"Aaaahhh, why does the city have to have this stuff too!" Kugisaki groaned in anguish. Her classmates watched in amusement as she tried huddling further into her designer puffer jacket to hide from the snow.
Itadori held out a gloved hand to catch one of the snowflakes falling. "You don't like snow, Kugisaki?" A soft flake of white landed on his hand. "I think it's great!" He held out his hand so Adam could look at the object closer.
"Well, I'm glad someone is happy at least," Fushigoro growled. Despite loving winter because of the rain, the boy absolutely despised the snow. In his own words, 'There's a comfortable cold, and then there's hell.'
"2 someones are happy, actually," Adam said excitedly. "These things are so cool! No pun intended." Itadori laughed as he crushed the flake in his hand, much to Adam's despair.
"Do you guys know what to get for Secret Santa?" The pink-haired boy asked before reaching into his pocket to grab a ticket. "I got Nurse Ieri." He said with a frown. "I haven't even spoken to her before…"
Fushigoro held up his ticket, "I received Inumaki."
"Zenin," Kugisaki added after pulling out her ticket.
"Nanami…and his three sizes," Adam announced with a sigh. "My gift was pretty much already chosen out from the get-go I guess. But forget about Secret Santa, what are we going to get for everyone outside of that?"
Itadori hummed in thought, "Well, I have a pretty good idea for everyone besides sensei."
"Same," Kugisaki replied. "He's kind of hard to buy for; what would a man who has everything want for Christmas?"
Adam snorted. "You totally stole that from somewhere." Kugisaki flipped him off before turning to Fushigoro, who had yet to reply to the question. "Just like how we should steal all of his cash to make him grateful when we return–" Fushigoro slapped his friend over the head.
"We could probably get away with something sentimental." He ignored Adam's cry of anguish as he massaged his head. "It's how my sister and I choose every year." He sighed tiredly. "It doesn't help that we also have the Secret Santa gifts to worry about though."
"Definitely," Kugisaki replied. "And we also have to head back early so we can set up our dorm for the party."
The quartet collectively groaned.
"I can't believe we're speedrunning Christmas…" Itadori said with a sad expression.
"I can't believe I got so hyped for something like this…" Adam grumbled. "My savings account is going to be drier than a desert by New Year's." Itadori looked at the boy in confusion.
"You're saying that like you've never experienced Christmas before." The boy noted.
"I mean…I haven't really. No big celebration or anything at least one that I attended." There was one time his cousin snuck him a mug of hot chocolate, but the boy had been swiftly taught to never do such a thing again. Itadori ignored the boy's dark expression as his head shot up to look at his two other classmates.
A silent conversation was held in a single moment.
"That's depressing."
"Ignore that part! This means it's his first Christmas!"
"And why is that so important?"
"First impressions are everything, don't you know?!"
"Obviously, but I don't think that applies here."
"It does!"
"Does not."
"Does! Anyway, this means we have to make it special!"
"Special, how? Besides spending more money, which I don't want to–"
"Don't worry about that! Just think of how to make this good!"
"Well, how do you make Christmas good, oh, saint?"
"Surprise gifts!"
"Uh-huh, so, genius, how are going to get him to go away so we can shop for him?"
"That's the easy part, watch this."
"Since we're almost there, how about we decide on a plan of attack?" Fushigoro asked. "Dividing and conquering is a good strategy, especially since we'll all be shopping for different people."
Adam looked up slowly, "But shouldn't we help each other make sure we're getting the right things? I mean, Itadori hasn't even met Ieri before." Fushigoro looked at his 2 classmates, and another silent conversation was held.
"That was all I had, you two figure something out."
"Throwing in the towel after one try? Classic Fushigoro."
"Watch it, I can still give away our entire plan."
"Ooh, I got an idea!"
Itadori looked at Adam with a soft smile. "We want to buy surprise gifts for you, pal!" Kugisaki looked at Fushigoro with a blank expression.
"Can you still give away our entire plan?"
"He beat me to it…unintentionally."
Adam turned to the boy with a confused expression. "Surprise gifts? Are they supposed to be surprises?" The boy was secretly thankful he hadn't sent his gift list to Fushigoro and decided to remember it instead.
"Sometimes, it just depends on what everyone else is planning," Fushigoro replied. "So, we'll all split up then?"
"Sure…"
"Okay!"
"Fine by me, there was a bag I wanted to look at anyway."
"Ooh, send me the page for it, I don't have many ideas for you!" The trio of Kugisaki, Fushigoro, and Itadori all froze at the sudden change in demeanour. A glance at the remaining boy in their group confirmed their suspicions.
"He literally has stars in his eyes!"
The stress to make that their best Christmas ever doubled.
Fushigoro discreetly sent a message to his two classmates containing a map location. He then turned towards their destination, which had appeared on their right just moments prior. "We're here."
