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It was no secret that Shuichi had a crush on Kaito. A “secret” implies that it is known by no one, but the crush was pretty clear to at least one person, Maki. According to her, Shuichi’s feelings were “painfully obvious”, “with how much [he] blush[es] whenever that idiot’s around, and how happy [he] look[s] whenever he orders [him] around”, and that “the dumbass is really stupid for not realising it”. To which, Shuichi retorted that Maki’s crush on their friend was pretty obvious as well – Kaito was the only one who could call her “Maki Roll” without her shooting death glares at them, and her reaction whenever the boy patted her shoulder was much more intense than if another had touched her.Both of them agreed they wouldn’t say a thing about their crushes on Kaito to him after that embarrassing conversation. Kaito would have to figure out the meaning behind his sidekicks' barely disguised reactions towards him himself.That was months ago.Either Kaito was really oblivious, or was purposefully ignoring it.The three of them have been classmates for two years now, and have been close friends for almost as long. Hope’s Peak Academy wasn’t a large school, and practically all the students knew each other. Quite a number of them have gotten into relationships with one another, and gossip regarding their schoolmates’ love lives could be heard from all over campus, peaking as the dates of romantic holidays came closer. Perhaps the small cohort size made it more exciting? Shuichi wasn’t sure – it wasn’t comfortable discussing such topics about and with students he knew little of – but it was practically unavoidable these days. Even during their near daily "training”, he couldn’t avoid it. Kaito, for as much as Shuichi loved him, could be more than a little nosy sometimes, even unintentionally.“So, Shuichi… Valentine’s Day’s coming up, right?”Shuichi did not like that tone, nor that expression, on Kaito’s face. Though he tried to sound casual, the detective knew this was nothing but. With the lower-than-usual volume, the way his body tilted to shield them from their other friend, Shuichi could already tell what the other boy was going to talk about. Pink dusting his cheeks, he briefly considered his options, realised that Kaito was not going to give the topic up so easily with how eager he looked, and eventually decided to humour him.“In a few weeks, yes.”“So…” Smile widening slyly, though the effect was ruined by the sparkle in Kaito’s eyes. “Are you planning on asking anyone out?”“N-No, I’m not.”“But surely there’s someone you like!” As expected, Kaito grabbed his shoulders and leaned closer. Shuichi tried not to react too much. “I mean, there’s a lot of really cool and pretty girls here! Like, take Maki, for example!”“I-” Glancing over Kaito’s shoulder, he scanned his other best friend’s face. Nope, she probably didn’t hear anything. Too busy watching the clouds go by. “W-Well, if you think she’s cool and pretty, why don’t you ask her out, then?”“Huh? Me?” For a second, Kaito paused, as if he never even considered this possibility. (A voice that sounded suspiciously like Maki muttered in the back of his brain, dumbass.) But just as quickly, he recovered. “I guess I could, but we’re not talking about me, here! A hero’s gotta make sure his sidekicks are taken care of, first! And stop avoiding my question!”Shuichi shifted uncomfortably, forced into this dilemma again. There had been times, when he was tempted to confess his feelings to Kaito, but ultimately backed out of it. Kaito had been raised primarily by his more old-fashioned grandparents, and he wasn’t sure how the boy would react to learning that Shuichi was bi, and liked him more than a friend. Kaito had been helping him with his anxiety for the past two years, encouraging him to be braver and more honest with his own wishes, but… He wasn’t brave enough to spill everything just yet.Though, testing the waters a little wouldn’t hurt, right? And he had to say something, or they’d be stuck in this position for the rest of the day.“Well… Okay, I… I guess I do like someone. B-but!” Shuichi quickly said, before Kaito could interrupt. “I don’t think I can tell them. I mean, I’m friends with them, and I’m afraid confessing would ruin what we have. Besides, even if I do tell them… I’m not sure what happens after. It’s not like I’ve ever d-dated someone before…”“Huh? You haven’t?” Thankfully, Kaito didn’t press for more details. Instead, there was a look that came over his face, and Shuichi knew he was thinking deeply. Finally, his eyes light up again. “I got it! If inexperience is what’s holding you back, then we’d get you some experience! We can practice until you’re brave enough to tell them!”Shuichi blanked.