I rolled over lazily and halfway opened my eyes to look across my pillow. Yamato was sitting on his bed hunched over and sleepily rubbing his left eye. First day of vacation and we had to wake up early so we could eat breakfast and then go shopping for our supplies to last us two weeks. I managed to push myself up and grinned lightly at Access, who was snoring loudly on the other side of my pillow. "G'mornin'" I heard my room mate greet me, which I replied with a yawn.

Snowcap Mountain II

By: Satashi

Chiaki stretched out as he walked out of his room, still in his pajamas, and made his way to the bathroom. Maron was leaned over the counter brushing her teeth slowly, still half asleep herself. The boy took the opportunity to walk in the open door next to her and start his own morning routine.

If Maron minded, she didn't show it but instead let out a yawn while going to rinse out her mouth. Once free from the toothpaste she managed out a good morning to him. Reaching into her small pouch, the girl pulled out a perfume bottle and dabbed some on her finger to apply. She paused a moment, however, and smiled at the other person in the room with her. "Hey, Chiaki?"

"Hmmm?" He blinked as he felt her touch his nose. Giving her an odd look, he allowed her to swipe her finger across his neck and even rub his ears.

"There, all done." She seemed happy about what she had just done and smiled at him as she walked out of the bathroom backwards before retreating around the corner.

"What was that all about?" Access asked him as he floated in from the ceiling where he couldn't be seen and landed on Chiaki's shoulder. After a moment he sniffed, then sniffed again. "Wow, girls sure do smell nice."

"Mmhmm," Chiaki finished prepping for the day and left the bathroom in favor of getting dressed.

After entering their bedroom Access paused a moment and sniffed again. "Dude, that's not the girls! That's you!"

"Huh?" Chiaki brought his hand to his neck and rubbed it lightly before sniffing his hand, realizing that Maron had dabbed him with her perfume while touching him. Growling, he turned to shout through the wall over to her room. "Maron, that's not funny!"

Yamato blinked and looked over at him as a girlish laugh rang out from the other bedroom. "I don't want to know man…I don't want to know.

"On the road again. Can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is makin' music with my friends. And I can't wait to get on the road again. On the road again, Goin' places that I've never been. Seein' things that I may never see again, and I can't wait to get on the-"

"Chiaki if you sing that one more time, I'm going to kill you." Maron growled at the boy sitting next to her while shaking her fist. "I mean it."

"Why are we on a bus again?" Miyako complained, looking boredly out the window.

"Come on, it's only ten minutes. Takes longer to walk to school." Yamato seemed to be enjoying himself, obviously relieving past experiences in his mind. "Once we get food and stuff we'll have two weeks to do whatever we want. Might as well get this out of the way now."

"On the road again,"

"Chiaki!"

"So what first?" Chiaki slipped his hands into his thick jacket pockets and looked around. "This just a food run or what?"

"I have a few places I wanna go first." Yamato looked over his shoulder and grinned. "There's a great candy store I want to go to again."

Miyako's eyes lit up, but she quickly pretended not to care. "If you must. Let's go."

Chiaki chuckled to himself, but quickly lost it when Maron walked by him. She looked really sad a moment before turning to him and smiling. "Come on, Chiaki, let's go!"

'That's right.' Chiaki thought to himself as he followed her, staring at her back. 'Fin lives off candy.' He picked up his pace so he was walking next to her and placed his arm over her shoulders, getting a squeak from her in the process.

"Wh-what?" She blushed up at him and stammered.

"Nothing." He gave the best smile he could and laughed when she started walking faster to get away from him. 'It's not much,' his mind went on as she glanced behind herself with a little blush still on her face. 'But it's all I can do right now to make you feel better about your angel leaving you.'

He had never thought about it before now. Access would have to go away sometime in the future as well. Although he wasn't as attached to his angel as Maron was hers, he had become good friends with him over the months that they had lived together. Access had given him the chance to run away from home and gave him the courage needed to go through with it. Without him, he would still be where he was then: Thinking about living his own life without actually doing it.

He felt a little twang of sadness, but pushed it down. No need to worry with things that were a few months away at least. "Come on guys, let's hurry!" Chiaki ran ahead of the girls and caught up to Yamato. "Let's book it man!"

His friend nodded and they both took off full speed. The girls called after them, but also had to start running to keep up. "Wait up, jerks!" Maron hollered after them. The snow crunched under her boots as she ran; for once glad that she was Jeanne. Something like this would have left her worn out earlier in her life.

