Chapter Text
“Ouma-kun?”
Ouma jumps at the sound of his name, not willing to admit he had been the slightest bit on edge ever since the party started, but unable to hide it having been caught off-guard by the one person that was causing this tiny itsy-bitsy bit of not-turmoil-at-all coiling in his stomach.
In his typical fashion, however, he is quick to rectify his mistake, chirping a, “Wow, Saihara-chan! You scared me!” Followed by, “It’s a lie, though! I just thought it’d be funny to react like that, ‘cause surprises are so much fun and all!”
To Ouma’s further disbelief, Saihara laughs, that soft twinkle-bell laugh that twists his insides in an even grosser way, blood rushing to his pale cheeks in a surely ruddy and obvious and rude fashion.
“I’m sorry for startling you,” Saihara says. “I was just wondering where you had run off to, since I… haven’t given you your present yet. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity, since it would be…” his characteristic nervousness starts to creep into his voice as he continues, “... weird to give it to you at school? When we had this party already to exchange gifts? That’s what I thought, anyway, though it sounds… a little cheap now that I say it out loud.”
“So cheap, Saihara-chan!” Ouma chirps, totally not fiddling with his own package behind his back. “Can’t give me gifts at school? Why’s that? Will it ruin your reputation to be seen with someone like me?”
“No, that’s not it at all!” Saihara looks flustered, and as if not sure how to transition from one point to the next, shoves a neatly wrapped box against Ouma’s chest. “Here. Um. For you.”
Ouma, who very intelligently has his hands occupied, lets the package fall to the ground. “Gee, Saihara-chan, so careless! I hope that’s not breakable.”
“I made sure to account for your… ways,” Saihara chuckles. “I, um, hope you like it. I’ll see you around…?”
He starts away, and Ouma only realizes that he’s leaving when he panics, ever so slightly, exclaiming, “Saihara-chan! Wait!”
Saihara pauses in step, turning, and Ouma feels his heart do a stupid little skip.
“You forgot something!” He yells, unable to handle the sheer power of how cute Saihara’s look of astonishment is when he tosses his own package at him and it hits the detective in the arm as he’s trying to catch it.
“What…? What’s this?”
“It’s a bomb!” Ouma jokes, grinning wide and suddenly very self-conscious. He busies his hands with picking up his gift from Saihara off the ground and holding it close. “Enjoy! If you blow up, I take no responsibility!”
“A bomb…” Saihara trails off, assessing the much more messily packed item he’s been given. “Is this… a gift, Ouma-kun?”
Ouma pauses. Then.
“Ya got me! Happy birthday, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, all of the above, yadda yadda,” Ouma beams, then, seeking the nearest exit, starts speedlining away.
“W-wait!”
Ouma fakes a long and exasperated sigh, looking nonchalantly over his shoulder. “What is it now, Saihara-chan?”
“Thank you,” he says sincerely. “For thinking of me.”
“Who?”
Saihara’s soft smile doesn’t leave his face, and Ouma thinks this is one of the times he’s glad Saihara can read him (and that’s not often a good thing) because he doesn’t have to say anything mushy back, just clasps the package tighter in his hands, feeling a surprising plushness beneath the paper and a warmth blooming in his chest.