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The morning announcement rang like it had every morning since they arrived at the school. Monokubs cheerfully saying to rise and shine but the blue haired boy pushed to get up and get ready for the day and make his way down to the dining hall. Of course he had greeted his classmates with a good morning and went to kirumi for breakfast and not long after that. The Monokubs appeared. Oddly enough he didn't care much for their presence , his mind was directed elsewhere; The purple haired boy he had seen repeatedly for the past weeks that had possibly gone by was fogging up his mind.
Sure he had taken notice of him before but something felt... different. He knew kokichi was like a puzzle that he just needed to get all the right pieces in order to see inside the mind of the ultimate Supreme leader. Of course that puzzle was still in progress but something in his mind now hungered for more, more of the purple haired boy who seemed as though he could get himself out of anything, to gaze not into the mind of kokichi ouma but also his soul and his heart. It burned in his chest and made him wonder why.. why did he feel like this now rather than later.
"Shuichi?" A quiet voice asked, slightly startled by it he realized it was just maki with a concern kaito besides her. "Thank the stars, I thought my best bro was losing it!" Maki soon turned and walked away as id she had something better to do.
"You could have just hollered." Shuichi sighed but the self proclaimed luminary said "I was trying to get your thoughts on the new motive." Of course, why else would the Monokubs come here "well what about it?" already being clueless about it "The Monokubs won't say anything about it and im getting a little worried about that." Suddenly it seemed like everything in Shuichis mind clicked. He was affected by a motive...Questions raced panicked in his mind as he scowered for answers before feeling a chill run down his spine "I was also gonna ask if you were alright. Your face is paler than normal." Then it clicked but it was taken more as a warning sign. And as a warning sign does appear in his mind he rushed out the door with kaito wondering what was going on in his head.
"Aww space cadet couldn't figure out why his best buddy left him?" "CAN IT!" As the other purple haired boy snickered to himself.
As he made it out he rushed over to his room on two left feet. Something was wrong, oh so wrong. In the bathroom he reached for the first aid kit before stumbling down to the ground and realizing that he actually needed to calm down. With shaky hands he took his own temperature and it read with a high fever, he could tell by the physical symptoms but having a number still scared him more than the physical symptoms did. But he also wondered why? Why would he out of everyone else be affected by this first? Why was it this? Does it have a name? Again spiraling with questions that only make his temperature rise and head turn to mush. Actually he felt slightly hopeless, if hes the only one to actually be sick how would the others respond... how would- no. kokichi is the least of his concerns right now. He needs to be able to stay vigilant, even if it means quarantine. He cant make any rash moves in this state.
So remaining attempting to remain calm about this he headed down to the warehouse. It took longer than he wanted because of the hall way traffic but he managed to get there as his fever began to get worse as he had to hold back a few coughs, fortunatley koki- seriously what was up with this random obsession of kokichi???? Maybe it has to do with the fact that hes sick, actually more than maybe; definitely. In the warehouse he managed to grab a box of masks (later on finding reusable ones) and some medicine to hopefully lower the symptoms of the fever. almost running back to his room with the supplies, almost being caught by maki and kaito as they were scavenging around the halls for him- if kaito hadn't yelled out shuichis name he wouldn't have noticed. Once he made it back to his room he could definitely feel the effects getting worse as he instantly took the shot of the medicine and hating the taste but glad it gave him something else to think about.
At this point his mind was growing increasingly fuzzy with his perseverance to remain present as he put a cold and damp towel on his forehead to keep himself sober; it felt nice but wasn't doing much as the haze grew thicker. Using the last of his maintained will he locked the door and made sure that barely anyone could get in or let him out. Of course he forgot the important questions but he just hoped no one looked for him besides kaito and maki as he just got in bed and dozed off knowing that he was probably going to be gone by the time he woke up.
