Chapter Text
It was a day like any other for Shuichi, he woke up late for classes having overslept, “Shit.” He shot up out of bed, pulling his shirt over him and brushing his teeth frantically, scrambling for his deodorant and forgoing a shower, he was too late!!
He didn't grab breakfast, just a granola bar, and some hot black coffee, he’d practically run out of his student housing building to find Kaede waiting for him “Woah- shu you look awful..” He sighed “I know. Sorry i'm late, you didn't need to wait, now you're going to be late too” She shrugged “Shuichi, it’s one class I don't think the professor with even care if we're late, besides i have something to tell you”
He took a sip of his coffee begging to walk, the coffee burning his tongue slightly “What was it?” She was a little quiet which worried him, “What is it?” He asked with furrowed eyebrows, “Umm, maybe I should just wait until you see, it's probably not that bad anyways!!” She said waving it off, “It’s been years so-” She trailed off
“What are you talking about?” He was getting nervous “Don’t worry!! It’s not that serious really!!” She said patting his back, though it really didn't do much to quell his anxiety, especially not the whispers throughout the days from classmates, it just stressed him out more and more, but the day coming to a close was the only thing that brought him comfort,
Because whatever it was (That Akamatsu and his classmates refused to tell him about) Would probably be over and dealt with by tomorrow and he could go back to his regular level of stress, but it was precisely the opposite because when he walked into the common room after his classes he saw none other than Ouma Kokichi, His eyes widened, it couldn't really be- he thought back to high school, everything that happened between them,
How he broke off their friendship
“I want nothing to do with you.”
He froze, it was harsh, but back then it seemed right, back then everything seemed right
except
Ouma, he looked different, hands holding a bag and staring at a map in his free hand, his hair stayed the same, trimmed at the back so it didn't stick out so much. Sweat prickled on his forehead, he had so many things to say, should he say hi? Sorry? Ouma wasn't even looking at him yet..
But suddenly he turned to stare at him, with a blank look, nothing, no shock, no smile, it was the expression he got in high school, when he didn't know what emotion to front, was he confused? Before Shuichi could say anything, Ouma walked up to him, “Hey, can you show me where this dorm is?” He said pointing to the number, “Oh- uh yeah i can” He stumbled out walking to the hall, still Ouma said nothing, he didn't say anything no ‘miss me shuichi?’ with that bright grin, no anger for how he left him, just apathy,
“We’re here,” Shuichi said as Ouma shifted, pulling out his key to unlock the room, Shuichi stopped him, “Do you..” Shuichi stopped suddenly “Do you.. remember me?” Shuichi said turning to look at him, it was silly, high school wasn't that long ago, he probably just didn't want to talk, Ouma just kept unlocking his door and opening it before pausing,
“Of course I do Saihara,” He said walking into his room and shutting the door behind him.
After that Ouma didn't talk to him at all, he didn't talk to anyone from their old school, and no one tried, but they did have a class, one class where Ouma talk to him, if you could call it that, their criminology class, it was one time Shuichi had answered a question posed by the professor and Kokichi stood up with a smile,
“If I could actually interject, and contest that professor-”
After those words, he
tore
apart Shuichi’s answer with a well thought out rebuttal, Shuichi was stunned,
As was the rest of the class, and he only giggled after sitting down, Shuichi was confused but figured it was a one-time thing… It
wasn't
every single time Shuichi answered a question Kokichi had a rebuttal or an argument, a debate whether the question was posed as one or not,
Shuichi could pretend like he was getting sick of it… But if he was honest it gave him a bit of a rush, to see Ouma in action again, he knew Kokichi was smart way back in high school though he never liked to show it,
He felt sparks in his chest every time they debated, heat on his cheeks like before when he was an awkward teen falling for someone so mysterious.
