Chapter Text
🎭🧢🗂️
Hope’s Peak Academy.
Shuichi Saihara stood in front of the academy’s gate, staring at the huge building in front of him before readjusting the hat on his head and entering the institution, ducking his face under his hat to avoid eye contact with anyone.
He minded his own business and made a beeline towards his classroom, hands fidgeting and awkwardly placed by his sides as he walked.
He could only let out a relieved sigh once he was in the safety of his classroom, looking around only to find that no one was present.
Who was he kidding? He was earlier than usual today… Most of his classmates were the type to barely make it to school on time… Minus Tojo Kirumi.
With all that being said, even Tojo wasn’t here yet.
Shuichi went to his seat and, well, took a seat, taking off his hat and fixing his hair a little.
A few minutes passed, and seeing that no one was present even though class would start after another half an hour, Shuichi thought maybe all his classmates decided to enhance their talent instead of joining classes - or, in short, decided to skip class.
Well, at least the first period.
Sighing, Shuichi readjusted his hat - he got the habit of doing so after not wearing it for so long because Kaede wouldn't like that - and opted to also ditch class to actually sharpen his 'talent'.
With some cases' files his uncle had sent him, he walked out of the classroom and made his way to the library.
Once he arrived at the library, he took a seat furthest from the entrance, placing the files and documents he had brought on the table and sitting himself close to the corner of the library.
A few minutes into him flipping through the documents, he decided to at least let Kaede know of his whereabouts.
[ Mr. Detective: I’m at the library. ]
Shuichi sent a text, ignoring the username.
Right… It was Kaede who insisted it was one of the ways Shuichi could take to boost his confidence.
He didn’t have the heart to say it’s quite embarrassing…
It has barely been a few seconds since he sent the message, but then he had already received a reply from who he expected was Kaede.
[ Ms. Pianist 🎹💝 : I’ll drop by once I’m done with my piano practices!!😙]
Shuichi found himself smiling a little at the message; could literally feel Kaede’s enthusiasm through his phone’s screen.
Like that, a few hours passed, Shuichi at some point had taken off his hat and put on a pair of glasses he had just gotten a few days ago after he complained about being unable to see things from faraway.
In the middle of writing down clues and evidence to connect them together, he heard the chair opposite of his screech on the floor, the smell of coffee filling the small corner of the library.
He didn’t bother to look up from the files in front of him, proceeding on to connect the dots as he assumed the one in front of him would be Kaede, as he had only informed her of his whereabouts.
“I was just checking on some cases my uncle sent me. Have you finished your piano practices?” Shuichi chose to ask as a conversation’s opener, writing down what he found.
When no response was heard and he suddenly felt like someone was staring a bit too intensely at him, Shuichi looked up, about to ask Kaede ‘what’s wrong?’ before those words died down on his throat when he realized that the short boy sitting opposite of him was, definitely, not Kaede.
“I did! In fact, I would say I did wayyy better than Akamatsu-chan!” Kokichi exclaimed a little bit too loudly in the library, a mischievous grin on his lips.
Right…
"How did you know I was here?" Shuichi decided to ask instead, arranging his documents to get ready to leave the library.
Kokichi put on a thinking face, humming for a few seconds for 'dramatic effect' before he answered,
"A little birdie told me. A bird came and settled on my shoulder and said you are feeling lonely by yourself in the library. So I decided to grant you the opportunity to hang out with me!"
Shuichi gave Kokichi a deadpanned look, then glanced at the two cups of coffee on the table before he once again looked at Kokichi.
" And did that birdie tell you that I was specifically here and to bring some coffee with you?" Shuichi asked, standing up from his seat.
Kokichi hummed again before he answered,
"Well, that was a lie! No birdie told me! I actually stalked you!"
"... That was a lie too, right?"
"As expected of Saihara-chan! Indeed, that was a lie! But the prior statement when I said it was a lie was actually not a lie!"
