"Steer! Steer steer steer!" Natsuki squeals as it seems they're heading straight for a tree. Masumi grits his teeth and quickly jerks the sled to the left. Unfortunately, he did it too much and they end up toppling over, landing face-first in the snow. Masumi is thrown a few feet away, followed by the sled veering and gently hitting the tree.

"Natsuki-chan! Are you okay?" Souta skips up to them, having been waiting at the bottom of the hill for them. He squats down. "Natsuki-chan?"

"That was fun!" Natsuki sits up, wiping snow from her mittens. "Let's do it again!"

"It looked fun," Eiji calls down from the top of the hill.

"Are you not hurt?" Souta asks, checking the yellow Boukenger for injuries. Masumi crawls over to the two, a scowl on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me," he says sarcastically. "No really, I'm fine."

"Are you fine?" Natsuki smiles and Masumi starts to brush snow off her shoulders, his face softening.

"Yes."

"Don't pay any attention to him, Natsuki-chan," Souta says loudly, winking. "He's perfectly capable of taking care of himself."

"And she's not?" Masumi challenges. Souta smiles and stands up, snow falling from his knees. He picks up the sled the two had been using previously.

"She looks like someone who needs to be protected," he answers. Before they can respond, he laughs and starts up the hill to join Satoru, Sakura and Eiji.

"Are you really okay though, Natsuki?" Masumi helps her stand and wipes more snow off of her. She giggles and pats the top of his head where the white snow is striking against his black hair.

"Natsuki is fine!" she exclaims, grinning. "It was fun. Let's do it again!"

Masumi barely has time to nod before she takes his hand and starts to drag him up the hill.

"Why is your hand so cold?" she complains. Their boots crunch in the three-inch thick snow and even though it's not too terribly cold, it's more wet than anything.

"Why does it matter?" he retorts, refraining from pointing out his gloves are now wet with snow and ice. He's just thankfully they can actually sled this time, as opposed to last time when it snowed where it was mostly just icy slush.

"Because it makes Masumi sad," she answers cheerfully, shoulders hunched up to her ears. Souta and Eiji race by them, whooping and waving as they speed down the hill, sharing the largest sled.

"They're going to cause an accident," Masumi mutters as he watches them swerve to avoid a cluster of trees. He's just glad that there's barely any people out now and the ones that are, are on the smaller hill a half-mile away.

It helps that they also kind of reserved this hill in the first place.

"What a nice view!" Natsuki declares as they reach the top, her smile almost blinding. Masumi admits to himself that Natsuki looks almost too cute in her puffy yellow coat and black pigtails peeking out from her golden hat. She doesn't even know how cute she's being right now and he doesn't know how much longer he can stand it.

"Did Masumi hurt you?" asks Sakura, flipping her long hair over one pink-coated shoulder. "I saw you crash."

"We almost crashed," corrects Natsuki. "It was thrilling."

"Why does everyone assume I hurt her?" Masumi grumbles. "I wouldn't do that."

"Are you going to go with Chief?" Natsuki asks Sakura, whose cheeks tinge faintly pink that match her uniform.

"Maybe," she answers curtly.

"Oh go on, Sakura-san." Masumi winks at her evilly, wanting to get revenge on her for saying such a thing about him. Don't they know that she's the last person he would ever hurt? They clearly have no faith in him whatsoever.

"Come on Sakura." Satoru takes her arm, having chosen this particular moment to interrupt their conversation and leads her to the red sled. Sakura is faintly blushing but keeps her face blank.

"Have fun!" Natsuki waves as they slowly inch forward. After it has gathered enough momentum, it picks up speed and Sakura instinctively wraps her arms around Chief. "I wish Souta-san and Eiji-san would hurry up. I want to sled again!"

"They're just being lazy," comments Masumi as he sees the silver and blue Boukengers fighting over who has to bring the sled back up the hill. "Hurry up minna!" he shouts, waving his arms. Even from here, he can see them rolling their eyes but apparently they have made a decision as Eiji grudgingly treks up the hill, dragging the sled.

"There's no need to yell," he tells them, throwing the sled at their feet and smirking. "We were coming."

"Natsuki was getting impatient," pouts Natsuki, looking incredibly cute. Masumi shakes his head. How many times has he thought Natsuki looked cute today? Maybe fifty times? This is getting out of hand.

