A/N: Hello everyone! Let me ask you something. How many people are needed to finish this one-shot? Well, apparently three… ahahaha…

For those of you who don't know, this one-shot is something I promised I'd do for last year's Christmas, but had a lot of troubles writing and it got here late. For those of you who were waiting for it… IT'S HERE! (I'm sorry!)

Not much else to say, other and this is my first try at actual romance, so I hope it's good.

Also, this story is on the same universe as my main story Persona: New Generation, so it kinda works as a prequel… to a certain extent. If you haven't read it, give New Gen. a chance. Its OC centered, but I think it's good… (bah, I'm biased). But seriously, why not give it a chance? (Just forgive me for the terrible grammar mistakes in the first few chapters… I promise I'll edit those… at some point…)

And lastly, thanks to FateStay for helping me with some ideas for this and to ADeadDiehard for betaing this. He helped me a lot, thanks! If there are any other mistakes, they're mine.

Now, onto the story!

Persona: Christmas in Tokyo.

Year 2013.

Four years had passed since the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, S.E.E.S., saved the world from the harbinger of death, Nyx, and only two years since the Investigation Team from the small town of Inaba managed to defeat the goddess Izanami and prevented the world from being consumed by fog and its people from turning into the beings called Shadows. It had also been a little more than a year since both groups joined forces to rescue the man who sacrificed himself for the sake of humanity, but more importantly, the ones he loved.

The group consisting of 16 people, and a dog, had spent a good deal of time fighting with their special powers called Persona. They risked their lives and even lost friends along the way. But now wasn't the time for sadness.

The current date was December 21, only a few days before Christmas Eve, and in the capital of Japan, everyone had their own plans of how to spend that night.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" Two young men threw their hands, each making a different sign. The silver haired man had his fist clenched, going with rock, while the blue haired man gave something like a "peace" sign, having chosen scissors.

"Yes! I won!" Cheered the silver haired man. "That means I get the apartment!"

"Oh come on, Yu! One more time!" The blue haired man pleaded.

"Minato, you and I both know that it's far less dangerous for me if I get the apartment." Yu reasoned. "I mean, if I go to their place, it means Yukiko's gonna cook, and…" He shuddered at the thought. "I don't even want to think about it…"

Minato couldn't really argue with that logic so he just sighed in defeat. "Alright, then Yukiko's coming here for Christmas Eve while I go to hers and Yukari's place, right?"

"Yep. But look on the bright side; that means Yukari might be waiting for you with a meal ready."

"Nah, she's gonna wait for me and ask me to help her." He dismissed. "But I still can't believe Yukiko's spent almost three years practicing her cooking and still hasn't improved… Is that even possible?" Minato wondered, sitting on the couch in the small apartment he and Yu shared.

Yu was studying for his freshman year of business administration in Tokyo University while Minato was going through his senior year of high school. Being the great seal for three years had gotten him a little behind on his studies.

Since Yu managed to get into Tokyo University but had trouble finding a place to live in, Minato offered him the spare room in the apartment Mitsuru got for him. So basically, they were currently roommates.

"I don't know. Has Fuuka-san improved her cooking since you met her?" Yu asked as he opened the fridge across the room. The place was so small that the kitchen and living room where actually the same room, with a long counter separating them.

"Well… no, not really." Minato said. "You think it's a Priestess thing?" He asked, referring to the Arcana the two shared.

"I doubt it. Rise and Chie are in the same boat, and according to Kanji, Naoto still has trouble, though she's improving." Yu said, taking two cans of soda from the fridge before closing it.

"I wonder if Mitsuru-sempai has ever tried to cook something herself…"

"Are we really talking about this?" Yu asked, passing one of the sodas to Minato.

"You're right, let's stop."

"..."

"... Can I have the apartment?"

"Forget it."

"Eh, I tried." Minato shrugged and opened his can to take a sip.

"Yukiko, I got a text from Minato!" Yukari said, coming out from her room to the living room of her and Yukiko's apartment.

Just like Yu, Yukiko also managed to get into Tokyo University to further her studies and one day inherit the Amagi Inn. Yukari was starting to have troubles living on her own and Yukiko needed a place to live in, so in the end they also became roommates and very close friends.

"And? They finally decided?" Yukiko asked. She was watching a cooking show on TV but turned it off to pay attention to Yukari.

"Yep. Seems Yu won the apartment, so Minato is coming over for Christmas Eve."

"Aww, and I was looking forward to surprise Yu-kun with a great meal…" Yukiko said, disappointed.

"Y-yeah… I'm sure he would've liked that…" Yukari sweatdropped. "But we decided we'd let them choose this time, so we can't complain."

"I know…" Yukiko said. "I wonder how they decided who gets the apartment though…"

"I don't know. Knowing them… maybe a staring contest?" Yukari suggested.

"Pfff… Haahaa!" Yukiko couldn't help but start one of her laughing fits as she pictured the two Wild Card users staring at each other for what could've been hours. "Oh god…! Haahaa! I can totally see that!"

'Oh no, what have I done…?' Once you start one of Yukiko's laughing fits, you can't stop it. Well, Yu actually knew how, but he refused to reveal the secret.

"Hey, did you find a present for Yu?" Yukari asked once Yukiko stopped laughing.

"Well, yeah, but I'm not sure if he'll like it…" Yukiko replied.

"Alright, let me see!"

Yukiko ran to her room and came out with a silver-colored box smaller than her hand. She opened it to show Yukari its content.

"Wow… it's beautiful! I'm sure he'll love it, especially since you're the one giving it to him."

Yukiko couldn't help but blush a bit.

"How did you even afford that? It must've cost a lot!"

"Well, not really. It was expensive, but I found a place where they sell these cheap. Besides, I saved some of money from my part-time job."

"I see. You're really smart, Yukiko."

"What about you, Yukari-san? Did you find something for Minato-san?"

"I-I… huh… no, I haven't." Yukari's head hanged in shame. "I've looked everywhere but I can't think of anything that he'd like… or at least something he'd like that I can afford."

"Does he have expensive tastes?" Yukiko asked, a bit surprised.

