#hanakou | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wingsonghalo · 2 months

Text

A Practice, For Now ((HanaKou version))

SO back in October of 2022, I goofily remixed my first HanaNene fic, A Practice, For Now (also available on Ao3), to feature Hanako asking Kou to help him practice kissing. It's still HanaNene-coded (and MitsuKou-coded), but instead of Nene asking Hanako for practice because she wants her first kiss before she dies, Hanako is asking Kou for practice because he wants to already know how if he ever ends up kissing Nene. So they stumble through some first kisses. They are so silly and I love them. While I initially just wrote this for my HanaNene server for a bit of fun, even keeping the structure of the opening lines of the original fic and the 8-page length (it's literally just 469 words less than the original lmao), it's been SO long since I posted any of my JSHK writing, and there is not enough HanaKou in the world, so!! I hope you enjoy this silliness!! (Also, obviously this would be before any canon kisses, haha) ================================================

It wasn't the proper setting, the air dusty and still in the abandoned classroom, the dying sunlight streaming in through the window in dust-mote-laden rays, and his nose twitching from the chalk dust as he cleaned the board. It wasn't the right time either, 4PM on a Friday. It most certainly wasn't the right person.

But Hanako, who was loitering around here for reasons Kou couldn't explain, brought up a very unexpected topic nevertheless.

"Hey, kid?" he finally spoke up, hovering helpfully in the background as Kou launched into another coughing fit from clapping the chalkboard erasers together.

"Hm?" Kou responded once he was able to speak again, tossing a glimpse at him over his shoulder. Being a ghost, his lungs already drew in no air and thus he did not have to choke on this chalk dust, the lucky bastard.

"We should kiss."

Kou dropped both erasers and began another spectacular coughing fit, no chalk dust required this time, as he whirled on him. "WHAT?!" He'd turned around so fast he almost fell over, and struggled to steady himself by flinging his hands back to brace on the chalk tray.

The Toilet Troll just looked mildly concerned at Kou's sudden inability to stand or breathe air, raising his eyebrows a little. "Be a little louder, why don't you; I think there are people in the next prefecture over who didn't hear you."

"What the HELL kind of thing is that to say?!" Kou demanded, his knees wobbling.

His ghost friend frowned. "I thought it was a rather clever joke. You were so loud that I was implying that people—"

"NOT THAT," Kou interrupted, flinging a hand out to stop him. "The… what you said before that!" Had he misheard or something?!

"Oh," said Hanako mildly, "when I said we should kiss?"

"What is HAPPENING?!" Kou clutched his head desperately. "Is this some kind of bizarre nightmare?!"

"How rude." Hanako's disapproving frown was even more pronounced now. "It was an earnest suggestion."

No matter how many times Kou blinked his wide eyes at his friend, nothing changed, so he dropped his arms and rested his weight against the chalk tray behind him. The pain of it jabbing into his back kept him grounded. "Okay, seriously, what the hell, Hanako? You know perfectly well that that sounds like an insane suggestion, so unless this is just a really bad joke, you must have a pretty good reason." Kou's best guess was that Hanako was going to somehow trick him into agreeing and then laugh at him.

Hanako didn't look like he was in the mood for laughing, however. He heaved a huge sigh, and sat heavily on one of the desks closest to Kou near the front of the classroom with a fwump. Usually he didn't make much noise when he sat on things, so he must have been either really tired, or really dedicated to being theatrical (it was most often the latter). "Look… my life ended before I got to experience a lot of things. Things I thought I never would experience now that I’m dead. But…" He bit his lip. Kou was pretty sure he wasn't just being theatrical now. "It kind of seems like one thing that I thought was out of reach… might not be?"

"You're going to have to be more specific," Kou pressed him.

The ghost tapped his fingertips together. "There's… someone that I like. And I was thinking I'd like to maybe tell them how I feel.” The fingertip-tapping got faster. “And possibly practice a way of expressing those feelings."

"And… who might you be talking about?" Kou had a pretty good idea, but he wanted to be sure.

The gold eyes he lifted to meet Kou's were pleading, desperate. "Do I really have to say it? You feel the same way about her, don't you?"

Her. As he suspected, this had something to do with Hanako's feelings for Yashiro-senpai. Kou didn't respond, except to clench his fists by his sides. "So… what, you want some experience before you tell her your feelings? With me?"

"With my friend," Hanako emphasized softly, and looked down. "My only other friend. I don't have a lot of allies, you know."

