Meanwhile, in the next town.

Yuhi who had been staring at his phone intently before he decided to throw it aside slumped on his bed. It will do him no good to call her back. But her tone slightly worried him. It should be fine, he will return to her side soon. Yet in days like this where he is not beside her, he would often think back to the past.

The winter before she dated Nagawa Sano, where he was still beside her.

..

December 24th 2012

Yuhi was not delusional. He gave her his Christmas gift early because he was under the impression that she would not want to see him on Christmas day. Or rather when he tried to subtly ask her out to take a break the other day she turned him down. Then again she turned him down because she was very busy with work.

Still getting rejected this way made him misunderstand. Is she not interested at all? A few months had passed since he joined the underworld organization Holy Knights and met Sumire. He knew it was her immediately and yet she denied knowing him.

Maybe she forgot? Yet one time he caught her singing his songs. That voice, of course, he could recognize it. That girl is only pretending not to know him but unfortunately, he could not understand why she would do something like that.

Although he received word from the others that Sumire asked to see him. On his way over to the meeting spot, he found himself being ambushed by koubou high school students and some fans of his.

Gee, quite some time has passed since he last performed on stage and even longer since he was those girls' president. So why the hell did they feel the need to give him Christmas presents? Or rather he doesn't even want to know why they had it with them.

Yuhi deeply sighed. He is late by two hours. There is no way she will still be there. As he thought that though, he spotted a girl with long brown hair from a distance.

Eh? Yuhi blinked in surprise. Could it be? But why would she even wait for him this long? Arashi doesn't hesitate to rush over as he does so the brunette hair girl turned around. "Late, where is my apology?"

His sweatdropped when he heard her sharp tone and saw her gaze. Here it is, her demanding side.

Not that it's bad, he found this side of her to be quite cute. She has such a stubborn and headstrong personality. Yuhi made his way over until he was standing directly in front of her.

Sumire extended her hands out and he responded by wrapping his arms around her. "Well then, here we go."

"Yuhi, you can be quite simple-minded sometimes you know?"

"Eh?"

Sumire sighs. "Well no matter, it's to be expected with your personality. Anyway here, your Christmas present."

She handed him a small blue and silver ribbon-wrapped box.

Yuhi blinked, confused. This did not go unnoticed by her.

"What do you not want it?"

"It's not that. I didn't think you would get me anything." Yuhi felt very bewildered. Not only did she accept his invitation, she even got him a gift.

"It's pretty cheap in comparison to that quartz necklace you got me. But you would accept it regardless won't you?"

She mentioned the necklace so casually. It is almost as though what happened yesterday didn't affect her. Guess it can't be helped. Yuhi positioned himself next to her and opened the box. The grass felt cold and there were traces of ice so it was hard and not wet when he sat on it.

When he opened the box and saw different types of small chocolate, he asked her.

"Is this handmade?"

"I made it to look homemade."

"Meaning?"

"It seems I have underestimated baking but the taste should be okay."

At that comment, he slowly examined the box indeed to confirm that some of the chocolates were shaped oddly. He could see some edges were slightly burnt but it did not matter to him. It warmed his heart knowing that she went through this trouble.

"So why chocolate?" Yuhi asked.

"Well, you were the one who said some nonsense about receiving chocolates when it snows as something special."

Yeah but he does not remember having that conversation with her. Unless she was eavesdropping?

Sumire sighed when she saw his questioning gaze. "It is difficult not to eavesdrop when you were talking in the middle of the corridor. Besides, I figured I would entertain you a little and fulfill your fantasy."

"The real reason?"

"I felt bad for rejecting your invitation to take a break a few days ago," Sumire admitted.

This girl and her indirect words. Then again he supposes this is one of the things he liked about her.

"So you invited me out on Christmas? Aren't you afraid of people misunderstanding?"

"Friends can hang out during Christmas."

Uh-huh, friends huh? He should hurry up and confess to her already. She shouldn't have a boyfriend yet.

"But Yuhi-san if you wanted to invite me out you should have just said so directly."

"Directly huh?"

If he was more direct with her then maybe she would get the hint. To not overwhelm her he drops hints here and there but she remains clueless. Today he has to make sure that something happens.

"Yes directly," Sumire repeated. "Just like the mountain of gifts, I saw on your desk this morning."

At that comment, his sweat fell. "You saw that?" He didn't have time to toss the gifts away before they sent him to his next job so he left it there.

"I thought you said that you would only accept presents from people you like. So are you telling me that you like those other girls?"

This girl is trying to mess with him. Yuhi sighed and reached over for her hand. "Look I think you already understand. But there is only one girl I like and want to exchange gifts with."

"Is that so? Then she must be very lucky."

"She is stubborn too but I find that very cute."

Her cheeks turned red then and she coughed lightly. "If you're going to mess with me just say so already."