“W… What do you mean, ‘practice’?” He can’t possibly mean-“You know, go on practice dates!” Dates?! Like, w-with-“Uh- um. With- with who?” Oh my god, is he- are we going to- Kaito-“Well, with Maki, of course!”Shuichi blanked again. What.Apparently not noticing the dumbfounded state he left his sidekick in, Kaito turned around to bound towards Maki like an excited puppy. Maki, who was having a nice and quiet time lying on the ground and gazing at the sky, had her short and temporary peace shattered by the boisterous astronaut. Also apparently not noticing the slightly crazed look on his face and the absurdity of his next sentence, he gleefully and proudly announced, “You’re going on a date with Shuichi!”Shuichi could only watch in pity as Maki appeared to go through all five stages of grief, sat up, and slowly turned towards him. There was a look in her eyes that clearly stated, what did you do.“I’m so sorry,” Shuichi said solemnly.You owe me a drink for entertaining this nonsense, was Maki’s silent reply. Then she slowly turned back to Kaito and stated, “Explain.”“It’s part of Shuichi’s bravery training!” Oblivious to the two’s silent conversation and ignoring the deadpan stare the girl was giving him, Kaito began to ramble happily. “In order to improve his general social skills, I need to expose him to different social situations, including dates! And since you’re the closest girl friend we have, you’re perfect for the role! Besides, it’ll be an important and vital lesson in communication and a great opportunity for bonding, which is important-”“Okay, okay, I got it! You’re not letting me refuse, are you?”“Well, from my research, the first rule of dating is mutual consent, but I really hope you’d take this opportunity to-”“I- I didn’t say I was going to refuse!” Groaning, Maki pinched the bridge of her nose, turned to stare intensely at Shuichi and mouthed, two drinks. Then, back to Kaito, “How long is this training regimen?”“Valentine’s in two weeks, and to give Shuichi some time to ask the person he wants out… How about a week?”“A week? Ugh… The things I’d do for you idiots.”“Don’t worry, Maki,” Shuichi sighed, sealing his fate. “I’ll pay for our drinks.”
Days remaining: 13
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There was an Aeon mall not far from Hope’s Peak Academy. It was a popular destination for the students of both courses, for hanging out or shopping. From Shuichi’s previous visits, he found that the mall had quite a few fashion outlets, both for casual and formal settings. He hadn’t actually done any clothes shopping there – he wasn’t really into fashion, and mostly cycled through the same seven or so sets of clothes outside of school.That, according to Kaito, was a problem. Apparently, none of those clothes were suitable for dating, and his friend wasn’t letting him wear his old clothes out on a “date”.(Shuichi wanted to point out that Maki had five sets of clothes and had been wearing them for years longer than Shuichi has, but he eventually decided against it.)And that’s what led the two boys to the mall today. They’ve decided to have their first “date” right afterwards, since it fell nicely on Maki’s birthday. Kaito insisted on going along, as he had more “fashion knowledge” than Shuichi did, despite him regularly wearing socks and slippers out to exercise, and he was always wearing something space-related no matter what the occasion called for. Still, Shuichi didn’t protest – Kaito had a little more social experience, after all, even if it wasn’t in a romantic context.… He reconsidered is previous presumption when Kaito pulled him into a store selling three-piece suits.“Kaito, I don’t think wearing a suit is really necessary.”“Of course it’s necessary! You need to look good on your date!”“Kaito, we’re just getting ice cream.”“It’s still a date, and it’s your first date. First impressions count!”“Kaito, we’ve known each other for two years.”“Yeah, as friends. Not, like, girlfriend and boyfriend!”“But… We’re not??? It’s a practice date?!?”Kaito chose to ignore his protests and shoved a third suit into Shuichi’s arms. It looked near identical to the other two pieces. Shuichi sighed – there was no point in saying anything. Once Kaito had set his mind on something, no amount of arguing would change his mind. Instead, he saved his breath and accepted whatever Kaito decided to dump in his arms. Once the stack of clothes was deemed large enough, he was pushed into the changing room to try them on.