Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"IT SNOWED!" Hagakure pronounced over the phone, way too enthusiastically for, uh… 11 in the sort-of morning. 

It was still news to Leon, however, considering the fact that he was still wasting away in his bed. Winter break always did this sort of thing to him. He could never find the energy to get out of bed, or do anything, really.

He wasn't about to let Hiro know any of that, though. Why would he?

"Of course it snowed," Leon shrugged, as if he witnessed the first snowflake himself. "It's, like, negative degrees. That's cold as shit." 

Since he had just woken up, his voice was still murky. So Leon coughed a couple of times to try to clear it. Hagakure's, on the other hand, was as clear (and loud) as can be. It wasn't a bad thing, just a fact. Leon supposed that evened things out, since the other half of the time Hagakure just mumbled his way through every last thought of his. 

"No, you don't understand, it snowed ." Hagakure insisted, as if that wasn't the same exact fuckin' thing that he said the first time. 

"Yeah, I got that." Leon shrugged, sitting up in his bed. "So what?" 

"Dude, the spoon!" Yasuhiro exclaims, as if that was supposed to mean something. 

Leon blinked. "Can you try making sense for once? What spoon?" 

"The one from last night! I was eating ice cream, and watching this documentary about Bigfoot and his accomplice, but I guess I fell asleep, 'cause when I woke up, the spoon was under my pillow!" To his credit, Hagakure actually did start elaborating. Kind of. His message was still indecipherable to our dear Leon. 

"Bigfoot's accomplice?" Leon almost found himself falling for Hagakure's trap card, before brushing it off, and getting back on track. "Wait, screw that. What does your ice cream spoon have to do with snow?" 

"You can't tell me you haven't heard this before. It's one of those old wives tales!" Hiro enthused. "If you stick a spoon under your pillow, it'll snow. Most people think they're unreliable, but this is proof! My spoon was under my pillow, and poof! Snow." 

Yasuhiro's ramblings were nonsensical. Leon knew this to be true. But even so, as he heard him talk, a hidden smile crept onto Kuwata's face. 

"Seriously?" Leon let out an insincere groan to cover up that fact. "You can't actually believe that your spoon ending up under your pillow magically caused it to snow. That's ridiculous." 

"That's what they say about the aliens, but we know they're real." Hagakure's objection may have been purely anecdotal, but he believed it with his whole chest. 

Leon wanted to mumble something along the lines of, "We don't know shit." 

But he refrained, and indulged Hagakure ever so slightly. "...sure. But that doesn't mean this one's true. It's probably just a fluke. You can't possible think there's some Mother Nature sitting there counting spoons to figure out whatever fuckin' weather we're gonna have." 

"Hmm… I guess you could be right. But if it snows again, that can't be a coincidence. I'm serious, dude!" Hagakure boldly claimed, fully intending to put another spoon under his pillow for 'science' if you could call it that. That should have been his first red flag. He sucked at science. "I could be onto something." 

"...yeah. Sure, Hagakure. If it happens to snow again, then we can talk." Leon fibbed, shaking his head. "See ya later, okay?"

Hanging up the phone, Leon ran his hands through his hair. He was used to weird phone calls like that from Hagakure, they happened at least a few times a week at this point. But they never failed to stick in his brain like leeches. Now any time Leon saw snow, he'd think about Hiro's stupid spoon thing he got off the internet. 

And, y'know…

In some ways that was Leon's favorite thing about him. But he wouldn't say that.

Not ever. 

If he was ever asked something like that, he'd probably just respond with some weightless insult, and keep the truth to himself. It was always better that way. 

Chapter Text

"Agh, sorry sorry sorry!" Hagakure clasped his hands together, begging for forgiveness from the ticked-off redhead. The two were hanging at Hiro's house, as per tradition on the last day of winter break. 

After the whole spoon incident earlier that week, Hagakure had been convinced that, like, every one of those old wives tales he rattled on about was real. Which would've been well and dandy, if not for the fact that this time, it led to the both of them standing in a giant puddle of toilet water as Leon agitatedly plunged the damn thing. 

"I told you it was a stupid idea," Leon remarks with a sigh, as he finishes the job. "Even if you believe in that crap, one or two ice cubes should do the trick just fine. You didn't need to fill the whole ass toilet to the brim with the damn things." 

"But they say you're supposed to put one in for every inch you want it to snow!" Hagakure defended himself. 

But alas, Leon was too hard to please, grumbling something like, "What the hell did you want four fucking feet of snow for? That's taller than, like, half of the children I know. And Chihiro." 

To Leon's surprise, the clairvoyant didn't double down, or come up with some other extravagant excuse for his antics. He just paused for a moment, and didn't answer. That didn't usually happen, but considering the fact that they were still ankle deep in toilet water, Leon had to focus his attention on the toilet instead of Hiro. 

