“So from now on I’ll just not care about people and interact with you normally”, Mizuki decided without me saying anything and promptly did just that. He wiggled around a bit so that he could fully lean on me, which he did often. Mizuki had gotten very comfortable with sitting in ways that he could place his head somewhere on my shoulder.

I tensed heavily, eyes darting around. We were completely in the open and I could already see people turning towards us. Still, I didn’t want to push him away, even if it was making my scalp tingle nervously.

“Aw”, Kaoru teased, placing his hands on his cheek in a cutesy gesture. I tried to glare at him, but it looked more like pouting instead.

“For some weird reason, Riku looks better with Taizou than Prez, doesn’t he? Even though he looks average.”
“Yeah, maybe it’s his average looks that match him. With Prez, it was a bit too blinding.”
“Right. One is a beauty, one is average, it doesn’t look bad.”
“...Can you all please stop saying average.”

Even if it’s a fact.

“Average is good, as long as I don’t feel disgusted by your looks, your character is the more important fact”, came the relaxed voice from my shoulder. Yuji nodded in agreement.

“At least you don’t have to worry that he’s with you cause of your looks."
“Wait, doesn’t that mean Taizou has to worry about that, though?”

They all crossed their arms in a thinking position. I was completely ignored.

“Nah, not Riku. With how much he’s squealing about whatever Taizou does, it’s definitely about his character.”
“I do not squeal!”

Interested, Mizuki looked up.
“Oh? What about exactly?”

Kaoru opened his mouth, so I jumped forward to hold it shut. Mizuki swayed a bit when my shoulder was suddenly gone but just watched in amusement how I threw myself onto Kaoru. The other two thankfully didn’t try to tell him.

“Didn’t we say we’d talk about everything? How come you’re hiding stuff now?”, Mizuki teased as a small punishment for how I had treated him when he stayed over.

I pulled an awkward face.
“Maybe some other time.”

“He’s just waiting until you’re alone so he can distract you when you breach the topic”, Tarou chimed in, laughing pervertedly.

To everyone’s surprise, Mizuki countered him effortlessly.
“Try asking him what happens if I don’t feel like being distracted.”

Awkward silence. I winced.

Me biting him had been kinky. Him biting me had been fucking painful and my shoulder still hurt. That was totally going to be his reaction for me doing something he didn’t like, every time. It had already been established.
I get bitten, I stop.

Tarou shuddered.
“I’m not asking, but for some reason, it hurts.”

“It sure does…”, I whined, rubbing my shoulder unconsciously.

Kaoru reached out to tug my collar away, then winced and retreated.
“Ouch. Taizou, are you trying to leave a scar on him instead of the tattoo?”

Mizuki opened his mouth. Shut it.

The system interjected with what I can only call pure glee despite the text message having no voice.

[Riku is the one doing most of the biting, not I.]

...Is what it guessed he was about to say. If that’s really it, then fucking thank god that he didn’t say it out loud. I’d have died of shame. And he, probably too.

“Suspicious pause”, Tarou interjected.

Yuji slapped him.
“Alright, change of topic before we venture into areas that we shouldn’t know about.” He cleared his throat. “Taizou, we thought we’d come along buy the earring so that Riku is less scared about it looking weird?”

“Sure.”
“How about we go today then? We all have time, anyway.”

Mizuki agreed freely. On one hand, it made me happy that we’d get to buying one so quickly, on the other hand, it worried me.

In the end, it was my friends who pushed me into the store. My boyfriend was walking first and foremost, his face neutral.

“Welcome. Can I help you?”, a gentle woman greeted us professionally. Her back was perfectly straight and her smile polite. She fit perfectly into the store.

Everywhere, the light was reflected on polished metals and shining gems, creating a beautiful shine all around us. The store had everything: From expensive, unique works of brilliant jewels over finely designed, intricate jewelry to less expensive but graceful accessories. Even us students could find something in the cheaper corners.

“Single earrings”, Mizuki said, looking around already. The woman politely smiled.

“Please follow me”, she said, leading us all to the corner of less expensive works. It wasn’t being rude, it was just obvious that we weren’t overly rich. We were actually relieved that she didn’t try to push us into the expensive corners, although she did point out where to find them. 

It was a single wall where only earrings were placed, most of them available as pairs or singles. If we continued to walk to the right, the price would steadily rise, which was a simple and easy system.

Kaoru curiously walked to the farthest corner and gaped at the numbers displayed and Yuji as well as Tarou walked up and down. I stuck to Mizuki, looking in the corners we could actually pay for.

“Do you have anything in mind?”, he whispered to me, since it was I who wanted to give him an earring. I shook my head, looking around.

I didn’t feel like something with gems would suit him, so my eyes passed over those immediately. I also didn’t want simple studs.

My eyes got caught on a simple hoop. The description said it was silver but it looked darker in colour. It was designed so that it wouldn’t hang but rather hug the earlobe quite closely and if I moved around it, I could see fine engravings that looked a bit like a braid going around it. I felt I had seen the motive before, but couldn't quite say where.

A voice whispered into my right ear.

“Youuu found something.”

Another one joined in my left.

“Fouuuund something.”

I pulled my head between my shoulders, looking at Tarou’s and Kaoru’s reflection in the glass with a glare before ignoring them and calling out to the woman.

“Excuse me, could we take a look at this one? And can they be put on?”

The woman walked over, unhinging it from the glass case with practiced ease.
“Of course. We always disinfect them before and afterwards, so there’s no need to worry about hygiene. This one?”

I nodded and she took out the hoop with a soft glove before walking to the counter to disinfect it. Mizuki walked over, only having seen the hoop for a moment, and looking at it curiously.

The assistant dried it, then held it out for Mizuki and turning a mirror on the table to him so he could put it on.

He fiddled with his ear before taking his hand down and looking into the mirror, turning his head around.

I stared.

I liked it.

By my side. Yuji suddenly started shaking.
“It’s…”

Mizuki frowned and turned to him.
“Doesn’t look good?”

He hurriedly shook his head, still shaking. The sides of his lips dragged upward mercilessly. Soft laughter broke through his throat as he explained.
“It looks good, but it screams ‘marked by my boyfriend’ if you stand together.”

For a moment, we all stared at Mizuki, then Kaoru broke out into laughter despite wanting to hold it back. Tarou turned his trembling shoulders away from us.

I awkwardly glared at them when the assistant spoke up. Even her voice was shaking lightly.

“It does indeed suit you, but I would avoid buying it if you wish to hide your relationship.”

Oh come on, does one earring really make such a difference?! How do you even know that we’re a couple!

Mizuki shrugged.
“Nah, just decided to stop that anyway. Boyfriend, go pay.”

I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. The sales assistant happily went to get us a new one while the test-earring lay in the disinfectant solution again.

Mizuki took it out even as I was paying, putting it on immediately. It wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t too expensive and he had already said he would buy something for me, too, so we should be roughly even in the end.

The earring peeked out between his hair, showcasing his white ear. I pushed my hands into my pockets to stop myself from reaching out to touch them.

...I could still do that once we were alone.

Owl

Tbh, I like earrings better than normal rings for couples. No idea why. As to the motive, that will be explained in one of the afterstory extras~
Mizuki is actually very happy that Riku is taking a visible step in admitting their relationship. Although he understands, he doesn't feel well with hiding it, because it still feels like Riku cares more about other people than about him.

Mizuki's theater:

Mizuki: "Lemme think what I'll get you."
Riku: "No tattoo."
Future-Riku: "Ha. Ha."
Riku: "What was that"
Riku: "I heard laughing"
Mizuki: "Hmmmmmm...."