Knock knock knock.

Ding-dong.

"Again?"

Azami didn't even bother looking at the Elite Ten this time. Instead, he just got up and wordlessly tromped over to the door. At that time, the Elite Ten had planned to meet every single day until the promotion exams, on and through Christmas day. However, Azami angrily thought to himself, if there continued to be delays, they might need to extend their meetings to make up for the lost time. That meant later evenings, grumpier council members, and a higher likelihood of falling behind on the headmaster's paperwork. Azami got a headache just thinking about it.

Soon enough, he reached the door, cautiously opening it just a crack, only to be struck by an incredibly powerful,

"HELLO, UNCLE AZAMI!"

"Hello, Alice," he sighed, exasperated, opening the door fully. He had now decided that Alice's voice was twice as likely to give him a headache as being swamped in paperwork.

"We're Christmas caroling!" she cheered.

"Again?" he groaned.

"Yeah!"

"But, it's still not Christmas ye-"

"We know, but just, LISTEN!"

With another sigh, the headmaster folded his arms and stood there, unsure of what else to do. Alice fished out a whistle from her skirt pocket and blew into it with a loud tweet. Azami flinched at the noise. Then, two birds gracefully descended from above and perched on the cheery girl's arm.

Alice began: "On the second day of Christmas, my Ryou-kun gave to me," she flashed Kurokiba a grin, "Two turtle doves-"

"And a partridge in a pear tree!" Kurokiba finished, proudly showing that he had brought his shrub along, today, too.

Headmaster Azami was not impressed. He was already shutting the door when his niece called out, "Thank you for your time!"

After locking the door once again, he returned to the meeting room to face an enthusiastic Rindou once more.

"Was it them again?" she excitedly questioned.

Azami stared at her, unamused. "Yes, Rindou, it was them."

She gave at cat-like grin, and thought, "Man, I wish I could go caroling." She turned to the first seat, sitting across from her. "Hey, Tsukasa, will you take me caroling?"

Everyone stared awkwardly between Rindou and her boyfriend, as he replied, "Uh, sure, Rindou, maybe later."

Kinokuni adjusted her glasses. "If you don't mind my asking, Headmaster, do you think these caroling bouts will continue? They're cutting into our meeting time!"

The headmaster simply shook his head. "Yes, I've thought of that, Kinokuni, but I think today should be the last day. After all, there are only two of them. Even if they do find some way to continue tomorrow, I'll just shoo them away."

Little did he know then, of the large string of events that would be set into play by his very actions, or that before Christmas even came that year, Nakiri Azami would be left with no choice... but to be jolly!

To be continued...