2021-11-23 - Chicken, Cats, and Baby Darth Vader?! We're Seeking The Meaning Of Christmas!

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Title: Chicken, Cats, and Baby Darth Vader?! We're Seeking The Meaning Of Christmas!
Summary:

So a data fairy, a space alien, and a country girl walk into big city theme park... between them, can Setsuna, Lera, and Mikoto figure out what Christmas is all about?! Obviously yes.

Who:

Mikoto Minagi, Lera Camry, Setsuna Higashi

Where:

Tomoeda Theme Park

OOC - IC Date:

2021-11-23 - 2015-12-21


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Aoi-chan, we have got to see the Tomoeda parades," Chie insists, over lunch.

"Ahh... but this year, I have a date!" Aoi insists, raising her hands in placation. "A date!"

"Dates are for restaurants," Chie accuses, playfully, gesturing with a chopstick. This isn't quite correct, of course, but that's all part of the banter.

Mikoto, watching this entire exchange like a crowd following a tennis ball back and forth over a net, cants her head to the side. "Parade...?" She interjects, confused.

"Eeh?" Aoi interrupts herself, looking over to her junior. "Mikoto-chan, you don't know about the Christmas parades...?"

"... never had time before," Mikoto shrugs a shoulder, and it's not really a lie, aside from how it ignores what preoccupied her for those first years in Tokyo.

-=-=-

To: Lera and sky and ground and Fast Setsuna
> Theres parades at theme park!!!!
> Its for Christmas!!!!!@
> Christmas park!!!!!!!!
> Every ueat!!!!
> Year
> Let's go right now!!!!!!!!!

-=-=-

Anyway, that's how Mikoto ends up at the mouth of Tomoeda Theme Park, waiting for two of the other people who might appreciate just what a revelation a normal Tokyo tradition can be. There are clouds drifting over the sun, but down to Earth, there's not much wind to speak of. It's a mild afternoon, as far as December goes, so she's in a wooly jumper -- with, of course -- the most garish rendition of a Christmas tree known to man. The tinsel is metallic shiny; there's glitter pasted on the stitching of baubles and stars. The presents at the bottom are garish red and obnoxiously green. It is a travesty which completely drowns out the fact that her long brown skirt is almost fashionable. Also fashionable are the rainbow beads, clipped to the braids framing her face, but then -- they were a gift from an actual model. Then there's that black case over her shoulder, of course, but it is so familiar to her silhouette it scarcely needs focus.

Mikoto, it must be noted, is hardly the only person here in an Ugly Christmas Sweater. There are even mascot-themed ones being sold at the gift shop. Some are tasteful! Some are fun.

Mikoto bounces on the balls of her feet, arms swinging freely about her in wide arc. Her constant motion, conveniently, parts the Christmas crowds around her -- makes her easier to spot, even given her diminutive height. (Of course, Lera and Setsuna have experience spotting even shorter people than her, so Mikoto isn't worried.) She likes the theme park! Well, she likes it much better, now she isn't getting kicked into the Ferris wheel -- but in Passion's defence, Mikoto did start it. Now they can go to Tomoeda together without fighting!


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Lera has no questions. She wants to see a Christmas parade at a Christmas theme park. A Christmas-themed theme park, today!

She is wearing a green coat, a scarf, and white pants. This isn't a specifically Christmas-y outfit, but the red-and-white Santa hat on her head is very much in the holiday spirit. She walks along, and her height gives her an advantage: she can scan, easily, for Mikoto. She spots her, and she waves her hand eagerly in the air.

"Mikoto!" she calls out. She looks sideways at Setsuna, then, and flashes her a grin. "There she is! Aah, I hope we're not late, y'know? I can't wait to see the parade!"


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Setsuna Higashi was not aware that Christmas had parades. She is not that familiar with parades in the first place, though she absolutely attacked one with a Nakewameke at least once. Obviously, that didn't allow her to really enjoy the parade. but ehre, and now...

She is also not in a particularly Christmas-themed outfit, but her favored color suits the hliday well enough. It is red. She likes Lrea's hat.

