Under our Mistletoe

It was nothing short of a quiet evening inside the Art-Club of Kazehaya High-School. Looking outside the windows, one could see the gentle flakes of snow covering the ground one after another. It really was winter, wasn't it?

Despite the windows being closed, a chilly breeze crept it's way up the bodies of the two students sitting inside the room, Hachioji Naoto and Sunomiya Hana. The current president of the Art Club and the only other member were sat on stools, each one drawing something else.

Hana was focused on drawing a fruit bowl on a small shelf, doing her best attempt at what she hoped would be a good sketch. The young girl turned her gaze towards her Senpai. "Hachioji-Senpai." The girl said. Naoto laid his pencil aside, turning to her. "Uh-Huh?"

"What are you drawing? I can't exactly see from here?"

"Oh, I'm just trying to draw the view from outside. The falling snow makes it look a lot prettier at night, especially with the lamp posts illuminating the streets." The boy replied.

Hana's eyes lit up in amazement at her Senpai. "Really?! But isn't it super hard to draw something that's in constant motion? How can you draw the snow?"

The boy turned to his canvas. "It's not as hard as you think. All you have to do is draw the movements as you see them. Think of your eyes as a camera, capturing each flake individually, before framing and pasting it on your drawing. That's how I do it." The boy adjusted his non-existent glasses with a bit of a smug grin as Hana clapped in astonishment at her Senpai's talent.

"Impressive, as always, Senpai!" The girl exclaimed. Naoto chuckled, getting a bit embarrassed by the amount of praise. It honestly wasn't that impressive, so he probably shouldn't let it get to his head. Well, a little should be fine...

Step...Step...Step...Step...

The sudden sound of footsteps in the distance instantly alarmed Naoto. The boy closed his eyes to focus on the sound. 'One. Two. Three. Four.' from the sound and pace of it, he could tell that there were four people approaching.

He had spent enough time in this school with 'Those People' to know exactly who was coming. He let out an internal sigh as he prepared for the upcoming slaughter of his eardrums. Hana looked at her Upperclassman, quickly understanding his actions and choosing to follow protocol, mentally preparing herself. The door slowly slid open.

Slide...

"S-up!"

"SUP!"

"Yahoo~"

"S-up, Sen-pai~"

Even if his he was blind, he'd still be able to make out exactly who's voices he was hearing. His assumptions were true. They were here. "Sup..." The boy replied. Hana stood motionless in her seat, simply observing the situation.

"What are you all doing here? Don't you have things to do?" He asked the girls, turning specifically to Gamo and Nagatoro. "Specifically you two? I thought you were at judo practice."

Gamo replied with a smirk. "Paisen is being a creep again, trying to squish information out of us." The group let out a small giggle as Naoto frowned. The girl gave him a slight smile. "Turns out that since Christmas is coming up, the family decided to close the Judo for the next few days, so we're free from Judo for who knows how long."

"I-I see..." The boy replied, the smallest of grins forming on his face. Despite doing his best not to show, Nagatoro instantly noticed the small formation in his face. "Look at creepy Senpai. He's getting so excited because I have more free time. He's probably thinking of creepy stuff right now." The group laughed. A small blush formed on Naoto, who grumbled beneath his breath. "No, I'm not..."

"Gamo-Chan told us to come to the Art Room with her. Apparently, she has something to share with us~" Sakura spoke using the same flirty tone she sometimes did. The way she spoke always sent a shiver down Naoto's spine. That girl was nothing but a mystery.

The boy turned to Gamo, who lowered her hand into a bag she was holding. "Yeah. I was getting to that." She said as her hand scowled trough the insides of the previously mentioned bag while Yoshi stood next to her, excitedly hopping in place. It seemed like Yoshi already seemed to know what it was.

Gamo's hand eventually emerged back into the world, her hand now carrying what seemed to be flyers. And if they weren't, then at the very least they were something made out of paper. "Cha-Chan!" Yoshi yelled out excitedly as Gamo handed Sakura and Nagatoro the paper. Naoto could already tell that they had a stare of slight surprise.

His Kōhai approached him and handed him one of the sheets. The nodded as a form of saying thanks before taking a look. It seemed to be a printed image of something quickly put togheter on a laptop, but it did the job of getting It's message across.

On the very front there was a stock image of a slightly transparent Christmas Tree. Besides that, he could see plastered on images of random things like food, dancing people and presents scattered throughout. But the centerpiece was the text.

"You've been given the worthy honor of being invited to Maki's extremely awesome birthday party! Bring a present or you'll get pelted by tomatoes. Food, Drinks and Snacks will be taken care of."

The rest of the text were simple things like the adress and the date and time, as well as the girl's number in case someone needed to cancel or something else came up. "A party?" The boy asked. 'Was putting your own number on a bunch of letters necessary? You're bound to get calls from creeps if one were to be lost.' Naoto thought to himself.

The girl nodded. "Yep. My parents have a late shift that day and I have the house all to myself. And being the awesome and responsible person I am, I decided to host a party." Yoshi, seemingly Gamo's Hype-Woman, began to chant the words "Party" over and over again like a broken record.

Naoto quickly had a realization, turning to Hana. He had a hard time figuring out her emotions, given that she had a blank stare most of the time except for when she gave him 'love advice'. From what he could tell, the girl seemed indifferent, if only a slight bit disappointed, given that she was simply looking at the group as they all received their invitations.

His worries seemed to be for naught when Gamo walked over to the young girl. "Hey, Little Rabbit!" She exclaimed, instantly claiming the attention of her Kōhai. Hana's head tilted up instantly before being met by the same flyer as everyone.

"Here's one for you too." The girl had her trademark grin on her face, but Naoto could still tell that Gamo was being considerate. Even if they weren't 'friends' it would obviously still be insensitive to invite everyone but her into the event, given that she was the entire group's Kouhai.

"For me? Thank you, Senpai." The girl replied as she grabbed the flyer, looking at it. Naoto could tell that the girls previous disappointment had now been filled with a sense of excitement. It was probably her first party. Heck, it was his first party as well!

"Question." Sakura raised her hand, catching the Redhead's attention. "What's up, Sakura?" The girl replied. "Can we invite more people by ourselves?" She asked. Gamo nodded. "I don't see why not. The more people, the more presents and fun." She exclaimed.

The boy turned his attention back to the flyer, double checking it to make sure he didn't miss something. "Anyways. That's all I came here for. I have to get back home now. Let's go, Yoshi." Gamo exclaimed. Yoshi stood up in excitement as she followed the girl. "Wait! I'm coming with you!" "Me too! I have to get home as quickly as possible! Bye, Senpai!" Sakura and Nagatoro stood up as well, greeting their Senpai and Kouhai goodbye. Naoto waved his hand at them while reading the flyer.

It was only now that Naoto and Hana were all alone that he read the date. "...T-T-TOMMOROW?!"

_________________________________________

"Tommorow... Tommorow..." The boy repeated those words to himself as his feet melted their footprints into the white and cold snow bellow him. It wasn't like he could feel the cold beneath him with his boots anyways.

"What the hell am I supposed to scrounge up in one day?" The boy asked himself in frustration. Two days wasn't a lot of time. Sure, it was a weekend, but it still wasn't a lot of time. He had to find out what to wear and which presents to bring, and that was an entirely different beast!

How to handle this? What should he bring and for whom? Small presents for everyone? Medium sized for his close friends? Or Big ones for two or three people? Naoto couldn't make up his mind, deciding to shove it aside. It was getting late, and he could worry about it at home. He was feeling chilly, and the heating at home would be his Hail Mary.

RING! RING! RING!

A loud chiming accompanied by an audible buzz emanated from his pocket. Who was calling him so late in the evening? Was it Nagatoro, trying to tease him about his worrying over gifts? The chance was high. She was very good at predicting his thought pattern, but so was he. The boy looked at the name depicted on the small screen.

President

Naoto hadn't even bothered to change her name in his contacts. Even if she had graduated and left him to keep the place alive as the new president, he still felt like he'd never fill the role she once did. To him, she'd still be "The President". Nevertheless, the boy put the phone up to his ear and pressed the 'Accept Call' button.

"Hachioji-Kun! I have a favour to ask of you!" For a moment, Naoto had forgotten how loud his Senpai could be, and his eardrums had to suffer from his incompetence to remember. The boy shook his head to see if his eardrums had somehow burst open from the scream. Nope. They were fine.

