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My Life: Chapter 10 - Christmas at Kaoru's

by Fitz

Kaoru’s house was huge. It had two levels and a basement, which was not unusual in itself, but it had five bedrooms. Five! Uncle Hiko’s house only had two. There were five bathrooms--not all of them with tubs and showers--an immense kitchen, a den, a rec room, a family room, a formal dining room, a dinette, a study with a fireplace in it, and a hot tub built into the deck in the back yard. That back yard was fenced in, by the way. They had a four-car garage with work space in the back. All four of those stalls were occupied, and there was another car parked in the driveway.

The really intimidating thing about Kaoru’s neighborhood, though, was that her house was not the largest. Not by a long shot. Talk about living in style. They lived in a mansion.

Surprisingly, there were not a lot of people in the house when I got there. With a place that big, I had expected at least--oh, I don’t know--five or six people. Other than Kaoru, there were two. Mr. Kamiya and Mrs. Kamiya. Excuse me, Ms. Kamiya.

"The relatives will start arriving Tuesday," Kaoru explained. "Let’s see... we have one, two, three..." she trailed off, counting on her fingers and staring into space. That space contained a very nice-looking chandelier. "Ten people coming! Plus you, me, and my parents."

"Fourteen people?" I asked doubtfully. "Can you fit that many people around a table?"

"Is it a guy thing to think immediately about the food and dining situations?" Kaoru grinned at me. I felt my face warm. She must have thought I was a pig. "We always split off into two tables--the kids and the adults are separated for the most part. Don’t worry about it. Let’s get your stuff to the guest room."

"Does everyone stay here over Christmas?" I asked cautiously, following her up a large, curving staircase. There were pictures on the walls, mostly family photos. I glanced at them briefly, more focused on not getting lost in that house.

"Some do," she giggled. "We usually fill the rooms and have people sleep on air mattresses if there aren’t enough beds. You’re here first, so you get a bed."

"I don’t want to put anyone out." I got the feeling I was intruding. They had to accommodate for so many people without me getting mixed up in things.

"Trust me, you won’t," she giggled. "How’s this?"

She showed me into a room that was bigger than the one I had at Uncle Hiko’s house. There were two twin beds, a closet, two bed stands, a dresser, and an armoire. I set my bag on the floor near the wall, a bit overwhelmed by the sheer size of this place.

"The bathroom’s across the hall," Kaoru was explaining. I looked at her, and judging by the amusement that shone in her eyes, my own expression showed how dazed I felt. I blinked, hoping to wipe that look of my face, and listened to her descriptions. "My bedroom is right next to yours, and Mom and Dad are at the end of the hall. The kitchen is down the stairs and to the left..."

She went on and on and on. I made her give me a tour of the house--twice.

^_^

Typically, I took a bus to work. Kaoru would hear nothing of it. Thus, I only had to allow myself ten to fifteen minutes to get to work rather than the usual forty-five. I felt too guilty accepting all the rides out of charity, so in return, I made Kaoru accept money for gas. I doubt she needed it, but at least it made me feel better.

I had no idea what to get that girl for Christmas. Sunday, during my break, I wandered the mall, hoping to get some sort of idea. By Monday, I was getting worried. Christmas Eve was on Tuesday, and I had no clue what to do. I even took to asking some of my co-workers.

"How old is she?" Sandy was one of the few women who spoke to me. Most of the employees stayed away from me. Probably because I was the only male worker on the floor. The other men worked in shipping and stocking or maintenance and janitorial services. Not me. I spent my days picking up after women. Lord, but women are messy.

"She’s my age," I grumbled, drinking from the bottle of pop I’d gotten from the vending machine earlier. The store was unusually barren, and there was not much for us to do. It was pretty early yet. Most people waited until dawn to start their shopping. "Nineteen."

"Clothes?" Sandy offered.

"I wouldn’t know where to start," I grumbled.

"Lingerie?"

"She’s not my girlfriend, Sandy!" I glared at the woman. My face was very hot, and I’m sure I was blushing a bright red. Sandy was laughing like crazy. "I’m not getting her that stuff!"

"Okay, no clothing," she agreed. "Does she like books?"

"I’m sure she does," I shrugged. "I don’t know."

"Games?" she tried again. "Computer stuff? Trashy trinkets?"

I looked at her helplessly. I had no idea.

"Candles or body lotions?" Sandy smiled. "That’s the gift I usually give if I don’t know what to get someone."

Someone came into the store then, and we broke apart. Sandy went to greet the woman, and I pretended to be doing something worthwhile.

I was skeptical about that lotion thing, but I decided to give it a shot. Who knew it would turn out to be such a task?! First off, there were no less than three Bath & Body Works shops in the mall. Not only that, but there was a place called the Body Shop. And then the Victoria’s Secrets fragrance store, the Aveda store, Origins, not to mention the four anchor department stores. I thought candles might be easier, but there were about five candle shops there too!

