A/N: This is a Christmas present for KashiLaHime. She was the 100th reviewer of my fanfic "Usagi Tales", so I granted her a request. Naoru anyone? ^^

The hardest part about this oneshot was coming up with a suitable character for Naohito. He doesn't show up as much in the manga, so I didn't have as much to work with. I might have exaggerated his spazzy-ness a bit, but I hope that I did at least a valiant attempt of keeping him in character.

btw, I LOVE gingersnap cookies. But almost everyone else in my family HATES them. T-T

Merry Christmas everyone!

So I admit it. I have a weakness for older women. Is that so wrong? Is it such a crime? Am I going to die because I don't follow the traditional boyfriend-girlfriend style format? It's like the rule where the guy has to be taller than the girl. Who comes up with this? Short people have feelings too! We have a right to—!

Well, maybe not older women per se. It's just always the girls who are old enough to leave me before I can leave them. First Minagawa-sempai, and then, just when I thought I had gotten over it, it was . . .

Ahhh, but what I am doing rambling? If I don't get to the student council meeting on time, the others will cause me grief. Especially that idiot. No, no, punctuality is best.

But when I'm about to reach the student council room, someone walks out of it. At first I thought it was Machi, and I instantly dreaded seeing the state of the room. But it wasn't Machi. It was Honda-sempai. She heard me coming and glanced my way as she shut the door.

Honda-sempai cocked her head for a puzzled moment. "Umm, you're Sakuragi-san, right?"

I froze, unable to say a word. The question had caught me off guard. How . . . how did she know my name?

Her face brightened, and she smiled warmly. "That's right. You are Sakuragi-san. Sakuragi Naohito. You're one of the secretaries who help out Yuki-kun!

"W-well . . . th-that's . . . uh."

How did she know my name?

Honda-sempai nodded towards the student council room. "I heard that you guys are working hard on planning our graduation. Thank you so very much." She bowed gracefully. "I thought that it would be nice, so I baked everyone some cookies. Ginger snap. I hope you enjoy it." Honda-sempai giggled once and then walked off, waving goodbye. "Please do help yourself!"

And I didn't once say goodbye or nothing because I was still standing there as if my brain had short-circuited.

She knew my name?

"Oi, Chibi-suke. It's about time you showed up," said that idiot as he stuffed his face with cookies while everyone else was dutifully doing some form of work. Well, not really. The only one seriously working was Sohma-sempai.

"There are some cookies if you want," Sohma-sempai said, already sounding exhausted.

"Ewww! Don't eat them, Nao-chan!" Kimi cried, but instead of fawning over me, for some reason she latched onto Sohma-sempai for dear life. "They're yucky! Who the heck eats ginger snap? At least make some chocolate chip cookies!"

"Kimi, get off," Sohma-sempai sighed.

"Besides, Kimi," that idiot said through a mouthful of cookie. "Chibi-suke's too masculine for that. Real men don't eat cookies."

"Then what does that make you?" Sohma-sempai deadpanned.

"ANYTHING I WANT TO BE!" that idiot laughed manically before promptly shoving another cookie down his throat.

Meanwhile Kuragi-san just sat there and said nothing.

Oh the stupidity!

"Give me those!" I snapped, grabbing the bag away from that idiot. I turned slightly away from everyone else and ate a cookie. And another. And another.

"Ehhhh? Could it be that Chibi-suke secretly has a sweet tooth?"

"Shut up."

But of course, it didn't take long for me to realize my mistake. Really, what was I thinking? If a girl gives you cookies, you're supposed to thank her graciously and tell her they were delicious. But did I do that? Nope! At the time, I was too busy stupidly drowning in happiness and sugar to remember that basic rule. But that act of impudence must be corrected(!)

"And that's the only reason I'm going to see her," I told myself as I walked hurriedly down the streets. "No other reason. Just ring the doorbell and say thanks. It'd be rude to do otherwise."

And thus began MISSION: GINGER SNAP.

As I waited for the street light to change, I slipped my hands in my pockets and pulled out a piece of paper. Frozen puffs of my breath floated around me as I squinted at the messily scribbled directions. And no, I'm not a stalker. I'm resourceful. There's nothing wrong with looking up a classmate's address in the school directory and then running it through Google maps.

