The Cheeseball has returned! I do not own Spiral.

"Okay, I know the janitor keeps that mop somewhere." She mused.

"Only someone like you could spill that much miso in the amount of time it takes for a person's neurons to tell them to breathe." He flipped the page of the monthly cooking magazine and stared intently at a gleaming automatic vegetable dicer. That thing could cut preparation time by a fourth.

"Really, Narumi-san, you could at least acknowledge my existence without insulting me for two seconds." She moved a chair out of the offending mass of soup on the floor and placed it upside down on the table.

With that, she moves the computer keyboard and the mouse out of the way, "So, Narumi-san, what are you going to do for Christmas break?"

"You mean besides slave away to Queen Madoka's bidding?"

Hiyono rolled her eyes and waited for his answer.

"Probably slave away to yours." He spat, sarcasm hinting in his voice as he flipped the magazine page again.

"Narumi-san!" she huffed. Drawing her secret weapon out into the open, she reached out with both her hand puppets, which are abruptly stopped by Ayumu's hand on her forehead, "Shouldn't you be finding a mop or something?"

Quickly pocketing her secret weapons, she slipped out the door like a thief resuming his dastardly purpose, "Of course."

Shaking his head slightly, he returned to his magazine, absorbing himself in the masterpieces he could create with the thirteen-inch stainless steel steak knife that came with the new ceramic 24" deep electric slow cooker.

A sudden crash jolted him from his culinary daydreams, causing him to instinctively turn towards the source of the noise. One thought came to his mind. Hiyono.

Standing to his feet, he walked out of the room, his eyes drawn around the corner to where the janitor's closet was. Sure enough, Hiyono was amidst the equipment, tangled in a mass of brooms and cleaner…in the dark.

"Oi, why didn't you turn on the light?" he sighed.

A pout framed itself on her face, "I couldn't find it, I'll have you know. I'm not as stupid as you take me for."

Ayumu pushed the door open farther and walked in, sighing heavily and extending his hand to help her off the floor. She took it, and the force of her weight caused her to fall into him, and he took a step backwards to steady himself, accidentally backing into the door, which shut behind them.

Click.

"Narumi-san?" Hiyono questioned quietly after a few moments of shock, "What was that sound?"

The quiet hum of Hiyono's voice from the girl enclosed in his arms sent chills through him. Did what just happened…just happen?

His hand released her to grope about on the door behind him. He released a breath when he felt the cool doorknob under his palm. After trying to turn it, his stomach lurched as the doorknob refused. He jiggled the doorknob, with no success. In a moment of deduction and realization, Ayumu spoke, his voice low and shallow, "Hiyono, let go."

Hearing the desperation in his voice, she released him, and he turned to grab the doorknob with both hands.

"Narumi-san?"

Heaving a sigh and releasing the door, he spoke once more, "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a hairpin? Or even a flashlight?"

She shook her head even though he couldn't see it, "I left all my stuff back in the newspaper room."

His hand rose to stroke his chin, "Okay, first thing we do then is find a light. There has to be one around here. Do any of those puppets of yours have super alien powers?"

"Ack! How rude! Of course they don't!"

When he moved to feel the wall for a switch, "Ow!" Hiyono's voice jolted him, and he tried to regain his footing, trying his best not to step on her as a small clanging noise suggested she had fallen.

"Sorry."

"Narumi-san…"

The tone of her voice caused a small lump to form in his throat. She sounded like she was on the floor now. Fabulous.

Just what a sixteen-year old male needs. That is, if he was normal, which everyone knew he wasn't, so this shouldn't present a problem. It was just the stress from the present situation. Yeah, that was it.

"Hey, can you tell me exactly where you are?"

"Narumi-san? We're in a broom closet."

"I need to sit down until I can figure out a plan and my eyes haven't adjusted yet."

"Okay, well, my back is against the mop bucket, and behind it should be a few large brooms and the back wall. I'll tuck my legs in and you should have plenty of room to sit down if you're still at the front of the closet."

He waited a moment as he heard her shuffling, "Good?"

There was a muffled sound, a pause, then, "Yeah."

Ayumu stiffly sat down, his eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness. His eyes held on the door as he remained deep in thought, "Do you have your cell phone on you?"

"I left it in the newspaper room. What about yours, Narumi-san?" She sighed.

"Yeah, I have it, but there's no service in here and the battery's dying."

"Why do you never charge your phone?"

"Now's not the time to harp on me about such useless things. I think I have enough battery life just to take a look around." Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he opened it and stood, allowing the light to travel around the small room. When the light reached Hiyono, he froze for a moment. Swiftly glancing around the closet, he finally found a short string near the ceiling and tugged on it. The dim yellow bulb dangling from the tiles flickered a few moments before turning on. Hiyono squinted a moment as her eyes adjusted to the new light.

