(I decided to stop the Kokichi jokes for the Christmas Special chapters. You're welcome.)

"I don't need a present with a big fancy bow on it. I just need you... possibly wearing a big fancy bow!"

-Tea_Jay

Y/N's POV

As I stuck out my bare hand in the cold air, I felt a small snowflake land on the skin, melting and dropping onto the ground. I pulled the scarf up to my mouth to cover the warm air from escaping.

Though I did like seeing the small wisps of fog when the warm and cold air mixed, I didn't feel like wasting my breath. Five years ago, on Christmas Eve, my love... my life was taken away from me.

Every time Christmas rolls around and everyone is filled with cheers, I'm down in the dumps. Yes, I should move on, but no, I can't bring myself to do it.

Makoto... can you hear my thoughts?

On that chilly night, I had asked him to run to a grocery store that was still open and grab some ingredients for dinner. As he headed out the door, I didn't say "Have a safe trip" or "Love you" like I usually did.

It was my one regret that night.

I waited at home, wrapping the blankets around me tighter and tighter. The clock struck midnight, and my boyfriend has had yet to return.

My eyes traveled over to the presents wrapped neatly under the tree. Those were the presents we had wrapped together just a few days prior.

Shaking my head violently, I stood up from the couch and yanked the winter coat off the rack. I pushed the door open, and I ran down the stairs of our shared apartment.

As soon as I was on the ground floor, I heard my door slam shut. The footprints that would usually have been left in the snow by Makoto had been covered up by the falling flakes.

I cursed the snow before heading off into the bustling city. As I went, I asked strangers if they had seen him by showing them the pictures on my phone of us together... happy...

However, my luck was cursed, and nobody had seen him anywhere.

On that chilly night, I ran throughout the city in search for him. I asked everyone: store clerks and pedestrians alike.

'Where was my Naegi..?'

I stuffed my hands into the jacket to only realize that it wasn't mine. The one I had grabbed was Makoto's.

Inside the pocket, I felt something... Like a cube rounded at the edges. Once I pulled the object out, I felt all the blood drain from my face.

The gold engravings on the top of the box showed that it had come from a jeweler in this area. My eyes watered once I lifted the lid and saw the ring inside, glistening in the moonlight and the cold frigid air.

Sobs were something I could not contain at this point. I snapped the box closed and clutched it tight in my cold and numb hands as if it were my only lifeline.

It was truly a night to remember...

Here I was... It was Christmas Eve, and I was walking around the same city I had searched in those few years ago. My eyes gazed upon the couples who were either holding hands or sharing a short kiss and the happy families taking their children around for last-minute shopping.

My story could've been like that, too.

I entered the store that I had been going to for the past years ever since Naegi's disappearance.

"Good evening, Mr. Kuwata." I said as I closed the door behind me.

"Ah, if it isn't Miss L/N!" Leon's father chuckled out hoarsely. "Had any luck in finding him yet?"

I shook my head. "I'm afraid not... I feel like my efforts aren't even helping. I just feel like giving up altogether." I confessed.

His expression showed that he was frowning from the creases in his skin. "You can't give up, Y/N. There's a chance he's still out there."

"It's been five years." I cried, trying to conceal my tears. "He's dead. I know it."

A deep sigh bellowed from Mr. Kuwata. "I only wish to help you, Y/N. I know that this is hard considering Leon disappeared five years ago as well... Is there anything you'd like to buy today?"

Wiping my tears, my blurry eyes scanned around his little store full of different knick-knacks. A snow globe was set near the display window, and I headed over to it, admiring how delicately handcrafted it looked.

"This is so beautiful..." I said, still sniffling from my previous cry.

Mr. Kuwata hurriedly shuffled over to me. "Ah, yes! A rare gem!" He smiled, patting my back a bit. "It's an original Vienna Snow Globe! Pretty, isn't it?" A chuckle rang out.

"Very..." My fingers touched the glass. "How much is it?"

"About one hundred fifty dollars."

My eyes widened upon hearing the price. "O-One hundred fifty?!"

Another chuckle resounded from Leon's father. "Yes, but I'll give it to you on the house! How does that sound?"

I once again felt my eyes water at his generosity. Every year, he would offer me an item for free ever since Makoto's sudden disappearance.

"Makoto would've loved this..." I mumbled to myself, staring at the snow globe.

"Then take it, child." He insisted.

I nodded after some of his persistence that I should take the globe. Immediately, he picked it up and hurried behind his counter to wrap it up and put it in a cute little bag with a snowman on the front.

He then stuffed red and green tissue paper on the top.

A smile spread across my face. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

He heartily laughed. "There's no need, Y/N. Have a safe Christmas!"

"You, too!" I grabbed the bag and pushed my way out of the door.

As I wandered around the streets aimlessly, I saw something. For a split second, in the corner of my eye, I saw a distinct ahoge that matched Naegi's.

My eyes widened, and I dropped the bag into the snow and chased after what seemed like a distant dream.

A shadow was all I saw, but it was enough to convince me and run after it.

