Here we go, this is for yam and parkerbear!
December was upon Tokyo. Cold air nipped at exposed noses; glasses fogged up when entering buildings. Car-owners had to scrape windshields before they left for work. Students shivered on their way to school in the morning. And Kyoko had a problem.
That problem was named Tsuruga Ren and his insistence on giving her gifts, despite the fact that they were not dating.
It had started early in the month, on the 2nd. She had not known then what was coming. He had given her a ride home and, just before she got out of the car, he had handed her a small, plush dog. It was adorable, and had a tag identifying it as Princess. "Happy Mutt Day!" he'd said, and then bid her goodnight. She was standing inside of the Daruma-ya before she understood what had happened. She fell asleep cuddling Princess, not sure what to think about the sudden present, or what it could mean.
Two days later, on the 4th, they had eaten lunch together at LA Hearts. They had had a lovely lunch (he had even eaten without too much badgering on her part!). She had thanked him for the dog plushie and said it was not necessary for him to give her gifts, which he waved off gracefully. He even had the audacity to laugh when she had guessed that it was an early birthday present. He left her sitting there, huffy, when he said he had to go. When she checked her bag later, she found some pear-shaped cookies with a label reading Happy Pear and Cookie Day! in Ren's handwriting. They were delicious, so she knew he had bought them somewhere.
He had gotten her again on the very next day, even though she had not seen him on the 5th. She had found a beautiful, rose-shaped bath bomb in her locker, again with a note from him. Apparently, it was Bathtub Party Day. Kanae had come in and asked why her face was so red, then rolled her eyes at the answer. She had gone to get changed, muttering about saps.
On the 7th, she had thought she was safe until she got back to the Daruma-ya and unpacked her bag. Sometime during their commute, he had slipped a little tin of cotton candy-flavored hard candies into her bag. It had a pink fairy on the front. The note read, Happy Cotton Candy Day! Did you know it's called fairy floss in Australia? She had decided that she would keep her sewing needles in the tin once she finished the candy, but still wished that he would stop. There was no way she would be able to pay him back for all of this, even if she made him a bento the next day. (She had, and Yashiro got one, too.)
She had a couple days' reprieve before the next gift. Foolishly, she had thought he would stop. But on the 11th, she had stepped into Yashiro's car to find Ren playing with a kaleidoscope. She had been too baffled to scold him as she buckled herself in next to him. "Did you know it's Kaleidoscope Day?" he had asked. She had admitted that she did not know such a holiday existed, and then asked if President Takarada had invented it. He had laughed so freely and happily at that suggestion that she had been too busy trying not to melt to resist when he pressed it into her hand. It had not been until later, when she went to leave the car, that she realized that it was still in her hand. She had tried to hand it back to Ren, who just smiled at her and told her to keep it, and that he didn't have time to argue since he had to get to work. She had puffed out her cheeks in frustration, but had to give in for the sake of professionalism.
The assault of gifts had not stopped on the 12th, when a beautiful potted poinsettia was delivered to the Daruma-ya with a note in very familiar handwriting declaring that it was Poinsettia Day. Okami-san had just smiled and patted her cheek when Kyoko had, stuttering and blushing, suggested they put it out as a decoration in the restaurant. Taisho had stared at it with an unreadable expression before going to get the kitchen ready for the day.
The 16th had found her trying to turn away a gift of chocolate-covered strawberries. "But Mogami-san," he had protested, "it's Chocolate-Covered Anything Day!"
"You don't even like sweets!" she had replied. "And you've been giving me things all month!"
"It's only been half a month, and not even that. They're really good." He pressed the box into her hands. "Even I like these."
"Then you should eat them!" She had tried to give them back, but he put his hands behind his back.
"I got a box earlier," he had said, and she squinted at him, knowing that he must have been talking about the box in her hands. She had lost that argument when, again, Yashiro told Ren that it was time to leave for work. She had grumbled all the way to the LoveMe room.
