Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

How did they get here? With Shuichi and Kokichi staring down at their taller, more muscular boyfriend as he slept as deeply as a human could and hugged the smallest one to his chest like he was a stuffed animal.

A long day at work for Kaito, that's how.

Of course, they felt bad for Kaito and how hard he had to work every single day to achieve his dream of reaching the stars, but they also enjoyed seeing him asleep as... Well, he was just a nice face to look at. This morning was a morning they got that pleasure. Propped up on their elbows and faces full of love and care, Kokichi and Shuichi watched Kaito as slow, long breaths came in and out of his slightly parted lips.

The only sound in the room was Kaito's quiet breathing and the distant bustling of the city outside until Kokichi spoke up in a whisper (which was the rarest occurrence in their relationship):

"...He's got freckles."

Shuichi's eyes widened a fraction and he leaned slightly closer. "Really?" Kokichi nodded and he squinted to see that he was, indeed, correct; Kaito had subtle, dark freckles across his cheeks and nose that were really difficult to notice against his tan skin. Shuichi sighed gently as he completely gushed over how adorable that was, but Kokichi's face was meticulously blank and his eyes were shifting ever-so-slightly across Kaito's face.

Apparently, the astronaut trainee sensed that he was being watched and was brought back to consciousness, eyes fluttering open with a sleepy groan. His sleepy eyes immediately met and locked on Kokichi, who was still confined to his tight embrace, chest-to-chest with the taller man and still observing his freckles. His brows furrowed and he groaned again. "...The hell're you starin' at, man...?" he complained groggily. Kokichi finally made eye contact with him and grinned.

"I'm finding the constellations!" he chriped back, the hint of pure adoration and love in his voice not going unnoticed. Kaito sighed and closed his eyes again, turning slightly (and bringing an unwilling Kokichi with him) to face Shuichi better and nuzzle into him.

"You guys... Dammit, I love ya..." Kaito admitted, teetering on the edge of sleep once again. Shuichi kissed the crown of his head with a smile.

"We love you, too."

Chapter Text

Shuichi was doing his detective work, tapping his pen to his lip with furrowed brows as he tried to piece together a tough case. His work was promptly interrupted, however, when Kaito came bursting into their bedroom.

"Sidekick! You gotta see this, come on," he said hurriedly, making a quick gesturing motion with his hands as though trying to usher him out of the room. Confused, Shuichi stood and allowed Kaito to lead him downstairs and to the basement where the washer and dryer for their laundry was, which didn't help his confusion at all...

That is until he saw Kokichi slumped against the open door of the dryer with a half-full load of clean laundry in a basket beside him, dead asleep and snoring quietly. For a moment, Shuichi's anxiety flared and he worried that something was horriy wrong with Kokichi. Perhaps he fainted, or hit his head, or wasn't eating enough again? Kaito seemed to notice his concern and nudged him slightly, successfully getting his attention. He then crept up to Kokichi and crouched beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a small, gentle shake that was certainly not meant to wake up the smaller boy.

Kokichi's breath shifted slightly as his mind was alerted a very small bit to the conscious world and his pale fingers tightened around the side of the laundry basket. It was confirmed to Shuichi that, no, Kokichi had not fained due to some sudden medical fault, and he felt thousands of times lighter. Kaito smiled lovingly and then put his hand on Kokichi's head, rubbing with his thumb.

"Pretty sure the kid wore himself out," he stated. Shuichi nodded and grabbed the laundry basket, slowly moving it away from Kokichi and setting it aside; he'd finish it himself later. Slowly and carefully, Kaito picked up the smaller boy and carried him upstairs with Shuichi following. Kokichi stirred slightly and opened his eyes, meeting Kaito's loving and concerned gaze.

"...Kai-chan?" he mumbled sleepily. Kaito smiled and nodded as they headed up the second set of stairs to their bedroom and Shuichi held his smaller lover's hand. No one said anything else as Kokichi was brought upstairs and laid down in their bed, already asleep again.

Shuichi sighed and sat on the edge of the bed beside Kokichi, taking his hand again and rubbing it softly while the latter slept away comfortably in his bed, rather than against the drying machine. "You need to stop worring me..." he reprimanded quietly. Kaito chuckled and put a hand on Shuichi's shoulder.

"I'm gonna go keep making dinner. You should stay with 'im," he said. Shuichi nodded and Kaito was grateful that he now had an excuse to stay away from his work for a while and Kokichi was getting the rest he needed. He did as he said and went downstairs to make dinner, happy that his boyfriends were upstairs together, getting better in their own individual ways.

And he'd have to make sure Kokichi stopped falling asleep in uncomfortable places.

Chapter Text

"Shuichi? What's wrong, man? You seem really off today," Kaito expressed worriedly, watching his stiff and uncomfortable sidekick with brows furrowed in concern. Kokichi laughed beside him, also looking at Shuichi as they walked.

Chapter Text

Kaito opened the door to the home he shared with his boyfriend, however the latter was nowhere to be found. The living room and kitchen were both empty, nothing seemed amiss, and all was quiet—

Oh, wait. No it wasn't.

Distantly, quietly, Kaito heard music playing, though to was far too faintly for him to make out specifically what song it was. He set his keys down on the dining room table and headed upstairs to their bedroom, the music progressively getting more audible as he went—and with that he became aware of his boyfriend's voice with it.

"Gimme, gimme! Gimme! Gimme, gimme!"

Kaito sputtered and tried his hardest not to laugh at the sound of his short, violette-haired boyfriend enthusiastically singing a Britney Spears song just a door away. He took a deep, preparatory breath, and crept towards the door, slowly and silently turning the knob, and pushing the door open at an almost non-existent rate. Once the door was open enough he peered into their room, and was met with...

Kokichi fucking Ouma, jumping around and shifting his hips to and fro, dancing sassily and passionately. He was truly fulfilling the phrase "dance like no one's watching," and Kaito thought it was the most adorable and Kokichi-like thing he's ever seen. He continued singing the song and didn't seem to notice that his boyfriend was even home, let alone watching him jump about like a giddy child.

He decided to ruin Kokichi's obliviousness and stepped into the room. Kokichi jumped and his head snapped around to see who caught him doing something so "humiliating," but Kaito grabbed his hands and began to dance like he was, jumping and swaying his upper body side to side, pulling Kokichi along with him. The latter's immediate instinct was to resist (something Kaito never truly understood about him), but he eventually gave in when Kaito made it clear that his intention was not to judge, but to participate.

Together, the two danced and sang and eventually, Kokichi's lips curled upward in a smile and he put more pep in his step, dancing with Kaito like he was previously, alone. Overall, a fun and stress-relieving experience for the both of them, and they continued dancing as Kokichi's playlist played another song until they were both worn out and standing on sore legs. Kokichi sighed and turned off the music.

"Well, I guess I should finish putting the laundry away now, huh?"

Chapter Text

On the cold days of October, where the sky’s too dark and the winds too chilled for dates outside of their house, watching movies was a common choice for Kokichi, Shuichi, and Kaito, sat upon the couch of their living room with Kokichi kicking his legs between the two taller. On the violette's insistence and love of the approaching Halloween day, a horror movie was playing on screen- lights dimmed until they were shrouded in complete darkness, each cuddled into their own blanket. Kokichi munched happily on the popcorn bucket in his mouth, sticking a piece in one of his boyfriend’s mouths every once in awhile with a giggle.

Though Kokichi laughed at every jump scare and monster, Kaito was absolutely terrified, shaking between the constellations on his blanket. Unbeknownst to any of them when they were choosing the movie, it was completely centered around ghosts, horrific creatures of etheral white popping out of every corner.

Shuichi was fairing alright- he flinched at a jump scare or two, but he did not find the concept very frightening. He had already solved the mystery anyway, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

The red-headed woman of the movie was currently walking down a dark hallway of endless broken doors, opening each one as she tried desperately to find an exit. Kaito’s breath was caught in his throat as she put her hand over the next handle, opening the door to a room of completely darkness. But as the rusting chandeliers of the hallway flickered, she saw the face of a pale little girl with chains shackled around her wrists, clutching at her throat and screaming.

Kaito screamed in return, burying his face into his blanket, he heard Kokichi giggling beside him, and it was not long before he was poking at his cheek.

“Oh come on Kai~Chan, it’s not that bad!”

Kaito pulled his head up from the blanket, seeing the worried eyes of Shuichi and some far more amused from Kokichi. “Sh-shut up! Y-you’ve probably seen this movie before or somethin’!”

Kokichi placed a finger on his cheek innocently. “Hm, nope! Never seen it before! Maybe I’m just not a coward~”

“Kokichi. That’s not nice…” Shuichi sighed, turning his attention back to the movie.

“Y-yeah! And I’m not a coward!” As if to prove his point, Kaito turned to face the television. But seeing the protagonist place her hand on another doorknob, he swiftly turned his head away.

“Nishishi! I think Kai~Chan’s a very big coward~”

“NOT-"

Kaito cut himself off when he received a kiss on the cheek from his smallest boyfriend. “Not to worry, Princess Kaito! Me and Shushi~Roll are brave knights that’ll protect you from the scary ghosts!”

“W-we will?” Shuichi squeaked.

Kokichi pouted, flipping his head over to the bluenette. “Of course, we will! You don’t want to leave the princess in the tower!”

“I ain’t a princess either…” Kaito grumbled, but not even he could hide the blush on his face, covering his face with his blanket for a completely different reason this time.

Kokichi seemed to dislike it, and started tugging on the blanket. “Come ooon! You gotta watch the movie! I already said we were gonna protect you!”

Shuichi gave an affirmative nod, smiling as Kaito relented the blanket to Kokichi with a roll of his eyes. They continued watching the movie, Kokichi now snuggling into Kaito’s blanket instead.

The protagonist put her hand on another door, and for the brief moment she opened it, another ghost stood behind the door. Though it shocked Kaito, he knew he could handle it- knowing he had Kokichi and Shuichi to protect him (as much as he did not want to admit it). The ghost stared into the screen, eyes meeting with the boys watching as it began to leave the door.

Shuichi trembled under the harsh gaze, mind immediately starting to melt at the eyes- the cruel, harsh eyes.

“Whaaat? Don’t tell me Shu’s scared too?” Kokichi whined, kicking Shuichi in the leg to bring him out of his spiraling mind.

Kaito scrunched his face in concern at just how fast Shuichi paled, trembling smile faced towards Kokichi.

“I-I'm fine…” He assured meekly, averting his gaze from that of his lover.

“Fiiine! I guess I can be the knight that protects both of youuu~” Kokichi sighed, keeping his eyes off of Shuichi’s as to not make him so nervous. “I can’t believe I’m dating two princesses! I must be the bravest knight in all the land!”

Kokichi grabbed the remote, placing another piece of popcorn in his mouth as he skipped past the staring ghosts. Shuichi’s lungs immediately filled with air again as he continued to watch, opening his mouth with a giggle when Kokichi started pushing popcorn towards it.

The partners continued watching their movie, watching the protagonist open door after door. Each and every one she opened was now empty, only building up the feeling of suspense. When they finally suffered a jump scare, Kokichi was pleased to hear the sounds of laughter following their short screams.

Eventually, the protagonist reached the end of the hallway, and went to open the door out. Before she opened the door, the movie snapped to her jumping out of the bed. Kokichi and Kaito gasping at the twist she had been dreaming (and Shuichi pretending to be shocked as to not ruin his boyfriends’ fun) and the protagonist started walking out of her room. The atmosphere had shifted into something pleasant, soft light and gentle music over the protagonist’s morning routine.

But as she was putting on her make-up, she heard a creaking floorboard behind her. Kokichi laughed as both of his lover’s jumped, and when the protagonist turned around- there was nothing but her small kitten, pawing cutely at the cuffs of her pajama pants with soft mewls.

And Kokichi screamed louder than his boyfriends ever did.

He clutched his head, the popcorn bowl flying off his lap as he brought his knees to his chest and buried his face in them- eyes shut so tight colors starting forming on the lids of his eyes.

“TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!”

Shuichi scrambled for the remote to switch off the movie as Kaito pulled Kokichi into his chest, wrapping his arms around the shorter with a look of pure worry.

“H-hey calm down already! Its just a show!”

Kokichi whined, raising his head only to bury it in Kaito’s chest as the adrenaline began to fade.

Once they were back to a screen of movie options, Shuichi turned to rest his hands on Kokichi’s waist, kissing the top of his head in concern. “A-are you okay?”

Kokichi took a breath, nodding slightly as he leaned into both of their holds.

The room began to calm slowly, Kaito and Shuichi sharing a look of concern as they held their boyfriend close. Eventually, Kokichi lifted his head, small pout facing Kaito.

“Come on Starshine, its just a dumb movie!” Kaito assured. “Besides, I thought you were gonna protect us?”

“I think our knight is scared Kaito.” Shuichi teased, thumbing the end of Kokichi’s hair.

Kokichi huffed, turning his head away with a small blush over his features. “I was not!”

Kaito gave him an unimpressed look. “Really?”

“Shut up Moronmota!” Kokichi snapped back, a teasing smile finding a way to his lips.

“Wha- Shuichi’s the one who said it!”

“Hey, don’t throw me under the bus!” Shuichi laughed.

“Yeah! Shu~Shu can do no wrong!”

“You guys are so unfair…” Kaito grumbled, earning a cheeky smile for him shortest boyfriend.

“Gotta keep you on your toes!”

“What should we do now?” Shuichi inquired, looking towards the television?

Kokichi pouted, “There’s no knights left to protect us!”

“So, you admit you’re a princess too?” Kaito pointed out with a smug smirk.

“Quiet, Space Alien!” Kokichi cried out, unraveling his arms to grab onto Kaito’s jacket.

“W-why can’t we just be each other’s knights?” Shuichi suggested meekly, looking away with swiftly growing blush.

When he looked back, he noticed a matching rosy hue on both Kokichi and Kaito’s face.

“Heh, I don’t see why not!” Kaito decided.

“Awe, but I was getting use to being a princess!”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “Knights can get cuddles too, you jerk.”

“Ooh! Okay then!”

Comedy movies were more their style anyway, so they decided to spend the rest of the night watching those instead.

Chapter Text

A gentle *knock knock knock!* sound came from his bedroom door. Kokichi groaned from his makeshift-desk made of cardboard boxes and other means of disorderly chaos, sparing an annoyed glare at the door.

"Huuhh?!" he shouted, trying to convey is irritability to whomever was on the other side of the door.

"...Go figures, you're still up,"  he heard someone mutter outside. He guessed he wasn't supposed to hear that with how soft they spoke, but this dunce should know that supreme leaders have excellent hearing. Then, they spoke louder. "Let me in, we need to talk!"

...Crap. Just his luck, the one person who decided to come behold his greatness was his boyfriend. And said boyfriend just so happened to have a displeasure with how Kokichi worked into the night, past curfew and past the nighttime announcement delivered by those stupid bears.

"Ugghhhh... I suppose you can enter!" he shouted back. The door handle rattled, then went still.

"The door's locked. C'mon, Kich," his boyfriend said, sounding slightly tired. Kokichi groaned loudly, making sure he conveyed his exasperation, then stood up and opened the door.

Kaito stared down at him for moment, then looked at the absolute chaos that was his room. He then grabbed Kokichi's wrist, successfully catching the latter of his guard, and started leading him out of the room. Kokichi was ruthlessly dragged past K1-B0's room and to Kaito's. Kaito opened the door to his dorm, entered with Kokichi still attached at the wrist, and shut the door behind them. Only then did he release the supreme leader, who was now very, very thoroughly pissed.

"What the hell?! I was busy planning a bomb threat for the academy!" Kokichi shouted with venom lacing his words. Kaito didn't even flinch, for he understood why Kokichi was so upset with him.

"Figured you'd be more comfortable sleeping in a room that isn't... y'know, filled with stuff. Ya can't relax in a room like that," Kaito said calmly. Kokichi was dumbfounded, gaping up at the Ultimate Astronaut with wide eyes. He certainly couldn't be this stupid, right?

He decided to say as much. "You can't be this stupid. Is there too much space in your skull? Do you not remember what the hell happened yesterday?!"

"I know–! I know..." Kaito grimaced, either at the memory or Kokichi's bitter words. "But I know how hard you're trying to stop another murder from happening, too. I've seen all those... psycho drawings and shit you've got written on that whiteboard. And I know you've been doing that since the beginning, too. You just kicked your brain into overdrive after the trial."

"I'm figuring out how to cause the next murder, you oaf! You'd better watch it, 'cuz I'm getting real mad!" Kokichi wanted to go back to his room and suffocate himself with pillows for being so harsh to such a kind person whose only intention was to help. He felt himself slowly being filed down by Kaito and his willingness to help someone as utterly fucked as Kokichi.

Kaito looked at him with a softness in his eyes. "Shut up, man. Lie down, you'll be less pissy if you sleep." Kokichi glared at him, but the idea did sound exceedingly appealing. But, of course, his mouth and his mind rarely agreed on anything.

"Gross! Who knows what Space Buns has been doing on that bed! I want no part, no thank you!" He was aware that he was weaking in his arguments now that the anger at getting dragged away from his work was dying down. Kaito raised a brow at him.

"I haven't been doing anything... Ew, dude..." he said, obviously trying to ignore the implications of his boyfriend's teasing.

Kokichi grinned. "I'm a better liar than youuu~! I bet you've been–"

Kaito groaned and looked away. "Q-Quiet!" he demanded, before sighing and trying a different method. "...You got me. I changed my sheets 'n stuff, so don't worry about it." The statement was awkward, and an obvious lie, but to get Kokichi to cooperate one had to learn how to approach him the right way. And Kaito was learning how to talk to his small boyfriend.

Kokichi snickered. "Yeeeeah, I knew it! As long as they're clean, I suppose it's decent for a supreme leader such as myself." Kokichi walked over to Kaito's bed and jumped onto it with a wide smile. "Woooow, it's so much worse than mine! Guess Monokuma likes me better!" he chirped pleasantly. Kaito sighed, shrugging off his magenta jacket and the jacket underneath it, leaving him in only his white and red T-shirt.

"Don't talk about that damned bear," he said, discarding the jackets on the floor to be retrieved later. He made some odd motion towards the bed with one hand. "Lie down." Kokichi surprisingly complied without a word, pulling the covers over himself with a cheeky grin. Kaito grinned wryly, then jumped onto the half of the bed Kokichi wasn't laying on, nearly launching the small boy into the stratosphere, the supreme leader screaming terrified profanities since the moment his body left the bed.

Kaito laughed loudly while Kokichi settled himself back into the bed with a pout. "Horrible, horrible bully," he said with a huff. Kaito chuckled and got himself comfortable as well. No one moved for several minutes and Kaito realized that Kokichi wouldn't sleep like this. It was awkward like this, and as long as Kokichi was even slightly tense or on-guard, he wasn't going to sleep a single wink. Kaito grinned yet again as he thought of an idea.

He was patient to execute the aforementioned idea. He waited for several more minutes until he heard Kokichi sigh faintly and he felt the bed beside him dip just a bit more as Kokichi relaxed the slightest bit. Now was the time.

Swiftly as he could, Kaito turned on his side and wrapped his left arm around Kokichi—successfully hooking him by the waist—and pulled him closer until they were chest-to-chest. Kokichi made some sort of shocked noise and immediately tried to wriggle away, but Kaito used the arm he was formerly lying on to secure the smaller boy in an embrace. "Relax," he said, tone firm but soft. "You need to sleep. So just sleep."

Kokichi scoffed, however it was quiet. "'Just sleep,' he says," he mocked. Kaito didn't reply, but simply pulled Kokichi even closer, one hand holding the back of his head against his heart. The other arm remained around his small waist.

Much to Kaito's surprise, Kokichi didn't resist any more after that. In fact, he tried to push himself closer to Kaito, burying his face in the taller man's chest and wrapping his arms around him. He hummed contentedly and closed his eyes. After a few minutes of no sound but the calm breathing of the Supreme Leader against him, he decided to look down at him.

Sure enough, Kokichi was dead asleep. And from what Kaito could tell with what little of Kokichi's face he could see (he had buried himself so deeply into Kaito's chest), he was smiling ever-so-slightly. Kaito pressed his face into Kokichi's soft, dark hair. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep after that.

Little did Kaito know, he created a monster that night. The nags from Kokichi, begging for cuddles constantly, were relentless. Not that he necessarily minded.

Chapter Text

Now, it was news to no one that Kokichi and Kaito fought often- especially not their boyfriend. In fact, Shuichi would be unnerved if they went just a day without fighting. It was harmless, of course- just meaningless bickering that somehow brought them together. It was amusing, though, watching them argue over anything and everything with an amused smile and stifled giggles on a frequent basis.

Today was just like every other, shuffling down the stairs after a tiring day of work in his office. He paid no mind to the bickering he heard from their open living room, leaning against the wall at the base of the staircase as his eyes tracked up to his two boyfriends, standing in the middle of their living room with listless annoyance written all over their expressions.

“I already told you!” Kokichi huffed, hands haughtily on his hips as he leaned himself towards Kaito, “Shushi~roll doesn’t like chicken!”

“Then why’d you even buy any?” Kaito scoffed, “If you ain’t gonna use it don’t spend me and Shuichi’s hard-earned money on it!”

“Because you like chicken space idiot!” Kokichi bit back, a faint blush over his cheeks. “It's for when Shumai’s out too late to eat with us! You’d know that if you paid any attention!”

“But this store’s a half-n-hour away!” Kaito argued, waving a piece of paper with writing too far away to read, but absolutely Kokichi’s due to the sloppiness.

“Well unless you want our dearest blueberry to starve, you’ll stop complaining and go pick up the steak!”

“If you are the one cooking then why don’t you get your own ingredients?”

Shuichi had to muffle giggles against his hand; they really were too cute.

“I still have to do the sauce and vegetables! Unless you want to be eating in the dark you’ll get off your lazy ass and run to the store!”

Kaito rolled his eyes, “You make suuuch a big deal out of cooking! Why can’t you just make something with chicken Shuichi likes?”

“Did you send your brain to space? I already told you Shu~Shu doesn’t like chicken!”

Kaito pumped a fist into the air, a confident smile across his lips, “You just can’t cook chicken in a way he likes, I bet you I could make a chicken curry he’d die for!”

Kokichi’s teasing expression fell, face blank as he raised an eyebrow, “You’re serious? Have you ever cooked something in your life?”

“Of course not!” Kaito announced, his tone full of confidence as if he did not see faults in what he was saying, “But if you can do it, then I can too!”

Shuichi watched pure disbelief fill Kokichi’s expression, mouth opening and closing speechlessly a few times before he resigned to crossing his arms, “Fine then! If you’re so confident, you can cook dinner tonight!”

“Is this just a ploy to get out of cooking duty?” Kaito asked, an uneasiness in his tone, “’Cuz I won’t fall for it if it is!”

“Has anyone else ever done cooking duty? Of course it's not!” Kokichi’s face fell into a snarky smirk, “If you're certain cooking’s easy, then I’ll give you a recipe for beef curry and you can-“

“I don’t need no recipe!”

“…What?”

Kaito started walking to the kitchen, Kokichi scurrying to follow behind, “I’ve never seen you use a recipe, unless it's like some super foreign food or somethin’, so there’s no way I’m using one for something as simple as curry!”

“You know that kinda thing comes with practice, right?” Kokichi huffed, genuine concern lacing his expression, “I don’t even know if you can use a stove!”

“’Course I can!” Kaito nodded, shuffling through the cabinet to find the rice, “I used to bake with my grandmother, so I know all the different devices! Plus, I’ve watched you cook all the time! It's like second nature now!”

Kokichi face palmed and—in a move Shuichi did not expect—turned around to make eye contact with him, “Shushi, would you make sure the space idiot doesn’t burn down our house? I’m gonna go pick up the steak…”

Shuichi’s eyes widened as he realized the shorter was aware of his presence, but nodded silently, walking over to join his lover in the kitchen.

“All Shuichi’s gonna do is watch me make a masterpiece!” Kaito called from his place at the cabinet.

“You’re a real jerk, you know?” Kokichi whined, stamping his foot childishly with a childish glare, “That’s no way to talk to the Ultimate Supreme Leader!”

“Yeah, yeah, you say that all the time…” Kaito droned, earning another huff from Kokichi.

