Summary: On a shoestring budget, Yoh wants to get Anna a good Christmas present, and finds a solution. What's the catch? And will Anna even accept the present if and when he gets it, after what happened last night? Find out in this conclusion to "Forget December."
Written: Actually finished this in a single day (12/23). Didn't publish it immediately because I wanted to get more reviews from the other story first. (Hint, hint ;) )
Rating: T for romance.
Notes: Inspired by the classic short story "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry.
Also, I will be away from home (and my computer) until 1/3/08. Hopefully you like this story enough to forgive me for the fact I won't be able to write a New Year's story like I wanted. Enjoy!
The Gift of the Shaman
Kiss #21
All was quiet in the cool pre-dawn air of the Funbari Hill neighborhood. Its darkened sidewalks and streets all lay bare, and neither headlight nor porch light disturbed the early morning gloom. A resonant reggae voice, however, leaked through the pair of bright orange headphones that floated above the pavement, making its way slowly towards downtown. Upon closer inspection, the headphones were in fact anchored upon the drowsy yet tranquil face of Yoh Asakura, its eyes sedate, gently bobbing to and fro with the soulful beat.
Another sound peeped through the blanket of silence, above Yoh's soft footfalls: the unmistakable jingle of coins. Yoh had counted it at least two or three times by the dim light of his nightstand lamp before he had left that morning. Two hundred and sixty-nine yen, all in small coins, found five or ten at a time in nooks and crannies in his room, in the dusty crevasses beneath furniture and between cushions, in pockets of pants that he had long ago outgrown.
Two hundred and sixty-nine yen—and the morning of Christmas Eve would be arriving within the hour. Yoh felt the coins slamming against his leg in his threadbare pocket, the implied parsimony of those copper and aluminum coins worrying him almost as much as their lack of buying power. He vaguely hoped for some sort of miracle as the tall buildings of downtown loomed ever larger near the horizon, but the music oozing through his headphones assuaged his anxieties somewhat. Nonetheless, he kept his eyes fixed upon the sidewalk for the most part, hoping to stumble upon a cache of dropped money, perhaps, or a misplaced piece of jewelry, in the lightening darkness…
Christmas miracles abound in movies, on TV and even in anime and manga, but for Yoh there would be none. The sun rose and cast brazen light upon the sidewalk, which he now saw was strewn with pebbles, cracks and weeds, but bereft of even a lowly one-yen coin. His mind wandered, through a web of steel drums and distorted guitars, to Anna, who had still been sleeping when he crept out of the house a few minutes before five. The pillow was still tightly clutched in her arms, its downy form nestled just below her chin. She had looked so blissful there, in the folds of her dream, and Yoh wanted on some level to make it a reality once she awoke…
Cars had begun to whizz past him as the sun arced higher in the sky, driven by last-minute shoppers hoping to find some half-decent gift upon the ransacked shelves of the beleaguered shops. Apprehension joined poverty on his ever-lengthening list of troubles that morning. Will there be anything left by the time I get there, much less something I can afford?
He would find out soon enough. Towering above Yoh now were the same holiday accoutrements he had viewed with shock yesterday, but now, even in the friendly glow of the morning light, they appeared altogether different to him. The reindeer, the snowmen, even the jolly, pudgy caricatures of Santa, all seemed to mock him as he meandered from storefront to storefront, viewing with despair the fine gifts that still remained available to those with sufficient coin…
As Yoh began to realize that his pocketful of small change would never buy a satisfactory gift in this lifetime, his pace down the street quickened along with his heartbeat and breathing. Only Soul Bob's reassuring beat in his headphones kept him from temporary insanity.
In the heart of downtown Yoh bumbled past a nondescript store, its windows barricaded from the inside with a dizzying array of gadgets and gewgaws from every facet of modern life, all competing with each other for a clear line of sight. Blenders and toaster ovens balanced upon computer monitors and printers, which themselves were propped upon chests of drawers, end tables, file cabinets, and dinner tables. A pang of grief and hesitation struck Yoh as he saw the shop and realized it was the regretful solution to the problem at hand.
He pushed his headphones back and the frenzied crowd noises rushed in to replace his favorite song. He withdrew his CD player from his pocket and popped out the disc unflinchingly. "Goodbye for now, Soul Bob," he uttered as he entered the store.
The proprietor glanced up from a computer whose guts were splayed upon the showcase to look at Yoh through thick, yellowing glasses. Behind him was a rack of secondhand musical instruments running the gamut from violins and flutes to bass guitars and trombones. "What can I do for you this Christmas Eve, son?"
"What can you give me for this?" Yoh pushed his CD player across the top of the showcase.
