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“Gross, gross, don’t do that in front of my meal!” Chabashira complains, taking fighting stance in the middle of the cafeteria. Ouma smirks, making no move to leave his spot on Saihara’s lap.
“We’re not even doing anything, Chabashira-chan!” He exclaims cheerfully, which earns his a small huff of laughter from Saihara, and a disbelieving shriek from Chabashira. Well, it’s not like she can blame them for being lovey-dovey when she does the same exact thing with Yumeno on a daily basis.
Chabashira points to their intertwined hands insistently, grimacing. “What’s that I see?” She points out dramatically, and Ouma blinks. He brings his gaze down and holds up their hands, raising his eyebrows in amusement.
“This?” He asks, snorting. “Don’t pretend you don’t do this with Yumeno-chan every day!”
That seems to shut Chabashira up, and the akido master gives him a deadly glare.
“Degenerate males,” she scoffs under her breath, but takes her seat again. Ouma turns his head to the side to look at Saihara, who has a sheepish expression on his face.
“What’s up with that face, my beloved?” He asks innocently, smiling. Saihara’s eyes widen slightly, before he smiles back warmly.
“It’s nothing, Ouma-kun,” he mumbles, and Ouma’s breath hitches.
Goddamnit, he does not have any right looking that beautiful.
“Hug me.” Ouma demands simply, turning his head away and dropping Saihara’s hand. Saihara complies, wrapping his arms around his waist and setting his chin atop his shoulders, and Ouma thinks that this is the sweetest hell because he doesn’t know whether he enjoys or despises it.
From across the table, Chabashira chokes on her rice.
“…I love you.”
Ouma freezes, dropping his pen when he hears Saihara say those three words. It’s not as if they haven’t exchanged them already, but it’s especially random now, considering they’re in the middle of a group assignment.
He turns to his side and stares at the detective, who quickly adverts his gaze. Ouma narrows his eyes, before leaning his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Why do you say that all of a sudden, Saihara-chan?” He asks, curious. Saihara falls silent for a moment, before responding to his question.
“A-ah. I don’t know, I just wanted to tell you. I love you,” he repeats. Ouma swears his brain short-circuits at the words, and he has to hold back the grin that threatens to break out on his face.
“In that case,” he sings, “I love you, too!”
Saihara noticeably flusters at that, then proceeds to hesitantly wrap an arm around Ouma’s shoulders, pulling him closer. Ouma wonders for a moment about what has Saihara so clingy, but wipes the thought away in favor of scooting closer to the other.
Across from them, Shinguji, Shirogane, Yonaga, and Amami stare.
“…Do you think they know that we’ve already finished the project?” Shirogane whispers, and the three others around her all shrug in unison.
“I almost feel like we shouldn’t interrupt… but they’re right in front of us,” Amami whispers back, looking amused.
“They’re quite… affectionate,” Shinguji points out simply, offering nothing else to the conversation. Yonaga shrugs.
“Do you think they’d notice if we left now?” She asks. The four of them fall silent, coming to a solid agreement.
(And… neither Saihara or Ouma notices as the four of them slip away.)
“…And then I told her, ‘it’s because I love Saihara-chan very, very much!’” Ouma exclaims, satisfied with the way Saihara’s face turns beet red the instant he says that. He supposes it’s Saihara’s own fault for bringing up the topic about why Ouma had gotten him a custom-made promise ring, though.
(His explanation is true, too. He’d gotten it made because of his undying love for the sweet, shy detective.)
Harukawa mutters something under her breath from her seat beside them, sounding irritated. Ouma tilts his head in her direction.
“What is it, Harukawa-chan?” He asks, grinning. She gives him a deadpanned stare, eyes flickering around them.
“We’re in a library, and Fukawa-san won’t hesitate to kick us out if you don’t shut up,” she hisses. She then looks to Saihara, and adds, “this only applies to your boyfriend, Saihara-kun.”
Ouma huffs dramatically in mock offense, turning his head away in ignorance. Well, he’s not going to listen to her anyways, because he still has the rest of his story to explain to Saihara.
(To no one’s surprise, all of them get kicked out of the library. Ouma whistles, uncaring, because in the end, he managed to fluster Saihara enough to get the detective to shut him up with a kiss.
It’s a win for him, he thinks.)
“I didn’t know my beloved was so strong!” Ouma exclaims, arms wrapped loosely around Saihara’s neck as the detective carries him to the nurse’s office. He had accidentally sprained his ankle minutes prior, so Saihara offered to carry him.
(If he’s being honest, he’s dreamed of this before, but never thought that Saihara could actually pick him up. All that training with Harukawa and Momota seems to have paid off, huh?
And he swears he feels the subtle contracting of the muscle underneath Saihara’s uniform. How had he not realized before?)
“I’m not really that strong…” Saihara insists. “You’re just very light.”
Ouma bats his eyelashes innocently, grinning. “Take the compliment, Saihara-chan!” He urges, pushing his forehead into his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“I-I can’t see if you do that,” Saihara protests, craning his neck to see past his hair. Ouma giggles, refusing to move his head from where it is.
And there, the moment is ruined by none other than Iruma (and, to her side, Kiibo).
“Keep it in the bedroom!” Iruma complains, and that’s enough to make Ouma snap his head in her direction. He narrows his eyes, then unwinds an arm from Saihara’s neck to flip his best friend nemesis off.
“I-I don’t think they mean any harm!” Kiibo tries to reason, but his face is already flushed a bright red color, contrasting his gray skin.
Ouma smirks at that statement, before leaning towards Saihara to press a kiss to his lips. Saihara visibly jumps, but kisses back despite his initial embarrassment. He has to say, he’s definitely surprised that Saihara complied, but he’s not complaining.
He’s vaguely aware of Iruma and Kiibo swerving to walk in the opposite direction, and pulls away as soon as they’re gone. He takes a look at Saihara, and smiles upon seeing that his cheeks are colored a dark red shade.
“I’m never doing that again,” he blurts out, sounding embarrassed. And Ouma knows instantly that it’s a lie.
“They’re very clingy, huh,” Shirogane remarks from where she sits with the rest of her classmates. She hears a few hums of affirmation, and brings her gaze to the couple in question. Ouma gives Saihara a forehead kiss, and the detective’s face turns red as a tomato, and Shirogane’s lips quirk into an amused smile.
“Every time I see them, I lose about ten years of my lifespan,” Harukawa deadpans, but continues to stare with her in the direction of Ouma and Saihara. Shirogane swears she detects a hint of fondness in her voice, but she guesses she’ll never know for sure.
“Well, they’re clingy, but at least they’re cute,” Akamatsu points out, giggling softly. Shirogane has to agree with that, actually, because they’re adorable, even when they really shouldn’t be. Everyone else seems to agree, too, considering their small hums of affirmation.
“They seem happy, too. So, really, it all comes out to be a good thing, right?” Amami comments. “I dare say… they might be the cutest couple in our class.”
Shirogane tenses, expecting an outburst at that last statement. To her genuine surprise, however, no one makes a move to counter what Amami had claimed. No one, not even Chabashira, who simply pouts and looks to the side.
As Shirogane watches Saihara press a kiss onto Ouma’s forehead, the smaller boy turning red shortly after, she giggles to herself in amusement.
They really are the cutest couple in their class, despite being so cheesy and romantic.