this began as an overly ambitious attempt to get back into writing something longer than 1k words and to actually start to suck less at writing. i apprehensively decided to attempt to write something for nanowrimo, and after a week of wrestling with myself, i decided to write a gsnk fic for nanowrimo because i am GSNK TRASH.

i am also not only gsnk trash but ULTIMATE HORIKASHI TRASH. you might as well throw me straight into the dump because no garbage truck is going to bother to pick me up off the ground.

basically, this is about the main big 3 ships finally getting together, but the main focus is horikashi (because i am a biased piece of shit).

even though i wrote this for nanowrimo, this fic is not complete (bc, hey, first nanowrimo. i was totally unprepared). i'm not even sure if the final word count is going to hit 50k, but i'll post chapters as i finish editing and rewriting them.

uh, so i hope you enjoy my first attempt at actually writing something decent in almost a year (in a totally different style than what i'm used to). this is the lovechild of months of brainstorming headcanons and gsnk withdrawal. (this is also on ao3)

"Kashima-kun, let's go out and eat parfaits together again!"

Kashima gently takes the girl's hand, causing her to swoon, and gives her a sorry smile before apologizing, "I am sorry, my fair maiden, for I cannot today."

When Hori spots Kashima's tall figure surrounded by her usual fangirls, he can hear their high pitched cries from the distance, threatening to give him a headache. He takes a deep breath and begins his usual routine of dragging her to rehearsal.

"KASHIMA!"

Kashima slowly turns her head and lets her eyes widen for a split second before instinctively sidestepping to her right, evading his inevitable kick. Like a flock of pigeons, all of the girls immediately disperse. Hori roughly grabs Kashima by the tie and begins their usual trek to the theatre room. Along the way, Hori allows his grip on her tie to gradually loosen before finally letting go. He takes a moment to look at her before pausing in order to fix and stuff her tie back into her sweater vest.

After many minutes of silence, Hori finally speaks, "I can't believe you actually thought that it would be okay to skip today's rehearsal."

Whining, Kashima tugs lightly at his shirt, "But Hori-chan, it's Friday. I was supposed to go out for parfaits with the girls today!"

"The girls can wait until after closing night, got it?" He snaps before quickening his pace.

Kashima lightly jogs to catch up with him. "Okay, fine. Oh, and I actually declined today. But I won't skip any rehearsals when we start our next— "

"What's the catch?"

"Haha, you got me there," she bashfully laughs before flashing him the most prince-like smile she can muster. "I won't skip rehearsals if you take me out for parfaits or crepes afterwards. Including today."

"No chance in hell I'm gonna do that."

She pouts and makes a strange high pitched noise before tugging on his shirt again like a child, "But, Hori-senpai, I thought you didn't want me to skip rehearsals!"

Hori runs a hand through his hair and sighs before finally conceding because he knows more than anyone else that these rehearsals are absolutely vital— not for Kashima, but for the other actors. "I don't really like overly-sweet things, but I guess it can't hurt every now and then…"

"Thank you!" Kashima smiles and affectionately grabs ahold of his arm, clinging onto him until they reach the theatre room, which Hori decides that he doesn't mind (mainly because it'll mean that for just a few minutes, she'll be slightly shorter). When they finally reach their destination, Hori roughly shoves Kashima off of his arm and opens the door.

Rehearsal goes smoothly. Kashima doesn't miss a single cue. Her lines are memorized, and her acting is superb. Hori smiles in satisfaction as he watches the lights fade to black and begins to clap.

"Great job, everyone! It's been a tough month, but I just know that opening night will be a huge success tomorrow! All of your hard work has really paid off this time, and I'm proud of you guys."

Hori pulls out his phone to check the time and rolls up his script. "All right, everyone. We're done for today."

The room is suddenly filled with chatter, and he can hear some of the first years enthusiastically talking about their opening night anxiety and how they're still not quite used to things yet even though they've done this a few times already. He crosses his arms and smiles proudly. He's so focused on the group of first years that he doesn't hear Kashima when she walks up to him.

He turns his head and acknowledges her. "Hm? You're not leaving?"

"Did you forget already, senpai? You're supposed to treat me to parfaits!"

"Oh, sorry about that. I'll go get my stuff now."

Some of the third years, overhearing their short exchange, crack sly grins at Kashima who, in return, cluelessly stares at them before turning back around to follow Hori. They anxiously watch Kashima's retreating figure and abruptly turn to each other to form a small circle.

"I would like to change my bet to next month, guys."

"Next month? What makes you so sure, Dai-chan? He's just taking her out for parfaits."

"That counts as a date, right?" Daichi asks, feigning innocence.

"Well, according to you during the summer retreat, falling asleep next to each other does not constitute anything romantic whatsoever, so I don't think you're in the position to ask that question!" Yosuke snaps.

"You don't have to be so harsh, Yo-kun. Jeez."

"I don't know about you two, but I stand by my previous bet. Two months. No doubt about it."

