Note: Follows Shin's 'perfect' route.

Disclaimer: I don't own Morenatsu, or anything really, except that the characters aren't really owned by anyone and I think it's only the original script that's owned… hmm…. Regardless, I still don't own it.

Winter in Minasato

Chapter 1 – Start of Winter Holidays

"Alright, I think I've got everything… toothbrush, clothes, shoes, and…. done packing!" My name is Hiroyuki Nishimura. Last summer I went home to Minasato for the first time in five years, and I entered into a relationship with the black cat Shin. We've been talking over texts on the phone for a while, but not that often, as Shin has to go all the way to Kazenari Town to get reception on his phone.

Oh, that reminds me. Did Shin ever explain our relationship to the others after that goodbye kiss on the bus back here? Hmm… I'll have to ask about that. Well, Shin has come over a few times, but now… I consider Minasato more my home then this one.

My grandparents were fine with me staying over there again for the winter. I'd be staying in my father's old room. Well, now that that's out of the way, I suppose I should probably go to sleep early so I can catch the bus tomorrow.

The bus ride was fun, it was kind of enjoyable to look out the windows and see the landscapes of Japan. Last time I went through on the bus I just waited for it to be done so I could go back to Minasato. But this time, I knew that Shin was going to be there at the bus stop waiting for me, which was all the excitement of returning home I needed.

The bus driver finally called out, "Minasato Village up ahead! Press the stop button if you are departing here!" So, naturally, I pressed the button. The bus driver turned off onto the side road for Minasato's bus stop. I picked up my stuff, glancing out of the window to see Shin calmly standing at the bus stop.

I got off with all my stuff in my backpack and case. I put my suitcase down as I gave Shin a kiss, who blushed and returned the favour. "Welcome home, Hiroyuki." I smiled back at him, and heard the bus departing.

"It's good to be back, Shin." I gave him a quick embrace, and then pulled back.

"How's everyone else doing right now?"

"Everyone else is doing pretty fine. We're going to meet them at Raimon, just like last time." Shin smiled. "Well, this time there won't be any confusion on where you're going to sit."

I laughed, and glanced over at the smiling cat. "None at all. I'll be sitting right next to you." Shin smiled back at me, and we continued on, then I remembered something. "Oh, yes. I need to go drop my stuff off at my grandparents' house."

Shin kept walking, but glanced back to say, "Don't worry. We can take them back after the party. They won't mind."

"Ah, that's good then," I acknowledged. Hmm… I've been missing Minasato and its rural landscape. It's in the middle of winter and it's still pretty warm. Oh, well, nothing I can do about it. The snow will come eventually, though. It's the 21st of November anyway. Not quite the middle of winter, but getting pretty close. It'll get cold soon.

Hmm, Shin's been pretty quiet. Wonder what he's thinking about. Probably thinking about cooking, maybe. Maybe his dream of running his own café? Well, who knows? We're almost there anyway.

Hmm… walking through these streets brings back some memories of last summer… I've been trying to recall my memories of my life before, here, but I still can't quite recall them.

Ah, I can see Shun over there waving at us. Everyone else must be inside. We caught up to Shun, who energetically started to pull us in. "You're home, Hiroyuki-san! Everyone is inside waiting!" His tail wagged as he ran inside.

I glanced over at Shin, who just looked back at me, and went inside. I followed him in, only to be greeted by everyone else. Tatsu just grinned over at me from his oversized mug (probably with alcohol in it) and didn't move, but Kyouji, Soutarou, and Torahiko all got up to greet me, Kyouji and Soutarou coming over to shake hands, while Torahiko gave me a very painful hug.

The rest just waved or shouted welcomes back from the corner they were in. Suddenly I was regretting not asking Shin if he'd discussed their relationship with the others. I left my suitcase and backpack near the counter and walked over to the table with Shin. I greeted the rest of my friends, Kounosuke, Kouya and Juuichi, and then sat down near the end of the table with Shin right next to me, so no one could so me holding onto his hand.

The rest of the party was pretty informal. We all simply got some food from a series of plates, and then we all ate what we had, ordering drinks every now and then. This time, I'm glad I sat far away from Tatsu. I remember what happened last time.

Once again I remembered the question I had and resolved myself to ask whenever I had a chance, which made me particularly thoughtful. No-one else was confused as to why Shin was the only one to get me. Maybe they do know? Well, it's very confusing.

The rest of the dinner passed by in a blur. I chatted to Kyouji and Soutarou about their soccer club, and how their competition went, which apparently they barely won, so they're training a lot harder. Shun finally got that game he wanted to play all those weeks ago. Apparently he decided not to wait and went into Kazenari to see if the game was there, which it was. Kouya was still making plans to build another secret base, which was surprising. I had thought he'd given up on it, but he said that every now and then he'd remember the promise they made at the lake.

I did exchange more unimportant chatter with other people, but it was fairly unimportant, so there was no need to go into detail with that.

After the party, I walked back to my grandparents' home alone. Shin had asked me to go over to his place tomorrow, and the rest had said farewell so they could head home. I carried my backpack on my back, of course, and carried the suitcase with me through the rapidly darkening afternoon.

When I arrived, Grandma welcomed me in, and took me up to Dad's old room that I was staying in. I dropped my stuff off and smiled. "Ah… good to be home in Minasato." I stretched, and took my shoes off and put on my pyjamas to sleep.

