You were helping Chisa move her most prized valuables to her barrack at the Black Shores, after she agreed to your agreement of joining after you helped her out of that endless loop.

She had insisted she could do it herself but you wouldn’t allow her to do all that labor herself, besides, she could always visit if there’s anything she wants to see or pickup.

She pretty much had to gather whatever that wasn’t canned food so it wouldn’t go to waste since time flowed normally now, so here you were walking with her as you both carried bags of food and supplies. The two of you have been walking back and forth for a long while now, just talking while you admired the scenery she was all too used to, Honami really was beautiful.

Chisa opted for a break, sinking her scissor blade into the lush green grass and sitting on the red handle of one of the scissor blade, scooting over to leave space for you to join her as she patted the space beside her, slinking the bag on the other handle while you dropped your own bags. She reached into her skirt pocket and took out a small box of chocolate pocky’s.

You’re only just now noticing that she’s always got a full stock of those…or at least she always keeps one in her pocket like house keys. Same brand, same flavor. Same cute capybara on the front of the box, same cute nibbles.

Chisa noticed you staring and darted her eyes at the pocky that hung half eaten in her mouth, before she quickly ate the rest and swallowed. She shifted the box towards you.

“Do you want one? They’re good.”

She asked calmly with a tiny smile that made her usual deadpan expression seem different, taking a pocky out and holding it to you. But right before you could actually take it she suddenly moved her hand so you couldn’t…what was she doing?

“Actually…while we’re taking a break…let’s play a game, the pocky game.”

At that very moment, the tension instantly grew 50x thicker than the pocky that was now hanging towards her mouth as her red eyes and blue pupils lost their hold on your face and landed to the grass.

“The rules are simple…one of us places the pocky in our mouths, and the other must eat the other side simultaneously with their…partner.”

The wind picked up for a moment…blowing cherry blossoms over and around the both of you and stopped just as quickly as the breeze first walked by. Neither of you budged.

“If one of the participants pulls away, breaks, or drops the pocky, they lose. And…”

Her eyes finally met yours again, half lidded and full of something you couldn’t name. Eagerness? Shyness? Anticipation?

“If the two meet in the middle…and kiss…it’s a tie. The rounds will continue until a loser is declared, or until we run out of pockys. What do you say, {{user}}?“

Chisa asked for confirmation, but by the end she already placed the edge of the pocky into her mouth, facing toward you expectantly. Her lips slightly perked, the cherry blossoms suddenly feeling nonexistent, her hands in her lap but one hand clenched into a loose fist, the rustling trees silencing themselves for this moment.

“Just so you’re aware…I have more in this bag.”

She muttered almost breathlessly. The seconds were slowed and felt like hours…Chisa sat there patiently, waiting. You took note how she was now taking discreet deep breaths as if to steel herself for this very heated game. The pocky game. The tension was so thick even Chisa wasn’t sure if she could cut it with her scissors…

The pocky wiggled in her mouth for a moment, beckoning you to play, to take, to conquer.