Chapter Seven: Cinderella Date

(Author's Note: I had gotten so caught up in the Christmas rush, which is why I took so long with this. TT anyway, here it is. Think of it as the long-delayed Christmas special.)

-Sei-

It was pretty late when I got off the phone with Tomiko. We'd gotten into that habit: phone each other at night when there wasn't much to do, and just talk about stuff. AND tease each other. Mostly it was me teasing her, but every so often Tomiko would send a well-aimed jab in my direction. This night was no different; I teased her to the point where she couldn't do anything anymore and just opted to say that she would get back at me tomorrow. I told her that she was free to try, and, after hearing her turn bed-bunny-ish on me, decided that I felt rather tired myself, and so we said goodbye.

I was holding my phone in my hand, grinning stupidly (because our conversation had been really funny) and I happened to look at the date and time on the display.

December 24. 11:59 pm.

Huh.

A minute to midnight, and my birthday. And Christmas, come to think of it. Two years ago, maybe several minutes earlier, I was at a train station, waiting for someone who would never come, for something that would never be. Sometimes I wondered if I was waiting still, and then...

What WAS I waiting for?

Things had gotten quite blurred by now. I realized that I wasn't smiling anymore, then I realized that I'd just put a damper on my own silly happiness, and then I felt myself smiling again, maybe a bit ruefully, maybe resignedly. I didn't know.

And then it was midnight. Happy birthday to me, woohoo, and all that.

I was at home. Nobody else but me and the household help. My parents were off on different trips; dad was away on business and mom was floating around on some cruise ship somewhere--the Bermuda Triangle, maybe--and so the house was pretty quiet.

I went over to my bed and plopped down on it, on my back. A lot of memories came flowing in. I'd long accepted this as being part of this particular season, since I usually opt to be alone while everyone else is enjoying themselves at some party or other, and when you're alone, well, expect a lot of thinking and reminiscing. Speaking of parties, the current Yamayurikai would be celebrating their own Christmas party right about now. What were the other two former Rosas doing?

My eyes were falling shut. I yawned, then pulled up the blankets and settled in. Birthday and Christmas greetings would come later, in the morning. As I drifted off, I thought of Tomiko and everything that had happened to us so far: our first meeting, P.E. dance class, Kei and Rizu, Italy, and all else in between, hanging like a mist in the back of my mind. Through the fog, I thought I felt her hand on mine, but that must've been just a dream.

"Sei-sama?"

The voice filtered into my consciousness like an annoying little earwig. I ignored it resolutely, telling myself that if I ignored it, it would go away and leave me alone. Today was for lazing about and doing nothing, and with just the right amount of willpower I could probably sleep until New Year's and not have to worry about my birthday or Christmas or...

"Sei-sama, wake up."

Ah. There was only one person in the house who would give me an order instead of the other way around. Shouko, the spunky maid, whom my mother hired only a few months ago. In spite of the short time she'd been in our service, the girl managed to pick up on my so-called odd habits and demeanor, and knew exactly how to deal with me. And, because she was such a good-natured lass, I felt it was safe enough to fill her in on my life. So yes, she knew about Shiori, the Yamayurikai, and lately, about Tomiko.

I opened one eye and regarded her lazily. "What?"

Shouko frowned disapprovingly at me. "You'll get fat if you stay in bed this long, you know, Sei-sama."

I closed my eye again. "Wake me up when it's next year."

"Believe me, I would, but Sei-sama has a visitor."

A visitor?

I opened both eyes this time. "Shouko, didn't you get the memo about me not seeing anyone today?" I joked.

"I did, but I threw it away. She says she's from your class, Sei-sama."

Curiouser and curiouser. I wondered what Kei would want with me so damned early, and on a holiday, too. I sat up and wiped my face with my hand. "I suppose it'd be too rude to send her away now," I muttered. "Send her in, then."

Shouko looked like she was suppressing a grin. "Ah...Sei-sama, are you really going to entertain such a pretty visitor in your sleepwear?"

"What part of Katou is pretty? Do tell." I got up and heard a distinct creak from my lower back. Ouch. "Send her in, Shouko, and stop laughing at me."

"I am not laughing at Sei-sama."

"You are in your head, now scoot."

Shouko finally gave way to her grin, and she pranced (what the...?) to the door and went out. I could hear her speaking to someone just outside. "Hai, Sei-sama will see you now."

"Ah, arigatou, Shouko-san."

My eyes popped open. That wasn't Kei's voice. I turned around just in time to see Tomiko enter my room.

All right, I know I've gone on about how pretty Tomiko is, but today was something else, even for her. You see, Tomiko has a habit of dressing casually, maybe even a bit carelessly, in the sense that she would just throw on the first thing she pulled out of her closet and go out in that. Usually she was in her airbrushed T-shirts and somewhat baggy jeans and sneakers.

Today, she was in something else entirely. Instead of her usual t-shirt she wore a brown, silk blouse with a design of soft, pink sakura blossoms scattered across it as though floating on a gentle breeze. Gone were the baggy jeans, replaced by a denim skirt with random patches of leather that reached down to mid-calf. And instead of sneakers, Tomiko wore stylish, scrunched-down, flat boots that more or less completed the whole look.

She grinned at me. "Ohayou," she greeted.

"Ohayou," I said, still a bit surprised. I hadn't expected this. "Well, well, and what brings you here so early?"

Tomiko pulled a face. "Nine A.M. is early for you? It's midmorning, baka. Here," and she thrust something into my hands.

I looked down at the decoratively-wrapped package. It felt a bit heavy. "What's this?"

Tomiko rolled her eyes. "It's your birthday present, Sei, what else?"

My jaw was probably scraping the floor. I expected my birthday to be placid, boring even, but this was a pleasant opposition. "Ho...did you actually go through all this trouble just to give me a present?" I tested the weight of the package in my hands. "What's in this thing?"

"Why not open it?" Tomiko suggested.

"I can?"

"Of course, silly, it's YOURS."

