That afternoon, Shiori and I found ourselves alone at Central Park after Nick, Olivier, Yukari, Nozomi, and Brad had to head home. We were seated on the same bench we had sat on during our first outing, and Shiori had a comforting arm draped around my shoulder.
"Thanks so much for doing that for us today." I said. "It meant a lot to me and the others." I said, feeling my emotions well up.
"No thanks needed, but you're welcome. Let me tell you something, Carlo…" She said, now moving her left hand so that both of her hands were clasping my own. She then told me, "I don't know if what we have now is what we had before or something else, but I do know that when all is said and done, I never want to see you sad. I never want to see you cry." She finished, with the sincerity reaching from her voice to those warm chestnut brown eyes.
I felt myself break down at those words just sort of tears.
"Oh, God…" I said as I embraced her and sunk into her. "Thank you so much…" I said again, hardly able to think of anything else.
Shiori made a terrific reply by just simply returning the embrace tightly. We just sat there holding each other for a while before we walked home together as the sun began to set. For some reason, our Yokohama home felt more like a refuge than ever than night.

Over the next few months, between the news of Japanese troops being sent for defensive purposes to Afghanistan—the first time Japan had deployed troops overseas since World War II—and the news of a coalition led by American and British forces taking the fight to the Taliban big-time, things returned close enough to normal for our palate.
Our good academic performance before we had started dating didn't end just because we were happy in our relationships. If anything, having Shiori, Nozomi, and Yukari only kicked us into a higher gear.
A shocking event at the start of October saw us garner our first nickname. During announcements during lunch one day, a girl called out over the PA in both Japanese and English, "And now, we are pleased to announce that the winner of this year's Kirameki musical composition contest is Bradford Ralston!"
I knew Brad was a talented drummer, but I had no idea he was that good of a composer, so I found myself slapping him on the back enthusiastically while yelling, "Oh, my God! Nice going!""Whoa!" Nick said, doing the same. "Nice job!"
"Yeah, way to go!" Olivier added as more hands started to cascade on Brad's back.
An attractive girl with dark purple eyes and matching hair that was tied in a topknot but that also framed her face on either side came up to Brad and held out her hand. "Hey, Brad. Very well done! I can't believe you did it! It's normally an upperclassman who wins that!"
"Hi." Brad said a bit timidly as he stood up and shook it. "I don't think we've met…"
"Oh, hang on, let me introduce you to her." I said as I stood up and got next to them so I could do just that. "Brad, Ayako Katagiri. You've got to check out her artwork sometime."
"I have already! I know, it's awesome! I just didn't know who she was, since I never heard the name." He told me, before turning back to Ayako and asking, "Is there anything new I could check out?"
"Yeah. I'd be really glad to let you see them." Ayako said. She had been smiling ever since Brad had praised her artwork.
"Do you want to meet outside the auditorium entrance and show those drawings to me then?" Brad asked.
"I'm not free this afternoon, but I can certainly meet you there on Friday afternoon at about 2:45 if it's okay with you." Ayako replied, smiling.
"Thanks a lot!" Brad said.
Once she had left and we had taken our seats again, he sighed with relief and said, "Wow, she had me scared for a minute!"
"I saw her artwork once when I was heading out. She can do some crazy things with a pencil or pen, no doubt about that!" Olivier said, grinning at him.
"I'll say." I said, nodding earnestly. "That's how I saw her artwork as well—by a chance encounter."
"How'd you find out who she was?" Nick asked. "I think you're the only one of us who knew her name before today."
"I was telling her about how good her artwork looked when I saw her, and then she asked if she could help me with her math." I replied. "I really hope you have a good afternoon on Friday with her, Brad."
"She's definitely interesting, I'll tell you that much." Brad said, sounding slightly eager and slightly nervous.
"I don't want to jinx it, but off the top of my head, the best composer in the school and the best artists in the school? Sounds like a match to me!" Nick said.
Brad grinned, chuckled, and turned slightly red.

On Friday afternoon, Shiori and I happened to be on a triple date with Nozomi and Olivier and Yukari and Nick. Every so often—roughly once a month on average, we would go out as a group and have fun together as couples and as friends, if you know what I mean. We'd had our first triple date towards the end of September at Central Park and had decided to do another one that afternoon.
