"Shuichi! They came!" Sindy exclaimed holding up the box that was at the door. "Oh, I didn't expect it to come so soon," He asked, moving over to her. He knew that the package would be the Christmas sweaters that Kirumi, Tenko, and Himiko would make for all of them. It was a nice thought but getting a new sweater every year was making their closets fairly full.

"Yeah! I'm sure they look great!" She said clasping her hands together. Shuichi laughed a bit and walked over to the table where she was at. They were both in the living room where there was a small coffee table a couple of feet off the floor. "Yeah," Shuichi said, taking a place on the couch.

It was nice being able to be there in his own home, but he couldn't help but wonder if Kokichi was going to be alright. Sure he hadn't been gone for long, but it was making him feel like something was missing. While he was at work he was preoccupied doing his job so he didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts. But in these moments that Kokichi wasn't here with him while he was able to be home it felt off and wrong in a way. Like he was missing something...like he was missing his Kichi.

"We should check them out! I mean they are only yours and Kokichi's--but that means that mine is at home with Rantaro's!" She said with a smile. That smile only made Shuichi's mind snap out of his slump. "Oh? I guess that would be nice," He said softly before she opened the box revealing a grey and black sweater with a black and white checkered one underneath it.

The black and grey one was for Shuichi as it was embroidered on the bottom of the sweater in dark blue. The sweater had a blueberry sewn close to the top of the sweater. It was simple and only had a cluster of three of them in the corner of the top of the sweater leaving the rest of it grey before it faded into a black as it went to the bottom of the sleeves as well as the body of the sweater. It looked nice and Shuichi liked the way it was darker.

The one for Kokichi had checkered sleeves with black and white before the back of the main part was checkered with a light lavender that faded to a darker purple. Both the sleeves and the body of the sweater were checkered with white and another color so it all fit together. Then by his name at the bottom written in a light purple was a set of dice. "It's a nice touch, definitely the work of Kirumi and Tenko!" Sindy said looking over at Shuichi who was holding up his own jacket.

"Yeah it is nice, I'm sure Himiko added the dice at the bottom." Shuichi said tracing his fingers over his name. 'Where did Kokichi say he would be again?' Shuichi said letting his thoughts sidetrack again. Sindy noticed this as well as his off put behavior the whole time she had been over to keep him company.

"Hey Shuichi?" Sindy said poking his forehead, making him wince. "What are you doing?" He yelped a bit moving back from her. She giggled at this for a moment before she moved back. "I'm making sure you know that Kokichi will only be gone with my brother with a few more hours and then you can be with him again!" She said, giving him a small hug. He was confused for a moment before he felt some guilt come over his shoulders.

"Ah sorry I was acting off because of that..." He said feeling a small blush come to his cheeks. She smiled and moved her hand to his shoulder. "It's cool! Don't worry about it!" She said moving back over to the box to put away all the wrapping. As she did this a card was found in the box, it was red and green striped on the envelope. She handed it to Shuichi as she moved over to the trash to throw the packaging away before putting the box into the recycle.

"It's from Kirumi and she wrote;

Thank you all for being here again for this Christmas season, sorry you both weren't able to make it to the party, but know you were missed. Thank you for that. Best of luck to you with this new year coming up, and always remember I am at your service.

-Kirumi"

He smiled after reading the note and soon Sindy came over to his side. "That's sweet of her to say," He said with a smile. Sindy smiled and gave his arm a pat. "Maybe we can watch a movie until they both get back!" She said clasping her hands together. Shuichi gave her a nod after a moment of processing what she had said.

...

"Rantaro! This is taking so long!" Kokichi whined, making Rantaro laugh a bit. "It's not that long--and we need to get this shopping done." He sighed moving the cart closer to the register.

"Do you think Shuichi will like it?" Kokichi asked, looking at what he picked out for his lover in the cart. Rantaro put a hand on his shoulder with a smile. "I'm sure he will love it, it's coming from you after all," He said with a wink making Kokichi blush.

"Hey! Don't say shit like that..." He whispered looking to the side before he smiled again. "Well best to not dwell on that Ran~Ran~Chan~," He teased back, making Rantaro roll his eyes.

"Okay whatever you say." Kokichi huffed at this response and helped him load the items on the counter. The cashier already started scanning the items as Kokichi walked to the end of the counter where the bags were being made. He picked them up and placed them back in the cart when Rantaro came over with the cart.

"So~ now I can go back to Shuichi?" He asked with sparkly eyes. Rantaro gave his head a pat before he responded. "Yes, now you can get back to your boyfriend," He said with a sigh. Kokichi just rushed over to the car making sure to quickly load the bags in the back of the car.

"Let's go let's go!!" Kokichi yelled before Rantaro got into the driver's seat. "Someone's impatient," He sighed, putting a hand to his own forehead. Kokichi just puffed his cheeks.

"No time to chat! We need to get going!!" He yelled. Rantaro didn't say anything before he started to drive.

...

"I wonder when Kokichi is coming--" Shuichi sighed as the movie ended. "I'm sure he will be back soon!" Sindy said with a smile giving him a pat on his shoulder. This was moments before the door knob clicked.

"Shumai~!" Kokichi said in a teasing tone opening the door. "Koki!" Shuichi said before he rushed over to pull Kokichi into his arms. Rantaro and Sindy both already knew that this happened when Shuichi was deprived of Kokichi when he was already at work all day. Kokichi was like his revival after working all day.

"I see you missed me~," He teased before Shuichi hid his face in his shoulder. "Shut up..." He whispered into his shirt before Kokichi laughed a bit. "Okay, we can cuddle later my touch starved emo detective~" He said with a smile before he slowly moved away from Shuichi. Shuichi still kept his arms around him but was now standing behind him so he could move around.

"So I heard the sweaters came in!" He said moving over to the coffee table where he saw the sweaters laying. He moved over and tried his best to put his sweater on while Shuichi's arms were wrapped around his waist. Shuichi already had his sweater on from before and Shuichi noticed now that under the arms of Kokichi's jacket had small blue hearts up the side while his had faint purple hearts up the side.

"Look it's our colors Shu~" He said, wrapping his arms around Shuichi. Shuichi just blushed and moved his head into the crook of his neck again. "You fluster so easy Shui~," He teased again before he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well thank you for letting me stay here Kokichi!" Sindy said before she and Rantaro moved to the door. "Anytime! Thank you for coming!" He said with a wave before the door closed.

"Shuichi, are you doing alright?" Kokichi asked before Shuichi pulled back to reveal his red tear stained face. "I missed you..." He said looking to the side wiping some of his tears.

"Oh Shumai~ I missed you too," He said with a smile before he led Shuichi to the couch. "But I'm here now best to not dwell too long in the past!" He said before kissing Shuichi on his lips. This made Shuichi blush for a moment before he let his body relax as his eyes closed.

These little warm gestures are what make us whole

Warming our hearts even to our very souls

I Love this Christmas time I have with you
So let this moment last as we bundle up for the cold

Let us get going for this moment in the snow

Letting us let go of the past

Let it go

Let it go

And into new futures bright shine

Maybe this time it will be mine

-This is another part! Finals tomorrow---at least after that it will be done! Thank you all so much for reading!-

-SK-