Ship Months

“Shuichi! Shuichi!”

The excited yells and happy shouting cut through Shuichi’s dreamless sleep, and he blinked once or twice, trying to wake up and make out what the source of the noise was. His room was still barely illuminated, but there was extra weight on him - two hands. Small, and gentle yet very firm, matching the endearing yet annoying tone that continued to speak, “Shuichiiiii!”

“Ko-Kokichi?” Shuichi moved the sheets slightly, throwing them off and pushing himself up slightly, “What are you doing here?”

“It’s raining!” Kokichi told him excitedly, sitting cross-legged at the foot of Shuichi’s bed, steadily moving all of the blankets closer to him, “Now come outside with me, pretty please?”

“What time is it?” Shuichi asked, moving to check the clock before Kokichi answered first.

“It’s one AM-” Kokichi hauled himself off the bed, going to the door and then looking back, “-Bring socks and shoes.”

“Fine,” Shuichi smiled slightly, removing all the covers with a slight sigh, and then a barely stifled yawn. Slipping out of bed was a fairly regular occurrence for him, especially when living with someone like Kokichi. Getting out almost immediately, he briefly grabbed a pair of socks before leaving the door - eyes squinting as the light blared out suddenly. Kokichi was watching from the door, and he reached over and flashed Shuichi a grin, before turning out the light. Eyes incredibly adjusted, Shuichi could still see almost everything.

The white, if more comfortable, almost robe-type thing that Kokichi was wearing, complete with purple embroidery of galaxies and dice, and some fantasy elements. He still had his bandana on as well, tied more loosely - but still there. It was something he tugged on occasionally, as if to remind himself he was still there. And Kokichi was wearing simple velcro shoes, because he could never be bothered with laces this late at night. When Shuich got to him, Kokichi held up his pair of dress shoes - black and sparkling, partially unworn.

“We need shoes for this?” Shuichi asked, raising an eyebrow but beginning to put them on anyway.

“Do you doubt your supreme leader?” Kokichi returned, holding himself up haughtily, “Now - listen!”

Shuichi did begin to listen, immediately. And as he focused, he could hear a soft pitter-patter, the steady beat of light rain. It was raining. And in an odd way, it would be a first experience. As the thought struck him, he glanced at Kokichi - his eyes sparkling as he looked out of their window - raindrops pattering on it, streaking down onto it and distorting the glass even more.

It would be their first rain since the game. And it would be their first rain together, full stop. Reaching out quickly, Kokichi wove his hand into Shuichi’s, looking up at the taller boy and smiling. “Can we go out now?”

“Of course.”

“Yes!” Kokichi grinned, immediately beginning to tug Shuichi out of the door with him; the two heading to the door as fast Kokichi could move, which was pretty fast. Getting to the door, Kokichi briefly opened it before heading outside - his eyes sparkling incredibly, looking around at the rain with a smile; a small ‘nishishishi’ laugh escaping when a few drops landed on him. “Y’know, Shumai - rain’s my favourite weather.”

“Really?” Shuichi asked, looking at his boyfriend as he stood in the rain. It was easy to tell, now that Shuichi looked. Something in his eyes looked as though a joy had settled there, and as more rain went on him - he did seem to smile even more. It was a beautiful, genuine smile - almost as though the water had washed his mask away. Kokichi was still holding his hand, rocking back and forth slightly on his heels as the two just stayed in the rain. Happy, and content.

Still trying to wake up, Shuichi was walking around the school - completely aimlessly, but it was still nice… in a way. Everything was so peaceful, the plants around, the quietness - he could almost forget about this place. Oddly, the school didn’t look as threatening in the dark - because it looked just like that. A normal school, all its eccentricities hidden away enough that the faint light from his torch didn’t touch them. And nighttime was also nice, because of how quietly mournful it seemed.

Moving slowly through the corridors again, Shuichi suddenly tensed as he was light cascading out of an open door-way, into one of the corridors. His first instinct was to reach behind him, as if to grab a weapon that didn’t exist. His second instinct was to scold himself. It was just the dining hall’s door open; a very public place at that. No-one would be doing anything stupid in there; and he didn’t believe anyone left was capable of murder.

But none of the students should be able to get into the dining hall at night time either… Turning off the torch and pocketing it, Shuichi crept forward again - standing right outside the door and trying to take calming voices. Then, still silently, he sidestepped and peered into the open room. There was no-one there, but the light was definitely on. Looking around, Shuichi realised the kitchen door was slightly open as well.

Trying to be silent still, Shuichi moved across the dining hall - eventually standing right next to the door. Although, it was positioned in such a way that no-one could see inside it without opening it. Taking another breath, Shuichi pushed open the door - immediately looking around for what he could see.

