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I should be ever thankful that the hotel rooms had big mirrors in them. They were probably only used for decoration but I needed something like that more than ever right there. It was the last night we were spending at the resort and since it was the late winter season, there was a grand dance & dinner on the ground floor. I normally would have no interest in dances but considering the group I was with, I did not have much of a choice. And besides, I actually kind of wanted to dance with Mikage. Now it was not because I was in love or had a crush on her or something like that...it was because I don't know about if I really like her or not.

Yes, even when we were on the last night, I still have not made up my mind. I liked a lot about her, but I did not know whether or not I really did like her in the sense most people think of. I decided to go to that dense as think of it as my deciding point. If I do have a wonderful time than I really do like her, if not...actually I have not thought much about that. I guess I had so much fun previously I basically ignored any possible negative events.

I took another look at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a white business-like suit with three gold buttons down the front along with a purple ascot around my neck, a pair of black dance shoes finished the outfit. I took a deep breath and wondered if I looked good enough for an event like a dance, I wanted to look my best, especially with a possible lover. I actually thanked my lucky stars that the dinner was a double date between all four of us with Yusei and Aki naturally being with each other, leaving Mikage with me. No way could I handle a dinner between us, romantic or not, alone.

Yusei stepped out of the bathroom while wearing a very posh looking black polo shirt and a pair of brown trousers'. Not as poncey as my choice of attire but then again Yusei was never known to be flashy (save for his hair). I gave him a thumbs up to let him know he looked good and he smiled, taking a look down at his wrist watch as well.

"Jack, we better be going. The girls are probably outside waiting for us." I nodded my head and we left our hotel room.

Just as Yusei thought, Aki was waiting outside for us, playing around a bit on her cell phone before putting it away and smiling at us. She was wearing a red cocktail dress and white gloves, as However I noticed very quickly that Mikage was absent from the halls. I looked towards Aki confused.

"Say where is Mikage?" I asked, looking around the halls for her. Aki just smiled at me as if I never asked my question and just kept smiling away.

"Oh she's still inside, still getting herself ready." Aki explained, pointed towards the door with her thumb. A couple seconds later the door opened and I looked it intrigued, anticipating the woman to come through.

And by god did she look astounding. She came out wearing a black silk dress which appeared darker than the winter night sky, it stopped at her ankles and it looked very comfortable. The straps of the dress slid around her neck into a bow, the sides poking out behind her neck. It did not look uncomfortable in the slightest. To any other eyes, she would simply look pretty but nothing more, to me though she looked bloody beautiful. I also noticed she was posed differently, her arms rested atop one another in front of her while she turned away exposing her side which showed me most of her back appeared exposed. Almost to the waist even, reminding me of when we were together in the hot springs and how beautiful her skin looked. On her face she wore a bright, loving expression which made me smile back at her. She looked to gorgeous for words or at least words I knew of.

"Wow...you look great." I said to her, scratching the back of my head. Mikage blushed a bit while keeping a warm smile.

"You look great too." She said to me rather shyly. I noticed Aki looking at me intrigued and I just prayed to god that she did not get any ideas about me and Mikage. But my fears certainly did not reflect in my actions as I bowed a bit and made an inviting gesture with my arms to the elevator.

"Ladies first." I said as civilized as I could. I looked up to see Mikage blushing a bit but still smiling while walking to the elevator. Aki followed but looked at me rather suspiciously, I just ignored her simply with Yusei and I following behind the two.

When we finally arrived to the gala, one look around and I already felt horribly out of place. The music was primarily classic dance music which was reflected terrifically in how everyone here was dressed far more elegantly than any one of us. My eyes squinted thanks to the light shining down from the various crystal chandeliers hanging high above us, the ight reflecting through them bathing the whole room in a rainbow of colors. Various tables with pure white table clothes with expensive looking white chairs matched the room. They circled an enormous dance floor where I could see the a variety of people dancing. I found the source of the music being done by a live band playing at the far back of the room on a stage. The more I looked around, the more I felt like I was not going to make it through the night

A man wearing a very clean and fancy white shirt and bowtie walked in front of us and looked at a clipboard he was holding.

"Name please?" He asked.

"Yusei Fudo, Aki Izayoi, Jack Atlas and Mikage Sagiri." Yusei told him as the man wrote something on his clipboard.

"Thank you very much, just go to the table straight ahead and a waiter will be with you soon. Feel free to go on the dance floor." The man said, walking away and he followed his instructions and walked over to the nearest table. Once we all sat down, Aki looked around in wonder at the large ballroom.

"Wow...was not expecting something like this when we started planning our vacation." Aki said, somewhat chuckling.

"I was just expecting snow, not bloody ballroom dancing. What do you think Mikage?" I said while looking around astonished.

