A Christmas Present
Bronze Zetsuai RATED R
by: Lady Setsuna
http://www.angelfire.com./pa3/celebration
lady_setsuna@hotmail.com
silentjealousy@vampirehunter.com
January 03, 2000

“All Right! It’s finished!” The young girl danced happily around the room, her white skirt twirling around her knees. She clapped her hands together. “Izumi, it looks great! See? I told you that we could do it!”
Taking a step backwards to examine the results of his work. “I guess you are right Serika, it does look good. But who would have thought that putting up a live Christmas tree would be so much work!” he laughed.
Serika giggled and playfully punched her brother in the arm. “Yes, but don’t you think that Koji will be so surprised to come home from his concert touring and see a real tree totally decorated in his living room waiting for him?” A small smile played across her lips. “Kind of romantic too, coming home on Christmas Eve from working almost an entire month straight, and finding the one you love under the mistletoe. ”
Izumi glanced down at her with a blank stare. “What did you say?”
Picking up her bookbag, Serika pulled it over one shoulder and turned away from him. “Oh nothing.” She struggled to hide the smile. “Anyway I have got to be going home now, before I get late.” She stood up on her tip toes and kissed Izumi on the cheek. “Promise me that you two will make time to come over and visit Yugo and I tomorrow okay?”
“Of course, I am not planning on staying here all night.” Izumi stated, rather coldly.
Scurrying out the door, Serika waved to her brother, “Yeah, whatever you say!” She winked at him before hurrying off.
Izumi stood there for a moment, wondering what his sister had meant by her last comment. She was growing up too fast these last few days, and had always had a crush on Koji, even to the point of thinking up this idea to decorate his apartment for Christmas while he was away. With a smile, Izumi looked around at the colorful ribbons that wrapped themselves around the room, the hundreds of lights that bathed the room in their incandesent light and the sweet smell of pine coming from the tree and gave a laugh. Certainly Koji would appreciate Serika’s decorative sentiment, if nothing else.
Realizing for the first time just how tired he was, Izumi glanced down at his watch, it was nearly 4:00 p.m. He had been there since early in the morning with Serika trying to get everything right. Reaching over to the wall, he hit the light switch, and brought down the lights, leaving the room to be shrouded by the tree’s bright lights and the dull flickering from the fire in the fireplace. Izumi walked out to the kitchen and opened Koji’s refrigerator. Totally desolate of anything edible, Izumi settled for a glass of wine. Koji was seldom home these days, and when he was home, most of his time was spent at Izumi’s apartment or at the recording studio, so there was no need for him to even have any food in his house. Izumi rummaged through the equally empty cabinets and found a wine glass, which he poured the wine in. He took a seat one of the bar stools and pulled a Christmas card out of his wallet . The picture on the front was one of the huge Christmas tree in RockerFeller center in New York, which was where Koji was performing for the last few days. Izumi felt a bit on the jealous side, because Koji was always off touring the country with his music, while he remained stuck in there, most of the time doing boring soccer training with his coach. In addition Koji had thousands upon thousands of adoring fans that were always faithful to him, while Izumi often would go for days without even thinking about Koji, or at least that is what his mind thought.. his heart was another matter. Turning his thoughts back to the Christmas card, he opened it. The lettering was written in red ink, Koji always being one for the dramatic would never write his letters in boring blue ink. Each word as scrawled out in perfect cursive, placed properly on the card with frightening precision. It read:
“Dearest Izumi,
I have the best of news to tell you. The concerts here have been a great success and the American fans are very pleasant. With all the shows over with, recording in the studio should take less than a week and I will be home with you in time for Christmas. I can’t wait to spend Christmas Eve with you. Not a day goes by that my heart doesn’t ache for you, and my mind wonders what you are doing virtually every waking moment of the day. I shall look forward to seeing you shortly.
Yours..
Koji Nanjo”
Izumi finished re-reading the card and closed it. It had been over a month since he had seen Koji, and in that amount of time he only briefly spoke to him on the phone once before he was pulled away by irrating managers and screaming fans. With a sigh, he poured some of the wine into the glass and raised it to his lips, taking a long drink. Draining half of the glass, he started to cough and instantly spit the foul tasting liquid out. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and examined the bottle. There was no way of knowing just how long this wine had been fermenting in the refrigerator. The awful stale taste still lingered in his mouth, nauseating Izumi. Grimacing, he looked down at his watch again, it was getting late. The sun had long since set and it was beginning to snow. Already the white flakes were piling up on the balcony outside and settling on the pavement below. Perhaps Koji’s plane got delayed? Maybe the storm was a factor? Izumi looked at his watch again, the seconds ticked by slowly. He hated waiting. How did he ever let Serika talk him into surprising Koji like this? Koji was never one to be on time anyway and Izumi didn’t feel like spending time trapped up in Koji’s gaudy decorated apartment for the rest of the night, waiting on him.
