#knbss2016

[actual-cakwe]

For @bishieobsessed / yalithza for the KNB 2016 Secret Santa event.

Sorry it took me longer than expected to finish, I’m very sorry about this. “OTL

I hope you will like this drawing! Thank you and sorry.

[kiyoshis]

Hi, and happy holidays! I was your KnB Secret Santa this year and I wrote you a mayuaka fic here on my ao3. If you have an ao3 I can tag you in the fic there but otherwise I was nervous to post it from my personal because I try not to link my ao3 to my main blog. I hope it came out okay and that you enjoy it, I’m always so self conscious about my writing haha. Either way I hope you have a lovely winter season regardless of what you celebrate!

—

AH so sorry for the late reply but thank you so MUCH, your writing is incredible and i’m stunned by how lucky i am to get this fic as a gift ;__; i love it ;__; my ao3 username is sheik and i’ll definitely be leaving a longer, more specific comment over there! THANK YOU AGAIN i hope you have a great new year too!

[kenyetta-blog]

Summary: Aomine’s first day on the job. He meets his very first client. And experiences his first real romance. Rating: R Warnings: Language, Some Sexual Themes AN: Really Late Christmas Fic; Like a week after Christmas (T^T); For Kae (@kaeilash.tumblr.com); I hope you enjoy it a lot. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Underneath all that Hotness Evidence that it was almost Christmas in Japan was everywhere. But especially in this neighborhood. A snowman was in front of every house. Christmas lights and window decorations on every property. There were even a few roofs decked out with Santa, reindeer, and bells of holly. Aomine wasn’t one of those guys who hated christmas. He was the type to judge people for overdoing it. And every single person in this goddamn neighborhood was a showoff. When he pulled up in front of his client’s – Kagami Taiga’s - house, it was no different from the rest. This guy had one of the houses on the block that was the most overdone.

He should just call and quit his job. He wasn’t looking forward to meeting this guy. He was probably annoying and over the top. And pray to God – who he didn’t believe in – that the kids weren’t home. He only liked kids that didn’t ask questions. Aomine was kind of in a bad mood today anyways. It wasn’t necessary to summarize all the events leading up to here. It was 11:00 in the morning. He woke up only 30 minutes ago, realizing he had to be on time for his first day at work. He laid back down for 15 minutes. And in the last 15, he magically showered, dressed, and drove like a mad man through the streets to make it here on time. By on time, he meant late. At least he didn’t have to tell his dad he quit his job. He’d probably get fired, instead. He hoped so. He wasn’t going to college just to become a repairman. He’d have a better job in a few years. Until then, he was standing on the doorstep of this person named Kagami. He had a tool box in the one hand and a frown on his face. He rang the doorbell… Five minutes later, he rang the doorbell. Again. He was the only impatient man on earth who had waited this long for someone to open the door. When it was below 0 outside and a wind chill that made it 20 degrees colder. Now he was waiting just to get into a fight with his client. This Kagami. This asshole son of a.. He heard the sound of locks clicking, and the knob turning. Then there was a soft white glow – Aomine was sure he imagined it – that became brighter as the door opened… and then.. “Sorry about that…” A gasp escaped from his lips. “I forgot you were coming.” Holy… who the hell was this? God must exist. The door had opened all the way, and the first thing he saw was glistening muscles. Even in winter, the sun was shining bright, complimenting this man and his pretty peach tan. It was like the season returned to summer. Aomine’s temperature went up as his eyes trailed down the tight body of a swimmer, covered in drops of water rolling down his chest, twin rows of abs, and the dip of that taut v-line. This was God’s creation. A body perfect enough to make Aomine temporarily forget his troubles in the world. “Uh… are you okay?” He hadn’t heard a thing. His sense of hearing faded out as soon as he laid eyes on this gorgeous man. His brain was flat lining, and all he really knew how to do was stare at this flat chested- He flinched, as if the lack of tits startled Aomine from his daze. “You called about a leak.” He said, annoyance written in his expression and tone. His dark gaze swept up from low riding towel on the redhead’s waist to the suspicious look on his face. “Wait… YOU’RE the repair man?” Aomine was speechless once again. Also slightly insulted by the question. Though he shouldn’t have been. It wasn’t like he fit the “repair man” stereotype. No big belly. Not bald. Young. Very good looking. Not very friendly. If it wasn’t for the tool belt at his waist and the tool box in his hand, it wouldn’t be so obvious that he was here to fix a broken sink. “Tch…” Not really in the mood to prove anything, and feeling like he’d waited out in the cold long enough, Aomine stepped forward, his shoulder brushing his client’s on the way inside. “O-oi…” Aomine briefly ignored the gorgeous redhead, looking around the place. It was tidy. And simple. Warm… a place he could get used to.

“You’re Kagami, right?”

He already knew that, but expectations he had about who Kagami was or looked like were blown to pieces. So Aomine felt some introductions were necessary. “Yeah I… hey!”

Aomine kept walking further into the house, searching for the kitchen on his own. Kagami followed behind him, his skimpy towel clinging to his hips and thighs. The slightly taller, dark haired bluenette stopped once he found the kitchen. Turning to face Kagami, he had half a mind to say something about how inappropriate (more like DISTRACTING) it was to invite a stranger into your house wearing a towel practically hanging off your ass.

But Aomine wasn’t one to complain about nudity. At least he had some eye candy to keep him from falling asleep under the sink.

“When did you notice the leak?”

“Um.. a few weeks ago..?”

“You’re shower and all other plumbing works fine?”

“I think…”

Kagami scratched his head, and Aomine raised a fine brow. He looked Kagami up and down for the hundredth time, eyes narrowing as he wondered if Kagami was either an airhead or an idiot.

“Weren’t you just in the shower?”

“Yeah.” Taiga looked down at his own body, just remembering that he was 99.9 percent naked. “The water didn’t get that hot I guess..”

Aomine tore his eyes away from the gorgeous redhead, dropping his toolbox onto the floor and crouching down. He opened the cabinet and inspected the pipes.

With his back turned, he couldn’t see Kagami standing there a little bashfully. Maybe because he was only in a towel with a stranger in his house. Or maybe because he was dying to say something and break what felt like an awkward silence.

“So… are you from around here?”

Aomine’s fingers were gently feeling on the pipe. They froze. With his eyes not glued to Kagami’s goods, he had come to his senses. He could concentrate on things he hadn’t before. Like how Kagami’s voice had a rich and smooth sound. It wasn’t as deep, and satin-like as Aomine’s own, but it was still nice to listen to.

Not like most of his girlfriends. Their high pitched, almost squeaky voices made Aomine wince on more than a few occasions.

