Enchanting

Written as a request from two close friends, Nichers1 and Reldor. Enjoy~

This story is set during a slightly AU version of the February Ski Trip from Golden.

I do not own P4, but if I did Kanji and Naoto would already be together =P

xXxXxX

The day had gone about as badly as she'd feared.

When Yosuke-senpai first started talking about a ski trip, the first thing the small detective had done was try to get out of it.

That in itself had been a failed plan when Rise had cornered her.

"Whaaaaat? You cant be serious Naoto-kun! You cant possibly want to get out of going with us, it will be the very last big thing we do together as a group before Yu-senpai goes home!" Rise said, her trademark pout on her lips.

The two girls were sat in the classroom eating their lunches. Students that were stood around them turned to look briefly before returning to their own conversations.

"Rise-san, please understand, I cannot ski…." Naoto argued back, though she knew Rise would never let that go.

"Oh come oooooon, it wont be THAT bad! I bet most of us cant ski…" Rise said, tugging lightly at the shorter girls arm.

"Sup'." A familiar voice said as a tall male with bleach-blonde hair walked over to the two.

"Kanji-kun! Naoto-kun doesn't wanna go skiing with us!" Rise whined at him, hoping he'd back her up.

Naoto sighed, becoming increasingly annoyed with Rise's whining, "As I said, I cannot ski, and so there is little point trying to!" she said shortly, giving off an aura of annoyance.

"Eh…" Kanji rubbed the back of his neck, not exactly liking being dragged in between the two of them, especially when it was obvious that Naoto wasn't in the best mood. The girl was small, but he knew she could punch well above her weight if needed.

"W-well if its just that, I could try'n teach ya…"he offered, looking at the detective.

"But…."Naoto tried to come up with another argument, but the words died on her lips as she saw Rise beam and start bouncing in excitement. Never one to give in easily, Naoto quickly added, "I-I wouldn't want to burden you out of your fun, Kanji-kun."

"Nah, s'no trouble." he said, though by now he'd looked away, a pink hue tinted on his cheeks.

"See~?" Rise giggled, knowing that the argument had been won. She looked utterly pleased as she sat down at her desk again.

Naoto sighed, defeated, "…Fine. I'll go." she muttered.

As expected, the practice of staying upright on skis was utterly lost on the small girl as she could barely hold her balance for more than a few seconds at a time. Such a useless sport she had thought. There was no merit in her learning how to ski. Its not as though it would ever become useful in identifying evidence or piecing together crime mysteries.

As promised though, Kanji didn't leave her side all day.

"Ya gotta get yer stance right..." he had told her as she stood shaking almost uncontrollably as she tried to stay upright.

"E-easier said than done…!" Naoto said to him as she tried to find her balance. This is utterly humiliating she thought just before making the mistake of shifting her leg, resulting in her balance being thrown off completely as she topped into Kanji.

"Ow…"he groaned before noticing the position they'd ended up in, his face lighting up in a bright blush.

Naoto herself groaned softly, "Sorry…"she muttered before taking notice of their situation as well. Her eyes grew wide and her face went bright red as she tried to get off of him.

This of course proved to be easier said than done as her leg was tangled around his as they sat up, making her fall back against his chest again.

"Sorry!" she squeaked, utterly embarrassed again as Kanji fell back, his face mirroring the color of Teddie's suit.

Eventually they had gotten themselves upright again, both still blushing and making a point of avoiding eachothers eyes the rest of the day as their shaky lessons continued. By the time they noticed it had gotten late, they had managed to get off the trail due to Naoto taking a sudden wrong turn.

"Kanji-kun, we should be heading back." Naoto said with a sigh, removing her skis, in favor of walking back.

"Yeah." He agreed before pausing. "…Er… which way is the cabin?"

Naoto blinked, looking around. That… was actually a valid question. Where had they ended up after she'd veered off the trail? She closed her eyes briefly, going into 'detective mode' as she analyzed her memories and tried to get a sense of which way they should go.

"That way, I think." She said, pointing them to the right.

"You think…?" Kanji asked, sounding a bit uneasy.

Naoto noticed his uneasy tone, but said noting. Afterall, she wasn't 100% sure herself that she was leading them in the right direction.

Instead, she started walking, hoping to see something familiar soon. She heard Kanji walking beside her. After about 20 minutes of nothing but trees, the detective started becoming a bit nervous for their safety. It was getting dark fast, and the snow had started falling thickly, the wind picking up in the prerequisite of a blizzard.

