A/N: I have no idea what to say right now because it has been too long since I last said hello to readers. Hello, people! How are you guys? I'm sorry I haven't been around for more than two months. A lot has happened in my life this summer break and it took some time before I could get back to writing. Seriously. But fortunately, here I am now bringing the fluff that has risen again from the cute depths of Gon's smile and Killua's embarrassed face. I know you are waiting for this chapter to happen and so am I so here you go go gooooo!

Super ultra-mega warning: This chapter is composed of TWELVE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE DAMN WORDS and I am not kidding when I say that I already trimmed it down. Believe it or not, this was originally 14,801 words and I can't. I'm sorry if you get bored but my disclaimer is there to defend my author pride. TWELVE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE DAMN WORDS. What a record.

Tip: Imagine the horizontal rules as commercials.

Disclaimer: The details are mega necessary.


TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
And Then What?

"Can you help me with this, man?"

"Scissors! I need scissors. Please bring them over!"

"This looks so dumb! Let's fix it. Move faster!"

"It's coming together! I'm so excited!"

It was an early morning in Tomo Academy and everyone was walking around carrying boxes, bringing materials from one place to another, decorating, double-checking and working in teams. The fields were filled with decorated metal food stands, the corridors were packed with students on ladders, putting up banners and stripes of crepe paper on walls, windows and ceilings, chosen classrooms were transformed into different kinds of booths, making the entire school scream neon and excitement, bringing life to the dirty white, grey and dull colors of winter.

20th December, Friday—the first day of the holiday season break, the day everyone had been preparing a month for. School was out. It's time for the much-awaited Winter Festival!

Preparations began the day before but final polishing was always rushed on the day of the event. The council planned that to happen though, instructing their staff to come to school early to double-check everything before they start the activities. The gates would open at exactly ten o'clock in the morning and it was almost time.

Of course not everyone was enthusiastic about the event. But even so, all were required to help—especially because most teachers made the festival as a prerequisite for passing subjects in the semester. Everybody had to be busy for the preparation, and each class prepared for their booth with the utmost effort and fun.

Yuhi was more in the latter part of it. She was having fun being busy with her classmates and helping with the decorations of their class booth. Theirs was a traditional Jyopen café, inspired by Gassho Zukuri, the place where they went for their historical camp trip in November.

Suno did well, the class reckoned, for he was head of the creative department and what he wanted to appear was appearing inside the classroom. Sejin never forgot to commend the committee heads for the hard work. The class seemed to be enjoying decorating as well. Yuhi saw how the class came together to have a kind of teamwork she enjoyed working in. She thought she belonged to a home and felt the closeness of the class more than ever.

On the day of the event, the auburn-haired girl busied herself with council work duties, as she excused herself from homeroom work, but it was more fun as she imagined it to be. The girl had no idea that the student council officers could be so carefree when it came to serious school events such as the festival. They were to have visitors from different schools after all and based from Yuhi's experience last year, it was not as easy as pie. But Jared and the rest of his subordinates, although busy, did not at all look worried. They seemed to know what to do.

The previous afternoon they worked outside, decorated the stands, cleared the fields, set up the lights, the banners, the stage, the Christmas tree, and finalized everything from the hallways of the indoors to the classrooms, leading them to work until the evening came. The council looked as if they were satisfied and impressed by the work they left the rest of the student body with. There were smiles on their faces and relaxed stretches as they headed out to meet with the working groups. Yuhi watched them talk with enthusiasm on their eyes while she and two junior council members did finishing touches to one of the food stands their group was assigned to decorate. She felt proud and amazed of how her schoolmates could come together and put up something beautiful.

It was almost eight o'clock in the evening when Karina announced that the work seemed good enough for the winter festival the next day. Everyone gathered in one spot as the officers tested the lights, the music, and the overall decoration of the outdoors. When Jared faced the team with a smile on his face, everyone jumped and yelled as though they just won a ball game.

Yuhi was overwhelmed and amazed as she took a 360-degree look at the set they put up that night. It was beautiful. She felt relieved and ecstatic thinking about how the warmth of the people could add to the already blissful air in their school at the day of the event. It would surely be happier and livelier. She was proud of what they did, and she was beyond bounded to help the student council staff that morning.

The outdoor fields seemed almost finished when the staff members of the student council were gathered in front of the outdoor stage and watch as the student council officers made their way up the platform. It looked as of their work was done. The only things their subconscious thought missing were the people. Jared, the class president, explained that very familiar sensation to them—followed by a very brief speech.

"Team!" Jared called, smiling with pride from up the stage. "You did a great job working with us for this event. The place looks incredibly impressive because of what you put up together. I shall be humbled with the credits our teachers and Mr. Chango should give us. But the true thanks should be given to you. So in behalf of the student council, I send my gratitude for your cooperation and hard work. It wasn't easy but you never gave up and stayed with us for a month. Thank you!" After the speech, Jared made bow of thanks and the rest of the council did the same.

"Thanks for the hard work!" The assigned student body said in unison, bowing as well.

They laughed when all of the thanks were given. Then Taka shouted for a group picture. He set up his camera on a tripod and called for each assigned team to stand on stage for a shot. "Documentation," he explained. And one by one they complied.

Karina was the most excited. She said it was because her team did great and her team was the most awesome. Yuhi could only smile humbly at their team leader, clear her throat, and look down while glancing at her teammates. Gon and Taro went ahead of them and they were funny with Klint as their council leader. When their shot was up, Yuhi had to stand awkwardly where Karina had placed—pushed—her.

"This is one shot so say cheese, guys!" Karina exclaimed firmly.

Yuhi laughed, but glancing to her left, before the shutter clicked, she thought she had to move a step away.

Taka requested for three more shots with all of the student council team on stage. He set the timer and found themselves laughing in the picture because of him tripping, running towards the group for the shot. Hikari reminded everyone of the gift-giving activity the moment the photo op was over, announcing instructions she did the day before. The students were dismissed of council duties as of that hour, resulting again to the resonation of party-house yodeling and whistling. Student council work was finally over, the memo contract done with. The building then flurried up with noise as the school gates rolled open, the bell singing with its most glorious siren. The time was ten o'clock. The festival was starting.

Yuhi felt as though the opening was a blurry fairytale in one of her dreams. The surging of students inside the campus, the instantly busy atmosphere within the staffs of the student-body, all the prologue seemed to have rushed past her field of vision in a speed of light, and when it came to a reasonable halt, the place she was standing at was full of colors and banners, of laughter and joyous music, of Takuyaki and hot chocolate. It was amazing—as though she was transported into a place somehow, a warmer, livelier place, a wonderland, because there were people, they were plenty, and they were smiling. It was a haven of bliss and Yuhi was reminded of how much she loved festivals.

Letting out a huge sunny smile, she turned around, and found herself pausing as she watched two male juniors who were with them in the council staff. She was about to greet them, but halted when one pulled out something from his pocket, and the other one shoving a paper bag to the other's face. They were grinning. Then both laughed and tackled each other after giving a series of vague masculine gratitude. The girl giggled while they were at it, and then she sighed, smiling to herself as she turned a heel towards the school building.

Right, the gift-giving activity. She needed to head up to the student council office to fetch the gift she meticulously wrapped the night before. The council instructed them to leave the gifts up the office first thing that morning, as they would count as their attendance for the final day of their council duties—which was that day. Hikari explained that once they were freed off council work, they could start exchanging gifts—only the catch would be that the time and place were up to them.

As she walked through the sea of people her smile melted into a frown, mind drifting towards something melancholic. Yuhi was okay. She was only a little confused, and worried, fidgety, anxious troubled. Exchanging of gifts should be as easy as cake, that was for sure. But Yuhi knew that it wouldn't be.

