Archive of Our Own

“The snow’s getting thicker.”

“And the weather’s getting colder,” hinata sneezed, followed by a low mumble of ‘bless you’ from his friends. Tadashi handed him a handkerchief, which he gratefully accepted to wipe his snot. The morning breeze was unforgivingly cold as they walked to the gym together, and thick white loaves of snow surrounded them. It wasn't an untimely sight, considering that they were almost a week into december. It started snowing in november.

“Christmas is less than three weeks away,” tadashi said. “Have any of you started decorating yet? My mom’s started looking for gifts already. She dragged me with her yesterday.”

“Your mom’s really early,” hinata said. He used his arms to support his head and looked up at the crisp clear sky as they walked together. “We usually wait until a week to start decorating, since we’re going to one of my grandparent’s houses. I hope we go to my mom’s side this year. Mom’s side of the family always has the best gifts. I’m planning to give natsu a plush toy she’s been talking about lately. Hey, yamaguchi, make sure your gift for me this year is extra special, alright? You’re not gonna be seeing me for the next two years or so, so you better give me something memorable, otherwise I'll forget about you. That goes for both of you too, tsukishima and kageyama,” he joked. Tadashi simply smiled at him and nodded. Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

“Mom wants to wait until my sister comes home from tokyo. She says she has a special present for me, and is expecting a special one from me, too. She says my gifts suck, but sometimes I still see her use them,” kageyama said. They were nearing the gym, and kageyama patted down the pockets of his pants, eyes widening when he felt them flat and not slightly bulging as usual. He started patting himself all over more frantically, making hinata look at him questioningly. He looked over at tadashi in alarm.

“Yamaguchi, are the keys with you? They’re not with me. I’ve checked all over.”

“Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. I gave them to yachi-san yesterday. She said that her mother’s leaving for work early and she’s afraid of sleeping in, so she asked for the keys so she could come in early. Sorry.” Kageyama breathed a sigh of relief, nodding as tadashi apologized once more. Tadashi looked at tsukishima, who had been quiet the entire time. “What about you, tsukki? Have you started decorating yet?”

Tsukishima shook his head. “My mom wants to wait until my brother comes home from a trip. He’ll be back in two weeks or so,” he told him. They’ve arrived at the gym now, and tsukishima reached out to open the door. He was slightly surprised that it had already been unlocked. “I think it’s still too early to decorate. We’ve got more than two weeks to go. I feel like you’re the only one too excited for the holidays to come.”

When the door fully opened, surprised gasps filled the air. Tadashi, who wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him, turned to face the gym.

“Woah, look at our gym!” Hinata gasped, tugging on tadashi’s sleeve. “It’s… it’s been christmas-fied!”

“Woah,” Tadashi echoed, looking ahead. Hinata was right. Their whole gym had been christmas-fied. Along with the usual orangish wood color, there were a few generous splashes of green, white, and red. In the middle of the court was the silver of a tall ladder, where their manager stood on top with a chain of paper dolls in her hand. The ladder was supported by their two assistant managers, second year and first year each. Judging from their expressions, they weren’t expecting for anyone to arrive yet.

“Good morning! We weren’t expecting for someone to arrive so early,” hitoka waved at them. They all waved back. “Merry christmas! Did you like what we did to the gym? It’s still not done yet, though.”

“It looks nice, yachi-san. Really, really nice,” Tadashi repeated. His vocabulary had been cut short as his mind was more preoccupied with admiring hitoka’s mesmerizing work. He took a few steps forward, getting to look at her handiwork more clearly. Green tinsel had been used and placed on top of doors, windows, and just about any suitable flat surface. Cotton had been used to mimic the snow on top of them, and tadashi was certain he saw sparkles of red glitter. The decorations were simple, but if he didn’t know any better, he’d think that they got lost in an old wooden shop that sold christmas trinkets and was more than ready for the holidays. As expected of hitoka, obviously. Tadashi wasn’t one to underestimate her creativity and artistic skills. He approached the ladder and greeted his two juniors, who smiled and did the same to him. He offered hitoka his hand to ensure she got down safely, to which she happily accepted. “Was this the real reason you asked for the keys yesterday? How long have you been planning this?”

Hitoka got off the last step with a jump. “We’ve been planning this since november, but the decorating itself didn’t take too long, thanks to amanai and suzuki.” She sent her two juniors a thumbs up. From the looks of it, the two were proud of their work, as they rightfully should be. Hitoka looked back at tadashi and smiled cheekily. “Sorry for lying to you. This was supposed to be a surprise.”

“It’s fine. Though I would've appreciated helping you as well.” he looked back to where their friends were gawking at the details in the decorations, some tadashi hadn’t even noticed. Hitoka was amused and flattered at their reactions.

“Did you guys like what we did to the gym?” she asked. Hinata shifted his focus from the star shaped ornament she hung at the center of the gym to her, his eyes wide and shining in awe. To say that he liked them would be an understatement.

“Yachi-san, our gym looks so cool! Did the three of you do this all by yourself? This looks amazing!” he gushed. Kageyama approached her.

“I can’t believe you managed to trick yamaguchi, yachi-san. I can’t do that. The decorations look nice. You really did a great job.”

“Kageyama, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Oi, hinata, let’s put the ladder somewhere else. Practice is about to begin.”

“Alright!”

“The decorations look really good, yachi-san. You guys did a good job.” Tsukishima appeared next to her. “But aren’t you worried they might get ruined? We’ve got balls flying around all day. Something’s bound to get ripped or dislocated. Your hard work would go to waste.”

“Relax, tsukki. I’m sure yachi-san’s thought about it,” Tadashi reassured him. “Remember when we were kids and your mom made us take some Christmas photos? I wore some hair clips and a star headband and dressed up to be a christmas tree. You were santa, and akiteru-san was a reindeer. I still have them.”

Tsukishima cracked a smile. “I still can’t believe you made me wear that santa costume because you thought it was itchy. You’re lucky I didn't get a skin reaction to that.”

“That sounds so cute! You'll have to show me those pictures soon, yamaguchi-kun,” hitoka said. Tadashi had no qualms with that. “Hey, maybe we should dress up for christmas together. You two could recreate the picture, but without tsukishima-kun’s big brother of course.”

“That sounds like a great idea, yachi-san.”

“Maybe. Let’s not think about it now. It’s too early for that.” Tsukishima looked out the window. He could see a few figures coming up to the gym, presumably their fellow teammates. Judging from how their tired, lazy steps turned into excited jogging, he assumed they already saw a few peeks of the decorations. “It feels like everyone’s rushing to celebrate it. We’ve got more than enough time until it happens.”

“Don’t worry about that, tsukki. I’m pretty sure yachi-san and i are the only ones excited for christmas,” tadashi said. “It’s not like the whole school’s been taken over by the christmas spirit, right?”

🎄

“A secret santa event?”

“Yup. Some girls in my class had the idea to do it when the teacher asked what we should do for the third years before we graduate. I guess it’s kinda a way for us to celebrate together and get to know each other before we go our separate paths. It'll be a nice memory later.” Hinata munched on a small bag of gingerbread cookies as he explained it to his friends. They were a gift from hitoka earlier this morning. She made enough for the whole team. The gym makeover wasn’t the only surprise she had under her sleeve. Tsukishima grimaced at him for eating while talking, but hinata paid no mind to that. He swallowed and promptly dusted his hands clean by the window next to him. They were in tadashi and tsukishima's classroom, specifically crowded around tadashi's desk. tsukishima pulled his chair closer to his desk, while kageyama sat in the empty seat in front of tadashi. Hinata chose to just stand against the wall, squished between kageyama's chair and tadashi's desk. He reached in his pocket and pulled out five pieces of folded paper.

“They handed out the box full of names before we went for lunch and asked us to pick one out randomly. I picked out five for all of us. That way you don’t have to waste your time looking for them. Considerate, aren’t I?” he proudly stated. Kageyama looked confused.

“Five? But there’s four of us here.”

“The other one’s for yachi-san. I’m going to her class soon to give it to her.”

“Oh.”

“Here, pick one each. It’s random, so I'm not sure if you’ll get someone you know or not, but their full name and class are written on it.” He extended his palm out. Tadashi, tsukishima, and kageyama each picked one from him without much thought. There were two pieces of folded paper left. Hinata took one and placed it in his pocket before making his way to hitoka's class. “I’ll be giving this to yachi-san. Goodluck with the gift giving! And don’t be shy to ask for help if you got someone from my class!”

Tadashi waved goodbye to him and watched as his two friends unfolded their papers. He’ll open his up later. He wanted to finish his bento and the cookies hitoka gave them first. The winter always worked him up an appetite. He chewed on his food as he watched kageyama frown at his now opened piece of paper, or rather the name written on it. Tsukishima remained indifferent.

“Who’d you get?” he asked them, finishing off the last of his rice and drinking some water.

“Tsuyuri-san from class 3. She was our classmate during first year, so this should be easy,” Tsukishima told him. Tadashi remembered her. She was a timid and kind girl, who had many admirers. Some of their classmates who overheard them grew visibly jealous when they found out tsukishima was her secret santa. Kageyama looked up from his paper, still sporting his frown.

