17.) Christmas Eve

Kaya looked out her window and sighs at the chirping birds, sun bright and already warming the late December air. The forecast showed a high of 68 today, the night only getting down to 53 despite it being near Christmas.

She jumps a little when her phone rings and looks at the device sitting on her nightstand with her hand over her heart. She takes in a quick breathe before answering. "Good morning." She answers cheerily into the phone.

"Morning Sweet Pea, just calling to double check on what time to expect you tomorrow." Atsushi replies, his voice full of fondness. "I'll be there around 6." She answers with a smile. "Ok good, your brothers plan to be here about 9 with Hoshi." He responded.

"Little earlier then? I thought they would come later than that, should I come earlier?" Kaya asks, concerned. "Not at all. Three hours should be plenty of time to make brunch. Anyway, have fun with your friends today. Tell Toru hi for us." He responds.

"Yeah ok, I will dad. I love you and I'll see you tomorrow." Kaya told her father with a large smile on her face as she walks over to her closet and pulls out a white thigh length dress with a deep v line neck, empire waist, and sheer puffy long sleeves.

Kaya walked into the bathroom and hung the dress on a hook over the door then turned on the water allowing it to get hot for a shower. She left the bathroom a moment allowing the water to heat as she grabbed a pair of underwear and white sheer tights with silver snowflakes.

She places the other items on the bathroom counter then removes her night clothes and steps into the steaming water. Kaya let's out a happy sigh as the water hits her, her skin turning red from the heat. She quickly washes over her legs and underarms before reaching for her shave lather and getting started.

Satisfied that her skin is now silky smooth and free of unwanted body hair, she washes her hair, then allows the conditioner to soak in as she uses her previously abandoned Snowy Morning shower gel before completely rinsing off. Kaya turns off the hot water then grabs a bottle of baby oil, rubbing it into her wet skin before patting dry with a towel, then wrapping her hair in a drying wrap.

Kaya pulls her panties around her waist before grabbing her bottle of You're The One perfume from the counter and sprays it once on her tights then once in the middle of her dress. She sets the bottle down and removes the wrap from her curls, allowing them to fall around her and smiling at how much water was removed already.

Kaya combs through her hair then flips her head over and starts applying curl defining mousse at the roots, scrunching her hair as she goes. Upon finishing the task, she lifts her hair blow dryer, diffuser already in place and gets to work drying her curls the rest of the way.

She takes a moment to look at her hair, making sure each curl falls in the right direction and catches the smile on her face from her reflection. She studies herself for a moment and tries to think back on when was the last time she'd taken so much care in getting ready to go anywhere.

She sighed and nodded to herself as it occurred to her that Kenji never really wanted to go places or do anything together. When they did he would complain if she took too long then tell her she wasted a lot of time when she wasn't any prettier after all that effort.

Kaya shook her head, willing the memories to go away, wanting to enjoy her Christmas Eve and spending time with Toru rather than thinking about the man she used to make excuses for. The only good thing to come from the relationship now was that she could now say what love isn't.

Kaya picked up her silver metal headband with silver and blue snowflakes and fashioned it into her hair so that a few curls still showed around her face but you could still see her ears. She then put on her matching silver and blue snowflake earrings and necklace.

She turns to her dress and pulls it over herself carefully, making sure not to ruin her hair then sets to doing her makeup. Nothing too over the top as she always hated the way full face makeup felt. Instead she runs a white eyeliner pencil on each lower lid before moving to the top lid and giving herself a simple wing look.

Kaya checks her work for evenness then moves in to add a shimmering white shadow to each eyelid above the wing, taking care to hit the inner creases. Kaya then applies blue mascara to her eyes and finishes the look with a simple white shimmer lip gloss.

Happy with her hair and makeup, Kaya uses the restroom and washes her hands before she puts her tights on under her dress. She picks up her phone and checks the time, her heart racing to realize she's now running a little late, despite giving herself 2 hours to get ready. She texts Toru to let him know she's about to leave in a few minutes, then observes her reflection.

While she was getting ready she mostly focused on the tasks at hand. Now that she's done and see's the finished product she feels her heart pounding, the nervousness making her feel a little nauseous. Her phone alerts her to a new text, which only makes her heart beat faster. 'That's ok, I'm just happy you're coming at all. See you soon Pixie.'

Kaya tries to calm her breathing, knowing getting anxious won't help with anything. She had decided to look nice for this day long ago, but now she hopes it isn't too much seeing as she hasn't met some of the guests at Toru's place. She walks into the bedroom and picks up Toru's gift before walking to the front door and sitting in a chair to put on her white heels with embroidered blue fleur-de-lis and crystal snowflakes. She picks up the matching handbag and her gift, then takes a deep breath, opening her front door and making her way to her car.

