A/N: Merry Christmas Eve, happy Friday, happy holidays, etc.! Last truth or dare chapter, I promise. I didn't think it would get this long, but this fusion of friend groups has so much to say to each other.

Thanks to ZainR for the review! I've honestly been waiting to write Nezumi's toxic cover scene for a long time. XD And Yuri sure is lethal, isn't she? Even her hugs can be dangerous. Poor Hisakawa. (Also, not to quote Avengers but I understood that reference :P) Oh, you just know that even without Naoi's powers, Yuri was hypnotized by him there. If you liked the cameo in the last chapter, I think you'll be happy with this one too!

Quick disclaimer: One truth q is a vine reference. Not mine. Couldn't resist.

Season's greetings, and enjoy!

[Chapter 42]: Truth or Dare Squared (Part II)

Shiruba was barely listening. "Can somebody get me an apple? Ami, I swear I can redeem myself…"

"Hold off on that apple, mister!" Ami said playfully. "Shiruba, truth or dare?"

He snapped to attention with a smile. "Truth!"

Ami looked pleased, as if she had been rooting for that answer. "Okay, I've always wondered about this," she said, scooting forward in her chair to face him. "How did you and Nezumi become friends, exactly? I thought you used to hate each other."

Shiruba blinked twice. "I didn't hate him," he said slowly, but then turned to Nezumi, who lifted his eyebrows in turn. "We didn't hate each other, right?"

"Nah, of course not!" Nezumi said proudly. "I just drove you fuckin' nuts."

"How times have changed," Shiruba drawled, making the rest of their group laugh. "It wasn't easy at first, when he and Hirohashi became friends in grade six…"

"Yeah, I remember being really surprised by that," Ami admitted. Nezumi scoffed but said nothing.

Shiruba nodded. "I didn't get it either, but Hirohashi just kinda saw the good in him first. Anyways, yeah, we argued a lot, especially that year, but there were some good times even back then." He turned again to Nezumi and was already starting to crack up. "Like, do you remember that one argument, it was one of the first we ever had, where I was saying my mom wouldn't let me climb trees—"

"—because the Naoi kid had died last year!" Nezumi gasped, pointing at Shiruba in recollection. Ayato felt a hollow thud in the center of his chest at the mention.

"And I expected you to make fun of me but instead you started talking about him, how you remembered you were in his class in first, second, and fourth grade," Shiruba continued in a rush, grinning from ear to ear. "And I was like, 'No…? I was in his class in second, third, and fourth!'"

"And we both got so mad," Nezumi said, cackling. "We kept insisting and getting louder and louder, and meanwhile, Hirohashi's standing between us and going, 'Guys… Guys? Guys?'"

Shiruba, snickering, threw his arms out for the finale. "And finally, he yells, 'GUYS! There was two of them!'"

"'They're identical twins!'" Shiruba, Nezumi, and Hirohashi finished together, the former two busting out laughing.

"And we were like, 'Ohhh…' and just started cracking the hell up," Nezumi said, beaming.

Fujimoto rubbed his chin. "Didn't I come up to you later, and you asked me if I knew about this—"

"And you said, 'Dude, his brother is literally in my class,'" Nezumi confirmed. He looked over at Ayato. "I barely saw you in school back then, so I had no idea." Suddenly his eyes opened a little wider. "Wait, shit, sorry. This must be a sore subject for you."

"We don't mean to make light of it or anything," Shiruba said.

Ayato waved a hand dismissively, hoping they wouldn't draw it out too much. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

Shiruba gave a respectful nod. "So where were we again?" he asked.

"Don't worry, I'll take it from here," Nezumi answered with a grin. "So, basically for a year ours was a relationship of pranks and mutual friends and begrudging tolerance. And then, in summer 2007, I started, you know, not acting like myself. I'm sure a few of you are aware there was some crazy family drama right around that time, and I was having a huge identity crisis because of it."

Next to Ayato, Hejjiguchi fidgeted in his chair. Nezumi's voice got unusually quiet and serious at this point.

