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Winter was Sakura’s favorite time of year. Not specifically because of the weather. She was petite after all and having to bundle up in more layers than anyone else just to keep her tiny body warm wasn’t exactly fun. No it wasn’t the weather, it was the feeling of winter that she loved. That warm feeling like a stomach full of hot tea that she got whenever she smelled that winter crispness in the air for the first time. The feeling of lights glowing in windows as the sun set earlier and earlier, beckoning her to come in from the cold. It was the feeling of sitting inside with her boyfriends, snuggled up on the couch under a blanket or enjoying something warm and delicious that Nozaki had made, safely watching the rough wind or gently falling snow outside.
As she walked home from one of her evening classes she relished the crunch of snow under her boots. It hadn’t been a big storm, most of the snow and ice had been cleared away, but a few patches still remained, resting on street corners and dotting rooftops until they slowly melted away in the sun. Now, when the sun had set the remaining spots of white were illuminated by the street lights as she walked by them.
She was just looking forward to sitting down at home and eating the cookies she had bought on her way home for a late dessert when she turned the corner and stopped. She had turned onto the street where her, Mikorin and Nozaki’s apartment was, a small unremarkable side street no different from any other in Tokyo. Except right now it was pitch black. There wasn’t a single street light on and none of the windows of the shops or apartments were lit up. The place looked cold and empty.
As quickly as she could while still walking cautiously to avoid an unseen bits of ice on the sidewalk, Sakura made her way to their apartment. As she opened the door she called out,
“Nozaki, Mikorin, what happened the whole street’s dar-aagh!!”
Nozaki, sitting on their couch, had suddenly turned a flashlight towards her shining it right in her face. As she squinted he moved it so the light was under his chin like he was getting ready to tell a ghost story.
“Ah, Sakura, welcome home,” he said, “The electricity’s out. Ice on the lines. The building manager said it might not be back for a couple of hours.”
“What, seriously?” Sakura groaned, starting to take her coat off out of habit but then thought better of it. It was a little bit warmer inside the apartment than it was out on the street, but only a little. When she took a good look she can see both her boyfriends scrunched up on the couch, both of them bundled up in the quilt from their bed. Nozaki was wearing a strange combination of clothes: winter button up pajamas with what looked like a heavy turtleneck sweater underneath, a scarf around his neck, a wool hat on his head and, If Sakura was not mistaken, several layers of socks. Mikorin was doing his best to bury into the quilt but Sakura could just see—
“Mikorin, is that my kigurumi?”
Indeed Sakura could see the hood of her pink, cat-eared onesie peeking out from underneath the quilt. She could tell he was wearing a few layers underneath but really the onesie kind of distracted from that. Mikorin gave up trying to hide and pulled the hood over his head in embarrassed defeat.
“Shut up! Look it’s not like I wanted to wear it! It’s just—well, I don’t have a lot of super warm clothes. I tried putting on like all of my long sleeve t-shirts but I kind of…couldn’t move. And this was one size fits all so---“
“But don’t you have a winter coat?” Sakura asked, trying hard to hide her emerging smile.
“Well, yeah but…this was comfier.”
“And much cuter.” Nozaki added.
“I’m not cute...” Mikorin grumbled.
“Is just a little bit cute ok?” Sakura asked.
“Well…I guess..I mean, if it’s the sexy kind of cute…”
“It definitely is,” Sakura laughed and kissed his blushing face.
Sakura left them to go change. Luckily she was a connoisseur or cute, fluffly, warm sweaters as well as leggings. Over these she added a pair of flannel pajama pants and kept her winter coat and scarf.
Sakura could understand what Mikorin’s problem had been; even with less layers on she still waddled slightly as she made her way back to her boyfriends. She spotted her cookies on the table.
“Oh, that’s right, I brought home some ginger cookies for us, from that bakery near my university.” She said, bringing them over with her and settling on the couch between the two guys.
“Ah, Chiyo-chan you’re the best!” Mikorin said, his earlier embarrassment forgotten with the promise of sweets. The boys made room for her in their blanket igloo and then quickly pulled the blankets back around her as she opened the pastry box.
“Mmm, delicious. And they’re still a little warm.” Nozaki said, closing his eyes appreciatively while Mikorin and Sakura just made yummy noises. Even though this was far from the evening she had envisioned, the sweet taste of sugar and ginger and the warm bodies beside her made up for it.
The finished the cookies quickly and while Nozaki asked how her classes had been that day, she felt Mikorin begin shifting around next to her. Eventually he dropped his head onto her shoulder and she looked over at him.
“Mikorin are you okay?”
“Hmm? Oh…yeah,” he said, not looking her in the eye, “I just want the lights to come back on, you know” he finished, trying to laugh it off.
“Oh! Mikorin I forgot, you’re afraid of the dark!” Sakura suddenly realized. She felt bad. All they had was two flashlights; there was a faint glow of lights of city lights coming from outside, but since all the lights on their street were out it was still pretty dark.
“It’s fine. I’ll just wait.”
“No it’s not fine. There must be something else we can use…”
“What about the candles in the bathroom?” Nozaki asked.
“Oh yeah!”
