A White Christmas.

And for the first time in his long eighteen years, Kiyoshi Teppei finally celebrates Christmas with the person he likes the most.

In all honesty, one Hyuuga Junpei shouldn't have been too surprised when a sudden statement was made by their new small forward. And yet it surprised him nonetheless. The shooting guard thought that he knew everything about the odd airheaded guy in his class, but well, the universe (more specifically, Ogiwara) had just proved him wrong.

It all began from a very simple question, courtesy of their coach. The question was so ordinary and Hyuuga really paid it no heed. It was until Ogiwara said the shocking statement did Hyuuga's focus was forcefully drawn into the kid's words.

"I dunno about Teppei-nii, though. He'd never celebrated Christmas before, the Kiyoshi family- or Baa-chan and Jii-chan, don't really do that sort of thing."

Now don't get him wrong. Hyuuga had always have this perception of Kiyoshi that the guy loved spending his holidays sitting on the front porch while drinking hot green tea and chewing on brown-sugar candy like an old man that he was. But it never crossed his mind to ask if Kiyoshi had ever celebrated Christmas before, never did, never will...

Until the shocking statement that on his eighteen long years, Kiyoshi had never ever celebrated Christmas.

It was weird. How does one survive a year without Christmas anyway? Hyuuga himself was the type to always buy commemorative trees complete with lights and accessories. Well, it was a given that the barbershop would need to be decorated, but his mom and dad had always been festive during Christmas and it eventually led him to assume that everyone else also celebrated Christmas.

Needless to say, he was rather shocked at the new revelation that Kiyoshi had never celebrate Christmas.

Hyuuga took a deep breath, trying to contain his shock into a manageable level before he clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at the usual public display of affection in practice that Ogiwara seemed to always do. "Do you celebrate Christmas, Ogiwara?" He asked as he crossed his hands on top of his chest.

The raven-haired teen grinned happily as he seemed to recall a fond memory. "Of course I do! I always celebrate Christmas with the Kurokos!" He said as he hugged Kuroko closer to him and put his cheek on top of Kuroko's baby blue hair. Damn kouhais, he knew that it was starting to get cold, but that didn't justify the fact that Kuroko was sitting on Ogiwara's lap, panting silently after their doubled training menu.

"So... the Kiyoshi family don't celebrate Christmas?"

"Yeah, but my Dad's family does. Though since Mom's family didn't really adapt to the western tradition, the Kiyoshi family never celebrate Christmas, not at all." Ogiwara sighed. "Since Teppei-nii lives with Baa-chan and Jii-chan, I think he doesn't even know the concept of Christmas. Why don't you ask him for yourself, Hyuuga-senpai?"

And that was what he was going to do.

20/12/2014 8:00PM

To: Kiyoshi

From: Hyuuga

Subject: Oi

What are you doing for Christmas?

20/12/2014 8:05PM

To: Hyuuga

From: Kiyoshi

Subject: Re: Oi

Christmas? Is that the 25th? Nothing really, haha

P.S: How do you know I have a cell phone?

After a particularly long training session on December 22nd, the team had finally managed to convince the Coach that they actually needed a holiday to celebrate Christmas. Ogiwara, Kagami, Fukuda, Izuki, and Koganei had been the most adamant about the matter, saying things like they needed to buy presents for their family members.

The Coach agreed, though with exchange of tripled training menu on 22nd and they would immediately resume their training on 26th. Hyuuga was grateful for it too, though. The barbershop really needed some decoration and he had been too busy with basketball to actually decorate the place and his folks were getting on to him, telling him to decorate the place already.

So here he was, alone in a department store. Under normal circumstances, he would have asked the Coach or Izuki or others to come and accompany him during his errands, but everybody was somehow busy on their long-awaited day off.

Hyuuga walked around in the mall, still waiting for the long line of people wishing to buy Christmas trees to get shorter. On the corner of his eyes, he caught a very familiar face amongst the apron section.

"Oi! Koganei!" He called out loud, startling the small forward out of his reverie. His teammate then waved cheerfully towards Hyuuga and beckoned him to come closer. "What are you doing here?" Hyuuga asked first.

A really rare tender smile rose on Koganei's normally-grinning lips. "I'm picking out a Christmas present for Mitobe." He said, his voice sounding slightly softer when he mentioned their Center's name. "I think his apron got busted when one of his younger brothers spilled some paints during their Easter egg hunt. So I'm buying him a new one."

"Why would you buy him a new one?"

An uncharacteristic blush appeared on Koganei's cheeks before he grinned his usual grin. "You won't understand, Hyuuga. So how about you? Are you here to buy gifts too?"

