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1
Closer, and closer. Ryuunosuke pressed his face against the cold carriage window and counted the clear numbers on the doors of the thousands of newly decorated houses. The thick, shiny white snow was piled up on the roadside and had been plowed in the early morning, just like the scene Ryuunosuke and Susato had seen when they first came to London. The difference is the soft atmosphere that pervades the entire street, the relaxed expression on the faces of pedestrians. So close... isn't that the miscellaneous store Ryuunosuke often went to? He couldn't resist buying the wooden mini music box that came back to Japan with him, and it was placed inside his bedside table like a small box of memory collection. There's also that affordable food store, Miss Susato likes the dried fruits sold there. Sweet chestnuts and fragrant peanuts, they carried a large bag of them back together during the special. He recognized all of them... one more left turn, into the narrow, wet alley, and they will...
"Mistletoe... holly, and pine sticks." Susato's soft voice entered Ryuunosuke's ears. He turned his head, and on the opposite side inside the carriage there's Susato holding her little book, bright eyes gazing out of the window, the corner of her mouth showing a light smile." This is the traditional decoration of Western Christmas ... It's exactly like the book says, almost every family will hang such a garland." The light of the snow shone on her face, overflowing with a beautiful glow.
Indeed, colorful ornaments can be seen on the doors of each house, twisted branches dotted with all kinds of leaves and pine cones, some with shiny bells and bows, the style of the ribbon reminds Ryuunosuke of a lively little girl. During the time they were far away from each other, how many wonderful creations did that talented little girl make? Wagahai probably owns a high-class mansion by now.
As for the recent development of 221B Baker Street, Susato is naturally still fascinated by each issue of Waterfront Magazine, neatly arranged in chronological order on the shelves of their newly opened office. As friends of Mr. Holmes, they knew that the stories did not necessarily describe the real cases that happened in reality, but from the mysterious charm and British style of the text, the two in Japan could see the silhouette of Mr. Holmes, graceful and wise, together with his little Watson, seeing through the fog of criminals in all their vain disguises.
When the familiar facade of the pawnshop came into view, Ryuunosuke already felt his breathing accelerating from excitement. He peeked across the carriage and saw Susato with her eyes tightly closed and her right hand pressed against her chest, taking deep breaths in a very tensed manner. Susato-san, like himself, must have been looking forward to this moment for a long time... the various worries and shyness that arose on the road all turned into the exhilarating joy of reunion when he saw the apartment.
Ryuunosuke meant to take Susato's hand and get off the carriage, but Susato jumped straight off with a serious face, leaving Ryuunosuke taken aback. The previous smile disappeared and Susato, with a combat-like look, waved her fist at the air and then walked straight towards the stone staircase. However, she tripped over the first step with a "yikes". Ryuunosuke hurriedly dropped his luggage and ran over, but Susato already found her balance on her own, her face flushed with embarrassment. She tidied her clothes with great effort, thanked Ryuunosuke, and once again dashed boldly to the door, taking a solemn breath--
"Aha!" The door surprisingly opened automatically before Susato knocked on it, "I saw it from the window..."
If Susato and Ryuunosuke had been in a calmer mood, they would have recognized that it was the voice of the famous one, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. But for the two of them at the time, they just saw a pale, hollow-eyed monster poking its head out of the doorway and baring its teeth at Susato in front of it. Ryuunosuke fell to the ground with his heavy luggage, and in the middle of the spinning views in his eyes he heard Susato screaming "Susato Take-down!" Then there was a loud crashing noise and painful cries of a man. Ryuunosuke stumbled to the door, distinguishing a moaning Mr. Holmes from the pile of crooked furniture and crumpled tablecloths. Ryuunosuke stepped over the overturned cups and glasses, carefully grabbed Holmes' arm and pulled the other man up with all his strength.
Susato, finally coming back to her senses, covered her mouth and ran towards the two men, yet seemingly hesitant to touch Holmes." Holmes-sama! wha-what's going on... I just saw a monster..." she looked around, not yet letting down her alert posture. Ryuunosuke at this point guessed what happened: "Mr Holmes... was that you at the door...?"
The protagonist of the topic is now letting out very theatrical groans, but also deliberately putting his whole body weight on Ryuunosuke, making his knees shake. He seemed to have been waiting for Ryuunosuke to ask this question, grabbing his arm like a dying man: "Mr Naruhodo! I haven't seen you for three years, and this is how you greet me!? Have I changed that much, you had to call me a monster!? " Ryuunosuke tried hard to fix his eyes on the other person's face while Holmes held him and shaked him violently. Those curly blond hair looked somewhat trimmed (or perhaps just messy), the expression is quite distorted, and Holmes slightly plumped up a bit, but he didn't change much in general. Then Ryuunosuke saw some white stuff sticking to Holmes' chin, so he reached out and pulled the object to look at it. It turned out to be a white human face, with hollow eyes and mouth.
With a scream, the owner of 221B was once again thrown into the pile of furniture. The good thing is this time Susato rushed over to hold Holmes, preventing more damage caused to the famous detective's back." Wh-what IS that?" Ryuunosuke shivered and pointed at the face-shaped piece of gel. Susato also saw the horrible object and let out a small squeak, but probably out of love for Mr. Holmes she did not throw him away. Under the torture of the two, Holmes apparently felt a little dizzy. He looked down, and casually yanked off the piece of face skin: "What? You mean the facial care products I'm working on?"
