Title: (Not) More Trouble Than It's Worth
Rating: G
Word Count: 1838
Pairing: Tezuka/Miyuki
Summary: Tezuka finds that Christmas shopping for a girl is far harder than it should be.
Authors Notes: I'll admit, I kinda pulled this out of my bum, and am only really posting it because of the extreme lack of stuff for this pairing out there. I have other plotbunnies for this pairing I'm working out, and hopefully those will be better, because this one really leaves me unsatisfied with the result.
Christmas shopping, Tezuka thought as he stared blankly at the jewelry counter, is far more trouble than it is worth. It's most unfortunate that he's compelled to actually do it this year.
Normally he wouldn't bother with it. After all, he's not Christian. And this is Japan- so it wasn't as if Christmas was anything more than a glorified date night. Sure, sometimes friends and families might use it as an excuse to give a few gifts, but the fact remained that Christmas was mainly a holiday for lovers in the land of the rising sun. And it was there that his problem lay.
After twenty-two years of life Tezuka Kunimitsu was facing his first Christmas with an actual girlfriend. Well, he was assuming that she was his girlfriend after that kiss last month, at least.
...Okay. So there was really no guarantee that they actually were dating. So it was all the more important that he buy her a good gift in order to solidify their relationship. And he had to do it soon- it was Christmas Eve and he knew that Miyuki would be in town to visit him the following day.
But first he had to figure out exactly what kind of gift was suitable for the seventeen year old girl he was potentially involved with. And avoid running into anyone that he might know while doing so. The last thing he wanted was a rumor that he was seeing someone floating around- even if it was quite possibly true.
"Shopping for jewelry, Tezuka? Ii data."
Sometimes Tezuka could swear that the universe hated him. He knew what would happen now. Inui would call everyone that he knew even vaguely to inform them that Tezuka was looking for an engagement ring or something equally ludacris. And it was highly doubtful that anything he said would alter whatever conclusions Inui had already drawn.
Still, he had to try.
"I'm just passing through." Tezuka replied, with all the stony-faced authority that he could muster. Inui didn't seem to be falling for it.
"You have been staring at the jewelry counters for six point seven minutes. The likelihood that you are looking for a gift for someone is seventy-three percent."
Tezuka drew his face into a frown and attempted to stare down his former teammate. The data master appeared to be here to do some shopping of his own, judging from the pieces of cloth- bandannas?- he was holding. Well, at least he could take comfort in the fact Inui wasn't here just to pry in his personal life.
"I assure you. I'm just passing through." Tezuka replied, starting to walk towards the escalator. It was a big city- he would just continue his shopping for Miyuki's gift elsewhere, away from Inui.
---
Two hours later and the shopping trip hadn't improved much. Sure, nobody seemed to be trailing him on his shopping trip- a real concern as far as Inui was concerned- but he still wasn't certain exactly what kind of gift he should be buying. Especially seeing as he wasn't positive there was a relationship going on.
His original idea had been jewelry of some sort, but now that he thought about it, that seemed too intimate. And far too showy if he was just misreading things and there wasn't a relationship. Plus, Miyuki didn't really seem to wear jewelry all that often anyway. In fact, he really couldn't remember ever seeing her wear more than an occasional necklace. Usually she was in sports wear when she dropped by to see him, waving her racket and demanding that he come play some tennis with her. The few times he'd seen her in everyday clothes she was still dressed rather casually. He couldn't even be sure what size ring she wore or if her ears were pierced.
That pretty much ruined the jewelry idea.
Clothes then? Well, he really wasn't positive what kinds of clothes Miyuki would like, though he could guess well enough on the size. He had seen a few tops that he couldn't help but think would look pretty on Miyuki, but he didn't really want to risk buying her something she didn't like. That would put him on the same level as his aunt that always insisted on giving him those hideous sweaters for his birthday.
Toiletries were a flop too- he'd almost passed out from the fumes when he entered the perfume section and it wasn't like he knew anything about makeup, other than the fact that Miyuki always seemed to wear that reddish lipstick and that it looked good on her. Plus he wouldn't want to imply that Miyuki wasn't pretty- that wasn't the case at all. She was beautiful- hence his being unable to keep from kissing back last month.
So what could he get her? He really wasn't all that sure what she wanted. From what he knew about about her he could deduce that she enjoyed tennis and spending time with him, and not that much else. Well, he could also deduce that she liked girl things, but that really didn't help him much. Girls were nearly impossible to really understand.
He could only think of one person to ask for help, and he already knew that he was going to regret it.
---
"You're not sleeping with my sister, right?"
Tezuka nearly hung up the phone in response to that question, but he still hadn't pulled the answers he wanted out of Chitose Senri, and so he was left with little chance but to stay on the line and answer the boy's question.