"Sort of. I need to buy a Christmas tree for my family shop."

Koganei hummed a confirmation before finally picking out a simplistic white apron with a cat on its chest, seemingly satisfied. "Yep, this one! I'm going to go ahead with my present then!" He then ran away to the cashier's direction. "Don't forget to pick up a present for-" then he was gone.

Hyuuga narrowed his eyes at Koganei's words, but then shook his head and decided to walk around again. The department store was really crowded and he could hear Jingle Bells and Christmas is Coming blaring across the building. His feet took him to the food section, as if to remind him that he was hungry and his parents had asked him to buy groceries while he was at it.

"I think Alex would love to have meat on Christmas." His head immediately turned at the sound of a familiar voice speaking in perfectly fluent English. "Hmm, that's nice. But I think she would want to taste Japanese taste rather than eating something she could have back home." Another voice chimed eloquently.

Hyuuga then walked to the general direction of the two returnees before Kagami took a notice of him and greeted him with a rather rude call of 'it's Senpai!' before adding a hurried 'desu' behind his sentence. Himuro Tatsuya of Yosen bowed slightly to him, greeting him although they were on the same year.

"What are you doing here, Kagami?" A faint blush appeared on Kagami's face as he looked towards Himuro, and averted his eyes away from the ace of Yosen. The more graceful of two then smiled warmly towards Hyuuga. "We're buying groceries for our Christmas party, I'll be staying over in Taiga's apartment along with Alex."

"Y-yeah," Kagami agreed with a sheepish smile. "What are you doing here, Senpai?" He asked in return. "Just running errands for my folks." Hyuuga answered simply. Himuro then furrowed his eyebrows and touched his chin. "I thought you are getting a Christmas present for Kiyoshi-san?"

"Hah?"

"Whoa! Tatsuya, look at the time!" Kagami looked at his watch with a surprise written all over his face. "It's getting late, isn't it? The cake shop would close if we take too long. Have a nice day, Hyuuga-san." Kagami bowed hurriedly before running to the cashier's direction. Weird...

Hyuuga glanced at his wristwatch. It was 4 PM, the line should be shorter now. He went to the Christmas section (only opened on December) and stood on the relatively short line of buyers. He let his mind wandered as he stood in line, waiting.

His mind took him back to Ogiwara's statement. It still confused him that some people don't celebrate Christmas. His family wasn't a Christian family, but they celebrate Christmas anyways. So... did that mean nobody ever gave Kiyoshi a Christmas present before...?

He had his body on autopilot as he made the tree purchase and he heard absently when the clerk said that the tree would be delivered to his house along with the decorations tomorrow. Hyuuga then walked away from the Christmas section.

He stopped in front of the Gift Shop, eyeing various people who were buying a gift or having their gifts wrapped, probably for their loved ones. He himself stopped in front of a basketball-patterned photo frame.

"Maybe I should buy a gift for that idiot..." He muttered lowly to himself.

"Which idiot are you talking about, Senpai?" A low monotonous voice asked him with a familiar lack of emotion. Hyuuga jumped to the side. "Oi Kuroko! Don't startle me like that!"

His youngest kouhai stood next to him, his eyes blinking up curiously at Hyuuga's own. The older male pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and shook his head. "It's nobody. What do you have there?" Kuroko was hugging a rather small black-colored gift box with a baby blue ribbon tied over it. "It's a Christmas present." He deadpanned, as monotonous as ever. But Hyuuga could pick up the small trace of lingering affection there.

"For Ogiwara?" Hyuuga asked with a smirk. A hue of pink colored Kuroko's cheeks, but his face remained expressionless. "Yes, it is..." he answered softly.

"What did you get him?"

"I got him a new wristband, since his old one is already worn out."

But wasn't Ogiwara overly territorial with his wristband? He remembered seeing him rejecting (in a very roundabout way) a new wristband from Furihata and the others, stating that he loved his old black wristband. A black wristband that he got from- oh.

Hyuuga sighed. "You guys are seriously idiots." He said as he ruffled Kuroko's hair.

The captain of Seirin then returned his attention to the abundance of gifts in front of him. "Say, Kuroko, what do you think I should give for a friend of mine?" Especially, you know, if the guy had never celebrated Christmas before...

"Does this friend of yours ever experience a Christmas before?"

Well crap. Kuroko was insanely smart on this kind of things, wasn't he? Blood rushed to Hyuuga's cheeks as he involuntarily spluttered a hasty 'not really'.

Kuroko smiled a knowing smile. "I think this would be the best gift..."

24/12/2014 10:14PM

To: Kiyoshi

From: Hyuuga

You're not doing anything tomorrow, right? Help me out in the shop.

