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Of course today would be the day Kiibo would forget his math book in his classroom. At least both him and his bag were waterproof. Even with the storm there shouldn’t be any damage. It was a good thing Kiibo checked before they locked up for the night. If he hurried, he could make it there in time. And since he didn’t need to sleep, he had all night to finish his math assignment.
Kiibo was halfway between the dorms and the school building when he stopped short at who he saw sitting on the side of the park’s fountain. Kiibo quickly ran over. He still had time before the school doors would be locked.
But...what was he doing here? And without an umbrella?
Kiibo lifted his own umbrella over him, and he looked up blankly before smiling and waving his hand enthusiastically. “Hey Kiiboy!”
“What are you doing here Kokichi? It’s been three days since you came to class. And you're going to catch a cold sitting out in the rain.”
Kiibo looked Kokichi over. He was wearing the school uniform like he normally did which was weird since he hadn’t come to class. He was also obviously soaking wet from the rain, and his eyes were a little red, but overall he didn’t look too different from usual.
“I was sick and dying in my room, and no one came to check on me,” Kokichi whined with a sob.
Kiibo frowned. “That’s not true. I came to your room three times yesterday, and four times today, and you didn’t answer. And Miu told me she came to check up on you once yesterday too. Not to mention the multitudes of texts we’ve sent along with Gonta and Kaede.”
Kokichi quickly wiped his eyes and smiled. “Aww. Looks like I’ve been caught! Oh well. But don’t worry Kiiboy. I was just busy.”
“You could have at least answered your texts.”
Kokichi shrugged. “Sorry. But I haven’t checked my phone since Sunday.”
Four days ago? What was he doing?
“Well, leave a note or something before you disappear next time. I was worried.”
Kokichi stared at him blankly. Did Kiibo say something wrong?
“Yeah sure,” Kokichi answered before quickly smiling again and standing up. “So what are you doing out here in the rain Kiiboy?”
Oh right. “I need to get my math book! I left it in the classroom.”
“Then you should hurry before they lock the school.”
“Right...you should go back to the dorms too.”
Kokichi looked at him strangely. “Why?”
“Why? You’ll get sick.”
Kokichi waved his hand nonchalantly. “I like being out in the rain. I’ll be fine.”
“No way. I’m not letting you skip more days of classes because you got yourself a cold.”
“You can’t make me go back.”
“Maybe not. But I can make you come with me.”
“What?”
Kiibo looked over at the school and started walking forward. “Come on. Or else I won’t be able to get my textbook.”
Kokichi looked at him annoyed, but followed behind him with a grumble. That was surprisingly easier than Kiibo was expecting. Why wouldn't he just go to the dorms then?
“Here,” Kiibo said passing off the umbrella. “I’m waterproof, so I’ll be fine.”
Kiibo let go, and Kokichi quickly fumbled to grab it. Kiibo didn't wait to see the results before breaking into a sprint. Kokichi was yelling something behind him, but Kiibo wasn’t able to tell what because of the sound of the rain. Kiibo looked behind him to see Kokichi slowly following behind. Well, if he was following behind, albeit slowly, it probably wasn't anything too important and just another complaint.
Kiibo stopped in front of the school’s front entrance and looked inside the school. The lights were off except for the emergency lights they always left on. But...maybe the door was still open...maybe. Hopefully.
Kiibo tried to turn the knob, but it didn’t turn more than half a centimeter. Locked.
Great. Maybe he could borrow someone’s textbook. Kokichi wasn’t using his. Or he could just not do the homework. No. He needed to be a good example. Miu and Kokichi were rubbing off on him.
“Locked?” Kokichi asked showing up behind him.
“Yes. Guess we were too late.”
Kokichi walked up next to him and crouched down in front of the door. He looked through the keyhole and then pulled out some metal pins from his pocket. He stuck them into the keyhole and started shifting them around.
Wait…
“You can’t break into Hope’s Peak!”
Kokichi looked at him and pulled the needles out. Oh good he stopped. Kokichi then twisted the knob and pushed the door open.
“I can, and I did,” Kokichi answered before walking inside.
Kiibo spluttered but quickly followed behind him. The faster he got his book, the faster they could leave. And the sooner they were gone, the less chance that they would get in trouble. What was Kiibo supposed to do if they got caught? What if they got expelled? That was not worth a textbook.
“Stop looking so scared,” Kokichi said poking his cheek.
“Sorry that I don’t want to get expelled,” Kiibo whispered hoping not to alert any security guards.
Kokichi laughed and continued walking towards their classroom. “You won’t get expelled for something like this.”
“This is Hope’s Peak Academy. They have really good security.”
Kokichi gestured to the empty hallways around them. “Hope’s Peak security isn’t that good inside campus. They have a lot of security keeping people away from the campus, but once you’re in, they only have a few security guards during the day. At night, well, there are two security guards at the dorms along with needing an E-handbook to get in, but the actual school? Maybe someone is watching the video feed. But I saw the night security guard outside drinking an hour ago, so we’re probably fine.”
He was drinking?! That was completely irresponsible! What if someone broke in and set a bomb or something? Okay, that was a little dramatic, but it was still entirely possible.
