Christmas is a magical time.
Especially when Professor Granville gave everyone an extension on the project for the earthquake. He and Karmi high fived each other underneath the lab table.
It was actually a lot of fun hanging up the lights around the cafe. Hiro at some point almost accidentally hung himself with some colorful red and blue lights. He left the rest of the hanging to Karmi.
"You turn fifteen in a couple of days, don't you?" Karmi asked as she thumbtacked another picture of Mochi to the end of the Christmas lights. There's Mochi pictures everywhere now.
"December twenty seventh to be exact," Hiro grinned. "Hey, wait here. I'll be right back."
He left a very confused Karmi alone. He ran upstairs to the house part of the cafe. He looked around at his desk where all the presents for his friends were. He shifted them around a bit, as they were hidden by Honey Lemon's gift.
(Don't tell her, but it's a new designer pencil case that she's been wanting for a while with a little boat that even had water inside of it.)
"I'm coming back!" He shouted from upstairs to make sure that Karmi heard him. He hid the present behind his back. It reminds him of something a couple might do. Surprising her with a Christmas gift-
Wait.
Hiro didn't get to finish over analyzing his thoughts as he got downstairs and found her nowhere to be seen. Didn't he just tell her to stay where she was?
"Um, where'd you go?" Hiro realized that this was a dumb question. If she was in the cafe the he obviously would've seen her. For a teen genius he's pretty stupid.
"I had to grab something from my bike," Karmi shook a bag in her hand. "I turned sixteen three weeks ago, I still don't have a car," she threw her hands in the air.
Hiro didn't wait for any introductions or anything. It was Christmas eve, and he was no longer wanting to be patient. He didn't want to do this in front of their friends. He found it better to do it alone, in private.
"Here," he held out his arm to present a very poorly wrapped gift. "I'm absolutely horrendous at wrapping gifts and oh, okay."
He didn't get to finish his apology for bad wrapping as Karmi leapt forward and hugged him. She held him tight in her embrace, her green Christmas sweater rubbing against Hiro's arms.
Hiro felt something go on his head. He looked up and saw the bill of a hat. He let go of the hug to see what it was.
"I know, it's not that great but- oh my god I am so sorry," Karmi put her hands over her mouth as she saw Hiro start to cry. It wasn't the gift itself that made him cry.
He had a new SFIT hat. One identical to the one that Tadashi had left behind. They stopped making them in Tadashi's freshman year at the school. How Karmi got her hands on one...
Hiro didn't even know what to say. It made him think as if Tadashi had given it to him brand new. The hat itself looks brand new. How...? "Thank you so much."
Karmi shrugged. "I've seen you with a hat like this often, but it looked kinda beat up. I found someone on eBay who was selling it, and I figured it was a good idea. Was it not?"
"It's the best idea you've had in awhile," he said as a backhanded compliment. She lightly slapped his shoulder as he laughed at the tame insult.
Karmi got around to unwrapping her own gift. "You put too much damn tape on this thing," she grunted as she struggled. Hiro wiped his tears away on the crew of his shirt and laughed at his bad wrapping.
When she somehow finally unwrapped the gift, her eyes got wide. "A new turtleneck! I love these things. And in purple! How'd you know?" She got all excited and jumped around a bit.
With her Captain Cutie obsession and always wearing a turtleneck, he shrugged. "Just a hunch."
Hiro held his arms out as an offer for another hug. Karmi accepted, and put her arms around his neck. His arms wrapped on her waist as he tried to pull her closer.
He felt comfortable. Especially since this hug felt different from all the other ones that they've shared. This one felt... Needy almost. Like they needed to be hugging at this exact moment it they'd explode.
The moment was quickly ruined when the rest of the Nerd Gang bursted in the door.
A/N - unfortunately we did not win but top 5 in the nation out of fourteen (or twelve can't remember) is still crazy so yep at least competition season is over
Into a whole new ballpark now: stunt
O god cheer is taking over my life
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The Unlucky Cat Cafe | Karmiro
Fanfiction"I know that you're there," Karmi spoke without having to look behind her. Hiro sighed. "How long have you known I was here?" "Oh, like a day or two. I almost called the police twice." "Damn it." ** Karmi gets hired at the Lucky Cat Cafe. Let's ju...