It had been almost two days since Killua started not talking to her. In previous months circumstances that could have been understandable. But she at least wanted to know why the white-haired boy suddenly shut her out just when they seemed to click with their conversations. Yuhi was well aware of how people acted when they shut a person out. Killua still talked to her and interacted with her, but not in the same way he had.

Yuhi had no idea what happened. It started that Tuesday, when the avoidance began right after she came back from the canteen with Kirino. It was a nice day, and Killua was being Killua while Karina took photos of him and her sister. He was really cute acting grumpy and flushed in front of the camera. She even talked to him while the boy rested. Then everything just went poof. Killua's words were scarce. He couldn't look her in the eye. He couldn't be anywhere near her even for ten seconds. It bothered the girl immensely because she looked forward to a friendship she dreamed.

Pushing those thoughts away was necessary, as what Yuhi figured. Because it was the school's winter festival and she did not want to feel gloomy while everybody else was jumping of delight. She wanted to be happy as well, genuinely happy, and she thought she might achieve that if she were to not overthink stuff in her head. The important thing was that she needed to give her gift to him—although as she thought hard about it, she would feel ridiculously stupid in making up ideas.

The girl then took a deep breath to shake the funny feeling off and ran towards the lobby, sprinting up the stairs. She paused when she reached their sophomore floor, taking in the decorations and the lively air inside the building. A huge smile then crept across her face as she walked with slow steps in the hallway, eyes towards the interior of the corridors. It was very noisy, air filled with laughter and loiters. The students she would pass walked in pairs or in groups, eating cotton candy or looking around to find more amazing booths. Different colored strips of crepe paper covered the ceilings, tiny banners in thin strings hung on windows, stretching from end to end, confetti were scattered on the floor. But the place didn't look messy at all. It looked like a party, and it felt like a party. It was exciting. Yuhi scolded herself when she gazed ahead, grinning playfully as she ran forth. She almost forgot to check out their class booth.

She gasped at the view of their completely transformed classroom. The day before it looked nice, but during the event, it was even lovelier. The waiters were boys—Suno's group of friends, to be specific: Jinop, Ren, Maru and Taro. They were convinced to volunteer as staff for the booth. The girls were in the backstage, preparing orders behind the counter. The treasurer and auditor were in charge of the cash, and Sejin was there to supervise it all. They all wore traditional clothing they rented from a dress shop and tried acting like it. Yuhi bit her lower lip to suppress a huge smile while she thought of how the place looked like an old hot-spring inn in the middle of the snowy mountains. Sejin was the beautiful, lovely mistress and the members of the class were the nice attendants to the customers on a holiday. She loved the place. It was warm and it smelled nice. The girl greeted their class president who was at the counter when she reached her.

"This is amazing!" she sang, smiling brightly at the people who seemed to be having a good time conversing while they had tea. She then looked at Sejin. "You look so beautiful!"

There was a proud smile across the class president's face when Yuhi uttered the former statement. But it disappeared into a blush when she heard the latter. Sejin cleared her throat, pulling the sleeve of her semi-Kimono up her face. Then she stood straight, nodding. "It has come together quite well," she commented, looking around.

Yuhi snickered secretively. Sejin did look beautiful. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun with strands falling from her temples, showing her pretty ivory face that was covered in little makeup. She truly looked like that of the graceful mistresses of hotels she would see on television—only that with thick-rimmed square eyeglasses. The other girls did look pretty as well, and she complimented them earnestly the moment she saw them. The boys complained a lot, but they were doing well in serving customers with a smile on their face.

"The guys clean up real good, ne?" Yuhi commented, noticing how much of a gentlemen the boys looked and acted.

Sejin grimaced. "It seems that they're used to these kinds of things. They have a part time job in waiting tables, after all."

Yuhi nodded knowingly, looking at her waiter classmates. "Are they the only ones who would wait tables until later?"

"No, that'll be tiring. The others would stop by later. I talked to them yesterday and they said that they'd be happy to." Sejin grinned to herself and muttered, "A lot of students in this class really are weak in math." Her tone was mild, concerned.

Yuhi smiled at that. Mr. Yama… she guessed. But she thought of how helpful her classmates were when it came to class activities. She looked at the boys and found herself amazed at how they could manage to offer their services to their homeroom instead of being out at their part time job. Then as though a light flicked on in her head, Yuhi stood straight and looked at Sejin with a bright smile on her face. "I'll help wait tables, Sejin. I'm quite experienced myself too!" She beamed and mouthed a 'Yes!' when their class president agreed and turned to get Yuhi a costume.

The first hour went by slowly, with only the residents of the school as the customers of their mini café. Jinop, Ren and Maru joked a lot about going in the horror house of 2-A while they waited for more people to come in. Suno and Taro were relieved of their duties for the day, as Sejin said they were the ones who needed rest the most, and were replaced by Yuhi who waited tables with the boys until their other classmates arrived. Their shift lasted three hours and the last hour was the busiest. More and more people piled up to get tables, and they were not only from the school but outsiders. Each student was given five tickets to distribute throughout town. The tickets served as passes for them to enter the campus grounds and join the rest of the students of Tomo Academy in their festival.

It was almost half past one o'clock when Yuhi, Jinop, Ren and Maru were done for the day. The boys invited Yuhi for lunch, emphasizing how hungry they were, and hearing her own stomach grumble, the girl agreed most optimistically.

"Yosh! Let's get out of this thing first!" Jinop suggested, pointing towards his clothes. The rest nodded agreeably, and they were off towards the boys' dressing room.

The auburn-haired girl asked Sejin to help her out with her costume, invited her to have lunch with them as well. Sejin had been working on the booth for weeks and Yuhi thought she deserved a little break from her presidency, enjoy the festival for a while. Sejin plainly refused though, explaining that she had packed lunch and she readied herself for the busy day.

"I'll be fine. The indoor booths close at 5 so I guess I could catch up with the evening activities instead," Sejin said with a smile while she helped Yuhi fold the Kimono neatly.

Yuhi returned the smile with concern. Then she beamed. "Oh, yeah! I heard the council's going to light up a bonfire later tonight and we're going to see the lights and the Christmas tree! I saw it yesterday, Sejin, and it was beautiful. There'll be fireworks too and lots of showcases on stage. I'm sure you'll love it!" She nodded with enthusiasm, praying that her friend would smile at what she made her imagine.

Sejin did, but only to shake her head right after. "You're so excited. It's not like we haven't seen a festival like this before," she responded disbelievingly, face nonchalant as ever.

Yuhi laughed sheepishly, scratching her temple as she followed their class president out of the ladies' locker room. The people inside the building had increased and the booths started forming queues. The girl paused in her tracks to try to determine where the lines stretched. Each booth seemed equally popular, but the 2-A's horror house had the longest line. Yuhi smiled to herself. Of course! Turning ahead she saw Sejin five feet away talking to someone. When the class president bowed slightly, Yuhi saw Gon beam at the raven-haired. Yuhi smiled and walked towards them, however too late for Gon was already waving a hand and turning to their room. She looked at Sejin when she reached her and saw a pretty bloom on her face as they walked through the sea of people to their room. "Hey Sejin, you like Gon a lot, don't ya?" she asked, poking their class president in her ribs.

Sejin shrieked a little from the sudden touch then she cleared her throat, pausing in her tracks and giving Yuhi a straight face. "Please don't confuse yourself. He is a very nice person and I respect him a lot because of that."

Yuhi stared at Sejin's gracefully authoritative countenance she talked, grinning afterwards. Eh… She moved her lips to say something, but a voice from a few feet away caught her attention. She accidentally got to listen, unaware of what it might do to her perfectly stable state of mind.

