[one-shot] The Best Christmas Present
Title: The Best Christmas Present
Type: One-shot
Word count: 4,229
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Koyama/Shige
Summary: Koyama gets a special present at a Christmas party.
Note: Written for the koyato December Christmas prompt. The themes I’ve chosen are: ribbons, night, scarf.
“Hey guys, guess what!”
Five faces with a variety of expressions turned to Koyama in the dressing room. Ryo glanced up lazily from his guitar, while Yamapi looked like he was still in the middle of an interrupted dream. Shige’s hand holding the curling iron stopped in mid-air only inches from Tegoshi’s hair. Massu swallowed a mouthful of gyoza with astonishing speed before responding, “What?”
Koyama’s grin was enormous. “I’m throwing a Christmas party at my house, on Christmas Eve. You should all come! I’ve invited some other people too, but it won’t be too big or anything, just a small party with friends. I’m planning to have a gift swap - you know, like the one we did during the winter Diamond tour. So everybody comes with a present, and goes home with a present. What do you think? You’ll all come right? I know you’re all probably busy and everything, or you might have other plans, so I wanted to tell you guys early. I’d love it if everybody can be there! It’ll be fun! We can-”
“Koyama,” Yamapi interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Breathe.”
“Oh. Okay.” Koyama took a deep breath, and then launched forth again. “So you’re all coming, right? Right?”
Massu nodded, giving his gyoza another bite. “Sure. It’ll be a rare chance for us to have a Christmas party together. In private, I mean.”
“If Kei-chan’s holding the party, of course I’m in!” Tegoshi chirped merrily.
"Awesome!" Koyama clapped his hands together. "Yamapi, what about you?"
The group leader smiled apologetically. "Actually, I kind of already have plans for that night."
"Oh, you've already been invited to a party?"
Yamapi scratched his head in a rather awkward manner before hesitatingly saying, "Several, actually."
Some of the members hooted. "Yamashita Tomohisa, the socialite! Of course everybody's inviting you to their parties," Tegoshi laughed.
Yamapi waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal. "Nah, it's nothing. I'll probably just crash some of them. But I'm definitely going to stop by at yours, Koyama. Promise."
"Thanks! It would be an honor to have such a popular person like you in my party," Koyama said with a laugh. "You'll be like one of those people... who's the name again - Paris Hilfiger?"
"Paris Hilton," the members said in a chorus.
"Right. What about you, Ryo-chan?"
Ryo put down his guitar. "Um... here's the thing. I promised my mom I'd go home for Christmas this year. These last few years I've always had to spend them in Tokyo, so this time I wanted to go back to Osaka. Sorry."
"Oh. Well..." Koyama shrugged. "If it's your family, I guess you should spend it with them."
"I'll still send over some presents, though," Ryo nodded. "Yep. One for each of you. Wait for it."
"Just as long as it's not rice again," Yamapi said, followed by a burst of laughter from the others and a sofa cushion thrown at him from Ryo's direction.
"Okay then! That leaves... Shige. I don't have to ask you, right?" Koyama said teasingly, but his face changed when he saw that Shige's expression was tautly serious.
"Koyama, I...," Shige bit his lips as he slowly put down the curling iron in his hand. "I'm really sorry. I don't think I can come."
Koyama's smile vanished entirely. "What?"
"I'm so sorry. I've already made plans long before and I can't cancel them." Shige directed his gaze at the floor, avoiding his best friend's eyes. "Really, I'm sorry."
The room was silent for a while. Then Koyama pulled himself together and forced a smile into his face. "Well then! In that case... there's nothing you can do about it, right? It's okay, really. We'll just... have the party without you." He didn't even like the taste of those words in his mouth. Having a Christmas party with everyone but Shige? How was he supposed to do that?
Koyama was in the middle of pushing himself to say something nice, to make it all better despite how bad he was feeling, when he noticed the faint beginning of a smile on the corners of Shige's lips. It broke into a chortle, and then a full-fledged laugh. Koyama suddenly noticed that the other members were also doubling up with laughter.
"Koyama," Shige finally managed to stop giggling for a moment in order to speak. "I was just kidding! Of course I’m gonna come."
"Did you see that? Did you all see that?" Tegoshi was laughing so hard he was wiping tears from his eyes. Beside him, Massu was trying not to choke on his gyoza.
"It was like, it's okay if Yamapi and I don't come to the party, but if Shige doesn't come then let's just call the whole thing off!" said Ryo.
At first Koyama wanted to deny it, that he wouldn't have felt so bad had Shige really not come. Besides, he didn't want to come across as insulting to Ryo and Yamapi. But then he decided there was no use doing it. They all knew his immediate reaction was the truth: he would be sorely disappointed if Shige wasn't there at his party. In the end he joined in the laughter good-humoredly, all the while feeling more than a little relieved that it was just a joke.
That conversation took place in early December. As it got further into the month Koyama was busy with all the party preparations. He had spread out the invites, planned the menu and bought Christmas decorations. Another thing he already did was buying a present to be exchanged. But there was something else he wanted to get, and that was why he was going out today.
So Koyama is biased, of course. A swap meant he would have no idea whose gift he was going to get and who was going to get his. But he still wanted to give a special present for someone this Christmas, a separate one from the swap. He was quiet about it but if anyone who knew him found out he was buying an extra present they would know straight away who it was for. Well, who else, really?
