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It was finally winter time at Roman Academy, and the students look in awe the beautiful winter snow that fell around the school. Sakura looks fondly out the hallway window, thinking about the magic that is the winter.
Oh I can’t believe it’s already winter time! She thinks to herself. I wonder if Nozaki-Kun would be free to check out the festivals around here, or maybe share a small treat in the shopping plaza, where everything is decorated. I can’t wait! Oh maybe he already wants to plan something with me!
“I hope we could do something together this winter….” She whispers to herself.
Sakura soon jolts up, hearing an awful groaning voice nearby.
I-is that a ghost?? She thinks with fear.
The groaning continues, and she soon turns around to see it was just Nozaki-kun. He walks over to her, shaken, extremely drained, and groaning in pain.
“Nozaki-kun!” She gasps. “Are you okay?”
He grasps onto her shoulders, looking at her with blood shot eyes, like he didn’t sleep at all last night.
“Sakura! It’s awful, it’s horrible…” He says in slightly monotone horror.
Sakura gets worried by how he’s acting, almost as if something awful happened. There is no way he’s ever been this downtrodden and vulnerable before.
“Nozaki-kun! I’ll be here to support you in any way you can! Please tell me all of your worries!” She says passionately.
“Sakura…” He goes on in dread. “I have…writer’s block!”
Sakura can’t help but turn into stone over the revelation. He was acting like a cat died this entire time. Maybe that cat was actually just a metaphor for something, she doesn’t know at this point anymore.
For the rest of the day, Nozaki’s dread glooms over him, like a dark cloud. Sakura swears she could see a dark cloud hovering over him. Seo seems to notice this as well during lunch.
“Yo, what’s wrong with your boy toy?” She asks.
“Oh, Nozaki is just, you know, a little down today!” Sakura laughs it off casually.
“Huh. Even his misery is like, hovering over me.” She waves off the cloud from her head.
She sighs in annoyance at how Sakura still seems to enjoy hanging around him despite days like this.
“Take this from me, Sakura, as your own dear friend,” She tells Sakura with a coldness to her words. “I can almost sense a dark energy that will hit you in the future, causing misfortune for all who pass by.”
Sakura could feel a chill down her spine, actually taking Seo’s warning to heart.
“Okay, well good luck then!” She smiles and skips down the hall.
“What does that even mean??” Sakura looks over in shock.
The dark cloud over Nozaki’s head doesn’t leave for the rest of the day, causing Sakura to worry even more.
Nozaki’s-kun’s writer block is really affecting him. She thinks to herself. I never knew he would take this so seriously.
Once they start heading home, Nozaki’s phone vibrates. He quickly picks it up and goes off to a corner to talk.
“Ken-san?” He calls. “I do apologize for this sudden urgency, I’m having writer’s block currently, and I’m worried about being off schedule for the next chapter.”
“You’re doing fine Yumeno-san, I don’t understand why you needed this urgent call all of a sudden.” He says with a little annoyance in his tone.
“You’re right, maybe I’m just overreacting. I should try to write a few scenes, maybe think of more ideas tonight!” He says brazenly.
“No no, you’re still overthinking this.” Ken rubs his forehead really hard, as he was just not listening. “Why don’t you just, I don’t know…take a break? The winter season is coming up, so they’re decorating the plaza with decor-”
“You’re right! I haven’t done a winter special before! You’re the best!”
“Wha-”
Nozaki excitedly hangs up.
Soon after, his little dark cloud goes away, and a ray of light shines down on him, despite it being 5 pm Japan Standard Time.
“Oh Ken-san, you’re so cool!” He says with a gentle tear in his eye. “Sakura! We’re going on a date tomorrow!”
Sakura feels a fuse go off and fireworks blasts in her mind.
“Wha-wha-Wah-Wahatt????” She stammers loudly in front of people.
She freezes out of pure surprise that it takes her a second to come back to her senses.
“We’re going out to have some fun filled with wintertime merriment! I need you to be nicely dressed and warm!” He exclaims. “This will serve as the perfect inspiration for my next chapter!”
“Okay!!” She agrees.
Oh my gosh, finally a date with Nozaki?? She thinks to herself. Wow I can’t believe it! I know this will just be for research purposes, but he must’ve come to his senses during that call! At least this is just a nice excuse to spend more time together but as a proper date!*
*The author would like to note how Sakura is still happy to accept any chance at dating Nozaki, even if it’s fake.
In the bright shining morning, Nozaki waits near the train for Sakura.
