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Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 8:02 am
by Mirage_GSM

Seasonal Greatings everyone!

It's time for the annual Secret Santa!
The prompts have been sent out; so I'm opening the collection thread now.

As always using this thread to post your story is encouraged but not mandatory. If you decide to post it elsewhere I will just put up the link the the story in here.

For those interested the previous years' story collection threads can be found here:
Secret Santa 2021 - Story collection
Secret Santa 2020 - Story collection
Secret Santa 2019 - Story collection
Secret Santa 2018 - Story collection
Secret Santa 2017 - Story collection

Happy Holidays!
XPND.Dev

Index
From Asoko_Desu for Feurox - No time like the Presents
From Feurox for Grayest - A Glimmer and It's Gone
From Grayest for Lap - Strawberry Lemonade
From Lap for XPND.Dev - Dashing through the Snow

From Craftyatom for Mirage_GSM - Worlds Apart
From Mirage_GSM for NoticeMeOppai - Feels Just Like Home

From brythain for ProfAllister - Stripping

From XXX for YYY - ZZZ


Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:46 pm
by Asoko_Desu
re: Secret Santa 2022 - S13 submission — “No Time Like The Presents”

For Feurox

See end for the prompt.

Apologies for typos / continuity errors - I stand in the company of giants.

_____________________________________________________________________

The ryokan was old - tucked away in the woods by a hot spring, well to the north of Yamaku.

The year had been a long one for all; approaching the winter break, everyone was eager to blow off some steam - one of Hisao’s cohort had offered to cover the cost of a few days’ lodging at an inexpensive ryokan (they had apparently come into a little money with the passing of a relative) if the others would take care of everything else.

With not a few piggy banks being broken open and pleading phone calls made to parents, it looked like a handful of the 3rd-years might actually be able to make this work. The destination selected and the funds secured, the crowd looked forward to a couple of days of relaxing away from school.

The ryokan itself was half a day’s drive from Yamaku; in its favour, the distance from big towns had helped keep it affordable. To get there they had decided to hire a van and a driver as that would be both the most affordable and fastest option. The trip had proved to be a bit longer than expected, but uneventful.

The ryokan was all the more beautiful for its lack of sophistication - it had been well maintained, but didn’t look like it had been substantially altered for decades, if not longer. Light snow dusted the grounds and the trees all about lending everything a timeless feeling. The proprietor welcomed the crew, unlocking the front door then retiring to his cottage down the road, out of sight of the main building.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get comfortable taking a bus somewhere,” opined Hisao, disembarking onto the gravel road; he yawned and stretched.

“Aw - you’ll have plenty of time to sleep this weekend - if that’s what you really want,” teased Emi.

“Wahahaha - if you two love-birds can box your flirting up for take-away for a moment, there’s still luggage to be brought in and I don’t want to be the only one stuck doing it.”

Misha stood alone, surrounded by a small island of luggage, boxes, and coolers - Rin wasn’t going to be much help unloading, and she’d said as much as she went inside. [ I’m going in to make sure I get the best room - don’t worry, Misha - I got you ] signed Shizune, and the rest had followed along, not wanting the `worst` room by comparison.

“Fine, Misha, we’ll help you - `a pox on the rest of tha’ scurvy dogs for abandoning us - at least we ‘ave their treasure!`” Emi chortled in her best pirate voice.

Helping Emi and Misha to move the luggage inside, Hisao had what he felt was an ignoble, albeit honest thought - “Lucky Kenji wasn’t able to make it.” It would have been cruel not to invite Kenji, so Hisao had, but Kenji had said he was on an ‘op’ over the holidays - whatever an ‘op’ was. Kenji said he couldn’t be away from his computer and Yamaku’s nascent network connection for long .. which was just as well- Hisao wasn’t sure how Kenji would have handled being cooped up with seven women for a long weekend. Hisao also wasn’t sure how he’d deal with being cooped up with Kenji ..

Migrating the luggage indoors wasn’t actually that much effort - neither Emi nor Misha nor Hisao had felt an obligation to get people’s luggage to their rooms; they’d just dumped them in the foyer by the front door.

