Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Maybe it was on her, really.

After all, she’d known from the beginning that her boy was DENSE. He couldn’t take a goddamn hint to save his life. Never had. They’d been friends for a year or so now, best friends for just as long. And Momo had been in love with him the entire fuckin’ time.

Not all of it was Okarun’s fault, to be fair. She’s… bad at expressing things verbally, and can be sorta dishonest with her own feelings. Hell, it wasn’t until a few months ago that she could even admit her feelings to herself.

It was a slow process, okay? Be patient with her.

Still, now that she had admitted it, you best fffffuckin’ believe she’s been tryin’ her best. So she’s bad with words, so what? Okarun was good at communicating, he was typically pretty honest with his feelings… if she just… threw herself at him enough, surely he’d get it. Right?

And then three months passed.

She spent virtually every moment they had together practically clung to the boy, and he would always be flustered and shy and embarrassed, but never quite seemed to get why she was doing it. Did he just think that she did that with anyone? Sure, she could be touchy, but this level…? That was only for him.

And the fucking thing is… she knows that they aren’t just friends. She knows it. She sees how he lights up when they lock eyes in the morning (it makes her knees feel weak), she hears the softness in his voice when he says her name (it makes her swoon), and even though he’s hesitant to ask anything of her, she always knows that he readily jumps at any chance to spend time with her (she has to stop herself from taking all his time).

They aren’t just friends, but they aren’t together. She knows that he has to have some kinda feelings for her, but… he doesn’t know that she has feelings for him, does he?

Because she’s too weak to just come out ‘n’ say it.

But maybe that’s okay. Maybe it’s okay that he hasn’t picked up her hints yet. There’s one last thing she has up her sleeves. Something she hasn’t thought about too much (she’s thought about it at least once a day since meeting him).

She was gonna get this boy to kiss her.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking,” her pencil scribbles in her journal. “‘But Momo, if you think that’s the key to him finally taking a hint, shouldn’t you be the one to kiss him?’ And to that I say; shut the fuck up, I have a plan.”

Slamming her journal shut, she sits up on her bed, glancing over at the room’s other occupant.

Sitting with his back against the side of her mattress was the object of her every desire and frustration. They’d finished their homework some time ago, and had been sitting in a peaceful silence. It was something Momo had come to enjoy a lot, one of the things that separated Okarun from anyone else she’d ever known, aside from maybe her grandma. They could sit in silence for hours, and Momo never felt the pressure to break it if she didn’t want to.

It was nice. Cozy. Momo had never realized how much she’d been craving something like that.

Of course, it wasn’t always like that. Before even beginning their homework, they’d spent, like, two hours bickering about who would win between Naruto (Momo’s pick, the correct option), or Hinata from Haikyuu (Okarun’s incorrect pick, most likely chosen to specifically get a rise out of her). That led to a cascade of other stupid, pointless arguments that Momo secretly relished, and she thought maybe he did too. He may have called her a bitch at one point, but she was cackling when he did so. She may have called him a fuckass rotten piece of shit tangerine fucker, but he had that dumb, pretty smile. The kind that makes his brown eyes look all shiny.

Ugh, she needed to douse herself in cold water or something.

Right now, she could see him drawing in his own little notebook. Looked like a doodle of Mr. Shrimp and his son, in their true forms. It was another thing she’d come to love about him. He loved to draw people he knew, usually in sweet, domestic settings, or just from things he remembered.

And Momo also knew how much he loved to draw her. When she wanted to see his pretty blush, she would bring it up, kinda grateful that he didn’t know how much the drawings of her turned her insides to jelly.

Godddd, I wanna grab him by his stupid face and-

“Hey, Okarun?”

His pencil stopped moving, big brown eyes turning curiously to her. It was the first time either of them had broken the silence in, like, an hour. “What’s up?”

“You ever kiss someone before?”

PLAN A: The Inquiry.

It didn’t take too long for Momo to see her favorite shade of pink dusting up in his cheeks, as his eyes immediately veered off to the side.

“I- You-,” he stuttered, along with her heart. “What kinda question is that, Ayase-san… you already know the answer…”

His tone is whining in a way that makes her snicker, even despite her nerves.

