Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Alone Under the Mistletoe ❯ Alone Under the Mistletoe ( One-Shot )

Note from Ides: My muses are on vacation, thankfully, because I don't have enough time to do such a long intro. This is yuri for those of you who don't like the concept. Merry Christmas to those who do! Because of the lack of the coupling, this is a Ruri (Ruki/Juri) fic; not a lemon, but it's obvious (totally obvious) that something goes on, so if you don't like the idea of under-aged kids making love (the experience in the fic is too beautiful to be called sex), then you shouldn't read. I don't own Digimon and PLEASE REVIEW. Enjoy.

I had no idea why I was invited to the school Christmas party. Apparently, the teacher told all of the students that they could invite friends from other schools and Jenrya and Takato and all the others took him up on the offer and invited me.

I didn't tell them that my grandmother was trying to talk my mother into sending me there. After going to a private, all-girl's school for my whole school career, public school might be a welcome change. And besides, all my friends go to public school. Well, that's what she says to my mother. Though I wouldn't mind switching schools. It might be nice to see more of them…

But I digress. The party was held in the gymnasium, music booming, people dancing and talking and laughing, and me standing there like an idiot. I had no idea who anyone was or where Takato and the others were.

I walked in circles looking for them, then debated leaving or not. Finally, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Behind me stood Hirokazu in all of his arrogant glory. Beside him was Kenta, looking, thankfully, more modest. Then came Jenrya and Takato, both warm and inviting. Juri was nowhere, however, which was slightly disappointing. Out of all of them, she was the one I felt closest to. I tried to tell myself that it was because we were both the only girls who were tamers, but I had lately begun to realize that being the same sex wasn't really the case and it was something else that I didn't know yet.

"Took you long enough to show up!" Hirokazu exclaimed.

I folded my arms. "I showed an hour ago; it took me long enough to find you nerds."

Jenrya chuckled. "Merry Christmas, Ruki."

"Merry Christmas." I found myself smiling slightly because suddenly a warm feeling had entered me.

Christmas spirit? Was there such a thing nowadays? Apparently.

"Where's Kahto-san?" I asked lazily, following them over to the snack table.

"Don't call her Kahto-san anymore." Takato said.

I raised an eyebrow. "But that's her name."

"She'll freak on you if you call her that now." Hirokazu grinned. "It's 'Juri-chan'. She says we're all friends so we should all be on a first name basis."

"I'll try to remember. No promises." I bit into a cookie.

"Did you bring Renamon?" Kenta asked in a hushed tone.

I nodded. "She followed me, but she's not in the building. Why?"

"We brought Guilmon, Terriermon, and Culumon." Takato explained. "They keep going on about Renamon's singing voice or something. I think they went caroling together a few days ago and really liked the way she sang. They were looking forward to hearing it again."

"Of course she's a good singer, she's Renamon." I said, finishing off the cookie and reaching for another.

"So that automatically makes her the best, I'm assuming." Hirokazu crossed his arms.

"Yeah." I said simply.

~ ~ ~

I broke away from them after a while. Hirokazu was torturing Kenta by trying to get him to dance with a girl he liked and Takato was attempting to fix Jenrya up with someone (and was failing miserably) when I left. Juri was obviously at the party, but where would she be hiding?

I got my answer when I saw her standing alone in the doorway.

"Ka…uh, Juri-chan." I said, approaching her. "What's up?"

She looked at me with sad eyes and sighed. "Nothing…"

"It's so obvious that you're lying." I stood beside her. "You look like you're looking for someone."

She was turning bright red as I said this, glancing upwards, and pulled me to the right. "Let's stand over here; the light's better."

I had no idea what she was doing. I wanted to try and find what she had looked at, what was above our heads, but the touch of her hands against my arm threw those thoughts from my mind.

A bolt of electricity shot through me when her skin touched mine. My ears were getting warm and I was starting to notice how smooth and silky her hair looked. God, I wanted to touch it, to smell it, to feel it against my fingers in all of its perfection.

I blinked, snapping the thoughts away. "So what's wrong?"

"I told you, nothing."

"And I told you, you're lying. Tell the truth."

She sighed. "You wouldn't understand…"

"Try me." I challenged.

Frowning, she looked at me. "Maybe I don't want to tell anyone."

I was surprised; Juri wasn't prone to anger. Blinking, I looked over my shoulder to the top of the doorway.

Mistletoe was hanging there. I began to turn red, realizing that she had dragged me away from it because she didn't want us both to get caught under it. The fact that she didn't want to kiss me hurt my feelings, though I don't understand why.

Ignoring the emotional pain, I turned back to her and smirked. "You were waiting for someone to get caught under that stupid plant with you, weren't you. And you're upset because no one's coming over."

She nodded, blushing. "I know it's stupid…"

"Sure, it's stupid." I folded my arms across my chest. "But you're forgiven. Instead of standing around now, do you want to have a good time?"

