Archive of Our Own

December arrived in Tokyo bringing a cold front, making it unseasonably chilly. Parents were forcing their children to wear woolly hats and gloves, high school students were adding fashionable scarves to their school uniforms, and hard-working shoujo mangaka were fleshing out their Christmas season storylines. Or at least they should have been, but all Nozaki Umetarou had so far, after three hours of brainstorming at his desk, was Suzuki, Mamiko, and possibly a Christmas tree.

The breaking point, however, came when he caught himself drawing a sleepy raccoon in the corner of the page. Nozaki snapped, horrified at himself, breaking the peace and quiet of the working studio. “Christmas is the worst season of all!” he exclaimed in an overly dramatic fashion, slamming his pencil against his desk, and making the other two people in the room jump in surprise.

“Nozaki-kun!” gasped Sakura Chiyo in surprise, putting down her inking tool. “Christmas is… It can be…!”

“Shouldn’t you be all about Christmas?” interrupted Hori Masayuki, considerably more calm. “You know, as a shoujo mangaka and all that.”

“The magazine did ask all of us for a seasonal chapter,” Nozaki sighed as he glanced down at his brainstorming session. The shoddy attempt at a Christmas tree seemed to be mocking him: what kind of artist couldn’t come up with more than one kind of decoration? “But I’m having trouble thinking of an original plot - everything has been done.”

“Oh, it’s about Let’s Love!” Sakura said, much less upset now that she seemed to know the reason for Nozaki’s opinion. “You have to come up with a story? Then… how about Mamiko and Suzuki go on a date to see the Christmas lights? That’s romantic!”

Sakura looked excited, but Nozaki shook his head grimly. “That plot is far too popular already.”

“Wait,” Hori interjected, frowning. “How do you know that?”

“Oh.” Nozaki looked away with a small smile, his face reddening slightly. “Ken-san wants to make sure I have the best story! So he’s keeping me in the loop of what the other authors are submitting.”

“Um, Nozaki-kun, that sounds like you’re falling behind everyone else.”

“And he told me,” Nozaki continued, not acknowledging Sakura’s interruption, “That at least three other series will feature Christmas lights. He’s making sure I have an original, creative story.” A prideful, happy smile made its way to his face. “Ken-san, as usual, always worries about me.”

“Kinda sounds like he needs to,” Hori muttered, confused. “How about those two visit a shrine?” he added a bit louder.

“That might work…” Nozaki flipped open his phone and quickly typed up a text. After a few seconds, the phone chirped in his hand, and he read the answer out loud to the group. “That’s for New Years, he says.”

“How about Mamiko making a handmade present for Suzuki?” Sakura suggested.

Nozaki quickly typed up a message on his phone, and once again the answer came back within seconds. “He says that’s too boring and unoriginal,” he read out loud, oblivious to Sakura’s hurt expression.

“They’re not-!”

“If Ken-san says they are-”

“Then a party,” Hori interrupted their conversation. Both Sakura and Nozaki turned to look at him, eyes wide. “Just have everybody meet together and eat cake or something.”

For a moment, nobody spoke. Nozaki considered the idea. Sakura was staring at Nozaki, eagerly waiting to see what kind of reaction the mangaka would have. Hori was already back to working on his backgrounds, knowing from experience that a discussion on plot could go on for quite a while, and he still had scripts to read back at home.

Finally, Nozaki smiled. “All the characters together in one place, having special moments together... Yes, it could work!”

Sakura let out a sigh, followed by a small smile first directed at Nozaki, then at Hori. ‘Isn’t he amazing?’ the smile seemed to say, even though she had been arguing the merits of handmade gifts with him moments before. ‘I’m glad we solved that problem for him,’ the smile also added as she sat down, and Hori had to agree: for once, a problem relating to shoujo manga was solved easily.

--

“So, do you guys have plans for Christmas?” asked Mikoshiba a couple of days later, looking eagerly at the small group of girls surrounding him.

Sakura looked up from her sweet bread. Someone who knew Mikorin less would have assumed that he was trying to suss out what Sakura, Seo, and Kashima were doing only to ask them out for dates over the holidays. Of course, Sakura knew full well that simply hinting at the idea of going on a date might have made Mikoshiba tear up in fear: Even though he had a confident smile on his face, she could see that he was nervously blinking quite a bit. Either way, in their small lunch group, Kashima was the most likely person to score a date for the holidays .

“Not yet,” Kashima said after swallowing some of her lunch. “A few girls have already asked me, but I haven’t made a decision yet.”

“Yeah, I have the same problem,” Mikoshiba said.

“Really?” Seo asked with her mouth full. “Who asked you? You guys should compare notes.”

“Uh, sure. Maybe. A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, obviously,” Mikorin added, looking aside for a moment before regaining his initial momentum. “Actually, I was thinking we could all do something together for Christmas break!”

The girls looked at each other, expressions ranging between confused and weirded out. Finally, Sakura piped up. “All? Who do you mean?” Although she enjoyed spending time with Seo and Kashima, Mikorin didn’t usually volunteer to join that group.

“Oh, you know, just us,” Mikoshiba mumbled, looking aside again. This time, however, the girls kept staring, so he started fidgeting before finally adding, “And, you know, the usual people!”

The answer was still vague, but perhaps that was as specific as he was going to be. “What did you have in mind, then?” Kashima asked.

Mikorin sat up straight and smiled, happy that he was out of the spotlight. “We should have a Christmas party!” he chirped. When none of the girls answered to that, Mikorin kept talking, a bit faster than before. “W-we could get some food, and some drinks, and get together, and maybe play games! You know? Fun stuff!”

“It could be fun,” said Kashima, tentative but considering it.

