and a Crobat flew down and started flapping around her. She rolled out of the snow pile, and started wrestling to get out of a net that had been tangled around her legs. The other blurs that jumped over them landed, revealing themselves as two ninja and their Pokemon.

"That's not fair, Kotaro, you bad boy!" Nene shouted at the two ninja. Kiyomasa and Masanori ran over to help her get out of the trap.

"Hate to say it, but this is getting kind of boring." Kunoichi said, holding another net in her hands.

Kotaro chuckled. "How about we go and set up something a little more fun?" he asked.

"What did you have in mind?"

Kotaro glanced at the five kids, an idea forming in his head. "Hm. You five." he pointed to the small group, causing them to jump. "How do you feel about... snowball fights?"

There was a long pause after this question, all those present minus the inquirer confused. Gracia was the first one to answer.

"I love snowball fights! They're tons of fun!" she said.

"Heh; well then, let's have ourselves a snowball fight later." Kotaro replied.

"A snowball fight?" Kunoichi asked, "Lame. What exactly are you thinking?"

"You'll see." the chaos-loving ninja assured her, before teleporting away with his Zoroark.

Kunoichi watched him leave. "Always the mysterious one." she muttered, about to follow him and see what he was plotting now.

"Hey, Miss Kunoichi!" Gracia called, running over to her and pulling Ranmaru with her again.

"Huh?" Kunoichi asked, looking down at the little warriors.

"Can we have a big snowball fight with forts and stuff?"

"Uh, well... I don't know if you guys should get mixed up with Kotaro. Knowing him, he's probably planning on putting rocks in the snowballs or..." She paused her train of thought, and looked at the two kids in front of her, seeing potential for some good old payback pranking on her current partner in crime. They may be working together, but this was still a prank war, and what better way to set the score in her favor than to prank a prankster. She put on a devilish smirk, and leaned down to be face-to-face with the two kids.

"Actually," she started over, "I think that we should all team up and make a huge snowball fort. I bet you guys and your Pokemon could make the biggest, coolest snow fort in Nixtorm, and Sneasel and I will provide the snowballs. Sounds like fun, huh?"

Gracia's eyes lit up, and she began jumping up and down. "Ooh, yeah, that sounds like tons fun!" she squealed.

Ranmaru looked less certain about this. "Gracia, I don't know about this..." he said.

"Aw don't be such a spoiled sport." Kunoichi assured him, giving him a pat on the head. "You've got that Dragonair, right? I bet she'd be great at helping build a fort." she looked over at Mitsunari, who was looking over at them with his usual impassive expression. "And what about you, sweety? I bet you and those other two want to help with building Fort Awesome!"

Mitsunari scoffed, "There's no point in building anything that isn't made to last for such a trivial purpose. But if you're saying that you're taking her away, I won't stop you from such a futile exercise."

Kunoichi put her hands on her hips and pouted. "A kid who doesn't like snowball fights? There's just something not right about that. But whatever; I've got two great architects right here." She decided, placing a hand on the shoulder of each of her 'minions'.

"We'll see you guys later for the big snowball fight, then!" Gracia shouted, waving goodbye to the red-haired boy.

"Trust me, you won't." Mitsunari insisted.

"Oh, I don't know; I think I'll make an extra special snowball with your name on it." Kunoichi declared with a smirk. "Hey, Gracia, want to go on a 'ninja ride?'" she asked.

"Wow, yeah! What's a ninja ride?" the little girl asked.

"Just climb on..." Kunoichi said, getting down on her knees so Gracia could climb on her back. "Hold on tight..." Gracia jumped on to the ninja's back and grabbed her shoulders. "And see how a ninja travels!

"H-hey, what about me?" Ranmaru asked.

"You've got that Dragonair; heck, you'll probably make it back to the castle before we do." Kunoichi reasoned. "See ya there, kiddo!"

"But wait, I didn't-!" the feminine boy tried to say, but Kunoichi and Gracia took off before he could finish, Gracia shouting out an excited, "Wheeeeee!" as they left.

"She's... napping back at the castle..." Ranmaru finished pitifully. He sighed, and considered his options. As much as he didn't want to get involved with those two ninjas, he was worried about Gracia. He didn't want her getting hurt, and what Kunoichi had said about the rocks in the snowballs was sticking in his head as a bad sign. She might not be afraid of Kotaro, but Ranmaru knew better. So far, their prank war had been composed of icy floors and giant piles of snow falling on the heads of almost everyone in the castle, but eventually Kotaro was bound to take it too far.

"Kunoichi, you get back here right now!" Nene called, running up next to Ranmaru. He noticed that Kiyomasa and Masanori had managed to break that net off of her. The three other boys ran up beside her to see where the other two ninjas had gone, but they were already far from sight.

"Oh, those naughty children!" Nene growled, stomping the ground in annoyance.

"Are you alright, Lady Nene?" Kiyomasa asked in concern.

Nene turned to the white-haired boy and smiled, affectionately rubbing his head.

"Oh, don't you worry about me, Kiyomasa. I've had worse falls than that in my ninja career!" she assured him. She turned to Masanori. "You're such good boys for helping me out of that silly net."

"No problem!" The two answered simultaneously, smiling bashfully at the praise. Mitsunari meanwhile rolled his eyes and looked away.

""Lady Nene," Ranmaru spoke up, "Lord Kotaro and Kunoichi are heading back to the castle. Lord Kotaro mentioned something about a snowball fight, and Gracia left with Kunoichi."

Nene frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, so that's what they're up to, huh?!" she muttered, "Not on my watch! I'm going back there now and putting a stop to their mischief once and for all!"

"I want to go along with you!" Ranmaru insisted. "I don't want those two getting Gracia in trouble.

"Oh, that's so thoughtful of you, Ranmaru." Nene said with a smile, "Sure, I'll let you come along to help set those two straight. You'll be a good example for them! And you boys," Nene turned to the traveling trio. "Seeing as you're out and about, I have a little something I'd like you to do."

"Of course, Lady Nene."

"Anything you need, Lady Nene!"

"What are you making us do now?"

"It's really no big thing." she insisted, grabbing at a coin purse on her waist. She untied it from her belt and handed it over to Kiyomasa. "I was thinking that maybe you boys would like to go and buy presents for some of your little friends. If you follow this road here west, you should be in the next town within half an hour or so. I want you to pick up a gift for Gracia and Ranmaru, and anyone else you feel like buying a Christmas present for."

"I suppose you expect us to get something for you as well." Mitsunari scrutinized, to which Kiyomasa elbowed him.

"That's sweet, but I really don't need anything. You boys have already made this Christmas special for me!" she replied, taking the red-haired boy's question literally.

"Blech." Mitsunari scoffed.

"Well, I trust you three to do just fine on your own. Ranmaru and I have some naughty children to tend to. See you boys back at the castle, and don't you take too long, or I'll get worried. Buh-bye!" Nene waved goodbye and then took off towards the castle. Crobat flew after her, and she grabbed his feet just before the large bat Pokemon accelerated and flew up into the sky.

"Wh-wait, Lady Nene!" Ranmaru cried, running after her. "Urgh; I'm never leaving to go anywhere without Dragonair again!" he declared.

"Whoa! Look at them go!" Kiyomasa said as he watched the ninja and Pokemon head off into the sky.

"Ninjas are awesome!" Masanori shouted.

"If the people who became ninjas were so great, they wouldn't spend their lives serving other Warlords." Mitsunari pointed out.

"There's nothing wrong with being a follower." Kiyomasa argued, "Anyone can give orders."

"Just as easily as anyone can follow them." Mitsunari rebuked, "A true leader, however, is always easy to see."

