A Very Kappa Christmas

LAS VEGAS

It's Christmas time! Well, a week before Christmas. The Kawashiro Technologies building is all decked out in festive colors, and kappa continue to swarm the place, preparing for the grand-scale move to begin. With several of the basic regulations for Kuwahawi out of the way, boxes are being packed and positions reassigned.

And none of that involves Nitori Kawashiro or Mizuki Watanabe! The two top executives of the company are currently holed up in their apartment, playing Monopoly alongside Chiharu and Mitsuo Senritsu. With nowhere else to go for the festive season, Kasumi Arata also joined them, leaving the number of players at five. Currently? Nitori's winning.


"Hahaha! Another hotel! Get ready to pay up!"

Kasumi slumps, glaring at the board and her lack of money and mortgaged properties. "Why do you always win?"

"Awww, don't worry!" Chiharu smiles, patting Kasumi on the shoulder. "I'm sure if we played something that wasn't aggressive capitalism, you'd do better!"

As Mitsuo rolls and lands on Pennsylvania Avenue, he groans, looking at the several houses already there. He counts up the rent and hands it over to Mizuki with a sigh. "It always comes down to you two."

Mitsuo's sentence is punctuated by a ring of the doorbell. Then there's several more rings, in rapid succession. Nitori stands up, heading over to the door while looking at the game over her shoulder. Before she's even made it halfway to the door, there's a loud BAM as a familiar foot kicks it open.

"Hold on to your clavicles, kappas, 'cause HEEEEEEERE'S PANDA!!"

Meiling storms the apartment, pausing only long enough to give Nitori a rib-crunching hug before steamrolling right past her in her excitement to see the frands. Komachi follows after with an exasperated sigh... until she spots Nitori, and then her eyes light up.

"Komachi!" "Hello." "HI MEILING!" "Hi, you two!" "Hmph."

Those five reactions from the five kappa elicited, Chiharu happily jumps up from the game to hug Meiling tightly, while Nitori sweeps up Komachi in her own hug, smiling brightly as she sees the shinigami for the first time since the beginning of November. Mitsuo stands up and smiles, shaking hands with both of them when he gets a chance, while Mizuki and Kasumi remain seated. As Nitori finally lets go, she looks at Komachi, getting a good view of her face.

"How was Higan? Not too lonely, I hope?"

"Ugh, NO, it was the worst. I missed you so much," whines Komachi.

Meiling is scooping up each kappa in turn to give them all a big ol' bear hug. Mitsuo also gets his face pinched like he's a five-year-old.

"Meiling, please-" Mitsuo's reaction is mixed with Chiharu looking at his expression in a mixture of confusion and repressed laughter. Mizuki stands up as well, deciding to take this chance to shake Meiling's hand (after she lets go of Mitsuo). Kasumi simply continues to sit there, occasionally taking glances at the game board.

Nitori? She's busy with her shinigami. "So, how long are you here? Did you get me anything~?"

"I'm here until January 8th! Three weeks! And of COURSE I got you something, silly, but you don't get to see it until Christmas!"

"Aww, that's all? You should stay here longer!"

"I want to, but I can't." Komachi slumps like a melting marshmallow. "Eiki told me three weeks, then she wants me back to work. I can take another few weeks off in February or March maybe...as long as I don't slack off when I go back..."

"Well, then you'd better stay on task!" Nitori takes the chance to boop Komachi's nose. "If you just slack off and miss seeing me again, I'll be so disappointed in you."

"I will! I promise! It's just... uuugh, there's so much work!" grumps Komachi. "Enough talking about it, c'mon." She drags Nitori back over to the rest of the kappa. "Hi everyone! What are you playing?"

"The most boring board game in existence!" complains Meiling. Pause. "Heh... bored game."

"Monopoly! Nitori's winning." Chiharu's smiles, but Kasumi cuts her off, grumpily complaining. "She always wins. And I always lose first. Every time."

"Isn't that to be expected, since, you know... bad luck curse?" asks Komachi.

"Yeah, an unearned one." Kasumi shoots back.

Komachi scowls. She glances briefly at Nitori and her expression softens a little, but she still glares at Kasumi. "I've heard the story, Kasumi. You can't honestly expect me to believe it's unearned?"

"It... wasn't totally unjustified... but it was still an overreaction. She didn't need to go THAT far. Giving me an eternal curse is simply unfair, no matter what she tries to say."

"It's not eternal." contributes Mizuki. "I told you exactly what she told me."

"And you expect me to believe she'll actually do that for me?"

Meiling rolls her eyes. "Well, she DID take that curse she put on you off of somebody else."

"Tenshi," Komachi confirms. "And it wasn't an overreaction. I asked the bartender about it. And Edea, the cook. Their account of events was very enlightening."

"Tch. Judgements based on one conversation."

Mitsuo raises one hand lamely. "Can we... can we get back to the game now?"

"But the game is boring!"

Komachi bonks Meiling with a pillow. "Yes, okay, sorry." In a quieter voice she adds, "But she's not getting rid of that curse until she understands what she did to deserve it."

"No it's not!"

"Nitori, you only say that because you're winning."

As the game resumes, it becomes clear that Nitori isn't the focused powerhouse of a Monopoly player she was before, with the prescence of Komachi constantly distracting her. Nitori keeps passing on the aggressive moves she'd otherwise make to crush her competition, and the kappa get to see Mizuki starting to pull ahead.

That doesn't stop Kasumi from crashing out first, retreating to a different chair to bury herself in a law book after going bankrupt. Komachi is content just to watch, curled up at Nitori's side with her head laying on the kappa's shoulder. Several times it seems like she's on the verge of falling asleep. She doesn't understand the rules of Monopoly, so it's not very interesting for her. Still, she manages to stay awake.

Meiling, on the other hand, is bored out of her mind. With Kasumi refusing to give her the time of day, she instead wanders off to snoop around Nitori and Mizuki's apartment. She's half-foiled when she finds that Mizuki's bedroom is locked shut. Nitori's isn't, however!

