Y/N: Osamu was an interesting character to write. He was very different than either of his parents, and was far more passive than I imagined when I first started out to write as him. He took me by surprise, and while I feel like his character isn't as strong as he could have been, I think that's where his charm lies. He has room to grow. He's just a kid, you know? We don't want perfect characters. We want children that could have a long winding road ahead of them. I think Osamu really showcases that room for growth.

Title: Here Comes Santa Claus

By: YukiraKing

Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or its characters.

Chapter 02: Do You Hear What I Hear?

Osamu Ichijouji:

"Chika won't tell me who she got," Makoto complained. "She's being so stupid. It's just a pointless game that Louisa probably invented. I don't understand why she won't just tell me. She won't get a good present for whoever it is if she doesn't ask for advice. God, I feel sorry for whoever it is." He slammed his locker closed. It was the locker right next to mine. I was much gentler with my locker. It got stuck sometimes, which made it really annoying, and if I didn't close it just right, then I couldn't get it open without finding the janitor, and I didn't like bothering him. I didn't like adding to his work load. He had enough to deal with, being the only janitor in the entire school. I had to do my part to help him out.

Not that I would ever tell my friends that. They'd just make fun of me for it. I knew, because they made fun of Tenshi all the time for doing things like that. I didn't want to lose my friends just by voicing my opinions. So I never did. It wasn't that bad. They all had loud enough opinions that they didn't seem to mind that I kept mine to myself. It was very relaxing that way. I didn't have to worry about being made fun of, or saying the wrong thing. It was nice, actually.

"God, I feel sorry for whoever's got you," Kaoru Kido sneered, as she sauntered passed. She was a pretty girl, but her snarky personality sort of out shone that. Her hair was wild and fun, and it was just as loud as her personality. She was always around, which I thought was funny, because she and Makoto did not get along, at all.

"No one asked you, you eccentric porcupine!" Makoto snapped. She laughed and started turning the wheel on her lock to the right combination.

"I'm so nice that I can share my opinion without prompting," Kaoru assured him, a smirk forming on her face.

"You don't even know what we're talking about," Makoto complained, and then he turned to me. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"She can answer for herself, thank you very much," Kaoru told him, slamming her locker closed when she'd gotten her bag out of it. "And no, she doesn't. But she doesn't need to. Anyone would be unfortunate to have to deal with you."

"That's not even true," Makoto said, rolling his eyes. "I'm a star. People will be screaming my name in the future."

"Yeah," Kaoru snorted. "In horror."

"At least I'm not—" Makoto said, trying to spit out a comeback, but Kaoru put a finger against his lips, making him pause mid-insult.

"I would love to stay and chat, but…you know…I actually wouldn't," she said shrugging her shoulders, before disappearing in the onslaught of students. The school we attended in the Digital World had a slightly uneven blend of human to digimon for its population. There was one third human to two thirds digimon. But it was really awesome. How many other kids can say that their teacher is a centaur? Not many. I was so glad that I had Centarumon this year, instead of having Jijimon again. Jijimon was fun, but I hadn't learned much. All of my friends were upset because they liked having fun and goofing off. I wanted to get a solid education though so that I could secure my future.

It was something I thought about a lot actually, since Mai had gone off to college and was already interning at the local newspaper. She'd known all her life what she wanted to do. She wanted to be a journalist, and her loud, demanding questions really taught me to keep my mouth shut. Before I'd learned my lesson, she'd made a habit of asking only really embarrassing questions, and I'd always reveal my inner secrets, thinking that she'd be nice and keep them, since she was my sister. But when she printed off a 'newsletter' that had a detailed expose about the crush I had on Ko Supea, and handed it out to all of my friends, I realized that it was a bad idea to share my thoughts with anyone.

And because I never talked to anyone about it, I kept internalizing all of my stress about not having any ideas about what I wanted to do in the future. I had time; I was just starting high school. But Mai had known when she was four that she wanted to be a 'fancy newspaper lady'—which she later discovered wasn't the proper title and was devastated for an entire week.

Unlike Mai though, I didn't have any ideas.

I could have asked Mom and Dad about it, but that would involve taking up their time. I'd much rather play games as a family than take up their time for myself. There were four of us and only two of them. They deserved time to themselves too. They worked so hard to keep us fed and clothed, with a roof over our head, the least I could do was give up my share of their time so that they could see each other. It only seemed fair. I wasn't going to actually share my thoughts or opinions anyway, so it wasn't like they were missing out on much.

"She is just the most annoying girl I've ever met," Makoto complained. "And I live with Chika! I hate her."

"Kaoru?" I clarified.

"Duh," Makoto said. "Chika's freaking crazy, but she's my kid sister."

