As winter starts to show its face to the world, the nights become colder and filled with light, white snow, gently falling onto this Earth. The street lamps become lit once the last bit of light becomes engulfed in shadows. It was nearing Christmas time so many people were out on the streets, hustling to buy last minute presents. Couples could be seen enjoying themselves, parents bringing their children along, all with a big Christmas tree decorated with beautiful ornaments and bright lights in the background, making it an idealistic scene for the holidays. If one were to look out of a window right now, they would most likely find the scene to be quite peaceful and relaxing.
But not to a certain idol.
Kourin Tatsunagi gazed outside through the recording studio's window, not even bothering to care about the scene that is just outside. She and her sisters were on their break from recording a new track to publicize the card game Cardfight Vanguard to new parts of the world who haven't heard of the game yet. The song had taken up quite a bit of time from their already busy schedules, so they were savoring the few minutes that they had to spare.
Vanguard. The card game that is already popular amongst the people of the city. The game has become played so much that teams were allowed to be formed to fight against each other in tournaments. Speaking of teams, one team has stood out from all the rest she thought in her own opinion. That team was one of the veteran ones, Team Q4. The mere thought of the team only furthered her thoughts about a certain cardfighter on that team that has been on her mind lately.
Tch. Even at work she can't seem to get him out of her mind. Her eyebrows scrunched at this annoyance, causing her sisters to look at her with curiosity. Probably thinking about Aichi Sendou again, they thought.
However, it wasn't him. It was someone who she thought wouldn't be the center of her mind. All she could think about are the ways that he plays, easily maintaining control over his opponent, how he dresses so different from everyone else, his unique personality, but most of all, his forest-green eyes that pierce through her own.
Yes, the guy that had taken over her brain was, in fact, Toshiki Kai.
For some strange reason, she found herself constantly drifting her mind to him. Why is she thinking these thoughts, she asked herself. Why him, out of all people? Aichi should be the one in her mind right now, not Kai. She was closer to him than she ever will be to Kai, so why was she thinking about her crush's rival?
Could it be that her crush's rival is her crush? And that Aichi was just a close friend?
These questions were bothering Kourin more frequently, now interfering with her sleep (not that she dreamed of him). She needed to clear her mind for a while. Maybe some fresh air would help.
Kourin stood up from the chair she was sitting on and made her way to the door. Suiko, bearing the curse of being a teaser, stood up as well and went to Kourin.
"Well now, where are you going now, especially when we have our track due soon? Could it be that you have plans, with a boy perhaps? I wouldn't be surprised if he was charmed by these," Suiko said while groping her breasts. That caused Rekka to pout, looking down at her small chest.
"Stop that!" Kourin said, flustered, "Don't let your imagination take over your conscious. I'm just going outside for a breath of fresh air. Being in here too long is causing me a headache."
"Awww. That's not fair. How come you get to leave while poor Rekka and I are stuck here?" Suiko complained.
"You won't be," said a voice from the doorway. All eyes turned to see their caregiver and manager Takuto Tatsunagi.
"What do you mean?" asked Rekka.
"It means that I'm letting you girls take the rest of the day off. It's the holidays after all," exclaimed Takuto.
"Then there shouldn't be a problem with me leaving so if you would excuse me," Kourin said.
"Hold on there. I'm not letting you take the day off for free now. There's a catch," said Takuto.
"I don't really care what it would be," said an annoyed Kourin.
"Alright then, here you go then," said Takuto as he handed her a dress version of Santa Clause.
"Um… I'm not wearing that. It's too cold outside and it will just attract perverts," argued Kourin.
"It feels nice and warm inside Kourin. You should wear it too. Come on, you get the day off out of this," Suiko yelled as she was helping Rekka fit into hers.
"Tch fine whatever," murmured Kourin as she took the dress and headed outside.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
'I'm going to kill you when I get the chance Takuto. Just you wait…' was the main thought in Kourin's mind right now. She was now walking through the streets with the dress, already gathering the looks of many passersby.
The dress was a short sleeved red one with white fur outlines at the ends of the sleeves, neck collar, and rims of the dress. There was an opening at the top of where her breast were, exposing some cleavage. She wore a classic Santa hat, slightly tilted to the side of her hair with the braids. For her legs, she wore long red stockings that reached up to her thighs along with crimson shaded heeled boots. Overall, it was made to attract perverts.
