What do they do after a hard day at work?

...

They stood side by side outside the Tokyo Stadium, their mittened hands clasped and their breath fogging out in front of them. It was getting late, and colder, but Sena merely huddled closer to Shin's larger, warmer frame when he shivered. Gratifyingly, Shin wrapped his heavy arm around Sena's shoulders to tuck him as close as possible despite their thick, fluffy layers of winter coats.

"Tomorrow. We made it," Sena whispered, voice trembling with excitement, eyes glowing. Shin nodded, a small quirk to the side of his mouth.

"We'll face each other on the field again."

"The first time in years. I can't believe we managed to beat Saikyoudai again! I mean, Enma. I'm not surprised Oujou managed it. You guys are pretty amazing this year," Sena complimented, glancing up from under his tuft of bangs and woolen hat to search out Shin's gaze.

Shin did look down, that quirk of his lips growing a bit more. "Enma has done well. You deserve this, too."

Sena blushed and pressed his tingling nose and cheeks to the chilly outer layer of Shin's winter coat. "Ffanks," he mumbled, voice muffled by coat.

Silence descended again and cars whizzed past, churning the icy slush on the roads.

"Hey, Seijuuro?"

"Hn?"

"Today… a year ago… do you remember?" Sena asked hesitantly, ears burning under his hat.

"I'm surprised you remember," was the simple reply. Sena squawked and pushed just far enough away to scowl up at Shin.

Who was looking down at him with those amused eyes that had Sena huffing and looking away.

"I remember things. Besides, I left for America just a couple days later. Of course I remembered," Sena retorted, fighting the pout that was making its way onto his face.

"Ah, of course. I remembered because it was the first time someone told me they wanted to hold my hand," he reached down to squeeze his hand around Sena's again, "and wanted to spend time with me, just because I am me."

Sena's heart thudded painfully, but that happy, good kind of pain.

"Yeah?" he whispered, the toe of his sneaker crunching in the snow.

"It was the first time I've ever wanted to kiss someone."

Blood boiled under his skin as his tongue flickered over his bottom, winter-chapped lip. "It was my first kiss, too."

"You misunderstand me."

Sena glanced up, head tilted. Shin stared across the road, the streetlamp over their heads casting his features in shadow, burnishing his skin gold.

"You're the first person I ever wanted to kiss. Those things you wanted with me, I'd never wanted those things. Hearing you want them from me made me think about them for the first time. It was like my eyes were suddenly opened and I wanted," Shin explained slowly but unashamedly.

"Oh," Sena breathed. It felt as though his stomach and heart had met somewhere in his throat and it was suddenly hard to swallow.

"You've always managed to push me into greater, better things."

Sena grinned even as his nose burned. Shin had just said that wanting to kiss Sena, wanting to hold his hand, was a 'greater, better thing' and it made his heart sing. "Yeah, me too, Seijuuro." He cleared his throat of the mushy, silly quality it had gained. "And now look at us! We're gonna play in the Rice Bowl tomorrow. The Rice Bowl. I won't go easy on you, either."

Shin's dark gaze met his, warm and challenging. "I won't, either. I'd never dishonor your skills that way."

"Good. So… before we're enemies on the field, good luck tomorrow. Do your best."

"Good luck. I expect only the best from you."

Sena laughed easily and brightly even as anticipation had his whole body thrumming. His very favorite memories were of facing Shin on the field. It was good to know that it didn't change with their relationship. It made it more fun, in a way. There was an edge and thrill.

"If I kick your team's ass tomorrow, you still gonna kiss me congratulations?" Sena blurted, immediately blushing with shocked wide eyes.

Shin dropped his head, hiding his mouth behind the bright scarlet Enma scarf (gift of Sena) as his shoulders shook. There was a strange huffing, scoffing sort of sound and Sena gasped.

"You're laughing! You're laughing, I can hear it!"

Shin pressed his gloved-clad fist over to the scarf as his shoulders shook harder.

"Hey! Don't hide it! I wanna see! Seijuuro!" Sena exclaimed, tugging at Shin's shoulder as he ducked closer.

He could just make out the scarlet hue of his ears and cheeks. Before he managed to pull Shin's hand away, the taller linebacker turned, cupped Sena's face in both hands, and pressed their mouths together. Sena's protests muffled and died away as he gave in. At least he could feel the smile against his and taste the huffs of laughter. Twilight bruised the sky purple and blue and the streetlight stained the snow gold. And Sena kissed Shin a full year after his desperate, hopeless confession.

It was just as breathtaking and perfect as that first kiss had been.

…

The final buzzer sounded and his helmet fell to the gridiron. He lifted his sweaty, flushed face to the biting winter chill. Snow was falling again. He could feel it dust his steaming skin and melt, slipping like tears down his cheeks.

