Astraea Hill was white. A blizzard had descended upon the campus covering it in a blanket of fluffy white snow. The outlying area had not been so lucky. Before the pure white snow came a mixture of sleet and freezing rain, effectively crippling outside travel. This storm had come after most of the girls had left campus to go home for the winter holidays. There were only a few girls who stayed on campus. Many students had rides to come pick them up and take them off of campus. Naturally, some were on time and some were late. The vehicles of those who were tardy to pickup their relatives and friends found it impossible to make it to campus with the sudden influx of heavy sleeting. And among the unlucky few who were still on campus, Yaya and Hikari were going to be spending more time together, now on a relatively abandoned campus.

Yaya was on her way back to her room with mixed feelings. She had also been unable to procure transporation off campus. The upsetting part for her was that she had been avoiding her roommate who, let's face it, she was in love with. One part of her was frustrated that she couldn't go home for the holidays. The other part of her was frustrated that she was going to likely be spending lots of time around the girl she was avoiding. And yet a part of her was happy to be able to spend time with Hikari and no one else. She walked through the building with a large dufflebag

"Hello Yaya-chan." Hikari turned and smiled, standing in her room with both hands clasped behind her back.

"Hi Hikari." Yaya smiled back apprehensively. She felt very nervous at having to stay with Hikari. She had made plans to go away to Amane's home over the holidays and was naturally upset about it. This thought made the irrational part of Yaya's brain turn on. Stop acting to cute and looking so gorgeous dammit. It's alright. It's just the two of us. In close proximity. Is she going to ask me why we haven't spent as much time together? Has she figured out I was actively avoiding her? Was it stupid of me to get her a gift? Of course it was.

"Well, I guess with the weather the way it is, neither of us is going home, are we?"

"Yeah, I guess not." Yaya replied nervously. Her lack of eye contact caught Hikari's attention.

"Yaya-chan, um, did I do something wrong? I mean, I feel like you've been avoiding me lately. What's wrong?"

"N-nothing Hikari." Dammit, I gotta distract her or something. "H-hey Hikari. I got you something. Yaya reached toward her dufflebag but Hikari grabbed her other wrist softly. Yaya looked apprehensively at Hikari's hand.

"Please tell me, Yaya-chan." Yaya looked sheepishly at the blonde with a sad expression in her eyes. "Yaya-chan, whatever it is, you can tell me."

"I-its because…because…" She looked toward the object of her affection. The look of yearning in the blonde's eyes was too much for her, rendering her mind blank of any excuses she had. So she did the craziest thing she could think of and told the truth.

"I love you. I love you Hikari." The blonde was taken aback and stiffened noticeably. Yaya tensed up and turned a pale shade of red. Trying to ignore what happened and do anything to distract her from looking at Hikari, Yaya reached to unzip her duffle bag while Hikari was seemingly stunned. She unzipped it and pulled out a small potted plant. She looked out the window and watched the snow come down more heavily now.

"U-um, I got you this." She handed the plant to the shocked blonde. She turned out of her stupor and received the small pot with her hands. She looked down at the bright red leaves and raised her eyebrows in awe. "It's called a poinsettia. They are popular in America during Christmas it seems. I was going to, um, get you something to say sorry…for you know. And since I can't get off campus to buy you what I wanted, I managed to work my wordplay magic and get you this from a woman who works here in exchange for shoveling most of the campus and stuff later." She began to get very hot at the thought of Hikari not saying anything. "M-merry Christmas Hikari-chan."

The blonde was taken aback yet again by what Yaya said. She said she loves me? And…she agreed to shovel the entire campus just to get me a gift? The confession didn't come as a complete surprise to the girl. She had loved Yaya as well, but more as friends, and wasn't sure if what she meant was friendly or not. It definitely sounded like she cares about me more than any run of the mill friend might. Rather than make her back away, the sentiment made Hikari happy.

Hikari smiled sweetly. "Thank you. You're sweet Yaya-chan. I'm happy that you care about me so much. I'm glad you're my best friend. I couldn't ask for a better one." Those words cut Yaya to the core. The brunette smiled and her eyes immediately teared up. Ya know what? That's more than I could want anyway.

"You're welcome." Yaya stood there still unaccepting of reality and the Pandora's box she worried she may had opened by confessing to a roommate who is interested in someone else. Hikari looked at Yaya's face carefully. Yaya looked sick and it clicked in her head. Yaya was IN love with her. Her first thought was to pull back completely. This is going to make things awful for us living together. She looked down at the vivid red leaves and rather than say something to get the raven-haired girl to back off, her mind had another thought: The thought that Yaya was in love with her and probably had been for a while. She gave the girl some space out of courtesy. She knew that Hikari cared for someone else. She never would have confessed on her own. As a friend, Yaya really was a great best friend. And that thought made her very happy. The girl was left with one more thought of what she could possibly get Yaya for a Christmas gift when they were stuck on a frozen school campus with no transportation. And then it hit her.

Before Yaya was able to freak out about what to tell Hikari, her thoughts were cut short. Hikari leaned forward and kissed Yaya. She had intended to kiss her on the cheek but the brunette got flustered and moved, helping her land that kiss right on her lips. It only lasted a fraction of a second, but for Yaya that tiny kiss sent a spark right up her spine, elevated her body temperature and sent her heartrate into overdrive.

"Merry Christmas Yaya-chan." The blonde smiled. Yaya looked shocked and happy at the same time. Actually she was closer to paralyzed with happiness. Hikari giggled, leaned forward and hugged the girl. "Thank you for the poinsettia. It's pretty. And I'm sorry that was all I could give you for Christmas."

"That…was the best present I ever got Hikari." Yaya smiled. She calmed down and was happy. Yaya realized that no matter what, the two would be friends. And in Yaya's eyes right now, that was exactly what she wanted. I can't believe Hikari kissed me! That was incredible! The power went out just then, turning off the sound of the air conditioning and the lamp. The room was still lit by the afternoon light that did make it through the clouds, reflecting off of the still falling snow and illuminating their room in a white glow.

"Oh crap, did the heat turn off?"

"I think they have some sort of emergency heating system."

"I sure hope so, or we're going to freeze! We better sleep together tonight, Hikari." As soon as those words left Yaya's mouth she regretted them. "Ah! I didn't mean like that Hikari!" Hikari blushed at the thought. "I mean if it doesn't come back soon, or just in case it cuts off in the middle of the night."

"It's…okay Yaya-chan. And yeah I guess we will have to. For warmth."