The next time cheer practice rolled around, Maki was acting noticeably different in the locker room. She darted in and out, not even waiting for Kaede to finish changing before burying herself in practice. Kaede noticed this and rationalized that it was due to the stress of being the most important aspect of Ophelia's new routine, but she couldn't control her anxiety, which told her that Maki suddenly hated her. Her fears were eased later on, when it was revealed that Ophelia had planned for Kaede to also play vital role in the performance. At that point, the plan was for the two girls to meet and clasp their hands together, and when they did, she felt Maki squeeze her hand tight. That, somehow, soothed Kaede's nerves enough to get her through the rest of practice.

Once it was over, Maki again darted out of the locker room, leaving Kaede to pout to herself as she changed alone.

Kaede knew it was silly to worry, but she couldn't help herself. As soon as she was settled at home, she sent Maki a text. "Is everything okay, Maki?" She asked. "You seemed like you were in a rush at practice today."

The response came far quicker than she anticipated. "Yeah, everything's fine. Is this because I ditched you in the locker room?"

Damn, read like a book. "You got me!" Kaede responded.

"Sorry. I thought if we distanced ourselves during practice people wouldn't start getting the wrong idea about us." Maki seemed a lot more verbose in text, but Kaede could still read her messages in her voice.

Regardless, she had a comeback immediately. "Well, they haven't yet, have they? Besides, we're not officially together yet, so even if they did suspect anything, we wouldn't be lying by telling them we're not dating. We just have to leave out the 'yet!'" Kaede punctuated the message with a winking face for dramatic effect.

"Those are good points," Maki conceded.

But Kaede had one more to hit her with. "Besides, what if Miu harassed me while I was alone?"

"You're absolutely right. It won't happen again." Even through text, Kaede could read the deadly serious tone, and it made her laugh to herself.

"Never change, Maki," she said to herself.

There was much more she wanted to say, but saying anything else would contradict her statement from earlier that there wasn't anything going on between them yet, and she would much rather have said them in person anyway, so she held on to them.

Just thinking the thoughts put butterflies in her stomach, though.

The next day, the trio arrived at the gym, joined shortly after by Shuichi. This time, Maki did stay with Kaede while she changed, but she had a feeling that would have happened regardless of their conversation, considering that none of their squad mates were around. "So, can I ask you something?" She started, still averting her gaze from the less than fully clothed Kaede.

"What's up, Maki?" She asked, slipping into her gym shorts.

Maki took a deep breath and asked, "Have you ever had a girlfriend before?"

Kaede looked to Maki, seeing a blush start to creep across her face. She looked adorable. "I can't say I ever have. After seeing Shuichi's relationship with Kokichi, I was fine with waiting a bit longer." She gave a weak chuckle to illustrate how much of a disaster that relationship was.

She hadn't noticed Maki had tensed up her shoulders until she sighed, letting them relax again. "Okay."

It sounded like Maki was done with this conversation, but Kaede wasn't. "Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be the only one in her first relationship." She paused and looked right at Kaede. "You know, once we decide to be in one."

Kaede couldn't help but giggle as she felt a blush spread across her face. "That's fair. We'll both be awkward messes and that's okay." She gave her friend a warm smile, but from the looks of it, it didn't help her mood.

"There's so much normal kids got to do that I didn't," Maki mumbled, hands fiddling with her long pigtails. "That's not even the start of it."

"Oh? What else haven't you done? I can help you out!"

Maki turned her back to Kaede. "I'm not sure I should say."

Kaede let out a playful whine. "Come on, just one thing?"

She wasn't sure why Maki chose what she did, but the next words out of her mouth were a barely audible, "Birthday parties..."

It took a second for the quiet words to register, but once they did, Kaede gasped. "You've never had a birthday party? I find that hard to believe with Kaito around. I feel like he would have thrown you one if he'd known."

"I never told him," Maki explained. "I knew that if I did, he'd immediately throw me one. But you won't do that, will you?" She turned around to see a wide smile grace Kaede's face. "Oh god..."

"We're going to throw you a birthday party if it kills me," Kaede said, grim determination in her voice but cheerful glee on her face.

Maki rolled her eyes. "We'll see if you remember once February rolls around. Now get dressed."

