A Christmas Love Story in the Cosmos

A/N: Hey guys, welcome back to another chapter. This is a very special chapter, that is centered on Christmas. This is completely non-canon, and serves as a 'what if' type scenario. Don't worry, you'll understand what I mean as you read!

The characters are a little bit OOC in this, but not so much so that you wouldn't recognize them. I wanted to be able to play around with different 'ships', and because we're so early in the story that the characters haven't had much development with themselves or each other, I had to play around a little bit with their personalities.

Thank you guys for reading, I hope you enjoy the first 'special' chapter of the series! You can expect a new, main story chapter, in January. I'll see you guys in the new year ;)

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 AM, and as such, nighttime is officially over. Also, Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope your day is even better than yesterday!" Usami's usually cheery voice immediately woke me up and filled me with the energy to get this day started.

It's been a little over a month since Usami's rescued us from Monokuma's 'killing game'. She managed to destroy him once and for all, and even managed to destroy the machine that housed his 'spare copies'.

Unfortunately, she was unable to remove our ankle bracelets or return us home to Earth, so we're still bound by two of Monokuma's rules (using code names and living indefinitely on the ship), but it's still been nice not having him around.

She created additional rules to help unite us (we have morning meetings almost every day, we can't physically assault each other, etc. There was a rule about no cursing, but Sunrise quickly protested), and even though I desperately miss my real family back home on Earth, the 20 of us held captive on the HFH Enterprise have become a little family of our own.

I got out of bed and quickly got ready. Then, I looked around in the bottom drawer of my dresser for a special something...

There it is! My present to a certain someone.

Allow me to explain: Usami had suggested we do Secret Santa as a way to 'build relationships' with each other. At first, I thought it was a stupid idea, but it turned out to actually be pretty fun. We drew names on the first day of the month, and have been working on our gifts ever since.

Since there isn't a lot of things on the ship that we could give to each other (considering we've already seen literally everything this ship has to offer), I went into the kitchen and made a batch of cookies. It's not a lot, but I'm pretty sure the person who I got will appreciate it.

I used some papers of an old book I found in the rec center to wrap the plate holding the cookies and headed out into the hallway.

The hallway was decorated with very...interesting decorations. Due to the season, we had tried and made it look a little Christmas-y, but because of the lack of any supplies on the ship, it kind of ended up looking more like a sad pre-school classroom.

Book papers cut into snowflakes were hung on the walls, red and green sheets from Rose and Sage's room lined the floors, and 'fake snow' made from shampoo mixed with water littered the ground.

It was kinda sad, but hey, we did the best with what we have.

"Crimson, good morning." Frost smiled as he saw me walk out of my room.

"Good morning to you too, Frost." I smiled back. I noticed the present he was carrying in his hand. It was a red box, decorated with a black bow that I'm pretty sure came from one of the board games in the rec center. "Ooo, nice. I'm sure they'll love it."

Frost suddenly turned a bright red and glanced at the ground. "Oh, uh, yes. I sure hope so."

Hmm, if I remember correctly I think Frost was in charge of giving out the names to everyone. I wonder if he gave himself someone on purpose? I did hear from Diamond that Frost had to use the laundry room for whatever his gift was.

"I'll see you at the gift exchange ceremony." Frost quickly said, hurrying into the hallway leading to the dining room.

I chuckled and started to follow him to get some breakfast, but I stopped when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Crimson," Scarlet said. "Can you give me some advice?"

"What about?" I asked.

"My Secret Santa is a little on the active side, but I baked them a batch of cinnamon rolls. Do you think they'd mind?" She asked, twiddling her thumbs.

"Hmmm, I think it depends." I said. Besides Scarlet herself, I couldn't really think of anyone here with an active talent, so I didn't know who Scarlet was talking about.

"It's Noir," Scarlet explained. "I know she likes to stay fit in order to, um, do her 'spy stuff', but I think she'd be the type to like sweets?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely!" I answered. "If there's anyone here who'd appreciate sweets, it'd be Noir."

"Really?" Scarlet beamed. "Yay, I got it right!" She looked rather excited at guessing Indigo's interests correctly.

"I'm a little sad you didn't get me!" I joked.

"Why is that?" She questioned with a smile.

"I dunno, I just think you have good taste. Plus, I definitely wouldn't mind eating a tray of cinnamon rolls." I chuckled.

