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Aoi Asahina tugged on Sakura’s hand with enthusiasm as they made their way to Sayaka’s house. The singer was holding a party for their whole class, and Aoi couldn’t wait. She skipped down the street, Sakura following with simple steps. It was the 22nd of December, only a few days before Christmas, so the party was primarily a celebration.
Aoi had a CD tucked under her arm, one filled to the brim of what she called ‘Christmas Classics’. The beaming smile on her face met with her cheeks, rosy with the cold of the night’s air. She gave a quick squeeze to Sakura’s hand, who smiled fondly down at her girlfriend.
“Hina, if you keep skipping, it may just take us longer to arrive.” She herself was carrying a rather large box of chocolates in her free hand, intending to share them around. Her longer strides made Aoi quicken her pace whenever they walked together, but it was something neither of them minded.
Before too long, the two girls arrived at Sayaka’s white front door. Aoi reached up and rang the doorbell, using her tiptoes to reach it. The pair only waited a few seconds before the door was flung open by a beaming Sayaka, who immediately wrapped Aoi in a hug. Taken by surprise, the swimmer squeaked, but soon hugged her friend back.
Sayaka gave Sakura a bear hug after she’d parted with Aoi, and proceeded to lead the two girls inside.
“It’s so great that you two could come! Everyone else is already here.” Sayaka placed her hands together over her chest, a gesture that showed just how happy she was. She led them to the living room, and it didn’t surprise Aoi to see it was decorated with mountains of glitter, tinsel, fake snow and ornaments.
The singer cast a longing glance out of the window. “It’s a shame it hasn’t snowed though. But never mind! We’re all here, and that’s what matters!” She raised her hands, clasping them together over her head.
Aoi smiled. “Yeah, but maybe it’ll snow on Christmas day! It might, right Sak?” She turned to her girlfriend, eyes shining. Sakura let out an amused sigh. “That’s always a possibility, yes.” Aoi practically jumped in excitement, letting out a small ‘whoop’ and a punch to the air in the process.
Over to the girl’s left, Ishimaru was attempting to get Mondo down from the table. “Mondo! I request that you get down from there at once! You’re a danger to yourself and those around you.”
To the hall monitor’s annoyance, Mondo had somehow snuck some alcohol past him and was now vaguely tipsy. This resulted in a currently table-sitting, slightly-drunk and rebellious Mondo, which was Ishimaru’s greatest nightmare.
“So you’re trying to say that you’re worried about me, huh?” He called down with a smirk. “That’s adorable, why don’t you join me up here, eh?” He patted the space beside him, swaying slightly which simply alarmed Ishimaru further.
“No, Mondo! Listen to me! I-“ He was cut off as Hagakure walked past. “Dude, chill. He’s not hurting anybody.” The fortune teller gave Ishimaru a thumbs up that almost hit the hall monitor in his face as he walked out of the room.
Ishimaru let out a strangled sigh of frustration, muttering something along the lines of “You’re all idiots.” Before relenting to sit on the floor with his eyes focused on Mondo up above, eyebrows furrowed.
Past Ishimaru and Modo, Makoto was stood next to Kyoko and Byakuya, attempting them to get up and dance to the music that was now playing.
“Come one guys, it’ll be fun!” He sighed, scratching the back of his head. Byakuya glared up at him from his chair. “I see no need to join in with such childish activities. I came here because you ‘desperately wanted me to come’, correct? I believe you are in no position to ask me to do more than I am already doing.”
Makoto raised his hands in defeat, turning to Kyoko. “Then why won’t you?”
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, gloved hand catching the light as it rose.
“I believe I have told you this before, Makoto. I am under no obligation to join in, and currently I would much rather sit here. Dancing is something I do not enjoy, but if you wish to go, there is nothing stopping you.” She stared coolly at him, seeming not to notice the strand of hair she’d just tucked back had fallen out again, mid speech.
Makoto did though, and reached out with a hand to push it back. Kyoko, not realising at first what he was attempting to do, stared quizzically at his hand. Once she realised, he’d already tucked it away and was smiling lightly at her.
Her face heated up, and Kyoko was unable to stop it. Instead, she avoided his gaze and moved her eyes to face the floor. Seeming to make up her mind, she sighed before reluctantly standing up and returning his gaze with her own small smile.
“We’d better start, if you don’t want to miss the next song.”
Makoto grinned, following her with vigour.
The night continued with lots of Dancing, eating and overall enjoyment. Sayaka had ordered takeaway at some point, so there were leftovers from pizza, pasta and rice scattered around on disposable plates. So far, no one had seemed to notice the mistletoe she’d hung in a corner of the room. Then again, no one was occupying that specific area, so maybe they had seen it and were simply avoiding it.