"... The birdie is Kaede?"
"Yup! As soon as she saw me entering the Ultimate Pianist lab, she told me all about you!"
"... Something came up on her side so she sent you here to fetch me and ensure that I don't overwork myself?"
Kokichi grinned wider at Shuichi's words, picking up the two cups of coffee and handing it to Shuichi as he praised,
"Once again, as expected of Saihara-can!! Here's a coffee for my beloved Saihara-can!"
Shuichi glanced at Kokichi before staring at the coffee that was offered before turning back to Kokichi.
"... Did you put salt in my coffee-?"
Kokichi’s grin turned into a scowl in a split second at the remark, reluctantly switching the coffee cups in his hands and handing the one not mentioned to Shuichi.
“Sheesh! It’s no fun when you point out ALL of my lies! I was supposed to do that!” Kokichi complained, throwing the coffee containing salt into a nearby dustbin.
The detective stared at the coffee in his hand skeptically, wondering if this one also had questionable ingredients. Although, before he could dwell on the possibility for any longer, he felt Kokichi grabbed half of the documents he was holding, Shuichi wondering if the shorter male could even carry them properly.
“Quick, quick! Akamatsu-chan also asked me to escort you back to the classroom! Well, you have to go to class. I have an evil meeting to attend with my evil organization!” Kokichi urged, grinning - what one would say - evilly.
“I thought your evil organization had today as an off day?” Shuichi pointed out, remembering another lie Kokichi had made last week to join an outing with Kiibo just to pester the robot and made the other’s day a living nightmare and filled it with robophobic remarks.
At that question, Kokichi pouted exaggeratedly, grumbling again how pointing out his own lies was his job, not Shuichi’s.
Shuichi walked ahead of Kokichi, let the coffee in his hand warm his hand while his other hand was occupied with the documents he brought.
As they walked, Kokichi kept on making up lies to continue their conversation while SHuichi kept on pointing out the obvious ones.
Eventually, they reached their classroom; Kaito and Maki who were there immediately approached Shuichi only for them to narrow their eyes suspiciously at Kokichi when they noticed the shorter of the two tailing behind their friend.
“What are you plotting this time?” Kaito accused, squinting his eyes at Kokichi who had put on his permanent mischievous grin on his lips.
Before Kokichi could make up a lie, Kaede approached the four and took the documents from Shuichi’s hands, walking towards Shuichi’s seat to place the documents as she answered Kaito’s question,
“I asked Ouma-kun to bring Shuichi to class half an hour ago! I was wondering what was taking you guys so long!”
Suichi furrowed his eyebrows at Kaede’s answer, wondering why it took so long for Kokichi to find him when the Ultimate Pianist lab was just on the second floor while the library was at the basement.
…
Perhaps…
Before he could ask Kokichi to confirm his assumption, a pile of the documents Kokichi had brought was pushed to him, the culprit of the sudden weight in his arms suddenly leaning into Shuichi’s personal space as he said under his breath so only the two of them could hear what Kokichi was saying,
“I have an evil meeting to attend to, Saihara-chan! Since I’m the leader, I could just move the date of a day off to another day~”
As Kokichi quickly ran away like a thief that has been spotted, he turned to Shuichi once he was at the door, eyes crinkling a little as he exclaimed a bit too happily,
“Work extra hard today too, dearest Saihara-chan!”
And like the wind, he came and went as he pleased.
Shuichi found himself staring at the spot Kokichi had disappeared from for a few seconds before he was pulled out of his trance when the documents in his arms were taken away by Maki, who also placed the documents on top of the pile Kaede had placed on the Ultimate’s Detective table.
“I still can’t understand how you put up with that prankster.” Shuchi heard Kaito scoff, shaking his head in disapproval as he crossed his arm over his chest, as if he was having a headache.