“I think I got someone from your class, yamaguchi.” He showed them the name he got. It was a boy from the same class as tadashi and tsukishima. Tadashi offered to help kageyama since he knew the boy quite well, and the frown on his face eased. He went back to finishing the cookies hitoka baked. Tadashi did the same. The cookies were delicious, and tadashi wasn't even fond of the flavor of gingerbread.

“Aren’t you gonna open up your paper, yamaguchi?” Tsukishima asked him, taking a sip from his drink. Tadashi shook his head, swallowing his chew before answering.

“Nah. I'll do it later. I want to finish eating first,” he said, taking a sip of water.

“I can open it up for you if you’re too busy. You might forget later on.” Kageyama reached out for the folded piece of paper on tadashi's desk, almost giving him a heart attack. He quickly snatched it and gulped down the water in his mouth.

“It’s fine, kageyama. I’ll just open it right now.” His throat was still uncomfortable at how quickly he swallowed his drink. Kageyama looked confused, and tsukishima snickered.

“Hinata did say we can show who we got to our friends. It won’t be a problem if I open it up for you.”

“I know. I just want to see it first myself.”

“Oh. sorry.”

Tadashi smiled. He knew kageyama meant well. He always did. “Don’t worry about it.”

He unfolded his piece of paper and read the name written on it.

Yachi Hitoka, class 3-5

Tadashi smiled. Just his luck that he got someone he was close to. What were the odds? This should be easy. He knew a lot of things that hitoka would like. He could think of a gift for her from the top of his head. He’s been giving her christmas presents for almost three years now and she’s always loved them. How hard could this be? She was the type of person who was easy to please anyway, she’d appreciate any gift she received from anybody, although that didn’t mean he would slack off and give her something flimsy. His smile made tsukishima and kageyama curious, and tsukishima peered over his shoulder to see whose name he got.

“What are you smiling about?” His deep voice almost gave tadashi a heart attack again, and he quickly hid the piece of paper in his hand. Tsukishima gave him an unimpressed look. “What’s with the secrecy? Did you get the name of your crush or something?”

“I-it’s not like that!”

“Really? Then why be so protective over it?”

“Your face is red, too. You know we won’t tell anyone if it is your crush, right?” Kageyama pointed out. Tadashi didn’t even realize he was blushing until he said something. He pressed his hand against his cheek. It was hot. Kageyama stretched his neck and looked for the piece of paper tadashi was trying so hard to hide. “Is it really your crush, yamaguchi?”

“N-no it’s not! I-i just, um, don’t feel like showing it to you. It’ll, um, ruin the surprise. Plus, this person’s not in either of your classes anyway, so I don't think you’d know them.” technically that wasn’t a lie. None of them were classmates with hitoka. But to say that they wouldn’t know her was one hell of a lie. Both tsukishima and kageyama didn’t seem convinced, but they didn’t dig any further.

“You could’ve just told us that. No need to be so overprotective,” Tsukishima said. Kageyama nodded, agreeing with his words. If tadashi wasn’t so nervous, he would’ve been impressed. It was rare to see them agreeing with each other and not butting heads outside the court. He was about to argue, but the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. Tsukishima went back to his own seat, and kageyama went back to his class after bidding them goodbye. Tadashi tidied up his desk, took a sip of water, and prepared himself for their next class. He looked left and right before fishing out the piece of paper in his pocket. He opened it and smiled, this time within his own privacy without the fear that someone would poke their head over his shoulder and try to stick their nose into his business. He read hitoka’s name again and again, picturing her face and letting his smile grow like flowers underneath the sun.

He’ll give her the best gift ever. The secrecy of being a secret santa just added into his raging excitement. Seriously, how hard could gift giving be?

🎄

Gift giving was very hard.

“Yamaguchi, have you picked out a gift yet?”

Tadashi sighed, unbuttoning his uniform and fishing out his jersey from his bag. School had just ended, and, to their surprise, none of their juniors had left their classrooms yet. They were the only ones in the changing room, and that meant they could take their sweet time. He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Seriously? It’s been a week since I gave you guys the papers. Hell, I even gave you early access. What’s taking you so long?”

Tadashi sighed again, this time in frustration and defeat. The idea of what gift he could give hitoka was simple enough, but actually choosing it was the hard part. He couldn’t just give her anything or something. It had to be special. “When’s the deadline for giving the gift?”

“Well, the last day you could give it is on christmas day, but since some kids are going to their hometowns early, you can start giving on the eighteenth. I’ve chosen my gift already. I got my classmate’s name.” Hinata's voice was muffled as he changed into his jersey. His head and bright orange hair appeared out of his shirt with a pop, although that could just be the sound he always makes. He’s been growing like a weed since second year, and if it wasn't for them growing up and going through puberty together, tadashi would think eighteen year old hinata was over twenty. “Who’d you get? Maybe I could help.”

Tadashi blushed. For some reason, he was too shy to tell his friends about hitoka. He shouldn’t feel like that, the five of them were friends after all. But why did he?

His silence prompted tsukishima to answer for him.

“He’s keeping it a secret. He didn’t tell us either when we asked him. He says that it’ll ruin the surprise.”

“Really? Well, okay then.” Hinata stopped to think, and tadashi took that as an opportunity to calm his suddenly spiking nerves.

“Did you get a boy or a girl?” he asked again. Okay, he could answer that.

“I got a girl.” a very pretty girl. A very pretty, smart, nice, amazing girl, who deserved an equally amazing gift, something that tadashi’s pebble of a brain couldn’t think of for some fucking reason. He never had a hard time coming up with something for her before, so why now?

“A girl, huh?” Hinata rubbed his chin in thought, and it was obvious that tsukishima was annoyed by that for some reason. Hinata turned to look at Tadashi with a seriousness that didn’t often appear off court. “What did you want to give her in the first place? Surely you had something that came to your mind when you were thinking about it, right?”

He did, but from the look on his face, it was quite clear how he felt about it. His face morphed into a scrunched up, unsure frown. “Flowers, I guess?”

The seriousness on hinata's face disappeared as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a snort that told Tadashi they felt the same way about his original idea.

“Flowers? Seriously?” It was obvious hinata tried to stay polite, but he couldn’t help the cackle he let out. Tadashi was not amused, to say the very least.

“That’s very helpful feedback, hinata. Thank you. I appreciate it sooooo much,” he muttered. Hinata was on the floor laughing now. Tadashi rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, sorry, your idea was just super cliche. I’ll help you, I swear,” he recollected himself.  Tadashi was not convinced. What was he now, some sort of gift professional? A connoisseur? He knew for a fact that hitoka would very much love (or, at least, appreciate) a bouquet of flowers given to her. He just didn’t think that it was enough. Hinata was still wiping away some tears on his face from laughing so hard. He saw that tsukishima chuckled a bit, too. Kageyama was his only friend now. Hinata cleared his throat and started thinking again. Tsukishima was surprised at how focused he seemed to be.

“Maybe give her a plushie? Something soft and huggable. Girls like that, right? Ooh, maybe even some hair ties or hair clips. The girls in my class always complain about their lost hair ties. I’m pretty sure they sell a whole bunch of them for cheap,” Hinata suggested. Hmm, that was a good idea. Hitoka showed interest in stuffed toys when they attended last year’s summer festival. She had been eyeing some prizes at a game stall in particular. Tadashi tried to win the game so she could have it, but he unfortunately failed. Hair ties and clips sounded good, too. Hitoka has longer hair now, and she does complain about losing her hair ties once in a while. Tadashi thought she looked beautiful with her hair down, but it was obvious she felt uncomfortable sometimes, especially during the blistering hot summer.

“How about earrings? Or beaded bracelets, or those necklaces we see at the shopping districts. I think a lot of girls would like those. My sister likes them a lot, and they’re affordable with good quality. The arts club sells handmade jewelry, maybe you could look for some there,” kageyama also suggested after being quiet the whole time. Hinata agreed with him. That was an even better idea. Tadashi could feel the cogs in his brain start to move, increasing in speed as he continued to think about it. Shimada-san knew some people who sell cute accessories like that, and now that it was the holiday season, there would surely be discounts. Sounds like a bargain to him.

“You should give them something related to their hobbies or interests, like books or paint brushes or keychains. You could ask the person’s classmates or friends what they like to do during their free time.” Of course, why didn’t he think of that? Hitoka was one of the most creative people he knew, if not the most. Paints and paint brushes and color pencils were an obvious choice. She smiles wide whenever she sees pretty color pens or cute sticky notes. Her notebooks were scattered with her neat handwriting in colorful ink. Leave it to tsukishima to point out the obvious.

“The safest option would be snacks that don't spoil easily, like cookies or biscuits. Things that don’t smell, too, so you won't attract attention. You have to give it in secret, after all,” Tsukishima added to his previous idea. Hinata and kageyama both liked that, nodding in agreement. Tadashi quite liked it, too. Hitoka was quite fond of sweet things, especially ones with strawberries in it. He saw a big value pack of biscuits she liked the other day. He could gather some other things she liked to give her as well, like a surprise snack box he often saw promoted on social media. They garnered quite a liking, and who’s to say hitoka wouldn’t like a whole box of her favourite treats? Just imagining her happy face was enough to make him feel all giddy, too.