Ryuunosuke's mind stopped spinning for a second. For a moment his brain had been speculating whether Mr. Holmes would molt like a demon, and the word "product" put a stop to his unrealistic fantasies. He had been frightened many times in this apartment by something bizarre, which often turned out to be the unfinished invention of Holmes family. Holmes did not seem to find anything strange about that piece of skin, and deliberately pulled the part of the eye socket to make a ghostly face with it." Iris told me that the ladies of London especially need to protect their lovely faces in industrial soot, so I'm working on this product that improves facial skin." He put the thing on his face and instantly took on the appearance of the monster they had seen at the door. Holmes grinned at Ryuunosuke." Being a detective is hard, guys! I need to relax once in a while."
Ryuunosuke gaped, not knowing what to say, while Susato quickly recovered, showing an adoring smile with her hands by her cheek: "Really worthy of Holmes-sama! When the research is completed, I will definitely be the first to buy!"
Thinking of Susato with a piece of white skin on her face, Ryuunosuke couldn't help but shuddered. Maybe he should change the topic... Ryuunosuke finally recalled the lines he had rehearsed in his mind countless times: "Mr Holmes, Merry..."
"Hold it! Naruhodo-sama!" Susato, however, interrupted Ryuunosuke with a serious attitude as if she knew what he was going to say." I'm very sorry, but the line you want to say is not for this time of day, but for tomorrow morning!"
Holmes found a small corner in the overturned table and chairs and sat down : "Ahhh, Miss Mikotoba is right. Merry Christmas... that's the term for congratulating each other on Christmas, which is strictly defined as tomorrow." He rummaged in his pocket, took out the familiar pipe and held it in his mouth." Today is called Christmas Eve."
"Hurley, did something crash just now..." A slightly unfamiliar teenage girl's voice came from the stairs, followed by a sudden scream, "Susie!!! Runo!!!"
Ryuunosuke and Susato both looked up and couldn't help but freeze. That was Iris, that much they both knew. But a child's growth in size in three years was more remarkable than they thought, and perhaps in a few years Iris would be as tall as Susato. And now, she is only half a head shorter than Susato, still wearing the familiar bow hairstyle, widened lake green eyes gleefully looking at them. Her round face shape already turned into a teenage girl's appearance.
Without any delay, Iris ran down the stairs and rushed straight into Susato's arms happily. Susato hugged her back softly, and the three-year interval never seemed to exist at this moment. A few moments later, Iris finally looked up and smiled at Ryuunosuke: "Runo... you all look shorter. Although I know it's me who has grown taller..."
Holmes laughed behind him: "As I see it, Miss Mikotoba is a little taller than the last time we met. As for Mr Naruhodo... nothing has changed." He raised an eyebrow at Ryuunosuke." Just a bit thinner. Didn't eat well in Japan?"
"We got the attic all cleaned up!" Iris smirked and shook Susato's arm. Susato carefully reached out and caressed Iris' head, her eyes rippling in the light: "Thank you so much... Looks like Naruhodo-sama and I are finally going back to our original office." She turned her head and smiled at Ryuunosuke, who, seeing that she is already holding back tears of happiness, pointed knowingly to the luggage outside the door: "We're moving in our stuff right now!"
Law books, court records, all the books back in their original place. Some of them already seemed basic to Ryuunosuke today, but Susato would always admonish him to guard his first heart, so Ryuunosuke took these books with him. Behind the counter by the window, Ryuunosuke encountered Wagahai, who was sleeping. After setting up the roly-poly, Ryuunosuke slowly looked around the attic, which was gradually refilled with memories, and felt his heart filled with warm colors of the soft light. They are finally back.
Realizing that he was unconsciously staring at the closed door of Susato-san's room, Ryuunosuke rubbed his face and decided to go downstairs to enjoy Iris' dessert. After a long and tiring journey and all the tidying up, it was already close to four o'clock in the afternoon. Hot flower tea in his hands, Ryuunosuke thanked Iris, and only then had time to sit down to observe the famous detective's home Christmas decorations.
First of all, this living room is sharply divided into two factions, it is easy to see which side is decorated by Iris and which by Mr. Holmes. Above Iris' typewriter hung a beautiful wreath of green, pink and gold, delicate weaving crafts intertwined with the festive atmosphere of Christmas, soft ribbons hung all over the window, some devices that looked like mini light bulbs wrapped around the counter where the chemicals were placed. On that small table where the tea set usually sits, a large Sherlock Holmes bunny doll (as tall as Ryuunosuke's arm) is now sitting next to the teapot with Iris' own doll in its arms.
Those mini light bulbs should be lit at night. Their wires curled and twisted to extend to a metal machine placed by the wall, which Ryuunosuke guessed was used to generate electricity. The same style of wire was connected to the other side of the living room and ran directly to the huge tree-shaped device that made people unable to ignore. Western Christmas had the traditional decoration called Christmas tree, which Ryuunosuke knew. However, the picture in the books is usually a green pine tree, not this ... colorful tree made of metal and plastic that is now placed over there. All kinds of inventions are squeezed to the side, and there is a tree branch poking towards the window, which seemed in danger of breaking the glass. But if you look closer, the tree ornaments do have a Christmas atmosphere, mini gift boxes and small bells, and some strange little sculptures, unintelligible exotic documents, or travel tickets, and even electricity and water bills, all tied to the tree with a rope clip type of thing. Ryuunosuke took a closer look at one of the chess pieces, and then almost fell over when a voice suddenly came from behind: "Aha!"
