Chapter Text
(12:28 p.m) Yuta: Almost there! Running a bit late.
It’s prime daytime hours in Tokyo, and the winter season and snowflakes falling don’t deter its residents from hustling and bustling about. People young and old move quickly from one destination to the next. It’s quite a wonder how quickly human beings can bounce back from disaster. If you looked at the scene now, people walking from business to business during the Christmas season without a care in the world, you’d be hard-pressed to think anything was wrong considering nearly a year ago, many places in Tokyo had been ravaged by jujutsu terrorism. She’ll chalk this up as one of the few fruits of their labor.
Maki reads the message once over and slips her phone into her pocket. She breathes in the crisp air. She can wait a couple of more minutes.
She stands at the corner of one of the milder streets of Tokyo’s many shopping districts. City life is all around her, from the people to the store buildings, though most of it is an indistinct buzz to her while she waits. It’s the middle of winter and her outfit reflects it. Her standard mission uniform has been cast aside for a thick, black peacoat and pants. The fur around the collar pairs nicely with her purple scarf and dark wool cap on her head to keep her face warm. It’s not her standard wear, of course. It’s certainly more “chic” as Nobara had told her. But she had her reasons.
“Maki!”
The familiar sound of a certain boy’s voice helps add some warmth against the cold. She turns to see Yuta approaching. He’s wearing a white overcoat over a black, wool turtleneck, and the white he’s wearing alongside his blue scarf flapping happily in the wind helps him stand out amidst the crowd when he gets closer. By the time he reaches her, he’s slightly out of breath if his doubling over and warm vapor leaving his mouth in huffs means anything.
“You weren’t that late,” she says amusedly.
“Late is still late, even if it’s only a couple of minutes,” he says when he collects his breath. “Did I keep you waiting long?”
“I got here a couple of minutes ago. I’m fine.”
“That’s good.” Giving himself a chance to relax, she notices him giving her a look over.
“Something the matter?”
“No. You look nice. That’s all.”
He gives her a complimentary smile. She hopes the smirk she puts on helps fight back the reddening in her cheeks.
“You’re not looking too bad yourself,” she says back to him. “I’m still surprised you have clothes other than your uniform. I’m sure this was all you.”
He bashfully rubs the back of his neck.
“I may have gotten a little help,” he chuckles. “I had to for today.”
“And what is today?” Maki asks. “You’re about five days too early for Christmas.”
“I know. But we’re going to be with everyone else for Christmas. And something might pop up within the next four days. And we’ve been busy the entire month beforehand. So…”
“So…?”
She crosses her arms and enjoys Yuta shuffling awkwardly in place.
“So, you know… I thought today would be the best day to spend Christmas together. Alone.”
The last word sets her alight, as does his coy demeanor.
“Alone, huh? Didn’t wanna bring anyone else?”
“No,” he says quickly and firmly, his nervous smile morphing into a sly one. “I didn’t want to share you with anyone else.”
Her smirk scrunches up to fight back the girlish smile that wants to take its place. It’s a difficult task for her not to turn away from him.
Instead, she sidles up to him and lightly knocks her body against his, shoulder to shoulder.
“Alright, then. What’s the plan for today?”
He breathes in deeply and exhales confidently.
“I don’t know,” he says with a sparkle in his eyes.
“…Huh?”
“I don’t know,” he echoes with a grin. “I thought we’d just walk around and enjoy wherever we end up. There’s gotta be something fun, right?”
He’s beaming too brightly at her for her to make fun of him. She huffs a small laugh.
“Fair enough,” she says. “You’re leading, though.”
“Alright. I can do that,” he says, stepping in front of her.
When she goes to follow, she feels a warm hand softly taking hold of her own. Maki looks down to where he’s joined them and looks back up at him to see Yuta staring back with an excited smile.
“Let’s go,” he says, and she supposes she can deign to let him pull her around.
“Do people really buy these?” Maki asks as she holds up a little Christmas elf doll.
“Yeah, why not?” Yuta asks with his own doll in hand. “You can decorate some shelves or countertops with them.”
“I’d rather not have this thing watching me,” she replies while peering deeply into the eerie face of the elf staring back at her. She tosses it back and looks around at the rest of the Christmas-themed products in the little knick-knack store they’ve stopped in.
“I feel like we should get some decorations,” Yuta chuckles. “We don’t hang up things, usually.”
“Well, we were preoccupied the past two Christmases,” Maki jokes darkly.
“Hmm… I didn’t think about that, but I guess this is the first year we won’t have to worry about anything, huh?”
“I’d wait until Christmas is over before you start saying things like that.”
“Heh. Right…”
Yuta walks over to a bin filled with wearables. He picks out a fake, white beard and holds it over his face. He turns to her for a reaction, and she admirably holds back her laugh.
“Facial hair doesn’t suit you,” she smirks.
“Maybe when I’m older?”
Maki tries to imagine an older Yuta with any sort of facial hair on him.
“You can keep dreaming,” she settles on.
He laughs and takes the beard off his face. She waits for him to put it back but sees a little light flicker in his eye like he just had an idea.
