Yukiro

"Yukiro?"

The boy froze mid-stride, his breath catching a bit as his mouth hung slightly agape. He knew that voice immediately upon hearing it. How did she find him all the way out here? It wasn't like she was the kind of person to randomly wander out to misty forests in the middle of the night. 

But, then again, he hadn't seen her in a very long time. 

Yukiro's mind seemed to race, yet he was unable to grasp onto any thoughts. After what seemed to him like a small eternity, the boy turned to look over his shoulder. He was right. Cordelia was there, looking at him. Should he run? He wanted desperately to get away. His legs were already poised to start running, but they weren't moving. He didn't know what to do. 

Finally, Yukiro closed his mouth, using both hands to pull the black cloak over his slumped shoulders. He turned to face Cordelia completely. He opened his mouth to say something, to apologize, but nothing came out. He just stood there, quietly looking down at the ground until the words managed to tumble out of his course throat.

"...It's me."

Yukiro's boots made soft noises as they brushed against the grass of floor 22. Everything felt quiet and still around him; but then again, he chose the middle of the night for that reason. He glanced up at the clock in the borders of his vision. 

11:47 PM

Good. Nobody would be out at this time of night. Anybody who would want to check his location would be fast asleep by now. That assured Yukiro that he'd be alone. It was guilting to be avoiding the people who had messaged him for the month he'd been locked away; Cordelia, in particular, had been adamant in sending multiple messages every day. He'd have to respond to them eventually. 

He wasn't just here for no reason though. He'd gotten one message in particular from a certain info broker. 

Quote

To: Yukiro
If you need a reason to live, find the Forest of Memories on Floor 22. 
From: Fleur

At first he'd ignored it. But, as time passed, he'd decided that he should go see what she'd meant. He'd quietly slipped out from his shop and went to the 22 floor, which was far above his level. Finally, after just under an hour of walking, thick fog started to seep from the forest. ahead of him. Yukiro tightened his cloak around his shoulders and started into the mist. 

@Cordelia

When NIGHT asked Yukiro and Tala when they were getting married, Yukiro felt Tala's hand tighten around his and he could swear he heard Koga's neck bones creak as the man turned his head. Yukiro's mind was torn. While Yuki didn't want to lie... 
"Well, ah..." 
At the same time, both Koga and Tala were discouraging him from answering...
"You see, um..." 
Still, he really wanted to tell everyone. 
"We're kinda..." 
He looked Tala in the eye, silently asking if it was a good idea to tell everyone. 

Fortunately, that was when Father Wuotan came in. Yukiro decided that was the perfect moment to focus on something else. 

"Give something back?" He would have asked Koga and Tala about this, but he was trying to avoid the question they were asking. So he looked around at the rest of the group.
Ah, was he going to have to say something first? Right, that was how this worked today for some inexplicable reason. 
"We can ask for anything, right? Can I ask for some kind of amazing light armor?" Yuki was bad at asking for things, so this was the best he could do. 

While everyone else was looking at Wuotan, Yuki leaned close to Tala. 
"Should we tell them now or later?" 

@Tala

Yukiro could hear Koga shouting for him all the way where he was. He couldn't believe it! He was already late for something so important! How on earth did Yukiro manage this, you ask? 

A few hours earlier...

Yukiro woke up to Yumi climbing onto his head. Wow, he was tired. The bachelor party must've gone way later than he'd thought it had... 
At that moment Yukiro's eyes found the time. Koga had asked for him to be there early, and it was nearly half an hour after when he was supposed to show up. 
Leaping to his feet Yukiro threw on his gear and dashed for the teleport platform at top speed. He nearly stampeded some poor bystanders, players and NPCs alike, in his mad dash. 

After a long, long run to the teleport platform and then from floor 17's teleport platform to where Koga said the wedding would be. Breathing hard and sweating slightly he came to a stop by Koga. Yukiro was wearing his usual gear, albeit slightly beat up, and his hair looked like a tornado had hit him. But he was there! 
"Sorry... Slept in... I'm here... Hah, what do you need?"

