Hello People! It's me again after so long an absence. Did ya miss me? I hope you did, if not i'll be sad.

Summermangos: No your ass will not. You were busy reading Star Trek fanfictions where Spock and Jim fucked each other and you know it.

Savage Summer, savage.

Anyhoo! This story is based off of Summermangos new story New Year's Kiss. It helps if you have read the story beforehand. You can most certainly read this without though. Just saying I did change some dialogue and stuff.

Summermangos: Get on with it.

Jeez. Grumpy pants. On with the story!


I pushed through the crowd in search of someone to hang out with when I heard the awkward laugh of my friend. "Michi-chan!" I shouted as I pushed through the crowd and next to her side.

"Sylar! Hey! Happy new year!" Michi greeted me with a smile and hug. She asks me who I'm here with and I look at her like she has two heads. Me? With other people? Hah!

"No one, obviously. You know I don't have that many friends. Honestly you're the only person I hang out with on a regular interval. So therefore and thusly, you and I are gonna hang out together. Let's go!" I quickly try to drag her away, but she digs her heels in the ground and tries to stop me in my tracks.

"Wait! I have to ask Onee-chan first! Onee-" She cuts off suddenly and as I look over my shoulder I see Ki-chan talking to her friends, of whom I call the volleyball dorks. Michi-chan walks over to her and taps her on the shoulder. They start whispering, so it's hard to hear, but Michi-chan gestures to me and away so I can infer on what she's asking. I see Ki-chan point to the clock tower and I guess we have to be back by a certain time.

Michi-chan comes over to me and now she's pulling me along behind her. "We have to meet back here at midnight ok?" She asks with a puff of air leaving a trail in front of her. I smirk and gently remove my arm from her grasp and begin to walk beside her. I lean into her ear and whisper with a cruel edge.

"I haven't forgotten about that bet earlier today. I hope you remember the punishment involved if you don't complete it?" I chuckle slightly as I see Michi blush a bright red. She looks like a tomato! "Come on slowpoke!" I call behind me, and I hear a scuffle and suddenly she's right beside me. She punches me in the arm and I wince a little. Heavy handed hoe.


I begin to poke fun at the way Michi looks. She usually looks like such a bum, but she actually looks pretty. Not just a plain pretty like usual, but she looks beautiful tonight. "So...who you trying to catch? You already have an idea on who you will complete the bet with?" She swings at me, but I duck this time. Haha crazy bitch!

"I have no idea what you're talking about! I'm not even dressed that nice." She sniffs with her head held high.

"Yes, and I'm the Queen of Sheba. Do stop lying to me and yourself. Now let's look at the facts: Your hair is curly (but that beanie...frickin ruins it), You're wearing a fancy yukata, adorable bear tights, contacts, and -oh lord Jesus help our souls!- you're wearing make-up!" I squealed like a child in a candy store. This was just too good.

Michi tried to brush off the curly hair as an accident since her hair is always in a bun but...yeah. I don't buy it. "Well. I don't know about you, but I dressed nice to meet some good looking guys." I glanced down at the black yukata I wore that had blood red butterflies that left a trail of gold dust in its wake. I had a gold obi wrapped around my waist and short black heels. My hair was down to my shoulder blades and I held it back with a little hair clip. In other words? I looked GOOD!

I quickly scanned the crowds for anyone my taste. "Liiiiikkke...HIM!" I pointed to the tall cute guy I saw. When the boy glanced over his shoulder towards me, my breath caught in my throat and my heart stuttered to a stop.

"Tsukishima?" I heard Michi say. My hazel eyes were caught in the gaze of his molten gold ones and his gold hair held a silver sheen from the light of the moon that made my brain shut down. Before I could even think, my mouth opened and words poured from my mouth like a flowing river I had no control over.

"Ooo yeah. Good point. He looked a lot nicer from the back." Dafuq did I say that for. Those beautiful liquid gold eyes narrowed in annoyance and his lips turned down into a frown. He looked so beautiful, and yet my mouth and brain seemed to be at war with each other cause the next words out my mouth were, "Yeah. Definitely nicer from the back."

"Why you little-!"

"Both of you be nice!" Ayumu scolds us. Tsukishima throws her a glare, while I turn to her with a small pout on my face.

