[Warmth]

DECEMBER 24
2nd Year High School

As soon as she heard the sound of the chime, Inoue rushed to the entrance of the shop. She flinched when the customer that had walked in was – "Hayami's boyfriend?!"

She immediately covered her mouth, realizing that she was still working, before giving him a bow. "Welcome, my master," she said. Then she showed him to his table.

When he had sat down, she asked him, "Do you want me to call Rin-chan for you?"

The employees in the maid café called Loyal Service were made to use nicknames in serving their guests. While Inoue was called 'Azure-chan', she had given Hayami the name 'Rin-chan'.

He took a glimpse around and caught sight of his girlfriend attending another table. "Maybe not. She's busy," he said.

"Don't worry." Inoue gave him a reassuring wink. "I'll find a way," she added before approaching Hayami, who was on her way to the kitchen.

"Rin-chan, you sweetheart is here ~" she sang from behind, clasping Hayami's shoulders and resting her chin on one shoulder.

"I see," Hayami said, unimpressed, as she moved her feet.

This made the blue hair pout. It's disappointing how her friend could be this apathetic even when it came to her boyfriend. "Why don't you go and greet him? I can take over Table 5," she offered.

Upon giving a brief glance at her friend's expectant expression, Hayami heaved out a sigh. "Alright." She reached out a paper slip over her shoulder. "Here's the order. Hurry."

Inoue did a salute before marching off to give the order slip to the kitchen. Hayami turned around and went in the opposite direction – to where he was sitting.

"It's a pleasure to be serving you, master," Hayami greeted with a curtsy and a straight face before him.

She followed it with, "What will be your order?"

He hadn't even touched the menu when he replied, "Just a cup of coffee."

Normally, they should be asking the customer if there's anything they would like to add. But she knew him better.

After jotting down his order on her notepad, she said instead, "I'll be done with my work in an hour."

"OK."

Since tonight would be Christmas Eve, they planned to have their date after Hayami's shift. When she was done, she changed into her casual outfit and headed to the back exit where he would be waiting.

After taking the bus to the plaza, Hayami asked him, "Do you think that it'll be open?"

"I checked beforehand. It's open today until 7 pm," he said.

She smiled. "We have an hour then. We better make the most of it."

He hummed with a nod.

When Chiba and Hayami had walked into the center, the clerk was surprised to see them. He didn't expect that this pair, known for their top-notch shooting skills, would return to this place.

"Hey, you kids haven't been coming here for a while. I thought you stopped," he told them after they had arrived at the counter.

"We've been busy with school," Chiba reasoned.

"We'll go with the same one," Hayami said next.

The clerk disappeared into the room behind him. He, then, reemerged with a green heavy duffel bag. "The guns are inside. As for the ammo –" He stooped below the counter and took out two containers filled with pellets, placing them on top "– here they are."

He added, "You know, there is a paintball event match next week. You should join like before. Some of the folks here have been asking me where the sniper couple has gone to. They miss playing with the best."

"We'll come," Hayami said while Chiba nodded in agreement.

After the clerk had conversed with them some more, they proceeded to the shooting range. Chiba prepared his favorite – sniper rifle – before sitting cross-legged on the floor, while Hayami, standing beside him, loaded the pistol in her hand.

Oh, how they missed this setup.

"Best out of ten?" She turned to him with a challenging smile on her face.

He smirked back. "Loser will pay for dinner."

At the same time, they faced the front and pulled their triggers.

Due to lack of practice, both of them were not able to hit the bullseye in their first few tries. Although the simultaneous firing of their guns eventually brought back their aptitude in shooting with Chiba being able to land the direct hits before Hayami could.

With that, Chiba won for three rounds – 7-8-10. Hayami fell short with two hits in the first and second, and one hit in the last round.

After having their dinner, they took a stroll on the street that was brimming with city lights when a drop of snow touched down Hayami's nose. She batted an eyelid before looking up to where hundreds of white flurries were falling from the evening sky.

Chiba followed her gaze as his lips quirked up. "This reminded me of that night," he said woefully.

It was that night, two years ago, when Nagisa stabbed the knife onto their beloved teacher's chest. Beads of light scattered around them, slowly dissolving into thin air right before tears cascaded their anguish faces.

"I miss him," she said under her breath.

"Mm."

Then they resumed their walk until they reached the riverbank. Almost no one else was wandering around since everyone was either at work or spending time with their loved ones elsewhere.

They plopped down the stairs, taking their time to just wallow in their surroundings. Since Hayami's mother would be coming home late from work, Chiba had suggested extending their date. Nothing came to mind when they had tried to think of a place to go, so they settled on just wandering around to where their feet would bring them.

"It's getting too cold," Chiba blurted in a shivering voice as he rubbed his hands together.

"You should've worn gloves," she said.

He turned his head as her words have brought him to a déjà vu. "I forgot," he replied and, then, felt a shudder.

He could claim that he was so ecstatic ever since this morning about going to the shooting range that he forgot. Or that he didn't think of it because wearing gloves would hinder the dexterity of his finger when pulling the trigger.

But both were just flimsy excuses to hold her hand. He remembered that last time he didn't wear gloves to school, he had joked about using her hands for his cold ones.

"Here." Rather than a pair of hot packs, she reached out her bare hand as she remained facing the front.

"Don't get the wrong idea though," she said further when a puff of cloud escaped her lips. "I didn't have hot packs on me this time."

With a smile, he took her hand in his and uttered his "Thanks".

Her warmth did not only lessen the cold, but it also brought butterflies to his stomach. Lowering their adjoining hands to their side, their fingers interlocked as they went back to watching the snowfall.