"Dory!" Asuka smiled wider than wide, revealing her one slightly crooked front tooth, activating a nerve in Nishimura Riki.
And it only got worse when "Dory" gave Asuka a large bear hug.
Who the hell is this guy? Riki thought with disgust. He barely stopped himself from scowling at the foreign male. Well, foreign to Riki. Because honestly, he had never seen a 6'3 male with coffee-colored hair with green highlights, not to mention the several rings and piercings. Strange, since Riki had seen many idols with colorful dyed and bleached hair.
Riki shook his head. Where had this new judgmental side of him came from? Usually, he was open to new ideas and people. Obviously, this "Dory" guy was a good friend of Asuka's. He should be accepting, open, friendly.
Except...
"Sukie! How's my favorite short person doing?" The male smirked. Asuka turned around to face her friends.
"Haha, very funny. Theodore Austin Kim the Third, I would like to introduce you to Sunoo-sshi, Riki-sshi, and Yubin-ah."
"Gosh Asuka, we talked about using my government name in public." Theodore rolled his eyes, but still stepped forward to shake the hands of Sunoo, Riki, and Yubin. Yubin, having already heard of Theodore, was delighted to meet him in person. Sunoo, being his bright, sunny self, smiled at the other male. As Theodore smiled and stretched his hand out to greet Riki, Riki looked Theodore up and down, as if silently judging him (which he was), grunted, and roughly - not firmly, roughly, like a horse bucking wildly at the human on their back - shook Theodore's hand.
Asuka frowned at the exchange. What was up with Riki? Asuka decided not to think much more about it. She was too excited to be near Riki, to be graced with his handsome presence. She wouldn't let a small, first-time exchange deter her happy heart.
"Dory's from America, but he decided to come back here for college." Asuka explained, "And, yes, before you ask, Dory's the same age as me. He's just a nerd."
Riki watched Asuka's mischevious smile creep onto her face, noting its cuteness. How in love was he? More than he thought, apparently. He allowed himself to glance at Theodore's face, which was flushed bright red.
Asuka laughed brightly. "It's okay, Dory. I still love you, even though you keep ignoring my requests for help on my homework. We'll be in the Decor Room. I'll be back for snacks."
"Yeah, the best part." Yubin rubbed her hands together excitedly as she, Sunoo, and Riki followed Asuka into a large white room.
Skate Park Extreme, owned by Theodore's father, was well-known for its choice of skateboards, which customers could customize as soon as they purchase their skateboard. As soon as Asuka began planning where and when and how she would help Riki decorate his skateboard, Theodore just so happened to call Asuka. They talked for hours, and when Asuka finally mentioned her meeting with Riki, Theodore jumped at the chance to help his best friend. Asuka couldn't be more grateful.
"Alright, let's get started." Asuka stood confidently in the middle of the room. Riki looked left, then right, then at Asuka as if she was crazy.
"With what? Where's the equipment?" Riki whipped his head around, giving himself momentary whiplash.
"Right here."
Asuka lunged forward, purple paint flying in mid-air. Riki had just enough time to raise the underside of his skateboard up to protect his face. The paint drip, drip, dripped down his fingers, onto his all-white shoes, which had been a requirement for Asuka's mysterious dress code. In fact, everyone's clothes seemed to blend into the wall, as white as a hospital room, the only difference being faces and bright hair.
Asuka stood proudly, as Sunoo and Yubin gaped at Riki.
"Purple's your favorite color right?"
Riki lowered the skateboard, barely hiding the pink tint on his face. "Y-yeah, it is."
"Well, then, I have more where that came from." Asuka turned around to pick up two large buckets of purple paint, only to have her back splashed with paint.
She turned around again, ghosting the tips of her hair, which were now a bright purple.
"And purple's yours too."
Riki smirked, eyeing Sunoo, who was already ready for the action. Yubin slowly, discreetly moved toward Asuka and the buckets of paint behind her.
