It was Christmas Eve and everything at Myojo Academy was peaceful and quiet, except for the shouting of the resident loud mouth. She usually popping around the school getting into other people's business, normally those of black class, but was currently running down a random student. The pour girl that was being chased was screaming bloody murder and drawing the attention of every surrounding person in the courtyard. All eyes watching the scene in front of them as the chase continued until it disappeared behind the botanical garden.
“I don't want to!” Yelled the poor girl as she sped up and stumbled to run between two people.
“Oh c'mon!” The blonde's laughing voice burst out in a huff, before she ran into the pair the girl had managed to avoid. The force of how fast she was going taking all three bodies to the ground.
“Nio! What the hell are you doing?!” The brunette underneath her yelled, voice full of her fury “Are you bullying that girl?!”
“How about waiting to yell at her once we get up Shiena-Chan?” The other victim of the collision asked, rubbing the back of her head in pain.
“Oh, right. Sorry, Otoya” with that the three of them untangled themselves and stood up, each brushing dirt off of their clothes respectively.
“Now really, what were you doing to that poor girl” The brunette glared at the blonde, she hated to see others bullied and did everything that she could to stop bullies in their tracks.
“What am I doing? What are you doing sneaking around the garden with Takechi?” Nio smirked at her, watching the brunette turn a light shade of pink.
“For your information she was teaching me some of the plant species that are in the garden and we were just leaving” she crossed her arms, turning her face to the side “and don't try to change the subject.”
“I'm a little curious myself, just what would you be up to chasing a pretty girl like that around?” Otoya's sly voice matched perfectly with the mischievous grin on her face.
“Alright, alright you got me” the blonde raised her hands in defeat, but had an evil grin of her own “I was just trying to get her to fulfill the tradition”
“What tradition?” Shiena looked at the shorter girl in confusion.
“This one!” Nio responded while lifting up a stick and holding it above her head, attached to the stick was a string with a piece of mistletoe that was swinging lightly between Shiena and Otoya.
“Mistletoe?” The glasses wearing girl blinked at the plant in confusion.
“That's right I found this and I thought I should share it and you know the tradition with Mistletoe don't you?” The sing song tone of her voice sent a chill through her body. Shiena knew exactly what Nio was getting at and she didn't like the idea at all, especially given her present company, but the face she made seemed to amuse the blonde.
“Oh, I don't think I've taught Shiena-Chan that yet!” Otoya suddenly perked up at the sight of the plant and turned to the brunette “Allow me to teach you, thoroughly...” her breath was on Shiena's ear before she could realize how quickly the space between them had closed.
“Now wait just a min-” the argument on her lips was devoured by the aggressive kiss of the purple haired beauty before her. Shiena tried to step back in vain as two arms had already trapped her and brought her closer to Otoya as the killer's tongue forced its way into her mouth.
“You two have fun!” was the faded words that Shiena heard as Nio began to walk off while a pleasant fog flooded her mind. Her last thought was “I'm going to kill her...” before she found herself only able to focus on the girl slowly poisoning her body with pleasant sensations.
“That was more fun than chasing the regular students and forcing them to pair up,” Nio grinned to herself while looking at the plant she had found this morning. “Maybe I should pay the others of Black Class a visit” the thought made her giggle with glee at the interesting developments that could occur. Nio thought that at the least it would be more entertaining than her morning as the regular students didn't have any spunk or would run away as the girl she had been chasing before and that was tiring, a few would just go with it, but that didn't amuse Nio as much as the flushed faces of others did. However, with this new idea and a new set of targets the blonde was sure that she could amuse herself with the personalities of her classmates. So with a skip to her step she went off to find more of the Black Class to make her victims.
“Do you have to be munching on that trash you call food so loudly? <3” A gorgeous girl with pink hair gave a pleasantly sweet smile that was dripping with anger to the redhead beside her.
“Oh, sorry Isuke-Sama. I'll try to be quieter” Haruki gave her signature grin as she finished off the last piece in her mouth “it's just this is a flavor I haven't tried before and its really good.”
