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Ishigami Senku was in a honestly ridiculous situation after he had gone and done something.
Something he had never planned on doing, especially not while he still had so much to do.
Yet it had happened.
He'd gotten himself a girlfriend.
And her name was Kohaku.
He was completely serious when he said he hadn't planned on romance and relationships, but when one day the lioness had suddenly dragged him off to a secluded spot and confessed to being in love with him and not wanting to keep it a secret anymore, he found he couldn't bring himself to turn her down.
In fact, he had felt warm. Giddy. Happy. He was happy she liked him.
Because, and he wasn't sure when it even happened, he realized then and there he'd fallen for her too.
And why wouldn't he?
Kohaku was both kind and caring, but also strong psysically and emotionally, always ready to stand by his side and do whatever was needed to keep those she loved safe. She was exactly what he would've considered his ideal type. And she was also very attractive to boot.
He'd told her so in a few less words than that and nearly had his spine broken by the hug she'd given him.
Still, as much as he prefered his personal space and as painful as the hug had been, Senku had enjoyed it, especially when she let go of the crushing on, apologized and gave him a more gentle hug that he'd found himself returning, feeling at peace.
He had afterwards, however made it clear to her that while he does care for her, he still wasn't good at showing emotions and not to expect too much, to which Kohaku had laughed and nodded, agreeing that they could take it slow.
And take it slow they did.
In fact, they were even going too slow for Senku's liking.
Yes, they sought each other out more often, he'd let her grab his hand, she hugged him far more often that he sometimes even returned, but what they hadn't done yet was kiss.
They hadn't kissed yet despite being together for almost a month!
It was honestly ridiculous to think how a month ago he'd supressed his feelings for her so bad he had actually been oblivious to them and scoffed at the idea of kissing a girl, and now actually desired to do so.
One moment he and Kohaku had one time been close face to face just to talk about something when then his eyes had drifted to her pink lips and he found himself wondering if they'd feel as soft as they looked and the rest was history for him.
He guessed finally realizing his feelings and being honest with himself somehow awakened the more typical desires humans.
Part of him was pleased with Kohaku giving him his space and not pushing him out of his comfort-zone, but the other was disappointed she hadn't initiated anything more than what they were already doing.
She was always the one who took the initiative.
And he could have sworn he'd seen her looking at his mouth once or twice too so he was pretty sure she wasn't against it herself.
And why was Senku not just kissing her himself?
One simple reason. Because he was embarrased to ask.
His pride was one of his of his greatest attributes, but also his greatest weakness.
And he couldn't, or rather wouldn't ask his other friends for help either.
Everyone had been in total disbelief when he and Kohaku announced their relationship and most had been in denial for weeks, many having only come to terms with it since recently, thanks to his previous attitude regarding romance and Kohaku herself also having previously either turned down or been oblivious to advances to her.
And of the friends who woudn't have their minds completely broken again upon him asking advice on having your first kiss, those guys were worse than the ones who'd freak out.
Gen would smirk and give him some mentalist-thing instead and would tease him endlessly, Ryusui would laugh and snap his fingers and just tell him to grab what he desires and Ukyo would just give him an awkward smile and tell him to just talk to Kohaku as if it was that simple.
Ruri would be calm too but she'd tell him the same as Ukyo and he was also worried she'd accidentally tell Chrome who'd scream it for all to hear in shock or to her father who might try and re-break Senku's neck.
He really was on his own with this.
Knowing himself he was probably best off waiting for Kohaku to kiss him herself, but at this rate, that could take days, weeks, maybe even more months.
Unless... He got her to kiss him without asking somehow?
Yes, even if it was one kiss, he could maybe confirm he didn't mind and then Kohaku would definately not hold back anymore, just like how she now hugged him more freely!
Time to start planning and make himself a couple roadmaps! This was exhilarating!
Attempt #1
"Yo Lioness!" Senku called out as he walked up to Kohaku who was sitting on a random stump, sharpening a knife.
"Hey Senku! Also, don't call me that!" she greeted back before snapping back.
It held no real heat, though. They both knew the nickname was more a term of endearment from him, even before they started dating.
"What's up? Do you need anything?" she asked and he shook his head.
