noentry | ic inbox for labyrinthum

[ Strange weather and lightning strikes can't deter Haruaki from exploring the Garden, as he's grown accustomed to doing regularly – with just how many people have shown up from home, he worries constantly that his students will show up with no one to help them. He knows the odds of being there to catch them when they first arrive are slim, but he has to try anyway.

Unfortunately, he's also so very, very sleepy.

The wind picks up on his way out of the Garden for the day, and he finds himself stopping once he's reached its edge, plopping down to rest back against a low stone wall. If he rests his eyes for just a few seconds, he'll be able to get up and make it home just fine...

In his dreams, as so often happens, he's beset upon by monsters of all shapes and sizes. He's trapped in the Labyrinth, or in the clutches of that crystallized guy who tried to fly off with him a few months ago. He's in Kyoto surrounded by uncivilized oni who want to make a meal of him, he's in a shutendouji's grasp as his soul is sucked from his body. He's surrounded by a pack of angry middle school delinquents, the worst thing of all...

And through it all, there's only one pathetic, pitiful whimper that manages to make its way from his subconscious to the waking world as he cries out in his sleep: ]

Save me, Sano-kun...!!

[ If asked, the fact that Minato stepped into a faerie ring was purely accidental. He hadn't been watching his footing, thought nothing of the suddenly aggressive overgrowth of the Garden's plants. Perhaps this was merely a seasonal outbreak of faerie rings, the circles of mushrooms popping up across town coincidentally.

One moment, he'd been wandering down the street. The next moment, he was accosted by a group of angrily-chirping fae, each of them waving their arms to toss enchanted dust at him. He'd shut his eyes to keep the debris away from them, except opening his eyes revealed --

It's an unfamiliar apartment. Its furnishings are humble. Perhaps it's the home of a newcomer to this land, someone who hadn't yet had the chance to begin decorating their living space. It could be long to just about anyone, except, whoever lived here seemed to have a round mandragora as their roommate.

Minato crouches to watch it toddle around, nonplussed by the circumstances he finds himself in. Should anyone chance upon him, "my bad, I accidentally upset a bunch of faeries," seems like a good enough excuse for how he'd landed here. ]

so.

how are you.

i'm doing the text tihng.

[There was no way Ebisu would let the season go by without giving his cute little brother a gift. And just how did he figure out where Sano lived? It's better not to ask questions ~~though in reality he bribed it out of one of Sano's fans during DreamerCon.~~

The box left outside his door is wrapped in red-and-white striped wrapping paper, with a red bow stuck on top. The first of the presents inside is a container magically enchanted to keep warm the small supply of meat buns inside. The second present is a plushie/pillow, a rotund squ*shmallows-esque design of a capybara's face with little ears perched on top.

There's also a little note inside that reads, Merry Christmas! Let's meet up again sometime soon. ~ Ebisu Isaburou]

[ On Christmas morning, Sano will receive an interesting little contraption from one of the curio shops in Stellari: A crystal with countless cutouts, facets, even other smaller crystals inlaid inside, suspended by gold wire above a small candle. When the candle is lit in a dark room, the light through the crystal throws refractions all across the walls and ceiling, like twinkling stars.

It's as close as he can get to that mini planetarium from home.

There's also a note tucked inside the box it came in:

Merry Christmas, Sano-kun!!!

Come over for dinner tonight, okay? I want to spend every holiday with you, here and back home, forever and ever, until you're old and sick of your annoying teacher! (´• ω •`)

- Haruaki ]

[Once all the festivities are finished and dinners and cozy (or not so cozy but their trademark chaotic) moments were had, Sano will find that somebody has intruded into his room and left two parcels there. One is suspiciously big and fluffy, containing a tanuki-themed sleeping bag that can double as a blanket when it's fully zipped open.

The other is smaller and hard: its content is a tanuki-themed purse made from fine faux leather, containing an elaborate pochibukuro that contains just enough strings to be considered a generous gift for a teen without breeching into the territory of so much that it could be considered awkward or an attempted bribe. Seems like somebody decided to combine Christmas with leaving an early Otoshidama gift.

The back of the envelope is marred with an ~~obvious attempt at~~ flawless calligraphy. 'Merry Christmas! Be proud of youself. I am. - D']

[ On Christmas morning Sano will find a package addressed to him, both larger and lighter than one might expect. It hardly makes a sound when jostled, but when finally opened, all becomes clear.

It's an entire baby bonsai tree, carefully placed so as not to squish any of its delicate parts, striking red maple leaves the first thing Sano will see peeking out at him from behind the cardboard. Deeper inside, a note is slipped in somewhere, telltale elegant handwriting reading,

A Merry Christmas to you, and well wishes in the new year to knowing each other better. I was told you have a little trouble taking care of yourself; should you need it, please know my doors are always open to you.

Akira Takahashi ]

[ Thank goodness Sano heeded the request in the card Haruaki gave with his gift this morning. Dinner isn't anything fancy – he and Akira still haven't gotten too much better at cooking for themselves – but it's a little taste of home, at least. The evening is cosy, snow drifting down through the darkness outside the high windows while they're ensconced in the warm safety of the apartment.

Akira steps out to take Hana for a walk, and Marshmallow ate himself into a nap coma, so for the moment–

It's only Haruaki turning toward Sano with the brightest expression on his face, pure holiday spirit and joy. ]

Sano-kuuuuun!!!

[ As if he's seeing him for the first time, and they haven't spent hours together. ]

Has it been a good Christmas? Waaah, isn't it so weird that when we get back home, we'll do it again in a couple months? What are you going to do for winter break? Do you want to come to my family's shrine!?

[ So many questions!! ]

ic inbox for labyrinthum

> REUNION!!!!

action, oct 2025 intense event

( texting . . . )

Christmas present!

> 12/25 gift delivery

1 Secret & 1 Not-so-secret Santa

12/25 🎁

> stellari christmastime, we gather round and sing songs by sublime