The Most Amazing Christmas Tree Ever

※ Saturday morning, about 2 weeks before Christmas ※

Ding dong!

The doorbell chimed just as Yui finished up the breakfast dishes.

“Central Life delivery for unit 703!” called a cheerful voice through the intercom.

“I'll get it nya!” Narumi bounced off the couch, her tail swishing in excitement as she rushed to the door. Soon, their living room floor was occupied by several cardboard boxes of various sizes—the Christmas decorations they ordered at the mall yesterday had arrived!

“Ara ara, this is so exciting!” Emi clapped her hands together, practically radiating enthusiasm. “I've always wanted to decorate a proper Christmas tree!”

“Me too nya!”

“Herrokero!” Akari's pinkish-red eyes sparkled as she helped open the largest box, revealing the neatly packed tree sections inside. “It's like a giant tree puzzle!”

The sound of cardboard being torn filled the air as they eagerly unpacked the rest of their haul. They found boxes of ornaments in various sizes, along with carefully coiled string lights and rolls of sparkly tinsel in silver and gold.

The tree topper was packed in its own padded box— a magnificent chunk of natural crystal that had been masterfully chiselled into a star. Delicate golden filigree traced along its points like frozen rays of light, ending in an ornate spiral base that would cradle the tree's uppermost branch.

As Emi lifted the gorgeous artisan piece out of its box, the energy rich crystalline structure cast a soft, ethereal glow that danced across her delighted face. It had quite the price tag at the store, but Emi had justified the purchase with her usual carefree giggle: “Ara ara, since we're all decorating our first Christmas tree together, and Ash-kun is with us too... these are precious memories we need to make special!” [What about your poor wallet’s memories?]

They cleared a corner space for their upcoming masterpiece— behind the couches and near the balcony doors. The tree they ordered came in 3 trunk sections, each with hinged branches that folded down for convenient storage. Fully assembled however, it was large enough to reach the ceiling, requiring a decent amount of space.

“Alright nya!” Narumi planted her hands on her hips, tail swishing with determination. “Let's make this the most amazing Christmas tree ever, nyahaha!” [Ma’am, your friends have a combined tree decorating experience of 0 hours]

Yui scanned a QR code on the packaging with her MAG; a holographic instruction manual immediately projecting before her.

“According to the instructions...” Yui squinted at the floating manual while Ash set the base down and twisted the bottom-most trunk section into place, “we need to make sure this is on completely level ground...”

[Uh… I think the tree just wobbled there]

“So fluffy nya…” Narumi couldn't resist batting at the folded tree branches with her hands, her cat instincts taking over. The tree stump wobbled ever so slightly. “They're like giant cat toys!”

[It’s definitely wobbling now…]

“Mou, Narumi-chan!” Yui cautioned, distracted from her manual, “Stop playing with it!”.

Piyo! As they worked on setting up the tree, Mochi surveyed the increasingly chaotic scene from his Primary Airfield Yui— already calculating trajectories to Secondary Airfield Akari and Tertiary Airfield Ash should Primary Airfield Yui conditions become compromised.

Yui continued reading the manual while helping Ash assemble the tree. “We have to connect the trunk sections together, bigger ones at the bottom. Then we can unfold the branches.”

After fully assembling the trunk and unfolding the branches, Yui and Ash found themselves staring at their next challenge: the coil of lights and tinsel that somehow needed to end up on nicely wrapped around the tree. Unfortunately, in its practical minimalism, the instructions had ended triumphantly at 'Tree assembled'—our brave heroes would have to face the battlefield of decoration alone. [The tree is still doing the cha-cha BTW]

Emi who had been enthusiastically exploring the boxes of ornaments, began haphazardly hanging them on the tree. “Ara ara! Look how adorable these are!” Her eyes sparkled as she held up a pair of golden Rappy ornaments. “Ohhh! Look at these! They have Moonies and Sunnies too! Their ears are so precious~”

“Don't forget the star!” Akari announced, holding up the glowing crystal tree topper. She stretched up on her tiptoes, but even with her arm fully extended, she was nowhere near reaching the top of the tree.

“Here—” Before she could protest, Ash had scooped her up by the waist, lifting her high enough to reach the top. “Better?”

Piyo? As Yui tilted her head up to watch the heartwarming scene, Mochi detected an unexpected angular displacement in his primary airfield—automatically adjusting his center of gravity forward to maintain optimal perching stability.

“Perfect!” Akari carefully settled the star in place, though her triumphant grin quickly turned to a squeak of surprise as the tree wobbled ominously. Ash's grip on her tightened instinctively.

“Steady...” Yui murmured, one hand hovering near the trunk. After a tense moment, the tree settled back into its slightly crooked stance.

