A/N: It's time for challenge 3! This prompt is going on a date. And I had so many ideas for this prompt that it wound up being pretty long! Like, much longer than the other chapters! I think I'm going to include chapters like this with a bunch of content that are really long every now and then. Everyone likes things longer!

Audience: "You suck."

Please enjoy the story, and if it's too long for you, please complain about it so I know not to make them long again. Hopefully you like it!

Makoto stood outside the flower shop, hands in his pockets with his music playing as usual. He patiently waited for the woman to approach with the flowers he'd ordered, tapping his foot patiently. It wasn't a very busy day. In fact, there wasn't a person in sight other than the employees of the flower shop and some police officers by the train station. Though, it made sense on a day like this. "That'll be fifteen-hundred Yen," called the woman, as she approached with his bouquet.

He snapped out of his thoughts, fishing his wallet out of his pocket to pay the woman. She handed him the flowers in a plastic wrapping, the red roses giving off a gentle scent that Makoto could only describe as "nice". They were kind of cheap, but they still looked pretty nice for the price he paid. The roses were relatively simple, but he couldn't think of a flower more generically romantic, nor had he ever asked Labrys what kind she liked. He assumed roses would have to do. He didn't know much about flowers, anyways, so at least he had put his best effort in. As the woman walked back into the store, she called out to Makoto. "Take care of these little guys. In this kind of weather, I don't know how long they'll last."

It was true that the weather was kind of harsh. Makoto looked around the station, the ground coated by a thick layer of snow. This morning, he and everyone else had woken up to a surprising overnight snowstorm. Makoto hadn't seen snow in quite some time, so it made him happy to see so much of it so unexpectedly. If it stuck around, he'd have to get all the ex-members of SEES together for a day in the snow. He returned his attention to the woman from the flower shop. "Thank you for your service," he said, as he bowed his head respectfully. As she wished him well, he turned and left the plaza, trudging through the snow with the bouquet in hand. He had plans for a wonderful evening.

Labrys stared at herself in the mirror for the thirtieth time that morning. Today was a very important day, after all. She had to look her absolute best. Every single time she changed, she managed to find a tiny thing wrong with her appearance that she had to fix. She'd done her hair at least thirty times at this point, never totally satisfied with how it turned out. Normally, she didn't try too hard to look nice, but she really wanted to impress Makoto tonight. So she spent all of her earnings on nice clothes and even borrowed some from her friends to make sure she looked amazing.

She was wearing a white dress that fell to her knees, with a gray sweater to cover her shoulders and arms. She wore her usual gloves and black leggings, along with a pair of black boots she was borrowing from Yukari. She groaned as she twirled in the mirror, now deciding she was upset with the gray sweater. She exchanged it for a black one to match her boots, making the white dress look even brighter. Still, something didn't feel quite right. . .

Her phone buzzed. "Labrys stop complaining u look perfect! He'll luv it (/^▽^)/" was the message that she received. It was from Yukari, her fashion consultant, who insisted she looked perfect just about every time Labrys asked, no matter what she was wearing. After Labrys had accidentally mentioned she had a date that night, Yukari hadn't stopped bugging her about it. Not that Labrys minded or anything; Yukari had an excellent fashion sense, so it was nice to have her on board. Her input was quite valuable.

Labrys sighed, before sending a message back. "You think so?"

"I no so (^_−) " she replied. Labrys let out a sigh of relief as she tied her hair up. "Who's the lucky guy? " Yukari texted.

"It's a secret!" was the only the reply she received as Labrys headed out of the room.

Makoto was walking towards the predetermined meeting place, a light hop in his step. To a random bystander, he looked like his regular, quiet self, not happy in the slightest. But anyone who knew him would know he looked absolutely ecstatic, as if Christmas had come early and lasted for a whole month. The atmosphere was perfect, the girl was perfect, the night was perfect. He was dressed in his best blue coat, with some plain black pants and a blue scarf to match. In one hand he held his MP3 player, and in the other he held the flowers he'd bought earlier. Junpei had suggested he buy chocolates, but knowing the girl on the other end, that wouldn't have gone over too well.

Labrys, too, walked towards the station where they were to meet. However, her happiness was far more evident as she skipped down the street, humming a jolly tune. While walking in the snow in high-heel boots was a challenge, it paled in comparison to her excitement. It could have been the simplest date in the entire world and Labrys would still be excited. It was her first date with the man of her dreams, how could she not be excited? Nothing could possibly go wrong. This is gonna' be the best night ever!