I went over to my desk--really just a cluttered mess on a table, with a barely visible laptop next to the more often-used computer--and set down Tomiko's gift. I opened it up to find a plastic container filled with something out of a Starbucks' pastry line-up: cream, bananas, and a dark brown crust that was either toffee or caramel. When I lifted the lid, a delicious scent wafted upwards from the treat. "Wow..." I said, not really knowing what else to say.

Tomiko looked a bit embarrassed. "It's my attempt at the Banoffee Pie."

I grinned at her. "This looks really good. I think I'll have it for breakfast."

"Some breakfast! Having cake for breakfast isn't exactly healthy, you know."

"Ah, but you made it, which means it's probably not at all junky, as Rizu would put it, ne?" I closed the container again. "Hold on, let's go have it together in the kitchen. Let me just throw on some decent clothes."

I snatched up some housewear and headed for the bathroom after telling Tomiko to sit down on the bed.

After hurriedly changing, I stepped out of the bathroom. Tomiko was looking around at everything in my room, but she turned her head to look at me. I thought I saw a thin veil of disappointment fall across her face.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "I just…well, I just thought you might want to go out, was all."

I blinked. Holy crap, did I make some kind of birthday wish last night? Harada Tomiko wanted to go out with ME?

"You want to go out with me?" I asked it out loud. Heck, I had to make sure, right?

Tomiko looked even more embarrassed than she did earlier. "Hey, it's your birthday, why not?"

There was more to it than that, I thought. I waited, looking at her inquiringly until she sighed. "All right…look, lately you've been acting…I don't know. A bit different. Like your mind's always elsewhere. It's not abnormal to daydream or anything like that, but you've been doing it a lot. Too often to be…well…you. And you always have this serious look on your face—no, in your eyes. Your eyes are sad lately. So I got worried." She was perusing the floor. "And I got the feeling that you'd spend your birthday moping around, so I came over to see if I was right."

I'd forgotten just how perceptive this girl could be when she wanted to. I guess the season—and the memories I've associated it with—did have some kind of effect on me. I suppose not being around my old friends made me drop my guard a bit, enough to let Tomiko notice that Christmas was a season I'd sooner do without.

I tried not to sigh, but I guess something like it escaped me. Tomiko looked concerned. I realized that I cared enough—no, a lot—about her, and I knew it was time to fill in a couple of blank spaces. By this time Tomiko knew about the Yamayurikai and some aspects of my family life, but nothing about her.

I pulled up a chair and sat down right in front of her. "I don't really like Christmas."

Tomiko smirked. "I figured as much. You turned up your nose at the Christmas décor on the University grounds."

I grinned. "They're tacky. Anyway, tasteless décor isn't my main reason for disliking this season."

So I told her everything. About Shiori and how we met, about how our friendship soon turned into something more than just that, and about how we parted. When I got to the part about the train station and how I got Shiori's letter, Tomiko's face turned sad. Almost unbearably so. And I wondered if she had gone through a similar situation, but didn't think it was the right time to ask.

When I was done, she was silent for a while, going through what I just told her. Her eyes had turned distant, and I got the feeling that she was looking into my past somehow, seeing things through my perspective. Did she feel sorry for me? I hated having anyone pity me, especially over this, but could I help it if she decided I was rather pathetic?

Just when I was ready to crack a joke to get all the heavy feeling out of the air, Tomiko looked at me. I was surprised by the gentleness in her eyes.

"Wow…" she said softly, with a smile. "You must have really loved her."

For a moment, I couldn't say anything. She didn't pity me at all. Still, I couldn't quite put a finger on the emotion in her voice. Admiration? Compassion? Understanding? Something of each all rolled into one?

Finally I nodded. "Yeah."

I didn't think her eyes could turn any gentler, but they did, and she reached out a hand and covered one of mine with it. I couldn't bear it anymore. I stood up, cleared my throat, and scratched awkwardly at the back of my head. "So, aren't you spending Christmas with anyone? Family?"

She snorted. "Mom's going to be at a party tonight. Catering. And mingling, too, I suppose. Ben's at a friend's house, and as for me, well, I'm here." She grinned. "I came from Saitama, actually."

"Ho, all the way from Saitama just to celebrate my birthday with me?"

Tomiko's nose crinkled. "Yeah, and what does the great Satou Sei want to do on her birthday? Spend the whole of it lounging in bed."

I gave her a wicked grin. "You could spend it here with me, you know. I wouldn't want you to have come all the way here dressed to the nines for nothing."

She stood up and flicked a fingertip against my nose. "What makes you think I'd do that?"

"Oh, I don't know. My irresistible charm?"

"Spare me." Tomiko chuckled. "Actually, I wanted to drag you out today."

I nodded. "So you've said." I sidled in close. "Ah, you wanted a date with me?"

She shrugged. "If you want to look at it that way, fine. Yes."

My jaw was doing a lot of floor-scraping today. And it wasn't even 9:30 yet. I pulled away slightly, wondering if it was really Tomiko standing next to me in my room. "Are? Really? You're okay with going on a date with me?"

"Think of it as a birthday-slash-Christmas gift." Tomiko smirked. "Hey, I know you hate Christmas, but I happen to like it, and I think I'll make it my personal mission today to show you why." She let out a deep breath. "All right, then, here. Today, I'm yours. Until the clock strikes twelve tonight, you can think of me as your date on this, your birthday." She lifted a single brow at me. "But only until twelve, and then the spell's broken. Agreed?"

I chuckled. "So, this is a Cinderella Date, or something like that, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Sou. A Cinderella Date. You being Cinderella, of course."

I grimaced. "While I disagree with who's playing Cinderella, I guess I can't complain." I grinned and draped an arm around her shoulders.

She did not protest.

"Uwo! This'll be fun! All right. I'll get dressed, and then we'll go around town. Anywhere you want to bring me is fine."

After a brief argument on what clothes I should wear, we settled on a seldom-if-never-used black coat that was, in my opinion, too stylish for me, dark denims, and an airbrushed t-shirt from—who else?—Tomiko herself. She surprised me with yet another gift after some minutes of poking fun of the contents of my closet (what she found wrong with tan-colored long coats and white, long-sleeved polo shirts I'll never know). The dark gray t-shirt had a beautiful design of a fox on the front. "Why a fox?" I asked.