It went off extremely well, but the real action occurred near the end when we were heading back towards Kirameki.
"Where's Brad?" Yukari asked. "I rarely see only three of you boys together. Just only one or two, perhaps, if not all four of you, but not only three of you."
"He's meeting Ayako this afternoon at the auditorium entrance." Olivier replied.
"That's interesting." Nozomi said earnestly. "You know, I think they might be good together."
"That's what I was telling the guys earlier week." Nick said. "I really hope it's working out."
"Me too." I said earnestly. Turning to Shiori, I asked, "Do you think they'd be a good fit?"
"Let me put it this way: If you met Ayako outside of class and she didn't have her sketchbook out, you wouldn't guess she's an aspiring artist." Shiori replied. "She's into rock and action movies, which I know Brad will like. Also, when I think of an ideal guy for Ayako, I think about an artist, and if his winning that contest is any indication, which I think it is and like to think it is, he falls under that category even though he's got drumsticks in place of pencils and pens."
We were nearing the courtyard with both the gym-style stadium and the auditorium entrances by now.
"Hey, someone's still there." Nick said. "Is it them?"
"I don't know." Nozomi said. "Let me check, though."
She ran up to the side of the auditorium and looked around the corner at the entrance as my curiosity started to well up. Judging from the way she ran back, it was.
"It's them!" Nozomi said, confirming our suspicions. "Do you want to take a look?"
"Why not?" I asked. "How are they looking?""I wasn't able to hear much, but it sounded good to me." Nozomi replied, grinning. "Do the rest of you want to see?" She asked us.
"Uh…okay!" Yukari answered.
"Yeah, let me see that!" Olivier said.
We quickly moved to the side of the auditorium and peered around the corner towards the entrance. Brad and Ayako were seated in the middle of the auditorium steps chatting animatedly.
"Aww…" Yukari said. "They do look good together!"
"Let's split up." Nick said. "Let's have some people go around to the other side of the building so that more people can watch at a time."
"Okay, let's do that." Shiori replied. She, Olivier, and Nick went around the back of the auditorium to the other side while I stayed with Nozomi and Yukari.
From our vantage point, we were able to watch and hear Brad and Ayako's conversation, taking turns to peer around the auditorium corner at them.
"I'm just wondering…how do you go about drawing once you have a subject?" Brad asked.
"Good question." Ayako replied. "I like to make polished drawings, if you know what I mean, but when I'm starting out, I don't worry about the details. As a matter of fact, one of the first things you're told when learning to draw is to worry about the details later. Is it the same with music?"
"Yeah, you could definitely say that. It's another area where you want to make something very polished and refined, but you also want to not worry about the details until it's time to hone the piece. I mean, I know I get some of my inspiration when I'm just doing freestyle drum segments where I just hit drums like crazy at random…"
Brad mimed doing just that and even imitated the sounds a little bit, making Ayako laugh and smile.
"I tell you, there's nothing like hearing or seeing something that inspires you to make something, huh?" She asked.
"Definitely not much." Brad said. "But one edge you've got over me there is that you can just start drawing on the spot if you have your stuff while I have to wait until I get back to my drum set."
"But you've also got an advantage over me." Ayako replied, laughing a little more. "Nothing against art shows and museums, but if I make something good, it's displayed a little more quietly. I mean, what do you think gets more exposure, a piece of art at an art show or a drum segment at a musical competition, a concert, or a sports event?"
"True…" Brad replied cautiously, "but who do you hear teachers talking about more, Monet or Ringo Starr? Art gets more exposure in that department."
"Wow, they do make a good fit!" Nozomi whispered, turning back to me and Yukari.
"Looks like somebody's making the right moves…" I whispered back, nodding.
"I definitely think both of them are. Come on, let's get out of here. I've got a feeling something bad's going to happen if we stay longer." Yukari said.
None of the rest of us was in the mood to tempt fate either, so we signaled to Shiori, Olivier, and Nick and pulled out. When Nick, Olivier, and I apprehensively told him later when we were talking about that evening that we had been watching, he thankfully wasn't too much on our case for it.