“Why is it wobbling…?” She wondered aloud before consulting her manual again. “There's nothing under the feet…” [How did you read every part of the manual except the part about the adjustable feet?]

Ash gently set Akari back on her feet, as she eyed the tree with a mix of pride and wariness. “Arigatou, Ash-nii-san!”

Meanwhile, Narumi's tail grew progressively poofier with delight as she batted at branches, and ornaments, and lights… and tinsel. [Someone restrain this cat!]

“Chotto— Narumi-chan!” Yui scolded, “Stop hitting everything!”

“Tinsel so pretty nya!” Narumi pounced on a shimmering strand, barely even registering Yui’s words. “Like tiny light beams!”

Within an instant, Narumi somehow entangled herself with the tinsel and lights hanging from the tree. [Ok good, the tree restrained the cat]

“Nyabe—” She tried to spin free but only succeeded in wrapping herself further while pulling the lights and tinsel taut against the tree.

“No, wait!” Yui called out, but it was too late.

PIIYO! PIIYO! PIIYO! PIYOYOOOOO! Mochi launched into the air, sensing imminent danger. (MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! ALL AIRFIELDS COMPROMISED!)

Her legs bound together, Narumi began toppling over— “Nyaa! Tasuketeeeeee!”—pulling with her string lights, tinsel… and the entire tree.

“I've got it!” Ash lunged to catch the falling tree while Yui dove to help Narumi.

What happened next seemed to unfold in slow motion:

o POMF! Narumi landed on the floor “—unya”, achieving new records in tinsel and string light entanglement

o Instead of catching Narumi, DOKYU Yui’s face ended up pressed against Ash's chest

o DOKON! The tree settled at a precarious angle against Ash's steady hands…

Time resumed its normal flow, but while the tilting evergreen had been halted, a cascade of ornaments continued their journey off its branches. TINK TINK TINKLE TINK onto the floor—tiny Rappies, Reindians, Moonies, and Sunnies tumbled alongside glittering glass orbs, shimmering gold and red baubles, striped candy canes and silver bells. All of them ping-plink-plonk bouncing and ting-a-ling-a-ling rolling in every direction.

Atop the tree, Emi’s pricey crystal star wobbled precariously for a moment…before plunging gracefully to its death.

“Yaba—the star!” Emi gasped, reaching up to save her questionable investment.

The falling tree topper:

POYON bounced off Emi’s hands “ita—",

GON bounced off her head “ita—”,

GON bounced off Akari’s head “ita—”,

and… pofun landed harmlessly on the couch.

For a moment, the room fell silent…

“I-Is everyone ok?” Yui cautiously opened her eyes, trying to ignore how warm her face felt from contact with Ash.

“I’m alright,” With a push Ash slowly eased the tree back to its intended upright position, though that seemed to further tighten Narumi’s bindings of festive penance— while dragging her along the floor.

“I think I need some help nyaa… I can't tell which way is up...” came Narumi's muffled voice from within her festive prison.

Piyo piyo piiyo… piyoyo piiyo. Mochi puffed up importantly as he reported from his new observation point atop a lampshade. (Primary Airfield Yui: compromised by close contact with ARKS operative Ash. Secondary Airfield Akari: experiencing mild head trauma. Continued monitoring advised.) [What is this, a military operation?]

“Itta-ta-ta-ta…”

Akari and Emi rubbed their heads as they surveyed the mess around them. Several Rappy ornaments had rolled under the couch, and a strand of lights was blinking forlornly on the tree, half-unplugged.

Akari picked up a fallen Moonie ornament— its ears already snapped clean off—before looking at the tree topper laying safely on the couch. “At least the star that Emi-nee-san said cost two days of her pay is safe!” [It costed WHAT!?]

“Ara, all’s well ends well, ehe!” [Don’t teach Akari such things!]

Ash stood before their artistic interpretation of a Christmas tree. The plastic evergreen leaned ever so slightly to one side, ornaments clinging desperately to whatever branches hadn't forsaken them gravity. Tinsel and string lights criss-crossed chaotically through the branches like some kind of festive spider web, which had somehow managed to ensnare a random catgirl in its twinkling embrace.

A small smile played Ash’s lips. “I… suppose it has character?”

“Just like us nya!” Narumi cheered from somewhere within her illuminated tinsel cocoon.

※ A couple hours later... ※

The living room still bore cheerful evidence of their Christmas tree decorating adventure. Despite Yui's meticulous direction of their vacuuMAG, tiny tinsel fragments sparkled stubbornly across the carpet, while empty decoration boxes formed a precarious tower against the wall. The true centerpiece, their newly assembled (and re-ornamented) Christmas tree, stood proud – if somewhat chaotic – in its designated corner. Its ornaments and tinsel, clumsily clustered in peculiar patterns, caught the late afternoon sun, painting the walls with dancing spots of colored light.

