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Jabberwock Island, home to 16 incredible, unique, somewhat chaotic teenagers. Well, to put it in better terms, it was the 19th of December, and 15 of those teenagers were having a week long movie watch, and today was the second day, as they wanted Christmas free for them all to be together, partying, laughing... All the fun Christmassy things. And, only yesterday did it start to snow on the Island, which made Ibuki scream with joy, Nekomaru question how it is snowing here, and Sonia to make snow angels... Which, sadly, she didn't realise how cold snow actually was, causing her to have the shivers for the rest of the day. Still recovering from it, and with a film on a huge TV, made possible by Kazuichi by the way, the Class 77-B were having a laugh, cringing and all around having fun. Teruteru went to and frow, delivering many different foods, having a semi-decent view of the movie whilst cooking, which he insisted on doing out of his own heart, to which Akane was very much pleased with. Chiaki had already fallen asleep on Hajime, who was just so used to this already that he didn't even notice for a few minutes.
Gundham had his arm around Sonia, reluctantly, but from the constant begging of Sonia, he complied finally, saying "I suppose I shall, a Princess of the Demon Realm like yourself shall not freeze on a mere mortal planet. Not on my watch."
And with that, Sonia was happy and healthy. Well, sort of. Even with the burning fire, coutersy of Nekomaru and Nagito who went to look for firewood earlier that day, Sonia was still cold. Like, from head to toe. Hajime had to pause the film due to her shiverings and complaints at such. The whole group groaned, Hiyoko was just about to put gum in Mikan's hair before she turned around, the former getting annoyed with Hajime for pausing the film.
"Hey! This is, like, the best part!" Hiyoko lied, just wanting to piss off Mikan even more than she already was, but you couldn't tell, she always hid it deep down.
"Sonia, are you... alright?" Hajime asked, concern heavy in his voice, confused at her whining.
After a moment, Sonia moved her hand from her forehead, and Gundham sat upright, a huge blush on his face from their contact. "Hinata, it has been 30 minutes since Soda went out to get me an extra heater. It is so cold!" She complained once more for Soda's tardiness.
The group felt puzzled for a second, then they all remembered in sync, Akane taking a few more seconds to catch up with the rest of the class. "Wait, why has he taken so long?" came Teruteru's voice, walking into the living room from the kitchen, a tray of choc-chip cookies, steaming from the heat of the oven. Akane jumped for them, taking three in each hand and scoffing two of them in one bite.
Fuyuhiko and Peko watched Akane eat in shock, but the Yakuza spoke up quickly after. "Yeah, what's goin' on? I was gonna mention it, but you all looked so invested with this shitty film." Peko knew that he had been engrossed with the movie, but said nothing, just a small smirk climbed onto her face, leaving her favourite person's secret alone.
"I'm... Not sure, uh... Should we, like, go find him, or...?" Came from Ibuki's corner, which held her, Imposter and Mahiru. No one really got what was going on between Imposter and Ibuki, but whatever it was, it was incredibly wholesome. And quite frankly, Mahiru didn't really want to be in the way of the two, it's just... Well, the seating options sucked at first. She was up busy all day compiling a Christmas Photo Album, having it all nearly ready, just needing a few more snaps in the next week for it to be done, and then copied 15 other times for her and her classmates. As she got down there, the last person to today, the options was, A: Sit with Hiyoko and Mikan, which was just a hassel in general. B, Sit with Kazuichi, Gundham and Sonia, which would've been even more so awkward, especially with her... Odd feelings on the Mechanic. So, she chose the safest option, being C, sitting with the ever talkative, Ibuki Mioda, and her partner, the silent protagonist, Imposter. No one knows their name, gender, height, weight... Hell, even their real hair colour. But yet together, the two were just amazing, incredible. It was sweet. She wished that for herself. Unlikely with who she was crushing on...
"Well... I for one will not be going out there, it is freezing cold... I am sure Soda is fine, maybe he got lost in his work again?" Imposter said with a firm attitude, and most people nodded with agreement. They all loved Kazuichi as much as they all loved each other, they are a family, but... They all were just so warm.
Nagito then piped up from behind the main couch, he was just stood watching even with the room for sitting. "Why don't we... Draw straws?"
And at that, everyone in the class groaned. But, it was the only fair way of deciding this. Mahiru for one felt bad, did they all really not care for him as much as she did? Yeah, sure, she wasn't all to keen on going out in the upcoming blizzard of the Island, but... She would if he was hurt. Oh God, what if he was hurt?