Naoto looked around, trying to think fast. They didn't know where they were, and these conditions would turn life-threatening soon enough.

Between the cold and wet, the small girl was already feeling sleepy. It was vital she stayed awake though as she mentally reviewed what to do and not do in a situation akin to theirs.

"Hey Naoto, look over there." Kanji said, interrupting her thoughts. Naoto followed his gaze, seeing an old house in the distance. Relief flooded through her. Perhaps whoever lived there would allow them to stay the night, or at least until the snow calmed.

"L-Lets see if anyone is residing there whom may provide assistance." she said, walking towards the house, the cold making her speech stuttered.

When they reached the door, Kanji knocked loudly.

"Anyone home?" he called loudly. Naoto examined the house. It looked messy and unattended to, and the lights were off. Perhaps it was abandoned?

"Yo? Anyone in there?!" Kanji called, knocking harder. It was then the door swung open a bit. It was unlocked at least.

"L-Lets go inside." Naoto said, eager to be sheltered from the wind and snow.

"Aint that illegal?" Kanji asked. Naoto stared at him for a moment. The boy really did have odd times to question things.

"I-I have my badge and police ID." Naoto told him, her teeth chattering, "T-There shouldn't be trouble."

Kanji nodded and walked inside. He closed the door behind them and looked around. It wasn't any warmer inside, but at least there was no snow or wind.

The house seemed abandoned, noted by piles of random items stacked on top of eachother all over the place.

The two teens stood looking around, still shivering. "L-Lets try to find something to use to warm up." Naoto suggested, moving to look for a blanket or anything of the sort.

Kanji nodded, wandering around. He moved some of the random items and found a fire-pit in the middle of the room.

"Fire-pit here but no way to light it." he sighed.

Naoto walked over to him, "I may have a way." she said, searching through her pockets.

After a minute, she produced a small blue cigarette lighter. Kanji looked at her with a mix of shock and confusion.

Naoto noticed his look and waved her hand, "Do not misunderstand, it is useful to have a source of fire available just in case. I do not smoke." she said quickly.

Kanji nodded, understanding. "Well s'lucky for us you're prepared." he said with a small grin, "Ya mighta just saved our skins with that."

Naoto looked as though she wanted to say something to that, but seemed to think better of it and instead worked on lighting the fire-pit. After a few tries, the room became engulfed in a warm glow.

While Naoto was working on the fire, Kanji tried to contact the others.

"No cell service." he sighed, putting his phone away.

"I figured as much." Naoto said, kneeling before the fire.

The two removed their more than damp hats, gloves, and coats, sitting beside eachother before the fire in silence. They propped their clothing up near the fire to dry off.

"Ya doin ok?" Kanji asked, glancing down at her.

"I am fine, Kanji-kun." Naoto responded automatically, despite the fact that she was still shivering a bit. Kanji knew by now that even if she was uncomfortable, she'd never admit it. He knew that she always tried too hard to be strong and independent, and absolutely hated asking for help or admitting weakness.

Kanji stared at her silently for a minute, seemingly trying to think of something.

Naoto glanced up at him, feeling his eyes on her, "Wha..?" she started asking before freezing up entirely as she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders. "K-Kanji-kun, what are you DOING?!" she choked out, her eyes wide as a deep blush formed on her cheeks.

Her first instinct was to pull away, as she usually hated any type of physical contact, though the heat of his arm felt nice against her freezing cold back. It seemed that somehow his clothing hadn't gotten nearly as damp as hers had. His coat had been soaked, but the sweater he wore underneath seemed relatively dry.

Kanji was looking away, his face bright red as well as he responded, "Y-Ya seemed cold still, an I remember seein on TV bout how its best to s-share body heat when yer in a situation like this. Er.. s-sorry, guess I shoulda asked first… w-want me to stop?" he asked, apparently quite embarrassed himself by the situation.

Naoto fell silent for a minute. She had to admit, he was right. She was being foolish. They needed to keep as much heat between them as possible. Afterall, she had no idea how long they would be stuck here for.

"T-that's a valid point, forgive me for raising my voice Kanji-kun. I-I simply wasn't expecting it." She said, forcing herself to relax.

Kanji kept his arm around her shoulders, but didn't attempt to do anything else, keeping his eyes firmly off of her as his face stayed red. It was difficult to see the blush in the firelight, but it was still there.