From her spot on the couch, Narumi beamed at their masterpiece until her gaze dropped to the empty space beneath the branches. "Nya?" Her ears perked up as she tilted her head, an idea forming.

"Hey hey nya!" The couch springs protested as she launched herself upright with characteristic enthusiasm. "I just thought of something amazing!"

“What is it this time?” Yui didn't look up from her spot on the floor, fingers working to untangle yet another piece of tinsel that had somehow woven itself into her blonde ponytail.

Narumi's tail curved into an excited question mark. “We should do that Western activity called Secret Santa!”

“Secret Santa?” Yui looked up from where she sat cross-legged.

Narumi's pink and royal blue eyes lit up. “Everyone puts their name in a box, then we each draw one, and that's who we buy a present for nya! It's like a surprise gift game!”

From her spot by the Christmas tree, Akari turned around in interest. “Herrokero! That sounds fun!”

“Ara ara, what a wonderful idea!” Emi paused in her comprehensive recording of their tree-decorating aftermath with her MAG—her eyes sparkling with that dangerous gleam that usually preceded an expansion of her alarmingly-extensive photo collection. “It'll make gift-giving more special and mysterious~”

She adjusted her glasses with one finger, the lenses catching the light. "…And give me soo many opportunities to capture precious Christmas memories!" A mischievous chuckle escaped her lips. "U-fu-fuu~!"

Piyoyooo!

Mochi barely had time to register his own unscheduled launch from Yui’s head as her spine snapped ramrod straight. Her mind was already racing light-years ahead, heart fluttering at the possibilities – a one-in-four chance to be Ash's Secret Santa. To pick out something meaningful, wrapped with trembling fingers and tied with the perfect bow, something that would make him...

“I... I suppose we could try it,” Yui mumbled, trying to sound nonchalant while secretly crossing her fingers in her lap. Her eyes drifted, almost of their own accord, toward the armchair where Ash sat, reviewing the latest DOLLS activity reports on his MAG's holographic display. She quickly looked away, face warming slightly.

A slight smile crossed Ash’s face. “Sure, why not?”

“Yay!” Narumi's feet barely touched the ground as she bounded toward her room, footsteps echoing down the hallway. She reappeared moments later with paper and pens clutched in her hands, nearly tripping over her own tail in excitement as she returned.

She plopped down on the floor and carefully tore the paper into five… wonky squares.

“Ah—pretend they’re straight nya”

Everyone wrote their names and folded their papers. Emi produced an empty holiday cookie tin, decorated with pictures of snowflakes and candy canes, to use as their drawing box. Dink, dink, dink – the sound of paper hitting thin metal rang out as they dropped their folded names inside.

“Nnnnnnn-nyanyanyanyanyan-nya!” Narumi shook the tin with enough enthusiasm to make butter out of paper.

“Alright nya, everyone draw one piece of paper!” she pried the lid off, holding out the tin for her friends.

They took turns drawing. Yui's heart pounded against her ribs, hands quivering ever so slightly as she reached inside. With a deep breath she unfolded the paper...

'Nyarumi nya ♥'

She stared blanky at the paper, before lifting her gaze to observe the cat girl practically vibrating with excitement as she read her own paper. [When you pull the character no one likes instead of your sexy 5 star husbando]

“This is going to be so much fun nya!” Narumi's tail curled into a happy question mark as she beamed at everyone. “Remember, it's a secret until Christmas, so no telling anyone who you got nya!”

“Right...” Yui slumped forward, her dreams of finding the perfect romantic gift for Ash crumbling away like a sandcastle during high tide.

“Oh! Oh!” Narumi suddenly bounced up and down on the couch, causing the springs to loudly protest once more. “We should all go shopping together at Central Mall next Saturday nya!”

“W-wait, all of us?” Yui's eyes widened in panic. Shopping... With Ash!?? Her imagination immediately conjured visions of accidentally bumping into him between aisles, their hands touching as they reached for the same item, getting squished together in the holiday crowd—

Piyoyooo! Mochi launched into the air again as Yui violently shook her head in an attempt to dispel the racing thoughts, her face already burning bright red.

“Ara ara, that sounds like great fun!” Emi clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Mm!” Akari nodded enthusiastically. “And after shopping, we can get dinner together!”

“Sounds good,” Ash gave a small nod of agreement.

“Then it's settled nya!” Narumi pumped her fist in the air. “Operation Secret Santa Shopping starts Saturday next week nya! Use the time until then to think about what presents to give! Everyone better show up, or I'll hunt you down and drag you there myself nyahaha!”