XX A/N XX

Factoring the cast's parents into the story was probably the second hardest bit, since they aren't mentioned much in the regular series, except for Naomi's mom (I haven't seen a fully translated playthrough of Blood Drive, so I don't know if they appear in it). I just have to guess what they noticed and how they interpreted it. I personally think no one can write any fic about the survivors after Heavenly Host and not include their parents. But that's just me.

X December 7th X

It was a Sunday, the one day of the week they didn't have school. Since all three of them had agreed on the idea, it had been decided have the first planning meeting today. When a meeting place was being decided, Yoshiki had invited both Mochida siblings over. By the end of the day, Satoshi hope they would've decided on a course of action.

Satoshi and Yuka were both wearing clothes suited to the weather: Scarfs, hats, and jackets. It was definitely going to snow next week, and the temperature was already in the right range. The weather never really seemed to matter on those special days, but otherwise it was inconvenient. After Heavenly Host though, the cold seemed to bother them a lot more.

That was part of the reason they decided to cut through the shopping district: it was warm, cheery, and welcoming. And it was a chance for Satoshi to have a quick glance around. He hadn't really been feeling into the time of the year before, but he was in higher spirits now and intended to participate. That meant he'd have to get something for his friends. Yuka had come to expect a present from him every year as well. And of course Satoshi was going to have to give Naomi something for her birthday and on the 24th...if she agreed to go with him that is.

Satoshi just browsed the windows and listened to employees shout about what they still had. Yuka, by comparison, was trying to get a look in every store they passed. Satoshi was having a hard enough time just keeping a hold of her hand in the throng of people without her running ahead, falling back, or going around him to catch quick glimpses. She'd done stuff like that when she was little and their family was out shopping: always saying she was cold or had to use the bathroom just for a chance to go inside the stores and look. Their parents had obliged, of course, and Satoshi still didn't want to go against her now when she was acting like her old self.

Satoshi was content with just looking at the window displays. He could always come by himself another day, although it would probably still be crowded. He hadn't given much thought yet on what to get everyone though. He'd have to get to that soon. He was cutting close by leaving so many things undone by now.

Yoshiki lived in what was regarded as the 'bad' part of town, so Satoshi told Yuka to stay close. But even here there were lights strung up and it looked cheery; This season really did do a lot for people's moods. Satoshi had been here dozens of times before, mostly to make sure his bond friend didn't skip, so he had no difficulty finding it. It was a bit of a run down apartment block, like the kind Ms. Yui had lived in...

"He lives here?" Yuka asked as they approached the buildings, thankfully distracting Satoshi from his thoughts.

"Yeah." Satoshi answered as they started looking for his door. Yoshiki wasn't a bad guy, no matter what anyone said. A bad guy certainly wouldn't have voluntarily gone back to that hellhole to help his friends. He just lived where he could with his circumstances. "Here." Satoshi spotted the door number Yoshiki had given him. They both went up and knocked. A moment later, Yoshiki opened the door.

"Hey." He stood there in a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt. "Come in." He stepped to the side. "I was wondering if you guys would ever find it."

"It was a long walk." Satoshi explained as they both stepped inside.

It wasn't a luxurious apartment by any means; it was definitely old and had seen a high number of inhabitants. But for being owned by a High School student and part-time worker, it was still pretty impressive. The place looked like it had been cleaned pretty recently too. Satoshi didn't think Yoshiki got many visitors, but he'd certainly made the place hospital enough.

"Cold?" Yoshiki wondered as they shrugged off their coats. They both nodded. "I made some hot tea." He motioned to a table he'd set up by the couch with three glasses on it.

"Thank you." Yuka nodded cordially before rushing to grab a seat.

"Thanks." Satoshi nodded. "It's a nice place." He commented.

"Good enough." Yoshiki shrugged. Both took a seat. Like Yuka, Satoshi reached for the tea that had been laid out. Yoshiki chose to jump right to the topic at hand.

"So I was thinking we could all go visit Shinozaki in the hospital." He suggested. "Maybe on Christmas. We can all get her something and leave it there for her when she finally recovers. It'd be a good surprise, right?"

