Title: Magical Creatures.
Fandom Yoroshiku Master.
Randomised fanbingo square: magical creatures. That … almost seems like cheating, but I didn't want to randomise another one because that would clearly corrupt the fabric of the universe.
Summary:Daisuke wonders what other magical creatures exist if reindeer do. Slight Daisuke/Rihito.
"Do yeti exist?"
"No."
"Dragons?"
"Hardly."
"How about unicorns?"
Rihito slammed his book shut with a snarl. Why he'd ever thought he'd get more work done here than at home was currently beyond him. "How many times do I have to tell you? Magical creatures do not exist. What are you, twelve?"
It had seemed such a good idea at the time. His exams were less than a week away, school holidays meant that his normally disorganised home had turned into a carnival of chaos designed purely to ensure that Rihito didn't have even a moment of sanity, and Daisuke had a nice (albeit small) apartment that was empty during the day. What Rihito hadn't counted on was that Daisuke would be on one of his rare days off, although even that had strangely worked out. After an hour of tightly wound frustration as he'd organised and reorganised his notes, Daisuke had (after making a ridiculous remark about how he was surprised how he got anything done) stepped in and started testing Rihito on old exam papers.
For six hours, Daisuke had been the study partner Rihito had always thought he'd never needed. And then, the questions started. The inane, never ending questions.
"You are a reindeer," his santa said pointedly, extending a cup of tea in his direction. Rihito rolled his eyes. Quite the Sherlock, this one. Next, Daisuke would be pointing out that it was snowing, five days after the light flurries had begun and never really stopped, Still, Rihito took the offered cup, sipping experimentally as he adjusted to the heat of the tea. It seemed like it had been days since he'd stopped studying long enough to actually let the taste linger on his tongue, instead of gulping the drink down as he flipped through chapter after chapter. "One that can fly. You certainly don't belong in any encyclopedia I've read. I'd consider you a magical creature."
Rihito almost choked on his tea at that. What? That was absurd. There was nothing fantastical about being a reindeer, just as there was nothing particularly unique about being human. They breathed the same air, watched the same shows on TV (well, not literally as Daisuke had appalling taste), mourned the same sorry state of the current music scene. If anything, Daisuke was the strange, magical one. Reindeers existed, every sane person knew that. However, telling someone over the age of five that – yes – you were in fact santa and delivered presents each year to all the good little boys and girls (in your local area only)? HA! Rihito would love to see Daisuke try and convince others of his reality and not end up (rather appropriately) under psych evaluation.
Rihito's lips pressed into a thin line, smothering away the tiny smirk that had threatened with the thought. It would not do for Daisuke to get the wrong idea and think that Rihito found this conversation at all amusing. "I am not some unexplainable beast that your sister can take in for show and tell." The rest of his santa's conversation sparked another thought. "Plus, please. The only time I've seen you with an encyclopedia was when you needed something to prop up the dining table."
And really, Rihito was being far more polite than he could have been, given that Daisuke was comparing him to fairies and dragons and the 'encyclopedia' in question had consisted of more pictures than words. It was wholly unfair then (although not entirely unwelcome, not that Rihito would ever admit such a thing) that Daisuke's eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"A transforming, talking reindeer. Who can fly. All that's is missing is the red n-"
The book – an actual, proper book that required a working brain to understand, thank you very much – hit Daisuke square on the face, Daisuke stumbled backwards a couple of steps, blinking away his confusion before seeking out Rihito's equally shocked gaze.
"Why, why did you throw a book at me?" Daisuke asked, one hand pressed flush against the kitchen bench behind him, the other gingerly running over the bridge of his nose and down across his cheek.
"Why didn''t you duck?" Rihito shot back, once he managed to fish his voice out of the deep crevasse it had disappeared into. Normal people ducked when items were thrown at them, it stood to reason! Besides, it hadn't been that big a book (ok, it had), and he hadn't thrown it that hard (had he?). The fact Daisuke was looking a little grey and unsteady surely couldn't be blamed completely on Rihito?
