A/N: This chapter officially starts the one-shots! Sorry it's so short...I wanted to finish it before the new year! Don't worry! I plan on starting the next one-shot on either New Year's Eve (tomorrow my time) or New Year's Day, before putting this story on a temporary hiatus to work on other stories. In honor of "The Hobbit" coming to theaters next year, my main focus will be Lord of the Rings fanfics!
kanna-chan owns nothing except for her OV, Hone Onna (well...I own this particular version of her at any rate. If you want more info, let me know)!
DriveRed and Morgana359: Your OC mutants are done for now...I won't say much more about them, except that they will be returning!
Enough of my babbling! On with the show!
Oh! Chapter title: You're Not Alone
Artist: Big Time Rush (yes, go ahead and laugh...I'm a huge BTR fan)
"IT'S CHRISTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS," Sean screamed, the moment he woke up and saw presents under the Christmas tree. "SANTA CAME! AND IT SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWED!"
"Next time, I'm wearing earplugs to bed," Kotoha mumbled angrily, as she got out of bed and walked across the hall to Raven's room to knock on her door. There was no need for the knock, though, as Raven opened the door.
"Did you say something about earplugs," Raven asked, yawning. Kotoha nodded. "I need a pair. Blue, preferably."
"Why blue?"
"Because Sean can't tell if I'm wearing them or not."
"Smart."
The two put on their robes, before heading downstairs, where they were quickly met by Alex and Hank. "Merry Christmas," Hank yawned.
"It's too early for this," Alex grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it anyway?"
"7:30," Kotoha replied, looking at the clock.
"Wonderful," Alex yawned. "Wake me when the world freezes over. I'm going back to-"
"No you're not," Kotoha mumbled, reaching out towards a potted plant and calling the dirt in it to her. The dirt became a glove on her hand, and it reached out to grab Alex and hardened. "If we have to suffer, so do you. Do you think Sean's part robot? If so, maybe he has an off-switch."
"You can let me go, you know," Alex said, as he struggled to break free from the grip.
"Are you going to stay down here," Kotoha asked.
"Yeah, now let me go!"
"As you wish."
Kotoha sent the dirt back to the pot, and Alex fell on his stomach to the ground. "Sean doesn't have an off-switch," Alex complained, as he got up. "It's like someone put chocolate syrup instead of milk in his bottle when he was a baby and the sugar rush hasn't worn off yet."
"Speaking of chocolate," Raven asked, "I'm going to go make some hot chocolate. Anyone else want some?" This was met with a variety of nods. "Then you're going to have to make it yourself, I'm too tired to bother with anyone else's."
"Raven, you suck," Alex mumbled, as he walked into the kitchen to make his own hot chocolate.
"Thanks for the compliment," Raven yawned, as she and Kotoha walked in. "No hot chocolate for Sean."
"Good idea," Beast growled, as he walked into the kitchen and made himself some coffee.
"Where'd you come from," Kotoha asked.
"The lab."
"Okay...um...don't take this the wrong way, but you look terrible," Kotoha stammered. Beast glanced up from pouring his coffee, with the coffee pot still over the cup. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked really tired.
"I know," Beast replied, his hand still over the coffee. It wasn't until he heard the splattering of coffee on the countertop when he realized that he had overpoured. "Aw, dammit."
"Here, let me-"
"I got it. Thanks, though," Beast said, as he got paper towels and began to clean up the spilled coffee. He drank a little coffee off of the top of the mug once he finished cleaning up, before he grimaced at the taste and went back down to the lab.
"Something's keeping him busy," Alex commented, as he walked over to Kotoha, with two hot chocolates in hand. "Here," he said, handing her one.
"Thanks," Kotoha replied, sipping the hot beverage.
"So...when are we doing presents," Sean asked, walking into the room.
"You know, it's a miracle you still have a voice from all that screaming," Raven mumbled glaring at Sean. Alex and Kotoha also glared at him.
"What did I do," Sean asked, putting his hands up defensively.
"You woke us up at 7:30 in the morning. It's Christmas Day; we wanted to sleep in."
"Oh." There was a moment of silence, before Sean noticed the mugs filled with steaming hot chocolate in everyone's hands. "Can I have one?"
"No," everyone yelled.
"What time is it, anyway," Kotoha asked.
"It's...8:15," Alex yawned. "Sean, when I wake up, I am going to kill you for waking us up this early. And then, when you're dead, I'm going to dig up your body and kill you again."
