(Saturday, 11:00AM; House; Akihito's PoV)

I get up and head to the office room to get the Post-It notes and a Sharpie. I then write down everyone's names, and put them all in a cowboy hat. That's the only hat I have at the moment. I then head back downstairs.

Everyone grabs a Post-It note, and looks at their selection to themselves.

Aki: "Damn, y'all got good poker faces."

Monika: "Trust me, we're used to it."

After everyone's drawn their names, I pull the last note. Seems like I got… Monika. Of course I did.

Monika: "One thing I'd like to add is that you can go gift shopping with a partner, but you can't have each other! Otherwise that'd ruin the surprise."

Aki: "Cool. Any other words?"

Monika: "We should start planning for the party. Like decorations and food."

Natsuki: "Maybe we should start with where the party's gonna be?"

Monika: "Oh right, that's a good point. Anyone willing to host?"

Aki: "I can. I live alone, so it's fine."

Monika: "Great! Now we need to focus on some decorations. It doesn't need to be a lot, since it's just us."

Aki: "I can do that too. It can be like me surprising you guys. Although I might need a helping hand."

Monika: "I can be that helping hand!"

Natsuki: "Pfft, of course you would."

Monika completely ignores Natsuki's statement and continues.

Monika: "Now we need some activities, other than the Secret Santa."

Aki: "I have a few board games, that should pass the time. I also got Smash Bros., so we can play that too."

Monika: "Alright! All that's left is the food!"

Natsuki: "And I assume Aki will take care of that considering he's doing everything else?"

Aki: "Haha, unless you want some takeout food, then cooking will be someone else's job."

Natsuki: "Actually… that would be nice."

Aki: "Huh? What do you mean?"

Natsuki: "Well, I can't really cook at home at the moment, and I doubt anyone else is up for the challenge of cooking for five."

Yuri: "Um, if it's not too personal, may I ask why you are not able to do the cooking?"

Natsuki doesn't say anything, and looks to the side away from us. Monika seems to notice this.

Monika: "Just… trust me when she says that."

Yuri: "O-okay…"

Aki: "Alright then, I'll take care of the food!"

Monika: "Great! Now-"

Aki: "Please spare me, I'm already handling the whole party. Anything you say will fall in my hands regardless."

Everyone shares a short laugh. That seems to lighten Natsuki's mood a little.

Monika: "Okay okay, I think that's all."

Aki: "Thank you, thank you."

Monika: "If something does come up however, I will contact you."

Aki: "As long as it's not too extreme, I should be good."

We all chat for a bit more, until Natsuki and Yuri have to leave. Shortly after, Sayori follows and leaves.

Aki: "Well, it's just the two of us now!"

Monika: "Yep! What would you like to do?"

Aki: "Well, do you want to go to a store nearby? We can get some decorations for the party."

Monika: "Sure!"

We head to a department store to get decorations.

Monika: "Alright, what do you plan on getting?"

Aki: "Well I have a Christmas tree, I just need to get decorations for it."

Monika: "Okay! What kind of decorations are you thinking about?"

Aki: "Just some ornaments. We don't need to have any string lights. Those can be used for the outdoors of my house."

Monika: "Alright!"

We walk around the store looking for various ornaments. Monika picks out a few that she likes, and I place them in the cart. I also take some ornaments that I personally like. Once we feel like we got enough, we pay for all the stuff.

Aki: "Say, you wanna go to the mall? We can probably get some random stuff for the party."

I'm only half lying when I say that. While I do want to get some stuff for the party, that's not the main reason why I wanted to go to the mall. It's mainly to secretly see what Monika wants as her gift.

Monika: "Sure! What do you plan on getting?"

Aki: "I don't know. If one of us sees something, we can get it."

Monika: "So it's a spur of the moment kind of thing?"

Aki: "Basically."