"What is it?" The boy asked curiously. "You're going to that Girl's Christmas party, aren't you?" She asked. Naoto nodded his head, not even realizing that she couldn't make out what it meant, given that It was a call. "I mean- it seems that way. I don't have anything else to do, and it could be fun." He answered. Sana sighed. "Good. Because while I was driving Hana home, she told me that she had been invited to the same party. From her tone and cheery attitude, I can tell she's very excited. After all, she doesn't have a lot of people she could consider friends."

Naoto's heart warmed up at the mention that his friend and Underclassman had seemingly shown excitement over the upcoming event. Thank god Gamo was kind enough to invite her Kōhai over. "I'm happy to hear that she's looking forward to it." He said. "I am too. And that's why I need your help." She exclaimed. Naoto cleared his ears to get ready for her instructions.

"I want you to keep an eye on Hana and make sure nothing happens." Naoto found himself a little bit confused. "...That's it?" He asked. He could hear the girl shaking her head on the other side. "Indeed it is. Hana is new to this 'party' concept, and I'm worried that she'll get into trouble. She's a good girl and I trust her, but I'd still like you to keep a close eye on her."

Sana's request seemed a little bit more sensible. If she were to go, she'd probably be one of the youngest there. She needed someone to watch her. The boy smiled over the phone. "Sure, Senpai. I'll keep a close eye on her."

"You have my gratitude, Hachioji. But I must get back to work, so you'll have to excuse me." The girl replied before promptly saying her goodbyes and hanging up. The voy stared at his phone dumbfounded. Work? What did she mean by wo... oh. He remembered the kind of person the President was and instantly put two and two togheter about what she meant by 'Work'. She truly was amazing. Pulling such stunts in the cold of winter even if she was protected within a cozy home.

As the boy walked trough the thick snow, he once again got distracted by a pair of footsteps from behind him. While one of them could be heard going at a steady pace, the other one was getting faster and faster, the pace of the footsteps increasing. The boy quickly turned around to see two silhouettes in the distance, one was considerably shorter while the other seemed to average at about his size.

Naoto tried to focus his eyes, a task hard to perform in such thick snow. The tall silhouette was seemingly getting closer and closer. Before he even knew it, they were a few seconds away from collisioning with him. The individual had seemingly lost his balance on the slippery floor, now trying their best not to fall over as their path was forced straight ahead towards Naoto.

"Nao-Kuuuuuuun!" The individual yelled out as they got closer. Naoto instinctively slid to the side, causing the person to slide past him before finally losing balance and finally falling on butt-first on the floor.

"Ow." The person groaned in pain. Now that they weren't moving, Naoto was finally able to get a closer view of who it was. Takao, his classmate and the most energetic person he knew outside of the demoness herself, Nagatoro. It should've been obvious that it was him from the moment he saw the sillhouete.

And seeing that this was Takao, he instantly knew who the other silhouette was as they slowly walked closer. "I told you not to run. Now your pants are wet, you idiot." Hino exclaimed as he reached his hand out to Takao alongside Naoto.

Despite Hino's small stature making him look younger, he was almost always the level-headed one, having to keep Takao in line and sometimes even having to keep Naoto from doing something that he knew might bring embarrassment to him. For all they knew, Hino was what they'd call the straight man of the Group.

"What are you two doing here?" Naoto asked as he helped Takao stand up. The formed wiped the snow from his back and his behind. "We were just leaving school. We had something to do so we stayed late, and guess what?" He said. Naoto turned his head, seemingly giving Takao the cue to answer his own question. The boy excitedly pumped his fist in the Air. "We were invited to a Christmas Party at a girl's place!"

"Really? You guys too? At Gamo's place, right? How did you even get invited?" Naoto replied in surprise. The boys nodded to his question regarding which party it was, before Takao excitedly answered again. "Actually, Sakura invited us. You remember back when we went to see the Budha-Statues? We ended up having a pretty good time and even exchanged Numbers. Turns out she's pretty fun to be around, and as soon as we knew, she approached us today and invited us." The boy said before reaching his hand out to Hino and Naoto, seemingly expecting a High-Five.

Naoto decided to deliver, flimsy smacking his hand against Takao's before Hino did the same. "W-Wow. I never would've believed you'd become friends with her." He said. As he stated before, that girl was a mystery to him. One moment she was a creature of lust who used her feminine power to the maximum to get what she needed or wanted, and the next one she was practically identical to an excited teenager hanging out with friends, the memory of her helping out the gaming club resurfacing in his mind.

Before his train of thought derailed further, Hino pulled him by the arm. From an outsiders point of view, it looked like a little brother trying to get big bro's attention. But from the group of friends, it was just Hino pulling Naoto out of another spiral of thoughts. The two of them never understood how this boy was so easy to distract, his head seemingly in the clouds every 5 minutes. Nevertheless, Naoto turned to Hino. "What's up?"

"We also bring some... not-so-good news. Sakura also mentioned that she had invited Riku and Haru, the boys from our neighboring class." Naoto's heart felt impaled by betrayal at the sound of those Names. Riku and Haru?! The delinquents? The ones who constantly skipped on classes and were even suspended for a week when they were caught drinking?! They were coming to the party?! Maybe keeping an eye on Hana wouldn't be enough. He'd have to plant a tracker on her at this point to keep her safe from those guys.

But that wasn't the worst about them. The worst was that almost everytime they showed up, they ended up the centre of attention. From what he had seen, they were much more competent at talking to people than him, especially girls. He only hoped that they wouldn't be much trouble whenever they arrived.

The boy sighed. "Doesn't matter. As long as we enjoy our time there, who cares what they do?" Takao exclaimed, bringing a feeling of calm to Naoto. He was right. They were going there for a fun time, not for a competition about attention.

Added to it all, they all had to agree that they'd rather be outcast loners than popular and self-sabotaging delinquents like them.

_______________________________________________________________

"Okaasan! Otousan! I'm home!" Naoto greeted his parents, the rattling of the keys audible as he locked the door behind him. "Welcome back, Nao-Kun." The comforting voice of a woman could be heard replying from the other side of the room. "Are you hungry? Food's almost ready!" Emilia Hachioji could always be trusted to have food on the plate the second her son got home.

"I'm coming." The boy replied as he removed his shoes before stepping inside, he'd have time to remove his school clothes later. The young boy sat himself down on the table opposite to his father and mother. Emilia Hachioji and Tadano Hachioji, the parents of the Hachioji household. Naoto always wondered how love could be so strong. Despite them being married before he was even conceived, the couple still shared a bond with eachother comparable to honeys and bees.

His parents seemed inseparable, flirting with eachother and rekindling their love to eachother almost every single night with a movie or something more 'Suggestive'. Naoto definetly appreciated the fact that they loved eachother enough to still act like teenagers despite them being in their late 30s. What he didn't appreciate was the thin walls in the house. He could hear everything his parents were doing. Every.little.thing.

He never came out or told them about it. He'd probably combust from embarrassment trying to tell his parents that he'd unwillingly listen in on them making out on the sofa or worse, "getting it on" in the bedroom. It brought a shiver down his spine, although it ultimately made him happy. His parents were a shining example of the power of love, most likely the reason he loved reading romantic fantasy novels.

The woman placed a plate of rice, fish and some warm soup to the side. Naoto bowed, his hands clamped togheter as he thanked his mother for the meal before eating. Even after 17 long years, it seemed like the saying spoke nothing but truth. Food is always better with the knowledge that mom made it.

Naoto always theorized that his mother might be a witch given how she concocted such a mesmerizing flavour in his mouth with her food. He was thankful that she was his cooking instructor. It definetly gave him a useful skill that wasn't just art. That came from his father, a relatively unknown but still well respected artist who specialized in drawing portraits.

The boy's mind fluttered in his personal sky, not even realizing that from an outsiders view, he was holding his fork in a flimsy manner while staring down at his food as if it were injured prey. Naoto's parents never called him out on the fact that he dissociated and daydreamed constantly. They felt like it was something natural given his condition, although they'd always snap him out of it after a while.

Naoto's mind slowly derailed itself from the topic of his loving and sometimes gross parents to Nagatoro and the party, once again remembering the present he was supposed to bring to her. He was finally at home, so he had all night to brainstorm. Despite that knowledge, it was still making him extremely nervous. What could he get for her? What kind of present would she like? Would she make fun of him if he got her the wrong one?

"Nao, sweetheart, are you alright?" With a snap of his mother's fingers, Naoto was warped back to reality, his dilated eyes finally gaining focus again. "H-Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about something." The boy answered as he looked at his mom and dad. For some reason, they were wearing a huge grin as they stared at him. Did he have something on his face?