Nozaki decided to wear something suited for the occasion, a tall black coat with a red scarf and some nice dress shoes. To complete the look, he slicked his hair back with some gel, to make it look clean and presentable. It was perfect outfit for the male protagonist, who might overdress as to impress his date.
He sees the train arrive, and Sakura walks out. To Nozaki’s surprise, Sakura walks out wearing a cute fuzzy white winter coat and matching boots. Instead of her little ribbons, she opted to wear white earmuffs with little white ribbons on each side.
Nozaki takes a mental note of the outfit, as he thought it was perfect for Mamiko.
Sakura really wanted to look her best for today, and decided to put on a little makeup. Nothing too crazy, just a little blush and light eyeshadow with her peach lipgloss she wears everyday.
“Oh, you look bright today.” He tells Sakura.
He actually noticed! She thinks to herself.
“Ah, thank you Nozaki-kun!” She gushes.
“Are you ready?” He asks, while giving her his arm.
Sakura blushes at how gentlemanly he’s acting today.
“Yes!” She says happily.
She walks beside him into town before realizing something wrong.
Wait a minute, bright? Doesn’t he mean brighter, right? She realizes.
The center of town was bustling with people celebrating the winter times. Many couples walked around, enjoying the snowy area, complete with adorned buildings. At the very center of the pavilion, a large Christmas tree sits in the middle, looking beautiful with hundreds of ornaments adorned on its branches.
Sakura was in heaven as it was everything she dreamed of. A perfect day with the perfect guy during a beautiful time of the year. She was incredibly lucky.
Sakura clutches onto him happily. Nozaki notices, and smiles.
“So Nozaki-kun,” She asks, “How should we start the day?”
“I’m glad you asked!” He says with a smile.
He whips out a very, very, very long piece of paper.
“So at 10 am: Walk and Gaze at the environment, 11 am: Go shopping for Cute Items, 1 pm: Ice Skating around the Rink, 2:30 pm: Small Dessert Break, 3 pm: Horse Drawn Carriage Ride, 6 pm-”
Sakura’s head starts to get a little dizzy from paying attention to every single scheduled thing he had.
“N-nozaki!-I don’t think dates are that…detailed.” She says with shaky breath.
Nozaki looks over, puzzled.
“But we have to make our time effective here, therefore making it a perfect date.”
“But I don’t think dates are as detailed as our school schedule…”
Nozaki takes a second longer to think about it. Maybe Sakura is onto something, as more cute moments could be made by the indecisiveness of Mamiko and Suzuki choosing what to do first.
“No no, you’re right.” Nozaki tosses his schedule away and grabs Sakura’s hand. “Okay we’re on a date, with no schedule, relying on the spontaneity of the moment. Let’s go!”
He grabs her by the arm and they start speeding up, now Sakura is being dragged around like a paper doll at top speed.
Oh no, this is going to be too spontaneous!! She thinks in fear.
Sakura and Nozaki continue to walk around the mall, until Sakura stops to notice something down the hall.
“Oh check out this photo booth!” She tells him.
“Hmm photo booths are the perfect thing to do on a date.” He ponders. “We can each have a keepsake to remember this.”
Sakura immediately zooms over to get in the booth while Nozaki just strolls in, thinking about how his assistant is just so passionate about this project.
The little screen blinks on, to show a cute octopus on screen, giving directions out loud: Aim the camera for some fun and cute angles!
Aim the camera?, They both question.
They both look down to see a controller connected to the booth. Nozaki takes a hold of it, to see that it actually moves the camera around the booth.
“That’s some crazy new tech!” She exclaims.
Huh what would be a good angle… Nozaki thinks.
He grabs the small controller to aim the camera down to give him and Sakura a nice shot.
“Ready?” He asks her.
“Yes!” She shouts happily.
This is so cool! She thinks. Our first pictures together! I even get to keep these too!
The octopus shouts on screen: Okay!! Ready in 3! 2! 1! Smile!!
The light flashes a few times, and the camera finally stops. Near the center of the booth, a small reel of pictures comes out.
Sakura eagerly swipes it and takes a good look at the photos.
Nozaki seemed to take good angles, but it was too angled and more appropriate for references. As for Sakura, you could only see one-fifth of her head.
“Wait, where am I?” She questions him.
“Oh I think I aimed the camera too high.” He says. “It’s not very good at dynamic angles with two people.”
Why were you trying to get a dynamic pose?? I thought this was just a simple couples picture?? She questions more seriously in her head.
But instead of blurting anything out loud, she just says: “Okay let’s just keep it in place and get good pictures by leaving the controller alone.”
“Sure.” He agrees.
3! 2! 1! Smile!!
