KOF School

The Christmas Tree

It was the Eve of Christmas Eve and Maxima somehow managed to drag in an actual tree into the apartment complex. Zayn nearly spat out his mouthful of hot cocoa in shock when he spotted his father dragging a fairly large pine tree into the front door, alone.
"How did you even stuff this into the lift?!" Zayn asked, running over to look at the tree. "It's like... ten feet tall!"
Maxima dropped the tree, panting before answering. "I didn't."
"Then?"
"I took the stairs," Maxima said, much to Zayn's shock.
"What?! How?"
Erin appeared from the kitchen, still wearing oven mitts. "What's up?" She stopped short when she spotted the pine tree beside her husband. "Is that... a tree?!"
"It's ten feet tall and Dad brought it up seven floors by stairs," Zayn informed, turning to his mother with a hand pointed at the tree. "Alone."
Maxima stretched his arms back, releasing a few pops and cracks. "It's not ten feet tall, only eight."
"Still?!" The other two exclaimed together.
Maxima looked around the house and frowned, seeing how the rooms stood empty with the doors left ajar. "Where are the others?"
Erin shrugged. "They went out with Kula and her sisters."
"Kriz too?" Maxima said in surprise.
"Oh, he went to the shop downstairs to get his 'snackedy-snacks'," Erin chuckled. "Anyway, Max. Put that tree down and take a rest."
"Nah, I can't leave the door open like this," Maxima shook his head. "I need to pull it in."
Erin sighed. "Zaynie, help your father."
Zayn nodded and pulled up the sleeves of his sweater before helping Maxima heave the tree inside and bring it to an upright position against the wall. Erin frowned at the trail of leaves and sighed, making her way to the kitchen to get the broom and dustpan.
But before she could even start sweeping, Zayn swooped up and offered to do so instead. Erin just shrugged and watched as he swept up all of the fallen leaves, a faint smile on her face.
Krizalid soon came out, his mouth full since he ripped open a pack of butter sandwich crackers on the way up, and stared at the tree in surprise, then at his brother who went about with a broom.
"What is this?" Krizalid asked when he swallowed his mouthful. "How did the tree even get here?"
"Your father somehow dragged it all the way up seven floors, alone," Erin said, still unable to believe the theory herself.
"Then why is Zayn sweeping?" Krizalid pointed at his youngest brother.
"Because the tree made a mess," Zayn pointed out, sweeping the last of the needles before making his way towards the kitchen to throw them out.
Krizalid then turned to his father, who laid slumped onto the sofa. "Dad, how?"
Maxima simply shrugged, leaving Krizalid to wonder how he even pulled it off.

Kyo managed to sneak into the house through his bedroom window after his gift-shopping spree. He felt like the real Santa Claus for some reason, having a big bag of gifts on his back as he carefully snuck into his house. He had considered the chimney at first, but that would mean getting burnt and waking the whole house.
So the bedroom window was his best lot.
Kyo quietly climbed the leafless Sakura tree in his garden and slinked his way towards that one branch that grew conveniently beside his window. He had left his window open earlier so all he had to do was pull it open and throw himself in.
Only, he threw some of his stuff down as he entered his room too, making quite the noise. Kyo heard his parents' room door opening and quickly threw off his backpack and slipped into bed, pulling the blanket up to his nose so that his winter clothes would be completely hidden.
He heard his room door open and could just about feel his father's gaze sweeping the room. Kyo even let out some snores as he laid as still as he could. He slowly opened his eyes and spotted Saisyu's silhouette making its way towards the window. He regarded the fallen things for a moment, then turned to window and pulled it shut, latching it before turning to his 'sleeping' son. Kyo quickly closed his eyes and went on snoring.
Saisyu made his way back to the door and left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Kyo only sat up when he heard the master bedroom door close and heaved a sigh of relief.
His Christmas escapade had almost been exposed. It was a good thing that he managed to quickly get under the blanket to avoid getting caught.
Kyo turned on the bedside lamp and started working on wrapping the presents he had gotten.

***

Yashiro fell asleep in the backseat while his mother drove over to the Tokyo Station in Chiyoda City early in the morning to pick up Yoshiro. He didn't even realise it when they arrived until he was thrown forward slightly with the inertia of a moving car.
"Have we arrived?" Yashiro asked aloud.
"Yes, and we're on the way home," Yoshiro smirked at his surprised son. "You tired, Yashiro?"
Yashiro shook his head. "No, just a little sleepy. By the way, hi Dad."
"Yashiro, where were you last week?" Yoshiro asked. "You were all over the news! Did something happen? Did you run away?"
"You can say that," Yashiro sighed and leaned back for a second round of sleep. "I just went to stay somewhere else for a while, I needed a break."
Yoshiro then turned to his wife at the front passenger seat. "Yashira? Did you go hard on him again?"
Before she could respond, the sound of soft snoring erupted from beside him. Yoshiro chuckled and adjusted the throw blanket to cover Yashiro's peeking hands.
"It's fine, we'll talk once we get home," Yoshiro sighed.
Yashira drove straight home and parked in the garage. The three of them got out, with Yashiro still staggering from sleep, and entered the house to have some breakfast.
"What actually happened?" Yoshiro asked while he helped his wife to make Okayu rice pudding. "Why did he run away? I know how he is, he's thick-skinned, just like his father. What happened?"
"I... I went a little too far," Yashira quietly admitted, washing a pot of rice. "I didn't realise how much pressure I was giving him. Until he left that day."
Yoshiro frowned for a moment, recalling the text conversations he had with his family last Saturday. "Wasn't that his prize-giving event at school? He performed too, and received a few awards?"
Yashira nodded. "Yes, he came second in his class, won first place in a swimming competition. But... I don't know why, it... it felt like it wasn't enough, it wasn't enough that he came second and not first. I was so angry at him, I... I slapped him before we could even leave the school grounds."
"You slapped him right after the event?" Yoshiro asked in surprise. "Just for being second and not the first?"
Yashira's eyes welled up with tears. "I know. I was being such a monster, but I couldn't see it, I was blinded by anger!"
"What happened after that?" Yoshiro sighed, shaking his head.
"He... he had another swimming competition that day, at the neighbourhood pool," Yashira continued. "It wasn't a very big tournament, just on a community level. Yashiro won third place."
"How?" Yoshiro asked, mildly shocked. "He has even won first place in international events! How can he only get third on a community level?"
Yashira shrugged. "Maybe he was already stressed that day, tired too because of the prize-giving event. Yashiro was also performing that day."
"That explains it... what happened after? There must be something that pushed him off the edge."
Yashira wasn't sure how she would say it. She was ashamed of what she did then, how she had treated Yashiro. In the end, she shook her head, bawling softly.
Yoshiro sighed. "I guess Yashiro being away for an entire week had been an agonising punishment for you. I won't scold you for it, I won't say anything since you had already suffered the consequences of your actions. But just tell me, what did you do after he came home from the community pool?"
Yashira told him everything, between sobs, how she had shouted at him, broken his trophy, and even made a doubtful remark of Yashiro being her son. Yoshiro kept his promise, he didn't say anything about it. In fact, he said nothing as he left the rice to boil and made his way out of the kitchen.