A Moment To Remember

The days pass and soon a month goes by. The race has been pushed back to sometime in November and right now it's the beginning of October. Obviously some people were upset by the news, but Aki and I were relieved because it gives us extra time to train. Things have finally calmed down at the university. The rumors were no more and Raidon and Rin were pretty much no longer an issue. Rena most definitely made sure they kept quiet.

I was walking home with Aki as this has became our new everyday routine. A routine that's never being broken any time soon. "By the way, Aki, think you can help me with this dumb project for history? I mean what was the professor thinking handing this out?"

"If you can't figure it out then I sure as hell can't help you." Aki laughed a bit.

Ever since that day...that argument...that moment of resolution, Aki and I have grown closer than we've ever been. She fully accepted me and now we were pretty damn close friends now. I even forgot I had my own room from how much I slept in her room because sometimes we would just be talking one moment then the next we're asleep.

"Oh yeah, do you think you can help me with my English Essay?" Aki asked.

"You're only asking because I speak fluent English huh?" I teased.

"Yes I am!" Aki said in English and smiled at me.

"It's funny how you're the only one who actually needs some form of help in English, but I kinda understand it. We barely speak English back at the house." I said.

"Come on! No need to make fun of me!" Aki whined and pouted. "I just never really studied English back then...or at the very least...cared enough for it."

"How did you graduate High School English?" I asked.

"How else? A translator. I never had to speak a lick of English a day in my life until college." Aki said.

"Man, this is going to be a journey." I sighed.

Later, we were walking along a path to the house.

"By the way, do you wanna go out and eat? Mitsuki isn't cooking today." Aki asked.

"Sure, what you feeling?" I asked.

"Mmm...how about we pick up something from the convenient store and take it to my room? I kinda wanna finish my work today." Aki said.

"Alright, let's go." I smiled.

We walked to the convenient store together and walked in, grabbing a few things. I noticed Aki grabbed a Pocky box that was strawberry flavored. Aki noticed me looking at her then blushed slightly. She looked away and hurried to the counter. It was now rare to see Aki being bashful, so it kinda caught me off guard. I walked to the counter and bought our items then we headed straight home.

Once we got home, we greeted everyone and headed upstairs.

"Those two have gotten so close to each other." Momoko said.

"Sounds like jealousy in your voice." Rena teased.

"Mmph! I-I am not jealous I'm happy for them!" Momoko said then stood up. "Happy I say!"

Rena watched Momoko hurry upstairs to her room. She chuckled and went back to playing Smash Ultimate with Orime and Suki.

Aki closed the door behind us and walked to her bed then sat down. I sat on the floor and took my laptop out of my bookbag.

"Alright let's get down to business." I said. "Let's help you with English since I don't have to turn in my project until Friday."

"Okay." Aki said and sat in crisscross position on her bed. She took her laptop out of her bookbag and opened it.

"How good are you in English?" I asked in English.

"Eh?" She asked and looked at me confused.

I repeated my question in English. "How good are you in English?"

Aki looked at me and hesitated. "Yes." She said in English.

"So not good at all." I said and smiled.

"Why does it matter? I'm rarely going to use it!" Aki said.

"That's what I said about Japanese, but look at me now." I said and smiled at Aki.

Aki scoffed and turned away. "Well I don't have plans on going to America and getting shot up because some lunatic was a little pissed off."

I looked at her and shrugged. "Fair enough. Anyway what's the essay about?"

"It's supposed to be about someone that I really like and I don't want to write about of the women. That's too easy." Aki said.

"How about you write about me then?" I suggested.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah. I mean we damn there know most of everything about each other now. It should be easy. I can even help you." I said.

"Mmm, alright." Aki said then scooted over on her bed so I could come sit beside her on the bed.

I got up and walked over to the bed and sat on the bed. I used my laptop to play some music while I helped Aki with her English Essay. We worked in it for two hours straight since I had to teach Aki some English and help her translate words correctly. We ended up running through our snacks and drinks. In the end after all was done, we finished her essay.

"Finally." I said then stretched.

"Yeah, that was a lot more stressful than I thought it'd be." Aki said then looked at her box of pockies. She opened it and looked at me. "Hey, do you want to play a game?"

"Hm? What game?" I asked.

"The uhm...The Pocky Game..." She said shyly.

