Warming Up

It was probably the coldest day of the year. Everywhere I looked, I could see people running around trying to find shelter from the freezing weather, huddled together for body heat, or sharing a nice, hot coffee together.

My window was fogging up, but I still managed to watch all of the activity beneath my apartment. I sighed, glancing up at the clock idly. It was only ten in the morning. Ruki had cancelled practice to go out with Reita, Kai was busy shopping for presents for all of us most likely, and for all I knew, Aoi was out with someone he had met the night before. I sighed again.

“Seems like I’m the only one with nothing to do,” I said to no one in particular, noting the emptiness of my apartment.

I watched the people beneath for a few more minutes, just taking in the happy couples before I was startled out of my people watching by my phone ringing.

I quirked my eyebrow; who would be calling me, especially now? Standing up and stretching, I made my way over to the phone, sighing again before picking it up.

“Hello?” I asked, sounding slightly more annoyed than I had wanted to. There was a pause before the voice on the other end of the line decided to speak.

“Uru?” he asked softly. I knew that voice.

“Aoi? Yeah, this is me.”

Yeah, great going, me. Let’s get the only person that has even called today annoyed with me. Sometimes I swear I’m an idiot. “I’m sorry I sounded annoyed, I-” He cut me off.

“No, it’s fine. Listen, are you doing anything right now?” I was almost surprised at the question. Was I doing anything? Was I ever doing anything?

“Nah. Why?” I raised my eyebrow again. Aoi sounded different. Like he was planning something.

Knowing Aoi, it was probably some stupid practical joke to play on me. I could still remember the last one: he invited me over and managed to booby trap his fridge with those fake rubber snakes that spring out at you. Scared the hell out of me. I rolled my eyes, completely enraptured in the rather unpleasant recollection. Aoi’s voice snapped me from my thoughts again.

“Just wondering. Meet me outside.”

“Outside?”

“Yeah, I’m right outside your apartment.”

I set the phone down and ran over to the window. He had to be kidding. Of course, he wasn’t. When

I got to the window, there he was, smiling up at me. I shook my head down at him before walking back over to the phone and picking it up again.

“You are a loser,” I said, laughing softly. “I’ll be down in a second.” I hung up the phone.
Grabbing my coat, a scarf, and a pair of leather gloves, I got outside as quickly as I could, the freezing air hitting me like a ton of bricks. I sucked it up, though, and made my way down to where Aoi was.

He greeted me with a smile and a hug, one that lingered for longer than normal, probably from the cold. I shivered; it really was chilly.

“You wanna head to the coffee shop near here? Maybe get warmed up?” Aoi smiled at me. It took me a second to register the question through my thoroughly frozen ears, but I managed to nod and Aoi smiled at me again.

With that, we started making our way through the still crowded streets, heading to a small, corner coffee shop that made some of the best coffee in Japan. I am still amazed, to this day, that it’s not well known. People were giving us some odd looks; I could tell that some of them recognized us. Aoi smiled at them and wished them Merry Christmas, then just kept walking.

About halfway there, Aoi wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I was about to turn to him, glare, then punch him, but I suppose that the heat did feel better than the cold. We kept walking, and I kept trying to convince myself that that was the real reason.

We finally got to the coffee shop, shaking some of the stray snowflakes from our hair as we walked to the counter.

“What do you want? I’ll buy,” Aoi said. I opened my mouth to order, but no coffee names came out. I was just stuck there with my mouth open.

Aoi never offered to buy anything for anyone. He was one of the stingiest people on the earth when it came to money, yet there he was, offering to buy me some. I smiled and finally came to my senses, simply asking for a regular, black coffee. Aoi ordered the same, and when we grabbed a table, (a small one off to the side), we added in creamer, sugar, and whatever else we felt like.
There were a few minutes where we simply warmed ourselves up, drinking the coffee and smiling at the fact that it was doing the trick. Then Aoi decided to talk.

“How have you been, anyway? I haven’t been able to really talk to you in a while,” he said softly, stirring his coffee with a spoon he had picked up just to do something with his hands. He wasn’t looking at me, he was looking down at the mug in front of him.

“I’ve been fine. Why?” He was still staring down, but I could have sworn that I had seen a blush.

