Ch. 79 - A New Year Plan

Some time later, Christmas has come and gone. Haru flops onto his bed on his back with a big smile on his face, letting out a pleasant sigh.

 “Ah, it’s so nice to be back home!” Haru says. Sugawara sits down next to him on the bed after putting his bag down.

 “Yeah. Spending Christmas with your family was super fun, though.” Sugawara says as he thinks back to the moment they arrived at Haru’s grandparent’s home for the holiday…

 Natsu and Fuyu, Haru's parents, step into a large traditional house with a few bags with them.

 “Father, we’re here!” Natsu shouts loudly as an old man, Obito, steps from around the corner. He focuses his glasses and gets a big smile on his face.

 “Ah, Natsu, my boy! Long time no see!” the old man says happily as they approach. Natsu then puts out his hand for a handshake.

 “Father.” he says with a smile. His father then reaches out and grabs onto Natsu’s hand tightly, crunching his hand, causing Natsu to fall to his knees and cry out playfully. A vein pops on his father’s head as he still smiles, pinning his son.

 “I only get to see you so often, my son. You think it wise to approach me with only a handshake in my old age..? I've only got so many years left, you know?..” he asks, obviously fuming with anger despite his smile.

 “Right… I was just checking…” Natsu says in pain, smiling too. He then lets go, and Natsu hugs his father happily before Fuyu comes and does the same much more gently. As they do, another woman around Natsu’s age steps in. 

 “Must you always be so rowdy? Not everyone here enjoys your voice as much as your forgiving wife.” She says sharply with a glare. Natsu laughs.

 “Tsuyu! I missed you too, my dear sister!” Natsu says happily. Obito looks at them for a moment before turning his attention back to Fuyu, still holding her hand.

 “Now where are my lovely grandchildren?” He asks with a smile as Fuyu smiles back, stepping to the side.

 “Here, grandpa!” Aki shouts excitedly as she rushes out from behind Fuyu and gives him a hug as he chuckles.

 “Oh my, look how big you’ve gotten! I can only imagine how tall Haru is now.” Obito says when Haru and Sugawara step inside with their bags.

“Yep, still growin’!” Haru says with a smile. Sugawara sweats a bit nervously as he shyly steps into their home.

 “Well, don’t worry, Haru. One day you’ll end up like me, hunched over and- WOAH! HE BROUGHT A CUTE GIRL THIS TIME??” Obito shouts, shocked by Sugawara so much he opens his eyes wide. Sugawara gets timidly upset at Obito’s question.

 “I’m not a girl!” Sugawara says firmly. The grandfather sweats a bit as he looks confused, adjusting his glasses.

 “You’re not?.. Well then, you’re probably the cutest person Haru will ever talk to in his life.” Obito jokes as the adults laugh. Haru blushes in embarrassment.

 “Grandpa!” he yells, upset.

 “Okay, okay, come on. Let’s start this holiday off with some delicious food. Tsuyu already started, Natsu go help her finish up. Fuyu and I can set the table.” Obito says, turning to walk deeper into the house.

 “Father, I’m more than capable of cooking for my family alone.” Tsuyu says frustrated as Natsu smugly smirks at her.

 “Burning down the house once really shook you up, huh?” he asks as Tsuyu vein pops in anger, but then she composes herself only to smirk smugly right back.

 “Doing it twice wasn’t enough for you?” She asks snarkily as they both smirk angrily at each other before rushing off to the kitchen. Sugawara sweats as he sees this.

 “Is this normal behavior during the holidays?” He asks as Haru, Obito and Aki sip some tea gracefully at the table. Haru puts his cup down and looks over a bit.

 “No. Usually mom joins in, but I think she’s trying to be better this year.” Haru says as his mom watches with closed eyes and a smile but veins along her face as she struggles to hold herself back.

 “Go ahead, mom.” Aki says as she sips her tea. Fuyu smiles at her.

 “Thank you, sweetie.” She says before diving into the room with a crash as Natsu screams all high pitched. Sugawara sweats some more before smiling and giggling to himself. The others look at him a bit surprised as he giggles.