@Tala

Sorry I've been gone for so long. I had surgery and so It's been a while since being on here. I'll do my best to catch up; if I need to reply to something, just tell me what it is so I can do it

And hi everyone who I haven't seen in a while!

Yukiro was wandering around on floor five, drinking one of his many, many dragon fruit smoothies when a ding signaled the messages arrival. 
He stopped to flip it open and scan it's contents. 
Oh, it's Cordelia. And she wants to duel, huh? 
... 
Is it just me who notices that nobody ever seems to specify where they are on whichever floor they mention? They always say 'come to floor one', but then never mention where on floor one they are. Floor one is huge. How am I supposed to find you on floor one?
...Yet somehow I always do find those people. 
Weird. 
 

Yukiro finished his smoothie (he's not a savage) and jogged over to the teleport platform. Once he'd teleported down to the Town of Beginnings, he looked around. Alas, it seemed that the magical force that made him run into those that messaged him almost immediately was not functioning today. He sent another message. 

Quote

To: Cordelia
Where are you going to meet me? 

With that sent he began to jog down the road. Might as well get a head start on inevitably running into her within the next five minutes. 

Yukiro shifted to he was sitting on the ground. Tala was wet and shivering.
"I-i'm fr-freezing..." she stuttered out. 
Yukiro blinked at her. She was curled up in a ball and shivering. The sight made Yukiro feel incredibly guilty. 
"I'm so sorry," he said quietly, shifting her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm, "I didn't mean to do that, I'm sorry." 
An idea struck Yukiro. He quickly unwrapped the blanket from his own body and curled the fabric around Tala. 
"No arguing! You're cold and I'm making you warm!" 
For another long moment, he just held onto her, trying to warm her up, and refusing to let her escape until she had stopped shivering. And he kept holding on for a while after she stopped. 
Once he was sure she was warmer he picked her up again, this time being very careful not to slip anywhere. 
"Here, let's go get you warmed up." 

@Tala

The Monkey King's massive hand slapped him away from it's throat. Yukiro went plummeting to the ground, landing hard on his back. A loud BOOM! could be heard from the landing. Yukiro rolled backwards, his sword slamming into the ground to stop his backward slide. Without any hesitation he was dashing forward again. He weaved around the giant fist that pounded the ground, cracking the disk that everyone was standing on. Yukiro ran to the very edge of the crumbling arena and leaped off the edge. He rocketed forward like a bullet, his sword slamming into the monster's gut. 
"..!"
The core of the monster was like brick. His sword only pierced halfway into it's gut. A hand grasped Yukiro and, with him in it's fist, pounded him against the ground. The ground bean to crack more. Suddenly, Yukiro's sword flashed through the fingers of the Monkey King's fist, bursting out of the prison. His body was cover in an excessive amount of red gashes. His right arm was still missing. His right eye was gone too. 
Yukiro fell to his knees for a moment. His injuries were finally catching up to him. 
You were made to be the perfect soldier. 
He thrust his sword into the ground and pulled himself to his feet. 
For you, to fail to win is to fail at life. 
Yukiro took a deep breath and turned to face the now one-handed, one-eyed Monkey King. 
And to win is to protect everyone. 

Only one more exchange of blows was made. Yukiro, or the blank minded version of him, managed to reduce the boss' health to zero and retain his own; though one had to look very closely to see the sliver of red that was left. 

Yukiro collapsed. 

@Tala

"Falling into you was a good thing, but Yuki, you don't need to carry me, especially when you are this cold," Tala said. But Yukiro noticed that she made no moves to get out of his arms. With a slight smile he started forward. 

