Author's Notes: This is the last chapter of this fic. Thank you to everyone that liked this fic and provided feedback, it was greatly appreciated~
I have already written two sequel one shots should anyone want to read more with these two.
Italicized quotes = spoken English
Regular quotes = spoken Japanese
Italicized words = thoughts and non-verbal communication
Bold words = Emphasized words
Translations:
Ohayou – Goodmorning.
Dōiu riyū de? - for what reason?
Nandesuka? - What is it?
Warui warui - My bad
As always let me know if there are any mistakes in translations.
Enjoy~
Some weeks later, Asuka awoke one morning to the sound of a cartoon playing in low volume on the television. The next thing she registered was the lack of body heat that she had grown so accustomed to encompassing her every night. The man was like a radiator.
She didn't even remember falling asleep. One moment she was lying in bed side by side with Shinsuke, deep in discussion about how they might book their match should they one day seriously face each other in the ring. The next instant she was blissfully asleep.
Where was Shinsuke?
As she flailed around under the tangle of blankets in order to get free, she became aware of a vague crunching sound.
"Ohayou," Shinsuke drawled from his perch at the edge of the bed. His back was to her at the moment, his attention focused on the TV.
He then turned his head so that he could regard her in profile.
Wait; was that her strawberry pocky sticking out of his mouth?
"Shinsuke…" she said, voice going deathly severe.
"Hm?" he looked at her more fully.
To the untrained eye his expression appeared oblivious to what he had done to wrong her. Shinsuke was just that good. But she knew that he knew just what act of injustice he had committed.
His innocent eyes shifted from her angry face down to the pocky stick dangling from between his lips. Then he let his act drop just a shade so a tiny glimpse of his true mischievous nature bled through his virtuous pretense.
He held up her giant, rainbow pocky box. Maintaining an air of guiltlessness in his tone (the audacity of him!) he asked, "Ohh were those yours?" shaking the empty box, he added, "I think this is the last one."
Finally, he dropped the act entirely and his grin turned full on kitsune.
Undeterred by how roguishly good-looking he came to be when he aimed that expression at her, a warning growl escape her throat.
How could he eat all her rainbow pocky? She had that box specially imported!
"Very unfair isn't it? Kind of like how you stole the last bite of my Kobe beef."
So this what this was all about? Asuka had forgotten all about it. Apparently Shinsuke hadn't and could patiently hold a grudge.
He nibbled thoughtfully on the end of the treat as she watched on with simmering rage. "Well I could let you have some of it…if you want to…come and get it."
To emphasize just what he meant by "come and get it", he scooted over so that he sat next to her. He leaned towards her ever so slightly so that the other end of the pocky was within reach of her lips. The little shit then had the nerve to wink at her.
He wanted a war? He would get one! He wasn't the only one who could put on an act.
Fluttering her eyelashes in a coy manner, Asuka hesitated before gingerly taking the other end between her teeth.
She thought she saw a flash of surprise flicker across Shinsuke's eyes, a blush perhaps, dusting his cheekbones.
He covered the micro-expression expertly with an infuriatingly attractive, but arrogant smirk. She purposely widened her eyes in reaction.
With their game faces on, things silently got underway when he slowly began chewing down the length of the biscuit. She followed suit a moment later.
Seconds seemingly crawled into minutes as their mouths inched further down the pocky biscuit.
Though neither yielded yet, a furrow formed between Shinsuke's brows the closer they both came to the center of the stick.
Clearly, he had been counting on her to pull away a long time ago, to bite off her end of the treat and be satisfied with that.
Evidently, his best judgment in regards to her wasn't on his side today. And Asuka was going to use that to her full her advantage. She was determined to beat him at his own game as well as hopefully attain something she had been wanting for a few weeks now.
The general rules of the Pocky Game were for both parties to attempt to meet in the middle at the same time. The first to pull away or meet the middle first lost. Shinsuke was expecting her to play by the rules or to pull away altogether (and yet, as more micro-expressions flitted over his face, she began to wonder if he may pull away from his own challenge).