"I think it's a nice surprise. After all if everything goes as you expected than life would get boring or things you don't want to happen but think they will, definitely will happen." She explained as a waiter placed some water filled glasses on our table. After the waiter did Aki held up her glass.

"I'll drink to that. Speaking of the future though as odd as that may sound, what are we planning for when we get back?" The redhead asked before drinking some of her water.

"Going back to work I guess..." Mikage said, sighing a bit, no doubt at the thought of going back to work after vacation.

"Yeah, to be honest I'm not exactly looking forward to heading back. I mean we've probably barely scratched the surface of what this place has to offer." Yusei added to the conversation. Everyone sighed and just drank some of their water, not even looking at each other.

"But I know one thing Jack and Mikage can do." Aki said. Mikage and I looked at her a bit surprised and curious. However inside I grew horribly terrified by the fact she said, Jack and Mikage.

"Mikage, you and Jack should go dance!" She exclaimed in an excited manner. Mikage and I just looked at each other both embarrassed and shocked. Did she find out about us? Was she just playing tricks? I turned back to her with fear evident on my face.

"Wait a minute Aki, I..." I tried to say something to her but in what seemed like lightning fast speed she spun around behind us, pulled me and Mikage up, spun us around and pushed me into the crowd. As soon as I turned around to get back to the table though...

"He's all yours!" Aki exclaimed, pushing Mikage into me, I grabbed her so that we both did not fall, putting us in a position as if we were dancing. We looked at each other and separated with blush evident on our faces, but before we could escape the dance floor, several couples dancing got in our way and we were trapped. The couples in front of us were too entranced in their dance to hear us. Hell I could not even see our table above the crowd as much as I tried.

"Damn it...we're trapped." I said to Mikage as the space around us seemed to get smaller, forcing us to get closer together. She was standing right in front of me and at some point we were inevitably going to be shoved into each other. I looked around for any escape route but there was no hope. But then I thought that due to the crowd, Aki and Yusei would be unable to watch so if there were any excuse for me and Mikage to dance it would be here. On top of that, the thought of dancing with her was not a bad one, in fact I rather wanted to try it. Mikage looked at me curiously as I thought to myself and when I was done thinking, I smiled and held out my hand in a gentleman-like fashion. I stood up straight and held out my hand for her and she looked at me rather surprised.

"May I have this dance?" I asked her in as civilized of a tone as I could. Mikage looked at me with more shock and even blushed but she smiled calmly after a bit and held my hand.

"Of course." She told me, somewhat chuckling and we got closer together. I wrapped my arm around her waist and we raised our joined hands on my left hand side. I had to be careful as I had little to no experience with dancing, let alone with someone of Mikage's size. I listened to the music for a bit to study the rhythm and carefully moved my feet to the tune of the music.
I moved very carefully with to the music, making sure not to step on her feet, crash into the other dancers and look like an idiot. Needless to say, the last one was not working out so well. I looked like I was about to explode at any second and I had this stupid grin on my face. Mikage giggled at me and I felt mortified.

"Don't feel like you're dancing with the queen. It's just a friendly dance, you can loosen up a bit." She said sweetly to me. I took a deep breath and sighed, the stupid grin being replaced with a much more casual smile. I slowed down a bit and swayed with her gently. I made sure to not hit anyone while still moving in rhythm with her. Eventually, I started to get the hang of it and I was doing ok. Not nearly as elegantly as the other dancers around us but good enough and we didn't mind.

I stopped paying attention to my footwork and instead kept my eyes on the woman in front of me. I never really noticed how beautiful she was considering I've just ignored her when she was my secretary. These past few days though completely changed my opinion of her. Back then, I probably would never imagine that I would dance with her. But there I was, and I was loving it. As we swayed to the music it felt as though we were the only ones in the room and we had the entire room to ourselves. As I looked at her, I got hypnotized by her glistening golden eyes. They were so warm and inviting, the complete opposite of my cold, violet eyes. She moved a bit closer to me, her eyes slowly shutting. I let go of her hands and wrapped mine around her waist. She placed her hands on my shoulders and rested her head on my chest.

"This is so...wonderful..." Mikage whispered. She looked so at piece leaning against me.

"Of course it is...I'm dancing with someone like you." I whispered back to her. Our eyes came back into contact and our faces began to move closer to each other. My eyes slowly closed as did hers and soon enough.

Our lips connected.

Unlike the night before, This felt a lot more entrancing and less of a shock. I knew what I was doing. I wanted to kiss her and I'm sure she wanted to as well. I put all the passion, all the emotion, all the love I had in me in that kiss, just to let her know how much she meant to me. Undecided about whether I loved her or not, I did not care, I still wanted to let her know.

Eventually we separated but unlike last night we just looked at each other happily and embraced once more. I began to feel so warm then. Not even during the day before did I feel like that. It felt as though my once cold persona was beginning to melt. As cheesy as that sounds, I honestly did felt like that and I did not want to part away from it.

