Knock knock knock.
Ding-dong.
Silence.
No one moved an inch in the meeting room, as Nakiri Azami slowly gritted his teeth. He had already put his foot down yesterday. No way would he answer the door, this time.
Knock knock knock.
Ding-dong.
More silence.
"...Headmaster Azami? Can I get it?" asked Rindou.
Angrily, Azami stammered, "Fine, but make it quick."
"Yay! Momo, come with me!" exclaimed the cheerful second seat.
The small girl looked up at her with big eyes as she gave her stuffed companion a tight hug.
"Yes, Bucchi can come too."
Momo got up and accompanied Rindou to the main hallway.
Suddenly, the cat-like woman flung open the door, just missing Momo's face, as she yelled: "Hello, Nakiri-chan!"
"Hello, Rindou-senpai!" responded Alice, with equal ebullience. "Oh, and Momo-senpai too," she added, addressing the short girl cowering behind the door. Turning back to Rindou, she continued, "We're Christmas caroling!"
"I know! It sounds like fun!"
"It is! I'd really appreciate it if Uncle Azami would come to watch, though."
Rindou frowned. "Yeah, don't worry about him. He's nothing but an old Scrooge. More like the Grinch!"
"I can HEAR you, you know!" called the headmaster from the meeting room.
Undaunted, she turned back to the first-years and noted the newest member of the choir. "Ah, it's you! Good to see you again. I suppose you're gonna sing for us now?"
Tadokoro Megumi gently nodded, before getting a signal of approval from Alice and sweetly beginning her song:
"On the fourth day of Christmas, my hometown sent to me: four calling birds," Sure enough, in an opened package in the girl's arms, a quartet of tweeting birds sat, joyfully accompanying Tadokoro with her caroling.
"Three French hens," squawked Marui, his own birds suddenly calling out, but in a less than beautiful manner,
"Two turtle doves," added Alice, before Ryou ended "and a partridge in a pear tree!"
Rindou applauded, incredibly pleased with the performance. "That was lovely, Tadokoro-chan! You should sing more often!"
The poor girl blushed. "Really? Uh, thank you, senpai."
"And thank you for your time!" added Alice, waving at the upperclassmen. "See you tomorrow!" countered Rindou.
"Hopefully not!" cried Headmaster Azami from the meeting room, regretting his decision to let them answer the door.
As the two girls returned, Momo suddenly spoke out in a quiet voice: "Bucchi likes Christmas carols."
Everyone stared at the third seat, unsure of whether this confession could be considered a treasonous act. She quickly added, "But I don't." The Elite Ten sighed, and let the petite pâtissière take her seat at the table.
"Geez, since when did enjoying the holiday season become illegal?" pondered Rindou.
"Ever since it became a sign of the rebellion!" Eizan Etsuya seethed, leaning back in his chair. "I mean, the whole purpose of this caroling is clearly to distract us from our meetings!"
Rindou tilted her head, considering this. "I wonder about that. I feel like there would be more effective ways for Nakiri to stop the meeting, if she wanted to."
Headmaster Azami threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Well, I don't know nor care why they chose this method, all I care about is getting them out of my school, and the most effective way to do that!"
With that Rindou let out a defeated sigh, propped her feet up on the table, and proceeded to hum "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" for the rest of the meeting.
To be continued...
