"K-Kirino..?" Kyousuke mumbled softly. He was unsure what to do. Should he go in and talk to her? Probably not because Ayase and Kanako would only bash on him. Should he walk away from her? That's not a good choice either, Kirino would probably kill him. She's probably wanting to know what he's doing with Manami, but he wanted to know why she wasn't still at Snowy Hallow. They should have been there for an hour at the very least.

"Kyou-chan..?" Manami asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Huh?" He said, quickly reacting to her hand touching his shoulder. He turned his attention away from the window and towards Manami.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I-" before he finished his sentence he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the message. It was from Kirino.

'Inside. Now.' Was what the message read. Kyousuke gulped as he could almost hear her anger in the message.

"…I just have to use the bathroom is all, he he," He laughed awkwardly as he walked back towards the entrance to the café.

"Oh…okay then. Should I wait outside for you?"

"Yeah, yeah. I shouldn't take too long…I hope…" He gulped once again as he walked inside the café. Ayase and Kanako were already siting at a table on the far side of the café so he shouldn't have too much trouble staying out of their sight. Kirino was already waiting outside the girl's bathroom door, and she was glaring at him. He quickly made his way over to her, but before he could say anything she grabbed him and shoved him into the girl's bathroom. She walked in after him with her hands on her hips and an evil glare being shot towards Kyousuke.

"Kirino what the hell?! This is the GIRL'S bathroom!"

"Shut up!" Kirino snapped, holding back a slap. Kyousuke was intimidated by her anger, but that didn't last very long. She often got angry at him, so it became easier to not let her intimidate him.

"What the hell are you doing out with neighbor girl?!" Kirino shouted.

"We were just eating is all! I was going to go help her and her family decorate their place for the holidays because I thought that you would be at the snow place the rest of the night! And by the way, what the hell?! You drag me all the way across town to that place and then ditch me?! I understand that running into Ayase is problematic and that we need to make sure that nobody finds out about us, but Ayase acted like you were supposed to be there with her! Like she was expecting you!" Kyousuke retaliated loudly. Kirino's face turned even angrier, and then she let it fall to a soft frown.

"I didn't mean for that to happen!" She yelled sincerely. "It was supposed to be a fun date between us…we never get the chance to go out together besides the café and the occasional store in Akihabara. Ayase was planning a get together between us girls at that place, but it was supposed to be next weekend. She sent out an email saying that it was changed to today because of later hours and a discount on tickets, but I never read it… I didn't know…" Her voice was sincere and quiet, total opposite of earlier.

"I see…" Kyousuke mumbled back. He walked up to Kirino and embraced her in his arms. "I know it's hard for you to show affection, but I know you care. I really appreciated that you tried to do something nice for me, even if it backfired. It means a lot that you even tried, considering our past hasn't been the greatest." Kirino laid limp in his arms for a few minutes before pushing him away.

"Enough with the mushy mushy crap, it makes me want to puke," Kirino pretended to get sick as she shoved him off.

"You're unbelievable!" Kyosuke sighed as he went to leave the bathroom. He was about to leave when he felt Kirino grab onto his hand. She pulled him towards her and planted her lips on his. The kiss only lasted a couple seconds and then it was over. Kirino pulled herself away from Kyousuke, and then glared into his eyes. Kyousuke backed away as he felt like her eyes were piercing his body.

"Wh- what's that look for?" He asked nervously.

"When do you plan on giving me my Christmas present?" She asked boldly.

"What?! How in the world did the subject get changed so fast?!"

"Don't dance around the question!"

"You have no patience at all…" Kirino took a couple steps towards him, and he took a couple steps back.

"Well?" She asked impatiently waiting his response.

"If you really want to know I was going to give it to you tonight when we got home." Kirino smiled at him.

"So you did get me one," She smirked at him. He sighed as he realized that she was just fishing for information.

"Of course I did. You are my girlfriend." His eyes rolled away from her face as he said it. "Speaking of that, what time did you plan on going home? I know dad said that we could be out till 10 but I might be home earlier than that. Like 8 or 8:30, however long it takes to put up the decorations and eat a few snacks." Kirino let out a tsk as she remembered he was going off with Manami.

