merry christmas to everyone! please do listen to this as you read!
“love you too, rinnie. i hope you rest well!”
as much as you wanted to stay longer on the phone with rintarou, he has to go to bed while you have to grapple with your feelings of disappointment.
rintarou may not have been your first partner, but he will be the first you will be spending christmas with. or at least, that was supposed to be the case until he dropped a bomb on you during your phone call - he won’t be able to make it home in time for christmas. he had flown to argentina a week ago for a match, and was supposed to have boarded the flight hours ago; the keywords being: supposed to. his flight was delayed, and eventually, cancelled.
he tried to find another flight, but most were already fully booked (it’s the holidays, what did you expect?). furthermore, it was already late and he is exhausted from the wait.
you try not to cry, but that’s an impossible task. you don’t blame anyone, as much as you would like to curse the universe for the awful timing. maybe, you’re just plainly unlucky and need to be cleansed.
christmas is not something you celebrate, but you’ve spent years watching your friends posting photos of themselves with their loved ones on christmas day and each one you come across only serves to exacerbate the painful feelings of loneliness and yearning that has rooted itself into your heart. you spent most of your christmases playing your otome games or watching your kpop men in an attempt to fill that void, and it does help till you realise that they’re fictional and unattainable. you would spend the rest with your friends, former members of inarizaki’s volleyball team - which included rintarou, but that only alleviated a part of the loneliness; it didn’t help the longing for a romantic partner on a festive day.
it doesn’t help that you’ve also never had the chance to celebrate christmas with your former partners, relationships ending even before the month of december.
that was why you were beyond ecstatic when you realised that you were able to celebrate not just this christmas, but hopefully many more, with rintarou. even though he had to leave, he reassured you countless times that he would definitely make it home before christmas - just in time to have a day of celebration.
alas, the spirit of christmas has chosen to not shine on you favourably this time around.
as tempted as you are to spend christmas alone feeling all miserable and pitiful in your apartment while your parents will be on their cute date, you decide against it and contact your friends to see if they will be willing to spend some time with you.
the miya twins invite you over for christmas dinner, but not before attempting an interrogation. the rest are away on trips, but had immediately expressed their concerns over your question. you reassure them that nothing was wrong in yours and rintarou’s relationship; he is simply just stuck in another country.
you spend the rest of the day looking for presents to give to the miya twins and their parents, thankful that they’ve invited you over for christmas even when you’re not part of their family (even though they have, multiple times, stated that they do wish you were their biological sister).
hours pass by, and your phone rings when you’re back at home in your bed after a hot shower.
“you didn’t send me anything today.”
“you were sleeping, rinnie. i didn’t want to bother you.”
“that wouldn’t have stopped you a day ago. what’s the matter?”
it was merely a question, but that tipped you over. you burst out into tears, and everything you say quickly becomes incoherent to him.
“baby, i need you to take deep breaths for me, okay? breathe in, 1, 2, 3, 4. okay, now breathe out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. it’s okay, baby, it’s okay.”
it’s not okay, but your current state won’t help you in conveying that to your partner.
“i don’t blame you, rinnie, but i’m so, so, so, so upset and so incredibly angry. i miss you, and i hate that you’re away. i hate that i’ve been looking forward to our first ever christmas together, yet that won’t even happen because for some goddamn reason, the universe hates me.”
rintarou tries his best not to smile. he doesn’t want to make you feel bad or invalidate your feelings, but you’re just so adorable to him right now.
“baby, i get that. i feel the same way too. i was really hoping to spend christmas with you, the love of my life. i’m sorry your boyfriend can’t dr strange his way back to you right now, but i promise you that i’ll make it up to you.”
your heart clenches, and you feel bad for being this emotional when rintarou must be feeling just as bummed.
“i love you, rinnie. i’m still bugged by it, but i know we have so much to look forward to. we can always celebrate together next year!”
your effort to cheer yourself up, and to convince yourself makes him laugh a little. hearing his laughter makes your heart sing, and you inevitably feel ten times better.