Ryuunosuke turned around sharply and almost bumped into Holmes' face, but the other man didn't seem worried at all about the possibility of an accident between the two of them, smiling and sizing up Ryuunosuke's face." How's that? My elaborate Christmas tree is very shocking, isn't it? You can never buy a Christmas tree made by Sherlock Holmes himself outside."
Ryuunosuke was thinking about how to praise this festive scenery, but Holmes seemed not wanting to linger too long on this topic, tugging Ryuunosuke's arm and pointing at the bottom of the tree: "But the place you should really look is here. See?" Ryuunosuke followed Holmes' finger and saw that under the tree was a mountain of colorful gift boxes of various sizes, with the names of the givers on them. Ryuunosuke vaguely remembered some of them from the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. Holmes reached his hand in front of Ryuunosuke and snapped his fingers: "What do you think, Mr Naruhodo?"
"How worthy of you, Mr. Holmes." Ryuunosuke exclaimed." Last year when Susato-san and I celebrated New Year's Eve, all we got were fruits."
Holmes' face immediately turned gloomy." Mr Naruhodo... seeing these, didn't you think to put your gift over as well? I hinted so obviously..."
"Ohhhh!" Ryuunosuke scrambled towards the stairs, "I'll get it here..." At the entrance to the stairs, he just happened to meet Susato walking down carefully with a tall stack of gift boxes in her arms. Ryuunosuke sighed in relief: "Susato-san, let me do it..." Susato pursed her lips and smiled at him, and the two of them shared the boxes wrapped in light purple and green, walked together to the Christmas tree to add to the mountain of presents. Susato surveyed the Christmas tree with a look of wonder and admiration: "Holmes-sama? This letter hanging on it, is it the one I'm thinking of..."
Holmes tsked and shook his finger at the two: "The story about the decorations is, of course, reserved for the evening."
Miss Susato took another curious trip in the living room, then went into the kitchen to help Iris prepare today's dinner. Ryuunosuke walked to the door and looked in, and could vaguely see the ingredients and pastries waiting to be cooked. While Ryuunosuke was wandering back and forth, wanting to go in and get a small piece to try first, the doorbell of 221B rang. " Open the door, Mr. Naruhodo!" Holmes called from the attic.
Ryuunosuke turned the door handle. In the windy cold air that filled his face, he bumped into those familiar black eyes, and both of them were stunned. The corners of his mouth rose, his eyes widened, boundless joy poured out of Ryuunosuke's chest, and a similar expression surfaced on the face of the young man outside the door. That joyful emotion surged between the two, and finally turned into a loud laugh from the man, dragging Ryuunosuke into a tight embrace with force :
"Haha! Ryuunosuke!"
There was a crashing sound from the kitchen and someone rushed out, freezing behind them. Naruhodo broke away from the hug and smiled at Kazuma, who then turned his gaze behind Ryuunosuke: "Legal Assistant Mikotoba. It's great to see you again."
Ryuunosuke turned back to see Susato covering her mouth, looking like she was choking, but after a few seconds she miraculously steadied her emotions and nodded with a smile to Kazuma: "Kazuma-sama..." Her voice is a little shaky.
The door of 221B made a small sound, and Ryuunosuke suddenly realized that someone else was following behind Kazuma. He turned around to see the tall, dark figure of van Zieks standing outside the door with his arms crossed, quietly watching the moment of reunion of the three from Japan. Noticing Ryuunosuke's gaze, he nodded slightly to him: "Mr Naruhodo."
Van Zieks was not wearing his trademark courtroom gown, but a more everyday comfortable outfit, only the nobility of which could be seen in the fine tailoring. So did Kazuma, whose simple dress allowed him to look inconspicuous in the crowd, and he came today without his blade. Van Zieks took off his hat and placed it on the coat rack at the door." Lord van Zieks." Ryuunosuke couldn't help but smile at the softness of the attitude, it seemed that during Christmas time even the Reaper in London would become a little more humane.
Perhaps it was just Ryuunosuke's imagination, but the corner of van Zieks' mouth loosened a little."Time to get inside...We need a hot cup of tea in the winter of London."
2
The dinner was not grand, Mr. Holmes said at the table that the real Christmas dinner would be tomorrow, and announced that he would be involved in the cooking himself. Iris looked like she wanted to say something, but Susato was happy and said she will assist Mr. Holmes. After the meal, Lord van Zieks duly brought up the dazzling Christmas tree (literally dazzling, everyone can hardly look at the tree when the homemade lights on it are turned on) and explained to Ryuunosuke and Susato that the oldest person in the family should introduce the decorations on it at Christmas.
Holmes started with a small doll at the top of the tree, and used his own logic to tell some of the banal stories in an amazing way. Susato was enthralled, Iris soon ran off to do her own craft, and Ryuunosuke saw out of the corner of his eye that Kazuma had gotten a small knife from somewhere(perhaps the kitchen) and was carving mashed potatoes. He quietly moved to sit next to Kazuma and whispered to him: "Isn't Miss Gina spending Christmas here with Mr. Holmes?"
"She went to France to participate in the Strasbourg investigation." Van Zieks said. Ryuunosuke was a little startled. Since van Zieks was sitting on the sofa for a long time holding his arms with his eyes closed, Ryuunosuke had assumed he was asleep." Miss Lestrade ... she has worked very hard since that case." Kazuma held the mashed potato up for a moment to examine it, and Ryuunosuke could vaguely identify it as a dog. Kazuma's eyes moved from the potato to Ryuunosuke's face." The job to France was earned by herself... This is the result of her efforts."
