Chapter Text
“I don't want to.”
“You haven't even heard everything I had to say.” Erika crossed her arms and plunked down into the couch opposite Hiyakawa. She gave him a stern glare while he scowled at her. “Come on, it isn't that big of a deal. Sakaki and I talked about it and we agreed it would be nice to have everyone over for a Christmas party. Keita-kun already said he'd come and Kousuke-kun is thinking about it. Why would you say no?”
Hiyakawa's eyes hardened. “You already asked Mikado-kun?”
Erika smiled. “Yeah, why do you think I'm here asking you when he's not around?” She slid her hands to her knees, leaning forward. “Don't you think Kousuke-kun would be sad if he found out you didn't want to join in our fun? Although...” she paused, bringing a hand up to rest on her chin. She looked away and hummed. “If you're not there, I'm sure Keita-kun and I can have tons of fun with him. I'm glad you don't mind sharing him anymore, Rihito-kun.”
“... We should have the party here instead,” Hiyakawa stated, an edge to his voice. “Everyone has been here before so it would be... more efficient.”
“Oh? You really don't mind?”
The doorknob rattled and Sakaki placed a firm hand over it, barring the individual on the other side access for the time being. He had been standing guard by the door since the two of them arrived, upon Erika's request not to be disturbed during her talk. She had lied, of course. It had taken effort for him not to grunt at the idea that he'd be fine throwing a party when they had finally settled into their new peaceful life after everything that happened with the professor. Mukae and Mikado also had no idea she was planning a party and it was likely one or the other, potentially even both, was standing outside now.
Hiyakawa clenched his jaw. He did mind. He didn't want them to make a mess of his space, but more than that he didn't want Mikado to spend more time with Erika and Mukae than himself. Although the two spent time together outside of work now and again, a party was an entirely different matter. He had watched enough videos to know the sort of situations parties could escalate into and he wouldn't allow Mikado to be part of that-- at least, not without him.
“I don't mind.”
“Great!” she beamed at him, then looked over her shoulder. “Sakaki,” she sang his name, receiving an unimpressed scowl from her bodyguard. “Let them in, please.”
Sakaki twisted the doorknob and quickly stepped out of the way as he opened the door. Mikado nearly toppled over as he staggered into the office. Mukae peeked around the corner.
“What's going on?” Mikado questioned as he regained his balance. “I kept trying to get in, but the door was stuck...” He turned a confused expression from Erika's grin to Hiyakawa's disapproving frown. “Are you two fighting?”
“Not at all,” Erika replied lightly. “Rihito-kun just said we could have a Christmas party here at the office. Isn't that wonderful? We should brainstorm some ideas together.”
Mikado stared for a long moment, then blinked slowly. “...What?”
“Wow, I'm impressed. Have you ever been to a Christmas party, Hiyakawa?” Mukae stepped into the office and made his way over to sit beside Erika. Just as he was about to plop down, Sakaki was suddenly there to push Erika to the furthest side of the couch so that he could sit between them. Mukae gave him a light hearted grin before turning his attention back to Hiyakawa. “Well?”
“I've never celebrated it at all,” he replied. “I had no reason to.”
Erika nodded. “Neither have I, really, until now. Not everyone celebrates it, but some of the girls at my school used to talk about how fun it could be so I always wanted to try. I even looked into what people usually do for the holiday. Hey, Kousuke-kun, could you get us some paper? Let's write down everything we'll need for the party.”
Mikado furrowed his brows. How had Erika managed to talk Hiyakawa into doing something he wasn't interested in? It was likely he would find out sooner or later, but something felt... off. He dug into his messenger bag and pulled out the notebook he'd just recently bought. It was meant for taking notes for clients, but he could easily get a new one later on. As he walked over to hand Erika the notebook, Hiyakawa reached out and grabbed his other arm.
“Hiyakawa-san?” He felt the tug of someone taking the notebook from him, and glanced over to see Mukae pass it to Erika. The second it was out of his hand, Hiyakawa pulled him over to sit beside him. Mikado raised a brow in question. It wasn't as if he had anywhere else to sit, anyway, but the forcefulness momentarily caught him off guard.
“Mikado-kun...” Hiyakawa turned to him with something equivalent to a pout. “Did you agree to the party without asking me?”
“What are you talking about? Erika just said you wanted to have a party here. How could I approve something I had no idea was happening until now?”