He picked up the phone and dialed his phone number. Hoping that Koji left him a message on his answering machine, he waited though the seemingly endless series of beeps, checking his messages. A call from his coach, a call from Serika wishing him Merry Christmas and good luck (what was that supposed to mean), and one from a telemarketer. “Damn!” Izumi slammed the phone back down on the cradle and paced around the room. He hated when Koji did his stunts like this. Not a single message to say that he was on his way, or anything to let him know if he was all right. That was classic Koji Nanjo.
Izumi grabbed his jacket and walked toward the door. He had enough waiting since early in the morning. Koji was always so damned irresponsible! He had gone though all this trouble of surprising him and he probably wasn’t even going to come home on Christmas Eve after all! Serika was going to be disappointed (again) by Koji. Upon reaching the door, Izumi realized that he couldn’t just go without leaving some sort of note to let Koji know that it was Serika who decorated his apartment for him. He walked around the living room, looking for a pen and paper. Once again, he cursed Koji for not having the basic necessities in his house. Searching everywhere he stopped at the door to Koji’s music room. Izumi hardly ever went in there, mostly because Koji did his composing in there and was very irate when something was moved. There was an incident once where the maid accidentally threw out some of Koji’s music that he had been working on. Needless to say, Koji was mildly upset and the maid was immediately fired. So Izumi tried to avoid the room as much as possible.
The door creaked open and Izumi was caught off guard by a strange scent. Feeling around he found the lights, which he flipped on. The room was instantly illuminated by several small table top lamps, placed neatly around the room, all of them conveniently centered on Koji’s grand piano. Sitting on the top of the piano was the source of the stench. A huge bouquet of roses was sitting here, still in their clear cellophane wrapper, decaying nicely. Walking over, Izumi noticed how the once white flowers were now dried out, turning a horrid brown color, still held together with a simple red ribbon. A gift from a fan, Izumi thought, then caught sight of the name card. He was astonished to see his name written on it in Koji’s neat handwriting. Why had Koji bought these and never planned on giving them to him? Izumi opened the small envelop and pulled out the white card inside. It read:
“Congratulations on winning the soccer tournament! See you tonight at the party!
Koji
Izumi looked back over to the rotting bouquet sitting on the piano with a look of sadness. The soccer tournament was months ago, and they had a fight over some seemingly insignificant thing and Izumi told Koji that he didn’t want to be seen with him at the party afterward. He picked up the flowers and attempted to straighten the bow, but they were already to far gone, and some of the petals broke loose and fell slowly to the floor. Izumi bent down to pick them up and noticed something pushed under the piano, out of sight from the rest of the room. Forgetting all about the petals, he crawled under the piano and pulled the small box out. Sitting down on the carpeted floor, he examined the black box. It was small, no larger than a pack of cigarettes and tied with a simple red ribbon. What was this doing under there? Like a curious child, Izumi shook it and heard a small rattling noise from inside. His curiosity getting the better of him, he pulled at the ribbon and it slipped off the box, almost by itself. Lifting the lid off, the first thing that Izumi noticed was that the box was lined with a thick burgundy velvet. The item inside was double wrapped in a stark white tissue paper. With slightly shaking hands, he pushed back the paper and gazed at the gift inside. His eyes widened as the golden angel ornament glimmered brightly from inside the dark box. Her chain that would hang her from the tree and her dress itself were totally made of gold. Probably real too, Izumi thought. Such a sentimental gift. He picked up the lip and was going to put it away when he looked closer and noticed that the angel was sitting backwards in the box. Once again his curiosity sparked, he lifted the ornament out of the box and held it up to the light. As she spun around, Izumi heart sank. The angel was a vision of heaven itself. Her golden hair flowed out over her shoulders onto her sparking gown that drifted in a invisible breeze. Across the gown, something had been inscribed. Izumi squinted in the dim light, trying to read it. “To Izumi, my Angel from Heaven..Love Forever Koji 1999” In the angel’s outstretched hands dangled two rings, one in each attached with a simple hook. They were real sized wearable rings, made of the same gold metal that the angel was made from. As they spun in the air, Izumi noticed that they had their names inscribed on too, along with the date. Was this Koji’s gift to him? He started at the ornament for what seemed like an eternity. Koji was always the sentimental one, but why a gift like this? Deep in his heart, Izumi had the feeling he already knew. Quietly closing the box, he pondered the answer over and over in his mind. Using finger that would no longer obey him, he struggled to close the box and carefully put it back in it’s place under the piano. With a dull sensation he walked back out to the kitchen and finished off the bad tasting glass of wine without thinking. His mind raced with images of Koji and himself together, being as close to one another as they possibly could, forever. He tried to tell himself that none of this mattered, and that Koji was nothing more than a friend, and that their relationship meant nothing as well. There were those endless nights of touching and caressing, of holding and needing that he kept remembering, as if some sort of intoxicating drug, Izumi always ended up wanting and desiring.
