Christmas lights decorated the mogami manor beautifully, it was a particularly starless and cloudy Christmas and it seemed as if all the stars had descended from the sky to adore the manor... But more than that was the large banner congratulating mogami for turning 18...

Mogami didn't know how to explain the problem to nishikata... after all the therapist had said he was still emotionally unstable...

Izumi had also been invited to this party, and the Prime minister's entire family had been invited. They had invited his parents and him to her party so not inviting them could cause some unneeded political drama...

Nishikata at first was shocked that she was gonna be here.. But he understood.... Power play and drama were already a problem at the high school and he didn't want to imagine what would happen at nationwide conflict...

The Hall was filled with guests and nishikata for me once even though he was under the supervision of takagi and wasn't allowed to drink... He could make an exception this one time..

He and Shuichi each had a glass in their hands.....

" Didn't you quit smoking and drinking? For the baby and all" Nishikata asked Shuichi who was playing around with his champagne glass,

" Didn't Rie forbid you from drinking? Also I have quit smoking... drinking..not that much.... Just for when I have to socialize... "

" Suika won't be happy "

" I don't expect Rie to be proud either...."

" So... "

" Lips closed... Nobody will suspect a thing.."

This was some fine champagne and neither wanted to waste their chance.. Meanwhile takagi was in a bit of a pickle..

Sumire and mogami had explained to both of them about izumi when they told them that she was coming too... and while both nishikata and takagi were sympathetic to her struggles.. But Just because you had a tragic past doesn't excuse the cruel stuff you do today... so they had just decided that they would treat her neutrally without any hostility like before... and because they didn't want to cause the fuss at the event..

After deciding all that, izumi pulling her aside to talk to her was... off putting... they were just awkwardly standing in the open...

" I'm gonna assume mogami has told you about everything... seeing are you're not hostile... "

" You know you have done nothing to deserve the good treatment " Takagi looked away... she didn't know whether it was good that she had directly asked her because if she'd asked nishikata she'd be a lot more worried..

" I'm not asking for good treatment.. "

" Then what do you want izumi "

" You know...... I didn't go after nishikata seriously.. " She said leaning while on the wall

" Excuse me but how in the God damn fuck is that supposed to make me feel better? "

" It's not... it's just reassurance that I won't go after him again... "

" So you're not even gonna ask for forgiveness?! "

" I don't ask for things I'm not gonna get... "

" At least you know that.. "

Izumi wasn't trying to use her past as leverage to guilt trip Takagi into forgiveness, Mogami was the only one that could work on...... and she didn't want to do that to him...

" Look I'll admit it... it was very fun and intoxicating to go after nishikata... "

Takagi froze " This girl has some nerves... I'll rip them out with my bare hands "

" It was fun... very fun so much fun that I might've continued till his first time-" She felt a hand around her collar.. Holding tightly

" Sorry.. Got a little angry there for a second... " Takagi backed off, she didn't need to cause a scene to potentially hurt mogami on his birthday...

" Even though it was that much fun... I regret it... "

" Yes, you should regret being a bitch with a capital B "

" Well then I succeeded in what I was doing , my goal was to be remembered as that bitch... " She paused for a second to assert importance on what she was gonna say next , " I don't expect you to forgive me, in fact it's really okay for you to hate me all you want, I'm apologizing because I think I should. "

" Just because your past was terrible it didn't excuse what you did to others.. "

" I know that better than anyone... "

Her voice was dry , even though it had the same prideful tone to it, izumi's apology was genuine...

She was still prideful.. But now she wasn't in her own bubble, her apology was sincere, Izumi didn't say anything more, " That's it, I don't have anything more to say... "

Izumi had already known her apology would most likely won't be accepted, but she was tired of pretending... she was sorry she really was but she wasn't gonna beg or pretend to be a bitch just to continue her pride... she was simply done...

Totomi had been a chapter of her life which started off on the wrong foot. She had doubled down and become the person she is today... she remembered when she was just a decent looking girl on the first week of totomi... she always wondered what would have happened if she had stayed the same... maybe suzuki wouldn't be a criminal, maybe she wouldn't be a bitch... maybe she'd have real friends instead of leeches ... maybe she'd be friends with nishikata, takagi, sumire , mogami...

The what ifs really made her question her choice... but... she had devoted herself to several causes... she had used being busy as a way to cope... she wouldn't be the de facto UN representative if she didn't do all that...

Izumi had made many mistakes, some of which she regretted and some of which she didn't... but if there was one thing she knew for sure...

Despite its pros and cons... Izumi would never trade her life with any other life.

It was that inherent sense of satisfaction with the present that gave her strength, that gave her confidence... that's why forgiveness wasn't the important thing, the apology was....

the apology was the most important as it became the first step for her to close this chapter and start a new one... this time fresh... and maybe this time she'd make less mistakes...