"Huh? Oh, right." Satoshi admittedly hadn't been thinking of what they could do for Shinozaki, since she was stuck in a hospital bed. But he couldn't fault Yoshiki for that; he really did care about her. "Is she awake?" He asked. Yoshiki frowned and sat back with his arms crossed.

"No. They've always had her sedated when I was there. But I think she can still tell if someone if visiting." Yoshiki insisted.

"Oh." Satoshi thought about it and nodded. "Yeah. That does sound like a good idea. We probably shouldn't get her any occult stuff though. But I'm sure there's other things she likes."

"There is." Yoshiki assured him. "She has a thing for manga and anime. And games if you'll believe it. Not just that creepy stuff." He glanced over to a shopping bag they hadn't noticed coming in. It looked rather full. Had Yoshiki already gone shopping early?

"You were thinking about Shinozaki was a while, huh?" Satoshi laughed when Yoshiki's composure cracked. Yuka, who'd been watching and listening up to this point, giggled. It was good to laugh again.

"Eh." Yoshiki averted his gaze. "So what?" He snapped in embarrassment. "Are we doing that or do you got a better idea?" Satoshi thought about it. The idea of seeing Shinoazaki in a hospital- hooked up to machines and covered in bandages and such- made him shudder. But what friends would they be if they ignored her because of that?

"No, I think that'll work, but we might have to discuss the date." Satoshi said. Christmas was an affair normally spent with family. Yoshiki was on good terms with his little sister, but otherwise wasn't obligated to spent Christmas with anyone else, unlike Satoshi and Yuka. Behind him, Yuka nodded in agreement. "I guess we can start looking for things to get her anyway. You should probably check ahead though when they'll let us see her." Yoshiki said he would, and with that they come to an agreement on what to do about Shinozaki.

"So then..." Yoshiki stretched and changed the subject. "What are we going to do about Nakashima? Aside from you asking her out that is."

"Wah?!" Yuka's high pitch squeal made both of them spin around.

"Yuka, what's wrong?!" Satoshi asked quickly, expecting her to have accidentally spilled tea on herself. But her cup was resting on the table. Her face was red and she'd clamped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment. "Yuka?"

"N-nothing!" She said quickly. She looked around at anything but the two of them. "Umm... where's the bathroom?" She asked suddenly.

"Uh, first door on the left." Yoshiki pointed to the apartment's small hallway and Yuka bolted. "Weird." He commented.

"She's still at that age where she's scared of dating, thankfully." Satoshi explained.

"So how about Nakashima?" Yoshiki brought things back to focus. "Her birthday is around this time of year, isn't it?"

"Yeah, the 14th. A week from now." Satoshi answered. "I think that's our best opportunity."

"A surprise party is out of the question." Yoshiki struck that idea down. Surprises were the last thing any of them wanted. "I don't think she'd want to do anything at school either. You know her, what do you think?" Satoshi had been considering that question for the past few days, and he'd come up with a few concerns first.

"We'll probably have to talk to Naomi's mom first...She might be too worried about Naomi going anywhere besides school." Satoshi could still remember seeing Ms. Nakashima speaking to the police and doctors and how worried she'd sounded. Satoshi had a feeling she might've had something to do with the idea of moving Naomi to a mental hospital.

"Probably." Yoshiki agreed. "So your thinking we should all take her somewhere?"

"Yeah." Satoshi nodded. "If she feels like it, of course. But I think it would cheer her up if we all spent some time together again. He haven't been doing that recently..."

"Huh." Yoshiki shrugged as the conversation drifted uncomfortably towards Heavenly Host and what it'd done to them. "Sounds like we got a plan now. I guess you should talk to Nakashima's mom while I check the hospital's visiting policy."

"Right." Satoshi snapped back to the present. They had come up with a plan, even if it'd had a few awkward moments. Things were still getting better. Yuka came back right then, so Satoshi filled her in.

