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1 snowflake, 2 snowflakes, 3 snowflakes. Little by little, the snow was soon pouring in through the neighborhood. But it was perfect because your plan was to play in the snow anyway. It was the 25th of December, and you intended on spending the holiday with Kunikuzushi’s family. As for your family, they were out of town and you all exchanged gifts the week prior before they left.
You didn’t mind the sudden change of plans with your family since the Raidens were like your second family. The Raiden family lived down the street, across from your home. Both families were close to one another since your parents and their parents went to the same University together. They had kids your age too, Kunikuzushi being the oldest (and the same age as you), and Rai being a year younger.
With the three of you being good friends since childhood, you and Kunikuzushi took it a step further and started dating. Four months into the relationship and dealing with the teases of both families, everything was great and you were looking forward to spending time with their family.
Wrapping up the last gift, you took a step back and inspected all of the neatly decorated and wrapped presents. You spent two weeks planning and getting the gifts for their family and you were kind of self-conscious about them.
“Would Miko like this? Is this even the right size for Rai??” Endless questions and doubts flooded your mind.
“Too late to back out now.”
Stacking the gifts on top of each other, you took a look at yourself in the full-body mirror and exited the house. The chilling breeze rushed through your whole body causing you to shiver when you stepped outside. Seeing the tiny snowfall was making your vision go a little fuzzy. Your boots left feet indents in the thick snow as you hurriedly jogged to Kunikuzushi’s house.
Shuffling your body to a good position where the presents don’t fall, you were just about to ring the doorbell when suddenly a hand clamped down on your shoulder. That startled you and caused you to flinch and drop the present that was stacked on the top.
“Nice seeing you here, huh?” The person behind you chuckled seeing you jump like a little kitten.
Immediately recognizing the voice, you didn’t even bother crouching down to pick up the fallen gift since it was his anyway.
“What was that for Kuni!?” You huffed, steadying yourself.
Hearing his menacing laugh, you rolled your eyes and didn’t plan on facing him.
“You’re looking nice and cozy. Why don’t I,” He stopped mid-sentence to wrap his arms around you, “Test your warmth out, my little heater?”
“Oh, shut up, that’s enough cheesiness from you.” You felt him resting his head on your shoulder where your coat and scarf meet.
“Are you gonna help me or what? My hands are full so get the door open.” You retorted when he just stood there embracing you.
“Come on, can’t I just stay like this a little longer?” Kunikuzushi raised his head to place a kiss on your cheek.
Still clingy as ever. Though his layered outfit did help you feel better, you still wanted to get inside because your face was frozen at this point. But you knew what Kunikuzushi is like whenever you find a loophole to escape his clinginess.
He would find as many ways as possible to manipulate you into cuddling with him. It’s Kunikuzushi we’re talking about so of course, he’ll always get back at you. Once he has you in his arms, he won’t let you go unless he feels like it. His overpowering stubbornness makes it difficult for you to make him agree with you.
Before you could protest to Kunikuzushi a little bit more, the door opened and Rai was standing there. She saw your helpless self with your hands full and her nuisance brother just clinging onto you like a human koala.
“Brother, you could let them go now. Do that shit later, it’s freezing out there.” Rai said in defense of you.
“Shut up, Rai, go find your own partner.” Surprisingly, Kunikuzushi let you go.
Taking your shoes off and stepping inside the house, the first thing you did was drop the gifts onto the floor and sit by the fireplace. The crackling sounds of the burning fire can be heard as you warmed up yourself and melted the bits of snow.
“(Name) you left a present out here!” Kunikuzushi pointed out, seeing the box on the steps of the front door.
“Pick it up yourself, you made me drop it! It’s your gift anyway.” Your teeth chattered a bit as you spoke.
Rai walked over to you with two hot chocolate drinks in both of her hands. She handed a mug to you before joining you at the fireplace. The hot chocolate and the warming fire heated you up in no time. You and Rai were enjoying a couple of minutes of chatting. All except for Kunikuzushi.
“How come you didn’t make one for me, Rai?” He scoffed, taking off his coat and seeing the two of you laughing.
“Because you’re annoying.”
