Sasuke walked into her AP English classroom. Yukio was already there, reading a book. He looked up when she entered and smiled. The smile made her blush a little. Over the past couple weeks, since after the dance, Sasuke fell harder and harder for Yukio. She even bought him a present this Christmas, which was in about a week.

"Hey Sasuke," Yukio said as she took her seat in front of him.

She turned around and greeted him.

"Did you finish the homework last night?" he asked.

"Yeah," she responded. Then she rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Took me until two in the morning, though. Miki's not happy about that."

Yukio laughed, the sound melting her insides. "Well, at least you got it done, right?"

Sasuke nodded. Then she took a deep breath and asked him, "You doing anything after school before cram starts?"

Yukio seemed to think about this for a moment, then shook his head. "No actually. Why?"

"I-I...I was thinking...maybe we could...take a walk on the beach." Her mouth suddenly went dry.

Yukio's smile widened. "Yeah, sure."

Sasuke was filled with butterflies throughout her whole body.

After school, Yukio met with Sasuke outside in the courtyard. She was still very excited and jittery.

"You ready to go?" he asked her with his signature smile.

Sasuke's heart jumped to her throat, rendering her speechless, so she just nodded.

They walked out to the water's edge, talking about school and homework assignments to start with. The conversation drifted to roommate/brother complaints, then Yukio started sharing stories of their childhood. Sasuke listened with genuine intrigue.

Once they hit a lull in conversation, Sasuke cleared her throat. "I-I have a gift for you," she said, reaching into her bag and grabbing the small box and card. She handed it to her, then told him she had to go home to change and she'd see him in cram.

Yukio thanked her as she walked away, and she rushed home before her legs turned to jelly and failed her.

Yukio stared at the gift in his hands for a few seconds as he sat in his room. He hadn't opened it yet. Rin walked in and looked at him. "Whatcha got there?" he asked.

"It's a present from Sasuke," Yukio replied.

"Look at that, another admirer."

"I doubt that's why she got me the gift." Yukio smiled and picked it up. It was a relatively small box wrapped in white and red striped wrapping paper. It was even tied off with a silver ribbon. In one corner of the box there was a tag that read "To Yukio. From Sasuke."

"You gonna open the thing, or what?" Rin sat down on the bed opposite Yukio, and eager smile on his face.

Yukio sighed. "Alright, alright." He untied the ribbon and unwrapped the gift to find a box. There was no label on it, but it was sealed with packing tape. When Yukio opened the box, he withdrew a black scarf and gloves, both handmade.

"Oh nice," Rin said, his grin widening. "A gift of more sentimental value."

Yukio wrapped the scarf around his neck, admiring how comfortable it was. He slipped the gloves on, grinning at the craftsmanship. "This is very nice," he said aloud.

Rin opened the card lying next to the box and read the front out loud. "'To someone very special...'" He started to open it, but Yukio snatched it from him.

"Shouldn't you be working on homework, Rin?" Yukio asked. "Or studying? You have a cram test today."

Rin groaned, but Yukio ignored him and looked at the card. On the front there was a large, red ornament on a beautiful white background. The words on the front were written in fancy handwriting font. He opened the card. The words on the inside read "Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart." Sasuke had written something below that.

"Dear Yukio,

I have a little confession to make. I really like you, and not just as a friend. Ever since I met you, I thought you were very special. I just couldn't tell you in person, because every time I see you I get tongue-tied. I think you're very handsome, Yukio. I would really like it if you and I could spend more time together.

Yukio...will you be my boyfriend?

From,

Sasuke Takima"

She signed a heart next to her name at the bottom.

Yukio stared at the card for several seconds. She...She was asking him out? He wasn't too surprised, he gets asked that almost every day, but this one...Sasuke...her request was different. It struck something in him, made his heart feel lighter almost.

"What did it say?" Rin asked excitedly.

Yukio turned around. Rin was indeed trying to study for the test, but his curiosity must have finally gotten the best of him.

"None of your business," Yukio said, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Yukio!" he begged. "Please tell me? I won't bother you again all day, I promise!"

It was at moments like these that Yukio felt like the older brother. He sighed and pushed his glasses up further on the bridge of his nose. "You promise?"

Rin nodded eagerly.

Yukio read the note aloud to Rin. When he finished, Rin's jaw was practically hanging off of his face.

"Oh my God, Yukio," Rin said. "How many girls are gonna ask you out?"

Yukio chuckled. "While I agree with you, something about this feels...different."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "You think you might like her back?" he asked.

Yukio paused to think before answering. "I...Actually, I think I might."

Rin laughed. "So what are you gonna tell her, little bro?"

Yukio looked down at the card again, a small smile on his face. It widened when he looked at the little heart next to her signature.

"I'm not going to tell her anything," he said, standing up. "But I am going to do a little shopping."

Sasuke was nervous as she walked into the cram school classroom. When she did, she saw three little boxes on her desk. They all were varying sizes, and wrapped differently. Yukio was already in class, but it looked like he was letting the students open gifts before starting class.

When Yukio and Sasuke locked eyes, she blushed deep red. He was wearing her scarf and gloves. At least he wanted to wear them. I was worried the gloves would be too small, she thought. But they seemed to fit his hands just fine.

Sasuke took her seat. She picked up the first box, the smallest one there. The tag read "To Miss Takima. From Shiemi Moriyama."

Sasuke grinned and tore open the wrapping paper. Inside was a small felt box. When she opened it, she found a handcrafted bracelet made of wooden beads. The beads were painted beautifully, with bright colors and intricate patterns. Shiemi must have worked very hard on this.