The cold breeze caused her pale face to redden as she continued to walk down to whoever knows where. Maybe somewhere where there wouldn't be much people. As Kourin pondered on where to go, she realized that first she had to get rid of the trail of boys who were drooling over her.
She was so deep into her thoughts that she didn't notice when she bumped into someone.
"Sorry. I should've looked where I walked," said Kourin. She looked up to see a man in his thirties wearing a gray trench coat and black cargo pants. His bald head glowed in the street lights. At first he was angry but when he saw who bumped into him, he had a sudden lust in his eyes.
"Don't worry about it. Maybe you can apologize to me by accompanying me to my room," said the man as he grabbed hold of Kourin.
"Please let me go! Don't hurt me!" she yelled.
The man smirked as he came closer. It was then that he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see a boy around the girls age, if not, one to two years older. He had a red scarf around his neck. He wore a black vest with a red shirt underneath along with gray skinny jeans. He had a fierce look in his eyes but his face remained calm.
"What do you want kid? Mind your own business if you know what's good for you!" threatened the man.
"Kai?!" gasped a surprised Kourin. What luck. She was in this mess to avoid thinking about him but now here he is, just a few feet away from her. The man turned his attention back to Kourin.
"You know this guy?" asked the man.
"Uh well yeah he's…"
"It is my business if my girlfriend is involved. So I'm asking nicely now, let go of her," interrupted Kai.
"Girlfriend!?" said a blushing Kourin.
"Psh. Like you can tell me what to do. I can do anything I want," yelled the man.
Kai merely glared at him. He closed his eyes for a moment before moving his hands to his vest. Before the man knew what happened, Kai had pointed an IMI Desert Eagle at his forehead.
"I'm just going to say this one more time, but this time as a demand. Let go of my girlfriend if you treasure your life. Judging by how you're still not letting go, I'm giving you 10 seconds to pray to any God you want before I pull the trigger," Kai said calmly.
The man quickly let go of her, causing Kourin to fall back, and slowly backed away. He had a look of fear in his eyes now, replacing the lust that was present just moments ago. Kai walked a few steps forward and he was already running the opposite direction, hoping to get as far away from where he was. Kai then turned his head to the group of boys following Kourin. He then turned his Desert Eagle to them and off they went.
Kai put away his gun back in his vest and stood in front of Kourin. He offered her a hand that she gladly took. She dusted off the dirt on her dress, almost forgetting to thank Kai.
"Thanks for saving me. Although it wasn't necessary to say that I was your girlfriend," Kourin said looking away, hoping Kai wouldn't notice her blush.
"If I didn't say so, then he would've been suspicious to why I wanted to save you, probably leading him to think I was lying," said Kai who hadn't changed his expression at all.
"Well your gun sure did help," she said, pointing to the spot where it was in his vest. "I didn't know you carry one around."
"I have a license," he said.
They both stood there awkwardly, expecting the other to say something. Kai noticed how much Kourin was shivering. He took off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. That left a dazed look on her face.
"Thanks again. I didn't know what to do and I was too cold to fight back," said Kourin, who looked down in embarrassment.
"It would've help if you hadn't worn that dress, let alone one the reveals much of a certain area," said Kai as he pointed to breasts. She quickly covered them with her hands and turned away, not daring to look at him.
"Don't look at them. You're not supposed to see them yet. Besides, Takuto made me wear this if I wanted a day off," stammered Kourin.
"Yet?" asked a smirking Kai. "When will I see them?"
That had earned him a slap in the face. He touched where she had made contact and it burned, the cold air not helping in the least bit.
"Shut up!" yelled Kourin as she now moved her hands to hide her face.
"You," said Kai as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "need to get out of the spotlight, clear you mind before doing something else. Come on. Follow me." He walked her down the street, shoulder to shoulder. His natural body warmth heated up Kourin's body, relaxing her tense face. To anyone who didn't know them, from a distance, they looked like a couple, a god couple some thought.
After ten minutes, he led her to a playground. The equipment was all abandoned everyone out shopping for gifts. He let go of her, much to her disappointment , and sat down on one of the swing sets. He jestered her to take a seat next to him. She gladly did so.
