Sakuno got off the train, bundled up against the cold December weather in her favourite pink coat and gloves. Standing on the platform, waiting for her, was Aoi, his face breaking into a smile as he saw her.
She smiled and waved as he came over to her.
"Sakuno-chan! I'm really happy you're here!" He really was completely different to Ryoma "Did you have a good trip?"
"I did, thank you," Sakuno replied.
"It's really cold today," Aoi said, "was it this cold in Tokyo?"
"It was," Sakuno replied, "it was snowing a bit too."
"Snow? I really wish we'd decided to meet in Tokyo! Walking in the snow with Sakuno-chan would have been really fun!"
Sakuno blushed and looked at her gloved hands, her heart was beating out of control. "I'd like that too," she said in a very quiet voice.
They arrived at Aoi's house after a 20 minutes walk in the cold. Sakuno was very glad to get into the warmth, although she was quite sad that she couldn't spend more time alone with him. It was really nice spending time with Aoi, he was friendly and funny and open and was so easy to talk to about anything.
They shed their warm clothes and shoes and went into the sitting room where the old Rokkaku team and Kisarazu Atsushi were waiting for them.
"Everyone's here!" Saeki said happily, he was sat between the two twins, his arm draped over a rather annoyed Ryou.
"Did you have a good journey?" Itsuki asked, "we've made some fish soup-"
"Icchan made the soup," Saeki pointed out, "the rest of us got in the way."
"Yes. Anyway, it should be ready in a few minutes."
"Excellent!" Aoi said cheerfully, "it'll be really nice to have something warm to eat."
"The cold gives me brine freeze," Davide said and was punched in the arm by Bane-san.
Soon, the soup was ready and Sakuno went to help Itsuki serve it and hand out the bowls. They watched a movie whilst they ate, it was a dumb film, but made a lot better by everyone making fun of it (with plenty of puns from Davide).
At first, Sakuno was rather embarrassed to be sitting so close to Aoi, their legs pressed against each other. But no one was making a fuss about it, so she soon relaxed.
Time started to fly by and soon it was time for Sakuno to go back to the station. She was sad that she had to leave so soon as she pulled on her coat and put on her gloves and scarves. Next to her, Aoi looked as sad as she felt.
The rest of Rokkaku clustered around the door and, out the corner of her eye, Sakuno saw Bane-san pass something to Aoi. She turned and saw Aoi standing there, holding a fishing rod with a sprig of holly attacked to the hook.
"It's holly because it's a holly-day," Davide said.
"That's not funny, Davide!" Bane-san shouted, hitting him.
"We couldn't find any mistletoe," Aoi said, "so, do you want to?"
Sakuno blushed crimson and walked up to Aoi, pressing a kiss on his cheek. She wasn't brave enough to do anything else in front of the others.
"Want to do it next?" she heard Saeki ask Ryou, who elbowed him in the side huffily.
Aoi was blushing when Sakuno stepped back and she could feel her cheeks burning as well.
"It's snowing," Shuudoh suddenly said, distracting them from the embarrassment of the kiss.
Sakuno looked up and saw the white flakes floating down around them.
"Wow! I get to walk with you in the snow after all," Aoi said to her and she smiled back.