“I go to school around here.” He muttered, deciding to entertain some small talk.

“What are you studying?”

“Engineering.”

“Really? Then… you’re pretty smart, aren’t you?”

“Hn.” Aomine hid his smirk as he slid his head and shoulders into the cabinet under the sink, still forcing his eyes to stay off of Kagami. So he could do his job right, and not break shit. “I’m good with my hands. So I figured I’d build cars or something for a living.”

“You like cars?”

“It’s what my dad does.”

Aomine worked in silence for several long seconds. While loosening the nut on the pipe, he wondered if Kagami had walked out. A quick peek from under the sink and he discovered that Kagami was still there. As soon as he realized this, Aomine once again became preoccupied with memorizing every detail of that lean figure, and getting a nice view of Kagami’s damp, shaved peach skin.

Kagami was leaning against the frame of the entrance, rubbing the back of his neck. His face a lighter shade of red than his hair. When Aomine noticed Kagami’s discomfort, he tore his eyes away and tried to remember what he was about to do to this leaking pipe that he was supposed to be fixing.

“Hey…”

Aomine pretended to be too focused on his job to respond. Calmly loosening a nut with his wrench.

“What’s your name?”

It was asked in a friendly, almost timid way. But for some reason it scared the hell out of Aomine. He yanked on the wrench by accident, while still turning it and broke the rusted pipe. The water sitting inside poured all over him, causing him to jump up from under the cabinet, hair dripping, shoulders soaked, and Aomine coughing as he choked on water.

“I would offer you CPR… but I’m guessing you only need a towel.”

He could hear how funny Kagami thought this was.

“Yeah. Both actually. And if you can hand me the towel around your waist that would be great.”

Is what Aomine started to say. But in reality…

“Sounds good. Just not the one around your waist.”

Of course he wasn’t going to argue if Kagami decided to take it off anyway.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Be right back.”

Kagami left. Aomine figured he went up the stairs in the hall.

He caught his breath while Kagami was gone. And as he sat on the floor, he started feeling like an idiot for having that reaction. It was no big deal for someone to ask for your name. And Kagami was hot as hell. Aomine was usually more than happy to give his name to any sexy person that asked. And it’s not like he’d only given his name to people that he wanted to bang.

Aomine no longer found it interesting or strange… he was attracted to a guy with red hair and nice pecs. Not tits. And that was the fact of the matter.

Kagami returned in 3 short minutes and tossed Aomine a towel with surprising accuracy. He caught it. But before drying his face, he noted that Kagami had gotten dressed in a nice pair of black jeans. Actually, they were just regular jeans that looked nice because Kagami was the one wearing them.

Not only that, but fashion wise, maybe they had similar styles. Aomine could see himself wearing a pair that looked just like that, and hopefully looked just as good on him. He wondered what color shoes Kagami would pick to wear with them.

That aside, even before noticing that Kagami had put on jeans while upstairs, Aomine was thrilled to see those lovely pair of pecs he was strangely obsessed with. But Aomine briefly wondered why he hadn’t put on a shirt.

Was Kagami shirtless for a living or what?

“Thanks.”

“No problem. So what’s your name?”

“Aomine.”

They both seemed a little more relaxed. Aomine was collected now that he admitted his attraction to Kagami, despite identifying as heterosexual all his life. And some time alone with his thoughts upstairs helped Taiga regain his courage in having a normal conversation with Aomine without seeming desperate to be his friend.

“Do you really know CPR?” Aomine asked, catching Kagami a little off guard.

“On weekends I work as a lifeguard. But I learned CPR when I was living in America.”

As soon as Kagami mentioned America, Aomine’s dark blue eyes pinpointed the ring attached to the necklace around Kagami’s neck. Aomine was normally observant. He’d already studied every physical mark and quality of Kagami’s body. But hadn’t noticed the necklace until now.

“My friend gave this to me when we were growing up in the states. He’s the reason I came back to Japan a few years ago.”

At this moment, Aomine and Kagami were for the first time sharing a thought. They wondered each other’s age. But it was still too weird to ask that. For Kagami, it was even weirder than asking for Aomine’s name.

“You’re American?”

“Japanese-American. My mom and dad are Japanese, but they raised me in Los Angeles.”

“No wonder you have an accent.”

“Liar. I grew up bilingual.”

Now that Aomine was less in denial about his attraction, and Taiga was more comfortable talking and asking questions, they were able to have a pretty normal conversation.

Kagami was doing most of the talking as Aomine resumed working under the sink. He told the dark haired man a little about his life in America. That he missed his friends and family only after being gone for 3 years. But life in Japan wasn’t that bad. He knew some really great people. He had 3 different jobs. Life guard on the weekends. Bartender 3 nights a week. And though it wasn’t a paying job, he enjoyed volunteering at the community center in his neighborhood, where he taught little grade school kids how to play basketball. Aomine tried to be discreet as he figured out ways to get Kagami to talk about himself, without making it seem like he was dying to get to know Kagami.

He hadn’t anticipated telling Kagami more about himself either.

“Were you born in December?”

“No, August.”

“Seriously? Me too. I was born on the 2nd.”

“31st.”

“Then you really are one year older than me.”

Aomine had intentionally let it slip that he was 20 years old. Then Kagami told him that he was 19. They were both relieved to finally know this information. And Aomine didn’t think much about it, but Kagami was a little fascinated that both their birthdays were in August.

“Want something to drink?”

“I’m fine.”

Aomine continued working with the sink. Even though he had to replace a part, talking with Kagami was the real reason that it took longer than necessary. Besides, there were times when Taiga was talking, not looking at Aomine as he did. Those were the times when Aomine was only half listening, and concentrating on his job even less. Rather he was back to staring at Kagami’s hard chest. Even with how strong it appeared to be, Aomine imagined how supple the skin would feel. The nipples especially. How they’d pebble up when he discovered how sensitive they were to the texture of his fingers or tongue.

Truthfully, he’d been so sucked in by his attraction that he hadn’t for one second considered why he was so interested. Anybody who knew him, knew that the one and only Aomine Daiki was a boobs man. He’d always been attracted to women for this single womanly feature. He specifically dated women with squishy, round, D cup sized tits.

The bigger the better.

Until today. Right now, Kagami’s chest was the only exception to his titty bias. This man was sexy enough that every inch of him was worth Aomine’s precious, undivided attention.

“…sure you don’t want to take another look at it?” The little sarcastic smirk on his face made Aomine narrow his eyes. He was now standing by the sink, after notifying Kagami that he’d fixed the problem.

“You don’t think I’m qualified to fix a leak?”

Kagami shook his head, his smirk growing into a grin.

