It was a long trip. A long thirteen hour and thirty-three minute trip into Biei, Hokkaido, but it was worth it to see Ryuji's face at the sight of the Blue Pond entrance. Akira had woken him up fairly early this morning to get ready, which had resulted in a grumbling blond for the rest of the day. Ryuji had fallen asleep at least three times during the train ride and each time, Akira had pulled him in closer. Akira continued to watch his boyfriend marvel at the man-made water feature as he messed around with the small box in his pocket.
"Yo, Akira!"
Ryuji's shout brought Akira's out of his musings and the shaggy haired teen looked over at his boyfriend. Ryuji regarded him with a curious gaze, unasked question hanging in the air.
"I'm fine." Akira offered the teen a small smile, "Want to take a look around?"
Ryuji beamed and Akira's heart and stomach were doing flips as the pair left the parking lot. Once the Pond had come into view, Ryuji had raced down to one of the small split rail fences to get a better look with Akira following behind.
"Wow." Ryuji breathed out and Akira couldn't help but agree.
The sun shined down on the blue water before them, turning the water into a beautiful shade of light blue. Akira watched as Ryuji's bright brown eyes combed the surface of the water in delight. A soft smile found it's way onto the shaggy haired teen's face as he stepped closer to the blond.
"Dude, we gotta take a picture of this."
Akira pulled out his phone and switched to the camera, Ryuji stepped closer as the teen held it up.
"Wait." Akira took off his glasses, "Alright. Ready?"
"Go for it."
The shutter clicked and a few seconds later, a picture appeared at the bottom right of the screen. Akira tapped on it to reveal the image of Ryuji, with his arm draped over the teen's shoulder, and himself smiling with the sun beaming in the distance and the water and the leafless trees behind them. Akira sent the picture to the others and walked around the outer rim of the barrier with Ryuji walking slightly in front of him. The blond turned his sights back to the water while Akira's phone went off.
Haru: How wonderful! I hope you and Ryuji are having a splendid time.
Akira: We are. Thank you again, Haru.
Haru: It was no problem.
Yusuke: What a beautiful sight.
Futaba: Are you talking about the scenery or them, Inari?
Makoto: I think he was talking about the pond, Futaba.
Yusuke: You must take more pictures. Seeing such beauty as this must be preserved.
Akira: I was already planning on sending you pictures, Yusuke.
Ann: So, when are you popping the question?
The flip-flop feeling returned as Akira and Ryuji reached the end of the walkway, the shaggy teen looked up from his phone and at his boyfriend. Ryuji leaned on the railing and looked at the nearby river, a content sigh escaped him as he took in the scenery. Akira cast his steely gaze back down at the device and typed out his response.
Akira: Right now.
Akira: Wish me luck.
Ann: Fingers crossed!
Yusuke: Best of luck!
Makoto: Good luck!
Haru: Wishing you lots of luck!
Futaba: You got this!
Akira locked and pocketed his phone, took a deep breath, and he readied himself. "Ryuji?"
Ryuji turned to look at him, "What up?"
Another deep breath, "When we first met, I thought you were odd and thuggish, but after getting to know you, I realized how kind and amazing you are."
"What are-"
"I've seen every possible side to you. Been with you through everything, both good and bad. We even fought a god together. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Akira reached into his pocket, pulled out the box, and got down on one knee.
Ryuji's eyes flickered between the box and Akira before they widened. "Dude-"
"Ryuji Sakamoto, will you marry me?" Akira opened the box, revealing a set of golden rings with stripes of steel gray between slashes of gold.
Ryuji was speechless, mouth hanging open as he tried to process everything. His brown eyes stared that the rings before looking at Akira. Tears gathered at the edge of his eyes as he stepped forward. Akira's heart was beating madly at Ryuji's reaction.
"Hell yeah." The blond whispered and tightly wrapped his arms around Akira. "I can't believe you'd want to marry someone like me..."
Akira smiled happily and returned the hug just as tight. "I love you for you, Ryuji, nothing's going to change that." He pulled back from the hug and slipped one of the rings onto the blond's left ring finger.
Ryuji wiped away his tears and stared down at the ring while Akira put on his own. "How long did you have this floating around in that head of yours?"
Akira kissed him, "For a while."
Ryuji hummed into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Akira's shoulders. "You're dodging the question."
"Since Shido's palace." Akira took Ryuji's hand and snapped a picture of it.
"Who's that for?"
"The others."
"They were in on this too?" Ryuji grumbled.
Akira chuckled and intertwined his hand with the teen's.
Birds chirped outside the window as sunlight peaked through the curtains and into the hotel room. Clothes littered the ground and parts of the bed as Akira stirred from his slumber. Ryuji slept soundly on his chest, head resting on top on Akira's chest as he snored softly. Akira smiled and placed a kiss on top of his head before reaching over carefully to grab his phone.
Ann: The ring is so cool!
Ann: Morgana and Tadashi think so too
Haru: Shall I make the reservation for DesintyLand now?
Makoto: Congratulations you two.
Futaba: This means I get another brother!
Futaba: ╰(◕ᗜ◕)╯
Yusuke: The ring is quite beautiful. Congratulations.
Akira: Thank you.
Ann: How surprised was he?
Akira: Very.
Akira: He also knows that you guys were in on it.
Ann: You have no idea how hard it was to keep it a secret from him
Ann: Makoto and I had to bride him with ramen
Makoto: Where's Ryuji right now?
Akira: Asleep on my chest.
Akira: Scratch that.
Akira: Drooling on my chest.
"It's too early to be textin'." Ryuji's drowsy voice startled Akira, "Turn it off."
Akira: Got to go.
Akira: Boyfriend-
Backspace.
Akira: My fiance demands more rest.
Akira locked his phone after that and settled back down, Ryuji wrapped his arms around his back and quickly fell back asleep. Akira followed soon after with a content smile on his face and arms place on top of the blond's back.