Fight [AsahixNishinoya]

Chap 16

It was about a week after that.

We were walking home as per usual. I've started a habit of talking about school on our way home. I realised that Asahi likes to add in random facts when I talk about the boring lectures.

"Today Haruka-sensei was talking about chemical reactions. Something about acids and gases." I sighed and scratched my head. Science hurts my brain.

"Oh! You were learning about acids?" He asked as his eyes glowed, telling me that he knew an interesting fact. "Did you know that baking makes use of acid-carbonate reactions? For example, cake recipes usually include baking powder, which contains acids. But it also contains sodium bicarbonate. So when the cake batter is placed into the oven, the acid activates and reacts with the sodium bicarbonate to form carbon dioxide air bubbles. That's how the cake rises."

Despite this being a boring topic, the way Asahi explained things made it so much more interesting. His eyes tend to shine when he's talking about something he likes. And honestly, I'm learning! It applies to real life too so it actually makes sense. Now that I think about it, I should get him to tutor me sometimes.

"Acid-carbonate reaction produces carbon dioxide?"

"Eyup! It produces water and salt as well."

"Salt? Like Tsukishima?-"

He bursted out laughing. I love the sound of his laughter.

"No no, salt means a chemical compound. Like sodium chloride."

His smile is bright when he explains things, even if those things are kinda dumb. It feels me with a sense of warmth.

Today, I was once again complaining about math.

"Math sucks. Graphs suck. Algebra sucks. Calculus? More like cal-kill us ughhh."

My pain and suffering was rewarded by a snicker from Asahi. Amusement danced in his eyes as he said, "You took that meme from the internet, didn't you?" I blushed and said, "N-no... maybe... yes"

"How did you know though?"

"Daichi sent it to me"

"Makes sense"

"Actually that reminds me of something I found on the internet." A finger was raised to his chin as he mentioned this. I looked at him in surprise. Usually when he has something to add on, he doesn't mention it. I asked him what it was.

His face flushed before he answered, "I was uh googling what crushes feel like. Apparently people want to hold hands or hug or kiss their crushes. Does this apply to you?"

I was definitely taken aback at that question but I nodded my head slowly. I've always wanted to hug Kiyoko but now that I think about it, it seems too scary to become reality. I don't even think Daichi or Asahi can do it.

"They say doing any of those will make your heart race and stuff." I imagined it with Asahi and I nodded my head furiously. Just thinking about it was enough to make my heart pound.

"Can we try it?"

I stopped in my tracks and looked at the tall male as my heart skipped one too many beats. He seemed embarrassed. WELL OF COURSE HE'S EMBARRASSED WHAT DO YOU EXPECT. I'D BE EMBARRASSED IF I WERE IN HIS PLACE. ACTUALLY I'M GETTING 2ND HAND EMBARRASSMENT FROM HIS TOO. OR MAYBE THAT MY OWN. I HAVE NO IDEA.

But wait, he didn't mention what we're doing. So it could be hugs, hand holding or-

"I uh mean hand holding of course," he quickly added after seeing my wide eyes. A silent thought about kissing passed between us. Well that's staying a thought. I decided that calming down was not an option so I just blurted out the word, "Sure."

How does hand holding even start? I've seen couples do it naturally in movies, but not when they're asked? Who the hell asks first before holding someone's hand??

Well it was definitely awkward trying to start holding hands on purpose. We just kinda stared at each other's extended hand in silence as we both tried to figure out how to do it. Each passing second was agony as I felt my face burn hotter and hotter

In the end, I just placed my palm on his like a high-five but our palms were together, as if we were about to do some kind of slow dance. Then Asahi wrapped his fingers around mine, causing my already speeding heart to quicken even more. He then moved our hand to our sides cause who holds hands with their hand in front of their faces?

I shifted my focus from our hands to Asahi's expression. He seemed confused again. I felt my stomach sink and I loosened my grip on his hand for a second. That seemed to have brought him out of his thoughts. "Oh uh sorry, I was spacing out, wasn't I?" He looked at me apologetically. I squeezed his hand and reassured him, "It's alright Asahi-san"

He smiled in relief before his face turned red again. "Is it okay if we continued the rest of the way home like this?", he mumbled. I felt my heart skip a beat before I replied all too quickly, "Sure!"

It became less awkward and more natural as we walked. Maybe it's cause we have something else to do other than to focus on our intertwined hands. His arm was slightly bended to accommodate my height(sadly) but he seemed comfortable. There were butterflies fluttering in my stomach but his hand was warm, and comforting. His hand was much bigger than mine too so it encompassed mine. I didn't mind too much though. This was more enjoyable than I'd thought it would be. Apparently I had started swinging our arms in time to our steps after a while. I didn't notice until we had to stop and I had to enter my house.

We stood in front of my house in silence, the previous conversation had died off abruptly since we both realised that it was time for me to leave. I hesitantly released his hand.

"Bye Asahi", I said softly. A small smile on my lips.

He smiled back and said, "See you Nishinoya. And thank you... for today."

His cheeks were tinted pink. I gave him a bright smile and opened the front door to get inside the house.

Once I had locked it, I slid down against it and hung my head. I glanced at my hand sadly. It felt horribly cold without his. I had once thought about giving up on my feelings for him but no matter how hard I try to smother them, they keep coming back, stronger than ever. I screwed my eyes shut. There was a loud roaring in my ears. I cringed as a hot tear rolled down my cheek. I stayed there in silence until my grandfather called me for dinner.

This is my longest chap in a while sO uH yEah 
apologies for the inconsistant updates qwq
yes i changed the formatting a lil I'm experimenting, is it good?