Under the Mistletoe

This plan was going to work… Poorly given who was trying to execute it. It sounded simple, just find a way to get him to the location they agreed upon. This party was still in its early stages, so there was time before any ice skating was going to be done.

However, that's why they didn't have much time to ensure this was a success. Matsu knew her role, while everyone else took care of the mistletoe. A very unbalanced plan, but that was the only way it could be done.

"Ara~ta." Matsu got his attention with a singsong voice. She came up and grabbed his hand. "Are you busy?" He was talking with some of the parents, when she came up to him. It was already clear to him that she wanted to spend time with him.

This feeling when he was with her. Arata couldn't tell just what it was about her. She's a nice girl, but there's something missing here.

"I was just talking, what did you need?" He responded. She asked if he'd like to accompany her, which lead to a few comments from the adults. He rolled his eyes, but it was embarrassing to hear their teasing. Even if they weren't wrong about their assumptions of Matsu's desire.

"Are you enjoying the party?" She started the conversation, as they were away from the crowd. Arata had been. He also thought they did an incredible job on the decor. It was obvious that they worked very hard on it.

"What about you? I can't imagine why'd you be hanging with me, when all your friends are here." He played ignorant to her intentions. Arata was aware of her feelings, but didn't want to let it on to her. If she knew, it was possible that might cause her to rush a confession. That wasn't something he wanted, for more reasons than one.

"Of course I want to be with you, I… I mean, we're friends too, aren't we?" She almost blubbered up that one. Her friends were more than kind enough to help her out here. So, she wasn't going to let them down. "Plus, you never talk with me all that much… Even though we're in the same class…"

"I'm sorry." He realized that despite the convenience. All he ever did was hang out with Yogi and the others usually. Matsu's not the only friend he has outside that group. "I can see how you might think I'm avoiding you, or something."

Was there something he could do to change that? It seemed like he got on a lot of adventures, most of them out of his control. Or maybe that was just his excuse, so that he wouldn't have to confront the elephant in the room.

"It can't be helped, I guess." Matus wasn't glad to hear that nothing was going to happen. She knew she needed to be the one to change that, or else this status quo was going to be the end of her hopes. "Unless, maybe if you want…" She wanted to ask something, anything. But what could there be done to talk with him during school?

Without any words coming out from her mouth. All she could do was twiddle her thumbs and pretend she didn't try to say anything.

"Do you want to… eat lunches with me and Hine?" He could tell it was bothering her. So, in an attempt to make her feel better, he offered something that Hine certainly would've loved. Though her granddaughter might have some dismissal towards it.

"With Hine?" Matsu looked over to the elders. It didn't make any sense to her what he meant. The old woman didn't go to school with them.

Arata clarified, that he ate lunches there on Sundays, with both Hine and Hifumi. Mostly because the Winter meant he couldn't do his usual job of gardening. However, the old lady always loved company. So surely, she'd be glad to see another one of Arata's friends.

Matsu exclaimed cheer to hearing it. She was more than just happy to accept his offer. Leaping in joy, she jumped up to his arms. Which made Arata have to hold her up in a princess carry.

She immediately saw her error, as she looked him in the eye. Matsu pulled away from him, hopping out of his arms. Though with the way he was holding her, she fell flat on her face on the ground.

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm… Fine." Maybe it was time to try and get this plan into motion again. However, there was one problem with that, as she soon realized upon getting back to her feet.

Where did they say they were going to put it?

Matsu looked around, she couldn't find it hanging anywhere.

"Is there something wrong?" Arata noticed what she was doing, which wasn't hidden at all. He wondered what she was looking for, was it a surprise? Maybe it was the real reason she asked him to join her.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong." Her eyes shifted back and forth. Where was it supposed to be at again? She needed a distraction until she could find it. "How about we go over here?"

"Sure and… whoa!" She pulled his arm to direct him somewhere, really anywhere was fine. Just as long as he wasn't getting privy to what she was planning. "So where are we going?"

They wandered back and forth, with her stopping every so often to look. This was confusing to him, as he was just being pulled around here. Something that Arata had grown quite accustomed to at this point in his life.

"Are we going to be stopping soon?" He asked, wondering what surprise she was keeping from him. All these movements made no sense to him, what was it supposed to be?

Things were looking bad for her, and she was doing a terrible job at distracting him. The only reason he let this play on for as long as it did, was because he just wanted to see what so special she wanted to show him. Clearly given the way she felt about him, he knew it had to be somewhat important.

"Aha!" Thankfully for her, her friends had her back. Or at least, they were wondering what was taking her so long. So they sent her a message, asking why she hadn't come near the vending machines. The agreed upon location that she forgot to ask about. "Follow me!"