“If you need any help, just call me and I’ll come in!”Shuichi banished the thought of Kaito helping him change as he quickly shut the door. He wouldn’t need any help – he had enough experience with formal clothing like these in the past, and it wasn’t like he was trying on a dress with a back zip. Once he put on the first suit, he opened the door to let Kaito look him over. He didn’t expect Kaito to pull him out and turn him around to look at him from all directions.“Wow, you look so cool, bro!” Kaito was practically gushing, stars in his eyes. “If I were a girl, I’d think you’d look super handsome!”“U-Um, thank you?” Shuichi’s face felt hot.This process repeated several times, as Shuichi tried on new suits. It was as if Kaito was trying to embarrass him with all the compliments he was handing out, and the gentle adjustments he’d sometimes make with the buttons and ties. Shuichi was glad that he could hide in the changing room for a bit after each round to calm his racing heart, before exiting and getting flustered all over again. They ended up getting three sets, which cost more than their living expenses for a whole month combined, but Shuichi had cash to spare.“You still have, like, an hour before your date, right?” Kaito asked, as Shuichi returned from changing into his chosen suit.“Um, yeah. And the parlour is about a ten minute walk from here.”“Great!” Grabbing his hand, Kaito began dragging him off to who knew where. “Then let’s go get more gifts for Maki Roll!”“H-huh? What gifts?”---“So, roses is the classic, but, I don’t know. Is a whole bouquet too much?”“So a whole three-piece suit is fine, but a bouquet of roses is too much for you?”“That’s what I’m asking! Should we get the roses, or something else?!”Shuichi sighed, and let Kaito continue panicking over the flowers. He and the shop assistant shared a look.“I just want your first date to be perfect! Besides, is her birthday today, so we need to get her something special! But roses just feel too… Impersonal, you know? Too cliché,” Kaito complained, comparing the roses to the carnations. “Any guy can get a girl roses! I don’t want Maki to think we- you didn’t put in any thought into this.”“Um, you’re the one worrying over the flowers.”“Maybe you should worry more, sidekick! Come on, think! What would be the best flowers to get her?”With another sigh, Shuichi glanced over at the flowers available. He didn’t know much about flower language, nor about flowers in general, so he just considered the colours. Eventually, he picked the roses, hydrangea and iris.“How about we get a mix? Roses are nice, but a variety makes things more interesting. The red roses matches Maki’s eyes, blue hydrangea complements my suit, and the purple iris…” Shuichi glanced at Kaito, who was decked out in purple today. He was listening attentively. “… It’s a mix between red and blue, you know? So, I think it’s-”“Perfect!” Kaito grabbed the bunch and nearly slammed them on the counter, causing a few petals to fall. “We’ll get these three!”“Um, yeah. C-Could we get them arranged in a bouquet, please?”---After leaving the florist’s, they headed towards the exit, but Kaito suddenly stopped in his tracks. Shuichi, whom he was holding hands with (to the poor boy’s embarrassment), nearly tripped and dropped the flowers.“CHOCOLATES!”“Huh?! What?”“Chocolates, Shuichi! We forgot the chocolates!”“Wh- What? We were supposed to get chocolates?”“Yeah, obviously! We got flowers, so we need chocolates! For the date!”“But… We’re already getting ice cream?”“Still. We can get chocolates for Maki to bring back.”Shuichi had long since given up and allowed himself to be dragged towards the confectionery. Maki did like sweet things… It would be a nice gift, anyways. Besides, it was kind of cute to watch Kaito get so excited about this. And Shuichi could spend a little more time with him…“Okay, chocolates!” Kaito gestured at the shelf of chocolates. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, in bars and in cubes… Shuichi didn’t realise that there were so many different chocolates. “Which one should we get?”“Um… I’m not sure.”“Good afternoon, may I help you?” Thankfully, a shop assistant was free. With a wide grin, Kaito spun around and clapped his hand onto Shuichi’s shoulder.“Yes! We’d like to get some chocolates, please.”“Ah, I see.” The assistant looked between the two boys for a moment, before picking a box with a heart design over it. “I’d recommend this box set – it has a range of chocolates of different sweetness to cater to different palates.”“Perfect, we’ll take it!”As they were leaving the shop after paying, the assistant called out, “Enjoy your date!”“Thanks!” Kaito answered, walked maybe five steps forward, before pausing. “Hey, how did they know you were going on a date?”Shuichi looked at Kaito, looked at his hand – which had grabbed his own, again – and decided not to answer that.