“Oooh - so p-pretty!” Hanako was standing in the middle of the main room appreciating the tree - someone, maybe the owners, had set up a pine tree in the middle of the room and had decorated it beautifully with strings of small white lights that cast reflections off of a multitude of silver decorations. Hisao reached over to the light switch by the front door and turned off the overhead lights - the tree glowed from within and illuminated the room with an almost magical light.

“L-lilly, there’s a tree - come feel th-the decorations!” Hanako led Lilly to the tree and directed her hand to the ornaments. Lilly ran her fingers over them delicately, feeling their textured surfaces - dustings of snow-like crystals adorned fragile, beautiful decorations of all types - stars, spheres, spirals, teardrops, and other more abstract forms. Lilly smiled with delight as she ran her fingers over the ornaments and the pine needles.

“Just like back home! Live Christmas trees aren’t always easy to get in Japan, but my mother always insisted on having one when she lived here. I love the smell of them - I could smell this one the moment I walked in the room; it must have been cut very recently!”

The luggage sorted away to their respective owners’ rooms, Hanako and Lilly set to arranging the food and drinks in the fridge and the kitchen cupboards.

“Hanako - do I smell cinnamon - and nutmeg?” asked Lilly

“Y-you do! And oranges and c-cloves! I-I would l-like to make some hot spiced a-pple cider if n-no one objects?”

A murmur of assent passed around the room. Lilly quickly acquainted herself with the layout of the kitchen; she and Hanako then set to putting a large metal pot on a hot plate and bringing spices together with a couple of jugs of sweet apple cider in it.

“This is the life,” said Miki, as she surreptitiously poured a slug from a small bottle of brown liquid into her cider and took a sip of the resulting concoction.

[ Miura - did you bring that with you? ] asked Shizune, accusingly; the opprobrium of the accusation completely lost in Misha’s energetic translation.

“Misha, please tell the Prime Minister that we’re not on school grounds, and no - it was in the liquor cabinet over there. Looks like someone left a couple of half-finished bottles of this and that. Hate to see it go to waste ..” Miki relaxed into the futon, kicked her heels up on a low coffee table and closed her eyes. “Help yourselves kids - I’m not going to finish it all.”

Rin emerged from her room and sat in a corner of the main room with her school bag. “We’ve got all our stuff put away,” she announced as she got out a pad of heavy paper and a soft pencil, preparing to sketch the Christmas tree in all its glory.

“Cider before you start drawing?” Asked Emi, getting a glass and sticking a straw in it before setting it down on the coffee table in front of Rin. Rin nodded her thanks and took a sip - “Good. Warm. Spicy.”

“OK - before we get too hungry, who’s in charge of dinner?” Asked Emi.

“We made the cider.” Lilly announced primly. “I think that means Hanako and I are done for the evening,” as she and Hanako made their way to a futon, drinks in hand.

“Well, Hisao, Misha and I brought the luggage in - and Miki’s down for the count. Misha - how good a cook is Shizune?”

“She’s - ah - ahahaha - been practicing?” Misha dutifully interpreted all of this for Shizune, a slight sheen of sweat on Misha’s brow suggesting Shizune’s practice still had a ways to go.

Shizune, for her part, was way ahead of them - she had found a desk with a telephone and some menus in a drawer. She rummaged in a shoulder bag of hers and pulled out what looked like a small white and black typewriter with two rubber cups set into the top of it. Hisao looked over with curiosity as Shizune plugged the device in and set it up next to the telephone.

“Misha? What’s that?” Hisao asked.

“Oh - that’s a TTY - a keyboard with an audio interface; deaf people use them to make phone calls.” Shizune had dialled a number and had set the telephone receiver in the rubber cups on top of the TTY; Hisao could hear a gentle warbling sound from within the small machine as Shizune typed - illuminated characters scrolled across a small screen in response.

“She’s calling a TTY operator who’ll make a connection for her to another number and read out what she’s typing - then they’ll type what the respondent says, although, you can use them to talk to someone else with a TTY - you don’t need an operator for that.”

