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Shuichi was nervous.
Well, that’s not a very… uncommon emotion from him, not at all.
But it is a lot more intense than usual.
Because…. he’s going on a date later.
With Kokichi .
Earlier, Kokichi had demanded Shuichi to meet with him after class, so he obliged.
Kokichi then proceeded to let his mask off, for only a moment, to tell Shuichi he has feelings for him.
At first, Shuichi was stunned — and Kokichi, thinking it was a ‘disgust’ kind of stunned, proceeded to laugh it off and say it was a lie.
But then, Shuichi decided to open his big mouth.
“Will you go on a date with me?” He had blurted.
Hence, where he is now. Pacing in his bedroom, unsure what to wear.
It wasn’t anything fancy that they were going to do — just a nice dinner at the local restaurant, then a walk down the beach.
But he was still incredibly nervous and jittery. Shuichi supposed that it had to do with the fact that it was Kokichi he was going on a date with, after all.
Don’t get it wrong, Shuichi… really fucking liked Kokichi (more like was probably falling in love with him day by day, but you know), and that’s exactly why he was so nervous. He didn’t want to mess this up.
Shuichi started getting a little crush on Kokichi about halfway through their second high school year. Of course, he pushed it down, convincing himself that he would never feel the same way. But his feelings only grew stronger, as they do.
Especially when they started hanging out outside of school, at cafés and parks, and even their own dorms at times. When Shuichi got a glimpse of his real laughter (when he apparently said a good joke), not just his signature ‘nishishishi’ or mischievous giggles — but his true, genuine laugh, head thrown back and eyes crinkled and smile blooming — Shuichi realized he had a much bigger problem on his hands.
Shit, he’s getting distracted.
Shuichi shakes his head to get the thoughts out, and starts freaking out about what to wear again.
He’s still stuck.
He sighed, and was about to just throw on something random, when something caught his eye in the closet.
It was a deep blue turtleneck, and it looked like very soft material. Shuichi vaguely remembers his aunt buying it for him last winter, claiming that it would “bring out his beautiful hair”, but he just shoved it in his closet, hoping he’d be able to wear it someday.
Well, it seems that day is today.
Shuichi quickly grabs the shirt, and some dark jeans, and starts getting dressed.
————
They agreed on Shuichi coming to pick Kokichi up (even though they lived in the same dorm complex-thing), as Shuichi had his own car and license by now. He was almost nineteen, his birthday only around the corner. His uncle had gifted him a car for his eighteenth birthday, and Shuichi graciously accepted it, since he wasn’t too fond of driving a motorcycle.
Shuichi nervously waited for Kokichi to open the door, shuffling with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
Suddenly, the door whipped open, revealing Kokichi in probably the cutest fucking outfit ever.
He was dressed in a purple long-sleeved button down, and checkered short overalls, with long white socks and black ankle boots. His hair was tied into a messy ponytail, and he was wearing a spiked heart choker.
Shuichi was incredibly red just by looking at him.
“Ah, O-Ouma-kun!” Shuichi squeaked, straightening up. He then cleared his throat, and shyly handed the bouquet to him. “Um… you look… r-really nice.”
Kokichi grinned at him, big and wide, and accepted the bouquet. “Thank you, Mr. Detective! You don’t look too bad yourself,” He winked, then quickly placed the flowers on a side table of some sort, before coming back. “Let’s head out then, shall we~?”
Shuichi swallowed, willing his face to go back to its normal complexion. “Y-yeah, let’s go!”
They head into the car, with huge smiles on their faces.
———————
The car ride was a little awkward at first, but then Kokichi started messing with the aux cord, and waggled his eyebrows before playing a song by My Chemical Romance.
Shuichi’s face burned with embarrassment. “W-why are you playing that…?”
“Welllll, you’re emo, aren’t you?” Kokichi responds nonchalantly, “I thought all emo’s loved MCR!”
“I-I mean, I do love them, but…” Shuichi trailed off, then quickly backtracked when Kokichi gave him a smug grin. “…B-but I’m not emo!”
“Sure, whatever you say, Saihara-chan!” Kokichi chirps, before turning down the music. “Anyways, where are we going again?”
“TeruTeru’s Pub,” Shuichi replied. “Is that okay? I thought you said you liked the food there, but—”
“Stop worrying! I do love the food there, and that’s not a lie,” Kokichi reassured him with a soft smile. Shuichi smiled back. “But you better feed me!”
