Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"You're late."

Kobato jumped, nearly slipping in her snow-covered boots. She turned, still clutching the coat she had been about to hang up, a retort on her tongue. She could only have been a minute late at the most! She was surprised to find Fujimoto's back towards her as he swept the room. So, instead, she slowly turned back to the coat rack and hung her own next to her colleague's. "Sorry."

The boy sighed and spun around, already (slightly) remorseful about the way he had treated her. It was a holiday, after all. He blinked when he finally saw her. "You're covered in snow," he said, sounding a little confused.

She chewed on her lip. Snow was clinging to her in clumps all over, especially in her incredibly long hair, and it wasn't very pleasant. "Um… well, it is snowing outside," she offered, repressing the urge to shiver due to her damp and freezing clothes.

"Not that hard," he argued. He stepped closer and bent at the waist, one hand on his hips and the other holding the broom, to get a better look. Then he straightened, scowling at her. "You slipped and fell in the snow, didn't you?"

Kobato's face heated up and she bowed her head to hide it. "… Yes," she replied miserably.

What the hell was wrong with this girl? "The roads have been plowed for a while now, and most of the sidewalks have been shoveled," he stated, figuring he was going to have to force the explanation out of her.

"I know, but I was already running behind, and there's a shortcut through the park…" She clenched her teeth to keep herself from chattering. "Ioryogi-san was really mad because he'd gotten all snowy," she added softly.

"The dog? You shouldn't be bringing it out with you anymore, not in this weather. It'll get ruined, idiot. And what kind of dumba—"

"He'll get ruined?" she shrieked, grabbing the blue stuffed toy from her bag and examining it. From what Fujimoto could see, it was drenched. "Oh no! Fujimoto-kun, what should I do?" she pleaded, just about on the brink of tears.

Sighing, he snatched the toy from her. Cursing Sayaka for having other plans for the first part of the day and leaving him to deal with this crap, he stomped towards the bathroom, Kobato fretting after him. Once there, he yanked open the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a blow dryer. He ordered Kobato to plug it in without electrocuting herself before he placed the toy on the counter and shot hot air at it.

"P-please h-hang onnn, Iory-yogi-sannn," she stuttered determinedly.

At first, he was going to ask why the hell she had developed a speech impediment all of a sudden. That was before he saw her shivering. Damn it. How could he not have noticed how cold she was? Grunting, he grabbed a towel from the rack and tossed it in her general direction. "Dry yourself off. Knowing you, you'll wind up catching pneumonia or something." He purposefully kept his eyes on the stupid toy as he spoke and only glanced at her after he had finished.

That was a big mistake. She was doing that thing again; smiling like he'd given her the world instead of a scratchy old towel. Why did she have to make every little act of kindness towards her such a big deal? After all she did crap (way more crazy crap at that) like that all the time. Should it be such a surprise that people would be nice to her? He felt his cheeks heating up, so he responded in the way that came naturally to him. "Well? Go to the playroom, start a fire in the fireplace, and start drying yourself off."

"R-Right!" She spun around and raced out so quickly she clipped her shoulder on the doorframe, which nearly caused her to lose her balance and fall.

Fujimoto realized he'd made a grave mistake. "Never mind, I'll start the fire once I'm out! Don't touch a thing!"

Ioryogi officially hated New Years.

Well, technically it was New Years Eve. But that didn't change the fact that nothing about the holiday was good news.

It was still early in the day, and he'd been through hell. He'd been having pleasant dreams about the baumkuchen he would surely receive as a present when Dobato had woken with a start and flung him into the opposite wall. Then she'd been so worried about getting to Yomogi on time that she'd hardly apologized about it. The klutz, being in such a rush, just had to go through the park and ended up falling on her face. Of course he scolded her; she didn't even bother to check if the bottle was fine or not! Luckily enough for her, he'd been smart enough to grab it and cushion it's fall. Meanwhile, he was soaking wet and cold. And she was going to leave him like that. Which was perfect. Just perfect.

At least there was one sane person in the human world. Sure, that Fujimoto guy was a jerk, but at least he was smart enough to know that you don't leave a plush toy dripping with snow. He was nearly dry by now, though he was certainly enjoying being treated well for once.

There was another reason he wasn't so pleased with the holiday (though it was a great excuse to drink). The start of the new year meant that they were running out of time

But Dobato would always be Dobato, and therefore would ruin any moment of happiness he would ever experience.

