Twelve Draws of Christmas – 12: Queen of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds

By Chronic Guardian

-Minami-MATH Corp, December 2096, Direct Retrievable Audio Wave #112: conversation between Yutsui Koizumi and Ayane Tajima as follows:

"Ms. Koizumi?"

"Yutsui, darling. My name is Yutsui."

"Alright. Ms. Yutsui, are we going to join the morning patrol?"

"J0KER's not much for the field these days, dear. The standard Deck can handle whatever comes up in the city."

"But it's Christmas."

"Yes, and I told you during training Noise don't observe holidays. If something happens, it happens. And someone from the one-oh-four crew will handle it."

"But it's Christmas for them, too."

"You realize Christmas isn't a national holiday, right? As a technically-state-sponsored organization, Deck isn't obligated to suspend operations."

"I'm going to the comm room."

"Mmm. Planning on running to the rescue the moment you hear trouble?"

"Someone needs to be there."

"Someone is there, darling. They have entire suits to look after eachother. You don't need to chase after every pin drop in kitchen sink."

"Maybe I can't save them all; but I can do something."

"Sure. You can get yourself erased by recklessly trying to carry the world on your shoulders. Trust me, dear, little old humans weren't built for that."

"Oh, Ms. Yutsui, you know what I mean!"

"Of course I do. I just think you're setting yourself up to get hurt."

"If we don't share the pain of others, how can we expect them to share our own?"

"Won't be able to share any pain if you drive yourself crazy."

"But someone—"

"—Needs to care. Yes, I heard you. But you can't always be that person. So turn off your radio and rest."

"Ms.—!"

"Please. And thank you."

"...I can't just leave them."

"I know it hurts, but you have to draw boundaries somewhere. If you can't, I'll draw them for you."

"But why?"

"Because I need you to stay sane and unresentful. You're the closest thing I've got to a friend at this point, dear."

"Then would you please come with me?"

"Ayane, darling—"

"As a friend?"

"...You're determined to waste your Christmas, aren't you?"

"It won't be wasted, just spent differently. Candy cane?"

"That won't sweeten the deal much, you know."

"I know. But it will a little."

"Yes, well… I suppose that's a start, then."

-Close(DRAW#112)-

-Eight Years Later-

Christmas morning came to Tokyo like a bride riding in on her wedding day. Everyone knew it was coming, felt it gliding past in ceremonial secrecy, but no one saw it until the final blooming moment of truth. Then, as light streamed through the stained glass of parting fuchsia clouds, rosy life overtook the candlelight vigil of the city lights and signaled to the world that true celebration was now in order.

Within the Minami-MATH Tower, a Western spruce greeted the sunrise in the lobby while a Japanese pine said its hellos from the top floors in the Director's tea garden. Mr. Minamimoto had always harbored a certain fondness for foreign customs alongside his own heritage. His position as an international arbiter of O-Gene development and deployment left him well traveled and well sampled in various traditions, many of which found their way back into the MATH Tower. This year, the Director had decided Christmas would begin with family breakfast.

The inviting smell of fresh pancakes on the griddle wafted up from the kitchen and into the dormitories. Now that he was old enough to think about it, Rueban suspected the Director intended the design to lure tardy members out. Today especially, with hints of peppermint mixing with sweet rice flour, those intentions bore fruit.

The smell gently woke him around six-thirty, but he stayed in bed until seven out of stubborn habit. Rueban treated days off with the dutiful reverence of squeezing out every possible privilege. Years with Yutsui as a mentor taught him that gifts were meant to be well appreciated, and free time was no exception.

After passing the half-hour appreciating a warm bed while fully conscious, Rue finally forced himself to get up and get dressed for the day. He selected a plain white dress shirt from the closet along with his favorite jacket and a crimson waistcoat for good measure. Although Yutsui tended more towards the casual side, his fashion sense followed Ayane's more formal sensibilities. Pressed trousers, a double-winser tie, and shined black shoes all came together for the finished presentation. He looked in the mirror and allowed himself to imagine what Yutsui would say. You look very winsome, darling.

Just behind Yutsui's image, a make-believe Ayane crossed her arms and shared a quiet smile with him. Well done, grasshopper, she pronounced with mock-seriousness.

Knowing no one was looking, he bowed to the mirror before leaving for breakfast.

-J-

"Hey!" Pokoni barked, hands on hips as he stood just outside the kitchen.

Amber turned to give him a quick glance before going back to whatever she was doing at the stove. Pokoni watched a set of pancakes flip up through the air before coming splat down into the frying pan again.

