The eighth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me...I want an ant-farmer for Christmas!

Ayame moaned as he shifted around in line, his arms full of the cards they had picked out. "This is killing me!" he groaned, throwing his head back.

Shigure sighed. "You and me both, Aya," he agreed. "This line has been going on for hours! It is like they are purposefully trying to delay us in our card making!"

In reality, they had only been standing in line for twenty minutes, but Ayame's dainty feet needed to rest. The line seemed to be moving forward at a snails crawl, a fact and illusion that served to irritate both men.

"Here," Shigure said, pulling out his phone. "Do you want to see the video of an intoxicated Hatori?"

Ayame smiled, clapping his hands while still holding the cards. "Oh would I? Let me see!"

They spent the next ten minutes watching and rewatching the video of Hatori proclaiming his love for everything that was within his sight. The two Sohmas received many odd looks from the people in line, yet no one dared to say anything.

"Oh it would have been better to have seen this in person," Ayame gushed.

"Do not worry," Shigure said when he put his phone away. "Once we are done with these cards, we can recreate Hatori's drunken episode!"

"I hate these Christmas cards," Ayame huffed. "They got us in this mess in the first place."

"I think I hate children now," Shigure stated, pointing to the screaming group in front of them. The mother of the four children was currently ignoring them while the little monsters wrecked havoc around them. Two boys in particular were wrestling with each other, with the older boy roughly throwing his little brother down to the ground before threatening to kick him. The brother nodded to himself, as if satisfied with his younger siblings demise, but the youngest leaped to his feet and kicked his sibling in the leg.

"Oh," Ayame cheered. "That was a good kick." He leaned over to Shigure. "My money's on the little one with the blue jacket."

Shigure smirked. "You think so? I think the larger one with the red jacket will wipe with floor with his younger sibling, and I am willing to bet a twenty."

"Are you two betting on those remboncius children?" one woman behind them demanded, aghast.

"Madam," Shigure said simply. "We are overgrown children who are bored out of our minds while waiting in line. Let us have fun. Tis the season!"

"Someone should rely that message to them," Ayame said, nodding to the four children who were now demanding candy and toys in very loud, shrill voices.

"I want a transformer for Christmas!" one boy screamed, tugging on his mother's sleeve.

"Buy me something!" another wailed as he kicked at his sibling, causing his brother to wrestle him to the ground.

"I gotta go to the bathroom!" one exclaimed.

"Look, that dude's a woman!" one kid exclaimed, pointing at Ayame suddenly.

Ayame blinked, registering what they had just said to him. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're a woman because of your long hair!" the kid shouted, causing everyone to stop and stare. Even the mother seemed to finally take notice, and she blushed red at the looks she was receiving.

Ayame gasped while Shigure chuckled. The Snake sniffed, flipping his hair over his shoulder, casing the woman behind him to sputter as some of his white locks slapped her in the face.

"Young man," Ayame said, nose in the air. "I will attempt to inform you of a man's true weapon in the world of romance, and his greatest pride. And then, I will inform and perhaps, forgive you, of your lack of knowledge."

"Pay up everyone!" Shigure called out. "You are about to witness the wisdom of Ayame Sohma!"

Ayame waved a hand in Shigure's direction. "No need to have these folks pay, Gure. Consider it a Christmas gift to all! Yes, miracles really do happen!" He leaned over until he was nose to nose with the little boy. "Now, child, a man's hair is his pride, a symbol of his-"

Ayame was abruptly cut off when a child suddenly jumped out of nowhere and yanked on Ayame's precious locks. Ayame let out an unmanly shriek as he bolted upward from his previous position, howling as he scrambled to protect his hair.

"Oh! He pulled on my hair!" Ayame shrieked. "Gure! How does it look? Is it bad?"

"Oh my," Shigure said with mock horror as he made a show of looked at Ayame's hair. "Aya," he started, his voice quivering. "I...I don't know how to tell you this…"

"What?" Ayame wailed. "Tell me!"

"Ayame," Shigure continued. "It's...it's a bald spot!"

Ayame's eyes widened and he let out a shriek. He went into a fit of hysterics as he moaned and bewailed his loss of hair. He collapsed to the floor, curling into a ball.

