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“A little more... A little more… Stop! Perfect!” Bokuto’s command run clear across the snow covered field, Komi, Konoha and Sarukui sighing with relief as they collapsed to the ground like their souls had departed their weary bodies.
Akaashi watched from afar, perched on a bench between Suzumeda and Shirofuku, each sipping at their hot chocolate thermos and sharing an extra large portion of fish shop chips. Suzumeda wasn’t taking any though, not wanting to risk losing her hand as Shirofuku and Akaashi feasted.
“Now that they’ve got the body in place, does Bokuto realise the snowman will need a head?” Akaashi nodded in response to the question.
“He’ll realise in 4... 3… 2… 1.” Suzumeda blinked. And then Bokuto fell to his knees with an anguished cry as he realised the body of the snowman was far too large - taller than him - to get a head onto. Akaashi sighs, pushing himself to his feet and leaving the chips to Shirofuku.
He jogs over, keen eyes scanning the snowman body and surrounding landscape as he approaches. He walks in a circle around the snowman and nods to himself, before patting Bokuto’s back in comfort.
“Don’t worry, Bokuto-san. I have a plan.” Bokuto looked up at him, pouting heavily.
“How…? We can’t get a head up there…”
“We can.” The Ace tilts his head in question as Akaashi picks up a long stick and walks around to the part facing a forest, where no one is going to see the snowman from. He draws a rectangle up the body, and then lines across it.
“We’ll dig steps out of this part, so everyone on the road or pavement can see a full snowman. We’ll be the only ones to know about this part.” Konoha groans from his place, regaining his breath.
“Akaashi… No, please… Have mercy… We just rolled the damn thing…”
“Yup. And now you can start on the head whilst Bokuto-san and I carve this.” Konoha groans again, drowning out Komi’s sob into the thick snow and Sarukui's whispered swear word extravaganza. Akaashi glares at them intensely, as if telepathically telling them how Bokuto will react if this doesn’t happen. They gulp.
None of them want Bokuto to go into Emo-Mode just before Christmas.
They scramble to start rolling the snow up again, focused on making a slightly smaller sphere for the head. Whilst the boys do that, Shirofuku finishes off her chips, licking the salt and vinegar off her hands for god measure, and stands up to stretch out.
“Guess we’d better do something to help out, huh?” Suzumeda tilts her head to the side, ponytail dropping off her shoulder.
“Something?”
“Yeah, like… Don’t snowmen need… Stuff?”
“... Shirofuku-senpai… What do you mean by ‘stuff’?” She waves her arms up and down like a butterfly, stuttering for words. Sometimes she just forgets words. Suzumeda raises an eyebrow.
“Arms, Shirofuku?”
“YES. ARMS.” Rolling her eyes, Suzumeda glances around the snowy field. The forest isn’t too far. A good walking distance in thick snow, yes, but easy enough to salvage things from.
“We could check for fallen branches.”
“Good idea. A big snowman needs big arms.”
“What about buttons, eyes, mouth and nose? I don’t think carrots and coal will be enough for… How big it is.” Shirofuku purses her lips together as she thinks, and like a lightbulb appearing overhead, she clicks her fingers victoriously.
“Got it! I’ll be back soon, you get the branches!” Before Suzumeda can say anything, Shirofuku bolts off, leaving a trail in the deep snow. Sighing, the first year manager trudges over to the forest and starts looking for suitable sized branches they can use as arms and hands. The splayed twigs, one with a remarkable leaf still stuck to it, are amazingly perfect just for this use. She drags two over, leaving strange marks in the snow behind her.
It’s almost like the snowman left tracks from shuffling across the field. With a small giggle behind her scarf, Suzumeda pauses to let Konoha and Komi pass in front of her, rolling the head for the snowman. Sarukui seems to have given up, lying flat on his back a few meters away. He’s probably making a snow angel.
“Okay, we’re ready for the head.”
“Let’s get it up here!” Bokuto and Akaashi descend from the stairs they’ve carved in the back of the snowman, as Komi and Konoha roll over the head. It’s a lot easier compared to the body, which is taller than Bokuto, and much heavier.