Monday night, I returned to Kaoru’s house, defeated and in a panic. Kaoru informed me that I looked exhausted before chasing me off to bed at nine-thirty. I collapsed on the guest bed, wondering what I was going to do. My arm wrapped around my stuffed gorilla--which Kaoru had requested I bring because she wanted to show it to one of her cousins--and I rolled onto my side, hugging the thing to me. I groaned softly, the sound muffled by the furry toy.

"What am I going to do?" I demanded, but of course, the stuffed animal couldn’t answer. It would have been easier if it could.

I fell asleep like that, curled around that stupid gorilla, sullenly thinking I might not be able to find anything in time.

^_^

Tuesday morning, before work, I sat with Kaoru at the breakfast table. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she yawned frequently. Having already been snapped at twice for pointing out that I could take the bus and spare her the early mornings, I kept my mouth shut. She huddled over a cup of strong coffee, and I stirred the soggy Cheerios in my bowl. My mind was filled with the worries of the day--like that gift I was going to get, what I was going to eat for lunch, and if Kaoru would get into a car accident because she was so tired.

Through this, I found myself staring blindly at the ratty pink thing on the table in front of me. I blinked at it, forcing my mind to register the object, and discovered myself to be looking at a hair binder. It was one of those scrunchy things, and it looked as if it had seen better days. When I stopped to think about it, most of Kaoru’s hair accessories looked pretty worn down. The stuff I used was better--in quality anyway. I rarely wore anything so... frilly.

"Kenshin? You awake?"

"Huh?" I blinked and quickly looked away from the hair piece, hoping she did not know what I had been thinking. The last thing I needed was to insult my hostess.

"We’ve got to leave in twenty minutes," she said wearily. "Your hair is still wet. You should dry it."

"Dry it? Why?" Honestly, who cared? It was just going back in a ponytail anyway.

"It’s cold out," she nudged at my chair with her foot, making the legs scrape across the floor. "It’ll freeze."

"My hair?" It had done that before. I guess I never thought about preventing it.

"So go dry your hair," she ordered. "You can used the dryer in my bathroom."

It was easier just to let her have her way. I dropped my dish into the dishwasher and ran up the stairs to Kaoru’s bathroom to dry my hair.

^_^

The problem with drying my hair in the winter is that it does not get along with the cold, dry weather. Not only that, but I spent the morning walking around on carpeted floors, handling soft, fuzzy shirts. I started to dread all those metal doorknobs in the store. Even expecting the static shock, I jumped every time.

"You know, dear," an old woman who said her name was Agnes said as she handed me some sweaters. "There are products that help with that."

She was referring to my hair. Some of it was floating around my face with a life of its own. Stupid static. I offered her a pained smile.

"Thanks. I’ll look into that," I held up a sweater. "You wanted this one?"

And so the day went. On my break, I went straight to the bathroom sink. The guys walking through gave me strange looks as I wet down my hair.

I had given myself two extra hours. Kaoru thought my shift was over at two when in actuality, I was done at noon. I wished my coworkers--a few of them--a merry Christmas and took off out of the store.

I decided I hated the Mall of America. There were too many useless stores. Everything but Water, Bead It, the Garlic store for god’s sake! I wandered the first floor, hitting Barnes & Noble, Bath & Body Works--again--and Hot Topic. I liked that store. There were so many weird-looking people in it that no one looked at me twice. But there was nothing in it that I thought Kaoru would like.

Around the corner, I passed Cinnabon, my stomach growling in protest when I did not stop to buy anything. If I found anything suitable before my two hours were up, I promised myself a reward of food. I almost passed up Claire’s. Then, the wall of scrunchies caught my eye, and I stopped.

The store was not too crowded. The majority of the customers were young girls. I ignored them and wandered the store, looking at the different hair accessories. The trouble was: where to begin? There were fuzzy elastics, alligator clips, barrettes, headbands, sticks, hair elastics that looked like someone had pulled a dead animal off the road and put it on them, bandannas... what to do, what to do!

"Can I help you find anything?" a girl asked me. I looked at her. She was tall--taller than me, anyway--blonde, and pretty. I guessed her to be about eighteen. Most importantly, she had a nametag proving her employment.

"I need to get a gift," I informed her. "What would a girl--how old are you?"

"Uh... eighteen," she offered with a wary smile.

"Good," I pointed at the array of hair stuff. "What would a girl about your age wear?"

She blinked, then smiled brightly and started picking up things. I shook my head at the road kill, and she pointed out more items.

"What kind of hair?" she asked.

"A little shorter than mine," I tried to imagine Kaoru’s hair. "Um... smoother?"

By the time she was finished, I had hit my budget. I stopped her at twenty dollars, thanked her profusely, and ran to make my purchase.

