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“Thank you for you purchase, and happy holidays” the clerk told him with a smile handing to him the receipt and the plastic bag with the contents that he had come to buy.
Shuichi thanked her, wished her a happy Christmas and left the pharmacy on quick pace.
Although he wasn’t running he was almost on the brink of running, worry was washing through him like a flood.
He and Kokichi had starting dating right after Halloween, right after their …
Whenever Shuichi thought about what they had done he couldn’t help but blush.
Thought they had been dating for about 2 months, those months felt like a lifetime, not to mean that he was annoyed or bored of being with Kokichi, it was really the other way around.
Each and every single moment that the two shared were burned in his brain, before and after they started dating. He loved to replay those moments in his head, see each detail that he loved and how Kokichi reacted.
For that reason it felt much more like the two weren’t dating but were more liked a married couple.
Shuichi suddenly stopped on the busy street, earning some glares from some of the people that were walking as hurried or even faster than him, clearly each of them doing their last minute Christmas shopping.
Another thought popped up on his mind. One of Kokichi saying something about how stupid these people were for shopping for a gift at the last minute, followed up by a funny remark that would make Shuichi laugh.
He chuckled, knowing very well that this scenario was actually the most likely possibility, but soon his mind returned to the previous thought, marriage.
Kokichi was like a mythical being, both in appearance and mind. He was small, agile and very pale, in mind he was smart, pushed people away and it was impossible to know what went on his mind. Like the last test the class took, Kokichi had not paid attention for the last 20 lessons and he still managed to get everything right.
Shuichi also knew that Kokichi wasn’t the selfish person though he would play the part to please the crowd, Kokichi would always play a part, normally he’d play the role of the bad guy because that was how everyone painted him out to be and instead of wasting energy showing he wasn’t like that he’d just comply and be as evil as he could to those who saw him like that. To this very day Shuichi has attempted to change the way that his friends look at Kokichi and it has worked on some people such as Kiibo, Gonta, Kyouko and even Tenko was getting along better with Kokichi because she didn’t see him as a menace towards women now that everyone knew that he wasn’t interested in girls.
Shuichi had not noticed it but he had started walking alongside the crowd. His worry starting to grow bigger as he recalled the day where everyone found out that Kokichi was gay.
To this day Shuichi blamed himself. Kokichi had wanted to keep their relationship a secret for the meanwhile and Shuichi at the time didn’t understand why, he knew that his friends would be supportive and with that in mind he attempted to change Kokichi’s mind.
Shuichi came to understand Kokichi’s point of view when the picture he had sent Kaede accidentally was shown and some of his friends hadn’t been very … subtle with how they felt about the fact that Kokichi was Shuichi’s mystery loved one.
Kokichi always played the bad guy whether he wanted it or not, he always presented himself as strong, unbreakable, unkind and cold, but Shuichi knew him and that whole ordeal had hurt more than what the Leader would ever say. Shuichi even caught him crying once and held him and assured him that he’d always love him no matter what other people would think.
Shuichi had been so lost in his thoughts that he ended up bumping into a blonde girl, causing her to drop her bags to the floor.
“Ah sorry”
“No no it was my fault fo- Shuichi” the woman had turned around and Shuichi already knew who she was for her voice “Kaede!” they hugged each other, they hadn’t seen each other since Hopes Peak had closed for the holidays.
Shuichi helped her collect her bags and then the two moved to a nearby bench.
“Shuichi, how have you and Kokichi been?” concern came with her voice. Kaede had been one of the few people that Shuichi knew that knew how Kokichi had been feeling after the whole ordeal, Shuichi also believed that she blamed herself a bit.
“Well … things have been getting better, Kokichi’s smiling as he used to before” Kaede let out a relieved sigh for her friend.
“That’s really good Shuichi …” she gave him a smile “So, how have the holidays been for you two?” Kaede was clearly changing the subject to take Shuichi’s mind out of the worry she was sure he had.
“Not that bad, Kokichi had insisted on … well …” he began blushing rather strongly “… some rather … romantic dates”
“Ah”
“H-How about you?” Shuichi asked out of curiosity and also to not step on more embarrassing ground.
“The Holidays have been good so far, I’m spending it with my family and we’re having lots of fun”
Shuichi looked at the bags Kaede had and wondered if she was doing as well some last minute shopping
“So Shuichi, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you have a pharmacy bag with you?”
The Detective in training literally jumped to his feet “Kaede I’m so sorry but I’ve got to go, Kokichi’s sick and I have to go” with that he bolted, making his way back to his uncle’s house where he, his uncle and Kokichi were spending the Holidays.
