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“Well, it looks pretty good, doesn’t it?”
Ishigami took a step back, admiring their handiwork. The Christmas tree, standing majestically in the corner of the student council room by the president’s desk, shone with bright multicoloured lights. The ornaments they’d spent the last hour putting up glittered under the illuminations.
“It’s beautiful,” Iino agreed. She stepped forward and readjusted the last ornament they’d put on—the one left by Shirogane.
Maybe it was just the season and Ishigami was becoming more of a sap lately, but he almost felt choked up. He and Iino, working together like this to put up and decorate the tree, made warmth spread through him. Usually he was being worked to the bone, so this reprieve was nice. As was spending time with Iino, chatting about things like where certain ornaments should go, or even about the weather, their friends, and schoolwork. For them, this was magical.
Although he wished he could tell what she was thinking sometimes. There were moments when she’d look at him in a certain way, and Ishigami could feel his hopes rising, but she never said anything, and nothing ever happened. Nothing that was like that time when he’d been with Iino in her apartment and they’d almost kissed, at least.
Ishigami had always been extra observant—he was almost certain that Iino liked him. But he could always be wrong, and being too confident was always the end of someone. As long as there was that chance of rejection, Ishigami was scared away of ever saying anything himself. Why would he want to destroy the student council with awkwardness, when it had barely begun? There were still a few months until they were third years, too.
He stifled a sigh. No need to ruin the festive atmosphere with his useless, pathetic pining. He was tired of it, really.
Iino turned and smiled at him. “Good job, Ishigami.”
KO to the heart. He really was too easy.
He tried not to blush as he cleared his throat. “Good job to you too, Iino.”
Although, they hadn’t exactly finished yet. There was one thing missing.
“Now the finishing touch,” Iino said.
“Right,” Ishigami said. “The topper.”
He went into the decorations box to grab the topper.
“Of course it’s-”
“-this one-”
Ishigami and Iino stared at each other.
They each held a different item.
In Ishigami’s hands was a star made out of lights and tinsel.
In Iino’s hands was an angel, dressed in a silky white dress and a golden halo on top.
“Huh?” Iino frowned. “What’s that? Obviously, the top of the tree should be this angel.”
“What do you mean? A star is the classic tree topper! It has to be the star!”
“Angels are more classic,” Iino argued, “and more beautiful! It will look better, too!”
They stared at each other, neither one of them budging.
Normally, Ishigami might relent and let Iino get what she wanted to avoid extra conflict with Iino because he didn’t want to fight with her anymore, especially now that it was just them in the student council. But Ishigami was stubborn too and he felt strongly about the star being better.
So Ishigami did something he might not normally do. He rushed past Iino with his star and put it on top of the tree.
“Hey, that’s so sneaky, Ishigami!” Iino complained. “I won’t let you!”
Ishigami grinned. “Too late.”
She huffed a laugh. “I can just take it down and replace it, it’s not too late for anything.” Iino moved towards the tree, got past Ishigami’s weak emotional defenses, and swapped the angel out for the star.
Ishigami then used his height to his advantage and stole the angel right back. He backed away with it in his hands, not sure what exactly he was going to do yet, but his mind was whirring with possibilities on how to outmanoeuvre Iino here.
Iino approached him slowly, reaching for the angel that Ishigami was attempting to hold out of reach.
He didn’t know when he’d gotten so petty, but seeing Iino pout, her expression bursting with determination was cute, it was a good look on her and made Ishigami’s heart beat faster.
“Ishigami, you…” Iino said firmly, her eyebrows furrowed.
“The star is better,” Ishigami kept up his stubbornness.
Yeah, maybe he did miss arguing with Iino a bit. Now that it lacked the heat, the personal attack it used to, it was fun. He smiled.
“No, it’s the angel! I’ll show you!”
Iino then made the perfect, Ishigami destroying move. She leaned into him, pressing her body completely against his.
Fuck.
His face flushed, and he took a step back until he was right against the sofa. He tilted over it so much that he flipped over the back of it, landing in a heap on the cushions. But… he still had the angel, so he’d take it as his win.