But alas, eventually we saw an opening in the crowd that lead back to the table and we exited whilst separated. We walked back to our table where what appeared to be a very frustrated Aki sat. Her cheek rest against her fist while she looked at us with her annoyed looking eyes. Yusei meanwhile was sitting behind looking at his girlfriend curiously.

"Something wrong Aki?" Mikage asked her. She looked back at the questioner with the same attitude in her eyes.
"I know you two were dancing together in there, but the crowd got in the way so I couldn't watch. shame, it was probably so cute." Aki said sighing. Mikage blushed at her answer while I just looked at her confused.

"A-a-actually Jack and I just...stood there until we could find a way out." The meek woman said, mumbling on some of her words. Aki looked at her as if she did not believe her and to be fair it was not exactly a good excuse. However while at first, Aki looked at Mikage suspiciously, in a short amount of time she grew a smile on her face as if she believed her (or at least I hoped so). She looked as if the problem she brought up never occurred.

"Ok then...By the way guys. I need to ask a favor." We looked at Aki perplexed as well as Yusei.

"Since it's the last night and all, I was wondering if it's possible for me and Yusei to share a room together. Just the two of us and Mikage can sleep in Jack's room?" We just looked at her as if she told us my home exploded. This was even more baffling than the "suggestion" of us dancing. Even Yusei looked at her confused but before he could ask a question, I asked mine.

"Wait? What??!" I asked, dumbfounded. Aki sighed and looked at us with eyes that were a lot more serious.

"Please, it's just one night and you have separate beds remember? Just sleep separately." I looked at her a bit surprised but sighed. She did make a good point.

"Alright then...fine with me. Mikage?" The meek woman nodded nervously as well and while Aki cheered in celebration with Yusei who just looked at the whole situation wondering what just happened. Me and Mikage looked at each other with eyes full of worry. we had barely just danced together and now we were supposed to share a room?

After the dinner and dance, it was time to head to our rooms. Me and Mikage stood outside the door the my room, holding whatever she needed for the night. Before I even opened the door, I watched Yusei and Aki gleefully enter their room. It was going to be easy for them to sleep together considering they were an actual couple, but for me and Mikage it was going to be a lot more difficult.

I opened the door for her and welcomed her in, trying to act natural but you could tell how nervous I was, as you could with Mikage who I noticed was shaking a bit as she walked into the room. I followed very slowly into the still dark room and I noticed she was standing in the middle of the room, staring out the huge window which took up the space where normally a wall would be. I looked at her confused and walked slowly to the side of her. I noticed she had warm smile on her face, she looked as if she completely calmed down compared to just a minute ago. I looked at her shocked and looked out the window for what may of calmed her.

I looked out the window too and...I was just amazed by what I saw. On the previous nights at the hotel whenever I went to my room, all I did was sleep there at night with no other plans, let alone look out the window. But honestly, the view from the window was more beautiful than the night sky from the first night at the resort. A lot of the resort was lit up for the holiday season and the light reflecting on the snow had a rather beautiful effect. I could see some of the patrons at the resort having fun outside, skating and partying which reminded me of when I went skating with Mikage and that made me smile. But the most astonishing thing was once again the night sky, however on this night, I could see more of it than the previous night. I could see all the stars, what I assumed to be galaxies and even the moon was full that night. The moon was so full in fact, it was bright enough to light the room which was still dark. I've got to admit, I understand why it made Mikage smile. It made us forget about the stress we were had earlier...for the most part.

Eventually we moved away from that spot and we got ready for bed, doing the usual routine, it felt like it was going to be a normal night after all. I was actually kind of surprised at how mundane it all was...Until it was actually time to go to bed. As me and Mikage stood in the middle of the room, the awkwardness began to rise again. I scratched the back of my head, trying to think of what to honestly said.

"Well...I guess, goodnight?" I said to her. But then Mikage asked a question that I'd never thought would come up.

"Actually...Jack...I kind of..." She begun to say nervously, her head was tilting down as if she were embarrassed by what she was going to ask.. I looked at her curiously.

"I kind of...want to sleep in the same bed...with you tonight." She said, eyes shut from fear of my reaction. I looked at her shocked, the most shocked during this whole vacation. Where did that come from? Why did that come up? Hell, my face said everything, I did not even need to ask those questions.

"It's just that...for some reason...I don't know why I want to. But I just..." Mikage tried to explain to no avail and with her answer came more questions I had. But what confused me the most was that, the more I thought about the more...the idea seemed attractive. I know it's strange considering how nervous I was with just sleeping in the same room separately and yet I want to sleep in the same bed with her. But now I understood why Mikage was nervous to ask her question, I couldn't explain it either and it was a rather surprising thing to want, especially from two people who weren't dating in the usual sense of the world.

