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He loved them all so much. Each part was a completely important facet of his life, and he wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Rantaro and Miu: his best friends. One too much at all times, the other too reserved. A perfect balance, and they got along great.
DICE: his treasured family. There since he was just a young child. A bunch of rag-tagged orphans who had each other’s backs no matter what.
Shuichi Saihara: his beloved boyfriend. The only person in the world he trusted at the level that he did. Someone he’d let nuzzle comfortably in his heart where he thought no one ever would.
They were everything to him.
However, that didn’t stop Kokichi from needing time and space away from them. He’d never push them away permanently, but there were still times he absolutely needed to get away. It was overwhelming to have so much appreciation sometimes. At the end of the day, he still was a liar, and he still hated liars.
Now, he found himself on the roof of Hope’s Peak Academy, running away from Shuichi and his own friends for an afternoon. He knew they’d all understand, eventually, but for now he just needed silence.
His hiding spot was actually quite good. If anyone came looking for him, they wouldn’t find him at all! Being small had its perks, and no one would check the cramped space behind the stair building. But hiding had nothing on people who made their presence known.
The door flung open loudly, and a prominent grunt rang out. At first, Kokichi thought Shuichi had come to find him, making his heart swell with affection at the same rate it filled with anxiety, but, no, the voice was too low.
“MAN! What a great day to see the view!” Kaito Momota’s dumb, boisterous voice bellowed in the wind. Ugh, why him? He and his stupid angry-eyed girlfriend were the only ones that still treated him weird. Not… bad per say, they approved of his relationship with Shuichi and even encouraged them because of Kokichi’s ‘improved behavior’ as they called it, but they weren’t… friends.
Which was fine. Kokichi didn’t need them and they certainly didn’t need Kokichi.
Yet, something drew him out to spy on the astronaut and why he’d come up here.
Kaito slowly made his way to the fence that surrounded the perimeter of the roof, and held onto the wiring tightly, letting out a satisfied breath…
Before he started retching violently, coughing his lungs out.
It sounded horrible, completely grating on the smaller man’s eardrums. He knelt to the ground and tried everything to get the sound to stop, hating every second of it; Kaito sounded like he was dying. Kokichi didn’t want anyone to die.
When he heard five seconds of silence, the leader let out his held breath in relief, only to be attacked by the sound of vicious hacking again. In a sudden fit of passion, he ran up to the astronaut and patted his back, rubbing his hands on it the way DICE did for him when he was sick.
Even when he noticed the taller man jump, he kept going, trying to sooth him as much as possible. “Try you best not to cough. Keep it in and breathe. Do you have any lozenges? Something we can melt on your throat? What the hell is wrong with you!?” It was rare these days for Kokichi to burst out his leader persona, but right now he was in charge and taking care of his sick classmate.
Much more submissive than normal, Kaito just whispered out, “I’m fine.”
“No the fuck you’re not. God you’re lucky I’m the Ultimate Supreme Leader of Good now, or I would’ve left you to rot!” Jokes were the only way he knew to make things better. Miu loved his banter when she had fallen ill with mono, calling her a slut and laughing at her literally every second he could, so he hoped Kaito would be the same.
Unfortunately, he didn’t laugh. At all. But he didn’t fight it either, leaning a little desperately into the massage Kokichi was giving him as he crumpled to the floor. He looked so defeated, completely unlike the ‘you can do anything if you just believe’ astronaut Kokichi had learned to tolerate.
“What do you need? What can I get you?” To the best of his abilities, he didn’t want to make Kaito talk more than he needed.
And yet, the stupid idiot kept blabbering. “Nothing, nothing. Seriously, ‘m fine! Just. It’ll pass ok, dude?” He coughed a little again, but his breathing regulated. Kokichi didn’t pull his eyes away, but still acquiesced, choosing to sit next to him.
They sat in silence, relieved silence, until the mostly recovered astronaut whispered, “So what are you doing up here?”
Was… that an attempt at starting a conversation? Changing the subject? Kokichi had no clue, but figured he’d entertain him if that’s what would make him better.
“I set my ultra, mega, confetti cannon up here! And am waiting for the end of the school day to unleash it onto the students!” Maybe he was getting too predictable, because Kaito laughed - genuinely laughed - at him. Which he supposed was the best sound he could hear right now.
