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Rin scoffed and wiped at the sweat on his forehead, pushing his shovel through the thick pile of snow on his driveway and moving it out of the way. He looked at his house and frowned. Stupid Nii-chan getting a stupid infection and leaving him with all the stupid house chores. He told his stupid parents that their house was too big for him to do everything by himself, but they didn’t care about what he had to say. Not that they ever cared.
He shoveled more snow and huffed. Everything was so stupid.
Of course, if Sae were sick, Rin would immediately be saddled with all the work—Sae was his parents' dear golden child, after all. He brought home the money and fancy awards from abroad, and they couldn’t afford to strain that. Rin, on the other hand, did nothing. When he got sick, they waited for him to get better to share the work evenly.
Rin trudged down to the next section that needed clearing, his legs almost coming up to his chest as he pulled them out of the thick snow. He paused before he could start and hooked his shovel under his armpit, taking his sweet time to adjust his thick gloves on his fingers. Maybe if he waited some more, the sun would come out and melt the snow away.
He waited a minute and looked back at his house, murmuring more expletives at the dancing LED lights. Then he sighed and went back to shoveling.
“Hey, Rin!” A deep voice yelled from behind him, low timbre echoing down the empty street and stopping him in his tracks. He felt his lip curl up in a snarl, of all the fucking people in the world. “Shoveling snow?”
The boy’s eyebrows furrowed in a deep scowl, and he turned around slowly, “Did you just ask me if I was shoveling snow?” he spat, voice lithe but venomous. “What the fuck do you think I'm doing in all this snow with a shovel? Pissing?”
Shidou grinned ear to ear and shrugged, hands in his pockets to keep from freezing. “Always a pleasure to talk to you, Rinnie,” he snickered, “You really make my day, truly.”
“Don’t call me that,” Rin spat, turning his back to Shidou. “If you’re looking for my brother, he’s inside." He paused and glanced over his shoulder. “But he’s sick, so Mum might not let you stay long.”
“I didn’t come to see Sae,” Shidou snickered, stalking closer to where Rin had his shovel planted under a particularly thick pile of snow. “I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out.”
Rin blinked and rolled his eyes, long hair swishing over his forehead when he shook his head. “No, I don’t wanna hang out,” he grit through clenched teeth, “as you can see, I'm preoccupied. Now, go away.”
Shidou shuffled closer like he didn’t care. “Take a break,” he suggested, insistent as ever. “I just want us do something really quickly, then you can get back to shoveling.”
“No,” Rin spat out harshly, hoping the venom in his voice was enough to scare Shidou away. “I don’t wanna do anything with you. I wanna shovel this snow, go in my house, and go to bed.” His blood pressure rose at the grin that refused to fall off Shidou’s face. “Fuck off.”
Shidou whistled and threw his hands up, chuckling despite Rin's disgruntled mood. “Fine,” he relented, giving up far quicker than Rin thought he would. “If you’re so busy, I guess I'll just go.”
The younger scoffed and turned back to his work, muttering a quiet “good riddance” under his breath. He wedged his shovel under the large pile of white and pushed, dropping his body weight on it to move forward.
He made it a few feet before a shiver ran down his spine, a loud shriek slipping past his lips when he felt ice hit his neck and weasel down the back of his winter jacket. He whipped around to glare at Shidou, the older boy practically doubling over in laughter. He wiped at remnants of the snow ball on his neck, embarrassment staining his ears red “That’s not fucking funny, Shidou,” he hissed, “what’s your issue?”
“Did you- did you see how you jumped?” the older cawed, one hand on his knee as the other gripped his stomach.
“You’re so annoying,” He felt his blood boil, “get out, go away.”
“You screeched like a baby girl,”
“That’s it,” Rin tossed his shovel and charged for Shidou, calf-length snow slowing him down as he tried to make chase. Shidou weaved ahead as agile as ever, lighter boots helping him escape. The younger paused when he realized he wasn’t catching up to him and groaned, throwing his hands up. “You're so fucking annoying, Shidou.”
“You already said that” Shidou teased, turning to stick his tongue out. He stopped running when he realized Rin wasn’t chasing him anymore. “Oh, come on, you have to admit it was a little funny.”
“Whatever,” Rin turned back to his work, ears and cheeks burning red. He didn’t have time for this. “Fucking asshole.”
He squawked when he felt a large hand grip his wrist and pull him back, arms and legs flailing as he fell backward into the thick bed of snow. He cracked his eyes open and stared at the sky, trying to find his bearings as his warm breath steamed above his face.
A thump sounded out to his right, and he turned to where Shidou had just thrown himself down, no doubt surrendering before Rin could get up and seek his revenge. The older huffed a white breath and chuckled nervously, “That hurt less than I thought, thank God.”
Rin glared at him over the snow but made no move to get up. “What is your problem with me today?” he muttered, voice light in your chest like he didn’t have it in him to argue. “Did you just wake up and think to yourself, ‘Hmm, why don’t I go bother Rin?’”
“I'm not here to bother you, Rinrin,” Shidou corrected.
Rin made an incredulous sound in his throat, “Oh, really?”
“Your brother said you were shoveling snow, and I know how much you hate shoveling snow,” he said, still slightly winded from his fall, “I'm here to bail you out.”
He paused at that, stomach suddenly twisting in light knots at the idea that Shidou was concerned for him. He did hate shovelling snow, no one in his family cared how he felt though.
He snorted and turned back to look at the sluggish clouds, long hair dragging through the snow. “Bail me out by,” he paused and shivered, “dropping me into 14 inches of snow?”
Shidou chuckled and kicked a leg up, “I thought we could make snow angels… or something,”
Rin bit his lip to hold back a laugh, “Okay.”
“I'm sorry for dropping you in the snow.”
He shrugged noncommittally, “I’ll get you back so it doesn’t matter.”
They were silent after that, both letting the cold of the slow melting snow seep into their clothes. Shidou broke the silence, “Wanna see who makes the better snow angel?” he smiled, “Loser buys the winner whatever they want at the Christmas market.”
Rin chewed the thought over in his head, “Who judges?”
“Sae.”
He reasoned it and kissed his teeth, nodding his head and starting to paddle his hands and legs. “Deal.”