Back at the game, Mizuki continues her domination, successfully bankrupting Mitsuo. Her brother simply moves over to sit closer to Chiharu, while the three remaining kappa continue playing with varying levels of concentration.

"Hey, Komachi! I just thought of something great! What if you joined me and the others for Christmas Eve and Day, too?" Nitori speaks up, most of her mind away from the game.

"Yay!" Komachi throws her arms around Nitori's neck in a big hug. "I was really hoping I could! Oh, I'm going to buy SO MANY presents for EVERYONE!"

Meiling browses the undergarments in Nitori's dresser. Meiling pls.

"Just be careful not to put too many under the tree. We'll need space for the others, after all. Although if you need help sending gifts to people outside of the city, I'd be glad to-"

"Nitori."

Mizuki points and directs Nitori's attention to the board, and the hotel she landed on.

"You're out of cash and properties. Bankrupt."

"Oh well! So, Komachi..."

"Wow..." Chiharu stares openmouthed as Nitori basically ignores that she just lost. "She's never taken it this easily before!"

"It's just a silly game! And she's always the winner as far as I'm concerned," Komachi coos.

While Nitori smiles delightedly and hugs Komachi, Chiharu looks with a bit of concern at her sister in law. Mizuki may not show it, but Chiharu can tell that she's taking this very seriously... and now it's down to just the two of them. Chiharu gulps and continues with the game.

Komachi remains oblivious to the game's tension. But just as things begin to go rather poorly for Chiharu, she is saved by a timely intervention in the form of... a panda attack!! The red panda scrambles its way up Mizuki's back and flops onto her head, playfully booping her nose. Mizuki gently reaches up to the red panda and pokes it.

"Meiling, can you please save this for after our game is done?"

Meiling chews on Mizuki's poking finger. It doesn't hurt. She rolls forward and falls into Mizuki's lap. Quick, Chiharu! Capitalize on the distraction!

"Wait." Mitsuo stares at the panda for a bit. "Is... that Meiling? Does she normally do that?"

Meiling waves a paw at Mitsuo and makes her cutest face. "Yes, she's a shapeshifter," Mizuki replies. "Comes with being a dragon."

"...Huh."

Unfortunately, that distraction doesn't serve to help Chiharu much, as Mizuki simply finishes the game and drives her out. Smirking a bit as she begins to put away the board, Mizuki pokes at Meiling. "Now that the game's done, do you have any suggestions for something to do other than sit on my lap?"

Meiling turns back to human, still lounging with her head in Mizuki's lap. "PIZZA!"

"Pizza?"

"I haven't had anything to eat all day! I'm hungry! Let's order pizza for everyone~"

"I'll be happy to order pizza, but..." Mizuki gestures at Meiling's head in her lap. "I'll need to be capable of movement."

"Aw, but you kappa are so comfortable." Feigning grumpiness, Meiling crawls off of Mizuki. She turns back into a red panda and goes to bother Kasumi instead. While Kasumi is taken by surprise, Mizuki gets up and places an order for multiple pizzas to split between the seven of them.

As they wait, the kappa and their two visitors sit and catch up on what has happened in the past two months. Komachi sits in Nitori's lap, to the surprise of no one, which prompts Chiharu to decide to sit in Mitsuo's lap. Meiling tries but fails to convince either Mizuki or Kasumi to sit on her lap.

The pizzas don't take long, and once they arrive everyone is too busy stuffing themselves to chat. Kasumi drops an entire slice on herself, resulting in tomato stains and sausage all over her shirt. Meiling and Chiharu attempt to cheer her up with silliness. Meiling proves very talented at catching thrown pizza with her mouth (or at least, with her face). Kasumi does a remarkably good job of remaining sullen and grumpy, but Meiling does catch a tiny smile from her and spends the rest of the evening crowing about it.

The evening eventually winds down, and the kappa begin to prepare for going their separate ways. They've already agreed to Komachi staying in the apartment with Nitori and Mizuki, leaving only four people to depart. As Chiharu gets ready to leave, something comes to mind, and she goes over to Meiling. "Where are you staying, anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh, I figured I'd just...get a hotel room or something? Maybe at the King of Beasts!"

"Nope!" Chiharu smiles. "You're invited to the Senritsu apartment instead! I asked Mitsuo while you were rummaging around, and he said he'd be happy to host a good friend like you if you needed it."

"Oh, man! Really!? That would be awesome! BEST FRIEND SLEEPOVER!" Meiling bounces up and down excitedly. "I wouldn't be imposing on you for long, I've gotta be back home in like five days anyway, so--yay!! I'd love to stay with you guys!"

"Ah." Kasumi interrupts, Meiling loud enough to be heard by everyone. "Are you not going to be here for Christmas, then?

"I wish I could be, but no. I can't. I've gotta be at home with the fam, or Flandre will cry. She actually threatened me with it. She said if I wasn't home before Christmas Eve then she would cry big, blubbery tears of ultimate sadness and I would die from the crushing weight of the guilt. VERY serious business."

"Sakuya would probably be sad too," Komachi remarks with a smile. "And pretend she wasn't. But give you smaller portions at dinner for the next two weeks as silent punishment."

"Accurate," agrees Meiling.

"I... see. And what do you plan to use those five days for?" asks Kasumi.

Meiling grins a sly grin that undoubtedly has Kasumi cringing. "Worried I'll forget about lil' old you? Well, fret not, my fair maiden!" Meiling poses dramatically. "I shan't go back on my promise! One of those five days will be alllllll yours." She winks.

"Do you have to be so... dramatic?" Kasumi winces as she tries to ignore the expressions that the other kappa (who are not Mizuki) are currently making. She's not sure if Nitori's repressed laughter, Chiharu's wide-eyed grin, or Mitsuo's tiny smirk is the one she most wants to escape from.