"Um, o—kay!" He was pulled along again. People and their schemes always seemed to find a way to involve him. "Maybe we could slow down a little? This party isn't ending anytime soon."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like this." She said, her heart was racing since she knew the moment of action was about to occur. Her friends sent her a picture of where it should be, so all of it was a matter of getting him to stand under it. "Tada!" She cheered once she got where it should be. Stuck on top of the edge of the vending machine, the only place the members of the gardening club could place it so it wouldn't fall.

"…" Arata looked to his right and left. Nothing was apparent to him. "Um, you wanted to get me something from the vending machine?" He asked.

"Eh?" She responded, taken a bit aback at how unaware he was of his surroundings. "I mean." she got a bit shy. Looking down, while pointed up to where the mistletoe was. He was about to see what she had in store, she only hoped that he could follow tradition.

"I see…" He looked up, she closed her eyes. Afraid of what his response was going to be. "...Absolutely nothing." Arata shrugged his shoulders, whatever she was referring to, he was just stumped.

"What?" Her friends were just as shocked, as they watched from the shadows. "You made sure to put it up there, right?" Karino asked Hanaka.

"Of course, I put it up there. It must've fallen off." She replied. However, looking by Matsu's feet, it didn't seem to have landed near there.

"Whatever you want to show me, I'm just not seeing it." He returned his gaze back to her. A part of him was expecting her to be holding her surprise, with the pointing upwards just a simple distraction. However, she was empty-handed, so he really wasn't sure what she was getting at.

She didn't say anything in response. Instead, she was hastily looking around her for the missing mistletoe.

"Um, I think I'll just get back to the others." He turned around from her, disappointed. Desperate to keep him from leaving, she grabbing his sleeve, nearly ripping it off.

"Wait, I was just…" She unsure of what to say. There was only the truth now. "I just wanted… To stand under the mistletoe." She couldn't admit the reason why, but it was clear her intentions.

"Mistletoe..." Now he understood what she was trying to do, which wasn't that subtle if that was her plan. However, there was something more pressing now that he knew what it was. "That's not good."

"Aww…" She misunderstood what his problem was. She was about to cry from hearing that he disliked the idea of kissing her.

"Where is it now?" He confronted her. "We need to find it." That felt like a mixed message to her. Did he want to kiss her or not?

"I think he knows it as well." Hanaka commented on their conversation.

"Knows what?"

"Mistletoes are very toxic." Arata practically answered the question without hearing them. While the elderly, one of the more affected groups, certainly wouldn't eat something random they found. Children might, and there were a lot that he cared about. Kids can be pretty dumb sometimes.

However, the ones that he took care of were a lot smarter than he gave them credit. The truth was that they saw what he gardening club was up to. Which they had to put a stop to. Because otherwise, how else were they going to get Arata with Yuriko? That when they hatched their own plan.

"Wow, what's this?" They were nearby. One of the boys, with Yurisa pretended that they found it laying on the ground.

"I don't know. It looks yummy!" Yurisa acted that she was going to put it in her mouth to test to see what it was. Immediately, Arata sprang into action, dashing and dodging the people near him. The instant he reached her, he ripped it out of her hand.

"Don't even think of doing that!" He scolded. Honestly, he was certain that he taught that girl better than that.

"What's going on?" Yuriko heard the commotion, since she was making sure not to be too far from her sister. That was when she saw him holding a strange object in his hand. Hanging it over their heads, as he was attempting to keep it far from the children. "Why are you..."

"What?" Arata was confused over what was happening in front of him. Meanwhile, Yurisa giggled in the background, grabbing his attention.

"Hehe, I already knew that's a mistletoe." She pointed to it. "Now you two have to kiss." Her and the others kids looked on in anticipation.

"Kiss?" He looked at the item he was holding, which was hung over both his and Yuriko's heads. "Oh, um, we don't really…" He slowed down, as he saw her odd expression.

Yuriko's head was turned down. Teeth gritted, with a mix of emotions that came from that. Suddenly, she took the mistletoe from his hand and slammed it to the ground. Then she stomped on it multiple times, enough to drive fear into everyone that saw it.

The girl turned around, about ready to leave. For a second, she stopped, her fist tightened. Yuriko surprised everyone, as she quickly turned back around to Arata and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"There." As quick as she turned to him, she immediately faced away. Her hand wiping over her mouth. "We did the tradition, so you better be happy." Then she stomped off away from them.

Everything happened so fast, that Arata wasn't really sure how to react. Matsu, who saw the whole thing was chewing on her collar in frustration. This was supposed to be her moment, and someone else went and took it from her.

The kids were quite pleased with themselves, giving themselves pats of the back and hi-fives.

"Ay…" Arata muttered to himself, putting his palm over his face. This was going to be far from the last thing to happen to him tonight, wasn't it?