paper balls, shidou ryusei ✓

𖥻 03 - paper balls.

the dinner went well.

ryusei had not said anything yet that could have offended you in any way. instead, you two remained silent throughout the meal while your mothers shared the latest news and his father joined in the conversation from time to time.

you knew ryusei's parents since you were a small child and loved them like your own mother. they treated you like their own daughter, celebrated every birthday with you, and even christmas the two families always spent together.

of course, the elders also noticed for a long time that something must have happened between you two teenagers. instead of teasing each other as usual and constantly sticking to each other, you two sat at the table as far away from each other as you could - not even looking at each other.

sadly, your parents didn't notice how uncomfortable you both felt.

"so," your mother clapped her hands euphorically after talking to her longtime friends about her good-looking colleague, who had been turning her head quite a bit lately, "did you two like the food?"

absently you both nodded, glad that this dinner had also come to an end. "i'm glad to hear that. we'd like to play some more card games, do you two want to join us?"

immediately, you shook your heads in sync.

ryusei and you knew; there was nothing worse than playing card games with your parents afterwards after a meal together. after all, they loved to tease their kids a little and unpack their most embarrassing stories. ryusei and you quickly realized that it was only half as awkward for you to be left out of the telling of your embarrassments.

"well, in that case, go up to the room. y/n, you just bought that one new video game with your allowance, right? how about you show it to ryusei? you two used to love playing together" your mother pursed her lips.

immediately you froze and ryusei was about to refuse, but his mother joined in as well. "that's right, ryu! go upstairs with y/n and play something. it's friday, so we'll be going home a little late anyway."

ryusei's eyebrows drew together, strongly disinclined by the idea. "but-"

"ryu, you're going with y/n now! or do you want to play cards with us?" she asked her son, grinning slyly, whereupon he immediately shook his head without any objections and already turned on his heel to run up the stairs and disappear into your room.

"come on, y/n, sweetheart. up you go! ryusei is already eagerly waiting for you," your mother said with a grin and winked at you, which his mother did the same to you.

a bit lost you stood around the room, staring at the two mothers winking at you with a mixture of bewilderment and confusion before you just left it at that and went to your room as well.

admittedly, it was more than strange at first. silently you turned on your console, while ryusei just watched you do so and sat down on the bed a bit tensely - you couldn't help but think of the good old days, which weren't even all that long ago, where the two of you were constantly cuddling together in bed, watching movies, gambling, and also falling asleep countless times in each other's arms.

to be honest, you didn't even want to know how many photos your mothers had of the two of you, in which you snuggled asleep against his chest.

turning on your tv, you grabbed the second console, which you handed to him.

you drew in a sharp breath as your fingers lightly brushed against each other; it was an electrifying sensation that you tried to ignore. glancing at ryusei's face you could even make out a slight reddish glow, but when he noticed you staring at him, he quickly shook his head to the side.

clearing his throat briefly he opened his mouth "are we playing now, or what?" came irritably from this one, not escaping your notice how his voice wobbled a bit at the beginning.

a small smile formed on your lips before you nodded and started the game.

for the first half hour, you gambled without having exchanged a word with each other. but soon ryusei couldn't help but let out little cheers when he won a round. you instead sat sulking next to the winner, who had been crowned several times in a row, and just banged on the buttons.

"that's not fair! how can it be that you're better than me? you're playing it for the first time!" you now complained, staring intently at the screen.

a soft laugh escaped the blonde one, causing a pleasant tingle in your stomach. "well, i'm just good at everything."

you just clicked your tongue in response before your character blew up again. letting out frustrated sigh you noticed that ryusei eyed you amusedly from the side.

"i just can't get this right! i haven't won once yet!" you complained, crossing your arms in front of your chest. you pushed his lower lip forward, as you always did when you were unhappy.

ryusei gave a jerk and took a seat behind you.

he took your hands and placed them around the console before placing his own over your's and holding the console tightly. your heart stopped all at once before continuing to beat at least twice as fast. "r-ryusei..,"

"y/n, we'll do this together now, maybe you'll win that way too." his hot breath brushed your ear, sending a huge shiver down your spine.

both of you started a new round and ryusei was again completely focused on the game, pressing the respective buttons and applying pressure on your hands every now and then. you, however, could not concentrate at all, instead you had to think about how close he actually was to you. you could feel his chest against your back and hear every single breath against your ear; it was driving you crazy.

"fuck! we've been shot. you want to play another round?" he asked you after your character suffered another agonizing death, but you didn't answer him.

your eyes were still wide open, not knowing how to assess this situation right now. it was like before, and yet it was somehow.. different?

"y/n?"

you turned your head slightly to face him and before you knew it, your face was inches away from ryusei's. the blonde one hadn't moved away from you earlier, so you were still very close.

your breath caught as your eyes met the pink ones.

"s-sorry, i-" you interrupted yourself and gasped when you suddenly felt ryusei's hand on your cheek and immediately, you felt warm.

what was he staring at you like that too?

"y/n..," he just breathed as he slowly stroked your cheek, looking at you with an indefinable look. "i'm sorry about your nose.. that really wasn't my intention. does it still hurt a lot?"

somewhat perplexed, you shook your head slightly, causing the other to smirk. the expression in his pink eyes became incredibly gentle, just as it had usually been when he had spoken to you. once again, the younger one's fingers slowly roamed along your face, giving you incredible goosebumps.

you were breathing haltingly, trying to understand what was actually going on, but your brain was doing anything but being useful at the moment. instead, your eyes fell on ryusei's lips, which for some reason seemed even more seductive than they already did.

ryusei also let his gaze glide over your lips for a moment before memorizing every detail from your face again. just when you could no longer stand this electrifying tension and leaned forward a tiny bit, his eyes fixed on something behind you. "what's that?" he suddenly asked out of nowhere, moving away from you a bit to your chagrin and pointing at the one jar you had standing on one of your shelves.