Shine Brighter

“…Okay, ” Shintaro began, grinning down Kano, who was laying in his lap, cheeks red from laughing. “What type of car would a farmer drive?”

Kano raised an eyebrow. “Do I really want to know, Shin? I’m not sure how much more of this I can take…” He answered weakly, clearly still trying to keep from giggling at the previous joke about bears and airplane stunts.

“This ones good, I promise.” He was met with an eye roll from the other, but there was no denying the look of amusement flickering in his eyes. Kano was the type of person who found even the worst puns to be absolutely hysterical. If Shintaro managed to come up with a particularly good one, the younger would laugh so hard he’d snort. Actually snort. Even though his Kano thought otherwise, Shintaro found it incredibly endearing.

“Okay okay! Tell me then. But I’m definitely not going to snort this time, so don’t get your hopes up,“ he quipped, crossing his arms over his chest as if he’d just won an argument. He tried his best to look defiant. Really, he did. But he was also biting down on his lower lip to keep himself from laughing and he had a blanket half pulled over him decorated entirely with Totoros. Honestly, it took every ounce of Shintaro’s willpower not to lean down and kiss him until he was completely breathless and pleading for more.

But seeing his boyfriend double over with laughter was an opportunity way too good to pass up. "Alright, Here goes..do I get a drumroll?”

Kano shot him an incredulous look. “A drumroll? Really, Shin?” He teased, tilting his head to the side. “Well, if you say so. But this better be the best damn joke I’ve heard all day if it’s gonna be drumroll worthy!”

Not wasting anymore time, (after his boyfriend started the drumroll, of course) Shintaro cleared his throat. “Well, some just like using tractors, but the high-maintenance ones prefer cattle-acs.”

It took a moment or so for the joke to click in Kano’s mind. When it did, his eyes lit up and he threw his head back, filling the room with his contagious laughter. “Cattle-acs? Like…like a Cadillac? Oh my god Shin that’s so laaaame!” He groaned, though the disapproval wasn’t too convincing considering the fact that he could hardly get sentences out through fits of giggles.

“Lame? Huh, I wonder what kind of reaction I’d earn my jokes were quality…” He trailed off, deciding instead to focus on the other. In retrospect, his joke wasn’t anything short of ridiculous, but somehow Kano seemed to enjoy his dry sense of humor. Every time he laughed, Shintaro would find himself staring for long periods of time, because it was probably one of the cutest things things in the world. If there was an exhaustive list of cute things--any cute things that he’d witnessed in his life, Kano’s laugh would definitely be pretty high up.

Maybe even number one.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, Shin! The lamer your jokes are, the funnier mine seem! We make a good pair like that, you know?” He placed a hand on his chest and squared his shoulders, apparently feeling pretty triumphant. Normally, Shintaro would have found it slightly infuriating. Then again, it was way more fun to play along with the boy’s antics.

Shintaro scoffed. “Alright then let’s hear one from you. But I’m expecting comedy gold, just so you know.” One of his hands went down to tussle Kano’s hair, which was already messy from a previous fake wrestling match. And by ‘fake wrestling match’ he meant fake wrestling turned into tickling turned into both of them ending up tired and wanting to take a nap.

“Hey...my hair is already a mess…” he whined, half-heartedly trying to brush Shintaro’s hand away. After a couple swats, he shrugged. “Eh….whatever...but if I’m gonna tell a joke, you better get out a notebook or something because you’re totally gonna want to take notes from the master of crude humor, yours truly!”

Kano winked up at him, and it was Shintaro’s turn to roll his eyes. “Oh, God, that sucks. You know I just ran out of notebook paper the other day when I was writing down my thesis statement on why being blond shows a positive correlation with being a little shit.” He chided, laughing lightly as his boyfriend’s facial expression contorted into a look of shock.

“H-Hey! You can’t say that! Besides, you’re forgetting the part about how blondes have more fun…” He pouted, still smiling despite himself as he reached up, finally managing to grab Shintaro’s hand. He paused briefly as if to weigh his options, before lacing their fingers together. “Ah, but, I have a better idea than sharing lame puns all afternoon..” There was a trace of shyness in his voice, and his cheeks heated up a bit.