Sasuke lifted her head to see Shiemi looking at her, wondering if she liked the gift. To answer her question, Sasuke took the bracelet out of the box and put it around her wrist. She really did like it. It was a great gift.

Shiemi's eyes brightened at the sight. She beamed so wide, her face could split in two. Sasuke grinned back. She loved seeing Shiemi Moriyama smile. It brightened everyone's day.

Smiling, Sasuke moved on to the next present, the biggest one. This one was from Bon, Shima, and Konekomaru. She looked towards the boys, an eyebrow raised. Shima pointed at Sasuke, and the other two turned to look. Konekomaru gave her a thumbs-up, Shima winked, and Bon just shrugged.

She opened the gift to find a large sweater and a card. She opened the card first. The front of it was plain red, with the words "Merry Christmas to a good friend" written in lovely handwriting. When she opened it, the inside was blank of fancy writing, but instead had three signatures in it.

"Sasuke,

We found this sweater for you because we think it's the gifts that last longer that one can treasure the best. Shima wanted to get you an expensive gift. Forgive us if it looks too cheap.

Ryuji Suguro"

She smiled and took a look at the sweater, lifting it up to get a better look at it. It looked very comfortable, and the color was very nice. Dark blue. There were no designs on it, no writing, no patterns. But all the same, it looked great.

Turning back to the card, she read the other two notes.

"Hey Sasuke!

I know we don't talk much, but if you give me a call sometime, maybe we can change that!

Hope to hear from you!

Shima"

And underneath that one was a phone number. Sasuke rolled her eyes and moved on to the last one.

"Dear Sasuke,

I really hope you like this gift. We all are pretty excited to see a new exorcist in training here. Think of this as a "Welcome to the family" gift. Because that's what we are. We're practically a family, because we protect each other and treat each other as fairly as possible.

Konekomaru Miwa"

Sasuke felt a bubble of happiness expand in her. A family? That sounds wonderful.

She looked at the boys again and grinned widely. She mouthed "Thank you" to them. Shima gave her another wink, Konekomaru smiled gratefully, and even Bon smiled a little.

She turned her attention to the last present on her desk. She looked at the tag, then blushed. "This one's from Yukio," she whispered.

She slowly opened it. Inside was a felt box, similar to the one Shiemi's gift came in. She opened that to see a silver necklace with a heart pendant. On the front of the pendant the word "Love" was engraved. She turned it over, and her heart jumped into her throat.

Engraved on the back were two sets of initials. ST and YO.

She slowly looked up at Yukio. He was smiling at her. She smiled back shyly.

"Alright, class," Yukio called, not taking his eyes off her. "Please clean up your gifts and get ready for the test."

Once the last test was handed in and class was dismissed, Sasuke gathered her things. She put the sweater on, smiling at how comfortable it really was, and thanked the boys again. She hugged Shiemi, telling her how much she loved the bracelet, and promising to wear it every day.

"Miss Takima, could you stay behind, please?" Yukio asked.

She caught Rin's eye as he walked out, and he winked.

Once everyone left, Sasuke cleared her throat. "So...um...I-I see you considered m-my request," she stammered.

Yukio nodded. "I did. And as you could probably already tell, I accept."

She grinned, feeling the felt box containing the pendant in her pocket.

"Sasuke, out of all the times girls ask me out, yours was...special to me somehow." Yukio walked around to the front of his desk and leaned against it. "I never realized it before, how much I liked you. I guess I'm kind of ignorant when it comes to dating and love, but something about your proposal felt right."

She nodded as he spoke, listening to every word carefully.

"Since I met you, I thought there was something special about you," he continued. "I wanted to keep an eye on you, to keep you close. I felt my heart break when I saw you upset that day when people started picking on you."

She blushed. "I didn't know you thought of me that way."

"I didn't know what exactly I was feeling. But now I understand that I did, indeed, have a crush on you." He stood up straight and took her hand in his. Sasuke froze, a little overwhelmed by the sudden contact.

"Y-Yukio-" she started.

"Sasuke, I would like to be with you. I really would. And I want that pendant to be reminder of this promise: I promise to take care of you, to treat you with more respect than anyone, to be there when you need me, and when you don't, and most importantly, to love you until the end of us, or the end of time. Whichever comes first."

Sasuke was in tears. She felt like she was dreaming, but feeling her hand in his made her sure it was real. "Yukio..." she whispered, then embraced him. "Thank you, Yukio."

He returned her embrace, then released her and sent her home.

When she got back to her apartment, Miki was still awake. She took one look at Sasuke and gasped.

"Oh. My. God. He accepted, didn't he?" she squealed.

Sasuke, still grinning somewhat stupidly, took the felt box out of her pocket and handed it to Miki. When she opened it, she almost screamed.

"Sasuke, it's beautiful!"

"Look on the back," Sasuke giggled.

Miki turned it over and looked at Sasuke, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Oh Sasuke. That is the sweetest thing ever!"

Sasuke flopped down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and sighing dreamily. "It was all so...so wonderful," she said.

"You have to tell me everything! Every. Last. Detail."

Sasuke, not wanting to refuse Miki, complied. When she was finished, Miki was crying happily.

"Sasuke, that was the most beautiful story I have ever heard."

"I'm exhausted, Miki. We can talk about this more tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah. You get some beauty sleep, girlie. Night."

"Goodnight, Miki."

As Sasuke rolled over, she thought about Yukio. The memory of how he embraced her brought her such warmth and comfort. Keeping that thought fresh in her head, she fell asleep, still smiling away.