A/N: This is a oneshot writing challenge that MadDogLucario96 gave me. He really likes the Yameiko ship, so it's also a Christmas gift to him ;)

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"The Christmas Dare"
«Yamato/Meiko»

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"What was that?"

"Hold…hold on, little brother," Matt asked TK adjusting the earpiece in his ear to fit properly. "There. Okay, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, big brother."

"Good." Matt ate a mint while buttoning his wrist cuffs to his dress shirt sitting in his car. "What's the name of the company that I'm crashing their Christmas party again?"

"You're gonna blow this before you start, man. Aki & Toshiko Company."

"Right, right." Flipping the driver side visor down, he examined his hair in the mirror. "Remind me when this is over to never bet against you again."

"Never bet on something unless you know you'll win, bro." Matt grunted as TK continued. "It's a huge company. I bet no one will bat an eye. Besides, it'll be good for you to mingle with women again. It's long overdue, Matt."

Matt readjusted the mini microphone hidden in his breast pocket frowning. "I'm only doing this because I lost the bet to you. It's sick that I know you'll find this as some weird entertainment for your own pleasure."

The last thing Matt wanted was another reminder of his breakup. Though it was a little over eight months ago, the pain from re-living it was still there. When he found out his last girlfriend broke it off because she developed feelings for one of his friends, it was too much to process. Until recently, it felt like he was a robot going through the motions of everyday life while his insides ached with pain.

"Stop stalling. Let's go."

Was that a chuckle TK tried to muffle?

"Shut up," Matt grumbled getting out of his car and slamming the door shut harder than what was needed in the hotel parking lot. "In and out, hear me?"

"Nuh-uh," A teasing air flowed from the earpiece. "The deal was, and still is, to make one woman interested in you for a date. Simple. Not too hard for my big brother to pull off."

Matt pushed through the main entrance of the grand hotel with a scowl, ignoring all the Christmas decorations hanging about, and followed the signs to the Christmas work party.

"It is if it isn't sincere. I rather find a meaningful relationship, not a one-night stand."

"I said 'interested' in a date. Anything above that is on you. If your sour attitude is because you're afraid to replace me as number one, don't worry. You'll always be number one to me."

Matt rolled his eyes blushing as he entered the party. He knew his brother was trying to muffle his laughter again. Christmas music blared from speakers and 'ugly Christmas sweaters' invaded every corner of the room. He'd stick out like a sore thumb.

"Change of plans, man," he quickly walked back into the hallway whispering to the hidden microphone. "I'm overdressed. Won't work. Any others here?"

Rapid typing on a keyboard was heard in the background.

"Shoot. Hold on a sec. Uuuhhh…Yeah! The Takihama Shores."

"On it."

Matt casually strolled back to the hotel lobby looking to find a sign to direct him there. There was none. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he contemplated walking back to his car annoyed with the whole situation, yet he didn't want to disappoint TK. The things he'd do for his brother…

As he was asking a hotel worker for the location of the Takihama Shores Christmas work party, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he met a young woman possibly in her early twenties, like he, dressed in a simple black dress.

"Um, ex-excuse me. Takihama Shores? I'm heading there now." She offered her hand. "I'm Meiko."

"Hey! Don't tell her your real name. Pick a random one. Call it paranoia, but it's better to play it safe."

Matt grinned shaking her hand following his brother's advise. "Yamato."

"Really? You couldn't think of a name that didn't mean Matt? Conceited much?"

It took everything in Matt to not slap the microphone hidden in his breast pocket to hurt TK's ears while his brother laughed.

Meiko squinted as if trying to recall if she met Matt at work. "Yamato…Wait, what's your last name? We hired a few interns last week and I think one of them was you."

"Yamato…Takaishi?" Matt nervously chuckled.

"Really? Really, bro? Hold on. I need to record this. This is too much."

Meiko placed a thumb and forefinger on her lips as she tried to recall the intern's name. "Sounds familiar…"

"Sure it does. I bet she's going to pretend to remember you because she's embarrassed she can't. The last thing she'd think is someone crashing the party. Dude, you can't start hitting on her until you're inside the party though, or it won't count. But, I mean, do you, bro. Extra practice before the real deal."

