Click - Prince of Tennis - Oneshot

Shiwasu Satsuki didn’t know what she was doing with this person, locked inside a tiny, dark storage room without barely any space to breathe or move. She thought they were both smarter than this. Apparently, being a genius in class doesn’t guarantee that you’re a genius anywhere else. Which one of them was the idiot who shut the door even though they’re both fully aware that the storage room’s door was broken and can only be opened from the outside?

Well, whatever the case, they are both now locked inside here.

“Isn’t there ventilation at this place?” Satsuki grumbled and tried to fan herself with a piece of paper she found on the floor. It was getting to tiring to stand, but there wasn’t enough space for the two of them to sit down.

“Why don’t you sit down? I don’t mind standing,” Yagyuu Hiroshi said and adjusted his glasses. Being the gentleman he was, he cannot allow a girl to be tired when he could help it. Satsuki shrugged and slid down to the floor as Yagyuu tried once again to turn the door knob around and hopefully free them from this confinement. No such luck. He rattled the door knob to no avail.

“Give it up, Yagyuu. All we can do is to wait for help to arrive,” Satsuki said. Yagyuu decided to agree with her. “A little light would be appreciated though.”

Yagyuu glanced around for a light switch. It took him some time to locate it behind a stack of boxes.

Click. Nothing. Click. Still dark.

Not wanting to give up, he furiously flicked the switch over and over again. At some point, he punched the switch a little bit too hard and knocked the boxes over.

“Ah,” Satsuki exclaimed as she watched the boxes topple over and incoming to crush her underneath them. They don’t look like light boxes at all. Maybe old books were kept in there. She quickly shut her eyes and waits for the impact, but she felt nothing.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Yagyuu was there to stop the boxes from crushing her, his arms spread out in front of her and the boxes hitting his back with particularly loud thuds that probably hurts a lot.

“Yagyuu!” Satsuki gasped after all the boxes had stopped moving.

“I am okay,” Yagyuu said, but when he tried to stand back up, his legs gave in under him and he fell forward, bringing Satsuki to the floor with him. “I am sorry!” he apologized with a flustered tone and tried to push himself off to no avail.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Satsuki assured him and moved underneath him into a semi-sitting position. The best she could do right now with Yagyuu on top of her. “Your legs got hit by the boxes didn’t it? Don’t force yourself.”

“But this position is…” Yagyuu trailed off. The awkwardness of their situation right now is enough to complete his sentence and for Satsuki to understand what he was trying to say.

“I-it’s okay… Really. Yagyuu, you think too much,” she said, but she can’t stop the blush from spreading on her face. They spend the next few minutes in silence as they waited for Yagyuu’s leg to be decent enough to lift him up. Satsuki can feel her legs sleeping, but if Yagyuu can endure the pain without complains, so could she.

“Shiwasu-san…?”

“W-what?”

“Are you okay? I am sorry.”

“I told you I am fine,” she said.

“But, I still feel like it’s my fault.”

“No it isn’t. Yagyuu, stop over thinking.”

“But-,”

Satsuki rolled her eyes and leaned forward to capture Yagyuu into a kiss.

“Sa-Satsuki?” he asked, feeling confused at the sudden assault, but Satsuki didn’t stop, if anything, she kissed him harder until Yagyuu slowly but surely, returned it.

A few minutes later, they broke apart for air, panting and light headed.

“That was…” Yagyuu started, unsure of what it was.

“To shut you up,” Satsuki offered helpfully.

“Right…” Yagyuu breathed out.

Outside, Niou sat against the door and twirled a key on his finger, smirking and whistling a tune in victory, wondering what it would be like if he was to be trapped with Kuririn in a small and enclosed storage room.

Tatami Mats - Prince of Tennis - Oneshot

There is something about the tatami mats in the Sanada household that intrigues Shiwasu Satsuki. Maybe it’s the way they sing to her when she glides over them. She remembers Kuririn ever mentioning that each house have their own song. Something she had learned from a novel. To Satsuki, the song the Sanada house sang was a very sweet and memorable one. Every single square of mat in that house reminded her of one thing or another.

Like this one she was standing on, third mat from the left and fifth from the front in the kitchen. She once baked a cake with the younger Sanada son and she had been standing right here, washing the utensils and creaming the cake. Genichirou had wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her. It was a memorable kiss, because it was the first Valentine’s Day kiss she shared with him.