Glancing out the window, Izumi watched as the snow kept on falling. He filled his glass once more with the wine, drank it and then re-filled it, he casually walked over to the window, taking the bottle with him. Not even caring about the rotten taste of the alcohol, he just continued to drink. He opened the large glass door open that led out to the balcony and stepped outside. Several long since dead potted plants lined the concrete floor, their deaths caused because the sudden lack of a maid to care for them. He placed the bottle on the railing, and leaned over the side, staring down at the streets below. Hardly anyone was out in this weather, and the few cars that passed by, drove slowly, the snow sliding them in directions that they did not intend to go. Was his life like this? Empty and barren, with his few acquaintances merely passing by, not daring to stop, fearing the worst? Looking up to the sky, Izumi wished that he could see the moon, or the stars. More than anything when he was alone, or felt as though he needed to find his place in the world, they were always there, guiding him. Not tonight though. This was going to be a lonely Christmas eve, just like all the rest that he had been though. No one to talk to, no bright smile to greet him. A small tear slid down his cheek as he finished off the third glass of wine. “Oh to Hell with it!!” he muttered, angrily throwing the crystal glass down onto the floor, it shattered into a thousand pieces. He stomped off back into the apartment, not even caring about anything. Izumi picked up his coat again and got half way around the living room when the world began to spin. He dropped the coat and the bottle, which spilled out onto the white carpet, staining it dull red color. Grabbing for a nearby chair, he held a hand out to his head, wishing that this pain would go away. He shut his eyes tightly trying to make everything stop spinning. Before he knew it, he had fallen to his knees and was forcing himself to stay conscious. Opening his eyes a bit, he caught sight of the Christmas tree that he and Serika had taken all day to decorate. It’s bright lights twinkled a myriad of colors in his vision. It was the last thing that Izumi had seen before he passed out.
“Is there anyway that I can get a taxi now?” Koji asked. His patience for this ditzy bubble headed clerk was rapidly fading. His flight had been delayed for over 4 hours because of the winter storm, and now that he finally made it back into Japan, he found himself stuck at the airport with no way to get home.
“Umm no sir, I already told you that most of Tokyo is totally incapacitated by the snow. The taxi drivers are refusing to drive in this, and now I was just informed at the phone lines have went out. It’s a miracle that we still have power.”
A bit astounded that the clerk used the word “incapacitated” Koji leaned over the counter. “Listen I have someplace that I must be it’s only 20 miles away, isn’t there some other way? What about a car rental? I will drive there myself if I have to!”
The clerk chomped on her bubble gum. “Sorry, all of our rentals are out. But I can get you one on....” She flipped though a few pages in a book on her desk, looking. “You are in luck sir! The next car will be available on Monday!” She smiled a bleached white perfect smile at him. “Shall I reserve it for you?”
“Monday!!!! That’s it? Today is Thursday.. I can’t wait that long. Forget it! I will find another way.” He turned and walked away from the counter, barely even hearing her.
“Thank you very much sir, and have a happy holiday!!”
Koji sat back down on one of the airport chairs. Hard and unforgiving, his back protested, having been though a six hour flight, returning and finding Tokyo in the midst of a huge snowstorm and then dealing with the flake at the counter was enough to drive him quite insane. He lit up a cigarette and leaned back. Promising Izumi he was going to be home on Christmas Eve was easy enough, but now just getting there was turning out to be a problem. Looking out the windows he watched as the people rushed in from outside, their hair and clothes soaked and wet from the snow. Izumi’s apartment was more than a full days walk away. It would be nearly impossible to walk there with all of his luggage. Looking down at the several suitcases sitting in front of him, Koji idly kicked one of them over. There was no way that he was going to let a simple weather disturbance keep him from Izumi. Not tonight, not on Christmas Eve.