"What sounds good food wise to you Yuki? Since I'm the reason your cold, and don't try to say that you aren't because I know better, snow sucks. I want you to choose." Tala smiled up at Yukiro. 
"Alright, I'll choose. Hmm... how about ramen? We never did go that one time. Actually," he stopped, looking around, "Is there anywhere to go fr ramen around here?" 
After a moment of looking he decided that, if there was, it wasn't in the immediate area. "I guess we'll have to look around. Wanna check out the festival while we're here? I mean... we are here." 

Naturally, this was then moment that his Nerve Gear decided that he needed to trip. And not just anywhere. He needed to trip right into a snow bank. Yukiro's body suddenly started to fall forward. In a display of incredible acrobatics he fell flat on his face, directly into a soft pile of frozen, snowy powder. Naturally, this meant that Tala was slam dunked into the snow right along with him. 
"Eyagh--!" 
It took a moment for the chill of the snow to overtake the pain of his face slamming into the icy ground, but once it did Yukiro flipped over onto his back, Tala still in his arms. 
"Aah! I'm sorry, are you okay!?" 

@Tala

"Yeah I'm doing pretty good actually," Lonzo said, "By the by, your two desserts are waiting for you to pick one, or do you want me to give them away huh?"

"Oh, right," Yukiro laughed a bit, "I'll be sure to come by and get one. Maybe two, if I feel particularly hungry." 

"It's kind of nice being with all of you at once. Usually, I barely get lucky enough to see one of you with your busy lives. Oh, nice to meet you Tala. I didn't know Koga had such a charming sister. You know I can't tell you two are related at all. You're a lot nicer on the eyes than he is."

Yukiro's eye's dipped from a bright red to a nearly black shade. His arm instinctively wrapped around Tala and pulled her close to him. 
"Yes, she is stunning," he said not-so-passively, "Her radiance is brighter than the sun." He smiled at Lonzo, but something about his aura was icy cold. "I'm really a lucky guy, aren't I?" 

Any further passive-aggressive hints were interrupted by Koga suddenly chocking. Yukiro stopped complimenting Tala long enough to worry about Koga. Fortunatly, the man was able to recover without any intervention. 

Soon, Noctua and Koga told the group what the gathering was about!

"Anyway.. the reason we asked you all to be here is...." 
"We're getting married, guys!" 

Yukiro's jaw dropped. 
"Really!?" he asked, nearly jumping to his feet, "Congratulations!" 
Uhm, Tala? Do we let them have their moment, or..?

@Tala

Yukiro and Tala walked back into the festival. They'd just come from a big party of sorts; and they were... wow he can't even think it. 
Was Cardinal finally looking out for him? 
"Hey, Yu-ki-ro!" 
Yukiro nearly froze at that voice. 
No. I should have known. She always appears when I'm starting to relax. This... was my penalty for letting my guard down. 
Cordelia's arm suddenly slung around his neck. "Where have you been?" she asked, her arm sliding off his neck. Before Yukiro could escape her hands grabbed his shoulders and held him at arm's length. "I haven't seen you since you became a living Frosty!" 
Yukiro smiled and nodded. "Hey Cordelia, it's been a while. I'm doing pretty good, how about you?" 
As he spoke Yukiro glanced around for Tala. Dang it, she would not like this position, not at all. But it would be rude to push his way out of it... Argh, why was this already so complicated!? 
"Hey, so, whatcha doing here? I don't really know what there is to do yet," he said, trying to keep the conversation going. 

@Tala @Cordelia

"H-hey bu-!" Tala started, but cut herself off. Good thing Yukiro said no buts. 
She seemed to hesitate a lot. But before Yukiro could think of what to say she stood up and picked up her bowl. 
"Come on, might as well just head over now. Perhaps then we can finish out ramen and escape."
Yukiro nodded and stood up, still slurping up noodles. They were really good noodles. Once they found the other couple Tala went to sit down next to her brother.
"Hey big brother," Tala said as she gave him an awkward hug. Yukiro sat down on her other side and leaned way forward to see Noctua. 
"Hey Noctua," he called. Hopefully she wasn't still mad at him. 
"Howit, Yuki? Taking care of my little sister? Speaking of...you okay, Tala? You seem...tense." 
Yukiro nodded. "I'm doing alright. Glad to have... arms," he told Koga, "As much as she'll let me." 
He subtly put his hand where she could take it, just in case she needed the support. 

