Chapter 8: Anything

Mei hated Christmas.

It wasn't because of its religious affiliation, of course, nor due to a morbid fear of Santa Claus (Himeko had apparently had a bad experience at the local mall as a child). No, it was just that she didn't feel like partaking in it. The festivities, the traditions, the atmosphere, the gift giving…it was all a little bit much for her. She preferred to lead a quieter existence.

So when Yuzu slipped into their shared room on the evening of the 23rd, as Mei sat quietly on the bed with paperwork in her hands, she was admittedly caught off guard by their ensuing conversation.

"Whatchu doin?" Yuzu asked, crawling onto the bed and peeking over Mei's shoulder, trying to see what she was reading.

The younger girl shirked away, curling up the sheaf of papers and tucking it beneath her arm like a breadstick that needed protecting. Yuzu's warm shoulder still pressed against hers, however, and she found herself flushing slightly as she said, "It isn't really any of your business."

The blonde just laughed, settling back on her knees on the bed. Mei felt her flush alleviating as her personal space was reconquered. She wasn't quite so good at proximity yet.

"Sorry, just curious," Yuzu apologized, dropping into a more comfortable cross legged position. "Mom just sent me up here to make sure you're free the day after tomorrow? Since you're always so busy and all. Even on breaks."

Mei frowned as she thought about it, pushing her reading glasses back up her nose. Yuzu's eyes seemed to follow the movement, and she felt somewhat self conscious. "I should be free. Why does she ask?"

The blonde frowned. "What do you mean why?"

"What's so important about the day after tomorrow?"

Yuzu stared at her. "It's Christmas, Mei. You know, Jesus's birthday? You know Jesus, right?"

Mei's brain short circuited, and she fought the urge to swear right in Yuzu's face. Christmas! How could she possibly forget? Of all the important dates to not remember…it didn't make any sense, had she really just forgotten? It wasn't as if she paid much attention to that sort of thing, but…

The rather annoying lights their neighbor had put up last week suddenly made a lot more sense to her.

As Mei's mind struggled to grasp the idea that she had forgotten quite literally the most world famous holiday ever to come into tangible existence, Yuzu pouted and crossed her arms, a look of disbelief on her face. "Come on, Mei, don't tell me you actually forgot about Christmas?"

"Of course not!" Mei insisted immediately, though she totally had. She flushed for a different reason this time, pushing Yuzu away with her papers. "Why would I ever forget something like that? Just go tell mother not to worry; I'll be free."

"Okay~" Yuzu sang, jumping off the bed and gliding off to deliver the message.

The moment she was gone Mei slammed the door shut and paced to the window on the opposite end of the room, running her fingers through her hair.

Christmas. Seriously though, why had she forgotten? She had celebrated it before, though she didn't make a habit of going to church, and it had admittedly been quite a few years since the last time. Why had she even stopped to begin with?

As it turned out, her grandfather didn't celebrate the holiday himself, and she had never seen fit to give her father any goodwill as of late.

Speaking of giving, Christmas meant presents.

Of which she had none.

"Shit," Mei muttered, taking out a notepad and grabbing a pen to scribble with.

The next day she set out as early as possible, which didn't turn out to be very early at all, only just slipping out of the house when the sun was beginning to touch the horizon.

She had had to wait until she could leave undetected, because no one was going to believe she, Mei Aihara, was going somewhere for fun just for the hell of it. The only reasonable deduction would be that she was out to get presents, and since there was a fifty percent chance she would be caught by Yuzu and not their mother, she had chosen not to test the odds. Instead Mei waited until the blonde left to spend some time with Harumi, saying something about making some last minute, and their mother fell into her daily evening nap.

Pulling the sleeve of her coat back, Mei irritably checked the time. Her train left in half an hour. She had to hurry. Her heels tapped against the concrete sidewalk as she moved as fast as she could without outright running, since she didn't really do much of that in the first place.

