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No it wasn’t Christmas. But for the members of Vivid BAD SQUAD and the rest of the Shinonome household, it practically was.
Seeing that everyone was busy with family on the actual day of Christmas, An had the bright idea of getting everyone together a week before the holiday for them to celebrate together as a unit. Everyone agreed on the date, so the next question was the place.
There were some good options, the Shiaraishi residence, the unit’s very own Sekai, and the Shinonome residence. An deducted her place due to the increase in customers during the cold season, and while the Sekai was nice, they decided the last option was more favorable.
Akito reluctantly agreed to said arrangements while all the others saw no problem at all. And that was how the ViviBad Christmas Celebration began.
— The Shinonome Residence —
There was only Ena and Akito in the apartment at the time, Ena holed up in her room as usual, and Akito chilling on the couch watching TV to pass time. The apartment was somewhat decorated, nothing too fancy. Ena barely helped with anything and Akito frankly didn’t care too much. So all that was out was a medium sized tree that stand barren of any ornaments and some scented pinecones that rest in a bowl atop the coffee table.
The first knock was a good hour before the planned time. Akito got up from where he was sitting and went to answer the door. Unsurprisingly, Touya was standing in the front door, he was wearing a larger jacket then normal and his cheeks were a bit red from the cold outside. Alongside his ensemble was a bag, not too small, not too big.
“Well you’re early,” Akito teases, moving out of the way for Touya to come in. This was far from the first time Touya had been over, the two were partners after all.
“I wanted to get away from my father as soon as possible,” Touya states, shedding his coat and placing down the bag he was holding, taking a seat on the couch.
“Fair enough,” Akito replies, sitting next to Touya on the couch (just close enough for their arms to brush if he leaned just a few centimeters closer).
The two partners sit watching TV and having small talk here and there until around 20 minutes before the promised meeting time. The door bell rings again, but this time far more obnoxiously. ‘Probably An,” Akito thinks.
Akito was right, at the door was An and Kohane, both holding hefty looking bags in both arms. An quickly rushes in, pushing Akito to the side a little while Kohane apologetically bows to Akito before walking in.
“So what’s with you two coming early?” Akito asks, slightly irritated by An already.
“Just as I thought,” An ponders, looking around the barren apartment, “This place is no fit for a Christmas celebration.”
“Huh?” Akito questions, he watches as An digs through one of her bags and pulls out a ton of different decorations. She pulls out stockings, lights, some white semi translucent fabric alongside some other fabrics in seasonal colors.
“What’s all that for?” Touya asks, turning around in his seat to face the back of the couch where An was digging.
“An thought that your apartment might end up being too bland for a party, so we both decided to bring decorations to help fix that!” Kohane speaks up.
“Here, you work on making this place seem like a winter wonderland,” An commands, shoving the semi translucent fabric into Akito’s hands, “Touya you take these,” she hands him the lights, “Kohane you’re on tree duty, and I’ll take care of the rest!”
Everyone (reluctantly in Akito’s case) sets off to do their instructed job. After a good 15 minutes the apartment is transformed into what An would call “Fit for a Christmas party”. The apartment was now draped here and there with “snowy” fabric, and accented with some of the fabric of solid colors, lights line some of the corners and sparkle faintly. The once barren tree now appears colorful with the assortment of ornaments put on by Kohane (with some help from Touya).
“And with that, this party is ready to get started! Cue the music Kohane!” An announces. On cue, Kohane starts playing a playlist of some seasonal vocaloid songs.
“What now?” Touya asks, back in his earlier position on the couch. In all honesty Touya had never really been to too many Christmas parties, or at least ones with people he was more comfortable with like his unitmates.
“Well we should probably get some food... Akito you have a Switch right?” Akito nods, “Then let’s start there, I’ll finally show you all how superior I am in Smash Ultimate!” An remarks smugly.
“Ah, I brought some stuff to make a treat for all of you, I can get started on that if that’s fine,” Touya states, lifting up his own bag.
“Go ahead, this is practically your second home at this point,” Akito responds. Akito swears he hears An whisper something to Kohane, who only giggles a little after, “How annoying,” he thinks.
— 30 minutes into the party —
In just 30 minutes Akito had learned that An’s threat was not empty. Akito had gotten his ass kicked by An’s Zero Suit Samus repeatedly. Luckily Kohane was barely a threat, Akito wasn’t even entirely sure she was trying to win or just having fun.
After another loss from Akito, a win for An, and a delicious smell starting to flow from the kitchen, the door bell rings yet again. ‘Who else could possibly be coming, and this late no less?” Akito thinks, getting up from his seat to go answer the door. He tries to get a peak of what Touya is making while he passes by the kitchen, but Touya quickly notices and moves to conceal the work in progress treat.
Opening the door he finds someone he didn’t invite personally, but easily could have been invited by An or simply invited by their own self. “Mizuki,” Akito states.
“Yep, tis I!” Mizuki exclaims, walking in with a sense of familiarity. Just like Touya, they had been over more then just a few times, coming over to hang out with Ena. “Hi An, Kohane,” they greet, waving to the respective people, they turn to the kitchen to find Touya, “Oh and Touya too!” The addressed individual waves with little commitment, focus still on whatever cooking is happening.
“I’m guessing Ena is holed up in her room as usual?” Mizuki asks, Akito nods. They hum at the statement, handing An the bag they were carrying and walking to Ena’s room.
“What’s in it?” Kohane asks, trying to get a look inside the bag An was gifted.
