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(There’s the snow, look out below, and bundle up, cus here it comes.)
When Oikawa awakens to laughter and the merry shouts of children outside his window, he scowls and tries to bury his head under the pillow. It’s Sunday, the one day where there’s no school and he gets to sleep in with no regret! He doesn’t even have to do homework, because he does it Wednesday morning or Saturday afternoon.
So being awakened by screaming infant demons is less than ideal. What’s the big deal anyways? Why are they so excited? After 10 minutes of noise, just as he’s starting to filter it out, there’s a thud against his window.
“Oiii!! Oikawa!” He bolts up in place. That’s Iwaizumi’s voice, and it’s soon joined by Hanamaki and Matsukawa, laughing and whooping and it sounds like they’re fighting in good jest, even tackling Iwaizumi as he shouts up at Oikawa window. There’s another thump.
“What on earth…?” He sits up, rubbing at his eyes and shuddering at the cold from where his duvet slips down. Luckily, he has winter pyjamas. And then, his eyes widen as he looks at his window. The thumps were snowballs impacting the glass, thrown by Iwaizumi’s powerful arm.
There’s snow!
Oikawa scrambles to kneel at his window, gasping at the scenery. All around, there’s layers of snow, on the ground, on rooftops, on windowsills-
His awed smile grows into a devious grin and he carefully wriggles open his window.
“Look out below~!” He sweep his arms across the windowsill, dislodging a huge amount of snow that cascades down on his three friends, Hanamaki shrieking as the snow goes down the back of his shirt.
“Oikawa, you’re dead meat!” He laughs, free and unabashed, dimples on his cheeks and crinkles at the corner of his eyes. He’s genuinely happy, and Iwaizumi huffs as he hears the melodic laugh.
“Hurry up and join us, Dummykawa.”
“Okay, okay! I’m coming!” Oikawa leaps from his bed, the chill forgotten as he dashes around his room, grabbing whatever looks warmest and layering them.
“Tooru, what are you doing?” His mother’s voice, warm with affection and amusement, chimes from the doorway where she stands with a basket of washing in her arms. Oikawa does up the buttons on his cardigan as he spins around to face her.
“I’m going outside with Makki, Mattsun, and Iwa-chan! So I have to bundle up! Like, super bundle up because it’s freezing.”
“Whatever you say, sweetheart~.” Oikawa’s mother shakes her head with a giggle as she continues on her way, knowing full well that despite all the layers, her son will be coming home covered in snow and soaked to the bone. It happens every winter.
“Oikawa! Hurry up!” Rolling his eyes, the setter moves back to his window, pulling on his glasses as he grins at the people below.
“Hold your horses, I’m getting dressed.”
“If you don’t get out here soon, we’ll send the snow to you!” Oikawa snickers, pushing his window open further and leaning over to push the snow off the small roof area in front of him, letting it avalanche off and send his three friends running backwards to not get buried.
“Oikawa!!!” He laughs, almost falling backwards on the bed and eyes watering, not seeing Matsukawa and Iwaizumi nod at each other, the former shaping large, perfect snowballs, and Iwaizumi rotating his arm to warm it up. Hanamaki realises what’s happening and joins them, although his snowballs are nowhere near spherical.
“Hey, Oikawa! Watch out for snow!”
“Huh? Why?”
“Cus here it comes!” He wipes away a jolival tear and peer out his window just in time for a snowball to impact him directly in the face, coating his fringe and glasses with large amounts of snow that doesn’t directly melt in contact with his skin. He should be a little mad that they threw a snowball into his room, but…
(Run outside, so starry eyed, a snowball fight breaks out, and winter has finally begun.)
“Oooh, you’re gonna get it now!” He slams his window shut and races down the stairs, skidding round the corner to the front door. He tugs his shoes on as quickly as possible, pulling on gloves and a wooly hat to go with it. Exhaling shakily with excitement, his hand hovers over the door handle, well aware the others could be waiting for him in ambush. He listens carefully, until he hears them playing amongst themselves again.