As Kaede finished getting changed, it occurred to her just how little she knew about Maki. She'd just learned her birthday was in February, and the line about missing out on a lot of life's most exciting activities betrayed the fact that there was a lot more to Maki than met the eye. Kaede didn't know how to feel about being smitten with someone she barely knew, all things considered, and she dreaded how Maki felt about the knowledge that someone who barely knew her was so taken with her. Then again, there was a lot Maki didn't know about her as well, so maybe it would all work itself out.

They had a lot of getting to know each other to do over the coming winter break.

But before then, she had a routine to practice for.

Between the routine, her and Maki's quasi-relationship, and her packed school schedule, Kaede had a lot on her plate. Still, she found the time to check in on Shuichi as often as possible. Every instance would end with her telling him to confess to Kaito sooner rather than later, and every time he would shrink away at the thought and insist he'd get around to it. Finally, Kaede decided to take matters into her own hands. A couple of weeks after the events between her and Maki, she approached Kaito during practice when both of them had some rest time. "Hey Kaito, I have something to ask you real quick," she said, plopping down next to him.

"Is it about you an' Maki? Because she already told me," he said, not even bothering to make sure nobody was around while he was speaking.

That earned him a hard punch to the shoulder. "No, and keep it down! God, I'm not going to risk throwing all of this away by asking you about that during practice! Geeze..."

Kaito rubbed at his shoulder, any protest about getting punched falling on deaf ears. "Okay then, what is it?"

Snapping back to her train of thought, Kaede leaned in closer. "I have to know. How do you feel about Shuichi?"

Kaito tilted his head to the side. "Oh, er, why do you ask? Is someone angling for my top sidekick position? Because you gotta beat off Maki and Shuichi for that title!"

Kaede shuddered. "I don't know what phrase you were going for, but beat off was not it, Kaito." Kaito merely laughed in response, which told Kaede he had no idea what the phrase he used meant. "Anyway, I can't tell you why I'm asking yet, but I will promise that whatever you say here stays strictly between me and you."

It was a total lie, but trusting-to-a-fault Kaito believed her immediately. "Well, if you say so...wait, did Maki tell you I like him?"

"She might have," Kaede said with a shrug. "I want to hear it from you though."

Kaito put his hands on his hips. "Well, there ya have it. I just haven't been able to tell him, y'know? It's a matter of gettin' him alone so nobody else can distract me, but I can't exactly do that when you and him are always together just like Maki and me."

"Maki and I."

"You two aren't always together yet, Kaede," Kaito scoffed.

Deciding to ignore the slight, Kaede carried on. "Well, I guess I could help you with that, if you want."

Kaito's eyes lit up and he broke into a smile. "Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?"

"It wouldn't be too hard," she explained. "I can just give you his number so you can reach out to him on your own time. I'll have to tell him I gave you his number first of course, so he doesn't freak out or anything. Fair enough?"

Kaito nodded firmly. "Fair! Is...is there anything you want in return?"

"Kaede, you're up," Ophelia called.

Kaede stood straight and started to leave Kaito's side. "As long as you two are happy, that's all I really need," she said back to him. "I'll give his number to you later, okay?"

Kaito looked extra excited, which was saying something considering excited was kind of his default setting. After practice, she did as she said she would, which started with sending Shuichi a text letting him know he was about to receive a message from an unknown number.

The head's up would not reach Shuichi in time, but it was through no fault of hers or Kaito's. When his phone went off with the notification, Shuichi was walking into his house to see Kyoko once again making herself comfortable at his uncle's kitchen table, a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. "Hello again, Shuichi," she said as he set his bags down and kicked his shoes off.

"I see why you came and got me from school now," he said to his uncle, who vacated the room as soon as he could. Without any other distractions, he turned to Kyoko. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I would like to make sure our plans for your holiday break are concrete," she explained, one gloved hand tracing the rim of her cup. "It's important we establish our game plan ahead of time."

Shuichi took a seat next to her and rested his elbows on the table. "Fine. Do you have anything more specific than 'stake out all the orphanages in the country' or…?"

"Funny you should ask that," Kyoko said, crossing her legs. "I realized the holidays are a perfect time for this operation, given the proper cover. So as soon as your break begins—I'd say the next day—we'll go out as a husband and wife who are looking to give a poor orphan child a very special Christmas present in the form of a loving home."

Shuichi nearly fell out of his chair, startled by how matter-of-fact Kyoko's tone was. "Er, excuse me?"

Kyoko didn't look like anything was amiss. "Was I unclear? I said we're going to be—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Shuichi said, holding up and hand and looking anywhere else. "Still, you startled me."