The door swung open with a loud creak, instantly startling the boy inside. Kokichi jumped immediately, moving erratically - and taking the knife down on the tip of his finger in nervousness. Whipping around, knife still in hand - Kokichi held it up at Shuichi, before seeing who it was as he instantly relaxed. There was a second as the two stared at each other, Shuichi’s eyes drawn to the blood that was now pooling at Kokichi’s finger, dripping down onto the floor.

“Kokichi, I’m so sorry,” Shuichi said, instantly moving forwards towards the other boy, “I didn’t- I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me,” Kokichi immediately said, “I’m too cool to be scared by stuff like that, y’know? I am the supreme leader of an evil organisation - so of course I get assassination attempts happening all the time, like, seriously! Loooads of-”

“How badly hurt are you?” Shuichi didn’t always like interrupting, but he also knew that Kokichi could ramble. Especially if he was hurt, or scared; Kokichi would often keep talking until the conversation had shifted away sufficiently. The others hadn’t noticed, but Shuichi did. He paid attention to Kokcihi.

“Pfft, like a knife could hurt me,” Kokichi was still grinning, “Hey, d'you wanna help me make a fake blood trail to scare everyone?”

“I want,” Shuichi said firmly, “To make sure your hand is ok. Are there any bandages in here?”

“Awww, is my Shuichi worried about me?”

“You're bleeding.”

“Yeah, but like I said - loooads of assassinations.”

“Sure.” He knew it was counter-productive, but Shuichi couldn’t help but smile. Looking around again, Shuichi took a clean cloth from one of the counters and lightly wrapped it around Kokichi’s hand, trying not to blush or look away at the contact. Surprisingly, Kokichi didn’t flinch at the contact; he just stayed there, patiently waiting. It was only when Shuichi removed his hand that Kokichi began to grin, “Y’know - I think you just wanted an excuse to touch me.”

“W-What?” Shuichi said immediately, voice slightly shaking, and his face blushing, “I just don’t want you to be hurt, that’s all.”

“Nishishi, Shuichi’s sooo embarrassed, and he’s doing allll these things for me-” Kokichi tilted his head slightly, thinking while wearing a smile “-maybe he really does care?”

Finally locating some band-aids, Shuichi took the box out, facing Kokichi again, “I do care.” “Really?” Kokichi took a step forward, closing most of the distance between them, “Do you reeeally care?”

“Yes.” Shuichi said firmly, “Ok. Do you want an… off-skin-colour band-aid or a blue one?”

“Isn’t there a purple one?” Kokichi gestured to himself, a small droplet of blood flying to the floor as he motioned with his hand, “I have a brand, y’know.”

“Would you like a princess one?” Shuichi asked sarcastically, holding up the other box he found; one with band-aids that were pink, with some princess or another on.

“Oooh!” Kokichi’s eyes sparkled slightly, “Attend to my wound, Shumai!”

“With the princess one?” Shuichi asked, although he knew what the answer would be.

“Yup,” Kokichi held out his hand, “I don’t have all night, y’know?”

Staying silent, Shuichi wrapped the band-aid around Kokichi’s finger. “Be safe… please.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kokichi returned to the knife, frowning at it, “You’ve ruined my dinner Shumai!”

“I’m… sorry?”

“Make it up to me!”

“How?”

“Here!” At an almost startling speed, Kokichi put the knife in Shuichi’s hand - somehow without any injuries. “You can chop my tofu for me!”

“Sure,” Shuichi said, moving closer to the counter, “How big, and in what shape?”

“You can do different shapes?” Kokichi’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas, “Can you do crowns, or hearts?”

“I can do triangles, cuboids, and stars,” Shuichi corrected, waiting to see what Kokichi would want.

“Make me stars!”

“Ok. How big do you want them?”

“How big d’you recommend for miso soup?” Kokichi asked, glancing at the other ingredients and preparation around, “Kirumi did it with a centimetre, so I’ve been doing that.”

“I can do one centimetre.” Shuichi confirmed, and for a few minutes the two worked in silence - Kokichi preparing a few other things, before giving up and rummaging in the cupboards to see if he could find any cool snacks. Every now and then he’d let out an ‘oooh’ or another noise of appreciation, before sticking whatever it was he found in one of his pockets. Eventually, Shuichi turned off the heat and got two bowls out, offering one to Kokichi. “How are you here?”

“Cause we’re trapped here, duh.”

“No, I mean in the kitchen.”

There was a second when Kokichi took a large mouthful of soup, trying to avoid the question with a smile, “Cause I was hungry.”

Shaking his head slightly, Shuichi continued to press, “I did mean the kitchen. We’re not allowed to be in here at nightime.”

“It’s the dining hall we’re not allowed to be in,” Kokichi pointed out slyly, “And Monokuma’s pretty slow, so you can just run across from the corridor to the kitchen.”

