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[Chapter 20]

[Brindle]

Shiri, Luna and I sat in the library, quietly reading our books while the snow drifted to the ground. "…"

"GUYS! HELP!"

Suddenly, Sigi appeared in the library. Before we knew it, he was hiding under the table that we sat at, trying to catch his breath.

We all stared at him, curiously.

"Sigi, what's wrong?" I asked. "And why are you hiding under our table?"

He looked over at me. "The Angel's Ball is coming up!"

Shiri shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"ALL OF THESE GIRLS KEEP CHASING AFTER ME AND ASKING IF I'LL GO WITH THEM!" He blurted out.

Shiri and I exchanged a look before bursting out into a laugh. "Well, that's a you problem! Sorry, Sigi!"

He rose from his hiding place. "This isn't a joke! For these past few weeks, I haven't been able to go anywhere without some girl coming onto me! I can't hang out with Neptune, I can't wake up peacefully and training is impossible! They even wait for me outside the bathroom when I'm trying to take a piss!"

"Look on the bright side," Shiri said. "It's almost the holidays. There's only about a week or two before we get off for our holiday break."

I let out a chuckle. "Still, it's pretty funny that girls are asking him out now. It's only December. Usually, if there's a dance, people ask a week or two before."

He nodded to me. "Yeah! Do you see the problem here?! If this keeps up, I'll end up being chased by a whole swarm of them!"

"Oh, that reminds me of something!" Luna suddenly turned to Shiri, wearing a smile. "Do you want to come over to our place for the holidays?"

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!" Sigi shouted. "AND WHY ARE YOU SUDDENLY INVITING HER!?"

Luna turned to face her older brother. "First, this a library, so try to be quiet. Second, I'm inviting her because Jewel asked me to invite some people if we wanted to; I thought it'd be kinda nice, y'know?"

Sigi sat on the floor, shaking his head. "Whatever..."

Luna's attention switched back to Shiri. "So, do you want to come over? Neptune's coming, too."

Sigi gave a nod. "Yeah, I think Jewel would like to have you over."

Shiri paused for a moment, pondering the question. Then, she shrugged. "Sure. What have I got to lose?"

"Cool!" Luna smiled. "By the way, can you try to help me improve my magic while we're there? I'm not saying you have to, but I'd very much appreciate it."

Shiri returned her smile. "It's not a problem, I'll try."

"Actually, I have a question," I suddenly spoke up.

Sigi looked over at me. "What's up?"

"Can I come over too?" I asked. "I don't know if you guys would let me, but I'd still like to go."

"…" I waited to hear Sigi's words of denial.

But, instead, he smiled. "Sure. The more the merrier. If there's anyone else you want to invite, just go ask them. Jewel wouldn't mind. In fact, she enjoys the company a lot."

"Thanks," I smiled back. "I might go ask Angel later. We have a training session in a bit."

"That's cool," Sigi said.

Shiri looked over at me. "Are you teaming up with Angel for the Hades Tournament?"

I nodded. "Yup."

"Honestly, I thought he would have teamed up with Plutia to win the tournament," Luna commented.

I shrugged. "He probably would have if I hadn't asked him."

"By the way," I looked over at Sigi. "How's your training going, now that you have that new arm?"

Sigi grinned, lifting his arm for us to see. The arm still looked like a normal arm, but there were several small parts that glowed and showed through. Though, if you didn't try to look for it, it looked like Sigi's original arm.

"Training has been going great!" He said; he looked over at Shiri. "Why don't you tell her?"

Shiri shrugged. "Well, that arm has rapidly improved the amount of training we can get done. Not only that, but it's allowed us for some more creative formations."

I gave an understanding nod. "I see..."

"Well, I better get going," Luna rose from her seat. "I have to call Jewel and tell her of the people that now want to come over."

Sigi whirled his head to her. "Can I join you? I need to escape those girls. Plus, I want to see Jewel."

Luna shrugged. "Sure, let's go."

The two of them hurried off, leaving me with Shiri. "I have to go, too," I said. "It's almost time for my training session."

Shiri looked up from her book, smiling. "That's fine. Make sure you work hard."

I gave a nod before hurrying off to the BSA.

[Sigi]

I let out a sigh, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. I looked over at Neptune, who was happily eating her pudding. "Neptune, are you sure you want to be eating pudding right now? Once we get to Jewel's place, we'll be eating dinner."

Neptune shook her head. "I can't wait that long!"

Luna and I stared at her with worry. "Even though it's only a five-minute train ride..."

"Please don't tell me she's always like this..." Noire said.

"You've seen her act like this before," Vert stated. "By now, you should know that this is exactly how she is."

"That's going to be a bother..." Noire muttered.

"As long as I can read quietly, I'll be happy..." Blanc said.

I looked over at them. "Jeez..."

After I had told Brindle to ask Angel if he wanted to come over, Angel had apparently gone out and asked more people to come along.

I turned my attention over to Angel. "Why did you have to go and ask so many more of us to join?"

Angel shrugged. "All I did was ask Plutia."

I looked over at Plutia. She was napping on her backpack. "Then I guess she invited someone else, and that cycle continued..."

Angel shrugged. "Probably..."

"Uzume is cold!" Looking over at her, I found that she was wearing an oversized, furry coat. Though, she was still shivering. "Is the Tommy almost here yet?"

"Tommy?" Luna and I exchanged looks.

"I think she means the train..." Shiri corrected.

*Ding!*

"It is now," as if on cue, the train arrived and we all filed in, taking our seats.

