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Shinkai was on a mission. He gritted his teeth against the bitter cold and pumped his legs through the ankle-deep snow.
Ankle-deep!
What the heck was going on? There had been no snow yesterday. None! The weather man had lied. If it weren't for Shinkai's imperative sensitivity feeling the cold approaching earlier that morning, Usakichi wouldn't be safely tucked away in his and Yuuto's room!
Calm down, he scolded himself. There was no point being riled up by the weather. Besides. He had a plan to combat the frigidness taking hold of his limbs. Shinkai smiled as he mulled over his plan. Yasutomo wouldn't see it (or him) coming.
***
"Absolutely not," Arakita grumbled as he attempted to close his door on Shinkai's face.
Shinkai's frown made the other hesitate, but Arakita still didn't invite him indoors.
"Did you seriously come all this way just to... cuddle?" Arakita whispered the last word after looking over his shoulders.
Shinkai was in Yokohama. Arakita’s hometown. Everyone in the dorms had gone home for the holiday weekend to see their families, but since Shinkai’s family lived in Hakone, he didn’t really see the point. He visited them quite often during the school year. He didn’t want to waste his time at home or in the dorms when he could have been with Yasutomo.
“Nii-san, close the door! You’re letting all the heat escape.” Arakita looked stricken as he glanced behind him, then back to Shinkai.
“Oh? Is that your friend?”
Shinkai looked over Arakita’s shoulder to greet whoever was standing behind him.
“Ah,” Shinkai croaked. He felt like he was looking at a female Yasutomo.
“Yeah,” Arakita sighed before snatching Shinkai’s wrist and pulling him into the house. “He’s here to hang out for a bit.”
“Is this a friend from your high school?” A second, smaller female Yasutomo asked. Shinkai realized that it was an unfair description on his part. Although Yasutomo’s sisters had some similarities in their features, they were several times prettier and had resting expressions that were far more pleasant than their big brother’s.
“I’m Shinkai Hayato,” Shinkai greeted as he stepped out of his wet boots. “I’m your brother’s club mate!”
Both younger Arakita’s greeted Shinkai. The eldest didn’t wait for his sisters to ask questions as he dragged Shinkai into his bedroom and slid the door behind him.
Shinkai whistled as he observed the other’s room. Yasutomo’s house was huge. That in itself had already taken him by surprised, but seeing that his bedroom was rather large too, given that he didn’t even live there anymore, had shocked the redhead. How did no one else claim it for themselves? The moment Shinkai had moved into Hakone Gakuen’s dorms, Yuuto had completely taken over their room. Their bunk bed had been replaced with a single mattress and a futon for visitors, which included him! As absurd as it was, Hayato’s arguments didn’t stand a chance against his younger brother’s, which made the redhead silently give Yasutomo props for being able to keep his room decorated as his own and out of his sisters' grasp.
"Man... my mom is going to ask so many questions when she comes home," Arakita said with a scratch of his head.
"I don't see a problem with that" Shinkai mentioned as he immediately took to scouring Arakita's room.
"The problem, is that she's very talkative."
Shinkai paused at the kotatsu table. Yasutomo had a kotatsu. In his bedroom.
"I'll pretend I'm asleep," Shinkai responded as he hastily started to set the table up. Arakita sighed but helped Shinkai pull the covers under the surface of the wooden board. They grabbed pillows and Arakita even snuck around his keen sisters and into the kitchen to grab water and snacks. Shinkai all but melted under the comforting heat of the kotatsu. He exhaled through his nose, feeling warm and content.
"This is seriously why you're here isn't it?"
Shinkai hummed as he spun on his stomach and hugged Arakita's pillow.
"It's been too damn cold these past couple of days," Shinkai eventually complained. “And lonely.” It was Arakita's turn to hum. The raven crawled under the blankets beside Shinkai and planted his head on the same pillow Shinkai was clutching; making their noses touch. Shinkai held his breath as Arakita's lips brushed his. He was expecting a bit of the other's scolding first —not his tenderness.
"Hey now, what if your sisters walk in?" Shinkai joked. But Arakita wasn't taking the bait. He kissed Shinkai's lips again, and then his nose.
"They know not the barge in," he responded.
And then he kissed Shinkai's chin.
"What's with you, Yasutomo?" Shinkai chuckled. "You're acting surprisingly placid given the stunt I just pulled."
Arakita scoffed. "Stunt? What stunt? You just showed up at my house asking to sleep over."
"Unannounced."
"I'm used to you barging in like this."
"Yeah but where your family is?"
Arakita rolled his eyes, knowing where Shinkai's trail of thought had headed.
"I'll just invite Toudou and Fuku-chan over sometime. It'll take the radar off of you."
"What if I leave crumbs under the kotatsu?"
"Shinkai, are you trying to make me angry?"
Shinkai hastily planted an apology kiss on Arakita's lips.
"No! Sorry," He mumbled. Arakita sighed and rolled onto his stomach so that he could drape his arm and leg over Shinkai's body. "You're helping me with my chores first thing in the morning."
Shinkai nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"And when we're done, I'll show you around town."
Another nod. Arakita's words had an air of excitement around them. "I wanna show you my middle school. The field I practiced at is covered in snow but I bet you anything some idiot kids are still going to try and get a game in."
Shinkai smiled as Arakita continued.
"There's also a bike shop here that sells a bunch of equipment for cheap. Fuku-chan mentioned that we needed new stationary stands and brake cables. Maybe we can convince coach to buy it here."
"Maybe," Shinkai agreed with a soft smile, only half listening to Arakita’s ramble. So that's what the nonchalantness was about. Arakita wasn't angry at his sudden appearance, and he hadn't scolded him for the inconvenience he might have caused during their break because he was excited to show him his hometown. He wanted to share his past with Shinkai.
"There's a place I love where we could get lunch too. Their fried chicken makes my mouth water just thinking about it, I swear."
Shinkai grinned as he suddenly flipped Arakita onto his back. Arakita let out a startled cry, and wrapped his arms around Shinkai's shoulders for leverage. The redhead swiftly leaned in and planted a rough smooch on Arakita's cheek.
“I’ll be in your care,” Shinkai murmured happily. He pecked his lips as an afterthought, and twitched in surprise as a slickness coated their lips. Shinkai cocked an eyebrow at Arakita while wiping the saliva from his mouth.
"Sorry," Arakita mumbled. “…’was thinkin’ about the fried chicken.”
Shinkai laughed into the other’s chest. After a bit of teasing, both crawled away from the kotatsu to dress in their pajamas, briefly say hello to Arakita’s parents, and go to bed. Despite the frigid air seeping through the windows, Arakita’s shared body heat kept Shinkai warm.