"Well, Shiruba was the first person I really talked to about it. He found me getting all angsty under the tree and even though we weren't super close at the time, he asked what was wrong and we just talked for a long time. Then at the end, I thanked him, and he was like, 'What are friends for?'" He offered Shiruba a genuine smile. "He stood by me through all the changes. It was really cool of him." His smile shifted to Ami. "He's a good friend."

A more serious mood had blanketed the group, quiet and pensive. Ami's eyes had softened as she regarded Shiruba a bit more fondly. "Is that true…?"

Beside Nezumi, Shiruba's face had scrunched up in thought. "I mean, yeah, but that's not the part I would've mentioned first," he said, and raised his eyebrows at him. "You left out what that 'what are friends for' line was a callback to."

"Oh, well, I didn't think you wanted these guys to know about your secret talent," Nezumi said with a shrug.

"It's no big deal. What better opportunity to bring it up than truth or dare?" Shiruba replied. He turned to the rest of the group. "So, until late 2006, for years I'd been doing these onstage music performances and Hirohashi was the only one who went to see them. I'd told him to keep it a secret from the rest of the guys. But he had a slip of the tongue and Nezumi interrogated the crap out of him. He insisted they should all go see me play. So, after threatening to disown them if they heckled, Hirohashi brought them along. I saw them in the audience, and I refused to give them anything to make fun of, so I basically did the best performance of my life."

"He's right, we couldn't heckle one bit," Fujimoto agreed. "So we found him afterwards and started hounding him for never telling us he was so talented."

Takada beamed. "Yeah, I was like, 'What the hell, man? You know I love music!'"

"And of course, after giving Hirohashi shit for spilling the beans," Shiruba went on, "I found out that it was Nezumi's idea that they all come see it together to support me. Which didn't make any sense to me, because it was Nezumi, and he was still a huge pain back then. But he admitted he wanted to see if I was good. Which I was. And eventually I realized he was trying to compliment me, so I was like, 'Thanks, I guess?' And he said, 'What are friends for?'" He gave a small shrug. "And I mean, maybe we still weren't super close back then, but that's when I started seeing him as a friend. That's when the seeds were planted. For me, at least."

"We made sure to go to all of his performances after that," Takada added.

"Wait, so what do you play?" Ami asked.

Shiruba blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Violin," he answered. "Some classical, but also pop and rock and dubstep."

"That is so cool…" she breathed, enthralled. "What got you into it?"

"Yeah," Yuri chimed in. "I would've pegged you for more of a piano guy. I don't know why." Ayato found himself silently agreeing with her. Maybe he just looked the type.

"Actually, that's super relevant to Ami's question," Shiruba said, pointing to Yuri. "See, I learned piano first. My mom kind of forced me into it. It's this whole ridiculous thing…" He ran a hand through his mess of silver hair. "She has this cousin she hasn't seen in years, but she's still majorly competitive towards. Like apparently her cousin is too perfect and elegant and nice and smart and their family wouldn't shut up about her. So of course, she blocked her out, but she was still obsessed so she eventually found out her cousin had a happy marriage, and a daughter who was my age and already just as talented at the piano as her mom. Naturally that meant I had to learn piano too, but I was more drawn to the violin, so Mom had me learn both just to outdo her cousin." Shiruba started laughing and shaking his head. "Basically, the reason I have any musical skill at all is because most of my life I've had a rivalry with a second cousin I've never even met."

"Oh, but still! I'm sure you're amazingly talented." Ami clasped her hands together pleadingly. "Will you play something for me sometime?"

Shiruba looked more bashful. "Ami, I think we're on our third truth and a dare at this point."

"There's a piano right there, bro, just do it," said Takada, pointing. "Play us a song, you're the piano man…"

"Oh God, he's been possessed by his cousin," Fujimoto said, looking at Takada in horror.

Caving, Shiruba wandered over to the lodge's piano and sat down at the bench. "Fine. This is the first melody my mom taught me," he said. "I think she learned it from her grandmother."

