Chapter Text
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"Bro," Tanaka leaned over so his face took up most of Noya's vision, "on a scale of one to ten, how romantic are you feeling today?"
"Hm?" Nishinoya blinked, taking in his friend's face. A devilish mischief sparkled in Tanaka's eyes, infecting his own immediately. "Oh! Yeah man, I'm feelin' really romantic today." A grin slid across his mouth as he responded. "You found a place offerin' a deal like that already? It's only the 12th."
Tanaka smirked back, looking for all the world like a scheming delinquent. "Yup! I got the place scoped out and it's legit. Wanna go there after practice?"
"Hell yeah I do!" he cheered, leaping to give Tanaka a double high-five.
The gray February day dragged along, the sun showing itself for what amounted to less than ten minutes (non-consecutively). Practice brightened it, with everyone working hard and getting results from their diligence. As a special highlight, Noya watched Kageyama chase Hinata around the gym after his serve almost bonked him in the head again. Tanaka's loud laughter echoed off the roof as he bent double, pointing at the pair of first-years. In a rare moment of indulgence, Daichi let them have their fun, opting to focus on giving receiving tips to Ennoshita and Yamaguchi.
Nishinoya's back still hurt from the lunchtime back-slapping competition he and Tanaka had started, even after they wrapped up for the day. Although he had made sure to leave just as many stinging handprints on Tanaka's back too. They made peace on their walk back from school, their fellow second-years looking on, astounded.
At our strength and bravery, of course! Noya gave his classmates an enthusiastic wave goodbye, walking past his usual turn to stick with Tanaka. Excitement buzzed through him. This is just like going over to play those rhythm games at his house! Except… not at all like that. The thought turned his hype into something sharper, and somehow wigglier? Nishinoya decided that it must be super excitement, jumping straight up to burn it off, then bumped shoulders with Tanaka.
"Is the place even still open this late?" he asked, gnawing on the stick of a popsicle long devoured. Even though the solstice was behind them, the sun still set a little after five, shrouding the end of practice and their commutes home in darkness.
"They are, just trust me bro. I checked their website like twenty times yesterday. They stay open later on Fridays and Saturdays. You know what today is?"
"A Friday." Noya grumbled around the chewed wooden stick. "I was making sure you knew what the hell you were doing, man. I'll never let you have the trail map when we go hiking ever again." He rifled through his pockets, missing Tanaka's indignant expression switching to astonishment as he pulled out another popsicle.
"Dude, how can you eat ice cream at a time like this? Aren't you cold?"
"Eh? Oh please, there's always time for ice cream! And no, I'm not cold-d-d-d." the violent teeth chattering that cut off Noya's sentence did nothing to convince him.
"Why don't you wear a hat? It's nice and cozy, I think I have a spare if you want it." Tanaka reached for his bag, ready to pull out his backup beanie.
"Nah, I'm all set. My hair looks too good today to crush it under a hat!" Noya grinned, his jaw rattling a little.
"Hmm." He unzipped his bag anyway, rummaging around as Noya's jittering voice tried to dissuade him. "Okay, yeah man, I get it, now come over here." Tanaka brought his arm out of the bag and slung it over Noya's shoulders, gripping one end of a scarf in his fingers. Before Noya could get out another stilted protest, he'd been thoroughly bundled by dark green knitting—courtesy of Tanaka's sister. "There we go!" he dusted off his hands and surveyed his work.
Nishinoya's shoulders, neck, and most of his head was now haphazardly wrapped in green scarf, with its ends tied in a neat bow on the crown of his head. His eyes narrowed at Tanaka, promising revenge, but unable to do more than punch his arm.
Three layers of yarn didn't stop the muffled yelling all the rest of the way to the restaurant, which Tanaka couldn't pay attention to anyway. He was too busy fending off flurries of punches, pinches, pokes, and the occasional slap. As a younger sibling, he had to commend Noya's ferocity.
"Oi oiii, Noya! If you freeze or get sick now, we won't be able to go to any of the places on our list! Think of all the discount ice cream and popsicles you'll miss out on… that would be tragic, right?"