Shuichi groaned internally.
—————
They finally made it to the restaurant, and Shuichi thanked the waiter that seated them, before handing Kokichi his menu. Kokichi pursed his lips, humming loudly, before quickly deciding what he wanted.
“Yakitori! I want some Yakitori!” He loudly announced, a grin spreading across his face. Shuichi chuckled, the fondness he already has for him growing.
“Ah, you decided what you wanted fairly quickly,” Shuichi says, an eyebrow raising. “Do you normally get it?”
“Yep!” Kokichi replied, popping the ‘p’. “It’s my fav dish here.”
Shuichi nodded, looking through the menu himself.
After a minute or two of thinking, Shuichi decided what he wanted. “I think I’ll take the Udon noodles. Noodles are probably my favorite dish.”
Kokichi nodded thoughtfully, before reaching across the table and grabbing Shuichi’s hand. Shuichi widened his eyes.
“A-ah! Ouma-kun, what are you doing?” He asked, stiffening up.
“Oh, don’t act that way, Saihara-chan! This is supposed to be a date, is it not?” Kokichi muses, stroking his thumb over Shuichi’s knuckles. Then, his face blanks. “Unless it isn’t…?”
“N-no! No, it’s a date!” Shuichi stammers a bit too loudly, then clears his throat, and returns Kokichi’s embrace on his hand, linking their fingers together. “S-sorry. I’m a bit, uh, new to this.”
“That’s okay,” Kokichi smiles genuinely. Then, the waiter comes back, carrying a notebook and pen to take their orders.
They both give them to her (Kokichi being overly dramatic about it, as usual), and she leaves to give the chef the orders.
Once she’s gone, Shuichi smiles softly at the boy across from him, squeezing his hand gently, and he swore he could see The Kokichi Ouma blush.
Kokichi doesn’t elaborate on his flushed cheeks, however. Instead, he chooses to tease Shuichi. “Hmm… So, the Ultimate Detective has the Ultimate Supreme Leader in his clutches! I wonder what he’ll do~?”
Shuichi rolls his eyes, but smiles anyway. “Well… I think a fitting place to take such a criminal would be the beach.”
Kokichi looks surprised, but mischievously giggles despite the fact. “Well, I guess that wouldn’t be so bad!” He chirps, and motions for Shuichi to come closer. “I’ve gotta tell you a secret, Saihara-chan…”
Now Shuichi is suprised, but does as asked. He leans over and tilts his ear towards Kokichi’s face, waiting for him to say something obnoxious like “I put poison in the food!” or “My subordinates are outside waiting to ambush you right now!”
Instead, he feels a gentle press of soft lips on his cheek.
“Ah- O-Ouma-kun?!” Shuichi squeaks, cheeks heating up abnormally quickly. He leans back quickly and covers his face with his hands, embarrassed, when Kokichi starts giggling again.
“How can you look so cute and not expect me to do that? Tsk tsk, silly Saihara-chan!” Kokichi says, winking.
Shuichi shakes his head but laughs with him, the embarrassment dying down.
After a few more minutes, the waitress comes back with their food, telling them to
enjoy it, before walking away.
They both start digging into their plates immediately, Kokichi making very… ahem, suggestive noises while doing so (Shuichi just blushed heavily, clearing his throat and averting his eyes), and continued eating.
Shuichi had to admit, even though the owner of the place was rumored to be very perverted, the food was delicious. Although the noodles were a bit spicy, so he was getting thirsty.
Shuichi reached over to grab his drink, but then he realized — he didn’t even order a drink for himself.
Kokichi had one, though. Seems he hadn’t forgotten one for himself.
Shuichi tried to ignore the burning in his throat, but it seems Kokichi noticed his internal struggle; because then he offered his drink.
“You’re looking a bit parched there, Saihara-chan,” Kokichi mused, giving him a smug grin. He reached for his drink, and handed it over to Shuichi. “You can have a drink, if you’d like. But beware: I have cooties!”
“I wouldn’t mind getting cooties if it was from you,” Shuichi mumbled, but Kokichi somehow heard it, because then he gasped and widened his eyes — then started coughing.
“Ah, Ouma-kun! Are you okay?!” Shuichi panicked, quickly handing the drink back over to him. Kokichi waved his hand and shook his head, patting his chest a few times. He quickly recovered from his coughing fit, and clumsily shoved the drink back towards Shuichi.
