The Claw
In retrospect, there isn’t really any way to lose.
Look I love y’all, and that’s that. Noticed I have a habit of starting on day three, but what better way to get back into the swing of writing? Also, I’ll be jumping between @august-anon’s and @lizzienaut’s prompt lists for this month, and I’m only hoping to beat my total from last year, which was a whopping 5. I’ve got ideas, but I’ll leave prompts open for a bit ☺
Bakugō and Kirishima get silly after visiting the arcade. My love letter to the tickletober day 4 prompt: games. (Also a little bit of ‘suspense’ from yesterday)
SFW. Potential warnings: return-to-writing level fluff, but other than that, none! My Hero Academia / Kiribaku tickle fic.
Word count: 937
~*~
“Fine. Since you’re gonna keep whining about how I wouldn’t waste my money to win you a prize so big you needed a train ticket for it, I’ll play your stupid claw game now, alright?”
It was hardly fair for Bakugō to expect a response out of Kirishima, after having so thoroughly knocked the wind out of him by pinning him on his back to the bed and knocking the butterflies in his stomach to flutter up into his head. If being kissed and straddled hadn't set his heart cantering and head spinning, Kirishima might have been able to verbalize his confusion at Bakugō's words. Play the claw game? When they'd only just gotten back from their class’ day-off trip to the arcade? Sure, Kirishima had teased Katsuki in hopes of getting him to be all romantic and show off to win something for the sturdy student's honor. But he hadn't been serious, certainly not enough to leave the comfort of his room after turning in for the evening just to go all the way back to the arcade.
But, no, as it were, the game Bakugō had in mind required little more moving than to trap Kirishima's right hand under Bakugō's knee and to clasp Kirishima's left hand in Bakugō's right. Pressing a kiss to Kirishima's knuckles, Bakugō guided the arm to lay at Kirishima's side with elbow bent and forearm thus upright, hands still held. The last piece of the game manifested when Bakugō's previously uninvolved left hand lifted, hovering in a clawed shape inches above Kirishima's stomach.
Oh.
Kirishima bloomed a thousand shades of red as he realized whatabouts the claw game would entail, and then one more shade of red when Katsuki bowed down to press a kiss to his lips. "My token to play," he explained, chuckling fondly at the warmth in Kirishima's cheeks as righted himself and reassumed his position as both claw and player. "Now, what prize to go for first?"
The only response Kirishima could offer was in the form of the anticipatory giggles that seemed to bloom from his lips in the wake of Katsuki’s kiss. The poor red-headed hero-in-training could only bite his lips and hold tight to Bakugō’s hand as it began to move, taking Kirishima’s along for the ride.
From its starting spot above Kirishima’s middle, the claw moved slowly down, swaying tauntingly above his navel and lower belly, and then, after a considering hum from Bakugō and a gentle toggle of his makeshift joystick, it crawled through the air, slowly as if through molasses, until it sat above Kirishima’s hip.
Whatever prize Bakugō was aiming for, he was really taking his time deciding. Maybe it was a good thing Kirishima hadn’t convinced him to play the claw while they were still at the arcade.
Kirishima’s soft giggles spiked briefly with a squeak when Bakugō’s hand dipped farther down than previously, close enough that Kirishima could feel the warmth in his villainous fingertips. He stuck his tongue out when Bakugō pulled his hand away once more, but Bakugō only chuckled, spidering his hand across Kirishima’s chest and hovering it above his ribs. And then it climbed higher.
There had been two sides sparring in Kirishima’s mind up until that point. One, the instinctive part, wanted to suck in his stomach and twist away from Bakugō’s imminent touch; the other, much brighter and much louder part, had happily resigned him to his fate. The first part seemed to kick into overdrive when Bakugō’s hand diverted further up Kirishima’s ribs, because instinct said to keep him away from the most ticklish spots, even if the second part was cheering him on. So, Bakugō’s joystick piloting, smooth until then, stuttered when, rather than actually fighting to get out, Kirishima grappled with just the hand he had held in Bakugō’s. It was impeccable logic, truly, that more effective than shaking off the person controlling the claw, he just fought with all he had to keep the claw from moving.
Well, evidently not all he had, since Bakugō had little trouble getting his joystick moving again. To prove a point, he didn’t just direct it up; he fully raised and pinned Kirishima’s arm, smirking all the while. And, even still, his claw hand moved as dedicatedly slow as ever, ghosting up Kirishima’s ribs and chest and holding for an impossibly long moment over Kirishima’s exposed underarm. Kirishima’s eyes were fixed to those wiggling fingers, daring, begging for it to strike already. Only when his gaze met Bakugō’s, warm and impish, did Bakugō at last break form and attack.
Scritching fingers dug into Kirishima’s armpit, crawling up his bicep and down his ribcage in their fervor. Kirishima’s head hit the pillow, eyes scrunched and smile wide amidst deep and deeply happy guffawing laughter. Instinct prompted him to wriggle, and he did manage to free his hand from under Bakugō’s knee in the process. He made good use of it by wrapping his arm around Bakugō’s back and pulling him close enough that he could laugh into the crook of Bakugō’s shoulder, feel Bakugō’s warm chuckling breath tickling his ear.
It took Kirishima a number of dizzy moments to realize Bakugō had relented, trading the tortuous previous work of his fingers for running them through Kirishima’s hair until his breathing evened. Suddenly, Bakugō was kissing him again, and Kirishima giggled and drew back, brushing the tip of his nose against Bakugō’s. “What was that for?”
“Well,” said Bakugō, towering above Kirishima once more with a blazing grin, “figure I gotta put a coin in every time I want to play, don’t I?”
~*~
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