"A-Ano… Gon-kun!"

"Hi! Can I help you?"

"Yes! Um… Did you see Killua-kun somewhere?"

"Ah. No, I'm sorry. He went out a few minutes ago, said that he'd just take care of something. I don't know when he will be back. Why?"

"Oh. T-Then can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure! What's that?"

"Thank you! Ano… Can you give this to him?"

"Sure thing! Man, Killua's been receiving quite a few letters today. Okay! I'll give it to him."

"T-Thank you! And this… for you. From my friend."

"Oh, wow! Really? Thank you! Who's your friend?"

Yuhi didn't stay to finish eavesdropping on their conversation. She stepped forward, looking up and following Sejin in their room after receiving a weird look from the latter, Gon's words started playing repeatedly in her head as though her brain were a broken vinyl record.

"Man, Killua's been receiving quite a few letters today."

Yuhi huffed, accidentally dropping the costume with brute force. Surprised at what her pulses did, she looked up and saw her classmates staring at her with huge equally surprised eyes. Blinking, she laughed sheepishly, dusting the cloth neatly and gesturing for them to not worry and return to their endeavors. Yuhi exhaled, disbelieved while she turned to fix her things. Why am I just suddenly bugged about that?She inhaled, shaking her head to put some sense into her nerves.

The thing was, because of Killua's consistent eschewal behavior towards her, Yuhi figured she has had to give herself a break. She figured that her unrequited feelings towards the boy should—and might forever be—completely unrequited. That perhaps they were never truly meant to be friends, in the least. Her mind processed a thinking that the boy had been like that towards her in the first place, that he probably realized his position and returned to it, and so she should do the same. It was painful to dwell onto, but Yuhi knew she would be fine. She knew she was fine. And she knew that she should not be mulling over how many letters Killua already received that day.

"Man, Killua's been receiving quite a few letters today."

A sharp exhale then escaped the girl's lungs as the name recoiled in her head. It reminded her that she was supposed to be going up to the student council's office to fetch her gift for the person, so she could finally give it to him. The important thing was to exchange gifts—that's the mission.

"Yuhi."

"Hmm?" The addressed looked up, meeting the serious yet calm jade eyes of her seatmate. She blinked, curious.

"Are you okay?" Sejin asked serenely.

The auburn-haired girl cocked her head to the right, thinking. Then recalling Gon's conversation with the shy sounding girl earlier, her heart skipped a beat. Perhaps Sejin thought that she might have felt gloomy because of what Gon said. She never mentioned anything about it to her seatmate though. "Man, Killua's been receiving quite a few letters today." Yuhi smiled sheepishly, gazing at Sejin. "What do you mean? Why?" It came out shaky.

The latter raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms against her chest as she leaned back. She blinked, face nonchalant. "I called your name thrice and you only responded on the fourth."

"Oh," was Yuhi's reply. She pressed her lips, embarrassment written all over her face, trying to cover it with a smile. "Sorry. I was just… There was something in my… I'm just thinking… about something." Her smile grew wide. "Nothing important though." Then she bit her tongue right after.

Sejin stared at the girl with that blank look on her face, as though trying to weigh down whether she should accept the answer or not. The class president then looked to the right, then left, then she sighed, leaning in close to Yuhi who sat on a chair inside fixing her things. "If the reason for your spacing out again is because of that boy, don't you think you should do something about it already? Because I think you should."

It was almost a whisper, a sharp annoyed whisper, but Sejin's tone sounded authoritative yet friendly. Yuhi was surprised at what her seatmate said, watching with wide eyes as Sejin sent her one last firm gaze before sending her gratitude for the hard work and walking back to her station. Yuhi was left to ponder in her seat. What should I do about what? Her heart then skipped a beat when that boy's face popped in her head for the nth time that day.

"Man, Killua's been receiving quite a few letters today."

Gon's sentence started to terrify her. A sharp spark dashed up her spine as it played through her mind. She stood up, slapped her cheeks lightly to shake it off, grabbed her wallet, wore her winter jacket, and went out to have lunch with her classmates. It was not as if she didn't want Killua to receive letters.


Spending time with Juno, Ren and Maru was perhaps one of the best things Yuhi never expected would be of her day so far at the festival. She assumed it would be fun because she enjoyed scooting about during the camp trip, being her buddy was Ren. But she never thought that it would be so much crazier with the other two around. It was extremely fun with them running around like kids excited about new, sparkly things they saw in school. Yuhi enjoyed herself as well, ecstatic of the fact that she was with people who could equal or even surpass her excitement of the winter festival and all the stuff therein.

They spent the next two hours exploring the school, found themselves heaving as they sat on a bench at the school's outdoor grounds, surrounded by people and the smell of instant street food. They were exhausted, but none seemed ready to sleep it off. The boys were bickering and messing around with each other—which in a day to day basis Yuhi would find extremely normal. She laughed with them and thought of how nice they were not to leave her behind—also thinking of how to show her gratitude, when something grumbled from beside her. Everyone turned to look, and it was Maru rubbing his belly while smiling sheepishly. Juno and Ren guffawed. The boy was hungry, he admitted, and soon the other two agreed in defeat. Yuhi took the opportunity.

"Hey guys, want some waffles?" she pointed to a nearby food stand to her right. "I'll go buy."

Juno gave her a funny expression. Then he turned to his friends. "Yuhinana's gonna buy waffles, you lazy butts," he said playfully, gesturing for them to turn over cash. "C'mon, hand them in." The three then started pulling coins from their pockets, joking on having no penny left for later.

Yuhi immediately waved her hands in front of their faces. "Oh, no, no!" She stood up and beamed. "It's my treat this time!"

If the face they gave her when she said that she was going to buy waffles was funny, the face they gave now was even funnier. "Ehhh!" they teased in unison, looking at each other. "Even better?" Juno said slowly. "Yuhinana's gonna buy waffles for us?" He looked at his friends as if to tell them that they should join him in giving the girl funny looks.

Yuhi giggled before turning. "I'll be back." She walked to the food stand with a smile, suppressing a happy chuckle as she heard them thank her from the bench they seated on.

The waffles food stand was a blockbuster. There were a good number of people surrounding the front façade of the small food stand, but Yuhi took advantage of her height in going through the sea of squirming students. She exhaled and smiled to herself, uttering apologies for the people she bypassed in her head. She was feeling a little starved herself. So she hurriedly turned to shout an order. It took a while before she could receive the treat. A huge smile of thanks spread across her face when she took the paper bag of waffles, turning to make her way out to the opening. When she did and turned to her right to head back, she paused, the face of someone holding two paper bags of waffles in front of her.

It was Lykira.

Yuhi's instant response was a smile, while the ash blonde only blinked as she stared at her. So Yuhi smiled even more. "Hi!" she greeted with a wave of the hand.

Lykira blinked again then shook her head a little. "Oh, hey! I'm sorry I thought I saw someone else," she said as a greeting, shrugging apologetically and smiling after hearing Yuhi said it's okay. "Quite a crowd here, huh?"

"Yes," the auburn-haired answered, chuckling. "I was one of them."

Lykira grinned. "Yeah, that I saw. Good choice, though. We've been having a waffle feast since, like, hours ago and it tastes so good," she commented, nodding slowly.

Yuhi's stomach grumbled even more. "Great!" She grinned. "Are those next in line?" she asked, eyeing the two paper-bags of waffles in Lykira's hands.

The latter nodded. "Yup!" She then sighed, shaking her head disbelievingly, a sneer on her smiling face. "Killua's a sucker for the sweet stuff."