Shintaro gulped. “Uh, I…sure, let’s hear that then…” He had a very distinct feeling he knew what was coming, yet at the same time just about every scenario imaginable was playing out in his mind. He could feel himself going red at how strikingly vivid his imagination was, which, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing unless there was a cute boy lying in his lap. Then it was a bad thing.

For a short period of time, Kano stayed quiet. It was only then that Shintaro noticed just how sticky the air in the apartment was--and how difficult it was to breathe. Kano’s eyes had darted off to the side, his blush deepening as seconds turned into minutes of total silence between the two of them. Normally, Kano hated silence. He had mentioned once that the sound of human voices, regardless of who they belonged to, put him at ease. It was the reason why Shintaro often left the television on until the blond dozed off each night. It was the motivation behind staying up late and reading novels out loud per his nightly requests, which, oddly enough were usually written in English because according to him it was, ‘hella attractive.’

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, their eyes met. “Well…you can start by kissing me…” He murmured, flashing Shintaro a half-lidded smile that literally made his heart skip a beat.

Or three.

Shintaro nodded once. “That…I think i can manage,” he said quietly, nodding again as he leaned down to tentatively pressed their lips together. Kano laughed lightly against the kiss, wasting no time sitting up and straddling him. His eagerness was infectious, and really, Shintaro couldn’t keep himself from smiling. Breaking the kiss, he lolled his head to the side and gently nibbled on his boyfriend’s collarbone, earning a gasp and another bout of laughter.

“S-Shin! That--Ah..that tickles!” His hands came around to tightly grip Shintaro’s shoulders as he buried his forehead in the crook of his neck, still giggling all the while. “You...You know I’m ticklish…!” He huffed, his voice muffled slightly against the fabric of Shintaro’s jersey.

His little gasp was adorable. His laugh was adorable. Even his voice was adorable. Hell, at this point he was pretty sure everything about Kano was adorable. “Oh trust me, I know you’re ticklish, babe.”

Kano let out a small squeak in response to the pet name for a second there Shintaro honestly thought he was going to faint. “You...You’re cute, you know that?” His voice was barely above a whisper as he took the boy’s face in his hands and closed the gap between their lips a second time.

Every so often, there were moments of perfect balance in Shintaro Kisaragi’s life.

It was one of those laughably mundane afternoons--the weather was humid, and the overcast skies seemed as if they were ready to burst at any moment, though they never did. The ceiling fan wasn’t doing as very good job of cooling the room, but maybe just the sound of the wooden blades rotating was somewhat soothing. That, coupled with the sound of breath against the shell of her ear, and the slow, but steady heartbeat belonging to the girl lying on top of her.

“Tsubomi, am I pretty?” Momo hadn’t spoken in a while--she had been more focused on regulating her breathing and making herself comfortable within the tangled mess of sheets.

Yes. You are, you always have been. Why would you even ask?

Exhaling, Kido tentatively ran her fingers through Momo’s hair. It was slightly uneven--side-pony had been removed, and wisps of fringe were dangling in her eyes as she gazed up at Kido. A look of doubt flickering in her eyes.

“Y-You’re beautiful.” Her voice trembled a bit. She really couldn’t help the blush coming on.

The statement caused a radiant grin to spread across Momo’s face as her eyes softened, filling up with love. “You too, Tsubomi.”

*****************

Shopping trips were a frequent occurrence in their relationship. Whether it be casual browsing or a full-out spree, thanks to Momo, it was definitely a common item on their daily agenda. Upon entering any given store, the idol would run off to the item that caught her eyes the fastest. Taking all of her idiosyncrasies into account, it wasn’t abnormal for her to be drawn to some of the strangest looking objects and outfits Kido had ever seen.

“This is pretty cute, don’tcha think?” Momo asked, twirling around to watch the bright yellow dress flutter behind her.

Kido was speechless. Her eyes darted from the bright sequins around the bust, to the feathers on the shoulder, and back to Momo. “Well it’s… it’s shocking, to say the least.”

“Eh? I think this color suits me, though.” Her voice was unusually quiet--the same volume it always was whenever Momo was sulking.