Hisao was impressed - he had never considered how Shizune might solve the problem of making a phone call - a total non-issue for hearing people. “But how would you know someone’s calling to you if you're deaf?”

Misha regarded Hisao gently - he was going to feel so silly. “Lights - you can get phones with a light that flashes when the phone rings. Same for fire alarms and a bunch of other things that use bells and buzzers to get hearing people’s attention, but for deaf people they come with lights.”

Misha had been right - Hisao did look dreadfully embarrassed; now that he knew, it seemed all so straight forward.

Shizune turned to Misha and signed [ Fried Chicken ] Misha interpreted; looking around and seeing everyone nodding enthusiastically she gave Shizune a thumbs up. Shizune took a quick head-count and went back to typing, reading the address of the onsen from the notepad beside the phone. The order placed, she returned the receiver to the phone and packed up her TTY in its travel case.

[ I’ll get dinner tonight - consider it a gift from the departing student council - plus I get what it is I wanted for dinner! ] she signed triumphantly.

She couldn’t hear it, but she did appreciate seeing the round of applause.

The food arrived surprisingly quickly - the room fell silent as everyone set upon their dinners. Afterwards the drooping eyes and lack of sparkling conversation underlined the fact that everyone was quite tired after a day spent travelling.

“Ok - we’re done,” announced Hisao, after cleaning up. “Emi and I thought we’d go for a hike tomorrow so we’re going to pack it in early tonight. See you all bright and early tomorrow morning!”

And with that, the lights went out.

“Wahahaha - OK, Hisao - you made your point; early bedtime for all. You can turn the lights back on now!”

“Um, that wasn’t me.” All the lights in the main room and adjoining rooms had gone out - even the tree was off. The only light was that of distant street lamps filtering in through the windows. Nobody was going to walk face-first into a wall, but neither were they likely to get much reading done.

“Ok, so who then?”

“Maybe no-one,” suggested Hisao “Maybe a breaker just blew - could be the old wiring in this building couldn’t handle a Christmas tree and a couple of space heaters on at once? Whatever - I’ve unplugged the heaters; let’s split up and find the breaker and flip it back on.”

“What are we searching for?” Asked Lilly.

“It should be a small metal door set into a wall, possibly under a sink or behind a cupboard, or at the back of a closet. Why don’t you and Hanako form one team, while Shizune and Misha form another. Emi and I will be the third - the rest of you ..” Rin had wandered back to her room after dinner and was probably asleep; Miki was on the futon and snoring gently. “Ah, the rest can stay as they are.”

“You’re so masterful,” murmured Emi, her expression unreadable in the dark.

After completing a circuit of the building - which didn’t take a lot of time as it wasn’t all that big, the three teams rendezvoused back in the main room.

“Any luck?” Asked Hisao, hopefully.

“No.” Answered Lilly

“Got nuttin’" seconded Misha.

“Nor us. Did anyone bring a flashlight?”

And with that the lights came back on, as if on cue.

“Well that solves that - wait what?”

“Wahahaha - Hisao, you shouldn’t have!”

Under the tree there were now presents scattered - Hisao was pretty sure they hadn’t been there before the lights went out.

“It’s ok - I didn’t .. but someone did. Were there presents under the tree before?”

“Nope,” Misha responded and dropped to the tatami floor and started sorting through the presents - Shizune clapped her hands in anticipation.

“There’s one for you Hisao, and Emi - here’s one for Rin, and one for Lilly .. there’s one for everyone here! But there’s only the recipients name on them - they all just say from Santa; who left them?”

“Yay!” Squealed Emi - she didn’t really care who left them as long as she got a present.

And handsome presents they were - each was boxed and wrapped western-style in reflective metallic paper. Lilly joined Misha and ran her hands over the scattered boxes - “Here’s mine; it’s the one with the embossed paper and card addressed in braille ..”

“This is just too much - I’m grateful and all, but who would have left presents for everyone here - who could have?” Hisao was sorely perplexed. That said, having the soul of a scientist, he wasn’t about to accept the existence of Santa Claus - no matter how thoroughly he was being bribed with gifts by this putative incarnation of generosity.