"Yes mother." I said bitterly.

"Who are you?" I hear Tsukishima ask. Pfft. Michi's going to be so mad!

"Michiyo Ayumu! I'm in your class shitty glasses; I sit between you and Yama!" Ooooh she is practically foaming at the mouth. Hehe I'm gonna hold that against her.

"Tsukki! It took a while, but I got us some mochi!" A freckled boy's face comes into view as his voice drifts over us. As he looks at us, his gaze lingers on Michi-chan almost unconsciously and Michi's gaze hasn't left his ever since he came into view. "Who are they?"

I laugh as I see Michi pout, but I quickly stop at the brief flash of pain and sadness I saw reflected in her eyes before she quickly covered those stray emotions up.

"You don't recognize me either Yama?"

"Michiyo-chan?! Sorry! It's just you look so different! You look…" Yamaguchi trailed off trying to find the right words and I let a small smile grace my lips. Those two were frickin CUTE!

"Clean? Less of a slob?" Tsukishima interjected with a cruel smirk on his face. I wanted to defend my bestie but...an image of Michi and I walking to school together popped in my head. Michi in her wrinkly uniform, bed head thrown into a lazy bun, and her looking like...well...a slob. I looked at Michi's face and saw that she came to the same conclusion as me. "True…" Michi and I muttered in sync.

"N-no! I was gonna say pretty!" Yamaguchi said trying to make Michi feel better. I saw Michi-chan blush and just couldn't resist poking fun at the two. It was just too fun.

"So...she looked non-pretty before this day? Savage Yama, savage." Yama tries to defend himself, but honestly, I'm not even listening. Michi calms Yama down soon but the silence that fell between the two had to be broken, and if they were too chicken to do it themselves then, well…what are friends for?

"Oyaoya~?" I mutter lowly under my breath. I could work with this. "Yamaguchi was it? How about you go and buy Michi-chan some mochi? You know, since you called her ugly and all."

"But I didn't mean that… but sure. It'll be on me ok Michiyo-chan?" Yamaguchi asks. I could see Michi opening her mouth to be an awkward dork and refuse his offer but before she could get a word out, I elbowed her in the side and hissed in her ear, "I ship it!"

Michi glares at me, but that's nothing new in our wonderful friendship. We call each other derogatory names, hit each other, make fun of each other, and glare at each other. Messed up yes, but all the best friendships are. "I'd love to!" Michi gasps out while rubbing her aching side. Yama asks if she's ok but Michi is quick to calm him down.

As the two walk away, I smile and wave after them. "Bye~~! Have fun! Don't forget the deal!"

"Have fun?" I jumped at the feel of Tsukishima's breath on my neck and I glare at the small smirk I see on his smug face. " You act like they aren't coming back."

"Oh trust me," I say as I turn to face him. I look up into his face and let a smirk of my own cross my face. "they aren't." I wrap my arm around his and look up at him with a face fit for an angel. "Come on! I just lost my only sense of entertainment and we have an hour and a half before midnight." I begin to drag him away, ignoring his distaste.


After a little while of walking,I realized that Tsukishima was way too tense and I figured it was because I was still holding onto his arm. I have three different personalities for three different groups of people: those I know well, those I dislike/hate, and those I just plain don't know. For the first group, I am loud, silly, clingy, and weird. The second group gets silence, apathy, sarcasm, contempt, and heated glares. The third group sees me as simply silent and distant. I don't want to see, touch, or talk to any of them.

It seemed that only after a few minutes of meeting Tsukishima, he made it into group one. Fascinating. I made sure to let go of his arm as inconspicuous as possible and put a little distance between us. Tsukishima seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and, although it hurt a little, at least he wasn't uncomfortable.

Oh God I'm going soft. As Tsukishima and I walk around the crowds I try to start a conversation. "So what's your full name? Mine is Gray Sylar." He looks at me out of the corner of his eye and seems to be looking for...something. He seems to have found it when he responds with, "Tsukishima Kei."

"Can I call you Tsu-kun?"

"No."

"Please?"

No."

Pretty please?"
"No."

"..."

"..."

