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Kokichi saunters over to the tree in front of Hope’s Peak Academy and starts to climb up to his usual spot. For the past week Kokichi has been using the spot to chill, at first he used it as an excuse to spy on students and pull pranks to piss them off but after awhile he merely goes up to bask in the quiet, calm atmosphere.
It was nice.
He didn’t have to put up a facade, he didn’t have to hear people complain about how done they are with his shit, he could just...relax.
Kokichi brings out a novel he borrowed (stole) from Shuichi and starts to read it.
Before he starts to get immersed into the book he hears something shuffle under him. He jumps and looks down under him to see a familiar pointed hat plop down under the tree. Kokichi shifts his gaze to see angled cut red hair peeking out of the hat.
Himiko.
Kokichi watches curiously (cautiously) as the little mage pulls out a deck of cards and start to shuffle them, flipping cards and laying them out.
It doesn’t seem like she knows that he’s there. Kokichi, with caution in mind, turns back to his novel and makes sure that he doesn’t shift his weight too much and to flip the pages carefully.
It’s quite nerve wracking. Though he doesn’t know why. He looked back down at her.
She seemed so vulnerable. He could pull something. Well he doesn’t have any reasonable items on him to be of use in a prank. Kokichi tries to divert his attention back to his novel.
After what felt like hours but in reality was like, ten minutes, Himiko stands back up and walks away. Kokichi waits until she’s gone far enough before he climbs down and walks back to his dorm.
Kokichi tries not to think of this the next time he sees Himiko in the morning.
<><><>
Kokichi didn’t think he would see Himiko the next day under the tree.
Or the next.
….
Or the next.
It’s been about four days and Himiko kept coming back to the tree. She would either practice magic tricks, try to study but end up giving up to go on her phone, or taking a nap.
Kokichi found himself becoming nervous about possibly showing himself. At the same time? He’s grown accustomed to spending one sided time with her.
He found himself paying more and more attention to Himiko.
At first he thought he was just fascinated by her magic tricks, as much he makes fun of her for talking about magic, how she’s a mage that just so happens to be tired all the time so she can’t show real proof of her doing actual magic, but he slowly started to doubt that.
Kokichi had another stolen novel in his hands (this time from Kaede), but not in his line of sight.
He watches Himiko glare hard at her history textbook. His eyes follow the furrow in her brows, his amusement rises at every huff and frustrated sigh that slips out of her lips, her full, plump li-....
…
Kokichi snaps his head back to his novel and squeezes his eyes shut.
What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.
Kokichi tries to shove these thoughts, feelings, outside his mind...heart.
<><><>
For the next few days these feelings began to fester and grow. Kokichi knows what these feelings are, he knows that he can’t just ignore them.
Not only when Himiko sits under the tree he starts to lose his concentration but this started to grow into whenever he sees Himiko in class, in the hallways, during lunch in the cafeteria, hell he doesn’t even have to be near her and his mind his clogging up with an incredibly cute mage!
Kokichi groans into his pillow.
What does he do with these feelings? Just outright tell her he likes her? Like hell he’s gonna do that, he’s a piece of shit, everyone thinks of him as just an insensitive, mischievous, gremlin.
No, Himiko won’t like him back. Even if he doesn tell her he likes her she’s gonna think he’s lying and she’s gonna hate him even more now that she thinks he was going so far as to use her own feelings to turn it against her as a joke.
Kokichi turns onto his back and sighs.
He’ll just keep it to himself and let it either suffocate him or let the feelings die and act as if it never happened.
<><><>
Kokichi spends another afternoon up in the tree with his crush sitting underneath him, totally not thinking about how creepy this is starting in his head.
Maybe he should stop coming here and save the risk of letting his feelings grow even more, or even worse, letting Himiko find him.
Maybe he can jump down, act as if he hadn’t expected her here on this specific day and have her never come here again.
Lost in his thoughts Kokichu didn’t notice his yet another stolen novel start to slip from his fingers until he felt nothing in his grasp.
