Chapter Fifty One: Constant Worldwide Vigilance

Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Holiday Helping Hand Arc: 1/2

Song Playing: Songs from Animaniacs, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and funny clips from Yu Yu Hakusho. Basically youtube.

Theme 79: Winter

Her breaths hovered mockingly for a few moments just under her nose only to disappear into the cold winter air. Soon it was replaced with another could and the cycle continued as she continued making her way down the mostly empty sidewalk.

"Ms. Anezaki?"

Stopping, she looked behind her then down. There was a small man standing behind her. Midget- her mind supplied: his limbs were proportional to the rest of him. She wracked her brain for where she might have seen him before but was completely drawing a blank. He didn't look familiar at all. "Uh- yes. Yes that's me."

He seemed to be giving her a once over. As if he wasn't quite sure she was the right Anezaki.

As polietely as she could, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. It was a rather useless attempt to generate some heat. She also took this time to observe him further. There wasn't much she could tell. He was an average looking guy with an unaverage height. He was dressed nicely in a suite but had an outrageous holiday tie. He was also obviously a foreigner: from where she wasn't entirely sure but he was definately from somewhere else.

However she was beginning to lose the feeling in her toes. Not to mention she was pretty sure her carton of milk was starting to freeze into a disgusting slush. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Can you give a message to Mr. Hiruma?"

Well, this certainly was new occurance. Most of the time people were requesting that she get him to leave them alone. Nothing much she could do but go along with it and see where he went with this. "Sure."

"A blizzard blew out all lines of communication but we have managed to get the back up generators up and we should be back online by the end of the week." He looked at her very seriously. Almost skeptical but he seemed polite enough. "Do you need me to write it down?"

Careful not to joustle the eggs too much, she shook her head. "No. No, I got it."

"Thank you." He bowed a very formal deep bow.

She bowed as low as she dared, which was little more than an inclination of her head. "Uh- No problem."

Then they parted ways. She continued her path home while he walked up the street in the opposite direction. She only made it a few steps before she was stopping in her tracks.

"Oh!" The fact that he had never given his name suddenly occurred to her. Quickly she turned around. "Who should I say the message is-"

He was gone.

"From?"

When she got home and told Hiruma about her odd encounter, cryptic message included, he didn't seem too concered. He also didn't seem too inclinedto give her any more details concerning the issue. All he had said about it was that it was about time and then he had gone right back to typing away at his laptop.

XxX

It took a bit of bribery and sacrificing a bit of what little dignity she had left but she somehow managed to convince him to go to the winter festival with her. She has been admiring a side stand that was selling scarves when the fact that she was alone hit her. Abandoning the stand she started looking for him. There was no telling what kind of trouble he could get into alone in a crowd such as this.

She found him near the petting zoo. There were the usual animals: pigs, sheeps, and the like. There was also several deer like things with some very impressive set of horns. He wasn't alone either. Quickly she sped up her pace, as she got closer she recognized the short man she had met several weeks earlier on her way back from the grocery store. There was also an older woman that appeared to be giving him some sort of gift.

By the time she reached them, both strangers were already gone. Slowing herself to a more reasonable pace as she stopped next to him. "What was that about?"

"Just a little token of appreciation."

She only just managed to avoid saying: token of appreciation, you? Instead she leaned in to get a closer look at what he was holding. It looked harmless enough. A small round tin with a snowflake design on the lid. It certainly didn't look like a bribe or any other sort of unsavory thing. "What's inside?"

Popping the lid off, she felt herself smile a big happy smile at the sight of homemade cookies.

"Want one?" The smirk on his face was way too smug for her liking. It was clearly daring her to take one. Like he knew she wanted one because she was a snacker and there was no way she could resist such an opportunity as this. The longer she didn't say anything the more amused he looked. He also knew that if she didn't eat them they would go to waste.

So, though it pained her greatly, she said. "No thanks."

Later, when he was standing in line for noodles and she was saving them a place to sit, she opened the tin. It was filled with delicious looking bite sized cookies. They were all different patterns and shapes. Delicately she plucked out one that was shaped like a star. With great caution she looked over at the long line her husband was standing in. He appeared to be moments away from blackmailing the people in front of him into leaving the cue.

Good, he'd be distracted for a while. Happily she took a bit and almost dropped the remainder of the treat in shock.

It was the best cookie she had ever eaten.

XxX

It was that time of the year again.

Mamori was insistent that they clean the apartment from top the bottom in preparation for the New Year. Which is how Hiruma found himself standing a chair, not one of the good ones but the one with the wobbly leg. Why he was here while she was standing below him thumbing through the mail he wasn't quite sure.

She was apparently a lot craftier than he gave her credit for.

"There was a letter in the mailbox."

He was currently shoving some of the heavier boxes up into the closet. His voice strained as he struggled not to drop the whole thing on his head. From the way this thing weighed he'd guessed she was storing her brick collection up there. "What does it say?"

"I don't know." She looked at the name on the front of the envelope. "It's addressed to you."

He really didn't have the attention span for this right now. "Well open it up and read it."

"So what's it say?"

Her eyes scanned through the brief message. "It's a thank you note from a Mr. C for your help with the gifts and hopes you're on board for next year."

"Che. Like he'd survive without me."

She turned the envelope over in search of any additional information. But there was nothing useful. No return address, no full name, or picture attachment. She didn't recognize the handwriting at all. "Who's Mr. C?"

Placing his foot on a crate full of books that were heading to charity donations for balance, he grunted out, "Mr. Clause."

"Mr. Clause." She dead panned.

"Yeah." He finally managed to shove the thing way back in there. Bending down for the last box, he was pleased to find it was filled with something that was a lot light than the previous box. This one he had no problem shoving back on the shelf.

"And where does he live?"

"Way up north." He headed to the kitchen for a drink. Amused and little confused when she followed behind him like a dog after a bone.

"Are you trying to tell me you work for Santa Clause?" Sure her question was a little rushed and more than a little accusatory but this was a lot of information to take in at once. Besides there was no way what she was thinking could actually be true. The notion was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Right. Right?

He dug around the cabinet for a glass. "Not like I'm trying to hide it."

Suspicion weighed heavily in her tone. "And what do you get out of this?"

"Fucking peace on Earth and good will to my fellow man."

"You honestly expect me to believe that you're-" She almost couldn't bring herself to say what she was thinking but somehow she managed to choke out the words. "Santa's little helper?"

He gave her one of those looks. "Who did you think gave the fat man his list every year?"

Mamori sighed. Only Youichi.