“That’s it! You’ve wasted too much of my precious time!” Kokichi stomped his way over to their front door, ripping the car keys from their hook and throwing open the door dramatically, “I’m going somewhere I’m appreciated!”

“The supermarket?” Shuichi questioned, leaning against the wall.

Kokichi gasped, placing a hand on his heart, “My other love can speak? I thought you had lost your voice!” He moved his hands back to his hips, pointing his nose in the air, “But yes! My servants show me far more respect than you fools!”

He ignored whatever Shuichi had tried to say next, walking out the door and slamming it behind him. Shuichi shook his head as he held back a laugh, but turning to Kaito, his face fell.

“You… know you have to cook the rice first right?”

Kaito stared up at him, looking down at the rice he had plated, “Uh- yeah! ‘Course I knew that!” He scrambled to take the rice off the plate, and scraped it into a pot.

Shuichi sat himself at the dining table, head resting in his hands. He may need to order takeout…

~ ♡~

Kokichi had long past come home, and yet also been banished from the kitchen. He had been “vanquished” upstairs, so as not to “interfere” with Kaito’s cooking. Shuichi had watched helplessly as Kokichi was rather forcefully taken upstairs when he tried to give Kaito some advice, clutching a bag of contents he had claimed to be “Secret Supreme Leader Stuff.” Now, Shuichi was left silently staring as Kaito cooked the strip steaks Kokichi had bought for the cooking. If only he was able to chime in for just how long it was supposed to be cooked for.

“K-Kaito…” Shuichi finally brought up the courage to say, “It's been an hour…”

“So?” Kaito asked questionably, pouring his magnificently crafted sauce over the still-uncooked rice.

“Well… I don’t think Kokichi’s ever cooked them longer than maybe 15 minutes… n-not that I’m too certain either! But- I don’t think that much smoke is normal either…”

“Shuichi– you gotta have more confidence!” Kaito announced, “Like me! I may have never cooked in my life, but there’s never a need to doubt yourself!”

“Ah, I think this may be taking believing in yourself a bit too far…”

“Nonsense!” Kaito decided, opening the oven confidently. Immediately, the room was plunged in smoke, hacking coughs coming from the two downstairs. Shuichi’s hands flew over his ears as their smoke alarms started screeching, yet Kaito seemed to have no qualms, removing the tray from the oven and shutting it promptly, beginning to plate the charred meat on top of the uncooked rice and mysteriously purple sauce.

Even over the blaring alarm, Shuichi could hear Kokichi’s footsteps thundering down the stairs, he sprinted into the kitchen, eyes full of honest worry.

Shuichi looked over to him, giving a nervous smile as Kokichi surveyed the scene.

“He just, ah… overcooked it a bit…” Shuichi admitted, coughing into his hand as more smoke entered his lungs.

“It's alright though!” Kaito reassured, “You came down just in time, dinner is served!”

Kokichi opened his mouth, but shook his head in defeat as he sat himself across from Shuichi.

Kaito brought over the plates, a proud smile on his face, “There were a few hiccups but trust me, you’re going to love this.”

Kaito looked at his boyfriend’s faces, fully expecting bright smiles, however his stomach twisted when he saw them both staring at the plates with wide eyes.

Kokichi voice was devoid of emotion, “Did you… put water in the pot before you cooked the rice?”

A hand over Shuichi’s mouth was a failed attempt to hide his concern, “How did you turn the sauce purple?”

“I had to improvise! Kinda didn’t know how to make it…”

Kokichi snorted, a cheeky smile on his face as a plate was placed in front of him, “Looks like it's not as easy as you thought, huh~?”

Kaito sat down beside Shuichi, picking up the cutlery from his plate, “What are you talking about? I’m sure this tastes great!”

Kokichi’s expression fell as he rolled his eyes, “And I thought I lied to myself too much.”

“You do,” Kaito pointed out.

“I’m sure it doesn’t taste too bad,” Shuichi assured himself, smiling politely as he scooped up a small bite and placed it in the mouth.

“Hell yeah!” Kaito exclaimed, shoveling a far larger spoonful into his mouth, Kokichi watching on with his cheek resting on his palm and a knowing smirk on his lips.

Immediately, Shuichi and Kaito’s faces paled, Kaito hunching over as he gagged and forced himself to swallow it and Shuichi scrambled for a napkin to spit it into. Kokichi stood as his boyfriends hacked and gagged, grabbing two glasses of water and set one in front of each. He left the room to trek back upstairs as Shuichi and Kaito chugged their glasses of water, Kaito pounding his fist on the table to second it was empty.

Shuichi set his glass down, looking pitifully at his disappointed expression and placed a hand on his arm.

“I’ve… tasted worse…” Shuichi lied through a nervous smile.

“Maybe I should’ve followed a recipe…” Kaito grumbled.

Shuichi leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek with a reddening face, “I think you just need practice.”

“Kokichi could do it!”

“Well, yes,” Shuichi admitted, “But I think if Kokichi took an Astronaut Entrance Exam without studying he would surely fail, right?”

“Without a doubt,” Kaito snorted with an amused grin.

“It's kinda the same thing.” Shuichi explained.

“I kinda just thought it’d be easy,” Kaito admitted, running a hand through his hair, “And now it's late and we got nothing to eat…”

“Au contraire my crummy-cooking companion!”

Shuichi and Kaito’s heads snapped over at the sound of their shorter lover, a cheeky smile over the paper bag he was holding in one hand. He skipped over to the table, and pulled out three different takeout bowls and three plastic spoons. He began opening the dishes to reveal servings of curry, placing two in front of his boyfriends and one at his own seat.

“You… bought take-out?” Shuichi questioned, a grateful glint behind his eyes.

“Let’s just say I had a… hunch- we’d need some!” Kokichi chirped with a playful wink.

“Geez, coulda had a little faith in me!” Kaito grumbled, disappointment in his expression.

Kokichi’s smile softened significantly, walking over and wrapping his arms around Kaito’s neck. He buried his face in his hair, placing a dramatic kiss on his head.

“If you really wanna learn, I’ll teach you. And that’s not a lie.”

“I- guess I’d like that,” Kaito huffed, failing to hide his smile.

Kokichi hummed and leaned away, kissing Shuichi’s ear before returning to his own seat, “You can learn too, Shushi~Roll! We can have a cooking seminar!”

“I’d like that,” Shuichi hummed.

They held true to their word, and before dinner the next day, Shuichi was able to laugh again at Kokichi bickering with Kaito throughout their entire cooking seminar.

Some things never change.

Chapter Text

Kaito sat in the living room, with Kokichi held snugly in his arms, sitting on their comfy white couch and watching some new animated show—somewhat adult for the vulgar jokes. It wasn't really Shuichi's style, but Kokichi was pretty hyped about it, so the ravenette had offered to make dinner that night.

"Maybe we should just let Utsubi do whatever he wants..." one character suggested.

"Shut up, Jiun, you fat fuck!"

Kaito chuckled lightly and Kokichi shifted in his arms to sit up a bit more, probably uncomfortable from being in the same position for so long.

The show continued on until Shuichi came in and turned off the television, effectively gaining the attention of both boys. Kaito wore a large grin.

"Hey!" Kaito said enthusiastically. Shuichi smiled in return.

"Dinner's ready," he said in his angelic tone. Kaito nodded and sat up with Kokichi, who immediately stood from the couch.

"I'm not hungry... But thankies a bunchies Shumai!" Kokichi said, chipper as ever. Shuichi tilted his head slightly and raised a brow in suspicion, but shrugged it off. Kokichi had an incredibly small appetite to begin with, maybe he had eaten before? Shuichi had reminded them both so many times not to do that, though...

He watched with slight concern as Kokichi just sat back down and turned on a different show. Kaito spared him a glance, and then looked at Shuichi with his signature grin.

"Don't mind him, Shu! He probably filled up on candy and soda," he said. Shuichi nodded and they went to go eat dinner.

But for days after that, Kokichi wouldn't eat. He would say he was busy, he'd leave before anyone could suggest eating, or—when excuses weren't going to work—he'd go back to the tell-tale "I'm not hungry." Shuichi was so worried he felt like he could curl up and cry, and Kaito's concern came out as rage. Shuichi was frantically trying to calm him down as he followed the taller man up to their bedroom where Kokichi was working. Kaito practically knocked the door down, and Kokichi looked over with such a clueless look, smiling idly as he waited for Kaito to cause commotion.

"We don't appreciate you starving yourself," he said bitterly. Kokichi's eyes widened and filled with understanding. Then, he smiled again.

"I'm doing no such thing, Momo-chan! I'm not hungry, didn't I tell you?" His voice carried a subtle edge, like he was warning... no, begging them not to continue. If Kaito heard that part of his boyfriend's tone, he didn't show it, meaning he probably didn't.

"Cut it out! We're worried about you, don't you understand that?!" Kaito looked desperate, and Shuichi stepped in front of him.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Let's just go downstairs and eat somethi–"

"No!" Kokichi cut him off, his voice full of some sort of strong emotion that Shuichi couldn't discern. "You can't—! Y-You...! Get out!"

They had him backed into a corner. As much as Shuichi hated it, they needed to do this. "Kokichi, you'll feel better if you eat something, please, let's just—"

Kokichi interrupted him again, something that got on Shuichi's nerves just a bit. Usually it would irritate him much more, but Kokichi was obviously hiding something important, so that was on the back burner.

"Shut up!" He shrieked. "Are you trying to get me in trouble?! Is that it?! C-Cuz' it's not gonna work!!"

Kaito looked horrified, and Shuichi probably looked the same. "Get you... Get you in trouble? What the hell are you talking about?!" Kaito's voice was breathy with shock. Kokichi opened his mouth to shout again, but Shuichi quickly composed himself and beat him to it.

"You're not going to be in trouble. Why do you think that?" He forced his voice not to waver, to be soft and welcoming to Kokichi, who sat on their bed with distrust and fury in his eyes. Shuichi walked over and sat on the bed beside him. Kaito stayed where he was. Kokichi looked at the ravenette for a moment, and then visibly deflated, and relaxed slightly.

"...Nevermind. It's stupid, I... I shouldn't have flipped out." Kokichi tried dodging having to tell the truth, and Shuichi gave him an unamused look. Kokichi waited, like someone would tell him he's free to leave, but when that didn't happen, he sighed loudly. "I just... old habits, that's it. That's all."

Kaito looked at him in disbelief. "That's it?! You just starve as a habit?"

Kokichi pursed his lips for a moment and glanced at Kaito. "I prefer the term 'fasting,' thank you," he bit back. Shuichi put a hand on Kokichi's shoulder.

"He's just worried about you, too," he reminded him. Kokichi sighed again and put his face in his hands, rubbing his face for a moment before he sat upright again. Kaito came over and sat on the other side of Kokichi, keeping his mouth shut. "Why? Why did you feel the need to do that?"

Kokichi released a short chuckle, dry and completely devoid of any amusement. "I... When I was a kid, I was supposed to be skinny. Clients liked it better that way, so that's what I had to do. My mom, she'd give me some of her food sometimes, whenever my dad was preoccupied."

Shuichi, despite his rising horror as he started to understand where Kokichi's story was going, sat and listened. Kaito's expression was blank as a slate.

"Sometimes he'd figure out about it, though. That was against the rules; only dad was allowed to feed me, and he only really gave me enough to keep me looking 'normal'. That's when I got hell... because I embarrassed him, because eating just a little more than normal meant I was ugly and clients wouldn't pay for me anymore."

Shuichi stared in terror as Kokichi concluded his tale. "Sometimes... Sometimes I just get worried about it. And then it turns into paranoia." He put a hand over his mouth and suppressed a giggle, his last attempt at making light of the situation to avoid the sympathy that would follow. It didn't work, because within moments he was in both Kaito and Shuichi's arms, both of them holding him tightly.

"...Thank you for telling us," Shuichi whispered.

"Can we help?" Kaito added. Kokichi seemed to ponder this.

"I... I don't know," he admitted. Shuichi let the smaller boy go and smiled weakly.

"I can make you something small? Just to get you started again?" They both looked at him pleadingly, and he smiled in return.

"S-Sure..." Damn, he wasn't supposed to stutter. Kaito scooted closer and took Kokichi into his lap like he was some sort of teddy bear.

"And I'll stay right here! That way you don't have to worry about anything gettin' ya!"

Shuichi smiled and left the room to make something small for Kokichi, who was squirming in Kaito's hold, but mainly only to keep his defiant persona going. He couldn't truthfully say he hated where he was right then.

Shuichi came back with some soup and salty crackers and Kaito gave enthusiastic encouragements as Kokichi ate, although it wasn't needed and all he really needed was to get over the fear of punishment. That was long since gone, though, as Kokichi basked in the love of his two most precious gems.

Kokichi never mentioned it, but Kaito managed to piece together the fact that the show triggered him, and he absolutely refused to turn it on again, even when Kokichi wasn't present.

Chapter Text

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!"

Chapter Text

Currently, Kaito was chasing Kokichi around their house, arms outstretched in an attempt to reach his smaller boyfriend as he ran with a large grin.

Chapter Text

“Oh Shuichi, they’re so cute!”

Shuichi turned away from the book stand, eyes catching the sight of his best friend Kaede from an adjacent shelf in the store. He started walking over, giving a loving look to the books but pulled himself away. He and Kaede only got to hang out every so often, after all. And since they had planned to visit the mall together- he rather intended to spend the time with her.

His eyes widened once he had joined her, sighting what she was gushing over. The shelf was lines with animal plushies, each with big, sparkling eyes and cute tiny mouths. Shuichi had to stop himself from cooing at the mere sight of them.

Kaede was currently clutching one snowy white rabbit, jumping up and down of the balls of her feet in excitement, “I love them so much! And they’re so cheap!”

Shuichi’s mind wandered as Kaede continued bubbling, spotting an adorable calico cat in its plushie form. Almost on instinct he grabbed it off the shelf, unable to contain his smile at its precious form.

“I- I thought you didn’t like cats?”

Shuichi snapped his head over, eyes wide as he realized he was being watched. Shuichi scrambled to size down his smile, nervousness twisting its way into it.

“Oh- um- I don’t… I was just- thinking about how good of a- a gift it would be!”

Kaede had an eyebrow raised in disbelief, “For who?”

Time to think of a good lie- “Uh… it’s a secret!”

He thanked Atua that Kaede seemed to buy it, brightening up her smile and squeezing the rabbit tight, “That’s so sweet of you! It must be someone I know then! Awe, I can’t wait to see who you give it to!”

Shuichi retained himself from sighing in relief. Although, he may have to come buy an extra later and give it to Maki…

“Come on!” Kaede piped up, grabbing Shuichi’s hand and pulling him towards the front of the store, “Lets go pay for these!”

Shuichi nodded, smiling down at his adorable plushie before a thought snapped into his mind, “WAIT!”

Kaede stopped in her tracks, turning back to face him, “What is it?”

“I just- uh…” Shuichi racked his brain for an answer, “I promised Kaito and Kokichi I’d bring them cookies.”

“You’re so lovey dovey!” Kaede teased, taking the calico plushie from his hands, “You go get your cookies and I’ll pay for these!”

“Oh no, you don’t have to-“

Kaede put a hand up, Shuichi knowing to shut his mouth, “Its my treat! Now hurry, hurry! We don’t want to be late to our reservation!”

Shuichi nodded, moving towards the back of the store as fast as he could.

~ ♡~

The warm sun beat heavily on Shuichi, the sun beginning its descent into the horizon. He adjusted the bag in his hands, one with leftovers from his trip to the restaurant, and the other of shopped goods: cookies and a cat plushie.

He hummed along to nothing, biding his time and trying to ignore the heavy crowd of people. The more turns he took to make it back to the house he shared with his boyfriends, the more the crowd diluted. Before he knew it, he turned onto an almost vacant street. It was a street he had to pass every time he walked into the heart of the city if he was coming from his household, though Kaito and Kokichi practically banned him from walking it alone. They all understood that it was not the best street by any means, with run down buildings and hardly a soul inside, but Kaito was certainly strong enough to fend for himself and Kokichi was probably already one of the goons in the street. Shuichi was training to get stronger, but he still was nowhere near Kaito’s strength or Kokichi’s intimidation, so thus his boyfriends forced him to carry his job-supplied pistol if he ever had to cross it.

This time, however, he heard not a gang of miscreants muttering nor shifty passerby. Instead, he was stopped by a faint, soft mewling that immediately caught his attention. He snapped his head over, noticing he was standing in front of a dark, foreboding alleyway, with a certain little contradiction padding its way out. Emerging from the darkness was the delicate figure of a gray kitten, beady black eyes blinking up at him the innocence of a, well- kitten.

Its stomach was sucked close to his ribcage, an evident effect of the starving of a stray. Shuichi’s heart wrung in pity, knowing he could not stop himself as he kneeled to the floor. He shuffled through one of his bags, pulling out the restaurant’s container and opening it for the cat. He smiled warmly as the sweet creature approached and started nibbling at the chicken, unable to resist the temptation to thumb through its silky soft fur.

He wanted to say in that moment forever- the precious bundle of joy so close to him, but the last thing he wanted was to stay in that neighborhood any longer than he had to- if only to keep his boyfriends from worrying- so he left the food for the cat to feast on, stroking it one last time before he stood up and continued his journey home.

He could barely take his eyes off it, and the moment he did it was replaced with a memory of the cute creature- enrapturing his mind strong enough for him to not even notice as he emerged into the bright, sunny street he lived on. He hardly even realized he was walking up the steps to the porch, only really snapping back to it when he had to put the keys in the lock.

Shuichi creaked open the door as gently as possible, determined not to disturb whatever his boyfriends were doing. But to be honest, he was surprised it was not chasing each other around or yelling horrid insults at each other. He knew they loved each other- but even he knew they did not show it normally most of time. He reveled in those sparse moments, where Kokichi smiled at him genuinely and Kaito lowered his loud voice or petted Kokichi's hair.

He was always more of an observer than a performer, much to the dismay of his boyfriends.

Said boyfriends were surprisingly calm, a documentary on space playing on the television, with the two cuddled up against each other on the couch in front of it. Kokichi was tucked under Kaito's arm, leaning on his chest with hands in his lap. Kaito has his arm wrapped around Kokichi's side, pulled up to play with Kokichi's head. Both their eyes were locked on the screen, calm and deep breaths filtered in the serene silence.

Both their eyes jumped over as Shuichi opened the door, Kokichi pulling up a smile as quick as he could, and Kaito relaxing into one far softer.

“Shu!” His smallest boyfriend chirped, wriggling out of Kaito's grip- most likely to not get caught doing something so “embarrassing.”

“You have fun with Kaede?” Kaito asked, leaning himself into the couch more now that Kokichi’s presence was absent.

“Yeah.” Shuichi answered simply, approaching the couch as a comforting familiarity washed over him.

Kokichi spotted the bag, immediately standing and trying to run over to it, “Ooh! What’d you’d buy huh?”

Shuichi’s heart stopped as he saw Kokichi come closer, immediately throwing the bag behind his back.

Kokichi stopped just in front of him, surprise flickering across his face before a smug smile quickly took hold, “Ooh~ I bet its naughty~ Its naughty isn’t is Shuichi?!”

“O-of course its not!” Shuichi screeched, blush engulfing his face.

“Stop being a little gremlin’,” Kaito huffed, grabbing the remote and pausing the television, though he was also eyeing the bag curiously.

“I-it’s a surprise,” Shuichi stuttered through. He never was the best at lying.

“Yay! I love surprises!” Kokichi chirped, skipping back over to the couch and plopping himself on Kaito’s lap, earning a yelp from the taller, “Come join us! Don’t leave me to rot to this boring science stuff!”

“Hey! You said you liked it!”

Shuichi shook his head in mock disappointment, “Alright, alright. Just let me go get changed…”

Shuichi did not let them respond, fumbling to walk up the stairs quickly, but not quick enough to draw suspicion.

He evidently failed though, Kaito turning to Kokichi the moment Shuichi was up the stairs.”

“You think something’s wrong with ‘im?”

Kokichi’s eyes were still glued to the stairs, a calm smile upon his lips, “Probably was just anxious in the large crowd.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Kaito unpaused the documentary, shifting so Kokichi was more comfortable in his lap.

But Kokichi kept his eyes on the stairs, resting his chin on Kaito’s shoulder and- the moment he knew he was no longer looking at him- dropped the smile to stare at the stairs suspiciously.

But that’s a lie. I didn’t feel him shaking when I got close and he didn’t turn his eyes away from me. What are you hiding Shuichi...?

~ ♡~

Shuichi sighed as he entered the room, flooded with relief. He leaned against the door, placing a hand on his chest and taking a deep breath. He fumbled behind him to lock the door- just in case- and moved towards the closet.

He opened their walk in closet and moved over to the very back- the wall given to him because it was the smallest, and he certainly wore the least amount of clothing. He smiled warmly as he remembered Kaito arguing Kokichi should have the smallest section because he basically only wears Shuichi and Kaito’s clothes, and his clothes were the smallest anyway. Kokichi had not fought against the first comment, but Kaito certainly got an earful for the second.

He knelt down to his shoe rack, packed enough to block the back wall, and gently moved it out to the side. Behind it was a small wall compartment that suspiciously came with most of the houses they saw- but he never understood their purpose. It seemed he was the only one who knew it was there- easily keeping Kokichi away from it by covering it with the work shoes Kokichi knew he would be killed if he moved around. He undid the latch for the compartment and pulled a black chest out of the small space.

He put it on his lap, thumbed the combination, “11037” into the tumbler and undid the latch.

Opening the box, he was met was warmth he scarcely got to indulge in. The box was brimming with cat themed objects: mugs, stickers, plushies, pictures, and of course- the prize of his collection- a kitten adoption form from a local center. It was his favorite kind of kitten- a calico matching his plushie, said plushie was placed in the box as he pulled out the paper- thumbing over the photo of the cat.

Her name was Yuki. At the time he got the form Yuki was only two weeks old. Now- she was six months and she had yet to be adopted. He put the form back in the box, locking it and placing it back, closing the compartment and placing the shoe rack in front of it before standing slowly.

He gripped the bag, now only holding cookies, tightly. He loved cats- he loved them so much. They were precious bundles of fluff and love, and he’d love to snuggle up with one each night. He thought about it so often, and the cat he wanted, it was right there- so easy to get.

“Shumai?”

His head snapped over, and in the closet’s doorway was the figure of his smallest boyfriend, leaning against it with a genuine smile, “You okay?”

His heart clutched as he saw him, returning his smile, “Of course.”

“Don’t lie to me silly,” Kokichi hummed, walking over to him and wrapping his arms around his waist, “I’m the best lie detector in the world, remember! Better than any of those silly old machines and even the Ultimate Detective!”

Shuichi rolled his eyes playfully, “Of course you are.”

“You’re worrying Kai~Chan too, you know?” Kokichi tilted his head, big- curious eyes blinking up at him innocently, “He thinks you got scared from being out so long, that true?”

Shuichi shook his head, “I didn’t sleep very well last night.” It was so much easier to lie when he knew what was at stake.

Kokichi sighed, “Alright, I’ll let you keep it a secret! Oooonly if you show me what the surprise is!”

Watching Kokichi’s smile twitch as he breathed, his eyes fluttered as he blinked.

It brought back memories. Memories of the horror on his face whenever a cat appeared on a screen. Memories of holding his hand as Kaito rubbed his back when he was vomiting for minutes on end after Kaede brought over her cat without warning- attempting to surprise them with her new kitten, and the psychogenic fever he experienced that same night.

He knew it was more than just some silly fear that Kokichi could handle- having a cat in the house would be intolerable for him. He knew it- after watching Kokichi moments away from a panic attack as he gave Shuichi a cat plushie for his birthday- after watching him scrubbing his hands for hours after having to buy it and hold it until he could give it to Shuichi. That was the day Shuichi started the lie he disliked cats- he just could not handle the guilt on Kokichi’s face when he could not stomach to look at the plushie he had so gratefully bought for Shuichi, or the tears when Kaito yelled at him for pushing himself so far.

He apologized over and over again, while washing his hands over and over again.

Yeah- it was definitely no silly little fear.

But he could not bear to get rid of such a thoughtful gift, and thus, the start of the cat chest.

“Come on, I’ll show you in the dining room!”