"I won't change for you, my dear! You must love me as I am if you wish to love me at all! I need a woman who can accept the true me!" She swoons. Kasumi groans.

"I'll see you tomorrow." With that, the lawyer pushes open the apartment door and escapes into the hallway before she can get any more embarrassed. The other kappa watch her go.

"Isn't she just dreamy?" Meiling says with a sigh. Mitsuo coughs, while Chiharu simply claps her hands together. "Shall we go, then?" she asks.

"Yes! Let's!" With that, the two groups part ways for the night.

------------------------------------------

The evening of the 22nd, three days until Christmas. It was also the last evening for Hong Meiling in Las Vegas, and Komachi and the kappa were making the most of it! Or at least three of them were, Kasumi and Mitsuo both too busy with their jobs to see Meiling off. As Chiharu asks a few more excited questions about the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Nitori lies back and puts her head in Komachi's lap.

"So, Komachi... do you have any plans for Christmas? Besides staying with me all day, obviously?"

"Of course! I've got presents for everyone! I can't wait to give them out! I've never been able to celebrate Christmas like this before, it's so exciting!"

"They'd better all fit under the tree!" Nitori exclaims.

Mizuki looks up from the magazine she's reading. "If you need help with delivering anything, the kappa can assist."

"Oh, could you!? I've got a gift for Maria, and she did leave a forwarding address, but... I'm just worried it will get lost in the mail! She's in Greece, that's a long way to ship something. Do you think the kappa could ensure it makes it to her? Maybe even in time for Christmas!?"

Mizuki sits up, a slight smile on her face. "Halfway across the world? Whatever you got will be there by the time it's December 25th in Greece, I promise."

"What'd you get her?" Nitori asks. "Or is that not something I can ask?"

"Oh, well... it's a book! It tells you all the best places to visit virtually anywhere in the world... like a tourist guide, but for the entire planet! And... well, just because it was pretty, there's a Christmas ornament. It's clear crystal with the continents painted on it in gold... like a globe."

"I talked to her a couple times. She'll definitely like it. Trust me, it'll get to her." Mizuki gives Komachi a thumbs up, while Nitori claps her hands together as she remembers something. "Oh, I forgot to tell you: I got the donation to REFRESH cleared today! So now they've got a whole bunch of money thanks to Kawashiro... or should I say Onozuka, hmm?"

"You're the best! The best girlfriend anyone could ever ask for!" Komachi squeals, pulling Nitori into a big, long kiss.

"Ooh la la, get a room you two!" teases Meiling.

Nitori would probably complain to Meiling if she wasn't very busy and distracted right now.

Chiharu just giggles. "Aww, let them have their moment. I used to be like that!"

Meiling pouts. "I wish Kasumi was more like that..."

"You're lucky you get anything at all from her." Mizuki points out.

"What? What makes you say that!?"

"The fact that Kasumi's a cold person. It's rare that anyone gets anything affectionate out of her, and it takes some impressive work."

"Hmph. She's not cold! She's just shy. She doesn't open up to people because she just doesn't understand how! And I'm teaching her! ...but I confess it would be nice if the lessons were a little more... hands-on."

"Speaking of Kasumi..." Chiharu begins to smile, leaning in closely to Meiling. "Are you getting her anything this year?"

"Of course! But I already gave it to her. On our date!"

"Ooooh, it must be super special then! I'll have to get her to show me later!"

"I got gifts for the rest of you guys, too! 'Machi's got 'em. So she can hand them out Christmas morning! I won't be there to see you open them, but that's all right."

"Thank you, Meiling!" Chiharu grabs Meiling in a hug. "Mitsuo and I got you something as well, so we'll give it to you before you go. You can open it whenever you want!"

"Awww, thanks! You guys are the best!" Meiling hugs back. "Hey, is the gift safe for the tender eyes of children? That should probably be a consideration in when I open it..."

"Well, we did consider something like that... but don't worry, you can open this in front of Flandre just fine!" Chiharu reaches for a bowl next to her, but finds that it's empty. "Hmm, we're out of snacks..."

"I'll go get some more!" Meiling springs to her feet. As she heads for the kitchen, though, she suddenly pauses, then stops in her tracks entirely. She frowns. "...weird. Did you see something move under the couch, too?"

Chiharu and Mizuki both shake their heads, while Nitori sits up. "I've been, uh... occupied. So I didn't see anything. What about you, Komachi?"

Komachi, blushing, shakes her head as well. "Um, no, I--wait! Yes! Just now!"

"I saw it too! Hang on... let me look..." Meiling crosses the room and peers under the couch, currently empty of butts. After a long pause, she glances back up at Komachi... and grins sheepishly. "Hey, uh... you might have to give Nitori her Christmas present early, 'cause it appears it has escaped."

Nitori looks from Meiling back to Komachi. "My... what now?"

"Oh noooo! Whyyyy? How!?" moans Komachi. "Let me see!" She leaps up out of her seat snuggled up with Nitori. She elbows her way up next to Meiling peering under the couch. "Ohhhh... pesky thing! How will I reach him so far under there!?"

"I'll lift up the couch for a moment, okay?"

"Yes... thank you."

Komachi remains bent over, while Meiling gets to her feet, grips the bottom of the couch, and heaves. The couch tilts backwards, revealing the space underneath. Among the assorted detritus of a typical dustbunny habitat is one rather out-of-place creature... a turtle. It's also quite... glowy.

The turtle is meandering in very, very, very slow, aimless circles. Komachi picks it up.

"Hey, little buddy, what's up? Where do you think you're going? Huh?" Komachi straightens, and Meiling puts the couch back down. "Couldn't you just be patient instead of making trouble? You ruined the surprise!" The turtle's limbs and head retreat back into its shell at Komachi's accusatory tone.

"Awww... he was just excited to meet the kappa!" Meiling coos at it.