Satsuki moved to the family room. She sat on the floor in front of the couch. This was the second tatami mat directly in front of the television. Whenever she cuddles up with Genichirou to watch a movie (much to his protests) they always end up sitting on the floor instead of the couch. Satsuki patted the mat and stood up. He went up to the second floor and entered a room. Genichirou’s room.

She stood over to the mat under the window. They had made out here once. Genichirou even went through all the trouble of setting up candles. This was unlike him, but surprises like these make her happy once in a while. They had been careless, or just too passionate, and had knocked a candle over. There was a flurry of activity following after, a lot of panicked yelling and water dousing. If someone looks at the tatami mat, they would see the burnt mark where the candle had fallen.

Genichirou learned the hard way to never play with candles anymore.

Satsuki traced each mat in his room. From every important memory to the pointless ones. It was even right here in this room where he had first asked her out after a home tutoring session. More specifically, the third mat from the left and the second from the door. She stepped on the next one. Genichirou read a book on kendo here once. The next one, he slept here by accident once and came down with a cold the next morning, chastising himself for being so tarundoru. The next one, and the next, and the next. They all reminded her of something.

“Satsuki?” Genichirou asked when he entered his room to see her there, doing nothing, just standing.

“Genichirou!” she chirped happily and bounded over to him. “Welcome home, you’re late today.”

“Sorry, practice ran longer than it should. Have you been waiting long?”

“For over an hour,” she pouted. “You promised to spend time with me.”

“Did you do something significant while waiting?” he asked and moved over to sit on the floor, leaning on his bed. Satsuki sat next to him.

“Nothing much, just reminiscing,” she replied.

“Did you?” he asked and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers.

“Yeap,” she said and kissed back.

That’s one more mat with one more memory for Satsuki to keep. 

Oscar - Prince of Tennis - Oneshot

There are more than thousands of names in this world, yet the name Ueda Rie first thought of when she saw Tezuka Kunimitsu was Oscar. It was a very neat pet name in her opinion. It also suits him since he always reminded her of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street. And whenever she sees him, the name will always be at the tip of her tongue, waiting to spill out. But no, calling your setokaichou Oscar is not appropriate. Especially if your setokaichou is the no-nonsense Tezuka.

“Ueda-san?” Tezuka called to his secretary and waved papers in front of her face. She had a weird smile plastered on her face and was dazing into space. Whatever she was thinking of, it had better nothing to do with him. That smile was… for lack of a better word, creepy.

“Ueda-san?” he called again, louder this time and she snapped back to reality. Her eyes trailed from the paper up the beautifully tanned arm and met the eyes of one annoyed-looking Tezuka Kunimitsu. No, Tezuka never looked annoyed. In fact, he never looked anything at all. He was just…. Tezuka. The man with no expression. Something like Oscar the Grouch?

Ah, don’t think about it Rie, she told herself several times and tried to keep her smile off her face to no avail. If Tezuka saw something amiss with his usually hard-working secretary today, he was nice enough not to mention it.

“Are you here with me, Ueda-san?” he asked again and Rie mentally slap herself, while asking herself to focus. She took a deep breath and looked back at Tezuka with focused eyes.

“Yes, yes I am. Sorry. You were saying, Oscar-san?”

Oh shoot.

At least the priceless look in his face is worth something.

A Little Love in the Moonlight - Prince of Tennis - Oneshot

The restaurant was a nice secluded place tucked away in the corner of the street. It wasn’t big or grand, but it wasn’t shabby either. It was homey. The way both Sanada and Janey liked it. Above the restaurant was her apartment that she shared with her friends, Sarara, Claire and Rie. Sometimes Sanada’s sister, Kuririn and her entourage (just Tora actually), would come over and hang out.

But really, that’s just Sanada’s excuse to see Janey, his newly-wedded wife. He’s just too shy to come over without an excuse much to Kuririn’s annoyance.

“I heard that there will be a meteor shower tonight, Genichirou, let’s go and watch,” she suggested after he had paid the bill.

