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In all honesty, Fuyuhiko didn’t imagine any sort of holiday occurring while they were stranded on this island. Well not really stranded, they were brought here and would go home eventually… But still. Had so much time passed that they were already going into a new year? At this point it wasn’t even a school trip--it was like they had just moved the school to Jabberwock Island and whole said island was just their campus. He had minded the abrupt move at first since he signed up to NOT attend Hope’s Peak Academy and skip classes with Peko, not end up on a tropical island. Well, technically he got one of those things.
He was with Peko.
Fuyuhiko tried to quickly swat away the thought, since he really didn’t have the emotional stability to think about that at the moment. He got back to the situation at hand as he and the others stood outside the hotel, staring up at the cloudy, dark sky that seemed to be as if it were signaling rain. From the back of the group, a whine could be heard. Mahiru was making sure her camera was covered, glaring at the sky.
“Honestly, the one day I manage to plan to go out and take pictures all day, this is what happens? Is Mother Nature in a bad mood?” She complained, kicking at the ground a little.
Hajime rubbed the back of his neck and gave a weary glance to Mahiru, and then to the others. “It’s not that bad, just means we’re going to be inside today.”
Hiyoko scoffed, giving Hajime a look. “What about staying inside with all of you idiots is good? Being stuck in a room filled with cows would be waaaay better than that!” She added, snickering at her own demeaning joke.
Sonia stepped forward, looking around at the group. “There shall be no worries, for I know many sorts of activities my people back in my country would perform in the rain and in floods! I will need a hammer, five pieces of paper, a flotation device, and-”
Nagito quickly let out an awkward and misplaced laugh. “I don’t think that’s needed, because I don’t believe it’s rain.” He said loudly, so he would receive everyone’s attention. Of course, everyone questioned his remark. If it wasn’t rain, then what else could it be? Fuyuhiko had the same thought in his mind until he felt something cold on his cheek. He quickly moved his hand up to feel what it could’ve been, but before he could, it was gone. And then, it clicked- A gleeful gasp came from Ibuki, who was standing near him.
“Holy crap! It’s totally snowing right now!” She declared, one hand on her hip and the other pointing wildly to the slow increase of snow that was beginning to fall from the clouds above.
Byakuya pushed his glasses up farther onto the bridge of his nose, and crossed his arms. “To be frank, this weather is somewhat troubling, as we’re living on a tropical island that is near some vicinity of the equator. Therefore, snow should not even be a thought that will cross our minds. However, I won’t question it anymore than I have, since many questionable things have occurred on this island.” He concluded, seeming proud of himself for his observation.
As everyone began to make their own comments on the weird weather phenomenon, Fuyuhiko decided on his own opinion towards the situation: that he didn’t really care. He could really, quite honestly care less about the weather and he was sure that Peko felt the same. And that way, they could get out of whatever ridiculous events these people they considered classmates were going to plan. Because as much as he (begrudgingly) appreciated them, he very rarely want to participate in their little get togethers and parties. He opened his mouth, looking over at Peko.
“Hey, Peko, let’s-” He froze there, instead staring at her. Peko seemed very, very subtly delighted by the sight of snow, and what it implied. Fuyuhiko then realized then and there that he was on his own for this one. Peko looked down at him, having snapped out of whatever trance she had been in.
“I’m sorry Young Master, did you need something?” She asked. He just shook his head, nodding to her.
“Don’t worry about it.” He decided not to finish his earlier sentence, and instead let out a small sigh as he turned to head inside.
After a certain period of time, Fuyuhiko wasn’t keeping track of how long, everyone else seemed to finally file into the hotel lobby after him. They all gathered around, seeming to already have the urge to make some winter-themed plans. There were some simple ideas being thrown back and forth between each other in the group. He wasn’t really paying attention to whatever the hell they were thinking about doing, because his objections were 1: It’s too freaking cold out now, and 2: He doesn’t want to. It’s then when Akane let out a loud yell of an idea, catching Fuyuhiko’s attention at her boisterous exclamation.
“Secret Santa! Secret Santa, guys! We can exchange gifts and totally not worry about being embarrassed! Plus, free stuff! And if you want it to be, it can be minimal effort! I don’t even wanna hear other ideas, this is totally what we’re doing.” She declared, flashing a big grin. Chiaki, who was sitting in between Hajime and Nagito, decided to pipe up.
