Delay

"Yeah, I don't know if I'll make it back." After the news was broken to him, Arata had to give his parents a call. "Okay… Don't worry, I'll stay safe… Right…" It was the usual deal with calls to family. "I hope so…" He ended the conversation with a wishful thought.

"Are your parent fine?" Erina asked him, as he returned to their bench.

"Yeah…" He responded, his voice less than fine. "What about you? Are you good?" In an attempt to avoid thinking to hard about it, he changed the subject as quickly as possible.

"Of course I'm fine." She said, but that wasn't an entirely true statement. With all this snow, the temperature was freezing. The girl brushed on her arms, trying to warm herself as best she could. Her cosplay wasn't designed for surviving cold weather.

It was clear to Arata, as he sat besides her. Her shivering was impossible to ignore, and he knew that he needed to take responsibility. Without saying a word, he took off his jacket and put it on her. That shocked her, as she pulled a bit away from him.

"Wh-what are you doing?" She said, her stutter a result of a mix of astonishment and winter chill.

"You're cold." He simply said to her. "You don't have to pretend you're comfortable, and it's my fault that you're dressed like this anyway." Obviously, a short skirt and Summer blouse was never going to beat the elements. So, she accepted his jacket and tightened it around her body.

It didn't do that much of a job in keeping her warm, but it was a lot better than being bare in this cold air. There she was, just sitting there with his jacket over her. It was an odd feeling to have accepted such a gift, and in a moment without thinking. Erina took a tiny sniff to capture his scent.

Immediately, she realized just how weird that was. It didn't even make sense to her. Why would the girl even want to know something like that.

"Is it all right?" He asked, but with her mind wondering towards a different subject. She ended up being a bit nervous in her response.

"Of course it's all right." She was bright red, which thanks to the cold. Arata was none-the-wiser that this was due to embarrassment, instead of the Winter chill. "Thanks for it."

"That's good to hear." He crossed his arms, rubbing his hands over himself to try and gather some warmth for himself. His nose was sniffling, which to any normal individual, would just be due to this cold. Yet somehow she was able to ascertain the real reason for it.

"What about you? Are you doing okay?" She asked, turning her head over to get a better look at his face.

"Of course I'm fine." He turned to make sure that wasn't going to happen. "I'll deal with this cold. It won't kill me." The boy tried to control the conversation between them. So he pretended that was what she was referring to.

"But what about that dinner with your family?" She wasn't going to be shut out. "You were pretty excited about it." It wasn't even needed that he told her directly. His tone was more than enough to confirm that fact.

"I'm sure we'll be out of here in no time." Though even he was uncertain about his own statement. The conductor did say there was a chance in them being unable to clear out the snow for the night. If that was the case, then the two of them were going to be stuck here for at least the next day. Which was pretty bad considering what today was.

Even still, she knew that she wasn't able to get him to admit it. Perhaps he just didn't want to seem weak in front of her? Or maybe he needed some to comfort him, even if he wouldn't admit it.

"You know." She spoke up, after deeply considering what to say next. "Christmas has never been a good holiday for me…" For the girl, instead of the holiday spirit and Christmas cheer. It was more of a day of loneliness for her. Her father was always out busy with work, while her mother never seemed interested in her own daughter. Yet, it was also on a day like this, when her fate changed.

"I'm leaving you, it's over between us." Those words would echo in her mind. It was on this day, two years ago when her mom revealed the affair. Things would never be the same for Erina ever since that day.

"You know, last Christmas was the first time I really celebrated." It was Yogi that really made her day. He even gave her such a wonderful gift back then. But more importantly, he showed her why people even enjoy the holiday so much.

"Sounds like it was a lot of fun." Arata commented on the story. "Sorry that you're stuck with me, when you could've came back with all of them." Despite his efforts at getting them together, he felt like he was holding her back at the same time. Of all the people she chose to blackmail that day, she just had to pick someone that was near useless on that front.

"But I don't mind spending it with you." She replied.

"What? Here in this freezing train station?" He responded, pointing out how empty it was becoming. It was looking a lot less likely of them being able to return back home on the train. So more and more people were leaving to try and find a cheap hotel to stay the night at. Something that they'd be unable to do, since neither had that much cash because of the convention.

"Somehow, with all the Christmas I've been through. This one's pretty nice." She smiled, not in a way to try and convince him. Rather, it came naturally as she put her life in perspective. "Even if it's only with you. I've never felt less lonely." He was a bit surprised to hear a statement like that, especially coming from her.

