Christmas at the SOS

It was Christmas day and even though each of the club members had their own families they wanted to spend time with, Haruhi thought it would be a good idea to drag everyone out to the clubroom for their own little get together.

"Merry Christmas." Koizumi lazily greeted Kyon as he walked through the door.

"Yeah..." Kyon yawned. "Is Haruhi here yet?"

Koizumi gave him a quizzical look, but didn't dig too deep. "No, it’s just the two of us for now."

They started playing a mindless board game, neither feeling the urge to break the silence. Nagato showed up next, and of course, the silence continued. Mikuru showed up wearing the same outfit Haruhi forced her to wear last year, a skin tight brown body suit with reindeer trimmings. Kyon couldn't be sure, but it looked like Mikuru had put on the skimpy outfit preemptively, knowing Haruhi was on her way. But even with the gratuitous showing of poorly hidden curves, Kyon's mind was elsewhere, waiting for the last member to show up.

"You're all late!" Haruhi's voice boomed through the door before her.

"How can we all be late? You got here last." Kyon snapped, forgetting the fluttering feeling she gave him the last time he saw her.

"A leader sets rules, she doesn't follow them." Haruhi snapped back. "Plus... I was already here, I just needed to get something."

She wasn't carrying anything with her, so Kyon assumed she was referring to the half Santa suit she was wearing, skin and stockings being the main part of her outfit.

"So..." Kyon said, hiding the perverted blush on his face by turning away. "Now that we're all here, what are we doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Haruhi grinned, motioning her hands unintelligibly.

Kyon's face went blank with confusion, making Haruhi scowl.

"I'm Santa and you're all going to tell me what you want for Christmas." She proclaimed as jolly as the character she was portraying.

Kyon rolled his eyes, it was a little late to be asking for presents now, considering Christmas morning ended a few hours ago. But he knew better than to stand in the way of one of her crazy schemes, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Mikuru, you're first." Haruhi said, pulling the frightened reindeer over to her throne. "Sit on my lap and tell me what you want."

What was supposed to be a childlike game, turned out to be a grope and tickle fest, leaving the poor girl in giggling tears.

"Next!" Haruhi shouted when she finally got bored with Mikuru. "Yuki."

The quiet girl got up from her chair and sat down on Haruhi's lap like it was any ordinary seating place. "Books." She said blankly.

"Of course!" Haruhi exclaimed, as if she should have known it all along.

"Koizumi!" She shouted next.

"Ah... Suzumiya." Koizumi said in his shambly flamboyant voice. "As much as I would like to partake in this, I think it was Kyon's turn next."

Kyon stared slack jawed at Haruhi, and she just stared right on back. Both turned a slight shade of pink as Kyon approached, shifting his weight when he sat so that he wouldn't crush her leg. There was a delightfully painful silence between them as Kyon sought though his mind for what he could possibly ask for without upsetting their delicate dictator.

Grinning slightly, he leaned close to her ear and whispered. "How about a kiss?"

Haruhi's face shot redder than her holiday ensemble, but she didn't allow her body any more embarrassment. With a determined grin, she turned her lips towards Kyon, kissing him in front of everyone else in the room. Mikuru squeaked out surprise, Koizumi beamed flamboyantly, Nagato continued reading her book and Kyon just sat there, tasting the lingering sensation of her soft lips on his.

"Next!" Haruhi shouted, gently shoving Kyon off of her lap.

Kyon didn't know what to think. Was that just Haruhi being Haruhi, or was their time together turning in to a relationship? Whichever it was, Kyon was starting to feel his heart flooding with emotions for Haruhi. He didn't know what most of them meant, just that he knew he liked her.

A few days later, Haruhi had called Kyon to meet her at some burger joint. There was no trick, no ploy to get him there. She just called and told him to be there. And, even as strange as it was being ordered around, Kyon was just happy for another chance to be with her. As they got their food and began to eat, it really started feeling like a normal date.

"You know, if you didn't like your gift, you can return it for another of equal or lesser value." Haruhi stated matter of factly.

Kyon gaped at her, dazed. He wanted to laugh, but a playful idea popped up in his mind. "No, I liked it, but if I did return it, would I get store credit?"

She returned with the same playful spirit. "I'll have to check, but I'm sure we could work something out."

Feeling a sense of bad boy daring, Kyon lent across the table and gave her a soft kiss. She seemed hesitant, but her lips stayed true. Kyon could feel every eye in the room staring at them, but he fought the urge to turn away. When their kiss finally ended, Haruhi looked slightly shook up, but happy none the less.

"So, would you like something else, or just store credit?" She asked with a taunting grin.

"I'll just take the store credit, that way I can get something later." He grinned.

"Later?" Haruhi pouted. "There isn't anything that you want right now?" She brushed her foot along his leg.

"Oh, there's definitely something I'd like right now." Kyon's grin deepened. "But you'll just have to wait to find out what it is."

After they ate, Haruhi dragged Kyon to go see some random cheesy horror movie. It seemed like a good enough an excuses for Haruhi to jump on Kyon whenever something scary popped out, but the girl stayed glued to the screen. Kyon wasn't much for clichés, but he felt an overwhelming urge to try and hold her hand or do the old, stretch and place and arm around her shoulder bit. The urges started to become overwhelming when it donned on him, Haruhi probably wanted him to hold her. She probably set this whole date up just to get a little closer to him. He wouldn't know for sure unless he found out.

Kyon reached his hand out painfully slow, feeling his hand burn with nervous embarrassment. His fingers trembled, his heart pounded, but he pushed through it. Fingers met flesh that there was a sudden flash of emotion bursting through him. It wasn't the warmth of her hand, or the softness of her skin that made him feel so elated, it was the sense of acceptance. To touch someone who wanted to be touched was sublime. To know that she wanted the same thing he wanted, that she felt the same way he felt about her, it filled Kyon's body with a fluttering joy so good it hurt. He caressed her the top of her hand, her wrist, her forearm, his fingers growing comfortable to her skin.

The theater had grown dark and the credits were rolling, but Kyon had hardly noticed. Haruhi had leant her head over on his shoulder and fallen gently asleep. He knew the cleaning crew would be coming through any moment now, but he couldn't bring himself to wake her. Her lips had parted slightly in her slumber and with her eyes closed it looked like she was just begging to be kissed.

He tilted his lips down to hers, kissing her softly enough not to wake her. He felt naughty, kissing her without her knowing. But it wasn't like he was stealing a kiss, since he did have store credit.

End

Author’s notes

No sex for now, but I am planning on it in later chapters. Mostly this is an experiment in fluff, where I'm trying to bridge the gap between sex and romance.