Me: Merry (early) Christmas, everybody! Especially to you, Honoka-chan! I know you already know this, but I'm still gonna tell you: I'M YOUR SECRET SANTA! :D (what a surprise, eh? :P).
As a gift, I wrote you this story. I really hope you're gonna like it and I hope that I got all the parts of your OC right (I took the liberty and used her for the story). It may have more to do with New Year's Eve than with Christmas, though.
I don't own any of the characters that are used in this story. All characters you recognise from the anime belong to Level 5. Yamazaki Honoka belongs to none other than Honoka-chan (Soccers Heart) herself.
"Fuusuke-kun, have you made a New Year's resolution yet?"
Suzuno looked up from the book he was reading. In front of him was a girl with brown hair, which was tied in a ponytail. He couldn't see it when she wore her hair like this, but he knew that the tips of her hair were light-blue. It was a gentle, calm colour, but at moments like these, it didn't really suit her. Because at moments like these, Yamazaki Honoka was anything but calm.
"Why would I?" he asked indifferently as he shifted his gaze back to the book. "It's stupid anyways."
Honoka puffed her cheeks. "It's not! It's fun, you'll see! Here, let me get you some paper." Before he could say anything, she was gone. And before he could blink, she was back again, holding a piece of paper in her left hand and a pen in the other. "Here, you can write it on this. You don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to, but just write something down, okay?"
Suzuno was about to refuse once more, but stopped when he looked a little closer at Honoka. The small girl smiled gently at him, her head tilted a little to the right and her blue eyes hidden behind her eyelids.
He sighed and took the paper from her hand. "If it makes you happy."
"Really? Thank you, Fuusuke-kun!" Honoka squealed and jumped up and down.
"Don't mention it," Suzuno replied plainly, his cheeks a little rosier than before. "Stop jumping and give me that pen, already!"
The girl sheepishly obliged and watched him as he readied himself to write. He rested his pen on the paper, but didn't write anything down yet.
"What's the matter?" Honoka asked while she leaned on his shoulder. "Don't you know anything? Then, let's think of something together!"
"Don't bother," he muttered. "What's your resolution, anyway?"
The blue-eyed girl grinned, jumped up from the couch and struck a pose in front of him, unaware that he was already writing. "I'm gonna get even better at soccer! I'm going to make a new hissatsu and become much stronger!"
Suzuno folded the paper and sighed. "As expected of you."
"Hmm? Fuusuke-kun, did you write something down already?" Honoka inquired and she came closer. "Then, let me see it!" She tried to snatch the paper away from his hand, but he moved it up, out of her reach.
"Wasn't the whole point of me writing it down that I didn't have to tell other people?"
"Aw~, no fair!" Honoka pouted. "Can't you tell me? I won't tell anybody else, okay? I promise!"
Suzuno smirked and put the paper in his pocket. "I'll tell you if I succeed." And no matter how much the brown-haired girl pleaded, that was all she got for an answer.
Suzuno stared at the girl before him. "Are you really gonna do this again?" he asked, a small smile present on his face. "I never thought you would be this persistent."
"Of course!" Honoka beamed excitedly and pumped her fist in the air. "I'm continuing until I beat you. And then you'll tell me, right?" She had been challenging the captain of Diamond Dust to a one on one soccer match every other week for the entire year. If she won, then Suzuno would finally tell her his New Year's resolution.
"I can't believe you still remember that," the silver-haired boy sighed. "It's almost been a year."
"And you still haven't told me, so that means you still haven't fulfilled your resolution. You're almost out of time! I won't forgive you if you don't complete it!"
Suzuno rolled his eyes and Honoka chuckled. She had waited quietly during January, February and March, but then she grew impatient. Wondering what his New Year's resolution was, she had challenged him to a soccer match and that's how it all started. The matches differed from time to time, but the result was always the same: no matter how hard she tried, he beat her every time.
This time the match was about who could hold the ball in possession the longest. The difference was just a few seconds, but Suzuno won in the end. Again. "I can't believe it!" Honoka fumed as she jumped up and down to show her annoyance.
Suzuno chuckled softly. "Be careful, or you'll-"
"Gah!"
