A/N (S): Hello, everyone! Silver here! Thanks so much for reading that chapter. Erricane even said there's probably no one reading this story anymore but I'm sure that's not what he thinks. Right now, he and I are working on this chapter together only I'm doing the writing. I had fun writing last one. Who knew it'd be this much fun to tell stories like this? Anyway, onwards!

A/N (E): 'Sup?

Disclaimer: Zoo-To-Pi-A be-longs to Dis-ney~

That evening, after everyone has kept their gifts in their rooms until Christmas arrives, they were all busy preparing for tomorrow's event. It'll be the 24th soon by the time the clock strikes 12. And there were still plenty of time left to prepare everything.

It was past 6 o'clock in the evening. The young fox had already received the rest of the gifts while the others were working on tomorrow's dance. Luckily, no one was there at that time. But to play it safe, he was waiting outside. Even though he was freezing, this was still nothing to him. Eventually, the wait was worth it and no one caught him with more presents being sneaked into his room.

And as soon as he had received all of them, he made sure he counted them. He doesn't know just how many mammals were there but he was confident that it was more than enough for everybody in the manor.

He stretched his arms a bit and sighed heavily. Twisting his arms back repeatedly and flexing his back muscles a bit. He took another breath in and letting it out quick before blinking. And twisting his neck a little was enough to get his body moving again. He was doing nothing but counting the presents repeatedly for almost 10 minutes and his body almost gave in from barely moving. Probably due to the cold temperature.

He stepped out and yawned a little, a drop of tear forming on his right eye. He scratched his back a little. "I guess I should help out…" he said to himself.

"It'd be really helpful," said a cheerful voice beside him. He turned to his right to find… Julie. "Yahallo!" she said with a smile befitting her age.

Max blinked a couple of times and raised his left paw up slowly. "Yo," he responded with no emotion.

"You can help with the dance hall," Julie said. "I'll show you where it is."

"I know where it is. I've seen it while I was learning the place."

"Then…" She stepped in front of him. "Shall we walk together? Sempai~?"

Max, once again, blinked but a few more times. "Sempai?" he thought. "Lead the way. Kouhai."

She looked at him at first and her eyes shone a glimmer of hope. "Leave it to me!" she exclaimed showing him a peace sign.

Max frowned a little before following her. "Since when have I been her senior? Whatever, I guess."

"Neh, sempai," Julie called, slowing down a little to keep the same pace as him. "Do you like anime?"

"Yea, I do," he answered without hesitating.

Julie was a little surprise at this. "S-so straightforward!" she thought. "Ah ha, does your family know about it?"

"I only had parents. And yes, they knew. From when I was still a kit even."

"S-so young?!"

"Uh," he said, nodding. "But it's not like I care about what other's think. And plus, mom and dad didn't mind about it. Only, they told me to use my own money if I ever wanna get some things that I want. Like a toy or something. That's why the only thing I can get are mangas."

"How mean! To not at least treat their own child to get something he wants?! If it was me, I… Would…" Julie's words trailed off when she noticed Max stopped walking.

The fox looked at her with no emotions showing. However, his eyes were not joking about what he was about to say. "Mean…?" was the first word he said. "Call it whatever you want. But no child should call their parents that. Whether or not if they are adopted."

Julie felt her spine tingling. It wasn't fear but more like, she was dumbfounded. "N-now that I think about it… Sophie-neechan said you were adopted, right?"

Max looked down. "I was adopted, yes. But that was because I was aware. Regardless, I trusted them with all my heart… I loved them… But…" He looked up to her a bit. And to her surprise, she saw tear slowly rolling down his cheeks but his face still show no emotions. "They never got to see me grow up to be the fox that I am today… I never even said goodbye when I ran away from home…" Max sniffed a little and wiped his face dry before getting back is posture. He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "No matter what, Jules. Remember this. There's no such thing as parents that don't accept their children. If they don't like what you're interested in, then just keep doing it until they decide to support you."

Julie found herself baffled. This was the first time she has seen Max like this. Who would have thought a normal conversation on the way to the dance hall would turn into something so serious. She looked down, thinking about what her family would say if they found out about her hobby.

"From your face, I can tell you must have something that you didn't share with your family," Max explained which brought her to look up at him. "But that's not my business. Just take this as an advice from your sempai." He placed a paw on her head.

And eventually, she found herself blushing and shook her head to get his paw off. "Y-yes!" she said with her eyes shut tightly. This was the first time anyone has ever did such a thing for her. It was almost as if she was experiencing a senior/junior relationship from the anime that she's seen a lot lately. Even her heart was beating fast.

"Jules?" Max called.

Julie immediately opened her eyes when she heard her name being called. "Y-yes?!"

"Lead the way?"

"Eh? Oh!" She almost forgot about where they were heading. She tried her best to keep her posture in check while walking to the dance hall. And successfully too.