Tadashi smiled, putting on his long abandoned number one captain jersey with a newfound confidence. He had a lot of ideas running through his head now. The cogs in his brain ran smooth like the strong current of a river. He excused himself out of the changing room first, which prompted his friends to quickly change after being distracted from their conversation. He greeted his juniors who had just arrived and headed towards the gym feeling at ease, a stark difference to his frustrated demeanor before. The burning fire in him made him even more eager to get started with practice. The quicker they start, the quicker they’d get done. The quicker they’d get done, the quicker they’d go home, where he could start planning out his secret santa gift. Tadashi bet that by the time practice ended, he’d probably have even more ideas on what to give hitoka.

This was easy. Tadashi didn’t even know what he was so worried about. He was lucky to have such brilliant friends. Now that he had the help of his friends, surely it couldn’t still be that hard, right?

🎄

Gift giving was still very hard.

Tadashi sighed, aimlessly throwing the ball in his hands against the wall at the back of shimada’s shop. It’s been a few days since his friends had given him their advice, and yet for some reason he still couldn’t think of a final idea for hitoka’s gift. All the ideas he came up with felt insufficient, like there was something missing in them. Nothing that popped up in his mind made him think this is the one .

His mother had once again dragged him out with her to the mall yesterday (his father was busy with work, but his mother said that their commentary was similar, so there wouldn’t be a big difference anyway), and he had the chance to browse through some of his friends’ suggestions, along with some other things he himself thought of. He tried out hinata’s idea of giving her a plush toy or hair accessories, kageyama’s idea of some casual jewelry, tsukishima’s idea of hobby items, and his own idea of getting her a scarf or a sweater, something suitable for the winter, since hitoka didn’t do well with the cold. He walked into the mall with a confident smile on his face.

But at the end of the day, nothing worked out. He couldn’t find a plush toy or hair clip that he was sure hitoka would like, or a pair of earrings that fit her style. He had no knowledge of art whatsoever, so he wasn’t sure what brand of paint or pens were the best in the market and was kind to his budget, and there was no sweater or scarf that would suit her just right. He ended up getting a big box of her favourite biscuits with strawberry filling and a pack of fugashi, but he knew he couldn’t give hitoka just that. He went home empty handed (his mother quite the opposite) and empty spirited, and his mother was concerned seeing her smiling son turning into a dejected, lifeless vessel by the time they were done. He was filled with burning passion on the drive there, but it was completely wiped away in the span of a few hours. She was certain it wasn’t just the fatigue. He looked like he couldn’t find something important for someone important to him, like a sad lover. She hoped that her look of concern was enough to tell him that she was there if he needed help with something, even if that something was as small as an atom.

Tadashi threw the ball to the wall one last time before giving up, letting it roll over to him and not making any effort to pick it up and resume his routine. He was lucky that today was a weekend with no scheduled practices. He could ponder over the subject that had been haunting him for weeks now for as long as he wanted, a fact that he both loved and loathed.

His free time during the weekends was reserved for light practicing at the back of his mentor’s shop. Ever since ennoshita-san passed down the torch to him, shimada-san, after crying his eyes out receiving the news, jokingly told him that tadashi no longer needed his help. Despite knowing that his mentor wasn’t being serious, tadashi strongly disagreed.

In his personal opinion, he felt like he’ll always need shimada makoto.

“Tadashi, you haven’t left yet?” The back door opened, revealing shimada holding two boxes that looked quite heavy. Tadashi stood up to help him, but shimada quickly moved to the dumpster right next to the door, dropping off the two boxes with a huff. He straightened himself up and dusted his hands. He gestured for tadashi to sit down at one of the stone steps leading to the inside of his shop.

“Stay right there, I'll get us something to drink. I can tell that there’s something troubling you,” he said, before disappearing into his store. Tadashi assumed it was empty and that he didn’t have a lot of customers. A small smile grew on his face. Shimada always managed to read through him like a piece of glass. He sat down on one of the stone steps, the ball he abandoned before now with him. He bounced it up and down, stopping when shimada came back with two cups exuding steam, sitting next to him. As if they were robots that were similarly wired, they took a sip and sighed in content at the same time. There was nothing better than something warm to ease the frustrated and tired nerves during winter.

“That’s good, isn't it?

“Mmhm.” 

Shimada set his cup aside. “So, what’s with the sour face? No sane person would be grumpy under the beautiful morning sun, especially you. Something happened at school?”

“Kinda.” 

“What is it?”

“I need to give a gift to someone, but i just don’t know what to give them, and the deadline’s getting closer by the second.” technically speaking there was more than a week until christmas, and a few more days until the eighteenth, but with how things were going right now, there’s no guarantee he’ll come up with something until then.

“Why don’t you just ask them? Ask them to make a wishlist of what they want this year, and get started from there.”

“I can’t. It’s a secret santa exchange.”

“Oh, okay. Do you know the person you got? Maybe ask their friends to make a list of the things they like if you don’t know them too well.”

“I do know them.”

“Well this should be easy. Just get them what they like. You probably already have a few ideas, right?”

“I do , but the thing is none of them feel right , and it’s frustrating because I've gone through so many options but i still haven’t picked out something .” Tadashi took the ball at his side and slammed it down on the ground in frustration, letting it bounce up to the sky and nearly hit him in the head as it came back down. Shimada slightly flinched, startled by his student’s sudden burst of attitude. Tadashi sighed and slumped down, gripping at his hair.

“Sorry. I’m just….not feeling very good about this whole thing.”

Shimada smiled softly, patting the young boy’s back. “It’s alright. It is kinda frustrating, i get it. I always want to pick out the best thing for my friends, too.” his hand then went to tadashi’s chest, patting where his heart should be. He looked at tadashi’s face, his cloudy expression now starting to clear up. “But it’s hard to make exact decisions when your mind’s all stormy and jumbled up. You need to relax and take a deep breath. This person, I'm assuming, is your friend. They’ll like whatever you choose to give them. You’ve known them for years now.”

Tadashi’s face flattened. He can’t just give her something with the knowledge that she’ll like it because they’re friends. He needed to put effort into it, and so far everything he’s chosen didn’t feel like that. They felt bleh, like he hasn’t done enough. He needed to give her something that she’d love, something that she’d want. If it weren’t for the nature of the exchange he’d already ask what she wanted. That way he wouldn’t have to worry about her possibly not liking the gift.

“I can’t just do that, shimada-san. This person’s my friend, someone i really really care about and means a lot to me. I can’t just give them something and expect that they’ll like it just because we’re friends. I might as well just give them a piece of my hair, if that’s the case.”

“I never said that. I meant that they’ll like it because you’re their friend, who knows them well enough to pick something decent. Besides, it’s the thought that counts, right?”

“Yeah, but in this case nothing feels like it has nice thoughts put into it, and at this point I might just give them a plain card with a heartfelt message written on it, only I’m not doing that because they deserve something better .” Tadashi felt like pulling his hair out and grinding his teeth to dust in frustration. He wanted his gift for hitoka to be perfect, and not entirely just because she was a spectacular manager whose effort and dedication was heavily appreciated by tadashi. It was something deeper than that, something deeper that other people probably wouldn’t understand. He took a sip of his thankfully still warm drink, attempting to calm his nerves.

Shimada stared at tadashi for a while before speaking up. “You really care about this person, huh?”

His statement seemed to take tadashi by surprise, evident by how he gulped down his milk spontaneously in surprise. “What?” 

“This person you were assigned to for this secret santa thing. You really care about them, huh? You’re awfully passionate and persistent over getting them something impossibly nice. They must be really important to you.”

Tadashi cleared his throat, wiping away some of his drink that spilled to the side of his mouth. he hesitated before he answered. “You could say that, I guess.”

“Who were you assigned to anyway? Is it one of your friends? Hinata? Or tsukishima? Maybe even kageyama? Is it someone I don't know? If you tell me, maybe I'll be able to help you even better."

Tadashi gulped. He felt nervous all of a sudden. "I-i can't tell you. It's going against the exchange rules."

Shimada jutted his bottom lip out. "I'm not a student there, tadashi. I don't need to follow the rules. just tell me. it's not like I’m gonna tell anyone."

"I-i can't! Seriously, I can't. sorry. I-i just can't."

Shimada crossed his arms against his chest, eyeing tadashi suspiciously. Oh, no. He could feel his heartbeat quicken.

"Why are you being so secretive about this friend of yours? You didn't do anything bad now, did you?" Tadashi shook his head. his brain was looking for a way out of this conversation, while shimada's was quite the opposite. He was trying to find out why tadashi wanted out of their talk so eagerly. It was weird, extremely weird. Tadashi was the one who wanted his help with picking out this person’s gift, and he was the one who told him that he got a friend of his, who he cherished deeply. Why was he being so secretive now? Was all of that a lie? He couldn't have been lying, right? Why would he lie? He was a horrible liar anyway. Shimada would know if he did. but if he did, which part was false, and which part was true? Was the secret santa exchange at school really bothering him? Was he perhaps troubled by something else? If so, what? And why would he lie about trying to give a gift to a friend? Was there even a friend?

Was there even a friend?

Shimada snapped his fingers together, startling tadashi. That's it.

"Did you get your crush for secret santa?"

Tadashi's eyes blew wide. "What!?" 

"You did! You did get your crush for secret santa! That's why you're being so difficult and secretive!” Shimada smiled gleefully, jumping around carefully, making sure to not slip on the slippery floor at the back of his shop. Tadashi, still seated on the stairs, felt hot in the face and a rapid beating in his chest.