He pulled the violette downstairs, meeting up with Kaito in the dining room and- after reassuring Kaito he was doing fine, pulled the cookies out of the bag.

“You bought cookies?” Kaito gasped, immediately ripping open the container.

“Yay! These are my faaavorite!” Kokichi immediately turned to Shuichi, gripping onto his sleeves with a cookie between his lips.

“Mk mu! Mk mu! Mk mu!”

Kaito laughed, resting an arm over Shuichi’s shoulders, “Think that’s supposed to be ‘thank you.’”

“See Kai~Chan!” Kokichi scoffed, pulling the cookie out of is mouth, “I told you there was nothing naughty in the bag! You have such a dirty mind space alien!”

“Wha- YOU WERE THE ONE THAT SAID-“

Shuichi could not hear them over his own laughter.

Yeah- he’d rather have his boyfriends than a cat any day.

Chapter Text

Kokichi's island:

• Absolutely named it something like 'Deez' or 'Ligma'
• Named himself Lord Kokichi and snickers to himself whenever his villagers call him that
• He grinded for Stitches and Bob and refused to use amiibo cards because he wanted to get them "fair and square"
• His island is organized chaos—his map takes forever to maneuver and learn
• He put a maze right at the start of the island out of terraforming (Shuichi has the correct route memorized)
• Decorated nicely in most places, some small ones are filled with junk he refuses to throw out "just in case"
• He got Patty on an auto-fill and absolutely refused to interact with her at all until he could kick her off
• Either wears his own custom design clothes or a maid dress he bought from Able's
• Uses reactions constantly
• He loves to play hide and seek on his island with Shuichi and Kaito, who can never find him because of how packed his island is
• He didn't really shoot for a specific aesthetic when decorating his island, he just did what he felt like doing
• He doesn't have HHA, so he goes to Harv's studio and decorates rooms for his villagers to quench that thirst
• Too focused on his own island to go to dream islands
• Made a whole breeding farm for blue roses because he spends his bells too fast and needs that good source of income 
• He loves the pill bug, and keeps one in his inventory that he lovingly calls Monsieur
• He likes playing holding the entire Switch (like not removing the joy-cons)
• Had a 2 month long streak at one point, averages at a 4 day streak most of the time
• 5 stars almost immediately with how much he decorates and such

Shuichi's island:

• He named it 'Shuichi's island'
• He named himself Saihara
• He got Coco and was absolutely ecstatic about it, and then felt disgraced when he saw the interior of her house
• He's drawn to the villagers with plain personalities, like Coco, Lolly, and Merengue
• He bought HHA, but doesn't use it too much
• His island is dark academia themed
• Decorated all of his villagers' homes and gave them clothes to suit his aesthetic (Kokichi said he was turning his villagers emo, to which he was offended)
• He. Loves. Jeremiah.
• Anything that he isn't using goes in his home storage
• He doesn't have Nintendo Online, so he can't do dream islands, which he doesn't mind
• He likes the Orchid Mantis, but doesn't keep any because it goes against his aesthetic
• Visits the museum often to look around
• Makes his own custom designs and uses them for many different things
• Jock villagers make him feel comforted, though he doesn't know why... (it's because they subconsciously remind him of Kaito)
• He fully upgraded his home but didn't know what to do with the extra rooms, so he decorated them for Kokichi and Kaito
• Doesn't design his own clothes, he buys what Able's has
• Speaking of Able's, he loves Sable—LOVES her, he's a kinnie
• He likes to play with the joy-cons in hand and the screen propped up in front of him
• Managed to breed blue roses on accident
• He could keep a streak up if he wanted to, he just gets busy—average is about 3 days
• 5 stars wasn't his main focus, he was just decorating and grinding for Nook Miles when he found a Lily of the Valley

Kaito's island:

• Named it something like 'Starship' or 'Star island'
• Named himself Luminary Momota
• Terraforming is his go-to—very little decorating, lots of terraforming
• Pipes everywhere on his island, he didn't even bother to hide them
• He has telescopes everywhere even though they don't do anything
• He doesn't like lazy villagers too much
• All of his villagers are random jocks except for... Stitches and Jeremiah
• Looks for shooting stars all the time
• He never really plays unless Kokichi and Shuichi want him to
• Doesn't have HHA
• He's on that 'Tom Nook is evil' bandwagon. His buildings are barely upgraded because he doesn't want to talk to Nook
• Doesn't have Isabelle and is jealous because his boyfriend's do
• He goes to dream islands sometimes and gets jealous of how good other people's islands are
• He did make a makeshift little campsite high up for the three of them to stargaze sometimes
• He quits the game—no matter what he's doing—if he sees Wisp
• He likes Celeste though :)
• Puts the joy-cons on a grip and plays on their TV
• No streak, ever—he's not much of a gamer
• Doesn't have 5 stars and may never have 5 stars with how little he decorates

Chapter Text

Mental note:

Never, ever let Shu and Kich watch that fucking show again.

Kaito made the first of many mental notes as his boyfriends clung onto him tightly and slept away peacefully, a thin sheen of dried tears over both of their faces. From crying so much just a little over an hour ago. And Kaito laid there between them, exasperated, just relieved that the pure chaos from before was over.

He sighed quietly, watching as Shuichi's head, lying on his chest, rose and fall along with his body. Shuichi was laying on Kaito's left, head on his chest and hands on his side as if confirming that he was there. Kokichi, much more open about his clinginess than Shuichi, had his arms tightly hugging Kaito's torso and his legs wrapped around Kaito's, effectively trapping him. Kokichi's mop of dark curly hair rested in the crook of Kaito's arm, which was growing increasingly number.

He didn't mind. If it meant his boyfriends were content and calm and not crying over some TV show anymore, he'd gladly let the feeling in all of his limbs die out for the rest of the night.

"Okie dokie! I got the blankets!"

"I've got the lights!"

"I'll get the show started."

And thus, all three boys were seated on the couch, lights off and covered in the surplus of blankets that Kokichi had scavenged all around the house for to continue their binge: just a heartwarming they liked to do to wind down sometimes before bed. Right now they were watching Kimetsu no Yaiba, finishing the Entertainment District Ark. The characters were in the middle of their fighting, and it seemed like it was nearing the end. All three boys (even Shuichi, who wasn't as drawn to action-packed shows and movies) were completely immersed in the show, wondering what would happen next.

"Kich, could you sit still?"

"I can't! My Restless Leg Syndrome is acting up again!"

"You don't have Restless Leg Syndrome!"

Shuichi sighed. "I'm not starting the show unless you two calm down."

Kokichi groaned and, with a final defiant kick of his legs, forced himself to be still. Kaito gave an indignant puff of air as he leaned back against the arm of their couch. Shuichi sat beside the back of the couch, and Kaito sat on the edge with Kokichi happily smushed between them, facing the TV as Shuichi pressed the triangular 'play' button.

They all watched with wide, focused eyes. Shuichi was trying to determine what would happen next, Kokichi was analyzing every little move and detail, and Kaito was too sucked into the amazing courage and bravery that all of the characters displayed to concern himself with anything else.

It was revealed that one of the characters, Tengen Uzui, was severely injured and on death's doorstep, and Kaito could feel the excitedly buzzing aura in the room dissolve, like a small spark of a flame that got a bucket of water dumped onto it. He looked over at Kokichi and Shuichi, and they both met his gaze and smiled back at him. He decided to shrug the feeling off and continued watching, though he noticed in his periphery the way that his boyfriends' gazes lingered on him for just a moment longer.

They continued watching the show and the positive vibes in the room seemed to be beginning to build back up. Kokichi had started to shift his legs around again, shuffling back and forth in an attempt to get comfortable, when Kaito couldn't take it any longer.

"Dude, do you need muscle relaxers or what?" He teased. Kokichi shot him an offended look that almost seemed genuine before he grinned widely.

"Oui! A fistful of them, if you please!"

He noticed Shuichi squirm uncomfortably. "Please don't joke about that..."

Kokichi offered Shuichi a big smile and an affectionate pat on the head, his way of apologizing without actually being vulnerable. In return, Shuichi put an arm across Kokichi's shoulders and pulled him into the ravenette.

"There. Better?"

Kokichi put an index finger to his lip and his eyes shifted to the side thoughtfully. "Hmmm... No! I'll just do it for the sake of your puny little feelings!"

Shuichi grabbed one of the blankets covering him and adjusted it to cover Kokichi, too. "I'm glad."

Kokichi huffed, pouting at the fact that Shuichi could so easily see through his lies, and Kaito chuckled as he turned his attention back to the screen. His brows raised slightly. "I think that Lord Tengen guy is gonna die," he observed. Immediately, both Shuichi's and Kokichi's eyes were on the screen, only to find a dying Tengen Uzui on the screen.

Before anything more could happen, Kokichi started shouting. "Noooooo!! Dammit! DAMMIT, I JUST HATE W-WHEN THEY KILL OFF ONE OF THE F-FAN FAVORITES!" he wailed. Kaito scrambled to pause the show, startled by Kokichi's loud crying.

"Jeez! You scared the hell outta me!" he complained. Kokichi parted from Shuichi and threw himself at Kaito, flopping into his arms like an old rag.

"K-KAITOOOO!" he cried. "Y-You hate it too, d-don't you?! When the-these big ol' e-entertainm-ment corporations make a character s-s-so likeable j-just to kill them off f-for views?! DON'T YOU?!"

Kaito had no idea what to say to that. Just as he was about to sputter out an awkward agreement, he shifted just a bit to see Kokichi's face better, and realized that... Kokichi actually looked genuinely upset. His tone of voice sounded forced and over-dramatic, but seeing his face, he looked like he was really crying hard. He looked up at Shuichi for support, but when he did, all he saw was Shuichi watching the event unfold while also crying, albeit silently.

Kaito felt completely lost. Both of his boyfriends seems upset, and were crying, and he had no idea why or how to fix it. He awkwardly patted Kokichi's back as he wailed, and focused his eyes on Shuichi.

"Hey, man... Why're you crying all of a sudden?" he asked gently. Shuichi met Kaito's gaze for just a moment before he looked away and rubbed his eyes of tears, though the salty drops just kept coming, cascading down his face quickly.

"I just... r-r-really l-liked Teng-gen..." he mumbled before he was cut off by a curt sob and an abundance of sniffling. Kaito was completely dumbfounded.

I could maybe see Kokichi crying over a character death, but... Shuichi? He's usually the most rational, so why's he so upset? Tengen was alright, I guess...

He shook his own opinions out of his head and slowly started pulling the covers off of them. Kokichi's legs curled further into Kaito as a result of the lack of warmth. Kaito turned off the TV and looked at Shuichi, the only one who seemed like he was going to be able to listen to a word he said; Kokichi seemed far to hysterical to focus on anything.

"Let's go upstairs and lie down, 'kay?" Shuichi paused for a moment before he nodded with a other meek sniffle. Kaito put his arms around the ball of Kokichi crying loudly on the couch and picked him up as carefully as he could. As soon as Kokichi was held against Kaito's chest, he grabbed onto Kaito's shirt so tightly his knuckles bleached white and buried his face in the taller boy's shoulder. Shuichi slowly pulled himself up off the couch and followed Kaito upstairs, shuffling behind without a word like a sleepy toddler.

When they finally made it to their bedroom, Kaito scooted himself to the center of the bed and lied down, gently laying Kokichi next to him. Shuichi crawled into bed on Kaito's other side. Before he knew it, both Kokichi and Shuichi were clinging to him and crying.

Kaito felt completely awkward and worried, and he pulled them both closer to him. He gently rubbed Kokichi's back and wrapped his other arm around Shuichi's waist, keeping them both secure and close to him.

"So... Why are you guys so upset? There's something I'm not getting, right?" He directed the inquiry primarily to Shuichi, who looked up at him, then glanced at Kokichi and his gaze softened.

"I-I think..." He sniffled and exhaled quietly as his crying started to stop. "I think we both thought of the same thing."

Kaito stopped rubbing Kokichi's back for a moment, but quickly resumed the comforting motions when the smaller boy whined and shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

Shuichi moved slightly closer to Kaito, a faint blush fading into his features. "W-Well... Tengen reminded me of you since the start..."

And it all hit Kaito like a train. Kokichi and Shuichi had liked Tengen so much because he reminded them of Kaito. And when Tengen died...

"Ohhh... Well you guys don't need to worry, 'cuz I'm not goin' anywhere!" He smiled and pulled the two even closer. Kokichi sniffled and took in a deep yet shaky breath as his crying started to die down as well.

Shuichi hummed in agreement and closed his eyes. Half an hour later, there Kaito lay. In his bed with Shuichi and Kokichi clinging to him and sleeping blissfully. He himself started to drift to sleep after a while, comforted with the knowledge of just how much his lovers cared about him.

The next time they had their binge, Shuichi was lightly embarrassed to find that Tengen never really died, and Kokichi was stomping around with a face flushed red as it dawned on him that his borderline mental breakdown was for nothing.

Chapter Text

Was it just commonplace now? Shuichi sitting upon their sofa, watching Kokichi and Kaito go back and forth in a row, squabbling pointlessly. He certainly found it amusing, its own special type of television program. This time, Kaito seemed to have the upper hand, lifting a bottle of Panta high above his head, Kokichi jumping on the tips of toes with an arm outstretched uselessly, a prominent pout on his face.

“Come on! I want it!”

“This one’s mine!”

“Grape Panta’s my thing!”

“Other people can like Grape Panta, Dimwit! Go get your own!”

Kokichi gave up trying to reach for it, instead stamping on his foot with curled fists at his sides, “I would but someone puts them too high up for me to reach!”

“That’s so you don’t drink 20 a day!”

Kokichi was short, that much was obvious. Even scientifically, he was considered abnormally short. Now Shuichi and Kaito knew not to tease Kokichi for the reason he was so short (that reason being malnutrition and being shoved in small spaces during his childhood) but knew they could tease him for the state of being short. As such, they did so whenever opportunity peaked. Of course- only they were allowed to. If anyone dared to bully their tiny boyfriend for his height, they would get a wordful from Shuichi and probably a fist to the face from Kaito.

Kaito was tall, that much was obvious. It was no weird phenomenon like Kokichi’s height, but it was a generally accepted truth that he was on the taller side of males. 6 foot may have sounded basic, but it was no joke, especially when compared to someone like Kokichi.

11 inches. Almost a foot of distance between the two, and it showed too. Standing upright, Kokichi barely met Kaito’s shoulders. Shuichi was a middle man, right between the two when it came to height. He never had any difficulties. He was short enough for Kokichi, tall enough for Kaito. To be honest, he never took the time to think about what that meant for them. The more he thought of it, the more times he could account the difference in their heights being noticeable outside of just teasing, mind whirring through memories as it did when new information came to light.

Kokichi and Kaito must have noticed this detective face of his, turning their attention with confused looks. Kokichi was the first to speak, though, he usually was.

“What’s Shumai thinking about? It better be how to get my Panta back!”

Kaito snapped his head back over to Kokichi, “It’s not your Panta.” Remembering the situation, he turned his attention to Shuichi, “But the gremlin’s right, what’s up?”

Shuichi had to blink himself back into reality, bringing his chin off the fist it was resting on to sit up straight with hands folded in his lap and a subtle frown, “I just… realized how difficult it must be for you two.”

Kaito’s nose scrunched as it usually did with confusion, “Difficult?”

Shuichi tilted his head in curiosity, “Yeah… I mean with how different you two are in height.”

Kokichi stuck a finger to his cheek, “Huh? Whatta ya’ mean?”

Shuichi put a hand on his chest, expression falling into something soft, yet clearly upset. Kokichi and Kaito could sense how the pity was eating at him, and quickly shared a look, taking places sitting on either side of him in case they needed to jump in for swift comfort.

“I mean…” Shuichi’s eyes glazed over in wistfulness, “I’m- just- I’m kind of realizing things are a bit harder for you two.”

“Like?” Kaito prompted.

Shuichi’s mind flashed to a particular memory, “I can kiss you both so easily. But when it comes to you two, well…”

Kai~Chan! Lean down!

Kaito rolled his eyes at his smallest boyfriend, walking over a bit from the closet of their bedroom to kiss Shuichi on the lips before heading off for work that day. Shuichi did nothing but smile before having to stifle a laugh as Kokichi followed their tallest boyfriend like a lost puppy. He gripped back onto Kaito’s front, cheeks puffed out and faux, watery eyes.

”You know I’m gonna break my back one of these days,” Kaito grumbled, watching Kokichi whine and try to balance on the tips of his toes. Try as he might, Kokichi could not place his lips any higher than Kaito’s chin, just making him whine more.

“Just do it!” Kokichi whined, “I want a kiss toooo!”

Kaito rolled his eyes, hunching over with an uncomfortable grimace to brush his lips against Kokichi’s. Their kisses goodbye never lasted as long as either with Shuichi, the position being far more uncomfortable for the two of them. They never looked as suave either, or- really, suave at all. Shuichi loved them to pieces, and he certainly did not mind any PDA between the two, but even he felt awkward watching them try to kiss standing.

Kaito ruffled Kokichi hair a bit before bidding them both a quick goodbye and moving out of the room. The moment he was gone, Kokichi turned to face Shuichi, resuming his prior pouting.

“Its no fair! You always get better kisses!”

Shuichi smiled, “Ah- there’s not much I can do about that…” Yet he saw the genuine disappointment in Kokichi’s features, and an idea came to mind. He walked the short distance over, wrapping his arms around Kokichi and leaning in ever so slightly, “But maybe I can make it up for you?”

Kokichi’s expression melted away, arms rolling over Shuichi’s shoulder as he moved until their lips were barely an inch apart, “I suppose.”

“Not to mention hugging. I’ve seen how well that goes…”

”I’m back!”

Kaito walked through the front door, stretching out his arms after a night out training with Maki. Shuichi had quite a bit of work to do, so he had stayed behind, but at least that meant there was someone there to keep Kokichi from getting lonely or having his abandonment anxiety flare up.

He could tell the order of his boyfriends coming down the stairs by their footsteps. The first pair was a gentle, slow step, followed by a much stronger- much faster, thundering. He saw Shuichi’s form emerge from the bottom of the staircase, a plaintive smile on his face.

“Welcome back.” He said softly, approaching closer until Kaito finally closed the space between them for a quick hug. It was fast and easy, arms wrapping around each other for a quick squeeze and slowly drawing away to meet their eyes. They were interrupted shortly, however, as Kokichi popped out of the staircase.

“Momota~Chan’s back!”

Kaito smiled at the cheery tone, moving towards the source and wrapping his arms around Kokichi with the same vigor as Shuichi. Unfortunately, using the same vigor on his much smaller, much more fragile boyfriend resulting in Kokichi, essentially, being crushed. Arms that could probably wrap around him twice crushed him weirdly into his collarbone, Kokichi yelping and flailing his arms as he quickly lost oxygen and feeling in his face.

Kaito quickly realized and let his boyfriend free, scratching at the back of his head nervously as he anticipated the arguably deserved screaming.

He was correct to anticipate, “MURDERER!” One hand was dramatically over his head, the other on his chest, “Shumai you gotta save me! Kai~Chan’s been hypnotized by Maki~Roll and became an assassin!”

“I don’t think anyone would pay to have you killed ‘Kichi…” Shuichi pointed out.

Kaito just flicked the Violette on the head, “I can think of a few people!”

Kokichi let his act fall, placing his hands behind his back with a grin, “Nishishi! Just be careful who your crushing! I’m a very important leader you know~”

“Its not even just physical contact. I remember you two struggling with eye contact as well…”

Shuichi leaned idly against the arm of the couch, watching Kaito go on a long rant to Kokichi about something. He was following along at first, but he completely lost the conversation when he noticed a growing strain on Kokichi’s face past the fifteen minute mark of listening. At first, Shuichi had assumed it was boredom- but he quickly dismissed that theory. As much as he would deny it and pretend to be annoyed, Kokichi loved listening to Kaito’s rants and speeches. Besides- if it was boredom- Shuichi doubted Kokichi would have dropped his head to stare at- nothing- for the past five minutes. Not Kaito, not Shuichi, just staring blankly at the wall.

It took Kaito that whole five minutes to notice he had lost Kokichi’s gaze, immediately dropping his previous focus, “Hey! You’re supposed to look at someone when they talkin’ to you!”

Kokichi huffed, annoyance glistening across his face, “Well it hurts! You cramped my neck!”

“I did what?”

Kokichi still was not meeting Kaito’s gaze. It looked- odd. To see someone talking without looking at their chosen recipient while literally sitting on that recipient’s lap, “It hurts looking up all the time you know? Of course you don’t! You will never understand my pain Kaito!”

He fell into his boyfriend’s chest with a fake sob, eliciting an eye roll from the taller, “Quit it with the melodramatics. And don’t act like I don’t get it. It hurts to look down at you all the time as well. Hell, my neck’s been popping all the recently. You better not break my neck before I get to go to space!”

“Well then I guess we should just stop talking to each other!” He pointed his nose haughtily in the air, but winced and lowered his head again. It made Shuichi’s heart quiver in empathy; he truly was in pain.

Kaito hardly paid attention to his nonsensical ramblings, rubbing Kokichi’s back idly as his gaze drifted over to someone he could easily look at: Shuichi.

“You’ve really thought through every scenario,” Kokichi chuckled, but it was dry and empty.

“But it’s serious. It really is. Even the general way you guys live has turned into arguments…”

Kaito hardly ever slammed the front door, but when he did Shuichi knew it meant something had agitated him. Maybe not hardly after all… he got agitated pretty easily, being his default negative emotion if emotions got confusing. Shuichi had been scribbling notes away on the couch, jumping when the door did in fact slam. Ah, he was certainly not looking forward to two fussy boyfriends, having listened to Kokichi muttering to himself while cooking up dinner for the last hour. He had no clue what was twisting up either of them, having not looked back there yet. But he was sure he’d knew rather soon.

“Come on, Kokichi! Is it really that hard?”

“What? What do you want?” Kokichi sneered, Shuichi turning to see him- standing on a chair next to the counter?

Kaito threw the extra bag of groceries Kokichi had forgotten on the table, “Do you know how long it takes me to fix the car after you drove it? You put the seat all the way forward, all the way up, it takes a good five minutes to get that back! Not to mention the steering wheel, the mirrors, and the cameras! Just put them back afterwards! I get it, your short. But it’s getting seriously annoying fixing that!”

Kokichi was silent for a moment, with that stone- cold face that sent shivers down Shuichi’s spine, “Your annoyed with my height?” In an instant, his expression was fuming, jumping off the chair with a hand gesturing back to it, “Do you know how much extra time I spent getting the groceries out of the top shelves! I’m not gonna carry around a step stool when I’m trying to cook!”

“Oh I don’t put stuff away right?” Kaito grumbled, fists balling up, “I strain my back getting out the clothes you put away every day! Stop putting everything in bottom drawers!”

“Then put away your own clothes!”

“Put away your own groceries!”

Shuichi saw it escalating, realized there was no joking nor light heartedness to their argument. He stood up, biting back his nervousness to approach them, “H-hey, stop it. Both of you need to walk away from this.”

Kokichi and Kaito both snapped their heads over, but neither could keep their eyes angry directed at their perfectly innocent boyfriend. Still, when Kokichi looked back at Kaito, his expression filled with that horrid apathy.

“Get the damn groceries out of the top shelves if you want me to fix the laundry.”

Kokichi walked away, no emotion in his face nor body language. He disappeared upstairs, most likely to their bedroom, giving Shuichi and Kaito both a moment to take a breath.

“Sorry Shu’…” Kaito breathed out, running a hand down his face, “Its just- really annoying how far away everything is from me in my own house.”

“I’m sure he feels the same way,” Shuichi reasoned, walking over to place an arm lovingly on his boyfriend’s, “Come on, lets fix the groceries together, okay?”

Kaito nodded, placing a kiss on Shuichi’s forehead before they started working on the kitchen.

“And worst of all, people stare- you know they do… I questioned for the longest time why people would stare at you two holding hands or walking together in public until that coworker of mine spoke up…

Shuichi was loving showing his boyfriends around his agency. Sure, he had been nervous at first how people would react. But everyone was so kind, so understanding. Kaito was a bit intense and Kokichi was hardly holding back any- eccentric lies, but they were still accepting them, nonetheless.