Ryuunosuke nodded with understanding, a tiny flash of melancholy went through his heart in the warmth of the fire, but was soon relieved to think that this must be the path Gina herself wanted. Kazuma patted Ryuunosuke's shoulder: "She left a Christmas letter. You'll hear about it tomorrow morning."
This made Ryuunosuke think of asking something he felt curious about." Kazuma, you know the customs of Christmas so well."
Kazuma turned to Ryuunosuke and raised an eyebrow: "I've been living in Britain for over three years now." He paused, and then leaned closer to Ryuunosuke with a weird expression: "Mr. Holmes... he tells the same stories every year. I've recognized all the things in that tree. But sometimes he seems to get confused himself..."
"You come here every year for Christmas?" Ryuunosuke was very surprised. At the time he left London, Kazuma and the Holmes family had almost no contact. Kazuma hesitated for a second and raised his chin slightly in the direction of Lord van Zieks." ... I did not come alone." Kazuma said briefly.
Van Zieks remained with his eyes closed, not reacting much to their conversation. But Ryuunosuke stared at his face, feeling there was some hidden connection beyond the surface information. The shape of the mashed potato in Kazuma's hand gradually became clear, and Kazuma placed it on the plate." How are you and Legal Assistant Mikotoba doing in Japan? Is Professor Mikotoba doing well?"
An involuntary smile appeared on Ryuunosuke's face." We opened our own office, and Professor Mikotoba would often come to see us in court. Although not many people understood the role of a lawyer at first, but recently our fame has built up a little and the cases we can get has become more. Susato-san is very happy..." Ryuunosuke's gaze could not help but slide towards the other end of the room, where Susato sat on a small stool with her cheeks flushed, eyes shining with excitement, closely following the explanation of Holmes, occasionally hiding her mouth and laughed happily. When Ryuunosuke came back to his senses, Kazuma was looking at him with a teasing gaze, and Ryuunosuke felt his face turned hot somehow. "I... I'll go get something to eat." Ryuunosuke said awkwardly.
He stood up from the couch, and van Zieks surprisingly opened his eyes and got up to follow along with him. Ryuunosuke got himself two cupcakes, and while looking for cutlery he found at least four or five mashed potato dogs piled up in the corner of the kitchen. He had to bite his lip to stifle a laugh. Behind him, van Zieks hummed lowly: "He likes to make these little things."
Ryuunosuke turned around to see van Zieks pouring eggnog into the glass, swirling it gently. Ryuunosuke himself had sipped a little at dinner, and the taste was sweet. All the Holmes family glasses were decorated by Iris(van Zieks had picked a rather big one, but it looked like a toy in his hand, with kittens and flowers painted on it), making the Reaper Prosecutor seem extraordinarily approachable.
"Well ... Lord van Zieks, how are you doing in London?" Ryuunosuke asked tentatively. Those icy blue eyes fell on Ryuunosuke with a frown, making him almost jolt, feeling like he was back in court." Surprisingly smooth." van Zieks answered blandly." Thanks to that trial between you and Asougi, the London judicial community has changed its mind about people like Stronghart."
Ryuunosuke glanced into the living room and saw Holmes taking an intermission, and both Kazuma and Susato were watching Iris' mechanical doll show. Kazuma even had Wagahai on his lap. Ryuunosuke approached the prosecutor carefully like a thief: "And... what about Kazuma?"
Of course, Ryuunosuke was clear that Kazuma was honest with him. But after some events, Ryuunosuke knew that Kazuma sometimes unconsciously took the blame on himself instead of seeking help. Lord van Zieks and Kazuma... they shared something between them that Ryuunosuke did not understand, and he had sensed this three years ago. Now that they had met again, Ryuunosuke felt as if this extraordinary connection had come to maturity. Ryuunosuke felt reassured by this.
Van Zieks gazed into the milky white of the glass, his expression a rare softness. He thought about it for a long time, then simply nodded. The last bit of Ryuunosuke's concern was dropped, and as he relaxed, he couldn't help but say, "I'm really glad Kazuma is studying under you."
Van Zieks raised his eyebrow slightly. Ryuunosuke thought he might as well just say it all, and continued: "Although we have been writing letters to each other... after all, Susato-san and I are in Japan, it is difficult to help him. Now that you are here, we are much more at ease."
The unexpected look on van Zieks' face made Ryuunosuke secretly embarrassed, worrying if he had said too much, but van Zieks raised his glass to him gravely:"Thank you for your trust." Ryuunosuke hurriedly also picked up a small rabbit cup and clinked.
When he returned to the living room, Kazuma and Susato were talking about something together and smiled mysteriously at Ryuunosuke together when they saw him coming back. Ryuunosuke handed the cupcake to Susato: "What are you guys talking about?" "About your office." Kazuma said easily. Ryuunosuke somehow suspected that it was an allusion to himself.
Mr. Holmes was leaning on the sofa and looked asleep. Iris picked up a cushion and smashed his face: "Wake up, Hurley! Go to bed to sleep." Holmes let out a bunch of indistinct complaints and almost fell off the couch. Ryuunosuke raise his hand and offered: "I'll clean up! Iris, you can go to bed too."
Lord van Zieks and Kazuma were staying at a hotel not far away. When he heard Kazuma mentioning the name of the hotel, Ryuunosuke's memory revived: "I remember the room fee is super expensive."