"No, but I'm sure he'd really like a new gaming console…"

"Hmm… what about getting him something like what you've given him before? For example, what did you gave him the first Christmas you spent together?"

Yukari smiled as she remembered that night. They spent a lot of time at Paulownia Mall sitting in a bench, enjoying the lights, decorations, each other's company and…

"A cake…" She remembered. "Yeah, I gave him a cake and we ate it together at Paulownia Mall."

"Oh! Then why don't you make him a cake this year?" Yukiko suggested.

"I don't think so. My baking skills are… low, to say the least." Yukari admitted.

"Oh come on, it's not that hard! All you have to do is follow the recipe!"

'Yeah, right…' Yukari thought. If it was that easy then how come her cooking always ended up with seafood in it? "I don't know, Yukiko… I'm not really confident, I mean, I can cook simple meals just fine, but a cake is totally different."

"Hey, we made a cake one Christmas with Chie, Rise-chan and Naoto-kun and it turned out great!" Yukiko said, omitting the fact that that was their third attempt.

"… Alright, I'll do it! Really, how hard can it be?" Yukari said, feeling pumped all of a sudden. If they could do it, so could she!

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Yukiko cheered.

The next day…

"Sempai, why are we here?" Minato asked his silver haired sempai and long time friend.

"I thought this would be the best place to find what whatever we're looking for." Akihiko answered, looking around one of Tokyo's largest shopping malls.

"No, I meant that as in 'Why Yu and me?'" Said Minato.

"Oh come on guys! I told you, I need your help!"

"Yeah, but help with what?" Yu asked.

Akihiko sighed heavily. "I… I still can't find a gift for Mitsuru…"

"And… how does that affect us…?" Minato asked again. His voice was a bit serious but he was just teasing his sempai.

"Don't be like that! I need your help finding a good gift for her! You're the only ones I can ask, please!" Akihiko pleaded. "Yukari and Yukiko are busy, Aigis wouldn't know what to do, the others are out of town or don't live in Tokyo and Junpei is out of the question."

"But-"

"Out of the question!" Akihiko repeated firmly. "Who knows what ideas he'd come up with…" He almost shuddered at the thought.

"Come on, we're already here. Let's all look around and see what we can find." Yu said.

"Alright, alright. We'll help you." Minato said."But what made you think we'd have any idea of what to give Mitsuru-sempai? She's your girlfriend."

"I don't know… I'm new to this relationship thing and you two are the only people I know that… well… might know something about this kind of stuff." Akihiko said.

"Let's just look around. Maybe we'll get an idea as we walk." Yu suggested.

With that the trio began walking around the shopping mall, looking for something Mitsuru might like… but nothing they saw seemed like a good gift.

"Clothes?"

"No."

"Chocolates?"

"Isn't that for Valentine's Day?"

"Make up?"

"Do you know which ones she uses?"

"No…"

"Then no."

"Shoes?"

"She probably has a lot of shoes already!"

"No more than Yukari, I assure you."

"Aaargh! This is hopeless!" Akihiko yelled pulling his hair.

"Seriously… What do you give a rich girl who probably has everything already?" Minato wondered.

"Hmmm…" Yu hummed as he thought. "Maybe something she doesn't know she wants… or something she would like but wouldn't buy for herself."

"Like what?" Akihiko asked.

"Uh… from the top of my head, I'm thinking jewelry."

"She must have a lot of jewelry already…"

"But nothing you've given her, right?" Minato asked.

"Well… no…"

Yu put his hand in his pocket and took out the keys to the apartment. "You see this?" He asked.

The other two looked closely at the object in Yu's hand.

"It's just a leather keychain…" Akihiko said.

"For you it is. For me, it's the first Christmas present Yukiko gave me. It's been three years and I'm still carrying it with me everywhere I go."

Minato gave an impressed whistle.

"You see sempai? It's not really about the gift. It's about what it means to you and her." Yu said as he returned his keys to his pockets.

"I think I get it…" Akihiko nodded. "So… to the jewelry?"

"To the jewelry!" Minato said and raised his hand in a dramatic way.

"So? See anything she would like?" Minato asked as he approached his sempai at the jewelry store.

"Mhh… maybe… a few… but these are all so expensive, I can't afford them!" Akihiko said.

"Come on, there's gotta be something cheaper than that she would like." Yu tried to encourage him.

"He's right, Sempai. Let's ask the lady over there, maybe she can give us some advice or something…" Minato said and both he and Akihiko went to ask the clerk.

Meanwhile, Yu decided to keep looking around the store. He looked through necklaces, earrings, bracelets … they even sold ostentatious things like tiaras and golden wristwatches, but what grabbed his attention the most were the rings. There were so many kinds… silver, golden… with rubies, sapphires, diamonds…

As he looked through them the image if Yukiko popped into his mind. He smiled as he thought if giving her a ring would make a nice gift… but then remembered the implications that come with gifting a ring.

"What the… are you thinking of proposing, Yu?" Minato's teasing voice coming for behind him and snapped him out of his thoughts.

"W-What? N-No, I was just looking…" He tried to remain calm, but couldn't help but sound a bit nervous.

"Did you just stutter? ...HOLY CRAP you were thinking about it!" Minato pointed an accusative finger at his junior Wild Card.

"N-No I wasn't!" Yu was starting to get nervous so he forced himself to calm down. "I'll admit that the thought crossed my mind, but it left as soon as it came!"

"Why? Not ready yet?" Minato asked a bit more seriously now.

"Of course not. We've only been dating for three years." Yu said, now completely calm.

"Hey, three years is a lot. Or you've already forgotten what we did in only one year?" Minato asked.

"This is different…" Yu tried to explain.

"Look, I'm not trying to push you into proposing, but let me tell you something. You never know what might happen tomorrow. I should know." Minato said with a voice not as serious as the topic. "Besides, we made a promise to live our lives to the fullest, remember?" He said to his friend with a small smile.

"…" Yu didn't say anything but he smiled too. Yes, there was their promise to Elizabeth…

"Well, let's just help Akihiko-sempai find something so we can go back home… You still owe me a match in Street Fighter." Minato said as we walked away.