"Hmph!" the boy snorted and tried not to sound impressed. Amber was good at pretty much everything from what he could tell. Better not to inflate her ego any more than it already was.

She didn't look back. "Yes?"

"...That was a neat trick," Pokoni admitted, compromising with himself. He really was impressed, and he had a strict personal policy about being truthful when lying wasn't required. If she did it again, though, he'd tell her she was showing off.

"Thanks." She slipped her hand forward to almost send the pancakes flying again before tilting the skillet up and flipping them out with a spatula. "Was there something else?"

"Not really," the boy admitted, rubbing at hood resting over his scalp. The move didn't catch on any of the familiar spikes that used to be there. "Just lookin' for Ayane."

"For Aya-san?" Amber covered the pancakes and began pouring more batter into the pan. "Why?"

Pokoni screwed his face up into a frown as his hood drooped over his eyes. "Because I—!" He stopped. No, wait. If I tell Amber, she'll tell Rueban, and if he knows about this then I'm really in trouble. "Because why do you need ta know?" he finished defiantly. "I just need ta talk to Ayane, okay?"

Amber put down the batter bowl and returned to her hands to the skillet. "Is this about you shaving your head?"

"What, my head?" He did another casual rub to try and fool her. Crap, she noticed. "Nah, that's dumb. I look cool! No regrets!"

"So you did shave it," she hummed. "Were you hoping Aya-san could fix that?"

"Sure she could! Ayane can fix anything!"

Amber paused and for a moment the only sound was batter sizzling on the stove top.

"A-anyway!" Pokoni began again. "You seen her around?"

"She's not here," Amber said, gently turning over the pancakes with her spatula. "Sorry."

"Not…here?" Pokoni trailed off and tilted his head. Where could Ayane go? Wasn't it Christmas? Why wasn't she making breakfast? Why wasn't she spending time with them? Why...?

Amber was unloading the current batch of pancakes when Pokoni drifted back out of his daze. His hands balled into fists and he felt the fire in his blood rising.

"Look," Amber sighed as she moved away from the stove with a platter of finished pancakes. She walked past him into the dining room and jerked her head towards the tables in a signal to follow. The bombastic Seven punched the doorframe to vent a little frustration before reluctantly obeying.

Placing down her load, the blonde girl reached out and rubbed the top of his hood. He ducked back and gave her an irritated look.

"She's gone to visit someone," Amber finally explained.

"Okay, fine," Pokoni huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "But where?"

"She wouldn't say."

"'Cuz she doesn't want us to follow?"

"Maybe. Or maybe 'cause she's just worried."

Pokoni clamped his teeth together and peeled his lips back in a fierce grimace. "That's dumb! Why would she worry about us?"

"Because if you thought like her," Amber said, serving out a small stack of pancakes and offering it to Pokoni, "you would worry too."

-J-

Arisa heard and snoozed the first twelve iterations of her six-o'clock alarm. She was about to snooze the thirteenth when she caught the scent of pancakes through the vents. She inhaled to get the full aroma rolling through her system before exhaling and letting reality remind her that she was in detention until further notice. "TJM, Aya-chan," she muttered, curling her legs up into her chest. Deserved? Yes. But still mean.

The lights in the room were off, but the hallway lights were sending a golden stream down through a crack in the door. Arisa sighed at the mocking invitation and turned over in bed. What kind of a joke was this? Leaving the door open just so they could—

Arisa's mind then fully registered that the door was open.

Hastily rolling off her bunk in a mass of limbs tangled in blankets, Arisa stared at the opening and tried to jerk her arms free. When that method failed, she wormed her way over and basked in the glorious rays of freedom. Oh, sweet mercy! she sang in her head, not daring to vocally jinx any possibility of unintentional circumstances. Oh, sweet mother of—

She cut herself off as she realized the open door wasn't the only gift of the morning. Sitting on the floor, propping the door open, was a fully loaded gingerbread house. And propped up against that was a good old fashioned handwritten note. Wriggling herself a little closer, Arisa managed to free one hand and pick up the message.

Merry Christmas, she read. Don't forget to share.

Just outside her door, she could see the rooms of other offenders in yesterday's incident were also open. That meant either someone had figured out how to hack the system without a fully operational CARD or a court member had abbreviated yesterday's disciplinary consequences. Arisa flipped over the card in her hands, hoping for another clue.

A single crimson "Q" smiled back at her in sanguine spirits. She grinned at the mark of the Red Queen.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Aya-chan."

