#aarisfics

“Your sisters?” Kokichi asked and he had his answer the second Rantaro’s arms snaked around his waist and a giggly kiss was pressed to his shoulder.

“Out.” Rantaro mumbled and his voice drifted off into a hum. The hum of the song he had stuck in his head all day. Kokichi turned his head, eyes narrowed in suspicion and he let out a sigh. This was different.

Not that he minded.

Rantaro kissed his temple and that humming turned to low singing in Kokichi’s ear. It was rare to hear him sing but whenever he did, it sounded beautiful, enough to reduce Kokichi to a blushing mess in his arms. Granted, Rantaro seemed to have the art of doing that down to a T. “I’ve never seen a human so extraordinary. You are the perfect design, baby, you’re one of a kind. I’ve never wanted anything so badly. Been waiting all my life, I wanna call you mine.”

“…What’s gotten into you Ranty?” Kokichi gulped, ears flushing, and Rantaro chuckled innocently. This was definitely different. Rantaro pulled away and slipped his hands into Kokichi’s, luring him through the hallways toward his room. All the while, he continued the song, granted the pre-chorus sounded particularly low, almost as if Kokichi wasn’t meant to hear it just yet.

Kokichi felt his throat dry up and his shirt collar suddenly grew tight around his neck. Rantaro led him inside and again, closed the door quietly behind him. Kokichi tried to laugh it off, regain some composure and hell maybe get back some of the control he had on the situation. The laugh was off-putting though, awkward even but it faded when Rantaro leaned down to kiss the boy gently.

By this point, Kokichi prayed he wasn’t reading the situation wrong. He could (somewhat) handle the levels of embarrassment he felt when Rantaro teased him but god forbid Kokichi misread Rantaro’s current implications with both the lyrics of the song and with how vague he was being, Kokichi would honestly consider shutting himself away for the rest of his life out of shame.

The way Rantaro kissed him was too soft to imply anything besides casual affection but the wandering of his hands to the helm of his shirt left Kokichi questioning otherwise. Kokichi felt himself being slowly pushed back and it wasn’t long until he hit the edge of the bed frame. He fell back onto the bed with a huff and Rantaro tugged at the bottom of his shirt. All the while, he continued humming and his eyes stayed their normal shade of green, never once shifting or changing. Rantaro wasn’t usually too sexual a person, so it didn’t surprise Kokichi too much but he just wanted to know what the hell he was up to. 

Kokichi grumbled softly and slid his t-shirt over his head, rolling it into a ball and putting it under his head. As he leaned over him, Rantaro’s eyes softened at the sight and the look alone made Kokichi self-conscious. His overtly pale skin, his somewhat concerning thin stomach, there was a lot Kokichi hated himself for. And for some reason, Rantaro accepted all of him whole heartedly. He couldn’t understand why but he wouldn’t deny the feeling of being wanted was nice.

“Every single inch of you’s a ten, baby.” Rantaro leaned down and kissed at his neck. “Something so phenomenal, nobody would believe.” His lips found their way to his collarbone and Kokichi sighed, covering his face with his hands. “I ain’t overreacting you really are a masterpiece. Piece of art, you’re a piece of art.”

“Rantaro.” Kokichi hissed out, hating how easily his face flushed. Rantaro pulled his hands away from his face and kissed him again and with each short breath he took, Rantaro continued the song, harmonizing with what Kokichi assumed was melody of the song. It was slow, quiet and Kokichi couldn’t help the faintest whine when he felt the ghost of Rantaro’s tongue. 

Near the end of his harmonizing, Rantaro pulled away and smiled. Kokichi stared up at him with desperately hooded eyes and gasped when he nipped softly at the skin below his collarbone.  “I’ve never seen a human so hypnotic.” The next few lyrics Kokichi couldn’t catch because of how low he mumbled them but he assumed Rantaro was singing what he needed to get his message across. “And I don’t mean to sound crazy or dramatic…” Rantaro came up to his ear again and Kokichi shivered, “but you are everything I need, if you wanna come with me.”

Kokichi gulped down a noise and squirmed a bit under him. Rantaro chuckled softly and his eyes narrowed. A thin finger traced along Kokichi’s abdomen and he continued his singing. “You look amazing. You’re so captivating. Like a million dollar painting. And you know that everybody wants a piece of you.”

