Chapter Text
Ryuuji was a simple man, with straightforward goals and desires. He knew what he wanted, and the steps it would take to get himself there, and he had no issue taking those steps. Very few thoughts and emotions strayed beyond easily comprehensible and explainable notions. He wasn’t the type to react without stimuli. Okumura was very different from him, on a fundamental level. Okumura gave off an air of simplicity— easy to read, easy to sway, and hard to shake off. He exposed Ryuuji to a new perspective on things, to a mindset that never followed a path from point A to point B. Okumura doesn’t even think in terms of points A and B, and sometimes it was hard for Ryuuji to comprehend Okumura’s capacity for thought at all.
In Ryuuji’s life of patterns, schedules, of each action having a purpose and a cause, Okumura was like a red splotch on his white canvas. It bothered Ryuuji to be so bothered by Okumura. Even before any of his demonic nature came to light, Okumura’s existence radiated a pressure that forced Ryuuji’s eyes to seek him out. Like a moth to a flame. He sighed, having yet again caught himself staring mindlessly at his notes while his mind pondered Okumura’s existence. He got up to stretch his legs, walking back and forth between his and his roommate’s beds, who was out at the moment. Ryuuji was fine with that, glad he’d have fewer distractions while completing his work. Although any joy he felt at the distraction-free study environment was ripped away knowing how much time he loses on a daily basis with his constant daydreaming.
It was so much worse in class, both general classes and cram school classes were a nightmare right now for him, and no matter how much he catches himself and snaps back to work, his mind inevitably shifts back to less productive thinking. Ryuuji loves his advanced classes, and savors the sense of challenge he gets when tackling new topics, but everyday the hour-long classes leading up to cram school drag on torturously slow. Sometimes he’ll allow himself to indulge and seek out Okumura at lunch, but seeing the other boy’s face just made the following classes feel like an eternity. Ugh, ‘an eternity’, what is he? A lovesick fool?
But cram school classes always left Ryuuji feeling winded and with his face feeling hot. He could never identify if he liked that feeling or not, it frustrated him and made him feel like there was something missing. He was always left with questions like: how warm were Okumura’s hands? Would he be like a furnace, secreting a constant warmth that leaves you feeling like you’re cuddled up next to a fireplace? Or maybe his hands would be cold, Ryuuji wouldn’t hesitate to wrap his hands around the other boy’s, to make sure they were fully encompassed and transfer all of his own heat to him. How would Okumura look at him if he did? Ryuuji wanted to kiss that look of surprise right off his face, and to garner his reaction.
But not in this lifetime. Ryuuji was perfectly satisfied knowing that if the universe wanted him to act upon these ungodly desires so badly, he’d meet Okumura in his next life. Or maybe perfect satisfaction wasn't quite supposed to feel like a gaping hole in your chest, begging to be acknowledged.
Rin lay in his bed, eyes glued onto the manga cracked open in front of him, generously lent out to him by Yukio, who supposedly got the recommendation from Shiemi. It was a shoujo manga with a very innocent and mostly platonic, but incredibly heart wrenching and endearing plot line that had been keeping Rin up for several hours. It was fine, Yukio was going to be out the entire weekend, which meant no need to worry about waking up early and studying for a whole two days. It was lonely without his brother, so he was grateful for Kuro’s company and Yukio’s manga collection.
The story was mostly set in reality but had a couple extra chapters set in alternate universes using supernatural elements as main plot points, and Rin’s favorite was the chapter where the girl is a demon and the boy accepts her as she is. It was only a few pages but really hit home for Rin for obvious reasons, and managed to make him cry for an embarrassingly long time. It didn’t help that the boy in the story always reminded Rin of Suguro; he's tall and has broad shoulders, and he likes to dye his hair and wear piercings. But his personality doesn't suit his appearance at all, and he is also very caring and attentive.
Usually Rin wouldn’t be so joyfully reading and relating to a story targeting girls, but he took comfort in knowing the entire dorm building was inhabited by himself and Kuro alone, and they were a force to be reckoned with. Kuro was free of judgment, having not lived among humans regularly enough to be familiar with social norms, and generally just didn’t really care about what Rin got up to— unless cooking related. So, Rin confidently reread his favorite side story, picturing himself in place of the girl and Suguro grabbing his hands, encompassing them entirely just to let him know he didn’t scare him.
