Shinobu slowly opened his bleary eyes, pulled out of his doze by the gentle clinking of cups and plates bumping lightly against each other. He stretched his cramped muscles, glanced at the clock and saw that it was already nearly 9am on Saturday morning and peered around to find the source of the noise.
He was bowled over with surprise when he found out: Miyagi had for once taken the initiative and was bringing in breakfast in bed! He gave his older lover an appreciative, if somewhat bewildered, expression as he took the proffered tray.
Miyagi himself had awoken a little earlier and had already eaten. He had been about to barge into the bedroom and force his lazy little lover to get his bum out of bed, when the sight of the sweetly slumbering boy had softened his resolve; instead he decided to wake him up in a kinder way.
Even though he had eaten, he still climbed back under the covers next to Shinobu and, leaning back against his propped up pillow, picked up his steaming mug of coffee and spread the morning paper across his knees.
Shinobu watched his lover out of the corner of his eye as he ate the breakfast lovingly prepared for him. For once, his face betrayed nothing of the happiness he felt at Miyagi's kind gesture. Surreptitiously, his eyes hungrily drank in the sight of Miyagi's face as his lover skimmed the articles in the paper.
All of a sudden, Miyagi cried out in excitement. He nudged Shinobu, almost making the boy spill his own drink in the process, and pointed out a small ad at the bottom of page ten.
"Hey, Shinobu-chin, look! The German Christmas Market has come to Tokyo this year! Let's go, shall we?"
Shinobu frowned in puzzlement.
"What market? What's so special about it?"
Miyagi looked at him in surprise.
"Don't you know about the German markets? You've really never been?"
"Of course not, I've never been to Germany!" Shinobu replied.
"You don't have to have been – some of the markets travel around, this one's come all the way to Tokyo!" Miyagi pointed out, ruffling the already messy hair of his usually intelligent lover.
"What's it for then? What kind of things are there? I'm not interested in just another market to buy meat or fish!"
"Well, as I said, it's a Christmas market. So they have Christmas stuff. Like, decorations and interesting novelty items and food… It's been a long time since I've been, it's not every year they make their way all the way out here to Japan. But I know you'll like it – why not go and have a look around? It could be like a date!"
Shinobu's head shot up. Miyagi had said the magic word! The two of them on a date, and not just to the used bookstore! Why not go? At least it would be a new experience together.
Shinobu agreed and was rewarded with a big kiss from an already incredibly excited Miyagi.
They lazed at home for the first half of the day, Miyagi attempting some work in the morning only to be distracted by Shinobu and dragged back to bed for another hour. They had arranged to head down to the market at about 4pm, as it stayed open late into the evening and Miyagi had said it would be more atmospheric after dark.
When the time came, Miyagi slipped on a warmer jumper, wrapped a thick scarf around his neck and pulled his jacket on, zipping it up fully and making sure he had his gloves in his pocket. He called out to Shinobu and waited in the hallway for the boy to emerge from his room.
Shinobu did seem to be taking a long time… Fed up, Miyagi went in search of the boy. He knocked on his bedroom door, pushing it open and glancing round for his lover. When he caught sight of him, Miyagi let out a great guffaw. Shinobu looked round in surprise and scowled at the man standing in his doorway.
"And what exactly is so funny?" he demanded.
Grinning, Miyagi replied, "Oh, you are, Shu-chin. You are just so unbelievably cute!"
Shinobu's frown only deepened. "In what way?"
Miyagi's eyes swept down the length of Shinobu's body.
"Shinobu, I know it's cold and snowy outside – but I'm not sure you need quite so many layers… You look like you've doubled in size! A bit like a blown up Jelly Baby or the Michelin Man…"
He ducked his head and covered it with his hands as he fled in haste from Shinobu's dire wrath.
When Shinobu had finally calmed down, Miyagi drove them both downtown, parking his silver car in a side street a couple of blocks away from the edge of the market. They walked side by side towards the market, close enough that the back of their gloved hands brushed lightly against each other.
It was only late afternoon, yet the winter sun had already disappeared. In the darkness ahead of them, Shinobu could see lots of small wooden huts lit up with strings of bright white and multi-coloured lights. As they walked closer, he could hear Christmas music playing over the sounds of chattering and laughter from the excited throng of people. The market was still crowded, and Miyagi surreptitiously took hold of Shinobu's hand to avoid them getting separated as they pushed their way through the people.
They wandered through, simply looking around at first to discover what there was to see and do. The market seemed to be split up into sections, with several stalls devoted to German arts and crafts in one corner, Christmas decorations in another area and a huge section in the centre just for different kinds of food. The smell of hot sausages, sweet roasted nuts and chocolate-covered waffles wafted over to their noses as they passed through.
