Chapter Text
Important:
I’m still not sure whether this story will be SatoSugu/SuguSato (it might be, or it might not) for now let's say its One-Side.
It will mainly focus on Gojo discovering his feelings and himself in the process.
The Pocky Game
Year 2005, September
Classes were going to start later today. Yaga, the teacher, was in an important meeting.
Shoko, who had arrived first, was sitting with her laptop, watching a video while she waited.
The second person to enter the classroom was Gojo.
“What’s that, Shoko? What are you watching?” he asked, curious about what his classmate was doing.
“Nothing, just a video a friend sent me of two idiots playing the pocky game.”
“Playing what? What’s that?” Gojo asked, genuinely confused, moving closer to where his friend was sitting.
“You don’t know what it is? You’ve never played it?” Shoko asked, raising an eyebrow.
“If I’m asking, it’s because no, Shoko, duh.”
Shoko rolled her eyes and replied:
“It’s a game where both people put one end of the stick in their mouths and start moving closer to the middle. The first one to pull away or bite the pocky loses. If both reach the middle, they end up kissing and it’s a tie.”
“How silly. It sounds like something you’d only want to do with someone you like,” Gojo said.
“Well, yes, although people of the same sex play it too. It’s more like seeing who chickens out first.”
“Hey, what are you watching? Oh, the pocky game? We should try it sometime,” Geto said as he approached them to see what they were doing, placing a hand on the back of Shoko’s chair.
“Yeah, we should try it,” Gojo said.
Shoko raised an eyebrow and said:
“Gojo, you literally just said two seconds ago that it was an stupid game.”
“Yeah, but… I’ve never played it. I can’t go through life being the only person who’s never played it,” Satoru said, shrugging.
“Whatever you say,” she replied, rolling her eyes again.
“You’ve never played it, Satoru?” Geto asked.
“No, I never went to a regular school like you guys, and I don’t really have many friends either,” Gojo said, scratching the back of his neck.
“Oh, right. I’d forgotten.”
/////
Two weeks after that day, Geto walked into the classroom with a box of pocky in his hand and a huge grin on his face.
“Guys, after class we can play,” Geto said, showing them the box he was holding.
“I never agreed to do it,” Shoko said.
“Come on, Shoko, don’t be shy. Just once,” Gojo said, smiling.
“Agh… if there’s one thing I’m not, it’s being shy. I’ll do it just so you stop bothering me.”
Both men smiled victoriously.
/////
After class, the three of them stayed in the classroom, something they often did. Sometimes they stayed to work on an assignment or report, or they simply hung out.
This time, the excuse was the game.
“So, how do we do this? Who goes first?” Geto asked.
“Rock, paper, scissors, and whoever wins goes last, then we rotate,” Gojo said.
Shoko nodded. She wasn’t really interested in the activity in front of her, but she had said she’d do it and wasn’t about to go back on her word.
“Rock, paper, scissors,” the three of them said in unison.
Shoko: Rock
Gojo: Paper
Geto: Scissors
“Mmm… this could be considered a tie,” Gojo said.
“Let’s go again,” Geto replied.
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
Shoko: Rock
Gojo: Rock
Geto: Paper
“You two go first,” Geto said with a smile; he didn’t really care about the order, he was just happy to have won.
Once both Shoko and Gojo had one end of the pocky stick in their mouths, Geto started counting to three so they could begin:
“One, two, three.”
Not even a second passed before Gojo bit the stick, leaving it held only by his friend.
“No, wait, it was an accident. It’s my first time playing. Another chance, this one doesn’t count,” Gojo said immediately.
Geto laughed and Shoko rolled her eyes.
“Fine, but it’s the last opportunity,” Shoko finally replied.
“This time I’ll do it right.”
“One, two, three.”
And this time it was Shoko who bit the pocky, when their mouths were already very close to each other.
“Not even in my worst nightmares would I want to kiss you, Gojo.”
Satoru stuck out his tongue and replied:
“I’m sure you’ve kissed uglier people than me.”
“Maybe, but my problem with you goes beyond how you look. It’s your detestable personality,” she answered, making a disgusted face.
Gojo rolled his eyes and said:
“Shut up. I know you’d be way too bored without me.”
“Stop fighting and let’s continue,” Geto said.
“So, how do we do it now?” Gojo asked.
“Play rock, paper, scissors again, and whoever loses goes again,” Geto said.
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
Shoko: Paper
Gojo: Rock
“Your turn,” Shoko said, grabbing a stick and handing it to Gojo while taking another one to eat.
“Hey, don’t eat them, they’re for playing,” Gojo said.
“We’re not going to use all of them,” she replied.
“Anyway, are you going to keep fighting or are we going to keep going?” Geto said.
“Let’s keep going,” Gojo replied as he put the pocky in his mouth and moved closer to Suguru.
“Just so you know, I haven’t played much, but I’ve never lost. Only once, and it was on purpose because I knew the girl liked me,” Geto said with a challenging look before taking the other end of the stick between his lips.
They both started moving toward the middle. Neither seemed willing to back down, and they didn’t.
Their lips met for just a few seconds.
‘What is this strange feeling in my stomach? Is this what it feels like to kiss someone?’ Gojo thought. He had never kissed anyone before that moment.
Shoko noticed something unusual in one of her friend’s expressions after that and, in her surprise, almost dropped the pocky that was still in her mouth.
‘Oh my God… that, I really didn’t expect,’ she thought, but she didn’t say anything.
“It was a tie. Now it’s your turn,” Gojo said.
Geto took a stick from the box, placed it between his lips, and moved closer to his friend.
And once again, Shoko was the one who lost.
“So, Gojo, what did you think of the game you couldn’t stand not being part of?” Shoko asked him.
“Fun, but I guess it’s only worth playing once with each person. There’s no point if you already know what the outcome will be.”
“Great. I guess now we can eat these then,” Shoko replied, shaking the box.
“They’re all yours. I don’t really like them that much,” Geto said.
“Don’t eat them all, I want some too,” Gojo said as he moved closer to grab one.