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A methodical hammering noise echoed in the hallway of the first year dorms of Hope’s Peak Conservatoire of Dance. Shuichi had barely started unpacking before his childhood best friend decided to gate-crash his new dorm room. As he pulled clothes out of the suitcase on his bed, Kaede was sat up to Shuichi’s desk, bashing her new pointe shoes together.
“Kaede!” Shuichi began, struggling over the noise, “I think you’ve probably worn them down enough now...”
She stopped and sighed. “I hope so. I’d hate for my shoes to make me sound all loud and clumsy on the first day.”
“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about that too much,” Shuichi said, closing a drawer. “I think they’ll be easy on us the first week.”
“Even so,” Kaede mumbled, bringing a foot up onto the chair to squeeze into a shoe, and then the other. “Making a good first impression is paramount! I wouldn’t want them thinking they made a mistake in letting me in...”
“I’ve been watching you since we were kids, Kaede. Believe me when I say you’re the best dancer at every showcase we’ve performed in.” He decisively threw his last shirt in the drawer. “Loud shoes or not, they made no mistake scouting you.” Kaede gave Shuichi an uncertain look, it soon turning to a cheeky grin. He pulled his hat down. “Ah, did I say something weird?”
Kaede giggled, "no! I’m just really glad to have you as a friend, that’s all. But!” Kaede sprung from the desk chair and snatched Shuichi’s hat off, prancing towards the door.
“H-hey, I need that!” he spluttered, chasing after her.
“What, in ballet class?” She raised her eyebrows, holding the hat outside his reach. “I’m sorry, this is for your own good, Shuichi!”
Fear flashed in his eyes; he needed his hat, at least for the introductions to his new classmates. He lurched for it, Kaede holding the door open only slight enough for her arm and the hat to fit through. “Please, Kaede!”
“No can do.” She slithered through the door, slamming it shut and holding the handle tight, despite Shuichi’s desperate yanks from the other side.
“Kaede, let go!” he pleaded.
“Sorry, Shuichi! I’ll save you a space next to me on the barre!” reassured Kaede’s muffled voice through the door. “Get some rest!” She let go of the handle, Shuichi swiftly opening the door and watching her pirouette away down the hall to the right. A sense of dread formed in his gut, but deep down he knew this was for the best; that was probably why he didn’t end up chasing after her. His eyes met the ground, a cold sweat forming on his neck at the thought of meeting the people he was going to spend the next three years with, now made even more nerve-wracking without the possibility of hiding behind a hat.
Shuichi stood so deep in thought, he didn’t even feel a presence creep up next to him until its snarky voice rang in his left ear, “I knew this was a dance school, but I never thought I’d see clumsy blondes pirouetting around the hallways!”
“Ah!” Shuichi jumped. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there...”
The purple haired boy grinned, “don’t sweat it!” His head tilted curiously. “So, is that your giiirlfriend?”
He sheepishly replied, “n-no, we’re just fr-“
“Good!” he beamed, hastily continuing, “open for business?”
“What? Ah-!” The other boy barged through the doorframe passed Shuichi, leaving him in a mixture of befuddlement and irritation before he could find his words. “H-hey, I never gave you permission to come in. I don’t even know who you are!”
“The name’s Kokichi Ouma!” The boy slumped into the desk chair, even more at home than Kaede had made herself earlier, crossing his legs and peering down at his fingernails. “Nice to finally meet you, Saihara-chan.”
Being as the boy invited himself in, Shuichi reluctantly closed the door. “Uh, how do you know my name?”
“Ni-shi! I’m the supreme leader of an evil secret organization with over 10,000 members; I know everything!” he cheered. “Dancing is just my side hustle, of course.”
Shuichi pondered, a hand still holding the doorknob. “I’ve… never heard of an organization that big before.”
“Of course not, silly! That's because it's a secret.” Kokichi fidgeted around on the chair. “Nah, not really. It was just a lie."
“Right...” Shuichi pondered. No matter what he asked, he somehow didn’t think he would get a straight answer. He watched Kokichi spin around on the desk chair and flick through one of the books he had on the desk. Shuichi's frustration still overruled by his awkwardness to ask Kokichi to stop.
