Note: Happy Pocky Day. :)
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x hana x
+ yori +
- pocky -
"I hate him."
Sora sighs loudly as she sits at the front counter of her mother's flower boutique in the late afternoon. She had just picked up her phone to see a screen that only lit up the time-five minutes since she last checked it. The fact that there are no new alerts, no popups of a new message annoys her immensely.
There are no customers to hear her fret. Her mother is in the back office with the door closed, so it's just her, the wide array of flowers lined along the walls and in the center of the shop, and the blonde hair she sees peering from one corner of the shop as he leans back in his chair, revealing an inquisitive, blue-eyed stare.
"What did Tai do this time?" he asks.
"He promised to hang out today," she replies, with exasperation. "Matt, I think he forgot about me again."
"Figures. It's a wonder you accepted his request to go out with him."
She stares daggers at him, and he responds with a look of amusement before returning to sit up in his chair and disappearing into the corner. Her phone buzzes then, and she quickly snatches it, but her shoulders slump when she discovers that it's just Mimi replying to her last message, saying she had nothing to do tonight, and that she hoped that Tai would actually show up this time.
Tai had been her best friend for years, but Sora noticed they had become increasingly closer throughout. It got to the point of their junior year in high school, where she agreed to starting something with him before he even asked the question.
There wasn't much of a change in their relationship when that happened. They were already practically joined at the hip at school during breaks. Tai never missed her tennis matches, and Sora always cheered him on at his soccer games. The only difference, she once divulged to Mimi while blushing furiously, was the copious amounts of lip locking and tongue wrestling between them.
"Just call it 'sucking face' Sora," Mimi told her then, giggling. "That's too cute!"
But as the weeks progressed, it grew typical for Tai to cancel plans on her. At first, he blanked on her about soccer practice being on the days they planned. Then, it went to helping his parents at home, or being stuck helping Kari with her homework.
When she called him one day about why she waited for him for half an hour after their meeting time, he confessed that he was out with guys from class at the arcade. That was when she lost her temper, making him apologize profusely.
Tai hasn't answered his phone at all that afternoon, to her absolute displeasure. Letting out another groan, she takes out a box of chocolate Pocky sticks, grabbing two and taking a bite. Her mother would scold her if she saw her eating in front of customers while she was on the job, but at this point, Sora's too upset to care, and she needed her fix.
Plus, she has a strong addiction to them.
"Isn't that your second box already?" Matt asks, now appearing in front of her. She glares at him again.
"Can't I eat my Pocky in peace?" she asks in a sulky tone.
"As if they were yours to begin with-Hey!"
Sora smacks his hand away as he tries to reach for one. Everyone knew she was protective of her sweet snack.
"I'll mind my own business, then," he says with a hint of mockery, walking away as her glare remains. She observes the acoustic guitar he's holding at its neck as he takes a seat at the front of the boutique.
Matt liked to hang around at the boutique whenever Sora helped her mom mind the shop. She never asked why, but she always figured that the two of them had the similar nature of being reserved and wanting to be on their own at times. The boutique had consistently had steady foot traffic; however, there was never more than a handful of people at a time, giving just the right amount of a quaint, tranquil environment that Sora found herself content with. Matt seemed to agree, and found a comfortable spot in the back corner behind the display of azaleas to keep to himself, whether to work on class assignments, or simply to read a book.
From time to time, including this instance, he also sat at the storefront and strummed his guitar. He eventually became the boutique's personal busker, unashamedly charming customers in all the while. Sora's mother even tried to pay him for his charitable performances, to which he laughed nervously and politely declined.
As Sora listened to Matt plucking a soft, chill melody, a familiar person steps into the shop, making the bell at the top of the door frame chime softly. He hesitates with each step, his hands in his beige pant pockets.
"Joe?" Sora perks her head, munching on three biscuits this time.
"You've got to stop eating those," he says, with deep concern. "Your addiction is unhealthy."
Sora glowers at him, but she decides not to retort with a sarcastic comment. Joe is too nice, and even with his neatly combed navy blue hair, she notices that he's nervous.
"What brings you in today?" she asks.
"Well, it's a flower shop, isn't it?" he asks back, with an antsy laugh. "I wanted to surprise Mimi."