It was just snow. Snow burning hot on his feverish face.

An arm wrapped around his shoulders, a face pressed to his shoulder pads. Another gloved hand cupped the back of his sweaty neck, squeezing enough to give silent comfort.

"N-Next year," stammered a voice that had never stammered before.

"We'll beat them next year," choked out the other.

Sena grinned, teeth baring in a parody of the word, as more and more snow melted and slipped down his skin.

"Yeah," he agreed. He finally opened his eyes, blinking away the blurry film. "We did great."

"We almost had those assholes," Riku grated out, rubbing his face with his wrist.

"They- they just got lucky max," Monta sniffled as tears streamed down his face and snot froze under his nose.

Sena and Riku chuckled wetly at Monta's mess of a face. His arm dropped away from Sena's shoulders as he grumbled and tried to swipe his nose clean.

"FLAMES! HUDDLE UP!" bellowed Unsui's cracked voice over Kurita's wild sobs.

The three freshman jogged towards the team. Some had faces screwed up to hold back tears, some were openly sobbing, and a few more were sulking and angry. But they all came together, arms overlapping arms to clasp shoulders.

"We did our best and we did g-great! Next year, we'll go all the way through, b-but this year, we made it here. To the Rice Bowl, which is farther than Enma could've dreamed just a couple years ago. We'll meet up for winter practice to make sure we destroy the spring tournament!"

"YEAH!" the team roared back, forcing optimistic bright grins on their faces.

"Now, line up and show them that they won this time, but our pride is undefeated!"

"YEAH!" They straightened up, slapping backs and one-arm-hugging, a few knocking helmets together.

On the field, Enma lined up and faced their conquerors. Oujou Silver Knights. Across from him, Sena met Shin's gaze. His lifted his lips into a weak shaky smile just before the bow. When they stood again, he slowly mouthed the words 'congrats', and followed his team off the field. Shin watched him go, mouth scowling but eyes proud.

Sena made sure to take his time in the locker rooms. He kept quiet as his teammates badmouthed the Knights, the usual defeated bitterness talking. The oddest feeling in the world was the feeling of overwhelming disappointment warring with delighted pride. As much as it sucked, it still felt satisfying. He knew he'd played his best. He'd given it his all and had his own in-game victories. And really, they had been barely more than a field-goal away from winning. Even one more minute could've tipped the scales in their favor.

But having a boyfriend on the opposing team was not something he wanted to wave in his teammates' faces right now. So he let them all go ahead, even waving Riku and Monta to continue on without him.

"We're all heading out to a bar to drink the sorrow away. You're not going to join in, are you?" Riku asked as Sena dried his hair.

Sena shook his head. "Putting alcohol in a bunch of upset, angry footballers and waving the big 'my boyfriend just smacked half of you into the ground and stole your trophy' flag is not the best idea."

Monta snorted and tugged his beanie over his head. "Makes 'em a bunch of max stupid sore losers. You were one of our highest scorers."

"Yeah, but they'll forget that if they get sulky enough," Riku pointed out. "You're not going to go party with fucking Oujou?"

"Nah, I'm not really up for that, either. I'm happy he's happy, and I know we played our hardest, but we still lost. Not really in the party mood."

"…we could do something, just us three?" Monta suggested with a pensive frown.

Sena smiled and exhaled quietly. "You guys don't have to do that."

"Nah, but we wanna." Monta thumbed at his nose and grinned.

"Text us when Shin goes to watch his team party. We'll come drag you into trouble," Riku joked.

"Sounds good. I'll see you guys later!"

"Yeah, yeah! Don't go changin' your mind and celebratin' with the enemy, ya hear!?"

Sena shook his head and laughed. The door swung shut behind them and he turned to finish pulling on his layers. It was still warm in the locker room, especially with the last of the steam rolling in from the showers, but it wouldn't be for long. The door swished open while he was pulling a thick, cable-knit Christmas sweater over his head. Still, he turned toward the noise, inquiring noise muffled by yarn. With a hard yank, the sweater popped over his ears and Shin was standing in front of him.

"I was gonna come find you," Sena told him with a lopsided grin.

Shin frowned slightly. "My teammates are…"

"Excited? Really loudly excited?" Sena filled in with a knowing smirk. Shin nodded once. "I figured. I still would've come to congratulate you. You deserve it. You… all of you played really well."

"Thank you," Shin murmured softly, one bare hand cupping Sena's face. His thumb smoothed over the thin skin just below Sena's eye. He wondered if it was still swollen or red from his not-crying of earlier.

"I'm fine. Well, it sucks, but I'm fine. I've lost games before," Sena said firmly, mostly convincing himself rather than Shin.