She laughed. "Maybe Noir will share some with you...or maybe, I'll make some for you someday."

"Looking forward to it." I answered. She went back to her room to finish getting ready, and I made my way into the next hallway.

In the hallway, I immediately ran into Lava, who looked every so slightly flustered (an emotion I don't think I've ever seen from her).

"Everything OK, Lava?" I questioned.

"Oh, um, hello Crimson..." She said, still retaining her rather monotone voice. "I'm just a little...nervous."

"Nervous?" I chuckled. "Why would you be nervous? Afraid that the person isn't going to like your gift?"

Lava shook her head. "No...it's just that even though I've become a little more comfortable around you all, I am still a little awkward." She admitted. "Especially with the person I got...I haven't had the chance to talk to them before..."

"If you don't mind me asking, who did you get?" I inquired. I'm pretty sure it wasn't me, considering she had talked to me before.

Lava paused for a moment before nodding. "...Indigo."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Lava, trust me, Indigo is the last person here you have to worry about. I'm sure you guys will get along fine, and she'll love whatever you got her."

Lava nodded. "You're probably right." Then she turned towards the computer lab. "I will see you later...I still need to finish my present."

"See you Lava, and good luck." I replied. She nodded once more and entered the computer lab.

Just then, Sunrise came out of the laundry room.

"Yo, Sunrise." I called.

He turned towards me, and although he didn't smile, he acknowledged me with a brief nod. He had become a slightly better person since I first met him. He wasn't as much of a dick anymore, but he still had occasional 'asshole like' comments that no one appreciated (except for Royal, who often cheers him on).

"This whole Secret Santa shit is stressing me the fuck out." Sunrise complained, crossing his arms and sighing.

"What do you mean, don't you already have your present?" I questioned, raising a brow.

Sunrise scoffed. "Hell no, man. There's nothing on this ship to give that we haven't already seen before!"

"That's what I thought," I said. "Until I started looking around more. You could make something out of something, bake something, or-"

"That's it!" Sunrise suddenly yelled, putting a fist in his hand.

"Uh, what's it?" I questioned.

"What gift could be more perfect than me!" Sunrise smirked, looking rather proud of himself.

"...Uh, what?" I asked, a little dumbfounded.

"I will gift my Secret Santa one of my jackets. That way they'll always have a part of the best Ultimate Pilot the world has ever seen!" Sunrise grinned.

...

...

...

"Sure, Sunrise, that sounds like a great idea." I sighed.

"Of course it is; it came from me." He chuckled. "Well catch ya later, try not to wallow in self-pity."

"Self-pity over what?" I asked.

"Your lame-ass gift!" He cackled, walking away.

...I didn't even tell him what my gift was.

I continued on my way to the dining room, but was once again interrupted.

"W-wow!" Cotton exclaimed. He was carrying a big box of something and was clearly struggling given his small frame.

I quickly ran over to him and helped him set the box down (while balancing my plate of cookies with one hand).

"You OK, buddy?" I chuckled, watching as he clutched his chest in exaughstion.

"...Phew, I think I underestimated how heavy that box was!" Cotton laughed.

"What's in it?" I inquired.

Cotton smirked. "It's a replica of a photoshoot studio!"

...

...

...

"Um, can I ask why?" I nervously laughed. Where the hell did he get the supplies to build something like that?

"Well, you see, I got Diamond as my Secret Santa." Cotton explained. "And I wanted to make her something that'd remind her of home y'know? So I thought to myself: what better way to do so then to recreate Diamond's passion?"

I nodded, impressed. "I see. Of course Diamond would love something like that. But, how did you manage to build such a thing?"

"The rec center!" Cotton answered. "The board games have a whole bunch of stuff that I used. One of the games even had a camera, so Diamond can fulfill the role of the photographer and the photoshoot choreographer."

I see...A lot of people probably used the board games to help make their gift, which meant that there probably wasn't any board games left to actually play...

"Well, Crimson, it was nice talking to you, but I gotta get this present to the announcement room for the gift exchange!" Cotton smiled.

"Need any help with that?" I asked, watching as he struggled to find a grip to pick the box up.

"No, no, I got it!" Cotton reassured. True enough, he started pushing the box with no problem, and was through the door.

"Phew," I muttered, heading towards the dining hall. "I can finally eat-"

Just as I thought I was in the clear to grab some breakfast, someone hit me with the door as they left.