He began to play, his fingers tentative at first but then sweeping over the keys. The tune was gentle and soothing, warm and almost bittersweet. Ayato couldn't tell which emotion overpowered the other, the sadness or the comfort. It felt like nostalgia had been captured in a single melody. If he were to give it a title, he'd call it "Memory."

Ami, Yuri, Kurimu, and Nezumi were listening intently. Even Masuda seemed charmed by it, mellow and nodding approvingly at Shiruba for once, before his eyes got a faraway look to them as if he had fallen into one of his own memories.

Shiruba played the last five keys and took a moment to let them float away on the air, then stood up, smiling and giving a little bow as Ami clapped for him the loudest.

"Oh, I wish I could hear your violin!" she gasped.

"I wish I'd brought it," he admitted sheepishly, sitting back down by the fire. "There's a violin in the music room, but I think Nezumi's too scared of those little bassist and drummer girls in there."

"I am not!" Nezumi said. "And they weren't little, they were our age!"

Ami smiled. "I guess I'll have to come see you at one of your performances, then."

"It's a date," he replied smoothly. "Kurimu, truth or dare?"

Kurimu, who had been looking the other way (surprisingly past Hejjiguchi to Masuda), turned her head in surprise. "Oh!" she said, uncertain. Ayato figured if he could read her mind, she'd be thinking… if Yuri would make her swear, who knew what one of Nezumi's friends would do? "Um, truth."

"Let's see…" Shiruba tented his fingers against his lips, contemplative. "What is your biggest fear?"

She blinked a couple times, as if impressed. "That's a good one," she said earnestly, and rested her chin on her fists. "I think my biggest fear would be… leaving people behind."

This earned her quite a few looks. Even Nezumi and friends appeared rather thrown by her answer.

"Why's that?" Hejjiguchi asked softly.

"I know why," Nezumi said, crossing his arms. "Your dad, right?"

"Nezumi!" Ami said sharply.

Kurimu shook her head. "No, he's right," she admitted. "My father died so young, you know. He didn't get to finish the art project he was working on. He didn't even get to meet me." Sadness crept over her normally cheerful cherubic features. "And it's one thing to leave things unfinished. I think I could come to grips with that. But he left behind a young wife and unborn daughter. And to have to leave someone behind, when our story's just begun… it would break my heart." She uttered a shaky sigh. "I would feel terrible to hurt my loved ones like that."

"Aw, Kurimu," Ami and Yuri said, while Nezumi put a hand over his heart.

Hejjiguchi added, "I didn't realize you thought about things like that…"

"I wouldn't."

Everyone looked over at Hisakawa, who shifted in her seat but otherwise looked unfazed by the attention.

"I mean, pardon me for being blunt," she amended. "It's just, I think that's a natural part of life, you know. Getting over stuff. Overcoming the hard things and living better for it." More and more of the conjoined friend group was staring at her, but she just crossed one leg over the other and leaned back with folded arms. "You can't be around forever. They have to know that. You've just got to live your lives together like there is no tomorrow – and have faith that when you do leave, they're strong enough to go on without you."

Ayato looked over at Yuri knowingly, who rolled her eyes and muttered aside to him, "Oh God, here we go…"

"Even if you never forget them, you have to let them go just as much as they do," Hisakawa continued as if she hadn't heard her. Caught up in her spiel, it was likely that was the case. "And, it's just… the beauty of life is that it's so unexpected. Things happen. Things change. People are born. They live, they leave, they die. If it's out of your control, then don't feel guilty about it. Don't be afraid to move on to the next adventure. All that fear and guilt does is taint the good memories and follow you to your grave."

A lot of mixed reactions from the crowd. Yuri looked bored, Masuda and Nezumi intrigued. Ami and Hejjiguchi's expressions were contemplative at first, yet at the same time conflicted and protective of their sensitive friend.

Kurimu simply tilted her head with an uncertain frown. "But isn't that what Yuri did to you?"

A shocked silence fell, and from the look on Hisakawa's face, Kurimu might as well have just shot her. Then the boys shattered the quiet with a round of crowed gasps, hoots, and other scandalized exclamations.

"DAMN, Kurimu!" Fujimoto whooped.