Bounce bounce. Setsuna walks along with Lera, holding her other hand for the moment, and waves too at Mikoto!

No Ferris wheel kicks this time, probably!

"Hello!"


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Mikoto at least never attacked a parade. ... she attacked a fireworks festival instead. Don't worry, Fate and Vita registered their complaints in the normal fashion and saved the festivities.

Today -- it's a few days from Christmas, so EVERY day is a little like a festival, particularly amongst the young. Lera blends right in with her Santa's hat (and as we all know, Santa can ABSOLUTELY be a girl), and when Mikoto spies that hand waving up, she waves both of hers in the air, too. "Lera, Lera! Setsuna! Setsuna!" She calls, as she bounds up to them, with that same bouncy energy of the girl in red.

"It's like festival!" Mikoto truncates a little as she voices her thoughts, pointing to the people flooding into the park. "Come on, come on! There's snacks!"

SMASH CUT: SNACK CART

BECAUSE THERE IS NO UNIVERSE IN WHICH THIS TRIO DON'T IMMEDIATELY STAMPEDE TO TREATS

And Mikoto sets off walking as soon as she's gotten a frankly absurd swirl of fairy floss, which is all sugar, there is nothing but energy in that fluffy candy. Walking... in the direction of the parade, probably! Hopefully. "Everyone's having a good time," she says, with that same excitement, looking out at the various Ugly Christmas Sweaters and the people attached to them. "It's good! I like having fun here better than making problems," she adds, looking over to Setsuna, who saw her cause problems in the theme park more than once.

"Christmas is nicer now I'm paying attention..!!"


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Lera is hand-in-hand with Setsuna as Mikoto comes up. She is used to the energy at this point; she can't quite match it, but she comes close. She grins down at her, as she takes in the sweater. It merits her approval. And then her eyes light up. "Snacks?"

There is a glance at Setsuna, but... she knows where they are going.

She has a large caramel apple, with a hefty bite out of it. Caramel, chocolate sauce, and some sugar-encrusted nuts are coating it. A little is dripping off onto her hand, as she walks. following happily after Mikoto. "Christmas is great, y'know? I only sort of get what it's about," she says. "The Earth people said, um..."

Her nose wrinkles. "...there was a baby? Who didn't have a mom? And he grew up to become Darth Vader, except--y'know--not evil, because Santa Claus came?"

A mother leans down and whispers a correction to her child. Lera merrily walks past.

"It's pretty great!"


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Setsuna has a quiet kind of energy that can sneak up on people. Not usually on Lera, though she has snuck up on Lera before. But it's far away from doing any attacking, and Mikoto calls out to bounce their way and--

"Snacks!" Setsuna agrees cheerfully, looking at Lera with hope in her eyes.

Setsuna has a christmas crepe in nice holiday paper. It is absolutely what is happening here. And indeed, "I think so too," Setsuna agrees with Mikoto about having fun rather than making problems. She has been quiet so far, but she is often quiet. Until...

"Oh..."

"I guess it's important for a baby not to be evil," Setsuna puzzles out. "I don't know. I know that it involves chicken!"

"And lights!"


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Mikoto, who is, let us remind the class, EXTREMELY CREDULOUS, listens with rapt attention to Lera's explanation of Christmas. Someone who grew up to be evil, but... not evil..?

Mikoto's mind immediately goes to someone else she knew who grew up evil who she really wants to realise non-evil methods of existence.

"I gotta find Santa Claus," Mikoto decides, entirely serious. She pauses. She thinks, a finger to her lip. "But... but wait, I never met Santa! So how come I'm okay?" She scrunches up her face, and thinks very hard...

And then a lightbulb flashes over her head. (Wait, no, that's just a passing parkgoer's Rudolph nose, complete with LEDs.) "Oh!" Mikoto says, as if she suddenly understands everything. "'Cause it involves chicken... Mai always makes chicken ramen! So that's why!"

She HOMPHS a mouthful of fairy floss, to fuel her very serious considerations. "So," Mikoto says, once her mouth isn't quite so full, "chicken has Santa energy..."

It seems no one passing by is willing to address the sheer amount of correctness being bandied around here.