"Ouch," I groaned, rubbing my head.

"I'm so sorry!" Cherry quickly apologized, putting her hand on her heart. "Are you OK?"

"Y-yeah..." I nodded, still in a bit of pain but overall I felt fine. I wasn't dead, so that's good. Don't want Cherry to be accused of killing me to escape!

"Good," Cherry sighed in relief. "Sorry, I'm just in a little bit of a rush finishing my Secret Santa gift!"

"Ah, you waited until the last minute?" I chuckled.

"Oh, no," Cherry clarified. "My gift couldn't be made until this morning." She explained.

"How so?" I asked.

Cherry giggled. "You see, my gift is for Frost. Since he's the Ultimate Barista, I wanted to impress him by baking him a biscotti to go along with his morning cup of coffee!"

"Ah, I see," I nodded. "I'm sure he'll love it."

"I hope so. I'm not the best baker in the world, but I picked up a thing or two from critiquing food." Cherry smiled. "Frost is a good guy, don't you think?"

I nodded. Frost was a little standoff-ish at first, but he's grown to be a pretty friendly guy. In fact, he's particularly friendly towards Cherry...Now that I think about it, Frost's present for his Secret Santa was a bright shade of red...a cherry red, if you will...

"Well, I'm going to tidy myself up for the gift exchange, and I'll see you there." Cherry said, brushing flour off her skirt.

I bid adeiu to her. Just as I was about to enter the dining hall, yet another one of my lovely classmates called my name.

"Mr. Crimson!" Silver called.

I slowly turned around. My stomach was growling, but I guess I could wait a little longer...

"My good man, I am in a little bit of trouble." He sighed. "I'm afraid I don't know what book to select for my Secret Santa."

"What's the problem, exactly?" I asked. "Don't know what genre your Secret Santa likes?"

"No, it is not the genre, but the language of the book that I want to get." He explained. "You see, my person is Ms. Merigold."

"Ah, I see your dilemma. Don't know what languages she knows, right?" I asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "I didn't want to get her a book in basic Japanese, considering we speak that every day. I thought she might enjoy a book in one of the languages she knows."

"Half the time I don't know what languages she speaking whenever she does 'her thing'," I chuckled.

"Ah, maybe I'll do something a little different." Silver suddenly thought aloud.

"Like what?" I inquired.

"Well, there are a couple of books about learning languages in the rec center." He explained. "I think I'll get her one of those!"

"Gonna have to roll the dice though for choosing which languages," I said. "You don't want to get her a book on a language she already knows!"

"Very true," He nodded. "Well, I must be off! Don't want to be late for the gift exchange!"

He quickly turned around and presumably headed into the direction of the rec center.

At last, I was able to enter the dining room without any interruptions.

The dining room was full of people eating breakfast and working on their presents

I immediately started towards the kitchen to put the cookies in the fridge and grab a bite to eat, but I was called by Onyx, who looked like he was struggling with a piece of art.

"Ah, Crimson," Onyx said, scratching his head. "You're an actor, which is like an artist, right? So, do you think you could help me with this piece of art?"

...

...

...

"Um, sorry, but acting and drawing aren't really the same." I nervously laughed. "Why don't you ask Sage for help?"

"Unfortunately, I was doomed to get Sage for my Secret Santa." Onyx sighed. "I thought that drawing him a portrait would please him, but it isn't going so well..."

I looked at Onyx's drawing of Sage...and there was no Sage to be found. Instead, the drawing looked like Monokuma after he was exploded by Usami.

"Um...keep at it, man, I'm sure you'll get there," I said. I didn't believe my words, but I didn't want to discourage Onyx when the gift exchange was moments away. Plus, I didn't see how Onyx could think of a better idea in so short of a time.

"I'll definitely try." Onyx sighed, continuing his painting 'of Sage'. "Hm, maybe I can convince him it's 'abstract'..."

I walked away from Onyx's crime scene and attempted to enter the kitchen. Before I could, however, I was pulled aside by Diamond...Maybe I will die here, of starvation.

"Crimson," She pleaded. "Please assist me in calming Cloud down."

"What's wrong with Cloud?" I questioned as she led me to the table where he was sat.

"He is nervous about how his Secret Santa will react to his gift." She explained, sighing.

"I-it's just, I don't know w-what they'll like." He sniffed, wiping a tear.

