A/N: This is for Chidsengan's contest, I tried my best Zizi! The theme I chose was velvet, so hopefully it will be up to your standards. She gave me permission to post it separately because I was confused by the rules. Without further a due, let's start the story!
Warning: You may be crushed by cheese if you aren't buried by fluff first. Good luck (puts up umbrella).
...
"A bake sale?" Hikaru questioned, brow furrowing over the cheerful voice's request. She was sitting inside of her apartments living room, snuggled up in a plush love seat.
Her legs were propped over the side of the couch, leaning back as she twirled the black cord of a house phone around her tan fingers.
"That's right, I'll be baking a Christmas cake. A few others will be bringing brownies and cookies I hear. Can I count on you to participate?" Came a partial urging tone on the other end.
Hikaru had to suppress a low moan as she stared up at her ceiling thoughtfully. She wasn't terribly busy or anything, she had finished up most of her Christmas shopping about a week ago.
In fact there was only one stubborn individual left she had yet to buy a present for, and she still didn't have the slightest clue on what to get him. After all, how do you shop for the mighty "king of beasts"?
Hikaru was certain she'd never seen the green-haired blader care for anything that wasn't Beyblade or himself. Buying gifts for Kenta and Ginga was so much easier, they were attracted to any shiny trinket. Getting a gift for Kyouya would involve a lot more thought...
"I suppose I can whip up something." She submitted, only because Madoka was such a good friend of hers. They were kindred spirits, always working hard to help others, or in Hikaru's case, assisting one very clueless male.
"Great, remember to drop them off at my place, you follow?" Madoka instructed in a matter-of-fact tone. Hikaru could picture the worried expression she held on the other end, most likely fidgeting with the oblong goggles that clung to her chestnut bangs.
The Bey-mechanic was use to being let down by people, predominately her red-headed boyfriend that always seemed to forget that running an errand to the store did not involve getting into a dozen battles along the way and bringing home the wrong item, not before eating several large hamburgers and showing up late by three hours.
Hikaru would probably have reserved more pity if she wasn't single herself. Spending the impending Christmas alone was going to be disheartening, but nothing she wasn't use to after her mother's passing.
"Yes, I'll drop something off in the morning before work." Hikaru reassured, face crinkling with distaste. Her vision of her occupation wasn't a very fond one, imagining a Christmas story scene of being forced to work overtime by a mister Ebenezer Scrooge.
Although, her "Scrooge" would be dressed like Santa for Christmas Eve to entertain children in the WBBA'S lobby all day as she filed paperwork. Laziness certainly ran in the Hagane family.
"I totally get how you feel, that's why I'll have the Bey-Pitt closed the next two days. Holidays are supposed to be stress-free!" Madoka spoke with a drawn out sigh.
"If only." Hikaru snickered, letting a wry grin cross her lips. At least her friend could be optimistic about it. After chattering a bit back and forth they gave their good-bye's and hung up, leaving an empty silence to succumb her living room.
She frowned, turning her gaze to the small ice crystals collecting at her window. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like as a snowflake, drifting carefree where ever the harsh winter's breeze would take her. Eventually she'd plummet into the arms of awaiting friends, cohesion taking place, and become a part of a whole.
Like an enormous family.
Tearing her stare away from the outside world, she had to shake her head. Since when did she have the time to be poetic? There was far too much work to get done.
Letting out a soft yawn, Hikaru stretched her stiffened limbs before standing up and striding over to the kitchen. It was an older building, so some of the paint was peeled off in sections, exposing worn brick.
Personally, she didn't quite mind the aged interior. It helped induce a feeling of homeliness she felt her empty apartment lacked. Faulty appliances on the other hand, made her skin rivet with anger.
Already twice this month her stove had tried to kill itself, heaving out billows of blackened smoke that clung to her skin. The buildings superintendent had sent someone to fix it, but she doubted their credentials.
She was beginning to think that they just hired any joe shmoe from the street and paid them to swear up and down that nothing needed replacing. Anything to save a few bucks.
