The Christmas Date (Japan and Taiwan)

Mei nodded and propped her chin up on her hand, still impatiently tapping her finger, though this time against her own cheek. Her family was kind of... big, if you counted distant relatives and whatnot. So, a small wedding was out of the question then, was it? Or maybe they could only invite close friends and immediate relatives? Er. She shrugged and decided to put off deciding until later.

Though, her worries alleviated when Kiku took her hand and smiled at her... like he was now. That certain feeling came back again full-force, and it took everything she had in her to not start crying. He had this effect on her, making her feel at ease, making her feel carefree and happy, making her want to cry from the amount of happiness. It made her feel spoiled. She smiled back at him, trying to channel those feelings instead into something a little less... tearful, and into something a little more cheerful.

"All my favorite flowers, hm?" Her expression turned slightly worried again. "What about you? Isn't there anything else do you want?"

She felt like she was deciding too many factors on her own, felt like she was being spoiled again. Kiku was the type of person who could keep to himself if he felt he should. What if there were other things he wanted? The worrisome nature of hers never seemed to be very far off, even when he could make it all go away. Sigh.

Kiku was distracted from his happy cloud by Mei's question. What did he want? What did he want? He honestly didn't really know.

"I just want to marry you," he said quite frankly. "I guess I'm pretty simple...I am a man, you know?" His smile turned into one of embarrassment again.

He adjusted the way he was holding her hand and absent-mindedly started stroking the top of it with his thumb. He looked down at the table.

He felt a return of a bit of awkwardness in him again. It had seemed like it was going rather smoothly so far, but all this wedding stuff was rather complicated. He knew they needed the time to figure all this out and plan it. Without that time, he would be much to stressed and might suffer from heart failure. But sometimes he wished he could just fastforward to the time where all this planning and waiting was over and he would be able to call her his wife. Wife. "...Wife." The word inadvertantly slipped quietly out of his mouth. Maybe she hadn't heard over the sounds of the park? He turned red anyway.

"Oh. Well then..."

That was about all Mei could bring herself to say. Kiku just wanted to marry her, simple as that? She would have insisted there might be something, anything else he might want, but the sincerity she picked up in his voice made her stop herself from asking. He was so... honest. It amazed her in a way. He was a simple person, yes (at least compared to most men, and to a majority of people), but he still confused her sometimes. Most of those times were because she thought too hard on it, though.

She really needed to stop that thinking-too-hard habit. It made things messy, made her worry, made--

Ah.

That simple motion he did with his thumb, made her stop mid-thought. She glanced over at him, but he appeared to be lost in thought. So she stared, stared at her own hand in his, watching him while he thought. She wondered if he could feel her hand growing warmer in his. She wondered if he had that ability to feel her pulse through just holding her hand. Maybe if she concentrated enough, her heartbeat would slow down for once.

Mei didn't know how long she was zoned out like that, but she thought she heard Kiku say something, and felt ashamed she had missed it. Well, if he did say something. Maybe she was doing that over-thinking thing again and it was all in her head. But if he did say something? What if he had said something important?

"Did you... say something?"

The blush on Kiku's face increased at her words. He also froze up a bit, his thumb stopping it's gentle motion. So she thought she heard him say something, but didn't hear what he said? What should he say in response? He could just say he said nothing, if she wasn't sure. But he didn't particularly want to lie to her right now, even over something so trivial as a slipped thought.

"Un." He nodded. "I did. But...it was just something that sort of slipped out. I didn't mean to say it out loud. It's not...." he trailed off, not able to say it wasn't important. Somehow, that felt wrong. Saying it out loud might have been a mistake, but the thought it had come from was genuine. And saying it wasn't important felt like backhandedly saying that Mei wasn't important, and that was the opposite of what he felt.

He stopped speaking and flashed his eyes back up at her, wondering if she would let it go, or if her curiosity would get the best of her. He didn't hold much hope of the former being true, but waited for her to inquire further, rather than just letting it out, just in case.