“No it’s just… it didn’t seem like you were really focusing on your job. You were staring at my chest almost the entire time.”

Aomine paused. Then raised an eyebrow as if he had no clue what Kagami was talking about.

“You’re crazy.”

“And hot apparently… but come on. Admit it. I might not be some smart engineering student, but I can tell when someone is checking me out. Guys are more open about it than girls, I guess.”

“Tch… and what makes you so sure? Maybe I’m just jealous of your looks.” He closed his eyes and turned away slightly. He couldn’t even sound convincing, much less look like it.

“You don’t exactly wear your heart on your sleeve. But you’re not the jealous type… what do you have to be jealous of anyways? You’re not so bad yourself.”

And he was right. Aomine was the type of guy who was confident enough in his sex appeal that he didn’t worry about his clothes, his shoes, or his hair. None of that. He didn’t go out of his way to dress nice. And he sure as hell didn’t feel the need to compete with other guys. Well, for one thing, Kagami wasn’t as much of an idiot as he thought. And two… Kagami digged him. The interest was mutual. Though he never even wanted a guy’s attention until now.

“Thanks… but it’s not like I was staring that hard.”

“You totally were.”

Aomine didn’t know what to say. Now that Kagami called him out. And was grinning like this was funny to him.

“Anyways, thanks for fixing my sink. I didn’t want it to be broken when my friends came over for New Year’s.”

“Friends? I thought you said there wasn’t anything here in Japan for you.”

Kagami had told Aomine that he was considering moving back to America very soon.

“Yeah. But I meant career wise. I have friends. And… I just broke up with someone so… it’s not like I have to worry about leaving my soulmate behind or anything. And my friends said they’d come visit.”

Aomine immediately forgot about that first part, and didn’t care about that last part.

“So your ex is the real reason you want to go back.” He crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter.

“Even if it is, it’s not really your business.” Kagami glared slightly at Aomine, who was wearing a smirk like he knew the whole story already.

He wasn’t fazed by Kagami suddenly getting defensive. He could see right through the act. At first he was honestly just attracted to Kagami because of his body. And because he’d never looked at guys before, things were already weird between them from the beginning. But interesting. Aomine hadn’t thought much about what kind of person Kagami was. But since he’d began learning things about Kagami anyways, why not see what else was underneath all that hotness?

“Just relax. It’s not like I care how you broke up with her.”

Kagami almost rolled his eyes. Aomine was so full of it.

“Yeah you do.”

“I don’t. I’ve had at least 10 different girlfriends. I know how relationships tend to end.”

Kagami shook his head. Getting even more irritated, especially with Aomine’s rhyme ringing in his head.

“They weren’t even a girl. Shows how much you know about relationships… aho.”

Aomine and Kagami silently stared at each other… one smirking while the other slowly realized what he just said.

“So you’re gay.”

“Shut up, jerk.” He was glad that Aomine couldn’t see or hear how fast his heart was beating. “I’ve had crushes on girls before… the first person I dated just happened to be a guy.”

Aomine stood there, all quiet and analyzing him with that sharp, intense gaze of his. And it made Kagami even more nervous. So he kept talking, as if explaining himself. Like he was in trouble or something.

“I met him at the gym. He was cool and nice… and open about his sexuality. So I kind of went with it and we started a relationship after a few dates.”

It was a hell of a lot missing from the story. Like what his name was, how old he was, what he looked like. Those little details that Kagami had no idea Aomine wanted to know, but wasn’t going to ask. And Kagami left out the part about how he easily fell in love with this person. But the relationship only turned out to be parasitic and destructive. So Kagami called it off. A little later than he should have.

Maybe… maybe it was because he liked Aomine. As a friend at least. He’d like to get to know him some more. It wouldn’t be so bad having a friend who was as… well… he kind of didn’t have any words for what Aomine was. He just liked him.

“I still get angry when I think about all the things that happened…”

Why was he still talking about this?

“I thought it was none of my business.”

“It isn’t. But… I just..”

Aomine had stopped smirking a long time ago, beginning to frown when he realized how uncomfortable Kagami looked. He didn’t know if Kagami was embarrassed about his sexuality or what, but Aomine didn’t get a kick off of making people feel like crap.

Not the people he liked.

“Just forget it.” He picked up his toolbox, grabbed the parts he removed and replaced underneath Kagami’s sink, and began to walk away.

Though Kagami was standing in his way, so Aomine soon had to stop. Standing close enough to realize that he was slightly taller than Kagami. Probably. He couldn’t tell for sure because Kagami was looking down at the floor. He didn’t know if Kagami was sad. Aomine wasn’t a man of many kind words. So he stood there, waiting for Kagami to move out of his way.

“Hey…”

Kagami flinched, Aomine’s voice freeing him from his private thoughts.

“I was wrong. I don’t know you. Or your.. boyfriend. Whoever he is.”

Kagami knew – based on his impression of Aomine – that it took balls for the dark haired man to even admit that he was wrong. Aomine was proud. And probably had major issues admitting things like that.

“But you should move on.”

“I’m over him.”

“Ha..” Aomine didn’t really believe that. Just like Kagami could see through his bull, Aomine could practically smell a lie. He was also a pretty good liar. “If you are, then prove it.”

“Prove that I’m over my ex?”

Aomine could almost feel Kagami’s reaction to his challenge. And Kagami sensed Aomine’s. Excitement was practically pouring off them in waves.

“Can you?”

For the first time, they were wearing the same little smirk. And equally attracted to the way it looked on the other’s lips. Aomine thought he was clever enough to once again trick Kagami into giving him what he wanted. And Kagami was simply amused as he read Aomine’s thoughts as plain as day.

“You’re not getting me to kiss you that easily.”

“You’re loss”

Kagami turned away, tears in his eyes as he held back his laughter. He wondered if Aomine’s feelings were hurt. Probably not. His ego for sure.

“Nice try.” Kagami closed his eyes, wiping away the tears.

With Kagami stepping to the side, Aomine had enough room to walk out of the kitchen, on his way to the door. He ignored Kagami telling him to wait. It may be small, but he felt a sense of satisfaction. His first day on the job hadn’t been so bad. His client could have been many things, but none of them turned out to be as bad as he thought.

“Oi!”

It was interesting meeting someone like Kagami. At first he’d been drooling over the redhead like he was a piece of meat. But at least now Aomine knew that it didn’t take a large pair of breasts to make him go gaga.

“You’re really acting like a jerk, you know?”

Aomine paused, a little surprised when Kagami ran past him to beat him to the door. He blocked the entrance, stopping Aomine from going anywhere.

“You pushed me just so you could come in. Now you’re in a hurry to leave?”