Sora's face softens, feeling her heart melt. Joe and Mimi had been dating for almost two months already, and Sora saw how happy they were together. When it came to talking about their relationship, Joe's face turned as red as a tomato like it did before her now, and Mimi always turned into a giggly mess.
She leaves the counter to meet him in the middle of the shop. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"Well…" he looks up with a thoughtful expression. "I've tried asking what kind she likes, but I freak out the moment I do. She says pink is her favorite color, but I also see her drawn towards purple, too."
Sora fawns internally, also holding back her envy. She always admired how much attention he gave Mimi. She also knew Mimi adored surprises, and knowing that she currently sat at home with nothing to do, Joe's flowers will have her melt onto him on the spot. She looks around, spotting at the corner of her eye, the deep purple flowers shaped like bells, draping over each other.
"Here," she says, motioning him over to them. "A bouquet of these will have you stealing her heart like you always do."
"They do look really pretty," he observes. "Just like her," he adds with a mumble.
Sora melts even more at the comment, but also sighs in a huff as she brings the bell flowers to the counter to wrap them. As she rings Joe up at the register, her eyes avert to her phone that lay still nearby.
She hated Tai at that moment.
After she gives him his change, she wishes Joe good luck. He leaves the store, exchanging nods with Matt exchange as he passes. Continuing to sulk, Sora discovers, to her dismay, that the Pocky box she reached her hand into has been emptied by her obsessive eating. Frowning at the fact that she no longer has her comfort snack to binge, she rests her chin against the palms of her hands, and lets herself consume the relaxing tones from Matt's guitar playing.
Soon, the sky appears less brighter from where she sits, the street lights begin to glow, there's still a lack of response from Tai, and Matt returns inside to pack up his guitar. Before he leaves, he drops a yellow rose in front of her, along with a pocketful of coins.
"Cheer up, Pocky Monster," he quips, patting the top of her strawberry brown hair. "You'll always have me."
"Charmed, I'm sure," she says with an eye-roll, but she smiles warmly at his gesture, and she sees him leave through the door, the bell chiming over him.
Her mother appears from the back office a while later, surprised to see Sora still sitting at the front counter, her homework now placed in front of her.
"Shouldn't you have left hours ago?" she asks, and Sora writes in her notebook, unfazed.
"He forgot again, mom," she replies glumly. "I'll close up shop, then."
Sora hears her mother make a 'tsk' sound. "Your taste in men, Sora. It's terrible."
"Don't I know it, mother?" is her dry response.
After her mother leaves, there are no more customers entering the store, giving Sora the chance to finish up her homework. Fifteen minutes before closing time, she decides that the slow night should end. As she opens the register to count the earnings, she hears the bell chime at the door once more. She looks up at who had just entered, and her wide eyes of concentration narrow at the sight of his bushy, brown hair, wearing the type of casual shirt and shorts he changes into after soccer practice, but his face wears a frown.
"I'm sorry, Sora," is Tai's rueful greeting. She says nothing as her anger rises from within, and returns to counting the change in the drawer.
"Sora… I'm an idiot. I'm sorry," he continues.
"Go away," she responds, refusing to look at him.
"I got caught up at soccer-the noob on the team wanted me to show him some of my tricks. Practice went over-Sora…"
She continues to count each coin, one by one, deliberately dropping each one slower from the last to avoid talking to him.
"Sora," he commands desperately. She looks up to see him standing across the counter.
"What? " she asks with a sharp tone.
"I'll make it up to you."
"How?"
"Well, uh…" he looks around, as though his words caught up with him before actually planning how. "I'll buy you flowers."
Sora stares at him in disbelief for a few moments until she throws back a laugh.
"Yeah, real thoughtful, Yagami." Her sarcasm is apparent. "Your girlfriend who looks at flowers all day is going to forgive you just by doing that."
His look is adamant. "At least let me try."
"Fine, but I'm not helping you choose them." She glares at him but she concedes, dropping the rest of the change into the drawer. She lost count, anyway.
Sora makes her way down the counter, and he follows along each step. As she meets him at the middle of the shop, she wonders with a small glimmer of hope whether he actually knew what her favorites flowers were.
It amuses her when she follows him around, surveying the floral variety with deep concentration. As he massages his chin with his thumb and index finger, he starts off by pointing at the flower with white petals splattered with red. The next he chooses is one that is bright pink with five pointed petals, followed by a full on yellow daisy, and lastly, another yellow with short thin petals.