"I planned on going home after we got done eating here."

"Text me when you're home I guess, and I'll try to meet you there as soon as I can. Oh, and don't go trying to snoop for your present because you'll never find it."

"Fine fine," She replied. She still sounded annoyed, but not as bad as she used to. She was slightly more secure about their relationship so she tried not to get as jealous as she used too.

As they got ready to walk out of the bathroom, the sound of Ayase's voice could be heard from just a few steps away. She was talking to somebody, Kirino imagined it was Kanako.

"Oh shit," Kirino mumbled. She grabbed Kyousuke by the wrist and shoved him into a stall, slamming and locking the door behind them. The restroom door opened, and Ayase and Kanako stepped inside.

"Kirino? Are you okay? You've been in here quite a while," Ayase asked concerned. Kyousuke was sitting on the toilet cross legged so that his legs weren't visible from the outside, and Kirino sat on his lap. Kirino's scent rushed through Kyousuke's nose and he found it hard to stop smelling her hair.

"Y- yeah I'm fine! No worries!" She laughed.

"Alright, well the waiter is waiting on you so hurry up," Ayase said turning around.

"Yeah seriously, I'm hungry," Kanako added. Just as quick as they showed up, they walked back out. Kirino stood up off of Kyousuke's lap, and then turned and smacked him across the face.

"OUCH!" Kyousuke shouted in pain. "What the hell was that for?!"

"I could feel you sniffing my hair you creep!" Kyousuke blushed, giving away that he was guilty. Kirino shuttered a little bit. "Weirdo…" She mumbled. She walked out of the stall, and Kyousuke followed behind her. Once again they were about to walk out when the door slightly opened again.

"Oh Kirino I forgot to tell you-" Ayase started to say. In the short time that they had to react, Kirino turned and Spartan kicked Kyousuke back into the stall that they had just walked out of. Once Kyousuke was out of sight for the time being, she quickly made her way to the door and ran into Ayase.

"Tell me what?" Kirino asked pushing Ayase out the door. Kyousuke couldn't make out what it was that Ayase told her because their voices trailed off as the bathroom door swung back and forth. Kyousuke had hit his head against the bathroom wall, and was trying to regain his focus. When he finally regained himself he stepped out of the stall and met eyes with a rather large African American woman.

"Well…shit." Kyousuke thought as he awkwardly locked eyes with this lady.

"Uh, I think you have the wrong bathroom," The woman said with an attitude.

"This isn't the men's?" Kyousuke tried to play dumb, but failed.

"Do you see any urinals in here? Get yo ass out of here," She sassed him. He quickly bolted out of the door, and ran to the entrance, trying to cover his face as he left the girls bathroom. He ran out the door and looked around for Manami. He didn't think anybody saw him, but he didn't want to stick around to find out. After a couple seconds of searching he found Manami only a few steps away from where they had been earlier. He walked up to her casually.

"Yo," He said, catching her off guard a little. She jumped at his voice, but then smiled as he joined her side.

"There you are, I was getting worried," She replied. Kyousuke put his hand on the back of his head as he responded.
"I think the food had a fight with my stomach and lost." He laughed as he said it. Manami shuttered a little as the thought crossed her mind. "Well no matter, I'm ready to go now, are you?" She smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Yes!" Kyousuke rested his hands in his jacket pockets and started to walk with Manami to her house. He took one last glance inside the café before they set off, and in the far distance he could see Kirino sitting at a booth with Ayase and Kanako. She was looking back at him, and then turned her attention back to the other girls and started to laugh. Kyousuke smiled as he walked away. Things didn't go as bad as they could have, Kirino was definitely a lot calmer about it than he thought. Things started out pretty heated, but she calmed herself quickly. He liked this new side of Kirino. It showed that she was maturing, sure she still had a ways to go but every path has its stepping stones.

Sorry for such a short chapter but I'm building up for the final chapter which I plan to be much longer than the others (When I was counting down the weeks when I started I accidentally missed one so I was planning on this week being the final chapter, so I had to write a filler for this week just so I could post something. So again, my apologies. But! There's a but! Next chapter Kirino gets her present, the two end up getting to spend some time with each other, and it'll be an ending that'll blow ya mind!