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“Hasumi-dono, is everything alright?” When he didn’t get an immediate response, Souma consciously stepped into the RHYTH LIN office and approached his unit leader, who was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. “Hasumi-dono?”
Hasumi tiredly lifted his head, and he assuredly smiled. “Apologies, Kanzaki. There’s no need to worry. It’s just that we’ve recently received a request for a cross-promotion project between RHYTH LIN and NEW DI from Aoba.”
Kiryu followed Souma into the office. “Mm, I think Tsukinaga mentioned somethin’ like that to me durin’ our circle meetin’.”
“What is the request for?” Souma enquired.
Hasumi leaned over his desk to read the text on his laptop. “The gist of the email is that Aoba wishes for an AKATSUKI and Knights collaboration for this upcoming Christmas at a nearby shopping center. Our units are meant to put on a few Live performances at the venues before coming together for a joint performance… All of this is meant to take place on Christmas Eve.” He sighed, pushing up his glasses as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “AKATSUKI is not exactly a unit made for this type of work…”
“What about Ra*bits?” Souma proposed. “They have all sorts of experience in cuteness.”
Hasumi turned his chair to face his other unit members. “Shino already has enough work in Branco, and Mashiro is busy handling the unit Flambé, so I would rather not have them spread themselves thin. UNDEAD would hardly be a more viable option either… There isn’t much more to do than to accept the request; this will be an excellent opportunity regardless of our feelings about it. Prepare yourselves.”
Souma nodded dutifully. “Of course, Hasumi-dono! I swear on my life to give my all!”
Kiryu chuckled exasperatedly. “No need to go that far. We’re doin’ this fer the kids, so it’s best to try not to be too serious.”
“Of course, Kiryu-dono! I will try my hardest to relax!” Souma bowed courteously.
The martial artist facepalmed.
Hasumi flashed a smile of rare amusement. “He’ll be fine, Kiryu.”
As Souma blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes, a worried face immediately greeted him. “Is everything OKAY, Kanzaki-senpai? You were rolling around in your SLEEP a lot.”
Souma groaned groggily as he sat up in bed, his long hair splayed askew in his face as he rubbed his eyes with his fists. “Yes, I only had an odd dream.”
“Dream?”
The sleepy samurai slowly nodded. “I was prime minister of Japan… Narukami-dono, Himemiya, Tomoe-dono, Kagehira-dono, and Shiratori were all my delegates… I was in the middle of a diplomatic meeting and the other person said something that angered me, so I pulled out my katana on him in the middle of the meeting… in front of everyone on an international broadcast…”
“EH!?” Suou stared at Souma, mildly concerned. “What a strange dream…”
“I’ve heard stranger, de gozaru,” Sengoku interjected. “Midori-kun once told me about how he had a dream where he went to Veggieland with Fushimi-dono, de gozaru. Have you had any strange dreams?” While he talked, he zipped up his winter jacket.
Suou’s face scrunched up in thought. “Hmm…”
Souma pushed the covers off himself and smoothly slid his legs over the edge of his bed. “Sengoku, where are you headed?”
“Oh! RYUSEITAI has a Christmas Live with 2wink, de gozaru. We performed together back when Morisawa-dono and Shinkai-dono still attended Yumenosaki Academy, and it was a huge success, so they decided to do it again, de gozaru.” The young ninja giggled excitedly as he continued to get ready. “Are you two doing something for Christmas?”
Souma nodded. “AKATSUKI and Knights will be performing today at the shopping center.”
“I hope I can make it to your performance after RYUSEITAI and 2wink are done with practice, de gozaru!” Sengoku slipped his black sneakers on and glanced back at his unitmates. “I’ll see you two soon, de gozaru!” He soundlessly closed the door behind him.
Suou snapped out his thoughtful state. “Wait! I thought of a DREAM!” He groaned as he raced to get himself dressed for chasing after the ninja. “I will see you soon, Kanzaki-senpai!” The novice knight bowed politely before rushing out of the door in a contrastingly undignified manner.
Souma smiled fondly, finally hopping off his bed to also get ready for the day.
