A/N: I do not own Inazuma Eleven.
The snow activities are based on a piece of fan art submitted by username minem on Zerochan Anime Image Board, uploaded on September 26. Minor changes will be added in this fic.
With the exception of Hiroto and Midorikawa, the other three Aliea Captains will be called by their alien names for easier reference.
Dedicated to my dear little brother, who made an Inazuma Eleven AMV with one of my favourite Linkin Park songs as my Christmas gift.
White
Winter. The coldest season of the year, the season of snow in some parts of the world.
"Snow Angel!"
"Northern Impact!"
It is a season filled with ample opportunities for people to participate in various outdoor activities. Activities such as sports, playing in the snow, or simply going outside to enjoy the cool air and calming sight of falling snow that settles the heart and evokes a sense of tranquillity and serenity…
"You'll pay for that!" yelled Sakuma.
"Hah! I'd like to see you try!" taunted Touko.
With the conclusion of the Football Frontier International, the young participants were enjoying a good break after the intense competition. Returning home to their countries and families, they prepared for the approaching festival of Christmas.
"Say, where's Aki and the other girls?"
"Hm? Oh, they're back at the house preparing for the party. I asked if they needed more hands, but they insisted they take care of it themselves."
"Really? That's so nice of them!"
"Yeah. Haruna said that the rest of us should take this time to relax and have some fun. We've been through a lot, she told us we deserved a break."
"Endou! Kidou! Look over here!"
The two boys turned their heads towards Hiroto's voice. Waving at his video camera, they made their way over to him.
"Nice video camera," complimented Kidou.
"Thanks, but it's not mine, it belongs to nee-san. I just hope she doesn't mind me borrowing it without permission. I was in a rush," Hiroto scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Ah, don't worry about it!" Endou smiled and thumped him on the back. "I'm sure she - ACK!"
A large snowball collided into Endou's face as Hiroto and Kidou ducked, turning their heads towards the direction in which the attack came from.
"Sorry Endou!"
"WAH! We're getting trashed here!"
"Endou, help us! It's five against six!"
Grinning, the captain of Inazuma Japan dusted the remnants of snow off his face and raced off to join the battle as his companions stood up. Keeping the video camera focused on the snowball fight, Hiroto turned to Kidou.
"You're not going to join them?"
"Not really. Snowball fights aren't my thing."
"If you say so. How about helping me find the others then? I still haven't got some people on tape yet."
"Sure. Let's go."
The fight was only getting started. Hiroto decided he could move around to film the rest of the group first.
Aphrodi was lying on a wide, flat patch of snow, moving his arms up and down and opening and closing his legs.
"It's a snow angel!" he explained, smiling and waving at Hiroto and Kidou.
"Want me to draw more wings for you? You only have two," offered Hiroto.
"Nah, it's fine. I prefer to do it the old fashioned way. Besides, this is only for fun. Nothing can beat the real thing," he smirked, standing up to stretch after finishing.
Six golden yellow wings flared out from Aphrodi's back as he walked away to search for another clean patch of snow.
"Incoming! WAHOO!"
"Tsunami, you idiot! Watch where you're go- AHHH!"
Kidou's amusement reflected off his smirk as Hiroto moved closer for a better shot. Tsunami was standing on a sleigh board, holding the reigns in front and "surfing" down a hill, burying Someoka (who tried unsuccessfully to scurry away in time) in a mini avalanche.
"What's the difference?" the surfer defended later, ignoring Someoka's death glare as the striker dug himself out of the pile of snow that washed over him. "It's still water, just that it's frozen."
Someoka looked ready to attack him with Dragon Slayer. Hiroto took that as his cue to start backing away.
Handa, Max and Shishido waved pleasantly as they built their snowman. It was pretty good, admired Hiroto. The snowman was even taller than Shishido.
Nearby, Kabeyama was crouched into a ball as Kurimatsu and Shourin piled snow on him. Sweatdropping at the odd sight, Kidou had to ask.