"Damn it…" Yu sighed. "Maybe if you stopped spamming Ken I could beat you for once…"

"Whatever makes you feel better!" Minato called back, Yu now running to catch up to his friend.

December 23.

Yukari quickly opened the oven in her kitchen only to be greeted by a plume of black smoke.

She sighed heavily as she took out the burnt cake. "I failed again…" She said, disappointed at herself.

"This is stupid! Why can't I make him a simple cake? He's done so much for us and I can't even do this?"

Even since Minato came back to this world, Yukari felt like she was in his debt. Not only did he help her with her personal problems, but he also saved them from Nyx. She felt like she had to do something for him. He always told her to forget about it, but there was no way she could forget.

The years he had been gone, the time she spent remembering him and missing him were not something she would allow herself to just easily forget. He was finally back, she couldn't be more happy that they were finally together again. Even if the thought was a bit selfish, she would cherish every moment they spent together.

She thought about the next day. This would be their second Christmas Eve together and she wondered if it could beat the first.

That night they stayed long past curfew at Paulownia Mall, enjoying each other's company. The Christmas lights and easy music made it feel almost magical. With all that was happening at the time, that was one of the very few moments when she could be truly happy; sitting next to the man she loved and still loves with all her heart, even after so many years away from him.

She looked back at the burnt cake on the table. They had been through so much together that something like baking a cake should be easy.

'No! This cake is not going to beat me!' She thought.

"But… there's no way I'm gonna get this right on my own…" She sighed heavily. "I need help. It's ok to rely on friends every once in a while, right?" She took out her cell and searched through the Y section of her address list.

'Yukiko…? Sorry, but no.' She decided to call the best cook she knew. Besides, he would be able to keep this a secret.

Yukari ran to the door when she heard a knock. She looked through the hole to make sure it was the person she was waiting for. It was.

She opened it to find Yu Narukami on the other side.

"Hello, Yukari-san. What's wrong? On the phone you said it was urgent and to come alone…" He said. He also noticed she had stains of some kind of white powder all over her clothes. "What happened to you…?"

"Yu-kun, I need your help. Right now you're the only one who can help me." She said.

"What? What's going on?"

"Come in, I'll explain it to you as we work."

"Work…?" He asked as he entered the apartment. A quick glance towards the messy kitchen told him everything. "Are you trying to cook something?" He asked.

"Yep, a cake. And it's not working out so I need your help getting one ready for tomorrow."

"Aaah, it's for Minato." Yu realized. "I get it now."

"Exactly. I can't ask Minato because this is a gift for him. Well, that and the fact that you're a far better cook than he is." Yukari added.

"But… are you sure you want my help? I mean, wouldn't it be best if you… you know, make the cake all by yourself?"

"I know that." Yukari sighed. "I just need you to tell me what to do and how to do it. Once I get the hang of it I'll make one on my own." She explained. "Please, I've been trying to make one all day and it's not working out."

"I can see that…" Yu sweatdropped. The kitchen was a real mess. There was flour everywhere, broken eggshells both on the table and on the ground, a few cooking pots with bits of leftover dough sitting in them… "Very well, I'll help you. How many times have you tried to make one already?"

Yukari pointed her finger at her last failed attempt and hung her head in shame. "That was the fourth one…"

"Alright, seems we have a lot of work…" He approached the sink to wash his hands. "If that was your fourth attempt, then how many ingredients do you have left?" He asked.

"Uhh… I think there's enough to make one more…" She said. "I'll call Yukiko and ask her if she can buy some more."

Yu nodded. "Very well, when you've done that we'll begin."

Minato waved goodbye at his classmates as he exited school. It was strange going to school and being the oldest person there aside from the teachers.

'Maybe this is how Hasegawa-san felt when she was at Gekkoukan…?' Minato thought, remembering one of his schoolmates from when he lived in Port Island. She was two years older than him.

It was obvious in the looks that everyone gave him that all they wanted to do was ask him what a 20 year old guy was still doing in high school. Of course, he had no problem telling those who did ask that he was in a coma for three years. That was usually enough to shut them up. There were others that didn't care about his age and talked to him regardless. Those people had become good friends to Minato.

He yawned lazily as he walked. He had slept through the whole history class.

'What's up with history teachers…? It's like they're all either obsessed with the past or just plain crazy.' He thought again. His second year teacher had been obsessed with the sengoku era and Yu told him once that one of his teachers back in Inaba loved Egyptian history maybe a little too much… Maybe those two were related? His stomach lurched. 'Oh god, what if Bebe becomes a history teacher in the future!?'

He walked through the city, smoothly avoiding the people who walked past him. Some were business people in a hurry talking on their cell phones, others were high school students just like him…

Well... younger.

He remembered Yu saying that living in a quiet rural town like Inaba and then going back to the city was like suddenly jumping into cold water. He had grown accustomed to a peaceful environment even though he had always lived in the city. But Minato liked the city life. After what they went through back in 2009 and all those people with Apathy Syndrome, seeing an environment as lively as this was almost comforting.

'To each his own I guess…'

He was heading for the subway when a flash of red in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He focused a little more and noticed it was Yukiko, wearing a red cardigan and entering the supermarket, so he decided to go say hi.

"Hey, Yukiko!" He called when he saw her taking one of the red plastic shopping baskets. She looked up and saw him.

"Ah, Minato-san, good afternoon." She smiled gently at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my home when I saw you. Decided to come say hi, so… hi." Minato said, making Yukiko giggle softly. "And what are you doing here? Shopping for anything in particular?"

"Yes actually, there are a few things I need."

"Want some help?"

"Thank you, I'd really appreciate it."

"Alright, then… what do you need?"

"Hm… let's see here…" She took out a small piece of paper in which she had written down all the things she needed. "Flour, eggs, milk… umm… baking powder…"

"Are you making a cake?" Minato asked.

"Uh? No, I-" Yukiko stopped herself before she could say anything else. 'No, that's supposed to be a secret, I can't tell him Yukari-san is baking him a cake!'