Realization dawned on Hiyakawa's face and he shot Erika a cold gaze that was completely ignored. Erika was already writing down ideas in the notebook with Mukae giving her encouragement, pointing to the page and giving her more ideas from the parties he had attended in the past. She truly was quite cunning.
Mikado tilted his head in thought. “The two of you did have a fight, didn't you?”
“She told me plans were already made,” Hiyakawa informed him, tightening his grip on Mikado's arm. “But that was a lie and now we're having a party here.”
“So... you didn't want to have one, but because you thought I said 'yes'... you agreed?” Mikado frowned as Hiyakawa curtly nodded. “I wouldn't put you in that kind of position. If Erika wanted the party somewhere else, then I'd maybe think about it, but...”
Hiyakawa tensed and pulled on Mikado's arm. “That was the problem. I didn't want that--”
“Right, right. I get it now,” Mikado sighed. It was easy enough for him to put the pieces together. He didn't exactly approve of Erika's methods, but in truth, Mikado had never particularly taken part in Christmas celebrations either. He'd certainly read about them and he and his mother would exchange a gift for the occasion, but otherwise it was nothing special. Maybe now that the five of them were together, they could finally have some fun.
Erika paused in her writing to stare at the list they had made so far. “Hmm. What do you think, Mikado-kun? What else should we have? Keita-kun suggested snacks and drinks, non-alcoholic of course, and also some games we can play. We need a tree and lots of decorations to really make it festive. Oh, and of course mistletoe.”
“Absolutely not,” Mikado's voice was gruff as he responded and the smile on Erika's face faltered.
“Miss...ill... toe...?” Hiyakawa tilted his head.
“But it's one of the most important parts!” Erika insisted as she leaned forward. “We need it!”
Mikado shook his head. “No way. We can get through the party without it. A Christmas tree is enough.”
“.... Mis... eel... toe?”
“Aw, don't be like that Mikado. Mistletoe can be a lot of fun,” Mukae stated. “Especially when you can get that special someone under there with you.” He winked and Mikado bristled.
“Mist--?”
“The mistletoe is banned or no party,” Mikado finalized with a firm tone. “You agree, don't you Sakaki-san? It's only going to be the five of us anyway and you wouldn't want Erika to end up passing under it, right?”
Sakaki's brow twitched at the thought. “I agree with the kid. No mistletoe. Everything else on that list looks fine. Can just split it all up between everyone and be done with it. What day will the party be, Miss?”
Erika pouted, but didn't bother arguing on the matter any further. “Christmas is on a Saturday this year, so we might as well do it then. Oh... unless you have plans, Kousuke-kun?”
“I usually cook something that night, but I can always make something for the party and leave enough for my mom to eat while I'm gone. She did mention once before that she'd like to spend the day with some friends if I didn't mind. I'm sure she'd be happy to know I was doing the same.”
“Okay! That means dinner is covered by Kousuke-kun. We still need a tree, decorations, snacks, and games...”
“We're the only ones with a car, so we'll have to handle the tree,” Sakaki stated, pointing to it on the list. “Can probably scrounge up some decorations somewhere, too.”
Mikado raised his hand. “What about inviting Hanzawa-san and his wife? If they wanted to come, they could probably bring a tree.”
“You... really think Hanzawa would want to hang out with us? He's probably working or something, being a detective and all,” Mukae reasoned. “And if he isn't, maybe the two of them just want to spend the day alone.”
“W-we wouldn't know unless we ask,” Mikado insisted, turning to encourage Hiyakawa to back his statement. He paused in his question and frowned instead as he took in the solemn expression on the other man's face. “What's wrong?”
Hiyakawa flicked his eyes up to meet Mikado's gaze, then promptly looked away. “You keep ignoring me, Mikado-kun.”
“...Are you sulking? We're trying to figure out the plans for our party.” Mikado sighed, rubbing a knuckle lightly against his temple. “Don't you want to invite Hanzawa-san?”
“Hanzawa-san... probably wouldn't come,” Hiyakawa replied half-heartedly. “Mikado-kun, what's--?”
“See? I told you,” Mukae interjected, receiving an annoyed glare from Hiyakawa. “Alright, so I guess I can handle snacks and games. I'm sure some of the people in my circle have games they wouldn't mind lending us. Not really sure what you guys are into, though?”
“Something Christmas-y,” Erika replied, raising her arm with enthusiasm. “Maybe 'pin the beard on Santa'? I heard blind folds were involved, so maybe Rihito-kun would want to play--”
“No blind folds,” Mikado cut in.