Koyama turned at a junction and looked right and left, hoping he didn’t get the location wrong. He was looking for a small clothing and accessories shop called CrimsonLite that seemed to be all the rage right now. If Shige knew he would probably smirk and say, “As expected, Koyama follows the trends too much.” But Koyama would argue that he had actually been curious about this shop before it became this famous, only he hadn’t had the chance to go and see it for himself. Now seemed like the best opportunity. Koyama looked up and saw he was at the right street. Now, the store should be around that corner...
He stopped abruptly when he saw the modest two-story building in front of him, a sign on the door saying ‘Closed until January. We apologize for the inconvenience’. A number of people were also standing in front of the shop, talking to each other and seemingly as disappointed as he was. He must have been standing there with his mouth open because several teenage girls next to him were throwing glances his way. One of them stepped closer to him and said, “What a bummer, huh? We just found out about this today, too.”
“Do you know how long the shop has been closed?” he asked.
“According to the newspaper stand owner over there, since last week. He said the shop was overwhelmed with customers doing Christmas shopping and their stocks ran out real fast. CrimsonLite is not a franchise and this is their only store, so I guess they must have underestimated their supplies.” The girl shook her head sadly. “And I really wanted to get one of their dresses!”
Koyama nodded, remembering that he heard the shop was a small, independently-owned business. “So they must have a huge amount of customers to cause them to run out of stock.”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Crazy huge. I mean, the shop is popular among girls and guys alike, and their fame spread mostly through word of mouth alone. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Koyama sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he had to find a better present somewhere else. He just had to think of something and get it real quick. Who knew everybody was doing their Christmas shopping so early? “So... anyway, thanks for the info.” He smiled and made a gesture of farewell.
“Sure, any time,” the girl smiled and returned to her group. As they watched Koyama walk away she frowned and said to her friends, “I could swear that guy looked like a celebrity or something, but I just can’t remember who!”
Koyama walked down the stairs to the living room of his house, his arms loaded with paper bags containing party ornaments. It was Christmas Eve and the party was going to start in a few hours. The food is almost ready, and his mom had gone out to the supermarket to get some extra drinks. He was pouring the contents of the paper bags to the living room table when Shige arrived.
“Hey, you’re just in time to help me decorate!” said Koyama.
Shige grinned, taking off his jacket. “I figured you might need some help. So, what do we have here?”
“Um, let’s see... you can start hanging these streamers while I decorate the Christmas tree.” Koyama saw Shige surreptitiously putting a shopping bag at a hidden corner beside the sofa, and his curiosity perked up. “Is that your present for the swap?”
Shige threw him an admonishing look. “No peeking.”
“I know, I know,” Koyama laughed. “Come on, let’s start.”
After a half an hour they transformed the look of the room with red, gold and green ornaments. They put red candles on the tables, each standing next to miniature Christmas trees. The real tree itself was placed at the far end of the room as a centerpiece, all lit up and decorated. Koyama was looking around with satisfaction at their work when he remembered something. “I can’t believe I almost forgot!” he rummaged into one of the paper bags and pulled out a bunch of silky red ribbons. “Shige, help me out with these, will you?”
“What are we going to do with them?” Shige asked, taking some of the ribbons.
“Just tie one at each doorknob. We have to get all of the doorknobs in the house.” Koyama started tying one at the living room door. “It’s kind of an old tradition in my family, actually.”
“Tradition?”
“Yeah. You see, when I was very little my mom used to tell me and my sister to tie red ribbons on all the doorknobs at the house on Christmas Eve. She said it’s a sign for Santa, and when he comes in at night he’ll take some of the ribbons as a token. For each ribbon he takes he’ll leave behind one present, and that present will be the one we want the most that year.”
Shige snickered. “Sounds like a nice story for gullible kids.”
“Hey, you haven’t heard the rest of it. When my sister and I wake up in the morning we’d find that the ribbons tied to the doors of our rooms were missing. And sure enough, we would find presents waiting for us in exchange for those ribbons.” Koyama smiled wistfully at the reminiscence.
“Let me guess,” said Shige, “your mom gave you those presents?”
“Of course. We didn’t figure it out until years later, but it was a very kind thing for her to do. The presents might not be the ones we wanted the most, but they were always very thoughtful ones, and they made us happy.”
Shige smiled at seeing the blissful look on Koyama’s face. “It really does sound like a nice story.”
“I know, right? But as my sister and I got older traditions somehow got abandoned and forgotten. Well, this year I want to revive it. Come on, let’s tie these on the other rooms.”
As they were tying the ribbons to the doors near the kitchen and dining room, Koyama’s mom was back along with his sister, brother-in-law and nephews, Haru and Ren. The mother and sister were pleasantly surprised to see the red ribbons on the doorknobs, and all three members of the family began recounting the times when they still followed the childhood tradition. Meanwhile, Shige and Koyama’s brother-in-law tried to stop the vivacious Haru-kun and Ren-kun from pulling the ornaments off the Christmas tree.
Night fell and after several last minute preparations, the guests started coming and the party began. The atmosphere was very laid-back and friendly. Several people from the jimusho were there, including Nakamaru, Yabu and Hikaru, aside from Koyama’s other friends from private. Tegoshi and Massu arrived together, the latter carrying his favorite stuffed reindeer head. “What?” he said defensively when seeing the scathing look Koyama gave him.
