MERRY CHRISTMAS Y2k5
by mentaru
rated T (PG13) for language, and just to be safe
disclaimer I dun own JO. Do I look like—well, you can't even see me, so there's my point exactly. XP
a/n Holy crap, I wrote this entire thing in a day. (Though, if you count editing, it took two.) I am truly amazed at how long it is. Please don't let the length keep you from reading, though. But I do have one thing to say about the pairing in this installment, because I'm not really sure what concrete pairing it is. When I started writing, it was IsshinItsuki, but then things gradually started forming in my brain, and it started connecting to Y2k4's story, and I thought to myself, "Oh my God, I've created a real 'fanfic'! -Psycho scream-" It really wasn't supposed to turn out that way. -nervous laugh- But it did. So just keep in mind that it's technically supposed to be IsshinItsuki, but there's sort of a love triangle going on, and no one is really "together" if you know what I mean.
.: Merry Christmas :.
"Seeeen-pa-iiiii!" came the obnoxious high-pitched call of the would-one-day-be extinct species known as Itsuki Naoya, ringing louder in the older boy's ears as the waves bounced off of the walls of the narrow high-school hall. The annoyingly cute face of said Itsuki Naoya was clear to Isshin, and no matter how hard he tried to evade thinking about it, he just couldn't seem to—Itsuki, obviously, was just that annoying sometimes, that you couldn't seem to get him out of your mind.
"Oh dear God ... here it comes ..." he muttered to himself; and just as he expected, a mere second or two later, the younger boy had flung himself onto Isshin's back, arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist. Isshin stumbled slightly, but was actually rather used to Itsuki's monkey-like actions by this time. "What do you want Itsuki?" he demanded, the question really meaning something like, "Why must you continue to jump on me, will you please get off?" The strain Itsuki was having from holding on was almost choking Isshin now, and the older boy had to pry the younger boy's arms from his neck—though for some reason, he didn't let go of the dirty-blonde's wrists.
"Weeeell, senpai, you see... Kaname and I are throwing a party again this year—"
"Please tell me it won't be anything like last year's ..." Isshin interjected, shuddering, afraid to think of the incidents that occurred at last year's party.
"No no no," Itsuki explained. "Nothing at all like last year's. Mana won't even be coming, she's visiting family out of town—and then Haruna and Kaori (-1-) decided to meet her there and go on a hot springs trip (they even got Kaoru to go). But, anyway, Kaname just wanted me to invite you ... to the party, obviously."
Isshin seemed perplexed by this statement. "Itsuki, we have basketball practice together, he could have just told me then." Itsuki made a slight move and began slipping from Isshin's grip.
"Ack ... well, yeah, there's that ... but—ahh ...!" Isshin lost his grip (probably on purpose) and Itsuki fell off of Isshin and onto the floor. "Oww ..." Isshin turned around to stare down at his kouhai, only to be caught by a fit of laughter at the look on Itsuki's face.
"I should have dropped you earlier, had I known I'd get this priceless look."
"Aw, shut up, you're acting like Kaname now." He looked up at the older boy, giving his best 'stop acting like Kaname' pout, and tried to suppress a blush creeping to his cheeks. This, however, only made Isshin laugh more.
"Oh, look at that, little Itsuki-kouhai is blushing," he snickered.
"I am not!" the younger boy argued, pouting again, crossing his arms.
Isshin rolled his eyes but diverted them to other things almost nervously. "Well, then stop acting like you're five. It isn't becoming of you." Itsuki stared up at Isshin and was going to say something, but instead let an awkward silence fall between them.
Isshin finally broke the silence, though, and held out his hand to Itsuki. "Here, come on, you can't sit there all day." Itsuki took the proffered hand and was pulled to his feet.
His eyes immediately fell to the ground. "Thanks ... I guess." He grinned and looked back up. "Seeing as you were the one to drop me in the first place." He gave a mock-accusative look to the older boy.
Isshin grinned unconsciously ruffled Itsuki's hair. "It's only coz I love you," he said, but then began walking off in the direction he had before Itsuki jumped on him, waving curtly to Itsuki with one hand. "I'll see you at the party, Itsuki. Tell Kusakabe that he better not try to kill me this time." And then he was gone.
