A/N: Winding down, only two more chapters. Hope it's been okay so far. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ATLUS OR ANY CHARACTERS OR THIS TOTALLY AWESOME SONG FROM A VERY POTTER SEQUEL.


So many nights I'd pray
for a better life, a better day
but I never thought that it'd come true
now that it's here, I don't know what to do
and I'm trying not to cry

-AVPS

It was surprising how quickly word spread around school that he had been at the movies with the sangria haired girl. Not that he was one to point fingers or anything; but it was definitely due to Kaz and that Yuko girl. It had to have been, they were the only ones who actually saw them together. But, as he told everyone who approached him with inquires, it was not a date. And, for that matter, neither were the four movies, three lunches, five dinners, and countless excursions since then. Hidetoshi was simply not the dating type, it was not his style. The only problem was that it seemed to be her sort of thing; which, at times, could be a bit difficult for the dark eyes boy to wrap his mind around. There had to be a ton of guys out there, who were far more interesting and handsome than him, who would gladly go out with Minako if given the chance. Why didn't she just pick one of them? Not that he wanted her to or anything, good heavens no; but if she really wanted the instant gratification that went along with having a boyfriend now then she was barking up the wrong tree.

October came and went without too much trouble; there were some minor conflicts, but nothing major. The first being his unwillingness to wear the pink scarf to school every day… after a great deal of nagging, and the threat of waterworks, he lost that battle. The next clash revolved around the concept of public displays of affection. By this point he had accepted that he was going to have to get used to the hand-holding aspect of spending time with her, but he absolutely forbade the girl to even suggest going further than that. Also, holding hands meant that they should be directly next to each other, not spread out through the halls making it difficult for the rest of the population to walk. She had protested a bit but, fortunately, it ended with him being victorious. The only hard part came when he was trying to convince his fellow classmates that, although they constantly had their fingers interlocked, the two were still not dating. They were perfectly free to see other people, although neither party seemed to want to, and had no intimate relationship; well there was some emotional investment, but none that he would broadcast to the entire school.

As fall continued their not-so-secret not-dating status was becoming more than a little embarrassing. Part of him was thrilled that she wanted to spend time with him, and they had already discussed that hanging out more than three times a week was far too much, but there was always that little voice in the back of his mind that questioned where his priorities lay. He wanted to obtain the perfect grade point average and achieve the title of Class President all by next year; no, he didn't want to, he had to. Was spending all this time with her really the best way that he could spend his time? And he definitely did not want to be labeled as just another part of a couple, which they were not. Hidetoshi wanted to make a name for himself with his own hand; not be known as 'that guy who's not dating the girl he's always with'. First off that was terribly long, and no one would ever be able to remember his true identity come election time, and second he was so much more than the bubbly haired girl who clung to his side… though, she did happened to be the best part of him.

"Cut that out." The coal haired boy mumbled as he batted his friend's hand away. Why had he invited Keisuke to hang out with him; really, it was not his best decision. For the past few months he had done nothing but tease him about Minako but, apparently, 'that was what friends were for'. Not that he believed any of that nonsense, the brunette just said it enough that the phrase had become engraved in his mind. "I don't care if it's the weekend, one should always look their best." He politely informed the boy who had been attempting to loosen the buttons on Hidetoshi's cream dress shirt. It was not a fashion statement; he merely prided himself in looking formal and proper. There was simply no way that he would ever be caught going out in public dressed down like his friend; not to mention that he actually did not own any sweatshirts or jeans. A light laugh caught his attention and he glanced over questioningly at the snickering boy. Why were they friends, honestly, all they did was bicker and try to push each other's buttons. Yet they seemed to enjoy the company none-the-less, how peculiar. "What is it now?"

Scratching the back of his head the glassed wearing by merely shrugged. "I'm surprised you could find time to hang out with me in your busy schedule." Oh please, they hung out as much now as they ever did. But he wasn't saying it as a complaint, it was intended as a joke; right? Not the funny 'haha' type but the 'I'm making fun of you' type, splendid. He decided to let it go and just nodded as they stepped onto the escalator. Would it really kill the place to install some stairs? Sure it was nice to have the option of merely standing and still reaching your destination, but when you wanted to get in and out it just took too long. He could have been there already; alas, the woman in front of them did not seem like she was going to start walking up the moving stairs any time soon. Sitting on the conjoined railing, which was terribly unsafe, his friend gave him the look he had come to know so well as of late. The dark eyed boy let out a small sigh, fine, if he had something else to say he might as well spit it out now and get it over with. "You know what the term whipped means, right?"