"Now, Alex," Charles chastised, as he walked into the living room, "murder is illegal in at least-"
"But Sean woke us up at 7:30 this morning," Alex complained.
"What were you doing up at 7:30? I didn't hear anything."
"What the-of course. The Prof sleeps with earplugs. That's just fuck-"
"Alex."
"That's just fan-tucking-fastic," Alex corrected himself.
"Now...who wants to open presents," Charles asked.
Raven mumbled something, before she sighed, and asked, "Can't we do presents later? When we're all more awake?"
"Well, what would we do now?"
"Sleep," everyone except Sean answered, and with that, they all fell asleep on the couch.
Charles smiled to himself, before heading back upstairs.
"Raven, you're doing it wrong," Kotoha laughed, as Raven sat with a clipboard in her hand and a paintbrush with a bottle of ink next to her. It was about two hours later, given that the ringing in Alex, Kotoha, and Raven's ears had kept them from sleep for about twenty minutes or so.
"It looks right, though," Raven protested.
"You just wrote a swear word on a Christmas card!"
"But you said-"
"I said that you were supposed to write it like this," Kotoha laughed, as she demonstrated the correct way.
"But it looks-"
"No it doesn't!"
"Whatever you're talking about, I'm all for it," Alex supplied, as he walked in. "Who wrote a sw-"
"I'm trying to teach Raven how to write in Japanese," Kotoha explained. "She seems to be mastering the swear words pretty quickly."
"Kotoha," Raven laughed.
"When are we going to start on my lessons," Alex asked.
"As soon as Raven stops writing swear words," Kotoha replied. Raven mumbled something under her breath, before Charles, Sean, and Beast walked in from all different directions.
"Oh, good, you're all up," Charles commented. "Let's do presents. Have we all remembered our agreement of one present for each person?" This was met with nods from everyone, before Charles asked, "Who wants to go first?"
"I'll go, I guess," Raven muttered, and shrugged her shoulders. She dove under the tree and got out a series of presents that were wrapped in dark blue wrapping paper with a light blue ribbon. "Charles, this is for you." She handed him the box, which he unwrapped. It was a book on genetic mutations entitled Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body.
"This is a book I've never even heard of," Charles mused. "I'm impressed! It looks great, Raven! Thank you!"
"You're welcome! Alex, this is for you," Raven said, as she gave Alex a slightly smaller package wrapped in similar wrapping paper. Alex opened it to reveal an MP3 player with black headphones.
"Nice," Alex commented, looking the MP3 player over.
"Glad you like it! Let's see...this is for Sean." Raven handed Sean a slightly bigger package, and inside it was a box with a pair of earmuffs inside. "It's so that you don't hear yourself when you scream super loud like you usually do. Don't want you to lose your hearing, now, do we?" Sean laughed as he thanked Raven, before Raven handed her next package over to Beast. It wasn't that long, but it was about two fingers thick, and when he opened it, he found a blowtorch with a face protecting mask inside.
"You didn't give that to him so that he could blow down the house, did you, Raven," Charles asked teasingly.
"It's for when he works with metal bits," Raven laughed. Beast laughed and thanked Raven, as she handed her last parcel to Kotoha. It was a small light blue box, and when Kotoha opened it, she found a 'best friends' necklace inside. Raven pulled down the collar of her robe to show that she was wearing one half of it.
"Thanks, Raven," Kotoha smiled.
"So...who wants to go next," Charles asked.
Well, after Sean handed out his presents (which were the same for everyone, earmuffs of various colors and earplugs to match), Charles handed out his presents, and Alex and Beast handed out theirs, but saved the last one for Kotoha. "I hope you like it," Beast said.
Kotoha opened it and gasped. It was a Shodophone! Well, it wasn't exactly, but it had the brush mode and the moment Kotoha touched it, she could feel her mojikara going through the phone. "How on earth-"
"Blood, sweat, and tears," Beast commented with a straight face. Kotoha gasped again, before Beast said, "Kidding, kidding! Hard work, and Alex helped out, too. The smaller pieces were hard, though."
Kotoha turned to face Alex. "Alex...you helped," she asked, smiling at him.
Alex blushed a little, looked down at the ground, and said, "Um...yeah. It was fun getting to work on it; I can't wait to see you with it in action."
