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“Who did you get? C’mon tell meee! Y’know I can keep a secret ! Neee Rin-chan !” Nagisa had been stuck to Rin since the moment they picked the little papers.
“Stop it, I am not saying !”
“Come oooon you're no fun Rin-chan !”
“I don't care if I'm no fun, it's a secret Santa! What's the point if I tell you who I got ?” Rin was getting pissed off.
“What if I tell you who I got too ? Will you tell me then ?” Nagisa gave Rin his best puppy eyes.
“No !”
Nagisa was still staring at Rin's crimson orbs and slowly leaned on him.
“I got Rei-chan. Tell me ?” The mischievous blonde whispered in Rin's ear.
“Ugh fine, I got Haru. Happy now ?” Rin gave in.
“Kyaaaa I knew it !” Nagisa beamed before jumping back to the others.
They were having a little party, everyone from Samezuka and Iwatobi and, as Rin suggested, they picked names for a Secret Santa (idea strongly accepted by Nagisa, who Rin suspected to have manipulated the pick to his liking).
Because out of the ten names available, he had to pick this one. The one to whom he had absolutely no idea of what he could give.
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Rin had thought at first of giving his friend a dolphin plushie or something. But who the fuck gives a stuffed animal to a 20 year old guy ?? Its kinda childish... He could always buy chocolates, but it was a bit dull and they knew each other since childhood ! So why couldn't he find a suitable gift for - and Rin was ashamed to admit it - one of his best friends ! "Ugh damn Nagisa and his habit of always meddling with other people's stuff !" Rin thought while exiting another gift shop, still empty-handed.
"Hey mister, feel free to come check out our Christmas menu at the new seafood restaurant "Les délices de la mer"! It is perfect for a dinner date!" A young woman handed Rin a flyer.
"Um yea, thanks" he took the paper and threw a quick glance at it.
"Les délices de la mer" he slowly read. Suddenly, a word caught his eyes, and he knew he had found the perfect gift for his water-loving friend.
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Today is friday, the long awaited (or not) day when they would exchange presents. Rin was growing nervous, as time ticked by, he was less and less sure about his gift. What if it was ridiculous? What if Haru had preferred a stuffed dolphin or even the unoriginal box of chocolate ? Rin had ended up with two gifts. The first was a coupon for 40% off a Christmas dinner for two at the new seafood restaurant. The second gift was bought one day after the coupon, on a whim because the crimson-haired swimmer felt bad about having a weird and non material gift for his friend. But now he was feeling nervous because he felt like he bought too much. Everyone was meeting at Haru's place, which was convenient since the living room was pretty big and they wouldn't be disturbing any parents.
"I can always wait until everyone is gone to give him the coupon, and then quickly escape before he asks any questions..." Rin thought.
"Nee Rin-chan" Nagisa sent his friend back to reality. "Did you find a great gift ?"
"Erm yea, I guess..." Rin answered.
"What's this Rin-chan, you don't look so happy... hey I'm sure Haru-chan will love it ! It's from you after all !” The blonde winked.
“From me ? What do you mean by this? Oi Nagisa ! Come back here !”
But the mischievous boy was already gone in another part of the house, in a passionate conversation with Momo and Seijuuro.
“Hey Rin, are you ok ?” Makoto wondered, worrying about his friend who stood separate from the others. “What about we start exchanging presents ?”
“Yeah, Ai-chan and Sou-chan, come over here, we are exchanging presents !” Nagisa beamed while the two boys rolled their eyes at how Nagisa called them.
“Who should go first ?” Rei asked.
“Well, ladies first, so the person who picked Gou-san should give her her present, then she can give hers as well, and this person gives his present too until everyone has one ?” Makoto suggested.
“Yeah Gou-chan is our princess after all ! So who bought her a present?” Nagisa agreed.
“Erm, it's me. Here you go. Merry Christmas.” Sousuke handed Gou a coral package, that she took smiling.
“Thanks, Sousuke-kun!”
Inside the package was a case with some beauty products, which was a perfect gift for a girl like Gou. The girl then handed her beautifully wrapped present to Makoto. It was a fantasy book, from one of the boy's favorite author. The gifts were great so far and Rin was starting to feel more and more nervous. And of course, the one to which Makoto gave his dark grey paper bag had to be Rin himself.
“Merry Christmas, Rin !” The olive-haired boy smiled.
“Ah, thanks” Rin muttered while slowly opening the bag. Inside was a dark grey scarf with some hints of dark blue and burgundy, and a 2000¥ gift card for Rin's favorite music store. The presents were awesome and Rin felt the lump in his throat rise.
“Thanks a lot ! It's perfect!” He smiled.
“No problem! I'm glad you like it. I have to thank Haru and Sousuke, they helped me a bit!” Makoto explained while Sousuke shifted on his chair.
“Yeah, umm well I guess it's my turn.” Rin carefully picked up his box, which was pretty big and heavy. He slowly put it in front of Haru, who was quite intrigued by the mysterious package.
“Erm… Merry Christmas Haru…” Rin was slightly blushing.
Haru slowly and meticulously untied the ribbon around the box before lifting up the lid. He looked inside, and Rin thought catching a glance of his friend's “pool eyes”, though Haru's face remained composed, as usual.
“Rin… This is…” Rin tensed up. “Just perfect.”
“Thank god, you like it!” The crimson-haired swimmer realeased a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Haru then opened completely the box so everyone could see the present: a cutely decorated fish tank filled with one third of water and three little fishes inside, swimming happily; a dark blue one, a soft lime green one and a crimson iridescent one. “You can add more water. I didn't want to spill any so I didn't fill it too much, but now it's safe.” Rin added.