The singer began plotting ways to ger people under it, and with a jolt came up with an idea that she voiced out loud. “Christmas Truth or Dare!” She exclaimed, startling Kyoko, who was sat down on the sofa next to her.
“What?” The detective asked, a string of concern in her tone. Sayaka turned to her, glee in her eyes. “We’re all gonna’ play Christmas Truth or Dare, Kyo!” This resulted in a small groan from the other girl. Before she could protest, Sayaka stood up.
She grabbed a whistle that someone had won (and not used) from a cheap Christmas cracker and blew it. The sharp shrill rang out, causing everyone to turn their heads towards her. “Guys! We’re going to play a game, so come in here and sit in a circle!” She yelled, a playful gleam in her eyes as she spoke.
Before long, she had everyone sat in a shape resembling something close enough to an oval. Even Byakuya had been convinced by Makoto to join in, through some tremendous miracle. (Or curse, Sayaka hadn’t quite decided yet.)
She stood up to explain what was going to happen. “Alright! So, we’re going to play Christmas truth or dare! It goes by the normal truth or dare rules, but it has to be Christmas related, not hurt anybody or mess up my house.” She grinned, opening her arms wide. “Also, this isn’t optional! You all came to my party, so you all have to join in!”
A chorus of groans rang out, but no-one made an effort to move. Satisfied, Sayaka pointed at Ashahina. “Care to begin, Aoi?”
The swimmer nodded with enthusiasm. “Okay!” She brought a hand to her chin, thinking for a moment before her head shot up with bright eyes. She shot a finger out, pointing across the circle at Leon. “Truth or Dare, Kuwata?”
In turn, Leon blinked at her. He raised his eyebrows, opening his mouth before shutting it again. With a frustrated sigh, he reluctantly answered her. “Dare, suppose’.”
Seemingly ready to burst in excitement, Aoi clenched her palms together. “I dare you to try and brush Hagakure’s hair, then tie it up with tinsel!”
Leon’s face morphed into something in the middle of confusion and disgust. “No way.” He crossed his arms, refusing to look at Ashahina’s face. She let out a squeal of protest, and was about to object when Hagakure himself spoke up.
“C’mon, Dude. Don’t be a wimp. It’s cool. It’s fine. You just try to brush these luscious locks. I promise you, bro, you won’t be able to stop. They’re like magic. Fuck, they are magic.” He gave his friend a woozy looking smile, and reached into his pocket to pull out a hairbrush, of all things. No one had any idea where he’d gotten it from, but no one dared to ask either.
Leon groaned, but gave up his feeble attempt to get out of his dare. He stood up and grudgingly positioned himself behind Hagakure. Grabbing the hair brush, he ran it through a section. Tutting slightly as he had to put a bit of force onto his swipe, he brushed it again. And again.
Leon continued, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The others simply watched, awestruck at the rare sight. He didn’t seem to notice their staring, so they all unanimously agreed in the silence to leave him to it.
“Okay, I vote that Makoto should go next!” Yamada piped up.
Celeste glared at him. “Haven’t you ever played truth or dare before, idiot?” She hissed. Flicking a curl with her finger, she smiled coolly at the rest of the group. “He’s supposed to ask the next person.” She pointed her finger at Leon, who was still working away at the possible-drug-addict’s hair. Now, it contained two balls of tinsel used as makeshift bobbles.
Sayaka interjected. “Yeah, but he’s…Occupied. So, Makoto, what do you say? Fancy a go?”
To this, Makoto smiled. “Of course!” He bit the side of his lip, surveying the room. His emerald eyes landed on Mondo, who was currently squinting at Leon, who, in turn, had now moved on to making tinsel bows appear in the middle of Hagakure’s head.
“Mondo!” He called out, pointing his finger out across the room.
Startled, Mondo jolted. The end of his hair bounced at the sudden action, and Makoto had to refrain from laughing. Pulling himself together, he asked the expected question. “Truth or Dare?”
The biker snorted, slamming a fist into his palm. “Well wha’ do you think? Dare, o’course.” To this, he received a glare from Ishimaru. “Tone!” The latter hissed, to which Mondo ignored completely.
Makoto nodded. “Okay. I dare you carry Ishimaru over your back, around the room, like Santa is shown to carry his sack!” With glee, Naegi watched the smirk fall from Mondo’s face.
“C’mon, that’s a wimpy dare! Give me ‘nother.” Makoto couldn’t be fooled by Mondo’s protests, and simply shook his head in answer. It was stark clear that the biker was simply too embarrassed to do the original dare, if the dash of pink on his cheeks was anything to go by.
“Fine…Taka, get over ‘ere.” He was refusing to look the smaller boy in the face as he called out, standing up as he did so.
