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Kiyoomi had been anticipating the peace and quiet for nearly a month. Ever since the team had seen the schedule for the season, everyone had been making plans for the holiday break. Kiyoomi had checked with his family and decided to come home on the second week of the two weeks off. That meant he would have one whole week with the dorms to himself.
Unfortunately, two days before the break was supposed to start, he made the mistake of mentioning his plans to Atsumu as they walked back to the apartments.
“Omi, what do you mean yer going to be all alone?! That’s so sad. It’s the holiday season. Yer supposed to be surrounded by yer friends and family and eat too much food and give people stupid gifts.”
Kiyoomi rolled his eyes at the dramatics. “I just said that I was going home after Christmas. I’m not going to be all alone.”
“Yeah but Christmas! That’s the most important day of the break.”
“Exactly. I’m going to spend the most important day with peace and quiet.”
“Of course. I’ll stay behind and throw us a Christmas party. I can call Samu and he’ll talk to Ma. I’m sure she’d forgive us when she hears that yer going to be here all alone.”
Kiyoomi nearly tripped over the sidewalk, “What? Miya, did you not hear what I just said? I just said that I wanted peace and quiet. What part of that did you not understand?”
Atsumu turned around to fully face him. The cold air was making his breath fog up and his hair looked so soft between the fluffy earmuffs. He gestured wildly with his hands as he talked about the Christmas party, and Kiyoomi almost forgot about the batshit crazy plan as he looked at him.
Atsumu waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth to Omi. Ya good there?”
“Okay.”
“...Okay what?”
“I’ll let you stay, but on one condition.”
His face lit up in a smile. “Ok. Name yer price.”
“I want to be a part of the party. I don’t trust you to keep the house clean and not bring in weird strangers.”
“Geez Omi. Like I’m just going to bring over creeps to the apartment. Who do ya think I am?”
“I’m serious, Miya. I want to see the guest list beforehand and choose the activities. And all the invitations need to have the house rules on them to keep everything clean.”
“Omi, have ya ever been to a Christmas party?”
Kiyoomi flushed self-consciously. “Yeah. Have you?”
“Yes. Tell me, what do ya think of when you hear ‘Christmas Party’?” he emphasized the words with jazz hands.
Kiyoomi successfully held in his laugh and tried to glare. “When I was a kid my parents always set out our fancy Christmas china and then we all ate ham and had sparkling cider. And then we made hot cocoa and my grandpa would read to all the kids in front of the fireplace. Then we’d all open one gift each.”
Atsumu smiled softly. “That’s real sweet, but that’s not a party.”
Kiyoomi sniffled from the cold and frowned. “Is too.”
“No it’s not. A real Christmas party has all of your friends and family together and those people can bring the people that they care about too. And there’s spiked eggnog and champagne to make everyone mix nicely and everyone brings a dish to add. And there’s karaoke and dancing and it’s all just warm and fun.” He smiled a bit wistfully at the gray skies.
Kiyoomi could admit that it sounded fun. Maybe not as nice as his original plans, but still. It sounded fun to see what Atsumu’s version of a Christmas party was like. He could admit that Atsumu’s dimples were part of the equation too.
“Fine. But you can’t have too many people and it still has to be clean.”
“I know. I won’t make it a crowd. I’ll only invite the people that we like. We’ll make the list together,” He beamed with excitement.
It was probably a bad idea. A terrible, horrible, incredibly foolish idea. However, Kiyoomi was a weak man when it came to pretty setters with bad manners. He sighed in resignation. Apparently, he was going to throw a Christmas party with Miya Atsumu.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Are you inviting me to a party?” Motoya’s voice blared through the crackling speaker.
“It would seem so.”
“My antisocial cousin who thought friends were a waste of time is just throwing a Christmas party of his own free will?”
Kiyoomi scoffed at Motoya’s disbelieving tone. He was tempted to lie and say it was his own idea just out of spite.
“No. Miya is forcing me to.”
“You’re throwing a Christmas party with Miya? I’ll be there. Just send me the address. Do I need to bring anything? Can I bring Rin? I can’t believe you’re actually throwing a party. This is great.”
Kiyoomi sighed. “Miya says that everyone has to bring one dish.” He glanced across the living room at Atsumu who was currently struggling to string up lights around the discount Christmas tree they’d found yesterday. “We also need alcohol. The more the better.”