"My present is... a turtle?" Nitori looks at it with a bit of confusion. "I hope it's not radioactive, I'm not Utsuho. "

"Hmm." Mizuki moves in close to see the turtle in more detail. "Interesting... it's definitely not normal."

"He's a Sanzu turtle! Lots of little animals live in the Sanzu... Um, d-do... do you not like him...?" Komachi asks nervously.

The turtle's head pokes back out. He eyes Mizuki timidly. Slowly, his limbs emerge too, as if he's trying to allow her to get a good look at him.

The turtle's shell is like carved moonstone, beautiful white with a faint blue-green luster under the light. The turtle's skin is pale bluish, about halfway translucent, and underneath the bones that comprise its skeleton can be seen, the same moonstone-white as its shell. Its whole body seems to glow softly; enough to make it vaguely visible in total darkness, but not enough to illuminate anything.

"...He's beautiful." Mizuki continues to stare at the glowing turtle, awe in her expression. Nitori and Chiharu force their way close to see as well, Nitori smiling. "I like him! Although... is it bad to take him out of the Sanzu? He doesn't look normal."

"I used to keep this little fella in my house! He'll be just fine. He needs some water in his tank to swim in, and it does need to be from the Sanzu... but it's okay, I can bring you some when I visit. It's okay to dilute it with normal water. As long as some of it's from the Sanzu."

"Well, in that case..." Nitori looks at the tiny turtle again. "Welcome to your new home, little guy! For about a month."

Komachi lets Nitori hold the turtle. He sits in her hand calmly and stares back at Nitori. His gaze is oddly soulful... for a turtle.

"Wait, so, you kept him in your house, 'Machi?" asks Meiling. "Like, as your pet?"

"Yes! Sometimes it gets pretty lonely out on the river, but some of the animals are friendly. This fella is my buddy! He loves to keep me company. He'd come up to my boat to say hello all the time, and eventually I decided to take him home with me. He seemed to like it there. But, when I decided to come to Vegas this spring... I knew I'd be gone a while, and I didn't think, at the time, that it was a good idea to bring him along. It would be cruel to just leave him in an empty house for six months... so, I put him back in the Sanzu. I thought he'd be happiest there, where he belonged."

"But... when I returned in November... he was waiting for me!"

"Waiting for you?" Meiling chuckles.

"He swam up to my boat and gave me this face, like, 'where have you been, lady?' ...so I brought him home again. But I figured, since I'd be leaving home as much as I could to visit you... maybe he should live in your home, instead."

"Awwww... thanks, Komachi!" Nitori geniunely smiles, much more appreciative now that everything's been explained. "I'll make sure to take good care of him!"

"I'll tell you everything you need to know! He's pretty low maintenance, thankfully. Come on, we should probably take him back to his tank." Komachi clucks scoldingly at the escapee turtle. "And try to figure out how he got out in the first place..."

"Hmmm..." Chiharu watches Komachi and Nitori carry the turtle off, thinking to herself. "Do you think Mizuki would do well with a pet of her own?"

"Maybe. But like... she already has Nitori. Dealing with Nitori is a lot like having a pet, probably?" Meiling replies.

"Nitori? A pet? ...Yeah, I can see the similarities." Mizuki turns to the next page in her magazine. "I don't have an interest in one, though."

"What if we got KASUMI a pet!" Meiling squeals. "We could get her, like... like... a cat!"

"That would either work out well or end in complete disaster. I really don't know, and I'm not sure I want to make a gamble that big."

"I wouldn't mind being Kasumi's pet," Meiling adds under her breath.

Chiharu looks very interested at this particular line, while Mizuki simply continues to read her magazine without a reaction. "So. What was it like out on the town with her?"

"Oh, we didn't go out! We stayed in at her place. I made dinner! She enjoyed it. Said she'd never had real Chinese food before, just American knockoffs."

"Well, good work on expanding her worldview."

"Okay, people~" Komachi is back, Nitori trailing after. "It's getting late. I'm going to hit the hay, 'cause I've got a busy day planned tomorrow!"

"Oh? What plans?" asks Meiling.

"I'm going to visit the Nostalgia Elementals! I've got gifts for all of them!"

"Ooh, awesome! Give them hugs from me! Chiharu, should we head home now?"

Nitori's gone off with Komachi, so Chiharu smiles at Meiling. "Sure, it seems like a good idea! Bye, Mizuki! Bye, Komachi! Bye, Nitori!" Mizuki puts down her magazine long enough to wave to the four of them.

"Bye, everyone! Stay lovely, ladies~"

Meiling turns to Chiharu with a grin.

"So... wanna walk home, or do you wanna FLY home?"

"Oooooh! Fly! Fly! FLYFLYFLY! I never learned how to fly and I've always wanted to feel what it's like!"

And that's how an excited Chiharu got to experience what it was like to ride on the back of a rainbow dragon.
-------------------------------------------------------

Christmas morning! And right now, the apartment is quiet, Nitori and Komachi watching a Christmas special on TV as they wait for the other guests to arrive. The sounds and smells of cooking come from the kitchen, Mizuki working on a large Christmas meal. After all, there's going to be six mouths to feed, so she can't skimp on it. A whole pile of presents sit under the tree, addressed to the various people who'll be opening them today.

It's this cozy scene that's broken by the door swinging open, the entrant knocking on the door as she enters. Chiharu waves happily, as she and Mitsuo enter the apartment.

"Merry Christmas, Nitori! Komachi! Where's Mizuki?"

"She's in the kitchen right now. She asked to not be bothered until it was time to open presents."

"Don't worry, I won't bug her! Not until I need to give her gifts!"

Komachi claps her hands excitedly. "Merry Christmas! I hope you two are starving, because last time I went in the kitchen, it looked like Mizuki was cooking enough breakfast to feed three Sarahs! Where's the Grinch? Did you make sure she's up?"

"Uhhhh..." Chiharu takes a minute to process the question, but Mitsuo's able to step in. "Kasumi's awake, but getting ready. We stopped at her apartment before coming here, just in case, and she said she'd be here as soon as she showered."