Makoto stood on the street corner, taking sweeping glances of the area to see if Labrys was approaching. He let out a deep sigh, scrolling through the messages on his phone. She was ten minutes late. He didn't mind waiting, he just wanted to make sure he was at the right place at the right time. After all, believe it or not, this was Makoto's first time asking a girl out. He wasn't experienced with this kind of thing. He was pretty sure the guy was supposed to be early, so he'd gotten there five minutes beforehand, but she was no where to be seen. Just to be safe, he checked the time again. Did I get the time right? Or maybe the location was wrong. . . Once again, he checked his text messages. He was in the right place, at the right time. So where was she?

His worries were for naught. After several more minutes, Labrys arrived, running as fast as she could manage in the high heeled boots and dress.

Makoto had to check his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real. The mechanical maiden walked towards him, shining radiantly as she approached. Her smile was to-die-for. In that single moment, Makoto felt as if he could stare at her for hours. She pulled off the elegant appearance in a way he'd never seen before. If he could define something as perfect, this is probably the first thing that would come to mind. She truly was perfect.

"Hey!" she said, arriving at his side. "Sorry I'm late! It took longer to get ready than I thought," she said with a giggle that could move a mountain if it asked nicely.

"No problem. I just got here," he said, lying. After a deep sigh of relief, he locked arms with his new girlfriend and smiled. "I'm really glad we could do this."

Labrys smiled back. "Me too." While on the outside, she appeared confident, she was freaking out inside. This was the single most nerve racking event of her entire life. Or, at least, she felt so anyways. Her entire relationship could be determined by her performance tonight, so she wanted to be as perfect as possible.

"I got you these." He held the flowers out towards her, hoping the bouquet was to her liking. The roses weren't anything special, only a small amount of his weekly finances, but the look on Labrys's face was something he couldn't summarize with words. He expected her to like them, but he didn't expect them to go over quite this well.

She was ecstatic to receive such a wonderful present. It wasn't much, but to her, this was the first present of this kind she'd ever received in her life. She brought them to her nose and inhaled, the fragrance of the flowers astounding her. She couldn't even guess how much they costed. She assumed a lot. "Oh, this is amazing! Makoto, you really didn't have to get me something like this. . ." She embraced him, arms wrapped tightly around his back.

"Uh- No, it really wasn't a problem. . . This was the least I could do for a girl as amazing as you."

It took Makoto all that he had in him to say that without sounding like a complete and total idiot. Often, the things that went over as "smooth" in the movies and Rom-Coms came out as "cheesy, sappy and pathetic" in the real world. But as long as he was telling the truth, he didn't mind. He did think she was amazing.

Fortunately, she didn't think of his comment as cheesy, sappy, or pathetic. She blushed furiously, burying her face into his chest as they shared the tender embrace. "I-I think you're amazin', too." Her cheeks grew over brighter as she tried to calm down, but it just wasn't possible. Makoto twisted her emotions up and made her all nervous. But it was a nice kind of twisted up and nervous. She was in love.

After several moments of tender silence, the pair finally separated. "So, what'd ya' have in mind, Makoto?" asked Labrys as the pair walked down the path.

"Well. . ." He looked around, the snow encasing everything. "I just thought we could take a nice walk. The night is perfect, after all. I wanted to do something more exciting, but with the snow and everything. . ."

Labrys nodded a few times. "The snow's amazing. . . I've never seen anythin' like it before. So white, so beautiful. . ." She leaned down and picked some up, playing with it in her glove. "So soft. . ." She giggled a little, flicking some onto Makoto's nose. "And cold, too."

He laughed, wiping it off with his hand. "Yeah, a little. So what do you say?"

She nodded once more. "I think that sounds fun. Shall we?"

Makoto nodded as well. "Of course." Without further adieu, the couple marched on into the night.

"Where should we go first?" Labrys asked. "You know all the sight-seein' spots."

"I was thinking Naganaki Shrine. It's always beautiful this time of night, and with the snow it should be even better."

"Oh, alright. Let's go the-" Labrys interrupted herself mid sentence as she stumbled forwards, tripping over her boots.

Makoto caught her just in time. He didn't need her clothes getting snowy and wet or anything, so he snagged her in his arms on her way down. It was a graceful movement, whether he intended for it to be or not. Their faces were only several inches apart.

Labrys blushed immediately, pulling herself up as fast as possible. "U-Uhm, thanks!" she stuttered out, barely able to speak. She regained her footing, cursing the shoes she was wearing. "These boots are impossible to walk in," she said, laughing awkwardly. It was true that the heels were kind of high and they looked uncomfortable to wear. "Y'see, I borrowed 'em from Yukari, 'cause I thought you'd like 'em. . ." Now she was rambling her reasonings.