Noya paused, blinking, then lowered his arms to tuck his hands snug in his pockets. Tanaka grinned, satisfied. He pointed ahead of them up the street.
"We're almost there anyhow—race you!"
They both slid up to the restaurant entrance, out of breath and covered in snow from the unplanned belly flopping on an icy sidewalk. Warm air swept over them when they entered, a sensation so lovely that Tanaka closed his eyes, enjoying it to the fullest. Beside him Nishinoya fought with his scarf until he'd pulled it all down around his neck.
"Whew! We made it, Ryuu! And look, there's the sign, you were right!" Noya pointed at a sign standing by the entryway, displaying pictures of the place's best desserts and proclaiming that 'for limited time, these selections are free! In the spirit of romance~'
"Heh heh, hell yeah! Let's go grab a table so we can order."
The cafe wasn't all that busy; they had their pick of places to sit. Tanaka spotted a table and made a beeline for it, only to glance up to see Noya had chosen one across the room. For a beat they looked at each other with deadpan faces. Noya snorted; suddenly Tanaka couldn't contain himself and laughed uproariously. He made his way towards Noya, leaning heavily on the backs of chairs as he tried to catch his breath.
Nishinoya met him halfway, giggling and pointing between himself and Tanaka. "Bruh, I can't believe we—"
"Dude, no, stop, it—pffftt—it's not even that funny," he wheezed, fighting off another round of mirth.
"Hah! Sure, man, suuurrre." Noya deposited the scarf on the table, glancing over at the counter. "But you know what'll really calm you down? Discount dessert." he grinned.
"You're absolutely right." Tanaka straightened, finally recovered. "Okay, so, what's the plan?" he asked, unzipping his coat and shimmying out of it.
"What do you mean, 'what's the plan?'" Noya tilted his head, watching Tanaka throw his coat over the back of his chair. "The plan is to get free stuff, right?"
"Well duh! I meant like, how, exactly. We weren't holding hands or anything on our way in, and it's not like we can just say we're a couple."
"Can't we?" Noya's brow furrowed in thought. "'Cause that was what I had in mind. I'm not kissing you in here, bro."
"Hmmm, yeah, I wouldn't wanna kiss here, either." Tanaka cast a furtive glance over his shoulder to where the man behind the counter chopped candy to refill the toppings boxes. "Well that guy totally wasn't paying attention, I say we give it a try! If he calls us out... then we try again when someone else is here! Or declare our love on the spot."
Nishinoya held his chin in thought, glancing between Tanaka and the staff member. "Alright, deal. But! We're saving that last thing as an absolutely desperate measures type fail-safe."
Tanaka nodded. "Cool with me. Now let's go get some 'scream!"
They scampered over to the counter, where the man raised his head to greet them. Tanaka examined their menu, picking out the special, discounted items and weighing delicious parfait against delicious sundae. No surprise to him, Noya leaned over to mutter that he was getting one of the ice cream sundaes. Well damn, now he was holding everyone up. Would it be more couple-like to get another sundae or to go for a parfait? He squinted at the pictures displayed on the boards behind the worker's head. Noya was getting one of the sundaes he'd been considering, so if he got the other one...
"Mind sharing a little of yours? We can trade, I'll give you some of the mints on mine," he murmured, holding up a shielding hand for extra effect.
Noya shot him a sly, sideways grin. "Genius idea! I'm in!" He turned to face the man, who maintained a perfectly neutral expression. "We're ready to order now! I'm getting the mocha caramel sundae, and—" jabbing a thumb in Tanka's direction, Noya turned to him expectantly.
"Oh! Yeah, uh, I'll get the winter candy sundae." Tanaka watched the man input their orders, clammy hands working at his sides.
The man looked up again. "Will that be all for you today?" He asked, tone even.
Wishing he could summon that level of calm, he stuttered, "Y-yes! And-and that'll be for the—urk!" Tanaka's voice died. The unmistakable sensation of Nishinoya sliding a hand around his shorted out his brain for a millisecond that stretched much longer. Luckily, the man had taken the chance to punch in their total, and hadn't seen a thing. When he did turn back around, his eyes fell to their joined hands.
