{A/N: Hi! So this chapter was supposed to be How the Zane Stole Christmas but I find that that gives a big F U to his character development. Also, Pinkie Cake isn't real. Only Santa is real!!! Instead, here's this! Enjoy!}
Despite all the drama happening between the people of Mystreet, life continued to move on. The day passed and Garroth and Laurance still hadn't spoken a word to one another. Whereas everyone else was finally at peace, at least for a moment.
Now, it was Christmas Eve. A time when everyone should be bonding and spreading Christmas cheer instead of COVID-19, but that doesn't exist in this universe now, does it?
===
Standing in front of the oven door, Aphmau was waiting intently for her chocolate chip cookies to be baked to perfection. Only the best for Santa. She already had her plate and cup picked out for him. The milk she chose wasn't whole milk though, Santa was getting 2% this year.
So focused on her cookies, Aphmau didn't even notice Katelyn walking into the kitchen.
"Hey, Aphmau, what are you doing?"
Aphmau let out a yelp as she whipped her head around to face her.
"My Irene! Katelyn, you scared me!"
"That sounds like a personal problem. Anyways, what are you doing?"
"Oh!" Aphmau turned back around to check on her cookies. "I'm baking cookies for Santa. Did you forget that it was Christmas Eve already?"
Katelyn stopped in her tracks, her eyes boring into her roommate's soul. Aphmau wasn't serious, right? Of course, this had to have been a joke.
"Why?" Katelyn asked tentatively as if she would set Aphmau off with words.
"Well, I'm not going to use Kawaii~Chan's cookies. Next thing you know he's gonna eat one of her sleeping cookies and-"
Aphmau let out a gasp. The lightbulb above her head shined brightly as a newfound idea entered her mind.
"I need to call Kawaii~Chan! We're gonna catch Santa!" Aphmau yelled as she started running toward her room.
Katelyn stood there in utter disbelief. Too much was going on right now to process.
Aphmau's precious cookies were still in the oven, and now she planned on drugging Santa. Not only that, Aphmau was planning on calling KC's phone even though she was upstairs.
Sighing, Katelyn turned off the oven and took out Aphmau's cookies. Hopefully, these cookies were good because she knew that Santa would not be the one eating them tonight. As she placed the rack of cookies onto the counter, Aphmau came back downstairs with her phone. Immediately, Katelyn snatched it and held it out of reach.
"Katelyn, give that back! I have a very important phone call to make!" Aphmau demanded, reaching her arms up to try and grab her phone back. Unfortunately, it dawned on her that she was, in fact, still short.
Pathetic.
"Aphmau, I'm gonna need you to sit down for this," Katelyn explained, motioning to the dining room chairs. "There's something I need to tell you."
Begrudgingly, Aphmau complied and sat down with her arms crossed. Katelyn sat down in the chair across from her and took a deep breath. How was she even supposed to explain to an adult that Santa wasn't real?
"Aphmau-" Katelyn began, but was immediately cut off by Kawaii~Chan coming down the stairs and going straight for the pantry.
The two girls watched as the Meif'wa brought out her jar of sleeping cookies and started to package a dozen into a box. She put the jar away and grabbed the coat she left in the dining room, passing the two confused girls.
"Whatcha doing there, Kawaii~Chan?" Aphmau asked, concerned by her friend's frantic state.
"Business," KC curtly replied as she left through the front door.
The two girls were alone yet again.
Not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer, Katelyn blurted,
"Santa isn't real."
The room became deathly silent.
Aphmau stared at Katelyn intently, almost disturbingly, before shaking her head.
"You're just like all the others."
"What do you mean I'm just like all the others?"
"The non-Santa believers!"
"Yeah, because he's not real!"
"Yes. He. Is."
Now both of them were staring at each other, eyes narrowed. By the looks of it, someone was gonna die tonight.
"How about this? Both of us make a PowerPoint on why Santa is or is not real. Then we can show it in front of a judge," Aphmau suggested, still keeping her "I'm better than you" demeanor.
"Who'd be the judges?"
"Your pick."
Katelyn thought about it. She knew that no matter who she'd choose, she was going to win. It was all a matter of who was willing to be roped into this debate.
