Chapter Text
“And…” Kaito paused dramatically, before sweeping his arms out with a shining grin. “Welcome to the one and only abode of the Luminary of the Stars!”
The abode in question was, unsurprisingly to Maki, pretty average. She sighed. “I should go. This just looks like any other dorm.”
“Oi!! That’s not true!” Kaito’s grin never dimmed. “Ah, I’ll just have to show you. You’ll see what I mean, Maki Roll, just you wait!”
Maki quirked an eyebrow, just barely smothering an amused smile. Like every other time the assassin said something snarky or even just downright mean, Kaito had simply brushed her off and continued to pester her with his unstoppable determination.
It was one of the things she lov--…ahem, tolerated about him. Embarrassed with her inner thoughts, Maki rolled her eyes with an exaggerated smirk. She was good at putting on a show of indifference around her friend. No surprise there, given how much experience she had.
Kaito strutted into the room with confidence, not even checking to see if Maki was following him. (She was, of course. If asked, she’d say that she had nothing better to do.)
Taking a closer look around the room, Maki began to stare. It seemed to hit her all at once just what she was looking at. This was, in a way, a glimpse into Kaito’s heart. This was an invitation to see where he rested, where he spent his downtime, where he could be most himself. His soul beamed out of everything like sunlight: the open drawer that showed off his collection of space-themed socks; the night light that he had also gifted to Maki; the laptop showing a dimmed screensaver of a shooting star.
But what was most striking was the photo stuck above his study desk. It was of Kaito, Maki, and Shuichi. Maki remembered when that photo was taken – it was last summer when they had hit their 50th training session (or so Kaito claimed). They took that photo as a celebration. Shuichi was on the left, nervously smiling. Maki was on the right, pulling on her ponytail and looking away from the camera. And then there was Kaito, right smack dab in the middle, grinning with stars in his eyes, his arms carelessly flung over his two best friends on either side of him.
With every hint of Kaito she saw around the room, Maki’s heart grew bigger until she felt like she was choking on it. It was almost too much.
“So, whaddya think?” The question startled Maki enough for her to jump slightly. If Kaito noticed, he didn’t mention it, just looking at her expectantly. Maki swallowed before she spoke.
“It’s…fine. I guess.”
“’Fine’?? Aw come on, Maki Roll, you know it’s better than that!”
Oh, how right you are. Maki grumpily stroked her ponytail. “What do you want me to say? It’s just a normal room. I’m not going to stroke your ego and lie about it just because you want me to.”
The sigh that came from Kaito sounded resigned, but still cheerful. “Yeah, yeah, I should’ve figured you’d say something like that. Well, whatever!” He pumped his fist. “You’ll change your mind when you see how cool my TV is! Have you ever seen Interstellar??”
Before Maki could respond, Kaito was already grabbing two galaxy-themed beanbags from under his bed and sliding them in front of his laptop. Maki looked on with a slight smile before crossing her arms and flumping onto a beanbag, waiting for the astronaut to connect to Netflix. Before she knew it, they were watching the film. Kaito sat with wide sparkling eyes on the beanbag next to her.
For the first half an hour, it was…nice. Pleasant, even, to simply sit next to her friend and enjoy a movie.
But then Kaito decided to pause the movie and go to the bathroom.
“Back in a minute. We’re getting up to one of the best scenes!” With those parting words, Maki was left alone in the astronaut’s room. She sat up from the beanbag and gazed around the walls.
You can always tell so much about a person from their personal belongings. It was one of the first things she had learned as an assassin: when investigating a target, always start by looking at their stuff – social media posts, rubbish, books, photos.
Photos…Kaito seemed to have a lot of those. Without thinking about it, Maki started to focus on the pictures that were blue-tacked onto the walls. There was the 50th training session one above the desk, which Maki couldn’t help but smile at a little. There were a few photos of Kaito and his grandparents. There was one where he was wearing an astronaut suit with his arms around them and one where a very young Kaito showed his gap-toothed smile while his grandma and grandpa held out a rocket-shaped birthday cake with the number ‘8’ on it.
There were other photos too: a group photo of the entire class, Kaito arm-wrestling a chuckling Shuichi, Kaito laughing at a party with Kaede and Gonta, even one with Kaito chasing a snickering Kokichi while Miu laughs in the background.
It was all completely ordinary. Mundane. Sweet, even. But something kept itching in Maki’s mind. Confused, she rubbed at her forehead.
Why do I feel so strange? She laid her head on her hand, still looking at all the unremarkable photos on the walls. There’s nothing off about them. Nothing suspicious. They’re just of Kaito’s friends and family: his grandparents, Shuichi, Kaede, Gonta…there’s plenty of photos of everyone he cares about.
Everyone. Except for—
At the moment of her realization, Kaito opened the bathroom door and came back to the beanbag.
“Yo! Didn’t watch any more behind my back, didja?” He chuckled then shrugged good-naturedly. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did, you know. It’s an awesome movie! Hey, what do you think of—”
“Why am I not in any photos?”
Kaito blinked. “Huh? Photos?”
Maki leaned forward towards Kaito and crossed her arms, her red eyes glinting with determination. Instinctively, Kaito gulped but otherwise didn’t show any sign of intimidation.
“Your photos. The ones on your walls.”
“Uh, yeah…? What about them?”
There was a few seconds of silence. Then Maki sighed. “I’m…not really in any of them.” She regretted it as soon as she said it. She sounded far too insecure, too emotional. Ugh, why did I even bring this up?
Meanwhile, Kaito’s eyebrows had scrunched together as he looked around the room. His search suddenly stopped on top of his desk. “That’s not true! Look,” He jammed a finger at the 50th training session photo, “You’re right here, see?”
Before her rational side could stop her, Maki said, “But it’s just the one photo.” Good god shut up! Shut up!! She screamed at herself. “Shuichi is in more photos. So is Kaede, Gonta, even Kokichi. I-I’m not angry or anything,” oh my god did I just stutter!? “Since it’d be stupid to get emotional over something like this. I was just wondering…why.”
You could’ve cut the silence with one of Maki’s specialized daggers. It was literally that thick. Not for the first time, Maki wished that she could retreat into the shadows and never be seen by anyone ever again. It didn’t seem like Kaito was dealing with the silence super well either; Maki watched cautiously as he rubbed the back of his neck, his grimace growing more awkward by the second.
The silence took far longer to fill than usual. Kaito was an expert at continuing to talk, even when not necessary. Why was he not saying anything? Maki swallowed. Before she could take the first step towards breaking the silence, though, Kaito finally ‘manned up’ and said something.
“So, uh, here’s the thing…I, er, I actually do have photos of you. Of just you, or you and me. They’re just not on the walls right now.”
…huh? “What do you mean…? If they’re not on the walls, then where are they?”
Another few seconds of silence while Kaito winced. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, seemingly thinking about what to say next. Since when has Kaito been so careful with his words? Something’s up.
Finally, he managed to answer. “Well, those photos are in a different place but, uh…okay, I’ll show ya, since you seem to be upset about this but! It’s not creepy, okay? This is a normal thing to do! My grandparents do it too!!”
Maki blinked, stunned. The fuck is he talking about? Kaito seemed to notice her confusion too. He sighed, defeated, then walked to his bed with the finality of a dead man walking.
“I swear this is normal…” He muttered. Then, he crouched to reach underneath his bed, and with gravity, he pulled out a large cardboard box.