"Ugh! You guys are always talking about this confusing stuff; why does everything have to be so complicated?!" Masanori exclaimed, grabbing his head. The two arguers turned to their friend and then turned away from each other.

"Whatever. I really don't want to have these stupid fights with you, anyway." Kiyomasa said. "Why don't we just head out to the next village and buy some presents."

"Who do we even have to buy presents for?" Mitsunari challenged. The three started down the road.

"Well, there's Lady Nene, for one." Kiyomasa responded, to which his companion only scoffed. Kiyomasa frowned. "She invited us to spend the holidays in Nixtorm castle, with every warlord in Ransei! How many warriors do you know that get to be here for Christmas?"

"You mean she abducted us and is subjecting us to merrymaking like fools." the red haired kid spat.

"Just because you can't enjoy yourself, doesn't mean we can't!" Masanori shouted.

"Hmph! Shopping for petty trinkets to exchange with others is hardly a justified waste of time, or money." Mitsunari continued, "Why, if I were a Warlord..."

"Oh, here we go again!" Masanori whined.

"How many times do we have to hear how good a warlord you'd be?" Kiyomasa added.

"Whatever; I'll prove it to you one day." Mitsunari promised.

"Yeah, right." Kiyomasa muttered, rolling his eyes. "In the meantime, why don't we focus on presents. I think we should also get something for the Warlords in Aurora."

"And why, exactly, is that?" Mitsunari wondered.

"Because they unified Ransei, you fool." Kiyomasa answered as though it were the most obvious thing. "If it weren't for them, we might not have been able to be here for Christmas, much less anyone else."

"What you're saying is that we have them to blame?"

"Hey, I like 'em!" Masanori said enthusiastically, "I'm with Kiyomasa; we should definitely get them something."

"... They're fools who only unified Ransei with dumb luck." Mitsunari mumbled, "But, if you two are intent on getting something for those three... then why don't we split up."

"Huh?"

"What?"

Mitsunari crossed his arms. "There's three of them, and three of us, right? Well, we each choose one to shop for. This will save time, and we'll be done quicker."

"Huh, guess that makes sense." Kiyomasa agreed, "I guess I'll shop for Lady Nene on my own, then..."

"Hey! I wanna shop for Lady Nene, too!" Masanori protested.

"Okay, fine! We'll shop for Lady Nene before we split up then..."

"I already told you that I'm not shopping for her!" Mitsunari growled.

"Well then, Masanori and I will shop together, and you can just shop on your own! How does that sound?!"

"Excellent." Mitsunari admitted, "That way, I can get this over with quickly without you two fools distracting me."

"Seriously?" Kiyomasa asked surprised, "You'd rather be shopping alone?"

"Why are you so surprised?" Mitsunari wondered.

Kiyomasa felt a bit bad letting his friend go off alone, but knew that he wasn't going to be a part of anything that he didn't consider important. And he and Masanori shouldn't have to change their plans just because of him. "Well, whatever you want to do." he sighed, "Let's just decide who each of us is gonna be shopping for before you head out on your own, though."

"I don't care who I..." Mitsunari began.

"I call shopping for Ryo!" Masanori declared, throwing his hand into the air, "No way am I looking for stupid jewelry or makeup for one of those girls!"

"Geez, how old are you?" Kiyomasa muttered, "Fine, you can shop for Ryo." he agreed, as Masanori pumped his fist in victory. His white haired friend shook his head and turned back to the third member of the trio. "Well, that leaves Ryoko and Oichi; which would you rather have?"

"Between the girl who was too weak to face her brother herself, and the girl who became a warlord without even knowing the first thing about it? ...Hmph. I'll take Ryoko. At least she has some merits."

"Alright then. Just make sure it's a good gift." Kiyomasa ordered.

"If I'm to go through this ordeal, I may as well get a quality gift, don't you think?" Mitsunari assured him.

"And since we also have to get gifts for Ranmaru and Gracia... I call shopping for Ranmaru." Kiyomasa said with a smirk, "Which means that you can shop for Gracia, Mitsunari."

"What?!" Mitsunari exclaimed, "Why do I have to shop for that annoying little girl?!"

"Hey you got to choose which of Aurora's Warlords you'd be shopping for, so I get to choose to shop for Ranmaru!" Kiyomasa reasoned.

"Grr, you just want to annoy me, don't you?!" Mitsunari demanded.

Kiyomasa snickered, "Pretty much, yeah." he agreed. "And you can't talk your way out of it. We each get to choose, so it's only fair."

As much as he did want to protest, Mitsunari knew that Kiyomasa was right when he said it was fair. At least them selecting who to shop for. Being forced to shop for these people he really didn't care about was hardly fair.

"Alright, I'll shop for Gracia. Just don't expect it to be anything spectacular." he stated.

"Get her a Pokedoll or something; girls like that kind of stuff." Kiyomasa suggested.

"Pokedolls are expensive." Mitsunari responded, "Obviously, you're not aware of the cost needed to ship them here from other regions."

"I don't see why you'd be aware of something so pointless either." his friend mentioned.

"There you two go again with these crazy arguments!" Masanori shouted.

They continued to argue until they reached the next village, and walked into its marketplace, perfectly in one piece and not threatened by Walrein stampedes or conniving ninja pranksters.

"Okay, so you'll go get presents for Ryoko and Gracia, and Masanori and I will get presents for everyone else." Kiyomasa confirmed while they stood in the market square.

"Yes, that's unfortunately how this'll be done." Mitsunari agreed, rolling his eyes, "Don't patronize me."

"I just want to make sure that you're actually going to do it, and not go off with your share of the money Lady Nene gave us and do your own thing." the white-haired boy chastised.

"Don't worry about that; to do so would be more trouble than it's worth."

"Glad to know you're not that much of a fool."

"Well hey, are we going, or not?" Masanori asked energetically.

Kiyomasa turned to him and smiled. "Yeah, let's get this over with and head back to the castle." he agreed. He turned back to their less excited friend, and gave him a stern look. "Let's all meet back here in an hour, okay? That should be plenty of time to find something for everyone."

"An hour is a necessary amount of time for an undecided shopper. I will only need half as much time to find two people each a gift." Mitsunari assured them.

"Well then, find your gifts in half an hour, and come back here and wait for us, then." Kiyomasa sighed in exasperation at dealing with the other boy's personality.

"Fine." Mitsunari said, then turned and walked off without even saying a farewell.

"No time to waste on goodbyes, huh?" Kiyomasa noted, "Well whatever."

"Eh, that's just how things work in that big head of his." Masanori said, trying to sound lighthearted about it. "Let's just go; it'll be more fun shopping without him to dampen the mood."

"Yeah, you're right, Masanori." Kiyomasa agreed, "Okay then; who should we shop for first?"

While Kiyomasa and Masanori were deciding on where to go, Mitsunari walked in one direction, not pausing to look at anything, observing where all the different stores were in the market as he walked at a fast pace. He spent a total of ten minutes figuring out where each store was and what they sold, within five minutes locating the store that he would buy Gracia's present at. It was a simple toy store that sold various knickknacks and novelties that he thought were completely ridiculous and served no purpose other than to occupy time that could be spent on better pursuits. It was a perfect place to shop for something to give that annoying little girl. He found another store where would be able to get something for her Pokemon. He instantly knew what to do for Ryoko's Pokemon: she and her brother had so many Eevees, that it made more sense to buy them something big meant for them all to share rather than individual gifts for each Eeveelution, not to mention all the other Eevees the twins took care of. He suspected that they were planning on making a farm specifically for breeding Eevees; it couldn't be a coincidence that more and more Eevees were being seen around Ransei ever since those two had become Warlords.