"Avert your eyes, Gure!" Ayame moaned. "For I do not wish for you to see me in such a state!"

"Oh Aya!" Shigure crooned as he knelt next to his cousin. "I have seen you in worse. Do not fret!"

Ayame seemed to be slowly returning back to his normal self at the presence of his cousin, until the same kid who had yanked on his hair decided to kick him in the shin.

Ayame howled and glared at the smug child. "You're a brat," Ayame hissed.

"No, you're a brat," the boy said, still smug as he pointed at Ayame.

Ayame recoiled as if he had been slapped. "How dare you! I am of princely character while you are of the devil! You touched my glorious hair and made me BALD!"

"Your hair is ugly, you brat," the kid stated.

"Have you noticed that the kid does not seem to be changing his verbal attacks?" Shigure mused thoughtfully. "It is really quite clever in the fact that he can still rile Ayame up with the same words."

"It is glorious!" Ayame proclaimed, still locked in a war with a human being who was twenty years younger than him. "And I am not the brat, you are!"

"You are!"

"You are!"

"I SAID YOU ARE!"

Kyo stepped back with a firm nod, a smile on his face when he took in the bright and shining Christmas tree that stood proud and tall.

His smile soon slipped when he noticed that the lights positioned in the entire part of the bottom of the tree was dead. He blinked, not daring to believe that the entire part of the tree was void of shining lights.

Kyo let out a frustrated growl as he marched forward, unhooking the lights and getting slapped in the process. He struggled with the lights, glad that he had held off on putting any ornaments on the tree yet.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Yuki and Kagura had come to an unspoken agreement to stay on seperate sides of the kitchen. Kagura had put Yuki in charge of preparing a simple salad dish, something she was certain he could handle.

"-And I will make some cookies as well!" Kagura said happily. "Won't Kyo be so happy!"

Yuki did not respond as he became steadily focused on putting the salad together. He huffed, straightening up as he prepared to add the dressing to the salad.

Kagura hummed thoughtfully as she stirred the soup, the festive smell filling the kitchen. "The soup should be almost done!" she exclaimed.

In that moment, darkness plunged the entire house, causing Ritsu to let out a startled shriek before apologizing for his sudden noise. The Monkey soon launched into a lengthy explanation on how he was certain it had been his fault that the lights had gone out.

"I do not think you were the cause for the power outage," Yuki said evenly to Ritsu, feeling the sticky, wet substance of the dressing he had tried to pour on the salad leak over the countertop. In the sudden darkness, Yuki had been preparing to add the dressing and had squeezed too hard on the bottle.

The rest was history.

"What-?" Kagura started as she tried to feel her way through the dark.

"Get a flashlight, I blew a fuse!" they heard Kyo shout, along with the sounds of running footsteps and something falling.

Kagura was all too eager to assist. "Here I am!" she shouted, pulling open drawers and grabbing anything that resembled a flashlight. "Here!" she exclaimed, no watching where she was going and crashing into Kyo.

Kyo yelped as he tried to activate the flashlight. He frowned in confusion as he examined the object he had been given. He scowled in the direction he assumed Kagura was in. "This isn't a flashlight!" he exclaimed.

"No," he heard Yuki say before a bright light filled his vision. "This is the flashlight."

Kyo scowled as he looked away from the light the Rat was shining in his face. "Put that light away, darn Rat! You want me to go blind?"

With a simple 'click,' Yuki turned the light off, plunging them all into darkness.

"Turn it back on! I can't see!" Kyo exclaimed, snatching the light away. He blinked when he realized that he had missed and grabbed something else.

"That is my shirt, stupid Cat," Yuki muttered, irritated as he shoved the flashlight into Kyo's hand.

Kyo grumbled as he activated the flashlight before leaving the kitchen with Kagura and Yuki following him.

Meanwhile, Ritsu sat in the dark, alone once again with a steaming pot of soup and a salad drowning in dressing.

"How did you blow a fuse?" Yuki demanded as both he and Kagura hovered over Kyo's shoulders as the Cat struggled with the fuses.