And as though a tall building crumbled to the ground, Yuhi felt her smile crashing into a frown. Hearing the name made her heart stop. But hearing the sentence uttered by Lykira seemed something else. It felt as though she had shut down for a whole second. When she bounced back, she realized her eyes were as wide as a tennis ball. She blinked continuously, looking away, not knowing how to respond to a girl who said that she was spending hours long of her time with her crush. Inhaling air, the girl returned to the ash blonde, wishing that her smile would appear. "Sorry… something…" Yuhi started, hovering her shaky free hand onto her head to explain the pause. But she gave it up, stiff shoulders shrugging. "…Y-You're with him?" she asked nicely, hitting her head inwardly for the stutter.

Lykira stared at Yuhi with knotted confused eyebrows for a while before replying with a small smile and a nod. "He should be thankful, 'cause I'm kinda saving him from fangirls lurking in the shadows." She sneered at the air, grinning at Yuhi right after. "I bet they're looking for him now."

The latter had no idea how she was going to respond to that. So she didn't, thankful that Lykira immediately followed up her sentence.

"Wanna say hi to him?" the ash blonde asked nicely, which alarmed Yuhi for some reason. "He's right th—" Lykira pointed towards a bench to her left, but it was empty. She groaned. "I buy him the waffle and he runs off," she muttered under her breath. She turned to Yuhi with a twisted, annoyed look on her face. "Sorry, Yuhi, I gotta go." She lifted the bags of waffles, "He owes me," then walked away after a smile.

Yuhi replied with a smile and a wave of the hand to the back of Lykira, left standing in the middle of the sea of noisy students walking around with their excited faces. She was confused, utterly confused, and a little sad, frustrated, anxious, angry—at herself for reacting so stupidly with the mention of his name—and she felt a pang in her chest as she watched Lykira look around for Killua, with the waffles she bought for the two of them in her hand. She exhaled air to feel her halted heart beat again, turning a heel to go back to her friends, clenching her hands to remind herself that she already bought what she ought to.

Soon after they were done eating and chatting and planning on where to go and what to do next, Yuhi excused herself, saying that she had to attend to some student council related endeavor. She thought she needed to give the gift already before Killua disappears out of her sight—also because she would know where to find him, because she knew who he was with. The three boys thanked her for the waffles and for the time, adding that they'd pay her back with something that day.

Yuhi walked to the building again with a thoughtful mind. She now again wondered why Killua avoided her, and even assumed that he disappeared earlier when she talked to Lykira because he might have seen her. But it was stupid. Why would Killua run away from her? She sighed as she made her way up the stairs, feeling the need to run. The important thing was to exchange gifts. She needed to have it done. But just then a call made her pause in her tracks. She turned around and saw a junior council staff, running towards her. He looked worried, asking for Yuhi's help, saying that the council needed staff members to assist the surge of guests coming in the school for the festival. The girl turned to gaze at the stairs going up the council office. Then she looked at the freshman and smiled, nodding and following him back to the outdoor fields.

The student council officers were having a meeting when they arrived, stopping to greet the new arrivals. Jared explained to Yuhi that 3PM had always been the peak hour of every event and thoughtfully asked her to stay and help them for at least thirty minutes—only to usher and guide outsiders about where they would find what inside the campus—if she would allow. Yuhi agreed wholeheartedly, seeing some council staff she worked with helping out as well. Karina briefed her on what to say, and apologized for the sudden request, adding that they were the only ones who were not busy enough to disagree.

Yuhi stayed to help for an hour, noticing how tiring the student council officers' job was. It was extreme compared to walking around one booth waiting tables. They were the reception, the help desk, the information center of the entire event. They were also in-charged of checking the technicalities and overall performance of the booths and food stands as they were the ones who gave scores for the award-giving ceremony happening in the evening program. She was freed off duties when Jared told her to enjoy the rest of the booths before they closed at five o'clock, thanking her for the cooperation. Yuhi bowed and told the president that it was always a pleasure working with the student council before turning around and removing the council staff sash from around her. She felt happy about it. It was always a treat to see Jared smile at her.

"So, what'd you get?"

The girl shrieked and backed a step away when Karina suddenly jumped in front of her. Then she exhaled when she pictured her face, smiling apologetically. "Karina-onee-san…" she greeted.

The addressed started laughing loud. "I'm so sorry. Did I scare you? Sorry, I'm just excited." She then pushed her face closer to the girl's, grabbing her hands. "Tell me. What'd he give you? Klint got me earrings and it's so cheesy because he said that he felt like a real guy for a second." She laughed. "What did he give you?"

Karina did seem overly excited, and Yuhi was taken aback by the sudden reaction. She blinked, trying to process in her head Karina's fast words. Does she mean…

Before the auburn-haired could answer though, Karina's face dissolved into a frown, standing straight, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms against her chest. "Don't tell me you still haven't exchanged gifts yet."

Ding! Yuhi finally understood. She stood straight as well, shrugging and looking down. She forced a small laughter out. "Well…" Then she lifted her eyes when she remembered. "But I was about to look for him!" She beamed. She tried sounding optimistic to satisfy Karina's hopes.

But the latter only stared. "You mean he's not the one looking for you?" Yuhi blinked. Karina shook her head while looking away, muttering, "That boy's real slow. What's he waiting for anyway?" under her breath.

It was a faint whisper, as though Karina asked the question to herself. But Yuhi heard her anyway. "Huh?" she asked, confused.

Karina sighed then looked at Yuhi with a smile on her face, her bright blue eyes glistening. "But you should tell me what he gave you, okay? I wanna know." She giggled. "Don't worry. I'll ask the same thing to him when I see him." Karina waved a hand, thanking the auburn-haired girl for her hard work. "Now, go on, scoot. You'll be looking for him, right?"

Yuhi only watched Karina move and say all those things with a puzzled mind. She nodded slowly and bowed, shooting her senior a smile before heading towards the building. It was quite a walk, and Yuhi only stared at nothing while trying to comprehend the surprising approach of their council leader. Slow? Waiting? What does she mean by that?

"Yuhina-san!"

The addressed stopped walking the instant she heard that, shrieking a little as the call was reaching her from behind fast and loud. She lifted her eyes and saw from several meters away, through the sea of people scattered around. Her heart stopped. It was Killua from afar, eyes shot straight at her. But it lasted only for a millisecond, for the person who shouted her name came grabbing her by the wrist. She turned to look. It was someone she did not know. She was curious about him, but she couldn't resist the urge to return to who she was looking at. Yep, Killua really was there, because she just saw him walk away and disappear. The girl felt her knees about to wobble, thoughts mashing up in her head.

"You're Ms. Yuhina Nagame, right?" the boy interjected, sounding serious. He then moved in front of the girl when he heard no reply. "Yuhina Nagame-san?"

Yuhi blinked, moving her hands in a failed attempt to point at where she saw the white-haired boy. "I…" she started, but no words came out after. She looked at the boy and saw a refreshing look on his face. She shook her head a bit before answering. "Yes," she said, absent-mindedly turning ahead to look around. Then she tried lightening up, focusing her attention to the strange boy with a staff member sash around him.

Three more students came rushing to their post, standing alongside the boy. They all wore the sash and Yuhi's eyes grew wide as some idea was pushing its way inside her brain. The students smiled, the one who caught her wrist stepped closer to the girl. "We were instructed to come and get you."

Yuhi's eyebrows knotted of shock. She leaned back, pointing to her face. "Me? W-Who?" She then started feeling nervous, started to think that it was one of the festival's gigs—dreadful gigs.

The boy who seemed to be their representative pulled something from his pocket and within seconds secured Yuhi's hands with it. Handcuffs. The girl let out a sound of protest, but they were already guiding her to the building. The staff member turned to her with a grin while they walked. "You've been listed," he said, and said no more.

