Work Text:
Korekiyo paced impatiently, circling aimlessly in the corner of the room step after step as he fiddled with the locket chained around his neck. His fingers ran slowly over the cool metal with just enough force to feel the lining and engraving through the bandages protecting his hands. It was likely the most directionless the anthropologist had ever looked in front of his classmates, though, internally, he couldn’t bring himself to worry about that right now. He had much more important things to worry about.
Despite his obviously isolated demeanor, however, a voice dared to capture his attention. “Korekiyo?”
Korekiyo paused, turning to face the interruption, hand still toying with the trinket. “Yes, Shuichi?”
“Are you alright?” Shuichi questioned. “You’ll just get dizzy if you keep walking in circles like that.”
Korekiyo hummed, finally dropping the locket, but still clearly caught in his own thoughts. “Perhaps. Are you not excited, Shuichi? Is it not interesting to watch this ritual take place?”
Shuichi gave a light chuckle. “Sure, but it’s not a ‘ritual’, it’s just a surprise party. We’ve done it before…”
“Nevertheless,” Korekiyo argued, “it is enjoyable to observe the festivities, is it not? You know, it’s thought that early birthday celebrations by the Greeks were intended as a form of protection to-”
“Yes, yes,” Shuichi reassured, “I know. But you’re barely watching everyone. You’re kind of caught in your own world over here, which is unusual for you.”
Korekiyo gave a light smile - not that Shuichi could see it. “You’ve noticed. Well, I suppose I am… more interested in this subject of today’s celebration than those prior, in a way.”
Shuichi hummed in thought. “... You’re excited to give Maki your gift, aren’t you?”
The anthropologist turned, focusing instead on a random spot on the floor. “Assuming and observing the reactions of those around me, learning and hopefully understanding their behavior… it is all put to the test during this mundane ritual… at least somewhat.”
Korekiyo Shinguji considered himself a bit of a people-watcher. Well, okay, maybe more of a near religious people-watcher. But could one really blame him? People were fascinating. The amount of sheer difference in even the smallest, slightest details in the behaviors of even two people were mind-boggling. No two people were exactly alike. And he believed that was beautiful. And then there were the rituals formed by people over the course of history. Birthdays were only one mild example. The surprise party an even milder one. But, no matter how long he thought about it, he could never get tired of considering even the littlest details - if it had to do with humanity.
He can’t remember exactly when he became more interested in birthday celebrations, especially considering that he could hardly even remember experiencing them for himself. He couldn’t even remember if there was ever even one for him. What he could remember, however, was watching as people’s faces lit up after being presented with gifts specially tailored to them, to their interests. It was a birthday, receiving gifts surely was nothing new for most. But every time most had the same reaction - utter, unadulterated delight. Even if it was subtle. Seeing this on classmates was most frequent for him. He enjoyed observing it every time.
Thus, the tradition of Korekiyo’s gift-giving obsession was born. Testing this on his classmates at the academy was particularly exhilarating. First was Angie, an arguably difficult first choice. Her birthday was exceptionally early in the school year - a jarring April 18 - giving Korekiyo little time to study her character before the celebration began. Nonetheless, he did the best he could. He managed to dig up some of the finest sculpting supplies he could in such a short time. The best part was their significance. They were models of ancient fine art supplies which were thought to have healing properties - as in, anyone who used them, or anyone whose likeness was captured using those tools, was thought to have been blessed to have some form of luck in health or even lifespan. To Angie, of course, their supposed properties would likely be brushed off with little consideration, and she was the Ultimate Artist, wasn’t she? Surely she’d have access to dozens, if not hundreds of varying tools for her work. Nonetheless, her gratefulness overflowed. She ended up near clinging to him after receiving her gifts - an action entirely unexpected and also somewhat strange, even for Korekiyo. He still appreciated it, though, of course.
