Note: It's an old fic written for Secret Santa 2016 event and published on AO3, that I decided to upload here as well. Beta by Cara1317.
Enjoy! :)
College wasn't as hard as Satori thought it would be when he was still in the high school. Sure, the learning material was much harder, but he had quite an easy schedule with one, max two, lectures every day from Monday to Thursday. And he had all Fridays free, thank goodness for a longer weekend!
The friends he had were also fine. Satori lived in a room with Kuroo Tetsurou and Hanamaki Takahiro. While he didn't know the former one at all, he recognized the latter from the matches against Aoba Jousai. However, it didn't have much influence on their relationship. Even though the beginnings had been rather cool indeed, the relationship soon bloomed like a well-cared-for flower - or rather, in the case of them two, like a weed (for example, on the first day, they hadn't wanted to have anything in common, a dorm room being no exception). Eventually, though, the trio became close friends.
Satori's social circle kept on growing, because Hanamaki was sometimes visited by his boyfriend, Matsukawa, who also got along with Satori (again, the mere beginning hadn't been very… warm, but later they - as they liked to call it - "fell in friendship at first meme"). Kuroo, too, was sometimes visited by intriguing personas, such as Bokuto or Kenma. For a change, Satori easily connected with Kenma via games and the unstoppable joy of pissing Kuroo off.
It didn't mean, though, that the boy had cut off contact with high school friends, oh no. He still texted Wakatoshi, Reon, and Hayato (if that boy hadn't lost his phone). Once or twice he would pop into Shiratorizawa for their training in order to play with the younger teammates, even though it wasn't the same without the rest of his colleagues.
So what else Satori could be missing, when college (though sometimes tedious) gave him more fun than you'd expect, and great people were around him? The answer was simple, one very important element: his boyfriend, Eita.
The long-distance relationship was not easy. Fortunately, friends helped him bear the longing, and Kuroo and Hanamaki assured him privacy when the couple talked on Skype. They wouldn't stop teasing him, but Satori could forgive them for that. In the end, he would do the same if they were in the same situation. Most importantly, Satori owed a debt of gratitude to Eita's roommate, Sugawara. Why?
Here you have to go back in time to the beginning of the school year. Well, maybe the second month of learning. Satori, panicking a little bit, had been working on an essay which was due the next day. He only had the beginning, and already felt his brain changing into some sticky goo, like those alien guts in this one film that he, Hanamaki and Kuroo dissed joyfully. It wasn't an absolute shock, since it was already midnight, and not everyone (as Kuroo, that luckster) can still learn at night. And you can say, "Well, he should've started much earlier. So this is what it looks like, when you do everything at the last minute!" - but Satori had had much more important things to do. Like reading manga, or watching Naruto, and then Neon Genesis Evangelion again. Besides, the one amongst you that has never procrastinated, may you cast the first stone!
Satori already was about to do something stupid, like mixing the strongest energy drink on the market with coffee and then drinking the deadly mix at once, in one gulp, when his phone vibrated. It vibrated again, and Satori broke away from the troublesome project with relief. He immediately felt better when he noticed that the message was from his boyfriend, but what he saw made him forget about the essay for a moment. On the smartphone screen (it was good that he recently managed to upgrade to a better one, now he could look at this marvel in higher resolution) was a picture of Eita. He slept peacefully with a book on his chest, his relaxed face and slightly open mouth looking so innocent... Even the stray lock on his forehead looked perfect. Underneath the photograph was a message.
hey it's Eita's buddy! he fell asleep at the school. i thought you might like it ;)
That was the beginning of Satori's friendship with Suga. Another pro (apart from the photos) was the fact that he could talk with Sugawara about manga.
But back to the point - the studies were cool, but the longing, even though sometimes less burdensome, was simply unbearable for the vast majority of the time. Therefore, Satori was overjoyed when Eita mentioned that his uncle had a ski resort and had invited both Eita and Satori for a few days. The time until winter break was dragging on relentlessly, but once it arrived...
