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For an allegedly famous restaurant in a rather small ski village, Futakuchi wondered why it was so damn hard to find the place. His frustrated huffs of breath were made even more obvious by the frigid winter air. How was he supposed to take his real adult partner to a real adult restaurant to impress him with his real adult money in these conditions?Not only was he completely and utterly lost, but they were also running late for a reservation that he had pulled a whole lot of strings to get. If he could just find the dastardly place any minute now, maybe his pride could still be salvaged.
Ennoshita interrupted his spiralling thoughts with a pointed clearing of his throat. “This block looked nice the third time around, but I’m afraid we’re starting to get diminishing returns.”“All part of the plan, Chikara, just building up the suspense,” Futakuchi replied oh-so-smoothly before hurriedly turning around and pulling out his phone. Again.Ennoshita smiled softly and updated his mental catalogue of Futakuchi with ‘bad at directions’.Across the street from them, movement flashed in the corner of his eye when a couple rushed past, hand in hand.
The smaller man leading them towards a partially obscured doorway looked eerily familiar and snake-like, but Ennoshita couldn’t quite place him. The taller of the two however, who leaned down and kissed the other, had a wild head of hair that Ennoshita would recognize anywhere.Ennoshita tugged on Futakuchi’s jacket to get his attention and gestured across the street. “Hey, look it’s Ku—”Futakuchi looked up just as the men disappeared inside. “There it is!” He exclaimed happily. He dragged Ennoshita across the street where a hand-painted wooden sign was very subtly hanging under a dimly lit streetlamp. “Wait, what were you going to say?”“I just saw Kuroo Tetsurou come in here with someone,” he murmured as they opened the door.Once inside, a wave of warmth washed over them and the staff immediately swooped in to take their winter outerwear. Futakuchi gave his name and they were led to a secluded table near the back of the restaurant. On their way over, Ennoshita nudged Futakuchi and jerked his chin towards the table he could see Kuroo and Snake Guy sitting at. Futakuchi’s eyes widened in response as they turned the corner, out of sight.
The host seated them and advised that the first course of the night's set menu would arrive shortly.Futakuchi, ever the gossip fiend, immediately leaned in close. “Oh my god, what is Kuroo doing with Daishou?! I thought they hated each other!”Ennoshita grabbed one of the hot towels from the table and visibly relaxed as he warmed his cold hands. “Considering I saw them kiss outside, they must’ve moved past it.”“Ehh?!” Futakuchi said loudly as soon as their waiter arrived. To their professional credit, they politely ignored the outburst and poured the men their hot sake.Ennoshita’s eyes sparkled when the first dishes were placed in front of them. “You like sea pineapple too?”Futakuchi scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve actually never tried one before, but you mentioned you liked them once, so…”Before he could finish his sentence, Ennoshita had scooped one up with his chopsticks and held it in front of Futakuchi’s mouth with a small but mirthful smile. “Go on.”Momentarily awestruck by Ennoshita’s rare and adorable show of public affection, Futakuchi happily took the food into his mouth.
As the potent taste consumed his mouth, Futakuchi started chewing more frantically— maybe he could pretend to like it more once it was out of his mouth— but he soon realized, to his horror, that his teeth were no match for the rubbery sea squirt. In a moment of panic, he scrunched his eyes shut and swallowed the damn thing whole and started coughing far too loudly for the quiet ambience around them.Once he reopened his watery eyes, he saw Ennoshita contentedly chewing his own morsel and losing the battle of holding back his laughter. Futakuchi slammed back the rest of his sake so he could at least pretend that his red face was from the alcohol.“I’m never letting you feed me again,” he grumbled in an obvious lie.Ennoshita, the smug bastard, simply took another bite and smiled back.While Futakuchi loved nothing more than to make Ennoshita laugh, he decided then and there that he'd be perfectly fine without ever eating on of those again.