After that, his reputation of being the best at gift-giving began. There was Kirumi’s antique tea set, hand-painted and modeled after famous designs from 1800s Europe, all specially made to be near unbreakable. There was Iruma’s clockwork nightstand, lightweight and able to hide secret compartments within that, when instructed to, could only be opened by their owner - not to mention the fact that, despite it being made to fit her aesthetic, also contained specific and well intact parts that could be salvaged if she decided at any time to scrap it completely to gather parts for a new project. There was even Tenko’s nunchucks - a pair of polished, lethal nunchucks with an extendable chain and retractable spikes, modeled after the well-known weapon once carried by a famed, ancient female assassin Korekiyo suspected Tenko looked up to. Tenko was extraordinarily reluctant to admit the fact that it was one of the best gifts she’d ever been given, and even more reluctant to make it known that she regularly used them during training.
And today, there would be Maki. Maki would definitely be one of his greatest challenges (the girl was unnecessarily difficult to read at times), but after many hours of deliberation, and even more hours of silently observing her behavior from afar, Korekiyo was certain he’d hit the mark. With any luck, he’d impress the ever-indifferent Maki Harukawa.
Shuichi turned suddenly from Korekiyo, hearing footsteps outside the dining hall. “Maki must be coming.”
Upon realizing their plan was about to be put into action, Shuichi and Kaede called everyone to their places. Patiently they all stood behind the dining table, awaiting the arrival of their guest of honor.
The doors to the dining hall were thrown open, and everyone began their cheering. Maki was not surprised in the slightest, to say the least, but that didn’t take away from everyone’s enthusiasm about the ordeal. Kaito was the least subtle person out of everyone, and by choosing him to escort Maki to the dining hall, the class effectively threw away any chance at catching Maki off-guard - though, after witnessing how Maki typically responds to being caught off-guard, perhaps that was more of a blessing than a curse.
Maki didn’t like birthdays. Hers in particular she hated more than anyone else’s. But, for some reason (I.E., getting unnecessarily attached to her class of buffoons), Maki decided to give her consent for birthday celebrations. However, with how absolutely antagonizing Kokichi was at every possible opportunity, that consent was bordering on being completely retracted. He had to be forcibly restrained upon attempting to force Maki to wear a shiny, colorful partyhat, all with that smug look plastered finely on his face.
The party, despite Kokichi’s general clownery, was actually going fairly well. Kirumi prepared the best dinner she could, along with a rather impressive birthday cake (chocolate and vanilla, as anything other than simple flavors were pushing the limits for Maki), and everyone was enjoying each other’s presence. Then, of course, it came time for gifts.
Maki hardly showed any emotion, as expected. Some gifts were admittedly better than others - Miu’s was discarded almost immediately - but overall, her reactions to each of them weren’t inherently negative. Even Kokichi’s actually seemed more considerate than most would expect. The final gift, however, was none other than Korekiyo’s. He insisted that his needed to be given last, and, after seeing the sheer size of the box that contained it, his classmates didn’t dare to disagree.
Maki sat in neutrality at the front of the dining table, surrounded by various gifts and cards and such splayed as offerings. Facing away from the table - towards the main entrance - with her friends either standing or sitting on the ground by her side, she almost looked like some sort of queen in her throne room.
Korekiyo approached her from the far side of the dining hall, carting his present along with him. The chest it was stored in was long, and made of fine, polished wood with no indication of what could be inside. The dolly he had to carry it on was borrowed from the storage unit just across the hall. Dragging it just in front of Maki, Korekiyo slowly creaked the lid of the chest open. The lid itself opened in such a way that those by Maki, including Maki herself, could not at first see what was inside. This, understandably, frustrated some.
“Hurry the fuck up!” Miu shouted. “The slow-ass pace you’re going at is gonna be the death of me. Just give her the damn gift so we can go back to our dorms!”
“Aw, Miu,” Kokichi teased, “who would’ve thought you’re the impatient type? Certainly not anyone who’s spent any amount of time with you, ever.”