“I believe this is the venue where Knights should be?” Hasumi led his unit members around the venue for a few minutes before pointing out the chivalrous idols, who were waving over to them.
“Hasumi-senpai!” Suou bowed deeply. “It is an honor to be doing this collaboration with you.”
“Likewise, SuoUAHHHH!?” Hasumi narrowly avoided the orange mass that hurled itself at him. “Tsukinaga, you could stand to learn from your junior!”
Tsukinaga pouted. “Well, Suo~ is the leader now, so I don’t gotta be as responsible now!”
“You were never responsible,” reminded Sena, annoyed. “Please don’t embarrass Knights too much, okay?”
The composer hugged Sena’s arm like a koala, stubbornly hanging on no matter how much he was shaken. “Aww~ You care so much about our image! Smart thinking, Sena~!”
“You two are so cute,” Narukami cooed.
The younger Sakuma sighed tiredly. “Let’s cut to the chase. Knights will station at the east side of the center, and AKATSUKI can handle the west. At 5:30 PM, a bit after the sun’s set, we can meet up and perform together, and I’ll definitely be feeling up to it by then.”
Kiryu gave Sakuma a thumbs up. “Sounds like a plan.” He glanced at his unitmates. “I’m guessin’ you’ve got no objections either?”
Souma and Hasumi both nodded back at Kiryu.
“One more thing!” Narukami added. “We decided that AKATSUKI should take Izumi-chan off our hands, just for this event.”
“Haah? Since when did we decide this!?” Sena glared at the rest of Knights.
Tsukinaga gasped. “Sena is leaving us!?”
“Sorry, Secchan,” Sakuma apologized flippantly. “Guess we forgot to invite you to that meeting… And Tsukipi~ You were there when we decided it…”
Narukami apologetically clapped her hands together. “Sorry, Izumi-chan! Since AKATSUKI has three members and Knights has five, we thought it would be better if one of us balanced out the numbers.”
“There’s no need for that,” Hasumi assured. “We are used to working with only the three of us.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have much experience interacting with fans like this, right?” Sakuma lazily pointed out. “Besides… the chances of something bad happening decreases if Secchan isn’t around. Strangling Tsukipi~ or Suu-chan in front of a bunch of children wouldn’t exactly be good for the Christmas Spirit…”
Sena huffed, affronted. “Just who do you think I am!? I would never sully Knights’ reputation with such abhorrent behavior!”
“You’ve already done it once,” Suou sighed.
In the end, Kiryu had to princess carry Sena to the west side of the venue, laughing all the while as the silver-haired knight complained about how roughly he was being handled.
“Am I putting this on correctly…?” Souma straightened out the creases in his festive green garb. “What exactly am I meant to be again? An ‘erufu’?”
“Yes, Kanzaki,” Hasumi confirmed. “An elf, a perfect role for someone dutiful such as yourself. Elves are meant to be the workers that assist Santa Claus in his work.”
“As our leader, would you not be the perfect fit for that?”
Hasumi shook his head and pulled out a Mrs. Claus outfit for himself, grimacing. “I’m afraid the role of Santa Claus will go to him.” He pointed a thumb over to the other two members of the west sector, where Sena was struggling to fit the Santa costume around Kiryu’s broad and muscular frame.
The knight grunted in exertion, his reindeer ears swinging violently. “Am I the only one who sees that a one-hundred-and-eighty-one-centimeter man with a rock-solid six-pack hardly fits the image of Santa? I can’t see this going well with the kids…”
“I think the costume will help— Hold on.” Hasumi pulled his buzzing phone out of his pocket, groaning as he saw the caller ID. “What—” He paused for a few seconds as the other three idols watched in anticipation. “…So what, Eichi?” Hasumi hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket. “Apologies for the interruption.”
“Was that the tyrant?” Souma asked, hand tightening slightly around the handle of his katana as his eyes shone with violence.
The AKATSUKI leader sighed tiredly. “Let us just finish getting dressed.”
“Come to Santa ♪” Kiryu grinned sharply, welcoming the children with open arms.