There the two sat, the silence only making it more awkward than it already was. They hadn't really had much contact with each other. The only time was when she had challenged him to a cardfight and lost. It was their only cardfight.
"So…," Kai said, finally breaking the silence. "Why did you wanted to take a walk out in the open dressed like that. It must have been serious if it caused you not to think properly," Kai said, showing the worry in his voice.
That brought a smile to her knowing that he cared but then quickly turned to a reminder that she was out here but of those thoughts that she had of him. She had almost fallen out of her seat, hanging on as if her life depended on it.
"Um, uh well you see here I um…" stammered Kourin, who can't even speak properly.
"It's alright if you don't want to talk about. I mean its okay. I'm sorry for asking," said Kai.
"No no no no no no. It's alright. No harm done. It's just that I have feelings for someone but I don't know why I do. I barely talk to him at all," Kourin said finally being able to look at Kai directly.
"He must be a good guy then if he can make you feel and acts like this," exclaimed Kai. "Tell me more about him."
"He's a really strong cardfighter who is able to dominate his opponents with such great confidence, has an anti-social personality, emo-like look to his wardrobe, strong forest green eyes that pierces right through my soul, brown hair that makes me want to just feel it all day without a care in the world, and of course, his lips that enchants me to want to kiss them," ranted on Kourin.
Her face started to burn up as she just realized that she had described Kai and he wasn't one of those guys who are oblivious to everything like the ones in her anime.
Kourin turned to see how Kai was reacting to this and found him with an expressionless face. Of course. She should've expected that from him.
Then the least expected happened. Kai was in front of her and staring at her. She was at first confused until she saw him smirk. Before she could ask why, her lips were sealed with his. Kourin's eyes widen at the sudden contact but quickly fell into the kiss. His lips spread warmth to her cold lips, greatly heating it up. Kai's hands fell to her sides and she stood and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in to deepen the kiss.
What seemed like minutes passed and they parted away, both lacking oxygen. A small string of saliva was still visible before it broke and fell onto their chins.
Kai looked Kourin into her eyes and said, "So were my lips enchanting enough?" with a smirk. A small smile erupted on her face when she heard that. She hugged him and buried her face into his chest.
"Thanks Kourin," Kai said suddenly.
"For what," she asked, now with a new curiosity.
"Ever since my parents died and I had to move away, I had always spent my days and nights alone. Every birthday, every holiday, every year. Life had taken away those who have cared and loved for me so I was afraid that no one would care me because they are scared of what will happen to them if they do so. Now here is a beautiful girl who admitted she had feelings for me, so I thank her," Kai said with deep care.
Her eyes were swelling up with tears, hearing how hard his life was with no one to help him and it made her feel special to know that she is the only one who can be with him. She then thought of something and broke free from the hug. It left Kai with a puzzled face.
Kourin shifted her legs constantly, playing with her hair as well. She whispered something but it was too quiet for Kai to hear.
"What did you say? Can you say it louder?" asked Kai.
"Because I've done something for you, can you do something for me?" Kourin said with new confidence.
"Sure," smiled Kai.
Kourin smiled and took off her Santa hat. She then proceeded to place it on Kai's head and ran back, taking out her phone. It was now clear that she just wanted a picture of him and he gladly obliged. He smiled with real care while holding his deck in one hand. A flash came from the phone, signaling that it was taken.
He walked over to take a look at the photo. It reminded him of how he used to be before his parents died so it was nice to see he can finally have chance at happiness again.
"You know, you look good in that hat. I wouldn't mind if you were my Santa," flirted Kourin. Kai caught on to what she was doing and played along.
"Then that makes Santa really jolly," said Kai.
"Oh? And why is that?" Kourin said innocently.
"Cause Santa has a naughty girl all to himself," Kai said as he wrapped his arm around her, bring her closer so that their foreheads were touching.
"Well then, that would make Santa a good boy and good boys deserve a special reward," winked Kourin.
"Lead the way then," said Kai. Without hesitation, Kourin grabbed onto Kai's wrist and dragged him to his apartment which happened to be nearby. Even though Santa delivers presents to all of the kids in the world, he wouldn't be as tired as Kai was, especially with a demanding girl who wanted something else besides coal.
