A/N: It's December, the season of giving is upon us, and no matter what occasion you celebrate, I hope you have a good one. I happen to celebrate Christmas and in the spirit of the season, this is the second year in a row that you'll be getting a holiday themed fan fiction because of it. You see, counting down the days of Christmas, I started doing little snippets all over the place, and uhh... it sort of turned into this...so, I thought I would post them up here. Sorry, they don't come gift wrapped, nor was there any prior planning involved with any of this. Any life that this story has built, it built up of it's own accord.

This is my entry for the 1st of December.

I do not own Mai HiME.


December 1st

Natsuki jumped up when her alarm rang in her ears. Grumbling, she all but tossed the clock into the wall, not minding when the ringing bells chimed one final time in agony. With her best friend humming away in the shower, Mikoto had somehow found her way into Natsuki's bed. "Get off." Natsuki groused, having discovered the reason her bed was much warmer than usual. She flipped the younger girl over, and then slip out of bed, tossing her blankets over the still snoozing teen as she did so. Natsuki had a few hours before school started, and so, she took to her newest hobby, grabbing her notebook that she'd hidden between the bed, and the wall.

Shizuru, as always, was her inspiration.

Flipping to an empty page, she began. The high today will be in the middle fifties, and the low will probably reach down into the forties. Mostly cloudy weather patterns means it's not an entirely a good night to take Shizuru out for a stroll. That kinda sucks, actually. Shizuru loves going for walks at night, especially when the cold air encourages people to walk just a little closer than they might otherwise. She says it's because she likes it when I let her lean into me.

Nervously, Natsuki looked up from her book, eying Mikoto wearily, and then, she glanced back to the closed bathroom door. I'm not entirely used to that yet, or holding her hand as I slip it into my pocket. Natsuki sighed and scratched her head. I can't do that now, can I? It was then that her pencil broke.

She had to go get another one, but held her notebook to her chest as she went over to the desk she shared with Mai. Unsure of when the carrot top might be finished with her morning routine, Natsuki considered leaving the room. There was no place she could hide, no place warm, anyway. Grabbing the top blanket from her bed, she wrapped herself in it, sitting in the corner of the room so she wouldn't be seen. It's just, what excuse can I use, when there's no stars out to look at? She began to write again, her fingers trembling. Shizuru's the kind of person that doesn't need one, but, it's weird otherwise.

The entire thought had her hand sweating nervously, knowing she had no way to explain the fluttering in her chest at such a thing. That's half of my plan ruined, but maybe I can make up for it by picking up a movie...it's just that Shizuru's not really fond of movies. My original plan, that has now been dashed to hell, was to show up at her house around dinner time, and help her cook. Then I thought we could see where things went from there. I was planning a late night stroll, and then maybe staying over...I guess, I'll just have to figure something else out.

The truth was, she didn't much like where her mind was headed, nor her heart. I really should cook dinner with her though. Thankfully, she hadn't much time to linger on the topic. Natsuki swallowed hard, and closed the book abruptly when Mai came out from hiding, her bath towel still perched around her neck.

"Geez Natsuki...It's just me." Mai said holding her hands up in mock surrender. "No need to be so jumpy."

"Whatever." Natsuki brushed it off, sliding her book in the bag she took to school every day. "Do me a favor, start taking your pet with you in the bath every morning."

Mai smiled at that, knowing Natsuki didn't mind nearly as much as she insisted that she did. It was just one of the many hazards that came with sharing this particular dorm room. "Mikoto doesn't mean anything by it." Mai shrugged, knowing that Mikoto would snuggle into anything and everything on cold mornings. "You want breakfast?"

"Not really." Natsuki muttered after grabbing her clothes. "I'm just going to wash up and head to class. I've got stuff to do."

What Natsuki didn't say, rather what she refused to divulge, was that she wasn't busy at all. That's what bothered her the most. Going to class early, she was in the room before anyone else. The lights were still off, but she found that the windows offered more than enough. Before anyone could bother her again, she pulled out her notebook. Cooking together...well, that's more for her sake than mine...I don't mind eating packaged foods, but she needs the time with me right now. We're both still in that weird phase, I think. I'm trying to figure out how to be in a relationship, and she's trying to figure out how to believe me...she never expected I'd want this sort of thing...with her of all people. She needs me to be around a lot. The cooking lessons are part of that. I've come a long way since that failed home economics course, but, I'm not really using the skills when I'm by myself. At that, Natsuki smirked, it really was useless to her, more or less. I'd never tell her that. Shizuru's the kind of person that deserves to be happy.


That's chapter one...more updates coming soon.