rebirth. [danganronpa oneshots] DISCONT.

miaiko // this or that?

{ og post date: december 12th, 2020. sfw. word count: 1,289. }

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the holidays, a time where you give your loved one gifts as another form of showing appreciation. no one minds what you present to them as long as it has a lot of thought put into it; it can be put in a bag, it can be put in a box, it can be put in wrapping paper... whatever is most convenient for you works. in the end, the receiver still compliments what holds the gift, so does it really matter? not to seiko, as she neatly put the colorful tissue paper in the bag with candy canes designed on each side.

after opening the fold to the name tag and marking down the name, she heard the ripping of tape from in front of her. miaya was in the middle of using red and silver wrapping paper for the box she had in her lap, focused down on her hands - she was the one between the couple that had a certain skill in wrapping presents. they always turned out neat and pretty, and every year her friends would try their best to preserve the paper as they'd feel bad for ruining her hard work. in her opinion, it's more special to wrap than to bag.

usami, who was on the display screen modified and built onto her wheelchair, had been going on about how nice it was for the two to do this for their friends. eventually, she wanted to see how far they were in hiding their gifts, and noticed what they preferred to do regarding bagging or wrapping.
"um... hey, seiko? wouldn't it be easier to wrap items in boxes than to put it in a gift bag?" commented usami, who had her digital paw on her cheek as she observed the pharmacist.

looking up from the figurine in her hands, seiko had given her a meek response: "i'm not good with paper, and it is less messy if you open a bag."
"awh, come on! i bet miaya could show you how to do it, right?" the magical rabbit lifted her stubby arms in the air, thinking the suggestion was the best thing she's ever said. with an unsure expression, seiko shifted her eyes to miaya; the girl had stopped what she was doing and returned the gaze, just to let her know she was listening.

it would be embarrassing for her if she tried to wrap anything in front of the literal master at the simple talent, but judging how the therapist set aside the finished gift she had in her lap and held up the roll and tape to offer it, she couldn't say no. getting up from her spot on the floor, seiko shuffled herself by her and took the tools into her hands - mentally, she prepared herself to get judged by her lack in understanding when it comes to wrapping.
"don't worry or beat yourself up if it doesn't look good," reassured usami, with a gentle smile.

giving her a nod, seiko sat back down and let out a soft sigh, which was muffled by her everyday mask she seemed to never take off. from there, she didn't know what to do, but tried to make guesses as she pulled the loose paper from the roll and noticed the gridlines; should the gift line up with these? does it help with proportioning how much paper is needed to cover the entire gift? she furrowed her brows as she placed it near the center, then picked up the scissors, feeling a bit of pressure due to knowing miaya and usami were staring at her.

"y-you don't have to watch..." murmured seiko, as she began to snip the line she believed would be a good enough spot to take her piece from. in response, usami apologized and made her sprite turn around, to imply she wouldn't watch; miaya didn't move her gaze, wanting to see everything she does and give tips if she notices something that makes the result turn a bit sloppy. what really made seiko nervous over this was she couldn't see her mouth, not sure if she was smiling behind her scarf in a mocking way - it is highly unlikely, but still worrying.

folding the two sides over, she got stumped at the edges sticking out. how was she supposed to tape them down against the gift? "jeez, this doesn't make sense. um, how about-" she said to herself, taking one of the ends and shaping it to make it appear as an oddly shaped triangle. no hope in her actions, seiko scrunched her nose as she lifted it and folded it against the top of the box, then tapped it down. she tried her best to ignore the pointy corners sticking out, as she had no idea how to properly fix the issue.

she repeated these steps with the other end then turned it around, staring down at it. god, it looked terrible. slapping a sticker tag with a christmas tree onto the present, she scribbled the name down then held it up to show the viewers observing her.
"wow, seiko! that- that is rather good for someone who doesn't wrap!" said usami, her tone wavering for a moment as she spoke. a nod of agreement was seen from miaya, followed by her lifting her hands to softly clap.

her face got hot at the nice feedback, and she used a finger to adjust her face mask in hopes it would cover the redness of her skin. "y-you're too nice, i could've done better..." replied seiko, a little giggle added to the end of the words.
"well, yes, you could with more practice! there must be some more things in boxes you could work with." she continued to talk, gesturing her animated paws all around as she said lines seiko wasn't paying attention to anymore.

once more, seiko got up from the floor so she could hand over the gift to the therapist; she took it and put it next to the small pile of gifts she had already wrapped that day. she was about to go back to her spot but felt miaya grab her forearm with a light grip, their eyes meeting a second later.
"hm?" hummed the pharmacist, as she waited for the other to show her what she needed from her. miaya tugged on her arm a bit, wanting her to come closer for an unknown reason.

again, she tugged, and she obliged by stepping close to the wheel of her wheelchair. miaya slid her hand up to her shoulder and tugged on her collar, now confusing the pharmacist - still, she leaned down enough that gave them a comfortable distance between their heads. her blue eyes drooped a bit, her thoughts more than likely along the lines of 'you're oblivious to what i want', then pointed at her own mouth that was hidden behind her usual scarf.
ah, a kiss, that's what she wants; seiko's already red face darkened with another layer.

seiko pulled the top of her mask down enough for her lips to be seen, and watched miaya lift her head up so the scarf wasn't covering up the bottom half of her face. unsurprisingly, she had a tiny smile on her face, making the girl's heart skip a beat; it isn't often she sees her emote, it was rather cute when she did. a quick peck was shared, though the greedy miaya stole a few more while seiko hadn't gone out of reach, this causing her to giggle and pull away.
"i love you." she said as she covered her mouth with her mask again, and just by the look miaya gave her was enough for her to know she did, too.