A/N: So I pretty much think this is one of the most adorable pairings ever. And once I started writing, it seemed like I couldn't stop. I could have turned this into a longfic if I wanted to. xD Anyway, I hope I kept Kai and Mary in-character. I feel like there are a couple places that seem OOC, but the rest of it should be fine. Enjoy! (:

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters or plots. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

Baby, It's Cold Outside
December 16, 2008
Mary x Kai

The wind was whistling loudly outside. A blizzard had started to move into Mineral Town, and I was sitting peacefully in my quiet library reading a book when the door slammed open.

Startled out of my wits, I dropped the book on the floor and almost jumped out of my seat. "Oh, no! The pages!" I picked up the book hastily and smoothed the edges of the now bent pages before turning my gaze to the intruder. Surprisingly, I came face to face with Kai.

"K-Kai? What are you doing here?" I asked incredulously in my ironically quiet voice. Kai, a tanned-traveler who ran the Snack Shack on the beach, only stayed during the summer season, but I suppose that had changed. All that aside, I was even more stunned to see him standing in my library.

"Why, I came to make sure you didn't go out in this blizzard, Mary," he said, leaning in the doorway, and then winked at me. I blushed furiously.

After a minute, I stood up and closed the door before the snow started to build up inside. "Um, okay? Come in, I guess," I ushered timidly, steering him to a chair.

"Gray said that it was important and that I needed to get here ASAP or else you might freeze to death," Kai explained, sitting down and unwrapping his scarf.

"This library is heated," I mentioned quietly. And I am capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much.

"Yeah, but he thought you might try to go outside or something."

"…He didn't really say that, did he?" I asked after a pause, watching as Kai tried unsuccessfully to unzip his black winter coat.

He gazed at me for a moment before sighing. "Of course not. Actually, I was getting tired of Gray and Claire's lovey-dovey crap, so I left. It was kind of getting obscene. I figured you might want some company. Plus, I think every other place in town is closed," he grinned at me before trying again to take off his coat.

"I, um, thank you? I don't know if I'm really going to be good company, though. I was just going to read," I admitted, glancing quickly at the book on my chair and then back at Kai.

"Oh. Well, if you don't want me here," Kai trailed off, standing up and making his way to the door.

"Oh, um, it's not that," I said uncomfortably, following behind. "You can stay if you want."

"No, really, it's okay," Kai assured me. He opened the door, upon which the force of the wind blew him backwards right into me. I landed on the wooden floor with a thud and Kai landed on top of me, knocking all the breath out of my lungs. The door stayed open for all of this, letting snow and freezing wind into my poor library.

We stayed on the floor for a few moments, probably too shocked to do anything. "Kai," I gasped into the back of his coat after a while. "You're squishing me."

"Oh!" Promptly, Kai rolled off of me, raced to the door, and closed it with much difficulty before rushing back to me. "Are you alright?" he asked, helping me up.

"I think so," I rubbed the back of my head and took a seat in my chair.

"Well, it looks like I won't be going anywhere anytime soon," Kai observed. "Sorry about that."

So for some Goddess-knows-what reason, Kai was spending the winter here in Mineral Town, there was a blizzard outside that made me briefly consider that the apocalypse had come, and I was stuck here in my library with none other than Kai himself. It was going to be a long day.

"What are you doing here? In Mineral Town, I mean," I asked after a little while. Kai was browsing through the different books on the shelves and then turned to look at me.

"Ah, I don't really know. Just wanted to try something new, I guess. And I kind of missed the winter," he confessed. "I've haven't experienced a true winter since I was a kid living in the city. I travel to tropical, warm locations once the weather starts to get cooler."

"I see," I thought to myself for a while, studying the arms of my chair. "Well, what about Popuri? Shouldn't you be visiting her?"

"Quite the nosy one, aren't we," Kai murmured and turned back to the bookshelf.

I was about to say something, but he continued.

"We broke up a while ago, and now she's living with the farmer in the next town over. I'm surprised you didn't know. It was all anyone talked about for a while," he turned to face me and smiled. "But that's all in the past now."

"Sorry," I apologized. The truth was I never kept up with all the gossip that this town seemed to generate. At least, not any concerning romance and whatnot. It never had anything to do with me, anyway. No one in this town really appealed to me, and I supposed that I never appealed to anyone, either.

"What are you thinking about?" Kai suddenly asked, and I flinched when I realized that he was standing right in front of me, bent over so our faces were level.