Hisao decided to approach the problem scientifically - he wasn’t able to search for direct clues as to the presents’ arrival - there were no security cameras in the ryokan that he was aware of, nor was he able to dust for fingerprints .. “Bet Kenji would have had a fingerprint dusting kit with him.” Mentally Hisao cursed the fact Kenji hadn’t come up.

“Well, if I can’t observe things directly I should observe them indirectly - that’s how I was taught to be a scientist,” he thought.

“I can cross myself off the list - and Emi; we were together searching for the breaker. I can probably cross off Lilly, Hanako, Misha, and Shizune - they seemed too genuinely pleased and surprised to see the gifts.. and everyone else had more or less gone to bed early ..” Hisao stood pondering in the middle of the main room, looking very much like a younger version of Mutou-sensei. The question consumed his attention - until Emi distracted him by gently jostling him.

“Emi? What are you trying to do?”

“Get you under the mistletoe, silly!”

Hisao looked up - was that there before? Before he could contemplate this development further, Emi wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a big Christmas kiss.

“Thanks guys - could have done without the applause .. but I'd still like to know who left the gifts. It’s going to bother me all weekend if I don’t know.” If it wasn’t someone here, who else knew? He’d mentioned it to Mutou-sensei in passing, and to Nurse .. he had a sudden thought -

“Hold on everyone - are any of the packages ticking?”

Rin nudged hers with her foot, then flipped it up onto her shoulder and listened - “Nope.” “I hear nothing,” agreed Lilly.

“Ok - probably wasn’t Kenji then.”

[ Do you really need to know, Hisao? ] signed Shizune [ We’ve got gifts - the game is over - are you going for bonus points? Or are you one of those completists who need to explore all possibilities, even bad endings? ] she asked.

Hisao considered - maybe he didn’t need to know more than the fact someone cared, and if they wanted their generosity to remain anonymous, that was ok too.

“I guess the source of the presents is going to remain a mystery then. Some secrets man was never meant to know.”

“Hanko - did you move the cookies and milk?” Asked Lilly.

“N-no Lilly - they were right by the sink; I-i was going to p-put them out f-for de-desert after d-dinner, but th-then the lights went o-out.”

“Well, they’re gone now. Hm ..”

Miki, slumped in the futon and only partly awake, half-opened one eye - through the window behind Hisao she saw a thatch of messy blonde hair. Dark eyes met hers and winked - then they were gone.



Happy Holidays to all - thank you for being here. May Santa bring you all peace and presents no matter how or what you celebrate.

_____________________________________________________________________

Prompt: "Hisao and his motley crew have gone on a winter break retreat. The power goes out, and when it comes back on, there are presents galore beneath the tree. No one in the group takes accountability, and that’s when Hisao dons his detective sweater and gets to work to find out who the secret Santa is.

With love and happy holidays to whoever receives my prompt!"

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:41 pm
by Feurox
Asoko_Desu wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:46 pm Apologies for typos / continuity errors - I stand in the company of giants.
You stand firm and tall my friend! What a fantastic Christmas gift that captures the spirit of my prompt wonderfully! The whole piece reads brilliantly, with a charming and warm style, bravo!
Asoko_Desu wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:46 pm Miki, slumped in the futon and only partly awake, half-opened one eye - through the window behind Hisao she saw a thatch of messy blonde hair. Dark eyes met hers and winked - then they were gone.
Now my thought, then, is that Akira is our Christmas agent here then? Maybe a missed trick not having Rika, (thinking about the white hair), haha! :lol:

What an epic kickstart to this years collection! I endeavour to release both my prompt for this year and last year soon, so I'm grateful for the increased motivation by such a wonderful story!

Best wishes and happy holidays!

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 5:07 pm
by Asoko_Desu
Thank you so much for such a charming and gracious review - that's going under the tree as one of the nicest gifts I've received in a long time!