“This equipment is heavy.”

“You can hold it for a little while longer. I can tell you’re strong under your uniform.”

“…I’m taller than you too.”

“Yeah I… wait what???”

He looked up. Both of them realizing at the same time that they didn’t exactly see eye to eye.

“See?”

“Who cares?” Kagami crossed his arms, a little bummed that he was shorter by like a half an inch or whatever. “I’m probably stronger than you.”

“You wouldn’t know for sure until you’ve seen me naked.”

They shared a look that clearly expressed both of their interest in that happening.

And Kagami wanted to be completely straight forward from this point on.

“I just got out of a bad relationship. But I’m trying to move on.”

“Good. You should.”

“… you’re not a bad guy. Maybe we can hang out. And see where it goes?”

He wasn’t expecting Kagami to be shy about it. But at the same time, he was making Aomine feel like the girl.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing really. Just working.” Kagami said, trying to play it cool. He didn’t want Aomine to know how excited he was.

“Let’s get lunch.” “Sounds good… but no kissing. No holding hands. And definitely no sex for the first few months.” Once again, Aomine didn’t even know what to say. Of course he thought Kagami was hot and could prepare a list of all the explicit and gay things he looked forward to doing. But since finding out that the interest was mutual, not a single perverted thought entered his mind. Aomine shrugged, missing the little smile on Taiga’s face.

Aomine looked bored. But really, butterflies were going wild in his stomach. He didn’t want Kagami to know how much he was affected right now.

“You can ask for my number though.”

“I don’t have a pen.”

“Are you serious? People don’t write their numbers down anymore. It thought you dated at least 10 girls.”

Or more like slept with. He didn’t want to reveal that to Kagami and mess up his chances. Because there was not one relationship he looked forward to committing to where sex wasn’t an immediate reward. Aomine wouldn’t have given them the time of day.

“Give me your phone, aho.”

But Kagami was the first person to make him interested in that kind of relationship.

Before he could put down his tool box, Taiga reached into his back pocket to get it. He noticed Aomine didn’t have a phone lock, which was weird, and then he typed and saved his number.

“It’s up to you to actually call me and tell me where to meet you.”

“What about text?”

“It’s fine… but call me if you don’t want to be stood up tomorrow.”

He didn’t want Aomine to know this right away, but he had a pretty sexy voice. Kagami wanted to hear it as often as possible. It was something he’d love to get used to.

“Are we splitting the bill?” Aomine asked.

Though he had every intention of treating Kagami. But he just wanted to see what Kagami would say…

“Well… I have a big appetite. I’m probably going to eat more than you so –”

“I’ll pay… bakagami.” Of course. Kagami also had a humble side. He’d never have guessed. “See you tomorrow.”

“Only if you call me.” Kagami resisted the urge to give in and let Aomine have that a kiss. He didn’t exactly know what it was, Aomine wasn’t at all endearing or kind or flattering. Kagami was still charmed by him.

That didn’t mean he was going back on his no sex rule. He needed that restriction so that he could be sure he was ready for another long term relationship. However… he’d consider letting Aomine get a kiss sooner than expected.

Kagami opened the door for Aomine, the cold air from outside barely bothering him. Though it was warm and toasty inside of his house.

“I hate to kick you out.”

“You’re not.” Daiki muttered before stepping outside, immediately remembering the torture of waiting only five minutes for Kagami to come open the door. That had been about… an hour ago?

“If I realized you were checking me out sooner, maybe I would have made tea and invited you to stay.”

“And maybe you forgot that the only reason I came was to fix your sink. I wasn’t expecting a half-naked redhead without a single full sized tit to answer the door and make me gay.”

“You forgot the love at first sight part, Ahomine.”

He grunted, his back turned as he continued walking.

The redhead almost said something. But he began to feel like he was coming off as desperate again. This time to convince Aomine to stay. Talk. Hang out. Make out. Whatever they would end up doing (as long as it was PG… -13 for any dirty language they used). But Aomine kept walking. Kagami knew that they had really just met. Kagami didn’t want things moving too fast.

Maybe that’s what Aomine was thinking too.

And Taiga really needed time to figure out if… if there really was a reason to stay in Japan.

He stepped back, and slowly closed the door. It was up to Aomine to make the next move in their relationship. If Aomine called, and their date went well tomorrow… he’d invite Aomine over for New Year’s. Let Aomine meet his friends. Taste his food. Have some drinks.

And start the New Year off right.

As he walked down the stairs and away from Kagami’s house, Aomine couldn’t help but feel like their meeting felt like some cliché porno. But when he opened the door to his white truck, he looked over his shoulder, eyes lingering on Kagami’s house. He wondered what Kagami was going to do with him gone. Who he was going to go hang out with. Or whatever he did on Fridays.

And that single thought was enough to make him anticipate the next time they got together. He secretly hoped that his first day on the job turned out to be the start of something new and incredible.

-

-for @kaeilash

[stacinadia]

Happy holidays, @drabblesetc!  I was your KnB Secret Santa!  I saw you liked AoKaga, so I wrote about Kagami cooking Aomine an American Christmas dinner!  I’m sorry it’s late, but I hope you like it!

Also on AO3!

**********

“Yo, Kagami,” Aomine greeted when Taiga opened his apartment door.

“Oh, Aomine,” Taiga blinked in surprise.  “I wasn’t expecting you today.”  He stepped back and allowed his boyfriend to step into the apartment.

Aomine went over and sat on the couch.  “I came over because I was wondering if you had any plans for Christmas Eve.  It’s less than a week away.”  He looked away, but Taiga got a glimpse of his red cheeks.  “Satsuki told me it’s a romantic holiday and that we should go to dinner somewhere nice.  So…”  he trailed off hesitantly.

Taiga thought Aomine was so adorable when he was being shy.  He hated the fact that he was about to disappoint the blue-haired boy.  Taiga gave him a sad smile.  “Aomine, I’m sorry,” he said gently.  “I already have something to do that day..  I was going to go to the grocery store for Christmas on Christmas Eve.  In America, Christmas is this big family holiday with insane amounts of food.”

“So, basically, the amount of food you eat every time at Maji Burger?”  Aomine asked with a smirk, giving no hints as to whether he was disappointed by Taiga‘s negative response.

“Oh, shut up!”  Taiga grumbled.  “Anyway, Christmas in America is this really big thing, nothing at all like how it is here in Japan.  There’s presents and a guy in red who brings presents to kids, but the best thing of all is all the food!”  Taiga’s eyes sparkled just thinking about it.  “There is just so much!  Turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, though most people eat it out of a can.  Isn’t that odd?  And the desserts!  So many cookies and pies, you could bake for days!”