There was the pre-chorus Kokichi had missed earlier and he was grateful he hadn’t heard them before. The obvious compliments would have left the boy crumbling long before Rantaro kissed him. Kokichi exhaled a shaky breath and above him, Rantaro smiled cupping the side of his cheek, mumbling the chorus once again. Kokichi blinked up at him and whimpered. He looked so desperate, his constant squirming and shallowed breathing. 

Such a shame for him that the song hadn’t ended yet.

The song was mostly meant as a means of drawing out an incoming “I love you” but Rantaro wouldn’t pass up a chance to tease Kokichi. Having such a childish kid as a boyfriend was fun and all but it was nice to see him relax once and a while and keep him from his typical snarky comments.

“I wanna see your magic now, you make me feel so high.” Rantaro leaned down and snickered in his ear, “a fire no one can put out, I’m burning up inside.”

He took a breath and brought his face to Kokichi’s, noses inches apart and Rantaro wouldn’t ignore Kokichi’s attempts to kiss him. “Every single inch of you’s a ten baby. Something so phenomenal nobody would believe. I ain’t overreacting you really are a masterpiece. Piece of art, you’re a piece of art.”

“Rantaro.” Kokichi repeated and it seemed his patience had run out. Rantaro sighed and that thin, innocent smile creased his lips again. He chuckled to himself and a laugh soon rumbled in his throat when Kokichi rolled his eyes. Rantaro closed in, lips a ghost against Kokichi’s and whispered.

“Yeah probably but come on, we’re already here. And they’re starting soon anyway.” Rantaro smiled and Kokichi saw the way his eyes glinted against the sunset. With a dramatic sigh, Kokichi shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the spot besides him. Rantaro, in turn, laughed and ruffled his hair a bit. Kokichi glared in response which only caused Rantaro to laugh harder and it wasn’t long until Kokichi himself broke and joined in.

Dating Rantaro was weird. Not any weirder than Kokichi’s past relationships but he was much more sincere than the few boys he dated back in high school. There were times Rantaro would act similar to how an older brother would be like, ruffling his hair and encouraging him to do better in school but there were also the times where Rantaro was the most genuinely heartfelt boyfriend a person could ask for. He gave the best advice and he was always there to cuddle if needed. His kisses were always soft and he was so understanding it made Kokichi’s head spin.

How the hell did he get so lucky?

As the sun finally dipped below the horizon, the first few fireworks shot off. The sound of a faint boom echoed across the beach. Kokichi looked over to find Rantaro staring at the exploding colors in the sky with the slight curve of a smile on his face. Kokichi sighed and leaned into Rantaro just a bit and waited for him to take the hint. Without a moment of question, a thin arm flung itself over Kokichi’s shoulder and the purple haired boy grumbled in Rantaro’s chest.

Rantaro hummed quietly to himself and Kokichi felt his face growing hot. The fireworks were growing bigger and bolder and Kokichi was half expecting Rantaro to suddenly pull him into a kiss (now that would be cheesy and Kokichi definitely wouldn’t put it past him to pull something like that). The moment came and passed, Kokichi feeling both grateful and a bit disappointed at the same time. He wouldn’t dwell long on it though. Not when a devilish idea began to brew in his mind.

Kokichi began to snicker to himself and Rantaro turned his head. “What are you planning?”

“Ranty! Let’s get closer to the fireworks!” Kokichi grinned as he squirmed out of Rantaro’s arm. He rose to his feet and giggled, outstretching a hand for Rantaro to take. His eyes flashed with wariness but there was no way he could say no to that childish grin. Kokichi pulled him to his feet and led the way down to the edge of the beach. The waves washed quietly against the shore and the reflection from the fireworks was easy to see on the water.

“You ready Ranty?”

“For—“

Kokichi looked back to Rantaro and, with narrowed eyes, pulled him into the water. Kokichi ran, guiding a screaming Rantaro through the water until he couldn’t feel his feet couldn’t feel the sand. Rantaro most definitely could stand given his height but Kokichi opted to holding onto his arm and wrapping his legs around his waist just to make sure he didn’t accidentally drown. Rantaro shivered in the water and Kokichi grinned.

“Look Ranty!” Kokichi pointed up into the sky and on cue another firework burst. With his attention seized by the light, Kokichi grabbed Rantaro’s chin and pulled him into a kiss, Rantaro barely able to keep up with half his senses dulled by the freezing water. Above them, the sky lit up with reds and blues and silvers. It was the epitome of cheesiness and Kokichi hated cheesiness but only when Rantaro was the one initiating it.