After the party, Katelyn immediately knew that Garroth and Laurance were out of the question. Kawaii~Chan was out of the house. She was absolutely not going to choose Zane, so that left the only two other relevant characters in Mystreet to choose from.
"Dante and Aaron."
"Deal. I'll text them."
===
The time limit was 30 minutes.
The judges were getting restless.
After the countless amount of evidence gathered, slides created, and pictures of the jolly man himself, it was finished.
"Gentlemen," Aphmau formally greeted as she shared her laptop screen with the TV, "let the debate begin."
===
She was supposed to win. Aphmau had no evidence against her argument.
Katelyn had facts. Aphmau quoted the lyrics to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" like it was scripture. Now Aphmau was laughing in Katelyn's face and telling her that she wasn't going to get any presents from Santa.
"Guys," Katelyn muttered to the deceitful judges, her eyes cast downward, "do you not realize what you've done?"
The boys in question stopped their celebration, and Katelyn's eyes met the judges.
"She believes in Santa."
As soon as those words left her mouth, Aaron and Dante's faces fell. They shared a look before looking back at Aphmau who was still basking in her glory.
They thought this was all just a joke. What two adults would seriously debate whether or not Santa was real?
Clearly, they were finally seeing a real-world example.
The two boys looked at each other one more time before uttering,
"Oh shit."
===
The sound of a doorbell ringing echoed through Zane's house.
Zane planned on ignoring it, instead turning his attention back to his My Little Horsies.
The doorbell rang again.
Irritated, Zane planned on just waiting it out. There was no way he would ever open the door and have social interaction with anyone-
His phone buzzed. On the home screen read a text,
Kawaii~Chan
Kawaii~Chan brought the cookies you wanted!!!
Without missing a beat, Zane got up and went straight to his front door. Kawaii~Chan was the only exception to his rule.
The Meif'wa greeted him with a smile on her face. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were a rosy pink from the cold weather outside.
"Good morning, Zane~Kun! I brought you the cookies you asked for yesterday," she greeted, sticking the box of cookies out for him to grab.
Zane thanked her, grabbed the box of cookies, and moved to let her inside.
After calling Zane about the play yesterday, Kawaii~Chan and Zane spent the next couple of hours talking about My Little Horsies. Afterward Zane, against his better judgment, told KC that it was okay if she ever wanted to come over and talk about the show. He never liked having anyone in his house, but he didn't feel his peace being threatened when Kawaii~Chan came over before the Christmas party.
Coincidentally enough, a new episode was supposed to air the next day, so they quickly made plans to watch the new episode together.
That led them to where they were now.
The two sat comfortably on opposite sides of the couch with a small pizza on the coffee table.
This time, Zane was more prepared to be a host. Plus, who couldn't say no to pizza? In this case, though, Zane didn't plan on eating anything. He might trust Kawaii~Chan in his house, under his supervision of course, but the mask stayed on.
The two made small talk about their favorite characters until their show finally came on.
"...but it was weird. Who would have a dream about taking over Christmas with Pinkie Cake?" Zane explained, trying to make sense of his bizarre dream.
"Kawaii~Chan doesn't know. Maybe it's something Zane~Kun did in another life?" Kawaii~Chan suggested, turning to look at you, the reader, once again.
"Stop breaking the fourth wall, you'll scare them," Zane scolded, not bothering to look at you.
Kawaii~Chan was about to object until the intro to their show began to play.
Fourth wall break forgotten the two became enraptured by their favorite show for the next 22 minutes.
===
Garroth sat in front of his desk, staring at the present he planned on giving to Laurance. Despite not talking to each other, he couldn't just not give him his gift. He had worked hard to make this despite his poor arts and crafts skills.
"What? No! Absolutely, not! We are not dating!" Garroth yelled.
This Christmas was going to be the day when Garroth would finally come out to his best friend. Life seemed to have other plans for that moment, though. He didn't want to admit his feelings toward Laurance, just come out to him, so why did Irene do this to him?
"Yeah, this was all just some accident!"
He kept replaying that night in his mind. What he could have done differently. What could have happened if they hadn't accidentally kissed under the mistletoe?
"There is no way we'd ever kiss intentionally, besides I don't even swing that way!"