Kyoko shrugged. "If you're worried about anyone seeing us together, I'm sure those kinds of places see hundreds of couples like that every holiday season. We won't make an impression, if all goes well."

"Okay," Shuichi sighed. "But still, I'm not looking forward to going to every orphanage in the city."

"I don't know where you got the idea that we were going to do that," Kyoko said quickly, an offended look on her face. Before she could explain, Shuichi's phone went off with no less than five text message alerts. "Good god, Shuichi, where's the fire?"

He scrambled to pull his phone out of his pocket to set it on vibrate, but while he was doing that, he saw that those new messages were all from an unknown number, which only made him more anxious. The preview showed him enough that he knew exactly who was texting him, which flustered him further. "Oh, god damn it," he mumbled, turning down the volume while it continued vibrating.

"Do you need to step away to take care of something?" Kyoko asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shuichi pocketed his phone and shook his head. "No, no. Continue, please."

His dismissive tone gave Kyoko pause, but she elaborated, "Anyway, the reason we're waiting until holiday break is so that I can do some research and narrow our options down. Honestly, the fact that you expected the Ultimate Detective to run around the city uselessly is almost insulting."

She had him there. "Right. Well, just let me know what you find out, and I'll try to get ready for the plan as best I can."

Kyoko finished her coffee and took a stand. "Good. Glad we had this talk." She started toward the door, but while she was halfway out, she turned back and said, "I'll see you then, honey."

The door slammed closed behind her and Shuichi let out a low groan and let his head fall against the table. "I'm going to die while pretending to be straight," he sighed. "So happy about that."

His next order of business was to give Kaede a call. Her voice sounded worried when she picked up. "Shuichi? If you're calling me, either you're in trouble or I am. What's up?"

"Care to explain to me why my phone just blew up with, I dunno, six or seven messages from Kaito?"

Kaede chucked on the other side. "Didn't you read my text from like, fifteen minutes ago? I went ahead and gave him your number, because I'm a good wing woman."

He was expecting to have some retort, but Shuichi found himself unable to come up with anything snappy enough. Instead, he just let out a sigh. "I guess I should be thankful, huh?"

"Maybe just a bit," Kaede responded. "Come on, this isn't the end of the world, Shuichi! Now that you two can talk just between yourselves, I bet you something's gonna happen sooner rather than later. That's what I did with Maki."

"I guess, but I'm not ready to tell him yet!" Shuichi cried, deciding to finally move himself into his bedroom.

Kaede let out a hum. "But he may be ready to tell you," she said in a singsong voice.

"Wh-what?"

"Just talk to him like normal for now. I'm sure everything will work itself out from there. Now I have to get some of this homework done. Good luck, Shuichi!" With that, Kaede hung up, and Shuichi was left with no distractions to keep him from reading whatever Kaito sent him. As it turned out, it was an overly long explanation of how Kaede gave him his number and that he was looking forward to get to know him better, which was not nearly the barrage of messages Shuichi was fearing. Still, his anxiety spiked even typing out a simple response, so this was definitely not going to end well.

Oh, and he still had the lingering fear of dying before Christmas in the back of his mind, but one cataclysmic event at a time.

Meanwhile, Kaede sat at her piano, shaking her head at her phone and setting it on the bench beside her. "How hopeless can you be? I love you Shuichi, but you gotta be braver than that when it comes to guys." She started playing the piano, idly perfecting a classical piece while still mumbling to herself (and definitely not doing homework like she had just said.) "You have one shitty boyfriend and suddenly the next one's a cataclysmic event or something. He's acting like he's not even gonna live to see Christmas!"

Her playing slowed down as she started thinking about Maki, their Christmas date and…

Oops, suddenly an hour had passed and she hadn't done a shred of homework! She scrambled into her room to get started on that, letting herself temporarily space out on how weird Shuichi was acting and, most importantly, how excited she was to spend more time with Maki.

Time passed (noticeably without a confession between Kaito and Shuichi,) and eventually Kaede and Maki found themselves getting ready for their routine. It was the final game of the boys' basketball team's regular season, and the gym was packed with students watching the game, boys playing basketball, and an unusually large number of cheerleaders. Maki and Kaede sat next to each other while they watched the first half of the game, with Kaito sitting on Maki's other side. Despite their better judgment telling them it was a bad idea, Kaede and Maki quickly found a way to stealthily hold hands while they watched. Their relationship hadn't progressed at all since that day at the community center, and they hadn't spent much more time alone since then, but they felt closer to each other each day, and the mere act of holding hands in public was giving them a thrill that Kaede would compare to a high from drugs.