"I wonder if she'll be surprised," I sighed, but then the light changed green. I crossed the street and continued on my way.

Fifteen minutes later, I was standing in front of her home. It wasn't too shabby, maybe a little bigger than my own, but not by much. By now I was starting to feel some misgivings, but I squashed it down and knocked purposely on the door. Be a man. Be a man, Naohito!

But when I heard footsteps, I very nearly high tailed it outta there. I started backing up, but then I slipped on the icy steps and fell backward with an (admittedly) girly scream.

And that was the first impression of me. Naohito, the girly screaming man, who can't even properly give thanks when receiving cookies, lying in a crumpled, awkward heap on the cold ground.

STUPIDITY!

"Um, hello?" called an older man as he poked his head out of the door, like some bald turtle. I guess it was Honda-sempai's grandpa or something.

Flustered and red-faced, I scrambled to my feet. Luckily, however, I had prepared some sort of dialogue in case someone other than Honda-sempai had answered. "Good afternoon, sir!" I said quickly and curtly, nearly falling over myself when I bowed. "I came to see Honda-sempai. We have a project we're working on, and—"

"Ehhhhhh?" the old man interrupted, his fuzzy eyebrows lifted in surprise.

I flushed and tried to hide my face in my scarf a little. What, what? Was my lie that obvious?

"I-I-I-I'm sorry," I stammered. "Is Honda-sempai not allowed to have a male guest over or something? In that case I'll leave right away. RIGHT AWAY! Sorry to disturb you!" And I mechanically turned around and started to flee . . . again.

"Ahh, no. It's not that," the old man said in a voice raspy with age. "Only . . . well Tohru-san hasn't lived here in several years. She lives with the Sohma's on the other side of town."

". . . . . . . . . huh?" I said, my mouth hanging open.

The grandpa let me stew in awkwardness for a few moments before scratching his head. "I would've thought that Tohru would tell her project partner where she lived at the very least."

"A-ah, no. It's my fault. She asked me if I knew where she lived, and I just assumed . . . I mean, it was in the school directory that—"

"Oh, that." The old man's squinty eyes twinkled ever so slightly. "We decided to keep using my address for the school directory. People might take it the wrong way if they find out Tohru's living with some of her male classmates, you know?"

"Uh huh," I said, nodding my head slowly with wide eyes and burning cheeks.

We both stood there for a moment, and then I left for real this time, apologizing like mad as I backed away. As soon as I had turned the corner and was out of sight, I started running around and waving my arms like a crazy man. Ohhhhh, too much! That was WAY too much to handle! She's living with other MEN? Not RELATED to her? And with the SOHMA family no less!

"I'm sunk," I groaned when I had finally calmed down a little.

To be honest, I had always wondered if there was some romance going on between Sohma-sempai and Honda-sempai. They were always hanging around each other. Honda-sempai would wait for him after club activities. Sohma-sempai would always seek her out whenever he wanted a little advice. They always seemed to laugh a lot together, and when he thought no one was watching, Sohma-sempai would always look at Honda-sempai with a strange, serious expression. It wasn't fair! He was always stealing the girls I liked. What gives him the right? Just because he's a flipping prince . . .

But then he and Machi started acting all lovey-dovey, and I started to feel like maybe I had a chance with my beautiful upper classman. Of course, I was too chicken to really approach her properly.

"But jeez!" I sighed. I rubbed my head roughly. "To think she's actually living with Sohma-sempai! Is there something going on after all?"

Let's face it. I'm a nosy prick. Honda-sempai's grandpa had given me directions after all. I wanted to know what was going on, and I still hadn't thanked Honda-sempai for the cookies. So, gritting my teeth, I headed for enemy territory.

Too bad the grandpa gives lousy directions.

"Who would live in the middle of nowhere like this anyway?" I mumbled crossly to myself thirty minutes later as I continued to navigate through the snowy woods. "Don't tell me they own all this land. Rich bastards. Yet another reason why all the girls fawn all over him, I bet. Kimi did say something about the size of their wallet is the size of their . . . something?"

