Chapter Text
It was December 22nd and the Hakone and Sohoku teams were meeting up at Makishima and Toudou’s house for a Secret Santa gift exchange. Well, they really weren’t defined by their high school teams anymore - it had been years since Arakita’s last Inter-High and their whole group stayed together 99% due to the fast Makishima and Toudou started hosting these little gatherings and inviting their teammates. Maybe the other 1% was cause the rest of them had actually taken a liking to each other. Arakita shook his head. Ever since high school had ended, gatherings like this had become a priority for everyone, reasons notwithstanding. He guessed he was pretty thankful for that. Socialization and whatnot. And he most certainly didn’t mind seeing his old teammates again, not that he would outright tell any of them that.
Arakita had been the first to arrive, tossing his Secret Santa gift for Shinkai (of course) into Makishima’s arms and thanking whatever God there was that Toudou had stocked up on Bepsi this time. He settled on the couch with his first can, not too close to Makishima but not so far as to look like he was avoiding him. Arakita cracked open the can, sitting back and relaxing while Toudou bustled about. Makishima’s hair finally matched something - Toudou was currently placing last-minute ornaments on a Christmas tree that almost brushed the high ceilings of their home. Arakita was looking at the box of extra ornaments, mulling over just how often those two had been banging in his and Toudou’s shared dorm room in years past (something he’d been wondering since they came out) when the doorbell rang.
“Yasutomo, can you get that please?” Toudou’s voice rang from the kitchen.
“Sure,” Arakita said, setting down his Bepsi on the coffee table and walking languidly to the door. While he struggled to unlock it, he peeked through the peephole and was met by an icy stare he had only before seen through those damn red-tinted glasses.
“Kinjou’s here!” Arakita called to Toudou, who was busy setting out appetizers, and Makishima, who was probably mentally preparing to socialize for the next few hours.
Arakita pulled the door open quickly, instantly regretting it when the cold air hit him like a ton of bricks. He ushered Kinjou in, closing the door the second he was inside. Kinjou thanked him, set down the gift he had brought, then started to take off his jacket. Arakita opened his mouth to say something, probably about how Toudou could hang those extra ornaments in Makishima’s hair-
Wait.
What the fuck was he wearing.
Kinjou, noticing (and heavily misinterpreting) Arakita’s stare, turned to face him square-on. The sweater was a forest green, with snowflakes falling down, and featuring - get this - two deer kissing in the center. Arakita shook his head. Both deer had antlers. Did Kinjou know, or was he trying to make a statement? Christ, Arakita thought.
“Do you like it?” Kinjou asked excitedly. Well, his voice sounded about as monotonous as usual, but Arakita assumed this was about as excited as Kinjou got.
“Yeah, sure,” Arakita said, trying not to (laugh? Cry? What was he even supposed to do in this situation?). Like, sure, Arakita was as gay as the Fourth of July, but he would never dream of showing it off...at least, not quite like that. It was pretty funny to see Kinjou wearing that, though.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Arakita asked, trying to distract his own attention from Kinjou’s choice of clothing. “There’s Bepsi in the kitchen, and probably some other stuff too…” It didn’t work.
After Kinjou had gotten settled with his diet Sprite (it was an absolute miracle Toudou allowed more than one type of soda in the house at one time), Arakita sat back in his spot on the couch. Makishima took over door duty and it wasn’t long before the living room was full of bodies. 10 including himself, Arakita counted. Which made sense, because Toudou was in the kitchen tending to all the dishes brought by a still-apologizing Onoda (“I just was worried there wouldn’t be enough to go around, so I made 2 more batches...and then I realized Imaizumi-kun made the same thing!”). And then there was Makishima, welcoming in Shinkai, and then there was Shinkai, rushing up to Arakita without even taking his shoes off and planting a big kiss on his cheek. Arakita scowled, hoping no one saw, but scooted over a second later to make room for Shinkai on the couch next to him.
“It looks like everybody’s here....should we do gifts first or eat?” Makishima asked as he sat down on the floor closest to the tree.