Obviously, she hadn't taken drugs before, but she was pretty sure it felt the same as holding a girl's hand in public. That sounded just about right.

"Are ya nervous, girls?" Kaito asked, bored to tears with the game.

Maki shook her head. "We've practiced this a million times. I've got this."

Kaede nodded agreement. "Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident too."

"Good," Kaito said with a grin. "We're gonna kill it out there!"

Suddenly, something occurred to Kaede. "Hey, speaking of nervous, have you told Shuichi how you feel yet?"

Kaito rolled his eyes. "No," he sighed. "I keep trying to set up a time to hang out, but he keeps sayin' he's busy."

"Oh my god." Kaede used her free hand to slap herself in the forehead. "I can't believe him. I'll have to send him a strongly worded text and tell him to stop pussyfooting around!"

"Did somebody say pussy?" Miu's harsh cackle startled the trio, and Maki let Kaede's hand go in a flash, but judging by one of her eyebrows quirking, it didn't look like they were fast enough to escape her notice. She didn't say anything, instead opting to continue to be vulgar. "Because that is a topic I'm more interested in than this stupid competition."

She thought she was above taking Miu's bait, but here Kaede was, feeding right into it. "I don't know why you say that, your role isn't exactly a bit part."

Miu scoffed and put a hand to her chest. "If there's no prize at stake, then I don't give a fuck. Besides, a gorgeous inventor girl genius doesn't need any athletic achievements to be, well, a genius!"

"Better not let Ophelia hear you say that," Kaito warned. "She wouldn't be too thrilled with you not being on board."

The big bitch narrowed her eyes. "Hm, well I have the distinct feeling that I'm not the only one with something to keep from Ophelia..."

She shifted her gaze to Kaede and Maki, the former of whom shrunk under her stare. Maki, however, kept a poker face about her. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about," she said. Miu opened her mouth to speak, but she cut her off with, "And you don't either if you want to keep your eyes in your skull."

Miu's mouth shut tight and she scurried away. Kaede shook her head. "Never a pleasure, Miu."

Kaito tugged at his collar nervously. "Are...are you guys gonna be okay? If she tells Ophelia..."

"Ophelia doesn't trust Miu as far as she can throw her," Maki explained. "So who is she going to believe? The best girls on the squad or the one who loudly makes 'that's what she said' jokes?"

"Do you really think I'm one of the best on the squad?" Kaede asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling nervously.

Maki gave her a small smile. "Of course. I trained you, after all."

Even though it was kind of her patting herself on the back, Kaede was still ecstatic to hear that. She reached for Maki's hand again, but they were interrupted by the game hitting halftime and Ophelia calling for the squad to gather around her. "Alright, girls and Kaito," she said once everyone was present. "We have the home court advantage, so the crowd is already leaning in your direction. All you really have to do is not mess up too much and we've probably got this, alright?"

Miu looked like she wanted to say something, but Kaede shot her a pointed look that stopped her. Hearing only positive responses, Ophelia nodded firmly. "Okay, we're first up, so go knock 'em dead!"

Doing the routine in front of people was more difficult than Kaede had anticipated. It was easy enough during practice where everyone kind of knew she wasn't the best at it, even with Maki's training, but all these classmates who perhaps only knew her as the weird piano girl who was a cheerleader for some reason? She could feel her anxiety starting to flare up thinking about what they must have been thinking. Of course, she'd performed in front of most of them before—they had been at every basketball game, after all. But when every step had to be perfect or close to it?

Oof.

Still, Kaede swallowed her nerves and mostly nailed it. She stumbled once and Kaito got winded near the end, so the grand finale was weaker than it should have been, but they were both hoping Maki's perfection would draw the attention away from the stragglers. They seemed to be in luck judging by the uproarious applause in the gym once the routine was over. The squad dispersed as Ophelia trotted into the center of the gym to introduce the other school's squad. "We shouldn't even bother watching," Miu barked. "There's no way they're half as good as we are!"

"Half as good as Maki is," Tsumugi corrected. "Come on Miu, we can't pretend Maki didn't carry that performance on her back."

Maki shrugged, an indifferent look on her face. "I wouldn't have to if you got your mind out of the gutter for once, Miu."