“Wahhhhhh!” One of the kids cried, running away from the giant AKATSUKI member. “HEEEEEEELP!!! The scary man is going to eat me!”
Kiryu’s head fell, downtrodden, and Souma sympathetically patted his shoulder.
Sena caught the running kid in a warm embrace and gently patted his head. “There, there,” he reassured in an unusually soothing voice. “The big man isn’t going to hurt you.”
“R-Really?” With watery eyes, the small boy turned to Kiryu. “A-Are you gonna hurt me?”
Kiryu’s head lifted, and he smiled sadly. “’Course not. I just wanna give presents out and spread some holiday cheer.”
The boy looked back up to see Sena nod, and he ran back to Kiryu, pouting with an expression of resolute determination. “Can I sit on your lap, mister Santa?”
“Y-Yeah…” Kiryu watched in awe as the child climbed on his lap and giggled, calling for his mother to take a picture of him and Santa.
“Goodbye, Mister Santa!” The boy flailed energetically, and his mother kindly waved as well.
Souma handed off a present to an eager girl, watching as she ran excitedly to her parents. “Kiryu-dono, is everything alright?” He leaned over to see Kiryu’s expression and gasped as he saw tears forming in martial artist’s eyes.
“Jus’ some manly tears… I’m good…”
“Pull yourself together,” Sena chided. “The children won’t like it if they think Santa is sad.”
Kiryu wiped his eyes and chuckled. “Right, right. Don’t worry, I gotcha.”
“Of course I’m right.” Sena huffed hotly, a huge puff of breath dissipating into the winter air. “If you want, I can go run and buy tissues in the one of stores here.”
“Or I can do so,” Souma suggested. “It is my duty as an ‘erufu’ to assist, is it not?”
Kiryu fondly shook his head. “Ya say the funniest things sometimes, Kanzaki. Uhh… if it wouldn’t be too much trouble… I’d appreciate—”
Souma dashed off before his senior could even finish his sentence.
As Souma speed-walked through the shopping venue, he marveled at all the different decorations he hadn’t gotten a chance to admire when AKATSUKI and Knights were prepping their stations. Evergreen garlands and festive lights lined the exteriors of shops, with wreaths hung on support beams and small Christmas trees placed anywhere a shop owner could fit one. The air was filled with the hearty laughs of children and parents alike, and couples young and old huddled together for warmth, making the winter chill almost forgettable. Souma made it to the east side of the venue, where he could slowly make out the figures of Knights as he walked toward them.
“Kanzaki-senpai!” Suou called, the bell on his Santa Claus hat jingling as he jogged over to the samurai. “What are you doing here?”
“Suou,” Souma warmly greeted. “I am only on a quick run to get some ‘tisshu’ for Kiryu-dono. Is Knights’ side of things also going well?”
The redhead knight nodded back to his other unit members. “YES, this ROMANTIC atmosphere is suitable for a UNIT like Knights!” He proudly puffed out his chest. “This is also a PERFECT opportunity for the newer members to get some work done. And when my seniors aren’t acting deranged, they happen to be quite reliable.”
“GUYS!!!” Tsukinaga cried. “SUO~ CALLED ME DERANGED!?” He clung onto Narukami, nearly knocking the Mrs. Claus hat off her head and dropping his own elf hat onto the ground.
The blonde knight pulled her former leader off herself with impressive strength, holding him at arms-length as he flailed. “Tsukasa-chan, I think we mistook one of the kids for one of our unit members,” she giggled.
Tsukinaga pouted. “Everyone’s being so mean…”
The younger Sakuma finished sending off a child with a present before walking over and patting Tsukinaga’s head. “It’s okay, Tsukipi~” he cooed. “Not all of us can act our age~”
“AGH!? Why would you say that, Reindeer-san!? I’m just getting assaulted even more!? SUO~ AS OUR NEW LEADER, IF YOU DON’T ORDER THEM TO STOP, I’M CALLING MAMA SENA~!”
Suou groaned into his hand. “I spoke too soon about my seniors behaving…” He grimaced as the junior members of Knights slowly stepped away from the commotion their seniors were creating.