“Yes, it will be!” Mikorin said, encouraging.

Sakura sighed. It had been a few days ago, but she remembered the conversation with Nozaki and Hori. Obviously Nozaki was still struggling with inspiration, and this party was an attempt to kickstart some ideas. Experience had taught her that, for the most part, her friends had a tendency to get carried away during this kind of research; while she normally didn’t mind, she had an important goal she had to achieve this Christmas, and she wouldn’t be distracted by anything - not even ‘Let’s Love!’.

“Nozaki already said we could use his place, too-“

“I’m in!” exclaimed Sakura, interrupting him.

Mikoshiba looked torn between being annoyed at losing his train of thought and glad one of them provided him with a lifeline in the conversation. “Oh, well, great! You know Nozaki, he will make some food, and stuff. One of us could bring cake.” Soon enough, the girls and Mikoshiba were excitedly talking about the party, though Sakura noticed him angrily typing on his phone at one point.

She quickly disregarded it, as she had a more pressing issue at hand: how could she make Christmas a special moment for her and Nozaki?

--

While Nozaki was eating lunch, his phone made a beeping noise. He flipped it open to find a message from Mikorin: ‘I got the girls 2 come to your party!!!!!! U owe me one, Nozaki!!! Don’t make me do that again’.

Nozaki couldn’t help grinning, even if earlier he had felt guilty for asking such a favor of Mikoshiba. There was a reason why Mikorin was the inspiration for Mamiko: with bright wide eyes, a shy personality, and just enough helplessness to inspire a desire to protect, Nozaki knew it was impossible for anyone to actually deny anything Mikoshiba asked for. Of course, when he had originally asked Mikorin for the favor, he had worded it differently.

Nonetheless, Nozaki frowned with distaste at the reminder that inviting the usual gang meant having Seo in his house, as well. It was a necessary sacrifice, he thought as he made his way to the basketball courts in the gym, even if it meant he would have to hide all of his materials and manga lest he wanted to risk them ‘accidentally’ destroyed. As obnoxious as he found her, Nozaki would be first to admit that Seo was a great source of inspiration.

The basketball team was half-way through their practice, as he knew they would be. Nozaki sat down on the bench and watched them for a bit, briefly considering the possibility of adding a basketball player to his cast. Although he already had a lot of people in the story, the idea of just having to draw action lines as a background was a particularly tempting one. Finally, after a few more minutes of playing, everybody took a break, and Wakamatsu jogged over to him with a smile.

“Nozaki-senpai!” he exclaimed, towelling off. “Did you come for a game?”

“No, not really,” Nozaki said. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over on the 15th.”

Wakamatsu looked at him, confused. “You need help that day, senpai?”

“Not exactly.” As easy as it would be to lie to Wakamatsu, Nozaki knew that if he was faced with Seo unexpectedly, Wakamatsu might escape. It was important to set the situation correctly so he would be prepared. “I’m having a party, sort of.”

“Really?” Wakamatsu’s eyes widened in interest for a moment before he frowned again. “Will it be full of second years? I don’t know, senpai, that’d be a little uncomfortable.”

“No, not full of them.” After all, there would at least be one third year there. “It’ll probably be Hori-senpai, Mikorin, Sakura – you know, the usual people,” as well as Seo and Kashima, but Wakamatsu of all people didn’t need to know that.

The guest list seemed to please him, however, because Wakamatsu smiled. “Oh, if that’s the case, count on me, senpai!”

Unfortunately, Nozaki didn’t have time to enjoy how agreeable his kouhai was, because his phone alerted him with a new text. He waved Wakamatsu goodbye before flipping his phone open to a message from Hori: ‘Heard about your party from Kashima and Mamikoshiba. Can’t make it, we have club activities.’

Nozaki frowned, confused. What kind of club would still go on during the winter break? He quickly typed up an answer as he walked back to the classroom, almost crashing into a wall at one point. It didn’t take long before his phone chimed again with the answer: ‘It’s more of an inventory meeting. We have to go through costumes, props, and backgrounds. Lots of work, you know?’

This could really be an issue. Kashima was a great source of inspiration, both as the Prince of the Drama Club and as an eager-to-please kouhai; the latter of which also depended heavily on Hori being present. With the way his writing block was bothering him, Nozaki couldn’t have anyone miss the party! ‘Can’t you guys come after club activities?’ Nozaki wrote back.

He didn’t even have time to put his phone away before he got an answer: ‘I don’t know, there is a lot to get through, and I’m gonna spend half the time forcing Kashima to work.’

Desperate times called for desperate measures. ‘How does a script about an ice prince sound?’ he suggested, in spite of how inspirationally challenged he was.

‘...Fine, we’ll try to go, Nozaki.’

Hori was very reasonable, Nozaki would give him that. The bell for class rang, and he put his phone away, satisfied that his guest list/inspiration subjects were complete and accounted for.
--

‘mrn. prty’

Nozaki had been busy making lunch for himself and Sakura--who was at his place on a weekend to help with the beta again--when he was surprised by the message from his brother. Of course, this late in the afternoon his brother was just waking up, but how had he heard about the party he was planning? It’s not like he had kept Mayu in the dark on purpose, he just hadn’t had time to mention it to him.

‘skr sn’

“You told Mayu about the party?” Nozaki asked out loud, shaking Sakura out of her focus on inking.

“Yes, I think I mentioned it the other day,” she suddenly gasped. “Was I not supposed to? I’m so sorry, Nozaki-kun!”

Nozaki waved off her worries with his hand. “No, it’s fine. I didn’t know you two talked.”

Sakura beamed with pride. “We text sometimes!” she exclaimed with a grin.