"You really didn't leave any survivors with that one, did ya?" Nezumi said, visibly struggling for Hisakawa's sake not to look fantastically impressed.

Kurimu clapped a hand over her mouth. "Wait, I'm sorry!" she cried out, glancing between Hisakawa and Yuri but not noticing the way the latter was regarding her with a renewed sense of appreciation. "I never meant to—"

"No, but that's – that's exactly my point," Hisakawa said, a discreet wobble to her voice as she tried to quickly recover. "Yuri, dealing with her survivor's guilt, left our friendship behind, and – and life moves on, I got over it."

"As exhibited on the day of the festival," Ayato quipped, unable to help himself. Beside him, Yuri bit her lip and stifled a snicker into her fist, sending an admiring side-glance his way. (He tried not to preen at the attention.)

Hisakawa breathed out an unaffected scoff. "Okay, everyone going through something is allowed one solid freak-out," she amended. "As long as no one gets hurt. The important thing is that they can come back from it."

"As long as no one gets hurt?" Yuri repeated. "Like your hissy fit had no effect or anything?"

"Oh my God, nooo, I yelled at you," Hisakawa said sarcastically, pitching forward. "You punched me in the face during yours!"

Yuri launched to her feet, brandishing a fist. "You know what—"

"Oh, what—"

Amidst the gasps of and nervous hoots of "oh shit," Ayato jumped up and locked his arms around Yuri's waist while Nezumi pulled Hisakawa back by the shoulders, restraining the girls as they lunged and started shouting at each other. Well, most of it was on Yuri's end, but Ayato would think that as one the people who'd known her the longest, Hisakawa would have an idea of what buttons not to push.

"So, Kurimu, you were saying about your greatest fear?" Shiruba asked, him and Hirohashi leaning in and looking slightly apologetic.

"I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all," Kurimu said nervously. Her eyes skittered across the group. "Um, Saki – truth or dare?"

Saki considered Kurimu for a moment, then said, "Dare."

Yuri immediately stopped struggling in Ayato's arms, turning her head so fast her hair whipped his face. "What?"

"You almost never pick dare," Hisakawa said, furrowing her brow but relaxing her shoulders. "You love truth."

"I love making people reconsider what they know," Saki countered. "It sure shut you two up, didn't it? Expect the unexpected – isn't that what you said, Chitose?" She reached over and took a swig of Masuda's eggnog, then waggled her finger. "Besides, I think Kurimu's probably better at dares than she is at truths. Like, what do I wanna be when I grow up? A penguin herder. Next question."

Kurimu smiled, obviously just relieved she'd broken the tension. "I'd be offended but that's exactly what I was going to ask," she said demurely. Then she straightened in her seat as Yuri and Hisakawa sat down in theirs. "Okay, Saki, I dare you…" she paused, noting the amount of people who had come into the lodge, "to go yell 'FREE HUGS' and give at least one person a big hug."

Immediately Saki set Masuda's drink down and stood up, taking a moment to look back at Hisakawa. "Her dares involve hugs," she said, as if this was the most precious or wonderful thing she'd ever heard. Then she rushed up the platform stairs to the main area and glanced all around until her eyes lit up as they fell on a target.

"FREE HUGS!" she shouted, barreling at a small group of high school guys that was heading toward the café. The sunny-haired boy leading and talking to his friends barely looked ahead in time, uttering a disoriented yelp cut short at the moment of impact as a tiny Goldilocks threw herself into his arms. He fell back just a step, but once he realized what was happening, pure joy took over his face and he practically lifted her off her feet to return the hug.

"Hm," said Hisakawa, eyeing the other boys while this was happening. "I totally get the appeal, but I feel like initially I would've gone for his friend. The one on the right with the dark hair and glasses."

"He does seem very smart and mysterious," Ami said with a sigh.

"Like he could use a good hug," Kurimu added, earning her a fond (and only slightly wary) grin from Hejjiguchi.

"You mean Specs-and-Pecs over there?" Nezumi asked. In the background, Saki could be seen yelling "FREE HUGS" again and launching herself at the bespectacled boy.