“Fuck off! I just wanna know what’s inside. Who even carries stupid birthday gifts in crates anyway? This better be good.”
“Based on gifts he’s given in the past,” Keebo murmured, “it’ll surely be impressive. Let’s just be quiet so that he can wrap this up.”
Finally, Korekiyo stood, the gift gathered in his hands. The gift itself, of course, was covered by a long, thick cloth, and thus unable to be seen or understood by anyone but himself.
Korekiyo approached Maki slowly, patiently. The assassin’s eyes were trained on the unusual presentation of the gift, trying to discern what it could be. The gift was clearly long - visibly slender. It was obviously light enough for someone as unathletic as Korekiyo to lift without trouble. Despite this, none in the dining hall could puzzle out what it could be. The cloth draped over it made it clearly difficult.
“Maki Harukawa,” Korekiyo began. Maki’s eyes flitted up to Korekiyo’s, which were closed in both concentration and reverence. “Congratulations on another year of life, and may your future years be plentiful and abundant in pleasure and learning-”
“You say this every time, get on with it!” Miu spat as Tsumugi smacked her shoulder in a weak attempt at quieting her.
Korekiyo cleared his throat. “Well, then. Maki, my hope is that this gift impresses you, not by the price tag, but by its beauty, or even, by its significance.”
Finally, Korekiyo shifted, dropping the cloth previously covering the gift.
Under it was revealed to be a stunning, black and silver katana with jade plated into its sheath and hilt. The patterns of the jade and silver seemed to dance around each other, clearly meant to display its nature of decoration rather than any inherent usefulness in combat. The gift was bold and breathtaking, and everyone in the room seemingly had their eyes completely focused on it.
Everyone including Maki.
Korekiyo, meanwhile, had not yet opened his eyes.
“This katana is not a direct replica of any particular historically significant weapon. Instead, inspiration for its design was taken from varying places, such as general decorative displays, or even pieces from famed to lesser-known artists from the past century.
“Although it was designed mostly with the intention of display, real use is not completely out of the question. The blade is sturdy and could survive many years - if provided its sheath to shelter it when not in use.” Korekiyo raised the weapon to offer it to Maki. “I trust it will survive long in your care, Maki. I pray that you will find enjoyment in viewing it, if it is not used. Please care for this gift, and treat it well.”
Upon finishing his speech, Korekiyo raised his head slightly, opening his eyes to finally analyze Maki.
Maki, without a doubt, had the most emotional reaction to his gift out of any of the others. The look of pure shock and terror etched deep within her eyes was so clear, yet so unexpected, that at first, Korekiyo had thought he was imagining it. But nothing could be mistaken about the look of noticeable fear in the eyes of the Ultimate Assassin; something about the gift had scared Maki Harukawa. She was frozen, her entire body tensed in her seat, fists clenched and shoulders stiff. The look in her eyes was easily readable, and easily worrying.
Korekiyo leaned back, surprise evident in his eyes. His grip on the sword faltered slightly, and his arms lowered the weapon by an inch. At this movement, Maki was snapped back into reality, eyes refocusing and body twitching, jumping as if she had been startled. It took only a second for the girl to be out of her seat and sprinting past the anthropologist, making her way out the door before anyone could hope to catch her.
Someone was watching Maki.
Forcibly trained and raised as the Ultimate Assassin, Maki Harukawa was brilliant when it came to reading her surroundings simply because she had to be. Not being aware of what was going on around you meant your guard was constantly down, even if you didn’t mean for it to be. This was what she was taught. This was how she was raised. And even now, in a seemingly more hopeful life, she still couldn’t shake some of her old habits. One such habit was her body’s constant awareness.
However, even the average person could tell they were being watched in this scenario. Whoever was stalking Maki wasn’t some professional stalker, and they made that much obvious. Nonetheless, the feeling of eyes observing her every move throughout the day was definitely starting to tick her off.