Matt's hands twitched using his last ounce of patience to tolerate TK's teasing. He could swear he could hear someone else in the background laughing with TK.

"Lead the way," Matt smiled hoping to change the subject. "How long you've worked here?"

Meiko blushed heading to the opposite hallway towards the main ballroom. "Long time. I'm hoping for…Um, you know how they're going to announce the promotions tonight?"

"Yeah," Matt followed behind her as they entered the party.

"I'm…I'm hoping I'm one of those that are picked. After three years of hard work and dedication, I hope they've noticed me." She bit her lip lowering her head.

"I'm sure it'll be fine!" Matt offered sincere encouragement. "Thanks for showing me the way. I see my friends," he nodded towards a random cluster of people. "Talk to ya later."

"Them?" Meiko said as a sudden cloud loomed over her face.

"Yeah," he shrugged, walking in the same direction of the group leaving Meiko standing alone.

"That's it? You're not going to put the moves on her?"

"She seems too pure for me to just ditch her. I couldn't do that to someone like her because of a dare," Matt muttered into the microphone.

He grabbed a random alcoholic drink from a passing waiter and sniffed it. Eggnog rum. One of his favorite drinks. Taking a sip, he walked over to two women chatting away and flashed his debonair smile.

"Well, hello there beautiful ladies. I'm one of the new interns, Yamato."

"Hello!" One of them replied eyeing him and liked what she saw. "I'm Kate. Nice to meet you, Yamato," she sipped her drink.

"I'm Sasha," she batted her eyes playing with the stirrer in her drink. "You're cute. How come I haven't seen you? What department do you work in?"

"Does it really matter?" He winked at Sasha. "At this party, tonight, we're all one department."

Kate squealed holding her friend's arm and with excitement took a step forward towards Matt to say in a lowered voice. "Sasha's going to be promoted tonight!"

"Kate!" Sasha pretended to be annoyed by this statement, but fluffed her hair looking around the room for someone and then back to Matt. "Listen, Yamato, if you want to get far in this company as a woman, you have to do things that may not be comfortable at first. But in the long run," she spotted the man she was looking for and her expression turned lustful. "It's totally worth it."

So this company has corrupted higher-ups. Disgusting. Matt shook off the mental pictures and turned to Kate.

"So! Kate, what do you do?"

Kate sipped her drink, a seductive grin growing. "I'm more interested in hearing what you like to do on your days off."

Matt wanted to roll his eyes. Everyone in here was buzzed. Even if he was contemplating using this to look for a potential date, there was no way he'd find one here with alcohol running through everyone's veins. This setting was more for a one-night stand.

He sipped his eggnog rum drink, licked his upper lip for the remnants and replied, "Looks like you'd have to come over to find out."

Kate and Sasha grinned at each other as Kate responded, "I'd love to."

"Atta boy!"

His peripheral vision caught Meiko sitting in a corner alone typing on her phone. It was as if she was the odd one out being the only one sitting down in a mass sea of empty tables. He frowned and a part of him would rather be sitting next to her too if he was forced to go to this party.

"Yamato! This is Bell!" Kate forcefully turned his head to meet her friend, Bell. Her breath stunk of alcohol. "She also wants to know what you do in your free time."

Matt steadied himself from the sudden head spin and sudden intrusion of personal space. He pushed Kate's hands off his face ignoring Kate's complaints. "Hi, Bell! I always have room for one more," and flashed a seductive smile.

"Alright! My brother's game is back!"

Matt released an aggravated growl and responded back to TK not caring what others would think. "I never had 'game'. I did your stupid bet. I'm going home."

"Bet?" Bell said confused.

Matt frowned walking to the exit. His legs weren't getting him out of there as fast as he wanted. The problem was a random worker stopped him.

"Yo, where's the fire? Can't you see they're announcing the promotions?"

"Who cares," Matt muttered.