Suddenly, Kokichi broke the silence. “Fiiiine,” he grumbled, throwing the book on Shuichi’s pillow. “If you really wanna know, it’s because your ‘not-girlfriend’ was waving around a particular emo hat with a nametag in it.”
He clenched his jaw. “You… saw that?”
“Yup!” Shuichi blushed. That was Kokichi’s actual first impression of him – getting overpowered by a girl.
His suitcase was still splayed open on the end of the bed and thought to get it out of the way, hoping to redeem his first impression rather than focusing on his embarrassment. He tried to change the subject. “So, um, have you been introducing yourself to everyone else in the dorms, or…?”
Kokichi came unreasonably close to Shuichi, peering at what he was doing like a curious puppy. “Nope! I just thought I’d swing by here since the door was open.”
He chuckled uncomfortably and fumbled with his empty suitcase, the heat of Kokichi’s breath on his neck making his hair stand on end. He tried to shuffle it under the bed. “That wasn’t another lie, was it?”
Kokichi gasped. “You’d doubt me!?” His eyes filled up with tears, but for some reason, Shuichi didn’t think they were genuine.
“Well,” Shuichi made vague eye contact with Kokichi, still uncertain without his hat. “I met you about five minutes ago, and your track record for telling the truth hasn’t been great so far...”
“Ni-shi-shi, that makes sense.” As suspected, Kokichi’s tears dried as quickly as they welled up. He folded his arms across his chest, pacing closer to Shuichi until he was backed against the wall. “Maybe you should even doubt me more," he growled slowly.
Shuichi was blushing again, not just because he was practically pinned against the wall by someone shorter than him, but because of the ridiculous intimacy between himself and someone he just met. He decided not to fumble and replied, “why should I be doubting you?"
“You tell me, Saihara-chan.” Kokichi’s eyes momentarily gazed on Shuichi’s lips. Shuichi even found himself wanting to stay in this position for a little longer, despite his thrashing heartrate.
Before he knew it, Kokichi had turned away and slumped back in Shuichi's desk chair. “Anyway, got any more questions for me while I’m here?”
“Oh, uh,” Shuichi mumbed, his heart still pounding as if he had just finished an entire ballet routine. "Hm..." he relaxed back against the wall and took a moment to think, then remembered Kaede's fear of being good enough. "How much dance experience do you have? I know Hope’s Peak scout people from all kinds of backgrounds. Kaede and I got scouted after a showcase at our old ballet school.”
“Interesting. To tell you the truth, ballet isn’t my thing. I’m more of a ‘tap’ kinda guy.” Shuichi noticed his forced grin. “So, you can imagine my surprise upon seeing ballet class at 8:30 on a Monday!”
“Ah, if you need help, you can ask me. I don’t mind.” Shuichi smiled at Kokichi, hoping he would feel comfortable confiding in him.
Kokichi crossed his legs and extended out a foot, monotonously asking, “can you help me by licking my shoes?”
Shuichi almost choked on his own spit. “What?! No! Why would you-?”
“Phew, that’s a relief. I was starting to think you were a pushover. Or a masochist, ni-shi-shi~!
Shuichi was reduced back to silence once again. He had never endured such an exhausting conversation before.
Kokichi sprung up from the chair towards the door. “You know, you’re not all that boring, Saihara-chan.”
“Yeah, sure…”
“I had a really nice time, so to say thanks, I got the perfect advice for you!”
"Advice?" Shuichi turned towards the door himself. "What is it?"
“You’re gonna need to build a looot more muscle if you don't wanna get kicked out, but you already knew that, right?” “ Kokichi smirked. “Don’t think I'm gonna forget about you struggling to fight your not-girlfriend earlier.”
Heat gathered on Shuichi's neck, suddenly self-conscious of his arms and, despite Kokichi's tendancy to lie, believed him entirely. Before he could say anything, Kokichi reassured, “don’t worry, I’m a weakling too, and that’s not a lie. Let’s totes hit the gym together sometime!” He turned on his heel and bounced down the hallway. “Laters, Saihara-chan!”