“I actually like that idea. Since we don’t exactly know what date it is, we can just assume we’re somewhere near Christmas. Maybe we should have a party, where we can give these gifts?” She suggested, which seemed to excite everyone a bit more. All of a sudden, as if all at once, everyone was coming up with ways that they could contribute to the event. Teruteru would supply food (heavily monitored by Byakuya), Chiaki would set up games for the group to play, Mahiru would be taking pictures throughout the event, Mikan would be there if anyone almost died, Nagito will stay far, far away from any flammables and dangerous objects, and so on. Fuyuhiko actually felt a little bit taken aback at how much effort everyone was putting into this compared to previous group events they’ve planned. Even Peko, who was sat next to him, seemed engaged in the conversation to some extent. Ibuki eventually stood up, pulling a fancy-looking top hat out of supposedly thin air.
“Alriiiight, let’s get names into this suspiciously cool looking hat!” She announced, and was about to go around when Souda stood abruptly, and quickly snatched the hat from Ibuki.
“No way we’re doing that, it just seems stupid and difficult! And kinda ridiculous!” He argued, and swiftly threw the hat like a frisbee, straight out one of the open windows. Ibuki let out some sort of scream, before running down the stairs to retrieve the hat. Souda sat down again, quickly grabbing a piece of paper and tearing it up into slips. “I think it’s better if someone completely unbiased, AKA myself , assigns people their Secret Santas. Seriously guys, trust me on this one.” He gave a confident grin and quickly began jotting down names. The group would have protested, but at this point it was too tiring to argue with someone like Souda.
Soon enough, Souda had passed around all the names, and seemed pleased with himself as everyone glanced over who they had gotten. There were some faces of discomfort (mainly from Sonia), faces of confidence, and then there was Fuyuhiko. He just stared down at the small slip of paper he held in his hand, his eyes continuing to read over the characters again and again, until he looked up at Souda. And Souda, when he noticed Fuyuhiko staring at him, just grinned, gave the longest and most exaggerated wink he had ever seen in his entire life accompanied with some finger guns. Fuyuhiko shoved the slip of paper angrily into his pocket and reached for his holster, already standing up to advance towards Souda. Unfortunately Souda already knew that look, and just paled and made a quick mad dash for the stairs, sliding down the railing. There was some sort of loud yelp and crash, but Fuyuhiko just took it as compensation for not shooting him, and put his gun back in the holster.
Peko didn’t seem to question his actions, which was somewhat concerning in this setting but also a relief, however, he felt some other eyes on him. He could only assume it was most likely Hajime and Nagito, but instead of confirming it, he decided to just leave the hotel lobby and head out into the cold weather. Some fresh air is really what he needed at the moment.
As he stepped out, he stopped in front of the doors outside, and reached into his pocket once more, grabbing out the slip of paper. It read: “ Peko Pekoyama” . He stared at it for a few more moments before just shoving it back into his pocket, letting out a small huff of frustration, his breath becoming foggy in the cold weather. He headed out into the falling snow, starting to get lost in his own thoughts. A gift. He had to buy a gift for Peko. For Peko…
He quickly shook his head to get out of whatever trance he was about to fall into. He needed to take this seriously, now that he had been pulled into this. This might--This could be his chance. It’s his chance to express how he feels in a way other than violence or words, cause only God knows how good is he is at one and how terrible he is at the other. He could, maybe, finally show Peko how he felt about her, about what they had. But--this gift needed to be thoughtful, and something he knew only he could give. It needed to be the best, because it was Peko.
…
But no matter how much he would brainstorm, he couldn’t think of anything. Anything he came up with seemed either stupid or inferior to what Peko deserved. He really, really didn’t want to ask for help. As in he seriously wanted this to be something he could finally do on his own. But it seemed like this was going to have to be something he needed a second opinion on. So he decided to go grab the two guys on this island that he could tolerate for more than twenty seconds to assist him. Well, that was a lie, but no need to get into specifics.
…
Souda stared at Fuyuhiko. “Us? Both of us? As in not just me, the clear love expert here-” Fuyuhiko stopped him there, face bright red. “I said nothing about love here!” He argued, but Souda clearly ignored him. “But you want to bring him along?” Nagito, who had been brought along with the two, chuckled a little, seeming apprehensive.
“He has a point, Fuyuhiko. We all know I cause some chaotic events when it comes to things like this. Are you sure that you wish for me to join?” Nagito questioned, crossing his arms, looking a bit concerned but then just gave a smile. “Although I’m delighted to think that an opinion from someone as garbage as I am would be of use to you!” Fuyuhiko just sighed and rolled his eyes, moving his hands to his pockets.
