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Winter had come, and snow covered the grounds of Mihama Academy. As the sun began to set, the girls busily worked to decorate the dorm for the season. Christmas was coming, and the dorm should look the part, Rin had decreed. With support from Sachi and a pitiful look from Usa, she had convinced the others to go along with the idea, and now she and the rest of the girls were more or less enjoying decorating. Mimi and Sachi were diligently hanging garland and lights. Makina was cheerfully running around tacking up random decorations, Kuro had gotten frustrated trying to keep up with her and was now trying to hide behind Sakaki, who was likewise trying to keep away from the nonsense. Meanwhile, Rin was helping a distressed Michiru disentangle herself from a pile of that awful stretched cotton "snow" that decorated so many chintzy shops and offices. Amane and Yuuji were notably absent, having gone off to fetch a proper Christmas tree.
"This is pretty tangled, Michiru, how did this even happen?" Rin questioned, as she carefully gathered up cotton that had somehow embedded itself in Michiru's hair.
"I don't know!" Michiru whined frustratedly. "One minute, I was doing fine, and then the next, whoosh! It was like a snowstorm!" Michiru flailed her arms for effect.
"Ack, Michiru stay still, you're making it worse!"
"S-sorry. Sorry.."
"You know," Rin stepped back and regarded Michiru with a sly smile, "Yuuji and Amane aren't back yet, and at this rate, maybe we should just use you as the tree. I mean, you're already half decorated."
Michiru blinked. "Wh-whaaat? I'm not a Christmas tree! Don't decorate me! I have fake snow on my head!"
Rin couldn't help but giggle at Michiru's reaction. "Aww, it'd be cute though."
Across the room from the twin-tailed duo, Mimi was holding strings of lights and garland, occasionally feeding some up to Sachi, who was standing on a step-ladder to hang the sparkly decorations on the wall. Sachi was wearing a seasonal red version of her usual maid outfit, while Mimi wore a deep green one special ordered for her by Sachi. Mimi glanced over toward Rin and Michiru, then up at Sachi.
"They look like they're having fun," Mimi observed.
"It does seem like Rin-chan and Michiru-sama have become close very quickly," Sachi agreed.
In the corner of the room, Yumiko Sakaki was leaning against a wall with a book in her hand. Behind her, Kuro Kagami fidgeted, alternately looking at the floor and watching the ongoing festivity preparations, and casting furtive glances at her aloof partner. They'd been successfully avoiding being drawn into the preparations, at least until a hyperactive Makina suddenly crashed into Kuro. Kuro let out a yelp, and tumbled right into Sakaki's back. Sakaki was thrown off balance, and lost her grip on the book she'd been pretending to read, letting it fly across the room.
"Ack! Makina!" Kuro growled as she picked herself up. "Sakaki-san are you okay?" She asked with a much gentler tone.
"Fine." Sakaki answered curtly, before turning to Makina with a murderous gaze. "Irisu--" The impending scolding was interrupted by a shrill squeak from across the room. The three girls looked up to see Michiru rubbing her head.
"Mou, who's throwing books around?"
"I'm sorry! It was an ack-shident!" Makina quickly blurted out. "Wait, why are you wearing ornaments, Chiruchiru?"
If the squeak hadn't gotten their attention before, that question certainly did. Now all eyes were on the faux-tsundere. She had already been wearing a green dress, and with some strategically-wrapped garland, ornaments hung from button holes, and the remainder of the cotton snow, she was quickly starting to resemble a real Christmas tree. A pair of red and green ribbons weaved through one of Michiru's twintails. Rin was holding another pair, having been interrupted by the flying book. Rin grinned and stepped back, gesturing to the decorated Michiru.
"I give you... the Chirumas tree, as you can see it's a work in progress, but she's quite pretty, don't you think?"
Michiru gave a nervous laugh, and then smiled with satisfcation. "Meriii kurisumasu~"
"Rin-chan, I think you will need some lights to complete the Chirumas tree." Sachi suggested.
"I was thinking the same thing, Sachi."
"And.. and a star! On her head!" Mimi added.
"Of course! What's a Christmas tree without a star?" Rin answered with a thumbs-up and a wink.
Mimi came over with the lights, while Sachi went to fetch a star ornament. Makina approached as well, leaving Kuro and Sakaki standing out. Kuro took a step forward, then turned to Sakaki and smiled gently.
"Come on, it'll be fun."
Sakaki suppressed a grimace, managing to just give Kuro a skeptical look instead. She held out, but only for a moment. She nodded and followed the younger girl to join in the decoration of the Chirumas tree. Mimi wrapped lights around her, Rin finished with the ribbons in her twintails, and the others found various ways to hang ornaments on Michiru. Somewhere along the way, it was decided she could sit, a decision Michiru was grateful for, and which allowed for more ornamenting options. The faux-tsundere seemed to thoroughly enjoy the attention, as if she was at some day spa getting a makeover. She sat through it all with a satisfied smile on her face.
When the girls were done, the Chirumas tree was a sight to behold. They stepped back to take in what they had wrought. Michiru sat with smug satisfaction, multicolored lights and sparkly red garland wrapped in neat diagonal lines around her. Shiny ribbons of metallic red and green now weaved through both of her twintails, and someone, most likely Makina, had drawn a large red ornament on Michiru's cheek. Further ornaments--from the traditional colored spheres to plastic figurines and keepsakes--decorated her body. Some hung from buttons on her outfit, others were tied to the lights and garland for support. On Michiru's head, just as promised, a golden star ornament glittered proudly. Lower down, Sachi had thoughtfully thrown a blanket over Michiru to cover her legs and the chair, and then ringed the bottom with a string of red bell-shaped lights which slowly winked on and off.
"And so, it's complete!" Rin announced with a grin.
Makina and Sachi clapped, and even Sakaki cracked a smile. Kuro grinned from ear to ear. Rin pulled out her phone and took a picture of Michiru, then moved over to her and put her arm around her, and took one of herself and Michiru, and another of the rest of the girls.
"See? Wasn't such a bad idea after all was it?" She teased gently, showing Michiru the pictures.
"F..fluh.." Michiru spluttered. "It's not like I did it for them, or anything!"
"Liar. Look at these smiles. You did that, Micchan." Rin showed her the photo she took of the others. Everyone, Sakaki included, was smiling.
It was almost an hour and a half later when Yuuji and Amane finally returned.
"Hi everyone, sorry we're so late, the truck broke down," Amane called as she entered, "and--What on earth happened here?"
Yuuji poked his head around the tree he was carrying to have a look at what had startled Amane. There sat the Chirumas tree, still radiating Christmas cheer in the warmly-lit room and now surrounded by wrapped gifts. Makina lay curled up on the floor at her feet. Sakaki was sitting on the couch, reading while Kuro sat next to her. Rin, now decked out in a Santa outfit, was just returning from her room.
"Merii Kurisumasu!" Michiru yelled enthusiastically.