"W-Wait! MAKOTO!" I yelled, starting to run after it when it started to sprint away. I ducked under trees, ran over bridges, and even ran into some people along the way.

The shadow had lead me to the park... the park where Makoto and I first met. My eyes frantically scanned the area, but the blur that I had been chasing was nowhere in sight.

I checked everywhere as I did five years ago. I looked behind the trees, below the benches, and inside the frozen playground.

Reliving this memory was a nightmare. Like those many years ago, tears streamed down my face and fell into the snow.

"Falling falling snow. I want you to cover and hide me..."

I trudged through the blanket of white, my boots crunching up the snow beneath me. Using my hand, I wiped the cold tears from my face.

At that moment, I realized that the bag I had been holding was no longer in my hands.

"Shoot!" I mumbled, running back into the city.

My lungs filled with the bitter cold air the faster I ran, and my legs were starting to feel numb. As soon as I reached the spot where I had initially ran off from, I noticed that the snow already had piled up.

The streets were blanketed by the sheets of snow, but I couldn't locate the gift bag anywhere. Desperately, I fell onto my knees and starting digging in to the snow... with my bare hands.

I dug out the snow in every place I could've imagined before I took off to chase after that blur, but the bag was no where to be found.

More tears fell into the snow as my desperate attempt was becoming futile.

"No..." I cried to myself, slapping my frostbitten hands onto my face. "Why do all the bad things happen to me on Christmas..? It's not fair..!" I cried, my face growing warmer from the tears and embarrassment.

"Excuse me, miss." A man's voice spoke up. "Were you looking for this?"

In my crouched position, I was eye-level with the bag that I had dropped. The same snowman on the front and green and red tissue paper. It was it.

My tears started to slowly cease, and I grabbed the bag and hugged it towards my chest.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, sir! How can I repay yo--"

My eyes glanced up to see the face, but only shock was what I felt.

"You seem familiar... Have we met before?" He asked, offering me a hand.

The tears returned, and I could only stare up at the face I grew to love while tears trickled down my face.

"A-Are you okay..?" He asked, retracting his hand from me.

Before he could continue his questioning any further, I leapt up and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his chest.

"W-Woah..!" He stammered, his heartbeat picking up drastically. "Are you--"

"Makoto... it's me... Y/N!" I said through muffled cries.

Once again, I heard his heart rate accelerate. It was pounding against his chest, wanting to be free.

"Y-Y-Y/N..." He said softly. His hand stroked my hair, and I could feel the other one holding my waist. "I-I'm so glad... that I found you again..!"

I nodded, and we stood there like that... enjoying each other's embrace.

He pulled away first and picked up the bag I left on the ground before jumping on him. "Let's go home, Y/N." A smile crept onto his face.

"You have a lot of e-explaining to do..." I sniffled.

He nodded in agreement, and hand-in-hand, we walked home together for the first time in five years.

-Home-

Y/N's POV

"I was kidnapped..." He confessed, looking down at the floor bitterly.

My eyes widened. "B-By who?!" I asked, shocked and angered.

"Calm down, love. I'm safe now." Naegi smiled reassuringly. "Junko Enoshima kidnapped me. Along with fifteen other people, she made all of us participate in a 'Killing Game'."

"K-Killing game?!" I shouted, thinking of the Hunger Games. "D-Did you--"

"No..." He said. "I didn't kill anyone. I also wasn't killed if you hadn't noticed." He chuckled.

"What about Leon..?" I asked, hoping that the boy had returned safe to his father.

Naegi's face frowned, and I knew the answer.

"Oh..." I mumbled, trying to imagine the pain that Mr. Kuwata was going through right now.

"I've... already informed the parents and loved ones of their deceased children. To say the least, it was very tough..."

I nodded, not wanting to even think about the possibility if someone chose to kill Makoto instead of another.

"Just because I'm alive doesn't mean I didn't go through hardships..." He said as if reading my thoughts. Makoto placed his hand on mine and continued. "I was nearly framed by Sayaka Maizono, but she was murdered by Leon after attempting to kill him."

"S-So Leon... he killed..." I gasped in utter shock.

"Yes... he killed Sayaka and paid the price for it..."

At this grim story, I couldn't help but feel a bit thankful that Naegi was alive.

"Also... Alter Ego saved me. He was Chihiro's AI. I was nearly executed..." Makoto rubbed the back of his neck with his hand nervously.

All I could do was only listen... listen to this tragedy that sounded like a living hell.

"Anyways..." He continued on. "It lasted for about two or three years, but I had underestimated the location we had been taken to. We were kidnapped all the way to Japan... Can you believe that I was on the other side of the world?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"I'll stop there. I just want to spend this Christmas with you." He smiled.

In response, I leaned on his shoulder, his arm wrapping around me.

We cuddled closer, watching the fire cackle brightly in the fireplace.

My eyelids grew heavy, and Makoto stroking my head didn't make that drowsiness go away.

"Good night, Y/N."

"Good night, Makoto..."

As I was drifting further away from consciousness, a thought crossed my mind.

'I'll ask him about the ring tomorrow...'

Christmas Special: Makoto Naegi

[Complete]