Shiruba peered at him oddly. "How can you tell he has pecs?" he said, scoffing. "He looks kind of scrawny if you ask me."

"Nah, he works out, I can tell." Nezumi shrugged like it was obvious. "Sure, he doesn't look the type, but you can tell by the look in his eye that he's just itching to tear off his shirt and reveal the sexy secret muscles underneath."

Shiruba and Takada stared at him.

"You know. Like Clark Kent transforming into Superman," Nezumi clarified.

"Ah," they said in unison.

When they looked away, Nezumi sniffed and shook his head. "Nerds…"

Yuri also kept sneaking glances at the boys over there. "Why do those two look so familiar to me…?" she asked herself quietly.

With a doubtful frown, Ayato studied them again himself. Despite feeling a little irritated by the lingering attention on those guys, he did understand the feeling of vague recognition towards just one, the one with the glasses.

As for the other boy that held Yuri's interest, Ayato understood why Saki picked him out. If he inspired any déjà vu, it was because with his friendly face, warm eyes, and golden hair, he resembled a taller and more sportive version of Hirohashi.

"So, Mitsumura, who's your friend?" Specs-and-Pecs asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he watched Saki hug the third guy, a startled redhead.

Mitsumura laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I dunno, I guess she's just giving out free hugs and we just happened to be here at exactly the right time."

"I'm Saki! Wanna come play truth-or-dare with us?" Saki asked.

Specs considered. "Can I strip?" he asked, starting to unbutton his shirt.

Saki looked sad. "Sorry, it's against the rules."

"Fine then," Specs monotoned, rebuttoning just as sadly.

"Rules were made to be broken!" Hisakawa called out, causing Nezumi to crack up beside her.

"You know," he grinned, throwing an arm around her shoulder, "I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."

Finally their redheaded friend got impatient and dragged them off to the café, but Mitsumura and Specs waved goodbye to Saki and even glanced over their shoulders as she headed back to the fire. Ayato thought he saw Specs do a double take at their group and wondered who he was looking at.

Maybe Hisakawa, since she was the one who'd flirted from afar.

(The thought felt strangely reassuring…)

"Mitsumura was very nice," Saki said matter-of-factly, taking her seat between Hirohashi and Masuda. Now Ayato could truly tell the difference between Mitsumura and Hirohashi – the latter's expression was, at the moment, considerably less animated and more contained as he watched Saki settle in next to him.

"Did you get his number?" Hisakawa asked.

"Huh?" She lifted her head. "Oh, no. The hungry friend insisted they didn't have time for that. They just said they'd catch me later."

"Well, whatever. It's your turn now."

"Oh yeah!" Saki said, brightening like she'd just remembered. Beside her, Hirohashi stiffened and braced himself, but she turned in the other direction with a smile. "Masuda, truth or dare?"

Masuda mulled it over, his curious eyes never leaving her. "Truth," he said at last.

Saki's pupils dilated like a cat's. "Was the moon landing of 1969 faked?"

"What?" Masuda blinked.

"Answer the question, Masuda," she whispered.

A few of their friends began to protest. "Aw – c'mon, Saki!" said Hisakawa.

"Only questions he can answer," Yuri chided.

"I'm just surprised she didn't pick me," Hirohashi admitted.

"Well, I knew you'd pick dare because kissing is banned and you're afraid of the truth," said Saki. She moved forward to lean on Masuda's arm rest and look up at him with her big round blue eyes. "You're not afraid of the truth, are you, Masuda?"

"No, ma'am," Masuda responded, a little quirk at the corner of his lips.

"But seriously, Saki, questions relevant to him," Hejjiguchi said, though he was still chuckling from her original question.

"Fine…" Saki propped her chin on top of her folded hands and studied Masuda some more. "What happened to your older brother? He disappeared right after he graduated." Her eyes twinkled with intrigue. "I find that suspicious."

At first Masuda was surprised at the question, but soon enough his brow smoothed over with understanding.

"Oh, it's nothing shady or anything," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "Our parents were trying to keep him and his girlfriend apart, so the two of them eloped and ran away to be together."