"Good! I wouldn't want to start the festivities without her! Oh, hey, Nitori... while we wait, you should show Mitsuo your Christmas present! He hasn't gotten to see it yet."

"Sure!" Nitori pulls Mitsuo over, getting him to look at the terranium containing the Sanzu turtle. "Isn't he cool? I named him Genbu, even though he's the wrong color."

While Mitsuo admires the turtle, there's a knock on the door. Chiharu opens it to see Kasumi, who steps in and looks around the apartment. What catches everyone's eye is the new necklace sitting around Kasumi's neck, a three-string necklace made of light green jade beads and pearls. Chiharu's eyes light up as she realizes just where Kasumi must have gotten it.

"Hi, Kasumi! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas. Is anyone else coming?"

"Nope! You're the last one to arrive!" Komachi skips over to the kitchen to call in, "Hey, Mizuki, everyone's here! How's breakfast coming along?"

Komachi can see that there's several large plates of food already ready, with Mizuki watching a pot of bubbling soup and opening the oven to check something inside. She stands up and looks at Komachi. "I'd say it's almost ready. Give me about five minutes."

"T minus five minutes to grub!" Komachi calls cheerfully, returning to the living room. "I like your necklace, Kasumi! Where'd you get it?" Her grin suggests that she already knows the answer to that question.

"It, um..." Kasumi looks off to the side, seeming uncharacteristically embarrassed. "It was a present. ...From Meiling."

"You look stunning in it. What a romantic gift~"

"...Thanks." Kasumi suddenly becomes very interested in the turtle, pushing her way past Mitsuo and Nitori to watch it and leaving the conversation cut off. Chiharu watches this and giggles. "Somebody's still shy, huh?"

Genbu the turtle must be shy, too, because he doesn't seem keen on saying hello to Kasumi. He retreats into his shell. This makes him only marginally less interesting to watch, since he wasn't doing much to begin with aside from "being a turtle." Kasumi scowls at Genbu, but to her credit, that's all she does. She's improving!

"Aw... oh well." Komachi shrugs it off. "I guess I'll have to ask Meiling how their date went, instead."

"Sounds like a plan!" Before Chiharu can say anything more, Mizuki steps out of the kitchen, still clad in her apron. "The food's basically ready. Should we start breakfast now?"

"Yes! Because the sooner we have breakfast, the sooner we can open presents!" Komachi eagerly shoos the turtle-watchers toward the kitchen. "So let's eat!"

The meal's a wide variety of dishes, Mizuki taking the chance to put her underused cooking skills to the fullest. There's a pot of ham soup, a large roast turkey, a set of light and fluffy pancakes, a couple omelets, some "eggnog french toast" that Mizuki decided to experiment with, and plenty of hot chocolate to drink. Mizuki's also made a couple desserts, but nobody's allowed to touch those until after the main meal.

Komachi samples a bit of everything, but perhaps unsurprisingly, she's the first to finish eating. Not because she's full, but because she quickly grows bored of the food. She does her best not to look like the antsy little kid who's been forced to sit through breakfast before they can open their gifts from Santa. She doesn't succeed, given how she can't seem to stay still. She paces around the kitchen, idly stirring a mug of hot chocolate with a peppermint stick.

However, Komachi is not kept alone too long. She's joined in a bit by Mitsuo, who's also finished his meal and noticed her impatience. "Sorry about the wait... Mizuki doesn't get to cook often, so she really focuses on it when she can. Trust me, this isn't the first time she's cooked a meal for all of us!"

"Oh? N-no, no, I don't want to seem ungrateful!" Komachi blushes. "The food was incredible! I-I mean, I... think? I can't really taste it the same way you can but -- it was really delicious, I'm impressed, I didn't know Mizuki could cook so well!"

"Yeah, we both learned it growing up. Our parents always thought it was an important skill to know, but Mizuki's usually too busy. Christmas is one of the few chances she gets to really cook all year, so she always does it." Mitsuo smiles, although something Komachi said gets his interest. "You can't taste, though? Is that another shinigami thing?"

"Oh, I CAN taste, just... not very well. Like, um... if you ate something that was super spicy, it would only be a little bit spicy to me. Or at least, tolerable, instead of 'my mouth is on fire'. I probably wouldn't bother eating if I couldn't taste at all."

"Hmmm... Well, next year, I'll get Mizuki to make you something stronger!" As he decides that, Mitsuo notices Mizuki standing up, having finished and beginning to clear things from the table. "If she's done, then the others are probably going to finish soon. It's almost present time!"

"Yay!" Komachi actually squeals and does an excited little hop. "Oh, oh! I'll get Genbu out! He can chill under the tree with the other presents!" She runs off to do just that. When she returns, turtle in tow, Genbu has been put in a tiny Santa hat, held on by an elastic band under his "chin".

Thankfully for both Genbu and Komachi, they don't have to wait long. Pretty soon Kasumi finishes, followed by Chiharu and finally Nitori, and the three of them and Mizuki join the other two by the tree. Nitori looks at the pile of presents, and begins to pull them out and sort them. "So how should we do this?"

"We should take turns! Open one present, then it's the next person's turn to open one present, and so on until there aren't any more presents! Oh, oh! And Mizuki goes first because she got up the earliest and worked so hard to cook that amazing meal!" Komachi sets Genbu down on the floor. "I'll find one that's for Mizuki!"

Komachi finds one with Mizuki's name on it, from her bes frand Nitori! The dark haired kappa carefully opens the small gift to find a small box, and opens that to find small green stud earrings. Lifting them up to get a better look, Mizuki grins at Nitori. "These should go nicely with my outfit."

The next one to open a gift is Nitori herself, who finds that this one is from Kasumi. Pulling it open, Nitori accidentally drops a copy of Corporate Law for Dummies on the floor. "...Uh, thanks?" "I thought you could do well to know the basics."