“Nuh uh. Vamola kissed you. You didn’t kiss her.” Momo decided not to share how much she had needed to repeat that fact to herself at the time. “You kinda just… stood there like a gapin’ fish.”

“Rude!” He threw one of her plushies at her, which did not help her in the snickering department. “I was in shock! I never thought that would happen to me!”

“What, an alien girl kissing you? Kinda sounds like somethin’ you’d fantasize about,” she teased, leaning toward the side of her bed, trying to get a better look at his face.

“A-Are you trying to get me to ask Vamola-san out or someth-”

“No.” She didn’t even really have the decency to feel embarrassed about how quickly that rebuttal came out. “Unless, you like-... unless you wanted to…”

Suddenly, it was very hard to look at him. Unfortunately, this was often as close as she could get to being, like, vulnerable and shit.

“You know that I don’t,” he sighed. “She’s very kind, and I’m always fascinated by Sumerian culture, but, y’know… I just don’t think we’d be a good match.”

“Good.”

“Sorry? What’d you say, Ayase-san?” He leaned closer, trying to hear her better.

“Oh? Me? Nothin’ really,” calming herself, reassured that he most likely reciprocated her feelings, she brought herself to look at him again. “Still, no like… I dunno, childhood crushes you were smoochin’ on?”

“Ayase-san…” his whine was probably meant to incite her compassion, but unfortunately for him, she mostly just thought it was cute. “No. Have you? Kissed anyone before, I mean.”

“Yeah, the last guy I dated,” she had to stop herself from including the ‘before you’. “He wasn’t exactly big on it, though.”

“Really?” There was a note of very genuine surprise in his voice, as he turned his face to her fully, flushed cheeks faded a bit, brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Did I not tell you about him?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Not really, no. Other than that he wasn’t a good guy, that is, nothing specific really.”

She hummed to herself. It kinda made sense to her. Really, meeting Okarun kinda made her forget all about the asshole. Hell, he barely occupied any of her brain space these days, she’s half-forgotten his name. Something like tuna…?

“Yeah, he wasn’t great. I think I was kinda… shallow, back then. I didn’t even really like him much, I just kinda saw what I wanted to see in him, I guess,” she propped herself up on her elbows, hands fiddling with each other. “Only dated for ‘bout a month, I think.”

“And he didn’t like kissing you?” Again, with that surprised tone. Was he… offended?

“Well… he kinda… didn’t like that I just wanted to kiss,” she admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed to admit that she would date that kinda guy. “He wanted some shit I just wasn’t ready for. Could be a bit pushy with it, too.”

“Oh?” She coulda sworn she saw a flicker of red in those brown eyes. His voice was quiet. The air seemed chillier.

“I-I mean, it ain’t that big a deal. I’m a gyaru, man. Kinda somethin’ ya just get used to, eventually.” She chuckled a bit, trying to keep her voice positive. “‘Sokay. I don’t mind what a buncha shitheads think about me. Shit, if anything, I’m just embarrassed he could kick the hell outta me like that. Ain’t ever datin’ someone like that agai- WHOA!”

Suddenly, her Okarun was standing at attention, staring down at her with an intensity she only saw in his yokai form, but his eyes remained that familiar shade of brown. “He kicked you?”

Oh. Oh yeah. Another reason she was in love with him.

He would never treat her as a damsel to be saved, but he also would never let someone get away with hurtin’ her.

“Hey, Okarun, like seriously, it’s fine,” she said, raising her hands placatively. “I’m fine, dude. It was like a year ago.”

“Don’t care. What’s his name? I just wanna talk to him.”

“No way, dude. I can’t tell you his fuckin’ name, you’ll kill him.”

“I just wanna-”

“-kill him?”

“Just wanna talk to him.”

“Dude, I couldn’t tell you his name if I wanted to,” she confessed with a sigh. “Somethin’ tuna related. We broke up the same day I met you, so ain’t like I’ve ever had much a reason to think about him in the first-”

She paused, realizing what she had started to admit.

Thankfully, fucking thankfully, Okarun was still in defense mode. He hadn’t caught on to the wider implications of her words. “He kicked you and got away with it? Not on my watch. What kind of man would I be to let another man get away with hurting an innocent woman like that?”

And if that didn’t just do funny shit to her little heart.