A couple of days had passed and the motive had made itself very clear in two of the students; gonta gokuhara and himiko yumeno. It was obvious that they were sick and thus were sent to their rooms by force, gonta nearly wrecking the entire dining hall down until the monokubs handled him and then himiko was just oddly depressing and realistic. The majority had discussed a plan to stay safe as the disease could have the possibility of spreading but it was still obvious that someone still wasn't there to everyone as that was the main topic of discussion during breakfast. "Alright me and maki went to search for him a couple days prior but we haven't gotten any leads yet." as maki showed annoyance in the fact that kaito might have let him slip under their noses "oh calm down i think hes hunky dory and just wandering around the place!" and at times like that kaito wanted to lunge across the table and mangle his throat "no he wasn't! didn't you see how he ran off after being stuck in his own head?!" "he.. ran off? peculiar." korekiyo asked "kaito i think we were the only ones paying attention to shuichi at this point." maki said knowing they had reached a dead end.
kokichi on the other hand seemed amused; he wasn't paying much attention to shuichi on the morning it happened as he was trying to figure out the motive too but that was just straight up out of character for shuichi. Just up and running away instead of explaining what hes thinking? He remembered it happened with kaede but he just kept quiet in that instance, but this time he just up and ran. Where would be the place shuichi would hide? Then it began to make sense wen he considered one possibility.
After breakfast and a little later on to know that he wasn't exactly going to be bothered he went up to shuichis room. Upon knocking on the door a couple of times and saying "Shuimai! Oh Shumai! Open your door!" he was hoping for a response but got none, ok that was weird. So he resorted to his next option: harassing the doorbell. Which he did and was told by the monokubs to stop after billionth time.
Now he was really out of options, so he just took the easy way out; grabbed the door knob and... Yep its locked. He really didn't feel like bugging saihara much more but knew he needed to see if he was sick or not. Actually..
- locked door
- impossible to find
- possibly being a pussy
Of course saihara would do this if he was sick like the monokubs had said so! Is he pissed like gonta is and that's why he locked himself in his room? He did realize it those couple days prior so he would have had time to prepare himself to be in his room if he wasn't as badly influenced like gonta and himiko were. Now question is what the hell is he hidding from? Eh thats a question for later he needed to go figure out how to unlock the door first, probably meant making some form of nice or truce with miu. God he is looking forward to that.
Inside the room however Saihara heard it all. Knowing some of his common sense remained if he was in the room but hearing kokichi through his door and knowing he was trying to get in made him both giddy but also mortified. He knows kokichi is what makes his sanity slip with this disease as he heard from through the door, he really was affected by this and it scared him to the point where he wanted to just remain in his room for the entire disease no matter how long it took but he knew he couldn't remain in there forever... especially since kokichi was looking to find some way to break down his door.
In his thoughts he heard something in his room "Rise and- oh wow its dark in here.." he recognized the voice as monotaro's voice boomed in his room "i already know about the disease so can you-" before the bears voice interrupted shuichi "-disease? oh no we knew you knew, i'm just here to make sure you don't starve while you're in your room!" as he extended the tray with the bowl of soup to a nearby table "since you seem to be pretty well kept up in here." he almost seemed relieved that he didn't come to have him take down what was basically a barricade for his door "uh, probably just so you know kokichi may be planning on breaking into my room.." why was he hoping it was him?? But the monokub didn't seem suprised "i mean... he spammed your doorbell how many times?" oh... it was him "Well thats your problem not mine! Bye- bye!" before he attempted to stop him the bear just left.
Damn it he is on his own for this. Not to mention he'd probably lose all control of himself by the time kokichi even made it in his room, just thinking of it made it worse too.. He needed to let him know but... forcing yourself to stay in your room for two days also left him slightly hungry so he made a compensation; he could figure out how to tell him without losing his mind while he ate, once he finished he'd write the note.
It was more of a struggle involving will of his matter over his mind of his hand. Once he finished the soup he pulled out the note pad and began writing, when he got the first words down his mind slipped back to writing feelings he didn't know he had more times than he could count than actually warning him. As he tapped the pencil anxiously on the notepad knowing he could be coming to-
no! stop! he needed an alternative but what.. ideas fled by his head with the presumption it would be figured out before- Kaito! The supreme leader seemed to make his thoughts go all loopy but if it was writing to someone like kaito there was minimal chance he could slip up into his emotions. With the new idea fresh in his mind he got to writing and oddly enough it worked! He had found a loophole, of course there was a chance his mind could slip again if he used the same name as it could be a buffer into kokichi but he intricately placed the note outside before hurriedly closing the door and placing his kind of tactful blockade back before being overwhelmed by giddy laughter and his hands aflutter before shaking himself out of it. He just hoped the person he knew was coming would hold off until he could get his mind straight. As much as he wished he could indulge himself in deciphering the reason behind the thoughts; partaking in the thoughts would make things worse unfortunately.
