Chapter Ninety Eight: The Night Before Christmas

Yuki's POV

As soon as we got to the hotel in Massachusetts, Kyoya went to bed. Jet lag finally caught up to him. He had been going all weekend and we had been busy all day after we got off our flight. I was surprised he lasted this long, but he was the one who suggested getting the car today as well as touring and signing the documents for the house we were renting. We were able to move in at any time after Christmas day, which happened to be the day after tomorrow. There were a few furniture stores around and things I could order online to be delivered to the house. I'd be able to figure some of that out while he was asleep like any major appliances that were needed: washer, dryer, refrigerator. Given I know how to use all three of them, I doubted he'd have much argument in the ones I picked as long as they worked. I'd also pick out the TV, so we wouldn't end up with one ridiculously expensive. I'd also be able to order the mattress and bed frame. With each item that started to come to mind, I made a list of all of the things I could order. Once I finished with that, I quietly snuck into the bedroom and silently rifled through my luggage. He had probably forgotten about the holiday, but I wanted to still make it at least a little nice for him. It wouldn't be anywhere near the same grandeur, but it'd be a small celebration to the holiday.

While he was asleep, I was able to set up a miniature tabletop fake Christmas tree on the top of the coffee table in front of the TV with the gifts I had picked out for him. I decorated the little tree with a few ornaments I picked up from the Corning Museum of Glass and some mini candy canes. There were five small gifts for him. I picked him up some clothes, a portable charger for his phone, a new computer bag, a bottle of cologne, and a new notebook. The notebook and the portable charger were in the computer bag while the cologne and the box of clothing sat next to it. All were wrapped in wrapping paper with a candy cane print.

After setting up the Christmas tree and gifts, I got a pen and the list I had put together. I then pulled my phone out of my back pocket and started to order the items on the list and crossed off the items on the list as I ordered them. By the time I finished with the list, it was about quarter after one. I changed into pajamas and stumbled into bed.

Kyoya's POV

When I woke up the next morning, Yuki was sound asleep. I showered, changed, and then looked for a place to eat on my phone. I'd be able to pick it up and bring it back before she'd wake up. Seeing there was a Starbucks and a bakery nearby, I picked up the keys to the Crosstrek and wrote her a quick note to let her know that I was getting breakfast and would be right back. I'd probably never admit it aloud, but I really liked driving her car. It wasn't one I'd pick out for myself or a type I was used to having, but it was a nice car.

Walking out into the sitting area, I noticed the miniature Christmas tree and presents sitting on the presents sitting on the coffee table. I smiled softly, this was what she must have been doing last night. On top of one of the gifts was a small piece of paper and a pen. I picked up the paper, it had all of the major appliances we would need to get as well as a few other things. She must have ordered them last night. After setting the paper back down where I found it, I left to go pick us up something to eat.

When I came back, Yuki was up and in the shower, which gave me enough time to get her presents from my luggage and set them next to mine. I got her a collection of books she had expressed interest in as well as a bottle of perfume, and a new purse. In the purse, I placed a matching wallet with a few gift cards inside of it, a phone case, and a keychain. The gift cards I had picked were Visa, Amazon, Ulta - a store Kimi recommended, and Victoria's Secret - a store Sumi and Reiko suggested. I had no idea what either store sold, but both came highly recommended. I wasn't going to be using the cards so I didn't see the benefit in looking them up.

Not too long after setting the wrapped gifts down, Yuki came out of the bedroom, looking at her phone. She was so consumed with whatever she was doing to notice me standing in front of her. Amused and thankful I already set the coffee and food down on the table, I waited to see if she would notice I was there. It took her walking into me to notice I was in front of her. She beamed up at me, "Hey, when did you get back?"

"A little bit ago." I answered, resting my arms around her waist, "So what do you want to do today?"

"It's up to you." She replied, "We can go shopping and pick up some stuff for the house or at least what can easily fit in the car. We could explore the area, see what's around here. We can stay here and enjoy our alone time while we have it."

"Why don't we have breakfast and then see where the day takes us?" I suggested, which she agreed to. There was no rush to make a decision about what to do today and everything was probably going to be closed tomorrow. The most we would have to do is pick up groceries so that we'd have something to eat for tonight and tomorrow. We could pick up whatever else she wanted while we were out. While on the topic of shopping, I decided to ask, "Yuki, quick question, what do Victoria's Secret and Ulta sell? Kimi, Reiko, and Sumi were talking about the stores and-"

"What Tamaki freak out about Victoria's Secret and his precious innocent Haruhi?" She asked plainly.

"Yes." I went along with it. Was it true, no, but it was going to lead her to explaining what they were without her knowing what she got for Christmas. Her quick assumption did make me even more curious though.

"Ulta sells makeup." She informed, "I get my foundation from them. I also have some eyeshadow palettes that I got from them. They sell a brand that I really like called Too Faced, which has these eyeshadows that have scents to them. I have a chocolate one, a cinnamon one, and a peach one. It's less expensive than Sephora and I like the array of products that they have more. Now Victoria's Secret is mostly known for lingerie, but they sell other things too. They have perfume and makeup, but they're mostly known for clothing. I have a dress from there, a couple of bras, a lot of underwear… It's not cheap, but sometimes they have good sales."