“See? There was nothing to worry about.” Kaito assured Kokichi, Shuichi watching them from his place just a little bit ahead, leading them to another coworker’s office.

Kokichi huffed, turning away from Kaito, even if Shuichi could see how he squeezed his hand in affection, “I already told you, I wasn’t nervous!”

“Sure,” Shuichi laughed, stopping in front of a female coworker’s desk with a nameplate reading “Shiyu.” Him and Shiyu got on well. She was a bit girly and gossipy, but it was never harmful- always naïve and trying to be supportive.

She noticed Shuichi’s presence from behind her laptop, slipping a loose strand of dyed blonde hair behind her ear as she sprung up from her desk, “Sai~Sai! Its so good to see you!”

“You two, Shiyu,” Shuichi acknowledged with a nod.

Shiyu opened her painted pink lips as if to speak, but quickly turned her attention to Kaito and Kokichi, “Ooh~ who are these two hunks?”

Shuichi looked back at them with a small smile, “The tall one’s Kaito, and the other’s Kokichi. They’re my boyfriends.”

Shiyu laughed, clapping her hands in excitement, “Tall! I can see that! Awe, look at you two, like tall and small!”

A murmur of laughter broke out at the office at the cute nicknames, but blush was engulfing both Kaito and Kokichi’s faces. Shiyu seemed none the wiser, giggling behind manicured nails, “Oh my god! He barely goes up to your shoulder! That’s so adorable! You two are so adorable!”

Shuichi felt his body go cold, watching the discomfort grow on his boyfriend’s faces. Kaito was embarrassed, sure, but his protectiveness over Kokichi was far more visible. Kokichi easily took the teasing from his boyfriends, but there was one thing he truly could not stand- being treated like an “adorable” child because of it. Nothing else was said, but Shuichi could see Kokichi’s eyes darting between the laughing detectives, all blissfully unaware of how it affected him. He slipped his hand out of Kaito’s, muttering some excuse about going to the bathroom and walking away.

Shuichi raised up a hand to stop him, but Kaito lowered it with nothing but a shake of his head…

By now, waters were meeting the rims of Shuichi’s eyes, a hand over his mouth. Kokichi was thumbing over his other hand, Kaito rubbing his back warmly.

“I-I just,” Shuichi whimpered, “I don’t know how you deal with all of it.”

“How we deal with all of it?” Kokichi’s smile was just as potent as before. Though it may have seemed cruel, he knew the comfort it brought Shuichi to see there was nothing to pity. He acted immediately, jumping up and pulling Kaito from his seat, “I think we need to do a demonstration Kai~Chan!”

“A demonstration?” Kaito said through a laugh about his boyfriend’s antics. Shuichi sniffled, holding his own little smile as he wiped at his eyes.

Kokichi held his hands in front of his chest, effectively holding Kaito’s there as well, “Tell me Kai~Chan! Since you’re sooo much taller, how can we possibly ever kiss?”

Kaito seemed to catch on with just a glance over at Shuichi, matching Kokichi’s enthusiasm, “Its easy! I can lift you up like this!”

Kokichi squeaked as he was pulled from his feet, swung around in a circle with a giddy laugh before wrapping his legs around Kaito’s waist and placing an exaggerated ‘MUAH’ on Kaito’s lips. He leaned away, meeting Kaito’s gaze though in truth, they were both talking indirectly to Shuichi.

“How could we ever hug, Kokichi?” Kaito played his little game, a rare occurrence, but it was swiftly lifting the nerves out of Shuichi.

Kokichi jumped off Kaito, placing his head and arms on his chest, “I can’t really wrap my arms around you! But I can still get snuggles!” He rubbed his head back and forth, purring softly like a cat, “Besides, I like being held tightly,” He admitted in a softer tone, “It… makes me feel safe.”

Their little act was warming Shuichi’s heart, his hand on his chest for a completely different reason as he watched Kokichi lean away with that shiny smile back on.

“And how, pray tell my love, could I deal with the horrible strain of looking at your face?”

“Pretty sure you’re not complaining’ about neck massages we went and learned to do.” It was true, Shuichi had been gracefully gifted with one of both of their neck massages when he had stiffened his muscles working. He had wondered when they got so good at massages… “Never would’ve learned if we didn’t have that reason!”

Kokichi was leaning an ear on Kaito’s chest. They were so different in height, and yet they looked so perfect- swaying there together.

“And the awful monsters of things being set uptoo tall and short!” Kaito gasped. Shuichi had to admit, his acting was just as funny as Kokichi’s, “How could we cope?”

“Why by turning our other boyfriends into servants of course!” Kokichi giggled, letting his arms hang loosely on Kaito’s waist, “I totes get annoyed that things are high up! But I get to make Kaito and Shuichi bend to my will and get me whatever I want from high up! Just like an evil leader!”

“And I get to see our own ‘evil supreme leader’ grabbing things out of lower drawers just so I don’t have to strain myself,” Kaito tutted, “And he says he’s not lovesick!”

“But the worst of it all!” Kokichi pretended to faint backwards, but was caught by Kaito’s arms, “The stares! The judgement! The mockery!”

“I don’t know how to handle it, do you?” Kaito said through a grin when he heard Shuichi laughing.

Kokichi snapped back up, jumping and booping Kaito on the nose, “Simple! We just don’t care what people think of us! And if they let something so simple weird them out then maybe they’re the dummies!”

Kaito nodded, “Definitely.”

“But there’s more…” Kokichi said slyly, earning a confused look even from his acting partner. Kokichi’s eyes darted down to the Panta bottle, still in one of Kaito’s hands. Kaito saw, and immediately lifted it up too high for him, “How are we to get our well deserved treats down when our evil boyfriend uses them to mock our shortness?”

Kaito realized where he was going with it, eyeing him warily, “Don’t you dare!”

A screech was heard as Kokichi darted his hands under Kaito’s shirt, tickling his sides until he was barking out laughing, dropping the Panta to wrap arms around his stomach. Kokichi caught it with practiced ease, skipping back over to the couch and sitting next to Shuichi while opening the bottle.

“You jerk.” Kaito breathed out, collecting himself as he walked out of the living room, “Fine, I’ll just get another one…”

Shuichi managed to stop laughing, and when he met Kokichi’s eyes, he was no longer smiling that faux smile. His eyes were innocent, his smile was that tiny, subtle smile you could only see if you looked close enough. He set down the Panta, leaning on Shuichi’s shoulder and intertwining their hands.

“You know Shumai…” He spoke in a whisper, Shuichi deducing that it prevented Kaito from hearing from the kitchen, “It’s hard.”

“I know,” Shuichi said, though his own smile was unaverred as he placed his head on Kokichi’s own.

“But all those memories, they were from a long time ago, back when everything was new.” Shuichi could see Kokichi slip his eyes shut, falling into tranquility, “Me and Kaito were still learning how to deal with it. Of course, we got upset and angry. It was really hard to deal with- watching you kiss him, hug him, with casual ease. And worst of all, watching you walk around with him, with no one staring- no one judging.” Kokichi leaned up briefly, kissing him softly before returning to his shoulder, “But we learned, and practiced, and compromised. Sure, its still hard. But we all make our different sacrifices for love, and this is just one of ours.” He leaned away to look into Shuichi’s eyes, “So don’t worry about us, okay? I know its cheesy to say, but I love you both just the way you are.”

Shuichi just hummed, leaning in to kiss his totally not adorably romantic boyfriend. They were interrupted however, as Kaito sat himself on the couch with a new bottle of Panta.

“Leaving me in the dust, huh?” Kaito chuckled.

Kokichi had been forcefully pulled away by the rise of the couch, now sticking his tongue out at Kaito, “Geez dummy! We were having a moment!”

“And I’m crashing it!”

“Hmph! So rude!”

Shuichi just laughed, letting himself lean into both of his boyfriends.

Kokichi was right. He had nothing to worry about.

Chapter Text

”You're disgusting.”

Kokichi smirked, placing his hands behind his back and leaning towards the woman, “Really? Didn’t know you thought so poorly of me, Maki~roll!”

Maki's fists shook, a sure sign she was trying to stop herself from strangling him.

Kokichi was unaffected, simply sticking his hands behind his head with a grin, “That’s a lie of course! Your little boy toys seem to like me quite a lot~”

”You're manipulating them and you know it,” Maki snarled. Kokichi has to admit, that one did sting a little bit, “I don’t know what you did, but once I do your life will be snuffed out before you know it.”

”Why so hostile Harukawa~chan?” Kokichi lilted, “You jealous they picked me over you?”

“I don’t like them like that and they don’t like me like that,” Maki snapped, prowling closer until she was standing over Kokichi with murder in her eyes, “And you'd be stupid to think they like you like that. They can think what they want, but you don’t deserve to be anywhere near them, much less dating them.”

She turned, and starting walking away, “They’re perfect for each other. You’re just a deadweight.”

Despite the painful memory of yesterday, Kokichi was humming peacefully whilst pushing the vegetables around the pan- got to keep up appearances after all! He had no clue what have set Maki off so badly. He wasn’t one to join their nightly trainings hardly at all (and even if he did he was only there to mess with them) but she had not gotten nearly furious enough to pull him aside and threaten him the last time! Maybe it was because he was sitting on Kaito’s back while he was doing his push ups, causing quite a nasty coughing fit. Kaito's coughing fits were harmless, he knew that, but maybe Maki did not…

Her words had been empty, something she spat at him constantly just because she was unable to understand why her best friends tolerated her enemy, but everything they burrowed their way deep into Kokichi’s mind. They would repeat in his head over and over, burn in his chest like scorching hot stones. His smile was a façade, unable to keep those words from seeping into his heart.

And you'd be stupid to think they like you like that. They can think what they want, but you don’t deserve to be anywhere near them, much less dating them.

He took a deep breath, trying to keep himself from spiraling. Shuichi and Kaito still did not know what she said to him, and if they did he would surely receive endless comfort that it wasn't true, because it wasn’t true.

He looked over to the couch. Shuichi and Kaito were curled up together, the TV long turned off. No noise was being made, they must have been asleep- together.

He shook his head and returned to his work, because it wasn’t true.

Luckily he looked back to perfectly crisp vegetables, meaning he could finish his lonely cooking and have a nice meal with his boyfriends.

He moved the vegetables into a serving dish, bringing them over to the already set table with grilled fish centering it. He turned off the stove and skipped over to the front of the couch, ready to wake their boyfriends from their sleep.

He was right, Shuichi’s head was tucked gently in the nook of Kaito’s neck, Kaito having an arm wrapped loosely around his waist and his face in his hair. They were both drifting off, Kaito’s subtle snoring making it obvious they were both entering deeper sleep.

Kokichi huffed at the sight, batting away the tentacles of betrayal and jealousy that started creeping towards him and poked both of them hard in the cheek at the same time.

They didn’t wake up.

He stamped his foot, letting out a breath of frustration before jumping into Kaito’s lap and blowing a raspberry in Shuichi’s ear.

Both of them awoke with a screech, Shuichi almost stumbling off the couch and Kaito grabbing onto him in instinct.

“WHAT THE HELL, KOKICHI?” Kaito barked, letting Shuichi go as the detective gave an apologetic smile.

Kokichi just grinned, “Its dinner time you lazy alien!”

Kaito grumbled, running a hand down his face with his neck leaning on the back of the couch, “’m too tired…”

Shuichi nodded in agreeance, eyes slipping shut and laying back on Kaito’s shoulder.

Kokichi pouted, puffing out his cheeks as much as possible, “What? After I cooked you this beautiful meal?” tears began shimmering in his eyes- fake, of course.

Kaito patted him on the head with a yawn, “Not now ‘Kichi…”

“Its only 8!” Kokichi whined.

“We’ll eat it tomorrow, kay? Shuichi hummed without even opening his eyes.

“Wanna come to bed?” Kaito asked Kokichi, threading his hand in Shuichi’s and offering the other to Kokichi.

“Not without food! I’m hungry!” Kokichi whined, yelping as Kaito slipped him off his lap.

“Come to bed when your done eating,” Kaito mumbled out. He dragged Shuichi up and all the way up their staircase. Kokichi opened his mouth to refute, but closed it the moment they were out of sight with nothing to say.

The betrayal and jealously he had pushed away threw themselves into his mind without any warning. He clutched his hands to his chest, wiping away the fake tears he had performed with and silently walking over to the table. He served himself food, stomach churning in the quiet, only the sound of cutlery clinking.

He knew he was good at cooking, but the fish taste bitter, and the vegetables made him feel sick.

He could be alone, of course he could. He was used to it really. He was alone all the time, when Shuichi and Kaito were off at work. He didn’t even usually mind when Shuichi and Kaito were off together but…

And you'd be stupid to think they like you like that. They can think what they want, but you don’t deserve to be anywhere near them, much less dating them.

He dropped his fork, listening to it clatter against porcelain as he buried his face in his hands.

It wasn’t true, It wasn’t true. He was spiraling- he was just thinking nonsensical things. He didn’t need comfort- no- he didn’t need reassurance- he just needed to go sleep with Shuichi and Kaito- get his kisses in the morning and everything would be okay.

He just put the food away. He lost his appetite anyway. All he could think about was being in their arms.

He slapped the thought away. He couldn’t spiral.

He rushed up the stairs the moment everything was clean, gently pushing open their bedroom door. Most of the lights were off, but a soft lamp was still glowing. He did not know why, they always slept in complete darkness. Still, with it he could see the forms of Shuichi and Kaito cuddled together, so perfect- like two pieces of a puzzle.

Kokichi did not fit with them like that. No- he was from a different puzzle entirely.

He tried to move into the room, tried to place himself right between the two, just like he always did, but with the thought he realized- Shuichi and Kaito were pressed against each other- where he usually slept.

There wasn’t any room for him.

No- that wasn’t true. He could sleep on either side. If he could just. Enter. The room.

He did, but only to grab a blanket from the closet. The midnight blue, star covered blanket Kaito would wrap around his shoulders whenever they watched movies.

He dragged himself back down to their couch. It wouldn’t be an- uncomfortable place to sleep. He had before, but his stomach was twisting and sick, his eyes were watery and his throat felt stuffed with cotton. He wouldn’t cry over stupid paranoia- he wouldn’t.

He curled himself at the top of the couch, resting on one of the throw pillows. He had lied to himself, of course, and was crying within a minute, curled under his boyfriend’s blanket- still trying so hard to keep the thoughts away.

He fell asleep fighting his own mind, giving up on fighting tears, and feeling so- so alone.

~♡~

Shuichi buried his chest further into Kaito’s chest, sighing contents even as the sunlight forced his eyes open. It was so rare to wake up cuddling Kaito. Usually he would be pulling Kokichi into his chest while Kaito had his arms wrapped around the two of them- and it was rare to see Kokichi up before him- so now that he thought about it maybe he should be more concerned…

Kaito seemed more on top of things than him, pulling himself up whole rubbing his eyes with a low grumble of, “Where’s K’kichi?”

Shuichi shrugged, sitting up himself, “He must’ve woken up early..?”

Kaito raised an eyebrow, “You sure he even came to bed? We didn’t really see him.”

Shuichi put a finger to his chin in thought, “Why wouldn’t he? He didn’t explain any sort of work…”

Kaito hoisted himself off the bed, stretching his arms towards the sun, “There’s only one way to find out! I betcha he’s downstairs!”

Shuichi nodded with his normal, polite smile, beating down his worry and joining Kaito on his path downstairs. Sure enough, by the time they were on the staircase, he could smell the delicious aroma of Kokichi’s vegetables. Shuichi did not know what he did to his vegetables- but they were better than any restaurant. Ironic for a boy who only loved sweets to make what he despised so thoroughly…

Kokichi’s familiar hair was visible from the end of the couch, and upon closer inspection, a stack of papers was in his hands. He was scribbling unreadable text on it, and his face was facing away- making it impossible for Shuichi to see his expression.

Kaito seemed just as concerned that Kokichi had not noticed them, “Morning ‘Kichi!”

“Morning.” His voice was- sweet- sweet in that honest way that meant so many different things. It was either a genuine calm- or a perfect mask. “Breakfast's on the table.”

Shuichi peaked over the wall to see the grilled fish and vegetables back on the table. The places were set as well, but only Shuichi’s and Kaito’s.

“Thanks Ko,” Kaito hummed, taking his own spot as with Shuichi, “You’re not coming?”

Kokichi shook his head, barely visibly from the dining room, “Already ate.”

Kaito brushed it off, cutting up more of the fish and serving pieces to him and Shuichi.

Shuichi opened his mouth to prompt Kokichi, but cut himself off as Kokichi abruptly stood and starting walking towards the staircase. His face was visible, holding a smile that matched the soft sweetness of his voice, “Shuichi can I use your office?”

Shuichi met Kokichi's gaze and nodded, “What do you need it for?”

His smile grew, “D.I.C.E stuff.”

Kokichi left upstairs, leaving Shuichi to meet Kaito’s gaze. He seemed concern, earning a hand on his shoulder from Shuichi, “You alright?”

Kaito sat a moment in silent thought before scratching at his chin, “I don’t know he just seems way calmer than usual…”

“Maybe tired?” Shuichi suggested, taking a bite of the fish, “It is odd he didn’t wake for us to wake up though…”

“There’s nothing wrong with getting’ a head start on the day!” Kaito explained, “He must be super busy.”

“I suppose,” Shuichi conceded, “Now, where did you want to go today?”

Kaito stopped eating briefly, “Did we say we were all going out today?”

Shuichi gave him and unbelieving exercise before giving a nod, “Yeah, on the ride to night training remember? We've been really busy with work, I'd like to spend this weekend with Kokichi.”

Kaito smiled at Shuichi’s excited look, “Why don’t we go to the mall?”

“And get exploited into buying useless things?” Shuichi laughed.

“Its called spoiling him!”

“Not if he has to fight you for it.” Shuichi pointed out.

“Well maybe I’ll just get him whatever he wants,” Kaito huffed, but was unable to hide the tease in his expression.

The two finished their breakfast, chatting idly about what they’d do and where'd they go in and after the mall. The moment their plates were out away, they decided to go grab Kokichi. Kaito opened the door, noticing Kokichi sitting at Shuichi’s desk with an empty expression, but the moment he noticed their presences- his face lit up.

“Welcome to my humble shack!” Kokichi said with arms open in greeting.

“My humble shack,” Shuichi giggled.

“We going to the mall, that alright with you?” Kaito asked, leaning into the doorway with his arms crossed.

Kokichi’s expression fell into an empty gaze, “Sure…”

Kaito chuckled, “With you, moron.”

Shuichi nodded, but starting shaking his head after Kaito said moron.

Kokichi opened his mouth as if to speak, but quickly dropped it for another polite smile, “Nah, I’m still really busy. You two have fun though, kay?”

“Are you sure ..?” Shuichi’s tone was laced with disappointment, fiddling with his fingers nervously.

Kokichi tilted his head, “Yeeep! D.I.C.E won’t run itself! Bring me back something nice, mkay?”

Kaito nodded, but his own lips were pursed as well, “Alright, see ya’ Starshine.” He walked over, attempting to place a kiss on Kokichi’s forehead, but Kokichi pushed him away.

“Ewww! Momota~chan’s stinky! I don’t want any kisses from him!”

“Geez, alright.” Kaito grumbled, ruffling his hair and walking out of the room.

Shuichi followed, but not without giving Kokichi a long glance.

~♡~

Kaito was blabbering about whatever nonsense came to his mind as they walked along the mall's hall. He had a bag in each hand, eyes locked forward to their next destination. He glanced over to Shuichi, noticing he had been silent for awhile, and saw a gaze he knew all too well.

“Hey, you okay Shu?”

Shuichi flinched as he came to, giving Kaito a shaky smile, “I- I’m just thinking about Kokichi…”

Kaito frowned, “I know your worried about ‘im, but you gotta learn to let loose.”

“I know…” Shuichi sighed, “But he might be…”

He placed a hand on the small of the detective’s back, “You can say what you want.”

Shuichi swallowed dryly, “Do you remember that time in summer last year we came home and he was packing a suitcase?”

Kaito cringed at the memory, “Yeah. He had convinced himself we were gonna break up with him and tried to leave before we could.”

Shuichi nodded, “Do you remember how he was acting leading up to that?”

Kaito’s eyes widened, stopping in his tracks, “You don’t think…”

“I think we should go home,” Shuichi suggested, finally meeting Kaito’s gaze, “He’s- being distant. And that’s never a good sign. I don’t want to leave him alone if he’s vulnerable to his emotions. If he might be- spiraling.”

“What- what would even have triggered it?” Kaito asked, worriedly beginning to walk back the direction they had came and dragging Shuichi along with him. They had to get home quickly if Shuichi was right, “God- how didn’t I notice…”

“It was subtle,” Shuichi reassured him. He was right- Kaito was smart, but he wasn’t a detective like his boyfriend, Shuichi was way better at picking up on reactions and behavior changes. It was difficult to hide anything from him, even the smallest fragments of sadness, “And I could even be wrong. He could just be- having a bad day or something…”

Kaito shook his head, “Give yourself more credit, your intuition’s hardly wrong!”

“I- I guess…” Shuichi conceded, pulling out the keys and unlocking the car the moment they had exited the mall, “I just hope he’s alright…”

The ride home was swift, but tense. Kaito was sitting in the passenger seat, bouncing his knee in impatience. He thought back to last night, a question forming on his lips, “You think- Ko’ ever came to bed last night?”

“Not if he was spiraling.” Shuichi answered, his grip on the steering wheel tightening, “That time it got really bad, he hadn’t slept in our room for a week. He kept coming up with excuses… staying at D.I.C.E or staying up until we couldn’t tell he hadn’t come to bed.”

“That should’ve made it obvious,” Kaito grumbled, “Just- drive faster…”

“Kai I’m already speeding…”

They made it home in record time, both exiting the car and moving anxiously towards the door. Kaito didn’t take the time to knock, fishing out his keys and pushing his way into the house, followed shortly by Shuichi. They both took the time to look around- only spotting their boyfriend once they had moved further into the house. He was standing at the kitchen’s counter, a bowl of rice sitting untouched on the counter. He was just- staring at it- eyes foggy in a way they both knew meant he was off in his own mind. His face was blank, no sign of anger or fear, though the apathy was concerning in itself.

He did not even notice them come in- wasn’t saying or doing anything. Shuichi and Kaito shared a look, both moving slowly and moving to either of his sides.

Kaito started with placing a hand on his shoulder, earning a squeak from the shorter as his gaze shot up. Kaito just smiled as Kokichi calmed himself down, face melting easily into one of those faux smiles.

“You’re home early.” He hummed, taking a second to glance back at Shuichi.

Shuichi wrapped his arms around his waist, leaning on one of his shoulders, “Wanted to stop it before it got bad.”

Kokichi visibly flinched, eyes casting away guiltily, “What- what are you talking about. M”

“Ko…” Kaito warned through gritted teeth, “You’d tell us if something was wrong, right?”

Kokichi was still for many moments but nodded eventually. It ticked Kaito off, but he took a deep breath, placing a hand on Kokichi’s head.

Shuichi and Kaito spoke to each other through looks, both deciding to start pulling Kokichi towards the living room.

“Okay,” Shuichi said through a smile, “We trust you.”

Kokichi’s face twisted into more guilt, eyes still pointedly staring at the floor as he nodded once more.

“Lets watch a movie.” Kaito suggested, “It’s a pretty low energy activity, hm?”

“No I-“

“Am going to watch a movie with my awesome boyfriends and have a great time,” Kaito finished for him, sitting himself and Kokichi on the couch. Shuichi walked back to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of panta from the fridge and setting the rice inside it.

“You hungry, Kichi?” Shuichi asked with a calm tone, walking back over to the couch and handing Kokichi the Panta.

Kokichi said nothing, just took the soda and watched Kaito open the bottle for it.

“Me and Shuichi were watching a movie while you were cooking dinner last night,” Kaito reminded him, “We thought you would like it a lot, wanna watch?”

Kokichi shook his head, lips tightening as his hands gripping the bottle started to shake.