Once the purple haired boy managed to actually get the girl genius to come and take a look at it he noticed something around the door as miu got to work, a piece of paper? Picking it up and reading it, it was somewhat sloppy but it made sense. It was a note for kaito saying that he needs to keep away from his room out of fear of something he doesn't even talk about. That dumbass? He'd be as helpful as concussion "yo abortion, the hell are you staring at we have a door to bust down!" "nothing your whore ass could understand." as she tensed up and squealed even though it was a lame insult. But it was needed to try and decipher the note, but the more he looked at it, it didn't feel like a note that was exculsively for the luminary of himbos but more so one direct towards someone else.... was this for him?! But he knew two things now; one is that door can in fact be opened normally and two is that saihara really is sick with something gnarly. what is it? No clue..
"Hey miu!" he yelled over "what twerp?" miu answered as she ran some tests on the door "i don't think there's a normal way of opening this door." after a brief moment of silence miu busted out laughing, something he knew he could use to his advantage "no way in hell everything seems to be fine." "no no, its so elaborate that we could get in trouble." and something about that made miu think twice as she tensed "you're lying right..?" "do you really want to find out?" and with that she made some lame excuse and left. piece of cake to be honest.
Now the hell does he open this door? Saihara is seemingly scared out of his mind... actually it makes sense now that he was able to maintain his sense of who he is because if he wasn't in the right space-... he didn't know what he would write but it wouldn't exactly be like Shumai. He could try what he know would work in normal circumstances but that honestly doesn't work as he felt his finger totally move outside of his own will and spam his doorbell.
And quickly came monotaro "hey I thought we told you to knock it off!" Ok cool "just figured this was the best way to get your attention." The monokub seemed to straighten themselves up before the purple haired student asked "you're delivering food to the students who are sick right?" "Yes! Uh why?" "Oh nothing i just thought to ask if my beloved was one of them."
The red kub seemed to take a minute, all he needed to see to be honest "so he is one of the sick students?" "No! Though strange why he hasn't been out of his room dont you think?" Yep too easy "alright then." As he ceased the doorbell ringing and instead went over to a room and said "oh gonta!~ I need your assistance!!" in almost too happy of a tone "wait you're seriously thinking about breaking down the door?!" Bingo.
"Ah so saihara chan is in there?" The words making the red bear tremble over his own words before suddenly disappearing in shame muttering something like "its no use hiding it." Taking it as a yes. But it's curious to him. How did saihara know it was him? Lucky guess? Taking a guess based on the scenario? Probably. Well he knows saihara is in there now so now how to get him out..
He crouched infront of the door and looked at the name plate in hopes that tiny saihara could promise him an awnser.
Inside the room saihara tormented by how much longer it'd take kokichi to get into his room, not only pinned by sheer anxiety but also experiencing a sort of thrill out of this. At this point he's certain that kokichi has seen the note because of the spamming of the doorbell which added more of that excited feeling that he kept deterring by telling himself that it was someone like kaito or maki who had felt fear for his absence. His logic could only linger for so long before it would cease to make a signal before whatever came next. He was actually hoping it was kaito or maki but judging by the patterns his heart knew it was him, he doesn't want to unleash whatever demon is lurking in his mind out into the rest of his system.. praying for the sweet release of sleep to hopefully wait this out or show ko- who ever was coming he was just passed out until he heard a familiar noise and then the placing down of something. He looked over at what was causing it, trying to be as careful as possible as the figure seemed to move stealthily towards... oh no.
"Ah so a chair?" That was monophanie. Shit. "Monophan-" he cried out before a plethora of coughs emerged as she moved the chair away from the door "there much better!" As she unlocked the door and slipped out. He needed to act and fast.