“Really?” Nozaki looked down at his brother’s messages, frowning in confusion even as he wrote him a quick message with the details of the party. Although he had no trouble understanding Mayu, he couldn’t imagine Sakura could easily read his messages. “What do you two talk about?”

“I can’t tell you that!” Sakura answered determinedly, but her expression quickly changed into an apologetic one. “I’m sorry, Nozaki-kun! But it’s a secret between Mayu-kun and me.”

Sakura was the last person Nozaki would have imagined keeping a secret with his brother, and some of the surprise must have shown on his face because Sakura kept apologizing for a bit before he said it was alright. “I’m just surprised you can message him without a translator.”

“He’s been making an effort lately! Mostly because I told him I really couldn’t understand him otherwise…”

Nozaki nodded, even as he looked down and finished writing to his brother, trying not to think about what Mayu and Sakura could possibly be talking about. “Maybe I’ll have him come early and help out with the set-up,” he muttered, a little annoyed. The planning was definitely getting more complicated than expected.

“I’ll do that!” exclaimed Sakura. “I mean, I don’t mind coming a bit earlier than everyone and helping out. Be-besides, that way maybe we could…” she muttered something at the end, but Nozaki was already back in the kitchen and couldn’t hear her.

---

Sakura woke up early the morning of the party. It wasn’t due to a sense of diligence or even out of nervousness, although she did had butterflies the night before. Rather, she had woken up early because her room litup far earlier than usual, and had tricked her into being out of bed before her usual time. When she looked outside, however, she didn’t have it in herself to be mad: after all, it was hard to feel angry when everything was covered in at least half a foot of fluffy, white snow.

Motivated by the winter wonderland outside, Sakura began getting ready for the day while trying to ignore the way her heart beat with excitement. As she looked through her closet for her cutest outfit, she mentally went over her plans for the day, which would hopefully end with her confessing her love to Nozaki. Experience had taught Sakura the importance of clarity in this area, so she had a direct plane of attack: after spending some time alone together early on and then staying after everyone had left, Sakura was going to give Nozaki a handmade present alongside her feelings.

It was a foolproof plan, she was sure of it!

As excited as she had been the snow, by the time she left the house it had accumulated almost past her shoes and made it hard for her to walk. Though the cold was seeping through her stockings and making her shiver, Sakura wouldn’t let that stop her. A girl in love, she told herself, can fight through anything in her path to get to the person she loved the most. She pulled her scarf over her mouth and, protecting the carefully wrapped present under her jacket, she began making her way to the station.

--

One of the burdens of being the prince of the school, Kashima reflected, was the impossibility of pleasing every single girl who needed her attention. Christmas was one of the days where every beautiful mermaid wanted Kashima all to themselves, but it was impossible to give each one her full attention. This had been easily solved, of course, as each of her princesses had reserved a few hours with her. It kept Christmas very busy, but it was all worth it, particularly if it meant she could skip out on club cleaning days.

She was already on her second date of the day, a shy first-year who had a hard time looking Kashima in the eyes, even though she was seated right across from her outside of a nice cafe. Even though she was glad she was skipping out on the hard work, Kashima was surprised to find she felt a little guilty about not showing up. Perhaps it was because she was disappearing for the entire day, rather than a couple of hours in the afternoon. Kashima decided to stop that train of thought with a shake of her head; she was dealing with something far more important than club inventory: the hearts of young girls in love.

“Kashima!”

Her guilt was getting out of hand, however, because she was starting to hear Hori’s voice from far away, angrily calling her name. Determined to erase all gloomy thoughts from her mind, she turned to her date. “Were you calling my name, princess?”

The first-year girl looked at her in horror, which Kashima thought was a bit much even if she was really shy. She began to reach over the table to comfort her, when she was suddenly pulled back by the neck of her shirt. “Ka-shi-ma,” she heard a low, dangerous voice say, and suddenly she understood why her date had looked so scared.

“S-Senpai…!” she stuttered, looking up into the eyes of a very angry Hori. “Are you here for some coffee, too? I hear it’s-WAH!” Unfortunately, Kashima didn’t get to share what exactly she had heard about the coffee at the small café, because Hori interrupted her by pulling out of her seat by the shirt and wordlessly dragging her away through the snow as her date looked on in shock.

“Senpai,” she tried again, lamenting the way her clothes were getting wet from the snow, “I’m sorry I skipped out. I’ll help everybody, I promise, so let me walk?”

“Everybody already went home,” Hori finally answered. He sounded angry, but definitely not the angriest she had ever seen him, so Kashima considered that a positive. “I told them that you and I would take care of the rest.”

The unhappy surprise made Kashima momentarily forget her wet clothing . “All those costumes and props and backdrops… It’s going to take forever to sort through those!”

“And we’re gonna go through every single one of them until we figure out what we should keep and what we should drop, and you’re not gonna complain about it. Got it?”

“But senpai…”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

“But what about the party at Nozaki’s?” Kashima tried one more time. “You said you’d go too, right?”

This finally gave Hori pause, and Kashima used the opportunity to stand up straight and shake some of the snow off her pants, even as more fell on her head. “We’ll go after we’re done,” he said after some deliberation. “We can pick up some cake to bring over on our way.”

At the very least, Kashima thought, there was definitely an end in sight. As she turned around, ready to be good kouhai and head back to the school, she noticed the way snowflakes were accumulating on Hori’s eyelashes. Before thinking about it too much, she reached over and gently wiped some away with her thumb. “Your eyes shine brighter than any flake of snow possibly could.”

It earned her a punch to the head, but Hori didn’t drag her again, so Kashima considered that a victory.