“I was planning to go back to your apartment and maybe play shougi or something,” he said with a frown. With the number of people coming and going into Janey’s apartment, it was a rare moment to have the apartment just for the two of them alone. Sanada had after all, gone to the length of ‘asking’ his sister to bring everyone out for a walk that night.

“Please? We don’t get to see meteor showers every day.”

“But it’s a January night. I don’t want to spend a winter night lying around outside.”

“We can bring blankets. And I’ll even let you cuddle me,” she persuaded. Okay, the cuddling part does sound tempting. Usually, she would hit him with her katana if he even tried to touch her.

“Fine, we can go,” he said. Janey kissed his cheek in glee and ran up to get blankets for the stargazing, not noticing the ever growing blush on his cheeks as he quickly rushed out of the restaurant to get some fresh air and cool down.

=========

Not thirty minutes later, the newly-weds found themselves being covered in warm fluffy blankets and cuddling against each other to gaze at the star filled sky. “Thirty minutes to the shower,” Janey announced as she checked Sanada’s wristwatch. It was a wedding present his sister’s fiancé gave to him. Yes, an Atobe-class wristwatch.

She turned to her side to face him and snuggled closer in search of warmth. “Genichirou, when the stars fall, what are you going to wish for?”

“I don’t believe in wishing stars.”

“Then I will wish for something in behalf of you,” Janey told him.

“Like what kind of wish?”

She smiled and gave him a brief kiss. Before he could return it, she pulled away, and smiled at him, “That is a secret.”

Sanada frowned when they both gazed back at the star filled sky waiting for the shower. One good thing about clear winter nights is the stars after all. And the fact that the beach is empty and they were the only people crazy enough to be there on such a cold night.

“It’s so cold. We could’ve been inside your apartment right now.”

“And do what? Play shougi?”

“What’s wrong with shougi?”

“Nothing, it’s just not romantic,” Janey said with a sigh. Sanada is like a block of dense rock. Sometimes, she wishes he knows what she wants. What girls want in general.

“So what’s your idea of romantic? Freezing in the winter air at the beach?”

“I was thinking more of…” Janey started and decided to let her actions finish her sentence as she slipped a hand under his shirt. She felt him tense under her touch and tried to suppress a smirk as she made careful eye contact with him. It was almost cute how much he blushed just from the light touches.

“Janey…” he breathed out, trying hard to regulate his breathing. He can feel the Goosebumps forming on his skin as her fingers, cold from the night air, brushed past the muscles in his stomach and travelled upwards under his shirt and jacket.

 Janey leaned in for another kiss, this time lingering long enough for him to react. She can feel his hands moving downwards, his thumb hooking into the inside of her jeans and trying to tug them down.

“Patience,” she whispered as they broke away for air. She crawled above Sanada and straddled him, resuming where they left off with the lip-locking. Sanada pushed her body closer to his as she took the initiative and took off his jacket, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, exposing his well-toned chest to the cold air.

Janey pulled back to view the delectable sight before her, licking her lips a little unconsciously as she watched the flush in Sanada’s exposed body and the puffs of breaths he breathed out into the air. He was feeling hot despite the cold weather, and Janey can’t help but smile at the reason why.

“We are going to miss the shower,” Sanada groaned out as Janey grinded into him and leaned down to suck on the nape of his neck.

“Do you want me to stop?” she whispered into his neck and he shook his head.

“No,” he said and flipped them around, tugging the clothes off her.

“Genichirou… Please, I want more of you,” the desperation in her voice being shown and supported through her actions of trying to get him out of his pants. He complied and not long after, they were both stripped naked, and the only thing keeping the cold air out was the thick blanket that covered them and the body warmth they shared between them.

Janey instinctively wrapped her legs around her husband as she felt his aroused and throbbing manhood rubbing against the insides of her thighs.

“Janey, I can’t…”

“Don’t hold back anymore, Genichirou,” she cut him off before he could continue; “I want this too.”

Sanada nodded and thrust himself inside of her. She gave a loud cry and arched her back against him, shutting her eyes to feel the pleasure in the pain. It was like something inside of her had ignited and no matter how much she tries, the feeling won’t go away. She likes how only Sanada can unwrap her like this.

He moved in and out of her, trying not to get too rough as he doesn’t want to hurt her, but the self-control is proving to be too much of a challenge as he picked up pace. Janey moved back against him in time to his thrusts, and soon, they were both on the verge of reaching climax.