"Fujimoto-kun," she called from another room. Along with her voice came the sounds of drawers opening and closing. "Where do we keep the matches?" Ioryogi saw the other guy's face pale suddenly. "Oh, wait… Never mind, I found them!"

"What the—I told you not to touch anything, damn it!" Fujimoto pulled the blow dryer's plug from the socket hastily and grabbed Ioryogi like he was any old children's plaything before he dashed from the room.

Yeah, this New Years was going to suck.

Chapter Text

"I'm sorry!" Kobato wailed for the tenth time. She clutched the towel draped around her shoulders and watched as Fujimoto stoked the fire that he had started. She couldn't see his face, but she could only imagine that he was still terribly angry with her. It seemed that she always messed up and Fujimoto always had to clean it up afterwards. He'd been so nice as to help Ioryogi-san, and all she did was make more trouble for him.

At last, Fujimoto put the poker away and sat down on the floor next to her. Feeling horribly awkward and guilty, she twiddled her thumbs. "Thank you… for saving Ioryogi-san."

He grunted in reply, and then he stared at her for a minute. "Why do you keep that thing on you all the time, anyway?" he finally asked.

"Huh?" That was a weird question to ask. She knew she couldn't really tell him anything about Ioryogi talking (she'd already been yelled at earlier for saying that he had scolded her). "Ioryogi-san's been with me since I can remember," she said at last. It was the truth, since she really couldn't remember anything before meeting Ioryogi. "He's always looking out for me and trying to help me. He's… very important to me."

She was certain Fujimoto must have thought she was crazy or something. She waited for him to laugh at her or call her stupid for caring so much about a supposed stuffed animal. He didn't do any of that, though. He simply shrugged before pushing himself up. "Grab some window cleaner. We can't slack off all day; Yomogi will open to the students again the day after tomorrow," he ordered.

"Right!" she said enthusiastically. Even if he didn't understand it, it seemed he wasn't going to make fun of her about something that was obviously so important to her. Fujimoto was full of surprises.

"Wow," Kobato said, pausing in her work to look through the glass to the outside. "It was just flurrying earlier. Now the snow is coming down really hard."

Ioryogi hardly heard her. The conversation she and Fujimoto had was still playing through his mind. So he was important to her, huh? It was almost hard hearing those words. She had the same face, but the meaning behind her words was so completely different.

In the beginning, things seemed like they were going to be fine. Sure, Hanato Kobato was a little dimwitted and clumsy, but she was ready to try her best to get her wish granted—and that meant that his angel would be saved as well. Everything was going to work out. If it meant acting as Kobato's babysitter, it was worth it.

And then he had entered the picture.

Fujimoto Kiyokazu was the problem. It was because of him that Kobato now wanted to help Yomogi Kindergarten more than heal the hearts of various troubled people. Her main priority had changed from getting her wish granted to making the jerk happy. The old Iorogi would have removed the problem by now.

The thing was… he was Ioryogi now.

He couldn't get rid of Fujimoto in any way. It would hurt Kobato too much. He could hardly bring himself to scold her much about not being focused on collecting konpeito nowadays. Their time was only getting shorter, but her wish was changing. He had little hope that they would make it in time.

Which meant that both Kobato and his angel….

He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to do anymore. All he could do was reassure Kobato that whatever she wanted to do was fine by him. His happiness was with his angel and keeping her alive. His angel's happiness was with keeping Kobato alive. Kobato's happiness was simply being with Fujimoto.

"Kobato," he said suddenly. She still had been staring out at the snow, and jumped a little when he called her name. She looked down at him in her bag and smiled. "Yes, Ioryogi-san?"

"You're important to me, too."

How could he choose between the happiness of the two people he valued most?

"Yeah, I understand," Fujimoto said into the receiver. "It's been snowing pretty heavily for a while now. Don't worry about it. We'll be fine. … Alright, stay warm." He hung up and ran his hand through his hair. For the last couple of hours the snow had really started falling. According to the news, there was an impressive snowstorm over and all around them. Drivers were being warned to stay off the roads and people advised to stay indoors. Sayaka had still been considering coming to Yomogi, but he had talked her out of it. It wasn't worth it for her to risk her safety just to prepare the kindergarten for when the kids came back. He and Kobato had done most of the cleaning and preparations already, anyway.