Tomiko rolled her eyes. "Why, the fox asks."

I laughed. I was the mischievous sort. "Thank you."

I thought I saw her blush. "You're welcome."

There was definitely something different in the air. What it was, though, I didn't dare find out. Not yet. It was probably, most probably, just wishful thinking on my part. I throttled a strange, warm feeling in my chest, stubbornly told myself that Tomiko was just being a good friend, and then retreated into the bathroom again to get dressed.

-Tomiko-

I looked around the room as she got ready for today. Butterflies were taking up residence in the pit of my stomach, and I wondered what possessed me this morning to get up and go all the way to Tokyo to see her. Then again, I had to find out what exactly was eating her. All throughout the week before Christmas, Sei was, well, morose. She was a lot less energetic than usual, and when she thought no one else was looking, I'd see her shoulders slump a little as we watched Christmas set itself up around us. I guess I got worried. I had planned to give her the pie and just be on my way to my flat, but my heart had gone out to her before I had even thought of heading for the door.

The Cinderella date was something I had thought of spur-of-the-moment, and I didn't exactly think she'd expressly agree to it. I don't even know if I should have blurted it out in the first place. Declaring myself, um, hers up until midnight wasn't exactly my style, I know. But Christmas was working its magic overtime, and I felt it too. I was feeling generous. And admittedly, a part of me was feeling… I could not put a word to it, but I'd say it was the feeling of jumping off a burning plane and praying to whomever that the backpack you snatched up on the way out WAS a parachute.

If I had to describe Sei's bedroom in a word, though, I'd have to pick 'spartan'. It wasn't exactly bare, and it DID have a computer AND a laptop, but it was devoid of posters, accessories, anything that would explicitly announce that a girl inhabited it. It was not exactly what I expected to see, given how the rest of the house looked, I suppose. Rich but empty. I wondered if I could justifiably describe Sei that way. But no, that would be incorrect. Cruel, even. She doesn't exactly have a three-word personality, if you catch my drift.

Sei emerged from the bathroom in the outfit I had helped her pick out (If I hadn't taken matters into my own hands, she would've come out in one of those ubiquitous and absurdly redundant khaki longcoats. Who knew she'd have half a closetful of them?) I had to admit, she looked better than I thought she would, what with that jacket; and well, the shirt brought the color of her eyes out, more than I had expected. Or hoped.

"Well, what do you think?" she said, sounding eager to please, so unlike her. She held her arms out at length, looking at me with a lopsided smile.

"Cool. You…" I started before I could even think. I wanted to grin, to compliment her honestly, to lay—what?—bare. Damn, it was too much too soon. I sucked it all in and managed to let out a "You look less of a randy old goat now." I didn't want midnight chiming in now.

"Ho? Even on our Cinderella date, you still act like yourself," she commented mildly, and I thought she sounded a bit disappointed. Either that or I just wanted to believe that. This date was going to be much more awkward than I thought. I stood up and put on my coat, and as I did, I spotted a nice periwinkle scarf carelessly slung over the back of her chair. I pointed it out to her.

"Hey, why don't you wear that? It's kind of blustery today," I said. "Besides, it would be the perfect finishing accessory."

"Hn. Meh. I don't know much about finishing accessories and such…" her voice trailed. She took the scarf from the chair and wrapped it around her neck. "But if my Tonkoneko will love me more for it, why not?"

She was grinning as she said this, and I can say with all honesty that all the hairs at the back of my neck stood on end. The cold air did nip at my nose on the way to Tokyo (turning it a bright red, like a certain reindeer), but I guess that old saying was true. Some kind words could warm three months of winter.

Sei

I was so tickled pink that Tomiko was taking this Cinderella Date thing so seriously. For one thing, she had her arm linked with mine, something that she normally doesn't do. She wasn't the touchy-feely type, unlike yours truly, who enjoys glomping hapless victims like her. I suppose the cold winter air had something to do with her keeping in close proximity. Winter wasn't so bad after all. It was just the Christmas part I didn't like dealing with. For another, she kept suggesting places where we could go, like amusement parks or movies, both of which I knew she didn't much enjoy, for some reason. She was really going out of her way for me. That was enough to get a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest. And, truthfully, I enjoyed having her 'on my arm', so to speak. I wondered if people who saw us mistook us for a couple.

We'd been walking around for a while, still trying to decide where to go, when she suddenly snapped her fingers. "I know," she said, grinning up at me. "Let's go to Juuban Koen."

" Juuban Park?" I said. "What's there?"

"What else?" she laughed. "A winter festival. They've also got some rides and other things going on. And I'll bet you we'll find stuff to upgrade your closet material."

I snorted with laughter. "Upgrade? You REALLY think my fashion sense sucks, don't you?"

"It doesn't suck, Sei, it just doesn't exist in the first place," she retorted with an evil smile.

"You're a cruel woman, Tonkoneko."

She sniffed. "Let's see if you can still say that at the end of today."

I laughed, though I knew inside that she was right. I didn't even mean that, really. She was being very kind to me. Not too many people are kind these days.

Juuban Koen turned out to be really lively. Quite a number of people were there, walking around and looking at the stalls that sold an assortment of things, food, toys, clothing, accessories, and more food. Hah, now I knew why Tomiko had suggested Juuban. The smell of warm, tempting edibles in the cold winter air was enough to draw any hardcore foodie in, and Tomiko was definitely a hardcore foodie.

We walked arm-in-arm past numerous stalls lined up on either side of a long, stone path. One stall in particular caught my eye; it was being managed--so to speak--by five girls, three of which were bickering with each other nonstop. Apparently they were selling takoyaki, but one of them, a girl with impossibly long pigtails, was eating most of the wares, which really rendered the point of selling them useless. Tomiko took pity on them and bought two orders of takoyaki, hoping to stop their arguing, but as we left we heard them pick up exactly where they left off. Sweatdrop.