“Please tell me that’s not your present,” said Koyama.
“No, but we’re surely gonna need this. If anything, it can be a good punishment for the games.”
Yamapi turned up bringing Toma in tow not long after that. “We’re party hopping right now,” Yamapi said, putting his present on the pile under the Christmas tree. “That’s what you get for not saying no to people when they ask you to come to their Christmas party. Come on, Toma, let’s see what this party’s all about.”
After about a half an hour a deliveryman came bringing a package from an Osaka address. “Nishikido-kun’s presents!” Tegoshi piped up. The five members gathered around the table and peered at the large, head-sized box.
“Is it heavy?” Shige said suspiciously.
Massu lifted the box and shook it gently. “Nope, very light.”
The others breathed a sigh of relief. “Now that we got that out of the way, let’s open it!” Yamapi said. “Koyama, you’re the host.”
“Alright then.” Koyama opened the box, squealing in surprise when he saw what was in it. “Oooh, this is cool!”
Ryo indeed fulfilled his promise to send a gift for each of the members. The box contained five hats with different shapes and colors put on top of each other. He even thought of putting a card with the members’ names on it attached to each of the hats to indicate who it was for. “He probably knew we were going to argue about who gets which,” Shige laughed.
While the other partygoers were drinking and chatting, Koyama slipped out to his bedroom to get his present. Not the one for the swap - that one was safely tucked under the Christmas tree. This is the separate, special gift. After failing to get something from the CrimsonLite shop he finally found another present. He just hoped the recipient would like it.
He felt a little nervous as he approached the couch near the Christmas tree where Shige was sitting alone, texting someone on his cell phone. He looked up and beamed when he saw Koyama. “It’s Nishikido-kun. He was asking how we liked the presents. We should send him a video message or something.”
“Yeah, we should do that,” Koyama sat down next to Shige, clearing his throat. “So, you see... I got this - well, this present.”
“For the swap?”
“Erm... no. This one’s for you,” Koyama handed Shige a package wrapped in red and green paper. Shige’s eyes widened as he accepted it. “Wait a minute, this is...”
“It’s just a little something I thought of,” said Koyama. “For the gift swap we won’t know who gets our present, right? Well I wanted to, you know, give you something else separate from the swap. Something I picked just for you.”
“Wow, Koyama, I...” Shige stared at the package in his hand, at a loss for words. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just open it!”
Shige tore the wrapping paper and pulled out a large coffee table book printed in landscape format. The cover depicted a boy running away from the camera in an alleyway, the walls around him adorned with red handprints. At the bottom of the cover it said: Steve McCurry: The Unguarded Moment.
Shige looked dumbfounded. “Steve McCurry?”
Koyama nodded eagerly. “Yeah. I remember you mentioned him once. He’s that famous photographer you admire, right? I found this book - well, if you want to know the full story, I actually wanted to get you something else but couldn’t get to the store in time and they already closed for this season. So I asked around at a bookstore and got this book. They said it’s his latest photo collection. Do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it!” Shige opened the book, glancing at some of the photographs. “This is beautiful. I can’t believe you remember I mentioned him. Thank you, Koyama, really.”
Koyama felt a certain warmth seeping through his heart when hearing Shige said that. “You’re welcome,” he said kindly.
“This is fantastic,” Shige looked up from the book to meet Koyama’s eyes. “I mean, it’s an amazing coincidence.”
“What?” Koyama furrowed his eyebrows.
“We must have some kind of telepathy or something.” Shige grinned rather abashedly as he reached out beside the sofa and grabbed the shopping bag he put there earlier. From the bag he produced a wrapped gift and put it on Koyama’s lap.
Koyama looked from Shige to the present and back to Shige again. “Is this...”
“The separate present I got for you.”
“You got me a present too?!” Koyama picked up the gift disbelievingly.
“Telepathy, I’m telling you. Go on, open it.”
Feeling even more thrilled than before, Koyama hastily opened the gift. After he removed the wrapping paper he found a box with ‘CrimsonLite’ written on the top. His mouth fell open. “This shop! It’s the one I wanted to get you a present from! But I went there and they already closed... how did you-”
“You must’ve gotten there late. I went to the shop when you told me about it, like, two months ago? I was just around the neighborhood so I thought I’d go inside and look around. I found something there and thought I’d keep it for a special occasion. And then Christmas came around and you were having a party, so I wanted to give it to you now.”
Koyama opened the box and there laid a brand new red patterned scarf, the material smooth to the touch. It wasn’t until he lifted it that he noticed the initials ‘KK’ printed near the frayed ends.
“I saw the initials and thought this would be a perfect gift for you,” said Shige with a smile. “Besides, it’s nice and flashy... kinda like you.”
Koyama automatically put the scarf around his neck, feeling the warm fabric stroking his skin. It was now his turn to be too stunned to talk. “This is just... well, I’m... gosh, Shige!”
Shige chuckled. “I’m glad you like it, Koyama.”
Koyama took a big breath and puffed it out, feeling overwhelmed by all the emotions inside of him. He stared at Shige, wanting to dive into those dark, haunting eyes and lose himself in its depths forever. Without even realizing it, he leaned over to get closer to the younger man while their eyes remained locked in an intense gaze. Shige’s hand slowly moved on top of Koyama’s knee.
