home? starring ; tentten, hitari, mushimae, maoaru.
04/03/25

it was christmas eve, and tentten's house was buzzing with the chaos only family could bring. her two brothers, mao and mushi, were sprawled across the living room in their usual spots, maoaru on the couch with a bag of crisps and mushi pacing back and forth, too hyped up for his own good. but then there was tentten, the middle child, in the kitchen. despite being the youngest girl, she had somehow turned into the family’s de facto mom.

she was in full control, stirring a pot of mashed potatoes with military precision. there were christmas carols softly playing in the background, a snowstorm outside the windows, and tentten? she was orchestrating it all, even though she was barely 12.

“guys, if you don’t help soon, i’m throwing you all into the snow,” she called out from the kitchen, the tone of her voice making it clear she was only half-joking. “i can’t do all this alone. someone peel the carrots, maoaru!”

mao raised his hand lazily from the couch, barely glancing up. “i’m good. you know, i’d love to help, but i have extremely important things to attend to. like this super difficult bag of crisps.”

“we’ve been over this already,” ten said, sighing and not even looking up from the stove. “crisps don’t need your help. but me? yeah, i really do right now.”

mushi bounced over with way too much energy. “i’ll peel the carrots!” he grabbed a peeler and looked at it like it was some sort of weapon. “i’m a master at this. watch me.”

“you can’t peel anything without cutting your finger off,” tentten said, rolling her eyes. “i’ve seen you try. don’t pretend this is your forte.”

mushi shot her a pout. “it’s my new forte. i’ve watched youtube videos and everything!”

“yeah, well, in about two minutes, you’re going to be yelling about how you’ve ruined your life,” she said, stirring faster, already anticipating the disaster.

“anyway, why do i have to peel carrots?” mushi whined. “can’t someone else—”

“mushi you asked,” ten said in a matter-of-fact tone. “and if mao isnt gonna make himself useful, then i need you - so now you don't have a choice anyway. that's just how it works in this family.”

mushimae grumbled but set to work, muttering under his breath about the unfairness of life.

from the living room, mao called out, “hey tentten, i’ve been thinking. this whole ‘family dinner’ thing, it’s a lot of work. shouldn’t we just, like, order pizza or something?”

tentten snapped her head in his direction, her eyes narrowing. “maomao. no. i’m not ordering pizza on christmas. i’m literally making a christmas dinner. and you can't just give up on christmas, are you soulless?!”

“you’re just mad because you’re the only one doing any work,” mao shot back. “we all know you secretly love playing mom.”

tentten didn’t even bat an eye. “i’m literally not playing mom. i’m just making sure the family doesn’t starve while you two sit there and argue about crisps.”

“you know, tennie,” mao said, standing up and walking over with a grin. “you should probably get used to this. one day you’ll be the mom in charge of the christmas dinner, and i’ll be the one telling you to order pizza.”

tentten looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “mao, you’re 15. if you can’t make a simple dinner by now, you’re a lost cause.”

maomao threw his hands up in mock surrender. “okay, okay, we get it. you’re the queen of christmas, ten. you’re the only one who can pull this off.”

“i swear, if i had to do this every year…” tentten trailed off, shaking her head as she pulled her dotted mitts on and grabbed the turkey from the oven, rolling her eyes again. “at least i don’t have to clean up afterward. mom and dad can do that when they're home.”

mushi was finally getting the hang of the carrot-peeling business, his knife skills still iffy but somehow better than expected. “tennie, i know i’m the youngest, but like... why do you even want to cook all of this? it’s not like anyone’s making you.. unless mama really does ask you to do all of this?”

tentten stopped for a second, the humor leaving her face for just a moment. she turned around and smiled. “she doesn't. really, i guess i just... want it to be special. you know? we don’t always get a lot of time together, so i just want this to be perfect.”

mushi’s face softened, and even mao, who was practically allergic to sentimental moments, gave her a small nod of approval.

