Akaya Christmas Fic Part 3, The Last and Final Installment

Christmas this year crept slowly upon him. He wasn't aware that the seasons had changed again and that he should be seeking warmth. No, Akaya was numb to everything. He had embraced the cold for it served to provide the only comfort for his burning heart.

"You should try this Christmas pudding, Akaya! You're missing out!" Marui called from across the room at the dessert table.

Akaya glanced in his direction and seemingly looked at his surroundings for the first time. The room was large and covered in elegant paintings and furniture. It seemed familiar in a way.

"It's a party, Akaya! Either you enjoy yourself or I make you," Niou threatened from behind his right shoulder.

Akaya didn't so much as flinch from Niou's sudden appearance. He did, however, finally connect the dots. He was at Niou's mansion and attending the Christmas party that he threw for the whole team. Everyone was here along with quite a few others.

Kirihara Akaya wasn't alone for Christmas this year.

"Niou-kun, don't tease Akaya." A voice said as a large hand clapped down on Akaya's shoulder.

"Who said I was teasing, Jackal?"

Jackal sighed as Niou became bored with Akaya and left to prey on other unsuspecting attendees. He looked down at Akaya and managed to get a hold of his attention. Jackal could clearly see the thick black bags lining Akaya's eyes. He looked exhausted and Jackal wondered how he could keep acing all of his classes in this condition. As far as he knew Akaya only ate, went to class, studied, and played video games. He supposed he slept at times, but it sure didn't look like it.

"Try to have some fun." Akaya blinked his tired eyes slowly at Jackal's retreating form. Have fun? He didn't know the meaning of fun anymore because it involved happiness. He was never happy. Not since that day last year when-

Akaya shook his head forcefully and became dizzy. Perhaps he should've drunken something before he came. His stomach growled in accordance and he scowled at the offending organ. Slowly, he made his way over to the dessert table where Marui was finishing up stuffing his face with pudding.

"About time you stopped moping over there." It was a tease, but Akaya kept his stoic mask in place. He studied Marui's grinning face intensively, wondering how he could be that happy over anything. Didn't he ever have a bad day? Didn't he ever have his heart broken? Didn't-

"Excuse me." A quiet, polite voice next to him broke his thoughts. He glanced at her quickly out of the corner of his eye before whipping back his head to look at her fully. He had thought he had seen a flash of gray. Her hair was black, but not the right shade. When she tilted her head towards him he saw that she had green eyes; not even close to gray.

Akaya sighed heavily and held his head in one hand as he walked away from the dessert table to sit at an empty table. He was going crazy. Everywhere he looked he thought he saw her. Every girl who held the slightest resemblance looked like her. Even in his dreams he found her. This was why he wouldn't sleep or ever go out. He could barely keep her out of his thoughts.

The chair next to him slid out from under the table. Akaya didn't pay the visitor any mind as he sat there with his head in his hand and both eyes closed. Both of them sat there for awhile, neither of them breaking the silence.

"You should talk about it. It might help."

Everyone knew when they came back from winter break last year that something had happened to Akaya. He had an air of anguish about him and his condition seemed to unnoticeably worsen. The team had thought that if they had given him time he would bounce back, by Akaya never did. He wouldn't go out any more and seemed to spend all of his time locked up in his apartment alone. They had to literally drag him out by his feet to get him to the party.

"There's only one thing that could help," Akaya muttered. Yagyuu leaned in closer, surprised that his friend had even responded at all. "Take away that day."

Yagyuu leaned back and frowned. That was not what he had been expecting. It seemed as if his condition was even worse than he thought. Perhaps the problem was a girl. His family seemed to be doing well, he was top of his class this whole year, and no one on the team seemed to know what his depression had to do with. The logical conclusion was depression from heartbreak.

"That's impossible, Akaya."

Yagyuu looked over at Yanagi in surprise. "Yanagi-" His friend shook his head and Yagyuu stopped mid-sentence, allowing his friend to speak.

"I know," Akaya muttered, seemingly unperturbed.

"There's a sixty-seven percent chance that she could be at this party tonight," Yanagi told him offhandedly.

Akaya stood up abruptly and looked around the room quickly. "I'm going home."

Yagyuu smirked at Akaya's antics. "Sanada and Yukimura will be pissed that you didn't talk to them."

Yanagi nodded. "There's a seventy-seven percent chance of that happening."

Akaya shrugged and made long strides to the door, cutting across the middle of the dance floor. People stopped and allowed him to pass through before continuing on with their dance. Once he reached the door Akaya didn't pause as he pushed through. As he leaned against the double-wide oak doors he swore that he heard someone calling his name. He wanted to know who it was, but the desire to get home was too strong. He didn't want to risk seeing her here with someone else.

Akaya spent the night alone in his apartment. There wasn't any studying he could do to occupy his mind and he already defeated the newest fighting game six times. If it weren't for the dreams he had during the night he would sleep, but he couldn't bear to live through them again. He forced himself to stare mindlessly at the ceiling of hours as he lay on his bed. It wasn't until the sound of knocking on his door did he finally stir from his position.

After quickly stretching his stiff muscles he lethargically made his way to the front door. The only people who bothered to visit him any more were Marui and Niou. Perhaps Niou had finally decided to take revenge upon him for his cold demeanor last night. Marui didn't seem to have particularly cared about his gloomy mood, but he might've wanted to drop by to spend time away from his eccentric brothers.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Akaya asked grumpily as he shut his eyes in the bright sunlight and started to rub the sleep out of the right one.

