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He wasn’t sure why at first why the guys were carrying around boxes of pocky, but he figured it out soon enough when he saw Kiyotaka holding one and looking annoyed.
“Ah, good morning!”
“Mornin’...something botherin’ you?”
“Yes, I’ve already had to break up several couples this morning.” He handed him the box. “Here, one of them got annoyed and threw this at me. I know you’re fond of sweets.”
“Thanks, but who threw it at ya though? Ya want me to set ‘em straight?”
Kiyotaka smiled at him fondly. “No, but thank you! I am perfectly capable of doing that myself!”
“I know ya are. Don’t mean I wanna stand aside ‘n let ya take care of everythin’ yourself.”
“Well, until you let me help you with things like this, then I’ll let you help me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine. We eatin’ lunch together?”
“Hopefully,” he gave him another smile. “At any rate, I have to continue my patrol. I’ll see you then!”
“See ya.”
He had been snacking on the treat when Kuwata saw him with it and started up the conversation.
“Morning. Mind if I have one?”
“Yeah, sure.” The baseball player took one and nibbled on it.
“Thanks. You get this to make a move on Ishimaru?”
He frowned. “Nah, he ain’t into sweets.” Besides, he didn’t really see the point in doing useless things to get Kiyotaka to kiss him.
“Well, if you’re sure, you mind if I take that? There’s this girl I’m going to see later.”
“Knock yourself out.” He handed it to him. “Good luck.”
“Thanks! See you around.”
“See ya.” They parted ways for now.
It was on his mind all through his classes though. He wouldn’t mind doing something like that with Kiyotaka. They started dating a couple months ago, but they haven’t really done anything differently from when they were just bros aside from holding hands when they went out on the weekends.
It wasn’t like he had any complaints, honestly. He really liked Kiyotaka. He liked his smile, how strong he was, that obnoxious laugh, how smart he was, how kind he was, hell, he actually liked the damn uniform, too. The only thing he didn’t like about Kiyotaka was how hard he was on himself, but he couldn’t say he was much better about it.
There was just so much he liked about Kiyotaka, and he really did want to take their relationship a bit further, but he was afraid. What if he was going too fast for the guy? This was Kiyotaka’s first relationship. Hell, Kiyotaka himself told him that he was his first friend. If he went too fast and freaked him out, would he leave him? He knew Kiyotaka wasn’t fragile, but this was something that was more…personal, and he knew how insecure Kiyotaka was about his lack of experience.
He remembered a couple of weeks ago when Kiyotaka was crying over a book.
“Hey…uh…you alright?”
His boyfriend sniffed and wiped his face with a handkerchief. “H-hello…y-yes, I’m alright…”
“You sure? Why’re you cryin?” He didn’t add ‘this time’. He knew how emotional the guy got. It wasn’t too uncommon to see him crying over something as simple as seeing another one of their classmates do well on a test or seeing someone volunteer their time.
“I-I…” He sniffed and slid the book over to him. It listed out a lot of popular date locations. Most of them weren’t either of their tastes though.
“I don’t really see the issue.”
“You…you always plan really nice dates for us to go on, b-but wh-when I’m trying…” There are tears in his eyes again. “I-I’m a horrible partner!” And he’s crying.
He wrapped an arm around him, and Kiyotaka buried his face in his chest while he cried and apologized to him. He couldn’t make out most of it, but what he could understand, he was upset that he didn’t know where he could take him. “T’s fine, Kiyotaka. T’s fine. I’m not mad at you.”
He lifted his head up. “Y-you’re not?”
“‘Course not! Just means there are more places I can take you. You can plan a date another day, alright?”
“A-alright…yeah!” He smiled brightly. “I promise that I’ll plan out an amazing date for us! I’ll research as much as I can about it!”
“Alright, sounds great! ‘ll take you to a lotta places in the meantime!”