“Genichirou, Genichirou….” She moaned over and over again, taking turns to whisper and yell his name during intervals.

It took him one last snap of his hips against her before they both yell out each other’s names and he collapsed on top of her, panting and trying to catch his breath, regulating his heartbeat back to normal. He rolled to his sides and look up to the stars.

“Janey, the shower already started,” he said and turned his head sideways to face her. She was snuggled against him, eyes closed.

“I already made my wish,” she mumbled. “And it’s already fulfilled.”

She slowly opened her eyes to meet his.

“Tired?” Sanada asked and she nodded. He hugged her close to his body and sighed as he continued to watch the stars fall.

Kami-sama, let me stay with this girl forever and bless us with a happy life from now on and in the future.

=========

“Janey,” he called her name softly, in case she already fell asleep.

“Mmm… What do you want, Genichirou?” she asked, her voice telling him that she’s already half asleep. They were both back in the warmth of her apartment, snuggled against each other in her bed. She felt Sanada shifts beside her and felt him loom over her, his shadows blocking out the dim night lights from reaching her.

“I’ve been meaning to give this to you; sorry it’s a little late.”

Janey opened her eyes and came face to face with a silver key.

“What is this?”

“It’s the key to our new apartment. Our new home. Where we can start a family and grow old together.”

Janey’s smile grew as she wrapped the key in her hands and held it tightly in her hands. Despite herself, she can feel the tears threatening to fall out of her eyes, “Genichirou… this is…”

“Happy birthday, Janey,” he whispered and leaned in again for another kiss. “Aishiteru.”

Bedtime Stories - Prince of Tennis - Oneshot

“Keigo-sama, was there a reason why you called me in here?”

“Ah, Kuririn-chan. Yes, ore-sama did call you in here for a reason,” he said and pushed himself off his study desk and walked over to his bookshelf. He picked a book off the shelf and handed it to Kuririn.

“What is this Keigo-sama?” she asked as she turned the book around in her hands, studying it. Something in German or some equally alien language to her was written across the cover. Atobe did a graceful flop onto his bed and motioned Kuririn to come closer, patting the empty space beside him. She sat down on the bed.

“Read to ore-sama.”

“This might come as a shock, but I don’t understand German,” she said.

“Flip the book around, there is a Japanese translation on the other side.”

Kuririn did so. “Ah, The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang van Goethe.”

“Yes, Goethe. Die Leiden des jungen Werthers,” he said in perfect fluent German.

“Right, of course,” she said and flipped the book open to the first chapter and proceeded to do as she was told. She started reading the first paragraph. “‘How happy I am that I am gone! My dear friend, what a thing is the heart of man!’”

Atobe closed his eyes and made himself comfortable next to her as she continued to spout sentences she barely understood because of how deep the stuff she was reading was. “‘To leave you, from whom I have been inseparable, whom I love so dearly, and yet to feel happy! I know you will forgive me. Have not other attachments been specially appointed by fate to torment a head like mine? Poor Leonora! And yet I was not to blame.’”

“No, no, no,” Atobe suddenly spoke up and Kuririn stopped to look at her picky young master. “You read that sentence wrongly. It should be read as “‘Die arme Leonore! Und doch war ich unschuldig.’”

“Sorry, Keigo-sama,” she said and re-read that last sentence the way her young master wanted it to be read. She tried her best to imitate the expressions and the tone he had used in Japanese, “‘Poor Leonora! And yet I was not to blame. Was it my fault, that, whilst the peculiar charms of her sister afforded me an agreeable entertainment, a passion for me was engendered in her feeble heart? And yet am I wholly blameless?’”

“No, Kuririn-chan. That sentence was also wrong. Werther is trying to tell Wilhelm that he himself was not to be blamed. You should express out his frustration at being wronged. It should be something more like, ‘Konnt' ich dafür, daß, während die eigensinnigen Reize ihrer Schwester mir eine angenehme Unterhaltung verschafften, daß eine Leidenschaft in dem armen Herzen sich bildete?’”

“‘Was it my fault, that, whilst the peculiar charms of her sister afforded me an agreeable entertainment, a passion for me was engendered in her feeble heart? And yet am I wholly blameless?’” she repeated, feeling unsure.

