Chapter Text
When Kaede first met Hoshi Ryouma, she thought she would never be able to get along with such a person.
One who took others' lives, no matter the reason, was detestable to her. Just being around him at first made her uncomfortable, with his aloof attitude and closed behavior. But, as she met and talked with her other classmates, she realized that he was far from the most disagreeable one out of the bunch.
He didn't insult her or rudely brush her off when she tried to talk to him (or lie to her and then laugh at her reaction). It was true that he kept their conversations brusque and never made an effort to talk with her, but the way he 'dismissed' her was much different from the others. The way he worded it, it seemed like he was keeping his distance from others for their sake- that he didn't deserve to be talked to and welcomed into his classmates' lives.
It was vastly different from how Kaede expected a convicted murder to act. He didn't try to justify himself or ask for forgiveness or understanding.
He just. Kept to himself.
Despite them all being locked up together- having been told by a strange rabbit that they needed to "work together to hone their tawents, wuv wuv!"- Hoshi still refrained from speaking with others, and from talking about or practicing tennis.
He seemed determined to live his confined life in solitude, avoiding others and living aimlessly.
That's why, when their "teacher", Usami, had approached Kaede, wibbling that she was worried about Hoshi, and his progress in becoming "heawfy and happy", Kaede agreed to talk with him.
Even if he was a killer, he shouldn't have to be a self-made pariah; their community was far too small to alienate people like that.
And, Kaede rationalized to herself, even if it was going against her previous morals (re: associating with killers), she should probably at least guarantee the safety of the rest of them, even though she didn't think that Hoshi would really attack or kill anyone else.
Finding Hoshi wasn't hard, in a manner of speaking. She just had to look where people were not. Hoshi avoided other people at all times; after several times of him not showing up during designated meals, Usami had given up on trying to include him (lamely justifying it with "W-weww, as wong as he gets his nutwition other times...").
Most of the other students would spend their days in the AV room and game room, talking with each other and having fun, with a time set aside in the afternoon for them to use their research rooms. (The regulations on their "Peaceful Prison School Life☆" were very lax; oftentimes during Study Time, as it was called, students could still hang out with each other in their research rooms. Usami was fine with pretty much everything, as long as everyone was getting along with each other.)
Kaede herself was supposed to be practicing the piano right now (or sitting in on Angie painting, an invite she was sad to decline), but, in order to find Hoshi, she started heading towards the cafeteria.
If she was right, because he didn't eat with the rest of them, and he didn't use Study Time to practice his tennis, then it was during that time, when everyone else was occupied, that he would go to the caf to eat.
She felt very pleased with herself for deducing it out, wondering if Saihara would agree with her reasoning and applaud her. As he was her partner (both of them called themselves the other's sidekick), they often tackled problems like this together. However, he and a few of the others had decided to go outside and exercise today (something that fell under both Tenko and Momota's practice), so Kaede decided that she could do this on her own.
Pushing open the door to the cafeteria, Kaede quickly went from confident to deflated. Hoshi was nowhere to be found. She was about to turn around and find somewhere else to look, when she heard a voice in the room.
"Akamatsu?"
Kaede scanned the room in confusion before her gaze slipped downwards and she finally saw him. Hoshi was standing halfway between the kitchen and the table, having seemingly stopped when she came in. Kaede realized that she hadn't been looking for him at the right... height... and that that's how she missed him in her first glance in.
Getting herself back together, she waved at him and walked the full way into the cafeteria. She called out, her voice cheerful and a bit strained, "Hoshi-kun! Fancy seeing you here!"
Hoshi looked at her suspiciously, having continued walking to the table. Kaede could now see that he had a glass of dark liquid (with a straw) in his hands.
Trailing behind him, Kaede walked to the tables and noticed one tray set on them. To her surprise, it was loaded generously with vegetables, fruit, meat, and rice. Everything was portioned nicely, in healthy amounts. Kaede thought to herself that, even if he had cast off his tennis playing background, it seemed he kept the same wholesome diet.