"You'll be using the couples' discount today?" his finger was already hovering over the button even as Tanaka managed a vigorous nod. "Excellent. That brings your total down to a thousand yen." Measured as ever, the man accepted the coins Tanaka handed over, giving him their order slip in return. "These'll be out in no time," he intoned, giving a very serious thumbs-up.
Tanaka jumped, his polite smile going wonky. Noya saved him, stepping in with a beam and two thumbs-up. "Thanks! C'mon bro, I wanna show you pics of the snowman I built last night!" Tanaka let Noya tug him back to their seats, his exuberance practically throwing sparks. He relaxed once they were seated and chilling, laughing as they scrolled through their camera rolls. It was a strange thing. They'd hung out before, countless times, and now really shouldn't feel different. But, for some reason he couldn't fathom, Tanaka's fingers buzzed where Noya had held them.
The feeling stayed, dancing over his skin whenever his thoughts wandered back to that moment. Whenever Noya laughed, which was often, as he described his disastrous snow fort building attempt from last winter. He would flex his hand slightly to rekindle the memory of Noya's warmth.
Their sundaes truly didn't take long before the staff guy was setting them down carefully on the table. He barely had time to say 'enjoy' and escape the splash zone, they were so quick to dig in. For once they both fell silent for several minutes, each locking in to sample every component of their sundae. Tanaka thanked his good fortune he'd chosen the sundae—surely no parfait could compare?—despite the state of disarray Noya's little stunt had put him in. There wasn't just green mint ice cream with chocolate chips in there, oh no. Between layers of sugary candy that melted in his mouth, was a layer of a rich chocolate-and-mint flavor and another of peppermint ice cream that immediately turned pink as soon as he stirred his spoon through it the slightest bit. The whipped cream on top had a scattering of the same candy, along with a garland of mint leaves and a maraschino cherry.
"Oh, hold up, you like those?" Noya's voice made him pause just as he was gonna chomp down on the cherry.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Awesome! Then have mine!" With a grin so bright Tanaka wondered if he'd need sunglasses, Noya took his cherry by the stem and held it up. Right in front of his stunned mouth. "Here!"
"Alright, nice!" He snatched the cherry from Noya's grip, teeth clacking. Adding his own to the mix, he chewed like a feral dog, showing his teeth through a gory mess while Noya exclaimed and laughed. Tanaka wiped his mouth, cleared his throat, and said in an overly prim voice, "Ahem, would you like some of my candy then, in fair exchange?"
"Why, of course I would." Noya reached over with his spoon, expertly snagging a healthy pile of mints from the top of his sundae. He popped the entire thing in his mouth, and the crunching noises that followed would've alarmed most anyone.
Tanaka wasn't concerned. He knew Noya had the bite force of a wolf, he'd seen the guy chomp down on all manner of frozen treats and hard candy before. What he had never been able to figure out was how on earth Noya's toothbrush didn't get sliced to ribbons after just one use, or crushed into dust. Leaning back a little, he took in the sight of his teammate, rowdy and happy as can be, entirely focused on devouring this new enemy in the form of a sundae and a spoonful of mints. His mouth went dry. He tried to swallow, but it didn't quite make it.
"Do you think this went well?" he asked, hands down in his lap wringing at his pant legs.
Noya looked up at him, a blank look on his face. "We got ice cream, didn't we?"
"Oh, y-yeah, I guess you're right, we did!" Tanaka took another spoonful of ice cream, trying to figure out where all these nerves were coming from and drawing a blank. He swallowed, bracing to ask his next question. "So... should we continue? Doing this, I mean?"
"Absolutely!" Nishinoya's answer was quick and confident. As soon as he heard it, Tanaka couldn't fathom why he thought he'd say anything else.
"Hell yeah man!" He grinned, a little devilishly, and fist-bumped Noya over the table. "Then Operation Love Brokers is officially a go!" He whispered that last part, leaning in for maximum covertness.
