Chapter 12: Special Chapter: In this story, the holiday is called Celestial End

We're taking a break this week from the main story to bring you a special holiday chapter!

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“Okay, that’s a wrap!” Erika called out, waving her hand over her head. “Good work, people!”

While Crystal came up to her to finalize the menu plans, the rest of the student volunteers started cleaning up and making their way towards the door. The Lumisphere’s function room was abuzz with the spirit of the season, decorated from wall to ceiling in star shapes and sparkling tinsel. They had been working on this project for weeks in preparation for the day itself.

Ryan Belmont stood at the exit, seeing everyone off. “Thanks for all your help! Hope to see you this weekend!”

Among the volunteers were Pike and Mindie, who were attached at the hip as always. They followed the receding crowd out of the giant dome and into the cold, crisp night.

“It was a really awesome idea that they came up with,” Mindie remarked.

Pike could see her breath as she spoke. He amused himself by exhaling with an open mouth, watching as visible steam puffed out into the chilly air before dissipating. It reminded him a bit of how Shades dispersed after a Star dealt them a finishing blow… A thought that brought his amusement back to solemnity.

“Agreed. Not everyone has a place to go for Celestial End, after all.”

Celestial End. The holiday that marked the end of the year. No one worked more than three hours a day for a whole month, shifting their focus towards winding down and getting together with their families. At least, that’s how it was in Halo Ridge.

It also marked a break in HRU’s semester. Though the students didn’t have as long a time to partake in the holiday spirit, two weeks was still ample time to detach their minds from classroom drudgery. And of course, there were the handful of students who decided to kick off the break with a holiday party—the preparations of which putting them in a festive mood long before the break began.

“The most wonderful time of the year…” Pike sighed.

“Also the coldest time of the year—ACHOO!” Mindie shivered and held her thick coat more tightly around her. “You gonna go? Or are you visiting your folks in Hartsborough?”

“I’m not sure yet. Even if I stay on campus, going to something like that isn’t really my thing.” He nudged his elbow a few times into her side. “It’d be easier if I could just join you and your family this year.”

Mindie gasped dramatically and skipped ahead a few steps, walking backwards while facing him. Her expression was the kind of shocked you’d see on really bad reality TV. “Pike DeSanto, are you proposing to me?! We’re only university students! These days, it’s probably better if we both at least graduate and secure jobs—”

Her partner had already begun to wave his had dismissively as he cut her off. “It makes me wonder how you’re feeling cold when you’re full of hot air.”

The lively aspiring Star dropped her act with a short fit of laughter, falling back into step with him. “Well, nothing’s really stopping you from joining us. But it probably won’t be a great time for you. My obaasan (grandma) is visiting for the first time in years.”

There was a sudden transition on her face that oozed doom and gloom. “She’s so crusty. She’ll probably spend her entire stay criticizing our clothes, our futures, the way we ‘don’t act like girls’… Ugh. She might be scandalized if I bring a boy to our family gatherings.”

“H-Hey, you’re starting to act all gloomy. That’s supposed to be my shtick—”

“ACHOO!”

Pike blinked. “You know, you’ve been sneezing a lot tonight. Are you coming down with a cold?”

“Yeah, right. Like such sneaky amounts of chaos somehow invaded this able body—AAACHOO!”

“I’m pretty sure chaos isn’t involved in the common cold… Even if it is, it’s not like you can lumi punch it to smithereens.”

Mindie grumbled. “I hate it. And I don’t have a cold. I’m just feeling cold. Keep me warm.”

She abruptly glomped onto her partner’s arm and squeezed it tightly. It wasn’t exactly a surprising act coming from her, but the feeling of her warmth shook Pike out of his own gloom. He completely forgot why he was brooding a few moments ago. There was no doubt it would come back to him later, but for now he shifted his focus to enjoying this time with his bestie.

“You’re gonna give me your cold.”

“Shut up. You’re so annoying.”

The walk to the TC’s home was a short distance from campus, but being outside gradually sapped more warmth from the both of them. Mindie in particular couldn’t stop shivering, even while she wore a fairly thick coat. When they finally reached the house, Mindie eagerly opened the door and stepped inside.

“It’s freaking freezing outside… I’m gonna ask Mom if we can make some hot cocoa.” As she sat down and pulled off her boots, she announced her return to the house. “Tadaima~” (I’m home~)

“Is that younger grandchild of mine?!”