^_^

The bag containing Kaoru’s gift fit nicely into my jacket pocket, and she never knew about it when she picked me up and drove us back to her house.

"Some of my relatives are already there," she said as we pulled into the driveway. "Just to warn you."

"You make it sound like I should be worried," I frowned. I had the feeling that by the end of the day I was going to want to hide under a rock and declare I was never coming out again.

"No no!" she smiled broadly. "You’re just a bit more passive than they are, you know?"

What? Were they planning on attacking me the instant I stepped through the door? I frowned at Kaoru as she pushed me up the step to the door.

"No need to shove," I complained as I opened the door. "We’ll get there."

"KAORU’S BACK!"

I stumbled in shock at the volume of that cry. Someone swept past me and latched onto Kaoru, cheering away.

"She brought a friend with her!" someone else announced. I was not pleased at the amount of movement around me. The two of us were surrounded by at least six or seven people, and someone was taking my jacket--which I needed because Kaoru’s unwrapped gift was still in the pocket--and I looked into smiling blue eyes.

"Soujiro! Don’t hog him!"

Hog him?! What was I, that night’s dessert?!

Another face, looking almost exactly like the first, pushed into my line of vision. I blinked at them. Twins. They were twins. The only difference was the color of their eyes and hair.

"Hi! I’m Okita," the brown-eyed man introduced himself. "This is Soujiro, my brother."

"No kidding," I fell back a step when they crowded in too close to me.

"You must be Kenshin," Soujiro reached forward and grabbed my hand, pumping it up and down enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you."

"...Likewise," my voice was going up. It had the tendency to lift like that when I was nervous, sounding rather girly and pathetic, and it was a bit of an effort to get it back down to normal. I cleared my throat. "Can I have my hand back?"

"Huh?" Soujiro looked down at our hands. Okita elbowed him in the side. "Oh!" he laughed and let go of my hand. "Sorry!"

"Come on, Kenshin," Kaoru hooked her arm around mine and pulled me into the kitchen. "Let me introduce everyone. You’ve already met Okita and Soujiro. They’re the cousins."

"Hi!" the pair cheered, waving at me. I smiled nervously and nodded at the two weirdos.

"This is Dr. Gensai, my grandpa," she indicated a kindly-looking old man, then moved down to two little girls--about ages four and six. "Suzume and Ayame, his grandchildren. Their parents are out getting pizza right now."

"We’re having pizza?" I asked. So early? It was barely two-thirty.

"Yep, and that’s Tae," she pointed at a tall young woman. I had met that girl before. Her eyes lit up in recognition.

"I know you!" she stated in her north-eastern accent. "You’re that boy from orientation."

So that’s why I remembered her. I smiled and nodded politely. Kaoru was moving on, so I looked away. She pointed at a cute girl of about thirteen.

"This is Tsubame, Tae’s little sister," she introduced the girl, who blushed and looked down. She was a shy little thing. Kaoru pointed at one last person. "And that’s their dad, Mr. Sanjou."

I hoped I remembered all of that.

"Who’s up for a game?" Okita asked. Okita was probably the most unique-looking guy of the group. His brother was the one with the blue contacts, but he had yellow-orange highlights in his hair. It was kind of interesting, actually. Well, it didn’t look bad in any rate. I wouldn’t have done that to my hair. Of course, my hair wasn’t dark brown.

"What game?" I asked.

"It’s not a game," Tae leaned in to tell me. "It’s a puzzle."

A puzzle. I stared at her.

"We always get a puzzle to put together on Christmas Eve," Soujiro grinned, as if the thought of bending over a thousand-piece puzzle was the most exciting thing to him. Well... what did I know?

"Sounds nice," I said cautiously.

"It’s on the floor in the den," Dr. Gensai announced. "Shall we?"

There were cheers from the group, and I followed them down the hall. The den had wooden floors and was covered with lush rugs which had been pushed aside for the occasion. There were puzzle pieces scattered over the floor already.

I quickly discovered that six people around one puzzle did not work very well. And with Ayame and Suzume trying to join us, it quickly grew too crowded--in my opinion anyway. It made me claustrophobic, and I pulled out of the huddle, only to be pounced upon immediately by two hyper little girls.

"What’s your name?" the elder of the pair asked.

"Kenshin," I smiled at her. What could I say? She was cute.

"My name is Ayame," she told me solemnly. "And that’s Suzume. She’s four."

"Is she?" I looked at the littler child. "Hello, Suzume."

"Hi, Kenny," she greeted. I winced a bit at the name but kept up the smile. The last person who had called me that I had not seen since my sister’s funeral. The girls didn’t notice my flinch. "Will you play a game with us?"

"Sure," I had nothing better to do. "What game?"

"Let’s play with Barbies!" Ayame produced a Barbie doll out of nowhere I could see and waved it around in my face. "Here! You be Barbie. I’ll play Ken."