“Well… I mean… maybe not innocent,” she said, breaking eye contact and playing with her hair. “I, like, did try to crescent kick him.”

“DESERVED!” It wasn’t often that he raised his voice, but Momo always found it sorta endearingly funny when he did. “I’m gonna go after him!”

“Wh- right now?!” She finally sat up, pulling herself off her stomach and into a kneeling position. “You don’t even know what he looks like, and I’m not helpin’ you with this-”

“I have Miko-san and Muko-san’s numbers,” he said, a devious little glint in his eye. “They’d help me.”

And Momo went silent, because they absolutely would.

Collecting herself, she stood, grabbing roughly at his shoulders before he could leave the room. “Okarun, it’s fine! You can just leave it alone-”

“No, I can’t.” He turned, and in a move that shocked her, he grabbed her shoulders, staring her dead in the eyes. “No one gets to treat you like that, Ayase-san. Not while I’m breathing.”

Her hands fell to her sides, and, in what had to be a first, Momo Ayase had nothing she could say. Her mouth opened and closed, stupidly, and something between a stutter and a stupid fucking giggle was the only sound that she could produce. She knew, knew, that she must have been blushing like an idiot. But still, his intense gaze stayed on her.

Then, for just a moment, it seemed like those lovely brown eyes fell to her lips. For the briefest of seconds, Momo’s breath caught.

To her eternal dismay, he let go of her shoulders, the fire in his eyes returning as he turned away from her.

“I just wanna tell him what an idiot he is,” he said. “You deserve a boyfriend who wants to kiss you, Ayase-san.”

GAENGIRenogaoirengaAGNAIGRNNAIE24tAMRGPm!!!ngmairgn?!

“Oka- Wha- hey- I-” WORK WITH ME BRAIN! “What do you- what does that- get BACK HERE!”

In the midst of her mental bluescreening, her boy had started to jog downstairs, calling out a farewell to Granny even as Momo bounded after him, practically screeching the whole way.

He never did find her shitty ex, not for lack of trying. And Momo didn’t get the kiss she’d been hoping to be able to naturally lead up to. She’d had a whole plan, to be all suave and offer to be the first girl he kissed, but that kinda went up in smoke.

Still, later that night, as she tossed and turned in her bed, she replayed his words from earlier. As much as she should be angry, or frustrated, or depressed… she just kinda felt warm. Safe.

She always felt safe with him, and she thinks that’s what made her fall in love in the first place.

Today’s plan may have failed, but that was okay. For as long as he (probably) reciprocated her feelings, she’d have as much patience as she needed. Eventually, he would have to take the hint and kiss her. Then, when she kisses him back, he’d have to know how she felt. Then they could start dating.

All accordin’ to plan, right?

Chapter Text

"Momo, this idea seems… convoluted."

"Girl, can't you just ask him to kiss you?"

Cheeks burning salmon pink, she slams the top of her desk. "Keep yer fuckin' voices down, you skanks! If Jiji catches wind of this, I'll never hear the goddamn end of it!"

Kei and Miko both just snicker at her, because they're evil. Telling them about her small and very massive crush on Okarun had been as relieving as it was hellish. Relieving, because they were a constant voice of very vocal support, constantly hyping her up, and were endlessly approving of her Okarun.

Hellish, because, well…

"I honestly bet you anything he'd let you kiss him silly."

"I'm saying! Boy's lost on ya, Momo."

"Totally lost."

"Totally, totally lost."

"Almost as lost as you are on him."

"'T'sa close race, forreal."

"Forrrreal."

"IGETIT!" She's internally thanking every god, kami, and half the yokai that Jiji and Okarun weren't around, spending their lunch break exercising. Most days, she would go to watch him them, but… her plan. Her very good, foolproof plan. "Are you two down or not?"

"Oh, hell yeah," Miko says, smiling. "We gon' getchu that bae, Momo."

"I'm wonderin' though, why didn't you ask Jiji or Aira for help with this," Kei asks, applying eyeliner. "Not that I mind, obvi."

"Aira is way too unpredictable. She'd prolly agree to go along with it, but with… ulterior motives," She says.

"Like snoggin' on your Okarun," Miko supplies.