On the way to Toru's apartment, Kaya listens to Christmas music, singing along and trying not to be nervous that she only knows half the people at today's lunch. She pulls into a parking space and takes another deep breath before getting out of the car and making her way to the elevator. When the elevator reaches the top she comes face to face with Toru.

The two stare at one another without moving, until the elevator doors try to close and Toru quickly throws his hand in the middle of them in order to stop them taking Kaya back downstairs. "You look as beautiful as newly fallen snow." Toru complements, his cheeks lighting a soft pink and Kaya's becoming a deep crimson. "Thank you." She squeaks, stepping out of the elevator.

"Were you headed somewhere?" Kaya asks as he starts to walk with her towards his apartment. "I was just coming to check if you'd arrived." He answered sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, well I'm here now." Kaya chuckled feeling a little guilty as he opened the front door for her.

Kaya's eyes land on a guy laughing loudly, his bright brown eyes and deep orange hair making him even easier to spot. "Shut up Sho, you dumbass." A tall angry looking man with dark hair and deep blue eyes tells him. "Hey, be nice Tobio, it's Christmas!" A silver haired man with a kind face and a beauty mark under his leftt eye scolds in a firm but loving tone.

"Can't even leave the room for two minutes." Toru sighs next to Kaya, bringing the rooms attention to her. Kaya shrank back a little with so many eyes on her, leading Toru to move a little and somewhat block the onlookers view of her. "Kaya, it's good to see you again. You look radiantly beautiful today." Takeru told her as he approached the two friends at the front door.

"Thank you, it's nice to see you as well." Kaya smiled back up at him. "Hi Kaya, I'm Shoyo Hinata, we spoke on the phone prior to Yachi leaving Karsuno for Date Tech." The happy ginger informed her, leaving a smile on Kaya's lips. "Oh yes, it's nice to put a face to the name. I didn't realize you knew Toru." Kaya responded, shaking the hand he'd extended.

She looked at their connected hands, noting that this man who wasn't particularly tall had rather large warm hands. She took in his frame and wondered if he worked out with Hajime, as he was rather widely built. "I've always looked up to Toru. Though my Tobio hates his former mentor. Pretty sure the feeling is mutual though." Shoyo informed her happily.

"I don't hate Tobio, it was just always annoying to me that everything I had to work so hard for came naturally to him." Toru defended. "I would never invite someone to my home whom I hate, no matter who their dating." He concluded with a pout. "I don't hate the Great King, I wanted to BE the Great King. Don't be such an idiot if you're going to speak for me." Tobio huffed.

Hajime approached the three speaking at the door, his hand holding onto that of a woman with silver hair and brown eyes, her waddle very noticeable. "Kaya, this is my wife, Hikari. And over there the guy with the same hair color is my brother in law, Koushi Sugawara." Hajime introduced. Koushi moved in a little closer to greet the newcomer, then stopped short when he heard her cooing over his little sister.

"Oh wow, Hikari, you're so beautiful. I've wondered what you might look like, but I didn't want to look like a weirdo and ask for a picture. I love your hair, it looks so soft." Kaya gushed happily, her hands near her face in order to stop them from reaching out to touch the angelic mom to be.

"Thank you, you're too kind." Hikari blushes at Kaya. "She's perfectly right with everything she said." Hajime huffs before leaning over to kiss his wife on the cheek. "You're as beautiful now as the first day I saw you. More than really, come to think of it." Hajime tells her just above a whisper. "Aww" Kaya let out at how sweet the exchange was.

Kaya turned her attention to Koushi right after and gave him a large smile. "It's nice to meet you as well. Are you excited to become an Uncle?" Kaya asks with a large smile, causing Toru to frown at the attention she was giving the other man. "I am actually, I'm even looking to move closer to them after the school year finishes." Koushi replied happily.

"Let's let Kaya into the apartment." Toru suggested, placing his hand on her lower back and giving Koushi a glare that screamed for him to keep his distance. Koushi shook his head with a light chuckle and made his way more into the apartment. "So that leaves you as Tobio, Shoyo's boyfriend." Kaya inquired of the blue eyed male.

"I'm not Shoyo's boyfriend, he's MY boyfriend." Tobio huffed, crossing his arms. "Why, got a thing against two dudes dating?" Tobio asked with a glare. Kaya chuckled at his response and smiled at him brightly. "Not at all, my brother and his husband just adopted a little girl." She informed him happily.

