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“Ya know, ya really are a sap.” You were straddling Rintaro on the couch in your shared apartment, his head buried in your neck, peppering kisses all around, warm breath tickling your soft skin. It’s not that he never showed physical affection to you, it was usually more casual, like an arm around you on the couch, linking pinkies when you were out buying snacks for a movie night. The days he was more clingy always ended up giving you the sweetest moments, like a few months ago where he wouldn’t let go of you not even during his weekly phone call with his mom, where she gushed about the flowers you sent and he blushed while realising that he wanted you to be involved with every aspect of his life.
Tightening his grip on your waist, he lifted his lips to your ear, “You love it though, and I missed you today.” His words quieted at the last phrase, as though he didn’t want you to hear.
Both of your faces heated up, your stomach turning at the tenderness of his words, “I missed you too,” you placed your hands on his jawline, pulling his face towards yours to kiss the tip of his nose, “anything special happen at practice today?”
He put his head back onto your shoulder, “Not really, Washio’s fiance visited though, he forgot his wallet at their place, the way Washio looked at ‘em, it made me think of you for the rest of practice.” Your face felt impossibly warm, heart fluttering, hair raising on end. “I wanna be able to talk about you to everyone, put you in the best seats in the stadium.” When your guys' relationship got serious, the PR team for EJP Raijin advised that you not advertise your relationship because it could bring the both of you unwanted media attention, which had apparently destroyed some other player’s most promising relationships. “Do you hate me? For deciding that I wanted our relationship secret?” You had told him that you would handle the media if you went public, that you would be prepared for all the comments, but he had decided for you two, leading to years of large hats and sunglasses while out with each other, many nights spent in when the two of you wanted to try the new restaurant that opened. It wasn’t all sneaking around though, you met the team, and all of Rintaro’s closest friends, as well as all of his family over the years. You liked having him to yourself, but there was also the part of you that wanted to post the holidays you spent together, the flowers he’d send to your work, even if it was just to show his fangirls that he was unavailable, and that they could edit all the fancams of him playing they wanted, but he was yours and you were his.
“I could never hate you for wanting your personal life to stay private, even if I have a whole album of you doing silly faces in face masks during movie nights.” Your hands were back on his cheeks and you kissed his forehead.
His back straightened, grabbing your hand to place a kiss on it’s wrist, before kissing your lips, “I love you. I love you so much.” The two of you stayed there, hands wandering, lips pressing against each other in passion and desperation, like if they let up even a little bit the other person would disappear.
Panting, you moved away from him, “I love you too,” and moved back in to continue the kiss.
That night, while you were getting ready for bed in the bathroom, Rintaro stood in front of his gym bag, holding a small velvet box in his hands, soon, he thought, before putting the box back into the zippered pocket.