As soon as he got lost in his head, reality always found a way to reel him back out.
"If we were, I'd never kiss someone like him."
Then he'd find himself back at his desk, staring at the present he planned on giving to Laurance.
What was originally just a spur-of-the-moment idea that came to him a year ago became a year-long project. A symbolization of what Laurance meant to him. This was supposed to give him the confidence to come out. If Laurance stuck with him through thick and thin, then he had no reason to be worried.
He continued to stare at the gift, the note at the end taunting him.
"You've been with me through everything. Always having my back even during the times I didn't deserve it. I'm glad to have been with you for so long and hope to continue being with you as the years go by. I trust that in the future we will be just as close as we are now. This is why I'm now comfortable with telling you-
"I'm pansexual," Garroth finished.
"Do you like me?"
Could he really give this to him now? What was the point of backing out now after going all in?
Garroth grabbed a pen and started writing under his note. The last thing Garroth was ever going to do-
"I...I don't know. I'm sorry."
was let things end like this.
===
"What about other hobbies? Kawaii~Chan likes to read fanfiction and-"
"Please, Kawaii~Chan, the last thing I'm going to do is resort to those kinds of hobbies."
"But why?" she whined.
The two had finished their episode of My Little Horsies and had gotten into a heated discussion about one thing and one thing only: Zane's interests. It turned out that he didn't actually have much except for the show and world domination.
By now, the two sat a lot closer to one another. The pole that Zane had metaphorically held between them became shorter.
"Things just don't interest me as much as they used to. Liking this-" Zane motioned to the TV that was now playing a rerun of MLH- "is easier for me to do than other stuff."
"Was there anything that you liked to do before?"
Zane turned his head to the side, a blush forming on his cheeks.
"N-No, nothing at all!" he lied, so obviously lied.
A Cheshire smirk grew on Kawaii~Chan's face. The determination to find out his secret blossomed.
"Are you sure it's nothing? Kawaii~Chan hasn't told a single person that you like horsies, so there's no reason to be scared about your hobby."
"It's not a hobby!" Zane whipped his head back around to face her. "I-It was just...an activity I used to do back in college."
"Please tell Kawaii~Chan!" she begged. "She has starry eyes and she's not afraid to use them!"
Zane backed away, scared of having to stare into someone's eyes for an extended period of time.
"Okay, okay! Just...wait right here."
With a heavy sigh, Zane trudged upstairs to go and reveal his secret.
Kawaii~Chan stayed put, swinging her legs off the side of the couch. She didn't know how close Zane was to anyone, but seeing how much he was willing to be vulnerable around her sent warmth to her heart.
Maybe he was only doing this because she was not threatening, but who knows?
Everyone knows Zane as some angry emo who would take candy from a baby and laugh. Although that might be true, being here with Zane let Kawaii~Chan discover more about him. The prospect of her business came into her mind. If all went well, Kawaii~Chan would be willing to run a business with him.
Zane finally came back downstairs, hiding something behind his back. He stood right in front of her, his cheeks were still the same shade of pink.
"What I'm about to show you must stay between us. No one is allowed to know I did this, not even my brothers!" he threatened despite knowing that Kawaii~Chan wouldn't say anything.
Kawaii~Chan held her hand over her heart.
"Kawaii~Chan promises. Meif'wa scout's honor!" she swore.
Zane, trusting KC's promise, revealed what he was hiding and handed it to the Meif'wa.
Kawaii~Chan looked at what was in her hands.
It was a frog hat.
More specifically, a hand-knitted frog hat.
"Zane~Kun, you used to knit?!"
He nodded, explaining how he had stopped knitting when some of the boys in his dorm made fun of him for it.
"That's so mean! This is a really good hat, Zane~Kun, but why frogs?"
"I...I just like frogs."
Understandable, Kawaii~Chan looked back down at the hat in her hands. She didn't want their interaction to stop there. Zane was a lot more than she thought. She didn't want to stop now, so she unleashed her ultimate 'get to know someone' method.
"Zane~Kun, this is gonna sound weird, but...do you want to have a tea party with me?"
Third person? Never heard of her.