Shuichi ignored his denial, knowing what he really wanted and picked up the remote to turn on the movie. Kaito placed an arm around Kokichi’s waist, placing the other on his hands gripping the bottle. Shuichi set down the remote, wrapping both arms around Kokichi and leaning on his shoulder. They knew what they were doing- and though the movie was playing, neither were paying attention, just waiting…

They didn’t have to wait long, hearing a sob within the first five minutes of the movie. Kaito smiled sadly, taking the soda from Kokichi’s hand and placing it on the floor. He placed a hand on Kokichi’s cheek, pulling his tear-ridden face up to meet his.

“Happy or sad?”

Kokichi held his lip between his teeth, but finally relinquished it to say, “Happy…”

Kaito smiled, burying Kokichi’s face in his chest. Shuichi kissed the back of the violette’s head, resting his forehead on the back of his neck.

“We love you.” Shuichi told him, “You deserve to be here.”

“And that’ll never change.” Kaito added.

Kokichi was quiet minus the small whimpers and sobs, but they knew the thoughts always plaguing his mind were melting away. He finally relaxed, resting an ear on Kaito’s chest to watch the movie they wanted to share with him.

Their grips were tight, refusing to let their tiny boyfriend go. They’d never let him leave- he was where he belonged- right in their arms.

Chapter Text

Shuichi was peacefully reading upstairs in his bedroom, alone, with all lights off and curtains closed, the star-shaped fairy lights his boyfriends loved so much that were hung across the wall behind him being the only thing illuminating the pages that drifted his mind away from reality every time he read them. Shuichi, all curled up in the bed they shared and sinking into the pillows that smelled of both lavender and men's cologne, absorbed each word of the book with a calm, peaceful smile. His boyfriends downstairs, doing whatever it was they wanted and keeping quiet just for him, just to give Shuichi his time to unwind and relax.

Chapter Text

Shuichi’s work week had been exhausting and it all peaked at that day.

His case load had been enormous, for a reason he could not even explain. Sure, he almost always had a ridiculous amount of cases, being the ultimate detective. But that week had been too far, not only was his work load intensified, but his clients were diabolical demons. Half of the “victims” he had gotten cases from had turned out to be criminals, and the other half were just downright rude. Hell, he probably only had one or two genuinely kind clients that week, and it had been just chaotic. Small case after small case, meaningless and annoying and frustrating.

Needless to say, as he walked into the front door of his shared home, he was ready to just curl up in bed with a book, already feeling a dull ache in his temples from his building annoyance.

Luckily, the house was not too loud when he entered, only the repetitive sound of the popcorn machine from the kitchen, and the shuffling of cases on the movie shelf. As he started to remove his coat and boots, his eyes darted over to the movie shelf, seeing Kaito rummaging through the large stack of films clad Ina comfortable hoodie and sweatpants. He almost groaned at the realization- tonight was movie night, a tradition they had on the last day of Shuichi’s working week (not that he didn’t continue to work on more challenging cases in his free time) to help him unwind. Frankly, he was not keen on the loud blaring of movies that night. In fact, he had just recently purchased a murder mystery novel by the name of Manic he really wanted to read. it would be so much nicer…

He did not even realize he had entered his own little world until he heard Kaito calling his name, snapping him out of it as his taller boyfriend scooped him into a hug. He yelped, cringing at the abrasive feeling of tight arms squeezing around him but sighed anyway, and hugged him back.

“You alright?” Kaito mumbled as he released him, “You looked totally spaced out.”

“Are you sure its our Shumai~” He heard Kokichi call from inside the kitchen, “He might have been placed by an imposter, yenno?”

He smiled softly as Kokichi emerged from the kitchen, his hair tied back loosely and clad in one of his own dark grey sweaters. He leaned up to kiss Kaito on the cheek before walking over to kiss Kokichi on the forehead, trying his best to stay composed and comfortable for his boyfriends.

“Geez, Kai~Chan was right, you look like a mess!”

Shuichi’s eye twitched, but he gritted his teeth and laughed nervously, “Just a long day…”

“Clients given’ you a hard time huh?” Kaito scratched the back of his head, “Those assholes never know how to solve their own problems!” He grabbed Shuichi’s shoulder, pulling him towards the movie case, “How about you pick out the movie tonight then? We got some new ones recently, I just put ‘em on the shelf today!”

“Oh… um, you can choose Kaito,” Shuichi assured him, “I- really don’t care what we watch tonight…”

Which was just a polite way to say he did not want to watch anything at all.

“Nope! You get to pick what were watchin’ today! Not lettin’ you back yourself back into your corner,” Kaito laughed, but it did nothing but burn something under Shuichi’s skin as he was brought over to the movie case.

As he heard the popcorn machine flick off, his eyes darted over. From his peripheral, he spotted his book on the kitchen table, eyes widening as he remembered buying it just yesterday.

“Actually I think I’m going to go read for a little bit…” Shuichi suggested meekly, he always did struggle with telling people what he wanted, “Seriously, you can choose Kaito.”

He walked up to the table, just steps away from the book before Kokichi snatched it up, dangling it in front of him with a chershire grin, “Ooh~ Shushi~Roll wants to abandon us to read his pornography novels in the bedroom alone? Nu-uh not on my watch!”

“Its- its nothing like that!” Shuichi sputtered, “Its just a mystery novel!”

“Sure, sure that’s what all the perverts say,” Kokichi snickered, flapping the book in front of Shuichi’s face, when he tried to grab it, he pulled it away, “Gotta be faster Shumai! Come on, use those detective reflexes.”

Kokichi ran to the other side of the table, Shuichi in tow as he tried to grab his book. He knew Kokichi was just joking around, he knew, but he could not help but feel anger begin to boil his blood.

“Kokichi…” He smiled as best he could, “Can I please have my book?”

Kokichi threw the book at him, but caught it before he could grab it and cackled, “I don’t know, caaan you? You’re the nerd who wants to read on a Friday night, use proper grammar plebian!”

“… may I have my book?” Shuichi tried again, chasing aimlessly as Kokichi took another lap around the table, laughing all the while. He could hear Kaito laughing in the background, clearly taking it just as humorously as Kokichi.

But it was really wearing Shuichi’s patience thin.

“Trying to abandon your beloved boyfriends for a book!” Kokichi leaned forward with a smirk and holding the book out to him tauntingly once more, “You’re so cruel Shuichi! A cruel little book nerd~”

After such a long day, such a tiring day, such an annoying day, he could not take it.

He ripped the book from Kokichi’s hands before he could react,

“If I’m cruel then you’re an annoying brat.”

Shuichi’s face was unmoving, but his eyes bled with hatred and his voice was hissing and venomous. He could see the amusement fall off of Kokichi’s face into a look of surprise. Shuichi turned without another look back, storming off with the book in his hand. On his first step on the staircase, he heard Kaito call,

“Shu wait-“

He felt Kaito’s hand on his wrist, but he was quick to shove it off, “Get off me. Why don’t you go find whatever braincells your missing that keep you from picking out a movie by yourself?”

He stormed up the stairs without another look back, hearing nothing from below him as he made his way into their bedroom.

He slammed the door behind him, throwing the book onto the bed before sitting on its edge. He took a shaking breath, burying his face in his hands with a whimper of regret,

Because he really, really regretted that.

But he could not help it, he just- did not know what else to do. He just took heaving breaths, trying to just calm himself down, trying to take back whatever stupidity happened downstairs.

His mouth went off by itself, just flooding out the pent up frustration he had failed to keep to himself. What kind of person was he? They had nothing to do with his anger, and yet he took it out on his caring, loving boyfriends who were clearly just trying to make him feel better…

God, he felt horrible.

He took deep, calming breaths, using his regret as a motive to get himself cooled off as fast as possible. It was not long, until he felt he could think clearly again, finally able to register everything around him.

He was able to register the door slowly creaking open, the lights left off as footsteps started thudding towards him.

“Hey Shuichi…” He heard the low, rumbling voice of Kaito, felt the mattress dip under his weight, “You alright?”

Shuichi raised his head, letting his hands fall into his lap as he nodded nervously.

“Pretty sure lyin’ is Ko’s thing. He’d be pretty bitter if you took it from him.”

Shuichi wanted to laugh but could not find it in himself to do so. Instead, he picked at his hangnails, “I’m… I’m sorry. That was- that was so uncalled for and I-“

He quieted when Kaito wrapped an arm around his shoulders, tucking him in close, “Its alright Shu. We’re used to it by now,” Kaito chuckled, but Shuichi did not find that very amusing.

“That… you shouldn’t be used to that.” Is that really how Kaito felt? He was just… used to being insulted?

“We’re used to being morons and not pickin’ up on when you’re heated,” Kaito started rubbing circles into his waist, “That was our bad, Shuichi. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

He rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “That doesn’t make it okay.”

“Its fine,” Kaito dismissed, “Still, you know you can just tell us when you’re not feelin’ a hundred percent. You know if you tell us I won’t push ya for anything and Ko’ will quit the teasing.”

“I know…” Shuichi whispered, his voice beginning to shake, “That’s just… hard. I don’t want to- bother anyone.”

“Well, we’ll work on that,” Kaito decided, “Wanna sit here and calm down for a bit?”

Shuichi nodded, and the two of them lapsed into silence.

It was- calming. Honestly it seemed all he really needed was a few minutes with his boyfriend to begin to feel better. Perhaps people were right when they called him good-tempered. It took a week of struggling work for him to snap, but only a few minutes to start to feel it subside.

Honestly, it was working better than the book would.

Their silence was disrupted as a gentle knock thudded on the door. Shuichi cracked open an eye, already smiling as he leaned up.

“Come in, Kichi.”

It was always strange to see Kokichi with a serious expression, being far from his usual, but in that moment in was welcome. His face was blank, a bowl of seasoned popcorn in his hands as he closed the door behind him with his heel.

Shuichi could tell he was struggling, as he cautiously approached the two of them and placed the bowl in Kaito’s lap. He felt responsible for that, and guilty because of it.

He did not know what to say, but Kokichi seemed to, taking his hands and crouching down to his level (in the only situation he would ever need to).

“Shu… I- I didn’t mean any of that. I’m sorry…” He was frowning, a clear guilt in his eyes, “You know I was lying, right? You know I love you, right?”

“Y-yeah,” He smiled, pulling Kokichi down to sit on his other side. Kokichi immediately nuzzled into him, wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace.

“Shumai can read as many books as he wants…” He mumbled, “I think its adorable, and smart, and all fancy and sophisticated and stuff…”

“That he reads?” Kaito chuckled, earning a pout from Kokichi.

“Yeah, I do. You got a problem with that?”

“Nah,” Kaito decided, “I think its pretty fancy and smart too.”

“Its not… its not fancy and smart,” Shuichi could not help but laugh a little at that, “Lots of people do it.” He leaned closer to Kokichi, “I’m sorry too… what I said was completely uncalled for, you were just messing around.”

“But I took it too far,” Kokichi insisted, “So its not like you were wrong…”

“I was,” Shuichi tone was sharp and confident, “I don’t think that, at all, ever. I just… I don’t know I didn’t mean it though.”

“I know, Shui just got annoyed,” Kokichi hummed, “I shoulda’ picked up on that…”

“We both should’ve,” Kaito agreed.

Shuichi felt like he could just cry. His boyfriends were the best people in the world.

“Alright!” Kokichi chirped, starting to push himself back further into the bed, “Its relaxing time!”

“What movie are we watching?” Shuichi asked.

Kokichi tilted his head innocently, “You said you wanted to read, Shu~Shu,” He held up the book he had picked up off the mattress, “So I’m gonna read it for us!”

Shuichi felt his heart twist in absolute love and adoration, but Kaito rolled his eyes.

“Get ready of three hours of a constant shrill voice.”

“Rot in hell, space idiot!”

Shuichi laughed as Kaito brought the popcorn over with him, giving Kaito a moment to kiss Kokichi to calm him before he pulled himself between them. Kaito placed the bowl in his lap, wrapping his arm around him as Kokichi leaned on his shoulder and opened the book.

Shuichi was just- so in love. How were they so forgiving, and amazing, and perfect? Everything felt so calm- a week of frustration dissolved in moments just getting to be with them. Even through all the distress, he could enjoy his night, and it was thanks to the two most amazing people in his life.

He relished in his gratitude and love as Kokichi began to read,

“The incident took place on April 16, 1996, a Tuesday…”

Chapter Text

“I think Ouma looks nice today,” Shuichi commented, almost absentmindedly, tilted his head towards his adjacent classmate and friend, Kaito, who was looking at their dark-haired friend from across the room with the same observant expression.

Chapter Text

“34…35…36…”

Kokichi sat crossed legged on the couch, basked in moonlight and the most amused smirk as he watched his two boyfriends struggling through sit ups in the living room.

Shuichi was gritting his teeth, not afraid to show he was struggling. Kaito, on the other hand, was smiling, and even though he was on a higher number than Shuichi, he refused to let that strain show.

At least, he thought he was on a higher number. Though his counting was up in the seventies, Kokichi was almost positive that he was still in his thirties. What could he say, liars knew liars, and even though he could absolutely out him, he decided to let it slide to avoid embarrassing his boyfriend.

See? He could be nice sometimes. But that would not mean he would stop being a menace.

So the moment Kaito stopped to breathe, he kicked him the side, just hard enough to make him flinch and sputter. He glared up at Kokichi, which did nothing but make the shorter laugh.

“Jeez Moronmota, leaving poor Shuichi doing sit ups all by himself? What a slacker!”

He was convinced Shuichi was too focused to say anything. He however, would gladly take the excuse to stop, “I’m not the one just sitting on the couch during training!”

Kokichi rolled his eyes, that smarmy smirk still plastered on his face, “Puh-lease! What makes you think supreme leaders need to train? We have bodyguards and slaves at our disposal!”

“Pretty sure supreme leaders aren’t s’pose to be scrawny either!” Kaito bit back.

Kokichi gasped way too strongly for such a light comment, a fist on his chest, “I am not scrawny!”

“You’re basically skin and bone!”

“Its so much more peaceful when we train with Maki at the park…” Shuichi sighed, heaving himself back up with a low mumble of “43…”

“Too bad for you Maki’s off on a killing mission!” Kokichi chirped, swinging his legs petutantly, “Which means I get you two aaaall to myself!”

Kaito growled, “It’s a business trip! Not a ‘killing mission’!”

Kokichi shrugged, “Sure, sure, you totally have me fooled. Now hurry up slacker! I’ve added another twenty to your total for your misdeeds!”

“You don’t get a say in how many push-ups I do!”

Kokichi grinned devilishly, “Are you saying you can’t do that many?”

Kaito gaped for a brief moment before throwing himself on the floor, “We’ll see about that!”

Sure enough, he manage to go through all twenty push ups, but by the end he was slightly pale. Shuichi had finished, watching with surprise as Kaito sat up from his last one, wiping the sweat off his brow. Kokichi seemed concerned briefly, but quickly wiped it off when Kaito stood.

“Damn, I didn’t expect twenty to be enough to wipe you out! So much for space, huh?”

Kaito rolled his eyes, ruffling his hair as he shuffled past Kokichi, “Shut up… I just need to use the bathroom, that’s all.”

“That- sounded like an excuse,” Kaito heard Shuichi hummed to Kokichi before both his boyfriends were out of earshot.

The moment they couldn’t see him, Kaito picked up his pace to almost a sprint, throwing himself into the bathroom and closing the door. He barely made it to the sink before he was coughing and sputtering, hacking into the sink as quietly as possible.

He could hear a splatter against the sink, ignoring it until he finally caught his breath. When he did, he looked in the sink, stomach twisting at what he saw.

Blood, small delicate speckles covered the bowl of the sink. He stared at it guiltily, knowingly. It had been happening for awhile after all.

A year it must have been, maybe longer. If he exerted himself too long, he would cough and cough until he was coughing up blood. He grimaced, even though it hurt a little, what was more concerning on what it could do to his…

His chances of being an astronaut.

His chances of worrying his boyfriends.

It could do a lot of things.

And that’s why- that’s why he felt like he had to hide it. Why he had been hiding it.

Why he would keep hiding it.

When Kaito awoke the next morning, his arms were wrapped around Shuichi.

It was a bit strange, usually Kokichi was snuggled between the two of them, but he did not really feel like guessing. Instead, he just pulled Shuichi closer, willing his mind to drift back away from its consciousness into something more delightful.

Unfortunately, Shuichi had other plans, sighing softly and wiggling out of Kaito’s hold.

Kaito grumbled, trying to reach out of him, but all his outstretched arm got him was a hand holding his.

“Kaito… we should wake up.”

Kaito groaned, finally peeling open his eyes to take in the bright morning sun. Shuichi was smiling down at him, light radiating off his figure that made him look far too handsome if you asked Kaito. His soft smile had Kaito sitting up, if only to ruffle his hair and kiss him softly.

“Where’s Kokichi?” He asked, looking around the room as his arm fell to Shuichi’s back.

Shuichi’s eyes flickered over to the door, “He had to leave early today, remember? For one of his charity- ah sorry- his ‘super secret supreme leader business.’”

Kaito huffed out a laugh at that, “Right, right,” He stretched his arms towards the sky, finally hauling himself out of bed, “Well! Can’t be sittin’ around all mornin’! Sun’s too nice to be inside.”

“Are you going for a run?” Shuichi asked, politely folding his hands in his lap as Kaito made his way over to the closet.

His question was answered for him as Kaito pulled out athletic gear rather than his casual clothes, “Hell yeah! I know I’ve been slackin’, but I really gotta get back into doing those!”

“Your medical exams are coming up, right?” Shuichi checked, “For the JAXA program?”

Kaito grimaced where Shuichi couldn’t see, and smiled where he could, “Yep! Better be in my top form for those. You wanna start makin’ breakfast while I’m out? Pretty sure you don’t work ‘till the afternoon.”

Shuichi scratched at his cheek, “A-actually… I was wondering if I could… come with you?”

Kaito cocked an eyebrow, “Like- run with me?”

“Y-yeah,” Shuichi leaned himself closer to Kaito as the taller started changing out his pajamas for the athletic gear, “I just, well you heard me promise Maki I’d make some actual progress in my endurance while she’s gone, and I really want to live up to that.”

“’Course you can come with!” In a typical way, he hardly decided to step back and think about the consequences of those words, “Just gotta hope you can keep up!”

Shuichi smiled, heading towards the bathroom, “I’ll try my best.”

Surprisingly, Shuichi was fairly fast. Kaito supposed being a detective was a work out in itself, what with chasing after criminals and the like. In fact, he was almost struggling to keep up. Though his endurance was in top form, and the path through the park was pleasant in the spring air, his lungs had been- well not in their best shape since he started noticing problems.

But he kept pace right next to Shuichi, the two of them jogging through the park well into the morning on empty stomachs. Yeah- that was not helping.

He could feel his throat and chest starting to burn.

As he started to slow, focusing on stunting his coughs, Shuichi matched his pace, slowing down with furrowed eyebrows to a fairly slow jog, “Tired?”

“N-nah, just…” His eyes flickered to nearby public toilets, “Gotta use the bathroom real quick!”

They both finally stopped as he spoke, Kaito willing himself to avoid taking heaving gasps in front of his hardly-winded boyfriend. If he could do it, then so could Kaito!

“Oh okay, do you want me to fill our waters?” Shuichi offered, holding out his hand for the bottle strapped to Kaito’s side.

Kaito grinned wobbly, tossing over the bottle and hurrying over towards the standalone building, “Yeah, we’ll need ‘em for the trip back! I saw a fountain over there!”

Shuichi nodded, turning to walk to the fountain.

The moment his back was turned Kaito sprinted. Rather than going in, he clambered behind the building, clutching to the wall and curling over. A hand barely made his way over his mouth as he coughed and coughed, a small spittle of blood trickling from his lips. He cringed as the feeling finally subsided, glaring at his lightly bloodied hand.

God- that really could not be a good sign.

But- he was fine. Nothing was happening- right? Sure, it made physical excertion a struggle, and sure, his research had only lead him to doctor-worthy conclusions, but there had to be some mistake!

Whatever, he did not have the time to worry about that. He wiped the blood off his mouth on his sleeve, and hand on the leg of his shorts before he made his way back around the building. His chest still shuddered with some breaths, his legs shaking slightly, but he managed to pull up a grin when he saw Shuichi looking around for him.

He walked up, earning a small smile from Shuichi as he leaned down to pull some hair out of his bangs, “You ready to head back? I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Shuichi agreed, “Are we going to run?”

Kaito cringed, reminiscing on the blood behind the public bathroom, “Nah, lets walk. Think we got enough running in today!”

“Alright… yeah lets go.”

They started walking back through the park towards their nearby neighborhood. Unbeknownst to Kaito, though, he had left the smallest speck of blood on his cheek.

And Shuichi had noticed.

“You're hooome!”

Kokichi's chirping voice hit them as soon as Kaito opened the front door, the two of them shuffling in to the sight on Kokichi propped up on their kitchen table. Unsurprisingly, he has been expecting their arrival, with a plate of food on one side of the table and a packed lunch on the right. Kaito was quick to walk over with a prompt, chaste kiss before leaning next to him and running a hand through his hair.

“How was your charity- sorry- evil supreme leader business?” Shuichi asked, folding his hands as he picked up his packed lunch.

“It went off without a hitch!” Kokichi cheered, leaning into Kaito’s touch, “So many individuals had to lose their lives… such a shame really! Are you going to work now?”

Shuichi nodded, “I probably should get changed and leave…” He stopped for a moment, as if deep in thought, before smiling at Kaito, “Would you go get the case file on the desk of my office while I get changed?”

“Yeah sure!” He left without question, hiking up the stairs as Shuichi’s eyes followed him. The moment he was out of sight he turned to Kokichi, already seeing the knowing smile on his face.

“Did you see it?” Shuichi prompted.

“Are you talking about the aura of idiocy or the blood on his cheek?” Kokichi snickered.

“I’m serious,” Shuichi warned, his voice hushed and low. The moment he heard it , Kokichi’s face snapped into a blank stare, “He got pretty winded when we were running, but he was trying to hide it I think. He ran to a bathroom while I filled water and when we met up again I saw it.”

“He’d probably mention it if he cut himself on something.” Kokichi drawled, posture straightening as his eyes filled with deduction, “Or if he helped someone who was hurt. He doesn’t keep quiet about stuff like that.”

Shuichi nodded, biting his lower lip, “I don’t know what it means.”

“Did you even ask?”

He shifted his eyes away nervously, “You know him… I thought it’d be better to let you do your… thing. But tell me what you find out as soon as you find out.”

For once, Kokichi let his small, honest smile appear on thin lips, “Mkay. Just don’t stress yourself out worrying about it.”

Shuichi smiled nervously, “No promises…”

Their conversation dissolved as footsteps started thundering down the stairs, Kokichi perking back up into his peppy persona. Kaito emerged with both the case files and his papers, looking rather confusedly at Shuichi.

“Weren’t you getting changed?”

Shuichi flushed red, “Oh- I forgot! O-one sec!” He ran back up the stairs, managing to shower and change into his uniform in a mere seven minutes before thundering his own way down the stairs.

He gave his boyfriends a hasty goodbye, took the files and briefcase from Kaito and the lunch from Kokichi before running out the front door.

Kokichi and Kaito’s laughter from watching their boyfriend run around in a panic died down, Kokichi finally turning over to where Kaito sat beside him.

“Are you buuusy?” He cooed, leaning into Kaito’s side.

“Yeah, gotta go fill out the paperwork for my med exam tomorrow,” Kaito answered simply, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear before pulling him in for a kiss, “We’ll do something after though!”

“Fine I didn’t want to do anything with you anyway!” Kokichi cried out, crossing his arms and turning his head away.

Kaito rolled his eyes, ruffling his hair one last time before heading back upstairs.

Kokichi watched him walk away, letting his façade fall as he heaved himself off the table and over to the bookcase. Though it brimmed almost solely with Shuichi and Kaito’s material, two books sat on the bottom corner that belonged to him. They appeared to be both part of a series, with ghosts lining the binder and two deep pairs of staring eyes on the cover. It kept them both away, and allowed him to have scribes of plans, notes, everything he kept to himself. It was like his talent contained into two books- he had to keep them protected.

Inside one he has a handheld whiteboard, with a marker thrown behind the shelf. He pulled them out, and sat himself on the couch, starting to write out every potential situation that could lead to Kaito getting blood on his cheek, how to approach in, and anything similar.