There were clouds overhead, but Mei didn't know if they were saturated with rain or snow. Either way, she wanted to get to the mall before the weather hit. It was already freezing cold regardless, and the wind seemed to cut straight through her clothes as she trotted on, drawing the coat more tightly around her slim figure.

Thirty minutes later she all but fell into the last empty seat on a crowded train, squashed between a support pole and a rather large man who was snoring quietly to himself. Mei shifted uncomfortably as the train began to move, the buildings outside sliding by with increasing speed.

She had stayed up late last night coming up with gift ideas for everyone she cared to think twice about. Small boxes of chocolates for her teachers, of course, and a little something for Himeko, as well. Surprisingly enough, Mei also found it within herself to spend some time thinking about a present for Harumi, although it was an admittedly small amount of time, proportionally speaking. She could give them out when school resumed later.

Her mother was a rather simple pick as well, but Yuzu…stupidly enough she was the hardest one. So difficult, in fact, that Mei boarded the train headed into the city's shopping district with no concrete ideas in mind, as she had already crossed out most of the more obvious choices.

Food or make up? As often as Yuzu happened to use those things, it felt a little shallow, not to mention they were both perishable. Mei wanted something more permanent.

Though if she really wanted to get Yuzu something more meaningful, she should have started thinking about this a billion years ago. The thought made guilt sprout inside her like a parasitic flower, and she pasted a hand to her face. Looking outside and seeing all the Christmas decorations decking literally every available surface only intensified the shame. If Harumi found out about this she was never going to hear the end of it.

Soon enough the train stopped at her station, and she got off, shuffled along by the movement of the crowd, who all seemed to share her choice in destination. Apparently more people forgot about Christmas than she had assumed. Or perhaps they were simply inconsiderate of the people around them.

It did occur to Mei that she was currently one of those inconsiderate people, so she shut herself up and instead shouldered her bag, making a beeline for the shopping mall.

She breathed a short sigh of relief when she entered the heated building, her rosy cheeks throbbing gently from the cold. Rubbing her face with both hands, she got to work immediately, taking the elevator up to the second level. She had no time to lose

In order to make as much time to agonize over Yuzu's gift as she could (as she was sure she would), Mei tackled everyone else's presents first. A fancy pen for Himeko, some normal colored hair dye for Harumi (it was a cruel joke, but wasn't she owed the payback?) as well as the chocolates for her teachers. Luckily she wasn't the kind of person to spend money irresponsibly, unlike Yuzu, and she was able to cover her expenses with relative ease.

After all that she took a short break, sitting down at a small bench in the center courtyard of the mall, all of her shopping bags stuffed into one much larger one by her feet. Digging her phone out of her pocket, she checked the time, comforted to find that it was only just past six. She had time.

There was a huge Christmas tree set up in the middle of the courtyard, and Mei craned her neck up to look at it. It was lavishly decorated, with ornaments the size of her chest, and glittering rope thicker than her waist. It rose higher than the second story of the building itself, almost touching the skylight that arched over the ceiling, through which Mei could see the cold light of the moon.

It must have taken a lot of effort to put it all together, she thought, as she sank a little deeper into her seat. The thing probably had to be brought in parts then assembled afterwards. So much work just to celebrate a single day. She didn't see the point.

To be honest, even if her grandfather had been a more festive person, even if she hadn't grown apart from her enigmatic father over the years, Mei thought that she probably would have stopped celebrating Christmas regardless. Every year she felt less and less Christmasy, to the point that she forgot that the damn holiday even existed. If Yuzu hadn't reminded her she would have been screwed tomorrow.

Why was it that such a thing happened? The holiday didn't change. It was the same every time. Was that the heart of the issue? Was it repetitiveness that had worn her to it?

As much as she would have liked to believe that, Mei didn't find it likely. There were plenty of people who were not idiots who took full advantage of the season's spirit no matter how many times it rolled around. Yuzu came to mind, though the blonde tended to get excited about the most childish things, even at her age.