"Like snoggin' on my Okarun," Momo nods. "Jiji is too busy doin' whatever the fuck he and Errosuke have been up to. Besides, I kinda think he'd have his own ulterior motives…"

"Like snoggin' on your Okarun," Kei says, sagely.

"Like snoggin' on my Okarun," Momo sighs. What even was her life at this point? "For some godforsaken reason, y'all two're the only ones I know that wouldn't have a motive."

"I mean…" Kei's Cheshire smile makes Momo grumble. "Not like I'd mind kissin' him."

"I will kill you."

"C'mon, Kei-san, y'know Momo ain't the sharin' type," Miko chastises, but her smile shows a certain level of bemusement. "Anyway, ya got our support. What's the pl-"

"Ayase-san!"

Goddammit be normal please be normal Momo you gotta lock in you gotta be normal here please-

"Abuh-! Oka-! Wh-What're ya-!" Stammering, flustered, ugh. She did not, in fact, lock in.

He gave her a funny look as he walked into her class, a confused but sweet smile that didn't make her wanna squeeze him till her popped, not one bit. He had a nice sheen of sweat, having ditched his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, something that did Momo absolutely zero favors in regards to not stammering like a fuckin' idiot, especially when he had her favorite pampy flavor held in his large and way too soft hands.

She isn't sure when, all that she knows is one day she had turned around and he had gone from cute to hot and Christ help her, she did not know what to do about that.

How do you act normal about this shit, dude? She's askin' for a friend here.

"You okay?" Those evil evil evil brown eyes were taking her in now, concern written in those pools of coffee. And she hates that she's comparing them to coffee. She doesn't even fuckin' like coffee, but it's all her dumbass can see when she closes her eyes these days.

"Y-Yeah, I'm g-great!" She forces it out, trying to keep a cheerful tone. "What're ya doin' here, Okarun? I thought you 'n' Jiji were hangin' out."

Indeed why was he there. Seriously. Despite her stupid, dumb, seemingly endless feelings for her boy, she rarely felt this out of sorts around him. Like she'd been caught on the back foot, without him even realizing it.

He makes a funny face, sliding into the empty desk beside her, behind Kei. "We were, then Sakata showed up and Jiji said he had to go, so… I just figured I'd swing by. Brought you a drink!"

"Mannn, where's my drink, Okaruuuuun," Kei says, turning to smirk at him. "Whydja just bring one for Momo, hmmm?"

"Well this has been nice, I really should get going, I'm gonna be late for the… uh… anyway," he stands, ready to bolt out the door, before Momo's hand manages to catch his wrist.

"Dude, she's just messin' with ya, you know how they are," Momo says, giggling all the while. "I'm glad you're here, come sit."

He turned pink at that. A layman might think that the flush was just a holdover from his exercise routine, but Momo knew that his flustered blush was a shade and a half of pink darker than his exercise blush, and it also sat approximately 2 centimeters higher on his face, and covered 25% more surface area of his cute, boyish cheeks-

She's normal, why do you ask?

"Anyway, Okarun," Miko begins, "Momo and Kei here're comin' by my house later."

"Oh, that's nice," he smiles, sweet gaze turning back to her. "Are you gonna be going home first? Do you want me to walk with you?"

"Actually, Okarun~," Kei said, that grin remaining on her face, "we were gonna ask if you wanted to come, too?"

Her boy perked up, smile brightening before dimming again, turning his eyes to her where she was very much not staring at him thanks.

"I'd… I'd love to, i-if you wanted me there?" The question, by the look in his eyes, is for her alone. Idiot was gonna give her a heart-attack at this rate.

"I…" she casts a look at Kei and Miko, both of them staring her down hard. Anything less than pure honesty, they might kill her themselves. "I always want ya there, dumbass."

She can feel how red her face must be, but the way his lights up makes it worth all the embarrassment in the world. The rare kind of smile, the kind that creases the corners of his eyes. The kind that makes her want to jump out a window because what the hell else can she do.

"I always want to be with you, Ayase-saaaaa-" A pause, as he seems to consider the implication in those words "-aaaaaI'mgonnabelatehere'syourpampyokayseeyoulater!"

He bolts from the room, fast enough that she's half-surprised that she doesn't see a flash of white hair or red markings. The girls watch him go, snickering to themselves.