Kiyotaka grabbed his hand and squeezed it. His heart skipped a beat. “Thank you very much! You’re such a great partner, Mondo!”
“I-I…th-thanks.” Kiyotaka let go of his hand and went to put the books back.
It was only a short time ago, but he still thought about it. Could he have kissed him then? Would that have been appropriate? Kiyotaka would’ve scolded him, sure, but would he have liked it?
He didn’t stop thinking of stuff like that until lunch. Actually, he was still thinking about it until a familiar voice took him out of those thoughts.
“Mondo!”
He looked up from the book he was absentmindedly looking through rather than reading. “Oh, hey. Time for lunch?”
“Yes!” He blushed a bit. “Actually, can you meet me in my dorm?”
“Yeah, sure. Any reason? You usually hate eating there.”
“W-well, yes, but there is something I want to try, and it would be…j-just meet me there!”
He chuckled a bit. Seeing Kiyotaka worked up over something that wasn’t that serious was…cute. “Alright, alright. I’ll meet you there.”
Kiyotaka smiled. “Alright!” He left to go get the food while he went to the other’s dorm wondering what he wanted.
Kiyotaka arrived soon after with some rice balls, some fruit, and a couple bottles of tea. “Here, these are yours, and these are mine.”
“Thanks, appreciate it.”
“Of course, but before we eat…there is something I wanted to try.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out another box of pocky. How many did people throw at him…actually, he didn’t want to know. Kiyotaka was blushing.
“Kuwata told me about something you’re supposed to do on this day…and while it was inappropriate in the halls and garden…it would be okay here.”
“R-right…” He could feel his face heat up. “Er…you sure?”
“Yes…we’ve been dating for awhile, a-and I’ve been wondering why we haven’t kissed yet.”
“Eh? You have?”
“Of course. I asked my father about his relationships, and he said they usually started kissing much earlier.” He fidgeted with the buttons on his sleeve. “So, I-I want to have my first kiss with you…even if it is only because of a childish game.”
So…he’d been holding back for nothing. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? It ain’t like you to not speak your mind.”
“I-I don’t know!” He looked upset. It hurt to see him like that. “I didn’t know if that was appropriate or not! The few times I’ve ever watched anything like this, it just…happened! I didn’t know if I should’ve asked or if you were going to ask or anything.” He sighed. “You know I’ve never had this kind of relationship with anyone before. I…I don’t really know what to do. It was confusing being friends, but no matter what I’ve read, it’s still really confusing being in a relationship. I’m not dissatisfied, but I-I’m worried that I’m not being a good partner for you…”
“What?”
“I just worry I’m too focused on rules and what is or isn’t appropriate to be a good match for you! I couldn’t tell you how I felt for months, and I couldn’t even think of a good date for us by now! You’d be so much happier if you started dat-”
He didn’t need to hear the rest of what he was saying, and he didn’t want to. There was nothing else to say now.
He pulled away and smiled at him. “There, h-how was that for a first kiss?”
Kiyotaka blinked in confusion for a moment before starting to cry. He pulled him into a hug and let him sob. When it calmed down a bit, he moved so he could kiss his forehead.
“You alright?”
“B-better than alright!” Kiyotaka kissed his cheek. It felt nice. “I’m so happy! Thank you!”
“You don’t gotta thank me for that.”
“I know, but I wanted to!”
He chuckled and ruffled his hair. “You still want to play that dumb game?”
“Of course! I want to see what the appeal is.”
“Alright.”
Kiyotaka put the biscuit end of the stick in his mouth and looked at him eagerly. He felt his face heat up as he took the first bite, and it only got worse as he took the next one, the one after that, and finally, he couldn’t handle it and stopped only for Kiyotaka to quickly take what was in his mouth out and kiss him.
The prefect was smiling when they parted. “How was the snack?”
He was too flustered to speak and hid his face in his hands while his boyfriend laughed. A kiss from his boyfriend was infinitely better than any sweet out there.