“You didn’t let me finish,” she began, her lips quirking up into what was hopefully a reassuring smile. “You look fine in anything, Momo.”

This time, it was the blonde’s turn to blush. A small laugh escaped her lips as she turned around to face her girlfriend. “You know, Tsubomi, I bet this dress would look cute on you, too! Go ahead, try it on!”

“T-That won’t be necessary.”

It looks nicer on you, anyway.

****************************

Typically speaking, the beach wasn’t really all that pleasant this time of year. Around springtime, the water is usually too cold to swim in, and the ocean breeze makes it difficult to wear anything that even resembles bathing suit without shivering. Today, however, it was different. The weather was surprisingly mild, and it was warm enough to actually enjoy the water.

That didn’t mean Kido necessarily liked the beach. Actually, she hated it ever since her initial visit with the Tateyama family. Apparently seagulls would chase around anybody holding anything edible and she made the horrible mistake of trying to feed one of them part of her grilled cheese. It was that day Kido realized that seagulls were nothing like the birds in Disney films and that they were, in fact, nightmare fuel.

It didn’t help that Momo seemed to be completely fascinated by them.

“Tsubomi, aren’t they cute? I mean, I know they attack people every once in a while but maybe they just want to play or something like that! Besides, they have to eat somehow, right?” Momo whispered, gently tossing another chip towards the mass of seagulls that were gathered a few  feet away. Her enthusiasm would have been more contagious if Kido didn’t hold a grudge, but as far as she was concerned seagulls were literal hell spawn.

“Don’t you want to try feeding one?” Momo was staring at her expectantly, pushing the half empty bag of chips into her hands.

“I-I’m not going anywhere near those.” There’s no way in hell.

“Ah, right, right, you don’t like seagulls, huh? It’s kinda like how I don’t like going into the water much.” Her eyes were fixated on the rise and fall of waves down on the other end of the beach It was low-tide, and the water had receded several meters. From this far off, it didn’t pose an immediate threat. But Momo was almost constantly glancing up at it to make sure it hadn’t gotten too close, though it would be impossible for the water to reach their blanket even during high-tide.

Not liking the water much was an understatement. No, Momo was terrified.

Taking all of this into account Kido decided the next best thing to do was reach over and grab her girlfriend’s hand. “Y-You don’t have to be afraid of anything, okay? I’ll protect you.”

The blonde looked up from her trance, her eyes glazed over slightly. “Heh, I know you will, Tsubomi. I’ll protect you too, especially from the seagulls.”

There was a moment of silence before Momo spoke up again. This time, there was a hint of apprehensiveness in her tone. “Hey, can tell you something?”

Kido nodded briskly, her eyes darting back and forth between her girlfriend and a seagull that was starting to get uncomfortably close to their beach blanket.

“I love you.”

For a brief moment, Kido could have sworn time stopped altogether. Her breathing hitched and her hands became clammy as she stared blankly back at Momo. Her heart was beating so rapidly she thought it would practically explode. The world around her seemed to tilt on it’s hinges, throwing everything off of it’s natural balance.

Momo…..Huh?!

“Eh..sorry, Tsubomi, maybe...I spoke too soon, you know?” Her voice was trembling to the point of cracking as she crunched bits of sand and rock beneath her toes.

“W-Wait! Don’t cry...I…!” She paused to stop herself from reeling forward and falling face first into a sand dune. “L-Listen, I...I love you too, okay? I... just wasn’t expecting tha--”

Before she could finish she felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around her torso, knocking her backwards and sending her down onto the blanket.

There were tears at the very corners of Momo’s eyes and her shoulders were shaking considerably. Nonetheless, she wore a radiant grin that Kido thought had the ability to light up an entire room. Just looking at her like this, bubbling with elation was enough to put everything back into perspective. As long as Momo’s smiles were being directed at her, everything was in place, and in that moment, the world would finally stop spinning.

Everything would be in balance.

*****************************************

“T-This is a d-disaster.”

“It’s a simple mistake, Momo, um, don’t cry, okay?”

“I forgot the words!” 