 “Hehehe! Your family is so weird!” Sugawara says as he smiles at them happily. “I love it!” he says. They all smile back as Obito speaks.

 “Well, from what I hear, you don’t have much of a family of your own, right?” Obito asks. Sugawara’s smile slightly drops but only a bit as he nods. Obito smiles at Sugawara. “Then come here and have some tea with your new family.” He offers, lifting up the teapot to pour him some. Sugawara’s eyes light up before he happily sits down and accepts.

 Back in present time in Haru’s room, Haru sits up, sweating a bit.

 “Yeah, sorry about my family. They aren’t all weird, I promise.” Haru says. Sugawara giggles.

 “It’s okay. I enjoyed it.” He says with a warm smile and a blush. Haru smiles back before getting a thought.

 “Oh yeah! New Year’s is coming up. What are we gonna do this year?” Haru asks. Sugawara thinks for a moment with his finger on his chin before answering.

 “I don’t know. Maybe we can invite the others to another party?” Sugawara offers. Haru looks a bit conflicted.

 “Those are always fun, but I want to do something a bit more extravagant.” Haru says, standing up. He rubs his chin for a moment before shrugging. “Oh well, I’ll just call the others and see what they think.” Haru says, then he reaches over to grab his phone from the bedside table, but before he can get a hold of it, it begins to ring. They’re surprised that the name reads ‘Chizuru’. Haru is surprised but grabs the phone and answers. 

 “Hey Chizuru.”

 “Haru, it’s time.” She says with a serious tone and shadow over her eyes in the dark. Haru’s eyes sharpen a bit hearing her words. “Get Sugawara and meet me at my house.” Chizuru says into the phone.

 “Got it.” Haru says seriously before hanging up. Sugawara watches with a concerned look as Haru turns and looks at Sugawara.

 “What’s going on?” Sugawara asks with a sweat. Haru pauses for a moment before answering with a serious look.

“Operation Shigaya starts now.” Haru says. Sugawara is surprised but quickly gets a determined smile and nods.

 At Chizuru’s house, it is entirely dark until lights turn on and shine down directly on Touma, Chizuru, Lucy, Ryuji, Kitaro, Hisana, Alice, Suiyoubi, Haru and Sugawara. Lucy and Chizuru sit at the ends of a long table with the others on the sides. They all have serious looks as they sit in silence.

 “I have called you all here today for one reason. Operation Shigaya.” Chizuru says ominously. Some of the others nod at her motion until Kitaro speaks.

 “Yeah, what was that again?” He asks casually, obviously not playing the part, as the others look upset. Alice slams her hands on the table as she shouts at him.

 “Kitaro! It was our plan to get Shiori and Hikigaya together!” Alice shouts before falling back in her chair, pouting. “Even if Hikigaya is kinda really lame...” She mumbles when Haru lifts his phone to show her a picture of Hikigaya shirtless. Alice’s eyes instantly turn into hearts as she grabs the phone. “OWAOH MAMA!” she shouts, drooling. Kitaro stares at her then smirks, leaning back in his chair.

 “Right, got it. Proceed.” He says slightly sarcastically while motioning towards them. Chizuru sighs as the dramatic lighting goes away, revealing her dining room to be their location.

 “As you all know, New Year’s Eve is right around the corner. And what better time to inspire love than during New Year’s Eve??” Chizuru asks excitedly. The others smile and nod.

 “I’m sure we can all tell that Shiori and Hikigaya are madly in love with each other, but things are taking a bit too long. So we thought we’d give them a little encouragement. Suiyoubi?” Lucy says before lifting her hand to Suiyoubi with a smile. She nods a bit and reaches down into her gothic bag.

 “Now, this request was a little outside my area of expertise, so there may be a couple side effects I am unaware of but nothing we should be worried about.” Suiyoubi says as she pulls out a small bottle filled with pink liquid. “Here it is! The Love Potion!” She says happily. The others look in awe as Mormo climbs onto the table.