But what was making her trying her best was this uneasy feeling in her chest. Could this be…? Love…? She knew she thought of Max as handsome when she first saw him. But she never imagined she'd think of him as something else.

She shook her head a lot more and slap her cheeks a few times lightly. "He has a girlfriend already!" she thought. "And it's your sister! Get a grip!"

"You okay?" Max called out after noticing the slaps she gave herself.

"Huh?!" she turned quickly while continuing to walk. "Yea! I am!"

Max tilted his head a bit. "If you have any problem, I guess you can talk to me. I'm not the kind of mammal that would judge others and their opinions after all."

'I guess you can talk to me'. Those words caught her attention the most and only made her blush more furiously. So furiously that her long ears are even visibly red.

Of course, Max just being Max, he didn't question why her face was turning red. He sighed. "Not this again…" he thought placing the palm of his paw on his forehead. He recognized this situation. He knew this feeling.

And this wasn't the first time he's had mammals falling for him. Males or females, it doesn't matter. He would turn them down all the time. He was asexual after all. And he was glad too. He knew where this situation was going to lead. He decided to let it slide since he's not the type to force someone out for something so… Cliché.

The dance hall wasn't as busy as he thought it would be. They were just waxing the floor while he noticed Silvia helped prepare fresh new curtains for the windows. Max turned left and right, trying to find Sophie.

"Ano… Max-san…" Julie called which he paid attention to her. "Would you… Like to be my dance partner tomorrow…?"

"Sure," Max answered immediately.

His quick answer caught her by surprise. "B-b-but! Don't you have, Sophie-neechan?!" she stuttered.

"You said dance partner, right?" he said looking at her. "Nothing wrong with that. And I know that Sophie isn't the jealous type. She's just worried. But I know I won't make her."

"Still…" Julie side poking on each tip of her index fingers.

Max glanced at her and sighed. "I've danced with other mammals before. True that they try to get romantic with me but you should know, I'm asexual."

She froze from his answer and blushed furiously. "Y-you… You said… 'Other' mammals… Does that include… Males…?"

"Yea. I'm not against it."

Her face was flushed full-on red and she covered her face. She could feel her face heating up in her paws. "Oh… My…" she muttered in her paws. Julie's thoughts has been filled with… A lot of fantasies… And her tingling ears were enough to indicate it.

Max frowned and his eyes widened. "Don't tell me…" he thought. He knew what kind of otaku Julie was now… A fujoshi…

Unlike the typical main character in every anime, Max wasn't dense at all. He knew what she was thinking the moment he saw her reaction when he said he wasn't against dancing with males. But just to be sure…

"I would even date them as thanks for their help," he continued and observed the young hare.

And after saying that, she froze for a second and her knees began to tremble.

There was no doubt about it now. She's a fujoshi. And a closet one too. He could feel a drop of sweat rolling down his temple with him staring at her with squinted eyes.

But eventually, Julie's red face disappeared and she cleared her throat. "A-anyway," she continued. "You said you were asexual, right? Why are you dating, Sophie-neechan, then?"

"This hare…" Max thought. "Is she seriously talking as if she's in an anime? Whatever. I'll play along." He shrugged. "Because it shows that she's special to me. The only one that can actually make me go against my sexuality. I guess you could say I was lucky that I can still be in love."

"So… So…" She held up two fists and placed them on her chest, while saying it to Max. "So romantic! You should make a book about it! Sophie-neechan even told me you wrote a book about your life! I think it would totally…"

"This girl…" Max thought, blocking all her words from his head. "Is she really that desperate to find love that she's trying to make one…?"

"Having fun, you two?" said a familiar voice, coming towards them. The two of them turned to see Silvia who was smiling.

"Yo," Max greeted.

However, Julie just remained silent and lowered her head, blushing from embarrassment. "I'll… I'm gonna go find, Sophie…" she said softly before running off.

Max frowned and turned back to Silvia. "What's wrong with her, by the way?"

"Who knows?" Silvia shrugged, crossing her arms. "But on the side note, I've never seen her being so opened towards anyone before. Well, until today that is."

"Today?"

The jill nodded. "Sophie AND you. Yet, I, her eldest sibling, she can't share."

"Maybe because you're not the same otaku?"

"Otaku? What's that?"

Max's head began to process. He could hear the gears grinding in his head as he was doing some math. He could hear a 'ding' in his head as he picture a light bulb on top of him.

"I see…" he muttered. "So it's that, huh?"

"What's it?"

"It's nothing. I'll talk to her later. But first, where's Sophie?"

Meanwhile with Sophie…

The hare was at the greenhouse looking at some flowers while humming a tune. She was really impressed at how long these flowers managed to stand especially in this kind of atmosphere. She was more impressed because those were the same ones that never left their spot when she was young. And they were real too.