When they reached the candy store, the boys stopped just outside of it and panted while they waited for their female counter parts. "Man," Yamato bent over and put his hands on his knees, thick puffs of fog coming from his mouth. "It takes a lot out of you running through snow, huh?"

"You said it." Chiaki grinned and waved to the girls when they finally got there. "About time, ladies."

"Oh stow it." Miyako walked past him, making the boy laugh

"Look, they make their own taffy!" Maron ran by him as well and pressed her hands against the glass in front of a running taffy machine. "Oh wow, that's so cool!"

Chiaki's sweet tooth hit him, making him turn to the taffy machine as well. Although he would never admit it – to anybody- He liked Taffy. A lot.

More than pudding.

"E-eh," Chiaki walked up next to her and watched as well.

"You love taffy don't you?" She asked him teasingly with a grin.

"What? N-no. Candy is a girl thing. I don't touch the stuff."

"Liar," she accused, turning back to watch. "You always steal my candy every time you come over. Always the same thing."

"I do not!"

"Ne!" she suddenly twirled and placed her hand on his chest. "Let's get some! The stuff they're making right now!"

"If you insist."

She winked and turned back once again to watch. "You know what?"

"What?"

"You're not as difficult as I thought you were once."

Chiaki blushed and decided that if he wanted to keep anymore of his pride, he would have to leave now. "I'm going to find Linchou." He shoved his wallet at the girl and looked away when he thought she was going to ask how much he wanted. "Just get me whatever." Quickly walking away, he ignored the girl behind him as she pointed her finger like a gun at his back.

"Round one goes to Kusakabe Maron. Bang!"

"So, where to now?" Chiaki put his hands behind his head as they parted ways from the girls, who had insisted to buy the food themselves. Maron and Miyako both knew that he lived off of take-out and delivery, and weren't going to take their chances with Yamato despite the fact that he said he was a good cook.

"The arcade, where else?"

A large grin spread over the blue haired boy as he walked. "Hey, while the girls are away…"

"…the boys shall play!" Yamato gave his friend a high five and grinned himself. "Right this way, my man." He turned and slid his hands into his pockets, letting the wind blow his scarf out dramatically behind himself. The image made several girls on the sidewalk stop and swoon, but the image was quickly shattered when the boy tripped and landed face first into the snow.

"… Come on," Chiaki helped him up. "Let's go."

"Aw man, my nose… is it bleeding?"

"No, it's not bleeding." Chiaki rolled his eyes.

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Jump everybody! Move! Go! Go!"

The two boys bent down onto the Dance Dance Revolution machine and hit the up arrow with their knees before slapping the right with their hands and immediately going into a handstand. Landing again, Chiaki rolled over to Yamato's pad while the other boy grabbed the back railing and kicked off the machine and over his friend. Upon landing, he helped Chiaki up and swapped sides again, finally finishing the routine with a signature pose. Not stopping to address their fans of eight year olds and the scattered teenager, the two boys lapsed into their second song, moving in rhythm with each other.

"Is that Chiaki?" One of their classmates paused and gaped at the boys dancing on the arcade machine.

"Never mind that, is that Linchou up there with him?"

"Oh man, look at them go!"

The fourth girl of the set cheered out at the pair "Tear up that dance floor guys!"

The song ended and the pair looked over their shoulders at the ever growing crowd. "Ah, busted clean in the act by our friends."

"Says you, everyone knows I play." Chiaki held up both his hands, getting applauded.

"Yeah, but It's hard enough without this being added in on what people make fun of me about."

"Hey man, cheer up." Chiaki guided him off the arcade machine and pushed him along the way as they waved goodbye to the onlookers. "Have more faith in yourself for crying out loud."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He looked over to the side at the small magic shop they just passed. "Wait up, let's go in here." The door opened to his prompting and soon he found himself in a dimly lit shop filled with magic tricks and gags. "There are a lot of neat things in here."

"That's right; you're into magic aren't you?"

"It's just tricks, you and I both know that," Yamato picked up two rings and showed them to his friend. "Anything is possible with the right know how." With a flick of his wrist, he made the two separate rings intertwine with each other before tossing them to Chiaki to try and figure out. "But sometimes…"

"Sometimes?" Chiaki looked at the rings closer, failing to figure out how they were just made into one thing.