Aomine chuckled at Taiga’s enthusiasm and rested his head on his hand.  “Why do I have the feeling that you just like American Christmas because of all the food?”

Taiga reddened.  “That‘s not true!” he protested.  “The family part is really important to me, too, you know!  But unfortunately, my father has to work Christmas Eve, so he can’t travel here.  I need someone to help me eat all this stuff.”  

Aomine burst out laughing.  “You can’t eat all that food by yourself?  You, the guy who could eat 40 Maji burgers?  I never thought I would see the day!”

“Shut up, Aho!”  Taiga grumbled petulantly.  “I was going to ask you to come whether my family could come home or not, because I like you!”  He closed his mouth immediately.  He wasn’t usually one to express his emotions like that, but Aomine…  Daiki… could bring that side out of him easily.  He cleared his throat.  “Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come eat with me?”

The blue-haired boy wrapped his arm around Taiga’s shoulder.  “Of course I am, Bakagami!  I love your cooking, you know!  It’ll be better than any restaurant!  The company‘s kind of a pain, though,” he added slyly.

Taiga responded with a scowl and a punch to Aomine’s shoulder, causing Aomine to yelp.

**********

Taiga headed down to the market on Christmas Eve to get all the ingredients he would need to make all the food he wanted.  He had always made a feast for his family ever since he was in America.  He remembered the first American Thanksgiving meal he made for his family, Alex, and Tatsuya with a smile.

Even as a young boy, Taiga had been interested in cooking.  He’d watch his mother chop, crack, mix, saute, bake, and dozens of more cooking techniques.  Finally one day, Taiga’s mother had invited him to cook with her.  She’d taught him to do simple things at first, like chopping vegetables, then eventually, he’d gotten to more difficult feats like separating eggs.  When he had spent those years in America, he’d learned even more techniques like making cream puffs and torching a crème brulee without burning it.

As he walked, he saw couples wandering around hand in hand, looking at the pretty Christmas lights or heading to restaurants.  He wasn’t celebrating in the Japanese manner like they were, but he was still excited to be spending the holiday with his boyfriend.

Aomine was waiting for him outside the market and together they went inside.  Taiga had a list of the things he would need for a Christmas feast for two huge eaters.  He led the way to the produce department first.  

Aomine watched with interest as Taiga checked the vegetables for freshness.  “How do you know all this stuff?”  he asked Taiga as the redhead examined a bag of potatoes.  “You’re only what, seventeen, same as me?”

“Yeah, but my mother taught me,” Taiga explained.  “She took me grocery shopping as a kid when I started cooking with her and she showed me what to check for each food.  Like potatoes should be hard when you squeeze them.”  He held out the potato to Aomine.

“Interesting,” Aomine mused while he squeezed it gently.  “Show me more, Kagami.”

Taiga showed Aomine all the techniques his mother had taught him as they went around the market getting the food they needed for the next day.  He liked being able to share his knowledge with someone he cared about.

**********

On Christmas day, Taiga woke up early and began the preparations for the turkey, knowing that it would take hours to cook fully.  After it was in the oven, he began to chop the vegetables and fruit for the side dishes, even if he wasn’t going to be cooking them for some time yet.

He was just taking the turkey out to baste it when there was a knock at the door.  He ran over to the door and let Aomine in.  Aomine took a big whiff of the year and a happy grin appeared on his face.  “That smells amazing!  I can’t wait to eat it all!”

Taiga chuckled.  “Well, it still has an hour or two left.  I’m in the middle of working on the potatoes.  You want to help me mash them?”  he asked, holding up a potato masher.

“Sure,” Aomine took the masher from him

The time passed quickly as Taiga prepared everything.  Aomine was able to help him with some simple things, for which Taiga was very grateful for.  Finally, the dinner was ready and Taiga took several trips between the kitchen and the table where Aomine was already sitting to lay it all out.

**********

It had taken Taiga hours to cook their Christmas feast, but it took a much smaller time for the two boys to eat the enormous amount of food.  Aomine burped loudly and looked over at all the plates with barely anything on them and the nearly picked clean turkey.  “That was so good, Kagami!”

Taiga grinned.  “Thanks, Aomine!”  He picked up the carving knife and removed the rest of the turkey meat.  “If you want, we can have turkey sandwiches tomorrow, too, and finish off everything.”

“Yeah, I think so,” Aomine agreed.  “I think we need to have a round of one-on-one to work off all this food.”  He patted his full belly.

Taiga laughed.  “We’d have to find an indoor court instead of our usual one since it’s so snowy out.”

Aomine wiped his mouth with a napkin.  “Seriously, if you ever decided not to play basketball or after you retire, you need to become a chef or something!”

Taiga’s jaw dropped.  “Me, a chef?  Are you serious, Aomine?”  He couldn’t deny that he hadn’t thought about it before, but he loved basketball too much to quit playing.  But it was the first time that someone other than himself had said

“Of course,” Aomine responded, then grabbed Taiga’s hands.  “Promise me that you’ll keep on cooking, Taiga, no matter what.”

“I will, Daiki” Taiga vowed.  “And promise yourself that you’ll always be there to eat it with me?”

Aomine responded by kissing Taiga on the lips.

**********

Fifteen years later, after he had finally retired from basketball,  Taiga opened his own restaurant in Tokyo, called Red Tiger, after an old basketball nickname.  The restaurant served traditional American cuisine and the most popular meal on the menu was a smaller one-person version of the meal he had made all those years ago on Christmas day.  It was called “Daiki’s feast”, named after his husband who would always be his biggest supporter.

[poppymadness]

Snowed In

I apologize for the little delay Pikki ( @tunnelvision )! I’m your secret santa! I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and happy holidays.~ Since you gave me quite a list of characters I decided to just go with Kiyoshi, I hope you don’t mind and enjoy!! It’s also based a bit more in the future too, out of school.

You lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Awoken by a chill in the already frigid air. It’s winter, and it’s not like it’s your first year living in this terrible, freezing weather, so what was so unusual about this fluctuation in temperature to have you jump out of your slumber? It’s barely six, and a groan escapes your lips at the thought of getting up so early on a Saturday. Of getting up so early on Christmas Eve. But it’s so freaking cold, and you want to know why.

The light thump as your feet hit the wooden floor seems to reverberate throughout the otherwise silent house. Wooden floor? The floor of your room was carpeted. The thought puzzles you until you remember the invite you so quickly accepted by the kind-hearted Kiyoshi Teppei to spend last night and Christmas Eve with him and his grandparents. It could be considered a strange offer, but your parents live farther away than ever now with your recent move a couple months ago and you couldn’t afford a plane ticket to go visit them, so it was a rather welcome invitation from your fellow co-worker and also close friend than anything.