By all means, the concert should have gone perfectly fine without problems, just as the majority of Momo’s concerts did. Though she was more of the spontaneous type, she had a definite, pre-planned routine for every performance. All of which, was geared towards making her shows as immaculate as possible. Albeit, there were mistakes from time to time--usually technical difficulties or a wardrobe malfunction. But there were certain situations that were unavoidable regardless of how many rehearsals went into a showcase.

The concert had been going well all up until Momo was supposed to sing her newest single, which had already been playing constantly on the radio. This particular concert, however, was the first night she would be performing the song live in front of an audience. As the music started playing, her nerves got the better of her. She froze up completely. Her lips were parted, yet she couldn’t seem to get a sound out of them. Murmurs drifted through the audience, and it didn’t take long for her manager to yell something about a fifteen minute intermission into the intercom.

Backstage, Momo was in tears. Her makeup dripped off her face and onto her sleeves, which were now stained in black with eyeliner. She could hardly form coherent sentences without breaking into another round of sobs. The only thing Kido would do was stare.  Her awkward attempt at comfort only made her girlfriend cry harder, causing her makeup artist to shriek as she frantically tried to wipe the idol’s smeared eyeliner away.

Say something, dammit.

“Momo, I...look, you tried your best, that’s all that matters, right?”

Momo picked her head up out of her hands and shot a glare at Kido. “B-But I always mess things up! A-And now everyone is gonna talk about this! T-They’re all gonna hate me!”

Kido’s jaw clenched, her teeth grinding together. She could feel the anger surging to her face. “If they’re seriously going to hate you over this then they’re not worth your time, dammit! Who…..Who cares about what the fucking tabloids say about you!”

The makeup artist was still babbling about how her ‘precious work had been tarnished,’ but Momo stopped sniffling for a moment to stare at Kido. A look of slight bewilderment on her face.

“It’s important to me.”

“Huh?” Kido was at a loss. Back when they had first met, Momo had been looking of a way out of the spotlight. What had changed?

“What they think. It’s important to me. How well I do on stage, too. It’s all really important to me.”

“Momo…you don’t have to--”

“I don’t want to be a failure, Tsubomi, I want you to be proud to me. I want you to be proud to be my girlfriend “

Kido blinked. Her eyes darting from Momo to the finicky makeup artist, and back to Momo. The woman sniffed and turned around, her shoulders squared as she shuffled away. Apparently, she had just got the memo that it was time to leave. The blonde tilted her head to the side to watch the woman walk away as she used her thumb to wipe away the remaining tears at the corners of her eyes.

“Had I...given the impression that I wasn’t proud to be with you…?” Kido’s voice was hardly above a whisper. How could she have been so selfish?

Momo was wringing her hands together tightly. Her eyes were still wet with tears as she shifted her gaze back up towards Kido. “No...No you haven’t I just….I just wanted to stop messing things up all the time. That’s all.”

Kido let out an exasperated sigh before her lips turned up into a small smile. “You know, Momo, you’re worth a hell of a lot more than you think you are. And hey, everybody has to mess things up sometime or another, right? Remember the time we tried roller skating together?”

“And you fell into a full split?”

“Oi, it freaking hurt!”

As embarrassing as the memories were, the smile that bloomed on Momo’s face was enough for her to let the teasing slide. With a moment’s hesitation, Kido knelt down to tentatively wipe the rest of the blonde’s tears away. “Are you gonna go back out there…?”

Momo nodded, biting down on her lip. Her smile never faltering. “Ah, yeah, yeah I will…” She paused briefly, as if she were considering something profound. She then leaned forward to press a quick kiss to Kido’s lips. “Heh, thank you, Tsubomi.”

“N-No problem…..”

The round of laughter that followed was just about the cutest thing Kido had ever heard.

**********************

“You look beautiful, Tsubomi.”

“S-So do you..”

Continuing to run her fingers through thick sets of curls, Momo smiled at her fiancée, her gown moving side to side with every step she took. Her dress was a classic ivory Queen Anne ball gown adorned with a scarlet ribbon that circled around her waist and rested in a loose knot. It was absolutely stunning--just like her. It fit her perfectly, and she knew right away that it would be ideal for a wedding.