“Shige,” Koyama said, catching his breath.
“Koyama,” Shige answered softly.
Their faces were inches apart when someone suddenly yelled, “Oi, guys!” Koyama and Shige abruptly moved away from each other and turned to see Tegoshi bouncing over to them, a drink in his hand and a Santa hat on his head. “Let’s open the presents already! People are getting impatient here!”
“Presents...?” Koyama said blankly.
“For the swap, silly!” Tegoshi impatiently took Koyama’s hand and pulled him up from the couch, dragging him to the direction of the Christmas tree. “Come on! Shige, you too!”
Koyama thought the moment was lost, but when he turned to take a last look at Shige he saw him smiling. It was a smile that caused butterflies in Koyama’s stomach, conveying all the sentiments and affection words could never say. It was a smile meant just for him.
Later that night, after all the presents were exchanged, after the five NEWS members sent a video message to Ryo (they all wore their new hats and crooned to the camera, “Arigatooooou, Ryo-chaaaan!”), after the fifteenth person complimented the new scarf wrapped around Koyama’s neck, after Yamapi and Toma left for another festivity elsewhere (“We should probably go before we drink too much. That one’s reserved for Jin’s party,” Yamapi said), after they had what Tegoshi called “Koyama’s silly Christmas games” - involving a combination of darts, card games and truth-or-dare, after Massu finished the last of the snacks, after Koyama’s mother left to stay over at her daughter’s place because Haru and Ren “wanted to wait for Santa with Granny”, after the guests had gone home one by one, Koyama was sitting cross-legged beside the Christmas tree, enjoying the final quiet moment, when Shige came and sat beside him.
“It was one hell of a party,” Shige said.
“Sure was,” Koyama sighed. “I’m glad I threw it. Everybody seemed to have had a good time, don’t you think?”
“Of course.” Shige gradually inched closer to Koyama until their shoulders met. “But the good times don’t have to end here, right?”
Koyama turned to face Shige. “Are you suggesting something, Kato-san?” he asked playfully.
Shige smiled. “What I’m suggesting is this. You have all these red ribbons in the house, right? A whole bunch of them?”
“Yes.”
“Well, why don’t we consider those ribbons as something else?" Shige's hand was fiddling with the ends of Koyama's new scarf. "Something like... mistletoes, perhaps?”
Koyama’s heartbeat quickened at the possible implication of what Shige was saying. “Meaning...?”
“Meaning, you have to kiss when you’re under a mistletoe.” Shige leaned over to whisper to Koyama, his breath tickling the other man’s ear. “Based on that premise, when you find a ribbon, you also have to kiss.”
Koyama was starting to get a little excited. “You do realize there are lots of doors in this house, and therefore lots of ribbons also?”
Shige grinned slyly. “That’s the whole point.”
Koyama barely had time to calm the erratic pounding of his heart when Shige got up and pulled him to his feet, drawing him by the hand until they arrived in front of the living room door. There, sure enough, was a red ribbon tied on the doorknob. Without warning Shige turned to Koyama and planted a rough, wet kiss on his lips. When they broke apart Koyama could swear he glimpsed a fiery, almost hungry look in Shige’s eyes.
“Next ribbon?” Koyama offered.
“Oh yes, please.”
Koyama woke up the next day with a huge smile on his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt such blissful happiness so early in the morning. He unhurriedly got out of bed, put on a robe and walked barefooted to the kitchen. There he made two cups of coffee, one with a generous helping of milk and sugar, the other black. As he walked back to his room he saw the mess caused by last night's party. But hey, it was Christmas day. Surely cleaning up could wait. He went back into his bedroom and, while closing the door behind him, felt something was amiss. A moment later it dawned on him what it was: the ribbon tied on the doorknob was missing. That’s funny. He was certain he had tied one to it before the party last night.
When he was putting the two cups of steaming hot coffee on the dresser, something else caught his eye. He bent over and saw Shige’s pair of jeans in a heap on the floor. An object was protruding from one of the pockets. Koyama pulled at it and recognized it as one of the red ribbons.
When we wake up in the morning we’d find that the ribbons tied to the doors of our rooms were missing. And sure enough, we would find a present waiting for us in exchange for those ribbons. That present will be the one we want the most that year.
Koyama caught himself smiling.
Right at that moment something stirred on the bed. Shige's head appeared, his hair unruly. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and lifted his nude upper body from beneath the covers, leaning with one elbow on the bed. Koyama spun around and said cheerfully, “Good morning. I made some coffee.”
“Mmm. Maybe later. Come here.” Gesturing for Koyama to approach, Shige spoke in a husky, just-woken-up voice. “Come back to bed.”
Slipping off his robe, Koyama climbed back into the bed and the two of them settled in an embrace. As Koyama snuggled closer to Shige, he breathed in the sweet scent of his body and basked in sheer contentment. He felt Shige’s grasp tightening around him, skin touching skin with no barriers, their bodies pressed close to each other as if they never wanted to let go.
There was not a doubt about it. Koyama had the best Christmas present right here in his arms.
Endnote:
The CrimsonLite shop is fiction. Steve McCurry, however, is real. He is a National Geographic photographer most famous for his photograph titled ‘The Afghan Girl’, which was named the most recognized photograph in the history of the magazine. His latest collection of photos, The Unguarded Moment, was published in May 2009.
