This isn't much, just a little omake I thought up while writing the main story. I noticed that Tochumaru didn't really appear in the story, so I made this little sub-story to explain what he was doing the whole time. Please enjoy!

It was an average day at Ryozanpaku...

Which meant that Kenichi's screams of pain and terror could be heard around the block.

This, however, was of little consequence to one mouse.

Tochumaru was simply going about his business as usual, gathering up a few materials for various reasons, when he heard his friend Shigure asking about Christmas. Such things weren't of much interest to Tochumaru, even though he was already aware of exactly what it was, but his friend had seemed to have a keen interest in it, so he was curious as to what she would think of it. When Kenichi offered to look it up with her, Tochumaru decided to look in on it tonight, see how she took the information. After all, Tochumaru had never known Shigure to be religious in any way, and Kenichi's books were usually very detailed. He'd gathered that much from whenever Shigure would borrow them.

To say Tochumaru was surprised at how things had turned out that night would be quite accurate. For as long as he'd known Shigure, she'd been a very focused person. For her to be sidetracked from something that had caught her interest was very unusual, but Tochumaru had a theory. It was by no means a new possibility, but Tochumaru had long suspected that Shigure had eyes for Kenichi. It wasn't hard for him to notice it, he just had to follow a few clues here and there.

But even after the events of this night, Tochumaru still had a few doubts. He'd need to keep an eye on them for a little longer to be absolutely certain.

The next night was much like the previous one, but there was much more to confirm what Tochumaru suspected. First of all, Shigure had pressed her assets up against Kenichi. Nothing really strange there, since with the exception of Kensei Ma, Shigure never really had any sense of modesty. He also wasn't surprised to see Kenichi making no protest about being in such close proximity to Shigure. He was, after all, a teenage boy. But when Kenichi's shaking started making some of Shigure's clothes loose, Tochumaru decided this was the time to press matters a bit and see if something could actually come of this. He may be largely indifferent about Kenichi, but Shigure was still his close friend, and he valued her happiness.

So with great stealth and speed, Tochumaru rushed off to find Miu, and when he did, he slapped his tail across her face a few times.

"Tochumaru?-! What are you doing?-!" Protested Miu. Upon seeing Tochumaru make a 'follow me' gesture, she decided to see what it was he wanted her to see. After all, Tochumaru didn't usually interact with anyone besides Shigure or sometimes Apachai or Honoka unless it was important.

When Miu saw the position Shigure and Kenichi were in, she reacted just as Tochumaru expected, which is to say, badly. But that wasn't what Tochumaru was concerned with. He was more focused on Shigure and Kenichi at the moment, but sadly, the results were inconclusive at best. But Tochumaru hadn't been discouraged, this didn't prove or disprove anything, it just meant he had to investigate further. Sure there might be a few mishaps, but you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and he knew that Kenichi was no stranger to pain, of both the physical and emotional varieties, so there really wasn't too much danger there.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Tochumaru would continue to push the boundaries of the relationship between Kenichi and Shigure. Give them a few more things to talk about, have Miu show up every so often, just to spice things up a bit. So far as Tochumaru could see, Kenichi could be more open and comfortable around Shigure than he could with Miu, and in a relationship things like that were key points for happiness.

Finally, when Christmas Eve rolled around, Tochumaru was celebrating in his own special way, which is to say, pretending to be out, while in reality sneaking food from the kitchen. When he noticed Shigure and Miu stroll into the kitchen and start preparing dinner together his curiosity was peaked. After all, it wasn't often that Shigure would take an interest in typical female activities. He was just about to get back to his own thing when something caught his ear.

"I... love... Kenichi." He heard Shigure say, and that was all the confirmation Tochumaru had needed all these weeks. Now how to best go about helping his friend Shigure on her road to happiness?

Little did Tochumaru know that the perfect opportunity would present itself so soon. When Shigure dragged Kenichi off to her room, Tochumaru could see where this was going, and stopped by a little hole-in-the-wall of his to pick something up.

After watching Shigure struggle with explaining things to Kenichi for a bit, Tochumaru could see that this was going nowhere fast, so he pulled out the item he'd brought with him in anticipation of such an event. The moment after Shigure had caught sight of the mistletoe hanging by his tail and started kissing Kenichi, Tochumaru knew his work here was done.

Later that night, at Shinpaku Alliance Headquarters, Niijima was busy scheming something again.

"Hmmm," Niijima hummed as he thought over his latest plan of recruitment for various members of YOMI that had failed their masters. "If I do this, both the little girl with the sweet tooth and the attention hog would be one step closer to joining my cause."

"Hello, Niijima." Said an electronically synthesized voice. "I see your planning doesn't even stop for the holidays."

"Of course not," Remarked Niijima, not at all surprised by the newcomer. "Some of the best military strategies were employed on a holiday. What kind of evil genius would I be if I didn't take advantage of this opportunity?"

"Glad to see you still have your priorities, Niijima." Said the electronic voice.

"And what about you?" Asked Niijima. "How are things going on your end?"

"Very well actually," Said the electronic voice. "Shigure and Kenichi have just made the first step towards something grand."

"Excellent." Smirked Niijima. "With them head over heels, our plans will be one giant step closer to fruition, and the rest of the day is already scheduled to be filled up. So, Tochumaru, what do you want to do tomorrow night?"

"The same thing we do every night, Niijima," Typed Tochumaru into his voice synthesizer. "Try to take over the world!"

They're Pinky, they're Pinky and The Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain!

"Sorry! That's my phone!" Apologized Niijima.

"You really need a new ringtone." Typed Tochumaru.

How do you like that? Funny, right? I know it seems rushed, but that's because it is. But hey, a slightly rushed omake is better than no omake, right? Hope you enjoyed.