"We're talking about Chika?" Hiro asked as he and Nikko appeared out of nowhere. "Sounds like you missed out on the conversation, Nikko."

"Can we keep talking about her?" Nikko asked rather boyishly. The two of them walked down the hallway together. Hiro was the tallest, and his blonde hair really stood out—but mine was light purple so I couldn't say much. Nikko's hair was really wild, just like the old pictures of his dad. Everyone was waving to them as they walked by. We were pretty much the most popular guys in school. It was mostly due to the fact that we had Crests and two thirds of the student body were digimon that remembered our parents when they had the Crests.

It seemed like a long time ago now that Mari handed me the Crest of Tenacity and told me to use it well. I hadn't had any reason to actually use it though, and I really doubted it would work for me. I was just too passive to be passable at being tenacious. I didn't have any desire to not be passive though. I just kind of existed. It was very relaxing—even if I internalized my stress.

"Dude, that's my sister," Makoto said, brushing his obnoxiously long and voluminous hair from his face. It was a dramatic look, but he was able to pull it off because he was such a dramatic guy. He was all about acting. He claimed he would be a star someday, and I believed him—mostly because he was way too intense about his dream. I figured he had a step up on me, because he actually had a dream, even if it was outlandish. If anyone could pull it off, it would be him.

"I know," Nikko said nonchalantly. "I just wanted to know if she had my name, you know, for the Secret Santa thing. I just kind of have the feeling she does. And if she does, I could probably tell you what I'd like."

"If you say the word kiss, I'll hit you," Makoto warned him.

"Uh, no, that's not what I was going to say," Nikko protested. Hiro and I shared a look. That was totally what Nikko was going to say. He had a thing for Chika, and Makoto hated it. Chika might confuse, frustrate and baffle him, but she was still his little sister, and he didn't want his friend to be interested in her. I tried to understand, but it was pretty difficult, since Mai was so much older, and Josei was so much younger. There wasn't a chance that they'd be interested.

I hoped so anyway.

"Let's get going," Hiro suggested, saving Nikko from a deeper interrogation by an irritated Makoto. "Elliot's probably already waiting for us. You know how he gets when we're late." We were only five minutes late last Friday, and I was sure his reaction was still fresh in all of our minds.

"Wow, you guys showed up?" he said in mock surprise. "That's cool, but since I've been here for like ever, I already have to go home, because I live on the opposite side of the world, and I have a long commute. But it's cool. I just traveled the globe so we could hang out together. You guys never do that. But I don't complain. I'm not even complaining now. I just have to get home before Mom and Dad send a search party out because I've been gone for so long."

He was pretty much the most obnoxious guy I knew. But he was so funny at the same time that none of us really cared—and he was genuinely enjoyable to hang around with when he wasn't upset with us, or making a scene for attention. He did that sometimes. Makoto totally got into it too, and it was very embarrassing for me. They would go all out and improvise with each other, and the next thing I knew we'd have to take sides, and the rest of the week Makoto and Elliot wouldn't talk to each other. They weren't even mad. They were just dedicated to their audience. It was ridiculous.

But I never told them that. There wouldn't be any point. I'd just end up on the receiving end of a team-up dramatization, and I didn't think I could handle that without fainting or throwing up. I had issues with panic attacks. Thanks Mom.

Hiro took the lead, and we all sort of moved through the hallways. It was still weird, that everyone got out of our way just because we were popular. I didn't understand. I also wasn't sure that I was really popular like them. Nikko, Hiro and Makoto were pretty much universally well liked. It was insane how well they could charm a crowd if they wanted to. I was way too shy to do that. Some days, I thought I might fit in better with Tenshi, Kana and Renjiro, but I knew I'd miss my best friends too much.

There was a coffee shop just outside of the Temple. It was a pretty popular spot for kids to just hang out when school was done. We had a standing reservation—because it was run by Tapirmon and Makoto's grandmother. Elliot was already sipping a hot chocolate that he was pretending was coffee, just to seem mature and cool, when we got there. Makoto's grandma came over and gave us all a hot chocolate and told us to enjoy our coffee, because she thought it was funny that we played pretend. I thought it was weird and pointless, but I didn't say anything.

If they wanted coffee though, they should've just ordered coffee.

I sipped my hot chocolate, and the others all started talking about the Secret Santa. Nikko demanded everyone reveal who they were buying gifts for, but Elliot stopped him.

"Seriously? That's like the only fun part about a Secret Santa," Elliot said. "Don't make it boring."

And Nikko decided not to press for any further information. That was good, because I didn't need for them to laugh about the person I had to get a present for. I was probably going to get the wrong thing, but it wasn't easy getting something for Emiko. She was a grownup. She was twenty-five! What did you get for a twenty-five year old that had a job and could buy whatever she needed?