Kido’s dress was more of a bateau style with sleeves that ended at her elbows. A matching ribbon tied around her waist, too. Her hair was in a Dutch braid that cascaded down her left shoulder, held together by a little white bow. Normally, Kido wasn’t entirely fond of dresses, but this one was rather comfortable, actually, and it was elegant enough to qualify for a wedding gown.

Momo’s dress was far more extravagant, though this wasn’t surprising in the slightest. They had always been opposites, yet they managed to balance each other out in a way that made everything feel perfect.

Perhaps it was a certain state of equilibrium.

Really, Kido wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Tsubomi, the ceremony is going to start soon..are you ready..?” Momo was clutching at her wrists in a way that made her seem nervous. Almost. Rather, it was a mixture of excitement and restlessness. Upon their arrival to the wedding hall, the blonde had mentioned that she’d been wanting this for a while. There had been a look of longing in her eyes that never really left. It remained even now, just moments before the ceremony was scheduled to begin.

“As I’ll ever be..” Kido couldn’t take her eyes off of Momo. Maybe it was because she was afraid that if she did, she would wake up from a terribly long dream only to find out that they weren’t about to be married at all.

“--Tsubomi? Momo? The official is ready whenever you are.” It was only after Kousuke had  knocked on the dressing room door that Kido snapped out of her daze. She could feel her heart rate picking up speed and her palms were starting to sweat.

This was it.

Before she could step forward, she felt Momo latch onto her hand. A bright smile gracing her face as she gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s finally here, isn’t it?”

It was in that moment that something lit a spark inside of Kido. Maybe it was a long-awaited surge of confidence, or perhaps it was debilitating anxiety but she knew she had to speak her mind before she lost her nerve. She was far past the point of biting her tongue. Inhaling sharply, she turned around on her heels, taking both of Momo’s hands in hers and gripping them tightly. Say it now.

“Momo...I love you...and I’m proud to be your wife.”

A moment of heavy silence followed her confession. Momo simply stared back at her, as if it hit her all at once, bringing her thoughts to a screeching halt. Before long, tears started flowing down the blonde’s face in tandem with a radiant smile.

“I’m proud to be your wife, too, Tsubomi.”

It didn’t take long for them both to become messy with tears. After a short while Marry ended up running in with tissues and a familiar shrieking makeup artist who now had waterproof mascara at her disposal.

Although their dresses had been stained slightly by eye makeup, and the ceremony ended up running late due to the extra time allotted for waterproofing their makeup, Kido was convinced that the wedding was perfect in every single way.

It was Takane’s idea. Somewhere along the way she suggested they hang up mistletoe all around the apartment for the Christmas Eve party, and really, Shintaro wasn’t surprised in the slightest because Takane was practically dead set on embarrassing him as some sort of sick way to redeem herself for calling him ‘master’ for two years.

Either that, or she was trying to play matchmaker, which also wouldn’t be surprising at all considering the fact that he inadvertently blurted out that he might have feelings for Kano after hours of her pestering him about it the night before.

It wasn’t love—not even close. Rather, it was likely more of a situational thing. After kano had apologized to him, in that moment shintaro felt a strange connection to him. All the mysteries surrounding the boy began to unravel, and his actions started making sense.

The way his eyes would flicker for a brief moment when he thought no one was looking, and how he would laugh whenever he was delivered a verbal or physical blow. Even his smile, which always remained unmoving, as if it were plastered on like a porcelain mask. Really, that’s exactly what it was—a mask worn by a boy who thought of himself as too hideous to be seen without it. In retrospect, Kano wasn’t so much of a bad person as he was a kid who had to grow up way too quickly.

Maybe Shintaro could chalk up all of his jumbled feelings for the boy to some sort of deep respect. But he’d have a hard time of convincing anybody of this especially considering the fact that he found Kano Shuuya to be kind of adorable. His hair was always a bit messy, but it worked well for him, and the majority of his clothes were too big for him. Once, Shintaro caught him humming along to the apparently large amount of show tunes he had on his iPod, which caused his cheeks to heat up and a somewhat squeaky explanation on why he liked Wicked so much.

Taking all of this into account, Shintaro decided it was best to stay on the couch all day to avoid accidentally ending up under the mistletoe with anybody, especially Kano. His plan worked for a little while, but it became jeopardized when Kido asked him to bring up a box of ornaments from the basement.