"Nope. Just came to show you something I think you'll like." he said, reaching into his toolbag and pulling out a small box, holding it in front of her face before flipping the lid off with his thumb.
"Sticks? Wait, why do they smell sweet." Kohaku asked confusedly as she stared at what was in front of her.
"Kukuku~ Because they are sweets. They're called pocky-sticks and they're a snack from back in my time. Several people had been complaining about missing more food from out time so me and the guys made these. Gotta admit though, Francois did most of the work with these." he explained, not even having to lie as several people had whined for more modern food.
He had wanted to deny them first when he'd gotten an idea, and gathered a handful of people to help gather ingredients.
"They're cookies dipped in chocolate!" Kohaku exclaimed happily as she pulled one pocky out, eyes shining and Senku chuckled again.
Her love for food would never not amuse him.
"Go ahead and try them. These are your share after all." he told her and didn't have to do so twice as she happily bit into her pocky-stick, letting out a high-pitched hum in delight.
She looked really cute with how her cheeks flushed and she closed her eyes as she nibbled her snack.
And then promptly started devouring the rest in a way that made her live up to her lioness nickname.
"Whoa whoa!" he cried panicked, managing to grab one stick just in time before she ate it before he could carry out his plan.
"Huh? What's wrong?" she asked around her full mouth.
"Just figured you'd wanna know about a little game that these things are used for." he told her, grinning internally when she leaned forward, obviously interested.
"The rules are pretty simple. We both take one end of this thing between our lips and start eating at the same time and whoever gets most wins." he explained, making sure to keep his usual casual smirk, despite how nervous he in truth was.
Because what Kohaku didn't know was that the pocky-game was famous for getting those playing it to "accidentally" have their lips bump together in an awkward kiss when trying to win, or have one party take the initiative when close enough.
His heart leapt when she returned a smirk of her own and agreed, leaning forward to bit one end of the pocky.
He quickly did so on his own end and held up three fingers to count down.
'Three... Two... One!' * CRUNCH CRUNCH*
Instead of the typical nibbling towards each other that most people did, a combination of Kohaku's competative nature and hunger made her chomp down nearly the whole stick, stopping only a hair's lenght away from Senku's lips where he had frozen in shock, watching her with wide eyes.
"I win!" she cheered triumphantly.
"R-Right..." Senku agreed because what else could he do?
"They tasted great too! Thanks, Senku! Say, I'd love to chat more but I got a planned training-session in a bit so I gotta het moving but these pocky-things definately gave me more energy! See you later!" Kohaku continued blissfully oblivious before giving him a quick hug and running off, leaving Senku on his own.
"You gotta be kidding me..." he muttered to himself, both at what happened and the fact he hadn't seen it coming.
He needed a new plan.
At least the pocky-sticks were loved all around and managed to motivate several people to work harder.
Attempt #2
His second attempt was more simple than the first one.
Lean over her shoulder, closer than she'd expect and when she'd turn her head to look at him, there'd be an "accidental" kiss.
It sounded cheesy and even too simple, but he'd seen it in several anime Yuzuriha and a few other girls had made him watch during group-hangouts back in school.
Now normally he wouldn't rely on something he'd seen in something of fiction, but like he said, this was so stupidly simple it could work out the same for him as those characters, except now it was planned.
Finding Kohaku was easy enough.
This time she was sitting in a field, carefully picking flowers, no doubt for Ruri or maybe Suika.
That fact that she was busy with something gave him the perfect excuse get close.
Slowly he walked closer, careful not to let her notice him and turn around too soon to greet him.
"Whatcha going?" he asked softly, kneeling behing her and peaking over her shoulder.
"Oh Senku!" she cried and out in surprise and turned to look at him.
Only instead of just turning she tried to get up too and ended up headbutting him in the chin with enough force to knock him over.
"Senku! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry!" Kohaku apologized as she leaned over him fussing.
"Ugh..." Senku could only groan and lay there.
He should have known better than to try something just bcause it worked in fiction.
Attempt #3
It was time for dinner and every single member if the Kingdom of Science was gathered together to eat Francois' delicious cooking, which was always an enjoyable event, not just because of the food but also about everyone being able to relax and unwind together with friends they hadn't seen for most of the day due to having different jobs to do.
