KHR Christmas fanfic oneshots chapter 1

[Wamakai]

  I love the KHR series both the manga and anime, and I have written a few fanfics for them, but here's chapter one of my personal twelve days of Christmas challenge. Enjoy!  

DISCLAIMER: I do not own KHR nor do I claim any rights to it. I am only responsible for the plot and nothing else.  

It's almost Christmas. The tree you put up is now standing in the corner of your living room and the Christmas decorations are up. You smile with your cup of coffee in hand. You usually spend Christmas alone. It's not by choice, but something you have come to accept. Your heart and your home are both empty. After a fun-filled day with your friends, you have come to accept that you will always come to an empty home.
It doesn't particularly make you sad since you feel like you have marked your territory and this is your domain. The couch doesn't have to sit just right as long as it faces the TV at the angle you like.  The pictures on the mantelpiece; the random cloud picture and the flower vase near the statue, don't have to mean anything specific as long as they make sense to you. You don't want to fill in that tiny hole in the wall because of the memory attached to it. No, you're not bitter. There are people in the world with better houses who have far less than you do. No, you're not particularly regretful.
Contentment trumps loneliness after all.
However, this Christmas eve, as you walked to the books store, you bumped into someone. You apologised without looking up. You had a lot to do since Christmas purchases would be made that day. It was good to know that books still made people happy, you supposed, but your aching feet would be protesting in the morning. You didn't have time to stop and chide whoever it was for not looking where they were going. You weren't paying that much attention either and it was just a harmless accident.
You walked away, your head held down as you tried to add up some figures in your head not noticing the golden head of hair had turned to watch you go down the street. Consequently, you missed the smile that seemed to promise that you would meet again.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*
The store was busy as usual. You had to attend to everything yourself since your assistant had suddenly called in sick. It sounded bad and you had done this before. You were grateful for the lunch break. Of course it couldn't be too long or you would lose business. You walked out of the back and noticed that there was still someone around.
"Excuse me," you said. The golden head pulled its face out of the book it was reading and orange-coloured eyes met yours.
"Oh, hello," he said shutting the book and putting it back on the shelf.
"Um, hello," you said irritated at your flustered condition, "we're closed for lunch." You turned and headed for the counter.
"I know, that's why I'm here," he said coming to lean on the counter. He was a little too close for your comfort, but then again, you had never really felt like this in a long time. Not since your High School crush on the Italian exchange student in your school. He had been in most of your classes in grade school as well, but it was only in High school that you realised you had a crush on him. By then he had a girlfriend and was part of a group you could never hope to join even if it was just for his attention. His name was...
"You don't remember me, do you (Name)?" he asked resting his head on his palm. Your eyes widened and your blush grew as you remembered why those eyes bothered you so much and why you got so flustered. It was him! It was your crush from High School! He had changed somewhat and you hadn't seen him in a while. You played with your fingers and sighed looking down.
"Hello Giotto," you said rather shyly. He smiled.
"I'm glad you remembered. Hey, I'd like to take you to lunch today, if you don't mind the sudden invite," he said . You turned. Was he serious? He turned up out of the blue and suddenly he wanted to take you to lunch? Well, you were feeling a bit hungry so you might as well. You could also catch up like two reasonable adults who hadn't seen each other in a while, you thought stressing the words reasonable adult to your rapidly beating heart.
"Sure," you said and turned to smile at him. He beamed and went to get your coat from the door.
"Then, shall we?" he asked waiting for you. If this wasn't a dream come true, you weren't sure what was!
*.*.*.*.*.*.*
"Oh no, that was you?" he asked looking at you in horror.
"You didn't know? Who else did you think it was?" you asked crossing your arms.
"That girl from third grade who didn't like guys. She wasn't my favourite person in the world and revenge seemed like such a good idea... I'm so sorry! You have to let me make it up to you. How about coming over to my place for Christmas eve dinner?" he said with a lopsided grin.
"You want to make up to me for something that happened that long ago?" you asked raising an eyebrow. He couldn't be serious.
"Well, yeah. I wondered why you wouldn't talk to me the next day in school..." he said lifting his glass of freshly squeezed juice to his lips.
"Y... You noticed?" you asked getting flustered again.
"Of course. I wanted to be your friend but, well, I'm really sorry. Maybe we could start over this time?" he asked with a playful pout that he was totally hopeless at. You laughed and he smiled. You couldn't believe that he was actually doing this. It was the basic equivalent of asking you out! Of course you weren't going to decline. Besides, you needed some excitement outside of your comfortable domain.
"Well, I don't know about starting over, but I'll think about coming for a visit," you said.
"Great, I'll be in your shop while you think then," he said with a mischievous gleam. He wasn't going to let up until you agreed. You sighed shaking your head and got up. You had taken way more time for lunch than you intended, but you figured it was worth it. One or two purchases were nothing major to skip out on.
Giotto walked you to your shop and true to his word, he hung around until closing time.
"So, shall we go to my place? I promise to be on my best behaviour," he said holding his hands behind his back. You sighed again knowing that he wouldn't give up and decided that you would rather not cook tonight. Take-away was out of the question. With the season came the traffic and your delivery wouldn't get there until much later.
"I'll cook," he said trying to bribe you further not knowing that you had already agreed.
"Okay, I'll come over, but don't I need to change first or something?" you asked looking down at your jeans and favourite green sweater. It didn't exactly scream special dinner and neither did the  jungle green "I heart books" t-shirt beneath the sweater.