She had given it the benefit of doubt at first. Maybe a classmate liked her hair or something. It was whatever; not a big deal. That was, until a few minutes of feeling watched turned into a few hours. And then a few hours turned into a whole afternoon. Now, it was getting dark out, Maki was getting tired, and the assassin was losing patience fast.
Pausing in her consistent pace back towards the student dormitory, Maki spun around, facing a set of trees not far from her in a garden-like patch amid the stone pathways. Fists clenched and eyes wide with anger, Maki eyed the treeline, waiting for motion to give away her pursuer. When they failed to show, Maki shifted to more persuasive tactics.
“Show yourself. Or else.” Maki warned. “I’m not playing games.”
But again, not a sign of what she was looking for. All she received in response was the gentle sound of the wind shaking leaves from the trees. It almost felt insulting.
Maki sneered, whipping a hand into her sleeve and retracting it immediately, now holding a surprisingly long, jagged pocket knife.
“Do you want to die?” she threatened. “Come out!”
One moment of silence. Two. Three. Maki readied herself to charge at the trees.
But before she could, a hand slipped out into view, as if making a show of being unarmed. Before she could snap any reply, the head of the figure followed suit, before her stalker stepped fully into view, holding both arms in the air, like one would if threatened by law enforcement.
The Ultimate Assassin tensed upon recognizing the Ultimate Anthropologist, her grip tightening around the knife in hand. Her eyes widened, this time, in mild fear. Instinctively, her body shifted, lowering an inch or two closer to the ground and widening her stance, as if preparing to fight. These mild tweaks in her composure were near unnoticeable, and, luckily for her, she still bore an intimidating appearance. The knife held in one hand did her favors, of course.
“Maki,” Korekiyo began, slowly. The anthropologist paused, as if waiting to see if the other had anything to say in return. When he didn’t receive a response, he continued. “I am… unarmed…”
“What do you want from me?” Maki finally asked. Whatever was about to happen, she wanted to get it over with.
“I don’t want anything-”
“Cut it. You’ve been following me all day,” Maki accused. The hand holding the pocket knife twitched, and Korekiyo shifted his vision from Maki to the knife, and back. “You better have a good reason for why.”
A moment of silence passed between the two, before Korekiyo gathered his thoughts. “Maki… I wish to make peace.”
“And you thought you could do that by stalking me?” Maki spat.
“... Yes.”
The assassin narrowed her eyes.
“Alright, admittedly I followed you for a different reason… but it ties in with my desire to make amends.”
“Explain,” Maki demanded.
“Maki, the day we celebrated your birth was less than a week ago. And yet, a few days should have been more than enough time for me to exact the reasons for your reaction.”
“... You… have been stalking me because you want to know why I didn’t want your present?”
“Days of deliberation… and yet I remain troubled and clueless.”
“That’s stupid.”
Maki lowered her hand holding the knife, becoming noticeably less tense, yet maintained a look of disapproval all the while. The situation had become frustrating for a very different reason than she expected.
Upon seeing Maki relax - albeit only slightly - Korekiyo lowered his hands, desiring to match Maki’s energy. “Even though I am unsure why exactly my offering had troubled you, it is evident just how upset you were by my misstep.
“I wish to sincerely and wholly apologize for my actions that day,” Korekiyo explained, voice becoming serious. In what was probably the most surprising gesture made throughout their entire interaction, Korekiyo fell to his knees in front of Maki, placing his hands on the floor, as if preparing to beg for his life. “But please, Maki, I beg of you, tell me what I did wrong. I cannot for the life of me fathom what could’ve caused the stress I saw you under. Please. Tell me.” In an instant, the anthropologist’s serious tone shifted to complete and utter distress. It was almost like watching a sinner beg a priest for forgiveness after committing the worst actions against god possible.
Maki stepped back upon seeing his fall, and went from angry to embarrassed in seconds. “G-Get off the floor, you idiot! We’re in front of the dorms, anyone could look out their window right now and see you!”