"They look nice. But you'd look nice in anything you wear."

Again, Makoto took a gamble on the awkwardly romantic line. He was the kind of person with the sort of charm that it just worked out for. He thanked his high school years for his ability to express his emotions so well without coming across as an imbecile. The late night karaoke sessions helped.

Labrys once again blushed awkwardly at his comment. "Oh, stop. . . You're just sayin' that. . ." She felt her heart tingle a little every time he said something along the lines of a compliment. It made her feel nice.

They continued down the roads towards the shrine, arms locked together tightly. All Labrys could think about was the person to her left, fascinated with everything about him. She wanted to know if he felt the same way that she did. This date was all his idea, but still, she was nervous that he wouldn't feel the same way. If he didn't, she wouldn't know what to do. But, at least, it seemed like he liked her. . . She giggled a little, her happiness overflowing from inside.

"In a good mood?" asked Makoto, looking down towards her. The small flakes of snow in her hair made her even more attractive.

"Yeah, guess so. I'm just really happy right now. . ." She rested her head against his shoulder as the two trekked through the snow, leaving a path that Labrys would always remember.

The snow truly painted the shrine in a different light. Everything looked even more surreal and ancient than it usually did, as if it was untouched by time and nature. Just walking around in such an environment was a remarkable experience. "Isn't it just wonderful?" Labrys tugged Makoto closer to her, pointing towards the main shrine. "The snow makes everything so beautiful. . ."

He chuckled at her amazement. Labrys had never seen snow before, so she was truly fascinated. Makoto found that amazement and fascination adorable. She got cuter every time a word came out of her mouth. "Yeah, the snow's great. We'll have to share it with everyone else sometime."

"Yup! Definitely!" Labrys smiled happily at the thought of sharing these memories with Makoto and everyone else. "I'll see if Yukari and everyone else aren't busy tomorrow. Maybe we can come back!"

Makoto didn't really mean that soon, but he wouldn't be the first to complain about taking a day off from work to play in the snow.

Hand in hand, the two participated in idle conversation, sitting on a bench within the shrine. Labrys asked Makoto all kinds of questions about his hobbies, his favorite things, his friends. . . He was fun to talk to. Occasionally, he'd put the moves on and make a witty romantic comment, leaving Labrys blushing and speechless, struggling to compliment him back. It was a nice pattern of conversation, with the shrine setting the perfect backdrop for a perfect date.

However, Makoto twitched as he heard some rustling in the bushes by the playground. He ignored it the first time, until it came once again, this time louder than before. Labrys noticed his concerned expression as he became more cautious. "M-Makoto? Is something wrong?" She looked towards the bushes, too, squinting to see if she could get a better look at what was going on.

"Fire!" Shouted the voice of a young boy as a bombardment of snowballs approached the couple.

"Eek!" shouted Labrys, raising her hands to prevent herself from getting too harmed by the snowballs. She grumbled, and turned to Makoto. She was about to complain, but then she saw that Makoto had been nailed directly in the head by one, the snow decorating his hair now. Labrys couldn't help but laugh.

The army of children (more like three or four of them) climbed on top of the jungle gym, shouting with celebration. "Ahah! We won!" shouted one of the girls as she high-fived her friend. The boys also celebrated, performing some childish hand shakes. "The grown-ups can't beat us!"

Labrys and Makoto shared a glance, before laughing playfully. They must've looked ridiculous. Makoto's hair was growing damper by the second, the snow collected within his scarf. Labrys brushed some out of his hair, eliciting yet another laugh from him. Their playfulness caught the children off guard. "Y-You're not mad?. . ." asked the other girl, walking towards Labrys.

"No, o'course not," she said, rubbing the girl's head. "I would be, but since you nailed Makoto here right in the noggin, I can forgive ya'." The girl looked up to her with a bright smile before running back to her friends, pointing towards the couple. "They're cute," she said, resting her head on Makoto's arm once again.

"Yeah. They remind me of someone I used to play with at this shrine."

"Aw, Makoto, I didn't know you were good with kids." She smiled, teasing him. "You're such a softy."

"Guess so," he replied, laughing quietly. Some fond memories resurfaced before he was brought back into the moment by one of the boys approaching them, shortly followed by his three friends.

"Uh, hey." He said. "I know you're grown-ups and all, but . . . Uh. . ." He looked back at his friends, requesting confirmation. "We thought maybe . . . maybe you'd wanna' play with us?"

