Aoshi had woken up early, but come down from his room rather late, as he was enjoying its' warmth and reading a rather boring article about sea sponges that somehow was on his 'Reccomended for You' list. As he came down the stairs, he began to smell an unfamiliar scent of pine needles and baked goods. With a bit of a start, he realized it was Christmas Eve Day – and he had completely forgotten. It had also slipped his mind that this year, it was the Aoiya that was hosting the guests from Tokyo – the Himuras, the Rooster-head, Yahiko, and Takani Megumi.
"Oh! Hey Aoshi-sama! Good morning!" Misao sopped at the foot of the stairs with a crate under one arm – and what seemed to be an indistinguishable tangle of plant matter and ribbons in the other hand. She staggered a bit, then handed him the small leafy branches with red ribbons wrapped around them, quickly checking the crate before it toppled from her arms. "Could you please deal with those?" she threw over her shoulder as she continued staggering down the hallway. Aoshi blankly stared at what she had thrust upon him, not understanding its purpose.
He followed her into the main room and waited until she opened the crate and passed it over to Omasu and Okon, who were pruning the Christmas tree. "What is this?" he asked, indicating the branches in his hands.
Misao's eyes widened. "Oh! You don't know? It's mistletoe."
Aoshi still didn't understand. "What is it used for?"
"Well…" Misao looked towards the ceiling for inspiration. "It's a Westerner thing, I think. On Christmas they put up mistletoe to hang from the ceiling, and…" she blushed. "If someone is standing underneath it, there's a tradition that… Someone's gonna kiss them. I-it can be platonic, though! Like on the cheek or something." Misao explained.
"Ah." Aoshi nodded. "…I see." He said. "So it is like a survival game where you have to pay attention to the ceiling where you stand – and the last person who has not yet been 'gotten' wins, and there are no defenders. A free for all?"
A sweatdrop appeared on Misao's face. "Uhh… Not quite…"
Now more-or-less understanding what was required of him, Aoshi tacked mistletoe strategically to the rafters, in the most hidden places, yet where people would naturally stand or sit. Misao watched him, trying not to giggle as she put up the paper garlands.
When the guests arrived from Tokyo, it was late in the evening, around seven or so. Misao welcomed them in. Kenshin and Kaoru came with Kenji who had recently turned four. They had brought one of Kenshin's homemade cakes. Megumi came too, with a fancy-looking assortment of chocolate-marshmallow-creampuff things. "It's French." She explained. Sano brought a very large bottle of sake, with a red ribbon tied around the neck of the bottle. Hiko did not come, as he was in Shanghai for various reasons.
The party was in full swing. Okina, Kuro and Sano were singing, Megumi and Okon were having an animated conversation and Kenji was charming Omasu, Shiro and Misao, as Aoshi, Kenshin and Kaoru looked on. "You're such a big boy now!" cooed Omasu. "Look at you!"
Misao and Kenshin reminisced, while Kaoru and Aoshi tried to string together a conversation that ended up being a long rant on Kaoru's part, and monosyllables and occasional insights on Aoshi's. After a while, the child in Kenshin's arms nodded off to sleep, and Misao offered to carry him to the Himuras' room, which Kenshin gratefully accepted. "This one's arms were just beginning to hurt. Many thanks. Kenji is getting big, indeed he is." He said fondly.
"No problem, no problem! He's not any heavier than the Christmas tree!"
As Kenji snored gently on a futon upstairs – there was no sleep for the attendees of the Christmas party downstairs. Megumi had a stuttering Sanosuke backed up against a wall, her cheeks tinted pink with liquor, completely unaware of the mistletoe above. Okina had chosen to retire for the night. "You young ones can be merry, and drink the night away, but I have to run an inn tomorrow."
Kenshin and Kaoru sat on the tatami, pouring each other drinks and laughing about something. Misao looked up and shook her head. "Aoshi-sama?" she said, turning to face him. "Can you help me with this? It's stuck."
Aoshi looked up, seeing that somehow a twig of mistletoe was stuck in the red, white and green paper garland right above them. "I'll get a chair." He said.
When he brought back the chair, Misao grinned and hopped up onto it, standing on tiptoe. "Ugh, I still can't reach it. I hate being short." She muttered. Looking down at Aoshi, she leaned down, to get off the chair, but in that instant, she saw a slight smirk momentarily appear on his face, so quickly that she thought she imagined it. As she parted her lips to ask him to take her place, as he was taller, he put a hand on the side of her face and kissed her gently on the lips.
As he pulled away, he pointed up towards the mistletoe. "I won." He said quietly.
Somewhere in the background, Sanosuke whooped.