🙇‍♂️

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 6:30 pm
by Asoko_Desu
Feurox wrote: Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:41 pm
Asoko_Desu wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:46 pm Miki, slumped in the futon and only partly awake, half-opened one eye - through the window behind Hisao she saw a thatch of messy blonde hair. Dark eyes met hers and winked - then they were gone.
Now my thought, then, is that Akira is our Christmas agent here then?

I was going to write this as a normal reply, but prose seemed so much more appropriate ..



The stars were bright and twinkled in the clear winter air; their light shone in the window, illuminating Hisao as he sat bolt-upright from a deep sleep.

"The card on Lilly's gift - whoever bought the gift knew to have the card printed in braille .. Akira - it had to be Akira."

"She must of known from Lilly that we were getting away for a weekend - maybe she even asked Akira if she could help drive .. she would have at very least had a car to go present shopping and to haul them up there after everyone had arrived and settled in."

"She could also have driven up early - I bet she convinced the inkeeper to let her set up a Chrismas tree and decorations that everyone - but especially Lilly, because it was a real tree - would appreciate .. and turning off the lights would have been easy if she was in cahoots with the owner of the ryokan!"

"Hisao, are you awake?" Emi mumbled sleepily, woken by Hisao's overly exuberant, for the hour, process of deduction.

"I just solved the mystery of The Braille Xmas Card - it was elementary, my dear Ibarazaki!"

"Uhhn. I'm sleeping in Shizune's room tomorrow night. Good night Hisao - go back to sleep!"

Hisao, his mind at peace at last, settled back into his futon. "I think I'd look good in a Deerstalker" were his last thoughts before sleep claimed him.


Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 4:02 pm
by Mirage_GSM
So I just managed to get my entry out in time for Christmas. Didn’t want to cut it so close, but you know how it is…

Anyway, Merry Christmas NoticeMeOppai!

As always the prompt and my author’s notes will be at the end of the story.

Feels Just Like Home

As the taxi comes to a stop in front of the house, I am finally getting a bit nervous.

When Kenji messaged yesterday telling me that his mom had invited me to visit his family for Christmas, I had jumped on the chance of not having to spend the holidays with my family and agreed immediately, but now I am wondering…

We have only been dating for a couple of weeks, but Kenji has never spoken of his family at all in all this time. Sure, I haven’t talked about my family either, but I have reasons to avoid talking about my family.

Just in that moment it occurs to me that Kenji might as well…

The house is not as big as our family home, but it has a modern look, and the area is quite expensive. There is a pretty big garage adjacent to the house, and the yard is also quite big, but it has a sterile look about it. The thing that makes it stand out most from all the other houses in the street is the complete lack of Christmas decorations.

I get out of the taxi and grab my suitcase. The driver seems to offer to carry it for me, but I have packed very lightly, so I just shake my head and hand him the amount of money displayed on the taxameter.

He bows before me, then gets back into his car and drives off, leaving me standing in the driveway.

I take a few moments to gather my courage, then go up to the door and press the doorbell.

Only a few seconds later the door is opened by a young man in a white shirt with a tie. He is weraing dark trousers, and his hair is neatly parted down the middle and gelled in place.

For a moment I don’t know what to do. I hesitantly start to sign. Good evening, my name is Shizune Hakamichi. I was invited…

Before I can continue, the man interrupts me. What are you talking about, Shizune? I know who you are. Come on in.

Seeing the slightly clumsy signs makes things fall in place. Kenji?

Who else did you expect? Come in, mom wants to meet you.

He pulls me inside, sticks his head out the door, looking left and right, then quickly closes it.

Don’t worry, you’re both women, so I’m pretty sure she won’t kill you.

With that ominous reassurance he leads me inside. I am just able to kick off my shoes, but since he is holding my hand, I am not able to question his assertion.

We cross though an entrance hall into an office where a middle-aged woman is sitting at a desk looking through a heap of documents.

She is wearing grey two-piece dress with long sleeves and a knee-length skirt. Her straight black hair is falling to just below her shoulders, she wears some unobtrusive make-up, and her fingers are painstakingly manicured.

Apparently, Kenji has announced our presence, because she looks up from her documents, though she does not seem inclined to rise to greet me.