Nothing.

I was stressing about it, because I didn't want to be the one to give the worst present. Emiko was also very mean. She had been pranking Renjiro pretty much since he was born, and there was nothing Renjiro could do to stop it. I didn't want her to turn those particular talents in my direction. I'd probably pass out or cry or something. It would be embarrassing.

"I'm not really sure where Secret Santa came from," Elliot said. I realized only then that we'd attracted a group of curious students. There were two human girls with a Floramon, Gotsumon and Gekomon all leaning over excitedly. "But it's a pretty wicked tradition. It's popular in North America, I don't know if it is anywhere else. I've never actually done research on the subject. I don't think I ever will. But it's cool. You only have to buy one present this way too, and everyone gets a present in the end."

"Really?" Floramon asked, batting her eyes. She was totally flirting with him. Nikko nudged me in the ribs to tell me so, even though I figured it out on my own. Elliot was used to it though, because he was the aloof member of our group. He went to school in a different world—aka Earth—and had a different accent. He also couldn't go anywhere without his backwards baseball cap and his sunglasses. He was the cool kid. He was the mysterious one. Everyone wanted a piece of him.

Until they got to know him and they realized he was arrogant and annoying and a goofball that was afraid of letting anyone know he actually cared. I knew all of that, and I still stuck around, and so did Nikko, Hiro and Makoto—but they were all just as wacky as Elliot. Sometimes it was exhausting being the quiet, mature, sane friend.

"Ew," Elliot sighed, looking towards the door. "It's Louisa."

"Aww…Tenshi," Hiro pouted. I followed their eyes and found Tenshi, Louisa, Kana and Renjiro were coming in the café. Hiro sneered at his brother, who didn't notice. Louisa glared over at us, because she didn't want to be hanging around Elliot either. We chugged the cold remainders of our hot chocolate and got up to wait outside while Makoto said goodbye to his grandmother. Once we were outside, we just walked around, wandering back to the Temple and perusing the streets with no real goal in mind. We always did that. It was nothing but a waste of time—consistently—but it was tradition. It also made sure that I didn't have a whole lot of time to do my homework, but I was used to that to.

Eventually, I had to say goodbye, because I had to get to dinner. We weren't allowed to be late. It was one of the few times in an average day that we all had to be together as a family. The others teased me about being a "goody-two-shoes" for listening to my mother, but obviously they'd never faced the wrath of Miyako Ichijouji. She was absolutely terrifying when she was in a bad mood.

They were going to continue wasting time—which I was bummed about missing—and I headed back home. Mom was putting dinner on the table when I got there, flashing through the computer as I travelled between worlds.

"Took your time today," Mom commented, setting the salt and pepper shakers out of reach of Josei's chair, because she liked to shake them over her food, but didn't actually like the taste of either, and would refuse to eat whatever she'd seasoned. I shrugged, and headed to the kitchen and grabbed plates, forks and knives, and got to work on setting the table. Mom never asked for me to do it, but at some point or other, I just started doing it because I was bored, and it had become my unofficial chore. I didn't protest. I could offer that much assistance at least, if it meant I wouldn't ever have to actually cook the meal. "How was school?"

"Cool," I said. "Centarumon was talking about the Crests. It was really interesting. I didn't know where they came from. It was pretty cool to learn about it."

"That's nice," Mom said with a smile. "I remember learning about that. Centarumon couldn't tell us. I wish he could have. It would have made things so much easier."

"Cool," I said again. I was starting to think that it sounded really lame, but I couldn't come up with any other word to use in its place, so I didn't bother swapping it out. I said "Cool" several more times while Mom was explaining the exact same thing that Centarumon taught me already that day. She was smiling though, so I didn't want to stop her. It was so rare that she and I had any one on one time like this, since I was one of four—and Josei demanded a lot of attention.

We used to be together a lot, back before Taro was born, and when I was too little to go to school. Mai was excited about exploring the world of education, but I liked being at home and having Mom all to myself. I was obviously too old to admit stuff like that now, since it was embarrassing, but that feeling never really went away.

"What are we going to do today, little man?" Mom asked once Mai had been deposited at the school, and I had her all to myself. She didn't need to ask though, because she knew what my answer was going to be. I was three years old at the time, and I loved reading more than anything else in the world.

I couldn't actually read, because I was only three years old, but I liked to think that I could. And Mom never corrected me either.

"Do you want to….play hide and seek?" she asked teasingly. I shook my head quickly. "Do you want to paint a picture?" I crinkled my nose. I wasn't good at art. I tried to draw Stingmon for my Dad once, and he asked me if it was a hippopotamus. I cried for half an hour before deciding art was too embarrassing for me. "What about….the dishes?"

