XX A/N XX

So a while back, I wrote a fic called December (if you're not familiar with it, this two shot might not make sense to you), and hinted numerous times at a sequel to it that would be an AU of Blood Drive. That was over a year ago. The idea isn't dead, I'm just having a hard time planning it and finding a suitable ending. As much as I want, I can't just write 'They punched the midget, went home, and lived happily ever after.' There's so many other characters and outside factors that it's almost entirely out of the main cast's hands, so I'm hard pressed to make it any different to the actual installment.

Why did I write this then? I just really wanted to write more fluff and show the idea isn't dead. The Satomi aspect is the only part of the sequel I ain't having trouble with.

X January 6th 2009 X

"A…sleepover?" Satoshi repeated, unsure and maybe a little flustered by the idea. Across the kitchen table covered in school books and notes, Naomi went a bit red at his answer.

"Yeah, a sleepover." She repeated. "You do know what those are, right?"

"Yeah…I'm just wondering why you're suggesting it." Satoshi answered, honestly surprised his girlfriend had suggested something like that out of nowhere. Naomi's face went a deeper shade of red.

"You're an idiot." She mumbled. It wasn't an insult, but more of a good natured jab. The old Naomi had been full of them whenever Satoshi had one of his clumsy or clueless moments, and the old Naomi was slowly but surely returning.

He couldn't be happier about it.

"Eh?" Satoshi sighed.

"I want to spend more time with you and you're wondering why." She sighed. "I just thought it'd be nice to hang out without school between us." She motioned to the materials on the table in front of them. Aside from maybe a break to go out and eat, the past few days had been nothing but studying to help Naomi catch up in school from how far she'd fallen behind, and they only had a few days left before it started again.

"Oh." Satoshi realized. It really hadn't mattered to him; just being with her was enough. But it was easy to see how stressed and bored she became going over the material. "I guess it would be."

"Mhm." Naomi nodded, smiling now that he got it. "Plus, you've been over to my house so much. I want to visit yours sometime and meet your mom."

That particular idea made Satoshi sweat a little. Most days, he'd head over to Naomi's house or they'd go somewhere nearby as a matter of practicality; Naomi still hadn't completely physically recovered and Satoshi didn't want to risk anything. But if he was honest with himself, maybe he was a little embarrassed about his parents and fearful of what they'd do if he brought a girl to the house.

"I wouldn't mind seeing Yuka again, either." Satoshi's little sister had come with him to see Naomi a few times, but had stopped when she realized the older teens spent nearly the whole time on school work. "I know she'd like it if I came over."

"Yeah… I guess she would." He admitted, knowing that it really would be good for Yuka if she had another person who knew what she'd gone through to spend time with. It wasn't that Satoshi wasn't already there for his sister, but given the…'personal' nature of her own scars, it was probably better that she had another girl as company in her healing.

"So?" She asked.

"What?"

"Yes or no?" She clarified.

"Yes or…" Satoshi rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not sure we could do something like that, Naomi." He admitted. "Our parents would kind of have to agree on it." He was sure that was impossible. He was amazed Naomi's mother even let him come over to the house since she had to work so it was always just Naomi and him there alone, but even the leeway she was giving him because he was helping her daughter heal wouldn't go that far, he was sure. His own parents… He honestly had no idea, but asking them something like that seemed akin to a nightmare.

"My mom will agree." Naomi stated with certainty. "I already asked her about it."

"You…did?" Satoshi asked, dumbfounded. "She did?"

"…She did." Naomi confirmed. Her face took on a red tint, and it looked like she was trying to keep her head up. "So you just have to ask your parents."

"Uhh…" The nightmare analogy came back to him. "I guess I could…" It was not something he looked forward to. But if Naomi wanted it…well, why not? It would be nice to spend more time together. "Okay, I'll ask them." He promised. Naomi smiled, a smile beautiful enough to make him blush.

"Thanks, Satoshi."

Later that evening though, the fact that saying and doing are two very different things came crashing down. How did one, a teenage boy especially, phrase the question "Can my girlfriend stay overnight?" without sounding suspect? Even though such a thing was very far from his mind (honesty, it was), his parents didn't know that, so he had to phrase it in a different way. After a lot of thought though, Satoshi realized they wasn't any way.

So he cheated.

"A sleepover?" Yuka asked, eyes already lighting up in excitement.

"Yeah, she wants to spend the night here." Satoshi explained. If Yuka asked it for it instead, it wouldn't sound as suspicious. Plus, since Yuka was spoiled, it increased the chances of getting a yes answer. "She could sleep in your room and you guys could stay up all night talking."

"Okay!" Yuka agreed quickly before the light dimmed from her eyes and a embarrassed flush came over her face. "Uhh…Does it have to be in my room?" She asked, hand grasping at the front of the skirt she was wearing.

"Huh? Oh…" Satoshi realized what her sudden reluctance was about. Naomi didn't actually know of the problem Yuka had developed since they got back. Dealing with it during the night was something Yuka had so far been unsuccessful in. "It'll be fine, Yuka. You know Naomi's not a mean person."

"You're right, Big Brother." Yuka nodded, regaining some of her former pep. "Have you asked momma yet?"

"Uh…I was actually hoping you would." Satoshi answered sheepishly. "It might seem weird if I ask."

"Why?" Yuka's innocent little heart was genuinely confused.

"Just…because." Satoshi said vaguely. "If you want Naomi to come over, will you do it?"

"Okay!" Clearly getting to see the other girl again was enough to get her to agree. Satoshi thought he'd been pretty clever. Until Yuka actually asked over dinner.