"Gah, so sweet," Kei says.

"Mm, just a shame that he runs away so easily, right Mo… mo?"

The Momo in question was deaf to her friends' words, clutching the gifted drink her boy had left her closer to her chest, hair falling in a fringe around her face, a veil hiding the stupid smile, her stupid glimmering eyes, and her stupid blush.

Nothing could stop them from hearing her low, stupid giggles though.

"Hehe… he said… hehehe… he said he always… ehehe… wants to be with me… hehehe…"

Unbeknownst to the room's resident idiot, Kei and Miko exchanged bemused, long-suffering glances.

"She's too far gone."

"We gotta put her down."

Momo checks herself in the mirror one last time. Her red jacket hangs off her nicely (the one that may coincidentally match the red of his yokai form), her lipstick is poppin' (maybe the same shade of red…), her eyeshadow is present but not obvious (you'll never guess the color).

She looks… good. Great, if she was being honest. The skirt was the perfect length, too, exposing just enough of her legs that, if she wasn't completely delusional, his eyes had a habit of drifting towards. He's probably the first guy whose wandering eyes made her feel thrilled rather than angry.

With any luck, looking like this, it would be impossible for him to not want to kiss her.

"MOMOOOO!" Kei's voice reached Miko's bathroom. "YER BOY'S HERE! I'M SURE YOU"RE GUSSIED UP ENOUGH!"

"SHUT UP!! I'LL BE DOWN IN A SEC!" Traitor.

Stepping out, she finds Miko waiting by the bathroom door, the rare sight of the girl with her hair down, something Momo only really saw in this house. Miko gives her a smile.

"Ya look good, Mo," she says, using Momo's least favorite nickname. "May not even need the plan, at this rate."

"Miko." Momo's voice is deadly serious, gripping her friend's shoulders. "Never doubt how dense this idiot is."

Miko laughs obnoxiously, pulling Momo to follow downstairs. In the gyaru's too-large-to-be-comfortable living room are Kei and Okarun.

Her boy, as he always tended to, looks good. He's wearing a hoodie that he had borrowed from her and had subsequently "forgotten" to give back, not that she ever planned to ask for it. Not when it looked that good on him. That, plus the shorts that revealed his own toned legs…

Maybe she did need to be put down.

"Ayase-san," he's already smiling, his eyes doing that dumb thing they do where they light up when he sees her. "You look… good."

"Whydja hesitate, huh?" She's already closed the distance, swatting on him with soft smacks against his arms. "Ya had to think about it, ya bastard?"

"No! Stop hitting me!" Despite his protests, he's laughing. "You're being a brat!"

"Yeah, Momo!" Kei chimes in. "You know he was just caught off guard by your beeeautyyy."

"That's not helping!" Okarun grouses at her, while still defending himself from Momo's attacks.

"Good," Kei laughs, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Anyway, if you two are done," Miko begins, "I think we could start the game now."

Momo finally halts her assault. Right. The plan.

The plan.

"Oh! We're playing a game?" Okarun, her poor innocent, naive Okarun.

"Mmmmhm," Kei says, before rummaging through her bag. "Tell me, O-ka-ruuun, have you ever played… spin the bottle?"

Okarun's eyes widened, already red in the face, before his gaze lands on Momo.

She mocks surprise, mocks offense, before settling and returning his look with a shrug.

"Could be fun?"

PLAN B: The Gamble

Momo would give Okarun credit, he wasn't a runner when it counted.

His aflamed face hasn't calmed for a second, and he looks every bit like a man walking to his demise. But. He does not run.

He sits right beside her on the floor, eyes now refusing to meet any of the girl's present, and waits.

"So," Momo begins. "Who wants to-"

"I'll go first!" Kei beats her to the punch, spinning the glass bottle with a helluva lot more gusto than is needed.

It spins

and spins

and spins…

Okarun's face reddens even further. She's almost starting to get concerned. When was the last time the poor guy breathed?

"Okaruuuun," Kei says, cooing. "Ooooooo I'm gonna kiss ya Okaruuuun…"

"Kei," Momo says, a smile of warning on her face. "Be nice, right?"

The dark-skinned gyaru just smiles at her, crawling over to her Okarun, where he's fidgeting nervously.