"Merry Christmas, Akaya-kun."

That voice. Akaya snapped open his eyes and stared at the person in front of him. Her midnight hair was longer than it was the year before and brushed against the doorframe lightly in the wind. Her bangs brushed against her cheeks that were sprinkled with the light pink blush he first met her with. Her lips were spread in a small smile and when his eyes finally reached her clear gray ones his heart clenched painfully.

She was here.

After so many months of trying to avoid seeing her, let alone thinking about her, she was finally here on his doorstep. He felt frozen as his eyes wouldn't comply with his demand to pull away from hers. He felt as if he did then she would disappear altogether. However, the elation of her arrival was squashed when the painful memories resurrected.

"May I come in?" She asked politely. Akaya didn't trust his voice, so he opted to nod instead. She hesitated on the first step, as if making sure he wouldn't change his mind, but when he stepped back a little more to allow her room, she entered his apartment more confidently.

Taking off her heavy winter coat, she sat down on the tan sofa as Akaya took the loveseat across from her. She eyed the room silently before settling her gaze back onto him. He couldn't fathom why she would be here, much less how she actually knew how to get here. Yet, he remained silent, allowing her to make the first move.

"You look terrible." She frowned and pushed a stray bang that fell into her eye. "Have you been sleeping at all? You look like you barely eat at all!"

She was worried about him. Akaya could tell that she wasn't berating him, but expressing her concerns about him. He wasn't dumb. She wouldn't be here right now to just check up on his health.

"Why." His single question was pronounced like a command and accompanied by a low frown.

She fidgeted slightly, pulling at the mid-thigh black skirt she wore over her leggings. "I saw you last night. At Niou's party."

Akaya blinked slowly, as if remembering a far away memory.

"It was only when you left. I called out to you, but you seemed like you were in a hurry." She paused to gauge his reaction, but Akaya kept his stoic mask perfectly in place. Undeterred, she continued. "You're teammates cornered me after that. They told me how you've been depressed all year and told me where to find you."

Ah, so that's how she found him and why she was here. His teammates sent her. She wasn't here of her own volition.

"You've been avoiding me all year and I've been worried about you. Please, Akaya-kun, tell me what's wrong." She leaned forward with her hands on her knees and stared at him with pleading eyes.

"You already know." He scowled and looked away from her surprised expression. Those words tasted bitter in his mouth, but he knew they were the truth. She didn't need him anymore. He wanted to be more than friends, but she had someone else already. He was too late and they both knew it.

"You saw us that day, didn't you?" She seemed to already know the answer to the question. Akaya stayed silent, still scowling intently at his navy carpeted floor. "I never wanted you to see that," she confessed.

His scowl lessened and his stoic mask regained its position. Looking at her he could visibly see the struggle she was dealing with. His heart panged lightly against his chest as he watched her find the right words to say.

"My brother finally returned." His stoic mask finally broke as his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Her brother had been gone for nearly a decade now and to have returned... "He had only been home for a month when I invited you over. I wanted you to meet him."

Her voice wavered and tears started to form in her eyes, but she wiped them away before any could fall. "I... I told him I didn't want him to come. I told him to trust me, but he just didn't listen. I never wanted you to see us together. I'm sorry, Akaya-kun."

He frowned lightly and his body started to move toward the upset girl. "Risa..."

"Don't!" She snapped, looking up at him sharply. "Why? Why do you call me that, Akaya-kun?"

His frowned deepened as his eyes squinted at her. "That's your name."

"You've always called me 'Risa-chan'. Always," she whispered painfully, holding her hands close to her chest.

"It's because I wanted us to be closer." His voice was quiet as he left to words to hang in the air. His eyes gauged her reaction, but it wasn't what he expected.

"You idiot," she chuckled allowing a few tears to drop. "That doesn't matter. You could have said something. You could've told me. When I ran after you I found this." She pulled up the sleeve of her maroon shirt to show him what she had been hiding from him.

Akaya moved closer to Risa to inspect the item. He reached out with nervous fingers to touch the cool silver chain of the bracelet. His fingertips then grazed over each charm: the tennis ball, the A, the R, and finally the racquet. It was the exact gift that he had customized and bought her just the year before. The same gift he let slip through his fingers and disappear into the snow as he ran away from the first girl he loved.

"How..."

"I tried to find you. I really did, but you just... disappeared. I found this outside of my house and I realized..." She took his cold hands into her warm ones and looked straight into his eyes. "I realized just how much it hurt to see you leave. I realized just how much I wanted you with me. I realized..."

She leaned in closer to him and let her lips brush against his for a quick, chaste kiss. "...That I love you."

His heart started beating rapidly as he let the words play over and over in his mind. She loved him. Him. Not some other guy, but him. Kirihara Akaya.

His tongue flicked over his lips and he could still taste the strawberry flavored lip gloss she was wearing. "I think... I love you too, Risa-chan."

She smiled at him, knowing that after all of this time they finally had a chance. Even if they still didn't work out at least they tried. But somewhere, deep inside of each of them, they knew that it would work out. After all of these years they still found a way into the other's heart.

It didn't matter that this wasn't the best Christmas ever. There would be many great Christmases to spend with Risa-chan. What matter to Akaya most was that he would never be alone for Christmas again and that would make this one the perfect Christmas.

A/N: Originally, this wasn't a three-shot. However, by popular demand and plot bunnies I made it into one. After this chapter continues my original three-shot. So, if you loved the first chapter and wanted to leave it at friendship then feel free to disregard these last two chapters.