The End of Hope's Peak Academy: Zetsubou-Hen

by The Celestial Sky Dragon

Hope's Peak Academy was a place where the Elite of the Elite came to hone their skills. The students of Class 77 had been here for a year now, entering their second when they get word of a new student. Daisuke is a young man who feels like he doesn't fit in, even with his title. How will he handle his new life in Hope's Peak? Especially with Despair looming on the horizon? (Diyoko)

15. Christmas Special Part 2

A/N: So...remember how I said I was going to make my chapters really long, just for the sake of being long? Well it's happened, here is Chapter Fifteen coming at all of you, and it is one long mother fucker, a whopping 82 pages! That's a lot of words, and trust me, it took me two freaking days in order to finish it. And now that it is, I will be posting it here, so please excuse grammatical errors and such. I would go back to proof read it, but currently I am without internet and am using my phone's mobile hotspot in order to post it. It's eating up my data so I gotta be quick. I hope you all enjoy it, and tell me how I did. I will also be tapping out for awhile, to take a break from this story. I will continue it, but after writing this long bastard, you have to excuse me. I might work on a few other things, but I will be back. So thank you all for understanding, and I hope you enjoy it.

The End of Hope's Peak Academy

Zetzubou-Hen

Chapter 15

Christmas II

Talking to Headmaster Kirigiri had been easier than Daisuke thought. He ended up catching the man as he was leaving his office. After some talking with him and Hiyoko, the man allowed them to have use of the extra decorations, and gave them the key to the storage room on the first floor plaza. Carrying everything into the academy proper had been a little more difficult. While the staff didn't mind it, there were some teachers that gave them flak for it, Mrs. Mendeleev being one of them, but when Daisuke showed her the eHandbook that the Headmaster had allowed them to use, she didn't really say anything.

Classroom 2-B was now entirely different to what it had been the day before. While the windows had been replaced with new ones after the explosion, the room had been left in much the same state. So Daisuke and Hiyoko decided to give the entire room a good cleaning. They picked up all of the glass they had missed earlier that day, and had washed all of the desks and shelves, dusting every corner of the room. After that, had come the fun part, at least to Daisuke. He pulled out his laptop from his bag and plugged it into the back wall, setting it on top of the teacher's desk. He sifted through his play list, finding the perfect song and played it. Thankfully, Kazuichi had made a surround sound system for the room, so he had plugged it into that, filling the entire room with music. Hiyoko, who was looking through a box of garland, looked up at him, her head tilted in confusion.

"You listen to Shaka Ponk?" she asked curiously.

"Hell yeah, I saw them live in concert when they were in Spain. They are so freaking cool. It was actually my first concert." he said, setting the music to a volume where it wasn't bothering anyone, then again no one was in the academy proper at the moment anyway, other than the janitors.

"I've never been to a concert. What are they like?" she asked, pulling a rolled up bundle of green garland. She shook it a bit, a few pieces of it slowly falling to the floor.

"Well, it depends on the venue. If it's outdoors, then it's awesome, but everyone is really close. Tons of sweaty people, fat guys tossing poor suckers into mosh pits, and then there are the girls that sing horribly off key. Ugh, that was the worst. I got power bombed by some random guy in the back of the crowd, shit sucked." he admitted, walking over to the big box in the center of the room.

"Wow, you sort of made me not want to go to one now." the girl said, grabbing the staple gun from on top of the back shelf. She took off her sandals, jumping on top of them to start putting the garland up around the room. Daisuke was impressed, for a really short girl, she had a long enough reach.

"Not all of them are that bad though, just for popular bands like that. I've never been to a concert here in Japan. I can't imagine a mosh pit forming at a Sayaka Maizono concert." he said with a chuckle. He grabbed the lights that had been in the box, and started unrolling them. Grabbing a spare extension cord, he plugged them in, throwing the otherwise darkened room into a rainbow of multicolored lights.

"Let there be light!" he cried loudly over the music.

"Whoa...jeez, you almost made me fall asshole!" Hiyoko cried, regaining her balance.

"I thought Traditional Dancers were all about balance, that shouldn't be an issue for you." he said.

"I'm in a kimono jerk off, I have very little leg room to work with." she admitted.

"Hmm, perhaps you should take it off then." he said, looking at her with a straight face.

"Do you wanna die? I can shoot you with this staple gun, toss you out the window. No one would suspect a thing." she said, taking aim at him with the silver gun. He chuckled, walking over to his bag.

"No, I mean you should take off that kimono and put one something more...festive." he said, pulling out a bag. She looked at weird.

"Festive huh? Alright, I guess you can take care of the garland while I'm gone." she said, jumping off the counter. She put on her sandals, taking hold of the bag in his hand and walking out of the room, headed toward the bathroom.

"Oh merciful god, please, I beg of you...don't have her kill me when she sees what's inside, Amen." Daisuke said, slapping his hands together. He walked up to the counter, and continued where Hiyoko left off. He was done a few minutes later, having hung up the extra red and blue one as well. He was in the middle of putting on the lights when Hiyoko walked back into the room.

"You idiot, I can't believe you wanted me to put this on." she said. He chuckled, still focused on his task of carefully stapling the lights in place, without accidentally electrocuting himself.

"Sorry, I figured it would be for the season you know? You don't have to wear it if you don't want too."

"Too late, I'm already in it." she replied.

He looked back at her, seeing her looking down. Instead of her kimono, she was now wearing a sleeveless, crimson Santa dress. The top of it was covered in white fur, as was the skirt part. The dress reached down to mid thigh, and had black buttons on it. She was wearing a pair of long red and white striped stockings, and red converse shoes. Her hair was out of it's ponytail, and she was wearing a Santa hat on her head. She was blushing brightly.

"So...what do you think?" she asked.

"You look nice, it really suits you." he said, turning back to the task at hand.

"Alright then! I'll get started on the snowflakes." she said, grabbing a stack of white paper and a pair of scissors. She sat herself down at her usual desk, and started cutting out some snowflakes.

"Did you get the mistletoe out of the box?" he asked curiously.

"No, are you seriously putting that up?" she asked.

"It's tradition, plus it will be good to see who gets under it. I'm hoping for Nekumaru and Akane, to be honest with you." he said.

"Yeah, it's about time those two tie the knot, it's obvious they like each other." she replied.

"But both of them are to damn proud to admit it. Same with Fuyuhiko and Peko, those two are always looking at each other but no one makes a damn move, it's annoying." he said.

"Get used to it, we're in high school after all, relationships are just another thing that will only serve to mess everything up." Hiyoko replied, her focus still on the snowflakes she was making.

"I don't think so. I think now is the perfect time to experiment with romance. I mean, after we leave this place, what are we going to do...we all have things to do, Sonia has a country to run so she won't be in Japan after she leaves. Same with Fuyuhiko, he'll have to take over the gang from his father at one point...we gotta make these last few years of high school the best ones, because if we don't we'll end up regretting it later in life." he admitted.

"I...suppose that's a positive way to look at it. And you are right, I don't know what I'll do after high school. I'm the next head of the family, it's not like I have a choice." She replied.

"Well, you sort of do. You are the next in line, but that doesn't mean you can't do what you want. You can start your own studio, train your own Kimono girls in the art of Traditional Dance. After all, you are more than qualified to do that."

"It would piss my grandmother off, heh, if I start my own studio she would be super mad, I bet the vein on her forehead would pop!" she said, a giggle escaping her lips.

"You really like pissing people off don't you?" Daisuke asked, stapling the last bit of the lights into place. He got off the step ladder he had been using, setting the staple gun down next to his laptop.

"I live for it, I just like seeing them get all red in the face and start screaming. It's really fun!" she said.

"Are you sure there isn't anything underlying in that?" he asked, leaning against the blackboard.

"Not really...well...I guess I can tell you this one thing, after all you've told all of us tons of stuff about your life. When I was growing up, everyone was really jealous of me. In grade school, people would look at me and just think I was a high class girl, and no one wanted to be my friend. Often times, I would be bullied because of my talent. They would hit me, spit on me, even shove nails and tacks into my shoes. It's sort of the reason why I stopped wearing shoes altogether, and started wearing zori instead. Due to that, I guess I started growing spiteful, and by the time I had gone into Junior High, I was a mean spirited person. Honestly speaking, beating up Mikan all of last year was something I always regretted doing, I saw my old self in her eyes, but I couldn't stop myself from hitting her. After awhile though, I just got bored and started insulting her instead, in my mind it was better than physical abuse. Mahiru was always with me, acting like an older sister and making sure I didn't hit her anymore, it was something I asked of her actually." she said.

"Looks like we have another thing in common then. Back in Spain, people used to make fun of me for my broken Spanish. They said I didn't belong there, and would throw rocks at me and make fun of my accent. They would pull the corners of their eyes and start insulting me, calling me a Chink and several other racial slurs. Thankfully, my grandmother had a talk with all of them and they stopped insulting me, but that didn't stop people from beating me up. Middle school wasn't a fun place for me, sucked really." he said with a shrug. He grabbed a piece of chalk, and started carefully writing the words, Merry Christmas on it.

"Daisuke...I'm gonna ask you a serious question. When you...cut yourself...did you ever think about...you know your friends?" she asked. The chalk he was using snapped in half, making the Y come out a little sideways. He shook it off, continuing what he was doing.

"I did. When I slit my wrists, the people on my mind were obviously my mom and my sister. I didn't want them to find my dead body in the bathtub, covered in my own blood. I was sad, my heart was shattered into a million pieces, I just...wanted the pain to end, and death seemed like the best option at the moment. Thankfully, that didn't happen, and I was able to put all of my sadness and depression into my writing. I had to go to therapy for a few months too, but I made it out fine." he said.

"And, what you said about not showing up last year, was Sylvia really the cause of that?" she asked curiously.

"Partially. After everything that happened, I just wanted to focus on myself, being accepted into Hope's Peak Academy, it was like a dream. I didn't think something as mediocre as story telling would actually get the interest of the Steering Committee. I just didn't want to go into the academy with all of that baggage, that and my wrists were still healing, that would have garnered curiosity, and I wasn't ready to talk about that stuff with anyone yet, much less strangers." he said.

"I'm sorry that happened to you. No one should be put through that sort of abuse."

"It's alright Hiyoko, I overcame that part of my life, and now I have wonderful friends. Friends that are becoming total hard asses. How are those snowflakes coming along?"

"They're almost done." she replied.

"Great, once we get them up, we can go back to our dorms. We'll need to be up early if we want to surprise them all." he said.

"Ugh, the fact that I have to get up early on a day without classes pisses me off." she said.

"Bitch and moan all you want, but this is for our friends. The rewards outweigh the efforts." he said.

After a few more minutes, Hiyoko and Daisuke finished up with all of the snowflakes, and ended up putting them all around the room, even hanging a few of them from the ceiling. After they were done, the stood at the front of the room, looking around it, smiles on their faces.

"Step one complete! They are so going to love this!" Daisuke said, checking it off his list.

"They better, I honestly don't feel like taking this stuff down when the time comes." she admitted, a yawn escaping her lips.

"Come on you, it's past your bedtime." he said, stuffing his laptop into his bag.

"Screw you, I am fifteen I don't have a bedtime!" she snapped. He chuckled, flicking her nose.

"Sure you don't."

"Ugh...you are so annoying you know that?"

He rolled his eyes, leading her out of the classroom, taking one last look inside before closing the door. The two of them walked back toward the dormitories, their footsteps echoing through the quiet hallways of Hope's Peak Academy. They made it down to the first floor, passing by the nurses office, where Aiko and one of the nurses were talking about something. The pink haired girl waved at the two as they passed.

"So, what are the plans for tomorrow?" Hiyoko asked curiously.

"Well for one, you are going to force all of the girls into matching outfits, I left several more of those under your bed so Mikan didn't find them. You tell them nothing, just lead them to the classroom, and we'll watch the movies. I doubt Kizakura would mind it much, we'll start the whole secret Santa thing then too."

"Sounds like a plan." she said. The two entered the plaza, the lights having been dimmed down a bit due to the time. They headed up to the second floor, quickly making it back to their dorms. Hiyoko slipped her key into the knob of her door, looking back at Daisuke who already had his door open.

"Uh...thank you, for choosing me out of everyone else."