"Hey, Okarun," she says, bringing those brown eyes to her face. "If you're not down for this, that's okay. Seriously, won't hurt my feelin's one bit. I could kiss ya on the cheek, if that's better?"

"That's… better," he says. Momo doesn't miss the nervous glance he gives her out of the corner of his eye. Like he's in trouble, or something. Something about that makes her feel happy, and something about that makes her feel guilty.

She smiles at him like she isn't mad, because she really isn't. She knew this was a possibility going in. She'd accepted that. That was why she had asked Miko and Kei, the two friends that she had that she knew were no threat to her wider plans of seduction. A brilliant move on her part, frankly.

Kei presses her lips into one of his cheeks, and the squeak sound that comes out of him is like a shot of alcohol through Momo's system. She'd crush that sound up and snort it, if she could.

And despite her lack of anger, she'd be lying if she wasn't a tad bit bitter that she was hearing that lovely little sound because of another girl's lips on her Okarun's skin.

Still, it's hard to hold on to that bitterniss when, as soon as Kei pulls back, all smiles and friendliness, Okarun immediately gives Momo an apologetic look. Momo's not sure that he even means for it to come across that way. He just can't keep his feelings out of his eyes.

So she smiles at him, glad to see some of his tension relieve.

"S'my turn," Momo declares, spinning the bottle.

Spinning

Tumbling

Slowing.

Stopping…

Momo sighs.

"You don't gotta look disappointed, Momo," Miko says, though her grin is teasing. "We been friends since grade school!"

"Yeah, yeah," Momo grumbles. "Let's get this over with."

Momo shifts closer to Miko, and their lips connect chastely. It's not long, nor impassioned, but it's serviceable. It's not Momo's first time kissing a girl, and if some of her… unvoiced theories about Okarun wind up proving correct, it may not be her last time either.

Momo pulls back, Miko smirking at her. The disappointment was still in her eyes then, apparently. She's just glad her friend doesn't seem to take it personally.

Returning to her spot, she doesn't miss the shift in the way that Okarun's looking at her. There's something in those brown eyes now, something she's only seen a few times, and something that she privately, selfishly hopes is jealousy.

Hoping to at least kinda indicate where her heart lies, she beams at her boy. "It's your turn, O~ka~ruuun…"

"Oh! R-Right…"

Spinning

Rollling

Useless

Stupid

The point of the bottle lands on Kei.

Huh.

Well.

That's just.

"Looks like the universe is tryna tell us somethin' here, Okarun…"

"The hell is that supposed to mean," Momo cuts in before she can stop herself.

"Something wrong, Momo?" Miko giggles. "Seems like things aren't goin' your way here, babes."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" His voice is doing that Okarun thing it does when he's embarrassed, it's all pitched up and shit.

"Nothin'," she lies. "J-Just get this over with… yer holdin' up the line."

"I'm sorry that it's inconvenient for you, Ayase-san," he says, in the brattiest tone he can summon.

A bratty tone that disappears once he's looking at Kei again, her Cheshire grin unfading.

"U-Um… Nakamura-san-"

"Kei-san," she corrects.

"Nakamura-san," he continues. "C-Can I… God, this is awkward to ask… can I kiss your hand?"

Miko snorts. Kei giggles. Momo wants to die.

"Dude, hell yeah," Kei says. "It's like I'm a fair maiden or some shit."

"If that helps," Okarun sighs, before gingerly taking her hand, and pressing his lips into it softly.

"Momo, Momo, Momo, MOMO OWWWW!"

Oh.

So Momo had grabbed Miko's hand at some point.

Squeezing.

Oops.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"Don't worry, Momo," Kei muses. "You'll get your own princely kiss soon, I'm sure. Maybe even more, eh Okarun?"

Okarun's eyes widen at that, and he practically zips back to his spot next to Momo, staunchly refusing to look at her. Poor guy seems… really nervous.

Hold on.

Was she an asshole?

Before she can ponder it too much, Miko has taken the bottle and spun it to herself. To Momo's relief, it landed on Kei.

Using the moment, she turns to Okarun, leaning over to him to whisper.

"Hey, you okay?" She tries to keep her voice gentle, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she speaks. "Seriously, if you aren't comfortable, we don't gotta do this. We can just chill and watch a movie."