"I knew it. I knew it! you would've told me if it was tsukishima, or hinata, or kageyama. but you didn't! You keep stalling on and on and on, but I've got you now!" he boasted with a proud smile on his face. He looked back at tadashi. "Who is it? Is it a boy? Is it a girl? Tell me!"

It took a while before tadashi could answer. It felt like his brain stopped working for a moment. "How did you even- no I didn't! I-i do not have a crush on the person i was assigned. They're just a good friend, and-"

"And you want to confess when you give them the gift, and that's why you're trying your best to make it special! Oh, tadashi, that's adorable! you don't need to be embarrassed about being in love, you know?"

"I am not in love with the person I got. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Oh yeah? Then tell me who did you get."

"I told you I can't!"

"You can, you just don't want to, because you have a crush on them," shimada continued to tease him, but tadashi felt like it leaned more towards torture. he watched as shimada prance around the back of his shop, acting like he was twenty years older than his actual age, singing about how his student finally set volleyball aside and got himself a life. Tadashi would be offended if that statement hadn’t been true.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. There weren't any options left if he wanted shimada to stop.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you who it is," he groaned, and shimada immediately stopped what he was doing, and shuffled over to sit next to him. He giggled giddily like a little school girl gossiping. Tadashi rolled his eyes, feeling his heart beat fast as he whispered hitoka's name into shimada's ear.

When he backed away, shimada was…..calm. there was no hint of teasing on his face. He looked….casual. like he just heard birds chirping in the sky.

And then he gave tadashi a shit eating grin.

Oh, great .

"Awww, is tadashi a little shy about his crush on yacchan?"

"W-what!?" 

"I knew it. I always knew you liked her! it was so, so obvious! Oh, takinoue is going to pay!"

"What do you- you bet on my relationship with my friends!?"

"First of all, he was the one who started it," Shimada corrected, as if that made any difference. "And second of all, yes, yes I did, because I know you better, so it's an ultimate win for me."

Tadashi was, at the very least, flabbergasted. "I-i don't have a crush on yachi-san."

Shimada rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Shimada-san, I'm telling the truth!"

"Of course you are."

"Oh my god," tadashi groaned, burying his face into his palms. Shimada chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Okay, okay. I get it. I was just messing with you, kid. Cheer up," he said, crouching next to tadashi, and not sitting next to him. When tadashi looked up, shimada stood up and patted his back.

"I think I know what you should give her. stay here, alright?"

It felt like a ray of hope finally shined on tadashi. He watched as shimada entered his shop, waiting eagerly for him to come back like a little puppy. He finally, finally got what he was waiting for. His eyes glimmered hopefully when he saw shimada come back with something in his hands, gesturing for tadashi to hand him his palm.

Shimada then placed a green plant in his palm. Upon further inspection, tadashi recognized it as a mistletoe. He looked up at shimada, confused written all over his face. By the looks of it, this wasn’t a prank.

“What’s this?”

“A mistletoe.”

“And I'm supposed to give this to yachi-san?” Shimada nodded, which made tadashi even more confused. This was a prank, right?

“Why? And what should I do with it?”

“Kiss her under it, obviously.”

Oh, for the love of god.

“What!? I-i can’t just- you said you believed me when I said I didn’t like yachi-san!”

“And you believed me? You know I feel guilty when you frown like that. That’s the only reason I said it,” shimada explained. Tadashi doesn’t know if he should be touched or annoyed by that. He sighed, holding the mistletoe up weakly.

“With all due respect, this is a horrible idea, shimada-san,” he said. Shimada was, unsurprisingly, offended. “You can't just give someone a kiss as a present. That’s more like a gift to me than a gift to her. And besides, you can’t just kiss someone you don’t like.”

“And? How do you know that?”

Tadashi’s eyes widened. “Yachi-san doesn’t like me! A-and I don't like her like that! How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"You seriously think I'm gonna believe you no matter how many times you scream it at me?" Shimada said, shifting his position to face tadashi entirely, pointing at him. "You, my boy, are good at many things, but lying and being subtle are not one of them. and how am I supposed to believe you when you look at her like that?"

Tadashi didn't know if he should take that as a compliment or an insult. He looked at shimada as if he was challenging him.

"Like what?" he asked with a respectful amount of attitude. Shimada scoffed, like he's been waiting for that question for his entire life.

"You think I don't see how you slowly follow behind her every time the two of you come here for saturday practice stuff and how you make mental notes on what aisle has what? And how you offer to buy something she's been eyeing? And how you stare at her hand when you two finish up? How you always speak to her so softly? I could go and on if time was on my hands, you know? I’m farsighted, tadashi, not blind. Look at you, you’re as pink as a rose.”

The last part prompted tadashi to put a hand against his cheek. It was warm to the touch. He wasn’t sure if this was caused by the weather or not. He looked away. He wasn’t in power to retaliate, not when everything shimada said was true.

So maybe he did always follow behind her as a safety precaution. Maybe he did sometimes offer to buy something she had been eyeing. Maybe he did stare at her hand longingly when they finished up and walked home together. Maybe he did make an effort to soften his voice whenever they talked privately. Maybe he did stay behind after matches to help her gather their stuff. Maybe he did enjoy spending time with her out of school much more than usual. Maybe he did go back to that one game stall during the summer festival because he failed to win her the prize last year, and maybe he did feel something bloom in his chest seeing how wide she smiled as he presented it to her, but brushed it off as just a friendly feeling. Maybe he did feel tingles as she took his hand to get off the ladder the other day. Maybe he did feel his heart beat faster when he imagined her reaction to his present for her. Maybe he wasn’t so opposed to kissing her and giving her the mistletoe.

Maybe…. Maybe he did have more feelings for hitoka than he realized, feelings that went past the fine line of platonic and friendliness.

His silence made shimada smile. He opened up his mouth to speak, but the bell on the counter rang, catching both of their attentions. He quickly stood up and used his hands to clean himself from the waist below. As he turned to enter the shop, he gave a hearty slap to tadashi’s back.

“Look, I'm not gonna force you to do something you don’t want to or aren’t sure of. But I'm just saying, if you need it, the mistletoe will always be here. Consider this my christmas gift to you, because otherwise I’ll charge you half the original price.”

“Wait, you actually sell these?”

“Yeah, obviously. They’re selling out quick, you know? Tons of boys from your school come to buy them. That’s where I got the idea for your gift.” the bell rang again, this time a bit more impatiently, interrupting the two’s conversation. Shimada ruffled tadashi’s hair before going to the counter, tying his apron around himself more neatly.

Tadashi’s eyes followed shimada’s every move. When the only sign of him was his voice, he looked at the plant in his hands before ultimately leaving it on the stair he was sitting on and took his leave. He doubted that he'd ever need it.

🎄

“Good work today, everyone. Let’s keep it up for tomorrow, alright? Now pack up and go home.”

“See you tomorrow, tadashi-senpai!”

Tadashi waved goodbye, slightly panting from their training session that had just ended. Lately, more specifically since hitoka put up christmas decorations in the gym, the team’s morale has increased rapidly, and practice sessions have been more lively even during the winter. He couldn’t be any more proud of his team. He turned to hinata, who was the same as him. “Hinata, whose turn is it to clean up the gym?”

“The second years, but there aren’t many of them left.”

“What? Why not?”

“Sakonji has family matters, he left earlier this morning. Kuwajima and shohei said they have stomach issues,” kageyama said, handing tadashi a towel. Tadashi frowned, wiping his sweat away. Not including one of their managers, they had four second years who would be successors of the club. But now that three of them were absent, they only had one person left to clean the gym, two if tadashi counted their manager.

“Do you think they’re lying?” tsukishima asked. Tadashi shook his head. The second years were composed of many different personalities and unique traits, but dishonesty was none of them. He knew that he had garnered their respect, and even if he didn’t, they were already disciplined enough. They begged for his forgiveness when they missed practice by ten minutes. Skipping practice for no apparent reason was like committing murder to them.

“Nonsense. They were here when ennoshita-san was captain. They know better than to skip practice,” he said, making them all chuckle. “So who do we have left?”

Hinata gestured towards the center of the gym, where the two second years were cleaning up. “We only have ritsu and amanai left.”

“Amanai?” tadashi repeated. Hinata nodded. “But it’s her birthday today. She should be home celebrating with her family.”

“I know,” hinata agreed, looking reluctant. “I’ve tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted. You know how she is. And ritsu’s practically her soulmate, they’re both as stubborn as a damn mule. They’re both hard workers, so I doubt that it’ll take so long, but still.”

“Yachi-san’s still trying to talk her out of it. Maybe if you tried harder, amanai might actually listen,” kageyama said, making him and hinata start arguing. Tadashi chose to ignore the chaos he had grown accustomed to and walk over to where hitoka was.

“Amanai, seriously, you should go home. It’s your birthday, you should celebrate with your family back home.” he could hear her trying to persuade the younger girl. Amanai shook her head.

“I’m fine, yachi-senpai. Don’t worry.”

“Amanai, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. It’s your birthday, take a break and go celebrate. The others and I can clean up, and it won’t take as much energy if you do it by yourself. Just go, okay?” Tadashi tried, slightly surprising hitoka with his sudden appearance. Again, amanai shook her head, her long brown hair swishing side to side.