To begin with, it was not just any ski resort, but a five star one, where you could go and not even spend a minute skiing or snowboarding - that was how many attractions there were. Apart from the fact that the resort towered over the small town (adjusted, thanks to the tremendous neighbor, to only be a tourist attraction), where there would be plenty of places to spend money, the resort itself was something to be proud of. The most attractive place was the swimming pool, or rather, a small aqua park, powered with hot water from natural springs. Besides a few slides, time could also be spent in the jacuzzis, saunas, or spa located in the building next door.
However, Eita and Satori didn't plan to spend the day in any of those places. The boys had a room with a view of the ski lift and it was enough of motivation for them to go outside. They went out on the same day they arrived at the resort, even though it was already late afternoon. After dinner with Eita's uncle and a short rest after the trip, they rented skis and a snowboard. They fell a few times, because they had to learn how to navigate properly, but it only took about half an hour before they figured it out.
Riding the lift up to the top of the slope, they had the opportunity to enjoy the view. The area was full of people, even tiny children enjoyed the charms of winter. When you looked beyond the mapped trail, you could admire the snow glittering in the sun, sparkling merrily on the green branches of conifers like glitter or a fairy's magical dust. Skiing in this environment would be absolutely charming, no?
Well, sure enough, Eita and Satori didn't take the time to contemplate nature's beauty.
"Last one down buys the dinner!" called Satori at the top of the slope, and, without waiting for any response, he darted down.
Surprised, Eita stared for a few seconds at the spot where his boyfriend had just stood, and felt himself growing irritated. However, the feeling was quickly replaced by vengeful satisfaction when he noticed Satori approaching a small hill on the slope. His momentum made and lack of balance meant that he flew up and plopped back down in the snow with all the grace of a sack full of potatoes. Fortunately, he wasn't wounded - apart from his pride.
Eita, careful not to gain too much speed, skied down to where Satori lay. Without stopping, he smirked and zoomed past.
"I feel like Italian tonight!"
Satori wasted no time, but he had no chance of catching up to Eita. What could he do in order to congratulate the winner as a mature, responsible student? Ski the last bit at full speed and push Eita into a snowbank, of course!
Eita responded by rubbing handfuls of snow into his boyfriend's face. Satori pushed Eita deeper into the snow, getting snow down his collar. This wrestling lasted for quite a while, and during this scuffle, their skis and board slipped off their boots. It made matters easier, until Satori changed his strategy by pressing his mouth to Eita's. He returned the kiss, and they probably would've kept kissing if Eita hadn't remembered that they were in a public place. Not only did they realize the presence of other people, but that they were still lying in the snow, and with all the time and energy spent outside, it was pretty cold!
The sun was slowly descending, so they brushed the snow off themselves and headed back to the lift for one more ski down the slope. This time, they didn't race (or at least the competition was not as fierce). They glided slowly, widely, from one edge of the slope to to the other, until…
Eita stopped abruptly, and Satori crashed into his back, sending them tumbling into a pile on the snow.
"Are you OK?" Satori asked when Eita didn't say anything. Not a biting remark for Satori to snark back at, nor a slightly amused one, or even a concerned one.
"Yeah," Eita mumbled. "Just… look." The tone of his voice was soft, pensive and full of awe.
And indeed, the view was breathtaking.
The setting sun painted the sky scarlet, orange, and warm gold, and the beams of light scattered in the scarce clouds, decorating them pink and yellow. The white splashes of snow, lying on the rocks of the nearby mountains, glittered silver. The verdancy of trees was dimmed a bit, embracing more and more shadows, taking on the colors of the brown ground, as if it was slinking away shyly, trying to expose the pastel sky.
Eita wasn't only admiring the landscape. Glancing sideways at Satori, he could not decide which view was more beautiful. Cheeks red from the cold and the earlier fight, Satori's face was more handsome when the light shone this way, emphasizing his cheekbones and dimples (dimples! And his smile only too charming, have mercy!). Warm rays in his red hair made it look really red, scarlet, which only emphasized his shiny eyes.
Eita couldn't hold back a smile.
Satori looked at him tenderly. Pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket, he yanked his glove off with his teeth and tapped at the screen. When it loaded, he turned on the camera's selfie mode. He shuffled closer to Eita and embraced him. Before Eita could react (because damn, Satori with the setting sun in the background was seriously one nice view), the photo had already been taken. Satori began to click the camera again, but this time Eita rolled his eyes and picked himself up from the ground.
