Work Text:
"Riiiiise and shine! Get up! Get up! Ugh, you're so heavy!"
"Ow!" What a wakeup call. Saihara finds that he's been pushed off the bed and onto the floor, tangled in his bedsheets and dark plaid comforter. He lets out an 'oof!' as something jumps on top of his lap.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'moooon!" his boyfriend whines. "You slept in, you dummy! We're gonna be late!"
"If I had your enthusiasm in the morning…" he mutters, uncovering his face to allow sunlight to greet his vision. Ah, nope, vampire tendencies win this round. He covers his face again with a brief hiss.
Ouma lets out a huff. "Fine. Guess I'll have to resort to my own measures to get you out of bed."
"Technically, you pushed me out of the—" He shrieks when his shirt is partly lifted up so cold hands can press firmly against his skin. "Cold, cold! I'm up!" He sits up abruptly, seizing both of Ouma's wrists as he cackles loudly.
"I win!"
"You cheated." He rubs his eyes with the heel of his palm. "What's this about again?"
Ouma clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth disapprovingly. "For shame, Saihara-chan, for shame. You're taking me out on a date tonight!"
He squints at the calendar across the room. Oh, right. "What's the point in waking me up this early if it's later?"
"Because, I got bored staring at your sleeping face for hours." Ouma kisses the bridge of Saihara's nose.
He laughs softly. "You asked for this life."
"And I'm outright sick of it! I only date you for your cat, I hope you know. But that's a lie - I guess you're good-looking too or something." He rolls his eyes.
"What a charmer. I feel loved." His fingers card through Ouma's soft hair as he presses a kiss to his cheek. "Okay. I'll get up and make breakfast," he says. "What are you in the mood for?"
"No need, because I am taking you out!" Ouma exclaims, pulling out a cloth out of nowhere in just one of Saihara's shirts and boxers. "Now put this on, it's a surprise!"
"Is that the tie I lost two months ago?" Saihara squints at the pattern.
"Irrelevant, now put it on over your eyes!"
Quite frankly, none of his friends got it immediately. They were best friends throughout high school, though it wasn't an easy start. They'd both been in a chess club together, and Ouma proved to be obnoxious and loud very quickly, but hell if he wasn't a formidable opponent.
Sometimes their games lasted for hours. One time it lasted two days. Saihara was determined to beat Ouma one day, and at times he really came so close he could almost taste victory, before Ouma proceeded to grind him into the dirt.
"Better luck next time, Shumai," he taunted. It was a little more than unfair with that shit-eating grin.
But, at least they ended up friends. With Ouma, Saihara got to experience a livelier high school life than he'd ever imagined, and by junior year, he found himself a little more smitten than he knew he should've been.
It took their graduation for him to finally say, "I kind of want to date you. A lot. As soon as possible," which had been the worst way for him to confess his entire life. But yet Ouma was thoroughly entertained by it.
"Wooow! I guess even a milquetoast protagonist like you can fall for a supreme leader like me!"
He walked Ouma home after a long few hours of partying until it was the following morning, and Ouma kissed his cheek once they reached his doorstep. "Thanks, Saihara-chan."
It'd been difficult navigating a long-distance relationship, with Saihara working to get hired at his uncle's detective agency, and with Ouma taking online classes to develop video games, but they managed it.
Now all Saihara needs to do is finally convince Ouma to move in with him.
The liar is a bit notorious for trusting people as far as he could throw them, but Saihara is certain that he'd successfully wormed his way through Ouma's heart. It should go without saying that Ouma at the very least trusts him the most.
"This is weird," Saihara decides as he fights the temptation to lift his blindfold. If not to see his surprise early, then to at least see where he's going, because he's so sure that Ouma is leading him into walls and lampposts on purpose.
"Shush! Are your senses heightened yet? Can you smell with your fingers?" Ouma is thoroughly entertained as he squeezes on Saihara's hand.
"No."
"Darn. I wanted a superhero boyfriend, fighting crime like the Power Rangers! Guess I'll have to settle for super average Saihara-chan. Tsk tsk."
Saihara opens his mouth to reply but promptly hits his face against another lamppost. "I'll remember this," he says.
"I'm sure you will, I'm sure you will! Now c'mon." He yanks on Saihara's hand.
"Whoa—" He nearly falls face-forward.
They seem to enter a cafe when a sudden blast of air fans his face, and his nose is filled with the heavenly smell of coffee. Okay, so he might forgive Ouma or something, whatever, he needs that coffee.
"Okay, aaand lift!" Saihara doesn't account for how bright the place would be after being yanked around for half an hour, and he winces at the bright lights hanging from above. He blinks several times to adjust to the sight of a quaint coffeehouse merged with… Aw, a bookstore.
"Where'd you find this place?" He turns to face his boyfriend.
"Mm, around. Now, c'mon, let's get your breakfast!" He sits them at an empty table beside a large window. Initially, it was bizarre to have someone know you and to be known so well. Now Saihara doesn't ever want to go back. They developed a routine together.
He orders a black coffee and gets a sugary pastry for the two to split. "Mmm, sho gooood," Ouma says, stuffing his face quickly. Saihara laughs.
"You're gross." He smiles, reaching forward to thumb away a dab of white frosting.
Ouma licks his lips. "I aim to please." He grins at him.
"Mm, well, this date is going well so far. I think you're pleasing me, alright."
"Call it a pre-date for the actual date!"
"Alright, what do you have planned?" Saihara sets his cup down. "You get this way when you're about to do or say something serious."
"What, can't a guy take his adorable boyfriend out with noooo ulterior motives in mind?"