"I-I mean… yes, I'm making a cake!" She quickly lied, deciding to take advantage of his misunderstanding.

"I see. Is it for Yu?" He asked.

"Y-Yes…!" She tried to sound calm and convinced of her own lie, but she was never very good at lying.

"Alright then, let's get to it." He said.

Deciding that it would be easier for her to convince Minato that it was her making the cake, she would buy things she would use in a cake while still buying the stuff Yukari asked her.

"Now then… where's the sea food section…" She wondered as she took the lead, making Minato cringe behind her.

"Alright, so now all we have to do is wait?" Yukari asked her current cooking teacher.

"Yep, don't worry. If we use the alarms on our cells we'll know when the cake is ready." Yu told her.

"I can't believe I never thought of that…" Yukari sighed. "I never knew making a cake would be so tiresome…"

"That's just the first few times. Once you get used to it, it becomes natural and you don't waste time." Yu had to smile at her hard work and, if he was honest with himself, he had to admit that she learned faster than Rise, Chie or even Yukiko. "Why don't you relax for now? We still have to wait ten minutes." He noted.

"You know what, I think I will." She smiled too. "I need to use the bathroom, but why don't you watch some TV in the meantime?"

Yu nodded and walked into the living room. He sat on the couch and looked around for the TV remote, but in the coffee table he found something else that caught his attention.

It was one of Yukari's magazines. This one, however, wasn't clothes related like most of the ones she usually bought, either for pleasure or for her fashion design studies. This one was about jewelry.

Yu's mind flashed back to the day before. He remembered the small conversation he had with Minato.

'You never know what might happen tomorrow…'

He took the magazine and started eyeing the pages until he found the rings section. He looked through some of them and, although most of them were quite nice, the prices were way too high for him to afford.

'This is ridiculous!' He thought. 'There's gotta be something cheaper- Wait, am I seriously considering this?'

"Please be careful with that magazine. I need it for an assignment." Came Yukari's voice from behind him, making him jump in surprise and drop the magazine.

"Geez, I thought I told you to be careful with it!"

"S-Sorry…" Yu smiled apologetically, picking up the magazine and putting it back on the table.

"Anyway… what were you looking at? I never knew you were interested in jewelry…" She said teasingly.

"I'm not. I was just looking at the prices." Yu said, quickly regaining his calm demeanor. "These things are all so expensive…"

"What, are you thinking of buying something?" She inquired curiously.

"N-No… not really." Yu answered, letting a small stutter escape his lips.

Normally, no one would've noticed, but Yukari did. She was already used to her boyfriend being just as secretive as Yu. That was one of the few things those two shared, they had the bad habit of hiding things from people, and the biggest problem was that both of them were extremely good at it. It took Yukari a whole year living with Minato at the Iwatodai dorm to finally discover how to know if Minato was hiding something. She would ask him to look at her straight in the eye and if he blinked more than three times in the next few seconds, there was something he wasn't telling her. Yukiko, of course, also managed to discover one of Yu's lying habits. He would stutter only once, and it was really hard to tell. It wasn't that they lied all the time, but sometimes they would hide things and try to keep innocent secrets. Compared to their first year dating the two leaders the trust between the couples had seriously increased.

"Oh you are so lying! Come on! Tell me!" Yukari demanded.

'Damn it, Minato! You told her, didn't you?' Yu thought as he felt slightly betrayed. He was sure Yukari was going to abuse this in the future like she was doing now. "It's nothing important."

Yukari decided to take a negotiating approach. "Hey, if you tell me maybe I can help you. I know about this stuff."

Yu sighed heavily and finally surrendered. If he kept denying it she would be interrogating him for hours.

"Fine… I was just… looking at the rings…" He admitted, trying to avoid her stare.

"Rings…? Wait, don't tell me…!" Realization struck her. "Are you planning on proposing to Yukiko!?" She asked, excited and almost ecstatic. "Oh my god, that's great!"

"No! I'm not!" He quickly denied. "I mean… I… I'm not sure. The idea only occurred to me yesterday and I can't get it out of my mind…" He finally admitted, grunting and scratching his head.

"Aaah, I see…" She said, trying not to seem too happy about her victory. "What's keeping you from doing it?" She asked, taking a seat beside him in the couch.

"Well, a lot of things, actually. First, we've only been dating for almost three years; I don't want to rush things… And also… I don't know what I'd be getting into." Yu's face showed a mix of sadness and anger. "My parents weren't the best of examples of what a happy couple is… my house wasn't exactly the warmest of places." He decided to leave it at that. Some of the few things Yu almost never talked about were his parents and his life before going to Inaba. For him, Inaba was a fresh start, a place where he finally made real friends and found a family in the Dojimas. One that actually cared about him.

Yukari nodded understandingly. Her family was something she didn't like to talk about either. The thought of her father not being with her anymore caused her pain and her relationship with her mother wasn't ideal, to say the least. It had been improving over the years but it took time to repair a relationship as damaged as theirs.

"I think I get what you mean. For the longest time, my mother and I weren't exactly on the best of terms. I can't help but think about what kind of mother I would be if I had a daughter… I don't want to end up like her. I realize that she just felt alone after losing my dad, but it doesn't change the fact that… well… she wasn't the best role model." She laughed awkwardly. "It's a scary thought, isn't it? Thinking we might end up like our parents?"

"Hehe, yeah." Yu chuckled.

"But there's something I've been telling myself for a long time now." Yukari said. "I'm not my mother. I won't make the same mistakes she did. Besides, I know I'm not alone anymore." She smiled. "I have Minato with me. He's been extremely supportive and… Even when he wasn't technically here, I know he was with me."

"Long distance relationships are pretty hard, aren't they?" Yu joked, relieving the apartment of the heavy atmosphere.

Yukari laughed and was interrupted by the alarm on her phone, telling her that the cake should be ready.

"The cake is ready!" She yelled as she ran to the kitchen.

Chuckling, Yu followed her.

"Uh, Yukiko… I'm pretty sure a cake is not supposed to have squid…" Minato told Yukiko as they were looking around the sea food section in the supermarket.