Shinobu glanced, fascinated, at a stall offering all kinds of German sweets, chocolates and biscuits. There was a huge display of something called 'Lebkuchen' – he wasn't sure what it was, but it certainly looked and smelled delicious. He noticed a number of Lebkuchen hearts hanging from the roof of the hut, and wondered if Miyagi could be persuaded to buy him one.
Miyagi had been right, he mused to himself, the markets were magical. They had been there only a short time and had only looked around superficially, but Shinobu already felt a thrill building up inside him.
He looked around as he felt Miyagi tug on his hand. The older man seemed to have reverted back to his own childhood, caught up in the excitement of the Christmas atmosphere. He pulled Shinobu to the edge of the crowd and pointed to the end of the current street of huts.
"Shu-chin, look, they've even got an ice rink! Wanna go skating?"
Shinobu's eyes opened wide. "Uh, I've never skated before, I dunno how to do it…"
Miyagi looked at him in surprise. "You've never been ice-skating?! Well, don't worry, I used to do it all the time – we get a lot of snow and ice up north," he winked. "I'll show you how to do it, you'll enjoy it!"
With that, he pulled Shinobu along, almost yanking the boy's glove off as he practically ran across the snow to reach the ice rink. Miyagi paid at the kiosk for two tickets and the hire of skates for him and Shinobu, and they perched on the edge of a nearby bench to change their shoes.
Miyagi really did seem very at ease in the skates. Shinobu didn't feel nearly so secure and clung on to Miyagi as they wobbled over to the edge of the rink, anxious that his ankles might buckle.
Miyagi stepped confidently onto the ice and turned, helping Shinobu out onto the rink. The boy's legs immediately splayed, and Miyagi grabbed him, laughing loudly as Shinobu struggled to bring his feet back together and stay upright.
A look of panic slid over Shinobu's face as he hung onto Miyagi for dear life.
"Don't you dare let go, Miyagi!" he warned.
"Don't worry, Shinobu-chin, I said I'll look after you," Miyagi soothed. "Try and stand up properly, and don't lean back quite so much, you'll fall on your bum."
"I am trying!" Shinobu whined.
"I know! You're doing very well," Miyagi lied, an amused smile ghosting over his lips. "You'll find it a bit easier though if you bend your knees and lean forward slightly."
He lurched as Shinobu, trying to follow his advice, stumbled forward, hitting him in the chest with his hard head.
"Ok, don't lean forward quite so much!" he gasped. "You don't need to be bent over, Shinobu! Just try to keep your weight forward a bit, rather than leaning backwards. You'll get the hang of it in no time, I promise. Now, just hold on to me, ok?"
Miyagi moved to Shinobu's side and offered his arm for the boy to hang on to. He pushed away from the edge gently and started to lead the wobbling boy around the rink. Shinobu gasped and squeezed Miyagi's arm tightly. He wasn't at all sure that he liked the feeling of slipping and sliding across the ice like this. It just didn't seem natural!
"Miyagi, slow down, stop going so fast!" he squeaked.
Miyagi looked round incredulously. "Shinobu, I'm not going fast at all. Look at the other people, they're all overtaking us!"
"You're still going too fast." Shinobu insisted.
"Hmm. Well, I'll show you what fast is, and then we'll see if you keep complaining."
Miyagi took hold of Shinobu's hand, gripping it tightly, as he suddenly took off, pulling the yelling boy behind him.
"Miyagi! Miyagi, stop it! Please!" Shinobu begged, his eyes squeezed shut with fright. "Ok, ok, you were going slow before, please just stop!"
Satisfied, Miyagi slowed down to a stop and turned to the panting boy. Shinobu slowly opened his eyes, glaring at his cruel lover.
"Big show-off!" he grumbled. Miyagi merely raised an eyebrow.
"You want me to show off, do you? Ok then!"
He dropped Shinobu's hand and darted off, joining the other skaters as they flew around the rink, skating fast and occasionally dropping in little twists and turns on the ice. As he looked round, Shinobu suddenly realised a very alarming fact: not only had Miyagi abandoned him, but he had left him in the very centre of the rink!
Shinobu felt himself start to panic again as he realised just how far away the edge of the rink was. There was no way he'd get there on his own – there was nothing around for him to hold onto even if he did manage to get across the ice on his own without falling. Besides, he would never be able to break through the endless stream of skaters, who resembled a meteor belt as they whirled around him. Crashing through that ring of people, the hard impact of fast-moving bodies and razor-sharp blades underfoot, was not a tempting thought.