"But…I…" She bit her lower lip and looked down. "I just wanted to see if a boy would actually…"

"Why don't you just ask Takato?" I sighed, exasperated. "He likes you."

"Not anymore. I think he likes you."

Jealousy is an ugly thing, especially when someone's jealous of you. They get a very strange look on their face like they're silently wishing you dead.

I jumped back. "Yeah, right! I'm surprised he can stand me after what I do to him. Even I'm getting annoyed when I call him 'Goggle Head'. Now come on, Juri-chan, if a boy liked you then he'll try to get caught with you under the mistletoe. In the meantime, let's dance or something."

She nodded with slight reluctance. "Okay…"

~ ~ ~

It seemed as though Juri had totally forgotten all about her sadness as the night wore on. We danced and ate and laughed together. When our feet hurt and we were out of breath, we went to sit against the wall for a spell.

"I didn't think this would be so much fun." I said, smiling. "My mom is actually thinking of sending me here."

"That'd be wonderful, Ruki-chan. I'd love to see more of you."

I turned to her to say something, but my stomach suddenly knotted when I saw her smiling face. My heart began to pound and my smile faded.

What…?

She looked at me and it happened again, only more intense this time. She looked at me.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

I tried to answer, but I couldn't.

"Is there something in my hair?" She asked, looking panicked. "Have I been walking around all night with some disgusting thing in my hair?!"

"No, no." I shook my head, preparing a lie. "Just now, there's something there. I'll get it, hang on."

For the first time in my life, I couldn't push aside what I was feeling. It was a beautiful feeling, but now I was as confused as ever.

I reached towards her hair and wiped away the imaginary food that had wedged itself in there. Then, driven by something other than my mind, I took a loose strand of hair and pushed it out of her face.

My fingertips stayed on her cheek. I don't know why, but they wouldn't move away. She stared at me almost timidly.

Her hair really is as smooth and silky as it looks… I realized.

Coming to my senses, my hand dropped to my lap. We were both turning bright red.

"It's gone now." I mumbled.

"Yeah." She replied, swallowing hard. "Thanks."

We didn't make eye contact for the rest of the awkward conversation.

~ ~ ~

The air outside was cold, of course, because the air in Japan is always cold in December. My boots crunched the snow beneath my feet. I sighed.

Renamon should know what this is. I thought. She always knows everything.

A beautiful singing voice reached my ears and I looked up. Sitting on the streetlight that was situated by the parking lot was Renamon and, standing below and looking up, the other digimon watched in awe.

Renamon finished her song and looked down to them as they cheered.

"Sing again, Renamon!" Guilmon pleaded.

She replied, "I've sung every song I know."

"Make one up!" insisted Terriermon.

That was when she caught sight of me standing away from her. She looked back to them and said, "In a minute. Go play and let me take a break."

Culumon jumped on to Guilmon's head. "Do you promise to sing then?"

"Yes."

They all cheered and ran off. Renamon flipped off of the streetlight and landed lightly in front of me. "Is something troubling you, Ruki?"

"I…um…" I looked down at my boots. "Renamon, I need to talk to you."

"Obviously." She smiled. "What's bothering you?"

I told her the whole story. By the time I was finished, Renamon's smile was gone and her eyes were wide with shock.

"Do you know what I'm feeling?" I asked, feeling almost as though I were pleading with her to tell me.

"Ruki…" She whispered. "Oh my."

"What?" I cried. "What is it?"

"You're…in love with her."

I stared at her, stunned. For a few minutes, I couldn't even function and the only thing running through my mind was that statement.

"You're…in love with her."

"I'm…what?" I whispered. "In love with her? But she's…she's…"

"A girl?" my digimon partner offered. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"But I'm supposed to be straight!" I cried. "There's nothing wrong with it, but I'm not a lesbian, I've never felt anything towards girls before!"

"Have you ever felt anything towards boys before?"

"No…"

"There you go."

"But…" I tried to come up with some sort of explanation to why loving Juri was impossible for me, but nothing I thought of was valid.

"You're in love Ruki, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Renamon said, moving to stand in front of me and pushing my chin up so that I would look her in the eye. "Go to her."

Slowly, I nodded and walked towards the schools entrance. When I was halfway there, I heard her singing again. And for some reason, it gave me courage.

~ ~ ~

"I'm falling in love with you."

I had said it, plain and simple, without beating around the bush. I found her standing under the mistletoe again, and just said it. I didn't even great her.

She stared at me, shocked. "Wh…what?"

"I'm falling in love with you." God, I was nervous. I kept my face blank but God I was nervous.

"Ruki-chan…you're not serious."

"Of course I'm serious."

She backed away from me. "I…I need to…think. About this."

She ran off. I didn't go after her, just stood there like an idiot. Someone touched me on the shoulder.

Jenrya.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly, not looking into his eyes.