The smile on Rin’s face stretched widely as he pictured it, and he flipped to his stomach with the manga still in his hands stretched out in front of him so he could bury his face in his pillow. He could even feel his tail whacking against each side of his bed in his excitement. He hopped off his bed, suddenly remembering another one of his favorite extra chapters, contained within one of the volumes sitting under Yukio’s bed.
It took place in the same setting with the main character being part demon, and follows her reactions as her romantic interest is given a love potion that makes him act all lovey-dovey towards her. It’s also the first time the two were ever shown sharing a kiss! Although it wasn’t canon to the main story, Rin always reread it with a sparkle in his eyes.
If Rin were to get his hands on a love potion, he wouldn't ever use it; he’d feel guilty knowing that Suguro never truly liked him. But he knows Suguro doesn’t like him like that anyway, and his only shot at getting the kind of romantic relationship he craved from the other boy would be something on a supernatural level. Maybe if someone gave Suguro the love potion and it only worked on Rin, that’d be like a dream. If Suguro pulled him aside after class to confess that he doesn’t know where it came from or why it’s so intense but he’s deeply in love with him, Rin would just die.
There’s no way Suguro would ever look at Rin the way the characters in the manga look at each other, it would be too far-fetched. But Rin could just imagine the way Suguro’s hard gaze would soften when meeting Rin’s, the way the corners of his mouth would twitch into a smile— his stoic mask crumbling. One of these days Rin’s going to find an excuse to hug Suguro for a profusely long period of time, and Suguro’s gonna hug him back, wrap his massive arms around Rin’s back in a crushing hold, and Rin’s going to be so close he’ll be able to hear his heartbeat.
If Suguro were to take a love potion and fall for Rin, there’s no way Rin would be able to say no. But what if Rin took the potion and fell for Suguro? If that weight of confessing was entirely off Rin’s shoulders, and he could test Suguro’s reactions to his affection with minor fallout, then it’d be like a guilt-free all-you-can-eat buffet. Rin groaned into his pillow, rubbing his eyes tiredly. This kind of thinking definitely had to be fruitless, but Rin's mind raced on ahead.
On Saturday, the cram school students were called out last minute to a location on school grounds with rumored spiritual activity that was causing a fuss with the student body. Rin showed up roughly on time to see his brother standing next to Mephisto silently, and waved to greet them alongside the rest of the group. Mephisto waved back with a grin on his face, making Rin scowl, and Yukio nodded pleasantly— well, as pleasant as he got in work mode.
Most of the class was already present, save for— surprisingly— Suguro. Yukio seemed to have noticed the look on Rin’s face and provided a helpful “he called ahead, he’ll be arriving shortly,” and something about the tone of his voice made Rin feel as if he was being seen right through. He could feel warmth rise to his face at his brother's perceptiveness regarding his feelings.
Speaking of, Suguro was jogging towards them, hair down and uniform slightly wrinkled, which was pretty rare for him. The look definitely suited him though, and Rin just hoped he’d be able to focus on anything else today. “Sorry, I didn’t sleep well, it won’t happen again,” Suguro apologized to Yukio curtly and seemed pretty genuine about it, so Yukio excused him without fuss.
“Well then,” Yukio clapped his hands to gain the group’s attention, “as you can see, we’re standing in front of the old information center that used to be dedicated to providing help for new students,” Yukio gestured to the building secreting an aura of unease behind him.
Mephisto picked up where Yukio left off, “It is quite unfortunate but our new center is much improved! Please come check it out during your breaks!” With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Yukio sighed, “We don’t have much information on this one, but we’re fairly certain it’s not that dangerous... and we're incredibly understaffed. There are two floors and you’ll be traveling as a group. I’ll be standing by the entrance in case anything happens. Any questions?” Yukio finished plainly, clearly disinterested in today’s case.