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"Chickens and lights are important, too," Lera answers Setsuna, with a smile and a nod of her head. "Chicken is really tasty, y'know? Especially the chicken around the holidays..."

She looks down at Mikoto, and scratches at her cheek considering, before she looks up. "That makes sense, y'know? If Mai made a lot of chicken. But--it's a Christmas parade, right? So Santa has to be around here somewhere!" she declares, energetically. She keeps walking along.

She glances about. "We should probably a find place to watch it, right? I don't think it's started proper like, yet..."

She can tell. She stands almost a head higher than a lot of the people here.


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Setsuna knows full well that sometimes, just sometimes--Lera's information isn't accurate. On occasion. But there's no reason for her to doubt this important talk of holidays!

"Yes!" Setsuna agrees about the chicken's tastiness. "That must be why," she agrees with Mikoto too, and considers. Santa Claus... "We could go looking for him," Setsuna suggests. "Though he must be here at the parade..." That's true. Setsuna decides against teleporting away to the North Pole. That may not be a good way to find Santa.

"The lights are very important," she says. "I like seeing all the lights..." Sometimes it reminds her of the blinking LEDs in parts of Labyrinth, but nicer. "Do we want to just find a roof?" she wonders.


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Is it different in holidays?" Mikoto wonders, on the topic of chicken. "Different chickens... there's ones that's all feathers, even their feet! But they were for petting, so I didn't figure out how they tasted." The rules of the petting zoo are quite clear: no eating the animals. Besides, Mai put a moratorium on Mikoto bringing home non-fish animals to eat years ago, so she wouldn't have been able to figure it out anyway.

(Mikoto treats animal non-aggression treaties more seriously these days. It might have something to do with another of Setsuna's friends, who's been quite clear that prey animals are also friends. Is this what you call a hunter's code of honour..?!)

She looks back and forth, alert and engaged, as she echoes: "Santa's here..." There are a lot of people in Santa hats, but it must be like Lera, right? They're not really Santa. Thus is a portly fellow saved from being jumped on, just because he's wearing a festive hat. She does give him a hell of a look before she realises he's not the real deal, though.

"Lights are good!" Mikoto agrees, cheerfully. "I like the one's that's lots of colours!" She points to the newly-festive entrance to the Ferris Wheel, as they pass. It's all decked out in fairy lights!

And then, of course, Setsuna says The Magic Word, and activates Mikoto. "Yup!" She agrees, with vivacity, handing off her fairy floss to Setsuna (who will surely keep it safe and not eat it, right???) before she bounds off to try and parkour her way up onto the tasty, tasty roof of the Candy House.


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Lera is aware that Setsuna could just teleport to the North Pole or, practically, anywhere. It is one of her abilities as a Pretty Cure; it is also something that she may, occasionally, want to use to her advantage for nefarious&ast; schemes&ast;&ast;.

"The lights are so pretty, y'know?" Lera says, with a thoughtful blink. She looks up. "I think a roof's a good idea. We'd be up high, so we could see everything!"

She looks at Mikoto and tilts her head. "I'm not sure if the chicken is... it might just taste that way because it's holiday chicken?" Lera says, and she doesn't quite explain how that makes sense. Then, she watches Mikoto bound off -- her candy passed to Setsuna -- and she looks at Setsuna. "Uh... should we teleport or you want me to fly us up there?"

&ast; They aren't all that nefarious. &ast;&ast; They are definitely schemes.


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

They're fun schemes!

"I think it's different recipes rather than different chickens," Setsuna opines on the matter of holiday chicken. "It's made differently, so it tastes different." Pause. "It's good that you didn't eat the petting chickens. That would be bad."

But the lights... "I like the lights a lot."

Santa is here. That is the theory. "I also like the ones that are lots of colors," she agrees very simply, and looks up and around to the others.

She only eats a little of the fairy floss. Only a little.

"...You can fly us," she says, with no ulterior motive of being carried by her girlfriend for a bit or anything.


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Mikoto was never the schemer of the family, but she's great at enabling schemes, for some reason. It's fine! It's probably fine.