Type: One-shot
Word count: 4,229
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Koyama/Shige
Summary: Koyama gets a special present at a Christmas party.
Note: Written for the koyato December Christmas prompt. The themes I’ve chosen are: ribbons, night, scarf.
“Hey guys, guess what!”
Five faces with a variety of expressions turned to Koyama in the dressing room. Ryo glanced up lazily from his guitar, while Yamapi looked like he was still in the middle of an interrupted dream. Shige’s hand holding the curling iron stopped in mid-air only inches from Tegoshi’s hair. Massu swallowed a mouthful of gyoza with astonishing speed before responding, “What?”
Koyama’s grin was enormous. “I’m throwing a Christmas party at my house, on Christmas Eve. You should all come! I’ve invited some other people too, but it won’t be too big or anything, just a small party with friends. I’m planning to have a gift swap - you know, like the one we did during the winter Diamond tour. So everybody comes with a present, and goes home with a present. What do you think? You’ll all come right? I know you’re all probably busy and everything, or you might have other plans, so I wanted to tell you guys early. I’d love it if everybody can be there! It’ll be fun! We can-”
“Koyama,” Yamapi interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Breathe.”
“Oh. Okay.” Koyama took a deep breath, and then launched forth again. “So you’re all coming, right? Right?”
Massu nodded, giving his gyoza another bite. “Sure. It’ll be a rare chance for us to have a Christmas party together. In private, I mean.”
“If Kei-chan’s holding the party, of course I’m in!” Tegoshi chirped merrily.
"Awesome!" Koyama clapped his hands together. "Yamapi, what about you?"
The group leader smiled apologetically. "Actually, I kind of already have plans for that night."
"Oh, you've already been invited to a party?"
Yamapi scratched his head in a rather awkward manner before hesitatingly saying, "Several, actually."
Some of the members hooted. "Yamashita Tomohisa, the socialite! Of course everybody's inviting you to their parties," Tegoshi laughed.
Yamapi waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal. "Nah, it's nothing. I'll probably just crash some of them. But I'm definitely going to stop by at yours, Koyama. Promise."
"Thanks! It would be an honor to have such a popular person like you in my party," Koyama said with a laugh. "You'll be like one of those people... who's the name again - Paris Hilfiger?"
"Paris Hilton," the members said in a chorus.
"Right. What about you, Ryo-chan?"
Ryo put down his guitar. "Um... here's the thing. I promised my mom I'd go home for Christmas this year. These last few years I've always had to spend them in Tokyo, so this time I wanted to go back to Osaka. Sorry."
"Oh. Well..." Koyama shrugged. "If it's your family, I guess you should spend it with them."
"I'll still send over some presents, though," Ryo nodded. "Yep. One for each of you. Wait for it."
"Just as long as it's not rice again," Yamapi said, followed by a burst of laughter from the others and a sofa cushion thrown at him from Ryo's direction.
"Okay then! That leaves... Shige. I don't have to ask you, right?" Koyama said teasingly, but his face changed when he saw that Shige's expression was tautly serious.
"Koyama, I...," Shige bit his lips as he slowly put down the curling iron in his hand. "I'm really sorry. I don't think I can come."
Koyama's smile vanished entirely. "What?"
"I'm so sorry. I've already made plans long before and I can't cancel them." Shige directed his gaze at the floor, avoiding his best friend's eyes. "Really, I'm sorry."
The room was silent for a while. Then Koyama pulled himself together and forced a smile into his face. "Well then! In that case... there's nothing you can do about it, right? It's okay, really. We'll just... have the party without you." He didn't even like the taste of those words in his mouth. Having a Christmas party with everyone but Shige? How was he supposed to do that?
Koyama was in the middle of pushing himself to say something nice, to make it all better despite how bad he was feeling, when he noticed the faint beginning of a smile on the corners of Shige's lips. It broke into a chortle, and then a full-fledged laugh. Koyama suddenly noticed that the other members were also doubling up with laughter.
"Koyama," Shige finally managed to stop giggling for a moment in order to speak. "I was just kidding! Of course I’m gonna come."
"Did you see that? Did you all see that?" Tegoshi was laughing so hard he was wiping tears from his eyes. Beside him, Massu was trying not to choke on his gyoza.
"It was like, it's okay if Yamapi and I don't come to the party, but if Shige doesn't come then let's just call the whole thing off!" said Ryo.
At first Koyama wanted to deny it, that he wouldn't have felt so bad had Shige really not come. Besides, he didn't want to come across as insulting to Ryo and Yamapi. But then he decided there was no use doing it. They all knew his immediate reaction was the truth: he would be sorely disappointed if Shige wasn't there at his party. In the end he joined in the laughter good-humoredly, all the while feeling more than a little relieved that it was just a joke.
That conversation took place in early December. As it got further into the month Koyama was busy with all the party preparations. He had spread out the invites, planned the menu and bought Christmas decorations. Another thing he already did was buying a present to be exchanged. But there was something else he wanted to get, and that was why he was going out today.
So Koyama is biased, of course. A swap meant he would have no idea whose gift he was going to get and who was going to get his. But he still wanted to give a special present for someone this Christmas, a separate one from the swap. He was quiet about it but if anyone who knew him found out he was buying an extra present they would know straight away who it was for. Well, who else, really?