Before Shuichi could answer the Ultimate Astronaut’s question, Maki had joined the two and looked at the coffee in Shuichi’s hand, raising an eyebrow as she asked,
“Shuichi… That coffee… Did you drop by the recently opened cafe 15 minutes away from here?”
Again, Shuichi didn’t even get the chance to say anything, as Kaito had suddenly have a huge interest in the coffee.
“Damn! I thought the cues were so long it’ll take a week for anyone to get their coffee! You’re damn lucky man! Can I have a taste?” Kaito asked excitedly, his hand already hovering over the coffee in Shuichi’s hand.
Shuichi only got to nod before Kaito literally snatched the coffee from him and took a sip.
I haven’t told him it was from Kokichi…
Against his expectation, Kaito let out a satisfied sigh, eyes literally sparkling as he went on and on about how delicious the coffee was.
“I’m a huge fan of the cafe! And I’m pretty sure this one’s the limited edition coffee to celebrate the opening of the cafe!” Kaito exclaimed, and then proceeded to say how lucky Shuichi was to get to buy the limited edition coffee.
…
“Kaito…”
“What?”
“Ouma-kun gave that to me.”
…
After a few seconds of silence passed, Kaito slowly placed the coffee on Shuichi’s table, eyes seeming lifeless as he looked out of the window of the classroom, as if he was resigning to fate.
“I don’t think I have much time left, guys. That guy… probably had put poison or something in the coffee. You’re welcome though, Shuichi. Although it’s saddening that I didn’t get to travel to space yet, the world needs you more, Shuichi. So forget about me and-”
“Stop being dramatic. The coffee is not poisoned, idiot.” Maki deadpanned, the coffee-that-was-assumed-poisoned-but-not was in her hand.
…
Placing the coffee back on Shuichi’s table after taking a sip, Maki turned to Shuichi as she said,
“Kaito and I have decided that we’ll be skipping another period to get a cup for each of ourselves. See you next period, Shuichi.”
After that, both Maki and Kaito left the classroom, Kaito cheering as he would get to drink more of the delicious coffee and over the fact that he was not poisoned while Maki remained composed, checking her wallet to see if she had brought her wallet.
Left alone, Shuichi stared at the coffee on his table for a few seconds before taking a seat on his seat. After staring some more, he took a sip on the coffee and, just as Maki and Kaito had said and implied, it was indeed, delicious.
While he was enjoying his coffee, Kaede, whose seat was beside his, sit on her place and glanced at the coffee before she grinned,
“I didn’t know Ouma-kun would actually trouble himself to buy coffee from that cafe! I did mention that you wouldn’t mind the coffee from the cafeteria.”
After that, Shuichi drowned himself in his thoughts, occasionally taking a sip of the now lukewarm coffee in his hand.
…so Shuichi was right.
Of course there’s a reason why the Ultimate Supreme Leader was late.
He dropped by the cafe.
But, as Kaede said, why bother to go to a cafe that was 15 minutes away from the academy just to buy a cup of coffee?
…
In the end, Shuichi concluded that the troublemaker classmate of his simply did so just to mess with his head.
Kokichi did say he likes it when Shuichi has the troublemaker in his mind all day…
If that was what he was aiming for when he bought the coffee, he succeeded in doing so.
🎭🧢🗂️
Ever since a few months ago, ever since the first time they met, Shuichi Saihara had always wondered why Kokichi Ouma had been so… difficult.
The first time they met, Shuichi had thought that befriending Kokichi would not be something he would do; that being around Kokichi would be draining and frustrating.
And he stayed with the mindset and kept on thinking that way for a whole week until that one project he was stuck doing with Kokichi.
He dreaded the project, to be honest. Especially when realizing his partner was Kokichi.
Attending classes in Hope’s Peak Academy was not mandatory, but some teachers tend to give out projects to help sharpen their ‘communication’ and ‘team building’ skills since, quoted, ‘what’s the point of being Ultimates and the world’s hope when you can’t communicate the hope?’.