The camera flashes a few more times, and pops out another reel of pictures. Sakura swipes it again to only see her topside and Nozaki-kun’s topside.
“Now neither of us are in the picture.” He tells Sakura.
Maybe the controller was just a gimmick…Sakura thinks in pure dread.
Nozaki takes Sakura over to the ice skating rink that was nearby the big Christmas tree. Sakura never really skated before, so getting on the rink was a little tricky.
Once she was on the ice, she scuttles over to Nozaki, who didn’t even move much from the entrance.
“Sakura, are you okay?” Nozaki asks.
“I-I’m okay!” She says. Sakura accidentally trips, and Nozaki grabs her by the waist. She turns completely red, looking directly in his eyes.
“Here, let me show you.” He tells her. “Skate forward with your right, then your left.”
They move slowly back and forth, and side to side. Sakura finally starts to get it, and moves forward to lead.
Some skaters look at them both, and the girls swoon over courteous Nozaki was.
Sakura giggles and twirls a little, enjoying this small moment as part of the non-date.
But soon, she trips over again, accidentally taking Nozaki down by dragging his red scarf. He face plants into the ice hard, and people gasp around them.
“Maybe letting you lead was a bad idea…” He muffles while on the ice.
“Isn’t the ice cold on your face?!” She panics.
Finally after a weird start to their fake date, Sakura sits down to relax.
Her stomach soon starts to growl.
“How about we get something to eat?” She asks Nozaki.
“Yeah, let’s do that!” He exclaims.
Soon they find themselves at a beautiful, almost luxurious looking restaurant with cursive lettering at the front, called “L’f*rverence”.
“I’ve narrowed our choices down to this 4 star restaurant where the chef studied in France.” He says with confidence.
“Can we really afford that?!” She says with shock.
“Hm…technically on my salary of a mangaka, no.”
Why was this even an option then??
Sakura notices to her left a different option.
“What about there?” She points down the street to a cute cafe with Christmas decorations outside.
“Hmm, it’s no gourmet restaurant, but it will work.” He says
“Will you please let go of the expensive option??” She begs him.
After a nice quiet little lunch together, they go back to walking around.
Underneath a huge arch, Sakura notices some interesting greenery hanging around, with couples taking photos of themselves underneath these leaves.
She stands underneath one wreath and looks up.
“What are they?” She asks curiously.
“Oh this? It’s European Mistletoe. Apparently it’s common for couples to kiss underneath it for good luck. But usually it’s bad luck for women if they ignore it.” Says Nozaki.
Wait so it’s bad if I ignore it??? She panics in her head.
She turns bright red, thinking that of all times, she would not have imagined asking Nozaki-kun for a kiss here. Otherwise it would be a bad omen, especially if it affects her chances way more in the future.
Might as well take my chances! She thinks confidently.
“Well, it would be bad if I ignore it…” She tells him.
Nozaki turns around and notices her plight.
“You’re right.” He says.
He snaps the mistletoe off and ties it to a tree branch.
“Guess we’ll carry this around and see if anyone kisses you.”
“What?!” She yells.
Sakura starts to run, with Nozaki trailing behind, making sure the mistletoe never leaves her side, as to prevent the curse from happening.
“I don’t want to be cursed!!!” She wails.
On that same day, Mikoshiba waits in line at the shopping plaza for something interesting. Of course he won’t admit it, not even for the plot. While waiting outside in line, he nervously looks around, almost like he’s hiding from someone. He rubs his arms to try to keep warm.
He takes another glance out and is shocked by the sight of Nozaki running around a mistletoe tied to a branch in front of Sakura.
What are they doing? He looks in confusion.
Nozaki notices him and waves.
“Oh Mikoshiba!” Nozaki shouts at him.
Mikoshiba yelps, and hides his face in his hoodie. Sakura runs to him, with Nozaki following behind.
“Mikorin!” Sakura calls him out.
The people in line look at him funny, and Mikoshiba starts to freak out and pulls them both in.
“What are you two doing?!” He whispers.
“We’re going on a non-date today.” Whispers Nozaki.
“What kind of not-date is this??” He retorts. “You look like you’re going out to fish in a creepy pervy way!”
“Oh well you know, it’s for research for a holiday special!” says Sakura.
“I don’t think this is what people do on a first date!”
“But what are you doing here?” Sakura questions innocently.
“Uh-“ Mikoshiba crashes mentally and tries to find an excuse within five seconds. “I’m buying stuff…for a girl…at-at school.”
“Who?" Sakura asks again, happily.
"A friend." He replies confidently. "A great, close friend."
Sakura gives him a blank stare, still confused.
"Whatever! Anyway, what are you doing and also what is that??"