For the third time in five minutes, Miu changed her tune completely, not saying another word as the other squad took the center of the gym.

As it turned out, the other school's cheer squad had gone to competitions, so their routine was polished to perfection. Every step was perfect, and there was not a single girl out of place for even a split second. Even with their so-called advantage, the crowd could not even begin to pretend that the routine was anything short of perfection, and the cheers that came when the routine finished dwarfed those of Ophelia's squad.

Oof. Again.

Ophelia was a good sport about it. She congratulated the other squad and happily shook the other coach's hand with a wide smile on her face. When she turned to her own team, her face didn't betray any sort of disappointment or anger. Instead, her smile seemed to be a bit more sheepish. "Oops!" she said, scratching the back of her head. "I guess I forgot that not every school has as small of a cheer program that ours does. My bad, girls! And Kaito."

So the mini competition was a complete farce, but hey, at least it gave them something to think about over the last month or so. The other girls weren't cocky about their win either, so it was a minor embarrassment at worst. After the game ended, Maki got swamped by the other school's cheerleaders, all of them congratulating her for her performance. She was clearly uncomfortable in such a crowd of strangers, but Kaede could see that she also wasn't one to complain about having her talents recognized. Kaede wormed her way through that crowd and linked her arm in Maki's. "Well, thank you for all the kind words, ladies," she said with a bow, which brought Maki to an awkward half bow as well. "But Maki and I should get going now."

Maki nodded silently and followed Kaede closely as they scurried back to the locker room to change. "Thank you for intervening there," she whispered.

Kaede gave her a smile while she closed the door behind them. "No worries, Maki. I know how to tell when you've had enough."

They rounded the corner to see that the locker room was completely empty. The other girls had kept Maki tied up long enough for their entire squad to change back into their everyday clothes. "Wow, they had you for longer than I thought," Kaede chuckled.

Maki made a beeline for the locker containing her stuff. "Good. That means we can get out of here without having to listen to people heap more praise on me."

"I think you deserve all of it," Kaede said, opening her own locker. Since the place was empty, part of her hoped she could watch Maki's speedy changing first hand, but clearly they weren't at that stage in their relationship yet, judging by the way she went straight to one of the stalls.

Still, that didn't stop her from continuing the conversation. "That's very nice of you, but how am I supposed to respond to all of it?" she called from the stall.

It was the loudest she had ever heard the dark-haired girl, which made her giggle. "I can understand that. I had the same problem with people complimenting my playing when I was starting to play in front of people. My solution is to just smile and thank them, but that does get old if a bunch of people are doing it at once."

Kaede jumped in place a bit when, the next time she heard Maki's voice, it was right next to her. "I've never been one to take praise well," she explained. "Criticism, I can take that all day, but when everyone's saying the same thing..."

Kaede nodded understanding as she finished putting on her regular outfit. "I see. I didn't know that about you, Maki. I'll be sure to keep that in mind for the future."

Maki raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not sure what you're implying." Kaede just gave her a knowing smile, which caused one of her hands to start absentmindedly fiddling with her long hair as she turned toward the door. "Anyway, shall we go?"

Kaede looked around the locker room again. "Hey, real quick before we do that..."

"What?" As soon as Maki had looked back at her, Kaede gently placed her hands on her shoulders and leaned in, kissing Maki softly.

She hadn't been prepared when she spontaneously kissed Maki at the community center, but now that she was, it was that much more satisfying. Judging by the way that Maki kissed her back, she could tell the other girl was probably expecting it more than she let on as well. Maki's lips were notably dry, and it was clear she was just as lost when it came to kisses as Kaede was, but the warmth she felt from their faces being so close made it more than worth it.

It was a couple of seconds longer than their last kiss, and when they separated and looked at each other silently, they each had to restrain themselves from going right back in. Kaede gave her a nervous smile. "Okay, now we can go."

Maki was still wearing a stunned expression, but the look in her eyes betrayed how happy she was. "Right. I thought you said we should wait until holiday break."

"I did," Kaede agreed as they started to the door. "But I just couldn't help myself from stealing a kiss beforehand."

"That's fine by me." Maki laced her fingers in Kaede's until they got to the door. They made sure they were no longer holding hands when the door opened, and one of them waved at the stragglers in the gym as they made their way out of the school for the night.