She was adorable like that.

Mei was aware, of course, of the romantic fodder Christmas served as for many people. Even now, as she sat in the middle of the courtyard, it was apparent that most of the people milling around her were walking in pairs. It occurred to her, then, that this might be a chance for her to share how she truly felt about Yuzu.

The idea was exciting in itself, exhilarating even, but as usual her logical half came and crushed it with a hammer. What was she even going to say? And how would the gift tie into it? There was no real plan. As much as Mei might secretly be in love with her sister, she wasn't stupid enough to go into this head first.

Besides, there was always the chance that Yuzu might not feel the same way towards her. The fatal curse of loving a nice girl like Yuzu was the constant danger that she simply treated Mei as well as she would treat anyone. It was hard to tell, sometimes, how special you were to someone like Yuzu, because the blonde tended to be fair to everyone. Generally a positive trait, of course, but in this instance Mei wished her sister were a little more prone to favoritism.

It was probably best to go with a safe gift this year. They were only first years; there would be other opportunities. More time to think this out. The very last thing she wanted to do was mess up what she already had with Yuzu.

Yes, probably best that way.

Her feelings could wait.

Standing up, Mei scooped her bags up with one hand, pausing to look up at the tree again. It seemed to glare back down at her, intimidating in its sheer size, like a great green giant Santa had sent her way to demand that she enjoy the holidays, and with a smile on her face.

The thought was a little too cynical, even for her, and she sighed as she set off in search of Yuzu's gift.

As she expected, the next two hours were spent hopping aimlessly from store to store.

She initially tried one of those clothing stores Yuzu was so fond of, critically eyeing several articles of clothing before ultimately giving up; Mei didn't have an eye for fashion. People though she dressed "classy" or whichever, with her proper style, but dressing like she was the same age as her grandmother-like soul was not a hard thing to do.

Clothes were Yuzu territory. She felt like a foreign animal within these boundaries. In fact, this mall, the entire shopping district, were part of the blonde's realm. Part of her wished she had brought Yuzu here earlier; they could have chosen out gifts together, and maybe the blonde would even point out something she liked so that Mei didn't have to fry her brains like this.

That sounded like it might have been fun. They could have spent some quality time together.

They could have shared some food.

No. She was getting distracted again. The mall closed earlier on Christmas Eve. She had to hurry.

She drifted to the next store, and then the next, then the next. She even found herself inside a place that sold lingerie for a brief moment, before personal embarrassment drove her out. It wasn't as if Yuzu even wore those kinds of things, anyway.

Right?

At one point Mei even found herself in a bookstore that was stuck deep in the corner of the mall, the scent of mildew wreathing through the shelves as she walked through them. She knew Yuzu didn't do much reading unless it was from a magazine, but maybe she would get the blonde a biology textbook. Lord knew the girl needed help in the sciences.

It occurred to her that the thought was totally lame, even for her, and she left the bookstore with a small huff.

She felt something buzz in her pocket, and she checked the phone to find that Yuzu was calling her. A thumb moved instinctively to answer, but Mei stopped herself just in time. If she answered, Yuzu was almost certainly going to ask where she was. Mei had left the house unannounced, after all. They were bound to be worried, or at least curious.

She couldn't afford the risk.

So Mei let the call go to voicemail, which led to her discovering that Yuzu had actually called her few times prior, her recent call history stacked with the blonde's number.

Sighing, she decided to send a quick text to her mother, if only to ensure that the police wouldn't be out in force tonight. No one wanted to work before Christmas.

Don't worry; will be home soon. Had something to do. Don't tell Yuzu.

The message was cryptic, certainly, but it would have to do. Anything more and she would give it all away. Snapping the phone shut, Mei walked determinedly to the next store, intent on finishing this quickly.

She found a potential gift soon after, in a thick woolen scarf that had a big fat letter A sown into it. Wrinkling her nose, Mei held that part of the fabric between her fingers, stretching it out even larger. What the hell was she supposed to tell Yuzu about the letter? That it stood for Aihara? Be proud of your heritage, Yuzu, for it defines who you are!

