The leader stood in her room and looked out of her window. It was Christmas Eve, outside snowflakes softly fell towards the ground. The sky was overcast and the snow was just beginning the form a full blanket on the ground. She checked the text message that she had received the day before from Naoto. 'SEE U TOMORROW? Y/N PLZ REPLY ASAP'. Of course as soon as she had received it she had replied with a quick yes. Naoto said she'd be here in the evening but hadn't given her a specific time. In truth the leader was waiting rather eagerly, perhaps a little much so. With Nanoko and Dojima both at the hospital the house had felt rather empty; she had actually be feeling rather lonely not that she'd tell anyone else that of course. She sighed and sadly smiled at the beautiful scene outside, she'd always loved this time of year and she loved snow. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself; she decided that she should probably head downstairs to wait for Naoto. If she knocked on the front door being in her room would make it quite difficult to hear it.
Now that she was downstairs she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. She walked into the kitchen. She inspected the cake that she had baked earlier in the day. It was a fairly simple cake, a small round cake. An appropriate size for two people she thought. It was a traditional vanilla cake that she had mixed peppermint shaving into the batter to give it a more holiday flair. She had topped it with white vanilla frosting and added a dusting of the peppermint shavings. She wasn't sure what flavors Naoto like so she hoped that she liked it. Looking around the kitchen she noticed that she have the proper ingredients to make hot cocoa. She took out a pot and began in heat up a portion of milk on the stovetop. She absentmindedly toyed with her hair as she waited for the milk to heat. Her mind quickly wandered to the blue haired girl scheduled to visit her this evening. She still wasn't entirely sure where their relationship stood; after Naoto had given her the badge she had made in her room almost a month ago things had been a little confusing for the leader. Between Naoto requesting that they not tell or act any different with the rest of the investigation team, and the fact they had absolutely no time alone together given the extreme circumstances around the case over the past month. She added the cocoa and a few other flavors to the milk then stirred the resulting mixture. She pulled it off the heat and turned off the stove. Pouring the drink into two mugs she noticed a bag of marshmallows on top of the fridge. She smiled to herself and added a generous helping to both mugs. After setting both the mugs and cake on a tray that would be easy to carry to her room she finally heard to knock on the door she had been waiting so eagerly for.
She quickly walked over to the door. She stopped for a moment at the mirror in hall, made sure her hair was in place and smooth down her clothes before taking a deep breath and opened the door. On the other side stood Naoto, a light dusting of snowing already on her. "May I come in, Senpai?" For whatever reason seeing Naoto at her door after waiting all day, with a slight redness in her cheeks from the cold caused the greeting she had planned to die in her throat. Finding herself momentarily mute, the leader instead simply took a step out of Naoto's way and waved her in. She closed the door behind the entering figure then turn to watch as Naoto lifted her customary cap off her head to brush the slowly melting ice remnants before placing it back. The leader felt a blush rising to her cheeks as she stared, neither the leader nor the detective were especially tall individuals but the leader held a small advantage normally; now however with Naoto in her winter boots and the leader only clad in socks gave her the unusual experience of looking up at her guest. As Naoto leaned down to remove the advantages footwear the leader took the opportunity to dart her eyes away from the girl and move past the lowered girl into the living room, chiding herself for the foolish way she'd been acting so far. She heard the padded steps of Naoto on the carpet behind her indicating she had finished removing her winter attire. Spinning around to return her attention to the detective with a grin on her face she noticed for the first time that Naoto was carrying a small bag with her, before she could question its contents Naoto spoke up. "C… could we go up to your room, Sensei?"
"Of course," the leader replied before glancing towards the kitchen. "Head up there and make yourself at home. I'm going to grab a couple things and I'll meet you up there." With a polite nod Naoto headed up the stairs towards her room. The leader headed into the kitchen to collect the desert and beverages she had prepared. She added two small plates and the appropriate silverware to the tray and brought it with her upstairs. Entering her room with what she hoped would be a pleasing collection of treats she noted Naoto had taken a seat at the table in the center of her room of the TV side. After shutting the door with her foot the leader made her way to the opposite side of the table before setting her tray down and taking a seat herself.
"Did you make this?" Naoto asked glancing at the spread before her. "And is that peppermint on the cake?"
The leader should have known the astute eye of the detective would be able to pick out the specialty ingredient right away. "Yes, I thought I would add something a little special. I hope you enjoy it." As she spoke she sliced a piece of the cake and placed it along with a fork on one of the plates before handing it to Naoto who was now sporting an excited smile.
"I love peppermint, Sensei. But how did you know?" She looked to her as she accepted the dessert.
The leader let out a light chuckle as she responded. "Call it a lucky guess." Naoto took a small piece of the slice and sampled it. "How is it?" She waited with an eager air as she waited for the appraisal.