Before leaving, Shintaro made a mental note of where every mistletoe in the apartment was hanging. But either he’d miscounted or the gods were bent on betraying him because when he opened the door, he ended up right smack under a mistletoe with Kano, who was apparently leaving the apartment charged with the task of doing the same exact thing.

It didn’t take long for Takane to start whooping and hollering over the fact that they were supposed to kiss.

There’s no way in hell.

"Ah, Shintaro-kun, it looks like you have to kiss me." His voice was even, and his lips quirked up into his usual smirk, serving as a grim reminder of what he was capable of.

"I-I’m not kissing you." At this point his cheeks were probably the same color as his jersey. It didn’t help that marry stood beside them with an expectant look on her face and a sketch pad.

"Well then, I’m not going to kiss you either. " he spoke up again, and this time, there was a split second where his face seemed to heat up, but it was probably just Shintaro’s imagination because when he blinked, the blonde was smiling again. "Besides, what makes you think I’d be willing to do something like that?"

Kano’s words hit him like a slap across the face. Of course Kano wouldn’t be willing to kiss him, because apology or not, the boy would always have a general distaste for him. How could he have been so ignorant?

Shintaro clicked his tongue in response and pushed past the blonde in order to make his way back to the couch. Takane’s whooping had stopped, and instead she mouthed ‘sorry’ through clenched teeth when nobody else was looking. Kano went back to helping with the decorations, and the party continued on in full swing as if nothing had ever happened.

At one point, Takane awkwardly made her way over to the couch to offer a more verbal apology for what had happened, but his mood had already turned sour and he was honestly considering going home instead of staying over like he originally planned on.

After a while, the party dwindled down into small talk, and people either left the apartment or went into their bedrooms, leaving Shintaro alone in the living room with a fake Christmas tree and a plate of cookies he didn’t have the appetite to touch.

He was about to get up and leave when he heard footsteps making their way into the room. He turned around just in time to see Kano plopping down on the couch beside him.

"Kano what do you want?" The irritation in his voice was probably tangible because Shintaro really, really didn’t want to deal with this sort of thing right now.

It took him a moment, maybe more to realize that Kano abruptly had leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

Shock was an understatement. His eyes widened drastically and he could hear the blood pumping in his ears.

"That was for earlier," he murmured quietly, leaning back as if to study Shintaro. For some reason, this was the first time Shintaro noticed the scars etched into kano’s face.

"Y-you didn’t have to do that…you hate me, so—"

"I don’t hate you."

There was silence for a moment or so before Kano spoke up again. “I…I felt bad about what I said earlier, and I wanted to make it up to you somehow.” His voice was hardly above a whisper, his cheeks were tinged pink, and his eyes darted to the side, avoiding Shintaro’s gaze.

Whether it was the confirmation that Kano didn’t hate him that gave him the boost of confidence, he wasn’t entirely sure, but after a moment's hesitation, Shintaro reached out to gently ruffle Kano’s mess of blonde hair. This action caused the Kano's cheeks to turn scarlet, and Shintaro took this as a cue to press a kiss of his own against Kano’s lips.

When he pulled away, Kano’s hair was a mess from being ruffled and his cheeks became an even darker shade of red than before if it were possible. It was just about the cutest thing Shintaro had ever seen.

"Merry Christmas," Shintaro said quietly, a small smile forming.

"S-same to you." His voice quavered a bit, and his hands shook slightly, but he soon picked up the television remote and started scrolling through channels. "Hey...there are a lot of Christmas movies on right now, y'know...do you want to watch one..?"

"Hell, I've been watching them all day, but one more wouldn't hurt. It'd be a waste not to."

Kano gave a small laugh. He then leaned a bit closer to Shintaro as the movie started playing. He was hesitant at first, almost as if he were wondering if the advance was welcome or not. It was, however, and Shintaro took to lightly running his fingers through the boys hair again, which Kano liked apparently because he let out a slightly shaky sigh.

