http://clampfix.fanworks.net/x-fix/spirit.txt </head><body><pre>Ok, now this is REALLY random and REALLY out of character for me. I'm writing this with absolutely no plan whatsoever and completely on impulse, so if this is up a complete flop don't rub my nose in it. ---------------------------- Spirit of X 'mas "I. Do. No. Want. To. Be. Here," grumbled Kamui for the billionth time. His violet eyes narrowed as he scrutinised the large room Kaichou had hired out for the night. "I am not in the mood for a party." "Aw, lighten up, Kamui-chan," said Sorata lightly, slapping the younger man on the shoulder. A little too hard, considering Kamui's slight frame. The Dragon of Heaven stumbled forward and would have knocked the Christmas Tree over had Subaru not caught him. "It's not just that," growled Kamui when he had regained his balance. "Thanks, Subaru." He dusted himself off and glared at the other side of the room where a group of seven was standing. "I just don't see why /they/ had to come as well." Subaru and Sorata followed his gaze and sighed as well. On the other side of the room, Yuuto twirling his whip in lazy circles as Satsuki held onto his arm with a scowl. The Dreamseer Kakyou sat lethargically half-asleep in a wheelchair. Kusanagi had been roped into pushing the wheelchair and stood behind his fellow Dragon looking uncomfortable. Nataku looked even more uncomfortable, or maybe it was just confused. However the main targets of Subaru and Kamui's glares was the evil duo in the darkest corner. Subaru's green eye rolled. "He's just standing in the shadow for the dramatic effect," he muttered under his breath as the Sakurazukamori waved at him. Kamui forced himself to turn away as Fuuma gave him a leer. "I thought you killed him," he commented to the onmyouji. "I did," replied Subaru. "But that's in the story. He can still come to the character party." "I see." "Kamui-chaaaaaaaaan! Subaru-saaaaaaaaaaan! Sora-chaaaaaaaaaaan!" The three in question looked up at the high-pitched shout. Yuzuriha skipped over to them, the biggest smile on her face and face flushed. She was dressed in the spirit of the night - a pixie costume with Santa hat. "C'mon, join the party!" she squealed. Kamui blanched as he realised that joining the party would mean taking some steps closer to the enemy. He wasn't given the chance to protest as Yuzuriha grabbed his hand and Subaru's in hers and dragged them over. She was assisted by Sorata, who gave the two young men a shove in the back. "That's the spirit, guys!" The Kansai monk applauded Yuzu's efforts to drag the unwilling pair to participate. Suddenly he froze and gawked. "Miss Arashi!" The Ise priestess looked up, startled. The reason for Sorata's jubilation was clear. Somehow (one sensed a Soapgirl's hand) she had been talked into wearing a girl's Santa costume with mini-skirt. Her beautiful eyes widened as Sorata flung himself at her feet. "Can I sit on your lap, Santa??" He yelped as Arashi booted him onto the dance floor with one belled shoe. "Finally, someone willing to get the party going," sighed Karen as she watched the priest land on his feet and turn his stumble into a jig. She gave Seiichiro the eyes as she sipped a glass of champagne. Seiichiro nearly dropped his drink. "Jingle bells, go to hell, why are we even here?" Satsuki sang the melody without changing her scowly expression. "The last part didn't quite fit the rhythm," observed Yuuto. "Who cares," shot back the computer geek. She rolled her eyes as Sorata tried to wheedle Arashi into dancing with him. "This /so/ sucks." "Does it really?" asked Seishirou questioningly. Being killed off for the sake of riling up fans or simplifying the story didn't seem to have affected his personality any. "I think this is rather interesting." Kakyou lifted his head tiredly. "A Christmas party. How delightful." This was spoken in a tone of voice that said he was anything but delighted. Nataku looked at Fuuma, confused. "Daddy, what's Christmas?" Fuuma ignored the bioroid and flashed another grin at his opposite. "I think I can have a lot of fun here." His expression implied that his idea of fun wouldn't be shared by many others except perhaps the Sakurazukamori. Kusanagi glanced nervously at each of the fellow Dragons. None of their faces displayed any Christmas spirit. "Uh yeah," he mumbled. "Whatever you guys say." Any other speech was cut off as Nokoru, flanked by Akira and Suoh, stood up on the stage that was at the end of the room and clapped his hands. Amazingly, everyone fell silent. Nokoru smiled the dazzling smile that sent his female fans swooning. "Good evening and Merry Christmas everyone," he said cheerfully. Yuzu, Sorata, Karen and Seiichiro beamed. They were probably the only ones. Nokoru ignored the lack of Christmas spirit. "Now, before anything else, I want to make it absolutely clear that this is a PARTY. It is NOT the Final Day or any other skirmish - you are not here to fight or quarrel or anything else, you are here to have FUN." "Oh, that sounds good," smirked Seishirou with a significant grin at Subaru that the young man chose to ignore. "So sit back, relax, have a drink, dance, eat - Akira did all the cooking so the food, I can assure you, will be excellent." Nokoru grinned and flung his arms out. With perfect timing, the party lights came on. "Everyone, enjoy yourselves!" Most seemed to take Kaichou at his word. Sorata immediately moved over to Arashi