"..."

"Aoyama?," Mashiro said, looking at the stunned girl.

Aoyama was frozen in place for a good minute, letting Mashiro's artwork enter her soul. It was as if the landscape escaped the border of the painting, and surrounded Sakurasou's residents in color and beauty. The sky was painted a warm orange and was somehow blended in naturally with a light turquoise in long, precise strokes. Under it, was a detailed mountain, but it didn't look like a normal mountain. It was a mix of all different colors, and none of them clashed with each other. It was as if each color was placed there with intent in mind, and not randomly.

Aoyama could see a bit of Pollock in the painting, but she also saw Mashiro's curiosity peek onto the canvas. She saw houses, figures, cats and books, although they were heavily symbolised in accordance to the painting's 'style'. They must have been the source of all that vibrant colour.

And of course, there was a wobbly 'mashiro' signed in yellow at the bottom right.

Aoyama quickly shut her eyes and looked down, the beauty shaming her of all her flaws. "...heh...well...that's Mashiro for you...," she chuckled quietly.

"Do you like it?," Mashiro asked as she lowered the painting, revealing her face.

"Mashiro," Aoyama sternly said. "...I...I..."

"I think she's broken," Jin laughed, taking a long drink from his beer.

"Jesus...," Rita said, eyes wide in amazement. "How long did that take you?"

"I worked on it during school-time."

"W-W-Why didn't you show me? I could've helped you and-"

"I wanted to surprise Aoyama," Mashiro said, putting the painting gently on the floor. Aoyama lunged forward at her and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Thank you. Mashiro...thank you for everything," she said, muffled in her shoulder.

"Hm. Thank you too, Aoyama. You were the source of my inspiration."

"We have gifts for you too missy!," Rita yelled, holding up hers. "...so why the hell did Mashiro have to go first?"

"Guys...you...you didn't have to do this...," Aoyama sniffled gratefully, letting go of Mashiro and looking at the group.

"Aoyama!," Sorata exclaimed, standing up with a drink. He smiled brightly at the brunette, who was holding back tears. "Congratulations on your promotion."

As if on queue, everyone stood up clapping and cheering, knocking over chairs and such to hug the brunette. Aoyama began crying tears of joy as she was pet and hugged by the residents of Sakurasou.

"Oh no! The hotpot!," Misaki hollered as she ran over to turn off the portable stove. "Time to eat!"

Everyone sat down and began eating ravenously, considering this weeks hotpot was shabu-shabu hotpot, an all-time favorite of Sakurasou. It was a simple soup of thinly sliced beef with a variety of vegetables. The name shabu-shabu comes from the noises the beef makes when swished around the pot, in fact. As Misaki added more and more beef into the hotpot as they were being consumed at a fast rate, it seemed as if people couldn't contain their excitement, and began giving Aoyama gifts while she was eating. Sorata saw a rather long gift being passed over the hotpot (much to Jin and Misaki's distaste).

"Oh wow a flute!," Aoyama gasped excitedly with a mouth full of beef.

"Yeah well, you said you couldn't bring yours from home so...," Hase reminded her as she looked away in embarrassment. She looked like a tsundere. "A-Also I don't mind hearing a bit of music. So..."

Aoyama swallowed her food, cleansed her mouth with water and began playing a cheerful melody on her flute. It sounded clean and crisp, like the chirping of a bird.

"I imagined you would sound like a bird," Mashiro thought as she watched her friend play.

She gave a small bow and an applause followed, amidst the clinking and clanking of cutlery, and the sound of the hotpot's boiling stock.

"Thank you, Hase!," Aoyama exclaimed as she stood up and ran around the table to hug the embarrassed first-year.

"I-It's nothin' really...," she muttered.

Along with a flute, she had also received:

- Ryuunosuke's old camcorder, because he said that he had a better one.

- A karaoke machine from Rita / Ryuunosuke (Ryuunosuke contributed some money to its purchase)

- Soundproofing foam from Jin, which was actually quite a thoughtful and practical gift. Aoyama was always rehearsing in her room very late into the night.

- An Ipod Nano with headphones from Himemiya, alongside some pre-installed songs.

- A complete set of a romance manga series from Misaki. She whispered to Aoyama that there was a 'How to seduce your partner' and a '100 sex positions' hidden between them.

- Mashiro's painting, of course.

- A Crystal Lake women's watch with a black strap (8000 yen!) from Sorata, which alongside his date today, emptied him out for the month! There was also a custom engraving on the back which Sorata didn't tell Aoyama about.