"Hah! Bro, it's been going! And it won't stop until the deals do." Noya's expression turned sly. He reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out the crumpled list they'd written up at lunch earlier that day. He slid it across the table conspiratorily and tapped it with a finger for emphasis. "We got our mission, along with a few more targets to hit, plus who knows how many will pop up? 'Tis the season for reducing prices in the name of love, after all."
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Noya walked down the snowy sidewalk, hands curled in the warmth of his coat pockets, content to nestle within the endless loops of Tanaka's extra scarf (although this time he'd put it on himself, wrapping it in a way that let him speak if he wanted to). That ice cream had been sooo good. He could still taste it, still float along on all those delicious flavors. The way the sweet caramel and rich chocolate had danced on his tongue still lingered in his senses like a pleasant hum, along with the satisfying crunch and crumble of the mints from Tanaka's sundae as bursts of fresh palate cleanser.
He smiled into the soft yarn. Something more than the warm clothing in cold weather and delicious sweets glowed warm in his chest, casting a glittery sheen over his insides.
"Hmm hey, dude." He glanced over at Tanaka, who walked with his hands clasping the back of his head.
"Yeah?"
"You know our plan for tomorrow?"
"Obviously. It's gonna be sick as hell!"
"Of course! Except, I just thought of a way to make it more sick as hell." Tanaka grinned, pointing ahead of them.
Noya squinted. The store he indicated looked like some mashup of a costume store and a party favor supply shop. All sorts of colorful decorations covered the storefront, including several neon and LED lights, doing their best to advertise as flashily as possible. One of them was even shaped like a lightning bolt.
"Whooaaa, I think I see what you mean!" He wriggled out of the scarf enough to send a bright smile back at him. "Maybe they'll even give us a discount... Let's go!"
"Yeah! Anything but doing homework, baybeee!" Tanaka cheered, tromping through the snow after him.
Somehow, they both managed not to fall on their faces this time, even as the fluffy powder accumulated in deeper drifts that reached past their ankles. Together they practically fell through the entrance, a cheerful jingle announcing their arrival along with their whoops and wheezing. Straightening from where he'd been doubled over, Noya addressed the clerk behind the counter, who was giving them a bemused look.
"Hey! We're here to liven up a kareoke party and make it sick as hell! Got anything like that?"
"Ah! Bro! You can't just ask someone that sorta dumb ques—"
"Right over there," the clerk waved them towards the back of the store.
Noya charged ahead, Tanaka wasting no time to follow him. Emerging from between two shelves filled with masks ranging from high fantasy masquerade to gory Halloween slashers, they found themselves face to face with a wall of wigs. Interspersed among the blindingly fluorescent hairstyles were tall mirrors. They stood for a moment, then turned to each other with matching ecstatic faces.
"Awww, Ryu, this is awesome! Ooo, look, this one is almost as orange as Hinata's hair!" He stepped in for a closer look at the multitude of wigs.
"Oh, you're right! And here's one that's exactly like Daichi's hair! If it was—" Tanaka squinted at the name on the package "—double trouble pokey pink." He snickered behind a hand, holding it up to be about where it would sit on their captain's head. "'Hey, you guys, it's time to do drills. Guys? Why're you laughing? What's so funny!? Grrrr!' Or something like that, hahaha!"
Noya cracked up, unable to do anything but laugh at the mental image of a very stern Daichi with hair like that. "Bwahahaha! I'd like to see him be scary with that thing on his head! And are you sure it's pink? Looks more purple to me."
"Eh? Oh, yeah, I guess it could be either one." Tanaka tilted the package, watching the hue of the hair shift under the light. "Must've flipped a coin for the label, then." He put it back where he'd found it, scanning the surrounding stock.
"This one!" Nishinoya sprung into the air, plucking a long wig from its hook and holding it out to Tanaka. "Would look great on you!"
"H-Hah? Me?" Tanaka raised his hands, blocking out the luminous cyan locks.
"Oh yes, you." Noya's face shadowed with menace. "I know who you main in Fortnight, bro. Wear it."