She touched a rose's petal and her nose twitched a little from the smell. Sweet. So sweet she could eat it. She sighed and her ears got all droopy. "I wonder how he's holding up now…?" she spoke to herself.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Max's voice appeared so close at the back of her ear.

She shivered a little and in an instant, turned around with a flushed face, her mouth hanging opened as she screamed. "M-Max!" she yelled. "Don't do that!" She patted her chest from almost getting a heart attack.

Max backed off a little as an apology. "Sorry," he said in his usual toneless voice. "It was kinda funny though."

Sophie's ears sprang up. "You're not laughing though…" she said, still with her paw placed on her chest.

"I just can't, remember? But on the inside, I am."

"…"

Max could feel a dark aura surrounding her and felt a little uneasy with this feeling. "You gonna kill me?" he asked as politely as he can.

"Would you run if I say yes?" she said with an almost sinister voice.

"Of course not. I made a promise to not run away anymore, didn't I?"

And just like that, the dark aura disappeared. Sophie looked at him and then turned away from facing him with a blush. "Yea, well… I would if I wanted to… Just… I'm just not capable as you are…"

"Right," he said nodding. "Anyway, the dance is tomorrow, right?"

Sophie's eyes opened a bit more and looked at him. "Yea…?"

Max scratched the back of his head. "You should know this…"

Sophie took a step closer to him, her tail wiggling a little with a hopeful smile.

"Just now… Julie asked if I could dance with her and I said yes."

Sophie froze there with her hopeful smile still masked on her face. She could feel her surroundings getting darker and gloomier and even heard countless glass shattering on the ground around her. No respond came out of her as she just stood there still frozen with the smile.

"However," Max continued. "Just so you know, it'll only be a dance and nothing else." He placed his index finger on her nose. "You're my date after all. I'm just her dance partner."

Sophie, who was frozen stiff just now, returned to her composure and gave a more cheerful grin. "I understand," she said. "Thanks for telling me." She sighed in relief. "What the heck…? I was worried all for nothing…"

"There's just one problem though." Max raised up his index finger in the air. "I can't dance."

Later…

"Okay, so you just do what I do but only in reverse," Sophie said, grabbing his paws. "For example: If I step back with my left leg, you move your right leg forward. This is as simplest lesson to learn when dancing. Just follow my lead okay?" She placed his left paw on her hips while she held on to his right paw with her left and rest her right on his left forearm.

He did as she taught him. However, he was hesitating at each step because he thought he might get it wrong. But so far, no errors. Yet, that is…

"That's it, you got it," she commented looking at his feet. "Now we're about to turn okay? Just follow me." He was a split second late there and Sophie even had to use a little bit of her strength to pull Max along with her. "Just relax okay? Follow my lead."

They practiced and practiced and eventually, Max learned a little more than just basics. It was just a simple dance.

"Is this seriously how mammals dance at balls?" Max asked while practicing.

"Mhm," she nodded.

Silence at first. "Boring…" he commented.

Sophie choked a little and kept going anyway. This was suppose to be romantic but to have someone reviewing it harshly and without hesitation almost made her freeze like in the greenhouse just now.

"Can you at least say something nice about this…" she asked, smiling weakly with her left eye twitching.

Max looked at her while trying to say something. "I'm happy because you're dancing with me, so, I guess that's a good point right?"

This time, her right eye twitched.

"Besides," he grazed her cheek with his gloved paw and smiled. "I don't smile towards anyone, you know."

Sophie blushed as she looked up at him. And to make it worse, she just realize how close his face was due to the fact that he has a long snout. And because of that, her face got redder than before. Her mouth slowly opened and her face flushed even more furiously from her chin to her ear. Not even her fur managed to cover it.

Max moved his face back a little. "Sorry…" he said, his smile gone. "To us with long noses, it's normal distance."

She let go of him and placed her paws on the closest table or counter she could find and took her time to breathe. Earlier in her head, she was actually imagining that situation but in a more public place like the dance tomorrow where everyone else will be able to see. Everyone else… Witnessing…

Her paws started shaking and she covered her face while moving her head left and right with a loud squee in her head.

She stood still for a while and took a deep breath and letting it out. She turned back to face him. "Well, I guess that's all I can teach for now," she said. "Besides, it's not like you want to be the center of attention right?"

The fox looked at his girlfriend and placed his paw on top of her head. "You know me too well," he said showing that smile once more.

She blinked a couple of times and puffed her cheeks with a smirk. "O-of course," she said proudly. "I'm your girlfriend after all."

A/N (S): And that will do for chapter 7. And it has been confirmed that it will indeed end soon. 2 chapters to go and it's bye-bye to this story.

A/N (E): Really appreciate to those who stuck with this story. I know I've been lazy but Silver got me back to writing. With a little help from him of course. He will be writing the next one and I will write the last chapter. Thanks for staying with the story.