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Mary has always liked Christmas, it was the time of the year without school stress and a cold weather which she loved. Even though there was never wrong with anything on Christmas, she did feel quite lonely from time to time. Her parents were never home, so she basically spent every Christmas without anyone, except her cat Haru. She and Haru would decorate the Christmas tree together (more like Mary would decorate and Haru would destroy), bake cookies and drink hot chocolate while watching romance movies. It was a fine Christmas every year, but it didn’t replace the years she spent Christmas with her family.
“So do you want to spend it with me and Haru then?”
That was what she said when Yumeko explained how she was going to spend Christmas alone. It really made her feel nervous. Not only because it would’ve been a Christmas with actual people coming over, but also because of the person being the guest. Mary knew Yumeko liked her, she had known for more than a year, but she never confessed herself, which was mostly the reason for how nervous she was right now. She decorated her house just like every year, hung up lights, baked cookies and put on her Christmas playlist. Everything felt like her normal routine, but with one difference. She would make food for more than one person, set up the table for more than one person, and most important of all, she would get the plastic mistletoe from her christmas ornament box, which in the end went into her pocket because she was too scared of Yumeko teasing her about it.
It was now the 25th of December. Yumeko would come in the morning and stay until the evening of the 26th. Everything would’ve been perfect. Food was just to be warmed up, candles were to be lit and music was to be put on, if it wasn’t for the fact that because of all the stress Mary forgot to set an alarm. Yumeko would be at her house in 30 minutes, and she hasn’t done any of the preparation for the morning.
“Shit!” The blonde rushed out of bed and started taking off her pajamas.
Food in the oven, candles, clothes.
Food, candles, clothes.
Food, candles, clothes.
She put on a bathrobe and ran into the kitchen, taking the food out of the refrigerator and putting it into the oven.
Next was her getting ready.
She showered quickly, not even washing her hair in the process to avoid the unnecessary drying. After her shower, she jumped onto the bed and rolled over to the other side to get to the drawer.
Thank god she thought about the outfit beforehand. A simple short red dress, with white and red striped socks.She gave up on trying to do her hair, so she simply brushed through it and left it loose, which made the christmas ribbons she bought quite useless.
Next were the candles which of course she forgot to take out of the “Christmas Ornaments” box.But all that didn’t matter now, because before she could even set up anything else, the bell rang.
“....Fuck.”
She opened the door, and as expected, a raven haired girl with an ugly sweater greeted her at the door.
“Merry Christmas Mary-san!” she said with approximately 11 bags she held in her arms, not even being able to see right because of them blocking her view. Mary closed the door behind the taller girl and showed her to the living room.
“Yeah.. Merry Christmas. What are all these bags?” The blonde asked, already taking some of them from the girl and putting them onto the table.
Yumeko got a second to admire Mary’s outfit, she wasn’t used to her wearing anything else other than a uniform, maybe casual clothes from time to time, but this was something she had not seen before. Her dress was somewhat revealing and short, with thigh high socks and loose hair, which she never got to see. Her outfit made her bush slightly and kept her mesmerized for a while before she realized she had to answer her friend.
“P-presents!” Yumeko said in an excited voice.
“F-for me?”
“And for Haru, duh.” Yumeko put the rest of the presents away and ran to the couch, wanting to greet the black cat laying on the armrest of it. She sat down on the ground and petted Haru lightly. Mary couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Yumeko had a soft spot for cats, especially Haru. Normally,the cat would need time to get used to new people coming to her house, but the second Yumeko came into her house for the first time, the cat was all over her. Sometimes, she wonders if Haru just understands who the right people for her are, because he only acted nicely to some of her friends. Even Sumeragi was hated by him at first, but just like herself, he got used to the annoying girl coming over to do her nails every week.
“He really likes you.” Mary walked up to her and sat on the ground beside her in enough distance not to touch shoulders. Yumeko closed the distance herself, leaning her head on the blonde’s shoulder, not for a second getting her eyes off the cat in front of them.
“So what is the plan?” Yumeko asked, finally turning to the girl next to her. Her eyes were focused on Mary’s as she smiled. The blonde blushed to the point of contemplating if she should run to hide it or not. She backed off a little and stood up.
“I was thinking of maybe watching a movie while eat-” Mary turned silent. Yumeko looked confused, trying to figure out the reason for her standing still and not finishing her sentence.
“Fuck!” Mary ran into the kitchen. There was coughing heard from her which made Yumeko run in as well. Mary was swinging a towel trying to let the smoke coming from the oven to leave the kitchen. “I forgot to take out the food..” the blonde said, dropping her head down and looking at the ground. Yumeko giggled at the action. “It’s fine Mary, we can order some pizza later.” Mary looked up at the smiling girl. “But I wanted you to have a real Christmas dinner while you’re here..”
Yumeko’s heart sank, trying not to hug the girl right then and there. She tried to make a good dinner for her? She started thinking about how cute the girl can be without trying. Mary always hid how much she cared about people, but this was something she wouldn’t do for other people, which made Yumeko feel even better. “I’m honestly happy you even wanted to do that for me, Mary-san. How about we watch that movie and cook something together later on? I recall you had some noodles in the cabinet.”
Mary laughed. “You really want to make noodles for dinner?”
“For sure!”
Around an hour later both of the girls took a break from the movie, making instant noodles and talking about the latest gambles they have experienced. Most of the time it was just Yumeko talking, but Mary didn’t mind. They ate together on the couch, while cuddling up on it. Well, more like Yumeko trying to cuddle Mary and Mary pushing the taller girl off of her. She honestly didn’t know why she even did that. Isn’t what she wants the complete opposite?