The group looked up in wonder as they approached their goal, the Tokyo Solamachi. Itadori didn't even stop to look as he sprinted inside the mall like a kid on crack. Adam quickly followed behind the boy while dragging Kugisaki and Fushigoro along.
"We can walk for ourselves," Fushigoro grumbled.
"You're going to tear my sweater, you ass!" Kugisaki slapped the white-haired boy's hand several times as he dragged them into the entrance. She was eventually released from his grasp when the boy got distracted by a store to his right.
"Tailor, perfect." Adam strolled into the store alone, giving Fushigoro and Kugisaki the perfect chance to escape. He barely even noticed their disappearance as he pulled out his phone. '2.3 million yen…that should be enough for a suit…right? Maybe I should have had Megumi set a budget…' He was brought out of his thoughts by the approach of a clerk.
"Good morning, are you lost?" Adam glared at the man in frustration. He may not have been the tallest teen around, or the most mature-looking, but surely he couldn't pass for being a kid!
"No, I'm not. I'm here for a suit." He brought out his ticket and held it towards the clerk. "Am I able to get one with these measurements?" The clerk gingerly took the ticket and scanned it for a moment.
"Say…is this for Nanami Kento?" The clerk asked.
"Yes?" Adam watched the clerk's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Is he banned from here or something?"
The clerk quickly waved his hands. "No, no, not at all! He actually comes here quite often for his formal attire. I just didn't think he was due for another just yet; he came in to pick one up a few months ago…"
"Oh…" Adam glanced around the store briefly before returning his gaze to the clerk. "Well, I'm actually here to pick up a Christmas gift. I don't know him too well, but he wore a suit the last time I met him."
The clerk handed the boy back his ticket and smiled. "Well, that's just perfect. What's your budget? I'm sure we can find something here to suit him perfectly." Adam took back the offered item and shook the clerk's hand.
"Pendragon Adam, thank you for your assistance."
"Matsumoto Watari." The man replied with a smile. "You don't need to be so formal, it's just my job."
Adam blushed in response before nodding. "Okay." He checked his phone one more time before sighing. "Can we try to keep it under a million yen?" He wasn't keen to go anywhere near that amount, but a gift should come from the heart, no matter the cost or whatever.
"Oh, most certainly!" Matsumoto raced over to his desk and grabbed a clipboard. "Most things here don't even reach close to that amount unless it's a special commission." He guided the boy towards the back of the store, where a luxurious glass case lay. "Mr. Nanami has mentioned he was interested in investing in this style before, perhaps a Christmas gift will be a good way to get him started."
Adam looked up at the suit on display and nodded. "Then I'll go with that."
"Operation, Adam's First Christmas, will now commence!" Itadori shouted, much to his classmate's contempt.
"Who the hell are you announcing to?" Fushigoro grumbled. "And I don't think something as simple as Christmas shopping requires a whole operation name and–" Itadori put a finger to his lips and shook his head.
"You simply don't understand, dear classmate." Itadori twirled around and struck an exaggerated pose. "Your first real Christmas is special; I'm sure you remember, even if you were super young." He tilted his head in Kugisaki's direction, with the girl having copied his pose.
"The presents, the hot chocolate, the atmosphere, every part of it was perfect!" She exclaimed. Fushigoro stared at the two with an annoyed frown, one caused by the attention they were receiving from all of the passersby.
Unlike the two morons standing before him, Fushigoro never experienced anything like a sacred 'First Christmas'. The first one he remembered was of him and his sister watching movies all day while waiting for their parents to return, and everyone after that had Gojo popping in for a visit before being sent off to over a dozen missions.
"Yeah, I don't get it." The boy replied simply. "That's beside the point, though; do you two even know what to get him?" Fushigoro himself had ideas, ones he had mulled over dozens of times, but the same couldn't be said for his compatriots.
"Sports equipment!" Itadori mimicked swinging a metal baseball bat. "He seemed interested in sports when we went to the festival, so–"
"He doesn't know how to play any." Fushigoro interrupted coolly.
Itadori slumped over. "What a buzzkill," Kugisaki commented. "I was going to grab him a book to help with posing."
"His charisma stat helps him in all manners of public performance, he does that stuff automatically," Fushigoro replied.
Kugisaki slumped over. "Well then what's your idea, great one?"
"I'll help you two pick out something as well, but for me, I'll be buying.."
"Every year you insist you can wrap gifts, and every year I find you in a worse state." Ieri stared at the green mummy wrapped up on Gojo's dorm couch.
The mouth of the mummy opened and closed several times before replying, "I can wrap gifts! Look, I've already done so many!" The object, which was actually Gojo wrapped up in festive wrapping paper, rolled towards the back of the couch to direct Ieri's attention to the other side of the room.