“Isuke doesn't see how anything that cheap can have such a great flavor that you would act like that,” Isuke scoffed while adjusting the way she was sitting to better do her nails. They were sitting in one of the common areas, relaxing. So Isuke was working on her nails with a new gel nail polish from her Mama. Haruki on the other hand had gotten a small package from her siblings, who pulled together to get her a box of pocky with a flavor that she had not tried before, since she always bought the same one all the time.
“Well you could always try one and find out,” Haruki offered her one the sweet sticks, waving it in front of her with a grin.
“Isuke kindly refuses, now stop before she breaks your fingers <3” was the response that she was given. Haruki just chuckled and leaned back on the couch in her spot next to Isuke as she chomped on the sweet that was refused.
“Maybe, she would like a different type of treat~” Nio dropped down from an air-duct above the couch, startling the two.
“Nio? What were you doing in the air vents?” The redhead questioned, once the shock of her arrival wore off.
“Isuke doesn't care, she should of stayed there” Isuke's eye was twitching because she had jerked and gotten nail polish on the side of her finger.
“Now that isn't nice Inukai, seeing as I was just trying to help you get a treat you would like” the blonde smirked at the pink haired girl.
“You can't offer anything that Isuke would want <3” she shot back eyebrow twitching while she cleaned the polish off her finger.
“You could at least hear her out,” Haruki chuckled, finishing off the pocky in her mouth. Isuke scoffed at that and went back to her nails.
“Well I don't need you to hear me out” Nio's smile slowly turned into her sinister grin “just look at this!” She brought her hands from behind her back and held something up.
“What the hell is that? <3” Isuke asked with clear annoyance in her voice.
“Its a mistletoe, duh” the blonde responded, holding the plant above them.
“Do you expect Isuke to eat that filthy plant as her treat?” she glared, not at all amused by the antics of the other girl “because Isuke has no interest in having it or any other kind of treat from you.”
“Then how about I give Isuke-Sama a treat?” Haruki leaned in close to the pink haired girl, grinning at how her cheeks slowly began to match her hair.
“Don't be stupid Haruki, Isuke doesn't want anything from you either!” She turned her head, arms crossed over her chest. However, Haruki wasn't listening to her as she grabbed Isuke's wrists and twisted her just enough to pin her against armrest of the couch. “Let go of Isuke! I will kill you!”
“Sorry, Isuke-Sama, but I want to give you your Christmas treat” the redhead's grin only widened a little before she captured her lips. Nio chuckled at the exchange and the look of murder Isuke had on her face before leaving the two to their activates. Meanwhile, Isuke was slowing in her struggle against the girl on top of her, finding herself melting into the kiss. As Haruki started to lick her lips Isuke got the faint taste of mint and groaned at how it mixed with the other girls taste.
“So Isuke-Sama, still against getting treats?” Haruki winked, starting to get off of her.
“Oh shut up...” Isuke grumbled, pulling her back down for another kiss with this one being much deeper. Things quickly began to escalate between the two assassins, drawing the attention of others that went completely ignored because neither of them really cared about being out in the open.
Chitaru was walking with Hitsugi down a hallway, holding hands of course, on their way to get a bite to eat when the taller girl spotted Nio just standing in the middle of the hall. The childlike girl at her side also took notice of the blonde as the two of them slowed to a stop in front of her.
“Nio? What are you doing here?” The princely woman asked, slight concern seeping into her words as the shorter girl seemed to be in a daze.
“Oh, I'm just thinking. I'm wondering how easy this one is going to be” Nio looked up at the redhead with a smile that sent a wave of unease into the air.
“How easy what is going to be?” Came Hitsugi's soft voice filled with curiosity.
“This,” the blonde raised the stick of doom that she was now wielding before her next two victims.
Chitaru stared at the plant that was swinging before her eyes for a minute, until realization shone in her red orbs as they widened. She had been hearing rumors of some student running around with mistletoe trying to get other students to kiss each other and causing chaos this morning, now she knew them to be true and knew who the culprit was “I would never do such a thing to Hitsugi!” she narrowed her eyes, even as her cheeks heated up.
