Chapter 20 (Emi)

It's Christmas Day. We're taking the day off of running for the holiday, so we actually slept in a little. When I wake up Hisao has his arms around me and it makes me want to go right back asleep. However, it turns out he's also awake.

"Hey there, I hope I didn't wake you up. I got up a little before you and couldn't help but snuggle you." He punctuates his sentence with a kiss on the back of my head.

I giggle, "This is a really great way to wake up, so I don't mind. It's probably time to get up anyway." I turn around to kiss him, and it's only now that I notice that Hisao is sporting some morning wood. I'm nervous about doing stuff here, but I think maybe if I just do something for him, we can keep things quiet enough.

I brush my hand against him through his boxers and feel it twitch in response. "Hisao…do you want me to…?"

He blushes. "I do, but given where we are I'm not sure we should."

"Okay, that makes sense. That's mostly how I've felt too since we've been here. But seeing you like this has me rethinking things. So If you do want me to do something for you, I think we can make sure you're quiet enough."

He thinks about things for a moment and ultimately gives in to his desires, which I am thankful for because I really want to make him feel good. He nods, and I start rubbing him through his boxers while we kiss. I listen to the cute sounds he makes while we kiss, enjoying that I'm making him feel this way.

Before long, I've removed his boxers entirely. We both lay with our backs against the headboard. I'm snuggled into his side while I continue to stroke him. As I feel him gradually getting closer, I realize that I'm really going to need to plan things out a bit. We don't want to make a mess for obvious reasons, and I need to find a way to keep him from being as loud as he usually is when he finishes.

As I continue stroking him, I come up with a solution to both of these problems. First, I move more to his side and I put my mouth around his most sensitive place and flick my tongue around the head. I continue stroking him from below as I do. I continue getting him closer and closer, until I know from his breathing that his climax is imminent. This will keep there from being a mess, but we still have another problem, as Hisao is gradually getting louder.

I reach up and put my hand over his mouth as I increase the speed and intensity of my actions. He looks a little confused at first, but then all the pleasure he's experiencing keeps him from being able to think about it.

His legs start to shake, and he begins moaning and grunting fairly loudly, though he is trying to muffle himself. My hand helps too, but for a moment I'm a little worried it wasn't enough. Finally, his face contorts into a look of pure bliss, and he empties himself into my mouth. I forget about worrying we were too loud for a moment, as I focus on enjoying every drop that he gives me. I really do love it when he finishes in my mouth, something that still surprises me a little bit. It's something I tried once before and I hated it and never did it again. But with Hisao I love it. It makes me feel several positive emotions. I feel pride and happiness, it makes me feel special, and it makes what we have feel special.

I look at him filled with all of these emotions and smile. He looks a little nervous beneath the post-orgasmic stupor.

"That was really good. I hope we were quiet enough."

I laugh, "We? I know I was quiet enough. I think you were, unless they were standing right at the door. I think we're safe."

I snuggle up to him for a moment and pout. "I'm sad we have to get out of bed soon."

He laughs and squeezes me with one of his arms. "Me too, but today will be fun."

I nod, and we drag ourselves out of bed and we go about getting dressed to head downstairs. His parents like to exchange gifts in the morning, so I bring the two wrapped gifts downstairs with me.

When we get there, we see that his parents have prepared a nice western-style breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and French toast. It all looks really good.

Mr. Nakai greets us first, "Good morning you two. I hope you enjoyed sleeping in a bit. It is only 7:30, but I guess you two rarely sleep even that late very often."

I laugh, "Yep, that's true. We're usually up around 5:45 to get our run in, so this is quite late for us."

He smiles and gestures towards the chairs, "Well sit down, sit down. You had good timing, your mother has just finished making us this lovely breakfast."

I smile at her. "This looks really lovely Mrs. Nakai. I don't get to have western-style breakfast very often. Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks mom."

We enjoy our meal largely in silence. I do my best to eat in a more restrained manner than I did at the restaurant yesterday. The food is incredibly good and I was starving, so its hard. But I think I pulled it off. Or at least, no one stared at me this time.

After we've finished eating Mrs. Nakai leaves the dining area to get our gifts. I'm incredibly excited, but doing my best not to act too much like a child. I'm also nervous about whether they will like the gifts I picked out.

When she returns, she has two boxes wrapped in blue and white snowflake wrapping paper. One of them is fairly large, about the size of a pizza box. The other is quite small.

"Why don't you two open your gifts first?" I hand the gifts to each of them and they smile. This is the moment of truth. Although, like Hisao said, it isn't the end of the world if they don't like them. But it would still be better if they did like them, right?