--

Mikoshiba had never been fond of parties. Parties forced him to keep up his charming, playboy persona for far too long, and he could feel himself grow red and warm with mortification the longer he had to spew those ridiculous lines. In spite of this, he was actually looking forward to the party at Nozaki’s. Sure, he was still not confident around some of the people going (namely Sakura’s blunt friend, who really seemed to enjoy putting him on the spot), but Sakura and Nozaki would be there, as well as Kashima. Mikoshiba knew he would be fine as long as he could relax and drop the “cool guy” persona most people expected of him.

With a smile, he tightened the scarf around his neck and mouth, and kept trudging through the snow, which had accumulated well past his ankles. Making the trip to Nozaki’s was usually not a problem, but with the weather being as nasty as it was, it was taking far longer than it should. Not to mention, he thought as he walked into a busy café, he still needed to get a cake to bring to the party. As Mikoshiba walked up behind one of the two busy lines, he congratulated himself for being smart enough to leave the house early.

The small café didn’t have a lot of staff: there were only two people manning the counter, and both were taking their time with the orders. It gave Mikoshiba some time to look at the cakes from far away and figure out which ones he was going to get, but after ten minutes in line he was starting to get bored, and his mind wandered toward the latest bishoujo game in his collection.

He was still a couple of people away from the front of the line when he felt someone’s breath by his ear: “Mikoto-san.”

Mikoshiba wasn’t proud of the way he had jumped, but he had mostly regained a dignified expression by the time he turned to look back at the speaker. “Mayu, what are you doing here?”

Nozaki’s younger brother was standing behind him with a thick scarf around his neck, a light layer of snowflakes on his clothes, and bright red cheeks. “I got cold,” he answered.

Of course you did, Mikoshiba thought as he eyed him from top to bottom. “That’s because you’re barely wearing anything warm in the middle of the biggest snowfall ever.” He put his hands in his pockets, if only to resist the temptation to brush the snow off him.

Mayu shrugged at that, probably because it was less effort than explaining his choice of wardrobe. Instead, he moved to stand right at his side. With Mayu standing so close to him, Mikoshiba couldn’t help noticing how firm his muscles were, and he privately cursed any and all members of sport clubs.

“Do you want some coffee?” he asked, only letting his voice go slightly high pitched. “Or something like that. To warm up! Since you look cold, or something.”

It wasn’t his smoothest moment, but Mayu didn’t seem to mind. “Sure,” he answered, and walked away to sit on a small, empty couch on the side of the room, without telling him specifically what he wanted. Well, he frowned in annoyance as he finally got to the front of the line, Mayu would get whatever Mikoshiba chose for him, and he’d better enjoy it!

While he was waiting for their order, Mikoshiba glanced back toward the younger boy and quickly realized he wasn’t the only one watching him. A couple of girls were definitely eyeing him up. In the privacy of his own head, he had no problem understanding why they were so interested: despite how young he looked (the oversized scarf he was wrapped in wasn’t doing him any favors) Mayu’s wide back and strong arms developed through judo practice also gave him an appealing air of manliness.

“Sir,” a voice said, making him jump for the second time that day. “Your coffee's ready.”

Mikoshiba quickly thanked the girl and walked away before she could notice him blushing. His face felt warm by the time he made it to the couch, but if it was still red, Mayu didn’t mention it. “Here,” he said, handing over one of the paper cups. “You can put more milk or sugar if you want, but it should be good, I think.”

Tentatively, Mayu blew lightly on the top before taking a quick sip. “Sweet,” he finally said, licking his lips. The girls were definitely swooning now.

“Too much?” Mikoshiba frowned. He was sure Mayu liked sweet things. “I can get another one if you want, or you can take mine, it’s less-”

“No,” Mayu interrupted him. “I like it,” he added, before taking another sip and burrowing further into the couch.

--

Running late was problematic enough on a good day, but with the snowstorm plaguing the city, Wakamatsu had been delayed even further than he’d expected. He had already managed to fall once in his rush, as well as having a few close-calls after that. Walking through almost eight inches of snow, he thought as he finally made it to the train station, was not something a Tokyo resident should have to endure.

It seemed most people shared his opinion about the weather, as the station was mostly empty aside from a few random people. Although he was not usually a person who minded crowds, after his journey through the snow Wakamatsu was definitely pleased with the idea of having all the room he wanted on the train. With some luck, the rest of his trip towards Nozaki’s house would be smooth sailing.

He was relaxing against a wall when a voice shattered all of his previous hopes. “Yo, Waka!”

Wakamatsu turned around, horrified at the coincidence. “Seo-senpai!” he exclaimed as she made her way over to him. “What are you doing here?!”

“I’m going to the party at Nozaki’s,” she yawned. “I overslept though,” she added, showing no guilt about being late. When she took a look at him, however, she burst out laughing. “You look like a wet cat!”

“I fell in the snow,” Wakamatsu answered, frowning. He wasn’t surprised Seo was attending the party; after all, he thought to himself as he tried his best to ignore her, she was close friends with Sakura. Nonetheless, it was still bad luck that he had run into her on his way over to the party. Could his day get any more difficult?

The train pulled up at the station and with a resigned sigh, Wakamatsu got in, deciding to make the best of his situation. It didn’t get better when he sat down: even though he picked a corner seat, Seo sat next to him and aggressively spread her legs as far as she could, leaving him no room to sit comfortably. After a few seconds, the train began moving and Wakamatsu made a promise to himself to keep quiet as long as he could.

This promise was broken seconds later, when Seo turned to look at him. “Hey, Waka, you’re not bringing anything?”

“What?” He was confused. “I had to bring something?”

“Duh. If someone invites you, it’s polite to bring something to share,” she answered.