It took him a bit, having to cough through it, ruining the mood. “No, I mean it. It’s unusual to see you on your own these days. You and my sidekick better not have gotten in a fight! I’ll kick your ass!”
Why was it heartwarming that it seemed like he wouldn’t actually do that? Why did it seem like he actually cared?
Kokichi clicked his tongue, “No… my second-in-command is amazing and wonderful and perfect in all the ways you’ll never be!”
“Watch it-”
“BUT, sometimes…” he paused, considering for a moment, surprised that Kaito let him take his time, “weaker leaders don’t feel like they deserve amazing, wonderful, perfect seconds-in-command. Or incredible friends who get them. Or a loving family every time they come home.” Wow. Opening up to Kaito Momota just because he coughed a whole bunch in front of him? Curse Shuichi! He was getting pliant and un-Kokichi like, wasn’t he?
He felt himself disassociating, crawling back into the shell he’d created to run away and come up here, and didn’t come out of it until he heard, “-kichi? Kokichi!? What the hell man!? Wake up!”
Shaking his head frantically, he left his daze to see a terrified Kaito staring at him confused, and he deflected the way he knew best, “Aww~ Did my future hero-in-law worry over me? Study successful!”
With angry eyebrows, Kaito scoffed and pushed away from him. “Man, I really thought you were gonna actually open up to me! Aren’t we friends?” Huh? Huh, huh, huh!?
The astronaut must’ve seen the confusion on his face and moved to ruffle his hair, which only baffled Kokichi more. “You’re dating my best friend, you’ve stopped purposefully picking on me. I started to cough violently and your first instinct was to take care of me. Admit it! We’re totally friends!” The grin on his dumb, stupid, incredulous face made Kokichi flare up red.
How dare someone get the upper hand on him.
“Nope! The truth is I totally came up here to get away from you and your murder girlfriend! And yet you found me immediately!? Maybe you’re the real detective, huh?”
But Kaito was relentless. “Maybe I am! And I say we’re friends! And you’re gonna start coming to training!” Oh my god was he beaming!?
Kokichi’s jaw dropped, and all he could say was, “You’re sick! Why are you exercising!?”
“Not right now!” The astronaut argued back. “In the future. Shuichi’s mentioned it a couple of times too. Besides, it’ll let me get to know ya a little better! So… friends?”
His arm outstretched in Kokichi’s direction, and the little leader looked at it intently. All of this had been really shocking, but he wasn’t going to let Kaito know that.
In a need to keep control, he gently pushed the other’s hand away and said, “Didn’t you say we were already friends? WELP! Now you’re stuck with me! Better get used to it!”
“I think I will. Hey, how about we cut a deal! If you ever need to get away and come up here I can make excuses for you-”
“And I can get you to a doctor.” The words came out more poignant then he intended, but once they were in the ether, he refused to back down. Kokichi stood up, towered over the still-sitting Kaito, and crossed his arms.
With the confidence flowing through him, he attempted to grab the other’s arm and was cut off with an aggressive, “I’m fine, seriously. That was just a weak moment! Can we just… sit for a while, man?”
Reluctantly, Kokichi listened, flipping back down in his spot. Kaito was more assuredly not fine, but if he insisted, there wasn’t much the leader could do to stop him.
So,
They talked.
The entire hour of a lunch break they had left. And at the end of it, when the taller man hadn’t coughed a single time in fifteen of those minutes, he felt his shoulders relax for the first time since he experienced it.
As the bell rang, the two got up and prepared to go back downstairs. However, right before Kaito was about to open the door, he turned back cheekily. “See ya back up here in two weeks to get away from it all, Friend?”
Kokichi looked at him dumbfounded, feeling his mouth hang open dramatically before he closed it and put a mask back on for his own ego. “Yeah, yeah, if you need me to give you biweekly massages to make you feel better, you could’ve just asked.” But instead of getting mad or rolling his eyes as usual, Kaito just chuckled and finally opened the door to head back down.
A small grin curled on the leader’s lips as he thought maybe, just maybe, he was looking forward to meeting up with him again.