Disclaimer: I do not own Weiss Kreuz and its characters, except for the sales associate. I think you already know this by now.
Most of the shopping malls were packed with crazy customers at this time of year. The children were anxious to see a non-existent entity named Santa Claus, hoping they would get their desired presents the next morning. Adults were fighting over the last popular items stocked in shelves, and eventually broken up by security guards. All of this and the dwindling of Christmas Spirit made sense to the mind of a leisurely dolled up Manx.
The curvaceous woman waved dismissively as she headed to a clothing shop that caught her interest for sometime. According to a magazine she read a month ago, it had a little more than just clothes, accessories, and dressing rooms. It also had some rare and expensive figurines for sale. Manx thought about what to get for the boys, especially Omi.
"Would he like this one?" she spoke quietly after picking up a bright red sweater from the clothing rack. The brightness of it was blinding her eyes rather quickly. "Ugh maybe not. " She placed it back on the shelf, though her job of folding it was tacky. Her search for Christmas presents continued for a short while, finding a few other clothes her comrades might like. She sighed a little, as she progressively got bored with shopping.
"Hello ma'am," a female sales associate with gold spiky hair smiled at Manx. "Is there anything I can help you with for the holiday season?"
Manx glanced at the young worker and blinked. "Not quite, except that holiday shopping can be a real pain in the ass," she replied sadly. "But…is there any clothing for me that might compliment my hair for a Christmas party I'm planning to attend?"
The young woman examined Manx closely. She had never thought she would be THIS gorgeous. An excitable grin appeared on her face, having some ideas for styles that might work for not only her hair, but her figure as well. "I have plenty of clothes that might fit you very well. They're not just for your lovely red hair either," she later winked. "Since you're the only customer so far, I'll give you an even better discount."
"Thank you," the red-haired woman smiled back slightly as she followed her.
Meanwhile, a vintage black sports car was parked in front of the store. Yohji sighed heavily before stepping out of the car while wearing some winter clothes underneath his beige trench coat. Once he stepped inside, he had a very strange feeling that he wasn't going to be able to flirt with anyone this time, especially when it came to Christmas shopping. It was known as an unfortunate event for him. But he had no choice tonight. He shrugged and looked around to find something for his friends.
After escorting Manx to the dressing room with more than a dozen clothes, the sales associate noticed a handsome young man. She ran up to him and panted. "I'm sorry, sir. I had another customer in the dressing room. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Perhaps," Yohji displayed a charming smirk.
The girl only blinked before shrugging it off. "I know! You're looking for something to wear for a Christmas party, right?"
"You can say that," he winked. "And you're the only person who can help me out?"
"For the time being," the sales associate answered before glancing at the clock. It was getting close to closing the shop for the night. "I don't think tuxedoes would further your reputation as a ladies' man. Some casual clothing will have to do…"
Yohji smiled and laughed at the girl. "It's no problem. I have no intention of dressing up formally." He gazed at her choice of clothes for him to put on. To him, some of the choices were pretty damn odd. "Are you giving those to me? You're too kind," he bowed.
She only raised a brow at Yohji's little flirting. "Just because you're in the holiday spirit doesn't mean I'm going to give you these clothes for free," she smirked as she escorted him to a dressing room. "Let me know if you need any more service."
"Thank you so much."
Once the clerk looked at the time, it was scheduled to close the shop right now. She started cleaning up the floors and windows. Her rush caused her mind to forget about her customers and turning off the lights before locking the doors from the outside.
"Ahh. That was refreshing," Manx whispered to herself. "Not only did I finish the Christmas shopping for the party, but I got some time to shop for myself as well. Time to pay for the stuff." She stepped out of the dressing room, finding no one but herself alone in the shop. "Hello?"
No answer. She dropped her stuff and ran quickly to the door to open it. The doors were locked to her surprise. "What the?!" said Manx, growing a little more frustrated. "Did she lock me inside the store?! Damn it all!"
"Hey what's all the…Manx?" Yohji blinked as he came out of his dressing room. He was surprised to see her here in this type of store. "Well I'll be damned," he later smiled while folding his arms. "What are you doing here? Did you go Christmas shopping to find the others and me a present?"
Manx brushed her hair to the back of her neck, hearing Yohji's familiar voice from a few feet away. The first though she had in mind is how can anyone smile at a time like this! Before she could even turn around, she tried to jerk the door handles hard enough to only make her break a fingernail.
"Crap…Yohji!" she said with a sigh. "Help me try to open this door. We're locked inside, and I was planning on going home to take a nice long bath."
The playboy smirked at the thought of Manx taking a bubble bath. He shook his head and came back to reality quickly. There were more serious matters at hand. He tried to help her get the doors open, but failed miserably. The doors were locked almost too securely and it wasn't worth getting hurt or mess up his outfit to smash the glass. Both individuals gave up and sat on the carpet floor.
"What are you doing at a place like this, Yohji?" Manx asked. "Were you here to do some Christmas shopping too?"
"Sort of," Yohji answered as he scooted a bit closer. "It turned out that I'd forgotten all about it. So I came here to see if I could find some interesting stuff for cheap. I just never thought I would see you here. It's quite surprising actually. You still look lovely as ever."
Manx chuckled softly, glancing at Yohji's sparkling and sleepy eyes with a smile. She didn't care if he decided to sit close to her or not. "Thank you for the compliment."
"No problem. So…are you looking forward to the Christmas party tomorrow? That is if we can get out of this damned store…" Yohji asked Manx.