"Just give them something that comes from the heart, and I'm sure they'll love it." I suggested.

"That's the same advice I gave him," Diamond sighed. "And he refuses to tell me who his person is, so I am unable to help him."

"Isn't it S-Secret Santa for a reason?" Cloud meekly asked.

I sighed, feeling for him. It wasn't easy being a shy person in general, but being a shy person in this type of situation? It must be Hell for him.

Diamond crossed her arms. "Well, Cloud, we can't help you if you don't tell us anything."

Cloud sniffed once more, before looking at the ground with the most sorrowful, puppy dog expression I've ever seen.

"It's Mauve..." He revealed.

"Oh, that guy," I said. "Don't worry about it. He won't care what you get him."

"R-really?" Cloud asked, nervously covering his face with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"Yes, Mauve does not seem like the type to judge a gift with heavy judgment." Diamond nodded.

Cloud pulled his hands away from his face and let out a small smile. "T-thank you...I feel a little better now."

Diamond also smiled, though it was soft and looked like it mostly derived from relief. "Now that Cloud's dilemma is solved, I must be on my way."

"What's the rush?" I asked.

"My gift for my Secret Santa is rather simple, so I'm decorating the box I'm giving it in." Diamond explained. "I am almost finished, but they're just a few finishing touches."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

Diamond left to her room, and Cloud went back to awkwardly staring at the ceiling.

I made my way to the kitchen, and thankfully, was finally allowed to enter without any interruptions.

Inside, I ran into Mauve and Rose.

"Crimson, please help me convince Rose to not give his Secret Santa a 'signed deck of cards' as a gift!" Rose pleaded, quickly running over to me.

"This particular person might appreciate it," Mauve responded. "I'm not being lazy, I'm just being considerate." He claimed.

"Anyone can get a deck of cards from the rec center." Rose sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but I put my name on it, so they know it's special." Mauve argued.

"Maybe if you tell me who the gift is for, I'll have a better judgement." I said.

"Cloud." Mauve answered.

"Ah, I see." I nodded. "Cloud would like something like that."

"What?!" Rose gasped. "You too, Crimson?"

"Cloud is a simple guy," Mauve explained. "He wouldn't mind something simple."

"Well, yes, but I guarantee you he'd like something else." Rose protested.

Mauve chuckled. "Ah, Rose..."

"What?" Rose frowned.

"I was joking about getting him a deck of cards." Mauve revealed.

...

...

...

"Seriously? After I brought Crimson into this?" Rose groaned, turning towards me. "I apologize Crimson, I didn't take Mauve for the joking type..."

"Me neither." I said truthfully, chuckling along with Mauve. "I'm surprised he has it in him!"

Mauve smirked. "It's funny to get Rose mad. Because she's the Ultimate Prodigy, she thinks she's always right, but when she's proven wrong or deceived, it really is a fascinating sight to behold."

"H-hey, that's not true," Rose claimed, her face turning slightly red. "I was just acting in the best interest of Cloud!"

"I've never seen her so defensive or flustered, Mauve." I joked. "She must think differently of you than everyone else here." I was half-joking and half-serious. Rose normally wasn't the defensive type, in fact, she was a little on the shyer side sometimes. Around Mauve, however, I guess she opened up a little more.

"Haha, very true, Crimson," Mauve laughed. "I guess I have that effect on some people."

"What effect?" Rose raised a brow.

I left the quarreling duo as I went to the fridge. I put my cookies in the fridge to preserve them and grabbed a banana to eat for breakfast. As I ate my banana, still standing in the fridge, I noticed movement in the back of the fridge.

"Uh, hello?" I called, a little worried. Did a rat manage to break in from Earth and infiltrate our food supply?

"Ah!" Someone screamed, which almost made me scream! A second later, however, I understood the reason for the movement that I saw, as Royal stood up, holding a bag of something.

"Ugh, you scared the hell out of me!" Royal chastised. "If it weren't for your celebrity status, I'd totally knock you over right now!"

"Now, now, Royal, I wasn't the one hiding in the back of the fridge." I retorted.

"I wasn't hiding," Royal claimed. "I was getting something! These," She then opened the bag, revealing...makeup?

More specifically, they look exactly like the toiletries we were provided with at the start of our captivity.

"Why did you put makeup in the fridge?" I questioned.