who side-stepped him. Karen smiled flirtatiously Seiichiro. Yuuto tried to drag Satsuki onto the dance floor causing the girl to scowl even more. Yuzu perkily dragged Kusanagi over to the dance floor, Inuki twining about their feet. Seishirou stepped over towards Subaru. Subaru stepped in the other direction. On the opposite side of the dance floor Kamui and Fuuma performed the same dance. "Aw, c'mon." Nokoru pouted and winked at Suoh who moved off the stage. "I only Yuzu-chan and Kusanagi-san dancing! Maybe if we got the right music?" He spun on one heel and chewed his lip as he glanced over the selection of CD's there. "Ah ha!" Finding an appropriate CD he slid it onto the player and pressed PLAY. /Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock . . ./ Kusunagi had the goofiest grin on his face as he spun Yuzu off the ground. The girl laughed hystericxally, which made the soldier's grin grow even goofiest. Arashi was still avoiding Sorata who pursued her relentlessly. As she reached the food table Karen suddenly appeared in a poof of flame and took her elbow. Before the priestess could move away, the Soapland girl whispered into her ear. Nokoru danced and bounced on stage as he fiddled with the light switches, coloring the room blue, red, purple, green, yellow, pink and every other color he could think of. Kamui looked frantically for an escape route as Fuuma came in his direction. With one last encouraging smile, Karen patted Arashi on the arm and stepped back to watch. Sorata had his 'your heartless' look on his face as he tried once again to get Arashi. He sidled closer and closer, expecting the priestess to move away again. To his utter surprise, she didn't. Subaru stepped away as Seishirou came within three meters of him. Sorata got close enough to touch Arashi. He did, and jerked his hand back is if he had touched ice. Arashi didn't pull away. "M-miss?" Arashi sighed, just audibly. "Stop beating around the bush and ask me to dance properly." Sorata's eyes boggled. Seiichiro's eyes did the same as Karen sidled up to him. Then the priest shook himself, took the priestess' hand, and bowed. "Arashi-san, would you do me the honor of this dance?" he asked, eyes shining. Arashi looked at those anime-large eyes, sighed, and accepted. "There we go," murmured Karen. She smiled and poured herself a congratulatory drink. "That's the spirit!" cheered Nokoru, turning the room a garish orange. He realised the song had ended and chose another. /Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Falalalaaaalalalala . . ./ "Deck the kekkai with bright red blood, falalalalalalala. Strike the Seal and watch him bleed, falalalalalalalala. Wa-atch Tokyo fall to pieces, falalalalalal-" Satsuki was cut off as Yuuto covered her mouth with his hand. She blinked up at him through her glasses. "Can't you just be a normal girl for one night?" asked Yuuto angrily. Then his tone softened. "You'll get all the time to play psycho on the Final Day. And I'll cheer you on." Satsuki thought about it for a little while. "Okay then." Yuuto smiled and offered his hand to the girl. "Would you like to dance, Karen-san?" asked Seiichiro. He sighed as Kamui tried to jump over the food table as Fuuma tried to grab his hand. "Awwwwww, Kamui-kuuuuuuuun . . ." "Go AWAY!" "Where's your Christmas Spirit?" "Somewhere were you can't touch it." Karen looked at him. "Aren't you married, Aoki-san?" Seiichiro smiled. "My wife would scold me if I was un-gentlemanly and left a woman alone without a dance partner." Karen put her glass away and got up. "I have to meet your wife someday," she commented as she and Seiichiro joined the dancers. Nokoru flicked the lights on blue and put on another song. /Silent night, Holy night . . ./ Subaru pointedly moved behind the large Christmas Tree (courtesy of Kaichou) to avoid Seishirou. However any further escape was prevented as Suoh suddenly stepped in front of him, grabbed his shoulders, turned him around, and shoved him the way he came. "WAH!" Seishirou smiled as Subaru bumped into him. "Hello, Subaru-kun." Subaru's face darkened. It changed to a startled one as the assassin pinched his cheeks. "Now, now, Subaru-kun, you're not supposed to be so glum on Christmas," the Sakurazukamori chided. He was guiding the Sumeragi to the floor - Subaru was too surprised to realise until Seishirou had an arm around his waist. "You heard the Kaichou - enjoy yourself. After all," he added, almost as afterthought. "This is Christmas." "Like you know what the word means," Subaru shot at him. "True, I don't," Seishirou added. "Doesn't mean I can't have fun." And he swept Subaru away into the dance. "Now that's something I didn't expect," commented Kakyou. He glanced up to see Nataku watching the proceedings. "What's wrong?" The bioroid blinked. "I still don't understand what Christmas is." Kakyou, closed his eyes to consult the Dreamscape, then smiled. "Well then, watch . . ." ----------------------------- And this is where I can't be stuffed to go on. C'mon, I'm supposed to be on holiday. Sooooooooooo, I hand it over to . . . . . . TARYN-CHAN! *grins* Taryn-chan dear, do you feel like continuing this? I don't care where you take it 'cause I know that you'll do great - all I want is that at the end for all respective couples to give nice presents and have some quality time together. HAPPY ENDING. Onegaiiiiiiiiii?</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>