Eventually, others started to join the group. NIGHT entered the shop with a sullen air rolling off of her.
"Hey NIGHT, you uh...you okay?" 
"Yeah, are you alright?" Yukiro asked right after Koga. 

"Well, looks like the gang's all here-"
"Hey there. How is everyone?" Lonzo asked as he entered the shop, "This place is a bit empty because it's just out of the way of the festival....Kinda nice to have the place to ourselves." 
"Hey Lonzo. I'm good." 
"Oh hey Lonzo. Glad to hear you managed to finish that quest without us. Sorry about that, again." 
Yukiro hadn't seen Lonzo in... wow, it had been a long while. "Hey Lonzo. Nice to see you still alive." 

@Tala

"You do you, Yuki. I'll back you up. Noct, use your First Aid and top off Tala and then try to keep me and Yuki up for as long as possible. Tala, sorry but I need to be our spotter here. Don't let King Kong over there, or anything else for that matter, get the drop on us." Koga started spewing orders that amounted to something along the lines of 'I'll follow your lead.' 

"Good enough for me," Yukiro agreed.
Yukiro dashed forward, slicing at an arm that supported the boss' weight. He did his best to draw it's attention, shouting whenever it looked away from him. Koga landed an off sided nick against the monkey king. 
Just keep up this pattern and we can get out of this..! 

"Koga, look out! Above you!" 
The miraculous progress came to a sickening halt as Koga was violently thrown across the ground. Yukiro could hear the CRACK of his body hitting the ground multiple times. Noctua screamed. Yukiro didn't turn to see him. Because he couldn't afford to. 
The Monkey King's fists were now moving in rapid punches. They didn't hit the ground; Yukiro was only able to dodge and use his sword to push himself off of the boss' fists. Spinning and twisting he sprung from place to place, side to side, weaving around to avoid the fatal fists. 
Tch! No choice! 
"Noctua!" he cried,  "I need some help!" 
No response. 
Gah! Guess I'm on my own--!
A fist slammed directly into Yukiro's side. Insane pressure felt like it was ready to crush him. 
And then it was gone. 

Yukiro's body spun, his sword's blade tearing into the giant Monkey's arm as he twisted away from the pressure. Almost as quickly as it started Yukiro's body stopped twirling and shot off the ground, heading straight towards the boss' head at incredible speed. 

Kreeeeeeeeesh!!

The boss roared and grabbed at Yukiro, but missed him. Yukiro collided with the Monkey King's face, plunging his sword into the thing's eye and slashing it back out. Sun Wukong bellowed much louder than before and clawed at it's own face, trying to get the pest off of it, but Yukiro had already kicked off and fell to the platform with surprising form. By the time the man landed, however, the ape was unleashing a new kind of rage, it's fist pounding the ground with lightning quickness. Yukiro seemed to dodge the punches like it was nothing at all-- his blade tore new cuts and gashed with every flicking motion of either fighter. 

The battle raged on for a few minutes before Noctua suddenly leaped into the fight, thrusting at the Monkey King. Yukiro happened to skid to a stop near where she landed. 

"Kill the... or I..." The words passed right by Yukiro; his eyes now a dull grey color. A wide grin covered his face; in fact, he looked absolutely exhilarated. And he took off without even noticing the girl's words. 