“Listen I don’t really care about that right now, and I’m not going to comment, just--come with me, or something. Maybe being around you two will...inspire me.” He said, delivering the statement in a, ‘Right now would be a great time for both of you to shut the hell up.’ type of tone. Which they both promptly did. So, without another word on the reason for Fuyuhiko’s request, they made the trip to the Rocketpunch Market because… Well, where else were you going to find anything and everything?
As they entered the establishment, Fuyuhiko already felt a sense of dread. Even if it was a good thing that the market had such an extensive selection, it felt like this only put more pressure on him to find the perfect gift. Souda already seemed excited, a sparkle in his eyes as he glanced over all the aisles.
“I’m going to get Miss Sonia the best gift of her life! It’ll be so amazing that she’ll have to notice me!” He declared, his voice echoing through the store. Fuyuhiko and Nagito promptly decided to completely ignore him and head off into the opposite direction as quickly as possible. They all browsed the aisles, weighing their options and trying to determine what would be a good gift for each of the people they were assigned to. Nagito sighed as he glanced over an entire section of snowglobes.
“I am unsure why Souda decided to assign Teruteru to me, since I have no idea what he could possibly like. I… I don’t think anyone knows. At least nothing that isn’t, um, appropriate.” He mumbled, seeming a little bit annoyed. Fuyuhiko did feel slightly bad for him, considering he most likely got the most difficult person to shop for. Then he realized something.
“Aren’t you not supposed to tell anyone who you got?” Fuyuhiko mentioned, as he moved over to a clothing rack. Nagito could only shrug, putting a giant chocolate turtle back down onto the bottom shelf.
“I suppose so. But to be completely honest, I don’t really care one way or another as long as Teruteru doesn’t discover it’s me before the party. ...Speaking of who we got, did you get Peko?” He asked, a smile on his face. Fuyuhiko blinked at him, and then felt heat crawling up to his cheeks in a small blush.
“That’s none of your business.” He mumbled, continuing to flip through the articles of clothing. Souda appeared from around the corner, having just gone through the last aisle.
“Ah, but that, Fuyuhiko, is where you’re wrong! It is totally my business! With the job of being your wingman and getting you your girl, it’s clear that you have no idea what girls like. But that’s why I’m here to help!” Souda said, pointing at himself in a manner that showed that he was convinced his advice would help. Fuyuhiko was almost certain that it would not help at all, but, it’s not like he had any better ideas.
“Alright, so! The universal present for any chick? Clothes. They love having new clothes to wear out.” He stated, gesturing to the rack on the other side of the aisle that was packed from end to end with dresses and other female-oriented clothing.
“You could pick anything from here and I can assure you that Peko will love it. Aaand now that I gave you my first-rate advice, I have to go find my gift for Miss Sonia.” He sighed dreamily, and hurried off into the next aisle.
Fuyuhiko stared at Souda as he walked away, before his gaze slowly moved over to the rack of women’s clothes. How was he supposed to know what sort of dress Peko would like? As far as he knows, he’s never even seen Peko in a dress. If she ever wore a dress, what would she wear? His brain focused on that one unclear image while he sifted through the rack.
Surprisingly, he managed to make a decision. He thought he saw these types of dresses a lot in magazines at stores, so they must be popular among ladies. Right? Right. ...Right. To be completely honest he didn’t care as long as Peko liked it. It was some sort of black dress with a white fabric tied onto it. He thought it was cute, so… He left the market after grabbing wrapping paper and a present bow.
GET! Apron Dress x1
Fuyuhiko very subtly abandoned Souda and Nagito at the market, heading back out into the cold to return to his cabin. Upon his arrival, setting everything down a sudden realization hit him.
He had no idea how wrap a present. Let alone, even fold a woman’s dress.
Fuyuhiko cursed whatever force up above caused him to go his whole life without learning this very useful gift-wrapping skill. However, while he was trying to figure out how to handle the large, somewhat puffy dress, his mind started to wander. When Peko actually receives the dress...would she be happy? Would she smile? Fuyuhiko thought back to when she showed the slightest of smiles on her face when it started to snow... Just remembering that look made him naturally smile, himself.
And would she want to try it on? What if she said something cheesy, like "I only want you to see me in this… You bought this for me, after all." . Carefully inspecting the dress as he held it out in front of him only prompted more luminous-filled daydreams of her... In that dress. Just for him--
Fuyuhiko slammed a foot down harshly onto the ground as his face finally burst into flames. That's...enough thinking about that, for sure. More importantly, he started to work on configuring how to wrap the dress into a nice looking present. Was it this way? No, the folds don't look too uniform... What about this? Now that just looks stupid. Maybe it's...