“I can take him,” Souma offered. “Perhaps he is too restless because he is forced to stay in one place despite all the festive cheer surrounding us.”
“…Are you sure? I would loathe to leave you with…” Knights’ leader side-eyed the manic composer, who was seconds away from screaming like a kid who just saw the Grinch.
“You may be a leader now, but you should still allow yourself to rely on your seniors once in a while. Otogari-dono and I talked with you about this before.”
“O-Okay…” Suou walked over to his fellow knights and negotiated with them while Souma watched from the distance. After a concerning amount of bickering and screaming, Narukami finally put Tsukinaga back down.
Tsukinaga haphazardly ran up to Souma with a wide grin, stopping momentarily to pick up his elf hat. “Let’s go~! Inspiration won’t wait for us ☆” He tugged insistently on the samurai, who begrudgingly allowed himself to get dragged by the hand.
Despite how energetic Tsukinaga was when dragging Souma away from the rest of Knights, he’d quieted down rather quickly – almost concerningly fast. The two never truly spent much time together, so it was difficult to know what to talk about as they walked.
“Is everything alright, Tsukinaga-dono? It is unusual to see you so quiet…”
“Mm?” Tsukinaga’s uncharacteristically contemplative expression broke into a wide grin. “Look at you, all grown up! Did Mama Keito or Papa Kuro teach you to be like that~?” He sniffled. “I remember when you were just a baby, and I could hold you in my arms…”
“Are you not only a year older than I?”
“Details, details!” Tsukinaga waved Souma off with a dismissive hand. “Anyway…” The composer’s cacophonous voice softened. “How are they?”
“Do you mean Hasumi-dono and Kiryu-dono? They are doing well. All unit activities are proceeding as per usual.”
“Have they ever talked to you about… The War?”
Souma stumbled a bit at the abrupt subject change. “…I-It is not something that they would rather speak of if it were not important to mention.”
Tsukinaga hummed noncommittedly, his expression not giving anything away. “Y’know~ I would’ve loved to see DEADMANZ perform at least one more time… Or maybe we could even perform as Knights Killers like we did at the Diner Live.”
Souma slowly nodded, unsure of how to respond.
“Sorry we were screwin’ everything up for your first year at Yumenosaki, but I’m glad that you guys turned out alright ♪” Tsukinaga grinned genuinely and wide. His eyes suddenly dilated like a cat as he looked past Souma, and he took off running to a store selling Christmas merchandise.
The agile samurai sighed and followed, struggling to keep up as Tsukinaga effortlessly weaved through the constant stream of shoppers.
“SENA~!” As AKATSUKI and Sena walked toward the rest of Knights at the center of the venue, Tsukinaga crossed the distance and leapt at his annoyed boyfriend.
“AH!?” Sena nearly toppled over from Tsukinaga’s weight, and he tried his hardest to push the eccentric maniac off of himself. “Get! Off!”
The rest of the afternoon had gone perfectly according to plan… mostly. After Tsukinaga had gone through at least half a dozen stores, Souma managed to catch up to the composer, and he dragged him and the sack of presents he’d somehow acquired back to the rest of the east sector idols. Realizing he’d forgotten the entire reason he’d come over, Souma marveled as Tsukinaga pulled a tissue box out of his Santa sack. By the time the samurai returned to his team, Kiryu practically tore the tissue box in half as he released all his grateful feelings into the poor tissues.
“Sena, why are you doing this to me!?” Tsukinaga sobbed. “You know what!? Stay with AKATSUKI; Knights doesn’t need you anyway!”
Kiryu chuckled. “Thanks for the offer, but livin’ with this dude is already enough for me.”
Sena’s right eye twitched. “Haah? All of you are soooo annoying~”
The rest of Knights walked up to the rambunctious duo.
“Leo-kun~” Narukami chirped. “We’re going to be starting our Live soon. We have to get ready!”
“Nacchan is right, Tsukipi. We can have all the fun we want after the show is over. Seriously, you never grow up…” Sakuma’s blood-red eyes softened. “But I suppose there’s something comforting in that too.”
