Christmas….
The Happiest Time of the year had come around again… and all the Joy of it had completely passed me over.
This was the first time I'd ever gone through a Christmas without my family. Looking around at the rainy city, with nothing even vaguely resembling the sort of decorations that would be everywhere back home, it hit me yet again that I was no longer home and that I was likely never going to be home ever again.
I was walking back towards my place, returning from the Christmas Day service at a small Catholic chapel that ministered to the foreigners that traveled here for business. Under my breath I hummed one of the songs that had been sung during the service.
"...Hark the Herald Angels sing….
...Glory to the Newborn King…."
Tears started to form at the corners of my eyes, I wasn't one to cry often, but under the weight of my circumstances the tears fought to flow. Thankfully the rain that was coming down in buckets managed to hide any that escaped and hid my face to prevent anyone seeing the burly gaijin crying in the rain, so at least I kept my dignity... for what it was worth.
After what felt like an eternity I finally managed to reach my apartment, opening the door I shucked off my coat and hung it in the bathroom to let it drip dry. I looked around my empty apartment, sighing at the anemic little plastic Christmas Tree I'd managed to find a week ago that was the only sign of the holidays in the place.
When I had realized that my family was no longer here, I had tried to take comfort that at least I'd have Shizuka to spend the holidays with me. I'd even bought a pair of earrings for her as a gift. But even that didn't seem to be in the cards.
Shizuka had left town on Christmas Eve, apparently there was a family emergency and she had to head home to deal with it. Frankly, I had been crushed, I'd had a nice little dinner planned that day with her along with the gift for tomorrow. However I'd not said anything and just told her to be safe and that I hoped everything was alright at home. I'd made sure to say a prayer for her and her family as I knelt during the service though I also guiltily prayed she'd come back as soon as possible.
It was more than a little sad, but other than the club, she was all I really had. I'd made few friends here, my foreigner background, more aloof nature, and the knowledge that nearly all of these people were going to be dead or worse in a year's time had curtailed any real attempts on my part to make any connections.
Such a policy had kept me sheltered from any future heartbreak of losing friends... but it also meant that I was a lonely man on nights such as this…
I was interrupted from my dark musings when I saw a small note on my kitchen table. "Odd…." I thought out loud. I had locked the door before I left to go to the Christmas Service and the only other person to have a key to my place other than the Landlord was… "Shizuka!" I exclaimed.
She'd come back! Earlier than I��d hoped. A smile on my face, I grabbed the piece of paper and quickly scanned it….
There was no signature and the writing was typed so I couldn't determine who it was from the handwriting. It was also very short and perfunctory.
"Please Come to the School, behind the gymnasium. We'll be waiting for you."
We? What's going on? I thought, but now too curious to ignore it I made to leave. Grabbing my coat I left my apartment and headed up the hill towards the school.
As I approached I noticed that there was what looked like torches burning inside the school grounds. A momentary flash of panic flushed through me for a heartbeat before I calmed down, no, the school wasn't burning down... but it did raise more questions.
When I reached the gates I saw to my surprise that they were open. Looking around, I didn't see anyone waiting at the gates but I did see that the torchlight was coming from behind the gym, there was also a delicious smell coming from the same direction. I could smell cooked pork and other meats along with something downright sweet.
Picking up the pace I came around the corner of the building and came to a stop. Someone had set up this large event tent, torches were stuck in the ground all around it and two of my boys were standing at the entrance. When they saw me they raised the practice axes we used during practice in salute. "HAIL! The King has come to the Hall!" they both shouted in unison.
Blinking in surprise I asked, "What's all this?"
"Just step inside." was all the one on the left, a leaner member of the crew named Kenichi answered. His companion Toru, one of the biggest of our little club, said nothing, just a smile on his face.
Seeing that I wasn't going to get any other answers out of them I stepped into the tent proper. I was surprised by the warmth, looking around I noticed some space heaters, as well as a small fire in the center of the room. The edges were flanked by two benches while the back had a small raised platform where a much smaller table sat.
Along the sides were the members of my club... along with some other people… judging from the resemblances I guessed they were family members, I smiled when I saw old man Shirakawa sitting next to a middle-age couple who I assumed were his grandson's parents. "Evening sonny. Quite the shindig these kids set up for ya."
"No kidding," I told him. "didn't know they had it in them."
"Well, when they heard that you didn't have anyone to spend the holidays with, your girlfriend and the boys managed to organize this whole thing. Found someone who had a spare tent from a wedding gathering dust, another had family who did catering, and another had an aunt who could buy this all in bulk. But it was my grandson and your girl who did most of the heavy lifting. She was out here helping the boys set this up since last night."
I blinked in amazement and looked around at the impressive spread in awe. "I'm going to have to write so many thank-you cards for all this..."
That set him and his son laughing, the former saying: "Well, head on up to your special seat, your lady-friend's been waiting for ya."
