Chapter Text
It was said that those who hadn't heard from their soulmates by the age of fourteen had soulmates that were either nonexistent or assigned to be guardian angels. In most cases, they just didn't have a soulmate, but every now and then, there would be someone who had a guardian angel.
Kaito Momota didn't believe in it.
There was no way someone who died could come into contact with the living.
If that were the case, that was basically saying that ghost were real, and everyone knows that they aren't. If a ghost were real, there was no way of not saying that zombies and vampires were real too. And if that were the case--
Nevermind.
Anyway, Kaito was 96% sure that he had a soulmate because he has felt their touch before. He'd never forget the feeling--of coming into contact with them and gaining his soul mark for the first time. If felt as if a surge of warmth came over him, combined with a rush of strong emotions. The touch was gentle. Almost as if whoever did it planned on doing it, but was too shy to be asked about it. Though, looking back, it felt almost as if the touch didn't happen in the first place--That feeling was the reason he kept going, combined with the hope and motivation that..
Maybe, just maybe, one day he'd finally meet his soulmate.
"Kaito?" A soft voice asked, a hand being placed on the astronaut's shoulder brought him back to reality. "Are you alright?"
That's right, he had been eating lunch with his sidekicks before he got lost in thought.
Kaito smiles, moving the detective's hand off of his shoulder and flashing one of the brightest smiles he can manage. "Yup, I'm good!"
Red irises from across the table glanced into Kaito's purple ones, staring cautiously. Maki had always been one of the quieter people in their class. That's why it was a big surprise when she'd grown close to Kaito Momota, the loud, optimistic male in their class.
The assassin growing closer to Shuichi wasn't a surprise at all--they were both quiet and preferred to keep to themselves instead of sticking out of the crowd.--and the fact that the two were friends only made it easier to make the two of them his sidekicks.
Shuichi's eyes narrowed, also watching Kaito, which made the astronaut kind of uncomfortable. "Are you sure, because..you haven't taken a single bite of your lunch."
'Does anything ever get past him?' Kaito can't help but wonder as he looks down at his uneaten lunch. It wasn't anything special, just a sandwich he had quickly made before leaving his dorm earlier that morning. Clearing his throat, he answers awkwardly, "I'm not hungry, Shuichi." To further prove his point, the astronaut pushes his lunch away from him.
"Really, because that's not what you were saying earlier when class let out," Maki stated, practically challenging him to come up with another excuse. It looks like he was going to have to eat the sandwich, after all.
Giving in to his defeat, Kaito picked up his sandwich, biting a small part of the crust off the end. The astronaut sighs, "There," To satisfy the glare that he's being given by Maki, he takes a few more bites of the sandwich, "happy now?"
"No," Shuichi said quietly with a small sigh, pulling his hat down to obscure his eyes, "you've been doing this a lot lately..and I'm worried."
Kaito honestly hadn't expected Shuichi to speak up like that. He'd known that his sidekick had always had a problem with speaking up, even if he was in situations that made him uncomfortable. Putting his sandwich down, Kaito turned to Shuichi, giving the detective his full attention. "What do you mean?" He asked, noting how the detective seemed to flinch from his eye contact.
Shuichi cleared his throat, "What I mean is--"
He was then promptly interrupted by a pair of hands covering his eyes from behind. Kaito silently was thankful for the interruption, because he didn't feel like addressing his problem with the topic of soulmates today. Every time it was brought up, Kaito would comment about how ridiculous the whole thing was, so if he were to suddenly express interest in it now, he'd sound like a complete hypocrite.
And, besides, the topic of soulmates was already a sore subject. Shuichi and Kaede were supposed to be soulmates, but the relationship felt one-sided. Kaito couldn't even count all the times Shuichi told him that he felt rushed into a relationship.
The two did almost have nothing in common, but that's why they always say 'opposites attract,' right?
On the other hand, Maki had met her soulmate, but they hadn't hit it off and agreed to just stay friends. Ever since Maki had said nothing about this 'soulmate', the only thing he knew about them was that they liked to sing--Maki had often commented about how nice their voice was--it made Kaito jealous. He had never even heard his soulmate whistle.
But, he was supposed to be a leader. These were his sidekicks, and they were looking up to him, so he shouldn't be jealous of them.
"Guess who?" The pianist asked, smiling brightly as she continued to cover the detective's eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes, Kaito thought he saw Maki roll her own.
"Uh..Akamatsu-kun?" Shuchi tentatively asked, even though he knew it was her, "hello."