Itsuki stared after the older boy in shock. What the hell had just happened? He moved his fingers through his hair; he could tell where Isshin had ruffled his hair, and it gave him the chills. And just thinking about what the older boy had said to him made his brain hurt.
"It's only coz I love you."
"If only you knew ..."
.: Merry Christmas :.
"Kaname!" Itsuki whined, almost desperately, clinging to the sleeve of Kaname's shirt. "Where is he? He said he would be here ..." Kaname rolled his eyes and tried to pry Itsuki's fingers from his clothing.
"He's late, Itsuki. Haven't you ever heard of that? Stop freaking out. He'll be here." With no luck of prying Itsuki's fingers by his own brute strength, he added, "And please dislodge your fingers from my shirt, would you?"
Itsuki looked down at Kaname's sleeve and blushed. "Oh, sorry, nervous ..." He slowly let go, much to Kaname's relief.
"Now come on, we probably shouldn't have left Nakaura-sensei and Amou in there by themselves for so long." Itsuki snorted and followed Kaname back into the living room. Upon arrival, Kaname rolled his eyes, and Itsuki only snorted again, and promptly cleared his throat at Tomonori and Amou.
The priest and Eraser quickly pulled away from each other, both blushing, Amou more than the red lights on the Christmas tree. Immediately, Amou piped up with an excuse for their behavior, and Tomonori made his way over to the couch and began shakily flipping through his Bible, muttering things under his breath.
"Mistletoe," the Eraser said, laughing nervously, pointing up. And, sure enough, there was the leafy green plant hanging right above him. "Can't deny the Almighty Power of the Mistletoe ... now can you?"
"Of course not, seeing as you made me lip-lock with Itsuki last year," Kaname reminisced, almost mockingly.
"Hey now!" Itsuki defended. "It wasn't that bad ... was it?" Big puppy-dog eyes and an irresistibly cute look graced Itsuki's face. Amou laughed and Kaname sighed.
"You do that every time the subject comes up, Itsuki. But I suppose it wasn't that bad." He smirked, and Amou grinned at his two friends. But even though the two were acting as they would normally, something just didn't seem right between the two of them ... Ah well, it was probably nothing.
.: Merry Christmas :.
Kaname, Itsuki, Amou, and Tomonori all waited from the respective seats for the guest who had yet to make his appearance. Kaname was bored, Tomonori was content reading his Bible, Amou was spacing off, and Itsuki was fidgety. He couldn't seem to keep still for more than five seconds.
"Would you calm down already, Itsuki?" Kaname demanded more than asked; that was Kaname for you.
"Sorry, sorry," Itsuki apologized. "I just get restless when I have to wait too long."
Kaname gave him a sideways glance. "Obviously ..."
Just then, they heard a knock on the door. Itsuki sprang out of his chair and flung it open, glomping whoever had been standing behind it, not wanting to let go.
"E—excuse me ..." the pizza-delivery boy said, rather uncomfortable with having this stranger clinging to his body. "I uh ... I think I might have the wrong ... number ...?" Itsuki, having heard that this was not the voice of Isshin, immediately let go of the delivery boy and bowed deeply.
"Sorry, sorry! Please forgive me for my rudeness." Kaname came up behind Itsuki and pulled him out of the way. Amou glanced over, curious as to what was going on.
"Sorry about him," Kaname informed the delivery boy. "Um, I think it may be the next flat over, we didn't order pizza." He gave the boy an apologetic grin.
"R-right, yeah, thanks." And with that, the boy was gone as the door slammed shut.
"You moron," Kaname said. "Itsuki, I swear you get stupider with every passing year ..." Itsuki sighed and slumped back into his padded chair. Kaname shook his head and sauntered into the kitchen to call Isshin's cell, so he could figure out where the hell the older boy was; Amou, though, couldn't help but think to himself again that there was something strange going on between the Darklore and the older E.G.O.
.: Merry Christmas :.
A high-pitched little melody rang through the Shiba household, and before his mother, or even his fiancé could get to it, Isshin snatched his cell phone from the table where he had left it accidentally. "Moshi-moshi, Shiba speaking."
"Where the hell are you!" came the heated reply of who he assumed was Kaname.
