Disclaimer: I do not own Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun.

Anne Garbo: I decided to make an epilouge, like you requested. Hope it's okay. :)

Her face was as cute as ever, her hair still a tangle of brown, and her eyes still shone perfectly as she smiled. Sasayan wondered how exactly this all happened. How he now walked with her as they made their way through the tree-lined streets, the leaves blanketed with snow and the ground around them bleached white. She trudged along with him, and every once in a while he can't help but look at her.

The Christmas lights around them were lit up, and their brightness made their paths a little bit magical. It's been a year since the event.

Since Natsume told him she liked him, and him telling Natsume that he was over her. The two of them had experienced quite a lot already. They fought, the laughed, and they'd been together almost all the time. But even so, both of them could only agree that the other is always so close. So close, but not enough.

He recalled the memory of Natsume kissing him. Even until now, he can still feel his blood rush to his face whenever he remembers that scene in his head. He looked at her again and realized that she was already staring back at him.

"Why is your face red?" She said, with her usual voice. A little too girly, but it's sweet. Sasayan flinched when she touched his forehead. "Are you sick?"

"No." Sasayan quickly said. "It's just… I remember something."

She ran ahead and bowed at Sasayan like a little kid. "What something?"

"You don't want to know." Sasayan said, putting his hand behind his back.

Natsume pouted. "No other memory can make you blush like that. Is that when I kissed you?"

Sasayan stood still. "Yeah." He looked down.

"Speaking of that." Natsume moved closer to him. "When can I get your answer?"

She was talking about what Sasayan said a year ago. Right after Natsume confessed to him, after he dropped her off to her house, he kissed her on the cheek. Sasayan had told her that when he'll kiss her again, that means he'd fallen in love with her.

For the second time.

And he still hasn't done it. He didn't know why, maybe he was just carried away by the moment last time, that he didn't even think twice before kissing her in the cheek. He wasn't the type of guy who would do that occasionally. He loves her. Even after he told Natsume he got over her, there's still that part in him which holds on to that feeling.

He felt bad. Why didn't he just tell her? Was he afraid whatever will happen if ever they felt the same towards each other? Is what he longed for in the past really be what he expects it to be? Right at that moment when Natsume told him she liked him back, he felt defeated. For choosing to let go early, for not waiting a little longer. The words he told her bathe between the waters of truth and lies.

"When do you think?" Sasayan said.

"I don't know." Natsume said. "It's your decision. But I never thought it would be this sad, you know. Waiting for someone. I mean, it must have been really hard when you did it for me."

Sasayan smiled. He grabed her hands, and she gasped in surprise. His act was so sudden that she didn't have time to think what was going on. "There's a shop over there. I hear they sell a lot of things. Come on."

Sasayan walked. And she, completely connected to him by a knot of fingers, followed behind.

The shop was small, and Natsume didn't really know what she'll find inside. But hey, it was warm in there.

The two of them roamed around, looking at every item without any intent of actually buying them. Natsume found a little teddy bear. It was brown, and it was wearing a cap, and on it's hand was a baseball bat. It was dressed with the perfect outfit too. She grabbed it and looked at it. It took her moments before she put it down.

On the other side, Sasayan grabbed a hat, it was brown and it sort of looked like a French hat, like those worn by painters. He noticed Natsume was looking at him, and he turned towards her.

"How do I look?" He said.

"Hmmm." Natsume searched for other hats in the display, going through everything that might fit him. There were all sorts of hats. Cowboy hats, character hats, sport hats and others. Natsume found one that looks like a cat, with ears and whiskers poking out at its sides. She put it on Sasayan's head before he can even complain.

"That." Natsume said, partly laughing. "You look really cute on that."

Sasayan rolled his eyes on top. "Cat hat? Really?"

Natsume nodded while she smiled. Sasayan didn't know if she was joking or not, but she seemed really happy. He raised two hands and balled it into fists it in front of his face , then he spun it forward, as if he's a real cat. Natsume laughed, and he smiled.

He took off the hat and put it back in the stall. He faced Natsume and asked. "Anything you want to buy?"

Natsume looked around. Her eyes landed on the bear, but no. She can't ask him to buy it for her. "No."

Sasayan raised his eyebrows. He turned around and looked outside. "Hey, they're turning on the lights for the Christmas Tree. You should go and see it. It's fantastic."

"What about you?" She asked. Sasayan answered by turning his head to the direction of the restroom.

"Ohh." Natsume said. She looked once at him before she went out.

The bell clanked as the door closed behind her. Sasayan wasn't lying. There was a Christmas tree they set up, just outside the shop. It was huge, and multicolored lights were dressing the tree. It was ornamented with red flowers, but she noticed there were other things put up on the tree. She wasn't sure what it was. She went closer and saw that it was paper. Notes on colored papers were stuck on the branches around the tree. She heard the bell clank behind her, and she turned around to tell Sasayan about the paper with writings on the tree.

She noticed he was holding a bag. "What's that?" Natsume asked.