As monophanie opened the door she let out a huff "please let it be known that I am a lady, unlike my brothers I at least want to let the sick students know I'm coming in." As kokichi nodded "noted, will let the others know!" As he slip a hand through the crack of the door as she dissapears. He knew it was about fucking time he was able to get himself in here. Once the purple haired student waltzed into the room; making sure to shut the door, he flicked on a lamp and realized the terrible condition of his room. Almost made him glad that he wasn't sick, not wanting to even think about gontas room he focused his attention on the boy coming out of the bathroom.
There was realistically no lie to say how terrible saihara looked, paler skin that shook with a force that would probably could have him tumbling down at any minute. "Hey! Sorry to have worried you." God even his voice sounded a bit worn down and muffled by the mask but to him it seemed too much like a voice-mail "Its such a relief that monophanie opened the door for me, I was so worried about you!" There was something bugging him though; shuichis eyes were covered weakly by his hands but something in him also seemed different with this.
"why did you come?" Kokichi could think of a thousand reasons he insisted on coming into his room even though no one had checked here besides him "I dunno maybe because you vanished without warning and no one knows where you have been?" Something in Shuichi seemed to almost be a bit ashamed for leaving them alone for that, but seeming to figure there wasn't any need to keep some illusion of composure up; completely fair because shuichi is in his pajamas and has a wicked bad case of bed head.
"I'm really really sorry about that but I do have a good reason for it." Another thing, why is he avoiding his name? "And what is this excuse, if it's your hair then I'd consider it an emergency." Looking at his nails unamused before glancing up and seeing shuichi trembling..?
Well thats new, he's never seen him like that but it is intriguing. "That was a lie, your hair looks fabulous!~" whatever chokehold this illness thats left the detective without a response to his statement "ok shumai, I'll cut to it i know your sick." And something in shuichi just seemed to sort of jump off and sink into his stomach "there's no need to hide it; gonta is pissed and himiko is depressed, id say you got it easier than them if all you have to do is avoid eye contact with me." Although he did notice how much harder it actually was as shuichi was seemingly trying to keep everything inside. Although the "everything" was still unknown, It was kinda exciting for shuichi to be leading him on this time. But he knew he wouldn't be going anywhere.
"Beloved," that seemed to elicit a much stronger reaction in him as his shoulders tensed and his fingers closed a bit on themselves almost wanting to make a ball "I have all day, you can explain what your sickness is or just have me continue to wait." Hopefully that was easy enough for the detective to understand "I barely even know what it is." That seemed like it took more effort to say than normal. He just needed to keep pressing where he could- God hes beginning to think like the detective! "And does that mean you know nothing?" Again a lengthy pause before a response "no, its just harder to" he even had to think a bit in his sentence "keep some form of logic whenever the disease prompts itself forward." And he has something to do with this? Weird "well why the hell would a virus be bothered by my presence?" Letting out a dramatic gasp before exclaiming "does it think I'm ugly?!" Before the response rushes out "no! Its-" cutting himself off; presumably before he said something stupid. Now he was getting somewhere.
"-its not that kokichi." Finally he says his name although with some hesitance "I mean duh, it was a lie." Seemingly ignoring his comment he moved on and spoke again "you may say I'm better off than gonta and himiko but I honestly think this is worse than those two." Just as the student in better health was wondering how it was anyway worse it was answered "I know I can and will slip.. eventually." Sounds like the note wasn't exaggerating in the slightest "yep got the note." At this point kokichi was curious about it, what makes it so bad to slip into it for the detective? "But I mean, no one knows where you are besides me and the monokubz." Kokichi added "id say this is the best time to do it!" However the diseased detective thought otherwise and stated why very clearly "no this is actually the worse time to do this, because if anything terrible happened to you or anyone I wouldn't be able to take accountability and I genuinely-" As soon as the tangent started kokichi took the opportunity to remove saiharas hands from his eyes, almost letting out an 'aha' as he pushed them away to reveal his eyes were still not visible purely because they were closed... jeez hes stubborn.