Miyagi kept a close eye on his lover even as he relished the familiar, though nearly forgotten, thrill of dancing across the ice, feeling the cold air whip across his face. When Shinobu started to look as if he were really panicking, Miyagi took pity and decided enough was enough. Breaking out of the ring of skaters, he skidded slowly to a stop in front of the lonely boy.
"Ok, Shu-chin, you look like you've had enough. Come on, shall we get off the ice?"
Shinobu nodded vehemently, even as he scowled in anger at Miyagi for leaving him in the middle of the ice rink. They gripped each other's wrists and Miyagi gently guided him back to edge of the rink.
They removed their skates, Shinobu with trembling fingers, and slipped their own winter boots back on before returning the skates to the man at the kiosk. Miyagi looked over at Shinobu again and laughed. Shinobu frowned and asked,
"What's so funny this time?"
Miyagi reached out and patted Shinobu's woolly hat-covered head.
"You're just so cute, Shinobu-chin! I'm sorry for leaving you like that. I'll make it up to you."
"How?"
"How? Hmm…" Miyagi pondered. "I'll buy you a nice hot chocolate to warm you up, how about that?"
"Miyagi, what's Lebkuchen?" Shinobu suddenly interjected.
"Um, I'm not completely sure. I think it's a kind of German gingerbread or something."
Shinobu thought for a moment, then said,
"I like ginger. I want one of them."
"Oh, ok. You don't want a drink then?"
"Yes." Shinobu fixed a stern look on his face as he turned to Miyagi. "I want both."
Miyagi stared at his obnoxious little lover, then sighed, the corners of his mouth tugging up into a small smile.
"Fine… Come on, then."
He started to lead the way back into the market. Feeling Shinobu's small hands clutching the back of his coat, he reached behind and took the boy's hand in his own warm paw. In the tightly packed crowd, no-one noticed the two of them holding hands, nor would it have seemed too suspicious as many people were holding onto each other in an effort not to get separated by the crowd.
Miyagi and Shinobu reached the food huts, Miyagi's stomach growling slightly in response to the delicious smells around them; it had been a while since they'd had lunch in his apartment. He looked at the rows of biscuits and nuts set out in the open for people to pick and mix whichever varieties they fancied.
"What do you want then, Shu-chin?" he asked.
Shinobu's eyes were fixed on the big gingerbread hearts that he had spied earlier. He pointed upwards.
"One of those. The one with the red icing decoration."
"You want me to buy you a heart?!" Miyagi asked nervously. "Isn't that a bit obvious, Shinobu? Guys buy them for their girlfriends, you know."
Shinobu looked at him coolly. "You don't have a girlfriend, Miyagi, you have me. And you owe me! You said you'd make it up to me for abandoning me and giving me such a big scare out on the ice rink, and I want one of those!"
Miyagi huffed guiltily and acquiesced. Still, he asked the vendor for a bag to put it in, trying to be at least a little discreet.
They fought their way next to the drinks hut, joining the back of a fairly large queue. Miyagi was getting pretty hungry by this point, so as the queue was moving quite slowly, he sent Shinobu to get them a couple of Bratwurst. He really fancied something properly German and it had been many years since he'd eaten the traditional German hotdog.
By the time Shinobu came back with the food, Miyagi was just stepping away from the drinks hut, two hot mugs in his hands, the steam swirling off the top and making intricate shapes in the cold air.
There were a few small tables nearby, and they grabbed a recently vacated one and sat down to wolf down the food. Miyagi swallowed his last bite and took a careful swig of his still hot drink. When he put it back down on the table, Shinobu peered down into the mug with suspicion.
"Miyagi, what the hell's that? It doesn't look like hot chocolate."
"It's not," Miyagi replied simply.
"Then what is it?"
"It's Glühwein," Miyagi stated.
"And? What is that?"
"It's a kind of German mulled red wine that's brewed together with various spices and dried fruit, like orange, and is served warm. I think it's a Christmas thing, they don't have it all year round. I've only ever had it at the markets. It's very nice."
"Let me try it," Shinobu demanded.
"No!"
"Why not?!"
"Because you're too young!" Miyagi retorted.
"No, I'm not!" Shinobu scowled. "I'm old enough to live on my own, and work, and old enough for you to screw me – so let me just try a tiny bit!"
Miyagi's eyes widened with fear when he heard Shinobu's outburst. He looked around them in panic in case anyone had heard the boy refer to their relationship, but luckily no-one was paying them any attention.
He turned back to Shinobu, frowning, his lips pressed thin.
"Don't say things like that in public," he hissed.
