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Five weeks before the Majima-gumi Christmas Party…
“Ey, Koto-chan,” Majima said. He didn’t look up from his paper- he didn’t need to. He knew Makoto was right there across the table, head bent over a magazine or a book. Had she been reading Natsume last he checked? Something like that. He knew she had her reading glasses on- she’d needed them ever since her vision returned- and he knew she had her legs crossed, book in one hand, cup of tea in the other.
“Koto-chan is new,” she said, and Majima knew she wasn’t looking up either, but he knew she was smiling.
“It’s cute, isn’t it?”
“It is! So, what is it?”
“Ah, right. We need t’go shoppin’ for the family.”
“Oh!”
They both looked up at the same time, Makoto’s eyes bright with mirth. It was one of her favorite things each year, going around to gather all the gifts for the Majima-gumi boys. His organization had decent numbers, and every year, everyone got something from the boss. It wasn’t much, a few chocolates in a little bag, a little figurine, but he and Makoto did it together, and with care, hand-written tags and all.
“Yes! We need to! It’s such a busy December, isn’t it?” She pressed her lips together. “Moving Hogushi Kaikan, the tower breaking ground, Tachibana’s memorial…”
Yes, so many big things to overwhelm all the little things. They had already agreed, some traditions weren’t going to be followed this year. Small things pushed aside for big things—
“But this is important,” Majima said, lips pursed. “Family’s family, ain’t it?”
“It is,” Makoto assured him. She reached across the table, and clasped her hand around his. “We won’t forget.”
“We can’t forget,” Majima assured her.
Four weeks before the Majima-gumi Christmas party…
“‘Ey, Mako-chan,” Majima said as he bent his head into the kitchen from the hallway. His arms were full of papers- year end accountings for the family and for the Tojo Clan. Books needed to be balanced, expenses approved, budgets assessed, bonuses given, and everything had paperwork attached.
“Goro-san?” She looked up from her own pile of papers. Spread wide before her were schedules and resumes and plans. Hogushi Kaikan was, after all, in the middle of moving from Sotenbori to Kamurocho. Things like that required paperwork, movers, schematics, new workers… With an opening day in January, there was still so much (too much) to do.
“Busy, huh?”
“All the time now, doesn’t it seem like?”
He huffed quietly in agreement. “Hey, when do y’think we can uh- do shoppin’? For the Family?”
“Oh! Yes! Ahhh— does Thursday sound alright?”
“Ah, Sera has us in HQ that day, doing freakin’ quarterlies. Wednesday…?”
“Walking through the new office space with the movers.”
“Well, we got t’do it. We won’t forget, yeah?” Majima said.
“We can’t forget,” Makoto assured him.
Two weeks before the Majima-gumi Christmas party…
“Ah! Ah! Shhhit!” Makoto hissed sharply, slamming her hand into the arm of the couch. Her ankle was raised with the ottoman and some pillows, wrapped with bandages and foam, Majima packing it with ice. “Ah, shit!”
“Sorry,” he said, his movements slowing even more, fearing his touch flared the pain.
“No, it’s not you, had a twinge and it hurts like a bitch.”
Makoto tossed her head back, lips pressed into a hard pout. The ice outside the store had caught her (and Majima) by surprise, and while he’d been able to catch himself…
Well, their plans to find the family’s presents were kaput.
“We’ll go shopping when this clears up in a few days,” Majima assured her.
“You should go without me at this point.” She slapped her hands over her face, dragged them down as she moaned.
“Never, Mako-chan.” Majima stood, bent, and kissed her forehead. In turn, she caught his lapel and pulled him in. Lips meeting, they shared a long, sweet kiss, before Majima finally pulled back with a chuckle in his throat.
“You’re too kind,” Makoto said, fingers sliding from his coat.
“You deserve it. Don’t worry, there’s still time.”