"Uh-huh, and that's why you're wrapped up like that?" Ieri looked at the large pile of presents neatly stacked in the corner with a surprised expression. "I'm impressed though, you've almost doubled the amount from last year."
"Of course I have! I have all of these wonderful new students under my care, and that means I also have to get them gifts!" Gojo rolled over to face Ieri once again. "And for the record, I just wanted to experience what being a Christmas present would feel like."
"Sure…" Ieri walked into the kitchen and flicked on the kettle. "Do you mind if I smoke in here?" She lit up a cigarette before Gojo could respond.
"Can you make me some tea?" Gojo asked.
"Yeah, sure. I was going to anyway." The woman placed two cups on the counter as she talked. "So who did you get for Secret Santa?"
"Adam, what about you?" Ieri snorted.
"I'm assuming there was no dishonourable play?" She replied sarcastically. "And I got Megumi again, just like last year." The wrapping around Gojo exploded as Ieri arrived back into the room with their drinks.
Gojo accepted his drink with a small smile. "Thanks, and of course, there was no dishonourable play! Attractive forces just happened to stick his ticket to the side of the box where nobody could reach it." He glanced at the woman with a cheerful grin. "Crazy how gravity works sometimes, huh?"
Ieri sipped her tea with an amused smirk. "Yeah, super crazy." She slinked back onto Gojo's couch, uncaring to the wrapping paper lying under her. "So what are the plans for tonight? We give gifts, have dinner, and split?"
"Something like that." Gojo began slowly. "We'll do all of the gift-giving before dinner so we can clean before it arrives." A soft smile fluttered across Ieri's face before she began to laugh.
"I can't believe you managed to get your clan's chefs to cater a school dinner." She said in between chuckles. Gojo waved her off as he began to laugh himself.
"Being clan head gives me a bit of sway with everyone; my father was pretty pissed though." The man replied. "Well, he can suck it anyway; my clan, my rules."
Ieri held out her mug to Gojo's own. "You said the same thing at our graduation party."
Gojo clicked his mug against Ieri's and grinned. "Because I was right, and I still am." He breathed out a satisfied sigh. "So, what are you going to get Megumi? Nanamin has been blowing up my phone because he doesn't know who Panda is."
"Ken actually agreed to come?" Ieri asked in reply. "I would've thought he would say he had work or something to skip."
"I thought so as well, but maybe we've finally started to grow on him!" Gojo laughed happily while Ieri continued to sip her drink. "So, Sho, do you wanna know what I got Adam for Christmas?"
Ieri glanced at the boy with an amused smirk. "Are you telling me because you know you can't keep a secret for so long?"
Gojo slapped her back while laughing. "Just maybe; so here's what I grabbed…"
"Is that you, Ijichi?" Adam waved one of his bag-filled hands in the man's direction.
"Adam? Are you also here for some last-minute shopping?" The bespectacled manager turned around with a soft smile on his face.
"Yeah! Speaking of which, is there anything you want?" The boy nodded down to the bags in his hands. "I got gifts for my friends so far, but I still need to do all of the adults and my upperclassmen."
Ijichi's expression switched to one of shock before it softened. "Don't worry about me, spend your money on people closer to you."
Adam looked up at the man in confusion. "I am?" He walked over to the man and elbowed him gently. "Don't underestimate your importance in other people's lives." He grinned happily in the man's direction. "You're more than worth a gift to me."
Ijichi's expression returned to the same shocked one he was wearing moments prior. He stared at his white-haired companion for a moment before he turned away and wiped his eyes. "Thanks."
Adam laughed. "Jeez, man, you had me worried there for a second!" He bumped the man once again to get him moving. "Now let's head off! I hope you don't mind me borrowing your car to store these after we're done."
"Ah, Adam just sent a message in the group chat asking to meet up." Itadori held out his phone to his two compatriots with a soft frown. "Have we finished buying everything for him yet?"
Kugisaki looked at him in confusion. "You tell us, we bought our things first." She held up a bag in her hand before gesturing to the one in Fushigoro's. Itadori looked at the phone in his palm before sighing.
"I totally forgot…" The boy groaned. Fushigoro sighed in annoyance before holding out his bag. "Woah, no way man."
Fushigoro pushed his bag into the boy's hands. "Don't worry, I planned for it." He gestured towards the food court with his thumb. "Let's head off, I want to get out of here before it gets any busier."
It didn't take the group of students, and Ijichi, to meet up and grab some food. "So, what are we doing for Satoru's gifts?" Adam started.
"Satoru? When did you guys get so close?" Kugisaki asked. "And as for gifts, I really have nothing. You said sentimental, Fushigoro, but what does that really mean for gifts?"