"None of your business," Kyo muttered as he put the flashlight in his mouth. However, he soon gave it to Kagura. "Hold this," he ordered. Kagura squealed at the thought of helping Kyo and eagerly shone the flashlight where he needed it to be.

"Is the Christmas tree almost done?" Yuki inquired.

"Yes," Kyo grunted. He then paused. "Almost."

Yuki frowned. "Almost? Have you put the lights on it yet? What about the ornaments?" He paused for a moment before pointing over Kyo's shoulder. "That fuse doesn't belong there."

Kyo threw his hands up in frustration. "Fine! You're so smart, you rig up the lights!"

"I thought we were trying to get the power back," Yuki stated, trying to control his smirk.

"The lights, the trees, the ornaments," Kyo raged. "All of it, you darn Rat! I'm sick of Christmas!"

"Don't be a scrooge," Yuki admonished.

Kagura gasped suddenly, as if remembering something vitally important. "The soup!" she exclaimed in horror, dropping the flashlight and rushing back up stairs.

Yuki's eyes widened as he remembered what he had left in the oven. "Oh no," he muttered, racing after the Boar, leaving Kyo alone.

"Hey!" Kyo exclaimed as he tried to reach the flashlight with his foot. In that moment, the power came back on, flooding the house with light once more.

But taking in the kitchen, both Yuki and Kagura wished for the darkness once more to hide the mess they now faced. The soup had boiled over, despite Kagura's efforts to save it. The roast Yuki had left in the oven was burned, and the rice had to be scrapped off of the bottom of the pan. All that was edible was a bowl of soggy salad.

"Perhaps we can salvage it," Yuki said desperately. "After all, it's just us, including you."

At that moment, the house phone rang, and Yuki was all too quick to answer it. "Sohma residence," he said into the phone.

"Yuki!" he heard a voice say over the phone. "What a pleasant surprise that you had answered the phone."

Yuki blinked, straightening up. "Sensi? Is something the matter?"

"Oh, not at all," Kazuma assured him. "I ran into Tohru and the others at the market, and she invited me to dinner tonight. I wanted to inform you ahead of time, as Miss Honda is still shopping at the market. She also informed me that you were cooking."

Yuki blinked. "Yes, I am." He then frowned. "Miss Honda is...still shopping?" he asked hopefully. Maybe they still had time to scrape up a decent meal before she came back.

"Oh, she won't be long," Kazuma said, dashing away Yuki's hopes. "She even offered to invite the others over for dinner as well. It does sound like it will be a full house."

"A full house. Fantastic," Yuki managed to say. "I look forward to seeing you."

Kagura watched him curiously as he put the phone down with a weary sigh. He looked up at his cousin with weary eyes. "Sensi and the others are coming over for dinner," he sighed. "And Miss Honda is on her way."

Both he and Kagura surveyed the disaster before them with the burnt roast, the ruined soup and rice, and the soggy salad.

"We can order takeout," Kagura declared, to which Yuki nodded eagerly.

Shigure watched with great interest as Ayame got into a pathetic slapping fight with the kid while everyone watched with growing horror. He pulled out his phone, eagerly recording it.

"So," one kid stated at Shigure. "Is that guy really a dude, or a girl?"

Shigure chuckled, flashing the Victorian Secret gift card at the kid. "Does this answer your question?"

The kid frowned before understanding came on his face. "Oh, so she's a girl with a weird voice!"

"Of course not!" Ayame exclaimed in a shrill voice, noticing the conversation going on. "Only a true man would buy his beloved girlfriend something like that! It proves I am a male!"

"Or you have issues," the kid stated.

The child that Ayame had previously been fighting with decided to take things a bit farther and kicked the Snake in the shin. Ayame howled before kicking the kid back. Yet he tripped and fell to the ground where the kid proceeded to trample over Ayame's white locks.

Shigure decided to step in at that moment to try and salvage the situation. But one kid threw a hanger at him. The hanger flew straight and true, much like an arrow, and smacked Shigure on the head, knocking him out as his head connected with a shelf. Meanwhile, Ayame had fainted. From what, no one was quite sure.

"Should someone call the hospital?" a customer asked with growing concern as they surveyed the two Sohmas who were sprawled out in the checking line.