Hilarious, oh what a knee-slapper that one was. Because, by spending time with someone he cared about, he was definitely becoming totally enthralled by her to the point where he would do anything she said. God, that was so stupid; he said no to Minako all the time when he disagreed with her, did his own thing, and would not even consider inquiring as to how high she wanted him to jump. The comment had no hard evidence to back it up and, therefore, he refused to take it seriously. "Oh screw you." Like the boy was one to talk anyway. After all his thoughts about rebelling, and declarations of separation from his father, the boy had decided that studying in the medical field was what he was meant to do all along. "And I do know what it means; it means becoming a doctor just like your father always wanted." So there; he could dish it out just as well as his curly haired friend. Of course their witty banter was just another sign of their friendship and, with an exchange of smiles and nods, the boys indicated that there was no real harm being done to either's ego.

"Touché." Keisuke replied as they exited the escalator and surveyed the second floor. "So why are we here anyways? The mall has never exactly been your favorite place in the world." That was one way of putting it; although a more accurate description of his feelings might have been more negative in regards to the shopping area. There were just too many people for his liking; and they were not even doing anything productive. Many of the shoppers were just walking along, taking their good sweet time, and chatting with whomever they were with. It was a downright unproductive place; imagine what could be accomplished if, rather than waste time here, people worked an extra hour or two at their jobs. Was that really such a horrible idea? Shanking Hidetoshi out of his thoughts the doctor-in-the-making put his hands on boy's cheeks. "When you first suggested it I thought perhaps you had a fever." Looking down under his glasses Keisuke observed the lack of added color in his face. "But you seem fine. Unless…it might be a terrible brain eating disease that will have you six feet under by the end of the week." Laughing loudly his friend offered a terribly dorky grin. "Nah, I'm just screwing with you."

With an uncomfortable chuckle of his own Hidetoshi hit the boy's hands away once more. "Stop touching me; your idiocy might be contagious." It was times like this that he wondered why someone like Keisuke chose to hand around him. He was grumpy, too serious, and really not all that pleasant to be around. But his friend was funny, could be outgoing if he put his mind to it, and just a nice guy. They really were on opposite ends of the spectrum; so then, why were they friends? It happened all of a sudden too, back in grade school. He just kind of showed up at the coal haired boy's desk one day, introduced himself, and then proceeded to stick by him for the remainder of their youth. So, in a way, he was extremely grateful to the absentminded teenage, who was now staring through the bookstore window. If Keisuke had not approached him and initiated the friendship, well then, he would definitely have gone through the majority of his school career completely alone. "I just need to pick something up; it shouldn't take too long." As he continued in the direction of the music store the dark eyed boy threw in a final comment. "Besides, you were the one complaining about not having anything to do today."

He had called at a ridiculously early hour of the morning and whined for approximately ten minutes about being bored. Desperate to get back to sleep the deeply annoyed Hidetoshi had suggested that his friend accompany him to the mall at a more reasonable time of day. Unfortunately he had only gotten the boy to agree upon waiting until noon; so he had to get up at ten in order to shower and get to the station on time, what a wasted Sunday. "Alright, alright; just blame me." Well it was his fault. Had Keisuke just slept in, like an average teenager on his day off from school, they could still be enjoying their day off rather than strolling around this obnoxious place. "You know you certainly do snap a lot. I thought people who were in love were supposed to be happy all the time." This again, really now? If the brunette kept using the l-word to mock him they were going to have a real problem. Sure he was fond of Minako, but there was absolutely no way that he was in love. That sort of thing was for hopeless romantics with no real ambition; he had more important aspirations than some girl. Glaring daggers at the boy Hidetoshi attempted to let him know that he was dancing on the line of being funny and receiving a blow to the stomach. "Kidding. But what did you need to get? Something for the girlfr-"

"She's not my girlfriend." 'He interrupted; Keisuke of all people should know that. Relationships like that were for a different period in his life, preferably one when he had an abundance of spare time. If she was still there when that time arose then great, marvelous, he would definitely consider asking the sangria haired girl out on an actual date. And, if she was not, then he would find someone else; or not, it didn't really matter, he was just fine on his own. But, for now, that type of fraternization was not in the plan. Crossing his arms over his chest the boy refused to let those thoughts plague his mind any longer. How did that saying go? Oh, right 'Me thinks thou dost protest too much'; great, but what were you supposed to do when it actually wasn't true? If he did not protest at all he would wind up completely losing control of the situation. But, if he kept insisting that it wasn't true people were going to begin to believe it was anyway. Where was the logic in this method of thinking? Wait, he was thinking about it again; damn it all. "…Come on, let's go."

xx

"Have a marvelous day at school, dear." Normally he was up and out of the house before the woman was even awake; but, today, as he came down the stairs there she was at the kitchen table, already baking. It was to be expected though; she always made a lavish spread of assorted cookies on her favorite holiday of the year. Of course, his father always refused to accept them all; then she would complain about how they were going to make her fat, and give them to Hidetoshi to bring to school. Where, like always, Keisuke would be waiting with an expectant smile. This process had been repeating every year since fifth grade, and he doubted that there would be reason for it to change now. As he passed by the shrine the boy pulled his jacket a little tighter around him; it was so dreadfully cold, he certainly hoped that Maiko was staying warm on days such as this rather than playing on the jungle gym after school. Granted, he would probably be warmer if he wore the scarf Minako had made him, but it was so feminine; he could not put it on without feeling incredibly embarrassed. And if his mother or Keisuke ever saw it, well, he'd never hear the end of it.