Unknown to him, he did have something on his face. A bright, red blush which his parents didn't fail to notice, hence the smug grin on their face. "Our sun coming back from school a few days before Christmas with a blush on his face while lost in thought? That could only mean one thing." The parents thought to themselves as they grinned at eachother.

"Nao-Kun. Any news about school?" His father spoke up in the same cheery tone as his wife. Naoto raised his head, pondering if he should tell them about the party. He'd have to do it eventually if he wanted to get permission to go, so doing it as early as possible would be the best decision. "Yes, actually. I-I... was invited to a Christmas Party at a friend's house tommorow." The boy muttered out.

Tadano and Emilias heart stopped for a second before it started beating at thrice the speed as usual. Naoto?! Invited to a party? Could things get any better? The husband spoke once more. "That's great! But I can see you're a bit nervous. Are you worried about what to get your friends...?" The man leaned slightly on the table. "Or is it about a girl?"

Naoto almost choked on his food at the last sentence, quickly managing to swallow as his face turned an intense scarlet. "W-W-Wh-What?! N-" His mother interrupted him. "So it is about a girl?" She excitedly demanded for an answer. Naoto melted into his seat, placing his hand on his face, refusing to be seen so embarrassed by his parents. "No...maybe...yes...I-It's a bit of both."

His parents stared at eachother. "A bit of both?" They asked. The boy relocated his hands on the table. "Ye-Yes. I'm struggling to figure out what kind of presents my friends would like, especially her." He muttered beneath his breath.  Emilia stared at him from the other side of the table wearing a caring smile. As amusing as their sons teenage love was, they were sure to do their best to help him with it.

"For how long have you known her? Is she a good friend, or just an acquaintance?" She asked. The boy's blush cleared itself by a smidgen as he began to talk. "W-We're good friends, I think. I met her a year ago when she asked to be my model. Ever since then, we regularly hang out in my Clubroom." He replied. To Emilia, it felt like she had dug out a goldmine.

To her surprise, Naoto added a small detail. "Actually, she came over once when I had a fever. She helped me a lot." Sudden memories awoke in Emilia. She remembered the day she arrived to see a young girl suddenly in her house, her long, black hair adjusted with clips and her cute face instantly marking her an interesting individual.

Her memories were still clear as day. How she said to be a friend that came over to help and denying the help of a ride home, all while wearing a blush on her face. The mother couldn't help but chuckle to herself as the father stepped into the conversation. "She asked to be your model? That means you've drawn her from time to time, right?"

The boy nodded, his face still slightly flustered. "How about a portrait of her?" He asked, getting a confused stare from his son. "A portrait? But she wouldn't be there to model for me. And if I asked her to, it'd ruin the surprise." He replied. His father grinned. It was time.

"That's the point, son. If this girl is special to you, an accurate drawing of what she looks like with only your memory is the best showcase of it. Imagine of your mind as a canvas, the memories of what she looks like. Your times togheter. Let that be your model as you draw her freely. I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Naoto's mind nearly collapsed at the words of his father. A sketch of her without a model, recreated using nothing but the strength of their memories togheter? He couldn't muster to find out how his father had come up with such a romantic idea.

"Aren't you being a little too unoriginal, honey?" His mother chimed in. Tadano turned to her with a confused stare. "Huh?" Emilia shook her head in disappointment. "You're telling him to use the same tactic you did when you proposed to me." Naoto choked on the water he was drinking while coughing. "You proposed like that?"

A small tint of red formed on his father's face. It seemed to run in the family that they were easy to fluster. Before he could answer the question, his wife decided to do the job for him. "Not that it's a bad thing. In fact, it was extremely romantic. On my birthday, he decided to give me a sketch her made himself."

"As I looked down at what he had drawn, I quickly realized it was a colored painting of himself proposing to me. I turned my head upwards to see him kneeling, holding out a small case with a ring in front of me. It was a carbon copy of the sketch he had made. Now here we are, twenty years later, and he's still embarrassed about the story." The woman let out a smile towards her sweet husband, giving him a kiss on the cheeks as if to say that she appreciated that moment with all her heart, getting a soft laughter out of him.

"You never fail to get me red when you tell that story." He replied before turning to Naoto. "But trust me. It's the right move. A sketch like that embodies how much they mean to you. If your memories of them are strong enough to bring about an accurate sketch of what she looks like in real life, then they're strong enough to handle anything the world throws at you." The boy looked down. Not in embarrassment, but in contemplation. A sketch of Nagatoro...

"Actually, your mother and I do it from time to time. I always draw a sketch of her from memory to remind her that I will never forget her beautiful bo-" Emilia stopped her husband with a hand to his mouth, giving an awkward chuckle as her face turned red. "Honey, our son doesn't need to know about this."

The boy's head was luckily still tilted downwards as he tried to contain his laughter. Sometimes, his parents really just felt like teenagers wearing adult skinsuits.

_______________________________________________________________

"Oh boy. There's so much here! So much there! So much everywhere! It's been so long since I've been to a shopping centre!" Takao twirled around the entrance like an excited child before being yanked back by Hino. "Dude, you're embarrassing yourself. And me." The boy replied as he let go of Takao while Naoto watched the two doing their usual shtick.

The group had decided to come togheter in order to fix their present problem. Luckily, Naoto's parents were nice enough to fix him up with a sweet 5000¥ bill. (Around 36$), so he could at least buy two or three decent presents.

"Let's get ourselves some gifts!" Takao exclaimed as the group began exploring the mall. The mall was surprisingly big for a place like Kazehaya. Nevertheless, the group decided to quickly split up. They were each getting different presents for different people, so splitting up seemed like the only rational choice.

Naoto could see Takao running to the bookstore. He instantly knew that Takao's presents were simply going to be random Mangas he liked. Most likely a way to get more people to share interests with him. Meanwhile, Hino simply headed towards the nearest videogame store. Who knew what that boy was planning to get there.

Meanwhile, Naoto was simply left standing in the middle of the mall. He had already decided what to give Nagatoro. In fact, he had spent all night working on it. Despite that, he still got a decent amount of sleep, so he didn't really feel any type of exhaustion. But despite that, he still felt like he needed something other than just a drawing, as well as something for one or two of the other girls. The boy scowered around the stores for a while. He managed to find a good amount of presents with the money  from himself and his parents.

The small bag he had brought was starting to get full. Maybe he should've brought a bigger one, but he was running out of money anyways, and his lost of people he wanted to give presents to was filled anyways. He had even found the extra 'Something' for Nagatoro, as embarrassing as it'd be to give it to her.

Before he could leave to continue his search, his ears were assaulted by a chittering voice he recognized. Why was she here? In the same place as him...?! Oh, yeah...presents.

No matter the reason, he had to hide. He couldn't risk Nagatoro and the group seeing him struggle to carry a bag of presents around. Not only would it ruin the surprises, but I'd be embarrassment on a level he hoped he'd never have to achieve. The boy quickly shuffled himself to the side as he saw the girls slowly making their way trough the mall.

"Well, this is where we split. I'll see you all in ten." Gamo exclaimed as Yoshi, Sakura and Nagatoro nodded. Naoto soon realized he had shuffled himself too far, finding himself in a clothing store. It seemed convenient for hiding from the girls, at the very least as he decided to wait inside and try not to get any attention. From wher was, the boy couldn't really tell what each individual member was getting, but he could at least see the stores they were entering.

Sakura had seemingly scooted off somewhere too distant for him to notice. As always, she confused him, and seeking answers only brought about more questions. He peeked at Yoshi as she made her way inside a store full of plushies and hand-sewn pillows while Gamo went from store to store, hand picking gifts. He could swear that if he looked closely, he could see the newest volume of 'Big Boob Vampires' tucked in her arms. Naoto instantly knew who it was for, internally gulping.

The boy turned to Nagatoro. Unlike him, she seemed to know exactly what she wanted, taking a clear route from place to place, picking gifts he could exactly make out. Before he knew it, the entire group of girls had split up one by one, each one distracted with their own thing. From what he could assume, they'd be too busy to notice him now.

The boy took the opportunity and quickly shuffled his way out of the store, bag in hand. Unfortunately, the quick motions he was trying to do while leaving the store caused the bag to wobble as a few presents fell off. Luckily, none of them were fragile, so all he had to do was pick them back up. He crouched down and quickly shoved them all inside his bag again. 'Thank god no one hear tha-'

"Senpai?" Nagatoro was suddenly distracted by the sound of something hitting against the floor. The girl looked around her only to quickly focus on a boy seemingly trying to pick up a bag filled with what looked to be Christmas presents. It didn't take more than two seconds for her to recognize those glasses and that wobbly and fluffy hair. It was her Senpai.