He wrenches the door open and runs outside, unable to hold back a squeal of pure glee, kicking up patches of snow with starry eyes, glittering in the cold winter air. A skip in his step - this is favourite weather - he races around the corner to where his friends are gathered in the street beneath his bedroom window.
Hanamaki and Matsukawa have teamed up, provoking Iwaizumi with teasing, and a snowball fight breaks out when he retaliates with the arsenal they built for him to pelt at Oikawa’s window. Squawking with laughter, Hanamaki scrambles to build some kind of mound they can take shelter behind, Matsukawa shooting back handfuls of snow that he doesn’t have time to shape into snowballs. They’re screeching, Iwaizumi laughing as harmless snowflakes rain down on him, launching another snowball towards Hanamaki.
Oikawa slides in on Matsukawa’s other half, crouching down in the snow to help Hanamaki with their wall, trying to build a fort to protect them from Iwaizumi’s onslaught.
“Hey! Three on one isn’t very fair!”
“It’s perfectly fair when it’s us three against you!” Iwaizumi pauses in throwing a snowball, thinking deeply before he nods.
“True. I could destroy all of you in any kind of winter game.” Oikawa and Matsukawa whip their heads around to Hanamaki, knowing fully well that he can’t resist rising to any challenge Iwaizumi raises. They’re almost stupidly competitive, although Oikawa can’t deny that he loves competing too. Rather, he loves winning.
True to form, Hanamaki stands up, jabbing a thumb at his chest and boyish grin in place.
“Oh yeah?! Well, I challenge you to- MMPH!” He falls backwards, sentence cut off, as Matsukawa pulls the ultimate betrayal and shoves a handful of snow in his face from behind. Oikawa and Iwaizumi burst out into laughter and Hanamaki turns around, trying to wrestle Matsukawa onto the ground.
It feels like winter has finally begun.
“You asshole, Issei!” Hanamaki manages to hook his foot around Matsukawa’s ankle and pulls it towards him, sending Matsukawa sprawling to the floor. Of course, Matsukawa grabs the closest thing, which happens to be Hanamaki, who grabs Oikawa, and all three go down screeching.
Iwaizumi laughs harder.
(I twirl through the driveway with angelic grace, till I slip on the sidewalk and fall on my face.)
“Tooru! Boys! Kids!” The call from Oikawa’s house has them look over, Oikawa’s mother waving from the window. She has a tray in her oven glove covered hands, steaming in the cold as it’s been freshly taken from the oven, little gingerbread Christmas shapes on it. They look and smell amazing, and Matsukawa audibly swallows as if he can taste it already.
“Are those for us?”
“Mhm~! Make sure to share them, though!” Iwaizumi, as the only one still on his feet, jogs over first with an award-winning grin. He might not be blood-related, but Oikawa’s family is practically his own, just as much as his family is Oikawa’s. Recently, they’ve started to merge with the Matsukawa and Hanamaki families as well.
They aren’t the only ones. This entire street is friendly with each other. They know each other by name, and the younger kids are like siblings to the teenagers. At Oikawa’s mother’s call, the children come running over with cheers and squeals, drawn in by the promise of food.
“Thanks, Auntie.” He tugs a glove off, picking a couple up and distributes them to the smaller kids who can’t reach up to the window. He lets them choose from the shapes, crouching down to pass it over and making sure they have a good hold of it before he lets go. Oikawa smiles softly.
Iwaizumi is so adorable with children, like some kind of saint. He even jokes with them when a little girl accidentally breaks the leg off a gingerbread santa, and before she can start crying, he gasps and makes the santa hop across his hand, squeaking “hoppity hop!” in a funny voice. The toddler goes from whimpering to laughing, clapping her hands and taking the gingerbread santa to gummily chew on. Iwaizumi stays crouched down in the snow until all of the kids have their choices, even if that means there’s only two shapes left.
“Oh dear, I didn’t make enough…”
“Don’t worry, Auntie. We’re big enough - and clumsy enough in Tooru’s case - that we can go without.”
“Hey! Iwa-chan! Whaddya mean clumsy enough?! I could be a ballerina!” To try and prove his point, Oikawa tries to do a pirouette on the ice in the driveway, twirling around with angelic grace. He grins as if to solidify his opinion.