Fushigoro scratched the side of his face with a blush. "Well, last year my sister made him a hand-made Christmas card and I bought him a photo album. He seems just to enjoy the types of gifts that come from the heart rather than the hand."
"Heart? Hand?" Itadori shoved a handful of fries into his mouth. "So stuff that isn't based around price?" Fushigoro nodded. "Then why don't we do what your sister did? Like, we each make a big thank you Christmas card!"
"Isn't that kind of cheesy though?" Kugisaki snatched one of Itadori's fries, much to his despair.
"You said you didn't want anything!"
The orange-haired girl ignored her friend's plight with a blank expression. "I guess it could work though; we still have that card and those markers from Gojo's paper plane throwing contest."
"Don't bring that up, Adam's still salty." Fushigoro admonished with a smirk.
"You didn't deserve that win, Megumi! If it wasn't for that sudden downdraft, I would've blown your crappy aircraft outta the sky!" Adam squawked.
"I didn't realise it was a fighter jet contest," Fushigoro replied. "Either way, you lost."
Ijichi clapped his hands together to prevent any further arguments. "Well, how about we get back to the school so you can set them all up? Come on, I'll drive you all back."
"Come on, Adam, you have to type quicker than that!" Itadori exclaimed. Ijichi tried to shush the boy by putting a finger to his mouth, an attempt that failed spectacularly when he opened his mouth again. "If somebody sees us here, Ijichi will be publicly executed!"
Adam looked up from the laptop in front of him with a frown. "This stuff is hard, okay?! And Ijichi wouldn't be executed for using a staff printer and laptop for Christmas cards."
Itadori whipped around the trio of papers in his hand. They were printouts of the student's letters to Gojo, which would be stuck inside their handmade cards to be handed off. "The rest of us have already written and printed ours, and you've barely written a word!"
Adam suppressed an annoyed growl. He knew the boy wasn't being rude on purpose, and that his outburst was simply a side effect of all the excitement brewing in him, but he still couldn't help but glare at him. "Shut it; I've never written a letter before. And it's too hard to narrow down what I want to say to fit the space…and the words to explain my thoughts." A strong blush darted across the boy's cheeks. "You guys can go finish yours, I'll figure something out." Adam waved his friends away before closing the laptop screen down.
Fushigoro quickly ushered the two other students out of the room after nodding in Ijichi's direction. "Adam…" Ijichi walked over to the desk and kneeled in front of the boy. "I'm going to leave the USB here and my password for the printer, just print off your script whenever you're ready." He turned away and began to walk towards the door. "Just so you know, I can grab some larger card if you need more space…"
Adam slammed his head against the desk as he heard Ijichi close the door. "To, Satoru…No, that feels bland as hell. Dear? No. Why does it even matter? I just need to worry about the main paragraph." He opened the laptop again and started to write down dot points of what he wanted to talk about. "Hopefully my note-taking strategy will work here."
The boy put his fingers on the keyboard before he slammed his head back down and sighed. "But that doesn't matter if I can't think of a specific thing…" His mind slowly drifted back to what Ijichi had said on their way back to the school.
"I'm impressed you were all able to decide on what to get him so quickly." The manager announced. "Even people who went to school with him, like me and Ieri, have a hard time finding gifts he would like."
"It's because we have Fushigoro," Itadori replied happily. "He's known sensei forever, so it's like a cheat skill!" Ijichi shook his head in disagreement.
"That's not it. Even the people who knew him before you had even been born have a hard time finding a suitable gift. But I suppose that's because we're his colleagues." The manager commented sadly. "To us, he's the strongest sorcerer, but to you all, he's sensei, or Blindfold, or Satoru." He laughed for a moment before adding, "I'm kind of envious, honestly."
"Why?" Adam asked.
"Because none of us could, or ever will, get close to him. Close enough to be casual, that is." Ijichi sighed sadly. "Maybe if we were stronger it would be different." He left the remainder of his statement out to not bring down the mood.
'Because it was different for him.'
"To Satoru,
Merry Christmas!
You're really hard to buy for, you know? Even between the 4 of us, we couldn't come up with a good physical gift you could use or need, so we decided to go with this instead.
Thank you, for everything.
I don't really know how to put what I want to say into words, nor do I know what I even want to say outside of 'thank you', but I'm sure there are a million things those words could mean in regards to you.
Thank you for giving me a chance, thank you for teaching me, thank you for listening, thank you for talking, thank you for training me, thank you for being you.
I heard something today that kind of put things into perspective for me regarding you, so I just want to add one last thing to this corny letter.
Thank you, Satoru, thank you for being who you are as a person and not who you are as a title.
We love you, Merry Christmas.
~Adam Pendragon."