He seemed to stiffen when she asked, and Mei almost regret asking when he stopped stroking her hand. Was it bad or embarrassing or uncomfortable or something? She could have dropped it, probably should have dropped it, let them continue on discussing other things, but she was a curious person. She couldn't help it. And the fact that he was sometimes very, very, good at keeping a straight face only escalated her curiosity.

He said it had slipped out, that he hadn't meant to say it out loud. Which meant Kiku had been thinking about it, right? Whatever it was. She really should have listened better. Mei kind of wanted to know what he was thinking right about now. Was he worried? Happy? Just a little phrase could give her a vague idea of what he thought about.

"Soo... what was it?" she questioned, staring expectantly with wide eyes.

Right. He was expecting this. What should he say? Just say what you feel. Wording it was the hard part, though.

Kiku took a breath and let it out. Then he started to speak. "I was just thinking...or...wishing...that somehow I could fastforward to when...to when..." His voice got quieter as he approached the word that had so easily slipped from his lips before. "...to when I could call you...my...wife..."

He had been looking down and slightly to the side while he was talking, but looked back up at her right when he finished, waiting nervously and awkwardly for her reaction.

Mei sat and listened, waiting quietly while Kiku... prepared himself? He looked more then a little nervous. He began to speak, and his voice got progressively quieter the more he spoke, not to mention his eyes wouldn't meet hers. She had to lean forward some ways to pick up what he was saying towards the end.

"my...wife..."

She froze, replaying everything he had said, making sure she had heard right. She would have perhaps recoiled from shock and to attempt to hide her red face, but he had looked back at her after that last bit. Goodness... he... he was so... sweet. And that was the best she could come up with in that moment, even though she meant something better, better than words could describe.

And that feeling, the one that choked her in the best way possible, that one feeling she got whenever she was with him or near him or just thought of him, finally got the best of her. She bit her lip hard, but that didn't stop the tears from filling her eyes and spilling over her cheeks. Mei gave up trying to stop it, and tried to smile.

"T-T-That would be easier, wouldn't i-it?" She managed.

She loved him, even if he worried her, even if he made it hard to breathe, even if he made her cry. Loved him more than she could handle sometimes. But she didn't mind.

Kiku's eyes widened at her reaction. He hadn't meant to make her cry. Although, it didn't seem like she was sad, exactly. Still, he hadn't expected tears at all. He reached out to wipe them gently.

"I am sorry," he told her, looking at her calmly and steadily. He studied her eyes and what they reflected. What he saw there was all he needed to know, and it warmed his heart.

"Me wa kuchi hodo ni mono o ii," he spoke quietly and leaned in closer, continuing his gaze.

The hand that had been wiping her tears moved down her face slowly, stroking her cheek and then reaching her chin. His thumb went underneath and lifted it slightly.

Only then, a family with loud children passed by, returning him to reality, which was the only thing that kept him from kissing her right at that moment.

He froze up and blushed violently. He couldn't believe he almost did that in public.

---

Me wa kuchi hodo ni mono o ii - The eyes speak as much as the mouth

Mei struggled to keep herself from full-out sobbing, not wanting to draw too much attention her herself. She would have wiped her tears with her sleeve or the palm of her hand, but Kiku was already there, wiping them away gently. So all she did was sit there and enjoy the feeling of his warm fingertips rubbing against her face. It did ease her crying, though.

...So this was how it would be? Everything he did would either turn her into a sappy crying mess or make her forget her worries? She wanted to laugh.

"The eyes speak as much as the mouth."

So he understood. Of course he did, he always did. She opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. His face was closer than it had been several seconds ago... ah. She picked up where he was going with this (or at least... where she hoped he was going), and was about to close her eyes until a family passed by. He froze, she nearly jumped. Mei tried to compose herself quickly and sat there somewhat awkwardly, her fingers finding their way to a lock of hair and beginning to twirl it. She smiled nervously.

"Uh... s-so..."

Oh great, now she didn't know what to say.

Kiku swallowed. Now they were awkward again. Somehow, everything got messed up. Somehow? It's because you had to lose your brain and go to kiss her. If you hadn't, you would still be in the nice place you were before. Looking into each other's eyes - understanding each other.