The voice wasn’t Chiaki’s. The sound of its crude Western speech and heavy Eastern accent prompted Mindie pause as she stood back up. When she turned around, she suddenly found herself the glomping victim of a woman with graying hair and a wide smile.

“Okaeri nasai (Welcome back), Midori-chan!”

“Obaasan?!”

Pike closed the door behind him and also began untying his boots as he watched the scene unfold. After a moment, the little old woman released her granddaughter from her clutches. She held her by the forearms, and her smile couldn’t be more radiant. This was Mindie’s “crusty” Obaasan?

“You’re here early,” Mindie said simply, dumbfounded in both her voice and on her face.

“That’s right. I was just as surprised as you are when I found her standing outside the house.” Chiaki emerged from the second floor, strolling easily down the stairs. She stopped just shy of the landing and shot her own mother an accusing look. “Instead of calling me to pick her up from the airport.”

The Tachibana matriarch turned defiantly to Chiaki, gesturing to herself with a proud smile and a bright gleam in her dark eyes. She spoke in pure Eastern tongue—likely defending her decision to be an independent woman. Chiaki bickered back in the same form. While her tone suggested indignance, her easy smile indicated it was all being done in play.

Pike finished removing his boots and moved beside Mindie. “Do you understand what they’re saying?”

His partner simply shook her head and shrugged helplessly. “Not a clue.”

- - - - -

Despite her relatively shaky command of the Western tongue, Obaasan was quite the chatterbox. Seated on one end of the couch, she engaged her granddaughter in topics about how things were back in the East, small anecdotes about her late husband and his escapades as a fixit guy, complaints about people of the East’s other regions…

All the while, Mindie sat next to Pike on the other end of the couch with a face that couldn’t quite decide how to react to what she was witnessing. She fidgeted uncomfortably and replied politely and tersely where it seemed appropriate. She sat upright and properly. She made sure to keep her reflex in check—the one that periodically tended to grab hold of her partner or lean on him.

As Obaasan began a story about her daughter’s childhood, Chiaki quickly cut her off from the armchair next to her and began speaking in rapid Eastern. And with her grandmother’s attention was finally pulled away, she let out a small sigh. A small bit of respite.

“It’s rare for you to look so nervous,” Pike whispered.

She shot him an annoyed, hissing back, “What am I supposed to do?! Obaasan is acting weird, and it’s freaking me out!”

Pike raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the two older generations of Tachibanas as they shared a laughing bout. “Doesn’t look like anything’s off to me.”

“That’s because this is the first time you’re meeting her. Normally she’s all broody and cranky, and we have to be suuuper formal around her. Even Mom sometimes looks like she’s walking on pins and needles.” She scowled, self-consciously fondling her earring as her eyes looked for somewhere else to focus their attention—somewhere on the ground would be nice. “I’m surprised she hasn’t said anything about my hair yet…”

“What’s wrong with your hair?”

Mindie tapped the back of her neck, which was exposed beneath her usual bedhead bun. “It shows too much of the nape of my neck.”

Then she scrunched her face and jutted out her jaw, wiggling her fingers in a mocking imitation of her grandmother. “Why your hair up always? At home in East, only escorts show neck so shameless. Save that for husband.”

The little act made Pike snicker.

“Midori-chan!” Obaasan called sharply.

Mindie immediately straightened back up. “Hai!” (Yes?!)

The matriarch leered at her. “You’re hair still up. Untie now. Hayaku! (Hurry up!)”

“H-Hai…”

She glanced at Pike with a look of See what I mean? and undid her bun as commanded. Long, thick locks of copper-brown hair fell away and draped over her shoulders. She gave it good shake to make sure it all fell evenly. Indeed, the nape of her neck was now curtained over too.

Obaasan continued her scrutinizing gaze. For a moment, it felt like the entire room held its breath as it waited for her judgment. But the momentary air of heaviness must have been an illusion only Pike and Mindie felt—because Chiaki smiled at them, looking vastly unbothered. Then, Obaasan gave her verdict. (Spoiler alert: she wasn’t looking to criticize her granddaughter after all.)

“Ohhh, yahari kirei desu yo ne.” (She’s actually beautiful, isn’t that right?)

“Mochiron desu yo! Boku no Midori-chan desu!” (Of course, she is! She’s my daughter!)

Pike caught how Chiaki referred to herself in Eastern. With his limited knowledge of this dialect from the region, he was surprised she used a more masculine pronoun for herself. He glanced at Mindie with a grin. Both Chiaki’s daughters certainly inherited the tomboyishness she must’ve had in her earlier years.

