Servamp Short Stories

C3 Christmas Special

Even on the coldest days of winter, a certain warmth lingered around the world that lay beneath the dove grey sky. Snow came as heaven's sunlit glitter, delicately dancing in the light as if it were a choreographed ballet before finally resting on the ground below, colouring it a perfect white. Sparkling and crunching with each footstep made by a group of exhilarated children having a snowball fight as their parents contently watched nearby.

An atmosphere of excitement blew through every part of the city just like a fresh breeze on a spring day, rejuvenating the soul. Hurried citizens filled the streets as they rushed to complete their last-minute shopping. All a part of the regular hustle and bustle of life, but something felt slightly different. The air seemed charged with a special calm, almost as if a mysterious entity had sucked out the grumpiness and misery out of everyone's lives just for today. For once, no one seemed to be complaining about that goddamm 'All I want for Christmas' that has been playing since November. Christmas had finally arrived.

It was the time for family, the time for friends, and in Tsurugi Kamiya's case, it was the time to receive some Christmas money to repay his crippling debt. Through his colleagues paying him to go on dates with them of course. He once quoted. 'Everyone wants to spend Christmas with a handsome guy and I want money! Both sides win! Selling dreams on a holy night, I am Santa Claus!'. Needless to say, Yumikage and Junichiro were baffled by his logic.

However, this year he wasn't begging for money. Along with the destruction of C3 and the disappearance of Touma, Tsurugi had gained a newfound pride in himself. No longer seeing the need to grovel on the ground for scraps, all he needed now was the company of his friends.

Tsurugi's mind wandered as he stared out of the window of Junichirous' apartment, which was heavily decorated with Christmas decorations.

This would be the first Christmas that I genuinely spend with friends, 'isn't it? My first Christmas without.... Tai-chan, oh god I wonder how he's doing, he's still out there. I wonder if he'll come back.

Tsurugi may finally be physically free from the hands of Touma, the emotional attachment he had for him will never waver. No matter how long it took, he'll be there waiting for him with open arms to become a family again.

"Churugi! Churugi! Papa is calling you!" Tsurugi snapped out of his dazed state when he felt the tiny hands of Junichirou's son, Takuto pulling on the hem of his pants.

"Oi, were you even listening?" Jun sternly asked while wrapping a fluffy scarf around Takuto's neck. "I asked what your plans were today."

"Well since it's my first Christmas without Tai-chan there to pull me around I thought I could spend it with you and Yumi-chan." Tsurugi's eyes twinkled with excitement like a child seeing snow for the first time. It's his first time not spending Christmas day coped up in C3 after all.

Jun held in a breath, trying to find the best way to break the news to Tsurugi, without hurting his feelings.

"Well, you see....., I already made plans to bring Takuto and meet with my mom to visit Shifumi's grave today. Yumi went back to visit his family today...." Jun hesitantly started, "however if you like, we could try rushing back before lunch."

So I'm going to be alone again?

"It's alright Jun-chan, go spend the day with your family, you don't need to rearrange plans just for my sake. We can have lunch another day with Yumi, but you're paying of course!" Tsurugi could only hope Junichiro didn't sense the disappointment in his voice.

"Huh? Why am I paying for the nex- whatever, just don't order anything too expensive!" Jun glanced at the clock. "Ah crap, I should get going. Let's go Takuto." Jun scooped Takuto up into his arms and began to walk out of the door, not before turning back to ask Tsurugi once more.