Notes

They had danced together at the gala.

But they weren't a couple.

She had fallen asleep in his arms.

But they weren't a couple.

They had unspoken excuses for those things. They weren't a couple, they were just friends.

Just friends.

Platonic dancing! It was just platonic! Their cuddling was completely platonic! Kana just wanted to be comforted! Hop, as her best friend, was willing to comfort her! They were just! Friends!..... Right? Or was there more? Did they want to be more?

"Lee!" Hop whined.

Leon chuckled. "Not my fault you're rubbish at Mario Kart."

Hop rolled his eyes and playfully elbowed his brother in the side. He had just turned his attention back to the screen to start another race when his phone started ringing. He hadn't gotten to just hang out with his brother and have fun in a long time. In any other circumstances, he would've ignored it. But he saw her name, he saw her contact photo. "HOLD ON, DON'T START YET-" he yelled.

Leon saw who was calling him and smirked. "Your crush is calling you?"

Hop blushed. "S-she's not my crush- Shut up!" Leon laughed at his brother getting obviously flustered. "H-hey, Kana, how are you?"

"Hi Hop. Um... So, my parents are doing a work thing, and um, well, Andi's boyfriend flew in from Alola and she wanted to spend time with him, and knowing them she's probably going to stay at his hotel for the night, and um.... I get really scared sometimes when I am home alone, the house is just, quiet, and scary, and I was wondering... Do you mind if I sleep over? I know it's sudden, b-but.... I would really appreciate it."

"Oh! Yeah, totally! My mum will probably be fine with it. Lee is visiting, so, you'd have to sleep on the couch I guess- but I'd feel bad about that, so I- I guess you could sleep in my room?"

"That works. I will be over in about... Thirty minutes. B-bye!"

"Bye- LEE HELP."

"With what?"

"SHE'S SLEEPING OVER."

"Nice."

"WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I SAY?! YOU'RE BETTER WITH GIRLS THAN I AM, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SONIA??"

"I thought you said you were just friends."

"W-we are! I-I mean, I kinda like her, I- just help please!"

"Alright. Time for the scientifically proven Four Part Leon Owens Technique. Just act like you normally do. But do subtle things. Part one drop subtle compliments when she least expects them. Part two, subtle physical contact. Even just 'accidentally' brushing your hands together somehow is enough. Make it subtle. Part three. Look at her a lot. Not like, creepy staring, but glance at her. If she notices you, smile and look away. Part four- somehow get yourself really close to her face in a casual way, look at her eyes, then glance at her lips, then look at her eyes and smile. Treat her with right, respect her boundaries, and if she's not interested after all of this? Then she's just not interested. You stop. You get over it."

"And all of this works?"

"Worked on Sonia. Just try. She might be into you, she might not be, but you'll never know if you don't try. Good luck."

"I'm nervous."

"You can do this. I believe in you."

"Alright."

"Just go for it."

"A-alright-" there was a quiet knock on the door. Another knock came down, still quiet but given with more force. This was followed by a heavy sigh and a ring of the doorbell.

"I've got it" Leon got up and headed to the door.

"WHAT IF ITS HER?" Hop rushed after him.

Leon opened the door. "Hi, Lee. Hop is here... Right?"

"Hop is dead." Leon said joking with a straight face.

"What?" Kana wondered if she had translated wrong.

"LEE SHUT UP!" Leon laughed as he was pushed out of the way by his little brother. "H-hey Kana! How are you?"

She smiled like an /angel/. Hop was nervous. "I am good! Hello, Hop!" she was wearing a dress over a cream blouse. Her hair was put into short braids with a small strands of hair framing her face. She looked adorable and effortlessly pretty. Time for part one of the plan. He could do this.

"Y-your um, hair looks really nice by the way!"

"Oh, thank you! Andi braided it for me before she left."

"S-so, um, Lee and I were just playing video games before you called, you wanna join? I don't really know if you like video games but-"

"I love video games!"

"I- great!" she was already walking over to the couch.

Leon handed her a controller.

(time skip I'm bad at writing scenes like this)

They had decided to play Smash Bros and well.

Turns out Kana was really good at Smash bros. /Really/ good. She had chosen Pichu and uh

Won literally every single fight since she had gotten there.