Mrs. Nakai goes first, and I can already tell she is a bit surprised by how small her gift is. She opens it and sees that it's a box for jewelry. She looks over at me and smiles, "This must be your doing dear. These two never get me jewelry." We laugh together while the two men roll their eyes, but then I add, "Hisao did help me pick them out. I hope you like them."

She opens the box and sees the snowflake earrings, and her face immediately lights up and she starts putting them on. I don't think that's a fake reaction unless she's secretly an award-winning actress. I feel very relieved.

She smiles at me again while wearing her new earrings, "You even knew I liked sterling silver."

I nod. "I hoped so at least, based on the earrings I saw you wearing."

"Thank you very much Emi. They're lovely."

Hisao feels left out and says, "Hey, like she said I helped. Don't forget they are from me too."

His mother laughs, "Thank you too Hichan."

Mr. Nakai admires the earrings on his wife, "Those do look good, dear. Now I suppose it's my turn?"

Hisao nods, and Mr. Nakai starts removing the wrapping paper from his present. When he sees it's in a box and roughly the weight of a tie, he looks at Hisao and says "Another tie I suppose?"

Hisao laughs, "You'll just have to see, dad."

He opens it, and while his reaction isn't quite as joyous as Mrs. Nakai's, I can see that he likes his gift.

"I was just thinking I'd need a new winter hat this year. This one looks quite warm." He puts it on. "Yes, this will be quite nice this year."

He smiles at me, "This was your doing too, wasn't it? You're the reason I haven't received a 7th tie in a row?"

Hisao scoffs, "I helped, dad. Like she said. But yes, maybe it was her idea to do something other than a tie."

"Well, thank you both. Now it's our turn to give you our gifts."

First, he hands the larger box to Hisao. It seems kind of heavy as it changes hands. Once Hisao opens it, I see it is a beautiful marble chessboard, probably an antique. It has silver and bronze colored pieces, and the squares are black and white.

Hisao smiles and runs his hands over the smooth surface of the board, "Wow, this is a great chessboard, and beautiful. Thank you."

Mr. Nakai responds, "Do you still play? I wasn't sure."

If he does, it's news to me. I haven't even heard him mention chess.

"I haven't in a really long time, actually. Probably not since college. But I have been thinking about picking it up again. And this will give me a good reason to." He turns to me with hopeful eyes. " Do you know how to play?"

"I don't. But why don't you two play later? I can learn it that way. And then before long I'll probably kick your butt at it like everything else," I say with a wink. This draws a laugh out of everyone, though I can see a little competitive fire in Hisao's eyes.

Now Mrs. Nakai hands me my present, which is in a small box. She must have gotten me jewelry too. I don't normally wear jewelry, but we'll see what's inside. Maybe I'll be the one to pretend like I like my gift instead of either of them. Wouldn't that be funny?

When I open it, I am stunned by what I find and all I can do is gasp, look up at the Nakais, and spit out a single word.

"H-how?"

Inside the box is a gold chain with a beautiful golden pendant. On it, the dates of my dad's birth and death are engraved, and it says "Father" above that.

Mrs. Nakai responds to my one word question, "When we left you two last night we didn't really head home right away. We went to a jeweler and got it engraved. Our son gave us the dates." Hisao reaches out and holds my hand.

"I hope it's okay dear, I have one for Saki and I really cherish it." She pulls it out from under clothing. "I thought you might want something like that for your father. I apologize if it is too personal, or you don't like it. We did keep the receipt and we could get you something else."

Not too long ago, this would definitely have been crossing the line for me. It would have been something I hated. I didn't want to be reminded more than I already had to be about the worst day of my life. But now, I think wearing something like this every day that honors my father sounds kind of fulfilling. I really have changed. And Hisao's parents clearly really care about me to give me a gift this personal. The combination of emotions is too much and I can't help but start to cry.

I do my best to wipe away my tears and speak clearly, but it doesn't go as well as I would have liked thanks to my trembling lip. "Th..thank you b-both. I l-love it…It m-means a lot to me."

I take it out of the box and Hisao helps me put it on before hugging me close.

Mrs. Nakai arrives and playfully pushes her son aside, "Let me have a turn, Hichan." She embraces me in a very comforting hug and says, "I'm glad you like it."

I pull away so I can nod to her while clutching my gift around my neck. "I'm going to w-wear it every day. Thank you." She pulls me back in for another warm hug, and I can feel a few of her own tears on my shoulder.

After that, we clean up from breakfast and have a nice lazy day.