“Just wondering.” I nodded, and then there was silence again. Well, maybe not silence so much as an awkward tension in the air. He sighed.

“When we’re done with this, do you want to go outside to the park?” he asked softly. I stopped what I was doing.

“We just got warmed up!” I exclaimed, a few people in the little café turning to look at me. I nodded to them, and then quieted down. “Why do we have to go to the park?” I asked, crossing my arms on the table in front of me.

“Because it wouldn’t feel right if I gave you my present in here,” he said, even softer than before. I shut up at that.

“You bought me something?” I asked, touched. I was one of those people who only got gifts from their parents. Yeah, pathetic. Believe me, I know. He smiled down at the coffee.

“Well, not exactly, but I do have a present.” I glanced around for a second, then shrugged and simply accepted whatever he was talking about. How does one not buy a present, but have one? I didn’t quite get it, but he seemed sincere, so I smiled and nodded.

The rest of our coffee was finished in silence, and when I took the last sip of mine, Aoi immediately jumped up, grabbed my hand, and ran to the door, a rather big smile on his face. I couldn’t help but laugh as we ran out the door and to the park.

He ran the entire way and I struggled to keep up with him. Aoi has always been more athletic than me, but I managed to keep the pace and simply collapsed on a bench when he finally stopped.

“Christ, Aoi, you think you can slow down a bit?” I asked, laughing as best as I could as my breathing was extremely heavy. He turned to me and smiled; he wasn’t even winded, that bastard.

“I wanted to get here fast,” he said, turning away from me again. And again, there was silence, Aoi waiting for me to catch my breath before I stood and walked next to him. Glancing at some of the buildings in front of us, I smiled, twitching slightly when I felt Aoi take my hand. I glanced down at it but paid it no real mind, simply gazing at the sun’s reflection on the building.

“It’s pretty,” I said, sighing softly.

“I know,” Aoi replied. Simple, but effective. Another pause.

“Uru, can I give you my present?” he asked softly, turning his head to look at me from the corner of his eyes. I shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess. Go ahead.” He smiled, biting at his piercing as he made a soft sound that could only be considered a laugh.

“You have to close your eyes.” I, in fact, rolled my eyes at that, looking at him with one eyebrow raised and my hand on my hip.

“Aoi, you’re acting like a little k-” He cut me off by placing his finger against my lips. He smiled again.

“Just… humor me, okay?” he asked. I sighed, then nodded, closing my eyes with a very large gesture. I heard Aoi laugh softly before he whirled me around a few times. That was when I expected the joke to happen. He’d whirl me around, walk me forward and right into a tree or something, then laugh hysterically like he always did. But the joke never came. Instead, I felt arms wrap around my waist and pull me close. I was extremely tempted to open my eyes right then, but I didn’t really have a chance to because, a moment later, a soft pair of lips connected with mine.

After they pulled away only a moment later, I found myself whimpering at the loss of heat. I opened my eyes, just to make sure that I wasn’t imagining it and that Aoi had just kissed me and was indeed holding me in the middle of the park. He was.

I guess I was still standing there dumbfounded, because Aoi gave me a weird look before he started to release me and loosened his arms. I swallowed deeply, took a second to consider my options, and then pulled him back toward me. I buried my head in his chest and, even though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell that he was blushing.

“Was that your gift?” I asked, mumbling it into his chest. I could feel him nod, but he said nothing, letting the fact that he squeezed me tighter answer for him. I did the same.

“It was a nice gift,” I mumbled again, even softer than before. His heart skipped a beat; I could feel it in his chest. Looking up at him, I smiled softly, face flushed from the heat that was radiating from Aoi’s body all over. I leaned up to Aoi, only softly letting our lips connect again. It was still for a moment before I started moving my lips with his, letting the soft, shy, innocent kiss gradually tumble into something much deeper and harder. I moved my arms from Aoi’s waist to his shoulders, and he smiled softly into the kiss. Pulling away from me for a moment, I had the privilege of seeing that smile, that honest, shy, content smile. He leaned down to me again, letting his lips barely touch mine as he spoke.

“Merry Christmas, Uru,” he said softly. I smiled.

“Merry Christmas, Ai-kun.”