A sharp air escaped the girl's lungs. As far as she knew of the booths inside the building, three captured students through their staff members. The first one was the Jail Booth. For that day, those in-charge of the Jail Booth would put up a list of random things "banned" from school—a blacklist, from shirt color, to accessories, hair style, to clothes. Staff members for the booth would be scattered all over campus and people who would be seen with one or two things from the blacklist would be captured and put to jail. Compensation would be either to buy gaming tickets or to do a dare. The Jail Booth was out of the question, though. There was a blacklist after all and seeing the items earlier that day, there was nothing on her that could get them to capture her.

The second one was the Linking Booth. It's literally a blind dating booth, with windows shut and blinds closed. Yuhi saw it when they went and did rounds the day before with the student council. It was dark, two chairs per table. Jared said he was skeptical of the booth, but approved it anyways because of the demand. Students here, unlike that of the Jail Booth, have people listed for fifteen minutes of blind dating. Reject the list and one would pay a compensation of cash. Accept the date and the rose would be free. Confessionals often happen in the Linking Booth as what they had heard—one reason why Yuhi dreaded the handcuffs.

The third and last one was the Marriage Booth. It had the same rules as the Linking Booth, only that it would be getting married unofficially to someone who a student listed you up with, and the lights would be on, complete with the whole ceremony decorations. The booth was famous for the playful tricks of friends who wanted to get even with each other. They list up the names and watch them get flustered as they get married. It's also famous with couples, especially the juniors and seniors. It was nothing serious, though, but Yuhi was still a little afraid for the staff members won't tell her where they would put her in.

The booths were a way to earn funds for the payment of the rentals, and another way for the festival to look lively and thrilling with all the running and chasing. Yuhi experienced it before, in her first year. She was chased by the staff members of the Jail Booth, for wearing a yellow jacket. It was fun. She had fun hiding with her friends who were also chased by the Jail Booth staff. But she never once been in the other two. It should be fine, she would think. However, it still dreaded her not knowing who she would be paired with if that happened.

The girl looked around while they led her through the hallway. They were in the second floor, and seeing her classmates' eyes grow wide while they watched her in handcuffs surrounded by militants from their booth made her smile sheepishly and hide her face from the passersby who looked.

Walking up the stairs from the second floor had Yuhi confirming that she really would be going in either the Linking Booth or the Marriage Booth. She started feeling tensed to her shoulders while they marched. She wondered why she was so nervous, and figured it was because she was afraid it might be him. But that would be too much. Why would he be the one paired up with her? It was too ridiculous. What was she afraid of anyway?

Yuhi took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Her eyes were at the floor, mind concentrating. Killua's face from afar earlier would not leave her thoughts. His expression was blank, nonchalant, and although he was so far from her, she was sure for a moment that he was looking at her. She met his eyes. Why? The gift-giving activity. That must be it. She must remind herself to head straight up the council office to fetch her gift and finally give it to him. She should have done it hours ago. It was the most important thing to do that day.

"We're here."

Instantly looking up, the girl could tell she released a sigh of relief for a brief moment. They were in front of the Marriage Booth. Better than the Linking Booth, she figured. Absent-mindedly as she thought of that, her gaze fell to the left where the Linking Booth was located and smiled. Better than hearing only voices, she reassured herself.

"Tan-ta-ta-tararan-taran! Tan-taran-taran!"

Yuhi jumped, immediately turning when she heard the singing voices from behind her, eyes growing wide as she watched Jinop, Ren, Maru, Taro and Suno dance and sing around giving her funny-looking teasing faces. Ah! Yuhi wanted to tell them off, so she did. But she couldn't help laughing. "You're behind all this!" she accused, stomping a foot.

They all started to laugh as well—especially the three boys who were with her for two hours during the day. Suno raised his hands as if to surrender, pointing towards his friends. "They're behind all this. I'm behind them."

Taro nodded in agreement to Suno. "I second Suno on this one." Then he grinned at Yuhi. "I did try to argue on your side though. But what can't I do? Majority wins, sorry." He shrugged, a smug smirk on his face.

Yuhi huffed as she smiled, shaking his head of disbelief. "You tried," she told Taro who only shrugged continuously as they entered the booth.

Jinop walked closer to the girl, whispering, "A thanks from us for the waffles," before hopping ahead, excitedly singing mischievous nonsense with his friends.

Yuhi felt her pulses racing when she heard Jinop's words. Subconsciously holding her breath, the girl started to tense up, anxious as to whom they paired her up with. If the entire Marriage Booth trick was a form of gratitude, that meant she would be equally thankful for it—that meant she would be 'married' to someone who was close to her that she regarded, or to someone she liked. Yuhi gasped. Oh no…

"Yuhi!"

The addressed instantly looked up, expecting someone totally different from the person sitting on one of the chairs aligned before the altar. A massive air of relief once again escaped the girl's lungs. She thought she was feeling lucky that day. She smiled wide, chuckling a little as she looked at the faces of her classmates who waited by one side then returned to the boy. "Gon!" she greeted, waving her handcuffed hands.

The boy seemed to be the groom, for his wrists were handcuffed as well when he returned the wave. "I got kidnapped!" he announced in an optimistic fashion.

Yuhi laughed and raised her handcuffed wrists. "Me too!" she answered in the same way.

"Then I guess we're getting married!"

"Yes!"

Both laughed heartily while the rest of the people in the room only stared at them. Yuhi felt the eyes on them. She looked around and caught the staff members snickering and her classmates suppressing laughter. She blushed, but looking back at the beaming Gon, she felt comfortable.

The staff members of the booth then started removing the handcuffs and had them stand in front of the aisle while they prepared the props. The Marriage Booth was complete with white paper roses gathered and glued beautifully on the walls and hung on ceilings. A hand-made anchor was placed in the middle of the aisle, completely covered in white paper roses with a pair of plastic doves holding up a thin white cloth with their beaks. The altar was a teacher's table covered in white cloth decorated with more red and pink paper roses. The staff members then put wedding props on them—a bowtie to Gon, a white veil and a plastic bouquet to Yuhi.

The latter could not help but smile and shake her head as she looked around, finding her classmates funny for thinking that she liked Gon all this time. When she turned to give them a playful glare, they were snickering and gesturing for her to scoot closer to the spiky-haired boy. When the infamous wedding song played, they started walking down the aisle together, and they were laughing.

"This is so cool," Gon commented while he snickered.

The girl returned the giggle. "You bet."

Gon nodded cheerily, stepping closer to the girl and started whispering something. "I tried to explain to them though. But of course I can't just say it like that. It would've been better if I'm not the one—" But Gon paused, eyes wide, looking as if he regretted even disclosing a word. So he immediately took it back, shaking his head and mouthing a 'nothing'.

The girl's eyebrows knotted of wonder with that, but she let it go, for the staff member who was in-charge of the ceremony started the marital ritual, even commenting she recognized the two from the poster scattered around school. The ceremony was short. After a few stereotypical marriage vows, Gon and Yuhi were told to say "I do", exchange fake metal rings, sign contracts they would keep, and hug. The compensation was either pay or hug. The girl gets to choose.

Yuhi's five classmates were witness to the sacred event, teasing her all the while they were walking out the booth. Gon said he had fun, raising his left hand to show them that he just got unofficially married. Yuhi laughed cheerily at that, raised her hand as well to high-five Gon. The boys started making bantering noises, grabbing Gon and ruffling his hair, demanding a honeymoon. Yuhi laughed with them, gazing around. She then saw the Linking Booth's door open, curious as to what reaction the students from in there would show the moment they got out. She waited, and got her heart dropping when she saw who showed up.