The next day, I woke up and realised once again that I didn't really have anything to do right now. That meant that I had to find something to do… maybe visit Shin. I wonder if he's home still. He might have gone out or something.

With my plans made, I walked confidently off up to Shin's House, along the path I walked so often during the summer holidays. Brings back memories… I'm still very bad at cooking, but I'd like to think I've gotten better.

Oh, that reminds me. I've finally got time to ask Shin if he's told the others about us. It'd be nice to know…

Ah, there it is. I've cleared the bend and arrived at the house. Nothing to do but go up and ring the doorbell. I mean, it's only Shin, right? Well… I hadn't forgotten about Amaki-san… he seemed to know what was going on. Maybe Shin told him?

I took a calming breath and pressed the doorbell button. The chime rang out, and the door opened fairly quickly to reveal Amaki-san.

"Ah, Hiroyuki-kun," Amaki smiled. "Shin's out for a little bit, but he'll be back soon. Come in."

"Thank you, Amaki-san," I greeted cheerfully. All that earlier nervousness evaporated as I was led into the home. Amaki-san turned to say "I'll be right back with some tea." I nodded and sat down on the very comfortable couch. Amaki-san returned fairly quickly and sat down as well, sipping on his own tea.

I quickly took this opportunity to ask a question I've wanted to know for a while. "Amaki-san, are you aware of Shin-kun and me being in a relationship?" I asked rather bluntly.

"Yes, I've been aware for a while now," Amaki smiled. "It's hard to sneak out to Kazenari without letting anyone know."

I heaved a relieved sighed. "That is good, then… Do, uh, are you aware of any of our other friends knowing?"

Amaki-san frowned, and thoughtfully stared at the table. "No," he absently said. "I don't think Shin has told anyone, but, well, he doesn't tell me everything he does."

"Hmm…" I muttered. "I suppose I'll have to ask Shin-kun myself when he arrives." Right on cue, we heard the sounds of the front door opening. I immediately grinned and jumped up to find Shin.

"Shin-kun!" I cheerfully called out.

"Hey, Hiroyuki," Shin said, turning from closing the door. "Is Amaki in there?"

"Yes, he is, we were just having some tea," I answered. Shin calmly walked past me into the living room, and sat down, helping himself to some tea.

Hmm… what to ask, what to… oh, I know.

"Hey, Shin-kun," I spoke up. "Have, uh… have you told the others we're… together?"

"No," Shin said almost immediately. "I thought it would be better to wait for you to return." I relaxed. So, I hadn't hidden our affections for no reason, thankfully. "Did you want to tell them?" Shin queried.

"Ah… well, not yet, no," I sighed. "Perhaps it'd be better for them not to know… at least for a while." I thoughtfully stared down at the table, and shook myself out of it. "Well, that's not why I'm here. I thought we could do something fun together. But I don't really know what's happening around here," I grumbled.

"Well," Shin spoke. "I just went out to look for somewhere for us to go. There's a new restaurant in the village. I thought we could go there tonight, if you wanted, but I'm not aware of anything in between then and now." Shin absently started tapping his hand on the arm of the chair. I started thinking about somewhere to go, but thankfully, we were saved by Amaki-san.

"There's a cooking contest in a few days in Kazenari. You could both practice for that. It's a team contest." Amaki-san smiled at us both. I thanked him profusely for the idea, and Shin and I went into the Kitchen holding a little pamphlet announcing the test.

Kazenari Sweets Bake-off!

Come get your cook on, as we will be baking sweets!

Cakes, biscuits, you name it! As long as it's sweet, we'll judge it!

Teams will be off two, decided by the entrants! Work in pairs!

25th of November

Cooking Stadium, Kazenari Town

12pm

Don't be late!

"So…" I muttered. "I'm guessing we'll be doing cakes or something, yes?"

"Yes," Shin replied cheerfully. "Let's get started. Preheat the oven to…"

At 5pm, after 4 hours of baking, and a half hour cleaning up, we headed out to Minasato itself, after saying farewell to Amaki-san.

I glanced over at Shin, walking calmly along staring at the sky. I truly do love him, I remembered. It was odd remembering I was in a relationship with this handsome man. He'd even gone out of his way to find a restaurant for them to have dinner together at. Hopefully things would go smoothly, but who really knew?

We were almost there, I noticed, as I paid attention to our surroundings. Only a few minutes left. I glanced over at Shin, who still looked pretty thoughtful. Thinking, I reached over and held Shin's hand, who looked up startled, then smiled at me. We walked on like that in companionable silence.

Then, we had arrived. Shin pointed out the restaurant and we headed in. It was a quaint little place – there weren't many people there, and it had a kind of odd arch series of booths. We sat in one of them, just so they couldn't be seen from anywhere else – we both like our privacy – and it seemed to focus primarily on seafood and pasta.

After we had both ordered, we stayed there for a while, talking every now and then, and sharing smiles across the table – Shin seemed more bolder then usual – and talking about whom the other Bake-off competitors would be, and what they'd make.

It was great fun, and they were there for a long while, until around 7:30pm, and they walked back, holding hands again, to the split in the road where they went their separate ways.

When I arrived back home, I shucked off my shoes and changed into my pyjamas, getting ready for bed.

Another Note: If there's anything wrong, let me know. I may or may not mess up the actual events that happened every know and then.