Now that the routine was finished and there were only one or two more practices in the semester, Kaede was able to shift her focus entirely on her other schoolwork. She hadn't fallen behind by any means, but she was keeping pace with it, which was much slower than the one-lesson-ahead pace she had kept in her past years. She wasn't too bothered about it, though. As long as she wasn't falling behind, it was all fine.

Still, she couldn't focus exclusively on her work, as sometimes her mind would drift to Maki and cause her to draw an extra heart or two in the margins of her papers. Thoughts about Maki would, more often than not, cause her mind to replay what happened in the locker room. She could feel Maki's lips against hers all over again every time, and it always brought a dreamy sigh from her mouth.

Then her phone vibrated, reminding her that she had texted Shuichi after all, hadn't she? Her simple message of, "stop pussyfooting around!" was met with an avalanche of eye rolling emojis. That simply would not stand, so she added, "look, I've kissed Maki twice now AND we have a date over winter break, so you have no excuse!"

"Try replying to that with emojis, Saihara," she triumphantly mumbled to herself upon hitting send.

He didn't respond at all until about half an hour later, when he seemingly changed the subject with, "Kaito just invited me to hang out with him this Sunday, what the fuck do I do?"

"You hang out with him? Duh?" Kaede typed out. "And don't get too carried away, young man."

Shuichi's response was a line of capital A's, and she could practically hear his screaming from where she was. Feeling a bit more punchy than usual, all she did was send the emoji of three water drops and put her phone away until she was done with her homework.

Once she was done, the clock was reading much later than she had hoped for, and she decided to get herself showered and ready for bed. "I'm gonna miss piano practice again, but I guess that's what I get for putting all that off until tonight," she grumbled to herself as she stepped into the bathroom. Instead, she opted for pantomiming playing the piano as she showered, which was definitely not dorky at all, no sir.

When her head hit the pillow that night, it was the first time she could do so without a difficult routine or some sort of nerves hanging over her head, so she fell asleep almost immediately. There was still one thing she felt she had to do in her half-awake haze, though, so she reached for her phone and typed out a message to Maki.

"Goodnight, Maki," was followed by a heart emoji, and that was the extent of the message. She had gotten a goodnight in return almost immediately, and the heart Maki sent her back filled her chest with warm, fuzzy feelings. Kaede fell asleep that night holding her phone close to her chest and more peacefully than she had in well over a month.

Something told her this was all going to work out after all.

On Sunday, however, Shuichi was getting very much the opposite feeling in his gut as he traveled to Kaito's house. He had only been there once, but he knew the way almost too well. The fact that Kaito's specific ideas were a mystery to him and he'd simply been told to meet at Kaito's house near dusk was not doing any favors for the panic slowly rising within him, but he tried to keep a cool head as he drove. The band Kaede had introduced him to helped soothe his nerves a bit, but only because it turned his thoughts to how resentful he was that Kaede had nailed his musical interests so succinctly by introducing him to what was essentially an emo band. He pulled up to Kaito's house as the notes of his favorite song of theirs died down, and it went a long way in keeping him from just sitting in his car nervously. He got out and heaved a deep breath as he headed for the door.

He raised his hand to knock, but the door flew open suddenly, revealing Kaito wrapped up in heavy, gaudy purple jackets and smiling wide. "Heya Shuichi! I was wonderin' when you'd get here!"

Shuichi's eyes went wide and he instinctively took a step back. "What's the matter, Kaito? You look like you're dressed for the cold."

"I am!" Kaito confirmed proudly. He put his hands on his bundled up hips and nodded firmly. "Tonight I want to show you something that I, Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, am truly passionate about!"

It should have been easy to guess, but the fact that it was becoming night at Kaito's house and his use of the word passionate had sent Shuichi's mind running to all the wrong places. "Wh-what? I'm not sure I understand."

Kaito shook his head. "No use guessing, because I'll just show ya!" He then fished a set of keys from his outermost jacket. "First step is to hop into my car so I can take ya there."

Shuichi was starting to feel like he was being kidnapped very slowly. "I'm not...sure how to feel about that."

Kaito scoffed. "C'mon, it'll be fun! We'll grab some grub first and then we'll head out."

Shuichi gulped and followed Kaito to his car. "Right..."

Well, Kaito's car was a bit of a generous way to put it. It was clearly his grandparents' car and it looked like it had been in the family for many years. It wasn't run down per se, it just looked like it had seen better days.

It also didn't help Shuichi's nerves that it was a white minivan. Kaito was the proud driver of a white, soccer mom minivan.