Ishimaru sighed as he walked over to his friend. He patted Mondo’s shoulder to announce his presence. To this, Mondo flinched. Noting the behaviour as unusual, Kiyotaka peered closer to the other boy’s face in concern.
It resulted in a fairly flustered Owada gently pushing him away so he couldn’t inspect his face any longer. He swiftly picked Ishimaru up, preventing him from making any comments. With ease, the larger boy lifted his friend over his shoulder as the smaller of the pair squeaked.
He began to walk in a circle. Glaring at anyone who dared to make eye contact, it didn’t take the biker long to finish his route and lower Ishimaru back to the ground. The soft landing was all thanks to Owada, the care he didn’t (openly) show being reflected instead in his actions.
Face flushed a light strawberry-red, Mondo returned to his seat on the floor. He spoke up before anyone could comment, immediately directing the now-beginning-to-be-dreaded question at Toko. “What’ll it be, truth, o’ dare?”
In turn, the poor girl let out a squeak. She fiddled with her hair, looking up at him under furrowed brows. “Truth?” The response came out muffled. Mondo snorted at it. “Fine. You gotta’ tell us where Chihiro goes to visit ev’ry Christmas eve. You should ‘ave enough stalk’r material to do that, cause’ it is beyond me where they go ever’y year.”
Toko let out a mumble that sounded suspiciously like ‘ohthankgod’ (but nobody was entirely sure) as her brows evened out. “Easy. They visit the RSPCA as a volunteer. The animals don’t get many helpers during Christmas, so Chihiro loves going to see the cats.”
Someway throughout Fukawa’s outing of Chihiro’s private life, they let out a muffled protest. It, of course, went unheard; Everyone was too preoccupied with the new information.
Raising their hands up, they attempted to cover the quick spread of pink scattering their cheeks. It was, however, to no avail once Sayaka noticed. The singer let out a shrill: “Aww!” And pointed, resulting in the rest of the class to follow her gaze.
More squeals rang out, resulting in their blush to deepen. Mondo’s loud voice cut through the rest, a lace of proudness poking through his default tone. “That’s nothin’ to be embarrassed ‘bout, Fukisaki! It’s pretty admirable!” He pumped the air enthusiastically, as if to prove his point. If anything, his comment only made Chihiro long to be elsewhere even more. Still, everyone’s words did make their chest feel warmer.
“Okay, Okay. It’s my turn now!”
Everyone turned back to Toko’s spot, only to see it replaced by Genocide Jill. A collective groan rang out as she actually stood up to address the next victim.
“Eh? Wait, Jill, how did you know it was your turn? You don’t have Toko’s memories!” Makoto squinted at her, confusion present on his features. In turn, Jill shrugged, speaking up again. “Lucky guess.”
A smirk appeared on her lips as she surveyed the room. Her eyes lit up as she spotted the mistletoe hanging, feeble and unused. “Okay, Makoto! This one’s for you! Truth or dare?”
Naegi blinked at her, not expecting to be addressed for the challenge. He pulled at the top of his jumper, coming to a decision. “Dare.”
Jill nodded with enthusiasm, her hands forming into fists as she pumped the air above her. “Alright! I officially dare you, Makoto, to kiss both Kyoko and Byakuya underneath that mistletoe, on the lips!”
This had varying actions from all three involved. From Byakuya, apparent outrage. From Kyoko, her usual poker face. And finally, from Makoto, who was already so red you could probably mistake him for an overgrown apple.
With everyone too awestruck to complain, Jill ushered Makoto into position. Kirigiri stood without complaint, making her way to Naegi. Jill had to threaten to touch Togami in order to get him to move into place, so, in the end, the three of them stood rather awkwardly around the festive plant whilst the rest of the class watched.
“Remember, it has to be on the lips!” Jill shouted from the side, presumably in some form of attempted encouragement. Makoto bit his lip, looking at the two people before him.
Hesitant, he turned his body towards Kyoko first. He gave her a quick peck, noting how her lips felt soft and inviting. It didn’t take long for him to pull away, but as he glanced back at her he thought he saw the light beginnings to a blush.
As he turned to Byakuya, he grew increasingly nervous. The other boy wasn’t exactly…Inviting. His cold demeanour makes him appear uncaring and even superior. But, when Makoto finally plucked up the courage to look at him, the progeny seemed strangely reserved and, dare he say it, nervous.
A simple press to the other boy’s lips, and Makoto was done. He let out a sigh of relief, moving away from the others as quickly as possible. Whilst somehow still avoiding their eyes, he took a seat back on the floor.
The game continued long into the night, and by the time Aoi turned behind her to wave at the window of the house she walked away from, it had turned dark. Flickering streetlights lit the way for her and Sakura, walking hand in hand down the old pavement towards their homes.