Kaede's smile fell and she flicked Shuichi's ear with her finger. "Shuichi, how many times do I have to tell you to call me by my first name? We're dating, after all."
Maki chose this time to speak up once again, she had been silently watching Kaede. "Things aren't obligated to happen just because you're in a relationship, Akamatsu."
Kaito himself even winced at the assassin's words. She'd even dropped the honorifics and all, something that hurt more than the sentence she spoke.
The pianist nodded, ducking her head in a way that made Kaito think of a kicked puppy. "You're right, Maki." Since when were they on first-name basis? A glance over at Maki showed that she was thinking the same thing. "I'm sorry about that, Shu, but I really would like it a lot better if you would call me by my first name. Because..we're friends before we're lovers, right?"
The detective nodded, still hiding behind his hat, but staring at Maki strangely as if he knew something that the others didn't know. Which was likely, knowing him. "Oh, uh, sure," Shuichi mumbled, snapping out of the trance he seemed to be in. He smiled--it was awkward, but it was a smile nonetheless--looking at Kaede. "It's alright, Kaede."
Kaede smiles, Shuichi continues smiling, Kaito smiles--just because he can--and Maki just stares. Realizing he hadn't spoken up and hadn't even greeted the pianist, Kaito stands up, offering the seat he had next to Shuichi so that the class rep could sit down.
"So, Akamatsu-chan, what've you been up to at your class rep meetings?" The astronaut asks as he sits down across the table, next to Maki just as the blond enthusiastically plopped down in the seat next to the dark blue-haired boy.
The smile on Kaede's face grew as she practically shined. Guess the meeting went well, huh. The pianist leaned forward on her forearms as if she was telling a secret. "Well, you know how our class has been the smallest with only fourteen students?"
It was true, their class had been the smallest in all the year's Hope Peak High had been a school. Every other class had sixteen students, from the third year to the first-year class. Though the reverse course students had larger classes, no one really talked about them.
Shuichi and Maki simply nodded, Kaito rubbing his goatee in thought before speaking up. "Isn't there supposed to be another student in our class? Some kind of adventurer?"
The pianist somehow grinned even more, "Uh-huh! He'll be joining our class soon. He returned from his trip to Brazil."
"Isn't it irresponsible of him to just go on trips at his leisure?" Kaito askes, in attempts to spark conversation. "I know he's the ultimate adventurer and all, but school should come first."
"Actually, he gets some of the highest scores in our class," Shuichi spoke up, still looking across at Maki. "Even though he's not physically present, he is still keeping up with what we're learning."
The astronaut blinks, he'd never even learned anything about this student, and Shuichi already seemed to be an expert. "Were you supposed to investigate him or something?" He jokes, finding himself growing interested in this guy. Maybe he was Kaito's soulmate--yeah, right.
Shuichi nodded, "Since no one actually has met him before, Kirigiri-san and I were requested to look into him." The detective rubs his arm shyly. "He..uh..seems like a nice guy."
No one fails to notice the blush on his cheeks.
The lunch bell rings and Maki shoots up like a bullet, throwing the trash away from her lunch. She moved quickly, almost as if she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Maki didn't blame her this time, the conversation was starting to get rather awkward.
The assassin turns to Kaede, almost glaring down the pianist. "I'll say this now since I will not be talking to you later," The pianist looks up at Maki and her glare softens slightly, "don't play your piano at two in the morning. As beautiful as it is, it's also annoying to hear when I'm trying to sleep."
Kaede seemed to blush in what Kaito thought was embarrassment. "I'm sorry about that, Maki." Seriously, when did these two get on first-name basis!? "I was just nervous about our new classmate," She seems do blush more. "Did you really think that my music was beautiful?"
Maki grabbed one of her ponytails--something that Kaito had learned she only did when she was embarrassed or annoyed, "That doesn't matter. I'm going to class now." She quickly said, turning and leaving the lunchroom.
"I'll be going too," Kaede says, the blush and small smile still on her face. "See you in class--don't be late."
As soon as Kaede leaves, Shuichi turns to Kaito, practically a sparkle in his eyes. The detective always got fried up when he made a new breakthrough in one of his investigations. Shuichi may have been pretty timid at school, but when it came to his work, he was confident and secure in himself. Almost as if he'd become a different person.
The astronaut chuckles, "What'd you find out-"
"Kaito, there are only two pianos in this school. The one in the arts room and the electric piano in Ak---" He cleared his throat, correcting himself, "--Kaede's room. When I was talking to Kaede last night, she told me that she was in the arts room working on a new music piece because she was stressed."