Hence, why he ended up having to complete a project with none other than Kokichi Ouma.
It was Kokichi who had decided their place for a discussion, and, of course, Shuich came to regret allowing Kokichi the benefits of a choice because…
“A theme park? Really?” Shuichi muttered as he adjusted his hat, tailing after a widely grinning Kokichi; the shorter of the two passing a ticket to Shuichi before the two of them entered the theme park.
Fortunately, there weren't that many people.
In fact, it was less packed than usual.
Shuichi frowned at the piece of paper the teacher had handed to each partner for the project.
/ Do something that the two of you could enjoy and share what you’ve done with the class! /
…of course, what did Shuichi expect? Of course the project would not be your typical project. This is Hope’s Peak Academy we’re talking about…
Although…
“It’s okay, Saihara-chan! There’s no truths to be discovered here! You’re practically useless here! Free from any burden!” Kokichi exclaimed, pulling Shuichi out of his own thoughts.
Shuichi was about to snap at Kokichi, feeling irked over the fact that he was fooled into going to the theme park, when he stopped himself as he thought over Kokichi’s words.
…was Kokichi… being considerate…?
Although, the Ultimate Detective quickly smothered the thought as soon as it popped up in his head, Shuichi looking away from Kokichi’s expectant gaze as he walked forward.
It dawned on him a few seconds later that he, in fact, did not know what he should do at a theme park.
…
Reluctantly, he cleared his throat and turned to look at Kokichi who had been silently walking behind him, hands fidgeting on his sides as he held back the urge to blush in embarrassment at the snicker Kokichi let out when the shorter figured out that Shuichi was unsure of what to do at a theme park.
“What? I thought you would be leading our outing today, Mr. Detective?” Kokichi teased, an amused grin on his lips.
Having enough of the embarrassment, Shuichi ignored Kokichi who had started laughing and walked towards the closest counter, stopping before it and internally wallowing in self-embarrassment.
Although, he didn’t get to wallow in silence for that long, as the woman behind the counter suddenly spoke,
“What can I do to help, dear customer? Are you… lost?”
Shuichi jolted a little at the voice, as he didn’t notice the woman was there in the first place.
Looking around, he found himself standing still as he realized he was standing in front of the lost children counter.
…
“...Can you please stop laughing, Ouma-kun?” Shuichi grumbled in embarrassment, turning away from the woman and holding his hat so it’ll cover most of his reddening face, ignoring the obnoxious laughter coming from his so-called classmate.
He heard Kokichi saying ‘he’s with me, ma'am! Thank you for looking after him while I was gone! Babysitting is sooo hard these day! Kids, right?’ before the ‘supreme leader’ hummed in delight and walked side by side with an embarrassed Shuichi.
“Have you calmed yourself down, kid? You’re lucky this park is literally my organization’s; if you are too embarrassed, I could easily make sure the woman from before disappeared so she wouldn’t be able to say a word of what had occured!” Kokichi continued to add fuel to the fire, sounding serious by the end of his sentence.
“Please don’t say such… misleading and scary words, Ouma-kun.” was the only response Shuichi could come up with at the time.
Kokichi let out his typical ‘nishishi’ laugh before he, as expected, said what he had said was a lie.
“Which part, exactly?”
“The part when I said I could make sure she disappeared if you wanted that too! Of course, I could make her disappear without your permission, of course!”
…
It was going to be a long day for the detective, indeed’
Eventually, Kokichi started dragging Shuichi everywhere; to the rides,the stalls, the shops, and basically everywhere, his lies filling the silence between them.
At some point during Kokichi-lying-about-his-backstory session, Shuich has gotten the hang of spotting Kokichi’s inconsistent lies.
“So that’s how the heist for the president’s diamond happened!”
“I thought you were stealing the president’s wife’s diamond?”
Kokichi laughed at that,
“That was a lie, silly!”
“Which part?”
“What do you think?”