Rin had lots of questions, none of which he thought Yukio would have an answer to, since there’s so little information on the entity causing a disturbance in the first place. There seemed to be a general understanding in the group that their teacher likely didn’t have an answer to any of their questions either, and save for Shima begging to be let out of this one, they headed straight in. Rin decided to tag alongside Shiemi and Kamiki, currently being unwilling to look Suguro in the eyes.
“How did you sleep?” Shiemi asked kindly, eyes soft and calming.
Rin smiled as wide as he could, “Great! It’s so easy without Yukio nagging me awake in the morning,” he provided jokingly, although it wasn’t completely true. He did not sleep well in the least, and what sleep he did manage to catch was filled with embarrassingly provocative dreams. Despite that, he felt crazily energized, completely wired and grateful for the excuse to leave the dorms today. His high energy convinced Shiemi plenty that he wasn’t fibbing and she smiled back.
“I bet it’s lonely without your brother there, I know I’m always sad when my mom has to leave the shop,” Shiemi said kindly, always able to connect to emotions Rin was certain he was hiding completely, “but it’s good you slept well! Working together, we’ll take the spirit down without even breaking a sweat!” She added all fired up, fists in the air.
Tail whipping back and forth behind him, Rin laughed at Shiemi's contagious kindness, and made fists alongside her. “Absolutely! I could take down anything as long as I’m with you guys!” Rin was happy he could confidently express his certainty in himself and his friends without fear of discomfort. Shiemi's smile always managed to make him feel safe in that regard.
Rin suddenly felt a pair of eyes digging into the back of his head, and without really thinking, turned to look. He locked eyes with the culprit, Suguro, who held his gaze for just a second before darting back to a whining Shima, begging to go back home. It was probably just an accident, just Suguro’s eyes drifting and Rin happening to turn around at the right (or wrong) moment. It was probably an accident, but that didn’t change the fact that they locked eyes completely unexpectedly, causing Rin's heart and mind to go into a frenzy.
“Rin, are you okay?” Shiemi started, instantly gaining his attention, “Your face went all red there for a second,” being called out so innocently made Rin groan dejectedly.
He recovered in record time though, bouncing back with a toothy smile, “Yeah, I just remembered something embarrassing,” luckily he always had an excuse at the ready in case his face went red, especially when he knows Suguro’s going to be around.
Whatever Shiemi was saying was abruptly cut off by a rumbling sound that reverberated down the hall and vibrated the floors. There were distant sounds of something like rocks falling and Rin could barely register the cracks racing down the concrete floor before Suguro called out a warning. That warning gave him a couple seconds before the floor fell through completely, but those few seconds were not nearly enough to even understand what the warning was.
A few confusing moments dragged on for the class as sounds of toppling rubble and various yells and shouts lent to a chaotic atmosphere. But once most of the collapse was over, with just clouds of dust slowly settling left, Ryuuji was able to assess the situation. He was able to find solid ground while some of the floor gave out, but quickly lost track of his classmates in the confusion. Spotting a mop of pink hair, he called out to Shima, relieved when he got confirmation that he was okay. Konekomaru and Kamiki called from the floor beneath them, and it seemed that Moriyama had Nee sprout some protection for the four of them, so they were left unscathed. Grateful they were accounted for, the only one left was Okumura… of course.
It was always Okumura that got separated from the group, always the one that Ryuuji lost track of, no matter how much he kept his eyes glued to him. “Has anyone seen Okumura? He’s the only one missing,” he asked the group, trying to ignore the sense of panic in his tone.
Moriyama used one of Nee’s sprouted branches to help them get back up to the main floor, adding “We didn’t realize what was happening until the floor started to cave in, so he tried to get me out of harm’s way. He must’ve fallen to some type of second basement floor we didn’t know about.”
Ryuuji nodded, hoping his expression was unreadable. They had to notify the teacher, but it felt like a higher priority to retrieve Okumura. It would be risky to lose any member of their team to fetching the teacher while the group progressed, but it might be the only choice in order to provide backup for the other boy. In addition, without the teacher, it was pivotal the group prove they can keep watch over Okumura and prevent any potential blowups.