"...I'm going to do it anyway." I said as I poked my tongue out at him. Childish yes but I didn't care before and I don't care now. He rolls his eyes at me but I just continue to look around the festival. "Hey Tsu-kun, let's go get something to eat!" I walk a little faster to the yakisoba stand and couldn't help the hungry look that crossed my face. I LOVED yakisoba. Tsu-kun soon walked in behind me, and I thought he was going to be nice and pay for my food, but then a flashback comes to me. It's Michi-chan ranting about how mean Tsu-kun is and...hmm. I'm beginning to remember that many people call him the apathetic bean pole from Hell. Interesting.

So I pay for my food, and we begin walking again. I ask him if he wants some, and before he can answer I leaned up and placed a chopstick full of yakisoba in his opened mouth. He sputters a little, but begins to chew. I laughed the whole time and he sends a sharp glare my way, but honestly, it's just making me laugh more.

As I calmed down more, I realized that Tsu-kun was walking away. "Ack! Tsu-kun!" I rush after him and pout up at his face after placing my chopsticks safely in the container. It's only a little uncomfortable since my head is at his between his shoulder and neck, but it could be worse. "That was SO mean. Honestly, don't you know what happens to pretty girls alone at a festival?"

Tsu keeps walking toward the takoyaki stand and I heard him snort beside me. "What makes you think anyone would try and kidnap you?" I huff up at him and with a haughty sound say, "I will have you know, many guys find me attractive."

"Sure Gray, sure." I grimace at the sound of my last name rolling off his tongue like that. Disgusting.

"Ugh. Don't call me 'Gray' I hate that. Just call me Sylar." I see him glance at me with a searching gaze from the corner of my eyes and I unconsciously cover the hand holding the yakisoba container with my other hand. It's still sore.

"Why?" he asks while he turns back around to buy his takoyaki. I shake my head madly even though I know he can't see.

"No reason. I just...never identified with that name. I don't like it." If my voice got softer with every word that came out my mouth, Tsu-kun didn't say anything. I shook my head again to get rid of the memories that swarmed around me like a tornado made of butterflies and smiled up at Tsu-kun. "Let me try!" I reached up and placed a takoyaki in my mouth before his hand could close around my wrist. I have very fast reflexes that practice made perfect. "Oooh this is good!" I lick at the tips of my fingers and around my mouth to make sure I got all the sauce on me and smile at Tsu-kun's disgusted face. He does not like sharing.

"Come on. Let's go sit over there to finish eating." I point to a secluded bench in the corner. Perfect for people who don't like people like Tsu-kun and I. He shrugs and we sit down to finish our food. Tsu-kun doesn't like talking so I'll leave him alone...for now.


"Aren't you cold?" I hear Tsu-kun say next to me and I can't help the shock that spreads across my face. It takes me a few seconds to remember the question and answer.

"Umm no. I don't really notice the cold. I've...had practice ignoring it." Probably...shouldn't have said that. I know Tsu-kun is smart but, well, too late now.

"Hmm…" I hear him hum. As I continue to eat I can feel his eyes searching my soul, but he soon goes back to his food as well. We finish in companionable silence and when we're done I say we should get our fortunes and cotton candy on the way to the bell. He agrees when he sees we have 20 minutes before midnight and we trek off.

We get the cotton candy first. Surprisingly Tsu-kun buys it and we share on the way to the fortune stand. I feel a buzzing in my obi where I put my phone and stop to pick it up. I stiffen at the name on the screen and my eyes widen but I know I need to answer. "Sorry Tsu-kun I have to answer this." I walk over to the side of the street and Tu-kun follows at a respectful distance.


(In this phone convo I will be underlined whereas mystery caller will be italicized)

Hello?

Don't come home tonight I need to...entertain some friends.

How many this time?

That's none of your damn business!

Yes sir. Sorry sir.

Make sure to be home tomorrow around noon to clean up.

Understood sir. Was that all?

...You and your mom are a real pain in the ass you know that?

Yes I know that. You remind every day.

Watch your attitude or you won't be happy.

(I grit my teeth together to keep the ugly words at bay) Yes sir. I apologize.

Damn right you do. Remember don't come home tonight. I don't care if it's below freezing or not. Don't come home and be home at noon tomorrow to clean up.