Finally, Makoto sank, let tension and strain melt from her shoulders. The pain of being so wound up about it all- the shopping, the move, end of year, memorial, everything-
“Alright. You’re right. One day at a time- and we won’t forget,” she promised him.
“We can’t forget,” he assured her.
Three Two days before the Majima-gumi Christmas Party…
It was midnight by the time Makoto and Majima finally collapsed into bed together. She’d barely kicked off her shoes in the entranceway, and her blazer was still clutched in her hand. Her eyes were still so red, so puffy.
They’d finally had the memorial- as ground was broken on the goddamned tower, the Tojo Clan had to ensure Tachibana’s body was quietly disposed of. And that meant Makoto could finally have something proper- an urn, a shrine, a place for him to truly be remembered. The small gathering was made of those who remembered him. Kazama, Kashiwagi, Nishiki, Makoto.
Kiryu was—
Well. None of them wanted to think about what kept Kiryu from attending.
“It was… nice,” Makoto said lightly.
It was hard, but she didn’t want to say. Majima closed himself around her, like an oyster holding and shielding a pearl.
“S’alright,” he rumbled, and she felt it through all of him. Heavy, sweet, soft words. God, she was so tired-
“It just didn’t feel right.”
“I know.”
“And Kiryu-san not being there—”
“I know, I know.”
“I just—”
He kissed her forehead as she choked on her words, voice lost in her throat. Firm as ever, she grabbed him- his face this time, hands pressed against his cheeks, and pulled him down so their lips met.
Wrapped together, their breath mixed and mingled, even as the kiss faded into closeness, such closeness.
“I need to get changed,” Makoto finally said. “But I don’t want to get up.”
“Sleep in yer clothes. I do.”
“You’re not wearing pantyhose today.” Painfully, grudgingly, she pulled away from him and forced herself to sit up.
Majima took the opportunity to spread himself out on their bed, claiming as much space as he could. “Maybe for the Christmas Party. Bet some of the newbies would freak if Goromi showed up…” He trailed off, voice tilting up playfully,
“Oh, I bet!” Makoto laughed a little- a breath of it- and it was like music to his ears. “Hah, how close is that again? Next week, right?”
“Three days, Mako-chan.”
“Wait, wait—” She rose, pantyhose in hand, and she shook them as she spoke. “That can’t be right, it can’t be so soon…”
“No, no, it is. Yeah, the 26th.”
“But it’s not close t—” She stopped herself, words dying in her throat as she cast her eyes towards the digital alarm clock sitting next to their bed. The letters glowed an unpleasant, almost threatening red.
12:07 A.M.
“Oh god. It’s two days away.”
“What?” His one eye followed her gaze to the clock. “Oh.” As it sunk in- it all sunk in- he realized too. “Oh, fuck.”
Makoto pulled her clothes back on- pantyhose up, blazer around her shoulders. At her heels was Majima, and he darted with her to the entrance way. Their shoes and heavy, winter jackets flew on with frantic speed.
“Don Quijote is still open, right?” Makoto said, breathless.
“It’s always open.”
“Do you think they’ll have enough? The family is so big—”
“We’ll go t’ten Don Quijote’s if we gotta!” Majima cried, with all the intensity of a young, shonen protagonist facing down a villain.
The door slammed shut behind them—
And five minutes later, opened again so Majima could reach in and grab his wallet, left behind in the entranceway.
One day before the Majima-gumi Christmas Party…
“... And that is Tanaka-san’s present, wrapped and tagged!” Makoto sighed as she finally placed the pristinely wrapped little box into a bigger box filled with matching presents- all the same apart from the tags. Makoto checked Tanaka-san’s name off her list- still mired about in the middle of it, even as the sun was setting.
“I’m sorry, Mako-chan. This ain’t how I imagined us spendin’ Christmas this year.” The plan had been a romantic spa package for two- Christmas massages and a sauna and hot spring- a day of relaxation!