 “Trust me when I say this, this gorl knows what she’s doing, so this is definitely gonna work.” Mormo says, pointing a stuffed bear arm at her. Kitaro looks at it for a moment with a skeptical expression.

“Look, I’m all down for helping them realize their feelings, but drugging them doesn’t seem like the best way to go about it.” Kitaro says. Suiyoubi looks shocked and offended.

 “Don’t refer to my spells as such, that’s very rude!” She says.

“It doesn’t count if they’re already in love.” Hisana says, moving on.

“A-Are we sure they definitely love each other though? W-What if Shiori only likes him as a bestfriend or something?” Touma asks, trying to be cautious.

 “Oh, they definitely love each other.” Chizuru says with a silly smirk as Lucy snickers. Kitaro shrugs and leans back.

 “Sounds good to me. Could be a fun watch.” Kitaro says, smirking, already convinced. Chizuru smiles and looks at the group.

 “Okay! Here’s what we’re gonna do…” She trails off as it fades to Shiori and Hikigaya’s house early on New Year’s Eve.

There’s knocking at their front door so Shiori answers it. There, Hisana, Lucy and Chizuru stand while smiling with two large tote bags. Shiori is surprised to see her friends so suddenly.

 “Guys, what are you doing here?” She asks.

“It’s New Year’s Eve! Why wouldn’t we be here?” Chizuru asks with a big smile.

 “Yeah, we came to doll yo-” Hisana starts spoiling when Lucy quickly grabs her and covers her mouth nervously.

 “Oh yeah, you know, play with dolls and… stuff?” Lucy lies nervously and confused by her own answer. Shiori stares at them for a moment, obviously not tricked, but moves on anyway.

 “I didn’t know we were hanging out. Are the others coming?” Shiori asks. Chizuru shakes her head happily. Shiori smiles at them for a moment then sweats a bit. “Oh wait, I can’t… I told Hikigaya we’d do something like every year. We even thought about visiting the shrine later. You guys can join us though, if you want?” Shiori offers.

 “Pssh, don’t worry about Hikigaya, we’re way cooler than he is.” Lucy says.

 “Yeah! I think he’ll find something to do.” Chizuru says when Hikigaya steps down the stairs and looks at Shiori in the doorway.

 “Who is it- Woah, hey wait-!”

 Hikigaya asks before he shouts as three figures dressed in all black and masks grab him and put a bag over his head. The big figure being Touma, the one bagging him is Ryuji, and the last one being Haru. Haru looks around as they grab Hikigaya before bolting upstairs. Touma holds him under his arm as they run through Shiori’s room and jump off the patio swiftly. Shiori looks back confused right as they rush upstairs, missing them diving out the front and running away.

 “Hikigaya?” Shiori calls out, confused when Chizuru and Hisana take her hands and rushes inside.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs!” Chizuru says as they get inside and close the door behind them.

 Down the street, Haru, Ryuji and Touma run hastily away from their home and into the city.

 “I can’t believe that actually worked! She didn’t even notice us!” Haru shouts excitedly while taking his mask off. The others follow suit, but Ryuji and Touma look nervous. “I should just become a full time ninja! Hyahh!” Haru shouts while kicking in the air. 

 “I wouldn’t go that far…” Ryuji says.

 “Hey! What are you guys doing?! Let me go!” Hikigaya shouts. A mother on the other side of the street watches nervously as her child points at the group with a smile.

 “Look mommy! Ninjas!” The child says excitedly.

 “Don’t look at them, just look ahead.” The mother says while rushing away. Touma notices and sweats nervously.

 “Uh guys, we should probably lose the disguises. P-People are starting to get suspicious.” Touma says.

“What are you talking about? We only kidnapped somebody dressed in dark disguises. How is that suspicious?” Haru asks genuinely. They sweat at his naivety before Ryuji speaks up.

“Touma’s right. I’d rather not run into a peace officer. We’d definitely be in trouble then-”

 As they run, from around the corner comes an officer eating a donut. He notices the group and quickly puts his hand out while shouting at them.

