[Takarazuka] Christmas Traditions, written by Anita

Christmas Traditions
Author: Anita
Fandom: Takarazuka Kagekidan
Characters: Shimon Yuriya / Ryuu Masaki
Genre: Romantic Comedy, shoujo-ai
Rating: G
Status: complete
Summary: It’s Christmas Eve and Shimon is lining up to buy the Christmas combo when she meets Masaki.

Christmas Traditions

Exhaling hot breath against my bare hands, I stared up at the sky and wondered why we couldn’t at least have a white Christmas. Another step in line and I was still nowhere closer to the counter.

  Around me, some couples seemed to have forgotten they were lining up on the street for the traditional Christmas combo of a fast-food chain, and most now engaged into intimate talks filled with pet names and fluttering hearts. I was probably one of the few there who wasn’t going to eat all that food with my sweetheart. And there was a possibility I was the only one planning to eat it alone.

  I should have thought better before leaving my warm room for this. Of course the line would be huge for one of the most popular dish in Japanese Christmas cuisine. If fast food could be included.

  As I wondered whether at least the Christmas combo could be treated as cuisine, someone tapped my right shoulder. I turned in that direction only to wonder whether I was hungrier than she felt. It could only be a hallucination.

  “Sudden urge for some Christmas tradition?” Masaki-san was smiling in obvious surprise, as she stood right by my side.

  I could only nod awkwardly.

  Actually, I had planned a get-together with some classmates from the music school at an izakaya but they all ended up canceling on me… Not that I needed Masaki-san to know that. It was already pathetic enough to go around town in the middle of Valentine’s Day part 2.

  As I noticed her checking out the line and moving away, desolation hit me. Even if I looked behind I could hardly see its end now. At this pace it would be Christmas day before I myself got my combo, she would never get hers. Unless I bought for her along with mine.

  My chest contracted a little at the idea. After all, that was usually a couple’s thing. And I didn’t want to make her special one happy.

  “I don’t think you’ll make it to the front, Yuri-chan.” Masaki-san was back, and she pointed at people standing in front of me.

  Again, I could only nod awkwardly. I knew that but I still wanted my combo. She and her partner had nothing to do with it.

    Suddenly, something pulled me by my left arm and out of the line.

  “Masaki-san?” I knew my tone wasn’t the most polite but…

  “C’mon!” She beamed at me in return, still dragging me by the arm. “I already have one ordered, and I was planning to eat it alone, so I can give you half. It should be better than you returning home only after Christmas Eve is over.”

---

As we walked out of the store, Masaki-san studied the combo inside a ginormous paper bag. “This is more than I thought.” Then she threw a smile in my direction. Her golden smile… “Lucky you, Yuri-chan!”

  I looked back puzzled.

  “Well, you can have two-thirds, it will be more than enough for two, I guess. I definitely can’t eat more than a third.”

  “But…”

  My heart skipped a beat. So she really wasn’t eating with anyone? I was sure she was just trying to make a better job of hiding a possible boyfriend when she had mentioned it before.

  As if trying to contain my sudden contentment, a series of issues arose inside my head. Truth was it would be a real problem for me to eat that much, too. And I had already paid my half back at the store, meaning we’d also have to calculate how much I owed. There was no way I’d let her pay for more than she would get.

  I noticed Masaki stare at me in confusion. “Aren’t you glad? It’s almost the whole thing.”

  As I profusely shook my hands to deny it, I finally managed to utter: “It’s too much for one person, Masaki-san! I was also going to eat alone and…”

“Yuri-chan!”

  Her reprimand made me tighten my lips in a loss for words.

  However, she beamed soon after. “Why didn’t you say so!? I’ve got a wonderful cake back at home, just waiting to be our dessert.” She grabbed me by the wrist, and once again pulled me. “My treat, this time.” Masaki-san winked in a way I couldn’t answer anything.

---

  I had totally been led by her the whole evening, and very gladly. From the moment she invited me, it felt like we were inside this cozy small world all by ourselves. How much luckier could I get after spending Christmas Eve with the person I liked? Especially after eating all that food.

  The three-people-worth combo was now just the plastic bag and the empty cups. The Christmas cake was more than half-eaten. And I couldn’t say Masaki-san did all that by herself as my stomach gave signs it was about to burst.

 Even though it felt I couldn’t even see food until my next life, my eyes suddenly returned the cake we had just shared.

  “Oh.” I let out in realization and immediately felt bad for being so excited by myself.

  A Christmas combo and a Christmas cake. Despite lining up for the combo was possible, such a beautiful cake had to be pre-ordered. Masaki-san had done so for both.

  “Anything the matter?” Masaki-san was now staring at me with a frown. At the same time, a mischievous smile still crept out from her lips as she licked her finger, covered in icing she had taken from where the cake used to be.