"We got more ice!" Ryusui announced loudly as he and Suika asked up, both carrying a box of ice they'd gotten from the freezer to add to drinks since it was hot the last few days.
"Suika, are you okay?" Kohaku asked the younger girl as she walked up to their table and looking over Senku saw the little girl had a small bandage around her hand.
"Ah... I fell earlier and scrapped my hand. Ryusui wrapped it up for me, so now it only hurts a little." Suika explained, staring at her hand.
"Then how about I take the last pain away too? Come here. Mwah!" Kohaku offered with a smile before taking Suika's hand and pressing a kiss to it.
"It feels better already!" Suika giggled happily, squealing when she was pulled in a hug.
As he watched the interaction Senku couldn't help but smile.
As much as he loved Kohaku's fierce and strong side, he'd never get tired of seeing how tender and nurturing side. And he himself also adored Suika so seeing the two of them like this together made it even better.
Then he got an idea on the spot.
"Ouch! Damn, somehow burned by lip." he groaned and winced, bringing a hand to his mouth.
"You okay?" Kohaku asked, turning to look at him.
"Yeah, it just smarts a little. Unless you know a way to take the pain away?" he told her with a smirk, it widening into a grin when he saw her eyes lit up with recognition.
"I sure can! Come here!" she ordered and he eagerly obeyed, leaning forward, ready for her to "kiss it better".
Only to get a large chunk of ice shoved against his mouth.
"Hhmph?!" came his muffled cry of surprise and protest.
"Burns should be cooled, right?" Kohaku asked as she kept puching the ice against him.
"Yes, but don't you think this is a bit mu-Ack!" he confirmed but tried to explain this much wasn't needed when she pulled the ice away for a moment, only for her to right away shove it in his face again.
When he finally got her to easy up, promising he was fine now, both his food was cold and several of their friends were laughing at him.
Attempt #4
"Time for an eak-bray~!" Gen took it upon himself to decide that everyone should stop working for a bit and considering how many people were quick to stop whatever they were doing and plop to the ground, Senku decided he wasn't gonna bother arguing.
And while he wouldn't admit it out loud, he was actually grateful to stop working too and gratefully accepted on of the drinks Francois passed out. While he had gotten stronger and had more stamina then he used to have, he was still one of, if not the psysically weakest of their community.
Together with a few others he sat and chatted about a few random things when Kohaku made a distressed noise.
"What's wrong?" Senku asked, turning and finding her holding her bottle upside-down.
"I already finished it!" she explained with a pout, be it from thirst, the fact the drink tasted good or probably both.
"I think Francois already went back to to the restaurant to work on lunch but I'm sure they'd be happy to make you some more." Ukyo offered.
"Don't bother. Here you go, Lioness." Senku drawled, handing her his half-full bottle.
"Not a lioness! But are you sure?" Kohaku asked.
"Yeah, I'm not that thirsty anyway and since you're doing much more draining work it's only logical you need to hydrate more." he shrugged.
"You're the best, thanks!" he abruptly got hugged, nearly knocking him over, and had his bottle snatched but Kohaku who downed it in on go, making him snort and shake his head in fond exaspiration.
"Me oh my! Just look at Senku-chan being a devoted boyfriend!" Gen of course had to activate "annoy the shit out of Senku"-mode as he smirked at them.
"Mentalist..." Senku growld, not in the mood for his teasing.
"I suppose you are after all the only one to make sense to share food or drinks that have already touched your mouth like this. Wouldn't want Kohaku-chan to have something like an indirect kiss with anyone else, would we?" Kohaku froze at hearing this.
Never mind! Suddenly Senku didn't mind his teasing!
"Eh, guess so. Indirect isn't even that special." he shrugged his shoulders as casually as possible and shot a smirk towards Kohaku, hoping she'd get the hint, only to find her frozen in place, eyes wide with a look that could only be described as horrified.
Senku felt his spirit shatter at this.
Was she really actually grossed so grossed out by the idea of kissing him that-?
"I'VE BEEN KISSING MY SISTER, MY FATHER AND AT LEAST HALF THE VILLAGE FOR YEARS?!" she suddenly screamed, shooting to her feet, making the guys jump back in surprise.