"Oh well then. I suppose you can sleep with me...Wait, no I don't mean in that sense I mean..." I said to her, stumbling on my words making it sound as if I wanted to...never mind. Mikage blushed immensely and really, could you blame her?
Though thankfully she knew what I meant and we climbed into bed. Before I did though, I shut the curtains so that the light didn't come in and shine in our eyes. As I shut the curtain, I looked at Mikage in the bed, she looked so peaceful. and the moon shining on her made her look like what I assumed Snow White looked like when she was asleep as a child.

I smiled as I finished shutting the curtains and I climbed into the bed. I kept a distance from Mikage while in the bed so that she didn't feel uncomfortable sleeping next to me. I must admit, it was also because I was nervous sleeping next to her and I slept facing away from he....or at least I tried to. I had some short bursts of sleep but none for more than a couple minutes. I had no idea why, it was really starting to bug me though. I kept moving around, trying to get comfortable, but it seemed that nothing would help me. I sat up and moved the blanket off of me. I stretched some parts of my body, thinking my back needed to be cracked or something. However that wasn't a problem at all which really pissed me off.

I sighed and looked at Mikage, she had been sleeping so quietly, I wondered if she was doing something that I was not. All I really noticed from her sleeping was that she changed the direction she was facing to me and nothing else. I turned around towards the closed window, I sighed heavily while facing the wall. I thought maybe there was something I needed to think about and it was preventing me from sleeping. I then began to think about what was troubling me and the answer...or rather question popped in my head instantly.

In the morning we were going to leave the hotel and head home and yet I still have not made my decision. Did I love Mikage or not? I had been asking myself this question throughout the whole vacation and I promised myself I'd have an answer by the end of the vacation...so much for that. I knew I had fun with her during the vacation. I really enjoyed our date on the second day, I loved dancing with her and as unexpected as it was, looking back on it, I did like being in the hot springs with her.

While I did love doing all of that, those were just the positive moments and not the long term effects. I'm aware of a lot of the trouble that can go on during dating, the arguments, the fights, everything. I asked myself if I am the type of guy who can take that kind of responsibility? I looked at the curtained window growing more and more frustrated, I began to see some of the possible bad outcomes that could happen between me and Mikage if we dated. I didn't want any of that happening, I wanted her to be happy..

Let's face it, we were meant to be friends...if you could even call us that. I have been so cold to her throughout these years, I know she said I could be a gentleman but surely someone as smart as her had her limits? I thought to myself that something like this was surely a fluke. It was nice while it lasted but it was time to let her go. She deserved someone better than me, I was a petty little jerk...plain and simple. Why should someone like her date someone like that. In the morning I would tell her that it would be better for us not to be together. I sighed and began to turn around to get back into the bed, but I felt something wrapped around me.

When I looked to see what it was, I saw Mikage's gentle arms wrapped around my waist. I was shocked to see her doing something like this, but even more surprising was the warm smile on her face. I thought to myself she's just having a dream and that she probably does not realize she's hugging me. I placed my right hand on hers but before I could move her hand, she interlaced her fingers with mine.

"Jack..." I heard her whisper. My eyes widened, I nearly gasped. Did I really just heart that? She must have known that she was embracing me then. I wondered why she would intentionally want to embrace me. And then...the more I thought about it, the more I realized that when I was with her, she also looked very happy and was enjoying all the moments we had together. Maybe...she would be happy dating me. Though while I may not be enough for her...I told myself I was going to go beyond what I normally am, just for her.

I smiled at her and carefully lied back down, making sure not to separate her arms from my waist. I turned towards her side, my face facing hers. I carefully wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the lips before I finally began to fall asleep. Before I did though I notice the smile on her sleeping face expand and when I saw that, mine did as well. I began to feel comfortable and warm within the arms of Mikage and hopefully she did within mine. The rest of the night, I did not wake up for anything, neither did she. We were so enraptured by the embrace by one another that we dare not ruin the peace.

And here we are now...

"Jack, hurry the train's here!"

"We're coming!" I bellow, turning my head to the right seeing Mikage is standing right by my side. She looks up at me with those beautiful golden eyes.
"You ready?" She asks me. I just nod my head.

We start to walk to the train, it's time to head home. Looking back, this was a wonderful vacation. I went out of my comfort zone and did some things I normally would not do, went to a place I've never been before and got to pelt Yusei with a snowball! But the most striking thing to me was that I somehow managed to find a woman who I possibly love, someone who I can be there for and be there for me. I wish I had done something back this when we were still under the command of Godwin as I would not have wanted to miss out on the possibility of love.

And as I held her hand tight, so tight as so nothing could separate us, I knew that Mikage would not have wanted to either and it seems that love is going to be the outcome for us.

I will be waiting.

Please let me know what to improve on and I'm sorry this took a while, I had finals which delayed some of my stories due to studying. Hope you enjoyed this though and don't worry, Rose Buds will continue soon.

