Originally posted to tumblr April 5th 2016

Part of the poly au I started in "Dog Pile". There is no particular timeline to these, because i couldn't be bothered to think of one. So there's no real order of events. This started out as one thing, but it got too long, so I'm splitting it in two. Here's five parts now.

shunxsaki

It had flowed out of his mouth so easily, that Saki had almost thought she was hallucinating. He was looking at her, but not expectantly, like he was waiting for her to answer. Just looking. The fireworks punctuated the silence. The other three were waiting for them to return to their viewing area. Saki held the candy apple Maria had asked for in a loose grip, threatening to drop it. Shun had Satoru's takoyaki in his hands. The first explosion began before they could reach them and caused Saki to stop in her tracks to watch. It was then that Shun uttered those words. Moments had passed and he finally turned his gaze away.

"Let's hurry back to the others." He took the first step but Saki grabbed onto his yukata to hold him.

"I do too!", she blurted out. "I…I love you", she said more softly. Shun had kissed her forehead and that was that. They didn't need anymore.

shunxsatoru

Satoru was very liberal with his 'i love you's when it came to Shun. Probably because they were very casual and usually used when Shun got him food, let him look over his notes, or took his side in an argument with Saki (which had happened about five times). But Satoru made sure it counted when he genuinely said it. He had meant it all those times before, but it wasn't meant for the intimate, romantic definition until now. Satoru had him all to himself. Maria and Mamoru were out on a date. Saki was taking a trip with her family. Shun came from the bath, towel drying his hair. Satoru was lying in bed, messing around on his phone. Shun put the towel around his neck and came over, straddling his hips.

"If I have to compete with that for your attention, I'm not sure I can win."

Almost dramatically, Satoru threw the phone, letting it flop beside him on the bed. "Nothing can compete with you."

With a small laugh, Shun leaned forward and kissed his lips. Being the attention-seeker he was, Satoru valued giving just as much as getting. This moment with just the two of them, those clear green eyes looking at him and only him…

"I love you."

Shun blinked, as if taken by surprise, but that didn't last long. He put his forehead against Satoru's. "I love you too."

shunxmaria

Ironically, early on, Shun saw Maria as sort of a rival. He knew she had affections for Saki and because she was a girl, she could be more open about it. Add to Shun's own high guard about his own feelings and it seemed as though Maria would have her and he never had a chance. The arrangement they had now was something even his wildest dreams couldn't imagine. But he wouldn't have it any other way. Even before they were dating, when Shun saw her as a love rival, he didn't dislike her. She was one of his oldest friends. He admired her for so many things so when the school passed around the rumor that they were dating, he saw no reason to deny it. A person could do a lot worse than Akizuki Maria. She was one of the handful of people who could bring about a swell of emotion within him.

At the end of the school festival, a bonfire was held in the courtyard where people danced. He held his hand out to Maria and she took it, taking them out to dance among the crowd of students. The orange flames in the dusk brought out the warmness of her hair. Shun didn't need to look around to know they were being watched. Eyes were always on them. But he only cared for Maria's gaze. Maria's affections were deep and unconditional. She loved without holding back.

"I love you", they said at the same time, in the same breath. Both were surprised to hear their words given back to them and their dancing stopped. Maria smiled and kissed his cheek. Later, they'd find themselves subjected to Saki and Satoru's complaints at how 'lovey-dovey' they were but right now, the moment was theirs.

shunxmamoru

Mamoru couldn't believe a lot of things about their arrangement. He could only dream of Maria returning his feelings. But to have even more people want to be with him, it was unfathomable. And then there was Shun. To put it simply, he was the school's prince while Mamoru….he wasn't really anything. He was just too quiet, too shy, only cared about his drawings and didn't interact with anyone, really. But when he met Maria, he had clung to her and she came with three other friends. They were nice and after getting to know him, warmed up really well. Shun was very much like Maria. He was considerate and never asked more of what was possible for him.

Drawing was how he made sense of the world around him; how he put things in categories 'like' and 'dislike'; how he kept the good things close to him; how he kept the bad things away. Shun understood that and was more than happy to be a subject for him. Objectively, Shun was aesthetically pleasing. He was fun to draw and observe. Mamoru was doing the second right now, He and Shun sat on the train.

Mamoru had Shun's hand, looking at his fingers, the palm, his were the hands of an amazing person. And it helped distract him from the increasing crowd that came on. Mamoru was still coy when it came to public displays of affection but this was fine. It was just hand touching. And in the growing mass of passengers there were few eyes on them. He felt something push against his hair and realized Shun was leaning in. He felt the words before he heard them.

"I love you. Did you know that?"

Mamoru wanted to jump up and do….do something. But he couldn't. He settled for fidgeting in his seat and shook his head. He knew Shun liked him but those words were never said. He glanced up and met Shun's eyes for a second before looking down at his hand again. Mamoru opened Shun's palm and traced words with his finger.

'Me too.'

sakixsatoru

Neither of them was sure when it happened. But if you asked Shun, he could bring up the memory perfectly of how their relationship began. Basically, back in kindergarten, Satoru was trying to ask Saki to play with him, but he tripped and pulled her into a muddy area with him. And when she got angry, instead of apologizing, he argued right back with her. And the rest is history. Despite their constant bickering, they did like each other. They wouldn't have been friends for this long otherwise. But the it finally happened.

One of their petty arguments grew too big and ended with them walking off in different directions. The other three were at a loss of what to do and it became really worrying when Saki and Satoru went a week without speaking to one another. In a moment of weakness, Saki admitted to her mother that she missed him and was advised to go and talk to him about it. Saki really didn't want to admit defeat, but their reason for fighting was so stupid, she couldn't even clearly remember it anymore. She sent a text to him, telling him to meet her after school. Once everyone had cleared out of the classroom, she found him there, leaning against the window, greeting her with a frown.

"I'm sorry", she said.

"What?"

"I said. I'm sorry", Saki repeated with a bit of difficulty. She really didn't want to say it and really didn't want to say it twice.

"I think I'm gonna need to hear it again because I think I just heard you apologize. But why would you do that? Unless you're admitting that you were totally wrong and I was righ-"

"I'm saying it because I love you, you idiot!", she blurted out. Anything to stop him from talking.

"Did you just confess while calling me an idiot?"

"That's because I'm confessing to an idiot! You're so stupid! A real idiot! You dumbass! Why can't you just make this easy for me?!" Saki was panting and she knew her face was red. Satoru smiled and walked over, patting the top of her head, then bringing her in for a hug.

"I'm sorry too. I was being really stupid. And I…." His voice got lower and he pressed his face into her hair and mumbled something almost too quiet for her to hear. But she heard it clearly enough, the words 'I love you'. She grinned ad pulled away from him.

"What was that~?"

"I said you're a bigger idiot than I am!"

"Nooooo~ You said you love me~", she teased.

"Who would love someone who gets such a low math score?"

Saki's fist clenched. Ah, now she remembered what they were fighting about. "I got such a low score because you distracted me from studying!"

"There you go blaming me again. You should start taking some responsibility for yourself."

She grabbed a ruler and smacked it against her hand. "How about I start now?" Several students would remark the next day on how two of their classmates were running around the school, both with strange smiles on their faces.