December 25th: Thursday
Theme: 17. Ornaments
"This is as horrifying as it's going to get."
Tadashi's friend, Gogo, cursed under her voice.
"Get into the Christmas spirit, Gogo! We all look amazing!" Honey Lemon skipped around the café, making her fluffy skirt bounce around with her.
Gogo turned to you with a deadpan expression. "Are we really going to do this?"
You nodded as you flattened your own fluffy skirt and tried hard not cry over these circumstances.
Cass turned out to be a strict and scary person, you remembered. After last night's endeavors, you all went out and had a good time, forgetting the fact that even if Hiro was your colleague, he was still a minor. At around dawn, you all came to the Lucky Cat café, finding the agitated aunt waiting at the front door. Everyone was practically frightened by her, seeing that she had eaten most of the food on sale and her eyes were like of a demon.
As a result of probably the best night of your life, everyone had to work in for her today. No one complained about the sudden labor, since everyone did felt a little guilty, but she managed to put everyone on edge with the outfit… and the special theme for the day. Who knew meeting all of them made your Christmas into a punishment?
Gogo's hand shook, obviously restraining herself from shredding that awkward headpiece of the 'new uniform.' You and Gogo stood there watching Honey Lemon take selfies at ever corner of the decorated café. You tried small talk for a few moments, but Gogo said she'd like to condition herself first with the punishment. You two came off as good friends.
"Okay okay~ Photo!" Honey Lemon pulled the two of you for a picture. As the camera snapped, a voice came out from behind.
"You sure are chummy for people who just met."
You turned around to find the most dashing sight you've ever seen. Fred, Wasabi, Hiro, Tadashi—the males of this group were all wearing tuxedos and gloves, and their hair were all neatly combed and styled with gel.
"Oh goodness," Honey blurted out, snapping a photo of them as well.
"Do I rock the butler outfit or what!" Fred exclaimed, punching the air and nearly hitting Wasabi on the face.
"You don't look so bad too, Wasabi. Kinda suits your build," Gogo commented after scoffing.
"I am more concerned about the fact its winter and you three are wearing… red maid outfits!" Wasabi said as he fixed his cuffs.
Hiro was fixing the cute ribbon around his collar when he noticed you haven't said a word. Your mouth was agape as you stared from head to toe one particular male. With a laugh, he gently closed your mouth. "Take a picture. It'll last longer."
You shook your head, trying to divert your eyes to other things than Tadashi, who was handcombing his smooth black hair. "I-I wasn't staring I swear!" You defended when you dropped your gaze to the younger brother. "Hey, you look really good today Hiro!"
"Well he should," Tadashi spoke up as he approached you. "It took a while to fix his messy hair because he was culturing dead animals under those locks." You playfully gasped and looked at Hiro. But Hiro just punched Tadashi and left.
"It's like I don't know you, Tadashi," you said, getting a quizzical look from him.
"What do you mean? It's still me."
You giggled. "Yeah I know. It's just kind of sad not seeing your baseball cap on."
"I'd be the first butler to ever have a baseball cap on!"
"Oh you'd probably earn the most if you have that."
A few moments later, Cass called a meeting, explaining your jobs for today and reminding to try and stay in character. Plus, she mentioned that you shouldn't be enjoying it because it was a punishment after all.
"I should be watching my back too today," Tadashi spoke from out of the blue, making you turn to him. "I can't let other guys win you over just because of that outfit. I know they won't resist you."
Later on, café hours started. All of you worked in unison as the day crawled into the night. You and Honey Lemon would sometimes bump into each other, she intentionally pointing out that Tadashi had been staring at you for a while. You lightly pushed her away and tried to ignore it, but the look on her face stood out too much you can't just hide your blush anymore. You'd notice too that Hiro would sometimes whisper into Tadashi's ear, and the older brother would simply swat him away, covering his face as his ears turned red.