"i understand the concern but you're shuichi 'couldn't hurt a fly' saihara," well 'couldn't hurt a fly' would be gokuharas title but the point still goes across as he clasps the clammy hands into his "so far you haven't turned my entire body inside out so I'd say you're doing a fantastic job!" Despite having his eyes closed he looked down as if to try and look further away from the figure right in front of him. Right now the taller boy almost seemed ready to collapse onto the floor by how much his hands seem to shake. "i wouldn't say the problem isn't me resorting to violence though.." as the feelings were seemingly now obvious now "is it turning into a much bigger emo than you already are?" even in this shuichi lets out a small laugh and said "no, no!"
seeming to catch a supposed slip up and recover from it "despite what you'd think it's... actually ridiculous." kokichi still hasn't caught onto what it would be but he's seemed to relax a bit with the shaking seeming to now just be shivering besides being tense "have you seen this disease? Its all sorts of ridiculous! I'd at least expect yours to be somewhat normal." just by his face it'd seem to strike a new question in the detectives head "you're seriously overthinking this." continuing his cheerful attitude "its just being sick! why are you being such a wuss about it?" the reason seemed to be written across his face with some hesitation, although a bit tricky to see without eye contact in the slightest; Its not exactly normal, it came completely out of the blue and has surprised him several times to the point of just attempting of pretending it doesn't exist.
It actually reminds the purple haired student of himself and his antics around the detective. So taking that into consideration, he thought a bit about how to let it out comfortably.
"Alright shumai," again eliciting a shiver and more trembling from the sicker student, keeping it in mind "it seems that i am the cause of your symptoms!" he admitted, it seemed the other boy in the room hearing it still seemed dumbfounded just hearing it despite knowing it. "how this is, is completely beyond me but!" pulling him towards the bed and sitting him down on the mattress "all i know of the symptoms are what you've shown me so far; wobbly knees, clammy and shaky hands, and a temperature that makes hell itself freeze over!" while stating each of the symptoms he poked at his knees, held his hand, and even put his back hand on the detectives fore head; the one eliciting the largest reaction was checking his temperature as it made his fingers curl up on the blanket instead of inside the palms. "apparently also being too scared to look at me aswell tensing up whenever i touch you." the closed eyes looked down in a way before saihara murmured a meek apology, seemingly more for being so obvious in being scared.
It surprised him how careless kokichi was being despite being sick, and how much more foggy his mind had grown since he came into the room. Almost certainly knowing if he opened his eyes and faced kokichi head on his sense of composure would be completely drowned; forgotten about amidst whatever the sickness making him feel. He had realized that this was a matter of composure now instead of keeping his mind intact as he had slipped down more times than he could comfortably admit to the other person in the room. His thoughts had been swarming about how much he wanted to sink into this but keeping his eyes closed was the only sense of oxygen he had amidst the sea of smoke that took over his head. Part of him despised him for not letting go but keeping his eyes blind was more comfortable than experiencing the reality in front of him; kokichi was in his room, he wanted to come in to see saihara... it made him feel sort of sick in his stomach. Probably coming from the same illness. Actually his heart is beating too fast for him to control, maybe that's where the shaking comes from "hey!" the voice pulls him out of his thoughts fast enough that it almost has him open his eyes and face the man who he glimpsed was inches away from his face... he's really in it now.
It was the same thoughts he had that day in the dining hall, he looked.. different in a good way. Shuichi saihara knew that now he was officially fumbling over his own thoughts and was panicked "Seriously, its just as bad as kaito said it was." because it is kokichi he wanted to say its terrible, every time you talk, every time your hand goes near my own body, even when i glanced at you for even millisecond i felt like i was losing my mind! "you heard from kaito?" is what he said instead "yeah said something about being so stuck in your mind that.. he couldn't even reach you just by himself." the brief pause in the middle almost made him anxious, what did he figure out this time?
"shu," his voice was so quiet and tone so carefully constructed that it made his heart skip a step "i know i affect you in some major way but." his heart was on the verge of collapsing as the fog grew more intense and that he knew he was slipping because of how physically close to him he was. The silence was unbearable despite going on for only a couple of minutes "it is about me, isn't it?" he wish he could calm his nerves enough to come up with a cohesive response but the pressure was becoming too much for him to handle so, he did the only thing that he could allow himself to do.