Zane stood there confused; he didn't even realize she broke her usual way of speech. Never in his life had he ever done or even been asked to do something like this. Hanging out with Kawaii~Chan had moved way too fast, and everything was becoming too much. In all honesty-
he didn't want to stop.
"Why? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed hanging out with you, but-"
"Then Kawaii~Chan and Zane~Kun should have a tea party!" she interrupted.
"This is ridiculous."
"Well, Zane~Kun still wants to be Kawaii~Chan's business partner, right? Then this will be a perfect way for us to get to know more about each other."
"But..." Truth be told, Zane wasn't opposed to the idea, but to sit down and have tea with someone along with figurines meant you had to be one thing: vulnerable. The thought of having to take off his mask in front of anyone made him nervous. "I-I don't even like tea."
"Then what drink do you want?"
"How about coffee?"
Kawaii~Chan made a face.
"Kawaii~Chan doesn't really like coffee. It's too bitter for her even with lots of sugar."
Her response was perfect. With that, he had the chance to shut down the idea of a tea party, and the two could go on their merry ways. Instead, against his better judgment, he blurted out,
"What about hot chocolate instead?"
Kawaii~Chan's ears perked up in interest as a shimmer covered her eyes.
"That's perfect! Kawaii~Chan will go back home and grab her stuff," she said as she got up to leave the house.
"O-Okay!" A newfound excitement rushed through Zane. He was actually going to do this. Was this what friendship was? Bonding over My Little Horsies?
Zane sighed as Kawaii~Chan left and said,
"I really need to find other hobbies."
Despite constantly going against his judgment, it seemed his "better judgment" was something that held him back rather than push him forward.
===
The moment Kawaii~Chan opened the door to her house, she was greeted with chaos.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SANTA ISN'T REAL?!" Aphmau screamed with tears rolling down her face.
"Aph, Santa is just a fictional character created as a behavior check for kids," Aaron tried to explain through Aphmau's loud sobs.
"That's not true! My mom said he was real!"
Everyone froze and looked at one another, except for Aphmau who continued to sob.
"Aphmau, do you remember the day you found out where babies come from?" Aaron asked slowly.
"Yeah," she sniffed, "when I was-
"14? Yeah, and how well can you swim?" Aaron cut off.
"I-I can't."
Dante and Katelyn seemed to get where Aaron was going with this.
"Didn't your mom not teach you how to swim because she said there were sharks in every body of water?" Katelyn asked.
"Yeah..."
"Aphmau, I think you need to think through a lot of the things your mom told you when you were a kid," Dante advised.
Aphmau's eyes became watery again to the point where she couldn't see Kawaii~Chan skillfully sneak into the kitchen behind her friends.
"Oh no, she's crying again."
"Someone get her more tissues."
"It's okay Aph, at least you found out with us instead of some random people."
While everyone was distracted tending to Aphmau, Kawaii~Chan moved up the stairs to go grab her horsies and two of her prettiest princess dresses.
"At least you're not dumb enough to believe the tooth fairy is real," Dante commented, trying to cheer her up.
"THE TOOTH FAIRY ISN'T REAL?!"
"Dante, look what you've done!" Katelyn scolded, shoving the tissue box at him. "Comfort her! I'm gonna go get her a glass of water."
"Actually," Aaron interjected, "maybe it's time for Aphmau to take a nap. Would you like that, Aph?"
Aphmau nodded through her tears and held her hands up for Aaron to pick her up.
Dante watched as Aaron carried a sobbing Aphmau up the stairs, wondering how long it would have taken for Aph to find out the truth if they hadn't told her today.
When Aaron walked into Aphmau's room, Kawaii~Chan made her sneaky escape back down the stairs. Except it wasn't so sneaky since now both Dante and Katelyn were at the bottom of the steps.
"Hey Kawaii~Chan, I didn't know you were back," Katelyn admitted until she noticed that KC was heading for the door. "Wait a minute. Where are you going?"
Not wanting to admit her future whereabouts, especially since she was carrying snacks, horsies, and dresses, she turned around and told them one word.
"Business."
===
Zane had just finished making two cups of hot chocolate when his phone buzzed with a text.
Kawaii~Chan
Kawaii~Chan is here!!!