He had another spoonful of soup, before pointing out, “Besides, I’m, like, toooootally his favourite - this is just one of the perks!”

“Night-time miso soup?” Shuichi asked, even though he had to admit something about the food was comforting.

“Well, I have a bunch of other stuff as well, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“Yup! But if I told you, I’d have to kill you, y’know?”

Shuichi let himself laugh a little as he had more of the soup, mulling the situation over as he swallowed a bite of tofu. It was late at night, and he was just sitting in a technically-not-out-of-bounds-but-should-be area, while having miso soup with Kokichi Oma - of all people. And he was enjoying it. There was something about Kokichi’s personality that just… cheered Shuichi up, helped him relax in a way. Especially when the two were just sitting together and eating, like they were now.

“Do you… come here often?” Shuichi ended up asking, turning a shade of pink as he realised only slightly too late what he had said.

“Neeheehee, are you flirting with me?” Kokichi teased, “And no, not really. Do you wander off a lot, mr detective?”

“No…” Shuichi answered, after a second of thinking about it. “I don’t usually eat late at night.”

The two sat together for slightly longer, before there was a faint rustling sound as Kokichi dug something from out of his pocket. Offering up sugar of some type, he smiled at Shuichi, “Here.”

“Thank you, Kokichi.”

It’s almost twelve at night, there shouldn’t be any reason Shuichi is getting a call. To be fair, there isn’t much (good) reason he should be up this late either. He’s working on a case, he tells himself. In reality it’s because something in his brain won’t switch off and let him rest. But at the same time… if someone’s calling, it is probably important. There aren’t many reasons he’d call someone this late on a Tuesday night.

Shuichi picks up his phone quickly, squinting at the light for a second before checking the number. It’s unknown, because of course it is. There’s a second when he thinks about declining, but then he does decide to pick up. Almost instantly he holds the phone away from him as noise bursts through, “Shuichi!”

“Kokichi?” He double-checks the caller ID for a second, before frowning, “What are you calling me on?”

“You’re my one free phone call in jail,” the voice says cheerfully, “Oh, by the way - I probably have to tell you this, but there’s a pretty cute police officer leaning over my shoulder right now and listening in.”

“Hold on,” Shuichi takes a moment to process this, before saying the first thing that came to mind, “Why did you call me?”

“What do you mean?” Kokichi asks, and Shuichi can practically picture him turning his head in confusion, a small smile on his face.

“Shouldn’t you be talking to a solicitor?” Shuichi presses, “You need to know your rights, Kokichi. Do you have legal advice currently, what were you arrested for, are-”

“Geez, don’t be such a buzzkill,” a yawn is suddenly heard from the phone, “I don't, trespassing, and can you pick me up and bail me out?”

“What?”

“Pretty please? With a cherry on top?” Kokichi pauses, “If not I’ll set D.I.C.E. on you.”

“Slow down,” Shuichi says firmly, “Right. Why were you arrested for trespassing?”

“Mmm,” there’s a pause, “No comment, Mr. Police is looking at me suuuper suspiciously.”

“Ok,” Shuichi thinks for a second as well, “Fine. I can come bail you out, how much will it be and where are you being held?”

Just as Kokichi starts to answer, the phone is taken away. Shuichi gets nervous for a second, before a new voice comes in. And then, almost half an hour later, Shuichi arrives at the police station, bail money in hand and with a frown. As he enters, he looks around for a second. There are three people in the room, a receptionist of some kind, a very tired looking police officer, and Kokichi.

“Shuichi!” The way Kokichi immediately brightens makes Shuichi’s heart sing, and he gives a small smile in return. To his relief, Kokichi does stay silent while they sort out all the legal matters, and doesn’t speak again until they’re officially outside the station - and Kokichi is a free(er) man. Somehow, he skips down the street without any worries, “Y’know, thanks Shuichi.”

Kokichi waits a second before continuing, “Shuichi, what’s wrong? Why are you mad? Is it me? Is it? Is it? Is-”

“It’s almost one in the morning Kokichi,” Shuichi looks around, “How do you have that much energy?”

“I actually had a pretty good nap in Ikea, so I’m not that sleepy.”

“I-Ikea?” Shuichi repeats, turning fully around, “That was where you got arrested for trespassing, Ikea?”

“Are you mad?” Kokichi had a smile on his face, “It’s whatevs. I can just pay them later.”

“Of course you can,” shaking his head slightly, Shuichi opens the car door, “Get in.”

“Y’know, that’s the exact same thing the police officer told me. Although I suppose you are with the police, Shuichi.”

“I will set Maki on you,” Shuichi attempts to threaten, although he doesn’t really mind when Kokichi just laughs instead. “Right, to your apartment.”