"Must we play 21 questions...?" Royal sighed. "Makeup goes on easier when its cold, duh!"

...

...

...

"Um, where did you happen to get this information?" I asked, genuinely concerned for Royal's IQ level.

"Experience, hon," Royal replied, gesturing to her face. "All the tips I've acquired in the biz have led me to my ingenious discovery!"

"OK, sure..." I said, still a little unsure. "Anyways, why are you getting makeup from the fridge right now? You're face already looks done to me."

"It's not for me," Royal replied, rolling her eyes. "It's for that stupid Secret Santa thing."

"You're really giving your person the same toiletries we all have?" I sighed, disappointed but not surprised.

"No, dummy!" Royal groaned. "I'm giving them the greatest gift of all: a makeover! Trust me, this person desperately needs one."

"OK, Royal, it was nice talking to you, goodbye." I quickly said, grabbing my tray of cookies and leaving the fridge. Oh, Royal, we give you so many chances but the things that come out of your mouth just keep on coming...

There was no clock in this place, but I could tell that it was time to head to the announcement room for the gift exchange.

On my way there, I spotted Emerald and Merigold in the dining hall, still working on their gifts.

"Haha, I didn't think you ladies would still be working on your gifts by now," I chuckled.

"This is harder than I thought," Emerald admitted. She looked like she was knitting something. "Cotton told me that my person might like a knitted sweater, but the problem is: I don't know how to knit!"

"Oh mein Gott, this book is way too hard to wrap!" Merigold exclaimed. It looked like a normal book, but it was rather thick and heavy, so I guess Merigold found it a little awkward to wrap it.

"Well, I can help you Merigold, but sorry Emerald, I know next to nothing about knitting." I chuckled. I set down my cookies and wrapped the book with ease.

"Wao, Crimson, that was quick!" Merigold observed.

"Maybe you're the Ultimate Gift Wrapper?" Emerald giggled, still struggling to knit her sweater.

"Aw, it's no big," I chuckled.

"Is there any way you could help Emerald with her dilemma?" Merigold asked.

"Ummmmmm...no, sorry." I apologized. "Knitting was not one of the things my parents taught me."

"No worries," Emerald smiled. "I don't think my person is the type to care about an object so much as a gesture of kindness."

"So you didn't get Royal or Sunrise!" I joked.

The pair laughed.

"No, my person is probably the opposite of those two." Emerald said. Huh, maybe it's me? Heh, not to toot my own horn, of course.

"Well, amigos, I think it's time to head in." Merigold smiled, standing up.

"Yes, time to face the music!" Emerald joked, also getting up.

The three of us headed into the announcement room where everyone else was waiting.

I took a seat next to Indigo, Sage, and Noir, the latter of which who looked pretty excited.

"Crimson, Crimson, are you ready?" She asked with a big smile.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," I answered.

"I'm going to love whatever my Secret Santa gets for me, but a part of me really hopes they made me sweets." She said, rubbing her stomach in anticipation.

"Well, a lot of people made food-related items for their Secret Santas, so there's a possibility!" I replied.

"You didn't get me for Secret Santa, did you, Crimson?" She asked with a sly smile.

"No, I didn't," I answered. "What makes you think so, though?"

"Hehe, I didn't!" Noir mischievously revealed. "But, now I know!"

"Ah, you sly fox!" I joked.

"I am the Ultimate Spy after all!" She giggled.

I turned to Indigo, who looked quite anxious to get the gift exchange going.

"Excited?" I asked.

She turned to me with a soft smile. "Yes, mostly to see my Secret Santa's reaction...My gift is a little small, though."

"Ah, I'm sure they'll love it nonetheless," I reassured. "Today isn't just about gifts. It's a day of friendship, and on this ship, we could all use some."

Indigo nodded, looking a little sad. "Yes, today is one of the more difficult days, huh?"

I also nodded with a sad frown. "Very true. I'm used to be opening presents with my family at this time..."

"In Russia, we have a firework celebration the night of Christmas on January the 7th." Indigo explained. "It is my favorite part of the holiday. Fireworks are fun for everyone involved."

I chuckled. "I'm not surprised the Ultimate Daredevil loves fireworks."

I observed Sage sitting next to Indigo, who looked as quiet as ever. As always, he had his head buried in his journal, where he was still working on that same drawing I've seen him working on since I met him.