Though AKATSUKI was already dressed for the festive cheer, the trio put golden lights on their hats and headbands and crimson moon earrings to complement their Christmas outfits’ colors. Meanwhile, Knights had accessorized themselves with navy blue star earrings and adorned their outfits with golden ribbons.
“Up on the STAGE, everyone!” Suou commanded, trembling as if he was suppressing his excitement. He confidently smiled at the junior Knights. “All of you, watch and LEARN.”
Suou tapped the microphone once and walked to the front of the stage. “LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WELCOME to the CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND LIVE!”
The crowd of people around the stage cheered, drawing more onlookers to stop by and watch.
Sakuma snatched the mic from his leader, keeping the shorter boy away with a hand to his forehead. “Suu-chan, you’re gonna confuse everyone with all your English.” He cleared his throat. “As our leader was saying, this is the Christmas Wonderland Live, a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between AKATSUKI and Knights!” When Suou’s hand almost reached the mic, Sakuma tossed it to Narukami, who effortlessly caught it.
“But hopefully it won’t be once in a lifetime, since us Knights would love to work with AKATSUKI again!” Narukami subtly winked at the AKATSUKI members. “Of course, we’ll live every moment like our last, so we won’t be left with any regrets ♪”
Tsukinaga scooped up the mic from Narukami’s hands with a mischievous grin. “Enough talking! It’s time to make this Live worthwhile for our fans! Back to you, Leader~☆” He threw the mic into the air.
Suou leapt up to catch the mic, but his fingers only grazed it as it fell toward the ground. “AH!?”
With lightning-fast reflexes, Souma secured the mic in his palm a few centimeters before it hit the stage. “That was close.”
The redhead knight sighed in relief. “Thank you, Kanzaki-senpai. The booming sound of the MIC drop would be absolutely disastrous.” He took the mic handed to him and chuckled sheepishly. “Apologies, everyone. Please enjoy this AKATSUKI×Knights special: ‘Kimi no Present’ ♪”
As per request, the venue staff dimmed the overhead lights around the stage area. All the idols on stage quickly readied themselves in their starting positions as mellow and comforting chimes filled the venue with a festive warmth. Suou stood in the center, and the spotlight shone on him. He breathed out slowly and started with a gentle voice to match the soothing music.
“Yuki ga hodou ni shizuka ni furitsumoru”
Souma appeared from behind him, and the spotlight split into two as they stood side by side.
“Fuurin ga futari no mimimoto de yakusoku o sasayaku”
Hasumi and Tsukinaga then came from behind the two them, the former with a kind smile and the latter with a wild grin. The two spotlights moved to the new pair.
“Hiroba de aimashou”
“Watashi no ude no naka no purezento”
The spotlights faded as the stage lights illuminated the entire platform, showcasing all eight idols. The more peaceful music steadily sped up with anticipation as Narukami and Sena stepped forward.
“Anata ni watasu toki, watashitachi no”
“Te wa yasashiku fureau”
Everyone held hands in pairs as they continued to sing, fingers intertwined as they moved independent circles.
“Kansha to yakusoku no kimochi o”
“Kiniitte itadakereba saiwaidesu”
“Watashi no shin'ainaru yuujin”
“Kiniitte itadakereba saiwaidesu”
Everyone’s hands let go and they smoothly spun in opposite directions without bumping into one another, and they started the chorus choreography. Knights pulled out the bells they’d hidden in their costumes, and AKATSUKI opened fans with glittery snowflake designs.
“(Ring Ring Ring!)”
“Nakami wa nani?”
“(Ding Ding Ding!)”
“Odoroita!”
“Anata wa sore ga sukidesu ka?”
“Kiniitte itadakemashita ka?”
“Anata dake no tame ni te ni iremashita!”
“Shin'ainaru yuujin, Merry Christmas!”
In the midst of the crowd’s cheering, Sengoku waved at Suou and Kanzaki from on top of Morisawa’s shoulders, then waving even faster as they subtly waved back at him.