As he neared the entrance way a small scarlet and black blur up ahead caused him to quicken his pace a bit. Had she been waiting outside for him? Sure they met up at the gate most days; but he had already gone over the ground rules, if it was snowing, raining, cold, or just plain miserable out she was to head right inside and he would be along shortly. She had been standing out there for god knows how long in a skirt as well; maybe he needed to think about talking to the principal about a change in the female uniform. It seemed awfully unfair that all the got was a wool skirt, rather than cotton, and thicker knee socks. If anything they should, at very least, have the option of wearing pants. As he approached the girl, whose nose was now as red as her hair, he could not help but smile a bit. Sure he was upset that she endangered her health by waiting in the cold, but he was also happy to know that she wanted to see him. "Merry Christmas, Hide-chan!" The disciplinarian cringed a bit as he nodded. One could thank his oh so kind best friend for that one; the glasses wearing boy had decided it would be positively hilarious to inform Minako of his mother's pet-name. However it should also be noted that he did not hate it nearly as much when she said it.

"Merry Christmas Minako-kun." With a sweep of the hand he offered up a formal bow to the girl who, with a small burst of laughter, returned the gesture with a drawn-out curtsey. It may have been foolish, but she seemed to enjoy it; and it was not like there was anyone else outside to see them. Even if there was they should be busy with their own lives, and not watching two freezing students exchange a formal greeting. "Ready to head in, you look a bit cold." He teased, causing the crimson eyed girl o stick her tongue out a bit. Yup, after so many months it was still adorable; amazing, how long would it take for the charm to wear off? Offering out his left hand, which she eagerly took, the two headed into Gekkoukan High School; to think, he heard some countries actually got classes off on Christmas Day, how strange. As nice as it sounded to have a day to himself what exactly did those people do? Was it just a random break in the week used to study or write papers; or did they have some sort of traditions that he was unaware of? Sure he knew all the decorating the tree nonsense, but people could not possibly so simpleminded that they found that to be an enjoyable task.

First period was uneventful as always; history was just so dreadfully dull, really, why did they always have to focus on the past? What was their reasoning again; oh, right, 'those who are clueless to history are bound to repeat it', or something like that. But he knew enough by this point to realize that it probably was not a good idea to attempt to enslave an entire race of people and force them to build pyramids. Was he supposed to be surprised when these emperors and kings mysteriously died? If he was stuck working under them than Hidetoshi would consider making them disappear as well. He knew all he needed in order to still be kind when he held a position of power. This was all just the 'we've run out of things to teach you but still have five months of school left' filler teachers gave. What a truly depressing existence those people had to have; coming to work every single day where the students obviously did not care about what you were trying to teach them. If he had to pick the worst career a person could have… well it would be working as a medical examiner, but being a teacher was still pretty close to the top of that list.

Glancing at the clock he began to tap the eraser of his number two pencil against the wooden desk. The day certainly was dragging. Not that he was in a rush to get home, if he arrived back any earlier than four his mother would plead with him to go see his father with her; but class just seemed to be even more useless today. Perhaps he should ask Keisuke if he wanted to grab an early dinner after school, or go see a movie. Now that he had been with Minako they did not seem quite so terrible, and they were definitely better than listening to that woman rant about family values. Family values, what a joke; he hadn't seen that man in years. Ever since he was deemed old enough to stay home by himself in sixth grade the boy had completely written the older man off; the only thing he was good for was making sure Hidetoshi could focus on his studies rather than having to get a job. How that exactly worked out he was not quite sure, probably had something to do with the company's plea bargain; he tried not to think about that, besides he had been too young to actually remember much about the trial.

