Wanted by: Crystal002310, so here you go! (I swear this is going to reach 10+ parts, so should I make it a separate series?)
Ship: AkaDou, ¿KokuDou?
Genre: Fluff
Character roles: Adults
Kokushibo: 23yrs old
Douma: 23yrs old
Akaza: 23yrs old
Oroki: 22yrs old
Images are from Pinterest
Kokushibo's POV:
As we continued to explore, Douma and Akaza were lagging behind a little, and the looked much...closer to each other than before. Shime was still around Douma's neck, licking from Churu cat treat that Douma had brought with him and was holding it up so she could eat. Before the ride, he was rather gloomy and not very excited to come, but now, he was laughing and seemed to be having as much fun as the rest of us. His smiles were adorable and his laughter sounded silly yet pleasant to hear, just looking at him made me feel butterflies in my stomach, something that I haven't felt since we broke up 5 years ago. But all of that quickly vanished when Akaza noticed me staring and inched closer to Douma, hugging him around the waist. I felt myself fume on the inside "Hon? Are you feeling alright?"
I looked down to see Oroki staring at me. She seemed concerned, so I told her I was fine and fixed my gaze back on Douma and Akaza again. "Hon, which one of them was your ex? Was it Douma or Akaza? You've been staring at them for ages, it's quite obvious you're jealous of how close they've gotten since the boat ride."
I flinched when I heard that, and my head snapped back to Oroki. She was still smiling at me, but the smile wasn't like her usual one. It had a hint of mischief in it, which probably means she might do something stupid. "So? Who is it?" She asked again, clearly not going to drop it.
I sighed deeply, before leaning down slightly and whispering into her ear. "Douma..."
"Aw, are you two being lovey-dovey? How cute! Guess we'll have to beat you at that!" Hakuji said jokingly to us, giving Koyuki a peck on the cheek.
I waited till they turned back to the front before straightening up again. Oroki clearly didn't feel comfortable with it either, but she hid it very well. "I swear, be glad that I'm still playing along so we won't get exposed, else I'd have already told the others that this was an arranged marriage and why your father did it." I muttered, knowing that only Oroki would be able to hear me.
She kept her smile on, but rolled her eyes. "Think of it as a way for you to make up for stealing my first kiss." She said in a playful tone.
Suddenly, a man wearing a bright red kimono came running towards us, waving madly. "Oroki!!!" He shouted.
Oroki froze, turning to the man. Her smile grew wider as she waved back. "Keiko! Long time no see! Oop, too tight-"
The man crushed Oroki in a hug, lifting her off the ground, which caused the people around us to stop and stare. "Good to see you're still as strong as ever Keiko!" Oroki managed to rasp out, patting the man on the shoulder. "Ok, I think that's enough hugging, you can put me down now."
The man immediately placed Oroki back on her feet, apologizing profusely for how he acted in public. Oroki smiled at him warmly. "I haven't seen you since graduation! Where have you been? Oh, why don't you join us! The more the merrier!" As she said that, she pulled the man over to where we were and told him to introduce himself.
The man bowed to us politely. "Hi! My name is Keiko Omirasuka, it's a pleasure to meet you all!" He said with a huge grin on his face.
I studied him closely, taking note of his appearance(he's observant, even in the manga-) . He seemed to be around his 20s like us, with ruffled white hair tied into a short ponytail, really dark brown eyes, tanned skin, and he was quite tall, not as tall as me but definitely taller than an average man. He had a really calm expression in contrast to the loud voice and the energetic personality he seemed to possess. Keiko was currently talking to Oroki, practically radiating with excitement. "How are you? Are you doing alright? Have you gotten together wi- mmph?!
Oroki cut him off by covering his mouth with her hand to muffle whatever he tried to say, a tint of pink appearing on her cheeks for a quick second before subsiding, before leaning over and whispering something into his ear. The man's eyes widened and he stared at Oroki, shocked. "You are married?! To him?" He said in a low voice and pointed to me, flabbergasted.
Oroki nodded with a smile on her face to cover up the dread she was feeling from having to mention the topic again. I could tell that Keiko was surprised to hear this, turning to stare at me, then focusing back on Oroki. He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and shut it again. "Yes, I know. It's been a long time and, well, lot's of stuff had happened since graduation, but I promise I'll explain everything to you later, ok?" Oroki told him, patting his back.
Keiko was still shocked, but he nodded. He then looked at me with a serious expression that astounded me, since he didn't really seem like the type that could even act this....solemn. I straightened up immediately, not wanting to make him get a wrong first impression of me. He looked at me for a few more seconds, narrowing his eyes in what seems to be suspicion, before putting his hands together, producing a single clap sound. He turned to Oroki and gave her a carefree smile, his face back to the calm expression it was. "Well, at least he doesn't seem too bad!" He said to her, grinning widely.
Oroki shrugged and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's nice."
Suddenly, Hakuji cleared his throat loudly, catching our attention. "This little friend reunion is nice and all, but shouldn't we get going already? You three have been talking for the past 15 minutes, the rest of us are bored to death already!" Hakuji spoke in a loud and impatient voice, looking annoyed.