“Maki,” Korekiyo continued. “The fact that I cannot reason why you would have declined my gift is so troubling that it plagues my mind seemingly every hour-”
“It’s not your fault, you fool! You couldn’t have known that I’d run away! Hardly anybody would’ve!”
Finally, Korekiyo paused his pitiful speech. “... Are you meaning to imply that it’s not just me that is clueless as to why you refused my gift?”
“...”
“... Is that why no one explained to me what happened?”
“... Stand up and maybe I’ll tell you.”
Korekiyo’s eyes widened as he immediately raised himself off of the ground, brushing any dirt or dust off of his legs before he refocused his attention on Maki. In Maki’s mind, meanwhile, she was comparing the look in his eyes to that of a child waiting to hear a babysitter tell a compelling story.
After a few moments of deliberation (and debating whether or not to actually tell Korekiyo anything of importance), Maki finally began her explanation. “When I was actively participating in - well, being forced to participate in - my work as an assassin, I screwed up a mission where I was supposed to be using a katana. I didn’t exactly take to swords after that incident. If anything, it was… a rather formative memory.”
The anthropologist slowly took in the details - or lack thereof - of Maki’s story, understanding as well as remorse etching his features. Instinctively he felt the urge to ask questions, to dig deeper into Maki’s feelings and experiences from and after the situation, but he knew it was better to hold his tongue. He did, in all honesty, feel regret for having troubled Maki, and did not want to risk making her upset worse.
“I see,” Korekiyo began, tentatively. “I truly apologize for digging up such a memory… I suppose your reaction should’ve been expected.”
“I’ve told maybe two people about this incident, total. You couldn’t have known. It’s not your fault,” Maki returned. “But don’t go groveling for my forgiveness again. It makes you look weird.”
Korekiyo hummed. “Ah, yes. I must ask your forgiveness for that one, too… I was not in the right mindset.”
“Your clarity of mind changed that much in the past two minutes?”
“Perhaps,” Korekiyo answered, chuckling. “I do regret following you as well. I wanted to observe you to gather more information as to what I’d done wrong, yet… I suppose some habits of mine should be altered a bit.”
“You think?”
By now, surprisingly, Maki was almost smiling. Despite the obvious awkwardness on Korekiyo’s part, the anthropologist wasn’t all that irritating to talk to.
“Well,” Korekiyo hummed in thought, “I suppose that sword should be disposed of. No matter, however. I swear I’ll make it up to you by your next birthday, at the latest.”
“... You still have the sword?”
“Of course,” Korekiyo answered. “In all honesty, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it. I’ve just been keeping it in my room since the incident.”
“... I’ll take it.”
“... Pardon?”
“I’m not completely healed of the scars from my past, and, whether I like it or not, I can’t forget about it, either. But progress is progress, and this might be a decent step forward for me. Looking at the katana without having to feel compromised and afraid is something I’d like to achieve, especially since I’ve been given a chance to abandon my old circumstances. So, I’ll take the sword. Maybe I can hang it up in my Ultimate Lab, or something.”
“Hmm,” Korekiyo hummed, looking deep in thought. “Maybe… but I worry about the consequences of this decision… Say, how would you feel about only taking the katana’s sheath until you’re ready to keep the katana itself? I would keep the katana, and you would be given time to adjust to the change.”
“Keeping only its sheath sounds like a stupid idea,” Maki returned. The statement itself would sound a lot more judgemental if her smile and kind tone didn’t betray the wording. “But it might work… You should keep the katana itself in your Ultimate Lab, too. Maybe I’ll visit once in a while before I’m ready to take it.”
Korekiyo’s smile would’ve been nearly infectious if it was visible from under his mask. “Well then, you’ve got yourself a deal, miss child caregiver. I look forward to your next birthday. Expect an even better gift next year.”
“Don’t worry,” Maki began, leading their walk back to the dorms to retrieve the sword. “I will.”