Killua stepped out, placing his hands inside his pockets and sighing. Yuhi watched his face from where she was, noticing the annoyed expression Killua was giving the floor. She knew she wanted to go away, but she wanted to know who he was listed in the booth with. Then out came Lykira, a long-stemmed rose in one hand. She poked Killua in the ribs from behind, and the boy turned around and gave the girl a sneer. Lykira said something that made Killua sigh. Then they walked off.

Yuhi then caught her breath. She inhaled and looked away, trying to feel her legs. She looked at her friends and excused herself, saying that she forgot to get something from the student council office. That was when Gon looked to her left and saw Killua. He called him, just in time for Yuhi to immediately apologize and sprint towards the stairs heading up, rushing in the empty student council office, grabbing her gift, and retreating to the stairwell at a snail's pace to recollect her thoughts.

It came to the point where she had to stop and plant her back against the wall to try to breathe properly the moment she reached the 4th floor. There was pain in her chest, and the pain was oozing out through her eyes. She stared at the paper bag in her hand and sighed, blinking several times, prohibiting tears from falling, lifting her face for air. That was when she saw the huge smile of her brother as he ran towards her.


The two strolled around campus while having their normal conversations about their day and how much fun they had. Yuhi told her brother about council work, their booth, how she spent the day with her friends, and how she got into the Marriage Booth with Gon as her groom. Yellich emphasized his excitement as well, explaining that he had never been in a school festival that huge. He dragged his sister around booths and games inside the building, that when they headed out to take a stroll along the haven of food stands, the sun had already set.

Yellich couldn't help but bounce from one food stand to another, finally buying two small bags of cookies for himself and his sister as they walked along the outdoor fields. Yellich loved cookies the most and Yuhi reckoned her brother looked like a little kid in an amusement park, incredibly amused. She couldn't deny it though—she was equally amused, especially of the night.

It was already dark, and they had switched on the gleam.

Bulbs of neon lights hung like small banners through the entirety of the outdoor fields, small, circular lamps hung on trees—making it look as though it was sprouting gleaming fruits—the stage's bright lights were on. With amazed eyes, the two indulged their senses with the scent of tasty street food on a winter night and the warmth of the presence of happy people walking about. Yuhi anticipated the evening the most, having seen the beams of the festival at such a time whenever there was such an event. The night was lively, and so, so beautiful. The entire campus was lustrous, shimmering, like radiant gems of all kinds of birthstones.

"Oh wow, these cookies are really good!" Yellich exclaimed, giving the cookie in his hand a huge toothy grin.

Yuhi laughed at that, nodding cheerily in agreement. "Yep! The vendor's kinda cute too, huh?" she added teasingly, looking at her brother and knowing that he had his good eye at the lady behind the stand that sold the cookies earlier. He was so polite Yuhi couldn't believe that her brother was capable of being plenty kinds of people.

The latter snickered behind his cookie. Then he grinned as he gave Yuhi a funny face, sighing a little after shooting the pastry in his mouth. "I think I've a thing for older women. This is serious," he jokingly said to the air, shaking his head of disbelief with that smile on his face.

"She doesn't look old though."

"Yes. But she's older."

Yuhi giggled as she watched her brother groan jokingly at his own dilemma. Yellich never failed in making her feel as though the world was always fun. She faced ahead inhaled the cool breeze of the winter night, the pathway leading them to quite a noisy crowd. There was an increasing mob of people in front of the outdoor stage. Yuhi tiptoed for a second while walking to get a good look at the platform. The music was loud and the stage lights were dancing. The evening program must be starting soon.

Yellich looked over as well. He asked why they weren't announcing the program if it were to start soon and Yuhi said the loud speakers were sort of the announcement. People would gather round eventually to get good places.

"Wanna hang around for a bit?" the boy asked, jabbing a thumb towards a nearby bench.

Yuhi looked at her brother and smiled cheerily. She nodded.

They entertained themselves watching each person's excited face as they waited for the program to start and as the stage lights' colors changed. Yuhi told her brother about the festivals held in school, how it was always so mesmerizing and fun just like that day and night. After that it was silent between them, until Yellich opened up a certain topic of conversation.

"By the way, baby sister. Are you gonna keep that? 'Cause I'd want it in my room if you are."

"Eh?" Yuhi turned to her brother with wide curious eyes. Yellich said his sentence so out of the blue that the girl had no idea what he was pointing out all of a sudden. She followed where her brother's gaze was at with her eyes. Then she blinked several times of surprise. Yellich was looking at white packed paper bag on her lap. "Oh." She sheepishly laughed. "This. I…" She cleared her throat, shaking her head. "I'm not going to keep it."

"Aww." Yellich shrugged, smiling playfully. "Too bad. I really like it though." Then he cocked his head to the right. "But why do you still have it? Aren't you supposed to exchange gifts today?"

Yuhi looked at her paper bag as she listened to Yellich's questions. "We kind of haven't seen each other since this morning," she answered hesitantly, giving her brother another sheepish smile.

Yellich blinked. "Really? That's odd."

The girl only shrugged, not knowing what to say to her seemingly pondering brother. Yellich knew well about council work and her gift and the whole exchanging of gifts shenanigan. But Yuhi never told him about her current stand with the white-haired boy. She never told anyone about it. And just then, Yellich started to laugh loud. He guffawed, arms around his waist to aid his laughter aching stomach. Yuhi blinked and paused, cocking her head to the side. "What's so funny?"

Yellich seemed to get a hold of himself. He inhaled. "Nothing, nothing. I'm sorry." He took a breath. "But seriously, the exchanging gifts stuff that hard?"

Yuhi blinked, confused. But she let it slide, looking down as she shook her head, slightly shrugging. "It's because whenever I went to run to the building, somebody would call me and I'd be sort of occupied." She smiled slightly as she spoke her words slowly, wondering whether Yellich would believe her because she found it unbelievable herself.

Yellich was nodding. "The stuff you told me about?" Yuhi confirmed. He smiled. "And here I thought you've given up. Searching and all."

There was a minute of silence after Yuhi nodded and began a staring game with the grass. She started to feel tensed of what Yellich might be thinking of putting into light, because although she never said anything to her brother about Killua, the girl had a feeling that Yellich sort of knew something. He was good with those things after all—although he never asked or attempted to ask. Even so, she had no plans in telling Yellich her secret plan of going back to square one because like before, she did not want to contemplate more on the subject by exposing her sentiments. She was planning on hiding them forever. She could only wish that Yellich would be able to resist asking for it. She did not want to talk about it. Exchanging gifts was the most important thing to do at the moment.

"That gig's kinda bogus, in my opinion," Yellich started, laughing. "It's Hikari's idea, right? And I told you that I know her and she likes these things." He sighed. "Anyway, shouldn't you be looking for each other now?"

Yuhi's only reply was a smile, inwardly sighing of relief.

Yellich grinned. "Are you buying time? Or are you constructing a sentence or two of what you're going to say when you give it to him?"

The auburn eyes of the girl shined as the revolving stage lights hit her face. She blinked, not knowing what to say, because admittedly she was sort of doing the latter whenever she remembered that she had a mission to fulfill. Thank you for the time? It was nice hanging out? It's been a pleasure working with you? Merry Christmas? It's not much but I hope you like it? "I-It's not like I'm doing it on purpose…"

An airy cackle escaped the peach-haired boy's throat. "Alright. But if you're having trouble, just go with your guts. Your gut feeling is useful sometimes. You just have to be brave enough to trust it. Seriously, you've spent days finishing that thing, and to think that I also helped. It would be super waste if you didn't get to give him in the end."

Yuhi stared at her brother as he said those words with serene gravity in his tone—although there was that usual beam on his face. It was strange, because she would only give a gift to someone. It was not as if she would be doing something that would result to extremities. She only nodded to give a response, unsure as to why. She would have asked her brother what he meant, but she decided to save it for some other time.