"Oh right, her mother did call saying she wanted to spend the night." Their mom revealed when Yuka brought it up. "I was waiting for Satoshi to mention it." There was a knowing smirk in her expression as she stared at her son. "But I think it's a nice idea. I really want to meet her."

"So she can stay over?" Yuka asked.

"Of course." Their mother agreed, and just like that it was decided: There would be a sleepover. Satoshi wasn't sure whether to be excited or terrified. He texted Naomi the news that night, and the stage was set for tomorrow.

The first half of the day wasn't all that different from the last few. He went over the Naomi's house and they worked on their school stuff for another few hours. They were a lot quieter though, not talking as much as they usually did. Things wrapped up early as well, with Naomi saying she'd pack her things and her mother would drop her off later that evening.

Sitting at home waiting was excruciating. Part of that was worrying what his mother would say or do once Naomi got here. But, now that he'd thought about it, just having a girl over was something to be nervous about even if there was no…'intentions', so he spent some of the time cleaning his room. He was doing that when the downstairs doorbell rang.

When he headed downstairs, he found four people in the living room: His mom, Naomi's mom, Naomi herself, and Yuka. The two adults were standing near the doorway chatting. The younger girls were greeting each other with a hug.

"Satoshi." Naomi spotted him and went over to give him a hug too, even though they'd seen each other just earlier.

"Naomi." He returned the hug after a moment, a little embarrassed from the fact they're mothers were still in the room. Considering the woman's protective streak, he expected Ms. Nakashima to say something to the two before leaving. But she didn't. She shared a conversation with Satoshi and Yuka's mom none of the teens could here and then she left.

"Satoshi." His mother turned to him as soon as Ms. Nakashima had left. "Aren't you going to get her bag?" Naomi had brought a small overnight bag which she'd set on the couch.

"Oh…Yeah." Satoshi answered, grabbing it and heading upstairs while Naomi gave him an embarrassed smile. It did give him some time to think though about what to do for the evening, since Naomi had said part of her reason for suggesting this was because she wanted to spend more time with Yuka and him.

Unexpectedly, the teens didn't actually spend that much of the evening together.

Naomi's first thirty minutes in the house was spent being led around by Yuka. The youngest Mochida was eager to show her around the house and especially her own room. Satoshi kept to the back, but Naomi seemed genuinely interested as Yuka showed her her stuffed animal collection.

After that, Satoshi's mother got a word in and her and Naomi ended up talking not only through preparation and dinner itself, but even afterwards. His father came home during this time, but other than a brief greeting didn't speak to Naomi.

The first part of it was mostly his mother asking Naomi about herself and how long she'd known Satoshi. Although eventually it got to a point Naomi was sharing how much of a klutz her son could be at school, and before Satoshi knew it they were swapping tales about him either being clumsy or sweet and selfless he could be. Both were equally embarrassing.

The only time the two actually spent together was with Yuka later that night, right before bed after they'd all changed into their pajamas. Even then, it was mostly the girls talking, with Yuka asking Naomi about how she'd been and how her new kitten was. But he really enjoyed just the three of them together.

Satoshi could actually see what Naomi had meant earlier. They'd resolved after last month to try and live their lives as normally as possible. But maybe they'd been trying too hard the past few days to get everything back on track with all the studying.

Once Shinozaki started coming back to school, maybe they should organize for all five of them to do something together. Getting their lives in order was important, but so was being happy. They needed to find more moments like this, good times to enjoy.

But this good time came to an end before too long. They still had a sleep schedule to maintain for when school started back up again, and their parents weren't going to let the three stay up unsupervised. So, after goodnights were exchanged, they three went to lay down. For reasons that were obvious as well as awkward, it was insisted the doors to both Satoshi and Yuka's rooms stay open throughout the night. It didn't bother any of them though, so they tried to get to sleep best they could.

The thing about the night is it left you alone and often awake with your thoughts. And when there was nothing to distract you, you inevitably started to think of the bad. And no matter how much things were improving in their lives, there was still plenty of bad to think about. One particular thought kept coming to Satoshi every night.

Shinozaki would be out of the hospital very soon, and after that what happened was anyone's guess. She just couldn't resist looking into what had happened, but as her friends they were going to stick by her anyway. They were literally going to be looking into a whole new world, full of unknowns and probably some very terrible things. It'd only be the four of them (He'd sworn to himself he'd keep Yuka out of anything dangerous) to deal with whatever happened.

Hopefully it would all turn out for the best. That one positive thought occupied his mind for a good while after he lay down. He kept thinking it, as if doing so would guarantee it.

A sound from Yuka's room made Satoshi freeze for a moment- fearful of the dark. But he relaxed after a moment. It was probably just one of the girls getting up to use the bathroom. Sure enough he heard footsteps and thought nothing more of it. He rested his head again and tried to sleep.

But the footsteps didn't continue out the room and down the hall- they came to a stop right beside his bed. He could sense a presence right behind him, even hear them breathing. His heart hammered in his chest and wondered if he dared look.

His bed creaked and shifted as some weight came down on it, sinking for a moment before coming back up as whatever it was evened itself out over the surface. Satoshi became aware of a source of heat right behind him and realized someone else had just climbed into his bed. He relaxed a little. This wasn't so unfamiliar; Yuka had had the habit for a long time growing up, and even renewed it after they got back from Heavenly Host. But it wasn't Yuka this time. Going by…'something' pressing into his back and making blood go to his face, there was only one possibility.

"…Naomi?" He asked.