He picked up the Walkman with experienced, gnarled hands whose fingertips caressed its flawless surface and found each button to be in working order. The lid slid open on a well-oiled hinge and the hand held a magnifying glass now, inspecting the miniscule lens for any sign of damage. Lens, glass and player at last returned to the surface of the showcase, and the proprietor gave a satisfied smile. "Two thousand yen, young sir. Take it or leave it."
Yoh could only nod and soullessly return his smile as two crisp thousand-yen notes were pressed into his languid palm. He continued to sport the deceitful grin even as his Walkman, his trustworthy companion from countless miles run and several shaman fights that brought him to within an inch of his life, was locked into the scratched showcase beside several other CD players.
Sometimes a little self-sacrifice can bring about a lot of happiness. I just have to remember that I'm not just pawning off a little bit of myself for the sake of a little money. After all, this is for Anna…she's worth this and so much more…
It was with such thoughts that Yoh tried to fill the sudden space he had created within himself with the loss of his omnipresent music player. And he was alarmed, if not altogether surprised, at the quickness with which he could exchange a precious bit of his very ethos for a couple of scraps of finely engraved paper, which in turn he traded for Anna's present—one with which he was, if not happy, then at least content, and certainly grateful to have found so close to Christmas.
Christmas, meanwhile, grew nearer and nearer as Yoh, who had by then spent nearly every last yen of his coin hoard at a gift-wrapping kiosk, set out to return home. The boisterous sounds of the shopping mob faded behind him, replaced by an auditory vacuum. The silence was ever more poignant for Yoh, as it made him painfully conscious that he was without the music that had brought him calm and serenity in so many of the past months. Music or no, however, Yoh's distance from home inevitably diminished, and just as the last rays of sunset yielded to dusk, he found himself standing before the gates of En Inn, in the same darkness that had surrounded him when he had departed that morning. The package in his grasp crinkled as the hand that held it shook with nerve. The other hand fumbled with the front door; Yoh was relieved to find the lights on inside, but the events of last night rushed back to him then. The potted pine, it seemed, had been relocated by Anna while he was gone, but had her frustrations and disillusionment gone with it? Or were they still presiding over the room and dampening Anna's holiday spirits?
Just then Yoh had that preternatural feeling that all of us get from time to time: If you think about someone hard enough, they will appear before your eyes. All Yoh saw was a swash of blonde hair flit past the doorway to the living room, but even that brief glimpse renewed, with interest, his anxiety. He swallowed with great effort, as his mouth had gone dry, and took several wobbly strides towards the living room. "Er…Anna?"
The swatch of blonde appeared in the doorway once more; this time, at the sound of the name, it stopped right when Yoh took his first step into the room, and the two nearly collided. "Yoh!"
Is that…no way, but maybe…could that voice possibly be…happy? he wondered, but the look on her face was unmistakable. In the surprise of nearly ramming Yoh head-on, Anna's expression was anxious like Yoh's had been just moments ago, but suffused with hope and optimism—traits which had been completely absent from her face the previous night. More importantly, the uncharacteristically happy expression did not disappear even after several moments. Yoh certainly noticed; in fact, they were both staring at one another unabashedly, two anxious yet hopeful faces not two feet apart.
"I…I got you something, Anna," he said, once he became aware of how nervous he really was. His anxious gestures gave him away, really; he was spinning the plastic bag round and round with one hand while twirling his black hair with the other. "I, well, I think you'll like it…"
Yoh drew out his present from the plastic bag, which swirled to the floor. Yoh felt himself swirling downwards slightly as Anna accepted it, looking happier than he had ever dared to imagine after her devastation last night. Shreds of festive wrapping paper joined the plastic bag on the floor and Anna gave a soft squeal, her eyes opened wide—Yoh thought for a moment that he saw disappointment flash in those wide eyes, but if it was, she covered it masterfully. "My favorite actor," she gushed after a couple of deep breaths. "Santa Meets Scrooge," she read from the front of the DVD case. "This looks…really good, Yoh…"
"I thought the plot might appeal to you in particular," he offered, blushing more than slightly at her satisfaction with the gift. "Would you mind…maybe we can watch it together?"
That time, Yoh was almost sure he saw something incongruous glint in Anna's eyes, but once again it was gone before he could even begin to form a comment about it. "No—I mean, not so fast, Yoh. I got to open your present. It's only fair that you get to open yours, too."
"Oh, no, actually," he said, pointing to the potted pine that Anna had apparently moved to the center of the kitchen table, "that was the only present I got this year. So—"
"You have one from me this year, Yoh."
