KOF School

Presents

Yoshiro made his way to the living room where Yashiro continued his nap. He looked so peaceful, laying on the couch though it was a little too small for him. Yoshiro sat himself on the armchair and regarded him silently, wondering how he felt to have been slapped right after being awarded, how he felt to have his prize break into pieces right in front of him. And how it must've felt to try so hard and still not be good enough.
Yoshiro also wondered what Yashiro had done during the week he was missing. How he'd even escaped the public eye despite being hunted down everywhere? It must've been hard, seeing how pictures of him were plastered on every mass media platform.
There wasn't a sound from the kitchen so Yoshiro decided to go and check on Yashira, who sat sobbing quietly at the counter island. He sighed and put an arm around her, pulling her into a half-hug.
"Yashira," Yoshiro comforted. "Everything is fine now. The only thing you have to focus on now is being a better mother to our son. He didn't deserve to be treated that way, and you know it. Will you promise me to never talk down on him again?"
Yashira looked down at her husband's enormous hand, streams of tears escaping her eyes. She nodded silently and tightly clasped his large hand with her much smaller one, leaning into his embrace.
Yoshiro nodded, a gentle smile on his face. "Great. Now, let's finish the Okayu."

Iori walked out of his room and gazed at the miniature Christmas tree set up in a corner of their living room. It wasn't that small, around four feet tall, which they planned to plant back in their garden so that it would hopefully live. Iori looked around before going over to it and placed the gifts that he got for his family members.
Aiko soon came out of her room too, carrying a stack of presents, and lowered them down on the couch before arranging everything with her brother's.
"Where's Dad and Uncle?" Aiko asked, looking up at her brother as she arranged.
Iori shrugged. "Outside, I think."
They went out to their garden and found the older Yagamis scraping snow off their outdoor table and chairs.
"Why are you guys out here in the cold?" Iori asked, rubbing his arms. "It's freezing!"
"There's frost on the table!" Masaomi remarked as he pushed the snow off the table with a brush.
"Yeah, and it will soon be on you guys," Aiko pointed out. "Come in! It's so cold and you guys aren't even wearing your coats!"
Kazuhiro looked down at himself, then at his brother like he just realised. "Oh yeah, we aren't."
Iori sighed and pulled him inside while Aiko brought their father. The four of them sighed in relief as soon as they felt warm again.
"There, that's better," Iori smiled.
"You're right, it really is freezing outside," Masaomi nodded. He noticed how there were gifts around the tree. "You guys already put your gifts here?"
Aiko smirked. "Yeah. And you can't open them until tomorrow."
"We won't, don't worry," Kazuhiro grinned. "Speaking of which, I need to get my presents too..."
"And we also need to start on the mochi," Masaomi added. "And the cake."
Iori nodded. "The stuff is ready for the mochi. As for the cake... everything's still in the fridge."
"Let's just get everything out, then," Aiko shrugged. "What are we making, chocolate cake or vanilla cake?"
"Christmas Strawberry Shortcake," Masaomi corrected. "And we're also making chocolate chip cookies."
Iori nodded, trying to process everything. "So we'll start on the cake first or the cookies?"
"The cookies," Kazuhiro said. "We can leave those to bake and then start on the cake."
"Also because the cookies take lesser time, unlike the cake," Masaomi nodded. "You guys remember the recipe for the cake, right?" The others exchanged doubtful looks. "Right?"
"Not really..." Kazuhiro sheepishly stated. "Where's the recipe book that Mom wrote?"
Masaomi frowned and silently made his way to his room, the others at his heels. They ended up digging through the shelves for the family recipe book.

Kay woke up fairly late and made his way out of his room, yawning. He stopped short upon noticing the Christmas tree, now fully bedazzled with fairy lights and even a star at the top, with gifts stacked around it at the bottom.
And that's when he remembered the presents that he got.
Kay quickly rushed into his room and opened his closet, where he had hidden the presents at the back of his clothes. There weren't much options for him to hide his gifts since... well, he was sharing the room with his brothers. Curious brothers with itchy fingers as well.
So he grabbed them and quietly made his way out again, making a beeline for the tree. He placed his presents together with the rest and heaved a sigh of relief before making his way to the bathroom.
Zayn entered the house with his extra key after going next door to visit Isolde and looked at the tree as he walked past it. He stopped short when he noticed an addition of gifts and went closer to examine.
They were all signed Dash, which surprised him since he had no idea where Kay had even hid all of his gifts in the first place. His gaze fell on the one addressed to him, a fairly large package wrapped in holiday-themed paper.
But that also reminded him. His gifts weren't even wrapped!
Zayn panicked and ran to his room to start now.
Krizalid was fast asleep, even snoring loudly, so Zayn sat himself on his desk and quickly set out to work on them. Kay eventually returned a few seconds later and stopped short upon seeing his brother haphazardly wrapping his gifts.
"Dude..." Kay said in surprise.
"I know, I know," Zayn groaned. "I didn't have the time to get them wrapped earlier, okay?"
"No, that's not what I meant," Kay shook his head. "I meant... why are you wrapping it like that? That's wrong!"
Zayn looked down at his gifts and frowned before turning back to him, not sure why it's wrong. "Why?"
Kay sighed and came over. "You're not supposed to fold it like that..."
In the end, Kay ended up helping him wrap the gift. It was a good thing that the gift was for Seirah and not for him.
"Got it?" Kay asked, taping the paper in place at the side.
Zayn nodded. "Got it. Okay, now can you leave? I need to wrap yours too..."
Kay rolled his eyes and walked out.

Yashiro sat down at the dining table to have breakfast with his parents. He was still sleepy, and even yawned loudly as he sat. Yashira pushed a bowl of porridge to him as soon as she came up.
"Good morning," Yoshiro greeted. "Still sleepy?"
Yashiro nodded and pulled the bowl and spoon towards him. "What time is it?"
"Eight-fifteen," Yoshiro informed, his gaze falling on the wall clock. "What time did you even sleep last night?"
"Quite late," Yashiro admitted, swallowing a few spoonfuls of his porridge. "I had something to do."
"Oh..." Yoshiro nodded. "Speaking of which, I have something to do too. I'll discuss with you about it later."
Yashiro smirked slightly. "Isn't it a little too late for that now?"
"Yeah, like I even have a choice," Yoshiro pointed out. "I'm sure your mother has stuff to do too." He gave his wife a meaningful smile.
Yashira nodded. "I do. Anyway, what do you guys want for lunch?"
"I don't mind, as long as I have food," Yashiro remarked before lifting the bowl and downing his breakfast. He took his cup of hot cocoa and made his way to the living room to watch TV as he sipped his drink.
The parents looked at each other.
"I think he's still in a fairly bad mood," Yoshiro sighed. "Well, who wouldn't be?"
"But I think he's trying, he even helped me make the nerikiri yesterday," Yashira said. "It's in the fridge, I'll show you later."
Yoshiro let out a short chuckle. "It's fine, I know how beautifully you guys make nerikiri."