If it broke down again, when she needed it most to keep up her promise to Madoka, she'd probably achieve super-human strength and chuck the heavy contraption out of her third story window. That way, they'd have to replace the stupid machine.
The unnerving lack of sound was beginning to get to her, so she turned towards a small counter top that held a red compact radio and flipped it on, maneuvering the silver rod on top until sound oozed through its speakers. The station was on a commercial, an energetic car sales rep whistling a catchy jingle.
It wasn't ideal, but it would do. She needed something to lift her spirits and get her motivated. Almost like an afterthought, she then spun around on the heels of her feet and went over to pull up the blinds from her window, to let the little light available have room to sweep inside.
The sky was grey, typical accompaniment to any snow storm, but it still gave significant improvement over the dim lighted wiring of her apartment, also faulty. She really didn't want to get into thinking about all the problems they'd caused throughout the year.
With that, she began rummaging through a pink-covered cookbook. It was a bit aged, pages worn and faded. The book had been a handed down through the Hasama family for generations, from her grandmother to her mom, and her mom to her.
She treated it with care, not wanting to wear the condition down any further. It would be insulting in her mind to give it any less attentiveness. Finally her cerulean eyes stopped on a recipe that piped her interest, one for a red-velvet cake.
The dish would be difficult to make, some of the ingredients needing very specific measurements. It didn't help that her grandmother used instructions such as a dollop of this or that. She'd never heard of the phrase in her life, but she was always one to take on a challenge. Stubbornness ran in her families gene pool.
Getting into a groove, Hikaru began pulling out an array of utensils and pre-heated the oven. Her body hopped back and forth as a tune rang out on the radio.
"Oh I know that one!" She realized in her head with excitement, soon finding herself singing along. "All I want for Christmas..."
Music was the best stress relief she'd ever known, giving the ability to lose one's self with in its chipper themes and spell-bounding melodies. It held the same effect as a storybook, allowing an individual to forget reality for a brief moment and relish in pure elation.
"-A charming man at your window side?" A voice laced with amusement questioned, muffled by outside glass.
Hikaru felt her blood turn to ice as she turned her head slowly to where the sound had come from. None other than Kyouya had caught her dancing like spazz, full-blown shoulder rolling and side swaying.
Face flushing a deepened crimson, she stumbled her way over to the window, hands on her hips. "It's rude to spy on people you know, what are you doing here?"
"You'll have to let me in to find out." Kyouya smirked, shoving his hands into his tattered jacket. His nose was red from the cold, ice clinging to his green-blue hair.
Hikaru snorted at the sight. Leave it to a man to have no common sense towards dressing warm when it was below freezing. Reluctantly she opened the window and was greeted by a numbing blast of cold wind, causing her to shriek in surprise.
"Get in!" She demanded, leading Kyouya to laugh as he jumped inside. Hikaru had to admit she was stunned to hear him laugh, it was rare to see Kyouya in a good mood.
In fact other than the times he went nuts in battle over power, which was more of a darkened chuckle, she'd never seen him genuinely delighted by anything. It was... a nice change of pace. A suitable smile made him seem a little less like a foreboding jerk. But that wasn't going to help his case any against her. She was pretty steamed at the moment.
Kyouya took to making his presence fill the room, pacing around her kitchen. His icy orbs studied everything with a close scrutiny before finally resting on her batter mix.
"You like to bake?" He jeered, sticking one of his fingers into the bowl to scoop out some substance and lick it. Flames exploded from Hikaru's eyes, slapping his hand away before he could get anymore.
"That would be none of your business." Hikaru scowled, staring straight up into his face. "You didn't answer my question."
Kyouya frowned lightly, an unintelligible emotion appearing behind his eyes. Was it hurt? Hikaru doubted so, determined to hold her own against him. The day she let someone walk into her house and boss her around would be unheard of.
"I need help with a problem." He admitted, rubbing one hand on the back of his head sheepishly.