“This is European Mistletoe.” Nozaki replies calmly. "We have to get Sakura to kiss someone or she will be cursed forever."
What sort of sick twisted game is this by the Europeans?!! He thinks in dread.
“Could you kiss Sakura to break the curse?” Nozaki asks him.
“Huh?!” Mikoshiba turns completely red, and steam comes out of his head.
This is not how I ever imagined my first kiss would be like…I’m so sorry you have to deal with this, Sakura… He thinks with woe.
“As respect between you and me, I object to your proposition.” He tells Nozaki with his faux aura.
“Okay, so can you help us find someone to kiss Sakura?” Nozaki asks him.
“No way! Do you know how long I’ve waited for this Pr*ject S*kai collab??” He snaps.
Nozaki side eyes the promotional material before making a proper conclusion.
“This seems like a rehash of last year.” Nozaki says bluntly.
“No it’s not!” Mikoshiba takes with great offense. “It’s new outfits and it’s with S*nrio this time!”
He’s very dedicated, I’ll give him that…thinks Nozaki.
Also on that same day, Roman Academy’s Drama Club is preparing for a Christmas Pageant at the shopping area’s main stage, where they will premiere an original play called “The Christmas Princess”.
Masayuki Hori, the president of the club, spent days agonizing over the last few details, making sure everyone rehearsed their lines.
Especially with the lead “prince” of the play, Yuu Kashima.
Every time they run through a scene, he notices Kashima darting her eyes every second, looking at a deer prop across from her.
Hori starts to get irritated knowing that her attention is elsewhere.
“Kashima! Focus on the other actors and not on the deer!” He shouts from off the stage.
“Uhh Senpai, would it be okay if I turned this deer around? It’s giving me the creeps.” She asks him.
“Don’t touch it!” He demands his lead. “Just try to ignore it, it’s not even real.”
Kashima tries to avoid making eye contact with this fake deer, but is haunted by the dead pupils. She jolts a little, thinking it moved.
Hori-senpai shakes his head while looking at the script, but notices in the corner of his eye two people running towards him.
“Hori-senpai!!” Sakura shouts.
”Huh?” He looks over in shock to see Sakura and Nozaki trailing behind with mistletoe?
“Why are you guys here?” He asks cluelessly. “I-“
Little did he know, Kashima teleported right behind him.
“Oh hey Nozaki!” Kashima waves. “Why are you dressed like a salaryman?”
“Kashimaaa-“
“I’m on a non-date.” says Nozaki.
“A not-date with Sakura-chan??”
“Wha-what is going on?” Hori asks.
“Yeah. We’re just in a little bit of a predicament right now.”
“Ohh what happened?” She asks.
“What the hell is this?” Hori-senpai looks around as his whole stage practice has been taken hostage. “Nozaki!! What is going on?”
“Oh, Hori-senpai, this might be too brash of me to ask, but could you help me break this curse I accidentally placed on Sakura?” He says. “She needs someone to kiss her.”
Hori-senpai seems to look shocked and disturbed but also angry at the same time. A very rare but interesting combo to see at once.
“Wha-I’m not kissing Sakura!” He angrily shouts. “Don’t you think this is a little excessive and wrong??”
What a weird not-date… Kashima thinks to herself. But Senpai probably wouldn’t want his first kiss to be this…I guess I’ll have to make this sacrifice for him!
Kashima flips over her princely cape, and gives Nozaki a confident pose.
“Not to worry, Nozaki, I can easily take care of this curse-“
“NOT YOU YOU DOLT!” Hori whacks her on the head as the prince could not break this dreaded curse. “Get back on stage right now!!”
“No no, Hori-senpai.” Nozaki says calmly. “Maybe this is fate calling.”
“Nozaki, I’m only here to offer myself to aid other young women who are in trouble.” Kashima bows. “It’s my duty to help poor Sakura with this curse.”
Kashima takes the hand of Sakura, lovingly holding it, looking into her eyes.
“Sakura, will you allow me to kiss you?” Kashima asks her in a princely manner.
Sakura nods, gazing into her eyes. The prince brushes her hair away and goes in to break the curse.
But as Kashima slowly approaches Sakura, Nozaki feels a weird sting in his gut, almost as if he was against someone kissing Sakura.
It felt wrong.
As Kashima slowly comes in to kiss, she feels something plasticy touch her lips. She opens her eyes, and finds out she was kissing a deer head.
“AHHHHHHHH!!!!”
Kashima gets knocked out, defeated by the deer once and for all.
“Great, you traumatized my lead actor!” Hori exclaims with frustration.