Motoya laughed heartily, “This is too good Kiyo. Too good.” He continued laughing.
Kiyoomi frowned at the phone, “Please don’t make me regret this anymore than I already do.”
“Kiyo, I want to hear all the details. How did Miya convince you to do this? Was it the hair? Did he give you the puppy dog eyes? Rin says that he does that whenever he wants something that he can’t get with charm. Or were you charmed? I could see that actually. You might crumble easily. His hair is the same color as our old uniforms, you know.”
“I’m going to hang up now. I’ll see you tomorrow. Please be on time.”
“Wait Kiyo, I want to know—”
Kiyoomi put his phone back on the table and sent Motoya the text with the rules on cleanliness and the directions to the dorms. He crossed Motoya’s name off of the list on the notepad.
“Is Komori in?” Atsumu asked from across the living room. Somehow the lights were more tangled than they had been when they’d bought them.
“Yeah, he’ll be here. Probably bringing Suna too.”
“Oh sweet, that's two in one call. We’re on a roll, Omi.”
“We? I’m the one doing all the work.”
“No way. I called Hinata and Bokuto earlier when you refused to.”
“Yeah, because I like my eardrums intact.”
Atsumu pouted, “Whatever, it still counts.”
“Sure, Miya.” He tried for his most condescending tone.
Atsumu looked like he was going to start a rant and Kiyoomi had to try to contain his laughter. He was so easy to rile up.
“Stop it Omi. This is a team effort here. As my teammate, ya should be helping me with these lights.”
“Best setter in Japan my ass. You can’t even wrap lights around a tree.”
“Come try it then if yer so confident.”
Kiyoomi crossed the living room. Truth be told, he had no idea how to untangle the lights. They were a hopeless mess.
“Another trip to the store then. And I get to put them up this time.”
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s fair.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The dorm looked like a cozy wonderland. They’d gone to get more lights, and true to his word Kiyoomi had strung them up the second time around. He’d made sure to cover the bald spot on the tree and they had an eclectic mix of ornaments ranging from the standard red balls to macaroni angels and pipe cleaner animals. There were four stockings on the mantle, because they couldn’t find enough for all the team. They also didn’t have any actual presents, so they were filled with newspapers. They had wrapped empty boxes and Kiyoomi had taught Atsumu how to make paper bows. Just like volleyball, he had been a quick learner. Osamu had come early with a box of old decorations and dishes. The dishes had all been rewashed by Kiyoomi and were now laid out on the table. Fake candles sat in the corners and string lights stretched erratically over the ceiling. Paper snowflakes were tacked up on the walls and the 3D ones hung from up above. Mistletoe was strung between the archway of the living room and the kitchen. It was actually really beautiful and cozy.
“Alright, Tsumu, I think that’s everything. I put the umeboshi in the fridge for later and the eggnog is in the side door.”
“Alright, cool. Thanks Samu. I think that’s all. Meian and Barnes will probably be here first. Adriah and Wakatoshi will come next. Kita and Aran will be on time. Inunaki and Yaku will be fashionably late, as a libero thing. Hinata, Kageyama, Bokuto, and Akaashi will probably be late.”
“Motoya will probably come early. So Suna will be early too,” added Kiyoomi.
Osamu nodded. “Didn’t Hinata invite Kenma? So that means Kuroo will probably also come too.”
Kiyoomi’s head was already starting to spin with the amount of people invited. Everyone and their spouses and their best friends and high school teammates were invited. He’d specifically told Miya that he wanted to keep it small, but apparently they’d glossed over that point. He slowly slid down the refrigerator door until he was sitting on the floor.
“Omi? Are ya okay?”
Atsumu was squatting in front of him with a concerned look. It was unfair that he was so sweet with such a bad personality.
“I’m good.”
“Are ya sure? Ya don’t look so good. Ya look like yer gonna be sick.” He put his hand on Kiyoomi’s forehead. Kiyoomi couldn’t help looking up at the hand pitifully with such obvious wonder. “Ya don’t feel like ya have a fever or anything. Here, let's sit on the couch. Let’s move off the floor.”
Kiyoomi let himself be pulled off the floor, never letting go of Atsumu’s hand. Sometimes the panic hit in strange waves. One moment he’d be fine, and the next moment everything would be too much and he’d have to take a time out. He’d gotten better over the years at tolerating touch and sounds when he was freaking out, but he still couldn’t handle textures. When he was panicking he needed to feel clean and have safe textures to calm down. He wasn’t sure if Atsumu knew any of these things, but the couch had a nice texture and they’d just cleaned it for the party.
