It was December 24th and the party at the Hinata apartments was winding to a close. Kitsune had drunk herself into a stupor and after that it had gotten fairly quiet. Shinobu had gone to bed after ensuring the food supply, and Naru and Keitaro were talking quietly in a corner. Su and Sarah provided the only noise and entertainment now, though most were too busy relaxing to actually notice.
It was in this unusually laid-back setting that it happened. It, of course, was what sparked the biggest upset at Hinata since Keitaro and Naru had finally admitted how they'd felt to each other.. The mistletoe was hung haphazardly over a doorway, and Haruka was on her way through it to get some more cocktail wieners and shrimp. Seta had just gotten some himself, and as they walked past each other, they realized which doorway it was. Shrugging, Haruka took the cigarette out of her mouth and let Seta kiss her once. When he stood up straight, his face was a mixture of disgust and humor.
"It's no wonder you're still single," he said, laughing. Haruka raised an eyebrow, so he continued, "You taste like cigarettes. Ugh." And he continued with his plate into the other room. Now, Haruka, however, did not continue to the kitchen. Staring after Seta, she extinguished her cigarette in her drink and threw the plate away. She disappeared for a while to think.
Haruka did not mind being single, and she certainly liked smoking. Were the two really connected? She scoffed at the idea, but the more thought she lent it, the more credibility the idea had. She wanted to test the hypothesis, however, and that was where the trouble started. She returned to the party without a cigarette. After smoking one almost continually for however long it had been – even she had lost track – she knew that going without one would be a real problem. She wondered if it would be worth it. She wondered if she even wanted to see anybody. In the end, her curiosity won out and she kept a cigarette out of her mouth the rest of the night.
But this was only the beginning.