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Furin Class 1-1 decided to hold a special event for Christmas Eve, because it’s their first time spending Christmas as senior high schoolers. It will be Nirei’s first Christmas having a crush. Everyone thought Nirei is being obvious with how obsessed he is with Sakura but no one knows who is his real crush. Sakura is someone Nirei respects and Nirei sees him as a leader that will lead him and the class to a bright future and no more than that. There is another one who Nirei holds dear in his heart, beside Sakura.
His self-defense teacher. The one and only Leonardo Di Caprio in Makochi. People called him by Suo Hayato.
At first, Nirei didn’t think that his feelings could be interpreted as romantic towards Suo. Because Suo was someone amazing like Sakura but after spending the time with Suo as his classmate, Nirei found a new side of Suo that he never expected to see. No one ever told Nirei that Suo has his childish and annoying side to him just like other boys in his age group. On top of that, Suo is full of mysteries and he always buried it by lying though Nirei is immune now with his antics. But, this mysterious Suo will be Nirei’s subject for their special event, secret Santa.
Earlier this day, the whole class was doing a raffle for deciding their secret Santa. Nirei prepared it the day before, he volunteered to do it. Everyone took turn to pick one piece of paper and kept it to themselves until D-day. It was completely random and the goddess of fortune chose Suo for Nirei easily like that, the odds were 1/30. Truly crazy. Nirei had to make sure that he didn’t read it wrong. This coincidence wasn’t in his bingo list of 2025.
Nirei is happy with this outcome but he feels like he is being tested by the goddess, a test whether Nirei knows Suo’s preference or not. As someone who called Suo with ‘my crush’, supposedly Nirei understands Suo better than anyone else. Nirei knew about Suo and his love for tea, he even helped Suo to shop tea bags for Sakura’s house. He’s really obsessed with everything related to tea. Nirei also knew about Suo and his eternal enemy, natto. The best chance Nirei can choose is giving Suo something that is tea themed in overall. Nirei doesn’t have that much time to prepare tea cakes for Suo, so he decided to buy the gift on his free time. Either after school or on the weekend. For now, Nirei will browse through unique tea gifts and then he will pick the one that is suited for Suo and his budget is enough to allow him to buy it.
Nirei is being indecisive between buying candle with earl grey tea scent, sand tea timer or a heatproof glass teapot by Hari*. All three of them aren’t available in Makochi so Nirei has to buy it online or go to the next city since it’s larger than Makochi so the chance of them to avail there is bigger. He still has a special practice session with Suo after school so it’s impossible to hop on the train after practice because it will be too late to go home for school in the morning. There's only 2 weeks left until Christmas so Nirei only has two chances and he has to avoid meeting Suo on the weekend or it will spoil the fun.
“So, have you got the present for the event, Nirei-kun?” Suo offers a bottle of water to Nirei.
Nirei accepts the water, Suo opens the cap for him, “I haven’t, Suo-san. I want to buy it this weekend and I hope I can find the one that I want to buy there.” He drinks it before continuing, “Or I might just need to buy online, Suo-san.”
“Is it a rare item, Nirei-kun?”
“No, it’s just I want to buy something unique, Suo-san. No more questions or I’ll talk too much.”
Suo chuckles, “I was about to do that but you saw through me, Nirei-kun. Want me to accompany you?”
“I can go there by myself, plus you have your own subject for the event. Just focus on them, Suo-san!” Nirei’s voice rises one octave, panicked over Suo’s offer. If he comes, he will ruin the surprise, Suo-san is really dangerous.
“Right. Then I hope I won’t run into you when I buy the present, Nirei-kun.”
Isn’t that supposed to be my line? “I hope so too, Suo-san.”
Nirei comes prepared, last night he finally made up his mind after comparing the price of each item in his list. The difference between them is not that high but at least Nirei can save a little bit of his money.
Nirei arrives at the mall in the city next to Makochi. It’s a lot bigger than what he ever visited with Sakura, Suo, Kiryu and Tsugeura. But, since Nirei already knows where to go, he doesn’t hesitate to break through the crowd. Nirei was mesmerized when he entered the store, it was pretty and it has a lot of tea varieties. Not only that, it also sells accessories, teapots, and even tea scented candles. “Suo-san must’ve liked it if we went here together. Next time I’ll tell him about this store.”
