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Shuichi stared at the sight unfolding in front of him. He'd always known Kokichi was a little crazy, but this was another level. Suichi had never really been on board with Kokichi going to college with him, mostly because the guy would never have studied. But as fate would have it, Kokichi grew bored of being so far away from his ‘beloved’ and he started college a few months after they first started dating.
Shuichi had laughed when Kokichi told him his major- Puppet arts. He wasn't laughing anymore as Kokichi showed up to their shared apartment with the most horrifying puppet yet. A disfigured half-man ventriloquist doll, the face reminded him of Harvey Dent from Batman. One of his eyes hung low, as did the corresponding side of his mouth. Half of his head was shaved. Kokichi had named him Lars.
Kokichi stood there, hand up Lars and started talking as him, “won't you play with me?” Shuichi's nose turns up, his face clearly showing disgust. Kokichi snickered. His ventriloquism wasn't the best yet, you could definitely see his mouth move a little, but he was improving. That Shuichi had to admit.
Still… he didn’t want that doll in their home. “Lars is the worst one yet.”
Kokichi pouted, “don't knock my art you meanie!” And then “yeah! Don't knock his art!” Lars repeated. Shuichi shivered.
“Fine, fine. Go… throw it in the puppet closet.” He sighed as Kokichi moved into the apartment. “Jeez, what assignments do you even have? How do all your puppets manage to be so creepy?”
Kokichi threw Lars into the closet with a few other puppets. “It's for a kid's play. Lars is the villain.”
Shuichi laughed awkwardly, dragging a hand through his hair. “You're going to traumatize some poor kids…”
“Weaklings,” Kokichi snickered. “We're not showing anyone unfortunately. Just doing a big ol’ lesson on bullying.” He rolled his eyes, “it's wholesome and gross.”
“Mhm…” Shuichi mumbled.
As he lay in their shared bed at night, Kokichi snoring lightly next to him, he couldn't get the closet out of his mind. As he drifts off to sleep, Lars makes a few appearances in his dreams.
~
Beep Beep, his alarm blares. Shuichi groans, turning off his alarm before even opening his eyes. He sighs, groans and then slowly tries to pry his eyes open.
Except, he's met with the sight of a horrifying puppet in his face. Shuichi punches first, asks questions later. The puppets head snaps back, but nothing loosens. “Good Morning my beloved.” Kokichi snickers, “Lars wanted to greet you too this fine morning.”
Shuichi glares at him, pushing the puppet out of the way. “Please tell Lars I don't appreciate his company.”
Kokichi feigns offense, “Uhm! Lars can hear you, you know.” “Yeah I can hear you, you scum!” “Lars please! That is not anyway to-”
Shuichi walks out of the room and locks himself in the bathroom for a few minutes.
He fucking hates puppets.
~
Shuichi looks at the closet with disgust. He's not an aggressive person, not really, but he can't deny that he wants to destroy every single puppet inside. There's only about six of them, but it doesn't matter, the only thing stopping him is knowing that Kokichi needs them to actually succeed in college. “Thinking of destroying my work, my beloved?” Kokichi suddenly purrs in his ear.
“Maybe,” Shuichi grunts, an automatic response. “I mean no.”
Kokichi smirks, “that's a lie, mister.” Shuichi turns around to face him. “I was going to invite you to our first show, but I'm guessing the puppets are too scary for you?”
Shuichi's eyebrow raises, “your show?”
“Mmm-hm,” Kokichi nods. “Our program is holding our first show, each student has five minutes to do a show featuring a handmade puppet in some way!” Kokichi smiles bright, “I was going to do an improvised BDSM scene between two of mine… but-” his smile falls, the crocodile tears fall. “Someone in my program is bringing kids and my professor said no! Like that's going to stop me, professor idiot.”
Shuichi can’t even begin to break down the tears or the… puppet BDSM scene. “Of course I want to come! When is it?” He's much more receptive to the puppets when they're not haunting him in his own home, and he has seen some of the one's Kokichi’s classmates have made. Kokichi seems to be a big outlier in liking his puppets weird and uncomfortable to look at, which Shuichi probably should've suspected.
Kokichi’s tears dry immediately, and he smiles. “Thursday, at 1pm in lecture hall 380C. Don't be late! Or the puppets will eat you in your sleep. Nishinishi..~” Shuichi shivers against his better judgment.
~
Thursday rolls around and like the caring and attentive boyfriend he is, Shuichi sits in the lecture hall, waiting for the show to start. There’s a few people in the crowd, but not many at all. He’s heard from Kokichi that the classes are very small (it's puppet arts… of course it's a small class…) so he’s expecting this to go quite quickly. Which is sort of good, he has a lot of homework to catch up on later and he's missing a lecture for this. Ah, the things you do for love…
Like watching your boyfriends freaky puppet performance. Shuichi just hopes he keeps it PG, as he looks around the audience and finds two smaller children watching.