"Facebook?" he asked.
"Mm," Satori murmured in response.
"And Instagram?"
"Maybe."
"Let's go back to the room, it's getting cold."
They returned to the hotel holding hands (and jostling each other on the sidewalk, which evolved into a jostling war, resulting in both of them lying on the pavement. It happens). In their room, Eita immediately turned on the TV and grabbed a blanket from the bed, wrapping himself in a tight cocoon. Only his face was visible.
"You're such a cute burrito," Satori said, grabbing the TV remote. Eita looked at him in such a way that, if looks could kill, his boyfriend's soul would be halfway to hell. But the boy in question, unaware of the glare's power (or rudely ignoring it), stayed alive and changed the channel without any second thoughts.
"Go back to that one," Eita muttered.
Satori ignored him with childish joy and changed the channel once again. He flipped from a comedy to some hockey game to an anime, then to a show about cooking.
"Sure, that's okay," Eita allowed graciously. Satori's response was lightning fast, changing the channel again. He played around like this for a few more minutes, then returned to that one Eita liked at the beginning.
"Want some hot chocolate?" he asked, putting the remote back on the table.
"Yeah, that'd be nice," smiled Eita.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Satori said, almost crooning, and left the room. In fact, he was back so quickly that Eita didn't even warm up well under the blanket.
"Miss me?" Satori chirped with a huge grin, closing the door with his foot. He had both hands full.
"Oh yes. A lot," Eita replied without any emotion in his voice. But he smiled with gratitude when he received from the steaming drink from his boyfriend. It was very good. Or at least so it seemed like it would've been, because the drink was so hot, that Satori might as well have brought it from the deepest circles of hell, not the cafeteria. In short, the temperature burned his tongue right away.
But when Satori sat down heavily next to him on the couch, sipping his hot chocolate slowly, Eita noticed that his partner was a little absent.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked him.
"From the buffet you can see a small town or something like that... A fair is happening there, it looks interesting." Satori looked at him expectantly.
No. Eita didn't want to go outside into that cold at all. He had barely managed to warm himself up with the blanket and the hot chocolate, there was no way he was leaving this small heaven. Nope.
"Please?" Satori tried his hardest to look pitiful like Puss in Boots.
Oh shoot, maybe…?
"No," Eita said, a little less forcefully than he intended, looking back at the TV. Damn it, his boyfriend had the sad kitty look mastered almost to perfection. If he looked at him for even one second longer, he would totally give in.
"I know you don't want to go out, but you never know, it might be fun!" Satori said casually, leaning over and laying on top of Eita.
Eita felt Satori's body heat even through the blanket, and had very mixed feelings. On one hand, it was disturbing (is it normal - healthy - for someone to be so hot?), and on the other hand, it was pleasant, which in itself could, however, qualify as both a plus and a problem. The advantage was obvious: it gave him a sense of security, even though the closeness made Eita's heart beat faster, flutter like a hummingbird's wings. The problem was that Eita would much rather prefer to spend the evening in their room, clinging to his personal heater, while his boyfriend had other plans. Eita heard this hidden, almost childlike excitement, and he didn't want to disappoint Satori.
At this moment, Satori cried out, "Semisemi!" and dramatically swooned in Eita's lap, like a fainting maiden from the eighteenth century.
"Oh god, I'm gonna spill it," Eita warned, balancing the mug so he wouldn't spill the still hot drink. It wobbled, but only half the cup was left, so none of the liquid escaped its confinement.
"Wow, no need to call me a god. 'Love of my life' is enough," said Satori carelessly with a disarming smile, not really caring about the already averted danger.
"'My late ex' is equally good, don't you think?" bit back Eita in irritation (after all, he could've spilled the chocolate and burned that idiot, really…), but with a delicate smile, still.
"You wound me," Satori clucked, putting his hand on his heart.
"You're gonna live through it somehow. And I'm not going anywhere."
"Oh, please, pretty please. Eita~!"
Eita just had to acquiesce to the sound of his name from Satori's mouth, and this boy, this cocky asshole, knew perfectly that he would.
"I loathe you!" he moaned. Satori knew it meant that he won. He rose rapidly from his boyfriend's lap.
"That's false. You love me." Satori smiled, broadly and victoriously.