But as he’s walking over to come and get one of the last gingerbread shapes, his foot slips. Landing on his front, he drops his face to the slippery ground. Comically, he goes limp and just slides down the slope of the sidewalk to the laughter of his friends and his mother.
He lifts his face with a huff as he tries to stand up, slipping on another patch of ice. Luckily, he has enough layers that he barely feels his butt colliding with the floor. More laughter.
“You’re all traitors!”
(This peppermint winter is so sugar sweet, I don’t need to taste to believe, what’s December without Christmas Eve?)
Hanamaki chuckles, expertly sliding down on his feet and offering Oikawa a hand. The two of them make their way over to the window where Matsukawa is devouring one of the gingerbread shapes, and expression of bliss making him look warm. If he had a tail, it’d be wagging.
“This are soooo good! Oikawa, your mom is genius! There’s peppermint in here! Peppermint!” Iwaizumi nods, nibbling on a bit that he’d broken off before Matsukawa could eat the whole thing.
“They’re so sugary sweet. How’dyou make them?” Oikawa-san taps the side of her nose with a grin, blushing at the compliments to her baking.
“Magic~.” Hanamaki sniffs the air, the smell of gingerbread and peppermint permeating through the cold sharpness.
“I don’t need to taste to believe that. They smell delicious.” Oikawa tilts his head at the last one on the tray, a distorted figure that looks like it could be a 24, or 2-linen.
“What’s that supposed to be?”
“It’s a 24! The oven distorted it a little.” Matsukawa reaches for it, but his hand is smacked away by Iwaizumi, as Oikawa-san passes it over to Hanamaki, who thanks her with a little giggle and starts happily munching on it like a chipmunk. Oikawa scratches the back of his head.
“Why 24?” Just before his mother recedes into the living room she grins, looking ten years younger with the sparkle of mischief in her eyes.
“What’s December without Christmas Eve~?” She closes the window, although Oikawa knows she’ll be whistling as she heads back to the kitchen. It’s almost impossible to stop her baking when it’s snowy outside. Something about this time of weather sends her into a baking frenzy, when she’d normally just resort to takeout.
“... We’re not even in double digits yet!!!”
(Hop in the sleigh, and we’ll glide away, into the night, and we’ll sip on moonlight.)
For the rest of the morning, the boys play in the snow via snowball fights, building snowmen, and they even make an igloo for the little kids to play house in. It’s cute to watch one of the older children - around 8 - playing Santa and asking writing what the kids want in the snow with a stick. Oikawa takes note of them on his phone, so he can deliver the news to the parents, just in case they’re struggling to find a gift their child really wants.
After all, if it’s the first thing they tell Santa, it’s definitely what they want most.
“Oikawa, come help us with this.” Matsukawa waves him over from behind a hedge, and Oikawa vaguely wonders if this is another ambush. Still, he jogs over, almost slipping again, and makes a small ‘oh’ sound when he sees what they’re doing.
Hanamaki and Iwaizumi had an old sled, just a piece of shaped plastic with a string to pull it along with. But they’re decorating it. Iwaizumi brings two cans of red paint out the garage, and Hanamaki unties the string to replace with a much longer rope he must have salvaged from Iwaizumi’s garage - just down the street. Matsukawa has a ton of cardboard boxes in front of him, drawing on them.
“What are we doing?”
“It’ll be getting dark soon, so we’re gonna give the kids one last surprise.”
“Surprise?”
“A sleigh ride.” Oikawa deadpan stares at the tiny sled, wondering why he hadn’t thrown it out years ago, when Takeru outgrew it and brought a larger, better one for himself.
“... How are you going to turn this into a sleigh?” Iwaizumi shoves a paintbrush into his chest, and Oikawa holds it with one cheek puffed out in irritation.
“First, we paint it red. Then, we attach the reindeer cutouts - which Matsukawa is drawing - onto the string. I still have that reindeer onesie you got me last year, so I’ll pull it from the front. We’re gonna put some Christmas lights on it and offer the kids one ride up and down the street.” Oikawa blinks.