Kazuma shrugged: "I'm not the one paying." Ryuunosuke then had to silently watch his friend leave with that rich Reaper.
The one who stayed behind to tidy up with Ryuunosuke was Susato. That small and efficient figure walked back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, making Ryuunosuke inwardly grateful. She seemed to enjoy the Christmas special eggnog, and when Ryuunosuke talked to her, he felt her voice was light and airy, and she also became fond of staring into Ryuunosuke's eyes and giggling, causing him to blush.
Blowing out the decorative candles in the living room and turning off the power to the colored lights, Ryuunosuke sat on the sofa and let out a long breath. "Naruhodo-sama..." Susato's voice suddenly appeared behind Ryuunosuke like a ghost, making him jump." Susato-san?"
Susato came around from behind the couch and sat down next to Ryuunosuke. In the leap of the fire, Susato gazed into Ryuunosuke's eyes and handed a small plate to him with a happy and tender look. A piece of apple, but carved into the shape of an animal." Please take a look... This is Naruhodo-sama carved by Susato."
Ryuunosuke widened his eyes at the apple, which appeared to be a tiny mouse." Ahhh ... very cute! Thank you Susato-san!"
Susato interlocked her hands and rubbed her cheek intoxicatedly: "Thank you for the compliment... If you don't mind, please eat it quickly, the apple is easily discolored." After she said this, she leaned softly against the sofa and closed her eyes. I can't let Susato-san fall asleep right here, she'll catch a cold... Ryuunosuke thought so, but couldn't help look at Susato's serene face for a long time, forgetting to chew the apple in his mouth.
"Naruhodo-sama..." Susato made a sound like she was talking in her sleep, but Ryuunosuke could tell that she was still awake." It's really nice... to spend Christmas with you." She opened her eyes with great effort and looked at Ryuunosuke seriously. Ryuunosuke thought for a moment and replied :
"As long as I have Susato-san by my side... It's always Christmas for me."
Susato smiled wordlessly." Let's go up to the attic... Naruhodo-sama, do you know the tale of Santa Claus?"
They got up from the couch and Ryuunosuke put the small plate back in the kitchen. "Santa Claus... I have heard of it. He gives gifts to children, and in this house I guess it is for Iris..." Susato nodded and seemed to wake up more: "Indeed. But I have checked the book, Santa Claus actually... ah!!!"
They walked out of the kitchen while talking, however just as they reached the door, something suddenly fell overhead. Ryuunosuke's first reaction under the shock was to take Susato into his arms and close his eyes tightly. The good thing is that the thing that fell on them is not heavy and hard, but furry and light, slightly solid, Ryuunosuke carefully opened his eyes, and it turned out to be the mistletoe hanging on the kitchen door frame. The large garland fell on top of their heads, and the ribbon floated down to rest on his and Susato's shoulders.
Realizing that his actions were inappropriate, Ryuunosuke panicked and let go of his hands. But Susato's attention seemed to be not on Ryuunosuke, but stared in amazement at the beautiful garland, and reached out to gently touch it. Ryuunosuke moved the garland off his head and handed it to Susato: "Do you like this very much?"
Susato slowly took the wreath in her arms and turned her face to the side. In the glow of the fireplace, Ryuunosuke saw her cheeks turn a delicate pink. "Susato-san...?" Ryuunosuke was puzzled. Susato held the pose for a long time, then snapped back to her senses and walked quickly towards the stairs with the garland in her arms: "Naruhodo-sama... um, please rest quickly! Tomorrow morning, there will be a lot more business...."
The pink figure disappeared as soon as it turned at the stairs, leaving Ryuunosuke alone in the same place, confused.
3
The next day's morning service was earlier than Ryuunosuke thought. Iris' sweet smile brought the first Merry Christmas of the year, and she reminded everyone that it was time to open the presents. Ryuunosuke sleepily walked down the stairs, and then was surprised to realize that the floating Christmas music did not originate from the phonograph, but Mr. Holmes playing the violin at the window. Rarely does the famous detective have such a nice mood, so Ryuunosuke quickly found a seat on the sofa to listen. Van Zieks and Kazuma soon arrived, and the living room quickly became lively with the clashing of teacups and plates and the exchange of Christmas greetings.
Opening presents is always an exciting time, and Iris' eyes were almost stary. Holmes decided to finish opening the gifts from the fans first. Kazuma whispered to Ryuunosuke that Holmes put the gift list he wanted in the newspaper two months ago and waited for the fans to deliver it. The living room is flooded with wrapping paper and the cleanup is mostly a disaster. With the clock pointing to ten, Iris made the rounds to make sure there were no boxes left, and then loudly announced that it was time for her gift next.
Iris had a scented bag for everyone. She was happy to introduce the formula inside to ward off all kinds of bugs and is suitable to put inside the closet. Ryuunosuke's was pure black fabric with gold and red accents, and Susato's was pink and white with a cherry blossom pattern. Ryuunosuke glanced over towards Kazuma, and the ones he and Lord van Zieks were holding seemed to be specifically made to hang on the hilt of a sword. As for Mr. Holmes, he explained that Iris had given him his copy a few days earlier.
Lord van Zieks, to everyone's surprise, did not give anything too expensive. He grunted and said he still understood the etiquette of Christmas(Susato told Ryuunosuke that Christmas gifts are often of similar value, something too expensive would be rude), his gift was high-quality raisins shipped from France. Ryuunosuke quickly tasted them and it was quite sweet. Kazuma also brought food, carefully wrapped milk chocolate for everyone. Susato presented a book of poems that she had carefully copied, with a message for each person. In fact, Ryuunosuke already knew the contents, but he still turned to the last page, reading the blessings of Susato-san with satisfaction. Ryuunosuke prepared three-dimensional gift cards that he had searched hard in the market, which could be turned into a mini stage after opening.