"Kusakabe! Whoa, calm down! I'm, uh ... having some ... problems ... at home ..."
"Well, we're having some problems over here, seeing as Itsuki's driving me insane—he just pounced on a delivery boy, thinking it was you. So get your ass over here!"
"You don't think I've been trying for the past three hours? My arranged 'fiancé' popped in for an unexpected—ACK!"
"Shiba! Shiba!"
"Who are you talking to, love? We need to plan our wedding! You will be mine soon, Isshin-sama!"
"What the—? Dammit, dial tone ..." He held back the urge to slam the phone back into its holder before he casually, calmly walked back into the living room. "Well, apparently, he's been caught up by some things, and he hopes to get away soon," he informed everyone. "So, for the mean time, let's play a game or something ... Any ideas?"
Tomonori and Amou shook their heads, but Itsuki piped up. "Ooh! Spin-the-bottle truth-or-dare!"
"That is so cliché, Itsuki. Any other suggestions?"
Silence.
Kaname sighed. "Fine. I'll go get the bottle."
.: Merry Christmas :.
The bottle spun and spun and spun—"Itsuki, why the hell did you spin it so damn fast?"
A loud knock.
Before Kaname could hold Itsuki down, he sprang from the floor and flung open the door again, this time making sure of whom he was about to glomp. And, sure enough, there stood Isshin—
"Finally!" Itsuki exclaimed and pounced on Isshin, squeezing all the living out of the older boy. "You finally decided to show your ass here, Isshin-senpai!" The older boy's eye twitched and he peeled Itsuki off of him, shoving him inside enough so he could close the door behind him.
"Itsuki, for the millionth time, stop calling me 'Isshin'! It's 'Yi-Xin'! Yi-Xin! (-2-)" Amou couldn't help but giggle at Isshin's temper about being called "Isshin." Though the older boy had calmed down a lot since he first met Itsuki, probably because of their Mindbreaker, Mana ...
The bottle was still spinning by the time Itsuki and Isshin sat down in the circle, and was still spinning even after everyone else had welcomed Isshin and the older boy had apologized for his extremely late arrival.
"Damn, I guess I did spin it too fast ..." But, as if on cue, the bottle promptly slowed and seconds later stopped, pointing directly at Isshin.
"What the—hey! I'm not in this game!" he protested, staring down at the bottle skeptically.
"Well, pucker up, Itsuki, looks like you've got to lip-lock with Shiba now," Kaname informed his best friend mockingly. Tomonori looked up from his Bible and sighed, shaking his head momentarily before immersing himself back into the leather-bound book.
"What! Nuh-uh, this spin was a truth-or-dare!"
Amou giggled and informed him otherwise. "No, Itsuki, every other spin is just regular spin-the-bottle." He glanced over at Isshin, who looked as red as his hair. "Sorry, Shiba-senpai, but Itsuki has to do it, those are the rules of the game," he said apologetically, albeit a little amused.
Itsuki sighed heavily, and Isshin knew it would be futile to protest. "Fine. Fine, I'll do it." Amou grinned—he always liked these kinds of things for some reason; like last year, when Kaname had been forced (by Amou, of course) to kiss Itsuki because of the Almighty Power of the Mistletoe, the Eraser couldn't help but squeal; he'd try to suppress his emotions this time—no promises, though.
Itsuki got on all-fours and crawled over to Isshin, whose arms were crossed and whose eyes were diverted to the nearest wall, and looked into the reddish-orange eyes of his resentful senpai. When Isshin's eyes glanced to meet Itsuki's, the thought crossed the older boy's mind that Itsuki looked uncannily like a curious puppy, and he tried not to snort. "Well, get on with it then," he said, adding mockingly, "or will I have to help you?" with a smirk.
Itsuki growled like the mocked puppy that he was at the moment, but closed his eyes, pressing his lips to Isshin's—and much to the older boy's surprise, Itsuki was actually quite good; Kaname must have taught him a thing or two. And as much as Amou tried, he just couldn't keep in the raging squeal of delight bubbling inside him—and, so, he squealed yet again like an overjoyed yaoi-fangirl ("Waii!") and sneaked a camera out of his backpack that no one had bothered to question; Kaname couldn't help but laugh at the look on Isshin's face: it was a combination between surprise, resentment, and embarrassment—and it was even funnier when Amou snapped a shot of the Arayashiki and E.G.O. Though, the Darklore couldn't stop the wave of sorrow and loss that came over him, but it quickly passed when Itsuki finally pulled away from Isshin, leaving the older boy almost completely at a loss for words.