“That’s… Really sweet, but why? There’s gonna be another snow day. Why now when it’s getting late?” Iwaizumi taps his chin as Hanamaki and Matsukawa look at each other as if they’re bouncing the question back and forth.
“Spur of the moment thing?” With a sigh, Oikawa crouches down and dips the paintbrush into the can of red paint.
“We’d better hurry then. It’s already getting dark.” Grinning, the other three return to their work. It takes them a while, especially when they have to wait for the paint to dry, and Hanamaki test runs it by sitting in it and letting Matsukawa pull him around.
“Wheeeee~.” Iwaizumi smacks the back of his head.
“Get out before your fat ass breaks it.”
“My-?! … Iwaizumi, I’m going to murder you in your sleep.”
“Try it, I dare you.” They glare playfully at each other before Hanamaki leaps out the ‘sleigh’, chasing Iwaizumi down as the latter bolts into his garage, grabs the Christmas lights, and returns back to their little project. Hanamaki admits defeat as he slips on a patch of ice.
“One question, Iwa-chan.”
“Mhm?”
“How are the lights going to work without a plug?”
“...” Iwaizumi stares at the lights in hands, Matsukawa slapping a hand over his mouth to hide his snickering even though his shoulders shake drastically. It’s almost like something in Iwaizumi’s soul dies, and Oikawa feels a little guilty for pointing out that fact.
“Don’t mind. I’m sure the kids won’t even notice.”
“I guess. I’m gonna go get changed. Make sure those cardboard reindeer are secured properly!” Oikawa mock salutes and bends down as Iwaizumi runs off to his house to get into the reindeer onesie. The things he’ll do to preserve the magic of childhood is incredible. Oikawa can definitely see him becoming a coach for an elementary school team, or a pediatrician.
“Ah, Oikawa, you shattered his little heart~.”
“Shut up, Makki!”
“Yeah, why’d you have to point it out?”
“I didn’t know he hadn’t planned it out!” Matsukawa dodges the swat aimed at his shoulder, hissing a laugh. Hanamaki helps with glueing on the tab of cardboard to the backs of the reindeer that they’ll use to sure them on the rope, whilst Matsukawa uses a handheld palette to paint them brown with black noses and big anime eyes.
“You know, there’s a chance we could actually use the lights.” The duo look at Hanamaki curiously. He’s resting his chin in his hand, unaware that the glue stick is nestled against his hair.
“... There is?”
“Yeah, I have a reverse plug to USB adaptor. If you have a battery pack, we can probably keep the lights going just long enough to tire the kids out.”
“Makki, that’s genius!” He smugly smirks, standing up an stretching out leisurely.
“I’ll jog to mine and get it. You get the battery pack.”
“On it!” By the time Iwaizumi returns, dressed up as a reindeer with a face painted red nose and white muzzle, wearing winged eyeliner, Hanamaki is just jogging back down the street, cord in hand. Oikawa grins up at Iwaizumi as he pouts in confusion.
“What’re you planning…?”
“You’ll see!”
“Will it cause death and destruction?”
“No!” Matsukawa laughs at the aghast response to Iwaizumi’s question, trailing off as he sticks the last reindeer in place.
“That’s Blitzen secure. I think we’re done here.”
“It looks great! The kids are gonna love it!” Despite his happy tone, there’s a hollowness to it, and the other three knows he just wishes the lights strung around the ‘sleigh’ worked. They secretly share grins as Hanamaki attaches the cord, and Oikawa gets ready to attach the battery pack as soon as they’re ready in the main street.
The streetlights are on, and warm lighting floods out from the houses, curtains not yet drawn, and some houses with doors open as mothers and fathers and parents try to coax their stubborn children inside. As Oikawa and Iwaizumi set up, fixing their ‘Rudolph’ into the rope harness at the front of the sleigh, Hanamaki and Matsukawa go to the open doors to explain what they’re doing to the parents.
As it turns out, a sleigh ride in exchange for going to bed is exactly what the children want.
