Hello, minna! Sorry for the long wait yet again. I'm quite busy right now...and I have a few exams going on next week. Wish me luck!

So this is how it had turned out for Azure's and Zazie's first new year together! Enjoy!

CHP 9: Happy New Year!

A knock or more precisely, scratches on Azure's door was heard at the fifteenth bell. Since Hagel was out, the girl was not afraid to open the door. She found Wasiolka with an envelope in her mouth. The girl took the envelope. It was for her to begin with, so she read it.

"An invitation? A New Year's Eve Party?" Azure muttered, glancing up at Wasiolka.

Excallibur turned to Wasiolka and the female panther nodded. The male one shrugged. Azure rushed to put on a blue blouse and a pair of jumpers. She pulled up her long black socks, put on her sneakers and exited the house.

"Since he's not home, we might as well take this opportunity. Come on, Excallibur!" she said as she tied her hair into a pony tail.

The panther sighed. Wasiolka chuckled. They followed the girl to Sylvette's house where Zazie, Connor, Sunny and the other girls were gathered, as stated in the invitation. Liliana was the one who opened the door for her. She grinned to the silver haired and pulled her in. The two panthers trotted into the house. Azure was brought to the living room.

"Look who's here!" Liliana announced.

"How did she get here?" Zazie asked in hoarse voice as he had just woken up.

"Well," Sylvette made an appearance from the kitchen, "I asked Wasiolka to go get her. I mean, you wouldn't go, so..."

Zazie stared at his dingo. The panther huffed and walked to the sofa with Excallibur. Azure followed Sylvette to the kitchen to help out with the cooking. Anise suggested that they play a game to pass the time. They chose Twister and the boys were their targets. The girls would take turn to spin the wheel for them.

"Okay, Lag. Left feet on yellow," Anise said.

Lag put his left feet in a yellow circle.

"My turn! My turn! Zazie, right hand on red," Liliana said.

Zazie groaned. Next was Connor and Selena was the one to spin the wheel. Meanwhile, Azure was busy thinking of a way to change Sylvette's soup recipe. Sylvette was cutting the carrots as she whistled a tune. Azure was cutting the cabbages. Niche barged into the kitchen, rushing up to Azure.

"Niche! We are preparing dinner here!" Sylvette said sternly.

"Niche help Azu!" the Maka blood girl announced.

Azure patted the girl's help and said, "Then, can you cut the veggies for me?"

Niche nodded rapidly. Azure taught her how to use her hair as a knife instead of a sword all the time. She told the girl that she could help Sylvette with cooking soon. Niche nodded once, happy that she was praised by Azure. Sylvette shook her head towards the girls.

"You shouldn't be pampering her, you know," Sylvette said to Azure.

Smiling, Azure replied, "It's okay once in awhile. It can boost her confidence."

"If you say so..." the girl on the wheelchair sighed.

Azure spoke up, "By the way, Sylvette. Why don't we change your soup's recipe a bit?"

"Hmm? What for? Why?" Sylvette shot her with questions.

"Uhhh...well...it is New Year. A little change won't hurt, right?" Azure replied, stuttering.

Sylvette still disagreed. Azure reasoned with her that it was only for that day and that she won't ask anymore after this. Sylvette agreed because Niche kept on bugging that her soup was bad and she wondered why. Niche then rushed to tell the others that Sylvette agreed to change her recipe. The others were relieved. Azure sat with Sylvette as they made the soup together. Soon, it was almost dinner time. That was when Selena pulled the girl with the spirit amber to the living room to see what they did. Azure burst out laughing when she saw the tree boys. They were stuck and could hardly move. Lag's legs were stuck around Connor's arms while Zazie was squished between them with his arms intertwining with Connor's legs. She wondered how they had gotten themselves into such a mess.

"Stop laughing and help us get out of...this!" Zazie shouted angrily.

"Okay, okay," Azure replied.

"I'll serve the soup while you girls do that," Sylvette said, getting a nod from Azure.

