KOF School

Preparations

Shermie ran down the stairs and spotted Chris sitting on the couch with a panicked expression.
"Chris?" Shermie called as she went over to him. "You okay?"
"Yashiro found out!" Chris exclaimed. "Oh no! The surprise is ruined."
Shermie shook her head. "Chill, he probably thinks we're having a fun day without him. He doesn't know that we're busy planning the party!"
"Yeah, you're right," Chris chuckled. "But we have to do it quickly, there's a chance that he might rush here to see what we're doing behind his back."
"Oh, yeah! You're right on that one," Shermie nodded. "Come on, let's do it."

Yashiro was starting to feel suspicious. He didn't have a problem with Chris going to Shermie's to hang out. But not telling him? That was something weird. Very suspicious.
So he quickly pulled on his coat, shouted to his parents that he was going out, and went right on his way to see what Shermie and Chris were doing.
Shermie's home wasn't all that far, just a few blocks away. He passed a convenience store and decided to get some snacks and drinks before resuming his journey.
Yashiro stood in front of Shermie's front door and rang the doorbell. He didn't have to wait that long since Shermie opened a few seconds later, wearing a wide grin.
"Yashiro!" Shermie greeted, her grin not faltering the slightest. "What a pleasant surprise!"
Yashiro smiled back and brushed past her to enter, spotting Chris on the couch. "You guys up to something behind my back?"
Chris smiled and turned to him. "Oh, no. Nothing of the sort!"
"Yeah, that doesn't explain why you guys just hung up on me as soon as I pointed out that you two were hanging together," Yashiro countered. "Not suspicious at all, right?"
"Nope," Shermie shook her head. "Anyway, you're just in time! We were about to watch a movie!"
"I brought snacks and Matcha latte," Yashiro shrugged and placed whatever he got on the coffee table. "You sure you guys aren't doing anything sinister behind me?"
"The only thing we're doing behind you is breathe," Shermie stated, picking up the remote. "Now come on, let's watch something."
Yashiro sighed and sat down on the couch to watch something with them.

"Have we gotten everything for Mochi?" Masaomi burst into the living room while the rest were peacefully watching TV.
"No...?" Kazuhiro remarked. "We finished the last of our mochigome the other day..."
"How about soba?" Masaomi continued.
"Nope, we made yakisoba for lunch the other day..." Aiko added.
Masaomi frowned and silently made his way over to the cabinet to get the car keys before going over to the garage door. "Who's coming with me? I wanna go to Trillion to do some shopping, seeing how we don't have anything for Shogatsu or Ōmisoka even though there's only two days left..."
Iori raised his hand and got up, and so did Aiko. That only left Kazuhiro, who watched them in surprise with the TV remote still in hand. In the end, he sighed and got up as well.
"Fine, I'll come too," Kazuhiro sighed, turning the TV off. "Let me get changed first, I'm still a mess..."
"We all are..." Iori pointed out, pulling the neckline of his yukata slightly. "Let's go get changed..."
In ten minutes, all of them were already on the way to the department store. Masaomi seemed to take this shopping task very seriously, even handing each of them a list of things to get.
"Iori, Hiro, you guys are in one team," Masaomi said. "Aiko, you're coming with me to the meat section."
"Me? Meat? Why?" Aiko asked in surprise. "That sounds more like Niisan's department, not mine."
"Yeah, but he's not the expert at choosing the best meat," Masaomi pointed out. "The meat you choose is always the best, with the right amount of fat and more flesh. Unlike Iori who always takes meat which contains more bones than flesh."
"Well, yeah, you always say that you have a bone to pick with me," Iori argued, grinning. "How can we pick bones if there aren't any?"
Masaomi wasn't amused by that statement. "Yes, very funny. Now, run along. We need to finish this as fast as possible."
Kazuhiro nodded and dragged Iori off to the aisles while Masaomi pulled Aiko over to the meat and produce section.

"Oi!" Maxima exclaimed as soon as he spotted Krizalid holding a large glass bottle. "No getting drunk!"
"Chill out, this isn't wine," Krizalid grinned, holding out the bottle for him to see. "It's just sparkling juice!"
Maxima read the label and nodded. "I see... so you got that for New Year?"
"Yep!" Krizalid nodded. "To make a toast for the New Year."
"Toast?" Kula suddenly chimed in. "Can I have some with marmalade?"
Kay chuckled. "No, Kula. Not that toast. This is a different toast."
"Oh... so no marmalade?" Kula sadly said.
"We can make some now if you want," Seirah insisted. "Come on. Let's go make some."
To the others' surprise, they just left them and went to the kitchen.
"That is the most random thing I've seen today," Zayn remarked. "Anyway, you sure that one bottle is enough for all of us?"
Krizalid frowned. "Oh yeah... now that you mention it... I don't think so. Should we go get another?"
"You should," Erin agreed. "Kula's family would be coming too."
"Yeah..." Krizalid nodded. "Let's go shopping again."
"You went shopping without telling me," Erin gave him a slight backhand. "There's so much stuff to be bought and you went all by yourself to just get butter sandwich crackers and sparkling juice?"
"Sorry... I didn't know you needed stuff..." Krizalid sheepishly stated. "We can go now if you like."
"You guys go ahead, I wanna go hang out with Isolde," Zayn grinned as he got up. "Bye!"
"Oh, Isolde is out with Mom," Kula said as she peeked into the room, much to his dismay. "They went to run some... Aarons? Don't ask me who Aaron is..."
Kay smirked. "Kula, I think she meant errands, not Aarons."
"Sounds the same to me," Kula shrugged and returned to the kitchen.

"Dad is taking this shopping spree very seriously for some reason," Iori remarked as he grabbed a pack of soba noodles. "And how is meat with bone bad? Licking meat off the bones is the best part!"
"Not good enough for him, apparently," Kazuhiro snorted, grabbing a pack of mochigome. "He's also planning to do mochitsuki."
Iori looked at him in surprise. "No way!"
"Yes way," Kazuhiro shrugged, chucking the packets of rice into the basket which grew heavier by the second. "I'm not sure how it's gonna go, but it seems fun."
"Seems fun indeed," Iori smirked. "Anyway, what's the plan?"
"Ozoni, like usual, Niisan is planning to invite the Kusanagis and the Sakazakis," Kazuhiro said.
"Great," Iori groaned as they made their way out of that aisle and went towards the dairy section. "Don't get me wrong, I'm good friends with Kyo and Ryo, but I don't wish to see those faces during a celebration."
Kazuhiro shrugged. "Makes sense. Your dad wants to 'reconnect' with his closest friends, apparently."
"I guess that's good," Iori finally said, casually taking a six-pack of strawberry milk and placing it into the basket that Kazuhiro was carrying. "As long as he's happy."
"Yeah," Kazuhiro smiled. "Anyway, what's next on the list?"
Iori looked at the note and frowned. "Cake flour, vanilla... cupcake liners?" He turned to his uncle in surprise. "Is he planning to make cupcakes?"
"Seems like it," Kazuhiro shrugged. "Oh well, more for us, right?"
Iori smirked at that. "Yeah."