When the bell finally rang for lunch he was actually contemplating the idea of simply leaving. His next period instructor was absent anyway; no one would even miss him. God, if he had to listen to more of that arcana and tarot card garbage he was seriously going to complain to the school board. Slamming his thermos down on Hidetoshi's desk his friend gave him one of the biggest, dumbest, grins he had ever seen. "Cookies tomorrow." Well someone had a one track mind, didn't they? Sometimes he wondered if Keisuke only hung out with him in order to acquire large quantities of free food. "So," He began, pulling over a seat and moving up much closer than wanted. "Got anything special planned with the little lady?" The wink he received let the coal haired boy know that he missing an important detail, but what was it? Minako? He was supposed to make plans with her? The thought hadn't even crossed his mind; they had plans for next Monday, why would he make separate ones for today? "Oh no, don't tell me you plan on just staying in tonight." No, he was going to ask this theatrical boy if he wanted to hang out; but, apparently, that was not going to happen. "You have to do something special! Girls love Christmas!"

"They do?" Hidetoshi inquired, surprise clearly evident in his voice. He had gotten her a present, but the boy just assumed that he would give it to her after class. Was this holiday really such a big deal to girls? Sure his mother got excited, but she was like a child a good percent of the time. More reasonable high school students would not be into the same sort of Christmas-craze, right? However, what if it was a big deal? Would it be a shortcoming if he did not at least attempt to make plans with her? Never-the-less that seemed like something a boyfriend was supposed to do, and they were not officially together. Of course, he couldn't risk upsetting her, that would just be screwing his future self over. "Ah, but she's having lunch with her friend Aigis today, and I don't want to bother her." Apparently Aigis was the name of the blonde girl he had seen her with before; she sounded nice enough from the stories Minako told but, when he finally met her, the girl seemed a bit peculiar. He could not place his finger on just what it was though; perhaps it had something to do with how she accentuated certain syllables? But he would never be so presumptuous as to question her about it. God forbid it turned out to be the dialect where she was from… then he would feel simply horrible.

"Well I didn't say that you had to physically ask her; just send a text or something." Right, he had technology that could get the message across without him having to scour the school looking for her. But still, wouldn't that be interrupting her lunch and intruding on her girl-time, as she called it? Well, it looked like all the coal haired boy could do was compose a polite text and hope that she responded positively. Removing the sleek, metallic, device from his pocket Hidetoshi began to slowly tap away at the keys. He had never been too great at typing on such a small keyboard; who decided that texting was a good form of communication anyway? It was like society had taken a step backwards in recent years. If a person wanted to talk to their friend they would send them a message; oh goodness, could you imagine how amazing it would be to be able to call that person and actually hear their voice? But how would you ever do that? Wait a second; you had a phone that you were taking the time to type on, why not just hit dial? It was truly maddening. Giving himself a mental slap the boy proceeded with his mission. 'I know this is short notice, so I won't be offended if you have other plans; but would you like to hang out tonight?' There, not too forward and it even gave her an easy out if she was busy. Just as he was about to his send Keisuke reached over and stole the phone out of his hand. "All my love, Hide-chan; xoxoxo and sent! … You can thank me later by naming you two's first child after me."

Now murder had always seemed wrong in the disciplinarian's mind; not even those eye for an eye killings, or court approved executions were acceptable. But, for once, he felt the urge to flat out slaughter the brunette, who seemed quite pleased with his most recent actions. "You idiot; I would never say anything like that. You're going to give her the wrong idea." He hissed as he snatched back his phone in case, god forbid, the now laughing boy decided to send any more misleading messages. Should he quickly write a retraction before she got the chance to read it? What would he say; that he was recalling the love offered up in the previous message? Oh god, that would make him seem like a jerk who was just trying to screw with her emotions. "Oh Keisuke, what have you done?" He inquired, resisting the urge to slam his head against the desk repeatedly. It did not matter whether or not the boy had only the best of intentions, his meddling was a headache waiting to happen. Why would he ever want to name his child after such a pain in the neck? Not that he even planned on having children someday, but still. His thoughts were cut off abruptly by a soft vibration; an incoming text message. As his dark orbs glanced at the screen he could not help but be surprised at the response. 'Yes, yes, a million times yes!' With a reluctant sigh Hidetoshi met his friend's gaze and merely shrugged. "Not the first… but maybe the third."

A grin spread across the boy's face as he leaned over the desk to try to catch a glimpse at the screen. But, quickly positioning himself so that he had his back to the nosey boy, Hidetoshi sent off another quick message. 'Great, meet me at the Pawlownia Mall at eight'. That should give him enough time to think of something to actually do with the girl. It was too cold to just sit outside and talk; and even if they did that he had just about run of things to tell her. How strange, shouldn't he be excited to be spending more time with her? Probably, but it was hard; he did not want to let her down, or be viewed as boring, so he was always trying his absolute hardest to keep her engaged in the topic at hand. "Thank you Keisuke, you're such a good friend. I love you." The brunette boy piped up; mocking the lack of appreciation he got for his efforts. "Oh it's really no problem my dear Hide-chan. In fact, I simply adore helping you out of the kindness of my heart." Putting away his phone the coal haired boy paid him no mind. "Once again, it's supposed to be funny."