Why yes, I am talking to myself. Why? Are you starting to wonder about my mental health? You should.

"AHHH! WHAT WAS THAT?" I screamed at the top of my lungs, jumping at the sound of a bush rustle. I looked all around, paranoid, as other beings creaked and groaned. This was utterly unsafe and unsanitary, not to mention unspeakably queer. Really, the tastes of the Sohmas are questionable. The wilderness is so thick out here, I half expect a tree to just get up and start chasing me.

"Honda Tohru is a princess held captive within the enchanted forest, sending out ginger snap cookies as a plea for help to all worthy suitors," I mumbled to myself, barely aware of what I was saying. "One daring knight seeks to return the favor and save the princess. Oh, but the security is tight, with cabbage knights and carrot archers guarding the gates. And the surrounding land shifts without warning, turning around even the most directionally gifted—whoa!" I cried when the ground really did shift, and I slid down a slope of snow and collapsed face-first in soft, freshly tilled earth. The corner of my head hit something decidedly painful and frozen, and I picked myself up to see what it was.

Cabbage.

"WAHHH!" I shouted, scrambling back on all fours. My right wrist twinged in pain, and I clutched at it in dismay.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up. Sohma-sempai was standing on top of a slope, peering bemusedly down at me. He carefully came down, trying to avoid falling like me, and said, "I was about to go back up to the house, but I kept hearing someone scream. It sounded like a girl was in trouble."

Uh . . .

With nothing better to do, I bowed my head to the icy ground and said in hasty sincerity, "Thank you God for saving me from the horrors of the forest."

My left fingers tapped nervously on the kotatsu as I cradled my right hand in my lap. Discreetly, I tried to take in my surroundings without really looking at them. I wasn't going to be impressed. Not at all.

"You can just sit there," Sohma-sempai said. He looked at a loss of what to do, just like me. "I'll go . . . make some tea I guess."

When he left to go to the kitchen, my finger drumming grew more frantic. This wasn't a good idea. How was I supposed to explain myself? And if Tohru really happened to be here—

Sohma-sempai walked back from the kitchen empty-handed and said, "Never mind. Honda-san's already got tea covered. She'll bring some in a moment."

"H-H-Honda-sempai?" I stammered as my heart shot up into my throat.

Sohma-sempai flashed me a weird look when I went red in the face, as if he was beginning to consider throwing me out. "Yes, Honda-san lives with us due to . . . personal matters." A frigid, evil smile that Sohma-sempai usually only saved for idiots formed on his lips, and I instinctively gulped. "But of course, word of her living with us isn't going to be talked about outside of this house, correct?" he said with mock-pleasantness.

I suppressed a shudder and looked away. The president could be terrifying when he wanted to be.

"Sorry it took so long," a new voice sang, and at the sound of it, my nerves smoothed over and relaxed. Honda-sempai waltzed in, donned in a flowery apron and bearing a tray of what I anticipated to be the best tea of my life. Honda-sempai saw me, and for reasons I could not fathom—though was deeply pleased with—her face brightened.

"Sakuragi-san? Sakuragi-san is our guest? Nice to see you again."

"A-ahhh . . . nice to see you as well," I responded politely.

And with all of the refinement and chic of a thoroughbred Japanese woman, she knelt down at the kotatsu beside us and served us tea. I watched her every mood, almost fidgeting in my excitement. The only thing that would make this situation better would be a kimono . . . preferably with a low cut and—stop right there, Naohito.

"Th-thank you very much," I said with a hasty bow of the head.

"I'm making some cookies too," Honda-sempai declared, smiling amiably. "Yuki-kun told me how much you enjoyed them last time."

I flushed straight up to my roots while Sohma-sempai said, "Yep. Between him and Kakeru, no one else got anything more than a few bites." But then Honda-sempai laughed, and I decided it was worth the embarrassment.

"Thank you. You don't have to trouble yourself like this," I mumbled, avoiding meeting her eyes. I reached for the tea cup without thinking, but then I jerked back when my right wrist twinged painfully.