Hikaru wasn't sure how to feel. It took guts for Kyouya to come all this way for her help, especially being the way he was. She had to fight back the urge to mock him as revenge, respecting his audacity.
"With what?" She questioned a bit suspiciously, wary of him trying to pull some sort of trick. But his gestures seemed to be of one who was truly nervous, shifting uncomfortably.
"Say there's this girl I want to get a present for, but I don't know what she would want. What should I do?" Kyouya asked, avoiding her gaze.
Hikaru couldn't prevent a grin from breaking across her lips. Kyouya was in love with someone? She tried racking her brain for possible suitors, maybe a female he'd met in Africa?
Either way, this was quite a juicy bit of gossip he was trusting her with. He was lucky she was too much of a prideful person herself to be the "gossipy type". Spreading rumors was juvenile in her mind.
Perhaps that was why he picked her to share his secret with. He probably figured she was too rigid and orderly like her job required to try something so childish. Either that or he figured being she was a girl herself, she'd know what someone of the same gender would want.
"Well..." Hikaru started thoughtfully, easing up on her previous cold attitude. "Go talk to her and figure out what she likes! Not every girl is the same dumbo. That's the best advice I can offer, think long and hard about her interests."
"Alright." Kyouya declared begrudgingly, seeming to figure she was right. He gained a far-away look in his eyes, as if he was deep in thought. Hikaru figured it was best to try to let those words sink in as she turned her attention back to her cake mix.
Carefully she poured the batter into a silver pan, and slid it inside of the oven. The cake would need at least a half-hour to bake, leaving her a bit of free time. All this talk about gifts had got Hikaru thinking about how she still needed to get one for the blader standing near her counter-side.
Admittedly, she didn't have the guts like him to ask in a point-blank fashion, "What do you want?". He'd probably give her some snide remark about getting to know him better, which brought a dark red to her cheeks.
This girl he was talking about better have been grateful to have his attention. She was a bit ashamed by her vehement thoughts on the matter, it wasn't like her to get jealous. And I mean this was Kyouya, she didn't really have any feelings for him.
Right?
"I have to get going." Hikaru coughed briskly, trying to cover up her emotions. The faster Kyouya left to go make some girl happier the better. She would go out to buy his present in the meanwhile and give it to him the next time she saw him, most likely at the Winter Light's show.
Every year Metal Bey city would hold a festival of lights, illuminating the town in pure splendor. Down at Metal Bey park, drinks of hot chocolate would be served along with the cheerful humming of carols underneath an enormous Christmas tree. Most would ice-skate too on the years the lake was frozen enough to do so.
In the most amazing display of holiday spirit, citizens would coordinate their clocks to the exact moment of midnight and then turn on their holidays lights, illuminating the whole city at once. When she was little she was told it was done so to light the way for Santa's sleigh.
She was too old to believe in that now of course, and not everyone participated so readily, but it was still a pretty impressive sight. All of her friend had decided to make it tradition for them to meet there, and it was one thought that readily excited her.
Being she would be spending Christmas alone, at least her Christmas Eve wouldn't have to blow.
Kyouya nodded, still a bit distant as he made his way over to her window and pulled it open to climb out.
Hikaru had to shake her head in disbelief as she pointed out, "You know, you could use the front door like us normal people."
He looked back to flash her a toothy grin and replied, "Where's the fun in that?" And soon enough he was off, down her fire escape as she rolled her eyes, shutting the window.
She dealt with nut jobs so frequently, he was unsure what constituted as normal anymore.
With a sigh, she made her way into the living room and found a red-winter coat to slide into, also retrieving a wallet from its pocket. It was time to go Christmas shopping for crazies.
...
Hikaru bit down on her lip as she peered into the window of toy-store. The wind ruffled through her aquamarine locks, giving her hair the appearance of true ocean waves. She was hardly paying attention to her tresses however, and instead the cuddly lion plush that sat behind the shop's glass.
Okay, Kyouya might actually punch her for even considering to get such a ridiculous present, but if anything she could always say it was supposed to be a gag gift. It wasn't like she could buy him something warm and heart-felt anyways. This girl he liked could get jealous, and the last thing she wanted to deal with was school-yard katty behavior.