“No, it’s fine really,” Mikorin murmured, “Besides, we’d have to go out into the cold.”
“No, it’s fine! Come on, bring the blanket.”
Awkwardly they scrambled off the couch and, with Nozaki and Mikorin crouching down to keep the blanket around Sakura, they made their way to the bathroom. Since Nozaki was the tallest, he held the flash lights up high to light their way as they grabbed the candles along with a packet of matches and shuffled back into the main room. They used some tin foil to protect the carpet and then arranged the candles and began to light them.
Originally Sakura had bought of few plain candles and a scented one for herself as a little luxury to use in the bath. But eventually her boyfriends had ended up using them too and had even bought scents of their own. As they lit them she smelt her own Lavender and Rose one, Mikorin’s Cinnamon, and Nozaki’s Summer Cotton The combination was strange, but the warm light all the candles gave off alleviated the gloom.
“Better?” Sakura asked as they settled back on the couch, watching the candles flicker against the cold air of their apartment. Mikorin nodded, resting his head on Sakura’s shoulder, watching the flames with her. Nozaki used his long reach to makes sure they were all covered by the quilt. They were all sitting with their knees up to their chests, pressed close together to keep warm.
“The candles make it feel kind of romantic, huh?” Sakura mused. That made Mikorin perk up. He leaned closer to her, a familiar sparkle in his eye.
“You’re right Sakura. In fact I’ve just thought of a much better way to keep us all warm…”
“Hmm, I guess we could go out and try to find a coffee shop to sit in—although it’s getting kind of late” Nozaki responded.
“No, I meant---you know-” Mikorin stammered, his sparkly aura deflated.
“Oh! Sex? No way.” Nozaki said, shaking his head firmly.
“Huh? Why? I mean…it’s not like we have anything better to do.” Mikorin’s blush was out in full force. That in combination with the kigurumi he was wearing meant Sakura didn’t really trust herself to speak at the moment.
“No way.” Nozaki reiterated, “Too cold.”
“You’re no fun Nozaki! Sakura?”
“Nope. I agree with Nozaki. I’m not getting anywhere close to naked until the heat comes back on.”
“Aw man.”
“But we should definitely kiss!”
“Agreed.” Nozaki said quickly while Sakura surprised Mikorin, grabbing the hood the pink pajamas and pulling him towards her. She brushed her lips against his, asking, and the red head answered, pressing his lips against hers. With Mikorin kisses started out unsure, almost chaste, a firm but gentle pressure against her mouth. But they always turned playful, his tongue dancing with hers, teasing and flicking, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip. This time his nose pressed against hers, both icy cold and she felt a laugh bubble up inside her. Mikorin must have felt the same thing because he pulled away and pecked her on the nose. She giggled.
Nozaki leaned across Sakura, brushing Mikorin’s hood back so he could run his fingers through his hair and steadied their boyfriend with a finger under his chin before he kissed him. Sakura knew from experience what Nozaki’s kisses were like. They were different from Mikorin’s, they were slow and deep, drawing the warmth and desire out of her and replacing it with his own. She watched both of them now as Mikorin leaned into the embrace, letting Nozaki wrap an arm around his waist. Nozaki’s hands always wandered when he kissed, ending up in unexpected, and wonderful, places. It should have looked a little ridiculous, Mikorin in the kurugami, Nozaki wrapped in so many layers he could have been embarking on an expedition to Siberia. But somehow it only made Sakura’s heart beat faster, looking at her two boys in the light of the candles. She felt a swell of love for the both of them and what the three of them had, as well as, she had to admit, a rush of plain old lust. Because, well, watching them was pretty hot. But suddenly Nozaki pulled away,
“Ah, look the lights are coming back on.” He said, pointing to the window.
“Hey, weren’t you paying attention to kissing me?” Mikorin complained.
“Of course, I just opened my eyes for a second. The kiss was nice.” Nozaki said in his usual simplistic way, giving Mikorin another peck.
They all moved to the window to watch as street lamp after street lamp flickered on. Then in a flash the whole other side of the street lit up, all the buildings and shops suddenly aglow.
“Oh, look, maybe we’re next!” Sakura exclaimed.
They waited for a few minutes and sure enough, the lights in their apartment turned back on, the T.V. flashed back to life, Sakura even heard the softest telltale whir that meant the heating was back on.
As they collectively sighed in relief, Sakura felt a yawn dragged out of her.
“Time for bed?” Mikorin asked.
“Yeah, I guess. Being cold is hard work.”
After they turned off the, thankfully, now working appliances and lights they hauled the quilt back into the bedroom and began taking off all the layers they had accumulated(a patently absurd exercise that that involved a lot of tugging and contorting of limbs). By the time they crawled into bed Sakura really was ready to call it a night.
“Mikorin, you made a good cat.” Sakura mumbled, drifting off to sleep between the other two. She could feel Mikorin smile.
“The kigurumi was comfy.”
“Hmm. I wouldn’t mind being stuck in the cold with you guys again,” she paused for a moment, thinking, then asked, already knowing the answer, “This is definitely going to show up in your manga isn’t it Nozaki?”
“Oh, definitely.”