Not finding any correlation in this, and wondering why this had come out of nowhere, Kaito shrugged, "Uh, what are you getting to, bro?"
"Isn't it odd that Maki could hear the music Kaede played in the arts room all the way in her dorm room? Which--may I clear up--is in a whole other building?"
Realization strikes Kaito like a slap to the face. "You mean-"
Without even giving the purple-haired astronaut a chance to respond, Shuichi nods, "They're soulmates," he continues nodding, though a small sad smile appears on his face, "I'm not sure how, because normally you're only supposed to have one..and I thought that I was her one and only, but I guess I was wrong."
"You're probably just overthinking it?" The sentence leaves Kaito's mouth sounding like a question, and he hates himself. He's supposed to sound secure in everything he says, especially when he's basically comforting his sidekick. He was supposed to be the luminary of the stars, and they aren't supposed to sound unsure of themselves.
Shuichi shakes his head, "You're supposed to hear every song your soulmate hums or plays."
"Yeah, and?"
"Kaito, last night, I didn't hear a single note."
School had gone by pretty normally after that. Sure, Shuichi had been lost in thought, but that was to be expected. It wasn't everyday you learned that your soulmate had another soulmate that wasn't also your soulmate.
He was giving himself a headache.
Kaito opened the door to his dorm rooming building, walking up the stairs to his room. The dorm buildings were a five-minute walk away from the high school, and normally, he'd be walking with someone else--mainly Shuichi--but the detective had stayed after school, and Maki had been busy with something else too.
But, he didn't mind.
For once, he actually felt like being alone.
Now in front of his room, Kaito fished his keys out of his pocket, opening the door. Slipping off his shoes and putting on the crocs that he wore as makeshift house slippers, the astronaut walked over to his couch that he had placed in the common area of his room, and flopped onto it, not giving a care in the world. He wasn't sure why he was so tired, but he felt like he couldn't moves an inch.
Well, he could if he wanted to. Part of him just wants to lay on his couch forever. Maybe the weird feeling in his chest would go away if he took a nap...
Closing his eyes, Kaito rested his head on a pillow--one that he had bought from a store when he and his sidekicks shopped for items to decorate his dorm their dorms with. It was fluffy and reminded him of a dog, so he liked it quite a bit--using his jacket as a makeshift blanket.
As soon as he started to fall asleep, a notification from his phone woke him up.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Kaito glanced down, reading the messages that had been sent to him. The purple-haired male shivered, feeling a breeze of cold air come from a window he had forgotten to close earlier. He really should lock it, but the breeze also felt nice, and he didn't feel like getting up, so he just stayed sitting.
Shuichi: Sorry about not being able
to tell you this sooner, but the new student in
our class is supposed to be arriving in your section
of the dorms today, and Akamatsu-kun told me to
tell you that you should introduce yourself.
Shuichi: *Kade
Shuichi: *Kaede
Shuichi: You don't have to if you don't want to, by the way.
You seemed kinda out of it when you left class,
so I understand if you're not up to it.
Kaito smiled down at his phone, holding back the urge to laugh from Shuichi's grammatical errors that he insisted on fixing. The astronaut himself could care less if his typing was illegible or not.
Kaito: lol its fine ill go say hi now
Shuichi: Thank you, Kaito!
Shuichi: I'd do it myself, but I'd only make everything awkward.
Kaito: u wouldnt
Kaito: and im fine btw jst tired
He'd explain himself more if he hadn't heard the loud noise of his window shutting.
Putting down his phone, Kaito took off one of his crocs and held it as if it were a weapon. He hadn't laid a finger on the window--there was no reason it should have closed--the astronaut stood, cautiously approaching the window.
Kaito held his croc with one hand, inspecting the window with his other. Being able to open and shut it again meant that the window obviously wasn't broken. There hadn't been any strong gust of wind that could have made it close. The only cause of it was that there was someone there.
This atmosphere reminded him of a horror film.
Is this really how he was going to go?
Turning around slowly, Kaito prepared himself to face whoever had broken into his room. He swallowed back his fear, putting one his brave face, and peeked.
And then he saw it.
A short boy who had wild purple hair. Flyaway's going in what seemed to be every direction. The boy had light lilac irises and an innocent smile on his lips. His features were feminine, from his lips to his eyelashes, which were pretty long for a guy.
The only thing was, the longer he looked, the more Kaito could see through him. Last he checked, normal people, weren't seethrough.
Backing away from what he now believed to be a ghost, Kaito started to scream, throwing his croc at the ghost, who simply stepped to the side to dodge it.