"This woman uses an insane amount of exclamation points," he commented to himself. "How could someone be so enthusiastic about everything? Life isn't that exciting."
Nevertheless, Zane let Kawaii~Chan back inside. The moment the door was opened, KC made a beeline for his coffee table and dropped all of her stuff onto it. Grabbing a dress off the pile, she turned around and handed it to him.
"Here, you'll wear this dress and Kawaii~Chan will wear the other one!"
Zane took a step back and put his arms up to form an 'X'.
"What? No! I'm not wearing that!"
"Zane~Kun, you have to! It's the rules!"
"Whose rules?"
"Kawaii~Chan's rules!"
Flustered and embarrassed, Zane snatched the dress out of her hands.
"Fine! It's not like you're gonna tell anyone anyway, but I'm gonna put this on over my clothes."
KC nodded vigorously, happy that he had bent to her will.
With a heavy sigh, Zane put on the dress in front of her. It was a little tight in some areas, but overall it didn't feel uncomfortable. He walked back into the kitchen to grab the hot chocolates while Kawaii~Chan set everything up. When he came back, it was sweets galore. He knew that KC liked sweets, but to have several containers filled with cookies, cupcakes, and hand pies was no longer a matter of liking sweets.
She loved them.
Kawaii~Chan, who was already in a dress of her own, motioned for him to sit across from her on the floor. A smile grew on her face.
No one could ever lie to Kawaii~Chan during one of her tea parties. It was against the rules.
"If we are going to do this, I want to set a ground rule." Zane passed Kawaii~Chan her hot chocolate. KC nodded, the least she could do was follow his rule. "That rule being that we both have to speak in first person."
Kawaii~Chan narrowed her eyes.
"That sly dog...," she thought to herself. Nevertheless, she agreed to his terms.
With that, their tea party began.
It started awkward at first since neither person was willing to jump right into their questions. Slowly, after downing several sweets and their hot chocolates, they grew more comfortable around each other.
Kawaii~Chan had never heard Zane laugh non-menacingly before, but that wasn't what she was most surprised about.
Zane admitted to remembering Kawaii~Chan from high school, recalling how she would hold the semi-annual bake sale which he never missed.
Speaking of sweets, Kawaii~Chan eventually asked him why he wanted her sleeping cookies. The last thing she wanted to be was an accomplice to his murders. Surprisingly though, that was not the case.
"I... I have insomnia. My dad had it and, since it's hereditary, I ended up getting it. Garroth, on the other hand, never dealt with it," he explained.
"So, you've been eating my cookies every night?" she asked, baffled.
Zane nodded.
"Does it really help?"
"Would I have kept asking you for more if they didn't?"
Kawaii~Chan beamed with pride. This moment of vulnerability finally confirmed her thoughts on her business prospect.
"Zane, thank you for being vulnerable with me. I know it's hard to do so, and I'm proud of you."
Zane's face grew red with embarrassment; he wasn't used to being complimented often.
"Th-Thank you..."
Kawaii~Chan smiled warmly at him.
"Zane," she started. "I'm willing to start a business with you, but right now isn't a good time."
Zane's eyes grew wide. Although he had hoped for her to reconsider her decision, he didn't expect it to be now.
"That's fine. When would you like to start?"
"In about a month or so. Aphmau just quit her job, so I'm waiting for our finances to be stable before I do anything."
"That's understandable."
The two smiled at each other, glad that they could form an understanding with one another and truly see the other as an equal.
Never had Zane felt more comfortable with anyone than he did now with her.
===
The next day, Kawaii~Chan walked back up the familiar steps to Zane's front door with her gift in hand. Before she could even reach it, her path was blocked by presents. Looking down at the presents, she smiled to herself.
"I guess Zane was wrong," Kawaii~Chan said to herself. "People really do care about him."
She bent down and placed the present amongst the rest. Knowing that Zane would never open the door unless he knew who was outside, she typed him a text.
Merry Christmas, Zane! I left a present at your door. I hope you like it!
Without realizing she had written it in the wrong tense, she sent it. Her body froze, but only for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that she was no longer living for other people, and turned around to go back home.
{A/N: Froggy hats!!! Thank you for reading! Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed it! See ya later alligator!}