“To the store.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Can I…” Kokichi trails his voice as Shuichi climbs into the driver’s seat, waiting until he can hear again, “Bribe you?”

“You needed me to pay your bail.”

“Touché.” Kokichi considers again, “I can bribe you without money?”

Shuichi begins to turn the car on, but decides to humour him, “Like what?”

“We could… kiss.”

Something that Shuichi hates about staying up so late is it removes his filter. He becomes incredibly honest, to a more extreme point. And at almost one in the morning, outside of a police station, Shuichi turns fully to face Kokichi. “Alright then.”

His face immediately burns with blush, but as Kokichi’s cheeks become slightly pink too, he stays where he is. Conscious of how fast his heart is beating when Kokichi briefly looks him up and down, before locking their gaze. Shuichi only focuses on Kokichi’s eyes as they become closer, until suddenly their lips intertwine.

Even with the space in between them, it feels completely right - completely natural. Reaching out, Shuichi leans down slightly while his hand tilts Kokichi’s head up. As his hand brushes Kokichi’s face, he can almost see sparkles appearing in Kokichi’s eyes. And when they break, both of their eyes are shining, and both of them are smiling.

Kokichi glances around at their surroundings, and grins, “Wow Shuichi, I wouldn’t expect that from you.”

“W-what do you mean?” Shuichi asks defensively, “You kissed me!”

Looking around, Shuichi briefly adjusted his gas mask again - pulling on the straps to make it that bit tighter. To his immediate left he could see more of the chaos of Clemen - incredibly crowded streets and skies, with at least one brawl going on. To his right was a wall, which was honestly just reassuring - less places (generally) to get attacked or pickpocketed from. Behind him were Kaito and Maki, waiting at the data collection point as new information was loaded onto their space-USB.

Kaito was in much of the same gear Shuichi was in, a gas mask, flexible but protective plated armour - except he’d painted his in an almost magenta purple - although it was probably a bit brighter than that. The fabric underneath and seams that connected the armour reflected the immediate galaxies and star patterns around them; which Kaito thought was cool - and Maki thought was a waste of tech. He had painted his armour in a dark blue, with black as the fabric underneath - no extra quirks.

Maki didn’t want or need armour, of course. He supposed that was one of the advantages of being a Miasmis, along with her other abilities. Being able to turn your skin either into weapons or crystal due to advanced morphing was pretty cool. Not that it stopped from carrying a frankly excessive amount of weapons anyway. She argued they were useful for bounty hunting.

Because that was what the trio had been doing these past few years (generally) - they’d been bounty hunting. Shuichi was generally their tracker, or their detective - working out where the target was. Kaito had turned out to be a great pilot and a good driver of most alien tech, so he got them to their destination (and enjoyed high speed pursuits slightly too much). Maki was the one who generally took their target down, and she was also just incredibly scary. That was always a bonus for when they were co-ordinating how much they should all be paid.

“It’s downloaded,” Maki announced, taking the USB in her hand and closing a fist around it.

“You not a fan of Clemen?” Kaito guessed, although he began to move away with her.

“Are you?” Maki shot back, cutting through the crowd and grabbing Kaito’s hand (she always said it was so he didn’t lose them).

“It’s certainly…” Shuichi considered his words, “Profitable.”

“You mean a den of criminal activity,” corrected Maki, “The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

With minimal conversation (and minimal difficulties) the three made it back to their ship, with Shuichi immediately plugging in the USB.

“Find any bounties near us?” Maki asked, half-reading over his shoulder.

“Yes, actually,” Shuichi had clicked on the profile already, “Kokichi Oma. Unknown species. Two separate people are asking for him.”

“Really?” Kaito asked, “What’d the guy even do?”

“One’s for robophobia,” Shuichi scrolled down for a few seconds, “And the other one doesn’t specify, but it’s a lot of money.”

“Who from?” Maki asked.

“Android named K1-B0.”

“The one that will pay us well.”

“Ah.” Shuichi scanned the page for a second, “The genius inventor Miu Iruma.”

“Miu Iruma?” Kaito questioned, “Dude, let’s go for him!”

“Why?”

“Cause it’s for Miu Iruma!” Kaito was grinning, “Y’know, the Miu Iruma? She invented most of what’s on high tech spaceships, half of our weapons are designed by her. The intricacies of aerodynamics in-”

“So where do we find him?” Maki cuts across Kaito, moving closer to Shuichi and scanning over the information herself. Both reading and watching Maki, Shuichi pinpoints the exact time they both recognise the ship listed as Kokichi’s. As luck would have it, it’s parked directly next to theirs. Their gaze immediately shifts out of the window, Maki’s eyes narrowing and glowing slightly red.