Ayumu stooped quickly, his eyes scanning over her leg. A jagged cut painted a rugged line of red liquid down her shin. Frowning, he held her gaze fiercely, "Why didn't you say anything?"

She held up her hands, "Narumi-san, it's really not that big of a deal. Plus, you were too busy insulting my puppets."

He stood, glancing around the shelves before finally spotting a roll of paper towels and a container of rubbing alcohol. Bending down again, his voice was icy, "Fool. This is the place where it could get infected the most. Hold still. This won't feel nice."

Her face tightened as she watched his eyes, "I know." She whispered.

With that, he opened the paper towels and used one to blot off a good bit of the blood before dabbing a bit of rubbing alcohol on another. Using his other hand to hold her leg still, he pressed it firmly to her skin. He gritted his teeth hard when she let out a short painful cry. A few more muffled whimpers came from her before he withdrew, using one more paper towel to dry her leg. He then ripped off a good amount of paper towels and tied it around her leg, "It's not professional, but it's the cleanest thing we have."

"Thanks, Narumi-san. You didn't happen to find anything to eat in those paper towels, did you?"

"Hn. Now, what do we have that could get us out of here?" as he looked around, there were only the standard cleaning supplies, nothing that he could use to get out of there immediately, at least off the top of his head. His frown deepened, and so did the furrow between his eyebrows, "What kind of janitor's closet would be so primitive? I could understand in an abandoned school, but this would never pass the safety inspections…"

"Maybe a plot device?"

"What?"

"Nevermind."

He sighed, "Anyway, it looks like we'll be stuck in here for a little while. At least until I think of a way out of here."

"Narumi-san?" her gaze floated to the floor.

"Hn." His dark eyes looked up at her as she spoke quietly.

"Nobody would be around, would they? It's already after hours and everybody left for winter break."

Slowly getting to his feet, he thought for a moment, "Probably not. But it's not like you to give up so easily. It's worth a try. Can you scream for me?"

"Huh?"

"Just scream when I start banging on the door, will you?"

She shrugged, "All right."

Hiyono screamed until she was out of breath, and Ayumu banged on the door as hard as he could, silently hoping that maybe it would break. Sinking back to the floor, he spoke without turning to look at her, "It's the beginning of winter break. It's probably after five o'clock by now. Most of the staff is probably gone."

She waited, and sure enough, he continued, "The heat probably won't stay on for much longer. They may have already turned it off."

"Are you saying—"

"If we don't get out of here soon, there's a chance we could freeze to death."

"Narumi-san?" she started shivering.

"Yeah?"

"About this, I—"

Before she could finish, the light began to flicker, growing dimmer as the impending threat of light bulb death hung over it like a cloud. Hiyono gulped, "If well, if we don't make it…"

"Don't. I'm strongest when I'm with you, right? Then there are only two options. We either make it through this or we die together, and I don't feel like dying."

A smile crossed her face, "That was very heroic, Narumi-san."

A sour laugh escaped his lips, "Yeah, well, I have to try to convince myself, ya know. If you go off on a pity party too, I'm not sure I could keep my sanity."

He could hear her teeth chatter and he slowly took off his jacket.

"Narumi-san, what are you—?"

Ayumu wrapped his jacket around her and continued his staring contest with the wall. Clutching the jacket around her, she bit her lip, "But what about you?"

His eyes drifted over to her, "If this really is our last…then you'll have a better chance this way."

She felt a burning liquid peeling at her eyelids as her throat hitched, "Narumi-san, I-heh, " she sniffed, "I didn't know you could be so chivalrous."

Finally, the light bulb died out, which, oddly enough, a slight part of him was thankful for as he replied quietly, "It's…It's not chivalry or anything illogical like that. It's…I…couldn't stand it if I was responsible."

He couldn't tell how much longer passed by, he guessed it was about a half an hour, but he could tell it was getting noticeably colder. A chill bit at his skin and he could hear Hiyono shivering. He looked over and could see a faded outline of her quivering form. His expression set in a solemn determination, he scooted over to her, "Look, this may be uncomfortable, but it's the only way to conserve heat in this situation."

"N-Narumi-san? A-Are you sure?" She looked questionably in his direction.

He grunted in affirmation, and grasped her shoulder firmly, only able to slightly see her outline in the fading evening light that was peeking in from under the door. His breath lurched as she nearly fell into him. Her caramel tresses, even in braids, tickled his fingertips. She curled her arms in between her chest and his own as he wrapped his arms around her. He swallowed hard. She trembled. If it were anyone else, this wouldn't be anything unprofessional for either of them.

"Narumi-san?"

"What is it?"

"I um…I have to make a confession." Her embarrassment as evident in her voice.

