What a Hassle
Summary: After Nagi walks in on Isagi tickling Chigiri, he finds himself with a strange desire to do the same
Word Count: 1,503
Nagi ambled down the hallway, narrowly avoiding a wall as he refused to take his eyes off his phone. It was more entertaining than anything else he’d see walking around here. It would be easier if Reo was here to carry him, he remarked dully then quickly forced the thought away with more effort than he liked. He tried not to think about Reo much after their last match. But refocusing on his screen took his mind off of it, bolstering his mood as his heart thumped with a vague excitement.
He entered their team room, eager to show Chigiri the latest funny video he found when he saw something even more amusing.
Isagi was tickling Chigiri.
More accurately, he was destroying him. Chigiri was clinging to Isagi's shirt, burying his face into his shoulder and laughing hysterically as Isagi dug into his ribs. Neither of them seemed to notice his appearance.
"Isahahagi! Nohohoho!"
"Is it really that bad? How about… here?" He moved his hands, squeezing Chigiri's knees and sounding far too pleased with himself.
Chigiri screeched. Loud, uncontrollable laughter burst from him as he squirmed wildly. It was completely unrestrained, unlike anything he was used to seeing from his friend. He found it oddly endearing and surprisingly cute.
They must have said something else to each other that he was too distracted to hear, because the tickling suddenly stopped, and a relieved Chigiri slumped into Isagi's arms, still giggling.
“Youhu je—” Chigiri cut himself off, finally noticing Nagi who was still standing in the doorway.
A wide, wobbly smile was still plastered on his face, cheeks flushed pink. His tousled hair fell in messy waves around him, somewhat sticking to his sweaty skin. His bright eyes sparkled with an unspoken joy despite their surprised, wide-eyed transformation as they fell upon Nagi, who felt an odd warmth in his chest.
Isagi turned his head, also noticing Nagi and laughing awkwardly as Chigiri buried his face into Isagi’s chest with a miserable groan.
“Uh, hey Nagi,” Isagi smiled at him, patting Chigiri’s back.
“Hey,” He said after a long pause, still unable to tear his eyes away from Chigiri while he approached them. Plopping himself down with them on the bed, he quickly logged into his phone and held it out to a flustered Chigiri and curious Isagi to show them the video he found. “Watch this.”
Much to Chigiri’s relief, he didn’t bring up the tickling, and he slowly relaxed as they continued scrolling through other funny videos and memes. It continued until Barou stormed into the room, complaining and fussing about another nonexistent mess. Isagi pretended to sleep, while Chigiri watched Barou and Nagi argue, wondering why he felt a pang of disappointment.
—
Nagi liked Chigiri.
They’d become fast friends since he had joined their team, and Nagi enjoyed spending time with him the most. But recently, he’d become distracted whenever they spent time together.
Like when Chigiri smiled at him or laughed a little too hard at his jokes, so hard that he had to clutch Nagi’s shoulder so he didn’t fall over, when Chigiri asked him to help tie his hair, even though Nagi was awful at it, or when Chigiri told him about his injuries, and Nagi joined him for his post-training leg aftercare everyday afterwards—each time Nagi felt his heart beat faster, his body go uncomfortably warm, and his thoughts muddle.
He didn’t know why, and it was too much of a bother to think about too much. But for some reason, it had suddenly become worse. When he walked in on Isagi tickling Chigiri, saw him so happy and carefree, he realized he wanted to see him like that all the time.
It was too annoying, he’d decided one day when he was relaxing in their room, and he didn’t want it to be a problem anymore.
Abandoning the manga he was only half-reading on his phone, he looked around the room. It was only him and Chigiri; he figured Barou and Isagi were off training or doing whatever it was they did in their free time.
“Chigiri.”
“Hm?” He asked, not looking up from his book.
“You’re ticklish, right?”
His head jerked up, wide, bright eyes boring into Nagi. A light blush spread that Chigiri tried to hide, bringing the book up to partially hide his face. “What?”
Nagi smiled and sluggishly rose from his bed to join Chigiri on his. As he walked over, Chigiri hastily shoved a bookmark in between the pages and set it down, never taking his eyes off of Nagi.
