Previously:

"You really are worried about her, aren't you?"

Instead of answering, Kai hung up.

"Well, goodbye!" Miwa said to the phone, then rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself.

Jeez, that guy needs to be more honest with himself, he thought as he closed December's door.

Third Person

December's eyelids shot wide open as she quickly rose from her bed, her head pounding and her breathing heavily. She found herself back in her room.

God, that was horrible. I thought- well, of course, they're not going to disappear for good...

She put her hand to her head, her other arm supported her body as she sat up. Her head was in too much pain to recall much. Then she saw sudden movement by her open door.

"Ahhh!"

"Gah!" Miwa jumped, startled by December's scream.

"Oh god Miwa, you really need to stop doing that." She sighed, putting her hand to her chest as she caught her breath.

"Gee, even when you're incapacitated you still manage to give me a heart attack." He walked over to her. "How're ya feeling?"

She sighed. "I'm fine, I guess. But I would be lying if I said my head didn't hurt."

"Well, that tends to happen when you don't sleep," he said jokingly.

"Well, no shit Sherlock."

Miwa tensed up for a moment. December realized what she had said and looked away. "Sorry, I-."

"Hey, no worries, I get it." Miwa played it off jokingly.

There was a bit of silence before she spoke again.

"How long was I out for?"

Miwa checked his phone. "About a day and a half, I think?"

"What?!"

Miwa showed her the date on his phone. Technically, he was right, but she didn't have the heart to tell him that she'd only really fallen asleep an hour ago. She had constantly been in and out of sleep, and the exhaustion finally caught up with her again. If only it weren't for that dream, she'd be sleeping soundly.

"But don't worry. Tamika was able to get all your homework to me, so you won't miss too much. She also found your deck, turns out you left it in class."

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about." Then she looked down to her lap. Miwa looked at her. She was withdrawing herself again, something she never used to do. It was starting to worry him, but this definitely wasn't the right time to ask.

"Well, a lot of people were certainly asking about you. Aichi, Misaki, even a few girls from your class asked about you."

She looked up in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Kai too." He side-eyed her, looking for her reaction.

"Really now, TK?"

"Yeah. He called a couple times to see if you were okay, which is strange because that guy never calls me, about literally anything! I think he was really worried about you." He smiled cheekily.

December blushed a little, crossing her arms and looking away. "Well, if he's trying to make up for being so rude he's going to have to do more than making a few calls." But secretly she was kind of glad.

Miwa shook his head and laughed. "Anyways, considering you've been out for the past 30 something hours, you must be pretty hungry."

Right on cue, December's stomach growled. She looked embarrassed as Miwa chuckled.

"So, you can decide what we have. Anything you want!"

She thought for a minute, pondering all the possibilities. "Well, I guess... Shepherd's pie? ...With thick beef gravy and lots of meat, and potatoes and onions?" Just thinking about it made her drool.

"Sure thing- wait, you like onion?"

She looked at him, unsure of his question. "Yeah, what about it? Something wrong with onions?"

This made Miwa chuckle again. "Nothing, nothing. Alright, I'll start cooking right now." He got up and headed to her door.

As he left, she got out from under her sheets and realized she was still wearing her school uniform. The musty scent of sleep and the days wear before began to make itself present on her and her clothes

Lovely. I should probably change. And have a shower.

After showering, she went into the drawer she had organized a while back and picked out a white and green striped polo and tan cargo capris. She also dried and brushed out her hair and let it fall onto her back in a low ponytail before getting dressed. Smoothing out her shirt, she headed downstairs.


A few hours passed, December lying on the couch watching a game show marathon while Miwa was cooking and prepping for dinner. She had offered to help, but Miwa insisted on taking care of everything and letting her rest some more.

"Alright, now it just needs to bake for a bit longer, and then we can chow down! Now I just gotta check on the-"

Then they heard the doorbell. "Deca can you get that?"

"Yeah yeah." She slowly got up and walked to the door.

Maybe Tsushima's here to check on me again.

She opened the door. She blinked.

"Kai?"

Kai was standing at the door. He was wearing a slightly fitted grey long sleeved v-neck shirt and dark jeans. She hadn't seen Kai wear anything else but his school uniform and the clothes he wore back in elementary school.

Wow, he looks kinda hot. Wait, what the hell?

"Oh hey, you made it!" Miwa came to the door, startling her.

"Y-you knew he was coming?"

"Well yeah, I invited him."

She looked back at Kai.

"I had nothing better to do," he retorted, crossing his arms and looking away.

Both Miwa and December sweatdropped.

"That's Kai for ya," Miwa laughed awkwardly.

After Kai stepped in they all sat down on the couch, and Miwa began a conversation about something like he usually did. Kai just listened and kept quiet, like he usually did. December also stayed quiet. She kept taking quick peeks at Kai when he wasn't looking. He looked so... Different. But she liked it. Of course, she would never admit that out loud; admitting it in her head was bad enough.

15 minutes later, the timer rang.

"It should be about done. I'm gonna go check." Miwa got up and headed to the kitchen, leaving Kai and December alone. She didn't know what to do. If it were 6 years ago, they'd probably be talking and laughing and having so much fun by now. But she couldn't see that happening as they were now. She sighed, thinking about the past. She had told herself before that she needed to focus on the future, but that didn't stop her from going back every now and then.

"I didn't expect to see you." Kai broke the silence.

She turned her head slightly. Kai was looking straight ahead.

"From what I heard from Miwa, you were pretty much dead."

"I see."

"And that you snore like a lawnmower."

Embarrassed, she looked the other way. "Well then. I'm sorry I sound like gardening equipment when I'm unconscious."

The silence set in between them. December kept thinking about her aforementioned "lawnmower snore". She wasn't that bad...was she?

"...I guess it's good that you're awake."

Hearing this, she turned to him, surprised. He closed his eyes and turned away, annoyed and a bit embarrassed.

"I hope you guys are hungry!"

He set down three bowls and a salt and pepper shaker then brought in a ceramic pot and served them. Miwa grinned.

"Hey Kai, you're not the only one who likes onion." Then he chuckled.

Is that why he got all excited earlier? Whatever, just because we like the same food doesn't make him any less obnoxious.

The food smelled delicious, and she was so hungry. She took a mouthful. It was delicious, but it needed a little more salt. She reached for the salt shaker, but her hand bumped into another. She traced the hand back to its owner and found Kai looking back at her. Their faces were so close. December moved back, while Kai looked away. Then he pushed the salt shaker over to her, still not making eye contact.

"Take it."

"Why? You got to it first."

The two of them wouldn't budge. Meanwhile, Miwa tried to hold back laughter the whole time.

Man, if they knew I planned this, they'd kill me.

Miwa's POV (2 hours before)

I was heading downstairs to start dinner when my phone started to vibrate. It was Kai, once again.

"Surprise, surprise. I would never have guessed it was you," I chuckled.

Kai sighed.

"Look, why don't you just come over to see her if you're so worried. Tamika came over today."

Kai said nothing.

I exhaled loudly. Then, I got an idea. "How about you come over to my place for dinner tonight, then you can just "check up" on her while you're here. How's that sound?"

Kai still said nothing.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," I chuckled again. "See ya."

I hung up.

This was too perfect! I laughed giddily, running to the kitchen. Taishi Miwa, armature matchmaker!

I got out an onion and began chopping.


(Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight! Vanguard or its characters. All I own are my OCs. Credit goes to Bushiroad)