Kaito follows their gaze for a second, and then grins, “No way, that’s his ship? I guess the universe is with us on this one.”

“The universe is an inanimate object and doesn’t want us to succeed,” Maki points out, before beginning to move towards the weapons lab, “What are we waiting for, let’s go.”

Shuichi ends up grabbing his usual gear, along with Kaito. Maki takes her most expensive weapon, something dubbed a ‘nano-hurt’. It can transform into any weapon, apparently. Shuichi’s only seen it morph into four. Maki also takes multiple sleeping drugs, complaining about the lack of information on the file. It’s all very well trying to send someone to sleep with chemicals, but aliens have such different biology than one chemical could kill one, do nothing on another, and empower a third. It’s quite remarkable.

“Remember, he’s a wanted criminal - so I want both of my sidekicks to be careful,” Kaito said as they got off, looking around at the ship - seeing if any traps would immediately be obvious.

“Technically he’s not a criminal, just a wanted person.”

Maki rolled her eyes, “Technically that Keebo wanted him arrested for robophobia, so…”

Going up to the door, there was a second as they all stared before Kaito walked up and knocked. He didn’t try anything else, just went up and knocked. Shuichi could see Maki’s eyes glow red in annoyance and fear, but nothing happened. Frowning slightly, he took out their door opener (it was some high tech stuff that Maki had brought and didn’t tell them the name). As it attached to the door, there was a second or two while it whirred before the door slid away.

Looking among themselves, Maki walked in immediately and waited for a second before giving a subtle thumbs up behind her. Following closely, Kaito and Shuichi instinctively gripped their weapons - looking around curiously. With a hiss, the sensors around Shuichi’s gas mask suddenly opened as the door closed. The air in here was safe to breathe. Watching Kaito for a second, Shuichi let the mask hang around his neck - enjoying being able to breathe freely while on a bounty hunt.

He regretted taking the mask off though, maybe five seconds later. Gas descended from the ceiling, immediately making Kaito and Maki cough. Only a second later, Shuichi double-over as he joined them - wheezing, his eyes running slightly. He had a pounding headache, and black spots began to come over his vision - becoming larger and larger until his vision faded to black.

With a gasp, Shuichi opens his eyes again. The weight of his weapons are gone, he can feel that much, but his mask is still around his shoulder - and his armour is still on. In the… cell he’s in, he seems almost untouched. There is a nasty headache from the gas however. Listening. Shuichi tries to hear Kaito or Maki’s voice as he presses his hand up against the wall, trying to investigate. He’s sure Kaito’s first instinct is to scream, and if Shuichi can’t hear him he doubts he can hear Shuichi. But, after making sure there’s nothing on the walls, Shuichi straightens to call for help. “Guys? It’s me…”

He hesitates, not wanting to use his full name, “The detective on the case! The one who led us to our last assignment through a cheese store?”

There’s no response from any of his friends, but there's a laugh from in front of him. As Shuichi bunches his fists, the wall becomes transparent. And Shuichi blinks in disbelief at what he sees.

There is a human in front of him. There is, definitely, a human in front of him. He’s shorter than Shuichi, although not by a ridiculous amount, and he has dyed purple hair - along with purple eyes. Something in the back of his mind lets him know that his captor is very attractive, and precisely Shuichi’s type. Shuichi ignores that bit of his brain.

Instead, he focuses on the rational side of his mind, and asks, “Who are you?”

“Awww, not who am I? Or where am I?” The human comes slightly closer, a pout on his face, “So the memory gas didn’t work on you, huh?”

“Memory gas?” Shuichi repeats, taking a step back, “No - it didn’t. What memory gas?!”

“Neeheehee, who knows?” His smile becomes slightly larger, “I am a liar, afterall.”

“So you were lying just now?”

“Yeah. Whatevs. Big deal,” he rolls his eyes, “I knocked you out with chloroform. Now, what’s your name?”

“My name?”

“Are you gonna have a habit of repeating me?” He questions, “I’m only tolerating it cause you’re my favourite, y’know.”

Deciding not to comment on the last bit, Shuichi took a deep breath. The longer he could keep his enemy talking, the more time Maki or Kaito had to escape. “I’m… Shuichi.”

“You sure? You don’t sound sure.”

“Yes.” “Do you wanna know mine?”

“Sure.”

“Ok,” Kokichi grinned, “You’ve got to beg for it, though.”

“What do you mean beg for it?”

“On your knees, y’know. That sorta thing.”

“I’m not begging you.”

“What about… a game?”

“A game?” Shuichi thought for a second, “In exchange for what?”

“If you win, I tell you my name,” His captor stepped closer to the wall between them, “And if you win - I’ll remove this!”

“You’ll let me go?” “No. I’ll remove this,” his eyes seem to sparkle, “I could still tackle you or something, y’know.”