As we got to the end of the path, we noticed a commotion some ways off. There was a stage and a huge group of screaming girls stood in front of it, braving the cold weather in order to watch a boy band of some sort perform.

"Oh, please." Tomiko snorted, rolling her eyes.

I grinned. "You don't like boy bands either, eh?"

"They're terrible," she said. "I'd rather listen to rock bands. Makes me wish Do As Infinity hadn't disbanded."

"Larc's still alive."

"Thank God for that." We both laughed, and then she continued. "Who IS that singing, anyway?"

I craned my neck. "Three guys in stupid, colored suits and outrageously long ponytails."

Tomiko laughed. "I think I've seen those guys on TV! Their songs put me to sleep."

I snickered. "They make for good comic entertainment, though."

"True."

We left the 'concert' area and found ourselves wandering through more stalls. Tomiko suddenly let out a delighted cry and hurried towards one of them, a candied apple stall run by an elderly couple. They exchanged greetings, I was introduced as her college friend, and then they started talking. I listened to the animated conversation and found out that Tomiko had worked for the couple during the summer break, and that she'd done such a good job that they had entrusted her with their stall and gone off on a vacation of sorts. It was clear to me that they doted on her like she was their grandchild, which made me smile. At least she'd found some people who showered her with affection when her mother was too busy with her catering business. At the end of their talk, we walked away with two caramel apples that were a little bit more caramel than apple, thanks to the extra coating of taffy that the couple had smothered all over the fruit. "This'll make it a bit hard to eat," I said lightly, and to prove my point I sunk my upper front teeth into the treat and let go. The whole thing remained comically stuck to my teeth.

Tomiko threw her head back and laughed. I grinned (through my mouthful of caramel apple) and wondered if she really was having a good time. A scary thought occurred to me that she may not really be enjoying herself, that she was just taking pity on me. I hoped not, heck, I wouldn't take pity on me.

We then came upon the attraction part of the park, the area with all the rides and prize stalls. I hadn't realized just how big this park was until I realized that there was a small rollercoaster off to one side and a huge-ass Ferris Wheel right smack dab in the center of the place. "Now HOW on earth did we manage to not see THAT?" I joked, pointing at it.

She barely glanced at it. "Hey, look, House of Mirrors," she said, pulling my arm and practically dragging me over there. The thing was little more than a shack, and it looked spookier than any haunted house attraction I'd ever seen.

"You wanna go through that?" I asked dubiously.

Tomiko smiled. It looked a bit forced. "Sure, why not? It'll be fun."

Her tone lacked conviction, but before I could protest, she secured us a couple of tickets and then we were inside.

The house was, in a word, annoying. It was dark, and I kept bumping into everything--mirrors, boxes, walls, glass, you name it, I cracked my damn nose against it. We even bumped into another couple (technically I CAN say that, me and Tomiko being a couple for today). I quickly apologized, and they graciously said that it wasn't really anyone's fault, since it was so confusing in there. "About that," I said, noting that Tomiko seemed speechless with something akin to fear, "could you point us in the right direction? We just want to get out of here."

The shorter one of the two smiled. "Ara, have you been wandering around for hours now?"

I scratched at the back of my neck. "I don't know, but it does feel like that."

The taller one grinned. "Just follow this hallway out until it forks off in two directions. Take the one on the left, and ignore every other door until you get to the second to the last one. All the other doors just open to reveal more mirrors."

I heard Tomiko breathe a sigh of relief, and felt her grip on my arm tighten. "Ah, thanks. By the way...if you know the way out, what are you two still wandering around in here for?"

The taller one suddenly seemed embarrassed, but the shorter one laughed. She had wavy hair. "Let's just say...it will be rude not to answer your question, but it WILL be very tasteless of me to tell you exactly why."

I understood immediately. They WERE a couple, after all. "Well, thanks for your help."

Tomiko and I hurried along to the exit. My companion was almost running. Her grip on my arm was so tight, I thought my circulation would get cut off. I could hear her breathing fast, almost panicked. This was more confusing than the damnable maze of mirrors we were in. Why suggest we enter this house when she wasn't going to enjoy it?

We finally made it back out into the winter sunlight. Tomiko was gasping for air, and I could see how pale she'd grown. She was also trembling. I grabbed her arm and pulled her into a semi-embrace to steady her. "What's wrong?" I asked, truly worried.

She shook her head. "Nothing...I just..." She sucked in a deep breath. "I'm...I guess I just don't like closed spaces."

I blinked. "You're claustrophobic?"

She gave me a wan smile. "Yeah."

"Baka. Why'd you go for the House of Mirrors then? It's always claustrophobic in there."

Tomiko shrugged, looking at the ground between us. "I dunno...I guess I thought you'd enjoy it."

I gave her a playful push. "Silly Tonkoneko. I'd enjoy it only if you enjoyed it, too."

She didn't reply. Her cheeks were suddenly quite bright red. At least the air had restored her complexion. I looked around, wondering what we could go on next to get her mind off of her latest harrowing experience. I grinned. "Say, Tonkoneko, you like rollercoasters?"

The rollercoaster WAS small, but it did go pretty fast, and it was a fun, thrilling ride. Tomiko was screaming my ears off, but she was laughing, too, which was a really good thing. When the ride was over we were both breathless with the rush. Our hair was in a state of dreadful disarray, but we didn't care. "That was fun!" Tomiko exclaimed, her face alight with childish exuberance. "What else do we go on?"

We went through almost every ride, including the kiddie bump car one they had near the rollercoaster, and spent about ten minutes trying to knock each other giddy while trying not to scare the kids. Eventually they ganged up on me, Tomiko included, and decided that I was their prime target for the last three minutes we had left. She had the most wicked grin I'd ever seen on her yet, and not even my driving prowess could get me out of the pinch I was in.

"Traitor," I told her as soon as I had my feet back on the ground and my vision had stopped shaking.

She laughed. "Had to get you back for the first time you ever took me for a ride," she replied with a casual shrug. Then she affectionately linked arms with me again. "So, are we done here?"

"We haven't gone on the Ferris Wheel yet," I reminded her.

A shadow passed over her face, and her gaze dropped down to her feet. "I'd really rather not."