"Eh? Sakurgai-san? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I reassured with a wince. There was no way I could refuse to drink tea that Honda-sempai had made specifically for me. A little unsteadily, I attempted to pick up the tea cup with my left hand. It felt awkward, and I very nearly spilled tea on myself. "I think I may have twisted my wrist though."

"How?" Honda-sempai gasped.

Sohma-sempai answered for me, his voice a little dry. "Naohito was sneaking around the woods, and he took a nasty fall in my garden."

I gaped at him. Did he HAVE to put it so awfully in front of Honda-sempai?

Honda-sempai's face scrunched up in bemusement. "Sneaking around?" she echoed.

"B-b-because I have something to tell Sohma-sempai! It's a very important student council matter that must be addressed immedia—!"

I choked off. Honda-sempai was holding my right hand, inspecting it. Her gentle, soft touch sent waves of warm pleasure tingling up my arm.

"It looks like it's starting to swell," Honda-sempai mumbled, her brow furrowed with concern. She lifted her eyes to meet mine, and I couldn't help but blush a little. "I'll go get some ice for you."

"Oh . . . u-uh . . . that . . . th-that would be nice," I said lamely.

She left. I hurriedly gulped down half of my tea, just for something to do. And also to ignore the way Sohma-sempai was staring at me.

From far off, the front door opened. I heard someone announce that they were home, and after shuffling around a little, he walked into the room. I halfway recognized that orange hair.

"Huh? Who the hell is this?" he grunted.

"One of the student council secretaries, Naohito Sakuragi," Sohma-sempai explained. "Apparently, there is a secret student council meeting that I didn't know about." Sohma-sempai turned back to me, and his mild exasperation was fading into resignation. "Are you sure it's really that important? You can't just wait until school on Monday?"

"Um . . . well . . ."

"I have the ice, Sakuragi-san!" Honda-sempai called, hurriedly striding out of the kitchen. She handed it to me and fussed over me, but then she caught sight of the orange-head, and she stopped still. "Kyo-kun, you're back? I didn't hear you."

"I just walked in." And without warning, Kyo-sempai's face started to turn all melty. I picked up on that little fact immediately, suddenly alert.

Tohru straightened. If I had thought her face had brightened when she had seen me, she positively glowed now. "How was your run?"

"It was good. Wanna hug?"

"Eeek! No! You're probably all sweaty and smelly. You ought to wash up."

And they were laughing, completely in their own world as Kyo-sempai tried to give her a sweaty hug. What, what? What was with this mood? Confused, I turned to Sohma-sempai for an answer and was surprised to see him grimacing.

Sohma-sempai stood. "Well, we'll be out back discussing important matters. Don't mind us." He got up and left, but I lingered reluctantly.

"But I haven't finished my tea," I complained. "What sort of ill-mannered host denies the guest the privilege of—?"

"Now, Naohito," Sohma-sempai interrupted, his eyes flashing a little dangerously.

I scrambled to my feet in a hurry and followed him outside. The cold outside hit me like a slap, and I longed for Honda-sempai's warm tea. I was about to tell Sohma-sempai so too, but then I caught him looking back, checking to make sure no one had followed us.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, scratching his head. "They've been going out for almost a year now, but it's still pretty uncomfortable being around them when they're in lovey-dovey mode. I swear, those two are like the epitome of a stupid couple."

My eyes widened, and I momentarily forgot about the throbbing of my wrist. "Those two . . . are going out?" I replied slowly, unable to grasp the concept.

"Hmm? Yeah, of course. It was all over the school. I thought it was pretty obvious, personally."

It had been obvious. I could tell the minute Kyo-sempai stepped in the door, but I didn't want to admit it.

"Naohito?" Sohma-sempai said curiously.

"Does it bother you? I mean, didn't you have a thing for Honda-sempai?" I mumbled.

"Eh? Me? No, no. I always saw Honda-san as more of a sister. Or maybe . . . a mother-figure. Ahhh, it's hard to explain."

I barely heard him. I mean, heck! What was this? My enemy never had been Sohma-sempai, not even in the beginning. It had been a different Sohma, and I had been beaten without even realizing it. Jeez, I can just imagine the look on my face right now. I wonder if Sohma-sempai can read right through me.