 “Freeze, you!” he commands. They halt and look nervous. “What’s going on here?” He asks demandingly. The group hesitates to answer before Haru steps forward.

 “Heh, now you’re never gonna believe this, but we kidnapped our friend to-” Haru says, then the officer gets wide eyes before drawing his taser and pointing it at them.

 “Kidnapped! Put your hands up!” he shouts. Touma puts one hand up as Haru does as told when Ryuji, with a worried look, dashes towards the officer and jumps over him.

 “I’m sorry about this!” he says before he grabs the officer’s hair and, to everyone’s surprise, it comes completely off revealing a shiny bald head. Everyone is stunned as the officer panics.

 ‘His hair came off!’ Haru and Touma think as Ryuji throws the wig across the street. The officer covers his head and looks around for the wig.

 “No, my wig! You brats.. as soon as I get my wig, you’re all coming with me!” he shouts while running towards his wig. 

 “Come on!” Ryuji shouts as they rush off down the street. Haru covers his mouth to try to restrain his laughter before laughing out loud.

 “Did you see his head? It’s totally smooth! Haha!” Haru laughs.

“This really isn’t the time to be laughing…” Touma says anxiously.

 “Guys, if you don’t put me down, I’m so killing all of you!” Hikigaya shouts as they run off.

 Later that night, the girls are hanging out in Shiori’s room. She lays on her back, letting out a sigh of satisfaction with a smile on her face.

 “Ah~ That was so good! You should cook for me more often.” Shiori says, sitting up and looking at Chizuru. “I always end up suffering whenever it’s Hikigaya’s turn to cook…” she says with a droop as she thinks of a time he did, staring at a plate of food he made her that looks rather amateur. Hisana smiles at her.

 “Living together must be nice. It’s like you guys are already married.” Hisana says with a sigh. Shiori blushes, snapping her head her way.

 “No way! It’s not like that!” Shiori says, flustered. Hisana stares at her.

 “No? But you guys cook for each other, live together, always do things together, share the same interests, and-” Hisana begins listing as Shiori looks more flustered before interrupting her.

 “Okay! I get it!..” She says as Hisana smiles.

 “He is rather cute too.” She says as Shiori blushes and rubs her bangs together softly.

 “Yeah.. I guess so...”

 “So you agree?” Hisana suddenly asks. Shiori looks at her, surprised and embarrassed. “You think Hikigaya is attractive.” Hisana says as Shiori gets more flustered.

 “S-So what if I do? It’s normal for me to think my friend is attractive.” Shiori says defiantly, crossing her arms.

 “This isn’t the defense you think it is.” Lucy says smugly. Shiori blushes more and throws her hands up.

 “Why’re we only talking about me?? It’s New Year’s, shouldn’t we be visiting the Ten Court Shrine or something?” Shiori says, flustered. They giggle at her as she blushes in embarrassment. Lucy then looks at Chizuru, who nods at her as she nods back. 

 “It is getting pretty late already. We totally should hit the shrine. Could be fun.” Lucy says.

 “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!” Chizuru says happily.

 “Yeah, the others should be waiting there too, right?” Hisana says openly. Chizuru and Lucy shush Hisana, who looks confused but doesn’t resist. Shiori just shrugs, moving on.

 “Okay, I’m down. Let me just grab my jacket, it’s really cold tonight.” Shiori says.

"You mean Hikigaya's jacket that you've probably been wearing nonstop that's sitting on your bed right now on your pillow, assuming you probably sleep with it too?" Lucy says with a slight smirk as she looks at Shiori. Shiori looks at her with wide eyes as a blush rushes across her face.

"N-no..?" Shiori says back. The girls stare at her knowingly for a moment before Shiori gets up with a huff. "Whatever! It's one of the perks of living with him! I'll just go into my closet and get a different one!" Shiori says as she steps towards her closet. In that moment, Lucy and Chizuru suddenly jump on Shiori and hold her down on the bed with happy smiles. Shiori gets concerned and struggles a bit. “What are you guys doing??”

