HANAKO LIKES FOOD.

So much that she's almost guilty for planning to destroy Todoroki because Fuyumi cooks so well, the food is delicious and everything is the perfect sort of savory or sweet and she's never eaten palatable home cooking like this before. Almost. Because Hanako can never be apologetic in matters regarding Papa. Instead, she helps Fuyumi clean up.

Todoroki helps, offering to carry the plates because they can't have her bleeding to her death again and she merely sighs because it sounded like a joke and Hanako should have laughed because she really has to get close but but but she's trained so hard to become the stone faced, ice queen of a girl and any sort of attempt at wild laughter is all in vain.

"Dad's calling," Fuyumi says and stops scrubbing the dishes once Endeavor's name- Todoroki Eiji (Dad)- flashes in the screen of her phone. "I'll take it."

Todoroki doesn't say anything and decides to scrub the dishes in his sister's place. Hanako is the one in charge of wiping them and placing them back in their original containers, so they stand next to each other. Fuyumi is in another room so maybe Hanako should initiate conversation, but she doesn't know how to start one. But she has to! So she practically tears her mouth open to utter even a single syllable.

"Merry Christmas, Todoroki-kun," she mumbles.

Todoroki apparently doesn't hear anything even though he's half a meter away from her so he closes the distance and they're less than a ruler apart now. "What?"

"Merry Christmas." Hanako wonders why her cheeks are flushing red the second time she says the greeting and why his presence that looms over her is getting more prominent and stop pause halt Hanako, don't be flustered by such indolent actions.

"Merry Christmas to you too." This time, he looks at her and she pauses from wiping the plate and it falls from her grasp but both her and Todoroki attempt to catch it, but their foreheads bump into each other and the plate shatters ( a bad omen ). Hanako lands on her butt, but before she can check her skin for any scratch, Todoroki is quick to head toward her and grab her hand, checking the skin for any scratch ( what a brilliant hero! ) and at his haste, he may have neglected to see the scratch on his cheek spilling a tinge of red ( one of the colors of christmas, happy holidays! ).

Hanako goes into a fit of laughter ( it's strange, Papa ) that she can't hold back as her free thumb moves to his cheek to wipe the blood and they're too caught up in the moment that they fail to realize the weight of their actions. He's holding her hand, looking at her with such keen interest and joy is shining on her eyes, her other hand on his cheek.

"Sorry..." Hanako says, the first one to break from the trance and she quickly stands up to turn the faucet on and washes the blood on her thumb. "You should get a band aid for that, where do you keep your brooms?" Without pause and she gets the cleaning material, starts sweeping the floor. The bigger shards are picked up by Todoroki and they work together in cleaning it and by the time Fuyumi is back, they've finished cleaning the dishes as if nothing happened. But something did, because something standing between the two of them must have shattered like that porcelain plate.

But Hanako is so dense, she does not notice that instead she racks her brain for a way to be remembered. To be engraved unto Todoroki's mind, make her unforgettable.

That is all that occupies her mind as the boy walks her home. Snow piles up and she uses the scarf Fuyumi lent her to cover her nose, but they forgot gloves and now her hand is freezing and she's rubbing both together to create warmth, but it's still so cold and Hanako doesn't know why but Todoroki moved so now she's walking on his left side and is it warmer? ( Hanako feels sleepy, but the petals are wreaking havoc tonight, so she has to endure- ouchouchouch! ) So much, but she still thinks she's going to die of hypothermia so her eyes widen when Todoroki grabs her hand again and holds it with his and it's warm.

Her chest hurts.

° ° °

s p i n d l e  t r e e ;
your charms are engraved on my heart