Unfamiliar Territory (Chizuru Ichinose x Reader)

(22) The Giving

Y/n's POV:

The following day, I receive a text from Kazuya, inviting me to his parents' house for the day, along with Kibe and Kuri. Taking this as the perfect opportunity to give out the presents I'd bought, I accept the invitation.

Upon leaving the apartment, I stop outside Ichinose's door. She doesn't have anyone to spend Christmas, so I may as well invite her to spend Christmas Eve with my family tomorrow. I thought, getting ready to knock, before getting a little nervous. How would I go about asking this? I pondered, before eventually giving up. I'll do it later. 

Once I get to Kazuya's house, I am greeted by his grandma:

Nagomi: "Y/n! It's nice to see you again. Thank you for coming." She says kindly.

Y/n: "Wow, I guess it has been a while. It's nice to see you too Nagomi!" I say, trying to remember the last time I came here. I think it was 2 years ago when Kazuya needed some help with studying.

I find Kibe and Kuri in the living room, presents in their arms. First thing's first then... time to exchange presents!

First, upon pressure from his family. Kazuya is the first to give gifts. I receive a dark green jumper. He knows me too well. I think to myself, smiling and thanking him. Kibe receives a hat, which he takes as a insult due to his... 'unfortunate hairline', which only causes the rest of us to laugh. Once we all calm down, we see what he gave to Kuri; an online gift voucher. A pretty versatile gift, due to the large selection of stores he can use it in. 

He thanks Kazuya, going next to give out the gifts he bought for us. Kibe receives a new watch, while Kazuya gets a new phone case and screen protector, which he thanks Kuri for massively. It seems his old phone case was pretty much destroyed, due to some incident with Ruka that he refuses to go into more detail about. Kibe and Kuri just smirk at each other, their minds immediately jumping to the horniest conclusion, meanwhile, I just shake my head at them. I open my gift, receiving a fountain pen and notebook, to which I instantly thank him. They know how much I like writing, so of course it was a no-brainer! I can't tell them that I'm an author yet though. I think to myself, getting ready for Kibe to take his turn.

As expected, Kibe goes next, giving Kazuya a red t-shirt that thankfully doesn't have any fish logos on it as he's got far too many of those already. Kuri gets a new computer mouse, while I receive a couple of new notebooks. We all thank him for the gifts and I stand up, getting ready to give out presents of my own.

Kuri: "Here we go! Time to get spoiled again!" He says celebrating.

Yeah... I often get gifts that are a little more expensive, but I can afford them so it's fine. Sometimes they are concerned, but I explain that I've got a high-paying part-time job, which seems to put away their worries. Now, they're pretty much used to it.

I give Kazuya his gift first, to which he almost tears up, not just thanking me but hugging me as well, surprising everyone. Kibe asks:

Kibe: "Geez, what's all the commotion about, it's just a ticket." He says. Kazuya takes great offense, enlightening him:

Kazuya: "It's not just a ticket! It's a ticket to the largest marine life exhibit in all of Tokyo!" He shouts, half-angry, half-overjoyed.

After taking a few minutes for him to calm down, I give Kibe his gift next, which he really enjoys.

Kibe: "W-Wow! Thanks Y/n! I'll be able to get any girl I want wearing these." He says excitedly, while I facepalm. 

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea for him after all... I thought, annoyed. I then moved onto Kuri, giving him the selection of video games I had bought. He thanks me, going as far as to hug me as well, later talking about he's been wanting to get 2 of the 5 for ages, while the other 3 are 'pretty interesting' too.

We stay for dinner, enjoying a delicious warm meal. Afterwards, I wave goodbye to everyone, wishing them all good health. Kibe and Kuri decide to stay a little longer, so I walk back on my own.

Once I get back to my apartment, I make myself a cup of green tea, enjoying it by my balcony. After a little while, I hear a door to my left open and the sound of movement.

Chizuru: "Yo." She says as I turn to face her.

Y/n: "Hey, how's your day been?" I ask.

Chizuru: "Pretty good. I had a client and then went shopping with a friend. I decided to come back early since I realised I'd forgotten to give your book back, but there was no answer." She says softly.

Y/n: "Ah, sorry about that. I went to a friend's to hand out some presents." I explain, with her understanding, telling me not to worry about it.

We spend time catching up with one another, since we haven't had the chance to interact much over the past few weeks. She seemed surprised when I told her I met Sumi at the mall yesterday, stating that she gave her a gift just a few hours ago. Apparently, when they met, she was wearing a beautiful rose-gold necklace, which caught my attention. I guess she liked it then! I thought, happy with myself.

The conversation eventually takes a different turn as she hands me my book back:

Chizuru: "...I really enjoyed reading it. You really have a way with words and you set things up towards the climax flawlessly! Have you ever thought about turning any of these into movies?" She asks, with her child-like enthusiasm similar from when we saw the play returning, causing me to think about the idea for a while.

Y/n: "Well, thank you for the compliment but I don't think I have the time at the moment to get it done. Sure, I plan to eventually but I'll have to wait till I've finished another story I'm currently in the middle of." I say, flattered by her compliments.

She realises that she got a little too excited, going back to her usual self. The conversation slowly dies down and we are about to part ways before I ask one last thing:

Y/n: "Hey, do you have any plans for tomorrow?" I ask, slightly nervous, second-guessing whether I should bring it up right now.

Chizuru: "No, why?" She replies with a question of her own.

Y/n: "Since you've not got anyone else to celebrate this time of year with, would you like to join me and my family for Christmas eve tomorrow?" I ask, her eyebrows shooting up, obviously caught off guard by my idea.

Chizuru: "T-That's very nice of you but I wouldn't want to intrude on a family celebration." She says, unsure.

Y/n: "Don't worry, my parents won't mind. In fact, they'd probably be unhappy if I didn't offer you." I say wholeheartedly.

She spends a little more time thinking about the offer, before finally accepting. I phone my parents, letting them know and as expected, they are happy to have her there! I then tell her that my parents will arrive at **:** in the morning to pick us both up. She nods, getting ready to leave before seemingly remembering something.

Chizuru: "Could I borrow the next book?" She asks quietly. I smile, happy to oblige

She waves goodbye, going back inside her apartment.

Now this was a good day! I celebrate internally, soon falling asleep.