“I’m fine, tadashi-san. I don’t feel forced at all. The others aren’t here, and helping out a little bit won’t hurt. And I'm not doing this alone, I have ritsu-kun helping me.” she pointed to ritsu who was tidying up in the storage closet, and he waved his hand at them instinctively. “We’re almost done, anyway. There won’t be much for you to do, so we might as well just do it until it’s done.”

Tadashi and hitoka exchanged uncertain glances at each other before shrugging. She did have a point. He gestured at hitoka to go ahead. He looked back at amanai.

“Okay, but don’t take too long. Me and yachi-san will be outside, so just go home after you’re done. We’ll lock up for the day.”

Amanai nodded. “See you tomorrow, tadashi-san.”

“Happy birthday, amanai!” Hinata yelled as he exited the gym with the others, waving goodbye at her. Amanai smiled, waving back at him before resuming what she was doing.

“Man, she’s really dedicated, huh? She’s gonna do great next year,” hinata commented.

“Reminds me of someone I know,” tadashi said, glancing at hitoka walking next to him. She blushed, but from her smile she obviously appreciated it.

“She learned from the best. It’s no surprise how capable she is now.” tsukishima also glanced at hitoka. Her blush grew more furious, and tadashi couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

“I’ll have to thank shimizu-senpai for that. I couldn’t have done it without her.”

“But you did fine last year all on your own,” kageyama said. Hinata nodded his head furiously.

“Give yourself some more credit, yachi-san. You’re training not one, but two assistant managers now! You know how cool that is?” he said, making hitoka giggle. The fire of jealousy burning in tadashi was enough to warm up the entire neighbourhood.

“Yachi-san and I will wait here until amanai and ritsu finish up. You guys should go first before it gets too dark.” tadashi lightly tugged on hitoka’s sleeve, making her stop abruptly next to him at the side of the school gates. Hinata, tsukishima, and kageyama had nothing to argue about, so they all bid their goodbyes to each other. As the three of them left, hitoka rummaged through her pocket and handed tadashi the gym keys. She pulled out her purse.

“I’m going to shimada-san’s to buy something. Do you wanna tag along?” The name of his mentor made tadashi jump, and he quickly shook his head. He hasn’t gone there since their whole mistletoe conversation yesterday. He felt a little guilty for that, and a little more guilty when he saw hitoka’s surprised and slightly disappointed face, but his embarrassment overpowered his guilt.

“Really? You don’t wanna go?” she asked, and tadashi shook his head again. He was having second thoughts now, seeing how sad she looked. But why should she be sad? “Oh, okay then. I guess I'll go on my own. If they finish before I come back, just go ahead and go home, yamaguchi-kun. You don’t have to wait for me.”

Tadashi watched as hitoka walked to shimada mart, hesitating whether he should go with her or not. He was still too embarrassed to face shimada, but his guilt was starting to grow seeing her frown like that.

“Wait, yachi-san!” he finally decided. He chased right after her, and by the time hitoka looked over her shoulder he was already next to her. He gave her an awkward smile. “I’ll just go ahead with you. I, uh, need to use the toilet. There’s a public toilet nearby, so I'll just wait for you there when I finish.”

Hitoka stared at him, stunned. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find her words, but in the end she just smiled at him, and that made him feel better. She didn’t say anything about him using the school toilets, and he wanted it to stay that way. They walked together to shimada mart in happy conversation.

“I’ll be waiting here after i’m done.” he pointed to a random potted plant placed near the entrance of the public toilets. Hitoka nodded and waved goodbye at him as she entered his mentor’s market. Tadashi entered the toilets, walked around a little bit since no one was there, and waited for hitoka to come out. When she did, he waited again before washing his hands and exiting the toilets. When he walked over to her, she handed him a carton of chocolate milk. 

“This is from shimada-san,” she explained as they walked together back to school. "He asked where you were, and when I told him you were waiting outside, he asked why you didn't come in. He said you left suddenly yesterday without saying goodbye. Did something happen?”

Tadashi gulped. “Um, no, no, not at all. I’ve just been, um, busy. Did he tell you anything else?”

“Nope. Why’d you ask?” Tadashi sighed in relief and shook his, telling her that it's nothing. He peeked into the little plastic bag hitoka was holding. There was a blueberry bread bun, a strawberry sandwich, and three cartons of milk, two strawberries and the other coffee.

"You bought a lot of snacks. Who are those for?" he asked.

"Amanai and ritsu. It's kind of like a thank you gift for cleaning up the gym. They must be at least a little hungry."

"You should've told me. I would've helped you pay half of it."

"Don't worry about that, yamaguchi-kun. Shimada-san gave me a 50% discount. It was really sudden, and I'm not complaining, but I just find it really weird. He's never done that before, right? Do you have any idea why he'd do that? He was looking at me all weird, too. Not in a creepy way, but more of a 'I know something you don't' way. like he wants to tell me something he knows he's not supposed to."

Tadashi cleared his throat as a way to cover up his surprised cough. He felt like shimada's actions might have something to do with their earlier conversation. "Maybe it's because you're alone this time. Usually we split the bill."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," hitoka hummed, sipping on her own carton of milk as they neared the school gates.

"We should just drop this off at the gym. I'm pretty sure they're almost done. Then we can lock up and go home for the night," hitoka suggested. Tadashi agreed. She happily skipped to the gym while tadashi slowly walked behind her, making sure she didn't slip and fall.

"Amanai, ritsu! I have some sna-" hitoka cut herself off with a loud gasp as she arrived at the open gym doors, alerting tadashi and making him quickly run over to her. Her hands covered her mouth as she stood outside, frozen in shock.

"Yachi-san, what's wrong? What happened? Why did you-" hitoka placed a finger against tadashi's lips, shushing him and pulling him over to the side, making sure they weren't visible to their two juniors. She removed her finger from his mouth and reminded him to be quiet, before gesturing for him to follow her lead. Tadashi, in the middle of his confusion, blindly followed as hitoka peeked her head through the door frame. She snuck under him, and hitoka pointed to one of the supply closets, where amanai and ritsu were in front of. Tadashi squinted his eyes to get a closer look, and his eyes blew wide when he saw what they were doing.

They were…..they were kissing?

"They're kissing?" he whispered shouted, as if the answer wasn’t already in front of him. Hitoka nodded her head rapidly.

“They like each other?” he wondered to himself. He always knew that the two were close, which was good since tadashi was already planning to have ritsu be captain once he graduates, but he didn’t think they were that close. He looked at hitoka. “Did you know about this?”

“I mean, kinda? I knew that ritsu had a crush on her, but i didn’t know that she liked him back,” hitoka said, eyes glued to the sight of their two juniors. They widened, and she tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the two. “Oh, they really like each other.”

Tadashi was a bit reluctant to look at them. He felt bad for invading their privacy, but holy shit hitoka was right. They really do like each other.

Ritsu was taller than amanai, and he cupped her face with both of his hands, his thumbs softly caressing her cheeks as they kissed. Amanai held both of ritsu’s wrists, leaning into him and standing on her tippy toes. When they pulled away, they smiled at each other, which was a shocker considering that the two weren’t the smiley type. The two were pink in face, and that was even more groundbreaking due to their straightforward, quiet, and no nonsense personalities. Ritsu planted a final kiss on amanai’s forehead before enveloping her in a hug, lifting her slightly off the ground. He whispered something in her ear, making her smile.

“Can you hear what they’re saying?”

“A little bit. He’s saying something about a birthday gift, and….him knowing she’s always wanted to be confessed to under a mistletoe?” tadashi tried to get a better look at the top of the door the two were standing under, and although it was hard, he managed to make out a plant of a lighter shade of green amongst the tinsel hitoka had added there. “Yachi-san, did you put a mistletoe on the storage closet when you were decorating?”

Hitoka looked frazzled. “Yeah, but as a joke. I placed one right on top every door we have. I took it down right after I placed it. Amanai and suzuki were the only ones who knew about it, and me and suzuki were the only ones she talked about being confessed underneath a mistletoe. Do you think she told him that?”

“It’s not impossible. They’re close, but I feel like the location could entirely be coincidental,” tadashi said. He saw that the two had finally pulled away from their hug and were getting their bags. He tugged on hitoka’s sleeve, already walking away from the gym. “They’re finishing up. We should go before they see us.”

“But the snacks?”

“Just leave it by the door! Come on, we don’t have much time.” Hitoka placed the plastic bag filled with snacks for amanai and ritsu on the floor before tadashi made a run for it, dragging her with him like a ragdoll. He made sure his steps weren’t too fast so that hitoka wouldn’t trip. He pulled her over to hide behind a random shrub in the school garden that was big enough to conceal them both and gave them a good view of the gym. They watched as amanai noticed the bag on the floor and how ritsu took it before they both left hand in hand. He helped amanai fix her scarf, and that reminded tadashi to make sure hitoka’s winter attire was still in place after their little run just now. The two of them held their breath as the two second years walked past their shrub.

“I think yachi-senpai and tadashi-san left this for us. Do you think they saw us?” 

“I doubt it. Maybe they just wanted it to be a surprise. Speaking about that, where are they? They said they were gonna lock up.”

“They’ll be here eventually. Don’t worry about it, hotaru. Now let’s go home. Don’t you want to eat your blueberry bun?”

“Later. I’m walking you home first, shiraume.”

