Title: Christmas Eve
Rating: T
Fandom: Tokyo Xanadu
Relationship: Takahata Shio/Tokisaka Kou
Wordcount: 1325
Short summary: Kou and Shio go out on Christmas Eve.
It was Christmas Eve and Morimiya’s shopping street was bustling despite the cold air. Kou arrived right at 8 PM outside Soba Shop -Gen- and hoped he wouldn’t have to wait too long. He was catching up on the latest message from Ryouta when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
“Yo.” At 2 minutes past 8, Shio exited Soba Shop -Gen- with a grin on his face. “Ready to go?”
Kou smiled back. He was happy that Shio wasn’t even more delayed, considering how busy the restaurant probably was with orders and deliveries. Kou was ready to go except he wanted to do something first. He grabbed Shio’s coat lapel and tugged lightly, bringing Shio’s face close enough for a quick kiss. “Yep, ready now.”
Shio chuckled. They probably had about 2 hours before Shio needed to go back and help the soba shop with cleanup. Also they still had school tomorrow, though it was the last day before winter break.
The first step of their date was to take the train from Morimiya into Tokyo proper. Specifically they wanted to reach Roppongi Hills for the Christmas lights and market. The trains were crowded as this time because of other people who were headed to the same destination. Kou wasn’t particularly fond of crowded trains, but with Shio’s intimidating physical presence, no one really bothered them. Kou slipped his right hand into Shio’s left and leaned against him. It was too loud to talk, though, so the two of them just exchanged smiles and hand squeezes.
About half an hour and two train transfers later, Kou and Shio finally reached Roppongi Hills station. They followed the crowd of people out of the station to the “Christmas Market”. Knowing that Shio wouldn’t be free until 8, Kou had eaten beforehand, but the smell of sausages and fried foods was still tempting. There were a lot of people drinking beer, of course, despite the cold temperatures, but they were enjoying beer with hot sausages or with pretzels. Kou wasn’t hungry but…
“Do you want one to share?” Shio, with his free hand, was pointing at a small stand that was still selling pretzels. It was only then that Kou realized that he and Shio had not stopped holding hands yet. He stepped backwards, his face heating up. Shio let go of his hand.
“Um…yes…” Kou mumbled, looking around at the people and the Christmas decorations. Everyone was too busy doing their own things to care. He shyly slipped his right hand back into Shio’s waiting hand.
After successfully navigated through the crowds to the pretzel stand and purchasing one to share, the two of them decided to skip the rest of the market area shopping stuff, since the shops were closing soon anyway, and head towards the gardens where there would be less noise and beautiful light decorations. While still relatively crowded, the late hour meant the gardens were filled with mostly older folks taking their leisurely time walking through. Kou and Shio had no problem joining their pace. Kou spent half the time looking at the lights and half the time sneaking glances at Shio’s face. Sometimes Shio was looking at the lights and sometimes directly at him. When their gazes met Shio would chuckle and Kou would squeeze Shio’s hand in response.
“Kou.” At some point while walking back through the gardens Shio had tugged Kou aside towards an empty bench. They both sat down. “I got something for you.”
“Me too.” Kou dug into his coat pocket to take out the present he had bought earlier this month. It wasn’t a terribly fancy gift but something that he thought would fit Shio’s style and also be useful. Well, maybe it was just a bit useful and more stylish. Shio’s present for Kou was also something small, at least size-wise. As Kou was unwrapping it, he started to have this familiar feeling and snorted when he finally got it completely out of its wrapping.
“Is it exactly the same?” Shio asked, holding up the watch that Kou had just gifted him. Kou held up the watch that Shio bought him. Not only were the watches of the same brand and size, but they had picked ones of the exact same color.
“Wow.” Kou couldn’t help but laugh loudly. What were the chances that they would buy each other the exact same thing for Christmas? “Well, I guess we’ll match.”
Shio shrugged. “Yeah.” Kou held out his left wrist out so Shio could secure his watch around it. Once that was done, Shio placed a light kiss on the skin just above it, causing Kou to smile widely. Shio then allowed Kou to do the same. Well, the watches did look nice as expected…
“Merry Christmas,” they both said to each other. Then, without words needing to be spoken, they closed the distance between their lips. A few seconds, a few minutes…Kou lost track of time. There was no sense of urgency, just a gentle press, a gentle joining, a shared breath, repeated over and over.
“Should we move on?” Shio asked after they stopped kissing. He didn’t wait for an answer before standing up. Kou shivered; just how cold had it gotten outside? Perhaps he felt cold from sitting down, especially with the breeze picking up a bit.
“Yeah.” Kou stood up and was going to put his left hand into Shio’s right when he realized he should check the time. Just from the quiet around them Kou could tell that the crowds had thinned out quite considerably, now that it was well after 9 PM…wait, close to 10 PM?
“We should probably head back,” Shio said, watching as Kou double-checked that the time on his watch matched that with his Xiphone. Unfortunately the time on his watch was not far off; it was 9:50 PM. It’d be best if Shio got back to the soba shop before 11 PM. Also, Kou was sure Towa would scold him if she found out Kou was out later than that on a school night.
The two of them walked briskly towards Roppongi station. It was much quieter and less crowded on the trains back to Morimiya so they were able to get seats. Kou rested his head against Shio’s shoulder, while Shio put an arm loosely around him. Kou closed his eyes and let his mind blank out except for the feeling of Shio around him.
Once off the train, Kou insisted on accompanying Shio back to the soba shop to send him off. Shio only half-heartedly protested, since it was a detour for Kou, but they both knew it was another way to extend their Christmas Eve date for a few more minutes.
“Thank you for tonight.” Shio stopped a few meters away from the soba shop entrance. There were no customers inside now but the lights were still on. He grabbed both of Kou’s hands. “Sorry I had to cut it short.”
“Thank you!” Kou exclaimed. He was so happy to have those few romantic hours with Shio, all things considered. “It was still great!”
Shio smiled. They didn’t move; neither wanted to part just yet. A sudden increase in the wind forced them into action.
“See you over winter break?” Kou said, shivering.
Shio pulled Kou into a hug, a brief one, before releasing Kou completely. “Yeah. Stop by the shop. I’ll make you some pork cutlet.”
Kou couldn’t leave it just at that, though. It was Christmas Eve and they had forgotten one thing. “I love you.”
Shio grinned. “I love you too.” He kissed Kou quickly on the lips before turning around and heading into the soba shop. Kou watched Shio go before turning around and heading back to his house. It was sad that their Christmas Eve date was now over, but there would be next year and many more Christmas Eves to come. Kou was sure of it.