This left Ryoko's gift, which he was still, admittedly, undecided on. He had seen plenty of things he was sure the optimistic girl would like, but there was nothing that he found comfortable offering as a Christmas present. To give a gift just for the sake of giving it was a pointless gesture, and a waste of time for both the giver and receiver alike. As much as Mitsunari dreaded giving presents to near total strangers, if he was going to buy such a token, it would have to have some meaning behind it. The standard gifts for females such as jewelry and perfume were clichés that were far past their prime to be considered truly thoughtful gifts. They were simply the safe choice, as no normal woman would ever turn down jewels or sweet-smelling fragrances. In any event, no true Warlord would see value in such trivialities. Surely, the unifier of Ransei was no exception. Fancy kimonos and hair decorations were also boring and far from Ryoko's tastes, as well as he knew her. Weapons and weapon care products were also impersonal, and something that she would have easy access to whenever she wished. Mistunari could also guess that each castle had its own personal blacksmith employed to create only the finest weapons for its warriors. Any Christmas themed gift would only be an observation of the time the gift was presented, and not an assessment of the interests or the character of the person receiving it. Books... he didn't know what, if anything, Ryoko liked to read. Games... he didn't know if she enjoyed any sports or mentally challenging games. Gardening... Aurora was widely a kingdom supported by its agriculture, but he didn't know if the twins had been farmers before they had become Warlords, or if they had any sort of relationships with the farmers in Aurora.

Well, this was annoying. Here he was, shopping for someone he knew almost nothing about. For all the times that he had encountered Ryoko and her brother as they were marching across Ransei, it was astounding that he had absolutely no knowledge on either of them. He had never thought that they would be two people worth remembering. Early on, he had accounted all of their victories to sheer dumb luck, and their opponents underestimating them for their youth and inexperience. True, he had developed some respect for them later on when he witnessed them taking on Nobunaga's army, but even then he had seen no reason to have so much as a five minute conversation with them to talk about their life story. He couldn't believe that such a decision was coming back to bite him in such a pathetic way.

He hated to admit it, but maybe Kiyomasa was right when saying that he needed to be more in touch with the people around him.

There had to some things that he knew about Ryoko; he wasn't that completely oblivious to others! He knew that she was the annoyingly optimistic twin. She was incredibly social, and loved to be around both people and Pokemon. She was a bigger risk-taker than her brother, and liked trying new things. She wasn't very interested in material possessions. Mitsunari groaned. None of that stuff helped him. If anything, it made her even harder to shop for. Why did she have to be so transparent?

He circled the market four times, looking at each store's wares carefully and trying to find a suitable idea for a gift. He could find none, and before he knew it, an hour had almost gone by since he parted ways with Kiyomasa and Masanori. He didn't want to admit to those fools that he was having difficulty looking for a gift, so he kept looking, slightly stressed out with the addition of the unofficial time limit placed on him.

Realizing that he was coming up with blanks, Mitsunari pushed away his current dilemma and decided to buy the things he already knew he would get. He rushed between each of the stores and bought his gifts for Gracia and the Pokemon. Once these presents were bought, he once again focused on Ryoko's gift, and started to walk around each of the stores again.

Meanwhile, Kiyomasa and Masanori were walking along the marketplace, each carrying large bags full of presents.

"I'm telling you, he's already gone back to the castle." Masanori insisted, "It would just be so typical of that jerk to go off without us like that!"

Kiyomasa shook his head. "Mitsunari may be disagreeable, but he wouldn't leave and not tell us. He probably finished early and didn't want to wait for us at the square." he reasoned.

"I hope you're right, Kiyomasa;" the tougher kid replied, "because if he did ditch us, I think I might just bury him in the snow when we get back!"

"Look, there he is now." Kiyomasa pointed out, noticing their friend's fluffy headdress. "Hey, Mitsunari!" he called and waved his hand up to get his attention. Mitsunari flinched and turned to see the other two coming towards him.

"Oh, great." he mumbled.

"Where have you been, you fool?" Kiyomasa asked, dashing over to him. "We were waiting for you for fifteen minutes at the square."

"You could have stood to wait a little longer." Mitsunari observed, "We agreed to meet within one hour of leaving, did we not?"

"Yeah, and that was an hour and a half ago! Can't you count?!" Masanori shouted angrily.

"Wh-?! Th-that's impossible! I couldn't have been shopping for over an hour now!" Mitsunari protested.

"Yes, you have been, so... wait a minute." Kiyomasa started, but then realized fully what the shorter boy was saying and smirked, "You're still shopping, aren't you?"

"Th-this market doesn't sell adequate goods." Mitsunari stuttered, "No person can possibly be expected to find quality presents in such cheap, dingy shops."

"Haha, this coming from mister 'I'll finish shopping in thirty minutes?'" Masanori teased.

"Y'know, we've already got all our gifts for everyone." Kiyomasa said, raising up the bags he was carrying. "We found some really cool stuff for everyone."

"I'm sure your gifts will reflect your ability at giving presents. As for me, I refuse to buy anything that is not worth being bought."

"It looks like you've got some stuff." Kiyomasa noted, ignoring the attempt at an insult. "Who do you have left to buy for?"

"That's hardly any of your concern." Mitsunari stated, becoming slightly flustered and turning around.

"Well, whatever. We'll help you find something real quick and head back to the castle." Kiyomasa suggested nonchalantly.

"No; you two can go back to the castle without me. I'll stay here until I finish shopping." Mitsunari declined.

"What? Hey, you listen!" Kiyomasa exclaimed, making sure he had the stubborn boy's attention before continuing, "We're not just leaving without you. It's fine for you to go off on your own shopping, but you shouldn't walk back to the castle alone."

"You don't need to concern yourself with me; I can take care of myself just fine." Mitsunari assured him.

"Yeah, right. Some little kid who's not even four feet tall, walking along a cold road in the middle of the day, carrying large bags who likes to shoot off his mouth. That's not asking for trouble at all."

"It isn't fair to keep you two here longer than intended."

"This isn't about being fair; it's about sticking together." Kiyomasa corrected him.

"Just leave; you fools would only be distracting me if you were to stay."

"You stupid fool! We're trying to be nice, and you just won't listen to reason!" Masanori spat.

"Ugh; forget it, Masanori." Kiyomasa said with an agitated sigh.

"What!? B-but, Kiyomasa...!" Masanori tried to say.

"If he wants to be a stubborn fool like always, then let him." Kiyomasa decided, then turned back to Mitsunari. "just know, if I don't see you back at the castle before nightfall, I'll be sending Lady Nene after you." he promised.

"Don't threaten me." Mitsunari chastised, "At any rate, it's unnecessary. It surely won't take me that long to find something of value to buy."

"That's practically what you said before." Kiyomasa reminded him.

"Well, I stand by it... and seeing as you two are returning to the castle anyway..." the red-haired boy said, extending the bags in his hands, "Why don't you return with the gifts I've already bought? No point in me carrying them around if you're leaving now."

"Grr... you just want us to carry your stuff for you back to the castle, don't you!?" Masanori growled.

~Q.N~

Kunoichi remembered making snow forts when she was little. She and the children that she had grown up with would always make these terribly constructed walls of packed down snow, probably about three feet high, six feet wide, and one inch thick, if even that. She remembered how once a kid had figured out how to successfully make windows in the wall without collapsing the whole thing, and all the other kids had been awestruck by the architectural marvel. Flags had been crafted out of twigs and old rags. Trenches had been dug out around the wall sometimes. Melting icicles broken off of roofs were spike traps or fake swords that would much sooner snap in two than cause any damage to their targets. Rarely a child would be lucky enough to have their parents allow them to borrow things from around the house to use, like pots and pans, blankets, brooms, or other stuff that wasn't put to any good use in the long run. Terrible as they were though, they would always think those stupid little walls were as magnificent and strong as the forts of real Warlords. They would even pretend that they were the real armies of those Warlords, and would always pick alliances before those big snowball fights. Kunoichi would always choose Cragspur's army to fight for. She had never fought any snowball fights under the Terrera banner, because she had thought Terrera's army was lame. Quite ironic, actually.