He sighed and dropped his arm to his side. It wasn't just that Sayaka couldn't come; they couldn't leave either. If he had to, he could probably make it to Chitose's apartment building without turning into an icicle. But there was no way he was going to let Kobato out there. There were already quite a few feet of snow and the temperature had dropped drastically from this morning. She'd slipped in the dusting they had gotten earlier; she'd kill herself in this crap.

When he went to find the klutz, he saw her smiling at her bag (what the hell…?) in front of a window she had apparently been cleaning. As she heard him step into the room, she spun around and gave him an ecstatic smile. "Fujimoto-kun, look how much it snowed!"

He nodded. "Yeah. The news is advising people to stay inside. The storm won't be over until tomorrow."

"Oh…" she said thoughtfully, considering what he had said. "I'll have to tell Chitose-san when I get back."

She was such an idiot. "You're not going back. It's too dangerous out there, especially for you. And you'd either freeze to death or burn the place down if I left you here alone. We'll both stay here tonight."

"Huh?"

"You heard. I'll start supper. Finish the cleaning." Without another word, he turned on his heel and left for the kitchen. He really didn't feel like going through the awkwardness that was sure to ensue right now.

A few minutes later, he had finished preparing everything (he had to thank Sayaka later for thinking far enough ahead to include quality foods in the Kindergarten in case of an emergency). Then he heard Kobato yell from the other room, "Fujimoto-kun, will we be able to see the sunrise?"

His eyebrows knit together. "What?" he called back.

Her head popped into view in the open doorway. "I read a book where people made a wish on the sunrise of the New Year. Will we be able to see it, Fujimoto-kun?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. I doubt you'll be able to stay awake that long."

She jumped into full view, her cheeks puffed out and her fists clenched in front of her. "I will too! I really want to see the sunrise!"

"What's so important about the sunrise?" he asked, shaking his head. She was such a child.

When she didn't answer right away, he turned toward her to see if something had happened. She was just standing there, staring at him. Fujimoto blinked.

"There's something… I want to wish for."

Chapter Text

“… Aren’t you going to eat?”

Fujimoto was already more than halfway through his serving. Kobato, on the other hand, hadn’t touched her food or her drink.

She smiled sadly (how often had he seen her do that…?) and shook her head. “I’m going to go put it in the fridge for later,” she said quietly as she stood, grabbing her plate and cup. He stared after her as she retreated into the kitchen.

What was the matter with girls today? Apparently, they couldn’t eat in front of anybody without feeling self-conscious or something, he guessed. When she didn’t come back, he finished his supper and took his dirty dishes to the kitchen. He half-expected to find her trapped in the refrigerator or something that only that idiot would be able to do. On the contrary, she wasn’t even in the kitchen. Confused and secretly a little worried, he hurried to clean his dishes before going out the opposite way he came in.

There she was, just sitting in front of the fire in the playroom with a blanket over her legs. Without flailing about and tripping over herself, she looked a lot more mature. It was… weird. It almost seemed like it wasn’t her—just a stranger with the same face. There was only one thing he was sure of.

He didn’t like it.

Which meant that he was going to have to do something to change it.

Crap.

“Oi…” he said rather uncomfortably as he approached her. She didn’t turn, which was strange. Was she avoiding him? In the firelight, he saw something glimmer on the brim of her hat. “You’ve still got that snowy hat on? No wonder you’re still cold.” He put a hand on it, ready to tear it away from her head. “I’ll hang it up near the entrance.”

She shrieked and reached for the edges of the hat as he started to pull it away. She pulled it down with all her strength, trying to keep it on. “Don’t, Fujimoto-kun!”

What the hell? “You’ll get sick if you keep it on.” He gave it another tug.

It almost slipped out of her fingers, but she caught it again and pulled it back down. “S-Stop it! … I have really bad bed head! A-And dandruff! Please, Fujimoto-kun…!” she asked desperately.

His hand didn’t leave her hat as he walked to the front of her. “Listen, I won’t judge you for any of that stuff. But it’s unhealthy to keep this thing on your head.” She was hiding her face, so he knelt down. He breathed a long sigh. “Look, I’ll take my glasses off so I can’t see your dandruff, okay?”

Kobato shook her head. “T-Thank you, Fujimoto-kun. Really. But I…” She looked up at him with watery eyes. “I need to keep the hat on.”

After a minute, he finally removed his hand and settled beside her, gazing into the fireplace. “Fine, but I hope that dog can take care of you when your snotting everywhere.”