 Hisana then slowly stands over her while holding a small bottle of makeup foundation and a makeup sponge. Shiori begins to sweat and look nervous.

 “H-hey now. You don’t have to do this.” Shiori pleas as Hisana’s innocent smile gets an aura of darkness to it.

 “No, but I really want to.” She says happily before beginning to put makeup on Shiori. She screams dramatically as the girls begin their transformation.

 Shiori sits up, cooperating now, with her eyes closed as Hisana gets to work making her look nice and pretty. After some time, and once the makeup is finished, they move on to doing her hair. They take a rolling iron and press her hair, making it nice and wavy before adding hair product to hold and maintain silkiness. They even try to help her cowlick and keep her hair bump down, but no matter what they do, her hair bump stays up. So they just shrug and move on. Once her hair is done as well, they move onto the next thing.

 “Time for the final touch.” Hisana says as she pulls out a needle and some jewelry. She approaches Shiori’s ear cautiously and prepares to pierce them. “Okay, I’ll be super quick. This will probably hurt.” She says before getting ready. Right as she’s about to pierce her ear, Lucy speaks.

 “Oh, hey. I’ve been meaning to ask you about your book. How’s it been going? I haven’t heard about it in a while.” Lucy asks. Shiori looks at her without turning her head.

 “It’s fine. Not much is going on. I’ve been just running back through it to fix my own errors.” Shiori answers as Hisana pierces her ear in one motion. Hisana suddenly looks worried and looks at Shiori.

 “Oh! I totally forgot to numb it! I’m so sorry!” She says, but stops when Shiori looks at her with big eyes and a neutral expression. Hisana looks a little confused. “Uh… most people usually react to that…” Hisana says, still worried. Shiori stares at her for a moment before speaking.

 “I’m not most people.” She says as Chizuru and Lucy smirk. Hisana looks at her before smiling.

 “Okay then! That’ll make the second ear so much easier!” Hisana says happily before doing just that.

 Eventually, they finish up, Chizuru and Lucy adding last minute touches before they smile at her warmly. They then pull her over gently in front of a large mirror to see for herself.

 “See? That wasn’t so bad.” Lucy says with a smirk.

 “Just a little something extra.” Chizuru says happily. Shiori opens her eyes softly as she looks at herself in the mirror. She blushes as she admires her new look— makeup, hair and all. Her eyes begin to shine as she examines herself.

 “Guys…” Shiori whispers as smiles awkwardly and tears begin to well in her eyes. “I’m so pretty…” she says awkwardly happy as Lucy panics a little.

 “Woah woah! Don’t cry! You’ll ruin it!” Lucy says, waving her hands at her. Chizuru then shifts her attention as she lifts up a kimono for her.

 “We’re not done yet.” Chizuru says with a smile as the three smile wide. Shiori changes as Lucy ties up her waist bow. Shiori looks at herself and smiles before doing a little spin.

 “It’s so cute!” She says happily while looking at the others. “Chizuru! Where’d you even get this?” Shiori asks as Chizuru puts a finger to her lips.

 “Secret.” She winks before smiling, admiring her friend as the others smile in satisfaction. “But don’t worry, I brought one for everyone!” Chizuru says with a smile as Hisana holds up two more. Shiori looks surprised.

 “Even Lucy?” Shiori asks. Lucy smirks and shakes her head.

“Oh no, that’s way too soft for me. I’m just support.” Lucy says as Chizuru smiles awkwardly.

 “Actually…” she says. Lucy turns around with a surprised look as Chizuru pulls a third kimono from her tote bag. Lucy blushes and gets upset.

 “No way! I am not wearing that.” Lucy steps back.

 “Come on! If I have to, then you do too.” Shiori says.

 “I’m sure Ryuji would like it.” Hisana says.

 “Nope.” Lucy says while crossing her arms. The girls look at each other before looking back at Lucy. Suddenly, they tackle Lucy to the floor in a big scuffle trying to get her to put it on.