"Oh, we're making an igloo! The earlier ones kept collapsing, so now we're using Kabeyama as scaffolding!" explained Shourin.
The "scaffold" smiled nervously as his teeth chattered. "I-I-It's getting v-v-very c-cold…" he shivered.
"Kabeyama, stop moving!"
"It's going to collapse!"
"NOOO!"
Hiroto and Kidou were quick to evacuate the area to avoid meeting the same fate as Someoka.
"KIDOU!"
The strategist nearly fell forward and almost had his face smashed into Hiroto's back when his legs were grabbed and hugged. Flailing in a pretty undignified manner to stabilize himself (as Hiroto filmed the whole thing), he looked down to see Ichinose and Domon hiding under his cape.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?" he cried.
"Lend us your cape for a while, will you?" grinned Ichinose.
"Yeah, it's getting cold out here!" Domon shared an identical grin.
"Looks like you're needed Kidou," laughed Hiroto. "I'll be going now. See you later!"
"Hiroto, wait - WAH!" Attempting to follow with the two Unicorn members still hugging his legs, Teikoku's soccer team's former captain had an ungraceful fall and met the snowy ground face first.
Looking though the video footages, Hiroto found that he was still missing a few people, namely Kogure, Fudou and Megane. Hijikata was back in Okinawa with his siblings, Tobitaka was out with Suzume and his gang, Kageno had a family event to attend the whole day and Toramaru and Rika were helping their mothers with the family business during the holiday season.
Thinking back, he remembered last seeing Megane at the snowball fight area. Deciding that was his best bet, he headed back to the battlefield.
"God Hand!" Using the enlarged hand, Endou flung a large snowball at Desarm.
"Gungnir," Epsilon's captain calmly sank into the ground and avoided the shot… which ended up in Midorikawa's face.
"ACK!" Stumbling back from the impact, Gemini Storm's captain fell to the ground.
"Reize! Quit sitting around and doing nothing!" Burn yelled at him.
"Hah! Like you're one to talk. You can't even make a snowball!" Midorikawa shot back, wiping snow from his face.
"Both of you shut up!" shouted Sakuma as he took aim at Touko, who was sticking out her tongue at him.
"Hopeless idiots," muttered Gazel as he fired a shot at Kazemaru. "Northern Impact!"
"Mugen The Hand!" Tachimukai used Grade 5 to form a barrier of hands to shield his team.
"Thanks, Tachimukai!" Kazemaru and Touko threw a barrage of snowballs at the other party, Fubuki did Snow Angel and Gouenji tried fruitlessly to shape a handful of snow into a ball.
"Power Shield!" It was Genda's turn to create a protection for his team, who attacked back just as relentlessly.
Snowballs went flying back and forth as Hiroto filmed the action. Gazel and Fubuki seemed to be in the spotlight as they had an advantage with their type of hissatsu techniques.
As for Burn and Gouenji… let's just say the best description for their situation would be: epic fail. The two were practically standing on dry, barren land where the snow had melted and were unable to even form a snowball. Hiroto couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for them… but only a little. Honestly speaking, it was quite amusing to see the two of them hopeless with snowballs.
Genda and Tachimukai used their goalkeeper hissatsu techniques to create barriers for their team members to hide behind and avoid enemy fire, while Endou, Kazemaru and Touko together with Desarm, Midorikawa and Sakuma threw snowballs at one another. Speaking of which, didn't he come here looking for Megane?
"If you're looking for the wimp, he's in that pile of snow over there."
Hiroto nearly dropped the video camera when Fudou spoke from behind him. Was that guy psychic or something?
"What's he doing there?" Hiroto dared to ask as his eyes landed on the small mountain of snow nearby.
"Crossfire casualty," was the simple answer. Huh, thought Hiroto, did Gouenji and Fubuki attack him with Crossfire or something?