“Yumeko..” Mary turned her head to the girl, blushing and trying not to freak out about what she was going to do. This was the perfect moment to tell her how she feels, and she knew Yumeko wouldn’t be the one making the first move, because she didn’t want to make the blonde uncomfortable.
“Oh! I forgot about the presents! Want to open them now?” Yumeko exclaimed, jumping off of the couch and taking her bags. “Sure…”
After around 20 minutes of opening Yumeko’s presents, which were mostly small things like ribbons or a teddy bear, they were finally at the last one. Yumeko took the last present out of the bag, revealing a small,red box with a black ribbon around it. Mary carefully untied the ribbons and opened the last present. It was a rock-paper-scissors card just like the ones they used in their first gamble against each other. On the back of it, there was a short note.
I’m really thankful for the fact that you let me spend Christmas with you.
It makes me like you even more, and not in a way friends like each other.
Thank you for all the experiences we’ve had together Mary-san,
I really hope we can stay friends just like always even with this information (which you probably already knew.)
Merry Christmas <3
Mary teared up, it hurt her to know that Yumeko really didn’t know about her feelings, even though they were so clear to anyone else. She jumped onto her, wrapping her arms around the taller girl and having to tiptoe in the process. “Idiot.”
Yumeko giggled. “What’s that for? I just showered you with gifts!” She wrapped her hands around the blonde’s waist, pulling her in. At this point, it was not a friendly hug, but both of them didn’t seem to mind.
“You’re an idiot for not noticing!” Mary closed her eyes. “It would make it so much easier, you dumbass!” Yumeko tightened her embrace. “Not noticing what, Mary?” Her name sounded so good at that moment, being said by the one girl she wants to be called by her first name. Mary finally pulled away, reaching into her drawer and putting something into a pocket in her dress.
“Take this.” Mary pulled out a small box, just like the one Yumeko gave her. Inside of it, there was a black tungsten ring with a red middle part. “I-it reminded me of you, and I noticed your other one was kind of losing color. I even got a matching yellow one, b-because I want everyone to see us match.” Mary’s cheeks became even more red, at that point she was also trying to keep their eye contact to a minimum to keep the embarrassment from becoming more than it already was. Yumeko realized that, and put her thumb on the side of Mary’s chin, and her index finger under it, pulling her head up to face her. “Why, kitten?” Yumeko just wanted to tease her, she already understood what the blonde wanted to say, but she couldn’t miss the chance to see her blush again.
“Because I like you, Yumeko.” Her voice was loud and clear. She was determined to finally make this become more than just a friendship. Yumeko looked at the girl as she was taking something else out of her pocket. It was a little, plastic ornament, and especially easy to recognize. She put it above their head and looked at the girl still holding her face.
The raven haired girl smiled. “A mistletoe? Really?”
“Don’t hate on me! You were too much of a coward to do it yourself.” She pouted.
“My apologies, but you were not clear with your intentions towards me, love.”
Mary frowned, but it didn’t take her too long to get over it. Partially, because it was kind of true. “Just respect the tradition and kiss me.”
With that, Yumeko put her other hand onto Mary’s cheek, slowly pulling in, as if trying to get the 100% insurance that’s what she’s supposed to do, as if Mary was a fragile thing not to be touched in any way she didn’t want to. Mary picked up the hint, and put her palm onto the cheek held by Yumeko. She smiled slightly before finally closing the distance between them. Mary pulled Yumeko’s collar with her other hand, trying to get even closer than they already were. She could feel the girl smiling onto her lips, and she couldn’t help but to do so as well. When they finally pulled away, Mary was the first one to say something.
“So, what now?”
“You have no idea how much I’ve been fantasizing about this.” Yumeko said, pulling the blonde into a hug. Mary gave into the gesture as she started patting Yumeko’s head. “Be my girlfriend.” Yumeko said, without even a glance at the girl, still holding her tightly with her head on her chest.
“Idiot! You can’t just ask that all of a sudden!” Mary slapped the top of her head instead now.
“Ow! Why not?” Yumeko whined, jumping away from the other girl and holding her palm on her head as if it still hurt. “Because! It’s supposed to be special!” Mary said, crossing her arms and walking away, but before she could walk further than a meter away, Yumeko grabbed her by the wrist.
“Mary-san, I’ve liked you for a while, and for the longest time I thought you didn’t like me back, so excuse me for being excited about this, but I do not want to wait any longer than I already did for this.”
“Idiot.” She pulled Yumeko in by the collar and gave her a peck on the lips before answering. “Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend, but we do not tell anyone for now. And if you want to answer, tell Sumeragi I asked you, she bet me 5000 yen that I’d be too scared to.”
“That’s fine, kitten.” They kissed once more before feeling something crawl onto their feet.
“Looks like someone is jealous.” Yumeko said, laughing behind her fist. Haru was pushing his head against Yumeko, as if trying to say something. “Nope Haru, it is my girlfriend now, which means I get attention as well.” But before she could push him away, Yumeko picked him up and started talking to him instead. “I am being replaced already, this relationship is becoming toxic the first five minutes.” The blonde said before walking off to clean up some of the dishes, leaving the cat and Yumeko alone.
“She said yes Haru, I told you the presents would work!”
“Excuse me? Are you taking me for a golddigger now?!”
“Heheh, love you!”
“Don’t say it so soon you idiot! We just started dating!” There was a pause between the sentences.
“But I love you too, dumbass.”