"But they said on TV the other day that once should always mix things up a little when cooking. It gives it a personal touch." She replied.

"Well maybe, but I don't think seafood will make sweets taste better."

"Mmm… you really think so?"

"Yeah… I'm pretty sure…" Minato said with a slight hint of sarcasm, but Yukiko didn't notice. "By the way, how is cooking practice going?" He asked, though he already had an idea.

Yukiko sighed in frustration. "Not very well… no matter how many times I try it always ends up tasting like mud." Her gaze was casted downwards, trying to reflect on what it was she was doing wrong and why was she unable to improve no matter how hard she tried.

"Have you asked someone to help you? I mean, Yu is one hell of a cook."

"I know he is, and he's offered me his help so many times, but I don't think it'll have any meaning unless I do it on my own." She explained. "At first I started because I wanted to become more independent. I would practice at home and the chefs and waitresses at the inn would try to help me, but in the end they would take the knife away from me and do it themselves. In the end I was telling them I was learning to cook for a boy I liked…" She blushed a bit. "Although at the time that wasn't far off from the truth…"

"Yukiko, no one's saying that asking for help means asking someone to do things for you, it's just asking someone to guide you so you can do things on your own later on. I'm sure Yu would be happy to help you." He told her.

"He's done so much for me… I just want to do something for him as well, even if isn't much…" Yukiko said.

"You sound like Yukari…" He sighed. "Listen, if you want to do something nice for Yu, that's great. It shows how much you care about him, but you don't have to feel obligated to do it. If you want to learn how to cook, do it because you want to, not because you feel you must."

Yukiko pondered for a bit. "You may be right…"

"Now why don't we finish shopping so you can work on that cake? Maybe you could ask Yukari to help you a bit?"

"T-That's right!" She'd almost forgotten about shopping. She still had to buy the things Yukari asked her.

The two finished shopping and parted ways to their own homes.

When Yu finished helping Yukari with her cake it was already 10 p.m. It was tiresome but at least he got to see Yukiko when she returned, which was a plus.

When he arrived at his own apartment, he opened the door only to be greeted by two familiar voices.

"What's up dude?"

"Where've you been?"

"Uh, hello people who don't live here." He joked, greeting Junpei and Akihiko who were sitting on the couch. "Where's Minato?"

"In the bathroom." Junpei answered. "He invited us over because he said you suck at Street Fighter and he wanted some real competition." He explained.

"Good for him." Yu closed the door and crashed on the third spot on the couch like a sack of potatoes.

"Tired?" Akihiko asked.

"You have no idea."

"What were you doing?"

"Secret. Can't tell." He pointed his head towards the bathroom door.

"Ah, gotcha'" Junpei grinned understandingly.

"How's the score?" Yu asked.

"I've got 4 wins, Minato has 3 and Akihiko-sempai has 1" Junpei answered.

"ALRIGHT! MY MIND IS CLEAR, MY BLADER IS EMPTY AND THIS TIME I'M TAKING YOU DOWN, JUNPEI!" The bathroom door slammed open and Minato came out. He walked toward the couch only to see Yu on his spot. He glared, but Yu was unfazed.

"Just sit on a chair." Yu told him.

Grunting, Minato grabbed a chair from the kitchen and sat next to Junpei.

While Minato and Junpei were having their match, Junpei decided to speak.

"So, Yu… I heard you're planning on proposing to Yukiko. Way to go man!"

Yu flinched. "What!? Who told you-?" He looked at Minato who was holding back his laughter. "Will you please stop spreading false rumors!?"

"Hey, I didn't do anything! I only told Junpei that you were looking at rings the other day." Minato said.

"You know what, Yu? I might just copy you and ask Chidori to marry me!" Junpei said, cheerfully and energetic. "I mean, I already felt the pain of losing her once and I know damn well I don't want to feel like that again! I wanna spend the rest of my life with her!"

"…The pain of losing her, huh?" Minato muttered.

"Did you say something?" Akihiko asked him.

"Nope… nothing- DAMN IT JUNPEI! STOP SPAMMING HADOKENS AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"

"THEN COME AND GET ME!" Junpei yelled back.

December 24 – Afternoon.

"I… I did it! I finally did it!" Yukari cheered as the sight in front of her revealed a perfectly baked cake. "Yukiko, come, look!" She called.

Yukiko came rushing into the kitchen and saw the cake. It wasn't burned, it wasn't destroyed… it was simply perfect. "Congratulations Yukari-san!" She told Yukari. "But you still need to decorate it."

"I know, but that's the easy part! Oh god, I want to see the look on Minato's face when I tell him I made this myself." Yukari said, excited.

Yukiko couldn't help but smile sadly. She wanted to be able to do this kind of stuff too, but every time she tried… it turned out a complete mess.

"Yukiko, thank you."

"Huh?" Yukiko was confused. "Why are you thanking me? You did this on your own."

Yukari shook her head. "I was able to do it because Yu-kun helped me, but more importantly, it was because you encouraged me to do it. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have made it, so… thanks." She said, smiling.

Hearing this warmed Yukiko's heart. Her feelings and worries of uselessness were suddenly gone.

"Well, that's what friends are for, right?" She smiled warmly at Yukari.

"Minato, what's taking you so long!? I need to use the bathroom too!" Yu yelled while knocking on the bathroom door.

"Shut up, this is my second Christmas Eve with Yukari and I don't want to go in my school uniform like last time!" Minato's voice came from the inside before he opened the door, came out dressed in a bathrobe and headed for his room.

"Who would've thought you'd worry so much about your appearance…"

"Hey, I don't wanna hear that from you. You're the one who bought a new shirt for tonight." Minato said from his room.

"Two buttons fell off of the other one I had." Right now, Yu was wearing a new white shirt and dark grey jeans. It was almost a casual look, but he managed to pull it off and look elegant.

"You could've sewed them."

"True, but that takes me some time. I'm not Kanji."

"Whatever…" After a few minutes, Minato came out of his room, wearing grey pants, a dark green coat and a blue, thin sweater underneath. "Damn it! I'm late!"