It was also important Ryuuji considers his own bias, but with the combined pressure of the situation and self-imposed expectations, and the vague sense that whether it was Okumura or not, the lost member of the group would be the priority, there was no way he’d decide to retreat as a group. “Shima, get Okumura-sensei, the rest of us are going to get Okumura!” He chose Shima, knowing there’d be no pushback on his part.
Shima nodded enthusiastically and even broke out into a run once he reached the part of the hallway not affected by the cave in. Ryuuji was satisfied with that and looked to the rest of his classmates, assured to see the looks of resolution on their faces. “Let’s go,” he said with as much confidence as he could muster.
Despite Rin’s general issues with quickly processing new situations, he got up amongst the rubble, white powder covering him head to toe, a couple scratches here and there quickly fading away, and understood what happened. He fell through not one, but two floors. Why did this place even have both a basement and second basement level? How did Mephisto allow several of his students inside such a disaster of a previous student building? But he was pretty sure the others were fine, so no harm no foul.
He tried dusting himself off a bit but jumped when something shifted behind him. Without hesitation, he whipped his sheathed and bagged sword in front of him defensively, eyes darting around trying to locate the source of the noise. His tail shot up when he heard another shifting noise in the opposite direction, and he turned around to search that side too. It was rare Rin was grateful for his demonic side, but the night vision was definitely a plus.
“Oh, don’t be so tense,” a woman’s voice spoke from another direction, “just tell me who you like,” she continued, the direction from which each word came from switched, coming closer each time.
Rin jumped back again, whipping his weapon around, but there wasn’t anything moving whatsoever, even as his eyes followed every sound he heard. “Come out now! I’ll only fight if you attack first!” He called out, plenty willing to make a misunderstood demon into a friend.
The sound of her pleasant laughter rang around the walls, “How cute, but I’m not the type to fight,” she added playfully. Rin scrunched his eyebrows, unsure of how to take in this lady’s words. If she’s not looking for a fight, that’s great, but her words certainly carried a menacing aura. Another sound of her laughter wafted out, and she went “ah, I see.”
What did she see? Rin still didn’t see much of anything. He continued trying to sense any type of movement from around the room, and suddenly a figure appeared. That figure was absolutely, definitely Suguro, but Rin was not dumb enough to actually think it was him. He wasn’t dumb enough, he wasn’t… but, that certainly looked like his classmate. Tall and daunting, muscular but proper, face calm and expressionless. Rin remained on high alert as the definitely fake Suguro approached him calmly, expression softening into something more pleasant.
“Rin,” Rin’s ears turned bright red hearing his given name articulated like that with Suguro’s voice, “I like you ,” even being completely aware he was a fake, Rin’s heart stopped beating in his chest at the confession. This lady demon knew exactly what Rin wanted to hear and Rin was somehow completely okay with that. He truly didn’t feel a hint of malice from the other boy, but tried to remain alert all the same. “Rin, can I kiss you?” He said in his deep voice, pleading and soft, and Rin thought that he might die. Not from a fight, but from the way those words made his heart work double time.
Ryuuji managed to reach the second basement level alongside the rest of his class— save for Shima— within a couple of minutes. The path caused by the rubble was also filled with some more rubble, but Moriyama was able to reform the path with some of Nee's stronger roots. Even though they were only separated for a couple of minutes, they found Rin standing over the body of the captured demon. Ryuuji felt immense relief seeing Okumura completely intact, and even felt a sense of pride seeing the properly captured spirit next to him.
He approached the boy, a semi-scolding, semi-complementary jab on the tip of his tongue, before Okumura ran up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a crushing embrace. Ryuuji could not comprehend what was happening but his body instinctively returned the hug, arms robotically coming up to wrap around Okumura’s— shockingly— smaller frame.
He suddenly pulled back, huge smile on his face, cheeks flushed and eyes clear, “I love you,” Rin stated clearly, not an ounce of doubt or anything but genuine affection in his tone.
Ryuuji’s brain had already short wired, and there was a pressure reminding him his classmates and closest friends were all following suit behind him, but a confession like that did him in completely. He wasn’t sure what kind of face he was making; his face felt hot and his mouth felt dry— but Okumura’s lips looked soft, corners curled into a pleasant smile.