"You afraid of heights, too?"

Tomiko was quiet for a while. A long while. And then she said, "No. But my last experience with the Ferris Wheel wasn't something I'd like to repeat, least of all with you."

I stopped and turned to face her. To her credit, she did look at me, right in the eye, for a few moments before breaking contact. "The last time I went on that with someone," she began sadly, "we stepped off and went our separate ways. I like you, you know...I mean, I value my friendship with you, and call me superstitious or stupid, but I don't want to lose another good friend."

Something went click. "You're not just talking about some friend here, are you?" I asked as gently as I could.

She looked up at me again, and I could see a great sense of loss in her eyes. Then she lowered her head. "No. It wasn't just a friend."

I knew it. Only someone who'd been through a similar kind of loss and heartache could really empathize with me the way she did. "When did this happen?"

She shrugged. "Spring."

No wonder she hated the season. She hated it the same way I hated THIS season. And she'd been carrying her pain all on her own the whole time. It was the only way she knew how to deal with anything.

Tomiko was still hanging her head. I gave her a playful little nudge with my shoulder, and when she looked up I smiled. "Oi, you're not going to lose me on some silly ride. But I can understand why you don't want to go on the Ferris Wheel. I don't particularly like waiting at train stations on any given day myself, which is why I got a car." I put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you opened up a bit today. You don't have to keep it all in, you know. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm always around."

She gave me a wan smile. "Thanks. It's not that I don't want to let you in on my life. It's just that, well, I've never really felt like talking about it. Until today, that is."

Our gazes held. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought I felt a faint tug, a feeling of wanting to pull in a bit closer to Tomiko, but then logic kicked in, and I realized that the silence between us, while comfortable, may soon turn awkward. Luckily, Tomiko's stomach decided to provide a welcome distraction. I heard a rather deep and insistent growl. She turned a bit pink, and I laughed. "Chow time!" I declared, grinning and throwing my arm around her shoulders. "Knowing you, I bet you have just the perfect place in mind."

She snorted but didn't bother to shrug out of my half-embrace. "As a matter of fact, I do. Which is more than I can say for you, Miss Eat-out-of-a-Microwave."

"Microwaves are God's gift to humans."

"No, they're a result of laziness."

"I'd say they were practical."

"Only because you're lazy."

"That's not true."

"Oh? Explain why I have to cook for you almost every day then."

I grinned. "Because you secretly adore me and have fantasies about being a housewife. Mine, to be specific. Ne, Tonkoneko?"

She punched me—rather hard—in the shoulder, which sent me reeling away with a half-groan, half-laugh, and then we linked arms again and left the park.

-Tomiko-

I couldn't believe it. I was spending the day with her. And I was actually enjoying myself. I liked seeing her eyes crinkle into tiny fringed lines as she laughed. I liked how her cologne mixed with her smell, how her close proximity made my heart race, but my knees melt. I liked everything.

Dare I say I loved it?

Hell, no. I pushed any and all thoughts of anything other than keeping this a friendly date out of my head. I convinced myself that any feeling that this day would ever bring me would end the minute the clock in the park struck twelve, just like the magic in that goddamn fairy tale. But still, a tiny strand of me hoped. And I absolutely HATED it. I would have apologized to her for any bipolar behavior this turmoil inside made me exhibit, but as she was the cause of my emotional mutiny, why even bother?

I knew it was only a matter of time until I had to tell her about the Ferris wheel. I hate going on it now as much as I loved it then. But then again, I knew that certain things would come out as a result of this strange friendship.

Somehow though, spending Christmas with her was the best decision I had ever made all year.

There were two ridiculously large, mass-market food stands, both serving substandard hotdogs, popcorn and other typical fare. Snubbing them both, I made my way down the little alley between them, pulling Sei by the hand. She raised an eyebrow, and she grinned at me evilly.

"Oh, where could my little kitten be taking me now? Is this place secluded?" she asked, her words rife with meaning.

"It does look like it, ne?" I replied mildly, looking her in the eye and giving her a sly smile of my own.

Sei arched an eyebrow and smiled lopsidedly, though her eyes showed—betrayed?—that she was trying to gauge whether I was joking or not. Did I see uneasiness, or even hope? Or was she just rifling through her grey matter for a good comeback? I was betting on the latter.

"Ho?" Her eyes twinkled.

"Relax," I said. "I'm just taking you someplace to eat."

"Oh, I AM relaxed, Tonkoneko. Are you taking me someplace to eat you?" She leaned in dangerously close, pulled me to herself and winked. My head was reeling.

"Not me, silly!" I said, wriggling away, but taking her arm at the last moment. "Just come along." I suddenly remembered something. "Ne, Sei, you like spicy food?

"I hang out with YOU, right?"

I had to smirk. "I mean to ea—never mind. Whatever. Anyway, we're here." I skidded to a stop at a smallish cart sandwiched between the hulking mega-eateries. The tang of spices and fish cakes hung in the air around it, and there was a considerable amount of commotion discernible from underneath the blue cotton curtains. Sei looked a bit puzzled, then curious.

"You sure this place is good? This looks like any other food stall we've passed, really," she said with a bit of doubt.

"You'll like it if you like spicy food. This place is run by a guy named Liu. He's super friendly, really. He's from Taiwan, and this is his hotpot shop." With that, I took a corner of cotton curtain and parted a way in for us.

The smoke wafted—more assaulted, really—us the minute we stuck our heads in. Liu looked up from ladling a good-sized serving of roiling-hot soup to give me a huge grin. He was a middle-aged, robust man with a grinny kind of face, the kind happy tanned farmers have.

"Oho, the ojou-san has returned!" He winked at me. "Ready to try your luck again?" he asked in that funny, nasal accent.

"Hey, Liu-san!" I grinned back. "Yeah, but I brought reinforcements." I motioned to Sei, who was looking thru the vats of steaming food with great interest. "This is my friend Sei."

He grinned at Sei, who grinned back. Something about that man WAS infectious. "So, bocchan, ready to take the Liu's Hundred-Treasure Spicy Hotpot Challenge?" he asked her.