…
Shuichi was never gonna get used to Kokichi’s lies.
That was what the ultimate detective thought at the time.
It was nearing the closing time for the theme park when they heard a child crying, said child was sitting on a bench as he wailed like there’s no tomorrow.
Shuichi stopped in his footsteps and glanced at Kokichi before making his way towards the child, noting how Kokichi was whining on why Shuichi left but still followed the taller of the two anyway.
Crouching down in front of the child, Shuichi adjusted his hat and tried to put up a reassuring smile,
“Why are you crying?”
The child slowly stopped crying once he noticed Shuichi and Kokichi, looking back and forth between the two before he wailed again.
Shuichi, troubled by his cries, awkwardly tried to comfort the child, but to no avail.
“It’s okay, Shumai! The members of my organization will help the kid find his parents later! We are running out of timeee!” Kokichi complained, being absolutely not helpful.
After a few moments passed with Shuichi awkwardly trying to comfort the child yet failing to do so, Kokichi suddenly took a seat beside the child and cried too, the sound more annoying than the child’s.
“Ouma-kun! Stop crying with him!” Shuichi groaned, exasperated.
Unfortunately, Kokichi kept on crying obnoxiously. It was only after a few minutes that Shuichi realized that the child beside Kokichi was slowly growing quiet.
Eventually, the child deadpanned as he looked at Kokichi,
“Do I always look that ugly when I’m crying?”
Immediately, Kokichi stopped crying.
“Not as ugly as you.” Kokichi fired back.
…
Against all expectation, the child stood up and tugged on Shuichi’s sleeve, sniffling a little as he grumbled,
“Let’s go, kind stranger. That one is a meanie.”
Shuichi blinked a few times, looked back and forth at both Kokichi and the child who started childishly arguing, before deciding that it was best he dragged the child away before Kokichi actually seriously picked a fight with a literal child.
As the three of them walked towards the ‘lost children’ counter, Kokichi kept on trying to pick a fight with the child, making up lies about the same old ‘being the leader of an evil organization’ whatsoever.
Once they neared the ‘lost children’ counter, Shuichi immediately noticed a couple panicking in front of it, the lady behind the counter reassuring the couple about something.
Connecting the dots, Shuichi approached the couple, holding the kid’s hand as he greeted the couple and the lady behind the counter,
“Are you looking for your child?”
The couple turned and instantly looked relieved upon seeing - what Shuichi supposed - their child with Shuichi.
While the mother had instantly went to hug the child, the father somehow gave Shuichi a skeptical look, glancing at Kokichi who was looking elsewhere before bowing a little at the general direction of Shuichi and Kokichi to show his gratitude.
After exchanging a few words with each other, the couple left with the mother holding hands with the kid.
Before the small family disappeared from the Ultimates’ sight, the kid turned a little at them and waved,
“Thank you! Hat-san, you should take off that hat to not appear so suspicious! And stop hanging out with the meanie!”
Before Kokichi could, for the nth time, remind the child of his non-existent organization - or did it actually exist? - Shuichi took off his hat and slapped it over Kokichi’s face, a sheepish smile on the Ultimate Detective’s lab as he waved back at the kid.
When the small family had finally left, Shuichi finally took back his hat, feeling a little smug at successfully being able to shut Kokichi up for even a few seconds.
“Rude! He was picking a fight with me first! Why do I have to step down?” Kokichi huffed childishly, stomping his feet for dramatic effect.
With that height, he might as well be a child…
“What? Is Shumai getting ahead of himself just because he’s slightly taller than me? Do I need to remind you that I’m wayyy more powerful than you in terms of power?” Kokichi had said when Shuichi only stared at him at his previous remark.
Ignoring Kokichi’s ‘taunt’, Shuichi opted to just give the other a small smile and thanked him,
“Thanks, Ouma-kun. For distracting him and… stopping him from crying. He would've had a sore throat from crying if you hadn’t stopped him from crying earlier… And stopping him from crying helped a lot in communicating with him.”