The bitter cold was really making things difficult for Ennoshita as he struggled to make his clumsy fumbling fingers finish lacing up his skates.Futakuchi’s cloud of warm breath eased the chill when he cradled his hands and brought them up to his mouth for a barely-there kiss against Ennoshita’s icy knuckles.“You still wanna skate? We can always head to the party early if it’s too cold,” Futakuchi said as he wrestled his gloves back on and hobbled over to the entrance of the outdoor skating loop.Ennoshita grabbed Futakuchi’s hand and held tightly. “Nah, I’m sure we’ll warm up once we start moving,” he said as he stepped smoothly onto the ice.Futakuchi hesitated. It had definitely been a hot minute since he’d last skated and he’d already embarrassed himself enough tonight, thank you very much.He took a deep breath and stepped forward— his leading foot immediately slid out in front of him and his centre of gravity abandoned him in his greatest time of need.Ennoshita grabbed his hand tighter and managed to steady him enough to get his other foot under him. He placed a secure hand to the small of Futakuchi’s back that seemed to be burning a hole straight through all the heavy winter layers.Futakuchi laughed it off with a cheeky wink. “Wow, Chikara, you almost swept me off my feet, better luck next time!”“If I wanted to sweep you off your feet all I’d have to do is let go, Kenji,” Ennoshita threatened, loosening his grip.“You wouldn’t dare!”Apparently he would, because Ennoshita let go of him and started to slowly and tauntingly skate backwards leaving Futakuchi to stand alone and unbalanced like some sort of big dumb baby giraffe.Futakuchi gasped dramatically. “Get back here!” He started forward like he was learning to walk all over again as a grown ass man, but slowly the muscle memory returned to him.Once he’d managed a decently respectable pace, ignoring the small children that periodically skated past him with ease, skating was actually a lot more fun than he remembered it being.The lights strung up across the frozen river glistened off the snow banks, and the warm lantern-lit shops and stalls wafted delicious spiced fragrances.
Ennoshita had forsaken his gloves once again in order to film little snippets of their surroundings, complete with panning the camera over to Futakuchi’s semi-professional skating.Up ahead the skating loop turned into a corner, and one couple caught his eye.“Chikara!”Ennoshita tucked his phone back into his pocket and replaced his gloves as he effortlessly glided back to Futakuchi’s side— show off.“Look, it’s Daishou again!" Futakuchi hissed quietly. "And he’s with a girl this time! Do you think he’s cheating on Kuroo?”Ennoshita just barely caught a glimpse of the couple holding hands as they disappeared around the corner.“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Ennoshita chided. “Besides, maybe he’s cheating on her with Kuroo, want me to skate ahead and find out?”“Wait, I wanna come too!”Unfortunately, Futakuchi and his determination barely made it around the corner before the blade of his skate caught on a rough edge in the ice. He tried to catch himself but ultimately tumbled onto his ass before Ennoshita could respond to the helpless flailing and shouting.As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough in its own right, a small girl who can’t have been older than 10 whizzed past him to deliver a final devastating blow: “Cringe.”Futakuchi’s jaw dropped in offense. Somehow, that gut-punch hurt more than his backside did.The soft wheezing next to him made Futakuchi whip his head around to see his traitorous partner nearly doubled over with laughter. In fact, he was laughing so hard that he didn’t realize he had backed right up against the side of the frozen river until he had fallen backwards onto the snowbank.To see Ennoshita’s normally unaffected expression and tired eyes crinkle and shine with joy, even at his own expense, made Futakuchi’s chest clench with warmth. He scrambled gracelessly over to the snowbank and flopped down next to him, huffing a laugh of his own.“Nice to know you’ve got my back, asshole,” he teased halfheartedly. “Just for that, I’m taking your name off our White Elephant present.”The laughter suddenly stopped. “You didn’t tell me we were doing White Elephant tonight.”“Relax, I’m just kidding, I won’t take your name off.”Ennoshita turned his head to deliver an unimpressed look. “Show me what you’re gifting so I can decide whether I want to be associated with it or not.”“It’s fine, I’ll show you once we get back to the car,” Futakuchi waved him off. He was confident in his gift-giving skills, especially for his longstanding Dateko friends and teammates. “You seemed kinda nervous so I didn’t want you to have to worry about anything.”Ennoshita might’ve still been red form the cold, but Futakuchi could’ve sworn his blush deepened.“I mean, yeah, I haven’t properly met most of your friends in almost 5 years, and even then they were rather…” he hesitated before finishing, “intimidating.”Futakuchi simply smiled at him and his rosy red cheeks.“You’re cute when you’re nervous, but you really don’t need to worry, they’re gonna love you.”Futakuchi sat up and tugged Ennoshita along with him. “Now be a sweetheart and lead us back to solid ground? My ass is already numb.”