“Yeah, I thought you would say that. Which is why I brought this!” Nio smiled happily as she pulled a small stepping stool from nowhere and set it in front of the redhead.
“Huh?” Chitaru looked down at the stool in confusion, but only had her entire body freeze as her lips were met by another set of soft lips. The short blue haired girl had jumped on the stool and was already kissing her taller companion, snaking her arms around her neck so that she could not escape.
“Hm, even less time then I thought” Nio laughed as she simply walked away, leaving the shocked Chitaru alone with her rather forward partner.
“Mahiru-san would you like to join me for tea?” A lovely lady with long honey locks asked. She turned to her roommate, who was sitting in a chair across the room fidgeting. The silver haired girl flicked her eyes around the room then opened her mouth to respond shakily.
BANG! BANG!
The sudden loud noise made Mahiru jump from her seat and curl up on the floor. She held her head as she slowly looked around, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
“There, there. It's just someone at the door” Hanabusa pat the frightened girl's shoulder, then carefully pulled Mahiru to her feet “now, shall we see who it is?” she smiled.
Mahiru nodded silently, wiping her eyes and following close behind her roommate. When they got to the door Hanabusa opened it, only to be met by Nio's grinning face.
“Ah, Hashiri-san. What are you doing here?” the young heiress questioned, eyeing the blonde.
“Oh, I'm just going around spreading holiday cheer” Nio's cheerful voice did nothing to dis-spell the mischievous air around her.
“H-Holiday cheer?” Mahiru poked her head out from behind the door where she had been hiding.
“That's right, and I've brought something for you two” the blonde smiled sweetly at her.
“W-What is it?” the innocent question made the blonde giggle.
“Why the best gift of all! Mistletoe!” Nio lifted the festive plant above the two in the doorway.
“Surely you are joking” Hanabusa smiled politely, menace in her words. She noticed the way Mahiru jumped and turned flush red before hiding behind the door again.
“Of course not, this is a time honored tradition. No one gets out of it” the short girl wore her devilish grin.
“I can assure you that we will not be participating” the heiress spoke firmly, clearly unamused. She did in fact have a crush on her roommate and found her adorable, but also knew how shy Mahiru was and didn't want Nio's stupid prank to cause her any stress. So as much as she would like to share a kiss with her roommate she had to resist this tradition.
“Oh, but you will or I'll be here as long as it takes” Nio's grin widened as she saw the contemplative look on her face. “Besides...” she waved the heiress down to her height. Hanabusa raised an eyebrow but bent low enough the blonde could whisper in her ear.
“That's all and you'll leave us be?” she eyed the troublemaker on her doorsteps.
“I wouldn't lie and we don't want Banba-san to have a heart attack now do we?” Nio winked at her. At hearing her name Mahiru began to panic.
“M-Me? Why would I have a heart attack?” the silver haired girl's mind swirled and she wondered what she should do. When a voice soft and sweet pulled her from the mist of panic.
“Mahiru-san,” the voice called again and without thinking the scared girl turned towards it. She stopped dead as she felt the warm velvet touch of her roommate's lips on her cheek. At the realization of what was happening Mahiru's face became hotter than an active volcano.
“W-Wha?!” Mahiru stumbled back with a hand on her cheek. She fell back on the floor with more garbled shouts as she frantically made her way to the bathroom, locking herself inside. As soon as the door was shut Nio burst into laughter.
“I hope you're quite satisfied. It'll take me hours to get her to come back out” Hanabusa glared at her classmate.
“Sorry, I didn't think a kiss on the cheek would be a big deal even for her” Nio wiped a tear from her eye, a result of laughing too hard “but don't worry I'll make it up to you!”
“I don't see how” was the only response she got before the door was slammed in her face.
“Oh, you'll see” the blonde's sinister smile crept on to her face before she went on her way.
