Work Text:
“Shuichi?”
Shuichi grimaces as pain shoots through his body. He tries to open his eyes, but his eyelids are incredibly dry and he’s exhausted. He nearly slips off into sleep again, only to be lightly shaken by the shoulders. Whoever is in front of him is incredibly persistent, and he almost wishes they’d just leave him alone.
“Wakey, wakey!”
Immediately, Shuichi recognizes his newfound company. When he finally manages to open his eyes, Kokichi is crouching down in front of him. There’s a strange expression on his face, but Shuichi can’t even begin to discern what it is. “Well, you definitely seem to be in a pickle, Mr. Ultimate Detective.” Shuichi frowns at that. Everything seems fuzzy. Did Kokichi always look so blurry? He rubs his eyes roughly, confused when he finds that the movement takes a few moments. What is he doing here? What were they talking about again? Shuichi takes a moment to survey his surroundings. He’s leaned up against a wall in the courtyard. His vision is a bit too blurry to make out where he’s situated.
“What—ow,” Shuichi hisses, a sharp pain in his side breaking his concentration. Against his trepidation, he looks down. Any good thought or hope immediately dies in his chest. His side is positively oozing blood. Upon closer inspection, Shuichi thinks he can see one of his ribs. A nauseating feeling settles in his chest. He presses a hand up to the wound and sits there, feeling entirely helpless. “Well, shit.”
“Profanity, Shumai!” Kokichi grins, amusement flickering in his eyes. The boy’s hands are on his knees as he peers down at him. His gaze never seems to pause, flickering from Shuichi’s face to his wound to the wall and back again. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear before! This is exciting.”
“Well, I’m glad someone’s having fun,” Shuichi deadpans, not able to find humor in the situation himself. Then again, Kokichi isn’t the one on the brink of death. He tries to push himself up further against the wall, but even the slightest movement seems to aggravate his injuries. Eventually, he settles for remaining still. His heart thuds in his chest. His fingers are twitching and there’s a coppery taste in his mouth.
“You’re funny when you’re almost dead,” Kokichi remarks. Shuichi blinks at him for a moment, his brain grinding to a halt at the latter two words. Almost dead… He gulps. He knows his wound is serious, sure, but deadly? He takes a shuddering breath and tries to collect himself. Panicking further won’t do him any good.
“I’m sure,” Shuichi eventually says. He wishes he could push Kokichi away or get up himself, but none of his limbs want to cooperate. He leans his head back against the wall, his thoughts racing a mile a minute. After a moment’s effort, Shuichi shakily presses his hand closer to his wound, hoping to apply more pressure. “How-?” His voice cracks and breaks, but the other boy seems to understand what he’d been getting at.
“Someone tried to kill you, obviously,” Kokichi replies lightly. He sounds entirely unbothered, yet there’s a slight furrow to his brows that suggests that he’s more troubled than he lets on. Shuichi frowns and tries to remember what he was doing last. He had been walking along the courtyard when, all of a sudden, he was careening down towards the ground. It seems someone ambushed him. He says as much to Kokichi, who frowns. The boy asks who he was with, but Shuichi doesn’t have the slightest idea. His last vivid memory is the breakfast he shared with his friends that morning. Anything past that is convoluted and hazy.
After that admission, the pair is entirely silent. Kokichi seems to be busy with his own thoughts. Shuichi, on the other hand, is feeling remarkably more exhausted. His adrenaline upon waking up seems to be fading. He moves his hands to the ground at his sides, intending to push himself up, only to pause. His hands are shaking, despite being entirely pressed against the cement below. He looks up to Kokichi, who startles after their gazes meet. Shuichi gives up on trying to move and slumps back against the wall. Somehow, everything is swirling and blurring around him. Panic rises within him, as a sudden disconnected feeling makes itself known. No part of his body seems to be working. He tries to open his mouth to say something, but it takes nearly ten seconds for him to push the words from his lips.
“I’m just going to—” Shuichi breaks off, dark shadows creeping along the edges of his vision. Kokichi appears to be saying something, but his voice sounds warped and garbled in Shuichi’s ears. From what he can see, the other boy almost looks concerned. Resigning himself to figuring it out later, Shuichi falls to the ground as darkness overtakes his vision.
“Ouch,” Shuichi hisses, suddenly painfully aware of the bandages wrapped tightly around his side. He pokes a finger at them and winces. He seems to be reclined in some sort of bed. Perhaps his own? Shuichi tries to touch his bandage again, only for a hand to bat his away.
“You’re awake.” Shuichi manages to nod his head at that. He hesitantly blinks his eyes open, wincing at how dry they feel. Immediately, he’s assaulted with the bright light overhead. A few tears fall down his cheeks as his eyes get adjusted to the light. Shuichi wipes them away and looks away from the lights, only to find Kirumi staring at him. To his further surprise, it seems that he is reclined on his own bed, inside the dormitories. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting.
