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Koga is midway through a one-man performance of Gate of the Abyss, clad in a tee and sweats and using a brush as a substitute for a mic, when someone knocks on his door.
He pauses his CD player (yes, he’s old-school, he’s very aware), carefully stepping over a sleeping Leon to open the door. As expected, it’s Tsukasa, greeting him with a smile. It’s Thursday after all, their designated game night.
“Good evening, Oogami-senpai,” he says. He’s considerably more put together than Koga, still wearing his average winter getup. “I was quite enjoying listening to you from out here. Even when you aren’t on the stage, your singing captures my heart.”
Koga waves his hand, stepping to the side. “Oh, yer too kind. Don’t just stand there, come in. I’ve been waitin’ fer.”
“I take it Kazehaya-senpai isn’t here?”
“Ah, yeah. Said somethin’ ‘bout a date, I think.”
“I see.” Tsukasa takes his shoes off, placing them neatly beside Koga’s. Koga finds how small they look next to his winsome. “As much as I enjoy when he participates, I like getting to spend one-on-one time with you. What’s more, today I brought a game that can only be played with two players.”
So they’re just going to brush past the comment before that? Alright. “Oh yeah? And what would that be?” Koga asks, sitting cross-legged next to Leon on the floor.
Tsukasa takes a seat opposite him, legs folded neatly beneath him in seiza. He reaches into his pocket, producing a little green box. “Have you ever heard of the pocky game? I think it would be fun if we tried that today.”
Koga scoffs quietly in disbelief. What is he supposed to say to that? Yeah, sounds good, I’ve been dreamin’ about kissin’ ya fer months? Abso-fucking-lutely not. Maybe he could refuse, considering his distaste for sweet things, but this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Oogami-senpai?”
“Sorry, sorry.” Koga scratches the back of his neck. “Man, ya went and got real bold, huh?”
Tsukasa tilts his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“Comin’ in here, declarin’ that we should play the pocky game. Ya know what that sounds like to me?”
“Um, not particularly,” Tsukasa says, looking rather sheepish. “I’m afraid I don’t know what exactly it entails. Hinata-kun and Yuta-kun suggested it to me, saying that today is ‘pocky day’.”
Those goddamn twins. “Well, it’s… gah, there ain’t no easy way to put this. It’s a kissin’ game.”
The look on Tsukasa’s face is just priceless. “What?”
“You and the other player take a stick of pocky an’ start eatin’ it from each end. The first person whose mouth comes off the pocky loses. If ya end up, well, kissin’, it’s a tie,” Koga explains. He’s never played it before, but he’s read enough manga to know what it is. “Those twins probably left that part out on purpose. Ya know what they’re like.”
“I do,” Tsukasa says through gritted teeth. “I must apologise for my irrational behaviour, Oogami-senpai. I assure you, my intentions were nothing of the sort. If you wish for me to leave, then so be it.”
“Woah, hey, slow down. I ain’t gonna kick ya out just fer that? Ya got nothin’ to apologise over.” Koga weighs the positives against the negatives in his head, eventually going with fuck it. “Besides, I think it’d be pretty fun, don’t you?”
Tsukasa’s cheeks had been flushed before, but at the mere suggestion of that he turns as red as his hair. “T-That’s… Well, you see…”
“I ain’t gonna make ya do somethin’ ya don’t wanna do, though. If ya don’t wanna risk yer precious first kiss, that’s okay.”
“N-No, I want to!” Tsukasa clears his throat, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. “I mean, I would also like to attempt playing it. It’s fine if it’s you, Oogami-senpai.”
Oh, Koga needs to kiss him now.
“C’mere, then. Can’t exactly reach ya from over there.”
Almost shyly, Tsukasa shuffles closer, opening the box and taking a stick out. “Um, I know you don’t like sweet things, so I got matcha. Is that alright?”
Koga wants to tell him that he’d be willing to grin and bear the sweetest of flavours for this, but instead he says, “Yeah, thanks. How considerate of ya.”
“Of course!” Tsukasa beams at the praise, then lifts the pocky so it’s between their faces. He takes one end between his teeth, his cheeks dusted pink. “Like this?”
“Uh-huh.” Koga takes the other end, feeling a little embarrassed at the proximity of their faces. Up close like this, he can see the little flecks of violet in his eyes, the barely visible scar beneath his eye where he caught himself with an idobato card as a kid. “Here, I’ll go first.”
And so he takes a small bite, Tsukasa following after him. As they gradually edge closer to each other, Tsukasa closes his eyes, and that’s when it really hits Koga. They’re going to kiss.
In a moment of pure cowardice, Koga breaks the pocky with his teeth, leaning back ever so slightly. “Ah, my bad. I-I panicked. Looks like ya win.”
Tsukasa looks just as embarrassed as Koga feels. “It’s alright. W-Would you like to try again?”
“Sure thing.” Hopefully this time he won’t make a fool out of himself. “I ain’t gonna lose again this time, though, ya hear me?”
“I don’t doubt it,” Tsukasa says with a smile. He grabs another pocky, and they repeat the process.
Except this time, Koga doesn’t pull away as they’re about to meet in the middle. Instead, he reaches up to cup Tsukasa’s cheek with his right hand, closing the almost non-existent gap between them. It isn’t Koga’s first kiss, but it is his first kiss with Tsukasa, which is what’s important. His lips are soft, and Koga can tell that he’s trying a little too hard—he finds it endearing, though. Just like everything else he does.
Tsukasa is the first to break the kiss, looking as though he’d just run a marathon. “Um… That was—um…”
“You alright? Should I not have done that?”
“No! I mean, yes. I mean, I’m very happy that you did that…” Tsukasa trails off, twisting a strand of hair between his fingers. “Is it perhaps possible for you to… do it again…?”
Koga grins. Maybe he should do something to thank Hinata and Yuta tomorrow.