Ami gasped rather loudly. Everyone glanced over at her and she blushed but her eyes were pure hearts.

"Wait, what?" Hejjiguchi asked, bewildered. "Isn't your brother only four years older than you?"

"Yeah," Masuda said with a shrug. "He got married at eighteen."

"Eighteen?" Hisakawa echoed, in a voice that suggested he might as well have said twelve.

"That's crazy," said Hejjiguchi, a mix of laughing and terrified. "That is way too young."

"It's not that young," Masuda said, looking to Yuri for help.

Yuri bit her lip, most certainly conflicted at the prospect of agreeing with Hisakawa, but she ultimately had to cave. "Hmm, I don't know. I couldn't see myself getting married at any younger than twenty."

Hisakawa immediately snorted twenty under her breath, drawing Yuri's eye as well as her ire.

"Hey, if you wanna get married at twenty, that's fine," she told her, raising both hands in surrender. She added with a chuckle, "I mean, that divorce line on your palm's probably nothing, right?"

Yuri growled. "I was agreeing with you, don't take that for granted," she said sharply.

"I know," Hisakawa conceded, "but the problem with getting married any younger than twenty-three is that you can't have known them for more than five years unless you met in or before high school. And come on, what is the likelihood of finding your one true love when you're that young?"

"Are you telling me Specs-and-Pecs back there wasn't your true love?" Hejjiguchi asked, feigning a look of sheer astonishment.

Hisakawa started cracking up. "Give me a few years to think about it, that's all I'm saying."

"Well, my brother was always the rebellious one," Masuda said, his tone humble even if a smidge defensive. "They met when they were sixteen, on one of his first days at school after we moved here. He told me he knew he loved her the moment he saw her. And after two years of friendship and falling for her and sneaking out of the house to see her, getting married just made sense, not just as a 'screw you' to our parents." He smiled wistfully. "A month from now, it'll be their third anniversary. I don't think anything could tear them apart."

"That's really cool, man, but I think they're one of the lucky ones," said Hejjiguchi. "My parents got together in college, married at twenty-two. Whirlwind romances are fun in theory but in reality they can create a big mess."

Nezumi chortled in realization. "Oh, right, score one for high school romances then," he said under his breath.

Hejjiguchi made a face at him and opened his mouth to make a comment, but then he caught a glimpse of Kurimu's troubled expression, which quickly shut him up.

"I'm sure that can be true in many cases," Masuda reasoned, "but… I don't know, I've seen true love. I can't help having faith in it. My brother looked that girl in the eyes that day at school – 'the greenest eyes I'd ever seen,' he said—" (Ayato turned his gaze studiously towards the fire, feeling nervous all of a sudden) "—and his first thought was 'There you are. I've finally found you. Wherever you are, I'll be happy to call home.' It was as if he'd known her forever." Looking up from his clasped hands, he realized everyone's eyes were on him, and smiled nervously. "I can't say for sure about soulmates, but if anyone ever made me feel that passionately about them… screw eighteen, I'd marry them today."

A lingering silence fell, everyone around the fire sharing meaningful little looks.

"Shit, dude, I'll marry you for that," Fujimoto said, and he, Nezumi, and Takada broke into snickering guffaws.

"Oh, shut up! Be serious!" Ami chastised, before turning back to Masuda with an apologetic smile. "Don't listen to any of them," she said firmly, and gave a dreamy sigh. "I think it's romantic."

"It is kind of a nice thought," Yuri pointed out, drawing Ayato's attention back to her. "I mean, I'd have to already know them by now. But the earlier you find each other, the more of your life you get to spend together. The more experiences you share, things you can go through with someone at your side."

"I think so too," Kurimu said primly, wringing her hands in her lap. "My parents got married fairly young. They started their bakery together. My mother said she was grateful every day that she followed her heart instead of her fear. It gave her seven years with her soulmate."

Hisakawa bit her lip, thinking hard about something. "Okay, I see what you're all getting at," she said slowly, "and I kind of agree."

"What?" Hejjiguchi looked flabbergasted at her, highly incredulous. "You…?"