Naoto had already seen it, but didn't think too much about it until she recalled the same blush from earlier as well. In fact, thinking now, the taller boy seemed always to have a red tint on his face whenever she saw him. Perhaps he was ill?

Still, it did puzzle her. And any puzzle, regardless of its type, needed to be solved in the mind of the young detective. It was simply her nature to want to take on any mystery and find an answer to it.

"Kanji-kun, may I ask you something?" Naoto asked, formal as always. Her voice had become more stable now that she was warming up a bit.

"Uh, s-sure, Naoto. 'Cha wanna know…?"he asked, glancing at her, lifting an eyebrow in confusion.

"Are you ill? It seems as though whenever we see eachother your face becomes unusually red." She said.

"Eh? N-no, I aint sick or nothing..."he said, looking down at her properly now.

Naoto nodded slowly, meeting his deep gray gaze with her own blue one, "Why then is your face always red around me?" she asked.

"I-I dunno, s'it really that important?" Kanji stuttered, looking away again. An utter lie if she'd ever heard one.

Naoto looked at him for a minute, before getting a spontaneous idea that she immediately pushed away. It had occurred to her that, recalling certain things she'd read in past times, as well as thing she'd heard in her various schools, that the way he was behaving almost mirrored a type of romantic interest.

There was little reason for such a theory to hold any merit, however. There was absolutely no reason for anyone to be even the slightest bit attracted to someone like her, afterall.

She was nothing more than a bossy, moody, cross-dressing know-it-all who spent 90% of her time buried in corpses and case files (as she'd been described multiple times by people who hardly knew her).

Still… such a theory deserved to be tested and proven false. Normally the detective wouldn't ever have the courage to do something like that, but the overwhelming need to know always seemed to overshadow any normal behavior patterns. It was what had led her to set up her own kidnapping last September despite the more than obvious risks.

So, without much warning, Naoto suddenly pushed herself up and forcefully pressed her lips firmly against Kanjis.

The tailor made an odd sound in the back of his throat, much like a squeak of surprise. He had not been expecting anything like this to happen between them, but he quickly recovered and relaxed, awkwardly kissing her back as his grip on her shoulders tightened a bit, holding her close to him.

Well… this is unexpected. Perhaps the theory had not been false afterall… she thought somewhere in the back of her mind. Afterall, if there had been no attraction he surely wouldn't be kissing her as he was, nor would he be holding her against him as he did.

The detective had never before felt the courage to share a kiss with anyone, but she had to admit, it was a very nice feeling to do so. His lips were gentle and hesitant against hers, almost as if he was afraid of hurting her.

Kanji had closed his eyes, becoming lost in her kiss as he held her against him, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against his. He didn't understand why she had suddenly done it, but at that moment, he didn't really care. Afterall, this was exactly the sort of thing he'd been dreaming of since the day he'd met her.

It was no secret that Kanji harbored intense feelings for the pint-sized detective, even before the team had discovered that she was female. Though, it seemed to be no secret to everyone but said detective. Irony at its finest he'd often thought.

When the need for oxygen became priority Kanji pulled back slowly and breathlessly, looking down at the young woman in his arms for any trace of regret on her features.

Naoto looked back at him, her face tinted red. She fought against the urge to panic and run away, as was her normal response to such things.

What was she supposed to say to him now? And what did that kiss even mean for them? Were they dating now, or just friends who have kissed?

There were many unanswered questions, but the small girl couldn't find the voice to ask any of them. Instead she kept staring up at him.

"W-why…?" Kanji finally stuttered, breaking the silence.

"I… just wanted to…" Naoto murmured, looking at him, meeting his eyes evenly. It wasn't much of an answer, but it was the best she could come up with for the moment.

She honestly wasn't sure what to do now, though she didn't make any movements to pull away from him. On the contrary, surprising to herself, she felt a longing to be closer to him.

And so, for the first time she could remember, the young woman decided to throw caution to the wind and pressed herself closer to him, her small form laying fully against his taller form.

Kanji gasped lowly, obviously taken aback by this, though he cautiously held her against him, lightly laying his head against the top of her head in an awkward cuddle.

The blizzard outside roared on, the wind whipping against the walls of the abandoned building as the two sat in silence again, both feeling an odd mix of awkward and happy as sleep overtook them.

xXxXxX

When Naoto had opened her eyes next, the room was silent and pale light filtered in through the windows.

She sat up slowly, trying to figure out where she was. She was laying on the floor of what seemed to be an old cottage.