It's Chiharu's turn next, and the gift she opens is from Mizuki! It's a bottle of sunscreen and a pair of sunglasses, with a little island logo. Chiharu smiles and mentally begins to plan out her tan, while Nitori hands Kasumi a gift labeled from Meiling. Very curious about what it is, Kasumi opens the wrapper... and a potato falls out. Along with a note.

"I already got you a fancy necklace, but I wanted you to have something to open on Christmas. So here is a potato."

Kasumi stares at the potato for a second, groans, and sets it aside while staring at the present pile. Komachi finds a gift addressed to Mitsuo and begins to hand it over... then pauses, laughing. The kappa look at her askance. "Um... I guess Genbu had quite the adventure before we found him. Something's chewed a hole in this box..."

Sure enough, the present has a small hole in one corner. It's not large enough to admit turtle entry, however, let alone big enough for the contents to fall out. "Sorry Mitsuo!"

Mitsuo pulls the gift over, looking a little concerned anyway. It's from Chiharu, which overrides any concern and causes him to rip it apart in excitement. Chiharu's given him Pokemon Moon, which he immediately sets aside and looks ready to get up and find his 3DS immediately. A restraining hand on his shoulder puts him in place, and he smiles awkwardly, waiting for the next gift-giving.

Finally, it's Komachi's turn. She looks at the envelope that Nitori gave her, and it's addressed to her... from Nitori! Komachi blinks at it. "... What's this?"

"It's your gift! Open it!"

"But... you already got me a gift." Perplexed, Komachi nonetheless tears open the envelope. Inside are two tickets. As she reads them, her face lights up in amazement. "F-Front row tickets to Ironheade!?" There's still something else inside the envelope, and Komachi looks like she's about to explode when she sees what it is. "BACKSTAGE PASSES?!" Komachi throws herself into Nitori's lap. "Nitori! You're the best girlfriend in the world! I love you so much~" She pulls Nitori into a passionate kiss.

While Nitori is busy being smooched, Mitsuo leans forward to see, looking more excited than Komachi's usually seen him. "You got tickets to Ironheade!? And BACKSTAGE PASSES!?"

Nitori also makes her own comment... once Komachi's done with the kiss, leaving Nitori a bit disheveled. "The second one's for any person you want! It doesn't have to be me."

Komachi probably would have kissed Nitori for the next hour or two if she weren't distracted by Mitsuo. "Are you an Ironheade fan!?"

"Ironheade is one of my favorite bands! I'm so jealous! I've always wanted to see them play live, but I had to work both days that they appeared in Vegas!"

"Do you want to come with me? There's another ticket! And I don't know anybody else who'd appreciate it as much as you would!" Then Komachi gasps, as if struck by a sudden epiphany. "I can bring my guitar! Nitori! NITORI! I CAN GET EDDIE RIGGS TO SIGN MY GUITAR!!!"

"YES I WOULD!" Mitsuo is almost shaking with excitement, while Nitori looks a bit overwhelmed by the sudden hype. Cold water is thrown on it when a loud "ahem" comes from Kasumi, who fixes the two metalheads with her usual gaze. "As... exciting as your gift is, we do have others to open."

"O-oh! Oh... s-sorry. R-right." Before she gets up, Komachi whispers something in Nitori's ear. Then she springs to her feet. "Okay! It's Mizuki's turn again, isn't it? Um... here, how about you open the one from me! It's, um... kind of in the way." Leaning against the wall behind the Christmas tree is a very large present. By the dimensions of it, it's probably some sort of picture frame or painting. Komachi brings it over to an open patch of floor so Mizuki can unwrap it carefully. "Your office looked a little... barren, so I thought I'd get you something to decorate it!" Mizuki looks over at Nitori, who seems to be blushing and stammering all of a sudden. Setting that aside, Mizuki goes for her own gift.

It is indeed a painting... but it's very beautiful. As an avid hiker, Mizuki might recognize the landscape as the pristine wilderness of Zion National Park, with the sunlight reflecting off the Virgin River as it winds through the soaring canyons. In the bottom right corner of the painting, almost unnoticeable amongst the stunningly recreated scenery, is a tiny signature: "S. Izayoi".

As she opens the gift, Mizuki's initial low-key reaction gives way to a bright smile as she recognizes the scenery. She looks up from it warmly, smiling at Komachi. "It's lovely, thank you. I'm going to hang this across from my desk so I can see it every day."

"I'm so glad you like it! Sakuya will be glad too. I-I commissioned her to paint this for you." Komachi almost seems shy at being favored with the elusive Mizuki smile. "Nitori, um, she loaned me the photos from your last hiking trip, and I made copies for Sakuya to use as inspiration..."

"Sakuya painted this?" Mizuki looks at the painting again with newfound appreciation. "I'll need to stop by and thank her in person. A painting this well done... I'll have to figure something out. But that can wait."

"I'm sure she'd love to be thanked by you personally. Y-You don't need to do anything more than that, though, it's okay. I did PAY her for the painting..."

"She might enjoy showing you her other works, though! The mansion has dozens of her paintings hung up as decoration... It's a big place, so they have plenty of room... I think there's even one of me. Somewhere. ...Probably in the attic."

"Hmmm... well, perhaps. I believe it's Nitori's turn, then?" Nitori's distracted, thinking of something. "I wonder... one of the fairy maids once showed up in my backpack... Oh, presents!" Getting one from under the tree, Nitori reads the label and sees that it's from Mitsuo.  "Let's see..."

Nitori opens it, and is rewarded with herself! More specifically, an action figure version of herself. Figure Nitori is wearing the Sanpei Flight jetpack, and pressing a small button on the back causes the drills to spin in place. Nitori proceeds to spend half a minute pressing the button and stupidly grinning. "Thanks, Mitsuo! I bet I'll look great on my desk..."