Everyone had gathered around together, and drew straws. Blank. Blank. Blank. Red. There it was, the Red mark. In the hands of the Red head photographer. She cursed herself in her mind, and for a second, she locked eyes with Nagito, who simply said, "Oh dear, better luck next time, Koizumi..." with that creepy, yet knowledgable voice. Something in that tone of his, it just... Did he...?
No, he can't control fate that well... Right...? Ugh, whatever. Let's get warm...
Mahiru didn't protest, in fact she was going to volunteer herself to go find the mechanic anyways, since no one else was bothered by his absence. Suiting up, huge overcoat above everything she wore, thick boots on her feet and a knitted woolen hat atop her head, a gift from Mikan some time ago. Who knew she could knit, huh? Once she was ready, she waved the class off and hurried toward his Hut, assuming that was where he would be.
The good news was that he was there, the bad news, was that he had taken apart the heater for a higher power supply, but one, he couldn't find anything around, and two... He was locked out of his Hut.
"So... Soda...! Hey... S-Soda! We were worried, what- What are you doing...?"
Kazuichi only heard his name, and when he turned around from his natural response to it, his frown raised into a form of smirk from the sight of Mahiru, but then shifted into a worried face. "Koizu...mi!? You shouldn't be here, it- It's too dangerous, the blizzard is picking up and-"
The ariel on top of Kazuichi's Hut flew off, and landed next to Mahiru, who was too cold from the storm to even jump. Kazuichi almost yelped for her, and ran toward the photographer as fast as he could in the snow. "Koizumi, hey, Koizumi... Are you okay?"
"I'm... Fine, Soda, but... Why are you out here...? Is that the heater?" She quickly pointed toward the somewhat large, scrap plated... Thing, that was by the closed door of his Hut.
"Yeah, but... The door is frozen locked, and... The heater controller is inside-"
Mahiru's face fell. All this for nothing, essentially. Well, she already felt like shit, going all this way to save someone who she was sure didn't even acknowledge her half the time, having eyes only for that Princess... No. She shook those thoughts out of her head, happy she at least found Kazuichi... Who was half frozen already. Shit.
"Soda, I... Come on, we need to get back to the main lodge, okay?" She pointed back to where everyone was, most likely watching Home Alone 2 by now, and hopefully not all asleep yet.
"Right, okay..." He said quietly, and as soon as he took a step forwards, he collapsed into the snow, giving Mahiru the biggest scare of her life. She ran toward him as fast as she could, dropping her camera along the way, and knelt onto the ground infront of him.
"Soda? Soda!? Are you okay!?" She frantically tried to hear for his breathing, before he jumped up a little, and sat upright, shivering more than Hajime when he hasn't had his daily orange juice. She leant forward to give him a hug, the massive layers they had on clashed together with a small thump, the padding not really helping their hug.
"...I'm... I'm so cold...? It just hit- Just h-hit me all at... Once-" He couldn't even talk all too well, and this gave Mahiru a big shock. She couldn't stay here, they would both freeze to death, but... She couldn't just leave him and find the others either. She checked her phone, and of course, no signal. No one there could use an emergency call, either. And even if they could, even the closest emergency services would take hours to get here. Mahiru was having a mini crisis, and then remembered: The heater!
Sure, she was no mechanic, and even the Ultimate Mechanic had messed up, leaving the remote inside his now unattainable Hut... But, she had to try, right? So she did. She knew enough about electronics to know how to plug it in, and found a set of side plugs that looked suspiciously tapped onto the outside of Kazuichi's Hut. "Huh, clever... But, what use does that even- Never mind that, we need... Heat..." she stopped talking to save her energy after that, taking a look back toward Kazuichi, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, (which, if you haven't read, is an incredible FanFiction series from Mahiru's perspective, and has some fun KazuKoi in it... So go do that after reading this, 'kay? "Consciousness by Maicee"). The sight of this just worried Mahiru more, and she jammed the plug into a socket, hoping that any form of electricity would flow through and, hopefully, start up the heater.
She could see the mechanic's face going numb as she walked the heater over, feeling no heat from it yet, hoping that her thick gloves were just keeping the feeling of the heat off of her hands. She decided to lay him down in a better position, and she in turn kept her arms around him. Any form of heat will do, the makeshift heater by Kazuichi just sad next to them, feeling no heat emitting from it, Mahiru prayed to Atua above that someone would realise they had been gone for so long, and come save them. She kept trying to call anyone form their class, but no one could connect. Hajime? No signal. Hiyoko? No signal. Mikan? No signal... Plus, probably lost her phone anyways. She frantically tapped on the screen, until the power was low enough for her to stop and preserve it as much as she could. "Damn it, Chiaki is always telling me to charge my phone... Please... Someone..."