So we ended up going around playing a bunch of carnival games and the only one who actually won something was Keiko. He won an Ultraman action figure from a shooting booth, which he was, I guess, pretty skeptical about, but he still played with it a little as we walked anyways. Finally, after about 2 hours of carnival games and a lot of snacks(mostly for Douma), we all agreed that we were pretty tired from running around, so we decided to find somewhere to sit. Unfortunately, the closest place that we would be able to sit at was.....the park close to where the carnival was set up. The same park that me and Douma had made the promise that I broke. I looked behind me to check on Douma once more. He seemed to be too occupied with his cotton candy to realize where we were going to next. I smiled a little at this. Well, at least that's good...
After arriving at the park...
I thought that Douma might feel sad or uncomfortable when we got to the park, but I was far from right. Why? Because a certain pink-haired, blue striped zebra was cuddling with him. I should be happy that he was at least feeling at ease, but seeing Akaza being the one to calm him down like that just makes my blood boil, and the fact that even Douma's cat was comfortable with Akaza was making it worse. That should have been me...that used to be me...it looks just like that time we made that promise... "Hello? Earth to Kokushibo?"
Oroki called out to me, waving her hand in front of my face to get my attention. "Are you staring at them again?"
I stayed silent, not sure whether I wanted to answer that. Oroki sighed. "Look. How about we change the subject so you don't keep thinking about that, ok?"
"But aren't you explaining to Keiko about our marriage?" I asked, looking confused when I realized that he was nowhere to be found.
"I already did. You just weren't paying attention. Anyways, he left early because he had something important to do." Oroki replied, sitting down beside me on the bench.
I nodded to show I understood, before asking her for suggestions on what we should talk about. Then, her face seemed to soften, as she looked down, fidgeting with a small lavender keychain that she had won at one of the booths. "Why don't I tell you about my love life Hon? After all, it's only fair that you know mine since I already know yours." She said, letting out a small laugh.
I considered this for a moment, before nodding my head. It would get my mind off of Akaza and Douma after all... As soon as I agreed, Oroki started to speak.
"Well, mine wasn't much of a love life since I never dated before, but I did have a crush on one of my closest friends. Her name was Ayakura, never knew why she was named that, but she loved it either way. She had shoulder lengthed blond hair which darkens near the bottom, beautiful yellow-orange eyes and rosy lips. She was really tall too, about 5'6 I think? Really tall..." Oroki laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head."Compared to me, a mere 5'2, she probably doesn't even notice me sometimes." Oroki had a sort of sad look in her eyes and her smile got a little smaller.
I noticed this and awkwardly wrapped an arm around her, patting her shoulder a little. "Sorry, I'm uh, not very good at comforting people in situations like this." I muttered, looking at the pavement.
Oroki just laughed quietly at what I said, giving me a little pat on the head. "That's quite alright, Hun. Thank you!"
I hummed, waiting patiently for her to continue her story. "Well, there's nothing much that happened next, just that I never tried to confess. I was...afraid that she wouldn't feel the same, or wanted to stay as friends instead, so I never tried. So I just admired her from afar, trying to stop having feelings for her in a romantic way. Fast forward about 4 years after graduation, here I am, still having the same feelings for her that never changed in those years." Oroki let out a sigh, leaning back on the bench and closing her eyes for a while. "I don't know if she'll ever love me back, but I still love her with all my heart...guess I'll always be a fool that loves an angel who I don't deserve..." She sighed, still smiling despite all that.
After she finished her story, she looked back at the lavender keychain in her hands, smiling at it warmly as she fiddles with it a little more. I actually felt bad for her. Here I was, grumbling about not being with Douma anymore, while she has never had a chance at love at all. I stared at her as she fiddles with the lavender keychain, unsure of what to say that might comfort her or something.
"Are you lovebirds coming or not? It's late, we've all got to go home." Hakuji called out to us to get our attention, holding Koyuki's hand.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Oroki frown a little at the mention of "lovebirds", but it quickly turned back to the usual smile she wore. "Of course we are! Let's go, Hun." Oroki held out her hand to me and I took it, letting her pretend to pull me up as I stood.
Timeskip to after they got home...
As soon as we got to our house, Oroki wished me a good night before walking to our room. (Fun fact: They sleep in the same room, but separate beds in case you are wondering. Kokushibo had suggested that when they first moved in, and Oroki was of course, over the moon by this decision. Cus let's just say that Oroki didn't exactly like or pay attention in biology class much, so she still thinks that babies are made by a man and a woman sleeping together-) I decided to sit on the couch and stay up for a minute or two to think for a while before joining Oroki in the room. It may have been fun today, but what Akaza did was really frustrating...I just can't let go of Douma... I rubbed my temples and let out a groan. Why do relationships have to be so complicated.... I thought, before getting up and entering the room that Oroki and I shared.
Sorry I accidentally published this and unpunished it while I was still working on it, I mixed it up with the saving thing 😭. Anyways, here's a fun fact; Oroki is autophobic, which is why Kokushibo couldn't stay out too long. Have a nice day/night!