Whatever expression he was making clearly made the other boy happy, and he went back into the embrace, fully burying his head in the taller man’s chest. Ryuuji’s view of Okumura’s mop of bluish-black hair and tail swinging rhythmically behind him got his heart pounding impossibly harder than before, but his brain also managed to get a kickstart from it. Ryuuji gathered every bit of mental strength he had and used it to once again put some distance between himself and the other boy, “What happened?”
The momentary look of confusion on his face from Ryuuji pulling away went away with the question, and was replaced with a look of confidence and pride, “She tried to seduce me but I’m smarter than her, and no one could seduce me but the real you anyway, so I won easily!” Okumura stated easily, his confidence seeping into every word.
Despite Ryuuji’s heightened ability to process information quickly, everything the other boy said left him in a state of confusion of if he even heard him correctly in the first place. Seduce? Was he fighting a succubus? Ryuuji turned to inspect the captured demon, and it did indeed appear to be a succubus, but what is a succubus doing confronting a high schooler? Was it because Okumura was part-demon, or— was she a child? That would explain why she’d target someone younger and why Okumura would have such an easy time taking her down. But Okumura said that no one could seduce him but the real Ryuuji? Did she take his form to approach Okumura? Was Okumura implying he wanted to be approached by Ryuuji? The real him? Was Ryuuji going insane?
“Well, she did manage to kiss me,” Okumura made an expression of grief, “but it wasn’t long after that that I kicked her butt!” He declared proudly, and Ryuuji did not have the capacity to speak, let alone inform Okumura that his opponent was a child.
Sound of laughter emanated from beside them and Ryuuji’s head snapped to the newly arrived Shima, who was snickering to Konekomaru, who had an apologetic look on his face. Ryuuji was grateful for his friends, and yet he cursed himself for sharing any of his thoughts or feelings with them. It was like everyone was watching his wildest dream playing on a widescreen TV, and all he could do was play the part.
Konekomaru approached the two, and knelt down beside the captured succubus. He must’ve caught on to how young she was as well, and recognized she wasn’t dangerous. “Do you know why he’s acting like this? Okumura’s not usually this— ahem, close to Bon,” he asked gently.
She looked at him indignantly and then turned her head away with a hmph .Konekomaru couldn’t help but chuckle at her response, which earned him another look of frustration from the girl.
“It doesn’t seem like she’s going to open up for a little while. Bon, do you think you’ll be okay like this?” Konekomaru asked delicately, and looked to his friend, who was genuinely at a complete loss for words.
Okumura closed the distance between them again, and tucked his head under Ryuuji’s chin. Ryuuji just stared in awe as he noted the way it was a perfect fit, and even the second basement level of an abandoned school building that is collapsing in on itself, he didn’t want to move, he just wanted to stay like that forever. His tensed arms finally relaxed around Okumura’s shoulders, a warm energy making its way down to his very core.
Another snort from beside them once again gained Ryuuji’s attention and it was all he could do to stare wide-eyed at Okumura Rin’s brother and his teacher, Okumura-sensei, standing there without an ounce of shock on his face. He emanated a sense of relief if anything. Ah, maybe he was expecting something much more dire having Shima split from the group. Or maybe he was proud as a teacher that none of his students were harmed during the demon’s capture.
“Alright then, everything seems to be in order,” Okumura-sensei stated, with a lilt of humor to his voice. He knew not everything was in order. “I’ll be away from the district tomorrow, so we likely won’t be meeting again until Monday,” he’s really wrapping this up without addressing it? “Class dismissed,” oh my god.
With the shuffling of the rest of the class, Ryuuji was finally able to open his mouth again, “Okumura,” shit— his voice was coming out so crumpled.
Okumura’s eyes shot up, and Ryuuji felt entrapped in his sharp gaze, like his eyes had Ryuuji completely pinned down. Rin’s face was entirely red, flushed from— the hug? His voice? Whatever it was, it made Ryuuji entirely forget what he was going to say. “Rin,” he said, “call me Rin,” he amended.