Shinobu looked momentarily remorseful, then pasted his usual scowl back onto his face and pestered Miyagi to let him try the Glühwein until the man finally yielded.
Miyagi laughed in triumph, however, when Shinobu took one sip of the strong, heady wine and pulled a face in disgust. He promptly handed the mug back to Miyagi, who finished it off in one gulp, and took a long drink of his hot chocolate to get the loathsome taste of the wine out of his mouth.
Miyagi stared in amusement at the long, thick milk moustache now frothed over Shinobu's top lip.
"What?" Shinobu asked moodily.
Miyagi decided to keep quiet and just wait and see how long it took Shinobu to realise he had half his hot chocolate smeared over his face. A perfect revenge!
"I told you you wouldn't like the wine. By the way, we can keep the mugs – they're pretty cool, huh?"
Shinobu inspected his. It was bottle green and shaped like a boot. A picture of the market huts and a couple of skaters twirling about on ice had been painted around the middle, and the words German Christmas Market, Tokyo 2012 were written in red above the image.
"Yeah, they are quite cute, aren't they? Miyagi, after this, can we go and look round some of the stalls?"
"Sure," Miyagi agreed. "But finish your drink first."
Shinobu swallowed the last remnants of his hot chocolate and started to stand up. He still had a little trail of milky chocolate over his lip; Miyagi couldn't understand how he hadn't noticed. He considered letting him wander through the market like that, but decided it wasn't worth Shinobu's ire when he found out.
"Uh, Shu-chin – you've got a bit of a moustache there, you know."
Shinobu looked up excitedly.
"Really? Well, I mean, yeah, of course I would. I am grown up now, you know! Most guys my age have a bit of facial hair, I didn't have time to shave it off this morning though."
Miyagi laughed at his adorable, silly little lover.
"No, Shinobu – not a real, manly moustache! You've got a MILK moustache, baka!"
Shinobu's eyes widened and he blushed deeply. He moved to wipe his mouth, but Miyagi grabbed his arm, keeping it away from his face.
"What…?" Shinobu mumbled, puzzled.
Miyagi didn't explain, but just glanced around, then, keeping a tight grip on Shinobu's arm, pulled him into the darkness behind the nearest hut. He pressed Shinobu against the wooden wall and cupped the boy's face with his hands.
Shinobu really was the cutest thing ever.
Miyagi leaned forward and gently licked all the froth off Shinobu's lip. The boy gasped and spluttered under his ministrations, overcome with embarrassment that Miyagi was licking his face.
Miyagi chuckled and looked lovingly down at Shinobu.
"What's the matter, Shu-chin?" he asked in a deep voice.
"I-I can't believe you just did that!" Shinobu whispered.
"Well, you tried my wine, it's only fair that I get to taste your hot chocolate," Miyagi pointed out, smiling. Then he leaned towards the boy again and this time pressed his lips gently against Shinobu's.
They stood in the darkness, behind the lights and music and chattering crowd, and kissed each other passionately for several minutes. Shinobu wound his arms around Miyagi's neck and shivered, delighting in the warmth of Miyagi's embrace in the cold night air.
Eventually, they pulled back, dragging mouthfuls of icy air into their lungs and watching the little clouds float out of their mouths and drift away as they exhaled, panting, struggling to catch their breath.
Miyagi reached out and flicked Shinobu's nose.
"I know what I'm getting you for Christmas."
"What's that?"
"A balaclava."
"For what reason?" Shinobu frowned.
"Your nose is freezing! Plus, it'll hide your face…"
Miyagi raised his arms in defence as Shinobu smacked him as hard as he could. The scowling boy stomped away in the direction of the market. Miyagi trotted up behind him and grabbed his hand. Shinobu tried to pull it out of Miyagi's giant paw, but his grip was too tight.
"Aww, come on, Shinobu-chin, I was just kidding!" Miyagi grinned.
Shinobu scowled at him, but his lover could tell that he wasn't truly angry.
They wandered amongst the stalls for a while, pouring over the wares for sale. Shinobu was particularly entranced by the little German houses and buildings which could be lit up with a tealight. Miyagi watched him for a while, until, seeing that Shinobu had looked at the same little church with tall towers and spires and coloured glass windows three times and kept going back to it, he signalled to the vendor and discreetly handed over a few notes in exchange for a boxed model.
Shinobu looked at him in surprise when he handed it over. Blushing, he said,
"You really didn't have to do that, Miyagi!"
"Well, I wanted to. And you looked pretty taken with it."
Shinobu rewarded him with one of his sweet, rare smiles.