Adam printed out his script and shut down the laptop he had borrowed. "Hopefully he likes it." He murmured anxiously. "But what if he doesn't?" The boy printed off the page with a huff and stormed out of the room. "Who cares about that? He gets what he gets!"
"I still don't know why we couldn't just do this in the second-year dorms," Fushigoro grumbled. He placed down the table he was lifting and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Because Toge and Panda trashed our common room while Sumo wrestling," Zenin replied boredly. Unlike everyone else, excluding Itadori, she seemed to have no problem with the labour they had been forced into in preparation for the party. "And it'll be easier for Gojo to teleport the food here rather than our dorm which is on the other side of the campus."
"Teleporting is teleporting!" Adam exclaimed as he walked into the room. "He shouldn't complain about the travel when he can skip it!" He placed down his table and slid it over to connect with Fushigoro's. "Anyway, is this enough room for all of the food?" He tapped his finger on the table several times to help his counting. "8 tables for…11 people? Maybe we grabbed too many."
"Nope!" Gojo appeared behind Adam and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I'm planning to send everyone home with extras, so the amount of food doesn't matter, it's the space that does. And I think we have just barely enough of that." The man clapped his hands and grinned. "30 minutes until showtime, people! I want those couches moved and that fireplace YouTube video on!"
Itadori appeared immediately after in a forest green elf outfit, leaving all of the students to stare in shock as he pushed the couches out of the living room to make space for everyone. "Good work, Yuji!" Gojo shouted.
"Thank you, sensei!" The boy replied in a chipper tone.
"Where the hell is he getting all of this energy from?" Fushigoro mumbled.
"The holy spirit, I guess," Zenin replied.
Preparations for the event finished quickly after that, with Gojo bringing in the catered dinner 10 minutes before 'showtime', which was simply 6 pm in everyone else's eyes.
Nanami was the first to arrive out of the people not already present, a surprise considering Ieri literally lived on campus. He quickly placed his wrapped gift under the already stuffed 'present area' and helped himself to a can of coffee that was sitting in a cooler nearby.
Nobody even noticed the man's presence until Adam went looking for a coffee and found one missing. "Ah, someone has pilfered the royal treasury." He summoned several threads of cursed energy around his arm. "Punishment by death is the only solution."
Fushigoro slapped his friend over the head. "Don't be so dramatic, and you're the one who offered them up anyway."
"But I didn't expect anyone to actually go for them…" Gojo slinked an arm around Nanami's shoulder after hearing the conversation.
"Merry Christmas, Nanamin!" The blonde ex-salaryman attempted to escape the man's vice grip with a scowl.
"Merry Christmas, Gojo." He eventually gritted out. Gojo tightened the grip on the man's shoulder for a moment to hug him before he twirled away.
"I'm glad you could make it! We honestly expected you to flake." He said excitedly. Nanami's eye twitched in frustration at the offhanded remark.
"I'll have you know that I really am busy whenever I cancel. You just happen to plan things for the worst possible times." The man retorted calmly. "I have already put my gift under the tree, and please apologize to your student for me; I expected anything in the coolers to be fair game."
"Do it yourself, ya prude." Gojo huffed. "And they are fair game, he's just being a baby." The man didn't even turn around as several threads tried to wring him out from behind.
"Say that to my face, Jack Frost!" Adam squawked angrily.
"Damn, has the party already begun?" Ieri appeared in the doorway with a lit cigarette tucked between her lips. "I thought we still had a few minutes." She threw her present across the room like a horseshoe, much to the rest of the partygoer's chagrin.
"How the hell did Nanami arrive before you?" Adam asked. Ieri narrowed her eyes slightly before she blew a cloud of smoke into the boy's eyes and reached out of the doorway.
"Because I had to find a certain straggler." She tugged Kusakabe inside and threw the man's present under the tree in the same fashion she had her own.
The swordsman grumbled something inaudibly while Ieri fluttered across the room towards the coolers. "Which one has the good stuff, Satoru?" Ieri asked.
"Beer is in the fridge, sake and vodka are in the cooler on the left." Gojo watched in fascination as Ieri darted towards the fridge like a withdrawing junkie.
"So, how the hell did they get you here?" Kusakabe turned to face Zenin, the one who had asked the question. Panda and Inumaki played mahjong in the background with Itadori and Kugisaki, with the first years actively cheating.
"A bit of bribery, a bit of nostalgia." Kusakabe shrugged.
"Yahtzee!" Itadori shouted. Panda laughed at the boy's proclamation before glancing down at the tiles he had lined up.
"Wrong game, and you're missing a set." The cursed doll chuckled.
"Salmon roe." Inumaki choked out.
"Yeah, yeah, real funny, gang up on the guy who hasn't played before," Itadori grumbled.
"Hey, I haven't played before either and I'm doing fine." Kugisaki pointed out as she discarded a tile. The girl placed another tile on the end before her eyes began to glow. "Checkmate!"