"No problem, like I said before, I consider you a close friend. Besides, I'm making wonderful memories, memories that I won't trade for anything." he said.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight Hiyoko." he said, entering his room.

"Daisuke, where we're you? You promised we would watch Jason X tonight." Sonia said, as he entered his room. The lights had been off, the only source of light was coming from the large screen television they had set up in the room. The blonde princess was in a thin silk night gown, which reached down to her knees. He took his bag off, setting it on the special hook on the side of his dresser.

"I was...out, running some errands." he said.

"Errands? What kind of errands?" she asked curiously. He chuckled.

"The kind of errands that young princess's like you don't need to know about, it's a surprise, for everyone." he said.

"Oh...alright then, I suppose I understand." she said, giving him a nod.

"We can watch that movie if you want." he said.

"I just finished it. I was about to go to sleep." she said.

"Okay then, guess I'll go to sleep too. It's really late as it is." he said, looking at his phone. The princess shut the television off, throwing the room into darkness, the only source of light being the moonlight streaming through their window.

"Goodnight Daisuke, if you get cold I don't mind sharing my bed." she said.

"Nice try Sonia, have a goodnight." he said, taking his boots off. He took his jacket off, placing it on the foot of his bed before dropping into it, the tiredness of the day hitting him like a ton of bricks. He was asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, Daisuke made sure to be up before Sonia. It was a little hard for him to be up that early, much less make little noise. The princess was sleeping soundly, her legs being wrapped firmly around a pillow, drool coming from the corner of her mouth. Daisuke was tempted to take a picture, but having a pissed off Princess on your ass was something he didn't want. Still it was funny to see the regal princess sleeping like that. He wondered, if he had accepted her feelings, would that pillow be him? Was there a chance that she talked herself into believing it was? That was something he didn't want to know, as that poor pillow was literally being squeezed to high heaven. He grabbed his change of clothes and stepped into the bathroom, taking a quick shower.

Once done, he got fully dressed. He wore a white sleeveless shirt, underneath a crimson hooded sweatshirt. The front of it had the words Merry Christmas on it, and had little light bulbs on it, which flashed at two second intervals. He wore a pair of white skinny jeans, with a black studded belt, and his leather boots. He grabbed his own red Santa hat, placing it on his head. Nodding to himself, he grabbed his dirty clothes, shoving them in his hamper, and walked out of his room. He grabbed his bag, just in time for Sonia's alarm to go off. He dove out of the room, closing the door quietly after himself.

"That was close." he muttered.

"Hey you, looking festive in that ugly sweater."

He looked across the hall, seeing Hiyoko, who had also left her room. She was wearing her the outfit he had given her the night before. She looked really tired, and was rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. She had two bags beside her, filled with the same outfit she was wearing.

"Morning, are you ready to dress our friends?" he asked.

"Yes, I already gave Mikan hers. Are you sure these will fit the girls?"

"Yes, I made sure they were the right sizes, you have no idea what it took to get those." he said, rubbing his neck.

"Uh...how did you get those?" she asked curiously.

"Well...I snuck into the Nurse's office and stole Aiko's personal handbook, which has all the information of every student in the academy. Only the student council members get those." he said.

"How the hell did you manage to do that? And can I borrow it?" she asked.

"No you can't borrow it. And you don't wanna know how I got it." he said, his face flushing a bit remembering what he had done the day before.

"Damn, I was hoping you would let me borrow that. I would have so much information about anyone at my finger tips...well, see ya later." she said, taking off up the hall. He turned on his heel and walked down the stairs, heading to the first floor plaza. Some of the early bird students were already there, including the Ultimate Moral Compass, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, who was looking around, feeling a bit out of place in his bright red outfit. He chuckled, shaking his head as he walked into the academy proper.

He stopped by the Nurse's office first, knocking on the door before entering. Aiko was already there, looking over some of her medical charts. She looked up, a small smile on her face.

"Good morning Daisuke, what may I do for you?" she asked.

"I came to return this. It means a lot to me that you let me borrow it." he said, handing her the white handbook. She blushed, looking at the floor.

"It was nothing, anything to help a friend out right? What was it that you needed it for again?"

"I just wanted to know how tall everyone was...you know...so I can buy them clothes and...stuff." he said, not wanting to divulge his actual use of the handbook. She nodded, placing it in her coat pocket.

"Well, it's sweet of you to take care of your friends like that, I'm sure they'll love whatever you get them." she said.

"I hope so." he added, looking at the clock. He turned around, looking at the pink doors.

"Thanks Aiko, I really do appreciate this."

"Like I said, it was nothing. Just don't tell anyone about that kiss." she said.

"I don't plan on it." he said, swiftly walking out of the room. She giggled, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"I wish he would notice me, but if he ended up rejecting a princess, then surely the girl he's pinning after is much more special to him. A girl can dream." she said to herself, her eyes returning to her paperwork.

Daisuke walked into his classroom, looking around to see that everything was just as he had left it the previous night. He looked at the clock, seeing that it was already 7:15 in the morning. Nodding to himself, he started moving all of the desks, placing them neatly in the back of the room. After he was done, he pulled out a table cloth from one of the boxes he had left in the room, and placed it over the desks, making sure it was free of wrinkles. He took all of the chairs and placed them on the other side of the room, leaving the middle of the room empty.

"Perfect. Now, to get all of the stuff, hopefully Teruteru was able to make it all in time." he said, leaving the room. The Ultimate Chef had been the only other person to be told about the small party they were going to have, as he was the one who would be cooking all of the food. He was a bit against it at first, as he was still sad about one of their friends being gone, but when Daisuke told him all of the girl's would be wearing sexy Santa outfits, he immediately agreed to it. He walked into the cafeteria, heading straight toward the kitchen. Teruteru was hard at work, a cart of fresh food already set to go.

"Hey Teruteru, glad you were able to pull this off." Daisuke said. The teen smirked, putting the finishing touches on what looked like a Chocolate Souffle.

"Why of course, I wouldn't leave you hanging my friend, especially after what you are doing for me." he said, wiggling his brows.

"Just keep it in your pants man. I'll be taking this first cart up, can you handle the rest?" he asked.

"Of course, I'll be bringing up the portable stove to cook some food in the room, it's much easier than coming down here, and it will keep Akane at bay." he said.

"That's true...well see ya up there." he said, pushing the cart out of the kitchen.

Once back in the classroom, Daisuke set all of the food down on the makeshift table, along with all of the cups and plates they had borrowed from the kitchen. Everything was still piping hot, and would be for a few more minutes. He glanced back at the clock, seeing it was 7:45. He nodded to himself, walking over to the windows.

"Well, I've done my part, I just hope they like all of this stuff." he muttered to himself.

"Dais, you're here early. What's all this?"

The story teller looked back, seeing his real homeroom teacher, Koichi Kizakura, entering the room. He looked around, entranced by all of the decorations. He gave him a grin.

"If you wanna know, my friends are feeling a little down, so I figured a little party would cheer them up." he said.

"Not a bad idea, at this rate anything will do. Still kinda pissed about what Nagito did, luck is a scary thing." he said, taking his seat at the teacher's desk. Daisuke chuckled, opening his bag. He pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels, with a bright red bow tied around the neck, placing it on the desk.

"Don't tell anyone about this." he said. The man's eyes lit up, as he grabbed the bottle.

"Where did you get this? You aren't even old enough to buy this." the man said.

"I got it from Hiro, he has a stash hidden under his bed, and I just gave him a decent amount of money for one. Hey, if were all going to be happy on Christmas, I want my teacher to be happy too. Kind of a shame...I really wanted Chisa to be here, poor thing must be suffering at the Reserve Course." he said, a frown on his face.

"Yeah, I feel so bad for her. She was crying when Jin assigned her to the lower class. Well, I'm just here to take attendance, all classes have been canceled due to the exams literally blowing up, so all staff and faculty have been advised to start their lesson plans for the next year. The class is in your hands after that kiddo."

"My hands? But I'm not a Class Rep or anything." Daisuke said.

"You're more of a Vice Representative at this point. You handle the workload for when gamer girl is busy. You know, your class is one of the most tight nit groups I've seen in awhile. Even class 78 pales in comparison to how close you are." he said.

"Well, these guys are like family to me. You were right you know, about giving this academy a fair chance, I did. I gave it a fair chance and I got so much more than I expected, and for that I am very thankful. So thank you, for finding me that day in the park and knocking some sense into me. If you hadn't done that, if Chisa hadn't come after me, I would probably be at the arcade playing video games all day, or something like that. Because of you, I think I found the girl that I..."

The door slammed open, forcing the two men to look in that direction. Hiyoko walked in, a pissed off look on her face. She stopped in front of the two, crossing her arms.

"None of them wanted to put the dresses on, not even the hats, nothing. I am so done trying to convince them." she said firmly.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes I am. I wouldn't lie to you...well I wouldn't lie to you about something like this. You take a look." she said, jabbing her thumb behind herself. Just then, all of the girl's walked in, minus Mikan who was normally in the Nurses office in the early morning. All of the girls had dressed in their normal uniform, except for Ibuki, who was wearing a black tank top, with a white jacket over it. She was also wearing a torn black skirt, and her black skeleton leggings. They all looked around the room, quite impressed.

"What's all this?" Sonia asked curiously, looking at Daisuke and Hiyoko. He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.

"This is a party that me and Hiyoko threw together for all of us. I asked Teruteru to cook the food, and gathered up several Christmas movies for all of us to watch. We were supposed to all be dressed for the holiday, but all of you are being hard asses." he said, a frown on his face.

"Sorry Daisusu, I wasn't in the mood." Ibuki said sadly.

"I know, we all aren't in the mood. But please at least wear the hats, it would make me happy if you just did that." he said.

"You know, since you did all of this for us, I'll do that. Besides, I'm not one to waste free food." Akane said, a smile on her face as she donned her red Santa hat. She already had a plate of food in her hands.

"Jeez, at least wait for the others." Mahiru added, also donning her hat. It wasn't long before all of the girl's had put on their hats, the bell rung seconds later, just in time for all of the guys to walk in, with Teruteru pushing in the second food cart. All of them looked around amazed at how festive the room looked. Daisuke gave everyone a brief explanation of what he and Hiyoko had done, before pulling the movies from his bag, setting them on the counter next to the television.

"You out did yourself Daisuke, I was right to leave this to you." Chiaki said, a smile on her face as she looked around at her friends, all of them having happy faces. Sure, Nagito was still missing, but there was nothing they could do about that.

"And this is only the beginning. I have a few more things planned out too, they just need to be on board with it." he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'll beat them all up if I have too." Hiyoko added, cracking her knuckles. Chiaki giggled, looking up for a brief moment, her eyes brightened up, smile widening.

"Hey guys, check out where Daisuke and Hiyoko are standing." she said, taking a step back. The two of them looked confused for a second, before looking up.

"Aw shit." He muttered.

"Ha! Mistletoe, come on Dais, kiss the girl." Nekumaru cried out.

"I'll be sure to take a nice picture for the album." Mahiru said, already focused on the two blushing teens.

"I don't wanna, kissing is icky and gross." the blonde dancer said, looking away.

"Aw, but it's tradition. It isn't fair if all of us have to wear these hats and you guys won't follow the tradition." Takane added, crossing her arms.

"Don't be a pussy Daisuke, or I'll kick your ass." Fuyuhiko added, giving him a bit of motivation. He sighed, looking down at Hiyoko, who was blushing brightly.

"It's just one kiss, it isn't going to hurt anyone." he said.

"Oh sure, easy for you to say. You get your sick kicks because you get to kiss a girl, why couldn't it have been Sonia?" she asked, glancing at the Princess, who was glaring at the two, arms crossed. Daisuke could see Kazuichi was looking at the small green plant and the princess, a plan already in his mind. It was a little awkward for the two, since Daisuke was several inches taller than Hiyoko, so he had to bend down a lot just to be close to her face. All of them were waiting with baited breath as they were about to share their Christmas kiss, at least until the door opened.

"I'm sorry, I got tied up at the Nurses office."

Everyone looked toward the door, seeing Mikan, who was decked out in her Santa costume, and looking really out of place in it. She filled it out quite well, especially in the chest area. Everyone just stared at her, while she was looking around the room in confusion.

"Um...why isn't everyone wearing one of these? I was told all the girls would." she said.