The snow fort that Gracia had made within the last three hours was nothing like those stupid walls of snow from her childhood. Instead, it was the very picture of what every child had imagined those stupid walls were. Psychic Pokemon aside, Kunoichi was very impressed at the level of architectural genius coming from a ten-year-old little girl. They were standing in the middle of what was literally a fort made out of snow, surrounded by a perfect square of walls on all sides. Each wall was eight feet high, ten feet wide, and two and a half inches thick. Perfectly squared windows were carved into the walls, four on one side, two to the right and left walls, and none on the final wall. However, the final wall did have a doorway carved into it, small enough so that anyone taller than Gracia would have to duck or even crawl on their knees in order to enter. Actual stairs had been packed down and sculpted in order to reach the top of the walls. A table made of ice had been carved and held 'food rations' of cookies, candies and other sweets. Helmets and breastplates worn by warriors in Nixtorm's army were off to the side (Kunoichi had to wonder how Gracia had gotten a hold of them without Lord Mitsuhide finding out). Ice sculptures of the legendary bird Pokemon Articuno stood guard high atop the four corners of the fort. And all of it done by two children and three non-ice-type Pokemon while Kunoichi had been away making her 'special' snowballs to use to defend the fort, a fort very worth defending, all pranks set aside.

"Do ya like it, Miss Kunoichi? Do ya?" Gracia asked giddily, sitting on top of the wall and looking down at the awestruck ninja, who was pushing a large wheelbarrow of seemingly ordinary snowballs up to the fort.

"I-it's not what I was expecting when I said 'snow fort'." Kunoichi said, still too surprised for words.

"Did we make it too small?" Gracia asked, "I wanted to make it bigger, but Ranmaru didn't want us to overdo it." she commented.

"'Too small?'" Kunoichi repeated in a flabbergasted breath, "Snow forts weren't even a tenth of the size of this when I was your age...!" she paused this thought, and looked away in a momentary panic. "'When I was your age?' Oh, Arceus, I couldn't have sounded more like Lord Shingen there." she gasped, and then returned to her conversation with the other girl. "If this thing got any bigger, it would collapse!"

"I dunno about that." Gracia said, turning her head to look behind her. "Lord Hideyoshi's fort seems to be holding up just fine, and his is really big!"

"What?!" Kunoichi wondered, letting go of the wheelbarrow and running around to the other side of the snow fort. As she did, another fort came into view. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked up slack-jawed and wide-eyed at a snow fort nearly twice the size of the first one. At this point, it did more justice to call the structure a snow castle. It was roughly two-thirds larger than Gracia's fort on all dimensions, and featured a great deal of unnecessary aesthetic design carved into the ice it was made of. Banners that held Lord Hideyoshi's family seal were flowing down the walls, hanging out from windows. A trench ran the perimeter of the building, with a single path going across it that led to a large open doorway (more accurately, a gateway), probably simulating a moat and drawbridge. Outside, standing just before this pathway into the great fortress, was an ice sculpture of a noble-looking Hideyoshi and his Infernape. Chiseling away at said sculpture was none other than Hideyoshi himself, merrily humming a Christmas tune as he added the last finishing touch to his masterpiece.

Kunoichi eventually broke from her stupor, and marched over to the fire-type warrior, meaning serious business.

"Hey! What's the idea with this snow fort?!" she demanded.

"Huh?" Hideyoshi asked, noticing the ninja approaching him, "Oh, aren't you that ninja that works for Lord Shingen?"

"That's not important. What's with the snow fort?" Kunoichi interjected, getting him on topic.

"What? You mean this?" Hideyoshi asked playfully, looking up proudly at his creation. "Yeah, pretty impressive, isn't it? I got the idea from Lord Mitsuhide a few hours ago; he said he wanted me to make the most awesome snow fort that Nixtorm had ever known, and that once it was done that we should have a huge snowball fight to put it to the test!"

"Lord Mitsuhide said that?" Kunoichi asked suspiciously.

"Yeah I was surprised, too." Hideyoshi agreed, "He's been such a bad stick in the mud this year, I wasn't expecting him to want to do anything this fun. I was sure he wouldn't want anyone to have snowball fights because they're too 'dangerous' or something ridiculous like that."

"Uh, yeah." Kunoichi nodded, but was skeptical about it for an entirely different reason. She had seen Mitsuhide earlier today in that village that Kotaro had ran the herd of Walrein through, and was certain that the Nixtorm Warlord would still be there helping to repair the town's market. And if Mitsuhide wasn't here, she had a feeling that she knew what was going on.

"Well, your castle sure looks shiny and tough." Kunoichi observed, "But I hope you've made enough ammo to ward off the enemy attacks."

"Already taken care of." Hideyoshi assured her, "Mitsuhide made up the snowballs for the assault while I was making Snow Fort Hideyoshi. They're all inside the fort now, ready for the attack!" he laughed. That was all Kunoichi needed to hear to know for sure what was going on.

"So..." Hideyoshi continued, "Will you be fighting for the enemy, then?"

"Uh... you know, Lord Hideyoshi, I'd love to get involved and all, but I've got to go hunt down another ninja. Besides, I'm a little old for this kid's stuff."

"That's not the right attitude to have!" Hideyoshi told her, "You're never too old to have a good time, especially during the holidays."

"Eh, even so..." Kunoichi started, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Hideyoshi!" Nene's voice rang out, and the Warlord turned to see her running over to him.

"Nevermind. Gotta go!" Kunoichi finished hastily and teleported off to a different location before Nene could catch her.

"What now?" Hideyoshi asked as the female ninja reached him.

"Have you seen Kotaro and Kunoichi at all? I've been looking everywhere for those two, and I haven't seen them in a while. I just know they're up to no good!" she explained exasperatedly.

"I haven't seen Kotaro since they froze the hallway in the castle this afternoon." Hideyoshi relayed, "As for Kunoichi... well, she was here a minute ago." he finished, realizing before he even turned around that the ninja was gone. His past experiences with Nene and Hanzo made him fairly knowledgeable of ninja mannerisms. "You still sore about that whole hallway freezing thing?"

"That's not all of it!" Nene pouted, "Those naughty children sent a stampede of wild Walrein through a nearby village and completely destroyed its market!"

"What?! How the heck could they have done something like that?" he asked.

"They just did, alright?!" she shouted, glaring at Hideyoshi.

"Alright, alright, they did!" he quickly agreed, holding up his hands in defense. "Like I said, though, I don't know where they are. Maybe you should... take a break from chasing them. I mean, if you haven't caught them yet..."

"I can't do that!" she argued, "They need to be punished for being naughty and doing all those horrible pranks on people. They're going to ruin Christmas for everyone if I don't stop them!"

"Well, you shouldn't let them ruin Christmas for you." Hideyoshi advised, "C'mon, have a little fun! Hey, why don't you stay for a while and help me with my snow fort!" he suggested excitedly.

Nene turned and looked up at the mentioned fort, tilting her head to the side curiously. "Is that what you're calling this silly thing?"

"It's not silly!" he snapped back, "It's a milestone in snowball warfare history! The greatest snow fort that ever was, impenetrable by even the mightiest of snowballs!" he declared, raising his head in pride.

"Well, that's boring." Nene remarked, "What fun is a snowball fight where you can't get hit, anyway?"

