CAN YOU HEAR THOSE SLEIGH BELLS JINGILING RING TING-TINGILING TOO –

I'm feeling extra Christmas-y so here's a quick Harutaka one-shot I smashed together. Yes, smashed.

Kagerou Project belongs to Jin.

The door opened with a bang, signaling that Takane had now entered the classroom. Haruka, who was always early to class, turned around his seat and faced her, smiling. Of course, most of his smiles were genuine – but in the face of Takane, they seemed to hold much more depth and feeling. There was something in the way that she carried herself that made Haruka curious of her, albeit the other students seemed to rush away at the sight of her scowling expressions.

"Good morning, Takane!" The girl's eyes shifted towards him before turning back. He watched her take a seat next to him, a habit he didn't know he was doing. "How are you?"

"Does it look like I'm having a good time?" Takane shifted so that she was looking at Haruka, a small blush made apparent on her face. "You idiot, you're such an optimist."

"Ahh, well why is that, then?" Curious, curious, curious. If it had anything to do with Takane, then he would listen. After all, he seemed pretty good at that.

"It's nothing, really."

No, no. She was not allowed to brush off such a problem that bothered her. He placed a hand on her shoulder to give her some comfort, but instead, it had only startled her. The earlier blush made its way across her whole entire face, and Haruka was pretty happy to admit that it looked cute.

Ah, it was only around Takane did his heart race and his thoughts whirred around his head. He felt his chest emit some type of glow, a happy and warm feeling settling its way into his heart. It was something about the very presence of the girl did he feel this way, and of course he had thought about a relationship where they were more than just friends.

But he didn't want to jeopardize their friendship, because it seemed as if the girl wasn't interested. He could understand that – after all, he had a pretty useless body, disabling him from living a life outside of hospitals. He could understand how it'd be much better if he was much stronger, so that Takane didn't have to worry about him anymore.

If only a change of body was possible. For now, he would try his best to bring some good into the world – starting with the stubborn yet adorable Takane.

"You can trust me, y'know!" He inserted a light-hearted tone in his voice and a grin on his face so that he wouldn't worry Takane even more. "I want to help you."

"Honestly, Haruka, it's nothing." A scowl on her face didn't thwart the red on her cheeks. "I mean, I trust you and all, but – "

"I won't take no for an answer!" He exclaimed, tightening his grip on her shoulder. He wasn't going to let go anytime soon, and the very closeness of the girl made his speech change into a mess of stutters. "T – tell me what's wrong!"

"You won't give up, will you?!" Her words were lined with a harsh tone, and the girl's eyes shifted to everywhere but Haruka. "Agh, I can't believe this!"

And for a while, all was silent, the two blushing immensely. If someone were to walk into the room at that moment, they probably thought something was going on.

R – right. But he wasn't going into the details of that.

"My parents told me they wouldn't be home for the holidays because of work," she said, barely past a mutter. "I haven't seen them for a while, you know? But – agh, it's pointless - forget about it! I'm so tired!"

The girl finally pulled away from his grasp, ruffling her hair. She then stuck her headphones on, drowning out the outside world and entering her own.

And that meant ignoring Haruka.

"I see."

Takane had left class as soon as the bell rang, content on not letting Haruka tag along – which was fine, surprisingly. Haruka had wanted to discuss some things with his teacher, and he was basically falling out of his seat the entire school day, trying not to spill out his ideas.

"S – sensei!" Haruka stopped in front of his teacher's desk, gaining the attention of Kenjirou. The teacher smiled, adjusting his glasses as he straightened up to listen to Haruka.

"Ah, Haruka!" The smile grew bigger, because the almighty Kenjirou already knew where this was heading. It was easy to pick up, really. Haruka had been glancing at Takane the whole entire day, and so it was safe to assume it had something to do with his ship – or something like that. "What is it?"

"Well, Takane told me about her problem, and…" He trailed off, just like he always did when he was lost in thought. Typical Kokonose. "Well, that just didn't seem right! I want to make the holidays cheerful for her, too!"

"Hmm, okay." Kenjirou pocketed his hands in an attempt to stop himself from proclaiming some crazy idea other than what Haruka had in mind. "So what did you want to do about?"

"I kind of need your help for it," Haruka said, a twinkle in his eyes. "It's a surprise for Takane!"

Takane yawned, rubbing her eyes. She was always so tired, so it wasn't new to be dragging her feet along the tiled floors, trying hard not to fall. Finding the classroom she belonged in, she twisted the doorknob, ready to slam the door just like she always did.

But when she did, she definitely did not expect what was inside.

"Surprise!" Haruka exclaimed, coming up from behind her. She shrieked as a headband with reindeer horns was stuck into her messy hair, the boy towering over her in the closest way possible.

Taking in the scenery, she noticed that Kenjirou was sitting at his desk dressed as a snowman, a very odd choice for the man. With wide eyes, she turned to Haruka, (thankfully) dressed normally, but wearing a Santa hat on his head. He had a huge smile on his face, seemingly happy.

"W – what happened here…?!" There was a small Christmas tree in the corner with blinking lights, a sight that her tired eyes weren't used to. There were also Christmas stockings and the smell of hot chocolate, and a plastic reindeer near their teacher's desk. There were Christmas lights around the whole perimeter in the room, and the science specimens that were the original holders of the room seemed decked out as well, garlands of plastic ornaments and popcorn wrapped around the glass surrounding them.

"It's a Christmas party!" Haruka said, clapping his hands together. "I wanted Takane to have a good holiday, so sensei and I planned this for you!"

"E – eh?!" Her face was easily described as Rudolph's bright red nose. "O – oi, you didn't have to – !"

"You're not the only one," Kenjirou deadpanned, the glasses glaring among the Christmas lights. "I didn't know I was going to be in a snowman suit, but here we are."

"Do you like it, Takane?"

Takane looked up at the boy, the sheer pride from him making its way around the atmosphere.

There was no way she could say no.

But her answer was still sincere.

"Of course, idiot!"