"These guys are hopeless." Panda laughed.
Ijichi arrived 3 minutes after the designated time, with Christmas traffic having gotten the better of him. "Sorry, I'm late!" He exclaimed upon bursting through the door.
Everybody looked away from their conversations for a moment before they turned straight back to their previous activities. That was until Gojo broke away from his conversation with Ieri and clapped his hands to disappear.
"Where did he go?" Adam asked the nurse.
"To grab his last present. We can all begin unwrapping if you want?" Ieri suggested with a smile. Adam glanced at the rest of the party, who collectively shrugged in response. "I guess that settles it. We'll start with you, Adam, who did you have for Secret Santa?"
"Ah." The boy reached into his pocket and retrieved the ticket he had been given. "I got Nanami." He handed the ticket to the nurse before he walked over to the tree and retrieved a large red bag with cats on it. "Sorry if it's a bit cheap, I'm not really sure how much you're supposed to spend on this sort of stuff."
Nanami met the boy in the middle of the room and bowed low as he accepted his gift. "Thank you, and don't worry, I don't think anybody here wanted to go above the 5,000 yen mark."
Adam froze.
"H-Huh?" He looked around the room several times, much to everyone's confusion as they nodded along with Nanami's words. The boy didn't even notice when Nanami's eyes widened as he took possession of the gift. "F-F-Five thousand?" Adam glanced at the bag before he let out a laugh and raced back to his coffee cooler.
"I didn't think 5 thousand would break the bank with how many missions you go on; what do you even spend your money on?" Fushigoro asked.
Ieri took charge of the gifting as she guided everyone else to share what they bought for each other.
Adam leaned into his friend's ear and whispered. "Nanami's gift was 283,000 yen."
Fushigoro spat out his drink all over Itadori's elf jacket.
"Hey!" Itadori turned around with an angry frown. "What where you're spitting, man." He was quickly distracted by Kusakabe handing him a pair of boxing mitts. "Aw, thanks sword-guy!"
Kusakabe snorted in amusement before he returned to his drinking position next to a shell-shocked Nanami.
Fushigoro turned back to his friend with a soft frown. "I thought we told you the budget!" He whispered harshly.
"I read 500 thousand!" The boy whispered back. Fushigoro shook his head in disbelief before he reached into the tree to grab Zenin's gift.
"Here, Maki." The black-haired boy passed over a grocery store gift card. "Panda mentioned you'd want something like this."
Zenin took the gift card with a soft smile. "Thanks, Megumi. I'll be sure to use it." She sat back on the couch next to Inumaki and flaunted the card with a cheeky grin. "We're totally bumming out this weekend."
"Salmon!" The boy agreed.
Ieri handed Fushigoro his gift soon after. "Here, enjoy it." The boy carefully flicked open the tape holding the paper together to reveal a stamped doctor's request for extra visitation rights. "For your sister, just flash that and you'll be able to stay for a while after visiting hours."
Fushigoro hugged the certificate close to his chest and nodded. "Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah, Merry Christmas." Ieri walked away with a small smile on her face.
"Is that even legal?" Adam whispered. 'Knowing her, 100% no.'
Gojo appeared in the middle of the room with a wide grin. "I'm back! We can now begin the Secret Sa–"
"Already finished." Ieri interrupted coolly.
"Aww, that sucks." Gojo raced over to the tree and grabbed a large box from the bottom. He then turned to Adam and handed it over. "Here, I had your name."
The boy was forced to place his drink down so he could take the box. "Tell me now, did you use a box this big as a joke?"
Gojo huffed. "Guess you'll just have to see." He then turned away and waved a hand, which caused all of the foil that had been covering the food to fly into the air and compress. "You can all eat, by the way; sorry for the wait."
Itadori almost toppled the couch as he sped towards the bucket of chicken Gojo had brought. On the other hand, Nanami carefully grabbed a plate and loaded several bits and pieces of different dishes the clan head had ordered.
Gojo looked back at Adam, who had finally begun to open the box. "If this is booby-trapped, I will find a way to kill you." Gojo felt tempted to snatch the box back as a joke but allowed the boy to continue as he finally opened the top.
"Wow…" Fushigoro watched Adam reach into the box and slowly pull out a piece of fabric. "This is some seriously high-quality silk…isn't this over the budget?"
"Like you can talk." Fushigoro snorted.
"So what do you think?" Gojo asked happily. Fushigoro would later reminisce on how the man looked like a golden retriever waiting for a compliment.
Adam placed the box to the side and stood up so he could slide the object on. "It's…amazing." He put his arms into the sleeves and turned around to show it off.