“Bokuto-san, take the middle. Konoha, stand on the left, I’ll take the right. When I give the signal, we’ll shunt it up one step at a time.”
“Why do I have to do this?! I made the damn thing!”
“Congratulations, Konoha, you’re a father!” He blinks as Bokuto grins, holding his hands in the air in celebration, whilst Akaashi muffles a laugh behind a glove as he turns away.
“... What?”
“You made it, so it’s your baby! Take responsibility!” Konoha glances with a deadpan expression between a grinning Bokuto, Akaashi barely breathing as he cracks up, and Komi howling with delight in the snow. His eyes drift up to the snowman, down at the head they have yet to put on, and he jabs a thumb at it.
“I hate to tell you this, but I think it would kill anyone if this came out of their-”
“I brought arms!” Suzumeda jams her elbow into Konoha’s gut before he can finish his sentence, then turns to proudly display the two branches she’s dragged over. Golden eyes light up like a Christmas tree on fire.
“Those are so awesome!!!! Can you put them in?!”
“I’ll get Komi and Sarukui to help me~.” Whilst they might have already done enough for Bokuto and Akaashi, the two boys come over to Suzumeda’s side without complaint. She’s their first year, after all.
Not to mention Shirofuku might actually bite them if she hears they haven’t been helping.
“C’mon, c’mon!!! I wanna finish this before we have to go inside!” Konoha relents, moving to where Akaashi instructed him, and the three crouch down to get their hands under the head ready for lifting.
“First step. One, two, three... Go!” By the time Shirofuku returns, hauling a sack on her shoulder, the head is in place and Akaashi is patting snow down to form a neck, making sure it won’t roll off. The others…
Are having a snowball fight. For a moment, she wonders why Akaashi isn’t taking part, but then Konoha nails Sarukui in the face with a snowball, and she understands. Best not to go against a Jack-Of-All-Trades, who could absolutely decimate them.
“Yo~.” Akaashi whips his head up so fast he almost throws himself off balance and tumbles from the snowman. Almost. His interest is piqued when he spots the large sack.
“What have you got?”
“Some stuff we can use for the face and buttons! It took a long time to trek back to the gym, but it should be worth it~.” She dumps the bag on the ground and reaches inside to pull out three volleyballs, the volleyball net, a rugby ball, and a selection of coloured cricket balls.
“Oh, these are good. We can use the net as a scarf, right?”
“Yup!” Together, they work to put the balls into place, the volleyballs as buttons, the rugby ball as the nose, and the cricket balls for the eyes and mouth. It’s a very colourful smile, but the eyes are a beautiful yellow, close to the stripe on the Fukurodani uniforms.
The team gathers around to observe, Komi snapping some pictures to send to Onaga and Washio, who unfortunately couldn’t make it past their train station due to snow on the tracks. They respond with a selfie of them both in a cafe, steaming drinks in hand and wrapped in a shared scarf as snow falls around their blushing, happy faces.
“It looks like it’ll snow here again soon! Washio and Onaga already have it!” Bokuto looks up at the clouds above, smiling softly.
“I hope it doesn’t.” Whilst the rest of them team reacts in surprise, Akaashi simply tilts his head towards Bokuto.
“Mhm?”
“Cus this feels really unique, like, some kind of precious memory we’ll look back on and smile. It won’t feel the same or as special if it happens again… I want to remember us like this forever!” He spreads his arms out wide, spinning around the face the team, with the snowman behind him in the same position. It’s incredible, the effect Bokuto has with words.
“Don’t be silly. Even if it snows again, we’ll still remember this.”
“Yeah, it’s not like we’re seniors yet.”
“We need it to snow again so Onaga and Washio can join us!” Akaashi strides over to Bokuto and puts a hand on his shoulder.
“No matter what, Bokuto-san, even if we do this a million times, we’ll still remember the happiness we felt in this moment. For now, let’s see if they’ve cleared the train tracks so we can meet with the other two.” Bokuto sniffles, wiping away a tear of joy.
“I really love you guys… Let’s do this again someday!”
They leave the snowman standing, a sign of their teamwork and the fun they had that one snowy day.