While Nitori continues to fiddle with the toy Nitori, Chiharu pulls a gift out of the pile. This one comes from Mitsuo, and as Chiharu tears it apart, she recognizes what it is a second before she finishes opening it. Holding up a trio of Atari games, Chiharu shouts "Cool!" before showing more appreciation by tackling Mitsuo and keeping him busy for a bit.

"Okay, Kasumi, it's your turn! And just to be sure it's a real gift this time, here's the one I got for you!" Komachi brings it over. "I mean... I assume the others got you real gifts, but I have no idea. I can, however, guarantee that THIS one is most definitely not a potato!"

"Let me guess." says Kasumi, watching Komachi warily. "It's a cucumber instead."

Komachi frowns. "Gee, nothing gets past you. Yes, it's definitely a cucumber. I definitely would never spend valuable money on a frivolous, unnecessary gift for someone like you. It's not like we're FRIENDS or anything!" Kasumi simply avoids answering, instead opening the gift.

The box is actually rather heavy. Inside is a small assortment of things. There are a couple of books, a doll with a white string to be pulled, and a ceramic mug for tea or coffee or the like. The doll draws her attention the most; it's a plush Edgeworth from the Ace Attorney series. When the string is pulled, it says "OBJECTION!" Kasumi looks at it after trying it, and tries it a couple more times, a tiny grin appearing as she hears the game's voiceclip.

One of the books seems to be a mystery novel. The other is a collection of the most bizarre legal cases in history. As Kasumi reads the backs of both books, she looks at the mug, and notices writing on it - a lot of writing.

Lord, grant that I may be able in argument,
Accurate in analysis, strict in study,
Candid with clients and honest with adversaries.
Sit with me at my desk and listen with me
To my client's plaints, read with me in my library,
And stand beside me in court, so that today I shall not,
In order to win a point, lose my soul.
—St. Thomas More

Kasumi picks it up and reads it, before looking up at Komachi. "...The Lawyer's Prayer?"

Komachi shrugs self-consciously. "It... it sounded nice. It's a quote. Um, Thomas More is -- he's a real person. He was a lawyer. And a Catholic saint. The patron saint of lawyers."

"If you listen to most people, we should have a patron devil instead." Kasumi sets the mug down, placing the potato in it so that it doesn't roll away. "But... thank you."

"See? I told you it wasn't a cucumber." Komachi sticks her tongue out.

Kasumi hmphs, and Mitsuo decides now's a good time to continue the giftstorm. He pulls out another box from under the tree, noticing that the tag says it's from Meiling, and opens it up. True to character, Meiling has chosen another silly gift. It's a black T-shirt (in Mitsuo's size, of course) with white text declaring "My wife is hotter than your wife." Mitsuo stares at it for a second, before he bursts out laughing. Still laughing, he gets up and leaves the room with the shirt.

"Do you want to wait for him, Komachi?" Nitori asks.

"Um... I-I guess...?"

Komachi doesn't have to wait long, as Mitsuo returns in a few minutes. He's now wearing the shirt. "It's true, after all."

"I mean... I guess technically it's true, since nobody else in this room has a wife, so... logically Chiharu has to be hotter than someone who doesn't exist?" Komachi scratches her head. "Uh... anyway... I guess let's see what ridiculous thing Meiling got for me."

Komachi's gift is a long cylindrical object that is rather poorly wrapped. Before she's even finished fully unwrapping it, it's clear what it is: a body pillow. It's got a life-size depiction of Nitori on it... thankfully, a tasteful one. Fully clothed.

Komachi groans in exasperation. But then, sighing, she picks up the pillow and gives it an experimental hug.

"...It's not as cuddly as the real thing. ...But I guess it's not a bad substitute."

Of course, there's not the time to get into every single gift that the kappa gave each other, with just how many of them there are. So we'll just skip ahead a bit more, to when Komachi opens a gift from Mizuki, containing a complete set of the Nightmare on Elm Street series! Yes, even all the really terrible ones.

"Hey, cool! I've always been meaning to watch this series! Now maybe I'll finally get around to it... Thanks, Mizuki!" Komachi gives her second-favorite kappa a hug. Mizuki gently returns it, before continuing with the present haul - but once again, we don't need to outline every kappa for kappa present. So we'll just move on to when Komachi opens a gift from Kasumi, the shinigami finding a whole carton of high-quality coffee inside.

"Fancy coffee?" Komachi examines the label on the can of coffee grinds. "From... Brazil? Huh. Thanks, I bet it'll be pretty good! ...I hope you didn't spend too much money on it, just in case it's... like... no different than regular coffee... but thanks!"

"I asked an expert. He claimed that it was better-tasting, and I certainly hope he wasn't lying." Kasumi looks a touch annoyed, but she keeps quiet as Mizuki begins to open a present from Meiling. Once she's got the box itself revealed, Mizuki removes the top and looks inside. She stares at it for quite a while.

"...I really shouldn't be surprised at this point," And with that, Mizuki puts the lid back on the box, but not before pulling out a tiny plush chibi Nitori. Noticing a small note on the back, Mizuki gives it a squeeze, and it says a recorded clip of "You're the best, Mizuki!" Nitori looks at the doll in surprise.

"So that's what Meiling wanted that soundclip for! She told me it was a gift for you, but I didn't expect this. That's cool! ...What else was in there?"

"Nothing important." Mizuki carefully places the doll sitting upright, and then watches as Nitori opens her own gift, also from Meiling. The wrapping paper on the gift is printed to look like money. And inside the box... ...is money.

Most of it appears to be novelty fake money. The kind that look semi-convincingly like real money, but are not. However, some of the money is definitely real. The whole box is packed to brimming with bills, so it will take a while to sort out the real ones from the fake ones.

Nitori's mouth drops open and her eyes sparkle in joy... until she realizes that it's fake money. Then her face transforms into a glare, until she realizes again that some of it ISN'T fake money. Pulling out a wad of bills, Nitori looks and determines that it's an intermingled mix of real and fake.

