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If you ask anyone at Oma's school who they dislike the most, the answer will probably will be a loud and clear:
“Kaede Akamatsu”
The reason will vary from person to person, some find her cocky and dislike the way she looks down at them; others will say they hate her neutral expression, like she doesn't have a care on the world; most of them will complain about the fact that she can be straight up a bully, scaring people away by simply being around.
But the fact is that she carries the title of most hated since middle school, she's not someone anyone wants to be around with.
So it's a surprise that Kokichi Oma still manages to have a thing going on with her, he wouldn't call it a friendship, but she also doesn't kick him away, which is big considering who she is.
He doesn't know how it happened, at what moment she decided to keep him around, maybe it was the fact that he was weaker compared to her, maybe because his presence can make her look smarter, maybe because he's so pathetic that watching him stumble over his feet to try and survive In that school was entreteriment to her.
At least, that's what everyone believes when they look at them walking together by the corridors, when they see Oma walking behind her like a loyal dog. ‘He does that so people won't pick on him’.
That's a half truth. At first he, yes, wanted a easy shield so bullys would leave him alone, they would luckly be too scared of Kaede to pay attention to him being around. But with convivence comes the knowledge of the other that you can miss by just not paying much attention, Kokichi was truly just using Kaede at first for his own safety.
But if you look closer, Kaede can care…
Like the day she brushed his company off earlier, she usually did that when they were parting ways to get home after school, but she disappeared from his sight at lunch, which led to him being cornered by his upperclasmates in a alley. He was ready to get beatten up, go back to his home full of bruises and make his mother more worried than she already was.
But then one of them fell to the ground, his back being hit by a trash can, at the entrance, Kaede was breathing deeply, like she rushed there, and holding a pipe on her hand. She manages to strike one of them in the arm as they flee. She looks at him before sighing.
“You're a trouble magnet and a pain on the ass…" she drops the pipe on the ground and starts walking away.
He stares at her with surprise, she did often defend him, but she never went her own way to save him. He quickly gets up from the ground, trying to catch upon her. “H-hey! Akamatsu, wait for me please!”
If you look closer, Kaede can be soft…
They were walking together after school as usual, they don’t talk much, Kaede hates talking to people in general so their walks are either calm and nice or uncomfortable as hell, but he mentally thanks her for not try and force a conversation, he can't mantain one either.
And then a cat drops from a tree to their feet, he takes a few steps back in surprise and Kaede - weird as always - doesn't move, the cat purrs and rubs its face against her legs, and Kokichi stares in disbelief as she knees down and pets the animal.
Kaede is always alert, every time he looks at her, her shoulders are tense and face is in a neutral agressive expression, like she fears somebody will jump and attack her, she never lets her guard down. So seeing her being so… carefree around this cat, seeing her shoulders relax and eyes go soft in a way he has never seen before, a side he's sure no one else knows exists.
And then he sneezes, and the furr ball runs away, and the cold look is back in her face as she gets up.
“Sorry… I… I'm allergic to cats…"
She gives him a look before getting back at walking, he's sure she'll give him the silent treatment the next day. “You're so fragile, how are you even alive?"
He can be mistaken but that sounded like she was worried, he tries to not think too much about it.
If look closely, Kaede can be nice.
Summer just greeted them and the heat was getting into Oma, most of the day he would pass sweating or complaining, he's sitting at a bench, waiting for none other than the blond herself, he had been dragged by her to a store, something about her buying the newest phone case of that series, what's it called? Danganronpa?
He never paid too much attention to that series, unlike everyone else, who seem to be obsessed with it, he simply can't handle gore and blood, so he keeps his distance. Kaede also doesn't care very much, she's pretty neutral about it -like she is with everything else- but does comment on a few random events of her favorite season here and there.
He doesn't know why she needed him around only to tell him to sit and wait outside but that's better than rotting in his bed…
Something cold touches his face and he jumps, looking up, he sees the girl in question, a few bags on her arm, seems like she bought more than just a phone case, a lemonade can in her hand, the other one holding a grape flavored soda to him.
“Had some extra money and got this at the vending machine.” she explains once he finally grabs it, sitting by his side.
He blinks at the drink, he didn't ask for it, Kaede usually doesn't give him anything unless he asks her to, which is rare, he looks back at her. “You didn't have to…”
“Don't be stupid, drink this up already, or you're gonna tell me you're allergic to grapes as well?"
That's not the reason, it's the opposite actually, that's his favorite flavor of basically everything, he didn't expect her to remember and doesn't know how to react to the information that she keeps track of his likes. Yet, unbothered by his little internal panic, she just keeps on drinking and starts a conversation on what she bought.
Oma stares at his drink for a little while more, not really paying attention to what she's saying, he'll just nod and pretend he is, he takes a sip, trying his best to hide a smile. Kaede is like a wall that no one can see through, but he's slowly managing to crack her up, in a way similar to how she's able to read him with ease. He starts to enjoy that summer day a little more.
Because, if you look closer...