The next week, the four of us were in the latest edition of the school paper. I was in it because I had an article on the volleyball team, but the others also featured because someone had decided to feature the four of us because of how well the four of us had been doing—all of us in the classroom, plus me in math and general academic competition, Nick in baseball, Olivier in swimming, and Brad in music. Of course, since this was Kirameki, they also hit on the fact that now all four of us were dating.
"Look at this!" Brad said when we were having lunch together. "Fantastic Four fly US flag high…"
"Santos, DeRose, Sevin, and Ralston are turning heads with what has happened in their lives inside and outside the classroom in their first six months at Kirameki…" Nick said, chuckling.
"Whoa…" Olivier said. "I'm not a prima donna, but if we weren't on the map before, we are now!"
"Me neither, but it sure looks like it…"One day in November, Shiori and I had just finished up a visit together to a nearby indoor ski/snowboard dome (I snowboard, while Shiori skis) when we found Olivier and Nozomi heading out of a nearby bowling alley laughing.
"Hi, Ollie! Hi, Nozomi!" I called.
"Oh, hey, Carlo! Hey, Shiori!" Olivier called back, before saying as Shiori and I met them, "You guys are not going to believe this, but…"
"But what?" Shiori asked, smiling at them. "What are you two laughing about?"
"I...Shiori...it was so funny...I hit him with a bowling ball in there!" Nozomi managed to say. She and Olivier started to laugh a little harder.
"What?" Shiori and I asked almost simultaneously, laughing. I wasn't sure if I'd heard him right, and I think Shiori was too.
Shiori, still laughing, managed to ask, "It was an accident, right?"
"Yeah." Olivier said reassuredly, nodding and grinning at Nozomi, making her grin and nod before he continued, "I went to go get a drink, and right when I got back, I had a small lapse in attention and…can you tell them, Nozomi?"
"I was trying to wind up a little more to the left to get a little bit of spin on it—you know, like you see on TV," Nozomi said, making me and Shiori nod, "and I tried taking it too far left!"
"As a result, she got me in the head!" Oliver finished.
Both Shiori and I burst out laughing again. "Oh, no…" Shiori managed to say, holding her chest.
"Oh, my God…" I said, having to turn away and lean over for a minute because I was laughing so hard. "Are you okay?" I asked, getting a grip on myself.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. It wasn't too bad." Olivier replied.

At the end of November, the guys and I had Thanksgiving dinner together with our families. It was a very homey thing, complete with turkey and all that good stuff. Whenever we did that, the food and conversation made us have to look out the window to remember that it wasn't America.
"What's one thing you're thankful for?" Mr. Sevin asked Olivier when we were almost done eating.
Olivier thought for a moment, and then said sincerely with his share of emotion, "Nozomi, without a doubt. I really think we've got a chance to make it to Graduation Day under the tree. It's just been so crazy…I didn't know if I had much of a chance with anybody—and I think the rest of us felt the same—" He motioned towards me, Brad, and Nick here, making us nod firmly, before continuing, "and now look at us. We're all with girls we definitely feel comfortable with, to say the least, because Brad now has Ayako, Nick's got Yukari, and Carlo? Enough said."
I found myself returning grins from Olivier, Nick, Brad, and their parents. My own parents suddenly looked at me in surprise.
"Who are you dating?" Dad asked in a surprised tone.
"Haven't you heard?" Mr. Ralston said jokingly, laughing and grinning at me. "None other than young Miss Fujisaki!"
"Shiori?" Dad asked. "You're joking!"
"It's true! Carlo and Shiori were the talk of the school at one point! And as Brad tells us," he said, indicating Mrs. Ralston as Brad nodded, "they're still an item over there!"
"Is that true?" Mom sounded as surprised as Dad.
"Yeah." I said. I hadn't told them because I wanted it to be a pleasant surprise.
"Wow!" Mom said, high-fiving me much to my relief and contentment.
"That's really good." Dad said, nodding fervently. "I really like her. She's got everything." He was almost speaking reverently.
I considered telling Dad about Shiori considering Duke, but I knew that whatever came out of his mouth as a result, it would involve using that fact as motivation to shoot for Duke. I honestly didn't need that because I was already using that motivation.