"Holiday chicken... oh!" Setsuna's explanation seems to click, in Mikoto's mind, and she bobs her head, brightly. "Different recipes, okay. Don't worry! The petting animals are safe with me!" Are they REALLY safe around a girl who learned so much from her cat friends...?

Probably. It's probably fine!

It takes Mikoto a little longer to scramble onto the roof, because she has to keep an eye on the crowds and make her leap when no one's looking right at her. Once she has an angle of approach, though, she's remarkably deft at wriggling up there. "Hup..!"

She settles in by a waffle cone spire, looking out at the park. "Santa, Santa... there!!" Mikoto points, at a parade, beginning through the grand old street. "Look, the parade! Santa's there, right??"


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"Y-Yeah, we better not do that," Lera says, with a little bit of a sheepish grin. When Setsuna requests that Lera fly her up there, she gives her a brief look -- but it's bemused, and she doesn't complain. She picks her up -- princess carry, of course -- easily, and hefts her up. And then, she lifts up into the air. A child gasps -- but by the time anyone else looks...

...well, their parabolic arc through the air has taken them up and to the roof of the candy house. She lands -- and gently Setsuna down, with a little grin, and waves her hand at Mikoto. She walks over, and then peers down. Sure enough, the parade is winding up.

"Aaah, yeah!" she says. "He should be in a sled! I think? Pulled by... deer?"


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Setsuna... well. She does schemes. Sometimes they are very simple shemes. It's fine. The petting animals are safe, though, and that's what's important. ...Probably...

She smiles at Lera, and goes on up and ahead with her, setting down on the roof and returning Mikoto's candy, minus one bite of fairy floss, because that's just the tax of giving Setsuna the candy. She beams at her, and doesn't even seem to notice the person who saw them....

"Oh!! Yes," she says. "Deer. I'm very clear on that one, one of them has a bioluminescent nose."


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

It's very important to get your girlfriend to fly you places. Mikoto nods, very seriously, to Setsuna, when she accepts her fairy floss back, minus the climbing tax. (This, she accepts as a natural part of life.)

"Deer..?" Mikoto wonders, shading her eyes as she looks out upon the parade. There are: elves! They're very green! And they're dancing! There are also snowmen, who are remarkably more mobile than the ones in the storefronts. She does not, immediately, see a sled.

"Can deer really pull sleds?" Mikoto wonders, nose all scrunching up in thought. "Deer don't like people too much... unless they're city deer!" The deer who venture closer to Tokyo are remarkably acclimatised to humans. "But city deer don't got bioru... biolumey... biologyscent noses," she insists. "They got normal sniffing noses."


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"The bioluminescent nose is weird, y'know? Earth doesn't do that very often," Lera says. She looks down over the parade, and she nods at the question of deer.

"Sure, why not? Deer are basically tall, skinny horses with head branches, y'know?" she says, as if this is the most natural thing in the world. Then, she peers down -- wonders what a city deer is -- and breaks into a grin.

"Whoa, those elves are great!" she says. "They're dancing really well! And they've got super pointy ears, too, y'know? And there's a house on their float!"


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Deer! And elves! Setsuna looks over the elves, and the snowmen, and no sleds. "That's true..." Earth does not do that very often. "Except for animals at the very lowest parts of the ocean!" But a city deer, hm? Tall, skinny... Well. It works for Setsuna. She is not that knowledgeable about wild animals, having seen more cats and dogs at the local vet that her friend is. "Normal sniffing noses... Yes."

"I also like the elf dancing..." She bites her lip.


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Deep fish?" Mikoto wonders, blinking, to Setsuna. "I can't swim that far down... it's hard to fight fish when they can breathe better! Gotta fish near the surface." Or else you end up blacking out and ending up in a med bay somewhere. Okay, sure, that time she was fishing for HiME, but it's the SAME PRINCIPLE.

Mikoto blinks, wide-eyed, at Lera. "Tall horses..?" She wonders, and checks this against her knowledge of deers (pretty good) and her knowledge of horses (not so much). Horses: stompy, too big to eat, people use them. Deer: stompy, too big to eat, apparently people also use them. "Right!" Mikoto decides, cheerfully, that Lera is absolutely correct on this and all other topics.