At least she wasn't activaly making it clear she was disgusted at the idea of kissing Senku...
"Kohaku, he didn't mean-" he tried to explained only for her to sprint off to who knows where screaming.
After that it took them several hours to calm down her and the other villagers who heard and were panicking at the idea of "kissing" each other.
Attempt #5
Time for another attempt at an accidental, but actually not accidental kiss!
Together with Chrome, Suika, Gen and Ginro (who'd just wanted to get out of other work and spend most of the trip whining) they were out in the forest looking for materials to use and he and Kohaku had split up from the others and were going down a steep hill where at the bottom grew herbs perfect for medicine and salves.
The plan was really simple. Just pretend to lose your footing, fall on her and "accidentally" kiss her. They were almost at the bottom of the hill here lots of plants grew so the fall would be soft enough to not hurt either of them.
"Whoa!" he cried out as he dragged his foot throught the mud to make it appear he slipped and let himself fall forward towards Kohaku.
The next few seconds happened in slow-motion.
As he fell closer and closer Kohaku turned around, eyes going wide in surprise.
He was almost there.
His face was right in front of hers.
"Oof!" and suddenly she wasn't coming closer anymore.
Instead he felt arms wrapping around his body and then they weren't in slow-motion anymore and rapidly slid down the rest of the hill without Kohaku ever loosing her footing.
"That was close. Are you okay, Senku?" she asked when they finally reached stable ground and only then was he able to register what had happened.
Kohaku had caught him and was now holding him bridal-style.
Any other time this display of strenght and control would might have left him swooning (only in his head of course) but now he just felt defeated.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." He mumbled, not even bothering to struggle out of her arms as the others came to check up on them, having heard his shout.
And so the only thing plummeting to the ground that day was Senku's dignity.
Attempt #6
So the idea of falling on her, knocking her down and kissing her was a no-go since she'd probably manage to catch him every single time.
However, that didn't mean the plan couldn't happen the other way around.
Make sure Kohaku trips and falls on him and get a smooch out of it.
He'd actually already made and discussed plans for a possibly even better Steam Gorilla with the other generals and Kaseki, giving him a perfect excuse to set up his plan.
Before any of the others got there he spread out plans and equipment on the ground outside the lab. This was actually needed. What wasn't really needed was how he tied a rope tween two stakes he had struck in the ground. If anyone asked, he'd tell them the half-truth of it being meant to help Kaseki measure things out. Could he have just told him how far appart the stakes were or just laid the rope along the ground? Yes, but that way a certain someone wouldn't trip over it.
"Senku!" he stood up and turned around, finding Chrome running his way.
"Careful, watch the rope." he warned him. No need for unnessecary falls.
Slowly the others appeared and he went over the plans with them, anxiously waiting for Kohaku to appear.
"Oh, there you are, Kohaku!" Kaseki then called and turning around Senku saw the girl running up to them.
She didn't seem to have noticed the rope. Perfect.
Senku went to stand in front of the rope, in perfect range for her to fall right into him.
"Watch the rope!" Chrome then called out and Kohaku stopped.
"Oh, I hadn't noticed that. Thanks, Chrome!" she smiled as she stepped over the rope.
Yeah. Thanks Chrome...
"SENKU!" he was promptly snapped out of his sulking by a familiar voice shouting his name and looking up he saw Taiju running his way.
Before he or anyone else could warn the big oaf about the rope he was already there and tripped right over it, slamming full-force into senku who hadn't been able to dodge this time.
When Taiju got up he revealed Senku lying in a him-shaped imprint in the ground, unconsious with eyes swirling.
Attempt #7
After another day of work it was only natural for Kohaku to be hungry, but that day she had been with Senku's group again and they'd been on a roll and forgotten all about lunch, so now she was devouring everything on her plate with even more vigour then normally, especially the meat of which she had several pieces.
As Senku sat next to her eating his own food at a slower pace, he couldn't help but tease her a little.
"You keep insisting you're not a lioness, but this proofs the differ." he chuckled when she glared at him.
"Shut up. I'm hungry and this meat if my favorite! Ah, my last piece~" she whined, seeing how she was nearly done, making him laugh.
Then he got another idea.
"I don't have much left but I'm still willing to share." he told her, and when she looking back up have made sure to have only one small piece pocking out from his teeth as he smirked at her.