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“Ne Pikkun?” (Isn’t that right, Pike?)

“Uh—Sorry? My name?”

A mischievous grin touched Chiaki’s lips. “Don’t you find Midori-chan pretty?”

Well, of course he did. Pike had always found Mindie attractive, and he had no issues expressing that opinion—not to her face or to anyone who asked. Most of the time. When his mind wasn’t all there, however, speaking his thoughts came in a stutter. And his face went hot with self-consciousness. And he had been so preoccupied trying to decipher what little Eastern he knew that he reflexively replied in kind.

“M-Mochiron desu!” (O-Of course!)

His fumbled reaction caused a facepalm from his good-looking bestie. “Reeeal smooth, partner…”

Obaasan was loving it. She beamed and clasped her hands together in approval. “Very lucky you have supporting boy for dating.”

Then she squinted a bit, the crow’s feet around her eyes deepening as she examined Pike this time. “Hmm… Maybe more handsome when becomes man.”

“We’re not dating,” Mindie said bluntly, an indignant scowl on her face. “And he’s plenty handsome!”

- - - - -

It was Mindie’s turn to be a chatterbox with her grandmother. Her guard was dropped completely after that quip at Pike. And soon after that, she was laughing along to Obaasan’s past loves—of which her late husband was the only one who was true.

Pike had stolen away to the kitchen at Chiaki’s discreet behest.

It was time for hot cocoa, and Chiaki needed some help. They were out of cocoa powder, but there were a few bars of rich chocolate that she had stashed away. The chocolate was something she had saved for some rainy-day situation, and today seemed appropriate enough. She handed a grater to Pike, who began diligently shaving off pieces from the chocolate bars into an empty cup.

“Isn’t this kind of a copout, Mrs. TC?”

“It serves its purpose. There’s no helping that we’re out of cocoa powder, so we just have to make do.” She poured a pot full of milk and put it on the stove to heat up. “Are you visiting your folks for Celestial End?”

“Ack—!” Pike missed the grate and scraped his knuckles. No wait, he only thought he did; it was just a reflex. But it was still a reminder to watch his fingers and double down on his concentration. “I-I’m not really sure…”

Chiaki shot a gleaming smile. “Then you should just come join us!”

“But Celestial End a family-time holiday, isn’t it?”

“And yet you’re reluctant to visit your own?”

He walked right into that one. Concentrating on grating chocolate, carrying a conversation, and grimacing over his options was hard. “Well yeah, but…”

Whether it was Coach mode or mother mode being prompted, Chiaki waggled a finger at him with a few clicks of her tongue. “Tsk tsk. Celestial End is a holiday for loved ones. In the East, they even treat it as a lover’s day. So, it wouldn’t be so farfetched for us to take in a stray who already feels like part of the family.”

Hearts were probably bubbling from her voice as she made her conclusion, but it just left Pike momentarily confused. When did he become a stray? Also, was he a stray or part of the family?

Before he had too much time to think it through, Chiaki was leaning over the kitchen table, propped up by her elbows. She offered a smile that displayed her full understanding of what was going on in his head.

“But the real reason is, you want to spend the holiday with your mom and dad, don’t you.”

Pike paused. Then finished grating the chocolate bar in his hand, the last of the shavings sprinkling into the cup below.

Chiaki took the cup and cradled it against her chest. “Do you know the history behind Celestial End?”

Another grimace as he kept his gaze low and away. “It… It was the first time a Star was lost after confronting a Shade. As the story goes, people were shocked. Stars had seemed invincible until that happened.”

“Mhm.”

Chiaki straightened up and strolled back over to the stove and poured the grated chocolate into the milk. She went about the rest of the preparation after that, adding more sugar and stirring the pot as it continued to heat.

“And Celestial End is a reminder that anyone we know could suddenly be lost. Even the ones we love most.” She stopped stirring, falling silent for a moment at the sound of her mother’s laughter coming from the next room. There was the slightest hint of melancholy in her smile. “Especially those we love most…”

There was silence in the kitchen after that. It was only broken by sporadic reverberations of laughter and conversation coming from the family room. But after a while, even that died down. And then there was only the hum of the stove until Chiaki finally shut it off. With the hot cocoa finished, she fetched a handful of mugs from the cupboard and began to pour the warm, liquid mixture straight from the pot.