"Eh?! Why?" I asked.

"Because I've never played it before and it's like a really old game that I've been wanting to try with Raidon when we were dating but he always turned down my request to do it." Aki said.

"So you want me to do it. Mmm...Fine. I'll play but only because you're asking!" I said.

"Do you know how the game is played?" She asked.

"Of course I do. It was really popular in America like four or five years ago." I said.

Aki nodded and took a Pocky stick out the box. She placed one end in her mouth and I took the other end with my mouth. We glaced into each other's eyes then looked back down at the stick. We began chewing slowly, gradually inching closer to each other. After a few crunches, we began to come closer and closer to each other until....

Aki pulled away with her face all red. "Shit.." She looked away and felt her heard racing.

"Shit? That's the words we are using in this intimate moment?" I chuckled softly and ate the rest of the Pocky stick.

"Don't call it that!" Aki said and her face became more red.

"Welp, one point goes to me. Round 2?" I asked.

Aki looked at the box then pulled another stick out. "Okay.."

We each took an end of the Pocky then began to chew. This time we began chewing slower and getting closer.

"You okay..?" I said still having the stick in my mouth.

"Y-Yeah why wouldn't I be..?" Aki asked with her stick in her mouth as well.

"I don't know, you just seem a bit anxious.." I said then chewed more.

"No one's...anxious." She said and kept taking tiny bites.

We grew even closer than last time, we were nearing the end of the stick then I cowered out and pulled away.

"Hah...I uh...I won.." She panted and felt her heart racing quickly.

Surprisingly, I felt my heart racing as well. I shook my head then grabbed another pocky stick and we each took an end. We began taking tiny bites again Aki began to get bold and took a bigger bite than before. I did the same and we began to get closer. Our bites slowed down and we gazed in each other's eyes. I gently placed my hand on her leg then our bites soon completely stopped. Our foreheads were touching and our lips were so close to connecting.

I moved her laptop to the side and she kept looking into my eyes as I got even closer. Our lips connected and we shared our first kiss together. I pulled away after a few seconds. We were speechless. Aki held my cheek and kissed me again. This time it was for much longer and more passionate...more needy. She kissed me like she was craving it and I kissed back with the same energy. We kissed for a minute straight before I pulled away and stared into her eyes.

After the deed was done, we snapped back to reality and our brains needed time to process what the hell just happened. I quickly got off the bed and held my head.

"Holy shit! I'm so sorry Aki! I wasn't thinking..!" I said and paced around the room.

"W-Wait no it's okay! I wasn't thinking either!" Aki said trying to amp me down.

We spent a minute freaking out. Well I spent a minute thinking of the worst possibilities. After I calmed down, I sat back down on the bed.

"It's not your fault...I enjoyed it. I needed that so much...That's the only reason I even picked up the pockies. I needed an excuse to kiss you.." Aki said.

"An excuse..?" I asked and looked at her.

She nodded then sat closer to me. "Archer...over this past month, I've been feeling something for you and after this I have the courage to ask you this.."

I looked at her and noticed her becoming shy.

"Archer...will you...mmph...Will you be my..." She started and paused.

"Your what..?" I asked.

"Will you...Will you be my boyfriend?" She asked and looked directly at me.

I looked at her and blushed slightly. "Aki..." I paused for a second to process this. The girl I've been in love with for the past month and so has finally asked me to be the one thing I've been wanting to be since I confessed.

"Well..?" She asked and held my hand.

"Yes! I'll be your boyfriend!" I said with excitement and she looked at me smiling happily.

She hugged me happily then we shared another kiss. Today marks the start of our dating relationship. Honestly I was more excited to be dating Aki than she was excited to date me.

We pulled away from the kiss and heard the door open. We looked at the door quickly and noticed it was Sayaki at the door. Sayaki froze at the door and just looked at us.

"Uh...Rena said there's a movie playing if you two wanted to come join us." Sayaki said.

"Uhm...we'll be down in a moment.." Aki said.

Sayaki slowly closed the door then Aki and I looked at each other. She smiled and shrugged then stood up. I stood up as well then we both headed downstairs to watch a movie with Rena and the others. Neither of us wanted to let them know about our newly blossomed relationship just yet. It was still fresh after all so it was still a bit too early to say anything, but all that matters now is that we have what we want.