He was so lost in his planning, it took him a few seconds to realize when footsteps were coming down the stairs. He immediately glanced at the clock, realizing just how long he had been planning before he threw the whiteboard under the couch with the marker. Luckily, he had his plan, just- just not his answer…

Kaito stopped at the bottom of the stairs case, clearly confused, “Hey Kichi… what’cha doin’?”

“Nishishi, you sound so suspicious beloved!” Kokichi giggled, fluttering his eyelashes innocently.

“Well- yeah. You’re just… sitting there.”

“Obviously I’m contemplating how I’m going to assassinate you without Shuichi arresting me or Maki assassinating me back, take a hint Momota~Chan!”

“Right, right,” Kaito shook his head, sitting himself next to Kokichi, “So, what did you want to do?”

“Well…” Kokichi drawled, to build up suspense, “ I decided I’m going to start training with you and Shu~Shu!”

Kaito’s eyes blew wide, “You mean that?!”

“Mhm!” Kokichi kept his smile as saccharine and sweet as possible, before placing a finger on his cheek with a frown, “But I don’t really wanna start ‘till I actually know how to do the exercises… I don’t wanna embarrass myself in front of my true love Shushi!”

“Yeah that- hey I’m supposed to be your true love too!”

Kokichi tilted his head, “Are you?”

Kaito gritted his teeth, “Asshole…”

“Come on, come on!” Kokichi let his eyes light up with a sparkle, clenching two fists in front of his chest, “You gotta show me how to do sit ups!”

“You… don’t know how to do a sit up?” Kaito raised an eyebrow skeptically.

Kokichi puffed out his cheeks in a faux pout, “Well geez you don’t have to bully me for it…”

Kaito snorted, “You’re so sensitive! Come on, I’ll show you.”

And that’s how Kaito ended up doing sit up after sit up on the carpet of the floor after Kokichi demanded example after example. He pushed him into sit up after sit up, pretending to watch his posture and form. Kokichi had to admit, watching Kaito slowly exhaust himself more and more, pale and begin to sweat- he felt pretty guilty. But of course, was there ever a plan that the Ultimate Supreme Leader had to execute that didn’t leave him feeling guilty?

So he grinned and beared it, up into the moment Kaito was on his sixty-first push up, and he stood up abruptly.

“I- I need to go to the bathroom…”

He seemed pale… too pale, and even as worried as he was Kokichi grinned, “Geez what a shitty excuse! Can’t even make it to a hundred? I’ve seen monkeys-“

A cough- and a hand clamped over his mouth. Kokichi stopped, watching as Kaito ran past him and thundered back up the stairs. Kokichi finally let his expression display his worry, standing abruptly and trying to follow him.

“K-Kaito!”

The door to the bathroom slammed and Kokichi was left on the under side. It locked, leaving Kokichi shaking the handle uselessly. He heard more coughing, heaving and hacking that was terrifying.

Out of all the things he expected… that was not it. What was happening? What was wrong?

He heard a particularly grotesque cough, and a splatter he could not describe. It sunk Kokichi’s stomach and he hurried to start banging on the door, “Kaito! Kaito! What’s wrong?”

“G-go awa-“ His voice was muffled and croaky, cut off by more coughing and more, unexplainable splattering.

“Open the door!” But he god no response, starting to yank on the handle again, “Kaito open it!”

It wouldn’t budge, and Kaito wasn’t responding. Just coughing and coughing with no sign of stopping. Kokichi took a step back with a deep breath, pushing down his instincts to think logically. He felt for his back pocket and pulled out his phone, swiping to his contact before looking at the door.

“I’m gonna call Shuichi! I’m gonna tell him to come home if you don’t open the door!”

Silence. Kaito had stopped coughing, and there was nothing coming from inside.

Somehow that was even more terrifying.

He shoved the phone up to his ear, biting on his fingernail as the phone rang and rang. It went to his voicemail, and sadly Kokichi was not surprised. If Shuichi was out of the office working, he almost never looked at his phone, and Shuichi had mentioned investigating a lead at a restaurant with Kirgiri…

He groaned, shooting Shuichi a text instead.

Come home now something’s wrong with Kaito.

He shoved his phone in his pocket, and ran back downstairs towards his shoes. He pulled the lockpicking tools out of the sole before making his way back to the door to flawelessly open the lock. Even with such shaky hands, it hardly was a minute before the door was opened as fast as he could.

He thanked the stars that Kaito was not unconscious, just hunched up on the floor with his head and in hands, but a glance over at the sink had his stomach churning-

There was blood splattered across the sink.

It was hardly a second before he was by Kaito’s side, trying to pull his hands away from his face.

“Kaito… look at me- talk to me-“

Kaito raised his head slightly, letting Kokichi see blood tainting his lips, but refused to meet his gaze. Only when Kokichi’s breath started to crescendo did he give him his sight, watching Kokichi shakily grasp on of his hands and cheek with heaving breaths .

He could not help his worry, his guilt, so he lowered his legs only to pull it in close, “Kich’ I’m fine…”

It seemed to be the wrong approach, for Kokichi snapped up his head, snarling.

“Are you fucking dumb?” Kaito flinched at his harsh words, “Does that look fucking fine to you?” he gestured towards the sink. When Kaito only looked away, unsure of what to say, he huffed and pulled out his phone again.

“I’m calling an ambulance.”

Panic shot down his spine, “No!” He tried to wrestle the phone out of Kokichi’s hand but his boyfriend was too quick, holding it out of his reach.

“People don’t just cough up blood Kaito,” Kokichi took another ragged gasp.

“I do!”

“What?!

Bad choice after bad choice, could he do anything right today? He tried to free his hand from Kokichi's but doing so made him realize how shaky it was, looking at Kokichi made him realized how panicked he was- with short breaths and manic eyes. He… never got stressed like that, not when it came to other people that is. He handled other’s problems calmly, strictly, with never a waver of doubt. Its what made him the Ultimate Supreme Leader, the flawless way he could deal with others.

But seeing Kaito like that- it seemed to break him, and that only twisted Kaito’s stomach in guilt more. Was it really that bad? That he could freak out one of the most cool headed-under-pressure people he knew.

That did not matter. Right then, he had a panicking boyfriend in front of him and he needed to calm him down fast.

So he wrapped him in an embrace, fighting against Kokichi’s resistance to pull a hand through his hair, “Its gonna be okay… I don’t need an ambulance, alright? Yeah… somethings wrong, I’ll say it, but you need to calm down before we can talk about anything…”

Kokichi took a slower breath, quivering all the way through it. It was so surreal, seeing Kokichi struggle to handle someone else’s pain, seeing him panic rather than calmly think of a solution. He was being- irrational.

And that was the most un-Kokichi like thing he had ever seen. But he supposed that meant Kokichi just cared… a lot. And he probably was not used to that. It warmed his heart to think of that, even if it might be wrong, it was just so sweet.

It took a few minutes, but Kokichi was finally starting to calm down. With one last deep breath, he leaned away, his pupils undialated finally.

“You’re gonna-“

They heard the front door burst open, both of them flinching as footsteps flew through the house. Kaito cursed under his breath, turning back to Kokichi with a glare, “What did you tell him?”

Kokichi’s face was tactically blank, “He deserved to know.”

“He’s gonna freak out you-“

The door to the bathroom burst open, the panting form of Shuichi in the doorway with a sheen of sweat lining his forehead. His eyes were sporadic as he took in the scene, Kaito visibily cringing when he saw Shuichi’s eyes flicker over to sink.

And here lies the issue: if Kokichi, the boyfriend without prominent pressing anxiety freaked out, lord knows how badly his anxiety-ridden boyfriend would react. It was no surprise he was already panicked, and he was only turning paler, only breathing heavier when he saw Kaito.

Kokichi was quick to run over to him. Good, because Kaito was not sure his shaking legs would let him stand. He wrapped an arm around Shuichi’s waist, pushing him towards Kaito as the boy, presumably frozen in panic stared at him with horror.

The moment he was next to him, Shuichi collapsed, grabbing onto his face just like Kokichi had.

“Wh-what’s wrong? What happened? A-are you hurt oh my god…”

Kokichi’s eyes were still filled with worry, his bottom lip was still quivering, but he kneeled beside Shuichi and salmly ran a hand down his back, “Shushi calm down-“

Hypocrite, Kaito would have said aloud, if not for his attention completely held by the boy in his lap, breaking down as his eyes scanned over Kaito like a hawk, searching for any kind of injury with his breaths only picking up the pace.

So he gave him his most reassuring smile, “I’m fine Shuichi! Its nothing-“

“He was coughing up blood,” Kokichi’s voice was stark, eyes boring into Kaito. They seemed to lose their worry, covered with what looked to be- disdain?

Great- he was repressing again…. Goddammit Kokichi.

“He what?’ Shuichi all but shrieked, immediately fumbling for his phone, “Why- why didn’t you call an ambulance oh my god you need to l-lay down right now.”

As gently as he could to avoid startling him, Kaito took the phone from Shuichi’s hand, “Its fine… I promise. I haven’t needed an ambulance yet so- so its okay. I don’t want ya panicking over me, you hear?”

“This…” Shuichi’s face fell back into shock, dropping his hands to his shoulders and gripping them as if Kaito would die if he let go, “Has this happened before?”

Kaito pursed his lips, refusing to meet Shuichi’s eyes, but he could hear the tears in his voice.

“Kaito please. I- I just want to help.”

He shook his head. He just could not let them know.

“You can’t…” He admitted, “You can’t ‘cause-“

Shuichi’s breath hiccuped and the guilt became unbearable. As Shuichi hugged him for dear life, Kokichi slowly slid his phone off the ground where Kaito had discarded it. He took a few steps back to ensure a distance, then stamped his foot on the ground to get his attention.

Kaito looked over on instinct, and his heart stopped.

An expression of pure malice was upon his face, an unearthly grin born below manic eyes. He gripped the phone like a lifeline, dancing it in front of Kaito’s face mockingly, “Cause you don’t want your stupid space people finding out~”

Shuichi looked up, matching Kaito’s eyes of disgust, “Kokichi stop-“

“Cause the doctors won’t keep it a secreeet~” He cackled, jumping on the tips of his toes, “So dumb ol’ Kaito won’t be able to go to space! Well such a shame its just three numbers away from the whole damn world knowing, three numbers away from your dreams being crushed.”

He was panicked. Kaito knew it. He was panicked and upset and trying to find anyway to help, no matter what it made them think of him. He knew it, and he hated it.

“But me and Shu can keep a secret!” He chirped, but kept up his aura of deviancy, “Me and Shu don’t have to tell your dumb space people! So you either tell us, or I call the ambulance!”

“Kokichi…” Shuichi warned, glaring at his short boyfriend through his shaking, “T-this isn’t going to help.”

“Oh?” He cackled once more, “What’s he gonna do? Bet he’s too tired from spitting up his own lungs to get up and stop me!” His grin snapped into a look of murder, “So speak.”

“Kokichi stop!”

“Fine…” Kaito lowered his head, a shadow cast over his eyes, “I- I’ll talk just- just put the phone down.”

Kokichi’s expression blanked in a moment. He glanced at Shuichi, who was staring at Kaito in surprise, before nodding and setting the phone on the sink. But he refused to speak again, just staying by the sink and starting to clean up the blood around it.

“Talk to us…” Shuichi whispered, running a hand reassuring down Kaito’s arm.

“I- I don’t know why its happenin…” Kaito finally admitted, gripping his fist tightly in disappointment. He lost, he was caught, “I just… ‘bout a year ago… started coughing a lot after exercising. It kinda started getting’ really bad, ‘till I was coughin’ so much I- well- you know…”

“Is it,” Shuichi’s voice was back to quivering in terror, “Is it still getting worse?”

Kaito glanced over to the sink Kokichi was washing, wiping off the blood splatters that practically covered the bowl, “Y-yeah… but it doesn’t really do anythin’ else… I guess I get kind of weak but like- it doesn’t even really hurt or nothin’ so I- I don’t know… I just-“ Kaito took a breath, “I don’t want to get kicked out of the program for something that doesn’t even actually affect me!”

“You don’t know that…” Shuichi finally said, “You said its getting worse, who knows where it’ll go? Kaito, coughing up blood is not something casual. That in itself has to be damaging your body. If you have a lung condition. Atua knows what could cause a symptom like that, you need to get it checked out.”

Kaito remained silent, so Shuichi pressed further.

“What if its life threatening?”

Kaito gritted his teeth.

“What if, because you refuse to get it treated- It kills you?”

Shuichi made himself cry with the comment, just bursting and collapsing onto his shoulder. Kaito just stared forward in horror.

He knew it was a possibility. But- it did not change his mind. He needed to go to the stars.

“What’s… what’s more important?” Shuichi hiccuped, gripping his arm tightly, “Your life… or your dream?”

“They’re…” Kaito’s voice was hardly a whisper, “They’re just as important as each other.”

That only made Shuichi cry harder.

“What’s more important?” Kokichi’s voice was blank, his face just as so as he slowly started towards them, “Your dream, or the happiness of the people you love, and who love you?”

His mouth was dry. He just- did not have an answer.

“Please…” Shuichi was willing to beg, anything to convince him, “Let’s go to the doctor tomorrow… it might save your life.”

There was nothing left- he had lost. Because the truth was, they were right. He always knew it, he knew one day- he would have to face his problems head on, like he always swore to others he did. He just… wanted to put it off as long as possible, hold on to his dream a little longer.

Who knew… maybe it wouldn’t be the end of his dream. Maybe he was curable. He wouldn’t know unless he- asked, would he?”

“Okay… we’ll go tomorrow.”

Finally, there was hope.

Though Kaito usually sat up front when they drove, that morning, he was sitting in the back with Kokichi. The boy was currently tucked under his arm, having not left his side since… yesterday. Shuichi had decided to take the wheel, things still a little tense between him and Kokichi. It probably would be that way until Kokichi apologized for how he acted in the bathroom, and Kaito was sure he would- eventually… For now, he was content watching Shuichi drive while holding Kokichi close, basked in the warm sun of the early morning through the car windows.

Yes, there was fear on the horizon. They were driving to the hospital after all. Shuichi had made an appointment last night for ten sharp, and he knew Shuichi and Kokichi were not going to let him be a minute late. Who knew if it would be the only appointment, or spur on years and years of treatment. There was no way to know.

But he would get to know what was wrong with him. He would get to know if there was a solution. He would get to ease his boyfriends worry, who he could hardly say slept soundly through the night.

Yes, his mind was plagued with guilt. Everything had been his fault, from Shuichi and Kokichi’s minor fight that seemed to be still ongoing, to their worry and their fears, he could hardly stand how plagued he was by the burden he placed on them. But he refused to let that get to him, after all, how many times had he scolded his boyfriends for feeling the exact same way?

He had to be content, he had to stay calm. He could do this.

“Its going to be okay,” Shuichi seemed to notice his stress, sending him a reassuring smile, “We’re going to be with you every step of the way, right Kokichi?”

Kokichi nodded, resting his head on his chest, “Doesn’t matter what they say, we’re still gonna love you, mkay?”

Kaito nodded, and Shuichi smiled, pulling into the hospital’s parking lot.

“And the stars will, too.”

Chapter Text

“Okie dokie, have a seat!” Shuichi's chipper voice sounded, not shouting but still so loud, his presence alone enough to fill up a room. The late hour contributed to the uncomfortable volume, no doubt.

Groggy with exhaustion and grumpy as usual, Kokichi shuffled past his navy-haired boyfriend and climbed up on the large, soft bed, sitting up against the headboard and watching as the tall and speckled finale of their trio followed him out of the bathroom.

“You finish brushing your teeth weirdly fast,” Kaito commented with the same flat, annoyed tone he usually carried that both Shuichi and Kokichi recognized by now to be his default tone. They knew take it personally (not that they ever did; Shuichi and Kokichi weren't the type).

Deciding to view that as a compliment, Shuichi grinned and did an elegant motion to the bed, as if offering it. Kaito did what Shuichi titled his scoff-chuckle and settled down on the bed beside Kokichi, leaving a gap between them.

It was always funny to Shuichi to see Kaito and Kokichi so calm while within a mile of each other. Two stubborn, hot-headed personalities who shared one too many classes and one (Kaito) who always liked to pick at the other (Kokichi) via snide remarks left the entire school thinking that the two boys were some kind of rivals. Their friendship had happened rather suddenly—it had started as more of a truce proposed by Kokichi, who was simply beyond tired of the non-stop bickering—but before that, they had even gotten into physical fights with one another. Most of those fights were caused by Kaito refusing to stop antagonizing Kokichi and the latter’s less-than-merciful anger management issues getting the best of him, and all of those fights had ended with no clear winner, but at least one bloody nose, one bad bruise, and several smaller bruises.

Shuichi, who had been crushing on both hard-headed boys for quite some time and had managed the tedious task of befriending both of them, had taken on the even more daunting task of managing a relationship with them for just over half a year now.

But just because they had learned to like—and eventually love—one another didn't mean they would display that at school. Shuichi would give away his limited edition Kirigiri Kyoko figurine to see that. From an outsider's perspective, Kaito and Kokichi hated one another just as they always had. Shuichi didn't know whether he found that disappointing or hot. Luckily, it didn't matter, because he got the pleasure of taking them both home often—Kokichi more so than Kaito thanks to the former’s downright shitty home life—and seeing them get along perfectly fine all for himself.

Even funnier than that: Kokichi—stoic and aloof as a person can be, quiet as a mouse with a sharp temper—and Kaito—sharp-tongued and tough, always eager to get into some physical altercations—were both wearing the warm, fuzzy patterned pajamas that Shuichi had purchased for the three of them.

Shuichi climbed into bed as well, settling into his place right between his two beloveds all while taking little care not to damage his brand new mystery novel, opening to the first chapter. None of the three boys were patient enough for prologues.

Lucky for Shuichi, he was a smooth and fluent oral reader. He'd learned during class read-alouds that slow readers were quick to piss Kokichi off. He knew the telltale sharp inhale through Kokichi's nostrils, or the rapid clicking of his pen whenever one of their classmates stuttered over an easy word.

Even luckier, both Kokichi and Kaito seemed to genuinely enjoy being read to by Shuichi, particularly mystery novels. Especially before bed—Kaito always seemed to avoid his more disruptive thoughts by pondering the plot twists in novels such as these, meanwhile, Kokichi always solved the main mystery early on, but that seemed to bring him peace in its own respect.

“You good or what?” Kaito asked, waving a hand in front of Shuichi's face, bringing him back to his cozy little room.

“You could read it yourself, Kaito,” Shuichi suggested teasingly, and Kokichi's hand twitched.

Kaito was one of the slow oral readers that pissed Kokichi off.

The taller male paused for a moment, then sighed. “Just go ahead,” he said with a wave of his hand.

Shuichi smiled pridefully, shuffling his shoulders a bit to get more comfortable, and with his book illuminated by the fairy lights hanging above his bed (which had earned him ample teasing, might he add) he began to read aloud.

Chapter one, two, three, four, five… Shuichi got lost in the pages, lost track of time, everything that ever burdened him disappeared when he read a good book. That was something about him he knew would never change. A heavy weight on his left side pulled him out of the printed words and back to his warm bed.

His heart rate immediately spiked up when he realized that it was Kaito's face restricting him from moving his head. He felt his hands begin to shake and his mouth begin to water. This was exactly why Shuichi was isolated by his classmates and gossiped about non-stop. According to the students of Hope’s Peak Academy, he was a “creepy perverted freak”, despite the fact he'd never done anything that perverted.

A dainty, pale hand slowly and softly tapped the book, bringing Shuichi back to the present once again and reminding him of the task at hand.

“Sorry, love,” he whispered, and just when he was about to continue…

“...Told you not to call me that.”

“Yeah.”

“Don't call me that.”

“I know.”

“...”

Shuichi chuckled softly but quickly silenced himself when he felt the subtle tremors in his body jostling Kaito's carefully balanced body, resting against his. He turned his attention back to the book and continued reading, but only for a short chapter more before he felt a slightly lighter weight on his right side: a soft mop of dark, curly, lavender-lemon-scented hair on his shoulder.

Never in Shuichi's life had he felt so much despair all at once. Not that he could remember most of his life—his memories weren't to be trusted, that much was certain—but it was a feeling he had. The unfamiliarity of so much pain in his heart told him as much.

He had learned to trust in his feelings that way, and fairly consider them like he would logistics. People like Kaito had taught him to believe in things like that more.

But Kaito was gone. The bright, shining star that was Momota Kaito was gone, faded with a defiant smile on his face—and he'd taken Kokichi with him. And, in a sense, they'd both died in the very hangar where he currently stood trembling.

Shuichi wouldn't have considered Kokichi his best friend before that trial, and now it felt wrong to. Though he'd spent his free time with Kokichi and had been deemed trustworthy by the untrusting boy, it felt wrong to claim that they'd ever been close at all after the fourth trial… after what Shuichi had said to him. It felt wrong to put such an important label between them when Kokichi wasn't there to agree to it himself. After knowing just how much Kokichi really cared, how much he was willing to destroy his own wants and needs for the sake of everyone else, it was clear now that Kokichi had always been his friend—had always been everyone's friend—even when he didn't follow him around or do ridiculous stunts for his attention or call him ‘Shumai’.

Shuichi didn't have the right to call Kokichi his friend. He could say with a definite certainty however that he cared deeply for Kokichi, just like he did Kaito.

Kokichi was gone. The deceit extraordinaire had sacrificed himself to save his peers and offered his very soul to Kaito—to this hangar—to put on his grand finale.

Never again would Shuichi be called ‘Shumai’, ‘Shushi Roll’, or ‘Saihara-chan’. He'd never hear the doorbell ring and be greeted by Kaito's charming presence, inviting him to go train, to get stronger, to be supported physically as well as emotionally. He'd never hear the light, pattering footsteps of Kokichi running up to him with the intent of turning a small lie into a neverending story, distracting him from his nervous thoughts and getting invested in the enigmatic world that was Kokichi's imagination. He'd never get to see them again, not in person, only in monochromatic portraits with harsh red exes painted over their faces.

Tears bubbled in his eyes. He imagined Kaito giving him a firm pat on the back and an optimistic grin, and Kokichi stealing his attention to distract him with some wild statement and get his mind working in a different direction. The grip he had on the novel in his hand steeled, and he took a step towards the hydraulic press that had destroyed both Kokichi's precious life and Kaito's promising fate. Monokuma had long since cleaned the press; it was now impossible to know how much blood had covered the wide metal mouth, and even the floor beneath was spotless. Monokuma had no right to do that, to just wipe away what was left of Kokichi like a stain on a countertop. He sucked in a breath and thought about other things.

Shuichi had always enjoyed reading. He always had, and he knew that not by his memories but by his heart. The deep, sincere pleasure he took in the printed words on worn paper pages couldn't lie to him like his past could. There was always something to be enjoyed in a good book. He'd never been one to believe in ghosts, spirits, or anything of the like, but on the off chance that some part of Kokichi was still here… then he couldn't imagine where else Kaito would be but here, too. After Kaito had revealed himself at the end of the fifth trial… it was safe to assume the luminary of the stars had died here, too.

They had both died with a heavy amount of stress on their shoulders: Kaito didn't get to fulfill his dream of being an astronaut and undoubtedly had worries about his friends, while Kokichi had died hated; he didn't know if his plan was going to work, if he would succeed in saving the people he cared about and destroying what he hated.

When Shuichi was under stress, he liked to read. So he would try and comfort all three of them.

He sat down beside the large metal press, opened his book, and began to read aloud. It wasn't a perfect reading; his voice often broke and he had to take a few pauses now and again to get himself together. But he pressed on. He knew he wouldn't get to do this again. He wouldn't get to focus solely on Kaito and Kokichi for much longer, to dedicate his time and attention to them and honor what they gave up. The killing game was going to continue—it was only going to get more intense, and Shuichi would be at the very front of that battle. He'd have his friends behind him. Not just Maki, Himiko, K1-B0, and Tsumugi, but Kaito, Kokichi, and Kaede too.

He continued to read, finishing quite a few chapters with relative ease. And as he did, he thought he may have felt the air get a little bit lighter.

Why aren't I dead?

That was the first thought to cross my mind after my death. A pretty freaky thought under any circumstances, but for me, it was very literal and even more confusing.