“They’re still videotaping us,” Kiibo reminded.
What if they checked the video feed the next day after realizing the guard was drunk and noticed them sneaking around? What if they not only got expelled, but they went to jail?!
“They don’t check video feed unless they need to,” Kokichi explained. "Besides, I've snuck into way more heavily guarded areas, and this place doesn't even deserve the effort of being sneaky."
What? Why was he sneaking into heavily guarded places? That could not be legal.
They stopped walking in front of their classroom. “But if you’re that worried, we can hurry this up.”
Kokichi again crouched down in front of the door and quickly picked the lock to their classroom. In less than a minute Kokichi stood up and opened the door. They walked in, and Kiibo went over to his desk. He picked his textbook up from underneath his chair and placed it in his bag.
Now they just needed to leave without getting chased by a drunk security guard.
"Wow," Kokichi announced looking around the classroom. "It looks exactly the same as I remember it."
"You missed three days. How much would it have changed?"
"I don't know. Maybe Miu made another crazy invention that destroyed the class and almost killed someone." Kokichi rubbed his arm. "It still hurts."
"That was less than two weeks ago. It wouldn't happen again that soon."
Or better, never again. It had taken the class two days to get the classroom in order after that incident, and that was ignoring that it had burned Kokichi's entire left forearm and given Kaito a really hard bonk to the head and a broken wrist.
"Well," Kokichi started, "If Miu got away with that, then we'll be fine even if we do get caught breaking into the school at night. It's not even that late."
"Well, I'd rather not test our luck. Let's get out of here."
The two of them left the class, locking the door behind them. Kiibo looked straight at the security camera nervously before beginning to quickly walk to the exit.
"So Kiiboy, anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Kokichi asked jumping in step next to him.
Interesting? What had happened over the past three days? Tenko had broken a chair with her Neo Aikido to prove a point. And Gonta had accidentally let a tarantula loose. Good thing Kokichi wasn't there for that one. And…
"Wah!"
Kiibo stopped walking as Kokichi slipped on the water they had dripped all over and landed face first on the ground.
"Kokichi!"
Kiibo crouched down next to him and helped him sit back up. "Are you alright?"
Tears pooled into Kokichi's eyes, and he shook his head. "No. That really hurt. You should carry me back."
Kiibo frowned. "You know I'm not strong enough to do that. But if you are hurt, I can help take you to the nurse."
Kokichi let out a chuckle. "Nah. I'm good."
Fake tears. Of course.
He pushed himself up and wiped at his face. Kiibo followed behind him. The two of them continued to walk to the front door. Slower this time in order to not repeat the previous incident.
Oh right. Kokichi had asked him if anything interesting had happened. Umm...oh right! How could Kiibo have forgotten about that?
"Shui…are you crying?"
Kokichi quickly wiped his face with his sleeve and smiled. "Just some stray tears from before. What about Shuichi? Did it turn out that he's secretly crazy? Is he a serial killer?"
"What? No." Kiibo shook his head. "Are you sure you're alright? You're not actually hurt from before, right?"
"Nope! I'm perfectly fine."
Kokichi sniffled and wiped at his eyes again. Kiibo sped up and walked up front of him. Kokichi stopped walking and frowned.
"Don't you want to get out of here?"
His voice was different. Was he actually crying? Did he actually get hurt?
"If you're hurt, please don't hide it."
"I'm not hurt! Can we just go?"
More tears streamed down from his eyes and Kokichi groaned and he wiped them away.
"Kokichi?"
Kokichi sighed. "I'm not hurt okay. I promise."
He then stepped around him and continued to the door. Kiibo hesitantly followed afterwards looking at him closely trying to find any injuries. But he was met with nothing. He was walking fine, and he didn't look like he was in pain. He wiped at his eyes again, a frustrated expression morphing onto his face.
"Kokichi? Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine," his voice cracked with a sob. "Fuck."
Okay. That...that was not normal. Kiibo stopped him again, but this time he just glared and continued to walk. Kiibo grabbed his arm.
"You're crying."
"Fake tears. I don't know why they're not stopping. Just ignore it. We need to leave."
"I don't think that's how it works."
"You're a robot. You can't cry. How would you know?"
Kiibo frowned. "Your robophobic remarks will not distract me." Kiibo let go of his arm and sighed. "Kokichi, please. You're worrying me."
"It's nothing to worry about. Now let's go before we get caught. With this display even the drunk guard will notice us."
“Maybe but…”
Kokichi ignored him and continued walking towards the main door. Kiibo followed behind with a sigh, keeping his eyes trained on Kokichi. After a year of being classmates, he was pretty sure that Kokichi had a good control over his fake tears. If he couldn’t control them…
But why? Was he actually hurt? But he looked fine physically. Was he that good at hiding the injury, but not his tears? But where would he be hurt? It wasn’t that bad of a fall, and he wasn’t bleeding anywhere that he could see.
Then was it something else? But what?
They made it to the front gate. They quietly opened the door and stepped out. Kokichi locked it up behind them while Kiibo let out a sigh of relief.
“Alright, we’re out. So what’s wrong?” Kiibo asked immediately.