He sat up straight and looked down in panic, only to see a sight he was dreading the most, one he was just thinking about.
His novel lay in a crumpled mess on the floor (Kokichi mentally apologizes to Korekiyo and prays for his own well being) and the short mage of his thoughts and feelings stood with a cute flabbergasted expression on her already cute face.
Kokichi visibly winces and starts the tense up.
Oh my god is he fucked he is so fucked what is he supposed to even say she’s gonna hate me, hate me even more, holy crap say something don’t just-!
“Kokichi? What are you doing up there?” He hears Himiko ask in a confused, concerned, and even careful tone.
Oh she definitely thinks he was up here to mess with her.
Kokichi gulps and jumps down from the branch he was sitting at.
“Himiko! What a pleasant surprise! Small world meeting you here haha!” Kokichi snickers, hoping he puts on his mask before Himiko gets to acknowledge the slip.
“Eh? Isn’t that a little creepy? How long have you been up there anyways?” Himiko frowns and tilts her head at him.
Kokichi bounces on the balls of his shows and hums.
“Well truth be told Himiko, I was up there on that tree first before you started coming here, so isn’t it a little bit creepy of YOU to be coming here? Do you really love me that much that you can’t stand to be far away from me Himichi!” Kokichi clasps his hands together and swoons, trying to ignore the extra beat his heart makes when the word ‘love’ comes out of his mouth.
Himiko jolted and a fiery red similar to her own hair spreads around her cheeks.
“Love!? I didn’t even know you were here! How many times have you been up there whenever I was down here!? That’s even more creepier!” Himiko pulls her hat down to hide her face, only making Kokichi’s heart jump at his throat even more, making it even more painful to swallow.
Kokichi shrugs, desperately trying to act casual.
“Not really, I just sit up there and read. You should be grateful that I haven’t bothered to disturb you. Sheesh you don’t need even more distractions from your History ‘study sessions’.” Kokichi pouts and Himiko glares at him through the rim of her hat.
“Creepy.” She still muttered.
Kokichi suddenly felt bold and stepped closer to Himiko.
He grasped the rim of her hat and pulled it down. Himiko’s eyes widened and she leaned back, the blush on her face present as ever.
Kokichi smiled, actually smiled, and brought his own face closer to hers.
“You know, you look really cute when you’re all frustrated and agitated.”
Himiko’s breath hitched, but she stubbornly turned her head to the side.
“Heh, don’t try to add charm to your lies. It won’t work.” She glared off into a patch of grass nearby.
Kokichi lifted one of his hands up to grasp on her chin and snap her head back to him. Kokichi gazes at her face, running his thumb over her bottom lip.
He leans in, Himiko isn’t fighting out of his grip.
He could feel her breathe against his.
Kokichi smirks.
“Oh but I think it is.”
Himiko stares at him with wide rusted auburn eyes. Expecting, anticipating.
WIth the little self control Kokichi had he pulled away.
“Well! I gotta go!” He spun around to collect his stolen novel to desperately salvage before he got his nerves teared out with bare fingertips.
“I’ll meet you here tomorrow, same time, yes?” Kokichi turns to Himiko and silently prides himself at the state of Himiko, stunned and flush from his very own actions.
“Okay bye!” He waves and runs off before letting her answer, hoping she gets the hint that he wants her to be there.
Kokichi bursts through his dorm room, luckily Shuichi isn’t there, so he immediately flops on his bed and does a weird, impulsive, loud mixture of screaming and laughing.
I can’t believe I just did that did I really just do that who knew I had it in me, I just hope she isn’t totally creeped out by that, MAN am I hoping she meets up tomorrow AAAAA I can’t wait to see her-
Kokichi kicks at his bed, adrenaline running through his entire body at the prospect of him letting his own crush in on the fact that he likes her and that he could very well continue this and spend even more time with her.
Kokichi turns around and sighs dreamily.
“Oh my sweet little mage, what spell have you put me under?”