Takagi had noticed the straight forward attitude, but finally she had one more question. " Why did you come to me to apologize? I had more of a chance to just pounce on you and hurt you... yuki wouldn't do that... "

" It would mean nothing... he can't forgive me without you forgiving me... he wouldn't have forgiven me if it meant making you upset and if I somehow made him forgive me he'd try to make you forgive me and all that ... I'm done playing those games... plus I don't fancy forcing him after the crash... "

Takagi stayed still and thought ... she had all right to not forgive her but... " I'll give you a chance... but don't get me wrong we aren't friends. And your actions still make me wanna skin you alive... but.. We are simply not enemies . "

" That's fine "

Mogami was not handling the party well, there were too many people to enjoy his own birthday, it was crowded, he didn't really like crowds he was always pushed around by everyone...

He couldn't even hide behind his parents as they were pulled aside by the prime minister again ... so he was just stuck sitting on the chair while the crowd buzzed around him

Lights... brightness... he used to not even turn on the lights in his study in the library, the light from the lamps was sufficient to read the files and it wasn't like he could see anything outside the files... other than photos he had no idea how the manor looked...

But now the lights were always on... maybe it had developed as an Impulse but now mogami turned on the lights even when he was alone... he expected there to be someone with him... in a year he had gone from being happy with just himself... to being happy with others... this was worth celebrating, it was just too bad he shared his birthday with Jesus Christ....

" You alright mogami? " Sumire asked... she was wearing a beautiful dress and a white flower clip in her hair..

"I'm fine... it's just a bit too much for me... everything... "

"Hey... so... do you want to go out then... ? To get some fresh air? "

" Yeah... Let's go to the balcony... "

They went to the balcony... the open and cold air gave sumire chills... Mogami inversely feel calm

His eyes... whenever he was stressed his eyes would start to heat up and some tears would flow even if he wasn't sad... it was normally an indication that he should take a rest... the cold air felt good on his warm eyes... his eyelids were so irritated and hot inside that he couldn't keep them closed ...

The breeze flew silently.. The two stood alone in the balcony...

" What happened to the surgery ? "

" One of the older officers volunteered to test the surgery one his right eye was affected so the surgery wasn't that risky , his eyesight has returned "

" That's wonderful... your surgery will be in April right? "

" Yep "

Sumire was glad for him, the poor guy had suffered so much for far too long, she reached in her bag and pulled out a medium sized box

" I didn't even get a chance to do this earlier , you since everything is so crowded.. "

" Those high class people aren't here for me.. There are many more businessmen and influential people who were invited... my birthday is never about me... it's either about those people Making more connections, look nishikata's brother is very influential that's why he was invited separately from nishikata...or it's about Jesus Christ..."

" Well... nishikata is also pretty powerful right? I mean he is the co-owner of the togami corporation"

" Yeah but there's difference between being rich and being influential... somehow shuichi manages to be very wealthy and extremely powerful... I mean.. He is good friends with both my dad and the prime minister and my dad respects him even though he is half their age "

" Yeah... but let's not talk about that for now.. " She slowly showed him the box..

" What's that? "

" Open it "

He slowly opened the box...There was a pretty high quality jacket inside " A jacket? "

" I mean your wardrobe is pretty monotone... "

" I literally can't tell how I look when I wear something... that's why I stick to the ones that I know are good... "

" Not gonna lie he does look pretty hot in the black shirts " " But your wardrobe is a bit monotone.. Like you need to spice things up a bit... "

" You know I like sweet things more than spice... "

" I'll get you something sweet later now put the jacket on... "

" Yeah... " He handed her his cane and put the jacket over him " So? "

" Oh my god, you look more handsome than I thought you would "

" Is that supposed to be a compliment? "

" Yeah, you look amazing "

" How much did this cost? "

" That doesn't matter ... "

" No... cause it feels really good I might wanna buy another one... "

" Uh... "

" So how much? "

Amano was looking at the stary sky... his grandparents were outside... there was definitely something wrong with him...

There were weird contradictions along his memories, he remembered he was adopted by his grandparents soon after his parent died in a car accident...

But then what were those memories... his parents committed suicide? He killed his own uncle and tortured his aunt to death... these memories were clearer than what he remembered.. The dreams were to realistic... how can there be two memories from a single time... how can he be at two places at the same time...

Just thinking about it made his head hurt... he was supposed to meet the doctor for his headaches in a few days... maybe that will fix everything...

" HOW THE HELL DO YOU PAY THAT MUCH FOR ONE JACKET?!! "

" It feels weird ... he's the rich one this kind of money nothing to him and yet he's the one who's freaking out " " I mean... rich people like high quality stuff so I thought... "

" You didn't have to spend so much on me... "

" Mogami... I bought this one because I wanted to give a good jacket... "

" I know... but... "

" No buts... You should treat yourself every once in a while... you stay serious for too long "

" Still... "

" Speaking of treating yourself... " She pulled out another present from her bag... this one was a bit smaller " Here "

" Two of them? "

" Yeah "

" But... why two? "

" I mean... you said you only got one present for both Christmas and your birthday... "

" Huh? " ," I said that months ago " " You still remember that? "

" Yeah so I made sure to get you two presents ... "

He opened the box and sweet scent filled his nostrils... the baked goods he had come to love... we're right in front of him... he almost felt obligated to smell them all before touching them...

