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The small pocky box feels light in Ran’s hands as she flips it over to read the back. So… I just put it in my mouth and have her do the same with the other end… then I last the longest. She tries to remember Moca’s words in her head.
“Mitake-san...” A voice behind her, causes Ran to spin around on her chair. A girl is standing there, dressed in the light grey blazer and dark blue skirt of their school uniform, her long silver hair falling down her back. “What are you still doing here?”
“I… had some things I needed to finish up doing.” Ran’s hand adjusts the grip of her guitar strap. “I also wanted to challenge you to a test.”
“A test?” Yukina looks at Ran with a slightly confused expression.
“The pocky challenge… it’s meant to test your will.” Ran holds up the box in her hand, a determined glint in her eyes.
“How does it work?”
“One person puts one end in their mouth, the other does the same with the other end. Then you start moving together, the person who takes their mouth off first loses.” Ran pauses for a few moments. “The winner gets to dare the other to do something.”
“That seems simple enough.” Yukina nods and places her bags down next to her. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t accept the challenge.”
Ran nods and lifts her guitar off of her back, resting it against a table. “Shall we sit?” She looks at the chairs around them.
“Yes, that sounds good.” Yukina walks over to Ran and takes a seat near her.
Ran takes the closest one and opens up the box, pulling one of the sticks out. “So… how are we going to do this?”
“Don’t you know?”
“I… guess we’ll just take it in turns biting closer.” Ran looks at the small stick, before taking the biscuit end and placing it in her mouth.
“Who’s going first?” Yukina hesitates before placing her lips on the other end.
Ran points towards Yukina, not wanting to let it fall from her mouth. Yukina nods and takes a small bite forward.
As she watches this happen, Ran starts to feel her heart beating slightly faster in her chest. She passes it off as nothing but the excitement of battling her rival and bites forward on the pocky.
With every bite forward, Ran’s heart seems to speed up in pace and she starts to get more and more uncomfortable with the situation. I can’t lose. Her cheeks are burning up, they’re about halfway down the stick now and it means their faces are very close. Why won’t she pull away?
Ran takes her next bite forward and she starts to feel Yukina’s breath on her lips. Each exhale the silver-haired girl makes, sends a shiver running down Ran’s entire body. Come on… give up.
Yet, Yukina doesn’t give up, the two of them continuing to bite along the stick until only a quarter is left. It’s at this point that Ran starts to worry. What happens if neither of us gives up? Moca didn’t mention that. She takes another small bite forwards. This is starting to get too much. She has to tilt her head to the side now to prevent their noses from blocking future progress.
After a couple more bites, their lips end up centimetres away from each other. Ran finds her eyes closing as she takes the next bite forward, pressing their lips together. As soon as they connect, a spark of electricity spreads throughout Ran’s body. It felt strangely good, a growing warmth at the pit of her stomach starts to slowly spread throughout her, unlike anything she’s ever experienced before. To her surprise Yukina doesn’t back out from the kiss either, instead, she feels a hand touch against her cheek, steadying her head and she feels the pair of lips press harder against her own.
When the two finally break apart, Ran can feel her body slowly coming down from the high she’d just experienced. She takes a deep breath, recalling the experience before exhaling slowly and opening her eyes. “S-Sorry Minato-san… I didn’t know that would happen.”
“I-It felt good.” Yukina looks down at the open packet of pocky. “I… I want to try it again.” She starts to reach for another stick.
“Do we really need another one?” Ran’s eyes lock onto Yukina’s lips and her heartbeat returns to its quickened pace. “Surely we can just… press our lips together.”
Yukina nods and adjusts the hand on Ran’s cheek slightly. “That will suffice.” Before Ran can react again, the silver-haired girl captures her lips once more.
Ran would’ve recovered fine if it was more of the same, but Yukina’s tongue slips past her lips and starts to explore her mouth, igniting a different fire inside of her. After a few seconds, she manages to come to her senses, wrapping her arms around Yukina’s neck as she starts to swirl her own tongue with Yukina’s.
The kiss is different than the last. The two of them experimenting with what feels good, what doesn’t and how to make the other feel good. Yukina’s hand ends up on the skin of Ran’s thigh, just below where her shorts end and the light touch sends a feeling through Ran that she doesn’t quite know how to interpret.
Yukina is the one who finally breaks the kiss, pulling away slightly and leaving a trail of saliva connecting their mouths. The two of them stay there for a while, the stand between them snapping as they gasp for breath. “We… should probably stop soon.” She looks over towards the door that she’d entered through initially and how it’s slightly ajar. “The rest of Roselia could be here anytime now.”
Ran nods and lets her hands fall to her sides. She gets to her feet and slings her guitar over her shoulder. “Are you free after practice?” She turns to face Yukina as she says the words.
“I would usually walk home with Lisa…” She looks at her phone. “But I can tell her I am busy tonight.”
Ran reaches for her own phone and holds it to Yukina. “Here’s my number… message me when you’re finished.”
“Okay.” Yukina notes the number down. “I’ll see you later then, Mitake-san.”
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As Ran is walking home afterwards, her phone buzzes with a message from Moca to the Afterglow group chat. She opens it up to see the message “I see my game worked out ;))))” with a picture of her and Yukina kissing above it.