Yes father I understand. Goodbye.


I ended the call before he could complain about what I called him. I truly didn't want to hear it. I clutched the cotton candy a little tighter as I continued to hold the phone in my hand. My hair covered my face and shadowed my eyes. I took a deep breath of the cold air and the feelings of pin and needles in my lungs woke me up from my thoughts. I put my phone back in the obi and turned to Tsu-kun with a smile that felt a little too brittle to be real. I walked up to him and held up the cotton candy. "Want some?" He reached his hand out and pulled some of the blue fluff apart and stuck it in his mouth. I smiled a smaller less brittle smile and brought the cotton candy up to my face and took a bite as well. The sweet taste helped put all thoughts to the back of my head where I could deal with them later.

"The fortune stand is this way. Let's go we only have 10 minutes before midnight." We got to the stand in two minutes and Tsu-kun got our fortunes pretty fast. My fortune for the year said:

Good luck

Direction: East

Lost things: Good

Starting a trip: Good

Person you've been missing/waiting for: Will arrive

Health/illness: Difficult recovery

Gambling luck: Not certain

Tsu-kun's fortune:

Future blessing

Direction: West

Lost things: Great

Starting a trip: fair

Person you've been missing/waiting for: Will arrive

Health/illness: Fair health

Gambling luck: Good

"Hmm not too bad." I say as I look at mine and Tsu-kun's. We arrived at the bell with three minutes till midnight and I couldn't see Michi-chan anywhere. "Do those dorks not realize the time?" I ask myself as I bring my phone out and ignore the many texts and calls from my father and text Michi-chan.

Hey! I'm by the bell. Hurry your ass up, their gonna ring it soon.


"Oh god what happened to you two?" I hear Tsu-kun ask someone. I turn around and there's the two dorks of my latest ship bent over breathing heavy.

"We- ran- all the way- here." Michi says between pants.

"Nice timing! There's 30 seconds before the bell rings." I lean up into her personal space and whisper into her ears. "You ready?"

"I don't want to do it! I was just joking when I said that." Michi stutters out with a strawberry flush.

"Haaah? No backing out now! Besides, you know the punishment don't you?"

20, 19, 18…

"Go on. Don't worry I'll do it too." I say as I push her a little too roughly over to Yamaguchi's arms. I walk over to Tsu-kun's side and he's staring down at me with a raised eyebrow. "What?" I say with the voice and face of an innocent angel. Tsu-kun snorts, not believing my act for a moment. Damn.

10

I look up into Tsu-kun's face and...crap can I do this.

9

I need to. The bet...

8

Are eyes are stuck to each others and I can't seem to look away.

7

It's like we're in our own little world.

6

At least for me anyway.

5

I open my mouth to tell him…

4

But my mouth won't work

3

Well...it's ok I guess.

2

It wouldn't have worked either way.

1

I look up at Michi-chan and Yamaguchi to see Michi kiss Yamaguchi on the corner of his mouth. Close, but not close enough. Punishment it is. Michi is a stuttering mess and Yamaguchi is no better. I can see embarrassment, fear, grief, and self-hatred swim in Michi' eyes and I sigh at it. When will she stop being awkward and just go for it?


I turn towards Tsu-kun's shocked face and I can tell he just saw the kiss. "Sorry Tsu-kun. I have to go help Michi-chan." Turning away from his gaze I step between Michi and Yama with my back to Yama. I can see tears glistening her eyes and whisper soft words of encouragement in her ears to keep her from breaking like a fragile snowflake. I turn her around and begin walking away from the two boys so we can find Ki-chan. I don't turn around to the two boys we've just left, most of my attention is on Michi and the other part is on where I'll be sleeping tonight. I could probably stay at Michi's house. Ki-chan will need the help in making her feel better. That problem fixed I devote all of my attention on my best friend.

We quickly find Ki-chan and she takes one look at my concerned face and Michi's crushed one and quickly leads us away to their house. Ki-chan asks if I need to go home, but I say that my father agreed to let me stay at their house and that's how I ended up here. Under the covers of Michi's bed, holding her close as she cries, both of us trying to sleep and forget the day we've had. That beautifully tragic day for both of us.

0

Happy New Year