Shuichi stared at the boy for a second, before he smiled, “You wouldn’t.”

“Are you challenging me?”

Hoping this could be his ticket out, Shuichi tried to mimic the boy's grins, “Yes.”

His smile suddenly becomes more infectious, and then he suddenly sits down, cross-legged. In a way, he reminds Shuichi of a cat - graceful, and like a trickster. Shuichi always liked cats. Gesturing next to him, the boy makes a hand motion to the free space, inviting Shuichi to come and sit next to him. And for some reason, Shuichi does - almost immediately. And for some reason, he blushes slightly at how close they are.

“I think we should give each other nicknames,” the boy suddenly declares, “You want to go first?”

“I- why… are we giving each other nicknames?” Shuichi asks.

“Well, you need to call me sooomething. And a nickname’s perfect for that!”

“Ok, but how can I give you a nickname already, we barely know each other.”

“Hmmm,” he seems to consider it, head tilted slightly in thought, “I know - we can play another game!”

“Another game?” Shuichi says, somewhat skeptically.

“Yep.” He grins, “Let’s play two lies, one truth.”

“Isn’t it two truths, one lie?”

“Well… I’m a liar,” He answers, as if that explains it. “Now my turn! Ok… I run an evil organisation, it has over ten thousand members, and I killed your friends!”

“You-” Shuichi cuts himself off, trying to think rationally. His captor doesn’t honestly seem very malicious, more curious and playful, almost fun. “The lie is… it’s an evil organisation?” “Bzzt! Wrong!” He grins, “You have one more guess, or I’ll take your soul.”

“Sure,” Shuichi deadpans, something in his heart fluttering as he hears the boy laugh in response, “Is it that it has over ten thousand members?”

“Ding, ding, ding! Ten points to Shumai!”

“Shumai?”

“Yeah, it’s my nickname for you,” he explains, “Do you like it? Do you? Do you?”

“Yes, I do,” something in Shuichi is surprised as he realises it’s an honest response,” My turn?”

“Yup,” the boy leans back slightly, “Show me your worth, peasant!”

Deciding to ignore him, Shuichi thinks for a second, “Ok. I’m… thirty-three, I used to be a detective before I ended up in space… and I… really miss my dog.”

“You used to be a detective,” the boy says, “Honestly Shuichi, that was like… suuuper easy. Try again.”

“Ok. I miss my uncle, I had a degree in criminology back on Earth… and I wear contacts.”

This time, it takes him a second more to decide, face in a mask of careful neutrality before there’s suddenly a grin, “You miss your uncle. That was better, though.”

“Good enough for me to know your name?”

He laughs, “Fiiiine. But only cause you’re fun, mkay? I’m Kokichi Oma!”

“Kokichi,” Shuichi repeats, making sure he gets the pronunciation right, “You’re from Japan, right?”

“Ding, ding, ding,” Kokichi smiles, “Bonus points if you can get my postcode!”

Shuichi was trying to like Kaede’s twin sister; really he was. But it was getting harder and harder for him to keep a smile on the rare occasions she talked to him. Due to her moving, she’d recently settled into the area - and Hope’s Peak had generously accepted her as a temporary student, as she was the Ultimate Origami Master. It was only a temporary placement, however - much to quiet a lot of the class's relief.

It wasn’t that she was a horrible person… she just liked a lot of people. And not in a friendly, more cheerful way - but in the way that Kaito liked Maki, or the way Shuichi liked…

Well, it didn’t matter that much. As interested as she did seem in Kokichi, both Kaito and Rantaro seemed to have caught her eye more. Not to mention, Kokichi tended to avoid her when he could; he had gotten into a habit of immediately burying his face in Shuichi’s chest and pretending to fall asleep when she approached. The first few times it had made Shuichi stutter and blush furiously, but he had gotten slightly more used to it. He would still blush, but it would be more subtle now - and he could contain his crush to just smiling and looking down at Kokichi.

It also meant he could spend more time with Kokichi, without being the one to awkwardly instigate it. And he did enjoy spending time with Kokichi, because most of the time Aiko wouldn’t even end up bothering them, and they could just spend time together. Whether it was eating at lunch, or studying - or observing her as she tried to sneak up on Kaito or Rantaro.

Miu actually had a bet going around most of the class - when Maki would finally punch Aiko for trying to get with her boyfriend. Kokichi and Shuichi both said she wouldn’t, but everyone else had put somewhere between one to three weeks. So far, only Miu had been angry she’d lost her money. All in all, Shuichi was just happy he had something to laugh about with Kokichi.

“Shuichi, save me!”