"Of course not. She's only seventeen." Tezuka replies, trying not to dwell on the fact that he doubted the age difference would bother his possible girlfriend very much. Though they still had a ways to go before they could even consider any activities like that. It would be careless to do things like that too early in their relationship.
The relationship that might not even really happen if he couldn't find a good gift for the girl.
"Well, since you swear you're not having sex with her I guess I could help you out some..." Chitose mused. Tezuka's stony expression just grew harder, although there was no way for the other boy to see him over the phone. "Clothes maybe? Or some girly soap or something?"
"I'd thought of those things already. I was just wondering if there was anything in particular that Miyuki-san particularly wanted." Tezuka replied, mentally cursing how pointless this telephone call was turning out to be.
"I think you're stressing too much over this, man. As long as it's from you I'm sure Mi-chan will like it." Senri replied, before letting out a thoughtful sound and adding something to the end of his statement. "Just don't sleep with her. I'd have to kill you if you did that- brotherly duty and all."
Tezuka hung up.
---
The day was almost over now, and Tezuka still had no idea what to get Miyuki. In retrospect he really let his guard down by waiting so long to buy her gift to begin with. He should have bought her gift sooner. At least in that case he would have saved himself all this stress.
Of course, no matter how soon he started gift hunting he severely doubted that he would have found a suitable gift for Miyuki.
It was at times like this that he wished that he had an easier time communicating with people. Maybe then he could ask someone for advice. Of course, that would also mean revealing his relationship with Miyuki to people, and he wasn't too sure he was ready to do that either. At least not until he was sure that there was a relationship to reveal.
"Sir, can I help you find anything?" A voice chimed. Tezuka frowned slightly in surprise and turned to come face to face with a middle-age sales woman caked in makeup and wearing far too much perfume. "A gift for someone, perhaps?"
Tezuka was tempted to flee. As much as he needed help he wasn't sure that he needed help from someone so... different than the recipient of his gift. But then again she was a female, and thus might have some idea what Miyuki would like.
"Yes. A gift for my girlfriend." Tezuka responded, swallowing his pride in the hopes that this woman could help him. The woman perked up, smiling brightly and leading him through the store.
"Oh, I know just the thing for a pair of young lovers!" She exclaimed, finally arriving at her destination. Tezuka took one look and then turned and walked away without a word.
He was NOT buying Miyuki lingerie. Regardless of if he was sleeping with Miyuki or not he was certain that Chitose would kill him if he bought her underwear. And that was after Miyuki cut off their not-quite-official relationship on account of him being a pervert. No, the lingerie would have to wait for later. After they were married, maybe.
Looking at his watch Tezuka frowned- the stores would be closing shortly, and he was still without a decent gift for his girlfriend. He was failing as a boyfriend, and he hadn't really even started yet.
Why couldn't relationships be like tennis? If they were he was certain that he wouldn't be having this problem.
Finally realizing that he had to cut his losses and just get some chocolate for his girlfriend Tezuka started heading for the door, stopping briefly when something caught his eye.
Yes, that would work...
---
"Kunimitsu! Open up!" Miyuki's voice chirped from the other side of his door, pausing briefly to ring the doorbell before resuming her calling through the door, "Come on, come on!"
Tezuka smiled slightly to himself- though it was hard to tell- and went to let Miyuki in, nodding slightly at her.
"Miyuki. Merry Christmas."
"Yeah! Merry Christmas, Kunimitsu!" She replied, standing up on her tiptoes and giving him a peck on the cheek. Tezuka relaxed a little after the show of affection. Miyuki wouldn't just go around kissing someone that didn't mean something to her. She wasn't that kind of girl.
"I got you a present." Tezuka offered, going and taking the package wrapped in brightly colored paper off his bookshelf. Miyuki smiled and perked up even more at the sight of it, clearly delighted by the idea of a gift. It made Tezuka happy to see that expression on her face. Sure yesterday may have been a hellish day, but it was worth it to see Miyuki- his Miyuki- happy.
"Really! Awesome!" Miyuki answered, starting to rip into the gift right away, smiling as she pulled away the paper, revealing the gift inside. "It's a scarf! Thanks, Kunimitsu! I've been needing a new one!"
"I thought it made a very sensible gift." Tezuka replied with a serious nod, gathering up his courage in order to breach the subject of their relationship. "It's cold out, so I thought that you could wear it on our date today."
Miyuki grinned brightly in response.
"I'm glad. I wasn't sure you even realized we've been dating." She replied, leaning up and planting another kiss on Tezuka's lips. Tezuka let out a small grunt and kissed back briefly before pulling back to speak.
"I never doubted it."