A sudden loud series of knocks made even Fuyuhiko jump. "The hell?" He gasped as he sat up from his table to go answer the door. And on the other side of his door was Souda, who looked really concerned. "Hey dude! Are you okay...? You've been gone for hours , thought you weren't gonna make it to the party!" Souda said with a laugh.
"What the... I've only been in here for a few minutes, just wrapping up the present..." Fuyuhiko retorted in disbelief.
"I beg to differ but... Wait, is that..." With a confused look on his face, Souda pointed at the weird lump in Fuyuhiko's hands.
Bringing the little amalgamation up into the light, it looked like some sort of Christmas wrapping all hodge-podged into a ball with a lop-sided bow on top. "This thing? Yeah, it's my present for the Secret Santa." Fuyuhiko said, feeling a bit confident. He finally managed to wrap the dress properly, and it doesn't look half-bad!
"Dude, it looks really bad--" Souda had replied but upon looking at Fuyuhiko, his red-hot glare made Souda yelp into submission, "--I-I MEAN, REALLY, really good. I-I'm sure Peko will love it!" He laughed rather nervously.
Another red hot blush threatened to grace Fuyuhiko's face once more, immediately making him grumble in embarrassment. "I-I never said I got Peko for the--"
"Yeah, yeah, you can keep telling me, the one who assigned everyone their Secret Santas, just that. Anyways," Souda rolled his eyes and grabbed Fuyuhiko's arm, dragging him outside of his cabin's doorstep. "We don't wanna be late for the party! Miss Sonia, here I come!"
Souda, giddy with a kick in his step, proceeded to drag Fuyuhiko all the way to the old building next to the hotel. As the two made their way to the dining hall, they saw Mahiru, Hiyoko, and Mikan hanging up some photos of everyone decorated with tinsel. Hiyoko seemed to be making fun of Mikan in one of them, making Mikan start to whine as she fell victim to her bullying as per usual. As Mahiru stepped in to break it up, she noticed Souda and Fuyuhiko just about to enter the dining hall.
"Hey!" She called loudly after them, "Don't forget you guys have to help set up too! Where were you two?!"
Souda stiffened as he tried to think up a lame excuse while Fuyuhiko just stared confused at Mahiru. She clicked her tongue.
"Alright, whatever... Souda, make sure you hang up the mistletoe properly. And Fuyuhiko, you go and place all of the presents under the tree, okay?"
Souda waves her off with a "Got it!", and finally opens the doors to the dining hall.
Everyone seemed to be almost done setting up for the party. Hajime, Komaeda, and Chiaki were setting up a line of stockings onto the wall together. Gundam seemed to be drawing...a satanic circle on a wall next to the Christmas tree, while Sonia was decorating said tree with the help of Gundam's Four Dark Devas of Destruction. Ibuki was queueing up music onto a jukebox, while also adding some...unnecessary extra amps to the sides of it. Extra being about ten, but no one dared to question it as long as she didn’t turn them all on.
Fuyuhiko decided to just focus on his task instead of concerning himself with anything the others were doing, and headed to the middle of the room to set the presents under the tree. He just listened to the conversations around him as he set them down, but paused when he reached for his own gift. He felt like it seemed so obvious this gift was from someone like him. Well--obvious to one person, at least. That person being Peko. But he didn’t have time to think about that now. There was no going back, he had his present, he placed it under the tree, what’s been done is done. He shook himself out of whatever was holding him back and turned to face the others to get this party started.
As the party progressed, there were games, bad karaoke, musical performances, good food, and just a generally good time for everyone. As the end of the night approached, Akane raised her voice from next to the food table, face still stuffed with the last of the chicken skewers that Teruteru had prepared only five minutes ago.
“I think it’s time for the Secret Santa exchange... I can’t wait any longer than this!” She whined, swallowing and heading over to the tree. Everyone decided to just go along with it, considering Akane was a force that no one wanted to deal with during an occasion like this. They pulled all of the presents out from under the tree and sat in a circle, Souda taking it upon himself to do the honors of reading out the names of the recipients.
Souda started first, bashfully giving his present to Sonia. She opened up the package to find a bag filled with fresh plums. "They're so exotic, I couldn't help but think of you when I saw them!" Souda said with a big grin on his face, "They're perfect, right?!"
