Disclaimer: I would if I could, but I can't, so I won't.

A/N: Hey! Sorry for going AWOL on ya! This summer I planned to write a lot and please y'all with my multiple updates, but my younger brother stepped on my laptop and made it so that I was unable to use the keyboard. (Thanks, Cam!)

I did, however, write some chapters the good-ol' fashioned way… pen and paper! And now that I once again have my computer serviceable, (HUZZAH!) I give to you… UPDATES!

Dedicated to: an anonymous review, aptly named "Prompt!" Thank you so much for helping me continue this series!

Enjoy!

You and Me

Chapter 6

Kidnapping is Just a Matter of Perspective

Mamori loved Christmas. It gave her the chance to show those around her just how much she cared. Now, she knew that, in Japan, it was more of a couples' holiday than anything else, but she was a quarter American. Family tradition always dictated that it was a holiday celebration for the Anezaki family, which was why she was determined to treat it as such.

Well, that and the fact that her psychopathic, football obsessed, demon of a boyfriend did not ask her out. (Seriously? After seven months, you would think he would take the initiative for once!)

"Mamori, could you pass the cider, please?" her mother's voice broke through her thoughts, and she smiled gently.

"Of course! Just a second." Mamori stood and found the kettle, passing it gingerly to the elder woman, who grinned gratefully.

"Thank you, honey. It really is so nice for you to be home for school break!"

The brunette laughed. "Honestly, Mom, that is probably the tenth time you've told me that this week alone!" she exclaimed as she settled back into the plush sofa.

Anezaki-san pouted, blowing a bit on her hot beverage. "That doesn't make it any less true! I love having my little girl home with me," she hugged her only child to her, "but it also doesn't mean that you have to spend Christmas here with me. I'm sure some of your friends would love to spend the evening with you!"

Mamori gasped and pulled away. "Mom! That's nonsense! OF COURSE I'll spend it with you!"

Anezaki sighed. What a stubborn, exasperating daughter she had raised! "Well, if something comes up, promise me you'll go have fun!"

"Mom-"

"Promise me!" The woman demanded sternly. A mother-daughter stare-down commenced, ending only when Mamori sighed, relenting. Her mother smirked.

"Alright."

"Say it!"

"I promise," Mamori rolled her eyes. It was well into the night; there was no way anything would come up so late…

"Splendid!" Anezaki-san clapped her hands with an air of finality, reaching to the table beside her to grab the house phone. She rapidly punched in a sequence of numbers. Mamori raised an eyebrow.

"Mom, who are you call-"

"Operation is 'go,' Commander!" her mother reported into the receiver.

"…What?"

The front door burst open, a cackling figure silhouetted in the threshold. Mamori's jaw dropped. Before her stood her psychopathic, football obsessed, demon of a boyfriend regaled in a well-tailored Santa suit, completed with a hat and boots.

"Come on, Manager! You heard your mother!" He cackled, breaking her from her astonished daze.

Mamori turned a bright crimson as she realized she had been tricked. "Mom! What's going on here?"

Anezaki-san smiled serenely as she took a sip of cider. "Oh, can't you tell? You're being kidnapped!"

The daughter jumped to her feet in alarm. "If I'm being kidnapped, why are you so chipper about it?"

Hiruma answered for the woman. "She's an accomplice, Manager! Now get your coat, or I'm going to steal you just as you are!" a mischievous glint shone in his eye, and the brunette did not doubt his words for a moment.

She yelped as she looked down at her current state of dress – a Christmas themed pair of pajama pants and a thin tank top – and hurried upstairs for a more weather- appropriate wardrobe. Soon she reemerged, glaring at her boyfriend. He raised a dark eyebrow in return.

"…You putting on boots, or am I going to have to carry you?"

The young woman did not even dignify him with a response as she laced up her snow boots. "Bye, Mom. I'll get you back for this."

"Have fun, you two!"

"I'll be back soon- what the hell, Yoichi?" she screamed as she was thrown over Hiruma Claus' shoulder as unceremoniously as he would heft a sack of potatoes.

"Kekekeke! Your mom told you I was kidnapping you, didn't she? Goodnight and good work, Cadet Anezaki-san," he called over his shoulder as he departed with his squirming package, somehow managing to close the door behind him.

The pair were still visible through the living room window as they continued to squabble while trying to make it down the front walk. The older Anezaki woman watched as her daughter and (she hoped) her future son-in-law bickered until the blonde dropped the young woman into a princess hold and kissed her full on the mouth.

"Ah," she sighed over her steaming cider, "young love!" The matriarch kissed her palm and blew it to the young couple finally leaving the yard. "Merry Christmas, my dears."

Anezaki-san loved Christmas. It gave her the chance to show those around her just how much she cared.

Please continue to give me prompts! I can't do it without you!

-DML