Azure went to help the three boys. Niche flipped when she saw Zazie and Connor 'hugging' her Lag. Azure separated Connor from the two as he was the lowest. He fell onto the Twister board, catching his breath. Selena told him that what he did was a good exercise to get rid of his fats. He didn't care at all, staring at the other two on top of him. Next was Zazie. Since his arms were freed, Azure had to hold him as the girls separated his legs which were wrapped around Lag's left arm. When they did, he fell on top of Connor. With that, Lag came crashing on both of them. They rolled onto the floor, off of Connor. The three were catching their breath as the girls stared at them.

"I am not playing it when the girls are around anymore!" Zazie exclaimed, getting an agreement from Lag and Connor.

Liliana interrupted them, "Oh, don't worry! Tonight, we'll be playing Truth or Dare!"

"Well, let's eat dinner first then," Sylvette said with a smile.

The happy faces changed into a frown when they heard that. The girls ate in the living room while the boys ate in the kitchen with the dingoes, including Niche. They could see the change of colour in Sylvette's soup. Instead of light yellow, it was orange. Was Azure successful? Zazie and Lag turned to Connor, signing that he should be the first one to taste it. As he was about to put a spoonful inside his mouth, they heard the girls.

"Whoa! This is way better than before!" Anise exclaimed.

"Yeah! It's much nicer...umm...I guess..." Selena said in disbelief.

"See?" Azure turned to Sylvette.

Sylvette tasted the soup. Her eyes widened as a sign the soup was better that hers. However, she would never accept that fact. She was glad that everyone loved it, even though she would still prefer her old recipe. Once they were done with dinner, the girls decided to take a bath together.

"That is so...creepy," Zazie remarked.

"Why? It's fun once in awhile," Azure replied, a bit ticked off.

"Heh...I guess, for girls," the boy rolled his eyes.

"Zazie, come and help with the dishes!" Lag called form the kitchen.

Sylvette pulled Azure to go with her before the girl burst into anger. The girls went to the bathroom. It was not that spacious, but it could fit the five of them...and Niche. The Maka hated when her hair was shampooed by Sylvette, but the girl on the wheelchair insisted on doing so almost every day.

"Whoa! Azure, your boobs are big!" Liliana exclaimed.

"They're not that big...not as big as Sylvette's..." Azure muttered.

"Then..." Anise popped behind the girl inside the tub, she squished Azure's boobs, "Let me squish'em so they'd get bigger!"

"Wah! S-Stop!" Azure screamed, embarrassed.

"Well, they're bigger than ours, at least," Selena said, getting nods from Liliana and Anise.

Azure's face was tomato red but Anise refused to stop her assault. Azure stood up as an escape and rushed to the shower to wash her soapy body.

"Aww...are you done?" Selena asked.

"Y-Yes!" Azure replied in a stutter.

"I wonder if your boobs are making Zazie fall for you..." Anise remarked.

"What do you mean? He hates me..." the silver haired girl said.

"How can you be so sure? He was worried about you..." Sylvette spoke up.

"How can you tell?" Azure asked.

"Well, he kept on murmuring your name when he was taking a nap after lunch today," Liliana explained.

"Yeah. He kept on apologizing or something..." Anise nodded.

The girls turned to Azure with smirks plastered on their faces. Azure sweat dropped. She didn't know that Zazie was worried about her.

"So, so, what happened between you two during Holy Night?" Anise was first to ask.

"Did he kiss you?" Liliana was second.

"Did you sleep together?" Selena asked after Liliana.

"No! No! No! We didn't do such things! Well...he did save me..." Azure muttered.

The girls screamed with excitement. They showered her with questions about what had happened. Azure didn't have a chance to flee because Liliana was hugging her from behind, Niche was guarding the door and the other girls were right in front of her. She told them how Zazie had saved her from some perverted men.

"Whoa...that is so sweet. He can detect when you're in trouble!" Anise exclaimed.

"I told you he was kind," Sylvette said with a smile.

The girls screamed happily. Azure sighed at their reaction. To her, she was still young and she didn't want to think about love yet. She wanted to get away from her Uncle first. Then, she could think about other things. The girls scooped into Sylvette's room to put on their clothes. Sylvette landed one for Azure since she didn't know that they were going to have a sleepover at Sylvette's. Then, they took turns brushing each other hairs as they listened to Anise and Liliana's complains about their boyfriends.

Meanwhile, Lag and Zazie was taking a bath together after Connor was done. Excalliber joined them. Lag could see how masculine Zazie had grown up to be, with his arms' veins popping and his six packs. He wished he was built up too.