"Says the guy who made the exact same bet four months ago and now owes me an essay. Oh and speaking about that essay, it's due in about two weeks, Sei-chan, so you should start working on that."

The group of first years hear a plaintive cry and curiously head towards the group third years.

"Senpai, what's going on?" a first year bravely asks, tapping Yosuke's shoulder.

Turning around, he gives his underclassman a smile before responding, "Ah, Noritaka-kun, we're just placing bets."

"For what?"

To his right, Daichi suddenly pipes up, "We're placing bets on when we think Prez and Kashima-kun will finally get together!"

"W-What? Prez and Kashima-kun?! Why would they—"

Seiji plants his hand on Noritaka's shoulder and makes a wide, sweeping motion with his other hand. "You mean you can't see the chemistry?"

"If you mean all the yelling and throwing of props, then… No, I do not." Noritaka frowns. "More than anything, it looks like Hori-senpai hates her guts. A lot."

"Hah, that rhymed," Seiji snorts. "Nice."

Ignoring him, Daichi's eyes go wide and he dramatically gasps, "How could you say such a thing, Noritaka?! On the contrary, Hori-chan cares about Kashima-kun a lot. And have you seen his face when he watches her act?!"

"Have you ever seen them when Kashima-kun offers to read scripts with him?!" Yosuke enthusiastically interjects.

Noritaka sighs, "I'm still not sure, senpai…"

"Well, as they all say, seeing is believing!" Yosuke says, roughly patting his kouhai on the back. Noritaka looks up at his senpai with an apprehensive look on his face, and Yosuke simply smiles in response.

Yosuke glances at Daichi, and Daichi glances at Seiji before they all nod in unison. Noritaka turns to his friends who give him a thumbs up and a salute before quickly scuttling out of the theatre room. Most of the club members had already left, leaving the four of them alone. When they hear the door close, the third years all exchange eerie smiles, leaving Noritaka confused and somewhat afraid of what is to come.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, everyone?!" Yosuke exclaims.

"Hell yeah!" Daichi and Seiji shout in unison.

Noritaka buries his face in his hands in defeat and shame.

Half an hour later, Noritaka finds himself sitting in an unfamiliar shop with a somewhat uncomfortable wig on his head. In his peripheral vision, he can see his upperclassmen suspiciously obscuring their faces with menus despite the fact that they were all in disguises. At first, he can't help but chuckle at their silliness and begins to question their maturity. They urge him to follow suit, but he laughs, saying that they're being ridiculous and that there is no need for him to do something as silly as that.

But when he sees the president and the prince walk in, he decides that he would rather be caught dead than be seen by him and realizes that he would probably end up dead either way, so he throws himself face first into the menu that was forcibly placed on the table in front of him just a few minutes ago.

Daichi nudges him with his elbow and whispers, "Lie low, Nori-chan, and pay very close attention, 'kay?"

"But, senpai… We're in disguises," he replies, suddenly questioning as to why he, too, is also comically hiding behind a small piece of laminated paper.

"Hori-chan has eyes like a hawk, Nori-chan." Seiji hisses, his hand visibly tensing.

Noritaka simply nods and nervously peers over his menu before finally letting the weight of his words sink in. "Wait, then why are we in disguises?!"

"Oh, Dai-chan just thought that it'd be a lot funner if we were in costumes!"

Kashima happily takes a bite of her parfait, and relishes the taste of sweet, cold ice cream, yogurt, and strawberries. She looks at Hori and frowns, "You're not going to order anything? There are other things on the menu other than dessert."

"I'll pass."

"But it's really good!" Kashima exclaims, scooping a little bit of her parfait with her spoon, and waving it in front of his face. "You should try some."

He looks at her, unfazed, and turns his head to stare at the wall. "No thanks. I don't really like things that are too sweet."

Kashima puffs her cheeks and makes a face before continuing to eat. They sit there in silence, and it isn't until she's about halfway done that Kashima finally decides to speak up.

"So, Hori-senpai, are you excited for tomorrow?"

He looks up from his phone and smiles. "Yeah. I think it's going to be really good, but how I feel really doesn't matter. How do you feel? I don't think I've asked you that in a while," he says, propping his head up with his hand.

She hums in deep thought and then breaks into a grin, "I don't really know. I mean, I feel really good about all my performances."

"Well, you should because you're a really good actor," Hori says sincerely.

"You really think so?" Kashima laughs, covering her right cheek with her hand in an attempt to hide her blush. "But you're a really good actor too, senpai."

Hori sighs, "I don't think I'm as good as you think I am, Kashima."

"But you are!" Kashima exclaims in disbelief, her hand hitting the table with an audible clap. "Don't you ever feel like acting on stage again, Hori-senpai? Do you ever miss it?"

He watches as Kashima's face falls, and for a moment, Hori falters before lightly flicking her on the forehead, smiling.

"Yes, I do miss it sometimes, but I actually enjoy working behind the scenes more."

"But if you could, would you act again?"

"I guess so, but to be honest, I'm not really suited for any roles. You're the perfect lead, and I don't think I'm really suited for a minor role either."