“Hmph, you’re one to talk.”
“It’s true. Face it, you always take (Name) from me! Like you’re literally doing it right now and it’s proving my point!” Rai spoke up, seeing her brother walk over to you both and lie down in your lap.
“Aha, there’s no need to fight when I’m right here for the both of you.” You awkwardly said, stepping into the argument between the two.
Kunikuzushi only taunted Rai to which she rolled her eyes. Though Rai was quite offended at her brother’s stunt yet again, she continued where you both left off and just ignored her brother’s remarks.
The whole morning, you and Rai spoke for record time with no arguments from the siblings, occasionally Kunikuzushi joined in on the conversation. Kunikuzushi was still holding onto you, giving you kisses to piss off Rai more.
Did he manage to piss her off successfully? Yes.
“C’mon (Name), let’s go outside and play in the snow!” Rai said, getting up.
You nodded and managed to drag Kunikuzushi off of you. Noticing the disappointed look on his face when you got up, you smiled lovingly before placing a kiss on his forehead and ruffling his hair.
“No need to get all pouty about it, Mr. Stubborn Guy. We can hang out tomorrow, I’m just going with Rai today. Take turns, you know?” You said, laughing at his reaction.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Kunikuzushi frowned as you hugged him in an embrace.
He held onto your waist for a couple of minutes until Rai had enough of waiting and called out to you again. Gently prying Kunikuzushi away, you went after Rai who is already making a snowball.
“Snowman?” You asked, adjusting your scarf over your coat.
“Alright, snowman it is!” Rai replied.
The two of you rolled a huge snowball together for the base of the snowman. Once the snowball was to the desired size, you both started on the abdomen and the head.
Winter is Rai’s favorite season and you could very much tell. She’s always insisting on and planning activities to do during this time around. But you didn’t mind, of course, you love to spend time with Rai and Kunikuzushi. Although they can get on your nerves sometimes…
“Now it just needs a face!”
You and Rai dug for pebbles or rocks of any sort to put on the snowman’s head. Digging under the snow layer for the rocks in the dirt. Your hands were freezing from the contact, even with mittens on. But Rai seemed unbothered by the iciness.
“Tada! Now it’s a completed snowman!”
You both stepped back to take some time to appreciate the work. It was a life-size snowman and it had a goofy little smile plastered on its face. Rai took out her phone and motioned you to go to the other side of the snowman for a selfie. As the two of you were taking pictures with both of your guys’ devices, you both missed Kunikuzushi sneaking out and secretly making a snowball.
“I wanna eat fresh snow…” Rai looked down, eyeing the snow that fell from the sky and onto the ground.
“I don’t think it’s that dirty since it fell from the sky just now soo..”
Rai went down and took a chunk of snow into her hand. She inspected the snow in her hand and took some suspicious parts off so she can eat it. But before you could even ask what it tastes like, you were hit with a flying snowball.
“Ow! Who threw that?!” You turned in the direction the snowball came from.
Just by turning your head, you saw a kneeled down Kunikuzushi with an “uh-oh” look on his face.
“I–”
But before Kunikuzushi can even explain, you hit him back with a deformed snowball, possibly the size of your fist but it was a bit crushed. It hit him in the face and you saw him dust off the bits of snow on his coat.
“I was gonna say that I meant to aim at Rai but it seems like you’re looking forward to a fight.” Kunikuzushi said, getting a snowball ready in his hand.
“Wait, what! You were gonna hit me?!” Rai looked towards Kunikuzushi with a mouth stuffed with snow.
And before you knew it, the three of you got into an intense snowball fight. It was more of a two-against-one since you and Rai wanted to get back at Kunikuzushi. The whole lawn turned into a warzone and a couple of neighbors were flabbergasted at the scene.
“Psst, Rai, watch this!” You poked Rai to look at you as you quickly stuffed a rock the size of a ping-pong ball into a ball of snow.
With that, you threw the snow-covered rock at Kunikuzushi. But that backfired when it was a terrible throw and it hit Kunikuzushi right on his temple as he was molding the snow. You gasped and Rai’s jaw dropped open.