Swallowing a comment about Seo, of all people, lecturing him on politeness, Wakamatsu felt himself panic a little. Did he still have time to stop by a shop on his way over? “Senpai, what are you bringing?”

“Cake.” She showed him the plastic bag she’d been carrying. When he looked inside, however, Wakamatsu noticed all she had in the bag was a small, personal cake that would not be able to satisfy one person, much less a party.

“If that’s all you’re going to bring, you might as well bring nothing!”

Before Seo could answer, however, the train jerked and suddenly stopped, the leftover momentum sending both of them flying to the ground. Wakamatsu barely had time to brace himself before he hit the ground, with Seo falling on top of him second later. Without a doubt, he thought as Seo elbowed him in the kidney, he was going to feel those bruises the next day.

--

“Nozaki-kun, are you sure about this?” Sakura asked, warily eyeing the pot Nozaki was stirring. It looked good and smelled even better, but when they had organized the party most of her friends had agreed on bringing sweets. How would the bold, savory flavor of the curry match all that sugar?

“Not exactly,” he answered. “I don’t think I put enough onions in. It might end up too mild.”

That wasn’t really her point, but Sakura decided to let it go. Although her eyes were focused on the pot, her mind drifted back to the gift she had brought for Nozaki. She had surreptitiously tucked it aside with her coat when she arrived, and then had quickly redirected Nozaki’s attention by praising the small Christmas tree he had on his desk, and offering to help put up some cheap paper hangers. Sakura didn’t think he suspected anything.

The more she thought about it, however, the more nervous she got. Was now the right time to give Nozaki his present? When she had imagined that magic moment, Sakura thought it would be at the end of the night, after everyone left, and the two of them were alone. The problem was that nobody had actually arrived yet, and it was looking more and more like the party would go on later than originally planned. They were alone now, she realized, and they might not get another moment alone together for the rest of the night. Maybe she should-

“Sakura?” Nozaki asked, instantly bringing her out of her thoughts. “Your phone’s been making noise for a while.”

“Oh, sorry!” She ran out of the kitchen. Her phone had a few messages from Seo. Sakura quickly flipped open her phone and began reading through them. “Oh, no!”

Nozaki popped his head out of the kitchen door. “What’s wrong?”

“Yuzuki and Wakamatsu-kun are stuck on the train!” Sakura exclaimed, concerned. “The snow is causing trouble on the rails, and the trains aren’t moving.” Nozaki made a frustrated noise with his throat. “She says they don’t know how long it will take to fix them. Oh, then she just sent pictures of Wakamatsu-kun. He looks really frustrated…”

When Sakura looked up, she noticed Nozaki sitting across from her at the table. “The others might not make it if the snow is that bad.”

“You’re right…!”

“We might have to eat all that curry by ourselves.”

At this, Sakura gave a little yelp. She hadn’t realized, but with the snow storm preventing everyone else from showing up, it was possible she and Nozaki were going to spend the whole evening alone. Could this technically be considered a Christmas date? And if the trains were still having trouble later, would that mean she would have to stay the night? She couldn’t do that, even if it was an emergency! Sakura felt her face grow warm, as the conflicting feelings of happiness and embarrassment warred inside of her. Could this situation get any worse?

Suddenly, the room went completely dark.

“Oh, the power is out,” observed Nozaki, unperturbed.

Sakura had never wanted to scream as much as she did at that moment.

--

“Senpai, this box has more costumes!”

Hori sighed and sat up, his back aching from all the heavy lifting he had been doing. “Put it with the others. We can look at it later.”

Carrying, moving, and opening boxes was not how he had expected to spend his morning. Originally, when “inventory day” had first been penciled into the schedule, it was meant to be a day where the club could go through the stuff they had used and put each item away. Fortunately (although Hori didn’t feel particularly lucky at the moment), a couple of weeks ago a local theatre group had been kind enough to donate the stuff they wouldn’t be using anymore, all of which was packed in unlabeled boxes. While he was definitely grateful for their generosity, after going through a few boxes Hori realized that not everything was in good condition, and some of what was left was really out there. Really, how were they supposed to use a skimpy mermaid costume with a chainmail bikini and silk stockings?

“Senpai, look at this dress!” Kashima exclaimed.

She was holding a white dress, accented with silver details along its side. It was probably a costume for a princess, or perhaps a very bold bride. Kashima was looking at him expectantly, eagerly awaiting a response, but for once, Hori was speechless. As unusual as it was to see her associated with a dress, he found himself imagining her wearing it, and he had to privately admit how well the white fabric and shape would suit her. For the first time, Hori wondered if they’d made a mistake by keeping Kashima in the role of a prince, instead of a princess.

“It’s a bit too short,” he finally said when he realized how long he had been quietly staring. It was true: although some aspects of the dress might have worked for Kashima , due to her height, the dress would fall a few centimeters below her knees, making it lose its regal appearance.

“It’s the perfect size, I promise.”She walked over to him, still holding the dress, and pressed it against his shoulders. “See? It would fit you perfectly!”

All thoughts of princesses disappeared from his mind as fast as they had arrived. Instead, two things happened in quick succession: First, Hori’s elbow made full contact with Kashima’s stomach, sending her and the dress sprawling back. Second, as she fell to the ground, all the lights in the room went off and they were both engulfed in complete darkness.

“Senpai! What did you do?!” Kashima exclaimed from somewhere to his left..

“I didn’t do anything!” Hori answered, flailing blindly . His foot immediately collided with a box in front of him. “Did you fall against the light switch or something?”

“I don’t think so,” she answered. Hori still couldn’t see completely, but his eyes were starting to get used to the dark, and he could see the shadow of his kouhai as she moved around the room. “Ah, the switch isn’t working!”