Suou stretched and yawned as he readied himself for bed. “What a productive DAY! The LIVE turned out to be more of a success than I thought.” A proud blush dusted his cheeks as he haughtily grinned. “Although I suppose it is a natural success for one of the Big Three of ES.”
“Suou.” Souma shakily interrupted Suou’s reflection on the day.
“Hm?” His head cocked to the side.
“…Here.” Souma bashfully held out a small box to the redhead.
“…What is that?”
“Y-Your present.”
With wide eyes, Suou carefully took the box and put it up to his ear, gently rattling it. He hummed thoughtfully, turning the present around in all directions, eyes wide and curious, not unlike a child. “I predict there is a statue of some sort in here. Let us see if I’m correct…” The knight began meticulously undoing the wrapping paper, careful not to tear it by accident.
“There is no need to be so careful, Suou…”
Suou shushed the samurai with a determined glare.
After two agonizingly long minutes, Suou huffed proudly and showcased the blank white cardboard box, its wrapping neatly undone. “Now… it’s…!” As Suou guessed, resting in the box was a small silver statue of a knight with ruby-red hair and a golden sword. “H-How did…”
“I… am still unfamiliar with navigating the ‘maadurn’ world, but I asked Hasumi-dono for assistance with getting someone to make this for you.”
“Ah, so a commission.” Suou held the sculpture up to his face, almost poking his wide eyes with the sword as he slowly rotated it 360-degrees. “I… I’m beginning to have doubts about the quality of my own gift…”
“You have a gift too?”
The knight slowly nodded, still admiring his gift. “I planned to give it to you on Christmas Day, but I suppose that it already is midnight.” He made his way over to the cabinets and retrieved a small flat parcel. “Please, take it.”
Souma gently grabbed his present and unwrapped it in a similar way to Suou out of respect for his meticulousness, his heart thrumming with anticipation. “Ah…!”
Suou’s gift was a watercolor painting small enough to comfortably fit on top of Souma’s bedside dresser next to his traditional lamp. It depicted a wisteria tree, flourishing under the summer rays and surrounded by a quaint pond where birds were drinking water and rabbits were sleeping. The tree was reminiscent of the wisteria festival with MaM and Team Ushiwakamaru, or even the film set for Natsudori no Uta.
The knight anxiously observed the samurai’s expression. “D-Do you like it…? Since I won our competition and earned the right to decide where our dorm painting went, I thought it would be only fair to gift you a painting of your own. I must admit I also had Ritsu-senpai help me with it since he’s a member of CRAFTMONSTER.” He chuckled nervously. “I suppose it is a bit strange to give you a summer painting in the midst of winter, but—”
“Suou.”
Said boy stood up straight. “Y-Yes!?”
Souma softly smiled. “Thank you.” He delicately placed the painting on his dresser and took a seat on their dorm’s bench.
Suou quirked an eyebrow. “Are you not going to bed?”
Souma shook his head. “As we already gave each other our presents, I thought it would be more appropriate to wait for Sengoku to come back to give him my present as well.”
The young knight plopped himself on the bench as well and crossed his arms. “Well, then I shall wait here for Shinobu-kun as well!” He yawned again. “Shinobu-kun did say he left something behind in one of the training rooms, so hopefully he’ll return shortly… Not that I would have trouble staying up!”
Across the span of the next ten minutes, Souma watched Suou’s eyes slowly droop before his head finally rested against the AKATSUKI member’s shoulder, his face somehow even more childlike in its peaceful innocence.
The dorm door slowly creaked open. “I’m ho— Oh!” Sengoku quietly closed the door behind him and stealthily tip-toed toward his roommates. “Why were you two awake?” he whispered.
Souma shook his head, knowing that Suou would loathe to miss the gift exchange, especially if he was not able to engage in it himself. He lifted Suou up — careful to stop moving whenever the young leader’s face shifted in discomfort — and lowered him onto his bed even more carefully. Souma adjusted the pillow as Sengoku pulled the covers over Suou.
Souma whispered, “Merry Christmas, my dear friend.”