a/n: *mariah carey plays ominously in the distance*

this was disgustingly cute fluff, i can't believe i actually wrote this but i saw this prompt on tumblr and it went from there

"Will you stay with me?"

"Yeah."

"You won't abandon me?"

"If I do, you can kill me."

"I would actually kill you."

"You probably would, Reina. I'm prepared for that. This is a confession of love, after all."

Kumiko figured that was enough of a bonding statement in itself, a promise to stay together forever, but the times had changed, and that was precisely what lead her to nervously sit next to the gigantic box in the living room, waiting for Reina to follow her downstairs. The other woman eyed the package critically - it was half her height, crudely wrapped in festive paper. Other gifts sat in bags scattered across the floor - Asuka had made a habit of sending hand-knitted sweaters to the rest of the band long after they had graduated, and Hazuki and Midori had taken the time to write cards. Reina had already given Kumiko her present earlier that week - she didn't care much for "frivolous holidays" and had therefore given Kumiko the gift as soon as she had bought it. The present - a cactus in an artfully painted pot - sat on the table nearby.

"It's big," Reina casually commented, poking the wrapping as if she was expecting it to jump back at her. Kumiko could hardly contain a chuckle.

"Open it," she snorted, grinning with anticipation. Reina tore at the paper and opened the box, peering inside.

"Kumiko, this had better not be one of those jokes where you pretend that the present's bigger than it is by putting it in another box and . . . of course it is." Lifting the second box in question, Reina sighed and repeated the process. "It looks like a case of some sort. Is this a . . . well, no, of course it's not. Honestly, Kumiko, how many boxes did it take for you to pull this off?" The third box now precariously rested on Reina's lap, and her eyes lit up when she saw the shape. "Is this . . . is this a new trumpet case? You shouldn't have- well, you didn't." Reina tiredly tore open the wrapping of the next package. Four empty boxes were now thrown haphazardly across the floor, and Kumiko was beginning to feel some slight regrets. Finally, after ten minutes and a threat to throw Asuka's sweaters out the window, a tiny box was left in Reina's hands, and she unwrapped it with shaky fingers, the other packages forgotten for now.

"It's not a note saying 'haha screw you there's nothing in here,' in case you were wondering," Kumiko blurted out.

"What?"

"T-that's, uh, that's not what's in the box. Some kid did that in elementary school once. I never forgave him."

"We've known each other for ten years, Kumiko, I wasn't expecting you to do that in the first place, and-" Reina stopped mid-sentence as she opened the tiny velvet box, holding her breath. A glittering ring stared back up at her, encased in tiny jewels. Kumiko awkwardly got down on one knee - she had been sitting down - and smiled softly before she spoke.

"Reina Kousaka, we've been together for, uh, for a really long time, and I guess that we've already promised not to abandon each other, but we're older now and the times have changed, so I w-wanted to ask you if you'd . . . y'know . . ."

"Yes." Reina didn't even allow Kumiko to finish before she pulled her in for a kiss, not letting go for several minutes. "It's not what I'd call the most impressive of confessions, but it'll do for a proposal."

"H-hey, it took a long time to wrap all of those boxes!"

"You brought that upon yourself," Reina chuckled. "Did Asuka advise it?"

"Pfft, are you kidding? Of course not - I doubt she'd give her 'expert seduction advice' to anyone. I looked it up online."

"You're terrible."

"We're getting married, Reina, I think we both know that I'm not quite as terrible as we say I am."

"What?"

"We'll have plenty of time to figure all of that out."

"Merry Christmas, Kumiko."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Reina."

a/n: the thing with the note actually happened when i was in fifth grade during a white elephant party. some kid had a gigantic box with a bunch of smaller boxes in it and then there was just a note saying "haha you got nothing" at the end. i'm pretty sure bacon-scented soap, an empty video game case, and an egg beater were some of the other presents. i got an angry birds pig plushie because angry birds was in that year. fifth grade was wild.