"Oh wow, so you've just become an aunt yourself then. How do you like it?" Koushi asked, ignoring Toru's glare. "Oh I love it! Hoshi is the cutest. When she gets more used to me I want to spend real time with her like aunt's do. So far I've only seen her a few times. I think our mom wants to steal her away first though." Kaya giggled.

"That would make sense, your mom was really excited at Thanksgiving." Toru interjects. "Wait, so you were there for Thanksgiving Toru?" Koushi asked. "Yeah, problem with that?" Toru asked. "No, I just didn't realize you two were dating." Koushi replied, causing Kaya to choke on the water she'd just taken a sip of.

"We're not, umm we're friends." Kaya told Koushi, her face red from embarrassment. "My mistake. I just have never known Toru to go to anyone's home but Hajime's and Aimi's. I just thought..." Koushi trails off as he watches Kaya reach over to Toru and place her hand on his, Toru's face a little downturned.

Koushi watches the interaction between the two and wonders if there are feelings between the two, both were keeping a secret from the other. Toru smiles at Kaya and moves his hand atop hers and gives a light squeeze, receiving a reassuring smile from her. Toru's face becomes noticeably brighter as he leans forward and places his forehead on hers.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring her up Toru. I wasn't thinking." Koushi says gently as Toru turns to face him. "It's ok. Didn't go to grief counseling just to be unable to hear her name." Toru replies, removing his hand from Kaya's. "Still, it was insensitive. You're obviously still hurting seeing as you still haven't put any of her pictures out." Koushi observes.

Toru nods lightly. "I did get them out of storage though. Some of the frames need to be replaced and I need to get command strips for some others." Toru informed him, the group smiling at the reply with surprise. "That's great! You're really making great strides Toru!" Hajime responds while Kaya watches them all being happy for Toru in his moment of healing and feeling happy for him.

"We should eat, not to be a cliche, but I'm starving." Hikari suggests after a moment. "Oh yes, I'm sorry for being late everyone." Kaya speaks up with guilt in her voice. "Don't be. You look stunning." Shoyo told her, everyone's heads but Tobio's nodding agreement. "Could you try not to flirt right in front of me?* Tobio spat out, moving to the table and taking a seat.

"Aww come on Tobio, I wasn't flirting. It was just an observation." Shoyo pleaded. "Whatever, sit here and stop observing girls. If you think you're getting a girlfriend while I'm around, you're dead wrong." Tobio warns, as Shoyo takes a seat next to him. "Green isn't a good color on you." Shoyo pouts, as Tobio glares at him in silence.

Shoyo just sighs and directs his attention to Toru, "Thanks for having us!" he chirped happily, everyone ignoring Tobio and grabbing dishes from the center of the table then passing them as they began their lunch. Everyone chats happily as they eat, Takeru asking at one point where he'd catered the meal from and making note to swing by Saucehouse BBQ another time when he was in town.

The meal concluded Hajime got to his feet and started collecting plates from the table, causing Shoyo, Koushi, and Takeru to follow suit and start helping with clean up as well. Kaya tried to get up and help them, but Hajime told her to sit and relax while she still can since she's cooking at her family's Christmas brunch the next day.

After getting leftovers put away, the table cleared, dishes in the dishwasher, and the trash taken out everyone sat in the living room for a while chatting about their plans for the next day before starting to say their goodbyes and wishing everyone well. The last to leave ahead of Kaya was Koushi who talked cheerfully with Kaya, telling her he'd like to see Date Tech sometime if she had a chance and leaving his number with her.

Toru glared at the silver haired man as he planted a kiss on Kaya's hand before exiting the apartment, the blush on Kaya's cheeks causing Toru to feel a small amount of rage towards Koushi that he tried to repress for Kaya's sake. "Your friends all seem so nice. Though I'm not sure what to think of the ray of sunshine and his angry boyfriend." Kaya giggled once they were alone.

"Tobio loves Shoyo a lot, he has since highschool. He has a hard time being secure in the relationship though because people are always so drawn to Shoyo. Plus since Sho is bi, he's dated a few girls before Tobio finally got up the nerve to ask him out so that sometimes still stings him a bit." Toru informed her dutifully, "They are a pretty happy couple though and Sho hears 'dumbass' as 'babe' and 'your stupid' as 'I love you.' Who am I to judge since it works for them, ya know."

Kaya nodded, thinking of how he was before she and Kenji split despite not loving the idea of her working things out with him before Thanksgiving. He didn't understand their relationship, but trusted that Kaya must be happy so let it be as best as he could. "I left your gift in my car." Kaya informs him with a smile, turning towards the door.