She wasn't about to play fair. She was there to play hardball, and damn it, she was going to get what she wanted! Bracing her hands on his folded legs, she gobbled up the remainder of the treat bridged between them, reaching her ultimate goal.
A thrill of instant gratification filled her.
Shinsuke's body went ramrod straight and he inhaled sharply through his nose, prompting her to ghost her hand through the silky locks tied behind his head. The slightest of tremors went through him at her touch.
For all her inner bravado leading up to the kiss, Asuka felt a stab of fear now that a few seconds had passed. And the more that time flew by the more she started to doubt herself.
What if she had gone too far?
But the Pocky Game was always played in good fun, among friends and new acquaintances alike.
She, however, had had different feelings in her heart when she pressed their lips together. Had Shinsuke perceived her feelings?
What if he didn't share them?
She held the kiss far longer than was proper for fear of what emotion she might find on his face when she pulled away. Plus, she was still enjoying the feel of those soft lips against hers, even if they were touching most innocently.
Eventually she had to pull back because it looked like Shinsuke wasn't going to. When she leaned back she saw a whole range of emotions on his face, but little to none that she could single out or define. For all intents and purposes, Shinsuke Nakamura looked positively broken.
It amused and terrified her in equal parts.
She wanted to beg him to say something, anything, to end her suffering in this agonizing silence full of what ifs.
Finally, he asked, "Dōiu riyū de?" she assumed, in regard to her kissing him.
"I wanted to," she admitted simply with a careless shrug that hardly matched her nervous feelings.
Shinsuke's eyes narrowed just the slightest bit, his studious gaze pinning her down. Her first instinct was to squirm and then hide behind her mask. But she became aware long ago that this had little affect on Shinsuke's observational skills.
She discarded her mask completely and openly stared back, praying she could convey every emotion she was currently feeling to him; hope, insecurity, yearning, apprehension, and oh so much more. Could she bare every facet of her soul, the good and the bad, with such a simple act as holding eye contact with him?
She could almost imagine that they were having small non-verbal communication within their eyes. She believed they had conducted such small conversations before.
You're not even trying to wear that mask anymore.
I don't want to around you. Besides, you always see right through it anyway.
His eyes went silent then, though they continued to study her thoroughly.
It was then that she couldn't help but break the verbal stalemate, "You don't regret what we shared, do you?"
Asuka remembered glimpsing a shift in Shinsuke's eyes in advance to finding her body sprawled beneath his. Her breath whooshed out of her in surprise to his sudden action and she was left to look up at him in awe.
His simple response was another fox-smile lifting the corner of his mouth. And that was the only answer she needed.
A wave of relief washed over her and she relaxed under his body.
He dipped his head down and she shifted up to meet him halfway. Unlike their pocky-game-kiss, a mere meeting of lips, he canted his head to the side so that his mouth fit against hers oh so very nicely.
At first, he seemed satisfied to brush her lips with soft kisses. Movements slow, languorous, and yet she couldn't deny the palpable current running between them.
Then he employed his teeth into the equation, gently teasing her lower lip. Her pulse rate spiked.
In that instant her mouth parted on a tiny gasp and her toes twitched in reaction. This allowed him to deepen their kiss and he drank her in completely, clever tongue coaxing hers to mingle with his. He tasted of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla; only those three discernable amongst the rainbow of flavors from the pocky he had pilfered off of her. Then there was also a certain spice that she decided was simply Shinsuke.
Her toes curled fully in delight and her hands grew a mind of their own. One took on the task of freeing his hair while the other found its way up his shirt.
He didn't seem to mind that she let his hair down to curtain one side of his face. But when the pads of her fingers ghosted up his ribs, he started to squirm. His lips formed an awkward smile against hers as he tried hard to maintain their kiss. Failing, he burst into an unceremonious chortle that ceased their lip action.
