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“Uh-oh,” Aoki shouted, shoving a smirking Kimura. “Looks like you two are under the mistletoe!”
Tch. What the hell were they smiling at? And what the hell were they…? You looked above you to see a hanging branch directly in the middle of you and Ippo.
“What the hell…?” You asked out loud. What the hell is this and why did everyone think you were gonna kiss Ippo?! I mean not that you wouldn’t but…
“It’s mistletoe.” Ippo began explaining to you after seeing your flustered expression and red cheeks. “In American culture, you’re supposed to kiss someone under it…” He began to trail off, suddenly realizing what that meant. The rest of the Kamogawa gym began hooting and egging you two to just get on with it already. They know you’re both hot for each other anyway!
You scratched the back of your neck, embarrassed. You looked at your soon-to-be kissing partner. Wow, he’s...really embarrassed. Ippo’s eyes were looking everywhere but yours, avoiding your usual sharp gaze. You saw him making anxious gestures, tenting his fingers.
“Alright, alright! Whatever!” You shouted through the boisterous jeers. Anything to get those idiots to shut up. Well, you thought, here goes nothing.
You stepped in closer to the Japanese champion. He was really jumpy. Hmph. He’s so cute when he’s nervous.
“Pucker up, Makunouchi…” You murmured to him, his eyes shut tightly in anticipation.
You took hold of his strong jaw, brought his face up to yours and placed a kiss firmly on his lips. Ippo’s eyes opened abruptly in surprise. You heard a clamor of catcalling and shouts echoing off the padded walls of the Kamogawa gym. Ippo’s bottom lip quivered as you pressed yourself closer to him and held the back of his neck. You could feel Ippo tense up and relax underneath your fingertips.
God, he smelled so good. Like fresh laundry. You felt Ippo put his hands on your hips as you inched in closer. You started to pull away from the lip-locking and felt Ippo press his lips harder onto yours. He was really into this. But you needed to breathe.
You pulled away but it felt too soon. Man, you didn’t know Makunouchi could kiss like that. You hadn’t realized the gym was still shouting around you, heckling the both of you. Ippo was still red but he smiled at you despite the embarrassment. Shit, you thought, he is really cute.
Fuck, what time was it? You were gonna miss your train if you didn’t leave soon.
“I REALLY GOTTA TA, ER, GO. THANKS FER HAVING ME!” You shout at Kamogawa before hastily making your way to the door.
“Wait! Sendo-san!” Ippo called after you. “Let me walk you there.”
He said to you pleasantly, as if the last five minutes never happened. Kamogawa Gym went up in a loud mess of shouts again, various gym members patting Ippo on the back as he walked up to you.
“G-Guys, stop…” The Japanese champion said as he started to blush again. “Let’s go, Sendo-san.”
“Right.”
You and the boxer stepped out into the December cold. The weather was rather fair this morning when you left your house in Osaka but here in Tokyo, you were freezing. You wonder if the two had any correlation…
“Geez, it’s cold!” You heard Ippo say to your right as you started the walk towards the train station.
“You know I could’ve walked myself, Makunouchi.” You lied. You enjoyed that he offered to keep you company and honestly, you wished that you two could walk all the way to Osaka if it were possible.
“Huh?”
You turned back to look at Ippo who stopped in his tracks, face upturned toward the sky. What was he looking at--? A snowflake fell down gently from the sky and landed on Ippo’s eyelashes.
“Snow!” He said elatedly, childlike wonder filling his eyes.
After that initial snowflake, hundreds more came tumbling down clumsily from the sky. Now it was really time to go.
“Come on, Makunouchi!” You said, starting to sprint your way to the train station as thousands of snowflakes fell on top of both of your heads.
“R-Right!” He said, breaking out of his daze.
The two of you running side-by-side like this reminded you of the time you and Ippo did roadwork together. During the time of the Rookie King tournament. And how you went to Tokyo just to convince him not to back out. How you playfully tried outrunning him and how you two sat on the riverbank and he asked you what made you started boxing. You grinned to yourself and sprinted harder, passing Ippo.
“Can’t keep up?!” You shouted to him, laughing at his confused expression.
You saw Ippo push himself to catch up to you, groaning and exhaling with exertion. Ha! So he wants it that way, does he?
You two battled for first place as you ran your way to the train station. Bystanders looked on with worried faces and shouts of anger. You both were neck and neck. No way you were gonna let him lose! But you forgot Makunouchi had a competitive side of his own. He beat you to the entrance of the train station, almost knocking into a couple holding hands outside.
“E-Excuse me!” He said, stooping over, his breath coming out in icy white puffs in the air. The couple moved away with disgusted looks. You couldn’t help but cackle.
“You’re alot of fun, Makunouchi, ya know that?” You said, patting his back graciously. The boxer straightened his posture and started to laugh with you.
Now it was just you and him. Again.
“Thanks again, Makunouchi.” You said, bumping his shoulder amicably. You wanted to keep this as friendly as possible.
“Yeah! Come back anytime, Sendo-san!” Ippo smiled. You were ready to depart but...you didn’t want to leave. There was something in stuck in the air between you two after that kiss, chemistry so tangible you could almost touch it. You hesitated turning away from him and leaving, but you did finally after a couple of seconds.
“Sendo-san, wait!”
You whipped around. The Japanese champion stopped in front of you. He took hold your face, strong hands securing your face in front of his own. Your eyes fluttered closed as he placed his pliant lips gently on yours. It was a small kiss, one lasting only a couple of seconds, but it tingled on your tongue. Your eyes were still closed when he pulled away to let you leave. You bit your lip. Damn. What a guy…
You opened your eyes to see Ippo smiling pleasingly, snow dusting his shoulders and hair. You couldn’t help but feel laughter bubbling up in your chest again.
You just smiled though, almost giddily. You turned to catch the train you were almost certain left you but forgot something.
“Wait, Makunouchi!” You called out once more, jogging up to him. “Got any cash? I don’t have any money.”
Nice, you thought to yourself, way to ruin a moment.