"Dancing..?" Mikoto wonders, looking down at the parade. Her head cants, to the side. "Girls should enjoy dancing... that's what I heard." She can't remember quite where she heard it, but this, too, is probably fine.

Probably.


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"That sounds scary," Lera admits, when she considers Mikoto's recollection of 'deep fishing.' Her eyes blink a couple of times. Then, she looks at Setsuna, and bobs her head with a thought.

"Dancing is fun, y'know?" she says. "I like doing it. I had lessons, when I was younger, though I'm not... y'know..."

She isn't nearly as good as Love, Buki, and Miki. She scratches at the back of her head.

"Ooh, look, big toy soldiers!" she exclaims, and points.


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"I can't either," Setsuna admits. "I like seeing the fish up closer to the surface, though. So many living things just... floating around..." It's very different from how she grew up; even all the cats and pigeons and such in the city are different on that front. "But I don't think I've tried to fight very many fish..."

She looks back to Lera and smiles. "Yes. I'm not very good at it," she admits, "But I like watching my friends..." Like Love, Buki, and Miki.

"...I think... a lot of girls do," she admits. "I think it's nice when Lera dances..."

But then--"Oh!! They're colorful..."


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Don't worry!" Is Mikoto's cheerful reassurance to Lera, on her fears about fishing, which does nothing to actually inform her why she shouldn't worry. "I heard there's even more littler fish floating in the ocean," Mikoto informs Setsuna, too, quite proudly. "We can't see them, but the bigger fish eat them! So even when Setsuna can't see living stuff, there's still living stuff!"

Mikoto looks from Lera to Setsuna, back to the dancing elves. "Sometimes when Mai fights, it's like she's dancing," she decides, after a moment, entirely warm. "I love seeing that." Why would she jump to that conclusion..?

(It's not like it's hard to get Mikoto to think about Mai.)

She cranes her neck to look, despite the fact that they are on a roof and have the best vantage point, to find -- "Moving toys?" Mikoto wonders, entirely delighted. "What're they guarding? Is it presents?!" She scans the float for signs of prizes, only to find a float decorated like a massive Christmas tree.

"Look, look!" Mikoto points. "It's the tree! The tree! It's got a star on top so cats know how far to climb!" That's...

... actually, is Mikoto even WRONG?


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"That makes sense, y'know? I've only gone fishing a few times..." Lera trails off. She never had the patience for it, but it sounds like Mikoto's preferred style of fishing does not involve a line, a rod, and a lot of waiting. She considers it for a second, and then then she blinks her eyes.

"Mai does kinda fight like she's dancing, y'know? I never really thought about it that way before," she says. She taps a finger against her cheek.

But why did Mikoto bring up Mai...?

She looks sideways at Setsuna -- and she grins, then she winks at her. And maybe if Lera was a little smarter, she would put two and two together. Instead, though, her eyes are back on the toy soldiers. "It might be! They've got a wagon there--whoa, like, really big presents, y'know?"

An oversized toy soldier wagon, with oversized presents. And, indeed, a tree -- a tree with a star. A star that--

Lera blinks. "...r-really? That's what the star is for...?"


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

"Oh! You know, I'd heard that..." But when Mikoto puts it that way it seems much more comforting than talk of microorganisms and plankton and bacteria and the like. "That is nice. I like... living things." It's a little spooky of course; she is accustomed to a much more sterile environment. But contradictions are part of life on Earth. It's not like she's a robot or something!

Westar likes fishing, Setsuna thinks. She does not bring it up. "She does," Setsuna agrees. "It's very pretty." Setsuna gets it. Setsuna is very smart that way. She looks at Lra, smiling--and then notices that wink too.

"Big presents..."

Pause. The star...

"That sounds logical," Setsuna says, tapping her cheek thoughtfully. "How else would cats know where to stop?"