"Oh jeez, you are so gullible." Mahiru said, shaking her head. Hiyoko took her chance to get away from Daisuke, looking out the window, face flushed.

"Jesus Christ, we were so close to kissing, I have to make sure to thank Mikan for her tardiness later."

"Ahem, well now that we're all here, we can start the picking." Daisuke said, opening his bag. He grabbed a small bag filled with little slips of paper, holding it open for everyone.

"Picking for what? If you don't mind my asking." Peko said, earning everyones attention.

"Secret Santa of course." he said.

"Really? That is so cliché." Kazuichi said. Daisuke huffed.

"I will hear nothing from you. All of you are going to pick a name from this bag, and get a gift for whoever it is you get, or so help me I will hit all of you. And don't worry ladies, Hiyoko already knows how to deal with you." he said, glancing at Hiyoko who had a flat wooden paddle in her hands.

"Come on everyone, it will be fun. Hiyoko and Daisuke have gone out of their way to do this for all of us, let's just do it, for them." Chiaki said. They were all silent for awhile, finally Akane stepped forward, picking the first name from the bag, it didn't take long until everyone had picked. Daisuke picked one of the last two slips, handing the last one to Hiyoko.

"Alright then, no pressure or anything but we only have two days until Christmas day, I'll be hosting a small party at my house and we can do the exchange there." he said.

"Awesome, I am going to get the best present, and my Secret Santa better love it!" Ibuki cried.

"Great, let's start the movies. Who wants to watch Home Alone first?" Sonia asked, holding the movie case in the air. A few groans filled the room, but no one was opposed to it. It wasn't long before the movie started, and all of them sat down to watch it.

"You were so gonna kiss me weren't you?" Daisuke asked, leaning back against the railing that was in front of Kizakura's desk. The man had decided to stick around for a bit, quickly filling his flask to the brim with his Christmas present.

"Please, if anything I was going to fake it. Who would wanna kiss you?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Pfft, a lot of girls would. They all die for a taste of my lips, besides I have Ice Breakers." he said, shaking the white case of mints. She huffed, looking away from him. He pulled out a bag of gummies, holding it out to her.

"Come on, let's just enjoy this." he said. She looked at them for a few seconds, accepting the bag. He turned his attention back to the movie, that he had seen every Christmas for as long as he had been alive. He felt her take a hold of his hand, and when he looked at her, she just looked back to the screen.

"My hand is cold, don't be weird." she said firmly. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Whatever floats your boat." he said, giving her a grin. She blushed a bit, looking at the far wall, neither of them hearing the distinct click of Mahiru's camera as she snapped a picture of them.

They all decided to take a break after Home Alone 3 had ended, and for Akane, taking a break from her seventh plate of food. Daisuke looked around, seeing his friend's smiling faces. Mahiru had already snapped several pictures of all of them, including the sleeping Kizakura who was hugging his alcohol bottle tightly against himself. That man sure loved to drink. Daisuke checked the clock, seeing that it was slightly passed noon, he nodded to himself, turning to Chiaki.

"Think you can hold the fort? I have a couple things to do at home for the party." he said.

"Aw, your leaving?" she asked, getting the attention from his friends.

"Come on man, you can't leave. You made us all be here, and now that we're all having fun, you're gonna bail?" Kazuichi asked.

"I'm not bailing because I want too, trust me. I'm just going home to help mom with the set up, she waits until late to buy the Christmas tree. I never really figured out why either, she just does. Oh right, I want all of you to make an ornament for it, it will make it more special that way." he said, slinging his bag around his shoulder.

"Seriously? What do you want us to make?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Anything, I don't care, as long as you don't hang your underwear off of it. Be creative, this tree is yours just as much as it's mine. Whatever you do, just keep the holiday cheer, because if I see a hint of sadness, ya'll are getting paddled." he said, a sickly sweet smile on his face. They all cringed. He gave them a wave, leaving the classroom.

"Jeez, what a pain in my ass." Kazuichi muttered, playing with his braid.

"He's doing this for all of us guys, let's at least keep our hopes up. We have more movies to watch, we can make the ornaments while we watch them." Chiaki said, her tone full of encouragement. She already had a couple ideas for what she wanted to make. Hiyoko took her chance to slip out of the room, following after the Story Teller.

"Daisuke, wait up!" she cried out, making the teen stop.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Remember, I'm crashing with you for the holiday, so I thought I could get my stuff ready for then. What are you going to be doing anyway?" she asked.

"Well, I was just going to help around the house. Sides, Chiaki has this in the bag, how hard could making ornaments be?" he asked.

"Knowing Kazuichi, extremely hard. I won't be long." she said, taking off toward the dorms. He decided to wait for her on the first floor, next to the school store while he was looking at his phone.

"Hey Daisuke, been awhile."

The teen looked up from his phone, smiling at his friend.

"Hi, Makoto. It has been awhile, how's life?" he asked. The lucky student sat down next to him, hands in his jacket pocket.

"Well, we're all getting along just fine. Everyone is sort of happy to not have exams, but Sayaka was disappointment. She had set up a concert for everyone in the school and had to cancel it."

"That's a shame, I would have loved to see her sing live." He said.

"Heard about what happened with Nagito. I wasn't expecting him to do something like that." he said.

"Trust me, it took all of us by surprise. Your luck doesn't work like his does it?"

"Hehe, not really. Though it has gotten me some cool stuff in the past." he replied.

"So, any plans for Christmas? I got my hands full at the moment, my classmates are being hard asses, though with everything that's happened to us, I can understand why." he said.

"I don't have anything special planned out, other than hanging out with my family. My sister has been missing me like crazy, so it will be good to be back home. Some of my friends are staying here on campus for the break."

"It's different for our class, everyone is heading home for the season. I'm gonna miss them all, even if it's just for two weeks." he admitted.

"It's weird to think about, just a few months ago, I was just a freshman starting my first year, and now half of it is gone. It won't be long until we're upperclassmen for the incoming class. I hear the headmaster's son got scouted for the next year." Makoto said.

"Really? I didn't know Kyoko had a brother." Daisuke said.

"She doesn't like talking about him, apparently, her father cheated on her mother with another woman and had him. He didn't even tell her about it, and now that he's coming here, it's going to put an even bigger strain on their relationship."

"I feel bad for her, I can tell Headmaster Kirigiri is trying to be a good father. Whenever their together, she just gives him the cold shoulder..maybe she should give him a chance." Daisuke replied.

"I've tried, trust me. Kyoko doesn't like showing her emotions, she's barely tried being friends with any of us." Makoto said.

"Hey Makoto, we're about to start making the hot chocolate, hurry back." Sayaka cried out from down the hall. The spiky haired teen stood up.

"Well it was nice talking to you Daisuke. Hope you have a Merry Christmas."

"You two man, wish everyone a Merry Christmas for me would ya?" he asked.

"You got it, see ya next year."

With that, the young Lucky Student took off up the hall, brushing past Hiyoko who was walking out of the hotel, dragging her pale yellow suitcase behind her. She had changed out of her previous outfit, now wearing her pale yellow kimono, her hair was tied up in it's usual ponytail, though the ribbon she was using was red and white, and had a reindeer on it, instead of a bunny rabbit.

"Sorry I took so long, I had to make sure I had enough clothes for two weeks." she said.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just hurry up and get out of here, maybe if we're done in time, we can come back and hang out with everyone before the day is over." he said.

She gave him a nod, handing him her suitcase as she took off ahead of him, eating some of the gummies he had given her. He sighed, grabbing a hold of the suitcase. He was used to this by now, he spared a glance back at the old school building, a smile on his face.

xxx

Daisuke rubbed his eyes as he got up. It was still dark outside, but he had decided to get up early again. The previous day had been filled with nothing but Christmas songs, and loads of decorations. Erika hadn't stopped teasing him, especially since it was the second time Hiyoko had decided to stay with him, she kept assuming things, and rapidly got put into a headlock by the shorter girl. Snowflake had been happy to see the two, the dog had grown quite a bit in the month since they had been gone.

The entire afternoon had been just that, decorating, singing and his mother embarrassing him and his sister by telling Hiyoko several stories about their childhoods, stuff that they swore would never tell anyone. It seemed the older woman didn't mind sharing them, especially if it meant she had a chance of embarrassing her kids, though thankfully the rest of his friends weren't present at the time. Having already taken a shower, he had already gotten dressed in his casual clothes.

He decided on wearing a bright red tee shirt, with blue markings on the hem, and a bright blue hand print on the front of it. He had put on a pair of thermal pants on, before he put on his blue slim straight jeans, and his black boots. He grabbed his belt and slipped it through the loops, cringing a bit when the sharp studs pierced his finger tips. He grabbed his Varsity jacket and threw it on, zipping it on half way. Finally, he grabbed his messenger bag, and slipped it around his shoulder, slipping his phone and car keys into the front pocket.

He made his way downstairs, his mother already watching television. She looked up from the television, a small smile on her face.

"Good Morning son, you're up early."

"I got stuff to do today. I'll be heading back to the academy to make sure my friends are on track before heading out to buy some stuff." he said, not exactly divulging his true agenda.

"Well, you'll have to be careful. It's Christmas eve you know, last minute shoppers get desperate for things, especially if they are marked down." she admitted.

"Tell me about it, thankfully I pre-ordered half of the stuff I needed weeks ago, so I'll be picking them up. I'm going all over the place, my friends should be showing up at around two in the afternoon, so please just have them wait while I come back. I convinced them into doing Secret Santa." he said. The woman giggled, taking a sip from her mug.

"Leave it to you to get them all in the Christmas spirit, after everything that's happened." she said, trailing off. He sighed, looking back at the beautiful Fir tree in the corner of the room. It was decorated with multicolored lights, and silver garland, making it sparkle. Intricate glass balls in every color hung from the branches, along with glass stars and other smaller ornaments. The star at the top of the tree was by far the most beautiful. It was a star that his mother had gotten from his grandmother. It was made out of crystal, and was the most delicate ornament of them all. Four golden lights were aimed directly at it, making it glitter all over the ceiling.

"I try not to think about it mom. That day, it made me realize just how fucked up dad...I mean that man is. He is the scum of the earth, but I am not going to think about it. I'm going to keep forcing a smile, I'm sad, I'm breaking apart on the inside at the thought of having lost so much already this year, but I'll keep my smile on. Because it isn't for me, I'll be happy for them, for the people that believed in me when that man didn't." he said. She pulled him into a hug, kissing his forehead.

"I'm so proud of you son, you are definitely the best thing that's happened in my life. You and your sister both." she said.

"I'm glad then. Well, it's seven and I need to make it to the mall before the first throng of customers make it...I'll be back around noon." he said, walking toward the front door. He shivered a bit, stepping into the cold. She sighed, turning back to the television.

"You know, you need to do a better job at hiding." she said, glancing at the hallway. She saw a bit of movement, before the Ultimate Traditional Dancer walked into the living room, a slight blush on her face.

"Was I that obvious?" she asked.

"Not really sweetie, just to me. Nothing escapes the gaze of a mother after all. Aren't you going with him?"

"No, he asked me to stay here with you and Erika and help with the food preparations. I honestly wasn't expecting him to do all of this for us." she said, looking at the door.

"My son is like that. He lives to make people happy, even at the cost of his own happiness. So much has happened in his life already, things that I'm not proud of, things that a man of his age shouldn't have to remember. He hasn't told you has he? What happened to us after his good for nothing father kicked us into the streets?"

"No...he's alluded to it several times, but he's never told us." she said.

"I know I shouldn't but...you have the right to know, after all it won't be long until you become by daughter-in-law." she said, giving the girl a wink.

"What? What the fuck, I would never marry that dork!" she cried, crossing her arms, her kimono sleeves flapping a bit from the sudden movement. Maria giggled, looking back at the television.

"Sweetheart, deny it all you want, you are madly in love with my son. I can see it in your eyes, and on your face. And while the Hiyoko I met wouldn't have been the ideal girl I wanted my son to have, the Hiyoko I am talking to right now, more than deserves to be by his side." she said.

"Jesus, I'm going to let Snowflake out into the yard, I would rather pick up dog shit than listen to this." she said, giving a low whistle. A loud bark filled the house as the Siberian Husky bounded toward the Dancer, who was leading her toward the back door. Maria rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, you really know how to pick them don't ya Daisuke?"