Iris took out a small letter from under the tree, and everyone quieted down to listen to her read Gina's blessing to the crowd. In the letter, Gina mentioned her living situation in France and future plans, the complaints are quite Gina's style, and the letter is very short (Ryuunosuke thinks the fact that Miss Gina can actually write a letter has been very amazing). There are a few times in the middle Iris can not identify the handwriting and let Holmes help, and together they made it to the Merry Christmas at the end. Gina's gift was some small animal mascots, most likely made from the fur of a certain police dog, and Ryuunosuke gave his to Susato to keep together.
After that Holmes quickly drove Ryuunosuke and the others to lunch, because there was a mysterious event scheduled for the afternoon. In the middle of the meal, Ryuunosuke remembered that they hadn't introduced Mr. Holmes' gift, and Kazuma quietly told him not to ask because "Mr. Holmes will say that his Christmas music is the gift". After a full meal, Ryuunosuke sat by the fire with Wagahai in his arms and drifted off to sleep, when Holmes woke him up with a tap: "Mr. Naruhodo! Stop slumbering. Is one night not enough for you to sleep?" He turned to the crowd in the living room and gave a big smile: "Next up is a special event this Christmas... with so many people around, we can go have a snowball fight. Teams of two!"
Van Zieks let out a hum of disdain: "I will not participate. What a childish act... not to mention the great risk of injury. Isn't there any reasonable Christmas activity?"
"Yeah!!!" Iris ran down from upstairs, "Snowball fight!!! I'm going to win today because I'm teaming up with Mr Reaper! He's the best."
Van Zieks instantly stood up from the couch and scanned the crowd eerily like a tower." Prepare to be crushed." He announced so, and then went out with Iris.
Ryuunosuke swallowed hard." That guy is so annoying sometimes." Holmes said to Ryuunosuke. And then he fell heavily on the sofa and let out a dramatic cry:"I've been abandoned... no one wants me... no one likes me..."
"Holmes-sama!" Susato rushed to his side, "May I ask you to pair up with me!" Holmes stopped crying at once, nimbly jumped off the sofa and gave a playful salute towards Susato: "Of course! I will never refuse a Mikotoba to be by my side."
Susato looked as if she was about to cry. Ryuunosuke, who had been watching Susato's movements, rested assured at this moment and looked at Kazuma, and they smiled with each other heartily." Let's go, Ryuunosuke!" Kazuma walked up to him and patted him on the back." Let's see how you've improved in these three years."
The venue Iris had picked was a small clearing not far from Baker Street, with some bushes and such around to hide in. Iris' group, which had started out first, had already occupied the high ground with the best view, and from afar, Ryuunosuke could see van Zieks crouching down and listening intently to the young girl talking in his ear. Ryuunosuke looked around, but did not see Susato and Mr. Holmes at all, it seems that they found a good hiding place. Kazuma quickly selected the back of a dilapidated carriage as their stationing point.
Ryuunosuke looked towards Iris' side again, only to see that the little girl had taken out a magnificent special gun from somewhere, obviously powerful at first glance. Van Zieks was helping her load the snow from the ground." This distance is not long." Kazuma said from behind Ryuunosuke. Ryuunosuke looked back and saw that a number of snowballs of the right size had piled up on the ground, and Kazuma was weighing one in his hand, eager to try." Have we started already?" Ryuunosuke rubbed his head.
"I guess there would be a start signal." Kazuma narrowed his eyes and gestured with the snowball to the high part of the field. Ryuunosuke somehow felt a little bad. "Well... are we to guard against Iris first?" Ryuunosuke tried. Kazuma rolled his eyes at him. "What are you talking about, Ryuunosuke. Of course we are going to teach him a good lesson. Let's show him what we're made of." Kazuma glared at the snowball with beaming passion.
Ryuunosuke was really getting a bad feeling. "You mean Lord van Zieks...?" Ryuunosuke asked weakly. Kazuma did not say anything, only gave a very strong gesture of cheering to Ryuunosuke. Ryuunosuke had a strong urge to run away. He boldly stretched out his head and looked around again, but still no sign of Susato. Hopefully, she had found a safe location as well.
"Runo-" Iris' shout came from the other side of the ground, "I can see you! You'd better hide yourself!" A small snowball landed precisely at Ryuunosuke's feet, and he hastily retracted. However, judging from the size of the snowball, Iris must have made the snowball gun with safety in mind, not to cause any serious damage. Ryuunosuke sat by the wheel of the carriage and watched Kazuma concentrate on piling up snowballs at a terrifying speed.
"Has the game begun?" Ryuunosuke heard Susato's voice." Let's start if you want to!" Iris shouted back. Ryuunosuke crawled outward, and unfortunately still did not find Susato. But he soon saw Mr. Holmes' deerstalker hat emerge from behind a small snowbank, waving a mini British flag and shouting, "Let's begin, gentlemen! Ugh!"