"...fall."
"Ow," Honoka muttered with a contorted face as she rubbed her rear. Her jumping had made the snowy road slippery and at some point, she lost balance.
"Here let me help you," Suzuno said and when she looked up, she saw him standing right before her, his hand outstretched to help her up.
For a moment she only stared at him, at how his silvery strands contrasted with the orange afternoon sky. Then she frowned at his hand and stood up by herself, ignoring his offer of help. She wasn't a porcelain doll, after all. She could take care of herself! Suzuno didn't seem at all fazed by her rejection. Why would he? It wasn't the first time that this happened, after all.
They walked home in silence, but it was a comfortable one. Honoka kept sneaking glances at the boy beside her, but she made sure that he didn't catch her looking at him. Suzuno wasn't the person to smile outside a soccer match. When he was playing soccer, he was so serious that it might scare an opponent away. But the rare moments that he smiled genuinely, he seemed so happy and so relaxed... She wanted to see more of that side of him. Actually, to be honest, she wanted to be the one who made him smile like that.
Because even though she never showed it on the outside, Yamazaki Honoka had a crush on him.
She wasn't nervous in his presence, though. They had known each other for years, after all. All children from Sun Garden were her friends, but she had especially bonded with her teammates from Diamond Dust during the time of Aliea Gakuen. Suzuno in particular. Ever since the pretence ended, she felt connected with him in a way that she had never felt with anyone else. She couldn't tell if it was really love, but she knew that she simply wanted to be around him and that was enough for her.
They took off their shoes and coats once they got inside and headed for the living room, rubbing their cold hands together to regain some warmth. As soon as they entered, a loud, triumphant roar broke their comfortable silence.
"GOTCHA, GAZEL! YOU FELL FOR IT!" Nagumo yelled and burst out in laughter. Honoka's and Suzuno's face simultaniously turned into a scowl. It had become an instinct for them to frown whenever their enemy was happy. Even though Aliea Gakuen was history, they still saw the former Prominence captain as an enemy. It was a bad sign whenever Nagumo laughed like this.
"What in the world are you talking about?" Gazel asked monotonuously, though there was some caution in his voice.
"Uhm, Gazel?" Hiroto smiled knowingly and he pointed at the ceiling when he had their attention. Both Honoka and Suzuno looked up, only to see a small green branch that was tied to the ceiling.
Mistletoe.
Their facial colour darkened and they looked at each other, before hurriedly looking away. Nagumo chuckled triumphantly at the sight and gave Nepper, who stood next to him with a similar expression on his face, a high five. "I told you this would work," he laughed and after turning to the newcomers: "Well, whaddaya waiting for, love birds?"
"Shut up, you moron," Suzuno growled. Honoka couldn't determine whether his face was red from embarrassment or anger. Probably both.
"Come on, Gazel," Hiroto smiled innocently. "You know that it's traditional that people kiss undernea-"
"Shut up! Nobody asked you anything, Gran," the silver-haired boy hissed, cheeks bright red. He grabbed Honoka's hand and pulled her along, heading for the kitchen. "It's a stupid tradition, anyways."
"Oioi, running away?" Nagumo yelled tauntingly at their backs.
"I guess the Ice King and the Snow Queen need some privacy," Nepper suggested, after which the two boys burst out in a fit of laughter. The sound got cut off when Suzuno slammed the door to the kitchen close, but the sound was still audible.
"Those morons," he fumed. "Really, what are they thinking?"
"Don't let it get to you," Honoka said with a half smile, still blushing profoundly. It had hurt her a little when Suzuno refused so openly to kiss her, but she understood why he had done it in the first place: he didn't want to give the others what they wanted. He didn't reject me, she thought and she kept on repeating that thought in her head.
Silence envelopped them once more as they prepared two mugs of hot chocolate to warm themselves up. When Honoka was about to enter the living room with her mug in her hand, Suzuno gently stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. "Let's not go back to them, they probably still haven't forgotten about... that thing."