"Oh, um, nothing. It was nothing," I said quickly, trying to look anywhere but his face. Whenever our eyes met, I got this strange feeling. It was as if he could see past my eyes and right into my mind. It was sort of disturbing, really.

Kai straightened back up. "Okay." He seemed to have dropped the subject, but his expression said otherwise. For the third time that day, he attempted in vain to unzip his coat.

"Ah, here, let me help," I got out of the chair so I was standing right in front of him. Grabbing hold of the zipper pull, I was about to tug the zipper down when Kai caught one of my hands in his, startling me once again.

"You play the piano, right?" he asked softly, studying my fingers. Needless to say, I blushed at what he was doing.

"Y-yes. Well, technically, it's the organ, but they're similar," I replied and looked nervously at the floor.

"I'd like to hear you play sometime," he grinned and dropped my hand. I let out a breath I didn't even know I'd been holding. "Sorry for interrupting," Kai gestured to the zipper of his jacket.

When I resumed the task of helping him get the zipper unstuck, I realized just how close we were standing. My heart started pounding frantically in my chest, it became harder to breathe, and I started feeling a bit dizzy. Apparently, what I had been thinking about not being attracted to anyone in Mineral Town was wrong. So very, very incorrect. Or perhaps not. Kai wasn't really a villager, just a traveler. But either way, I found myself attracted to him – very much so.

I fumbled with the zipper during this epiphany, my hands slightly shaking. Obviously, I was making little to no progress with this. After a while, I gave up on the zipper and dropped my hands to my sides. "I-I can't seem to get it," I said with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry."

"Mary, are you alright?" Kai asked, his eyes searching my face.

"I'm fine," I lied, looking away again. Why did this realization have to come now? Couldn't it have occurred later, when I was alone and not with Kai?

The back of his fingers brushed across my cheek and I threw an alarmed glance at the traveler.

"You feel a little warm," Kai observed, and brought his face closer to mine. "Or are you just blushing?" He grinned again and I almost choked on a breath of air.

"N-No! Of course not!" I fibbed, and if it were possible, my face would have gotten redder.

"Aw, do you like me, Mary?" Kai teased, though there was a hint of seriousness behind his words. I stayed silent and looked at my feet in embarrassment.

"Mary?" He put his hand under my chin and tilted my face up so he could look me straight in the eyes.

"Well, do you?" I managed to ask coherently. Perhaps this question would throw him off and move the spotlight onto him instead of me. Hah. Take that, Kai.

"Do I what?" Kai had a twinkle in his eye. He was enjoying this a great deal.

"Like me?" I clarified, the volume of my voice diminishing as I realized my efforts at a good comeback were futile.

"Yes," he said straight faced and without hesitation. Wait. What? "But you didn't answer my question."

"I-I, um, what?" All of the thoughts in my head seemed to disperse, leaving me rather confused and disoriented. Kai liked me? Then I looked straight into his brown eyes and without a moment's notice, Kai kissed me. His hand traveled to the back of my neck, the other one to my waist while mine instinctively went to his shoulders.

"Kai?" I asked bewilderedly, once we broke apart. "What's this all about? You… you came here because you were… I thought you had to?"

Kai chuckled and shook his head. "You missed one thing in that story. Claire and Gray are never lovey-dovey. They basically hate each other."

I resisted the urge to slap my forehead. How could I have missed something so obvious? "So… you actually came here because you wanted to?" I seemed to be processing things at a very slow rate today.

"Of course," Kai said. "As I said before – I like you, Mary."

"B-but… how did you know I was going to say yes?"

"Your face is like an open book," Kai smiled brushed a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. Ah, so he could see into my mind. That explained a lot.

I thought for a moment, still blushing. "So, what am I saying now?" I looked him straight in the eyes with whatever confidence I had left, though I didn't have much to begin with.

Kai smiled, leaned down, and kissed me again, but unlike the first one, this was more passionate, more urgent. In all honesty, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I had never kissed anyone in my entire life, but Kai seemed to think I was doing well enough. By the time we stopped for air, I was pinned against a bookcase and Kai's forehead was resting against mine. I was surprised I hadn't fainted yet – I was so overwhelmed.

"That's not what I was saying, Kai," I said quietly with a smile.

"I know. I couldn't resist." He was silent for a while and I watched him curiously.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I knew there was a reason I missed winter," Kai replied with a heart-stopping grin.