Makoto looked towards Labrys, requesting confirmation. She smiled, before hopping up from the bench, leaving her flowers where she was sitting. "Alright, but we're not gonna' go easy on you. Us grown-ups are strong!" A cry of "oohs" and "ahs" erupted from the children. They whispered compliments, like "This lady's so cool!" and "Wow, she's so pretty!"

Makoto also got off the bench, not greeted as enthusiastically as Labrys was. "So what do you kids want to do first?" he asked, looking around the shrine.

"Snowman! Snowman!" they chanted enthusiastically. Labrys joined in the chants a little while later, so he nodded. "Alright. Snowman it is."

A cry of joy filled his ears briefly as the kids set about collecting the snow. Makoto and Labrys did most of the heavy lifting, making the large parts of the torso, but the kids took care of finding all the little ornaments for them. As Makoto rolled the ball up, the other boys followed him around, shouting morale-boosting comments about how good he was at making snowmen. They're pretty cute. Labrys had her own cheerleaders as well, the girls chanting her name as she made the snowman's middle torso. Labrys and Makoto exchanged a glance as they worked, warm, radiant smiles across both of their faces. These smiles communicated the pure joy and happiness they were experiencing.

"Yeah, Yuuki-san is the best! He's gonna' make the best snowman ever!" shouted one of the boys behind him as the lower body of the snowman was finished. The two boys high-fived, before high-fiving Makoto as well.

"Nuh-uh!" shouted one of the girls as Labrys approached with the smaller upper torso. "Labrys-san is gonna' make the snowman look way better!" Makoto helped her hoist the big ball of snow on top of his, the snowman now just about done. All they needed was a head.

"Boys." Makoto kneeled down before them, as if having a group huddle. He whispered some instructions to them about making the head and then shooed them off as they went to gather snow, laughing playfully.

Makoto took a seat on the bench next to the flowers, watching Labrys play with the girls. Every time he thought she couldn't get any more beautiful, something would come along and disprove his beliefs. With the girls looking up to her with admiration, her smiling more brightly than all the stars in the sky, she was a sight to see. Makoto couldn't even pry his eyes away for a second, as if scared she would disappear if he didn't provide her with his undivided attention. She noticed his stares and waved to him, beckoning him towards her. The girls looked over as well and repeated the gesture. He stood to see what they wanted, and walked over.

Labrys held her hands behind her back as Makoto walked towards her. "Yes?" he asked, just as he arrived by the girls. They were giggling madly.

"C'mere. I wanna' tell you something." Labrys leaned towards him, glancing around as if she had a secret.

He leaned towards her.

"Closer."

He leaned further towards her.

"Closer!"

He leaned as far towards her as he could without falling over.

"Now close your eyes. . ." She leaned further towards him, stifling a giggle. He did as she suggested.

"Now!" Labrys shouted, as she took her hands out from behind her back. He opened his eyes as his vision went white. Something soft and cold collided with his face, before hitting him from all angles.

Of course. He'd fallen right into their trap. It was clearly an ambush from the start. The snow came from all directions, chilling him to the bone.. The girls laughed madly, exchanging high fives and hugs. "Labrys-san is the best!" Makoto fell to the ground from the sheer quantity of snow they'd hit him with. Or maybe it was just the force Labrys could throw with. Either way, it left him in a bit of a daze.

"Yuuki-san!" shouted one of the boys, running over to his side. "Did they get you!?"

The other one picked up a ball of snow and threw it towards Labrys, hitting her square in the stomach. She giggled, ordering the girls to retreat. "Don't worry, Yuuki-san, we'll avenge you!" The two boys stood up, dusting their hands off as they gathered artillery.

Makoto laughed as he sat up, brushing some snow out of his face.

This meant war.

The girls had been severely beaten by the boys, thanks to Makoto's strategic planning. Labrys gave him a run for his money, but he had three years of combat experience; whether it was snowballs or shadows, he wasn't going to be beaten that easily. While one of the boys suffered a casualty (in the form of a snowball to the leg), Makoto and his companions had defeated the girls. The hardships were all worth it when Makoto saw the looks on their faces. The two males cheered ecstatically when Labrys issued her official surrender. The girls weren't too happy about it at first, but Labrys motivated them to accept the loss and do better next time. She shot a playful wink to Makoto.

It was more threatening than anything, actually. He was horrified by that expression. "We'll get 'im next time," she said, as the girls shouted loudly. Even when she was intimidating she was cute.

After the brief Snowball War of Naganaki Shrine, construction of the snowman was back in motion. The boys had made a rather wonderful head, giving it a pair of earmuffs and a nice face, all topped off by a piece of reed in his mouth. He looked fantastic, but he was missing . . . something.