"Sit down, you idiot," Rihito commanded, a hint of conern slipping into his voice. That Daisuke actually did what he was told was disturbing, flopping down onto one of the floor cushions with a groan that was only partly for effect. Rihito lived in a household cluttered with clumsy reindeers, and so their fridge was stacked full of ice packs. His santa's freezer, however, made Rihito feel vaguely uneasy at its starkness. The only thing remotely appropriate was a pack of peas, and Rihito quickly wrapped it up in a teatowel.
"Here," he said, not unsympathetically, kneeling down in front of Daisuke and pressing the makeshift pack against his santa's skin. Daisuke hissed at the cold touch, and Rihito grimaced as he noticed that his aim had really been perhaps too good. The edge of the book had caught on Daisuke's cheek, and deep bruises were already threatening the reddening skin. His santa was going to look like he'd lost a fight with an entire bookcase come morning, not just one lone book on classical architecture. The pinched look in Daisuke's eyes and the tension in his forward also suggested that his (surely already painful) headache wasn't going to let up anytime soon, either.
All in all, Rihito felt a little bit like a jerk.
"I shouldn't have thrown the book," Rihito said begrudgingly. There. If Daisuke was surprised by Rihito's reluctant admission, he at least had the good graces to not gloat about it - no, wait. The smile sliding across his santa's lips right now was definitely straying into obnoxious territory. "But you should have ducked."
The smile stopped, mid-slide. Good.
"If you hadn't thrown the book in the first place there would have been no reason for me to have to duck it!"
"Am I interrupting something?" Miyuki's youthful voice cut through their argument, and as one they turned to where she stood at the door, Her library book bag sat by her feet, and she greeted them with a sweet (and admittedly confused) smile.
It was then, and only then, that Rihito realised that, to any outside observer, it would appear as though Rihito was practically sitting in Daisuke's lap. That was hardly the case, of course! It was just that in order to get close enough he'd somehow ended up kneeling with his legs on either side of Daisuke's thighs, and it wasn't like he could hold the cold compression against his santa's face without leaning in -
Oh, god.
Daisuke seemed to realise their compromising position at about the same time Rihito did, and in order to salvage some of his pride he chose heroically to sacrifice all of Rihito's in the process. Daisuke stood up quickly, apparently not giving a toss that the abrupt act sent Rihito tumbling unceremoniously backwards onto the floor. The bag of peas went with him, bursting open at the corner and sending a defrosting cascade of tasteless marbles across the floor.
"Nothing at all," Daisuke said, with a special smile he reserved only for his sister and which, for reasons that Rihito was not keen on exploring, always made something deep inside him ache just that little bit. Of course, the way Daisuke's lips quirked especially for Rihito when he did look down at him made Rihito feel nothing at all, other than righteous anger over the fact that Daisuke dared to remain standing while Rihito was sprawled on the floor. "We just got into an argument over whether or not magical creatures exist, that's all."
Miyuki nodded, clearly considering this an important discussion worth fighting over. "Is that why you look so much like Rudolf?"
Rihito's breath caught in his throat, and Daisuke stiffened. How could she – there was no possible way! He resisted the urge to pat himself down, to make sure that somehow his tail hadn't suddenly popped out, or his horns reappeared. Instead, his horrified gaze sought out Daisuke ,who looked -
Who looked -
Rihito attempted to swallow down his laughter but that made breathing even more difficult, and when Miyuki let out a delighted giggle it was all over. His short bark of laughter was enough to convince Daisuke that clearly their initial interpretation of Miyuki's comments was wrong, yet, because Daisuke did not currently have in his possession a hand mirror, he was also unaware that he was currently in ownership of one very red nose.
"Who is the mythical creature now?" Rihito asked with a grin once Miyuki' had disappeared off into her room. Daisuke scowled.
"Do you want me to help you with your cramming, or not?"
Rihito blinked. Huh. This was the first time in days – in weeks – that he'd forgotten about his exams for even a moment. It should have sent him into a mad panic, and yet the short, mindless break from his textbooks somehow made returning to them seem less the dreary, lonely chore it had become.
[And maybe, Rihito thought, when he returned home much later on that evening and simply shook his head when Kaito asked why he looked so amused, maybe there was something a little bit magical about all this, after all]