It also can’t be helped that the fact you have a crush on Kiyoshi had any impact on your decision. You shake away the memory and hope you don’t wake anyone as you exit your room to investigate the source for the sudden change of temperature in the house. You discover the heater turned off in the middle of the living room so you quickly turn it on in hopes of warming up sooner.

The darkness enveloping the room surprised you. Sure, winter mornings definitely weren’t bright, but it was so dark you could barely see a thing. You only recognized the heater because of the dull light it emitted to let it be known that it was still plugged in. You quietly felt your way along the wall until you reached the light switch, yet again hoping you don’t wake anyone as you flip it up.

Now able to see around you, your gaze fell upon the window that faces the front of the house. There’s a dark shadow imprinted against the lower half of the window, as if there’s something pressing directly against it. Walking up to the window and pushing the curtain to the side you realize that the mass seen from the shadow is all snow. Built up inches high, probably all around the house. You’re snowed in.

Snowed in? Did a blizzard hit overnight? There was nothing about it on the news. Well, at least the electricity is still working. The soft patter of feet causes you to turn around, the curtain flowing back in place to cover the window. You’re greeted by the friendly smile of Kiyoshi, his hair messy with strands sticking out, clearly he just woke up. “Morning, Pikki. You’re up early.”

Despite the slight panic rising in your chest, a small smile etched its way onto your lips. To think his bedhead would make him cuter. “Good morning Kiyoshi. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

He shakes his head as he begins heading towards the kitchen, while you take a seat on the sofa. “No, no. I usually wake up early. You know, the whole ‘the early bird catches the worm’ thing.” You glance over and catch his cheesy grin before he makes his way into the kitchen. What an idiot. “Is there anything you’d like?” His voice, clearly a little too loud, echoes from the kitchen. You chuckle, did he think you wouldn’t be able to hear him?

“No, it’s okay. Thank you, though.” You pause for a second before you speak up again, “Kiyoshi?”

His head pops out around the corner of the entranceway, maybe he heard the hesitation in your voice, since his eyes appeared softer than they normally do. “Yeah?”

“You know we’re snowed in, right?”

He chuckles and turns back around into the kitchen. Coming out soon after with two cups of tea and an iced coffee, the tea you suspected was for his grandparents. He scratches the back of his neck once he places them down, seemingly embarrassed, “Yeah, I know. I already called services to help but I don’t know when they’ll arrive.”

You can’t help but to get up and kiddingly punch his shoulder, “You could’ve told me that in the beginning, you know!”

“Could’ve told what, dear?” Kiyoshi’s grandmother, her voice soft and melodic, questions as she heads over to grab her tea and sit at the sofa, his grandfather following behind her silently.

Kiyoshi answers for you, informing his grandparents about the situation. His grandfather, who’s usually so calm and quiet, lets out a soft chuckle. “I thought you finally confessed, boy.”

His grandmother rolls her eyes, although a knowing smile is placed tenderly on her lips, “Hun, you always think that.”

“Confessed?” The word echoed off your tongue before you could even stop it. Glancing up at Kiyoshi you could see the heat rising up in his cheeks, despite giving his grandfather the hardest glare he could probably muster, which wasn’t very threatening at all. In some instances like this, he sometimes appeared like a little boy. Honestly, it was kind of cute. The giggle you’d been trying to suppress escaped and you quickly covered your mouth.

Kiyoshi turned around to face you after hearing your voice, the embarrassment he felt was written all over his face. “Ah- it’s nothing,” he mumbled, barely audible at all.

You raised an eyebrow, but you could feel the heat rise in your cheeks as well as you realize the feeling was mutual. “Don’t worry about it,” your voice softer than you expected, almost a whisper in itself.

The cheerful tone of Kiyoshi’s grandfather interrupted the awkward tension filling the air, “Well, it seems I might have done it for you.” There was a quick moment of silence before everyone bursts into laughter. Nervous, happy and relieving laughter, but laughter nonetheless. 

The slight buzzing of the television catches your attention, since when was it turned on? The newscast was saying that another short-lived blizzard is possibly going to hit tonight. You felt Kiyoshi’s hand sneak its way around to hold your own, his voice sounding the complete opposite of disappointed, “Seems like you’ll be stuck here another night. Would you like to spend Christmas day with us too?”

On impulse you intertwined your fingers together, “I think I would’ve stayed even without the blizzard.”

[kotaka-kun]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

my @knbss2k16 piece for @goddess-of-tember 

I know you asked for a specific confession/kiss scene, and I did my best to do it some justice! I made it KiyoHyuu fluff. I hope you like it!

[kaeilash]

Hey @moontailor!! I was your KnB secret santa this year!

I tried to hit as many of the things you listed as possible- I hope this added to an already great Christmas for you ♥ ♥ ♥

[anei-rin]

Akashi’s Christmas

To: Miru @miruo-cchi

From: Your Secret Santa

Prompt: It can be Christmas themed if the artist/reader wants to. I would like to receive fanart/fanfic of: akashi, nijimura/akashi, kise/akashi, momoi/akashi or the GoM together. It can also be in an AU (for example: ice skaters AU, mucisians AU…)

Merry Christmas, Miru! I was your secret Santa this year and I hope you’ll enjoy what I came up with. ;) Have fun reading!

Akashi’s Christmas

I.

He remembered a little of what it was like, back then. The excitement of a five-year-old was tempered by his strict father, who insisted Japanese did not celebrate Christmas. It wasn’t their tradition, just a relatively new thing brought in from the West that kept gaining momentum every year.

But that one time that he could remember, it didn’t matter what his father wanted or thought.

His sweet, kind mother saw Akashi’s enthusiasm and hope, and talked and insisted that they do celebrate it after all. In a more Japanese way, but celebrate nonetheless. It might have been a Western holiday, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy it. Besides, his mother had pointed out, Akashi’s father didn’t mind Western traditions or culture, and he would, as a businessman, partake in them on occasion. It was all right to expect his family to abide more strictly by Japanese culture and traditions, but Christmas was becoming quite popular even in Japan.

It wouldn’t do for the Akashi family to be left behind, correct?

Later, Akashi would muse that his mother was, despite her gentle and mild nature, quite adept at handling his strict, stern father. It was probably why he was allowed riding so often, as well as basketball, even when he wasn’t very good at it yet. It was free time his mother had offered as much as she could, for she, too, had immense respect for her husband and didn’t defy him much.

But for that Christmas, she did, and Akashi was so grateful.