With a giggle, Kokichi pulled away and wiped a bit of salt water from his lips. Rantaro, still quivering from the temperature, managed to smile a bit before nearly begging Kokichi for them to get out.

“I love you Ranty!” Kokichi helped Rantaro drag himself out of the water. Rantaro, hugging himself, shook his head in playful exasperation. “I’ll make sure to take good care of you when you get sick!”

“Like you won’t be getting sick with me.” Rantaro mumbled

“Trueeee. I guess Kirumi will have to look out for us then. But at least we can lay in bed with sickness together!”

With a quick roll of his eyes, Rantaro sighed. He snaked his arm around Kokichi’s waist and smiled when the boy leaned into him.

Granted it wasn’t as if Gundham was working entirely alone, the whole class pitched in in their own ways. Chiaki was in charge of running the theme through with the teachers and taking notes on what the class could and could not have (which as long as the animals weren’t too big they were allowed, though they were the class’s rsesponsablitly). Nekomaru, Akane and Kazuichi worked on making small pens for each animal and Sonia was in charge of writing out the labels for each. Mahiru worked on advertising, taking pictures of the animals in advance and hanging posters up around the halls. Teruteru worked on making animal-friendly foods with Peko coming by to check on him. Ibuki was in charge of setting up a playlist of songs to play in the background (though everyone stressed that the music should be soft and nothing too crazy with guitars). Ryota made a small banner for the classroom and Fuyuhiko and Nagito were placed in front of the classroom in an attempt to lure in students. Gundham, with the help of Hajime who volunteered, was in charge of bringing animals to the school and Mikan and Hiyoko kept their eyes on the animals during the event to make sure they were feeling alright.

By the end of the day before the festival, the once somewhat dusty classroom had been transformed into a mini farm. The desks and chairs had been moved all the way off to the side corner and four clean wooden fences were set up around the room. The four fences were labeled “rabbits” “dogs” “cats” and “ducks.” There weren’t any animals in them yet, Gundham refused to let them stay the night in an “unholy sanctuary that had not been cleansed such as Hope’s Peak.”

Gundham and Hajime were the only two left in the classroom. Gundham was too busy looking at every pen to make sure there was not a single thing that could harm the animals. He was usually dutiful when it came to his talent, keeping his animals safe, well fed and out of harm, and it was no exception for the festival. Hajime had grown tired of the work and was sitting atop one of the desks that were pushed off to the corner. He watched Gundham through tired eyes, examining the room, making sure not to leave a single corner untouched.

“Look, Kazuichi and the rest aren’t professionals but I trust their work. I’m sure the pens are perfectly safe.” Hajime mumbled and Gundham’s head shot up. His eyes hardened into a glare.

“Silence. Never would I risk my minions against the shoddy work of amateurs. This Evil Fourth Eye reveals the hidden dangers in this room.”

“Yeah, yeah, just hurry up. I’m tired, okay?” Hajime chuckled and let out a yawn. He leaned back against the desks and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a long day, Hajime just wanted to go home, flop down on his bed and sleep the night away.

Gundham went silent but he continued shifting around the room. It took a little bit but the room soon fell silent. Hajime opened one eye and saw the Ultimate Breeder standing beside the desk he was laying on. His expression was serious as he stared at the center of the room. It wasn’t like him to go silent for long and Hajime was half expecting a sudden comment on how the room was finally to his liking.

“You okay?”

Gundham nodded and shut his eyes, raising his scarf to cover his mouth.

“Gundham, what’s wrong?”

Hajime sat up and reached for Gundham’s free hand. It didn’t take long for Hajime to realize that Gundham was shaking, if only so slightly. It was barely noticeable.

“You’re nervous, huh? About tomorrow?” 

“How dare you make such inaccurate assumptions?” Gundham pulled away and Hajime chuckled to himself.

Despite the late hour, the bar was still somewhat lively. Granted in Sunshade, there was rarely a moment when the bar wasn’t lively. Most of the dancers had gone home for the night but the drunken men had gotten their fill of entertainment from Primrose who had decided to do a little performance (for a fee of course, that money would serve great in buying new equipment for the journey ahead). Having just returned to Sunshade from Stillsnow, the group of eight were in the midst of taking a well deserved rest after having dealt with Rufus, one of the three men marked with the crow that Primrose was searching desperately for. While the rest of their allies slumbered away in the nearby inn, Primrose found herself sitting alone in the bar before the typically quiet Therion asked to join her.

