To: Satsuki [16:22]
hey. thanks

From: Satsuki [16:28]
Oh! What a nice surprise! It'd be nicer if I knew why you were thanking me though?

To: Satsuki [17:12]
my secret santa present

From: Satsuki [17:15]
It's sweet that you'd actually thank me, but I wasn't your Secret Santa this year.

To: Satsuki [17:16]
? you're the only one it could've been

From: Satsuki [17:16]
 Not necessarily~

To: Satsuki [17:17]
 who the hell else would know about this

To: Satsuki [17:17]
 you told whoever it was

From: Satsuki [17:17]
 Good job~ Your Santa asked for an idea and I thought it would be perfect!

To: Satsuki [17:20]
 so who was it

From: Satsuki [17:21]
 I can't tell you! That's the point of *Secret* Santa!

To: Satsuki [17:22]
 jfc we already traded presents. what's it matter now? tell me

From: Satsuki [17:22]
 Nope! Figure it out yourself~

To: Satsuki [17:22]
 gdi Satsuki just tell me

From: Satsuki [17:23]
 Merry Christmas, Dai-chan!

Aomine threw his phone to the side since Satsuki had decided not to be any help. He'd finally gotten his present-a vintage gaming system he'd had as a kid and spent many of his sick days playing-hooked up to his TV and working. An assortment of compatible games were spread out around him as he tried to figure out what he wanted to play first.

Even after high school, the Generation of Miracles and a few others who'd come to be closely tied to them had kept in touch. Most had ended up in or around Tokyo, so they'd made it something of a tradition to meet up for dinner together during the week either just before or just after Christmas. It hadn't taken long for someone to suggest that they start doing Secret Santa gift exchanges, and rules had been set in place to make sure that things actually stayed secret. Each year it seemed like a new rule was added to keep the anonymity of the whole thing. Aomine actually thought it had gotten a little out of hand, but he was always overruled when he tried to voice his opinion.

All of the gifts had to be wrapped in plain brown shipping paper and had to be wrapped at a gift shop. It was always obvious who wrapped what when they'd done it themselves. They all knew each other's handwriting, so handwritten tags were out. Labels with the recipient's name had in a basic font had to be printed off and taped to the top of the box. And since they went to the same restaurant every year, they'd even gotten the staff in on it. Everyone left their gifts up front with the host or hostess who would then distribute the presents as everyone left.

After all of that, it was still sometimes clear who'd bought what. Which is exactly why Aomine had been sure that Satsuki had been his Secret Santa that year. Literally nobody else knew he'd had this system as a kid, and they certainly didn't know his favorite games. He'd been trying to track one down for a while, but each one that he found was crazy expensive and was usually missing the connection cords or only had one controller (usually damaged) or had any other number of things wrong with it.

Finally deciding on a 16-bit basketball game he'd been pretty good at once upon a time, Aomine blew into the cartridge and grinned at the nostalgia of it all. He'd try to pester Satsuki into telling him who his Santa was later. Right now, he had a game to play.

"Pardon the intrusion," Kise sang as he closed the door to Aomine's apartment behind him and toed off his shoes. He quickly followed Aomine into the living room, smiling happily as he asked, "So how was your Christmas, Aominecchi?"

"Same old, same old," Aomine answered as he stretched and flopped down on his couch. "Went and saw my parents until Satsuki dragged me over to see her family. What about you?"

"I went home and got to see my sister's baby!" Kise lit up at the memory as he pulled out his phone and began scrolling back through his pictures. "Look, look! He was so chubby and soft. Look at those round cheeks," he cooed as he pushed his phone towards Aomine. "Mom said he looks just like I did when I was a baby. I wonder if he'll grow up to look like me too."

Aomine snorted at the thought as he mumbled, "Poor kid."

"Don't be rude!" Kise cried as he shoved at Aomine's shoulder and his friend laughed. "We haven't seen each other since our Christmas dinner with everyone and this is how you treat me?" It was true though. Between Kise's modeling and Aomine's practice schedule, they didn't have many free days where they could hang out.

Sitting up a little from where Kise had pushed him, Aomine said, "That reminds me. Do you know who your Secret Santa was?"

"Hm?" Kise hummed as he thought back to the gift he'd received. "I don't know for sure, but I think it was Kurokocchi. Why?"

"Shit. Doesn't really help me. I already knew Tetsu wasn't mine." Aomine sighed. "I'm still trying to figure out who my Santa was. I was sure it was Satsuki, but she swears it wasn't her. Just said she gave whoever it was the idea."

Kise perked up at the topic and tried to keep his excitement to an appropriate level as he asked, "So what'd you get, Aominecchi?"

Aomine grinned as he stood and walked over to the cabinet stand beneath his TV. It didn't take him long to pull out the gaming console and get everything plugged up. Flipping his TV over to the appropriate setting, he grabbed an extra controller before looking back at Kise and asking, "Wanna play?"

"Sure!" Kise grabbed a couple of pillows from the couch before he made himself comfortable in the floor. "So this is what you got? Seems kinda old."

"Shut up," Aomine grumped as he sifted through his box of games for something two-player. "It's vintage and just like the one I had as a kid. I'm also about to kick your ass at Mario."

Kise watched Aomine blow into the game cartridge with the biggest grin he'd seen on his friend in a while. "So you like it even though it's old?"

"Hell yeah," Aomine said as though that should have been obvious. Like, why wouldn't he enjoy this?

"And you don't know who gave it to you?"

"Nope, and Satsuki refused to tell me." Aomine went about selecting the two-player option and then grabbed Mario for himself. "I know it wasn't cheap or easy to track it down, especially with all these games. And whoever it was would have to be comfortable enough to ask Satsuki what to get me." He paused at he waited for Kise to select his character before they started the first level. "Best guess I have right now is Akashi. Maybe."

"Hmm, maybe," Kise agreed in a calm voice. He wanted to tell Aomine so badly it almost hurt. He wanted to tell him that he was the one who'd called Momocchi for the perfect idea. He was the one who'd spent weeks tracking down everything for the perfect gift. He was the one who wanted to make Aomine smile like this. He was the one who loved him this much, cared this much.

But he kept quiet instead.

Kise wasn't sure if it was nerves or just outright cowardice, but he couldn't tell Aomine yet. He couldn't tell one of his best friends that he'd been in love with him since they were just kids. Because things were good as they were right now. They hung out on their off days and things were simple and easy. Aomine smiled at him-smug as it usually was-and there wasn't any awkwardness or tension.

So as much as Kise wanted break the rules and blurt out that he was quite possibly the best Secret Santa ever, he bit his tongue instead. He didn't want to risk things changing. Not yet. Maybe one day, but for now he was okay with just lying in Aomine's floor as his friend made fun of his hand-eye coordination with the old video game.

He'd make extra sure to thank Momocchi later though, for the gift idea and for keeping his secret for the time being.