Description
I should be ever thankful that the hotel rooms had big mirrors in them. They were probably only used for decoration but I needed something like that more than ever right there. It was the last night we were spending at the resort and since it was the late winter season, there was a grand dance & dinner on the ground floor. I normally would have no interest in dances but considering the group I was with, I did not have much of a choice. And besides, I actually kind of wanted to dance with Mikage. Now it was not because I was in love or had a crush on her or something like that...it was because I don't know about if I really like her or not.

Yes, even when we were on the last night, I still have not made up my mind. I liked a lot about her, but I did not know whether or not I really did like her in the sense most people think of. I decided to go to that dense as think of it as my deciding point. If I do have a wonderful time than I really do like her, if not...actually I have not thought much about that. I guess I had so much fun previously I basically ignored any possible negative events.

I took another look at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a white business-like suit with three gold buttons down the front along with a purple ascot around my neck, a pair of black dance shoes finished the outfit. I took a deep breath and wondered if I looked good enough for an event like a dance, I wanted to look my best, especially with a possible lover. I actually thanked my lucky stars that the dinner was a double date between all four of us with Yusei and Aki naturally being with each other, leaving Mikage with me. No way could I handle a dinner between us, romantic or not, alone.

Yusei stepped out of the bathroom while wearing a very posh looking black polo shirt and a pair of brown trousers'. Not as poncey as my choice of attire but then again Yusei was never known to be flashy (save for his hair). I gave him a thumbs up to let him know he looked good and he smiled, taking a look down at his wrist watch as well.

"Jack, we better be going. The girls are probably outside waiting for us." I nodded my head and we left our hotel room.

Just as Yusei thought, Aki was waiting outside for us, playing around a bit on her cell phone before putting it away and smiling at us. She was wearing a red cocktail dress and white gloves, as However I noticed very quickly that Mikage was absent from the halls. I looked towards Aki confused.

"Say where is Mikage?" I asked, looking around the halls for her. Aki just smiled at me as if I never asked my question and just kept smiling away.

"Oh she's still inside, still getting herself ready." Aki explained, pointed towards the door with her thumb. A couple seconds later the door opened and I looked it intrigued, anticipating the woman to come through.

And by god did she look astounding. She came out wearing a black silk dress which appeared darker than the winter night sky, it stopped at her ankles and it looked very comfortable. The straps of the dress slid around her neck into a bow, the sides poking out behind her neck. It did not look uncomfortable in the slightest. To any other eyes, she would simply look pretty but nothing more, to me though she looked bloody beautiful. I also noticed she was posed differently, her arms rested atop one another in front of her while she turned away exposing her side which showed me most of her back appeared exposed. Almost to the waist even, reminding me of when we were together in the hot springs and how beautiful her skin looked. On her face she wore a bright, loving expression which made me smile back at her. She looked to gorgeous for words or at least words I knew of.

"Wow...you look great." I said to her, scratching the back of my head. Mikage blushed a bit while keeping a warm smile.

"You look great too." She said to me rather shyly. I noticed Aki looking at me intrigued and I just prayed to god that she did not get any ideas about me and Mikage. But my fears certainly did not reflect in my actions as I bowed a bit and made an inviting gesture with my arms to the elevator.

"Ladies first." I said as civilized as I could. I looked up to see Mikage blushing a bit but still smiling while walking to the elevator. Aki followed but looked at me rather suspiciously, I just ignored her simply with Yusei and I following behind the two.

When we finally arrived to the gala, one look around and I already felt horribly out of place. The music was primarily classic dance music which was reflected terrifically in how everyone here was dressed far more elegantly than any one of us. My eyes squinted thanks to the light shining down from the various crystal chandeliers hanging high above us, the ight reflecting through them bathing the whole room in a rainbow of colors. Various tables with pure white table clothes with expensive looking white chairs matched the room. They circled an enormous dance floor where I could see the a variety of people dancing. I found the source of the music being done by a live band playing at the far back of the room on a stage. The more I looked around, the more I felt like I was not going to make it through the night

A man wearing a very clean and fancy white shirt and bowtie walked in front of us and looked at a clipboard he was holding.

"Name please?" He asked.

"Yusei Fudo, Aki Izayoi, Jack Atlas and Mikage Sagiri." Yusei told him as the man wrote something on his clipboard.

"Thank you very much, just go to the table straight ahead and a waiter will be with you soon. Feel free to go on the dance floor." The man said, walking away and he followed his instructions and walked over to the nearest table. Once we all sat down, Aki looked around in wonder at the large ballroom.

"Wow...was not expecting something like this when we started planning our vacation." Aki said, somewhat chuckling.

"I was just expecting snow, not bloody ballroom dancing. What do you think Mikage?" I said while looking around astonished.