“Now, my guess is you have something to ask me you don’t want the others to hear?” Primrose leaned against the table and blinked curiously at the thief sitting across from her, “you wouldn’t have waited so late into the night if you didn’t.”

Therion mused a chuckle, “keen as ever. I have a proposal.”

“This proposal being…?”

“I help you scout out information about the next marked man in Nobelcourt and you…teach me how to dance.”

Primrose brought a hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter and the eye-roll Therion shot her nearly brought her laugh to a cackle. By the time she had calmed down, two drinks had appeared before the two. She took a generous sip and dragged her eyes up to meet Therion.

“This is quite unexpected.”

Therion sighed, adjusting the scarf around his neck, “look, we both have business in Nobelcourt. It’s simpler for both of us if we make the deal.”

Primrose narrowed her eyes and her gaze sharpened, “you know I’m quite capable of getting the information myself, thank you very much. And what’s your sudden interest in dancing?”

The thief took a second to glance at the front door and looked back to Primrose with an irritated huff. He expected it wouldn’t go easy.

“I’m not telling you to teach me your ‘ways of seduction,’ gods no.” He took a small sip of his drink, “you’re just more agile in battle, I want to learn to help myself out.”

“And I wonder the balls you had to grow to ask me.” Primrose giggled, “you know it’s not something you can learn overnight.”

“Make it so it is then, and I’ll double the speed of the info I get for you.” Therion wasn’t used to bargaining like this but he could assure himself, getting the information in less than a day would be no issue.

“I can’t help you if you have no rhythm.” Primrose downed the rest of her drink and licked the remnants off her lips, “that is the most important part of dancing after all.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Therion outstretched his hand and blinked slowly at the woman in front of him, “do we have a deal?”

Primrose sighed, lips curling into a grin as she shook the thief’s hand, “alright. But you’re underestimating the work I put in.”

“How’s tonight for our first lesson?” Therion rummaged through his pockets and left a bit of money on the table. As he stood, his hands found their way into his pockets and he looked down at Primrose who chuckled lightly to herself, hands forming a bridge under her chin.

Despite Primrose’s reassurances that it was just a spin and outstretch of his hand, the means of doing so always came out “too stiff” or “without feeling.” With the sun already beginning to peek out from above the horizon, Therion grumbled to himself for believing he could master dancing in a night.

“Maybe we should call it a night.” Primrose crossed her arms, “you know Alfyn’s an early riser, he’ll catch us out here.”

“No. Come on, I can at least get this down.” He hissed and inhaled slowly. With an exhale, he settled into position, relaxing his arms at his side. Primrose began to tap her foot, mimicking the beat he had been using to follow with his earlier attempts at the dance. With an outward step, Therion twirled on his heel and before he could make the full turn, his legs wobbled and he fell to the floor with a grunt.

“You’re too stubborn for your own good, you know.” Primrose teased, leaning down to outstretch a hand for him to take, “I told you it wouldn’t happen overnight.”

“Shut up.” Therion ignored the hand and leaped to his feet, brushing off the dirt on his clothes. He heaved a sigh and Primrose couldn’t help but giggle. She stepped in front of him and wiped a small pile of dirt off his shoulder, looking up at him with an almost harsh seriousness in her eyes. He raised an eyebrow when Primrose motioned with her finger to turn around. With a reluctant eye-roll, Therion obliged and stiffened slightly. As a thief, Therion was typically used to being close to people, feeling around for whatever he could steal before his victim could notice. With Primrose’s hands lightly dragging themselves over his arms, he couldn’t help but feel a bit wary.

“Relax.” She murmured softly and despite their height difference, he could feel her voice tickling his ear, “you won’t get anywhere until you do.”

“Is this your attempt to seduce me? Sorry sweetheart, I’m not interested.” Therion joked with a chuckle and Primrose laughed with him.

“Mm, sorry. Stubborn thieves aren’t my type.”

Therion let a chuckle rumble in his throat and he let himself relax, arms going somewhat limp. He shut his eyes and Primrose began to hum behind him. A song Therion had heard her hum on more than a few occasions. It was the song that typical played when she danced in Sunshade’s tavern. She stepped back and began to tap her feet on beat with her humming. Therion exhaled and outstretched one leg, dragging the rest of his body in as he prepared for the turn. With a quick inhale, he twirled, the wind rushing past his face quickly before he settled in front of Primrose, outstretching his hand. Silently to himself, he worked on channeling the magic through the edges of his fingers and when he heard Primrose’s applause, he assumed he had finally managed to do it right.