She couldn't help but smile at his rosy cheeks and nodded. "Sure, let's go upstairs then." They exited the kitchen through the other door, which led to the hall, and she followed him upstairs, towards his room. Honoka plumped down on Suzuno's bed and almost spilled some of her chocolaty drink.
"Watch out!" Suzuno growled. "If you make a mess, you'll be the one to clean it up."
"Sure, sure"," Honoka laughed dismissingly and she giggled at the frown her friend was giving her.
They sat in silence, but for the first time in years, that silence wasn't comfortable. With nothing to occupy their hands and minds, their thoughts drifted back to the mistletoe in the living room. Honoka could tell that Suzuno thought about the same thing, because his face was bright red again, just like hers. She looked around the familiar room, in search of something to start a conversation about.
She spotted a crumbled paper on his desk and even though it didn't stand out, it somehow piqued her attention. "What's this?" she asked.
After putting down her mug on his nightstand, she stood up and picked up the paper. Before she could open it, however, Suzuno was behind her and he snatched it from her hands. "That's nothing important."
She stared at him for a few seconds, wondering what that was about. Then her face split in a mischievous grin. "Oho~ Could that be your resolution, perhaps~?"
"Maybe..."
"I knew it!" Honoka dashed forward and managed to take the paper from his hand. Then she turned around and ran away from him, because she was sure he wouldn't let this one slide.
And indeed, not a second later she heard his footsteps behind her. "Oh no you don't," he said threateningly and he managed to tackle her before she could exit the room. Of course she struggled to get loose - laughing all the while because it had been a long time since they wantoned like this - but Suzuno managed to keep her down. With her legs pushed down and her arms pinned next to her head, Honoka stared up at Suzuno while trying to recover from her laughing fit. "And what are you gonna do now?" the silver-haired boy smirked.
The brunette kept on trying to get loose, but it was no use like this. It wasn't like she was weaker than Suzuno - she had beat him more than once with armwrestling - but it was impossible to beat him when he was in this position. "Okay, okay, I give up!" she exclaimed, still laughing through her words. "Let go already!" She expected him to do just that, but when he didn't she sent him a questioning look. "Fuusuke-kun?"
Suzuno didn't reply, he just kept looking at her. Then he lowered himself - slowly, carefully - as if giving her the time to turn her head away if she wanted to. But she didn't. She knew what was coming and she didn't turn away. Her head sped up until it beat painfully in her chest, and she didn't turn away. She saw how Suzuno's face came closer and closer to hers and she didn't turn away. At some point, she instinctively closed her eyes and a few seconds later, she felt his incredibly soft lips on her own.
Am I dreaming?
That was all she thought during the kiss. Could this be really happening? Wasn't it just her imagination? But it felt better than anything she could ever imagine. So did that mean that it was really happening?
After they broke apart, she simply stared up at his face. He was panting and his cheeks were so red that she wondered if he had any blood left in the rest of his body. He briefly glanced at her, but then he turned his head away and got off her. She sat upright - slowly, still dazed from her first kiss - and looked at him, but he still wouldn't look back at her.
Honoka opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words to say. Suzuno beat her to it. "I... I guess... you can read it now..."
It took her a while to realize that he was talking about his resolution, which she still held in her hands. Agonizingly slowly, she folded it open and straightened it a bit. Suzuno's neat handwriting greeted her. He had only written one line, but it still took her quite a while to comprehend his resolution:
This year, I will tell Honoka how I feel about her.
She looked back and forth between the paper in her hands and her crush's beet red face. Then she smirked. She dropped the paper and moved towards him. She hugged him from behind, seeing as he still wouldn't face her, and couldn't help but think how she liked this shy side of him.
"That took you long enough," she whispered and smiled happily.
~Omake~
"Well, aren't you gonna reply?"
"Reply to what? You never actually told me how you feel about me."
"Do you really want me to say it out loud?"
She giggled, he sighed.
"Alright, fine. I love you."
"Merry Christmas, Fuusuke-kun."
~The End~
Me: And again a very merry Christmas to you, Honoka-chan! I hope you liked my gift, I really did my best to write it. Thanks for reading and thanks for organizing this game! If you'll do it next year, too, I'll be sure to join!
Greetings from Holland!