Atobe sat up and Kuririn faced him once more. “Give me that book and lie down here. Ore-sama will take the time to show you how to read a Goethe literature.”

She handed him the book and he took it, flipping it over to the German side. “Here, lie down here,” he insisted and shifts around a bit. Feeling a little unsure of herself, but feeling the need to obey Atobe’s every command, she laid down on his outstretched arm that curled around herself to take hold of the book. He took off where she had stopped, “‘Und doch – bin ich ganz unschuldig? Hab' ich nicht ihre Empfindungen genährt? Hab' ich mich nicht an den ganz wahren Ausdrücken der Natur, die uns so oft zu lachen machten, so wenig lächerlich sie waren, selbst ergetzt? Hab' ich nicht – o was ist der Mensch, daß er über sich klagen darf!’”

Mmm… he smells good, Kuririn thought to herself as she snuggled closer to him and his sweet-smelling expensive cologne all over his chest… and then scold herself internally. Focus on the book, not him. The book. Him reading!

“‘Ich will, lieber Freund, ich verspreche dir's, ich will mich bessern, will nicht mehr ein bißchen Übel, das uns das Schicksal vorlegt, wiederkäuen, wie ich's immer getan habe; ich will das Gegenwärtige genießen, und das Vergangene soll mir vergangen sein.’”

But he smells fresh. And very manly. She likes manly. How could anyone resist that manly smell anyway?

“Kuririn? Are you paying attention to ore-sama?”

Kuririn snapped herself out of her thoughts and out of his chest. “Huh? What? Oh yes, of course. Please continue, Keigo-sama,” she said.

He continued and she went back to her train of thoughts. Not that she knew a lot of expensive colognes, but the one Atobe uses smells like a Clive Christian. It’s got a smooth citrus leathery vanilla oriental smell. Weirdly, a pretty good combination if she says so herself. She feels like a creep smelling him like that, but it’s a much better option that listening to him droning on and on in German. She could swear he was chanting a sleeping spell as her eyes got heavier and heavier.

“‘Er hat mich zu sich gebeten, und ich will ihn ehster Tage besuchen. Er wohnt auf einem fürstlichen Jagdhofe, anderthalb Stunden von hier, wohin er nach dem Tode seiner Frau zu ziehen die Erlaubnis erhielt, da ihm der Aufenthalt hier in der Stadt und im Amthause zu weh tat.’”

Atobe stopped. Kuririn haven’t moved in a while and he was getting a bit suspicious. “Kuririn? Kuririn?” He looked down and Kuririn was happily dozing off on his arm, her face buried in his chest. He sighed and was about to wake her up, but there’s something about her sleeping form that makes him waver.

Now what?

He set the book down on the bedside table and tried in vain to remove his arm from under her head. She clings on like a three year old to a teddy bear. He lied down beside her instead, feeling sleepy himself. Oh, whatever. He covered both of them with his expensive goose down blanket and decided to go to sleep, hugging her close to him. He had never slept as comfortably as he did that night. 

Serendipity - Prince of Tennis - Oneshot

‘When a girl sulks, it’s a sign that they want to be kissed.’

Fuji Yuuta can finally rest after a day-long of rigorous training from the new training menu Mizuki-san decided to whip up and test it on him on a whim even though it’s their rare Saturday off from training. He crashed on his bed without even bothering to change out of the sweaty jersey he was currently adorning.

He can feel himself drift off to sleep as the cold air hit him and chilled off his heated body. He had not bothered to turn on the heater because he was now basking in the coldness and freshness the air offers. But of course, his peacefulness just has to be interrupted. Like every single time.

“YUUTA! YUUTA! YUUTA!”

Yuuta can instantly tell who was at his door, knocking as if for dear life and all thoughts of spending a quiet evening flew out the window. He pushed himself off the bed and crawled towards the door, standing up at the last minute only to open the door. As he had guessed earlier, it was indeed Kuritsu Suzuyo. She had decided to wear her green-framed spectacles today, hiding her beautiful blue eyes behind the thick lenses.

“Ah, Suzu… What do you want?” he asked and walked back to his bed, crashing on his covers and burying his face in the pillow. His pillow and blankets are also cool to the touch and he wants them to last in futile as they rapidly absorb his body heat.