Like hell. Yuzu had been an Aihara longer than she had. This one was probably a bad idea.

Especially if Yuzu had read the Scarlet Letter, which Mei doubted, but she was taking no chances.

She dug through the rest of the scarves for a moment, and realized that there were other letters as well. Blinking, she searched until she found one with a Y on it instead, holding it in the air in front of her.

White and dark green. It would match her eyes.

Sighing, Mei closed her eyes and approached the register. It was the best thing she had happened upon this entire day. She doubted she would find a more suitable gift in the remaining time. Besides, she already knew that Yuzu's current scarf was starting to look a little beat up.

But she only knew that because she spent so much time secret watching the girl from afar.

It was snowing when Mei stepped outside.

She blinked in surprise, having not noticed until she was standing right in the thick of it. Snow was lightly dusting the sidewalk beneath her boots, piling up on the sides of the street. It fell slowly, but the drops were thick. It would accumulate in no time.

It was well past nine by now, and the streets were largely empty as Mei hurried through them, keeping her coat closed with one hand. She reached the train station a few minutes later, jogging onto the barren platform, breath billowing before her in the frigid air. It was only getting colder.

Crossing the platform, Mei sat down on a bench and exhaled loudly, tired from all the running around. She set her bags down and rubbed at her eyes, hoping the train would arrive soon.

"Well, fancy meeting you here, Mei."

Looking up, she was stunned to see none other than Matsuri sitting on the bench at the far end, grinning wolfishly at her.

"Mizusawa," Mei murmured, sitting back up. "What are you doing here?"

The girl just pouted, reaching up to adjust the headphones looped around her neck. "You could look a bit happier to see me, you know."

"I would if I was," Mei quipped, folding both hands over her lap. She might have come to terms with Matsuri, but that didn't mean they were necessarily friends.

The younger girl just rolled her eyes, draping her arms across the back of the bench. "Yeah, yeah, I hear you. So what's with all the bags?"

Mei looked down at the small mountain of items by her feet and saw no point in lying. Matsuri would see through it no matter what excuse she came up with. "Just some last minute Christmas shopping."

The girl made that grin again. "Last minute? You? You don't seem the type."

"You'd be surprised," Mei said blandly. Matsuri just chuckled.

"I guess even the great Aihara Mei has her faults," she commented.

Mei didn't feel particularly inclined to respond to that, instead turning to look down the length of the tracks, impatient to board the train and get back home. She didn't really see the value in having idle chit chat with her ex-rival. The rest of the station was truly empty aside from them, and she felt almost achingly alone out here, with nothing but the softly falling snow and a cheeky middle schooler for company.

"Still, I guess you could color me surprised," Matsuri said, for some reason still talking. "I figured you for one of those 'anti-Christmas' types."

"Why are you here, Matsuri?" Mei just sighed, choosing to drop the last name basis, less out of a show of intimacy and more an unwillingness to address the girl respectfully. "Don't tell me you hang around empty train stations?"

"I'm heading back to my hometown for Christmas," Matsuri shrugged. "Folks wanted me to come back earlier, but I'm not very fond of them, so I said no."

Mei pursed her lips. For some reason, it didn't surprise her that Matsuri had a strained relationship with her parents.

"Then why go back at all?" she asked, eyes still glued to the tracks.

Behind her, Matsuri smiled knowingly. "No one wants to spend Christmas alone."

That made Mei pause, her eyes lidding halfway. "Yes, I suppose," she murmured. "Who knows, maybe you'll even stop celebrating it one day, like me."

"I'd rather not," Matsuri said, playing with her exotically colored hair. It seemed to glow against the harsh white of the snowfall. "It's rather sad, the reason why some people get like that."

Mei stared. "What do you mean?"