“Kouko-chan, must you study on Christmas eve?” A girl with light blue hair looked at the serious girl next to her.
“Of course” Kouko replied, focusing on the textbook in front of her.
“Why?” the other girl questioned, smiling as she closed the book she had been reading. A fantastic tale of adventure and mystery, but not as interesting as the not-so-open book of a girl before her.
“Because holidays are wasted time that could be used to become stronger Shutou” the black haired girl glanced at her.
“Ah, but even the powerful take time of Kouko-chan” Suzu smiled tenderly, stretching her muscles.
“Then they fall” Kouko argued with her, narrowing her eyes in concentration.
“Only those who were not truly strong to begin with” A voice cut through the comfort of their quiet space. They had been sitting in the back of the school library in a corner where hardly anyone ever came so it was a bit of a surprise. Kouko put down her book to see who it could possibly be and was met with Nio's smug face.
“Ah, if it isn't Hashiri-san” Suzu smiled at the blonde “are you here to study as well? Or just looking for something to read?” The questions were innocent enough, but held an all-knowing tone. This was Suzu's “I know exactly what you're after” tone, Kouko had learned to recognize it in the short time that she had known her.
“Me read?” Nio blinked a few times then stepped back with a face like she ate something disgusting “are you nuts?”
“Not that I'm aware” the bluerette looked thoughtful as she answered, like she had considered it.
“If you're not here to read why did you come to the library?” Kouko interjected, not wanting the conversation to last any longer than needed.
“Why? Because I knew you two would be here” the blonde grinned and whipped the killer stick from behind her back. The holiday plant flew up and it came back down on Kouko's head. “I want to catch you in the explosion of holiday fun!”
“Go. Away.” Kouko's voice was almost as deadpan as the look she gave. She went back to her book as the plant landed between the pages. Nio opened her mouth to argue, but was silenced when Suzu raised her hand. The older girl winked at the blonde before turning back to the serious girl beside her. A curious look filled Nio's eyes as she decided to observe what the bluerette had in mind.
“Now Kouko-chan, there's something important I've learned in all my years of living. Do you know what that is?” As the question hit her ears Kouko's vision of her book was blocked by Suzu picking the mistletoe up from her pages. A sudden inquisitive state overtook the black haired girl as she followed the mistletoe, turning her head to the side in the process. When Suzu brought the holiday plant to a stop it was above her own head and she smiled. “You have to make many precious memories with the people who matter most, especially on the holidays.” Kouko stared at her for a moment as the words sunk in and when heat rushed to her cheeks she shook her head. However, the argument she had died a tragic death in the train wreck of Kouko's mind as Suzu pecked her on the lips.
“See this will make a fine memory, our first kiss!” The older girl giggled with a smile. Kouko tried to form words of any kind, but even if she could she didn't have any idea what to say.
“Looks like you broke her” Nio was suppressing her laughter.
“Oh dear,” Suzu cover her mouth in surprise then turned to Nio innocently “do you think another would fix her then?” At that Kouko bolted up and quickly walked to the library exit.
“Nope, she's done for!” the blonde burst into maniacal laughter, falling to the ground “she'll never be the same!”
“I should hope not, we need progress” Suzu smiled to herself, quite amused.
After leaving the library Nio decided it was time for a snack, so she went to the cafeteria to get some of her beloved melon bread.
“Melon bread, melon bread~” Nio chanted happily paying for her snack. As she turned around to find a seat the blonde spotted on of her favorite pairs. “What a nice find” she grinned, taking a bite of bread.
“Is Tokaku-san excited for Christmas?” A sweet redhead asked the blue haired girl seated next to her.
“Are you sure Azuma even knows anything about holidays?” They both looked up to see their familiar blonde classmate. Tokaku simply glared at her then went back to eating her curry.
“Oh, Nio-san its nice to see you” smiled the sweet girl “are you enjoying the holiday break?”
“Of course, Haru, I'm having a blast” Nio grinned, sitting across from her two classmates.