“What?” he walked over, painfully kicking another box in the process, and opened the door to the hallway: it was completely dark there as well. “It’s a blackout. The whole school must be out of power.” He was suddenly hit in the face with a beam of light. “What the hell?!”

“It’s my flashlight app!” Kashima exclaimed cheerily. She aimed it away from his face, but Hori could still see the reflection of her phone’s light on her face. It created an eerie effect that would have been more suited for Halloween instead of Christmas. “The snowstorm is knocking out power everywhere. Sakura-chan just messaged me and she said it’s out at Nozaki’s place, too.”

“That’s it for the party, then.” They had already been running late, so at the very least, now they had an excuse. “Grab your stuff, let’s get out of here.”

“We’re leaving?”

“Yeah, there’s no point in staying if we can’t see what we have to put away.” Hori felt around for his jacket, eventually finding it on the back of a chair. “We can go to a family restaurant, or catch the bus home. But there’s no reason to stay here.”

“Oh.” It was impossible to distinguish the nuances of Kashima’s expression in the dark, but that tone of voice was definitely not one she used when she was happy to be done with work. “I guess you’re right, senpai,” she added weakly, and Hori realized he hadn’t imagined the disappointment in her voice.

“You want to stay? The lights aren’t working!” Given the last time they had been in the school when it was completely dark, Kashima had been scared out of her mind, this seemed strangely out of character for her.

It seemed Kashima still remembered that, because she instantly exclaimed . “No, not at all!” but then went quiet for a few seconds. “I just wanted to… I was hoping we could try some of the costumes and, maybe…” Kashima mumbled whatever else she said, and Hori found himself losing his patience.

“And what?!”

“And we could go onstage and run some lines together, senpai!”

“Oh.” Even though it was dark, Hori could tell that Kashima was embarrassed; he was suddenly torn between feeling guilty for having snapped at her, and curious to see such a rare expression on her face. “We can still do that.”

“But the blackout-”

“I didn’t mean right now! But we can find some time to do that another day, if you want.” It wouldn’t be a bad idea, now that he thought about it. If it was just the two of them, Kashima was less likely to get distracted by her many fans. And Hori knew better than to lie to himself about how much he would actually like to be in a scene with Kashima.

“Really? Senpai!!” Any trace of Kashima’s embarrassment was gone, and he thought he could maybe see her growing smile.

Conversely, Hori could feel his own embarrassment growing and he was more than ready to leave. “Just grab your jacket already!” he yelled before leaving the room.

--

Mayu was the kind of person who always preferred to go with the flow of things (mostly because it meant less work overall), so after realizing his feelings towards Mikoshiba, he had simply accepted them and quickly moved on, expecting his life to go back to business as usual. Instead, he found himself frustrated when his feelings would constantly intervene in his daily life, causing him to think about Mikoshiba or go to unreasonable lengths to reach out to him. He had even started messaging Sakura, who had been a great confidant and source of information about Mikoshiba, but also required him to put more effort into his messages.

Even though he had just finished a whole cup of coffee, Mayu was exhausted. Running into Mikoshiba had been a coincidence and joining him had been exhaustingly impulsive. In spite of enjoying spending time with Mikoshiba , Mayu could feel the rest of his energy depleting. Some girls had unfortunately come over to talk to them at one point, but thankfully disappeared when they realized Mayu was still in middle school. Mikoshiba sighed with relief when they left, commenting, “It’s so difficult to be popular!”

Now the café was nearly deserted.. Some time ago, his brother had messaged him and Mikoshiba to let them know that the party had been canceled because the power at his place was out. At that point they had both decided to wait out the storm there, since the café was open overnight. Yet he snow didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon, and it just kept piling up. If it kept going, they might end up stuck there alongside the staff.

It was far too exhausting to think about, and Mayu’s energy was at its end. Without any regard for the people around them, he laid down on the couch and over Mikoshiba’s lap, his head firmly set on his thighs.

“Mayu!” Mikoshiba yelled, his voice high in surprise. “What-! You-! What?!”

“I’m tired,” he answered, further burrowing onto his legs. They were a little bony, but still cozy.

Mikoshiba didn’t seem to take that as a valid reason. “But, you… We’re in public!”

“Mikoto-san,” he said, looking up at the older boy. “It’s okay.”

“You’re not the one who’s supposed to say that!” Mikoshiba exclaimed, but his voice had at least lowered to his normal pitch.

Also, Mikoshiba hadn’t pushed him out of his lap yet, so Mayu considered that a victory. He wanted to turn around and lie on his side, make a proper nap of it, but he continued to lie on his back, yawning. If he fell asleep now, they really wouldn’t be leaving all night, and Mayu still had hope he could sleep on his own bed.

At his yawn, Mikoshiba sighed, defeated. “You can be really spoiled, you know?” he said with a slight frown on his face but a fondness in his voice, and ran a hand through Mayu’s hair. When Mayu looked up, Mikoshiba’s face quickly went bright red, glancing away as he quickly pulled his hand back. “We should get something to eat. Do you want some cake? That sounds good, some cake, since I didn’t get to buy any for Nozaki’s party. Get up so I can go get it.”

Although Mikoshiba seemed to be in a rush to get up, Mayu thought about it for a moment. While he didn’t want to give up his hard-earned spot on Mikoshiba’s thigh, he was feeling hungry. Heart and stomach battled, and the latter won. “All right,” he answered, sitting up,confident he could lie down again later.

Perhaps because he was relieved not to have a huge middle schooler on his lap anymore, Mikoshiba eagerly took them to the counter and was quick to pick a piece of strawberry shortcake for himself. After some deliberation, Mayu asked for the pudding and went to stand next to Mikoshiba. “Thank you, Mikoto-san.”