Yellich never proceeded with anything about the white-haired boy after that. He talked about random things, for a couple more minutes, until he began with it again—because he noticed that the number of people increased, the music grew louder, and the stage lights went crazier. The evening program must be starting soon. He suddenly exclaimed that he really felt that his sister should give the gift already before the program began because his psychic senses told him that she might not get a chance in finding people when it did, eyes at the mob a few meters away.

Yuhi was equally concerned about that. She was just a little shy in asking permission from her brother to let her go. And she was subconsciously waiting for something she had no idea what. She only felt that she was—to trigger her nerves. Her gut feeling perhaps? "Should I… go now?"

"Yeah!" Yellich said the word with so much emphasis that it had Yuhi instantly standing on her feet. He chuckled at that and apologized. "Sorry, I suddenly remembered what you need to do 'cause I saw Killua just now in the crowd."

"Eh?" The auburn eyes of the girl were suddenly wide, gaze shifting to the massive mob in a flash of light. And with one look, she instantly saw the distinct white hair as she always did. Then she suddenly didn't know what she ought to do next.

Killua.

He was standing in the middle of the mob in front of the stage, a few meters away, where the people gathered around in to witness the evening program. His gaze was towards the 4-feet platform, watching as some student council staff started speaking through the microphone on-stage. Yuhi started feeling the pulses banging against her neck and ears. Absent-mindedly, her left foot stepped forward, but remembering her brother she immediately stopped and looked at him, her nerves flashing him one hesitant smile—to which Yellich returned with a playful beam.

"Don't come home too late, alright?" he said as he stood up, patted the girl on the head and walked off.

The girl nodded once, to her brother and to herself. She has had to give the gift already. She should have done it hours ago. But she sure could never miss the chance that night. It was the most important thing after all. Taking a huge breath, she turned to the mob, and found herself in wonder. Killua disappeared out of her sight.

It took some time before the girl could locate her council partner. She searched through, shifting her gaze from one face to another, turning round and round. The boy was nowhere to be found, and Yuhi started feeling dizzy. It was then when she marched out of the dome of crowded people, when she reached the walkway of food stands, when she lifted her eyes that she stopped. And there he was.

Right in front of her was Killua who stood only a foot away. Initially Yuhi reckoned she was dreaming, but watching as Killua blinked, the world began rotating again. She blinked as well, looked at anything but the boy's face before returning to gazing at him to make sure that he was really there. Killua never moved from his spot. Yuhi then she exhaled, reminding herself that they were not in good communication lately. "I…" she started, taking a deep breath to find her voice. "…I didn't see you there." she greeted with a smile, praying that the boy would respond at least.

There was a brief moment of silence with Killua only staring at the girl with seemingly surprised eyes, before he silently cleared his throat and removed his gaze from her face. "Yeah, me too," he answered, glancing at Yuhi and returned to looking away.

The latter let out a small smile and a nod, standing there and waiting for what to happen next. She bit her lower lip and looked around, subconsciously waiting for the boy to speak first before she gave her words away. When Yuhi felt the pressure of the strange silence between them, she wanted to run. But clenching her fist and feeling the paper bag from within her palms, her face lightened. She forgot everything in her mind ten seconds before. She looked at his face and moved her lips, ready to speak. "K—"

But he did the same. "Can we—"

"Huh?" Yuhi immediately blinked and smiled apologetically at that, having realized her cutting his speech. "Ah. Sorry. Go on," she ushered, looking down and feeling her face burn of embarrassment.

There was a pause before the boy made a sound and mumbled, "It's noisy out here."

Yuhi looked up to reply, but apparently, the sound erstwhile Killua's comment was his heel turning. He was walking away. The auburn eyes of Yuhi grew wide of insane confusion. But it was dealt with by Killua who stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. Yuhi saw his eyes, almost too afraid of what she might see, because whenever she saw Killua looking over his shoulder like that, his eyes were either annoyed or intense. It was neither. They looked soft. She wasn't too sure though, for the light was not in the right place and the boy immediately looked the other way after meeting her eyes, but it was neither. She pressed her lips together at that, eyebrows knotting of concern. Killua was still avoiding her. But she had to give her gift. So she followed him.

They walked about two meters away from each other, Killua leading the two-man pack, and it was silent throughout. Yuhi's head cleared up as she took steps behind the boy, watching his back while calming her still hot nerves of adrenaline rush, constructing the right words to say before exchanging gifts. But it was yet again battled by the frozen, infectious cells of cowardice when she noticed where they were at.

Instinctively pausing in her tracks, the girl turned to see how far they've gone. The stage and the entire festival ruckus were meters away, but she could still see and hear it. However, there were not much people in that spot. In fact, looking around, the girl reckoned they were the only ones there, as most of them gathered in front of the stage where the evening program seemed to have already started. She inwardly freaked, thinking of every single object present in the circumstance. It felt as though she was one in those dramas Roroturo would watch on TV. But there was only one thing missing. When she turned back around she found it.

Killua's back was at her, eyes at the sky, hands in his pockets. And Yuhi couldn't believe it. She looked down and tried sorting out her again mashed up thoughts, calming her nerves and forcing some sense into them. "A-Ano…" she let out, the noise of the festival exploding like firecrackers lit up altogether. The sound was little, though, almost like tiny background music of a sappy scene from a sappy romantic film. She stepped a foot forward of reflex, pausing a little as it made a dominant sound. Her leg seemed heavy all of a sudden. She looked up, eyes wide from her own noise. Her breath got caught once more as she met Killua's blue orbs, and found herself staring at such beautiful thing.

The boy's eyes were sparkling, the neon lights reflecting beautifully on his shining pupils. It looked as if they were glitter, or the city lights lingering on the dark seabed at night. It was as though she was looking through a kaleidoscope. They were mesmerizing, something Yuhi thought she could live looking at all day. But the girl knew she had to look away. Killua's eyes were straight at her and strangely enough it seemed as though he would not be the first one to break the gaze that time. Yuhi glanced at the party several meters behind her.

"Why are we…," she started, gulping to wet her throat for her voice, "…so far?"

"…Just…" Killua began, voice in monotone. "It's loud out there."

"But why…" she trailed off, watching as Killua looked away and mumbled something under his breath. Yuhi stretched her neck forward. She didn't hear him. "Hm?"

It took some time before Killua moved from his position. He then sighed, closed his eyes and looked at the girl with the same piercing expression glued to his face since. "…It's sort of a breakout." He looked away again.

"Oh." Yuhi blinked. Then she remembered. "Aren't you with Gon?"

Killua grimaced, and kicked the earth lightly. "Gon's been pretty busy."

And with that Yuhi couldn't help but ask, though hesitantly. She fidgeted throughout. "T-Then are you with someone… just now?" There was silence again after that. And when Killua turned to look at the girl, she wanted to bury herself underground. She was flustered, waving her hands frantically and shaking her head as she looked away. "Sorry, I just thought that I should know who I kind of stole your time from," she said nervously, not even knowing why she was. She glanced at Killua and saw him looking away.

"You never stole my time or anything. I kinda gave it."

It was a silent, rushed mumble, but Yuhi felt blood to her face fast. She blushed hard, heart racing, a huge smile wanting to break free from her chest. She let it out, and it felt so nice. But she immediately erased it.

The boy was glancing. He seemed to be fiddling lightly with something in his jacket pocket. "But if you're in a ru—"

"Oh! No!" Yuhi interrupted, knowing what the boy ought to say, and realizing that she did she inwardly gasped and paused, smiling sheepishly to the ground. "I mean, I…" Then looking back at him she smiled widely, enthusiastically announcing, "I've been looking for you, actually."