"No you're not." Yu said. "It's barely even 6:30,"

"What are you talking about? It's 7:30." Minato told him.

"What?"

"Yeah, look," Minato showed Yu his cell so he could see the time. It was indeed 7:30.

"The hell…? But what about the clock on the kitchen?"

"Oh yeah… that one is an hour behind…"

"WHAT!?" Yu yelled. "You mean I have 30 left minutes to make dinner before Yukiko arrives!?"

"Yep. Pretty much."

"Damn it!" Yu ran to the kitchen and took out everything he needed to start making dinner.

"Woah, calm down a bit…" Minato said. "Well, I'm off! Try not to get you new shirt dirty. Although it's not like you're gonna wear it for long…"

Yu stopped, blinked once and snapped his head back to the door. "What the-!?"

Minato laughed hysterically. "Good luck, Yu!" He closed the door and left the building, still laughing at Yu's reaction.

Luck wasn't really on Yu's side tonight. Not only was he late on making dinner because of that stupid clock, but Yukiko also decided to randomly arrive at the apartment 15 minutes early.

"Why are you so early?" Yu asked his girlfriend when he opened the door. She was wearing a one piece simple red dress with a green neckerchief around her neck. It felt quite christmassy.

"I took the bus today and there wasn't as much traffic as I thought there would be." Yukiko answered. "Why? Was I not supposed to arrive early?" She chuckled.

"No…" Yu sighed and let her into the apartment. "Sorry… I just started making dinner." He said.

"Really? This late? That's not like you…"

"Stupid clock." Yu pointed his thumb at the clock hanging on the wall. The time read 6:43 PM.

"Oh, I see." Yukiko's eyes suddenly widened as an idea came to her head. "Hey, then why don't we make dinner together?" She said cheerfully and energetic.

"Uh… sure, why not." He said. 'Actually, this might not be a bad idea…'

"Alright, what are we making?" Yukiko asked, moving to the kitchen to wash her hands.

"Curry." Yu simply answered.

"…!" Yukiko froze for a moment. "C-Curry…?"

Ever since the school campout incident, Yukiko and Chie agreed to not even try to make curry until they felt ready to cook it perfectly. They didn't like it when Yosuke made fun of them and their "Mystery food X", but they had to admit it was a total disaster.

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll keep it simple, nothing fancy." Yu assured.

"O-Okay…" She nodded. "Then we'll use packaged curry, right?"

Yu shook his head. "No, we'll make it from scratch." Yu couldn't help but chuckle at Yukiko's nervousness. "It's not so hard, I promise."

"Well… then tell me what I need to do."

"Can you chop the vegetables? They're on the counter." He said while taking a knife from the first drawer and giving it to her.

"Oh, that's easy!" She said, taking the knife from him. She wondered what she should start with, so she asked Yu.

"I'll be cooking the rice now, so start with the cayenne pepper." He answered. "Don't chop much of it though, since we're making it mild, not spicy."

Yukiko nodded and began chopping right away. It was a bit difficult for her and it took her some time, but she managed to get it right. She then proceeded to slice the carrots, but she had troubles making them all the same size. Yu noticed her struggling and tried to help her.

"The key is to slice them with swift and precise movements, not forcefully. If you do that the carrots will end up flying away from you…" Yu said with a smile. He took a second knife to give Yukiko a small demonstration. Just like he said, he was able to slice the carrots with precise movements. It was so fast that it left Yukiko in awe… and it seemed so natural to him, too. "Now you try it."

Yukiko steadied the grip on her knife and tried to mimic Yu's movements. It was hard… really hard. How could he do it so easily? It was just like the chefs at the inn…

"You're too tense…" Yu told her. "Try to relax a little bit." He stood behind her and placed his hands over hers, wrapping her around his arms gently. Yukiko blushed at the close proximity and contact, but didn't oppose.

He led her through the slicing process slowly and in silence. Yukiko was able to have a better understanding on how to chop vegetables… but she didn't really want this to end. She didn't want him to release her and go back to what he was doing. She felt warm in his arms and thought that if he let go of her, she would be overwhelmed by a sudden cold.

Apparently, Yu didn't want it to end either. Yukiko's hands felt soft and the smell of her hair was smoothening. There weren't that many moments when the two of them could be alone and at peace like this, but when they were, he cherished every single second. He allowed himself to think than nothing else mattered, only them. Yes, it was a selfish thought, but he had come to learn that a little bit of selfishness every now and then never hurt anybody.

And so, before they knew it, they had dinner ready and not once did they move apart from each other.

Yukari impatiently paced back and forth from one end of her apartment to the other. Minato was late… 20 minutes late to be precise. But Minato wasn't usually late for anything, especially when he was meeting someone.

She ran to the door as soon as she heard the first knock. She looked through the hole to see who it was. Yep, it was Minato.

She opened the door and received him with an icy glare that could rival Mitsuru's. "You're late." she stated.

"Fashionably late…" Minato corrected, unfazed, and presented Yukari with a small bouquet of pink roses he was hiding behind his back.

Yukari's cold stare suddenly softened.

"Sorry, I wanted to get you some flowers but the line at the store was unbelievable. I guess I wasn't the only one with this idea." He chuckled.

Yukari accepted the flowers and smiled, but then remembered she was supposed to be mad at him. "Just come in…" She shook her head. "Thanks though." She decided to just give up on her anger and smiled at him once more.

Minato went for a proper greeting giving her a quick peck on the lips, which wasn't expected by Yukari but was welcomed nonetheless.

"So… it was your turn to plan the evening." Minato said. "What are we doing?"

"Well, I wanted to keep things simple so… how about we just watch a few movies?" Yukari suggested.

"Alright, sure." Minato agreed. "So… are we making popcorn?"

"Actually…" Yukari grinned and ran to the kitchen. When she came back she was carrying a nicely decorated chocolate cake and left it on the table

"A cake? Not really something to eat while watching movies." Minato chuckled.

"I know that! But… do you remember our first Christmas Eve together…?" Yukari asked.

"Of course I do." He smiled. "We ate a chocolate cake that day too."

