Work Text:
There was no way around it. There simply wasn’t anyone else he could ask. And he didn’t trust himself with the internet, not for something as important as this.
“Thank you for asking in advance and not day of,” wasn’t exactly the response he had expected, though.
“Come on, I want to get this over with,” Touma called flatly.
“You...don’t seem surprised.”
Touma gave him an unimpressed look. “I fully expect Kairi and Umika to ask for my help at ten in the morning on Valentine’s Day. Tsukasa already asked yesterday.”
Keiichiro could feel his cheeks getting hot, but Touma had turned away, looking in the bags Keiichiro had brought.
“Are you bribing me, officer?” he asked with an eyebrow raised, pulling out the expensive spice set Keiichiro had bought specifically for Touma, as a please and thank you and apology all in one.
“I’m not going to ask for your help without repaying you,” Keiichiro sputtered.
“Mm. Well, let’s get started.”
And that was that.
They had agreed to meet in the park at noon, and Keiichiro had spent approximately too long trying to figure out an outfit, nearly calling Tsukasa about it before deciding he better not bother her.
And there was Kairi, red sweater a little too big on him, a scarf that must have belonged to Touma if it was blue wrapped around his neck, a yellow beanie flattening his curls.
Good luck charms from his teammates, he thought, his heart going double-time because of it. Touma had given him the shovel talk while they had made the chocolates, and Keiichiro was pretty sure not even his fellow Patrangers would find his body if he ever hurt Kairi.
“Keii-chan,” Kairi greeted him, looking nervous. True to what Touma had predicted, Kairi smelled of chocolate, and there was a faint smear on his forehead right peaking from under the beanie, like he had wiped it with a chocolatey hand and hadn’t noticed.
“Kairi.”
They brought out the boxes at the same time, making Kairi snort when they realized they had bought the same box.
“Great minds, huh Keii-chan?”
“I-I guess so.”
“Don’t worry. Touma helped me and it’s actually illegal to his rules for himself to serve subpar anything, even when he has to watch like a hawk.”
“I know, he didn’t take his eyes off me for a second,” Keiichiro replied without thinking.
“...you got help from him too?? Do you have a death wish? Am I talking to your ghost?” Kairi reached out a hand to touch Keiichiro’s forehead, like he was checking for a fever.
Without realizing what he was doing, exactly, Keiichiro put his hand over Kairi’s.
Kairi turned nearly as red as his sweater.
“Here,” he muttered, wrenching his hand away and shoving his chocolates towards Keiichiro’s chest.
“Thank you, Kairi,” Keiichiro said automatically.
Kairi looked up, the corners of his mouth quirking up as well.
“Come on, Hot-Blooded Policeman. Let’s go find someplace else to eat these, cause I think I see Noel and he’s definitely gonna report back to Touma.”
Blushing furiously at the thought of being the source of gossip, Keiichiro let Kairi take his hand, trusting him with whatever location he had in mind.