When Shuich had finished his sentence and Kokichi still hasn’t said anything after a few moments passed, Shuichi turned to look at Kokichi only to see a blank look on the shorter teen.
…
“How boring…” Kokichi grumbled, suddenly walking ahead of Shuichi and almost leaving the Ultimate Detective in the dust if it wasn’t for the fact that Shuichi has longer legs than him.
As the two of them walked towards the exit, Shuichi couldn’t help but notice the slight redness on the tips of Kokichi’s ears.
…
Reaching the exit, Shuichi immediately noticed two individuals who were cladded in uniforms similar to the one Kokichi usually wears to the academy.
The thought of Kokichi’s organization actually existing was somehow shocking to Shuichi….
Either way, indeed, the two immediately let out a sigh of relief when they spotted Kokichi and Shuichi approaching the exit; one of them was a girl with pigtails, while the other was a guy with strands of his hair covering one of his eyes.
“Boss! Took you long enough with your date!” The guy had said, or one would say almost announced with the way he was practically screaming at the top of his lungs.
Shuichi was unsure of what expression was on Kokichi’s face. But he felt super intrigued to know.
What’s that about the ‘date’ anyway?
“We’re going home.” Kokichi had said seriously, tugging on the guy’s sleeve and practically dragging the guy along with him.
That left pigtails’ girl with Shuichi…
…
“Fufufu… It seemed like Boss had an eventful day.” The girl chuckled, glancing at the confused Shuichi with a knowing look.
“It was… eventful, yes. Perhaps that’s a way to put it.” Shuichi decided to play along. Considering how she seemed close with Kokichi, the two people would surely share the same humor…
“Boss did seem taken aback there, but that would probably be the last time you see him like that.” the girl added a bit vaguely, staring at the disappearing figure of her boss and friend(?) fondly.
SIlence descended once again for a few moments before the girl gave Shuichi a business smile,
“Boss told me to escort you back to your place. Let’s get going, shall we?”
Like that, the two of them walked back to Shuichi’s place in silence; the girl left as soon as they arrived at Shuichi’s place.
The next time Kokichi greeted Shuichi, he acted as he had always done; making up lies.
Shuichi didn’t admit it to his friends, but, somehow, he had been looking forward to Kokichi’s lies after the ‘date’, wanting to figure out the enigma named ‘Kokichi Ouma’.
🎭🧢🗂️
The next day after the coffee incident, Shuichi found himself searching for the Ultimate Supreme Leader.
Why?
Who knows?
He had given a flimsy excuse to Kaede, saying it was ‘to return the favor since Ouma-kun helped fetch me for class yesterday’.
Kaede let him off with a knowing look.
Before you say anything, no , Shuichi does not know.
Making his way to the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s lab - because where else would that guy be? - he bumped into a few people and asked if they had seen the short purple haired student, but none seemed to have seen the mentioned student. Of course, this further convinced Shuichi that the other was probably in his lab.
Unfortunately, as soon as he reached the door of the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s lab, he read the note pasted on the door,
“Wrong! I’m not here! Any business with me is to be conducted at my favorite person’s lab! >:D” was written on said note.
…right…
Speaking of Kokichi’s favorite person… He has been saying certain things…
“Oh! What brings you here, Saihara-kun?”
Shuichi turned to the source of the voice and grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he address the just-arrived student,
“Amami-kun… I was… just looking for Ouma-kun…”
Rantaro Amami hummed at that, glancing at the note on the door before sighing in resignation.
“Great… So he’s at your lab, huh?” Rantaro asked, sighing as he rubbed a palm on his face in resignation.
Shuichu chuckled a little awkwardly, was about to adjust the hat on his head only to remember that Kaede had taken his hat before she let him walk away that morning.