Koyama turned at a junction and looked right and left, hoping he didn’t get the location wrong. He was looking for a small clothing and accessories shop called CrimsonLite that seemed to be all the rage right now. If Shige knew he would probably smirk and say, “As expected, Koyama follows the trends too much.” But Koyama would argue that he had actually been curious about this shop before it became this famous, only he hadn’t had the chance to go and see it for himself. Now seemed like the best opportunity. Koyama looked up and saw he was at the right street. Now, the store should be around that corner...
He stopped abruptly when he saw the modest two-story building in front of him, a sign on the door saying ‘Closed until January. We apologize for the inconvenience’. A number of people were also standing in front of the shop, talking to each other and seemingly as disappointed as he was. He must have been standing there with his mouth open because several teenage girls next to him were throwing glances his way. One of them stepped closer to him and said, “What a bummer, huh? We just found out about this today, too.”
“Do you know how long the shop has been closed?” he asked.
“According to the newspaper stand owner over there, since last week. He said the shop was overwhelmed with customers doing Christmas shopping and their stocks ran out real fast. CrimsonLite is not a franchise and this is their only store, so I guess they must have underestimated their supplies.” The girl shook her head sadly. “And I really wanted to get one of their dresses!”
Koyama nodded, remembering that he heard the shop was a small, independently-owned business. “So they must have a huge amount of customers to cause them to run out of stock.”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Crazy huge. I mean, the shop is popular among girls and guys alike, and their fame spread mostly through word of mouth alone. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Koyama sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he had to find a better present somewhere else. He just had to think of something and get it real quick. Who knew everybody was doing their Christmas shopping so early? “So... anyway, thanks for the info.” He smiled and made a gesture of farewell.
“Sure, any time,” the girl smiled and returned to her group. As they watched Koyama walk away she frowned and said to her friends, “I could swear that guy looked like a celebrity or something, but I just can’t remember who!”
Koyama walked down the stairs to the living room of his house, his arms loaded with paper bags containing party ornaments. It was Christmas Eve and the party was going to start in a few hours. The food is almost ready, and his mom had gone out to the supermarket to get some extra drinks. He was pouring the contents of the paper bags to the living room table when Shige arrived.
“Hey, you’re just in time to help me decorate!” said Koyama.
Shige grinned, taking off his jacket. “I figured you might need some help. So, what do we have here?”
“Um, let’s see... you can start hanging these streamers while I decorate the Christmas tree.” Koyama saw Shige surreptitiously putting a shopping bag at a hidden corner beside the sofa, and his curiosity perked up. “Is that your present for the swap?”
Shige threw him an admonishing look. “No peeking.”
“I know, I know,” Koyama laughed. “Come on, let’s start.”
After a half an hour they transformed the look of the room with red, gold and green ornaments. They put red candles on the tables, each standing next to miniature Christmas trees. The real tree itself was placed at the far end of the room as a centerpiece, all lit up and decorated. Koyama was looking around with satisfaction at their work when he remembered something. “I can’t believe I almost forgot!” he rummaged into one of the paper bags and pulled out a bunch of silky red ribbons. “Shige, help me out with these, will you?”
“What are we going to do with them?” Shige asked, taking some of the ribbons.
“Just tie one at each doorknob. We have to get all of the doorknobs in the house.” Koyama started tying one at the living room door. “It’s kind of an old tradition in my family, actually.”
“Tradition?”
“Yeah. You see, when I was very little my mom used to tell me and my sister to tie red ribbons on all the doorknobs at the house on Christmas Eve. She said it’s a sign for Santa, and when he comes in at night he’ll take some of the ribbons as a token. For each ribbon he takes he’ll leave behind one present, and that present will be the one we want the most that year.”
Shige snickered. “Sounds like a nice story for gullible kids.”
“Hey, you haven’t heard the rest of it. When my sister and I wake up in the morning we’d find that the ribbons tied to the doors of our rooms were missing. And sure enough, we would find presents waiting for us in exchange for those ribbons.” Koyama smiled wistfully at the reminiscence.
“Let me guess,” said Shige, “your mom gave you those presents?”
“Of course. We didn’t figure it out until years later, but it was a very kind thing for her to do. The presents might not be the ones we wanted the most, but they were always very thoughtful ones, and they made us happy.”
Shige smiled at seeing the blissful look on Koyama’s face. “It really does sound like a nice story.”
“I know, right? But as my sister and I got older traditions somehow got abandoned and forgotten. Well, this year I want to revive it. Come on, let’s tie these on the other rooms.”
As they were tying the ribbons to the doors near the kitchen and dining room, Koyama’s mom was back along with his sister, brother-in-law and nephews, Haru and Ren. The mother and sister were pleasantly surprised to see the red ribbons on the doorknobs, and all three members of the family began recounting the times when they still followed the childhood tradition. Meanwhile, Shige and Koyama’s brother-in-law tried to stop the vivacious Haru-kun and Ren-kun from pulling the ornaments off the Christmas tree.
Night fell and after several last minute preparations, the guests started coming and the party began. The atmosphere was very laid-back and friendly. Several people from the jimusho were there, including Nakamaru, Yabu and Hikaru, aside from Koyama’s other friends from private. Tegoshi and Massu arrived together, the latter carrying his favorite stuffed reindeer head. “What?” he said defensively when seeing the scathing look Koyama gave him.