“Good. Now keep practicing until you can do it without my tapping.” Primrose gave an innocent smile and Therion groaned, narrowing his eyes at the dancer.

“You’re kidding me.”

“And I have so many dances left to teach you.” She chuckled to herself, performing the Lion Dance and landing her twirl right in front of him. With a narrowed blink of her eyes, Primrose’s lips curled into a smirk, “make sure you hold up your end of the bargain Therion, okay?”

The doors to the back kitchen swung open and in entered a beaming Kokichi, apron tied around his waist as he tried to hold four glasses in his hand. Rantaro noticed him struggling and swiftly rushed over to grab two of the glasses from his arm. Kokichi thanked him with a grin and the four glasses soon found their way to the bar table.

“Hey you two, get over here. You too Ranty.” Kokichi giggled catching the attention of the two coworkers. “You’re my latest victims.”

“Was it really wise to put him in the kitchen with all that free time?” The girl pondered aloud and Rantaro laughed. The customers finally worked out their bill and took their leave, while she locked the door behind them and continued to work at cleaning up the place.

What seemed like a few seconds after arriving home from Tokyo, Kokichi had begged and pleaded with Rantaro to get him a job working the bar. Surprisingly Rantaro’s boss accepted and it was late into August that Kokichi finally started working. It was a requirement for the newbies to work in the back kitchen, cutting up limes and lemons and preparing stock and all before they could officially be put out working as a host. That didn’t stop Kokichi though, he was working with piecing together drinks on his first day and was pretty damn good at covering it up whenever his boss came to monitor the place.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine! Kokichi’s made some incredible drinks in the past!” The white haired tender beamed and Kokichi nodded along with him.

“…Did you forget the time you nearly keeled over because he put too much vodka?” Rantaro questioned lightly and Kokichi smacked his shoulder playfully in an attempt to shut him up.

“Drink it, drink it! You’re all a bunch of scaredy cats! I’ve learned from my mistakes.” Kokichi grinned and reached for his own glass, downing nearly half of it in one gulp. He whistled when he pulled the drink away from his mouth and giggled, watching Rantaro cautiously pick up his own.

Rantaro brought the glass up to his lips and took a few experimental sips, quietly gulping them down and wincing a bit at the taste. Drinking was a rarity for him despite his occupation but the burning tanginess would be something he would never get used to.

“I mixed a bunch of things with a bunch of foreign words that I can’t say into one thing and shook it!” Kokichi grinned and began to laugh a bit when Rantaro coughed.

“It’s not terrible.”

The girl reached over and picked up her own, trying the drink and immediately shaking her head and sliding the glass onto the table. “It’s terrible.”

Kokichi snickered and disappeared uno the kitchen, bringing out four different glasses that were layered with salt at the edges. “Okay, okay. That was a bit of a joke.”

“A disgusting joke.” Rantaro muttered and Kokichi glared at him.

“This is my real drink. And a partial celebration.”

“Celebration?” The white haired tender questioned and grabbed his second drink, completely bypassing the first one.

“Yup! Ranty’s turning twenty-two on Wednesday.” Kokichi grinned excitedly and leaned into his boyfriend. Rantaro chuckled sheepishly when his coworker’s eyes widened and he bashfully covered his face a bit.

“Kokichi…”

“Come onnnn, let me spoil you a bit. I promise this drink is actually drinkable.” Kokichi smiled and Rantaro approached the new drink with a little less caution than the last. He brought the glass up to his lips and gulped down a few sips, humming curiously. It had a bit of sourness but the combination of ingredients seemed to come together perfectly. 

“It’s really good Kokichi. But you don’t need to—”

“And this is just the start.” Kokichi stood on the tips of his toes and leaped to press a tiny kiss to his cheek, “I’m gonna spoil my precious Ranty rotten all until his special day.”

“…Honestly I think it’ll be the other way around.” Rantaro drifted off and suddenly his hands were rummaging through his pockets, pulling out his phone and messing around on a few apps. Kokichi raised an eyebrow and tried to take a peek but Rantaro soon slid his phone onto the table and Kokichi took a quick glance.

On the screen was a screenshot from a travel booking website.

Two tickets to Italy. Monday October 1st to Friday October 5th.

Kokichi turned his head slowly and Rantaro couldn’t help his laughter. “We’re spending your birthday…where?”

Kokichi screeched and flung himself onto Rantaro, knocking him back onto the floor. His head hit the floor with a grunt but his smile never faltered.