"Merry Christmas, Natsume." Sasayan said, holding out the bag with arms stretched forward. Natsume shyly received it and peeked inside. With just a little detail from the color and the hat it was wearing, she can tell that it was the stuffed baseball teddy player. He looked up at Sasayan.

"Thank you, Sasayan-kun." And there weren't any hugs, only the lights that shone at each others eyes as they looked at each other.

"So what are these?" Natsume said, touching the paper on the tree while her other hand hugging the stuffed toy on her chest.

"Wishes." Sasayan said. "And Thanks."

"Thanks?" Natsume said.

"Yeah! You write about things that you've been happy about on this year and say thanks. Then you put wishes too. What you want that will happen for the next year."

"Oh." Natsume quietly said. "Can I?"

They walked over to the woman handing out the colored papers. "Do you have a pen?"

Sasayan fished one from his pocket and handed it to Natsume. Who grabbed it immediately and wrote on her paper. She looked at Sasayan from time to time, then she'd go back writing.

"Let's see about that." Sasayan said, leaning forward in an attempt to read what she wrote, but she covered it with her hands.

"No." She said.

Sasayan can only laugh.

When she was done, she walked over to the tree, said a little prayer, and then stuck it on one branch. She looked at it for awhile before turning back to Sasayan.

"So where to now?" She said, her eyes reflecting the light from the tree.

"Ahh." Sasayan thought. "Let's go by the river."

The two walked quietly to their destination. None of them talked, but it was perfect. The air around was cold. Even by wearing a coat and a scarf, Natsume shivered from time to time. Sasayan would glance over her, but that was it. She was still hugging the stuffed toy.

She shivered one more time, and Sasayan walked closer beside her. She didn't look at him, and he spoke. "Really cold?" He asked.

Natsume nodded.

Sasayan stopped walking. "Want some coffee?"

Natsume shook her head. "Hot chocolate." She said. She watched as he went.

The two sat quietly by the river, watching the lights around them as they shone, and feeling the wintry chill against their hot drinks. They sat side by side, and the stars above them glittered.

Sasayan looked up. "We used to watch them, huh?"

"Yeah." Natsume said. "This is where I kissed you too."

"Yeah." Sasayan said. "If you haven't called me short, that wouldn't have happened."

Natsume smiled. "I'm glad I did." She looked at him. "Shorty."

"If you think by saying that, I'll kiss you, you're wrong."

Natsume's face grew red, and she quickly sipped on her chocolate. "That's not what I… No… How could you-"

She was interrupted by Sasayan's laughter. She rolled her eyes, but she laughed too.

"Sasayan-kun." Natsume started. "How long are you going to make me wait?"

"I don't know. Forever?" He looked at her, his eyebrows raised, and his smile goofy.

Natsume wasn't convinced. She stared at him until he looked away. She always liked when he does that, and he always hated how she makes him do it.

"How 'bout another year?" He said again.

Natsume gently shook her head. "You're so mean. You... you said it would be easy. You said you'd fall fast." Natsume was talking a bit fast, and she was looking at the boy the whole time. She felt the urge to punch him, to tell him to stop smiling like an idiot. "Do you know I'm still falling until now? And you do things like taking me out at Christmas, and buying me gifts and then you.. You." She flinched when he laughed. "Stop laughing you-"

Sasayan kissed her.

On the lips. Making her stop whatever she was about to continue to say. He had left her wide-eyed most of the time, and he's done it again. He still hadn't pulled off, and she wondered how much time had passed before he put her lips onto hers. It was a soft kiss, and it was sweet. It was marvelous, it was better than what she thought.

When he pulled away, he smiled. His face still inches away from hers. His eyes, as green as ever. His smile, still as cute as ever. His hair, still skewed to his left. And Sasayan, still the Sasayan Natsume knew and fell for.

"Why is your face red?" Sasayan asked. "Are you sick?"

Natsume smiled before punching him in the houlder. Sasayan laughed before he embraced her.

"I love you, Natsume Asako." He said. He noticed Natsume was sobbing. "Why are you always crying when I hug you?"

He pulled away. "Because…" Natsume started. She sniffed. "Stupid Sasayan. For a year you-"

"I what?" Sasayan smiled. "I've been with you. I took you home. I brought you your favorite juice. I never left you, I looked at you more than you noticed. I thought of you everytime I lie on my bed. I loved you until now. I think that was pretty obvious."

There was a lons silence, and the two could only look at each other. Natsume looked down.

Sasayan stood up and turned around. "Wanna go home?" He said without looking at her.

Natsume tugged at his shirt. "No. I want to stay with you a little longer."

Sasayan couldn't disagree. He sat back down beside her. And he talked about every good thing that has happened to him, every baseball match he wished she witnessed.

And she listened, and she never thought that it had happened so soon. She had written on her wishes for next year that Sasayan would like her back already. She was just very busy waiting for it that she didn't actually see that she didn't need the kiss to prove it.

She layed her head on his shoulder as she listened, Sasayan's gift in between them. And the warmth on her hands never left until she fell asleep.