Maki watches him slowly come face-to-face with her. When she looks up at him, he gently places the beard over her face.
His cheeks puff in amusement.
“How’s it look?”
“It might suit you more than me,” he says through held-back laughter.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
She lets him hold the beard over her for a moment longer.
“You got about three more seconds before I take this beard and glue it on you permanently.”
The Christmas market is active with people scouring each decorative stall. The red, white, and green coloring the sight certainly doesn’t hold back the holiday spirit. They window-shop hand-in-hand, Yuta’s newly acquired Santa cap fitting in nicely with the scenery around them.
“That’s a cool mug,” she points out.
“I like that bowl,” he says in return.
“There’s some toys over there.”
“The food smells good over there.”
They continue walking past each stall without stopping.
“Cool tree.”
“Pretty lights.
“Santa figurine right there.”
“Hm… Neat. Hey, look at that reindeer.”
“Where…? Oh. Cool.”
They walk and walk until they end up on the other end of the Christmas market.
Yuta and Maki stop and turn around at the market street with their many unbought products.
They turn towards each other.
“That was fun,” Yuta says.
“Mhm.”
It seems the streets are only getting more busy as the day continues. More and more people are roaming beside them. Yuta stays close to her, and she does the same with him.
“It’s getting crowded,” she says absentmindedly.
“No kidding,” he remarks. He makes note of the many pairs walking, hands held together just like them. “Lots of… people.”
“Yeah, ‘people,’” she says with a little smile. She knows the word “couple” was on the tip of his tongue, but Yuta still gets a little shy knowing they look much the same as them right now. Not that she cares, she thinks to herself as she pulls him to her side a bit closer.
Their aimless route takes them into a denser pack of bodies. They slow down when they see that some people are having fun taking pictures beside a comically large snowman, the button smile and orange scarf on its neck drawing in families with kids.
“Looks fun,” she huffs uninterestedly. Her mind changes when she sees Yuta looking surprisingly invested in the snow statue, his eyes widening just a smidge. She smiles playfully. “Really?” she says to him.
“Look at it,” Yuta insists, pointing at the snowman. “It’s cool.”
“You’ve never seen a snowman before?”
“I have! But that one looks like it’s seven feet tall. That isn’t cool?”
When the kids have their fun and leave the snowman unattended, Yuta slowly turns to her with eyes full of excitement that look like they’re asking for permission.
Maki rolls her eyes and shakes her head before taking her phone out of her pocket.
“Go ahead.”
It doesn’t take much time for Yuta to place himself beside the snowman. When she holds her phone camera at him, he happily holds up the peace sign and waits for the shutter sound.
It’s a nice picture. Funny. Kind of cute.
And it’s on her phone.
Maybe this wasn’t so bad.
When she finds herself standing beside the snowman on her own, her blank face staring at Yuta’s camera, she decides that she folded too easily.
She trudges up next to him, Yuta looking too intently at his phone.
“You can delete it now,” she says.
Yuta’s brow raises in surprise.
“Uh… ‘delete?’”
Her phone vibrates with a message. She pulls it out and sees the photo sent to their group chat with Panda and Toge. Maki is ready to glare at Yuta when another message comes through.
Panda: Wow!! Cute!
Panda: And you two *are* hanging out together. I told the others not to worry.
Panda: Hope you’re having fun! Tell us all about it later <3 <3 <3
“Yuta.”
“Hm?”
“Send another picture.”
Maki stands before him holding up the middle finger. Yuta chuckles nervously.
“Oh, my, do you two need help with a picture?”
They’re interrupted by an innocent-looking elderly woman passing by. She smiles at them warmly.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Yuta says with a laugh. “We were just—”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, son, I can see it in your eyes. I don’t mind.”
Elderly women are surprisingly deft, they both learn when she grabs Yuta’s phone out of his hands and shoves them towards the snowman before they can protest. Yuta looks at her, shocked, but Maki figures they’re already this far and shrugs her shoulders.
They don’t take many pictures together, if at all.
They fumble awkwardly trying to figure out what position they even take.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Yuta bows when they get back to her.
“Of course, son,” she says while handing him his phone back. “You two enjoy yourselves,” she says with a wink and waves goodbye.
They watch her disappear into the crowd of people.
They look at Yuta’s phone screen, the picture displayed.
Yuta has his arm wrapped around her back and holds her close. She’s leaning into him, her two fingers thrown up just because. The giant snowman stands behind and frames the background.
“Don’t send that one,” Maki mumbles.
“Uh… yeah.”
“…Send it to me, though.”
“…Of course.”
Yuta and Maki reconvene in a little rest area. Both of them are carrying quite a few bags.
“What’d you get?” Yuta asks while placing the bags down.
“I got Nobara some nails.”
“For her fingers?”
“What? No.” She reaches into a bag and pulls out a decently sized tin of hammer nails.
“Oh.” Yuta pulls out some lipstick. “You think she’ll like this?”
“How much did it cost?”
“More than I’d like to say.”
“Yeah, she’ll like it.”
