A/N: Well, here's chapter one! Tell me what you think Naoto would look like in the skirt. Besides the one that comes with the girls uniform!

It was late that night, a time when most people would be asleep. Not Kanji Tatsumi. He was lying in bed alright, but he was too distracted; too distracted by the calendar that was hanging on the wall across from him.

The date was circled in red pen: December 12th 2012.

Starting tomorrow, there'd be only twelve more days until Christmas Day. He was just now starting to realize that there was so much to do in so little time; so many questions. She was a tough girl to figure out, right from contact. What would she like? How would she react?

But most of all, how will he confess his feelings?

She came across as uninterested in both men and women. There seemed to be only two things on her mind: detective work, feminism, and her own self-concept. Relationships were out of the question. However, she's had her soft moments, but they were very rare.

Then there was Yu. He'd helped her out so much, as he helped him. There was a difference, though. Kanji had come to terms with himself, mostly on his own, with a little help from Yu. Naoto was like "Whatever senpai says goes. He knows best." This may be just a theory, but, hey! You never know.

Before he could think of anything else, Kanji's eyes grew weak. They closed as he rolled onto his side.

He woke up a few hours later and dragged himself out of bed and down the hall. In the den, his mother sat in her armchair, holding a cup of black tea. She was wearing a rumpled green bath robe, her graying black hair tied, sloppily, in a bun, and her glasses sat on her nose at an odd angle. Smiling tiredly, she set her cup down on the coffee table.

"Good mornin', Kanji,"

Still weary, he plopped himself into the chair next to his mother and yawned. "Mornin,"

"Hm, I see someone didn't get enough sleep last night." shook her head, still smiling.

"Meh," Sleep or no sleep, Kanji had too much on his mind to care. Even during the conversation, all he did was gaze at the little Christmas tree on the coffee table; his mother had bought it at Junes. Looking back, that wasn't the best idea, seeing how it made him worry about the situation more and more.

Upon noticing her son's disinterest in what she had to say, Ms. Tatsumi asked him what was wrong. He shrugged her off, as expected, but she wasn't going to give up that easily.

"I keep tellin' you, Ma. Nothin's wrong." Kanji said, still staring at the tree. He was beginning to blush a bit. That's when his mother finally understood.

"Ah, I see. This is about a girl, isn't it?" She cocked her head to one side, her glasses slipping a bit. This was bound to happen at one point, and been prepared. Keep it casual and stay confident, she'd heard.

Kanji grew a deeper red. She knows now. It's best to just let it out slowly, calmly, and…

"It's Naoto! I've had this awkward lil' crush on 'er for so freakin' long! Everythin' about 'er just kills me—but, y'know, in a nice sorta way. Now Christmas is only, what, twelve days away, and I just can't hide it anymore!"

He buried his head in his lap, as if he were about to cry. It's time to ditch the casual exchange antics to the side and soften up, thought.

"Naoto? Is that the little detective you hang out with?"

Kanji's mother had only met Naoto briefly last year, when the Inaba murders were still going on. She just asked about the case a bit and left, apologizing for wasting both of their well earned time. Then, Naoto was considered to be The Detective Prince; in other words, a male. Much to everyone's shock, that it was a girl the whole time. Since the fateful news broadcast, had heard about Naoto from her son, but never did see her again. Who'd have thought she'd steal Kanji away from her like that.

"Yep," Kanji peered at his mother through his fingertips, "Oh, Ma, what 'm I gonna do? I dunno what to get 'er."

Kanji's mother sighed, "Well, I barely know the girl, so don't count on me to be much help."

"I don't care! Just tell me somethin'! To hell if it helps or not." His tone resembled a melodramatic male lead in a romance movie.

"Oh, well, alrightie then."

C'mon now, she thought. Think, what do girls these days like? What do you think she likes? Think. Think. Think!

"Um, how 'bout you get her a new hat? That one she has looks rather…"

"Ma, there's no way I'm doin' that! She's not gonna take it. That hat is like 'er favorite thing in the world or somethin'!"

"Well, sorry, that's all I got."

With that, Kanji left his mother and went back to his room to put some clothes on. So what if his mother wasn't any help? It's still a good idea to go shopping before the crowds build.

Kanji was at Junes, along with what seemed like the entire Inaba population. He'd just bought his mother that necklace she'd been talking about nonstop—so much in fact, his mental image was almost an exact replica of the one on display—and figured it was time to find something for Naoto.

Browsing the stores, Kanji kept thinking about what girls like: something frilly, lacy, or along those lines? Of course, skirts! She'd probably be comfortable wearing one by now. Sure enough, that's when Kanji ended up at the Uniqlo, a pretty popular clothing store amongst the girls, and guys, he knew from school. He, personally, didn't really care, but that didn't mean Naoto wouldn't like a nice skirt to wear out and about.

He found the women's section and browsed the aisles under the giant banner hanging from the ceiling that said 'skirts'. A few girls stared at him with wide eyes as he held the hem of one of the skirts—a wooly brown and white one—and whispered to each other frantically. It's most likely they weren't used to seeing a man in the woman's section, alone at least.

"Now now," Kanji turned to the girls, as gentlemanly as possible, "No need for alarm. I'm just doing this for a very special someone."

After a brief moment of silence, the girls shrugged and walked towards the tops section. It's good to see they aren't staring any more, Kanji thought, smiling inside.

That's when a particular skirt caught his attention. It was stiff, deep blue, and looked like it stopped at the knee. Though far more business-like than Kanji had seen, but it calmed itself with a large silk bow on the side, which was about the size of his palm. Naoto did look rather nice in blue, and it really made those icy gray eyes kinder. This skirt was the one. Only problem: he didn't know her size.

"Kanji?" said a quiet female voice.

It was Yukiko Amagi, the daughter of the local innkeeper. She was wrapped in a fleecy red shall, her hair tied back firmly.

"Oh, Yukiko, thank god you're here!"

"Um, no offense, but what exactly are you doing in the women's section?" Yukiko asked, staring at the skirt he held up.

"That's not important," Kanji blushed slightly, "Now, tell me, what size is Naoto?"

"Rather small, I guess," Yukiko said, trying to accurately visualize the detective's small frame, "Why?"

"For Christmas,"

Upon hearing this, Yukiko snatched the skirt from Kanji's grasp.

"Hey, what gives?" Kanji shouted, as he tried to get the skirt back. Fortunately for Yukiko, she had very good reflexes.

"You can't give her a skirt, Kanji."

Not buying it, Kanji continued to grab the skirt.

"Do you really think she'll take that skirt right away?"

He continued on, and a crowd began to form around the two.

"She's not even comfortable in the girls' uniform. What makes you think she'll wear this?"

Then, just like that, Kanji froze. The crowd remained, cheering him on. He kept still, looking down at his feet. In his mind, he imagined giving Naoto the skirt, keeping what Yukiko said in mind. Would she accept it right away? Would she even bother? How would she look in it? Why does one solution bring about so many questions? No matter, in the end, the skirt remained on the racks, the crowds subsided, realizing nothing was going to happen, and Kanji and Yukiko left Uniqlo together.