xx

Bright lights illuminated the small circular area and it looked as though the holly gods had been more than generous. What was fascination with that leafy plan anyway? There was nothing special about it; in fact, it was quite plain if he could hazard an opinion. Bulbs in the design of large cones, or trees but they really looked more like the geometric shape, were positioned strategically along the fountain and hard large light up stars atop them. The people who owned the pharmacy and antique shop certainly seemed to have gone all out; their businesses were absolutely covered in hanging decorations. Maybe he was the only one who found the holiday to be not that big of a deal. But really now, when had it become this popular? Slouching into the bench in front of the fountain he stuck his hands in the dark navy blazer's pockets for warmth. Stupid temperature, why did it always have to be so gosh darn cold? Sure they were on the water but one would assume that they were far enough inland to not have the additional breeze. Still, his main concern was what he was wearing at the moment. It seemed appropriate, but he was not entirely sure what a person was supposed to wear on an occasion such as this; and something told him that the goddamn pink scarf was not it. But, after his mother had left to see his father, he put it on anyways before heading out the door so as to please the sangria haired girl; although now he was regretting that decision.

"Hide-chan!" Came the singsong voice as Minako hurried over. Thank goodness she wasn't too dressed up, a simple sweater and modest skirt with boots. Not that she did not look incredibly cute, but he really would have preferred to see her bundled up in a warm jacket and wearing pants. Sliding onto the bench next to him the girl scooted up beside him and gave a light laugh. "I was getting worried that, perhaps, you weren't going to have time for me today." Oh crud, Keisuke had been right; how in the world did that make sense? What sort of insight to women could a guy like that possibly have? Imagine if he had not asked her, would she have to spend the night alone? A few months ago, when he brought up the idea of asking her father for permission to take her out to dinner, she had mentioned that her parents had passed away; how she maintained her cheerful outlook on life he would never know. "But then I guess I would have just hung out with Yukari and Fuuka. They were planning a girl's-only party for tonight I believe." Oh, well never mind. She would have been fine without him; maybe gotten a stomachache if Fuuka decided to bake anything for the evening, but for the most part she would have been okay.

Actually, hanging out with her girlfriends might have been a more enjoyable experience than talking to him. "Well that sounds like fun, are you sure you wouldn't rather be there?" A sharp jab to the side indicated that she would clearly not prefer to be reading fashion magazines and watching cliché romance movies all night. "Ouch, hey, I was just kidding." Not really, but a little white lie every now and then never hurt anyone. "If my opinion matters at all I'm glad you're here." What else would he have been doing; studying, writing a paper, seeing a movie with Keisuke? Had he been unable to make plans with someone his mother would have attempted to drag him along to visit his father and, even though he now respected the man for his decision, it would be extremely uncomfortable to go see him after all these years. Hidetoshi had been distancing himself from the man throughout his entire childhood into his young adult years; what would he even say, 'sorry I pretended that you did not exist for the past six years'? Yes, that would be a great opening line; besides, who knew if the man even wanted to see him?

"Me too." Jumping to her feet the girl tugged on his arm. "It's cold; let's walk a bit, alright?" Well maybe if she was wearing more she wouldn't be quite as chilly. As he stood up the boy with slicked back hair began to remove his blazer for her. Sure it would not match the colorful skirt, but at least it would keep her a bit warmer. "Oh no, I'm fine. Besides, you'll freeze without that." Offering out his hand as always the boy almost wished that she wouldn't take it; his pocket was so much warmer than the cold air. But, of course, she took it in her own icy one. So she could knit a scarf but not mittens for herself, where was the logic in that? For a bit they just walked in silence; unfortunately there was not very far to go, so they merely circled the perimeter a few times. He was going to bring up this point when it dawned on him how uncharacteristically quiet the girl was being. Was there something on her mind; did he not invite her to hang out soon enough and now she was upset? "D-Do you think you might want to do this again… some time?"

Well that was unexpected to say the least. "What? Like next Christmas you mean?" The girl turned a bit so that she was no longer facing him and nodded. What was the matter with her; she seemed terribly unlike herself today. Actually, she had been like this for a while now; since the beginning of the month to be exact. Sure she was the same person, but every now and then she would have moments like these where everything just seemed very morbid. Where was the ray of sunshine he used to know, instead of this gloomy girl? Of course the winter made most people a tad more depressed than normal, it was cold and the sun set earlier, but this was taking it to the extreme. "Planning in advance, eh?" He inquired, trying to sound as positive as he could manage. But it drew nothing but a frail smile from the girl. As of late he just felt so out of the loop; like she knew something terrible and was keeping him in the dark about it. For a while he thought that maybe she was contemplating breaking up with him, which was a ridiculous idea considering they were not even going out; but her most recent comment made it seem as though that definitely was not the case.

