Chapter Text
Kokichi trudged through the snow, shivering. It was evening, the night was cold, and he had nothing but his chequered scarf to keep him warm.
Pulling it closer around his neck, he looked behind him at his friends who were all following in his wake.
"W"-when we get to our next hideout, I will construct something that should keep us warm," said Shinji. His voice, so normally full of confidence and dramatics, now faltered as he wrapped his arms around himself to stay warm.
"This is taking too long," Natsumi complained. "The air feels like fucking solid ice."
"It is cold enough to snow," Ayu acknowledged. "And it doesn't help that the sun is setting."
"Stay close," Kokichi called to his friends. "It wouldn't do if we all became icicles before we reached our hideout."
The group huddled closer together, using their collective body heat to keep them somewhat warmer. They continued trudging through the snow in silence, until they reached a fence beyond which loomed a large house, frozen garden, and old toolshed.
"I overheard the family that lives here say that they would be away for several weeks," Kokichi explained as they came to a halt before the front gates. "We should be able to get some shelter here for a while."
Pulling out a pin from his pocket, Kokichi began picking at the lock that held the gate closed. His fingers fumbled, and he trembled from the cold, so that it took a lot longer to pick the locked then it normally would have.
Finally, after what felt like ages, the gate swung open and the group hurried inside.
the front door had no visible locks. Instead, a digital number pad was situated to one side, evidently to be used to open the door with a password.
The group took one glance at it in dismay. Lock picking skills would not be helpful here.
"I could try hacking into the system," Kiki offered.
"That will take too long," Shigeri pointed out. "Before you're done, we'd all turn into snow orphans."
"We should camp in the toolshed," Kokichi agreed. "There's a low chance it's locked, and it's at least some shelter from the weather."
He let them towards the wooden shed, and opened the door.
Everyone crammed inside, grateful to be away from the harsh cold and frigid winds.
Kokichi bolted the door shut and huddled in a corner next to some old boxes, evidently used to store supplies.
The others followed his example, hiding in corners or close to objects, as though their presence could provide extra shelter somehow.
The group was constantly on the move, and during the harsh winters, it was always hard to find suitable shelters to stay in.
They had no place of their own, they were barely 10. And they would not trust any other grown-ups to take care of them either, not when they could possibly be separated.
Kokichi did a great job of looking out for them all though. He was their leader, their friend, their family. They all looked up to him, and he cherished each one of them.
It was just a shame that he hadn't been able to give them a proper Christmas yet, what with them barely being able to afford food and drink in their day-to-day lives, and having to resort to stealing in order to survive.
This year was different though,
this year, Kokichi had a plan.
Shinji now began pulling supplies from his bag. A sewing kit, some old pieces of cloth, and a scissors. He had acquired these materials with difficulty over the last months, but he enjoyed stitching and designing uniforms for their little group, so he didn't mind how long it took to gather the materials. He also began rummaging through the boxes, searching for anything else that could be useful.
There were some old candles: that wouldn't help with clothes, but they could keep them warm...
Some cotton balls: those could be used in the place of furs.
Some old string: he could use that to make more cloth.
The boy now set to work, nitting new clothes for his friends, to keep them somewhat warm during the frigid winter. It was very slow work, but the movement kept him a little warmer now that there was shelter from the freezing wind that was constantly lowering his body temperature.
Kiki took the candles and lit them up with a match she had found, starting a small fire of sorts and batheing the toolshed in a warm, orange glow.
"Is anyone hungry?" Asked Ayu, as her stomach gave an audible rumble.
Shigeri put their hand into their pocket and drew out a small packet of chips. "We can have these," they suggested. "It's not much, but I found them on the snow earlier. It's never been opened."
"How the hell do you always somehow happened to pick up something that we need?" Natsumi commented, as Kiki took the packet from them and began opening it.
"You guys go ahead, Kokichi said, eying the chips before turning away. "I'm not hungry."
"What?" The others cried.
"Are you feeling alright?" Ayu asked, concerned.
Kokichi let out one of his signature laughs and nodded. "Supreme leaders have much stronger stomachs than you think, ya know? You guys go on without me. I have some errands to run anyway."
He was, in truth, starving. But he wanted his fellow DICE members to eat as much as they could, what with the low food supply. That, and the fact that he had somewhere to be before the day was over, if he was going to give DICE a Christmas that they deserved.
None of the others were fully convinced of his antics, but they were all too tired and hungry to try to change his mind.
"Alright, if you say so," Kiki said uncertainly, beginning to pass the packet of chips around.
The others all moved forward to take some. Kokichi got to his feet as well, but made his way towards the door instead.