“Please tell me that’s not your present,” said Koyama.
“No, but we’re surely gonna need this. If anything, it can be a good punishment for the games.”
Yamapi turned up bringing Toma in tow not long after that. “We’re party hopping right now,” Yamapi said, putting his present on the pile under the Christmas tree. “That’s what you get for not saying no to people when they ask you to come to their Christmas party. Come on, Toma, let’s see what this party’s all about.”
After about a half an hour a deliveryman came bringing a package from an Osaka address. “Nishikido-kun’s presents!” Tegoshi piped up. The five members gathered around the table and peered at the large, head-sized box.
“Is it heavy?” Shige said suspiciously.
Massu lifted the box and shook it gently. “Nope, very light.”
The others breathed a sigh of relief. “Now that we got that out of the way, let’s open it!” Yamapi said. “Koyama, you’re the host.”
“Alright then.” Koyama opened the box, squealing in surprise when he saw what was in it. “Oooh, this is cool!”
Ryo indeed fulfilled his promise to send a gift for each of the members. The box contained five hats with different shapes and colors put on top of each other. He even thought of putting a card with the members’ names on it attached to each of the hats to indicate who it was for. “He probably knew we were going to argue about who gets which,” Shige laughed.
While the other partygoers were drinking and chatting, Koyama slipped out to his bedroom to get his present. Not the one for the swap - that one was safely tucked under the Christmas tree. This is the separate, special gift. After failing to get something from the CrimsonLite shop he finally found another present. He just hoped the recipient would like it.
He felt a little nervous as he approached the couch near the Christmas tree where Shige was sitting alone, texting someone on his cell phone. He looked up and beamed when he saw Koyama. “It’s Nishikido-kun. He was asking how we liked the presents. We should send him a video message or something.”
“Yeah, we should do that,” Koyama sat down next to Shige, clearing his throat. “So, you see... I got this - well, this present.”
“For the swap?”
“Erm... no. This one’s for you,” Koyama handed Shige a package wrapped in red and green paper. Shige’s eyes widened as he accepted it. “Wait a minute, this is...”
“It’s just a little something I thought of,” said Koyama. “For the gift swap we won’t know who gets our present, right? Well I wanted to, you know, give you something else separate from the swap. Something I picked just for you.”
“Wow, Koyama, I...” Shige stared at the package in his hand, at a loss for words. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just open it!”
Shige tore the wrapping paper and pulled out a large coffee table book printed in landscape format. The cover depicted a boy running away from the camera in an alleyway, the walls around him adorned with red handprints. At the bottom of the cover it said: Steve McCurry: The Unguarded Moment.
Shige looked dumbfounded. “Steve McCurry?”
Koyama nodded eagerly. “Yeah. I remember you mentioned him once. He’s that famous photographer you admire, right? I found this book - well, if you want to know the full story, I actually wanted to get you something else but couldn’t get to the store in time and they already closed for this season. So I asked around at a bookstore and got this book. They said it’s his latest photo collection. Do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it!” Shige opened the book, glancing at some of the photographs. “This is beautiful. I can’t believe you remember I mentioned him. Thank you, Koyama, really.”
Koyama felt a certain warmth seeping through his heart when hearing Shige said that. “You’re welcome,” he said kindly.
“This is fantastic,” Shige looked up from the book to meet Koyama’s eyes. “I mean, it’s an amazing coincidence.”
“What?” Koyama furrowed his eyebrows.
“We must have some kind of telepathy or something.” Shige grinned rather abashedly as he reached out beside the sofa and grabbed the shopping bag he put there earlier. From the bag he produced a wrapped gift and put it on Koyama’s lap.
Koyama looked from Shige to the present and back to Shige again. “Is this...”
“The separate present I got for you.”
“You got me a present too?!” Koyama picked up the gift disbelievingly.
“Telepathy, I’m telling you. Go on, open it.”
Feeling even more thrilled than before, Koyama hastily opened the gift. After he removed the wrapping paper he found a box with ‘CrimsonLite’ written on the top. His mouth fell open. “This shop! It’s the one I wanted to get you a present from! But I went there and they already closed... how did you-”
“You must’ve gotten there late. I went to the shop when you told me about it, like, two months ago? I was just around the neighborhood so I thought I’d go inside and look around. I found something there and thought I’d keep it for a special occasion. And then Christmas came around and you were having a party, so I wanted to give it to you now.”
Koyama opened the box and there laid a brand new red patterned scarf, the material smooth to the touch. It wasn’t until he lifted it that he noticed the initials ‘KK’ printed near the frayed ends.
“I saw the initials and thought this would be a perfect gift for you,” said Shige with a smile. “Besides, it’s nice and flashy... kinda like you.”
Koyama automatically put the scarf around his neck, feeling the warm fabric stroking his skin. It was now his turn to be too stunned to talk. “This is just... well, I’m... gosh, Shige!”
Shige chuckled. “I’m glad you like it, Koyama.”
Koyama took a big breath and puffed it out, feeling overwhelmed by all the emotions inside of him. He stared at Shige, wanting to dive into those dark, haunting eyes and lose himself in its depths forever. Without even realizing it, he leaned over to get closer to the younger man while their eyes remained locked in an intense gaze. Shige’s hand slowly moved on top of Koyama’s knee.