Upon arriving home his uncle greeted him, the scent of food lingering in the air. His aunt was making food for the special occasion, not only they were they spending the holidays with their nephew as they were with his boyfriend who had been such a nice company.
“Ah Shuichi, already home?” his uncle asked him while holding some of their good plates, those that they had agreed to use only for very special occasions.
“Ken you know how our dear is, his boyfriend caught a small cold and he’s worrying as usual” Ken nodded in agreement knowing how Shuichi would freak out for small things such as that.
“Aunt, uncle, it might seem like a small cold but what if it’s something worse, something much worse!” his aunt moved away from the kitchen and placed a hand at his shoulder.
“You know dearie, Kokichi-kun is already feeling better and he has been asking for you, why don’t you give him some cold medicine and let it at that?” Shuichi wanted to disagree but this was his aunt, the woman that was more of a mother to him than an aunt, she had cared for him many times whenever he would get sick so it was better to hear her seeing that she had some experience.
He sighed, his worry vanishing a bit “Yes aunt”
Shuichi placed the bag on an empty table and took out the cold medicine he had bought, his uncle moved next to him and began taking the items to put them away. The young Ultimate grabbed a spoon and went upstairs to where Kokichi should be at.
Once Shuichi reached his room he found Kokichi sitting on his bed wearing a Christmas sweater that his aunt had made.
“Nishishi, now this is cheeky of you to leave me all alone by myself on Christmas Eve, you’re gonna make me cry like this” and there were the crocodile tears that Kokichi pull oh-so-well.
“Sorry Kokichi but I had to go out to buy some medicine for you”
Shuichi saw the sweet smile that made its way to Kokichi’s lips, it was a sight that Shuichi could never get tired of “You treat me so well my beloved, you make me wanna fall for you all over again”
Shuichi blushed when he heard Kokichi say that. Carefully he let the liquid from the bottle fall on the spoon and then fed it to Kokichi who immediately made a face of disgust.
After having taken the medicine and seeing somewhat okay Shuichi grabbed the sweater his aunt had made for him so that he and Kokichi would match.
Once he got it on he heard Kokichi whistle “You look hot” and once again Shuichi began blushing “Nishishi, you’re so adorable Shumai and so easily flustered but you are amazing when we’re in bed” and now Shuichi was a walking steaming tomato.
“K-Kokichi please …”
“Oh my god Shumai, I love you so much!” Kokichi literally shouted while hugging Shuichi.
The two then proceeded to play a game on Shuichi’s room and little did Kokichi knew that among Shuichi’s hobbies, gaming was one of them.
Shuichi had among his games one that caught Kokichi’s eyes, Super Smash Bros Ultimate. He had wanted to try that game for a long time and now he could with his most special person in the entire world.
Shuichi prepared everything and they began by testing out each other’s skills on a friendly match against each other.
Kokichi picked Lucas and Shuichi picked out Bayonetta. An odd choice for him and Kokichi did not let the opportunity pass to bug him about it. Shuichi’s response was that he didn’t know much of her because he never played the games.
What was supposed to be a friendly match ended up turning into many heated matches. After that they decided to play some Mario Kart so that they could cool down but they just grew more competitive with each other. Both of them liked this, it was a change of pace that was much welcome, even though they were getting a bit annoyed with what one would do to win but it was all in fun.
Soon Shuichi told Kokichi to stop and then pulled him downstairs.
Shuichi’s uncle and aunt had already prepared the table and the food was ready, on the corner of the room was a very neatly decorated Christmas tree that Kokichi would always end up looking at and his smile would grow.
“Ah you two are already here, I was about to call you to come down” Shuichi’s uncle informed them as he approached the duo.
Shuichi followed his uncle to the table and then noticed the weird look his aunt had.
“Oh my, dearie why are you just standing there?” Shuichi tilted his head and then looked behind him, noticing that Kokichi had barely entered the room.
“I … I don’t want to be a bother and Christmas is supposed to be enjoyed by family and I’m not really a Saihara so I’ll just … I’ll just leave” Kokichi was smiling but Shuichi knew that Kokichi wasn’t actually feeling happy. He knew that Kokichi’s family hadn’t been the best to him and he also learned that they had died a few years ago so Kokichi might’ve felt like an intruder.
“Kokichi what’re you talking about, we are dating after all, come on and join us” Shuichi made his way to him and extended his hand out. Kokichi looked at his hand and then at the older couple, receiving smiles and nods.
Reluctantly he grabbed Shuichi’s hand and was brought to the seat right next to Shuichi’s, earning him a smile not only from his beloved but from the older couple as well.