The winter storm was really starting to pick up by the time they made it back to the car, already partially buried in a thick layer of snow.Futakuchi opened the trunk and rummaged around before retrieving a small gift bag.“I’m telling you, it’s a great gift! Guaranteed laughs!” Futakuchi reassured him.Ennoshita narrowed his eyes in skepticism before he pulled out a package of novelty Christmas boxers with messages such as: “I’m a ho ho ho,” “Naughty List,” and “Deck my balls”.“Yeah, no, I’m getting my own gift,” Ennoshita said calmly, returning the bag to the trunk and starting to walk back towards the shops. Flashbacks filled his mind of the one year that Sugawara, Tanaka, and Nishinoya spearheaded the rowdiest Secret Santa he had ever had the misfortune of experiencing— he shuddered at the memory.Unfortunately because it was Christmas Eve, most shops had already closed. His options would be slim, but Ennoshita figured that at this point anything would be better than co-gifting vulgar underwear to a group of people he barely knows.“Hey wait up!” Futakuchi came bounding up from behind. “Mark my words, my gift is gonna be a hit!”Ennoshita gave him a couple half-hearted pats on the shoulder and brushed off some of the quickly accumulating snow. “Okay, Kenji,” he said with a small amount of condescension.Keeping a hand on Futakuchi’s shoulder, Ennoshita suddenly pushed down until both men were ducking behind a parked car. “It’s Kuroo again,” Ennoshita pointed out in a hushed whisper.Sure enough, Kuroo and the small woman they had seen skating were exiting a nearby konbini. Kuroo’s loud laughter was easily heard from their hidden vantage point.“Look, Mika-chan, it’s mistletoe!” Kuroo feigned shock as he pointed to the cheap bunch of mistletoe nestled in the rat’s nest of hair atop his head.“Oh my!” The woman, Mika, replied. “Would you look at that!” She giggled before she craned her neck up to give the man a quick peck. The couple smiled big cheesy grins as they walked away.“What the fuck is happening,” Futakuchi asked, dumbfounded.“Beats me,” Ennoshita replied as he rose up from a crouch. “At least the konbini is still open though, let’s go.”“I don’t know what you’re gonna find in there that’s better than my gift, but knock yourself out!” Futakuchi trailed after him.Ennoshita perused the store longer than necessary, partially to bask in the warmth a little longer, but also because he wasn’t quite sure how to wrangle a decent gift together on such short notice.He just knew that the store’s selection of cheap socks and scarves weren’t going to cut it.“Oh, how about something fun like these?” Futakuchi held up a handful of tacky headbands, including the one with mistletoe that Kuroo had been wearing. Futakuchi was already sporting a pair of ridiculously shaped 2025 New Year’s glasses.Ennoshita shook his head with a humourless laugh. “Come on, help me out here! Do you all actually do gag gifts?”“Nah, only for our dear Pantalons,” Futakuchi laughed as he donned a striped hat with elf ears.“Huh?”“Don’t worry about it, you’ll see.”Ennoshita hummed in thought as he turned towards an array of vaguely seasonal pastries and sweet buns.“Oh! I’ve got an idea,” Futakuchi sidled up next to him waggling the headbands in suggestion, “but it’ll cost you a photo.”“Fine.” Ennoshita huffed and shoved the reindeer horns on with a small pout.The camera shutter sounded and Futakuchi’s phone background immediately updated.“Perfect! Now, let’s buy out all their kuri-anpan!”The snow was falling down hard, so Futakuchi devoted his full attention to the windy mountain road.After one particularly sharp curve, they saw a small car with with flashing lights that had veered off the main road into a snowbank. 3 people waved their arms frantically at Futakuchi’s oncoming car.