-J-

"So what's it like?"

Izo grunted. "What's what like?"

"You know, life at work," Rei clarified, watching him upside-down from her position on the couch. "What are your friends like?"

"And what causes you to presume I maintain confederations with my fellow members?"

"I dunno," Rei admitted freely. "Did you ever get to know your girlfriend any better?"

"Ignorant rambler," Izo muttered. He adjusted his glasses and went back to working on breakfast. "I never foundered nor heralded such a kinship."

Rei grinned and poked his cheek before he could block her off. "Oh, don't give me that. I'm talking about the ribbons girl! She seemed pretty into you last time."

"Pure platonic affection," Izo corrected, belatedly grabbing at his foster sister's hand. "She displays the same conversancy to anyone."

"Oh," Rei's amusement deflated into suspicion. "So she's a big flirt."

The summation, although perfectly applicable to any number of girls Izo had met, felt absolutely abhorrent when pointing towards the Red Queen. Before he could stop himself he violently twitched his head "no".

"No?" his foster sister echoed, tilting her head to the side. "What, do you like her back? C'mon, Fos-Bro, don't leave me hangin'. What's going on?"

He pressed his lips together and let his opinions settle before stating, "She does her best to make sure no one's forgotten."

Rei paused and gave him a look blank with shock. "Simple as that?"

He glared back. "Is it that so difficult to believe?"
"Fos-Bro… you just talked like a normal person. You feelin' okay?"

Izo blinked, rewound the conversation in his mind, then felt a tiny something sink as he realized that yes he had just given his sister the straight version of his thoughts. And yet, no matter how much he moved his mouth in silent correction, nothing else would come out. Slowly, he closed his jaw and nodded. "Yes."

"You sure?"

"Indubitably, Tyke."

"Ah," her smile returned and she clapped her hands together. "There's the Izo I know."

Izo nodded again and went back to breakfast before he could say anything more incriminating.

-J-

The dining hall was already a mess by the time Leo made it to breakfast. Amber reported that most of it was Pokoni doing his impression of a human tornado before he went out for the day. Leo took this as a sign both that the food was good enough to induce a feeding frenzy and that Pokoni was finally letting yesterday's consequences catch up to him.

And Reiko thought Iwas reckless! He shook his head and took a seat. Across the table, his Ten was talking with the Red Ace herself. Apparently they were early riser buddies. Dishing himself out some pancakes, he settled down to listen for a good entering break in the conversation.

"So we can't start without her," Reagan sighed, pushing pancake bits around with her fork.

"Not in good conscience, anyway," Reiko agreed, tapping her own utensil to her lips. "But there's really not much we can do about it in the first place."

"Then what are we supposed to do, wait?"

"Wait?" Leo repeated. His tongue almost recoiled from the word as if it were a moldy riceball. Forcing his way past the gag reflex, Leo worked his jaw a little and tried again. "Wait for what?"

"For Ayane to come back," Reagan said without breaking stride. "Apparently Amber's the only one whose seen her all morning. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. But today..."

"Apparently Ms. Tajima is in the habit of presiding over the Christmas events," Reiko finished. "Until she shows up we're more or less at a stalemate."

Leo made a comical face. "What? No one else can do that?"

"No one else can do it right," Reiko rejoined calmly, putting down his argument with all the grace of a silent assassin. "And considering how much this day means to certain members—"

"Like who?" Leo cut in.

"Like Kyasako and Pokoni," the Red Ace continued. "Now, please don't interrupt. Basically, Ayane's chosen a particularly inopportune time to go missing. And even though we know she can handle herself against the Noise we still need her here to carry out her social functions."

"Maybe she needed a break from it all," Reagan suggested, gently wagging her fork at the older woman. "Maybe she's went out to see if we could handle this ourselves."

"Perhaps," Reiko said, but Leo could immediately sense her lack of conviction. "The problem is, it just wouldn't be the same without her."

"Well… yeah." Leo gave a rueful grin and scratched at the back of his head. "But isn't that kind of obvious?"

Reagan shook her head. "It's more than that," she said as she leaned forward on folded arms. Her eyes tracked something invisible on the far wall. "Ayane's like the heart of the J0KER family. Without her, we'd all drift apart—assuming we didn't go for eachother's throats first."

"Wait," Leo frowned and tapped out an uneven beat with his fork. "Didn't you say a second ago that maybe she's testing—?"

"Tri-directional thinking," Reagan said, showing her hands palms out. "I never said I agreed with myself."