While they ate the Saiharas all noticed that Kokichi was always grabbing as little food as possible, yet they all knew he was hungry. Shuichi assured him that it was okay and brought more food to his plate.
The entire night was going smoothly. Dinner was good and fun once Kokichi started to actually get into it and share some stories of what he had done while he had been on DICE or funny things that had happened on Hopes Peak like the week he took to turn Kaito Momota’s bedroom into a room befitting of ghosts causing the male to run away into Maki’s room and then being kicked out of it.
Both Shuichi’s uncle and aunt were really enjoying Kokichi’s company and how fun of a person he was to be around, yet during the entire ordeal Shuichi couldn’t help but notice that Kokichi’s expression had a hint of sadness.
Once they finished they all helped clear the table, Kokichi insisted on helping even being a guest and none of them really had the heart to tell him no. Shuichi had shared some of the stories that Kokichi told him of how his family was with him.
With everything done Shuichi’s uncle prepared a camera on auto-mode to take their yearly Christmas photo and Kokichi was genuinely surprised but then smiled to the picture.
As the night went on they were starting to feel sleepy, Shuichi’s uncle and aunt went to their bedroom after wishing the two a goodnight and then so did Kokichi and Shuichi.
The Saihara household wasn’t particularly too big but it was enough, though not having a guest room Shuichi didn’t really mind on sharing his bed with Kokichi, or even lend him some clothing that fit him for when he slept.
They got in bed and then shared a quick kiss, Shuichi hugged Kokichi and then started feeling relaxed and about to drift to sleep.
That is until he felt Kokichi twitch under his touch making him wonder if everything was okay.
Shuichi heard a chocked gasp from the smaller one, then another twitch and finally a sob.
“K-Kokichi?” the other tensed up “Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine, go back to sleep” Shuichi wasn’t very convinced so he got up a bit and looked over so that he could see Kokichi’s face. Although being dark, the light of the moon was enough for Shuichi to see enough. Kokichi was crying.
“Kokichi, what’s wrong, and don’t lie to me” he told him while griping one shoulder.
The other slowly turned to face him, and Shuichi knew that those tears weren’t of an act, after all the time he had spent with Kokichi he had learned how different his tears were when he forced them and when they were real.
“It’s …” he grew quiet to calm himself a bit “… I really felt like I b-belonged, I felt like I w-was really part of your family, I’ve never had a Christmas liked this with m-my family when they were alive and it all … took me by surprise” Shuichi felt his heart grow heavy as the other explained it “My parents didn’t really made food for me, on Christmas it was rare to even get a gift, let alone they baking something that wasn’t for them to eat, and each Christmas they made me know how much I was worthless by beating me … s-so … having this kind of Christmas with your family is … is …”
Shuichi hugged him strongly, making sure that Kokichi would know that he was safe with him.
“Kokichi, that won’t happen again, I promise you, my family loves you already, and I love you so much” Shuichi felt the other starting to calm down “I want to stay with you for a long time Kokichi, a really long time … I want us to be together till the end, and I’ll make sure that things will go better” Kokichi’s arms hugged Shuichi back.
“S-Shuichi … t-thank you” the smile that he loved to see so much was back again on Kokichi’s face, making him ten times more adorable.
“A-a-and …” now it came the embarrassing part.
Kokichi looked him in the eye “And?”
Thank god that the room was dark or else he was sure that Kokichi would tease him for blushing so much and so hard “And … it doesn’t have to be soon, but … first of all we can graduate from Hopes Peak, find a job and then … well …” he breathed in and gathered the courage “Kokichi Ouma, I love you very much and … if you love me the same way … maybe just maybe … you’ll … want to marry me?”
Once again he could feel Kokichi tense up. This time Shuichi was sure he had made a mistake, asking him to marry him was a mistake, it was too soon, it was-
Kokichi’s eyes were letting out tears again “Of course I’ll want to marry you Shuichi, I love you so much” he approached his face to Shuichi’s and kissed the stunned boy “I can’t wait to officially claim Shuichi as mine”
“W-Well, I … I think it’s still kind of soon but-“
“No buts, unless if you’re talking about your butt” he winked
“K-Kokichi!”
“Nishishi, you know I can’t help it” and there was Kokichi’s usual self.
Shuichi sighed “Let’s go to sleep Kokichi” he kissed him again on the lips and lied down on the bed, Kokichi did too and hugged him, his face nestled on Shuichi’s chest and Shuichi’s face resting on Kokichi’s head.
“I wonder, Shuichi Ouma or Kokichi Saihara”
The detective slightly jumped “K-Kokichi”
“Nishishi, I love you!”
“… I love you too”
With that final declaration of love between the two they fell asleep while on each others arms.