Archive of Our Own ^beta

There are times in one’s life when the stars seem to align themselves perfectly.

Times like when the hot new restaurant that everyone’s talking about just happens to have a table available for six on the very same night that everyone could get together (which, mind you, was no easy feat considering everyone’s vastly different schedules).

Times like these feel as if the gods themselves are smiling upon you, Kaede thought as she had bit goodbye to Saihara, assuring him again that yes, he and Kokichi were invited and no, Tenko most likely wouldn’t kick the latter’s ass at dinner. The blonde honestly wasn’t actually positive about that last part (she’d seen Chabashira kick plenty of asses at fancier places before), but it was always better not to give the detective more to worry about, lest he keel over from stress before the dinner even starts.

None of that matters, however, since her girlfriend is refusing to change out of her workout gear, even though she knows that their reservation for said date was in approximately forty-six minutes and twelve seconds (not that Kaede happened to be counting or anything).

“Makiiiiii!” Kaede whined, attempting to pull her girlfriend off of the sofa without much (read: any) success. Despite being at least three inches taller than the slight brunette, the latter seemed to be constructed entirely from muscle, rage, and stubbornness. “Maki, if you don’t change now, we’re gonna miss our reservation!”

The other girl’s eyes were still fixed on the book she was reading, which Kaede was convinced was another ruse. Korekiyo was the one who had left it last time the whole group had been over, meaning that it was impossible for the novel to be interesting enough to be this absorbed in.

The brunette stayed silent, causing a huff of frustration from her partner. It wasn’t like this was her ideal date, either… but it wasn’t okay to just skip it when they’d promised the other two couples they’d be there! Besides, if the two of them weren’t there to monitor those four, the date would be even more of a disaster than it was already fated to be.

Kaede shuddered as she had a warlike flashback of their last group date. That ice cream shop still had signs out with their faces on it, banning them from entering. Although, she had to admit that she did sometimes watch Himiko’s footage of Tenko judo-flipping Kokichi into a frozen yogurt machine when the purple-haired boy got to be too much, even for her.

Well, if reason wasn’t working, that left Kaede no choice. She would have to resort to drastic measures: begging.

“We never go out anywhereeeee…”

“I brought brand new heels for this date specifically, and you have to see how nice I look in them.”

“Tenko might beat up Kokichi again!”

That last excuse actually got Maki to look up from the book for a second. Though the child caregiver was never one to pass up watching the panta gremlin get pounded, at this point in the argument, she had to stay on this couch. It was a point of pride.

“Kaede. We go out all the time, I already know how ridiculously good you look in heels, and this is neither the first nor the last time Chabashira destroys Ouma. I have had a long day, and I’m not moving from this spot.”

The next trick was the puppy dog eyes, which failed immediately. Maki worked with children for a living and Kaede gave up after three seconds, anyway. Her girlfriend wasn’t going to fall for such childish antics. She needed to be more… forceful. Kaede took a deep breath, preparing herself to use what Tsumugi called her ‘visual novel protagonist voice’.

“If you don’t change out of those sweatpants this second, I’m asking you to move out!”

Maki had already returned to idly scanning the pages of Korekiyo's book. “This is my apartment, Kaede. You moved in with me, remember?”

Dammit. Why did she always have fight back with facts?!

Kaede gave one last ditch attempt to win a staring contest with Maki, as if aggressive eye contact could somehow convince her to shower and change. All it actually made the brunette do was give her girlfriend an infuriatingly smug look.

…

“Fine. You win.” Kaede shot one last glare at Maki before picking up the receiver to cancel. “But if Shuichi faints from the stress, you’re paying for his hospital bill this time.”

Approximately fifteen minutes, two phone calls, one extremely anxious detective, and a pair of pink sweatpants later, Kaede had curled up with her head in her girlfriend’s lap. The faint smile that Maki wore was both infuriating and incredibly cute at the same time, and Kaede once again cursed her girlfriend for being so stubbornly attractive.

“This better be the best fucking book I’ve ever read.”