"Ugh," Gareki groaned as he awoke the next morning. He had a killer headache and a quick glance at the clock told him it was only 4:30 in the morning. There was no way that the headache would allow him to go back to sleep, even at such an ungodly hour.
What a waste, it was the only day off Hirato would give him for the holidays, and he still woke up early. So much for sleeping in.
"How did I even get here..." Gareki muttered to himself. He turned his head to look out the dark window. Large snowflakes continued to fall, only visible in the light cast from the Circus ship.
Thinking hard on what he last remembered, memories began to flash through his mind. He was at that Christmas party with Nai...then he met Yogi in the hallway because of that funny tasting punch...and Yogi guided him to his room. That seemed like that should be the end of it, but...wasn't there something else that he was supposed to remember? Something that happened after they got back to his room...
Gareki gasped as he bolted upright, headache momentarily forgotten. Wait, was he remembering correctly? Did he really...kiss Yogi?!
Gareki hid his face in his hands, he could feel his face heating up from the blush that was undoubtedly there. How could he do something like that? Would Yogi think that he was weird if he figured out he like him as more than a friend? No, maybe he wouldn't find out...maybe he would think that Gareki just wasn't thinking straight.
"Damn it," Gareki groaned, "why did this have to happen?"
Although he knew that sleep was useless, with the embarrassed thoughts about what happened with Yogi added on top of the ever present headache, he still attempted to return to the blissful oblivion of sleep. Hours passed without a wink of sleep and at around seven, he figured there was no point in trying anymore and got up. After getting dressed, he went to open his door, only to find a bundled up Nai, Tsukumo, and Yogi already standing outside of it.
"Gareki!" Nai said excitedly. "We were just going to wake you up and ask if you wanted to play outside with us."
"Play outside?" Gareki asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, there's lots of new snow that can be built into snowmen and it's so nice out today, please Gareki," Nai begged. His big, watery eyes held Gareki's eyes pleadingly.
"Uh." He didn't really want to go, he would rather just stay inside and do something less active until his headache went away, but the look that Nai was giving him made it really hard to resist. "Fine," Gareki said in defeat, watching as Nai went from the puppy dog look to a big cheesy smile.
"Yay! Yay! Gareki's coming outside with us!" Nai cheered. He handed Gareki a long blue coat, with the number two sewn into the left shoulder, that had been specially designed by the Circus Research Center, a new black and purple Circus made gun, and a jewel embedded bracelet. "Oh by the way, we finally get our Circus ID's!" Nai added as he pointed to the bracelet.
Gareki groaned as his head began pounding in protest of Nai's continuous cheering. He brought his hand up to the side of his head, as an automatic reaction, as if it would lessen the pain. This action did not go unnoticed by the blond Circus fighter that was standing a few feet away.
"Gareki, does it hurt somewhere?" Yogi asked concerned.
"It's fine," Gareki replied irritably. "I just have a slight headache."
"Oh," Yogi said relieved. That'll happen, Yogi thought, Gareki must have never had alcohol before, how cute. "I'm sure some fresh air will help." Yogi gently took Gareki's hand and led him along with the group to the ship's exit. "Welcome to Rinoll!"
A burst of cold air hit the group as they descended from the ship. A white winter wonderland stretched around them for miles, the cold being partially nullified by the heat of sun shining down from the clear sky. A town could be spotted nearby, the Ice Crystal Town as it was often called.
Now with his own Circus ID Gareki was able to fly down to the ground on his own. However, as it was his first time flying, and he had no idea how to land, he ended up dropping out of the air when was still about 10 meters from the ground.
Gareki tensed as he rapidly neared the ground, but before he could land, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Gareki looked up and saw Yogi hovering right above him, holding tightly onto his arm. He was slowly lowered to the ground and Yogi quickly let go of him.
They landed on the snow covered ground beneath the ship, their feet creating crunching sounds as their weight pressed on the settled snow. Gareki would never admit it, but this was his first time experiencing snow. He never imagined that the snow would sparkle so brightly or that the ground seemed to bend down beneath him as he walked. It was a weird sensation to be walking on squishy ground.
"Nai, what do you want to do first?" Tsukumo asked, her soft voice was a little difficult to hear over the crunching of the snow.
"I...um," Nai looked around, unsure what he wanted to do since everything was so new to him. "Can we build a snowman? I've never built one before."
"Great idea!" Yogi shouted, causing Gareki to flinch slightly at the loud noise. Everyone, except Gareki, began gathering snow to make the body of the snowman. Tskumo instructed Nai on how to pact the snow into a ball and then showed him how to roll it around in the snow to make it bigger. Gareki began to walk away, intent on exploring the woods. Yogi looked up at the sound of retreating footsteps. "Gareki? Aren't you going to help with the snowman?"
"Huh?" Gareki glanced back at blond. "Why would I want to build a snowman? That's for children. I'm going to have a look around." Gareki turned back around and continued walking.
"B-but we should stay together! I-it's dangerous walking around by yourself!" Yogi shouted after him, frantically waving his arms to get the teen's attention.
Gareki ignored him and continued his path further into the woods. He kept alert for any unusual noises but doubted anything would venture this far into the woods in the dead of winter.
He hadn't walked too far when something shinny caught his eye, causing him to venture its direction. Upon clearing the trees, a completely frozen over lake stood in front of him. Gareki knew that people ice skated on frozen lakes during the winter seasons, but he had obviously never tried it himself.
He walked over to the edge of the lake, looking down to see if it was thick enough to walk on. He hesitantly stepped out to test his weight but when he began to slip on the friction-less surface, he quickly backtracked onto safer ground.
"Gareki? What are you doing?" Yogi asked as he walked toward him. He had followed Gareki into the woods to make sure he wouldn't get attacked by anything and had caught up to the teen when he was testing the ice. Yogi smiled at Gareki's cute curiosity.