"Holy ... crap ..." he breathed, and seemed to forget that Amou had just taken a picture of what had just happened.
"AMOU!" Itsuki chided, falling back onto his butt to face Amou, a look that said, 'Why in the Five Factions did you take a picture of that!' written all over his face. "You better not put that in any scrapbook," he warned playfully. After all, what could he do if the Eraser did?
Amou grinned triumphantly, putting his camera away, and Kaname laughed at the thought of seeing that photograph in one of Amou's yearly scrapbooks.
"Oh, but you two are just so cute!" Amou proclaimed.
"You said that about me and Kaname," Itsuki reminded him, giving Amou a mock-accusing look. "Make up your mind, Amou, honestly." He grinned, having fun teasing his Eraser friend.
"Well, I'm just saying," the blonde said. "Besides, you and Kaname—"
"Hey, uh, let's change the subject, huh?" Kaname interjected. And, at just that moment, with their game forgotten, Amou knew for a fact that Kaname and Itsuki had broken up without telling anyone. The only thing Amou needed to know now was why.
.: Merry Christmas :.
"Presents!" Itsuki exclaimed, nuzzling a box that had his name on it. "Oh, I love you, presents!"
They had all forced Tomonori into wearing a Santa-hat so he could pass out presents properly, and the young teacher had done it resentfully. "Oh, but Tomonori-san, it looks good on you, really!" Amou chirped, grinning widely. But even after Amou's compliment, the raven-haired man still resented wearing the stupid hat.
After all the presents had been passed out by Tomonori-Claus, the five of them proceeded to take turns opening their gifts. They let Tomonori go first, as he had to suffer wearing the jolly Santa-hat.
"... Chalk," he finally said, staring down at the six-pack of two-and-a-half-inch white chalk. Itsuki grinned widely and laughed in spite of himself.
"Yeah, sensei, for all the times you've had to throw chalk at me in class so I would pay attention—I figured you could use some more." Tomonori laughed (mostly at Itsuki) and everyone else merely laughed at the gift; it was so Itsuki-esque.
"Well, thank you, Itsuki," Tomonori said with a small chuckle.
Isshin went next, only because he was their senpai, and since they hardly gave him enough respect any other time of the year, they tried to make up for it at Christmas. He picked up a fat square package that was also from Itsuki. "Well, it looks like Itsuki's presents have just as big an ego as the one-and-only," he joked, and Itsuki grinned sheepishly. "And isn't it just ironic that's he's in E.G.O., too ..." Amou giggled and Kaname outright laughed; and even Tomonori couldn't manage to stifle a chuckle.
Itsuki, however, wasn't very amused, and merely stuck his tongue out at Isshin.
Oh God, oh God ... I hope he likes it ... I really, really hope he likes it ... I worked so hard, put in so much effort ... His thoughts were halted by Isshin tearing all the wrapping paper off to find a light brown and gold scrapbook with the characters for "Kirihara Mana" on the cover.
Isshin stared down at it silently, and everyone was staring at Isshin, waiting for him to open it. Slowly, the Arayashiki flipped through the pages, each one of them full of Mana's bright smiles and warm light.
Suddenly, Isshin slammed the scrapbook shut, not being able to take it anymore, and thrust it out in front of him, holding it out to Itsuki, his head down, looking at his lap. "I ..." he started, hesitating, "I ... cannot accept this."
Itsuki, and everyone but Tomonori, stared in shock (the priest was more intrigued than shocked) at the proffered gift he had worked so hard to make, and it seemed as if Kaname, Amou, and Tomonori were all invisible—ghosts, figments of his imagination—to him. He pushed down tears that wanted to well up in his eyes. "... Why ...?" he asked softly, his eyes diverting from Isshin to the scrapbook and back to Isshin again. "Why ...?" he repeated when the older boy said nothing, merely continued to hold out the gift.
