"Misaki-chan!" Shizuka cries happily, scaring Misaki from her book. Shrieking, Misaki jumps and turns around, hand on her heart. "Misaki-chan!"

"Shizuka, you scared me!" Misaki sighs, finally calming herself. "Why are you so excited?"

"Well, my boyfriend a--" Her good news is interrupted by a few hoots and some loud boys entering the classroom. Misaki blushes slightly as Hokuto walks in, smiling sweetly at every fan girl calling for him. The only time they ever talked was back when Hokuto needed help with English and math from her, but that time was all it took for Misaki to fall hopelessly for his charm and sense of humor. They still greet each other once in a while and send smiles across the room to each other, but they aren't much of friends anymore since Hokuto is a year older so they barely have the same classes. At least he still asks her about math and the weather at times. "Wow that boy is so cute. If I didn't have Alex, I would be completely in love with him too." Feeling their gazes on him, Hokuto catches Misaki's eyes and grins at her, waving. Misaki bites her lip to prevent herself from letting out a ridiculous smile and gives him a shy nod while Shizuka squeals quietly. "He smiled at us!"

"Hi Hokuto!" a girl greets happily, grasping friends with some other girls.

"Good morning Kumiko!" returns Hokuto, causing her to squeal like Shizuka did and fainting into her group of friends. 

"Ne, Hokku, what are you doing for Christmas Eve?" asks Kouchi. Based on the volume of his voice, Misaki can tell that they sat one row behind her. 

"I'm not too sure actually," Hokuto answers. As the boys continue their conversation, Misaki turns back to her friend.

"What were you saying, Shizuka?" Misaki asks her friend, feeling a bit bad that they forgot about her news.

"Oh! My boyfriend Alex invited me on a date for Christmas Eve!" she squeals. Misaki claps lightly for her, knowing how crazy Shizuka is about her foreign exchange student of a boyfriend. Despite her name, Shizuka is not a quiet girl. "I'm finally going on a Christmas date!"

"Congratulations, Shizuka-chan!" laughs Misaki, hugging her. "Now sit down, everyone's beginning to stare." 

"Hey, Misaki! Can you help me with this problem? I don't get it!" cries Shota, dropping his book in front of Misaki, who jumps at the sudden noise. She nods nervously, waiting for him to turn to the right page. "Here! See! I would've texted you for help, but I don't have your number..." Misaki could tell he was hinting for her number, so she subtly ignores that part.

"Oh so this problem is actually quite simple when you write everything out," Misaki quickly explains, letting his hint pass by. In the back, she can hear Hokuto's silly laugh, his adorable silly laugh. Heat rises to her cheeks as she imagines his sweet laughing face. However Shota mistakes the blush being for him, so he attempts for more flirting. Luckily for Misaki, Shizuka puts a stop to it and sends him back to his seat just in time for the professor and the rest of their friends to come in.

---

"Come on, Misaki! You're the only one who doesn't have a date for Christmas Eve!" groans Aki. "Even I got a date!"

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you talk to a guy before," Mariko adds, thinking back to their high school days. "No way you can get a date in time." She is shot by glares by a few of the girls. "What? You know it's true!"

"I have so!" pouts Misaki, embarrassed. "Ne, Shizuka! You saw me talking to Shota earlier, right?" Expecting her friend to back her up, Misaki's face falls when Shizuka bites her lip. "You guys know I've always focused on school work before!"

"Well...Yeah you talk to guys, but when have you ever talked to a guy?" Shizuka asks back, earning nods of agreement from her other friends except for their confused Misaki. "Talk, as in flirt? Or even talk about something not about school?" Hearing the conditions, Misaki's face falls again, however when she hears that familiar strange laugh from behind her, a small smile comes back to her face.

"What's that?" asks Mariko, accusingly. 

"What's what?" returns Misaki, quickly trying to make herself less suspicious. Mariko smirks evilly and places both her hands in Misaki's desk, leaning closer to her.

"That smile..." she points out slowly. "That's the smile of a girl who has a crush." The other three girls behind Mariko and Misaki squeal, clapping their hands together. 

"Guys,quiet down!" groans Misaki, blushing and trying to hide her face when several heads turn toward them.

"I don't hear a 'no'", sings Amina from behind Mariko. "Who is it?!" The others immediately piled up on her desk, trying to force it out of her until Shizuka shouts.

"Do you know who it is?" Aki asks, grabbing her. "Shizuka, who is it?!"

"I think...it's the prince," she smirks, trailing her eyes to Hokuto. 

"Girls? Let's go," Mariko smirks. "Aki, hold down Misaki." Misaki continues asking what they're doing, but fails when Aki hugs her tightly to her chair as the other girls walk up to Hokuto and his group. When they get close enough, Hokuto and his friends notice and watch them nervously as the girls continued approaching them.