The purple haired classmate was waiting for a response, he knew things were going semi smoothly besides that instant he was going on about diagnosis's but he thinks he actually has it nailed down now. What surprises him the most is when the other opens his eyes for the first time since he entered the room, a moment where he realizes where that the detective has actually elected to let go instead of continue holding himself together by the scraps of dignity he had left. It took a good amount of time before he responded, that time being spent just staring at the supreme leader that turned into a fond expression with a soft gaze and smile that he could tell by his cheeks raising behind the mask. The response he got was "of course it is." Now it was getting interesting, the shaking was minimal and something about the stare was solidifying that the shuichi he knew was gone for however long it took for this disease to go away. "Why wouldn't it be about you?" something about that question made goosebumps in kokichi's skin and made him feel a bit weird about shuichi "amazing question, i dont know!" he wasn't showing it but he was completely thrown off by how much more... confident shuichi was? Now he was wondering what the hell else the disease had up its sleeve..
Shuichi let out a small chuckle before saying "Scared of the change?" The purple haired student was actually oddly excited by this despite the drastic change "again you haven't turned me inside out yet, so." to which the student sitting on the bed nodded "true, though id hate to do that to you of all people." the only thing that irked him was how sickeningly sweet he'd become in a matter of minutes "dawhh you flatter me shumai!~" as kokichi in the room held his own cheek and dawned a smile "however i never imagined you to be this self assured!" his tone was exaggerated in a way to make him sound surprised before he gave kokichi a confused look "ive always been sure about this, its just taken me a lot longer to process it." huh? "sometimes i feel you kid yourself too," standing up from the bed "you believe your lies like everyone around you maybe a few times." taking off the mask and placing it on the side "this may be one of your jokes or lies but i quite frankly could care less." approaching the now confused other person in the room and taking his hands like he previously had "I've always been taken in by you," the look shuichi gave the shorter student was so genuinely sweet "you're a fascinating person kokichi."
The one receiving the words was almost dumbfounded, it almost made him question what was going on again and how he even got himself in his mess. Sure shuichi had a way of putting words but that felt more like a confession more than anything! Then it clicked. This sickness the monokubs apparently had planned that struck shuichi like a lightning bolt, this wasn't anything like himiko or gonta. It was the exact opposite. He was sickened by increased infatuation; love. "Figured something out?" it almost scared kokichi but he knew this probably wouldn't last long "yeah not only are you sick you're a moron." the detective who seemed more laid back cocked an eyebrow at him "why?" well if kokichi was going to make a move it was gonna be now instead of never "i've liked you for the longest time too, never xactly figured you feel the same way until-" before feeling something press against his cheek and realizing it was a pair of lips; shuichis lips "thats all you needed to say." something about shuichi dragging him out of his thoughts like that made it more curious, kokichi let out a chuckle before saying "welp lets hope i dont go missing for two days now!"
instead of two days it was infact a couple of hours, Around dinner at the dining hall, the luminary and assassins waited patiently to see if shuichi would actually arrive. "You really think hes actually gonna arrive this time?" the girl who wore red then took a sigh from the air around them "kaito, he's been missing for two days i dont think shuichi is that resilient." the door then creaked open as kaito and maki waited eagerly to see if it was shuichi
"sorry for being tardy!" and much to their dismay it was in fact kokichi but he seemly looked like he just got up and out of bed; his hair was slightly messy with stray ends and his bandanna being properly tied back on as maki sighed and kaito said "kokichi?" the other purple haired individual looked over at the two and said "oh hey! You two on a date?" kaitos face fell pink instantly before attempting to stutter an awnser before maki said "you're late and you weren't even at lunch." he rolled his eyes as he took a seat infront of maki and kaito "i had something much better to do." kaito's train of thought left the awnser he was going to have and instead focused on the 'better to do' "what the hell was better to do?" kokichi soon looked at his nails and said "oh i dunno, figuring out that shumai was sick maybe?"