" The ingredients were too much for me to just borrow some from the bakery so I had to buy the good stuff that plus the jacket made me go broke , I hope he likes everything "

Mogami had a lot of thoughts in his head, he had never had someone be so thoughtful towards him before... he had just let some of his steam off to her those months ago.. She remembered that.. She got him two presents , she got him something he would look good wearing ... She got him something he loved so much...

She didn't have any reason to go that much above and beyond... at the surface level it was just a simple gesture... but mogami couldn't help but feel like this... feeling

There was a table nearby... he slowly kept the boxes on the table

" You aren't gonna-"

He felt a pair of arms around her.. And found herself pressed against his chest... breathing became heavy... her face heated up...

" You don't know how much this means to me... "

" Mogami... " Her heartbeat was fast... this was the first time he had intentionally come close this was the first time she didn't initiate anything... this was completely mogami's decision, the hug was tight.. " So this is what rie was talking about in middle school... . A critical hit... "

He kept her close.. He didn't want for her to turn and see his face... which was fine she didn't want to openly display her blush either

She couldn't move her arms at first but she slowly came around.. Her arms on his back.. Mogami was taller than her... his hug was pulling her off the ground.. She was on her tippy toes...

Once she was off the ground all of her weight came on him, he jerked forward... pressing her against the wall , her back against the wall while facing him...

Both of their blushes were exposed.. He looked straight at her... he was close enough that her face came into focus...

" You know now that I look at your face... I never really appreciated how beautiful you look "

" ... " She just looked at him.. This unexpected development was a but too much for her... her eyes looked straight into his... they told him that she was a bit uncomfortable... but that he could continue...

" I honestly don't know how you didn't hate me.. "

" What? "

" The first thing I did when I saw you was call you a bitch... we didn't really start off on the right foot did we.. "

" I mean... I was .. No I am a bitch... I knew that... "

" ... maybe there was something about the " bitch " part that I admired... "

" Huh? "

" Even if you were a bitch.. Even if you had made mistakes... you were proud of what you had... you wouldn't trade your life for any other life... "

" I was literally just fooling around ..."

" But you were happy....I know... but in comparison...... sure I enjoyed the cases but... that was all there to me... I was a recluse who didn't go out much... I was stuck in the library all day... I probably wouldn't have had friends... "

" ... "

" I was just numb to everything... "

" That doesn't matter now.. The only thing that matters is what you choose to do now... "

" ... "

Sumire froze, he was looking straight at her... his mind was telling him.. He still had no confirmation that she liked him... she could just be that nice because they were close friends... maybe because he had helped her... he didn't wanna force himself on her

But still his kind couldn't stop his body... his hand lightly brushed against her cheek... his Thumb landed on her lip... Some of her lip gloss or something smeared on his thumb but neither thought about that...

Her lips were so soft... even softer than her cheeks.. Which were getting redder every passing second..

She closed her eyes... she knew what was happening and she had accepted it...

Mogami didn't know what to do... Did she just give her approval for him to continue... her lips were Enticing... soft..

Slowly... there was no need to rush... it's not like he was the centre of attention... even though it was supposed to be his birthday party... but they had all the time in the world...

The Christmas lights shined bright little spots of color on the side of her face... the moonlight glowed the rest of her face... his brushed off a strand of hair that had somehow gotten loose..

She felt goosebumps whenever his hand met her skin... her heart kept beating faster..

He started moving his mouth approached her face ... he had decided that lips would be far too much for him to handle so he was gonna go for the cheek... just like she had kissed his cheek in Venice..

Then with a loud noise suddenly the lights of the manor went out.. A series of Sounds of people bumping into one another..

Sumire opened her eyes... darkness... did God foil their moment together? Why... she didn't what to think had they come so close just to fail... had they come this far just to lose because of some lights?

No.

Sumire had turned her head in the commotion.. Not too much just slightly, but it's not like mogami would notice he was completely blind in this darkness even sumire could make things out but he was completely blind...

His motion didn't stop at first he didn't even notice the lights were gone , but he was too far in , so in one swift move...

There was contact... from him to her , it wasn't anything special.. It wasn't a rough make out session... it was a simple kiss , it was soft... there was no reason to do it roughly... it was simply a gesture... one that conveyed how much they cared for each other and how much he had fallen for her...

It didn't last long... mogami had never read any romantic books or movies.. Never had anything more than friends with a girl.. He had simply dismissed romance... he didn't care at first... after all it had no impact on him... He still thought he was only kissing her cheek

She felt light headed... overwhelmed.. With many emotions... she dismissed all of them, she needed to focus on the person in front of her...her hand circled around his head slowly pulling him down...

As the lights came back on... the two separated.. Mogami had no idea what he had done... while sumire was too light headed to notice anything...

" Thanks Takagawa... " He didn't say anything more and simply left before he could pass out from stress while

Sumire almost fell to the ground after he had left... this wasn't something she was gonna forget... she knew that he just wanted to kiss her