It was now around the holidays and that meant a holiday break. Since school started back up in January, that meant that we had a few weeks to do whatever we wanted. But, I still had to go out and buy gifts for everyone.

Though I knew what I was going to get most of them, I somehow didn't know what to get Neptune.

Plus, every time I thought of her now, it made me think of Luna's words.

I quickly shook the thought away and stared out the window, watching the buildings pass by.

"Hey, Sigi," turning around, I found Neptune tugging on my sleeve. "Do you want to do something over the break?"

I stared at her curiously. "Yeah? Like what?"

I noticed a faint red enter her cheeks. "I-I don't know... Something that the two of us could do together and have fun. Y'know?"

I nodded. "Alright, sure. I'm down."

"Cool," Neptune smiled.

I had expected her to reply with some dumb comment. Instead, she just gave a simple reply, which caught me off guard.

*Ding!*

I quickly shook the thought away as the train arrived. We all filed out.

I turned to Luna. "You wanna lead the way?"

She smiled. "Sure."

Following her, we all made our way over to Jewel's suite. Knocking on the door, she peeked it open.

"What the hell!?" Her eyes bulged when she saw all the people with us and swung the door open. "I thought you were going to only bring a few people!"

I shrugged, sighing. "Guess plans changed. On the bright side, it'll be a more lively Christmas."

Jewel just shook her head. "I guess. The only problem I have is the number of people. We don't have enough mattresses for that."

"We'll just use the top suites," Luna suggested. "We can pay for it."

Jewel bit at her lip but quickly shook her head. "Hold on. Come inside first and stop standing out there!"

Jewel ushered us in and we all poured into the living room. Luna, Neptune and I sat in the kitchen with Jewel.

"Alright," Jewel let out a deep breath. "I get it if you can afford the suites. But, who's going to go up there and who's going to be in here? I have seven possible sleeping places, counting my bed."

I counted our group before turning back to face Jewel. "Easy. All we have to do is have two people bunk each suite and then the rest can sleep here."

"But who's going to go?" Jewel questioned.

"I'll go," I said. "Someone else can bunk with me. Then, another two can take the other room."

Jewel gave a nod. "I guess that could work. While you guys figure out where you're going to sleep, I'm going to get dinner ready."

As Jewel went off to prepare dinner, I turned back to the group. "Alright, who wants to bunk with me?"

Luna and Neptune both raised their hands. Though, as soon as Neptune's hand shot up, Luna put her hand down.

I shrugged. "Alright, I guess you and I could bunk together, Neptune."

Neptune smiled. "Alright! We're gonna have a pillow fight then!"

I rolled my eyes, ignoring her comment. "Okay, who's going to take the second room?"

Angel raised his hand. "I'll take it if you don't mind."

I shrugged. "Go for it. Nobody's going to stop you. Do you know who you're going to bunk with though?"

Angel gave a nod. "Yeah, I'm bunking with Plutia."

I smiled. "Cool. Then I guess everyone else will sleep here?"

Looking at them for confirmation, everyone nodded.

I smiled and turned to Neptune. "Alright, let's go get a room."

Neptune formed a wide grin. "Alright!"

I hurried into the kitchen. "Jewel, Neptune and I are taking a room. Angel's going with Plutia."

Without looking away from her task, she gave a nod. "Alright. Neptune, come down here later. I need to talk to you."

"Sure," Neptune gave a nod as we began making our way out of the suite.

I looked over at Luna. "Make sure everyone finds their way around. Angel, you take Plutia and come with me."

Both Luna and Angel nodded.

Angel heaved Plutia onto his back and gave a look of confirmation. That was my cue to go.

Leading the way, we made our way to the front desk and requested two rooms. We then made our way up to the indicated floor.

I stopped at the end of the hall, nodding to one of the doors. "Angel, that's the room where you and Plutia will be sleeping in. Here," I tossed him the keys. "Have fun."

I turned my attention to the room where I was going to be crashing with Neptune. Opening it, I allowed Neptune to enter first. "After you."

Neptune smiled. "Wow, you're such a gentleman, aren't you?"

She picked up her backpack and walked in. As she entered, I followed after, closing the door.

There wasn't much in the room. There was simply a single white king-sized bed, a bathroom, a nightstand and a TV mounted to the wall.

I set my bag down by Neptune's by the bed. I watched as she let out a sigh and flopped down onto the bed. I smiled at her. "Are you already tired?"

She shrugged and stretched out her arms, letting out a yawn. "Just a bit. I just want to do something, y'know?"

I gave a nod. "Don't worry. We have several weeks to do whatever we want to."

Neptune stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah..."

"I'm going to take a shower," I said. "If you have anything you want to do, go do it now. Dinner will be soon."

Neptune gave a nod, hopping off the bed. "I'm going to go talk to Jewel. Have a hot, steamy shower!"

I replied with a smile as she dashed out of the room.

After I had showered and gotten dressed, I had found Neptune lying on the bed, playing a game on the TV. "Neptune, it's almost time for dinner. Are you sure you should be playing games right now?"

"Oh," Neptune paused her game and set down her controller. "Do you think I have time to shower?"

I shrugged. "Probably. Better make it fast though."

Neptune nodded. "Cool! You go on without me! I'll be there in a bit!"

I gave a nod as she hurried to the bathroom. Before I left the room, I called to her. "Make sure to turn off the lights before you leave!"

"I got it!" She called back.

Letting out a sigh, I closed the door behind me and began making my way to Jewel's suite.