“I’m okay! Don’t worry,” Kokichi laughed, a genuine smile on his face. “You just… keep surprising me. That’s what I like most about you, because most people are predictable, but you’re not.”
Shuichi returned his smile, and finally took a drink. He tried not to think about how Kokichi’s lips touched the straw (so they were basically sharing an indirect kiss ) and instead tried to focus on the fact that his throat was finally free of the burning sensation.
“Thank you, Ouma-kun. I like you a lot, too.”
——————
When they were done eating, they bickered over the check for a minute, but Shuichi won by distracting Kokichi long enough to steal it under his nose. Basically, Shuichi leaned forward in the middle of Kokichi’s argument to push a strand of hair behind his ear, and it caused him to stutter and lose focus for a minute (cute) , so Shuichi counted this as a victory.
Kokichi pouted and announced that he’d get it next time, to which Shuichi just chuckled.
The five-minute long drive to the beach seemed a lot shorter than normal, because on the way there they were laughing and talking (at one point Kokichi snorted and started laughing so hard tears brimmed at his eyes, and Shuichi swore he felt his heart stop for a moment).
Once they got there, the sun was beginning to set, and once they got down to the shoreline and Shuichi could see Kokichi better — god.
He was so fucking pretty.
The sun’s rays perfectly sculpted Kokichi’s face, showing his long lashes and beautiful violet eyes, and his cute button nose. And now that Shuichi could see him closer, he could see a few freckles dotted across his cheeks. And god, his lips. They looked so soft and full and kissable.
Shuichi didn’t even realize he was staring until Kokichi looked up at him, a soft smile on his lips. “See something you like?”
Surprised, but not really thinking clearly, Shuichi nodded. “Yeah, actually. I-I like you a lot. A lot more than I’ve ever liked anyone else before.”
Kokichi’s eyes widened, and now a small flush was starting to appear on his face. Again, all Shuichi could think was ‘cute’.
“I like you a lot too, Saihara-chan,” Kokichi confessed softly, reaching down for his hand. Shuichi laced their fingers together just as he had done in the restaurant.
They walked quietly, hands linked, but both blushing. Eventually, they made small talk walking down the shoreline, which then turned into Kokichi telling stories about D.I.C.E.
“Oh yeah, and there was this one time about a year ago where Ace had adopted a stray cat and they brought it to the hideout, and Hearts was like “what the hell are you doing with that.”, and she got mad for a minute because, I mean, I never allowed pets at the hideout — but I never was against it, either,” Kokichi giggled, swinging their hands back and forth. Shuichi laughed with him, enjoying the fact that Kokichi was being so open with him.
“And— And then— Ace was like “but he’s just a little baby! I named him Ghost!” And then they went around and showed the rest of the members, and eventually got back to Hearts. And then once Ghost nuzzled up to her and started purring, she softened up — as usual, Hearts is a big softie — and then she came running up to me, begging me to let us keep him,” Kokichi could barely talk through his laughter, and Shuichi’s heart was beating so rapidly from the adorable sight, he was scared he might have a heart attack right then and there. “And that’s the story about how D.I.C.E adopted a cat!”
Shuichi chuckled heartily, motioning for Kokichi to stop so he could lay out a blanket he (conveniently) had in his bag and they could sit. “That sounds like a lot of fun. D.I.C.E really seems like they have a good leader.”
“Well, duh! I am the supreme leader, after all,” Kokichi boasted, plopping down on the blanket. “Of course I’d be the best leader ever!”
Shuichi just shook his head and smiled, and sat down next to him.
They sat and watched the waves crash against the shore for a while with their hands still connected, continuing their conversation until they eventually started talking about Shuichi’s detective work.
“I-I don’t know, I just feel… like a bad detective,” Shuichi admitted. “I mean, I only became the Ultimate Detective because of the first case I solved, and sure, it was cold for almost two years before I solved it — but the circumstances of the case just make it so much worse.”
“What were the circumstances?” Kokichi asked softly, staring up at him with his big, violet eyes.
Shuichi short-circuited for a minute, but managed to get back on track. “Ah… T-the murderer had killed his girlfriend’s abuser. I guess she had been physically abused by her father for her whole life, so he was really just trying to protect her… And I-I can never get the look he gave me out of my head when he was arrested. He— He was so mad at me.”