“Can ya tell me what’s wrong? I can’t help unless we talk about it. We can cancel the party if that’s the problem. I know ya don’t like crowds, but these are all people that we know and like, so I kind of went overboard, but I’m really sorry, and we can cancel it and tell Samu to go home and eat the umeboshi ourselves and—”
“No. No, I’m okay. I just need a break for a little bit,” He paused. “There’s a lot of people invited. We put a lot of effort into this, so we should still do it. I just need to step back sometimes. I want the umeboshi though.”
Atsumu looked visibly relieved that Kiyoomi wasn’t mad at him. “Okay, yeah, I can do that. Do ya want the umeboshi now? We can re-watch the EJP game from last week if ya want to just chill for a while.”
“Sure, Miya. Whatever you want.”
Atsumu looked so in his element, standing in the beautifully decorated living room. He matched the lights so perfectly, glowing and bright, and he seemed calm now that he had a task. He didn’t seem bothered by Kiyoomi’s anxieties, only the fear that he had caused them. Kiyoomi wasn’t sure if he should curse or thank the gods that put Miya Atsumu in his life.
“Okay, let’s watch the game then. I’ll get utensils.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the game and some food, Kiyoomi felt much better. Not perfect, but not shaky anymore. He listened to the twins’ banter at the kitchen table and didn’t even bother to try containing his laughter. Atsumu always said he was the more handsome and funnier twin, but Osamu didn’t make it an easy competition.
“Yeah, so then Tsumu goes into the kitchen and says to me ‘No, I didn’t eat them, Samu.’ as he’s holding the cookies in his hands. So I tackled him, but then he hit his head on a chair and I had to hold his head as he cried because we’d seen a movie where someone’s skull had split open and we thought he was gonna die. Our Ma came home that day and laughed so hard she cried.”
“I swear I didn’t eat them.”
Yer such a shitty liar. I know ya did.”
“Did not!”
Kiyoomi couldn’t stop laughing. Atsumu looked so alive with his twin, like a piece of him was brighter somehow. They had cracked open the first bottle of spiked eggnog, and they were all a little tipsy. The room felt comfortably warm, and the air felt joyful. Christmas music played softly in the background.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Twenty yen on Meian being first,” said Atsumu.
“No way. It’s Motoya,” countered Kiyoomi.
“Yer both wrong. I say Kita.”
They were all wrong.
“Hey Iwaizumi-san! Welcome to our humble abode.” Atsumu gestured from the open door.
Iwaizumi smiled at their antics and the mismatched decorations. “The place looks great guys. I brought sparkling cider and milk bread as Tooru’s contribution. He says he’s highly offended that he wasn’t invited even though he’s on the other side of the world.” There was a twinkle in his eye as he spoke of the other setter.
“You can tell him that we appreciate his contribution,” said Kiyoomi politely.
“I will.” He took off his shoes in the genkan and sanitized his hands with the hand sanitizer Kiyoomi had placed by the door for all the guests. This was why Kiyoomi had always liked Iwaizumi-san; He was nice, reliable, and respectful.
Iwaizumi went and greeted Osamu at the table and put the food away. Atsumu grilled him on setter techniques and information about Oikawa for the next Olympics, but eventually Iwaizumi was properly tipsy too, so the conversation turned into reminiscing about high school, arm wrestling contests (all of which Iwaizumi won), and teasing their teammates.
Meian was next with Barnes, who brought his wife and kids. Kiyoomi wasn’t a huge fan of kids, but these two were well behaved and clean so he wasn’t worried. They’d brought mashed potatoes and hot chocolate mix. It was sort of awkward since they didn’t know Barnes’s wife, but true to Atsumu’s word, the spiked eggnog made it easy. Pretty soon they were all laughing at Meian’s stories of Atsumu and Bokuto from before Kiyoomi and Hinata had joined the Jackals. Atsumu was playing uno on the floor with the two kids so he couldn’t swear at Meian and Kiyoomi was cracking up.