Her voice was being drowned out by the blizzard, snow flying all about, the flakes falling onto that goofy, dorky beanie Kazuichi wore. Oh, how she loved watching the snowflakes hit his head, melting into that cute, woolen abyss of a black beanie... His eyes, now shut from the cold, but normally would be bright, playing around in the snow. She knew he couldn't play in the snow, in sand at a beach, even with leaves in the woods much when he was a kid... And she doesn't even know why or how she knows, she just... Got nosey one time, maybe. She wasn't obsessive, no... No, he was. Over Sonia Nevermind. The girl that, as polite as she is, doesn't like him back. No, he doesn't deserve to be with her, anyways, she would just use him.
Mahiru shook her head once more to clear her mind, feeling some heat on her face, and could jump with joy at the heater working... But it was just her blushing cheeks, heating up from the thoughts she had. And without even realising it, she started to lose her own consciousness, her eyes closing and reopening every few seconds, until she couldn't keep the energy to have them opened. "Mmh.. So... Cold..."
Eventually, Mahiru had blacked out, her phone slipping from her hand, but as it did so, hit the button to call Nagito Komaeda.
Which miraculously connected.
As the film went on, Ibuki had passed out, Imposter holding her tightly in their arms, not allowing her to get cold under any circumstance. Teruteru had slowed down his serving of food to small amounts, which angered Akane to the point of chasing him around the room about seven times before giving up and passing out on top of Nekomaru, who was already far gone in his sleep. Peko kept her gaze on her Master, who was looking outside into the blizzard, genuinely worried for one of his best friends, Kazuichi Soda. Yes, of course he was worried for Mahiru as well, they actually go back some time, a little... complicated history, but he and Kazuichi have had some crazy times together. Clenching his fist, he turns toward the group, most of which had passed out, only Mikan, Nagito, Peko and himself still awake. Damn it. Should we go find them? Are they actually okay? Can I even risk thinking they're just okay...?
Peko had noticed Fuyuhiko's distress, knowing all of his tells from growing up together, wanting to help him in any way possible, but also knowing her place and to not speak up unless spoken too. But then, a sound was louder than the movie and the distant Akane/Nekomaru snores... A phone ringing. And Nagito picked it up.
"Hello? You reached the Trash of Humankind, are you okay Koizumi?" No answer, just distant wind blowing. "Koizumi...?" He spoke again, and then no answer.
Fuyuhiko picked up on this, and went straight for his coat, a hat and gloves. He was going out to find them, and looked at Peko for assistance. She immediatly got her winter clothes on, and awaited his movement into the outdoors. Mikan got up as well, and took Nagito's hand, pulling him upright and grabbing their winter coats and accessories. "W-We will help f-find them aswell, K-Kuzuryuu..."
Nagito, after putting on his clothes, nodded in agreement, his phone still in hand, and just before the call cut out, they saw a glimpse of their location. "Outside the Huts, but... Why not inside...?" Fuyuhiko said to himself, confused, but knew where to go at least. The four left the lodge, and brought a key this time, so they won't get locked out.
They finally made their way here, after about seventeen slips from Mikan, they had gotten to the Huts, and very quickly, saw an opening within the snow next to one of the Huts. Creeping up a little closer, Peko went first, even after Fuyuhiko's protesting. She then gasped, but showed some form of emotion for once in front of anyone besides Fuyuhiko. Luckily, it was a positive reaction. The three behind shortly caught up, and the sight they saw was... Odd.
In amongst all of the snow, the blizzard still raging, their friends, Mahiru Koizumi and Kazuichi Soda, were cuddled up, asleep, in some grass, with snow all around them except where they now lay. Confused, Nagito had a look around, and soon spotted the heater, and felt it's intense heat from some distance away. Taking charge, Fuyuhiko asked Peko and Mikan to disable the heater, and soon after, he and Nagito lifted up Mahiru and Kazuichi, respectively. Making their way back to the lodge, Kazuichi's eyes where actually open, his face a blushing mess, and his heartstings pulling. After Mahiru had passed out, the heater started to generate more power, and soon had them all warmed up, letting Kazuichi wake up slightly, but unable to move his body yet. The feeling of cuddling a girl was... Amazing for him, and no less, it was Mahiru! The girl he had been trying to prove he was worthy of by always trying to impress Sonia, so that if a Princess is impressed, then Mahiru would be too, right?
Either way, how he felt right now was relief. Soon they could be in actual warmth, with Mikan nursing them both back to health, and... To be with Mahiru a little longer, even if it was just in the emergency room.