“So I’m buying you this one, too?” he grumbled, but still took out his wallet. When they went to sit down to their couch again, Mikoshiba tried to take the edge of the seat, but Mayu knew better than to let him get away, as he determinedly sat next to him, pressing his left leg against Mikoshiba’s right, causing him to yelp.

It was clear that a more upfront approach would be needed. “Mikoto-san.”

“Y-yeah?” Mikoshiba stuttered, stubbornly keeping his eyes on his cake.

“Mikoto-san,” Mayu said again, and waited until the awkward silence forced Mikoshiba to turn toward him, nervously eating just to keep his hands busy. “I like spending time with you.”

“That’s… nice, Mayu, thanks-”

“Because I like you.” Mikoshiba almost choked on his cake at that. When he was done coughing, Mayu clarified further, “Not just as a friend.”

“No, I got it!” he exclaimed, bright red once again.

Mayu nodded and went back to eating his dessert while Mikoshiba alternated between drinking some water, staring at Mayu, and rubbing his hands on his face. For a few seconds, he also looked out the door, as if Mikoshiba was considering running out into the snow. Finally he sighed. “I, um, want to thank you for your feelings, b-because it probably wasn’t easy to come out here and c-confess…”

That was a familiar line. “Is that from my brother’s manga?”

“It fits here!” Mikoshiba snapped , growing impossibly redder. “Let me finish, alright?” But having lost his rhythm, he struggled for a few moments, his eyes darting to look at everything but the person sitting right next to him. “I just. I want to say, I’m happy, but I don’t know if I feel the same w-way, so-“

“But you might?”

“Ah?”

Knowing full well the importance of this moment, Mayu gathered all of his leftover energy. “If you don’t know, but you’re happy, then you might feel the same way I do, Mikoto-san.”

“That’s-!” Mikoshiba frowned, and it was clear he was overwhelmed by the idea. “I thought… maybe?”

Finished with his pudding, Mayu once again decided to lie down on Mikoshiba’s lap (which made the older boy sputter and try to twist away, although the heavy body over them kept him from flailing his legs), this time turning to his side so that his face would be facing his stomach. “It’s alright, Mikoto-san,” he said, fairly content. It was hard to be upset when you had just finished eating dessert and it looked like you might have a chance with the person you loved. “I can wait until you figure it out.”

Mayu finally closed his eyes and relaxed, waiting for sleep to catch him. Before he was completely out, he thought he heard someone say “cheeky brat,” but it was hard to account for it.

But he was sure he hadn’t imagined the hand running through his hair.

--

As panicked as he had been when he first heard the announcement about the train being stopped, Wakamatsu was now feeling fairly calm. They still hadn’t begun to move, but the lights and heating were on and after a few minutes of anxious talking, the few people inside the train had all gone back to their own seats and were patiently waiting it out. Overall, although the situation wasn’t ideal, he was feeling confident that he would make it through without a hitch.

Wakamatsu thought better of that when he turned around and saw Seo had laid down on the seats. “Senpai!” he whispered as he pulled her by her jacket until she was sitting up. “You can’t just lie down!”

“Why not?” she complained “It’s not like anyone else is going to sit down here.”

Wakamatsu was very reluctant to admit she had a point. “Still,” he said, although aware it wasn’t a very convincing argument, “I’m sure we’ll be out of here soon.” Seo looked at him with a disbelieving expression on her face, but she didn’t lie down again, at least. They both remained quiet for a moment, before the silence was broken by the loud rumbling of Wakamatsu’s stomach.

He felt himself grow bright red even before Seo started teasing him. “Oh? Are you hungry, Waka?”

“I didn’t have time to eat before I left the house!” he exclaimed, hoping he wasn’t catching the attention of the few other passengers. “I thought that I would be eating something by now.”

“That’s a shame,” she said, though her tone implied she found it more hilarious than anything else. This was why Wakamatsu was surprised when Seo added, “Do you want my cake?”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, why not,” Seo answered, handing over the bag. “I’m not hungry, so you might as well take it.”

“Thank you, senpai!” Wakamatsu had to admit, he was a little touched. As much as she could be a great pain, from time to time Seo had moments when her caring side showed, and privately he cherished those moments.

When he eagerly opened the bag and took out the cake, however, Wakamatsu realized why Seo had given it up so easily: between the fall and what he was sure was her careless handling of the container, all of the icing had been smashed against the sides and away from the cake part. It looked completely unappetizing, but he realized that beggars couldn’t be choosers and did his best to eat it without making more of a mess.

“This is so boring!” Seo exclaimed, crashing against Wakamatsu’s side and nearly making him drop the last bit of cake. “How much longer is this going to last?”

“They said it wouldn’t be too long, maybe another twenty minutes at most,” Wakamatsu answered, looking for a napkin in the bag. There weren’t any, so he reluctantly licked his fingers instead.

“I feel like crawling on the walls!” she said. “Hey, Waka, what if we force the doors open and just walk out? I bet it wouldn’t be hard.”

“No! If we mess with the train, we’ll definitely be here forever.” He shuffled around, hoping to move her off his shoulder but Seo just shifted along with him. “Why don’t you read?”

“I don’t have anything to read.”

“Play with your phone?”

“I’m out of battery.”

“Listen to music?”

“I forgot my headphones.”

“I don’t know, then!” Wakamatsu finally snapped. “Take a nap?!”

“Oh, that could work,” Seo said, and before Wakamatsu had any time to protest, she settled against his chest,using him as her pillow. A few seconds later, her breathing slowed down as she fell into a sound sleep.

“I didn’t mean sleep on me,” he tried protesting, but he knew better than to believe she would relent. He sighed: at least she wasn’t talking about doing something crazy anymore. And, he remembered happily, he could relax himself by listening to music.