Well, she meant no harm but…
“In that case, can you pass this note to Ouma-kun? I have another errand to go to after this.” Rantaro suddenly said, passing a note to Shuichi before suddenly walking away, leaving Shuici to stand there by himself.
…
At least now Shuichi had a solid reason to see Kokichi…
Making his way towards his own lab, he pondered over why he was Kokichi’s favorite person in the first place. The thought of him being wrong appeared, sure, but the thought left as soon as it appeared, as it was Rantaro who had confirmed that Kokichi’s favorite person was, indeed, Shuichi.
Shuichi still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he was Kokichi;s favorite person though…
Before he knew it, he was already in front of his lab, the sound of footsteps from the inside of the lab signaling that someone was, indeed, inside his lab.
As soon as he opened the door, he made eye contact with none other than Kokichi, who was standing in front of the shelf that held a myriad of poisons, a bottle of poison in one of the ‘supreme leader’s hands.
“Ho? Look! Another fan who has been dying to meet me!” Kokichi exclaimed exaggeratedly, grinning as he plopped himself on a couch in the room.
Gesturing over another couch beside the couch he was sitting on, Kokichi urged Shuichi to ‘make himself at home’ and things along the line.
Shuichi wanted to point out this was his lab, but he figured he’ll let Kokichi say whatever he wanted.
While Shuichi made himself comfortable, Kokichi drawled,
“Just this morning, someone came and accused me of stealing a book that contained a seance ritual in it, followed by a certain robot and inventor who came just to show me an update on the robot. And before you ask, no, it wasn’t that amazing or whatever. And then there’s that aikido master who accused me of hiding her ‘precious Himiko’ when that witch was, in fact, with Angie-chan. And to add, that astronaut friend of yours suddenly barged in and told me to get out of this lab! How rude, wouldn’t you agree, Shumai?”
…
That’s…
“...You have that many complaints at 9 in the morning?” Shuichi chose to ask instead, watching as Kokichi dramatically sighed in sadness.
“Indeed… Don’t you pity me, Saihara-chan?” Kokichi had said, pouting with teary eyes and all.
Shuichi awkwardly shrugged, quickly wanting to change the subject by passing a note that Rantaro had told him to pass to Kokichi.
Kokichi, who saw the note, was instantly delighted, taking the note fromShuichi eagerly once Shuichi handed the note to him.
“Wowww! A note from Rantaro-chan! I wonder what’s up~” Kokichi sing-song, unfolding the note and skimming through the note.
A moment of silence passed before Kokichi folded the note back and tucked it into one of his pockets. Just as sudden as Kokichi changed his expressions, Shuichi found himself jumped a little when Kokichi had suddenly leaned into his personal space, grinning as he asked,
“So? How about my beloved Saihara-chan? Why did you come to meet me? Surely it wasn't because you just wanted to be Rantaro-chan’s errand boy! Oh! Perhaps, did you miss me?”
Shuichi backed away a little at that, chuckling nervously before he voiced out the thoughts that had been clouding his head since yesterday.
“Ouma-kun… I was just wondering why did you go so far just to buy me a limited edition coffee?”
Kokichi hummed in thought at that, staring at the ceiling before turning to Shuichi and answering cheekily,
“Of course, that was because I love Saihara-chan!”
Upon hearing that, Shuichi couldn’t stop the blood that rushed to his cheeks, internally regretting not fighting for his hat more when Kaede had taken it away from him.
Sure, Kokichi had been saying thins along the line ‘I love Saihara-chan’ more often after the theme park dat- outing , but it was still difficult to get use to be at the receiving end of such… endearing words.
“Do you ever have a serious answer, Ouma-kun?” Shuichi sighed, already feeling a headache coming.
Before Shuichi realized it, Kokichi was suddenly sitting beside him, the ‘supreme leader’s arms caging the Ultimate Detective against the armchair, leaving basically no space between the two.
“I am being serious right now, Saihara-chan.” Kokichi had said seriously, his face as close as it can be to Shuichi’s.