I nodded, making a mental note to look online for her later. It could come in handy for later if I needed a gift.

Noticing the not so subtle look on my face, she asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Just thinking about doing a little online shopping." I kissed her softly, "So, breakfast?"

Sumi's POV

"We missing anything?" I asked Takashi as we finished setting out all of the presents in the family room that were supposed to be from Santa Claus for Hana.

"I don't think so." He replied, looking around the room. The entire room was filled with presents, mostly for Hana. Takashi and I had gotten a few gifts for each other, the baby, and we had each taken Hana shopping for a gift for each other. We wanted to do it up a little bigger since this would be the first Christmas she actually celebrated. The one downside with all of the presents was when we were placing them, we didn't put a path anywhere. We just set the gifts down and made our way outward. Presents would have to be opened for anyone to get to the tree or the rest of the room.

"What'd we do with the stockings?" I asked him. He silently pointed to the banister where the four stockings were sitting just outside of the kitchen. He must have put them there before we started setting down the presents. "You're brilliant." I smiled, kissing his cheek, "You going to bed?"

He shook his head, "I have a few other gifts to set out, I'll be in bed soon though."

"Can you pull down the body pillow for me?" I asked him, "We put it up in the closet a couple months ago and with me getting bigger, it might be a good idea to start using it." I was about five months along and I was starting to show more than I had been.

He nodded, "Yeah."

After pulling down the pillow and setting it down on the bed, he made sure there was nothing else I needed before he went back out to the family room. Within a few minutes, I was asleep.

Takashi's POV

Once I made sure Sumi was alright and had everything she needed, I pulled out the other gifts I had gotten her. I know we had said we'd exchange stockings and a few gifts, but I wanted her to have a bit more. Until we met, she hadn't celebrated Christmas that she remembered.

None of the gifts were big, but a few would last the rest of her pregnancy and then some. Just something small to help her remember she was loved. The subscription boxes I had picked varied; there was one for pregnancy and postpartum that would last eight months, there was one that had essential oils and bath products that would last about six, another box would have a fresh bouquet of flowers delivered every month until the month of her due date, and the last had candy and chocolate from all over the world and that would come every month until next december. Two boxes came today and the flowers and candy were arriving tomorrow morning.

The other gift I had gotten her, I was a little worried about how she would react. Hana had been asking her a couple of months ago why we hadn't celebrated Sumi's birthday, only mine and Hana's. The only answer she could regretfully reply was that she didn't know when hers was. I found her birthday. I was able to retrieve her birth certificate. She was born on July 21st, which to no surprise was the birthday I had been celebrating with her when I thought she was Natsumi. They were twins adopted by separate families after their parents died in a car accident with a drunk driver. Their parents were of humble means. The father was an American travel writer who specialised in the occult and paranormal. The mother was an Irish photographer who worked with her husband. Neither had any family and they were in Tokyo on business when they died.

After setting the envelope with her birth certificate in it on the table, I checked on Hana. She was sound asleep, holding her rabbit. I then walked into mine and Sumi's room. Sumi was sleeping, it had been awhile since I had seen her sleep that peacefully. I kissed her head and crawled into bed beside her.

Hunny's POV

The moment Reiko went to sleep, I took the opportunity to pull out her gifts to put under the tree and to fill her stocking with. I wanted to lavish her with gifts since this would be our first Christmas together as a married couple. Some gifts were just for her, others were for both of us to use together. Her stocking was filled with candy and small gifts. I found her a new deck of tarot cards. It was super cute with bunnies on all of the cards. I also got her some aromatherapy oils. There were a few different ones that I had picked up were Chamomile, Tea Tree, Orange Ginger, and Rose Vanilla. I also got her a bracelet with pretty pink crystals that she'd have to tell me what they were later. There were also a few candles I found that I thought smelled nice. I also found a sexy truth or dare stick game that looked like fun. The stick shown in the picture mentioned taking off clothing with my teeth, I'd enjoy that.

After setting out the gifts and filling her stocking, I made sure the house was locked up and went to mine and Reiko's bedroom. As I got into bed, I accidentally woke Reiko. She turned to me confused, "You're in late."

"I had some things I wanted to make sure were set out for tomorrow." I told her, snaking my arms around her waist. Kissing her shoulder, I added, "Do we have to be anywhere tomorrow?"

"No, both of our families know we're spending the holiday together." She replied, "Why? Something you wanna do?"

"I have some gifts for you that might be fun to try out." I answered. Hearing this, she immediately shifted in my arms to face me. She was fully awake now. Not surprising; Christmas was her favorite holiday and the presents were her favorite part.

"What'd you get me?" She asked.

"Don't you want to wait until tomorrow?" I teased, fully knowing what her answer would be.

"I don't see the harm in opening one or two." She responded.

Agreeing, I asked her, "Do you want one from under the tree or one from your stocking?"

"You pick." She replied.

