The Hugging Game

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[Req.: "Everyday reader asks Chishiya for a hug without fail and he always says no until one day he agrees."]

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It started like a game, a kind of silly test of courage for yourself. The first time you had asked Chishiya for a hug, he had simply stood there, stared at you for a moment and then shook his head with a smirk. "No." had been his simple answer, and he had left you there with your face deep red and heart beating too fast.

Thinking back at it now, you can't even tell what had come over you to act so reckless. Asking Chishiya for a hug, the most unapproachable man in the Beach? But whatever it was, it had been the beginning of something ridiculous, embarassing even, and yet it somehow made you happy.

Because on the next day, you had asked him again. Sheepish grin on your face, already knowing the answer before he even gave it to you. You couldn't tell his thoughts about it, and for a couple of days, it was the only interaction you had. Not that you'd wait for him or even follow him around to do this - you simply waited for a fitting moment to arrive, no matter if you met him in the kitchen while you prepared some midnight snack or if it was in the staircase. You didn't even think that he'd ever agree to this one day. It was just... a little game you played while admiring him from a distance for the rest of the time.

On the fourth day, you almost ran into him in the middle of the night, a water bottle in one hand and a bag of cookies in the other, eyes barely open and still half-asleep but hungry. You didn't ask what he was doing in the storeroom and simply spread out your arms, not even caring to speak in a full sentence. "Hug?"

He chuckled and once again shook his head in disbelief about your stubbornness. "No. But I'd take those cookies."

You raised the bag with a grin, waving it in front of Chishiya's face. "You mean these here? I'm afraid this was the last bag."

"I can see that."

"I'll give them to you-" you stowed the cookies in your back so Chishiya couldn't grab them even if he made an attempt to, "-in exchange for a hug."

The cookies ovbiously weren't enough of payment for that, because Chishiya hummed and shrugged his shoulders. "Enjoy your snack, then."

By now, a couple of days later, you don't even have to say a word anymore. Once a day, when you meet Chishiya, you simply spread your arms and raise your eyebrows questioningly. The reaction is usually always the same: a raised eyebrow in return followed by the hint of a smirk, but never more.

You're not even sure how serious this whole thing is for you. Why did you want to hug him, again? Is it because you have feelings for Chishiya, or has it just been one of your stupid thoughts that somehow manages to remain even after so many days? In case Chishiya is annoyed by it, he doesn't show it. But you'd definitely be annoyed if someone did this to you, and maybe it's time to stop this. Chishiya won't give you a hug. Which is fine, because you still have Kuina, who is always eager to cuddle you in every situation possible.

That's when you decide not to ask him again.

The day is perfect to busy yourself with other thoughts. Today will be a long-planned movie night, and the kitchen is busy with preparations for the grand evening. Cocktails are being made, the floor is covered in corn and the odors could have come straight out of a cinema.

You have spent the last two hours making many different sorts of popcorn - sweet, salty, even some with popcorn, and your hands are sticky with sugar and oil and you probably smell worse than a popcorn bag. Experience has shown that people in the Beach are likely to eat tons of it within one night, and the last time during a movie night, someone had to pause only to make new popcorn for everyone. This is not going to happen today.

Buckets and canisters have been filled to the rim and the whole sideboard is covered in them when you decide to make a break. You need some fresh air and free the lungs of all the sugar that you have inhaled, and you simply have to look at something else in case you want to enjoy the snacks yourself tonight.

The air outside the Beach isn't really cooler than inside the kitchen, but at least it's clean. You take a few deep breaths, lick the sugar from your fingers and brush the flour out of your hair. It is a miracle to you how it got there, because you didn't use any of it for the popcorn. Maybe that's just what happens when you work inside a huge hotel kitchen.

Suddenly you feel a tickle in your neck, and you lift your head to see what has caused it. Since you're standing in front of one of the side doors, the area around you isn't crowded at all. The main party is going on around the pool, as always, because the drinks and the DJ are there, and people rarely find their way to the more hidden areas unless they want to make out.

And yet you see someone strolling towards the door, wearing a white hoodie that you immediately recognize. Chishiya doesn't seem to have noticed you yet, his eyes fixed on a point in the distance as if he's lost in thought. Only when you step aside so he has access to the door, his eyes fall on you.

You smile at him, not even asking what he's doing here, but Chishiya doesn't open the door. A glance over your shoulder assures you that you're not standing in his way, and there's nothing else preventing him from going inside.

With a sudden acceleration of your heartbeat, you realize he seems to be waiting for something.

But you had told yourself not to do it anymore! He doesn't seem to be bothered by it, though, if he's actually expecting you to do it...

More hesitantly than usual, you spread your arms towards him.

There it is again - the smirk on his lips, and he soon will shake his head and leave. He only wanted you to do it so he could mock you again, because it has turned into a game for him as well.

But Chishiya doesn't shake his head. He sighs, a soft and drawn-out sound, and takes a step towards you, pulling you into an actual embrace.

Never before have you been so aware of the state of your appearance; all sticky and dirty from your work in the kitchen, with the smell of oil and hot corn clinging to every cell of your body. And this is the day out of all that Chishiya chose to accept your hug!

As you smile against his chest, you dig your fingers into the fabric of his hoodie. Chishiya's breath leaves a ticklish feeling on your head, and you can hear him chuckle as well while his hands rest loosely on your back.

"You smell like popcorn."

You close your eyes and simply enjoy the feeling of this touch, of his fingers slowly moving over the skin of your back. "Want some? I can give it to you... in exchange for a hug."

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