"Fine enough to kiss me congratulations?" Shin asked.

Sena blinked, remembering his surprising words of the night before. He huffed out a laugh that sounded almost like a sob.

"Please. I think that'll make it a little more bearable," Sena admitted in a thick voice.

Oh boy, did Shin kiss. Both arms wrapped around Sena's waist, lifting him right off his feet. Quickly and unconsciously, the slighter of the two threw his arms around Shin's neck, fingers digging into the thick muscle of Shin's shoulders. The cool, smooth plane of the locker braced Sena's back, and in a fit of brilliance, he lifted up his weary legs to hook them around Shin's hips. This kiss didn't start out chaste and heat up, it started out hot. Mouths slanted and tongue smoothing over Sena's bottom lip. Surprised but eagerly along for the ride, Sena parted his lips easily. They were actually loud, almost obscene, breathless groans passed back and forth and teeth catching on swelling lips. An outright whimper escaped Sena, back arching and hips pressing forward, when Shin caught his tongue between his teeth and sucked just shy of painfully. Hands dug into Sena's waist, almost brushing through the thick layers of wool and cotton. Sena's fingertips scrabbled over the thick layers of jacket and the heels of his socked feet bumped the back of Shin's thighs, pushing him closer. Just that slight friction and pressure on the front of his jeans had his eyes rolling back even as Shin pulled away, leaving them both gasping and mouths shiny. He didn't go far, though, as he dragged his damp mouth down Sena's throat. His teeth hovered over the wildly beating pulse there, until Sena broke and arched his neck under Shin's mouth, head thudding against the lockers. Stars bloomed behind his eyelids, because of the locker or the feeling of teeth and suction working over his pulse point, who would know. He was panting heavily when Shin's mouth pulled away, leaving the skin there feeling damp and tight. The heavy, hot puffs of breath over the mark that had surely been left behind had shivers running down Sena's spine.

"Wh-What w-was that?" Sena stuttered, eyes half-lidded and voice octaves lower than usual.

"Congratulations."

Sena burst into laughter, sounding drunk and unhinged. He knocked their foreheads together lightly. "That's my line."

"I meant," Shin stopped to clear his throat. He did sound pretty raspy, which had something like smugness blooming in Sena's chest. "I meant that was my congratulations."

His hands smoothed down Sena's sides, brushing over the denim of his pants and the curve of his ass, before cupping the undersides of his thighs.

"Oh," Sena grinned and combed his fingers through damp, silky hair. He must've forgotten to put his hat on. Which was a good thing (for now) as Shin's eyes slid shut, a low hum vibrating in his chest. Like a giant friggin' cat. Sena grinned wider and scratched his nails over Shin's scalp. "I like congratulating you. Maybe… one more time?"

"Might not be a good idea," Shin rumbled, brows contracting.

Sena sighed, but dragged his hands through Shin's hair once more. "Do you need to go meet your teammates?"

"Yes." He sounded more annoyed than excited.

"They're going drinking, aren't they?"

"It is their favorite recreational activity."

"And you're going to sit their scowling in a corner until you feel like your team obligations are fulfilled," Sena scoffed. Shin cracked open an eye with a disgruntled frown. It looked almost like a pout. If Shin's face could do that.

"I enjoy spending time with my teammates."

"I know you do!" Sena exclaimed, legs tightening around Shin's waist as he pulled himself closer. He didn't even think to doubt Shin's strength in holding him up. "But you don't enjoy it all the time. That's okay, you know, but at least try to celebrate with them."

"You want me to get drunk."

"That's not what I said. I said, celebrate. Go out of your way to talk to them and scowl a little less. You don't need to get drunk with them to have fun with them," Sena pointed out seriously.

Shin sighed. "You're better at that."

"I am not coming. I'm going to go drown my sorrows in karaoke or something with Riku-kun and Monta-kun. Then, I'll text you good night. But I am not going to be your social buffer tonight."

Shin nodded in understanding, though he didn't look happy about it. He also didn't let Sena put his feet back down.

"Uh. Seijuuro."

He squirmed a little, feet bouncing in the air awkwardly as he blushed. Shin blinked, then pressed Sena back into the locker.

"Uh…"

"Not yet."

"Eh?"

Oh. Sena would've smiled, but his mouth was too occupied.

...

A/N: No, I didn't write out the game, cuz no. But, literally, I tried to write like, three different chapters until I wrote this one. Which I started at, like, 11 pm and finally managed to post at around 3 am. Right now. Fuck diss noise y'all. I'm actually kinda happy with this pointless fluff, though. The next chapter things actually happen and relationship actually progresses. It shall be exciting!