"Whoa! Look at this thing!" Masanori shouted, running out of Nixtorm castle with Kiyomasa and looking up in wonder at the coolest snow fort they had ever seen. They had just come back from shopping, and had quickly discarded their bags of gifts and went outside when they saw the fort of ice.

"This is the most awesome snow fort I've ever seen!" Kiyomasa stated, "Is it actually going to be in a snowball fight?!"

Hideyoshi smirked at Nene, who only rolled her eyes at the monkeylike man and crossed her arms. "Sure will be!" Hideyoshi answered, "This here's Snow Fort Hideyoshi, boys! The most awesome snow fort that Nixtorm has ever known."

"What a lame name for a fort." Kiyomasa remarked, prompting its creator to fall over in the snow, and Nene to start giggling at the man's expense.

"That's just mean."Hideyoshi mumbled.

"HEY! Masanori! Kiyomasa!" Gracia called, running over to the group. Everyone turned to see her running over with Ranmaru.

"Hi, Gracia." Masanori greeted.

"You guys finally got here!" Gracia said, sounding as though they had been gone for years. "So are we ready to start the snowball fight?"

"Uh, right now?" Kiyomasa asked. "Well, I guess that would be fine."

"We'll start just as soon as your father gets here, Gracia." Hideyoshi told her, "He said he wanted to be a part of the snowball fight."

"He did?" Gracia asked. "Wow, that's so great! I can't remember the last time I had a snowball fight with Papa! Where is he?"

"I haven't seen him in a while." Hideyoshi said.

"Hm. Maybe he's still in the village." Gracia thought, looking down at her Gothita, "Maybe you could go get him Gothita." she suggested.

"Gothita!" the little black Pokemon squeaked, and suddenly teleported away.

~In the Village...~

"Now, here's the most important thing:" Mitsuhide explained to the warriors that had volunteered to migrate the Walrein away from the village. "While you're leading the Walrein west, you must refrain from..." Before he could finish, a small Pokemon landed on his shoulder, and startled him away from his thoughts.

"G-Gothita?" Mitsuhide wondered nervously, "What are you doing here?"

The psychic Pokemon only squeaked, and in another flash of light had teleported away, taking Nixtorm's Warlord along with her. Several warriors were left behind confused as to what happened, and slightly nervous when reminded that Lord Mitsuhide had never finished saying what to do about the Walrein.

~Back at Nixtorm Castle...~

Within ten seconds, Gothita had returned, bringing Mitsuhide with her. He looked around, disoriented from being teleported to a different location without warning.

"What- where?!" He asked as he looked around, realizing he was back at Nixtorm castle, surrounded by several people.

"Papa's here!" Gracia stated.

"Glad you finally got here, buddy." Hideyoshi said, slapping the other Warlord on the back. "I finished building Snow Fort Hideyoshi, and we're ready to begin the snowball fight."

"Snowbal fight... what? What is going on?! I was just taken away from important business! I have to... get... to..." Mitsuhide's rant gradually trailed off as he looked over Hideyoshi's shoulder and gazed up at the large fortress carved from ice.

"What... is that?" he asked, half shocked to see something nearly the size of his castle directly next to it, and half impressed at the level of craftsmanship that went into building such a piece of architecture.

Hideyoshi turned to face his masterpiece and smirked proudly at Mitsuhide's shocked reaction. "That, my friend, is Snow Fort Hideyoshi." he declared, "The greatest snow fort ever made."

"It's... remarkable." Mitsuhide confessed, "I can't believe you were able to make such a thing in so short a time."

"Aw, it was no sweat at all!" Hideyoshi continued to brag, "I made my own Ignis castle in one day, remember. With Infernape's help, it was a breeze to carve all this out."

"...And you built it behind my castle." Mitsuhide added, still conflicted on how to feel about this.

"Well, yeah. Where else was I gonna build it; in Ignis?" he replied sarcastically.

"And Ranmaru and I made a snow fort too, Papa!" Gracia spoke up, "It's right over there!"

Mitsuhide turned around to see where she was pointing, and instantly felt a headache coming on. Gracia's snow fort was certainly not as fancy as Hideyoshi had made his but still...

"Gracia, when I was your age, snow forts were nowhere near this intricate, and they weren't made of ice." he told her, looking up at the giant wall that was several feet taller than him.

"Don't be such a buzz kill, Mitsuhide." Hideyoshi encouraged him, "You were a completely different person this morning!"

"I was?" Mitsuhide wondered, in all honesty not remembering much of this morning. Had he talked with Hideyoshi at breakfast or something?

"Yeah, you were." Hideyoshi insisted. "So c'mon, let's take sides and start up this snowball fight!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't be doing this right now." Mitsuhide shook his head, getting annoyed as he remembered that he had been pulled away from important business. "I have things I need to take care of, and..."

"Aw, you can spare some time, can't you?" Hideyoshi begged, "You've gotta help me test out Fort Hideyoshi's defenses! I want to be sure that this place's gonna be around forever!"

"Why did you have to put it behind my castle?" Mitsuhide muttered, dejectedly slapping his hand over his face. His comment was ignored, however.

"Come on, Papa! You're going to be on my team with Ranmaru, aren't you? Please, please, please have a snowball fight with us!" Gracia insisted, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Hey now, you two, if he's busy, then you shouldn't make him stay." Nene tried to reason. "This is his kingdom, and he has a very important job to think of!"

"It's just one little snowball fight, Nene!" Hideyoshi argued, "Please, you guys, let's all stay and have one battle!"

"Please, please, please, please, pleeeeeaaaassssseee!" Gracia continued to say.

"Hey, you kids, help us out here!" Hideyoshi told Masanori and Kiyomasa, "You two want to be a part of Fort Hideyoshi's army, right?"

"If we'd get to have a real snowball fight inside that thing?! Yeah!" Kiyomasa said, and then turned to Lady Nene, "Lady Nene, can we please have a huge snowball fight right now?" he pleaded.

"Please, Lady Nene, please!" Masanori said. The three got on their knees, continuing to ask her to stay. Nene looked at them, starting to break.

"W-well..." she tried to argue, reminding herself of Kotaro and Kunoichi. She was met with three puppy dog stares, and her resolve completely crumbled.

"Ooooh, I just can't say no to you boys!" she squealed, kneeling down and wrapping the three in a great big hug. "Okay, I'll stay, but just for one snowball fight!" she emphasized, "When the last snowball's thrown, Mitsuhide and I are going to have to get back to business."

"Oh, yeah!" Kiyomasa yelled, pumping his fist in the air.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Masanori exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"I knew you'd see things my way, Nene." Hideyoshi said happily as he got up.

"Lady Nene, you can't just speak for me..." Mitsuhide said.

"Aw, we can't just let these good children down, Mitsuhide." Nene responded, "Just look at all the hard work that went into these darling snow forts."

"Darling?!" Hideyoshi repeated, affronted by the word used on his awesome fort.

"It would be such a shame to let it go to waste." she continued, indifferent to Hideyoshi's outburst. "And your daughter's counting on you."

Mitsuhide flinched, and looked down at Gracia, who was also hitting him with the puppy dog eyes. He groaned and looked at the sky, realizing that he wasn't getting out of this one. He silently apologized to everyone he had left behind in the village, before hesitantly nodding his head.

"A-alright then. I guess my hands are tied here." He conceded, growing further irritated as a round of cheers were given by everyone around him. "But just like Lady Nene said, when this is over, I really need to get back to work, does everyone understand?"

"Whatever you say, buddy! Whatever you say." Hideyoshi agreed quickly, "Let's just get to our bases and prepare for battle."

"Alright." Mitsuhide sighed, "How is all of this going to work?"

