I really hope to finish this tonight, guys, but I don't know how that's going to hold up...

Hiyono groaned tiredly, her body slowly awakening from its deep slumber. Her eyes squinted open, taken a good while to adjust to the light. Whoa. She didn't recognize where she was. She rose her arms to rub her eyes and roll over a couple times to wake up her mind. As her brain and body finally came out of sleep enough for her to take in her surroundings, she realized with a gasp where she was.

The reporter jolted to a sitting position and looked around once more. She was in Narumi-san's room! Sleeping in his bed! She glanced down. She was using his blankets and everything!

Now a bit discombobulated, she struggled to remember the previous night, trying to remember the reason she was sleeping in her best friend's bed. Well, at least she was the only one sleeping in his bed. Speaking of which, if she was in his bed, where was he?

Hiyono slowly rose to her feet. The house was dead quiet. She could only hope that Madoka had stayed overnight at her work. Hiyono would hate to see what would happen to Narumi-san and herself if Madoka found Hiyono crawling like a slinky shadow out of Ayumu's bedroom.

As quietly as possible, Hiyono creaked the door open and tiptoed into the kitchen, meandering around the kitchen, living room, and the rest of the house to look for the cranky detective.

She couldn't bring herself to disturb him when she finally found him. He was haphazardly strewn on the sofa, looking extremely exhausted but extremely peaceful. She began to remember slightly what had happened the previous night. After she had fallen asleep, sometime during the night she remembered him trying to remove her from his lap. Her half-asleep mind groaned, disgruntled. She vaguely remembered him standing up, but turning around and stooping over to lift her off the sofa.

He struggled with her weight, adjusting her occasionally and muttering something about her weight and cutting back on the donuts. She had felt herself being carried for a while until she was deposited somewhere else. He gently threw the covers over her and left the room without a word.

Afterword, he apparently had come back out and crashed on the couch. Hiyono knelt beside the couch and watched him sleep. She knew that most people, him especially, would think her strange, but she couldn't help it, he looked so sweet. Wow. Ayumu Narumi? Sweet? She knew that was a complete oxymoron, but it was true. She couldn't bring herself to wake him up, but she could bring her hand up to stroke his russet bangs gently, trying not to disturb him. She sighed, but almost immediately she wanted to take it back. What was she thinking? This was the guy that she so badly wanted to seek revenge on for foiling her plan.

She should be plotting and scheming and carrying out her deathly plot, but instead, she was sitting here stroking the hair of her nemesis. What was the world coming to that she should fall for her arch enemy? Since when did the fabric of society fall apart into a world where heroes as bold as she fell for the supervillains? This would surely not continue and she would surely snap herself out of this folly! His hair was so soft...and he had given up his bed for her to sleep in all night...

"You can stop playing with my hair, you know."

The indecent growl surprised her and she quickly jerked her hand away as Ayumu rolled over so he was no longer facing her. She tilted her head, trying to act innocent, "You're awake?"

"Thanks to you." he hissed.

"Narumi-san! How rude!" she puffed.

"Look, can you NOT go on another rampage and just let me sleep?"

She glared at him in silence, and Ayumu was no stranger to the glare. He could feel it even when he wasn't looking at her. He sighed, "Fine. Here. You can sit at the end."

He moved his feet so she could sit at the end of the sofa, but she declined with an offended grunt, "Narumi-san! I don't want your dirty feet!"

He stared at her for a while, until, defeated, she crawled into the spot by his feet. After a minute of silence, he spoke, "There are nine inches of snow outside. As much as I hate to say it, I don't think you'll be leaving any time soon."

Hiyono didn't answer, and the silence ensued, until she came up with an idea, "Hey! Narumi-san what Christmas movies have you seen?"

Hiyono could nearly hear the raised eyebrow in his voice, "Christmas movies?"

The girl sighed, "Don't answer that."

"I wasn't planning to."

"Narumi-san, where's the remote?"

"How should I know?"

"It's your house, Narumi-san."

"That doesn't mean I actually watch the TV."

Hiyono growled and got off the couch, going over to the TV and turning it on. Hiyono smirked. Just the movie she was hoping it would be. Ayumu groaned grouchily, "What IS it with you and the Grinch?"

The girl looked over and gave him a coy smile that said she knew more than she told, "I'm in love with him."