I've watched Sage through the weeks, and he is pretty quick with his work. It's always perfect, pristine, and done at a quick pace.

I wonder why this drawing, in particular, was taking him so long...

Suddenly, a voice was heard from the stage and we all turned our heads towards it.

"Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas!" Usami greeted.

"I know you're all eager to get the gift exchange started, but first, I thought we might reflec-"

"Nah, let's just get on with it!" Sunrise called from the crowd.

"For real, I'm ready for my gift now." Royal agreed.

More and more mutters of wanting their gifts now, or to give their gifts now, filled the room and Usami defeatedly backed down from her idea.

"OK, OK, everyone," She said. "I suppose we can start the gift exchange now,"

Everyone immediately stood up and went to their respective Secret Santa.

I was honestly getting a little nervous. Maybe my person wouldn't like the cookies I made.

I slowly approached them and they looked at me with a smile.

"Crimson! You got me?" Azure asked excitedly.

"Y-yeah..." I nervously replied.

"No kidding, I got you too!" Azure revealed.

"Wow, really?" I asked in astonishment. "That's quite a coincidence."

"Um, maybe not..." Azure chuckled as he looked around.

I looked around at the various pairings, and I guess everyone ran into the same situation as us; being each others Secret Santa.

The pairings were as follows:

Frost and Cherry (No surprise there, I kinda figured. Frost gave Cherry a pair of mittens that he found in one of the lockers in the girl's shower room, which he washed and dried to make sure they were nice and clean for Cherry. And of course, Cherry gave Frost a biscotti. The two loved each other's gifts so much that they gave each other a hug.)

Mauve and Cloud (Mauve baked Cloud a cupcake, which he absolutely loved. He even almost started crying! Cloud wrote Mauve a poem, about a boy longing for a girl but the girl being too stubborn to admit her love. I wonder if it's an innuendo for a certain bickering pair...)

Cotton and Diamond (Cotton, of course, gave Diamond the replica of a photoshoot studio, which she loved. She volunteered Cotton to be her first model. Diamond gave Cotton a Rubik's cube that she found hidden behind the shelf of the board games in the rec center. He was ecstatic, but solved it in three seconds.)

Lava and Indigo (Lava gave Indigo a mini cannon that she built from some machinery she found in the equipment room. Indigo loved it so much that she started crying. In return, Indigo gave Lava a book that she found in the rec center about building a robot from an oven. Lava loved it and asked Indigo for help building it.)

Sunrise and Royal (The 'mean pair' as people call them, got each other! Sunrise gave Royal his jacket, to which she said she would later light it on fire. In response to Roya's gift of a 'make over', Sunrise scoffed and said he was perfect the way he was. Then, the two got into an argument.)

Sage and Onyx (Sage was rather unimpressed with Onyx's gift of a 'portrait'. In fact, Sage commented that the portrait was so bad that he would be open to giving Onyx lessons. Sage's true gift, however, was a portrait of Onyx. Onyx was very pleased to see himself portrayed in such a way, and said he would consider Sage's offer of lessons.)

Rose and Emerald (Rose was thrilled with Emerald's attempt to make a knitted sweater for her. She said it didn't matter if it was unfinished, she'd wear it anyway! Rose gave Emerald a book about cats due to Emerald's love of them. Emerald loved the gift, but started to tear up upon remembering her own cat back on Earth.)

Silver and Merigold (Silver gave Merigold a book about learning Finnish. Merigold was absolutely thrilled about starting the process of learning a new language. Merigold gave Silver a book about some of the greatest TV Hosts of all time. Silver loved it, but was a little disappointed upon seeing that he was not in the book.)

Scarlet and Noir (Noir thoughtfully gave Scarlet a resistance band that she found in an exercise themed board game, so Scarlet could stretch herself out before dancing. Scarlet loved it and asked Noir if she wanted to dance with her. Scarlet baked Noir a batch of cinnamon rolls, which thrilled the Ultimate Spy.)

At last, it was time for Azure and I's gift exchange.

Azure handed me a medium-sized object wrapped in paper decorated with...

Paper from a book in the rec center.

"I know the wrapping isn't very original, but I hope you like the gift." Azure chuckled.

"Trust me, dude, everybody has the same 'wrapping paper'." I laughed.

I unwrapped Azure's gift, and a smile immediately formed on my face.

"How did you find this?" I asked in awe.