The girl's grip on his hand tightened a bit as she spoke again. "It's just good to make plans for the future." He supposed that was right, but why the need to cut off the circulation to his fingers? Was this really such a difficult topic for her to discuss; it was only a year away, three hundred and sixty-five little days. Next Christmas would be here in no time; they would be seniors so there was no worry about having one of them off at college. She really need not worry about that. If anything she should be concerned with where they would be in two years. Well, not that she should be concerned with it, but if she was looking for something to fret over that would be it. Besides, why make plans so far in advance anyways; he had not asked her here until lunchtime today, and that had worked out nicely. Was this all because of his delay though? She was worried that, maybe, because he had not asked her until the very last minute, that he would completely forget to invite her next year. But that seemed like she was thinking a little too deeply about things and, not that he doubted her ability to think things through, it seemed very unlike Minako. "It will give you a reason for fighting."

This was a tad more alarming. He often wondered about that thing Junpei had said a while ago involving fighting; surely she was not putting her life in danger every night, but where did she go? Sometimes, more so since the start of December, she came to school exhausted claiming that she had been up all night studying; but that was definitely not it. Not to mention that she often had more bruises than could be attributed to her clumsy nature. Whatever was going on, it wasn't right. However, every time he tried to bring it over, she would deny everything and simply stop talking to him until Hidetoshi dropped the subject. The worry kept him up at night though; there she was a very precious person to him, getting hurt all the time and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "Fighting? Oh, you mean like putting in the effort to do well next year? Yeah, I suppose you're right." That wasn't what she meant; but, perhaps, it would give him piece of mind to believe that was what she was implying. Pulling his arm out to the side he turned the girl around to face him and dropped to one knee. "Alright then, Minako-kun, will you allow me the privilege of having your company next Christmas?"

Putting the back of her spare hand on her forehead dramatically the girl let out a loud gasp. "Oh Hide-chan! This is all so sudden!" It was difficult to keep a straight face at this point, but he tried his hardest. After all, she loved this sort of thing; it was why they bowed to each other and often linked arms. She, apparently, had seen an old fashioned movie that took place in the mid nineteen-twenties, and that was how couples acted in it. The sangria haired girl had completely fallen head over heels for that sort of 'polite romance' and so he tried to incorporate it whenever possible. Especially in cases such as now, when she looked particularly down. "But of course I will." Not that he expected her to say no, but the theatrics of the event made it that much more amusing. So, attempting to be dashing, he kissed her hand before standing back up. "I am such a giver." Minako muttered under her breath and the two broke into a small fit of laughter. There, so she could still be cheered up. He had heard about students becoming depressed to the point where they no longer attended classes, hung out with friends, or even went outside. It was called Apathy Syndrome, or something, he was a tad unsure as to the details of the illness.

Noting the girl's quickly reddening nose and ears he decided that a change of venue was in order. "Want to grab some coffee?" Nodding furiously they picked up the pace a bit to reach the source of warmth quicker. "After you mademoiselle." With a small curtsy Minako hurried through the door and into the festively decorated coffee house. "Want to grab a seat and I'll get the drinks?" It was almost humorous, neither of them actually drank coffee, but that was always how he inquired as to getting beverages. It just sounded incorrect to say 'wanna grab some mint tea with milk and sugar?'. As he poured the small cup of milk into the girl's cup, which had an overpowering minty aroma, he tried not to gag at the thought of mixing a dairy product with the several small bags of milk he knew she was going to add in at the table. Normally people substituted one for the other; like if they had tea with milk, or tea with honey, but not both. No matter, it was not as though he was the one who had to drink it. The Odagiri boy was perfectly content with his plain, black, earl grey tea.

"Thanks, it smells delicious." She complimented as he handed her the drink before sitting on the opposite side of the booth. How anyone could find that delicious he wound never know; but the sweet girl was happy, and that was all he could really ask for. At least, she appeared to be happy until her crimson orbs became lost in the steaming liquid. It was never a good sign when she suddenly fell quiet; and it usually meant that she was about to slip into one of her modes where what she said no longer began to make any sense. "What would you do if you found out that the world was coming to an end?" He looked at her oddly but she would not meet his gaze; the tea seemed to be far too interesting for her to bother looking up. Bringing a hand up to the side of her face the girl began to fiddle with a loose lock of hair. Was she being serious right now; how did she expect him to react to such a question? This was all so unlike her; where was the upbeat and joyful girl he had fallen in love with and, more importantly, how could he get her back?

