Disclaimer: I do not own Touhou Project...obviously.

A/N: I dunno if holidays or weather is even in the same in the magical world of the series as it is for the rest of the world, but whatever.

Christmas Eve in Gensokyo...

"Hmph..."

Yuuka Kazami wore an expression akin to extreme displeasure as she stared out of the window of her small house. Her mansion was currently being renovated with two indoor pools, a gymnasium and a bar, so she moved out to her vacation shack in the meadows. Tiny flakes of snow were gently falling from the cloudy skies and covering the surface of the Earth in a beautiful blanket of white. It was the herald for the beginning of one of the most anticipated holidays of the whole year. For anyone else, it would have been a pleasant sight to see, but Yuuka only felt anger bubbling up within her chest.

The snow was going to kill all of the flowers she had been taking such good care of for the past year. Only a few of the more well-adapted flora, and her flower-umbrella, would be able to survive in such extreme conditions. There were far too many for her to try and save, too, and no place to put them. Her magic wasn't suitable for altering the weather either. For Yuuka, the flowers were her children, and she was being forced to watch them die before her very eyes.

"I hate this damn snow," she murmured, "I really, really hate it...and yet everyone I know enjoys it so much...why?"

Suddenly, Yuuka's inner-contemplations were broken when she heard a knocking on her front door. She knew already who it was, as she had sent her out to pick up something for dinner earlier that same day. They had been living together for quite some time ever since the forest fire a few months ago. With a simple flick of her wrist, the door swung open, and Yuuka watched listlessly as her 'friend' Wriggle Nightbug tumbled forward. The poor green-haired bug youkai was almost entirely covered in snow from head to toe.

"...Are you alright?" Yuuka asked, although the tone of her voice made her sound completely uninterested in the girl's condition.

Coughing up some more snow, Wriggle slowly lifted herself back onto her feet. "I'm...I'm fine, Y-Yuuka-san! I'm fine now that I'm back inside! I just kind of lost my footing while running back and ended up falling into a big pile of snow...I thought I was going to die! Seriously!"

"I see."

"Oh, and I went all the way to Rinnosuke's shop just like you asked."

Yuuka took a step forward. "And? Was it open?"

"It was. Rinnosuke told me that he wasn't the kind of guy who would close his shop just to celebrate a 'holiday' that was spearheaded by greedy corporations and materialistic desires, or something weird like that. Anyway, I was able to get a few meat-buns at least." Wriggle held up a small paper bag over head. The symbol of Rinnosuke's store was present directly on the center of the bag. Yuuka frowned.

"Meat-buns? You're not joking with me are you? That's ALL you bought?"

"I-I-It was in the spur of the moment...there wasn't many things to choose from...a-and I didn't know what you liked...and I didn't have enough money-"

"Stop it with the excuses!" barked Yuuka, her eyes gleaming dangerously.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Wriggle began bowing her head repeatedly, "Please forgive me for rambling anything! Just don't tie me upside down from the ceiling again, I beg of you! I'll even go back out and buy something else for you, if you want!"

Had Yuuka been in a better mood, she would have probably put poor Wriggle into some kind of humiliating punishment right then and there. However, because of the snow and the loss of her flowers, she was feeling unusually accepting of the low-ranked youkai's idiocies. All of the aggression she felt previously was slipping away. "Well, it doesn't really matter. We can eat the meat-buns you bought..."

"Huh?"

"I said it doesn't matter, so we can eat the meat-buns!"

"Oh..."

"Go and set up the table so we can eat! Don't just stand around!"

Wriggle, despite herself, saluted her friend and abusive oppressor. "Okay!"

"Let's eat!"

"...Alright..."

The tension in the dining room was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Yuuka and Wriggle sat on opposite ends of the table across from each other, but they both seemed to be trying to make sure their eyes didn't meet up at all. It was still snowing outside, and the rafters rattled noisily from the powerful winds. Wriggle didn't hesitate to start eating, but Yuuka was feeling a bit uncomfortable as she glared at the small meat-bun sitting on her plate. She wasn't used to eating meat; the taste of it just didn't agree with her. Although they had been friends for so long, Wriggle still didn't seem to know this about Yuuka.

'She doesn't understand me...nobody does, except the flowers.'

Yuuka's thoughts turned back to her meadow filled with gorgeous flowers, and how they were all currently dying under the freezing weight of the snow. All of the anger and sadness she felt earlier was steadily returning. She tried to calm herself by taking her knife and fork to the meat-bun, carefully cutting off a small chunk of it, and lifting it to her mouth. It wasn't as bad as she had expected, but it still made her feel queasy.

