MARS Fan Fiction ❯ A Gift for Kira ❯ A Gift for Kira ( One-Shot )

A Gift for Kira

By: Oriana X. Myst

Kira awoke to the sound of feet pounding up the stairs. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and was just about to sit up when a tall blur barged into her room and jumped on her bed. She squealed as the force of the jump threw her into the air and then gravity took over and brought her crashing down to the floor onto her butt.

"Ow," she mumbled, rubbing her bottom. The blur peeked over the edge of her bed and grinned down at her, making her heart flutter with its beauty.

"Glad you're awake. Come on, we gotta go," Rei said, grinning even wider when she blinked up at him in confusion.

"Go? Go where?" She was slightly confused. She had just woken up so her mind wasn't exactly in the state of understanding much passed "must pee…must eat…must get dressed…" and "Rei god…".

He helped her up and sat upright on the bed. "Yeah, get dressed. We're leaving in a few minutes."

"But…isn't today…" her mouth spoke while her brain finally woke up and she remembered what day it was. Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together in happiness. "Oh! Tomorrow is Christmas!"

Rei smiled again, he seemed to be doing it a lot more these days she noted with pleasure. "Correct! Now let's go, come on!! I have something special to show you."

She blinked at him again, and then blushed. "Special?" she repeated and looked down at her toes. Why am I being so shy? This is ridiculous… stop blushing you dork!

"Kira? You gonna get dressed or what?"

Her head shot up and she nodded furiously. "Yeah, sorry." She ran to her closet and grabbed some clothes. The weather was getting nippy so she decided on a dusty rose knit sweater and a pair of dark brown pants. She ran with the clothes to her bathroom and took a shower.

A few minutes later, after she had turned off the water, she heard music coming from her room. She dressed and wrapped her hair in a towel and walked over to see what Rei was doing. Her eyes widened at the sight and she began to laugh.

Rei was standing on her bed with one foot on the headboard and a brush in his hand like a microphone. He had put on one her Gakt cd's and was singing along with it. He heard her laughter and finished the song before jumping down and turning the radio off.

Kira clapped at his performance and he bowed graciously. "You ready?"

She nodded, took off the towel and braided her hair in a single braid to get it out of the way.

It was only when they were downstairs that she realized her mother had had to have been the one to let Rei in and she found it amazing that she had. Must be the Christmas spirit? They went to the kitchen where Kira's mom was washing dishes and Kira kissed her goodbye. "Don't be too late. Is midnight alright, Rei? I'd at least like to wish you both a Merry Christmas."

"That's cool. Thank you very much, Mrs. Aso," he said, bowing respectively.

Her mother smiled and waved them away.

Kira stopped dead in her tracks. What was going on here? Her mother was being nice and letting her stay out until midnight…with Rei? Kira was sure her heart would stop from the shock. "Wha…wha…" was all she could mumble as Rei ushered her out of the house. "Bu…bu…"

"You sound like a baby trying to speak," Rei teased as he handed her a helmet.

She looked at it a moment, then at Rei, then the motorcycle and finally at her house. "How did you convince my mom to let me stay out so late? And particularly to get me to ride with you wherever we're going?"

"Easy," was all he offered. "Hop on."

She turned back to him and narrowed her eyes suspiciously before shaking her head and putting on the helmet. Rei climbed on the bike and helped her get settled before revving the engine and taking off at a nice pace. Kira trusted him with all her heart. She knew he wouldn't put her in any danger so she enjoyed the ride and forgot about everything but Rei's warm body in front of her and the sound of the wind on her helmet.

About half an hour later, they arrived at a restaurant called "Habiyama's". It was in a part of town Kira had never really been to. The area was a bit run down but the building itself seemed to be in rather good shape. They ate a big breakfast and afterwards he took her to the airport to watch the planes coming and going. When evening began to fall, they rode over to an area where boats were moored and sat along the edge of the pier to watch the sun set. There was a hot dog vendor so Rei got them a late lunch (he had borrowed some money from Tatsuya to take Kira out…"You'd better pay me back!"…).

Kira's head was resting on Rei's shoulder and she sighed contentedly. "This was such a great day. Thank you, Rei."

He looked down at her and lifted an eyebrow. "You think this is it? I told you I had to show you something special, didn't I?"

She looked at him a moment, wondering what in the world he could mean. A thought occurred to her. "Hey, how did you convince my mom to let me out late with you?"

Rei grinned and shrugged. He accentuated his words with his hands. "Ma-gic."

Kira thought about it for a second and decided that she was probably never going to find out.

Right after the sun went down, Rei and Kira got back on his bike and rode back toward "Habiyama's". He drove passed it to a large square building that had no sign and looked to be abandoned. It had been painted in an array of colors, all fading now from the sun, and only had one window as far as Kira could tell. Rei propped up the bike next to a light post and they entered the building by a tiny door that looked like a broken piece of wood.

Rei stopped her after a few steps and asked her to close her eyes. She complied and he led her by the hand down a long hallway and into an area where she could hear voices and a piano being played. It sounded like they were in an auditorium of sorts and when Rei told her to open her eyes, she found that she had been correct.