So soon enough she found herself walking inside, a light bell humming off as she entered. As she picked up the lion from the shelf and went to go pay for it, she almost fell to her knees in astonishment.
The line was unbelievably long. Of course it would be, being that tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Everyone was getting in some last minute present shopping. Why hadn't she realized that earlier?
Hikaru froze in place, uncertain if she should even bother waiting. She could always just go to the dime store across the street and buy Kyouya a pack of gum. Nothing says holiday cheer more that fresh breath.
Realizing defeat, she trudged her way to the back of the line and slumped over, staring into the lion's plastic eyes.
"Looks like its me and you against the world." Hikaru exclaimed, using her hand to make the lion nod it's head in reply. She grimaced as she thought about what she had just been reduced to and sighed once more.
Apparently crazy is contagious.
...
"NO NO NO!" Hikaru shrieked, throwing her jacket and shopping bag off to the side as she ran into her kitchen. How could this be happening to her, the queen of prudence?She was always meticulous about everything, especially when it came work.
Her worst suspicions came true as she pulled open her oven to reveal a very black red-velvet cake, burnt to a crisp. All of her hard work, ruined in a blink of an eye. She mentally cursed herself for wasting her time on that ridiculous line to get Kyouya's gift.
I mean, it wasn't like he was going to appreciate the dumb thing. He'd probably throw it out into the street just to watch the lion get run over and laugh. Simply because he could.
Tears stung in the corners of her eyes as she ran upstairs and collapsed into her bed, tightly pulling her pillow into a hug. She'd let Madoka down, and worse of all she didn't even have a good excuse.
What was she suppose to do, blab to her best friend, "Oh yeah, sorry about that. You see, I kind of have this secret crush on Kyouya and well he's totally in love with someone else. So I decided to buy him a ridiculously cheesy present with the secret hope he'd like it and think that maybe just maybe he likes me instead."
Because that would go over well. She hated when she let her emotions get the best of her, it made her feel like a lonely lost child. A lonely child who wanted nothing more than her mother to say that everything would be okay.
Like now.
...
The day of Christmas Eve dragged on bitterly. Work was painfully boring and having to see the disappointment in Madoka's eyes when she explained, her oven "malfunctioned" and the cake over-cooked, nearly broke her heart.
Even the thought of the end of the day festival brought no smile to her face, because she knew that seeing Kyouya with another girl was going to place the final nail in her coffin.
She half-contemplated not going at all and just coming up with an excuse that she wasn't feeling well, because indeed her stomach was in knots, but she knew Ryo would get suspicious.
Her boss may have been utterly useless at his job, but he was good at being a father. He could see through a lie instantly, and she would prefer not having to tell anyone the true reason why she was upset.
It seemed she would have to grin and bear it for the most part, much to her dismay. She use to laugh when she heard people complain about Christmas. How could anyone be upset around such a merry time? Well she knew now, and for the most part was praying the holidays to end quickly.
Everyone could go back to complaining about minuscule chores and stop paying so much attention to one another. She had a feeling someone might bring up the fact that she lived alone and had no one to spread Christmas with. She'd probably punch them before they could extract any pity.
Pity wasn't going to make her any less comforted or forlorn.
"Hikaru!" Ryo's booming voice cheered as he placed a heavy hand down on her shoulder. Hikaru dead panned as she tried to keep balance, an enormous sweat drop appearing over her head.
"Yes director sir?" She questioned, tilting her head back to stare into his face. He was wearing a Santa's hat that was clearly too big for his head, its rim almost covering his hazel eyes.
"You've taken on so much today, its time for a break. You can head out early, wouldn't want you missing the festival!" He beamed, belting out a laugh as if he'd just made the funniest joke on the planet.
"Are you sure, there is still a lot of filing to be done..." Hikaru attempted at an excuse, but it seemed Ryo would have none of it.