The girl just held both of her hands up as if the answer were obvious. "Just think about it, Mei. Why is it that some people stop doing anything, especially if it has to do with holidays?"

The older girl frowned. "They don't see the point in it, I suppose."

But Matsuri shook her head, wagging a knowing finger between them.

"No, Mei. They stop because they don't have anyone to spend it with."

Mei's lips parted, struck by those words, as Matsuri raised both arms and stretched, continuing her dialogue. Beside them, the train pulled into the station, its hot engines steaming broodingly in the cold.

"And honestly, I'd rather celebrate Christmas with my shitty family that do nothing all by myself," she finished simply, letting her arms fall back to the bench. "We're social creatures, Mei. Everyone, even people like you and me, weren't built to exist alone forever."

Mei just stared, even as the train doors hissed open, awaiting its passengers.

"You are one disturbingly smart child," she murmured at last, not knowing what else to say.

Matsuri just laughed, apparently flattered. "I know right? I sucks. Innocence can't be refunded."

Mei just shook her head, exasperated if not amused, as the younger girl leaned over and peeked into her bags. "Speaking of which, is there anything in there for me?"

"No," Mei said bluntly, leaving no room for interpretation.

The girl pouted. "Cheapskate."

"Hardly. The fact that I'm gracing you with conversation is a gift in itself."

Matsuri just rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, okay. And my gift to you is making sure you miss your train."

"What?" Mei snapped her head to the side just in time to see the train doors sliding shut in front of her, the engine roaring to life as it began to pull away from the station.

"Jesus!" Mei exclaimed, springing to her feet and sprinting after the train, but it was too late, and soon enough it was gone, vanishing into the unfathomable night. She stood on the edge of the platform, breathing heavily, as the last car disappeared around a corner.

And then they were alone again.

Turning, she glared at Matsuri, who just gazed innocently back.

"Hey, look, you can't blame me for being so interesting to talk to," she reasoned.

Putting a hand to her face, Mei wordlessly gathered her things and began walking away from Matsuri, bags and all.

"What are you doing?" she called after her, standing up on the bench with both hands cupped to her mouth.

"I'm walking!" Mei snapped back, taking the stairs down to the street below. Seriously, what was the kid's problem?

But Matsuri's words stuck in her head, even as she trudged along the length of the sidewalk.

Did she really just hate Christmas because she had always spent it alone?

It was nearly midnight when Mei finally made it back home, having survived the long arduous walk back home.

She was shivering violently as she shoved the key to the house into the door, almost kicking it aside so she could get inside. Slamming the door shut behind her, she quickly made her way into the living room, intent on getting all the presents wrapped before anybody noticed.

Luckily or not, the living room was actually completely empty. In fact, the whole house felt strangely quiet. Frowning, Mei cast about, noticing that the kitchen light was on. Walking in, she found her mother passed out at the table with her forehead on its surface, snoring softly to herself. She was surrounded by several empty cartons of what appeared to be eggnog.

Approaching the table, she gently shook her mother awake, who came to with a start.

"Huh! Wh-oh, Jesus, my head," her mother grumbled, putting a hand to her temple.

"Mother, what happened to you? Where's Yuzu?" Mei asked softly, staring dubiously at the empty cartons littering the table and floor. Could eggnog really do this to a person?

"Uh…." the older woman slurred, obviously intoxicated. "You-zoo…went to look for Mei. Oh wait, you're Mei. Heh heh. Funny coincidence, that."

Mei frowned in concern. "What have you been drinking?"

"Eggnog!" her mother exclaimed, pointing accusingly at one of the empty cartons.

"Can you get drunk off of eggnog?"

"Um…I think the guy said he mixed it with alcohol."

"The guy? What guy?" Mei asked, incredulous. "And who even sells this kind of thing?"

"Hell if I know?" her mother suggested, before her forehead hit the table again and she was gone, snoring more loudly this time.