“O-ow! Who did that!?” Kunikuzushi mumbled, rubbing his head.
You ran towards him and took a look at his head. There was a small scar but it didn’t look too severe. Still, it was kind of bruised or swollen-looking. Blood started rushing out of one tiny spot of the scar and it was close to dripping off.
“A-ah, sorry it was my fault…” You said ashamed.
Rai, on the other hand, went to check out the damage done to her brother’s head. She poked at the spot that didn’t have blood for no particular reason to which Kunikuzushi just hissed at the touch. He just glared at her when she started laughing.
“That was unnecessary!”
“My bad, let’s all go back inside and treat your wound.” Rai insisted.
You made Kunikuzushi lay down on the couch while you and Rai got supplies to heal it. A cotton pad, bandaid, and ice pack will do for now.
“Sit up, Kuni.” You commanded since Kunikuzushi laying down was too low for you to focus properly.
But Kunikuzushi only frowned and turned away from you, facing his back towards you. He ignored your request and huffed in a displeased manner.
You sighed, “Do you want it healed or not?”
He continued to give you the silent treatment. What a toddler… You looked at Rai who was standing behind you and she only shrugged.
“Kuni, (Name)’s trying to help you, stop being petty about it.” Rai tried.
Kunikuzushi mumbled something inaudible and turned his body over to you, finally sitting up. He focused on something else instead as you tried to clean his cut while Rai assisted you. The room was quiet overall except for some talking between you and Rai.
“You’re all finished, Kuni!” You exclaimed.
“Mhm, whatever.” He rolled his eyes.
You noticed the dry tone in his voice. Usually, he wouldn’t give you as much attitude whenever you helped him but this time, it sounded like his response was a mockery. What you didn’t notice was him rolling his eyes at you. Brushing the idea off, you kissed his cheek before standing up and cleaning the scraps away. Throwing the garbage away, a sudden thought came up to you.
“Oh, wait, I’m gonna go get something from my house real quick. I’ll be back in 5.” You said, pulling your coat’s hood over your head and exiting the door to your house.
You remembered you bought cake that you were gonna bring over. Unsure how you forgot something so important, you unlocked your front door and stepped in. But it seems like you misplaced it somewhere the night before so now you’re flipping the house upside down.
“Fuck, I thought I put it in the fridge.” You scratched your head at the refrigerator with no cake to be seen.
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Meanwhile with Kunikuzushi and Rai.
“Kuni, you can cut the act, you know. Who knows if you hurt (Name)’s feelings by making them feel bad with your awful attitude? Don’t think I didn’t see you roll your eyes at them.”
“Oh please, Rai, you already get all of the attention in the house, it’s none of your business to know how things work in our relationship.”
“I’m just saying, you’re being selfish by making (Name) feel bad and manipulating them. Besides, I’m literally your sister and (Name)’s friend, I have the right to know.”
“Me? Selfish? Says the one who is the favorite child AND spoiled. We clearly know you’re the selfish one here. You don’t even share anything. And also, have you ever heard of personal business? You don’t have any right to interfere with me and (Name) unless told.” Kunikuzushi said, angrily, he got up from his seat to get a glass of water.
“It’s not my fault mom and mother like me more than you. You’re the one distancing yourself from this family and hiding all day. If it weren’t for (Name) forcing you out of your shell, you would’ve been a loner.” Rai huffed, crossing her arms.
“For Archons’ sake, Rai! Stop acting like you’re above everyone and know the solutions to my problems! Tch, you’re so spoiled to the point it’s getting into your brain.”
“I’m not spoiled! You’re the only boy in this house and you’re older than me! You’re just being immature saying I’m the favorite.”
The two took turns yelling back and forth at each other. They were both proving each other’s points and it only got worse. Yes, the two rarely agreed with one another, but they never argued like this.
The shouting soon drew attention to two familiar people who came home from shopping.
“Kunikuzushi Raiden and Rai Raiden! What is this commotion about?! Miko and I can hear your yelling from outside!” Ei shouted, shutting them up for a second.
Both of the mothers separated the siblings from each other. To this point, Rai was holding back tears while Kunikuzushi looked like he was about to explode with anger.