"Please ..." Isshin finally said. "Please, I cannot accept this. I just ... can't ..." His eyes remained on anything but Itsuki as the younger boy resentfully, hurt, took back the gift that had taken his whole heart to give. He stood up swiftly and turned to the door behind him. "Excuse me ..." And he walked out of the apartment.
Kaname, Amou, and Tomonori were real again to the hurt and confused E.G.O. He felt a warm presence around him as Amou gave him a hug that he really needed at a time like this. He ... he hated it, he thought to himself. He hated it, and now he probably hates me for trying to give it to him ... But—
"Itsuki ..." Amou started, interrupting Itsuki's thoughts. "Itsuki, I think I know why you're so hurt."
.: Merry Christmas :.
After the little incident with Isshin, Kaname had excused himself from the room and locked himself in his bedroom. He knew exactly why Itsuki was so hurt, no questions asked. And part of it was his fault.
He sighed heavily, regretting all that he had done to his best friend, and let his head fall into the palms of his hands. "Oh God, Itsuki," he whispered to himself, "what have I done to you? And for such a stupid reason ... I'm so sorry ..."
.: Merry Christmas :.
Isshin slid down the wall of the hall, sighing. What the hell had he just done back there? Not accepting a gift that probably took Itsuki's greatest effort to make and to give—and he had just blatantly unaccepted it. God, I can be such a bastard sometimes ...
"Oh God, what have I done ...? What in the name of Arayashiki have I done ...?" Just then, he heard the apartment door open, and he looked up to see Tomonori coming out into the hall. "Nakaura-san ...?"
Tomonori walked to the other side of the hall and sat down facing Isshin. "You probably need someone to talk to, am I right? I can see it in your eyes. And I am a priest after all, so I think you can trust me."
Isshin stared. He guessed it would do him good to talk about it. He sighed and hung his head, embarrassed at how he had acted toward Itsuki earlier. "I ... I'm not in love with Kirihara-san anymore," he finally said.
"I could have told you that, by the way you reacted to that scrapbook," Tomonori replied calmly, solemnly. "So the question that needs explaining is 'why?', isn't it?"
Isshin nodded slowly and began, "On her birthday, I finally got the courage to do what I'd been wanting to do for a very long time ... So, when finally the time was right, I did it. I asked her how she felt about me, and I confessed sincerely my feelings for her, I even asked her if she might like to go out sometime—like, to dinner or to a movie. Maybe I was stupid, bombarding her with all these things at one time, on her birthday, no less ... But I really hadn't expected the rejection she gave me. 'Shiba ... we're just ... friends,' she said to me, trying to be as humble as possible; but it wasn't that that really broke my heart—no, it's what she told me next:
" 'And ... well, you're the first person I've told, but ... I think ... I think I'm in love with Kaoru; I ... I'm sorry, Shiba; it just wouldn't work, the two of us ...' And she bowed politely, almost mocking me it seemed, and walked away. I stood there, staring after her, in complete and total shock. But I couldn't let myself cry—no, instead, I exerted my emotions by practicing, training, and let my broken heart cry inside of me."
Tomonori stared at Isshin's hung head, and could tell the Arayashiki wanted to cry but was restraining his tears. A blanket of sorrow draped over them, and silence engulfed the entire hallway. Tomonori tried to find the words that could console the red-haired boy.
"Shiba ..." he finally said, and for the first time since they began talking, Isshin raised his head. "Your heart is broken, this I know ... And a broken heart is a hard thing to mend—in fact, I'm not even quite sure if anything in the world can completely restore a broken heart; but you and I both know that there are many things that can help mend such painful things." Eyes met eyes, and an understanding passed between the two eldest members of the five-member alliance.
Tomonori nodded. "Itsuki likes you, I can tell, and so can you." He stood up slowly, and Isshin's eyes followed his every move as the priest made his way back to the apartment door.
"But ... he's with Kaname ... right?" he asked, perplexed.
As Tomonori placed his hand on the knob, he smirked and flashed Isshin a devious grin. "Then make it a threesome," he stated bluntly, with no sarcasm of any kind laced in his voice, and disappeared back into the apartment.
Isshin stared in shock, his jaw unconsciously dropping an inch or two. Oh my God ... he was being serious! When did Nakaura-san become so ... dirty?