He sighed and crumpled back into his chair. "Baka," he mumbled quietly. He noticed a couple of stares in their direction and tried his best to ignore them. He covered his face with his hand, then turned a bit and peaked at Mei. "I'm sorry."

How could he fix this? Would he ever get to the point when he could just be comfortable around her all the time? Or at least most of the time?

He didn't even know what to say anymore. Had they finished with their wedding planning, at least for today?

While he was thinking, he quietly finished his food. "Gochisousama," he said automatically.

What now?

Mei frowned and tilted her head when she heard Kiku apologize. She never really understood why he did, there wasn't really anything that was his fault. It was just his nature, she assumed. And that kind of thing was kind of hard to change, so she shrugged and smiled apologetically.

"It's okay, there's nothing to be sorry about."

She poked at the remainder of her food. It wasn't very much and was already kind of cold, but she made herself finish it anyways. No use in wasting or ending up hungry again later. With her stomach not having to make sounds, it was one less thing to worry about.

Hmm, they were done? He had finished his food as well, and it didn't seem they had to discuss any more wedding details right this moment, so...

"Would you like to continue going around the rest of the park?" she guessed.

"Right," Kiku answered, "I should be showing you a good time, not...." He felt like the mood had been rather abruptly ruined and had no idea how to salvage it. He sighed.

Being down in the dumps wasn't going to help, though. It would only make it worse. If he wanted to make things better again, he should try to banish his current state of embarrassment and disappointment. Yosh.

"Right," he stated again, with more energy. He got up from his seat, taking their things and clearing the table. There was still time yet, and he needed to make the most of that time, not ruin the rest of their date with negativity.

When he finished with his task, he held his hand out for her to take. "Where would you like to go now, my beautiful Mei?"

Mei took his hand and just about hopped up from her seat. She had wanted to hug him at several times in their conversation, but getting up and doing so might have been a little... odd. So getting to be near him again (yes, because just a table in between them was already too far) made her just a little delighted.

Hmm, where should they go now? A map really would be helpful right now, but they didn't have one, so she had to rely on what could be seen from where they were standing. She looked around.

"I don't know, we could just... walk around? Then perhaps we'll find something interesting~"

It didn't really matter to her what they ended up doing, as long as they stayed together.

She seemed excited to be back by his side. So it seemed the mood could be set back on track after all. He breathed a small, quiet sigh of relief. Back to the problem of what to do next.

He scanned what he could see. From the area of the tables, the only things you could really see were the food stalls. Well, that and the taller rides. The Ferris Wheel that they had been on. A rollercoaster - it was too cold for that, really...the wind wouldn't be pleasant.

He supposed they really would just have to pick a direction and figure it out. Unless he could find a map. Really, he should have picked one up when they entered...why hadn't he thought of that?

"Perhaps," he answered her. He just started walking then, leading her away from the food area. Standing there wouldn't accomplish anything.

The closest things in this direction turned out to be the small, easy rides, like a Merry-Go-Round and similar. Probably a decent choice after food.

Kiku stopped and turned his head toward his date. "Do you want to go on one of these?" he asked her.

"Hmm. Maybe~"

Mei surveyed the different kinds of rides in sight. Small and cute and colourful, like most smaller rides were. Aimed mainly at young children sure, but... they were nice to look at, compared to the taller, more extreme rides with all their cables and wires and rods. Those were too loud and probably closed for the season anyways.

Oh, a merry-go-round...

No, no, no. She couldn't. And she wouldn't. She would not drag Kiku onto such a ride. It was aimed at five-year-olds, for goodness sake. Mei would not let herself even suggest it. No matter how pretty it looked. With all the blinking lights. And enchanting music. And jeweled horses... She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts.

"N-Nevermind, I don't see anything," she stated.

Nevermind? Nothing? That's what she said. But her eyes just a moment ago...they told a different story. They had...lit up. Like she had seen something magical. He looked curiously at her. His expression held a mixture of emotions. Her love of such things was almost irresistably cute, so there was that. Then there was a mixture of amusement and a slight sadness that she felt she needed to deny such a thing in front of him.

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again he gave her a slight smile, still on the edge between amusement and sadness, a mysterious smile. "Are you sure?" he asked her.