They got a bite to eat at a fast-food place, Kaito scarfing down his food so he could get to where he wanted to go faster. Back in the van, Kaito started driving toward the outskirts of town, venturing into hilly, wooded areas and away from the lights of the city. "Of course, it's always a bit of a drive," he explained as the darkness of the night grew deeper around them. "But what I love to do requires clear, dark skies and a lot of free space."

Shuichi was starting to connect the dots in his head, but he didn't want to say his conclusion out loud because Kaito was clearly excited to reveal it to him on his terms. It took nearly an hour, but they finally reached the place he had in mind. He pulled off in a small, makeshift parking lot facing the hillside and got out, gesturing grandly to the clearing in the trees behind them. "This is the best spot for some good old fashioned star gazing, my friend! I even brought a telescope so we can try to see the planets. Mars is really bright this week!" He popped the trunk of the van and rummaged through it. When he finally produced his tool, he gently carried it into the center of the clearing and set it up triumphantly.

"Stargazing, huh?" Shuichi parroted as he followed him into the clearing. "I probably should have known."

Kaito laughed his boisterous, borderline obnoxious laugh. "Don't worry about it. Kaede and Maki are always talkin' about cheerleading and it's easy to get absorbed in it. You know, your friend really has a way of makin' people listen when she talks."

"She sure does." Despite his usual behavior and the lower classes he was in, Kaito seemed to be better at reading people than he let on. It made Shuichi wonder what other talents he was hiding behind that hair of his. As he thought, it occurred to him just how cold he was. He brought his hands to his arms and gripped them tight, shivering slightly.

An action Kaito caught on to immediately. "Oh, ya cold? I probably shoulda told ya to bundle up, huh? Well, I'm not as cold as I thought I'd be, so you can wear one of mine if ya like."

Shuichi felt his heart pound in his chest. Kaito was offering him his jacket? Wasn't that like, a romantic gesture in all those movies? Regardless, he couldn't psyche himself out, so he gladly accepted the offer. Kaito slipped off his outer jacket to reveal that he had at least two more on under it (neither of which matched the first one, he noticed) and draped the thick coat around Shuichi's shoulders. "Thank you."

Kaito gave him a cheesy grin and turned his gaze to the sky, immediately causing his smile to fade. "Oh. Well...shit."

Shuichi asked what was wrong, but looking to the sky himself, he saw exactly what Kaito's problem was: it was a cloudy night. Thick clouds covered most of the sky, and the sparse openings in between held very little to be seen. "Oh, I see."

Kaito stomped the ground, startling his companion a bit. "Well, damn it!"

Shuichi shrugged. He had to admit, once he realized where they were going, he was looking forward to it. He'd always had a passing interest in stars and hearing Kaito explain everything to him sounded like it would be nice, but now they were simply alone in a field with a telescope. "That's a shame."

"It's more than a shame!" Kaito snapped. "It's the worst thing that could have happened! My well-laid plans all went to waste!"

"Plans?" Shuichi looked to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I was hopin' I could blow you away with my knowledge of all this..." He paused to gesture vaguely at the sky. "But of course, the weather couldn't cooperate."

"Hey, it's fine," Shuichi told him. "We can always come another night." He felt bad saying it, knowing there was no guarantee he was making it to Christmas, but it was just the right thing to say in that situation.

Kaito sighed, looking deflated even in what must have been five layers or more. "I guess, but I wanted it to be tonight. The sky's always got my back when I need the courage to do something, and who knows if I'll be able to work up the nerve to tell ya what I need to tell ya again."

Shuichi's heart skipped a beat. "Wait, what?"

He hadn't even noticed he let something slip, judging by the fact that he said, "I've always dreamed of tellin' someone I like 'em under the starry night sky, maybe with a shooting star or two to add to the drama of it all, but I guess tonight's just not that night."

Shuichi didn't respond immediately, because he felt like if he opened his mouth, he'd throw up from all the emotions what he'd just heard gave him. When he was still silent, Kaito's eyes slowly widened as he realized what he said. "Oh...uh, heh. Oops. Looks like the cat's outta the bag on this one, eh?"

Shuichi nearly fainted. All he could muster up the courage to say was a single, "Um..."

"Well, now ya know," Kaito said, picking up the tripod and slowly starting to make his way back to the car.