However, before she even had a chance to approach him, the boy panicked, standing back up with his bag, having quickly stuffed the rest of the gifts inside, before dashing out of there at a speed she thought unconceivable, at least for someone with his build. The girl couldn't help but get confused, before quickly shoving the thought aside. She had her own things to worry about for now. She could question him about it later. Right now, she was busy carrying around a massive bag of gifts.

_______________________________________________________________

The boy hastily walked across his room, desperately looking for one thing and one thing only: Good Clothes. Naoto had never been once to dress fancy. Most of his clothes were either long-or-short sleeved shirts, jeans and a few joggers here and there. It wasn't like he ever had any real events to go to before this.

Naoto knew that in the worst-case-scenario, he could simply slap on a shirt and some jeans, but he wanted to look at least a bit less casual. "A bit more fun" is how he'd describe what he was looking for.

Unknown to him, just a few minutes away from his house, Nagatoro was worried about the same problem, although to a lesser extent. She was carefully inspecting every piece of clothing she owned. It was at times like these that she realized most of her clothes were what people would consider "boyish". A lot of her clothes consisted of hoodies, shirts and jogging pants. Weirdly enough, a surprising amount of caps could also be found throughout her room.

Despite her immense amount of clothes, Nagatoro wanted to go for a different look today. She didn't know exactly what she wanted, but she'd probably know once she saw it. The two teens continued to scrounge around their rooms. Naoto fit his hand into a small compartment in his locker, feeling something soft. Soft? Was it a hoodie? Maybe some fluffy clothes with a nice pattern? He was sure that he couldn't go wrong with it. With no other choice, the boy pulled it out.

Nagatoro's eyes suddenly locked onto a piece of clothing deep inside her closet. It seemed to be colored red with a few dots of white. "This'll have to do." The girl said as she pulled it out. Their chosen clothes now in front of them, the two realized what it was they pulled out as their relief was replaced with slight embarrassment.

As for Naoto, he had grabbed what seemed to be a Christmas sweater coupled with fluffy Christmas pants. Both the pants and sweater seemed to be Christmas themed, given that they had white and red patterns everywhere with plastered on images of reindeers, chimneys and multiple Santa's to be found. If anything, it just looked like a pair of pajama.

Nagatoro's choice consisted of what looked like a christmas-themed dress. It covered her entire body up to her chest, with straps to hold the clothing togheter. The dress continued to sink into a long skirt.

Naoto sighed at his choice of wear. It wasn't perfect, but it had to do. He could already imagine Nagatoro mocking him for wearing something to ridiculous. Nevertheless, the boy slipped into his clothes, before looking at the clock. It was 5:35 (p.m)...

5:35 (p.m)?! The party was starting at 6:00 (p.m)! He had spent so long choosing an outfit that he'd completely forgotten about the time! A rush of anxiousness slipped into his mind. He wouldn't even be late at this point. He'd straight up not make it! Gamo's house was far away!

Nagatoro's family had a car, so they'd have no problem driving her there. His family had one, but there was one problem: he was alone! His mother was still out for work and his dad had left to do the groceries. The boy's mind was stressing out. What was he supposed to do?! If only he had left earlier. If he does make it, he'll be two hours late! The party would've probably died down too much for him to enjoy by then!

'No! Panicking won't help! The sooner you leave this house the earlier you'll get there!' Naoto's voice of reason finally emerged from the pool of worry that was his mind. He had to leave as soon as possible. In quick succession, he grabbed the bag of presents he had bought, as well as the drawing he had finished yesterday. It cost him some hours of sleep, but he managed to finish it, even adding color. The boy gently put it alongside the other presents before bolting out of the room.

Opening the door to the outside, he simply stood in the freezing cold. Once again, his mind wandered. Where was he even supposed to go? Did he even remember her adress? Oh, God. He wouldn't make it. The boy's incompetence at remembering where he was even supposed to go almost convinced him to go back inside. As his body began to turn around, ready to head back inside, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hachioji-Senpai!" The boy quickly turned around to see a bike with a small extention for extra passengers on the side. On the driver's seat sat no one else but the President herself, Sana, while Hana waved at him in the passenger seat. Naoto looked as the girl's got closer before stopping right in front of his house. "Hana? What are you doing here?" The boy scratched his head.

"The route to Maki-Senpai's house required us to drive past your home. We saw you standing here in the cold and assumed you needed a ride." The girl explained. Despite being covered by a sweater, his body shivered slightly in the cold. But at least it seemed like he wouldn't be late.

"Yeah." He said, carefully stepping inside behind Hana. Luckily the extention had place for a second passenger. "I do."

_______________________________________________________________

"

I'm dropping you two off here. I have matters to attend to. I wish you an enjoyable evening." Sana responded as her passengers stepped out of the bike before blitzing away from sight. She really was an 'interesting' upperclassman.

Naoto and Hana looked in front of themselves to find a big house. Due to their average life, Naoto and Hana weren't really used to seeing houses this big. From what they could tell, it looked more like a villa. That, or it was just them overcompensating the house. Who knew, maybe this was average and their houses were just really small.

Nevertheless, Naoto and Hana approached the door. The boy decided to knock. He knocked and knocked and knocked. Three times. Yet no one answered. Before he could do it himself, the little rabbit had already placed her fingers on the bell, causing a loud ring to be heard from inside and outside of the house.

"Coming!" Naoto could hear the voice of his Kōhai from the other side of the door as she seemingly got closer. The handle turned before fully opening. "Ah. Paisen, Kōhai. Come inside." The girl greeted the two. Naoto bowed slightly. "Thank you for having us." The boy thanked before making his way inside with Hana.

As soon as the door closed behind them, the freezing cold from outside was replaced with a warm and gentle embrace. It definetly helped a lot that from across the hallway, a cheery Christmas melody could be heard.

Naoto and Hana removed their shoes as they walked inside. The living room lived up to its name. There were people everywhere. Most of them were simply walking around and chatting with eachother. Naoto couldn't recognize a few familiar faces in an instant.

He instantly saw Yoshi sitting on the floor, seemingly giving the presents under the tree a big stare. She definetly seemed excited to open them. Meanwhile, Sakura was walking around the room, talking up guys one after the other, leaving them all a blushing mess.

Takao and Hino had seemingly arrived a while ago. They were sitting around a table by themselves, finding solace in a fun game of UNO. Other than those, there weren't many more people he recognized.

He could see that Gamo had also invited a few members of the Judo club as well as other friends of the group he didn't exactly know well. Despite not knowing many people, he smiled internally. This could most definetly be fun.

"Gamo-Chan! The cookies are done!" Naoto heard a voice coming from the kitchen. He quickly turned behind him to see Nagatoro exciting the room, cooking mittens equipped while holding a tray full of cookies. 'Wife Material' the boy thought to himself before slapping himself out of his imagination.

"Nagatoro?" The boy called out to her. The girl quickly turned to him as she placed the cookies on a small plate for everybody to share, before simply leaving the hot tray on the table as she dashed towards him. "Senpai! Hello!" She greeted him with a smack on the shoulders.

Now that she was up close, Naoto finally noticed her Christmas-Themed dress, his face flaring up slightly. "It's...uh... good to see you made it."

Nagatoro giggled at his reaction, a bit of nervousness in her tone as her own face flared up. "T-Thanks Senpai. It's good to see you too. I already assumed you'd act so creepy when you see me in such an outfit. I knew it's too much for a virgin like you."

The boy adjusted the glasses he didn't have once more, a nervous chuckle coming out of him. She really was b-

"Hayase! What the hell?!" Gamo snapped them out of it as she picked up the tray from the table with her bare hands. It had apparently cooled down enough to be picked up with bare hands. "You can flirt later. Don't just leave the tray here! My parents will kill me if I destroy anything!" The girl exclaimed.

"Hehe...Sorry." Nagatoro replied as she followed after Gamo. Naoto decided to leave the bag of presents alongside the others under the tree before following Nagatoro and Gamo into the kitchen.

"Paisen. What are you doing here?" Gamo asked as she saw the boy entering. The boy stopped in his tracks. Why did he come in here? Maybe he subconsciously just wanted to see Nagatoro in that outfit for as long as he could.