"He's all white!" shouted one of the girls. "He needs s'more color, don't you think, Labrys-san?"

"Yeah, Labrys-san, don't you think?"

Those girls looked up to Labrys much like the boys looked up to Makoto. It was adorable, though he couldn't tell which was more adorable: the girls or Labrys. He settled for the latter.

"Hmm. . ." Makoto snapped his fingers as he had an idea. He pulled his scarf off and wrapped it around the neck of their snowman, solving their problem.

"Leave it to Yuuki-san!" One of his new friends gave him a high-five as they all backed away from the snowman. "Now we've just got to give it a name!"

"Ryoji." Makoto didn't know why he picked it. Maybe it was the scarf.

It was definitely the scarf.

"Ryoji! Yeah!" All the children chanted the name Makoto suggested over and over again, dancing around it. "He's the best snowman ever!"

"Hey, Yuuki-san!" One of the girls walked towards him with a tiny camera phone in her hands. "Uhm, could you . . . take our picture with Labrys-san and Ryoji?" She held the phone out towards him, eyes glittering.

"Of course." He rubbed her head and the boys and girls all gathered around Labrys as he snapped the picture, everyone smiling. After he took a picture for them, he took a picture for himself.

He wanted to remember this night with Labrys forever.

The kids left the park, yawning drowsily. It was pretty late after all, and they were playing hard. Makoto and Labrys sat on the bench, snuggled up against each other. The night was now silent and peaceful, snow already falling and filling in the battle scars of their snow war. Despite how cold it was, the couple felt perfectly warm, heated from the inside by the warmth from each other.

"Thanks a bunch, Makoto. That was a lot of fun. . ." She snuggled up against him. "The kids really liked you."

"Not as much as they liked you. I'm glad you had fun." He poked her nose and she smiled, blushing a little. He stood up, looking into the snowy sky. "It's kind of late. We should probably start getting home, or we're gonna' hate work tomorrow."

She laughed, hopping up off the bench with flowers in hand. "Don't pretend you go to sleep earlier than this every night." Her laughter was infectious, eliciting a laugh from Makoto as well. "Walk me home?" she asked in a playful tone that no sane man could refuse.

Makoto nodded, linking arms with her for the umpteenth time that night. And so the couple left the shrine, arm in arm, talking and laughing about the events of that night and those before. It was as if, in those moments, the entire world revolved around them.

They stopped in front of the entrance to Labrys's abode, finally separating from one another. Labrys sniffed her flowers again, feeling totally elated. "Thanks again for the date tonight, Makoto. It was the most amazing night ever."

"It was only amazing because you were there." She laughed a playful laugh, a light blush forming on her cheeks.

"You really are perfect, y'know that, Makoto? No wonder ya' make so many friends." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uhm. . ."

"Yes?" he asked, tapping his foot in the snow. The light crunching underneath him echoed throughout the silence as Labrys prepared to ask the question she'd been meaning to ask for a while now.

"So this makes us . . . a couple, right? A permanent couple? Boyfriend and girlfriend?" She fiddled with her index finger as she asked the question, as if nervous about the outcome.

Makoto's answer was short and simple, as he liked them: "Of course."

Labrys practically had steam flowing out of her ears as Makoto answered the question. This was the answer she'd wanted, but it wasn't the answer she was expecting. She awkwardly stepped backwards, almost tripping over her own feet. "A-alright. . . That's great!" She smiled brightly at him, waving with her free hand. He waved back at her.

"Goodnight, Labrys."

"Night, Makoto!" She turned around, starting to walk into the building. She stopped before fully entering, though, and turned towards Makoto one last time. "H-Hey, Makoto?"

"Yes?" he asked yet again.

"I-I . . . l. . ." She muttered something quietly, not sure how to say it.

"I love you too, Labrys."

She didn't say anything else, simply turning around to walk inside. She tripped on her way back in this time, but she didn't care. He felt the same way she did, and that was all she needed.

That night was, in every sense of the word, absolutely perfect in every way.

A/N: Challenge 4, complete! Like I said, that one was really long. I think it turned out pretty well, even with the kids and stuff. It was still pretty fluffy, don't you think? I thought the fluff was great.

Audience: "You suck."

You guys are the best! Anyways, see you tomorrow! Tomorrow's prompt is kissing. Woo, getting hot in here! Favorite if I'm your favorite (you know I am, ladies. And dudes too. I don't discriminate). Follow if this story is an abandoned road in the woods and your curiosity gets the better of you and you absolutely can't help but follow it! Don't get lost!

Or if you just wanna' read more.