We make a quick pit stop at my house to drop off the bags we already have. My house is on the way to the mall, so it wasn't a big hassle. After that, we head to the mall and look around the various stores that are there. Soon enough, nature calls.

Aki: "Hey uh, I'm gonna be right back."

Monika: "Where are you going?"

Aki: "Nature calls."

Monika: "Ahaha, okay. I'll be waiting out here."

I head to the nearest restroom, and do my business. Once I'm done, I head outside, but I don't walk up to Monika just yet. I look at her from a distance to see what she's doing.

It appears that she's eyeing something in a jewelry store, but I can't see it from here. I walk up to Monika to see if I can snag a closer look.

Aki: "Hey Monika! See anything interesting?"

Monika: "Nope! Just looking around!"

Upon further inspection, I see that Monika was looking at a ring with an emerald center stone. The ring itself is in a gold color. It seems perfect for Monika.

Aki: "Okay! Anywhere specific you wanna go to?"

Monika: "Not really. We can do some window shopping though!"

Aki: "Sounds good to me."

We browse around the mall for another hour. We mainly just walked through the main hallway and entered stores that interested us. We didn't buy anything though. Soon enough, I hear Monika's stomach grumble a little. Makes sense, it's around lunch time.

Aki: "Am I crazy or did I just hear Sayori around here?"

Monika: "What? What do you mean?"

Seems as if Monika didn't get the joke. I'll play along a little further.

Aki: "I swear I heard her stomach grumble. Y'know, 'cause she's always hungry."

Monika finally gets my joke, and playfully punches me in the shoulder.

Aki: "Ow! What was that for?"

Monika: "Just for fun."

Monika has a smug grin on her face.

Aki: "Well, I'm a little hungry too, and it is about lunch time. Wanna see what's at the food court?"

Monika: "Sure!"

We head to the food court to look at the options. Most of the restaurants there are targeted towards non-vegetarian diets.

Monika: "Dang, not a lot of options here."

I spot a pizza store towards one of the ends of the food court.

Aki: "Hey, there seems to be a pizza place on that end. We can get a cheese pizza and split it between us. I doubt there will be any vegetable toppings, but if it's there we can add them."

Monika: "Okay, sounds good!"

We both walk up to the pizza shop. Just as expected, there's no vegetable toppings. But there is something else that catches my eye.

Aki: "There's no vegetable toppings, but they do have something else, which is way better."

Monika: "What would that be?"

Aki: "Garlic knots!"

Monika: "Garlic knots? Never had those before."

Aki: "You're joking."

Monika: "I swear I've never had them before!"

Aki: "Alright. When we're ordering, we're ordering a cheese pizza and garlic knots. I'm gonna make you try them, because they're so damn good."

Monika: "If you say so!"

We order a cheese pizza and a side of garlic knots. The store gives eight knots in one order, which should be enough for the both of us.

Aki: "Do you mind finding a table for us? I'll stay back and bring the food."

Monika: "Sure!"

Monika then heads off into the dining area. Around ten minutes later, our order is ready. I pick up the food, and head into the dining area to find Monika. It shouldn't be too hard to find her, right? Wrong. There are so many people here that I can't find one girl. I place the food on a nearby counter and call Monika.

Monika: "Hello?"

Aki: "Yo, where you at?"

Monika: "Are you serious? I see you!"

Aki: "Well uh, I don't. Can you maybe help me out?"

Monika: "Look to your right."

I then look to the right as per Monika's instructions. I can see Monika waving at me.

Aki: "Alright, I see you. Gonna cut the call now."

I then end the call and head towards Monika. I place the food on our table and sit down across Monika.

Monika: "What took so long?"

Aki: "Well, half of it was me waiting for the food to get ready. The other half was me being a dumbass trying to find you."

Monika: "Ahaha, was it really that hard?"

Aki: "Yes. With so many people moving around it is."

Monika: "Well, I'll try to be more recognizable in the future."

Aki: "Anyways, would you like to try some garlic knots?"