Even more flustered, Shuichi could feel himself getting redder; could feel the heat on his cheeks as he weakly pushed Kokichi away, enough so that he could actually breathe properly.
What has gotten into this guy all of a sudden?!
“You… should really give a warning first before… doing stuff like that, Ouma-kun.” Shuichi chose to murmur, embarrassed out of his mind.
He heard Kokichi letting out his typical ‘nishishi’ laugh, making him feel slightly annoyed at how only he was rendered speechless ever since he stepped into his own lab.
…wait…
“Did everyone you meet this morning just… go straight here after trying to look for you in your lab only to… see that note?” Shuichi questioned, blinking and staring in slight confusion - and awe, but Shuichi had rather to sit through Ibuki Mioda-san’s concert rather than admit that - at Kokichi who grinned and nodded happily.
“Of course! As expected of Mr. Detective; always wanting to hear the truth from the criminal’s lips himself to ensure the validity of said truth!” Kokichi added, grinning and all…
So everyone somehow just… agreed that Shuichi was Kokichi’s favorite person…?
Kokichi laughed at Shuichi’s reaction, once again leaning into Shuichi’s personal space before tapping two times on Shuichi’s nose,
“Why? Haven’t I told you many times that you are my favorite person?” Kokichi questioned, looking straight into Shuichi’s eyes.
He’s not wrong… but…
…but being the only one to feel flustered and taken aback time and time again was getting annoying!!
Hence, with a sudden surge of confidence, frustration and vengeance, he grabbed the wrist of Kokichi’s hand that was just tapping his nose a few seconds ago and pulled the other even closer, somehow now grateful that at least his hat wasn’t in the way so he was able to see the shocked look on Kokichi for at least a split second.
With them so close to each other, Shuichi whispered,
“Have you always been so open yet not at the same time?”
It wasn’t really a weird question. In fact, Shuichi didn’t really need to bring their faces so close to each other. Actually, Shuichi has always known the answer to the question right from the start.
Kokichi Ouma has always been a master at being so open yet so secretive about the things around him.
But in that split second that Kokichi lost his cool, Shuichi was once again reminded by how unfair it was for Kokichi to be so good at hiding himself.
It was so good that it was getting on his nerves.
Against everything that Shuichi had foreseen, Kokichi all but grinned, escaping Shuichi’s grip only to intertwined their fingers together and whispered back,
“What? Eager to uncover what lies beyond the lies I made?”
At that very moment, the only thing that was in Shuichi’s mind was this guy in front of him.
He couldn’t help but go over all those lies Kokichi had made in his head, remembering thinking which one was true and which one wasn’t as he tried to figure out which lies are actually the truth.
Again and again, all he was met with was endless possibilities of truths and lies.
Wasn’t there supposed to be only one truth?
Then why is it so hard to figure out this guy-?!
“Anddd that’s a wrap!”
Just like that, the face that was invading his personal space was not there, as Shuichi had stand and started dusting the non-existent dusts on his clothes before he turned to Shuichi, smiling in glee,
“Have I finally managed to accomplish every phantom thief’s dream today?” Kokichi asked aloud, seemingly looking satisfied.
Shuichi, still trying to understand what had just taken place, asked ‘what do you mean…?’ a little bit too dumbly.
Of course, generous Kokichi Ouma willingly provided an answer that only raised even more questions in the Ultimate Detective’s head.
“To steal a detective’s heart, of course!”
With that vague answer, Kokichi left, not forgetting to wave happily and saying his ‘see you soon, Mr. Detective’ along-the- lines goodbyes, leaving Shuichi by himself.
He was still trying to figure out what Kokichi meant when he had received a notification from his messaging app, opening it only for him to feel a definitely approaching headache.
[ Mr. Criminal: Next time, maybe we should try and kiss! Nishishishi!😘 ]
🎭 END 🧢