Work Text:
An was sitting at her desk, eating pocky and scrolling absentmindedly on her phone. Classes finished a while ago and she was waiting for Akito to return from helping the soccer club, to discuss song lyrics. It was taking a while so she was bored.
She almost dozed off when the door opened and said guy finally entered the classroom.
“Took you long enough,” she said while surpassing a yawn.
He rolled his eyes and sat at his usual seat, facing towards her desk.
“After we finished wrapping things up, everyone insisted I play a game with them too, so we tossed the ball around for a bit.”
At her uninterested gaze, he sighed and pulled out a notebook and began talking about their newest song’s lyrics. An put down her phone and tried to focus. This was going to be the opener for their next event.
She started spacing out not long after though. While Akito was editing, she remembered the latest social media post from her feed. Today was pocky day which was celebrated by playing the pocky game. She always wanted to try it, even considering what might happen next. The opportunity just didn’t appear.
A sharp pain above her nose interrupted her train of thoughts and she glared upwards. Akito had flicked her forehead.
“Hey, what was that for?!”
“You wouldn’t answer me earlier, stupid. So, can I have one?”
He was pointing at the pocky box. Shrugging, she took one out and almost gave it to him when she got an idea. Pointing the stick towards herself instead, she said:
“You want one? Then let’s play the pocky game!”
He looked at her dumbfounded. “You really want to play this childish game?”
“Are you scared of losing?” she smirked.
He rolled his eyes again. No way this cheap provocation was going to work.
She tried again. “C’mon, it will be fuuuun~”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Why does she want to play this cheesy excuse of a game that’s more often than not an excuse to kiss the other person so badly?
Ignoring his exasperation, she continued: “The winner gets a favor from the loser. If you win, you earn a free taste-test for our brand new super special extra-large chocolate pancakes!”
Akito perked up at that, but he quickly tried (and failed) to hide his interest: “Extra-large pancakes?”
She grinned. “You in?”
“…Fine.”
And that’s how he ended up on the other side of the chocolate stick. The rules of the game were simple: keep eating the stick until it breaks, and the one who breaks it is the loser. Easy enough, right?
But the reality was a bit different. The one who was more likely to break the stick was the one who was more affected by the close distance. So that’s why he was doing his best to act nonchalant, taking measured bites. He had to admit the girl in front of him was pretty cute though. Her long, starry sky-colored hair framed her face nicely. Her amber-colored eyes that averted his gaze were also beautiful and her red face was quite charming in its own way.
He chuckled against the pocky. Yeah, this girl was pretty.
On the other side of the chocolate stick, An glared at him. Clearly aware she was at a disadvantage, him being all smug about it only annoyed her more. She thought maybe it wouldn’t be as embarrassing if her game partner was her crush, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Each bite brought them closer which made her heart race more, so she’s been mostly nibbling on her end of the stick, looking anywhere but at his face.
Ah, I’m so pathetic. Even though the game was her suggestion, the blue-haired girl couldn’t even play it. Akito was definitely going to make fun of her later. The thought irritated her so much, An decided to get serious. Taking a deep breath first, she took a bigger bite, which lowered the distance between their faces to only five centimeters.
It was her turn to feel smug, seeing his surprised face. See, I can play this game too. It was too early to celebrate though, as Akito grinned again, but didn’t move forward. She blinked. Up until this point, they’ve been taking turns, even if his bites were bigger and hers smaller. Five minutes passed and they were still in this position.
Well it’s not like they have to take turns, it wasn’t in the game rules after all.
As she tasted the slightly melted chocolate, An was hit with a dreadful realization: he was waiting for her to eat the rest of the stick. Feeling her face heat up again, she cursed under her breath before bracing herself for another bite. If that’s how he wants to play, fine. She was going to take a bite, then another and she was going to win and have him—
Crack
The stick broke. She let out a small whine while Akito chuckled. She lost. The sweet taste of chocolate softened the bitter taste of defeat.
“That wasn’t so bad after all,“ he smirked.
An groaned. There he goes flaunting his victory.
“Next time pick a game you can win~”
Grr, just shut up already.
“So when can I drop by your place? And can you add some ice cream to my pan–
Before he could finish the sentence, An grabbed him by the collar and closed the distance between them. He didn’t even notice she stole the remaining piece of pocky when she pulled back.
“The offer was only for our super special extra-large chocolate pancakes, idiot,” she said while licking her lips. “Feel free to drop by anytime this week~”
And with that, she stood up, grabbed her things and headed towards the door. Before she left the classroom, she turned back towards him:
“Oh yeah, bring the lyrics with you and we’ll brainstorm more!”
He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to hear her though. Flushed face hidden behind his fingers, he pondered: in this game where getting under the other person's skin was the best strategy, who actually won today?