- And finally, a bottle of Lagavulin sixteen year old whiskey, from Sensei. Although Aoyama suspected that it was really for Sensei to drink.

"No no no Sensei!," Aoyama blustered, now a little tipsy from the beer she drank throughout the celebration. "Put...that away!"

Aoyama leaned on Sensei, trying to stop her from opening the bottle of expensive whiskey.

"Now now!," Sensei disputed, placing a hand on Aoyama's forehead. "An occasion such as this needs...liquor!"

"Mou..!"

Aoyama looked around at her friends who were eating and gesturing for Sensei to open the bottle. Well, everyone except Hase. This was her first time drinking beer, let alone whiskey. Aoyama looked at Sorata and Mashiro, who didn't actively encourage Sensei to open it, but looked curious enough to try.

"I've only drank champagne," Mashiro said to Sorata. "At formal events."

"Is that so?," Sorata replied. "I've never drank any kind of spirits before. But I kinda wanna know what a 12000 yen bottle of whiskey tastes like."

Mashiro nodded and sensei gave both of them a shot of the clear, brown liquid. She went around pouring a little bit of it into everyone's empty glasses, including Aoyama's.

"Oh man...," Aoyama muttered in a regretting manner. "My dad's gonna' kill me...!"

"Give yourself a break, Aoyama-chan!," Misaki barked, her thoughts now flowing without filter thanks to the alcohol. "Youuu deserve it! Lead voice actress!"

"Yeah!"

Misaki toasted with her glass high in the air and everyone followed. She downed the shot in one go and made a satisfying 'ahh', while others such as Hase sipped at the liquid tentatively.

"Hey...this isn't too bad!...," Sorata declared as Mashiro finished her shot. He looked over to the tipsy blonde.

"Hmm...goodd...," Mashiro mumbled as she extended her arm towards Sensei. "...another one...please..."

"Coming right up!"


Pretty soon, everyone was feeling pretty hammered. The hotpot stove was turned off, since it was no longer time for a Sunday night dinner. Aoyama was singing drunkenly on the karaoke machine with Jin and Misaki, while Ryuunosuke was making out with Rita, Hase was passed out, and the rest were playing Uno on the floor, which had more space.

"Unooo!," Mashiro called out, holding her one card. Everyone groaned in frustration, but Sorata grabbed her arm and inspected the card.

"Oi...that's cheating...," Sorata deadpanned, showing everyone her four cards stuck together as one.

"Nuh! Noooo it isn't!," Mashiro slurred, shaking her head over exaggerated.

"Maaashrio-chan~!," Aoyama called drunkenly, recording the blonde with the camcorder she got as a gift. "Here! ...Paint somethin'! Paint somethin' for me, will ya'?"

Aoyama stumbled over to Mashiro and handed her a chopstick dipped in ketchup.

"A...Ao..this not a paintbrush...!," Mashiro incomprehensibly warbled back.

The two clutched their stomach and began laughing on the floor.

"Mashiroo...," Sorata said, also stumbling over to them. "...don't do that! You'll get...dirty! Dirty!"

"Pfffttt!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Mashiro continued rolling around on the floor, irritating the drunk Sorata even more, as he tried to get Aoyama out from under the table, like a cat under a car.

"Kandaaa-kun~!," Aoyama purred. "Help me~! I'm stuckkk!"

Sorata knelt down on all fours to try and get the wasted girl out. Mashiro, in her not so hindered state of mind, saw this and hugged Sorata's back, like she was a backpack or something.

"Get...off...me...!," Sorata babbled, standing up and waving his arms clumsily behind his back.

"Nuh uh. Is comfi," Mashiro murmured, still attached to his back.

"...welll...fine! Looks like we're going- *hic! to bed then...you drunk...," Sorata proclaimed lazily, much against Mashiro and Aoyama's sounds of disappointment.

"Yuuuup!," Sensei announced, standing up from the Uno game. "Time for good boys and girls to go to bed!" She shuffled over to the dinner table and turned off the karaoke machine, eliciting protest from Jin and Misaki.

"Okaay. Jin. Jin- stop grabbing my boobs! Okay! Time to go! Upstairs! I'll clean up...!," Sensei yelled while shooing everyone upstairs.

"Eeehhh? Well...okay...you're the boss...," Misaki moaned as she got on Jin's back. "Lettzzz go! Husbando!"

"Sorataaa," Mashiro whispered, grabbing the back of his shirt. "...help me with pantiees?"

"...sure...," was all he said, as he closed the door to his room and clumsily got her panties down to her knees, until Mashiro cupped his cheeks, leaned down and kissed him.