Kokichi sent another glare his way and threw Kiibo’s umbrella towards him. Kiibo easily caught it and opened it up.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Kokichi answered after a few seconds.
“But..”
Kokichi poked Kiibo's nose and smiled. “But nothing. See. I’m perfectly fine.”
He wasn’t actively crying anymore, but his eyes were still glassy and Kiibo could clearly see tear-stains on his cheeks. And from this up close, Kiibo could even see how forced the smile he was wearing was.
“You don’t look fine.”
Kokichi frowned and turned away. “Whatever. Let’s go. I’m tired. I want to sleep forever.”
If he was tired, why didn't he just go back to his room to begin with?
Kokichi skipped into the still pouring rain. Kiibo hurried after him holding the umbrella over them both.
“Take a hot shower first or you’ll catch a cold.”
“Sure thing Doc!”
Kokichi kept skipping through the rain and jumping in puddles while Kiibo did his best to keep up. With the amount of mud Kiibo had on himself now, he should probably clean himself up as well. Seriously, for how tired Kokichi said he was, he wasn't acting like he was tired.
They arrived at the dorms completely drenched. What was even the point of an umbrella if he was going to get splashed with puddle water? He really hoped he didn’t make anyone too mad by getting the dorm halls wet. Maybe he should try cleaning up once he was dry.
The two of them rode the escalator to their floor with Kokichi humming some song Kiibo couldn’t recognize. Once they reached their rooms, Kokichi sighed with relief and quickly unlocked his door.
“See ya Kiiboy!”
“Umm...yes. Good night.”
Kokichi waved and entered his room, but before he could close the door Kiibo stopped him.
“And if anything is troubling you, you can come see me anytime. I don’t sleep after all, so it’s no trouble. And even if I did, it wouldn’t be.”
Kokichi stared at him with his usual smile before jokingly saluting. “Got it! Night!”
And the door was quickly shut before Kiibo could say anything else. Oh well. Kiibo supposed that was the best he could do. He really hoped Kokichi wasn’t actually hiding an injury. Maybe they really were just fake tears. He supposed he could figure that out later. Right now he should focus on cleaning himself up.
It was 1AM. Kiibo had finished cleaning himself and had tried his best at cleaning the hallway. He was now sitting at his desk doing his math homework. He was halfway done when he heard a knock on his door.
Kiibo looked towards it curiously before getting up. Why would someone be here at 1AM? Why were they even awake at 1AM? They should be asleep by now or at least trying to sleep. Sleep was extremely important for people after all.
Kiibo looked through the peephole in his door. He hoped it wasn’t some security guard here to arrest him. Maybe today was the one day they actually looked through the security video.
Thankfully, it wasn’t. He was looking towards the ground, so Kiibo wasn’t able to see, but he could tell from the hair alone who it was. But why was he here? And knocking? He usually just picked the lock and came in himself. It had gotten to the point where Kiibo wasn’t even surprised anymore when he showed up.
Kiibo unlocked the door and swung it open.
“Kokichi? Shouldn’t you be asleep? Is something wro…”
Kiibo stopped talking in surprise as Kokichi wrapped his arms around him and let out a sob.
What? Is he crying?!
Kiibo moved his head a bit, and, sure enough, tears were streaming down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground. Another high pitched sob leaked out, and Kokichi tightened his hold. Kiibo closed the door behind them and dragged Kokichi over to the couch. Kokichi followed without any complaint keeping his grip on the robot tight as they sat down.
“Kokichi? What’s wrong?”
Kokichi mumbled something in response along with intermittent sobs. Kiibo couldn’t understand anything, but he decided not to ask again. Instead, he gently wrapped one of his own arms around him and set his other hand on his head. Kaede had once told him that people liked head pats especially when they’re upset. He hoped she was right.
Kiibo wasn’t sure how long he tired to comfort Kokichi before he noticed that he had gone silent and his grip on him had loosened.
“Kokichi?” Kiibo whispered.
After a minute of no response, Kiibo tried again with the same results.
Kiibo unwrapped his own arms and pushed him off. Kokichi grumbled something, but his eyes were closed.
He fell asleep? Crying was tiring apparently, so Kiibo supposed that was reasonable. He had read multiple books where characters had cried themselves to sleep.
Kiibo helped lay Kokichi down on the couch and then went to grab the pillow and blanket from his unused bed. If he was strong enough, he would just carry Kokichi there, but this should be fine. He set the pillow underneath his head and layed the blanket over him. Kokichi unconsciously curled himself in and pulled the blanket up to cover half his face.
Kiibo looked him over as if that would somehow explain what had just happened, but as expected, he arrived at zero answers. It seemed he would have to wait until morning to ask. For now, he should just let him sleep. Kiibo was sure he wouldn’t take kindly to waking up, and he didn’t know if he would even be able to fall back asleep. It should hopefully help clear his mind and help him feel better too.
Kiibo patted Kokichi on the head once more before heading over to his light switch and turning it off, leaving the room with only his desk lamp as a source of light. He gave Kokichi one more look over before sitting down at his desk.
He might as well finish his math homework.