It wasn't a secret that Kohaku loved food. It also wasn't a secret that when she was hungry, she wasn't always the most rational.
Now, if she'd let her stomach take the lead over her head, then she'd most likely bite right into the piece in his mouth and they'd at least have a brush of the lips.
"Thanks!" she cheered happily, only instead of leaping at him and chomping down, she actually did the rational action of simply reaching over with her hand and ripping a piece off before popping it into her mouth.
Ugh! Out of all the times for her to learn to control herself!
Attempt #8
"Kohaku, come give me a hand with this." Senku called out to her, motioning for her to follow and trusting that she would.
"Help you with what, Senku?" she asked, jogging over to walk next to him.
"Nothing much. Just need some muscle to carry some stuff for Kaseki to melt and we both know if I do it on my own it'll take forever." he shrugged as they walked over to one of the supply closets.
"Ha, that would take a while, though you have gotten stronger than when we first met." she agreed, but gave his arm a soft squeeze.
Had it been anyone else, or her just a couple months ago Senku wouldn't have cared but not he couldn't help preening a little.
"Ladies first." he smirked, holding the door open for her, earning an amused snort from her as she walked inside.
What Kohaku didn't know however was that she had walked right into another one of Senku's plans to get her to kiss him.
Stepping in behind her he closed the door, leaving them in completely darkness.
He even faked a surprised cry to muffle the sound of him subtly locking the door.
"What happened?" he heard Kohaku ask.
"No clue, but the door's stuck." he told her, janking on it for emphasis.
"Any chance you can break us out of here?" he asked despite already knowing the answer.
Kohaku could definately break down the door and free them (he'd fix it himself later, no need to burden Kaseki even more), but just as she'd move closer, he'd move too since he'd remembered where she stood before it went dark, he'd be able to make a clear estimate how she'd move and know where her mouth would most likely be as she moved closer blindly and have an "accidental" kiss.
Only right when she moved in front of him she grabbed his shoulders and moved him out of her way.
"Sure, just let me- Wait, why are you smiling like that?" she asked and Senku froze.
How could he forget that she had ridiculously good sight and could probably see in the dark?!
"Ah... Just pleased I asked you of all people with me." he lied, glad when she hummed, seemingly accepting his answer before kicking down the door which fell flat to the ground.
"So what do we need again?" she then asked, smiling brightly.
In the end she ended up carrying three boxes stacked on top of each other with ease while he struggled with one box.
Attempt #9
Making more make-up was not something Senku had really planned on doing, having only ever made some for the mission of dolling Kohaku up to highten her chances of getting picked for the harem back at Treasure Island.
However, either she, Suika or one of the guys had told others about it and after that he'd gotten ambushed by modern-time women wanting back and ston-age women wanting to try it out.
He really had't felt like making it, but finally gave in after Gen pointed out how some would not give up for a long time, and how some might be more motivated to work harder if they could get a reward.
By now he'd made a couple products and many women were already walking around with colored and or highlighted features.
He however hadn't expected to find Kohaku rapidly smearing lipgloss on her mouth.
"Hey, I hadn't expected you of all people to actually want to wear make-up again." he told her as he approached her.
"Hm! Right, I really don't care then much for it but Minami told m to try it out more and this one tastes like berries too!" he held up little pink tube.
"Ah that's right. I almost forgot we made some stuff for on the mouth fruit flavored. So... Does it really taste that much like berries?" he asked as his eyes drifted to her pinker mouth.
"Yeah, would you like to have a taste?" she offered and his heart skipped a beat.
"Yes!" he blurted before coughing and clearing his throat, "I mean, sure why not?"
He'd didn't even have to ask himself, but she was offering!
Grinning he stepped closer, eyes never leaving her mouth.
Except when her hand got in the way to wipe at her mouth?
"What are you-? HRMPF!" he tried to ask when her hand slammed into his mouth and roughly rubbed.
"Ugh! What was that about?!" he snapped when she finally let go.
"I thought you wanted to taste, didn't you?" she just stared back and only then did Senku notice the faint taste of berries on his mouth.
Kohaku had smeared lipgloss on him.