Ah… yes that's right. She thought, her memories of the night before coming back to her. About how they'd… oh…

Naoto put her hand over her mouth, trying once again not to panic. She knew she'd need to talk to Kanji about it, to make sure they could at least remain friends, or perhaps more…

….speaking of, where WAS Kanji?

"Kanji-kun?" she called lightly, looking around. The fire in the fire-pit had died down to sizzling ashes.

Kanji appeared from the other room, "Mornin." he said, "I-I was just lookin to see if there was anythin to eat here…"he said, avoiding her eyes. He seemed nervous, and rightfully so.

Naoto cleared her throat, looking at the floor, "Kanji-kun… w-we need to talk about what happened last night…" she said quietly.

Kanji rubbed the back of his neck, one of his nervous habits, and nodded slightly, "Y-yeah…"he said, sitting down a little ways in front of her, still not entirely looking at her.

He'd been thinking a lot about that since he woke up beside her sleeping form, and was terrified that somehow through their actions, he'd lose her. And he seriously didn't want that, ever.

Naoto cleared her throat and spoke, "Forgive me if I was… out of line last night." she started carefully, "I-I just… wanted to know if the reason you are always so red around me was…" she trailed off, hoping he'd understand.

Kanji kept his eyes on the floorboards, sighing softly. If there was ever a time to be a man, it had to be now, "…Y-yeah. I… like you. Like… a lot…"he said, stumbling over his words a bit, "Have for awhile now… well… pretty much since we met…"he added, blushing fiercely.

Naoto nodded slowly, looking at him shyly. So he really did hold a romantic interest for her. She still didn't understand what he could possibly see in her.

And even moreso, how could he have fallen for her when they'd met? Afterall, back then she'd still been under the façade of being male. A façade they'd believed entirely until her Shadow had spilled the secret to them.

She looked at him, thinking that questions like that could be saved for later. "I see…so that's why… you've been blushing all this time…"she said softly, feeling one on her own face as she'd said that.

Kanji still wasn't looking directly at her, but still managed to ask, "S-so where does that leave us now..? I mean.. y'know…"he was obviously becoming increasingly nervous.

Naoto was quiet for a few moments, then decided to simply throw caution to the wind again and follow her heart on this matter. Afterall, she didn't want to lie to herself, and didn't want any more regrets to dwell on.

"I think… I'd like to pursue a relationship with you… If you'd like to…"she said quietly.

Kanji finally snapped his head up to look at her, his eyes reflecting surprise. He'd been expecting something entirely different from her.

"Y-yeah, if you wanna." he said, smiling sheepishly.

Naoto smiled a bit herself. She was still feeling shy and nervous, but felt that she wanted to at least try to be with this misunderstood young man whom she'd formed such a deep bond with. She looked out the window, seeing the snow had stopped. The day looked bright.

"We should try to reconnect with the others. They are undoubtedly worried for us." she said calmly.

"Yeah." Kanji agreed with a nod.

The two stood slowly, gathering their now dry coats, gloves, and hats. They'd fallen into a comfortable silence, content with eachothers presence.

They grabbed their skis and left the house after making sure the fire was completely out.

After some more wandering, they finally made it back to the ski lodge, and were promptly tackled by the rest of the team, who had been utterly frantic it seemed.

"Oh my god WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Chie nearly sobbed, as the whole group nearly crushed the two upon seeing them.

"They sent a whole search party out looking for you guys." Yukiko said, relieved but a bit more composed than the others.

Rise ran up, throwing her arms around the two, sobbing, "You guys are so LATE! Who do you think you ARE!? You jerks!"she cried, clinging to them both.

"Forgive us, we became lost and spent the night in an abandoned house to wait out the storm." Naoto explained calmly as Yosuke and Teddie ran off to tell the officials to call off the search party.

Kanji said nothing, letting the small girl do the talking as Rise continued clinging.

Back at the cabin, both of them had been grateful to have so much warmth, as well as food as they told everyone the basic idea of what had happened, leaving out the details of their kiss.

By late afternoon, things had settled down again. The members of the investigation team all started to pack up to go home. Naoto stood outside alone as the sky started to turn pinkish orange. She was quietly thinking to herself about what had happened.

Kanji walked out and stood beside her quietly for a moment before glancing at her, "Glad ya decided to come on the trip?" he asked with a small smile, gently taking her hand in his.

Naoto closed her eyes and smiled, "I suppose… afterall it turned out quite… enchanting." she said softly before leaning up to gently kiss him once again.

-END-