For a moment, Pike was reminded of his own mother—how she carefully poured hot ginger tea from a wide-rimmed pot into a tumbler’s narrow mouth so that his dad could have it on the go. His dad spent more time working than being at home. He also expected his son to follow in his footsteps and find a wife much like his mother. It was the kind of expectation that felt like the future had already been written for him.

When he was still in high school, Pike had attempted to do the pouring once; more tea ended flooding across the counter than into the mug. His mom didn’t let him live that down for days, associating his blunder with others he had done before. She had poured him his own cup of tea from the rest of the pot, shaking her head and wondering aloud how he’d take care of himself once he went to university. Come visit Hartsborough so I can take care of you again! Her concerned quips didn’t inspire confidence in himself. Like, at all.

These were the parents he loved so much.

“Ryan is throwing a party for anyone without a place to go for the holidays.” He took one and held the cocoa up to his lips, blowing on the steam that billowed out. “It makes me feel kind of bad… Here I am with a family who wants me to visit, and I’m the one who can’t decide what to do.”

“Families can bring complex feelings, don’t you think?” Chiaki offered a sympathetic grin as she gathered the rest of the mugs onto a tray. “Kind of like this hot cocoa. It isn’t what we hoped for, but there’s no denying there’s something warm and comforting about it. It almost makes you feel lucky we get to have it.”

Pike nodded absently, taking a sip from his mug. The cocoa didn’t taste quite right. But it was, indeed, warm and comforting.

“Shall we share the rest?” Chiaki was already making her way through the partition into the next room—when her daughter suddenly sneezed. “Midori-chan, you’re catching a cold!”

“No, I’m not—ACHOO!”

- - - - -

Despite her fervent protests, Mindie found herself huddled on her bed. The blanket was wrapped around her snugly, its night sky pattern making her look like a burrito from another galaxy.

“I’m not sick…” she grumbled for the dozenth time.

“Well, you don’t seem to have a fever.” Chiaki examined the thermometer that she had stuck in her mouth a few minutes before. “But we can’t be too careful.”

Then she flicked a stern gaze at her daughter. “Especially while Obaasan is visiting, hm?”

Mindie suddenly looked as if she had just been slapped. Her eyes drifted downwards as her shocked face melted into shame. She adjusted the blanket around her self-consciously.

“R-Right…”

Chiaki nodded curtly, then moved to the doorway. “Pikkun, you’re welcome to keep her company for a while, but please keep your own health in mind as well.”

The door shut behind her, and Pike felt the air become heavier. It was an odd atmosphere—more pronounced while his ever-fiery bestie was the one who brooded. He moved to sit beside her, eying her questioningly.

“Obaasan was just telling me, well… She says she’s getting tired more often. She says that, but it feels like she means something else…” Mindie leaned her head on Pike’s shoulder, nestling herself beneath his jaw. “All I do is complain about her, but I’d be sad if I have to stay holed up in here—away from her—the whole time she’s visiting.”

She let out a short laugh. “I’m not making any sense.”

But her words prompted a small grin from her companion. So, they each felt similarly. “Families can bring complex feelings, after all…”

Mindie adopted a perplexed scowl. When she realized it wouldn’t be seen, she lifted her head back up and faced him.

Pike met her with a resolved grin. “Yeah… I think I’ll spend the holiday break with my own folks too—”

“ACHOO!” Mindie sprayed sneeze-saliva and droplets all over his eyeglasses and face. Her nose even shown a bit red this time as she flashed him an embarrassed smile. “Sorryyy!”

As his definitely-not-sick best friend pulled a tissue and began helping him wipe his face down, Pike’s mind wandered back to what Chiaki had said. Not what we hoped for, but still something warm and comforting.

He knew how lucky he was.

Many students at HRU would attend Ryan’s party this weekend. Some had families too far away to visit. Others were estranged, or had families who didn’t care one way or another if they were present. Some had friends who were closer than family. And some didn’t have anyone at all.

Pike could have been any one of them. But the reality was he had a family to go home to. A mom who fussed too much over him. A dad who had high hopes for his future. Parents who wanted him to visit. That was a small bit of fortune he’d never get away from being thankful for.

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Pike and Mindie celebrate Celestial End, and you might celebrate in an entirely different way. However you do, we're wishing you a happy holiday! Comment below with however you're spending these final weeks of 2022, and we'll wish you well in kind (if we feel like it :P)!!

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