"Yeah, but this one's special."

There was a confused look on Minato's face.

"I… I made this one myself." Yukari said, a bit shyly.

"Really?" Minato said, impressed. "Can I have a taste?" He moved his finger closer to the cake but Yukari quickly took it away from him.

"Oh no you don't! I worked really hard to make this and we're going to eat it properly!" She said.

"Aww, you're no fun." Minato jokingly whined.

Leaving the cake on the table again, she approached him and poked his chest. "Deal with it." She giggled.

"Alright, alright…" He said, embracing Yukari into an unexpected, warm hug. "I can barely wait, though." He whispered in her ear, chuckling softly.

Yukari hid her blush by burying her face in Minato's chest.

"You idiot…" She whispered softly, returning the hug with equal warmth.

They didn't realize it, but they spent a good few minutes like that, before finally separating and moving to the couch to watch movies and eat the cake. To Minato, it was the best cake he had ever eaten.

Yukiko was utterly and genuinely surprised, although she knew she really shouldn't be.

They had just finished eating the curry, which had turned out incredibly well! Texture, taste, smell… everything met the standards of how a proper meal should be.

"Well, that was pretty good, wasn't it?" Yu said from the other end of the small table in the living room.

"Only because you helped me so much…" Yukiko said with a small giggle.

After they started cooking together, things changed from Yu showing Yukiko how to do a single thing, to him telling her how to make the curry all by herself, all the while holding her from behind. He told her from how to cut the vegetables to how much flour and curry powder to add, and whenever she had troubles doings something in particular, instead of doing it for her, Yu would put his hands over hers and help her. Basically, Yukiko did most of the job while following Yu's instructions.

"If I'd known cooking alone with you would be so fun, I would've asked for your help a lot sooner." She told him, smiling.

"Yep, definitely beats cooking in a crowded kitchen." Yu chuckled, remembering the days when everyone would gather at the Dojima residence either for cooking battles or to just simply have a meal together. "Only by a little, though."

"Hey!" Yukiko whined jokingly.

There was a pause of comfortable silence and Yu's mind drifted for a while. He was thinking that he really could get used to this.

Cooking with her every night.

Eating with her every night.

Talking to her every night.

Being with her… all the time! From waking up beside her in the morning to going to sleep in the same bed at night.

Suddenly, the marriage proposal didn't sound like such a crazy idea at all. An involuntary smile formed on his lips.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Yukiko's voice snapped him off his thoughts. "It must be something nice if it makes you smile…" Seeing him smile made her smile, too.

"I-it's nothing…" He said, letting that one, almost inaudible, stutter escape his lips.

"…" Yukiko narrowed her eyes and looked firmly at him. "You're lying…"

"What? I-I'm not…" He tried to defend himself.

"You stuttered. You are so lying, Yu. Come on, tell me what you were thinking about." She pleaded.

"It's nothing, really!" He looked for a way to escape from this. He grabbed the plates and took them to the kitchen, but Yukiko followed him.

"Of course it's something. Why won't you tell me?" She kept insisting.

"Because… Well…" Yu had a hard time deciding if he should just tell her or not. Sure, it wasn't like he was proposing right now, but he didn't know how she would react… "It's just… I don't know if it's the right time…"

"The right time?" Yukiko asked. "For what?"

Yu grunted. Why couldn't she just let it go…? Why did she have to keep insisting every time he didn't want to talk about something? Then again, maybe it was his own fault for being so secretive that year they met.

"Alright, alright… I'll talk…" Yu released a heavy sigh in frustration. "I was just… you know, thinking about…"

"…about?…"

"About us…" Yu finished.

"Us? And why would you try to keep it a secret?" Yukiko asked, confused.

"Well, you see… I was thinking… about the future…"

"The… future?" Yukiko asked, slightly taken aback.

"Yeah. I was thinking that… I would really like to be with you… for the rest of my life." Yu finally admitted.

"W-What d-do you mean?" Yukiko was getting nervous and it showed in her voice.

"Exactly what I said. I was thinking of how would our life be… if we…" Yu hesitated, not knowing if he should finish that sentence.

"If we…?" Yukiko said, asking him to continue.

"If we… got married…"

"M-M-Married…!?" Yukiko almost yelled in surprise. She felt her heart skip a beat, her chest getting cold for a second and her cheeks burning, all at the same time.

"L-Look, I'm not saying we should get married now!" Yu quickly added. "But I was… just wondering…" He lowered his voice more and more with every word, thinking that he had already screwed up, so he waited for Yukiko's reaction.

"If we… got married…" Yukiko repeated his words slowly. Her cheeks were still burning red.

There was an awkward moment of silence in the kitchen between the couple. All that went through Yu's mind were ways to fix what he had said. What could he say? Insist that they should get married? He didn't think that was a good idea. Say that he didn't want to get married, ever? Nope, that would be even worse. He knew Yukiko wanted to get married eventually.

'Come, Yu… think of something!' He thought to himself.

"We would… have to live at my family's inn…" Yukiko's voice quickly snapped him off his thoughts. "You know that, right?"

Yu's eyes widened. Was she… actually ok with the idea?

"Y-yeah, of course I know." He said, calming down a bit. "I believe I told you once that I would have no problem with that." He smiled a bit.

"And… how do you think our life would be..?"She asked him, looking at the floor to avoid his gaze.

Yu couldn't help but give a small chuckle. He stepped closer to Yukiko and wrapped his arms around her gently, surprising her.

"Well… I was thinking that we could cook dinner just like we did today…" He said, moving her hair locks aside to have a better look of her face.

"And what else…?" Yukiko asked.

"I don't know, you didn't really give me time to keep thinking…"He chuckled. "What about you? How do you think our life would be?"

After thinking for a moment, Yukiko's blush deepened, so she buried her face on Yu's chest to hide her face. "I don't want to say!"

"What? Come on, Yukiko, that's not fair! I talked, now's your turn!" He told her. "You just thought of something, didn't you? What was it?"

"When I thought about it… I saw…"

"What?"

"…Kids."