“Gifts,” Shinkai said loudly, and when Toudou came back from the kitchen to sit between Onoda and Manami, he seconded the motion. Everyone gathered to find their gift under the tree, and Arakita stifled a laugh when he saw Teshima get poked in the eye by a pine needle as he leaned down to get his own gift bag. Arakita turned around and waited as Shinkai presented Manami with some power bars (of course), and some…birdseed? Arakita couldn’t help but smile at Shinkai’s gift-giving abilities. After Manami was done rejoicing, Arakita handed Shinkai the bag and watched him open the gift and why did he have to go so fucking slow. Shinkai’s face positively lit up when he saw the bunny chocolates and fuzzy socks and Arakita immediately regretted it, knowing he was going to get made fun of for trying to be sentimental (but not too sentimental, of course...at least, Arakita thought so). Contrary to his nervous expectations, no one cracked a joke (probably because no one saw), and Shinkai hugged him tightly with his free arm, whispering a thank you into his ear that should not have made Arakita turn as red as it did.
When Shinkai finally let him go, Arakita rushed to the kitchen for another Bepsi, his heart racing. He opened the can quickly, letting the fizzing noise drown out the pounding in his ears. After he took a long, long swig, Arakita decided he may as well head back to the living room. Everything was mostly slowing down; everyone was thanking their Secret Santas for their gifts, Toudou was running around in a Santa hat, Onoda was standing completely still, star-struck and staring at the anime figure an awkwardly grinning Makishima had bought him, et cetera. All in all, things was about as normal as they got.
Arakita leaned on the back of the couch, crossing his arms and holding his Bepsi loosely by the top of the can. Shinkai got up to stand next to Arakita and ended up standing a lot closer than Arakita expected, but he really didn't mind at all. He was about to ask Shinkai if he wanted a sip, or what he thought about Kinjou’s sweater, or just...anything to start a conversation, but he was distracted by Fukutomi across the room, who had just presented Kinjou with a wrapped up box, complete with a little red bow on top. Arakita stood up a little straighter to get a better look. Fukutomi’s face was a shade of red that rivaled Naruko’s hair, and the tag had “Kinjou” on it written in cursive. Some really damn nice cursive, in Arakita’s opinion.
“Thank you,” Kinjou said, standing up and taking the present from Fukutomi’s hands and smiling so big he showed his teeth (a rare occurrence, Arakita thought; even when they had gone to university together Arakita hadn’t seen that smile very often, and when he did, it wasn’t as bright as it was right now).
“You’re very welcome, “ Fukutomi replied, trying to keep his cool even though it was long gone. Kinjou tore at the wrapping paper - Arakita was confident now that Kinjou was really very excited, somewhere deep down - and opened the box to reveal a brand-new pair of Oakley sunglasses. Everyone’s eyebrows seemed to raise in unison, and Arakita almost laughed at the sight of it.
Arakita turned his gaze back to Fukutomi and Kinjou. He was shocked to see Kinjou, eyes wide and shiny behind his glasses, grinning so hard his dimples might've fallen off.
Fukutomi broke the silence. "Last time we rode together I noticed yours were scratched, so I bought you some new ones."
Kinjou finally looked up from the glasses. "Thank you so much, Juichi," he said warmly, wrapping his arms tightly around Fukutomi, though he held the glasses tenderly behind Fukutomi's neck.
The room was practically dead silent, every pair of eyes focused on Fukutomi and Kinjou, so Arakita rolled his eyes when Shinkai whispered "did you see that?" breathily into his ear.
"Of course, dumbass," Arakita replied out of the corner of his mouth, trying not to smile. As the hustle and bustle resumed, Fukutomi and Kinjou separated and the event honestly left Arakita's mind, replaced with thoughts of...other things. As in Shinkai. But never mind that.
It only took half an hour or so before all the appetizers were gone. The minute Tadokoro snatched up the last cocktail meatball (much to the dismay of a snarling Naruko), Toudou declared it was time to eat dinner. Arakita offered to help set the table as Tadokoro, Naruko, and Shinkai made a mad dash for the seat closest to the green beans (Izumida was too proud to fight for that specific spot, but he still managed to get the seat directly next to it). Damn sprinters, Arakita thought with a smile as he watched. Once all the dishes were out, Toudou declared it time to eat and Arakita was glad he had sat on the opposite end of the table from Tadokoro and Naruko and wasn't plagued by the view - and the sounds - of their neverending rivalry.