Kokichi was silent for a moment, thinking. “Saihara-chan?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not a bad detective,” Kokichi said firmly, now taking both of Shuichi’s hands in his, and squeezing affectionately. “What that guy did — sure, he may have been doing it for a good purpose, but murder is not the way to go. Why couldn’t he have just used a more practical plan, like- I don’t know, hide a camera in his girlfriend’s pocket or something so it could catch the abuse and then hand it to the police? Sure, the police aren’t great, but as long as they have evidence they would’ve taken him in.”
“Or even just run away with her. This guy had so many other choices to make, but he chose murder? Seems to me like he’s been wanting to murder someone for a while, but now he just had the chance to actually do it,” Kokichi continued. Shuichi was shocked; he seemed really passionate about this. “And the case was cold for almost two years and you solved it?! That’s literally amazing, Shuichi. You’re an amazing detective, and I’m sorry that guy had so much hatred towards you. He knew he did something wrong, and that’s why he took it out on you.”
Shuichi was too shocked by his words to even be shocked by the fact that Kokichi used his given name. “…Th-thank you, Ouma-kun. I really needed that,” He mumbled shyly, casting a small smile toward him.
“Kokichi,” He answered, returning the smile. “C’mon, you just took me on a date and I told you all about my secret organization! You have to call me by my given name, or I’ll be forced to kill you!”
Shuichi chuckled, and reached their linked hands to his lips, kissing Kokichi’s hand softly. “Ah, okay Kokichi.”
Kokichi groaned, quickly turning his head away to hide his embarrassment. “Why do you keep doing that?! You’re being so suave with me! It really makes me wanna kiss your stupid face, you know!”
“Then do it,” Shuichi blurted. He wasn’t really thinking anymore. He was honestly blinded by the affection he had for Kokichi.
Kokichi looked taken aback by his words, but smirked anyway. “Oh? You wanna kiss me?”
“More than you can even imagine,” Shuichi sighed, fake-sadly. “I think I’ve been poisoned, and the only cure is for a super cute boy named Ouma Kokichi to kiss me on the lips.”
“Hmm… guess I have no choice then,” Kokichi’s voice dropped to almost a whisper.
Then, he leaned in, and it was like the first time Shuichi could breathe.
When their lips met, it wasn’t anything cheesy like fireworks bursting or whatever the romance experts say — instead, it was so much better.
Shuichi could almost feel his heart explode with fondness. Kokichi’s lips were so, so soft against his, and they fitted perfectly with his own. He felt Kokichi let out a little sigh of relief, so he imagined it was good for him, too.
Kokichi leaned closer to rest his hands on Shuichi’s shoulders, and he returned the gesture by resting his hands on his waist. They were kissing.
Shuichi Saihara was finally kissing Kokichi Ouma, the boy of his affections for over three years.
Fuck yeah.
When they finally had to pull away for air, Kokichi slowly opened his eyes to meet with Shuichi’s dull gold ones, and he smiled. He smiled so wide that Shuichi’s cheeks hurt by just looking at him.
“That… was amazing,” Kokichi whispered, resting his head against Shuichi’s shoulder.
Shuichi bit his lip to hold back his own smile when he said, “Yeah… it really was.”
——————
When they finally left the beach, it was a little past nine. On the way back to the dorms, the air between them was so comforting, so warm , that Shuichi almost didn’t want to leave him.
But, eventually, Shuichi walked Kokichi up to his dorm room.
Kokichi was about to say goodbye and open his door, but Shuichi grabbed his wrist, and pulled him in.
Their lips crashed for the second time that night, and this time instead of a soft, inexperienced kiss full of affection — it was a little bit rougher, full of need.
They kissed for a solid thirty seconds, before Kokichi pulled away, gasping.
“…What was that for?” He panted. “Not that I’m complaining, of course.”
“Ouma Kokichi, will you be my boyfriend?” Shuichi whispered. His mind was screaming at him to stop, to run away and never come back because of how nervous he was at this moment. But Shuichi stood his ground. He wasn’t gonna run away from his feelings this time.
“Nope! I actually hate your guts!” Kokichi exclaimed. “…That was a lie. Of course I’ll be your boyfriend, you quite literally swept me off my feet tonight. I had no idea you had it in you, Shuichi.”
Shuichi grinned, “Well… I guess you bring out the best in me.”
Kokichi returned his smile, and leaned up on his toes to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight, my beloved boyfriend. I’ll see you in your dreams.”
And with that, he waved goodbye, opened the door, and stepped inside, closing it and leaving an overly-happy Shuichi in front of his door.
Shuichi’s smile just got bigger.
He couldn’t wait for another date.