Finally, after we had impressed during winter exams to ensure ourselves honor-roll-esque standing, we were let out for winter break on December 21.
True to tradition, the guys (they were in on this too) and I had changes of casual clothes on hand—in this case, winter wear. Just as well, too—there was a forecast of dry snow showers for the day, and flakes were already starting to come down as the last bell rang. This time, though, Shiori caught me asking the guys, "Meet you outside in a few minutes?"
"Yeah." They said.She then held me up outside the men's room right after the other three had gone in and asked, "Are you going to put on something warmer?"
"Yeah." I answered.
"You know, I think I'll do that too." She said. "I've got a change of clothes today as well."
We promptly split up for the moment, and I joined Olivier, Nick, and Brad in the men's room. The four of us came back out wearing pants (all of us but Nick had khakis while he had denim), sneakers, white socks, long-sleeved shirts, and jackets.
"Good grief, I look like a grounds crew member." I said off-handedly to the others. My jacket was made up of a dark navy semi-stiff waterproofed material with orange mesh lining, a hood, and a partial zipper.
"Hey, I don't think Shiori'll mind." Brad said.
"How'd you know I was meeting her outside?" I asked, comforted but also slightly startled.
"We heard her hold you up out there." Nick said.
"I guess I should have known." I said, chuckling slightly as we headed towards the door.
"Hey, pull your hood over your eyes. Let's see how she reacts." Nick suggested, grinning.
"Okay, let's try that." I said after considering it, curious to see Shiori's reaction. With that, I pulled my hood over my head as far as it would go and tilted forward slightly so that someone in front of me would have trouble seeing my eyes or glasses (I've worn glasses since 3rd grade).
Just outside the door, I could see Shiori in a pretty winter outfit: what looked like a mid-thigh pink dress and an overcoat of the same length. To round it out, she was also wearing magenta slippers with slightly raised heels (no socks) and she was carrying a medium-size leather purse.
"Dang, man, she's dressed up! And to think that's for you!" Olivier said, nudging me playfully.
"Go get her, Carlo." Nick said, grinning at me and slapping me on the back.
"Okay." I said, grinning back. "I got her." I tilted forward slightly again (I had been standing up straight when I was looking at Shiori) and walked on ahead.
I stopped when I could make out Shiori's magenta slippers on the ground in front of me.
"Hi, stranger." I heard Shiori's voice say. "What have you been up to on the street? Or would it be better if I didn't know?"
"And what's a beauty like you doing talking to a guy like me?" I asked in reply, moving my hood back behind my head.
"Well, now it's trying to spread some holiday cheer, especially now that I recognize that it's my favorite street-bred person in the world in front of me." I saw her smile more broadly and ask, "It's the New Yorker in you, isn't it?"
"I guess." I said, smiling back. "I was just telling my friends that this jacket makes me look like a grounds crew member."
"'Grounds crew'?" Shiori asked, puzzled.
"The guys at baseball games who pull the tarp out when it starts raining and whatnot." I quickly explained.
"Oh, those!" Shiori said. "I'm sorry—I only know the Japanese term for that."
"It's okay." I said. "Okay, see you later!" I called, turning back towards the other guys.
"Hey, Carlo!" Olivier called.
"What?" I asked.
"Do you want some company?" Olivier asked. "We've got some certain others," he said, smiling, "who are going to meet us too and we're probably going to go together, so do you want to come?"
Not able to decide right off the bat, I turned to Shiori. She was looking back at me, and I had no doubt that she knew who Olivier was talking about.
"Why not?" She asked.
"Yeah, I guess. Why not?" I answered, grinning. With that, I called back to Olivier and the others, "Why not?"
Five minutes later, Nozomi, Yukari, and Ayako had joined us, all in their best casual dress winter wear. Looking around at the rest of them, I said brightly, "Well, let's get our butts moving!"
We walked together off campus and then turned towards Central Park.
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas…" I found myself singing as we headed away from the school with more snow starting to fall. Shiori even dropped in with a verse, and Nozomi and Ayako were just joining in when we reached the other end of Central Park.
Just as we reached that other end, I spotted four one-horse open sleighs—the ones they sing about in Jingle Bells—parked on the other side of the street.