"If I pick, I'm going to want to try it out." I told her, "Maybe it might be best if you pick."

"I'm okay with trying one of them out tonight." She responded, "Maybe we can try out one of your gifts too." The look on her face conveyed we were having the same idea of the types of gifts we would be exchanging tonight.

"I'm going to go get a gift from your stocking." I kissed her quickly and went to get her gift.

When I came back into the bedroom, the light was on and Reiko was sitting on the bed with a gift in her hands. I sat down in front of her and we switched gifts. She gestured for me to open mine first. I lifted the lid of the box to find an array of items. She had included edible body paint, intimacy dice, candy lingerie, pink padded handcuffs, and a bottle strawberry shortcake warming glide. I smiled widely at her, knowing we were going to enjoy the rest of our night.

Hikaru's POV

"You should get some sleep." Kimi advised over the video chat. "Your parents have that party tomorrow."

"You're coming, right?"

She shook her head, "Your parents said it was a family thing, I don't think I-" She stopped herself and rephrased, "I don't want to intrude."

"You're not." I insisted, "Carmen and her mother are coming, I should be able to bring you too."

"Carmen is also engaged to Kaoru, so I think it's a little different."

"It's not to me." I told her, "They're not even dating. They barely spend any time together. At least you and I are in a relationship, they're not. They're not in a relationship."

"Hikaru, it's okay." She replied, "Have fun with your family. Haruhi and Ranka have been kind enough to include me in their holiday plans."

Being kind wasn't the reason why they were doing it. She's been living there since she was kicked out of her house because of her relationship with my family. They were being nice when they let her stay, now it was because she was family.

I sighed, "Are you busy tomorrow night?"

"I don't think so, most of the things Ranka was talking about were in the morning."

"You up for doing something?" I asked her. If I couldn't take her to that stupid party, I was going to do something with her afterward.

"Sure, what do you want to do?"

"I'll let you know what I pick you up."

"You have no idea, do you?" She asked. I smiled lightly, she knew me so well.

"Not a clue." I admitted, "I'll figure out something before I arrive."

She smiled, "You always do."

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay."

After she went back inside the Fujioka apartment, we hung up. I leaned back against my headboard, picking up her stocking from the nightstand. She and I both agreed for our first Christmas as a couple we'd exchange stockings with the weirdest gifts we could find to try to outdo each other. The winner would pick what we'd do together for New Years. I found pickle flavored candy canes, a knife set with all of the blades having a different cosmic or galactic image on it, game beef jerky, a cat sushi keychain, a Yoda toothpaste topper, a miniature lamp in the shape of croissant, bandages with shakespearean insults, and a magic wand remote control. I got her something nice on top of all of the gag gifts, I wasn't going to just give her the stocking even though that's what I agreed to. I made her a dress. Designed it and had someone who worked for my mother check my handiwork after I sewed it myself. It was sitting in a clothing box with a necklace that I thought would pair with it. I was a bit nervous about the dress, it was the first one I had ever made on my own based on one of my sketches. Kimi loved my sketches and she had gushed about the sketch for this dress. I just hoped the dress lived up to the sketch.

After placing the stocking back down on the nightstand, I turned out the lights. I watched a few videos on YouTube and looked up places open tomorrow. Within a few minutes after finding a plan for tomorrow, I felt myself falling asleep.

Tamaki's POV

Sighing in relief that I was finally back home, I sat down on my bed trying to process the night. I hated dinners with my father and grandmother. Holidays were supposed to be about celebration, ours never were if we spent them together. This had been the first family dinner we had had since Yuki had left. While I was sad that she left without saying at least where she was headed, they were angry that they lost their family merger because she ran off. I knew that she wouldn't have left if they had paired her with the right Ootori, but I had to remain silent. No argument would help either of us here. It would seem instead of the merger they wanted, they ended up with one that would probably benefit neither.

The only time I had spoken throughout the whole dinner had been when they asked if I knew where she was. Father asked if she ran off with someone. My grandmother, obviously knowing about the relationship between Yuki and Kyoya, slyly added that she had heard that he was overseas for the holidays to look at universities and asked if there was ever anything between them.

Being the loyal friend and brother I was I told her that the only relationship that I knew of between them was friendship and that i had no idea where Yuki went or if those two were even close enough friends that Kyoya would see her if he even knew where she was since most of the time I saw them arguing about something or other. It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a bold face lie either. They did start out as friends and I don't know when or how their relationship started. They did bicker from time to time as well as argue, but they did enjoy their time doing a lot of other things too. I don't even know if all of their arguments were actually real. I didn't know where Yuki went, she had decided not to tell me. I did know Kyoya went after her though. Both Grandmother and Father had accepted my answer without argument however. They no longer had to bother with her anymore, which was all they really saw her as anyway. They knew they'd find another family to merge ours with using me as their new pawn.

As long as one of us got what we wanted, I didn't care. I'm the one who's inheriting everything. If that meant to balance our lives out that I had to be the one in the arranged marriage, I'd find a way to deal with it. At least one of us would be happy. After everything that Yuki's had to deal with, I'm glad it's her.