"Can I...Can I try to transform into ShinkenYellow," Kotoha asked. This was met with a series of nods, and Kotoha stood up and drew the kanji for 'earth.' She spun it around, and the kanji became her uniform and her helmet as she henshined into ShinkenYellow, with her Shinkenmaru and all her discs. She disengaged her transformation, as she shouted, "Yes!"
"Glad to see you're happy," Alex smiled.
"I love it," Kotoha exclaimed. "Thank you!" She ran over to Alex and Beast and hugged both of them. Alex's face turned a brighter shade of red, which everyone seemed to ignore.
"So what do you have for us, Kotoha," Sean asked.
Kotoha sighed. Truth was, she really didn't know what to get anyone. She went out with Raven two days before Christmas Eve to get the 2NE1 CD that had their song "I Am The Best" on it, but that wasn't really a Christmas present. "Well...um..." Kotoha stammered.
"You did get stuff for us, right," Sean asked. "It's all under the tree, right?"
"Well...um...thing is...it's not really a Christmas present. I don't have one for each of you," Kotoha stammered. "It's kinda...one thing for everyone, I guess."
"You mean you didn't get us stuff," Sean asked, starting to pout.
"Can you shut up and listen to her," Alex asked, smacking Sean across the back of the head.
"Alex," Charles chastised.
"He should listen to what she has to say. If he doesn't give a fu-a darn," Alex corrected himself, "then he shouldn't be here."
"Alex, it's fine," Kotoha sighed. "This...well...I guess I just wanted to say thank you." Kotoha dug into one of her robe pockets and got out her flute, which she quickly proceeded to situate in her hands, and before she started to play, she said, "These past two months have been amazing. You all are really helping me feel at home, and as much as I miss Japan, I feel like I have a second home here, with all of you. So I just wanted to say thanks." And with that, Kotoha began to play a soft but sweet melody that had Alex, Beast, and Charles in tears by the end of it.
"You have to teach me how to play that," Charles smiled, as he wiped his eyes.
"You sounded so...amazing," Alex breathed, as he tried to gain his composure. Beast was still in tears as he did his best to hide it.
"So that's it," Sean asked. Everyone turned to look at him and just laughed.
"Charles, that sounds like a dying animal," Kotoha commented, as Charles messed up with the instrument yet again. It was a few days later. New Year's Day, to be specific, and Kotoha was trying to teach Charles how to play her flute. He went to the store and got himself one, and asked Kotoha to teach him how to play it.
"But you said to hold it like-" Charles started.
"You're holding it wrong. It's not supposed to be at an angle. The center of the fingers of your right hand," Kotoha held up her right hand, "are supposed to cover the first four holes, starting from the bottom of the instrument. Not your fingertips. Your left hand's fingers should look like this." Kotoha demonstrated how Charles's hands should have looked, while Raven laughed at her brother.
"I honestly don't see what's so funny about this, Raven," Charles said, as he tried to copy Kotoha.
"It's funny hearing you produce the sound of a dying animal," Raven laughed. "I didn't think it was possible."
"I don't mean to be rude," Charles asked, "but why are you here?"
"Kotoha and I are supposed to go food shopping today, and she said that she'd listen to my new 2NE1 CD with me."
"I'll go with you as soon as Charles can produce a decent sounding sound," Kotoha promised, before turning to Charles. "You have to hold it horizontally. Don't tilt it."
"I'm not tilting it," Charles sighed, exasperated.
"Yes, you are," Alex said, as he walked in. "Sean's driving me nuts, and Hank doesn't need any help in the lab. I got bored, and I heard something that sounded like a dying animal, so I-"
"Can we stop with the dying animal references," Charles asked through gritted teeth.
"Now, sit up straight," Kotoha said, really annoyed at all of the interruptions. "Your mouth should look like this," Kotoha demonstrated, before continuing, "and you want to blow towards the edge of the mouth of the instrument."
Charles sighed, put the instrument up to his mouth, and blew, only for a sound that sounded like someone strangling a cat to come out. He threw the instrument to the floor and walked out, as he mumbled something about dying animals. Kotoha looked at Raven, and asked, "Is he usually like this when he doesn't get something right?"
"Not sure. Ready to go," Raven asked.
"Yeah."
"I'll just leave Charles a note that we went food shopping. Are you coming," Raven asked Alex.
"Sure, why not," Alex replied, shrugging his shoulders.