Sonia looked at Souda, back down at the bag of plums, and back at him again with a stony look on her face. "Souda, I do not enjoy these...plums that you gave me."
Flabbergasted, Souda yelled, "W-why not?! They're totally exotic, just like you!" Then he gasped, "Does it have something to do with some culture in your country? W-was I coming on a bit too strong??" He returned to his bashful self as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Sonia paused, "There is no such thing in which plums are connected to my country. I just do not prefer the taste nor texture of plums. Rather,” She gave him a beaming smile, “I dislike them greatly .”
Souda's complexion paled, completely at a loss for words. Sonia had taken this moment of his defeat to get up and get her present. She passed a rather wrench-shaped looking gift into Souda's trembling hands, to which he instantly recovered from his woes. He tore into the present to find exactly what that the shape had shown true, a new wrench just for him. A large amount of incomprehensible gibberish seemed to spill from his mouth like a waterfall, tears in his eyes that Sonia got him something he absolutely loved.
Yet, this left Souda off-guard and unprepared as she had made her way over to Gundam and gave him a present as well. Gundam opened it to reveal a newly knitted scarf for himself, and four tiny scarves each for the Four Dark Devas. Souda started to scream in shock, dropping his new wrench onto his foot and proceeding to scream at that as well. Hiyoko immediately started giggling at him, “Woooow! Sonia was Souda’s Secret Santa, but she gave Gundam a gift too! That useless virgin tried to rig this whole thing but it still came back to kick him in the crotch!”
Now with Souda completely heartbroken and down for the count, everyone decided to get up and give their own Secret Santas their gifts instead. Nagito awkwardly passed his gift to Teruteru, who was absolutely not pleased with a coconut as a present. Nagito recounted how he decided on that particular coconut, saying he was walking to the hotel and saw it in the snow, somehow thinking of Teruteru and therefore picking it for him. Teruteru wanted to feel happy, but the hairiness of the coconut reminded him how much he definitely did not like it.
Nekomaru gave Akane some extra coupons for massages, firing Akane up into a fist fight with him, completely forgetting to give her own present out to her recipient. Chiaki gave Nagito a rather thickly toothed comb. With a big smile on her face, she said to him that she's more than willing to help comb his hair for him, and adding on that Hajime may help as well. Hajime, who was in earshot, blushed lightly at that comment as he handed Gundam his gift, which was a jumbo pack of chalk to help draw his satanic circles. Gundam scoffed, claiming that he was already well stocked with such necessary items to his character, but still looked very happy upon receiving the pack of chalk nonetheless.
Souda recovered once more, realizing there was only one single present left. He pulled up said final present as he gave a smug grin to Fuyuhiko, who in return almost flipped him off, but held himself back. “Alright, this one’s addressed to Peko! Who got a present for Peko?” He announced a little bit loudly. Fuyuhiko let out a small huff of frustration, but raised his arm briefly.
“Ah, Fuyuhiko, so you were Peko’s Secret Santa! Now, Peko, if you could come up to open it-”
“No!” Fuyuhiko exclaimed quickly, sitting up. Everyone immediately stared at him, and he felt a little bit embarrassed, but he quickly swallowed it and steeled himself.
“Give that to me.” He snatched the present from Souda’s grasp, who still had a smirk on his face. Fuyuhiko ignored him and approached Peko.
“Peko, do you mind coming into hallway with me?” He asked in a low voice, avoiding looking at her. Peko seemed a bit taken aback, but just nodded and stood. “Very well.” She responded, and they headed out into the hallway, closing the door behind them.
Fuyuhiko calmed his blushing face as he glared at the door. Curse Souda and his nosy tactics. He knew exactly what he had been doing when he saved his gift to Peko last. If it weren't such a good night he wouldn’t have hesitated to grab him and put him through a wringer before he could say another word and use him like a doormat.
While he was having his malice-filled internal monologue, Peko stared at her closest companion, somewhat confused at his actions. Actually, she had felt quite confused overall about his recent activity, ever since they had received their slips of paper detailing who they would be gifting to as this party. The way he had been flitting around her, avoiding conversation, and that slight panicked aura he seemed to give off had worried her. She had no clue as to what could possibly cause him to act like this--he had never been this shaken before since they were kids, and by the point they had reached the double digits in age he had never reacted that way again. Until now. She felt like she couldn't keep quiet anymore and decided to break the silence.
