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"You're not seriously spending Christmas alone, are you?" Nanashi's eyes are wide and disbelieving through his unruly fringe of hair, and Sora fidgets uncomfortably under his gaze."My parents can't make a return trip home simply so I am not alone during the holiday season, Nanashi," he scowls, and looks over his shoulder with a glare at the place where Nanashi's other friends - the ones he brought with him today - are looking around the planetarium. He doesn't want this particular set of Nanashi hang-ons to overhear this conversation; Miumi is almost overbearing in her kindness and Natsukage, for all his aloofness, is in the end what Sora can only call The Mum Friend. He walks around half the time with the air of an exasperated baby sitter when Nanashi is dragging him around."Nanase," Sora's reminded gently, and blinks that he's forgotten again, when he'd thought he was getting better at that. It's already been a few months since Nanashi - Nanase - has dropped the nickname as he prepares to graduate highschool, and Sora should be used to it by now. "But they're your family, right? Shouldn't they want to spend the holidays with you?"Sora shrugs. "I have the stars," he says, and points up at the planetarium roof.From the flat look Nanase gives him, this neither impresses nor reassures him at all. Sora can't blame him for that - even as they had left his mouth, the words had felt hollow.Personally, he blames Nanase. Before he'd come barging into his private solace and into his life, he'd never truly care for company or whether or not he was alone, even at a 'special' time of year. But Nanase had this habit of completely ignoring boundaries - or not even registering them in the first place...and this led to him visiting Sora again and again and over again, and then eventually, over the years, dragging other people in with him as if he could make all his friends be friends by sheer association.It was a trait that was part of Nanase's charms, his weird charisma, and Sora would be lying if he said otherwise - but that didn't mean he always had to like it."Well..." Nanase tilts his head back, considering with a hum that draws Natsukage's eyes. "We were all getting together for Christmas - why don't you just join us?"The abject terror Sora feels at that thought must show on his face, because Nanase looks concerned, and then laughs."Not too many people," he reassures. "And you could just show up for the food and leave, ha ha!"Walking up, Natsukage rolls his eyes, and sends Sora a look like can you believe this guy is for real? The really sad thing is that he can. This is just what Nanase is like, he never changes."He is right, though," Natsukage says. "A few of us were going to get together for a dinner - us here, my sister, some people from around here in Coco Alley, some people from Break Passage." He looks at Sora. "One more mouth to feed won't be too bad, especially not since we're already catering for the Kujoh's."Once more, Nanase laughs. "Shiren appreciates our custom," he says, cheerfully, and Sora blinks, because he recognises that name."Is ramen really a Christmas food?" He asks, and beside him Miumi nods very seriously."So, what do you think?" Nanase's eyes are bright and excited, and Sora has to look away for a second before just that small glance convinces him to say yes without so much as a second thought."It sounds..." he hesitates, stumbling over his words. "It sounds like...it might be nice."Nanase practically cheers, and even Natsukage is smiling for once - but that doesn't help Sora's apprehension much. Miumi seems to understand this, because she reaches out to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder."This will be interesting!" She says, and Sora blinks at her choice of words. He thought she'd been getting better with her Japanese, but maybe not?"Don't you mean fun?" he asks.Miumi sparkles at him. "Nope!" She says.Sora closes his eyes briefly, feeling the beginnings of a headache start to stir. "Wonderful," he groans.