"We've got two teams, here." Hideyoshi began to explain, "I'm the leader of my team, and I call..."

"How come you're the leader?!" Kiyomasa exclaimed.

Hideyoshi leaned down so he was at eye level with the kid. Kiyomasa didn't back down in the slightest. "Because I'm an actual Warlord, I'm the oldest, and I spent nearly all afternoon working on this castle! So nyeh!" he declared before sticking his tongue out.

"And you gave it a stupid name, too." Kiyomasa snarked.

"The point is, I get to be the leader!" Hideyoshi insisted.

"Hideyoshi, let the boys be the leaders!" Nene spoke up.

"Wha? B-but it's my fort!" he whined.

"And you're going to let the boys enjoy it however they want!" she said, holding up her fist to his face.

"Uh, y-y-yeah... s-sure, Nene!" Hideyoshi agreed, holding up his hands again in defense.

"And little Gracia can be the leader in her fort!" Nene said to the other 'team' cheerfully.

"Ooh, cool! I get to be the leader!" Gracia said excitedly.

"She built her fort and she get to be the leader." Hideyoshi pouted, causing Nene to turn to glare at him again. He squeaked, and ran to hide behind the two boys.

"Uh... l-let the games begin?" Hideyoshi whimpered.

"Hey, wait!" Gracia exclaimed, "Our team needs a fourth person before we begin! It's no fair if we only have three!"

"So? You guys are gonna have more Pokemon!" Masanori argued.

"Nuh-uh! Dragonair won't be playing because she hates the cold, and Papa's Lapras is at the lake, so it's just gonna be Gothita helping us!"

"Alright, honey, we'll find someone else to be on your team." Nene agreed, looking around to see if anyone else was nearby. She spotted two people walking, and smiled. "I'll be just a minute." she promised, dashing over to the two ladies.

"..and I still love her; she's my cousin after all..." Mitsubachi told Aya as they were taking a walk outside, talking about how things had been with her family. "...but ever since she got married, I've kind of felt like a third wheel around her. All she ever wants to do is spend time with her husband."

"She is still a newlywed, dear." Aya comforted her.

"I know, and that's why I'm being patient with her." the teenage girl agreed, "Like I said, I don't want to be around her for a whole week if she'd rather spend time with him. It's not fair to either of us."

Aya smiled, "So you made the right choice in coming here, I take it?"

Mitsubachi turned to her and smiled. "Of course! I've never had such an exciting holiday before; this place is so lively." she said

"Good afternoon!" Nene called, running over to the other two women. Aya and Mitsubachi turned to greet her.

"Like I was saying." Mitsubachi laughed.

"Lady Aya, would you mind at all if I borrowed Mitsubachi for a little while?" Nene asked.

"Well that depends." Aya replied, "You won't be putting my dear student in any trouble, would you?"

Nene frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh, you're a fine one to talk!" she challenged.

The white-clad woman giggled. "Well, all joking aside, what do you need?" Aya queried.

Nene glanced back at the snow forts, causing the others to do the same. "We need one more team of a warrior and a Pokemon for our snowball fight. What do you say, Mitsubachi? You and Meowth?"

Mitsubachi's eyes lit up, and she glanced down at her Meowth that she was carrying in her arms, the two exchanging matching wide grins. "Snowball fight, huh? What do you say to that, buddy?"

"I'm sorry, Lady Nene, but I think I should advise against letting Mitsubachi be in a snowball fight." Aya said, for the briefest of seconds actually looking a bit nervous.

"What?!" Mitsubachi cried, turning sad eyes at her mentor. "But Lady Aya, whyyyyy?"

"Mitsubachi, we both know that you take your snow fights seriously." Aya told her, smile cheerful but tone very serious on the matter.

"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad!" the girl protested.

"Kanetsugu would disagree." Aya remarked.

"Kanetsugu doesn't know how to have any fun." Mitsubachi pointed out.

"I'll agree to that much, but even so..."

"Aw, she can't be that bad!" Nene tried to defend the girl.

"You think so?" Aya challenged, "Picture Illusio, early February..."

~Flashback~

Kanetsugu was walking through Illusio castle, minding his own business, when suddenly...

"Snowball fight?"

Kanetsugu glowered, and turned to the source of the question. Mitsubachi, dressed in all-black winter wear, and smiling up at him expectantly.

"No." Kanetsugu replied simply, and continued walking.

"Please? It's a great day to be outside." she pressed.

"I don't take part in childish games." he embellished.

"Are you mad at me again?" she asked. "What's the matter?"

"There is nothing wrong with me." he insisted.

"That's debatable..."

"What did you say?!"

"Oh, nothing. Hey, can we at least go for a walk or something? I really want to be outside."

"...Oh, fine." Kanetsugu conceded. "Are you really that bored, though."

"I'm never bored. But it's a nice, cold day outside, and I want to enjoy it."

"Ugh. It's times like this when I'm grateful I'm an only child." Kanetsugu muttered.

"It's times like this when I wish I was back home with my brother!" the younger girl shot back. "He would spend time with me without thinking twice about it. Well, go put on a jacket and I'll wait for you outside." She ran off before he could respond.

When he finally got his own winter wear from his room, he opened the door and walked outside...

And was immediately pelted by snowballs, the first one landing directly on his face.

"Ow! Ooh! Ouch! Ow! Ow! M-MITSUBACHI! OW!" Kanetsugu shouted as he lost his balance and fell over.

From the other side of a five-foot snow wall, Mitsubachi and her Meowth poked their heads out and snickered.

"Aw, yeah! We got him, pal! Did you see that first snowball?! Right between the eyes! We are the snowball champions!" she cried excitedly, high-fiving her feline friend and the two started dancing. Meanwhile Kanetsugu got up and started ranting at how dishonorable she was for deceiving him to come outside just to throw snowballs at him... before being knocked out again with another round of ammo.

"My brother also would have laughed and started throwing snowballs back at me!" she stated.

~Flashback #2~

Kenshin had invited Shingen and Ujiyasu to have a drink at Illusio castle. The three were sitting around the table, making idle conversation, when...

"Snowball! Snowball! Snowball!" came the battle cry as Mitsubachi came out of nowhere and hit each of the three veteran Warlords in the face with the aforementioned items.

Ujiyasu was hit first, jumping at the unexpected ambush. "Huh?! Hey, not funny, kid!"

"Hm?" Shingen was hit next, only getting hit in the face as he turned to see what all the noise was about.

Kenshin got the last snowball, but unlike the other two, saw it coming immediately, and just made no move to avoid it hitting him in the shoulder. His sister's female student had been at it for as long as there had been snow on the ground. At this point, he was just refusing to acknowledge it.

"Yes! I ambushed three of the greatest Warlords in Ransei!" she yelled and began to showboat again. "I am the female equivalent of the man!" she exclaimed, pumping both her fists in the air before running out of the room.

After she left, the three resumed their drinking as if nothing had happened.

"You know, Kenshin." Ujiyasu spoke up, "As I remember it, the reason that we have drinks at Illusio is to avoid getting bothered by the kids."

~Flashback #3~

"Mitsubachi, dear, I know that you're out here." Aya said with a smirk as she walked out onto the porch. "You're late for your lessons, and if you don't want to be punished, then you had best..."

Before she could finish this thought, a giant snowball fell on top of her from the roof, covering her in a thick coat of show. Mitsubachi and Meowth bumped fist to paw and snickered, but before they could celebrate their latest victory, a snowball came hurdling at them, hitting Meowth in the face and knocking him over. Mitsubachi looked back down at their most recent victim to find her standing her ground, a menacing grin on her face, and another snowball in her hand.

