Tadomaki Christmas

Makishima looked out the window in his appartment, at the drab gray sky of England as Christmas approached. He felt like cycling, but the gently falling snow tempted him to curl up under the covers and read a gravure magazine. He sighed, letting his thoughts wander carelessly. He thought about his friends back home; although he had made many close acquaintances in England, he couldn’t yet call them his friend. He stretched leisurely, and sat down on his tiny beat up purple loveseat. Although it wasn’t long enough for him to take a nap on and he often ended up in awkward positions, he still fell asleep there the most.
Just as he was about to be carted off into the land of dreams, he heard the gentle ringing of his cell phone. Internally cursing, he clambered off the couch to reach the coffee table that was suddenly too far away for his benefit. If it was Toudou, he was going to give him an earful!
However, the caller ID had a picture of Winnie the Pooh! Makishima quickly hit the ‘answer call’ button on his smartphone.
“Tadokorocchi!”
“Yo! Makishima, how’s England?” Tadokoro said with his trademark booming voice. Makishima pulled the phone away from his ear slightly.
“Er.. England is fine…” Makishima replied.
Makishima was surprised that Tadokoro had called him; it had been nearly half a year since he had talked to anyone from Sohoku.
Makishima put Tadokoro on speaker, and folded his arms behind his head. He listened to Tadokorocchi talk about the bakery, the new Team Sohoku, a recent Sengoku-era video game that he had bought with his own money. He didn’t know why, but listening to Tadokoro speak made him feel at ease.
“Makishima?”
“… yes?” he answered hesitantly, hoping that he hadn’t seemed inattentive.
“D’ya think you’ll be in Japan for Christmas?”
Makishima smiled. “I don’t know Tadokorocchi, do you miss me?”
“You bastard!” Makishima could hear the blush in his voice, and started laughing.
“I’ll be there for a month, my brother wanted to take a break from his work here.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Tadokoro said.
They stayed quiet for a minute, lost in their thoughts.
“Tadokorocchi, do you want to meet up for Christmas?”
“Sure! I can give you your present then.”
Makishima rolled his eyes. “I’ll get you one too, what do you want from England?”

Makishima arrived at his house with his brother December 23^rd. With an extra day to spare, he rode his bike through their home town, glad to finally be back where he was most comfortable. He missed all the perks of being home, especially the perk of having his home invaded regularly by that big dumb bear friend of his.
Not that he would admit that he secretly enjoyed every moment that Tadokoro crashed at his place, and ate all his food.
As he was riding by the Kanzaki Bike Shop, Miki called out to him.
“Makishima-san! Merry Christmas!”
Startled, he sped by and then braked hastily, turning his bike around. He pedaled toward the shop again, and greeted Miki’s upbeat and smiling face.
“Uh, hello Kanzaki-san.” He answered, looking away. Miki’s smile grew even wider.
“Makishima-san, how was your trip to England? Did you like riding there? How were the other competitors?” As usual, her love for biking showed. Makishima answered her questions succinctly.
“How about Tadokoro-san, did you get to see him yet?” she said slyly. Makishima smiled slightly.
“I made plans with him in two days, I’ll see him then.”
“Oh my! Christmas Day plans? How romantic!” she said.
Makishima turned to her, eyes wide in disbelief. “Romantic?”
“Oops!” Miki covered her mouth, though her smirk showed through. “Well it was nice meeting you! Sorry I have to go back into the shop to help, I just got back from running an errand.” She retreated quickly.
Makishima stood there for two minutes, deep in thought, and then rode back to his home. The thought occurred to him that if Tadokorocchi was doing what he thought he would, then Makishima Yuusuke had some major preparations to make. Such as changing his Christmas present.
Although the two of them had made a promise to meet up on Christmas, when they met at Sohoku that morning, neither could decide on where to go. They ended up at the family restaurant that they frequented during their highschool days.
They sat in their favorite booth; far back towards the corner next to the window. It had a nice view of the garden, and was secluded enough that a bunch of highschool boys could make a reasonable amount of noise and not disturb the other patrons.
Although it was lunch time, they ordered milkshakes and nothing else. The two had been clutching their presents in hand, waiting for the right moment.
“Hey, maybe we should just give each other the presents now!” Tadokoro said. Makishima looked at him and nodded, and they quickly exchanged boxes.
Tadokoro’s neat wrapping skills were apparent. It was taped perfectly, and the box had an elegant snowflake design, with pictures of red and green tree ornaments overlaid. He had clearly spent a lot of time figuring out what Makishima would like; and Makishima would have to agree that it suited his taste. He was thinking of the best way to unwrap it without ripping the paper.
On the other hand, Makishima’s present was in a plain black box, with a white bow on top. It was severely tame despite his usual design sense, which could be attributed to his hastily put together present. He was unsure whether he had done the right thing, swapping out Tadokoro’s present at the last minute. He waited anxiously, tapping his foot.
Tadokoro rubbed his knuckles as he looked down at the box set in front of him, then looked and Makishima.
“I think you should open yours first.”
“-sho!” He affirmed. He gently lifted the scotch tape, and unfolded the triangles at the side. It was a white cardboard box underneath. Makishima lifted the lid slowly, watching Tadokoro’s increasingly reddening expression.
Inside was an assortment of decorated sweets with a green blob stuffed in the corner of the box. Makishima grabbed it, and spread it out in his hands. It was a green and red striped scarf, that looked like it was probably hand made.
“Did you make this?” Makishima pressed it to his face, feeling its softness. Tadokoro’s face colored.
“I did, I learned how to crochet out of boredom and I thought a scarf would be a good present cause-”
“It’s nice, thank you.” he interrupted.
Now came the real torture. Tadokoro wrung his hands and went for it.
“Makishima, if it doesn’t bother you that we’re both guys,” he took a deep breath, “would you go out with me?”
The other man just sat there silently as their waitress approached with the ordered drinks. She set them down quickly and rushed off to another table.
“Tadokorocchi, why don’t you open your present first?”
Tadokoro furrowed his brow, but complied. He opened the box.
“I don’t understand, you got me a plant with a berry?”
Makishima looked away and stood up quickly, blushing. He switched sides of the booth, sitting right next to his friend.
Without making eye contact, he said,“Well, in England they say that lovers who kiss under mistletoe are guaranteed happiness for a whole year.”
Makishima reached for Tadokoro’s face and kissed him gently.
After they broke apart, both looked about as red as a tomato. Makishima wrapped the scarf around his neck happily, and Tadokoro laughed.
“That’s the most confusing yes I’ve ever heard!”
“Shut up Tadokorocchi.”