PERHAPS HIKING THE...

snowy mountains at 4 a.m. in the morning wasn't the best idea chiyo has ever had. in fact, it was probably one of the worst.

however, gojō had instructed the girl that, "if he truly likes you, he'd go through with any crazy idea that you'd have to offer".

hence chiyo had asked sukuna to come on an early morning hike with her, as his "reward" for scoring the last dunk needed to gain a ninety-two for the winter cup.

"you okay there?", sukuna asked, as he extended his hand out for chiyo to take.

usually he preferred sleeping in a little. however, when chiyo had pitched this idea of hers, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend more time with her, alone.

"y-yeah, I'm just a little unfit I guess", chiyo lightly laughed, as she accepted sukuna's gloved hand.

enjoying the crunching sound of snow beneath her feet, chiyo had led sukuna towards a public bench that was mounted not too far from the cliff.

     "this is where you wanted to take me?", sukuna questioned, taking a seat on the wooden bench, as chiyo had promptly done the same.

     "just wait for it", she said, as she took off one of her gloves and searched for her phone.

     briefly checking the time, chiyo had swiped to her camera, exchanging positions by sitting on the snowy ground instead.

     "what're you doing? it's cold. get up", sukuna demanded.

     ignoring the first-year's advice, chiyo even took off her large puffer jacket, just so that her phone could be propped up against the gap-filled bench.

     "seriously, you're going to catch a col—"

     chiyo dragged sukuna down with her, as she had placed her pointer finger against her lips. setting up her phone, the second-year had pressed the camera button so that the timer would go off.

with their backs turned to the ending road, sukuna couldn't help but unzip his navy blue trench coat and pull chiyo onto his lap.

enveloping her in his warmth, the second-year widened her eyes at the closeness once more. their eyes met as did their tepid breaths that mixed into the chilling air.

it was then that the sun had risen from its slumber, gracing the snow-filled mountains and parched air with its morning rays.

     and with the new light, the two who were still sitting on the wretchedly cold snow had gained a new perspective of each other as well.

     sukuna always knew that chiyo was pretty, but under the luminescent glare of the sun, she seemed to glow. her usual umber brown eyes lightened to a hazelnut brown; her fair skin that was tinted with a light rouge warmed against the press of the sun's selfless rays; her parted lips maintained its peach-like pink all while the winter breeze threatened to soak all the color out of it.

his thumb mindlessly grazed across her kempt eyebrow, sliding down her temple and switching to his pointer finger in the process.

the side of his first finger caressed her cheek before making its way down to her lips, which had gently pressed together for a split second.

chiyo always found sukuna handsome. no matter the scars on his face or the bruises across his knuckles, there wasn't a moment she could not see the beauty in him. his usually deep maroon eyes lightened to a cherry red upon the sun uncovering only a part of his face; his expression remained neutral, but chiyo could notice the slight sparkling in his eyes; his pressed lips eventually parted to let out a pent of air, which melted into the minimal space between them.

     the two were so engrossed in the beauty before them, that they didn't even realize that the camera had went off.

     sukuna thought about it. his internal desires raging for him to just kiss her now, kiss her fast, for he might not be blessed with another chance like this.

     however, his conscious knew better. she was not ready. he could not overstep this boundary between them until she confessed. he could not cut her improvements short and let his impish thoughts ruin her. he wished for her to say the words to him already, but alas, her build for confidence cannot be hurried.

     once she was ready, he'd be there waiting.

     sliding his hand to the girl's neck, sukuna had forced her head into the crook of his neck, which was being kept warm by an ebony scarf.

     chiyo was slightly shocked, for she was almost certain that sukuna was about to pull her in for a kiss. however, perhaps she had overthought on that.

     his mind lingered at the scene that was now a dream, cursing himself internally for ruining such a perfect moment, yet praising himself for doing the right thing.

     "you should wear your jacket. it's cold", sukuna reminded, as chiyo had simply hummed.

     though her response was muffled by sukuna's clothing, he had acknowledged it. and though he was the one that had asked for the girl to clothe herself, he kept a firm grip on her.

     exploiting one hand to grab chiyo's phone, sukuna had also managed to snatch her puffer jacket and drape it over her back.

     upon seeing the picture that was taken, sukuna had smiled, sending the picture to himself as he had decided on his new wallpaper.

"is this my reward?", sukuna asked, slipping chiyo's phone into her coat's pocket, as the girl had kept her flushed face hidden.

     "I just thought that you'd like to see the mesmerizing sunrise with me", is what she answered.

     "yeah, it was pretty nice", the first-year breathed out.

     however, both knew that they found something — or rather someone — even more mesmerizing.

     "we should...see the sunrise together more often", chiyo muttered.

     "mm", sukuna quietly agreed.

     "happy christmas eve!!", kugisaki greeted, as she had invited all her friends over for the christmas party that she had planned.

"thanks for inviting us, nobara", maki replied, as the two shared a lingering gaze before mai had rolled her eyes and shoved past the orange-haired girl.

"gross. imagine being with your crush on christmas eve", the younger zen'in scoffed, as she was suddenly met with yoshino, who had explicitly got up to come greet her.

