Work Text:
Coming Home to You
A NagiReo One Shot
For marchoki70
[NagiReo Secret Santa 2025]
By: Aviantei
The cold has seeped into Rei's bones. It's been all gray skies and chilly winds the past several weeks, and not even the recent peak of the sun from the afternoon has been enough to warm up Tōkyō to anything comfortable. The chill at least has many people staying inside, meaning there's less crowds to navigate on the way home, which is nice since Rei doesn't want to be snappy to anyone who might recognize her. She doesn't mind the attention that comes from being a star soccer player in the slightest, but today's photoshoot—a fashion spread that she got asked to join because her agent knows Yukki's—ran long, and thus Rei hasn't seen Shizu today much more than kissing the top of her head whilst her girlfriend got to stay buried in the blankets.
It's fun, getting to try on new clothes and smile for the camera. Rei's a natural at it, and her many years of starring in advertisements for the Mikage Corporation make her a popular choice. Rei doesn't take every offer that comes her way, since her focus is on soccer still, but it's enjoyable to dabble. She wouldn't bother if she didn't take some pleasure in the whole process.
Still, the worst thing about fashion shoots is how out of season everything is. Stuck at a crosswalk, Rei tries not to be too obvious with her shiver. In order for magazines to be ready to sell clothes, advertisements need to go out at least a month beforehand, and thus the pictures need to be taken even before that. Rei's outfits for the day were cute, in bright pinks and oranges that are going to be the colors of the season, but they were very much not suited for the windchill of the day. Now, dressed in proper coats and leggings, Rei is still too cold to feel comfortable, and her plan to try and walk home to build up some body heat hasn't quite come to fruition.
The signal changes, and Rei joins the others hurrying across the street, the clicks of her heeled boots mixed in with the beeping of the crosswalk and the general city ambiance. Her apartment building is just in sight, and it's a little bit hard to resist the urge to run home, now that it's close. It's something that her mother would disapprove of, and that little thought is enough to convince Rei to do it, sprinting the last bit of distance to her building's doors. Things might be better with her parents than they used to be, but the rush Rei gets from little pieces of rebellion like that are too good to pass up.
The door is code locked, so it takes a bit to punch in the numbers, and then Rei's inside to the relief of heating. She heads straight to the elevator, and even the minute it takes to climb all the way to the top floor feels like too long. Rei pulls off her mask—luckily, with cold season out and about, no one questions it—to catch her breath, then busies herself with fixing her hair. Shizu-chan won't care if Rei shows up all out of sorts, but it's the principle of the matter.
While not quite as big as her home growing up, the penthouse Rei and Shizu picked out is a decent enough size, enough to hold all of Rei's knickknacks and Shizu's growing collection of cacti. There's also no other residents on the floor, giving that little edge of privacy that allows Rei to skip the last couple of steps to the door, gloved fingers fumbling a bit with the keys before swinging the door open.
"Shizu-chan, I'm home!" she calls, though there's every chance her partner is mid nap. It's not unusual to find her still curled up in bed in the afternoon if she can get away with it. But instead there's the soft footfalls of fuzzy socks on the linoleum, and Shizu's head of messy white hair pops around the corner to the entranceway.
"Welcome home, Rei." Rei's barely gotten her boots off before Shizu's swooped in for a hug and a kiss, and Rei nuzzles into the embrace.
"Fuck, you're so warm." Shizu's body temperature doesn't run too high, but her penchant for hoodies tends to keep her cozy, which Rei all sorts of appreciates. "You won't believe how freezing it felt today. It's so much worse in the outfits, no matter how cute they are."
"Mm. Rei's nose is cold." Shizu adjusts her embrace, palms cupping over Rei's ears like the best possible pair of earmuffs in the world. "Ears, too. You should take a bath. Then we should have something warm for dinner, too."
The thought of soaking in their large tub (which was half the reason Rei wanted this apartment in the first place) is enough to make her groan. "I picked up that stuff for hot pot the other day. Let's do that." Though standing in the entrance isn't getting her warmer any time sooner, Rei can't quite bring herself to let go of Shizu, either. "You should take a bath with me." While it hasn't been too long since they've seen each other, the cold always makes Rei more touch starved than usual, and she could use her partner close along with the soak. Shizu hums in affirmation, starting the trek to the bathroom, though the process is complicated by neither of them letting go of each other. "So glad we got the kotatsu out already, too…"
"That's 'cause Rei's a super elite."
"You've got that right." With a giggle, Rei gives Shizu one more kiss before taking her hand. "Let's go. The sooner we're in the water, the sooner we can snuggle even more."
Shizu doesn't argue with that offer (as if she would ever), and it doesn't take long for them to fall into the familiar rhythm of Rei unpacking her purse while Shizu fills the tub. They stay in the water until it starts to chill before dressing in comfy clothes (Shizu offering Rei one of her hoodies), then making dinner together. They eat until their bellies are full, and the warmth of the kotatsu has Shizu dozing off against Rei's shoulder. Sooner or later, they'll need to move to the bed, but that's a later problem. All Rei cares about now is that the chill has faded from her bones, and she gives Shizu a kiss on the crown of her head in thanks.
Tomorrow, the two of them have practice, and their responsibilities will bring them back out into the cold. But as long as they come home together, warming up won't be a problem at all.