"And in other news, reports of a Blizzard have started causing concern to the citizens of Tokyo. It seems we are going to have more than a blanket of snow this Christmas."

"Hurry back son, I wouldn't want you to get stuck in that. Then again, that won't be happening into late into the night. Santa Claus is going to have his hands full it seems." the woman joked, shutting off the television. She had things to do, and her workers at the cafe needed their tasks set out for the day.

Daisuke made his way into the academy, passing a few other students as he made his way toward his classmates. He had told them all the day before to meet up in his classroom to let them know what they would be doing for the day. But when he got there, all he saw was his friends sitting at there desks, patiently waiting. Kizakura had already taken attendance and had been watching something on his laptop when he walked in. He spared a look at everyone, a frown making it's way onto his face.

"Man, this place looks deader than morgue." he said.

"That isn't really a good joke man." Kazuichi snapped, crossing his arms. Daisuke groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Alright then, did everyone make their ornaments?" he asked.

"I did." Chiaki said, holding several eight bit space ships in her hands, all tied onto red ribbons. They were actually bigger versions of the pin in her hand.

"Me too...I hope you don't mind me making syringe shaped ornaments, I figured since I was a nurse, it made sense to make them." Mikan said, showing off a couple of hers. She had actually cut them out of wood and painted them with glossy paint. He was impressed.

"Alright, anyone else?"

"I tried, got pissed off and quit half way through." Fuyuhiko said. Peko remained silent, not really wanting to answer.

"Goddamn it guys, I gave you a simple task." he said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah well, I wasn't in the mood." Kazuichi said.

"I made some musical notes." Ibuki said, holding several metallic notes in the air. They had actually been reused hair pins, but she at least made them.

"Same here, I hope you like constellations, I thought adding stars to a Christmas tree would tie it together. Seeing as this is the seasons of perpetual hope and all." Takane said.

"So four of your classmates actually made them, what's everyone elses excuse? And I didn't feel like it isn't a valid one." he said, his friends remained silent. He sighed.

"Well then, this pushes the gift shopping off schedule." he said, marking it in his notebook.

"Gift shopping?" Sonia asked.

"Yes, for the Secret Santa thing. The mall opens in an hour, so I was going to ask to borrow a bus so we could all head there." he said.

"I don't even know what to buy though." Akane said, picking her ear.

"You can buy anything, it doesn't matter, I'm sure whoever you got will love it." he said, with a bright grin.

"You are asking too much out of us man, I don't have that much money." Nekumaru added.

"I just wanna work on my anime for bit longer, I'm a couple frames behind." Ryouta said. Daisuke exhaled through his nose, started to get really annoyed. He locked eyes with Chiaki, who had a frown on her face. He grit his teeth, slamming his fist onto Kizakura's desk, making the man look up at him in surprise.

"Goddamn it! I am trying to get all of you to be happy and merry, but all of you keep making up bullshit excuses, bitching and moaning. That isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Hey man, you don't have the right to yell at us, especially after what's happened." Kazuichi said.

"No, but I have the right to knock some fucking sense into you. So what, we lost our homeroom teacher, Nagito is gone and won't be back for who knows how long? And my brother killed himself, don't you think I am sad too? But what good is sitting around bitching about it going to do? The past is in the past, and all we have to do is move on. It's Christmas for fuck sakes. Let's make the most of it and have fun." he said.

"Easy for you too say, you are always so fucking happy, it pisses me off." Fuyuhiko spat, looking away from him.

"I'm happy for your sake. Because I thought that if I smiled, all of you would smile too, you would forget about all the shit that's happened and try to enjoy yourselves, but all of you are being hard asses. And please note, those of you that actually did make the ornaments, this isn't directed to you, but it's good that you listen to this, because your classmates are being nothing more than Grinch's." he said firmly.

"Don't call me a Grinch asshole, I am nothing like that thing."

"Oh really? Because right now, all I see is a pissed off gangster who thinks so highly of himself that he isn't bothering to have fun and let go of the past."

"What the fuck did you just say? Don't fuck with me asshole!"

"That's enough!" Chiaki cried, silencing everyone. Daisuke sighed, looking at the ground.

"You've left me no choice. Listen up, because I'm going to tell you all a story. It's called, Smiles." he said firmly. He took a deep breath, looking at his friends.

"Long ago, around this time of season, there was a little boy who almost never smiled. No matter the season, no matter the occasion, the little boy would never smile. Even when his little sister tried to play with him, even when his mother got him a new toy, he just sat down, and kept the frown on his face.

He didn't show it, but the reason was due to the late night arguments his parents were having. He would hear them all, all of the shouting, the screaming, the swearing, he heard it all. He didn't want to smile, not if his parents were unhappy. Finally, his father had enough and he ended up kicking his wife, daughter and son out of his house. He didn't want anything to do with them anymore, so he tossed them into the streets, and slammed the door in their faces. His mother, not wanting to make her children sad, just kept smiling.

"It won't be long kids, I'll find a job, and we'll have new house in no time." she said, that smile never leaving her face. Her kids could do nothing but trust her, believe in those words, and trust that smile on her face. So for the time being, they headed to the shelter.

The little boy and his sister kept going to school, their only meals coming from when they had lunch there, but school ended the day before Christmas eve, and they wouldn't be getting food that night. It was unbearably cold, the only clothes they had were the ones they had when their father tossed them out into the streets, and the thick coats they had gotten from the people at the shelter. Even then, their mother knew it was going to get colder, after all a blizzard had been announced for that night. She hurried to the shelter, but didn't make it in time.

You see, the shelter has a time limit, if you aren't there by eight at night, you won't be let in, as all of the extra rooms had been taken. She begged and pleaded, to have her children stay in the building, but they shook their heads, and sent them on their way. Instead of showing her kids disappointment, she just smiled, though on the inside she knew the situation was dire.

She couldn't take them into the shelter, and there was no store she could stay at either, after all she had already been kicked out from the local market. With nothing else to do, she headed to the local Church, hoping she could get help from them.

But she didn't, they had closed for the night, and everyone had gone home, not even the pastor had stuck around. She tried the doors, pounded on them hoping someone heard them, but no one came to the doors, no one let them in. It was already nearing midnight. She looked down at her shivering children, that warm smile still on her face. She hugged them tightly, kissing their foreheads, reassuring that they would be fine.

She...she took them to an underpass, under a busy freeway. It was unbearably cold, the cars driving past made it three times colder, and by now, it had started to snow, the blizzard had already set in. She lead her children towards the center of the underpass. She found a couple of cardboard boxes and cut them open with her knife, making a makeshift bed for her children to lay on. They were shivering, so she told them to stay close to each other, while she tried to make a fire. But they had nothing to burn, nothing she could use to stay warm. With no other option, the woman decided to sacrifice her well being to keep her children safe. She took off her winter coat, and placed it over their tiny bodies as a makeshift blanket, and wrapped their legs up with her woolen sweater, using her scarf to tie it down so that it wouldn't get blown away. She was a mess, her brown hair blowing in all directions, her eyes all teared up from the cold wind, and her face pale from the cold, but she still kept that warm smile on her face.

After an hour, the little girl had fallen asleep, but the boy hadn't, he had been pretending to sleep, hugging his sister tightly to keep her from freezing. He peeked out of the coat, and saw his mother, hugging her limbs tightly to herself to keep warm. She was crying...crying because she couldn't provide for her children, crying because they were going to spend Christmas under some bridge instead of next to a warm fire, she was crying for being a failure of a mother. They boy wanted to say something, but he didn't find the words. He just closed his eyes, praying to whatever god there was that they made it through the night. He fell asleep shortly after.

He awoke, hours later in a house, underneath some thick blankets, in front of a raging fire. The first thing he noticed, was the beautiful Christmas tree that had been placed at the corner of the room, the flickering lights, acting almost like fireflies in a warm fall night. The second thing he noticed, was his mother's warm smile. He had been sleeping on her lap, and she had been keeping an eye on him. He sat up, seeing his sister sleeping on a couch.

"Mommy, where are we?"

"We're safe, this wonderful man saved us from the cold." she replied.

The little boy, looked across the room, seeing an old man sitting on a recliner, a smile on his old features. He had white hair, thinning a bit due to age, and a white beard. He was dressed in a warm red sweater, and brown pants, for a second the boy thought it was Santa Claus, but shook it off when the man spoke.

"You got mighty lucky there lad, when I found all of you, you were minutes away from a sure death. Your mother did what she could too keep you warm. I commend her for being a caring woman." he said.

The boy was just confused, and tired. It wasn't long until he had fallen back asleep.

The man was named Ramos. He was a kind old man, who had lived in the area his entire life. He had lost his wife earlier that year and was all on his own. He had been doing some last minute errands in a nearby town when he spotted them under that bridge. The boy thanked the old man a million times over, for saving their lives.

He chuckled, saying it was nothing. He was a cafe owner, and was almost never home during the day, so he didn't mind having guests. His mother didn't know how to repay him, and she said she would leave as soon as she could so she wasn't a bother to him, instead the man offered them to stay in his house with him. After hearing her situation, he didn't want her to put her kids through that again, at least until the Spring, the woman nodded, taking up the man's offer.

They ended up staying for an entire year. The boy and girl ended up seeing the old man as their grand father, who would play with them and tell them stories, stories of knights slaying powerful dragons, and princess's with big hearts, leading their countries with nothing but love and care. These stories, and fairy tells inspired the boy, who wanted nothing more than to live in those fantasy worlds. The old man chuckled, and ended up handing him a board game.

Dungeons and Dragons. A game where you can be whatever you wanted, a knight in shining armor, a princess, a powerful mage, the story was different every time you wanted to play it. The boy fell in love with it, and played it every day after school, the old man not minding a single bit. Eventually though, those times came to an end, as the woman had decided to move across the world, to live with her mother who had offered to help her. The man was saddened, he had grown to see the woman as the daughter he never had, and had seen the kids as the grandchildren he always dreamed of having. The boy and girl didn't want to go, but they knew that all things come to an end at some point.

Years passed, and the boy grew up, becoming a bright young man, his little sister was not a little girl anymore, and was now a brilliant young woman, with an interest in fashion and design. The two of them had grown a lot since those days, and so had their mother who was now a restaurant manager, and had her own house to call her own.

One day, the woman received a call, from a hospital. It seemed as if something had happened in Japan. Without a second thought, she packed some bags, and ended up flying there with her kids, who were concerned about what was happening.

It turned out, that the old man that had saved them years ago, was on his death bed. He had lived the last few years of his life with a terminal illness. He didn't look the same, he was worn out and tired, and looked like he had better days, but that smile...that smile that the boy had grown accustomed to seeing, it was still there, just as brilliant as the first time he had seen it, on that cold Christmas night.

"I'm so glad I could see you, one last time. My look at how you've grown. You aren't a little boy anymore, that's for sure. And look at you, such a beautiful young woman, surely you must be knocking several boys dead already."

The man broke into a loud cough, and had grown out of breath from that one action. The boy didn't want to see him suffer anymore, he just started crying. He didn't want this to happen, to the man that had saved him so long ago. The old man, didn't say anything. He just looked out the window.

"Do you see that sky? It's still blue isn't it? And those clouds are still puffy? Well, even thought it's like that, it's a different sky. Every day it changes, it can be cloudy, it can be clear, it can be white, it could be absent. The day time sky, its always changing. The night sky however, it's always the same. Dark, covered in twinkling lights, those beautiful stars, they will always be smiling down at you."

The man paused, looking back to the boy, who's face was soaked in tears. His sister was hugging him tightly, trying not to cry. He gave them a smile.

"Promise me, that no matter the situation, you'll always smile. Life will hit you with everything it's got. Sometimes it will do messed up things to you, sometimes it will try to spoil you, and sometimes it will be downright cruel to you. But promise me that no matter what, you'll greet every sunrise with a smile."

"I promise old man, I'll always smile." the boy said.

"Good, you look better when you smile."

That was it...that was the last thing the old man said to them. The boy was sad, he cried, for hours, for days on end. But he remembered the promise he had made. No matter what happened, he would smile. He would smile because he knew the old man would be smiling back at him.