"I think it's a nice surprise. After all if everything goes as you expected than life would get boring or things you don't want to happen but think they will, definitely will happen." She explained as a waiter placed some water filled glasses on our table. After the waiter did Aki held up her glass.

"I'll drink to that. Speaking of the future though as odd as that may sound, what are we planning for when we get back?" The redhead asked before drinking some of her water.

"Going back to work I guess..." Mikage said, sighing a bit, no doubt at the thought of going back to work after vacation.

"Yeah, to be honest I'm not exactly looking forward to heading back. I mean we've probably barely scratched the surface of what this place has to offer." Yusei added to the conversation. Everyone sighed and just drank some of their water, not even looking at each other.

"But I know one thing Jack and Mikage can do." Aki said. Mikage and I looked at her a bit surprised and curious. However inside I grew horribly terrified by the fact she said, Jack and Mikage.

"Mikage, you and Jack should go dance!" She exclaimed in an excited manner. Mikage and I just looked at each other both embarrassed and shocked. Did she find out about us? Was she just playing tricks? I turned back to her with fear evident on my face.

"Wait a minute Aki, I..." I tried to say something to her but in what seemed like lightning fast speed she spun around behind us, pulled me and Mikage up, spun us around and pushed me into the crowd. As soon as I turned around to get back to the table though...

"He's all yours!" Aki exclaimed, pushing Mikage into me, I grabbed her so that we both did not fall, putting us in a position as if we were dancing. We looked at each other and separated with blush evident on our faces, but before we could escape the dance floor, several couples dancing got in our way and we were trapped. The couples in front of us were too entranced in their dance to hear us. Hell I could not even see our table above the crowd as much as I tried.

"Damn it...we're trapped." I said to Mikage as the space around us seemed to get smaller, forcing us to get closer together. She was standing right in front of me and at some point we were inevitably going to be shoved into each other. I looked around for any escape route but there was no hope. But then I thought that due to the crowd, Aki and Yusei would be unable to watch so if there were any excuse for me and Mikage to dance it would be here. On top of that, the thought of dancing with her was not a bad one, in fact I rather wanted to try it. Mikage looked at me curiously as I thought to myself and when I was done thinking, I smiled and held out my hand in a gentleman-like fashion. I stood up straight and held out my hand for her and she looked at me rather surprised.

"May I have this dance?" I asked her in as civilized of a tone as I could. Mikage looked at me with more shock and even blushed but she smiled calmly after a bit and held my hand.

"Of course." She told me, somewhat chuckling and we got closer together. I wrapped my arm around her waist and we raised our joined hands on my left hand side. I had to be careful as I had little to no experience with dancing, let alone with someone of Mikage's size. I listened to the music for a bit to study the rhythm and carefully moved my feet to the tune of the music.
I moved very carefully with to the music, making sure not to step on her feet, crash into the other dancers and look like an idiot. Needless to say, the last one was not working out so well. I looked like I was about to explode at any second and I had this stupid grin on my face. Mikage giggled at me and I felt mortified.

"Don't feel like you're dancing with the queen. It's just a friendly dance, you can loosen up a bit." She said sweetly to me. I took a deep breath and sighed, the stupid grin being replaced with a much more casual smile. I slowed down a bit and swayed with her gently. I made sure to not hit anyone while still moving in rhythm with her. Eventually, I started to get the hang of it and I was doing ok. Not nearly as elegantly as the other dancers around us but good enough and we didn't mind.

I stopped paying attention to my footwork and instead kept my eyes on the woman in front of me. I never really noticed how beautiful she was considering I've just ignored her when she was my secretary. These past few days though completely changed my opinion of her. Back then, I probably would never imagine that I would dance with her. But there I was, and I was loving it. As we swayed to the music it felt as though we were the only ones in the room and we had the entire room to ourselves. As I looked at her, I got hypnotized by her glistening golden eyes. They were so warm and inviting, the complete opposite of my cold, violet eyes. She moved a bit closer to me, her eyes slowly shutting. I let go of her hands and wrapped mine around her waist. She placed her hands on my shoulders and rested her head on my chest.

"This is so...wonderful..." Mikage whispered. She looked so at piece leaning against me.

"Of course it is...I'm dancing with someone like you." I whispered back to her. Our eyes came back into contact and our faces began to move closer to each other. My eyes slowly closed as did hers and soon enough.

Our lips connected.

Unlike the night before, This felt a lot more entrancing and less of a shock. I knew what I was doing. I wanted to kiss her and I'm sure she wanted to as well. I put all the passion, all the emotion, all the love I had in me in that kiss, just to let her know how much she meant to me. Undecided about whether I loved her or not, I did not care, I still wanted to let her know.

Eventually we separated but unlike last night we just looked at each other happily and embraced once more. I began to feel so warm then. Not even during the day before did I feel like that. It felt as though my once cold persona was beginning to melt. As cheesy as that sounds, I honestly did felt like that and I did not want to part away from it.

