After sparring with Belle, Yoshi went to Alice's room. He was hesitant to knock on the door since he didn't want to make Alice uncomfortable by dropping all of this on her randomly. He thought to himself for a minute, remember what he and Alice tell each other. How they can come to each other when they're hurting. So, he knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Alice came to the door. He took off his mask as he faced her.
"H-Hey, honey." Yoshi said awkwardly.
"Oh, Yoshi... uh, is everything ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"U-Um... can we talk."
"Oh, of course. Come in."
Alice brought Yoshi into her room and sat him down on the side of her bed. Yoshi couldn't seem to find the words to say. He seemed a little nervous, which was rare for him.
"Sweetie... what's wrong." asked Alice concerningly while holding his hand.
"I've been having... some nightmares recently. About... Star."
"I know."
"You do?"
"I overheard you talking to Belle while you were training."
"Oh, right... You have good hearing and smell."
"Sweetie... do you want to talk about the nightmare? You can trust me."
"... It's the same every night. Me and Belle being ripped apart endlessly by that... demon."
Alice hugs Yoshi tightly. "It's ok. You're in a safe place now. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
"Honey..."
"Happy valentine's day, sweetheart."
Later, Taiyo walked into a room with 6 people at a round table. One of them was Willow and the others all had inside alters that hid their figures. They were the higher-ups.
Taiyo stood before them all with a smug expression. "211 keeper schools across the world and Skyfall Dance is known to be the infamous. Now, the other principals, as well as the queen, want to remove us because of Alice."
"You idiot!" One of the people in the alter said in an old man's voice. "We told you to kill that anubis! She too dangerous."
"Don't worry, you old fart. So long as I'm around, she's a fish in a shark tank. You know, my job is to train the students to be strong, no matter what keeper they turn out to be."
"She's the daughter of that witch." an older woman said from a different alter. "She can not be trusted so long as she shares that woman's blood."
"You should get out more granny. Is this seriously why you guys called me here? I'm not listening to this bullshit again. Adios."
Taiyo began to talk out of the room.
"We won't allow you to continue this project, Taiyo. If you do, we'll kill that girl ourselves."
Taiyo stopped in place. She turned around and the higher-ups started to find it hard to breathe.
"Stay that again... that's what I thought. If you go near that dog, you're dead."
Meanwhile, Yoshi was showing off his gift to Alice. She loved every single one of them and could barely contain her excitement. But it was starting to feel a bit overwhelming. Yoshi got her so many gifts, but she didn't get him one. She began to panic, thinking of a way to get out of the room so she could find a gift for him before the day ended.
"H-Hey, Y-Yoshi... if I were to give you a gift... what would make you the happiest?"
"I'd like to spend time with you."
"I mean... something we don't do like every hour."
"I'd like to play video games with you."
Even though that's what Yoshi genuinely wanted, that answer didn't satisfy Alice. She began overthinking it, assuming Yoshi was testing her when he really wasn't. Realistically, she just wasn't happy with his answer, since it was too little to show just how much she loved him, especially after all the gifts he got her.
She wanted this to be a gift for Christmas as well since they didn't do anything together for Christmas.
"W-What time is it?"
"Uh. 11 am."
"Ok, so I still have time?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing!... If my gift to you is a 10,000 dollar gaming PC, would you be happy?"
"As long as it's from you, I'm happy with any gift... that was unbelievably corny... but it's true nevertheless."
Alice was starting to get even more annoyed. She could buy him a mansion, a sports car, and anything she wanted to, yet none of it fit Yoshi... Well, there was one thing playing in the back of her head. It was a recommendation from Belle about doing the downward dog with him. Her face turned red as she thought about it. She actually didn't hate the idea, as she also wanted to do it with him. But if she came out too strong, she could scare him off, which is the one thing she didn't want to do.
The atmosphere started to get awkward. Alice didn't know how to carry the conversation along. Yoshi realized his girlfriend didn't get him a gift. He wasn't hurt, just confused about why she wouldn't just tell him.
"W-What about a gift card? That way-"
"Alice."
"Yes!"
"It's ok. You don't need to get me anything. You already gave me the best gift of all time."
"What?"
"You. You just being here with me, right here, right now, is more than enough and more than I deserve. You just thinking about giving me a gift is beyond what you need to do for me. Even you being about to listen to my corny, slightly cringy, low-key cliche compliments mean more than you can imagine. It's why I love you so much."
Alice didn't know how to respond. All she did was immediately hug Yoshi tightly. She squeezed him tight and wouldn't let go, making Yoshi's heart flutter. She pinned him to the bed and kissed him, then went in to hug him again.
"Alice..."
"S-Sorry... I-I couldn't control myself... but please... just let me hug you a little longer. Then, we'll play video games for the rest of the day. No, we'll play as much as you want as long as you want for the rest of our lives. We'll cuddle and kiss and talk and love each other as much as you want. Whatever it takes, I'll make you happy, sweetie."
Yoshi smiled, scratching her behind her soft, fuzzy ears, which made her let out a small moan. They then kissed each other again.
Me : It should have been me! Not him! It's not fair!
And from that day forward, Yoshi started to not wear his mask anymore. What he used to cover his past mistakes was now healed by Alice.