"If," Hisakawa said firmly, "if I looked into someone's eyes, and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this person made me feel like we belonged together, that the world was brighter and made more sense with them in it, that the rest of our lives would be filled with laughter, and passion, and adventure because we had each other… then yeah. I'd get married." She shrugged like it was a no-brainer. "Even right after high school, assuming since this guy's the one I've been waiting for, he's gonna stick with me through university and not just try to make me settle down."

Hejjiguchi, who had gone from bewildered to pensive during her speech, glanced away from Kurimu and gave a good-natured scoff. "Hisakawa, if there's a decent guy with any brains at all who would ever try to stop you, he's gonna have to catch you first," he said with a grin.

Hisakawa matched his grin and laughed out loud. "Right? Like, good luck, buddy," she said, giving a confident toss of her hair. Then her eyes drifted to Ayato. "Naoi, you're so quiet. What's your take on all of this?"

Despite being rather vexed by the "quiet" comment (there'd barely been a lull to speak even if he'd wanted to), Ayato merely shifted in his seat and crossed his arms.

"I don't like to think about it, honestly," he admitted. "Marriage, I mean. It'd just mean dragging someone I care about into my own family issues."

"We've all got family issues, buddy," said Hejjiguchi.

Nezumi gave a small shrug of agreement. "The thing is with marriage you've got someone who's there for you through thick and thin."

His words resonated with Ayato, and involuntarily he found his gaze drawn toward Yuri – only to find her looking right at him as well, a comforting warmth in her eyes and a thoughtful half-smile on her lips. Feeling inexplicably embarrassed, he pushed his focus right past her to Masuda.

"I think we've usurped Masuda's turn for long enough," he said. "Masuda, you want to wrap it up and choose someone else?"

"Might as well," Masuda conceded. He peered across the fire and raised his eyebrows at his target. "Nezumi, truth or dare?"

Nezumi blinked in surprise. "Again?" he asked, cocking his head. "Hejj, I think your little friend has a crush on me—"

"Dude, shut up," Shiruba said, rolling his eyes. "Just answer the question. Not everything has to be a thing."

Nezumi looked more startled, and briefly held his hand to his heart as he gaped at his friend in offense, before shaking it off and turning back to the ever-patient Masuda.

"Alright, fine," he said. "But I'll mix things up for ya. As fun as your dares are, I gotta pick truth."

Masuda's brow smoothed over at once, something akin to satisfaction glinting in his eyes. It appeared that Nezumi had chosen precisely what Masuda wanted him to.

"Well then," he said, leaning forward in his chair. "Speaking of people being there for you through thick and thin… Nezumi, how did you honestly feel when Shiruba spent Christmas with Ami and me instead of you?"

All the humor drained from Nezumi's face. He sucked in his cheeks, wrenching his lips in thought. "Yeah, I think I like your dares better," he said after a moment.

Shiruba was looking at him expectantly, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "Nez, that's not an answer—"

"It sucked, okay?" Nezumi interrupted. "Like, I was able to kind of get over it 'cause the thought of you embarrassing yourself around girls amuses me—"

"Thanks a lot," Shiruba said dryly.

"—but then it turns out that you weren't even using that night to put your so-called moves on Ami. No," Nezumi said firmly. "You ditched me… for a guy. That's just—"

"I did not ditch you for a guy!" Shiruba said, desperate in his defensive laughter. "I didn't dit—you said it was fine! You said it was a brilliant idea!"

"Hejj never has any brilliant ideas!" Nezumi scoffed back. "You should've known I was bluffing—"

"He didn't – nobody told me Masuda was gonna be there too—"

"Wait," Ami said, glancing between Nezumi, Shiruba, and Hejjiguchi.

"—but you still spent the whole night arguing with him! Like if you wanted someone to argue with, you didn't have to go sniffing around Hejj's friends—"

"—was not the whole night, I told you they were exaggerating! And what do you care if—"

"Wait!" Ami cut Shiruba off. "What does Souma-kun have to do with any of this?"

Shiruba looked over at her with a disoriented blink. "Huh?"