But alas, eventually we saw an opening in the crowd that lead back to the table and we exited whilst separated. We walked back to our table where what appeared to be a very frustrated Aki sat. Her cheek rest against her fist while she looked at us with her annoyed looking eyes. Yusei meanwhile was sitting behind looking at his girlfriend curiously.

"Something wrong Aki?" Mikage asked her. She looked back at the questioner with the same attitude in her eyes.
"I know you two were dancing together in there, but the crowd got in the way so I couldn't watch. shame, it was probably so cute." Aki said sighing. Mikage blushed at her answer while I just looked at her confused.

"A-a-actually Jack and I just...stood there until we could find a way out." The meek woman said, mumbling on some of her words. Aki looked at her as if she did not believe her and to be fair it was not exactly a good excuse. However while at first, Aki looked at Mikage suspiciously, in a short amount of time she grew a smile on her face as if she believed her (or at least I hoped so). She looked as if the problem she brought up never occurred.

"Ok then...By the way guys. I need to ask a favor." We looked at Aki perplexed as well as Yusei.

"Since it's the last night and all, I was wondering if it's possible for me and Yusei to share a room together. Just the two of us and Mikage can sleep in Jack's room?" We just looked at her as if she told us my home exploded. This was even more baffling than the "suggestion" of us dancing. Even Yusei looked at her confused but before he could ask a question, I asked mine.

"Wait? What??!" I asked, dumbfounded. Aki sighed and looked at us with eyes that were a lot more serious.

"Please, it's just one night and you have separate beds remember? Just sleep separately." I looked at her a bit surprised but sighed. She did make a good point.

"Alright then...fine with me. Mikage?" The meek woman nodded nervously as well and while Aki cheered in celebration with Yusei who just looked at the whole situation wondering what just happened. Me and Mikage looked at each other with eyes full of worry. we had barely just danced together and now we were supposed to share a room?

After the dinner and dance, it was time to head to our rooms. Me and Mikage stood outside the door the my room, holding whatever she needed for the night. Before I even opened the door, I watched Yusei and Aki gleefully enter their room. It was going to be easy for them to sleep together considering they were an actual couple, but for me and Mikage it was going to be a lot more difficult.

I opened the door for her and welcomed her in, trying to act natural but you could tell how nervous I was, as you could with Mikage who I noticed was shaking a bit as she walked into the room. I followed very slowly into the still dark room and I noticed she was standing in the middle of the room, staring out the huge window which took up the space where normally a wall would be. I looked at her confused and walked slowly to the side of her. I noticed she had warm smile on her face, she looked as if she completely calmed down compared to just a minute ago. I looked at her shocked and looked out the window for what may of calmed her.

I looked out the window too and...I was just amazed by what I saw. On the previous nights at the hotel whenever I went to my room, all I did was sleep there at night with no other plans, let alone look out the window. But honestly, the view from the window was more beautiful than the night sky from the first night at the resort. A lot of the resort was lit up for the holiday season and the light reflecting on the snow had a rather beautiful effect. I could see some of the patrons at the resort having fun outside, skating and partying which reminded me of when I went skating with Mikage and that made me smile. But the most astonishing thing was once again the night sky, however on this night, I could see more of it than the previous night. I could see all the stars, what I assumed to be galaxies and even the moon was full that night. The moon was so full in fact, it was bright enough to light the room which was still dark. I've got to admit, I understand why it made Mikage smile. It made us forget about the stress we were had earlier...for the most part.

Eventually we moved away from that spot and we got ready for bed, doing the usual routine, it felt like it was going to be a normal night after all. I was actually kind of surprised at how mundane it all was...Until it was actually time to go to bed. As me and Mikage stood in the middle of the room, the awkwardness began to rise again. I scratched the back of my head, trying to think of what to honestly said.

"Well...I guess, goodnight?" I said to her. But then Mikage asked a question that I'd never thought would come up.

"Actually...Jack...I kind of..." She begun to say nervously, her head was tilting down as if she were embarrassed by what she was going to ask.. I looked at her curiously.

"I kind of...want to sleep in the same bed...with you tonight." She said, eyes shut from fear of my reaction. I looked at her shocked, the most shocked during this whole vacation. Where did that come from? Why did that come up? Hell, my face said everything, I did not even need to ask those questions.

"It's just that...for some reason...I don't know why I want to. But I just..." Mikage tried to explain to no avail and with her answer came more questions I had. But what confused me the most was that, the more I thought about the more...the idea seemed attractive. I know it's strange considering how nervous I was with just sleeping in the same room separately and yet I want to sleep in the same bed with her. But now I understood why Mikage was nervous to ask her question, I couldn't explain it either and it was a rather surprising thing to want, especially from two people who weren't dating in the usual sense of the world.

