Chapter Text
Leap of Faith
Kaito Momota was just your average high school student, an enthusiastic peppy man who had a love for all things space related. However, he had a crush on a certain boy. Kokichi Ouma. Ever since the two both stayed late after school and Kokichi offered to walk with him, Kaito had fallen head over heels in love with him. Whenever he was around, all he could do was nod at best during their conversations. It was that or blush like a bumbling idiot and say “uh..” every time Kokichi asked if Kaito was still there. His crush grew so bad that he went out of his way to avoid him in the halls in fear of messing up in front of him. But he couldn’t for too long...it was too depressing to see Ouma’s sad face every time he said he was busy.
“So, what’s your deal?” Shuichi asked, looking at Kaito quizzically. It was lunchtime, and Maki, Shuichi, and Kaito were sitting at their table.
“I..it’s nothing…” Kaito said, his eyes fixated on Ouma who had just gotten his lunch and was going to sit down with his friend group. Hm, he wondered what he was getting?
“C’mon, something’s obviously the matter.” Maki paused, sighing. “We’re your friends Kaito, we care about you. If something’s bothering you, you can always tell us?”
Her words were so sincere that it made him want to tell them about everything. How he first met the purple haired boy, the things he talked about, how he was always able to make him smile, and how the two would secretly hang out after telling his friends he couldn’t make their hangouts.
Instead all he said was: “I like him. Kokichi Ouma, I mean.”
Right as he said this, the two brows furrowed and a confused look crossed over their faces before it turned slightly uncomfortable.
“You do…?” After a long beat of silence, Maki finally spoke. Shuichi on the other hand seemed to be in deep thought.
“Of course! He has a kind heart and a hilarious sense of humor. Always one that you can depend on in times of need.”
“Yeah okay uh I guess.” He was a bit weirded out by how Maki didn’t seem supportive of him, but figured she was just having a hard time conveying his emotions.
“Anyways, do you guys think I should ask him out?” Kaito was already picturing their first date: one on a rooftop at night, the stars shining bright in the sky, while the world around them is quiet.
“Kaito, I’m not trying to be a buzzkill or anything but maybe Kokichi isn’t the right one for you. I mean I know how you feel about him but maybe you should consider other options too.” Shuichi’s voice came out nervous like he was unsure of how to say this.
“Whadda ya mean, bro?” Kaito asked, confused. Shuichi always supported him through everything, so why was this different? “Are you homophobic?”
“Kaito!” Shuichi responded quickly. “You know I’m trans!”
“Whoops, sorry I forgot.” A slight nervous chuckle came out of his mouth at that, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Maki just sighed and rubbed her temple.
“You boys are so annoying, it’s like babysitting,” Maki stated, a little bit annoyed.
“Come on Makiroll, you know you love us!” He threw an arm over Maki. The two had been best friends forever since their parents were friends.
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“Come on, Sakura. You can’t hide by your uncle,” One of the daycare teachers said to the small girl with blue hair, trying to coax her from behind her uncle’s leg.
The small girl shook as the daycare worker gently led her to the rug.
On the rug, sat a small boy and girl, one with spiky purple hair and the other one with two dark brown pigtails.
“Why don’t you go sit with those two?” The daycare worker pointed to a couple of kids, invested in their toys
“I wanna be an astronaut!” Kaito called out cheerfully, as he pretended to fly a toy spaceship.
“Okay!” The girl said cheerfully. “I wanna be an alien slayer!”
“Awesome!” The boy had said, “You can be my sidekick!”
Sakura slowly walked out from behind her uncle’s legs and went over to the two, nervously. “H-Hello.”
“Hey, want to play with us?” Kaito shook his toy spaceship in the air enthusiastically. “You can either be the co-pilot or help us track criminal aliens like a detection!”
“Don’t you mean detective?” Mahiru said, sweetly.
Sakura’s eyes lit up immediately. “My uncle’s a detective!”
“Woah really?” Maki and Kaito both exclaimed at the same time, eyes wide in excitement.
“Yeah he gets to work on all sorts of cool cases! One time he tracked down an evil phantom thief!”
“That’s so cool! I can tell we’re gonna be friends forever!”
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The bell rang, signalizing the end of lunch. Kaito was the first to leave the table, throwing out the remains of his starfruit. All the while, Shuichi talked to them about when he came out to his parents.
“They were really supportive, they even bought me a binder!” Shuichi gushed.
“That’s great Shuichi, I’m glad they’re so supportive!” Maki remarked. She had come out to her parents as lesbian not too long ago and had helped Shuichi with his coming out. “Kaito, are you alright? Something seems to be on your mind…”
Kaito sighed. “I'm just thinkin’ about Ouma again,” He blushed.
“He really seems to be on your mind lately….” Shuichi said it more to himself than to Kaito.
“Look, Kaito. We get it, you can’t get over him,” Maki sighed, a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Well duh. He’s like the cutest boy in school!” In response, Shuichi let out an offended huff. “No offense Shuichi!” Kaito quickly added.
The bell rang, singling the start of afternoon classes. The three friends said goodbye to each other, Maki and Shuichi on their way to English while Kaito went to History.
Finding his usual seat next to Miu, he sat down and started taking his supplies out of a backpack he had had since kindergarten: a galaxy designed one. Taking out an orange notebook and some dull pencils, he watched as the others filed in. Kokichi of course took the seat a row back right next to Rantaro and Kiibo.
“Alright,” Mr. Togami said seriously. “It’s time for roll call. Quiet down.”
As he listed out the names, Kaito couldn’t help but realize Kokichi’s name hadn’t been called among the other 15 names.
“Um, sir? You didn’t call Ouma's name..”
“Don’t joke about that,” Snapped Togami, shooting him a glare.
Miu glowered at Kaito before whispering to him, “Asshole, why would you say that?”
“Huh? What did I do?” He whispered back defensively, a weirded out look on his face.
“Idiot, stop joking!” Miu’s voice raised louder to the point where the student next to her cowered in fear. However there was a hint of trembling to it too.
“Miss Iruma, do you have something you need to say to the class?” Togami’s voice grew stern, turning away from the board.
“Nothing…” Miu grumbled and plopped back down in her chair. Not before sending one last glare at Kaito, though.
Kaito was confused for the rest of the day.