Yuta pulls out an HD box set of the Human Earthworm films.
“For Yuji?”
“Yeah. What’d you get Fushiguro?”
She shows him a hefty-sized encyclopedia of Japan.
“He reads all the time so this is good, right?”
“I guess? That’s better than this.”
Yuta pulls out two pairs of fuzzy dice. One pair is red and the other is blue.
“Who the hell are those for?”
“Hakari-senpai and Kirara-senpai,” Yuta clarifies. “You think they’ll be mad?”
“Hm. Something tells me they’ll actually like those.”
“Good.”
“Mhm.”
There’s a beat of silence.
“By the way, Maki… I have to ask.”
“What?”
“…Why do you have that?”
Yuta points to what looks like the left arm of a store mannequin sticking out from one of her bags. She smirks mischievously.
“That’s Toge’s gift.”
“That’s… mean,” he says, even if the smile on his face betrays his feelings.
“Maybe he should stop being a little shit, then,” she says. Affectionately, of course.
“You’re not really gonna give that to him, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Ah, that’s good—”
“I’m wrapping it up, first.”
“…Right.”
They get all their items in order and start their trek back.
As they walk, Maki notices Yuta’s brow furrow.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah…” He hums in thought. “I feel like we’re forgetting something.”
“Nah. We got everyone that deserves something a gift.”
“Did we? I feel like—”
“No. We did.”
The day is beginning to wind down. Their fun is about ready to end as they’ll have to get back soon.
They’ve ended up at some riverwalk where the only people there are just him and her.
“I don’t feel like we did much,” Yuta says aloud, the both of them leaning against the railings beside each other and staring at the waters.
“You bought a hat,” she reminds him.
“We took some pictures, I guess,” he reminisces.
“Don’t forget these presents,” Maki says while making note of the bags placed at their feet.
He hums in acknowledgment.
“Next time, I’ll plan better,” he says.
Maki scoffs a little. She lightly pokes him with her elbow.
“I had fun,” she tells him honestly. “Don’t worry.”
He smiles brightly at her. She soaks in the sight.
They’re left looking out into the waters and the city buildings on the other end. Despite the snowflakes and the cold air, Maki thinks it’s nostalgic.
“Hey… Maki.”
She turns to him and finds him facing her fully.
“I know Christmas is still a couple of days away, but…”
He shuffles anxiously in place. She’s confused, her head tilting wondering what’s the matter, before he reaches into one of his pockets. He pulls out a small, square box and holds it to her.
“Merry Christmas.”
Maki’s taken aback. She wasn’t expecting this. She can’t remember the last time someone gifted her anything outside some obligatory birthday presents.
“I’m assuming this is why you were late,” she says softly.
“Heh. It took a bit for me to decide,” he confesses, his smile warm and inviting.
“Can I open it?”
“Of course. Here…”
Yuta gently takes the top end of the box off.
Maki’s met with a bangle resting inside. A green gemstone shines brilliantly, the thin, gold bracelet connecting both ends.
“At first, I thought I’d get a ring, but then I thought about the implication and… you know,” Yuta stutters. “Then, I thought I’d get a necklace, but I didn’t really like the ones they had. So, then I thought I’d get a bracelet since those are pretty unobtrusive, and I don’t know if you’re big into jewelry, but then I had to find the right one, and there was a lot to choose from, and then… yeah… I can actually refund it and give it back if you want something better—”
“Yuta.”
She holds out her right hand and pulls back the sleeve of her coat and shirt.
“Help me put it on.”
He pauses out of his stammering before relief floods his body.
Yuta carefully takes the bangle out of its box. He gently affixes it above her wrist, the gemstone facing upwards. When it’s fit snug, he holds her hand in his.
“How does it look?” she asks
“Better than I imagined,” he whispers.
He’s still holding her hand in both of his, Yuta looking at her too warmly and too passionately. She wonders if someone like her is supposed to be subject to this much appreciation.
“We have to head back soon,” she mumbles.
“I know. Just…”
He pulls her closer, dangerously close. She has to look up at him, her heart rate picking up when she sees how intensely he’s looking at her.
It feels like time is as frozen as the snow around them.
Despite how he holds her, he stays unmoving. He even breaks their gaze to look at their surroundings.
She scoffs.
“If you keep holding me like this, I might actually think you’re gonna—”
Maki feels Yuta’s fingers cup softly around her chin and leans her upward. He leans in and lets his lips capture hers, a tender, full kiss enveloping her senses.
When they separate, she turns away, her face fully unaffected by the chill winds, now.
“Sorry,” Yuta whispers. “Just making sure we were alone.”
“Is it that embarrassing?” Maki mumbles.
“Not at all,” he says sweetly. “Like I said, I didn’t want to share you with anyone else, today.”
If she wasn’t ablaze within, she would’ve loved to rib him, tease him, scold him.
All she can do is lean forward and press her cheek against his chest.
They let themselves rock slowly back and forth in their little bubble.
When they separate, they pick up their bags and start their journey back.
Maki feels the bangle wrapped around her wrist with every step.
She’ll get back at him another day.