But Iino wasn’t giving up either. Just as Ishigami flipped onto his back on the sofa, Iino started to crawl on top of him to reach for the angel that was still in his hand.
No, no, no, this was going too far! He definitely should relent, Iino was going to be the death of him!
“Iino-”
Iino at least seemed flustered, too. Her cheeks were dusted a pretty pink, but she wasn’t going to give up. Ishigami didn’t really want to give up, either. He gripped the angel tightly, very careful not to break it though, as he kept it out of Iino’s reach. He didn’t know how it happened, but somehow they ended up wrestling on the sofa, Iino reaching for the angel, Ishigami trying to keep it out of her reach.
The way that Iino was right on top of him like this was something that was impossible to ignore, though.
They had never been this close before. Never. Not even that day in Iino’s apartment. Okay, maybe they had been almost in a position like this when Iino had saved him by breaking his fall down the stairs, but he didn’t really want to think of that anymore.
“Relent, Ishigami,” Iino breathed out. Her voice was shaky and yet somehow commanding at the same time. Ishigami’s heart was about to give out. Should he just give up, should he, but it was already too late, he’d never be able to forget what Iino felt like, her body pressed against his, her legs entangled with his on the sofa. She clearly had no qualms being this close to him, which was a point in his favour in the odds of her liking him, but oh god he was going to die. His heart and sanity were going to explode and rain all over the damn student council room.
He shifted, finally deciding that for everyone’s emotional state, he should probably just stop and give Iino the angel.
Iino looked Ishigami right in the eyes. She leaned forward one more time for the angel, bringing their faces close together. As close as they had been that one day in Iino’s house, when they almost-
Was Iino doing this on purpose?
The look in her eyes… was Ishigami just seeing what he wanted to see, or did Iino want this just as much as Ishigami did?
His heart started beating faster and faster.
He’d told himself many times that if a chance came for him to make a move, he’d do it, he’d regret it too much if he let it go by again. It couldn’t be helped that they were interrupted that time, and no other moment such as this had come again until now!
Iino’s eyes closed.
Ishigami’s heart burst.
He was scared.
But if Iino wanted this, and he’d be too scared to do it, it would give Iino reason to doubt Ishigami’s feelings…
No, he couldn’t let fear stop him.
He just had to follow his heart, that was all that mattered, right?
Ishigami lifted his free hand, putting it on the back of Iino’s head, running his fingers through her silky hair. Iino opened her eyes, a sharp inhale audible in her breathing.
And then Ishigami leaned upward and kissed her.
It was warm, it was wonderful, and it was everything Ishigami could have wanted. It stayed mostly chaste, he knew that Iino was inexperienced—it’s not like he had that much experience either—but it was incredible as it was. His and Iino’s first kiss.
When Ishigami pulled away first, they stared at each other, Iino’s eyes wide and awed and beautiful and Ishigami almost forgot what had led them there in the first place.
“I think,” Ishigami said breathlessly, “we should just use both. Let’s put the angel on the top, and the star just below it.”
Iino blinked at him, her face still red, but beautiful as she tried to process what he’d just said. She nodded shyly. “I guess that’s not the worst idea from you, Ishigami.”
“Hey,” Ishigami weakly retorted, but he smiled back at her. As they both disentangled from each other to sit up on the sofa side by side, there was a jingling noise that made them both turn around.
It was Gomanosuke, playing with the ornaments, knocking a couple off the bottom.
Iino laughed joyfully. “Gomanosuke, you’re so silly.” She got up and retrieved him from the floor, scratching him under his chin.
Ishigami kept smiling, too.
The way Iino kissed him, there was no way she would do that with someone she didn’t like. That just wasn’t Iino.
So Ishigami, confidence and inspiration surging within him, came to a decision. He’d been waiting for Iino to confess first, but he didn’t need to now. Of course a confession still had to be made to make things clear, so Ishigami decided to be the one to do it. Whether it was now or later when he thought of something more romantic, he'd decide. But for now, he was enjoying watching Iino play with the cat, a smile on her face.