“Yuuta, let’s watch go on a date and watch an anime together!” Suzuyo said and bounced over to his bed and knelt beside it, shaking his shoulder. “The library had a cool one! It’s got spaceships and androids in it!”

“Go watch it yourself, the TV is just there,” he mumbled into the pillow, pointing to the TV resting on the other side of his dorm room on the floor. He had took the time to deliver it from home because Suzuyo had always bugged him to watch some sort of show with her and he honestly can’t visit the leisure room anymore without getting glares from his schoolmates because of how often Suzuyo hogged the TV to themselves.

“But I wanted to watch it with you. I can’t go on a date alone!” she frowned and shook him harder. He flipped around to face her. “Watching an anime yourself is not a hard thing to do. I am tired and want to go sleep,” as if to make his point, he rolled away from her again.

“But Yuuta…” she whined and pouted. Yuuta just continued ignoring her and rolled as far as possible to the other side, trying to get some rest. But the unsettling aura of the girl beside him made it impossible as she continued to whine and complain.

“Fine! If you’re going to be like that, then I will just go!” she yelled at him and ran out of the room. Yuuta sighed, knowing he had to go after her. “Oh! What the heck!” He mumbled to himself and ran out of her room after her, ignoring the glances people are giving him.  He can see her in the distance and easily caught up to her, grabbing on her left wrist before she could get too far. He was the athlete here after all, not her.

“I am sorry. We’ll watch it you want,” he said, giving in to her wants, but she won’t even look at him.

“Don’t force yourself, it’s okay if you don’t want to,” she said and pulled away, walking towards the exit. Yuuta groaned and fell into step beside her.

“Yes, I want to. I really, really want to! More than anything else in the world to watch anime with you that has… spaceships and androids in it.”

She stopped in her tracks and Yuuta looked back at her, confused. “You sound like you’re making fun of me,” she said and scowled at him. He mentally smacked his own forehead and rolled his eyes.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to. And I really do want to watch it with you, okay? Believe me,” he said, with as much sincerity as he could muster. Suzuyo looked down at her feet and after thinking over it, nodded.

“Okay…” she mumbled, still not entirely convinced, but followed Yuuta back to his room anyway. She put on the DVD as he changed into a normal shirt and they leaned back against his bed to watch. Yuuta wrapped his arm around her because she would usually force him to cuddle with her like that during watching sessions, but today, she pushed him away and climbed onto his bed to watch instead.

“Are you still mad?” he asked her. The opening song came on screen. She shook her head, propping it on her hand and used the remote control to increase the volume. Yuuta climbed onto the bed beside her. She ignored him and glued her eyes to the TV screen instead. He nudged her on the shoulder.

“Hey, come on. I am sorry, okay? Please let it go?”

Still, she ignored him. Sighing, Yuuta sat up and concentrated on the TV screen, but the atmosphere hung heavy in the air. “Suzu? Suzu… Suzu…” he decided to use the ‘annoy her’ tactic and started nudging and poking her. In the end, she got pissed off and turned around to face him, but was met with a kiss on the cheek instead.

“Eh… Eh… Yuuta?” she stammered, her face blushing a thousand shades of vermillion. Yuuta looked away and cleared his throat, his face also looking embarrassed.

“Don’t sulk so much, it doesn’t suit you. You’re better off smiling,” he said and pinched her cheeks in an effort to make light of the situation.

“Ouch, ouch,” she swat off his hands and rubbed her cheeks, the tears of pain pooling around the side of her eyes. “Sorry…”

Yuuta just shrugged, “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

Suzuyo smiled at him. She can’t help it, he was being so sweet. He glanced down at her and smiled himself, the grin plastering itself across his face, “See? You look so much better that way.”

Christmas Mixer - Tenimyu - Oneshot

“A goukon? But it’s Christmas!” Ueda Yuusuke complained when his fellow Tenimyu actors had told him that they had arranged a goukon with some of Mitsuya Ryou’s friends.

The word ‘goukon’ sounds alien to his ears. To him, girls who went to goukons are just looking for some fun with the guys. They usually have no class and in his eyes, they just look desperate.

“It’s not like you have any plans for Christmas, right? You might as well join us,” Mitsuya tried to persuade him. The words went through Ueda’s heart like a knife.