"Oh, shut up," Eita murmured, blushing. He grabbed a nearby cushion and threw it at Satori's face. "Gimme a few minutes to finish my drink."
"Sure!"
Moments later, Eita tucked a scarf around his neck carefully and slid the ends under his jacket, zipping it up all the way. Satori did not pay such attention to his outfit, not even putting on ear muffs or gloves, although it was decidedly colder after the sun went down.
They hadn't had any opportunity to visit the town, before, but now, in the warm light of its lanterns, it looked quite charming. The place was either old or stylized as such, because all buildings were made of wood. Roofs were covered by the thick layer of snow. Many of the buildings were bars or restaurants, and you could hear loud laughter and the buzz of conversation coming from them. As soon as someone left the premises, the open door oozed pleasant warmth. But it wasn't only pubs that were in the town. One could find a souvenir stalls, from which figures of famous people waved cheerfully, racks hung with earmuffs or caps with funny inscriptions, often with gloves to complete, and on others shone all kinds of key chains, badges and tags in the light of the lanterns. There were also stalls aimed at children. Dolls and figurines of superheroes looked out from them, lightsabers blinked, balloons swayed in the gentle wind…
The atmosphere, however, was mainly created by the people. Again and again, laughter resounded, a soothing hubbub filled the entire square. No one was in any hurry, but if anything, the children were, wanting to bring their parents to the stand as soon as possible to see the toys. Here and there you could see couples in love, holding hands or standing close to warm up. Satori and Eita were included in this first group.
They walked around the square in half an hour, but spent more than twice that time at one of the stalls, trying on the fluorescent colored bands with different themes, such as devil horns, a halo, Mickey Mouse ears, or a bow and crown. They also bought more hot chocolate and coffee. At one point, they wondered whether or not to go back to the room, although neither of them was in a special hurry. Eita did not want to admit it, but he actually liked the atmosphere of the fair, and in the end, Satori did not care where he was, as long as he was with Eita. Then Satori noticed a crowd of people in the distance, maybe a hundred or two meters from the square.
"Come on, let's see what this is," he said, and before Eita had time to react, he was already being pulled along by his boyfriend.
It turned out to be a skating rink. By then, it was already dark and bulky headlights were used to light up the place, but there was a strange feeling, as if they were at a skating competition.
They leaned against the railing and watched the people. The ice rink was quite big, so it was not crowded, despite the considerable number of people on it.
Satori glanced sideways at Eita and noted with a smile the excitement with which the boy's eyes lit up. Satori knew skating was one of Eita's hobbies, a third love after him and volleyball (although Eita often argued that it was the second one, because Satori was not even in the top five. But Satori knew the truth).
"Do you want to skate?" he asked, leaning towards his boyfriend. Eita smiled broadly at the question, but hesitated.
"We can come back here tomorrow, but we had better go back now so you won't get ill," he said. Satori did not expect that kind of an answer.
"I'll be alright." He waved his hand dismissively in response. "I know you want to~"
They both knew it was true, but for Eita, the health of his boyfriend was more important than his own whims. Besides, Satori was unbearable when he was sick, always behaving as if he was about to die.
"I don't feel like skating today," he said, grabbing Satori's hand and pulling him toward the hotel. However, he met resistance, because Satori did not want Eita to sacrifice himself for him.
"Well, I feel like learning!" he said. "To be precise, you're going to teach me."
Eita felt annoyed at Satori's tone, and how he said it as if it was a fact, as usual, trying to determine the state of affairs. As if the boy was clairvoyant and saw it in a vision. And the worst part was that he perhaps seriously was a clairvoyant, because Eita for some reason acquiesced. Or maybe it was black magic.
"Can you even skate?" he asked with a sigh, pulling the boy in another direction. He didn't let go of his hands, even for a moment, because he realized that they were ice cold, and he could not let Satori wander around with his palms cold like that. Besides, that way he eliminated the possibility that, after returning to the room, Satori, with a sadistic satisfaction, would put his ice cube hands under Eita's shirt or on his neck. This way, he could kill two birds with one stone.
By the way, he didn't know why he yielded. It definitely was black magic.
But he does not miss the joy that flashes in Satori's eyes when they head for the entrance to the rink.