“Hotaru?” hitoka said when the two finally left them. “That’s ritsu’s given name, right? Shiraume is amanai’s given name.”

“Yeah. They really like each other, huh? Going on a given name basis right after confessing,” tadashi commented. He stood up, dusting away some of the snow that had fallen on his lap from the shrubs. He helped hitoka up by lending her his hand. “I’ll go  lock up. You should go home, yachi-san. Before it gets too dark.”

“That’s okay. I’ll wait for you.”

“Really? You can at least wait for me at the gate. I’m walking you home today, if that’s okay with you. It’s too late for you to go alone.”

“That’s really nice of you, yamaguchi-kun. But I'm still staying with you. Now come on.” Tadashi complied. He’d rather her just go ahead, but arguing with her would do more harm than good. They walked together to the gym, and after making sure nothing was lost and that everything had been switched off, tadashi locked the gym doors before leaving with hitoka side by side.

“I don’t think I can look at ritsu and amanai the same anymore,” he said as they walked together. “Not that there was anything wrong with what they were doing, it was just…..unexpected, and I feel a little bad about peeping on them.”

“Yeah. I don’t even know how to face her tomorrow,” hitoka agreed. “I was rooting for them, but now that it’s actually happened, I don't know how to react. Do you think they’ll be awkward around each other?”

“I don’t think so. They acted like nothing happened just now, so practice would just  be as usual. We’ll be the only ones acting awkward tomorrow,” he chuckled. He grew curious when hitoka was quiet, and when he glanced over at her he saw her….smiling. Not to say that she wasn’t allowed to smile, but she looked like she was smiling at nothing. Maybe she was daydreaming?

“Yachi-san, yachi-san?” he tapped on her shoulder, snapping her out of her gaze. He smiled, amused at how lost she looked. It was kind of cute. “What were you smiling at? Were you daydreaming? Careful, you could’ve bump into a pole or something.”

“I was?” she asked, blushing a little from embarrassment. She covered half of her face and looked away from him. “Oh, this is so humiliating.”

“Don’t say that, I thought it was cute,” he reassured her. “What were you thinking about?”

“Nevermind, it’s embarrassing. Let’s just forget about it.”

“I won’t tell a soul. Just tell me. It must be something good if you smiled that wide.”

Hitoka stared at him before sighing and pointing her pinky finger out. Tadashi linked it with his.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing, really. I just think that they were….cute.”

A look of puzzlement crossed tadashi’s face. “You mean amanai and ritsu?”

“Yeah. I don’t know, I just think that ritsu pulling out the effort of making one of amanai’s dreams come true is cute,” she said with a smile, sighing dreamily. She looked like she just saw one of the most romantic things in her life.

“Oh.” 

“You don’t think I'm weird, right?” she turned to look at him. Tadashi quickly shook his head. He didn’t know why he felt nervous all of a sudden hearing her explanation just now.

“No, no, of course not. It’s a…very romantic gesture from ritsu. I get why’d you like it. You are kind of a hopeless romantic, after all.”

“Right? It’s so romantic,” she continued, gazing longingly and hopefully at the orange and pink sky. “I wish I could experience that someday.”

Tadashi felt his nerves start to jump. Why was he so jittery? “What?” 

“Being kissed under a mistletoe. I want that to happen to me someday,” she repeated. She stopped tadashi and pulled him closer to her and whispered into his ear. “I know this is something weird to say all of a sudden, but I haven't had my first kiss yet.”

Tadashi wondered why he blushed and felt a rush of excitement coursing through his veins. “You haven’t?”

Hitoka shook her head as they continued walking. “I haven’t. I don’t have the time for it.” the entire time she spoke, a yearning smile never left her face. “It would be nice if I had my first kiss underneath a mistletoe. That’s not a weird thing to dream about, right?”

“No, of course not. I think it’s a wonderful thing to dream of,” he told her honestly.

“I’m glad you feel so, yamaguchi-kun,” she said. “Ever since I read this one shoujo manga with a christmas setting, I couldn't help but want the same thing to happen to me.” Tadashi could only afford to make noises of acknowledgement, not knowing what to say specifically.

“The guy in it was such a sweetheart, too. He’s liked the girl for a long time, and he kissed the girl as a christmas gift after confessing to her. I should really read that series again. Now’s the perfect time,” she gushed. “I know it’s something I can’t have, but sometimes when my mother asks me what i want for christmas, I feel like telling her I want that.”

Tadashi almost choked on his own spit. “You want a kiss as a christmas present?”

Hitoka nodded. “It’s unrealistic, I know. But it never hurts to dream. And it’s not like I’ll get upset if I don't get it. It’s just a personal fantasy. Something I want to happen, but I know it won’t, so I just keep it to myself.”

Tadashi paused before he asked her. “Would you be happy if you got it? Like, really, really, happy if you get it?”

“Oh, of course! I’d be super duper happy. The happiest girl in the world.”

Tadashi felt conflicted. On one hand he already knew what hitoka wanted for christmas, which made his job a lot easier. He’s been trying his absolute darndest to come up with something, even if that something was unsatisfying to himself to be given as a present. He still had a few days until the deadline, but he just set it up as a precautionary step. Hearing that did clear up some of the black clouds in his mind whenever someone mentioned about the secret santa exchange, but on the other hand he wasn’t sure if he should actually give her a mistletoe. He wasn’t even sure if hitoka liked him as well. It would just be weird if he gave her that, even if it was her own personal wish that he wanted to grant himself.

He cleared his throat, preparing himself for the question he was about to ask her.

“If you get a mistletoe kiss from your secret santa, would you accept it?”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful,” her reply was immediate, taking tadashi by surprise. He wasn’t exactly expecting anything as her answer, but that definitely didn’t cross his mind.

“But I would be too shy for it to be a kiss on the lips. Maybe just a kiss on the cheek, or at the back of my hand, or maybe even just a hug,” she added, and tadashi breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “I can’t just kiss someone I don't like. This is my first kiss, you know. It has to be special with someone I like.”

Now wasn’t the time, but tadashi was pleased to hear that hitoka also had the same mindset as him on that subject. “Do you have someone you want to kiss on the lips?”

Tadashi’s stomach dropped when he saw a light shade of bashfulness coat hitoka’s face. He shouldn’t have asked her that. He only hurt himself in the end. He should've just stayed quite.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but I guess if they were miraculously my secret santa, I wouldn't be opposed to it,” she confessed. Tadashi could feel his heart crack. “Have you picked out a gift for the person you were assigned to, yamaguchi-kun?”

Tadashi forced a small smile on his face. He didn’t feel like answering that now. “Have you, yachi-san? Who did you get?”

“I can’t tell you who I got, but I can tell you that I've picked out something for them. It’s not finished yet, though. It’s almost there, but I'm kinda nervous that they won’t like it. That’s the only thing stopping me from completing it. The nerves are just too much.”

“It’s a handmade gift?”

“Yup. I managed to get someone really important to me. Good luck has really been on my side lately. I’m just worried about whether they'd like it or not.”

“I’m sure they would, yachi-san. You’re one of the most creative people I know, if not the most. I’m confident you’ll be making something super important to them.”

Hitoka gave him a thankful smile. Her smile always managed to make him feel better if he was feeling exhausted or dejected, and now was no different, despite the circumstances that made him feel empty in his heart.

“Thanks, yamaguchi-kun. You always know the right thing to say,” she said, and that made tadashi feel just a tiny bit better than before. “And who’d you get? Have you picked something out for them? I asked you first and haven’t even gotten an answer yet.”

Tadashi chuckled. He felt reluctant telling her about it. It was weird talking to someone about a gift meant for them, no matter if they were aware or not aware of that. He scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to word it exactly.

“It’s….getting there,” he finally said. “I don’t know, it’s just…I have something, at least.”

Hitoka could sense the uneasiness coming from him. His fret. “Is something wrong?”

He sighed. “You could say that. I got someone important to me, too, and so far all of the gifts I've planned to give them are all…nothing. They feel like nothing. Nothing that I think they’d like. The deadline is coming up soon, and I just feel really uneasy about it. I‘m just having a rough time, in short. I keep thinking whether or not it’s perfect enough for them.”

Hitoka frowned. “I get what you’re saying. I feel like that all the time, too.” She grabbed tadashi’s wrist, stopping him in his tracks. She looked him dead in the eye, her own ones as soft as a feather. “But you have to put those thoughts aside. They’ll just cloud your judgement and make you feel jumbled up. You have to remember why you’re giving this person a gift, which is to show appreciation and positive feelings for them. Thoughts like if your gift is perfect enough are only going to further mess up your mind.”

Hitoka let go of his wrist and looked ahead. “I didn’t even notice that we’ve reached my stop. Talking with you really makes time feel nonexistent,” she laughed. Tadashi didn’t notice it, either. She waved goodbye at him and went off on her way home. “See you tomorrow, yamaguchi-kun. Goodluck with the gift giving! I hope my advice helped you.”

Tadashi waved back at her, although he wasn’t as enthusiastic. He waited until she disappeared from his field of vision before taking leave to his own home. The sky was somehow still bright. Time truly did feel nonexistent when he was talking to her, but with how much they talked about, he was quite stunned to see that it was only a few shades darker. His steps felt a little heavy, and maybe that was the byproduct of their conversation earlier. She had both helped make his job easier finding a gift for her and simultaneously made it harder. Although, the last part could entirely be on him.

