In the end Noriko got her fair share of Christmas carols. She even got to listen to them together with Urufu. They didn"t go to Asakusa as Kyoko had suggested, but rather Urufu brought her to an amus.e.m.e.nt park an hour"s ride or so away from the city centres of Tokyo.Something about a memory, he said, but when they arrived he just stood gaping at the insanity. Noriko had nothing against illuminations, but this was taking it a little too far. About a galaxy too far or so.
The entire park was lit up like a fairy tale version of fantasy land, but the sheer amount of coloured lamps dispelled any remaining magic.
A little bemused she shared the first half of their date with him surrounded by people and illumination competing for winning this year"s prize for outstanding vulgarity. Urufu was, as usual, a close runner up with his strange taste in clothes.
They were already on the train back from bling h.e.l.l when Noriko both voiced those thoughts in her head and immediately regretted them.
She nudged closer to him as if to apologise by means of sheer proximity. He stood, one hand firmly gripping a support and the other protectively on her shoulder to prevent her from falling whenever the train took a curve. In ways he always stood firm, and Noriko guessed that was what first attracted her to him – that he always took a stance and stood by it until convinced he was wrong. Now, that was the second thing with him that attracted her; that he admitted when he was wrong.
Just like he had done now. When their date at the theme park promised to become a disappointing disaster he simply suggested they leave and leave it to him to find something else to do.
It probably wouldn"t involve a restaurant, since those were booked full weeks earlier, but she trusted him to come up with something.
They left the train at Shinjuku and Urufu dragged her to the circle line and shortly afterwards Noriko found herself at the grand Shibuya intersection.
"What"s he up to now?" she wondered as she was dragged inside a shop. A bag with winter"s clothing later, one she had refused he pay for, she once again found herself on a train but none the wiser.
They left at another station, Urufu quickly bought something in a rather strange shop, or rather a lot of somethings which all made their way into his backpack. His eye-destroying backpack. After that they were bound for Shinjuku once again and a long walk later, one he prepared by forcing her to change shoes, Noriko grinned as she recognised the park in front of them.
"Urufu, you"re cute, but you should have checked first," she said. "Let"s see him wriggle out of this one."
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"What? Oh, oh s.h.i.t!"
Opening hours weren"t the same in December as in summer, and Noriko watched in fascination how Urufu"s face turned sour and thoughtful with just a few seconds in between.
"Train," he said and dragged her back in the direction of the station.
"Any other girl would have kicked your shins and left you by now," Noriko thought. She didn"t. Albeit a disaster this date turned out to be a rather merry one. With the kind of company her parents kept around them fancy restaurants never made it into her wish list. Whatever Urufu had planned, he"d done so for her, and she was curious about how he"d manage to make up for the illuminations she honestly hadn"t wanted to see in the first place.
Not that she would tell him.
When they left the train at Harajuku she had her answer. Yoyogi park didn"t have opening hours the way Shinjuku Gyoen did.
They left they cityscape behind them and entered under bare trees making a futile attempt at hiding the overcast sky. Winter left the park mostly empty, and Noriko swallowed the laugh that bubbled up inside her when Urufu beelined straight for a table with two benches.
"No, he isn"t!"
He was.
The strange things he had bought was some kind of outdoor kitchen, and the hissing sound of burning gas was soon accompanied by water bubbling.
In the meantime all the winter"s clothing he had forced her to buy came to good use. He even pulled out a foldable cushion he must have hidden away in his backpack. It was flat and not very soft, but it did keep the cold away.
Soon a small feast appeared on the table, but before that Noriko enjoyed the luxury of something sweet and hot to drink that Urufu prepared for her.
Among the crazy a.s.sortment of food and drink a Christmas cake suddenly appeared, and Noriko couldn"t suppress her laughter. It ran out of her together with feelings of happiness and love, and she didn"t stop until Urufu kissed her.
"Merry Christmas," he said.
"Merry… oh. Is that for me?"
"Of course. I couldn"t really forget your Christmas present, now, could I?"
Noriko put her cup of warm luxury away and unwrapped her present with some apprehension. Urufu had expensive tastes, too expensive in her opinion.
"I wonder." An oblong paper box lay on the table and hid its contents from her. "He didn"t!"
He did.
She burst out in laughter once again. "Urufu, I love you. I really really love you." Noriko guffawed, but she allowed herself to fully enjoy being caressed by the thick scarf she wrapped around her neck. "I don"t even want to know what he paid for this." It lay on her shoulders, snuggled in between coat and neck and protected her from the winter afternoon. "He knew I"m cold." She felt herself warm up inside as if he had embraced her, and when she met his eyes Noriko suspected her feelings for him could be read like an open book.
"It was Yukio"s suggestion," Urufu admitted.
"Of course it was!" This time Noriko made no attempt at stopping her laughter. She was warm, and in love, and Urufu was just as stupid as dear to her.
"Urufu you idiot, I love you."
He blushed a little and smiled back. "I love you as well."