Kageyama had expected Oikawa to do something over the top for Christmas this year--he

always

did. Whether is be purchasing a grossly inappropriate gag gift that would likely get Kageyama fired from his current job if there were ever to be photographic evidence of it or forcing to watch childrens’ holiday films with him until unholy hours of the morning, Oikawa always managed to spread his love for the holiday season in some unnecessarily grandiose way.

What Kageyama hadn’t expected was Oikawa appearing right outside his dorm room at two o’clock in the morning on Christmas Eve adorning foam reindeer antlers, red face paint on his nose and cheeks, and a hideous Santa Claus sweater that looked as if it were made entirely out of shag carpeting.

Upon seeing him, Kageyama immediately tried to shut the door because he really, really didn’t have time for this sort of thing and even if Oikawa was his boyfriend, there was only so much of him he could handle at any given time. Before he could succeed in slamming the door, however, Oikawa somehow managed to stick his foot halfway into the dorm room at a speed that rivaled his jump serve.

“You know, Tobio-chan, it’s rude to slam doors in a person’s face. Especially when that person is your boyfriend!” His voice was as strident and bold as ever, the only difference being that he was wearing an expression of mock-grief.

He was going to reply to that, he really was, but it was then that brunette decided to push his way into the dorm room, completely ignoring Kageyama’s previous attempts of protest. His usual playful smirk reappeared on his lips again as soon as he entered, and he wasted no time plopping down on the sofa.

“Making yourself at home of course.” Kageyama grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He let out an exasperated sigh and made his way over to the couch where his overbearing boyfriend was already flipping through television channels. The brunette paused for a moment to tear his eyes away from the flashing screen and raise an eyebrow at the raven.

“Well it definitely looks like you’ve had your morning coffee, Tobio-chan.” Every syllable that left his lips dripped sarcasm, but he never wiped that stupid grin off of his face. It wasn’t like he’d expected differently though. The lovable scoundrel type was Oikawa’s schtick, and to Kageyama’s dismay, he fell for it. Hard.

“It’s two in the morning, Oikawa-san, why the hell are you here?” His irritation with the whole situation was growing by the second and if he had the physical strength to do so, he would have dragged the brunette out by his ear.

Oikawa pouted his lips and mocked an expression of pain for the second time that evening. “Oh, is it really such a crime that I wanted to spend time with my boyfriend on Christmas?”

“Technically, it’s not Christmas yet.” He began, the muscles in his face twitching slightly. “And stop calling me Tobio-chan, bastard.”

“Well, there is a lot to do before Christmas, you know! And besides, I put all of this on just for you.. Don’t you realize that the least you could do is stop being so mean, Tobio-chan?” Of course, just as always, Oikawa ignored his request. He would be lying if he said the pet name hadn’t grown on him a bit, but the brunette had already tried his patience for the umpteenth time this evening.

He parted his lips to retort, then quickly clamped them shut again. He knew Oikawa was just trying to get a reaction out of him, and he wasn’t willing to give him that satisfaction.

Not yet anyway.

But evidently, his boyfriend could see past his attempts at maturity, and after a moment, a coy smile bloomed on his face. “You’re so cute when you’re trying to give me the cold shoulder Tobio-chan.”

If simple compliments had the ability to decrease the longevity of a person, Kageyama would have died on the spot because he really, really can’t help but blush whenever anybody  compliments him. His cheeks were practically crimson and every word that let his mouth came out in a humiliating stutter. It was only after Oikawa pulled him into his lap did he become silent.

Kageyama’s blush only deepened as the brunette hummed softly and wrapped his arms around his torso. He then pressed a trail of kisses down the back of his neck, causing the younger’s breathing to hitch slightly.

“Heh...you’re seriously cute…”

“S-Shut up.”

His shaky response earned a laugh from his Oikawa, and another round of kisses. After a moment, the raven decided on settling into his boyfriend’s warmth and closing his eyes for a short while, just content with the feeling of the other holding him. In all honesty, he wasn’t a huge fan of pda, or any type of affection for that matter, but he’d indulge in it--just the once. Maybe.

“You’re warm.”

“Hmm? What was that, Tobio-chan? I didn’t quite catch it.”

“You heard me.”