Gojo clapped quietly as the boy came to a slow stop in front of him. "I'm glad you agree! I saw it when I was raiding my clan's treasury and–"
"This is a clan treasure?!" Adam shouted. Gojo waved him off with a grin as he straightened the fabric out and stood back.
"Bah, it's just some old geezer's from the Heian era, nothing too important." Fushigoro felt his palm hit his face as his teacher casually handed off what could be considered a national treasure as a Secret Santa gift. "Plus, there's way more than where that came from! But that's for after the party." He ushered the boys towards the table with a wide grin. "Go and eat! We'll open up our other gifts later."
Dinner was a fittingly merry affair, with everyone gorging themselves on their favourite dishes and drinks while they talked. The total counter for threats on Itadori's life tripled the number of chicken drumsticks he stole but still failed to meet even half of the expectations. The total number of beers Ieri drank far eclipsed twenty, which led to Gojo having to explain that she uses reversed cursed technique on her liver to stay alive.
Kusakabe and Nanami both swore to never show up to another event Gojo planned, no matter the blackmail after they were both hit in the face by a spoonful of mashed potatoes, courtesy of Panda's misfire.
Gojo vowed to make the event a yearly tradition and to collect new blackmail so Kusakabe and Nanami would show up. Kugisaki vowed to not eat again until the new year, or until Gojo ordered another bucket of fried chicken. Fushigoro vowed to put a child lock on the fridge next time to prevent a drunken Ieri ending up on the news while Adam vowed to break any locks he put in place because it would be funny.
Finally, Zenin and Inumaki promised they would spike Ieri's drink next year.
The rest of the night wrapped up quickly after dinner, with each person being sent home with an extra gift or two, courtesy of Adam and Gojo. Nanami bowed to Adam on his way out and thanked him for the extraordinary gift, but the boy waved him off with an embarrassed flush.
After the last person, Ieri left the building, Gojo shut the door and turned to his white-haired student. "I haven't seen Nanami so happy in years! Did you slip him some crack or something?"
"Why's that your first guess?" Fushigoro asked. "Actually, never mind, forget I asked." He had heard enough about Gojo's high school life, a secret drug addiction phase might have thrown the boy deep into insanity.
Adam shrugged. "I kinda went over budget with the Secret Santa stuff…"
"Kinda is an understatement." Kugisaki, who had been listening to the conversation while holding Itadori in a leg lock, commented. "You went over 50 times the recommended price for gifts."
"Wow…" Gojo whistled. "And I thought I was bad with money." He slapped his student over the back with a grin. "Guess that goes to show that there's always a bigger fish!"
"I don't want to be the bigger fish here!" Adam exclaimed with a blush. "Can we just get to the presents?" Gojo shrugged boredly.
"Sure, who first though?" He walked over to the tree and leaned over to view the tags on the gifts. "It seems like Adam has the most, so should we leave him for last?"
Fushigoro walked past his mentor and picked up a gift labelled for Kugisaki. "Let's just take this in turns." He threw the box at the girl, who barely caught it before it hit Itadori's face. Because of the unintentional blinding, however, Itadori failed to catch his box and ended up being hit in the family jewels.
"Yah!" He broke free of Kugisaki's leglock and grabbed his gift before scampering to the other side of the couch.
Adam took the opportunity to sit between the two. "Why were you even holding him down anyway?" He asked.
"He stole all of the chicken!" Kugisaki yelled in outrage. "He's like a vacuum cleaner for the Colonel's drumsticks!" Adam caught the gift that was thrown to him by Fushigoro.
"I can order some more if it's that much of a problem." The boy replied.
"It will probably all be sold out," Gojo commented. "I had to order that stuff like a week in advance." He took a seat on the other couch in the room, right next to Fushigoro. "So how're we gonna do this?"
Kugisaki tore open her gift like a rabid animal. "A bag!" She squealed.
"Ah, that's my one," Adam commented. He was caught off guard by a hug from Kugisaki, which turned out to be more of a tackle. The action caused them both to topple onto Itadori, who was still bent over the end of the couch.
"Gah!" The boy screeched. Adam quickly pushed Kugisaki off of him and returned to his position.
"I'll open mine next." He quickly said. "Oh, wait. Megumi, there should be one for Sukuna around there somewhere."
"You got Sukuna, the King of Curses, a Christmas gift?" Fushigoro asked in shock. He shook his head quietly. "I don't know what I expected." While he searched for the gift, Adam opened his present to reveal a brand-new navy-coloured trench coat.
"Awesome!" He caught the gift Fushigoro threw in his direction and shivered at the sudden temperature drop. "Thanks, Kugisaki!"
"Hehe, no problem." The girl replied, too far in her own bag-loving world to register the looks she was receiving.
Adam tossed Sukuna's gift into Itadori's hands. "Hey! King of Douches, I got a gift for you!" One of the eyes on Itadori's cheek opened slowly.