It wasn't a complete and total stretch to think a dead person could live. I've heard plenty of stories about people getting brought back to life and talking about how they saw God or a light or how their life flashed before their eyes. I didn't see anything.

Why aren't I dead? There's no way I lived. I didn't have a heart attack or go into cardiac arrest or something that it's possible to come back from. I was crushed, my body was pulverized, and my insides were turned into paste. So why? Why was I suddenly hearing things, hearing talking and shuffling and incessant beeping?

Maybe Monokuma brought me back to life for a motive or something like he was going to do with the Necronomicon. But that didn't make any sense since that was an instance where we had gotten to choose who we wanted to resurrect. If that was the case again, I'd still be dead. Then maybe this is a postmortem thing, like how people see things as they die. Maybe I'm hearing things as my soul wriggles down to whatever fresh Hell awaited me.

“...in whom the ability to trust others is so cracked and broken…am wretchedly timid…expression on people's faces.”

The words were starting to blur together. I started processing sensations. I felt my eyes closed, a cheap fabric touching my hands, the rhythmic beeping more pronounced and more irritating. I tried to focus, to force myself into a more conscious state.

“‘...As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn’t matter how, I’ll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won’t mind it too much if I remain outside their lives…’”

I've read those words before.

“Look at the freak just reading! No surprise paper’s his only friend!”

I remembered that. I remembered everything. Why was I just now remembering my entire life? My real life? Why aren't I dead?

“Ouma…?”

That was Shuichi. What was Shuichi doing here? Is this some sort of limbo between life and death? What if I was spectating my own trial as a ghost and didn't even realize it until now?

Kaito had better be doing a damned good job if that’s the case…

I was confused. I never admitted that to anyone, even myself, but I was so lost, lost in my own body. If there was one thing I hated, it was not having control over a situation, especially one involving myself.

“Ouma, can you hear me? It's okay. You're okay.”

Well gee, Shuichi, I didn't feel okay. My body felt heavy, my mind felt frustratingly hazy and painfully clear at the same time, and I couldn't open my goddamn eyes to see what the hell was going on.

“Okay, u-uhm… I think you're waking up, so… I-I’m gonna call a nurse to check on you.”

A pang of what could only be described as mortal terror shot at my heart and coursed through my entire body. Ashamed as I was to so much as think it, I did not want to be left alone. I couldn't see, I couldn't move, couldn't protect myself at all, and now Shuichi was leaving. For all I knew, Maki could be seething in the corner of whatever room we were in (if I was even in a room at all and not floating in space and time for eternity) ready to take me out again.

“H-Here. I'm pretty sure he's waking up, I-I don't know if he's in pain or not or…”

I felt a pair of dainty, gross hands touch my arm, and the noisy beeping did not like that.

“A-Ah..! Don't worry, Ouma, it's okay! It's just a nurse, she's here to make sure you're alright.”

A long pause, during which I made the fun little choice to not calm down.

“Here, here… I'll keep reading, so just try to focus on that.”

A shorter pause, and then the gentle reading of printed words continued. The nurse whispered something to Shuichi that prodded the detective to give her a relieved thanks and she left. I wished I could have spat her a passive-aggressive goodbye. The reading continued, and after what seemed like days (it was probably only a couple of hours), I managed to pry my eyes open.

The harsh artificial light glared into my eyes, but I forced myself through it and scanned the room as quickly as my sluggish body would allow until I spotted a navy-headed detective sitting in a cheap visitor chair beside my hospital bed.

And I felt like I could relax a little bit.

When my consciousness was first brought back from the quiet darkness, I didn't have any significant first thoughts. The first thing I processed wasn't a thought, it was more a feeling. Confusion, mostly, but there was also a lot of relief. Relief that I wasn't dead—relief that there was still a chance I could save my friends. I also distantly recognized that my lungs were no longer burning, and the coughs were no longer trying to escape me like a furious animal crying to claw out through my throat.

It was hard to open my eyes. They felt heavy, like I had been suddenly forced out of the best sleep of my life. As soon as I managed to pry them open, harsh white lights burned my retinas and I wanted nothing more than to close them again.

“'The human mind is stimulated by change, motivated by meeting the challenge of novelty or threat or pleasure, rewarded with the sensations of being instrumental in altering environments, and will persevere in this as long as there is some degree of perceivable progress…'” 

I recognized that voice. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. It had come from his left; I turned his eyes to meet it.

Shocked, relieved, beautiful dull-golden eyes locked with mine, like two pairs of hands desperately grabbing onto one another in a reckless windy storm, hanging on and refusing to let go. And those beautiful eyes no sooner filled up with tears.

“Oh my God, Kaito…!” Shuichi quickly stood upright and darted over to my bedside, scanning me anxiously as if I were going to die all over again right then and there.

I didn't really know what I wanted to say. Something extravagant, to grandly announce my presence as somehow being alive again? But I knew I didn't need to keep up appearances with Shuichi. Something witty, maybe, but that seemed too corny and I'd never let myself live that down. So I went with the old, faithful, reliable solution: simple conversation.

“...What book was that?” I asked and damn my voice sounded raspy, like I hadn't had a glass of water in years.

Shuichi blinked, shaking a tear from his eyes, and stared at me as if I had grown a second head. Maybe a witty remark would have been better. Then he blinked again, as if he'd rebooted, and turned back to the chair he'd been sitting in, the one he had frantically discarded the book on, and picked it back up to examine the cover.

“It's—uhm—Voyage to Alpha Centauri… Michael D. O’Brien… Kaito, a-are you feeling alright? Do you need me to call a nurse..?”

I quickly shook my head and pushed myself into a sitting position. We were definitely in a hospital, that much was for sure, but I had better things to do than piece together what was going on. I was alive, and so was Shuichi, who looked pretty shaken up. I both needed and wanted to make sure he was okay.

“What do you think is going to happen to me, Momota?”

“...What do you mean?”

“After you crush me. I mean, I don't believe in God or hell. What do you think eternity is going to be for me?”

“...”

"Eheh... You probably want to turn into a star or something crazy. You're crazy.”

“What do you want to happen, then?”

“...”

“...”

“...I don't care. I'll go wherever you go, Kai-chan. You and Saihara-chan; I'll follow you from beyond the grave and pester you both until you die all over again.”

Even if Kokichi had somehow been saved like me—and I really hoped he had been—I would still spend time with Shuichi for the both of us. Until I knew for certain that he wasn't dead, all the time I spent with Shuichi would be for him as well as me.

Something in Shuichi's relieved smile and his grateful tears told me I didn't have to worry about that.

Chapter Text

Shuichi doesn’t know when, but he’s started to notice how upset his boyfriends have been looking lately.

Kaito is usually extremely happy-go-lucky, energetic, and friendly, but these past few days, he’s seemed to be.. lower.

Not in an extreme sense, necessarily, but he’s been snapping at Kokichi more often, engaging less in conversation, even going to bed so early that he can’t watch the stars.

Shuichi isn’t one to crack under other people’s stress, even though he still worries, but surprisingly, Kokichi very much is.

Ever since Kaito started acting glummer, Kokichi has been too. He doesn’t joke, or even speak as much, he hasn’t been eating properly, and similar to Kaito, he’s been sleeping so much that he rarely sees him.

Frankly, it’s starting to worry him. But he’s a detective, for God’s sake, and he’s very determined to get to the bottom of this.

Starting with the root of the problem: Kaito’s mood…

-

His investigation begins one day when Kokichi is out grocery shopping, so Shuichi takes this moment to “interrogate” Kaito, for lack of a better word, so that Kokichi can’t irritate him further.

(Not like Kokichi’s been in the mood for that lately, though..)

He decided to strike while Kaito is sitting on the couch, folding laundry. Shuichi leans over the back of the couch and taps his shoulder, grimacing apologetically as Kaito startles.

“S-Sorry,” He starts. “I just wanted to talk to you for a minute, if that’s okay..”

Despite his demeanor, Kaito still spares him a soft smile. “Sure, man. What’s goin’ on?”

Shuichi circles around the couch to sit by him, resting a gentle hand on Kaito’s shoulder as he does so. “..I’ve noticed lately, a-and forgive me if I’m wrong, that you seem.. stressed.” He tilts his head in worry. “Would you agree with that?”

Kaito presses his lips into a thin line and averts his eyes for a moment. Then he sighs, and doubles over with his head in his hands. “..Dammit, I’m not very good at hiding it, huh?”

Shuichi gives him a pity chuckle. “Guess not,” He jokes. Then he moves his hand to rub his back, his tone turning more worried. “..What’s going on, Kaito?”

Kaito lets out yet another sigh. He’s silent for a moment before finally sitting upright, running a hand through his hair. “..I-I dunno, I just.. Lately I feel like I’m doin’ so much, y’know? I’m just.. busy all the damn time. I work, I come home, I deal with Kokichi’s bullshit, and I sleep. And then I do it all again. I haven’t..” Another sigh. “..I haven’t been.. happy.”

Shuichi frowns. Had he really been feeling so.. down? It’s hard to tell. Like Kaito said, he has been working quite a lot recently. But what was that little comment about Kokichi? Shuichi didn’t think he was any more intense than usual. Maybe Kokichi’s problem was feeding into Kaito’s, and Kaito’s was feeding into Kokichi’s, and it just turned into an endless cycle of annoyance.

“You know you don’t have to work so much, Kai,” Shuichi says, now running a hand through Kaito’s hair. “You make your own hours, don’t you?”

Kaito gulps. “Y-Yeah, but.. I don’t want you guys to—“ He cuts himself off. “..Nevermind.”

Oh. Oh. So this is about feeling helpful.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Shuichi consoles. “Kokichi and I wouldn’t mind if you took a little break. I make enough for all of us to live, yeah?” He smiles. “You don’t need to work and provide in order for us to love you.”

Kaito gapes. “How did you—“

Shuichi laughs. “You’re forgetting how I make said money.”

Kaito rests his head on Shuichi’s shoulder. “As long as you guys wouldn’t mind..”

“Not at all,” Shuichi finishes. “And I know Kokichi wouldn’t either. He’ll be happy you’re home more, you know how clingy he is.”

This makes Kaito chuckle. “Yeah, he is, ain’t he?” His smile slowly fades. “..Dammit, I’ve been a real asshole to him lately, haven’t I?”

Shuichi hums. “I wouldn’t say that,” He begins. “But maybe a little harsher than usual. I think maybe he’s not feeling so good, either.”

“Shit, really?” Kaito stammers. “Fuck, and I said that thing to him yesterday..”

Shuichi raises an eyebrow. “What did you say?”

Kaito frowns, holding his head. “I told him.. Jeez, this was horrible, but I was just so pissed—“ He takes a breath. “..I told him I didn’t want him around. A-And, shit, Maki called him ugly the other day, and I sort of brought that up again. We.. haven’t talked since.”

Shuichi frowns. “..Jeez.”

Kaito hangs his head. “I’m not proud of it,” He sulks. “Hell, I regretted it as soon as I said it. I just wanted to hold him and kiss it better, y’know? But I blinked and he was gone. Hope that isn’t why he’s been sad lately..”

“I won’t rule it out yet, but I appreciate you telling me,” Shuichi says. “I know you didn’t mean it, Kaito. I know he takes his teasing a little too far sometimes.”

“Y-Yeah, but he’s never mean.” He shudders. “I was mean.”

What a debacle. Shuichi sighs.

“He’ll be home soon,” Shuichi says. “How about you apologize when he gets here? I’m sure he’ll start to feel better. And you will, too. Especially with your break from work.”

This, somehow, flips the sadness switch that’s been on in Kaito’s brain for the past week, for he flashes one of his bright smiles and laughs. “You’re right! You’re so smart, Shuichi!” He beams as gives him a tight bear hug. “As soon as he gets home, I’ll—“

Comically, the front door opens right at that moment. Kokichi trudges in with a couple of grocery bags, but he lacks his usual grand entrance. Instead, he has his head hung low with some dark eyebags resting below his eyes.

“‘Kichi!” Kaito beams, making Kokichi startle in surprise. Completely ignoring his response, Kaito pulls him into a tight hug and lifts him off the ground, letting the grocery bags fall.

“Kai-chan, what—“

Kaito cuts him off with a kiss to the temple. “I’m sorry for what I said yesterday, ‘Kichi.” He whispers. “I was just upset, and I took it out on you when I shouldn’t have, and—“

Now it’s Kokichi’s turn to cut him off, with a kiss to the cheek this time. “Hey, it’s okay,” He smiles softly. “I shouldn’t have provoked you. I know big, smelly Kai-chan can’t control his temper.”

A sense of normalcy returns to their living room. Kaito ruffles his hair as he puts him down. “Jackass,” He chuckles. He picks up the forgotten groceries and leads Kokichi to the kitchen. “Now, let’s see what we can do about dinner, hm?”

As his boyfriends disappear into the kitchen, Shuichi smiles. That’s one problem taken care of. Now he needs to make sure that Kokichi is okay.

-

The next day, Shuichi returns home from a lunch trip with Kaede to find Kaito asleep on the couch and Kokichi nowhere to be seen.

Well, this is a better opportunity than any to confront Kokichi about his mood, he decides. He’s just got to find him first..

..But then he hears a quiet sob coming from their bedroom, and he supposes he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore.

Quietly making his way down the hallway, he tries to think of why Kokichi would be crying. Is it what Kaito said? Is it just a bad day for his depression? Or is it just that he needs a good cry?

As he softly knocks on the closed door, the crying stops almost instantly. He hears some shuffling on the other side but it doesn’t seem that Kokichi is making a move to answer the door.

“..Come in,” Kokichi mumbles eventually, and Shuichi sighs out before turning the doorknob.

He sees a lump on the bed that he quickly recognizes to be Kokichi cocooned in a few blankets, surrounded by tissues and used makeup wipes.

It’s almost as if Kokichi can feel his eyes on him, for he shrinks even smaller into himself as if he’s trying to make himself invisible.

“Hey,” Shuichi says softly. “You okay, love?”

Kokichi sniffles. Shuichi takes that as a no.

He makes his way over to the bed and sits down by the Kokichi-shaped-lump, resting a hand where his head would be. “Can you come out?”

Immediately, as if in a panic, Kokichi shakes his head no. Shuichi hums in understanding.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to.” He whispers. He’s learned that you have to be gentle with Kokichi when he’s upset like this, especially when he allows you to see him that way.

Kokichi shifts, leaning his head into Shuichi’s hand almost like a cat. Shuichi takes this as his cue to rub his head, a comforting measure.

After a few moments, Shuichi decides to be greedy and pry. “Do you wanna tell me what happened, love?”

Kokichi sniffles with a whimper, and the noise just about breaks Shuichi’s heart. It takes him a moment to reply, but eventually he speaks.

“..I feel ugly.”

Shit. He has to know Kaito didn’t mean it, right? ..Maybe not. It’s not as if he’s exactly been treated kindly in the past. Perhaps this sort of thing is new to him.

Still, it makes Shuichi frown. He can’t fathom that Kokichi would feel that way, even if he heard it from someone else.

“‘Kichi,” He says, pity filling his voice. “Come out, honey. You aren’t ugly, okay? Let me talk to you.”

Much to Shuichi’s chagrin, this sets Kokichi off again, as he starts to sob under the blanket once more. He almost wishes Kaito were here, so he could have a little help—

“..Hey, what’s goin’ on?” Kaito’s voice fills the room, and Shuichi feels like he’s been sent an angel. He sighs in relief and gestures for a sleepy-looking Kaito to join he and Kokichi on the bed.

Upon hearing Kaito enter the room, Kokichi seems to scrunch up even more, seemingly embarrassed by his current state. Shuichi just rubs his shoulder comfortingly.

Kaito lays down on the bed next to Kokichi, immediately wrapping an arm around his blanketed form and kissing the back of his head. “..’Kichi, hey, what’s the matter, darlin’?”

Kokichi is too preoccupied with crying to answer, so Shuichi takes it upon himself to be the messenger. “..He says he feels ugly,” He whispers, making sure Kokichi can’t hear him. “I-I don’t know if it’s because of what you said, so don’t panic, okay?”

Kaito looks horrified. He doesn’t speak, but Shuichi can practically hear him saying God, what have I done?

“..Is that what all this is?” Kaito asks after a moment, picking up a makeup wipe and examining it. “He doesn’t need makeup.”

“Clearly he doesn’t think so right now,” Shuichi says gently, placing a hand on top of one of Kaito’s. “Do you want me to leave you guys alone?”

Kaito shakes his head. “N-No, stay. You’re alright.”

Shuichi nods. He watches silently as Kaito slowly reaches for the top of the blanket, but as soon as Kokichi feels him start to pull it down, he yelps and covers his face.

“Don’t look at me,” He panics, like he didn’t mean to say that at all. To Shuichi, it sounded like that came from the very depths of Kokichi’s insecurity, and he’s probably mortified that he let that slip. He frowns in pity.

Much to Kokichi’s dismay, Kaito lets the blanket rest at his waist, allowing him to see what he was trying to hide.

Kokichi’s face is tear stained, and the bags that were below his eyes yesterday are darker. He immediately hides his face in his hands, terrified. It seems as though he won’t dare to say anything after his little slip up, though, because he is completely silent.

“Love,” Kaito starts, brushing some hair out of Kokichi’s face, to maybe just get a glimpse of him. “Look at me.”

Kokichi shakes his head, another pitiful whimper escaping him, as he continues to hide behind his hands.

Shuichi decides he needs to intervene. He gently, and slowly, brings a hand up to one of Kokichi’s, and it’s surprisingly easy to pry both of them off his face.

“There he is,” Shuichi smiles. “You’re alright. Don’t worry.”

Kokichi sniffles but still makes eye contact, his eyes rimmed with a soft red. He glances down a moment later, embarrassed.

“There,” Kaito whispers. “You ripped the bandaid off, yeah? Feels better, right, hun?”

Kokichi half-shrugs, tears still falling from his eyes. He makes no move to wipe them off.

Shuichi uses his thumb to, gently, wipe the tears away. Kokichi leans into the touch as soon as they make contact, and again, it reminds Shuichi of how a cat would lean into its owners hand.

“For the record, ‘Kichi,” Shuichi smiles gently, “I think you’re very handsome.” He blushes. “Pretty, even.”

Kokichi’s cheeks bloom into a dark red. “..You’re just s-saying that,” He says, his voice scratchy from misuse.

“He’s not,” Kaito says, brushing some hair behind Kokichi’s ear. “I think so, too.”

Kokichi hides behind his hands again, but for a different reason this time. “S-Shut up.”

Shuichi and Kaito smile, relieved that their boyfriend is feeling a bit better. “Let’s clean all this up, huh?” Kaito asks Shuichi, making Kokichi groan.

“‘M sorry,” He mumbles. “I didn’t mean to make a mess.”

“Hey, no, it’s okay,” Shuichi says. “We’re not upset with you. We just want to make sure you’re feeling 100% better, and if that means getting rid of this stuff as to not remind you of it, then we’ll start with that.”

Kokichi spares him a grateful smile. “Okay.” He sniffles. “Let me help, too.”

-

A couple days later, Shuichi breathes out a sigh of relief as he slumps onto the couch. Taking care of his boyfriends is hard work.

He’s about to doze off when suddenly, Kokichi bursts in the room with one of the biggest smiles on his face Shuichi’s ever seen.

“Shuichi!” He beams, hands on his hips in a confident manner. “Guess what Kai-chan just said to me!”

Shuichi can vaguely hear Kaito embarrassedly protest from the other room, which is quite out of character for him. Usually he’s loud and proud when bickering with Kokichi, so this must be something pretty sweet. Shuichi smiles.

“What’d he say?” He asks, humoring his boyfriend.

Kokichi’s smile grows, his cheeks a rosy pink from adoration. “He called me beautiful,” he says, his tone lowering in what Shuichi deciphers as a sort of bashfulness. It makes Shuichi’s heart soar.

“O-Oh?” He stutters out, his smile matching Kokichi’s. “That was sweet of him.”

“Must be my mascara, huh?” Kokichi giggles. “You know, he said something else too, now that I think about it..”

Shuichi raises an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

Kokichi leans over the couch and looks Shuichi in the eye, prompting Shuichi to notice the aforementioned mascara. It is pretty, he thinks.

..Don’t get sidetracked, Shuichi. No matter how cute your boyfriend is.

He redirects his attention to Kokichi’s words, just in time to hear “He thinks you’re beautiful, too.”

..Ack. His weak point. He feels his face heat up and can’t help but hide behind his hands. Kokichi giggles and kisses his cheek.

“A-Asshole!” Kaito suddenly barges in, gaining his confidence back and grabbing the collar of Kokichi’s shirt from behind. “I told you not to say!”

Kokichi giggles mischievously, allowing Kaito to hold him by the shirt as one would hold a cat by the scruff of its neck. “I just thought he should knooow~” He gives him his best innocent, doe eyes. “You can’t be upset with me for long, can you?”

Kaito huffs and sets Kokichi down gently. He shoots Shuichi a loving smile. “Guess not.”

Shuichi’s practically drowning in his own love at this point. These two are gonna be the death of him.

..That’s fine, he supposes. Yeah. That’ll do.

Chapter Text

The morning drew, and thus Kokichi woke with it , head leaned on Shuichi’s chest and tucked under Kaito’s chin. Though he was groggy, he forced his memory to figure out just how he had gotten to bed.

He cringed as his mind lit up with yesterday’s… dilemma. An embarrassed blush creeping on his face as he remembered breaking down.

God that was embarrassing…

He buried his face further in Shuichi’s chest on instinct, indirectly causing him to stir. He heard slight mumbling, letting him know what heinous crime he had committed. He lifted his hand gently, sweeping hair out of Shuichi’s face. Well- the damage was done he supposed.

“Shushi…” He whispered softly. He really did have to stop and think about what he was doing. Only two years ago he would not be caught dead being so gentle.

His attention was drawn by feeling the cruel coldness of Shuichi leaning away, seeing Shuichi’s gilded grey eyes blinking sleepily at him. It took all in Kokichi not to kick his feet and squeal.

“Morning…” Shuichi said through a yawn, wiping under his eyes with his fingers, “What time is it?”

“Sunrise,” Was all Kokichi had for an answer. He cringed as Kaito gave off a particularly loud snore, Kokichi turning to scowl at him, “Couldn’t he be a little quieter? What a dummy.”

“Be nice…” Shuichi tutted, pulling him in close. Kokichi snuggled back into his chest with a content hum, earning a huff of laughter from Shuichi.

“You feeling okay?” Shuichi asked gently, washing a wave of calm over Kokichi. Sure, he wanted to lie. But it was too early. He always was more honest in the morning.

Which is probably why Shuichi asked him things in the morning.

“’m fine…” Kokichi sighed, “Tired…”

“You sleep as long as you want, okay?”

Kokichi nodded, already on the brink unconsciousness once more. Shuichi raking a hand through his hair certainly was not helping.

There was little he could do, fading slower- and slower… deeper- and deeper.

“…otta ask him.”

What?

He opened his eyes, realizing the sunlight was far harsher than it had been just a few seconds ago.

Was it a few seconds or- no- he must have fallen back asleep.

He felt no warmth on him, blinking open his eyes to see both his boyfriends sitting up in the bed. There voices were hushed, clearly he was the one they were now letting sleep.

He smiled, shifting himself so he way laying on his back in order to gain their attention. Both heads immediately snapped down to look at him, matching his own smile.

It- was kind of nerve wracking honestly.

“Hey starshine, you doing okay?”

Kokichi grimaced. His voice was way too soft… too gentle. He brought up a fist to rub at his eyes. Acting cute usually distracted him after all.

“What happened yesterday..?”

“You fell asleep on the couch, remember?” Shuichi pushed gently.

“No…” Kokichi puffed out his cheeks looking away, “I- I don’t remember anything past…” He groaned, shifting to bury his face in the pillow.

So. Embarrassing.

“Do you want something to eat, hm? I can cook today,” Shuichi offered.

Kokichi sat up abruptly. He was absolutely not having it, “Do you two think your subtle? Stop it with the coddling and just ask whatever you want to ask!”

Shuichi’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting his reaction, “We- did. We asked how you were-“

“That’s not what you want to know,” Kokichi groaned, “You’re just trying to be nice.”

Kaito scowled, “Kokichi.”

But he simply glared, “Just. Ask.”