-x-The next week is filled with nothing but activity - apparently, agreeing to be a guest at this get together that Nanase is organising means agreeing to act as cog in the machine that is the setup of the whole thing. Sora wouldn't mind this overmuch, except for the fact that it means that people are coming in and out of his planetarium at all hours of the day, running all over town, bringing in winter cold and noise with them.He's had his heaters turned up to nearly max for days and he still doesn't feel warm enough. One day, bringing him in lunch - which apparently Nanase asked her to do? - a girl called Mekami barges in through the planetarium doors, shivers, and promptly glares at him."How are you living in this?" She asks, torn between what seems to be incredulity and rage.Sora can only blink. "What?" He asks, and she scoffs, shoving the brown paper bag she was holding into his arms. Before he can get another word out, she's clambering up on the bookshelves he has placed against the walls, and is reaching up to fiddle with the cover of his heating system."Hey - " he goes to protest, but she ignores him with a happy little sound of triumph as she drops the cover, letting it clatter to the ground. She then turns back around and peers into the guts of the heater."Hmm," she says, and frowns down at him. "This is a little too technical for me. I work mostly with code, not mechanisms." She bites her lip, and Sora can feel a tick forming in his brow."Then what do you think you are doing," he says flatly, and the girl blinks at him, apparently not even registering his words."Oh, I've got it," she mutter under her breath, seemingly to herself. "Just give me a sec, okay?" She hops down from where she stands on his bookshelves, and taps at the custom BitPhone she has over one eye. "Oi, Kujoh," she says. "Get over here, would you? I need your help." She taps at the air before her again, twice, at the keyboard only she can see - cancelling the call and then sending her location data, Sora can only assume.Phone call done, she nods, and turns to Sora with a smile. He raises and eyebrow at her. "And who are you?" He asks."Ah - Hiyu Mekami," she says. "I'm a friend of Nanase's. I'm helping organise this Christmas thing, too.""I gathered," Sora says dryly. "Which Kujoh did you just summon over to my house?""Akitaka," she says easily. "He's not so good with technical stuff either, but so long as I'm telling him what to do, he should be able to brute force it easily enough, and we'll get your heating system working perfectly once again!" She shoots him a thumbs up, and looks so pleased with her logic that Sora can't bring himself to point out that he could just call up an actual professional - though he supposes, so close to Christmas, that it might be hard for one to get out to him quickly, anyway.So, "Thanks," he says aloud, and smiles back at her. "Though I hadn't really noticed that it had stopped working."Mekami frowns at him. "Didn't you notice it felt colder?"Sora shrugs helplessly. He generally always feels colder than most people, though he doesn't say that out loud, not sure he's quite ready to be sharing that with a girl he met not even ten minutes earlier, even if she does seem to just exude that same sort of aura that all the people who spent a significant amount of time around Nanase seemed to possess.A new gust of snowy wind billows into the planetarium, coiling around the two of them as Akitaka Kujoh walks in through the doors, hurriedly closing them tight behind them once more. He is, for once, wearing what Sora would consider sensible clothing, and it's like witnessing an actual Christmas miracle just walking through his front doors.He rubs a hand through the back of his hair as both Sora and Mekami stare at him, and shifts uncomfortably in place. "You said you needed me?" He asks, and Mekami points up at the heating unit, still cracked open."I need to make use of your muscles," she says. "Before Sora freezes to death."Sora jumps - her use of his first name startling him, even if she had tacked a -san onto the end of it - and Akitaka blinks. "Huh," he says, in a tone of dawning realisation. "It is kind of cold in here, actually."Their words fade into technobabble nonsense and background noise, and Sora stops paying attention, still feeling his heart beat faster than usual from shock and in a slight daze.Outside of his parents, only Nanase called him Sora. The first time they had met, Sora had been a lot...haughtier, than he was now, and his introdution had led to Nanase - Nanashi at the time - to insist on calling him by his given name only.It's your own, right? He'd said, looking strangely determined for who he was at the time, especially when comparing the Nanase he knew now to that Nanashi, why would I call you by any name except your own?Nanase had always operated only on his own brand of logic, so Sora hadn't fought it, in the end. Besides - though he'd never admitted it out loud - that familliarity the use of his first name created felt nice. Felt warm.Those two were working to fix his heating system, but at that moment, Sora placed his hand on his chest, where his heartbeat thrummed - and felt nothing but aching warmth.