“How are you feeling?” Kirumi asks, her eyes inspecting his form with precision. She looks elegant and put-together as always. Shuichi wonders if she has ever slipped. She clearly wears a mask of socially appropriate emotions during any situation, but Shuichi can’t help but think that she must be as troubled as the rest of them. Perhaps she doesn’t like to show it. Maybe it’s because of her line of work? He isn’t entirely sure. Realizing that he’s staring, Shuichi looks down at his hands on the sheets. In all honesty, he hadn’t really expected to wake up again. That last slip into unconsciousness felt permanent. He says as much to Kirumi, who offers an explanation. “I treated the wound.”
“Really?” Shuichi can’t help but ask. Somehow, the question he wants to ask must be clear in his eyes, because Kirumi shakes her head and clasps her hands together.
“Yes,” Kirumi nods, evidently catching on to what he’s getting at. “I’ve had several clients that held positions of political power. It was required of me that I have extensive medical knowledge, should they ever fall into a dangerous situation.”
“Oh,” Shuichi remarks, feeling entirely out of his depth. Every time he interacts with Kirumi, he is brutally aware of how different they are. Kirumi seems to have her entire life together, as she does important work for influential people. Shuichi can’t help but feel insecure at the prospect of a person his age doing such amazing things. It reminds him of his title: Ultimate Detective. It doesn’t seem like much, especially when he remembers that he only solved one case. What kind of detective can only solve one case? Not a very good one, he reckons. Shuichi doesn’t realize that he’s zoned out until he hears a polite cough. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looks over to Kirumi and smiles. “Well, thank you, Kirumi. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course.” She nods in a gesture that almost looks like a half-bow. Shuichi watches as she remains still for a moment. Somehow, he gets the feeling she isn’t done speaking. Sure enough, Kirumi seems to have one final, confusing remark. “I’ll let Kokichi know you’re awake.”
“Why Kokichi?” Shuichi asks, his eyebrows furrowing. He’s entirely given up on the pretense of understanding. His head is pounding far too incessantly for him to try to muster a blank expression.
“Everyone here was worried about you, of course,” Kirumi breaks off, her gaze fixed on some point behind him. She looks to be seriously contemplating what to say next. Eventually, though, she continues to speak. “Kokichi seemed… particularly restless. I’d wager he has something to talk to you about.”
“Oh, okay,” Shuichi responds, although he feels just as clueless as ever. Kokichi wanted to talk to him about something? Whatever could it be? He murmurs a goodbye to Kirumi as she walks away, letting the door fall closed behind her. Shuichi weakly pushes himself up into a sitting position, groaning internally at how stiff his muscles feel. He tries to reach down towards the end of the bed, but the wound at his side prevents him from moving so much as an inch. Shuichi takes a deep breath, before awkwardly manipulating his limbs and getting up from bed. He shoots a hand out and grasps the dresser parallel to his bed. He feels as if he’s moving in slow motion.
A knock at his door draws him out of his thoughts. Shuichi stumbles towards the door and manages to open it, only to find Kokichi staring at him. Shuichi leans against the doorframe—pretending to be casual when, in reality, he’s just searching for balance—and raises his eyebrows at the boy. Kokichi grins.
“Saihara-chan, I’m so glad you’re awake!” Kokichi exclaims, clapping his hands together excitedly. The boy’s amusement feels far too fake, but Shuichi can’t help but wonder if some of it, tiny as it is, may be real. Wishful thinking, probably. “Just kidding. Neheeheee!” Shuichi rolls his eyes.
“Are you really?” he can’t help but ask. The question had been bouncing around in his mind, but he hadn’t intended to verbalize his confusion. Ah well. He blinks several times to try to sharpen his vision. His legs ache and the wound at his side is insistent in its presence.
“Who knows?” Kokichi shrugs, happiness quickly seeping from his form. His smile falls, the light in his eyes dims and his lips are pulled taut in a grimace. “I am a liar, after all.” Shuichi’s eyebrows furrow as he notices the sudden demeanor change in the boy. Kokichi is certainly quick to switch between emotions, but this particular morphing almost seemed forced.
“Kirumi said you wanted to talk to me about something,” Shuichi murmurs, thinking back to the strangely knowing expression on the Ultimate Maid’s face. Kokichi scowls for a moment, his eyes growing watery. Shuichi simply stares at him with raised eyebrows and the boy soon drops the act.
“Do you remember what you said yesterday?” Kokichi looks uncharacteristically serious. Shuichi squints at him, trying to piece together what he’s talking about. After a moment’s contemplation, he shakes his head. Kokichi nods. “I expected as much. You were pretty out of it.” Somehow, the boy looks disappointed. Shuichi wonders just what he could’ve said to incite such a reaction. Something crazy, evidently.