🎄

"Shimada-san, do I still need to pay for that mistletoe?"

"Oh?"

💋

"Good work today everyone. Let's keep it up for tomorrow, yeah? Now pack up and go home. Don't be late for tomorrow's morning practice."

“We still have practice tomorrow? But christmas is soon, can’t we have a break?” a first year whined. Tadashi chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“Can’t have you all slacking just because the holidays are around the corner. We still have matches to win, you know?” he said, before adding. “We’ll skip one saturday practice after christmas, okay? Make sure all that christmas dinner doesn’t make you lazy, though. Otherwise we might just have to practice on sundays as well.”

The first year’s eyes brightened and he nodded his head excitedly. He ran out the door and waved goodbye to tadashi, joining his friends as they walked home together. Tadashi reciprocated his gesture with a smile on his face.

"You'd think that being in this team for a year or so would make them used to saturday practice," ritsu commented. Amanai smiled and handed her boyfriend a bottle of water and a towel.

"He's right, though. Christmas is around the corner. I get why they're so excited," she said. Ritsu simply hummed and looked over to the door. A small frown crossed his face.

“Shiraume, whose turn is it to clean up the gym?” he asked.

“The third years. Why, what’s wrong?” ritsu pointed over to one of the doors, where tsukishima, kageyama, and hinata were all in their scarves and had their bags over their shoulders, while tadashi was still clad in his plain white training tee as he talked to them.

“Are you sure you’re okay with cleaning up by yourself? I’m really sorry, yamaguchi. My mom wants me home before eight because we’re going to my grandma’s, and I haven't even finished packing.” they heard hinata say. Tadashi waved a dismissive hand at him.

“I’m fine, hinata. Don’t worry. I have yachi-san to help me, anyway.” he looked over at tsukishima and kageyama. “You two should get going, too. Your moms are gonna kill you if you’re late.”

“I can spare a few minutes. My sister isn’t really punctual,” kageyama said.

“I can help out a little, too. I’m sure my brother can wait,” tsukishima added. Tadashi shook his head and turned all three of them around to face outside, pushing them slightly.

“I’m sure you mean well, but yachi-san and I can handle it. And you shouldn’t be letting your families wait for you, anyway. Just go ahead. We’ll be fine, won’t we, yachi-san?”

“We will! Don’t worry about us!” hitoka yelled from the storage closet. Tsukishima, kageyama, and hinata looked at each other and shrugged. Kageyama and hinata waved goodbye to him as they quickly ran home, while tsukishima stayed for a moment.

“Are you sure you don’t need my help? If you come in late tomorrow you know what I’m going to say,” tsukishima asked. Tadashi rolled his eyes playfully and pushed tsukishima out even further.

“Just go ahead, tsukki. Akiteru-san’s waiting for you.” he pointed to a car parked outside, noticed by akiteru and prompted him to wave at them. Tsukishima sent him a final eyebrow quirk and left when he received a nod.

“Don’t be late tomorrow, captain,” he said, raising a hand and walking over to his brother’s car.

“Tadashi-san and yachi-senpai are the only ones cleaning today,” amanai concluded, turning over to her boyfriend. “Should we help them?”

“It’s useless to argue with tadashi-san. He’ll make sure we make our way home one way or another,” ritsu answered. Truthfully he did want to help his two seniors, but he knew that tadashi would forcefully (and gently) make them leave the school grounds. Plus, even if he did outwardly denied it, a part of him was sure tadashi and hitoka saw him confessing and kissing his now girlfriend the other day. He noticed that they were a little frigid with them the day after. They probably forgot about it now since a few days have passed, but ritsu himself was a little…embarrassed at the thought of that. Respectfully, he couldn’t bear to just sit in a room with them for more than one minute.

Amanai shrugged, not thinking much of ritsu’s answer. She started to pack up, leaving behind ritsu to not raise any suspicion among their remaining team members.

“Don’t stay too late, tadashi-san,” she told her senior who was folding the net. “Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

“Don’t worry about it, amanai. Yachi-san and I will be fine. You two get home safely, yeah?”

Amanai and ritsu nodded, wishing their two seniors a safe trip home at the same time. When they got quite far, amanai happily took ritsu’s hand into hers. Ritsu smiled softly.

“Can we go the long way? I think I saw tsukishima-san’s brother park there. He’s handsome, I want to see him before we leave. It’s been a while.”

Ritsu’s smile faded. He tightened his grip on his girlfriend’s hand and pulled her the other way, the way where the tsukishima brothers weren’t there, completely ignoring his girlfriend’s whines and protests. He knew she didn’t mean anything by that and the older tsukishima was undeniably handsome (both of them were), but it never hurt a man to get jealous.

Tadashi sent off his final batch of teammates, watching as their figures grow smaller as they leave the gym and go home. The sky was a nice orange and pink, the breeze was not as cold as the other days, and he sighed in content. Now that they were all gone, he could clean the gym.

“Yamaguchi-kun, can you help me mop the floors? I’m counting the balls again. I think  we lost one.”

Tadashi almost had a heart attack hearing hitoka’s voice. For a brief moment, he forgot that he wasn’t alone. He was alone with hitoka.

Alone with hitoka.

Tadashi gulped, his hands going down to his pocket. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or nervous that he could feel the print of a certain plant in there. He pulled it out, mindlessly staring at the green mistletoe in his palm. He’s been meaning to give hitoka her gift for secret santa and trying to find them some alone time, but when the time actually came they were either interrupted or tadashi chickened out. Now, though, time was on their hands, and the only deciding factor was tadashi’s courage.

He gulped. He never quite registered what he was about to do until the moment came. He’s been through important matches and breezed through them with the help of his friends and teammates, but now that he was alone, he had no support system other than himself, and maybe the small pep talk he received from shimada the other day when he went to the store to get the mistletoe.

“Don’t be too nervous! It’s gonna ruin the kiss. She’ll kiss you back, I just know it! Make sure you brush your teeth and take breath mints. If you come back with her on valentines next year, I'll give you two discounts on whatever you buy.”

“Yamaguchi-kun, are you there? Have you left?”

“I-i’m here! I’m here. Sorry, I got a little carried away. I-i’ll get started on it, yachi-san.” Startled, tadashi quickly stuffed the small plant into his pocket and went over to the storage closet to pick a mop and clean the floors.

The clean up process itself didn’t take quite long. Hitoka stayed in the storage closet making sure they didn’t lose anything and constantly recounted items with tadashi reminding her to relax, and tadashi helped mopped the floor, fold the net, and made sure the decorations were in check. It also consisted of tadashi avoiding her and awkwardly talking to her with a very loud voice. Hitoka was curious, but didn’t think much of it.

“The gym looks so clean and organized! Makes my tired body feel a lot better now,” she said as she stretched herself, relieving her joints and muscles. Tadashi nodded. Hitoka missed how sweaty he seemed to be despite the fact that the air was cool and practice had long finished. She picked up her bag and fixed the scarf around her neck. She made sure her socks were loose before waving at tadashi as she exited the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yamaguchi-kun. Get home safely!”

“Yachi-san, wait!” he suddenly called for her just as she stepped outside. She looked over her shoulder to see her at the door, face slightly red and looking embarrassed. He gestured for her to come with him, and she followed.

“Yamaguchi-kun, what’s wrong?” she asked as he stopped right in front of the storage closet they were in before. He looked even more embarrassed than before, scratching the back of his head and sweating profusely. Hitoka noted that he’s been acting quite strange the entire time the both of them stayed back to help clean the gym.

“Yamaguchi-kun? Is everything alright?”

“I-i have something to give you, yachi-san,” he finally stammered out. He cleared his throat and straightened up his hunched back. Hitoka wondered why he was acting so nervous. It was just her, after all. And he wasn’t often like this, or at least he didn’t often show it. He was always cool and calm, a result of ennoshita helping him become more confident in himself as preparation for his position in the year following his graduation. He had high hopes for tadashi, and in hitoka’s honest, personal, totally unbiased opinion, she thinks that he’s done a pretty good job surpassing his expectations.

“What is it? Is it for christmas? We still have time before that.”

“No. I-i mean, kinda. It’s for secret santa,” he said, taking hitoka by surprise. “I’m your secret santa this year. I got your name in the little paper hinata gave me.”

“You’re my secret santa?” she repeated. Tadashi nodded. “But you’re not supposed to tell me that. You’re supposed to give my gift in secret.”

“I know, I know,” he mumbled. “But I can't. I-i mean, I can, but my gift requires me to give it to you directly, and not in secret.”

“It does?” her brows furrowed. Tadashi nodded again, sweating more profusely than before. Hitoka didn’t think that it was hot. It was winter, anyway. “Well, what is it then?”

Tadashi gulped. Hitoka just realized that his hands had been behind his back the entire time.

“You have to close your eyes first,” he told her. “It’s a surprise.”

Hitoka found that weird since he had already broken one of the rules of the exchange that had the element of surprise, but she complied. She closed both of her eyes and felt tadashi gently pull her hand out. Something leafy and a bit itchy rested on her palm.

“You can open your eyes now,” he said, and hitoka once again complied. The leafy thing in her palm turned out to be a….mistletoe?