“Hop in the sleigh and we’ll ride away!” Using his dazzling charm and playful personality, Oikawa draws in the crowd and organizes them into a line, with the youngest first so they can go straight to bed.
As soon as the first child is in the sleigh, Oikawa attaches the battery pack. The Christmas lights start glowing and flashing and it’s beautiful! The children makes sounds of excitement, but it’s nothing compared to how Iwaizumi’s eyes sparkle and he smiles as big as possible.
“You got them working!”
“It was Makki’s idea~!” Hanamaki waves from the place they’ve marked as where Iwaizumi will run up to, and walk back. He almost takes off to tackle Hanamaki in a hug without realising it. Oikawa muffles a laugh as he steadies the toddler in the sleigh, checking they’re okay to go.
“Alright, Iwa- Rudolph-chan! Go ahead!” Iwaizumi goes slightly faster than a walk, pulling the redesigned sled behind him all the way to Hanamaki, stopping to give him a quick, thankful squeeze, and jogging back a little faster. Oikawa jogs alongside the sleigh, making sure the occupant doesn’t fall out, whilst Matsukawa manages the waiting line.
The lights drain Oikawa’s battery pack and die after 15 minutes, but the sleigh rides go on for half an hour. Iwaizumi doesn’t tire, enthusiasm pushing him forwards, and as the kids get older, he gets to run a little, keeping him plenty warm. It keeps it fun as well.
The moon is starting to rise ever higher into the sky, and it’s already 8 at night by the time they’ve finished.
“Man, I’m parched.” Hanamaki smacks his lips, dry and cracked not just from the cold, but from dehydration. It hits the others at his mention, and Oikawa gestures towards his house.
“Hot chocolate on the decking?”
“I’m up for that.”
“Hell yes.”
“I call dibs on the deck chair.”
“Mattsun, it’s my garden!”
“Then you should have called dibs.” It’s a losing argument, and Oikawa rolls his eyes as he leads the others inside. They make sure to try and shake off as much snow as possible before stepping into the genkan, removing their shoes and boots and putting on the indoor slippers on offer.
“Moooom, we’re coming back in for a moment!”
“Okay, sweetie, but don’t touch any of my cakes!”
“Cak-? Oh sweet mercy.” Oikawa stands in the entrance to the kitchen, confronted with enough baked goods to feed an army. And a half.
“... We’re just here for hot chocolate.” Oikawa-san nods, plucking four large mugs out of the cup cupboard.
“Milk and cream in the fridge, chocolate powder in the baking cupboard, marshmallows in the cupboard under the stairs, and sprinkles are… Here!” She pulls the sprinkler out from behind a large tree shaped cake, although it’s down to the last few sprinkles.
“Thanks.” With rehearsed practice from making hot chocolate many times for himself and Takeru, Oikawa quickly brews the wintery drink, adding a dash of peppermint flavouring, and sticking a candy cane through the cream swirl on top.
“Perfect!” He loads the mugs onto a tray and carries it through to the back of the house, where the sliding door is open. Iwaizumi sits on the doorstep, Hanamaki lies casually across the decking, and Matsukawa lounges in the outside chair. They’re quick to settle with the hot drinks, clasping their hands around them to keep them warm.
“... Hey, look…” Matsukawa tilts his mug at just the right angle to get a reflection of the moon in it, fitting perfectly in the circular rim of the mug. He’s staring at it mesmerizingly.
“It’s like I caught the moonlight…” Cheekily, Oikawa lunges and takes a noisy sip from the opposite side of the mug, sipping on moonlight, and making Matsukawa squawk in offence.
“That was mine!”
“It was just a sip~.” Matsukawa tries to glare, but he just can’t keep a straight face.
“You have cream on your nose~.”
(Runny nose, my frosty toes, are getting cold but I feel alive, and I smile wide.)
“At least it’s not as bad as Iwa-chan’s~.” He grins pointedly at the shivering reindeer, nose bright red from his face paint. Although… It’s probably just as red underneath. He is shivering, after all, wearing just a thin onesie.
“Do you wanna go inside?”
