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“Hey, Azz-Azz?”
Asmodeus hummed in acknowledgement, not lifting his head from the work in front of him. They were currently sitting on Asmodeus’ bed inside his dorm room, facing each other, as they did their homework for the weekend. Usually, their friend Iruma, someone they were attached at the hip with, would join them, but he had to cancel last minute because his grandfather suddenly decided they needed to go on a shopping trip together.
As Iruma had a difficult time saying ‘no’, especially to his beloved father-figure, that left Asmodeus and Clara to study on their own.
His attention only left the papers when Clara stayed silent and didn’t continue with whatever she wanted to say. He turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow when he saw her fidgeting on her spot, cheeks slightly flushed and homework apparently forgotten. She refused to meet his concerned gaze, staring at her lap instead.
Before he could prompt her to speak, more than a little put-off at her uncharacteristic behavior, Clara lifted her head. Her eyes shone with something different, far from her usual happy-go-lucky look, but it was an emotion he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“You’ve kissed people before, right?”
For a moment, Asmodeus simply blinked at her, caught off-guard by the randomness of the subject. When his silence caused her to shrink onto herself, he rushed to answer despite his confusion. “Um, yes. Once or twice.” The only sign that she heard him was a slight nod. “Why do you ask?”
“I…” Clara opened her mouth, presumably to explain, but snapped it shut again without completing her sentence.
Asmodeus turned to fully face her, silently wondering whether or not to press the issue. He didn’t have to think too much about it, as she bit her lip and swiftly shook her head, her expression shifting to one of determination.
“Did you like it?”
“What?”
“Kissing. Is it fun?”
Furrowing his eyebrows, Asmodeus hesitated for a beat or two, unsure why his face was reddening. “…I suppose so? But they didn’t mean much to me, if that’s what you’re asking.” At her inquisitive head tilt, he sighed. “Perhaps I would’ve enjoyed it more had I developed deeper feelings towards my partners.”
To his surprise, Clara grinned at him, any lingering traces of shyness melting away. She nodded seriously, as if she had come to a final conclusion after copious amounts of research. “Like you do with Iruma-chi!”
Without his permission, his traitorous mind conjured an image of what it would be like to kiss the blue-haired teen he was in love with. Blushing furiously, he didn’t deny her point, but refused to delve any further into the subject. Instead, he pointed an accusing finger at her. “Don’t say that as if you wouldn’t want to kiss him too!”
She hummed in agreement at that, unfazed by his correct assumption. “Guilty as charged.” Clara giggled, pressing her hands to her burning red cheeks as if that would cool them down.
Their shared crush on Iruma wasn’t a secret to either of them. On the contrary, they often met up, usually in Clara’s room, to gush whenever Iruma did something particularly cute. Which was often. Because of such meetings, Clara began referring to them as ‘Iruma-chi’s fan club’. Surprisingly, Asmodeus didn’t mind, claiming it wasn’t that far from the truth.
Leaving his book aside, as he was clearly not getting anywhere with it, Asmodeus rested his chin on his hand. “Why the sudden interest?”
With a flustered squeak, she averted her gaze towards the wall right beside him as if it was most interesting thing in the world. “Well… It’s Valentine’s Day next week, right?”
Asmodeus’ only response was a slow nod.
“And we’re both planning to confess to Iruma-chi then, right?”
The thought alone made him jittery. “That’s what we agreed to, yes.”
Clara went quiet for a few beats, fiddling with the hem of her skirt nervously. When she finally broke the awkward silence, it was with her face set aflame. “And I was thinking that maybe, if he happens to like me too I mean, um… It’d make sense for us to… y’know… kiss…” She hid her face in her hands, peeking at him through the gaps between her fingers. “…but I don’t know how to do that… so… I was wondering if…” The rest of her mumbled ramble was unintelligible to Asmodeus.
But he caught the gist of it. “You want me to teach you.” He guessed, trying to keep his voice even despite how much he was blushing.
“You’re always tutoring me about lots of different subjects, so it makes sense to ask you for help with this too!” Clara quickly explained with a grin and a nonchalant shrug, but he knew her well enough to see through the indifferent façade. She was just as flustered as him.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, it was his turn to break eye-contact. “Teaching you the correct way to solve an equation and teaching you how to be a good kisser are vastly different things, Clara.” Desperate to dissipate the sudden tension in the room, he tried for a teasing tone. “Besides, why do you think I would help my rival? If Iruma-sama chooses to reject you because of your poor kissing abilities, wouldn’t that be a perfect opportunity for me to win him over?”
To his utter relief, she glared at him with her usual childish pout. “C’mon, Azz-Azz! That’s playing dirty and you know it!”
The small smirk he sent her was genuine. “How so?” Asmodeus raised an eyebrow, reaching out to ruffle Clara’s hair, which gained him an indignant squawk. “Just practice on your hand or a teddy bear like everyone else.”
“But that’s not helpful at all! How am I supposed to know if I’m even doing it right?” She complained before sighing in defeat, trying to fix the mess he had left on her head. “Well, that’s okay. I’ll just ask someone else.”
That made him freeze.
“Someone… else?” He echoed, a cold and awful feeling settling in his gut.
Clara nodded with an apologetic and sheepish look. “Sorry if I made things weird. I really didn’t think you’d agree, but I had to ask just to make sure.” She fiddled with her hands, a nervous giggle bubbling out her throat. “Because, you know, if my first kiss wouldn’t be with Iruma-chi, then… I would like it to be with you.”
