"C'mon, Rei-chan," the shota boy whined, tugging on his friend's sleeve.
"No, Nagisa-kun." Frustrated, Rei pushed his glasses up for the fifth time since he left practice with Nagisa a few minutes earlier.
"Pretty please, Rei-chan?" Nagisa climbed on Rei's back and hugged his neck, causing him to lose balance a bit.
After flailing his arms to regain his balance, he looked over his shoulder at Nagisa, brows furrowed. "You almost made me fall, Nagisa! And for the last time, no!"
"But Rei-chan, no one needs to know," Nagisa persisted, burying his face in Rei's neck.
Rei flinched a bit at the contact, then sighed, pushing his glasses up again. "Nagisa, we have prefecturals coming up in a few weeks. Gou-chan told us we had to start eating better so we'd be in peak condition for them. Sweets are off-limits until then."
"But Rei-chan…" Nagisa hopped off of Rei's back, circling back to the store window displaying cream pan, a cream-filled bread that Nagisa insisted they buy to split while they studied. "It looks so yummy," he said, pressing his face against the glass.
Rei watched him over his shoulder. "I know you like that bread, Nagisa, but we need to worry about prefecturals right now." He turned and began walking away, thinking that Nagisa would follow if he put enough distance between them.
Nagisa sighed, sliding down the glass a bit. "But it's so beautiful…"
Rei froze and stiffened before turning his head around in slow motion. Nagisa, still pressed against the glass, was close to drooling. Glancing back ahead of him for a second before looking back at his friend, he figured that Nagisa was probably just trying to trick him, but how could he pass up the chance to behold such a masterpiece of the culinary arts?!
Rei turned and walked over behind Nagisa. After looking at the pastry through the window, Rei's eyes grew wide. The golden brown bread lay beneath snow-white powdered sugar; equal-sized strawberry slices fanned out of the cream-filled center. He pressed his hands on the glass, "SO BEAUTIFUL!" They were both staring at the pastry now, eyes filled with awe as their mouths watered. A few shoppers inside the store eyed the boys sideways, hurrying to get away from the odd sight.
Rei shook his head after a few moments. "No, Nagisa-kun! We must resist until after prefecturals!" he shouted, making a fist while turning his head away and closing his eyes.
Nagisa's smile faded, and his eyes lost their sparkle. "Ok, Rei-chan…" he sighed.
Feeling sorry for his friend knowing how hard it was for him to give up sweets, Rei thought about an alternative. "Hey, Nagisa," he started. The blonde turned to face him; Rei continued. "How about we make a deal?"
"A deal?" Nagisa quirked an eyebrow.
"Yes. We'll both buy and split some cream pan after we win at prefecturals. Deal?"
Nagisa's bright smile and sparkling eyes returned. He jumped, landing against Rei and knocking him off-balance again. "That sounds awesome, Rei-chan! We'll split cream bread after we win at prefecturals! Thank you!" he nuzzled his face against Rei's chest.
Rei smiled and put his hand on Nagisa's head. "You're welcome. We should get to your house before your mom starts wondering what's keeping us."
"Okay!" Nagisa let go of Rei and trotted beside him. Rei shook his head with a small smile and proceeded to walk forward. However, he yelped in surprise when he felt a sudden weight on his back. "Lead the way, Rei-chan!" Nagisa shouted, hanging onto Rei's neck with one arm and pointing toward his house with the other.
Rei covered his face with one hand and groaned, "Why me?"