My, My, Imai! Vol. I

Imai:
It was Christmas Eve, and as per usual everyone was allowed to open a single present each.

Imai sat seated on a dais with her brother, almost as though they were a king and queen watching over the festivities. The room of the house in which their huge tree lay was just large enough to fit the cursed members and their immediate family. It was decorated with lively blinking lights and sparkling garland. The tree, however, was decorated in nothing but white, with candles carefully lit on the branches; the presents that lay underneath were in great abundance as well.

Imai looked as though she'd seen better days; her Holiday spirit had been reduced by her knowledge of her feelings, and that she would only be able to give a single gift... To the man she was feeling so strongly for. She was unable to leave the Main Compound, and thus she was unable to shop for Christmas gifts. But she had been able to weasel one gift into the compound via Shigure.

But she had mixed feelings about the gift as she sat next to her brother, doing her best not to look at Hatori. She was dressed in the dress that Ayame had made for her, and in the lighting of the room, the deep, Christmas green of the dress paired with the lovely 'up-do' Ayame had done with her hair got her a good number of choice gazes.

Imai wasn't sure if she should have bought so much for Hatori, but it was too late, now... The gift had been bought and wrapped and was already sitting under the tree.

Shigure:
Shigure had been more than happy to help Imai get a gift, and had been more than happy to keep it a secret. So, once it was time for everyone to open their single gift, he was the first one at the base of the tree, grabbing a medium-sized box in decorative paper and sparkling ribbons.

A present for him? No. A present for Hatori.

"Haa-san! Catch!"

He tossed the gift to the doctor with a grin... He knew what it was and that it wasn't breakable. What he DIDN'T know was how Imai felt for the third member of the Mabudachi Trio.

Imai:
The tag on the box read 'To: Hatori, From: Santa.' And inside was a rather wonderful gift... More like FIVE gifts, actually.

Under the white tissue paper was a pair of dark grey dress-pants, a finely pressed white dress-shirt, a dark burgundy tie, a matching black leather belt, and a box of fine-ground gourmet coffee... Chocolate flavored. The clothing was the correct size, to boot. And only Shigure would know just what sizes to get the doctor.

In all actuality, Shigure hadn't picked out the gifts at all. It had been IMAI who had picked the gifts from a catalogue and Shigure had been the one to brave the last-minute Holiday traffic to FETCH it.

Ah! But that wasn't all that was in the box! Neatly placed beneath all of the gifts was a small card written in pretty handwriting. 'This hot coffee and warm clothes; will warm you up from head to toes; With favorite drink and handsome look; I thank you for the lovely book.'

If that didn't give away who 'Santa' was, then Hatori was blind in BOTH eyes! At least Imai had been the one to wrap the present in secret; if Shigure had ever seen what she'd written, Hatori and Imai would never hear the end of it!

Shigure:
"Ni~i~ice! You must've been a damn good boy this year, Ha'ri! Coffee AND some hot new duds!"

He was feigning surprise at Hatori's gift, and everybody seemed to think that it had been Shigure who'd played 'Secret Santa' with the good doctor. At least that threw everybody else off as to who the 'Real Santa' was.

Hatori:
Hatori had no idea on what to say, for he wasn't even expecting to receive a present from anyone that wasn't Ayame or Shigure. Every Christmas went like that and he would have had a gift if he had not given it to Imai early-- Though, perhaps for the better that was as Akito was present. There had been enough chaos already along those lines.

"..."

The doctor stared almost dumbly down at the present in his hands, almost as if gift receiving was something completely foreign to him (and it was). The card did in fact let him know who they had come from despite Shigure's antics. Wintry eyes fixed on the dog briefly, then over to where the head of the house sat with his sister, who was the epitome of Christmas beauty in those perfectly colored robes.

However, his gaze didn't linger on anyone too long and a "thank you" was murmured as he worked to put the lid back onto the box that had been tossed at him moments before.

Hatori had given nothing to anyone other than his usual silk rose to Ayame and a catalogue page torn from a random magazine with an order form for a chastity belt for Shigure.

He was silent again.

Imai:
Despite herself, Imai watched as Hatori opened his gift; she didn't expect him to jump up and down with glee, but she also didn't expect the confused look that crossed his face.

The night continued to wear on, and Imai did not move from her chair save for the few festive dances that Shigure was forcing her into. Despite her typically jovial nature around the dog, she seemed completely out of it as she was whirled around by his less-than-graceful dancing. She was passed between Ayame and Shigure, the two only seeming to drag her around like a limp doll than leading any delightful dances.

Akito:
As Akito watched his sister get dragged about, he decided that it was far past his bed-time. He was exhausted, and didn't want to look at the family any longer than he really had to. The gifts were opened, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves (which only served to piss him off, anyway). Standing, he made an announcement over the festive music.