“Rin?” Ryuuji barely got it out, barely understood what was being asked of him, but he entirely understood the rush of adrenaline and hormones that flooded in his system when his vision was suddenly filled with blue and a flash of a smile. His eyes fluttered closed without meaning to as the distance was closed entirely and his lips were met with Oku- Rin, with Rin’s soft lips. He’d imagined it would be like candy, overwhelmingly sweet and too much for him, but Rin was so indescribably Rin. Like an inescapable warmth that paints your vision blue; like a breeze that makes a burn feel like a blanket; like an eternity Ryuuji wanted to get lost in.
He could hear Rin’s breath hitching, and pulled back just an inch, savoring every breath of air Rin took into his mouth. Rin looked up, gaze darting between Ryuuji’s eyes and his lips, but finally said “Can I call you…” and he trails off, face burning impossibly redder. Ryuuji didn’t need to be capable of thought to give Rin confirmation, affirmation, and an encouraging smile. “Ryuuji,” his name fit Rin’s lips so perfectly, and the curve of his smile seemed so right.
Ryuuji couldn’t help himself, could barely identify how he’d ever been okay thinking he could live without this. It felt like he was a starved man introduced to an all-you-can-eat buffet with no restrictions. He closed the space between them again, digging into the metaphorical meal in front of him. Rin returned his touch in fervor, his hands trailing down his neck and shoulders. Every touch of Rin’s hands left Ryuuji’s skin tingling under his school shirt, leaving him wanting more. His own hand gripped Rin's back, feeling at the small of his waist and settling on his hips, while his other hand was wrapped delicately around the back of Rin’s neck, insistently tugging him closer.
He had no clue how much time was passing, and didn’t even have the desire to care. The second everyone left them alone, Ryuuji felt everything holding him back come apart, but the back of his mind kept insisting he couldn’t continue like this. He’d be taking advantage of Rin— even calling him by his first name feels like a privilege he stole. For a moment, when they were both panting, broken for air, Ryuuji asked, or rather stated “You’re like this because of her,” he didn’t mean to, but he sounded broken even to his own ears.
Rin shook his head violently, “No! She kissed me after turning into you! There’s no way I’d let just anyone kiss me. But after, it was like I couldn’t hide it anymore, couldn’t keep it to myself. So don’t say that,” Rin’s hands cupped Ryuuji’s face, “she didn’t suddenly make me think you’re super hot, or that I want you to kiss me or hold my hands, or I guess ideally both. I’m pretty sure you made me feel like that, like you’ve been doing it forever. Every time I catch you staring at me, I’m reeling for days, and—”
Ryuuji managed to cut him off by finding his mouth another purpose, but quickly broke away, “Okay, okay, I believe you,” he felt his voice tremble a bit, but he couldn’t manage to feel bothered by it— he was so happy. Nothing else mattered to him at that moment, not the fact that they were two stories below ground, nor the fact that they were surrounded by ceiling high mountains of rubble. He could feel breathy laughs escaping him and his mind felt like it was full of clouds, “I like you too,” he said, his brain a little behind but catching up.
Rin didn’t seem to mind how behind Ryuuji’s brain was, because he was suddenly tackling him to the ground while cackling wildly, “I can’t believe this is happening,” Rin ended up straddling Ryuuji, who had been successfully stunned and tackled, “I’m pretty sure I’m dreaming,” he added a bit sadly.
Even though Ryuuji was feeling alarmingly similar, he was having none of it. He recovered from the tackle smoothly and hoisted himself up into a seated position, Rin refused to budge from his lap, not that he was complaining. It still felt like he was drowning when he looked directly into Rin’s eyes, especially when Rin would look back at him expectantly like that. It was like he was just begging to be kissed. But before that, “It better be real,” and he closed the space between them yet again.
The cram school students all anticipated Monday to be able to get the scoop on the developments between their class’s newest set of lovebirds. Although Izumo would desperately deny any interest whatsoever in the gossip, she happened to join the others early Monday morning to "check in" on Rin. Neither Konekomaru nor Shima had heard word from Bon, but going a day or two over the weekend without contact wasn’t uncommon for them, especially considering recent circumstances. Shiemi was busy with the shop that weekend, but was just as excited to catch up with the two boys.
