Chapter Four - Part One: Happy Holidays
Misaki stood in the middle of her new apartment with her arms crossed and a petulant look on her face as she watched Hawks flit around from room to room like an excited teenager, knowing he was doing it sarcastically.
In the middle of the living room: "So spacious!"
In the bedroom: "This bed! So spacious!"
In front of the balcony: "These windows! So spacious!"
She cocked an eyebrow at him, taping her finger against her bicep and sighing in irritation, "Are you done?"
He turned his head to grin at her over his shoulder. "I'm done."
Shaking her head, she relaxed her posture and turned her head to gaze around the living space. "I agree, it is a lot more spacious than I was expecting. I won't say the furnishing is entirely to my taste, but it's neutral enough not to bother me too much."
Truthfully, it was a bit more modern than she was accustomed to, a few of the furniture pieces reminding her of the one's she'd seen in Hawks's apartment. She considered her style to be more rustic/glam with an emphasis on soft fabrics and large, plush pillows that she could sink down into after a long day at work. The couch and chairs were taught white leather, low backed with thin cushions. Not exactly comfortable, in her opinion.
The saving grace of the provided furnishings was the large, king size bed in the bedroom. It was just wide enough for Hawks to spread his wings out without his longer feathers hanging over the edge. He'd checked. Normally having so much space to sleep on would have intimidated her, but the mattress that covered the expansive flat panel bed frame was incredibly plush. She anticipated spending quite a bit of time lounging across the spacious surface.
"You've got a pretty good view of downtown, huh? What floor is this?" Hawks asked, staring out into the heart of downtown Shinjuku from behind the sliding glass door that led out to a long, shallow balcony.
Misaki sat back against the top edge of one of the leather chairs, crossing her arms as she replied, "Twenty, out of twenty-five."
He turned and surveyed the living space again appraisingly, "Pretty swanky for government housing."
She shrugged. "It's not bad."
"How's the new job treating you?" Hawks asked, turning to lean back against the door and crossing his arms.
She blew out a heavy sigh. "It's... A lot. The learning curve is probably a lot higher for me than for most people, since I don't really know too much about the hero business, at all. I've definitely had my homework cut out for me."
"Damn," he cursed softly under his breath.
"What?" She asked, noticing his sudden chagrin.
He shrugged and an ornery grin stretched across his face. "I figured you'd either fold under the stress of having to go through a background check, or the President's ridiculous expectation levels would send you running back within the first week."
Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms before commenting dryly, "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I am still employed."
Pushing off from the chair, Misaki turned and walked off in the direction of the kitchen to fix herself a cup of tea. Hawks followed after her, keeping his eyes averted as he leaned back against the counter and shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark wash jeans. She'd barely batted an eye when he'd shown up on her balcony wearing a rust colored, paisley patterned jacket over a sky-blue hoodie. Apparently, he'd taken the day off to come visit her in her new apartment.
Usually when he stopped by her house in Fukuoka it had been after work, so she'd rarely seen him in anything other than his hero costume. However, she had browsed through his closet while she'd been by herself in his apartment for the day, mostly out of curiosity about what his casual style was. She'd found it to be somewhat punk inspired with pops of unusual patterns or colors here and there, much like his choice of living décor.
As she began filling the kettle with water, she heard him nonchalantly ask, "Hey, so, you got any plans for the day after tomorrow?"
She blinked; a bit taken aback by the sudden question. Shot him an incredulously glance as she asked over her shoulder, "You mean Christmas?"
He shrugged, turning his head and avoiding her gaze.
"Not really," she sighed, turning her head back around and setting the kettle of water on the stove before igniting the burner. "I don't have any family or friends to celebrate those kinds of things with, so I usually just spend it alone."
She caught the way he cast his gaze to the ground as he nervously shifted on his feet when she turned back around. "Yeah, I always give all the sidekicks the day off and patrol on my own. This year, though, they're making me take the day off."
She cocked her head to the side inquisitively as she asked, "Making you?"
He turned his head to the side, shifting his weight again and grimacing as he lifted a hand to scratch at his cheek with his finger. "I was threatened with bodily harm if any of them saw me in the office or on patrol anywhere."
She let out a small chuckle before asking, "Why this year?"
He shrugged, looking down again and tapping the floor with the toe of his slipper as he reached up to rub the back of his neck and hesitantly replied, "They probably thought I'd want to spend the holiday with my girlfriend, I guess."
