Kai's POV

Dammit it's cold.

I buried my face deeper into my scarf so that the wind wouldn't bother me as much. I walked along the snow ladened sidewalk, passing others who were probably doing the same thing I was. Shopping. Christmas shopping to be precise. Miwa planned this Christmas party, and he somehow convinced me to go. As well, we would be doing a Secret Santa gift exchange. I had a feeling that he rigged the name picking process, because the name I picked was none other than December's. I distinctly remember the cheeky look on his face as I reached for a slip of paper.

He's just not going to let up, is he?

It didn't matter what he did, it wasn't going to change anything. But now I was stuck with another problem; what the hell was I supposed to get December? At this point I kind of wished that I had paid better attention to what she liked. Sure, she likes Vanguard, but I wasn't about to get her something so cliche. I decided to hop on a bus going downtown, maybe hoping for some ideas by window shopping. I found the bus stop heading downtown and stood, waiting. I took out my hand from my pocket to check the time, and winced. I had lost my gloves a few days ago, and already the bitter cold was taking its toll. My hands had become red, dry and sore. Even just slightly moving them hurt.

"Hey."

I heard a familiar voice and looked to the left. It was December. I nodded to show that I had heard her, and it went silent between us. Not that I was surprised, we don't talk to each other much.

"Do you have the time?" She asked. I took out my hand once again, trying not to show my pain, and looked at my watch. 4 minutes had past since I last checked it.

"4:15." I replied monotone.

"Thanks-" I heard her pause in the middle of her sentence. I assumed she must have noticed my hands, and sure enough she asked "ouch, what's up with your hands?" I looked at my dry red hand again before putting my hand back into my coat pocket and looking to the snowy street.

"I lost my gloves."

"Ah."

She stood with me a little longer. Glancing towards her, I noticed that she looked quite cold. She was pulling up the collar of her coat, and had begun to rub her ears, which were also quite red. The bus pulled up, and as I stepped onto it, I heard her call out "later." I didn't look back. I made my way down to the back as the bus began to pull away. I began to think.

She looked pretty cold back there. Maybe...

Once the bus reached downtown, I stepped off and headed to a store that sold winter attire. I picked out a grey scarf and matching hat. Once they were bought, I began to wander around, looking for one more thing. Soon I came across a specialty card store. I stepped inside for a moment and came out with the final part of December's gift. I rode the bus back and when I got to my apartment, I placed her gift in a medium sized box filled with fold tissue paper and wrapped it in gold wrapping paper. I sealed the final edge with tape and sighed.

Finally, this is done and over with.

Christmas Eve...

"Merry Christmas!" Miwa joyfully greeted as he opened the door for me. I was unamused by his efforts to get me into the "spirit of things", and stepped into the house. I had my gift for December and carried it into the kitchen. From the corner of my eye I saw her watching me.

She wouldn't be able to tell this is for her, would she? Whatever. If she figures it out that's great for her.

I placed it on the table and made my back to the front room where everyone else was seated. Soon Miwa's mother joined us, around 5:30.

"Hey everyone!" She greeted. Multiple replies of hello and hey and things along those lines. December and I stayed silent.

"Now, before we begin things, I just want to say it's great that everyone was able to join us today. Taishi and I really appreciate it!" Everyone around the room began to smile. "So, here's how the evening is going to go."

And so she explained what was going to happen during the night. The secret Santa gifts would come last. So for the next few hours the house was complete chaos. Cookies were baked, the tree was decorated, songs were sung ( very off key, but no one cared too much. Though that idiot Morikawa changed one of the songs to be about Kourin, and everyone ended up yelling at him to shut up). Miwa tried to get me interested in what was going on, but I could've cared less. Pretty soon, the time came for everyone to receive their gifts.

"Alright, so this is how it's going to work. I've placed each present in the same bag, so no one will know whose is who's until you get it. I will pass out each present one by one. You cannot open your gift until everyone has received theirs. Got it?" A chorus of yeses filled the room. "Okay, so lets begin!"

She took the closet bag to her and called out a name. It was Tokura. She stood up to retrieve her gift. Next was Kamui, then Emi, then Miwa, and so on and so forth. December's name was called out second last. And the last name was mine. I took my gift and sat back down.

"Everyone has a bag?" We all nodded. "Alrighty then, open them up!"

I took out a box similar to the one I gave December. I stared at it for a bit before putting it back in the bag. I couldn't have care less what was in it, though after a bit of though I had an idea of who got me. I walked over to Miwa.

"So, how do you like your gift?"

"I didn't open it."

"Why? Don't you want to know what's in it?"

"Not really."

"I'm sure whoever picked you got you something really special."

I was about to reply when Tamika came up to us.

"Miwa! You sly dog, you thought I wouldn't figure you out!"

Miwa began laughing. "Yeah, you got me. What gave it away?"

"These!" She held up an assortment of colorful spheres. "Other than Daiki you're the only one who knows these are my favourites!"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" They began to laugh.

Wait, so if it's not Miwa, then who-?

"I really think you should open your gift." Miwa said again with a smile on his face. I briefly looked at him before leaving the living room and walking into the kitchen. I sat down, took the box back out and unwrapped the silver paper. I opened the lid and picked up a pair of new leather gloves and a bottle of hand lotion. I didn't react, but I was surprised that whoever got me knew exactly what I needed.

Wait a minute. Exactly what I needed...

Then I noticed something else in the box. It was a card. I opened it up to find a picture of December and I when we were younger. We had our arms around each others shoulders and had stupid expressions on our faces. The card read "Merry Christmas Kai. Hope you have a wonderful holiday, and maybe smile at least once? I'd really like to see that." That cinched it. The person who picked me was December. I sighed.

December...

I opened the bottle of lotion and spreading some of it on both of my hands. It stung a little, but soon they didn't hurt as much when I moved them. I placed everything back in the bag and stepped outside. It was a bit chilly, so I put the gloves back on. I looked up to the sky. It was cloudy, and snow was slowly falling from the sky. I heard the back door open and close.

"Well it's not too bad out, I guess."

I looked over to see December had joined me. She was wearing the hat and scarf I got her. I guess she figured out it was me. I noticed her staring at my gloves.

"I used the lotion too." I said.

"I, I'm glad it helped."

I nodded. "Thanks." I said with an unusually content tone in my voice.

"I guess" She started, "you aren't a total pain in the ass all the time." I smirked.

Of course you'd say that. I wouldn't expect anything else.

"Same goes for you." I replied.

She smiled. Suddenly, the clouds began to part, showing a starry sky and a bright full moon.

"Beautiful." We said at the same time. We looked at each other for a moment before smiling at one another. Looks like you got your wish.

"Merry Christmas Kai."

"Merry Christmas December."