"Hello, Matsumura-kun," Amina greets.

"H-hi there, Yudai-chan," Hokuto greets back, confused as to why there are three girls standing there with scary expressions. "What's wrong with Misaki-chan, by the way?" They look over in her direction and see her flailing as Aki hugs her in place still.

"It looks like Aki is trying to suffocate Wakahisa there," laughs Kochi, leaning on Taiga as they laugh.

"Right..." mumbles Shizuka."Anyway, Hokuto, do you have any plans for Christmas Eve?"

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" he asks back, still confused. Sighing, Mariko takes over for them.

"Plans or not, cancel them," she orders, dragging him to Misaki and Aki.

---

Misaki tries desperately to shake off Aki, but it seemed like the girl had killer arm strength. She can only watch helplessly as her friends talked to Hokuto about something.

'Please don't tell him I like him!' she groans in her mind. "Aki, come on, let go of me!" 

"Okay!" she suddenly chirps with glee. Misaki frowns when Aki was not looking at her, but behind her. She turns to see Hokuto only a foot away from her with her friends, Kochi, and Taiga behind him. All the blood rushes to her face when she smells his scent. 

"You're going to take Misaki out on a date on Christmas Eve," Mariko boldly orders, crossing her arms with a satisfied look. Both Hokuto and Misaki give her surprised looks.

"Yeah, come on, Matsumura-kun, Misaki-chan's never been on a date at all," adds Aki.

"What?!" gasps Misaki as the other girls nod. "W-wait! No! Guys, how could you?!"

"So Wakahisa likes Hokku?" Taiga asks, pointing between them. Her face heats up as she becomes more embarrassed.

"Yup! So Matsumura-san, would you do the honor of being her first time?" Shizuka asks, slinging an arm over Misaki.

"First time as in date, right? Not the other first time as in... you know," asks Kochi, joking.

"Of course not! I mean, unless you guys get there too," winks Mariko. This causes Misaki to let out a frustrated groan. To save herself from any more embarrassment, Misaki quickly packs up her things and leaves, ignoring her friends' apologies. She strides quickly to leave the university when she hears Hokuto calling her. Although she expected it to be her imagination, Misaki turns around anyway and is shocked when she sees the university's prince actually chasing her out here.

"M-Matsumura-kun?" stutters Misaki. He pants slightly, but seems well despite all the stairs he had to run down. He puts a hand on her shoulder to lean on as he catches his breath. She jumps slightly, worried that her increased heartbeat would be noticed by him.

"How'd I get downgraded already? I thought we were friends?" jokes Hokuto, grinning at her. 

"I-I guess we a-are?" she questions. "We just never talk much anymore so I didn't want to assume." Chuckling, Hokuto pats her head gently, ruffling her hair a little.

"Then I'll confirm it for you, we are friends," he states confidently. "So just call me Hokuto and I'll call you Misaki. Can you call me that again?"

"H-Hokuto," Misaki stutters softly, but feeling weird, she adds, "-kun."

"We'll work on it, but that was pretty easy right? So then, Misaki!" Hokuto exclaims loudly, making her blush more. "About that date on Christmas Eve..."

"I'm sorry!" she apologizes abruptly, bowing. Ignoring the looks from passing students, Misaki continues. "I'm really sorry about my friends! They can be really embarrassing at times... I-I get it i-if you wouldn't want to go! Let's pretend that never happened!" She turns to leave again, but is stopped by Hokuto placing his hand on her shoulder again and pulling her back.

"I didn't chase you all the way down here to reject you," he chuckles, making her face him. "Kochi said something embarrassing for you too. So as an apology, I guess I should take you out and help you understand dating, okay?" Misaki felt butterflies from his smile, but also disappointment because he is not exactly asking her out.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," answers Misaki sadly. "I rather have my first date be because the two of us like each other, and not as an apology or something." She turns around again, and just like before, is stopped by Hokuto.

"Okay, I guess you aren't one of the girls who like a tsundere, but can you stop trying to leave?" Hokuto asks, beginning to feel frustrated. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like I didn't like you, I just thought you'd like a guy who'd act cool about these things."

"You should just be yourself," smiles Misaki. 'Because that's why I fell for you.' Suddenly his words finish processing in her mind. "Wait, did you just imply that you like me?" Hokuto blushes slightly and chuckles nervously, making Misaki estatic that she could make him feel this way.  

"I don't know," he sings playfully. "But I'm serious about that date, will you go out with me on Christmas Eve?" Hearing the sincerity in his voice, her knees start to become jelly.

"O-okay," she nearly squeaks, trying to hold herself up. He laughs at her red face a little.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then, Misaki," Hokuto says, waving to her as he leaves. 

"Bye Matsu-- Hokuto-kun!" she returns happily. Butterflies fill her insides as she skips back home, not noticing all the strange looks directed at her.