"No!" I protested wildly.

"What should we do then?" she asked, pretending to be confused.

"Story time!" I cried. I ran to grab the book I always read. The story never ended up the same, and Mom jokingly referred to it as the magic book. I sat on the couch and waited for Mom to catch up. I pat the cushion excitedly when I caught sight of her. She laughed and settled in next to me. I opened the book so that it was resting on both of our laps, and just before I could launch into a story about pirates and potatoes, Mom had to ruin everything by sighing.

"I don't know what I'll do when you go to school next year," she murmured. My whole world shattered. I didn't know I was going to have to go to school too. I thought it was just a way to get rid of Mai so I could have fun without her around to take all of the attention. My pirates turned to lonely cats that were forced to go to school when they didn't want to, and how they would never be happy again.

I ended up crying for hours, and Mom couldn't get me out of my funk.

And I would never tell anyone about that particular day, for fear of embarrassing myself to death. I didn't want my friends to think I was a Mama's boy, but I kind of was. She didn't have a lot of time for me, because she worked full time and had four kids, and I understood that. But I also silently cherished every moment that she could offer me.

But then Josei would inevitably walk into the room and spoil it all with her obnoxious six year old prattle, just as she did right then. She was wearing a fuzzy pink sweater and hot pink tights under a pair of white shorts. They were play clothes, definitely not something she could wear out in the winter air, and the outfit was so loud that it made my eyes hurt. Mom laughed quietly, rolling her eyes. But she couldn't say much. She was wearing lime green, turquoise and red. And they weren't play clothes.

"Mommy," Josei declared, when she realized she was the centre of attention—her favourite place to be. She adjusted her oversized glasses, and tilted her head so her pale violet pigtails flopped through the air. "Who is my Secret Santa?"

"I don't know, Josei," Mom said with a smile. Josei asked every day, probably thinking that Mom and Dad were magic, and would eventually figure it out for her. I knew that I used to believe they were made of magic. It was another thing that I thought was too embarrassing to mention.

"Find out!" Josei demanded. "I want a pink present. Pink is the best. Pink is my favourite. Everyone knows that. It will be pink, right?"

"Probably," I muttered. I contemplated making sure her present was orange or something, but I knew I would never go through with it. I wasn't looking to get in trouble, and that would inevitably happen if Mom found out. She knew everything. She didn't just have eyes on the back of her head. I swear she had surveillance cameras in every room of the house. We couldn't get away with anything!

"Where's Mai?" Mom asked, glancing at the clock. Dad was in the garage. I could hear him trying to change the car's tires for the winter, and he was not succeeding on his own. He wasn't good with tools. He was better with his gun—not that he would tell us if he ever shot anyone with it. He was boring like that. I was happy with his decision because I wasn't sure I really wanted to know.

"I'm here!" Mai called, opening the front door, as if on cue. Taro slinked into the room and sat at his chair. Mom didn't even notice him, and nearly shrieked when she turned in his direction. Dad finally gave up on his tires, and I figured Mai and I would get suckered in to being his helpers later. "I had a crazy day at school today. It totally made up for how boring my internship is." She complained about her internship a lot, because all she was ever asked to do was make photocopies and deliver notices to the actual journalists. She was so close to experiencing her dream, and it was just being dangled in front of her face like a carrot. I didn't like seeing her so unhappy, but I didn't know how to fix it, and she probably didn't want her little brother sticking his nose in her business anyway.

"What happened at school?" Taro inquired sounding genuinely interested.

"Do you mind if I eat later, Mom?" Mai asked. "I've really got to finish these reports. I thought I'd have the rest of the week for them, but I got assigned three more today and they're all due pretty much at the same time."

"Just this once," Mom decided, not looking happy about it. But she wasn't telling the truth anyway. Mai had been excused three times over the last week alone. No one else had ever dared to ask to miss dinner. It was family time. But Mai was a grownup now, and Mom was always giving her leeway. "I don't want you to fail. But tomorrow you better have your butt in your chair, Missy."

"Thanks Mom," Mai called, before racing up the stairs. Taro just looked at his plate and sighed.

"Do you have my name, Osamu?" Josei asked. I groaned. It was going to be a long wait until this Secret Santa thing was over with. I shook my head and sat down.

"Can you pass the juice?" I asked Mom, who poured me a glass and handed it to me.

"Are you sure?" Josei asked, narrowing her eyes at me like I might be lying to her. I sighed and put my head against the table—only to receive a sharp reprimand "get your face off your plate, Osamu"—groaning at my sister's antics. It was going to be a really long wait.

Featured Evolution Line: Osamu: Leafmon—Minomon—Fanbeemon—Waspmon—MetallifeKuwagamon—BanchoStingmon