"Oh well then. I suppose you can sleep with me...Wait, no I don't mean in that sense I mean..." I said to her, stumbling on my words making it sound as if I wanted to...never mind. Mikage blushed immensely and really, could you blame her?
Though thankfully she knew what I meant and we climbed into bed. Before I did though, I shut the curtains so that the light didn't come in and shine in our eyes. As I shut the curtain, I looked at Mikage in the bed, she looked so peaceful. and the moon shining on her made her look like what I assumed Snow White looked like when she was asleep as a child.

I smiled as I finished shutting the curtains and I climbed into the bed. I kept a distance from Mikage while in the bed so that she didn't feel uncomfortable sleeping next to me. I must admit, it was also because I was nervous sleeping next to her and I slept facing away from he....or at least I tried to. I had some short bursts of sleep but none for more than a couple minutes. I had no idea why, it was really starting to bug me though. I kept moving around, trying to get comfortable, but it seemed that nothing would help me. I sat up and moved the blanket off of me. I stretched some parts of my body, thinking my back needed to be cracked or something. However that wasn't a problem at all which really pissed me off.

I sighed and looked at Mikage, she had been sleeping so quietly, I wondered if she was doing something that I was not. All I really noticed from her sleeping was that she changed the direction she was facing to me and nothing else. I turned around towards the closed window, I sighed heavily while facing the wall. I thought maybe there was something I needed to think about and it was preventing me from sleeping. I then began to think about what was troubling me and the answer...or rather question popped in my head instantly.

In the morning we were going to leave the hotel and head home and yet I still have not made my decision. Did I love Mikage or not? I had been asking myself this question throughout the whole vacation and I promised myself I'd have an answer by the end of the vacation...so much for that. I knew I had fun with her during the vacation. I really enjoyed our date on the second day, I loved dancing with her and as unexpected as it was, looking back on it, I did like being in the hot springs with her.

While I did love doing all of that, those were just the positive moments and not the long term effects. I'm aware of a lot of the trouble that can go on during dating, the arguments, the fights, everything. I asked myself if I am the type of guy who can take that kind of responsibility? I looked at the curtained window growing more and more frustrated, I began to see some of the possible bad outcomes that could happen between me and Mikage if we dated. I didn't want any of that happening, I wanted her to be happy..

Let's face it, we were meant to be friends...if you could even call us that. I have been so cold to her throughout these years, I know she said I could be a gentleman but surely someone as smart as her had her limits? I thought to myself that something like this was surely a fluke. It was nice while it lasted but it was time to let her go. She deserved someone better than me, I was a petty little jerk...plain and simple. Why should someone like her date someone like that. In the morning I would tell her that it would be better for us not to be together. I sighed and began to turn around to get back into the bed, but I felt something wrapped around me.

When I looked to see what it was, I saw Mikage's gentle arms wrapped around my waist. I was shocked to see her doing something like this, but even more surprising was the warm smile on her face. I thought to myself she's just having a dream and that she probably does not realize she's hugging me. I placed my right hand on hers but before I could move her hand, she interlaced her fingers with mine.

"Jack..." I heard her whisper. My eyes widened, I nearly gasped. Did I really just heart that? She must have known that she was embracing me then. I wondered why she would intentionally want to embrace me. And then...the more I thought about it, the more I realized that when I was with her, she also looked very happy and was enjoying all the moments we had together. Maybe...she would be happy dating me. Though while I may not be enough for her...I told myself I was going to go beyond what I normally am, just for her.

I smiled at her and carefully lied back down, making sure not to separate her arms from my waist. I turned towards her side, my face facing hers. I carefully wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the lips before I finally began to fall asleep. Before I did though I notice the smile on her sleeping face expand and when I saw that, mine did as well. I began to feel comfortable and warm within the arms of Mikage and hopefully she did within mine. The rest of the night, I did not wake up for anything, neither did she. We were so enraptured by the embrace by one another that we dare not ruin the peace.

And here we are now...

"Jack, hurry the train's here!"

"We're coming!" I bellow, turning my head to the right seeing Mikage is standing right by my side. She looks up at me with those beautiful golden eyes.
"You ready?" She asks me. I just nod my head.

We start to walk to the train, it's time to head home. Looking back, this was a wonderful vacation. I went out of my comfort zone and did some things I normally would not do, went to a place I've never been before and got to pelt Yusei with a snowball! But the most striking thing to me was that I somehow managed to find a woman who I possibly love, someone who I can be there for and be there for me. I wish I had done something back this when we were still under the command of Godwin as I would not have wanted to miss out on the possibility of love.

And as I held her hand tight, so tight as so nothing could separate us, I knew that Mikage would not have wanted to either and it seems that love is going to be the outcome for us.

I will be waiting.

Please let me know what to improve on and I'm sorry this took a while, I had finals which delayed some of my stories due to studying. Hope you enjoyed this though and don't worry, Rose Buds will continue soon.