Hisao and his dad spent much of the day playing chess. I watched for a while and they taught me how to play. Hisao won most of the games despite not playing in so long. Now that he has this chess board, I imagine we'll actually play sometimes. Seeing Hisao play with such confidence, I know this is something he would actually beat me at. But, I guess I can let him have something.

At the end of the day we have a nice meal together. Mrs. Nakai let me help her in the kitchen this time, which I really enjoyed.

We get into bed fairly early, as we are exhausted from our holiday activities and will be traveling tomorrow. As usual, Hisao is snuggling me from behind. His hand brushes across my new necklace. He takes it in his hand.

"I'm glad you liked this. When they told me they were going to do it I wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea. I have been very nervous about it since yesterday."

I reach back and put a hand on his cheek, "You know, if someone told me that this is what they wanted to get me, I think I would have said I didn't want it. But actually receiving it was different. I love it. It especially means a lot coming from your parents. Ever since the accident I have avoided having mementos for my father. As I'm sure you have noticed, I don't even have any pictures of him on display. I think…seeing how you and your parents remember Saki has helped me. I remember my dad of course, he's the whole reason I run after all, but you guys have objects that you cherish. That's not something I've ever done with my dad until now, and I think I want to change that."

He kisses me on the back of my head, "Everyone really liked their gifts today."

"Yep. It was a really great day."

—-

It is the day after Christmas, and we are going home. Hisao is about to go take a shower, while I'm sitting at the dining table.

"Hichan, we will probably have to go before you get done with your shower, so give your mother a hug and say goodbye."

Hisao rolls his eyes, but then looks genuinely happy when his mom hugs him.

He then hugs his father, "Take care of yourself son. It seems like you're doing," he pauses as he gets a little choked up, "…really great."

"Thanks dad. Thank you very much for letting us stay here. It's been really great."

"Of course! Now go take your shower, don't keep Emi waiting."

I am now keenly aware I am alone with Hisao's parents, which makes me fidget a little, especially because they are both looking at me and whispering between themselves. I notice that Mrs. Nakai is wearing the earrings we got her, and that Mr. Nakai has his new hat in his hand, and this makes me feel a little bit better.

Eventually, Mr. Nakai approaches me and says, "Well my dear, it has really been lovely meeting you and getting to know you over the last few days. We are really happy you two found each other. You are great for him. Exactly what he needs," he says with a wink.

I'm a little overwhelmed by his kind words, and the best I can do is say "Th-thank you. I am happy to be with him."

He smiles at me, and takes my hand in his. "We are especially pleased with how happy you make him. He had a very hard time after he lost Saki, we all did." He pauses. "But it was very hard on him, as I am sure you know. He hasn't looked this healthy or happy in a very long time. Over the last seven years we have worried about him constantly and felt helpless that we couldn't do anything for him. It was breaking our hearts. Meeting you, seeing you two together…it makes us feel like we don't need to worry anymore."

I feel tears welling up and despite my best efforts, a few make their way down my cheeks. Mrs. Nakai smiles at me and hands me a handkerchief, which I accept, and she adds, "You're welcome in our home any time dear, and we hope you'll take us up on that invitation any time you can."

I wipe my tears and smile at them both, "Thank you for being so kind and welcoming, and for these very kind words. I…I'm glad I've helped him. I'm glad we have helped each other. I…really love him and I promise I will do my best to keep making him happy."

His mother embraces me in a tight hug, and I hug her back. When she pulls away I see that she has shed a tear or two as well.

"Unfortunately, we have to get going to make it to work on time. I am sure we will be seeing you again. Have a good trip home."

"Thank you. You two have a good day at work."

After they leave, I break down crying. I can't believe this trip went so well. I can't believe they like me so much, or that they are so kind. I can't believe how nice their gift for me was. They think I'm right for him. I couldn't be happier.

When Hisao comes downstairs from the shower, he looks worried at first when hears me sniffling, but when he sees me smile he smiles back. I run up to him, throw my arms around his neck and pull him in for a kiss.

"You parents" *sniffle* "...really like me."

He smiles back knowingly, "Haven't I been telling you that they would all along?"

I stick my tongue out at him. "Well yes, but it is just a little more meaningful actually coming from them, Hisao."

He bends down and kisses me. "I'm glad they liked you. I'm pretty fond of you too." We look into each other's eyes for a few seconds, and then Hisao ruins the moment.

"But the real question is, did they like you as much as your mom likes me?"

I roll my eyes at him "If you're asking if your dad flirted with me, the answer is no. Because he isn't a creepy weirdo like my mom."

"Sounds like I win, then." He says with a wink and then heads upstairs.

As we gather up our things and head to the train station, we continue playfully bickering.

