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"Operation: Find Mizuki A Present is officially underway! Team Captain Nakatsu is leading the charge. Lieutenant Sano Izumi will provide cover and fend off pushy salespeople! Are we ready?"
"You do realize that people are giving us funny looks, right?" Sano asked, arms crossed and looking like he wanted to blend into the background. "Could we do this without the commentary, please?"
"You're just upset that I get to be Team Captain," said Nakatsu.
Sano rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's it exactly." He sighed, and tried to remember why he'd ever thought tandem gift-shopping with Nakatsu was a good idea. Oh, right--he hadn't. Nakatsu had begged, bribed, and finally threatened blackmail to get Sano to come along. (Because, according to him, "Sanooo, malls are scary and I don't want to go alone!") He'd given in eventually, more to get Nakatsu to shut up than from fear he'd actually tell Mizuki about the drunken streaking incident (Sano may have been the naked one, but Nakatsu had put on the skirt and pantyhose, and they both knew it).
"All right. Where to, Oh Exalted Leader?"
Nakatsu grasped his chin with thumb and forefinger and looked thoughtful. "If I were a Mizuki, what would I want? Hmm..." He suddenly thrust an arm out in front of himself. "I know! Let's go the music store first. Mizuki said something about wanting more Japanese CDs, right? Then maybe the sweet shop. Then..."
Sano sighed again. He sometimes thought to himself that friends were more trouble than they were worth. They made you do things you'd never do otherwise, for one; and he'd never been very good at giving up control.
He braced himself and followed Nakatsu's orange head into the crowd.
---
Five hours later:
"I am never going shopping with you again."
"I said I was sorry, didn't I? And hey! I bought you apologetic ice cream!"
"Yeah, and then you ate it yourself when I reminded you I don't like ice cream. Anyway, ice cream is nothing compared to the loss of my dignity."
"Dignity? You were the one who knocked over all the reindeer, Mr. High-and-Mighty!"
Sano opened his mouth, then apparently decided it was better to remain silent on that point, because he shut it again. They were both quiet for a bit.
"Do you think they managed to put the fire out?" Nakatsu said a moment later. He was lying on the floor, with an arm flung over his eyes.
"Probably. I think I saw someone with a fire extinguisher." He paused. "We're never going to be allowed back in the mattress store, are we?"
"Eh. That saleslady was a snob, anyway."
Sano picked at a loose thread on his shirt.
"Do you think Mizuki will like his present?" Nakatsu asked.
"Yeah," Sano said. "I think--he will."
"Then it was worth it," Nakatsu declared, and promptly fell asleep.
---
Nakatsu was pretty sure he was going to die of shame. Either that, or from the way his stomach was churning in his gut. He hadn't actually thrown up, but it had looked like a sure thing for a moment back there. His hands had been sweating as he handed the package, complete with (slightly crushed) bow, to Mizuki, and he'd just managed to get out:
"MerryChristmas. It's from SanoandmeIhopeyoulikeit."
Mizuki had looked a little surprised, and expectant, and he'd smiled up at Nakatsu at the exact moment their fingers brushed against each other.
Nakatsu's heart had given such a tremendous thump at that moment he'd thought it was in danger of leaping right out of his chest. He stared dumbly, his mind gone blank, then promptly turned and fled the room, brushing past Sano as he went, ignoring Mizuki's surprised exclamation. He'd raced all the way down the hall, and now he was in the boys' bathroom, gripping the edges of the sink and looking at his flushed face in the mirror. God. He was an idiot. A really stupid, in love idiot.
It had to be love, he reasoned. What else could make him sick to his stomach like this?
Nakatsu was used to big emotions--he expressed himself in broad strokes of feeling, happy or sad, angry or affectionate. People were always telling him to calm down, quiet down, stop being so dramatic. He didn't know what to do with this feeling. It was big and it was small, emanating outwards so that he felt like his body wasn't big enough to contain it all, folding in on itself and sneaking into places he hadn't known existed. It made him want to shout; it made him want to be quiet, quiet enough to hear his own heartbeat. Quiet enough to hear someone else breathing beside him.
He splashed his face with cold water and waited for his hands to stop shaking. After a minute, the door opened, and Sano stepped in. He closed the door behind him.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey."
"You okay?" Sano actually sounded somewhat concerned. That was different; he normally reacted to Nakatsu's freak-outs with an eye-roll, possibly an "Oh, calm down" if he was really feeling chatty. Nakatsu turned around, still leaning his weight on the sink.
"Yeah," he said. "Sorry."
"Hey, it's okay." Sano shrugged.
Nakatsu felt a little overwhelmed by this outpouring of generous spirit. "Did-- did he like it?" he asked after a moment.
"Yeah. He said thanks. A lot."
Nakatsu nodded, embarrassed and relieved.
"In fact," Sano went on, "he asked me to give you something."
Nakatsu felt his eyes go wide. "Really?"
"Yeah," Sano said, and he stepped forward until he was right in front of Nakatsu, practically crowding him up against the sink.
"Sano?" Nakatsu asked, confused. "Um, what did Mizuki want to give me?"
Sano frowned a little, the tiniest of creases between his eyebrows. He put his hands on the sink and leaned in.
"Uh, Sano--" Sano's arms were touching his sides. Nakatsu's heart, which had finally returned to normal, sped up again. It was going to kill him at this rate.
Then Sano leaned in the last little bit and brushed his lips across Nakatsu's, and Nakatsu forgot all about his heart because something was exploding star-bright in the space behind his eyes. It was the tiniest of touches, close-mouthed and chaste, nothing like the sloppy drunken kiss all those months ago--the one Nakatsu had pretended to forget about. It made his whole body tingle.
They stood there, breathing the same air for a few long, slow heartbeats. Finally, Sano pulled back. He was actually smiling a little.
"Merry Christmas," he said. And he walked out of the bathroom.
Nakatsu stared at the door, still frozen to the spot. His body was warm everywhere Sano had pressed against him. He could still see Mizuki's smile if he closed his eyes. He brought a hand to his lips and thought about being in love. He knew he was grinning; he wanted to laugh.
Maybe not such an idiot after all.
END.
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