Shuichi stood there as he watched Kaito start to walk away. One step, two steps, three steps...he had to say something! "Kaito, wait!" He said, bordering on a scream. He burst into a sprint towards him, and Kaito turned around just in time to react.

The idea was for Shuichi to open his arms and take Kaito into a running tackle-hug, mostly because he didn't know what else to do, but also because he knew Kaito could handle the force of his tiny frame.

What had happened was Kaito lifting his telescope above his head, yelling, "Whoa, watch out!" and side stepping out of the way, causing Shuichi to fall flat on his face in the cold grass. Kaito gasped and gingerly set his telescope down before kneeling at Shuichi's side. "S-sorry, bro. It's just that, this thing cost a lotta money, and I can't go around breakin' it, no matter how romantic the reason is."

Shuichi mumbled something into the grass that he didn't even catch, but Kaito took it as his understanding. "Here, lemme help ya." He helped Shuichi to a stand and then wrapped his arms around him. Shuichi did much the same, using the thick layers of Kaito's jacket as a way to relive the pain in his face. "But I'm takin' that to mean you like me as well?"

Shuichi nodded wordlessly, and Kaito chuckled underneath his face. "Whew. Thought I blew it there."

They stood there, holding onto each other in silence until Kaito suddenly gasped. "Whoa, Shuichi, look!" He let go of his new boyfriend(?) and pointed to the sky. "The clouds are clearin' up just enough to get a good look at Mars!"

Sure enough, he was pointing at a break in the clouds perfectly framing a bright, glowing dot in the sky. "Set the telescope back up, then," Shuichi said. "It's not gonna be there much longer, if the clouds around it are any indication."

"Right! Oh man, this is so exciting!"

Shuichi was only able to get a glimpse of Mars before the clouds covered it back up, but he had a good feeling that trips like this were going to start happening more often.

And so long as he didn't end up face down in the dirt, that was fine by him.

The advent that Shuichi and Kaito had finally gotten together was a happy one, and Kaede was obviously happy for her best friend! But something else inside her was just a little jealous that they were together. Sure, she and Maki had the conversation and yeah, they had a Christmas date planned, but she just felt hollow knowing that she still had to keep their budding relationship a secret. She loved Maki. Of that, she was surer than almost anything else in her life. And all she wanted was to scream it from the rooftops, or at the very least be able to hold her hand in public without endangering her high school career. So to see Kaito and Shuichi show affection or call each other his boyfriend was to come face to face with the fact that she couldn't be that affectionate.

She wasn't going to say anything and risk Shuichi feeling like he wasn't allowed to have his fun, but she did feel like saying it, so she saved it for their next gym trip, where she said it to Maki in the locker room after they were finishing up. Maki listened, a deadpan look on her face and giving a nod every once in a while to signal that she was still listening. There seemed to be something off about the way she was reacting, but it could wait until everything was off Kaede's chest.

When she was wrapping up (and putting the last of her clothes on), Maki took a seat on a nearby bench and bit her thumb to think. Finally, she said, "I understand how you feel. I don't feel that way myself, but I can definitely sympathize."

"You...don't?" Kaede asked. "Wait, what part don't you feel?" Inwardly, she was thinking, please don't say the part about being in love...

Maki shrugged. "I've...never been a very affectionate person. I don't know if it's because I've never been in a relationship before or because of my...certain upbringing, but the urge to be physically affectionate is...lost on me, I suppose."

That only raised more questions about Maki's mysterious past, but Kaede decided not to pry. "I see. I guess that makes sense."

Maki seemed like she was thankful Kaede didn't ask any further questions. "Still, that doesn't mean I can't sympathize. Maybe I can tell them to tone it down just a bit. After all, if someone like Miu were to see them being all lovey-dovey at lunch, it would just be natural to assume we're some sort of double date table."

Kaede giggled. "Well, we are a double date table, but that's what we don't want them to know."

"Exactly." Maki stood up to leave, but paused a few steps later. "Hey, Kaede?"

"Yeah?"

Slowly, Maki turned around, her movements slightly stiff and robotic. "Do you...need a hug?"

The question was met with watery eyes and a warm smile. "Yeah. That sounds nice."

That short, simple hug was all Kaede needed to get through her weekend, and she made sure Maki knew that when she sent her goodnight text that night. That, by the way, had become a bit of a habit for them, leading to their text conversations being littered with goodnight wishes and good morning greetings. Each night, they used a different colored heart, and it was a simple interaction Kaede looked forward to each and every time.