Goddammit. How was he supposed to refuse that outright? "And why should I help you? Doesn't that give you an unfair advantage?" he pointed out, crossing his arms. He tried to keep his voice wary, but to his own ears he already sounded resigned.

"Well, you'd gain experience too, hopefully. Don't tell me you're rolling in romantic expertise?"

Kou grimaced, mouth pulling to one side as he tapped a fingertip on his arm. "I have zero experience, a fact I'm sure you're aware of, or you wouldn't have asked me."

He smiled, equal parts devious and sheepish. "Guilty as charged."

The sigh Kou let out lasted a good five seconds. "You're not joking, are you." It wasn't really a question, but Hanako shook his head anyway. "This is ridiculous. You know that, right?" Hanako nodded, his eyes not moving from him as Kou took a few steps towards him. "I mean, I'm a guy. It's not going to be like kissing her. Aren't you freaked out by it?" Another shake of the head. Kou gulped as Hanako stood up again, ghostly feet touching the floor.

He was shorter than Kou. Kou had known that, but it was especially evident now that they were standing facing each other. "Does it freak you out?" he asked.

"Only because it's you," Kou quipped.

"But… you're okay with it?" His goldenrod eyes wavered a bit.

Kou shrugged. "Only because it's you," he repeated, and bent down. Hanako's eyes fluttered shut just in time for their lips to meet.

It was so cold that it surprised him, and maybe that was why it only lasted a split second. But that had hardly been enough to qualify as experience, so when Hanako pressed back up against his mouth, Kou didn't back away. They stood there like that for a few seconds, neither moving a muscle. Kou could hear his pulse pounding in his ears.

When Hanako pulled away, he glanced unsurely up at the other boy. "Well… what did you think?"

"I'll be honest, dude," said Kou: "It kind of sucked."

Hanako flinched. "Well, you said it yourself: it's not the same as it would be with a girl!" Still, his shoulders slumped. "It was bad, huh…"

It was almost endearing, how seriously he was taking this. But Kou pushed back the slightly sappy feelings of fondness swirling inside him at watching Hanako fidget, his cheeks still dusted pink. "I think it's because we were just kind of standing there," he said with a slight smile. "You're supposed to sort of… tilt your head or whatever, I think. So it doesn't feel as stiff."

"Well look who's suddenly an expert," Hanako huffed, but he looked intrigued at this new information. "If you know what you're supposed to do, why didn't you do it?"

"Pardon me for trying to get over the feeling of smooching a popsicle!" Kou fired back.

Hanako's cheeks went a shade darker. "I can't help that any more than you can help feeling like a furnace!"

"A furnace?" Kou repeated.

"Yeah, a furnace!" Hanako crossed his arms, and the pouting look on his face was what some might describe as cute. "You're so hot that I thought I was going to evaporate into mist!"

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"I'm hot, huh," Kou said, trying not to burst into laughter.

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it," Hanako grumbled, his whole face red.

Kou was usually the butt of Hanako's jokes, so it was quite gratifying being the one to make Hanako feel like a fool for once. "No, I know what you meant," he said, pretending to puff out his chest and combing his fingers back through his hair in his best male model impression. "I'm a total stud." He was, at least, related to someone people frequently labeled as such.

"I'm going to rip that stupid earring off you," the ghost spat, but there was no real threat behind the words.

"Don't hate me for being beautiful," Kou sighed melodramatically. It was the kind of thing Mitsuba might have said, he thought with a fair bit of amusement.

"It's time to shut up now," said Hanako, yanking Kou down by his tie to kiss him again.

Hanako was, at the very least, a quick learner, because this time he tilted his head as instructed, their lips molding together easily. Kou responded as well as he could, moving his mouth in counterpoint. The other boy's lips were soft, and the temperature difference was not exactly unpleasant once he got used to it. Before he even realized it, he found himself swept away in the sensation, allowing himself to be guided by feeling alone. But eventually he needed to breathe, and so he put his hands on Hanako's shoulders to push him back.

The ghost must have misunderstood the intention, however, because he took the increased contact as encouragement, pressing against him more insistently and forcing Kou to take a surprised breath in through his nose instead. Hanako was kissing him like he had something to prove now, having let go of his tie to grasp his shirt with both fists as if to prevent Kou's escape.