“That's great, Nio. What have you been doing?” Haru asked with a smile.
“Its funny you should ask, because I came to show you!” the blonde brought out her mistletoe and the stick was hit by a metal blade. Tokaku had pulled out a knife and struck the stick, pressing the blade against the wood to keep the plant away from them.
“What is that? Some poisonous plant?” The assassin glared at her.
“So you really don't know anything about holidays” was the snide remark she got.
“What was that?” Tokaku growled, standing up.
“Tokaku-san!” Haru jumped up and grabbed her protector's shoulders “Its just something for decoration. Nothing that can poison anyone” she smiled.
“Then why is she waving it around on a stick?” she questioned seriously, raising an eyebrow.
“U-Uh...that's...” Haru's face started to turn red as she tried to think of an answer. Noticing the change of color and how fidgety the other girl was Tokaku turned back to the blonde, growing “So it is poison!”
Nio burst out laughing and dropped everything to grab her sides, vaguely hearing Haru yell “No!”
“Then what is the meaning of this?!” Tokaku shouted angrily, narrowing her eyes at both of them.
After regaining her composure Nio decided to continue before Tokaku tried to skewer her with her knives. She picked the stick up and lifted the mistletoe above Haru. “Okay. This is mistletoe” she grinned and Tokaku pulled the redhead away from the plant and into her chest. “During Christmas time people hang it up. Then when two people stand under it, the tradition is that they kiss. Get it now?”
“They kiss because of a plant?” Tokaku stared at her with a look that read “that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.”
“Yeah. Its called fun” Nio grinned, putting the mistletoe over the pair. “You should try it sometime, how about now for instance?”
“NO” the protector replied as she released Haru and sat back down, annoyed. She had made a fool of herself over nothing more than a weed and Nio's stupidity.
“Haru, you at least have some holiday spirit right?” the blonde poked the redhead with the end of the holiday stick.
“Uh...” Haru looked at her then the blue-haired curry eater, blushing lightly “Haru doesn't want to do something that will bother Tokaku-san” she smiled, nervously.
“Oh...” Nio looked dejected for a second, before an idea popped into her mind. She smiled cheerily, making the mistletoe hover above her own head “then how about giving me a kiss? Just on the cheek is fine”
The question alone got the reaction she wanted as Tokaku instantly tensed up, glancing at them. Haru on the other hand simply smiled “Sure, if its just on the cheek.” She leaned over the table to plant a kiss on Nio's waiting cheek. Blue eyes watched the scene in slow motion and caught the glint of mischief in the red eyes of the blonde just before Nio turned her head. Tokaku grabbed Haru's wrist and pulled her back towards her, stopping her lips from touching Nio's only with the help of her Azuma genes and years of training. However, she didn't realize just how fast she had moved or how much force she used to spin Haru around and only did realize when their lips collided. A deadly silence followed as Haru stumbled back with wide eyes, staring at the other girl.
“T-Tokaku-san, w-what...I'm so sorry” a confused Haru blushed violently as she started to panic.
“Well, I'm not!” Nio laughed, slamming her fist on the table over and over.
“Ichinose...” Tokaku spoke calm as ever, making the girl in question freeze.
“Uh...yes?”
“Do the rules of this plant only apply during this holiday?”
“That's right! The mistletoe is for Christmas only, it doesn't work year-round!” Nio piped up to answer because Haru seemed to be broken. The redhead was just standing there with smoke rising off of her face as it turned a darker red than her hair.
“I see” Tokaku nodded, pulling out one of her knives. At seeing the weapon Nio ducked thinking that she was going to be killed for the chaos that she had caused, but it was the mistletoe that was assassinated.
“Hey! What are you going?!” Nio yelled, grabbing the half of the mistletoe that was still attached to her string and shielding it as if it was a child. Tokaku ignored her as she took a red ribbon from one of the Christmas decorations sitting on the table. Then tied the mistletoe onto Haru's head with the ribbon so fast that Nio couldn't even see her hands moving.
