Chapter Text
They were for children, which Ryoga certainly was not, but Rio thought they looked “really cute!” and dragged him with because he was the one with the motorcycle and she was the one with the authority. So he ended up taking her to the mall, where annoying holiday music poured out of the loudspeakers and flashing lights were strung over almost every conceivable surface in the place.
He looked around casually as they walked through the mall together, praying that nobody would see him going into a store designed for little girls to build their own stuffed animals and dress them up in frilly outfits. As he contemplated shaking Rio off and hiding in a picture booth until she was finished building whatever ridiculous stuffed creature she was going to make, he heard a familiar voice.
“Shark!”
Naturally.
Yuma smiled and caught up to them, and Rio returned the smile, though Ryoga pointedly ignored the tiny quirk of her eyebrow that he knew was directed at him –
he regretted ever telling her anything about Yuma ever
- but he just sighed and crossed his arms, putting on his best whatever face, and replied with a nonchalant “Yuma.”
“What are you doing here?” Yuma was completely unfazed by Ryoga’s lame attempt at being indifferent. He was probably used to it by now.
Ryoga shrugged. “Rio wanted to… buy something.”
Rio cleared her throat. “Ryoga and I were going to the new Bear-I-Am shop and make a stuffed animal for our holiday collection. Would you like to join us?”
If Yuma was at all suspicious about a name as stupid as Bear-I-Am sounding unpleasantly close to a certain other word that made Ryoga want to punch things, the fact that Rio had to mention their stuffed animal holiday collection was a more pressing issue to address.
“You have a stuffed animal collection?” And the annoying kid had the nerve to grin at Ryoga. “Aww, Shark, I didn’t know you were into collecting plushies!”
Ryoga opened his mouth to retort but Rio interrupted. “Yes, we have quite the collection!”
Yuma grinned at Ryoga. “Is that right?”
It was, but Yuma wasn’t supposed to know about it, and Rio grabbed Ryoga by the hand and started pulling him into the store while he shot furtive glances all around him for any sign of someone he went to school with. “You want to join us, Yuma? It’s lots of fun!”
Of course, Yuma said yes, and he bounded into the store after the twins.
“Welcome to Bear-I-Am!” the repulsively over-enthusiastic woman at the counter gushed. “Would you three kids like to make a stuffed animal? We’re having a sale on holiday outfits and…”
Ryoga stopped listening. It wasn’t bad enough that Yuma had to find out about the holiday plush collection he and Rio had since they were too young to remember, but now he was going to get dragged into making one in public with Yuma.
As much as he pretended he could care less what people thought of him, the truth was, he cared quite a lot. He wanted to be with Yuma. He wanted to be able to have fun with Yuma and smile and laugh, but…
“Hey Shark, look!” Yuma snapped him out of his reverie by waving the empty husk of a shark plush in his face. “They have sharks!” He grinned and Ryoga rolled his eyes (even though it was hard not to smile at how excited Yuma was).
(How could Yuma make him feel this happy?)
He didn’t notice Rio slip away to make her bear; his attention was barely on the shark he was filling with cotton. Yuma decided on a horse (“if I have to have a shark, you should have a horse,” Ryoga had said) and was having a difficult time stuffing the cotton in its narrow legs. Ryoga set his shark down and helped Yuma; their hands brushed together and for an eternity that was probably only a few seconds, Ryoga stopped breathing.
“Are you ready for your shark to get sewn up?” the lady asked, and Ryoga pulled his away and turned back to his shark, face reddening. Yuma glanced at him curiously.
“Yeah.”
She picked it up. “Oh! But you haven’t put your heart into it yet.” That was one of the most ridiculous things Ryoga had ever heard, but at his confused expression, the lady picked up a small plastic heart. “You write your name on it, and then put it inside your animal. That way, part of your heart will always be in it!”
“Do sharks have hearts?” Yuma wondered, and Ryoga shook his head in disbelief.
“Of course they do, Yuma. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Yuma tilted his head. “Then they must have a really big heart.”
Ryoga took the heart from the lady and picked up a marker. “Why do you say that?”
“Because you’re a shark and you have one of the biggest hearts ever.”
It was such a simple response, such a heartfelt response, but it was really mushy at the same time, so he couldn’t think of anything to say to that and turned back to his heart.
Yuma grinned and reached across to take a heart of his own. Ryoga wrote his name carefully on his heart before handing it and the shark to the woman; Yuma scribbled his name on his and shoved the heart into the horse’s neck.
“The horse’s heart is in its chest, Yuma.” Ryoga reached over and tapped Yuma’s chest. “Just like yours is.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Rio making a gagging face and scowled, aware that his face was red again; Yuma didn’t seem to notice and simply smiled as they waited.
When the lady handed their plushes back, Yuma reached for a Santa hat and shoved it onto his horse’s head. A hat wouldn’t fit on his shark’s head, but Yuma found a Santa beard instead. He laughed at the shark wearing a fluffy white beard, and not even Ryoga could resist smiling a little too.
As they left the shop carrying their plushes in bags (Rio’s bear was decked out in a Santa hat, coat, boots, and beard), Yuma spotted his sister, carrying several bags, and turned to Ryoga. “Hey, thanks for today! It was lots of fun!”
“Yeah,” Ryoga said, and he was surprised to find he meant it. Not that he would ever admit it, of course.
“Oh!” Yuma turned. “Tomorrow, we’re putting up holiday decorations. You should come over, Shark! And you, Shark’s sis!”
Rio rolled her eyes. “I’m going to a candy shop with Kotori, but Ryoga would be more than happy, wouldn’t you?” She nudged him.
He grunted in response and Yuma smiled again. “Sounds great! See you tomorrow, Shark! Bye, Shark’s sis!”
They watched him bound over to his sister, who dumped several of her shopping bags in his arms, and Ryoga sighed.
“What’s wrong with you this time?” Rio teased as they headed out of the mall.
Ryoga glanced back at Yuma. “Nothing.”
He was lying, and she knew he was lying, and he knew she knew exactly what his problem was.
Maybe he could take care of his problem tomorrow when he went over to Yuma’s place.