Kou wasn't trying to escape, though. His grip on Hanako's shoulders, which had started as an attempt to push him away, now drew him a little closer. His lips responded to Hanako's every move, trying to slow him down where he was too forceful and coax a reaction whenever he stilled. Where had all this sudden effort come from? Kou's knees felt a bit weak, which was stupid because he was kissing Hanako, and it wasn't like there should be any actual feelings involved here, and oh my god he was kissing Hanako; what was this situation and why was his head swimming and why did it feel like sparklers in his gut when Hanako accidentally caught a tooth on his lower lip and pulled away to huskily whisper a "sorry" before kissing him again?

Kou muffled a sound into Hanako's mouth and kissed back like he meant it, because he wasn't just going to let this pervy ghost make him feel like some swooning chick—not that he was swooning or anything. Yes, he only nibbled Hanako's lip back out of spite, to show that Hanako couldn't get the better of him. It had nothing to do with wanting to delight over the startled murmur the other boy made, nor with savoring the way he felt Hanako's cold hands tremble as they clutched his shirt.

This was just Kou's first experience with kissing someone, that was all. That was why every place Hanako touched felt simultaneously freezing and burning hot, that was why his knees felt ready to give out, that was why he shuddered and gripped tighter when Hanako pulled Kou's lower lip between his, like he was reluctant to part from him.

When they drew back this time, both of their faces were red, and they gasped for air, staring at each other almost challengingly. The rosy tint of Hanako's cheeks was almost—okay, no, it was completely adorable.

Shit, Kou thought to himself as his heart lurched in his chest, did he maybe have sort of a tiny thing for Hanako?

Whatever; not important right now.

"Does it always… feel like that?" Hanako finally broke the silence. His voice sounded a bit roughened in a way that made the hairs on the back of Kou's neck stand up.

"Like what?" Kou prompted, brain still a bit sluggish and yet swirling with questions.

"Like, you know…" Number Seven of the School Wonders lowered his head, looking like a shy young boy rather than an impressive leader of apparitions as his large eyes flicked up towards Kou’s. "…Good?"

Some part of Kou preened at the praise, implicit though it was. "We've already established that I have zero experience, so I couldn't tell you."

"Ah," Hanako replied with a nod, "that's true."

"But…" The hesitance had crept into Kou's voice too now as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "I didn't… hate it."

Hanako's face lit up, and Kou's heart skipped a beat. Oh no. Kou hadn't been aware of how bad his soft spot was for this little jerk. "So it wasn't as bad that time?"

Kou stifled an uncomfortable laugh. That was putting things mildly. "Nah, it was, um…" He cleared his throat, and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. "Definitely not as bad."

The other boy grinned a mile wide. "Aww, I love you too, kiddo," the menace teased with a wink.

"I take it back," Kou decided. "I hated it, and I hate you."

"I know you don't mean it, but hearing you say it kind of hurts anyway." Hanako was pouting again. "If I tried kissing you again, would you hate me less, or more?”

"You're really pushing it," Kou groused as he rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you've gotten enough practice?"

The other boy didn't look confident, pressing his fingertips together and glancing up at Kou hesitantly. "I don't know… do you think she'd punch me if I kissed her at this, er, skill level?"

"I don't think she'd punch you," Kou said, crossing his arms thoughtfully, "but if you made her cry, I would definitely punch you."

Hanako's expression clouded over, his eyes darkening and his brows drawing together. "It's selfish to feel this way, I know. I mean, you're actually alive. She'll remember you when she leaves this place. You…" He hung his head. "…actually have a chance with her."

Kou smiled, a little bittersweetly. "There was a time that I would have loved to date Senpai. She's really cute, and totally my type." He scooped up Raiteijou, which had been leaning against the wall in the corner, wrapped up and disguised as an umbrella, before facing Hanako again. He felt more secure with the staff in his hands. "But the more I spent time around you guys," he continued, "the more I realized that I have more fun as her friend." Plus there was the fact that his senpai was completely obviously head-over-heels in love with the ghost in front of him, but he wasn’t going to give Hanako the satisfaction of admitting that.

Hanako's eyebrows shot up. "Did you just friendzone Yashiro?"

He brought one shoulder up to his ear in a half-shrug. "I guess?"

"So… you don't have feelings for her?" He sounded incredulous, like he couldn't believe anyone wouldn't love Yashiro Nene.

"Not romantic ones anymore," he clarified. He'd still do just about anything for her as a friend, after all.

Hanako narrowed his eyes. "Why'd you agree to help your former rival, then? Just out of the goodness of your heart?"

He hesitated, his free hand clenching into a fist in his pocket. Pink hair and a smile brighter than the midday sun flashed through his mind like snapshots. "I still might have wanted some practice," he mumbled.