Recognizing the overdramatic cries, Shuichi turned around almost immediately to see Kokichi barreling towards him. He didn’t even have time to formulate a response before Kokichi was in his arms, grinning up at him. Looking down, Shuichi matched Kokichi’s grin, “Hey Kokichi… um. How are you?”

“Terrible,” he responded, grinning, “But I’m doing better than Rantaro!”

“Rantaro?” Shuichi questioned for a second, the cogs turning in his mind, “Wait - did you abandon Rantaro to run to me?”

“Yup!” Kokichi looked up again, “And if you try to lecture me I’ll bury my head into your jacket so I can’t hear you.”

“Is that… supposed to be a threat?”

“Maybe,” even with the awkward angle, Shuichi could see Kokichi’s grin, “Unless you want me to be this close?”

“Of- of course not!” Shuichi can feel himself blushing more, and he tries to free himself from Kokichi’s grip.

“Nishishi, did I make you embarrassed?” Kokichi tilts his head, “You look preeetty red right now.”

“Kokichi, why did you run off like that?”

Having reached a point where he was (somewhat) safely out of Kokichi’s arms, Shuichi turned to look for wherever Rantaro was. Casually walking up to them, his eyes briefly flickered over the two, and he gave a small and knowing smile, “So you abandoned me for the detective, that’s cruel, Oma. Cruel.”

Finally turning away from Shuichi, Kokichi spun on his heel to face Rantaro, “I could never abandon my beloved Rantaro for long, y’know?”

“So randomly running off to hug Shuichi won’t be a regular thing?” Rantaro questioned, even if he didn’t seem that serious.

“Wait - randomly?” Shuichi looked down at Kokichi again, “You weren’t doing that because Aiko was being weird?”

“Who knows,” Kokichi turned side-on, so he could look at the both of them, “I am a liar, afterall.”

“Was she even interested in you in the first place?”

Nishishishi, you’re so distrusting!” Kokichi took a step closer, “Is it ‘cause I’m a liar, or you’re a detective, or both?”

“It’s because of… it doesn’t matter what it’s about. I’m just asking if you,” realising he wouldn’t get the truth out of Kokichi, Shuichi turned to Rantaro, “Is he just running off to me randomly?”

“Quite often, yes,” Rantaro smiled before laughing as Kokichi began to pout, a faint blush coming over him.

“Amami - I am most disappointed in you!”

“So sorry, Kokichi.”

“You should be,” Kokichi half turned his back to Rantaro, watching out of the corner of his eyes, “Now get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness!”

“Maybe later.”

With the last remark, Rantaro began to walk away, calling over his shoulder, “Have a nice time you two. Kokichi, behave.”

“Behave?” Kokichi huffed, “I’m perfectly reasonable, right Shumai?”

“Were you really lying about Aiko flirting with you so you could hang out with me?” Shuichi tried to stare into Kokichi’s eyes, to see if he was lying. But his eyes weren’t behaving like eyes at the moment, they were behaving like mirrors - just showing Shuichi’s affection back at him, and then Kokichi’s careful neutrality.

“She does sometimes flirt with me,” Kokichi admitted, “But I did just kinda use it as an excuse to bother people…”

Reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose, Shuichi looked critically at Kokichi again, “Next time you want to hang out, just ask me honestly, ok?”

“So my Shuichi really wants to hang out with me?”

“Not your Shuichi.”

“So my Shuichi really wants to hang out with me?”

“Yes…” Even with a small sigh, he still smiled as Kokichi’s eyes lit up. Offering him a larger smile, he asked, “We have ten minutes before a lesson, do you want to hang out?”

“Of course not!” Kokichi skipped up to him, immediately linking their arms, “Where are we going?”

“Just to the library?” Shuichi suggested, his cheeks suddenly blushing as he realised what the two of them were doing. Just the two of them, spending time together alone; it almost sounded like a date. Kokichi grins up at him still, getting even closer, “Sure, you can be a nerd today.”

Shaking his head slightly, Shuichi began to lead him to the library - not caring they only had about ten minutes, or that this wasn’t a date. Shuichi was caring that he was with Kokichi. And he was happy with that, and that there was a slight blush on both of their cheeks. Even if Kokichi thought of this as nothing more than a way to get away from Aiko - Shuichi was seeing this as something. And when they settled down into the library, Kokichi fiddling with a random sheet of paper; it was still perfect.

“Can you do origami?” Kokichi asked suddenly, holding his hand out with the paper still there, a smile on his face.

Shuichi couldn’t help but frown slightly, why was he thinking of Aiko with them? But he answered anyway, “Yes, if not incredibly well. Why do you ask?”

“Just thinking,” Kokichi smiled, leaning in closer, “Can you give me a heart?”

“W-what?” Was Shuichi’s immediate response, before he realised the actual question, “Ah! Yes, I can make a heart… for you.”