"Senpai... you're ogling me~" The girl placed her hand on her face and giggled. Naoto snapped out of it, aggressively shaking his head. "N-N-No! I'm not! I wa-was jus-just in thought!" He tried to uneffectively defend himself as his head spun fast enough to turn him into a helicopter.

Naoto could see that they had seemingly been at work. Gamo and Nagatoro were not only baking cookies, but they seemed to be preparing some actual food. He could see some potato puree as well as a homemade attempt at some KFC (In Japan, KFC for Christmas is a normal thing, trust me). Naoto could see that, even if they were decent at cooking, they were struggling to pick up their slacks. After all, there was so much being done at once.

"Do you guys need help?" He asked. Before Gamo could even give a reply, Naoto was already shuffling around the room, trying to find an apron for himself. No wonder Nagatoro was head over heels for this boy. His straight-forward kindness was what made them all want to be around him as a friend. The girl smiled. "Sure. Can you help me with this chicken? We're trying to do straps, but I'm not the best at cutting."

Naoto finally found and apron and put it on. He approached the board, seeing a giant chicken thigh slapped on it. "Pass me the Knife." He asked. Nagatoro nodded, passing him one at random before giving him a filer. Naoto began so slide the knife across the file, causing a wrenching loud noise as he sharpened the knife.

Once he was satisfied with the lethality of the weapon, he carefully placed his hand into position as he started cutting. His technique was impressive, cutting effectively and quickly while keeping his fingers safely away from the knife at once. It was obvious that he wasn't just a good artist. He had a plethora of skills up his sleeve.

"After tasting that bento of yours back then, it's no surprise you're good at cooking." Gamo said. Naoto's face flustered healthily as a small smile formed on his face. He still wasn't very used to compliments.

"You'd probably make a great househusband for Hayase." Gamo commented. Naoto turned around to reply in his usual nervous manner before Nagatoro quickly called to him. "Senpai! The knif-!"

Needless to say, Naoto entered the kitchen perfectly fine and left with a bandaged-up finger.

_________________________________________

Alright! Everyone come over here! This is a party! Not a gathering! We need a group event to spice things up!" Gamo yelled out. The team managing the Kitchen had finished everything up, and were simply waiting for the oven to finish and the deep-fryer to ring the it's alarm. For now, they could simply relax around the group.

"What do we do? How about we play Truth-or-Dare?"

"How about some Karaoke?"

"When do we open the presents?"

Questions were being thrown left and right. "These are all good ideas, but I have a better one! We're doing all of them at once!" Gamo yelled out as she turned on a big TV and hooked her phone to it.

Needless to say, everyone was interested at what she meant. Everything at once? Gamo grinned. "So this is what we're going to do! We will be taking turns singing songs! Each one of you will be singing a pre-picked song! After you finish the song, you say someone's name and ask them for Truth-or-Dare! Once they finish the dare/truth, they get to open any one of their presents before its their turn to sing! Rinse and repeat. Everyone got that?"

Unfortunately, it took Gamo two more attempts at explaining how it worked. Eventually, everyone understood the basic concept: You sing a song, then you dare/truth someone. Afterwards, they get to open a present that's meant to them before it's their turn to start the process all over again. Honestly, it wasn't as hard once they got the gist of it.

First off was Gamo. Her voice wasn't the best, but it was funny to hear her overcompenating by simply yelling. Once her song finished, she pointed to Yoshi. "Yo-shi! Truth or Dare!"

Being suddenly put on the spotlight caused Yoshi to blurt out "Truth" without even thinking. "What's an embarassing thing in your room you've told no one about?" Gamo asked.

Yoshi nervously fiddled, her face flustered at having to reveal something like that. Naoto was surprised. Other than Nagatoro, he'd never seen any of the other girls flustered. "I-uhm... I have... multiple framed pictures of me cuddling with plushies on t-the wall. I-uh-asked my mum to put them up there."

The group stayed silent for a bit before Gamo spoke up. "That definetly sounds like something Yoshi would do! Now open a present. You deserve it after getting yourself so humiliated." Yoshi's embarassment turned into childish delight as she instantly dashed to the tree.

Naoto saw her scrounging around trough the presents that had her name written on it, before she found one that was round. "Ooh! Intriguing." Yoshi replied as she started to rip apart the paper. Naoto gulped. 'That's my present...' He thought to himself as Yoshi unwrapped it, revealing a fluffy sheep-plush.

"I-It's so you will stop asking to mess with my hair. It's messy enough as it is..." Naoto muttered to himself. Yoshi simply yelled out in excitement at her new replacement for Naoto's wooly hair, instantly cuddling the plush.

"Alright. Now get over here to the stage!" Gamo said. Yoshi had completely forgotten that it was her turn to sing now. In conclusion, her song involved a lot more stuttering than the original version.

The group went around for a while. Someone would sing a song, dare someone else, they'd open a present and then take their turn to sing. Naoto was having a fun time, and from the looks of it, so was everyone else. He could even see Hana chatting it up with the girls as she waited her turn excitedly.

His happy thoughts were interrupted as he heard the raspy sound of yelling. He turned to see who was 'singing'. It was Takao. Of course. The boy screamed his lungs out at the song, leaving almost everyone deaf at his wake while dropping the mic near a sofa.

All of a sudden, the boy pointed his finger at Naoto. "Nao-kun. I've been waiting to ask this for a long time." The boy grinned. "Truth or Dare?"

Naoto didn't really feel like doing a dare at the moment, choosing truth instead. He quickly noticed his mistake as a sadistic grin formed on Takao's face. Oh no. He had completely forgotten. Just like him, Takao was a bit of an outcast. But when given the opportunity in a crowd, he'd make 100% sure to say something that got everyone's attention, even if it was at the cost of his (or someone else's) dignity.

"Nao-Kun~" The boy tried to replicate the way Nagatoro constantly spoke to Naoto. Somehow, he was doing an impressive job at getting him nervous. "Do you own... any dirty mangas? And if yes... how many?"

The world suddenly turned dark before a singular spotlight from above shone down on Naoto. The boy's face turned redder than ever. He wanted to cry out blood and suffocate Takao with it. The boy clenched his fist. He had to answer. He let out a defeated sigh.

"...Five. I have five."

"Senpai- that's so gross!" Nagatoro didn't miss her chance to quip, smacking him in the head.

"B-But I only read it for the story and the beautiful artwork! I swear! Nudity and fanservice are just a small part of wha-"

Needless to say, the entire guest list had to endure a five-minute long rant from Naoto trying to defend his mangas before they moved on.

At last, Naoto finally finished. "Alright pervert. Open up a present." Takao replied as he got a death stare from Naoto in returned.

The boy shuffled around. Without even unwrapping them, he could already tell what most of the presents were from their shape. A few books here and there, some pencil cases. The usual thing someone would gift a Nerd like him.

The boy simply grabbed a random book, slowly unwrapping it before looking at the cover in embarassment. "Look's like you can increase your Hentai-Manga count to six, Paisen! Merry Christmas!" Gamo snickered sarcastically as Naoto stared down the newest volume of 'Big Boob Vampires' in front of himself. As he sighed, everyone swore they could see his soul exiting trough his breath.

"....Thanks."

The Karaoke kept going. Naoto had passed it on to Hana, who passed it on to Sakura. Hana's voice was impressive good as she sang, and so was Sakura's.

Sakura pointed at Nagatoro, who chose Dare. The dare ended up being a frontal flip, which she easily performed, leaving everyone impressed while nearly giving Naoto a nosebleed.

Nagatoro didn't spend a long time shuffling trough presents, simply grabbing the first one she could. It ended up being a small wrapped packet. Maybe bandages? It was quite small so she couldn't exactly know what it was before unwrapping it.

"Oh! That's my present!" Sakura yelled out. Nagatoro got visibly nervous at the claim while she unwrapped. Upon finally getting rid of all the paper, she quickly found herself holding a box of something she doubted she'd have to use anytime soon.

"It's for protection!" Sakura exclaimed as Nagatoro stood up, ready to deliver a well-deserved smack to her friends face. (I'll assume you can all guess what it was.)

_________________________________________

Next up was Nagatoro. She had just delivered the loudest smack in the world to Sakura, who, despite it, had a big smirk on her face. To her, it was seemingly worth it. Nagatoro ended up simply stuffing the _______ into her bag.

Nagatoro grabbed the microphone and began to sing her assigned song. Just like most of everyone else, she wasn't the best, but they could tell she was trying her best, and no one would shun her for doing so.

After her song, she pointed to Naoto, who audibly swallowed. "Se-n-pai..." The girl's hair flowed upwards from the amount of power she was holding over him right now.