"Right... I guess I can kinda taste berry but I'm gonna pass on putting this stuff on again." he sighed, carefully wipping his now sore mouth clean. Why did she have to be so damn strong?
Later he wasn't sure what annoyed him more about the situation.
The fact he had thought Kohaku offered to finally kiss him only to get assaulted, or that fact that even after cleaning the junk off, he still somehow smelled a little like it and had several people like Taiju leaning in way too close and sniffinf his face.
Attempt #10
Okay, so Senku had tried several times to get Kohaku to kiss him.
Some had been subtle hints, some not so subtle hints and many were bold attempts or just getting one, yet all had failed and he was getting a little desperate.
Which was why he was stalking throught the forest to where he knew Kohaku was doing some private training, carrying a mistletoe of all things.
He knew Kohaku knew what mistletoe were used for!
During last Christmas party several months ago Ryusui had insisted on putting up several mistletoe and there had actually been a couple kisses (and several slaps or punches to the face) between the members of the Kingdom of Science.
Back then he'd been neutral at seeing other share the affection and annoyed at those who tried to catch him under one but now he wished he and his lioness had already been together by then.
Well, no use wallowing about what could have been then. What really mattered is that this had to work!
He finally spotted her in a clearing, jumping around and swinging her sword as she battled imaginary enemies.
Seeing her distracted Senku quickly climbed a tree and hung the mistletoe on one of the branches.
"Kohaku!" he called out to her when he was done.
"Senku!" she beamed upon seeing him, rushing over to give him one of those hugs he had grown to love.
"Sup. Thought I'd bring you a snack for after training before you headed back." he told her, pulling out a pastry Francois had made.
This wasn't even a complete lie. Kohaku was always extra hungry after training.
"Thanks!" she happily took it, humming in delight as she ate.
"Kohaku," Senku called for her attention again, "Do you see what's having above us?"
"Huh? That... That's a mistletoe!" he gasped in surprise.
"Kukuku, great eye like always. And what do we know about mistletoe?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow, watching in delight as her eyes lit up with recognition.
"Oh, oh, oh! Hang on, I know this!" she bounced into place, "Mistletoe are a Mistletoe is a hemi-parasitic plant that grows on the branches of trees. While it performs this photo-something with with getting energy from light, it also takes water and nutrients from the tree. It's got these white berries but they and the whole plant are poisonos to eat, but some mistletoe can be used to make herbal medicine! There! How did I do?!"
She was glowing with pride after finishing her ramble while he stared with his mouth open, having expected her to talk science to him the least of all.
"Y-you're ten billion percent correct but Kohaku-" "Ha! See I told you I pay attention to all the stuff you teach us! Take that, Chrome!" she cut him off again, too pumped at being able to answer a question he hadn't even meant to ask like that, throwing her fist up as she cheered to herself.
"I'm gonna tell him right now! Can't wait to see his face!" she cheered and without waiting for Senku to reply raced back to the village.
When she was gone Senku stood still for another five seconds before breaking his normally controlled character and furiously ripping the mistletoe from the tree and throwing it as was away as he could (and breaking his own record).
"Mistletoe in may?! What the hell was I thinking?!"
Attempt #11
After a long day of work and cleaning up after dinner it was time for everyone to unwind and relax.
Senku always enjoyed these moments, especially now as he watched Kohaku happily talking with some of the girls, smiling fondly to himself.
From the way Kohaku was acting excited and making a power-pose and Kirisame was nodding along seriously, he guessed they were talking about fighting.
"And I really didn't notice her at all and barely had time before she came at me!" he heard his girlfriend shout gesturing to Kirisame as several more people gathered around.
"Hm~ I didn't know you met before. Kiri, why didn't you tell me about meeting such a cutie?" fucking Moz then appeared and of course had to smirk sleazily at Kohaku, though she didn't respond other than rolling her eyes with obvious disgust on her face.
"First of all, you're as much as a scumbag as you've always been," Kirisame told her former partner, "And second, even if you were actually a decent person, at the time I believed her to already be in a relationship." she blushed and looked away as she said the last part.
"You thought the Kohaku was already in a relationship then? Why would you think so?" Suika asked.