Misaki felt like she'd suddenly been doused with a bucket of ice water. Her expression abruptly fell at his admission and her eyes slowly widened. All of the color drained from her face as she lifted her hand to clutch her cream colored, cable knit sweater over her heart, which had suddenly begun to race like it was trying to beat right out of her chest. His shifty behavior, his sudden avoidance to look her in the eye, the apprehension in his voice... Had he taken the day off just to come here and drop this bombshell on her?
She swallowed heavily against the sudden lump in her throat and struggled for a second to catch her breath before asking in a soft, aghast voice, "You have a girlfriend?"
He looked up suddenly, an alarmed expression flashing across his face at her reaction. "You seem surprised?"
She slowly shook her head in disbelief as her mouth dropped open in shock. "You never said anything..."
He blinked, sliding his eyes up and to the right as his expression suddenly shifted from alarm to bewilderment and he wondered aloud, "I didn't?"
She raised her other hand to cover her mouth, her expression half horrified and half shell shocked as she whispered to herself, "Oh my god, what have I been doing all this time?"
...
Hawks, noticing her suddenly horrified expression, took a step toward her and called out to her to get her attention, "Misa-chan?"
She backed away sharply as he reached for her, throwing out a hand in a clear gesture for him to stay back.
"What have you been doing?" She asked accusingly. "Why did you come onto me when you were already seeing someone?"
He shook his head and waved his hands in front of him as he hastily tried to deescalate the situation. "Wait, wait, wait! I think there's been a misunderstanding here."
"I'll say! A pretty big one!" She exclaimed, moving around the back of him to push him out of the kitchen toward the balcony. "You have to go. I can't do this—!"
"Misa-chan, the girlfriend I was talking about was you!" He called frantically over his shoulder to her, leaning back against her hands which had been heavily pushing him toward the sliding glass door.
She stopped short, blinking a few times as his words sunk in and she slowly lifted her head to stare up at him over his shoulder. Her mouth fell open and she asked, "Huh?"
He reached up to scratch his cheek, looking upward thoughtfully. "I guess I never actually asked you out, huh?"
She continued to stare at him in muted shock, stepping back a pace as she shook her head and blinked several times before pointing to herself and asking, "Me?"
He turned around, shrugging as he tossed her a half grimace, half grin and asked, "So, you wanna be my girlfriend? Officially?"
Misaki abruptly collapsed into a boneless heap on the couch, covering her face with both hands and throwing her head back onto the cushions as she groaned, "Oh my god, I feel like a complete idiot...!"
Hawks moved to sit sideways on the couch next to her, clapping his hands in front of his face and pleading with her in a sincerely apologetic tone, "Sorry, Misa-chan! I forgot!"
She reached out suddenly to grab one of the throw pillows next to her and swiftly swung it around to smack him in the side as she berated him, "How could you forget something like that?"
He shrugged sheepishly while holding onto the pillow, thankful it had been that and not her hand she'd elected to smack him with. "It just never seemed like it was necessary. I mean, we've both been pretty clear about how we feel about each other for a while now. I guess I just naturally assumed that was the case, ya know?"
Misaki dropped her gaze down into her lap. "To me it seemed like you were more interested in staying friends for the time being."
He looked away and reached up to rub the back of his neck. "For a while there, I was. I didn't wanna try to complicate things until we'd really secured that bond. But the more I got to know you the more I realized," he turned toward her, staring deeply into her eyes as he said, "I want more."
Her eyes widened slightly, and her lips parted to draw in a soft gasp. She dropped her gaze to his mouth as she reached out a hand to cup his cheek and drew his face toward hers. He eagerly responded when she leaned in to kiss him, tilting his head slightly and sliding his eyes closed as he pressed his lips firmly against hers. Her fingers slid back into his hair behind his ear and he shivered as she leaned her upper body against him, parting her lips slightly to fit them with his more securely. Resting his hand against her hip, he matched the movements of her mouth with his own for a moment before tentatively snaking his tongue out to brush over her bottom lip. She pulled back sharply with a soft gasp before slowly drawing her lower lip between her teeth, her cherry blossom colored eyes gazing back at him keenly from behind hooded lids.
"So, can I take that as a yes?" He asked, his low, husky tone hopeful.
She opened her mouth to reply just as the kettle started screaming in the kitchen. She shot up off of the couch and said, "Hold that thought," before hurrying off toward the kitchen.
Damn. Way to build a guy up and then leave him hanging.
