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“Asahi, do you wanna play a game?”
“A game?” Asahi set down his pencil and turned to look at Nishinoya, who was currently looking up at him with wide eyes and a wider grin. It was a look Asahi knew well—a look that meant he had a stupid idea and was going to drag Asahi into it, by force if necessary.
Nishinoya seemed to feel Asahi’s dread, because he was already starting his pitch. “It’s fun, I swear! And you get free food out of it, so it’s a win-win.”
Asahi sighed. “You invited me over to study.”
“We’ve been studying for an hour already. C'mon, it’s time for a break!”
Well, arguing with Nishinoya was a lost cause, anyway. It was better to admit defeat now. And a game didn’t sound so bad; After the headache of forcing Noya through a pile of flashcards, Asahi had definitely earned a break.
Asahi shrugged and leaned back from the table. “Alright, what do you want to play?” From the look on Noya’s face, he wasn’t exactly expecting Yahtzee, but hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad.
Nishinoya turned to his schoolbag and fished through it, until he found a small pink box and held it out to Asahi triumphantly. “The pocky game!”
Oh. This was bad. This was so much worse than bad.
Asahi knew his face was turning red already, didn’t even try to hide it. “You want to play the pocky game?”
“Oh, you’ve heard of it!”
“Of course I’ve heard of it, but why would you... why would we...” Asahi took a deep breath. “Why do you want to do that with me?”
Noya shrugged. “I never got to play it in middle school or anything, so I wanted to give it a try, at least once. And you’re the only person I could think of asking.” He already had the box in front of his face and was ripping it open, before pulling the plastic wrapping off the bundle of pocky inside. “You like strawberry, right? I picked it out for you. You can even have the frosted end if you want.”
Asahi buried his head in his hands, while the thought of Noya picking out pocky for the two of them, knowing that this was what he would use it for, played in his head. It was weird, wasn’t it? People didn’t play the pocky game with their friends, especially not if they were both guys—Asahi was right about that, wasn’t he?
Well, he probably would’ve been right if this was anybody other than Noya. Noya, who did whatever he wanted without a second thought, who never thought things through enough to regret them. Noya, who didn’t at all think that it was weird to play the pocky game completely platonically.
“Asahiii, come on, just one stick. Please?” Asahi lifted his head from his hands and saw Noya giving him that same pleading look.
Asahi knew how this went, knew that as soon as Noya was granted a little bit of leeway he would get everything he wanted—just one stick would turn into the whole bag, or at least as many as it took for Noya to get bored and move on to some other game.
Right. This was just a game to Noya. He didn’t think it was weird at all. And it wasn’t weird, not really, not unless Asahi made it that way.
“Okay, fine,” he said, and Noya’s face lit up immediately.
“Great! You know the rules, right? The first one to back away loses.” Noya scooted closer to Asahi until their faces were inches apart, and even that was enough to drive him crazy.
Noya carefully put the pocky stock between his lips—the biscuit end, Asahi noticed, so at least he was being considerate—and leaned forward. He didn’t say anything, but the way he stared up at Asahi was enough, the challenge heavy in his eyes.
Asahi thought he was actually going to start shaking as he leaned down, craning his neck to get his mouth around the pocky stick. Noya’s face was too close to focus on now, starting to go fuzzy, so Asahi closed his eyes. He felt it, though, when Noya started to nibble forward, felt a jolt of electricity go through his body as he already started to freeze, unsure if he should move forward or get as far from Noya from possible, only sure that Noya was getting closer and—
Noya bit down on the pocky stick halfway through, leaning back from Asahi with a disappointed huff. “This isn’t going to work,” he sighed.
“Oh?” Asahi was barely listening. It was hard to hear anything, not when his heart was beating so loudly in his ears, still recovering from being so close.
Noya nodded seriously, pausing to swallow the pocky he’d pulled back with. “You’re way too... tall. I can’t lean up to meet you.”