It was a shame to cancel, but cancel they did. He missed the massage he would’ve gotten- his shoulders aching now from bending over, his temple throbbing from the concentration each wrap took. Sure, it was tough, but it was for the family, wasn’t it?
And, well, he could take it, but he always worried about Mako-chan a bit- this wasn’t fair to her, was it?
But there she was, on the floor with him, further down her list of the family than he was with his.
“You know, in Japan, Christmas is a couple’s holiday,” Makoto told him. She slid her scissors through the wrapping paper with a steady ease- her hands were always so sure when she did things, held things, touched things. “It’s about who you’re spending it with. The person that’s your person.” In the square of paper she’d cut, she placed their gift- in the boxes were little toys- the plan had been to collect them from UFO catchers over the month, and in their frantic rush midnight before Majima had done so.
As Makoto bought up every scrap of wrapping paper at Don Quijote in and around Kamurocho, Majima parked in the SEGA Arcade and worked the UFO Catchers in a line- as one crane dropped and picked up (or didn’t pick up) a prize and carried it to the chute, he was on to the next. When Makoto finally found him at 3:30 A.M., her shopping done, he had been in such a groove he barely noticed when one of the machines emptied. She had to stop him, and he barked at the arcade employees for more toys, please, it’s an emergency don’t ya know.
“In other countries,” she continued, “where Christmas is a religious holiday, it has a very different meaning. It’s… more about family.” She signed the gift tag- To Taniguchi Hiroto. From Makoto and Goro. “It’s about coming together in the middle of the coldest, darkest time of the year and sharing joy and light with your family. And- isn’t that what we’re doing?”
She looked up from her work, smiled at him,
“Showing our family that we care.”
Her eyes were puffy from exhaustion, face pale from not eating more than a bite of a melonpan, hair frizzy, dressed in the oldest and most comfortable pajamas she owned. Majima had never seen her so beautiful.
He felt himself about to ask something a little too foolish, so instead he said with a cheeky grin, “Y’sure we can’t just have Nishida do all this?”
Makoto snorted and pinched him- dug her nails into the soft flesh under his arm- and he burst out laughing as he fought her off.
The day of the Majima-gumi Christmas Party…
“OI! Nishida!” Majima barked. He would’ve slapped his hand on his number two’s shoulder, would’ve scarred him with the weight of his grip, IF he hadn’t been holding a box full of perfectly wrapped gifts.
“Boss!” Nishida said, saluted, bowed, and then bowed again as Makoto entered behind him. “Ane-san!”
“Oh, it looks so nice, Nishida-san!” Makoto said brightly. She brushed by Majima to join his lieutenant, appreciating the lights and decorations he’d set up in the big, hotel ballroom they rented for the party. “Look at all the tinsel! Ah, and the flowers! What are they?”
“Poinsettia, they’re Christmas-y, apparently. I never knew,” Nishida admitted.
“Oi, Nishida,” Majima said again, and shoved the box he was carrying into the other man’s arms. “Help me carry these inside and put ‘em where they need to go yeah?”
“Oof— y-yes sir!”
Nishida scampered ahead of him as Majima gave a mighty stretch, every joint popping in a slow crescendo. Makoto giggled and laid a hand between his shoulder blades, tracing his muscles through his coat.
“You haven’t been this stiff since we first met,” Makoto teased lightly, making Majima laugh.
“Now you know that’s not true,” he growled playfully, such a bright spark in his eye. Makoto giggled and fit in against him as the two stood and watched the Majima-gumi filter in, mingle, party - all in high spirits. Their family.
“Kiryu will be able to come when he gets out,” Makoto whispered.
Majima felt his jaw tighten for a moment and he nodded- mind drifting, as it so often did, to another brother, in prison. Would he— ever join?
Would he ever forgive Majima for having this without him? When he came back— would it end?
Makoto’s arm around his waist brought him back to himself, and he saw the hope there in her smile.
Family didn’t end. This wouldn’t either.