“i love you too, baby. do you want to share with me about your day?”
you do. you don’t forget to tell him that you’re spending christmas with the twins tomorrow, and he pretends to be annoyed about it.
you don’t even realise that the clock has already struck midnight, signifying that it is already christmas in japan.
“merry christmas, rinnie.”
the both of you continue your conversation till it’s one, and rintarou insists suggests that you go to bed.
you rarely call him that, and he cherishes every moment you do.
“good night, my love.” you cherish every moment he does too.
you don on a camisole and a pair of cargo pants, layering your outfit over with a sweater rintarou got you and your winter coat - a birthday gift from the twins. you put on some light makeup, and leave the house with a cute clutch bag you got for yourself.
you were at the miya’s earlier than they’ve expected, and their parents inform you that the twins have gone to play volleyball nearby. you internally roll your eyes at that; of course they would. despite their protests, you help out with setting the table while waiting for the twins to return.
they only do about half an hour after. upon seeing you, they start a fight over who gets to hug you first before you stomp over to them and squeeze the both of them into a tight embrace.
atsumu squeezes your cheeks, crying about how much he misses you. osamu just gives you head pats, asking about you and telling you to eat up as they’ve prepared more food just for you.
their parents ushers the three of you into their dining room, joking about how long they’ve made you wait.
“yer know, osamu’s seeing someone?”
“no way! who’s the lucky girl?”
“a regular at the restaurant.”
“tell me more about her!”
you find out that osamu is seeing an office worker. she was a regular at his restaurant, and thought she was pretty but didn’t dare approach her till she was stood up by a date. he replaced her date that day, and discovered that they were very compatible.
they became a couple soon after.
he wanted to invite her over for christmas, but she usually celebrates with her family.
atsumu, however, is still single. he claims that he just haven’t found the one, but you know that he wouldn’t have an issue with that. he is a sweet man with so much love to give, and any woman who has the fortune to be with him will be given the world.
as you enjoyed your time with the miyas, rintarou’s lack of responses to your updates throughout the day is beginning to gnaw at you.
he doesn’t usually disappear like that, but you try convincing yourself that he could be out spending christmas with his teammates. that he could be practising. that he could be in deep sleep.
none of it soothes you, but you don’t want to worry the miyas. you don’t want to bring down their mood; it is a holiday, after all.
you exchange gifts with the family, and the twins offer to send you home seeing that it is already close to midnight. you accept, and extend your gratitude to their parents.
“bye! thank you for tonight!”
“ya don’t hafta keep saying thank you, (y/n).”
“i know! i’m just really happy, that’s all!”
they drive off after you give them their hugs.
you carry the gifts into your apartment without removing your shoes, noting to mop the floor before your parents return. you place them in your living room before removing your shoes and socks.
you check your phone, frowning when you see 0 messages from rintarou. he hasn’t texted you the whole day, which is alarming, but you thought he would’ve at least sent something to let you know that he’s alive.
did something happen? oh, god.
you try calling him; none of it gets through.
you don’t have his teammates’ numbers, nor his coach’s.
a knock at your door startles you, and you wonder if someone had confused the apartment numbers. another knock, and you hesitantly make your way over to look through the peephole.
you gasp at the familiar face outside the door.
“rinnie?” you ask, flinging open the door, in disbelief.
you jump into his arms, pure bliss reverberating through your body.
“i spent hours scouring on websites, and was luckily able to find a plane with last-minute availability. i took it the moment i saw it, and wanted to surprise you.”
“you should’ve told me something! i was so worried.”
he takes your hand in his, and gives it a light kiss.
“i’m sorry, my love. i didn’t mean to.”
he leads you back into your apartment, into your bedroom where he guides you to lie on top of him.
“i’ve missed you so much so much.” you mumble into his chest.
“i’ve missed you just as much, if not more.” he responds. “so, where’s my ‘merry christmas’?”
“belated merry christmas, rinnie!”
the clock has already struck midnight. it’s the 26th of december.
“not belated in argentina, baby. it’s still the 25th there.”
you pull back from his chest, eyes twinkling with wonder and awe. he’s right, it’s still the 25th in other parts of the world, just maybe not japan.
“let’s celebrate christmas together, baby.”
thank you for the dividers! @enchanthings