"That's… That's really nice to hear." He couldn't help but grin from hearing that. Never once did he ever consider his company to be all that worthwhile. Still though, while it warmed his heart. It did little to warm his body. The boy shivered at the situation they had found themselves in.

"You're not looking so good." She commented on his state. There was no way he'd survive the night like that.

"I-it's… I-it's my fault that you're st-stuck with that outfit." Between the two of them, she was definitely not dressed for the Winter. But characters in anime never seemed to mind the elements, probably because they aren't real. "I'll b-bear with it."

"Or… Or maybe we could share?" She opened up the jacket a little bit to accept him. Arata couldn't believe that she was willing to be so close to him. He was taken aback by her gesture. "Please, you're freezing. We can deal with this for now."

He took one deep breath for what he was going to have to do. Then, Arata leaned in to her, and she wrapped his half of the jacket around him. While the jacket might not have provided the world's best heating. It was small, after all. But it was also because of it's tiny size that they were bunched with to one another. He felt his arm in contact with hers, and for the first time realized just how silky smooth her skin was.

Not only that, but their faces were mere centimeters apart. They were so close, that you could draw a shared blush on their faces. Which is also how one could describe was on their faces at this very moment.

"You know." He tried to break this awkward silence between them. "Of all the people I gotta be stuck with at a train station on Christmas. I'm glad that it's you."

"I'm glad too." She responded with a tear in her eye. "I think that it's even better than…" She was unable to finish the sentence. Partially because she caught herself from saying something she'd regret. The other being…

"Arata!" Someone called out his name. The boy turned his head up to look around for the course. Erina's the only person here that should know his name, but that clearly wasn't her. So who was calling for him? "Arata! Where are you?"

"Arata, it's us!" Wait a second. He knew those voices, it was… Ayami, and his father!

"Guys? Is that really you?" He called out, which allowed them to find his position.

"Finally found you." His dad exclaimed. It turned out that he was certain there was no way the train would be able to travel in this weather. But he was more than willing to risk it with his daughter to get his son from here.

"Oh, did we interrupt something?" Ayami noted the scene in which she and her dad just walked in on. Arata and Erina noted how they were sitting together, to which the two of them immediately separated in embarrassment.

"Come on you two, we gotta get you back home before it gets too late." His father didn't really think too much of this display. They didn't have that much time before it was time to have dinner. Well, since it was Christmas, perhaps a tiny delay wouldn't be too bad.

And so, everyone went into the car and he drove them home. With this weather, it was not as easy as it sounded. Because it was Arata's dad of all people, the trip was a little more risky than it needed to be. But they all were able to arrive in one piece.

The man stopped first at the family's home. Mostly because he had no idea where Erina' house was, and also to drop his children off to help out his wife first.

"Actually, I can walk from here." She informed him. Despite his protests, she was more than fine with making the trek back to her place in this outfit. After a bit of convincing, she exited the car with the rest of them. It was time to her to separate from Arata.

"Thanks for that talk." He expressed his gratitude, while the rest of his family entered their home. "I really needed it." Finally, he was able to admit how close he was to breaking down back there.

"It's no problem." She replied. "I guess this is goodbye then. Go have a wonderful dinner with your family." Erina turned around and started to take her first step back home.

To Arata, time seemed to slow to a crawl. He thought about what she just told him, all the while returning to empty apartment to enjoy this holiday all alone. That just didn't seem right, especially after everything they've been through.

"Wait." He stopped her, grabbing the girl's hand.

"Hmm?" She wasn't expecting him to be so forward. What did he still need?

"I'd like it if…" It was a moment of emotion that overtook him. So the boy wasn't really certain on how he wanted to word it. "You should join us for dinner?"

"Join you? But, I'm not part of the family."

"It doesn't matter." He countered her issue with this request. From the way she worded it, he could tell that her rejection wasn't because she didn't want to. "My family would love it if you ate with us… And, I'd be fine with it too." He downplayed how much he wanted this as well.

"…" The two stared at each other in the eye. His hand still grasping hers. Erina mulled over this decision, but her heart already knew the answer. "Okay, I'll stay."

"Awesome." He could hardly contain his excitement. "Come on, it's cold out here." He was able to pull her in, then realized why he would be able to do something like that in the first place. Quickly, he let go of her hand, after holding it for much longer than he was planning on.

Still, that didn't stop them from heading inside to enjoy a nice dinner with his family.