december

It was midnight on a Sunday and Noa was up to her ears in homework.

It wasn’t technically homework. Technically, she was supposed to be completely done with work, but the semester couldn’t come to an end without finals week. She had a college algebra final in the morning, and she was going over all of the units that her class had covered since the beginning of the semester. It was just her general education requirements, but she was a math major; she didn’t want to slack on any of her classes, especially her math classes.

She reached the end of a unit and pushed her work away, with the intention to take a small break. She closed her eyes and laid back against the pillows at the head of her bed with a sigh; as she did so the pendant around her neck fell onto lightly, and Hikaru’s face immediately came to mind. She hadn’t heard from him that day, with her being off from work and him doing a full shift at Safeway, and then helping out for a few hours at Barbarossa. Over the course of a month, Noa had gotten used to daily contact with Hikaru, in some way, shape or form; even going a full day without something was a struggle, as embarrassing as that was to admit.

A knock on her door sounded suddenly, startling her enough to make her heart skip a beat in her chest. After a moment she got up from her bed and crossed the room, pausing at the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me,” came the low response, and Noa’s eyes widened as she immediately recognized the voice. She quickly moved to unlock and open the door, coming face to face with Hikaru, who had been looking up and down the hallway.

“Hikaru, what…?” He walked past her into the room and she closed the door behind him, suddenly aware of the short shorts she had been wearing with a large T-shirt while in bed. He noticed, too; she turned to find his dark eyes intent on her thighs, the look on his face deep and indecipherable. “Wh…what are you doing here?” she managed to get out finally; Hikaru shook his head, his expression clearing.

“I just got off,” he responded. “I’m not staying. I have to work at Safeway in the morning so I’m gonna crash at Hina’s place; I just stopped by to see you.” He turned and looked at her room, pausing at the sight of the books on her bed. “You were studying?”

“Well, yeah…” she said, walking over to her bed. “I was taking a break, though.”

“It’s finals week, right?”

“Coming up, yeah.” She took a seat on the edge of the bed and looked at him, unable to ignore how he looked in the dress shirt and pants he wore for work.

“I won’t stay long, then.” He took a seat on the edge of the bed as well and laid back with a sigh, much like the one she had done just minutes before. After a moment he reached up and grabbed her notebook, holding it above him to look at. “Hina’s studying, too,” he explained. “He’s being a hard about it, because he doesn’t want to disappoint our brothers. He doesn’t want to come back empty handed, I think.”

“How many brothers do you have?” Noa inquired, moving to cross her legs Indian-style.

“Four,” he responded, casually turning a page in the notebook. “Hina, Yuta, Hana, Teru.”

“There’s a lot of you…” Hikaru smirked in response, flipping the page back.

“So this is really going to get you a better job?” he inquired suddenly. “All of this math?”

“Data analysts can make $70,000 a year.” Hikaru gave a low whistle, shaking his head. “Are you thinking about going to school?”

“I can’t afford it,” he responded immediately. “None of us really could. Hina got lucky; Teru got a culinary scholarship, too.”

“City College has free tuition if you qualify,” Noa stated, causing him to look at her, one eyebrow raised. “You could get your Associate’s; a degree is worth more than two jobs.” He didn’t say anything, setting the notebook aside instead. Noa moved closer to him, watching his handsome face intently. “It’s worth a shot.”

“Maybe.” His eyes opened to look at her and he sat up, turning to face her. “Would you like me better with a degree?”

“Yes.” He paused, caught off guard, and then scowled at her, kissing his teeth. Noa laughed, shaking her head. “That’s what you get for asking a stupid question like that.”

“Shut up,” he retorted. “I wouldn’t like you less if you didn’t get one.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” She leaned forward to kiss him quickly, only to have him catch her, his hand gripping her waist firmly as he took control. Her breathing grew shallow and she leaned further and further toward him, the feeling of his hands on her hips and thighs sending shivers down her spine; she could feel something like a moan building at the back of . Before it could break he pulled away, his hands gripping her tighter as he rested his forehead against hers.

“…I missed you,” he said lowly. “I haven’t argued with you all day.” Noa laughed, shaking her head at him.

“Then it’s good that you came; I’m always down to argue.” Arguing was the furthest thing from their minds, as they alternated between Hikaru watching her work, and making up for the day that they lost.

*  *  *

As the fall semester drew closer and closer to a finalizing close, the conversations on AIASF’s campus became more and more one track minded. The main clubs were discussing their respective end-of-the-semester events – Impression had its fall gallery exhibit, while Emphasis and New Sounds Era were working together for the first of two Phenoms (their big performance showcase) – but everyone on campus seemed to be collectively talking about and preparing for the Winter Ball, the ball held at every AIAS campus every winter.

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