The curtain is pulled, and on a lone chair sits a woman holding a microphone in one hand, and the other sits inside a grumpy old man looking puppet. “Say, Joseph, we've had a lot of discussion these past couple days about the economic state of the world. What money saving tips do you have for the audience?”
“If you darn kids stopped spending so much money on energy drinks and that good for nothing nicotine you'd afford to buy a house by now!”
“But Joseph,” the woman easilys switches voices. Shuichi would never say it to his face, but she does better than anything he's seen from Kokichi. “Don't you smoke cigars?”
The puppet makes as shocked of a face a puppet can to the audience, crossing his arms. “Mmph! That's irrelevant.”
The act goes on, applause, another act comes and goes, more applause and eventually Shuichi finds himself enjoying the show. A lot more than he thought he would. The previous act was incredibly good and as the curtain falls again he's almost forgotten his role as ‘mr. Supportive boyfriend’.
The curtain opens soon enough, Kokichi sitting on the chair this time. He's holding a puppet Shuichi recognized from about two months ago, one of the less horrifying one's. Good start, Suichi thought.
Kokichi had a microphone headset instead of a holding one, allowing him to sit in the wallowing position he started in. His elbow rested on his knee, and his face on his hand. “I'm so sad, Ursula.” He told the puppet.
Shuichi raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Getting to be the only one to see through all of Kokichi's lies was fun (all of them was over exaggerating, but he did catch most of them!) it had almost lead him to forgetting just how good of an actor Kokichi was. “What does the supreme leader have to be sad about? You're hot, cool and mysterious.” The puppet replied to him. Shuichi rolled his eyes, although he didn't disagree.
“I know, but-” There come the crocodile tears. “It's just this guy I've been seeing… he's not such a fan of you and your friends.” Okay, here Shuichi had multiple thoughts.
1) ‘This guy I've been seeing’? Wow. They'd been dating for over a year. Shuichi would have to pull an ‘I love you’ out of Kokichi for that, which was something that was rarely said from the man. Shuichi believed him in that he felt it, so it wasn't really needed.
2) Was Kokichi really going to do this in a public showing? Talk about his aversion to puppets at a puppet show? Dick move.
3) Where is he going with this?
“Maybe you just need to show him we're not so bad! At least I'm nooot” Ursula dragged out the words.
“I keep telling him, and trying to show him your gentle side, but he doesn't like it.” Kokichi's tears streamed down his face, but his voice as Ursula remained calm.
“How about you incorporate us into something he likes? I wouldn't mind cuddling with you guys.”
Kokichi sniffed, wiping his fake tears. “Y-you really think so?”
“Yeaaahh! Why not?”
“Maybe-” sniff “maybe we could…”Shuichi could see Kokichi look over at the professor sitting closeby, a hint of annoyance in his eyes. “Maybe we could all be friends!” He ended.
“Yaaaay!” Ursula said happily, “I've always wanted to see that grump smile.”
Kokichi laughed, “oh, he smiles plenty when you're not around.”
“Oh, Oma, why are we subjected to being locked inside that dreadful closet?”
Kokichi sighed, “my boyfriend- he would not appreciate your presence. For he, is merely non-supportive of my actions.”
“What a jerk!”
“You can say that again…” the curtains fell. Shuichi stared at the closed off scene, dumbfounded. He remembered he should clap, when unsure claps from other audience members rang out the room. He, in all earnesty, didn't know if that was another classic over exaggeration from Kokichi, or if that was his true feelings expressed in only such a way he could manage. He was the man who had first said ‘I love you’ during a fight about the dishes, and then had to spend three to four business days convincing Shuichi he really meant it and didn't just say it to get out of having to wash the dishes. So he's not the most normal person when it comes to expressing his feelings.
Still, that was a weird one.
~
“My beloved!” Kokichi called after the show, “what did you think?” His eyes gleamed. “I dedicated it to you, you know… you should be thankful.”
Shuichi opens his mouth, closes it and then opens it again. “It was… fascinating.”
Kokichi crackles, “nishinishi ~ I knew you'd think so! So?”
Shuichi isn't really getting the conversation, “uh, so what?”
“So can I move all the puppets out into the apartment?”
Shuichi rubs his neck, “they kinda creep me out.”
“Kind of?” Kokichi huffs, “you shit yourself at the thought of them!” Kokichi starts tearing up, “you're-” hic “really not going to let me display my art?!” Two people turn around. “You're such a meanie Shuichi!! I hate you!” Then the tears start flowing.
“Okay! Okay! Fine.”
The tears immediately stop. “Best for you, or I'd have them wake you up every morning and haunt you every night.”
Shuichi groans, “we can… get a glass shelf with toned windows in the living room. So I don't feel… watched every time.”
Kokichi snorts, “who wouldn't want to be watched by these cuties?”
“Yeah, who wouldn't want to be watched by us?” Ursula adds.
Shuichi groans, and he keeps groaning as he watches Kokichi place all his puppets into the toned glass shelf a week later. He stops groaning as Kokichi kisses him on the cheek a mumbles out a quiet and embarrassed “I love you”.
Yeah okay. The freaky puppets could stay.