Azure mischievously laughed. "It's a secret."

The gift was a DVD of a movie featuring one of my favorite actors, Kotoko Utsugi. I had spent hours in the rec center trying to look for one of her movies but to no avail! I wonder how Azure got his hands on a copy...

Azure quickly unwrapped my gift upon my mentioning that it was something edible.

"Cookies..." Azure slowly said.

My smile dropped a little. Did he not like it?!

Azure stayed silent.

"U-um, Azure?" I asked.

...

...

...

"I love it!" He said, embracing me in a hug.

My eyes widened, but I hugged him back. A month of being trapped with all these people has made me extremely close to all of them, But Azure, being the first person I met, and the one to stick by me through pretty much everything, has made me feel especially close to him.

After the gift exchange, we all ended up in the dining room. The mood was cheery, and everyone was talking to each other about their holiday traditions, family, and the things they missed most about Earth.

In the middle of our discussion, Azure told me he was going to get something and he'd be right back.

"No, Onyx, paint can't be erased with an eraser." Sage sighed, facepalming.

"I bet I could market the hell out of a paint eraser if someone made one!" Onyx smirked.

"That's the dumbest fucking idea I've ever heard." Sunrise insulted, his feet on the table as he tiredly stared at the ceiling.

Just then, Azure arrived sneakily walking over to Frost and Cherry. No one else noticed him as he crept across the dining room but me. I mouthed to him 'what are you doing?', but he simply put a finger up to his lips and kept moving.

When he arrived behind Frost and Cherry, I realized his plan.

"Mistletoe!" Noir pointed out, giggling.

Everyone turned to see Azure holding up 'mistletoe' (a piece of spinach with raspberry's glued to it) behind Frost and Cherry, who both looked extremely flustered.

"Oh!" Cherry exclaimed, her cheeks as red as her codename.

"Uh..." Frost looked even more nervous, as he sheepishly averted his eyes and twiddled his thumbs.

"C'mon guys, you know the drill!" Emerald chuckled.

"Yeah, come on!" Merigold cheered on. "Baiser!"

"I guess we have to," Cherry nervously laughed, turning towards Frost.

"Oh, uh, yes, I suppose we do..." Frost nodded, his eyes still unable to meet her gaze.

I chuckled at the very amused Azure, who continued to hold the 'mistletoe' up.

We all continued to cheer Frost and Cherry on, and they eventually accepted their fate.

Frost moved his lips slowly towards Cherries. Seriously, it took like 10 seconds for him to finally get an inch away!

Then, without further warning, Cherry, rapidly moved her lips towards his, and the two had their (first?) kiss!

"Finally!" Azure grinned. "My arm was getting tired."

"Gross..." Royal muttered.

"That was the cutest thing ever!" Cotton gushed.

It was refreshing seeing everybody happy and excited. Frost and Cherry, in particular, looked very happy. They couldn't wipe their smiles off their faces, and I noticed Frost's hand holding Cherries,

The situation we're in is without a doubt shitty. No family, no Wi-Fi, no way out. But, seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, and hearing their laughs made it a little more bearable.

It wasn't the best Christmas I've ever had, but it definitely wasn't the worst. If we really could never leave, I could get used to this!

Azure sat back down next to me. He wriggled the 'mistletoe' in his hand.

"Hmm...I think I'm going to keep this." He remarked.

"Why?" I questioned with a smile. "Think there's another pair here that'd be good together?"

He looked at me with a sly expression.

"You never know!"

Monomi watched the situation in the dining room with a very satisfied smile.

"Haha, it worked!"

You see, at the beginning of the month, Monomi had put Frost in charge of drawing names for Secret Santa. However, that was only a ruse!

In reality, Monomi had rigged Secret Santa so that everyone would get the person she intended them to. She did this based on several factors: relationship compatibility, who were already friends, who needed to work on their friendship, etc.

She was thankful no one questioned why their Secret Santa also got them as their Secret Santa! She hated to lie to or manipulate the students, but it was for the greater good!

Frost and Cherry even kissed, which led to an astronomical growth in their relationship with each other.

If Monomi could keep it up, and continue pairing up people, then maybe the students wouldn't be so miserable trapped on the ship.

She looked at her list of potential student relationships and nodded triumphantly.

The next one on the top of her list looked promising, and she was going to do everything in her power to get them together!