“... Nah, I’m good.” In the silence of disbelief, he sniffles, confirming that he has a runny nose from being exposed to the cold for too long. Hanamaki wriggles back on the decking and leans backwards so his head is in Iwaizumi’s lap.
“Iwaizumiiiiii. Go insiiiide.”
“Fuck off, Hanamaki.”
“You’ve got sniffles, I’ve got frosty toes, please, let’s go inside.” There’s not a chance Iwaizumi will move inside for himself, being stubborn as anything, but when it comes to others, he’s easy to convince. Hanamaki whines for extra effect, kicking his feet up and down.
“They’re getting cold! I’m gonna get frostbite! I’ll lose my toes!” With a scowl, Iwaizumi gently taps the bottom of his mug against Hanamaki’s forehead.
“Go inside then, moron.”
“But then I’ll be lonely.” Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow. He glances over to Oikawa and Matsukawa, who pretend they haven’t been listening. Of course the Ace knows it’s a ploy, but he sighs and gives in anyways, shuffling Hanamaki off his lap to stand up and go inside anyways. Hanamaki flashes a thumbs up to the other two and follows the reindeer to the fireplace in the living room.
Oikawa breathes out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. Matsukawa humms into his hot chocolate, lips twitching upwards.
“Aren’t you cold too?”
“A little, but I don’t want to go inside yet. I feel alive out here.” He glances up at the moon, light grey clouds starting to move into place, brought along by a gentle breeze they can’t even feel down on the ground. He smiles wide, feeling it ache at the edges, though he can’t stop.
“You’re just as bad as Iwaizumi, you know that, right?”
(The snowflakes start falling, and I start to float, ‘till my mean older brother shoves snow down my coat.)
“Am not!”
“You are.”
“I would go inside if I had sniffles!” Matsukawa opens his mouth to argue, but instead of words, he scares the pants off Oikawa with a massive sneeze. Massive.
“... You have such a dad sneeze.”
“Sh-Shut up! I was gonna say something!”
“Dad sneeze, dad sneeze, dad sneeze!”
“Something tickled my nose!”
“Eh?” Oikawa was about to ask what he meant, or what it could have been, when something cold fluttered down onto the back of his hand. He looked at it just in time to see something vanish into a tiny patch of water, and he whipped his gaze skywards.
“It’s snow! Mattsun, look! It’s snowing!” Oikawa places his half-finished mug down, springing to his feet and jumping around the garden with glee, until he’s out of breath and cloud of condensation paint the air where he stands, eyes closed and looking upwards with his mouth open to catch the snowflakes.
It feels peaceful. It feels quaint. It feels like he’s floating, like he’s on top of the snow clouds looking down on a kingdom.
Until there’s suddenly a hand down his back and snow is unleashed, freezing cold against his skin. Oikawa shrieks and squeals, trying to flap his jumper to let all the snow out, on the verge of sobbing because he’s so cold. Shuddering, he turns around and glares at the owner of the hand that did that to him.
“Ichirou!” Oikawa’s older brother grins, flashing him an iconic victory sign with a little cheer.
“Yaaay~. Got you~.”
“I hate you sometimes!” Ichirou snickers, clapping his hand over Oikawa’s back and leading him inside. Oikawa notes that Matsukawa has vanished from his seat, the traitor.
“C’mon, Takeru’s looking forwards to seeing his uncle.”
“Uh-huh, and what about his aunt?”
“Kanae will be here soon. She heard mom’s been baking.”
“... She’d sell the house for a cinnamon bun.” With a laugh, Ichirou closes the sliding door behind them, shutting the cold outside.
“True, true.”
(This Peppermint winter is so sugar sweet, I don’t need to taste to believe, what’s December without Christmas Eve?)
“Uncle Tooru!”
"Heya, Takeru!” Oikawa crouches down as Takeru runs into his arms, looping his legs around Oikawa’s waist as the teenager hoists him up into his arms.
“Oh, gosh, you’re getting heavy!”
“Am not! Iwaizumi can still lift me up!” Sticking his tongue out, Iwaizumi makes a point of silently gloating, the corners of his eye creased in happiness. Oikawa scoffs.
“Yeah, but I’m not the one in a reindeer onesie, am I?”