"Young Master..." She began, wanting to get his attention. Fuyuhiko's head immediately snapped to look towards her, the hot feeling in his cheeks that he had managed to get rid of making its way back onto his face in a pink tone.
"Ah-Peko..." He cleared his throat. "So I-...Well, I got you as the person I have to get a gift for. And I won't lie, I was freaking the hell out over this ever since Souda handed me that slip of paper and I read it. I wanted to get you something nice, because, well, you're nice. And I wanted to think of a way to repay you for how long you've protected me, and-"
Peko interrupted him. "Young Master, we both know that my purpose is to protect you-- Mmph!" Fuyuhiko covered her mouth with his hand for a moment, and then quickly retracted it.
"Sorry, but just, let me finish. Please ." He replied, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I wanted to repay you for how long you've protected me, but also finally get across to you that I don't want you to just protect me anymore. I want this...to be mutual. You protect me, and I protect you. I think that-you don't need to be something that's just used when needed. We should be a team, and I've believed that ever since we were kids. I want you by my side Peko, not as a “tool”, but as a partner. Maybe this gift really isn't the best way, since it doesn't really reflect what I'm feeling, but...it's a start. I thought you would look nice in it, and I wasn't sure what exactly you would like so I just went with my intuition." He ended, finally let out a breath and just handing her the ball of a wrapped present to her.
Peko could only try and register the speech that Fuyuhiko had delivered her, instinctively taking the present from him. She finally snapped out of it and glanced down at the gift. "Young Master..." She trailed off, but didn't say anything else for now, instead just gently removing the tape from the paper and managing to unwrap it to reveal the dress.
...
She all of a sudden had a deadpanned look on her face. "Young Master, I hope you understand that this is a maid's dress."
Fuyuhiko froze for a moment, staring at her, then at the dress, and blinked. "...Huh?"
"A maid's dress."
"I-I didn't mean to give you something like that ! I just wanted to get you something you'd like, god dammit, I'm going to castrate that son of a-"
"I love it."
"...H-huh?"
Peko glanced back down at the dress, then back to Fuyuhiko, and gave him the purest smile he had ever seen her make, "...I love it a lot, since it was from you, Fuyuhiko."
Fuyuhiko took a moment to process the fact that for the first time, since they were kids , Peko had smiled at him. Not a ghost of a smile, not a figment of his imagination, but a real smile (and a cute one, at that). He felt his cheeks become even hotter than before, and soon enough couldn't even look at her, or he might explode.
"Peko, I-I like your face!" He blurted out. Peko was startled, setting the dress over her shoulder and staring at Fuyuhiko.
"What does that mean exactly?"
"Well, the thing is, I-"
And then, at that exact moment, Souda poked his head out from the room into the hallway to check on them. "You two kiss yet?"
There was a pause.
Fuyuhiko immediately reached for his holster again, whipping his gun straight out and focusing on Souda’s stupid forehead. This is it. This is the day Kazuichi Souda dies, by his hands, and Fuyuhiko would be happy about it- Until a hand caught his own. Looking down at that hand and looking up to who it belonged to, Peko stared into his eyes and she just gave him a nod. Souda, at that point, had already sprinted back into the room to avoid actual death. Fuyuhiko growled under his breath, and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Peko, he's just--he helped me a little with this, and he thinks-"
"What was that about a kiss he was mentioning?" Fuyuhiko stopped, and looked at Peko, who was...blushing.
"A-Ah, well, y-you see--" Peko quickly interrupted him. "We are under the mistletoe at the moment, Young Master." She mentioned, pointing up at the ceiling with a smile that could make Fuyuhiko's heart stop again. He paused, and let out a chuckle, setting a hand on his hip.
"Yeah... I guess we are." He murmured, taking a quick glance at her. Peko knew at this point that neither of them would make a move if it continued like this, so she just stepped forward, leaning down and pressing her lips to Fuyuhiko's in a small, sweet, chaste kiss. And by the time she pulled away, Fuyuhiko was completely ready to melt and spontaneously combust all at the same time, covering his mouth with his hand as his ears and cheeks turned bright pink. Peko couldn't help but let out a small laugh, and took Fuyuhiko's free hand in hers.
"We can talk more about this later. But for now, I think we should join the others. Hot cocoa is going to be served soon." She informed, giving him another smile, and all Fuyuhiko could do was give a weak nod and grin back, as they re-entered the party, this time hand in hand.
And well, Fuyuhiko concluded that night that maybe Souda wasn't too much of an idiot. ...Maybe.