"Sometimes I think there's more to them. Like something that most people can't see. As if magic really existed." He took a deck of cards and showed to his friend, then twisted his hands and made a dove appear, that flew up in the shop and landed on a perch with other birds.

"Hey, if that's what you like, keep at it. You never know, magic may really be out there."

"Like how Sinbad steals paintings?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Yamato looked over his shoulder at him and sighed. "Nothing, I guess you wouldn't know would you? He throws these things, like tacks or something. Whatever they hit seems to vanish. And I can never find out just what he throws. But… But it's like real magic."

"Hey check this out," Chiaki changed the subject and held up a poker card. "Look, its razor edged. What's that for?"

"Oh, I have a few of those. They're for throwing at things. Like when a magician cuts something in half with a playing card."

"Can you really do that?"

"Actually, yeah. With a normal card you can throw them pretty fast. Fast enough to cut things like a carrot clean in two."

"And these?"

Yamato scratched his cheek. "They can probably be really painful if you got hit by one."

"Throwing cards, hm?" Chiaki picked up a deck and held onto it. "Sounds like fun. I'm going to learn how to throw these things."

"Ha-ha, just make sure I'm nowhere in sight."

"Remind me again why we're here?" Chiaki asked, hugging himself against the wind as they waited on the girls at the appointed spot.

"They're late. Again." Yamato looked down at his watch and shivered. "We've been standing here for half an hour!"

"Hey boys!" The two turned around and were quickly handed things to hold before they could react. Finally after each one held so many bags they seemed to be struggling to keep them up, the girls waved at the two people who helped them carry their groceries out of the store.

"Why do we have to hold all this?" Yamato complained, shaking from the weight.

"No back talking!" Miyako scolded him, making him shut up.

"Man, what a day." Chiaki sighed and laid his head on the table in front of him. "Got dragged all over the place and even shooed out of the cabin and told to get the ski gear. Hey, Linchou, since when was I bossed around as much as you?"

"That's not very friendly. And after I bought you hot chocolate too."

"Yeah, my bad." He sat up and took a long appreciative sip of his drink. Currently they were in the huge lounge at the main office. They had claimed a seat close to the window and both of them looked out it and over to the mountain that had ski lifts going up to it. "Tomorrow, huh? Snow skiing, I can't wait."

The other boy at the table looked over at the pile of skiing gear by their table on the floor. "Do you even know how to snow ski, Chiaki?"

"Not a clue. Can't be that hard, I've water skied a lot of my life so I'm assuming it's about the same."

"Eh, not really, but at least balance won't be a problem for you then." He took a drink from his steaming cup and looked over at a sudden noise across the room.

"Is that really him?" A man he didn't recognize asked excitedly.

"It is! Oh wow, I have to get his autograph!"

"Me too!"

"Don't forget me!"

"Wow, I can't believe he's here.

Chiaki sat his mug down and leaned back in his chair. Access jumped from his shoulder and flew up in the air a little. "What's all the commotion about?"

"Wonder what the big deal is," Yamato mirrored Access's words although he couldn't actually hear him. "Looks like some celebrity."

"I'll hang it over here," Yanisaka announced, walking past the two boys and hanging a large panting on the wall.

After looking at it a moment, Chiaki realized what it was of. "Hey, that's Ken Masters isn't it? The martial arts champion of the States?"

"Oh, you know me?" The voice made Chiaki turn and look up to see a well built male in front of him. He had long blond hair that went midway down his back tied with a red ribbon. "Always nice to see a Japanese fan."

Standing, Chiaki extended his hand, which Ken shook. "I took martial arts for a while," Chiaki told him, a little shocked to be meeting the person. "You could say that I wanted to be as good as you are."

"Ohhhh? How's that coming?"

"I think I'm okay….I guess." Chiaki grinned lightly as Ken laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Name's Chiaki. Nagoya Chiaki."

"That's a strong name." Ken turned and waved to him. "Well then, Chiaki, have a good vacation here. I must be going."

"So that's who the special guest was," Yamato mused, looking up at the painting. "I was wondering why we were told to behave ourselves while in the lounge. Ken Masters, hmmm…" The painting showed the male they just met in the middle of a whirl-wind kick. From his limited knowledge of martial arts, Yamato speculated that he must be a high ranked martial artist to be able to pull one off. That and Chiaki had mentioned that he was a champion.