Killua's wide-eyed gaze was at the girl when she said that. What he did was blink several times, removing his eyes from her. "Oh."

Yuhi's nerves were shrieking all over the place and they never calmed down all the while she stood there opposite the white-haired boy. She was so nervous for every little thing she thought her heart would burst each time Killua moved a muscle. So out of nowhere she started, "The festival's really great, huh? Did you have fun?" She had her usual smile on, trying to strike up a normal conversation to somehow ease the awkward air between them. They were not in good communication lately after all.

But Killua only gazed at her.

Yuhi swallowed, realizing how absurd her question might have sounded, for Killua might have been chased by girls all over the place. That might not be fun for him at all. So she retracted, immediately thinking of cutting to the chase in order to finish as soon. Exchanging gifts was the ultimate mission at the moment. "Anyway, I did say I was looking for you. I know it's pretty late and all." Her lips were trembling the whole time she talked to the grass. But she forced the words out. "I'm sorry… if it's late. I kind of got caught into a lot of things today. But I—"

"Yeah," Killua suddenly interrupted, grimacing at the grass. "Gon just couldn't stop talking about it."

The girl wondered what he meant by that. Then she remembered the whole marriage thing. "Yes! I saw you there too!" she exclaimed, surprised that she did. Her nerves took a toll even before she could think. She was so nervous. "I mean, when we got out, I saw you…getting out as well. From the Linking Booth. S-So I rushed up to get the gift but I couldn't find you when I got back." Her lie was as fast as a jet plane, and with her nerves acting all giddy and jumpy, she instantly shoved the paper bag right in front of the boy's face, smiling and bowing as she pushed it nearer. "Happy holidays! I had fun at council work!"

Killua only stared with astonished eyes for seconds, blinking, before he slowly reached and grabbed the bag with such fragility. He looked at it as though it was the most bizarre thing he saw in his life, eyebrows knotted, lips slightly apart. "…Sure…" he let out as faint as ever.

Yuhi watched him the whole time, recalling that night of the heavy rain when she handed him the cupcake. He looked exactly the same Yuhi thought it was sort of cute. Then all of a sudden, she felt something churning up her stomach. She felt her pulses racing, and her brain was starting to process words she thought she needed to let out, absent-mindedly moving her lips in order to start speaking. But she couldn't think straight for some reason, and she had no idea what she was suddenly feeling. It was too sudden, too nerve-racking—like being called up to stand in front of the class to read a speech. It was that feeling, and Yuhi thought she was going to puke her guts out of tense, that when Killua lifted his eyes to look at her, without giving him time to say anything, she beamed, stood up, and waved her hands. She couldn't believe herself. "Okay! Good night!" She turned and started walking away, clenching her fists tight and trying to reason with her heart.

Then all of a sudden, Killua was on his feet. "Hey, wait!" he called, almost too abruptly.

The girl felt a loud thump in her chest before she felt blood to her ears and turned back around. She stood there, watching as Killua made his way towards her, his eyes anywhere but her face. Yuhi thought she saw him walk towards her like that before—only then, it was in one of her dreams, and Killua was smiling at her.

Closing in the gap to about a meter, Killua glanced at Yuhi before he started hoisting something from his jacket pocket. He almost shoved the object in front of the girl's face, as what she did when she handed him the paper bag, while looking at anywhere but her face. "Here. You forgot," he muttered under his breath.

It took seconds before Yuhi could focus her vision onto the object Killua had her looking at only about two inches from her eyes. It was a box, about the size of a palm, 3-inch thick, covered in green and red holiday wrapping paper. Yuhi took it with both hands and familiarized her eyes with it. She had no idea why she couldn't say a word.

"…Mito-san did the wrapping." Killua cleared his throat silently, looking at anything but Yuhi's face. But from the corner of his eye he observed her expression, waiting for her to respond. He scratched his nape with his palm and looked away when he didn't receive any. "I had fun too, I guess," he added faintly.

The girl's eyes lit up at that. She lifted her face and smiled at the boy, bowing of gratitude. She was beyond glad to hear from his own lips that he had fun working with her. "Thank you," she said softly, taking a deep breath, "for everything." Yuhi meant every word, and her chest made a loud thump when she spoke.

The statement was a declaration of adieu for her, as though she would be completely shutting her feelings away after that night, after walking away, after exchanging gifts. Yuhi figured she would feel better by doing that, but something kept churning up her stomach. It was making her feel anxious, restless—making her stay in her spot, unmoving, waiting. Killua seemed to be mirroring the girl. He nodded after hearing what she had to say, but he remained after. They stood there a meter apart, facing each other, yet eyes anywhere but at each other's faces. Yuhi was starting to feel the pressure of the silence pushing her against an invisible wall, suffocating her. She wanted to shake off the feeling, all the uneasy feeling crawling against her skin at that time. So she inhaled, smiled and bowed again, greeting the boy another good night before turning around.

Yuhi walked only a few steps before she stopped in her tracks, eyes at the ground, trying to comprehend the strange thing spreading through her chest. It was making the bones in her knees weak, making her nerves tremble of unidentified tense, her hands shake, and her teeth grit. Her brain was at war. There was chaos inside her skull, a chaos she could not understand. She wanted to walk away, but some incredible entity was stopping her, grabbing her shoulders, and turning her to face the boy again.

She pulled her hand and rested it against her chest, palm pressing onto the loud beating through her jacket, and closed her eyes and inhaled all the air her lungs could contain, aiding her nerves. And as her mind wandered through so much of her thoughts, she was getting something straight, feeling it within her ribcage, screamed by her heart. Then it became clear behind her eyelids. Her heart raced faster with every second then, her lips parting, something else taking over. Yuhi had sworn that she would never dwell onto anything related to her unrequited emotions again. She did her mission, that was what's important, but something in her didn't want to put up with the intense sensation any longer. The feeling was stronger than a punch in the chest, and with every long second she could feel it squeezing her heart. Then all of a sudden, it just exploded. She closed her eyes, turned, and yelled.

"Killua, I like you!"

The gut feeling. That must be it.

Yuhi felt lighter when she screamed the truth to the air, as though a heavy load upon her shoulders suddenly evaporated and she could stand straight and breathe properly again. But it wasn't over yet. She had come to realize that when she opened her eyes and saw from three meters away Killua's shimmering blue orbs shot directly at her.

"…What?"

-CHAPTER END-


You have to know that it was difficult for me to cut the chapter down in that part because, you know, I don't plan to. Because I don't want to. But the need to continue and the need to entice readers were battling inside my head. The cliffhanger won. And I know that you'll probably hate me for this and write stuff in the review about that but before you do I just want to say that the next part is already written and I hope it won't take long for me to publish the coming chapter—which is full of cheese, I tell ya. It ain't easy sometimes. My kokoro couldn't take it. Really.

Anyway, feedbacks of any sort are always welcome so please, please, please review this chapter—even if what you say is that this is too long and boring or whatever. What do you think of the flow of things? What do you think of Yuhi's sudden confession? Should she have kept it to herself instead? How would Killua respond? Do you trust your gut feeling at times as well? I'd love it if you'd point out particular stuff. C'mon! This chapter's a product of 2-months hibernation. Please tell me what you think about everything. /cries

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. That chapter was the most reviewed yet, I think, and yay you guys! Killua's chapter was a success. Thank you so much! Do you have any idea how awesome you all are? Well, you are hella awesome! Thanks for the messages. Your thoughts are precious, really. Also to the silent readers who fave-d and followed this story, thank you! You pips rock!

NEXT CHAPTER: And now what? Seriously.

I appreciate reviews so very much~!