Asmodeus choked on his own saliva.
“Azz-Azz!” She rushed to his side, patting his back as hard as she could.
He was very calm. Aside from Iruma, he was her closest friend and that’s all she meant by that statement. He was very calm.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to face her once again. “Alright.”
“Alright?”
He was sure he was blushing so much the heat even reached the tips of his ears. “I will give you a lesson on kissing. But just one! After that, you’re on your own.”
What was he doing? Was it because she was going to find someone else to kiss if he didn’t agree?
Why would he care, though?
Clara interrupted his inner debate with a hopeful beam that sent his heart into overdrive. “Really?”
Oh. He was so screwed, wasn’t he?
“Yes. I'm not an expert, but I'll try my best.” His response came out much softer than intended. He had to suppress a goofy smile when she lit up like a Christmas tree and hoorayed in victory. However, when she didn’t make a move to approach him, he pointed to the spot on the bed directly in front of him. “Well? We can’t do this with you all the way over there, can we?”
She was suddenly redder than a tomato. “Wait, right now?”
Asmodeus huffed, as if annoyed, but he was in actuality struggling not to pass out from the amount of blood that was rushing to his cheeks. “When else? It’s rare for it to be just the two of us. Or do you want Iruma-sama to watch?”
She was in front of him so fast one would think she had teleportation powers.
He swallowed, throat unusually dry, and prayed to any and all gods that could be listening that he wouldn’t stutter or trip over his words. “I know kissing someone may seem intimidating at first, but it’s honestly rather easy. Before anything, you should remember that this is supposed to be pleasant, so there’s no point if you overthink it and become tense and rigid as a result, which will only make the experience awkward and uncomfortable for both parties.”
Clara hummed to show she was listening, sticking her tongue out the corner of her mouth in concentration as she wrote something down on a nearby notebook.
“First, you pull your partner close, usually placing your hands on their shoulders or around their waist.” Asmodeus continued, previous embarrassment forgotten as he immersed himself in the art of teaching. “Like this.”
He demonstrated by gently taking Clara’s hands and guiding them until they rested on his shoulders. Her wide eyes followed his every move with curiosity. “Now, just tug until we’re chest-to-chest. Carefully, though, or else we’ll collide and that’s not the preferred outcome.”
Asmodeus felt like he had won the lottery when Clara laughed at his poor attempt at comedy.
“Well? Can you do that?” He coached, watching as she took his words as a challenge, narrowing her eyes at him. She did as she was told, slowly pulling him to her until they were so close their breaths mingled with each other. As soon as she did, she sent him a smug grin with a triumphant spark in her eyes.
He could only hope she couldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating.
“Okay, I did it! What’s next?”
Their closeness was so distracting it took a few seconds for him to remember where he was and what he was doing. “The next step is simple. You’ll want to close your eyes and lean in, like so.” He followed his own explanation, pausing when there was next to no space between their lips. Clara’s eyes fluttered closed.
As if in a trance, Asmodeus reached out so he was tenderly holding her cheeks in his hands, not missing the way Clara’s breath hitched. It left a funny feeling in his stomach. “Angle your partner’s head so they’re tilted slightly to one side, and then follow it by doing the same with yours, but in the opposite direction.”
“So they’ll fit like puzzle pieces?” Her voice was so quiet, he only heard her shy question because they were practically sharing the same breath.
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I suppose you can see it that way.”
Asmodeus felt more than saw her smile. “Okay. What then? Do we kiss now?”
“If this is still alright.” He analyzed her features for any sign of discomfort, but could only detect anxious anticipation.
“Please kiss me, Azz-Azz.” Was her breathless response.
How could he possibly say ‘no’ to that?
Their lips barely brushed against each other, it could be called more of a peck than anything else, but Clara still melted against him with a soft sigh.
It was unbelievably cliché to have such thoughts, but Asmodeus felt as if he was where he was meant to be all along. It lasted barely a second, or maybe it just seemed like that to him, but he squashed down the strong feeling of disappointment that it was over so soon.
This was practice. It didn’t mean anything.
When they pulled away, Clara had an odd expression on her face. “Huh.”
“What’s wrong?” He had brushed his teeth that morning, right?
Shaking her head, she blinked up at him in confusion. “Nothing. I just didn’t hear the fireworks. Did I mess up somehow?”
Asmodeus had to cough to mask out a laugh. “It’s an expression. You’re not supposed to hear anything. If you did, I would be seriously concerned about your mental health.”
Pouting, she crossed her arms in front on her chest. “I knew that.”
Deciding to have mercy on her, he changed the subject back to what was truly important. “So? Do you think you’re ready to kiss Iruma-sama now?”
Her eyes widened, her face painted a deep shade of crimson. “Of course not, I just followed your lead! I have to make sure I actually understood!”
Paralyzed, he stared at her. “I’m sure you did. It’s very straight-forward, isn’t it?” And why did it sound like she wanted to kiss him again?
Stubbornness reflecting in her gaze, she stared back at him seriously. “Kiss me again, Azz-Azz!”
Why did he even sign up for this?
Why was his heartbeat pounding so loudly in his ears?
And why didn’t he mind?
“Did you just lick my lips?”
“I did!”
“…Why?”
“I read it on the internet! Was I not supposed to?”
“Unless you plan to make out with Iruma-sama in front of the whole school, then no.”
“Hm...”
“Are you actually considering this?!”