Like a black comet he rocketed toward the next incoming fist. With seemingly no preparation he met the fist with his sword, body erupting into a wild spin to avoid the damage. His sword plunged into the beast's arm again and again at rapid speed until it finally stuck. With a massive heave Yukiro vaulted up and onto the monster's arm. His other arm moved to-- 

Wait, his right arm wasn't doing anything? A quick glance revealed that his entire right arm was gone-- and his right eye wasn't working. But his body turned and dashed up the beast's arm regardless. His sword dragged along the monster's arm, leaving a massive red line that lead all the way up to the monster's shoulder. As he reached the shoulder the boss' hand came swatting down at him. Yukiro pushed off and sliced through a break in it's fingers, using the back of the hand to propel himself right at the monster's throat. 

@Tala

Quote

To: NIGHT, Lonzo, Yukiro, Tala
Hey guys, I wanna tell you all something if you wouldn't mind meeting me at the ramen booth on the eleventh floor. It's just outside of the festival, so we won't have to yell over others while talking.
From: Notcua

Yukiro looked over the words of the message again, noodles still hanging out of his mouth. 
He quickly slurped down the ramen and looked over at Tala. 

"Hey, um, we're just outside of town, right?" he asked, still hunched over his bowl. It was hard to eat at a table when you were super tall. He flicked his hand, letting the message rotate across the table for Tala to see. "You don't think they mean..?"

A quick glance across the ramen shop revealed that Noctua had, in fact, meant the very ramen booth he and Tala were in at that very moment. Yukiro lowered his head a little. He wasn't sure if Tala was ready to share their time with others. On one hand, this was Koga and Noctua. On the other hand, it was Koga and Noctua. 

Yukiro glanced at his food then up at his new fiancee. "I'll let you choose when you wanna go over there. I chose where we ate, so no buts," he said, finishing by putting more ramen in his mouth. It was going to be her choice this time, whether she wanted it to be or not. 

@Tala

Tala laughed and took Yukiro's arm.
"I don't know about you, but sitting and eating some nice warm food sounds good."
Yukiro was about to attempt a reply when Tala suddenly fell forward, right into Yukiro. Yukiro's arms automatically moved to catch her, steadying her as much as he could. 
"Sorry..." 
Yukiro gently held her to make sure she wouldn't fall. "N-no, no, it's okay," he reassured her, "I'm just glad you fell into me instead of anywhere else. In fact, here..." 
Yukiro bent down and gently scooped Tala up in his arms, holding her close to his chest. 
"That should help," he said with a grin, trying not to show how chilled he was. The makeshift cloak was open wide so that he could carry Tala like this. He moved her a little closer; she was warm. 

Yukiro started off towards where he assumed they could get food. He made sure to keep Tala close, both for warmth and because he simply wanted to be close to her. 

@Tala

Tala leaned into Yukiro, letting go of his hand and hugging him tightly. Yukiro didn't hesitate to hug her back this time. 
"I missed you Yukiro, I really did," she whispered. 
Yukiro pulled her a little closer. "I missed you too," he whispered back. 
For a long while he just held her, enjoying the moment while it would last. 
Finally, when a particularly cold breeze blew by, Yukiro let his arms return to the warmth of the cloak/blanket. A big smile found it's place on Yukiro's face. 
Wait, did this mean... Were they... 
Are we d-dating? 
If his face wasn't already bright red, it certainly was now. 
Then, it's okay to... right? 
Yukiro gave Tala another quick kiss before adverting his eyes once again. 
"S-so, um... what now?" he asked, stuttering, "Shall we, um..?" 
He offered his arm to her, trying not to blush. Failing to not blush. But not even trying to conceal his elation. This... was turning out to be a very, very good day. 

@Tala

Yukiro was unprepared for the sudden kiss. Again. Was Tala doing this just to fluster him? 
Well, whether it was intended to fluster him or not, it did. 
He froze the instant it happened. The sudden kiss had caught Yukiro off guard. For a moment he just stood there. Then his face started to burn red and he looked at Tala, his eyes wide. 
"...!" 
Fortunately, he didn't react as badly as he had the first time.
His mind refused to let him say anything for a few moments. Then it started to act on it's own. 
He quickly leaned forward and kissed Tala on her lips. Only for a moment; he quickly pulled away and looked away. 
aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! WHAT DID I JUST DO!? 
His mind suddenly exploded. Every moment of the kiss replayed in his mind over and over again. 
No no no no no! Wha-- Where did that even come from!? 
Yukiro was unable to utter a single word; he wasn't even capable of looking at Tala! He stared at his feet, beet red, internally scolding himself with all of his might. 