His turn again?! He didn't want to answer another embarassing question before opening a weird present! Anything but that. But fate was fate, and he had no choice but to follow it.

Unlike last time, Naoto chose a Dare. Any of the two would bring about horrible consequences, but he thought that nothing could be worse than revealing the amount of dirty books he owned.

Nagatoro's face formed into a wide grin as she looked at the boy. "I dare you to-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door from outside suddenly rang. Gamo quickly stood up as she went to answer the door for whoever it was that had arrived late.

The group didn't have to wait long to get their answer when Haru and Riku quickly dashed inside, giving everyone a near-heart attack. It was the delinquents. Naoto had almost forgotten they were invited.

"He-llooo!"

"Su-hup!"

The two annoying boys replied as they sat down among the circle non-challantly. Naoto could already smell trouble.

His suspicions were confirmed when Riku reached his hands into a backpack he brought. "We just now came in and we can already tell this party is lame as hell. So how about we spice it up with some of this?" He said as he took out a few bottles of strange liquids.

No time was spent assuming what it was. Everyone already knew. Somehow, these idiots managed to get their hands on alcohol and were dumb enough to bring It here. "We're obviously not forcing anyone to drink. But if you're cool with it. Go ahead. It's my treat." Riku said.

Naoto and the group of girls let out a visible sigh. They were definetly not thinking about getting into this mess anytime soon. They could kick them out, but That'd probably sour the mood. As much as they hated it, these boys were popular. In fact, some of the guests seemed to already be considering taking a shot or two.

Naoto turned to Hana before sighing in relief. From her expression, he could tell she was also discomforted by the idea of even drinking. She'd be out of alcohol-related trouble for sure.

Despite the introduction of alcohol, the fun didn't dissipate in the least for most people. The interruption sadly meant they had to restart the event, so Nagatoro didn't have a chance to dare Naoto.

The group still sang and opened presents like before. It was still fun. The people who did drink a bit mostly kept to themselves. After all, it was still a calm atmosphere. No amount of alcohol or delinquents could ruin such a unique event. At least that's how most people saw it.

By now, the group had taken a break from Karaoke. During that time, the amount of guests had increased slightly, so the room was more crowded. The overcompensatingly loud Christmas music combined with the chatting and moving around everywhere were starting to get to Naoto.

He was fine before. The group was in a nice circle as they all had a fun time togheter. But right now, it was starting to overstimulate him. Too much was going on at the same time, too many people doing their own thing as his brain overloaded with information. He felt sick.

The boy didn't even know if he could hold it out. This was why he wasn't good with crowds. They gave him anxiety and overstimulated his already stressed mind. "Need...home." at this point, Naoto's mind could only process simple things. The best option in his mind was to leave the party earlier. He couldn't keep this up much longer.

"I... think I'm going to leave. We should go, Hana." The boy stood up from his place. Hana looked up to him, seeing how visibly distressed he was. His face seemed sweatier than usual, his eyes unfocused and discoloured as if he were about to have a panic attack.

She'd have loved to stay longer, but she wasn't going to allow her Senpai to break down in the middle of a crowd because she wanted to have fun. "Sure, Hachioji-Senpai. Let's go."

Before the two could make any other move, a hand grabbed Naoto. He quickly turned to see Nagatoro holding him by the sleeve. "Senpai~. Aren't you feeling well? You're looking extra creepy!"

The boys hazy mind was still clear enough to act polite towards her. "Hi, Nagatoro. I'm sorry. I think I need to get home. The noise is getting a bit overwhelming."

Gamo and the other two girls overheard the situation as they stood up. "You're leaving already? If it's the noise, I can turn the volume lower." Gamo said, obviously worried about him. No matter how much they teased and made fun of him, they were still his friends. And friends worry and care about eachother.

"N-No. It's fine. I'll just go home." Naoto turned to the door, but Nagatoro wouldn't let him. "Senpai. Don't be like that. You can stay here. We can help you feel more comfortable if the crowd is becoming too much for you to handle.

Naoto kept insisting that all he needed to do was head home while the others offered to help. They went back and forth with it. Eventually, the rest of the girls gave in. If he felt so bad that none of their insistence helped, then maybe it would be the healthiest option if he went home and relaxed from it all. They'd see him in a few days at school anyways.

Nagatoro, however, kept insisting he stay. "Senpai! You can't just leave! We were having so much fun!" The girl replied. At this point, Naoto was actively trying to pry his sleeve away from her, wanting to go somewhere quiet at the very least. "I can't! Just let me go home!"

The two refused to move a muscle as things got more intense. Eventually, they started getting stares as bickering turned into arguing into yelling. Nagatoro once again insisted he tough it out while Naoto begged for her to let go of him, pulling on his sleeve hoping she let him go.

"Don't be such a baby! Senpai! Just stay!" The girl pulled him. "Nothing bad will happen if you stay." Naoto simply pulled back. "Let me go, Hayase!" He replied. At this point, he was too angry to even realize he was using her name, and so was Nagatoro.

"You two! Cut it out! Just let him go home!" Hino and Gamo had been attempting to reason with the two for a while as they were the best equipped for the task of calming down their friends.

Naoto was starting to panic. Why wouldn't she let him go?! He wanted to go home! He just wanted to go home!

The boy eventually pulled hard enough so she lost her grip of him and stumbled back a bit. Luckily, she didn't fall, but she was visibly furious at him. This was supposed to be a special day for them, and now he just wanted to leave due to some noise!

Nagatoro was too angry to carefully form her next few sentences. She couldn't even bother to think about her next sentence, something she'd regret. The girl stared him down as she yelled louder than ever before as everyone already had their eyes on them.

"Fine! If youre so pathetic and weak you cant handle some noise, then go ahead and leave, you coward!" Having now released her collective anger into those few words, she instantly covered her mouth at what she said. She was always calling him gross and dumb, but she always averted the words "Pathetic" and "Weak". She knew those got under his skin the most, given that he cried on their first encounter when she said that to him.

"S-Senpai, I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to..." Nagatoro struggled to apologize, feeling the equivalent of 50 elephants weighing down on her chest. Gamo held her back when she saw Naoto visibly start shaking. "Paisen..."

Naoto's body shook aggressively. It was just like when they met for the first time. This time, however, instead of embarrassment, he was filled with frustration, sadness and hurt. The boy turned around, revealing tears coming from his face. Not just a single one forming on his face. They were already flowing down. She has hurt him. Really hurt him.

The boy clenched his fist. Nagatoro and Gamo didn't back away. He was angry, but he was still Senpai. They hoped they knew him well enough to know that no matter how angry he was, he'd never lash out on anyone physically. And they were right. The boy raised his fist slightly towards a nearby table, his anger making him unable to see that a single Christmas bulb laid there.

"FUCK YOU, HAYASE! FUCK YOU!"

The boy slammed his fist against the bulb, instantly shattering it. As expected, the shards instantly dug into his hand, causing him to start bleeding. However, he did his best not to react. Still eyeing down Nagatoro with a look of betrayal.

"I'm not your Toy! I told you to let me go and you didn't! I ha-Ugh!" the boy barely managed to redirect his words back into his mouth as they were replaced by more tears of frustration. He looked at his hand in anger, quietly hiding it from everyone as he walked into the bathroom and locked himself inside.

Meanwhile, Nagatoro just stood there, a look of worry. She wasn't sad. She didn't deserve to be sad right now. She had hurt him. He even managed to stop himself from saying something he had every right to say at the moment. She had deeply hurt him to his core, and it was all her fault.

Despite knowing she didn't deserve to be sad, her eyes still watered slightly. She had hurt the boy who trusted her with his feelings, and he may now justifiably hate her for it. "Senpai. I'm sorry..."

_______________________________________________________________

Naoto could hear from the other side of the bathroom that most people simply decided to continue the party. Honestly, he was glad. Someone as pathetic as him shouldn't be the reason a party stops. They deserved to have fun. Even Hayase.

The boy looked at his hand. He had luckily been able to disinfect it and rinse it, but it still hurt like hell. Maybe if he weren't so weak, it'd hurt less. Naoto looked at the mirror in front of him. Black. Everything aside from him was black.

It felt like the darkness around him was swallowing him up, a cold feeling running across his chest. It hurt. A lot. Physically, he was probably fine, but his heart still felt like exploding any moment. The mirror in front of him started to shift. He could see the faces of everyone who had bullied him. Who was he kidding? Of course he remembered their faces.