As it turns out, since the old man had no family members left, he had left everything under the name of the woman. His house, the same house that they had lived in for a year, was now their own to call home. The cafe that the man used to own was now under the ownership of the woman, she had her own business. No longer did she need to work at a restaurant, when she had her own cafe to run. The boy ended up smiling brighter than he ever had before. To honor the old man, the woman renamed the cafe in his honor, and turned it into a cafe/restaurant, where she would sell traditional food that she had learned to make while she was out of the country. The young girl kept working hard on her designs, hoping to one day be spotted by someone interested in them, and the young man, he ended up working hard, so he could live in his fantasy worlds, and fill those around him with smiles though the stories that the old man told him. And if you ever see that young man today, I assure you, he will always have a smile on his face."

Daisuke remained silent, looking at all of his friends. A few of the girls were wiping tears out of there eyes, as the more emotional parts hag gotten to them, while some of the guys just sat there in silence. He took a deep breath, looking out the window.

"Moral of the story, no matter how low your life becomes, no matter how shitty your situation, there is always someone who has it worse. That's why you have to stand up straight, and face the new day with a bright smile, show it that you aren't backing down, that you are going to face everything head on. Even if you aren't happy, be happy for those around you. The last few weeks have been hell for me, and on more than one occasion I've wanted to give up, to just sit in some corner and cry until I can't cry anymore, but what good will that do? It won't solve my problems, it won't make the despair go away, it will just keep it there, eating at your heart until you are consumed by it. So, if you feel like giving up, just think about how everyone else is feeling, and give them a smile, I assure you, they'll do the same, and no one will give up if everyone is smiling brightly." he said. He walked toward the exit, closing the door after himself. He walked down the hall, gritting his teeth as he ran to the bathroom, thankfully the halls had been empty so no one was up there. He raced into the bathroom, glad that it was empty. He closed the door and locked it behind himself, breaking into tears.

"Old man, I promised I would always be smiling, but why does it have to be so hard?" he asked, looking at the ceiling as the tears kept coming.

"So, after that story he told you, are you all going to just sit there and do nothing? Or are you going to enjoy the holiday?" Kizakura asked, looking at his students.

"He's right, we've been bad friends. Daisuke has outdone himself for us, and all we do is just sit here bitching." Sonia said.

"I gotta apologize to him." Fuyuhiko added.

"Same here." Kazuichi said.

"Then how about we start by making those ornaments? It won't be that hard, after all we're Ultimate students, the tools are here, we just need to work together." Chiaki said.

"Well said, let's head to the Art Room and get this done!" Nekumaru said. Everyone stood up, heading toward the door. Kizakura chuckled, shaking his head.

"Damn kid, you got them all riled up, if only they knew the truth behind that little tale of yours." he said, taking a swig from his flask.

Daisuke exited the bathroom, finally feeling better after having to tell that story, he ended up running into his friends, as they were all heading toward the Art Room. He was smiling at them, glad to see them all talking about the ornaments they were going to make. Chiaki pulled him aside.

"That story you told everyone seemed to get them in the mood, I'm proud of you!" she said.

"Thank you Chiaki, trust me. That story was a little harder to tell then I'm willing to admit, but anything for a worthy cause right?"

She reached into her blazer pocket, pulling out a small wrapped gift box. The paper was bright blue, with silver lines on it. He also spotted little Space Invaders drawn on it.

"I got your name when I picked yesterday. I hope you like it." she said.

"Thank you Chiaki, it means a lot to me." he said.

"You can open it if you want, I don't mind."

He nodded, opening the small box. Inside, he found a thin golden necklace, which shined brightly in the light. It had an eight bit space ship for a charm, a little bit bigger than the one she normally wore. He looked at her, eyes wide.

"This must have cost you a fortune. Gold necklaces are expensive." he said.

"Not really, I don't mind spending money on my friends. The charm was actually one of my old hair clips that ended up breaking on me. I had the jeweler turn it into a charm. He ended up giving it a paint job and a glossy finish." she said. He pulled it out of the box, placing it around his neck. He looked at the charm closely, a smile on his face.

"This means a lot to me, and it has your style too. I like it." he said.

"I knew you would." she said, giving him a grin.

"Well, I need to talk to the headmaster so I can borrow one of those buses."

"No need, they want to go gift shopping on their own. Their going to make the ornaments and then head out to the mall. If you have anything else to do, then you are free to do it." she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, we'll be fine...I think?" she said, tilting her head a bit. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'll leave them in your care Class Rep." he said, giving her a salute.

"You know, Kizakura told me his little idea, about making you the Vice Representative, in case I'm out sick one day. Besides, our classmates are a handful, I could use the help." she said.

"I would be honored to be the Vice Representative Chiaki."

"Great, then allow me to take command, you've done enough already. We'll meet up at your place at two like you specified." she said.

"See you then."

He turned around, heading toward the stairs, still looking at the necklace Chiaki had given him. It brought a smile to her face to see her friend liking his gift so much. She may only know video games, but sometimes, she can stay away from them long enough to see her surroundings.

Daisuke raced toward his car, the temperature had dropped a bit, and little snow flurries were starting to fall. The dark clouds above him were threatening to spill their fluffy flakes and he wasn't ready for them to do that. Once inside his car, he turned the engine on, turning on the heat to warm up a bit. He took out his notebook, looking at his list of friends.

"Alright then, first up is Mahiru, gotta head to Best Buy to pick up her gift, after that is Kazuichi's gift at the hardware store, and then Peko's at the sports shop...how the hell will I make it to all of these places before all of this?" he muttered, looking at the sky. He grasped the pendant Chiaki had given him, a smile working it's way onto his face.

"No matter, I'll be sure to make it." he said, shifting into first gear, he slowly made his way out of the parking lot, heading toward his first destination.

"And that's it, that's our story." Maria said, finishing her tale. Hiyoko had been stunned to silence. Daisuke had been put through so much in his young life, and he still had the strength to face every day with a smile. She couldn't believe it. It painted the Ultimate Story Teller in a new light entirely. Maria smiled, glancing at the banister where a framed picture sat, depicting Daisuke and Erika, hugging a smiling old man. She teared up a bit, remembering the man that had saved her life.

"Maria, I'm so sorry. I was so mean to Daisuke, all this time...and not only that, I've been rude to you too, swearing up a storm whenever I'm over, and disrespecting your home. I shouldn't be here." Hiyoko said.

"It's alright dear. Daisuke has been swearing since he was young, he can't help it. His father didn't censor himself when we were arguing, living out in the streets didn't help his case either. I tried to keep Erika's vocabulary clean but..."

"Gah, horse shit, son of a cock!"

Both of them looked toward the kitchen, where the young fashion designer had been, keeping an eye on the Christmas cookies. It took everything she had for Hiyoko not to burst out laughing.

"As you can see, she picked up on her older brother's habits!" she said, glaring toward the kitchen.

"Sorry mom, forgot the oven mitts!" the girl called out. Maria rolled her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips.

"Still, for something like that too happen." the blonde girl said.

"It makes the friendship Daisuke has with all of you that much more special. He thinks of you all as family already, and he will stop at nothing to see you all smiling. Even in the darkest moments of our lives, he's always had that smile on his face."

"I can tell...that smile, it holds back so much pain...I didn't think someone could be that strong. It changes my overall thoughts on him...he's special, a really wonderful person. Maybe I can...you know.." Hiyoko said, a blush on her cheeks.

"See, I knew you had a thing for him. If he does accept your feelings, please..promise me you'll take care of him? You know what Sylvia did to him, he's been recovering a lot since then, and he could use a gal like you in his life, someone stern and rude like him to keep him in check. Don't be afraid to kick his ass if he starts being a wise ass." she said.

"Oh trust me, if anything I'll do more than kick his ass." the dancer added, standing up from her seat.

"Well, I'm going to change into my other kimono, since it's Christmas, it counts as a special occasion. It spent weeks at the dry cleaners after that rain storm." she said.

"I can't believe you egged Sylvia's house." Maria said.

"Pfft, believe it. What I don't believe is the fact that I didn't buy some butter and throw that at her too." she said, leaving the living room. Erika walked in, holding a towel in her hands.

"You know, she may be short tempered, but she will be good for my brother." she said.

"I heard that you shit head. Stop with the short jokes!" Hiyoko cried from the top of the stairs. Erika laughed, shaking her head.

"We've come so far since those days, and I couldn't be proud of you both. When are you going to tell your brother about what came in the mail two days ago?" she asked.

"Eh, I'll tell him when he gets back. The novelty of him having a fancy title has worn off, it's about time I share my sentiments with the world, no?" she asked, hugging her mother tightly.

"I think so...if Ramos were here, he would be so proud of you."

"Yeah, we should go visit his grave soon, it's been awhile."

"Maybe after the blizzard is over." Maria replied, her eyes focused on the picture on the mantle.

xxx

After driving around to several places, Daisuke had finally finished his shopping. His car had been filled to the brim with presents for all of his friends. It had taken him far longer than he had hoped though, as it was now early evening. It had already become dark, and snow was starting to fall a little harder than in the early afternoon. He arrived at the first house, that being Mahiru's residence, and pulled over, grabbing the bright red box that was near the top of the stack of presents.

"Alright then, let's get this one done." he muttered. He stepped out of his car, walking toward the front gate. He carefully opened it, stepping down into the snow that had yet to be cleared. He cleared the snow from the front porch and set the box down, ringing the bell several times before ducking out of the yard. He waited outside for a few minutes, seeing a red haired man open the door. He looked around, muttering something under his breath before looking down. He picked up the gift box, checking the tag on it.

"Hello? Who left this for my daughter?" he called out, only to get no reply. He shrugged, looking at the box.

"Guess it's going under the tree. From Santa Claus huh? Thought that shit was for little kids." the man muttered, closing the door after himself.

"Alright, step one done." he said, checking off Mahiru's name. He grabbed some fresh snow, and started making a snowball with it. He kept pressing the snow hard, until it started to melt, forming a decently sized ice ball. When he was done, he turned around, throwing it straight at Sylvia's window. The ice chunk flew right through the glass, breaking it instantly. He jumped into his car and sped off, not wanting to stick around for the aftermath.

"If Hiyoko was here, she would be laughing her ass off. Alright then, looks like I'll be heading toward the Souda residence next." he said.

He spent the next hour, delivering all of his presents to everyones houses. Every time, he would wait until their parents took the gifts inside, just to make sure they actually did make it inside. The final house he went to was the one that belonged to Nagito. Of course, since he wasn't with them anymore, it had been a little hard to buy him something, but he figured he knew his friend well enough to know what to buy him. He grabbed one of the last four boxes, stepping out of his car. He walked through the gates, placing the box on the front step, about to ring the bell when the door opened. His eyes widened a bit as he made eye contact with the two people, who were about to leave the house.

The first was a tall male, with bright green eyes, and short brown hair. He had a pale face, and a lanky physique, similar to the Ultimate Lucky Student. He was wearing a black pea coat, with a green scarf over it. He wore matching blue jeans and black boots.

The woman on the other hand was a bit shorter than him, and had long white hair, reaching down to her mid back, pulled into a high ponytail. She had dark brown eyes, and a slightly darker complexion. She was wearing a white coat, with brown fur around the edge of the hood. She wore a pair of black pants, stuffed into a pair of brown leather boots. She had a purse in her hands. They looked at each other for a few seconds, before straightening up.

"Um...this is awkward. You must be the Komaedas, my name is Daisuke Fuji, I know your son Nagito." he said.

"Ah yes, our son has spoken fondly of you. He said you have a hope brighter than anyone he's met before." the man said.

"Yes, our son has told us all about you and the rest of your friends. It means so much to us that you've become a close friend to him. But...what exactly are you doing here?" the woman asked. He knelt down, picking up the present.

"Well, I bought a gift for him, to cheer him up after his suspension. We've all been taking it hard you know, we didn't know he would do something so drastic, so I thought I would get him something." he said.

"That's so nice of you. He's been feeling a bit down, but he ended up winning tickets to a Cruise around the world. He's spending his vacation on the ship and won't be back until March." the man said.

"You're kidding? Seriously? Man that kid's luck is all kinds of weird. Do you mind giving this to him, whenever it is he comes back? It would mean a lot to me if you did."

"Of course dear, I'll make sure he gets it the second he walks through that door." the woman said, taking the box from him.