"That sounds fun!" She'd been wanting to see Naomi for a while now, so she wasn't going to say no to the chance too. After that, things kind of stalled. They'd set an outline, but couldn't really do anything till they cleared the roadblocks they'd pointed out.

"I have some food if you guys want lunch." Yoshiki offered after several unsuccessful attempts to start conversation.

"No thanks." Satoshi shook his head; he didn't really want to intrude on his friend's limited income. "Yuka and me should probably just head home and we can pick up later."

"I might as well go visit Shinozaki today and ask." Yoshiki decided as he got up. Their visit had lasted about half an hour.

"Thank you for having us over." Yuka said politely as she and Satoshi stood as well.

"Don't mention it." Yoshiki shrugged. "It's nice to talk to people again." Satoshi heartily agreed with him. All three adorned winter clothes and stepped outside. They bid each other farewell and headed in different directions: the siblings home and Yoshiki towards the city hospital. Satoshi was especially in high spirits now that they'd taken the first step. He was going to remark about how good things were, but Yuka spoke before he did.

"Big Brother, are you really going to ask Naomi out?"

"Yeah." Satoshi admitted, somewhat embarrassed. "I thought it'd be a good way to cheer her up."

"I think it will." Yuka nodded, staring at her feet for a odd moment. Then she looked up, eyes bright and mischievous. "Naomi can finally be my real Big Sister!" She laughed as her older brother sputtered and quickly looked away. He wasn't thinking THAT far ahead. Right now he just wanted to end the year without losing anymore friends. But... He shook the thought away, still embarrassed. Yuka continued to giggle at her accomplishment for several minutes.

"Where does Naomi lived?" After they'd walked about halfway home, Yuka had asked a serious question.

"Not to far from our house." Satoshi told her. They all lived within walking distance of Kisaragi Academy. Satoshi had gone by Naomi's house a few times, but that was it. He'd never been inside.

"You said you were going to ask Naomi's mom. We should do that now." Yuka suggested, and once again made her older brother sputtered. Today? Now? He'd no intention of doing it today. And going to Naomi's house meant... "Naomi might be there." Yuka stated the obvious. For her, that wasn't a big deal; she had wanted to see Naomi for a while. But Satoshi was less willing. If Naomi was so subdued in school, how would she act at home away from the pubic, judging eyes?

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Yuka." Satoshi told her.

"But I want to go noooow!" She whined. At this point, Satoshi could do two things. He could forget his reluctance and go now, or he could crush his little sister's spirit after she'd been happy for so long. Always the considerate pushover, Satoshi ended up going with the first option, if only to avoid making Yuka throw a tantrum. It would probably be better in the long run anyway.

"Which house?" Yuka asked, looking around as they walked through the neighborhood.

"That one." Satoshi pointed ahead and to the right. Yuka craned her neck to look.

"Why isn't it decorated?" The house was bare of lights, the only one on the street.

"They...probably haven't had time." Satoshi skated around the question. Naomi's father had been killed in an accident a long time ago, so Naomi and her mother were the only ones there. Naomi certainly wouldn't do it, and her mom was likely too busy working. "Don't ask them about it." He told Yuka. She seemed to pick up it was something bad and nodded.

Satoshi felt his legs get heavier the closer they got. For the first time, he thought about how to phrase his request. Asking for permission like this would've seemed ridiculous any other time...but circumstances sadly weren't normal still. And suddenly Satoshi realized they were outside Naomi's house.

"Big brother, you're hurting my hand." Yuka complained.

"Huh? Oh, sorry?" Satoshi hadn't released he'd been attempting to ball his fists. He stared reluctantly at the doorbell. If Naomi was here... "Ah!" Yuka had leaned forward and pushed the button herself. No turning back now. He waited anxiously till the door opened and out stepped a woman, the same one they'd seen at the hospital.

It was easy to see where Naomi had gotten her looks from. From a distance, it might've been hard to tell the difference; the hair was so similar. But that was the only similarity. Otherwise, she was taller then Naomi. Both siblings were started when she walked forward. The age on her face showed, but that wasn't what had spooked them. She looked somewhat gaunt, and had dark marks under her eyes like she hadn't slept recently. Satoshi wondered if it was because of Naomi.