"Where are you going?" Yushi asked, alarmed.
"Yeah, the weather outside is frightful!" Kiki added.
"Did... you just... make... a reference... to a... Christmas song?" Yuri asked, lowering her chips slowly to stare at Kiki, who giggled.
"don't worry," Kokichi said cheerfully. "The cold never bothered me anyway."
The others let out an audable sigh and facepalm, before also giggling.
"Besiiiides," he continued. "I have some suuuuper secret errands to take care of. Could ya watch the shed while I'm gone?"
"How long would that be?" Shigeri asked, as they help themselves to another chip.
Kokichi tilted his head slightly as though deep in thought. "Hmmmm," he said, "maybe an hour."
"Are you sure you'll be alright? You don't want one of us to come with you?" Ayu offered, sounding worried.
Kokichi just shook his head, still smiling playfully. "Supreme leaders don't need help," he said. "See you all in an hour!"
And with that, he opened the door, skipped outside, and closed it behind him.
Now that he was alone, Kokichi hurried as fast as he could towards a nearby mall. As he did so, he pulled out a crispy $50 bill from one of his pockets.
He had found the money on the floor ages ago, and could've used it for any purpose he wanted. But he had decided to save it specifically for one occasion: he wanted to get DICE some actual Christmas presents this year.
For him and his friends, they had never really had the experience that other kids around them did. Presents underneath the Christmas tree, hearing stories of Santa Claus from their parents, enjoying hot cocoa by the fire while they unwrap everything they've always wanted.
Kokichi knew that as of their current situation, they wouldn't be able to fully replicate the experience. But that didn't mean he couldn't at least try.
When he reached his destination, he jumped with joy and let out a shout of excitement as he rushed through the Christmas shoppers. He went to art stores to buy art supplies and extra fabrics, toy stores to buy cheap toys, and even a grocery store to buy snacks.
40 minutes later, Kokichi brought all his purchases to a small McDonald's table, and began reviewing them all.
"A Christmas card for Ayu,"he muttered to himself as he sorted them. "A toy watergun for Kiki, some extra fabric for Shinji, a wallet for Tetsuo..."
Once every gift had been accounted for, he took out a roll of wrapping paper and tape that he had also bought an began wrapping them individually.
At last, when everything was neatly wrapped and in a bag, Kokichi rose from his seat and made his way back to the toolshed to reunite with his friends.
"Where have you been? It's been over an hour!" Natsumi cried when he walked in.
"We... were... beginning... to... think... you... froze... out... there," Yuri admitted.
"I had time to finish constructing warm clothes for you," Shinji told him, holding out what looked like a small jacket to Kokichi..
The self-proclaimed supreme leader of evil stepped into the toolshed and close the door. He was tempted to make a joke about how sweet it was that they were all so worried about him, but noticing that they were genuinely afraid that something that happened to him, he thought better of it.
"I got held back by my errands," he said, excepting the jacket from Shinji and putting it on gratefully. It fit just right. "But you won't believe who I ran into on the way back!"
"Who?" They all asked curiously.
Kokichi held up the bag of gifts triumphantly. "Santa Claus!" He cried, and with a flourish, he turned the bag upside down, causing nine presents to cascade onto the floor.
The disbelief on the others' faces was priceless. They all scrambled forward to take a closer look at the gifts. Each one was perfectly wrapped, and each one had a name written on them.
"he told me that we didn't have a chimney this year, so he couldn't give us any presents yesterday on Christmas Eve. So he got me to deliver them instead since I am your supreme leader," Kokichi said proudly, in answer to their questioning looks.
"How much did you pay for all this?" Ayu marvelled, not believing a word of anything he was saying.
"zero dollars! Cause I didn't pay for it," Kokichi insisted. "I told you, it was Santa Claus."
"If that's the case, why didn't you get any?" Shigeri asked, already beginning to tear open the rapper of their gift.
"Oh, he said I stole too much food this year so I'm on the naughty list, nee-heehee," Kokichi replied, putting his arms behind his head. "But it's okay, I would rather not have any gifts them let you guys starve."
They all lapsed into pleasant conversation as they began opening their gifts and enjoying the new clothes that Shinji was making them. Kokichi laid back comfortably against the wall and watched, smiling as he saw the members of dice enjoying their presence like any child should on Christmas day.
Then, he got up and joined them, and they all played games late into the night, until all the candles had burnt out.
as Christmas day drew to a close, they all huddled close together on the floor of the toolshed, nestled in their new warm clothes.
Clutching their gifts beside them, they all held hands as they allowed their tired eyes to drift gently closed.
Something told them that they were going to sleep peacefully tonight.