How was that fair? I looked at the doll in my hand. Its blond hair was a matted mess around its painted face. Ken’s hair was a solid block of plastic. Apparently, the makers of Barbie and Ken did not feel the need to give their male doll ‘real’ hair.

"Who will Suzume be?" I asked with a smile for them.

"I’m gonna be Barbie!" Suzume held up a doll that looked almost exactly like the one in my hand--but for the fact that her doll was totally without clothing. She shoved her doll forward until it stood in front of the one I held. Then, she lifted her voice into a squeaky falsetto and struck up a conversation. "Hi, Barbie! How are you?"

I stared at the two dolls, then blinked as it occurred to me that Suzume was waiting for a response. Sighing softly, I tried to mimic Suzume’s version of Barbie’s voice. I couldn’t get my voice to go that high.

"I’m fine, Barbie." How ludicrous. "What are you doing?" Besides running around the Kamiya den butt naked? No, I did not dare say that one aloud.

The conversation continued. Through it, I learned that Suzume liked dogs and salamanders, The Little Mermaid, playing on the swing sets, and Brittney Spears. Ayame liked dogs as well, but she was afraid of slimy things--that is, those salamanders--playing in the lake in the summer, the sandbox when the cat had not used it for a litter box, eating Halloween candy, and building snowmen.

By the time the pizza had arrived, Barbie--Suzume’s doll--was threatening to jump off the couch if Barbie--my doll--did not brush her hair. Barbie--my doll--sent Ken running for a brush, just as Suzume and her Barbie leapt off the couch and into my waiting arms. I landed on my back on the floor and suffered having little feet walk on my stomach.

"Hah!" I cried, triumphant. "Little did you know, Barbie is Super woman! She can fly, see through walls, and catch Barbies jumping off cushioned cliffs!"

Suzume and Ayame giggled hysterically and climbed all over me. Wow. I had made some friends. I crawled out from under them and held up Barbie.

"Barbie says, ‘let’s go eat!’" I suggested.

"Yay!" they cheered as one and tossed their dolls aside in favor of a cheese pizza. In a pretty good mood, I trailed after them. The rest of the group thundered in shortly after.

^_^

Christmas Eve night, we stayed up rather late. That is, if ten-thirty could be considered late. Maybe for a four-year-old. Mr. Kamiya passed around glasses of eggnog. The only time that stuff was ever good, in my opinion, was when there was so much liquor in it that you were soon too drunk to know the difference. That was usually the way it was served in my family.

"I know you’re under age, but you’re not leaving the house," Ms. Kamiya held out a glass to me. I smiled nervously.

"I can’t drink that," I said bluntly. "But thank you."

"Allergic?" was her first question.

"No, but I’ll stick with water," I held up my water glass, trying not to frown. Kaoru always pressed the issue. So did her mother. It must have run in the family.

"Okay," Ms. Kamiya smiled blandly. She was a lawyer, according to Kaoru. Judging by that look in her eye, my elusive answers were not fooling her one bit. I didn’t really care, as long as she did not make me explain the situation to the entire family--including those two little girls who had just spent the afternoon playing dolls with me. At the moment, Ayame was sitting next to me, braiding the ends of my hair.

"We still going to mass tomorrow?" Mr. Sanjou asked.

Mass? This was new.

"Nine-thirty," Mr. Kamiya nodded.

I had never gone to church before. Wait. That was not entirely true. I had been to church before my parents died. After I moved in with Uncle Hiko, the next religious service I attended was my sister’s funeral. I had not paid much attention to the service, though, so it hardly counted.

"Kenshin, do you want to come?" Kaoru asked. I blinked, breaking free of my contemplation to look at her.

"Come?" I echoed dumbly.

"It’s Roman Catholic," she explained. "I don’t know what you are, and if you don’t want to come, that’s okay. But we’d love it if you joined us."

I think my denomination was Protestant... or something. It had been so long, I didn’t even remember. I shrugged and nodded.

"Sure--ow!"

Kaoru jumped, and I looked down to the source of my pain. Ayame smiled brightly, opening her fingers and letting my hair fall back to my shoulder. The little imp.

"Sorry!"

The rest of the family laughed around us. I smirked at the girl and mussed her hair playfully.

"Next time, I’ll yank on your hair," I informed her.

"Kenny!" she whined, but she was grinning.

"It’s painful to be beautiful," I tapped her nose. "Ask anybody. That’s why most of us walk around as ugly as can be!"

She giggled and smushed her palm against my forehead, shoving me back a few inches.

"So do you hurt a lot, Kenny?" she asked. I stared at her, wondering what the hell she was talking about. "Because you’re really pretty."

Uh... yeah. I was blushing. A lot. And everyone else thought it was pretty funny.