“That’s true…” Takeru’s mutter seems to mortally wound Iwaizumi, who pouts and wriggles further down on the sofa, tugging the onesie hood over his face so only his lips can be seen, slurping pitifully at the hot chocolate mug. Hanamaki snickers, looking at his own barely-touched mug.
“Oi, Takeru, you want to try some of this?” Dark brown eyes - almost black - whip around to Hanamaki with a wobbling grin as Hanamaki holds up the mug. Oikawa glares over Takeru’s head and Iwaizumi huffs like he’s being starved of attention.
Vying to be Takeru’s favourite uncle is one of the games they play, and Takeru is easily swayed.
“Can I~?!”
“Of course. It’s really minty though, so be careful of that.” Takeru takes the mug carefully with both hands, lifting it to his lips and taking a long, slow sip. He humms with joy, breaking off into a giggle and licking at the chocolate moustache left behind on his top lip.
“It’s yummy!”
“You like peppermint, hmm~?”
“Yeah, it’s sugary! It’s sweet! I like it!” Ichirou laughs from where he leans on the back of the sofa, arms folded on the top of it and one hand dropping down to ruffle Iwaizumi’s hair through the reindeer hood.
“If Tooru made it, I don’t need to taste to believe it~.” Iwaizumi chuckles, lifting his arm to shake Ichirou off.
“He did. It’s a lot sweeter than usual though. Maybe because of the candy canes.” Oikawa puts his hands on his hips, proudly puffing out his chest. Matsukawa plucks the candy cane from his hot chocolate and launches it at him, leaving a nice splodge of hot chocolate, cream, and peppermint smears over Oikawa’s face. He stares off into space with an expression like he’s detaching from this universe.
“Big head Oikawa.”
“So full of himself.”
“If his ego got any bigger, he’d need a house all to himself.”
“Wow, now you’re just being rude!” Takeru nods sagely along with Matsukawa as Hanamaki and Iwaizumi keep expanding on their point, Ichirou occasionally slipping in adjectives and synonyms.
By the time Oikawa-san returns to the room with another gingerbread batch, Oikawa’s cheeks are flushed red with embarrassment and he gives off an aura of annoyance. It’s easy to tell that he’s not actually angry though. He’d have left the room, if it were upsetting in any way.
The teasing takes its turn around the others in the room, Oikawa-san going as far as to bring out the baby albums when it’s Ichirou’s turn to get picked on, Takeru awestruck by the pictures of his dad as a baby, in disbelief that he was ever that small. They’re in such good spirits, laughing, noise-making, and screeching, nobody even hears the door open.
“Yo-ho-ho! I heard there was cake!” Takeru is up like a shot, racing over to the front door.
“Auntie Kanae, Auntie Kanae, Auntie Kanae!”
“Takeru!” If there’s one thing to say about Oikawa’s older sister, it’s that she’s a bundle of activity who just never stops. Never. They’d made the mistake of trying to wear her out once, Ichirou had ended up collapsing from exhaustion, and Oikawa had dragged himself sobbing to Iwaizumi’s, seeking sympathy for his sorry state. All he’d gotten was blister plasters.
“Hi, Kanae. Nice too see you too! Ah, there’s cake in the kitchen by the way!” Oikawa’s sarcastic tone, accompanied by his sassy expression, earns him an empty water bottle to the face. Accuracy seems to run in the Oikawa family line, and Kanae could be a terrifying setter if she chose volleyball over rugby.
“Roll back the attitude, To’. Cake first, boys second. HAJIME-CHAN!” Her tune changes as soon as she sees Iwaizumi on the sofa, and she darts over to grab him in a hug that squeezes the air out of his lungs.
“My favourite sweet little pumpkin Hajime-chan! So cute! So pure! How are you, my adorable tiny puppy~?” Iwaizumi slowly blushes, smothering against her chest, pointedly looking away. Kanae has a death grip on him, so there’s no point trying to escape.
“... M’fine.” She releases him and pats him on the head like he’s an actual puppy, skipping into the kitchen to find baked goods. Dazed, Iwaizumi sinks back to his place on the sofa. Ichirou has to thump him on the back to remind him to breathe.