December 20th was Games Day, apparently. At least, that was what the little note attached to The Tea Dragon Society Card Game had said. It was another one that he had hidden in her bag, probably because he knew that she would refuse it. It looked like a fun game, and the art was adorable, but it was too much. All of this was too much! She had called him that night and told him as much in a voicemail, thanking and scolding him in the same breath. He had texted back an unintelligible emoji.
The very next day, she had woken up to find a package addressed to her sitting on the counter. Happy Winter Solstice, read the note. I thought these would look cute to light up your room. It was a box of icicle lights. He had never seen her room, but he was right. She had not really spent much time or money to decorate her room; any spare money left over from paying her debts went to her craft supplies and the general upkeep that being a girl requires. Aside from the posters and a few pictures, her walls were kind of sparse. She had asked permission from the taisho, and then hung them up that night. It was incredibly sweet, even if he was still spending money on her. Princess's glass eyes twinkled up at her from her futon. She had called him to thank and scold him, then asked if she could come cook for him on the 25th. She admitted with apologies that she had not bought him anything, since they were not dating, but still wanted to do something for him. She had been planning to anyway, but felt even more indebted to him now that he had smothered her in gifts.
That brought her to today, the 25th, also known as Christmas and her birthday. She had spent some of the previous morning with Maria-chan, who had then spent the evening with her father. She had worked this morning, then spent the afternoon with Kanae ("Who eats ice cream when it's this cold, Kyoko? ...Fine, it's your birthday. Just this once, okay?"). Now she was standing in Ren's kitchen, cooking. She was determinedly not looking at the pretty new apron hanging from a previously unused peg on the wall. It was patterned to look like Cinderella's ball gown, and even had a glass slipper stitched on the chest. It was beautiful and she refused to wear it. One, because it might get dirty, and two, because he had bought her way too much this month. This year, even!
"I get the impression that you're mad at me," he said, leaning against the doorframe. "Did I do something wrong?"
She paused her chopping and gaped at him. "Are you - are you serious?"
"Yes?" He looked so lost.
"That - you -" Her cheeks flared as she tripped over her words. "You've been giving me too many presents! You're wasting your money - we're not even dating yet!"
His heart did a little happy dance at that yet. "There haven't been that many. And I'm entitled to spend my money however I deem fit."
"It's too much!" she insisted.
He gave a giant, annoying shrug. "It's in the spirit of the season."
She pursed her lips. Stupid shrug. "Christmas is for couples, Tsuruga-san."
"And for giving presents to people you like," he said easily.
Her blush crept onto her ears. "You say that so easily…."
"It's true." He smiled at her, and she had to look away. "Besides, it's part of your training."
She looked up at him, baffled. "My training?"
"Part of being a celebrity is learning how to accept gifts gracefully. It's absurd, but the more well-known and successful you are, the more likely people are to give you things. So you need to start learning now." He nodded, very proud of himself for coming up with this excuse. "We can work on compliments next."
She gaped at him again. One of her grudges, snoodled up in its protective outfit, gently closed her mouth before hiding again. Was that really why? She should feel relieved, but instead felt a little let down. "Oh… thank you."
"You're welcome. I hope you liked them."
"I did," she admitted, her cheeks now a fetching shade of pink. "I just don't know how I'll ever repay you."
He had to hold himself back from walking over and hugging her. She just looked so cute and domestic here, in his kitchen, blushing over presents he had given her. They were not even pricey (he knew she would not accept them), but they made her happy. "That's the perk of gifts: you don't have to."
"I do, though!" she insisted, and started chopping again.
"Have you ever considered the fact that I like giving you presents?"
The look on her face said that she clearly had not.
"I do." He looked down at his feet for a moment. It felt odd, being able to say this aloud. He, too, found himself tripping over his words. "I know it's not - well, it's not what you're used to, but I like showing that I care through gifts. So I just - just wanted to give you little things to make you smile."
"They did." Chop-chop-chop. "I just… like you said, I'm not used to it. There were too many."
"Sorry," he said, and almost meant it. He did not regret the gifts, but did not want to make her uncomfortable.