“Whoa what happened here?”
Seo walks over with Wakamatsu trailing behind, carrying a ton of shopping bags.
“I feel like I missed something humiliating.” Seo asks.
“Hey Nozaki! I heard someone scream, what happened?” Mikoshiba also comes over, finally with his collaboration shopping bag.
“Is that-“ Seo snickers at the bag Mikoshiba was holding.
“IT’S NOT MINE I GOT IT FOR A GIRL AT SCHOOL!” He says with red face.
“Nozaki got Sakura stuck under mistletoe and needs someone to kiss to break the spell!” Hori says. “Nozaki, why didn’t you let Kashima just kiss her?”
”Kashima??” Mikoshiba looks over, stunned that he missed at least 5 minutes of context here.
“I don’t know, Hori-senpai.” Nozaki admits to him.
”They both agreed! It’s better you allow this to happen now or make it worse for her!!”
Hori-senpai continues to bicker, delaying anymore practice to continue until this was resolved.
Seo the entire time deduces this whole dilemma, and comes to the conclusion:
”Nozaki, how come you haven’t kissed her?” Seo asks. “You were the one who noticed her under the mistletoe, it should just be you, naturally. You shouldn’t have made her chase around someone for a kiss.”
Nozaki takes a second to think about this. Him, kissing his assistant? That doesn’t feel right either.
“Sakura, would you really be okay with that?” He asks.
“YES! Eh-” Sakura thinks about this carefully, this would possibly the weirdest way that she would have her first kiss with Nozaki-kun. “Nozaki, I know this is a really unfortunate situation to be in, but if you’re willing to help me out, that’s already commendable.”
Sakura feels her face turn red at how she sort of blurted out words, but knew her message came from the heart.
Nozaki slowly approaches her, almost giving a hint of blush to his face, with Sakura leading in.
They sort of angle each other, but don’t know where to turn to kiss.
“How about you turn this way, and I’ll turn here..-” He mumbles.
He didn’t fully show it, but was feeling a little guilty over this entire fiasco. Sakura might hate him after this all ends.
Sakura looks at him with those big sparkling eyes, looking completely red, finally, finally getting this moment.
She weirdly holds her breath in, approaching very slowly.
Nozaki approaches slowly, shutting his eyes as to try to position himself in the right angle.
Nozaki lets his lips touch hers, feeling that soft peachy lipgloss she wears every day.
They hold this kiss for an odd amount of time, to where it looked like two pufferfish stuck together.
Everyone around them look awkwardly at this moment, with tension filling in the air.
What an awkward kiss… They all thought.
It was soon late after a long day of “fake” dating. Sakura felt her hair was messy, and her boots are worn out. She gets quiet and Nozaki couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Even though this date wasn’t real, he felt like he was at fault for what happened. Finally on the train station, he speaks up to Sakura before she leaves.
“Oh Sakura.” He asks. “Um…”
Sakura looks over, sort of dreading what he’ll say next. She was honestly a little tired after being dragged around literally by a stick all day.
“Yes, Nozaki-kun?” She asks.
“I apologize for how the kiss ended up, I imagine this was not how you wanted your first kiss to be like.” He sighs. “Would you…like to try again?”
Sakura looks surprised to hear him say that, and her heart skips a beat.
“Do you…you really mean it?” She says.
Nozaki looks down awkwardly, sort of blushing.
“I do.” He says, with endearment in his eyes.
Sakura can’t help but notice the warm glittering lights around them, near the train station. It starts to snow again around them. Nozaki’s hands wrap around hers, and she can see the warm glow reflect on him.
Nozaki leans down a little, and gives her a gentle peck on her lips. This time, it felt just right.
Sakura wished it lasted longer. She felt like she was floating on a cloud after it was over.
Nozaki notices how dizzy she looks, and panics.
Oh no…did she still hate it? He thinks.
Sakura giggles a little, and can’t help but smile. Once the train arrives, he lets go of her hands. Sakura finally gets on, and turns around to tell Nozaki what was on her mind.
“Regardless of what happened…it was still a perfect day.” She tells him.
Nozaki’s eyes widen. There was this fluttering feeling in him growing after hearing her words. They sounded sweeter to him than anything she ever said before.
He thinks about this while walking back home. This date wasn’t what he exactly imagined it would be. But maybe Suzuki and Mamiko would be forced to face each other’s flaws in an intimate space.
Maybe the point of the date was to really connect with each other on an intimate level. It didn’t matter if everything had to be perfect, being with the person you love matters the most.
Sakura…
He clutches his chest, feeling warm while it keeps snowing outside.
Could this really be…?