Gecko Orchid, Scarlet Rose, Gold Gerbera, and Venerable Chrysanthemum. None of them, of course, are Sora's favorite, and as she bound them together in the wrapping, she can't help but burst into a fit of laughter. The flowers are too bright and too flashy for her taste, and she doesn't approve of the color combination at all.
He grimaces at her as he hands her his cash. "At least give me points for trying, Takenouchi."
She realizes fully well that he has no clue what any of her favorites are, but his effort certainly lightens her mood.
"Keep your money," she says, stopping herself from laughing, but stifling further giggles.
"I'm trying to make it up to you, and you're paying for your own flowers…"
"Keep it," she insists. "It'll ruin my count."
She closes his hand on his money, but her hand stays on his for a while. Even for an idiot, she finds his actions sweet and sincere.
Tai waits for her as she finally finishes up recounting the register and locks up the shop. She knows why he's waiting, but she doesn't want him to stay too long. Her irritation with him hasn't disappeared.
"Do you have any plans right now?" he asks.
"No," she says. "Maybe we should do something. And maybe I'll flake out on you at the last minute."
He makes a face. "Sora."
"We're not going to hang out at your own convenience, Tai. If you really like me, you wouldn't be treating me this way. It's really irritating. I'm going home."
She turns from him, hoping she gets the message across.
"At least let me walk you home," he says from behind her, making her stop.
Sora sighs, turning to face him again. They'll be going down the same street, and boarding the same train. His house is not too far from hers, either. She waits as he approaches her, conceding to his wishes, once again. If she said no, he would just be dragging his feet behind her, anyway.
He tries to hold her hand as they walk together, but she slips her hand away.
They stop by the local convenience store. He says he is starving and can't wait until he gets home. As he peruses the aisles, she saunters around in the others to avoid him.
When he pays at the front, she stops at the section with biscuits and sweets, where her eyes widen at their section full of Pocky. Checking her pockets, she curses to herself when she realizes she had used up all her money from her school lunch today.
Her sulky attitude returns. They even have the good flavors out. The strawberry with the flakes. The orange draped in chocolate. Her favorite one appears to have been cleared from the shelf, but she'd settle for any of the other flavors.
She thinks to ask Tai to buy her some.
No, her mind decides in rejection. She's too irritated to talk to him.
Outside the store, he meets with her and he's carrying a plastic bag stuffed full of who knows what.
"Looking to feed a whole city, Yagami?" she quips.
"I'm trying to be better about being more considerate," he replies in jest. "I thought I'd start big."
She knows he's being sarcastic, but she can't help but feel offended.
He notices her changed expression and suddenly he's full of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Sora," he repeats.
"Let's just go," she mutters, turning to walk from him again.
When they're on the train, it's not as busy with people this time of the evening, so they find seats to sit together. He sets the bouquet of flower and bag on the seat opposite hers. She's quiet in her silent protest, but she knows he's quiet as he stews in his own remorse. Observing this fact, she leans against him, resting her head on the crook of his neck.
Then, she closes her eyes as she listens to him fish through the plastic bag and take something out. As she hears him tearing this something, she feels him nudging her lightly. She opens her eyes which fall on the open box that he holds it in front of her.
It's Pocky. White Chocolate Almond Crush.
Her favorite.
"Was that the last box?" she asks, eagerly grabbing a stick and snapping a bite.
"You could say that," he says. "I pretty much swiped the whole shelf of them."
Sora lifts her head to turn and face him as she munched on.
"What would you do that for?"
"For you."
She meets his chocolate brown eyes that await her reaction, and he smiles at her.
Sora realizes how Tai remembers the oddest things. For one, given their common love for soccer, he remembers her favorite soccer players by heart. There are other things she noticed, however, like earlier that day when she used the last of her money to buy curry rice for lunch-the curry, which she always complained didn't have enough carrots. He bought the same thing, and the first thing he did was move his carrots over from his to her plate with his chopsticks. Another time, he handed her a cassette tape of a song she thought was okay, but he bought it for her because it was a song he always kept hearing her sing.
She wants to be upset with him, but she feels her cheeks warm up at this unexpected gesture. She realizes then, that she doesn't have to be so jealous about Joe surprising Mimi. She's at a loss for words, but all she does is take another stick and hold it up for him to take a bite.