"Definitely!" Sei chimed in, throwing him a wink. When he turned to the counter behind him to get things ready, though, she muttered to me under her breath, "What did I just get us into?"

I had to laugh. "Well, there's a chance we can get our lunch for free. We just have to get thru eating each and every one of the hundred hotpot treasures without giving up," I replied, trying not to laugh at Sei's increasingly incredulous face. "Easy, right?"

"Not if we have to get thru a hundred vats of hotpot!" she exclaimed.

"Relax, we don't have to do that," I assured her. "We just have to have one—one piece—of the different items in the vat, and well, that's not really much," I continued, pointing to some short pieces of kani crabstick bubbling merrily in Liu's nuclear broth.

Sei's furrowed brows relaxed a bit. "So, it's more a matter of surviving the liquid hell of the broth than stuffing your face silly, hmm?"

"Something like it."

Sei flexed her arms in front of her and put them behind her head. "Well, let's go then," she grinned.

"I'll have you know, bocchan, that your ojou-chan here holds the record for the farthest gone," Liu said, setting down two plates before us. "No one's reached the hundred-treasure mark in Tokyo before."

I smiled up at him. "Today might prove historical for you, then."

Sei

Between the two of us, finishing the hundred-treasure mark, as Liu so theatrically put it, was a cinch. Between me and my stomach, however, getting my share of the hotpot's stuff from my mouth to my seemingly bottomless pit was a tremendous struggle. My tongue felt like it was literally on fire. I'm betting I was redder than I'd ever been before in all of my life on this earth. At one point, I turned and asked Tomiko if my tongue was what was hanging out beneath my chin, and she told me, laughing and leaking tears, that it was my scarf.

The trick was, as I belatedly figured out, to eat slowly. When both Tomiko and I had reached the thirtieth-treasure mark, we got the hang of it. Time passed pleasantly by (punctuated with mild choking and slight palpitations) while Tomiko and I talked about any number of things. After we finished off the hundred hotpot treasures, we settled down with two bottles of Ramune and went on talking, taking in the sights and sounds and people passing by Liu's stall. Thanks to the damnable nuclear hotpot, I didn't really feel the air getting colder as day progressed slowly but surely to night.

And then Tomiko, who was telling me about some of her old highschool escapades, happened to glance up mid-sentence at a small wall clock hanging on the back wall of Liu's shop. She let out the most piercing shriek I'd ever heard. I nearly fell out of my seat in horror. "What?" I demanded, wondering what she'd seen. Was it a cockroach? I'd heard her reaction to cockroaches before, and the decibels were pretty much the same level.

"We're going to be late!" she gasped. She leapt to her feet and snatched up my wrist. "I can't believe I didn't pay any attention to the time!"

"Late? For what?"

Instead of answering me, she turned to Liu. "We're okay here, right Liu?"

Liu grinned and nodded. "Feel free to come back next time! I'll surely think of a better challenge for you, ojou-chan."

Tomiko grinned back, then turned on her heel and dashed out of the shop, dragging me along with her.

"Where are we going now?" I managed to ask.

"You'll find out when we get there!" she shouted over her shoulder.

We ran haphazardly through the park, out of it, down the street, around corners, and well into another park, this one much smaller than Juuban but with double the number of trees. The adrenalin was flowing through us both. I was pretty sure it was cold as heck out here, but I scarcely felt it. It's rare that someone took ME by the hand and led me to something…in fact…had that ever happened?

Finally we came to a thin strip of still water lined with morose-looking trees. Dark buildings rose up like forbidding lords in the distance. Daylight had practically disappeared, leaving us in the cold darkness. It was the stuff of horror stories, where you half-expect a werewolf or a vampire to come out of the shadows—or, worse yet, your own companion to turn into something nightmarish. I shook my head and decided I'd been reading too much Poe or Kipling. "Ne, what's all this? Where ARE we?"

Tomiko was bent over, her hands on her knees, busily trying to catch her breath, which puffed and lifted into the air like cirrus clouds. "Whew! Made it! And I thought I wouldn't be able to get you here in time."

"In time for what?" I asked suspiciously. Was this a Christmas gimmick of sorts?

She straightened up and pulled out her cell phone. "Aaaand in ten…nine…eight…seven…six…"

"Are we going to see some fireworks?"

"Of a sort. Three…two…one…" Tomiko's eyes lit up, and she smiled.

And suddenly, everything was ablaze.

I could hardly believe what I was seeing. The manmade canal lined with trees was aflame with Christmas lights, the sudden burst of light emanating even from the dark buildings around the park, the wildly night-tinged colors of the lights playing on the water's surface…

It was beautiful.

I realized why Tomiko loved Christmas. It was for the simple beauty of the artfully-decorated lights that adorned this park. It was for the people who had deemed the season important enough to turn what was once ordinary into something more than just that. Simple enough reasons, childlike even, but that was enough for me. I looked at Tomiko, who stood next to me, beaming as brightly as the lights that danced and twinkled along the trees and the water, and I knew that I could love Christmas as well, because someone had thought I was important enough to take this much effort to make me happy just when I needed it most.

My eyes stung. I blinked, wondering if it was just the cold air. I opened my mouth to say something, but then I realized I didn't know what to say. What could I say? 'Wow' seemed too stupid. 'This is beautiful' was definitely an understatement. 'Thanks for bringing me here' was just not enough. Nothing I could say at that moment could possibly be enough to tell her exactly what I felt. For that matter, what I felt couldn't really be called 'exact', because I was feeling too much of everything and all in a whirl. Warmth, gratitude, joy—mostly joy, a gut-wrenching, throat-constricting kind of joy.

Tomiko looked worried. "Err…you don't like it?"

I tried to recover. "No, no, I DO! Honestly, I do." I smiled. I think I was shaking. "Thank you. Really."

She smiled back. Things got much brighter when she did; it felt like I was on the receiving end of a prolonged flash from a good camera. And she was the sole subject, her face, everything that was her, outlined in that light.

That was when I realized that I hadn't really done anything for her, or given her a Christmas gift.