“Yes, that would be great, we could get together maybe after dinner in the back room and then......” The clerk jumped, averting her attention away from the pilot who she had been flirting with to Koji, who had quietly stepped up to the counter, and instantly put on her happy face. Flushing a bit red, she watched over his shoulder as the pilot walked away quickly. “Oh yes Sir? How can I be of assistance to you now?”
“Cigarettes please.”
She smiled her fake smile as she brought out a pack of cigarettes for Koji. “Will that be all sir?” Koji buttoned up his leather jacket and wrapped his small scarf tightly around neck. He tossed some money on the counter and placed the cigarettes into a pocket. Without another word, he walked toward the door. The clerk watched him, noting the intent look on his face. “Sir? You aren’t going out in this weather are you? It’s well below zero out there and snowing fiercely!”
Koji turned around with a serious look. “Just try and stop me.” Both the clerk and the pilot who had been standing nearby watched as Koji went out into the storm, intent on his destination.
The storm was more than Koji had first realized. For the first few minutes, it seemed entirely possible to endure the entire distance. As he walked on, the biting wind rushed past his face, turning his cheeks red. He shoved his frost bitten hands into the pockets of this leather coat, but thin material didn’t help much. Trying not to let the cold get the better of him, he walked forward, trying desperately to think of other things. He thought ahead of coming home to a nice apartment and being close to Izumi for the rest of the night, wrapped up safe and warm in his arms. Even his thoughts were betrayed by the frigid temperatures, for every step that he took, just chilled him more and more. His hair was soaked and wet from the heavy snow that feel from the starless sky. The snow built up on the sidewalks now, more than 8 or 9 inches deep in some parts, making it hard to walk in. Just simple steps became hazardous because of the slippery snow that crunched under his boots. No cars even dared travel on the streets now. Tokyo was quickly becoming a desolate wasteland. As the wind continued to blow against him, Koji became aware of the fact that he was loosing feeling in his feet and legs. Knowing what that meant, he realized that he had to stop soon, or else he could suffer grave consequences. Izumi’s apartment was still miles away and with the setting sun, the frigid temperatures were dropping well below zero now. Desperate to reach Izumi, Koji continued to walk, hoping against hope that his body would hold out.
He managed to walk for another hour before fatigue overcame him. Cursing to himself, he ducked into a side alley and struggled to light a cigarette. The wind was intense, and the lighter refused to work. Frustrated, Koji admitted defeat. He waited for a few minutes, letting his chilled body rest from the intense pounding of the snow. Then summoning what was left of his strength, he headed off into another direction.
By the time that he reached the door to the apartment building, Koji was once again frozen badly. His fingers were useless, frozen and numb. He silently thanked whatever gods were watching over him that he managed to make it home. Uncertain of his footsteps, he trudged his way up the steps and to the door of his apartment. Standing in front of the door, he fumbled with the keys with his cold fingers, dropping them onto the floor. In great pain and totally exhausted, Koji looked down at the shiny bits of metal lying there in agony. He could barely move, let alone get the door open. He took a breath and leaned his head against the door. With a great surprise, he creaked open. Realizing that he must of left it unlocked and that there weren’t any criminals crazy enough to be out in this weather, he entered the apartment. The warm heat from the lit fireplace rushed over to him, and Koji quickly shed his coat and tossed it aside. Without even thinking, he hurried over to the fire and began to warm himself. The heat felt so good against his cold skin, but did nothing for his heart, which now would be broken when Izumi realized that he had broken yet another promise.
Koji pulled his hair loose from the ponytail and let it start to dry. He got up from the fireplace, going to fetch dry clothes when he realized that fire WAS burning! Suddenly looking around the room in terror, he picked up the poker from the ashes and stalked around the room. Taking in the whole room for the first time, he noticed the Christmas decorations that adorned the walls, the staircase and even the ceiling. This was not the work of a burglar. He dropped the poker and walked to the enormous Christmas tree that stood in the center of the room. Being frozen nearly to the point of death before, he failed to notice it when he entered. “Who? Who did this?” he whispered to himself.
A quiet groaning came from under the tree. Koji walked around and spotted the sleeping form of Izumi curled up sweetly. He stood there for several minutes, not quite sure believing his own eyes. With a still slightly numb hand, he reached out and touched Izumi’s shoulder. To his surprise Izumi opened his eyes and smiled up at him. The clock on the mantle struck midnight. “Merry Christmas Koji.” he muttered though a still slightly sleep haze.
“Izumi!! How did you get here?” Koji helped Izumi sit up. He wrinkled his nose at the slightly foul smelling stench of wine around him. “Never mind about that.” Koji looked up at the tree. “You did all of this?”
