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“Merry Christmas!”
Loud clapping from 13 different girls each boomed across the room as they surrounded the beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Shioriko sat, legs crossed, on the floor next to the tree. As she looked to her right, her fellow club members could be seen cheering, some confetti fell from the air, even.
‘This will be a lot to clean up…’ she thought. Even so, Shioriko smiled. Never in a million years did she imagine she’d have so many precious friends, and they all would spend such a special day at her home. It warmed her heart.
“Everybody…” Shioriko stood up, lightly clapping her hands to get the others’ attention. “Does anybody want hot cocoa? Please raise your hand if so.” 12 hands raised, and Shioriko sweatdropped. That was going to be a lot of hot cocoa. But she smiled, nonetheless. “Okay, I’ll be making.. 13 cups. Thank you.”
“Wait wait wait!!” Kasumi waved her hand wildly, quickly jumping up from her spot. She looked a little angry at the green-haired girl. “Don’t tell Kasumin you’re gonna make them all on your own!?”
“O-Oh?” Shioriko tilted her head, a nervous smile taking over her expression. “Well… Yes, that was the plan…”
“Shiokooo…” She gave an exaggerated frown. “You should let us help!”
“No, it is completely alright. I don’t mind doing this much for you all.”
“But—!”
“You are all my guests, Kasumi-san. This isn’t a problem for me at all.”
Kasumi opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a pull to her arm. “Kasumi-san, it’s fine.” Setsuna gave a smile to both of the girls. “We’ll just help her with something else later, okay?”
“Hmmph!” She plumped back down onto the floor and crossed her arms. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” Shioriko said quietly as she headed off to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, she immediately went to work. She practiced a lot for this moment, and now it was finally the time. She didn’t want to mess up for her friends; this really was the least she could do to thank them.
“Um.. Shioriko-chan?” Ayumu peeked her head through the kitchen doorway, stepping inside the kitchen soon after.
“Oh, Ayumu-san..? What is it? I said that I was fine doing this myself…”
“I know, but… I also kind of wanted to spend some time with you, you know?” She let out a small giggle as she walked closer to Shioriko and put a hand on her arm. “You work too hard, Shioriko-chan. We all just want to help.”
The first-year blushed at the contact, and her eyes glued themselves to the hand on her arm. “I- I know that, but… but I really want to do this. As a thank you.”
“A thank you, huh? We’re already grateful for you, Shioriko-chan. You don’t need to do anything special.” She smiled sweetly to her kouhai. “We love you all the same.”
To Shioriko’s slight disappointment, Ayumu removed her hand from her arm and turned around. She picked up two mugs and set them down near the saucepan.
“I’ll help make a few, okay?” She pulled out a second saucepan and set it on the stove, adding the few needed ingredients. She was already very familiar with Shioriko’s kitchen, and thus worked quickly.
“R-Right.” With no room to complain, Shioriko went beside Ayumu and stirred in her saucepan. Ayumu’s entrance distracted the girl a fair bit, and she hoped that wouldn’t cause her to mess up the hot chocolate.
Eventually the two finished each cup, topping them with marshmallows and whipped cream. Ayumu added a few chocolate chunks into Yu’s cup, just as the raven head liked it.
“I’ll go call the others in,” Ayumu exclaimed cheerfully. She started to head out back to the living room, but was stopped by a small pull on her hand.
“W-Wait, Ayumu-san.” Shioriko had her head down as she squeezed the hand of her senpai. ‘Soft…’ Her mind clouded with those thoughts, and she didn’t say anything else.
“....Shioriko-chan…?” She tilted her head. Ayumu smiled at the other girl, noticing her nervous state. It was super cute. “What’s up?”
“A-Ah, um.. it’s really nothing important… Just… Thank you.” It came off as a whisper, but Ayumu heard it well enough for it to brighten her mood even more.
“You’re welcome!” She turned back around, but not before giving the taller girl a sweet kiss on the cheek. Then, she left out, and Shioriko’s eyes widened considerably.
“....Huh?”
‘What.. What was that? Why did she- Was there a reason behind it..?’