Arakita jumped when Shinkai took his hand beneath the table.
The evening passed fairly quickly after that. During all the random chatter about biking, Arakita consumed an immeasurable number of Bepsis, so many that he was using the bathroom at least once every ten minutes. Such is life, Arakita thought to himself. He didn’t know why he was so tired, but he reasoned that the Bepsi would have to kick in at some point, so, for lack of a better term, he let sleeping dogs lie. Arakita relaxed back onto the couch, his body melting against Shinkai, who smiled down at him. Arakita was too tired and full for anything else but smiling back and leaning his head on Shinkai's shoulder. Tonight had been a pretty good night. Through half-closed eyes Arakita watched the rest of his friends do their thing all about the room. He watched Tadokoro grin, then stand up abruptly and walk to the kitchen.
“You know...my presence was not the only thing I brought to the party tonight,” Tadokoro said slowly as he emerged from the kitchen doorway, holding a large box and pausing for effect as he eyed the whole group out of the corners of his eyes. “I also brought cookies!”
He opened the box to reveal a stunning display of cookies of all kinds - sugar, gingerbread, Snickerdoodle, all the classics. The box was passed around, and Arakita couldn’t help but take a few. Actually, even though everyone seemed to be stuffed, the only one to outright refuse was Toudou, who had decided since dinner that he was eating healthily.
Arakita started munching on his cookies, eyes wandering around the room. He felt Shinkai’s arm make its way around him and he leaned into the embrace. Smiling, he leaned up to place a kiss on Shinkai’s jaw. Arakita adjusted his position so he could comfortably lie on Shinkai’s shoulder again, when he saw Fukutomi take a bite of a cookie and then offer the rest to Kinjou, who was sitting on an adjacent couch. Kinjou leaned forward, until his face was just inches away from Fukutomi’s, and took the cookie with his teeth. Arakita noticed a slight flush in both of their faces, and clearly he wasn't the only one.
“Aww, look at the happy couple!” Toudou exclaimed, and Fukutomi turned bright red for the second time that night. Arakita watched as Fukutomi and Kinjou locked eyes, and he envied their ability to talk without using words. That’s the strong and silent type for you, though, he thought, yawning.
Suddenly, Fukutomi stood up. “Actually, there’s something we’d like to discuss with you all.” He looked around the room, waiting for nods of approval.
“They’re banging,” Shinkai whispered to Arakita, who stifled a laugh. Now was not the time Fukutomi was serious- He squeezed Shinkai’s hand to shut him up.
Kinjou stood up and took Fukutomi’s hand. Clearly, this was it. Arakita no longer envied their ability to communicate with some sort of ESP or whatever, cause he could feel Shinkai fist-pumping and cheering in his head even though Shinkai was doing nothing of the sort and that was more annoying(ly endearing) than anything. Arakita took a sip of Bepsi to wash down the gingerbread and the thoughts that occupied his mind.
Kinjou took a deep breath. “The two of us are engaged.”
Arakita fucking spit out his Bepsi/gingerbread mixture. He had just reached the instant where he regretted his decision of combining clashing tastes and then Kinjou dropped the bomb. He supposed he should thank Kinjou sometime. He supposed he should probably say something because everyone was staring. Clearly he hadn’t picked up on all the cues everyone else had. Did he totally miss something? Arakita felt his face getting hot which was dumb cause only Kinjou and Fuku-chan should be nervous right now and his heart was probably going a mile a minute and he had to say something he was Fukutomi’s assistant after all even though that was years ago- Stop. Fucking. Thinking.
Arakita coughed a few more times, thanking whatever voice was in his head, his or Shinkai’s, for snapping him out of it.
“Since when have you ever been a thing?” he blurted out. He was so dumb why did he ask that everyone but him probably knew the whole time-
“About three years,” Fukutomi smiled.
Wow.
Judging by the reactions of the rest of the room, everyone didn’t know the whole time.