Hanako waggled his eyebrows at him, leaning right into his space. "Don't tell me I'm more your type now?~"

Kou whacked the Porcelain-Throne Poltergeist lightly on the head with Raiteijou. "Go back to your bathroom if you want to talk shit," he grumbled, but his cheeks felt warm.

"It's a good thing I didn't fall for you, since you'd apparently be an abusive boyfriend," Hanako whined, rubbing the spot Kou's wrapped staff had hit. Kou was positive it hadn't actually hurt him. He was just being dramatic.

"I'd never hit anyone I was dating," Kou said with dignity. "You're a special case."

"You think I'm special~" Hanako sang, floating around him obnoxiously. "You liked smooching me~"

Irritation prickled Kou's spine. He wanted to smack him again, but instead he took a deep, grounding breath. He could be mature here. "Like I said, it wasn't bad," he got out through gritted teeth. "Thank you for the experience." He gave a stiff bow before turning on his heel. "If you're done being a pain in the ass, I'll be on my way." He hadn't entirely finished cleaning the classroom, but if Hanako kept being so annoying, Kou couldn't guarantee he'd be able to resist shutting him up (whether with Raiteijou or his own mouth, he was still debating).

"Wait!" Hanako's hand closed around the fabric at his back, and Kou stopped in his tracks. "I, um… I didn't get to say thank you." Curiously, Kou turned around to face him again, raising an eyebrow to prompt him.

The vulnerability in Hanako's face couldn't be anything but genuine, his brows drawn up as he let go of Kou. "I really couldn't have asked anyone else for help about this." He pulled his cap off his head, fidgeting with it as he held it down by his waist. "It… means a lot to me that you didn't just laugh in my face."

Kou wanted to make a joke, like Hanako would have at any other time. Say yeah, well, it was a close thing or can I still laugh now? But looking at this kid—this kid who had died before his first kiss, died before he'd even gotten to Kou's age, this kid who was short and scrawny and suspicious and had a propensity for dirty jokes but had also saved Kou more times than he could count, who had called Kou his only other friend—he couldn't bring himself to make light of things.

"You're really important to Senpai, Hanako," he said, tone heavy with sincerity, and then grabbed Hanako's hat out of his hands. He shoved it back onto the other boy's head and pulled it low over his eyes, ignoring Hanako's squawk of alarm and laying one more kiss on the hat's brim. "…But you're important to me, too. Don't forget that."

Hanako's hands sprang up to push his cap back into its rightful place, and Kou was satisfied to see that his whole face was glowing red. He looked absolutely stunned, his mouth hanging open and his hair in disarray as he fumbled for words. "I, what's—what's with that, all of a sudden?" he finally sputtered. "Getting all sentimental on me like that…!"

"You started it," Kou retaliated, sticking out his tongue.

Wow, Hanako actually looked more flustered than Kou had been banking on. Either Hanako had some slight feelings buried there too that were going to remain unaddressed, or Kou was way cooler than anyone ever admitted.

(Or Hanako was just easy to fluster. It was probably that, but Kou's ego wanted it to be more than that.)

"You're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?" Hanako said next, still straightening his hat and looking out of sorts as he cleared his throat.

"Psh. Like I'd want to tell anyone about kissing you," Kou threw over his shoulder, since he was getting ready to leave.

"You say that, but I know you're just dying to gush about my considerable talent." Ah, he'd recovered his swagger that quickly, huh?

"I'm not dying for anything, pal," he shot back with a lopsided grin, shrugging on his uniform jacket, which he’d flung over a desk chair.

They shared a look, and Kou felt certain that there was understanding between them when Hanako grinned back.

"See you tomorrow, Kou."

It was perhaps the first time Hanako had actually said his name, and the sound of it was like a flicker of candle flame in his chest, making his smile widen even further.

There was a lot of stuff for Kou to figure out. Maybe he had a bit of experience now, but still not much confidence to make any moves to resolve his entanglement with a certain other supernatural. Maybe he'd never get any kind of satisfying happy ending even if he did gain some confidence. Maybe he'd essentially given away his first kisses to someone he had no intention of pursuing (tiny embers of something burning in his chest notwithstanding). Maybe didn't have much of an idea of where to go from here.

But that was okay.

"Good night, Hanako," he replied, pushing open the door to the classroom.

For now, this was fine.

================================================

Thanks for letting me revisit this old thing!! If y'all like it, I'll put it up on Ao3 as well, LOL. 💖

#hanakou #hananene #jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #mitsukou #stuff i write

28 notes · View notes