^_^

Somehow, I managed to get Kaoru’s gift safely transferred from my jacket pocket to the guest room, which I had recently learned I was sharing with Okita and Soujiro. It was no easy task. I got lost once, on my way down to the front closet. Kaoru was still walking around, of course, and I had to duck into a bathroom to avoid running into her. Then, when I left the bathroom, I turned the wrong way. So instead of reaching the closet, I ended up down by the study. After I figured out my mistake, it was not so bad, but I spent a good two or three minutes circling the area and getting frustrated.

I’d guess about fifteen minutes passed between the time I left the room and returned to it. Okita and Soujiro were both in their pajamas and working on inflating the air mattress.

"Come on, Souji," Okita cheered. "You’ve almost got it!"

Soujiro’s face was pink with exertion, and he panted loudly. Then, he put his mouth to this huge opening and blew with all his might. I glanced to the top of the mattress, where there was a little engine and a power cord.

"I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to do it," I muttered.

"N-no!" Soujiro said breathlessly. "But--"

"You’re letting all the air out, Souji!" Okita rebuked. "Keep trying!"

Nodding wearily, Soujiro went back to blowing into that opening that was obviously meant for nothing other than an air escape. I shook my head and looked to Okita.

"We wanted to see if we could blow it up without the engine this year," Okita explained. "Anyway, where were you? Get lost on the way to the bathroom?"

"I had to get something," I grumbled, not willing to admit that he was not far from the truth. I had some wrapping paper stashed under the bed, and I pulled it out then.

"Ahhhhhh," Okita caught his brother when Soujiro finally gave up and collapsed backwards. "The gift for the lovely hostess."

"She’s been really nice to me this year," I said grudgingly. "Not many people put up with me as long as she has."

"Why?" Soujiro chirped. "You don’t seem so bad."

"Why thank you," I muttered, trying to figure out how to wrap the miscellaneous items. I frowned and crumpled up the wrapping, making a crude-looking paper sack. "This doesn’t work."

"You need a box," Okita suggested.

"Or one of those gifty bags," Soujiro added.

"Gifty bags?" I echoed.

"Oh!" Soujiro grinned at Okita. "The Kleenex."

"Good idea!" Okita grabbed the nearby box of tissues. "This will work perfectly."

The Kleenex?! What were they talking about?

Okita started yanking the tissues from the box, sending them floating about the room. Soon, the floor was covered in white, disposable hankies. Okita shoved the box into my hands, and it all made sense. I smirked and dumped the various hair accessories into the slot on the top of the box.

After that, it was a simple wrapping job. Of course, I still managed to butcher it. First, I cut the paper too small, so I had to use two strips. That just made things turn out weird. It looked like I had slapped it together carelessly.

"Oh well," I sighed and pushed the gift aside. "I think that’s as good as it’s going to get."

"I suppose you’re the expert on all things hair care?" Okita asked.

"Hmm?" Why would he ask that? Oh... long hair. Check. "Not really. Not for girls anyway." Nor for men, but was I going to say that? Of course not. "Do you think she’ll like it?"

"Kaoru?" Soujiro looked at Okita, who lifted his eyebrows.

"Kaoru Kamiya?" he added.

"Is there another Kaoru in the house?" I frowned at them.

"Well, you know Kaoru," Okita shrugged. "She’s..."

"Fussy," Soujiro inserted.

"Fussy?" Uh oh. She did not seem like that to me.

"Last year, Tae got her a sweater," Soujiro explained.

"And she hated it," Okita nodded emphatically. "Beautiful thing. Looked great on her. But... you know..."

"I know?" I was in deep trouble.

"She goes through phases," Soujiro said brightly. "Last year, she wore nothing but wool sweaters."

What? Wool sweaters?! This was getting bizarre. I didn’t know what to think.

"Well, in the summer she wore that two-tank top combo thing," Okita smirked. "Even when it got cool."

They were painting a very neurotic portrait of Kaoru. And yet, they had not really answered my question.

"But the hair stuff..." I mumbled.

"Oh, I’m sure she’ll like it," Soujiro said with a big, horribly fake smile.

"Probably," Okita nodded.

"Most likely."

"Maybe."

"Not a clue," Soujiro concluded. "How should we know what Kaoru likes to put in her hair?"

He and Okita burst out laughing. They leaned against each other, giggling and snorting hysterically. I felt like the world’s biggest fool.

"If you... could see... the look on your face!" Okita gasped.

"That was low," I growled, irritated and hugely embarrassed. "I’m going to bed."

"Oh, it was just a joke!" Okita protested, still laughing.

"It wasn’t funny!"

"Lighten up, Kenshin!" Soujiro smiled, snapping the air escape to the mattress shut. I picked up my pajamas, which consisted of flannel pants and a tee shirt, and walked out of the room.

"Good night."

They were still chuckling behind me as I closed the bathroom door across the hall.

^_^

The next morning, I was torn from my peaceful slumber by something rather large jumping around on my bed. The bed creaked and something crashed into my stomach. I gasped and opened my eyes, just in time to see the furry face that was to be my fate.