"So the rest of us are about ready to go back," Eiji continues. "What about you?" Masumi looks to Natsuki for her answer. Whatever she wanted, he'd follow her.

"We're going to stay," Natsuki says. "Is that okay Masumi?" Is that okay? Is that okay? It's perfect. Even if he is a little cold and wet and tired, just to see her smile is worth all of that and more.

"Whatever. It's fine," says Masumi casually. Natsuki's face lights up and she runs over to the edge of the hill, starting to position the sled.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Eiji is looking at him with slight concern but the black Boukenger waves it away.

"Yeah, it'll be fun. It's Natsuki, right?"

Eiji grins widely. "It is." He starts to descend the hill after a wave good-bye.

"Masumi! Are you coming or not?"

"Coming!" Masumi walks over to her. She pats the spot behind her, wanting him to get on. They had found out that having the bigger person in the back is the best idea since it then can be slowed down easier with the weight if necessary.

"Ready?" Even without seeing her face, Masumi knows the young girl is smiling. Actually, he can barely remember a time when she's not smiling.

He holds onto her thin shoulders with his hands, not sure if she wants him to hold her around the waist or not. Would that be going too far? Would he be pushing it?

Natsuki doesn't notice his inner dilemma and scolds him to hurry up and give them a push. He reaches behind them and uses all the strength in his left arm to give them a shove forward. It works and they start to slide down.

"Yay!" Natsuki's voice is happy and loud as they slowly pick up speed, the white world flashing by them. Her hair is flying in his face but he doesn't mind, jut peering over her shoulder to see how far they are down the hill. The wind whips them, bitingly cold but also refreshingly exhilarating.

"Tree!" Natsuki yells, voice breathy. "Are you steering?"

"No!" Masumi yells back, feeling a little bit of panic. "Are you steering?"

"No!"

"What?" Masumi's mouth drops open and he holds onto her tighter. She's the one in front, she's the one who should be steering. What the…? Oh crap…

"Eeek!" They suddenly jerk to the side to avoid the tree and just like last time, are thrown from the sled. Masumi immediately lets go of Natsuki, not wanting to hurt her and reaches his hand out to cusion his fall. He turns his head to the side to avoid getting a mouthful of snow.

There's silence.

"Natsuki?" He slowly raises his head, looking around for the young girl. He doesn't see her. "Natsuki?" But there's no answer, only the sound of the wind blowing through the bare branches.

It sounds lonely.

"Natsuki?" He gets up gingerly, rubbing his elbow from where he had hit it. "Where are you Natsuki?" he takes a few steps forward until he's in front of the forlorn sled. "Natsuki?"

"Boo!"

"Ah!" He spins around to see Natsuki standing behind him, a smile curving her lips.

"Aww, Natsuki wanted to scare you," she pouts, hands on her hips. She's covered in snow, even more then he is.

"You did," protests Masumi, frowning. "What were you thinking?"

"Natsuki wanted to scare you," the yellow Boukenger repeats simply. "Let's go again!"

"After that?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Of course," she responds matter-of-factly, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. She kicks some snow at him playfully. "Will you carry it up?"

"If you want me to," the black Boukenger says honestly. Natsuki grins at him, winding one pigtail around a finger.

"Arigato!"

"Will you being steering this time?" teases Masumi. Natsuki shrugs, shoving her hands into her coat's pockets.

"Was Natsuki supposed to at first?"

"Yes. You were sitting in front so it was your responsibility," Masumi explains. He can barely focus on his words because Natsuki looks so cute with her head titled to the side.

Make is fifty-one times now.

"Oh." Natsuki looks a little sad as her face falls. "Natsuki is sorry."

"No no, it's fine," says Masumi hurriedly, not wanting her to be sad. "It made it more fun, actually."

"Really?" Natsuki smiles again and the elder boy breathes a sigh of relief. As long as she smiles, it's all that matters.

Looking at her now, he knows he can't contain himself any longer. He needs to, he needs her. Now.

"One thing though."

"Nani?"

Masumi reaches out and pulls Natsuki to him, smashing his lips against hers gently. There's a squeal of surprise and Masumi has a moment of panic-what did I just do?-before Natsuki responds enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around his waist.

And it's almost too cute for words.

A/N: This is partly from experience because I went sledding today and my sister and I rode together. She wasn't steering, I wasn't steering…we ended up running into a curb. But it was fun all the same!