"But you forgot one important thing, Hori-chan."

Kashima locks eyes with him, and her sudden serious demeanor throws Hori off-guard.

"There's always the role of the heroine," Kashima says, reaching her hand out to gently tip his chin up. She scoops up some of her parfait with her free hand and holds the long, metal spoon up to his lips. "Now, my princess, allow me to share with you this which represents our sweet eternal lo—"

Hori's hand tightly grips Kashima's wrist, preventing her from feeding him her parfait, and he hisses, "You mean a parfait, which is mainly composed of ice cream and yogurt and fruit? Ice cream, which is melting, yogurt and fruit, which will decay, and, need I say, all of these things, when consumed, could possibly lead to rotting teeth and," Hori pauses before continuing, seething with anger, "you leaving this place with more than just a bill if you try to feed me that shit like I'm one of your annoying fangirls one more time."

"JUST EAT THE PARFAIT, SENPAI." Kashima yells, her voice on the verge of cracking, and tries to inch the spoon closer and closer to his lips, but gosh, Kashima thinks, he has a really good grip! She realizes that there really was a reason that Hori managed to throw a whole cabinet at her the other day.

"NO!"

"EAT THE PARFAIT, OH MY GOD. IT'S NOT THAT BAD!"

"NO WAY IN HELL, YOU PRETENTIOUS—"

Kashima shoves the spoon into his mouth while he's busy yelling, and her face lights up when she pulls the spoon back out.

"Hey, that's actually not half bad."

She punches the air in triumph, and slides the half full glass towards him. "Here you go, senpai. It's all yours."

"Are you sure? I mean, you are paying for this, you know?'

"Wait, what?"

He swats the air and laughs, "I'm just kidding, Kashima. Do you really think I'm that mean?"

"Well, no, but…" Kashima pouts, and Hori begins to laugh even harder.

As he eats what's left of her parfait, they continue to talk about the usual: how was school, the play, and if anything interesting has happened. Noritaka watches them talk for what feels like hours, and softly groans when he hears that Daichi has finished his second parfait.

"You guys aren't even paying attention to them! Why are we even here? And out of all the things to order, why a parfait?"

"The reason we're here is so that we can make a point, Nori-chan," Yosuke says, pointing at the exasperated first year.

"Huh?"

"The chemistry," Seiji says, making the exact same wide, sweeping motion from when they were still in the theatre room. He takes Noritaka's chin in his hand and turns his head so that he is directly facing Hori and Kashima. "Don't you see how well they get along when they're not being stupid? Kashima more so than Hori, but you get my point, don't you?"

"I, uh, guess so? I'm just surprised that Hori-senpai's capable of holding a conversation with her without throwing anything for more than five minutes. They're actually pretty good friends!"

"Friends," Daichi mouths, cringing more and more with every syllable. "They're clearly more than just friends, Nori-chan!"

"But—"

Yosuke firmly places a hand on Noritaka's shoulder, and calmly explains, "Can't you see it, Nori-chan? How even though we've been talking very loudly and Sei-chan's been making unnecessary hand motions, they haven't noticed us yet?"

His phone vibrates in his pocket.

im going to make sure you dont see the light of day ever again!

The bell above the entrance to the shop rings three times, and the only thing that can be heard afterwards is the sound of jingling and rolling coins that were haphazardly thrown onto a table.

Kashima cocks her head to the side and crosses her arms. "What was that just now?"

"Nothing," Hori says, a little too nonchalantly, Kashima notes, but she chooses to ignore it.

After Hori pays the bill, they both get up and leave. The two of them ride the train together, and when Hori deliberately chooses to not get up when his stop is called, Kashima glances at him curiously.

"Senpai, this is your—"

"I'm just making sure that you remember to get off at your stop.

"O-Oh. You don't have to, but okay…"

In reality, Hori was actually going to stop by Nozaki's apartment to pick up a revised script, but there's no way he could ever possibly tell her that.

"Senpai, by the way… I know that the offer is that I'll go to rehearsal if you take me out for desserts afterwards, but you don't have to if you don't want to… I know you're not too fond of sweets," she says, refusing to look him in the eye.

"No, it's fine. I really don't mind that much"

"Really?" Kashima whips her head around, her face practically radiating. Hori swears that he can see stars in her eyes— real, live, actual stars.

He nods in response, and Kashima's countenance shifts from one of exuberance to one that is more playful and mischievous.

"Well, just so that you know, it's not only limited to dessert," Kashima says, wiggling her eyebrows.

Hori almost throws her out of the nearest open window.

For once, he actually voluntarily thinks about whacking her on the forehead but finds his anger quickly subsiding as he realizes that he now has a viable excuse to go out and eat pork cutlet ramen the following week. He inwardly thanks Kashima, and when their stop is called, she gets up and holds a hand out to help him up (she is the prince of the school after all). He eagerly takes her hand.

At the crossroads, they part ways, and Hori feels a strange lack of warmth in his right hand.