"If you were looking for a fight, my dear..." she said, Froslass floating next to her and levitating two more snowballs in the air. "you have yourself a full war-!"

Just as she finished this sentence, Mitsubachi tossed another snowball at her, hitting the older woman directly in the face.

"I'm getting punished for this later, aren't I?" she asked as Aya brushed the snow from her face, resisting the urge to scowl at the girl.

"Yes, you most certainly are." she vowed.

Mitsubachi only shrugged, "I think it's worth it." she remarked, before all snowball hell broke loose, both sides refusing to defend against the assault of the others, and just kept throwing.

~End Flashbacks~

"...You see, not even I am immune to her antics." Aya finished. Mitsubachi just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Okay, I'm sorry that I'm a menace to society in winter." she said rhetorically.

"We still need another person." Nene reminded Aya.

"I'd be glad to be on one team." Aya offered, "With Froslass, of course." she smiled down at her partner, who returned the cheery grin.

Mitsubachi smirked. "Hey! Weren't we just talking about people who take their snowball fights too seriously?" she teased. Aya only giggled.

"I'm nowhere near as... enthused with them as you are, my dear. I at least have some self control."

Mitsubachi looked skeptical, but shrugged and gave a smile. "Well think whatever you like, I guess. You're a... decent opponent."

"You don't mind?" Aya checked.

"Nah; I've taken up enough of your time today." she joked, "You crazy kids go have fun."

Nene smiled. "I guess we've got our fourth person, then!" she decided. "Well, let's not keep everyone waiting."

"Let's not." Aya agreed as she walked off with the female ninja, turning to wave to Mitsubachi briefly. The girl smiled and waved back, then turned to go back into the castle and find something else to occupy her time before dinner.

"Psst! Hey, Mitsu!" someone whispered in the shadows. Mitsubachi turned and noticed a ninja girl and a Sneasel beckoning to them. Mitsubachi sighed and walked over to the duo.

"Don't call me that." she said, looking unhappy about the nickname.

"I heard you like... snowball fights?" she asked.

"Yeaaah?" she agreed, quirking an eyebrow.

"Come on; Kotaro and I have been working on something fun." Kunoichi extended her hand.

"You don't say." Mitsubachi said. "I've learned not to trust an invitation from a ninja."

"Since when?" Kunoichi asked.

Mitsubachi considered this. "Good point; let's go."

The two ran up to the roof of the castle, and found Mitsuhide up there already along with Kotaro's Zoroark.

"Cute illusion." Mitsubachi said through breaths of air, tired from trying to keep up with the ninja's speed.

Kotaro smirked and lifted his disguise. "I felt like causing a bit more confusion before you two got here." he said.

"Oh, boy. What did you do now?" Kunoichi asked.

"A better question I feel is what will I do." Kotaro stated with a smirk.

"A better question is what are we doing right now that I had to get dragged all the way up to the roof?" Mitsubachi said, wanting to know what was going on.

"Heh, I thought you might be interested in a little bit of fun; how good is your aim?"

"Uh, pretty good, I guess." she thought aloud, "I mean, I'm not winning any prizes at the carnival, but good enough."

"Would you be up for some target practice?" Kotaro asked, extending what appeared to be a snowball to the girl. Mitsubachi accepted it, but knew better than to pass it off as a seemingly innocent object. She wiped a gloved hand across the sphere, and her fingers soon came across... rubber. She brushed all the snow off the thing, and revealed it to be a balloon full of some liquid.

"Water balloons inside of snowballs?" she asked. "Don't tell me that's what's down there." she said, looking over the edge of the roof to see the two snow forts and the group making plans. Mitsuhide was arguing with Nene, likely about Aya's participation, and it looked like Nene was winning. Meanwhile, everyone else was at their respective forts, waiting to begin. "You're gonna give everyone pneumonia."

"Relax; I don't know what's inside of this one's snowballs, but mine aren't full of water." Kunoichi assured her, taking the balloon from their honorary prankster and replacing it with one of hers.

"Neither are mine." Kotaro said, grabbing the balloon back from Kunoichi and returning it to Mitsubachi. "Although, I was strongly considering."

"Do I have to consult...?" Mitsubachi began to threaten the tall ninja.

"Don't worry, I already knew that you'd be worried about it." Kotaro ensured her, "Everything is disgustingly child friendly."

"Are you two ever going to explain to me what the deal is?" Kunoichi asked.

"You wouldn't understand if we did." Kotaro stated. "So, little tabby, how about helping us in a little air raid?"

"No way; not until one of you tells me what's in these balloons." Mitsubachi insisted.

"Suit yourself; I guess we'll have all the fun to ourselves." Kotaro decided, "But first, let's watch the first birds of mayhem fly."

Back on the ground, the snow ball fight had just begun, with both sides tossing snowballs at each other normally. Gracia's team had much better aim, and the only thing saving Kiyomasa's team from total destruction was the strength of Hideyoshi's snow fort. Not wanting to stay on the defensive for long, however, Nene flew out of their fort on her Crobat, and was about to infiltrate the other team's base in a sort-of sneak attack. In spite of the fact that both sides were implementing some real military tactics, it looked like a very ordinary snowball fight.

Mitsubachi turned a confused glance at Kunoichi. The ninja girl noticed, and winked. "The 'real' snowballs are underneath the normal ones. It shouldn't be too long before they reach them now." she explained, turning back to watch the fight. Mitsubachi did the same, still wondering about what could be in those balloons, and worrying about some of the more dangerous options. Rocks, water, ice, chemicals, gasoline. The list could go on. She was happy to see that Lady Aya hadn't gotten hit by even the normal snowballs yet, and that the others' reflexes were almost as sharp. Hideyoshi had managed to get hit three times already, and one kid with dark hair wasn't even bothering to dodge and just kept throwing. Mitsuhide only got hit once so far, and Ranmaru twice.

"Which one would you like to take out first?" Kotaro asked, grabbing the girl's attention away from the battle. She noticed that he was addressing Kunoichi. Each of them had their specially made snowballs in hand.

"Hm. I choose...Mitsuhide!" Kunoichi said, pointing down to their host, who looked as though he was actually beginning to be enjoying the snowball fight.

"Alright. I think I'll try my hand at a moving target, then." Kotaro replied, setting his sights on Nene and Crobat. "Wait for the first throw..."

"Yeah, I know." Kunoichi assured him. The two watched diligently, waiting for some kind of a signal. Then, something changed in the snowball fight. In a split second, a little ball of white hit Hideyoshi's fort and exploded in a burst of orange. Almost immediately after a yellow explosion hit Gracia's fort in a similar manner.

"Is that...?" Mitsubachi wondered, watching the incident unfold below, equally as confused as those who saw it happen.

"Fire!" Kunoichi shouted, throwing the snowball she had been holding at Mitsuhide down below. She managed to get a good shot just barely on his arm, that turned red as it hit. Kotaro threw his as well, and was able to hit Nene directly in the abdomen, which also burst red upon contact. Nene lost her grip on Crobat and started falling, ending up landing in the snow below her. Mitsubachi's first instinct said blood, but when rationale kicked in, she facepalmed and shook her head at the two.

"Please tell me that's paint." she said, a smile beginning to creep up under her hand.

"Paint it is!" Kunoichi confirmed. "One of the best snowball pranks there ever could be!"

"Hehee... seems like we had the same idea, little girl." Kotaro smirked. Kunoichi matched his mischievous grin.

"I don't think so. Mine's better by far, since I filled mine with acrylic paint!"

"I see. My experience, however, is that oil paint is the better medium." Kotaro argued.

"Why don't we let Mitsubachi decide? She's the art expert here." Kunoichi said, "What'll it be? Who do you think has the better paint for the job?"