Iris' snowball hit Mr. Holmes in the face with precision. It was a very small snowball, and Holmes cursed and wiped the snow off his face. Ryuunosuke remembered that he was taking care of his facial skin yesterday, and wondered if the snowball would have any effect on that. Immediately after, Ryuunosuke watched a huge snowball whizzing by, and Mr. Holmes fell on his back and disappeared. Ryuunosuke tremblingly looked towards the top of the slope, where Lord van Zieks very majestically stood with snowballs in both hands, Iris was jumping with joy. Iris' gun this time pointed at Ryuunosuke, and Ryuunosuke saw her saying something to van Zieks. Then those sharp eyes fell on him.
Ryuunosuke fled on his hands and knees back to the the carriage. Kazuma had already chosen his attack position, he stepped up to the front of the wagon and threw the first snowball to the top of the slope. It hit van Zieks in the shoulder, and he turned to look at the carriage. Ryuunosuke only had time to shrink under the carriage before snowballs came down like hail, and Kazuma weaved through the snowballs like a swallow. It was in this nimble dodge that he launched his throwing attack on van Zieks." Give it your all, Lord van Zieks!" Ryuunosuke heard Kazuma shout with laughter.
Ryuunosuke slowly squirmed into the nearby bushes, with snowballs hitting his back and near his face midway. For a moment, Ryuunosuke felt like he might pass out. He rolled over and stared at the bright blue sky, which was almost cloudless. Surrounded by thick white snow, he felt quite comfortable. He stayed like that for who knows how long, then a pair of bright eyes appeared in his vision upside down and called out to him with a smile: "Naruhodo-sama."
Susato looked down at him from above, her soft hair dangling down from her ears, the sky light creating a pale halo around her. "Susato-san...?" Ryuunosuke murmured. "Are you a spirit of snow?"
Susato covered her mouth and laughed: "Naruhodo-sama, what are you talking about." She gently patted the snow away from Ryuunosuke's shoulder, "Please come with me. There is hot tea at home."
When Ryuunosuke stepped inside the warm room again, he found that Mr. Holmes had already came back in and was leisurely sipping a hot drink. Seeing that Ryuunosuke had returned, he waved to him, "Mr. Naruhodo! You're just in time. Dinner is being prepared in the kitchen, why don't you go help too?"
It seems that Susato and Iris had agreed to come back early to cook dinner. Ryuunosuke saw the huge goose right away. Iris handed Ryuunosuke a cup of flower tea with a smile: "Runo! Susie was worried that you might feel cold outside, so she went to call you back. Help us mix the stuffing! Mr Reaper and Kazu have a long time to play."
Ryuunosuke took over the huge pot of stuffing and on closer inspection he could identify celery and garlic or something, but he didn't recognize the rest of the spices. On the way to stirring he stopped by to admire the superb cooking skills of the two ladies. They need to separate the skin from the flesh in order to get the roast goose tasty, and to tie the shape with string. Mr. Holmes sneaked into the kitchen, he is responsible for what seemed to be dessert. When he began to spice the goose, Holmes secretly pulled Ryuunosuke into the corner of the living room.
"Mr Naruhodo... It was you and Miss Mikotoba who cleaned up together last night, right?" Holmes held his fingers to his temples, a thoughtful look. Ryuunosuke nodded: "That's right ... Is there anything wrong?"
Holmes raised an eyebrow at him: "I can tell... that you and Miss Mikotoba, encountered something last night that left you at a loss for words."
Ryuunosuke's confusion intensified: "Mr. Holmes...?"
Not waiting for Ryuunosuke's reaction, Mr. Holmes snapped his finger: "I'm saying this for two reasons! One, when I got up this morning, I noticed that the wreath on the kitchen door was missing. This has something to do with you guys, right?"
Ryuunosuke nodded: "Indeed..."
Holmes is now almost dancing: "Secondly, that garland was carried down from the attic by Miss Mikotoba. When I asked about it, she panicked and ran away."
Ryuunosuke rubbed his head: "Ran away...?"
Holmes took out his pipe and put in his mouth: "Plus last night was Christmas Eve, combined down to the conclusion."
"You two, witnessed Santa Claus come to our house last night."
"......" Ryuunosuke decided to first listen properly to Mr. Holmes' reason for saying so.
"The garland, which was originally hung properly on the door, would not have fallen off for no reason. Since it fell, it means that something hit it. And Christmas Eve is the time when Santa Claus visits! I guess he didn't look at the road and ran right into it." Holmes waved his index finger in front of Ryuunosuke." That explains Miss Mikotoba's panic! She is an honest lady, yet Santa told her to keep quiet that he had been here, so she became very flustered and refused to say anything." Holmes is wiggling around, "But since you, Mr Naruhodo, were also there last night, I just need to come and ask you. Am I right?"
"Uh...." Ryuunosuke gaped, "I didn't meet Santa Claus... but I was there when the wreath fell. It fell on my head and Susato-san's."
Holmes went silent, then came close to Ryuunosuke's face to observe him." And then what happened?"
"Then Susato-san ran away with the garland in her arms ... I don't know why. Maybe she really liked that garland...? But we did not see Santa Claus."
Holmes did not say a word. He turned very gloomy." Mr Naruhodo... For the next hour, please don't talk to me again."
"Mr. Holmes...?"
Holmes' expression twisted up: "I can't believe this... even that big iron lump van Zieks has blossomed, and you, Mr Naruhodo, are still so dumb...!" He dropped these words and left with huffs, leaving Ryuunosuke alone confused reflecting on what he had done wrong.
