This, like all great ideas, came to Sho suddenly.
Well, alright, not every sudden idea Sho'd ever had in his life had been a good one. There was the time when he had been five and thought that he his Mom would come back if he ran off to find her, it hadn't been fun explaining to Dad why he'd been found on his own wandering through Tokyo. The time when he had been ten, too, and thought that it would be a good idea to test if his citrus allergy had gone away…yeah. That hadn't been smart, but in his defense that had looked like a really good orange tart. Or the time when he had been eleven and tried to raise a family of hamsters in his suitcase…he maybe should have checked better to make sure that they had all been boys. Then there was the time when he had been thirteen and tried to stop Dad from taking over the world-
Actually, yeah, aside from the fact that he nearly died that had been a good idea.
It had brought Ritsu back into his life, and also the world had been saved, but really having Ritsu back was the best part. Asking him out had been a good idea, the sort that came to him suddenly, but climbing up the side of his school building and surprising him during lunch hadn't exactly been smart…or the time he tried it again when he had been fifteen…or the time he tried it again when he had been eighteen…though in his defense Ritsu had even said that university was more chill than normal school…though maybe he should have learned his lesson all of those other times…
Ok, so he had some bad ideas sometimes, but this was a good one!
"Hey, Ritsu?" asked Sho as he looked up from his phone. Ritsu didn't turn around. Sho had no idea what he was making but it seemed like it was really complicated if it required his full attention. Still, this was important…
Important enough for him to put his own phone down.
"Ritsu?" asked Sho as he put his phone down on his sketchbook. Even after ten years Ritsu was still his greatest muse. There was just something so…perfect, if that was the right word, about him. True, he was kind of fanatical about putting dirty clothes in the hamper and loading the dishwasher the right way, which was actually the wrong way but Sho loved him more than he loved stacking the dishes on top and the cups on the bottom. He also hogged the blankets and kicked in his sleep, left way too much hair in the drain, and the less said about what he did to their YouTube and Netflix algorithms the better.
But even aside from all of that he was perfect, incredibly perfect.
The way the light was hitting him right now, the way it framed his face while he stood at the stove deep in though. The way he muttered as he worked, one hand fiddling with the spice rack and the other thumbing a page out of that overly complicated cookbook they'd picked up at the used book store on a lark. The way he bit his lip in concentration. The way his bangs were plastered to his forehead. The way his shirt, that boring white button down shirt they made every single human being in his office wear, drew tight across his shoulders…
Perfect. Every single centimeter of him.
"…what the hell even is-yes? What's up?" asked Ritsu, finally turning away from what he was doing. He faced Sho fully now. He eyed his sketchbook. He was so-no, not now. He could immortalize Ritsu later. Right now he had a mission to accomplish and Sho had never, not even when he had been a kid, botched a mission.
Even the time with the noodles.
"Guess what I just read." Said Sho
"That thing my brother posted about his cat?" said Ritsu. Sho's eyes widened. He reached for his phone with his left hand, but stopped with his right. This was not the time to see what his cat-niece was up to.
"No, not that, and you'll have to fill me in." said Sho
"How about you fill me in first?" asked Ritsu. Sho took a deep breath. Ok, he had to break this to Ritsu with all the weight it deserved, kind of like if one of them had been dying but the opposite. So if one of them was being born…wait…no, that would have been weird. Who wanted to be married to a baby? That was like some kind of feudalism stuff. They were both adults and…and this was still serious!
Ok. This was serious.
"They legalized it." Said Sho. Maybe he had said that a little too quickly. Maybe Ritsu hadn't had enough time to process what he had just said…or maybe Ritsu was just in shock. Yeah, that was it! He was just as excited about this as Sho was! They could get married now! They could…wait, being married wasn't going to be much different than how they were living now so…so maybe Ritsu just didn't give a damn if they were married or not. Maybe he was even going to say 'no' and tell Sho that he was being a moron like the time he had wanted to get an apartment with a second bedroom so they could turn it into a hamster city, or the time he wanted to make a cat sled, or the time…all the times when Ritsu had smiled at him and told him that he was being dumb…getting carried away. Maybe…maybe…
Please. No.
"Don't smoke inside, that's all I ask." Said Ritsu after a while. Sho didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
"No, not that! We can get married!" said Sho. He couldn't believe that Ritsu was all worried about that. There was no way that was ever going to get legalized and even in it was he doubted that anything he could get would even hold a candle to what Minegishi grew themselves…and what did Ritsu mean 'don't smoke inside'? It was cold out there!
Wait. No, that wasn't what this was about.
It might have been easier if it had been. Ritsu was looking at him, now, the wheels in his head clearly turning. What if he wanted to say no? Or maybe he would say yes but…but not to Sho. Maybe this would finally be the thing to make Ritsu realize how amazing he was and…and how he didn't need Sho…and then he could have left…
Wait, no, that was stupid. They had just signed the lease on this place.