Kita arrived next with Aran, Ushijima, and Tendo. Kiyoomi thought they were nice. Tendo had brought pastries and Ushijima had brought sushi. Kita had brought rice and Aran had brought mochi. Kiyoomi could understand why everyone seemed so obsessed with Kita. He had an aura of dignity and respectability, and seemed genuinely caring. The twins tried to seem mature around him, but they could only hold out for ten minutes before they were arguing again. Kiyoomi was surprised they even made it that long in the first place. He chuckled to himself.
“Sakusa, you look well.”
Kiyoomi turned to Wakatoshi. They were technically all trying to play uno with the kids, but only Barnes’s family and Iwaizumi were still paying attention to the actual game.
“Thank you. You look well yourself. We’re glad you could make it.”
Wakatoshi smiled softly at Tendo. “We’re happy to be here.”
Kiyoomi suspected the soft lights and jazz were playing tricks on him as well. Damn Miya and his questionable decorating skills. Stupid setters making everyone feel cozy and sappy.
Another knock sounded at the door, so Kiyoomi volunteered to answer it. He opened the door and was greeted by a familiar face.
“Kiyo! The place looks great!” Motoya whistled in appreciation as he looked around. Suna Rintarou stood behind him holding a chocolate pie.
“Are you going to come in? You’re making Suna hold all your stuff.”
“It’s one pie, and also where’s the whole ‘thanks for coming, you’re the best cousin ever’? I’m not feeling the holiday spirit here.”
“Thanks for coming. You’re the best cousin ever,” he said dryly.
“Why thank you, I wouldn’t miss it,” he replied cheerily.
Kiyoomi rolled his eyes and smiled. He would never admit it, but Motoya really was the best cousin. He was Kiyoomi’s only true friend before the Jackals, and he missed seeing
him everyday at practice. He was a pain in the ass and made Kiyoomi’s life so much more complicated, but he was also the person Kiyoomi was closest to and he wouldn’t trade their relationship for the world.
“Just get in here already. And sanitize your hands.”
Kiyoomi nodded politely at Suna as the two entered the genkan. Suna nodded back in mutual respect, but when he saw the twins he stuck his tongue out. They flipped him off and Kita scolded them for being inappropriate in front of the children.
Kiyoomi couldn’t help but laugh. The apartment was comfortably warm and his glass of champagne was tastefully cold. There was something undeniably sweet about being surrounded by people he trusted, with Atsumu at the center of it all. He stood in the doorway and watched him try to scramble away from Osamu after he put down a draw four card. Kiyoomi wanted to curl up like a cat and rest his head on Atsumu’s lap, to just take it all in. Distantly he wondered what Atsumu would do if he just went ahead and did it. He wanted to drink in the happiness like sweet fruit punch and stay in this bubble forever. He shook his head lightly and decided that Motoya probably needed help in the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hinata and Kageyama arrived next, and proceeded to fight each other to see who could get in the door first. Kiyoomi and Atsumu watched from the couch in amusement. Kageyama ended up winning, but almost dropped the hard boiled eggs they had brought. Atsumu saw the horrified look on Kiyoomi’s face and went to go take the food before the wonder twins could destroy the carpet. He returned from the kitchen with a sheepish smile.
“You know that if any of them ruin the carpet I’m calling the whole thing off.”
He sat back down on the couch next to Kiyoomi. “No ya wouldn’t. Yer having too much fun,” he smiled cheekily, clearly pleased with himself.
“Nope. I’m having the worst time.”
“Sure Omi. Yer just smiling from the pain.”
“Exactly.”
Atsumu laughed heartily. Their knees knocked together, gently, and Atsumu didn’t pull away. The contact point felt electric, and Kiyoomi knew he was blushing but he couldn’t stop. He turned away from his hazel eyes and gazed intently at the suddenly very interesting floor.
After that, their conversation shifted towards volleyball and practice, but Atsumu never moved his knee. He knew they were both aware of it, because he caught Atsumu glancing at their knees and then looking away guiltily when he saw Kiyoomi was watching. Kiyoomi thought he was being very clear and brave by not pulling away, but he had no idea where the new courage was coming from. As someone that had pinned from a distance for over a year now, he had never planned to make any moves. Something about the holiday season was making his thoughts a bit mushy and less coherent. It was hard to think about whether something was a good idea when all he could see was pretty gold hair.