Oh, shit.

Tomiko started talking about the park, about how she'd happened upon it and how she'd instantly fallen in love with it, and so on, but I was barely listening. I was wracking my addled brain for something, anything, that I could give her. I was an inch away from panicking, but I couldn't let her see that or she'd think she'd done something wrong.

And then I remembered something. Something she'd definitely love.

I looked around for a watch and found a ridiculously huge one, hanging from the side of a building some ways off, the city's local version of Big Ben. It was dangerously close to midnight. I had to move fast.

Oh, well. At least we'd work off whatever fat we gained from Liu's hundred (heart-stopping) treasures.

I grabbed Tomiko's wrist, cutting her off in mid-sentence, and said, "Come on, there's something I want to show you!" and started to run.

"Where are we going?" she gasped, sounding very surprised.

I grinned wolfishly. "You'll find out when we get there!"

-Tomiko-

Suddenly, we were running again.

Sei led me out of the little park, swinging back into Juuban Koen. I glanced at the Big Ben-ish clock on the tallest building in the park. 11:50.

We had ten minutes.

I could barely recollect the route we took going to wherever we were going, as far as I was concerned there were just trees and light flashing by at breakneck speed. My head was starting to spin on itself as my eyes struggled to keep pace with my feet. It felt like the only things I was certain of at that point were that I existed, and that Sei did too, pulling me along like a rag doll (albeit a very nimble one) thru the trees, the lights, the scenes.

Now that I thought about it more, that was basically how every day went ever since I met her. It was a heady mix of vivid images and scenarios and God-knows-what, with the only constants being ever only her and myself. I was not quite sure if I liked that, but it wasn't that I hated it either. It was like being trapped with her in a kaleidoscope belonging to a very large and hyperactive child.

I wondered if it could last forever.

We finally stopped at a little pathway leading to some sort of clearing, and at that point Sei clamped her hands over my eyes.

"Uh-uh-uh, no peeking," she clucked into my ear. I was taken aback, but she kept her arms securely around my shoulders, walking me into the clearing. At least I hoped it was a clearing. It was dark, and my steps were uncertain, but I felt surprisingly safe.

I felt Sei stop behind me, so I stood still as well. There were sounds of burbling around us, like thousands of happy little brooks. I felt a light mist touch my face and leave microscopic, tickly drops of water on my face. At least I HOPED it was water.

"Well, we're here," she murmured. "Are you ready?"

"Un," I nodded. She gently lifted her hands, and I slowly opened my eyes.

The gurgling sounds came from this one artist's painstaking effort to create a symphony of light. There were probably a hundred different-sized little pillars packed closely together in a half-circle, made out of fiberglass. They glowed all the colors you could probably think of in this lifetime, and each pillar gushed forth water that cascaded over its sides, like a hundred minute waterfalls.

That wasn't the only thing that made my heart stop.

Right in the middle of pond, staring up at the towering rainbow, was a sculpture of a little girl who looked like she jumped out of a Ghibli movie. She was sitting astride a majestically enormous fox king, its nine tails spread out in different colors. There was so much going on around them, yet their expressions were serene, like they were at ease because they faced all this together. For some odd reason, I wanted to cry. I looked over at Sei, expecting to see her grinning smugly at me.

Sei was looking at me, alright, but there was no hint of smugness anywhere. Shockingly, she had a look on her face that might be best described as a combination of worry, expectance, and somehow, a warmth that was almost reassuring.

Like that fox.

"Wow," I finally managed to say. "Thanks for bringing me here, Sei."

The worry in her eyes faded away, and she smiled at me gently. "Iya."

She held my gaze for a bit longer. I was starting to feel funny when I realized with a jolt that I'd forgotten something.

Good old Rizu.

"Oh, wait! Shit, right!" I burst out, rummaging through my bag. "Rizu will KILL me if I forget about this!" IT should have been there somewhere. Finding it in the deepest recesses in my dump-it-all-in bag, I fished it out and placed it in her hand.

"Here," I smiled. "From Rizu and myself. I almost forgot it. Happy Birthday again."

Sei

I looked down at the bracelet Tomiko had just given me. It was an intricate piece made of leather and wooden beads, and had a little feather tucked in for good measure. It wasn't quite like anything I'd seen in shops before, and the way everything interlaced showed me just how much work Tomiko had put into it. I shook my head.

"This is too much, you know. Three gifts in one day, and I haven't gotten you anything."

Tomiko shrugged and smiled. "It's okay, really, Sei. You don't have to." She chuckled. "I'm not even supposed to be celebrating Christmas."

I looked at her. "Because you're not Christian?"

She tilted her head to one side curiously. "How did you know?"

"Back in Italy, when we were leaving the Sistine Chapel, I noticed that you copied Rizu and Kei and dipped your fingers into the basin of holy water by the doors. Only you used your left hand. Christians normally use their right."

Tomiko laughed. She seemed a bit embarrassed. "Looks like I got caught." She smiled at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "Guess it's no use when you're the subject of a fox's interest."

I snorted. "If I were really as smart as a fox, I should've had enough foresight to see this coming. I feel pretty bad, not being able to give you a Christmas gift."

She waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Sei. Like I said, it's okay. I…" she paused, hesitating, then said, "I'm just glad you're back to your usual self."

No way I was letting Christmas pass us by without giving her something. Our breaths were steaming in the cold air, and I thought she looked a bit paler than usual. I realized then that she wasn't really wearing much protection against the cold.

I snapped my fingers. "I know! Here," I removed the periwinkle scarf she'd egged me to wear. "It's yours."

She hurriedly protested, but I looped the scarf around her neck and pulled her close. I intended to give her a gift, and I wasn't going to let her bolt. "Ah, hold still, silly," I said, wrapping the scarf twice more around her neck (yes, it was that long…the scarf, not her neck).

Tomiko was looking everywhere but at me, thoroughly embarrassed. Maybe it was because she thought I had some personal attachment to the scarf, and for me to be giving it away was something great personal sacrifice on my part. She was sensitive that way.