I give a slight bow and start to sign. Good evening Mrs. Setou. My name is Shizune Hakamichi, I’m very pleased to make your…

At this point I notice that she has already started talking, so I stop and look to Kenji for a translation. He tries his best to keep up with what seems to be a rapid surge of words. Luckily he’s gotten a lot of practice in the last few months with Misha being mostly occupied with reeducating Hisao.

So you’re the girl who is dating my son. I guess your looks are decent, and he tells me your marks are as well, so for now I have no reason to object. I had a background check done on you, and it seems you are not in it for the money either. That’s good, though I struggle to understand what else your motives could be. Just remember that if you let him knock you up, the bastard will be entirely your responsibility. Catering should be about finished setting up, and dinner will be in thirty minutes. You’re free to relax in the lounge until then.

When Kenji finally stops signing I look back to his mother, but she has already returned to studying her documents.

Kenji carefully moves to the door and waves for me to follow. When we are both back in the entrance hall, he looks at me with a slight grin. That went pretty well, don’t you think?

I wonder in what universe this would be considered “going well”, but first things first:

Kenji, what’s with the getup? I almost didn’t recognize you?

He shrugs. In the lair of the evil overlord a certain dress-code is prescribed. She sent me to a stylist first thing this morning. If I had resisted I would be feeding the fishes right now.

Frankly all of this is too much to wrap my head around right now, so I follow Kenji across the hall to a larger room with several armchairs and sofas arranged around a large, heavy wooden table.

On the sofa across from the door a young woman is slouching with a notebook on her lap, apparently browsing the internet. She seems to be around 25 years old, and her features look a bit similar to those of Kenji’s mother, but that is where the similarities end.

Her hair is bleached a garish blonde, and she has so much make-up in her face that I find myself looking for places where it might be crumbling away. She also has several piercings in each ear and a small one in her nose.

As we enter she looks up from her notebook, and a wide grin spreads over her face – miraculously still no make-up crumbling.

Kenji is speaking to her while signing to me. Shizune, meet my older sister Ayumi. She is… He is interrupted, when Ayumi is pointing to my suitcase and then upstairs. They argue for a few seconds then Kenji deflates and turns to me again. I’m going to be taking your suitcase to your room now. He then turns his back to his sister and continues to sign so she cannot see his hands. I have faith in you. Don’t die!

Then he puts his hands on my shoulders and looks me deep in the eyes. He nods once, then takes my suitcase and disappears through the door.

I find myself alone with Ayumi unsure of how to proceed. I start to sign a greeting, but she just shakes her head - wasn’t Kenji just trying to hide his signs from her?

Instead she swings her feet from the sofa and pats the place next to her. I move over to sit down while she closes her browser to start up a text processor.

Still grinning like a crazy person she begins to type. “So, you’re Ken-chan’s girlfriend? Didn’t think he’d ever find one, honestly.”

Uncertain if that is supposed to be a question I just look at her and nod.

Enthusiastically she continues typing. “And? Are you two fucking?”

I almost gasp when I read the question, but after a second to collect myself, I type out an answer. “We have agreed to a mutual ceasefire with regard to that for the time being.”

She looks at me confused then bursts out laughing. “Hey, you’re funny! I think I like you!”

“Thanks?”

“Have you met the hag yet?”

“You mean your mother? Yes, briefly.”

“And she didn’t throw you out yet. Which means we’re practically in-laws already!”

I decide not to comment on that and try to find another topic. “So is Kenji always looking like that when he is at home?”

“Of course! The hag would throw him out if he protested. She can’t do that to me, because I already left. Found myself a boyfriend who gives me loads of cash, so I only have to come around two or three times a year for events like this, so she doesn’t remove me from her will entirely.”

She pauses. “Anyway, I just wanted to get to know you a bit. We’ll have time to chat more after dinner. The hag will be back at her desk as soon as the plates have been cleared. So you can go get Ken-chan now. I told him to wait in your room until I send you up. It’s the second on the left when you go up the stairs.”

She winks. “You might even have time for a quick fuck before dinner is ready, if you decide to break the ceasefire.”