"What did you call me?"
"Eww, why's it slimy?" Itadori asked. He hesitantly opened the gift and held it up for Sukuna to see. "Dog food?" The eye on Itadori's face widened slightly before Sukuna spat out an endless stream of curses and insults directed in the white-haired boy's direction.
The group collectively ignored the king as Itadori unwrapped his own present. "Ooh, a soccer ball!"
"That's my gift, again," Adam said. "You mentioned football in passing when we were planning to go to the festival, so I thought you might like another ball."
Itadori pulled the boy into a side hug with a grin, unintentionally smothering Sukuna into the boy's face. "Aww, thanks, man! We should totally practice together!"
"Sounds good." Adam gestured across the room to Gojo as Sukuna gave up on yelling and disappeared.
"Wait, can we do his last?" Fushigoro asked. He reached for the tree and dug around the backside to procure the 4 envelopes that had been prepared.
"Aww, are they really special?" Gojo took the envelopes with a broad smile. "You know you guys didn't have to get me anything, right?"
Kugisaki huffed. "Well that just didn't feel right; so accept them!" Gojo laughed in response before nodding.
Fushigoro opened the gift he had grabbed for himself and was surprised to find a photo frame containing the picture Gojo had taken of him and Adam after their first real mission. "Wow…thanks." He looked up at Gojo, who had been the sender. "You already got me a ton of stuff for my birthday though."
Gojo laughed. "Well there are only two days a year I can spoil you and you won't get mad, so I have to go all out!" He pulled the boy into a hug while grinning from ear to ear.
The loop of gift unwrapping repeated for several minutes, and it eventually got to the point where all 4 of the students were just helping Adam unwrap his gifts. Said boy had been silently praying for a storage container after the third present.
Almost an hour passed before Gojo finally got around to opening his letters. "I'm saying this again, you guys really didn't have to get me anything."
He opened Kugisaki's envelope and immediately started crying.
He opened Itadori's envelope and continued crying.
He grabbed a glass of water.
He opened Adam's letter and started crying again.
He opened Fushigoro's letter and continued crying.
"Jeez, since when was he so emotional?" Kugisaki asked.
"Since I switched out his drink with one of Ieri's!" Adam replied merrily. "It took a little while for it to make it through his immune system, I guess."
"Why the hell would you do that?!" Fushigoro asked angrily before Gojo wrapped him in a tight hug and stood up.
One by one, the students were all collected into a giant bear hug. Their hair was slowly soaked with their teacher's tears as he continuously thanked them for their gifts. "Merry Christmas!" The man sobbed.
"Merry Christmas, sensei." They all replied blankly.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Yes, yes, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmasssssss."
"Yayyyyy."
Kenjaku glared down at the red and yellow gift box sitting on the sand. Nearby, Jogo and Hanami tried to console Dagon after he was pummeled by Gojo Satoru to gain access to the domain.
'It's addressed to Suguru…maybe he's holding out hope that he will awaken? Clearly, he doesn't know anything about my technique.' Kenjaku cautiously picked up the box and held it in front of his face. He shook it several times only to hear no noise. 'Perhaps it will have some sort of scrapbook or photo I can use to manipulate him…'
The special grade curse user frowned for a moment before deciding on a plan of action. 'Oh, whatever, I can use reversed cursed technique to recover from any trap.' He flicked the box open and was immediately assaulted by dozens of party worms.
He shrieked in surprise, an emotion that quickly changed to fear when he saw the camera recording him at the bottom of the box and the voice recorder on the side.
"I hope you enjoyed your gift, body-snatcher! Have a Merry Christmas! Oh, right, this thing is set to automatically upload to my phone." Kenjaku tossed the box into the air before he kicked it into the water with a growl.
"That bastard!"
Gojo would later post the video on Jujutsu twitter and amass over 2 thousand likes, over half of the user base.
This is what happens when I don't think ahead; sorry for the delay! Love yall, and Merry Christmas!
Huge sales are going on on my page for every tier except for the first one, they range from like 50 - 60% off I think and will stay until the 2nd of Jan to cover both Christmas and New Years.
There's another chapter coming tomorrow, and another coming on the 23rd (for me) to make it a 3 chapter weekend for everyone.
I'm going to be hosting another giveaway for the tier 1 sub tomorrow on my Pa-treon! We already have our three winners from last time, so lets see if we can get 5 more before the year ends!
Special thank you to, Vishnu224, Stanley Seymour, Blythe Septimus, Flameblue, Senzu_My_Name, Charles Abraham, Adam Boyle, Kevin Peters, Kyle Santora, Akiro, Erik Olmos, Nickname0k, and Myrrdin, my wonderful paid members!
Pa-treon /tired5572.
Join the discord linked in my profile to chat!