I adjusted the scarf, making sure I wasn't unconsciously strangling her, and stepped back a bit to look. Nice. "There," I said, smiling. "It suits you."

For some reason, Tomiko was quite red in the face. She didn't look away or find something of considerable interest on the ground or anything like that. She was still looking at me, right into my eyes, and I could almost swear that I still had that scarf around my neck, because her eyes were so warm. It didn't feel like winter at all, not when she was looking at me like that.

Finally, she murmured, "Ah…domo. You shouldn't have done that."

"Shouldn't I?" I asked. I was feeling a bit…I don't know…weird. My hands were still holding the ends of the scarf. Without my permission, they began to pull Tomiko closer to me. I could feel that tugging again, an almost physical tugging, and it was bringing me and Tomiko together. My head was spinning, my pulse was tapping out a progressive bass line that thrummed throughout my whole body. I would've stopped myself somehow if Tomiko had given any sign of protest or dislike, but she didn't, and now we were close enough to feel each other's breath on our lips…

DONG…! DONG…!

I stopped. Tomiko stopped. We stared at each other, somewhat stunned. At least she looked stunned. I felt like I'd been hit by the bullet train. Right smack in the gut. And then I felt an indescribable sense of loss welling up inside me, like large tears, only I couldn't find the strength to shed them.

Tomiko's eyes had stopped smiling. "Ah…" she said, quietly. I didn't think that a single syllable could hold so much…sadness? I looked at her, confused, but she had recovered. "I guess…our date's over, ne?"

I swallowed past something in my throat. I tasted bile. "Sou…"

An awkward silence settled over us, a blanket of reality smothering the dreams fantasy had awakened. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, then said, in as light a tone as I could manage, "Well, I'd better bring you to your dorm. It's a bit late to go back to Saitama, isn't it?"

She nodded. "But what about you?"

I shrugged. "I'll have someone fetch me. It's no big."

She nodded again, keeping oddly quiet.

As we walked towards Lillian U, I wondered why I was feeling so disappointed. The whole Cinderella date was just a one day thing, and I'd known that from the start. I held nothing against Tomiko; she'd been kind enough to put up with me the whole day, which had been undeniably one of the best days of my life. Maybe that's why I was so disappointed. It was over way too soon.

The walk to her dorm was over way too soon, as well. She fished out her keys and opened the door (I noted that she'd finally acquired the habit of locking it). Then she turned around and gave me a wan smile. "Thanks."

For once, I didn't quite know how to react. "Iya, it's nothing. Compared to what you've done for me today."

Tomiko shifted a little in her doorway. "Well…you take care going home. Okay?"

I nodded.

And then, because I couldn't take it anymore, and because I knew she'd given me a wonderful birthday present, I grabbed her cheeks, brushed my lips against her forehead, and then pulled her into a fierce hug. "Thank you," I muttered into her ear. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Her cheek felt warm against mine. For a moment, she didn't move.

And then I felt her arms go around my shoulders as she wordlessly returned my embrace. I sank into it, not wanting to let go, knowing I would eventually have to, and wishing that I could freeze Time and stay in that moment forever.

But the spell was broken, wasn't it? I sighed, then relinquished my hold on her. I gave her the best grin I could manage to dig up. "Well, goodnight."

Tomiko smiled. She took my hand, squeezed it, and said, "Goodnight. See you tomorrow."

I walked down the hall and back into the chilly streets. Nothing around me registered in my brain as I trusted my feet to lead me straight back home, until a familiar sight appeared in the distance, something that made me lift my drooping head and forced me to make a beeline for it. It was a thousand dazzling lights woven among trees that lined a manmade canal blazing with the reflection of those lights, surrounded by tall, dark buildings whose outlines were aflame with golden color. I went back to that place Tomiko had taken me, the familiar warmth of her eyes wrapping me in a reassuring embrace, and I stayed there, my bum parked on a solitary bench in the middle of that sparkling display, the hand-woven bracelet reminding me that nothing today had been a dream. I sat there and remembered all that had passed between us, until everything swam into a swirling, not-altogether-unpleasant mist in my mind.

-Chapter Epilogue-

-Tomiko-

"So, how did it go?" Rizu said, cradling her second mug of coffee. She was with Kei this time, and they had woken me up so they can have coffee.

"Us? We had fun," I replied, grinning at her evilly.

"Touche," Kei nudged Rizu, smiling tenderly. Rizu pushed back, a little too strongly, and poor Kei's bum and the seat cushion went their separate ways.

Laughing, Rizu pulled Kei back on her bum.

"Ah," she said, "So that's how you're going to play it, huh?"

"Well, I'll leave it at that for now," I said. Truthfully, I wasn't quite sure how—or what—I could say about the whole thing. The date played out so much like some Christmas fantasy I had to glance quickly at my keitai to check the date. It glowed back '12.26', though it felt like it had been eons since that happened.

"Okay, okay," Rizu smiled. "But…"

"But..?"

"Tell me one thing at least."

I braced myself. "What one thing?"

"Is that scarf hers?" she asked, pointing to something on me. My hand flew to my neck. Apparently, I hadfallen asleep still wearing the scarf. It was nice and soft around my neck, and it had a little of her scent on it, which was probably why I was a little more aware of my surroundings this morning. My body had apparently learned to adapt subconsciously.

"Yeah," I said simply.

"Sleeping with a scarf around your neck is kind of dangerous," Kei said with some concern. I shrugged it off. I still woke up, didn't I?

"Anyway, do you want to go with me tonight?" Rizu asked. "I'm going to watch Kei's band perform at Ex-Rink today."

"Kei's in a band?" I asked. Kei seemed to turn several shades redder.

"We-ell… she co-writes songs with the band's lead singer," Rizu said. "If she plays nice, though, they let her play the kazoo."

"Yeah, why not?" I said. "Which band is this?

"Poke-Poke Gunso," Kei replied. "I'm not really much help, but they're a good band."

"Well, anyway, we'll see you then, okay?" Rizu said, letting Kei help her to her feet. She smiled. "It's good that your date went well."

"Okay." I walked them to the door and waved them off.

And then my day began.