"Thank you," he murmured, slipping his hand back into Miyagi's and walking close beside the older man.
They drifted around the corner and came upon the area of the market which sold Christmas decorations. There were stalls with strings of lights to hang in trees; huge scented wax candles; thick holly wreaths with red ribbons; handmade woollen stockings; carved wood figurines to create a nativity scene; miniature green and silver faux Christmas trees, and a stall with every kind of bauble you could imagine.
Shinobu made a beeline for the baubles, finding not only round balls of every colour, smooth and glittery, but also pretty angels, pointed stars, little fat robins and white glass doves. Miyagi walked up behind him, and Shinobu's heart thrummed as he felt Miyagi's hot, heavy hand rest gently on the small of his back. He turned to his lover to show him one of the pretty, unusual baubles he had found.
"Should we get some for our tree?" he asked.
Miyagi frowned, puzzled. "What tree? We haven't got one."
Shinobu stared at him in amazement. "You haven't got a Christmas tree? What the hell have you done all your life?"
Miyagi shrugged. "Never really needed one. What's the point if you're alone on Christmas Day?"
"What about when you were married to my sister?" Shinobu asked tentatively.
"Even then she used to go home for Christmas Day – don't you remember?"
"Yeah, I guess. So why didn't you come over with her?"
"Well, we weren't exactly close! I think I always felt it was nice to have a day to myself!" Miyagi laughed quietly.
Shinobu frowned. "Well, we'd better get a tree as well then, hadn't we?"
"What? Why? Shinobu, I just told you there's no point!"
"You said there's no point when you're alone. But you're not going to be alone this year – I'll be there with you."
"No, Shinobu, you should be with your family on Christmas Day. And I can't come to that, it'd be weird – Risako wouldn't want me there and they can't find out about us!"
Shinobu gripped Miyagi's coat tightly and looked up at him with an earnest expression on his face.
"Miyagi – you are my family! And I want to spend Christmas with you. I want to spend it with the person I love."
Miyagi smiled at Shinobu tenderly, feeling incredibly touched.
"Ok, Shinobu-chin, I'll make you a deal. You spend Christmas Day at home with your family, like normal – and you and I can have our own little celebration on Christmas Eve. I'll even get us a tree. But you have to let me help with the cooking, understand?!"
Shinobu grinned broadly at Miyagi.
"Deal! Ok, while we're here, let's get some decorations – then we can go look at the trees in that hut over there – green is traditional, so maybe that's best. But the silver is different – it would make a nice change. Hmm. And those purple baubles over there would go really well with the silver… What do you think? Oh, and we'll need to get some tinsel! You should try and get your Christmas shopping done early this year, as Christmas trees always look best with a few presents underneath them. Otherwise they actually look a bit bare and sad…"
Miyagi privately thought that it was a good job that he'd brought his credit card – maybe he could try to squeeze a Christmas bonus out of the dean for his hard work so far this year?
Two hours later, they stumbled back into the warmth of Miyagi's apartment, arm muscles screaming and hands weighed down with bags and boxes of Shinobu's shopping. Miyagi nearly tripped up the step from the hall into the living room, unable to see over the top of the large boxed Christmas tree in his arms. Shinobu had eventually settled on traditional green.
Still, despite the hit to his wallet, he had had a lovely day out with his Shinobu-chin, and he was very glad that the boy had also enjoyed himself.
Shinobu was currently busying himself with the unpacking of the Christmas decorations. Even though it was still very early in the season, he couldn't wait to get them all set up. Even more, he couldn't wait until Christmas Eve, when he and Miyagi would hold their very own private Christmas celebration for the first time as a couple.
He trailed a long strip of red tinsel along as Miyagi hoisted the tree out of the box and attached the base, setting it up in the corner of the living room. Being the taller of the two, he took the end of the tinsel from Shinobu and wound it around the top of the tree, spiralling it down through the layers of branches. Together, they added the rest of the tinsel, a string of multi-coloured lights and the baubles, turning the plain green tree into a glittering, sparkling masterpiece of festive cheer.
When they had finished, Miyagi switched off the light. In the darkness the colourful, lit up tree looked magical, and they stood back together, admiring their handiwork. Miyagi slipped his arm around Shinobu's waist and pulled him against him. Looking down at the boy he loved, he pulled a few stray bits of tinsel out of Shinobu's honey-blond hair and whispered,
"Merry Christmas, Shinobu-chin."
Shinobu grabbed the front of Miyagi's jumper and pulled him down into a soft kiss.
"Merry Christmas, Miyagi," he murmured in reply.
They were both sure that their first Christmas together was destined to be special – and sure to be only the first of many.