“Oh shit,” Futakuchi said under his breath as he turned on his hazard lights and pulled over. “Bad night to be stuck in a snowbank.”Ennoshita gasped in disbelief. “Wait, look who it is!”Kuroo, Daishou, and Mika immediately ran over to their car and Kuroo did a double take when he saw the two men get out.“Wow! Fancy meeting you guys h—”“Are you all dating each other?” Futakuchi blurted out, his curiosity overriding his brain-to-mouth filter.“Kenji!” Ennoshita swatted him on the shoulder and stepped forward. “Please excuse him, you don’t need to answer that. But more importantly, are you all okay?”Kuroo’s booming laughter rang out and he put a hand on both Mika and Daishou. “Yeah, that’s right! This is my boyfriend Daishou Suguru and my girlfriend Yamaka Mika!”“Nice to meet you,” Daishou and Mika both said as they bowed their heads slightly.“We’re fine, by the way,” Daishou answered. “We hit a patch of black ice and unfortunately some people aren’t adequately prepared for winter emergencies,” he side-eyed Kuroo with a scowl.“I don’t know what to tell you, Sugu-chan,” Kuroo replied with a forced smile. “I’ve never needed a shovel in my car because I’ve never driven into a snowbank before.”Daishou opened his mouth to reply but Mika swooped in and tugged both their ears harshly before she turned back to Ennoshita and Futakuchi.“Please tell me you guys can help dig us out? You’re the first car we’ve seen!” She asked with pleading eyes.Futakuchi immediately lifted his hand in salute to make up for his rude question. “We’ll get you back on the road no problem!”
He dug through the trunk to retrieve his own shovel before immediately getting to work freeing the front end of the car.The others huddled around awkwardly, shivering from the cold and unable to properly offer much help.
Daishou cleared his throat. “So, uh, how do you know each other?”“Oh we go way back! I’m surprised you don’t recognize them, Sugu-chan,” Kuroo prattled on. “But I certainly didn’t know that Captain Crow Jr and Mr Iron Wall had become such a close pair,” he directed a knowing smirk at Ennoshita, who pointedly looked away from the scrutiny.“Hey! I was a captain too!” Futakuchi called out from behind the car.Daishou raised his brows in surprise. “Ah, Karasuno and Date Tech, huh? Maybe we all oughta play a match sometime if you're ever in Tokyo.”Mika sighed in exasperation. “Everywhere I go, volleyball nerds…”“And yet you love us anyway,” Kuroo beamed, kissing the top of her head.“Alright guys, let’s try pushing!” Futakuchi said as he re-emerged from the snowbank.