Placing his cup on the table Hideotshi stared intently at the girl. "What are you talking about?" It sounded a bit more firm than he had meant it to; and he noticed her recoil a bit. This was no good, what was the matter? He was unable to help so long as she kept everything bottled up inside. So what if it was a secret, he would not even dream of telling anyone. She had his complete faith and trust but, apparently, he did not have hers. The girl's hands began to shake a bit and his newest concern was that she might spill the scolding hot water all over herself. "Minako, answer me." Don't tell him those cults had gotten to her too. She was so nice and friendly, not to mention that she had no immediate family left, she would be an easy target. He saw them around town, preaching about the end of the world and some sort of salvation from a Nyx character. A few girls in his class seemed to be obsessed with this mystery man, for they talked about their love for him non-stop despite the fact that they had never so much as met him. Of course, that was probably half of the appeal; in their minds he could be whatever they wanted him to be.

"Say, hypothetically, this was your last Christmas. How would you really want to spend it? Perhaps go home to your mother or go with her to visit your father?" There was an unspoken bitterness in the words that was actually a bit reassuring. Anger, frustration, whatever it was it meant that she had not become apathetic to life in general. Thank heavens, what would he have done if she fell victim to that terrible disease? Heck, what could he do except for try to wait it out with her; and if she never recovered? Well, he was going to be stuck acting like a total moron for the rest of his life in order to get her to smile. But that did not sound like too horrible of a fate; it was not like he would abandon her or anything. Oh dear, this really was becoming a prominent though in his mind; but how could he get rid of it, by constantly cheering her up? "I just mean… you wouldn't want to waste it here, having tea with me." This time her voice was softer, more beaten down by life, and hey eyes just looked tired. What sort of torment went on inside the girl's mind, and why did she refuse to share the burden?

With a quick, and seemingly carefree, laugh he tapped her gently on the nose. "If this was my last Christmas then I'd want to do this." He said it more because it seemed like the right thing to say but, the more he thought about it, the more accurate a representation of his feelings it seemed to be. He could not think of anything better than spending an evening with Minako. Even if the world was ending in a month, or even tomorrow, he would still want to spend today with her. Gazing out the window he gestured towards the dark night sky with his left hand. "However, I would want there to be snow." He said firmly, causing her to look up in confusion. "All movie representations of Christmas have snow; and I know how much you adore films." At this point a soft smile broke free from the girl's worried face and she even allowed herself a small laugh. Much better, she needed to smile; her face was too pretty to be plagued by such an unhappy expression. "So stop being so down and drink your nauseating milky, sugary, mint tea. Don't you know it's my job to be the cynical one?"

As the girl took a large sip of her disgusting drink he could not help but chuckle at how easily she could go from depressed to cheerful. It truly was a wonder; when he was angry he felt that same emotion for days, not just five minutes. Bur maybe that just meant that she was more mature then him. Reaching across the table to the sugar container the girl added another three small bags. So scratch that, maybe she was not more mature than him; but she certainly did have a certain characteristic that he was lacking. Actually, come to think of it, everyone seemed to be lacking it. There was something special about Minako, some different aura that she possessed that made her stand out in a crowd. How curious that someone as amazing as her was wasting her time with someone as boring as him. "Oh, um…" She began, cheeks flushing a bit in embarrassment. "I made you something." He could feel his heart stop in horror. Oh god, please, please, please don't let it be pink mittens to match the scarf. He would die, physically die, if that was the case. Taking out a small box the girl handed it to him with a gigantic smile. Slowly he peeled back the paper, terrified of what might be inside. "It's a hat!"

Oh thank heaven, it wasn't pink. Pulling out the small knit object he gave it a once over. It was like a ski cap, somewhat, but with looser stitching and some gaps in-between, but they might just have been mistakes and not part of the pattern. All things considered it was much better than the pink scarf. The only problem was that he did not wear hats, they messed up his hair an unbelievable amount. But oh well, he supposed that now was as good a time as ever to start. And it would even keep his head warm in the cold weather; that was the way the most heat escaped the body. "Thank you, I love it." Hidetoshi replied sincerely. "It's even better because you made it." One could only imagine how much time she must have spent on it, add onto that the time for his scarf, boy was he a major inconvenience to her. Hopefully this had all been done after her homework was completed or he would blame himself for her academic shortcomings. "I'm afraid my gift isn't nearly as wonderful." After seeing this his present was going to look so bad; perhaps he should take up knitting or something in order to be able to put the same sort of effort into his gifts.