"Wow, I knew that you were an idiot, but I didn't know that you were this much of an idiot," The ghost sarcastically remarks, shaking his head, "First, you leave your window wide open, like an idiot, which you are, and second, the only thing you could think of guarding yourself with is with a croc, which looks pretty stupid on you, by the way."
"W-what the hell!" Kaito remarks, finding it the only thing he can say since he's practically frozen in fear.
"And that's all you can say in defense?" The ghost laughs, and Kaito can only think of how horse-like it sounds. But, still. There's a ghost. In. His. Dorm. "Anyways, my name is Kokichi Ouma, and I'm going to help you find your soulmate."
Kaito blinks.
This had to be a dream, right? One minute, he was texting Shuichi on his phone, the next he was talking to a ghost that came through his window.
There had to be logic in here somewhere.
This just didn't make sense.
"Before you ask, yes, I'm really a ghost," Kokichi says, looking at his nails in boredom. "Come on..I thought you'd have a bigger reaction than this. You're being boring, Kaito."
And that was the last straw.
"YOU KNOW MY NAME!?" The astronaut screeched, everything starting to go blurry.
Oh, since when was the floor this close to his face?
The last thing he saw before passing out was the purple-haired ghost laughing.
Of course, he'd find this funny.
What a jerk.
Shuichi stepped out of the classroom he had been working with Kyoko Kirigiri in. He had gotten too into his work and had lost track of time. Which was pretty normal for everyone, since they were all ultimates for a reason.
"Saihara-kun," Kyoko Kirigiri says, looking at her understudy, "Have a good evening. Make sure you get rest tonight."
The detective nods, shifting the folder he'd been holding to his other hand so he could shake Kirigiri's. "I will, thank you Kirigiri-san. I'll see you tomorrow," Shuichi shakes her hand, remembering the days when he had been afraid of even talking to her.
Kirigiri walks the other way towards the back of the school, and Shuichi continues walking straight, towards the front.
He walked at a pretty slow pace, thinking about all the things he had learned today. What was he supposed to do about Kaede and Maki? What would that mean for them? Was it weird that this news didn't upset him as much as it should have?
Shuichi opened the door to the entrance, not noticing someone holding boxes in their arms, nearly hitting the person with the door. Rushing to the person's side, Shuichi gasped, apologizing repeatedly.
"I'm so sorry," He said for what felt like the umpteenth time. Shuichi had yet to see the males face since the boxes were blocking it, but that didn't matter right now. He could have potentially hurt an innocent person who was just trying to move in.
The person laughs, and Shuichi can't help but notice how smooth this person's voice sounds. "It's alright, I'm okay," The detective can basically hear the smile in the guys voice.
"Are you sure? I didn't hit you at all?" Shuichi asks again, just to be safe.
"Mhm!" The person says, and it sounds like they really mean it. "Where are my manners, my name is Rantaro Amami and I guess I'm the new kid here." He laughs again, and Shuichi really wishes he could see what he looks like. "I'd shake your hand, but my hands are kinda full right now."
'He sounds so easygoing even though I almost hit him with a door,' Shuichi thinks, realizing that this was going to be his new classmate, he can't help but smile. 'He really is a nice guy..'
"Do you know what direction dorm F is?" Rantaro asks, bringing Shuichi out of his thoughts. "They changed my dorm room last minute, and I haven't had a chance to figure out where it was."
The detective gasps, realizing that not only was he going to share a class with him, but he was going to live in the same dorm quarters as him. "F my dorm-" He blurts out, feeling his cheeks warm up. 'Oh Atua, Shuichi. Get it together,' Shuichi mentally scolds himself, somewhat happy that Rantaro can't see him from behind all the boxes he was carrying. "I mean, I'm in dorm F t-too. Uh...I can walk you to your room if you'd like."
Rantaro laughs yet again, and Shuichi feels even more embarrassed. This had to be the worst first impression he's ever made. Rantaro probably thought he was a complete weird-
"I'd like that a lot," Rantaro says, and Shuichi finds himself even more of a flustered mess. "Oh, what's your name?"
"Saihara Shuichi--I mean, Shuichi Saihara," The detective says, gripping the folder he brought with him tightly. 'Calm down, Shuichi.'
"Alright, Saihara-kun, lead the way!" Rantaro says, before pausing. "Wait for a second, I can't really see you with all these boxes.."
"Um..I can help, Amami-kun!" Shuichi quickly says, taking one of the boxes from the top.
The two, for the first time, made eye contact.
Green eyes stared into gold.