Wakamatsu cheerily unrolled his headphones and plugged them in, but only managed to listen to the first few magical sounds of Lorelei before he too fell asleep.

--

“Oh, another picture from Yuzuki!” Sakura exclaimed as she looked at her phone, the glow making her look creepy in the dark room. “It looks like Wakamatsu-kun fell asleep…”

Nozaki leaned over to look at the picture over her shoulder. It was indeed a picture of a sleeping Wakamatsu, but someone (he didn’t have to think hard to figure out who) had drawn on his face with a marker. He shook his head; Wakamatsu should know better than to be so vulnerable around Seo. “Are they off f the train yet?”

“Yes!” she jumped at Nozaki’s sudden closeness, turning her whole body to look at him. “She said they just started moving a bit ago, so t-they’re just going to go home!”

Nozaki nodded. “Makes sense. Hori-senpai and Kashima decided to go home after the school lost power.” Just then, his phone beeped with a notification and he flipped it open. “Mayu just sent me a thumbs-up emoji,” he announced, confused.

“Oh!” Sakura said, excitedly looking at the message. “That must mean he’s all right! Mikorin said he had run into him at a coffee place, so something good must have happened.”

“Something good?”

Sakura turned to look at him, and if Nozaki hadn’t known better, he would have sworn she was a little panicky “I-I mean, you know, that they’re safe and okay!! Something like that!”

“Hmm.” On the one hand, Nozaki thought his brother would at least tell him if he was home or not. On the other hand, Sakura had been talking to Mayu lately, so maybe thumbs-up was a thing they did together. “I’ll send him two thumbs,” he declared, feeling unreasonably annoyed out of nowhere.

“That’s good, Nozaki-kun!” Sakura cheered. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

Nozaki didn’t think Mayu needed his support just to get home, but Sakura probably meant well. Which reminded him: “Did you get in touch with your parents?”

“Oh, yes!” she said, flipping her phone closed– the only thing illuminating her now were the two candles on the table. “They said if I get close enough, my dad can pick me up.”

He nodded in understanding, and the room fell into silence. It was hard to see her expression in a mostly dark room, but Nozaki felt that he had spent enough time with Sakura to be able to read her even without looking at her face. She was fidgety and nervous, constantly looking back at her things. His years as a shoujo mangaka told him he had to use all of his sensitivity. “Sakura,” he saidin his kindest voice, “I understand.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“I understand why you’re nervous,” he said, and when he saw the way she stiffened, he knew he had been right. He sympathetically put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry! Being afraid of the dark is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Ah,” Sakura was speechless (probably surprised that he had caught on to her fear). “Thank you, Nozaki-kun.” It was hard to tell in the dark, but she seemed to be smiling. Nozaki was halfway through privately congratulating himself when she spoke up again. “Nozaki-kun? Will you be okay if the power doesn’t come back for a while?”

He reflected on the question for a moment. “It should be fine,” he answered. “I might run into the table a couple of times, but I have strong legs.”

“Well, my mom said we still had power at home-”

“That’s great news,” he said.

“Thanks, but I mean-!”

Whatever she meant was lost when suddenly the lights burst back on, momentarily blinding both of them. Soon enough, the electronics in the kitchen started beeping, asking to be reset with the correct time, and the fridge began humming with power. Nozaki was relieved: he didn’t think his food would have lasted overnight. “What were you saying?”

Sakura sighed. “…Don’t worry about it.”

The microwave’s beeping sounded insistent. “I’ll be right back, Sakura.”

Nozaki hadn’t bothered with setting the time on his electronics since he moved into his apartment, so it was embarrassing to admit he was struggling more than he expected. He accidentally powered on the microwave three times, before Sakura said, “Sorry to interrupt, Nozaki-kun!” and he lost his focus.

When he turned around, he noticed that she was carrying her bag and jacket. “Are you going home, Sakura?”

“Yes! I should get going if I want to meet up with my dad later.”

“Give me a minute, I’ll walk with you,” Nozaki said, walking toward his coat hanger.

Sakura stopped him before he got far. “It’s alright! It’s not too late yet, I’ll be okay.” She looked down for a second, and for the first time, Nozaki noticed she was carrying a large package. “I’m really sorry your party didn’t happen, Nozaki-kun.”

“Oh, right.” He had almost forgotten about his reasons for the party in all the mishaps. “It’ll work out, somehow. Ken-san will guide me.”

“Um, okay,” Sakura looked confused, but didn’t pry further. “B-Before I go, I just wanted…I wanted to tell you…” In her nervousness, her grip crinkled the package in her hands, but Nozaki waited until she was ready: it was only polite, after all. Finally, Sakura looked up, her face bright red, and shoved the gift into his hands “M-Merry Christmas! I-I hope w-we can be like this one day!” Without saying anything else, Sakura turned around and left in a hurry.

She must be running late, Nozaki thought. He looked down at the package in his hands: it was large and rectangular, and felt really light. Curious, he used a knife to cut the flap open, and carefully pulled out the piece of paper inside – and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw what he had in his hands.

He had always known Sakura was a good artist – it was one of the first things he noticed about her, and he’d seen it in practice a few times. Nonetheless, Nozaki was still surprised to see the picture in his hands: a carefully painted portrait of Suzuki and Mamiko, lovingly touching foreheads with their eyes closed. He had received art from fans before, but there was something about seeing all the love that had been put in the painting in front of him that took his breath away.

Nozaki smiled fondly: Without a doubt, Sakura was his biggest fan.
--

from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
subj: re: Christmas Blackout plot

rejected.

Pls just send over a new years’ plot.