If there was anyone still sleeping at that time, they weren’t after that dog licked me. As embarrassing as it was, it scared the hell out of me. No, I was not afraid of dogs. However, I was still a little woozy from sleep, and I had not been prepared to see a Golden Labrador Retriever lunge at me. Thus, my startled shout.

"Kenny! We got a puppy!" Ayame shouted. Nooooo. Really?!

Both girls came running into the room after their lost pet.

"Like our puppy, Kenny?" Suzume asked as she climbed onto the bed after the animal. Soon, I had two young girls and a dog that was larger than the two of them combined on the bed with me.

Okita and Soujiro were still getting dressed, it seemed. They were not making any progress as they were doubled over laughing. I was so glad I could be their source of amusement.

I grabbed the dog’s collar and attempted to hold it away from me. It hopped and squirmed about, barking excitedly.

"Are you sure it’s a puppy?" I grunted, shoving the thing back. It was drooling all over the sheets. "It’s awfully big."

"Oh, I’m so sorry!" Mrs. Gensai ran into the room and caught the dog’s collar, dragging it off the bed. "Ayame and Suzume wanted to hold him and he got away from them."

"It’s okay," I smiled to show I was in good health.

"Ayame! Suzume!" the woman called. "Let Kenshin and your cousins get dressed."

"We’re going to church in about an hour," Okita said over the barking dog. "You got some nice clothes?"

I had a decent sweater and black slacks, so I dug them out of my suitcase and ran off to wash my face. I could still smell that dog’s breath. It smelled like it had eaten from the garbage recently. Something told me that would not go over well as a new cologne.

^_^

The service was nice. Since the songs were almost all Christmas carols, I knew most of them and could join in. The whole gospel thing was a little dull. When that priest started talking after he just finished reading from a book, I thought it would never end. Kaoru later informed me that the homily, as it was called, usually went on for about fifteen minutes. Whatever the reason for it, I spent my time admiring the decorations in the church. Christmas trees, garlands, French horns, the nativity scene, and candles everywhere. It was pretty.

The talking finally ended, and everyone sang again. Then, it was ‘peace’ something, and they all shook hands. Kaoru turned around and grabbed my hand, leaning forward slightly to murmur, "Peace be with you, Kenshin." I wondered if they did this during every service or only for Christmas.

After that, we had to kneel and listen to the priest talk some more. Then, people started getting up and walking up to the front. I leaned over to Okita.

"What are they doing?" I whispered.

He snorted, blinking rapidly. I smirked. Ah-hah! I had caught him sleeping. Too bad I could not really enjoy it at the time.

"Huh?" he looked at me blankly.

"What’s going on?" I pointed at the people walking to the front of the church.

"Hmm?" He looked up. "Oh." He turned back to me. "It’s communion."

"What’s that?"

"Shh," Tae warned from the pew in front of us. Okita rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I’ll explain it later," he promised. "Just stay here with Ayame and Suzume while the rest of us go."

I nodded and turned my attention back to the book in my hands. They were singing Silent Night. A flute played along in the background, and I turned to look up at the choir loft. Sure enough, there stood a flute player, standing near the organ. Okita nudged me, and I quickly faced the front.

"Sorry," I muttered.

He chuckled and stood.

It finally ended, but we still had to wait until the priest had passed us before we could leave. As relaxing as the service had been, I was ready to leave. Even then, we had to wait until Kaoru and her parents spoke with the priest and wished him a merry Christmas. Then, and only then, could we go. Thank god. Or... uh... whatever.

^_^

Much to the torment of most of the Kamiya family, the presents remained wrapped and under the tree until after dinner. That excluded that large, excitable dog that seemed to like me for some ungodly reason. The thing must have outweighed me by at least ten pounds. Not that I was the heaviest guy around, but this was a big dog.

"Oooof!" Again, I found myself victim to the tackling ‘puppy.’ It liked to jump me from behind, the dumb mutt. I pitched forward--and not for the first time--to the floor. Once it had me on the ground, it would sit square on my back and snuff through my hair and lick what skin it could find. On this occasion, the dog was licking my hands, as I had them folded behind my head in attempt to protect myself from this heinous creature.

"He likes you!" Suzume declared.

Well, I did not like him! I wanted it off me.

"That’s it, Zeus," Mr. Gensai pulled the dog back. "It’s out into the garage with you."

Ayame and Suzume whined and chased after their father, wanting to keep the dog inside. They gave some creative reasons why Zeus should be allowed to remain indoors, one being the cold, that he would suffer from hypothermia. Well, Ayame called it ‘hyperthallia’ but close enough. And yes, they did name that giant of a dog ‘Zeus.’

I went to the kitchen--just grateful for the peace--to wash my hands. They were coated with dog saliva. Kaoru met me there, grinning at me as she handed me a towel.