"Really? This is a thing you fight about?" Mitsubachi asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Well... I do have some history with acrylic getting on one of my pants and a favorite yukata of mine... However..." she smirked, taking one of the snowballs from Kotaro's pile, "I'm going to have to go with the oils this time around." she turned back to the battlefield below, seeing more and more colors begin to explode into sight. She picked out her target below, and threw the snowball as far as she could.

"I really hope that one was pink." she said through a smile.

On the ground, mass confusion was taking place. Each team thought that the other was the one throwing the paint balls, which, technically, was true on both accounts. Not that either team was paying attention enough to know that.

"I can't believe that Gracia filled those snowballs with paint! What kind of stupid joke does she think this is?!" Hideyoshi growled as he kept throwing snowballs at the other team. A snowball from the other team was returned, and hit the ice sculpture he had made of himself, covering it in a crashing wave of blue. "NOOOO! My beautiful ice sculpture!" he cried.

"What sort of joke is Hideyoshi trying to pull with these paint balls?" Mitsuhide exclaimed, trying to get some of the red paint off the arm of his coat. "This is not funny!"

Aya giggled, and tossed another snowball out the window, ducking back for cover before she could see it explode blue over Hideyoshi's ice sculpture. "Something tells me that Hideyoshi isn't responsible for this." she said, "I have a feeling that we have two mischievous ninja's to blame for this little art show."

"Kunoichi and Kotaro?" Mitsuhide exclaimed. Aya nodded. "Argh... those two!" he growled. "I have half a mind to throw them out of the castle...!"

"It's just some harmless fun, Mitsuhide." Aya insisted, "Considering that they want their antics to be met with anger, I suggest the best thing that we can do is to have fun with it." Seconds after she said this, she was hit in the shoulder from above, and the snowball burst open, revealing it to have been concealing bright pink paint, which splashed up into her face. Aya and Mitsuhide stood in shock for a moment (out of fear, in Mitsuhide's case), until she observed the disgustingly bright colored stain that had now gotten onto most of her face, and part of her white coat. Mitsuhide, meanwhile, looked on and tried his hardest not to laugh, knowing the bitter fate that would befall him if he did. He grew even more afraid for his life as Aya's customary smile had disappeared and been replaced with a glower that could kill.

"Oh, Mitsubachi..." She exhaled menacingly.

"H-how do you know that she...?" Mitsuhide began to ask.

"Because her aim is perfect." Aya answered.

"Oh, Arceus, bless you, that couldn't have been more perfect!" Mitsubachi said triumphantly back on the roof.

"Well, you got what you wanted, apparently." Kunoichi said, commenting on her previous prediction of pink paint.

"Hehehe, she hates pink!" Mitsubachi explained.

"You're crazy, girl." the female ninja stated, "Not even I would dare do anything to invoke Lady Aya's wrath."

"That's too bad." the other girl returned, "She's really cute when she's angry."

"Weirdo." Kunoichi remarked, though she was laughing as she said it.

"All in good fun." she said, "Now, who should we get now?"

From there, the snowball fight only continued to get more and more out of hand. The entire area soon became covered in a rainbow of colors, and no one was even attempting to stop and figure out what was going on. When Gothita and Infernape got hit by the paint balls, they each got mad and started using their attacks rather than snowballs, even though their partners tried to calm them down. Infernape was especially disastrous, as his fire attacks not only melted Gracia's snow fort, but Hideyoshi's as well, until all that was left of either were measly three-foot walls, and giant puddles of mixed colors.

All the noise coming from the fight eventually caught the attention of other Warlords, who came out, not knowing of the horrors that were taking place. They would have been ignored, and might have avoided trouble had they not been spotted by the trio of snipers on the roof, who made sure to get them involved by throwing snowballs at them and throwing them into the mix. This happened to Ginchiyo, who immediately went to seek revenge on both parties for hitting she and Luxio with green paint balls, and started throwing snowballs in all directions, and Luxio letting loose lightning attacks left and right. Masamune was much the same as he and his Braviary flew overhead, landing on the ground and attacking everyone he saw, especially Magoichi after the fool came out and threw a snowball at him. Ujiyasu and Shingen had walked out, and Kunoichi was able to hit both; Shingen got hit in the back of the head, and Ujiyasu in the face when he turned to see who was attacking them. The Cragspur Warlord grumbled that he had just gotten all the ink off his face from the other day, but burst out laughing as he saw Aya, by then covered in several colors. She was quick to silence him with a violet paint ball to the face, and the two quickly got into a private battle, which Shingen then included himself in as he picked up one of the paint balls and threw it at Ujiyasu as well. Yoshimoto and Pineco were ambushed as well, and got directly in the middle of the whole thing, quickly becoming an easy target. Pineco, out of nervousness, used its selfdestruct attack, and sent several of the Warlords and Pokemon flying, smearing them in paint as they hit the ground. The fight didn't end until an hour after it's start, leaving no person involved with any energy, save perhaps for the three pranksters on the roof.

"Hey, Mitsu!" Kunoichi called.

Mitsubachi groaned, and turned to face Kunoichi.

"How many times do I have to tell you people that I don't like nickna-?!" before she could finish, Kunoichi had hit her with one of the paintballs square in the chest, creating a burst of white on the shirt she had been wearing.

"Ow! Hey, not cool, Kunoichi!" she said, but then looked down at what had once been a plain black top and examined the explosion of white that was now there. "I take it back, this is cool!" she said, grinning at the new abstract design.

Kunoichi rolled her eyes. "Only you would enjoy seeing a perfectly good shirt destroyed." she said.

"You wanna try?" Mitsubachi offered, holding up one of the balloons. Kunoichi considered the offer, scrutinizing the mystery-colored paint ball.

"...Oh, what the heck? It's no fun if I don't get hit at least once." she decided, and let Mitsubachi toss the paint ball at her and have it break open with a splash of red.

"That's a good color on you." Mitsubachi observed.

"Heh, well, while you two children have fun painting each other," Kotaro said, standing up and walking away, "I'll be moving on to my next plot." Mitsubachi and Kunoichi exchanged wicked smirks, and then turned to Kotaro.

"Hey, wait a minute, Kotaro." Mitsubachi called. "What's the rush? Stay a little longer."

"Heh, don't you two even think of trying to make me a victim." the chaotic ninja said, moving out of the way just as a snowball shot past him. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to avoid the second one thrown by Mitsubachi that hit him in the back of the head, turning most of his hair light pink.


Welcome to the end; glad you could make it! Blaziken Critic, sorry if it wasn't shippy enough. My biggest concern when writing is always to keep the characters as true to their personalities as possible, and Mitsunari just isn't the kind of person to show his feelings, whether as a kid or an adult, so that kind of gets in the way of writing him as part of a pairing. Even so, I did think that he should feel conflicted about having a hard time shopping for Ryoko, as he should acknowledge her as at least a friend in his own way, so that helped to push this along quickly. And Guest 6, thanks for giving me what has so far been the request that I've had the most fun writing! Sorry if it felt rushed; there were so many ideas that I wanted to get into this chapter, and I had to speed things along for the sake of keeping this chapter a reasonable length. In addition, we will continue to view the pranks of Kotaro and Kunoichi. Hope this was a fun chapter that everyone enjoyed.

Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed! Even though I'm not accepting requests anymore, I'm glad to see that people still are showing such an interest in the story. It really does give me that extra boost of encouragement to continue putting out new chapters.

Most, if not all of next chapter is going to be devoted to the mistletoe scenes, so expect a lot of kisses, and an equal amount of carnage. Just one look at my request list will tell you all you need to know. That's all for now, so please stay tuned until the next chapter!