His peripheral vision caught Meiko again sitting alone as he paused with one foot out the exit. Meiko saying she worked hard for three years to be noticed and promoted, and Sasha implying she slept her way for a promotion; maybe he'd stick around to see if things went Meiko's way.

"Is this seat taken?" Matt stood next to Meiko putting a hand on the back of an empty seat next to her.

"Hold on. I thought you were leaving?"

"Oh!" Meiko jumped and sneezed. Embarrassed by not noticing he was next to her, she quickly turned her phone screen off. "I-I didn't notice-You can sit."

"Is that Meiko? Changed your mind? You sly dog!"

"Thanks."

The announcer continued his message of the meaning of the holidays and how he'd like to show his gratitude. One by one he announced the promotions by each department. At last, he felt Meiko stiffen as they announced what appeared to be her department…and his heart sank.

Sasha, Bell and another worker were promoted. Not Meiko.

Sasha ran next to the announcer, the same man she was searching for before, and landed a loud, sloppy kiss on his cheek. Some of the crowd laughed as others whistled.

All of this proved to be too much for Meiko. Immediately, she stood, the chair scraping the floor, and hurried out of the room. There were long nights she spent at the office racing against deadlines and building higher production numbers than what her department had seen in years, and all of that was overlooked all because of several women who were willing to do certain things than what was required from their normal work duties.

Unsuccessfully holding her tears back, she struggled with putting on her coat in the hotel lobby to the point of throwing it on the floor abandoning it in defeat. Running to the hotel exit, her fingers were within reach until strong hands grabbed hold of her shoulders and yanked her back into the lobby.

"Woah, hold on! It's freezing out there!"

There stood Matt with her jacket concerned. Glancing out a window he spoke softly. "Looks like the snow and winds have picked up. I wouldn't want to stick around either, but going out in this weather is nuts. Especially without your jacket."

"I'm sorry," Meiko muttered wiping her eyes with a wrist. "I'll be fine. The subway station isn't too far off and you should go back to your friends."

"I don't have friends like them," he shook his head. He offered to help her with putting her jacket on by motioning with her jacket. "May I?"

"What?" Meiko sneezed and before she could muster out her decline, Matt was already draping her coat over her shoulders.

"Let's get you some warm tea before heading out," Matt insisted. "I think the tea shop is this way."

"Why?"

"Hmm?" Matt spun around unsure of what to say.

"Why…Why are you doing this? Because you feel sorry for me? Because you think I'm easy?" Tears spilled down her reddened cheeks as she blubbered. "Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not like the rest of them. I only got this job because my father knew someone on the inside and it would help my resume -"

As Meiko continued spilling her thoughts, several people leaving and entering the hotel stared at them while her voice rose. Even a hotel worker was cautiously coming their way.

Matt scowled at all the eyewitnesses and felt he needed to save her from more embarrassment. Before the hotel worker could come any closer, he quickly took her in his arms in a tight hug cutting her off from her rambling.

"That's enough!" He whispered harshly to shake her out of her despair. "Wake up. You're making a scene. Now," he nuzzled his nose closer to her ear, "I'm going to take your hand and we're going to walk to the tea shop without another word."

Meiko's face turned several shades of red as she looked behind her to see people watching in concern. She turned back to Matt horrified, sneezed again, and gratefully joined hands with him silently thanking him for the rescue.

"I'm really sorry," Meiko said lowering her eyes after taking a sip of her hot tea.

They both sat at a table for two near a fireplace to keep warm as the snowstorm picked up. Several others had the same idea as they clustered nearby.

Matt hunched over the table nonchalantly turning his cup on the table. "Stop apologizing. I'd be just as upset. Meiko, if I were you I'd find another job that won't overlook your talents."

"But my father helped me find this job."

"And you can tell him thanks for helping you gain experience as you're looking for a job that will recognize your growth. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Hey, Matt! Are you interested in this Meiko chick?"

Matt nearly spilled his hot tea. TK snickered in the background and again Matt could swear there was someone else listening in. He almost forgot his brother was still there and he had no discreet way of telling TK to buzz off. A twinge of guilt overcame him realizing Meiko didn't know his real name and that he was still pretending he worked for the same company.