“But I am not desperate to look for a girlfriend! What’s wrong with spending Christmas by yourself at home, accompanied by good food and a movie marathon?” he shot back defensively. MItsuya glanced at Aoki Tsunenori who only shrugged and shook his head. Not wanting to give up, Mitsuya decided to use a different approach.

“Think about it this way, if you don’t go, we won’t have an equal number of boys and girls. Think about the girl who won’t have a partner. Don’t you feel sorry for her?”

“I don’t see why you can’t ask someone else.”

“Everyone else had better plans to spend Christmas that doesn’t involve them being alone at home… with good food and a movie marathon,” Aoki added pointedly.

“So you will join, right?” Mitsuya asked again.

“I shall think about it,” Ueda replied, but Mitsuya keeps looking at him hopefully. He sighed, “Alright! I’ll go!”

“Yes!” Mitsuya and Aoki fist pumped each other.

“Sensei, you should really go,” Kuririn whined at her mentor when she had heard from one of her senpais that Rie had refused to go to the mixer. “A Christmas mixer will be fun, look, even I am going!”

“And I don’t see why you would want to go, they’re probably all old and desperate men,” Rie told her, “They probably don’t have guys your age.”

“Senpai told me she had asked her friend, Mitsuya-san, to arrange that. I mean, senpai went all through the trouble to arrange the goukon so everyone could have fun. Don’t you feel bad for the person who won’t have a partner later on if you don’t go?”

“But…. I had plans to sleep at home during the day,” Rie argued lamely and Kuririn shot her an ‘are-you-even-serious’ look. “Fine, I will go, happy?”

“Yes, yes I am,” Kuririn beamed.

“Who are we waiting for?” Ueda asked Mitsuya when he met him in front of the train station.

“Yutaka, Tsune and Seiya-kun,” Mitsuya told him and glanced at his wristwatch. It was almost 3, the time of the meeting, but those three haven’t arrived yet.

“Even Seiya is coming? How old are the girls we are meeting?” Ueda asked, feeling a bit uncertain.

“My friend requested I bring someone young, I am not sure what for,” Mitsuya explained and looked past Ueda’s shoulder, “Oh look, they arrived!”

“The guys are late…”

“Are you sure you got the right time, senpai?”

“Of course I did… I’ll give Mitsuya a call. Wait here you guys,” with that, she disappeared outside of the Christmas-decorated café. Kuririn watched her dial somebody through the glass windows.

“How can they be late? Some guys they are. Don’t they know it’s not right to keep girls waiting?” Rie said out loud to no one in particular.

“I am pretty sure something came up. They’ll definitely be here,” the girl sitting on Kuririn’s left said.

“Yeah, I am sure,” Kuririn agreed and turned around to look out the windows again. Her senpai walked back into the café.

“They’ll be he here in five minutes,” she said cheerfully and beamed at everybody.

Rie sighed again. She so doesn’t want to be here.

“We are late,” Kobayashi Yutaka pointed out.

“You don’t say…” Mitsuya sighed as he closed his cell phone.

“-zu ni ikou,” Aoki continued and everyone shot him a weird look.

“You don’t say-zu ni ikou? Get it? It’s like a pun of ‘Yudan Sezu ni Ikou’… Ah, why isn’t Kuma here? He would get it.”

Everyone decided to ignore him.

“Okay, since everyone is here, let’s go,” Mitsuya said and led the way.

“Nice to meet you, Konishi-san… Ano… I am Kuririn… Merry Christmas to you,” Kuririn shyly approached the young man known as Konishi Seiya. The mixer had gone on for some time and everyone else is enjoying themselves. Mitsuya and Kobayashi smirked in satisfaction when they saw their fellow young actor finally hitting it up with a girl.

On the other hand though, they were worried for Ueda who still stayed silent and politely refuses to talk to any of the girls. Mitsuya’s friend, who was currently sitting in Aoki’s lap and flirting openly with him, told him that one of their friends, Rie, is also not mingling so well. It’s then that they knew they will do anything to set Rie and Ueda up. The first problem is though… they’re sitting on opposite ends of the table.

 But Mitsuya Ryou isn’t Mitsuya Ryou if he lets such a petty problem hinder his plans. And everything has to be in perfect sync with Kobayashi’s scenario.