Soon everyone else arrived and they dished up all the food. Drinks were poured and the kids dashed off to play hide and seek with each other. Bokuto dug out the karaoke machine, much to Meian’s horror. Inunaki and Yaku were playing slap card games with Kenma and Kuroo, and Adriah and Barnes were chatting in the corner. Akaashi was gazing up at his boyfriend with such obvious affection that it almost broke Kiyoomi’s heart. Stupid Miya creating the perfect environment for love to flourish when they couldn’t get their shit together.
Kiyoomi withdrew to the kitchen to take a breath. He didn’t mind this crowd as much as normal, with the alcohol making things a bit softer and Atsumu making his brain hazy, but he still needed a breather every now and then. He poured himself a glass of water and sipped it as he watched Bokuto belt out another rendition of “Feliz Navidad”. Hinata was hanging onto Kageyama in the corner like a koala and translating it to Portuguese for absolutely no reason. Kageyama was doing a very poor job of appearing bothered.
It was perfect, really. These were people that he loved. He hadn’t always had a lot of friends, but he knew what it meant to be part of a team. He knew that there were certain expectations that everyone needed to get along and that there would be a few team traditions, but he hadn’t expected this. He never believed that a team would become a family. A strange, oddball, volleyball-obsessed family, but a family nonetheless. There was something bittersweet in standing alone in the kitchen watching the people he loved enjoy themselves.
“Omi, wanna dance?”
He jumped, “Jesus, where did you come from? Don’t surprise me like that.”
“I literally said yer name like three times. What were ya thinking about?”
“Nothing. Why do you want to dance?”
“Because it’s a party and people dance at parties.”
“Yeah but we don’t have music.”
“Bokkun is singing Feliz Navidad for us and we have Frank Sinatra in the background. That’s good enough for me. C’mon, please?” He made the infamous puppy dog eyes. Kiyoomi crumbled instantly.
“I can’t dance.”
“I can teach ya. Here,” he placed his hands on Kiyoomi’s waist, “tell me to stop if ya want me to.” he glanced purposefully into Kiyoomi’s eyes to make sure he understood.
“It’s alright Miya.” he flushed at the contact but refused to break his stare.
“Okay so then ya put yer hands here–” he moved Kiyoomi’s hands up onto his shoulders, “And then ya kinda just sway. It’s easy.”
Kiyoomi smiled softly. Atsumu’s hands were warm on his waist and he could hear their teammates in the background, but it was just them in the kitchen light. Frank Sinatra was faint in the background, dwarfed by the moment. Atsumu’s eyes were deep brown, and Kiyoomi felt like he could look at them forever. They kept swaying for a long time, just looking at each other. At one point Kiyoomi stepped on Atsumu’s foot, but his swaying never faltered. He just winced and laughed quietly.
It felt like a spell, like they were so far away from the rest of the party. They were in their own little world, entranced by the music. Atsumu spun him slowly and the multicolored christmas lights reflected off his hair like a disco ball. They kept on swaying, slowly leaning in closer. He could feel Atsumu’s body heat and see all the muscles in his arms. He could see his faint acne scars and the scar that Osamu had talked about earlier. He looked so beautiful in the light, and without even noticing, Kiyoomi glanced down at his pretty mouth. He was usually so loud with everyone else, but not now. It was so quiet. He could hear their breathing in the tiny kitchen.
Realizing that he’d been caught staring, he glanced back up at Atsumu’s eyes. Their eyes met, and Atsumu glanced down involuntarily at Kiyoomi’s lips and then back up again quickly. They stared for a little longer, but then Atsumu broke the silence.
“Hey, Omi, want to see the present I got ya?” he whispered.
They didn’t move away. He wasn’t quite sure if he was breathing. “Yeah. I got you one too,” he whispered back.
“Okay. Mine’s in the other room.”
“Okay.”
They finally pulled back to look at the party. No one had noticed them dancing, and if they had, they’d chosen to look away respectfully. Kiyoomi really did love these people. They glanced around to make sure no one was looking and then crossed to the doorway. They slipped out into the hall silently. The Black Jackal’s dorms were set up with bedrooms adjoining a hallway and with the common space at the end. Atsumu’s room was two rooms away from the common space. As they padded softly down the hall, Kiyoomi reached out for Atsumu’s hand. Atsumu glanced back in surprise, but then looked down and intertwined their fingers. They stood there for a moment, just looking at their joined hands in abject wonder, but then turned and made it to Atsumu’s room. He dug his key out of his back pocket and unlocked the door with one hand. They entered the room and he flipped on the lights.