Kokichi battered his eyelashes, “Will my Shumai make me something?”

“Of course,” Shuichi took the paper from him, looking at the dimensions and trying to see how easy it would be to make a heart, and what he would need to cut off. With the Ultimate Origami Master in their class, it certainly wouldn’t be great - but he would try. For almost five minutes, the remainder of the time they had, Shuichi tried to make the heart - while Kokichi watched, a small smile on his face.

Throughout the rest of class as well, Shuichi made Kokichi the paper heart he wanted. It was imperfect, but he felt it was like him - he was still proud of it. At the end of the lesson, he finally stood up - briefly slipping his hand into his pocket; it could be a surprise for Kokichi. The two made eye contact, and Kokichi grinned at him, calling out, “Don’t worry underling - I’ll get us good seats!”

Looking down, Shuichi realised he hadn’t packed up the rest of his equipment. With a sigh, he tried to put it away as fast as he could - eager to meet Kokichi again, even if they’d only been apart for an hour. Carefully putting his lid on his pen, Shuichi straightened and made for the door - before being blocked by Aiko.

It was remarkable, even for twins, how much the two sisters resemble each other. For a second, all he could do was blink awkwardly, before asking, “Can I help you?”

She beamed, “Yeah, you’re friends with Kokichi, right?”

“Yeah, I am,” Shuichi narrowed his eyes slightly, hand subconsciously shifting over his paper heart.

“Could you give him this?” Aiko smiled, holding out a paper heart. It was made of the same paper, but it looked much more professional, much better than his. But Shuichi still nodded, stiffly taking it in his hand and briefly running his thumb over it, “Of course.”

“Thank you so much!”

Leaving him, Shuichi waited for a second. He had given his word that he’d deliver Aiko’s heart to Kokichi, so he couldn’t just back down. Thinking as he walked, he decided he would give Kokichi the heart made by Aiko first - and then give Kokichi his own. Hopefully he’d still appreciate it.

Walking into the room, Shuichi looked around for a second before spotting Kokichi; sitting near the centre of the room, with a cheery smile and a large space around him. “Shuichi! I’m lonelyyyyy!”

Chuckling slightly, Shuichi sat down next to him, “Nice to see you again.”

“Do you have my sacrifice?” Kokichi demanded eagerly, eyes focused on the hand Shuichi was holding the heart in.

“Yes,” Shuichi said. Handing him Aiko’s one, he turned briefly to get his own out of his pocket - why had he put it in such an awkward position. Having it in his hand, Shuichi turned around again - staring at Kokichi to see something was slightly wrong. Kokichi was staring at him, smiling - if looking somewhat, shy.

His hand still held paper, but it was now flattened. For a second, Kokichi’s eyes darted back to the paper, and then back to Shuichi. And then Kokichi moved forward.

Acting quickly, Kokichi moved upwards - his lips pressing onto Kokichi’s, gently but firmly. It was as though someone had lit fireworks in Shuichi’s chest as they kissed, it was brilliant. It was everything he had ever wanted, but also so much more. There was something so intimate, so genuine in Kokichi’s actions. Leaning forward, Shuichi went into the kiss as well - the two of them in almost pure happiness. Kokichi kept kissing, almost not wanting to leave until they were out of breath - when he reluctantly drew away.

Still smiling, Shuichi’s heart continued to hammer - his cheeks continued to flush. And then everything hit him, all at once. Him and Kokichi had kissed. Him and Kokichi had kissed. In front of everyone in their school as well - even if it was completely silent in disbelief. Trying to gather his senses, Shuichi took a deep breath - still entranced by Kokichi’s eyes.

They were a more beautiful purple than Shuichi had ever appreciated. And they were sparkling with pure joy, pure affection, pure adoration. It took all of Shuichi’s effort to break the almost magical spell, but he whispered out, “Kokichi… why did you do that?”

“What do you mean?” For once, the carefully constructed mask was off. And confusion clouded his eyes, “What do you mean, why did I kiss you? You asked me.”

“I-” Shuichi was almost lost for words, “I asked you?”

“I wouldn’t lie about something like that,” Kokichi immediately grasped the paper, holding it up for Shuichi to see, “Look, it says ‘kiss me, please’.”

“Kokichi…” everything felt so magical, he didn’t even want to say it, “Kokichi, that's not my handwriting.”

“Then…” Kokichi’s mask slipped back on suddenly, along with a flash of anger, “Never mind.”

“Kokichi wait!” There was a conscious effort on S huichi’s part not to be embarrassed. And instead, he focused on his love. The one who had liked for so long, and the one who had just kissed him. “Just because I didn’t write it -doesn't mean I didn’t like it.”

“Lying’s my game, Shuichi.”

“I do love you, Kokichi!”

“W-What?”