Nirei has decided what to buy but his decision suddenly disintegrates into pieces in his mind when the store clerk approaches him. “Hi, can I help you with something?” Too many things to choose and Nirei is torn.
“Actually, I’m looking for this...” He shows the picture on his phone, “If you don’t have it here, maybe you could recommend me other items? My friend really loves tea but I bet he already has a lot of tea bags in his house so I want to buy something other than that.”
“Oh, you’re lucky, kid. We have that and it’s the last stock. Let me grab it for you.”
The store employee walks to the storeroom, leaving Nirei alone. Nirei is now happy that the present for Suo is settled. But, then Nirei sees something unique on the accessories shelf. A pair of earrings shaped like teabags. Suo-san won’t wear something outrageous like this right? After all, his style is very well refined. What a shame, this is really cute. The object is currently on sale, for only 1500 yen from 2800 yen.
“Thank you for waiting patiently, boy. Does this match with what you are looking for?”
When the clerk shows him the items inside the box, his eyes sparkle. It’s exactly what he wanted to buy for Suo. The color is pretty too. I hope Suo-san will like it. “Yes, it’s perfect, ma’am.”
“Great. Do you have other goods to buy?”
“No, I’m fine. Please wrap this box for me, ma’am. Thank you.”
“Sure, let’s go to the cashier together.”
D-day of the event.
Sakura chose to do it in class because Kotoha’s café, Pothos, is reserved by the third-year. Suo and Nirei asked permission from their teacher to decorate the class and their homeroom said yes.
Kiryu becomes the MC, again it’s Sakura’s choice and Kiryu couldn’t reject it since Sakura seemed serious when he picked Kiryu. He begins the event with a welcome speech to everyone in Class 1-1. Then, move on to a speech from their grade captain aka Sakura. Sakura grabs the mic, his cheeks already blushed from shyness. He says that he couldn’t sleep last night because he was too excited for this event. He hopes everyone is as excited as him and he ends it with “Merry Christmas” to everyone.
Kiryu calls their names one by one. From Sakura as the captain, his secret Santa is Anzai. Sakura opens the present and it’s an omurice phone case. Sakura loves it, his phone doesn’t have any cover and this gift is what he needed. Next, Suo as the first vice-captain, Nirei gulps. He stands up from his seat and walks to Suo who waits in the front of the class with Kiryu.
“So, Nirei-kun is my Santa? I’m happy.”
“Hehehe. This is for you, Suo-san.”
Nirei hands the beautifully wrapped gifts to Suo who is more than ready to accept it. Suo unwraps the paper carefully, he makes sure that he doesn’t tear it recklessly. Nirei nervously waits as the box finally lifts, “Woah, a sunadokei and .... earrings? Eh?”
“This sand hourglass is specially made for making tea, as you can see here, there are 3 types. One for light taste, medium taste and strong taste. I thought it’s perfect for Suo-san who loves to brew tea. Also, for the earrings... the shape is kinda weird isn’t it? But, when I saw it, it reminded me of Suo-san. So, I impulsively added it in. I’m sorry if you find it annoying, Suo-san.”
“It’s the exact opposite, Nirei-kun. I love it so much. As expected from my disciple. You’re the best.” Suo quickly takes off his earrings and changes it to the earrings he got from Nirei. “Does it suit me?”
He bobs his head, “You look good with everything and I’m more than happy if you like it, Suo-san.” Nirei’s cheeks turn into a red ball in an instant after Suo’s praise. It takes him by surprise when Suo swaps his earrings. His chest feels warm.
After that, they are supposed to go back to their respective seats but Nirei and Suo stay there. Kiryu giggles, since he is the MC, he knows about this arrangement. But, Nirei looks dumbfounded. He is confused as to why Suo is still there with him in front of the classroom. Kiryu gives Suo a present box which then Suo places it on top of Nirei’s hand.
“I’m your secret Santa, Nirei-kun. What a surprise, right?”