He made sure to pretend like he hadn’t noticed when Kobato wiped the tears from her eyes. For whatever reason, girls hated it when they had that pointed out to them. “Thank you for understanding.”

“I don’t understand,” he said abruptly. “And I don’t think you’re going to explain it, either, are you?” She went back to staring at her lap. No, damn it, he was not going to feel guilty… “So, I’m just adding it to the list of things that you’re going to have to explain eventually.”

That caught her attention. “A list?”

He nodded. “Yup. There’s a big long list, like why you’re so clumsy, where you come from, why you’re so naïve… and how you’re so freaking happy all the time.”

She stared at him. After what seemed like hours, she smiled. “There’s a list for you too, Fujimoto-kun.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yup. Like, why you’re so grumpy—”

“I’m not grumpy.”

“—and why you hate kittens—”

“Wha—I don’t hate kittens!”

“—and why you always pick on me—”

“That one I thought was obvious.”

“—and why you push yourself so hard to help people.”

He opened his mouth to protest some ridiculous grievance again, but it soon snapped closed. He felt the blood rush to his face. “Look, it’s not really like that.”

“And I’m not really happy all the time,” she countered, her cheerfulness ebbing away. She turned to face the fireplace again and brought her knees to her chest. “Fujimoto-kun, is it wrong to smile when you don’t want to?”

She was really asking the wrong person. He hardly ever smiled. “Uh, well… I guess it’s not good just to mope about something, but it’s not really great to just act like everything’s okay when it isn’t…” he answered vaguely, hoping she’d drop the subject quickly.

“Alright…” She didn’t seem too satisfied with his answer.

It wasn’t much longer before they set up sleeping areas, seeing as neither of them could seem to hold a lighthearted conversation for very long. They grabbed two of the futons and some blankets and pillows and set them up in the playroom. Feeling awkward but unsure of what else to say, they simply told each other goodnight before settling again into silence.

“Oi.” He shook her, but she didn’t stir. He rolled his eyes, but continued to shake her shoulder. “C’mon, wake up.”

Groggily, she blinked her eyes open. “Fujimoto-kun…? What time is it?”

He shrugged. To be honest, he really didn’t want to know. He was an early bird, but even this was too early for him. “Do you want to see the sunrise or not?”

It took her a moment to comprehend what he had said. Once it finally sunk in though, her entire face broke out into a grin. “That’s right! Oh, thank you, I had nearly forgotten!” She reached for her bag, presumably to grab that stupid plush toy.

He sighed and sat back down on his own futon. Well, he could have a clear conscience now.

“Come on, Fujimoto-kun, we have to hurry to the roof!” she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled. He just couldn’t catch a break.

“What? You wanted to see it, not me,” he stated bluntly.

“Please, Fujimoto-kun, I want to see it with you! Just in case… in case things aren’t the same next year.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but he could guess. This time next year, Yomogi could be shut down. Where would they all be then? Grunting, he lifted himself up. “Fine. But as soon as it’s up, we go back to sleep.”

She literally jumped for joy before grabbing both their coats and running up the stairs. He followed after her, secretly glad that she was back to the way she usually was.

The roof was cold, but bearable. It would only be a few minutes more before the sun broke over the hills.

“F-Fujimoto-kun?”

“Mm.”

“What do you do if you have to choose between the thing you want and the thing you should do?”

He looked at her. She was twiddling her thumbs. Why the hell did she ask him these kinds of questions lately? Well, at least this one was easier to answer than that one from the night before. “You do whichever one will make you happiest with yourself.” This time, she actually did look satisfied.

At last, the first ray of sunlight shone over the hills, instantly warming them.

Kobato took a deep breath in and closed her eyes. This was what she had been waiting for; making her wish. Shrugging, Fujimoto closed his eyes as well. Let Sayaka-sensei get through all of this…

Before Kobato made her wish, she peaked through one eye over at Fujimoto. His eyes were closed, making his wish. Smiling sadly, she closed her eyes again. She knew what she really wanted to wish for, even if that wasn’t what she should. Let me heal Fujimoto-kun soon…

Ioryogi gazed directly into the sun. He wasn’t one for making wishes, except for when it really counted. He much preferred resolutions. Those he could hold himself to, instead of waiting for someone else to complete for him. He closed his eyes and sighed.

I’ll try to make things right again.