The Twelve Disastrous Days Of Christmas

December 13th

And then it clicked in her mind.

Her eyes brightened and she stood up from her desk, nearly knocking over her wheely chair in the process.

Oh my god, I need to tell Chiyopipi!

She pulled out her phone and dialed the number.

Come on, it's the weekend, she has to pick up!

...

Click!

"Hello...? Mi-"

"Chiyopipi! I had the coolest idea!"

"Hah? Miko-chan, what are you-"

"You need to help me with this! It's gonna be hella awesome and I need you to-"

"Whoa, slow down! Hahaha, I can barely understand you!"

Aiura took a deep breath and fanned her face.

"Okay! Okay, sorry. Yeah, I was excited and I started going! Alrighty, I had an idea! Wait, what day is it?"

"Hold on, lemme check!" Aiura waited as Yumehara checked her calendar. "It's December 13, why?"

"Good! We still have time!"

"Wait, wait, time for what?"

"To invite everyone, and get things ready, and call-"

"Wait, invite everyone?" Yumehara gasped dramatically over the phone. "You don't mean...?"

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssss! We should throw a Christmas party!"

"Ooohhhh that's a great idea! We can invite our friends from class!"

"And we can paint our nails, and have cookies, and-"

"Oh, it'll be so much fun!"

Aiura giggled and spun around, ignoring the fact that she was freaking out, alone in her room.

"Yes! So you're on board?"

"Of course! Oh, I'll call Kokomi-chan!"

Aiura nodded, again forgetting that she was alone in her room.

"Okay okay okay! You do that, I'll call Toripori and TouTou!"

There was a few seconds of silence as Yumehara tried to recall who exactly she was talking about. It took her a moment to sift through Aiura's affectionate nicknames to understand what the heck she was saying.

And soon as she realized it, she mentally cringed.

"A-Alright, bye!"

"Bye-bye!"

Aiura hopped up and down in her room, dialing the next number.

Yumehara hung up and looked at her phone, beginning to dial Teruhashi's number.

The creepy blond kid and... Oh, Toritsuka!

Yumehara remembered their short stint in the woods for his so-called occult club.

Now that Kaidou-kun is, well... I guess I could say hi to Toritsuka while I'm there. Oh! It's ringing...

Click!

"Hello? Chiyo-chan?"

"Ahh! Kokomi-chan! Do you have plans for Christmas?"

"Oh, well I'm spending the 24th with my family, why?"

...

"Okay, I think we can work with that! Miko-chan just called me and told me we should have a Christmas party! We can invite our friends from class, and I think she's inviting a few friends, too! Pleeeeeease tell me you can come! It won't be as fun without you!"

"Um, sure! Do you have anything specific planned?"

"Uh, not yet, but we can talk about it at school?"

Teruhashi smiled.

"Sounds good! Oh, I should invite Saiki-kun!"

"Isn't he kinda... antisocial...?"

Teruhashi thought for a bit, but he'd always been at least somewhere in the background when they gathered, so she decided it was fine.

"Err, yeah, a little, but I'm sure he'll love to come!"

"Alright, you can call him, me and Miko-chan will plan out the rest, and we can talk at school?"

"Mhm, bye!"

"Bye!"

Teruhashi sat down on her bed, looking at her phone.

A Christmas party sounds so fun! I'm sure Saiki-kun will be free to come. I mean, yeah, he's always all grumpy and mopey, but he always ends up coming anyway.

...

Click.

"Hey, Saiki-kun! I wanted to invite you to a Christmas party! We're planning to invite our friends from class, and I was calling to invite you to come! I'm sure we'll have plenty of sweets, and-"

'Sorry. I can't hear you. I think the phone's battery is running out.'

"You can't? Wait, isn't this your home pho-"

And he hung up.

"Huh."

She sat back down on her bed, placing her phone down next to her. She expected as much.

She also expected Saiki's arrival.

Saiki looked around, hoping his mother hadn't heard his little "conversation" with Teruhashi.

Okay, maybe that was a little cruel, but I'm not getting stuck spending Christmas with them again. Finally, I'll have one year of peace. One day. Just Christmas Eve!

Saiki sighed and started to go upstairs before his mother stopped him.

"Ku-chan, who were you talking to?"

Her tone was friendly, but her eyes were sharp.

'Nendou,' he quickly answered, hoping his lies weren't overly transparent.

"Alright, honey, I'll call you for dinner," she said, watching as he departed.

She waited until he was out of earshot to dial a number of her own.

"Ahh, silly Ku-chan. I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to spend Christmas with his friends."

...

Click!

"Hello?"

"Ah, hello, this is Mrs. Kaidou, yes?"

"Ah, you can call me Rikona!"

"Okay, Rikona-chan! I wanted to tell you about a little Christmas party that our boys were planning."

"Oh, your son Kusuo? He's such a smart boy! It'll be a pleasure to have him. But how come he didn't call Shun instead of you calling me?"

"Oh, well Ku-chan is very shy, and I just wanted to let you know," she said, smiling.

So shy...

"Okay, I'll let Shun know! Goodbye!"

"Bye!"

Kurumi hung up the phone.

Ku-chan is going to have such a nice Christmas with his friends... How lovely...

How sinister.