#!secretsanta

[monokurai]

[dancapa]

"Kido-san." A respectful head bow accompanies the proffering of a wrapped, rectangular. Compliments of her parents' credit card, Hiyori's at least opted for a more expensive box of chocolates; given that in their short acquaintanceship, she's yet to know much about the hooded leader's likes and dislikes, she figures that this is a safe bet. "Merry Christmas... and thank you for everything you've done, especially with looking after Hibiya this summer!"

It still feels a bit … unusual to see Hiyori so polite, not that it’s a bad thing, of course not! Kido has no intention of holding it against her, or wanting to change it, or to call the girl rude, no no. It’s just that she simply isn’t used to it, and whenever Hibiya or her call her “-san”, Kido’s caught off guard. “Hm?” She’s caught even more off guard when she sees the younger girl holding onto a gift, that’s obviously addressed towards her. Gosh, that did look expensive, wasn’t it a waste to spend so much on Kido? It’d be rude to ask Hiyori that, though. She’d surely scold the leader. Ah, well. 

With a smile of gratitude, she accepted the box, returning Hiyori’s earlier bow. The older one blushes, yet again, still a bit awkward when receiving gifts and gratitude. The paper looks way too expensive to be torn, but that’s not the point, right? As she’s unwrapping, Kido finally replies to Hiyori’s words: “I… I didn’t do that much and family looks out for each other, right?” It was only natural. “That includes looking after you, too”, Kido added, gently patting Hiyori’s head, unable to explain why exactly but it seemed right to do. “Merry Christmas to you, too, and thank you a lot. I’m really happy to have you around.” Chocolate was a very safe bet indeed, it’s even her favorite kind!

[dancapa]

He particularly wants to get this gift giving over quickly, though not for any fault on Kido's part--rather, the uncharacteristically dishevelled wrapping paper concealing this gift was the only reason he was able to look at it without feeling the urge to look away. It contains a pair of flip-top gloves, the mitten-like cover resembling a cat's head. "M-merry Christmas, Kido-san." Hopefully touching these things would be worth it.

Kido doesn’t blame Hibiya at all for wanting to get this over with quick. She can tell, she can relate. She’s a bit embarrassed herself, never expecting anything in return when handing out gifts so it comes as a surprise to receive something. The gesture itself already moves the leader, causing her to smile. This was enough for her to be awfully happy already, and she finally managed to express it. “Ah, Hibiya, thank you so much... merry Christmas to you as well.” 

Slowly, she began to unwrap, noticing Hibiya looking away more and more the closer she got to fully unwrapping the gift. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to make this quick, to just tear the paper apart and take a full look at it later. As embarrassing as it might be. The leader’s cheeks flush a light shade of pink upon looking at the gloves. Did everyone agree on getting her cat gifts? Not that she minded, not at all! After all, Kido would never buy this for herself. “... these are adorable”, Kido mutters, not realizing she is already putting them on, obviously happy and overjoyed. “I’ll make sure to take good care of them.”

[dancapa]

The final round has come! This time, the box is rather large, though extremely lightweight. Inside rests a full scale drawing of Kido on the ground, legs crossed while many cats surround her. The image is rendered rather beautifully, multiple art mediums used to bring the drawing to life. Pen and markers were used the most, though colored pencil can be seen in the background. Attached are two cat clips with magnets and a note: " I hope you like it, Tsubomi-chan! " - Your Secret Santa.

Finally, Kido couldn’t hold back her tears. What did she do to deserve all these gifts? That almost made her feel bad for not getting the person she pulled too much. The picture appeared to be a bit blurry thanks to her tears, and Kido was careful to not have any of them drip on it. Alas, she placed it onto the table in front her, wiped her face and revealed a huge smile on it. “I like it a lot”, she whispered, still moved, as if the gift giver was to hear her answer. Maybe they were around, who knew, and she had yet to notice? 

Her determination to thank whoever was behind this fueled once more, Kido kept staring at the picture, amazed by how beautiful it looked. She could only imagine what it must be like to draw that well, to manage different kinds of mediums like this. The clips appeared to be secondary, for was the picture much more worth to the girl. Of course, she didn’t mean to value the clips any less, but self-made things and all, you know? Kido keps smiling, her tears finally coming to a halt. 

    “Thanks so much...!” 

Who would call her Tsubomi-chan, though?

[dancapa]

Round two of presents! This time, it seems the wrapping paper itself has been molded to look like a cat. Inside, however, is a calendar that only has kittens and the like on it. A note rests on top. " Merry Cat-mas! ( Ahaha, guess that isn't the best joke, but pretend it was, okay? ) - Your Secret Santa

   “Ah!” It was easy to tell how much care had been put into this present. Starting with the shape, Kido was already moved to tears by thinking about how much effort her Secret Santa put into this. Whoever was behind this, she had to make sure to thank them appropriately. Hands were shaking as she slowly unwrapped the gift - it was such a shame to destroy the shape, but probably not the gift giver’s intent to have her put it to the side like this, just stare at it because the wrapping was too beautiful to be ruined. “I’m sorry, kitty”, the girl whispered to herself, or rather the wrapping paper, as it lost it’s form, revealing the content inside. 

Another sounds of delight escaped the leader’s lips, eyes sparkled again and the pun truly wasn’t the best, yet it made her chuckle. Kido was probably too bubbly from getting this, feeling so giddy even one of Kano’s bad jokes might make her laugh. Okay, that was a stretch. A wide smile graced her feature and she was tempted to flip through the calendar and look at each pic, however, that’d spoil it, right? So, for starters, Kido simply put it aside where she could at least look at the adorable cover until it was finally about time to put this calendar to use. 

Suddenly, New Year’s couldn’t come any faster,

[dancapa]

well, it seems a box has been left at the door of the hideout! it's addressed to one ms tsubomi kido. inside is a set of cups with little tails and a cat face in front along with cat-shaped salt and pepper shakers. inside is a note with neat handwriting and a little doodle in the corner that reads: " Merry Christmas! - From, your Secret Santa! "

Ah, she had not expected presents, at all. Well, granted, in one corner of her mind Kido was hoping for some - she loved to receive gifts, after all - but had a hard time accepting them when offered. However, just leaving it by her door, no name attached, made it hard and too late to deny it. A tad too excited, the girl opened the box - very carefully still - and her eyes sparkled upon viewing the contents. “Ahhh~!”, she almost yelled in delight, but managed to hold any louder noises of content in. 

Grinning from one ear to another, Kido carefully looked at each item, analyzed every inch of it, handling it so carefully as if she was afraid one wrong touch might break them. Excited to use and present those wonderful gifts, Kido hummed a happy tune to herself, very quickly finding a neat place for shakers and cups in the kitchen. If anybody dared to break them … no, she wasn’t going to think about that.

    “Thank you so much whoever got me these”, the girl whispered to herself, one cup in hand and waiting for water to heat up to pour the very first tea into one of them.