At first, Yoh was convinced that Anna had made a slip of the tongue, but he was distantly aware that Anna was pressing a flat, square, gift-wrapped object into his immobile hands. In a parallel universe somewhere an alternate Yoh was peeling off the wrapping paper of his fiancée's present nonchalantly, as though it happened every year; but meanwhile, back on Earth, Yoh could barely steady himself enough to get his fingernails beneath the wrapping paper of his first-ever Christmas gift from her.
Convinced that it was all really happening, Yoh looked down at the now-unwrapped object in his trembling hands and felt as though he had just won an all-expenses-paid funeral service in the lottery.
"The—the new Soul Bob CD?" Yoh asked incredulously, and not just out of disbelief that Anna had gotten it for him…
"Yeah, isn't it great?" Anna asked, and she looked genuinely happy for Yoh. "I was surprised they weren't all sold out. I hope you like it!"
Yoh saw Anna's earnest face and couldn't bear to let her down. "Yeah, Anna. It's great. But let's go watch Santa Meets Scrooge, it's—"
"Oh Yoh," Anna rebutted, a little more strongly than she meant to, "I watch too much TV as it is. Why don't you give the new Soul Bob a listen first?"
Yoh sighed. He placed the CD upon the kitchen table and grasped his headphones with both hands. "Don't be upset, Anna," he began, his voice quivering with his hands, "but…" He lifted them off of his head and drew the cord out from his pocket, revealing that it was connected to nothing. "I sold my CD player to get the money for your present.
"But never mind that. It's the thought that counts, Anna. I can't believe you got me this CD. Now let's go watch that movie, what do you say?"
A number of emotions rushed through Anna at Yoh's confession, but all she could muster was a feeble shake of her head. "Money's always tight around here, I guess. I pawned the DVD player to scrape up the cash to pick up your CD." She placed Santa Meets Scrooge on the table next to the CD and Yoh's headphones, and met Yoh's thunderstruck gaze.
"Really…you…no…but…" He still couldn't quite wrap his head around the situation. Anna making so grave a sacrifice just for his sake? But that's exactly what he had done for her that afternoon… "You didn't have to—I mean, that's wonderful—err, it sucks actually, how neither of us can use the presents, but—"
"Screw the presents." Anna stood just inches from Yoh now, and despite everything that happened, he could see clearly the easy smile that graced her countenance. Smiles complemented her already attractive face very well, on the rare occasions they appeared there, and he returned the gesture despite himself.
"Yoh, I should have listened to you last night. You were right about everything." She nestled one arm behind his back, then the other, and Yoh felt his knees buckle, from her words as well as her touch. "You are the best friend I could ever have, the only one I will ever need." Her arms, as they had around the pillow the other night, now tightened around him, and Yoh then realized his own arms, still stiff from yesterday's gym session, were likewise clasping behind Anna's back. She drew her head back slightly and saw Yoh's face. Without his signature headphones he looked somehow older, or maybe she was simply coming to realize that the often spacey young man to whom she was betrothed had, at times, wisdom and compassion far beyond his fifteen years—but in any case, it was a handsome look. Her hands loosed their grip upon his warm back and took up a tender residence on either side of his face.
"You are the only present I need, Yoh."
She saw Yoh's eyes transfixed upon her face, and noticed his face turning a delicate shade of pink. He looked as though about to speak, but he saw Anna's eyes shutting gently, and they pulled nearer to his face, and then—
Yoh staggered a bit when he felt the softness against his lips, but in the gentle yet secure embrace of Anna he merely swayed slightly, and pressed his body against hers. Together they warded off the winter's chill, and Yoh felt the vacancy from his CD player filling with a warmth that intensified as their lips and tongues glided upon each other. Anna's hair tickled Yoh's face, and even from those few strands he could tell it was back to its usual vibrancy, as was the rest of her. It filled him with an indescribable elation, one that Anna could detect upon her lips, until at last they ceased.
"Merry Christmas, Anna," he whispered.
She was, however, not looking into his eyes anymore, but rather over his shoulder. He raised his eyebrows in puzzlement, until her hands grasped his shoulders and turned him around. With arms on shoulders they looked out the window; flecks of pure white were beginning to descend upon the moonlit lawn. "Let's make this a habit, Yoh," she said with a smile. "Merry Christmas."
"Agreed," he replied, brushing her cheek with his fingertips affectionately. "But let's not make selling our own stuff to buy gifts a habit. Okay?"
"That's absolutely fine with me."
And it was fine as they stood there into the night, watching the streets and yards fill up with snow. The cold slipped in through the cracks under the windows and doors, but they paid little mind, since they basked in the warmth of the holiday spirit, their tingling bodies and, most important of all, their love for one another…
From me to you,
without whose support I never would have written this,
or any of the other stories, for that matter…
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!