Chapter Text
Shuichi Saihara. 17 years old. Currently running from a swarm of bees that are 8 times his size. He accidentally stepped into their hive, got stuck in honey, accidentally crushed their eggs and now he’s running for his life. Jumping over logs, rolling in the grass to try to get them off of him. He ended up jumping into a pond, or so he thought.
He woke up in a cold sweat. It appears the only pond he’s in right now is the pond of sweat engulfing him. He tries to process what just happened, what a weird dream. Oh well, it wasn’t real anyways, dreams can bend all laws of physics and reality since it’s not real and all in your head. What do you expect? Them to be normal? Hell no.
His room is dark and it’s 1pm on a Saturday. His curtains are shut, engulfing the room in darkness besides the light from the sun coming from outside, on the side of his curtains. His twin sized bed in the corner of his room, farthest away from the window on the other side, smells like garbage. When’s the last time he cleaned these sheets? He doesn't know. He doesn't care.
He also needs to do laundry, he's running low on clothes. Soon enough he’ll have to start wearing his uncle's clothes if he keeps this up. He's probably so disappointed in him. He also needs to shower, his skin is slick with sweat, everywhere on his entire body. It feels gross. His clothes are sticking to his skin. His hair is drenched in grease too, but he doesn't care, he’s too weak for that.
His pajamas consist of a plain black baggy t-shirt and plaid, dark blue pajama pants. For shuichi, he doesn't even consider getting up anytime soon, even if he feels gross. His uncle called his name from downstairs for lunch, Shuichi replied, “coming…”. He doesn't. He never does and he knows he never will.
He was scrolling on his phone, as usual, until Akamatsu texted him. Shuichi wonders how Kaede would react if she saw him this way. Would she be more concerned or disappointed like everyone else is? No, she should be disgusted. Anyone would be, while looking at him. He was zoning out for so long, he almost forgot about the text. She said…
“Kaede: haii! You probably just woke up lol, sorry, I know how you like to sleep in on weekends, but I'm wondering if you would want to hang out today! I’m bringing along two friends too, no offense, but your life can improve drastically if you had even just a few more, i mean it! If you don't want to come, that's okay too!”
Yeah right, as if he could make friends. He knows Kaede is just pretending to be nice. He concludes his thoughts, and decides to go.
“You: sure, ill go, what time, and where? also what are the friends ur bringing like?”
“Kaede: Cool! The time we arrive is 2:30, if you can make it! We’re just planning to go to the park and a coffee shop, and maybe even go to the mall for a little shopping! I'm really glad you took up this offer, seriously. I was only intending to bring one friend, which you already know, Miu, of course, and the other friend is well… a lot. He whined to come and wouldn't even let me put on my shoes to leave the house… by the way, me, Miu, and the other friend, whose name is Kokichi, are already here. I left earlier to buy groceries because we might stop at my house for a little. If you can come at that time, that's great!”
Shuichi could go anytime. It's not like he has any other friends except them, and Kaito and.. Maybe Maki..? She's giving him death glares all the time so he's not so sure, Kaito just says it's her way of caring for people, Shuichi's still not so sure about that though.
“You: sounds good, ill be there hopefully around 2:20 =)”
“Kaede: perfect! Sounds good, see you later!”
Welp, now Shuichi has to get dressed. First, he hops in the shower. He hums his favorite song from his favorite band, and then he gets dressed. A baggy, brown, almost fall themed cardigan, to hide his self harm, even though it's 98 degrees fahrenheit. Next, baggy jeans, for, you guessed it, self harm. He also wore a white shirt underneath, trying miserably to stay cool in this heat. He also wore a brown phone crossbody bag. He looked like utter shit, in his opinion.
Next, he brushed his now dry hair, even though even when it's dry, it still looks wet. Stupid ahoge, won’t go down.. Seriously, what is that? Anyways, after that, he brushed his teeth, he didn't bother eating lunch. He applied his makeup, aka, his iconic eyeliner and light mascara. When he looked at the time, it was 2pm. The park was 10 minutes away, perfect. He'd actually be early.
As he headed out the door, he got a text from a random number..
“123-456-11037: i see u, you look good ngl, at least you're not wearing a trashbag 😂😂 you’re actually pretty for a loser”
Okay, what the fuck, first of all, who is this, and how do they know i just stepped out my house. And why are they bullying me but also complimenting me, how is that even possible..
“You: who is this”
“123-456-11037: guess, aren't you the detective here? Dumbass”
Okay, harsh.
“You: well what do you want”
“123-456-11037: look forward”
“You: ???”
As Shuichi looked up from his phone, he saw a white Nissan, and who was driving it of course, was Kaede. He could recognize that car anywhere, even without seeing Kaede in the driver's seat. He walked over to the car and got in the passenger seat, and thanked Kaede for the ride.
“No problem! I actually like driving, it's pretty fun. Anyways, you can talk to Kokichi, since you already know both of us.”
Shuichi was not prepared for what he was in for.