He was cautiously optimistic, given the way she'd just kissed him. But after his ridiculous blunder in assuming that they were already a couple, he wouldn't put it past her to leave him dangling out of spite. His apprehension earlier had more to do with asking her to spend the holiday with him than anything else. He didn't have very much experience with holiday celebrations. The last Christmas he'd spent with his family... Well, it wasn't exactly a pleasant memory. After he'd gone into hero training, it just hadn't seemed all that important. Now that he had someone he actually wanted to share that day with, he found himself at a loss as to how to approach the situation. Obviously, he'd completely botched the invitation.
Misaki returned to the living room carrying two teacups and set them both down on the coffee table. Tucking her short, black and blue plaid skirt under her legs, she settled herself back down onto the couch next to him and reached out for one of the teacups. She took a slow sip of her tea before leaning forward and setting the cup back down onto the surface of the table.
Sitting back, she carefully folded her hands into her lap before turning to him with a serious expression and said, "I have a condition."
His brow lifted in surprise and he asked, "A condition?"
"I will agree to be your girlfriend as long as you don't tell the press. I don't wanna be mobbed by your fangirls." Her expression cracked with clear sarcasm when she mentioned his fans.
Relief flooded through him and he relaxed, leaning sideways against the back of the couch and resting his head on his palm as he grinned back at her playfully, "I think you could take 'em. They're all, like, twelve, anyway."
Misaki let out a genuine laugh and he smiled warmly as he watched her. He honestly hadn't remembered that he'd never actually confirmed their relationship status with her. They hadn't really talked about it since the night he'd brought her to his apartment. Granted that had only been a little under a month ago, but considering everything that had happened since then, it felt like half a year ago. He'd never met anyone else that made him want to take the time to get to know them like she did; who captivated him like she did; completed him like she did. He never got bored of spending time with her, whether they were eating, watching a movie, or even just sitting together and talking on the couch like they were right now. He could no longer deny that he was steadily falling head over heels in love with her.
Leaning back into the couch, he asked, "Now that that's settled, about Christmas..."
Shifting to face him, Misaki leaned sideways into the couch cushions and suggested, "Dinner at my place?"
"Should I bring anything?" He asked.
She shrugged. "Only if you want to. I'll take care of all the food though."
"Right..." He dropped his head and grinned before glancing back up at her with a wry grimace a second later, "I see what you did there."
She shrugged again with a playful smirk, "Well, it is Christmas."
Misaki moved around the kitchen, stirring several different pots and pans containing a wide assortment of dishes, tasting things here and there and moving them off into serving dishes when she felt like they were ready.
A knock on the window suddenly drew her attention, startling her for a second. Wiping her hands off on her apron, she walked into the living room and reached out for the remote, pressing the button to open the curtains. The automatic drapes slid aside to reveal Hawks standing out on the balcony in what appeared to be a Santa version of his regular hero costume next to a wide, two meter tall pine tree.
"What is that?" She asked incredulously as she slid open the balcony door.
"Merry Christmas!" He crowed as he smiled broadly, one hand on his hip and the other holding up the tree.
She cocked an eyebrow at him, her expression one of grim shock. "Is that real?"
"Hundred percent natural evergreen!" He replied proudly.
Misaki was not amused. "And you want to put that in my apartment?"
He shrugged. "I'll clean up after it."
She sighed heavily and stepped back to let him and his tree inside, watching warily as he set it in the open corner next to the door. "When I said you could bring whatever you wanted, a tree was not exactly what I had in mind..."
"Merry Christmas." He grinned as he reached an arm around her waist to pull her against him before leaning down to kiss her.
She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling against his lips, "You said that already."
He lifted his head and sniffed at the air, turning toward the kitchen as he asked, "What are you making? It smells delicious!"
Misaki grabbed him by the lapels of his red coat to stop him from heading off in that direction. "You are not allowed in the kitchen. It's a surprise."
He gasped in mock indignation and exclaimed, "No fair!"
She rolled her eyes and turned them so that she was blocking his path to the kitchen. "Call it a Christmas present. You can put your tree up while you wait. It should only be another ten or fifteen minutes."
"Yes, ma'am," he drawled before turning his attention to the large pine tree.
"Really, a real Christmas tree of all things..." She trailed off as she walked back toward the kitchen. She was complaining but she couldn't hide the telltale signs of the grin teasing the corners of her lips upward.