@Tala

Tala took Yukiro's hand and stood up. "Of course I will silly." she smiled. Yukiro smiled back as she began to look around.
"Since you're the one freezing, where do you want to start?" 
Yukiro fashioned the blanket into a makeshift cloak to wear, hanging off of his shoulders and wrapping around his whole body. Once he was satisfied with the 'cloak' Yukiro gently took Tala's hand. 
"Hold on to me so I don't lose you in the crowd, okay?" he said, a little redder than before. 
and looked around. 
"I don't know... How about... Have you eaten yet? We could get some food. Or we could... Do something?" 
Wanting to face palm at his own suggestion, Yukiro resisted the urge to do so and gently pulled Tala toward the many booths. 
"What about you, do you have any ideas?" he asked, looking around at the various things to do, "I don't know what they have to do here." Yukiro looked down at Tala with a slight smile. 

@Tala

"'Cause why Yukiro?" 
Yukiro pulled Tala's blanket a little closer around him. And evaded the question to the best of his abilities. 

"Okay, I'll try," Tala replied. Yukiro let out the breath he was holding. It wasn't the answer he was hoping for, but it would do. Sitting up he snuggled a little tighter in Tala's blanket. 
"Thank you," he whispered. 
A moment of silence passed. Yukiro's mind wandered to his relationship with Tala. No, wait, that had been a lie. Of course... 
Well if it was a lie... 
Yukiro decided to break the silence.  
"Alright, I've decided," he said, standing up and offering a hand to Tala through the blanket. His face was still a little hot, but he ignored it to the best of his abilities."If you were just faking it before, then I'm gonna make something real. Come on, let's go enjoy a festival!" he said, giving Tala the biggest, warmest smile he could manage, "If you'll have me, of course." 

@Tala

Yukiro has no idea how he'll use these, but accepts them gratefully regardless. 

"How are you not cold Yukiro?!" Tala shouted instantly. Yukiro looked at her, a little surprised, but smiled. He wasn't sure why he smiled. He just did. 
"I'm cold," he said simply. 
"I would love the company, but only if you think I deserve it," Tala paused, but only for a moment, "Yukiro, I'm...I'm so sorry." 
Yukiro hesitated for a moment before sitting on the bench next to her. He looked at the ground and shivered for a moment while he thought of something to say. 
"It's okay," he said quietly, glancing up and barely smiling at Tala, "But, um, please don't scare me like that again. I really thought you were gonna..." 
Yukiro's hand lightly took Tala's. 
"...I don't want to lose you, okay? 'Cause--" 
Yukiro quickly took his hand off of Tala's and looked back at the snow-covered ground. He could feel it, he was blushing again. And this time, he didn't even know why. 
"...Anyway, I forgave you, so no more feeling bad, okay?" 