He wasn't strong enough to forget. He wasn't strong enough to move past the painful words people said to him. He was nothing, and Hayase had just confirmed it for him. Naoto slouched down on the floor. He wanted to cry and let it all out, but he had to hold it. The least a weak person would want is to be seen crying in a bathroom.

The boy stood up and looked at the mirror. The words Nagatoro had just said to him still floated above his head. "If you're that pathetic and weak then just go, you coward!" She was probably right. She was always right. Someone as amazing as her couldn't be wrong.

But then why was he still here? Was it to clean his wound? No. He had already taken care of it. He'd already be out the door by now if that was the case. Was it because he was upset? No. Even while completely broken down, he'd probably still leave. It'd be rude to ruin the party. No. He knew exactly why.

It was because of her. Because of Nagatoro. The girl he loved. Deep inside the core of his heart, a part of him knew she didn't mean those words. A part of him hoped she didn't really mean what she said. A part of him still had hope in himself. He needed to prove to himself that that smidgen of hope was correct. Maybe then, he'll be stronger. If he were stronger, then maybe he could disprove the girl. He wanted to deserve her respect, and her love.

But this was all still in the dephts of his heart. The outer shells were to injured to act upon his newfound determination. The boy looked around himself. Should he just leave the bathroom and apologize to Hayase for what he said? Before he could continue with his thoughts, he noticed a bottle sitting in the corner of the toilet. Apparently, someone had already drank enough to give themselves up. They had also left behind a half-empty bottle of wine.

The boy grabbed the bottle, staring at it in confusion. He'd never drank alcohol before, and he wasn't planning to. But something about it felt attracted to the strange liquid. Maybe, just maybe. It'd make him feel better.

The boy placed his mouth on the bottle and lowered it, taking a decent few chugs equivalent to about three shots. Needless to say, he was wrong. All it did was leave a horrible taste in his mouth. He had already swallowed it, but he still spit into the sink, leaving the bottle there.

No matter how sad he was, he'd never drink his problems away again, that much was clear. His mind knew that not only was it irresponsible, but now he also knew it tasted like shit.

The boy slapped his face as he looked at the mirror. One deel breath. Another one. Breathe in... and out. The boy was calming himself down as the voices a the faces of the people slowly disappeared. Sulking around in his misery wasn't going to help. What he needed to do was prove Nagatoro wrong. He wasn't weak.

The day they met he promised himself he'd never be weak again. For her.

_______________________________________________________________

Naoto left the bathroom to find the party just like it was before. Maybe the music was a little bit quieter, or maybe his ears were muffled from the previous round of yelling he had with Nagatoro. He didn't know. Either way, the moment he stepped out, he was met by Hana. She had been apparently waiting for him outside. "Hachioji-Senpai. Are you okay? I can call Sana-Itouko. She can take you home."

The boy smiled and shook his head. He had something to prove. He could handle this. His determination had to suffice in choking out the stress from before. "It's fine. I'm feeling better. We can stay." The boy gave a warm smile to his worried Kōhai. Hana couldn't help but give him a worried look before nodding. "If you say so, Senpai." She replied.

Naoto and Hana made their way back to the Living Room. He sat down on the sofa alongside Hana. It was a little bit quieter here, so he'd have an easier time keeping watch over Hana. Right as he sat down, Gamo and Yoshi approached him. Weirdly enough, Sakura and Nagatoro were absent.

"Sensei! Alles Okay (Is everything alright)?"  Yoshi asked. "Are you okay, Paisen? What happened?" Gamo asked, visibly worried. Naoto once again smiled. "I...I'm fine. I'm just a little bit upset. Sorry for smashing that bulb." The boy apologized.

Gamo shook her head. "It's fine. It was easy to clean up. You don't have to worry about it." Naoto looked down. Thank goodness he didn't ruin the mood for most people. "How's...Nagatoro. I probably made her upset, right?"

Gamo shook her head. "No. She's just worried about you. She was in the wrong and she knows it. We shouldn't have pushed for you to stay as much as we did."

Naoto stared down. No. She wasn't fully wrong. He mightve toughened up slightly since he met her, but he was still weak. The fact that he let words get to him that easily spoke volumes of it. Her words weren't justified, but they were understandable. He needed to be stronger so he wouldn't get hurt like that again.

"Do you... want to come back and sit in the circle? We're about to start Karaoke again and it'll be a lot calmer." Gamo patted his shoulder. The boy looked up and smiled. He had good friends. "Sure."

_______________________________________________________________

"Senpai...I hurt him." Nagatoro was already sitting in the circle, Sakura sitting beside her. "Now, now, Hayase. You didn't mean those words, and Senpai-Kun is smart enough to know that those insults were shallow.

Nagatoro sniffed a little. "But what If I subconscious meant it? What if I don't like him as he is and I just don't know it?" The girl said. Sakura shook her head. "I don't think that's true. Tell me. Do you feel nervous around him?" Sakura asked.

Nagatoro looked up, visibly flustered. She wanted to say no and respond with a quip, but it wouldn't even be of any use. She had to accept it. The girl nodded.

"Do you enjoy spending time with him?"

She nodded again.

"You like it when he gets flustered and tries to quip back at you, right? You like his nerdy yet smug attitude, don't you?"

Another nod.

"I don't have to keep going. You should be able to tell yourself a multitude of other things you like about him."

Nagatoro looked down at the floor before nodding. She was right. There were many reasons. Too many. She liked his dorky face when he was nervous. The way he adjusted his glasses after saying something he considered smug. She liked seeing him drawing a picture of her as she pretended to sleep.

She loved it when he needed her help with something. When he relied on her. And she loved it when he stood up to her. When he grabbed her hand and pulled her. When he claimed she had her very own charm. She loved everything about him. No. She loved it him. She loved Naoto Hachioji, her sweet, dorky and cool Senpai. And she'd love him no matter what he was. Weak, strong, a loser, a weirdo or a creep. She loved him any way he was.

"See? I can tell just by your face that you've finally admitted it." Nagatoro turned to Sakura who was giving her a smug grin. Nagatoro couldn't even defend herself, simply responding by aggressively blushing as she nodded in embarassment.

It wasn't soon after that that she felt someone sit next to her. She turned around to see Naoto sit down at the same time as the other girls. Usually, she'd ask if he was doing something creepy in the bathroom, but she was too self-concious to do any of the sort, simply sitting down quietly trying to avert her gaze from him.

Naoto was starting to feel a lot calmer. The ambience of a small circle with everyone singing Karaoke was definetly better then everyone simply walking about and talking loudly. Despite it all, he felt the slightest bit dizzy. Not to the point that he'd wobble if he were to stand up, but it was still something to make note of.

The friend group watched as people continued to sing and open presents. A few of them were noticeably sloppier then others with their lines, most likely due to the fact that they had been drinking. Whatever. They'd get their comeuppance when they need to hurl and the bathroom is busy.

"Psst. Hachioji-Senpai." Naoto turned around to Hana. "Yeah, what is it?" The young girl picked up a paper from the ground alongside a set of colored pencils she had received as a present. "I got bored so I decided to sketch something. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it." She said.

Naoto could see a rough sketch if himself and Nagatoro from behind. He could see that he was unconsciously leaning over to Nagatoro's side by accident in the drawing, causing him to blush as he began giving Hana a chat about drawing people without permission. Honestly, he was just trying to justify his embarassment.

_______________________________________________________________

Nagatoro had finally managed to calm herself down from her embarassing situation, yet she was still feeling self conscious. It not everyday that you reaffirm your passionate love for someone to yourself. Luckily, Naoto was distracted chatting with Hana and his own friends, so she had some time to breathe.

She saw as one of the delinquents, Haru, propped the microphone in front of himself as he started singing. His screeching and sloppy voice made it clear that he was probably the most drunk of all of them. He'd definetly get in trouble eventually with those habits.

The boy eventually stopped torturing everyone before pointing his finger upwards and sinking it down as it landed on Nagatoro. "Nagatoro!" He mumbled imbetween his words. "Truth or Dare."

The girl scoffed. She honestly didn't want to go along with either, at least not for this idiot. But the rules mandated she pick one, so she reluctantly replied. "Dare."

"Hmm... how about?" The boy dropped the microphone as he looked at her. "I dare you to go on a date with me." The boy replied sloppily between his words. Nagatoro wanted to gag. "Ugh. No way."

"Aww. Come on, just me and you. What about just a kiss? I'd be satisfied with only a kiss. Mwah." The boy responded as he kissed the air. At this point, everyone was looking at the embarassing display this boy was putting up. Nagatoro scoffed. "You can forget it."