"Its… Its amazing." She lingered on the piece she had taken, the leader could tell she was taking care to analyze every detail of the taste she could. The leader felt the heat rising in her cheeks again at the look of pure joy she could see in Naoto expression after finishing the piece. "Would you like some, Senpai?" She raised the plate in offering to the creator of the dish. The leader nodded and leaned forward to accept the offer. To her surprise, instead of handing her the plate as she expected; Naoto instead removed an appropriate portion from the slice and offered her it on the fork. The blush she had been attempting to quell now blossomed in full force as she hesitated. When she saw a pained look flash across Naoto's face she steeled her resolve and accepted the morsel offered to her. She closed her eyes as she processed the flavor that she had created. She hummed in contentment as she finished, happy that it held up to standards she was hoping for. As she refocused on the girl sitting across from her she couldn't help notice the blush on her face and dreamy look in her eyes. She smirked and raised an eyebrow at the detective caught daydreaming. Embarrassment quickly replaced the dreaminess and she averted her gaze and cleared her throat. "U-Um… It's pretty cold outside!" She remarked a little too forcefully to be completely casual. "I-I'm sorry… I guess I'm nervous… because, um, we're the only ones here…" The leader chuckled at Naoto's obvious embarrassment. "That's a… wonderful cake, along with the cocoa. It makes me feel like a kid again." As Naoto continued to speak the leader could hear her slip into the higher voice she had once asked if the leader preferred. "Um, I actually have something for you as well. It was the reason I was late. I had to run back to my apartment to get it before I came here." Naoto handed the leader a small silver and navy blue wrapped box. After accepting the package she carefully begin to remove the covering paper. When the box was uncovered she opened it to reveal a fairly standard looking black digital watch, though knowing Naoto as she did she assumed there was more to it than that. "I customized the watch. It was the normal appearance and functions of a typical digital watch, but..." By this point Naoto had adverted her gaze again, face a bright red. "It can also tell you where I am… It is still a just a toy though so it can only sense up to a few meters. Just so you know my watch has a similar function. It can also tell me where you are." A cute laugh could be heard as she finished her explanation. Naoto appeared to be waiting for the leader's response to her gift, so she decided she'd tease the nervous gift-giver. At least a little bit.
"Are you trying to stalk me?" The detective's gaze snapped up to meet the leader's immediately upon hear the accusation.
"N-No… Definitely not!" Panic clear in her high pitched voice. "I'm not a…" Halfway through her sentence the leader could see a shift in Naoto's demeanor from the panic of a quick moment ago, to a wry smile. "… On second thought maybe I am." A mischievous tone became clear in her words. "I'm always thinking about you. And I always want to be near you." By the time Naoto finished her speech the leader had already put on the watch. It fit her perfectly, as she knew it would. She wouldn't be surprised if Naoto even knew her ring size by now. Naoto noticed that she had attached her gift and smiled with a joy the leader rarely got to see from her.
They continued on with the cake and drinks in a comfortable silence until both had been finished. The leader gathered them on the serving tray and slid the tray out of the way. Just as she was about to restrike up the conversation she noticed a shy look across Naoto's features. She expected that the girl was trying to build up the nerve to say something, so instead of speaking she waited patiently for her to broach whatever subject she was building towards.
"U-Uh… I have something to show you…" She stammered with a cuteness the leader didn't think anyone could match. "I… Um… I… I want you to see me in a school uniform." The leader was quickly confused.
"What do you mean, Naoto? I see you in a uniform all the time."
"… I know you said that you wanted me to speak in whatever voice I preferred, and as I'm sure you've noticed in public I continue to use my other voice. But… with you I… kind of like to speak like this. At least occasionally. By that same logic, if I'm going to talk like this with you I figured I should also dress more like the part. B-Besides, my normal clothes don't exactly follow the school dress code anyway. Let me go change." With that she picked up the bag that she had been carrying since she arrived and headed out the leader's door. The leader certainly hadn't expected this particular outcome to the evening.
The leader had to wait only a few minutes before the door opened again, abait much more slowly this time. Naoto cautiously reentered and shut the door. She was wearing the full winter version of the Yasogami High girls uniform. She had to even removed her customy hat. "Yakushiji-san prepared it for me…" She stood in the front corner of the room, eyes downcast and hands fidgeting with the bottom hem of her skirt. "I know this is the standard girl's uniform, but don't you think this skirt is a bit short?" She eyes wandered towards the leader for confirmation.
As Naoto questioned the attire the leader rose from her seated position and walked over towards the girl. As Naoto met her gaze the leader let the question hang in the air. Instead of simply voicing her response she reached out to Naoto face and brushed a strand of her dark blue hair back behind her ear. Naoto stared back wide eyed with mouth slightly agape as the leader softly dragged her finger tips across Naoto's jawline back to her chin. "You look amazing." She spoke quietly but earnestly.
"S... Stop Senpai." She turned away from the leader though the agastness in her voice could still be heard. " D... Don't embarrass me like that."
The leader let out a small chuckle in response. "Just telling the truth, Nao-chan."
"I-I'm going to go change back now." Naoto hurried out of the room, chased by the leaders amusement. A few moments later the detective returned, clad in her normal attire. "That was incredibly embarrassing. But I am glad that I showed you, Senpai."
The leader smiled with the self-conscious girl. "So am I, Naoto."
Naoto looked down at her watch. "It is beginning to get quite late, Sensei." She picked her now repacked satchel off the ground. "This evening was quite enjoyable but perhaps noe I should make my leave."
"N-No." The request burst out of the leader before she could even process it.
By the time Naoto had turned back to the leader her head was turned to the floor with eyes closed, she was making little circle in the carpet with her toe. She had slouched down and had her arms wrapped low around herself. It was a completly different projection than any the detective had seen from her. She appeared sad, nervous, insecure even. The detective wasn't entirely sure how to react.
"S...Sorry, it's just with Nanako and Dojima still gone the house seems so... quiet..." The sentence trailed off sadly, concluding with barely a whisper. For a heartbeat silence hung in the air.
"I-I'm sorry, that was unfa..." Before she could finish a sudden closeness surprised her. She opened her eyes to find herself enveloped in Naoto's embrace.
"I'm not going aanywhere." She words souded much more magical to the leaders ears than they had any right to be.
"W-Would you stay the night?"
Naoto leaned back so that her gaze could meet the leaders. "I'm sure I could make up some alibi for where I was for the night." She pulled away momentarily to shut off the light in the room. "However, it is still getting quite late." She leaned into her toes and kissed the leader on the crown of her head. She then swept the leader up in her arms and proceeded to the futon.
Christmas Eve continued…
The watch reads: "Distance: 1 m"