As the smell of roasted goose began to fill the air, Ryuunosuke was assigned to call back Lord van Zieks and Kazuma outside. Ryuunosuke cautiously approached the grounds slowly from behind the bushes, but heard no sound of any snowballs falling to the ground. The grounds were quite quiet. Ryuunosuke ventured out to look around and saw the backs of the two at a corner, leaning close and seemed to be talking. Ryuunosuke walked towards them and the sound of his steps on the snow immediately startled the two men, who quickly turned to face Ryuunosuke and put a little distance between them." Dinner is almost ready, time to go back to Mr Holmes' house!" Ryuunosuke said so, noticing that something with a special shape seemed to be placed behind Kazuma. He tried to take a closer look, but Kazuma cleverly blocked his view." Coming right up!" Kazuma answered.
Back at the door of 221B, Mr. Holmes' baked cookies had made a bit of a mess, but with the battered parts removed they still looked edible. The roast goose, cooked by Iris and assisted by Susato, was a great success, surrounded by raspberries and vegetables looking magnificent, really bringing the feeling of a Christmas dinner. With stomachs filled with goose and twilight approaching outside the window, a group photo of everyone was taken in this warm living room, and Mr. Holmes said he would print out several copies of the photo for everyone to take one back. On the one for Ryuunosuke and Susato, Susato carefully drew a beautiful cherry blossom pattern.
4
Thick and creamy, just the right temperature, van Zieks drank the last drop of eggnog in his glass. Kazuma was already standing at the door waiting for him, his black eyes as bright and determined as ever. Putting on his hat, he stepped into London's snowy Christmas night with his apprentice.
They took a slight detour to retrieve Kazuma's little creation from the site of the snowball fight. They threw meaningless snowballs at each other for half a day, and finally even van Zieks himself could not help but shake his head in amusement and choose a truce with the young man in the distance. In the silence of the afternoon sun, Kazuma made two small cat shapes out of snow. The larger one is obviously a reference to Barok himself, and the other is Kazuma. He placed them on the curb step with great satisfaction, and chatted with van Zieks about the new decorations in the Old Bailey this Christmas. The conversation turned to memories of the previous Christmas, bringing them back to the mistletoe hanging in van Zieks' manor, and the kisses that tasted of red wine under there. With no one around, even a little intimacy... will not be noticed.
Into the van Zieks family carriage, Kazuma asked the question they both know: "How did your conversation with Mr. Holmes go?"
Barok's memories flashed back to the famous detective's rare serious look, in the scent of eggnog on the matter of Iris." He agreed that I would bear the cost of Iris' studies in the future. Let him be responsible for the rest. When Iris is a little older, she will make those decisions herself."
Kazuma nodded and paused for a moment: "Miss Iris... I think she noticed."
Not only did she notice, but she was also taking care of Barok's feelings. This makes Barok feel both humbled and warm. The Holmes family had supported each other till this day, and he was just an outsider. Iris' gentle and accepting attitude gave Christmas a distinctly unusual meaning.
Now that the word was out, Barok brought up another pending topic." When are you planning to leave?"
"Three months from now... with Ryuunosuke. " Kazuma answered.
The air in the carriage froze a little. This was something they had known would happen three years earlier, only at the time they hadn't known the separation would be so heavy. One day, his young apprentice would leave after his studies and go to his hometown to add to the legal system there. The Asougi family's natural sense of responsibility and ambition made it impossible for them to stand by and watch the backwardness of their hometown. Ryuunosuke Naruhodo returned to Britain this time mainly to visit acquaintances, and would return to Japan again in three months, while Kazuma would leave with them.
"... What do you mean by that expression." Kazuma suddenly spoke out and turned his face to the side looking out the window. Van Zieks looked at him." This is your path... I will not stop you."
"I know!" Kazuma turned back and stared at him with a tight frown. "And you have nothing else to say besides that...?"
Balok sighed as he took Kazuma's hand and pressed it to his chest in the young man's surprised gaze." Say what? That my heart will leave with you?"
Kazuma's eyes widened. In their three years together, such blunt words were quite rare; they were more likely to express their unspeakable feelings for each other with their actions. The two looked at each other for a long time, and Kazuma lowered his gaze:"Same for me. "
"So... three years. After three years, I will definitely come back." The young man came over and climbed into Barok's arms, the most familiar lips at the moment having a deeper meaning of commitment." Three years later at Christmas... I will definitely stand by your side." Kazuma looked into Barok's eyes with that familiar confident smile on his face. Barok nodded solemnly:："I will wait."
"Until then ... don't we have three months left? What we should do is to seize these time."
5
The mistletoe represents the blessing of love... late at Christmas night, Barok van Zieks raised his glass and looked at the ornaments hanging on the door. It was a wreath that the van Zieks family had kept for many years, and it had never been hung up again in ten years since that case years ago. He had never believed in the tales of Christmas, but in that warm little kitchen, Barok looked up and accidentally hit the wreath on the door, and Kazuma held the bottom of the wreath to keep it from falling down. Even so, the wreath seems to be a little shaky." Growing too tall seems to have its drawbacks." Kazuma raised his eyebrow playfully at him, walked pass him carrying a small plate of mashed potatoes and went out. He walked into the living room, which was illuminated by Christmas lights, and found a comfortable spot on the sofa. Ryuunosuke and Susato jointly cracked a box of cookies, Iris sat by the Christmas tree and concentrated on arranging her dolls, Holmes' passionate speech melted into a cloud of sheepish background sounds. Barok took a sip of the eggnog in his hand, and accepted the blessing of the mistletoe with such peace of mind for the first time in years.