To yellow 14: I've seen a couple people get foreign-language tattoos, thinking they know what it means, only to find out they're a little off!
To Lyger 0: *sips coffee*
To Butterfly: The date-rape-drug-detecting nail polish! That was "The Honey Bee," when they went undercover. That was a real product at one point, but the company that made it shifted to a different device. I do enjoy being able to work in all those fun tidbits. Even if every so often it unintentionally sounds like an infomercial.
After spending a couple hours walking around the park together and looking at the other booths, Luka bought them green tea to warm their hands, along with a bag of wagashi to share as they wandered toward the tower. Kagami slipped a couple reindeer-shaped pieces into her purse for the Kwamis, humming in contentment as they walked through the doors into FootTown, the large building under the "foot" of the tower.
"If we come back at night, this will be all closed up," she pointed out as they entered.
"I'll follow you," he assured her, sliding his hand down to her waist and letting her precede him up the stairs.
Casually they strolled through the art gallery, looking at a display of black-and-white photographs showing daily life in the rural parts of the country. Kagami led him across the way to the gift shop, where he found a display of Hello Kitty dolls wearing Ryoku's mask. "You made it all the way to Japan?" he wondered, cocking his head in surprise.
Kagami shrugged. "Adrien mentioned something about a licensing agreement with Sanrio. They only wanted to use a couple of heroes – Ladybug and Cat Noir, of course, but also Ryoku since she's obviously Japanese." She raised an eyebrow at him mirthfully. "Are you jealous?"
"Not at all," he replied, picking one up, hugging it, and smirking. "This way I can always have you with me!"
She wagged her eyebrows and leaned in closer. "As if you ever don't have me," she whispered, kissing the corner of his lips. She sighed heavily, twisting her wrist to look at her watch. "We do need to be getting back now; Ojisan's driver will be picking him up in half an hour, and it's a bit of a walk."
"After you, babe."
Almost two hours later, they had returned to her aunt and uncle's house and gone upstairs to get ready for their "late Christmas family dinner." After hanging his suit back up and changing into a nice polo that Kagami had picked out for him to bring, Luka waited at the top of the stairs for Kagami to finish changing. It only took a few minutes longer for her to reappear from her room, wearing a matching blouse and knee-length skirt. In her hands she held her purse along with a bag holding the gifts they had brought with them for her family. Giving the hallway behind her a surreptitious look, she took Luka's hand in her own, and he gave it a squeeze.
"Hi," she whispered, pushing up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
"Hi yourself," he whispered back, smiling. He could hear the flutter of anticipation in her heart song as they descended the steps together. "I'm glad we get to have another Christmas together!" he observed. "And that I get to experience a traditional Japanese Christmas with you!"
"The first of many?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He nodded as they walked past the family katana to the front room, where the rest of the family was waiting. "I hope so."
The overhead lights in the front room had been turned off, leaving the bright white glow of the Christmas tree as the only illumination in the room. Strings of paper chains decorated the dining room. Lit candles sat on the dining table. Eiji, Miki, and Shiro were already waiting for them around the Christmas tree, along with a woman a year or two older than Shiro whom Luka didn't recognize but who had to be Kagami's other cousin.
"Kimiko!" Kagami gave her cousin a quick hug after setting her bag of presents beside the tree with her purse. Luka caught a glimpse of red and green phasing through the side of the purse and slipping into the Christmas tree to get lost among the branches. "It's so good to see you!"
Kimiko returned the hug and grinned. "It's been such a long time! How are you?"
"I'm doing well." Kagami released her and stepped back. "But how are you? Oji says you're trying to get into anime?"
"I'm trying to," she confirmed, frowning. "I've drawn test clips for a couple of shows, but haven't gotten any callbacks."
Kagami furrowed her brows in thought. "You know, I have a couple friends in Paris who publish a couple comic book series," she began. "I don't know if they've thought about branching out into manga, or turning one into a manga, but would you be interested in collaborating with them on something like that?"
Kimiko shrugged. "At this point I'd take anything! Give me their contact info."
"Let me call first and see what they say," Kagami suggested. "But in the meantime, Luka had the idea for you to draw a new Japanese poster for his band Kitty Section since they're trying to expand here!"
"Luka?"
Kagami grabbed Luka's hand and dragged him over. "My boyfriend," she explained, giving him a fond look.
Luka smiled and inclined his head in a bow. "It is good to meet you," he greeted her. He cocked his head and concentrated on the strains of music he could hear from her – sad but optimistic.
"Nice to meet you, too," she replied, returning the gesture. "So this is the boyfriend I've been hearing rumors about!"
"All good, I hope?"
"Perhaps…" Kimiko's lips turned up in a slight smirk.
Kagami rolled her eyes. "You can't believe everything you hear – only the good parts!"
Miki announced, "We should not keep the chef waiting," and gestured for everyone to sit down. Kagami gave Luka a subtle nod, and the two of them sat first, followed by the rest of the family. Once they were all seated, the chef brought out a tray of chicken and set it in the center of the table next to bowls of mashed potatoes, noodles, and mixed vegetables.
Luka leaned over to Kagami and whispered, "When you said KFC was a traditional Japanese Christmas meal, I thought you were joking."
She giggled and helped herself to a couple thighs along with a helping of noodles. "It wouldn't be Christmas without it!"