"Zazie...what do you think of Azu-chan?" he suddenly asked.

Zazie raised a brow, asking, "Why so suddenly are you asking about her?"

"Well, you're the closest to her...and I'm interested in her..." Lag explained.

"Oh, I see. I don't know... She's annoying, rude, very tomboyish and somewhat secretive," the raven haired replied.

"I see... I think I'm falling for her," the silver haired boy suddenly said.

"Wha?" was all Zazie replied.

"Well, she seems nice, kind, sweet...and even Niche likes her," Lag explained.

"I don't know what you're thinking but you'll regret it if you confess. She doesn't have a care for the world," Zazie stated his opinion.

"Really?" Lag wanted to reconfirm.

"Yeah! She only cares about her sister and now that she's gone forever, she only cares about Excallibur..." Zazie explained.

Lag sighed. Zazie didn't say anything after that. Then, Lag opened his mouth.

"Do you like her?" he asked.

Zazie burst, "W-Why would I?! I told you, she's rude! I don't fancy rude girls like her! She will never make a good mother for my children!"

"You murmured her name when you were taking a nap after lunch just now..." the silver haired boy stated, silencing Zazie in an instant.


At the twentieth bell, they were all gathered in the living room, ready to play Truth or Dare. Zazie and Azure exchange glances. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt while she was wearing a nightdress which goes down to under her knees. They turned away when their gazes met. She sat down beside Connor. Sylvette spun the empty bottle and got the game started. It pointed to Lag.

"Lag! Truth or dare?"Selena asked, excited.

"Uh...truth," Lag chose.

"Hmmm... Who is your least favourite Bee and why?" Anise asked before the others could.

"Uh...Mock Sullivan...because he is too full of himself, I guess..." Lag stuttered.

The others nodded. The girls, excluding Azure were eagerly waiting for the bottle to point at a certain someone. Lag spun the bottle. It landed on Zazie. The boy sweat dropped.

"Zazie..." Anise said, smirking, "Truth or dare?"

"Of course, like every year, I choose dare!" he said, confident.

The girls giggled, excluding Azure. "Then..." Sylvette started.

"We dare you to...kiss Azure on her forehead!" Selena said.

"Aww...I wanted him to kiss her on the lips!" Anise groaned.

"On the forehead it is!" Zazie interrupted.

He turned to Azure. The girl didn't say anything to protest. He reached out for her head and gave a quick peck on her forehead. They both blushed after that. The girls wooed while the boys kept quiet. Zazie spun the bottle. It landed on Connor and he chose dare. Selena dared him to do 50 push-ups. He could only do up until 15, then he gave up.

"Penalty!" Selena shouted happily.

"O-Okay..." Connor gave in.

He had to drink 500ml of soda mixed with egg yolk. The others watched as he did. Azure was scared as she could feel that it was her turn soon. It landed on her after Sylvette's turn. The girls smirked again. Azure panicked inside her mind.

"Truth or dare, Azure?" Liliana asked.

"D-Dare..." Azure made up her mind.

"Hmm? Dare, huh?" Anise muttered.

The four girls discussed something before deciding. Sylvette was the one who decided.

"I dare you to..." she muttered, giggling, "...to sit on Zazie's lap for the rest of the game!"

"Wha?!" the two exclaimed in unison.

"Hmm...or do you want a penalty?" Selena asked, getting the drink ready.

Azure shook her head slowly. Zazie groaned as she crawled up to him. He sat cross-legged and Azure sat in the middle. He was hiding his blush as hard as he could, but the girl could hardly hide how red her face was. It was very embarrassing for the two. However, the game progressed smoothly after that. The last spin ended on Zazie again. He chose truth.

"Well, how does it feel having a girl on your lap?" Liliana asked, getting chuckles from the other girls.

"Are you kidding me?! She's heavy!" Zazie exclaimed without a second thought.

Azure stood up immediately, angry. "I am not!" she shouted.

The boy stood up and shouted, "Yes, you are!"

They were going to continue their tongue fights when someone banged on the door. All of them were startled. Azure could guess who. She trembled as she backed away. Zazie noticed her reaction. He wondered who it was.