At Genesis's captain's puzzled expression, Fudou sighed and explained further. "No, Gouenji and Fubuki did not attack him with Crossfire. That idiot somehow found himself in between the two teams and was the first to go down in such an ungraceful heap. Tch."
Yep, he's definitely psychic, decided Hiroto as he contemplated whether he should dig Megane out…
Or not.
This meant there was one more person left. Where the heck was Kogure? If Fudou really was psychic, he would -
"Oh, and Kogure went into the house with the girls."
A shiver passed through Hiroto as Fudou walked away, job done.
"We're back!" greeted Endou as he led the group back to the house.
"Did you all have fun?" asked Aki as she and Fuyuka brought them towels to dry off.
"Tch. If fun means burying me in snow, then yeah, those soccer-heads had fun," snapped Fudou, shoving his way in front and snatching a towel off Fuyuka's hands before stalking off.
"Eh heh… About that…" Endou managed a sheepish smile as Genda explained. "We were getting tired of his irritating commentary on the snowball fight. It ended up with us turning all our fire against him and piling him under snow."
"You should have seen him run about trying to dodge the snowballs!" laughed Sakuma, giving Genda a high five.
"I heard that!" came a yell from the toilet.
Everyone had a good chuckle at Fudou's expense as he silently fumed while drying off. "Twelve against one, huh? Whatever happened to fair play with these guys? Tch."
Dinner was delicious. Aki, Otonashi, Natsumi and Fuyuka really outdid themselves this time.
In fact, not only was there a good spread of food, the house was also beautifully decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments. At one corner of the living room, a big Christmas tree had been set up, also beautifully decorated from top to bottom. Presents were neatly lined up and stacked, filling up all the space below the tree.
Several people had to return home for their own family gatherings after dinner. They quickly exchanged gifts with the others before leaving. One of them was Desarm, who had to return to Sun Garden to help Hitomiko manage the other children there. Before he left, however…
"Eh? What?" Hiroto stared at the open palm Desarm stretched out to him.
"Hitomiko-san mentioned something about a missing video camera. She would like it back, if you don't mind."
"Ahaha… Sorry about that. Here," making sure to remove the tape first, Hiroto returned the video camera.
"With the tape please."
"… Dammit."
"Ushishishi! Time for some fun!"
It had been a month since they last saw each other at the FFI. Sitting around in the living room, everyone was catching up with one another as they rested before opening presents. Everyone except…
"Have you guys seen Kogure?" Otonashi asked the boys.
"Eh? I thought he was with the four of you," Hiroto replied, glancing at Fudou.
"No, we haven't seen him all day," Natsumi confirmed. "Did he get lost in the fields?"
"That pipsqueak's probably hiding somewhere waiting to pull a prank on us," Fudou shrugged.
"WHAT?" Everyone stared wide-eyed at him. Based on how accurate he was earlier, Hiroto began to inch towards the door from where he was standing near the Christmas tree.
"Hm?" Fuyuka turned towards the closet door as everyone else started to look around for hidden traps in a heightened state of paranoia.
"I thought I heard something in there…" Moving towards it, she pulled open the door and stuck her head in. "Kogure? Are you in here?"
"EH?"
Looking down, she spotted Kogure squatting down with a remote control in his hands, staring up at her with "Dammit - busted!" eyes.
"What are you -?"
"Ushishishi! Too late!" he snickered, pressing a big red button on the remote control.
Outside in the living room, a loud flapping sound was heard. A large blanket that was covering the ceiling was being pulled through a window by a remote controlled car outside. Everyone looked up at the revealed ceiling… covered entirely in mistletoe.
"EHHH?" Jaws dropped and eyes widened.
"You guys know what you have to do! Ushishishi!" Kogure laughed and pointed at them from the safety of the closet.
Everyone froze, cheeks flushing as they realised what tradition demanded they do at that moment. Looking around (some at their crushes) hesitantly, no one made a move.
Fuyuka smiled, bent down and quickly pecked Kogure on the cheek. His laughter froze into shock while everyone stared at them.