And Shuichi realized that Rantaro Amami was going to be the death of him.
Several hours later, Kaito woke up, his room being dark now since the sun had gone down. There's a blanket on him that he doesn't remember grabbing, and his head is in an awkward position that makes his neck hurt.
"You're finally up!" A voice above him says with glee, and Kaito looks up, seeing the purple-haired ghost way to close for comfort. "You slept for a while, sleepyhead-"
"Get out," Kaito commands. And he really means it. There was no way he was going to entertain this ghost, and there's no way he was going to get caught up in his games. "Get out of my room, now."
Kokichi looks hurt, he puts a hand to his heart as if Kaito had stabbed him. "But, Kaito-"
"And stop calling me by my first name!" He interrupts, finding himself growing annoyed by the ghost, "I don't even know you like that."
Tears begin to well up in the ghost's eyes, and for a second, Kaito starts to feel bad. Tears were his weakness. He just couldn't stand to see anyone cry.
"B-but, Momo-chan..I'm only here to help you! I came all this way just for y-you," The tears practically turn into a waterfall, and now he's full-on sobbing. "WAAAAH! MOMO-CHAN IS A MEAN IDIOT!!!"
He covers the ghost's mouth quickly with his hand, trying to calm him down, "Shush, dude. I'm sorry, okay? You can stay with me, just be quiet before anyone hears you!"
Kokichi pulls away from Kaito's hand, blinking up at the astronaut with tears in his eyes, "You..promise?"
Kaito frowns, thinking over his choices, before sighing, "S-sure."
The tears disappear from Kokichi's eyes just as quickly as they appeared, nearly giving Kaito whiplash. "Sweet! Now I have somewhere to stay," The ghost grins, cupping his hand and whispering into Kaito's ear as if he were sharing a secret, "By the way, no one else can hear me, only you."
"Well, isn't that just great," Kaito mutters, wishing he had told the ghost to get lost when he had the chance. He'd promised now, and Kaito Momota, the luminary of the stars, always kept his word.
"It suuuuuure is!"
"Here, let's make a deal. You help me find my soulmate, and in exchange, you can stay with me," Kaito mumbles, finding himself growing embarrassed. Was he really growing that desperate to find them?
"That's already what I had planned, idiot," Kokichi says with a small grin.
"Stop calling me an idiot!"
The ghost moves away, smiling at Kaito brightly, "I'll be here for seven days, and I'll help you find your soulmate," He winks at the astronaut, who just rolls his eyes, "but in exchange, I need your help with passing on."
The astronaut blinks, frowning at the ghost, "What do you mean 'pass on'?" It wasn't that he didn't understand what that meant--it was that he had no idea how he was supposed to help him do it.
The ghost shakes his head, "Wooow, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were five minutes ago." Kokichi waves his finger at the astronaut as if he's scolding him, "how have you survived this long without my help?"
"I don't need your help, Ouma," Kaito angrily hisses, not meaning the words, but really wanting to punch the ghost. His hands ball into a fist, and he physically has to hold himself back. Why was this person, this ghost, getting on his nerves so easily?
The ghost just shrugs, "We both know that's just a lie," he says as he curls a finger around the ends of his hair again--What is that about? Is it a nervous habit or something?--lazily leaning on the edge of his couch. "We need each other, Momota-chan, and that's no lie."
Kaito rolled his eyes again, crossing his arms. Uggh. All he wanted to do was take a nap, then this happened. The astronaut looks over at the ghost again, he already made the promise to help him find his soulmate, so he should at least help Kokichi in return, right? "Why do you want to pass on so bad?"
Kokichi pauses for a minute, and Kaito is afraid he said something he wasn't supposed to. "Being like..this.." the ghost gestures to himself, "it's not as wonderful as it sounds. No one wants to live forever. As much as they can say that they do, they don't really mean it. They don't have any idea what they mean when they say it." Kokichi turns, looking over at Kaito again, "as much as I'm afraid of what happens next for me, I really don't want to stay like this forever. It's..lonely..and forever is a long time."
The astronaut nods, not knowing what to say, "..that makes sense.."
"Buuuuut, that's just a lie," The ghost says playfully, a huge smile coming on his face as he sat up, "you're so stupid, Kaito! Did you really believe that lie?"
A part of him said that Kokichi wasn't really lying.
"Just..try not to fall for my charm."
Kaito snorts, crossing his arms, "Trust me, that won't be an issue. I'll never fall in love with you."
"Famous last words~" Kokichi sang, running into the other room while leaving Kaito wondering just what he means by that.