She means it, too. Machiavellian scheming means nothing if she was making her poor boy uncomfortable.

Finally, though, he brings his eyes to her. He's still beet red, and there's a bit of a nervous sweat, but he smiles at her. A genuine smile too, she knows how to spot the ones that are only meant to make her feel better.

"It's… new. A little scary, if I'm honest, but… I'm n-not uncomfortable. I wouldn't participate if I was."

She leans a bit closer, letting him see the concern in her eyes. "You prommy?"

"I prom-" he freezes, catching her word choice and her teasing grin, and makes the face of someone who just took 957 points of psychic damage, nearly flinching backwards. "Never say that again."

She's cackling, bumping shoulders into him, thankful that it feels normal, the same as ever. He's still grumbling under his breath, but he's smiling too, so…

"Anyway, I think that makes it…" Momo's eyes turn back to Kei and Miko, just to find that they're still going. Worse, it's like they're the only people in the goddamn room.

"A-Ayase-san, d-d-do they… do this often?"

"Not in front of me, they don't."

They keep right on goin', too. Miko's hands are in Kei's coat, Kei's hands are in… Miko's hair…

"Did this bitch really let her hair down just for this?" Momo mutters. Okarun laughs beside her, tinged with bashfulness.

The two of them seem deaf to the world, the kiss only seems to stretch on 'n' on. Momo finally draws the line when she sees the flash of someone's tongue.

"PLEASE! That's enough," Christ, even her face is burning. "Have I been missin' some shit here? You two go around mackin' on each other often? You a thing or…?"

"What are you talking about?" Kei's face is the picture of innocence.

"That was just a friendly peck," Miko's is the picture of nefariousness.

"Whatever," Momo breathes. If that's a can of worms they wanna keep closed then… so be it. "Kei-san's turn, yeah?"

"EEEyuuuup," she says, popping the 'p' sound. She takes the bottle, and spins it with the flick of her wrist.

Miko

Momo

Okarun

Miko

Momo

Okarun

Miko…

Momo…

Okarun…

Miko…

Momo…

"You're shittin' me."

Okarun.

Momo isn't sure what she did to piss off the gods, but they apparently have it out for her.

She, statistically, should have kissed or been kissed by him, at this point. They'd played… a hell of a lot of rounds, and yet! And YET! She spins the bottle, it's Kei or Miko. Okarun spins the bottle, it's Kei or Miko.

Oh they have no such issue, they spin the bottle and it lands on her (always chaste) or Okarun (always on the cheek or forehead) or each other (they cannot kiss like that and convince her they don't do this OFTEN), and her poor Okarun has kissed both of their hands enough and GOD even if that's all he would do with her too SHE WANTS IT okay, sue her.

The clock has struck late, Okarun has to go home soon, she has to go home soon, this is bullshit and she knows it. She's even tried, tried to change the force she's been using, change the angle of the spin, whatever to just improve her odds of it landing on him, but it's like his dumbass is polarized to bottle openings specifically.

She never gives up on the fight, not until her Okarun glances at the clock one final time, gives her an apologetic look, and says, "It's late. Can I walk you home, Ayase-san? No rush, of course."

'No rush, of course,' meaning that he was probably tired and wanted to go to bed, but also was not going to let her walk home alone, and he'd stumble his half-asleep dumbass back after dropping her off even if she didn't wanna leave until midnight.

Momo, as much as she hates the feeling of defeat clawing its way up her throat, also didn't want her dumbass boy to put himself out of his way for her. So she smiles, as genuinely as she can, and says "Yeah, we should head out."

"Whaaaat? Alreeeeady?" Miko's tone is teasing, but Momo can see the look. Like she's sad on her behalf.

"Yeah, don't want Okarun to be out til 3 AM. It was fun though." Her eyes bounce between Kei and Miko, their swollen lips, Kei's ruffled coat, Miko's messed up hair. "For the record, like. Ya don't gotta tell me anything you don't wanna, but I hope you know that I'd support you."

"Sorry, what are we talkin' about?"

"Support us in what?"

Bitches. Their grins were all coy 'n' shit. "Whatever. Love ya both. Enjoy lesbianism."

