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The morning was cold, and the snow was piling outside, soft and a reminder of how it was finally Christmas.
Christmas, a time that Sakura loved and despise, a reminder of how lonely he was. He remembered all those times he spent hours seeing people smiling and laughing, families together buying a present last moment or decorating their house while he stood alone, wondering why he had never received a present, why he had never had a family.
You know what you did, Sakura reminded himself.
It was a cold morning and Sakura didn't want to leave his warm futon. Kiryu had given him a new blanket last month, and it was warm and soft. Sakura snuggled, hiding his face under the blanket, and sighed. It was Christmas, a time he looked forward to and dreaded. To him, the world outside felt a little louder and brighter, while his own felt quieter and colder.
A ding sounded in his room and Sakura stretched, reaching for his phone. Nirei had sent him a message.
Santa is in town, Sakura-kun!
It was short and concise. It also made Sakura get up immediately.
Santa was in town! Sakura felt excitement warming his body. He thought about all the Christmas trees surrounded by presents that he saw as a child. He had never received one. He had always thought it was because he was a bad child, and he didn't have a Christmas tree. But, this year, he had one, a small and poor decorated one, but a Christmas tree after all —Umemiya had given it to him after Sakura told him he had never decorated one— and his friends had told him that he was a good person, so Santa might give him a present. Umemiya had told him his tree was too small for all the presents Santa gives, and that Santa would visit Furin to give everyone their presents. It was still difficult for him to believe that, after so many years without receiving Santa's visit, something would change, but it was his friends who assured him he would receive one, and he trusted his friends, so he sent Nirei a thumbs up sticker —Kiryu taught him how saying it'd be easier for him to answer more quickly instead of typing— and got up.
He dressed quickly with a hoodie that he bought last week with Suo, gloves that Nirei gave him after he saw Sakura's fingers getting red from the cold, and a black and white scarf that Kotoha bought for him because it reminded her of his hair. Sakura felt warm and ready to get some breakfast.
On his way to Pothos, lots of town people wished him a Merry Christmas with strange expressions. Some of them with smirks and mischievous smiles and other warmly, patting his hair or hugging him tightly. Sakura wonder if they were also anxious and nervous because of Santa's visit.
"Merry Christmas, Sakura!" Kotoha said putting a Christmas hat on his head. "Breakfast is ready and Santa is waiting for you!"
Sakura blushed instantly and wasn't sure how to react.
"Uh!? I don't care about him," Sakura yelled, flustered. True is, he was excited, but he didn't want to have high expectations just to be disappointed at the end. "That old man never visits me anyway," Sakura mumble and stuffed his mouth with omurice.
Kotoha looked at him with the weird look of some town people, warm and sad at the same time. She ruffled his hair, sighing.
"Well, just so you know, he told me personally that he committed a mistake, and he's very sorry for it." Kotoha smiled like she usually does when she is teasing him. "I saw him on his way to Furin, and he was carrying a huge bag with presents for you."
"Really!?" Sakura couldn't help it and stood up with bright eyes and a hopeful face.
"Really," affirmed Kotoha nodding enthusiastically. "Now, eat your breakfast and go get those presents."
Sakura ate as fast as he always does and thanked Kotoha. It was something new, thanking people. At first, it felt awkward, but the more he did it, the easier it got.
He ran to Furin and climbed stairs two at a time. The door to the rooftop was closed, but not locked, and he opened it after taking a deep breath.
"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas, Sakura!"
Sakura heard first before looking. There he was. Tall, white hair and big belly. Santa was in front of him, holding a huge red bag. Sakura's mismatched eyes widened, and his face turned as red as the bag.
"What the…?" Sakura couldn't finish saying before the old man hugged him, so tightly Sakura thought he would choke.
"Sakura!" the man exclaimed, still hugging him. His voice was suspiciously deep, cheerful and familiar. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you!"
Sakura pushed the old man away from him and frowned. He took in all the details he could. Santa was dressed in an oversized strange red suit and, even though he had a belly, like the pictures Sakura had seen, it was strangely too round. His white beard looked unnatural, and it was a bit lopsided, but what gave him away was his eyes, kind shiny bluish eyes.