"All that to say we're up the creek without a paddle until her royal highness comes back," Reiko put in before the conversation could further derail itself. "So what can we do but wait?"

Leo shrugged. "We can go after her." It felt like the obvious answer, but someone had to say it. "Maybe she needs help. If we're not there for her, who will be?"

Reiko gave him a veiled look, as if she were calculating his intelligence behind her soft smile. "Ms. Tajima seemed very determined to be alone."

"And I'm very determined to be there the moment she changes her mind," Leo answered, putting his fork down. Breakfast could wait. "Now, are you coming or not?"

The Red Ace's face went completely blank. Then, after a moment, she returned to her soft smile and swept a hand in front of herself. Be my guest.

In other words, he was on his own.

Leo nodded and left the table.

-J-

By the time word about the Queen got around to Getotsu, it was eight o'clock and the Director had yet to post an official notice. The Black Ace had struck out on his own to try and find her in the city and the Red Seven was soon to follow. In Getotsu's mind, however, the situation called for more tact. Thus, he found himself asking the best man he could for background information: Collin Graves. Unfortunately, Mr. Graves was being less than cooperative.

"No, I can't track her CARD," Mr. Graves denied, still tinkering with something at his dorm room desk. "One: because she's a Court Member with ghost-mode privileges, and two: because I trust her enough to feel she knows what she's doing."

"To feel?" Getotsu pressed, trying very hard not to sound incredulous. "You're basing this on a feeling?"

"Basing it on user data, actually," the Red Two corrected. "But that's not the point. Sometimes people need to be who they are without worrying that someone else is watching. Even if you're not putting on any masks, sometimes it's important to just be alone and reflect."

"And sometimes they need someone to listen, even if they didn't ask for it" Getotsu shot back. "Please, Mr. Graves, there must be something."

Mr. Graves looked up from his work and gave a slight frown. "You want to listen to Ayane?"

"If it will help, yes."

"Then stay put," Mr. Graves said with finality. "Ayane said she'll be back."

-J-

Ayumu woke up feeling strangely hollow, like he was missing a necessary weight that should be inside. It felt the same when he was away from Mother or when Rue tried to put distance between them, only this time it didn't feel gone so much as misplaced. It was right on the edge of coming back, if he could just give it the proper time to slip in.

He went through a mental checklist of the situation with Rue. Not stellar, but better than last year. He'd sort of gotten used to the hole Yutsui left. It still hurt, but something else usually muffled the pain. Today, that something else was missing.

Ayumu shook his head to himself, splaying his gold-fringed hair over his pillow. Maybe he'd just stayed up too late lecturing Dai. Maybe—

Hey, Ayumu. Rue tugged at the edge of his consciousness. There was an urgent shadow to his tone. Do you know where Ayane went?

Suddenly Ayumu realized what was missing.

-J-

"She's…different. Ms. Ayane Tajima is truly an anomaly."

Ren squeezed Yutsui's hand as he listened to her voice. Not from her current breath, but from the recorded audio logs she'd left behind as former King of J0KER. In the early years she tried to cling to the remnants of the organization until the last stragglers found their way into the standard Deck program. After that, Ayane was the first true recruit during Yutsui's tenure. To hear her talk about the experience was like hearing her discover a daughter she didn't know she had.

"She gives herself to everyone," Yutsui went on. "she binds herself to anyone, she reaches out and touches the world as it is. She brings it close. And yet… I worry about her. Unless someone in the world does the same back for her, she'll eventually break. It's not exactly something you can ask for, I know. But I hope… I hope someday we're the family she needs. The people waiting for her when she comes home from it all."

Indeed, Ren thought. Every Queen needs a nation, just as every nation needs a Queen.

Only together could they face the world.

-J-

Sitting across from the elevator entrance, a bag of peppermints in her hands, Kyasako slipped in and out of a light doze. The rest of the building buzzed in disarray as everyone searched desperately for the Queen, but Kya only felt a light poke, like someone gently reminding her to stay awake.

Ayane would come back. There was no question for Kyasako. Ayane said she would be back, so that was what had to be true.

So she sat there waiting for Ayane while the rest of the world blurred around her. She imagined the older girl showing up any second; sometimes a fairy with gossamer wings, sometimes a princess with a flowing gown, always beautiful, and always smiling.

Kya thought of her first days in J0KER. Ayane was the first one to really talk to her, the first to notice her outside the training rooms and treat her like a real person. Even when training got hard or other people got mean, Ayane was still there.