@Tala

Yukiro had only just taken off when he heard a loud, ominous cracking noise. He looked down to see a crack racing across the ground. 
"Grab onto something guys!" Koga shouted.
Yukiro thrust his sword into the ground and vaulted over it, dragging himself to a stop and launching back toward Tala. 
"Yeah," he shouted back as he sped over to where Tala was. The ground began to crumble and fall away. Yukiro sped up for a moment, skidding to a stop next to Tala. His sword whipped into his sheath as he once again lifted Tala in his arms and shot off toward solid ground like a torpedo. 
"Sorry, no time to ask." 
Yukiro didn't stop until they were well into the area that the earth wasn't crumbling. He set Tala on her feet and stepped away from her, glancing around at what had happened. The group was left standing on a platform that had been separated from the rest of the floor's ground. 
Crap. Running's not an option anymore, he observed. 
Noctua kicked something toward Yukiro, who stopped it with his sword.
"Might want to get that to her. She's going to need it. Looks like we are killing a monkey." 
Yukiro glanced at the katana and sighed. 
"I hate to admit it, but it looks like I won't be able to keep you out of harms way," he told Tala. 
But then an idea came to him. 
He picked up the sword and handed it to the girl. 
"Don't follow me. This won't end well." 
Leaving Tala behind him Yukiro jogged to stand next to Koga. 
"I assume it's safe to say I'm the strongest one here," he said, taking as commanding of a tone as he could manage, "So I'm gonna take it's attention as much as possible. Only attack if you're sure you won't be targeted, and only if you can do it from the sides. Please." 

@Tala

Quote

Dear Yukiro,

I don't know if you have heard of the Christmas time event, but if you would be willing to talk to me I am on the 11th floor. Be warned, there is snow falling right now, so it might be a bit cold.

From, Tala

Yukiro, fortunately, was able to warm up through the hot cocoa he'd purchased. It was some very hot cocoa. 
He put the warm drink into his inventory and focused on the message. Tala was up here too, huh? A small part of Yukiro wanted to smile, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do so. He scanned the message again. 
"Tala... You forgot to mention where you are on the 11th floor," he muttered. Ah, well. It didn't take a genius to figure out how to find her. 

Yukiro paused. His legs suddenly didn't want to bring him closer to the bench Tala was sitting on. He just looked at her for a moment. Then, with a deep breath, he approached her. 
The snow crushed underneath Yukiro's feet as he came to a stop in front of Tala. He wasn't quite sure what to say. 
But once he saw Tala, words just started to flow out of his mouth. 
"Excuse me, miss, are you alone tonight? If you wouldn't mind, may I accompany you?" 

@Tala

Yukiro wandered to the 11th floor by chance, mostly out of a need to go do something different. But upon actually arriving at the unfamiliar place, Yukiro was surprised to see snow! He didn't know much about this floor, but he did know that it wasn't supposed to be a winter and snow place. He hadn't even brought a jacket this time! 
He wandered into what looked like a big event of some sort. 
Wait, what was the date?
...Ah, it was a big event. Yukiro had been so preoccupied with everything that had been happening that December had completely blown by him without his realizing it. 
Making his way over to a stand that was apparently giving out a hot drink of some kind, Yukiro gratefully accepted some hot cocoa. 
"Th-Thank y-you," he stuttered, holding the drink to help warm him up. 
He began to shuffle away, glancing around for some place to keep warm at, when a message dinged. Yukiro glanced at it and was shocked to see the name of the sender. 
Yukiro started to shuffle in a different direction. 

"It's probably healed up right? Not like the real world where it takes months. Wanna give walking a go?" Koga asked Nocua, who promptly hid her face behind Koga's shoulder. Once she was ready, Yukiro watched Noctua slowly get back on the ground and try walking. 
"Yeah, I should be good. I can move it so walking shouldn't be horrible."
She took a few cautious steps. As far as Yukiro could see, she was doing better now. Not completely better, but better. 
"We are good." 
Yukiro nodded. 
"I mean, if you say so. I didn't know healing would be this quick though. I should keep that in mind for the future. Ah, our food--!" 
NIGHT suddenly took off towards the teleporter. Yukiro hurried (as much as he could while slowing for the injured Noctua) to catch up with her. Once everyone was on the platform, they were whisked away to the Town of Beginnings. 
NIGHT sped away again. It was all Yukiro could to to stay where he could both see NIGHT leading the way and be seen by Koga and Noctua. It was a struggle, but eventually he arrived at the place NIGHT was leading the group. He glanced back at Koga and Noctua to see where they were at. 

@Koga