24/12/2013 10:15PM

To: Hyuuga

From: Kiyoshi

Yep, not really doing anything tomorrow. Where to meet?

24/12/2013 10:35PM

To: Kiyoshi

From: Hyuuga

In front of the station on 3 PM. Thanks

24/12/2014 10:37PM

To: Hyuuga

From: Kiyoshi

Sure, no problem ^^

Contrary to the popular belief, Kiyoshi Teppei was not airheaded like people think he was.

Sure, he was easygoing, but he could pick things up if he wanted to. Especially when concerning himself, he was sure that he could notice things faster. Like his own feelings, for example.

He's not vocal about it, though. He only kept quiet and planned things within his head as always. Although his long-time partner Hyuuga Junpei was always the sheer anomaly.

Kiyoshi was sure of his own attraction towards the shooting guard of their team, he even asked cousin Ogiwara, the only person he knew to engage in a romantic relationship with another man. And he was absolutely sure. But Kiyoshi could never be sure with Hyuuga himself. After their moment in his hospital room, Kiyoshi thought Hyuuga definitely had feelings for him. But after his return to the team, there were no apparent change with Hyuuga's attitude towards him.

It was weird.

So today, he was rather glad to know that Hyuuga had called him out. Maybe this time he could get real clearance of his feelings, or maybe he had to pick up the signs from Hyuuga. But Kiyoshi didn't really care. He was genuinely happy to hang out with Hyuuga today, and that was it.

He got to their meeting place a few minutes earlier than the appointed time, so he relaxed a bit and leaned back to the pole clock behind him, hiding behind the mufflers he had worn to keep the cold out. He hummed an old song the old man on the hospital taught him as he watched the people around him.

There was a boy with a relatively dressy casual clothes. He was looking at his wristwatch for quite some time until a girl with short skirt and thigh-high socks ran to him in a hurry. "Ryuu-kun! I'm sorry! Have you been waiting long?" She spelled out in a breathy voice. The boy shook her head and smiled to her kindly. "No, Hime-chan, I haven't been waiting long. Shall we go? The movie's about to start." A smile crept up on his face as the boy grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her along with him. Aaah~ couples on a date.

Suddenly, he could feel a touch on his shoulder. "Sorry, Kiyoshi, been waiting long?" Hyuuga said calmly, but Kiyoshi could notice the small pants of breaths his teammate was sporting. Kiyoshi shook his head and grinned his usual grin. "Nah, I just got here! Shall we go to your shop?" The center asked with a smile.

Hyuuga fell silent for a few seconds before he shook his head and grabbed his hand. "Let's go, there's a place I want to go to first." Hyuuga didn't look at him as he dragged him on. Kiyoshi yelped a little, but eventually adjusted to Hyuuga's hurried footsteps.

And he smiled to himself. The whole thing was starting to look like a date.

They didn't go anywhere, they just walked around, enjoying the scenery with various Christmas lights. Kiyoshi usually spend this day on his house, lounging around under his kotatsu while he listened to Jii-chan's war stories. But today had been somehow... more colorful.

The town was beautiful, that was for sure. Lights coiling around a huge pine tree in a beautifully shaped patterns, the carols of people across the street, the delicious smell of turkey, and Kiyoshi's favorite, a fluffy bearded old man dressed in red-and-white clothes handing out presents to children. It was a new experience to him, after all, he was born in a very traditional Japanese family.

He looked like he was having fun all on his own, though, but Hyuuga would throw a snide remark once or twice before resuming that strangely satisfied smile of his. It was like he was having more fun than Kiyoshi. It was weird.

When the sky began to darken, they both sat on a bench just outside a department store and watched as the lights started to glow in abundance of colorful colors. Kiyoshi's eyes sparkled as his heart fluttered in excitement. It was- it was-

"Beautiful, huh?" Hyuuga chimed casually as he had his hands within his pockets. Kiyoshi smiled as he leaned back to the bench. "Yeah."

His fingers traveled a little to meet a hand Hyuuga had let out a few minutes ago, but before they could find one another, Hyuuga smiled and stood up.

"C'mon, I have one more place I want to go."

It was a quiet place, unlike the other places Hyuuga had shown him before.

It reminded him of his usual 25th December, unlike the beauty of bustling crowds and festive euphoria down below. They were on a lovely hill with some simple Christmas lights coiling around the trees, gleaming their colors quietly. Both males leaned on the railing, a hot coffee warm on their hands from a convenience store they went to earlier.