“ten, that is the most ‘mom’ thing you’ve ever said,” mao teased, but there was warmth in his voice. “you’re gonna make a hell of a mom someday.”

tentten shot him a look that clearly said she was not in the mood for his sarcasm. “please. you’re lucky i haven’t kicked you out yet.”

just then, the doorbell rang, and tentten, who had been so focused on dinner, didn’t even notice until hitari walked in, looking adorable in a red scarf and mittens.

“hey, guys!” hitari’s voice was bright and cheerful as she stepped inside, shaking the snow off her boots. “merry christmas, you loser misfits.”

“hitari!” mae shouted, racing over to give her a hug. “tentten's making us dinner. and you’re not allowed to leave until you eat at least three servings of mashed potatoes.”

“uh, yeah, i’m not sure i’m ready for that kind of commitment,” hitari said, rolling her eyes as she lightly patted his back in a return of affection. “is there a ‘not trying to die from food coma’ clause in this contract? because if there isn’t, i'm out.”

tentten, already flipping the turkey on the counter, grinned at her girlfriend. “good to see you, too. you’re just in time to watch me work my magic, though.”

hitari shrugged casually as she slipped off her coat. “yeah, i’m sure you’re totally working magic back here.” she gave a pointed glance at the sink where some of the vegetables were still half-prepared. “you know, for someone who’s got the whole ‘family dinner’ thing going, your kitchen’s kind of... a mess.”

tentten smirked, clearly used to her girlfriends dry humor. “it’s organized chaos. i’m channeling my inner eugene herbodeau, but, like, without the frenchness.”

“i don’t know, i think i prefer the ‘chaos’ part,” hitari said, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms, watching the disaster unfold. “besides, you’re doing fine. we’ll all be alive by the time it's done. probably.”

maoaru bounced over to hitari, grinning like a puppy. “tell ten it’s okay to order pizza. she’s really into the whole ‘making christmas dinner’ thing, but it’s a lot of work. and plus, im craving pizza anyway.”

“mao,” tentten groaned, clearly at her wit's end with him and not finding his suggestion funny. “do you ever just stop talking?”

hitari glanced at tentten and raised an eyebrow. “oh, i’m so on your side with that one. i can already tell i’m going to need a drink after all this.”

tentten smirked. “i think you'll need a couple more then that, honestly.”

“alright, alright. i’ll help peel potatoes or whatever,” hitari said with a sigh, pulling off her gloves and rolling up her sleeves. “but don’t act like i’m going to take it seriously. i’ve seen how this goes way too many times before. i peel a potato, you tell me i’m doing it wrong, then mushi gets in the way and we all end up with mashed potatoes that look like a crime scene.”

“you know me too well,” tentten said, grinning. “okay, fine. you do the potatoes. mae can be in charge of not cutting himself with the peeler.”

her brother’s eyes widened at that. “i’m not cutting myself! im not seven you know!”

“i give it three minutes,” she shot back.

while they all bickered and joked, dinner finally came together. the mashed potatoes were perfect (mostly because tentten wouldn’t let anyone else near them after peeling, not if she wanted another mushimae incident like last year.), the turkey was golden, and the green beans had somehow survived mae’s overenthusiastic “taste testing.”

“dinner’s ready, finally,” tentten announced, wiping her hands on a towel as she turned around, a proud look on her face. “now, if we all die from this, i blame you two.”

“i’m sure you’ll make it through,” hitari said, sliding into a chair at the table, glancing around the room with an exaggerated sigh. “what a lovely scene. my family was much quieter, and much more... underwhelming. but this? this is a show.”

“good to know i’m keeping up with the high standards,” tentten said with a smirk as she dug into her food.

as they all sat down and began eating, the warmth of the room was undeniable. sure, there was sarcasm, chaos, and a few sharp words thrown about, but at the end of the day, it was exactly what christmas was supposed to be—family, in all its messy, wonderful glory.

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Pub: 08 Mar 2025 18:41 UTC

Edit: 09 Mar 2025 13:20 UTC

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