Tanaka took it, tucking it carefully under his arm. "Well, fine then," he grumbled, "then you're wearing this one!" He ducked down to snatch a wig off one of the lower shelves, presenting it to him with the most smug expression imaginable. A rainbow clown wig sat in his hand.
"What? I'm not wearing that, man. Pick a different one." Noya crossed his arms, wrinkling his nose.
"C'mon, this is the price for the Miku one, you goofy goober." He grinned, looking disgustingly pleased with himself.
Noya's jaw dropped. "Why you!! That's it, you're putting on all the other ones from that series too." He started taking them down one by one.
"What series was that again? We don't have enough money for all the characters in the game, ya'know. Not even with all the discounts in the world." Tanaka put the clown wig under his arm too, the official 'to buy' pile. After Noya handed him even more, however, he went to grab one of the helpful handbaskets from a nearby stack.
"The Miku series, duh."
"You don't know anything abou—"
"OH! Brobrobro this one is perfect for you!" Noya didn't listen to any more, opting to skip down to a section of more natural colors, pointing to a row of wigs styled after delinquent's bouffants, complete with motorcycle gang names stamped in graffitti letters across the packaging.
"Bwuh!? What the hell are you tryna say about me!?" Tanaka shoved his hands in the pockets of his baggy pants, walking towards Noya with an exaggerated wide stance. When he reached him Tanaka wound up, inhaling a long breath through his nose, then pummeling the air around Noya with a flurry of playful punches. Laughing, he pretended to recoil backwards, imitating the way he'd seen it animated countless times. "ORA ORA ORA ORAORAORA ORAAAAH!!!" Tanaka shouted, finishing Noya off with a slow-motion punch to the space in front of his face.
"Urrgh! Ack! The pain! Blood, blood, blood!!! All my thousand years of training, nooo!" He stumbled, falling dramatically to one knee, going through at least five more steps before collapsing to the floor.
"Nyahahaha!! Skadoosh! Take that!"
Noya felt Tanaka's hand on his arm and stopped playing dead, grabbing onto his friend to get hauled to his feet. When he was up again, he clapped Tanaka's shoulder. "Never say 'skadoosh' again, my friend. Not if you want people to take you seriously."
"Gah! Oh, I see how it is. Just for that, I'm making you wear this, too." Tanaka reached around to one of the shelves perpendicular to the wig wall, pulling a bald cap from its place to wave it at him. "All you need is some of these traditional samurai and royalty wigs, and you'll be ready to start your career as a historical reenactor."
Noya narrowed his eyes, promptly pulling a few delinquent wigs down to add to the basket. "We're almost at the max wig basket limit. How about we go our separate ways for now. Return here at dawn." He struck a pose that would've hit better if he'd worn a fedora.
"Alright bro, cool with me." Tanaka gave him a thumbs up and strolled back to the anime and game section.
"Yep, okay then." Noya held up double fingerguns and pivoted in the other direction.
<^>
At dawn, also known as ten minutes later, they reconvened at the basket, arms full of their selections.
"Well. Seems the time has finally come, partner." Noya set his haul in the basket and stood, facing Tanaka with hands on his hips.
"Indeed it has." He nodded solemnly. "How shall we decide who goes first?"
"How about the sacred and time-honored ritual: rock, paper, scissors?"
Tanaka snapped his fingers. "Perfect! I like the sound of that." He cracked his knuckles in preparation. "I'm afraid I'm going to demolish you, buddy."
"Oh yeah!? Take this! One, two, three, shoot!" They pumped their closed fists three times before revealing their choices, and lo and behold, Tanaka clapped his paper over Noya's rock. "What!? Nooo!"
"Ha-hah! Told you!" Tanaka gloated, winking at him.
Noya only glowered at him.
"Sheesh, alright, alright, calm down. Just for you, I'll try on the Miku-verse wigs first." He held up a placating hand, reaching to grab the cyan twintails with the other. He brought it out of its package with care, unfolding the base so it would fit his head before twirling it in an elaborate gesture that somehow ended with it on his head. "Tah-dah! Now I'm in your WiFi!" Tanaka struck a few poses Noya could only guess were Miku originals.
