Work Text:
Okarun doesn’t really know when it was that he actually changed positions within the social hierarchy of their high school, or when did people start gravitating towards him for anything other than bullying and pranks , but he’s not complaining about it. Life is infinitely better without having to face harassment whenever a teacher left the classroom or he had to walk around the hallway, and the experiences he’d gathered throughout the year have been life-changing for him.
He also doesn’t quite know how he went from sitting alone at the back of a classroom to being surrounded by people that don’t judge him, don’t scrutinize him maliciously and that don’t treat him like garbage, and it’s a blessing so important, he never takes it for granted.
Jiji never loses a chance to gossip about the most mundane things that happened in his own class group, dropping by Okarun’s classroom every other day, and sitting on his desk, invading the chair next to him, or merely squatting in front of him, arms resting on his desk as he yapped and yapped. He talks about couple news, about the latest test, about Momo falling asleep through English class. Okarun is so glad, he never interrupts him, and starts paying attention to what happens in his own surroundings, if only to have something meaningful to share in their mostly one-sided talks.
Kinta always has Okarun’s back when anxiety takes a hold of him and he shuts out the chatter around him, only for the teacher to ask him a question regarding the topic he explained. He uses his nano-skin to show him clever notes with the answer, and he redirects any attention to himself from Vamola and her mutltitude of fans so they leave him alone. Okarun may not mention it much, but he’s grateful for him; in a deep sense, he guesses Kinta must understand. After years of bullying, Okarun will never be comfortable with too many random people around him.
Aira comes by whenever a free period has too many people in the cafeteria, or when she decides Okarun has spent too much time without her holy energy. She checks up on him, as rare as that sounds, and she tells him about her day, about what’s frustrating her, about what her plans for the weekend are. Stuff is always about her, he noticed at one point, and a part of his mind, the selfish one, realizes that it’s one of the reason he isn’t attracted to her. And maybe that’s shallow, because at the end of the day she spends time with him, because she’s a friend he’d give his life for in an instant—but at the end of the day, she’s not… Momo.
Vamola and Rin are his guardian angels in the classroom, the ones that make sure no one bothers him even though it’s a rare ocassion nowadays. Rin always asks the same questions, asking how Okarun is doing, if he finished his homework in time, if there’s any subjects he doesn’t understand. Meanwhile Vamola pokes at him whenever he’s deep in thought, as if her antennas could read his—well, hell, maybe she could read his mind. And knew when to bring him back to reality. She never spoke much, although her Japanese had progressed well under Kinta’s tutelage, but when she did, she always praised him. With insults, but still…
And he cherishes them all. Keeps them in a place once empty inside his heart, occupying about half of it.
And then the other half…
It’s all Momo.
She’s…the best . Witty, sarcastic, noble, humble and loyal. She’s beautiful, stylish, emphatic, fierce and the strongest person he’s ever met, and so much more. He could spend hours listing the qualities that popped in his mind when he thought about her, in fact, he’s done it multiple times before without realizing.
She always makes sure Okarun is okay—that no one is messing with him, that no one even dares say something to him. The one to hold his hand and squeeze it when he’s feeling pressured, the one that doesn’t even doubt before wrapping her arm with his own to walk around the school.
And she doesn’t care. The looks, the rumors, she couldn’t care less if she tried, her eyes never leave his, her attention always on the bullshit that comes out of his mouth when talking about aliens, about ghosts, about the movie he saw last Friday with her. Their own little world he guards with both arms and a thousand locks. He knows that she guards it just as tightly.
Momo is also there, with him, all the time. The others, they take turns. They dedicate a free hour for him, two or more when the gang was reunited—but Momo?
When Jiji comes by, she’s right behind him, waving at Okarun. She takes a seat on the same chair he’s on, both of their butts almost falling off it, but she doesn’t care. Her shoulder is pressed next to his as she taps away on her phone, listening to Jiji yap away, as if she belonged there.
In Okarun’s mind, she does.
When Kinta notices his anxiety attacks, he sends Momo a text. A simple come talk to Sergeant Takakura , and she’s immediately there, hands and fingers intertwined, soft words bringing him back to earth, where he belonged, with her. She spends the rest of the day dragging him along everywhere, because Momo knows. She just knows he needs to be with someone (her) and not alone with his thoughts.
When Aira decides to show up, hell, Momo is always already with him. It’s as if they came to an agreement where Momo would come by, and then seconds later so would Aira. To talk about herself, about her day, about her weekend’s plan with all her other friends. Momo usually whispers insults to her as she rambles that only Okarun can hear, and he has to hold it in before bursting out in laughter.
And unlike the others, she’s there every day. When the bell rings for break time, when they get a free period after classes or when the day ends, Okarun doesn’t have to open his eyes before he hears her voice or her confident steps towards his classroom. Either alone or with Miko and Muko, or with any of her gyaru friends, she just brings them with her to see him. Like a ritual, a healthy habit.
In the morning, she waits for him outside her house because he loves to walk her to school, and at the end of school time, she wraps her arms around his own as they walk towards her job. Momo doesn’t even ask for him to wait on her; he does so on instinct nowadays, it’s a second nature for him now.
It’s new until it stops making him flinch and twitch and sweat and freak out. Then it becomes routine, so harshly ingrained in his brain he doesn’t know how to live without it anymore. The touches, punches, hand-holding. The bitching, clashing, insulting. He loves it all and loves Momo so much.
So, so much.
He loves her so much that at one point, just sitting next to her in their club, with all their friends surrounding them, as she yells at him for taking a hit from a yokai that was meant to hit her, Okarun says it.
It comes naturally. He couldn’t stop it and he’d never regret it. He didn’t even see it coming.
I love you, Momo
It’s so casual, he doesn’t even have the decency to blush, to doubt his words, to fear rejection. Everyone is frozen in their place, Aira scowling, Kinta nodding, Vamola smiling at him. Jiji’s eyes are solemn, like he had expected it—Rin even takes a picture.
And Momo…
She kicks everyone out. ‘ Everyone out right NOW!’ .
Her eyes swirl, cheeks flare, hands twirling her hair like a nervous wreck. But at the same time, there’s a smile on her face, the biggest she’s ever shown to him.
She berates him, kicks him, questions whether or not he’s out of his mind for choosing that exact moment. And Ken retaliates, evades her masterful kicks, explains that there’s no explanation, it just happened, Miss Ayase, in their usual dynamic…until she grabs him by the neck and crashes her lips on his own.
It’s like constellations aligning themselves; like spirits entwining together; like the world is finally in place and she tastes wonderful. Ken has never kissed anyone in his entire life but ultimately declares himself addicted.
And then she’s crying—because Momo is so emotional, and she’s so happy, so overjoyed and repeats his words many times over. How much she loves him back, how stupid he was for taking so long to realize, how he’s forbidden to speak to any other girl without her present.
Then she says his name and Ken finally collapses, heart beating so fast he passes out for a second.
Okarun doesn’t know when it was that life decided to start giving him blessings. He guesses it’s at the same time he decided to go get himself cursed thanks to a bet he made with some erratic Gyaru.
But he’s the happiest he’ll ever be, so he’ll never complain again.
Much less with Momo by his side.