Haru nodded, still staring at his new friends. Suddenly, he spoke up :
“The blue one is Mizu (water). And the green one Yasa (from “yasashii”, kindness).”
Rin was a bit taken aback with the sudden naming. He never thought Haru would want to name the fishes this quickly, and for some reason he was starting to get anxious over it. Of course these names were really nice and expected from the freestyle swimmer.
“I still have to think a bit for the red one.”Haru added after a few seconds.
“It's okay, take your time. Your turn to give your present !” Rin wanted to remove the attention from his present at all costs.
“Erm, yeah. This is for Yamazaki. Merry Christmas.” Haru mumbled while slowly sliding his package in front of Sousuke.
Rin was pretty sure he heard Nagisa mumbling something, but he decided not to think too much about it. He already knew that the blonde had interfered with the supposedly random pick, and it was already too much.
“Well since Sou-chan already gave his present, I'll give mine !” Nagisa spoke up after Sousuke opened the box of chocolate from Haru.
Rin sighed at the sight of this present. He would never understand how his two best friends couldn't understand each other. But he had already given up on this, so he was just grateful Haru took some dark chocolate, and not white ones, since Sousuke despised these last ones.
“Merry Christmas, Rei-chan!!!” Beamed Nagisa while wrapping his arms around the blue-haired boy. Rei was a bit taken aback, but before he could protest, Nagisa was staring deeply into his eyes and gently pecked Rei’s lips. The latter blushed redder than a tomato and hugged Nagisa tighter to hide his embarrassment.
“Here is your present !” Nagisa handed Rei a crumpled package once they separated from their embrace.
“Thanks…”Rei muttered, his face still flushed.
The gift turned out to be a cute yellow stuffed penguin with red glasses.
“It's really nice, thank you.” Rei smiled while Nagisa’s face lit up at the sight of his (boy)friend happy.
Well, at least Nagisa got what he wanted from this, Rin thought.
The others gave their presents shortly after, starting with Rei, then Seijuuro, Nitori and Momo, who gave Nagisa one of his precious stag beetles.
Their little party didn't last long after, everyone had to go home at some point. Rin had spent most of the time staring at Haru (without realizing), who seemed still focused on finding a name for the fish.
Everyone was starting to head home, starting with Seijuuro, Momo and Nitori. Sousuke left a few moments later, shortly followed by Rei and Nagisa. Makoto left quickly as well, having noticed that Rin needed some time with Haru. They were finally alone. Rin was drinking his glass of water, Haru washing shine to install the fish tank while a soft Christmas music played in the background.
“Hey, uhm… I got this for you too, I thought it might interest you.”Rin tried to say casually while putting the coupon on the table. “It's a seafood restaurant.”
“40%off for a two person Christmas dinner.” Haruka read after sitting next to his friend on the couch. “What about tomorrow?” He added.
“Uh?” Rin didn't understand.
“Are you free?” Haru clarified, seeing his friend's clueless face. “To go to this restaurant?”
“Me? Uh yeah I guess.” Rin answered, quite surprised by the sudden invitation. He never thought Haru would ask him to go !
The corner of Haruka’s lips lift up, and Rin suddenly found the lilac lights from the Christmas tree really beautiful on his friend's skin and in his mesmerizing eyes.
“I have something for you too.” Haru said after a few seconds. He reached the table in front of the couch and opened a drawer. He picked a small white package and gave it to Rin.
“Merry Christmas, Rin.” He said, smiling.
“Ah, eh thanks…” Rin wasn't expecting a gift from Haru, and this added to his embarrassment.
Rin unwrapped his present under Haru's focused gaze. It was a keychain with three little charms : a dolphin, a shark and a fluffy Santa hat.
“Thanks, Haru. It's really nice.” Rin really liked the keychain, and without thinking, he pulled his friend into a hug. Haru's hair smelled really good, and Rin was surprised to notice this only now. He felt a hand slide up his back, and was glad that Haru showed a little bit of affection back… Even if this was starting to get embarrassing. But it still felt so comforting, being in Haru's arms like this, smelling his hair and feeling his body heat.
“Rin.” Haru's spoke softly, his voice almost covered by the light music. “I think I found a name for the last fish” he continued, slowly pulling back from the hug.
“What is it?” Rin almost had trouble letting the words out, his voice was betraying his innermost feelings for his friend. Haru seemed to almost glow in the comfy living room, and Rin didn't notice Haru slowly closing the gap between them until he felt a soft breath on his lips. Haru slowly pulled back, and Rin's faced heated up when he realized what happened. A kiss.
“Wha… Ha-Haru...” Rin muttered. His friend's gaze was slightly down, but Rin could see the bright shimmer he loved, and knew that Haru wasn't the only one needing this.
“Shining.” Haru said simply.
Rin blushed more after hearing this name, before slowly putting his hands on his friend's shoulders and, after diving in the glistening blue orbs a few moments, he closed the gap between their faces once again. He locked their lips into a second kiss, longer than the first one. Haru slowly slid his hand in Rin's bright hair, while The latter slightly tugged at his friend's sweater. They broke away from the kiss, but stayed close, Rin burying his face in the crook of Haru's neck.
“I think this was my favorite Christmas present.” Haru finally spoke, kissing Rin's hair tenderly.
“Shut up…” Rin muttered, burying his face deeper, while a light chuckle escaped Haru's mouth. And Rin thought, this was the second best Christmas present. Because, even if he was embarrassed to admit it, he had to agree with Haru on the first one.