"Let the paint wars-" Asuka started, only to finish her sentence with Riki's help.
"-begin."
...
Ramune, Choco Pies, Potato Snacks, Pocky, Yokult and Melon Pan. Snacks galore. Yubin was practically drooling at all the choices, and Sunoo was right beside her, staring them down like a hungry lion glaring at a zebra.
Asuka looked up and smiled. "Enjoy the snacks you two. We-" Asuka gestured to herself and Riki, "-already have ours."
So as the two foodies began their trip to snack heaven, Asuka peeled the protective back off of a bungeoppang sticker and stuck it onto Riki's skateboard. She glanced at him, watched him smile, and blushed. Then she realized how close she was to him.
Oh god, he's so cute.
Asuka looked at her paint splattered hands. After their intense paint war, Riki and Asuka sat down with Riki to work on his skateboard. There was so much Riki wanted to do, so many designs he wanted to try, but the main thing that excited Asuka was when he would say "What would you do?" She practically screamed in joy before stuttering out a response. She was grateful that he thought her opinion was valuable.
Asuka clapped suddenly. "Well, we're only missing one thing."
Riki watched Asuka fumble around with a couple of stray paintbrushes. The entire time he was with Asuka, he remained quiet, taking in her artistic magic little by little with every word, flick of her wrist, colorful design, and unnerved focus. She had so much creativity, so many ideas that threatened to spill. She made something that looked so simple look so extraordinary.
Riki's skateboard was covered in small flecks of every color, but it's main backdrop was purple, his favorite color, which Asuka correctly guessed. She had brought hundreds of stickers, all very random. When Riki asked why she had so many, Asuka's cheeks flushed red.
"I-I like collecting and making stickers. Some of these I made myself." She pointed to a sticker, its word very similar to a graffiti style. "This one I made this morning. It's your stage name." This time, she turned her head in the opposite direction and made a small coughing noise. "I also made the bungeoppang one."
It was then Riki realized how thoughtful Asuka was. She must have done some research to figure out what Riki would like on his skateboard. This thought alone made Riki blush intensely.
"Here ya go." Riki almost blushed again for the nth time today, this time at Asuka's cute dialect. He took the thin paintbrush from her hand, their fingertips barely touching the other's.
She wanted him to sign it. The skateboard.
When he was finished, he turned to Asuka and said, " You should sign it too. This only looks good because of you."
Asuka chuckled. "It's alright. I really should-"
And then she looked at Riki's face. A huge mistake.
Riki had activated the puppy charms.
And Asuka fell for it.
She carefully signed her name on Riki's skateboard. When he glanced at it, his brows furrowed slightly.
"Daisuka?"
"It's my grandmother's nickname for me." Asuka rushed to explain. "No one else calls me that, but if you want to, that's fine. To be honest, it's my favorite nickname." Asuka smiled self-consciously. Riki glowed.
"Well if I'm going to call you Daisuka, you're going to have to call me..." Riki glanced at the ceiling thoughtfully. Daisuka sounded like "Asuka" and "Dai" put together. How could he quickly invent a new nickname for himself, not only on the spot, but to impress Asuka?
"What about Jjangmura?" Asuka chimed in quietly. Her face was still flushed bright pink.
"Daisuka and Jjangmura...I like it." Flashing a boxy smile, Riki patted Asuka's hand gently. "Thanks. For everything."
Asuka grinned. She looked shy, yes, but also happy. Very happy.
"Your welcome Jjangmura."
There was no doubt in his mind that all he would be thinking about was Asuka Uchinaga and her flawless ways.
Because honestly, Asuka was perfect to Riki. She had no flaws. Flaws did not exist in her dictionary, her dialect, her walk, her laugh, her smile, her face.
As dizzy as a star, Riki had fallen for Asuka.
And honestly, he didn't mind. Nope, not at all.
daisuka + jjangmura
sorry for not updating sksksks I was trying to focus on school