True to Kiyoomi’s good taste, Atsumu kept his room clean. Not as spotless as his own, but the bed was made and everything had a place. The floor was freshly vacuumed and there was no laundry in sight. They made their way over to the bed by the window and Atsumu finally let go of his hand to reach under the bed.
Wrapped in red wrapping paper, which had volleyballs with Santa hats on it, was a flat square package.
“Did you special order volleyball wrapping paper?” asked Kiyoomi in genuine confusion, too stunned to care about breaking the spell.
He chuckled, “It seemed fitting for a bunch of professional athletes.”
“You couldn’t just buy it from the store like a normal person could you? Had to be special,” He smiled at Atsumu.
He laughed, “Are you going to open it?”
“Yeah, give me a second.”
They sat down together on the bed. Kiyoomi pulled on the tape and pulled off the paper. Underneath was– “Miya, did you get me a Jackals calendar?”
“Ya have to open it!”
Kiyoomi flipped open the first page and burst out laughing. Inside for January was a picture of Atsumu balancing a volleyball on top of his head with his bangs smushed down very unattractively. He flipped through to the other pages. Some of them featured their other teammates, but all of them had Atsumu doing something goofy. The July one had him dressed up as a sexy firefighter and the December one had him making snow angels in obviously fake snow. Bokuto was with him in April as they burst out of a decorative egg and Hinata was with him in June playing beach volleyball with text bubbles of them swearing in Portuguese. The March one had the whole team in the gym with a banner reading “HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMI!”. It was so perfectly stupid and wonderful.
Kiyoomi couldn’t stop laughing. Atsumu was too much and Kiyoomi loved him. There was no question about it. Sometimes Kiyoomi felt confused trying to know if it was love, but not now. Now he was in a room with the only person that would see his crazy organizational patterns and think to make him a custom calendar. There was something so ridiculous about it that just made him want to laugh. The joy made him feel buoyant, and he could see no explanation other than love.
Atsumu was beaming. “See, so now when we’re in the off season I’ll still be with ya in spirit.”
Kiyoomi just kept laughing at the November picture of him diving into a pile of leaves with Inunaki mid leap above him. He had no idea when he’d had the time to make something like this, but it was amazing.
“Well now I feel bad about my gift,” he said, still trying to taper off his chuckling.
“Nah, it’ll be great. Ya gotta show me. Ya said that yer family always gave one gift the night before Christmas, and I just gave ya mine so now I want to see yers.”
Kiyoomi reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his present. He handed the small black card to Atsumu. The white onigiri logo shone in contrast.
“Omi, did ya get me a gift card to Samu’s restaurant?” he asked with barely contained laughter.
“Maybe now he can stay in business and you’ll stop hounding him for free food.”
“So rude,” he said with a small laugh. “Samu loves my company. I pay him with honest reviews.”
“All I’m hearing is that you pay zero yen.”
“Well, now I have 5000 yen that I can give him whenever I choose.”
“So you’re going to pay when we go on a real date?”
Atsumu raised his eyebrows, “You want me to take you to my brother’s restaurant?”
“Why not? He has good food.” Kiyoomi snorted.
Atsumu’s face lit up. “Omi, that’s the best thing you’ve ever said.”
He scoffed, “That’s such a low standard.”
“Half of what ya say to me is insults, so I think it’s a fair bar.”
“It’s not my fault that you like people who are mean to you.”
Atsumu pouted. “Not fair, Omi.”
Kiyoomi chuckled and pretended to ponder for a second, “Of course, maybe you like praise better. You’re a little obsessed with yourself.”
Atsumu visibly gulped. “Yer such a tease and it’s not fair at all.”
Kiyoomi laughed, loud and unrestrained. “I’m kidding Atsumu. Maybe I’ll tell you later.” He winked and hoped it was smooth.
Based on Atsumu’s awed expression, he thought it had the intended effect.
Atsumu just kept on staring. He had a look in his eye as if Kiyoomi was something to be worshiped, a sun despite his often gloomy demeanor. His gaze slipped down to Kiyoomi’s mouth, and he quietly whispered, “Can I kiss ya?”
Kiyoomi’s mouth was suddenly very dry and his great vocabulary could not think of a single thing to say. Very eloquently, he whispered back, “Yes, please.”