So she thinks he is joking? This is harder than he thought it would be. "There are lights in town today, do you want to go there?"

She likes that type of thing right?

To his surprise, Sumire shook her head. "I think we should stay here, so we can be alone."

The thing with Sumire is she says very bold and straight forward things. But even then Yuhi does not see her behave this way in front of other people. Indeed she only ever acts this way in front of him.

….

The last thing he expected was for them to end up building a snowman. It's not like they are children. After she said something bold about wanting to stay with him, Yuhi thought that he could get closer to her. But instead, it's like this. He clapped his hands together trying to get his hands warm.

It was the coldest day of the year, so touching snow in this weather would have such results. But it didn't take long for his hands to get frostbites. 'So cold.' But he has to keep warm.

He could imagine it now, going to the emergency room on Christmas day and having to explain this situation. Yuhi could already see the scolding faces of the medics in his head.

"Are you done with the bottom yet? I'm almost finished with my part."

"Almost." Yuhi bent back down quickly. His hands were not warm yet but he does not want to leave her waiting for long.

'They aren't even dating yet and he is already doing everything she said.' It didn't take long before he finished, and he stepped back. "Okay, I'm done."

Sumire looked over with a troubled expression. "This was a bad idea."

"Not good enough?"

"It's perfect!" Sumire exclaimed. "How can that be? I had this perfect plan to humiliate you..."

His eyes twitched annoyed. 'Damn this girl. Here they are trying to have a date and she keeps fooling around with me.' Yuhi sighed deeply and wrapped his arms around her from the back, hugging her tightly.

'So warm.' The sudden warmth that engulfed him when he hugged her surprised him. The last time he hugged her she was as cold as ice. Then again that was after that dangerous mission.

"You really want to mess with me today?" Yuhi muttered against her neck. The moment he buried his face there, he smelled something sweet.

'Is she wearing perfume?' Yuhi blinked in surprise. Didn't she say that she hated wearing such things? Why would she dress up for him? Not just the perfume..it seems she put on a little bit of makeup too.

"Well..." Sumire trailed off. "I did."

"Past tense?"

"What we are doing right now is quite nice as an alternative."

His eyes widened when he heard those words. She--she is unbelievable. Does Sumire not realize what happens whenever she says things like that to him?

"Why did you agree to go out with me today?"

"Did I not give you a reason already?"

"No." It was a lie, she gave one earlier. But hearing her talk now he can't help but think there is something else.

"Initially I intended to recuse."

Of course, she would.

"But when I thought about you accepting another girl's invitation. Or asking another girl I felt quite sad."

'She must be messing around again and yet why do I not get that feeling?' Yuhi turned her around and bent down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. But before he could do that the girl kissed his cheeks.

"It seems I'm not bold enough to do anything more." Sumire sighed. "It's a shame." She gently caressed his cheeks. "But, I do like the results."

Damn, ultimate defeat. He intended to kiss her if something happened today but how can he do that now? Did Sumire do that on purpose? Yuhi knew that the girl was at least a little aware of his feelings.

Sumire pulled away from him and walked a few steps forward. She did not say anything but he could not miss the look in her eyes. Such sadness and loneliness, he wonders if he could one day get rid of it. Could he be the one to make her smile?

"This isn't special at all, I think I ruined things. Your hands are cold and you have frostbites."

His sweat fell. 'Now she notices?' "It's fine. You wanted to build a snowman right?"

"So I can mess with you." She seemed to be sulking.

Do all girls her age act like this these days? He already knew the answer to his own question. No, her behavior is the most unusual. From the very start, it was always like this.

But this is already normal for him. In fact, Yuhi found it quite attractive. 'What a strange fetish '

Yet since she is acting this way, there is one thing going on in her mind.

Yuhi sighed.. "I'm sorry, you're mad that I got gifts after all aren't you?"

Sumire reached over and gave his forehead a small flick, as she said with a bright smile."I told you I am not angry."

"That is hard to believe." Considering how her personality is. Even so, it relieved him a little. She is showing signs that she is jealous.

"When we are like this, I feel like time can stop forever with just us two."

Gee this girl. But for her to say this stuff now, words that sound like a farewell. It seems she already knows about him leaving the organization so he can go back to Tokyo.

Sumire rubs her hands together again. "Though it's cold, so I do prefer not to stay out forever."

Yuhi chuckled softly. "That's one comment too many." He suddenly felt a sudden warmth touch his cheek, as he grabbed hold of that hand, his eyes went wide but they softened. "Yeah your right, it's cold." He said, firmly intertwining their hands.

"Just like this, always..." He heard her mutter softly. Yuhi knew better than to respond, knowing that it would ruin the moment.

Ah this girl, she will always be the only one for him. That prediction was right. In the end, his life will revolve around this girl only. Eventually, they will have to let go and go their separate ways. But for now, just like this, they can remain together for just a few more moments.

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