Sighing, Mei checked the woman's pulse, and reasoned that she would be fine on her own for a little while. It felt a little ridiculous that Yuzu had chosen to go looking for her, but Mei had told her mother to keep things a secret.

"Back into the cold, I suppose," she muttered, grabbing her coat and heading for the door.

But something stopped her, and she turned to see the pile of bags sitting on the couch. Walking over, she pulled the scarf out, put it in a box, and headed out the door.

The moment she stepped outside her phone went off, and she answered it immediately.

"Hello?"

"Mei! Thank god! Where the heck are you?"

Mei felt the beginnings of a smile tugging at her lips, which she did her best to smother. She didn't want to look like an idiot. "In front of the house, actually. Where are you?"

"The house?" Yuzu asked, obviously confused. "I've been looking for you this whole time! Where have you been?"

"I was just running some errands," Mei murmured, looking up at the sky; it was snowing harder now. "Where are you?"

"Oh man, it's cold out here," Yuzu muttered under her breath. "I'm near the park with the fountain. You know the one?"

"On my way," Mei promised, her feet already moving in the right direction. It probably would have been more logical to have Yuzu just come home, but Mei wanted to see her as soon as possible.

Soon enough she reached the aforementioned park, its signature fountain situated squarely at its center. Mei walked up to the stone barriers surrounding it before looking around, searching for a familiar blonde head.

She found Yuzu easily enough, but the girl was dressed a little differently than she had expected.

"M-M-Mei!" Yuzu called out, rushing across the park to where her little sister was standing. Her cheeks were rubbed raw by the cold, and her breath wreathed out like a pissed off ghost. She was in her indoor bunny slippers, pajama pants, and nothing but a thin shirt on top. She also appeared to have something brown and vaguely round in one hand, but Mei was more concerned with Yuzu's lack of clothing, especially when it was probably well below thirty degrees.

"H-H-Hey," Yuzu greeted, waving one trembling hand even as her teeth chattered violently.

"Why are you wearing so little?" Mei demanded, yanking her own coat off. "Are you insane?"

"M-M-Maybe," Yuzu said, shivering as Mei threw her coat around the blonde's shoulders, buttoning it all the way up to the chin. "I-I k-kind of ran out w-without thinking."

"Obviously not," Mei sighed, securing the last button. It occurred to her that she had forgotten to let Yuzu put her arms through the sleeves first, leaving the girl effectively mummified inside her coat, but she could care less. Hypothermia was more annoying that restricted arm movement. "You must have looked like an idiot, walking around like this."

"W-Well maybe you sh-shouldn't have wandered off!" Yuzu countered, and Mei bit her lip guiltily. She couldn't defend herself against that. At least Yuzu didn't look as cold as she had a minute ago. The coat was already warm from her own body heat.

"Sorry," Mei murmured, reaching up to cup Yuzu's cheek. The blonde blinked, surprised by the unexpected affection. "I had some things to take care of."

"Like what?" Yuzu asked, her chatter thankfully gone. Little tufts of snow were stuck to the tips of her hair, white on gold.

"Here, this is for you," Mei said instead of answering, pulling the scarf out of its box. Yuzu's eyes widened when she wrapped it around the blonde's neck, looping it once before pausing, gripping the ends of the scarf in both hands.

"Mei?" Yuzu breathed, not knowing what to say. "Are you…woah wait, this scarf is really warm. Like, seriously. Holy crap."

As Yuzu groaned in relief, Mei couldn't help smiling, glad that her gift had been of some use. Maybe she wasn't so hopeless after all.

"Don't forget to dress warmly next time you go out looking for me," Mei reprimanded softly, looping the scarf around one more time. In doing so she drew Yuzu impossibly closer, never letting go of the ends of the scarf as they pressed flushed against each other, illuminated by the light of the fountain.

"Um, right," Yuzu murmured, obviously flustered by their proximity, which made Mei's heart flutter in return. "I'll…uh, invest in a juggernaut suit, or something."