"You know you're finished with the dare, right? If you're serious, you should probably tell her your real name before anything else -"

Matt sharply slammed his hand against the hidden microphone causing a sharp shrill to ring in TK's ears. Matt's patience had run dry. Sounds of TK swearing, throwing his headset to the ground and what sounded like Kari's voice surfaced. So he wasn't crazy! He did hear a second voice earlier! This was supposed to be private between him and TK. Bet or not, Matt would make sure payback was imminent.

Meiko jumped, alarmed at his erratic behavior. Matt slowly rubbed an eye mentally telling himself off from his previous reaction and cringing of what a crazy nut he looked like seconds before.

"It was a mosquito," Matt coughed and sipped his drink. "Didn't want it to land in your tea."

Meiko silently glanced to the area where Matt slapped himself then back down to her tea. "A mosquito? During winter?"

"Sure. They can have nests in buildings."

"Yamato," Meiko stared down Matt and challenged him, "mosquitoes hibernate after the temperature drops past a certain degree."

"Really?" He nervously laughed. "Ok, then some kind of bug."

Meiko stammered standing to her feet. "I, um, I-I think it's time I leave."

"What?" Matt stood to his. "No, please don't go."

"Why? We don't know each other."

"Because…"

What could he say? For the first time in eight months, he felt more like a human than a robot. There was something intriguing about her pureness and deep down inside he knew he'd regret it if he'd let her go tonight. Would she understand if he told her the truth, or think he was like one of her coworkers playing the field?

"Because…I want to tell you the truth, and I'm really hoping you'll hear me out instead of turning away."

She lowered her eyes willing to listen. "And what's the truth?"

Matt motioned with a hand for her to take a seat again. After they were both sitting down, he removed the microphone from his breast pocket switching it off and laid it on the table. "My real name is Matt. I lost a bet to my brother and the consequence was to crash a random work party." He took the earpiece from his ear turning it off and laid it down as well. "I was to wear these to verify I went."

It took several seconds, but a shy smile grew on Meiko's lips. "You're a party crasher."

Matt looked towards the outside storm. "I guess so."

"What was the bet about that you lost to?" She tried not to giggle.

Matt leaned back in his chair frowning. The bet was the last thing he wanted to bring up. "You're not upset that I lied?"

She shook her head. "To be honest, it's a little weird to meet a party crasher, but I wouldn't see why I'd be upset."

"Hey, you say that as if I crash parties all the time. First and last time."

"Matt?"

Matt leaned forward cupping his drink. "Yes?"

"What was the bet about?" She grinned with a light blush this time. She wasn't one to push a subject, but there was something about this that told her she'd find funny. "Come on. It couldn't have been that bad."

"Eeh…" Matt grumbled, shifting in his chair, uncomfortable with speaking about the subject. "I, uh, well, my brother and I were bored at home last week. Remember that snowstorm? He ended up spending the night. He bet I couldn't eat six saltine crackers under one minute without anything to drink. And now I'm here."

"Six saltine crackers?" Her face scrunched not believing the story. "Only six?"

"It's harder than what it sounds!" Matt defended himself.

He would have gone on sulking if it wasn't for Meiko laughing at his reaction. If he felt the least bit chilly from this weather, his heart melting to her laughter was enough to keep him warm for the rest of the night.

Slowly, Matt raised a hand and gently rested it on hers, his heart racing by the second. "Meiko, I'm glad I lost that bet, or I wouldn't've met you tonight."

Meiko's eyes widened not expecting to hear this and quickly lowered them blushing.

Matt rubbed a thumb along her hand adding, "You're really beautiful when you laugh. Would you think if I could, that is when this storm clears," he was fumbling on his words not sure how to ask, "I could, well, you know, take you…to dinner sometime?"

She bit her lower lip smiling and slowly placed her free hand on top of his. In a shy manner, she asked, "Why don't we have dinner now?"

"Yeah?" he grinned. "I'd like that."

She smiled feeling brave to look him straight in the eyes again. "Me too."