Deciding not to deign to answer that, I stand and give her a quick bow. She just waves and grins at me.

Navigating the unfamiliar house on my own I arrive at the room Ayumi directed me to. I knock on the door and wait a few seconds before entering.

On the bed Kenji is sitting looking dejected, but as he notices me coming in, he brightens immediately.

You’re alive! I knew you’d make it through!

He stands up and embraces me fiercely, then steps back to continue signing. I don’t know what I would have done if they had eliminated you. I’m SO sorry, I know I should have warned you about the feminist stronghold, but Ayumi was looking over my shoulder when I was typing the message. And after that mom confiscated my phone, because I complained about having to wear contacts today…

He pauses. I’m sorry for my family…

As I see him looking all dejected again, I feel as if the whirlwind of everything that happened since I crossed over the doorstep of this house is finally coming to an end. I place one of my hands below his chin and lift his head up, so I can place a kiss right on his mouth.

He relaxes, and I feel him put his arms around my back. I return his embrace.

When we separate a short time later – both a bit out of breath – a thought comes to my mind, and I start laughing out loud. It’s not something I do often because I have no idea what it sounds like to others, and it might just be the first time Kenji has heard me do so. He looks at me, astonished.

Don’t be sorry for your family, Kenji, I sign when my mirth has subsided. This feels just like home.

The End.

Prompt:
”NoticeMeOppai” wrote: Your favourite crackfic pairing (romantic or platonic) spend the holidays together at one of their parents' houses, meeting the parent(s) for the first time.
The most difficult thing about the prompt was that you specified a “crackfic pairing”. Normally crackfics don’t stay in my memory all that well – you could also say that I’m doing a good job of suppressing my memories of them.

Thankfully I remembered that I had written one myself a long time ago…

I never would have expected to come back to this and write what could be called a sequel after such a long time…

After deciding on Shizune X Kenji the question was who was visiting whom. That was easy, since I don’t like Jigoro, and Kenji’s family rarely if ever features in any stories, so I thought it would be interesting to explore just what Kenji’s home must have been like for him to turn out that way – a healthy dose of neglect and trauma were practically a given…

The result is the above. I feel as if it's come together better than the story it is based on.

Again, Merry Christmas!

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 6:32 pm
by NoticeMeOppai
Amazing, thank you so much Mirage! I didn't mean it had to literally be a pairing from an existing crackfic, just a pairing that you'd find in a crackfic. Either way it's cool you got to revisit one of your earlier works, I'll have to give that a read (possibly a reread? Rings a small bell) some time soon!

Love the image of Kenji looking "presentable" and that sort of home life certainly goes some way to explaining his behaviours!

Thanks again and Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2022 12:49 am
by Asoko_Desu
Mirage_GSM wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 4:02 pm
Feels Just Like Home

This was kind of awesome; I really liked the look at Kenji's home life - how it made him who he is, and aligning it with Shizune's utterly dysfunctional family - well done!

A Glimmer and It's Gone: For Grayest

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2022 10:56 pm
by Feurox
My submission for Grayest can be found here: https://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52& ... 22#p248321


With immense thanks to both Prof, who organises these wonderful secret santa exchanges, and Mirage, who collects them in a lovely anthology.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and wonderful winter to all who read this! Lots of love, Feurox!

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:58 pm
by Craftyatom
Merry belated holidays! I've posted my submission over on my one-shots thread, linked below. Here's hoping a certain someone in this thread enjoys ;)

From Craftyatom for Mirage_GSM - Worlds Apart

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 8:29 pm
by Lap
This one's for XPND.Dev — Hope it amuses!
Dashing Through the Snow...

Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2023 8:53 pm
by ProfAllister

Quite late, and perhaps a little less to the letter of the prompt than may have been desired (yes, I may have misread the prompt a little), but it is what it is.

Victim: CraftyAtom
Prompt: Winter can be dark, cold, and depressing - but it can also be beautiful, peaceful, and joyous! Two people at Yamaku who have differing opinions on the matter end up conversing about it.