"If that guy is you, no." Saihara hadn't been a huge fan of grand romantic gestures at the time. But turns out he adored them from Ouma, and Ouma himself preferred being alone with him, just so they could be intimate and romantic alone with no prying eyes.
"I've got nothing. Nope. No siree." He folds his hands behind his head. "Just your normal average day!"
"Uh-huh." He shakes his head, still smiling. "Okay, I'll believe you this one time." Hopefully whatever Ouma has in mind doesn't interfere with what he has planned.
They hold hands together as Saihara drinks. They talk about everything and nothing, and anticipation rises in him. Today's the day, he can feel it for sure.
They spend the day together. Saihara admittedly had been busier lately than usual; case after case with little break in between had left him emotionally drained. Ouma never complained, though, even if their 'dates' were less dates and more just the two sitting on the couch or in his bed, a movie playing as Saihara stared at his laptop until the words became jumbled.
When he found out about the carnival, he jumped at the opportunity to give Ouma a good day. Let him buy oversized food, play games and win prizes of discolored Minions and goldfish in a bag, and just let go and have fun. Saihara admittedly could use a little more fun for himself as well.
"It's around that time," he observes after checking his watch. They stopped at the store to buy some bread crumbs to feed to the birds at the park. Ouma tosses another at them and makes cooing noises at them as if he could perfectly communicate with them. Knowing him, he very much might be able to.
"Aw, maaaan," Ouma says, looking up. "Guess we better head off." He takes Saihara's hand without hesitation, and Saihara smiles warmly at him as they both stand.
On the way there, Ouma gets the bright idea to act all lovey-dovey. He smooches Saihara's cheek with a wet smack before they cross the road, swings their arms together, and lovingly (and loudly) dotes on him like there's no tomorrow. He'd never felt more like a teenager.
The carnival is… loud. Saihara didn't anticipate how loud it would get from the screaming children running around with sparklers in their wild hands to the bands playing just to the side. But Ouma's eyes light up regardless; he's about to have the time of his life.
Saihara glances to the side to find an abnormally large stuffed duck hung as a display. As a boyfriend, it's his duty to win it. "Hey." He tugs on Ouma's hand to catch his attention. "Look at that." He points to the duck.
"Oh my god, I want it," he whispers out. Yep. Gotta win that duck now.
The game is simple - just toss a few plastic neon rings at some glass bottles. Easy enough.
Not easy enough.
Saihara's eye twitches at the fourth attempt. His boyfriend is giddy with amusement as he watches. "Hangin' in there, Saihara-chan?" he giggles.
"I can win this." Five years of training as a detective has led him to this moment. What a waste of a life.
He tosses the last red ring and it bounces off the lid of a bottle before it finally rests at the neck of another one. Saihara whoops, a little too excited after the previous failed attempts.
The employee yawns. "Which one did you want?"
"The massive duck up there!" Ouma hops in place before shaking Saihara's shoulders as the employee grabs a step stool to reach it. Once it's in Ouma's hands, he giggles madly. "It's miiine! Sorry, Saihara-chan, you've been sentenced to the couch."
It dawns on him that his bed isn't nearly big enough for the three of them. Was he seriously about to throw hands with a stuffed toy?
Yes.
"Come on," Saihara beckons him, holding onto his arm since his hands were a little occupied. "There's plenty of things to do."
"I vote we just go home, absolutely nothing can top this!" He peppers kisses all over the top of the stuffed toy's head. "Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah!"
I really am going to throw hands with this thing, aren't I?
He holds onto the toy as Ouma goes on a couple of cheesy rides. They're silly, but it's completely worth the gleeful smile his boyfriend wears. They win a couple more prizes together, with Ouma usually the winner, and it takes some work but they eventually cram all their prizes into a couple of large plastic bags.
Day slowly melts into night as they resort to sitting on the grass and watching as a local band plays. Ouma is bobbing his head lightly to the beat, his face flushed and beaming with joy. He might lie about a lot of things, but when he's honest, it's so unbearably obvious to Saihara.
He runs his fingers through Ouma's hair as the other rests his head against him. "Had a fun day?" he asks him.
"Mm. It wasn't boring," he says casually.
"Good. I'm glad." He takes a deep breath to steady himself for what he's about to ask. "Kokichi."
"Hm?"
"I…" He scratches the back of his neck. "We've been together for almost six years now, and I… I wanted to ask—if it's okay with you—" He's beginning to stumble over his words, so he just goes for it. "Move in with me. Please."
His heart begins to hammer inside his chest as Ouma slowly lifts his head up so their eyes meet. "What?"
Everything in Saihara wants to look away, but he steels himself. Even if he's rejected, he should at least look him in the eye. "Move in with me," he repeats. "You're—I mean, you're at my apartment more often than you're in yours, your stuff is there, we sleep in the same bed, I make you breakfast all the time, it just—" He inhales. "It feels like we're living together, but not actually living together. I want your face to be the face I see first thing in the morning. I want us to share mornings together. I want to come home to you everyday." He gently cradles Ouma's face with his hands. "Let me take care of you."
Ouma's pale face slowly turns bright red as the words settle. "You're serious."
"Of course I am," he insists. "Would I have dated you for six years if I wasn't serious about you? Kokichi, I'm still just as in love with you as I've been since high school. That's never going away. And… And neither am I."
He considers this carefully, looking away. "Take me to my house."
Saihara drops his hands. "What?"
"Well, I gotta get all my crap outta there, don't I?" He smirks at him. "Come on. Let's go home."
Home. Their home. Saihara's dumb little cheap apartment is home to him.
Today might have been one of the best days ever.
---
"Aw man, that was my perfect opportunity to ask him to move in with me."