The boy stepped down as he got closer to her, extending his hands, who knew if he was doing it as a joke or if he was genuinely insistent on touching her with those disgusting tendrils he called fingers. "Come on, don't be like that. It's not like you have anything better to do." The boy crouched as he approached the girl. Nagatoro and the other girls were just about ready to break all his bones if he were to even touch a hair of hers, until Haru was suddenly pushed away lightly.

Nagatoro looked up to see Naoto. He had seemingly pushed Haru very lightly to create some distance between them. "What the hell are you doing, you loner?" Haru responded as Naoto simply stood in front of him. She could tell he wasn't angry or anything. He was just trying to protect her. He wasn't looking for a fight.

"Leave her alone. S-Shes obviously uncomfortable." Naoto replied. The boy chuckled. "Come on. Who do you think you are to keep her from me? Just let me at her." The boy insisted, once again coming closer. Naoto pushed the boy again lightly, making sure he didn't push too hard.

Nagatoro looked up at Naoto. She had never seen him so defensive about her. She could definetly defend herself and he knew that, but he still put himself in front to protect her. But no matter how much preparation she had, she wasn't ready to hear the next words her Senpai spoke.

"Back off. She's mine."

...
...
...
...
...

When did the room turn into a tomatoe garden? It almost felt like the entire room went silent as Naoto claimed Nagatoro as his. Even Gamo and Yoshi couldn't help but blush. They had never expected something so direct from Naoto.

Nagatoro was out of words and out of thoughts, her face looking like someone had thrown a bucket of blood over it. Red all over. The girls fingers shivered from being so flustered. She couldn't exactly deny it. She was Senpai's, because her heart definetly didn't belong to anyone else.

Haru simply scoffed, realizing that this guy wouldn't budge. He had already claimed his prize anyways. "Whatever." He said as he sat back down. "get a room." The boy whispered to himself as he sat next to Riku, who promptly smacked him in the head over his blatant stupidity.

It was just now that his adrenaline rush subsided and he realized what he had said, his face joining the sea of red. Why did he say that? Was it just instinct? Or was it because he drank? He didn't even know, and it wasn't even like it mattered why. He had said it.

The boy nervously scuttled away from center stage, shuffling to the side before sitting down next to Nagatoro. Gamo, Yoshi, Sakura and Hana were still looking at them, their faces flustered. They could tell that Naoto and Nagatoro were trying their best not to cry blood.

Naoto suddenly felt a tug on his side, turning to see Nagatoro pulling on his sweater while mumbling something. The boy nervously leaned in slightly to see what she was saying. "C-Can we go somewhere private?"

Naoto couldn't help but nod. The atmosphere here was definetly getting too weird. The boy nodded as Nagatoro and him stood up. Nagatoro had been here before, so she knew the guest room would be empty. The girl grabbed her bag before leading him upstairs as everybody stared.

Naoto quickly snatched the drawing he made of her before following her upstairs. Gamo and the others gave eachother stares. They'd definetly be checking up on them. Something was definetly going to happen tonight.

_______________________________________________________________

Nagatoro and Naoto were sitting on the bed in the guest room, not saying a word to eachother. It was too awkward, and none of them knew how to even strike up a conversation. Naoto could see Nagatoro's body shivering.

"gross." Naoto could hear Nagatoro mutter under her breath. "gross, pervert senpai." She was trying to regain her composure. Naoto simply decided to let her keep going. It was their best way of communicating, after all.

"Ugh!" The girl threw herself on the bed, covering her face with a pillow. "Gross! Gross, perverted Senpai! Why would you say that?!" The girl let out all her embarassment in a long rant.

"I'm sorry." Naoto replied, a nervous smile on his face. "You really are a creep, Senpai..." Nagatoro replied as she sat next to him, leaning her head on him. Naoto grabbed the piece of paper from his pocket, looking at it.

"I don't think this will help if you already think I'm a creep." The boy stuttered jokingly as he handed Nagatoro the paper. "M-Merry Christmas, Hayase."

The girl looked at the drawing. He really did remember what she looked like. It was as if he had drawn a ghost of her in his room. A near-perfect replica. "Senpai... this is so gross." The girl moved some of the hair behind her ears as she looked at the drawing. "Thanks."

The boy blushed as a smile formed on his face. "Now, do you want my Christmas present?" Nagatoro asked with a stutter. Naoto couldn't help but nod nervously. He had already given his present to her anyways. It only made sense.

Naoto had no time to react when Nagatoro leaned into him, giving him a gentle kiss on the lips as all he could do was lean back into it. Her face felt warm and her lips tasted like cherry, probably because it was her favourite fruit. The two eventually divided lips again as Hayase gave him a warm and happy smile. He'd never seen her happier than now, and he'd never been happier than right now as well.

"Merry Christmas, Hachioji."

Naoto couldn't help but blush as she called him by his name. It was the first time she had ever done it. Of course she'd save it for an occasion like this. Nagatoro was like that. But now, only one question remained, and even though the answer was obvious, Naoto still had to ask.

"So... are we... a-a thing now?" He asked. Nagatoro looked down, her face flustered as she smiled, before nodding. "Y-Yeah. I guess we are."

Once more, Nagatoro couldn't prepare for when Naoto leaned back against her, returning the kiss from before. It still felt just as sweet and beautiful as the last one. The girl smiled towards the boy as they kissed, eventually stopping... before exchanging another.

Then another one...

And another one...

The two continued to kiss eachother multiple times. It felt like something within them just let itself go wild. They had been holding back for two long. The two stopped sitting and laid themselves on the bed as they embraced eachother, pulling their bodies towards one another as they started making out inside the guest room. In the end, they were just dumb teenagers in love.

The newly founded couple couldn't help but demand more from eachother as they tossed and turned, laughing from happiness. They no longer had to hide their emotions behind pride or shame. Their lips never had to be apart due to embarassment. She was his, and he was hers, their hearts intertwined.

Meanwhile, Gamo and the others looked on from a small crack trough the door. None of them could even make a quippy comment. They felt happy for the two, but they were more flustered than anything as they watched them make out. A quiet a calm make-up session slowly got more intense as they grabbed eachothers hips, aggressively shaking on the bed as they tumbled around.

Repressed feelings truly did come out in the weirdest ways. The group decided to close the door and give them privacy the moment they watched Nagatoro reaching into her bag, seemingly to grab Sakura's present. It seemed like she'd have a use for it after all.

_______________________________________________________________

Naoto and Nagatoro left the room about an hour later, their hair messier than ever. The girls didn't even dare approach them, afraid of finding out what they did inside that left them looking so disheveled. It seemed like "Virgin Senpai" was no longer a valid term for him.

The part was about to end. Naoto could see a huge line of people trying to get to the bathroom. Apparently the drinkers got what they came for and a little bit more. He could also see that he and Nagatoro were getting stares from every direction. They entered the guest room after Naoto claimed Nagatoro as his woman and left it looking like there had been an explosion inside. They were all thinking the same thing.

Naoto and Nagatoro ended up helping to clean the place, something Gamo was very thankful for. Other than the bulb, no real property was damaged. The worst were some drink spills here and there and a few crumbs from chips and cookies.

Naoto and Nagatoro waved the girls goodbye as Hana followed them out. He still had to take her home. It didn't take long until a car arrived. Naoto could faintly see what seemed to be Nagatoro's sister in the driver's seat. The two of them nervously waved eachother goodbye as Naoto witnessed her entering the car. As they drove off, he could visibly see Ane-toro questioning Hayase about her messy hair. Something told him that she already knew what had happened.

Not long after, Sana arrived to take Hana home, thanking Naoto for taking care of her while also asking about his appearance. Naoto quickly denied any accusations, claiming that the party simply got a bit out of line. Sana accepted his lies, knowing that she could squeeze her cousin for details later before driving off.

At last, Naoto's parents arrived, having responded to his call. The boy quietly got into the backseat as they started to drive back home. Naoto could see his parents throwing glances at him every now and then, whispering something to eachother. The boy couldn't help but blush, further confirming their suspicion. Their son had had a taste of heaven.

Naoto and Nagatoro were laying in their bed, both of them waving their feet in the air as they groaned into a pillow. They'd done it. They were a couple. Next time they were seen togheter, they would no longer be just Nagatoro and Senpai. They'd be boyfriend and girlfriend. With nothing but eachother on their mind, the two drifted of to sleep.

'Thank god for Christmas'