"All I really wanted for Christmas was to spend some time with you," she said softly. "I don't need anything else."
It was his turn to gape, and he was sure that he was blushing now, too. "Me, too," he finally choked out. She looked up at him with her cutie-honey smile, and he had to excuse himself to calm down.
After dinner, he brought out two more packages. "No!" Kyoko protested. "You've already given me so many presents this month!"
"Those were little things. These are your real presents. One for your birthday, and one for Christmas. Happy Birthday." He handed her the first package, which was wrapped in blue paper with Happy Birthday written all over it. For good measure, he gave her puppy-dog eyes. She gave up and started unwrapping it. When she took off the sticky bow, he gave in to his impulse and stuck it to the top of her head.
She blinked at him, bewildered, and reached up to pat it. "Tsuruga-san…?"
"Sorry," he chuckled. "Tradition. Keep going, please."
She giggled, and he felt his heart squeeze. "Okay." She picked carefully at the wrapping paper, being careful not to tear it so she could save it. Finally, she found… a leatherbound book. She glanced up at Ren, confused, and he gestured for her to open it. The words inside were hand-written calligraphy, complete with little illustrations along the sides. It was an illuminated manuscript… of fairy tales. She carefully turned the pages, feeling like she should not be allowed to touch it. There was Cinderella, in pride of place as the first story - and the drawing looked very familiar. When she was a servant, her hair was long and dark, but when she was a princess, it was cropped and lightened to almost an orange color. The princess's golden eyes shone on the page. And the prince was - "Corn?" she whispered, her fingers tracing the inked green eyes.
"You said he was a fairy prince. It seemed appropriate." There was a complicated expression on his face that she could not quite read.
"Thank you," she whispered, quickly wiping away a tear before it could get on her book. Her book. It was hard to believe. She reverently put it on the coffee table in front of them. "It's so beautiful."
"Here, open this one, next," he said after a few moments, handing her a thin, flat package. "It's your Christmas present."
"You can't!" She tried to press it back into his hands.
"I already have." He pouted again. "Please don't make me return it. It'll be really awkward."
She looked away, but did not protest further. Deft fingers unravelled the wrapping paper to reveal a box that was clearly from a jewelry store. She froze. Maybe he just reused a box, she thought. It's just - just a handkerchief or something. He did not get me -
He got her a necklace. A beautiful necklace with moonstones shaped like raindrops that dangled from the center chain. The stones caught the light, showing off a rainbow sheen. She stared at it, as solid as the gems.
"Do you not like it?" he asked nervously.
She continued to stare at it mutely. Did she not like it? What kind of stupid question….
"I can exchange it for another one if you don't like it."
She managed to find her voice before he offered her more jewelry. Jewelry, the type of present you gave to a romantic partner. "I love it," she whispered. "Thank you."
He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad."
"I don't - I don't have a gift for you," she whispered.
"You cooked us a lovely dinner," he countered. "That's more than enough." He dared to catch her hand, making her entire face turn red. "Really."
Her brain was overheating. Her grudges were screaming. She could not think. "Okay."
He smiled at her, and later she would swear she did not remember how they got from there to watching a Christmas movie on the couch. Or how it got so late that she started nodding off. She would not remember the suspicious crashes coming from the guest room when Ren went in there to "tidy up."
She would, however, remember waking up to an avalanche of presents from the closet at 3 A.M., because it made her wake up with a shriek. Ren came running into the room and flicked on the light, then winced when he saw the presents strewn across the floor. Then winced again when Kyoko noticed that every single one of them was addressed to her.
"Okay, maybe I went a little overboard on presents…" he offered, kneeling down to start picking them up.
"A little?" Kyoko squeaked.
"I, um, was planning to find more excuses throughout the year, if it helps? I'm not insane enough to try to give these to you all at once." Yet.
Kyoko just buried her face in her hands and wondered, not for the last time, what she had gotten herself into by falling in love with this man.
Merry Christmas if you celebrate it! If not, I hope you enjoyed this little romp anyway. :)