Removing a rectangular box from his pocket the boy nudged it across the table. It was covered with grey wrapping paper of course; he was a boring person after all and his color choices really tended to reflect that fact. "I thought about efficiency, not fashion; sorry." He knew the situation was bad when he had to apologize before she even opened the gift. Maybe he should have listened to Keisuke that day at the mall and gotten her something else. Not the extremely inappropriate lingerie that the brunette boy had suggested, but some music or jewelry. Opening the present the girl merely stared into the box, as if puzzled by the gift within. "They're earmuffs with headphones built in." He explained, awkwardly playing with the ribbon around his neck. Did she hate it? Maybe he should offer to return it and get her something else, like a bracelet; girls liked those, right? "I know how much you enjoy your music, but it's so cold in the winter, I want you to stay safe." At that she picked the headphones out of their wrapping and hugged them close as if he had given her a stuffed animal. Was she really content with such a lousy gift?

"You're so sweet Hidetoshi-san." At the sound of his actual name he could feel the blood begin to rise to his face so he quickly took a sip of his tea to draw the focus away from himself. Thankfully she seemed preoccupied with the new headphones and now appeared to be attaching her mp3 player to the small white cord. Sliding the fuzzy cream colored earmuffs on, she pressed play and closed her eyes. Was the sound quality okay? He had not even considered testing them to make sure they actually worked; but, if they were broken, he had saved the receipt in case she hated them. Luckily her expression soon turned to one of pure joy and she hit the stop button. They seemed to be to her liking, thank heavens; if he screwed up this simple task then what would he do come bigger, more important, occasions? Of course everything would have been so much easier if she had merely told him what she wanted in the first place. But that was too simple and would take away all the fun of being stressed out. Life definitely was never easy. "It's very thoughtful, I promise to always wear them."

A clearly uncomfortable laugh escaped his lips. "Well only in the winter, it would be foolish to keep them on in the summer." The girl's smile quickly faded and she glanced back down into her tea. What exactly was she staring at in there, her own reflection? If that was the case then she had to know how troubled she looked and, therefore, how much it pained him to see her like this. Weren't people supposed to be happy on Christmas; peace on earth, goodwill to men, and all that junk? It just was not fair, she was such a wonderful person, why was she the unfortunate one? He would gladly take any pain she was feeling, really he would; but she never wanted to disclose any information regarding what he comically referred to as her 'secret life'. It was at the point where he just wanted to wrap her in his arms and keep the rest of the world away from the caring girl; but that was not possible, the world and all of its troubles would constantly be there making everything that much more difficult for her. "Ahh, it was meant to be a humorous comment. I apologize for not being exactly funny."

"No…it's not that." Of course it wasn't, but he could wish, right? "There's just so much going on right now; things that are far bigger than any of us." Just what did she know that he did not? It was maddening, he felt like yelling at her sometimes to tell him what was wrong. But that would accomplish nothing; losing one's temper was a great way to upset the other person and end up alone. Still, it was cruel that she was doing this to him. Didn't she know just how much it pained him to see her so unhappy? Seeing her smile was often the highlight of his day, but now he was lucky to get a clearly forced laugh. Did she think he would not be able to handle whatever the problem was? In that case it would have to be something truly terrible, right? But, if it was, that was all the more reason that she should tell him so that he could be there for her and try to assist on ending the problem. Did any of that even make sense? The boy was at the point where he just did not know anymore. "I just don't know what to do." And, apparently, she was too.

This was all terribly confusing, but she needed support right now. At least, that's what the leadership books he read always said. He was supposed to 'support and praise for a job well done'; but how could he apply that to this situation? Sure he could support her well enough, and god only knew she had enough things for him to praise, but he needed to find something that would fit the situation at hand. It would mean nothing if he went on a rant about how wonderful, beautiful, and charismatic she was. However, it was quite hard to think of something that would fit the conditions when he still had no idea what was bothering her. So, since the details were vague, his response would be vague; but, hopefully, she could work with that. And, if not, he lost nothing in trying. Never-the-less he prayed that it would be able to help her at least a little bit' to let her know that he would always be there to support her. "I know you're facing a difficult task…" Reaching across the table he took her shaking hands in his and looked into her eyes to make sure she was paying attention to him and not the repulsive tea. "But, I truly believe that you can overcome any obstacle."


A/N: Sorry for the delay, it's mid-term seasssson so that means fun-filled hours of studying in the library. I'll try to be quicker next time.

FrizFroz- We're actually doing simple derivatives, I'm just terrible at it Dx The fact that our teacher is Russian and can't really speak or understand English is just an added bonus.

Cielle- Does she go with him during the film festival? I could have sworn that was at a later date, sorry, my bad.

STG- Sweet, I'll totally look for it online; otherwise I'll have to wait until I go home for Thanksgiving break to get it.

Next Chapter: How It Feels! It's not a blow off, honestly; it's a promise for the future. With junior year drawing to a close the coal haired boy decides that it is time for a much needed talk. After all, she was the one who brought about this resolution.