-x-Christmas evening, and Momori Ono comes to pick Sora up. He recognises her, knows her at least a little, which is reassuring - he hadn't known that she owned a car, but given that she sometimes took her clothes to competitions and exhibitions he supposes it makes sense.She helps him into his seat and folds up his wheelchair, placing it in the back easily. Sora's gaze takes note of the tracks made for wheels and to lock them in on the metal of the floor, and Momori smiles at him."For clothing racks," she clarifies. "Keeps them from rolling around when I'm driving, and having a place to hang the clothes up rather than folding them keeps them from wrinkling in transit." Her tone and expression suggest that wrinkles in clothing is, in her opinion, a capital crime, and Sora can only nod sagely at the wisdom she shares with him.His curiosity is piqued, though, as Momori shuts the back doors and makes her way to the driver's seat. His wheelchair isn't the only thing back there - parcels wrapped in light pastels and tied off with gold ribbon sit innocuously on top of one another, and, squinting, Sora's almost certain that on one label he can see the kanji that make up his name.Slipping into the car and slipping a key into the ignition, Momori spots where he's looking, and grins. "You've got a good eye," she says, and pulls out onto the road."I do spend most of my time in a planetarium," Sora points out. "I'm good at looking at things."Momori laughs. "I'm sure you are," she agrees. "You looking forward to tonight?"Honestly, he really is. His apprehension from when Nanase had first presented the idea has all but drained away - and only excitement remains now, excitement that has steadily built up over the week. His last fear, that he wouldn't know anyone except Nanase, Natsukage and Miumi has all but faded - Momori is a familiar face, and he and Hiyu have spent the last few days conversing on Mutter when not busy doing other things.This will be the first Christmas in almost two years that he hasn't spent alone, he thinks. Two years since his parents decided he was old enough to be fine if they never came back home at all. Sora doesn't even know what country they're in right now - he rarely bothers to keep up with their itinerary at all, anymore."Yes," he says aloud. "I am truly looking forward to it."Momori smiles, gently. "Good," she says. "I was getting pretty worried about you, all locked up in your dark planetarium by yourself. I'm glad you're letting your friends drag you out of your shell a bit."The car is dark, so if Sora blushes at that - well. No one has to know but him, right?-x-The place the dinner is being held at is Break Passage, which would terrify Sora a lot more if he didn't know that pretty much all of the Kujohs were going to be there. Getting out of the car and back into his wheelchair with some help from Momori takes only a few minutes, and by that time he's already spotted several heads of that signature red hair moving about the place.Momori smiles at him as she resettles his blanket across his lap. "You good?" She asks, and Sora nods."Mm," he says. "I think I'm going to wheel around a bit."She winks at him. "Have fun," she says. "I'll be around when it's time to give gifts." With that, Momori is off, and Sora watches as she wanders over to where Shiren is struggling with her arms full of ramen boxes.Sora surveys the gathering as he wheels himself deeper into the warehouse where it's being held at - Nanase and the others really went all out in making it look a lot less like a plain steel shed, just supersized, and a lot more like a Christmas wonderland. Garlands and wreaths dot the walls, with streamers and curtains hanging the distance between. Tinsel sparkles in rainbow colours under strings of fairy lights, and fake snow dots the floors around the corners of the warehouse. He can see Miumi's touch everywhere in this, and indeed she's grinning proudly by the open doorway as he wheels himself through it."Welcome!" She says, and bends down to give him a brief hug. In the spirit of the seaosn, Sora allows it, reaching up to give a swift hug of his own in return. "Merry Christmas!""Merry Christmas, Miumi," he says, and smiles as she waves him off to greet the next lot of guests. He makes his way deeper into the warehouse, and spots Natsukage - glaring at someone off in the distance. Following his gaze, Sora sees Nanase - kneeling by a young girl, dressed in lilacs a shade lighter than her hair."Who