“It was Serika’s idea, she wanted to welcome you home like this.” Izumi blinked, wishing that he could regain all of his senses. The effects of the bad wine were still in his system and he was feeling lightheaded. “I didn’t think that you were going to make it home.”
Koji reached over and pulled Izumi close to him, giving him a cold, wet embrace. “I promised you that I was going to be home, and I knew how much this meant to you. This, above all was one promise that I just could not break.” He released Izumi and ran his finger across his lips. “I did not want you to spend Christmas alone Izumi, you will never be alone again.”
Izumi ran his hand though Koji’s wet hair. “My God! You are soaked! And you are shivering! You walked here though that storm for me?”
Koji simply shook his head, and prayed that the fever which was now starting to run through his skin was not from the storm. “It doesn’t matter now does it? All that counts is that we are here together, and that fate has smiled upon us for once.”
“Still, you have to take those close off, or you’ll catch pneumonia.” Izumi shot a angry glance at Koji, who seeing this glance usually knew that he was deadly serious.
Koji moved to stand up and head for the bed room. “Okay, I will be right back.” Izumi’s hand shot up and grabbed hold of Koji’s wrist, holding down.
He smiled slightly. “Let me.” Moving forward, he knelt down on his knees and slowly unbuttoned Koji shirt. He reached forward and peeled the wet fabric away from his frozen skin. Izumi placed the palm of his hand on Koji heart. “Your skin is so cold, let me warm it up for you.” He bent forward and kissed his lips, pushing his body tightly against Koji’s, letting the warmth seep into him. As he leaned against him, locked in a lustful kiss, Izumi let his hand move from Koji’s heart across his chest to his nipple which he gently caressed.
Koji gasped in astonishment as Izumi kissed him. The feeling of Izumi seducing him was wondrous. He let his tired and frostbitten body sink down onto the floor. He wrapped his arms around Izumi’s muscular back and pulled him on top of his body. He parted his lips, intent on deepening the kiss when Izumi’s tongue entered his mouth, meeting his own with a delightful taste. Hoping that this wasn’t a dream, he tugged at Izumi’s thick sweater, needing to feel his bare skin, breaking the kiss for a moment while he shrugged it off and tossed it aside.
Sitting up straight on top of Koji’s pelvis, Izumi looked down. “I don’t think that we got all the wet clothes off yet.” Wriggling down lower on his body, Izumi undid the button on Koji’s leather pants and pulled off his boots. His fingers gripped the metal zipper and lowered it down, one notch at a time. Reaching around to Koji’s buttocks, he gripped both cheeks as Koji raised his hips and Izumi peeled the wet pants off of him. “There, now all we have to do us get you warmed up.” A smile played across his lips. “And I don’t think that the fireplace is going to do it.” Once again he leaned down and kissed him, this time letting his hand stray down the side of his chest, to Koji’s hip and then finally to the inside of his thigh. His warm fingers played into his cold skin, warming in almost instantly. Caressing him with great care, Izumi continued to “warm up” Koji for the next several hours.
The clock struck 11 a.m. as Koji awoke from his restful sleep. He found himself curled up on the floor of his apartment, under the Christmas tree, wrapped up in a warm blanket with Izumi. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he struggled to sit up and look over to the window. The snow had stopped falling and the sun was starting to peek out through the clouds in the sky. Listening closely, he could just barely hear the sounds of the children outside playing in the new fallen snow. Koji sunk back down to the floor next to Izumi, who was still sleeping peacefully. He had thought that being with him in the wee hours of the morning was merely a dream, some sort of illusion brought on by the fever, but he smiled to himself, happy knowing that it was not.
Koji looked around the room, wishing that his jacket with the cigarettes in the pocket was close. Not seeing it, he gave up. Not wanting to disturb Izumi, he gave up the idea and pulled the heavy blanket up around his shoulders, trying to block out the coldness from the long-dead fire. He gazed over at Izumi and gently brushed a few stray pieces of hair out of his eyes. Koji placed a simple kiss on his cheek and whispered. “Merry Christmas Izumi, thank you for the wonderful gift.” He moved back over and got comfortable, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep before he was forced to return to reality.
Izumi’s warm arm reach out over Koji’s shoulder and wrapped itself over his chest. Pushing his body tightly up against his, Izumi whispered into Koji’s ear. “Merry Christmas Koji, thank you for the lovely gift.”
Laying there together, Koji wondered what Izumi had meant by that. Was it the simple fact that he had made it home on time that he was thanking him for? Struggling to come up with the logical answer, Izumi moved a bit, and Koji noticed a newly engraved gold band on Izumi’s left hand.