.: Merry Christmas :.
"It was a stupid reason," Itsuki explained, just as Tomonori made his way back into the apartment—not that the two boys really paid any mind. "But it was a reason nonetheless ... Ever since I started smoking, Kaname had always stopped me when he caught me. Stole my cigarettes and threw them away, even. And no matter how many times he told me to stop, I couldn't. You don't know how addictive it is until you start doing it." Amou waited for Itsuki to continue.
"So, last year, at Christmas, when Kaname and I were officially 'together' for the first time, he told me to stop or he'd never kiss me again—and like hell did I want that to happen, so I quit cold-turkey.
"Of course, that didn't last very long. My entire body craved the cigarettes, craved the nicotine. It still does. And that's the reason—he couldn't stand being with someone who smokes. 'You'll kill me and yourself if you keep it up, Itsuki!' he told me. 'You're already killing yourself, and knowing that is killing me.' Maybe we're both cowards, running away from something that we know could have lasted forever, but we both agreed that it's only for the best ..."
"So ..." Amou started. "How did Shiba-senpai come into all of this?" he asked, almost sounding like a psychiatrist. Tomonori was back to reading his Bible, so the two boys were practically in a private room.
"Oh, well ... I've always liked senpai, albeit he is a bit scary sometimes, and I've always liked Kaname a lot more"—he laughed sheepishly, knowing now how obvious he had been in the past about exerting his feelings toward Kaname—"but ... I don't know ... there's just something about Isshin-senpai that I can take solace in. I don't even know what it is, but it's there, I can feel it ..."
"Itsuki, I'm so sorry, please for give me," the Eraser and E.G.O. heard just then, two different voices saying the exact same thing—Kaname and Isshin had decided to make their presences known again, apparently in unison. Itsuki glanced up at both of them, seeing the Darklore and Arayashiki both bowing respectively, waiting for his response; but, he didn't really knowing what to say or do.
"I ..." he started, trying to choose the right words. "I forgive you both; neither of you needs to explain, really. I'll know when the time is right, right? So, right now I—I just want to open the rest of these damn presents already! The suspense is killing me!"
And everyone else in the room could tell that they were all thinking the same thing: That's Itsuki for you ...
.: Merry Christmas :.
"Well, I think this has been a very eventful Christmas, hasn't it?" Amou said as he gathered his things to head out with Tomonori back home.
"Like always," Itsuki replied, grinning. "And I suppose we'll be seeing you two on New Year's Day?"
Amou nodded. "Wouldn't miss one of your parties for the world, Itsuki." Kaname and Isshin now gathered near Itsuki to bid Amou and Tomonori off.
"Till New Year's!" they said for the second time in unison. They glanced at each other, both a little weirded out, but then shrugged it off.
As Amou was heading out the door behind Tomonori, he almost nearly forgot he had one last thing to tell the three remaining boys. "Oh! I almost forgot!" he exclaimed and pointed up to the ceiling at the leafy green plant hanging from it. "Mistletoe! Now you all have to kiss each other!" he giggled.
All three boys facefell. The prospect of this wasn't looking good, but they knew that if they didn't do it, Amou's wrath would be over all of their heads. So, they figured that if Kaname kissed Itsuki and Itsuki kissed Isshin and Isshin kissed Kaname, they would all be saved.
Amou stood in the doorframe, waiting. (Tomonori had stopped at the stairwell, knowing perfectly well what Amou was up to.) "Hurry up you three!"
Kaname sighed. He'd go first. After all, he'd done the same exact thing last year, and Amou had been the one to point it out then, too. "Well, come here Itsuki. I know you're just dying for another lip-lock." And, with that, Kaname, unconsciously pulled Itsuki toward him by the waist and pressed his lips to those familiar, soft, gentle Itsuki Naoya lips.
Itsuki went along with it. It actually felt quite good to have Kaname so close in proximity again, even though he knew in a few seconds it would all be over. Not bothering to return the kiss, he pulled away, as much as he hated to, but stared into Kaname's dark eyes. Amou's high-pitched yaoi-fangirl squeals were actually getting quite obnoxious and it would just be better off to get everything else over so the yaoi-fangirl-at-heart would be satisfied.