Suddenly she felt irrationally affronted by the abrupt end in contact. "Nandesuka?"
"Warui warui," he chuckled shyly, hair falling into his face, "that kind of…unexpectedly tickled. Shall we try again?"
In answer Asuka brushed his hair back and eagerly reeled him in. He kissed her back with matching enthusiasm.
This time he withstood the exploration of her hands without becoming ticklish.
Long, dexterous fingers smoothed over her upper arms and up to her shoulders. Then one hand continued its upward path to her face, thumb brushing the swell of her cheekbone reverently. His other hand traveled back down her arm in a quest to find her hand. Once their palms met, he entwined their fingers together.
Asuka breathed him in and squeezed his hand in return, her heart pattering pleasantly. She was certain she felt his own beating a similar staccato in his chest.
They kissed for a short while, both unknowing of the passage of time and both uncaring of it. The only thing that drew them apart was the requirement of proper oxygen.
Heaven knows she was becoming intoxicated on him, drinking and breathing him in as she was.
Shinsuke rested his forehead against hers, eyes sliding contentedly closed. His ribcage by contrast was heaving for air as much as hers was. Perhaps she was having the same affect on him.
During this interlude in their kissing, a sudden thought occurred to her.
"I know what had been upsetting me before."
Soft brown eyes slowly opened to give her their full attention.
"I was homesick," she concluded.
Shinsuke pulled back so she could see all of his face.
"I could tell," he said.
She blinked up at him, mouth falling open.
He had been able to read all of this from the very beginning?
"How?"
His body shifted so he rested more on his side next to her, his arm supporting his head. His gaze shifted as well, became somewhat introspective.
"Because I've felt and 'seen' it in myself enough times. Even now I sometimes still feel it," a small smile overtook his mouth again, "So I took it upon myself to help you."
"Wait…"She turned on her side so she could face him properly, "You…Did your booking app really even crash?" she asked, recalling the incident that initially brought them into each other's company.
Shinsuke's smile turned into his signature fox-grin and he winked, "My app worked perfectly that night. I just didn't book anything."
"You planned this all out,"it came out of her mouth more as a statement than a question or accusation.
"I only planned to become your friend in the beginning," he admitted, lips pursed in thought, "I felt you needed as much of home as I could give you here in America. What I didn't imagine going into this were the feelings you would stir in me. Such intense feelings. I cannot begin to describe the happiness I find when I'm with you." Once more he caressed her face. "Perhaps we helped each other."
Asuka felt her heart flutter anew in her chest upon hearing his words. He had sensed her troubles – even long before she had – and had taken it upon himself to try and cheer her up by making her feel at home in this far off country: speaking Japanese, treating her to her favorite food, and just offering her his companionship – and so much more – in her time of need. Hell, he saved her life.
He also filled her with so much happiness that she often felt overflowing with it when she was around him.
How could she ever express her gratitude or repay him for all his kindness? For surrendering himself to her?
She could only hope she had a lifespan's worth of time with him to try.
Snuggling into his side, she gave him a lingering peck on the lips.
"You make me feel like I am home, Shinsuke," she whispered, hoping that those words would be a good start.
The gentle smile he gave her was unlike any other she'd glimpsed on his face before. It was a smile she decided she liked most on him. She absorbed it into her memory for later so she could remember how to bring it forth from him again.
"So do you," he murmured, kissing her tenderly.
Author's Note: Initially Shinsuke's confession about how Asuka became more than a friend to him was different. He more open about his feelings of love. But the more it sat like that, the more it bugged me because looking into Japanese culture, men are more reserved about verbally expressing their feelings of love (especially when a couple just gets together). I wanted to try and keep to reality as much as possible (from what little I've learned from the vastness of their culture) and toned down his words. Again hope this fic was enjoyable. Likes and feedback are lovely and I appreciate them~