“Remember that conversation we had the other day? When I was walking you home after we found ritsu and amanai, uh, kissing?” he said when she didn’t say anything for a moment. Hitoka slowly recalled the event and nodded. She knew that the conversation had something to do with his gift to her, but she couldn’t remember what it was specifically. Tadashi cleared his throat.

“Remember when I asked you what you were thinking about that made you smile?” she nodded again, and her heartbeat accelerated as the pieces slowly started to fit together, only there was one big piece missing from completing the picture. She had vague memories of what it was, but no clear idea. “You said that you found their little confession cute, and that you-”

“-wanted a kiss under a mistletoe as a christmas present, and then you asked me if i would accept a kiss from my secret santa, and you are my secret santa, so your gift to me is….”

Tadashi flashed her an awkward, cute smile. “A kiss.”

Hitoka blinked, trying to process what was happening. When that happened, she blushed a bright shade of red, and both of her hands cupped her face in horror and embarrassment.

Tadashi was going to kiss her?

“I-it’s fine if you don’t want a kiss! I-i don’t mind, really. This is my gift to you, after all,” tadashi quickly reassured her. “I-i can just kiss you on the cheek, or the back of your hand. O-or we could just hug! Yeah, we always do that. A-and I have a spare gift prepared in case you don’t want to. I can just-” 

“Yamaguchi-kun, it’s okay! It’s okay!” she interrupted him, before her eyes casted downwards and she shyly added. “We can… we can kiss on the lips.”

For once, an emotion other than shyness appeared on tadashi’s face since he pulled her back in here. It was confusion, which made hitoka even more nervous. “We can what?”

At that moment, hitoka hated him for making her repeat herself.

Or, rather, her desire.

“I said, we can kiss on the lips.”

Tadashi blushed almost as bright as her, but it quickly faded, replaced by a serious look on her face. “Y-yachi-san, are you sure? This is your first kiss, you said you wanted it to be with someone special. You even already have someone you want your first kiss to be with. I’m not gonna be hurt or whatever if that’s what’s making you do this. You-” 

Hitoka often found his stubbornness to be admirable or concerning, but now it was just plain annoying.

(And maybe just a tad bit touching. Who was she to say that)

“Yamaguchi-kun, seriously. I’m okay with this. I’m not doing this because I don’t want to offend you,” she stated, and then cleared her throat before fidgeting with her fingers and continuing. “It’s with you, anyway.”

Tadashi opened his mouth to protest, but her last sentence made him stop and ease the serious look on his face. It was more of a face of astoundment, like he couldn’t believe what she said. His mouth moved as he said something under his breath, pointing a finger at her before pointing it at himself. Hitoka squeezed her hands tighter. Her simple words told a lot. Tadashi’s face was back to being as bright as hers. He shook his head, not in a way of refusing, but more in a way of getting rid of something. His bright red face now looked determined.

Tadashi suggested that they sit on the floor so it would be easier, what with their height difference and all. He hung the mistletoe on the door, along with the decorations hitoka put up. Coincidentally, they were in the same place where amanai and ritsu were a few days ago. Tadashi told hitoka to just sit straight and let him do all the work, despite him being just as inexperienced as her. He checked his breath one final time before crouching in front of hitoka, making him just about the same height as her. He cupped her face and leaned in, but the sight of tadashi so close in front of her made her nervous, and although she didn’t make any big movements, tadashi could tell. He stopped.

“We can back out anytime you want,” he gently reminded her, his cool breath calming her down slightly. His touch on her cheek was as gentle as a lover’s.

“Can we do just a quick peck?” she asked at the last moment. Tadashi, ever the gentleman, nodded.

“It can be however long you like,” he told her, before leaning in and sealing their lips together in one quick peck.

Only it wasn’t a quick peck.

Tadashi intended for it to be like that, he really did. He wasn’t planning on going against hitoka’s boundaries. But just as he was pulling away, he felt a magnetic force pull him in, and the next thing he knew he was kissing hitoka longer than what they agreed to. Hitoka herself didn’t push away, and tadashi could see the nerves leaving her as she leaned in and let herself enjoy this moment. They started kissing more fervently ( without their tongues being involved), hitoka’s arms going up to wrap themselves around tadsdhi’s neck and pulling him closer, and they only pulled away from each other when tadashi’s other hand went to cup the other side of her cheek. Their eyes blew wide at the same time, and they quickly distanced themselves, panting.

“That… was more than a quick peck,” he stated the obvious.

Hitoka nodded, wiping away some stray saliva at the corner of her mouth. How the hell did that get there? “I know.”

Tadashi cleared his throat. He felt bad for not pulling away, but he was sure hitoka liked it. He liked it, too. It was debatable on who liked it more.

“I-i’m sorry. I should’ve-”

“No, no, it’s okay, don’t apologize,” hitoka interrupted him, not able to look in his eyes. “I… liked it. A lot.”

Tadashi blinked. “You did?”

“Yeah. Did… you?”

“Yeah, yeah. I did. A lot, too,” he blurted out. Hitoka smiled.

“That’s…. Nice to hear."

“Yeah. yeah, it is.” he was just spitting words out at this point. He pulled himself up and dusted off his pants for no reason. He just wanted something to do with his hands. The atmosphere was painfully awkward. “We should start going home. Should i-”

“Yamaguchi-kun, wait!” hitoka called, making tadashi stop and walk over to where she was still sitting and crouched down in front of her. She was rummaging through her bag next to her, frantically looking for something. 

“Since we’re already breaking the rules of the exchange,” she mumbled before finally pulling out a box wrapped in white wrapping paper with green christmas tree patterns. She handed it to him. “Here. This is for you from me.”

Tadashi took the present and looked at it before looking at her again. “Thanks, but what’s it for? Christmas is just a few days away.”

Hitoka rolled her eyes. Maybe it was because she thought the reason was quite obvious, or maybe because she was a little shy with its implications. “I’m your secret santa, yamaguchi-kun. I wanted to sneak it into your locker, but we're here now, so I might just give it to you.”

Hitoka cleared her throat, a little embarrassed with what she was about to say. It was also because tadashi would eventually realise that he was the someone important she was talking about, and her heart was still doing backflips after she knew that she was his certain someone important. “Would you mind opening it up now? I…want to see your reaction.”

Tadashi complied, this time properly sitting himself next to hitoka and carefully unwrapped his present. He found it cute how hitoka gave him periodic glances before looking away and repeating it again. When the wrapping paper was undone, tadashi gave the box a little shake. Judging from the sound inside, there was more than one thing in it. He opened the box and pulled out what seemed to be a felt doll.

More specifically, a felt doll of himself in his number one captain jersey, holding a sign that said ‘#1 best captain.’ He couldn’t help the smile crawling on his face. He looked over to hitoka, who was a little pink in her own face.

“You made this for me?”

“Yeah. I-i wanted to make something special that you’ll remember, just in case we lose contact with each other once we enter college.”

“Yachi-san, you know I’m not gonna let that happen.”

“I know, I know. But we can’t really be sure about the future. It’s just in case,” she said, before shyly looking at him. “Do you…like it?”

“Like it? I love it,” he told her, examining the little him in his hands. This must’ve taken a lot of time. The sewing was clean and there was hardly any messiness. Tadashi was no expert in handicrafts, so maybe he overlooked a few flaws, but he didn’t care. This was hitoka’s gift to him, and he’ll cherish it until the day he dies.

“There’s something else I included in your gift,” she told him. “You should see what it is.”

Tadashi dug deeper in the box, and pulled out five christmas themed hair clips, one with a star, one with a santa head, one with a reindeer head, one with a small christmas tree, and the last one with a snowflake on it.

“Hair clips?”

“Remember the other day when you said you and tsukishima-kun took christmas photos when you were kids and you wore some hair clips?” tadashi nodded. “I-i just really wanted to see you wear hair clips, and I-i know it’s stupid! I just thought that you would-”

Hitoka stopped herself and watched as tadashi smoothed out his hair before using the two hair clips she got him to clip them to the side. He turned to her with a smile. “How do I look?”

Hitoka’s heart stuttered. “Handsome. Very handsome.”

Tadashi beamed. He’s always wanted to hear her call him that.

He looked out the window. The clouds were starting to gather around, and the sky was getting darker. It would be too dangerous to let hitoka go home alone. Even if it wasn’t, he would still insist on accompanying her. “We should get going now. Come on, I'll walk you home.”

Tadashi helped hitoka get up and helped fix her scarf and the hat that rested on her head. They checked the gym one last time before exiting together, hitoka waiting for tadashi to lock up. Once he did, tadashi extended his hand to her.

“Can I- I mean, would you mind if I hold your hand?” he asked shyly. They literally just kissed each other, he wasn’t so sure why he was so nervous. “I-it’s fine if you don’t want to. I just thought that-”

“No, no, it’s okay,” she murmured, taking tadashi’s hand into hers. Tadashi doubted that the blush on her face was from the cold weather. “I wouldn’t mind. Not if it’s you.”

Tadashi blinked, before smiling and lacing their fingers together. They walked home together with merry conversation, hand in hand and shoulders pressing against each other. Their jackets and scarves and hats and gloves provided enough warmth for the cold winter evening, but that wasn’t the warmth they were looking for. This specific warmth in their hearts was only obtainable by being close to each other, by being close to their own specific special someone.