"You know, you're making it sound like you like when my mom flirts with you. Are you sure you're with the right Ibarazaki woman?"

He laughs "Well, your mom is married, so…" This earns him a punch in the arm.

"You know, we are going to be with them for New Year, if you'd rather kiss her at midnight, I am sure she'd welcome it."

We're on the train now. He puts his hand on the side of my face and gives me a very loving kiss., "No, no, no. I don't want to kiss anyone but you. I know we're joking around about it, but it is really nice that all of our family is so on board with our relationship. Friends too."

"It really is. I was so nervous on the way up here that I couldn't sit still. Now that everything went so well, the ride home is going to be so relaxing."

"That means you're going to fall asleep on me for the whole train ride, doesn't it?"

I kiss him on the cheek and snuggle into him.

"Yep! You're a lucky man, Nakai."

—-

We are back at my apartment for the evening after our trip. We are too exhausted to do much of anything. We have already gotten into our pajamas, but we are going to exchange our gifts before bed.

I sit down on the couch with his gift, which is contained within a small rectangular box. I'm waiting for him to emerge with whatever he got me. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing. We have never really exchanged gifts before. I am pretty excited about what I got him, and I'm excited to see what he got me. He's so thoughtful that I bet it will be good. Although, seeing how he was about getting gifts for his parents has caused me to temper my expectations some.

Eventually, Hisao joins me on the couch with a big smile on his face that I can't help but return. He has a gift bag and an envelope. I try to imagine what might be in them, and get very excited by all the possibilities.

"Who should open their gift first?!" I say with more excitement than I intended.

He laughs at me, "You are eying this very intently and sound like you can't contain yourself. So why don't you open yours first?" He extends the card to me.

I snatch it out of his hand with a massive smile on my face. As I get the card out of the paper, I can't help but giggle. It has three cartoon capybaras on it sitting in a hot tub and says "Warmest holiday wishes."

I smile at him. I can already see he put so much thought into this. Thank goodness he is better at this with me than he is with his parents. I open the card and a piece of paper falls out, I unfold it and I am delighted to see that it is a certificate that says:

"You, Emi Ibarazaki, have adopted Mochi the Capybara from the Sendai Zoo. For the next year, your donation will help pay for Mochi's food and medical care. Thank you for your donation."

I look up at Hisao, then back down at the certificate, then back up at Hisao and then yell, much louder than I meant to, "I ADOPTED A CAPYBARA?!", then I tackle hug him and give him a big kiss before I pull away and sit in his lap. "Thank you, Hisao. This was really sweet and thoughtful. We will have to go see Mochi in person some time."

He laughs at my enthusiasm, but is by no means surprised. "I'm glad you like it. You also have another little gift, but you're sitting on it now."

Oh yeah! He had that small bag. I completely forgot about that in all the capybara excitement. I climb off of him and snatch up the bag before removing the tissue paper. When I do, I see a plush capybara identical to the one he got me the day at the zoo. I pull it out of the bag and hug it to my chest.

He laughs, "I thought you could use another one. They can be a couple."

"Thank you Hisao. I really love all my capybara stuff. Now you open your gift!"

I hand him the rectangular box while smiling ear to ear. He smiles at me before unwrapping it. He doesn't quite have my level of enthusiasm, but when he sees what it is his eyes do light up.

"It's a smart watch, right? I had been thinking of getting one. Thank you, Emi." He kisses me softly and then starts opening the box.

"It might not be the most fun gift ever, but I thought having something that tracks your heart rate and activity made a lot of sense for you. Plus you can set it up to connect to your phone and it does all kinds of other stuff too."

He laughs, "I think it's fun. It just also happens to be useful. Really useful in my case. We just need to get you one too so that we can see who was the most active every day."

I giggle and kiss him on the cheek, "I did actually get one for myself too for exactly that reason! But I don't think you're ever going to beat me unless I'm sick or something." I stick my tongue out at him.

He scoffs at me even though he knows I'm right. By now he has set it up and is wearing it on his right wrist. "Thank you Emi, this is a great gift. You're 3-for-3 on great gifts this Christmas."

I climb back in his lap and put my arms around his neck and kiss him. "I'm glad I did a good job. You did great too, you know." I barely turn my head in time to avoid yawning in his face.

He laughs, "We have had a busy Christmas. I don't think I am going to get very many steps on my first day with this new watch, because I think we need to go to bed."

I nod in agreement.

This has been a really great Christmas. Maybe the greatest. Meeting his parents for the first time went really well, he liked his gift, and he got me such nice gifts. I snuggle my two capybaras as he holds me from behind and I drift off to sleep a very happy Emi.