“It’s a surprise! I want to wait until Mizuki comes back, I’m sure they’d love to see your reactions,” An replies.
“Knowing you two, it can’t be something good,” Akito concludes, sitting back down and picking back up his controller.
— 10 minutes later —
“They’re done,” Touya calls, leaning over the kitchen counter that separates the kitchen from the living room.
Akito immediately forgets the game to go venture to see just what Touya was making (Leaving An to have an easier victory then she would’ve otherwise). He already knew the gist of what it was, being the pancake lover that he is, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize the smell. But there was definitely something special about these pancakes, Akito just knew it. And he was right, displayed before him was 6 plates each with a stack of 2 pancakes, each stake decorated with mint pieces and a chocolatey syrup, in short, they looked delicious.
“C-can I eat it now?” Akito asks, turning to Touya with sparkles in his eyes. Touya nods, happy to see how excited Akito is with what he’s made. Taking a big bite, Akito happily tastes Touya’s creation.
“Do you like it?” Touya asks cautiously, he’d found the recipe a little while ago, but never got a chance to really experiment with it.
Swallowing, Akito once again turns to Touya with a wide smile plastered on his face, “It’s amazing, thank you so much!”
Touya blushes a bit at his response, “I’m glad you like it...”
“Alright alright we get it, you’re gay, now where’s our treat?” An teases, Kohane giggling by her side. The two take their servings a move back to the couch, setting their plates on the table to eat from there.
“What are the other two for?” Akito asks, mouth half-full.
“Pancakes,” a different voice says. Akito looks over to see Ena finally out of her cave with Mizuki by her side. ‘She must’ve smelled the pancakes as well,’ Akito notes.
Mizuki grabs their two plates and places them on the coffee table across from Kohane and An. Ena and Mizuki then sit on the floor to enjoy their pancakes with everyone else.
Mizuki looks over at the bag to the right of An, “Still haven’t shown them our gift yet?”
“I wanted to wait until you were here, so we can do a gift exchange together,” An replies.
“We were supposed to have gifts ready?” Akito questions, genuinely shocked.
“Duh! Idiot,” An insults, “At least you get an excuse since your place is the one being subjected to our little party.”
“Can I go first?” Kohane asks. Everyone agrees to let her go first.
What Kohane passes out to everyone (excluding Ena and Mizuki) are different photos mysteriously taken during practices and lives. Apparently she had taken them when everyone wasn’t looking, and thought it’d be nice if everyone could keep them as physical memories.
Next was Touya who had been at the claw machine again. He gave everyone (this time including Ena and Mizuki) a different plush that reminded him of said person. Kohane, (obviously) got a hamster, An, a raccoon, Ena, a cat (to go with her cat pillow that he knew she had), Mizuki, a hedgehog, and ironically he gave Akito a dog despite knowing his fears.
Next up was Mizuki and An, who had apparently planned something not quite like the others. “And I present to you...” Mizuki began, An doing a drum roll on the coffee table. Mizuki neatly (?) dumps the bag unto their lap, “Matching winter outfits!”
On their lap lay 4 new costumes, said costumes resembling that of a puffy coat and each colored reminiscent of the member’s signature colors (It’s just the November premium outfits).
“Can we try them on!?” Kohane asks excitedly.
“Go ahead, Ena is it alright if the girls use your room to change?” Mizuki asks.
“Sure whatever,” Ena replies, on her phone probably posting about this disaster of a party she ended up in. Kohane and An take their outfits and head to Ena’s room to change, while Akito and Touya take their own and venture to Akito’s room to change.
After a few minutes both groups come out in their new outfits. “It’s a bit warm...” Akito complains.
“You all look soooo adorable~” Mizuki compliments.
“I like it a lot, thank you both!” Kohane thanks.
“It’s cozy...” Touya says quietly. ‘He likes it,’ Akito deducts.
After changing out of the outfits (since it was really to warm for the heated apartment) the party goes on. Mizuki proves to be an even more difficult competitor then An, and quickly gains a winning streak. Touya and Akito end up teaming up to try and defeat the unstoppable duo of An and Mizuki, succeeding a few times. Ena and Kohane mostly spectate, or more, Ena looks up from her phone every once in awhile and Kohane cheers for An.
— A few hours later —
After going for a few hours, people start to leave, Kohane and An leaving first, then Mizuki, and then Ena goes back to her room. Touya decides that maybe he should start heading home at this point, if he’s lucky he won’t get too bad of a scolding.
As he begins to exit the door, Akito calls out to him, “Wait!”
Touya turns around to stand in front of the door, “Hm?”
Akito quickly rushes to his room. Rummaging can be heard until only a couple minutes later he comes rushing back out. “Here,” he places a CD in Touya’s hand.
“This is... How did you get it, I thought it was sold out everywhere!?” Touya exclaims, seeing the cover of said CD.
“I knew how much you wanted it, so I did some digging and eventually found myself a deal,” Akito replies.
“I thought you didn’t have any gifts for us?”
“Well I don’t have any gifts for the others, but I at least wanted to give you something. You are my beloved partner after all.”
“Akito...” Touya blushes, holding the CD to his chest, “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Akito replies a little embarrassed by his earlier sentence, “Oh and, Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas!”
Touya leaves and the party officially comes to an end. Akito sits down and stares at the dog plush Touya got for him. ‘Hm... well maybe you aren’t so bad,’ he thinks, picking up the dog and holding it in front of him.
— The End —