He had one day off, the Christmas day itself. The fire was crackling in the fireplace and the house smelled faintly of baked goods and cinnamon. He was allowed to sleep in for once – not for long, though, since he didn’t want to miss his free day. He had time to finish his favourite book, and there was still enough time for everything else he loved – for basketball with his mother and for a lovely ride with Yukimaru. There were even presents; a new top-quality saddle from his father and a real, actual basketball jersey from his mother, complete with his name on the back and the number 4 for the captain that he was going to grow into one day.

But the best Christmas present was the evening. He was going to have to go to bed soon, and tomorrow would be just a regular day again, Christmas and festive season perfectly ignored and his work load back. But he was happy nonetheless.

Happy because he was allowed to try on and wear his new jersey. Happy because when he walked in the room to show it off to his parents, it was to both of them, his father having stayed home instead of working. Happy because his father had time for a quick round of chess with him and didn’t mind that Akashi kept the jersey on right until he had to take a bath. Happy because he saw the brief embrace and smile his parents shared when he came to them one last time to wish them goodnight.

Happy because he knew he was loved. It had been a wonderful Christmas.

II.

He didn’t even mention the Christmas celebration after his mother passed. The grief of even thinking of her still made him want to sob and scream, and it hurt even more on Christmas. He kept his feelings to himself, and only occasionally would he still allow himself to be sad—when it was dark and he was in his room, already in bed, and the pillow absorbed the tears and the sobs, when it was so painfully clear that his mother was not going to walk into his room again, or wish him good morning when he woke the next day.

His father was away, working. The house was empty except for Akashi and the servants. Nobody came except for his tutors. It was very quiet, so Akashi practiced playing the piano and the violin, but when the lonely melody rang out, the silence returned with vengeance, intensifying that pain in his heart.

He visited Yukimaru in the stalls. The tall horse never told anyone if it happened that Akashi’s tears wet his mane during the day, nor held a grudge if his young owner was sad and didn’t take him for a ride on Christmas days after that.

Even the basketball was left in the corner, untouched until the day passed.  

III.

There came a time when he finally had no choice but to pick up a basketball even if it was Christmas. It was all right, however – time had passed and the pain in his heart lessened, to a point where he forgot and ignored it for the most part. Yukimaru still never carried his master on Christmas, but Akashi always visited him in the stall.

The basketball, however, was well in use. It wasn’t the same one from way back then; that one had long been replaced by countless others he practiced with. Since he’d started going to Teiko, there was no time to slack off with basketball, especially when you were a first-stringer with a miraculously good team.

It felt a little bit like a Christmas miracle when Akashi watched the basketball bounce off the rim of the basket because Aomine has once again made Kise’s shot miss. It wasn’t because that particular thing happened – Aomine won against Kise all the time.

It was because everyone was smiling, even him (though it was small, private, something only Midorima noticed). There was no tension and no need to play to win – this was mere tomfoolery because they all loved basketball, the thrill, the camaraderie Nijmura-senpai was trying to cultivate between them. This was for fun.

“I’m all out of snacks,” Murasakibara said. “Let’s go eat.”

“Well, it’s Christmas, so… KFC?” Kise asked after he got his panting under control.

“Sure,” Aomine replied, “but since you lost, you’re paying for me.”

“Oi, Aominecchi! Why would I do that?”

“Well, it’s Christmas. It’s gonna be your present for me, since you didn’t get me anything else and I just kicked your ass in basket.”

“You don’t have anything for me, either!”

“Tch! I just played basketball with you because you asked me to. I was gonna win, there was nothing in it for me… so now pay up.”

“Aominecchi!!”

Kise’s whines mixed with Aomine’s teasing drawl and eventually prompted an all-out bickering among everyone as they gathered their things and got ready for their Christmas food excursion.

Akashi observed them, a fond smile on his lips. There was no pain that Christmas. It wasn’t perfect, the team around him wasn’t perfect, but it was a Christmas miracle in and off itself – Akashi had found his happiness again, someone to share Christmas with.

When he went to bed that day, the house was still empty and silent. Akashi’s smile dampened, but wasn’t gone completely, especially not when he dreamt of playing with his miraculous team again soon.

IV.

It didn’t last. His happiness on Christmas wasn’t even replaced by bitterness in the end – the whole core of who Akashi thought he was ended up replaced.

Momoi came by that Christmas, visited him in his house.

“A-Akashi-kun, I… everyone, everything has been so different lately, but they all still listen to you… It’s Christmas, and I thought… we could get everyone together? Play some basketball, get something to eat from KFC?”

“Why would we do that, Satsuki?” Akashi heard himself say, watching from somewhere inside his head as someone who was and wasn’t him stared Momoi down, a cruel smirk on his lips that Akashi couldn’t find the strength to erase.

“Well, I thought…” she trailed off, but the Akashi, the him that was not him, enjoyed not giving her a moment to let her gather her thoughts and words.

‘Silly girl,’ he heard in his head as his lips moved.

“Do you find our usual practice lacking? Are the results not to the liking of the school?”

“No, no!” He saw tears gather in her eyes, but he – the he that wasn’t he – deliberately kept staring her down, putting all the contempt in that gaze and enjoying his superiority. He would demonstrate why it was utterly foolish to bother him with silly ideas on Christmas.

A twisted part of him wondered if he should consider doing this, after all. Getting everyone on the first-string team to gather and play on Christmas, on Christmas that was Sunday, would be absolute control.

But he already knew that if he demanded, they would come and practice and play, and then they would go back home. There was nothing to prove and no point in calling everyone up.

“I just… I wanted us to have some fun together again. The way we used to,” Momoi finally said.

“That is a foolish notion. The team functions as it is. Basketball does not need to be fun for us to win, and there is no need to try and make it such. We have the results we want, we are the best, and that’s it, Satsuki.”

He closed the door and ignored the desperation that caused her to let out a tiny sob right before he walked away.

Christmas was quiet again, but this time, Akashi observed from elsewhere, form somewhere inside his head, and it didn’t bother him very much. In fact, life was quite bearable in this way, the hurts easier to carry. Perhaps this horrible mistake of this other him being in charge wasn’t such a mistake, after all.

V.

It wasn’t until later, much, much later, that Christmas stopped being silent for Akashi.

It got worse before it got better.

His loss to Kuroko shattered his protection from Christmas silence and pain overall. He and his other self eventually reconciled and became one again, but the hurt didn’t disappear.

He had teammates again, and friends, and they chased a lot of things away.

But Christmas… was still lonely and painful with its silence and emptiness. Oh, there was company at some point on a Christmas day, with friends and teammates exchanging presents. But eventually, he would return home and… and the memory of his friends was warm, but he still wished he wasn’t so alone as soon as he was gone from their company.