“Tokaku-san?” Haru stared at the blue-haired assassin with curious eyes.
“If it only works this season and its almost over, then the strategic thing to do is take advantage of the time that's left” Tokaku explained as a smirk formed on her lips. Just as the meaning became clear Haru found her protector's lips on her own once again. She simply smiled and kissed back as Tokaku lowered them to the floor under their table.
“Didn't see that coming...” Nio blinked at the scene. She stood there a moment then leaned down to look under the table cloth and tap Tokaku on the shoulder “You might want to get a room, people eat here.” Tokaku stayed glued to Haru and simply waved her hand at the blonde to go away.
“Alright then” she shrugged and walked outside. It was beginning to get dark and the sun would be setting soon, “its time anyway” she grinned.
Hanabusa sighed, setting her tea cup down to the noise of someone knocking. “Who is it now?”
“Yo!” Nio saluted the heiress with a grin.
“Oh, back so soon?” The heiress narrowed her eyes at her unwanted guest.
“Well, I did say I would make up for earlier” Nio smiled innocently.
“Ah, I would like you to leave” Hanabusa's words were cold as a blizzard “Mahiru-san has still not come out and she refuses to speak with me. You have done enough for one day.”
“Good thing its almost over then” the blonde ignored her attitude “that also means its about time.”
“Time for what?” Just as the question was asked her answer slammed the bathroom door wide open. “Time for my turn!” Shinya yelled with her toothy grin.
“Shinya-san?” Hanabusa was a bit shocked at her sudden entrance. She looked outside and it hit her that it was indeed time for Shinya's time to be in control.
“That's right! Hey blondie, ya bring that weed?” Shinya's gaze turned to the girl just outside.
“Sure did!” Nio grinned, holding it up high.
“Good” the silver haired girl grabbed it and threw it up as she slammed the door shut.
“Wha?” Nio pulled on her stick only to have the line snap. The mistletoe was perfectly wedged into the top of the doorway.
“Now,” Shinya pinned her roommate to the door, grinning “this is from Mahiru.”
“Huh?” Hanabusa had her eyes closed from her back suddenly hitting the door, but quickly opened them when she felt a light touch on her cheek “Oh...” she smiled.
“This is from me” She slammed her lips down in a devouring kiss. Shinya's kiss was all tongue and teeth, but was full of raw passion that sent the heiress to a new world. As her tongue explored the inside of her mouth Hanabusa let out a soft moan. The sound seemed to please her partner as Shinya nibbled her bottom lip before pulling back.
“Shinya-san...” the heiress breathed trying to catch her breathe. She certainly couldn't say she didn't enjoy that because Hanabusa loved her roommate, both the sweet shy girl and the rougher bad mouthed girl. Each had their strong points and sent Hanabusa's heart a flutter, especially right now.
“An once ya catch your breath, this whole night is from both of us” Shinya laced her words with love and lust that mixed into a new drug. It made Hanabusa's mind fog as she couldn't find any words to respond. However, as their lips met again she found herself thanking Nio in the far outskirts of her mind.
“Sounds like their having fun” Nio laughed as she tossed her stick before heading down the hall “I'm done with that anyway.”
“Ah, Nio did you have fun today?” The chair woman looked up from her desk as she entered the office.
“Of course!” Nio smiled cheerily, saluting her playfully.
“Good, because I heard of these crazy antics someone pulled all day with mistletoe” Ms. Yuri smiled, getting up from her seat.
“Really? I don't know anything about that” the blonde acted perfectly innocent.
“That's not what I heard” the older woman countered as she stepped in front of her.
“Well, I don't have any mistletoe do I?” She grinned.
“No, its right here” at that Nio looked up to see a piece of mistletoe and felt a soft kiss on her forehead “I got this from Haru” Yuri giggled, smiling at the younger girl.
“Nngh, quit treating me like a child!” Nio jumped for the plant. It is with that that Christmas eve came to a close at Myojo Academy, full of chaos only rivaled by that of Christmas Day, but that's another story...