Work Text:
Yuki stared at his page of notes. He had tuned out of the history lecture he was in a long time ago, and he was sure he had missed most if not all of it. He didn't understand the use of core curriculum classes at Hope’s Peak anyways, especially considering that the other Ultimate students had to take them as well, not just him.
Every time he tried to tune back into the lecture, he'd be able to understand the instructor’s words for a minute before it went right back to white noise. If it weren't so cold in the classroom, he would've drifted off to sleep already. Sleeping didn't seem like too bad of an idea to him, though.
Before he could seriously consider it, he was brought out of his trance by the midsole of a boot striking his ankle.
“Emma…” he whispered through gritted teeth, trying not to audibly grunt in pain.
“Oh, sorry,” Emma whispered back, “Did that hurt?”
“Yeah, a little. No…no it hurt a lot.”
“Again, I'm sorry, but I've got just the thing to make it up to you.”
“Let me guess, you've got a joke-”
“I've got a joke for you, and you'll Kama-crack up when you hear it.”
Surely if Yuki had been paying attention to the lecture, he would have found that much funnier than he initially did. Yuki gave a weak laugh in response.
“Edo-n’t know about that laugh, but I have Nara a doubt that the actual joke will have you in stitches!” Her voice grew slightly louder as she grew even more excited.
Yuki felt the laughter building up in his throat as the corners of his mouth curled into a smile. Though he didn't know exactly what Emma was talking about, her energy had always been dangerously infectious. His mouth betrayed his self control with a snicker, and he bit his lower lip to try and keep himself quiet.
“Now that I'm done with the warmup act, here goes.” Emma smirked, placing emphasis on each of her next words, “What do you call an alligator with a vest?”
Yuki had heard this joke a million times, yet preemptive laughter crawled up his throat like a fuzzy caterpillar. He lightly chuckled, lazily placing his hand over his mouth. Emma’s smirk grew with every agonizing second the two of them delayed the inevitable punchline.
“What would you call it?” Yuki whispered, a large smile plastered on his face.
“Why, my friend, you would call him…an investigator,” Emma giggled to herself before adding: “He's got crimes to solve.”
That's when Yuki lost it. That joke always seemed to get him like this. Every. Single. Time.
“YUKI MAEDA,” the instructor’s booming voice made the entire room hush into silence.
Yuki’s eyes widened with fear. “Y-Yes?”
“What could possibly be so funny about the early Showa era?” they scowled, “I don't think the Great Depression is very funny. I don't find the economy of our great nation collapsing very amusing. So, please enlighten us as to how you do.”
The classroom was silent as Yuki thought through his options. This teacher hated him and everyone knew that. If he dismissed it? Detention. If he told them the truth? Detention. If he back talked? Straight to the headmaster’s office. Telling the truth seemed like the best option, but dragging Emma down with him wasn't ideal. He could always try-
“I'm sorry,” Emma once again cut off his train of thought, “Yuki was helping me fill out my notes, and I told him a joke. He laughed because of what I said. It was my fault; I'm so sorry for the disruption.”
The instructor sighed, pushing their glasses up on their face. “Alright, I suppose that's excusable. Just don't do it again or you'll both be sent to see the headmaster.”
Yuki let out a pent up breath. He tore a piece of paper off of his notes, wrote “Thank you” on it, and passed it to Emma. Once she read it, she smiled and nodded. She went back to writing on her paper, though Yuki quickly noticed she wasn't writing. She was drawing something. The sketch quickly developed into a crudely drawn alligator - though it looked more like a crocodile - in a vest.