He applauded, clapping harder as Tanaka took a gracious bow. "How magical! So whimsical! Bravo!"
"Why, thank you!" Tanaka grinned, leaning towards the mirror to adjust the shorter tufts of hair so they sat right around his face.
Noya crouched to rummage through their basket, picking up the empty package to investigate. Something fell out of it from where it had been hidden by the page of instructions and warnings. "Holy shit. Dude. Dude! It comes with a leek!"
"It comes with a leek!?"
"Yes!! Here, here, take it!" Noya shoved the plastic, leek-shaped wand at Tanaka, who took it like he'd just accepted a royal scepter.
"Oh yeah!! Now we're talkin'!" He whipped it through the air as if were a katana, then a marching band pole, before trying it out as a microphone. "Heheh, this'll do nicely. Okay, time for the rest of 'em." He proceeded to model the rest of the Miku-verse wigs, doing unique poses for each one that Noya couldn't believe he'd actually learned by heart. He should get Suga and the guys in on this; maybe it was time to up their sideline cheering squad game.
"You know what's next!" Noya called, holding out one of the gangster wigs.
Tanaka took it with a sigh. "Fine, fine. I gotta switch up my vibe then." He scrunched his forehead pressing his fingertips to his temples. "Motorcycle chases, honor, gritty life on the streets of the big city, baseball bats, poses that go so incredibly hard... Got it! Ahem! Let's do this." Tanaka threw himself into modeling the bouffants, each of his stances more wildly bizarre than the last, with expressions to match. Noya recognized a few from when they'd terrorized opponent team members who bad talked them, and a couple others from when Kageyama or Tsukishima said something that irked him (intentionally or not).
In no time he'd tried them all on, and now he pondered the lot of them in the basket. "I think..." he started, hand trailing over each one, "I like these two best." He pulled two out, holding them aloft.
"Alright, nice! I'll put these away then." Noya took the remaining few bouffants and returned them to their respective places.
Tanaka grinned at him when he returned, the clown wig in his hands. "Now it's your turn!"
"Ugh, whatever. I'll do it for you, man." He snatched the wig away and spun it in his hands. "Where the hell's the front of this thing? Oh, here's the bottom... Alright, putting it on... now!" Noya jammed it down over his head, taking his hands away quickly. He held his arms out, turning to Tanaka. "Ya happy or what?"
Tanaka took one look at him and guffawed. He tried several times to explain himself, but couldn't contain his laughter. Finally he simply pointed at the mirror. Noya frowned at him, then walked over to see what was so funny. He gagged.
The clown wig hadn't stood a chance against his spiked hair. It rested a good ways above his scalp, caught on the solidified points of his styling, some even protruding through the rainbow striped frizz.
"Hm. Oh shit... well that's a problem. On the bright side though," Noya shrugged, reaching up to coax the clown wig off his own hair. Some stray, colorful strands stuck despite his efforts. "I don't have to wear any more wigs. In fact I probably shouldn't, this one's not the same as it was." He winced as he put it back in its bag. "We should probably buy this one, shouldn't we? What do you thi— oh come on! Quit your laughing! Get serious!" Upon seeing Tanaka still giggling away, Noya whacked him with the clown wig. It was done for anyway.
"Ahahaha! Ow! Ack! Alright, stoppit, I'm so serious right now, I swear!" Tanaka batted him away, then gazed down at their basket. "And I had so many wigs I was gonna force you to wear... how sad. What should we do?"
Noya was already pondering that. "Mmm, since I can't wear wigs, what if... we got some for people who can?" A sly smile slipped over his face.
"Eh? I'm not gonna—Oh! Oh you mean them. Mwahahaha, I like the way you think!" Tanaka rubbed his hands together, sporting a maniacal expression of his own. "Oh this is gonna be fun."
"Exactly. With them in mind, let's pick out some more. I think the store's closing soon, so we should hurry."
"Right!"