Ryuuji sighed when he spotted his two friends approaching him with the girls trailing behind. He quickly sorted his books and grabbed what he needed before closing his locker door and looking at his friends, “What’s up?” He said blandly.
Shima looked at him wide-eyed, “Dude! What? Don’t “what’s up? ” me! What happened after we left?” He exclaimed, perhaps a little too interested in the answer. Konekomaru seemed to pick up on his wild energy and tried to calm him down with a couple of hand gestures.
Ryuuji clicked his tongue and glanced to the side, “We’re going out,” he said simply, completely void of any of the excitement Shima was so desperately hoping to finally see in his dear friend.
Even with the lack of energy, the news simultaneously managed to absolutely floor Shima whilst being completely acceptable to the others in the group, who were more looking for the details. “No blushing and scratching your neck? No soft chuckle at the reminder? None of that? C’mon man, this is fishy,” he whined in a mopey way.
Providing another soothing gesture, Konekomaru assured Shima that Bon has never acted like that and it would be absurd if he started now. “Oh, speak of the devil,” and they all followed Konekomaru’s gaze to their final cram school classmate: Rin. He seemed to instantly notice he was being stared at and looked around the halls in a paranoid manner and he quickly approached the group.
“Can you guys not stare at me like that? That’s actually terrifying,” he started by scolding specifically Shima before turning to stand by Ryuuji, “good morning,” he added sweetly while looking up at his boyfriend of about two and a half days.
That’s when Ryuuji’s face burst into a cherry-red flush, and he could barely hold Rin’s eyes when returning the greeting. Shima howled at Konekomaru, “Absurd? I told you,” he added goading. Konekomaru didn’t seem to bother with a response and instead rolled his eyes while heading in the direction of homeroom, Shima chasing after him hastily.
The whole group seemed to disperse pretty quickly, even with a couple minutes remaining before the warning bell. Moriyama and Kamiki strolled off after greeting Rin and left them to their own devices. Even though they were still freshly dating, all of Rin’s inhibitions related to his feelings for Ryuuji seemed to still be completely destroyed by whatever the succubus did to him, so he couldn’t force himself to hold back even if he wanted to. As far as he was aware, there were no further updates of what she even did in the first place. “I brought you lunch today,” Although properly concealed, Ryuuji could just see Rin’s tail swinging back and forth like he was happy to see him.
Holding back his expressions around Rin always proved quite difficult, and with the promise of a Rin-style home cooked meal for lunch, there was no way Ryuuji was holding back the toothy grin from stretching across his face. “I can’t wait, what’d you make?” Before getting an answer, he dipped his head and caught Rin’s lips in a kiss, short and sweet.
Ignoring a couple gasps from the girls that liked to keep an eye on Ryuuji’s every move, he savored the look of shock painted on Rin’s face as he patiently awaited his answer. “Stir-fried pork rice and tempura king oyster mushrooms…” his eyes darted around the hall, catching glimpses of all the students staring at them, “is this really okay with you?” Rin asked frantically, knowing this was likely going to affect Ryuuji’s reputation for the worse.
Rin felt Ryuuji’s huge hands against the sides of his face, and looked up just for Ryuuji to plant a kiss on his forehead, and then another on his lips. He was still entirely red, and the gruff look on his face made Rin’s legs feel weak. “Is it okay with you? I want to tell everyone , I want to hold your hand when we go out, and I want to kiss before we say goodnight without worrying who will see— and, I want to remain blissfully unaware of any rumors that might float around,” Ryuuji managed to get every practiced word out with a cool expression, but couldn’t suppress the heat that kept rising to his face.
“Dude, are you proposing?” Rin asked, voice trembling, and as much as Ryuuji wanted to squeeze him tight and to take him seriously, he just laughed at Rin’s idiocy. “Cuz the answer is yes,” Ryuuji did smack him on the head for that one. Rin felt like he deserved it just a bit, and laughed away the feeling of wetness in his eyes. Ryuuji has got to stop with these unprovoked displays of affection or Rin’s heart is going to burst for real. Well, going out by being overly romanced by Ryuuji was really one of the only ways Rin could imagine experiencing a death without regrets.
Ah, there’s the warning bell.