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Mikoto's style of fishing DEFINITELY doesn't involve a line; she always gets tangled up in it! Of course, it doesn't involve Miroku, either -- that would be unsporting for the fish, who are, by and large, not magic. (There was that one time...) (We don't talk about the Orphan fish.) (Please don't reverse the hunter-hunted axis, it's extremely unsettling.)

"I think about it all the time!" Mikoto says, cheerfully, completely missing the wink, and Setsuna Getting It. Instead, when she supposes it's pretty, Mikoto confirms: "Yup!"

INSIDE MIKOTO'S MIND: The eternal timer labelled 'Bring Up Mai', having been faithfully activated, starts ticking back down towards zero again.

"Mm-hmm!" Mikoto hums eager affirmation, about stars and cats. "Cats like stars! So they get to the star, and they don't need to go nowhere else!" This is Mikoto's wisdom, under the light of a black omen which only she can see. It's looking nice today. "There's gotta be lots more shiny things to knock down before that, though," Mikoto adds, seriously. "That's how they know they beat the tree."

Who knew Christmas trees were so complicated..?

Mikoto straightens up, a hand to Lera's shoulder as she points over her head, all a sudden calling out: "Look! Look! It's deer!" There, finally... is SANTA'S SLED.

"Can he really make it so we don't grow up evil..?!"


<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"Hm..."

Lera trails off a little. Maybe she starts to wonder now, her eyebrows knitting as she thinks about it. But, there is a bigger question: do cats like stars? Do Christmas trees have stars so cats know to not climb higher? The logic that Mikoto presents seems unimpeachable.

"That's amazing," she whispers, softly. She then brightens -- Mikoto's hand over her shoulder. She follows the line of of her finger to a sled, and then her eyes widen. She grins, and glances sideways at Setsuna. "Look!" she says. "It really is! Aaah, with all the deer, and even more presents! Regular-sized ones!" she says. "It's great, y'know?"

She looks back at Mikoto and beams. "Yeah, I'm sure he can!"


<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Very pretty!!

Setsuna too listens to Mikoto's wisdom, and nods thoughtfully. "A very important contest..." She looks thoughtful, setting her jaw as she imagines it. The cat must beat the tree, or the cat will never truly be--

"Oh! Santa!"

Setsuna looks brightly, and smiles at Mikoto, leaning over to her friend. "...Yes," she says, looking at the sleigh brightly.

"I think he can."


<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

"Cats are very strong," is Mikoto's wisdom. Is that why they give them those trees to destroy..?

INSIDE MIKOTO'S MIND: The just-as-eternal timer labelled 'Bring Up Cats', having been just as faithfully activated, starts ticking back down towards zero, too.

And Lera and Setsuna believe in THE POWER OF SANTA, and Mikoto beams, and declares: "Right!!"

And so... she pulls herself up by that waffle-cone, and dives into the crowd.

There are, of course, crowd cordoning mechanisms to allow the parade to proceed without error... which someone like Mikoto can circumvent as easily as a claymore through butter. (Note: do not use your ancient evil sword to prepare food; it will be cross with you for the entire week.) A dark little speck hops up behind that sled, sproing, sproing, until she's clambered up to --

"Santa!" Mikoto declares, cheerfully.

"Er... yes!" Santa, whose red hat can't quite conceal his astounding afro, declares. "That's me! Ho, ho, ho!"

"Can you really make it so we didn't grow up evil?!" Mikoto asks, entirely insulated from the scene she's making. (The parade is, at least, trying to go on as if this is a normal part of the show.)

"What sort of question..." Santa stops, and holds up a hand. "No good little girls and boys grow up evil! Ho, ho, ho!"

"Is that how it works?" Mikoto wonders.

"Most people ask me for firetrucks," he replies.

"I don't need one of those," Mikoto answers. "All our fires are on purpose."

"Uh..." He looks terribly nervous, for a moment, before he waves his hands, "keep your faith in your heart, and all your Christmas dreams will come true! Now, come on, you're not really supposed to be up here, you know."

"Oh," Mikoto says, and grins, chipper. "Okay! I'm going now!"

She springs off the sled, scrambling into the crowd, and leads security on a merry chase for the next ten minutes before she finally finds Setsuna and Lera again, reporting that they were definitely right.