A/N: Happy New Year to you guys! I've been dying to do a Holiday Fic, and when I fell behind on my Tsubasa Xmas one, it seemed the only left for a while was New Years. And since I've been dying to write something for Kobato... well, this is the result.

Disclaimer: All I wanted for Christmas was to own Kobato. It is now New Years Day. Here I am, writing fan fiction. Santa, you have failed me.


"You're late."

Kobato jumped, nearly slipping in her snow-covered boots. She turned, still clutching the coat she had been about to hang up, a retort on her tongue. She could only have been a minute late at the most! She was surprised to find Fujimoto's back towards her as he swept the room. So, instead, she slowly turned back to the coat rack and hung her own next to her colleague's. "Sorry."

The boy sighed and spun around, already (slightly) remorseful about the way he had treated her. It was a holiday, after all. He blinked when he finally saw her. "You're covered in snow," he said, sounding a little confused.

She chewed on her lip. Snow was clinging to her in clumps all over, especially in her incredibly long hair, and it wasn't very pleasant. "Um… well, it is snowing outside," she offered, repressing the urge to shiver due to her damp and freezing clothes.

"Not that hard," he argued. He stepped closer and bent at the waist, one hand on his hips and the other holding the broom, to get a better look. Then he straightened, scowling at her. "You slipped and fell in the snow, didn't you?"

Kobato's face heated up and she bowed her head to hide it. "… Yes," she replied miserably.

What the hell was wrong with this girl? "The roads have been plowed for a while now, and most of the sidewalks have been shoveled," he stated, figuring he was going to have to force the explanation out of her.

"I know, but I was already running behind, and there's a shortcut through the park…" She clenched her teeth to keep herself from chattering. "Ioryogi-san was really mad because he'd gotten all snowy," she added softly.

"The dog? You shouldn't be bringing it out with you anymore, not in this weather. It'll get ruined, idiot. And what kind of dumba—"

"He'll get ruined?" she shrieked, grabbing the blue stuffed toy from her bag and examining it. From what Fujimoto could see, it was drenched. "Oh no! Fujimoto-kun, what should I do?" she pleaded, just about on the brink of tears.

Sighing, he snatched the toy from her. Cursing Sayaka for having other plans for the first part of the day and leaving him to deal with this crap, he stomped towards the bathroom, Kobato fretting after him. Once there, he yanked open the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a blow dryer. He ordered Kobato to plug it in without electrocuting herself before he placed the toy on the counter and shot hot air at it.

"P-please h-hang onnn, Iory-yogi-sannn," she stuttered determinedly.

At first, he was going to ask why the hell she had developed a speech impediment all of a sudden. That was before he saw her shivering. Damn it. How could he not have noticed how cold she was? Grunting, he grabbed a towel from the rack and tossed it in her general direction. "Dry yourself off. Knowing you, you'll wind up catching pneumonia or something." He purposefully kept his eyes on the stupid toy as he spoke and only glanced at her after he had finished.

That was a big mistake. She was doing that thing again; smiling like he'd given her the world instead of a scratchy old towel. Why did she have to make every little act of kindness towards her such a big deal? After all she did crap (way more crazy crap at that) like that all the time. Should it be such a surprise that people would be nice to her? He felt his cheeks heating up, so he responded in the way that came naturally to him. "Well? Go to the playroom, start a fire in the fireplace, and start drying yourself off."

"R-Right!" She spun around and raced out so quickly she clipped her shoulder on the doorframe, which nearly caused her to lose her balance and fall.

Fujimoto realized he'd made a grave mistake. "Never mind, I'll start the fire once I'm out! Don't touch a thing!"


Ioryogi officially hated New Years.

Well, technically it was New Years Eve. But that didn't change the fact that nothing about the holiday was good news.

It was still early in the day, and he'd been through hell. He'd been having pleasant dreams about the baumkuchen he would surely receive as a present when Dobato had woken with a start and flung him into the opposite wall. Then she'd been so worried about getting to Yomogi on time that she'd hardly apologized about it. The klutz, being in such a rush, just had to go through the park and ended up falling on her face. Of course he scolded her; she didn't even bother to check if the bottle was fine or not! Luckily enough for her, he'd been smart enough to grab it and cushion it's fall. Meanwhile, he was soaking wet and cold. And she was going to leave him like that. Which was perfect. Just perfect.

At least there was one sane person in the human world. Sure, that Fujimoto guy was a jerk, but at least he was smart enough to know that you don't leave a plush toy dripping with snow. He was nearly dry by now, though he was certainly enjoying being treated well for once.

There was another reason he wasn't so pleased with the holiday (though it was a great excuse to drink). The start of the new year meant that they were running out of time

But Dobato would always be Dobato, and therefore would ruin any moment of happiness he would ever experience.

"Fujimoto-kun," she called from another room. Along with her voice came the sounds of drawers opening and closing. "Where do we keep the matches?" Ioryogi saw the other guy's face pale suddenly. "Oh, wait… Never mind, I found them!"

"What the—I told you not to touch anything, damn it!" Fujimoto pulled the blow dryer's plug from the socket hastily and grabbed Ioryogi like he was any old children's plaything before he dashed from the room.

Yeah, this New Years was going to suck.


Yeah, sorry this is so short. Originally, this was going to be a oneshot, but due to time restraints and a burning desire to post this story on New Years, this is going to be about two to three chapters. I think it'll still turn out pretty well. For all you Fujibato shippers, I have some adorable moments between our favorite couple coming up! I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and the next chapter should be up within a day or two. Leave me your thoughts and Ioryogi won't set you on fire, 'kay? :)

Once again, I wish you all a Happy New Year! And congrats to all Rabbits, this is your year! Hmm, does... Ginsei count as a rabbit, I wonder?