“Iwa-chan, how comes Kanae loves you more than me? I’m her brother.” Matsukawa snickers and stirs his hot chocolate with the candy cane he stole from Hanamaki, who just grins and waits for Matsukawa’s burn so he can turn it into a roast.
“Doncha know? Iwaizumi’s more like her pet.”
“Or some kind of mascot.”
“Next thing you know, she’ll have him on a leash.”
“That’s Ki-”
“Not around my nephew, thank you very much!”
“-nky.”
“Goddamn it, Mattsun!”
“What does kinky mean?” Fearful eyes turn to Takeru’s dad, but Ichirou nonchalantly flips his hand around, as if he isn’t bothered by the question at all.
“It’s a type of fish.” Oikawa stares at his older brother with eyes squinted, nose scrunched up, and top lip curled back, gesturing as if to ask ‘what the fuck’.
“What? It is. The Kinki fish.” He shows his phone screen to Oikawa, a bright red fish that’s positively ugly. Takeru peers from around Oikawa’s back, tugging his dad’s elbow down to get a good look at it. At the same time, Hanamaki brings up an image on his phone to show Matsukawa and Iwaizumi.
“... It looks like Uncle Tooru when he’s sleeping.” Iwaizumi spits a mouthful of hot chocolate out, choking on it as he laughs, hunched over and cackling like he’s about to cry from the hilarity of it. Matsukawa hisses with laughter as he passes over a tissue for Iwaizumi to wipe his chin with, and Hanamaki throws his head back with a hideous cackle. Even Oikawa-san muffles a laugh behind her hand.
“Takeru.”
“Yeah, Uncle Tooru?”
“You are such a brat.” Grinning, Takeru puts his hands behind his head and strolls towards the kitchen, eyes lighting up when he sees something he really wants, just out of reach.
“Auntie Kanae, please pass me the Santa cupcake!” Ruffling his extremely short hair, Kanae finishes off the macaroon she’s nibbling in and passes it down. She leads him back into the living room, where Matsukawa collects the empty hot chocolate mugs as Oikawa and Iwaizumi wrestle over the TV remote, Hanamaki poking either one of them in the ribs at any opportune moment.
“Excited for Christmas, bud?”
“Yeah! I can’t wait for Santa to come!” The others peer over the sofa at Takeru as he smiles softly, looking at the decorated cupcake with wisdom beyond his years.
“I love it ‘cus we all get to come together, and eat yummy stuff, and play games and have fun… We get all the holiday cheer, an’ I don’t know where it goes, but it comes back every year! Even when it’s all blizzardy cus winter does nothing but storm, it feels really warm when I’m with everyone! It’s like there’s a little fire in my heart and it gets really happy!”
“C’mere, Takeru~.” Ichirou crouches down and open his arms with a loving smile, his son running into them with a cheeky grin, gripping on tight and climbing his father like a frame to sit on his shoulders, hands messing up Ichirou’s hair.
“That was so sweet, Takeru!”
“Like peppermint!” Oikawa huffs, moving to nestle himself in Iwaizumi’s lap, laying his feet across Hanamaki’s lap and stuffing his toes under Matsukawa’s thigh.
“We should have a huge gathering, like, with all four of our families.”
“We’ll end up with so many socks…” Hanamaki laughs, pinching Oikawa’s calf.
“With all our families together? Like, 48 pairs!” As Oikawa-san takes the mugs back into the kitchen, Kanae heading back in for more peppermint flavoured treats, Ichirou taking Takeru outside to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Matsukawa sighs, though it’s filled with warmth.
“We’ll need to arrange a date.”
“24th!” Oikawa blurts it out before any other suggestions can be made, and Iwaizumi shakes his head with affectionate annoyance.
“It always has to be your decision, doesn’t it?” Sheepishly, Oikawa rubs the back of his head and wriggles further down so he’s evenly sprawled over his three best friends, sapping up the atmosphere of a sugary sweet peppermint winter.
“Well, what’s December without Christmas Eve?”