"Thanks son, for sticking with Nagito. He can be a bit overbearing, especially with his talk about hope, but it means so much to us that you've become his friend."

"No problem. Nagito means so much to all of us, and we miss him dearly."

"We hope you have a Merry Christmas dear, make sure you get home, it's suppose to be getting worse." the woman said.

"Will do, that was the last present on my list to deliver anyway. Have Merry Christmas." he said, waving at them before climbing into his car. He shivered a bit, before driving off, heading back home.

"Alright then, Nagito has been taken care of, and I delivered Chisa's present already, the only three left are obviously Hiyoko's, mom's and Erika's." he muttered to himself, as he pulled to a stop light. He waited for it to turn green before driving off, heading toward Gamespot. He had gotten his ticket earlier and had been placed in the first group. He pulled into a parking spot a few blocks from the store, and walked the rest of the way, getting into his spot in line.

"Hey man, are you seriously cutting?" another person said. Daisuke flashed his ticket, a smug look on his face.

"Group one, sorry buddy." he said, the other teen shut up, knowing he couldn't do anything. Daisuke shivered a bit, pulling out his phone. He had a couple missed calls from his friends, and one from his mother. He decided to call her first, after all she would relay the message to all his friends.

"Daisuke dear, where are you? I thought you would be heading back before three?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Sorry, I got a little side tracked. I'll be home after I pick up my game, the snow isn't that bad yet, and it's only five minutes until they open." he replied.

"Alright, your friends are anxiously waiting you know, they keep asking about when you'll be coming over. You best hurry, before Akane eats all the cookies."

"Yeah man, get your ass back here, or I'll put you in a headlock and smother your in my boobs." The Ultimate Gymnast said, making him chuckle.

"Alright, I'll be in and out, fifteen minutes at most. See ya all soon!"

He hung up the call, just as the store opened its doors, and everyone started filing in.

"Excuse me, could any of you spare a hundred Yen? Please just a hundred, I need to feed my children."

Daisuke looked to the side of the road, seeing a young woman, most likely in her early thirties, desperately walking around, asking all of the people in line for spare change. She was bundled up in a worn coat, and a frayed scarf. She had a pair of black pants on, stained and dirtied with paint and other things, and was wearing a pair of dirtied boots. She looked like she had seen better days.

She was holding onto a couple of kids, a little girl, around five years old, with long mattered hair, in a side ponytail, who was wearing a dirty pink jacket, with a patch on one of the arms. She wore a pair of brown leggings, and boots that seemed to be several sizes to big for her. She was shivering a bit, her face half covered in a worn down scarf. Beside her, was a taller boy, who was around seven or eight years old. He had short brown hair, and bright eyes. He was wearing a light jacket, clearly the only thing he had on him, along with a pair of tight jeans and brown non slip shoes.

"Please, I'm not asking for much, spare change is all I need. It isn't for me, it's for them." she begged, being ignored by all of the people around her.

"Jesus, can't you go somewhere else, bother some other people?" the person behind Daisuke said, making the teen get pissed off.

"I just want a hundred yen, please...it's for my kids." she said, she was close to breaking into tears.

"Pfft, how do we even know those are your kids?" the kid replied, making a few people laugh.

"Next in line." the store clerk said, catching Daisuke's attention. He walked forward, stopping just before the door. He looked back at the woman, who was hugging her children tightly. He took a deep breath and turned around, walking toward her.

"Excuse me ma'am. Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Please, I just need a hundred yen...my husband, he left me out in the streets with my children. The shelter is closed, and I have nothing to give them. We haven't eaten in two days, I don't want anything for me, just for them." she said. He nodded, kneeling down to be level with the kids.

"Hi, my name is Daisuke, what are your names?" he asked.

"My name is Irina." the little girl said, lowering her scarf to give him a grin, she was missing a couple of teeth, though he did see the new ones growing in.

"My name is Ikki, and I'm going to be the best poet in the world!" the little boy said.

"Oh, so you like poetry huh?" Daisuke asked.

"He loves it, he has lots of poetry books at his grandmother's place, but she doesn't live in this part of Japan, and we have no money to get there." the woman said. Daisuke smiled, patting their heads.

"You know, you two remind me a lot of myself and my sister. We were in the same situation once, but we made it out alright. And so will you, just keep smiling alright? Greet the day with a bright smile, and you'll be just fine!" he said firmly.

"Are you sure? It's so cold, and I'm hungry." Irina said, making him laugh.

"I'm sure. Trust me? After all I am the Ultimate Story Teller." he said, giving her a wink.

"Ultimate? You got to Hope's Peak Academy?" Ikki said.

"Yup, I'm in my second year already." he said.

"Wow, it's my dream to go to that academy. I want to be the Ultimate Poet one day." he said.

"Keep at it, work hard and you'll make it. And remember, greet the day with a new smile." he said, standing up. He opened his bag, pulling out a bundle of bank notes from inside.

"I was going to use this for my game, but you need it more than I do." he said, handing it to the woman. Her eyes widened, as she saw all of the money her hands. He didn't stop there, he pulled out his wallet, and handed her the 40,000 yen he had in there as well.

"I...I can't accept this." she said, as he pocketed his wallet.

"Don't be silly, of course you can. It's Christmas Eve, you don't deserve to be out here, and your kids need to be fed. There's enough there for several days at a local motel, and there's also enough for food for all three of you." he said, taking off his bag. He unzipped his jacket, pulling it off his body, he wrapped around Ikki, zipping it up all the way. He took off his red sweater, which was still flashing Merry Christmas, and placed it on Irina, pulling her hair from inside.

"Stay warm, and keep your hopes up." he said, placing his bag back on. The last thing he did was pull out a pair of gloves from inside his bag, it was the last thing he had on him, but he still handed it off to the woman, who had teared up at his gesture. She pulled him into a tight hug, unable to hold back her tears.

"Thank you, I'll never be able to repay you for your kindness. Miracles do happen." she said.

"You don't have to repay me. Seeing your bright smiles is enough for me." he said. The woman let go of him, taking her children's hands in her own.

"What's your name ma'am." Daisuke asked, as the woman brushed past him.

"Rinka Hyoudo."

"It's nice meeting you then Miss Rinka, I hope you have a Merry Christmas." he said, giving her a smile.

"Thank you so much. You are an Angel, I hope you have a Merry Christmas." the woman said, hastily walking off. Ikki was hugging his sister tightly, the girl giggling at the blinking lights from the sweater she had been given. He shivered a bit, glancing back at all of the people still in line, those who had been watching him. He smirked, holding his head high, walking back to his car, not even noticing one of his friends had been in line, watching him.

He made it back to his home before he said he would. The driveway had been full of snow, but he didn't mind it much. He stepped out of his car, holding the last few presents in his hands. He slipped into the garage, placing them on the counter top, until it was time top place them under the tree. He shivered a bit, as he made his way to the front door, slipping the key into the knob. He walked into the house, instantly assaulted by the heat radiating inside, as well as Nekumaru's horrible singing. He groaned, shaking the snow off his boots, before taking them off. He walked into the living room, shaking his head.

"Jesus man, it's been months. You are telling me you still can't sing for shit?" he asked, brow raised in curiousity.

"Daisuke, it's about goddamn bro!" the Team Manager replied, laughing heartily.

"I thought you wouldn't bother showing up, especially after everything you've done for us." Fuyuhiko added, scoffing a bit.

"I had some errands to run, sorry." he said.

"Sweetheart, what happened to you jacket? And your sweatshirt?" Maria asked, looking at her son closely.

"Oh uh...there was this woman outside of Gamespot, who had been abandoned by her husband. She had her kids with her, begging for change and I sort of...gave them my stuff." he said.

"You gave them your jacket and sweatshirt?" Sonia asked curiously.

"Of course, they were freezing, and it was snowing...I couldn't just let them walk off or anything. I gave them the money I was going to use for my game, and what was left in my wallet." he said.

"Man, you are too kindhearted you know that?" Kazuichi said firmly.

"Bless your heart, never have I met such a kind individual in all my life." Takane said, wrapping her arms around him.

"Hehe, it was nothing. Those kids...they reminded me of a couple people I know very well." he admitted. He cought Hiyoko's glared, and looked at the far wall, wiggling so that Takane let go of him.

"Well, I need to put my stuff upstairs, then I'll join all of you and we can continue this party." he said.

"Um...I hated to be the bearer of bad news but...I wouldn't want to keep your friends here. It won't be long until the snow starts becoming heavier. They should get back home, or to the academy, before the blizzard truly hits." Maria said.

"Oh right...silly me." Daisuke said.

"Hey, we still had fun. Sure, you missed it all, but you got us all to have fun on Christmas." Akane said, finishing the chicken leg she had been eating.

"You got us together, and we had a good holiday. The gods recognize your abilities, they have gifted you with great powers of persuasion." Tanaka said firmly. Daisuke smiled.

"Well, at least I did my job right. I suppose it's best if you all get home then..I wouldn't want you to get stuck in this storm." he said, heading toward the stairs. They all watched as he disappeared up the stairs.

"You know, what Tanaka said was right. We were all so disappointed, but that story he told us, it motivated us into coming here, and brought us together." Sonia said.

"It was such a sweet story too. That little boy truly did learn to smile, even through all the hard times he faced in his youth. It was a shame that Ramos ended up passing away though." Takane said. Maria's ears perked up at the sound of that name.

"Ramos? He told you that story already?" she asked.

"What story? The story of the little boy who was kicked out onto the streets the day before Christmas?" Kazuichi asked curiously.

"Yes, that story...Maria told it to me earlier today...it's the story of what happened after Daisuke's father kicked them out." Hiyoko said.

"Wait...you're telling me that...the story he told us...was a true story?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Oh my god...I didn't even realize that." Akane said.

"I feel so ashamed. He left the room so distraught afterwards. It must have taken a lot of courage to tell it to us." Peko said firmly.

"Leave it to Daisuke to tell his life story as a tale of woe, such is the talent of the Ultimate Story Teller it seems." Erika said, arms crossed. The wind started blowing louder than before, startling them a bit.

"We should go, before it starts getting worse." Sonia suggested.

"Aw man, I wanted to stay a bit longer. Thank again, my folks are waiting for me to get back already." Kazuichi said. They all grabbed their coats and shoes, placing them back on. Maria bid goodbye to all of them, wishing them a Merry Christmas.

"Hey Hiyoko, I know you and Daisuke are close and all, but save making babies until after your married."

"Mahiru, you suck! You are so lucky it's cold as hell outside or I would tackle you into a snow bank!" The blonde cried, dodging the snowballs her friend was throwing her way. Thankfully, Fuyuhiko had volunteered to give them all a ride home. Daisuke came down, just in time to see all of his friends leave. He frowned a bit, looking at the black car as it drove off.

"Damn it, I missed the party." he said.

"It's alright, we all had a good time. You did your job." Hiyoko said.

"That isn't really the point you know, but I suppose your right. Did everyone do the gift exchange?" he asked.

"Yes, that was the first thing that they did, you should have seen it, Kazuichi made Sonia a metal flower that played music, and Akane got Fuyuhiko a bright blue suit, with a top hat and everything." the blonde dancer said. They moved toward the living room, the girl throwing herself in the now empty couch.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to exchange gifts. I'll be right back." he said, walking toward the kitchen. He came back after a minute, holding back three gift boxes. He handed the bottom one too Hiyoko, and gave the last two to his mother and his sister.

"Merry Christmas guys." he said, giving them a smile.

"You didn't have to get us anything you know." his mother said.

"Yeah big brother, just being with you was enough of a gift for me."

"Nonsense, you all need presents, because a Christmas without presents isn't Christmas at all. Go on, you can open them if you want." he said.

"I think I'll wait until tomorrow. Tradition and all." Maria said, placing her box under the tree.

"Pfft, wait all you want, I'll open mine now." Erika said, tearing the wrapping off the box. She was greeted with a flat black box, which she looked at curiously. She saw a bit of tape on one side of it, and pulled it off, pulling the lid from the top of the box. Her eyes widened when she saw all of the art supplies that had been inside.

"Big brother, how did you know I needed more art supplies?" she asked.

"Well, you are a fashion designer, and often times, they go through tons of paper and pencils and a bunch of other stuff. I figured you would need a new one, especially after receiving that acceptance letter." he said, giving her a wink.