"Umemiya?" Sakura hissed. "What are you doing? Why are you wearing that?"
"Uh? I don't know who this 'Umemiya' guy is," Umemiya said, looking a bit nervous. He took some steps back and laughed, picking up the bag that he had left on the floor to hug Sakura and dropped it at Sakura's feet.
"I’m Santa. And I have a massive apology to make."
Sakura blinked, feeling lost. "An apology?"
"Yeah." Santa, Umemiya, or who ever that man was, reached out and patted Sakura’s head with a warm hand. "See, I checked the records. It turns out you’ve been a good kid your whole life. One of the best, actually. But I realized... I didn't have your address. You moved around a lot, and my map was out of date. I missed you for a long time, Sakura. But I have it now. And I’m making up for every single year I missed."
Umemiya Santa started to pull out things out of the bag, food items, clothes, pillows, blankets, plushies, even some electronics. Each one labeled with his name.
Sakura stared at the little pile of presents. His chest felt tight, a familiar ache rising in his throat. He looked at the lopsided white beard covering a bright wide smile, the red hat sitting crookedly on Umemiya’s silver hair, and the sheer effort the older boy was putting into the act.
He saw a leaf caught in the velvet of the suit —a leaf from the rooftop garden. He saw the way Umemiya’s boots were the same ones he wore every day. Sakura looked again at all the presents and realized then that it wasn't just Umemiya. To get all these presents... the whole town had to be in on it. All those strange smiles and reactions made sense now.
The realization hit him like a physical weight.
"You're not Santa," Sakura whispered, his voice cracking. "You don't need to lie anymore."
Umemiya paused, his hand on a final, small gift. He looked up, his expression softening, dropping the fake persona. "Sakura?"
Sakura bit his trembling lip, refusing to cry. It was his fault for believing he was good enough to receive Santa's visit.
"He will never visit me, will he? I will never be good enough," Sakura struggled to say. His throat felt raw and tight, his eyes ichy. Sakura remembered all the times he sat alone in dark rooms on December 25th, wondering how to be better, how to be good.
"No!" yelled Umemiya, "that's not it at all, Sakura". Umemiya looked a bit distraught and held him by his shoulders.
"Listen to me, Sakura, Santa is not real," Umemiya said with a serious voice. "Ask your classmates if you don't believe me." Sakura blinked stunned. He was still processing Umemiya's words when the rooftop door opened again.
"I told you Umemiya, it was better to tell him the truth!" Hiragi’s voice resounded while he walked in, followed by the first years.
"But we wanted him to live the experience at least one," Nirei said, his voice disheartened and looking concerned.
Sakura hastily wiped his eyes with his sleeve, turning his head away as more people arrived. They were all carrying even more bags, bottles of hot chocolate and tupperwares filled with food.
"Sakura!" Nirei scrambled over. He looked concerned and hugged him. "It was my idea. I'm sorry!" Nirei said with teary eyes.
"The class just wanted you to experience what they did in their childhood. Waking up to presents their parents bought, but believing they were from Santa who visited them because they were good." Sakura heard Suo saying. He was smiling as always, and Sakura didn't miss the use of 'they' instead of 'we'.
"Uh? You didn't believe in Santa when you were younger, Suo-chan?" Kiryu asked, getting closer.
"My family has never had that tradition," he said and then looked at Sakura, "Santa never visited you, not because you were a bad child, but because he is not real."
Sakura looked around and saw Umemiya and Hiragi together with some of his classmates looking at him intently, some others were helping to arrange the food and presents, pretending badly that they were not overhearing.
Sakura stayed still for some seconds before he shed some tears followed by a snort and a genuine breathless laugh.
"What's funny?" Umemiya asked, panicked, stepping forward to offer a hand.
"It's just..." Sakura wiped his eyes, his face a mess of tears and a wide, shaky grin. "Santa is not real."
Nirei and Suo looked at him worriedly and Umemiya blinked, looking a bit crestfallen. "Well, I mean…."
"No, listen," Sakura laughed, looking up at the snowy sky. "I always thought I didn't get visits because I was 'bad' or because I didn't matter. But now you're telling me he's just a story people tell to their children. I didn't have Santa because I didn't have anyone buying presents for me."