Ennoshita was impressed with how quickly he managed to clear the snow. His partner may be ridiculous most of the time, but Ennoshita felt a small tug of pride for how dependable he had become.Daishou steered from the driver’s seat and the rest of the crew pushed the front end of the car until they managed to free it enough to where the tires had purchase once again.The throuple thanked them profusely and wished them a happy holiday as they drove off up the mountain and out of sight.“You know,” Ennoshita started as they climbed back into the car, both visibly shivering. “You’re actually really reliable.”“Pffft, of course I am! I’m not just a pretty—”He jammed the key in the ignition to start the car and was met only with a loud clicking sound of the motor failing to start. He tried a couple more times with the same result.After a beat of silence Futakuchi deflated. “Shit. The battery’s dead.”He fiddled around with his gloves so that he could take out his phone. “Well, we’re not too far, I can call someone to give us a jump.”An automated voice pierced the eery winter quiet of the car: “Your call cannot be completed as dialled.”Ennoshita laughed quietly in disbelief. “It’s almost impressive how you can’t catch a break today,” he said.“Chikaraaa!” He whined and flopped over to cling onto Ennoshita. “Our first Christmas together and we’re gonna freeze to death!” He gasped. “And your birthday! You can’t die before your birthday, I had even more fun things planned!”Suddenly a pair of cold chapped lips pressed against Futakuchi’s, and his head was held firmly between Ennoshita’s gloved hands. After the kiss, their foreheads rested on one another.“Hey, stay with me Kenji,” Ennoshita said with a soft smile. “Nobody’s going to die. I’m sure a car will pass by soon that will help us, just as we helped the others, alright?”Futakuchi looked back seriously and furrowed his brow in thought for a moment.“I’m not counting on any cars passing by, but there should be a lookout up ahead with reception. It’s kinda risky, but I think we can make it.”Ennoshita searched his eyes and softened. “Let’s give it a try.”
Futakuchi raised his arms up to the heavens. “We’re saved!”Aone’s deep voice promised a swift rescue mission over the tinny phone speaker before the line clicked off.The warm lights of the ski village below them were still visible through the swirls of snow falling relentlessly from the sky. Ennoshita thought it might’ve even been a nice aesthetic if the risk of frostbite wasn’t currently at the forefront of his mind.“Let’s head back to the car?” He suggested.The downhill journey back to the car somehow felt even longer than the way up. Their heavy steps compacted the freshly falling snow that had already filled their earlier tracks. Ennoshita was stumbling along as fast as he could without letting Futakuchi get too far ahead.“My toes are gonna fall off,” Ennoshita mumbled under his breath with a shiver.Suddenly Futakuchi stopped and crouched down in front of him with the offer of a piggyback ride. Ennoshita climbed on wordlessly and gratefully squeezed Futakuchi in appreciation.“Hold on tight, spider monkey!” Was the only warning he got before Futakuchi picked up the pace, somehow managing a light jog through the snow.Ennoshita couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped him yet again that night. “You did not just quote Twilight at me!”Their laughter faded as Futakuchi’s heavy breathing grew louder, and soon enough they made it back in one piece.Ennoshita sat himself back inside the car. It was still ridiculously cold, but at least they’d be sheltered from the wind and snow now.Futakuchi returned from the trunk with a heavy blanket and squeezed himself onto the already occupied passenger seat. He settled himself halfway onto Ennoshita’s lap, closed the car door, and draped the blanket over them both with a grin.Ennoshita raised a questioning eyebrow at him.“Is this really necessary? I’m sure the others will be here any moment now.”“Survival 101,” the big man-child smirked as he tucked the blanket tightly around them. “You’re not gonna freeze to death on my watch!”“Right,” Ennoshita pulled Futakuchi fully onto his lap as he spoke. “You’re sharing body heat purely for survival, no ulterior motives whatsoever.”“Nope. But I’ll still accept a reward for my chivalry, if you’re offering.”