They had ordered pizza for dinner, because you know, sleepover, and Hop decided it was time for part two of the plan. Subtle physical contact. He noticed she was about to reach to grab a slice of pizza, so so did he. And it WORKED. Their hands brushed against each other. They both kind of awkwardly laughed and pulled away.

They had watched a movie and Hop wanted to engage in part three. Alright. Everything was going alright so far, he couldn't mess this up, not now. Kana was focused on the screen. Hop was just staring at her. She looked at him. He forgot what to do next. Three seconds. Three seconds of awkward silenced eye contact. He just awkwardly laughed and looked away. Panic. Lots of panic. Step four would be better. He could do this.

They had both gotten changed into their pajamas. Time seemed to move more quickly. Kana was already on the couch, presumably asleep. Hop was just in his room, lying on his bed, panicking about how he would do step four. He had managed to fit in every other step, but not step four. He hadn't gotten a chance for their faces to be close. He heard a hand on his door knob. Shoot. He turned to face the wall and pretended to be asleep. The door slowly creaked open. He had not idea who it was. They stepped into his room and slowly shut the door behind them. "Hop? Mada okiteru?" he heard the person whisper.

/It was Kana/

He couldn't answer now. He couldn't let her know he had been awake thinking about her at 2 in the morning. She was quiet. "....Hop?" he didn't say anything. He didn't know why she had snuck into his room, and honestly he was curious. She walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder. ".... Do you sleep?"

"Hm?" he pretended to be woken up by her light whispering. She let out a sigh of relief. "Kana? What are you doing in here?"

"I... Can not sleep."

He sat up. "Wanna talk?" he whispered.

"Yeah."

He move aside to make room for her. She sat down next to him. They didn't talk. There was just an awkward silence. Hop looked at her. She looked so tired.. In a cute way. Her messy hair, pale skin. Her pajamas had gotten tousled around with all her tossing and turning so that the top leaned off her shoulder a bit. Her eyes in the darkness rather than sparkling looked more milky and sleepy. She shivered. It was cold.

"H-hey, you're freezing, come here." he moved her closer to him and wrapped his blanket around both of them.

She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. "You are very warm. Thank you."

Hop was doing his best to not get completely flustered, but he was certainly blushing. He looked down at her and smiled. "You look really pretty. I don't tell you that enough but you're so, so pretty. Your hair, your eyes, your smile. You're the prettiest person I've ever seen I think." Why was the sleep-deprivation filling him with confidence?

She blushed and smiled. "T-thank you..."

THIS. This was the moment for step four. Their faces were close, they were close, nobody could disrupt them. They were drunk with sleepiness and it seemed like the perfect moment. He looked into her eyes. He glanced at her lips. He looked back up at her eyes. They both slowly started to lean in. He could practically hear his own heart beat. They both slowly closed their eyes as the gap between them filled, pressing their lips together gently.

Kana's lips were so soft and smooth, kissing her just felt /right/. And- Oh, Arceus, she tasted like sugar cookies, bloody /sugar cookies/. He cupped his hand around her cheek and furrowed his brow a bit as he kissed her harder, but still gently. She let out a small delighted humming noise, making her lips vibrate against Hop's own. He quietly shushed her in a playful way.

He shifted his hand from her cheek to the back of her neck. He dragged his hand across a small part of her hip bone that was exposed, causing her breath to hitch for just a moment. Hop wrapped his arm around her waist. He pulled her closer to him by both her neck and waist.

Hop gently licked and sucked on her bottom lip, silently asking for entrance. She let out a breathy little gasp and let her lips fall open slightly, nervously welcoming him. He slowly slid his tongue into her mouth, meeting her own. He flicked his tongue up against the tip of hers, causing her breath to hitch again. He slowly dragged the tip of his tongue along the side of Kana's tongue, bringing it up to sloppily lick the inside of her mouth. She let out a soft muffled moan and straddled him, allowing his tongue to go deeper into her mouth. He passionately licked the middle of her tongue, and it just /got to her/. She pulled back and let out a louder than expected breathy moan. He softly hushed her once again as he went back to kissing her without tongue, slowly pushing her down on his bed. They both pulled away and just collapsed into each other's arms.

Hop placed a soft kiss on her neck before holding her close to him and drifting off to sleep.

The Four Part Leon Owens Technique /definitely/ worked.