"Nothing," Gareki replied quickly, embarrassed at having been caught "playing" with the ice. He turned away from the lake to show his disinterest.
Yogi stopped next to Gareki and suddenly an idea came to him. "Gareki, have you ever been ice skating?"
"What? Well, no—" Gareki started to reply.
"Great!" Yogi exclaimed, once again causing Gareki to flinch. "Wait right here." With that, Yogi took off flying back in the direction of the ship, leaving a confused Gareki by the lake.
He didn't have to wait long, for the blond could be seen quickly returning within minutes of his departure. Yogi smiled brightly when he landed in front of him, in his hands were two medium sized bags. "Sorry for the wait, but I had to run and get these."
"Get what?" Gareki asked as a bag was thrust into his arms. He glanced skeptically at Yogi but opened the bag anyway. Inside was a pair of perfectly made ice skates.
"Ice skates? What for?" Gareki asked.
"To go ice skating of course! You said you have never been skating before, and I thought that since you didn't seem interested in the snow..." Yogi trailed off while fidgeting with his hands, looking a bit insecure.
"Huh? Just because I said I had never been skating doesn't mean that I want to try it," Gareki said, trying to hand the bag back to Yogi.
"Please Gareki," Yogi pleaded, refusing to take the bag. "Just try for a few minutes and if you don't like it then I won't ask again."
Gareki rolled his eyes and looked back at the lake, a few minutes wouldn't hurt right? He reluctantly sat down near the edge of the lake and proceeded to put on the ice skates. Yogi smiled brightly and sat down next to him, copying his example.
"Alright." Yogi pushed himself up and onto the ice. He glided across the frozen lake with ease that spoke of years of previous experience. "Come on Gareki." Yogi motioned for the teen who was still sitting beside the lake.
Gareki stood up, wobbling a bit from the lack of friction beneath him. He put his arms out to balance himself, but he was unprepared for the forward momentum his standing up had caused. Gareki ended up leaning too far back and with nothing to hold on to, he began falling backwards.
He braced himself for the unavoidable impact but before he could hit the ice, two strong arms caught him underneath the arms from behind, holding him up.
"Sorry," Yogi said sincerely, "I should have helped you up." He pushed the teen back into a standing position, but held onto his arm in case he started to fall again. Once he was sure Gareki was okay with standing, Yogi pushed off of the ice and gently pulled Gareki along with him.
Gareki fought for balance at the sudden change of momentum pulling him forward, but quickly adjusted. It wasn't until he steadied himself that he realized he was clinging to Yogi for support. He quickly let his grip go and moved to push himself away, but Yogi, predicting Gareki's movements, went and grabbed his hands instead.
A light blush, that could easily be excused by the cold weather, appeared on his cheeks as he looked at their joined hands. He couldn't help but think that they looked like on those cliché couples in movies. Nonetheless, he decided it was fine and let Yogi guide him across the ice.
He didn't know how long they were skating like that, but Gareki started to enjoy the gentle grip of Yogi's hands in his. He was lost in his thoughts and was caught unaware when Yogi stopped. Gareki slid forward, not having enough time to stop himself, and ran into Yogi.
Yogi wrapped his arms around Gareki to steady them from the sudden impact. When Gareki looked up, Yogi's face was inches from his since he was also looking down at the teen. Gareki could see a strange emotion in the blond's eyes...want? But for what?
Gareki thought he had his answer when Yogi leaned down a little further, till their lips brushed. His breathing became a little quicker and he could feel his heart rate increase to the point that he was sure Yogi could hear it.
He waited anxiously for something to happen. It was like time stood still. The cold wind stopped blowing, the sounds of nature around them dimmed into nothingness, and the only sound that could be heard was the pair's quick breathing.
Instead of warmth against his lips like he expected, Gareki suddenly noticed the cold air that blew against him as he was now standing by himself. Gareki gritted his teeth as he watched Yogi walk away. He couldn't take it anymore, his hands tightened into fists, and he opened his mouth.
"Idiot!" Gareki exclaimed. "Stop sending me mixed signals! If you want to kiss me then do it, but stop confusing me so much!" Gareki looked down, allowing his hair to shield his eyes. His eyes were watering from frustration and anger, but he didn't want Yogi to see him crying.
"Gareki," Yogi replied softly. He walked back over and stopped just in front of the distraught teen. He hesitantly reached out, not wanting to startle him, and gently tilted his chin up. Yogi leaned down and pressed his lips against Gareki's. It was a very soft, almost butterfly-like kiss, that ended only when Yogi pulled away.
"I'm sorry," Yogi said gently, "I wasn't sure if you liked me that way, and I didn't want to upset you."
"You're such an idiot," Gareki said, finally getting a tight enough reign on his feelings so he could reply to Yogi without sounding weak. He pulled the blond forward and pressed his lips against his again, but this time, the kiss was more demanding.
Yogi responded by gently nudging Gareki's mouth open into a deeper kiss as he pulled the raven closer to him. Once Gareki parted his lips more, Yogi was able to search Gareki's mouth to his heart's content. Gareki enjoyed the passionate kiss and didn't want it to end but eventually both them needed air.
They pulled away from each other panting. Gareki opened his eyes, not even realizing when he had closed them, and looked into the eyes of person holding him tightly. Yogi's eyes were filled with lust and want which made Gareki leaned in for another fervent kiss.
A sudden noise caused the two Circus members to freeze. Gareki felt a shiver of nervousness pass through him at the familiar sound. Turning to look over his shoulder, Gareki's eyes met with those of a horribly deformed Varuga but that wasn't what made him nervous. It was the hundreds of Varuga standing behind it.