"Acceptance letter?" Hiyoko asked curiously.

"Aw, you already know then?" Erika asked, giving him a pout.

"Of course, it's pretty hard to hide an envelope with the crest of Hope's Peak Academy, they do make those flashy after all...so who found ya? Kizakura perhaps?" He asked.

"Yes, he pulled me aside as I was walking out of school a few weeks back, and asked me about my fashion designs, I thought he was just some guy who had a weird interest for art. I didn't think he was the official scout of Hope's Peak Academy though." she said.

"Whoa, you got accepted into the academy? When?" Hiyoko asked curiously.

"I got the letter just today. I'll be joining class 79A as the new Ultimate Fashion Designer." she said, holding her arm up high.

"Congratulations, you'll definitely love the academy. I'll be sure to show you around." Hiyoko said, happy that her friend had gotten accepted into their academy.

"Of course, you'll have to hide for awhile. There's a tradition in the academy, about the Freshman getting paddled, and I don't want my sister to get hurt." Daisuke said.

"Like I'll allow myself to get paddled, sorry big brother but it will be you getting paddled and not me." she said, giving him a wink. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, I kinda want to open my present but...I think I'll wait." Hiyoko said, hugging her box tightly.

"It's getting late, and this storm is getting worse. Hopefully, your friends made it back safely." Maria said, looking toward the window.

"They'll be fine. Fuyuhiko will make sure of it." Daisuke said firmly.

"I think I'll head to bed early. I woke up really early this morning, and I'm beat." Erika said, holding back a yawn.

"Me too, goodnight kids, don't stay up to late. There should be enough wood for the fire already in here, but if you need more, it's in the garage." Maria said.

"I can handle it mom. I'm gonna grab some food, I haven't eaten anything all day." he said, heading into the kitchen.

"Good Luck, Akane cleaned us out before she left." Hiyoko cried out.

"Sandwich it is then." he called back.

It was strangely quiet after Erika and Maria went to bed. Daisuke was sitting at the couch, staring at the television screen at the movie he had seen millions of times. He sighed, placing his head on his hand.

"Why did you decide on Titanic of all the movies I have?" he asked, looking at Hiyoko.

"I dunno, it had been awhile since I saw it, didn't think you would care." she said with a shrug.

"I don't, it just seems so unlike you." he said.

"What the fuck does that mean?" she snapped, glaring at the black haired teen. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Nothing." he replied, eyes turning back on the screen. Hiyoko sighed angrily too herself. She reached up to her head, and pulled on her ribbon, letting her hair down. She ran her fingers through it for a few seconds to straighten it out. She reached into her kimono sleeve, pulling out a hair brush, handing it to Daisuke.

"Brush my hair." she said simply.

"I thought girls didn't want guys touching their hair." he said.

"Screw you, Sonia tells me you brush her hair all the time. So brush mine!" she snapped. He sighed, grabbing the brush firmly in his hand. He grabbed a bit of her hair and ran the brush along it, making sure it was free of knots and tangles. He looked back at the television screen, they were at the part of the movie where Rose was going to jump off the back of the ship, and Jack was trying to stop her.

"Do you want me to fast forward that part?" Hiyoko asked, remote in hand.

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"Because she's about to kill herself."

"Sweetheart, I've seen this movie millions of times, this part doesn't make me sad or depressed." he said.

"Oh...okay." she said, setting the remote back down. He continued brushing her hair, silently staring at the screen. Once he was done, he handed her the brush, and she slipped it back into her sleeve.

"Jeez, this is so awkward. The last time we were alone, we were more amiable." Daisuke thought, taking a peek at the girl beside him.

"Daisuke...um..do you think we could talk?" she asked, gaining his attention.

"Sure, something wrong?" he asked, looking right at her.

"Nothing's wrong it's just...well...it's Christmas and I thought it would be a good time to tell you something important." she said. He rose a brow in curiosity, glancing back at the clock above the banister. It was way past midnight now, around one in the morning, and thankfully the storm hadn't knocked the power out.

"Must be really important if you waited this long to tell me. Go ahead, I'm all ears." he said.

"Well...it's just...I've never done this before...and...I swear to Christ if you laugh at me, I'll throw you into that fire pit!" she said, her cheeks flushing with anger.

"Jeez, I haven't done anything yet, and why would I laugh, your my friend right?" he snapped back.

"Gah...Jesus...okay, sorry it's just...like I said before...I."

"Hiyoko, calm down. Take a deep breath and clear your mind."

"I was about to tell you asshole! Why do you have do interrupt me?" she cried.

"I was trying to help you. Whatever, tell me what you wanna tell me already."

"I love you!" she cried loudly.

Both of them remained silent after she said that, the movie acting as their only background noise. He swallowed hard, looking away from her.

"You what?" he whispered.

"You heard me. I love you, I have for awhile, I just haven't been able to tell you. It's hard for me to express myself this way. You piss me off, more than I'll understand, and you annoy the shit out of me, and I hate how you are always making me smile, and how you trust me so much when all I've been to you is rude and mean spirited. I honestly hated you when we met, a person who calls themselves useless? They didn't deserve being in an academy filled with Ultimates. But you started changing, opening up to everyone, telling us stories, making us laugh...even going as far as doing all of this for our friends...I realized that you are a sweet person, and that you deserve better, so much better than that bitch Sylvia, and so much better then me, but I couldn't help myself. I can't help the way I feel." Hiyoko said, almost bursting into tears. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her.

"Hiyoko, you're no picnic, a spoiled little brat even, but there's a fire inside you that I find alluring. A bright fire that burns with the intensity of a million sons, and has enough heat to radiate from your being. You may say you aren't perfect, and that I deserve better, but that isn't for you to decide. I'll admit, you piss me off, more than I care to say, but I found myself falling deeper in love with you the more time we spent together. So let's skip over the bullshit and move onto the kiss." he said.

"Huh?"

She didn't even have time to react, as Daisuke caught her lips in a kiss. Her eyes went wide at the foreign feeling. She didn't know how to react, it was literally her first kiss ever. He pulled away, looking at her oddly.

"Something wrong? Did I bite you? Oh man, I should have used the Ice breakers." he said, pulling the pack out of his pocket, tossing one in his mouth.

"No, that wasn't it. Shit, you didn't give me a chance, that was my first kiss idiot, I didn't know what the fuck to do." she cried out.

"Well sorry, you should have said that."

"It should have been obvious dork! Jesus Christ, what does Sonia see in you?" she asked.

"The same thing you do." he said, giving her a wink. She huffed, tackling him onto the couch, pinning his arms down onto it.

"Now listen here, you and I are going to kiss, and I will do it first, so I can do it right." she said. He didn't even get a word in as she crashed her lips onto his own. This time, the kiss was different, it was rough, and filled with all of the passion the traditional dancer could muster. It was unique, just like she was. He started kissing her back, feeling her grip on his arms loosen enough for him to wrap his arms around her waist. They pulled away, looking into each others eyes.

"Now that's a kiss." he whispered. She giggled, rolling her eyes.

"You are such a dork, don't make me bop you!" she replied. He leaned forward, capturing her lips in a kiss again, she kissed him back with vigor, loosing herself in this new feeling, the movie they were watching all but forgotten.

Xxx

"Hey kiddo, someone left a present for you at the door step, no idea who."

"Thanks dad." Mahiru said, grabbing the red box that had been placed on the dining room table. The man didn't bother setting up a tree, as he had been alone for the season. She was a bit sad at this, but if she was going to be the only one celebrating it, there was no reason to waste money on a tree. She had gotten home minutes before, and had been screamed at by Sylvia who had just gotten her window broken by someone throwing an ice ball at her house. She told her fuck off and promptly walked inside, after what she had done to Daisuke, she didn't care for the pink haired girl anymore. She walked into her room, setting the box down while she took off her coat. She hung it on the back of her door, sighing to herself as she shook the water out of her hair.

"It's a shame Daisuke wasn't with us, but at least we all had fun at that party." she muttered to herself. Her eyes fell onto the gift box. Curiosity got the better of her, and she walked over to it. She read the tag, brows furrowing.

"From Santa? Really?" she asked herself, pulling the ribbon at the top of the box. She took the lid off, eyes widening at what as inside.

"No way, is this a Cannon EOS 5 Mark III? This is one of the most expensive cameras out there. Who bought this for me?" she asked, pulling the camera out of the box, along with all of it's accessories and manual. At the bottom of the box, was a framed picture. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a picture of her, and all of her classmates, in fact it was the picture that Kizakura had taken the day before. Her eyes fell on Daisuke, who had a bright smile on his face, his arm was wrapped around Mikan, the only one wearing that ridiculous Santa outfit Hiyoko had asked her to wear.

"You big idiot...you didn't have to do this for me." she said, a few tears slipping from her eyes. She knew someone had taken her memory card, but didn't know who had done it, and he had left literally after the picture had been taken. She shook her head, looking out the window.

"Merry Christmas you fool." she said quietly, her voice being blocked out by the fierce winds.

xxx

"No freaking way, these are the best tools known to man, I'll be able to build so many machines now." Kazuichi said, looking at his new collection of tools. His father had long gone to sleep, and he had spotted a rather large box in his garage. When he opened it, he saw all of his new tools, along with a picture frame. Once glance at it, and he already knew who had gotten them for him. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"I best start making something for him, that idiot deserves it for everything he's done for us. He must have spent hundreds of yen on all this." he said, a toothy grin on his face.

xxx

Even though it was Christmas, Sonia was preparing to leave to Novoselic. She was disappointed about leaving Japan, after being there for so long. Her dorm was empty, since her roommate had gone home for the season. She frowned, looking at the floor longingly. She had poured her emotions out to him, and he had turned her down. She had been doing her best to move on, but it still hurt her a bit.

She spotted the big box wrapped in golden paper sitting on her desk. Walking over to it, she read the tag on it, giggling a bit.

"Mr. Claus left something for me? I hope it isn't a lump of coal." she said to herself, opening the box. Her eyes widened when she saw a collection of murder case documentaries. She also saw several murder mystery books along with them. She let out a squeal, grabbing them out of the box.

"This is amazing...some of these are hours along, and so expensive, but who did this? Matter of fact how did it get here?" she asked herself, looking at the box. She noticed the frame at the very bottom, and lifted it, looking at the picture. Her lip quivered, a few tears sliding down her face.

"You really do have a big heart don't you?" she asked, holding the picture tightly against herself.

xxx

Fuyuhiko and Peko had arrived home at the same time, right after taking everyone home. The two of them had been tired, but glad to be home. His father and mother would be gone for the season, as they were handling business, and his sister was still asleep, having recovered from her injuries thanks to the ex-Ultimate Pharmacist. Fuyuhiko noticed the large tree in the living room, and spotted the large boxes that had been placed next to it. Walking over to it, he checked the tag on one of them, looking back at his friend.

"Hey Peko, there's a gift here for you." he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked curiously. He nodded, handing the box to her. She carefully opened it, pulling what was inside. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw that it was a sword. She drew the blade a bit, checking out the quality.

"This blade, it's even better than the one Sunosuke made for me. It's a duel edge sword." she said.

"Seriously?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Indeed, this sword is hundreds of years old, and it's been kept in great condition. It must have been expensive to acquire something like this." she said.

"Well then, you got a sword, and look at what I got." the young gangster said, pulling out the silk suit that had been carefully placed inside. It was easily thousands of yen, and looked like the finest thing made on the planet. Hell, he even got a hat with it.

"That's a beautiful suit, it definitely suits you Fuyuhiko." Peko said, a smile on her face. She reached into the box, pulling a framed picture from within, at the same time, Fuyuhiko pulled one of his own. He let out a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Jeez, he really does care for us doesn't he?"

"Certainly. He's a wonderful friend wouldn't you agree?" Peko asked, earning a nod from her closest friend. She took his hand in her own, making him blush brightly.

xxx

"Look at this cooking set, it's the best of the best. The most expensive cooking set on this planet, used by master chefs." Teruteru said, looking at his new cookware, glee written on his face. He reached into the box, letting out shrill scream when he saw what it was.

"Sayaka Maizono's uncensored photoshoot? With three hours of extra bonuses? This thing was destroyed, who was able to find this thing? And it's autographed?"

The Ultimate Chef looked inside the box, seeing a framed picture inside, a bright smile on his face.