"Ah! That's ight-ray! After everyone, I mean almost everyone, 'scuse me, on the Perseus got petrified, we got caught while at the cliffs and had to make an excuse for being there. Since Kohaku-chan had shouted about wanting the lab, we decided to make her desire her darling Lab-kun!" Gen explained, gesturing dramatically at Senku to rolled his eyes at the memory of the ridiculous way they avoided more fighting and possibly being caught.
"I actually had to kiss him to make it believeble! It wasn't on the mouth, though!" Kohaku laughed as unlike Senku she found the memory funny.
Then Senku got anothr idea.
"How about you show them how it went?" he offered with his usual smirk.
After all, while he definately wouldn't mind getting a kiss on the cheek again like on Treasure Island, that kiss had been right next to kiss mouth and if he were to just turn his head a little bit to the left...
To his delight she didn't just confirm she agreed but went ahead and bellowed "I WANT THE LAAAAAB!"
Senku allowed Gen to drag him towards Kohaku, dubbing him as "Lab-kun" again.
Then Kohaku grabbed his face and pulled him closer, just like before.
Quickly, just before her lips touched his cheek he tried to turn his head.
Keyword is tried.
Kohaku apparantly had a stronger then expected hold on him and kept his face completely steady as she kissed his cheek the same goofy way she had done before.
Senku was getting so tired.
"Whoa! You're even making the same dead fish eyes as you did back then!" Kohaku laughed as she pulled away.
He felt dead inside after all.
Attempt #12
"Woohoo~!" several people including Senku cheered as they dove into the water at the river where almost everyone had gone swimming.
Due to the last couple days having had unexpected hotter weather he'd agreed to let everyone have a break from the many psysically demanding tasks they were usually working on. As much as he prioritized getting whatever they needed to do done as quickly and efficiently as possible, he prioritized everyone's health much more and wouldn't force them to work themselves into a heatstroke.
Also, even in the old world he had actually loved going swimming with Taiju during the summers.
It was on of the few things that could drag him away from whatever science-project he had been working on and he liked to think he was a pretty decent swimmer too.
At least, by normal people standards, but unfortunately still not a match for the craziness of the super-human freaks their gang included when a few were roughhousing too hard and somehow ended up creating a couple waves large and strong enough to drag Senku underwater.
Just before he could gather his wits he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and drag him back up.
He groaned softly, peeking his eyes open and closing them again as water that got in them stung.
Then he heard voices all around.
"Senku! Are you okay?!" "Do you think he swallowed too mych water?!" "Kohaku, get him to shore and give him CPR!"
The last bit spiked his interest. All he had to do was stay still for a couple more moments and...
"Senku!" Kohaku's panicked voice broke his thoughts.
On second throught, no.
He wasn't doing this to her.
He wasn't going to take advantage of her genuinely fear for his life.
He groaned again and opened his eyes and the firt thing he saw were Kohaku's worried blue ones, brimming with tears.
"Senku! You're okay!" she gasped before throwing her arms around his neck.
"Oof! Yeah, I'm fine not, Lioness. Mostly thanks to you." he told her, wrapping one arm around her waist and using the other to rub her back.
He really was a scumbag for even considering what he had for just a second.
+1
Senku was officially desperate.
He'd tried so many plans go get Kohaku to kiss him, either willingly or "accidentally" to have her realise she'd want more, but none of them had worked and he was completely out of ideas!
And to make matters even worse, Gen and Ryusui had figured out what he was trying to do and things had gone exactly as expected with Gen laughing at and teasing him mercilessly and Ryusui had decided to "help" Senku by calling for Kohaku so Senku could "take what he wanted" and Senku had to bribe him with several nonsense items he's need to reinvent to get him to drop it.
Despite his nearly endless teasing, Gen had however gone what Senku had assumed to the the Ukyo-way and told him he needed to have an honest conversation with Kohaku instead of playing mind-games.
Regarding Gen this usually meant he was ten billion percent certain of what he was saying and wanted others to be so too.
"Senku!" he jumped at hearing his name and turning to where it came from he found Kohaku running his way.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked when she reached her.
"I wanna show you something!" she told him, looking so excited he couldn't decline even if he wanted to.
"Sure, lead the way, Lioness." he chuckled when she scolded him for th nickname again before taking his hand and pulling him along.