"How’s it going, Kenshin?" she asked. I got the distinct impression that she was enjoying the events of the past two days. It must have been my destiny to be humiliated in every possible situation. My official title was ‘comic relief.’ Perhaps I should have printed some business cards and made money off the deal.

"Okay," I bit back my discomfort and smiled for her. "I’ve never been much of an animal person."

"I think Zeus just likes knocking you down," Kaoru laughed. "He’s discovered how easy it is, so he’ll keep doing it."

"That’s a pleasant thought," I folded the towel over a bar on the kitchen island and looked around curiously. The ham was already out of the oven, and Mr. Kamiya was mashing the potatoes. "Looks like dinner’s about ready."

"Yep," she pushed me toward the dinette where the table was set and ready for dinner. "Go sit down. You’re Blitzen."

"Excuse me?" What the hell did that mean? Kaoru just giggled.

"The dishes," she explained. "They have Santa’s eight reindeer on them. Your setting is ‘Blitzen.’ You know. Blitzen the reindeer?"

"Oh." I could not remember the names of all those reindeer to save my life. But I could read, and sure enough, those dishes had comical pictures of reindeer on them, each with its name printed near it.

"But first!" Kaoru grabbed my arm and steered me in the opposite direction. "Go call everyone and announce dinner."

I nearly ran into Okita in the doorway between the kitchen and the family room. He laughed and stepped back. I had seen him earlier, and he had already had a couple glasses of wine. Of course, he and his brother could legally drink that. Okita was the only one of the pair that seemed to have a taste for it.

"What’s up, Kenshin?" he wondered.

"Uh... dinner’s ready," I answered. "Kaoru said we could go sit down now."

"Great!" Tae stood. "I’m starving."

"Oh!" Tsubame got off the floor as well. They were still working that puzzle. My eyes would have been crossing with the amount of time they spent staring at it. "Look!"

"What?" Tae looked to where her sister was pointing, somewhere behind me, I thought. The young woman giggled. "Oh!"

"Kenshin is standing under the mistletoe," Tsubame explained.

"Why so he is!" Okita chuckled, and I looked up. Sure enough, right there in the middle of the doorway hung a sprig of mistletoe. Just my luck. I stepped back quickly, but Okita caught my arm, preventing my escape. "Not so fast, buddy!"

"Is this necessary?" I groaned. Just my luck. I would have some strange girl come kiss me because I was standing under that mistletoe!

"It’s tradition!" Tae smiled, following her sister to the kitchen door--that is to say, toward me.

"Right she is!" Okita nodded. And then, that moron kissed me. He just leaned forward and planted a big one on my lips. I was shocked. My body just froze up, and I stood there like an idiot while this weird guy kissed me.

Fortunately, it was short. He pressed his lips to mine and then stepped back and walked past me. I stared at Tae and Tsubame. They were both smiling and blushing. I opened my mouth to say something--anything--to redeem myself. Nothing came, so I shut my mouth again and walked back into the kitchen.

And just to put the frosting to the cake, I was sitting next to Okita at the table that evening.

^_^

After dinner, we cleared the tables of dishes, wrapped up the leftovers to put in the refrigerator, and set the coffee pot to brewing for dessert. There were cheesecake, apple pie, fudge, too many cookies to count, mints, and candy canes which we were not allowed to take into the living room. Apparently, about two years ago, Ayame had ruined Mrs. Kamiya’s favorite rug.

Finally, dessert was served, we ate the sweets, and then moved to the living room for the great opening of the gifts. To my relief, Kaoru did like her gift. Okita and Soujiro snickered as I shot them a glare over Kaoru’s shoulder while she hugged me. They were laughing even harder when Kaoru boldly announced:

"I can’t wait to try these! Kenshin, I’m going to try some on your hair, too!"

I could hardly wait. I sighed and glowered at the twins. They didn’t even notice.

"Here, Kenshin!" Kaoru shoved an envelope into my hands. "I got something for you, too."

It could only be a gift certificate. What else would fit into an envelope like that? I fought with the envelope for a moment, giving myself a paper cut in the process. I finished opening it and stuck my finger in my mouth while I slid the folded paper out.

I frowned at the familiar insignia in the corner and looked at Kaoru. She grinned and nodded at the paper. I flipped it open and stared at it incredulously. It was a voucher--for something very big. I looked at Kaoru in shock.

"Are you insane?" I blurted.

She shook her head, a hopeful look on her face. My cut finger was forgotten. I just stared at her.

"Do you like it?"

"It’s--" I blinked at the paper, trying to figure if this was some sort of joke. "It’s a..."

"Two, actually," she said helpfully.

"Two?!"

And I had thought twenty dollars on a gift was pretty decent. Sure, Kaoru lived in a mansion, but to fling this much money into a gift for someone she had known only four months...