“Shige,” Koyama said, catching his breath.
“Koyama,” Shige answered softly.
Their faces were inches apart when someone suddenly yelled, “Oi, guys!” Koyama and Shige abruptly moved away from each other and turned to see Tegoshi bouncing over to them, a drink in his hand and a Santa hat on his head. “Let’s open the presents already! People are getting impatient here!”
“Presents...?” Koyama said blankly.
“For the swap, silly!” Tegoshi impatiently took Koyama’s hand and pulled him up from the couch, dragging him to the direction of the Christmas tree. “Come on! Shige, you too!”
Koyama thought the moment was lost, but when he turned to take a last look at Shige he saw him smiling. It was a smile that caused butterflies in Koyama’s stomach, conveying all the sentiments and affection words could never say. It was a smile meant just for him.
Later that night, after all the presents were exchanged, after the five NEWS members sent a video message to Ryo (they all wore their new hats and crooned to the camera, “Arigatooooou, Ryo-chaaaan!”), after the fifteenth person complimented the new scarf wrapped around Koyama’s neck, after Yamapi and Toma left for another festivity elsewhere (“We should probably go before we drink too much. That one’s reserved for Jin’s party,” Yamapi said), after they had what Tegoshi called “Koyama’s silly Christmas games” - involving a combination of darts, card games and truth-or-dare, after Massu finished the last of the snacks, after Koyama’s mother left to stay over at her daughter’s place because Haru and Ren “wanted to wait for Santa with Granny”, after the guests had gone home one by one, Koyama was sitting cross-legged beside the Christmas tree, enjoying the final quiet moment, when Shige came and sat beside him.
“It was one hell of a party,” Shige said.
“Sure was,” Koyama sighed. “I’m glad I threw it. Everybody seemed to have had a good time, don’t you think?”
“Of course.” Shige gradually inched closer to Koyama until their shoulders met. “But the good times don’t have to end here, right?”
Koyama turned to face Shige. “Are you suggesting something, Kato-san?” he asked playfully.
Shige smiled. “What I’m suggesting is this. You have all these red ribbons in the house, right? A whole bunch of them?”
“Yes.”
“Well, why don’t we consider those ribbons as something else?" Shige's hand was fiddling with the ends of Koyama's new scarf. "Something like... mistletoes, perhaps?”
Koyama’s heartbeat quickened at the possible implication of what Shige was saying. “Meaning...?”
“Meaning, you have to kiss when you’re under a mistletoe.” Shige leaned over to whisper to Koyama, his breath tickling the other man’s ear. “Based on that premise, when you find a ribbon, you also have to kiss.”
Koyama was starting to get a little excited. “You do realize there are lots of doors in this house, and therefore lots of ribbons also?”
Shige grinned slyly. “That’s the whole point.”
Koyama barely had time to calm the erratic pounding of his heart when Shige got up and pulled him to his feet, drawing him by the hand until they arrived in front of the living room door. There, sure enough, was a red ribbon tied on the doorknob. Without warning Shige turned to Koyama and planted a rough, wet kiss on his lips. When they broke apart Koyama could swear he glimpsed a fiery, almost hungry look in Shige’s eyes.
“Next ribbon?” Koyama offered.
“Oh yes, please.”
Koyama woke up the next day with a huge smile on his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt such blissful happiness so early in the morning. He unhurriedly got out of bed, put on a robe and walked barefooted to the kitchen. There he made two cups of coffee, one with a generous helping of milk and sugar, the other black. As he walked back to his room he saw the mess caused by last night's party. But hey, it was Christmas day. Surely cleaning up could wait. He went back into his bedroom and, while closing the door behind him, felt something was amiss. A moment later it dawned on him what it was: the ribbon tied on the doorknob was missing. That’s funny. He was certain he had tied one to it before the party last night.
When he was putting the two cups of steaming hot coffee on the dresser, something else caught his eye. He bent over and saw Shige’s pair of jeans in a heap on the floor. An object was protruding from one of the pockets. Koyama pulled at it and recognized it as one of the red ribbons.
When we wake up in the morning we’d find that the ribbons tied to the doors of our rooms were missing. And sure enough, we would find a present waiting for us in exchange for those ribbons. That present will be the one we want the most that year.
Koyama caught himself smiling.
Right at that moment something stirred on the bed. Shige's head appeared, his hair unruly. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and lifted his nude upper body from beneath the covers, leaning with one elbow on the bed. Koyama spun around and said cheerfully, “Good morning. I made some coffee.”
“Mmm. Maybe later. Come here.” Gesturing for Koyama to approach, Shige spoke in a husky, just-woken-up voice. “Come back to bed.”
Slipping off his robe, Koyama climbed back into the bed and the two of them settled in an embrace. As Koyama snuggled closer to Shige, he breathed in the sweet scent of his body and basked in sheer contentment. He felt Shige’s grasp tightening around him, skin touching skin with no barriers, their bodies pressed close to each other as if they never wanted to let go.
There was not a doubt about it. Koyama had the best Christmas present right here in his arms.
Endnote:
The CrimsonLite shop is fiction. Steve McCurry, however, is real. He is a National Geographic photographer most famous for his photograph titled ‘The Afghan Girl’, which was named the most recognized photograph in the history of the magazine. His latest collection of photos, The Unguarded Moment, was published in May 2009.