Several minutes, and over half a dozen towels later, the ice cube toilet catastrophe was successfully avoided. 

That left Leon sitting on the edge of Hagakure's bathtub in his boxers, soaking his legs in clean soapy water while Hagakure looked for a change of pants for him, which was honestly the least he could do after making Leon clean up his mess. 

Leon probably should've just taken a shower at this rate, but he really didn't feel like it. He was tired, and grimey, and kind of wanted to be that way for a minute. 

Still, Leon was grateful when Hagakure returned to the bathroom, and threw a pair of sweatpants at the back of his head. 

"Thanks," Leon mumbled, as Hiro rolled up his own pants, and sat next to Leon with his feet in the water. 

It was almost awkward, and that's how Leon knew something was up. Scratching the back of his neck, Leon noted, "I'm guessing this is about more than just snow, huh?" 

In response, Hagakure swished his feet around the tub and nodded. "I kinda… I dunno. I just thought that if I could get it to snow a lot like that, Kirigiri might cancel school!" 

"Well what d'ya need him to do that for?" Leon hesitates, before bumping his knee against Hiro's. A mindless action, maybe, but it seemed to help Hagakure settle his anxiety a bit, as he leaned his head against Leon's shoulder in return. "You could always just skip if you're that against going tomorrow." 

"It's not the same," Hiro lamented, shaking his head against Leon's shirt sleeve. The redhead could feel every second of the movement. 

"Did somethin' happen? You must've been thinking about this for a minute if you came up with your whole uh, ice cube toilet plan," Leon scratched his cheek with his free hand. He wasn't really great at this. Hagkure had probably helped him through, like, a billion meltdowns, but Leon wasn't as great with the emotional stuff when it was his turn to be there for Hiro. 

"Nah, nothing serious like that. For real. I'm just not ready for break to be over! I know you're not big on it, but…" Hagakure paused. He knew he was being childish. If only Buddha had listened to his prayers, then he wouldn't have to be having this conversation! The whole town would've turned into Snow City. Maybe he should've called on Mothman for help instead. "I was kinda likin' how things were going, y'know. Like getting to hang out with you all the time…"

After he said it, Hagakure lifted his head up off of Leon's shoulder, and looked away, as if he hadn't really meant to say that. "But it's not just that. There's something sacred about a snow day, for serious!"

It was as if Hiro forgot he was embarrassed in the first place, 'cause by the time he was done talking, he had already turned his body back towards the redhead. "I dunno. I think someone pissed Kronos off, 'cause time has just been moving super fast lately, y'know. And I guess I wanted to slow it down. That's why I can't just ditch school. 'Cause, yeah. It'll give me a break, but for everyone else time is still going, so I gotta do even more catching up."

"So that's why a toilet-cube induced snow day was your best bet," Leon acknowledged. It was kind of weird listening to Hagakure like that. Because for once, Leon thought he was actually making sense. "Since a snow day's almost… a pause, or something. For everyone." 

"Yeah, exactly!" Yasuhiro cheered. "But it ended up being a pretty crappy attempt, huh."

"Well, yeah." Leon wasn't about to lie. "You can't control the weather. Leave that to all the gods you talk about, or something. And for what it's worth, I know it's not the same, but if you ever need a break…"

Leon cleared his throat. It was unbelievably simple, but his offer seemed important, somehow. "I can always skip class with you. That way, you're not the only one who has to catch up when you're ready to go back." 

"Yeah?" Hagakure's hopeful eyes looked over at Leon, like they always did. Leon could tell that his words had meant something to the brunette. Knowing that made Leon's face heat up, but he ignored that fact. 

"Yeah," Leon mumbled his confirmation, before changing the subject, by taking his legs out of the water. "Now, come on. I'd rather not see your wrinkly ass legs if you leave them in the water any longer." 

And so, Hagakure drained the water out of the tub, as Leon dried his legs with a nearby towel, before putting on the sweatpants Hagakure had gotten for him. Leon was lighter and shorter than Hagakure, so they bunched at his ankles, and he had to tie the waistband tighter than it wanted to go, but it worked. 

"And if you ever flood the toilet with goddamn ice cubes ever again, I'm making you clean that shit up." 

Chapter Text

By sheer luck, or divine intervention, it actually did end up fuckin' snowing that night.

Leon had woken up, all groggily, hanging off of Hagakure's couch, needing to take a piss at an ungodly hour. So he rubbed his eyes so hard he saw spots, and tried his best not to trip over Hagakure on the way, who was fast asleep on the floor next to the sofa.

It was nearly pitch-black, and because he didn't want to have to grope the empty air in order to make it to the bathroom without walking face-first into a wall, Leon elected to pull out his phone, which he had shoved in the pocket of the sweatpants he was borrowing. Turning on the flashlight, the redhead went to take another step, when he caught a glimpse of the delicate snowflakes falling against the window.