“Eh? You already vetoed mistletoe, let us have this,” Erika whined, bringing her arm down to the armrest with an echoing 'thump'.
“I don't trust what you guys would plan if blind folds were involved.”
Mukae laughed. “You have some kind of imagination, Mikado. Why would we have plans for that kinda thing? Got some secret kink Hiyakawa should know about?”
Mikado flushed. “No-- I just! You guys always seem to be plotting something lately.” He turned away from their grins and coughed. “Anyway, I'm still going to ask Hanzawa-san about coming to the party. If he says no, then that's fine. But I at least think he should know.”
“Well, whatever you want to do,” Mukae shrugged. “Still need to figure out some games, though. If blind folds are out, then we could just have board games or cards? There aren't that many Christmas specific things to play. 'Course, if we get some snow we could go to the park.”
“Oh, snow in the park sounds fun! We could build a snowman or have a snowball fight!” Erika grinned, placing her hands on Sakaki's knee to lean closer toward Mukae. “I was never allowed to play in the snow before. I hope we get some in time for Christmas!”
Mukae gave her a light smile. Now that he had gotten a chance to spend more time with Erika, he sometimes forgot how much she'd already been through despite only being sixteen. Seeing her excited and acting a bit more immature, like a teen should be, made him glad he had ultimately gotten involved back then. It was still hard to believe how well they all got along now, but making plans together was refreshing. He glanced over at Hiyakawa, whom was still sulking in the corner of the couch, and wondered if he had ever taken time to enjoy the snow either. Maybe even Mikado hadn't gotten to experience the joys of smashing a ball of snow against someone's back.
“Then how about we forget the games and just focus on decorating the office? I'll make a playlist of Christmas songs for us to listen to and bring loads of snacks. In the meantime, let's all hope it snows so we can play games outside instead.”
“Snowman... and snowball fights...” Mikado murmured. It seemed almost childish, but the idea was incredibly appealing. The chances of them actually getting enough snow to play in was pretty low, but it was a nice thought. “Ah, what about exchanging presents? Should we do that or...?”
Mukae shook his head. “Not for our first Christmas party together. Maybe next year. That way we can really get an idea of what to buy for each other.”
Sakaki pushed Erika back so she wasn't leaning on him anymore. “I think that about covers everything. Should we go, Miss?”
“Yeah, I guess...” Erika sighed, unwilling to leave quite yet after the short burst of excitement. “Let us know if Hanzawa-san decides to come, Kousuke-kun.” She stood up and stretched, then walked over to the door with Sakaki following. “We have some errands to run now, so we'll see you later. Bye-bye!”
After the door had closed behind them, Mukae stood up. “I've got a shift to get to, so I better head out now. Erika texted me earlier about what was going on, so I got someone to cover for me for a bit. I'll see you guys later.”
Mikado watched as he left, then startled as Hiyakawa pulled on his arm and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “H-Hiyakawa-san...?”
“Mikado-kun...” Hiyakawa stared straight into his eyes, brows creased in frustration. “What. Is. Miss-ill-toe?”
“Miss...? Ah. Mistletoe,” he pronounced the word carefully for Hiyakawa.
“Mistletoe,” he repeated, easing some of the pressure he held on Mikado's shoulder.
“Right. Um... it's just a plant. It's not important, really. I just... don't like it, that's why I said we shouldn't have it.” He didn't exactly want to lie, but, at the same time, mistletoe could be dangerous. The tradition of kissing anyone you're caught with under its branch was something he didn't want to fall prey to at this point and he knew the others would quickly use it to their advantage. Despite having grown closer throughout the year, he and Hiyakawa still hadn't quite gotten to that point in their relationship. He felt that neither of them were exactly at fault for that, but he didn't want their first kiss to be something forced.
Hiyakawa was quiet as he observed Mikado. “You don't like it?”
“I don't.”
Something Mikado didn't like... Hiyakawa filed the information away for safe keeping. He didn't want to upset Mikado, so tended to try and keep such important knowledge in mind. If anyone tried to bring mistletoe to the party, he would make sure to get rid of it before Mikado could see. Although... despite now being able to say it, he had no idea what it looked like.
“Mikado-kun--” he began, but Mikado had already risen from his spot to tend to the tea and they really did have a lot of work to do. He could always ask more about it later.