Her eyes widened at what she saw. The place looked like an old opera house that had been touched up here and there to look halfway decent. Paper was peeling from the wall, wires were sticking out of everywhere, broken chairs and dusty statues were in random places. It looked like they were in the middle of remodeling as well because Kira could see scaffolding and buckets of paint and brushes everywhere. There were a group of people sitting near the front of the stage and when Kira looked up, there were more along the old balconies.

On the stage, the huge green velvet curtain was closed but she could see a small face peeking form the side every once in a while. She looked at Rei with wonderment in her eyes but he was looking toward the stage and suddenly reached back to grab her hand. He led her to a seat close to the other people and placed a kiss on her hand while staring at the stage as a child would a large present.

Kira looked down at her hand and then at Rei. She could see the joy in his eyes and it almost brought her to tears. This is amazing… I've never seen him like this. He looks so excited. I wish it could be like this always… him smiling all the time… Her eyes grew misty and Rei finally turned towards her when he noticed that she was sniffling.

He began to panic and grabbed her up in his arms. "No, no. Why are you crying? I thought this would make you happy. Please don't cry. Shhh. We'll leave if you want."

She shook her head against his chest and pushed away a little to look up into his face. "I'm not crying in sadness. I'm… I'm just happy… that you're happy. You had this… this look on your face." The tears streamed down her cheeks and she began to laugh. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Thank you. This is wonderful."

Rei squeezed her and then picked up her chin to stare into her eyes. "This is just half of it. Wait until it starts." He placed a kiss upon her forehead, then her nose and finally her lips. It felt like being touched by a feather. He pulled back and settled her down in her chair so she could watch the show.

Rei told her that the play was being performed by a group of children and teenagers from the local orphanage. They would practice for a few months and then put on a small play to earn some money. During the first act, more people came in until the half the theater was full. A small bucket was handed out for donations and it had to be emptied three times before it even got to Kira and Rei. They both put in some money and passed it along. He also told her that the orphanage was trying to save up the money to buy the building from the city. It was rumored that they were almost to their goal and in a little under a month would be able to afford id. Everyone in the community was helping them out.

It was a Christmas play called "Always Merry Bells" and was about a child who had lost his way home one day and ended up in a place called Merry Bells which was an alternate universe in which Christmas was 24/7 all year round.

Kira was amazed at the props and costumes. She was told by one of the other guests (very proudly as he was one of the ones who donated materials) that stores had given them cloth, cardboard, wood and other tools and materials to make everything. The senior citizens and some of the residents had helped them sew the costumes and Kira could see them sitting in the rows looking very pleased with the way things had turned out.

The play was a comedy and Kira and Rei watched, enraptured by it. Kira could tell the kids had worked very hard and even though there were a few mistakes, it was an over all enjoyable show.

When the curtain closed, everyone in the theater stood and gave the a round of applause so loud she was sure her mother could hear it. The curtain opened again and the actors bowed a second time. The curtain closed one more time and Kira was about to turn to leave when Rei grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stage.

She looked at him quizzically but didn't protest when he sat her down at the front of the theater. The rest of the guests left and finally they were alone in the theater. She smiled at Rei. `Thank you, Rei. This was amazing. I didn't even know this place was here.

Rei said nothing, a pensive look on his face. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and then grinned and motioned to the stage with his chin. Kira tilted her head in question and looked at where he had motioned.

She was slightly surprised to see a small girl in an angel costume standing before the closed curtain. She hadn't even heard her come out. The girl looked to be about 5 years old and her halo was slowly sliding off the top of her head. She took a tentative step forward and pushed it back straight. As soon as she reached the edge of the stage, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder at the curtain, which was rolling open slowly to reveal the rest of the actors.

Kira turned to Rei. He was watching her with a smile on his face. "What… what is this?" she asked softly.

"This…" He looked to the stage and then back to her and smiled wider. "This is… your Christmas present." He turned away sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't really have any money to get you anything big... so I asked the kids to do this for you." He leaned toward her and placed a kiss on her cheek. She closed her eyes and smiled at the tenderness of it. Before she could open her eyes, his lips were on hers. He grabbed her chin softly with his thumb and forefinger and parted her lips with his tongue. It was such a deep kiss that they didn't realize when everyone began to giggle.

"Siiilent night. Hoooly night. Aaaallll is calm. Aaalll is bright…" the small girl started singing softy and then getting louder as she gained confidence.

They pulled apart when they finally noticed she had started singing and blushed furiously when everyone grinned at them.

The rest of the kids began to back her up but kept their voices lower so as to not drown her out. For a tiny child, she had a very strong voice.

After Silent Night, they started to sing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear". Rei turned to Kira and when she looked his way, pressed his hands to her cheeks. He then softly ran his thumb across her bottom lip and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Kira."

Kira smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling bolder than she ever had before and feeling more joy than she had ever known existed in her heart. Before she pulled him in for a kiss, she whispered, "I love you, Rei. Thank you."

Rei's eyes widened as she kissed him and warmth spread through his chest. He murmured against her lips, "I love you too, Kira."

That was the best Christmas she ever had.

~~The End~~