"Not even remotely," Satori replied with disarming honesty.
They rented skates. The first problem came about after entering to the ice, because Satori could not even stand up and fell down immediately. Eita, of course, helped him to his feet. After he had stopped laughing, that is.
Eita patiently explained to Satori what he should do to glide and not fall over, gave tips, and watched intently as his boyfriend fought for his honor at the rail, while he himself swirled about, doing pirouettes on the ice.
After exactly ten falls, Satori finally learned to stand - and even without holding the barrier or Eita! Worse was the actual skating itself, because the poor thing fell down after making it to at most half the length of the rink. Well, the fact that Eita was busy with something else wasn't without any significance to Satori's skating issues, because as far as the problem went, it was not that the boy did not devote his attention properly - he was indulging in his passion as much as possible. Eita's face was a little more flushed, not from the cold, but from his happiness, which was possible to tell because his eyes shone like two stars in the night sky, and a subtle smile expressed more than a thousand words of admiration (Mona Lisa can stuff herself!). Satori could not remain indifferent to such a view, and his knees felt weak.
"Come on, you loser." Eita finally took pity on him, still smiling, and offered his hand to help Satori up.
"Maybe I'm a loser, but I'm your loser," noted Satori.
"Well, come on then, loser of mine," Eita corrected himself.
When his boyfriend stood on the ice more evenly, he pulled him along. He had to go backwards to do this, so he kept looking over his shoulder every few moments in order to not skate into the railing or other skaters. He also tried to maintain a roughly equal distance from the rails, about a meter, so that it was too far for Satori to catch the barrier, and yet close enough to make their lap as wide as possible. In short, Eita had a few things to control, so he didn't see how fondly Satori looked at him.
Satori felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest. Eita was still smiling that gentle smile, and as the rush of the air and a gentle wind ruffled his hair, the spotlight fell on him like in all those shoujos, when the main character sees her lover for the first time and immediately falls in love, or in those moments when she realizes that it is no longer infatuation, but truly love, and just… goddamn.
"I really do love you..." Satori mumbled unconsciously.
Eita glanced at him briefly (thus making Satori have even faster palpitations) and asked, "Did you say something?"
But before Satori had a chance to answer, they were on the ground, or rather, Satori was on the ice, and Eita flat on top of him. Right next to them, a kid rose to his feet, who apparently had tried to pass them but hadn't fit in the space between the pair and the barrier. He did not even apologize, only went on his own way.
"Oh, you fell for me," Satori joked, grinning and waggling his eyebrows.
"Satori, we're dating," Eita reminded him.
"I know. And it's awesome."
Eita stood up and helped his boyfriend to his feet.
"So what did you say?" asked Eita again.
Satori didn't exactly know what to say. The academic year began shortly after they started going out with each other. They were at the stage of awkward "I like you very much" back then. Sure, they professed their love, but only through text messages. Once it happened during a call, but it still did not change the fact that they had never said it face-to-face.
"I said I love…" - at this point, Satori chickened out - "...ice skating! You know, I've been doing it since only for a while and I still have to work on it…"
"Yeah, you suck at it," Eita laughed.
"But I really like it," finished Satori, ignoring his boyfriend's comment.
"I'm glad you like it," Eita said. "Love you too," he added, looping back to continue controlling the way.
Satori could not believe his ears. "What?"
"I said," Eita replied with an amused smile, looking him straight in the eye, "I love it too. Skating, I mean."
He said it, however with such a prominent smile and in such a way that Satori felt confident that he hadn't misheard that first sentence. He smiled widely at his boyfriend and allowed himself to be pulled further on the ice.
They did a few more laps before returning to the hotel. They didn't hurry, however, because they had plenty of time. It was only the first day of their stay here, after all.
What a pity it was that Satori, in the end, fell ill.
"I love skating," Satori reminded his boyfriend with a stupid grin, immediately pulling his sleeve to his face right before booming out a loud sneeze. Eita just rolled his eyes and began wondering how long Satori will keep up the joke. Although, this one did not particularly disturb him.
"I love it too," he said shortly, carefully swaddling his boyfriend in a blanket. He could not, despite himself, stop a gentle smile.
The moral? Clothe yourselves warmly in the winter, my dears!