Oikawa laughed again, but this time he reached out for the TV remote and started flipping through Netflix Christmas films, his other arm still wrapped firmly around Kageyama’s waist. After finally, finally deciding on a movie, the brunette set the remote down and tugged the raven even closer than before, nuzzling into his neck and exhaling.

“Merry Christmas, Tobio, " He murmured, his voice hardly above a whisper.

Kageyama’s mouth hung open for a brief moment because he wasn’t sure if he heard correctly. Had he seriously dropped the ‘chan?” Seriously? For real? Well Merry Christmas it is then.

“You too.” 

“Hey, hey! I think you’re getting the hang of it, just try too look where you’re going next time okay?”

"Right…right.."

This was starting to get ridiculous. If earlier today somebody told him he’d be spending he afternoon stumbling around an ice skating rink he probably would have laughed in their face. This whole misadventure started it’s life as an idea that sprung from the mind of none other than momo kisaragi, who tended to be spontaneous in every sense of the word.

At the time when the idea was first presented, he figured it couldn’t possibly this difficult, but he’d been wrong before. And oh god was he wrong.

" you’re doing great, Kano!" She reassures him, her shoulder length blonde hair whipping to the left as she took off on another spin.

Normally he would have replied to that with his usual smirk but at the moment he’s preoccupied with muttering curse words and clinging to the side of the rink much like the child three meters ahead of him who is probably no older than seven.

To his right he catches a glimpse of Shintaro and Takane, who actually seemed to be getting the hang of this, and Shintaro, unlike Kano, hadn’t fallen in quite a while.

Oh god he’s even worse than Shintaro.

This is seriously the worst.

"Ah…Kano, do you need help..?" Momo asks, brushing a strand of golden fringe behind her ear. From the looks of it she’d been standing there wearing a look of concern for at least a few moments now. If utter humiliation had the ability to cut down the longevity of a person, then he would probably drop dead right in the middle of the ice rink.

" e-eh? Nah, I’m good….I’m great actually, heh…" Nice. Real nice.

She tilts he head to the side slightly in order to glance down at his skates, and by following her gaze he came across the horrific realization that his shoelaces somehow managed to tangle together as if he’s some sort of unfortunate comic relief character directly out of an episode of loony toons.

"Ah." He murmurs, his cheeks flushing a painfully bright shade of crimson as his fingers fumble with his knotted shoelaces. To his dismay his mask wasn’t working at the moment but that was probably because he’d slammed face first into solid ice earlier today so many times that his face and limbs became stricken with a perpetual ache.

He hears a soft giggle from momo, who now stood there extending her gloved hand out towards him in a playful manner. “Come on, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of this eventually! And besides, if onii-chan can do it, then so can you!”

After a few short moments pass by he lets out a sigh of defeat and accepts momo’s hand. She blinks once, then her smile becomes radiant, causing the blush on his cheeks to deepen even more. He parts his lips to speak, inwardly hoping his voice wouldn’t take on a humiliating stutter again, but before he can successfully get a single sentence out Takane and Shintaro come into view just in time for him to see the NEET take an less than glorious tumble face first into the wall on the other side of the rink.

He hears Takane yell something about blades of glory through fits of cackles and he really, really can’t help himself as he throws his head back and lets out a laugh in almost complete unison with momo. In all honesty he can empathize with Shintaro because hey, face planting into a wall isn’t exactly anybody’s idea of a good time, but he doesn’t have much time for condolences before he feels Momo tugging at his arm and dragging him out onto the center of the rink.

"Hey, you're getting the hang of this, Kano!" She chirps. her voice is encouraging, and he can feel himself hanging onto every single word that left her lips like a lifeline. 

"Well, well, I'm learning from the best, aren't I?" He offers a coy grin in return, and for a brief moment, a bright shade of scarlet appears on the idol's face. 

Oh..?

Corny Christmas music starts to play and that stunning grin blooms on momo’s face again, and really, it’s one of the cutest things he’s ever seen. While he can hardly stand up straight without his legs wobbling and his face is numb from the frigid winter air he really, really doesn’t mind it much if at all anymore. Momo kisaragi has one of those welcoming smiles that casts a warm glow in her surroundings, and it’s no wonder she has so many adoring fans.