The hill directly overlooked the infamous Teikou Middle School, home of the legendary Generation of Miracles and Kuroko, and it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Hyuuga didn't say anything, he would sip his coffee once or twice before exhaling loudly. He looked as calm as the quiet hill around them.

Kiyoshi did the same, admiring the quietness, afraid of breaking its fragility. They both spent minutes in a very comfortable silence.

Suddenly, Kiyoshi could see small flakes of white falling from the night sky. It fell so gracefully, silently, and it was a really beautiful sight to see the white snow falling to the arrays of color underneath them.

As Kiyoshi stared at the beautiful scenery with an excited smile, he could feel a warm hand slipping into his own gloveless one. Surprised, he immediately turned to Hyuuga, who was pouting a really embarrassed pout with a hue of red scattered across his cheeks. Kiyoshi laughed.

"Is this what people do on, um, Christmas?" Just a few hours before, Kiyoshi had thought that Christmas was just another way of telling people that it's the 25th day of December. But after Hyuuga showed him the joy and wonder of Christmas, that word seemed to mean more than just a passing wind.

Hyuuga casted a look down to his knees before lightly shaking his head. "What? Holding hands under the falling snow on 25th of December? Of course not, idiot." Hyuuga jabbed, but it lacked his usual ferocity. It was replaced by a soft chiding tone Kiyoshi's stomach seemed to do flip-flops for. The shooting guard faced him properly for the first time since his return to the team.

Hyuuga looked... adorable.

He kept his hair short, as expected of the barber's son, his slightly tanned skin looked like it was glowing when he tried to hide that blush of his. His dark green eyes didn't look to Kiyoshi's brown, but he knew that Hyuuga would try and steal glance whenever he thought he was blinking.

"I don't know what to buy you for Christmas present." Hyuuga admitted as he sighed to himself. "So I asked Kuroko what would be a good present for someone who never celebrates Christmas before. He told me to show you the wonders of Christmas in cities before taking you to watch it all from a quiet high place. And then..." Hyuuga's face turned even redder as his words died down on his throat.

Kiyoshi threw away his coffee and grabbed Hyuuga's other hand in his own, making the shorter male drop his own coffee, before kissing Hyuuga square on his lips.

He didn't hold it for long. He didn't want to take advantage of the fact that Hyuuga was caught off guard, after all. Soon after their short kiss, Kiyoshi looked him straight in the eyes and put on the expression he had on when he told Hanamiya that he came here to protect his teammates. "Hyuuga," Kiyoshi called, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "Do you like me?"

Hyuuga tensed as he mumbled a few incoherent words under his breath. "What?" Kiyoshi asked almost dumbly, but then Hyuuga- typical Hyuuga- yelled to him. "Why would I want to give you a White Christmas if I don't like you, idiot?!" He spoke quickly, but Kiyoshi caught it just fine. Hyuuga was panting, probably nervous.

Kiyoshi's heart too, was beating hard within his chest. He laughed out all of his nervousness before smiling a smile he always did whenever he was with Hyuuga. "White Christmas? What's that?"

Hyuuga turned away from him and faced the town again, still with the same embarrassed smile across his face. "It's when snow fell during Christmas Eve, Kuroko said it was the most romantic thing you could ever present to someone." He mumbled the 'Kuroko' part under his breath, but Kiyoshi still caught it just fine.

The center then hugged the shorter captain from behind, putting his cold fingers on top of Hyuuga's warm coat. "Merry Christmas? Haha." He offered, not sure if it was the correct term. Hyuuga faced him and pecked his lips in a more cheeky movement. "I'm sure you didn't even know that term until a few hours ago. Merry Christmas, Kiyoshi."

After a long eighteen years in Kiyoshi Teppei's life, he finally got to celebrate Christmas with the person he liked the most.

Omake:

"And, oh, here's your Christmas present." Hyuuga threw him a basketball-patterned paper bag. "Huh? I thought you didn't manage to buy me one?" Hyuuga had that bashful look again as he threw his face away from Kiyoshi's. "I didn't manage to buy you one, but I managed to make you one."

On the new years' first shrine visit with his family, Kiyoshi received a really loud catcalls from Ogiwara for wearing handmade dark green mittens.

Omake 2:

"I knew they'd end up together!" Ogiwara called as he watched both his seniors with a binocular on his hands. The basketball court near Teikou had been the last stop of his date with Kuroko, after all. Kuroko looked as blank as ever, but Ogiwara could see hints of pride on his face. "Of course they will, that was the plan I made on the sixth grade, after all."

"I'm the one who did the plan, though."

"We loved each other. It was just a matter of time. By the way, Merry Christmas, Ogiwara-kun."

A smile, a hug, and a kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Kuroko."