As the conversation picked up around them, Shiro leaned over to Luka and asked, "What do you think of Japan so far?"
"I have not seen much of it," he admitted, slipping a few bites of chicken off the table for Sass. "But what I have seen already has been incredible."
Shiro hummed in acknowledgment. Luka frowned on hearing the warring melodies coming from his heart, though they were not quite clear enough for him to tell what his heart was saying. "There is much to love about this country," Shiro finally agreed.
"I have also appreciated the opportunity to meet Kagami's uncle, aunt, and cousins," Luka continued. "I hope we will get to know each other better, especially with how much my mom and sister adore Kagami!"
Shiro gave him an evaluating look. "I would like that."
Once they had finished dinner, the chef brought out a flat cake with strawberries on top, on a couple of which he had placed drops of whipped cream to give them white beards and hats, all surrounding a Santa Claus figure set in the center of the cake. After giving them a few moments to appreciate the decorations, he sliced the sponge cake and passed pieces around to everyone. Luka watched carefully as Kagami picked the strawberry off of her slice and popped it whole into her mouth before catching his eye and smirking. He grinned sheepishly before biting into the soft cake, which almost melted in his mouth.
Once they had finished dessert, they all retired to the front room, where Miki pulled a couple of boxes out from under the tree and handed them to Luka and Kagami. "Just a little something for Christmas to remember your time here," she explained with a small smile.
In turn, Kagami withdrew several boxes from her own bag and passed them around to her aunt, uncle, and cousins. "Thank you so much for the late Christmas celebration with us," she told them. "We so much appreciate the trouble you've gone to for us." Then she passed a smaller box to Luka.
Luka for his part reached into his pocket for a jewelry box and handed it to Kagami. "For you."
"Luka," she whispered, opening the box to find a simple locket. "You didn't have to; your present back home was enough."
Luka smiled and opened his own present, a teal guitar pick reshaped into a heart with the Dragon Miraculous symbol painted on it with unpracticed strokes. He chuckled. "I always tell you, you're my muse!" he teased, smiling warmly at her.
Kagami leaned back for him to clasp the locket around her neck and whispered, "That's only part one; part two will come later."
He hummed and raised an eyebrow at her before opening his gift from Eiji and Miki, a silk tie with several Japanese characters on it. "Thank you very much," he told them.
"We are very happy to have you staying with us on this trip," Miki assured him, looking more closely at the watch that they had given her. "And for the opportunity to get to know someone who is clearly important to Kagami!"
Once all the gifts had been opened and Kimiko had left to return to Tokyo, Kagami and Luka followed the rest of the family up the stairs to the bedrooms, their hands just barely brushing as they parted on the stairs. Kagami gave Luka a tiny smirk before turning toward the family wing, while Luka traced the way to his own room. After brushing his teeth, he turned off the light and got into bed to wait, Sass curled up on the nightstand next to his new Hello Kitty.
"Do you think I made a mistake today?" Luka asked the Kwami quietly.
"With your meeting?" asked Sass. Luka nodded. "That isss possssible," he conceded. "Negotiationsss have failed over worssse. But I do not think that will be the cassse thisss time."
"Because of Kagami?"
"Not jussst her," Sass answered. "Yourssself asss well. He wasss impressssed with you, even with your missstakesss."
"I hope so." Luka frowned. "This is one of those times I wish I could just use Second Chance for everything. Then I could get it perfect."
Sass hummed before sliding across to pat Luka on the cheek. "Perhapsss you would find the perfect sssolution," he allowed. "But perhapsss not. My power hasss that ability, but sssometimesss there isss no perfect anssswer. Sssometimesss you mussst sssimply choose, and live with the consssequencccesss."
A soft breath of air stirred a sheet of paper he had dropped on the floor before caressing his cheek. He slid to one side of the bed and commented, "Right on time," as the air reformed into Ryoku, who immediately de-transformed, lying on her side next to him. Luka's eyes trailed along her figure appreciatively, taking in the way that the silk robe accentuated her curves.
"You like?" she asked, her voice dropping to a soft timbre. "I thought about something a little more, but I decided to leave a little to the imagination." She grimaced. "That and I finally felt just how sore my legs and feet are…"
"Too much walking?" he asked. She nodded, wincing. "Your feet hurt?" Another nod. "Roll onto your stomach," he instructed her, sitting up. Starting from the heel, he rubbed her feet, gently at first, but slowly increasing the pressure to work the soreness out of her muscles.
Kagami closed her eyes, moaning into the pillow in relief. "I thought I was supposed to be giving you a present," she whispered. "But this feels a lot like the other way around."
"Do you want me to stop?" he asked, squeezing her toe softly.
She shook her head. "Actually, if you just could do this every time I have to work…"
He hummed contemplatively. "Perhaps that can be arranged," he agreed, continuing his ministrations and moving up to her calves. Finally Kagami opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "Your feet feel better?" he asked, tickling the sole of her foot.
She squirmed, clamping her mouth shut to avoid making any noise, and glared at him playfully. "Maybe I'll just go back to my room now."
He chuckled. "I knew you were only using me for my foot rubs!" he joked, lying down next to her and pulling the blanket over them both, resting his hand on her hip.
She leaned in and kissed him. "Well, you do give good foot rubs!"