“You both better tell me what’s going on before I lock you guys together in a room to get things sorted out yourself!”
“Kunikuzushi is being a bitch and calling me spoiled!”
“I’m not being a bitch! You’re the one who’s controlling how me and (Name)’s relationship should be like!”
“Well, you cling onto them like a sloth and interrupt me every time I try to talk to them!”
And again, the two argued and bickered about… Who knows at this point, they’re quarreling about many topics at once. The point is, Kunikuzushi was trying to say that many of his bad habits and his icky personality were because of the loneliness he’s felt in the family. You were the only person who actually showed affection towards him which resulted in you guys dating.
Rai, though, was trying to tell him that making you feel bad just so you’re acknowledging his attention is wrong. She wanted to explain that to him but supposedly, she worded it incorrectly or Kunikuzushi took it the wrong way.
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“HUH?! THE CAKE WAS BEHIND THE MILK CARTON THIS WHOLE TIME!? So I spent 10 fucking minutes searching for the cake just for it to be hiding in the back of my fridge…” You sighed in both relief and disbelief.
Taking the cake out, you made sure it was in good condition before making your way back out to the wintery neighborhood. The snowfall settled down a bit and it was less distracting. But you knew something was terribly wrong when you heard shouting outside of the house. It seemed to be Rai and Kunikuzushi’s voices.
Awkwardly, you walked up the steps when Yae Miko spotted you. She opened the door and headed towards you, making you stop in place. The others were too busy trying to settle things down and didn’t notice Yae Miko walk out.
“Ah, (Name)! It’s so glad to see you, though it might not be perfect timing…” Her usual smirk trailed off, looking back inside the house.
“Uh, what’s going on with them?” You asked.
“Oh, please, they’re just arguing over who’s selfish and who hogs you the most. Hmph, it’s a shame they can’t ever make up with each other.”
You sighed. The two bickering about you was normal but you didn’t think it would come to this loud shouting. Sometimes, you wonder how they manage to live in the same house without clawing at each other’s throats.
“I’ll go stop them..” You and Yae Miko made your way back into the house.
Ei seemed to have given up on those two and upon seeing Miko’s disappearance, she glanced outside and saw the both of you.
“Stop calling me spoiled!”
“How about you stop calling me se–”
“Kuni, Rai! What the fuck is wrong with you both?! I’m right here, you guys don’t need to be so shitty about it!”
The siblings were a bit taken aback seeing your sudden appearance. They both looked away ashamed as Yae Miko helped you place the cake down on the counter.
“(Name)–” Rai tried.
“I’m not hearing you both out, you guys do this all the time it’s unsurprising at this point.”
Grabbing their sleeves, you dragged the two of them into the hallway near Kunikuzushi’s bedroom. When you were taking them with you, though, you nodded at Ei and Miko to signal them that you have it covered to which they nodded back.
Once you got them in place, you started speaking.
“Are you guys both delusional or what? I thought it was clear that I try to spend time with both of you guys equally yet you’re arguing about who’s what! Usually, it would be a small argument between the two of you but now it’s getting out of hand!”
You faced Kunikuzushi.
“I’m not an idiot, Kuni. I’ve known you for my whole life to know what you’re like. Your acts are just a result of being an outcast.” Your hand shifted from holding his sleeve to holding his hand now. “I won’t leave you, you don’t need to shoo everyone away to have my attention.”
“And you, Rai.” You turned to Rai now, also holding her hand. “You can’t assume how your brother is without knowing the story behind it. It’s not Kunikuzushi who’s distancing himself from the family, it’s because he wasn’t given the proper attention. That’s why he feels more comfortable with me.” You specifically remember Kunikuzushi telling you about how he feels with his family in Freshmen Year. He was a different person with you than when with his family.
“Now, apologize to each other right now before I keep your presents.”
The two siblings looked away from each other, muttering a weary apology. You nodded in approval. Moving forward, you wiped Rai’s tears away and gave her a big hug. Both of your bodies’ swayed side to side as a habit and then you both let go. Looking at Kunikuzushi, you noticed him facing away from you still with a jealous pout on his face.