He wanted to learn him again, he wanted to talk to him again, to be his friend again, but he couldn't, he couldn't say anything, he was the one who brutally ended their friendship back then, and Ouma was forced to move on, he made friends with the second years, and he seemed happier with the people who understood him some, Komaeda Hinata, and Kamakura were nice to him back then,
When most of the school hated him, he’d laugh with them
genuinely
as he hadn't done with their class, he seemed to really get along with them, He just wondered how they'd messed up so badly to get such a horrible side of Ouma when Komaeda Hinata and Izuru had managed to get such a genuine one in a matter of weeks
It started back when Ouma first joined their class in high school he introduced himself vibrantly and immediately started to annoy Everyone, it was horrible but looking back on it it may have just been Ouma trying to make friends, albeit in the worst way possible, but that was the mess up point, the entire class (minus Amami & Shuichi) had awful things to say about him at the end of the day
Even if they didn't say it and were pleasant enough it was clear they didn't like him, only Shuichi tried to get along with him, only Shuichi tried to understand him, and in the end, since the class had never been on his side from the start only Shuichi had abandoned him. He remembered when the trio graduated Ouma was heartbroken, it was just a look on his face that Shuichi could just
tell
how he felt, lost and alone, but still, He didn't approach him,
Not when he saw him sitting alone at lunch, not when he saw him going home alone, not when he saw him hiding out in the library they used to go to together, in hindsight, it felt cruel and stupid, and Shuichi now a young adult regretted it deeply, but when you're a teenager everything is
such
a big deal, hell everything still felt like a big deal, Just not the things he used to think were.
He just felt like Ouma was untouchable now, he had all that time to reach out, to try and fix things but instead, he watched Ouma break apart from everyone, and become a loner, because of a dumb prank that had gone too far, he barely even remembered it now, why they had cared so much, no one did, even Miu the person who the prank was pulled on didn't even care anymore,
But instead of reaching out again, no one said anything to him, and to Shuichi, it just felt like a repeat of history watching Ouma eat alone, and this time he had no Komaeda Hinata or Izuru to get him through the first year, but Ouma didn't seem to care, he went through his days quietly, he worked alone he avoided people he didn't pull pranks like in high school, and it made a dull pain grow in Shuichi’s chest, it was like this every day all day until criminology class, the one time Ouma would speak up,
The one time he’d ever say something, they’d become rivals of sorts in this class, always at odds, the classroom turned into a debate room whenever they started, people would pick sides, really get energetic, and they turned a dull classroom into a lively debate team, and Shuichi loved it, the professor was only some annoyed by their antics- as were a few classmates like Maki and Tenko, the rest of them even a few people outside of their circle got into it, it was fun,
Kokichi had a way of lighting up a room like that, he always did, say what you want about him but he managed to make any boring day fun, interesting by any means really, and Shuichi had loved that about him, maybe that's why he was so drawn to figuring him out back then, he’d wanted to learn him, he was weird and funny and amazing, and such a puzzling person, and Shuichi was the ultimate detective (no. 2)
Every puzzle he had to solve, even though he’d given up on this one. Maybe he had another chance this time, Ouma was here, and so was he. He thought after high school that it was over, and he’d never see him again but since he was here, he had to take the chance he was given.
That’s why at lunch, before their debate class-
criminology
class, Shuichi caught Kokichi in the library, reading, sitting next to him with a book quietly, Kokichi had headphones in looking at his before looking at his book again, Shuichi just smiled with an awkward wave, that Kokichi ignored. But he sat with him before they had class,
He started to do this every day, some time’s Shuichi would bring his lunch and sit and eat with him quietly, Akamatsu even asked him where he went for lunch as she noticed his absence quite quickly “I.. have lunch with Kokichi”
She gasped when he told her, “You’re talking again?! How is he? He doesn't really talk much outside of crim lectures” Shuichi shook his head “No no- we don't really.. Talk i just sit with him, he always has his headphones in so..” She furrowed her eyebrows “So what!! You’ve been going off to eat with him for like ages and you haven't even talked to him?!” She sighed “Listen Shu.. I know high school really wasn't any of our finest moments with how things went with Kokichi but… i really think you should talk again or try too”
“I know.. I'm just nervous I guess, you're right it wasn't our finest moment but.. I was the one who really drove the knife in and twisted. He still tried to talk to me after everything back then.. And I just…” Told him he wanted nothing to do with him anymore, he was just so exhausted then, Kokichi didn't take the hint that he didn't want to talk with him anymore, even as the rest of the class ignored him,
Even as Shuichi tried to, he kept talking to him, until Shuichi had enough, after those harsh words Kokichi didn't talk to anyone from their class, eventually making friends with the second years, Kaede pulled Shuichi out of his thoughts, “highschool was rough and none of us were thinking it through, we shouldn't have been so harsh. And we can't change what we did but maybe we can repair things, ” She smiled “Cheer up! Maybe he wants to talk to you too, but doesn't know how to approach it
He sighed and nodded “I know... Thanks, Kaede, I'll try talking to him today”
Easier said than done.