"Wait…seriously?" asked Ritsu after what seemed like a truly agonizing amount of time. Sho would have kissed him if this wasn't so serious. They could kiss at their wedding…if it was even going to happen…it was going to happen! Why would Ritsu say no? Ritsu loved him and he loved Ritsu! True love conquered all!
"Check if you don't believe me. I can wait." Said Sho as he handed Ritsu his phone. He didn't do the password lock screen thing, Ritsu already knew it and he knew Ritsu's. All Ritsu had to do was type in the day they'd met and then he'd see that Sho was telling the truth and then he'd-
Sho didn't truly know what he'd do.
"Whoa…" said Ritsu. That…that wasn't doing anything! He should have…Sho didn't know what he had been expecting. Ritsu to suddenly get down on one knee and tell Sho that they were getting married right now? The two of them flying to the courthouse hand in hand where there'd be a wedding waiting for them and they could get married in front of everyone who had ever doubted them, and his parents would be there in the front row? And there's be hamsters in tuxedos?
"So, you want to?" asked Sho. Ritsu handed him back his phone and…and shook his head….
Sho wondered if this was what death felt like.
"That's not funny." Said Ritsu…oh! Ok, yeah, he thought that Sho was kidding! That made sense, Sho was the funny one and Ritsu was the serious one who made dinner and moved the laundry along and made sure that Sho put his dirty clothes in the basket. Of course he wasn't going to take Sho seriously about something as…as serious as this.
Life alteringly earth shatteringly, Dad getting his face rubbed it-ingly, serious as this.
"I'm being serious for once, marry me….wait!" said Sho. He could be better, this could be better. There wasn't going to be a second chance at this so he had to do it right. He had to…he should have thought this through. He didn't even have a ring!
Well, to be fair he had never thought that it would ever be legalized.
He hadn't ever given much thought to marriage. It was just a thing that he wasn't allowed to do. It wasn't like he couldn't spend his life with Ritsu without being married to him. No, he had pretty much decided years ago that wherever Ritsu went he'd go, whatever Ritsu did he'd support, and whatever Ritsu wanted he'd make happen. So pretty much all the things that came with marriage. He had never thought about it before, actually being married to him, but now…now he couldn't stop thinking about it.
And thinking about making it right.
He didn't have a ring. He should have thought it through! He couldn't just run out and buy one now, he didn't even know where the ring store was! He couldn't just make one either…wait, yes he could! All he needed was metal and they had a whole drawer full of metal!
He was a genius.
"What are you doing?" asked Ritsu as Sho started going through their cutlery drawer. He shook his head, he needed to think. He need a-fork? Too sharp. Butter knife? Still too sharp. What was he supposed to say? 'I love you, don't cut yourself and bleed to death?' No. He needed something else….something better…
Hey!
"Give me your hand." Said Sho. Ritsu rolled his eyes and held out his hand. Sho held the spoon in his hand and…wait, no, this was too big. Ok, so no soup spoons. He tossed the spoon back in the drawer and fished a tea spoon out. Ritsu was staring at him and…ok, yeah, he was doing this. There was no way he was going to do this…why was he so scared? He loved Ritsu. This was what people did when they loved each other. They got married and spent their lives together and had kids-
One thing at a time.
"Come on…we don't have that many spoons…" said Ritsu. His face was red, he was looking away, and…and he looked nervous. He was adorable when he was nervous. He was nervous and…and ok, that meant that Sho didn't get to be nervous. Not now.
He could do this.
"Ritsu…Kageyama Ritsu, will you do me the honor of marrying me and becoming Suzuki Ritsu or…actually, I think I'd rather be Kageyama Sho now that I think really about it. Being a Suzuki never did me any good aside from the money Dad left me and my powers and…ok, hang on, I think I'm getting distracted." Said Sho
"…you can keep going." Said Ritsu softly. Sho took a deep breath. This was for Ritsu. It had to be perfect for him. Romantic. Everything he had ever imagined…God, the pressure hadn't been on this much since their first time….
He could do this.
"Kageyama Ritsu, will you marry me?" said Sho. He looked at Ritsu, at the spoon in his hand, at Ritsu again, and then at the weird speckled pattern on their kitchen counters. It never looked clean even though it was…well, it wasn't right now, Ritsu had been cooking, and it kind of smelled like burning in there now and…and…he really should have said something about it…
Ritsu needed to say something first.
"OK." Said Ritsu. He was looking at Ritsu, Ritsu was looking at him…he looked down at the spoon in his hand. Right, Ritsu had said yes and…and this was part with the ring. He could do this. He used his powers to bend the spoon around Ritsu's finger…was this the ring finger? He didn't know…he didn't know if it mattered. Ritsu was happy and…and he was happy. They were both happy and this was perfect.
So maybe this idea hadn't come to him suddenly. Maybe this was something that he had, actually, wanted for a long time. Maybe even since the day they'd met. Well, when it had occurred to him didn't matter. The fact that it was happening now, right now, did.
And Sho had never been happier in his entire life.