Everyone felt a surge of anger at the people who hurt Sakura in the past and didn't loved him as he deserved, but Sakura only smiled softly and looked around.
He looked at Umemiya, then at the pile of gifts, then out at the lights of Makochi glowing below them.
"I don't need that old man," Sakura said, his voice finally steady and full of a warmth he’d never known. "This is better. I have all of you. You’re the ones who make the 'illusion' work. I just finally have people who care enough to lie to me about a guy in a red suit."
Umemiya pulled the fake beard off completely, his own eyes a little misty. He let out a loud laugh and pulled Sakura into a one-armed side hug, dragging him toward the pile of presents.
"Exactly!" Umemiya beamed. "Now, open your presents! I think someone got you that manga you were staring at last week and Anzai recommended."
"It was me!" Nirei exclaimed, still with teary eyes but smiling widely. "And the whole shopping district got you something, everyone wanted to make sure you got a present!"
"I noticed," Sakura muttered, his face a bright, embarrassed red. He looked at the group, then back at Umemiya, who was now proudly wearing the fake white beard as a necklace. "You guys are idiots. This is way too much stuff."
"And there's still more," Hiragi grunted, setting a portable heater down and clicking it on. Its warmth began to fight back the winter chill. "Do you have any idea how many people tried to shove things into our hands when they heard we were doing this? I’m pretty sure the couple at the bakery shop gave us enough bread to feed an army."
Suo stepped forward, gracefully dropping a small, elegantly wrapped box onto Sakura’s lap. "This one is from us. Well, specifically from the first-years."
Sakura looked at the box, then at Nirei, who was vibrating with excitement, and Suo, who was watching him with that unreadable, kind smile. He opened it slowly. Inside was a high-quality keychain, a custom-made charm featuring the Bofurin crest on one side and a small black and white cat with mismatched eyes on the other.
"It’s so you don't lose your keys when you're jumping off buildings," Suo teased.
"Or so you remember you've got a place to come home to," Nirei added softly.
Sakura’s breath hitched. He looked at the charm, feeling the weight of it in his palm. It was real. It wasn't a fairy tale told to children. It was a physical piece of proof that he was welcomed here. He belonged to Makochi.
"Hey, Sugishita! Don't just stand there, come eat!" Umemiya called out, already digging into a container of fried chicken that had appeared from one of the bags.
Sugishita lurched forward, grumbling something about Umemiya-san's orders, and sat down near the edge of the pile. Hiragi sighed, handing Sakura a cup of steaming cocoa.
"Drink it. You look like you're freezing," Hiragi said, though his eyes were soft.
They sat in a circle amidst the piles of wrapping paper and scattered gifts. Sakura listened to Umemiya tell a ridiculous story about the children at the orphanage, watched Suo lightheartedly poke fun at Hiragi’s stress levels, saw Nirei meticulously cataloging every gift Sakura received so he could "properly write the thank-you notes later" and heard the laugh of everyone around him.
Sakura took a sip of the cocoa. It was sweet and it felt like it was thawing out parts of him that had been frozen for years.
He looked at the ridicilous Santa suit Umemiya was still wearing and felt another laugh bubble up. It was so absurd. The strongest fighters in the city were huddled on a roof, playing make-believe for a guy who used to think he was better off alone.
"You know," Sakura said, his voice small but clear over the wind. "I used to hate the snow. It just meant the shed would be extremly cold for some months."
The group went quiet, looking at him.
Sakura gripped his cup, a genuine, tired, but happy smile tugging at his lips. "But I think... I think I don't mind it so much now. As long as it's here."
Umemiya beamed, throwing an arm around Hiragi and Sugishita simultaneously, nearly knocking them over. "Then we'll do this every year! Next year, Hiragi can be the reindeer!"
"I will NOT be a reindeer!" Hiragi yelled, but the sound was drowned out by the collective laughter of the group.
The illusion of Santa was gone, replaced by something much more durable. Sakura Haruka didn't need a miracle from the North Pole. He had Makochi. And for the first time in his life, he was exactly where he was supposed to be.