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The Christmas party was in full swing at the university. People were chatting while music softly played in the background, and bright colourful lights had been dotted around giving it quite the cosy atmosphere for a party of this size.
There was also mistletoe hung up. Something Emu wished he hadn’t noticed, and even worse, Kiriya noticed. This is because, as Hiiro would love to put it, Kiriya was stubborn and persistent, a lot like Emu in some ways. And also because he loved to mess around with people's relationships. But in good ways, he wasn’t cruel.
Emu and Hiiro had been together for a few months now. Kiriya knew this well, in fact he was the first person to know after snooping around. And annoyingly he loved using that to his advantage. It just happened that tonight would probably be the worst one so far.
—
Emu was standing away from the others, close to the food table where he could observe some party goers pick at the food. He was pleased with how this party had turned out, since he did have a part in actually planning and decorating, and it gave him quite a smile. It was Kiriya who approached him first, eyeing the mistletoe hanging not too far from them.
“So. How you feelin?” he asked, swirling the glass in his hand. “You aren’t the type to just be standing around like this.”
“What, me? I‘m great!” Emu replied, hoping to not worry him.
“Good good.” Kiriya leaned on the wall next to him. “How’s your BF doing? You had your kiss under the mistletoe yet?”
Emu would’ve done a spit take if he had a drink, but playfully slapped him instead. “Shut up! You know Hiiro’s not into that stuff.”
“Right Right.”
“I'm not kidding! He’s hardly ever affectionate in public, what makes you think-“
“Don’t get worked up Emu, I know.”
Emu sighed. He was getting a bit too riled up. “Thanks-“
“You never said he wasn’t all cuddly behind closed doors though.” Kiriya teased. Emu went slightly red, though it was masked by the party lights. That was one of the quickest comebacks he had heard in a while.
“Stop!” Emu protested. Kiriya just laughed. This was just him being his normal self. It nearly always puts Emu on the edge however, especially with Hiiro also not being far from either of them. It wasn’t that he was scared to talk about that sort of thing, of course not, it was just still sort of unreal to Emu that he was dating him. So obviously, it did make Emu a little awkward, especially since Kiriya’s intentions to tease were very prominent.
“I kid. But seriously I think you should give it a shot. It’s a Christmas tradition! Who knows he might even make an exception. He is your boyfriend after all.” Kiriya replied after a few seconds passed. His tone has a layer of sincerity, which did calm him down at least a little bit.
“Well. I don’t know about that-“ he answered, fiddling with his hands. What would happen if he tried? Worst case scenario is that he’d say no. There wouldn’t be any kind of scene whatsoever if that were the case. In fact, people would probably pay more attention if he did kiss him. He shook his head. He probably shouldn’t be overthinking this at all.
Poppy then walked over to the two of them with a tray, holding some glasses. She looked a little bit like a waitress, but she looked extremely happy as usual. Emu, out of curiosity, took one of the glasses, a mysterious pink drink.
“Hey you two!! How are you!” Poppy asked, her usual cheery voice uplifting Emu instantly.
“We’re doing fine! Um. What's in this drink?” he asked.
“The Pipopapo specialty pink lemonade! I made it myself.”
Emu took a sip. It was just pink lemonade, though there was a tinge of something else that Emu couldn’t place. “Ah. That’s nice! Thanks Poppy.” he smiled
“No problem!!”
Kiriya suddenly pushed himself off the wall then, patting Emu’s shoulder. “Welp, I’m gonna go mingle. Just think about what I said, yeah?” he said calmly as he disappeared into the crowd. Poppy tilted her head in confusion. Emu wasn’t about to explain it.
“Is everything okay? You’re looking a lil flushed!” she asked suddenly. Emu hadn’t noticed how hot his cheeks actually did feel until then. It was probably due to all of the thoughts about his boyfriend and everything.
“I’m fine! Don’t worry about it, Poppy.” he replied. Poppy nodded, still with a smile on her face. It was then that none other than Hiiro would appear before the two of them. This was the worst time to walk up.
“Are you sure? I overheard a snippet. You looked uncomfy.” he said. “Kiriya wasn’t annoying you was he?”
“Please, I'm okay! It’s nothing I- is that wine?” Emu responded.
Hiiro quickly hid the glass behind his back. “No.” he obviously lied.
“Are you sure?”
Hiiro eyed Emus glass then. “There was cider mixed in with the pink lemonade too.”
“Eh?” Emu looked down at his glass “no wonder it tasted slightly funny. But cider isn’t as alcoholic as wine y’know.”
“You’re correct there.”
“Which is why you’re hiding your glass from me.”
“I don’t get what you mean.”
Hiiro was just feigning ignorance now. But it was humorous to Emu, so it was obvious he’d had at least a little to drink. He giggled. “Never mind. It’s a party anyway, so you don’t need to hide it.”