"I am retiring for the evening. I expect you all to enjoy yourselves to the fullest extent, and I will see you in the morning."

Only a polite statement saying that he was tired of 'feeling the love' and that they should all 'keep it down' while he slept.

Imai:
Imai only looked slightly cheered up when the tail-end of her brother's robe disappeared behind the doorway to the room. Eventually, she pulled herself away from Shigure and Ayame long enough to breathe and made her way over to a darker corner. Gazing out of the window, she tried to ignore the sounds of laughter mingled with the Christmas songs that softly played. She wanted to leave, but she had an image to maintain as the secondary host of the party. If she left too early, she'd surely get beaten by Akito.

Hatori:
For a little while, Imai had the peace she wanted tucked away in that dark corner, but it wasn't for too long before she was found out by Hatori. Two of the three Mabudachi Trio had wandered to mingle with others of the family, leaving Hatori to be on his own as well for a bit.

His shadow blended in with that of the corner's, his approach only given away by the steady steps of his stride. A respectful amount of distance was kept between the two of them when he came to a stop and the unwrapped gift box tucked securely under one arm. Imai had been avoiding him even before all night at the party and he wanted to know why exactly.

"Have you eaten yet tonight?" he wondered without showing any particular emotion, starting off the confrontation with simple small talk to keep the ice around them from being too thick.

Imai:
She could feel his approach before she had even heard his footsteps resounding behind her. She had hoped that she could avoid him longer, but she knew that it was futile; she and Hatori had already stepped in too deep to be able to simply ignore each other without question. Imai kept her back to him, only allowing his eyes to find her back.

She didn't answer for a few moments, as though she hadn't heard his words. But she finally turned to face him, looking up at him as though she were very deeply hurt and confused. One only had to wonder what had happened to make her look so utterly miserable.

"Yes... I ate before the party.."

Her voice had changed... Reverting back to the soft and shy tone that she had once taken with him before they knew each other.

Imai swallowed the heavy lump that rose in her throat and diverted her gaze from him, lowering her chin. If she didn't look at him, then she could pretend that things weren't any different than they had been before. And things WEREN'T any different, but Imai's feelings behind it WERE.

Hatori:
. . .Hatori had never since the day Imai decided to be herself around him received that sort of treatment. Needless to say, it was a bit harder to handle when it was right up before him rather than in Imai's head behind his back.

"Are you angry at me for not saying a better 'thank you' for the presents? I didn't think it wise in front of Akito-san, but it doesn't mean I don't like it."

He paused a moment, as if saying more than five words in a single sentence winded him.

Hatori was also well aware that this small talk wasn't getting them any closer to addressing the problem at hand right away, but the cold sort of tension that had settled its way around them now was far different from the peaceful sort both of them enjoyed from each other's company. Hatori didn't like how this felt and it surprised him a little to find himself being a little bit more concerned over the matter than he originally thought he was.

Imai:
Imai looked as though she were ready to bolt again... As though she'd run for the door if she didn't knock people down in the process. But she remained where she stood, his words bringing her eyes back up to him again.

".. N.. No..! I.. I'm not angry with you at all, Hatori-san..! I..."

She had a good guess as to why he'd come to her in the first place, and while it was surprising to think that he'd come to approach her with such a thing, she decided that beating around the bush was only going to get them nowhere all that much faster.

Imai's eyelids fluttered slightly when he gaze broke away from his. She felt pinned... As though he was a wolf stalking her like a helpless animal; his gaze was so intense that she couldn't look into it for very long. She remained quiet, drawing and releasing her breath as though to steady herself before finally speaking.

"I... I'm sorry I ran out on you like that last night... I... I just..."

She stammered over her words... Unable to find a way to finish it without telling him the very reason she had run away. She couldn't tell him. There was no way that she could possibly relate to him what she felt for him. Her mind was reeling, and her face flushed red as it had the night previous. Despite looking hurt and confused... She also looked horrified.

She finished her sentence.

"... I.. I'm sorry."

Hatori:
So far, nothing had been accomplished and the dissatisfaction was etched all over even the most stony features of the dragon's face. He was still left with questions that he didn't bother asking, simply staring down at Imai with those heavy eyes the way he always did that could no doubt bring a grown man to his knees with the intensity.

"It's all right," he said a moment later, tone still void of any sort of feelings, even though he didn't quite understand still.

"The door will never be locked."

Imai might have tried hard to shut him out of her life, but he wouldn't resort to that so easily on her. He was certain that the girl had her reasons and he respected her enough to give her whatever sort of privacy she needed. Despite the fact that it directly involved him, he still didn't see it as any of his business.

"Thank you for the presents."

He turned away then, moving to leave her in the shadows she had retreated into for the rest of the evening with no intention of his own to socialize more with anyone else present.