Manx was silent for a few brief moments. She didn't know what to think. Sure, seeing Yohji was nice, but what if she ended up getting fits that actually don't make her happy? That was another reason why she was feeling so down for Christmas. A short answer came into play to see if Yohji could accept it or not.
"I'm not…" she replied sadly.
"Why not? Birman was telling me how excited you were about it," Yohji said, scratching his head in confusion.
"Yohji, I didn't have the guts to tell anyone that I'm really not in my Christmas mood this year. You're the first I've told anyone that openly. To think that mistletoes will be hanged almost all over the ceilings…"
Yohji patted her back in a comforting manner. If there was only something he could do to help…
"What would you like for Christmas more than anything else this year?"
When Manx was asked what she wanted, she pondered for a moment. It was already there. She hoped Yohji had better not laugh. He might find this wish a little sudden. Most of Kritiker thought of her as a career girl instead of a dating type. Some have even wondered if a man before had ever kissed her. Or worse…men are so intimidated by her that she denied her heart to anyone since then.
"A boyfriend."
Yohji's eyes widened at Manx's answer to his question. He didn't laugh or anything, being surprised was all the facial expression he could show to the redhead. For someone as beautiful as Manx, she should've found someone by now. Then again, he had always flirted with her for a while and was unsuccessful, ever since he joined Weiss. This was finally his opportunity to pour out his true feelings for her.
"Really? That's…quite a difficult wish you're asking for, Manx. But I think there's something you should know," he said blushing lightly.
"What is it?" Manx inquired, keeping her eyes on Yohji.
"How to say this…I know that you've rejected my flirtatious advances before and I understand if you find them to be as fucked up as our past lives. But I have a special present for you this Christmas. I've been in love with you for a long time ever since we've first met. No man could ever love and understand you like I do. If you make me yours, I promise to be the best lover you ever had." Yohji can already sense that kind of look within Manx after he poured his heart out to her. It can't be the look of rejecting him so soon, could it?
Manx blushed deeply at Yohji's loving words toward her. Her heart was beating a little oddly to it. It felt like a schoolgirl's crush was coming true, except she was locked inside the store with someone who had feelings for her. In a way, it also made her feel happy. The hole left in her empty heart was beginning to fill up with completeness.
"I'll be yours," she answered, smiling warmly at Yohji. "Honestly I liked you for a while as well. But you know how I am, work first then fun later?"
"No need to worry about that anymore," Yohji said softly. He leaned closer to Manx, giving her a soft, passionate kiss as he wrapped an arm around her waist. His free hand slowly crept up to place it on her breast before closing his eyes into the striking moment of romance. The sound of Manx's moan rang into the Balinese's ear as he smiled, laying her down on her back before breaking the kiss.
Manx's eyes were closed throughout the kiss before opening them. She noticed Yohji's hand on her breast and smacked him upside the head.
"Ow! What did you do that for?" he pouted.
"There are some things I'm willing to when it comes to love, but it's too goddamned early to go that far into the relationship," she replied. "Let's just take it slow. Okay?"
Yohji nodded and understood her wishes. "Right. The lady's wishes come first before mine."
Manx pulled him down for another sweet kiss. Despite having a stressful time with shopping, it felt like it had been washed away with Yohji being by her side. For the first time in years she had truly felt more alive. Now she had no choice but to make some time to spend with her new lover, that's if they don't have any more missions at this time. But the short make-out session came to a halt as she sat up. She was hearing clinking sounds by the locked doors.
"What's wrong? I was enjoying your lop lock on me," Yohji raised a brow.
"I hope that's the owner of the store unlocking the doors," Manx grumbled, sitting and standing up as she quickly walked to one of the doors. "We've been stuck in here for almost two and a half hours. It was the young sales associate who had helped them with the clothes earlier.
"I'm so sorry!" she said, nearly freaking out to death. "I was such a hurry to get home that I forgot to check the dressing rooms. I'm sure you guys are ready to get back home too?"
"Damn straight," Yohji frowned at the girl. "I suppose we could forgive you just this once since it's almost Christmas."
The young girl smiled and sighed with relief. Because of Yohji's kind forgiveness, she managed to do something nice for her stranded customers. "Since the holiday spirit is still up, how about if you take your choice of clothes home with you? It's all on me."
Manx and Yohji glanced at each other for a moment. They smiled happily and accepted her offer of free brand new clothes.
"This is one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received!" Manx grinned. She was thinking the best one out of all of them was giving her heart to Yohji. Yawning tiredly, she was more than ready to go home. "Let's go home."
"Yeah. Say, young lady, what's your name?" Yohji looked at the younger blonde.
"Akira," she answered. "Again I'm very sorry for the trouble. But now I have to get back home before the food burns in the oven." She smiled, letting Yohji and Manx out of the store before locking up again and rushing back to her home.
"Let's go back home in my car," Yohji smiled, wrapping an arm around Manx's delicate shoulder. "I'll make us some hot chocolate."
"I would like that," she said blushing once again as she got inside Yohji's car. "Nice car."
"Thanks," the man chuckled as he drove off with his new girlfriend.
Their time together being stranded on the midnight hours of Christmas didn't turn out to be so bad after all. The power to believe in the holiday spirit gave them something to think about for memories to come.
That's it, everyone. I hope you liked the Weiss Kreuz Christmas story well. Please be nice to me, because this is my first Weiss Kreuz fic ever.