"Yes?" She asked, approaching the gate and seeing the two of them. She must not have recognized them then.

"Hello, Ms. Nakashima." Satoshi said awkwardly, wondering if Naomi had ever mentioned them. "Uh...we're Naomi's friends." Yuka waved hello.

"Oh." She seemed surprised, and then slightly embarrassed. "Naomi's not feeling well at the moment and..." He paused for a moment, sounding like she was about to send them off. "I'm sorry." She moved forward and unlocked the gate. "Would you like to come in?" She asked.

"Y-yes, thank you." Satoshi stuttered. It was a quiet little house, much more warming and welcoming then Yoshiki's apartment. "Please, have a seat." She motioned to the couch in the living room. Satoshi sat down, still feeling awkward. Though till holding his hand, Yuka was looking around for any sight of Naomi.

"I'm afraid she's sleeping." Ms. Nakashima spotted Yuka staring. "You're Naomi's friends?" She asked, sitting down in a chair.

"Yep." Yuka finally sat still. "I'm Yuka Mochida, nice to meet you."

"I'm Satoshi, her older brother." Satoshi introduced himself as well.

"Oh, well welcome, both of you." She nodded. She didn't look just tired, she looked flustered now. "I'm afraid Naomi really isn't feeling well right now. She's still recovering from that 'incident'." She paused for a moment. "I'm terribly sorry if I'm being nosy, but are there other more of you? Naomi's friends, I mean." Satoshi suddenly realized why she'd changed her mind outside and why she looked awkward: she was hoping they could tell her something about what was wrong with Naomi. Well, they did have some of the answers, just not all of them were believable.

"Yeah." Satoshi admitted. "A few of us." He realized he had to tread carefully here; saying something that could be proven false wouldn't be good for any of them. He wasn't sure how much Naomi had told her mom about Heavenly Host or their friends either. He had to be VERY careful. Trying to avoid any awkward questions of the sort, he changed the subject. "That's actually why-"

"Who is Seiko?" She cut Satoshi off before he could finish. "None of Naomi's classmates know of this girl, but Naomi insists she exists." Satoshi found himself backed into a wall. It was no wonder Naomi's mom had said she had poor mental health; Naomi really couldn't let Shinohara go. She must've insisted she had existed and that they still had done everything together, even if Shinohara had never existed in his world to anyone else. She couldn't look anything but crazy.

Neither of them answered. Yuka guiltily stared at the floor, giving it away that they DID have something to hide about it. Try as he could, Satoshi couldn't hide the look of depression and fear from appearing on his face. Even if he'd grown into the habit of not referring to his friends, he was sure he wouldn't be able to come right out and say 'they never existed'.

Satoshi regretted coming here. At that moment, he actually regretted this whole plan. He wanted everyone to move on, not confront things head on. Naomi's mother read their faces easy enough. But when she spoke, she sounded desperate rather then angry.

"Please..." She asked. "Please tell me what you know. I have no idea what's affecting her. She use to be so happy... I just want my daughter back. Just tell me, please." She begged. Yuka, probably uncomfortable being stared at so much, buried her face into her brother's side. Satoshi gulped and tried to think of a response that wouldn't hurt anyone and still pass as plausible. If she'd talked to a lot of their classmates, she'd probably check anything he said.

But nothing came to him. He'd been forced into a corner from which there was absolutely no escape. Everything was about to be ruined. No, it's not. That resistant part of Satoshi's mind spoke back up again. He couldn't tell the truth, but he still had to say something to answer her. How could he not, when this woman was willing to interrogate her daughter's friends just because she was so worried about her?

Does Naomi realize so many people are worried for her? He wondered. He finally thought of something to say. It was a gamble of whether or not it would work, but at this point it was the only remaining option: lying.

"Ms. Nakashima... We're really not sure why Naomi is acting like that." Satoshi lied. She hung down her head, sighed, and didn't raise it again. Satoshi tugged at the collar of the winter clothes he was still wearing, starting to sweat from the awkwardness. Yuka came out of hiding and stared pitifully at the sad woman sitting across from them.