"Of course I'm sure! The Immortal Phoenix is never uncertain! You're young, you need to enjoy it while you still have the chance!" He scolded, pushing her towards the exit.
In spite of herself, Hikaru couldn't help but smile. Corniness aside, the "Immortal Phoenix" had a slice of wisdom to share every now and then. She was letting this whole thing get to her way too much. She needed to be there for her friends, and maybe she could even loosen up and have some fun.
It was the holidays after all.
"Thanks." Hikaru smiled, turning to face Ryo with a tight hug before heading off to get changed from her work clothes. Ryo blinked in surprise before letting out a small chuckle.
He played the role of a pretty good Saint Nick.
...
"That's really cool!" Hikaru smiled at Kenta, who was busy showing her a frog action figure. He seemed really enthusiastic about it, chattering on about its high kick action and posable limbs.
After Ryo's advice she felt better considerably, and found herself enjoying the festival. Profits at Madoka's bake sale had been terrific, so she no longer seemed in a terrible mood. And much to Hikaru's relief, she hadn't seen Kyouya all night.
Things were about as good as they could get for a lonely soul. Her only regret was that it was minutes before midnight, and soon enough the show would be over. But she tried to keep that fact in the back of her mind as she and Kenta finished their conversation.
Making her way to a hot chocolate stand, she ordered a cup and pulled out her wallet to pay for it. Just before she could open the clasp, a hand placed several crumbled bills on the table and announced to the cashier, "I'll pay for hers."
Hikaru stiffened, staring down at the money, then to the cashier as they took it. Anything to prevent herself from meeting the person's gaze. But that was inevitable thinking, he simply wasn't going to walk away. He was just as stubborn as she was.
"I've been looking for you." Kyouya coughed awkwardly, trying to grab her attention. Sighing heavily, she glanced up at him and whispered a curt thank-you. She was expecting a perky wide-eyed bimbo to pop up beside him any minute and start blabbing on about how madly in love they were.
But there appeared to be no one with him, not at the moment anyways. He was staring at her in confusion, wondering what she was looking for.
Hikaru felt a blush cross her face as it hit her. It was Christmas Eve, this mystery girl probably wasn't going to open her present until Christmas day. She had left her own gift in a hurry an hour earlier at Kyouya's place.
"So, did you find the present you were looking for?" She questioned, hoping she looked disinterested enough that he'd walk away.
"It was tough." He admitted, running one hand through his hair. "But I think I was able to figure it out."
"Oh?" Hikaru mused at his puppy dog earnestness. He seemed really excited about whatever it was. A thunderous count down began amongst the crowd as midnight approached.
It was just like New Years, although this countdown would symbolize the coming of Christmas day.
10
9
8
"Hikaru?"
7
6
5
"Yes?
4
3
2
"Will you marry me?"
1...
Her world became a blur as she whipped around to face him, seeing that he was down on one knee, a ring box in hand. Instead of a typical diamond was a ruby, glimmering more brilliantly then the array of lights that shone around them.
"I-" She could hardly respond for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes. But soon enough her hands were wrapped around his neck as she cried, "Yes, of course!"
Kyouya snickered, trying to play his demeanor off cool, however it was pretty evident he was happy too. "I picked a red gem because of that cake you were baking. You were talking about being observant or something."
"Bonus point for you." Hikaru giggled, pulling away a little as she admitted softly, "I thought... the present was for someone else."
"Like ever!" Kyouya spat, eyes narrowing. "Other girl's are just too..."
"Too what?" She teased, raising one-eyebrow. Seeing no way for him to get out of it, Kyouya lifted her up bridal style and changed the subject. "What do we do now?"
"Hmm..." Hikaru paused before letting a devilish grin cross her face. "I'll let you pick this time."
"Red velvet cake to celebrate?" He grinned back, causing her to chuckle.
She could live with that.
Happy Holidays everyone, be it a bit early, and to all a good night! Lol, but honestly thank you so much for reading! It's your kind reviews that really keep me going, like a great big family as Zizi often references to.
Let's keep giving it our all!