True to her word, ten minutes later Misaki had finally finished setting the table. She walked around the corner of the dining room into the living area before abruptly stopping and blinking at the multicolored lights spilling across the floor. Looking up, she was shocked to find Hawks hovering around the top of the now fully decorated tree, hanging ornaments on its uppermost branches.
"What in the...?" She trailed off, staring open mouthed at the once bare tree, now wrapped in twinkling lights, and metallic, red and gold garland. Several bulbous, red and gold ornaments adorned its branches, and a lit gold star sat atop its peak.
He blinked down at her after hanging the last of the ornaments before swiftly dropping back down to the floor. "You said put the tree up, so I went out and got decorations. You like it?"
She continued to stare at the tree in shock. "You did all of that in ten minutes?"
"I just flew by the mall." He shrugged, glancing over at the tree, and lifting a hand to cup his chin thoughtfully. "I probably could have gotten more garland, but that might have covered too much of the lights."
"I don't know why I'm surprised anymore..." She trailed off with a forlorn sigh as she dropped her head into her hand.
He clasped his hands behind his head as he made his way across the room to her, his expression one of open curiosity. "So, should we do dinner or presents first? I'm not really sure about the order of these things."
She cocked her head to the side and regarded him quizzically, taking note of his almost childlike excitement and the way he seemed to be unable to keep still. "Why are you so jittery?"
He blinked down at her before dropping his arms and looking away self-consciously. He lifted his hand to absentmindedly scratch his cheek with his finger as he said, "This is the first holiday I've gotten to spend with someone I love since I was a kid. I guess I'm a little excited."
Misaki's eyes widened at his admission, and she felt a bit of emotion well up in her chest. That single phrase packed so much veiled meaning she didn't even know where to begin to process it. Even without knowing the circumstances, it felt like he'd just shared something extremely precious with her in such an innocently honest way. She decided not to dwell on the fact that he'd just subtly told her that he loved her, putting that aside for later and focusing instead on his other admission.
Considering her own situation growing up, she could empathize with the feeling of excitement over getting to spend the holiday with someone special. He seemed to have been just as alone as she was growing up, though she wasn't sure for how long. They hadn't spoken about his family at all while they'd been getting to know each other over the past few months. He'd never brought it up and she didn't want to pry. That was probably why, instead of feeling pity for the time he hadn't gotten to spend with his loved ones growing up, she felt blessed that she was able to share this experience with him now.
Smiling back at him warmly, Misaki said, "Seeing as dinner is kind of a present, why don't we do that first. Make our own tradition."
She held out her hand to him and he took it with an open grin. "Hey, you don't have to twist my arm. I've been drooling over what you've been making in there since I got here!"
They walked into the dining room where Misaki had laid out the entire surface of the table with food. He gawked at the assortment of Christmas themed dishes, particularly the perfectly roasted, half carved turkey in the middle of the table, in amazement.
"Pinch me," he said, still staring at the table with wide eyes.
Misaki shook her head and grinned, dragging him by the hand toward a chair. "You're not dreaming, it's all real."
"I can eat all of this?" He asked her in wonder, sitting in the chair she pulled out for him, his wide eyes still staring ravenously at the food in front of him.
She laughed as she moved around the table to take her own seat. "I'm going to be rolling you back into the living room later if you eat all of this. Besides, you should save some room for dessert. There's a cake chilling in the refrigerator for later."
He shook his head, finally dragging his eyes away from the table to glance over at her appraisingly, "You've outdone yourself Misa-chan!"
She smiled back at him warmly and said, "Merry Christmas, Keigo."
Preview for Chapter Four: Part Two —
Leaning in to rest his forehead against hers, he asked in a breathy tone, "Should we take this to the bedroom?"
The corners of her lips pulled up in a grin and she bit her lip. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she sat back in his embrace and playfully inquired, "Not gonna chicken out on me this time, are you?"
He stared up into her hooded eyes, his tone one of rare seriousness as he told her, "If you wanna stop now, I probably still can. But once we go through that door, all bets are off. Are you sure this is what you want, Misaki?"
She held his gaze, no reluctance whatsoever reflected in her cherry blossom colored eyes as she replied with conviction, "I want you, Keigo. Everything."
I think I actually fell on the floor laughing when I wrote this! I never really know how characters are going to react in a situation until I'm writing it so it can come as a surprise to me too sometimes. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
Next part's menu includes: a little bit of sugar, a whole lotta spice, and the conclusion of a Christmas that has been oh so nice.
Thank you so much for reading :)
LOLSAT