"Daisuke my man, I owe you big time." he said, a grin on his face.

xxx

Ryouta Mitarai had gotten back to his dorm, after the party at his friends house. It had been a long day, and he was glad to have eaten all of the food he could find. However, many people didn't know that he in fact wasn't Ryouta Mitarai, but in fact someone different. He sat down at the foot of his bed, wondering how the real Ryouta Mitarai was doing. He saw two boxes sitting on his desk. Growing curious, he walked toward them, reading the tags.

"To the real Ryouta Mitarai...what the hell?" he muttered. He looked at the other box, the tag had been left nameless. He opened it and looked inside, finding nothing but an envelope and a picture frame. He looked at the picture, a smile working it's way onto his face. He opened the envelope, pulling what was inside.

"I didn't know what to get someone like you. A person without an address, an identity, a name? It's really weird you know, I was shocked when I found out, but it isn't my business who you are. As long as you are my friend, I am more than happy keeping this secret. I hope you enjoy this gift."

the young man reached inside the envelope, pulling out a golden card. It was a card to one of the most expensive buffets in Japan, a VIP access card, and it had the word Lifetime access written on the bottom. He almost cried.

In a world where he had no name, no family, and no identity, he was glad to have a friend like Daisuke. He truly was the greatest thing to happen to their class. He would be sure to take his gift to the real Ryouta, so he too knew what a great friend he had, even if he hadn't personally met him.

xxx

Mikan Tsumiki had been one of the few people who had decided to stay in the academy. She didn't want to go home, knowing full well that she would only be abused there. After having a great time with her friends, she didn't want those happy times to come to an end by going home. She took off her red hat, placing it on her bed. She noticed the white box on her bed, which had been wrapped with a red bow. She reached for it, reading the tag. Growing curious, she pulled the ribbon loose and opened the box.

"No way!" she cried out, reaching inside. The box had been filled with brand new medical supplies, new tools that she had been needing, including a new battery powered thermometer. She had even gotten several boxes of band aids, since she normally carried several on her person at all times. She saw the edge of a picture frame at the bottom of the box, and lifted it up, looking at the picture. She broke into tears, hugging it tightly against herself.

"I don't deserve a friend like you!" she cried out, tears running down her face.

xxx

"Tremble under the might that is the Dark Devas of Destruction, their new palace has granted them access to dark powers the world has yet to see." Tanaka shouted loudly, watching his hamsters run around their new, larger cage, complete with plastic tubes, slides and a several running wheels, though Cham-P was snoozing on his rather than running on it like he was supposed too. One of his other friends, had pointed out something they had spotted in the box.

"My curiosity has been piqued dear friend. Ah, it is a window of the past, capturing my sealed form within the tiny realm. And it seems Sir Daisuke of the Seventh Circle has been the one to gift us with these sentiments. His efforts shall be rewarded, valiant his efforts have been to cheer up this dark lord. Yes indeed, he shall be rewarded with his own country once we take over this mortal world. Mwahahahahahaha!"

xxx

"Man, I can't believe it. A life time subscription to Meats of the World. This must have been so expensive!" Akane said, looking at the letter in her hands. Upon arriving at home, her mother had given her a box that someone had left outside for her. She had pulled out an envelope and a picture frame from inside. When she opened the envelope, she had been greeted with a packet, including all of the types of meat she would be receiving for the rest of her life. She had been so happy that she screamed bloody murder. Causing her parents to check on her. Of course she explained to them what happened.

"Man, Daisuke you are the man. I gotta share some of this with everyone else, I'm sure Teruteru can make it even better." she said, out already watering. It was truly a wonderful Christmas for her.

xxx

"Yeah!"

Nekumaru had gotten home not that long ago, and was greeted with a box almost as tall as him. When he opened it, he had been surprised to find several pieces of exercise equipment. Not only that, he had also gotten several pairs of clothes, each one matching his favorite track suit, and God knows he went through them like toilet paper, thanks to his daily bouts with Akane.

"Who would do something like this for me?" he muttered to himself, lost in thought. He looked back inside the box, seeing the corner of a picture from within. He grinned at seeing the picture.

"Daisuke, you really outdid yourself didn't ya? I'll have to step up my game and teach you everything I know, so you can become a better fighter like me." he said, breaking into boisterous laughter. It was a good thing he lived alone.

xxx

"Ibuki can't believe her eyes, all of these instruments just for her? It must be a dream come true!" the Ultimate Musician said, eyes widened when she entered her studio apartment.

All around her, she saw vintage guitars, basses, and even a drum set. On top of that, she had also seen a brand new laptop, which was specifically designed for music, along with an entire DJ set up. She grabbed one of the guitars, seeing that it was a Fender Stratocaster, from 1964, those models were rare to find nowadays, especially in such good condition. She strummed it, the strings being perfectly in tune. She spotted a large amplifier next to her new laptop, a smile making it's way onto her face as she walked to it, quickly plugging it into the wall. She grabbed the aux cord and plugged it into her guitar. She knew it was late, but she didn't care she had to play a song. Before she turned her amp on, she spotted a picture frame on top of her laptop. Picking it up, her smile turned into a toothy grin.

"Daisusu, you fuckin rock man, this one is going out just for you!" she cried, turning on her amp. She gave out a high pitched scream, strumming the loudest note she possibly could, filling the small apartment with the sounds of her music.

xxx

Takane made her way into her apartment, a tired look on her face. The snow had started falling harder, and she was worried about the state of her planetarium. She didn't remember if she had closed the window for the large telescope or not, and she knew what a pain in the ass it was to clear all the ice without damaging it. It was an expensive piece and she didn't want to spend money to fix it.

She was going to be alone for the next few days, as her parents had left town to visit relatives. They did this every year so she didn't mind it, besides she didn't get along with that side of her family anyway. She walked into her living room, tossing her coat onto the couch, flipping her hair over her shoulders. She hated wearing long sleeved shirts and jackets, but it was cold and she didn't want her arms to freeze, so as much as she hated them, she had to wear them. She looked toward the large parlor window, eyes widening when she saw a large telescope placed by it. She quickly walked toward it, looking at it closely.

"Oh my god, this is one of the most expensive home telescopes this side of the world. It's supposed to be as strong as the Hubble telescope and have the ability to take Ultra Violet pictures of space. Who would willingly spend money on something of this magnitude?" she asked herself, looking around for a bit longer. She spotted a picture frame, face down on the window sill. Picking it up, she saw a note written on it.

"Takane, you may have just arrived at Hope's Peak Academy, and you may be the new girl in class, but I want you to know that no one thinks ill of you. You keep blaming yourself for my brother's death, even though it wasn't your fault. So please just let it go, I hate seeing you beat yourself up for it, just keep smiling, because your smile is beautiful. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how this damn thing worked, so I just left it how it came out of the box, don't worry, I didn't break in or anything, your parents let me in and I locked up after I was done. I hope you keep finding beautiful star formations and new planets in the vast universe that we happen to live in. You may not think it, but you are already part of my family, so welcome to Class 77, your stuck with all of us now."

She smiled warmly, looking at the framed picture. She already knew who had written that letter, and who had gotten her such a wonderful gift. She looked out the window, seeing the swirling snow flying around outside.

"Thank you Daisuke, for making me feel welcome. I promise, I'll blame myself for your brother's death no longer! In fact, I'll work harder, and the first comet I discover will be named in his honor. Too bad is snowing, I really want to see the stars of Sector 453." she said to herself, a giggle escaping her lips.

xxx

Chiaki had finally gotten home, after her long wait at Gamespot. She had been dying to play her game, but now she had been extremely tired. Having witnessed one of her friends to such a selfless act, she felt the need to use the money she was going to spend on her limited edition 3ds, and use it to buy him a copy of the game he wanted, he deserved it after being so selfless. As soon as she walked into her living room. She saw a large box placed at the back of the living room, next to her collection of retro games. She walked over to it, setting her bag down on the couch. She reached for the top of the box, and when she pulled the lid off, the entire box fell apart.

"No...way...a first edition Gala Omega arcade machine? There are only 25 left of these in the world, where did someone get this?" she asked, her voice growing louder and louder. She didn't care if her parents awoke, not after seeing something like this. Even though the machine was old, it was still in great condition, the original paint had been restored and the coin box had been taken out, and turned into a home use machine. She plugged it in, and the music of the original Gala Omega filled her ears. She almost cried. She noticed something on top of the machine, and reached for it, seeing that it was a picture frame, along with a note.

"Chiaki, before anything else, I wanted to thank you, for being my friend, and for keeping all of us together. The next few months is going to be hard on us, but I'll help you out as much as I can, our friends can be hard asses, but between the two of us, we'll surely keep them wrangled in. You have no idea what it took to find this machine, to find one in working condition and be as close to the original as possible? It was definitely one of the more expensive things I bought for our friends, but you of all people deserve something like this, you can surely beat all 355 stages by the time school starts again.

This box is also certified in the Book of World Records, as one of the twenty five remaining boxes of the original Gala Omega still in working order. And if you do manage to beat all of those levels, then that will be another record in it's own right. I hope you like it, and thanks again for the necklace, I'll hold onto it for as long as I live."

"Daisuke...thank you. You are such a kind soul, even after everything that's happened. I don't even deserve a friend like you." Chiaki whispered to herself, her eyes falling onto the game machine. A smile worked its way onto her face as she pressed the start button, starting level one. Perhaps she would take his little challenge.

xxx

Daisuke and Hiyoko had been watching the movie attentively after their little make out session, it was still half way through and the two had honestly grown tired of it, but they didn't want to go to sleep yet. They just wanted to be with each other, holding each other tightly. Hiyoko hated to admit to herself that she had become a bit affectionate now that she had confessed her feelings to the Story Teller. As much as he liked kissing her, he insisted they stop for awhile, as he was having trouble breathing.

"I'm sure they've opened their gifts by now." he said, catching her attention.

"Who?" she asked.

"Our friends. The reason I didn't make it to the party today, I was busy buying presents for all of them. I blew every last yen in my back account, but it was worth it, I can't wait to see their smiles when we see each other again." he said, a grin on his face.

"Are you serious? Didn't you say you wanted to save the money for emergencies?" Hiyoko asked, earning a nod from him.

"I did, but this counted as an emergency to me. All of you deserved to know how much you all mean to me, and what better way to show it than buying all of them some awesome stuff? Besides, some of our friends were in need of new stuff anyway, especially people like Tanaka and Kazuichi." he said.

"You are the most selfless person I have ever met you know. Wait...does that mean you bought me something overly expensive?" she asked.

"I dunno, why don't you go see it?" he asked. She quickly stood up, bounding for her gift. She pulled some of the wrapping paper away, pulling the box open. She gasped when she saw what was inside.

It was a beautiful silk kimono, which was a bright blue in color. It was long sleeves, decorated with bright pink Sakura petals. It had a silky white inner lining which was smooth to the touch. Lifting it up from the box, she saw that it was a few sizes bigger than her, and was more suited for a taller woman, no doubt he was thinking ahead. Beside it was a black obi sash, with white butterflies painted on it, along with a bright white moon, which was shedding it's light onto a calm lake. It was also made out of silk. The final thing she saw inside the box was a picture frame, the picture depicting all of them at the party they had been at in school. There was a note at the bottom of it.

"For the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Daisuke...this is the most beautiful gift I've ever received...but it's a little bigger than the ones I wear now." She said.

"Well sweetheart, one day you'll be a beautiful woman, tall and curvaceous, I figured it was a good way to prepare for when that day came. Besides, you've grown quite a bit in the last few weeks, you'll be tall enough to fit it in no time." he said, giving her a wink. She folded the kimono back, placing it inside the box. She walked back to his side, wrapping her arms around him.

"Did you even buy anything for yourself?" she asked.

"Nope, I'm happy without material things. So long as my friends are happy, I'm happy." he said, giving her a grin. She shook her head, placing a kiss on his lips, he kissed her back, wrapping his arms tightly around her frame.

"I love you, you big fool." Hiyoko said, burying her face in his chest. He chuckled, kissing the top of her head.

"I know, I love you too." he said, pulling the woolen blanket over them. The two looked back to the television, focusing on the movie, the roaring fire serving as their backdrop. For them, it truly was a Merry Christmas indeed.