"...Dammit."

She begins to manually sort out the box, carefully pulling out bills and piling them based on real or fake. It's going to be a while.

She quickly makes a surprise discovery in the box o' money.... It's Genbu! The turtle is sitting innocently in the midst of the many bills. He's nibbling on the corner of one.

It's a hundred-dollar bill.

...It's real.

"....AHHHHH!" Nitori grabs up the bill, tugging at Genbu. "Let go! LET GO!" Kasumi bursts out laughing, nearly falling over as she watches Nitori flail around, while Mizuki carefully moves in to assist with the turtle removal and the Senritsu couple sit there in confusion.

"Genbu!?" Komachi exclaims. She hurries to help Nitori separate the turtle from the sweet, sweet cash. "How did you even get in there! Ohhhh, I swear he never got into this much trouble when I kept him at my house... He didn't get into ANY trouble there!"

Eventually, the combined efforts of the three manage to separate turtle and money, Nitori looking sadly at the hundred dollar bill. "Awww... it's not mint anymore."

Komachi holds Genbu and lightly pats his shell. The turtle's limbs wriggle futilely as he finds himself unable to squirm free of her grip. "You're letting the turtle distract you from the important facts, here."

"You mean the part where Meiling gave me a few hundred dollars mixed in with thousands in fake bills?"

"Yes! Kasumi got a potato!"

"To be fair, she also got a necklace." Nitori looks over, and realizes that the pile of gifts under the tree has been drained to nothing. "...Wow, I didn't realize we were that far along!"

"Oh... huh! Looks like we're done!" Komachi smiles, then shakes her head, returning to seriousness. "Still, my point is that you should be grateful for Meiling's generosity. Even if the gift... requires some work to sort out. She could have done worse." She grimaces at some memory. "I know because she told me so."

"...What was she planning this time?"

"Er... well, I'll give her credit, she wasn't planning it. She knew from the beginning it would not be okay. But..." Komachi rolled her eyes and sighed. "She said that initially, when she decided to just give you money... she pictured just stuffing it into your clothes, and I quote, 'as if Nitori were a stripper. It's the best way to give money.'"

Nitori stares at Komachi for a second, then sighs. "I'm not even surprised at this point."

"So, what should we do next? Watch a Christmas special? Board game? Ooh, we could sing some Christmas songs!" Komachi squealed with sudden enthusiasm.

"Oooh!" Chiharu pipes up at the last thought. "I could sing! And so could Mitsuo maybe!" Mitsuo, still looking at one of his gifts, straightens up in surprise at the suggestion.

"Mitsuo? You can sing?" asks Komachi. Her eyes are bright with eager interest.

"Well, um... yeah, pretty well." Mitsuo looks at the side, looking really awkward. "I don't do it often, though."

"Hey, it's okay." Komachi gives him a reassuring smile. "Being shy is only natural, but we're all your friends here. Will you give it a try, at least? I'll be singing with you!"

"Well... alright. If you don't make a big deal out of it."

"Great! I'll go get my guitar! Here, have a turtle." She hands Genbu to Chiharu. He yawns, displaying a little pink tongue.

"Aww... who's a good little turtle? You are!" Chiharu smiles and pets the turtle.

And so, once Komachi returned with her guitar, the five kappa and their guest (and one turtle) gathered around the Christmas tree and sang some carols. Komachi did most of the singing, as the most skilled and most confident of the group. But Chiharu made up for it in enthusiasm, and Mitsuo really was good at it, if quiet. Kasumi and Mizuki only listened. Genbu occasionally contributed turtle sounds. The six of them spent the rest of the day together, too, talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company. And Komachi was perhaps the happiest she'd ever felt in her life. She felt like... she belonged.

She dreaded the day she'd have to go home again.

-----------------------------------

Ugh. Why did she have to go home?

Komachi knows the answer to that question without needing to think about it. That doesn't stop her from asking it again and again inside her head as she trudges towards the living room with her suitcase and guitar case. Nitori and Mizuki follow her, carrying the rest of what she'd brought, and Chiharu, Mitsuo and Kasumi are waiting in the front room to say their goodbyes to her. She tries her hardest not to look too morose, for the kappas' sake.

"Awww... do you really have to leave already?" Chiharu's question echoes the thoughts inside Komachi's head, the kappa looking downcast at Komachi's departure.

"Y-Yeah..." Komachi swallows hard. Don't be such a baby, she chides herself. "Yeah, I've got an important job a-and all..."

"That's very respectable. If you were the type to blow off work constantly, I'm not sure I'd want you near Nitori." Kasumi's face is neutral as she speaks up. "I applaud you, Komachi."

Komachi's mouth quavers. She bites her lip. Unable to properly form the words "thank you" for the attempted compliment, she just nods as if grateful.

Noticing that Komachi's wavering, Nitori frowns. Reaching forward, she wraps an arm around one of Komachi's. "Is there any chance I can visit you?

"N-no..." Komachi suppresses a sniffle. "It's... it's a bad idea, it's dangerous... Even Meiling doesn't come visit me. I go to visit her."

"Well... if you're sure. There's got to be some way we can stay in contact, right?"

"I'll call," Komachi promises. "As m-much as I can..." She knew she'd still be lonely. Even with that body pillow from Meiling. It's enough to make her eyes tear up. "I... um... I love you," she says lamely.

"I love you too, Komachi," Nitori says, before shifting to hugging the shinigami. Chiharu squeals and tightly hugs Mitsuo as she sees this, while Kasumi rolls her eyes.

Komachi hugs back tightly. "I don't want to leave," she says miserably. "I don't want to go home..." A sob escapes her. But, sighing with resignation, she lets go of Nitori. "Okay... um... bye."

As Komachi leaves, Nitori waves sadly, the other kappa joining her at the door. Despite their different perspectives at the moment, all of them are going to miss her.

They've just got to wait a few more months for everything to come together on Kuwahawi Island.