As the clock struck closing time, you all sprawled out on the now empty café, panting and removing some of the uniform's accessories. The special 'butler-and-maid' theme had been a success, and maybe a little too much. According to Cass, who was exhilarated and had kissed everyone on the cheek after congratulating each, the tenants had loved the idea of having a special theme every now and then. They even suggested many other themes for the group to do, but you were all too tired to hear all of it. And then, out of the blue, Cass brought out a whole buffet of Christmas feast from the upper floor. No wonder she had been missing the whole day.
As they all prepared to eat, you excused yourself to get some fresh air for a while. You took your coat and headed outside, failing to notice someone was looking at you as you left.
The night was cold and crisp; the streets buzzed with jolliness and love. Christmas lights danced at every corner and laughter and cheer sounded everywhere. You looked up to find the starry sky, snowing little ice crystals down on you.
"You shouldn't stay out here too long. You might catch a flu again."
And, as if on cue, Tadashi stood next to you under the winter night.
"Good job surviving today," he smiled as he looked up.
"You too. I saw all the girls throwing themselves at you and they couldn't wait for you anymore," you joked.
"Oh yeah? The guys didn't stop checking you out, so we're the same rank." He laughed as he wrapped his scarf tighter on his neck.
There was a comfortable silence as you both gazed up at the stars, searching for something only the unknown could answer. You could feel your heart slowly calming to its normal beating, realizing how far you've gone since the first dawn. You sighed as your emotions have finally been contented.
"Say," Tadashi said. "What was your wish this Christmas?"
You blinked at his question, and your heartbeat spiked up again to its flustered thumps. You gripped your coat as you thought of an answer. Why does Tadashi have to keep you guessing like this?
"My wish…" you whispered, "was to feel better about myself."
"Oh?" The enlightened look on his face made it harder for you to explain.
"Y-Yeah. I've been feeling lonely lately and, I didn't know how or to whom should I express my feelings." You hung your head, feeling the emotions could just burst any minute. "It was difficult to keep all my thoughts bottled up inside me; that it made me feel like I was going to implode or something." You looked away, your eyes starting to water. "I-I'm just so glad… all of you came along." Sniffles came to you as you tried hard to wipe all the trailing tears. Suddenly, you felt a hand clasp onto yours.
Tadashi turned you to him and gave you a warm hug, whispering into your ears. "You shouldn't forget. You're part of the nerd group now." You giggled under your shallow breath. As you let go, Tadashi surprised you with a kiss on the cheek. The hot red blush shot up and heated your whole face.
"Oh and remember: I'm not giving up on you."
Out of the blue, soft, round arms enveloped the both of you and pulled you into a tight embrace. You looked up to find a familiar white robot, resting his head on Tadashi. You felt a warming source from his stomach.
"You two might get cold if you stay out here too long," Baymax said.
"We have enough heat in here Baymax, thank you." Tadashi laughed.
As Baymax stood up, different kinds of ornaments painted on him started to glisten and sparkle, leaving the two of you wondering, at the same time astonished.
"Baymax said he wanted to get into the Christmas Spirit!" Hiro shouted from a distance.
The two of you turned to find everyone watching you both, smiling and some, shivering from the unexpected cold.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? We have Christmas to celebrate." Tadashi offered his hand to you and lead you back into the café.
For this holiday, Christmas day, your wishes- not just one- have been granted: to fight back the loneliness in your heart, to enjoy the company of your new friends, and most of all: to have Tadashi Hamada, the perfect guy who seemed to show his flaws in cute ways. It seemed like things are going to shake up for you from then on.
~The End~
A/N: Thank you for reading 9 Dawns before Christmas! I hope you enjoyed the story all the way through the end, and feel all the feels Tadashi had to put up in this fanfic! You guys have been amazing supporters! (.◜ω◝.)
If you'd be interested, I have another Tadashi fanfic up! Check it out if you like! ^^
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a merry Christmas! Thanks again! :)