"Yuuka...are you alright?"

Yuuka raised her head, realizing that Wriggle had just addressed her. "What is it?" she grumbled, and then quickly added, "I told you before to call me Yuuka-san, you dolt,"

"Sorry. Yuuka-san, I'm probably just being stupid and saying things that I don't really understand, but...lately, ever since it started snowing, I've noticed that you've been acting kind of odd lately..."

Yuuka clenched her fists at the mention of the word 'odd'. "You think I'm acting ODD...?" her face was calm, but the hidden malice in her voice was more than enough to make Wriggle immediately regret her poor choice of words.

"N-No, not that! I didn't mean to say 'odd'! What I meant was...what I meant was...you seem very uneasy, and upset about something." Wriggle bowed her head.

'She noticed?' Yuuka blinked, surprised. She hadn't expected someone like Wriggle to notice her feelings, but it was still too soon to open up about it. She needed to find out just what the other girl was thinking. "What do you mean that I'm acting upset? Are you sure you're not just making this assumption because I didn't get very angry about the meat-buns?"

Wriggle took a deep breath, replying, "I saw you looking out the window when I was coming back to the house, but I don't think you saw me since I was half-buried in the snow. You looked really sad. I know it might sound like I'm being noisy, but...you don't like winter too much, do you?"

At that moment, Yuuka needed to make a choice. She could either deny her problem, make an angry remark, and continue to keep herself hidden from the one girl she was closest to, or she could admit that she despised the snow with every fiber of her being. Yuuka took another bite of the meat-bun; she knew what she had to do. Wriggle appeared to be far more insightful than her appearance or usual personality suggested.

"...It's true," Yuuka sighed, "I am not fond of winter. I don't like it at all."

"But why-"

"No, that is probably the wrong thing to say. I do not mind winter so much, but it is the snow I hate. It destroys so much of the world's beauty, and it covers it all in white. Some people say that snow and ice can also be beautiful in its own way, but personally, I can't believe such a thing. The snow has taken all of my lovely flowers from me, even the ones I had cared for since they were just tiny seeds. They were the closest thing to children that I have. It's a very painful thing for me to witness at the end of each year. I'm sure you wouldn't understand how I feel about it; most people love the snow and what it brings to them, after all..."

However, Wriggle's lips curled into a sad smile. "Yuuka-san, I do understand. I know exactly how you feel; I don't like the snow either."

"What?" Yuuka's eyes widened in shock. "You...you do?"

"Yeah. Aside from it being cold and wet, alot of insects die in the winter. Because of what I am, I have a great mental and emotional connection with insects, and when they die it's like losing a part of myself. I hate it. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do but just keep living on and waiting until winter ends, and then the insects would be out and about again to play with me. Winter is very harsh for anything that lives in nature, humans, animals, plants and everything else. From the sound of it, we both lose something precious to us in the winter...although please don't take it the wrong way if you think I'm comparing your flowers to my bugs!"

Wriggle had expected Yuuka to possibly get even more upset, but what she saw instead was probably even more terrifying in her opinion. Yuuka was actually SMILING at her, with blushing bright-red cheeks to boot. It was a genuine smile, not her usual cruel and sadistic ones, and it was probably the cutest smile Wriggle had ever laid her eyes on. She almost wanted to go and get the camera she borrowed from Aya to take a snapshot of Yuuka's lovely grin.

"Thank you...for understanding me, Wriggle. I guess you're not such a dimwit after all," Yuuka was so touched, so incredibly and deeply touched by Wriggle's words, that she seemed to be momentarily overcome with a sense of euphoria that made her seem like a completely different person. She no longer needed to be introverted with this girl, and she could just tell her everything that was on her mind. It may seem a bit extreme, but that was just how desperate she was for someone to agree with her on something.

"Y-You're welcome, Y-Y-Yuuka-san..."

"And now that we understand each other a little bit, I think I can finally teach you much more about me that you should know...wouldn't that be nice?"

"Well...I dunno..."

"..."

"I mean, yes, that would be great! Thank you so much for offering the chance to get to know you better, Yuuka-san! Just please, please stop staring at me like that...please..."

"Glad to hear! Now, after we eat, I want you to come with me to my room..."

"W-Why? What do you plan to do?"

"..."

"Yuuka-san?"

"..."

"Yuuka-san, why won't you answer me? Please stop eating the meat-bun and tell me what you plan to do! Yuuka-san!"

"..."

"Yuuka-san!"

It seemed like the two youkai girls were going to have a very interesting Christmas together, and it was all thanks to their mutual understanding of their feelings towards the dreaded winter weather.