“What are you doing?” Chigiri asked, scooting back and defensively pulling his knees up to his chest. Nagi didn’t miss how he’d backed himself into a corner or the excited sheen in his eye. He must have wanted it too.
“What a bother,” He sighed, grabbing Chigiri’s leg and pulling it towards him as he squeaked out protests, weakly swatting at Nagi’s hand.
“No, no, nohoho!”
“I’m not even tickling you yet.”
His reaction was undeniably cute and only spurred Nagi on. He paused for a moment after he’d managed to pry away Chigiri’s leg, watching as he giggled in anticipation, airy and light, while half-heartedly pleading and trying to wriggle his leg out of Nagi’s grasp. It was harder to think with the distraction, but finally Nagi remembered where Isagi had tickled Chigiri to get such a strong reaction.
“Was this it?” He murmured, using one hand to hold Chigiri’s leg and the other to squeeze his knee.
Shrieking, Chigiri burst into laughter, shaking his head and trying to tug his leg back as Nagi kept up his ticklish assault. “Nohoho! Nahahahat thehehere!”
That familiar warmth spread through him, his smile growing as he watched Chigiri, who was grinning from ear to ear, eyes squeezed shut and red-faced. Nagi paused, allowing Chigiri to catch his breath. His light giggles slowed to a stop, and he peeked an eye open at Nagi, hesitant.
“You’re really ticklish,” He observed, dragging his finger along the underside of his kneecap.
“Thehen stohohop tihicklihing me thehere!”
Quiet, breathy giggles poured from him, and the gentle tickling seemed to be more tolerable; his squirming lessened, and he gave up on trying to free his leg or shove Nagi away.
“Fine,” He sighed again, like he was the one who was put out. Experimentally, he dragged his fingers down Chigiri’s leg, making him titter. He did it slowly, carefully noting his reactions.
“I didn’t know someone could be ticklish here,” Nagi almost laughed as he scribbled his fingers against Chigiri’s calf while he squeaked and laughed.
“Shuhuhut uhuhup!” He cried, burying his face in his hands.
Nagi frowned, slightly shaking his leg. “Don’t do that.”
“I shohouhuld be sahahaying thahat to yohou!”
Chigiri didn’t budge, until Nagi dug into his armpits, producing a loud squeal and forcing him to shoot his arms back down, effectively trapping Nagi’s fingers.
“Good. Now I can see your pretty face.”
His blush darkened as he hesitantly squeaked out, “Prehehehetty?”
“Yeah, you’re pretty,” He spoke casually and took mercy on Chigiri, shifting to squeeze his sides instead.
It had to be the adrenaline rush, a strange giddiness running through him and his heart beat erratically in chest, that spurred him on, bunching his blankets in his fists to try and reclaim some control over his body as he asked, “Whahat, are yohohou gohonna cahahall me prihihincess tohoho now?”
“Princess?” He muttered, still pinching up and down Chigiri’s sides.
Oh, oh, hearing that did something alright. He leaned forward, burying his face in Nagi’s shoulder to hide his growing flush, releasing the bedsheets to wrap his arms around Nagi’s neck, squeezing his shirt instead.
“Yeah, princess sounds nice. But shouldn’t I be the only one calling you that?”
“Whahahat?”
Nagi stilled his hands, bringing them up to brush through Chigiri’s hair instead, trying to comb it back into place after their mini workout. Giggles tapering off into gasping breaths, he realized how flushed his skin was, how intimate their position was. Slowly, he pulled back, keeping his arms tight around Nagi’s neck while raising his head to meet the other boy’s gaze.
They stared at each other for a long moment, searching each other's faces. Nagi's eyes remained locked on Chigiri’s, whose flitted across his face as if taking in his features for the first time. Chigiri broke their standoff first, unable to stop himself from leaning forward and pecking Nagi’s cheek.
He blinked, seeming startled, but a lazy smile spread across his face. He wrapped his arms around Chigiri’s waist, easing him into a hug.
“I like you,” Nagi said, finally, after their embrace lasted a beat too long.
“I… I like you,” Chigiri whispered back.
“Huh,” he laughed, breathlessly. “What a hassle… You know you are, right?”
“Like you’re any better.”
Yeah, this whole thing was a hassle for both of them. But for once, Nagi thought he might not mind the work, not if it was for Chigiri.
