Disclaimer: I own nothing...except this tequila I'm going to drink right after uploading this.

Giving

"Knowing you, it's probably something intricate and complicated."

"It's not. Sort of."

Go Go narrowed her eyes at the boy genius. "You're not giving me a good feeling about this."

"Just open it, Go Go!" Fred interrupted, his newly acquired fuzzy hat flopping around on his head. "You're the last one!"

She cautiously opened the box to remove a set of leather fingerless gloves. The top part of each were glowing a soft blue color through the cracks.

"Is this going to explode?"

"No, I don't think so. I kid, I kid!" Hiro scooted over to Go Go, who was now sporting a worried look. "You can control your electronics with these gloves. It's all wireless. Now you don't have to worry about trying to answer your phone or play your music when you're out rollerblading or doing your delivery route."

Go Go ran her finger over the glove, noting the 3D volume control that popped out. "These are pretty sweet, kiddo. Thanks." She rubbed the top of his head in affection.

Hiro watched his friend slip them on her hands, not even trying to fix his unkempt hair. Today was the last day of SFIT being open before the holidays, and thus it was the day of the Annual Bestest of Friends Secret Santa Gift Gathering.

Note that Fred was the one who made the name. Note that they don't let him name things anymore.

The gifts this year were very eclectic. Including the aforementioned hat (and socks, and gloves, and every other piece of clothing under the sun) given to Fred by Honey Lemon and gloves to Go Go, Fred got Wasabi a fancy knife-sharpening kit, Wasabi gifted Hiro a brand new messenger bag (outfitted with so many pockets he had lost count), and Honey Lemon was now the proud owner of a brand new stack of cookbooks courtesy of Go Go.

"Did you have these in another box before?"

The question brought Hiro out of his daydream. "Hmm? No, I wrapped that one myself."

"Wasn't there another box that you brought with you to school?"

"Nope, just the one."

Go Go shook her head slightly as she continued to fiddle with the settings on her glove. "You are the worst liar ever. You're even worse than Honey Lemon, and that's saying something."

"Are we talking about the big box Hiro came in with this afternoon?" Wasabi yelled from across the room.

"You know, now that I'm thinking about it, I do remember it," Fred interjected. "Where did it go?"

Hiro started putting things into his new bag, realizing that he may had already loss some things into the abyss. "Even if such a thing were to exist, it's none of your business where it is or who it's for."

"It's for Karmi."

"Honey Lemon!"

"Sorry," the Hispanic girl said as she put her books in her box. "I saw the present in your lab and was curious. They were going to find out anyway."

"I want to hear all about your master plan!" Fred put an arm around Hiro's shoulder, waving forward with the other. "Are you going to stop by her lab? Will there be an anguished declaration of love? Can we tag along to possibly pick up the pieces of your inevitable rejection?"

"Wow, way to lighten the mood, Fred."

"Seriously, though, we're on our way out." Wasabi came over with the girls, ready to leave the lab. "We can head over that way if you want."

Hiro threw the bag over his shoulder. "Look, I appreciate your...we'll call it help and leave it at that." Grinning slightly, he made off toward the door. "But really, do you guys think that I would let you tag along on my 'master plan' or whatever if there was even the slightest chance you guys would be there to make fun of me?"

A soft knock came from the door of Karmi's lab. The young genius, waiting for her spectrometer to finish, almost didn't hear it. Getting up from her stool, she strode over to the door and opened it.

Nothing.

"Great." Karmi sighed. "Just what I need. Ding dong ditchers. Or...knock knock...whatever fits with 'knocks'."

She turned to her left to make sure no one was secretly laughing at her...and saw a Post-It on the door frame with an arrow pointing down.

"What the...?"

And then she looked at her feet.

"I did it thirty minutes ago."

"Ahh, the secret drop-off plan. Love it!"

The quintet walked out of the main entrance of the Robotics Lab and were suddenly greeted by a chilling wind. Hiro threw his hood over his head, shivering. "Man, it sure got worse since this morning."

"Maybe it'll snow."

"...Fred, it hasn't snowed in San Fransokyo since '76."

"Then that just means we're long overdue for a snowfall, Wasabi!"

Go Go shook her head as they exited the campus. "You can't change the climate, weirdo. You can stare at your snow globe at home and get the same effect."

She noticed that Fred had stopped mid-stride, a worried look on his face. "Fred, last time I checked, thinking hard enough doesn't bring the snow here."

"No, it's not that. Ever get that feeling of foreboding? Like something weird is going to happen?"

"Ahem."

All five of them turned to the other opening to see a person leaning against the wall, a partially unwrapped box at her feet and an indistinguishable look on her face. Or...what was visible; the dark red scarf on her face was obscuring her nose and mouth.

Fred pointed at her, oblivious to the sudden mood change. "Oh, there it is. Right there."

Hiro stepped forward, waving his friends off. "I'll meet you guys at the car, OK? I'll take care of this."

"Why? I've always wanted to see a train wreck in person."

"...Honey Lemon?"

"C'mon, boys." She pushed both Wasabi and Fred away down the steps. "Let's give them some privacy."

After making sure his friends were a safe distance away, Hiro walked over to the new arrival. She pulled down the scarf to uncover her mouth, but said nothing.