"I'll walk you down, it started raining a few minutes ago so I'll hold the umbrella while you hold the gift. Fair?" Toru asked. Kaya gave him a big smile and a single nod. "Always looking out for me." She responded wistfully as Toru grabbed an umbrella from the front closet and escorted her to the elevator. The rain wasn't heavy, but Kaya was still grateful he'd thought to protect her from getting wet after all she'd done to get ready.

As they made their way down, Kaya's cheeks tinged pink more and more, thinking of all the little things Toru did that showed he cared about her. Not just the noticeable things, like scaring off guys who bother her, giving her pep talks, or even his never ending chivalrous ways. But the little things too, asking if she's eaten, walking on the outside of the sidewalk, helping to keep the hair out of her face. She frowned a little as she yet again wondered how he truly feels about her.

"You ok?" Toru asked gently, standing next to Kaya in front of her car, waiting for her to open it. "Oh, sorry. Guess I got lost in thought." Kaya smiled at him, leaving Toru to narrow her eyes at her. "What were you thinking about?" He asks, as she leans into the car and grabs his gift. "Nothing worth worrying over." She told him cheerfully as she closed her car door. "Hope it wasn't that fucker." Toru replied under his breath.

Kaya giggled, "You know, I'd overheard my parents refer to Kenji as 'that fucker' over the years, but they never once said it directly in front of me. Looking back on it, they never really did like him much." Kaya confides. "No, but it seems they love you enough to let you make your own decisions despite their personal opinion." Toru responded as he closed the umbrella and entered the elevator with her.

As they rode the elevator back up, Toru looked over Kaya, happy that though she'd heard him bring up Kenji her spirits were still up. He loved the way she looked today, her outfit festive to the season rather than the holiday made it seem all the more perfect to him, the snowflakes included throughout the look making him wish to see snow with her. A smirk graced his lips as he realized she was humming Carol of the Bells.

"You don't have to repress your Christmas cheer, you know. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but that's mostly because of how bad my depression gets and missing Ami. It's ok I know you're the big Christmas loving kind." Toru told her as they exited the elevator and headed towards his apartment again. "I do love Christmas, but I also want to be considerate to your feelings." Kaya confided as she entered the apartment.

"Come now Kaya, I'm doing gifts and everything. This is honestly the best Christmas I've had in a while so far. It's been years since I hosted Christmas eve lunch, everyone was so excited when I told them and invited them over. Not everyone could make it since they had other plans, but I'm glad the ones who did were here. Though not as glad as I am that you're here." He told her with a wink.

Toru watched Kaya's face turn deep red, a smirk gracing his features as he notes that she's been becoming more easily red in the face at his little flirtations rather than annoyed ever since he'd started to open up to her. He still figured there was no way she'd ever love him back, but he also was happy that she at least seemed more relaxed with him, all traces of hate seeming gone.

"Let me go get your gift from my room, I'll be right back." Toru told her as he made his way into the master bedroom. Kaya nodded and watched as he walked into the other room, waiting for him to return, she decided to sit on the couch with his gift on her lap. She looked down at the simple red wrapping with a white bow tied around it and hoped he'd like it. Just as she was starting to feel a little more nervous she felt the couch dip down next to her.

"So, Merry Christmas." Toru told her softly as he handed her a small silver box with a blue bow. "Merry Christmas!" She repeated, handing over his box as well. "Ladies first." Toru told her, frowning when Kaya shook her head. "On three." She told him, leaving Toru to smile at the idea. "Fine, one, two, three." He counted, then pulled the bow from his box before pulling the paper away from it at the seams.

When he looked back up Kaya was staring at her gift with her mouth slightly open, her eyes tearing up at the contents. Satisfied, Toru pulled the lid off his box and revealed the silver pocket watch, his heart beating hard in his chest as he looked at it. "Kaya, this is is." "I was worried it might be too much, but this is...Toru. It's beautiful." Kaya told him, looking up at him and seeing the touched look on his face.

"I heard you telling Hajime how you missed your old pocket watch when we were having lunch in your office. I asked him about it and went looking online. I know it's not the one your grandfather gave you, but I just thought since you still wanted one..." Kaya trailed off as Toru wrapped his arms around her. "I'll treasure this one always. I'll never lose it, I promise. Thank you so much Kaya." He whispered softly, rubbing his hand over the back of her head and his breath on her neck.

"No, thank you. This is beautiful. You really didn't have to." Kaya told him, gesturing at the pandora bracelet in her hand. "It's one you can double wrap or unwrap and have as a necklace. I wanted to get you one because I was thinking of how I want us to have many more great memories and that it would be nice to commemorate them with a charm." Toru smiled happily, pointing out the musical note charm.