And yet, as the years went on, Kya began to feel hesitant about going to Ayane. As more and more members joined, Ayane got busier and busier keeping track of everyone and making sure they were okay. She always kept the door open, but some days she seemed like a broken doll staring off into space, unfocused eyes just short of glassy. She was reaching her limit.

So Kya did the best she could to not bother the wonderful Ayane. Instead of sticking close to her hero to soak in as much warmth and love as possible, Kya would wait for the sweet moments when they just so happened to meet. They would share a break, fifteen carefully measured minutes of quiet joy, before separating again. Ayane never planned for it, but she would always stop. That was what Kya loved the best.

In a way it felt like cheating, then. Sitting at the elevator doors knowing Ayane would come back. The moment the doors opened, Ayane would see her and know the one Christmas present she was really hoping for. Ayane would have to give it to her.

But that wasn't what Ayane needed most.

So Kya decided that she wouldn't take it. She would only give the peppermints and then leave, say she had something else to do. Ayane didn't know how to say no so Kya would have to do it for her.

The younger girl took a light breath and squeezed the bag of peppermints. Maybe if she was lucky Ayane would already be busy. The doors would open and she would brush past, barely even having time to take the peppermints. Yes, that would probably be best.

Then, just as she imagined it, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. There was Ayane, perfect Ayane, with that far off look in her eyes that made Kya want to cry. She looked at Kya without seeing her and just stood there. Just as the doors were starting to close, she stirred and a surprised panic crossed her face.

Without thinking about it, Kya moved forward to put her hand in the way. The doors bumped, stopped, and then opened again.

And then she was staring face to face with an Ayane who saw her.

"H-hey," Kya managed. Then silence. Crap. What was she supposed to say? "Did you… umm… did you do what you wanted?"

"I saw someone I missed," Ayane murmured.

Kya gave a soft "Oh." Of course. Ayane wasn't a Blank. She had a life outside Deck. Trying to keep her wound up in the world of Noise and orphans was just cruel. She probably didn't even want to come back, she was just too nice not to. "Who… who was it?"

"My father." Ayane seemed to brighten for a moment before she drifted back towards her dazed state. "He's… been gone a while now."

"Does he work far away?"

A sad smile flickered across the young woman's face. "I'm sorry, Kya. I meant he passed away."

Kya felt her mouth open. She tried to force out an apology, but her throat went dry and it came off as a strangled wheeze.

"Are you alright?"

And then there was Ayane, trying to save Kya when she was hurting herself.

"I'm… sorry," Kya forced out in between swallows. "I didn't..."

"You couldn't have known," Ayane assured her. "I don't usually… well, I haven't at all for a few years now. This Christmas just felt a little different, I suppose. He always loved Christmas. It's just… I'm sorry."

Kya threw her hands up. "No, don't worry, I just-I… uh. Here." She held out the peppermints and waited for Ayane to take them.

"...Thank you," Ayane lifted the package out of her hands and gave a smile that reached all the way to her eyes. "But… if it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if I could ask for something else."

Kya paused. "Oh?"

"I need someone to talk to for a while," Ayane said. She fished a peppermint out of the package and offered it back to her younger compatriot. "Would you mind keeping me company?"

They shared a relieved smile as Kya took the candy.

"Sure," she answered. "I'd love to."

-End[12]-

Author's Note

So… yes. That's the end. Was it kind of a mistake to do both a capstone/epilogue piece and a character focus on Ayane? Yeah, probably. However, as a piece about both Ayane's relationships (Queen of Hearts) and her social/structural significance (Queen of Diamonds), it works enough. Although the rest of the J0KERs carry out personal relationships to some degree or another, Ayane is the glue that keeps the group healthy and happy. But who watches the watchers, hmm? I just hope it wasn't too scattered…

Special thanks for finishing this chapter go to the ever brilliant Aviantei, who invaded my living room this afternoon and motivated me with promises of Persona 5.

However, seeing as this is the capstone, if you somehow made it to the end of this collection and enjoyed something here then consider dropping a review. Or, even better, consider checking out the other stories with a [Twelve Shots of Summer] tag. Especially with the election of TSoS Allstars coming up, we would really appreciate all the help we can get in determining the most worthy entries we've had over the years. If you liked this collection, consider checking out 06-J0KER Private Match: Speed, but there are plenty of other gems hiding in the archives.

Finally, a very special thank again to Amulet Misty, the best of the best and the queen of the jokers. Here's to you, kid. Thanks for being fantastic.

Until we meet again, all my love,

-CG