“Sensei… nee, Sensei…” Kuririn persisted despite the annoyance on her mentor’s face. “Just give it a try. I am sure you won’t regret it.”

Rie firmly shook her head, refusing to listen to Kuririn. On the other side of the table, Mitsuya sat next to Ueda, both of them deep in conversation.

“You’re already here anyway; why not give it a try. It might lead to something much better. She looks like a nice girl. Even Seiya-kun is with somebody, how could you lose to him?”

“I… It’s not about losing or winning! I just don’t feel comfortable with these kinds of setups.”

“Don’t be so melodramatic. Just give it a go,” Mitsuya is at the end of his ropes. He is really on the brink of giving up if it wasn’t for Kobayashi who is as equally, if not more, persistent as him.

“If you miss on this chance, you might not get another one,” Kobayashi said and Mitsuya just agreed readily.

“Nee, Rie, this is a chance you don’t want to miss. It was sort of hard for me to arrange this goukon. Don’t let my efforts go to waste,” Mitsuya’s friend told her. Rie can already see that between Kuririrn and this girl pestering her, there wasn’t much choice.

At the other end of the table, Ueda realized the same thing.

“Hello, my name is Ueda Yuusuke. Nice to meet you,” he said, feeling shy and self-conscious in front of the cute lady he was currently forced to accompany. Not that he really minded now that he looked at her up close, she was pretty cute and adorable.

“My name is Rie, nice to meet you too,” Rie too, felt a bit awkward in the presence of a guy like Ueda. She really likes the way he smiles and well, sort of everything about the way he looked. Rie wasn’t normally materialistic when it comes to her partners, but with Ueda, it felt like an added bonus. Of course she would still be turned off if his attitude was that of a stick. She just hoped it wasn’t.

The two of them are totally aware that there are other pairs of eyes on them, especially from Kuririn, Seiya, and Mitsuya who are currently exchanging gleeful looks.

“So, what are some of the things you like to do?” Ueda ask, trying to strike up a conversation. It won’t do for him if he knows the girl he’s with is not enjoying herself. And he’s pretty sure sitting around and fidgeting awkwardly fits in that category.

“How old-fashioned,” Kuririn whispered to no one in particular and the two guys she’s with is trying hard not to giggle too much. They watched in amused silence as the two exchanged small conversations. It was apparent after the first five minutes that both of their awkward outer shells are crumbling apart as they warmed up to each other and able to speak more freely. Satisfied with how much the two got along, everyone else decided to leave them alone.

“Konishi-san and I are leaving,” Kuririn announced out of the blue once the night had worn off. Everybody looked at them curiously.

“Don’t overthink, we’re just going for a walk,” Seiya told everybody who quietly sighed in relief. They do not want to be responsible for any accidents two hormonal teenagers might make. As they walked out the door, Rie turned back to Ueda.

“Would you like a walk too?” she asked and Ueda nodded.

“Guys, we are going for a walk too,” Ueda announced out loud and before anyone could react, they’re both out of the café and into the chilly but warm Christmas air. “Anywhere you like to go in particular?”

“Not exactly,” Rie replied. “I was thinking that a nice walk would suffice.”

“I see…” Ueda said and started walking aimlessly, Rie by his side. “To be honest, in the beginning, I didn’t really want to attend this mixer. Especially since it’s Christmas. I hope I don’t offend you though, it was nice meeting you. You weren’t what I expected.”

“Really? I hadn’t really wanted to come either,” she said and Ueda smiled a little, glad he wasn’t the only one.

“I am glad I did though,” he continued and stopped, turning around to look at her.

“Me too,” she whispered softly as their eyes met. Drops of something white, soft and cold landed on her nose. “It’s snowing, it’s so pretty!”

“Yes it is pretty,” he said and looked up into the sky with her. It was a white Christmas. Slowly, they both faced each other again, “You are also pretty.”

“What?” Rie asked, dumbly, feeling her own face going hot… and even hotter as Ueda leaned over her and she realized what’s going to happen next. She quickly shuts her eyes and awaits the sensation. As her lips met his and the snow kept on falling over them, they both realized this is one of the most memorable and meaningful Christmases they will ever live through, all because this is a start of something new. And it all happened because of some random goukon they were forced to attend on a lonely Christmas night.