Shioriko’s mind was racing, her thoughts wouldn’t stop and the blush on her face grew even more furious. She had to shake her head to even focus on the world around her. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her cup of hot cocoa and took a sip from it to calm her distress. To her surprise, it really helped a lot. She sat the mug down again and waited for the rest of the club to show.
A few hours went on, and the party continued without a hitch. Shioriko’s mind kept floating back to Ayumu the whole time, and she couldn’t resist gazing at the girl every now and then. As everyone started leaving for the night, one person in particular stayed behind, to Shioriko’s surprise.
“O-Oh, Ayumu-san? Did you.. forget something?” Shioriko’s hands were full of wrapping paper as she had already started to clean up.
“Nope, just here to help you clean up a bit.” With a small smile, Ayumu started to pick up wrapping paper as well.
“E-Eh? You really… don’t need to, Ayumu-san. This is my home, so it is my responsibility to–.”
“But I did contribute to making this huge mess. Come on Shioriko-chan, I’ll just pick up a few things!”
After a few seconds, Shioriko nodded. She couldn’t say no to Ayumu, and that was a weakness of hers. “O-Okay…”
It didn’t take long to finish the job with two people, but Shioriko was exhausted. “Haah…” She sat down on the sofa with a large sigh. And right after, Ayumu sat closely beside her.
“...Today was fun, huh?” She said, looking over to Shioriko. The girl looked back and smiled softly.
“Mhm… Thank you for everything, Ayumu-san. Really. I appreciate all of your help.”
“No worries,” she giggled, giving Shioriko light pats on her head. The girl, in return, blushed, leaning her head on Ayumu’s shoulder with a small smile on her face.
Ayumu giggled quietly, she thought Shioriko was extremely cute right now… Not that the thought was any different from how she always felt about the girl.
“You know… I was surprised when you decided to invite us all over– The good kind of surprised, of course! It was unexpected of you, but I’m just.. really happy you did.” Her fingers calmly ran through the younger girl’s hair.
“This was.. something I’ve never done. Not with any friends of mine… I’m also really happy I found the courage to invite everyone.”
“Mhm…~”
A few moments of a comfortable silence passed, and Ayumu spoke up again. “Hey, Shioriko-chan. Can I tell you something?”
“Hm?” Shioriko lifted her head to look at Ayumu.
“....I love you,” Ayumu stated plainly, whilst staring at Shioriko. She was grinning at the girl, not seeming embarrassed at all by such a statement.
On the other hand, though… Shioriko’s reaction was the complete opposite. Her face went bright red. No way… Were her ears failing her? “What- You what?”
“I…. love you!” Ayumu giggled, bringing her face close to Shioriko. “It’s Christmas, right? That means it’s the time to spread love and joy, and… I didn’t want to pass up this opportunity. Also…” Ayumu grabbed the girl’s hands, caressing them softly with her thumbs. “I could tell, you know. You aren’t the best at keeping a secret, Shioriko-chan.”
This caused a silent reaction from Shioriko. Her cheeks progressively got more red, and the absurdly fast-paced beating in her heart wouldn’t slow one bit. “...Then you… feel the same?”
Ayumu nodded in response.
“...I-I love you too… Ayumu-san.” She looked down at their hands. Shioriko was smiling, but she was too embarrassed to look the older girl in the eyes.
The pink-haired laughed again, holding Shioriko’s cheek to bring her head up a little. “Come on… At least look at me a little? I really.. want to see your face.”
Shioriko quietly hummed an ‘okay’ and lifted her face more to look at Ayumu. ‘Ikemen…’ she thought to herself.
“Thank you…. Can we kiss? I even.. brought a mistletoe.” Ayumu pulled up a small mistletoe and slowly brought it over their heads. Shioriko didn’t complain at all, so she took that as a yes.
Soon, Ayumu was leaning into the first-year’s lips. The first year put her hands on Ayumu’s shoulders and shut her eyes. And like a dream, they connected– both their lips, and hearts.
It was safe to say that… this Christmas was an unforgettable one. And Shioriko wouldn’t change a thing about it.