"Nezumi said 'Hejj never has any brilliant ideas,'" Ami repeated. "What does he have to do with you spending time with me for Christmas?"

Shiruba and Nezumi glanced back at each other, sharing another blink. Hejjiguchi visibly tried to hide his annoyance.

"Ahm." Shiruba sweated a little. "He, uh… Hejj knew I wanted the two of us to hang out sometime. He suggested it might be fun to go do something around the holidays. That's all."

Ami frowned over at Hejjiguchi, not quite a pout but getting there. "Yeah, 'cause Christmas is the time of year you should be with the people you really care about."

"It sure is, Ami," Nezumi said, with a pointed look at Shiruba. "It sure is."

Shiruba started counting on his fingers. "You still had Fujimoto, and Takada, and Hirohashi…"

"It wasn't the same!" Nezumi said briskly. When Shiruba looked taken aback, Nezumi softened. "You know I love Christmas, but… it wasn't the same without you, man. You're like… the shining silver angel atop the tree that is our group."

"Aww," Hisakawa cooed. Nezumi and Shiruba turned to stare at her, making her blush. "Sorry. Moment-killer."

Turning back to Nezumi, Shiruba looked him firmly in the eyes. "Dude, I'm not being stolen away. I'm not like…" He paused, and in the chair beside him, Kurimu's shoulders tensed. "I know you've said you don't care about that, but just… trust me, I'm not. That's why I wanted you to stick with me this week. It's not 'cause I think you're a brilliant wingman. You're kinda sabotaging me at every turn."

A feigned scoff of offense from Nezumi. "Psh, me? Come on..."

Shiruba gave a skeptical hum, his golden eyes turning teasing. "And it's not like I forgot all about you or anything." He reached over and solemnly grasped Nezumi's hands. "I promise, the night I was with them, I was thinking of you the whole time."

Nezumi bit his lip and then burst out laughing, his body wracked so hard with guffaws that he almost fell out of his chair. Ami, Hisakawa, Fujimoto, and Takada were cracking up too, the latter two shaking their heads at their friends.

"You two are disgustingly codependent, you know that," Fujimoto said between coughs of laughter.

"Eh, you're just saying that because you're not his favorite anymore," Shiruba replied smugly.

Red-faced with laughter, Nezumi wheezed and wiped at his eyes. "Okay," he gasped. "Okay, okay, um… Hejj, truth or dare?"

Hejjiguchi regarded Nezumi with distrust. "Truth," he said after a beat.

Smiling across the fire at him, Nezumi gave a slight head tilt. "Really?" he asked. He cast a conspicuous glance toward Ami and Kurimu, then returned his gaze to him, lifting his eyebrows promptingly. "Are you sure?"

Poker-facing, Hejjiguchi began sweating profusely.

"Fine," he said. "Dare."

Nezumi giggled like a child who had been handed a belated Christmas present, rubbing his hands together greedily. "Alright, ladies and gents, this is where the real fun begins!" he said, turning it into a knuckle crack before pressing his folded hands to his lips in anticipation. "Oh, tonight's gonna be a good night…"

Enjoying Yuri's evil cackles on the other side of him, Ayato looked over thoughtfully at Hejjiguchi, whose life seemed to be flashing before his eyes. Maybe he felt a little bad for the guy…

Or maybe he was just jealous Nezumi had pounced on the opportunity first.

A/N: Well, unless next week is supremely productive, consider this the last TPS chapter of the year. But I have time off and would be happy to have a surprise ready for New Year's Eve, so who knows what will happen? After all the OC-heavy stuff, I could use a hearty helping of NaYuri content. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed the cameo(s) in this chapter. :D

Until next time!

Preview:

"Does he know something embarrassing about you?"

"I'll share it when I'm ready."

"Rules of the game, Hisakawa!"

"Now I'm going to throw up."

"I thought you'd never ask."

"Don't make fun of me!"

"Who's the creep now?"

"I am cool..."

"You'll be the one to decide which one of us is your ultimate champion!"

"Get out of my face."

"Oh my God, yeti!"

[Chapter 43]: Falling For You.