"Plane tickets for you and a friend," she said. She was just clarifying for the rest of the people in the room. I knew exactly what this was. "During spring break so you won’t miss any class... You said you liked it warm."

"Warm..." I could not tear my eyes from those ticket vouchers. They were to San Francisco. Other than that trip to London with my aunt, I had never been out of the state. I had certainly never gotten so huge a gift from anyone like this before. "I-I..." I could barely think, let alone come up with a coherent sentence. "Shhhhh..." I let that one trail off before it could become anything too naughty for young ears.

"So, is it okay?" Kaoru’s plea made me look up again. She honestly seemed to think I would hate it. "You like it?" Again, my eyes were drawn to that slip of paper.

"I’ve never... This is..." it was back to the stuttering. "Last year, Uncle Hiko gave me a new winter jacket." Like anyone cared about that. I couldn’t come up with anything pertinent. "I-I... all I got you was that..." For god’s sake! I felt like a pauper. "You didn’t... Oh, my god."

"You’ve been through so much this year," Kaoru wrapped her arms around my shoulders, leaning against my side and resting her head on my shoulder. I continued to stare at my gift like an idiot. "I wanted to do something really special."

"It’s too much," I murmured. "I can’t--"

Something jutted into my side, and I looked up in surprise. Surprisingly, Tsubame appeared to be the one who had poked me. Beside her, Tae shook her head and scowled at me. I bit my lip and reached down to pat Kaoru’s knee awkwardly.

"I don’t know what to say..." that was so inadequate. "Thank you."

Not much better.

"So you like it?" Kaoru asked again.

For god’s sake--! Of course--

"I like it!" I said quickly. "I just... no one has ever... I’ve never gotten anything like this before. I’m not sure how to accept something like this. It’s... it’s huge."

"It’s not such a big thing," Kaoru tried to wave it off like it was just peanuts. "I’m just glad you’re happy with it."

My tongue was not working properly, so I decided it was better to keep my mouth shut. I nodded instead.

Something moved just near my face. I looked up to see something green with a red bow on it waving over Kaoru’s head. Just behind it, Okita and Soujiro were grinning with happy mischief. Those idiots. If they thoughts some mistletoe... I was in deep dog shit.

Not waiting for Kaoru to see that horrible sprig, I wrapped my arms around her back and dragged her into a rough hug. She yelped at the suddenness of the movement, and I took the opportunity to snatch the mistletoe out of the air. It was tied to a stick, which Okita had used to hold that dried plant over Kaoru from afar. He wasn’t expecting the move, so he lost his grip on the stick, and I quickly tossed the whole thing to the other side where Ayame and Suzume immediately started playing with it.

"Thanks, Kaoru," I said. I was grateful. I just was not ready to kiss the girl for her trouble. Sure, I liked her. She was the second nicest young woman I had ever met. But I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea.

"You can take anyone you want," she replied. "I know you and Sano are close. Or if your uncle wants to go with you. Anyone."

It seemed appropriate to invite Kaoru along, as she was the one who had paid for the trip, but I couldn’t say it. It would take some major mental preparation to get those words out.

She was doing something strange to my shoulder. Not quite rubbing my back. More like... scratching?

"What are you doing?" I had to ask.

"I’d really like to see how your hair works in chopsticks," she stated.

God save me.

^_^

Omake

Random Omake: Gas Problems

Kenshin: *Narrating* I felt too guilty accepting all the rides out of charity, so in return, I made Kaoru accept money for gas.

Kaoru: Thanks, Kenshin! Now I can go get those TUMS!

Random Omake: Sailor Moon?!

Kenshin: *Narrating* Through this, I found myself staring blindly at the ratty pink thing on the table in front of me.

Kaoru: Dear God! How did that get there?!

Sailor Moon aka Serena aka Usagi: *bursts into the kitchen and grabs a donut off the plate on the table* Chibi Usa! What did I tell you about laying on other people’s tables?! *Grabs ratty pink thing and walks away*

Kaoru: She took one of our donuts.

Kenshin: *points at table* She took all of the donuts.

Kaoru: GAH!

(Fitz gives credit for this idea to Chibi Assassin, my beloved first editor. She saw the ‘ratty pink thing’ and the first thing out of her mouth was "Chibi Usa!" As far as I am aware, not many people like this particular character, but if you do, I apologize. Offense was not intended.)

Random Omake: Uh… guys? You can stop now.

Okita: Right she is! *Kisses Kenshin*

Kenshin: ...

Tae: ...

Tsubame: ...Wow.

Okita: *still kissing Kenshin*

Kenshin: *wraps arms around Okita and kisses back*

Okita: *smirk (and still kissing Kenshin)*

Fitz: *Stage whisper* This is supposed to be a canon coupling fic, guys! Okita: *picks up Kenshin and carries him out of the room*

Fitz: Does anyone really want to know?

Everyone: *wide eyes and shaking heads*

Fitz: Good. Neither do I.