"Wait a minute." I said. I hailed a driver and quickly asked him if he could take us on a scenic route.
It's funny how things work out sometimes. The only moves I knew when it came to relationships were the things you see in movies—flowers, chocolates, paying during dates, and whatnot—and extremely fortunately for me, it was working like a charm. Why was that relevant? For the most part, I work on the principle of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", especially in important situations. That meant you wouldn't and won't see me going too far from my tried-and-true stuff on dates, tests, and things like that. When I saw the sleighs, I knew I couldn't pass up that chance if I knew what was good for me—and Shiori.
"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Shiori said, her eyes lighting up.
"I thought you'd like it."
Shiori smiled at me and stretched her right hand out at me (I was standing to her right). Quickly realizing what was going on, I offered her my hand and helped her up into the sleigh we were next to as she giggled and I chuckled.
"Hey, hold up for a minute! Let's get on these other sleighs!" Brad called. After the other guys chatted with the girls, they evidently unanimously decided to come along, because within the next five minutes, they were loaded, one couple to a sleigh, in the other three sleighs.
With that, our drivers cracked their reins, and down the street we went. I glanced at Shiori and saw that her eyes were still alight with excitement as if it was Christmas Day already. For my part, I was also enjoying the ride a lot, savoring the fact that Shiori and I were actually going around Yokohama by one-horse open sleigh.
After about 15 minutes, the sleighs took us past a sign that I recognized as the Tokyo city limit sign. Yokohama and Tokyo are like Minneapolis and St. Paul—two neighboring cities melded into each other. Sometimes, the guys and I would venture into Tokyo if we wanted a change from Yokohama (nothing against Yokohama, since it's a great city in its own right), and it never disappointed.
After about five more minutes, during which we grinned and laughed at Yukari's rendition of Jingle Bells, Shiori asked, "Do you want to get inside and have something to drink?" Shiori asked. "I love traveling around in this and I love it when it snows, but it's really starting to get cold."
"Why not?" I answered honestly, as the cold was starting to get to me a bit (which is something, as I have a good tolerance for cold.) "I really could use a drink."
Five minutes later, after the sleigh drivers had graciously agreed to wait for us as long as we didn't take too long inside, we disembarked at a Starbucks and rushed inside, eager to warm ourselves. Each of us ordered a cup of hot chocolate and took our seats at two tables, with the guys at one table and the girls at another, with the two tables close together.
"Wow!" Yukari said. "I can't believe we actually traveled here by sleigh!"
"I'm finding it pretty hard, but man, that was a blast! Good eye, Carlo!" Nick said.
"Oh, stop it." I said dismissively, turning red slightly. "I mean, if you hadn't come, I wouldn't have been mad…"
"Well, let's just say it looks like you have a touch for working in groups." Ayako replied.
"It certainly seems that way. Nothing like a cup of this when the weather's like this, huh?" Nozomi asked, indicating the hot chocolate.
"No, ma'am!" Nick said fervently.
"Why don't we have a few toasts?" Ayako asked.
"That sounds good." Olivier said. "Who's going first?"
"I don't know about you, but I say we let the future Golden Couple start it!" Yukari said.
The Golden Couple, as me and the other guys had learned, was and is to Graduation Day under the Legend Tree as the homecoming queen is to homecoming: the people of the hour. Speculation was already being made around the school about me and Shiori being the Golden Couple for our graduating class, the class of 2004. If our story took place in Great Britain, people would have been betting on us winning that honor. For our part, both Shiori and I thought it was cool to be getting that sort of hype, but we didn't let ourselves get too full of it.
"Okay…" I said, grinning half from contentment and half from nervousness. "Ladies first." I finished, looking at Shiori.
"Okay…" Shiori said, pausing to think before she beamed, raised her cup, and proclaimed, "To peace on earth and goodwill toward humans."
"Oh, yeah!" I said fervently as my way of saying, "I hear you!"
"Amen to that!" Nick said just as fervently amidst the nods and expressions of assent.
"Hear, hear!" Yukari said as we started touching our cups together.
Once we had finished with Shiori's toast, Nick wiped his mouth, turned to me, and asked, "What you got, Carlo? Can you top that?"