They returned to families and girl- and boyfriends. He returned to a cold house.

And eventually, as years passed, to his own apartment, the one his father insisted he had to try and live in on his own, grow up entirely. Since he was a college student now, he was happy to do that, even if he wasn’t close to Yukimaru anymore. His equine companion had gotten old, but he was still in good shape.  

As he moved out, he realized that although it was in some ways easier to breathe, he could still feel the loneliness bear down on him sometimes. It… it was getting better all the time, however.

He had learned to live and thrive and found happiness, alone or not.

Just… Christmas would rub it in his face how empty his life was and could still be.

But it was all right. It was.

And then one Christmas eve, the prospect of a Christmas day was suddenly a thing that made Akashi nervous, but happy.

Some time after the game with Jabberwock, Nijimura-senpai dropped by in Rakuzan’s gym.

There was a lot of talking and a lot of catching up to do, but then they had years now. It turned out Nijimura-senpai’s father was more or less all right, but still had bad periods where he would wind up in hospital. His overall health was under control, however, and Nijimura-senpai was considering starting to play basketball more seriously again, now that he was in college.

So they started to keep in touch more and more, bonding anew over basketball. It so happened Akashi ended up seeing Nijimura-senpai’s games, especially against team STRKY, and perhaps start giving pointers. In turn, Nijimura-senpai might have started suggesting how to make the competitive spirit in Rakuzan more manageable, how to make the Uncrowned Kings play nice even without absolute intimidation and make everyone understand why teamplay mattered.

If short meetings started to last until evenings, they hardly noticed. If an occasional meet-up turned very regular, neither commented.

It was, overall, very anticlimactic. Very… natural and calm. Dignified, even, although Nijimura kind of snorted at that.

According to him, there was nothing dignified about falling asleep leaning and drooling on each other after watching the best NBA games, and cuddling into each other because it was warmer that way and they were too out of it to wake up and get blankets instead.

There was also nothing dignified about beginning to blush whenever the other one so much as sneezed, or about the soft, quiet exchange of confessions, or Akashi’s fumbling due to having no clue how to be affectionate. Akashi knew his lack of skill in the area, so to say, was hurting Nijimura to some degree – it was a reminder of Akashi’s difficult life, the lack of affection he had had.

And it was even worse because they couldn’t joke about it – Akashi was just no good at that.

But as it happened, neither was willing to back off or give up. It was new, having such support from another person. It made Akashi feel… warm. He thought he remembered the feeling from very long ago.

Step after step, some wounds Akashi carried still began to heal. Fleeting meetings of lips, firm embraces, adoring, fond gaze; they always eased something inside Akashi that he didn’t know was there, and it felt so good.

He trusted Nijimura. Shūzō.

And so he allowed that trust to ease the lack of control whenever his former captain decided to be more forward, more decisive and make plans, even if Akashi thought they’d be uncomfortable and difficult.

In fact, it was one thing he had to learn, it was that they were equals in their precious thing, and Nijimura – Shūzō – was unwilling to obey Akashi’s every word, even if he respected him. It was… a new concept, one that made Akashi’s life easier once it became second nature.

It even made him feel… safe. Sometimes, it was… better, to have someone else in control.

So even though he was uneasy, he went along this time. He knew Shuzo was well aware of his unease, and they actually talked about it at length. The older man would always have his back, and he knew he could lean on him whenever he needed. But he was still a bit preoccupied.

This was going to be their first Christmas together. The rest were spent apart for one reason or another, with one of them being away accompanying their fathers either to the hospital or on a business trip. There were brief Skype sessions, naturally, but… it wasn’t the same.

And this year, finally, they were together in Akashi’s apartment, even putting up a Christmas tree (Shūzō’s insistence) and eating at KFC (Akashi’s reminiscing on that Christmas with then-Teiko teammates prompted a trip to the crowded place).

But this wasn’t what was on Akashi’s mind. Shūzō, if he noticed, didn’t say anything until they sat down on the floor in front of the tree on Christmas eve, looking at it and its sparkling lights, feeling wonderfully full after the deliciously unhealthy dinner.

“You’re thinking quite loudly, Akashi-kun.” Shūzō wore a small smile when he said it, and he didn’t remove his gaze from the tree, but Akashi knew he was perfectly focused on him and his response. The statement, even slightly teasing as it was, was still a prompt, as well as a promise. If Akashi needed to talk more, if he needed support, Shūzō was there.

It always made it easier to open his mouth.

“I…” Akashi considered making a joke, but smiled and shook his head slightly. He really would never get the hang of having a good, funny comeback in such situations.

“I was just thinking about tomorrow, that’s all.”

“Yes?”

“Yukimaru is quite old, you know.”

At that, Shūzō did turn to face him fully.

“It will be all right. If he cannot carry you, he will still be glad you visited. But I have a feeling he will happily carry his owner even through all this snow.”

“Hm.”

“And you get to watch me make a complete fool of myself as I try to elegantly ride alongside you and fail miserably. I’ve never ridden before.”

“Well, I’m glad there’s so much snow. Softer landing.”

Shūzō looked at him as if he grew a second head and snorted.

“You actually made a joke! And it was funny! Well… almost funny.”

Akashi smiled as he was pulled close and felt his hair get ruffled.

“I try. I… There’s a Christmas tradition we haven’t tried yet, you know.” He felt his cheeks heat up a bit as Shūzō let him go and gave him a fond, if curious look.

“Just a moment…” With that, Akashi disappeared to the balcony and fetched the branch of the plant he had put there.

“Huh?” Shūzō didn’t seem to be getting it.

“It’s a mistletoe,” Akashi explained.

“Uhuh.”

The other was curious as Akashi sat down right next to him again and held up the green thing right above them.

“Apparently, when two people are under it, they have to kiss.”

“They do, huh?” Shūzō gave him a knowing, amused look. Akashi nodded, assuming the most serious face he could muster in that moment. “Well,” Shūzō said, “best not to ignore that tradition, then. Perhaps it might bring us bad luck or something, and I, for one, can’t afford that tomorrow.”

Akashi snorted, but then their lips met and the world stood still as the clock showed midnight. That soft, gentle brush of lips melted away Akashi’s nervousness about tomorrow, about meeting everyone and playing basketball, about going riding with Yukimaru and Shūzō, about having a day off he needed and deserved.

It would be all right.

The kiss ended, but the feeling intensified. Shūzō was gazing into his eyes and not pulling away from Akashi in any way. He smiled at Akashi.

“Merry Christmas, Seijūrō.”

Red eyes sparkled as they held the other’s gaze, and soft lips stretched into a brilliant smile.

“Merry Christmas, Shūzō.”

And it was.