“I don’t believe I was,” Ennoshita smiled and leaned in to boop the tips of their noses together.As if on cue, bright headlights shone straight through the windshield and an oncoming car, presumably Aone’s, pulled up right in front of them.Startled, Futakuchi attempted to scramble back over to the driver’s seat, but his efforts were thwarted by the tangle of the blanket. His hip smacked the car’s centre console with a loud thud that buffeted his shoulder straight into the steering wheel— the loud horn effectively shattering their previous quiet moment.He valiantly fought to right himself against the driver’s side door until it was yanked open and he fell out with a yelp.An overly enthusiastic Koganegawa looked down at him and cycled through at least 5 different emotions.“Senpai! Are you alright!?”“Just fine,” Futakuchi replied from the ground. “Doing great down here.”“Oh good! Cause I heard the horn and normally it sounds all BWAAA but that one sounded more like BWUUU so I thought it was a danger horn!”Ennoshita, the traitor, was once again laughing at Futakuchi's misfortune and quietly wondering what Koganegawa thought a 'danger horn' was.Sakunami came running over and took one glance at the situation before he sighed and helped Futakuchi to his feet.Aone was already setting up the jumper cables and greeted him with a knowing nod.“C’mon, Kogane,” Sakunami urged him back to the car. “Sorry about him, he had a little too much egg nog and insisted on coming with us, you’re both alright though?”Futakuchi peered into the car where Ennoshita was still fighting back a smile. He mirrored it with a small one of his own. “Never better.”Onagawa eyed the comically large gift box with suspicion. Having had all previous gifts stolen from him, the final White Elephant gift under the tree was now his.He peeled off the paper and opened the box only to find more packing paper and increasingly smaller boxes until he opened the smallest one with dismay.“How does this happen every year?!” He groaned as he revealed a hideously patterned pair of bell bottoms. “Who was it this time? Huh?”Onagawa scanned the circle of Dateko alumni, who all howled with laughter except for a very red-faced and guilty looking Fukiage who was suddenly very interested in looking at the ceiling.“Always the quiet ones,” Onagawa grumbled, as though he wasn’t wearing a red pair of pantalons that Futakuchi knows for a fact he got from last year’s Christmas Party.Ennoshita excitedly unpacked the disposable camera he had just received, and by the time he turned around to photograph the group, Aone was already surrounded by the empty sweet bun packages from Ennoshita’s convenience store gift.The large man looked incredibly pleased as he finished chewing with his eyes closed. A light dusting of crumbs outlined his ghost of a smile.Next to him, Kamasaki chortled immaturely as he read all the ridiculous Christmas puns from the package of underwear.“I told you it’d all work out,” Futakuchi murmured lowly in Ennoshita’s ear. “Aone loves chestnuts and Kamasaki has the humour of a 12-year-old.”Futakuchi paraded Ennoshita around proudly as the group ate, drank, and revelled in merriment.“Hey everyone, check it out!” Obara called, waving the group over. “Looks like Sasaya’s wife just sent a photo to the group chat!”The group all checked their phones or glanced at ones nearby to take in the peaceful image of Sasaya fast asleep with a Santa hat placed delicately atop his head. In each arm was a small newborn baby, one dressed in red and one dressed in green; all three were drooling.Kamasaki sniffed. “He’s really living his househusband dreams.”Futakuchi slung an arm around Kamasaki’s neck. “Aw don’t sweat it Kamachi, I’m sure Moniwa would let you be his househusband if all else fails!”Ennoshita snapped a photo at the exact moment that Moniwa walked past and swatted Futakuchi on the back of his head. “No I won’t.”Kamasaki untangled himself from Futakuchi with a huff. “Life’s too busy to even think about starting a family right now.”“And yet you two always have time to host all your precious kouhai’s for Christmas every year! Well, I for one hope you never get a girlfriend!”“You little shit—!” Kamasaki chased after Futakuchi who darted away.Moniwa handed Ennoshita a freshly filled glass of mulled wine. They winced simultaneously when Kamasaki almost tripped over one of Koganegawa’s legs from where he laid snoring on the ground.Obara and Onagawa were locked in some sort of serious-looking debate whilst both hanging upside-down off the couch and back over at the table Aone was somehow already dominating the others at Monopoly.“Welcome to the circus,” Moniwa nudged Ennoshita. “We hope you’ll stay a while.”Ennoshita made a show of looking outside at the snow that continued to pile high before he turned back with a cheeky little smirk. “I’m not going anywhere.”