"Eh…? K-Kids…?" Yu's eyes widened. He was NOT expecting that.

Yukiko nodded in his chest. "A boy and a girl…"

Yu had to take a moment to take that in. it was obvious that if they got married they would eventually have children… so why did that surprise him that much? After a while, he decided to play along.

"And…" He coughed once. "…how old are they?"

"Around four years old… maybe." She smiled at the thought.

"What were they doing?"

"Playing in the garden… running around, one chasing the other…"

Yu smiled, and although she was still avoiding his gaze, he knew Yukiko was smiling too.

He took her chin gently in his fingers and lifted her face so she could look at him. "That sounds nice…" He told her. Their eyes met. Their faces slowly approached until they met in a single, deep and passionate kiss. They parted after a long moment and rested their foreheads against each other's, slowly trying to catch their breath.

"Hey…" Yukiko said after a while. "I still haven't given you your gift."

"Same for me."

"Want to exchange them at the same time?" Yukiko asked.

"Sure."

Yu released his hold on Yukiko and she ran over to the couch where she had left her bag while Yu went to his room. The two sat on the couch, each holding something behind their backs.

"At the count of three?" Yu asked. Yukiko nodded. "Alright."

"1"

"2"

"3!" They both said in unison and revealed their gifts. Yukiko showed a small silver colored box while Yu showed a bigger box wrapped in red paper with a yellow bow.

Whishing the other a merry Christmas, they exchanged boxes.

"Open yours first." Yu said.

Yukiko nodded and opened her gift. Inside the box was a yellow silk neckerchief. Her eyes widened.

"How did you… know…?" She asked surprised.

"I saw you eyeing it like a month ago…" He answered.

"Thank you, it's beautiful!" She got closer to him and kissed him once more in the lips. "Now open yours!"

"Alright…" Yu opened the small silver colored box to find inside a beautiful silver wristwatch. It wasn't anything too fancy, and not completely made of silver, but it was still probably quite expensive.

"Yukiko… you didn't have to…" Yu said. Honestly he liked the watch, and he preferred to use these instead of watching the time in his cell, but something like this must've cost a lot.

"Do you like it…?" She asked a bit nervously.

"Of course I do." He smiled at her. He put it on right away. "Thank you."

This time he approached her and gently kissed her forehead, making her blush.

"Hey… Yu…" Yukiko said after they put away the boxes. "About before…"

He grabbed her hand before she could finish.

"I understand." He chuckled. "I don't think we're ready either…"

A smile appeared on Yukiko's lips, glad that he understood how she felt. They both knew that now wasn't the right time to get married, but they also knew, deep down in their hearts, that it would happen one day. And that didn't stop them from enjoying each other's company right now.

Minato and Yukari had already finished watching three movies. Two of them being romantic dramas, requested by Yukari, and the third being Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, requested by Minato, just to rest from all that drama. Minato now wanted to watch a horror movie, but Yukari utterly opposed the idea. She hated horror movies.

Before they could decide what to watch next, Yukari had to go to the bathroom and returned to the living room only to see Minato with his eyes closed and his earphones on.

"Oh come on, don't fall asleep just yet!" She said, sitting next to him again.

"I'm not asleep." He said, but he definitely sounded sleepy.

"What are you listening to?" Yukari asked, taking one of the earphones for herself and listening through it. There wasn't any sound coming from it.

"I just had them on, I wasn't listening to anything." He clarified. "I was just thinking…"

"Thinking about what?" She asked.

"Would it be creepy if I said it was about Yu and Yukiko?"

"Uh… a little bit…" She answered honestly.

"Thought so." He chuckled.

"Why were you thinking about them?" She asked.

"Well, Yu's been having this one thought on his mind recently…"

"If he should propose Yukiko or not?" Yukari finished for him.

Minato blinked one the twice. "How did you know?"

"He was here yesterday and I found him looking through one of my jewelry magazines. I managed to get him to tell me the truth."

"I see…" Minato nodded. "Well, to be honest, it has had me thinking about the future, too… about us." To this, Yukari giggled. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just that I've been thinking the same thing." She admitted with a blush.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I mean, after all we've been through together there's no doubt in my mind that I love you…" Her blush deepened. She could barely believe that she had just been so blunt about it when it used to be so hard for her to say "I love you" without feeling the urge to hide her face under a pillow. "So… well, after talking to Yu for a while, I got to thinking… how will our future be? Where will we be? What will we be doing?"

"No one can answer those questions, Yukari." Minato told her. "But there is one thing I can assure you. Whatever the future has in store for us, we'll face it together. I'll do everything in my power to be with you. I already left you alone once and I don't plan on doing it again." He held her hand firmly, as if to show her that he's not letting her go. "I promise."

"I promise too. I won't let you go away again. No matter if it's another city, another country, another continent or even another world! I'll be there with you!"

"Thank you, Yukari." Gently, he placed a hand against her cheek and caressed it. "Thank you for still being with me. Thanks for… not forgetting me." He finally admitted. That was something that surprised Minato to this day. The fact that Yukari was waiting for him, even though he was supposed to be dead.

"You idiot…" She said, smiling and touching the hand that was on her cheek with her own. "I never could've forgotten about you, even if I tried. None of us could've." She got closer to him and kissed him in the lips. It was a soft kiss which Minato deepened… and Yukari decided to do the same. In the end it had transformed into a playful battle for control.

They finally broke apart and gasped heavily for air. They were smiling at each other.

"Hey, let me ask you something." Yukari said after a few moments of breathing. "It's true what you said, that no one really knows what the future has in store for us, but just answer me this question."

"Alright, shoot."

"What would you prefer, a boy or a girl?"

Minato crossed his arms and thought about the question for a while. He finally answered.

"A girl." He said.

"Really?" Yukari was surprised. "Why?"

"Because if she looks like you, then she'll be the most beautiful girl in the world." He said with a wide grin.

Yukari blushed in deep read and playfully punched Minato's arm. "You're such a sap!" She laughed.

"From time to time I am." He admitted.

They both laughed for a good few minutes. They could enjoy staying like this for now. The future could wait. Right now, there was only them.