is that?" he asks, and Natsukage jumps as he comes up from behind."Don't do that," he scowls, and Sora smirks - his wheels all but glide across all surfaces, he's practically silent in motion. "And that's Nanase's new friend," he adds. There's a tone to his voice that has Sora raising his eyebrows - he doesn't look happy."She's a little young," Sora agrees. "But Nanase doesn't really seem to get bored by friends that aren't his age." He loves to listen to that grandmother with the cats talk, after all, and those twins that Sora has banned from ever entering his planetarium again are frequent playmates of Nanase's.If anything, Natsukage's scowl deepens. "It's not that," he says. "Something about her - I feel like I know her. She feels dangerous."Sora blinks, and looks at the pile of layered knit cardigans and messy braids that barely come up past Nanase's waist. "I can see that," he says dryly, and Natsukage rolls his eyes."Don't mock me, Kamui," he says. "I know I'm not wrong."Natsukage generally has good instincts, but even this is beyond Sora's limits in willingness to believe, so he simply shrugs in an attempt to let the subject drop peacefully. "Merry Christmas," he says."Yeah, you too," Natsukage says, and raises two fingers up in a peace sign. "I'm gonna go pull Miumi away from that door before she catches her death of cold."Sora glances back over his shoulder, where he can see Miumi still stands just outside, amongst the wind and the snow. "Probably a good idea," he allows, and nods goodbye to Natsukage."Sora!" A voice calls, and he glances over to see Hiyu sitting by herself at a table laden with boxes of ramen. Two empty ones are stacked up beside her, and she's already got chopsticks in a third. "Come eat with me!"He makes his way over, and graciously takes the offered fresh box from Hiyu's hand. He snaps his chopsticks, and they each say their thanks for the meal before digging in. Shiren's ramen tastes, as usual, amazing, even if it isn't exactly what he would consider traditional Christmas fare."Doesn't it look cool in here?" She asks. "They really went all out, huh?"Sora nods, and swallows his mouthful of food. "It's impressive," he says. "Especially the amount of people that turned up."Hiyu grins. "I'm calling that the Nanase Yoshi Effect," she says. "He's like a magnet for outcasts and weirdos.""I resent that remark on my character," Sora says, lightly, so she knows he's joking."Well, I guess you are pretty normal for someone under Nanase's thrall," Hiyu goes on jokingly, making a show of squinting at him. "My Mystic Eye protects me from the side effects, you see."Sora tilts his head and takes the opportunity to look over Hiyu's BitPhone in greater detail. "It looks different," he realises. He hadn't ever really gotten a close up look at it before, but even so he can tell it isn't the same."Momori added some cool cosmetic stuff to the aesthetic design," Hiyu says, and nearly preens. "It's my gift from her." She nods to where Nanase still stands with the purple girl, this time with Natsukage and Akitaka standing with him. "That coat he's wearing now is a gift from her too; she's been going around playing Santa since you got here."Nanase's coat is green now, Sora realises. Greens and blues blending into turquoise, instead of his usual pink and white. It makes him look older. "Suits him," he says out loud, and Hiyu hums her agreement."I convinced Momori to leave your gift with me," she confides, and Sora stares. "Told her you'd be coming over here soon, so she may as well lighten her load a bit." With that, before he can fully react, she reaches under the table for a parcel he hadn't noticed, and drops it unceremoniously into his lap.With her expectant eyes on him and his own curiosity bubbling up, Sora tugs the bow off the ribbon loose and gently pulls apart the layers of paper.Velvet, is the first thing he sees. Velvet lined and edged with satin, bright twinkling silver on a dark crushed blue midnight. An image of the stars and sky, folded neatly and wrapped away - a blanket the same size as the one he holds across his lap now, but created with care and personality.Hiyu ooohs, and pushes away from the table and out of her chair to help him rearrange his new blanket in place of his old, which she folds and places on the far side of the table.Sora reaches down, and smooths out the wrinkles that had formed on the material as it creased on his lap - his fingers brush over Saggitarius, and he smiles."Merry Christmas, Hiyu," he says as he looks up.Her grin is nearly blinding. "Merry Christmas, Sora."