"We found some old mistletoe while cleaning the house," explained Fuyuka. "They didn't look nice enough to be put up, so we left them in here." Pointing up, Kogure's gaze followed her finger to discover that there was a bunch of mistletoe hanging above him as well.
"W-W-WAH!" The prankster turned a deep shade of crimson and dashed out of the closet to hide in the toilet. Fuyuka chuckled and winked at the others. "Payback."
All it took was Fuyuka to make the first move.
Fubuki gave Aphrodi a peck on the cheek. The captain of Zeus Junior High's soccer team looked stunned for a moment, but grinned back at him.
Touko hesitantly stole a glance at Tsunami. Noticing her gaze, Tsunami turned to look at her. The moment he did so, he found her lips on his. He kissed back.
Approaching Natsumi and Aki from opposite ends of the couch, Gouenji and Ichinose swooped in for a quick kiss on their lips before pulling away. The two girls blushed furiously. "Those two are all grown up…" teased Domon, wiping a fake tear from his eyes as he watched his childhood friends' kiss.
Gazel and Midorikawa looked ready to bolt, but had their shoulders grabbed before they could even move. Shoved against the wall by Burn and Hiroto, they were promptly kissed hard on the lips. They did not struggle for long, melting into the kiss within seconds.
Sakuma was literally cornered. His head swivelled left and right, searching for an escape route when Genda pounced on him and smashed his lips against his. He wasn't complaining afterwards though.
Sitting on the rug, Otonashi was at a loss for words as she surveyed the situation. Feeling someone tap her back, she turned around and found herself face to face with Fudou. Gently lifting her chin up with two fingers, he smiled shyly and pressed his lips against hers as she blushed, eyes wide. Interestingly, she did not push him away.
Meanwhile, Tachimukai was struggling to hold Kidou back from tearing Fudou to pieces. "Domon, help!"
"Fudou, you - MMPH!" With one hand holding on to Kidou's cape, Tachimukai had the other one free to cover Kidou's mouth before he said anything less-than-polite during this festive season.
"Now now Kidou, you don't want Santa to hear you spewing profanities during Christmas, do you?" joked Domon.
"Domon, please! I can't hold him for much longer!"
"You've got Mugen The Hand, don't you? Use it!"
From where they were sitting against the Christmas tree, Endou and Kazemaru laughed at their friends' antics. The latter looked at his companion when he felt him leaning against his shoulder. Meeting his gaze, Endou smiled softly and claimed Kazemaru's lips with his own. The midfielder did not hesitate to kiss back with more passion.
The presents remained under the tree for the next hour or so, forgotten.
"... Are you sure we should be doing this?" asked Desarm, looking up at Hitomiko's face.
"As their coach -" she began.
"Ex-coach, actually," interrupted Hibiki.
"- I believe we have the authority to know what's going on in the team in order to effectively understand them and in turn, train them properly."
Desarm, Hibiki and Kudou gave her incredulous looks at the double meaning in her words.
"If you're here, then who's looking after the other children in Sun Garden?" Kudou was eager to change the subject.
"No need to worry about them. Ulvida's in charge, making sure they stay out of trouble. Besides, don't you want to collect some blackmail material on them for all the times they tried to disobey your orders?"
Pausing, Kudou closed his eyes in contemplation before turning away to walk back to his car. "Remember to send me a copy when you're finished."
Hibiki sighed while Hitomiko grinned devilishly. "I should get back to the shop. Tobitaka and his gang should be arriving anytime now." Waving to the two left, Hibiki departed with Kudou.
"Right then. Looks like things won't be changing anytime soon. Let's sneak in and get ourselves a hot drink. We've been out here for almost an hour."
"Yes, Hitomiko-san."
As they made their way into the kitchen, they left a recording video camera on a tri-pod stand outside the house, directly in front of the living room window.
A/N: Have a good and restful holiday. Merry Christmas.