Monika: "Sure! But you're gonna have to teach me the proper way. So that I don't look weird to others."

Aki: "Alright. Well, you use your hand to pick up a garlic knot."

Monika: "Wow, I never knew!"

Aki: "Heh, and then you dip it into the marinara sauce. Then you just take a bite!"

Monika: "That's it?"

Aki: "Yep! I got two cups of sauce for each of us."

Monika: "Okay… here goes nothing…"

Monika takes a bite, and her face immediately turns into a delightful and impressed expression.

Monika: "These are so good! How have I not had these before?"

Aki: "I know right? This is like heaven to me."

We then eat the rest of our lunch, with some small talk in between. It would mainly be about how the food was, or where we planned to go next. After that we walked around the mall for almost the rest of the day. I check my phone for the time, just out of curiosity.

Aki: "Holy shit, it's five in the evening."

Monika: "No way, we have not been here for that long."

Aki: "My three year old phone would like to disagree."

Monika: "Fair point."

Aki: "Would you like to head to my house for dinner?"

Monika: "Okay, but I'm cooking today."

Aki: "How come?"

Monika: "Well, last time you cooked for me. This time I want to cook for you."

Aki: "Alrighty then."

(Saturday, 5:30PM; Aki's House; Monika's PoV)

We're just outside Aki's house. Aki grabs the keys from his pocket and unlocks the door. Hopefully there won't be any surprises here.

Aki: "Alright, we're here. I think you know where everything is in my kitchen, so you're free to cook whatever you choose."

Monika: "Okay, but I'm gonna need you to do something."

Aki: "And what would that be?"

Monika: "I'm gonna have to ask you to head up to your room."

Aki: "Jeez, when did you become my mom?"

Monika: "It's only because I want to surprise you for dinner. If you're in the living room, then you'll be snagging glances at what I'm cooking."

Aki: "Fiiine. Call me once it's ready."

Monika: "Will do. See ya soon!"

Aki then heads upstairs to his room. I begin cooking pasta, since that's what Aki made last time for me. It'll be like a mini competition to see who makes the better pasta. Once I'm finished, I put the food on the table, and cover it with the same metal bowl Aki used. At this point I'm just copying what he did. Once I'm finished with arranging the table, I call Aki's phone.

Aki: "Thank you for calling Domino's Pizza, how may I help you?"

Monika: "What? Is this a prank call?"

Aki: "What do you mean by that?"

Monika: "Sir I'm calling you to say that your order is ready for pickup."

Aki: "Oh, I'll be there right away. Thank you."

Aki then comes downstairs but not into the dining room.

Aki: "So uh, you want me to be blindfolded or something?"

Monika: "Ahaha, no, that's not necessary."

Aki: "Alright, I'm coming in."

Aki then enters the dining room. He takes a look at the table, and turns to me.

Aki: "Wow, this setup looks familiar."

Monika: "Well, I kinda ran out of ideas, so I just went with what you did."

We both take a seat, and I reveal the pasta from the metal bowl.

Aki: "Heh, this is literally our first dinner date but with the roles reversed."

Monika: "I wanted to have this mini competition to see who has the best pasta."

Aki: "Well, we're just gonna say that the other's pasta is good."

Monika: "We'll see. Take a bite!"

Aki then eats a little bit of the pasta.

Aki: "Holy shit, this is amazing!"

I then punch his shoulder slightly.

Monika: "No swearing."

Aki: "My bad, but this is delicious!"

Monika: "Thank you!"

We then eat our dinner. After that we chat for a little more, until it gets late.

Monika: "Alright I should be heading home now."

Aki: "Want me to walk you home?"

Monika: "No it's okay. I'm not that far away, and it's not that dark outside."

Aki: "Alright. See ya later, Monika."

I then head outside, and head home. Today was a great day. Tomorrow's plan is getting the gift for the Secret Santa, and then the day after is the Christmas party. I hope it goes well.