Tai chews, still looking at her. "I'm surprised you're sharing, Sora," he observes.
Sora raises her eyebrows at this truth. She isn't ashamed to admit how many times she's eyed a box of Pocky hanging out from his school bag, then stealing them for herself. Including the box she finished off earlier.
"Consider this a lesson on being considerate. You have to start small with these kinds of things," she says, and he chortles at her reply.
She then pulls another one out as he consumes the last, her hostility slowly calming down. "Take that end; I'll take this one," she tells him.
He realizes her intent and smirks. "Suddenly in the sharing mood?"
"You could say that." Sora's cheeks flush as she bites the end of the biscuit, seeing his mouth take hold of the other. It embarrasses her a little, having seen this scene play out over and over in sappy anime or cheesy J-dramas. She always rolled her eyes in conversation with a dreamy-eyed Mimi whenever it came up. But as she stares at Tai watching her with a twinkle in his eyes and his lips inching along, she forgets why.
Each bite she takes is slow, tasting the biscuit then onto the added sweetness of the chocolate and the nutty almond flavor. It's getting warmer now, and feels her face hot, but his cheeks are pink too, and his hand reaches the back of her neck before his lips overtake hers. It's soft and savoury as she kisses back, her heart fluttering and her skin tingling in the process.
When they part, the taste of chocolate lingers, but so does his kiss. She takes the opened box of Pocky from his hand and sets it aside, then takes his shoulders to draw his mouth back to her once more. Normally, she despised this extent of a public display, and would shy away when Tai tried to sneak a kiss on her when they walked between classes. Even if it surprises him now, he gladly takes her in, still holding the back of her neck, letting her lips move in sync with his as she pulled apart and melted into him again.
A bell signals them that they are reaching their stop, causing her to pull away from him. She gives him a smile that warrants a warm smile from him in return-his smile, in which she forces herself to stifle a fluster. When they exit the train, he attempts to take her hand again, and this time, she holds his.
As they reach the front door of her house, She takes notice of a smudge of chocolate on the corner of his mouth. Running with her temptation, she leans forward to press her lips on him, brushing her tongue against it.
"I think you might be more into Pocky than me," he says with skepticism.
"I thought it was that obvious by now," she replies. "But you… that's debatable."
He smirks, and they fall into each other again, and she eventually feels his tongue playfully slip against hers.
"Does this mean you've forgiven me?" he asks when they part again, and the smile she wore falters a little.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Yagami," she says with irritation, although she's blushing as she says this. "You can't keep setting up dates if you're not going to follow through with them. It makes me wonder how much you actually care about me-"
"I do," is his quick response, nearly cutting her off. His expression is now somber, again. "I really do." Then he sighs as he adds, "I'm sorry. I'll pay more attention to you. I promise."
She stares into his guilty eyes, pursing her lips. "You'll have to show me, then."
After an acknowledging nod, Tai hands her his attempts of his redeeming gifts to her, kissing her cheek before he turns to leave. As her hand reaches the doorknob, he calls to her attention once more.
"Let's do that Pocky kiss again sometime," he suggests to her. "Maybe with the chocolate ones that disappear from my bag, for some reason."
After responding with a suppressed giggle and seeing him shaking head as he departed, Sora walks into her home, declaring to herself that she now hates him a little less.
She announces her arrival at the front door, slipping her shoes off with the plastic bag full of Pocky boxes to feed a city hanging on her wrist. Mother walks in, eyes the bouquet in Sora's hand and laughs with a judgmental look in her eyes.
"Your boyfriend has terrible taste, too, Sora."
Taking a bite of another pocky stick, she smiles at her mother.
"I know, mom. Terrible taste."
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Author Note: It's amazing where inspiration comes from. All my friend said to herself was, "Shall I drabble for Pocky Day?" and I came up with this fluffy ball of Taiora cheese. I hope you enjoyed it, and I apologize if you are now craving Pocky, which I unfortunately do not have either (we can suffer together). If you comment, please include your favorite Pocky flavor, I'm curious!
**EDIT 11/12/18 edited for a severe lack of commas, especially at the beginning. So if you just so happen to be re-reading this, hopefully it reads better. Also, I thought the 1st title was too long. A play on the title "Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers)". Thanks for putting up with me. (: