What? Was bored. Second set of Laundry next. Was originally gonna be two separate stories.
Jealous Pair
It is unknown to no one that both Souji Seta and Naoto Shirogane were both very popular people at their school. The teenager donning silver hair was considered the smartest in the school grades wise, but his aloof but considerate nature earned him many admirers among his classmates and close friends. His levels of awareness made it easy to see he carried that effect around him and school. While he didn't flaunt it like he owned the place, he was still moderately cocky enough to let people know he was very confident in himself.
Naoto Shirogane was the opposite, she had no time or care for such trivial matters. She wasn't interested in being in the spotlight. If anything it was an unfortunate side effect to dealing with her persona. Women threw themselves at her before her gender was known and she sometimes had to wonder if it became more apparent once it was revealed when she got confessions from both genders. The confessions she got were numerous, much more compared to her boyfriend to the point where even he teased her about it.
However they weren't immune to the growing affection the two attracted. One of the quickest things they had to learn as a couple was how much attention they brought. The sharp feeling when they thought that there would be someone who would make the other sway is hard to get over but it was something that they went through together.
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Souji stretched as he walked into school, still tired from the late night he had yesterday. He grumbled at the slightly detour he would have to make this morning to return a garment back to it's rightful owner. He perked up at the small chance he might see his Girlfriend before lunch which always makes something worth it.
Putting on a small smile, he changed his shoes at his foot locker, getting the familiar feel of his school foot attire before stretching his feet. Once snug and secure he picked up his back again and headed to the first year lockers.
As he turned the corner he saw a pair of the first year girls giggling among themselves. He shrugged knowing it wasn't anything new; however he did notice where they were standing. Not really wanting to embarrass the Sleuth, he waited a couple minutes before he realised that they weren't idly waiting around for class to start.
They were waiting for Naoto.
Whether it's the fear of being late or the boredom of waiting, the pair decided to move after shrugging. As they walked to the stairs, they ran into Souji who's shifted his posture from observing them to idly waiting.
"Oh hey there Souji-Senpai." One of them said brightly. Her pony tail moved with her nod of respect. Souji shot the pair of them a smile of acknowledgement.
"Waiting for Naoto-kun?" The other asked, with warmth to the cheeks.
Cute...
"Actually I'm waiting for Kanji." Souji said simply, easily redirecting his intentions, not skipping a beat.
Both the girls laughed.
"You'll be waiting a while then." The first one joked causing Souji to scoff.
"I don't mind being late by a minute or two." He snickered.
"Anyway we best get going. By the way if you see Naoto-kun, tell her Yuka-chan is looking for her." The other girl blushed heavily and mumbled something incoherent, which caused Souji to raise an eye brow.
The two then walked off out of sight and up the stairs. Then suddenly Souji realised that it was actually quite late, even for Naoto. Then he saw it, the blue cap, just the absolute edge of it sticking out from behind a set of lockers by the door.
He smirked.
"Come out Naoto." He said loud enough to hear. The detective embarrassingly poked her head out of the hiding place and looked around for anyone else.
After noticing the coast was clear, she quickly ran to her shoe locker.
"Hiding from the attention?" He asked with an amused look on his face. Naoto frowned.
"Souji-..." She looked around so see if anyone was listening.
"Souji-kun you know exactly how I feel about attention from others. I can barely handle yours on it's own..." She mumbled with a small blush.
Souji presented a small scarf.
"I think this yours Detective." She took a moment to examine it before her eyes lit up in gratitude.
"Ah I forgot this at your residence last night. I was going to call you to inquire about bringing it in but I forgot." She smiled happily.
"Thank you Souji-kun." Souji mirrored her smile with his. "I'll just place it in my locker and hopefully I'll remember-" As she opened her locker, a flood of unopened letters spewed out instantly caused her to sigh.
"Admirers?" He quipped. She glared hard enough to make him instantly back down.
"I've had enough of this-. Oh..." She perked up as one of the letters instantly caught her eye. The was a letter which had considerably better presentation than the rest, with the Japanese characters elegantly done by hand, something about it Naoto recognised.
"With presentation like this I think it comes from the Shuda family..." She trailed off as she opened the letter quickly and efficiently. There was something about it which made Souji uncomfortable, maybe it was the presentation, or the amount of time spent into it.
He leaned against the lockers, hiding his worry behind his stoic face.
"Do you know the Shuda family? I'm assuming their connected to the one who is a part of the school council."
Naoto heard the tone shift in his voice but decided to not comment on it.
"Yes, they've been pretty close to our family for a while; they are semi-aristocrat level in terms of social status. As far as I'm aware they are not bad people." She said calmly, unfolding the paper.
"Hmm..." Souji acknowledged carefully reading the Sleuth's face. Her eyes narrowed then as they scrolled along the text carefully not to miss anything. About half way through her eyes widened as her cheeks tinted pink before she frowned slightly.
While Souji was tuned in before, now he was fully aware of Naoto's posture and body language. He noticed her frowned increased as she hit the bottom paper, before folding it up neatly and placing it back into the locker. She scooped up the rest that were on the floor and placed them in a plastic bag she got from her school pack and then shoved them back in the locker. She leaned back against them and sighed in exasperation.
"So what was that about?" Souji asked simply.
"It was a dinner date invitation, I should have known considering how it started."
"How so?" She turned to Souji and gave him a small smile.
"We've previously worked for his family before on several occasions so he is one of the few people that knew me as a woman before news escaped into the town. While his comments about me and my family's work are rather flattering, I'd rather pass on his advances."
"Even if I wasn't here?" Souji pointed out.
Naoto put her finger to her chin in through, but the thought of the lack of her Senpai made her frown.
"Even if the situation was like that, I'd rather not mix work and romance like that."
Souji couldn't help but laugh.
"So what about me?"
She smiled up at him shyly. "You are the exception that makes the rule Souji-kun."
She pushed herself off the lockers and began to walk past him. Before she did, she leaned up and tapped his nose with her index finger.
"But don't worry Souji-kun, I am yours." She said simply before working off, leaving the leader shocked and dumbfounded.
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As for Naoto, She knew amongst the investigation team that he had his admirers with the girls all secretly lining up for his attention. It scared her how one person has such an emotional grip on the team. Sure he acknowledges it but he never once interfered. There would be many, many people who would do what they could to take advantage of that, the emotional manipulation while completely absurd considering it's Souji (All he wants to do is cook, eat, smash shadows and read) all it would take is someone with a dark side to easily break the cohesion of the group.
That said, Souji took any romantic interests in his stride, he would get the occasional ask for a date or the general interest in his free time. Most people within the school thought Rise owned his soul considering how clingy she was but she knew as well as Rise that it was a front to impress or try to leave her mark on him to keep all the others away so she would have an easier time.
Well that didn't quite go to plan, however the benefit to that was that most girls within the school didn't dare compete with Rise. Competing with the most beautiful girl in the school is one thing (Labelled as Ai pre-Rise era) but competing with an actual Idol who was more than happy (and confident enough) to retaliate and crush the competition with ruthlessness and little disregard to the consequences scared a majority of the female population within the school.
This scenario left Naoto an easy job of not having to worry of Souji having his interest and preferences go elsewhere if he wasn't actively searching himself of course. However people did occasionally did pressed their luck hoping that Souji wouldn't mutter a word to the Idol (Or Yukiko who others suspected was his girlfriend on the down low, especially with how ferocious and protective of him she could get) in fear of getting back claws and teeth.
If anything Naoto was actually quite unsuspecting to everyone, people assumed she was too much of a lone wolf and she did not need romance because of how many offers she turned down (Turning down of Takami Sunda made school news embarrassingly) which wasn't too far from the truth.
She was a Shirogane, she prided herself on independence and able to work on her own accord. But that didn't mean she couldn't have romance. They could easily go hand in hand and was a simple juggling act for her once she was able to accept her feelings.
However there was one girl who was consistent, who was not afraid to get stuck in and attempt to court Souji. She's already had clashes with both Rise and Yukiko on both Souji and other issues.
It wasn't that she was a bad person; she was sweet and willing to help anyone out (as long as it wasn't Rise) and was a kind soul. Her name was Maya, one of the third years who spent a lot of time tutoring lower years.
But she didn't believe the rumours, and she saw past the front of Rise. In the shout-fests the two have hadprior, Rise made the mistake (Or presumably buckled under the pressure) of making a comment she actually wasn't dating her Senpai, but was actively chasing him. This gave Maya new drive to chase her kohai and since Souji get elicit orders from both Naoto and the other girls (After the ladies little bust up over the detective) to keep their relationship quiet for the sake of Naoto's sanity.
But the side effect was Souji having to deal with her advances, which he didn't mind but he knew it made Naoto uncomfortable.
"So Souji-kun, I've got the weekend free coming up, are you busy?" Souji laughed as usual, knowing what she was hinting at.
"Unfortunately I'm a little busy." Maya snickered.
"Got another attempted date with Rise-chan, I'm sure I know how that will go." She said sarcastically bring out a smile from the team leader.
"Well you know what she's like..." She rolled her eyes.
"Well of course I do."
Naoto stumbled across their conversation as she was coming back from the canteen for lunch. She kept herself out of sight as she continued to listen. She noted the usual poker face Souji had on when interacting with people, a complete contrast of Maya fun yet caring expression.
"So why is it do you not date anyone, not like the girls around you are bad. I heard Chie is pretty cool." Souji raised an eye brow in interest.
"I find it interesting that you failed to note Rise, Yukiko and Naoto." Maya shook her head.
"You know how I feel about Yukiko and Rise already." Maya looked to the side in thought. "I dunno, there is something about you and Naoto just seems odd, I wouldn't think you two get on that way."
Souji recoiled, not enough for her to notice but she was surprised she would say that.
Naoto heard it as well; it was a deep strike to the heart instantly made her self-conscious. Her brain instantly casted doubt over herself as some of the negative feelings about herself started to bubble up. He next thought was wondering if Souji felt the same.
Well that hurts...
"Hmm I see, well what are you getting at?" Souji asked curiously.
"You always brush me off, not in the way which is rude but you decline all of my invitations. I also know..." She leaned up and whispered.
"...I know you don't date both Yukiko and Rise..."
She pulled away again. "...So I wondered why, do you have a special lady outside of school we don't know about or a beloved in another city?"
There was a sparkle in her eye that Souji could only describe as whimsical. It seemed the conversation wasn't about him and her any more.
Souji shook his head, but was unsure what to answer. Outside of making a comment that he was asexual he was stuck for answers without lying. He was about to make comment when he saw Naoto come into the hallway they were in. Giving her a polite nod and a smile took the heat off him for just a second as Maya turned to in the direction he was looking.
"Hey there Naoto."
"Why hello there Naoto-kun." Maya said politely, also giving her head a small nodded. Souji noticed something strange in her posture; she was always like that when she was plotting something.
"Hello, Maya-Senpai. Souji-kun." The change of suffix took them both by surprise. Maya looked at Souji suspiciously.
"Souji-kun eh?"
"I-"
Taking the momentum, Naoto struck.
"I'm so sorry Maya-Senpai but I need to drag my boyfriend off for something about this weekend." She said matter-of-factly.
Maya looked like she just had a frying pan dropped on her head while Souji looked on in wonder about how the situation escalated to this.
She turned to the team leader. "Errr, what?"
Souji babbled incoherently before Naoto took her hands around his arm. He looked down at her, even though she was blushing heavily, she had a face of expectation.
The interaction in itself attracted a few bystanders too.
"Ah yes that is right, we are currently dating." He declared. The shock of what was going on didn't quite make it sound convincing.
Maya obviously believed the same.
"I don't quite believe you..." Within an instant Naoto pulled Souji down and kissed him on the cheek. This brought nothing but gasps among the crowd as Maya's eyes went wide.
"You guys are serious..." She looked at Souji mischievously. "I guess I was completely wrong about the girls you might be into."
She didn't take Naoto's sign of territory to heart. If anything she was impressed that someone who was normally quite reserved would do some so bold and public.
He was about to reply before he was tugged away by the Sleuth.
"I'll catch you later Maya-Senpai."
Once they were out of ear shot Souji turned to his girlfriend.
"You heard the whole thing right?"
"Yup."
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