Asahi blinked. Of all the reasons to stop, he hadn’t thought that would be one. “Oh, uh. Sorry? I can-“
“No, I can fix this. Just stay there, okay?”
Before Asahi could answer, Noya was crawling forward, slipping into his lap and placing his hands on his shoulders to help hoist himself a little higher. “That’s a little better, right?” Noya was certainly closer to eye level now, one of his hands already starting to curl around Asahi’s neck and pull them together.
Asahi’s hands instinctively went to support Noya by the bottoms of his thighs, and by the time he realized it he couldn’t will himself to move. ”Better,” he said, barely holding his voice steady. He wondered if Noya could hear, right now, just how wildly his heart was beating.
Noya grinned and grabbed for another piece of pocky. “Good, let’s try again.” He propped it between his lips and stared up at Asahi.
Once again, Asahi leaned forward and pulled his lips around the stick of pocky. He forced himself to keep his eyes open, this time, so he wasn’t so caught off guard when Noya started to inch forward.
Asahi felt like his face was on fire. He felt like if he got any closer to Noya he might evaporate off the face of the earth. But Nishinoya was giving him a look that Asahi knew well enough, one that meant “don’t you dare stand down, ace.”
So Asahi awkwardly started to nibble forward on the pocky stick, trying to meet Noya’s pace. Though he couldn’t quite match the intensity with which Nishinoya was moving towards him, closing the gap at a speed that made Asahi feel like he was melting.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise when they met in the middle. Noya’s lips bumped into his harshly, and Asahi froze, too flustered to move.
Noya was the one who pulled back, surprisingly. He fell back out of his lap, barely catching himself on his hands, pocky hanging out of his open mouth and face starting to turn pink.
Asahi cleared his throat. “I think that means you lost that round,” he said, trying his best to smile.
Noya blinked like he was waking up, and slowly looked up at Asahi. He smiled back, finally, and Asahi felt like a weight was lifted. But then his eyes narrowed, and he sat up and reached for the pocky box. “I won’t lose this one.”
Asahi swallowed and tried to keep his breathing steady, as Noya once again crawled into his lap and stuck a pocky stick between his lips. One more game. He could even let Noya win, and maybe he would be satisfied, would let them go back to studying. And Asahi could pretend this never happened and try to never think about it again.
One more game, he told himself, as he pulled the pocky stick between his lips.
Noya seemed even more determined this time. He pulled his hands around Asahi’s neck and took a bite forward, already making their noses brush. Asahi moved just slightly, and Noya tilted his head to the side and pulled Asahi closer all at once, forcing their lips to meet.
Asahi wasn’t a pocky game expert or anything. He had only really seen the game on TV, after all. But he really didn’t think this was how you were supposed to play, considering that even if he wanted to move back Noya was holding him close like his life depended on it.
But then, it was hard to worry about that when Noya was surrounding him, all chapped lips and rough hands, pushing himself forward until their bodies were flush against each other. Noya kissed the way he did everything, with an impossible intensity, too fast and too much and somehow still perfect.
Asahi gave in and let his lips part against Noya’s. He tasted like strawberry, of course, sweetness coating his lips as the pocky stick melted between them. Noya pushed him further until Asahi’s back hit the floor and he was leaning over him, one hand still on the back of his neck while the other was balled in his t-shirt.
Asahi was the one who had to pull back, to breathe more than anything. He turned his head to the side and avoided Noya’s gaze. “What was that?” he asked, still catching his breath.
Noya pulled back, but he didn’t get off of Asahi, just shifted so that he was straddling his lap. “I dunno. Just felt like doing it. Did you not like it?”
Asahi’s face was turning even redder. “I didn’t.... It wasn’t bad.”
Noya brought his hands to Asahi’s cheeks and forced him to look up. He was staring down at him, that same look that Asahi knew so well on his face, wide eyes and a wider smile that meant he had some stupid idea and was going to force Asahi to be a part of it.
“Then, do you wanna play again?”