They worked quickly, gleefully showing each other they selections. With twenty minutes to spare, they hurried up to the front counter, launching themselves into their second performance.
"Excuse me, we saw your signs out there for Valentine's Day. Would that apply to my boyfriend and I?" Tanaka spoke in his best polite voice, while Noya stood beside him, closer than he normally would, and tried to look cute and couple-like. Whatever that was, seemed pretty much like normal to him. Wait—
"Of course! Thank you for shopping with us, you two. That means you get 60% off all these party favors." The clerk told them as she began to scan the wigs. She smiled at them as they consolidated their pocket money. "I hope these help make your kareoke party sick as hell, I think you made some good choices!"
For a second they both stood there awestruck, jaws on the floor. A woman just complimented them!! They remembered their manners in the same instant and bowed, too low and too fast, sending half their money onto the floor. "Thank you, ma'am!" they chorused.
The clerk chuckled, totaling their wigs together as they picked up their change in a hurried scuffle. When she told them the amount, they put thir heads together to redistribute their money, (they hadn't expected such a good deal), and handed it over with matching beaming faces. Then they helped her bag the wigs, returning her wave and thanks as they stepped back outside.
Noya sighed long, a cloud of vapor billowing around his head. "That was so much fun, dude. We should do this all the time."
Tanaka nodded, looping their bags around his shoulder so he could get his hands into his warm pockets as soon as possible. "Oh yes, absolutely. Who needs school?"
"I know right? Only problem is that's how we can play volleyball." Noya pointed out, rearranging the scarf so it covered more of his face.
"Ohhh, so that's why I bother coming. Drat." Tanaka sighed, kicking the snow in front of him in mock frustration.
"Why do you talk like a cartoon? Or a grandpa? First 'skadoosh,' now 'drat!' What's next, 'oh great heavens?'" Noya laughed, scampering out of range when Tanaka aimed his next kick at him.
The horseplay didn't last long, though. The long day flagged even their chaotic energy, soon finding them heading home in comfortable silence. The falling snow cast a pallor on the pitch black night. Noya watched the flakes fall, thinking it didn't feel quite so dark or cold with the curtains of silvery obscuring the empty sky and bare trees. That, and...
"Hey, Ryu."
"Hm?"
"I liked hanging out with you today."
"Aww, Yuu! I liked it too, you're lots of fun!"
"But there is something."
"Huh? What is it?"
"I think we should practice for kareoke tomorrow. You know, to make sure we can get the best deal for everybody, we gotta convince them we aren't just a group of friends."
Tanaka tilted his head. "Hmmm, how can we do that?"
"I thought of something." Noya let one of his hands venture out, pulling green scarf down off his mouth. "C'mere." He beckoned, and, puzzled, Tanaka leaned towards him. Before he could get all the way there, however, Noya stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on Tanaka's cheek. For an instant, the warmth of Tanaka's skin was right there under his lips, their foggy breath mingling into a single cloud. Then he dropped back down, pulling the scarf back up further this time. "There. For practice. The next one will be better." He slid his eyes over to check up on Tanaka.
He'd gone bright red.
"H-Holy... Uh, ahaha, yeah! For sure, I- I'll cook up some good stuff too! Now that we're... doing this."
He trailed off, although Noya wouldn't say it was silent. His pulse hammered a frantic rhythm in his ears. Crazy thoughts chased themselves around his head. Like how he hoped Tanaka liked that kiss. He seemed to. And what was he planning for tomorrow? Noya wanted to know. He hoped it was another kiss. If Tanaka had liked this one, that is. He really hoped he had.
"Yuu!"
He looked up. They'd reached the place where they normally parted ways. Tanaka smiled at him.
"You can keep the scarf. Keep warm! Good night!" he waved erratically as he continued down his street.
Noya waved back just as wildly. "See you tomorrow bro! Remember to bring the wigs!" He saw Tanaka give him a thumbs-up. Lowering his arm, he smiled to himself. He couldn't seem to stop. He snuggled into the scarf, spending the rest of his walk home imagining how kareoke night might go.
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