He moved over on the bed until they were sitting face to face. Atsumu leaned in agonizingly slowly, and Kiyoomi briefly thought he might die, but then Atsumu’s lips met his and wasn’t thinking about anything at all. His lips were soft, and a little chapped on the side that he was always biting, but so warm. Kiyoomi didn’t know if it was the alcohol or if he always ran hot, but it was pleasant. Not rushed, but slow and chaste like they had all the time in the world. They pulled away slowly and looked into each other's eyes, just breathing, before Kiyoomi leaned back in for another kiss.
They kissed for a while on the bed, Atsumu’s hands on the small of his back and Kiyoomi’s hands on the back of his neck. They kept it chaste, not wanting to speed through anything and enjoying the sweet promise of time. There was a whole future ahead of them where they could kiss anytime they wanted. They could treasure this one without the desperation of a ticking clock. Even with just making out, Kiyoomi was still breathless. When Atsumu gently bit his bottom lip he made a truly embarrassing sound. Atsumu didn’t fare any better when Kiyoomi experimentally ran his tongue over the seam of his mouth.
Eventually Kiyoomi’s back started to cramp up from leaning down to Atsumu’s slightly shorter height. He gently pulled back and cupped Atsumu’s face.
“Atsu, we should go back to our friends.”
“Did ya just call me Atsu?”
He smiled sheepishly. “I think it’s cute. Besides, you call me a nickname so you need one too.”
“Yer so cute.” He smiled as if he had found something hidden and said, “Yeah, we should go back and make sure they haven’t destroyed the house.”
Kiyoomi glared at him, “You better take that back or I’m not going to kiss you again.”
“Okay, okay, I bet the house is in great shape,” he said quickly.
Kiyoomi smiled. “Let’s go.” He punctuated it with a kiss and grabbed Atsumu’s hand and the calendar. He chuckled again just looking at it.
They walked down the hallway together, unhurried and often stopping to kiss. Eventually they made it to the door and ducked back inside. Hinata and Bokuto were both serenading their respective partners with karaoke of “Baby it’s Cold Outside”. The members of Inarizaki plus Motoya were all sitting on the living room floor playing mafia with the kids, and Barnes, his wife, Meian, Adriah, and Inunaki were all in a heated game of charades. Kenma and Kuroo were curled up on the couch in a blanket. Yaku and Iwaizumi were judging Hinata and Bokuto’s singing. Somehow both of them were losing the competition.
They smiled at the group. It was their own version of home, made of mismatched personalities, yet undeniably wonderful. The lights were twinkling and despite being surrounded by people, Kiyoomi wasn’t afraid of the crowd. He had Atsumu at his side, as he felt untouchable in that moment. They slipped into the kitchen and grabbed glasses of water. As they walked back over to join the group, Kiyoomi grabbed Atsumu’s arm.
“There’s mistletoe.”
Atsumu looked up, “Appears so. I thought ya didn’t like PDA.”
“Yeah, but none of them even noticed we were gone. They didn’t realize we left our own party,” he said with a light laugh.
Atsumu glanced back at the group with a faint smile, “Well, it is the season of giving, so I suppose I could give ya a kiss.”
“Oh my god please shut-”
Atsumu’s lips were just as warm as the first time, and just as sweet, and then it was over as quick as it had started. A fleeting touch that did more to deepen the longing than satiate it. Kiyoomi wanted all of his kisses, but he could be patient. They had company.
Atsumu pulled back and gazed in Kiyoomi’s eyes with such fondness, “Merry Christmas, Omi.”
“Merry Christmas Atsu,” he said with a smile.
The spell was broken by Osamu in the background coughing pointedly and Suna begrudgingly giving Motoya 2000 yen. Kiyoomi glanced at his cousin quizzically, and Motoya just gave him a big thumbs up with a smug grin.
Atsumu turned back to him. “They’re going to ask questions. Do we stay or ditch?”
“We don’t owe them shit, and also we don't know any of the answers to the questions. Stay.”
Atsumu smirked, “Sounds good to me.”
Kiyoomi grinned. He had a feeling this was the beginning of a new tradition, and he found that he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind giving up peace and quiet for the sounds of his loved ones gathering in his home. Tomorrow would bring consequences and labels and questions, but tonight was theirs, and theirs alone. Tonight he would enjoy the holiday with Atsumu and his family, and let tomorrow be a problem for another day.
He called out, “Toya I get at least 20% of that.”
Atsumu laughed loudly, and he could have sworn it was a Christmas miracle.