This sucks.

Or maybe I'm just pathetic like that.

Sohma-sempai didn't say anything for the longest time. He just stood there and watched me stew. I guess he really could tell what I was thinking. In an attempt to drive away the heavy, awkward atmosphere, he said, "So, er . . . what was that important matter again?"

But I was done. Mission failed, and I didn't care anymore. Blankly, I lifted my head and stated the first thing that popped in my head. "Can we have a bonfire at the graduation ceremony, so the third years can burn all of their old notes and stuff?"

"What? Not you too! I expected that sort of thing from Kakeru, but—Naohito? Where are you going?"

I tuned him out and wandered back inside to grab my bag, just in time to see Honda-sempai setting the plate of gingersnap cookies on the kotatsu. "Oh, Sakuragi-san. The cookies are done!" she sang.

Looking at Kyo-sempai, who was already munching on a cookie and flipping through the TV channels, I almost considered refusing. I really did. Shameless me really would consider walking out right then and there. But then what would be the point of everything today?

Slowly, I picked up a cookie and took a bit. Slowly, I chewed it and swallowed. Slowly, I ripped my eyes away from the back of Kyo-sempai and met Honda-sempai's eyes instead. Why had I ever not looked at them? They were such a pleasant color, gentle and warm.

"Thank you. It's delicious," I mumbled.

Stupid . . . stupid . . . STUPID!

This is so uncool.

Uncool . . . uncool . . . what the heck am I doing? And why on earth—?"

"Sakuragi-san?"

Oh, that's why.

I took a deep breath and approached her. She wore a pretty gold ribbon in her hair, and her head was cutely cocked to the side in curiosity.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, forcing on a half-smile. "You're not crying are you? Most of the sempai are."

Honda-sempai smiled, and it put my own terrible attempt to shame. She shook her head and said, "I just wanted to sit in my seat one last time." She gave a stretch and sighed. "Arriving at this point, I suddenly feel like all the nights of cramming and studying is catching up with me. Saying goodbye is tiring . . . but also sad, I guess."

"No regrets?"

"Nope!" she exclaimed. "None at all!" Honda-sempai's expression went soft. "I promised my mom I would graduate, and now here I am."

After a while, my smile felt a little more natural. "Yeah? Well, congratulations then."

"Thanks!" But then she caught a glimpse of what was hidden behind my back. "Eh? What's that?"

I blushed a little, but thankfully I was able to control myself. "This? A graduation present for a very dear sempai of mine." My voice failed me for a moment. I covered it up by clearing my throat. "It's pretty stupid actually. Kakeru's been rubbing off on me."

We both laughed, her a cheerful giggle, mine a nervous chuckle.

"I don't know, Sakuragi-san," Honda-sempai said. "I bet he or she will like it all the same."

"I hope so."

My fingers tightened around the small white box, denting it a little. Someone else had joined us in the classroom.

"There you are, Tohru," Kyo-sempai said, walking up. "I knew you were going to be up here."

"Ha ha, you know me too well, Kyo-kun. Are you a mind reader?"

Before Kyo-sempai could notice me, I backed out of the room. I heard them continue to talk as I knelt down on the ground for a moment.

"Congratulations, Tohru. You finally made it . . . and I'm sure your mom would be proud."

"I hope so."

There was a moment of silence, and I snuck off, hiding behind a corner.

"Well, we can't just sit here. Uotani and Hanajima are looking for you. They sent me to fetch you."

"Ah! I can't keep them waiting."

I heard Honda-sempai skipping out, and I counted down in my head, anticipating the moment when she froze in place.

"Huh? What's this?" she wondered aloud.

"What's what?"

"This . . . wait, it looks like the box Sakuragi-san—ah, Kyo-kun! Don't open it! That's rude!"

"He's the one who left it behind."

"Yes, but still—!"

Nobody spoke. I knew what they were seeing. Within the box was a small pile of crudely made gingersnap cookies, some a little burnt in places, some molded into strange shapes that didn't resemble circles at all. Cookies that only real men could make.

A stupid man anyway.

A stupid, short, and younger man.

With a satisfied nod, I left.