"You look fine," he said giving you a warm smile. You smiled back and for a moment, you fancied that something special had happened between the two of you. Maybe, just maybe, you were getting your Christmas present early this year? Clearing your throat and blushing again, you stepped out of the store and locked it behind the two of you.
You got into his car (the latest Ferrari, you couldn't help but notice) and he smiled at you once more before driving off. Before long, you realised what part of town you were heading to. The big houses and wide lawns were indication enough. Your eyes widened slightly in wonder though you supposed you shouldn't have been surprised. Before you could reach for the door handle, the door was open and Giotto had extended a hand towards you. Was he really going to help you out of the car? Well, for sure you didn't mind.
You both went inside and you gawked at the sheer size of the place. It was huge! There was no way he could live in this great big place all alone!
"You live here? Alone?" you asked looking around.
"Well, something like that. You remember G from Middle School, right? He comes over once in a while with some friends... They're in Italy for the holidays so it's just me now. Come on, the kitchen's this way," he said taking your hand. You couldn't help the blush that made it's way to your cheeks then. Really, you should think about this more objectively. He wasn't holding your hand for any particularly special reason. He was just taking you to the kitchen... the very well equipped kitchen with all the latest appliances, some of which you weren't even sure were appliances or meant to be in the kitchen at all.
"So, what would you like me to make signora (Name)?" he asked wrapping an apron around his waist. You smiled watching him and shrugged. Anything was fine with you really.
"Very well, I'll decide. And what would you have to drink?" he asked opening the fridge, "we have some vintage wine, water; sparkling, mineral and tap, soda in cherry, orange and cola flavours, fruit juice..." he asked pulling out a bottle and grimacing at its contents then putting it back, "I don't think you'd like that one. It's not exactly... um... fruity." You laughed and grimaced too.
"In that case, I'll have some soda then – cherry, please." He nodded and handed you the bottle and a glass.
"Good choice. Now, on to dinner. Well, it'll be a bit of an Italian snack since our chef is off for the holidays and it's what I know how to make best," he said rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.
"If it's edible, it's alright with me," you said and took a sip of your soda. He nodded and immediately went to work with some rice, cheese and eggs. Whatever he was making, you were sure it would taste amazing.
A while later, he brought back little golden brown balls of something he wouldn't tell you until you tasted it for yourself. He washed his hand once more then went to sit beside you.
"What is this?" You asked. He smiled and held one up for you to bite.
"Have one first and tell me if you like it," he said. He was insistent so you thought you might as well. You took one bite and shut your eyes as flavour exploded in your mouth. It was delicious! And the cheese within came out in a long string. You smiled at him and he smiled back.
"It's called supplì," he said and cut the string of cheese with his fingers licking it off and finishing the rest of it. You couldn't possibly have mistaken the heated look he gave you when you licked your lips and brought your finger up to lick some of the cheese off too.
He held up another ball. Of course he didn't have to, but you didn't particularly mind. Not really. You took a bite and smiled as another string of cheese came out. Again he finished the other half. Maybe you had imagined the look. It was gone every time he held up another ball with a playful friendly grin... but it happened every time you looked at him as you bit and every time you brought your fingers to your lips.
Eventually, you finished all of the balls and he smiled getting up, your eyes never leaving his. He turned and went to the sink with the dishes. He was going to do the dishes too? This was new. In a house this big, you wouldn't expect him to be doing things himself and being able to cook. There should be a dozen servants at his beck and call! This man was a bit of a mystery now.
When he was done, he led you to the living room, a glass of wine in his hand as you talked. The easy atmosphere was very relaxing and before long, you were chatting like old friends, which you figured you were anyway. Then he took your hand in his somewhere during your conversation. You didn't notice it at first but when you did,  you didn't really mind that either. Normal people did this all the time... right?
Then it was time to leave. He helped you into your coat and drove you home and once again opened the door for you. You regretted leaving like that. You hadn't talked about anything in particular, just caught up with each other's lives. You fumbled with your keys trying to tamp down the absolute disappointment you felt. He would leave tonight and that would be the end. You weren't sure that all that had happened so far wasn't a dream, but you supposed it would have been a nice dream.
You turned to say goodbye, only to have an arm wrap around your waist and soft lips descend on yours cutting off whatever words you were going to say next. It was merely a touch, not a proper kiss, as if asking if this was alright. You could feel him pull away, but your hands rose to his shoulders and into his hair pulling him close, holding him there. You didn't mind being alone, but you didn't really want to be alone again. He let go and looked at you with a warm smile.
"I'm sorry," he breathed hugging you, "I broke my promise." You remembered he had promised to be on his best behaviour. You smiled and hugged him back.
"I guess you'll have to make that up to me too," you sighed. He chuckled and kissed you once more.
"I'll do my best. Coffee down the street tomorrow morning? It's Sunday so we have a great chance to get the special Christmas breakfast..." he asked hopefully.
"It's a start," you said and nodded your approval. He smiled at you again holding your chin for a moment between his thumb and forefinger.
"Merry Christmas (Name)," he said softly before turning to leave. You sighed and went inside your house. You flipped on the lights, hung up your coat and looked around your home.
The decorations were just as they were when you had left that morning. The random pictures on the mantelpiece were still there. Your slightly angled couch was still in its place. The evident hole in the wall hadn't magically filled up either. Nothing in particular had changed, but you smiled realising that your world was just a little brighter this year.

Ah Giotto...Hope you liked it!

[Ryu]

This.
So CUTE~ And in second person, too!


hehe, I wish that Giotto would attend my school (and bring G with him.)