Kokichi walks away, much to Shuichi’s confusion. Weren’t they in the middle of a conversation? He frowns and stares at the boy’s retreating back, thinking of what to do. His contemplation doesn’t take long—namely because he knows exactly what he needs to do. Filled with a new resolve, Shuichi resolutely pushes himself away from the door frame. For a moment, he wobbles on his feet, but he manages to make it to the center of the dormitory. As he does so, it begins to come back to him. Today wasn’t the first time he woke up. He actually woke up last night for a few minutes. That conversation must be what he’s speaking of.
“Kokichi,” Shuichi says, just barely managing to catch up to the other boy. He’s still recovering, admittedly, so he’s unable to run up to him to break the distance between them. Still, Kokichi turns around and takes a few steps forward. There’s a questioning look in his eyes as he pauses but a few feet in front of Shuichi. Shuichi takes a deep breath before continuing to speak. “I remember. It’s fuzzy, but… I think I said something about having feelings for you.”
“Y—ep!” Kokichi grins, looking entirely unbothered despite the gravity of the situation. Shuichi frowns, staring at the boy. There’s something in his eyes, an emptiness of sorts. It’s the closest Shuichi has ever seen to true emotion on his face. He begins to realize what’s happening. The concern in Kokichi’s eyes just before he passed out. His uncharacteristic focus on him. The look in the boy’s eyes when Shuichi said he didn’t remember. The disappointment in his eyes now. Suddenly, it all makes sense.
“Oh,” Shuichi realizes aloud.
“Always the detective,” Kokichi shakes his head, a big smile on his face. The happiness on his face is clearly manufactured, and it almost looks as if his skin is pulling at the edges to make room for his smile. Shuichi takes a moment to contemplate just what to say next. He knows what he feels, but he doesn’t know how to say it.
Kokichi must think that he has nothing left to say, because the purple-haired boy simply turns on his heel and walks away. At least, he tries to. Shuichi finds himself reaching out and grabbing him by the wrist before he can quite register what he’s doing. Kokichi turns around, raising an eyebrow at him. Shuichi quickly releases his grip, and he finds words plummeting from his lips before he can stop them.
“I don’t remember exactly what I said,” he admits, averting his gaze. Shuichi can feel Kokichi’s eyes on him, yet somehow, he’s entirely unable to meet the boy’s gaze. Instead, he focuses on an uncertain point in the distance. “But none of it was untrue. I do have feelings for you.”
Kokichi looks at him blankly.
“Kokichi,” Shuichi sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He can’t help but feel frustrated with the boy’s distrust. He knows it’s not quite fair for him to be irritated at that, but still… “There’s only one liar out of the both of us, and it’s not me. I wouldn’t lie to you like that.”
“Hm,” Kokichi says, staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. He still seems a bit unconvinced, but eventually a sort of clarity comes over his face and he nods. Shuichi waits for him to say something, anything, but a few moments pass and nothing of the sort happens.
“Well, I suppose that’s it, then,” Shuichi remarks, trying his best to hide his disappointment. He still had a foolish hope, buried deep in the recesses of his mind, that Kokichi felt the same as him. Evidently, that was nothing more than a dream. Still, he can’t stomach the thought of walking away from the boy. Instead, he settles for pressing a hand against his bandaged side and hoping that the other boy won’t walk away again.
“I thought you were a good detective,” Kokichi interjects, putting a finger to his lips. He raises his eyebrows, as if challenging Shuichi to find what he’s alluding to. Shuichi tries his best to analyze the past few days, he really does, but his mind is too much of a jumbled mess to give him any answers. Eventually, he settles for helplessly looking at the other boy. Kokichi sighs dramatically. “Well, whatever. I’ll just have to make it clearer.” The other boy steps closer until they’re barely a few inches apart. Shuichi stiffens, waiting for a punch, kick, something. He is expecting some sort of retaliation, not the soft press of lips against his own. The gesture feels far too short for his liking, as Kokichi soon pulls away and stares at him.
“You should probably rest,” Kokichi says, although the statement sounds more like a demand than a suggestion.
“Yes, well…” Shuichi breaks off with a grimace. “I’m about at my limit.” As he finishes that statement, he feels his balance suddenly give out again. He stumbles for a moment, but Kokichi is immediately at his side stabilizing him. With the other boy’s help, Shuichi manages to return back to his room. When he finally makes it to his bed, he doesn’t bother doing anything other than collapsing on top of his mattress.
“Good night, Shumai,” Kokichi grins down at him, leaning impossibly closer and kissing him on the forehead. The boy’s hand caresses his cheek for a fraction of a second, before he’s quickly bounding out of the room with a giggle. Shuichi brings a hand up to his cheek and shakes his head in fond exasperation. Safe to say, he falls asleep that night with a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest.