Work Text:
The class rep sang behind Okarun while his attention was firmly on the decaying cursed trunk in front of him.
His hands clenched and released at his sides as he waited for any sign of Momo and Turbo Granny. The cursed trunk was nearly gone after the Fairy-Tale card’s defeat and Okarun’s heart beat hard in his chest as his thoughts betrayed him by showing him images of being too late and Momo disappearing along with the box. He didn’t know what he would do if the girl he loved more than anything died because he was too slow.
Okarun shook those dark thoughts out of his head. Momo was going to appear with Turbo Granny any moment now. Turbo Granny was always bragging about how her neko cat form brought them good luck all the time and Okarun was willing to bet all on that right now.
The cursed trunk seemed to shift for a moment and Okarun’s eyes locked in on the small figure that looked a lot like Momo that floated in the air. If he looked closer, he would see a small cat decoration that she now held in her arms. The breath that Okarun had been holding in anticipation released shakily and he brought his arms up.
Finally, finally, Momo popped into existence in the air right before Okarun.
Okaurun had his arms held out ready for her. He had remembered the state she was in when he had been pulled out of the box and how she had been barely able to stand. Okarun took a large step forward and wrapped his arms around her while she was still in the air. Momo returned it but hugging her arms around his neck and holding him close. The force of Momo coming out of the box caused him to be pushed backwards and Okarun let him fall as his legs felt like jello after going all out three times.
He didn’t want Momo to feel more pain in the slightest so he took the full brunt of the fall onto his back. It didn’t matter if it irritated the long slash across his back – it only mattered if Momo is okay. Momo released a small whine as they fell but offered no other complaints.
The dust settled around them and they both released a full-body sighs of relief as the latest misadventure of theirs was over. Momo’s face was tucked in the juncture of Okarun’s shoulder and neck, softs puffs of air being exhaled from her mouth on him. Okarun just closed his eyes and raised a hand to the back Momo’s head, rejoicing in the fact that she was there with him.
Just then, the cursed trunk disappeared completely and the space exploded into a round of cheering screams as the threat had been truly defeated. The delinquent students slapped each other on the hand, uncaring if the other was wounded or not. Rin breathed out a sigh of relief and let the tension in her shoulders bleed away.
Amongst the noise, Momo and Okurun just enjoyed the other’s presence. For a long moment, the two of them just laid there with their arms around each other. They listened to the cheers of the delinquent students at the victory of defeating the yokai and getting Zuma back. Their hearts were beating hard and fast against their chests, and both wondered if the other could feel it.
With a groan, Momo turned to roll off of Okarun as she remembered that he was injured too. She fell with a soft thump against the ground on her side, with Okarun following the movement to lay on his side as well. Okarun wasn’t ready to let her go just yet and pillowed her head with one of his hands while the other laid limply across her waist.
“You okay, Okarun?” Momo asked as she saw all the blood on his face.
“More than okay now that you are out of there,” Okarun said with a wiry smile. “What about you?”
“Ah, you know nothing can hold me down,” Momo teased, giggled which turned into a wince when her body protested.
Okarun looked at her again, taking in everything about Momo. She was battered and bruised, her hair a mess with grit and blood dirtying it. There was dark bags under her eyes to show how tired Momo was after everything but she was still laughing.
Okarun only had one thought about how Momo looked – how beautifully she shined despite it all.
“I love you,” Okarun blurted out before he could think about stopping himself.
Okarun could hear Momo’s breath hitch. He could see the gears in her mind work as they remembered his confession from earlier – just minutes to him but longer for her. Okarun didn’t know exactly much longer time felt to Momo but he knew that the entire she was in there, Momo was depending on him getting out.
“Say it again,” Momo demanded, her gaze steely at him. Her hand came up to grab the hand on her hip, intertwining them together in the space between the two of them.
Okarun gulped but didn’t falter. “I love you,” Okarun repeated.
Momo’s cheeks became a soft pink that was growing in intensity. “Again,” she said in a quieter tone as she inched her face closer to him.
“I love you,” Okarun repeated in the same volume as her but bolder than he said before. His own face grew closer to hers and he could see the brown of her eyes all the more clear.
“One more time,” Momo whispered with her eyes fluttering shut.
“I love you,” Okarun whispered with all of his conviction as his own eyelids copied hers.
Their lips meet in the middle as they kissed.
It was short and sweet, filled with the taste of blood and the feeling of split lips. They pulled away from each other after a moment with Momo and Okarun slowly opened their eyes to look at each other. Both of their cheeks and the tips of their ears were a bright red. For a moment, they just stared at each before giggling. They leaned their foreheads against each other and tightened the grasp on the other’s hand.
The bubble of their own corner of the world popped when the delinquent students broke out in thunderous cheers and whistles. Momo and Okarun sat right up in an instant with wide eyes and red cheeks with how all the spectators cheering for them.
“Were you all watching us?!” Okarun exclaimed in shock, fixing his glasses on his face robotically like he did when he was embarrassed.
“You creeps!” Momo screeched and buried her face in her hands.
Everyone laughed at the new couple, whistling and cheering at them for making it official. Even with the majority not knowing them for very long at all, it was clear to see how the two cared deeply for each other. Rin was the happiest for them after seeing their relationship progress over every time Momo came tearing into her’s and Okarun’s shared classroom to retrieve him for another adventure with yokai and aliens – not like she knew it was for that at first.