"I don't know if I can, Nick," I said, grinning as I found the group's eyes shifting to me, before raising my cup and saying, "But…to more Christmases like this one—if not better!" I said.
"Oh, I like that!" Nick whooped.
"Nice, Carlo! I'll certainly drink to that!" Shiori said, smiling as she raised her cup and touched it to the rest of ours.
"I tell you what, I don't know who had the better toast, Shiori or you!" Ayako said before she took another sip.
Once the rest of us had had toasts and we had some short but engaging conversations about family holiday traditions and whatnot and were ready to head back out to the sleighs, I asked Shiori, "Hey, Shiori, can I talk to you outside for a sec?"
"Sure." She said, and we stepped out into the snow just outside the windows.
"I know it isn't Christmas yet, but I wanted to give you this in case we don't bump into each other then." I told her once we were there.
It was a good thing that my parents had found out at Thanksgiving that I was dating Shiori. My father had suggested my Christmas present to her saying, "Why don't you give this to Shiori? I know she'll like it."
With that, I pulled out a string bracelet with a simple wood centerpiece with a design painted on it and some beads on either side of it.
"Merry Christmas." I told her, smiling.
"Oh, Carlo…" Shiori said in wonder as she took it from me and held the ends in either hand. "It's beautiful…"
"It's a friendship bracelet." I said, not able to find it with me to disagree, something I often do when I want to be modest. "It's a Filipino symbol. I don't mean to brag, but it's just so you know that you've got me whenever you need me." "Oh, come on, it's not much." I said.
"Don't tell me that. It's terrific!" Shiori said in reply.
"Thanks. I'll tell you something, Shiori." I said. "Remember when you told me on September 11 that you never wanted to see me cry?"
"Yes." Shiori said.
"I have a confession to make. If there's one thing I can't handle, it's letting family and friends down." I said meaningfully. "Like you, I can't make out whether what we have is what we had before or something else, but I also know that because I can't stand letting others down, I know it'd almost kill me to see you down. You need something, talk to me." I punctuated my point by smiling at the end.
"So that's why you work well with others—you don't want to let others down?" Shiori asked.
"That's right." I said. "At the very least, I think it's the biggest reason. Like I said, you need something, talk to me."
"Oh, Carlo, thank you so much…" Shiori said, embracing me warmly after I placed the bracelet into her hand, making me smile further. "Will you help me put it on?"
"Sure!" I said, grinning.
"Oh, hang on, that reminds me…Merry Christmas to you too." She said, still smiling as she pulled out an official-looking pass inside a clear plastic holder hung on a lanyard and handed it to me.
"What the…" I gasped, absolutely stunned. The pass was a VIP pass to the new Tokyo Disney Resort.
I had once confessed to Shiori on a date that I was (and am) a Disney fan. I like watching cartoons featuring Mickey and company when I like a laugh, so sometimes you can find me flipping to Disney Channel if I wanted to have a laugh and have a laugh. You could even say I owned the Walt Disney Company—if only in the smallest sense, as I owned a single share of Disney (I have since expanded my stake, by the way.)
"How did you get this?" I managed, still stunned.
"Becoming friends with Yukari has its advantages." Shiori said, smiling. "She said she had a spare, so when I mentioned you were a Disney fan, she was able to pass it on."
Evidently, dating the four of us had brought Shiori, Nozomi, Yukari, and Ayako closer together. I smiled at Shiori's present and that thought as I laughed and then hugged her. "Thanks a lot, Shiori." I said fervently again.
After more fun in Tokyo at various locations, all the while traveling by one-horse open sleigh, we headed home that night singing The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. My last thought as Shiori and I said goodbye for the moment to the others to head home was, God, I love how that was so appropriate.

In the next chapter—"Faceoffs And Bonding":
You've seen how Carlo and Shiori, Olivier and Nozomi, Nick and Yukari, and Brad and Ayako are together…now see how they act when pitted in competition against each other! From PE to academic competition, it's certainly something the school's going to be watching! Also, more drama ensues during a class field trip to Hiroshima, including a trip to the Hiroshima Peace Park...

Soundtrack Suggestions (in this installment, both Original and Modern Versions-and you can use the artists of your choice)

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Sleigh Ride
Jingle Bells