     "mai-senpai, would you like some cookies? I helped nobara make them", the dark-haired boy stated.

     "are they low carb, low fat, and low sugar?", mai questioned, to which yoshino had took out something from his pocket and offered it to the second-year.

     "no, but these are", he replied, shyly smiling, as mai had snatched them from the boy, acting as if she wasn't touched.

     "oh", she mumbled, "I'll have some I guess".

while mai hesitantly accepted the cookies in the bag, chiyo was conversing with ozawa and orimoto about their secret santas.

"who do you think your secret santas are?", orimoto questioned.

"mm, I'm not sure...but I have a feeling it might be nobara, since she asked to shop for presents together", ozawa answered.

     "I hope yūta got me so that we could just do a gift exchange, because I got him!", the dark-haired second-year squealed.

     "alright everyone! I'm sure that you've all been waiting for this moment, as it is time for secret santa!", kugisaki excitedly announced.

"first up, I got yūko-chan!"

     ozawa timidly smiled before standing up to go accept her present, while thanking the orange-haired girl.

     "ah, I got maki-senpai!", ozawa exclaimed, as she handed the green-haired girl her wrapped present.

     the chain of secret santa ensued, until everyone had gotten their presents except chiyo and sukuna.

     "huh? why didn't anyone call chiyo-chan up?", ozawa asked.

     "by the way, who did you get?", maki asked the blonde second-year.

     "I...I got sukuna", chiyo mumbled.

     "ehh? sukuna got aoki-senpai!", yūji chimed in.

     "ohhh! so they're basically exchanging gifts, huh? that's no fun", kugisaki shrugged, as sukuna and chiyo glanced at each other.

     the two exchanged presents while everyone else was busy opening theirs, some complaining about the lack of thought behind said gift.

"fushiguro, did you seriously just get me money?", kugisaki frowned, appreciating the gift yet somewhat hating it at the same time.

"yeah, why? if you don't want it, I can take it—"

"NO! it's mine now".

     turning her attention back to sukuna, chiyo had spoken.

"umm...I heard from yūji-kun that you ran out of it, so..."

     sukuna held a glass bottle of his usual cologne, as he cracked a slight smile.

     "so you didn't stay in budget too, huh?"

     chiyo raised a brow, as she hastily opened the tiny velvet box to reveal a thin gold necklace with a minuscule bunny pendant that was separated from the tiger one by a single pearl.

"sukuna, I—"

"need help putting it on? you got it", the pink-haired boy grinned, as he made chiyo turn around so that he could work with the clasps.

"it's too expensive, I can't—"

     "and the cologne you bought me wasn't?", sukuna retorted, to which chiyo had just stayed silent, as she felt the boy's knuckles graze the nape of her neck.

"there. what do you think?", sukuna asked, holding out his phone's camera for the second-year to see.

     "it's lovely", chiyo smiled, her fingertips running over the pearly bead and the two animal pendants.

     "thank you", she mumbled, as orimoto had suddenly taken out a mistletoe out of nowhere and hung it above the two's heads.

     "oh look! you've got to kiss each other now", the dark-haired girl teased, as her, kugisaki, and mai had chanted, "kiss! kiss! kiss! kiss!"

     chiyo instinctively flinched, as she snapped her head back and forth to look at her friends that were starting to crowd around her and sukuna.

     sukuna rolled his eyes, as he pulled the second-year close and held her face in place.

     everyone had momentarily shut up, as they didn't think that sukuna would actually do it. however, to the majority's disappointment, the boy had just grinned and flipped them off.

     "dumbasses", he taunted, "as if I'd let you fuckers see chiyo and I kiss".

     "oi, that's rude, sukuna!", yūji pouted, while kugisaki had nodded in agreement.

"it's the rules of christmas! when there's a mistletoe above your head, you have to kiss the person you're under it with!"

"does it look like I give a shit about rules?", the older itadori snorted, snatching the mistletoe from orimoto and tossing it towards the orange-haired girl.

"how 'bout you and that megane-girl kiss? you've been pining after each other for a while now", sukuna exposed, to which maki and kugisaki had both snapped their heads at each other, embarrassed.

     "we—"

     "OOOHHH!! MAKI-SENPAI AND KUGISAKI SITTING IN A TREE!", yūji teased.

     "K-I-S-S-I-N-G", orimoto sang.

     while everyone's attention had eventually directed away from sukuna and chiyo, the latter had sighed a breath of relief.

     suddenly, the blonde second-year felt a hand slyly encase hers. glancing up at the owner of said hand, chiyo was met with sukuna's lazy smile.

     "whenever you feel uncomfortable, just give my hand a squeeze. we'll handle it together".

     chiyo's heart skipped a beat, as she just nodded.

     "thank you, sukuna", she gratefully whispered.

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: *megane: glasses

     apologies for not updating,, it's finals week in college🌧

     anyways, ho(e), ho(e), ho(e) — lmao, get it? because they're both—

     credits: @shuuitaa || twitter

     btw, this story is coming to an end,, hope y'all are all enjoying it <33