Kiku wanted to see that look of enchantment again.

---

I've totally gone on the Merry-Go-Round as an adult. There's always practically no line for it, and it's a great ride for after you've eaten, because other, faster, more "adult" rides can make you feel queasy.

I also <3 the swings. They make me feel like I'm flying.

Was she sure? No... not exactly.

Oh, who was she kidding? She wanted to ride the merry-go-round and she herself knew it. Kiku could probably tell too. Was she that easy to read? Or maybe he just knew her that well. Mei looked longingly at the carousel. There wasn't anybody else riding it, or anyone in line... The operator just stood there, looking bored and tired.

She looked back at Kiku, catching sight of his smile. Yep, he could definitely tell. And perhaps he wouldn't mind, but... she looked worriedly back and forth between him and the decorated carousel. Well, maybe, they could give that idle operator something to do. That would be a nice thing to do, right? Sure...

"We could... ride on that," she said hesitantly, pointing to the merry-go-round.

---

Lol, I go on the merry-go-round at the zoo three times every time I go. |D They're so pretty. ;u;

I ended up settling for the merry-go-round here because I was researching other carnival rides and all of them are fast and yeah...

I've never been on the swing ride. owoa I will one day perhaps.
If my fear of heights doesn't get in the way first. @A@

The hint of sadness in his smile dissappeared. He nodded. "Un!" His eyes closed briefly and a smile flashed with the word. Then he led her by the hand to the ride entrance. At first he felt some slight resistance, like he was dragging her, but then she followed him at the same pace. He had probably surprised her with his...suddenness.

The operator straighten up from his slightly hunched, bored position as they entered.

Kiku looked around at the assortment of horses and other places to sit themselves. Just as he was about to ask Mei which one she liked, he saw it. A double seat. The animal was probably designed so that a parent could hold on to a child in front of them, or some other similar situation, but regardless, it suddenly seemed irresistable to him.

Compulsion was an interesting thing, and for once he acted on it. He swiftly picked the Taiwanese girl up in his arms, carried her to his desired place, and sat her down. Then he climbed up behind her.

After he wrapping his arms around her, he finally offered her an explanation: "I like this one."

It was, once again, unlike him. A part of him still couldn't believe himself. But.... Let this be one of the days I live without regrets.

---

I don't know...the swings never bothered me, even when I was little and was afraid to jump down from 4 feet. It's about feeling secure with me, I think. As long as the ride didn't make me feel like I was going to fall, I was fine.

Mei could hardly contain her smile when they headed towards the carousel. They were going to ride it, and Kiku didn't mind. He actually seemed sort of... enthusiastic about it. She almost wanted to run towards the attraction like an excited child, but settled for laughing quietly as she followed after Kiku.

She smiled at the operator as they passed by him, making their way through the entrance gate and up to the circular platform. She wondered if he found them odd, two grown people going on such a ride? (Then again, her height could easily be compared to a child's...)

Everything was so pretty, so bright and colourful. The music played a pretty melody, and the horses seemed to glow and sparkle under all the lights. But hm, which one to choose?

Before she could decide on one, Mei found herself being lifted off her feet.

"W-Wait what--"

She held tightly onto Kiku, her head spinning, her face growing warm. Well this was... different. Then he had set her down onto one of the horses, climbed on comfortably behind her, and wrapped his arms around her, all before she could even think of something comprehensible to say.

"Well," she started, her face flustered, "I like this one too."

The horse they sat on was built for two people, it seemed. For once her in life, Mei thanked the heavens for her height. Had she been taller or maybe even heavier, the operator may have made them take separate ones.

She sighed, slightly sad that they had almost skipped the merry-go-round because of her minor emotions. But the feel of Kiku sitting behind her, with his arms securely around her, made her forget what might have been and instead made her think of what was. So she smiled and hummed along with the music as they waited for the ride to start.

Mei was humming along to the music. How adorable. Kiku closed his eyes briefly, listening for a moment before opening them again. He leaned his head a bit more forward and whispered in her ear, "You don't have to hide anything from me, you know. I'd like to see your true self, even if you feel something might be embarrassing. ...You might be surprised at how much I'll like."

