Work Text:
kokichi felt the hard metal bars of the shopping cart on his back. they dug into his spine, pushing against him and his comfort. he sighed, very loudly, and turned a bit, trying to find a better angle.
"Could you stop that already?" fuyuhiko snapped at him. he was glaring angrily at the small leader, audibly frustrated.
"I can, but I won't." kokichi laughed a little, very amused despite his complaining. "These conditions aren't suitable for a king such as I. The thrones back at my base are way better than these peasant carriers."
"Hey, these are great. They're mobile, sturdy... and they've got a spot to carry children up here. Like you." kazuichi said defensively.
"Imagine if his throne was a child seat, like in the back of cars. He just makes someone buckle him in." ibuki said, chuckling to herself.
"He's just shaking a dumb rattle, demanding people obey him." hiyoko smugly said, laughing.
"Speaking from experience, half-pint?"
"Maybe we should calm down." chiaki tried to mediate whilst mahiru held hiyoko back from wringing the small boys neck.
"As if a supreme leader like me never backs down. You guys are lucky I'm so kind, or else I would have dragged you all into the ocean."
"Could you stop saying things like that? It's unreliable. You shouldn't be threatening your friends." mahiru said, disappointed with kokichi's lies as always.
"Friends is an exaggeration." fuyuhiko interjected. "He just appeared one day and refused to leave."
"And I never will."
they talked for hours upon hours on end. their loud laughter echoing across a silent parking lot, their topics varying from reasonable to whatever bullshit came to mind.
"I bet I could put a rocket or an engine on this cart. We could just launch it across campus, or take it out on the road."
"Woahh, that'd be so cool! I could even use it to escape my enemies, or to bounce aaallll the way across country."
"It'd be just like a racing game... I think. We could even add a nitro boost."
"Are these carts even stable enough?"
"Let's just stack them on top of each other and make them more powerful! It's just like math!"
they talked for hours on end, bringing up good memories, and making more. pushing each other's carts around, having weird arguments, and playing games made up on the spot.
"So we win this... how?" hajime asked, curious about this new "game" they've made.
"Oh, it's simple really. We push the shopping carts into those cart holders over there from behind the line, we race that tree and back, we throw these rocks at those poles, and then we race to hit each other with the sticks I found." kokichi said, smug as ever.
"Is this just an excuse to hit us?"
"Come on, let's start already. I wanna hit someone." akane drawled, excited at the prospect of running, throwing things, and hitting people. as you can imagine, she and kokichi made the game. unsurprisingly, 'byakuya' didn't let them play.
they argued, fought, and clashed enough to destroy three family reunions, but they never truly hated each other. they talked about centaurs, sand, rubiks cubes, and doorstops in the span of half an hour. ryota shared his anime, nagito monologued about hope, chiaki played video games, mahiru took pictures of everything. it felt like any other day, but for some reason, it felt better. it felt warm and comfortable, like a blanket, but with frienship and stupidity.
despite the fact they never wanted it to end, it had to come to a close eventually. the sun was setting, the dim lighting slowly fading, and if they didn't leave soon, they'd never find their way back to the dorms. they put their carts back in their designated cart area (because they weren't animals), but before they left, mahiru asked for one last picture.
everyone gathered around the big oak tree, still standing after all this time. nagito and mikan tried to say something about tainting the photo with their presence, but got cut off by chiaki yanking them in.
"Alright, timer's ready. Everybody say cheese!"
and with that last photo, everybody finally left the lot, their time there unforgettable. mahiru gave them all photos, as keepsakes.
to this day, they all still have them. each one of them kept their photos, framed, taped to the wall, kept in their wallet. they kept them to always have a reminder. of their friendships. of their good times.
and the millions more they'll make.