Okarun snorts behind her as she turns shoulder to leave, offering both of the girls a more formal farewell, before padding along beside her, following her into the brisk night air.

"That was… interesting," he says. His blush is absent, and for maybe the first time, she's glad. Glad that he doesn't seem flustered, or worse, upset.

"Yeah, not sure what that was about," she replies with a laugh that she prays doesn't seem forced. "Guess they just wanted to kiss."

"Mm."

The rest of the walk home is quiet, with occasional smatterings of idle chatter, as they are wont to have. Still, there's a comfort in just being around him, really, even when she can tell that there's something on his mind, something he's mulling over.

It's when they get to the torii gate just outside her home, she turns to him with a smile. "You sure you don't wanna pop in for a sec? Granny might be pissed ya didn't say hi."

"Granny will have me do my whole workout routine in front of her just to prove I haven't been slacking," he deadpans, and she laughs. She isn't sure if he's noticed that he's started calling her 'Granny' too, but it makes Momo buzz with happiness every time.

"Ayase-san, the whole… um…" oh, that shade of red again. "The spin-the-bottle thing… y-you think that it was just… them wanting to kiss?"

He's embarrassed, but he's looking right at her. She shuffles a bit, not displeased by his attention, but more than a little anxious that she'd somehow been found out. "I-I guess… yeah. Probably? Makes sense to me!"

He ignores her awkward laughter, nodding as though he's taking her words at face value. "Right… I was, um… worried about what to do if the bottle… if it had landed on… you…?"

Oh, she thinks.

Now where is this gonna go, she thinks.

"Wh-Whaddaya mean?"

His hand comes to the back of his neck, rifling through his hair, his eyes on her shoes. "I j-just, I wasn't really s-sure what to d-do if it… like… landed on you? C-Cause, the two of t-them, I could… I g-guess, I could kiss their hands, a-and it didn't feel t-too improper. B-But I-I was worried i-if I had d-done that with you… it would seem… t-too formal? And I guess… I was worried, I j-just wasn't sure what you w-would have w-wanted."

His eyes were wandering around now, anywhere but her. Truthfully, while she was sporting a flush of her own at the idea of him being so considerate, once again, she feels guilty. Guilty, because it was eating at him, clearly.

"Be honest with me?" His eyes come back to her, now. "Were you relieved that it never landed on me?"

It's like staring at a sunset, the way his cheeks turn even deeper in their red. His brown eyes are wide, almost looking terrified, but he doesn't once glance away from her now. Wordlessly, he shakes his head.

"Well," she says, taking in a breath. "Let's say it did land on me. Say it did right now. What would you do?"

He blinks. Once, again, a third. "A-A-Ayase-san, I-"

"Show me," she says, closing her eyes. "If you don't want to, it's totally okay. But if you're comfortable, I want you to show me. I'll be okay with it, whatever it is. Promise."

And she means it. If it's him, she means it.

He stammers incoherently for a second, and she can hear his feet shuffling about, before settling. She keeps her eyes closed, both for his nerves, and her own. Finally, she hears footsteps approach her. She tries, tries to keep her breathing even, she doesn't wanna give too much away after all, but had she brushed her teeth enough times had the mints she taken lasted long enough were her lips soft enough-

A brush on the side of her face, just below her cheekbones. A pair of soft lips, pressing into her skin.

It's not the place she had wanted.

Still, the cool air of the night is suddenly impossibly warm.

Still, she opens her eyes to see a world oozing in colors never known before.

Still, she's smiling like a big, dumb, stupid fucking idiot.

He's pulled back already, looking at her with something between guilt, fear, and (she prays she's right about this) joy. "W-Was that… okay?"

"Very okay, Okarun," she says, giggling, before throwing her arms around his neck, flinging all of her weight at him.

He laughs, still somewhat nervous, but he's spinning her around and God she loves the feeling of being picked up by him.

Yes, technically today was a failure. Technically, she didn't get her kiss that would make him… I dunno, fall in love and propose on the spot? So yeah, a failure.

Still, as she closed her bedroom door behind her, knees IMMEDIATELY giving out and sending her ass to the floorboards, laying there and just tracing the part of her cheek where he had pressed that gentle kiss, where she could still feel the radiating warmth…

As far as she's concerned, she's a winner today.