“Took you two long enough,” Turbo Granny scoffed from the side after jumping off of Momo shortly after Okarun had caught her and they fell to the ground. “I swear you two were the slowest pair of dimwits I have ever met.”
“W-wha?! How’d you know?!” Momo exclaimed in embarrassment. It turned into a groan as it jolted her wounds and she bent over to hold a hand to them, Okarun wrapping an arm around her shoulders to support her.
“Careful,” Okarun urged her in a quiet voice which sent everyone into another round of teasing at their display of affection.
Rin clapped her hands together in a soft cheer for them, an amused smile on her lips. The girls with her giggled behind their hands all the while sending the new couple some winks in congratulations. Off to the side, Zuma stuck his fingers in his mouth and wolf-whistled at them in a joking tease.
“We all knew you two had the hots for each other,” Turbo Granny rolled her eyes and crossed her short arms. “Honestly, it was so damn irritating seeing you two skirt around each other.”
“We were not!” Momo exclaimed. She winced again from the pain and this time leaned against Okarun.
“Dumb skank, you absolutely were,” Turbo Granny scoffed. “Honestly, everyone could see it except for you two. I had a bet going with Seiko on when you two would finally bite the bullet.”
Momo grumbled at her grandmother making bets on her love life and dropped her face back into her hands. Okarun just chuckled despite feeling the embarrassment of others betting on him getting his act together and confessing his feelings to Momo. Said girl bent over to hide her face and he patted her head in an effort of diffusing the embarrassment for her.
“Alright, that’s enough of that,” Officer Bega, Zuma’s adoptive father, cleared his throat where he stood supporting all of Zuma’s weight even with all of his own injuries. Zuma himself looked dead on his feet, especially when you considered all of his blood staining the front of him. “Everyone that can, help the wounded! I’ve already called for ambulances so help them hold out until then!
The students seemed to disperse then. Some that weren’t as injured bolted as they couldn’t risk another strike on their record if the police thought they got into a fight. Others did as Officer Bega instructed and found the nearest injured person to help. Zuma’s number two guy came over to help support the other side of Zuma’s weight as said student lost the fight against exhaustion more and more.
Okarun looked around the site and couldn’t believe all that happened in such a short period of time. He felt Momo’s head thump against his shoulder and peeked down at her. “You okay?”
“Just tired,” Momo yawned loudly. “It was a long couple of days.”
Okarun couldn’t blame her. She had been stuck in the cursed trunk for nearly an hour in their time which meant longer for her. Momo and Zuma had been running around trying to complete the levels of the game – actually being the guardian spirits to stop the Fairy-Tale card from escaping the cursed trunk but neither knowing at the time – and that must have drained them. The back of his mind wondered how long Zuma had been in there before Momo had been sucked in.
“Let’s go,” Turbo Granny ordered after seeing how close to falling asleep Momo was if she sat there long enough as she turned away from the couple. “You two are going to worry Seiko if we come home too late.”
“Aww, you do care,” Momo teased with a mischievous tone.
Turbo Granny wiped around with a dark look at Momo. “I am going to let that comment slide because of how injured you are now but next time, I will make you regret saying that, you shitty brat.” With that, the yokai stuck in the toy cat body waddled away to go pick a fight with Mai after she released Rin from her possessed yokai form.
Okarun chuckled at Turbo Granny’s words. As much as the old yokai pretended to hate them still, he could see how much she had warmed up to them all. While her words were still harsh and aimed to cut to the bone, they still carried some care to them. He stood up and brushed his pants off, groaning when the pain in his back made itself known all over again.
A hand appeared in his field of vision and Okarun tracked the pink of her sweater down to Momo’s face looking up at him with a sweet smile. “Help a girl up?” Momo asked with a hand held up towards Okarun.
Okarun did one better leaned down to hug her close and lift them both back up. Momo giggled at his boldness and tapped their foreheads together. There was a sparkle in her eyes and Okarun felt himself wanting to kiss her all over again. His eyes started to close as he leaned in, Momo reacting in kind with their lips getting closer and closer…
“Let’s go already, you shitty lovebirds!” Turbo Granny yelled at them.
The new couple jumped at her harsh voice. They looked at each other with wide eyes before chuckling to themselves. Okarun wrapped one arm as carefully as he could around Momo’s waist – being mindful of her wounds – and Momo wrapped the arm closest to her now boyfriend around his shoulder to let him support her weight. She held her free hand to her side to keep pressure on it, hiding the grimace as it hurt her.
Okarun started their trek forward even though it hurt his entire body. Momo’s heavy eyelids showed just how tired she was and he could spot the pink starting to peek through the white of her bandages. With renewed drive to get Momo the medical care that she needed, Okarun lead them to growing flashing lights as the ambulances arrived on the scene.
“I love you, too, you know,” Momo said quietly out of nowhere.
Okarun’s heart shot up into his throat and he turned his head to look at Momo, his glasses falling askew on his face. She was looking straight at him, not hiding her face as she confessed her own feelings, with cheeks bright pink. A smile worked its way onto his face and without speaking, they both leaned in for another quick kiss again.
With the hand on hanging off of his shoulder and his free hand on that same side, Momo and Okarun intertwined their fingers together with neither planning on letting go anytime soon.