Hiiro tilted his head for a second, in an odd sideways nod, and took a sip of his own glass. Most likely agreeing with him in the process. Emu sipped his own glass before continuing the conversation.
“So um…how do you like the party?”
“It’s been fine. You did well.”
“Oh, thanks! Well-” Emu looked at the mistletoe again. He wasn’t sure how to even ask about it. “Do you mind if I ask you a stupid question?”
“Most of your questions are stupid but I answer them anyway. What is it?”
That was when Emu noticed that the music had been turned up, and he noticed Kiriya giving him a cocky smile from the other side of the room. Emu froze up a little. “What’s your opinion on um..” but before he could ask, both of them were pushed into each other as if they were being pulled into something. It was like the crowd had consumed them. Emu had also grabbed on to Hiiro’s hands to avoid losing him in the crowd shuffle, even though he had been pushed directly into Hiiro’s chest.
When the crowd slowed, and the two were pulled apart, Emu immediately knew who had instigated this. Kiriya had planned this, hadn’t he. Just another way for him to mess with the two of them. They’d somehow ended up in the middle of the crowd, even though not many people were looking their way.
“Well, I guess we’re not on the sidelines anymore.”
“I see that.”
Emu laughed nervously. He couldn’t even tell where they were in the room as the main lights had also been turned down, so any moment now they could end up right where he did and didn’t wanna be. Sure, he could just joke about it, get out of it and never have to mention it again, or they could just get it over with if they did end up under there. This is when he realised he was gripping Hiiro’s hands still, and his grip had tightened just a bit too much.
“Ah! Sorry!” Emu muttered quickly, letting go of him. Hiiro didn’t seem to care however, he just tried to stay close to Emu the whole time as the crowd slowly moved around with them. It felt very slow, and Emu really just wanted it over with by this point. He just wanted to leave.
He didn’t expect that he’d get his wish there and then, as he noticed that Hiiro had suddenly stopped moving. He swallowed as he looked up. They were in fact, now standing under the mistletoe. They were here. And Emu’s face couldn’t have been more red. He did not know what to say.
“Are you feeling okay?” Hiiro asked. Emu pointed upwards, and Hiiro followed it, also noticing the little plant above them.. “Oh.”
“Yeah uh. This is Kiriya’s fault.” he said. “I’m sorry- we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“What about you, Emu? Are you okay with it?”
“Huh, me? Well I am-” he was still a bit embarrassed to be doing this. “But you don’t have to- after all you don’t really like this sort of thing.”
“When have I ever said that?” Hiiro then said, holding out his hand. “Give me your hand.”
Emu’s heart was going for it. Hiiro’s face hadn’t changed the whole time, and even though Emu was usually okay at reading his feelings, he frankly had no idea what Hiiro was about to do next. He slowly slid his hand back into Hiiro’s, unaware of what was just about to occur.
The moment was fast, and his movement was swift. Hiiro had pulled Emu in, bringing them even closer together and pressed his lips against Emu’s.
And then, Emu froze. Hiiro had gone through with it, he’d kissed him. Everything was going so fast. He had no idea what to think, what to say, what to feel. He was locked in place, and couldn’t move at all, aside from closing his eyes. It still felt weird. Really weird. Even though it should have been fine since this was a regular thing to do. Those words too, it was true he’d never explicitly told him that he hated affection in public, but Emu had just discerned that from the way he’d carried himself in public.
He still couldn’t say anything even after Hiiro had pulled back. Only noises, and multiple words catching in his throat. He wanted to say something, anything. But he couldn’t. And Hiiro failed to read the very clear signs.
“Um. Did I do something wrong?”
“Dude you just kissed him in public. What do you think?” Kiriya said, re-entering the conversation. He had such a shit-eating grin on his face that made Emu want to recreate that punch he gave him a while ago. Though he still didn’t have the strength to say anything or move.
“Well, It’s not like I was against that in the first place. Though I would’ve thought Emu knew that.” Hiiro replied.
“Sorry…” Emu said, finally calming down. “I just…well it’d interfere with your work wouldn’t it? And..”
“It most certainly wouldn’t. Just saying ‘I love you’ in passing won’t change anything.” Hiiro then said, which froze Emu again. It felt like he was melting into the floor. Why was he feeling like this? How was he feeling this? He just didn’t feel well.
Kiriya cut in again, making a slicing motion with his hand in the middle of the two of them “Alright Hiiro that’s enough, that’s enough. I think Emu needs a break.” he said. Hiiro looked very confused. Kiriya rolled his eyes. “Just look at him.” he scoffed.
Emu was then taken out of the room with little fanfare. What had just happened? Hiiro was strangely oblivious. Just then Taiga approached him.
“Maybe next time make your boundaries clearer with your partner.” he said. Hiiro was quick to snap back.
“And why should I take advice from you?”
Taiga rolled his eyes. “Just trying to help.” he said, immediately disappearing back into the crowd. Hiiro sighed. Well, that was certainly something.