What did she mean? Of all the things she could say when he was so close to her. What a stupid thing to bring up. This girl was going to lead him to a premature death. Nevermind freezing to death. He closed his eyes, slightly nervous at the aspect of what she was going to say, "Hiyono, I hardly think this is the time to—"

"I ate your bento." Her nervous voice came out quickly.

"I mean—wait, what? Are you serious? I already knew—"

"I also stole two pairs of your socks and your cooking apron and I copied all of your recipes and I took pictures twice when you fell asleep in the newspaper room—you were drooling on the desk—and I was planning on using them as blackmail if you refused to let me eat your lunch, not to mention that I circle all the recipes that I love in your cookbook hoping you'll make them for me and I listen to every word when you talk in your sleep and I know that you use 3.7 ounces of hair gel every day and I even document how your voice changes when you talk about certain things and I know you have an unhealthy obsession with cooking-ware and I've come over to your house early six times in the past two months to raid your fridge and watch you sleep and I accidentally broke your high-tech ice cream scoop and I buried it in the front garden and I lo-" she spewed all of her innards, all at once.

"You wrote in my cookbook?" he cut her off.

"Um, yes. I'm sorry, Narumi-san." She admitted.

He was silent, letting out a slow breath of air and seemingly letting the matter drop but she noticed that he muttered once or twice, uttering something along the lines of having to get another cookbook, one that didn't have contaminants on it.

As it got colder, she huddled closer to him, her head nesting into his neck. Untangling his arms from her for a moment, he took his jacket from her shoulders and placed it on her bare legs without a word.

For a long time, neither spoke. He deduced it had to be a couple hours, as sleep was threatening to overtake him. Leaning back against some supplies, he heard Hiyono stir. She had seemingly fallen asleep a good half hour before. She readjusted herself as he leaned back, wrapping her arms slowly around his middle and resting her head on his chest, her breath lingering on his neck. A slight shiver shot down his spine.

There were only two things keeping him awake. The incessant cold that seemed to be getting worse and the rhythmic heat on his neck coming from the feminine figure now clinging to him for warmth. Of all the stupid ways to die…

"N-Narumi-san?"

"Hn." He grunted calmly, her breath tingling his face.

He felt her start to shake in his arms, "I-I'm sorry, Narumi-san. This is all my fault."

Leaning forward a bit, he put his hand to the back of her head and tugged her into him, "Shh."

With that, he leaned them both backwards as his hand began to maneuver its way through her hair, "Just go to sleep."

Hiyono's eyes stayed open, and her hand clutched at his shirt. Sure, the whole body warmth thing was a little uncomfortable, but she couldn't honestly say she would rather anyone else in there with her. She felt her face fill with warmth as he stroked her hair. Unconsciously, she clung to him tighter, whispering, "If we make it out of here, I promise I'll make you a bento lunch…Narumi-san."

There was a slight silence on his end before his sarcastic retort came to her ears, "I thought you wanted me to live."

Her slightly angry comeback was wounded by her ache for sleep, "Mou…Narumi-san…That's mean."

His other arm wrapped around her waist as his eyes began to close.

"Hey, you kids! Are you alright?" a crackly old voice dragged Ayumu out of his sleep. His eyelids fluttered at the sudden exposure to light. He leaned forward slowly and rubbed his eyes. He was greeted with the sight of an older gentleman in a uniform. The janitor.

A few hours late, Ayumu would say. Ayumu felt a weight on him and looked over to find Hiyono with her arms around him. Gulping, he peeled her arms away from him. Noticing her still freezing skin, he got to his knees and picked up the sleeping girl, carrying her out of the room carefully, her head falling against his chest.

"Son, I'm really sorry about that. Here, why don'tcha get the little lady fixed up? The kitchen's still open, I'm sure ya'll are hungry."

Ayumu nodded his thanks and carried Hiyono down the hall and into the kitchen. He jostled her gently in order to wake her up. She groaned and opened her eyes, a bright smile slowly spreading across her face, and for a moment he wished he had died in the broom closet, "Narumi-san!"

Setting her down on a stool near the door, he made his way over to the cabinets to look for some bandages for her leg before inspecting the contents of the fridge. Slightly unstable on her perch, Hiyono lost her balance, and fell from the stool, falling into the one thing that would give Ayumu nightmares for the next two months. The door.

Click.

"Hiyono…what was that sound?" His heart was suddenly racing as his bloodstream filled with every sort of dread.

"Uhm…well, look on the bright side, Narumi-san. At least we have food this time."

All right, I really meant this to be a whole lot funnier than it actually ended up. I'm seriously thinking about rewriting it, though I wish I had a greater sense of humor for stuff like this. Lemme know what you guys think, I'm still a bit unsure whether I should rewrite it or not. Lord bless you guys, praying for you!