The ride started just then, and he went to pull back to his original position, but then stopped. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her tighter and placed his head right next to hers, their cheeks brushing.

He closed his eyes once more, feeling the sensation of them moving around and up and down, of Mei in his arms, their breathing, their heartbeats...

Sometimes he wondered about human intimacy levels. Because they would have moments like this - where on the surface they were doing nothing but being physically close - but somehow it felt more intimate than kissing.

Mei had assumed they would just wait quietly for the ride to start, so was a little more than surprised when Kiku leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Her heart rate probably went through the roof, and her position went again from relaxed to tense. Her grip on the metal support beam tightened, and she had to concentrate to keep her breathing steady. He probably didn't mean to do this to her, not at all, but it was a little hard to stay calm in such close proximity. Especially when he whispered things like that. In her ear. With his arms around her. One could only keep so much control...

She opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again when the ride started up. Mei instead nodded silently and leaned back against him, letting herself enjoy the movement, the scenery, the music... and him. Mainly him.

Hmm... she wondered if Kiku could feel how warm her face was.

The ride stopped, bringing Kiku out of his haze. He opened his eyes and just blinked for a moment, like waking from a pleasant dream. Other sensations returned to him, and he realized his cheeks were warm. He pulled his face away slightly and peaked at Mei, seeing that she was blushing as well.

He hesitated to move, he felt so comfortable with his arms around her, he didn't want to let go. It was like, this ride...this specific thing they were sitting on somehow had given him an excuse to hold her close in a way that he would only otherwise do in private. He felt reluctant to give that up.

...Then he felt the stare of the operator on them. How long had it been since the ride stopped? He couldn't say. Kiku pulled himself away with a sigh and slid off. Then reached out a hand to help Mei down.

Mei felt the ride come to an end and breathed out slowly, reality working its way back into her senses again. It was already over? It seemed like seconds ago it had only begun, and it was already finished? Time always went so fast when she was with him. She felt as if she could have done something maybe, to extend it or enjoy it more than she had. But she couldn't, since she about enjoyed it as much as realistically possible. So, she was happy.

She took his hand, and carefully got off the decorated horse. Her thoughts were a little dull from the amount of happiness she felt throughout the last couple of minutes, but she managed to smile and follow Kiku out and away from the carousel, still humming the tune softly.

"Well, that was fun in more ways than one, I think," she sighed quietly, her voice airy and positive.

Mei observed the lack of people around, and instead of wondering what time it was, or if the park was closing soon, or if they were someone pretty isolated, she thought of something else.

Quickly taking a couple steps ahead of him, she abruptly turned back around and hugged him, burying her face in his clothes and enjoying the smells that made him. Soap, food, ink, flowers. She then looked up at him and put on the most sincere smile she could make.

"Thank you for bringing me here."

Kiku let out a little exclamation of surprise as she hugged him. His eyes quickly scanned the area for stares, and finding none - and hardly anyone to give them - he relaxed in her arms.

He rested his chin on her head, which was still buried in the clothing on his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. Being like this felt so warm and comfortable, he was struck with the sudden wish that he could be one of those people that didn't care about their surroundings, that he could do this even in the middle of a crowd. But he couldn't, not without feeling uncomfortable.

"You're welcome," he responded softly, but plenty loud enough for her to hear. "I'm glad you liked it."

His eyes did another scan before removing his chin from its resting spot and kissing her forehead, and then returning once more.

"I love you."

She laughed delightedly to herself, happy Kiku hadn't gotten embarrassed or uncomfortable since she had sort-of-spontaneously hugged him. Mei had been a tad worried he might pull away or something like that, but he didn't. He had done quite the opposite, and she felt a tiny bit ashamed that she had assumed the worst.

She released her hold and took a step back slowly and hesitantly, not wanting to leave his warm embrace. But they couldn't stay like that forever (no matter how much she willed it), so she took his hands in hers and gave them a little squeeze.

"I love you too," she responded, looking at him lovingly.

Her cheeks, warm and pink, were beginning to hurt she was smiling so much. But she couldn't not smile. Besides, the happy feeling in her chest was worth the small aches.