"No shit," Leon walked closer to the glass, looking outside to see a layer of white covering everything. It wasn't an absurd amount of snow, or anything, but Leon was still pretty impressed by the few inches that were already building up. Leon had never really cared much for snow beforehand, but after his conversation with Hagakure the day before, it actually felt like it meant something. But not enough to risk pissing himself, so he only looked for a few seconds, before rushing to the bathroom.

But when he got out, he crouched up to Hagakure, and tapped his shoulder.

'Hey buddy," Leon half-whispered, as he started shaking the brunette. Luckily, it never took much effort to wake him up. Hagakure was a deep sleeper, but not a particularly heavy one. It just took a few nudges. "Hiro. Wake the fuck up. It's snowing."

Hagakure's eyes shot wide open in response, and he looked like a kid on motherfucking Christmas, mumbling something like, "Snow?"

"Yeah, dude, come look." Leon reassured him, as he motioned over towards the window.

Hagakure wobbled himself to a standing position, still undeniably drowsy with the way he was tripping over himself as he ran to the window with Leon.

It was still dark, but up against the window, the glow of the moon and the stars illuminated their faces, and Leon could see that big old dorky smile spread across Hagakure's face. And, sure. The redhead still wanted to look at the snowflakes falling like he had done before, but his gaze just kept returning to Hiro's face, as the clairvoyant pressed himself against the glass, and stared in awe at the sight in front of them.

At one point, a big ol' snowflake, about the size of a nickel, and detailed as fuck fell right where the tip of Hiro's nose was pressed into the glass, and Leon couldn't help but to snicker. It was a moment they shared, because at the same time, Hagakure turned towards Leon, with laughter of his own. And in that moment, Leon just couldn't stop looking into Hagakure's eyes. At the raised corner of his smile. At the bump on his nose. At the acne on his cheek.

At the dry skin on his lips.

Leon swallowed, and averted eye contact before he did something he couldn't take back. His face was on fire, made evident by the cool temperature emitting from the window. He was facing the window as much as he could, now, not wanting to risk looking back at Hagakure yet.

"Isn't this just the coolest?" Hagakure mumbles into the air, seemingly oblivious to what was going on in Leon's head.

"Yeah," Leon nodded, breathlessly. His heart was beating faster than he was used to. He didn't know what to make of it all.

"Do you think they'll cancel school for this?" Hagakure's voice is faint, as he asks this. His woes from the previous day were still bouncing around in his head, despite his otherwise hopeful excitement.

"I dunno," Leon shrugged. With every flake that fell, they were getting closer to having his hopes become a reality. "If it keeps snowing like this all night, maybe."

"Can we…" Hagakure scratched his cheek, and turned back to the window. Leon wasn't sure if Hiro planned on finishing his thought or not. He probably just got distracted by another snowflake, one that he just couldn't bear to miss, as it melted against the glass.

"You want to stay here and watch till we fall asleep?" Leon decided to ask for him, so Hagakure didn't have to feel guilty about asking his guest to sleep on the floor.

"Yes!" It wasn't surprising that Hiro was made happy by this. Even so, Leon was taken by the new smile that formed on his cheeks, and the bright look in his eyes. The redhead knew he had caused it. "I'll grab the blankets."

With that, Leon was left sitting on the carpet, with his knees to his chest, as he watched Hagakure scuttle over to the couch, and hoist a bundle of blankets onto his shoulders, so he could make room in his arms for each of their pillows, which were half hanging out of their cases, thanks to the way he grabbed them. Once he was proud of his haul, he made his way back to Leon, trying not to trip over one of the slipping blankets, which trailed on the ground behind him.

Leon did that often. Watched Hagakure in candid moments like those.

The redhead gladly helped set up the bundle of blankets and pillows into something they could actually be comfortable sleeping on and under, when Hiro reached him. A nice layer on the ground, a big blanket to share, and two pillows squashed together, and propped up by the last blankets so they could both still see out the window when they laid down. Leon tried to point out that they could each have their own blanket, instead of shoving one up against the pillows, but Hagakure insisted it was better this way, and who was Leon to argue?

Watching the snowflakes must've just been that important to him. It always seemed to be small, stupid stuff like that that Hagakure held most dear.

Leon was tired as shit at this point, though, so he put way more effort into the whole trying to fall asleep thing than staying awake with Hagakure. So, as soon as everything was set up, Leon pretty much immediately whipped the blanket on top of him, and rested his head against his pillow. It felt cool on his skin, and smelled like it had been absolutely drowned in fabric softener.

Despite Hiroko's best efforts, that wasn't enough to hide the undeniable scent proving it came from Hagakure's house. No amount of fabric softener could take that away.