Access floated over to the picture and inspected it closer. "I don't see what the big deal is," he thought aloud as he flew higher. "When I turned you into Sinbad, you got all the knowledge and skill that most people strive for half their lives. He can't be that much better than you."

Letting out a snort, the young thief picked up his cooling drink and gulped it down. "Let's get outta here, Linchou. A long walk through the snow with this gear and I'll be ready for a good dinner."

"Right behind you."

As the three left, a pack of fan girls walked past them and over to the freshly hung painting. "Isn't it beautiful?" One of them asked dreamily as she stared.

"Hm?" Access stopped flying a moment to look over his shoulder.

"What is it, Access?"

"…No, nothing. Let's get going, I'm cold."

Maron yawned sleepily as she walked through the dark cabin and to the refrigerator. Her toe smashed into the counter as she made a turn too fast and she had t bite he lip to keep from yelling out. With a frustrated growl she rubbed her foot while turning on a small light above the stove. Now with some light to go by she raided the cabinets and took out some cookies and a glass. She then indulged herself with a large glass of milk and ate them while sitting on the very counter that had injured her foot a few moments ago.

She had a hard time sleeping, the lack of light always getting to her whenever Miyako stayed with her. Although she wasn't as scared of the night as she used to be, it still was enough to make her drown her woes in a midnight snack. For a moment she was thankful that they hadn't bought any ice-cream, as she was notorious for devouring half to three quarters of a carton in a single sitting.

Now full and content, she put her glass in the sink and slid off the counter top and onto the cold floor. Her steps were light as she snapped off the light and bathed herself in darkness once again. 'It sure is a lot darker once your eyes aren't adjusted anymore…' She felt her way around the kitchen and almost stumbled over one of the dining room chairs. Her hands finally found the door to her bedroom and she entered in quietly, walking over to her bed and falling down into it with a happy sigh.

"Well hello there," Chiaki whispered to her in a sleepy yet shocked voice.

"Chiaki! What are you doing in my bed?" She hissed at him angrily and embarrassed.

"You're in my bed," he countered her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her down against him much to her protest.

"I-I am?" Her face colored darkly as she realized that she obviously walked into the wrong room. "Let me go, I'll leave!" Her voice froze when she heard Yamato say something about shutting up before rolling over and going back to sleep. "Let go of me," she told him again, this time whispering softly. "Chiaki, this is embarrassing, please!"

"I don't want to," His hands slowly started to rub her back, making the girl gasp lightly. When she didn't say anything for a moment, his grip on her loosened and he was content with lightly running his hand over her back in a soothing manor. "You can go if you want you know."

Maron nodded her head lightly and chose her words carefully before speaking them. "Just for a little bit, though, I'll let you to hold me. Just hold me, please. Nothing else." He nodded and shifted enough to get her under the covers, pulling them up to her ears as she buried herself against his chest to keep him from seeing her face.

Realizing that she must be really embarrassed, Chiaki smiled to himself and nuzzled his prize. "Your hair smells nice." His words worked like he planned; as she stiffened up a moment before relaxing again.

"Shhh." She scolded him in a soft whisper. "Don't make me get stubborn and stomp out of here." She smiled despite herself. It was a very rare treat for her to get a hug from the boy that didn't immediately get followed by him trying to kiss or fondle her. She allowed herself to stay with him until both of them were falling asleep again. After dozing off for a few moments, she knew that it was time to leave. "Thank you, I should go now."

"Already?" he didn't make an effort to hide his disappointment. The girl opened her mouth to say something but Yamato yawned loudly from the other side of the room, making both of them get deathly quiet. When they were sure it was safe, Maron pulled back a little and nodded at him. Chiaki wanted to protest, but let the girl go as he had promised and was even tucked in for his troubles. She hovered over his bed a moment before leaning down and gently pecking his cheek.

Maron crept out of the room slowly and made her way back to her own section of the cabin, where she fell into the cold bed and pulled the covers up over her head. 'I can't believe I just did that!' her mind screamed at, making her bury her head in a pillow she was holding. 'I don't know how I'll even look at him tomorrow!' A few moments went by and Maron let her grip on the pillow loosen a little and finally smiling to herself she cuddled up against it and let out a content sigh. 'Although…It felt really nice… to be held like that.'

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Next chapter will be out in a day or two so look forward to it!