Though Kaito seemed keen to keep fighting, Shuichi clearly agreed with him that it was simply too early to complicated things. He took one of Kokichi’s hands in his own, worry filling his eyes, “Why did you get so upset, ‘Kichi?”

Yeah- he should’ve figured it was going to be that.

But what was he supposed to do- just answer? His reason was almost as pathetic as the freak out itself. He did not want to admit it to them, and definitely not to himself.

He looked away, trying to tug his hand away but failing to do so, “Like I’m the only one whose overdramatic and blows up over nothing important-“

“That ain’t what we’re saying!” Kaito cried, but Shuichi just shook his head.

“Its fine Kaito, that’s enough.”

Kaito looked at him incredously, “What do you mean, enough?”

But Shuichi was just smiling at Kokichi, “Thank you for telling us.”

Kaito could only stare in confusion as Kokichi waved off his other boyfriend, blush tinting his ears. When had Kokichi said what happened? It just was not fair how easily Shuichi could see through Kokichi’s twisted words. He did not even know which words led him to a conclusion for Atua’s sake…

But it did not matter that much to Kaito. Afterall, it was Shuichi’s speciality to deduce the problem, it was time to use his own.

He wrapped an arm around Kokichi back, pulling him into his hold. Only when he heard a squeak did he flop back on his back, bringing Kokichi down with him.

Kokichi scowled from where his ear was pressed again Kaito’s chest, “Didn’t I just say to stop coddling me? You’re supposed to do everything your supreme leader asks!”

“Shut up,” Kaito grumbled, running a hand through Kokichi’s hair, “And quit whining, its annoying… Shuichi already said he’s going to make breakfast. No reason we can’t relax.”

“I should probably go do that, huh?” Shuichi laughed nervously, seeming understanding what Kaito was doing.

“You better make the fluffiest pancakes!” Kokichi cried, softly kicking Shuichi until he stood, “Or I’ll have your head!”

Shuichi just shook his head, “As you wish…”

The moment he left the room, it was silent, only the sound of Kaito’s calm humming and the warm feeling of hands through his hair. Kokichi breathed out slowly, leaning further into his hold. Whether he was being manipulated or not, Kokichi could not deny the comfort his hold always seemed to bring. He knew he was supposed to take care of himself, but there was something so safe about the hold of someone so much bigger, so much stronger, so much safer than his own cold lonlieness…

“We aren’t babying you,” Kaito reminded him softly, “Like hell you would ever need that. You could handle more than both of us combined.” Kokichi looked up, guilt pooling in his stomach at the worried eyes, “But you can’t get mad if we’re worried. If me or Shuichi broke down like that, you’d fight tooth and nail to figure out what happened.”

That… was true. He knew it. Still- it felt so pathetic, to cry over something irrational. It was clear as day, was it not? He was in his hold, his other boyfriend lovingly cooking whatever he asked. It was so stupid to think they’d leave him. It was… selfish.

“Its my fault…” Kokcihi admitted quietly, because the truth was so much easier when he felt safe, “No reason you should have to deal with it.”

Kaito snorted, “Like you didn’t get scouted by the best academy in the world for dealing with other people’s problems. You can’t hog all the thunder you know, I’m supposed to be the hero here.”

“Yeah, yeah such a hero,” Kokichi reached up to flick his nose, “Absorb all the self-fufillment you can while I’m still playing nice.”

“What kind of fufillment am I getting from holding someone who didn’t shower last night?”

“Hey!” Kokichi sat up, a faint red on his cheeks, “That wasn’t an invitation to insult me!”

Kaito shrugged, crossing his arms now that Kokichi no longer was there, “Take the coddling or take the truth, you choo-WAH!”

Kokichi slammed the closest pillow into his face, snickering at his sputtering and hurried move to sit upright, “At least showering helps me. Momota~chan could take a thousand showers and he’d smell just as bad!”

“You’re gonna regret that you-“

“Lalala! Can’t heaaar you!” Immediately, Kokichi popped up, smacking Kaito over the face once more before seeing Kaito scramble for a pillow and promptly dashing out of the room. Kaito followed without a second thought, pillow already raised in order to fight back.

“Shuichi!” Kokichi cried, dashing into the kitchen just as Shuichi placed more batter in the pan, “Someone let Kaito’s second persona out! He’s gonna kill meeee!”

“YOU BET I AM!” Kaito turned the corner himself, Shuichi watching with wide eyes as they chased each other around the table.

But it fell into a smile, hearing their laughter. He turned back to his work with nothing more than a shake of his head.

Clearly, Kokichi was feeling better. That was all that mattered.

Of course, he still had to solve the issue… later.

The day had been exactly what they hoped: peaceful. Kokichi really seemed back to normal. It was… fascinating, to the both of them, how quickly Kokichi could bounce back, but of course it always left that residual fear, that maybe the problem hadn’t been solved… he just got better at hiding it.

So that night, after a quiet day of work and that mall visit they had promised Kokichi (their poor wallets definitely taking a hit) leaving for training definitely was leaving worry, at least in Shuichi’s mind. When it came to Kaito, watching Shuichi move over to the couch to take Kokichi’s face in his hands, he could only feel pity for the clear anxiety that came off of him.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Shuichi tried, looking over his smallest boyfriend.

Kokichi rolled his eyes, “Shui- calm. down. I’m fine, I’m gonna be right here when you guys get back.”

“Why don’t you just come with us?” Kaito huffed, looking over at Shuichi, “I think it’ll make Shuichi feel better.”

“No,” Shuichi said starkly, immediately catching the wide eyes from both Kaito and Kokichi as a bad sign, “N-not that I don’t want him there! Its just… um…” He pulled back, eyes casting away, “I don’t think it’ll be- healthy.”

“I know,” Kokichi said dully, “So just go.”

Once again, Kaito had no clue what they were talking about, but he trusted Shuichi enough to go along with it, walking over to place a chaste kiss on Kokichi’s forehead, before wrapping his arm around Shuichi.

“Come on, Maki might actually kill us if we’re late again. Behave, ‘Kichi,” Kaito grumbled, making the generic “I’m watching you” motion and earning a tongue stuck out of him in response. He led Shuichi out the door, eyes on him not only down the pavement, but the entire drive over to the park.

It was practically silent, a clear nervous energy over Shuichi that had Kaito still trapped in that pity. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, turning out of their neighborhood slow enough that he could place a hand on Shuichi’s shoulder.

“He’s gonna be fine.”

Shuichi looked away, “We were at training last sumer when he… started packing.”

Kaito smiled as warmly as he could “But now we caught the issue before it got bad,” He grinned, “Trust me, the Luminary of the Stars would never leave his sidekick alone if he wasn’t a hundred percent sure they were okay.”

“Kokichi definitely wouldn’t be if he heard you call him that,” Shuichi laughed smally, before that seriousness snapped back onto his face, “And he isn’t fully… we haven’t actually solved the issue.”

“The… issue?” Kaito asked, furrowing his brows as he finally sought out an answer.

“The trigger, Kaito,” Shuichi sighed, “Yes, what he really needed was reassurance. But I’m pretty sure he’s still thinking about whatever triggered the thoughts in the first place.”

“I guess,” Kaito frowned, “But I can’t really think of what could’ve caused it. I mean, Kokichi’s an unpredictable bastard. It could literally be anything…” He watched the way Shuichi started playing with his fingers and immediately cut off his thought, “But you already know what it was, don’t you?”

Shuichi looked away, “I’m a detective… its my job.”

Kaito pulled into their usual spot, looking over the park ahead of them. Immediately, both of them left the car, their surroundings only lit with lamps as Kaito took Shuichi around the waist once more and started leading him down the path, “And you’re waiting to deal with it… why?”

“I-“ Shuichi looked away, “I think it’ll be easier if you just see it for yourself. No point in repeating everything twice after all.”

Sometimes, Kaito really did feel like the idiot Kokichi teased him about being.

Within seconds, Maki was in view, situated upon their usual space, looking over the lake in the distance. She did not waiver for a moment, simply sliding her head over to observe as they sat beside her.

“Maki~Roll!” Kaito cheered as he plopped down, slapping her on the back and simply earning a glare for his efforts.

“I see you two came alone this time,” Maki said coldly, “Good.”

“We learned our lesson…” Shuichi said simply, pulling a knee up to his chest and resting his chin on it.

Kaito raised an eyebrow, “We did?”

“I can’t believe you haven’t yelled at us to start our sit ups yet,” Maki scoffed, crossing her arms, “Whats with the sudden leniency?”

“I can be lenient sometimes!” Kaito cheered, “That doesn’t mean there’s any excuses though! Maki’s right, we should get these over with so we can-“

“Actually…” Shuichi interrupted, voice quiet as it certainly was not something he was used to doing, “S-sorry Kaito… but there’s kind of something else I’d like to- ah- do today.”

“This better not be another talking training,” Maki sneered, “At this point its time to start calling this therapy.”

“We- we can still do our sit ups,” Shuichi raised his hands in defense, straightening his posture, “I just… really need to get this off my chest before we start.”

His eyes were locked on Maki, an intent Kaito could just not read behind his gaze. Maki must have sensed some form of hostility he was failing to read, for she bristled and matched Shuichi’s straightening posture.

“Oh..?” She said, a warning in her voice.

But Shuichi’s eyes finally moved over to hers, the resignation he always showed when he solved a case.

“Maki, what did you say to Kokichi?”

Kaito’s eyes widened, alongside Maki’s.

“What?”

He straightened further, confidence slowly creeping through him, “You said something to Kokichi, something bad. Something bad enough to make him question his relationship with us. And I want to know what it was.”

Kaito had to admit, he absolutely loved seeing the rare assertiveness Shuichi showed when he was confronting a criminal, but- but to see those same eyes directed at their friend was… concerning.

But he trusted his boyfriend, through and through, so he looked at Maki with the same, accusatory eyes.

“It was you?”

“I…” Maki looked between them, before scoffing and glaring at the lake, “Maybe we had a little chat. What’s the problem? He says shit to me all the time, and you both sit there and make me take it.”

“We never let it get far,” Shuichi warned, “Certainly not far enough to cause…”

“Cause what?” Maki spat, “Did he cry those fat, stupid tears he uses to make you idiots give him whatever he wants? Did he come crying to you that the ‘big, scary assasin’ tried to kill him.” Her grip on her skirt tightened, “Well I didn’t. Whatever he told you was a lie.”

“He didn’t tell me,” Shuichi revealed, “Or, rather, not directly. He simply gave me the information I needed to deduce it myself. Someone blew up, took something way out of proportion, probably the same day he… Anyyway, The only thing I can think of is when Kokichi triggered one of Kaito’s coughing fits at training accidentally. I took him to the car to get his inhaler, and that left you alone with Kokichi- the only time yesterday he was alone with someone other than me and Kaito, and from the way he was treating us I am sure this ‘blow up’ was definitely not through one of us.”

Shuichi was speaking so fast, Kaito could hardly comprehend it. He was left in wonder, no matter how many times he saw the absolutely incredibleness that was Shuichi’s deduction. Where Kaito had seen absolutely nothing, Shuichi was able to perfectly deduce exactly what had transpired, and no matter how Kaito thought about it, he just could not pull up the same conclusion.

He would never be able to match Shuichi’s deductive skill- no one could.

“I- don’t know what you’re talking about…” Maki said distantly, her face unreadable.

Clearly, it was Kaito’s turn to step in.

“Maki~roll,” He tried, leaning closer to her, even as she pulled away, “He broke down last night- bad. If you really did do something like Shu’ thinks you did… I just want to know.”

“How… how bad?”

“Kaito, Kokichi really wouldn’t want you to-“

“Better than last year,” Kaito admitted. If there was one way to get Maki to talk, he was the one to know it, “But- I could tell how much he had been suffering. He cried himself to sleep two nights, wouldn’t go anywhere with us, talk to us, even sleep in the same bed as us…” He placed a hand on her shoulder once more, “If you did something, just let us know, cause I don’t think Kokichi’s going to get to sleep normally… until we can help.”

Shuichi bit his tongue, an unsettling feeling oozing through his stomach. He was sure Kaito knew what he was doing when it came to Maki, but- well he knew how secretive Kokichi was and- and he would kill them both if he knew they had spilt what had happened.

But when Maki looked at the floor, finally admitting defeat, Shuichi knew it was worth it.

“He hurts…” Maki gritted her teeth, “Well he hurts the both of you a whole lot more.”

Shuichi knew- he knew it was her fault, but hearing her say it hurt, “Maki…”

“No-“ she snapped, her eyes glaring into his. Still, he knew that murder was protective, a shield she wanted to give him, no matter who she had to hurt, “He does. He’s awful- a terrible, vile human. And he doesn’t deserve either of you, but for some reason, you can’t see it. And- and I’m sure its him, I’m sure that sleazebag did something to make it so you couldn’t see what he really wanted, who he really was.” Tears were taut in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She always did, “He’s cruel, self absorbed, and manipulative. The only reason you even like him is because he’s just some- sidekick to lift up,” She glared at Kaito, but shifted it to Shuichi, “Or case for you to solve. He knows this, he’s using it and you’re idiots if you can’t see it!”

It was rare for Maki to raise her voice. Hell, Kaito could not remember the last time she did… All he could do was watch her regain her composure, stuffing everything back inside and shoving on the mask (and she really thought she was so different to Kokichi, Kaito noted) until she looked as if she had never yelled in the first place. Kaito bristled, ready for the fight he had no qualms starting if anyone dared insult his boyfriend like that, unsure of what else he could even do. Yet somehow, Shuichi almost seemed liked he expected it, smiling softly at their mutual friend.

“Well, at least we finally got a little more out of you,” Shuichi admitted, “You’re always so hesitant to speak about Kokichi…” He took a breath, calming eyes sent to Kaito before he directed himself back to Maki, “Maki… you’ve got it wrong, okay? I can see… where you’re coming from. I shared similar thoughts, so did Kaito and Kaede and pretty much everyone who knew him I think. And… I guess its my fault for never- listening to what you actually had to say about him.”

“Do not act like its your fault,” Kaito warned, fist still clenched in preparation, though he knew if he did start that fight, he would surely lose.

Still, anything to protect his boyfriend’s name.

But Shuichi was still speaking in that calming tone that always kept Kaito from his impulsive decisions, “Still, I should have pressed into your actual reasons rather than dismissing your concerns just because I liked him.” He tilted his head, so innocent Kaito could just feel his anger melt away, even if that gaze was directed at Maki, “Let me make it up to you?”

He could see a brief blush on Maki’s cheeks. Her demeanor melted into something only he and Shuichi could probably recognize as welcoming: arms crossed, gaze pointedly away, “You have once chance…”

“Thank you,” Shuichi closed his eyes, and began, “Maki- I don’t doubt what you’re seeing. But you’re only seeing what Kokichi wants you to see. He doesn’t- want you to see him for what he really is. You must have heard us and even him say it more than once. All that evil you see is just him putting on some show. And that in itself is the thorn in all your accusations.”

Maki slitted her eyes, “Oh?”

“Most of the cruelty you see is just teasing,” Shuichi’s posture and tone was more confident than ever, the way it always was when he got to talk about one of his boyfriends, “And his talent lets him know if he’s ever taking it too far. It seems harsh, but we’re both well aware, and teasing people is just a part of who he is. I mean, who would Kaito Momota be without his fights with Kokichi?”

Kaito nodded, following along with his own warm smile.

“And the self-absoprtion is just another act. He’s the most selfless person I know, Maki. He’d give anything, anything for others, even his own image. Which he… often ends up doing. If he was more selfish, maybe you’d think better of him… He’d be directing the hatred and blame on himself so much less. I- wish he would, honestly, but he does it because he doesn’t care what people think of him, as long as they think better of someone else. And he wont ever admit that, not even to me, but I’ve seen it, so many times.”

Maki gripped the edge of her skirt, “He’s still manipulating you. Even if you can’t see it-“

“We can,” Kaito nodded, leaning himself more into Maki and putting a hand on her back. If he had known of her fear, her insecurity of their relationship… he could’ve helped so much sooner, “Well, we don’t always know when he’s doing it, but we know it aint evil or some shit. He does it to make people do things for themselves that they don’t understand are better for ‘em, and that includes me and Shu. Sure, its annoying, and open communication feels like it’d be a hell of a lot easier, but he’s the Ultiamte Supreme Leader, not me. I got a feeling he understands this shit a lot better than me or Shu’. He's never manipulating people for his own personal gain. If anything, I wish he’d do it more so less people hated him,” He chuckled slightly, but straightened his face when Maki met his eyes, “And he isn’t my sidekick to fix, he isn’t one of Shuichi’s cases to solve. He’s our boyfriend. And- he doesn’t even need fixing.”

Maki snorted, “You can’t really think…”

“I mean there isn’t anything he doesn’t already know,” Kaito shrugged, “’Long as it took me to realize it, an’ even accept it, he is who he is. His pain’s a part of ‘im, its way past a point where it can be taken away. What’s done is done, ‘ts a part of him now. Unlike you, or Shu, there isn’t some different person unable to come through ‘cause of trauma. He knows who he is, he chooses to keep it to himself. And sure, maybe sometimes he needs comfort, or reassurance, maybe there’s a part of him that’s more serious, a part that’s calmer, but that doesn’t mean the mask he wears isn’t also him, you know? Maybe at one point it wasn’t, but it is now. And I think that’s just fine.”

“I… don’t understand,” Maki squinted at him, as if trying to understand a difficult puzzle.

“You don’t have to,” Shuichi smiled, “And I don’t think he wants you to. You see the version of him he wants to share, the version of him that benefits his agenda. But he’s there for anyone to see, if they really want to. He probably wouldn’t never admit to it, but you can see it for yourself if you look hard enough. And getting him to admit it, to put away his agenda and just be. I don’t think… he’ll be giving that to anyone else. Its his way of showing love and intimacy. He has me and Kaito, and I don’t think there’s anyone else he wants to show that love and intimacy towards.”

“And you know if he’s really upsetting you, we can talk to ‘im,” Kaito chimed in, “But me and Shu’ were kind of okay with the fact that you two don’t get along. You got super conflicting views and shit. Hell, I’d be surprised if you did!”

“That’s no excuse to yell at him,” Shuichi reminded her, a warning to his tone, “Whether he acts indestructable or not, he’s human. And I’m not going to let you say things like that to him without reason or consequence,” But he lightened up with a snap, “But it is an excuse to avoid him, or ask that he doesn’t come to training.”

Maki was silent for a long, long time, staring at the ground, and they could see the gears turning in her mind.

But finally, through the soft sound of the wind, she spoke, “I love you both…” She sighed, looking up, “Can he not come to training?”

Shuichi laughed smally, “Of course.”

“Good,” Maki stood, turning around, “Start your sit ups. I have something to do.”

Knowing they finally had a chance to finish at the same time as her, they immediately started their sit ups as Maki grabbed what she needed.

And when it came down to it, obviously, she finished before them.

Shuichi smiled as Kaito held open the passengar door for him, exiting the car and handing Kaito the letter.

“Think he’s asleep?” Kaito asked, wrapping his arm around him as they walked up to the front.

“I’m not too sure,” Shuichi admitted, lowering his voice as he opened the door, just in case, “He’s quite the wild card.”

Kaito nodded, shutting it behind him. Taking in the first floor, it was clear that he, at the very least, was not there. He moved further into the apartment, but Shuichi was quicker, shoes and coat already off as he carried himself to the second floor, most likely to check.

Kaito sighed in pity. He knew Shuichi was paranoid. He just wondered how much longer he would be. He moved towards the kitchen for a drink, eyes immediately catching the piece of paper on their table.

As he moved over to pick it up, a small smile on his face, thundering footsteps raced back downstairs.

“K-kaito!” He could hear the tears in Shuichi’s voice, looking up with wide eyes as he ran into the kitchen, “H-he’s not up th-there! He-“

“Calm down,” Kaito said, pulling him in to kiss him on the forehead and place the letter in his hands.

Shuichi took a shaky breath, looking over the letter as Kaito wiped his eyes clean.

Don’t panic just out with Miu ^o^

That’s a lie though, you totally should panic cuz she kidnapped me and is holding me ransom for five pennies WAAAAH (˚˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ ) you’ll pay my ransom wont you? ♡♡♡

Shuichi took a breath of relief, leaning into Kaito’s hold on his cheek, “He really couldn’t have texted as us?”

“You know him,” Kaito snorted, “Dramatic little midget.”

“You know you’re a lot bolder with your insults when he’s not around,” Shuichi smiled, amused by the blush that creeped over Kaito’s face.

“I still gotta get to space. And I need my kneecaps to do that.”

Shuichi laughed along with Kaito. Kaito moved to grab the letter from Shuichi, placing both Kokichi’s and the one he was holding on the table. When he looked back, Shuichi was on his phone, and he eyed him curiously, “What’re you doing?”

Shuichi looked up, showing him his phone screen and its confirmation that he wanted to wire five cents to Miu.

Kaito just laughed further, wrapping both arms around Shuichi’s waist and bringing him in for a kiss.

“I’m sure Kokichi will appreciate it.”

Shuichi nodded, sending it through as Kaito led him towards their bedroom.

The door creaked open again, even more quietly, seeing as Kokichi could be certain they were home. The car was in its spot after all.

He yawned, rubbing at his eye and wincing at the late hour. He thought he would have just as much energy as Miu, what with his own long nights out with DICE rivaling her inventing time, but he supposed he had not gotten much sleep those last few days.

He slipped off his shoes, reveling in the silence and dark. He was already dressed comfortably enough, he decided, more than anything he wanted to just pass out…

Moving past the kitchen, his eyes lingered on his letter. He smiled, laughing internally as he remembered Miu’s confusion when she got a notification that Shuichi wired her five cents. Even thinking of the moment made his heart swell more for his boyfriends, and he thought he was the joker of the realtionship.

He was. But they all had their fun.

Even in the darkness, he noticed that his letter was not the only on the table. Immediately, his interest was peaked, wondering if perhaps his boyfriends had left their own letter in retaliation. It did have his name on the front, so that was what he imagined.

Picking it up from the table, however, he could feel the chills run through his body by the signature in the corner.

Maki Harukawa

He took a breath, willing his hands to stop shaking. If it said something bad- he would just tell his boyfriends. They would be there for him. There was no reason for him to hide.

Those mantras repeated as he tore open the letter anxiously, already biting on his thumb nail when he read over the words.

But as he saw them, it fell from his mouth. His eyes widened. It was small, barely took a few seconds to read, but he was reading it over and over, checking that yes- it was Maki’s handwriting. Yes- she wrote it herself.

Tears were in his eyes. Through the silence, they fell past his smile.

But he bit it back, willing himself to not start jumping around and squealing when he was sure it would wake up his boyfriends. Still, his body was buzzing with happiness as he started upstairs, reading the letter over and over again as he moved.

He just… could not believe it.

His boyfriends were incredible.

The moment he got in the room, he saw their forms in the bed. He clsoed the door even quieter, chest warming at the sight of them pressed together, two perfect pieces of the puzzle.

Gently, he moved towards his bedside drawer, tucking the letter in under his scarf. Closet to Shuichi, he decided to lean over the bed, slowly starting to poke him on the cheek without a single doubt.

“Mmm…” He heard through the silence, slowly watching Shuichi’s head shift over to eye him sleepily.

“You’re in my spot,” He whispered, giggling softly when Shuichi rubbed his eyes to see him better. Cute.

He made another noncommital noise before wriggling his way out of Kaito’s hold, Kokichi immediately climbing over him to situate himself between the two. Immediately, Kaito’s snoring filled his ear, large arms wrapping around him without so much as a stir.

Another perfect piece to the puzzle.

He leaned up, kissing Shuichi in his last moment of conscience before Shuichi rested his chin on Kokichi’s head and let himself fall back asleep. Unable to kiss Kaito now, he opted to simply shift his head over to see his sleeping form, reach over and gently brush his fingers over his cheek.

He needn’t say anything, not like they would hear. Instead, he simply followed them to sleep, surrounded, held, by all the love he could have ever hoped for.

And Kokichi Ouma fell asleep, a smile on his lips.

…

I do not think you deserve Shuichi and Kaito. But they love you, they need you, and I need you to keep loving them, so they will stay happy. You make them happy, and at the very least, you deserve to know that.
- Maki Haurkawa