  I felt unable to stay quiet. “Are you okay, Masaki-san?” However, I stood up without waiting for her answer. “I-I should go.”

  Her frown deepened, while her smile seemed frozen in an attempt to imitate the one she had before I said anything.

  When she didn’t reply, I bowed down and spoke politely: “I’ve already bothered you for too long. Thank you a lot for treating to the cake. It was delicious!” I took a deep breath. “I-It's almost midnight… I should go so you can be more comfortable.”

  She pressed a lip against the other, and her smile finally faded into a worrisome blank expression. “I understand… I’m sorry for making you uneasy. Stuck with me on Christmas Eve …”

  “N-no!” I promptly said. “It’s nothing like that.”

  “Then…” She sighed, apparently giving up on what she planned to speak; perhaps in lack of anything else to say. When I thought it was going to be it, that I should just walk myself out, Masaki-san started speaking again: “I don't really want to be alone tonight.”

  For a moment, I wondered whether she had meant for me to really hear that or if it was just her talking to herself. However, her expression looked so dejected, so hopeless, I would never be able to overlook that confession.

  Before I knew what I was doing, my hand was gently caressing her shoulder. Much to my astonishment, Masaki-san came closer and slightly tilted her head in that direction, as though indicating she enjoyed my involuntary gesture. Again, my hand moved on its own and landed on her cheek, circulating it tenderly. To this, Masaki-san answered by holding my hand and stroking it back.

  “I saw an angel when I found you on that line.”

  I wasn’t sure I was to even understand those words. It was okay, all that night was already further than bizarre.

  “You know… I intended to declare my feelings to this angel of mine as soon as our plays were over, before we started rehearsals for Gone with the Wind.” Masaki-san closed her eyes, her hands still enveloping mine. “But, as always, I didn’t have the guts. What if it ruined the rehearsal? I should have done it before the other plays, then my angel could have time alone and forget about everything if she didn’t agree. But around Christmas was also such a perfect timing. I even ordered the combo, the cake… Perfect! Except for me chickening out after everything already half-paid.” She smiled, lost in her thoughts. “My new plans were to eat like a pig today.”

  I kept staring at her, incapable of deciding what to do with my hand held against her face. It felt so hot…

  “This is no fun…” Masaki-san complained. Her smile was weaker this time, as she lowered our hands and let go. “I finally muster the courage to confess, and my angel acts like I’m speaking Greek.”

  As she watched me expectantly, I forced words out of my mouth:  “I…” It felt so dry, I had to stop and breathe before continuing: “So, all this wasn’t because you broke up with anyone?”

  “Did I look that pitiful?”

  I shook my head repeatedly. “It’s that… the cake, the combo… They’re all so…”

  “That’s right. I was shocked when I saw my angel lining up earlier. Perhaps to buy one for her boyfriend?”

  I felt the urge to explain: “I just didn’t know what to do tonight and it was Christmas and I was pissed everyone had bailed out and…”

  A warm sensation on my lips. Masaki-san had kissed me without waiting for the full story.

  “It’s past midnight. Merry Christmas,” she said lightly panting, as her lips brushed through mine. “With this, we have completed the ancient Japanese Christmas tradition of combo, cake and love.” She smiled naughtily, while pinching my left cheek. “Well… you never answered anything so I decided to interpret as I wanted.” After observing me with barely concealed complacency, she spoke again: “From the way you’re red as a radish, we could say now you want more.”

  Using her free hand to pull me closer, she set the other in motion once more, perusing my face. And she kissed me for a second time.

  It finally dawned on me I wasn’t dreaming, and there was no way I was the one misinterpreting it. Neither was Masaki-san, of course. If my flushed cheeks weren’t enough, the loud thumps coming from my heart wouldn’t let me deny my feelings toward that woman.

  I kissed her back as I managed to utter back a long-overdue answer: “Merry Christmas… to us.”

THE END!

Anita, 24/12/2013

Para Marina:

お誕生日おめでとう！ Como você não parecia muito interessada em presente Natal, segue aqui o seu de aniversário beeeem atrasado, he he he. Minha ideia era te dar os dois, mas você não quis, né? Melhor pra mim, huh!

Bem, mesmo assim a ideia era fazer duas minifics, mas não adianta, minhas minifics só foram crescendo e crescendo... Acabou que não consegui de novo fazer uma história bem curtinha, rs.

Achei curioso este casal que você estava pedindo e já peço desculpas sobre a personalidade da Shimon. Minha visão dela é bem casual, nada aprofundada. Espero não ir muito contra a sua!

Enfim, não sei se este presente ficou mesmo de surpresa ou não, mas aqui está ele, né? Acho que é o que importa, rs.

Então, novamente, um feliz aniversário e mesmo não sendo um presente de Natal, hoje é Natal, então, feliz Natal também! :D