Looking back to the raised seat, I saw that there were four chairs set behind it. The inner-right seat was empty but sitting in the inner left was... "SHIZUKA!" I shouted, then flushed a bit at my outburst. Sitting on the outer seats were the younger Hayato to the right and Kohta to the left.
When they saw me approach the table they both stood up. "WASSAIL! Our Cynning has come to his hall for the Yuletide feast!" Kohta half-bellowed to the small faux hall. The rest of the club members stood and taking up the various cups, bottles, and cans they had in front of them shouted "WASSAIL!" as well.
There were a few well-meaning jeers from their relatives but otherwise there was little mocking for such melodramatic pageantry. A big grin spread across my face then I raised a clenched fist in return, that set the boys roaring and like a champ I strode to my seat. I made a moment of eye-contact with Shizuka before turning back and said: "Warriors! My mighty Drengas! It warms my heart to see you all, gathered here during the Yuletide. When we first gathered I did not see the fine champions that stand before me now! I saw the dregs of society, the loner, the stringy, the awkward, the obese, nothing but prey to the wolves of this world. But now... now I see MEN, WARRIORS, HUSCARLS of mighty thews that any leader of men would be proud to have in their Werrod! I may have shown you the way, but it was the fire in your bellies and your blood, sweat and tears that took you down the path that has brought you thus far!"
I was mildly surprised at the awed looks on their faces… and was Touji crying? Slightly bemused, I grabbed a cup in front of me and raised it high. "Hail to the young champions, who've come so far!"
To my surprise, their friends and family actually took up the cry. "HAIL!"
Grinning, I took a seat, grabbing a slab of ham from a platter in front of me. I stopped filling my plate when I saw Shizuka looking at me with an amused smile. "What is it?"
She giggled a bit but answered me. "I didn't know you were so good at making speeches, Tom."
"I'm a man of hidden depths, Shizuka-chan, that and I was cribbing REAL hard on movie speeches there. But I meant every word out there. I'm real impressed with how far those boys have come." I said, turning my eyes to scan the impromptu hall, seeing the young men of the club - for young men they were - taking in the compliments from their parents, siblings and friends willing to come to this get together, smiles on each and everyone of their faces.
I turned back to Shizuka and said; "I heard from Hayato Shirakawa Sr. what all you've been doing for the past day and a half. I... I don't know what to say except thank you, from the bottom of my heart... I... really don't have anything to come back to in the States and this... is more than I could have ever imagined."
Shizuka smiled that serene smile of hers and answered; "It was really all the boys' idea, I just helped keep things organized."
"You're a terrible liar, you know that Shizuka." I grinned and kissed her on the cheek, which sparked a few shouts from the rest of the party.
I then glanced at Kohta and Hayato, both men were digging into their meals, ostensibly ignoring me and my girlfriend's conversation. "Any chance you could tell me why the two of you are up here with us?"
Hayato swallowed and answered; "Don't look at us, Sensei, the rest of the guys insisted that we sit here. They said that the best fighter and the one who's been doing this the longest should be sitting at the raised table and nothing we said would convince them otherwise."
I snorted at that, but didn't comment, because what could be really said to that? But I tucked that away, it seemed that a hierarchy was forming in the band with Hayato and Kohta as the captains. I was satisfied with the boys' choices, Hayato, once he'd broken out of that shell he'd kept himself in for years and decided to go without a slump for once in his life had that air of a leader in him. Kohta, while shorter, was also now built like a tree stump, the fat having melted away and bulking out like any man who does strenuous work does. While there were a few others who could out lift him, myself included, Kohta turned out to have incredible stamina, able to keep going during burnout workouts that rivaled even me, a man who'd been doing this sort of thing for over a decade. I was excited to see what he could do when the time came, he'd need that endurance.
I grimaced for a moment when I remembered why I had formed this club to begin with. However, Shizuka had noticed my change in mood and spoke in a low voice. "Is something wrong?"
Shaken out of my funk, I brought my mind back to the present and smiled before whispering: "Oh nothing, just thinking that someone was not very nice by tricking her boyfriend. Such a naughty girl making her man think he'd be spending all Christmas alone pining for her. Naughty girls like that need to be... punished, don't you think?" I whispered in her ear.
Shizuka reddened at that and poked me in the ribs while letting out an embarrassed squeak.
I simply laughed my damn head off, when I saw that boys were trying their damnedest not to look like they'd overheard us I simply laughed even harder.
The rest of the night went pretty well, all things considered, the food was great, the company excellent. I surprised a few folks with some Christmas songs, some of the adults got sloshed and Shizuka got more than a little tipsy, but thankfully no one made a fool of themselves.
That evening when I brought Shizuka back to my place I showed her the earrings I'd gotten for her as a Christmas gift. Well, I learned that yes she really could do that trick with her tongue…
In the years to come I'd would take strength from that evening with friends, comrades, and loved ones. It would be a source of hope to keep moving in the dark days to come.
When the final term of the schoolyear started back up, things would begin to come to a head and I was to be finally introduced to the final member of the canon crew, Takashi himself.