Hoshi had stood up on his tiptoes and placed his glass on the table next to his tray. Kaede felt bad for him; the table was as tall as he was, and everything else at the school wasn't really equipped for someone of his "stature". But she and the others had learned that he really wasn't a fan of others taking pity on him and trying to help. He didn't get mad or snap at them, he just. stared.
That was even worse.
For kind people like Gonta and Kirumi (and Kaede herself) it was hard to let him do things like open heavy doors and go up stairs that went up to his knee, but Hoshi never complained, and never asked for help. He didn't struggle with anything much, really. The few times Kaede had seen him hop into a chair, he did it seemingly effortlessly.
It was kind of ridiculous to see him move, at all, even if it was just him walking. When Kaede first saw him walking, plodding along on his tiny legs, she had to stop and stare.
He looked like a toy, or some kind of creature. A goblin, perhaps?
And then, when he opened his mouth and spoke, instead of a high-pitched, squeaky voice, he had a deep, serious one.
Kaede was continuously baffled by him, and that further motivated her to pursue a conversation, because she wanted to see what else he could surprise her about.
Hoshi had pulled himself up into his seat, and had broken his chopsticks apart, dutifully ignoring Kaede, who still lingered by the table. She was having trouble figuring out exactly how to strike up a conversation with him. The only things she knew about him were that he used to play tennis and that he had murdered people, and Hoshi didn't appear to be keen to talk about either subject. (And Kaede was trying to forget about the murders so she could have a decent talk with him.)
And she wasn't nearly blunt or tactless- like some of the others here- to outright say "Usami told me talk to you."
Sighing lightly, Hoshi turned to Kaede and directed his blank gaze to hers. Kaede jolted and realized that she had been thinking to herself so much that her just standing there had become an intrusion. Before she could stammer an apology, he asked her, "Akamatsu, you need somethin' from me?"
Kaede waved her hand in front her face and replied, a little too hastily, "No, no! I just, um, needed... a snack!"
Hoshi's eyelids dropped halfway, and he stared at her as she began to sweat. Kaede didn't like lying to others, but it was the only thing she could think to do off the cuff like this.
Turning stiffly, Kaede walked towards the kitchen, as if it would make her lie any more believable.
Talking to Hoshi was harder than she thought, and she technically hadn't even started yet.
While in the kitchen, she was going to get a pack of potato chips, but after thinking of Hoshi's healthy meal, redirected herself to the fridge and grabbed a small bunch of grapes, instead. She went ahead and picked up a bottle of tea, as well.
After closing the fridge door, she had an epiphany that this was a perfect scenario to talk with Hoshi. By catching him at his mealtime, she had cornered him into at least having to hear her talk. Since he had a good amount of food, it would give plenty of opportunity for her to press at him.
She didn't think he'd take his tray and leave (or just abandon it), and if she just acted like this was a casual "oh, I didn't know you were here, might as well strike up a conversation while we eat" event, she might actually make progress in talking with him.
Feeling rejuvenated, Kaede brought her hands up to her chest (tea, grapes, and all) and whispered a quick, "Let's go!" to herself.
When she returned to the table, Hoshi was still eating his meal. Even the chopsticks here were too big for him, but his tiny hands held them deftly, and he didn't seem to have any trouble with them.
He had been looking at his food up until Kaede pulled the chair across from out and sat down. Even then, only his eyes flicked up at first, before he reluctantly lifted his head and addressed her.
"Oi, Akamatsu, what're you doing?"
Kaede laughed awkwardly and put her snacks on the table. "I'm having a snack, silly! ...like I said!" Avoiding his eyes, one of which was now squinting at her, she noticed that one of his ever-present candy sticks was laying on a napkin by him.
Back when she met him, she assumed the thing in his mouth was some sort of unlit cigarette or cigarillo, but Usami had reassured the rest of the class that Hoshi wasn't damaging to his or anyone else's health. Kaede noted, at the time, that Hoshi didn't look too pleased about being found out, but he didn't say anything about it.
She smiled a bit, thinking back on that. Maybe Hoshi wasn't nearly as bad as he pretended to be.
But then she remembered he was a convicted murderer.