You snickered at that and pulled on his ear for his attention.
“Ow!”
“Oh, come on now, are you really being jealous because I hugged your sister? You made her cry so I’m just doing what you usually do to me.”
You pushed both of them forward and out of the hallway back to the kitchen. Spotting Ei and Miko, you gave them a thumbs up to let them know that things were sorted out. Though they might have heard the conversation, you just wanted them to know that things were good now.
“You guys should really try this cake (Name) bought. It’s really good and sweet!” Ei announced.
She cut the cake into slices and placed them on a plate in front of you three. Sitting at the counter, you all took a bite out of the slice. It was rather a beautiful-looking cake, it had a light blue theme and it also tasted really good.
“Oh? Kuni, what happened to your head?” Miko asked, noticing the bandage.
Kunikuzushi and Rai glared at you with a raised eyebrow, making you choke on your cake bite.
“I’m sure (Name) would like to explain.” Kunikuzushi poked your head backward, making you off-balanced.
“Oh, uhh, I may or may not have hit his head with a rock…” You came forward with the truth.
“Yeah, they wanted to kill me, I bet.” Kunikuzushi jokingly said but still glaring at you.
“Well does it hurt?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course, it hurts!”
Finishing your cake slices, Ei offered to give you all more but you three politely declined.
“Hey. Hold me.” Kunikuzushi spoke to you.
He was leaning towards you sideways, facing Rai, and falling over you. You sighed, opening your arms for him to lay in. Rai only took one look at the two of you and scoffed.
“You two are corny.” She said.
“I bet you’d be like that with your future partner too, Rai.” Ei told her to which Rai just gagged at the thought of it, going back to her phone.
Kunikuzushi was being held within your arms as he slowly slid closer to you. You were both still sitting on your stools until Kunikuzushi lost his balance over you.
“Fuck, wait, I’M FALLING!”
And before you even had time to react, he lost his balance. Falling over you and you both fell off the chairs and onto the wooden floors, hitting yourselves hard. Your back ached at the harsh slam and your stomach was hurting because of Kunikuzushi’s weight.
Miko sighed, “Oh, dear. Kunikuzushi, when are you gonna leave that poor child alone?” She stifled out a laugh.
Contrasting from Yae Miko though, Rai burst out into laughter seeing you both on the floor like dead zombies. Maybe not zombies, but still.
You groaned as you rubbed over your stomach where Kunikuzushi was still lying. He was just as hurt as you since he toppled over two chairs.
“Brother, I think you’re killing (Name).”
Kunikuzushi still laid over your belly for some comfort and kicked Rai’s foot from below. Laying back on the floor, you tried to relax your body but Kunikuzushi’s weight over you wasn’t helping.
“I hate you.. Kuni.” You growled, sliding away from him.
You managed to sit up against the couch’s back and you leaned against it. Kunikuzushi, though, was laying on the floor like he was dead. His eyes were closed and he stuck his tongue out to imitate the dead people you would see in cartoons.
“I almost forgot your guys’ presents!”
Stumbling to get to the spot where you dropped all of the presents, you took them all and placed them on the counter, sorting them out by the tags. Handing each of the gifts to the family, you threw Kunikuzushi’s gift at his head to wake him up.
“Ouch, who threw that now? Are you trying to kill me?”
“Maybe.” You crawled back to your spot behind the couch and dragged Kunikuzushi’s arm towards you.
Hauling his body to you, you propped him around you to which he just slumped his arms around your figure. You sighed, knowing you won’t ever be able to escape from him and you could tell he is smug about it.
But in the end, you were fine with it anyway. Through the smiles among the family, you could tell that this year, it’ll be a unique Christmas. As the snow falls and the snowman outside stands tall, it wouldn’t be so bad for little change.
Wishing upon the snow that dances like a star.
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“Hey, Kuni, my back still hurts.”
“And mine doesn’t?”
“You’re the reason we fell off the chairs.”
“Then deal with the pain.”
“Fine, then you can suffer yourself. I’m going with Rai.”
“I thought your back hurts?”
“It does but still.”
“Hmph, whatever.”
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