Woah. God is good. My crush is giving me a present. Nirei’s face beams with delight, he hasn’t opened the gift yet. It’s light as feathers, making Nirei wonder what kind of thing that Suo chose for him. Nirei opens the box and it’s a light green hoodie with a melon soda illustration on the front. It has a scent that is familiar to Nirei’s sense of smell, Suo’s perfume. Not only that, it also came with a scarf that matched perfectly to the hoodie.
“Nirei-kun, do you know the meaning behind those things that I gave you?”
“Melon soda? Because I like it?”
Suo closes the gap between them, his right hand finding its way to Nirei’s left cheek. Nirei freezes instantly. “Seriously, Nirei-kun. You’re really slow when it comes to something like this. Giving a hoodie and scarf is basically me asking you to be my boyfriend.”
“Huh?”
“I like you, Nirei-kun. Since the first time I saw you walking through the classroom with Sakura-kun. My heart is already yours.”
Nirei is flabbergasted, this is the moment he’s been dreaming of but this reality feels unreal. Suo confessed to him first that it is like one of his dreams for the past few months, so Nirei has to make sure that he is not sleeping. He pinches his arms and he can feel the pain. This is real.
“Nirei-kun.” Suo’s voice brings Nirei’s eyes back to look at Suo again. “I know this feels like I’m rushing into things but I can assure you that it’s not. I’ve been thinking about telling you my feelings but I couldn’t find the perfect moment until this day.”
“Suo-san...” Nirei's mouth can’t properly say the things that are inside his mind, his internal self is having miscommunication and Nirei hates it. There are so many things that he wants to tell Suo but he can’t control his body. “I like you too.” This is the only sentence that his mouth can produce for now.
Suo comes in for a hug and he hugs Nirei tight in his arms, while Nirei’s head fit perfectly in it. “So, I can say that this is our first day as a couple, right Nirei-kun?” Nirei nods his head, feeling embarrassed with this ruckus. They just did it in front of the whole class, double the kill. He can hear his classmates start to clap and congratulate both Suo and Nirei. Some even gossip that Nirei’s crush is actually Suo and not Sakura, which somehow almost half of them agreed to. I should show more affection to Suo-san after this so no one will misunderstand me in the future.
Kiryu tears them apart by continuing the Secret Santa event, nonchalantly. He said something like ‘you can save your lovey-dovey moment later, after everyone gets their gifts’.
The event ended in a big success, everyone was happy with their present and it brought them closer by doing this. There are two people who got more than just a gift too.
Nirei thought the surprise would end when Suo professed his feelings to Nirei but at the end of the event, Suo gave Nirei a slice of cake and whispered in his ears. “Happy middle birthday, Nirei-kun and from now on, let’s celebrate our birthday together.” Nirei knew that Suo is a thoughtful person but this is beyond his imagination. He smiles at Suo brightly, “Happy middle birthday too, Suo-san. Yes, I’d love to do that, boyfriend.”
Epilogue
“So, who got Nirei-kun as their subject?”
Suo gathered everyone from Class 1-1 when Nirei was away from the classroom to help the teacher. He looked serious when he threw the question. It made Sakura raised his eyebrows.
“That’s supposed to be a secret, Suo. You know the rules.”
“I understand, Sakura-kun but I plan to confess to Nirei-kun using the gift that I will buy for him.”
Sakura’s cheeks turned red quickly. Confused. Panicked. “WHA—”
“I got Nirei-kun, Suo. Change with mine. That will help you right?” Tsugeura raised his hand and showed the paper that had Nirei’s name on it.
Suo bit his lips, “I don’t like the fact that I owe you something, Tsugeura but thank you.” Suo gave Tsugeura his own paper. Suo was supposed to be Kakiuchi’s Secret Santa.
“Hahaha. Yes!! Come with me to train, Suo. Then, I can say that we’re even.”
Kiryu laughed out loud along with the other classmates. Sakura joined too. They loved how honest Suo’s facial expression was when it came to interacting with Tsugeura. Suo reluctant to say yes but he had to. I can do anything for Nirei-kun, even going to hell with Tsugeura like this.
After that, Suo started his journey to buy things for Nirei.
The only thing that he didn’t expect is that Nirei is his Secret Santa. That was totally out of his plan. But, he was really happy when he found out about it on D-day. It’s like the universe is giving its blessing to Suo (no, he’s just being delusional).