And her smile went away.
She turned her gaze and started fiddling with opening her tea bottle. Mustering up as much cheer as she could, given the situation, Kaede addressed Hoshi once again.
"Hey, Hoshi-kun, how's your day going?" She fixed a pleasant smile on her face and stared at him, waiting for him to respond.
At first, he just hmph'ed at her, and Kaede thought that was all she was going to get out of him, until he set his chopsticks down and focused on her.
In his strange, deep voice, he replied, "Akamatsu... Shouldn't you be studying right now? Like one of the other good kids?"
Kaede blinked and was going to respond, when Hoshi continued, "You shouldn't be skipping practice... Hanging out with a has-been like me." He pulled his beanie down, casting a shadow over his face. "Nothing good lies if you continue down that path."
Frowning, Kaede leaned forward and said, "Hoshi-kun, don't you think you're being a bit too harsh on yourself? You don't seem like that bad of a guy..." (for a convicted murderer, she ended in her head)
Hoshi scoffed at her and picked his chopsticks up. He used them to point at her as his other hand grabbed his bowl of rice. "Don't be an idiot; I'm the lowest of the low." Shaking his head, he stared tiredly at his rice. "You should take your food and talk to someone who's actually worth your time."
Still frowning, with her unopened tea bottle held loosely in her hands, Kaede's gaze fell towards the table.
She wasn't sure how to talk to someone who clearly was unwilling to open up. Even Maki had loosened up after a while, but her reasons for not wanting to talk had been "you're annoying" rather than "I don't deserve to talk to you".
Maybe she ought to rethink her strategy... Talking to others usually came naturally to her, but she didn't even know where to start with Hoshi.
An awkward silence came between them, and Kaede started and finished eating her grapes. Hoshi looked like he was done with his food; he had picked his candy stick and was rolling it between his fingers, still ignoring that Kaede was there.
Feeling defeated, Kaede sighed, and grabbed her tea once more. The cap on it just did not want to come off.
Cursing softly, she braced the bottle on the table and twisted with all her might. Kaede wasn't a weak girl, by any means, but a lot of the bottles here at the Prison School seemed to have shoddily made caps. (They had mentioned it to Usami once, who had yelled her usual "Hawawawa!" and apologized profusely before crying. None of them were sure what to make of that.)
After a bit of her struggling, including her trying to pry the plastic apart with her nails, Kaede heard a deep sigh from across from her. "'Here." Lifting her head, she saw that Hoshi had clambered onto his seat and, avoiding his lunch tray, leaned over the table to reach for her tea. Surprised, she blinked, before numbly handing it over.
Leaning back- still standing on his chair- Hoshi twisted the cap off with one strong jerk. Making sure the lid was secure, but not too tight, he handed it back to Kaede.
Kaede beamed and accepted it, smiling as she said, "Hoshi-kun, that was amazing! Thank you so much!"
Sitting back down, Hoshi shook his head chuckled darkly, muttering, "You're too easily impressed, have some self-respect..." Placing his candy stick back in his mouth, he closed one eye. "You need to learn to not rely on others."
Despite saying that, Kaede felt that Hoshi seemed a little happy to be of help, and it was a pleasant surprise to her. Even if he was a murderer, it was nicer to spend time with him than with some of the others (not that she disliked spending time with anyone; it was just a lot quieter and less stressful with Hoshi).
Still smiling, Kaede finally drank her tea while Hoshi gathered his dishes together. He slid out of seat first, and then carefully eased his tray off the table until he could firmly grab onto it. Kaede watched him as he walked to the kitchen and disappeared, the chain on his leg softly clinking the whole way.
She made a note of that; unless he took it off or tucked it away, it would always be easy to hear when he was approaching (or trying to go around) you.
Hoshi reappeared, and, seeing that Kaede was still staring at him, gave slight smirk and thumbs up to her, before placing his hands in his pockets and striding away.
As Hoshi leaned up to push the cafeteria door open, Kaede clenched her bottle in her hands, grinned, and made a vow to get her killer classmate to open up to her.
Now, she just had to figure out how to make it happen.