It wasn't a far walk, going theough the forest till the reached a meadow filled with flowers and even a small stream going through it.
It was lovely but what made it even better more so was the fact that the setting sun cast everything into a park golden glow, the water in the stream sparkling.
"I found this a while ago and thought how if there'd be anyone I'd wanna share this with, it would be you." Kohaku's voice drew his attention back to her and- Oh.
Kohaku had always been a beautiful young woman, from her bright blue eyes to her messy blonde hair and her strong yet still feminine physique, but standing there, painted in gold from the sun and smiling up at him, she was...
Extraordinary.
And this gorgeous, strong yet gentle woman wanted to share this moment with him.
He really wanted to kiss her.
'Just be honest with her and yourself.' a voice sounding suspeciously like Gen's sounded in his head.
He wanted to decline but looking in her eyes, he decide 'screw it'. Even if he ended up embarrassing himself, he'd survive.
"K-Kohaku?" he hated how he stuttered, clearing his throat as she looked at him in confusion.
"Yes? Is something wrong?" she asked, looking worried.
"No! I mean, no, nothing's wrong. Promise." he told her, mentally shouting at himself to get a grip already.
Before some of his attempts at getting her to kiss him he'd been nervous, but now it was definately ten billion times worse.
"It's just..." he stopped and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting out slow to try and calm down a little, "You know we've been together for a while now."
"Yes, we have." she agreed, lightly squeezing the hand she had never let go.
"R-right, so as you probably know, most relationships typically have several stages in which it evolves." he babbled, eyes shooting all over the place.
"And I- what I mean is- Maybe we could- Ugh!" he slumped and hung his head in frustration.
"Senku?" he felt her hands on his shoulders, "What is it, Senku? You know you can tell me anything."
That did it.
"Kohaku," he lifted his head slightly, "Can I kiss you?"
A beat passed. Than another. And then Kohaku laughed.
Senku felt his heart sink.
This was literally the worst outcome possible that he'd been so afraid of.
He blew it and may have made Kohaku realise she didn't wanna be with such a loser after all and ruined his first and probably only relationship ever.
Just as he was about to walk away to despair on solitude, the hands on his shoulders janked him forward, making him stumble into Kohaku with a not so dignified yelp.
"K-Kohaku?" his hands hovered over her back, unsure of what to do.
"I was wondering when you'd ask."
"...What?"
"You're not as smooth as you think you are, you know. I just wanted to see how long it would taken you to ask to kiss me." she pulled back a little to grin at him and Senku was pretty sure his face resembled a ripe tomato.
"Then... If you were waiting, why didn't you just kiss me?" he dared to ask.
"Because, don't you think that since I've been taking the initiative almost all the time, it should be your turn to put in some work?" she giggled back, shoulders shaking.
"I guess that's fare." he sighed in agreement.
"So... Can I kiss you now?" he then asked.
"Hmm... Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay."Kohaku confirmed again before closing her eyes and puckering her lips a little. She was waiting for him.
That nervousness earlier? Go ahead and multiple that another ten billion times.
"Okay... Um... Hang on." he swallowed dryly and carefully grabbed her shoulders too before slowly, carefully leaning down.
Closer and closer till his face was right in front of her's, lips a hair's lenght appart.
He studied her face one fast time and found nothing but relaxed trust.
So he closed his own eyes and closed the gap.
Wow. Just wow. Who would have thought something as simply as a little touch of lips could make him feel like he was on fire with his heart about to burst from his chest with how fast it was beating? And loved it. This feeling as he finally kissed Kohaku was definately worth all the trouble he went through to try and get it.
After a few seconds he carefully pulled away, opening his eyes to find Kohaku looking like he felt. Happy and at peace.
The stared at each other for as if in a trance before, simultaneously bursting into awkward giggles, his arms going around her waist and her's around his neck.
"So? Was it worth the wait?" he asked teasingly, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Ten billion percent." she answered before janking him down into another, deeper kiss.
"Wha... What?" he asked shen she finally let him go, completely out of breath.
He wasn't sure if he liked the way she was looking at him or not.
"It was worth the wait, but it was a pretty long wait! I'm thinking of making up for lost time!" Kohaku explained herself before she pounced.
"HHHMFP!"