Kaname, surprised that Itsuki pulled away without even the slightest hesitant move to return the kiss, almost dropped the older boy, but Isshin saved the male E.G.O. from almost having become friends with the floor.
"Guess it's your turn, then, Itsuki. Hope Kaname didn't ware out those nice lips of yours," he said sarcastically, smirking. Itsuki blushed a light shade of red, and Isshin noticed that it was almost the shade of his own eyes—
Itsuki's lips met Isshin's for the second time that night and said eyes widened in surprise. And it was almost ironic that Amou had initiated both kisses ... But the Eraser's "squee"s and "waii"s were certainly getting louder and more high-pitched with this new kiss.
This time it was Isshin who pulled away, for he was the most affected by Amou's obnoxious behavior this round, but his lips made a slight detour to Itsuki's ear to whisper, a whisper so soft it gave Itsuki the chills, "Suki dayo ... Naoya."
Itsuki's face burned bright red as Isshin let go of him, and he picked up on the Arayashiki's thoughts—Merry Christmas, Itsuki. He hardly ever used his telepathy except for talking with Haruna, so the fact that he picked up on this made him feel extremely warm and fuzzy inside. But before he could say anything back—
"Alright Shiba-senpai, it's your turn!" the energetic Eraser piped. "Oh, Kaname, I almost feel sorry for you," he giggled. "But, then again, maybe I should feel sorry for Shiba-senpai more ..."
"Hey!" Kaname defended. "What's that supposed to mean?" But before he could get an answer (though he knew he never would, knowing Amou), he felt Isshin's lips against his—and had the sensation not felt as good as it had, oddly enough, Kaname would have pulled away instantly.
Amou bounced and giggled and squealed, but poor Itsuki standing next to them was perplexed beyond anything any high Japanese game-designer could make up as to how Kaname was reacting. Amou, seeing this as a perfect opportunity for a picture, whipped out his camera again and snapped a few shots of Isshin and Kaname. At the second flash, however, Kaname promptly pulled away, so surprised with everything that had just happened that he looked dazed and confused, as if he wasn't quite sure if any of this had just happened.
"Well, I'll be seeing you guys at New Year's! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Amou called, giggling madly, waving to his friends, and sprinting to meet Tomonori at the stairwell. Itsuki closed the apartment door and leaned against it, still in shock about what had just happened, and Kaname and Isshin were now standing as far apart as they possibly could.
"Yeah ..." they all breathed in unison. "Merry Christmas indeed."
O W A R I
(although not really, coz there's still next year)
(-1-) This is Kaname's older sister. She isn't ever called anything but "Nee-san" in the manga, so a friend and I took it upon ourselves to name her. And we picked Kaori. Of course, we didn't think about Kaoru the Mindbreaker when we thought up the name, but I still like it, and I think it's fitting.
(-2-) Since "Isshin" isn't really his given name, his mother obviously calls him by his real name. In the third manga, I believe, she calls him "Yi-Xin" but in the last volume, she calls him "Xi-Shin." I thought that was odd, the fact that it changed, so I just picked the one that sounded the coolest, and the one that Isshin would probably get more upset about when mispronounced. "Xi-Shin" seems too close to "Isshin" for him to get pissed off, so I went with "Yi-Xin."
TRANSLATIONS.:Moshi-moshi—how the Japanese usually answer the phone, meaning "hello."
.:Suki dayo—translated to mean "I love you," and is used in the male speech instead of actually saying "I love you" (which is aishiteru), as the Japanese aren't quite that outright as us Americans.
a/n So, holy crap, I didn't expect to write thirteen effing pages. But I myself am amazed. I can tell you right now, none of the above was planned. It was all on a whim. I just started writing, and that's what happened. Sorry Tomonori didn't really have much of a part, though... heh. But, just to amaze myself some more, let's look at my word count (we all know it's waaay over the 2000+ minimum)—5,095 effing words! Damn, that's good for me. It's a new record for mentaru. XD Well, now that I feel so good about myself, pleeeeaase review! I want to know how this compared to last year's (even though I already know nothing will ever be as good). If you think this year's sucked ass compared to last year's, TELL ME! Don't be afraid! Thankies mucho! And please stay tuned for next year's installment!