Maybe they agree to disagree? Or maybe one manages to convince the other? It can take a lot of work to change someone's mind, though...

Father Knows Best

[It's crooked.]

[No it isn't. I made sure it was level.]

[It doesn't line up with the ceiling.]

[The ceiling is sloped. It lines up with the floor.]

[The floor is sloped. People compare pictures to the ceiling, not the floor.]

[What about pictures hung along stairways? They aren't lined up with the ceiling.]

[This isn't a stairway.]

I turn around in disgust. She's impossible when she gets like this. And I can't just give in and agree with her - that will just make her more angry.

I half expect an annoyed snap, but she just stomps her foot and walks away. The message is obvious - “We'll discuss this later.”

Pulling out my phone, I do something that I wouldn't have even considered a few years ago.

“Yeah, it's me. Yeah, it's her. I'll be there in a bit.”


When I first met the man in the chair across from me, I hated him. In the years since, either he mellowed out, I grew up, I mellowed out, he grew up, or some combination of those, but I've come to find his presence tolerable, even pleasant. And clearly, one of us has learned a lot in the intervening years, because he's been a valuable source of advice. Especially when it comes to dealing with his daughter - my wife.

He barks out a short laugh. “You're flaring your nostrils less. I'll make a man of you yet!”

I've also gained something of a taste for turpentine, it would appear. Whenever we talk like this, he offers me a glass of some liquor or other that costs as much as a car.

“So, what you're saying is… I need to have her think it was her idea, but also she needs to think that I think it's my idea. Except it actually is my idea. But she can't know that I know that it's my idea, even though she has to think that I think it's my idea?”

He snorts.

“Let me put it another way. If she were into doormats, she'd be screwing that pink girl rather than you. Don't look so surprised - I got where I am because I learned how to read others without being read myself. It's how I could tell that you had potential in the first place. Not that you're living up to it, but you're still young.”

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's me that’s changed, not him.

“She wants a strong, assertive man, who sticks to what he says because he's right.”

“But I am right.”

“Don't interrupt. Also, no you aren't. Only a deadbeat stoner who's a fugitive from justice would hang pictures that way.”

He pauses, waiting for me to respond. It's a trap, so I don't take the bait. Satisfied, he resumes.

“You'll never convince a woman that she's wrong by proving her wrong. That's against the rules. You need to let her decide that she's wrong. But when she admits that she's wrong, that's the trap - she admits she's wrong, you bask in victory, and she undermines the victory until your ‘victory’ is you agreeing with her while maintaining that you never changed your mind. So the trick is too let yourself be fooled without actually being fooled.”

“I think I understand” - not really, but I feel like I'm going in a circle now - “thanks for the advice.”

“If you were really grateful, you'd prove that you know how to use your manhood and start popping out some grandchildren.”

“... I'll get right on that.”


[What's with all the banging around?]

[I haven't been “banging around”. I've barely made any noise at all.]

[And I haven't heard any noise. What's your point?]

[... I've been rethinking how we should hang this picture. It feels… hastily set up, as if it's only there to keep up appearances. It should look like there's more care out into it.]

She nods in a mocking imitation of sage understanding.

[You talked to my dad.]

[Busted.]

[You aren't thinking of taking his advice, are you?]

[Of course not! The man's a lunatic.]

She giggles. It's a cute sound.

[All the same, I like it when my two favorite men get along.]

She puts on a seductive grin.

[It gets me … hot.]

I can't resist the follow-up.

[What about Hideaki?]

She rolls her eyes.

[Third place.]

I nod in comical understanding.

[Still hot?]

Without another word, our hands become occupied with a different sort of conversation.


Re: Secret Santa 2022 - Story collection

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 2:01 am
by brythain
ProfAllister wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2023 8:53 pm

Quite late, and perhaps a little less to the letter of the prompt than may have been desired (yes, I may have misread the prompt a little), but it is what it is.

Father Knows Best

It's good, is what it is. A lot better (IMO) than my own poor offering, the 2022 Secret Santa piece I wrote for you, ProfA, and never managed to complete for a very long time.

Here's mine: Stripping