"A coat will do just fine," Mei whispered, bumping their cold noses together teasingly. She didn't know why she was suddenly feeling so courageous. But she felt…eager. Happy, even.

Yuzu laughed sheepishly, the rosiness on her cheeks catching Mei's eyes. "Yeah, I guess," she admitted. "Oh, that reminds me!"

Blinking, Mei pulled back a bit as Yuzu shifted inside her coat-cocoon, obviously attempting to moving something around inside. A moment later something brown and round poked out from Yuzu's collar, and Mei looked down to get a better look.

It was the head of a teddy bear, a rather adorable one, its stitching hand done and obviously fresh.

"I spent the last few weeks making him," Yuzu said shyly, giving the bear a little wiggle. "I was putting the finishing touches on when I decided to go look for you…you can name him whatever you want. He's yours, after all."

As it turned out, she was terrible at sewing, but absolutely adored teddy bears. Both facts that she took great care to hide from everyone, as it was rather embarrassing, but Yuzu had picked up on it anyway. There were so many things Yuzu knew about her, and Mei's understanding of the blonde paled in comparison. If anything it was a testament to her inability to pay attention to the people around her. She liked Yuzu so much, loved her even, yet she couldn't even return the happiness the blonde gave her.

"Mei?" Yuzu breathed as her younger sister began to wipe distractedly at her eyes, taken by a sudden upheaval of emotion.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," Mei muttered, trying to hide her face.

"Do you not like him?" Yuzu fretted, pulling the bear closer to her chest. "I guess I store bought one would have been cuter…if you want I could-"

"No!" Mei interrupted her. "No, it's perfect," she assured, reaching out and squeezing the bear's ear affectionately. "I love him."

"Oh," Yuzu sighed, relieved. "That's great! But then…what's wrong?"

"I'm just…" Mei took a deep breath in the middle of her sentence, still trying to keep herself in check. "Not that great at all this Christmas business."

But Yuzu just smiled lovingly at her, in a way that made Mei's heart palpitate. Those colors really did match her eyes. "Oh, Mei. You don't have to worry so much about it. Everybody wants something."

That was so true, Mei thought, as her fingers curled around the end of the scarf, tugging Yuzu a little closer. Even Matsuri, in all her cold and disillusioned disposition, wanted something, and that was to not be alone, whether it be with Yuzu or her detestable family.

They stop because they don't have anyone to spend it with. Was that all she really wanted? Someone to spend it with? If she had that, could she enjoy this time of year, and even the rest of life, with as much vigor as the happiest of people?

Could she be happy?

The thought felt warped in her mind, because she had always been prolonging happiness, putting it off, waiting for it to come her way. She had always feared that if she kept doing that, she would end up sad and alone, much like Matsuri was in danger of becoming. She didn't want to kind of future for herself.

The only question was whether she was strong enough to avoid it.

"Then is it okay to ask you for a little more?" Mei whispered, pulling Yuzu as close as she dared, eyes meeting those emerald pools, then past her nose, down to those lips she had dreamed about for the past year.

They were intoxicatingly close, and not even the cold could separate them now, as Yuzu raised the bear a little higher and pressed it against Mei's lips.

"Anything, Mei. You can ask me for anything."

When they kissed at last, suddenly the cold seemed nonexistent to them.

And as Mei felt Yuzu's hands slipping out of the coat and lacing themselves in her hair, she thought that Christmas wasn't so bad after all.

I actually wasn't planning to post anything for Christmas this year, but it was around midnight, I had nothing to do, and I don't sleep until 3am anyways, so I thought, why the hell not?

As always, this chapter was cranked out at breakneck speed. As such one should expected an army of typos and no central theme to speak of, as these are issues I am currently too tired to amend.

On a more random note, I am going to try writing something original! Nothing solid yet, but it's going to involve death, angst, sarcasm, cold places, and of course lesbians. Maybe even the apocalypse, but I'm not too sure yet. We'll see!

Merry Christmas!

~Banshee