"I heard what you said."

"So?"

"So nothing. I'm sorry if your feelings are hurt."

I felt like crying, but I wouldn't allow it. Not here, not in front of him.

"Let's go outside. You look like you need to talk."

"I don't want your pity." I hissed and stormed away.

He grabbed my wrist in the hallway. "I won't let you leave like this."

The harshness of his tone stopped me.

"How many times, Ruki, have you cried alone in your room because you feel like no one's there for you?" He questioned. "How many times have you kept everything hidden because you felt no one would understand? How many times?!"

I didn't answer, didn't turn to look at him, didn't do anything. I just stood there. He let go of my wrist.

"You can run." He told me. "You can run and you can never look back. But you're lying to yourself if you think no one cares, because I do and so does Takato and everyone else. We do understand. You just have to give us a chance to prove it. Go ahead and run away, I won't stop you. But I didn't turn my back on you, you turned yours on me."

"I appreciate the offer, Jen." I said quietly, tears coming to my eyes. "I appreciate the speech too, believe it or not. But I really don't want to talk right now."

"You don't have to talk." He replied softly, placing his hands on my shoulder and pressing his body against my back. "You can just cry."

I turned to him, stared into his gray eyes. He smiled to me and held me close. "Just cry."

The floodgates opened and I found myself sobbing with my head on his shoulder. He was hugging me, rubbing my back, comforting me.

I loved him…but not in the way I loved Juri. I loved him like I'd love my brother. In that final moment, I understood everything so clearly and I suddenly loved Takato, Kenta, and Hirokazu like my brothers as well because they'd always been there for me, just like Jenrya was there for me now.

"Thank you…" I whispered.

~ ~ ~

I left soon after. Jenrya offered to walk me, but I told him I'd be all right and would prefer to be alone. He nodded.

I was walking past the park entrance when she called to me. I stopped dead in my tracks. Half of me wanted to run, the other half wanted to run to her.

I looked in her direction. "Juri-chan, what do you want?"

"To talk." She replied, her hand on the gate. "Please?"

"Talk fast." I ordered. "I have to get home."

"Come here." She said, pointing to the ground beside her feet.

I was angry. I hated her for hurting me, but I loved her even more than I did when she ran out.

Talk about confusion.

I stood before her, close to her, so close that the fabric of our clothes was touching. I don't know why, but even that made me love her even more. She was perfect. Everything about her…

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"That's not doing you any good." I hissed.

"You're not letting me finish."

"What's the point? You're just going to tell me that we're only friends." I loved her, so why was I angry?

"I'm not!" She insisted loudly, angrily, placing her hand on my cheek as if she was trying to hold me there.

I stared at her, the anger melting away from my system. The harshness of her features slipped away and she looked into my eyes, seemingly pleading with me.

"I'm not." She repeated, softer and calmer this time.

I whispered, "Then what are you doing?"

She didn't need words to answer me, because she was already leaning in to kiss my lips.

I returned it willingly, my heart pounding against hers. I slipped my hand up into her hair just to feel it again, between my fingers and against my palm. She wrapped her arms around my waist and I wrapped my remaining arm around her shoulders.

When we pulled away, we were still holding each other.

"I've been falling for you since I met you." I whispered. "It just all exploded tonight."

"I feel the same." She replied. "I guess I didn't realize it until you brought it to my attention."

I smiled and kissed her again, briefly, on her mouth.

"Thank you Ruki-chan." She said as we moved away from each other.

"For what, kissing you?" I asked as she slipped her hand into mine and we walked away.

"No." She said. "For giving me company under the mistletoe."

She pointed to the entrance to the park; a bushel of mistletoe hung on the streetlight above it.

"I've waited alone for a long time." She told me.

I grinned. "You planned all of this, didn't you."

"After I came to my senses."

I kissed her on the cheek, whispering in her ear, "Come to my house. No one's home."

"Ruki-chan?" She looked astonished, but I grinned devilishly.

"If I go to fast, tell me. I'll let up."

She smiled.

~ ~ ~

"R-Ruki…RUKI-CHAAAAN!"

She writhed beneath me as we exploded together. Spent and exhausted, I slid off of her body to rest beside her.

She looked at me. "I love you…"

I touched her cheek, my eye's half open and slowly beginning to close as I slipped away into sleep.

"Ditto." I whispered. "And that was…"

"Incredible." We finished together and smiled.

She kissed me. It lacked the passion that her kisses has possessed for the past hour, but the love was still as fiery as before. My hands slid down her bare body.

"I can't stop touching you." I told her. "It's like I need you in order to live now. I don't know why."

"Baka." She smiled. "You're in love."

"Right." I grinned.

She leaned up against me and closed her eyes. Her breath against my neck was indescribable.

And as I slipped away into an oblivious sleep, an image flashed into my mind.

Mistletoe.

To think that a stupid plant created the most beautiful night of my life.