Ayumu looked up and wrinkled his eyebrows at her before he turned away and dumped his feet in her lap, "You're crazy."

Hiyono frowned at his feet, "Since when am I your footstool?"

"Hn."

During the course of the movie, neither party said another word. Ayumu mentally noted all the audio and continuity errors he could find in the movie, but he knew that Hiyono would probably punch his feet or tickle him or something cruel if he said anything. Come to think of it, what was she doing now?

He shifted his brown eyes down to see her absently running her hands over his socked feet. He decided not to say anything and simply let her watch the movie.

He heard her sigh at the turning point of the movie when...well, not to spoil it for anyone. He closed his eyes. He was too tired to think about how totally sick it was that he was beginning to get used to the feeling of Hiyono massaging his feet. Man, that even SOUNDED weird.

When Ayumu opened his eyes again, Hiyono was restraining a giggle as she watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. All he had to say was that Hiyono thought HIS Christmas tree was pathetic. It least it held ornaments without falling over. Ayumu, however, only became vaguely interested when Hiyono expressed a high liking for Schroeder, the little boy who played the piano. Somehow, it seemed like she somehow identified with something during the parts in which Lucy was pestering Shroeder. By the end of the movie, Hiyono was smiling and immediately he knew that they would probably be sitting on that couch all day.

---

He was right. During the entire course of the day, they had watched Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, A Muppets' Christmas Carol, Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, It's A Wonderful Life, Frosty the Snowman, and finally The Polar Express.

Before The Polar Express began, Hiyono seemed as if she needed to get up to find something to eat or something of the like. However, when she tried to get up from the couch, Ayumu firmly planted his feet on her lap to act like a seatbelt, "Look, if you're going to sit here, don't keep getting up and down."

She turned to give him her golden puppy eyes, "But Narumi-san, I'm hungry!"

Ayumu sighed and got up himself, slowly maneuvering into the kitchen to get her something to eat, "What do you want?"

Hiyono grinned, "How about some popcorn?"

Everything was quiet until she heard him take out the metal popcorn bowl. She basked in the sound of the corn popping on the stove and the glorious smell of the pale kernels golding to perfection. She could smell the hot butter he spread over it and she could hear him fluff the popcorn in the bowl to spread the butter around.

The awesome sounds and smells lulled her into a state of such bliss that she curled up in the middle of the sofa, closed her eyes, and waited.

Suddenly, the smell grew stronger and she felt a presence hanging over her like a heavy cloud with wild wispy dark hair and a black turtleneck on his lanky frame, "Get up."

She groaned and lifted only her head so he could sit down at the end of the couch. When he sat down, she casually plopped her head in his lap and took a handful of popcorn. He scowled down at her, "What did I do to make you think that this is okay?"

Hiyono shrugged, "Narumi-san's too tired and lazy to make me move, and plus, he likes the company."

"Your head's heavy."

Hiyono sighed and gave a slight grunt, "Just watch the movie, Narumi-san."

Ah. Forget the movie. Ayumu Narumi's popcorn is entertainment enough. Each juicy crunchy kernel melted in Hiyono's mouth. Oh yeah. She could SO live like this every day.

By the time the movie was over, it was past ten o'clock at night and both detective and sidekick were fast asleep. The popcorn bowl was sitting on the floor, empty. Hiyono was laying with her feet curled up and her head still on Ayumu's lap. He had his head leaned lazily on his shoulder, his eyelids fluttering slightly. He opened his eyes once. The television was still on, but he didn't have the attention span to figure out what movie was on. His sleepy eyes lowered to the slumbering Hiyono. Who knew that this quiet haphazardly-strewn dreaming infohound could be so loud and obnoxious?

His eyes slid closed. Maybe he'd let her sleep just a little longer.

Yeah yeah yeah. I don't own any Christmas movies. Well, if you want to be technical...no, I don't own any...I think we might have Rudolph somewhere, but, yeah. I haven't even seen some of those movies, I just did a little research into what are qualified as the best Christmas movies ever. I'd put The Nightmare Before Christmas on there, but I didn't have room and I haven't seen it yet. I also haven't seen Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, or It's A Wonderful Life. I like cartoons. ANYWHO, I hope to post the next chapter up tonight and I hope that works, see ya!