"Ms. Nakashima..." Satoshi started again, piecing out his words as he spoke. "We really don't know... But Naomi's our friend...We want her to feel better too... That's why we came over." She finally raised her head and slumped back in her chair, looking far more tired she'd seemed when they first saw her.

"Naomi's really not well." She repeated. "I'm glad she has such supportive friends... But I think at this point only professional care will help her."

"No!" Both Satoshi and Yuka yelled at the same time, startling the woman. If Naomi was in the house, she most certainly would've heard that if she hadn't realized there were guests before.

"Ms. Nakashima, please! That won't help!" Satoshi insisted. At this point, he was so scared that keeping things a secret didn't seem important suddenly. "We can't tell you what happened...But please believe me when I say we're the only ones who understand what Naomi's going through! She needs to stay with us!"

"He's right!" Yuka backed him up. "Don't send her away!" The woman just sat and stared at the two of them before sinking even further into her chair and putting her hand over her eyes.

"I just want my daughter back." Her voice cracked when she said it, but was firm when she started talking again. "Do you really think you can cheer her back up?"

"Yes." Satoshi said without any trace of doubt.

"Then I won't ask." She told them. Satoshi felt immensely relieved at having avoided that. Again, things seemed to be working out well for them. "What do you intend to do?" In an extremely awkward five minute conversation, Satoshi explained how all of them (one whole other person, but they didn't mention that) had talked about doing something for Naomi on her birthday to cheer her up and remind her that she had friends who cared for her.

"She won't." Naomi's mother shook her head near the end. "She never leaves her room and some days she wants to go to school, some days she doesn't." She paused for a moment. "But please...if all of you can still come and talk to her on her birthday, I'd be very grateful."

"O-okay then. We will." Satoshi was surprised at how quickly things had turned around. But it wasn't all that surprising when he really thought about it. This woman had done so much to try and reach Naomi and failed...she was desperate for anything that could work, even if she was in the dark about part of it. "Thank you, Ms. Nakashima. We really want the old Naomi back too."

Five minutes later, she walked back out with them and bid them goodbye. "Thank you." She said, sounding earnest now and looking much less grim. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you." Satoshi scratched his head awkwardly. The interrogation and lying still picked at his mind.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "Our visit probably-"

"Don't." She stopped them. "As long as it helps Naomi, I don't care."

"...Okay." Satoshi nodded. "We'll all come on Naomi's birthday. I promise."

"Thank you." She nodded again. Satoshi was sure it couldn't have been a more awkward departure then if they'd tried, but things again had come for the better. Still, as soon as they were far away enough to where they couldn't see the house, they had to stop and rest on the curb. Satoshi exhaled and rubbed his face with a slightly jittery hand, something he'd done in Heavenly Host after escaping a dangerous situation. That exchange had been nearly just as terrifying, if that was possible.

Too close. He'd skated far too close to revealing what happened. But what choice did he have? Naomi couldn't get sent to a mental hospital. She couldn't! Still... It wasn't good for them things had gotten to this point. He'd have to tread especially careful now. "Naomi..." Did she realize how she sounded? Did she know how many people cared about her? Seeing and hearing Naomi's mother had told Satoshi that Naomi was very, very far from over the situation. He sighed.

Is this still a good idea? He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Good job, Big Brother." Yuka congratulated him. "Now we're really doing something for Naomi! So cheer up!" Seeing her optimism, Satoshi was able to calm down slightly.

"Yeah... We are." He realized. "Sorry Yuka... I just didn't like having to talk to Naomi's mother like that." Yuka flinched a little, like she was still being stared at. "Don't worry, Yuka. Like I said, she's as worried about Naomi as the rest of us. Now we're all working together to help her." Privately, Satoshi wondered how Naomi failed to realize the amount of effort everyone was willing to put forth to help her. She had to be taking this harder then the rest of them combined!

He'd talk to her about that. He was still going to help fix things. And next Sunday was going to be a big step in the right direction.