"Hey, Karmi," Hiro greeted his classmate, his voice just a little too high. "Say, that's a really nice scarf you got there. I don't think I've ever seen you wear that before. Did you-"

"Don't play dumb with me, Genius Boy. I know it was you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

She held up something in his face, and Hiro could see it was the card he had put on her present. He had tried to fancy up the "To Karmi" on it, but looking at it again, maybe he should have a few less loops.

"Your handwriting matched up with your previous messages to me."

"I...what?"

"See here?" She pointed to the two vertical lines in the slanted capital T and K. "Your lines are parallel to each other almost perfectly. That's pretty much impossible for anyone else to do."

Hiro cocked his head to the side. "I don't know whether to be impressed or scared."

"Well," Karmi replied as the card was tucked away into the box, "You're also probably the only person who would get me something anyways."

Both of them stayed silent for a second. Hiro was desperately trying to block out the sound of Go Go trying to push Fred out of sight.

Karmi, oblivious to the struggle, twirled the end of the scarf around her hand. "This feels really nice, by the way. I never realized how cold I got until I put this thing on."

"You'll have to thank my aunt. She was the one who made it. I just...had the idea." Hiro nodded to the box on the ground. "And you don't have to do anything with that either. The plankton that I managed to get should survive for several months with a few nutrients. And you can probably add some of your own microorganisms to it as well."

"I'll have to try that." Karmi said. She looked away, blushing. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. I wasn't really expecting anything, much less from you. But now I feel bad."

"Why?"

"Because." She wasn't looking back at him. "I...I didn't get you anything."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Hiro dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "There's always next year, right? You know...provided you haven't gotten sick of me by then."

The sounds of snickering interrupted them, and Hiro turned to see the gang of four down at the foot of the steps. "You know, I glad you guys are having a good laugh at me about this."

"Oh, trust us, Hiro," Honey Lemon giggled. "We're not laughing at you."

"Huh?"

Four index fingers simultaneously pointed up into the sky. The two teen geniuses looked up into the archway and immediately saw what they were talking about.

"Oh," they said together.

Hiro was the first to glance back at his classmate. Her eyes were still aimed upward, cheeks now dangerously red, and it didn't have anything to do with the cold. No, it had to do with the dang mistletoe above them.

"You know, Karmi..."

Now she was looking at him.

"I can think of something you can give me."

In about an hour, sitting next to his friends at Noodle Burger, he would try to convince himself that his brain had temporarily shut down, robbing him of any sort of restraint. But in that moment, the only thing he could think about was Karmi and how much he wanted to...

Well, you know.

It was now or never. Hiro took a slow step toward her, getting up onto his toes. He closed his eyes and leaned forward...

Wait a minute. This didn't feel like someone else's lips.

Hiro cracked one eye open and saw the problem: the scarf-wrapped hand was now in his face, blocking him from Karmi.

"Nice try, HiRomeo," Karmi said, peeking into view. "I'll give you points for effort, though." She bent down to pick up the box at her feet, her hand still on his face. "But hey."

She bent down to whisper in his ear. "There's always next year, right?" As a final note, she rubbed her hand up his face to the top of his hair, messing it up even further. She began to walk down the steps...

And that's when Hiro's brain finally caught up to him.

"Hey, that's not fair. You can't do that!" He shouted after her. "That's...like...against the Law of Mistletoe or something!"

Ignoring him, Karmi waved to the peanut gallery. "I'll see you guys next year. Happy holidays!"

The group, smiles absurdly large, waved back at her. Once she was gone, they turned to find Hiro coming toward them, a finger in the air.

"Not. A. Single. Word."

"Now that we've gotten the show out of the way," Fred joked, "How about we do the dinner too? Let's go to Noodle Burger. I'm feeling even more in the holiday mood."

"I have an idea," Hiro said as he sulked off. "How about we go to a graveyard and you just bury me because I'm going to die of embarrassment?"

"...I don't think I know that fast food place. Where is that at?

Karmi closed her laptop with a yawn. A small update to her adoring fan base was all she could muster in terms of her fanfiction, but she figured it was better than nothing. She was worn out from the day's events. It was time for bed.

She pulled her hairtie out, letting her long hair fall loose over her shoulders. She flipped her wall switch off and sat down at the edge of her bed. Hiro's gifts were laid on her bedside table, the scarf in a messy pile.

The other gift was giving off a soft blue glow, illuminating the room in its hue. Karmi had always wanted a bioluminescent lamp, but there were so expensive. She couldn't figure out how Hiro knew about it, but the orb on her table told her all she needed.

She pulled the covers over her body as she took one last glance at the glass ball next to her. There were days where she couldn't believe what that kid could do, both good and bad. This was definitely one of the good things.

Maybe in the new year, she could give Hiro a break.

Just a small one, though.

And maybe she should have let him kiss her at school.

…

Wait...where the heck did that thought come from?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And so begins the natural progression of things.

Again, I am under no inclination that the second season of the show will come and probably mess up all of this nice progress that I've tried to use to bridge the gap between seasons, but I would like to think that Karmi isn't a complete, cold-hearted person. Especially considering what's transpired in the season. Maybe not to the point that I'm writing, but hey.

And if you think this is sappy...boy, do I have a story in the works for you.

Oh, and a wild Watchmen reference appears! It's super effective!

As mentioned on my DevArt, I will be purposely taking a break for the rest of the year. I will still be writing, but no uploads for the next couple of weeks. And then, in the new year, hopefully fun things will be happening.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, ladies and gents. Happy holidays!