Days remaining: 12
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Why are you wearing that.”Truthfully, Maki didn’t need to ask that – the pained look on Shuichi’s face and the over-eager one on Kaito’s, plus the latter’s giant goofy smile and two thumbs up, gave her all the answers she needed.Shuichi was wearing a suit, which was clearly new. Midnight blue, almost black. Even now, he couldn’t escape his predestined colour scheme. Compared to the worn, red tee Maki had been wearing since yesterday, there was a sharp contrast between the two of them. Yesterday, when she agreed to participate in Shuichi’s “new training regimen” and humour Kaito’s crazy antics, she had told herself, this is nothing. Just some dumb hang outs labelled as “dates”. It’s just Shuichi, and we aren’t even actually dating, so there’s no reason to get flustered over it. There’s no difference between friends hanging out and dates, anyways, right?Apparently, there was. Apparently, there was a dress code no one had told her about. At least, to Kaito. And despite the many mental reassurances she gave herself and her vow to not care about what the other two boys thought, she was beginning to feel self-conscious.Shuichi had turned around while Maki was lost in her thoughts, apparently trying to decipher Kaito’s frantic gestures that looked more like a person drowning. Shuichi stared for a long moment, before the idiot realised that his flailing wasn’t working and just stage whispered, “FLOWERS. CHOCOLATE.” Shuichi finally got it, nodding slowly and mouthing back OHHH before turning back around, digging through his bag and fishing out a bouquet and a box.“Happy birthday, Maki. U-um, so, Kaito-” “NOOO! YOU. YOUUU.” “-uh, I mean, I got you these gifts. I- I hope you like them?”Maki stared at the “birthday” gifts. Flowers. Chocolates. Damn, they’re really taking this “dating” thing seriously. Or, at least, Kaito is. Ignoring the dumb flush on her face, she accepted the gifts stiffly. At least Shuichi looked just as awkward, which she tried to focus on instead of her definitely non-existent embarrassment.“Wow, you really went all out this year.” As Shuichi’s face turned red, Maki’s lips twitched into a smirk. “You’re so easy to embarrass.”“Can- Can we just go now, please?”The parlour was a tiny place, with two staff working there today. (They, politely, chose to not say anything about Shuichi’s way too formal suit.) The parlour had only three tables inside and two more outside, which were all practically empty, since it was winter and not exactly prime time for ice cream consumption. They took seats from inside the parlour, where it was much warmer than outside. With how small the room was, Kaito couldn’t really hide the fact that he was watching them – he needed to “track Shuichi’s progress”. Kaito had told the two to just ignore him, so they tried their best to do so, even if they could see him staring at them intently the whole time. Maki, instead, tried to distract herself with checking out the ice cream selection.Which was… more interesting than she realised. Maki had never actually been at an ice cream parlour, and just assumed they sold the same stuff as in the grocery stores. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry… Those treats were rare and few in between at the orphanage, and practically never after. The selection here was a lot larger and less straightforward than she had expected.“Hm, I think I’ll get the roasted pistachio,” Shuichi mused, apparently unphased by the fact that they made nut ice cream. Out of pistachios?! “What are you getting, Maki?”“I… I don’t know,” Maki returned to the selection, whispering under her breath, “‘Speculoos’? ‘Unicorn Pop’? What the hell…”“Um… If you’re not sure, you could ask to taste them?”Maki stared at him blankly. Shuichi rubbed his neck nervously, gesturing at the disposable spoons in a cup over the selection.“I mean, that’s what those spoons are for. Do… Do you not know this?”“No, I’ve never been at an ice cream parlour before.” She paused, then added, “I haven’t had ice cream in years, so I don’t remember what it tastes like.”“You- You haven’t?!?”They stared at each other for a beat, then Shuichi turned towards the cashier.“Hi, can I get a pint of each flavour?”“What are you doing?!”Maki snatched the idiot that was her friend away from the counter, because WHAT WAS HE THINKING?! She had grimaced at the cost of a single scoop – it was enough to pay for a small, but whole and nutritious meal – and didn’t even want to look at the price for a pint. And twenty?! She did not have the fridge space in her dorm, the ice cream was going to melt, and that would all be such a blatant waste of money, she thought Shuichi was smarter than this, just what the HELL-“Huh? What happened? Shuichi-”“I- I just wanted to get a few pints-”“A few?! That’s twenty. There’s literally no reason to get so many!” Hissing, Maki grabbed the dumbass of the hour and shook him like a ragdoll. “What were you thinking.”“I just wanted to get you ice cream- please stop glaring at me-”“Uh, I don’t get it, but nothing would be solved if you two don’t listen to each other!” Swiftly, Kaito got between the two of them and pushed them apart. Maki wanted to protest, but that rare, serious look on her friend’s face stopped her. “First rule of teamwork: communication! If there’s a problem, we can’t solve it unless we talk about it calmly! Now, Shuichi, what was it about buying twenty pints of ice cream?”“I…” Shuichi glanced back at Maki, cowering just slightly under her glare, but continued anyways. “Maki said she hasn’t had ice cream in years. To the point she forgot what it tastes like. So… I just wanted to get a pint of each flavour, so she can enjoy them…”“Ah… I see.” Kaito nodded sagely, before turning to the girl, who had frozen at Shuichi’s words. “Could you explain why you’re upset?”“… Twenty is too many. Each pint is expensive, and I’m not-” She caught herself, before she could say something that would sadden Kaito. “… There’s better uses for that money. Besides, I can’t finish them before they all melt.”“Hm, that is a good point. Twenty pints is a lot… And the fridges in the dorms aren’t that big…” Before Shuichi could crumble sadly, Kaito clapped him on his shoulder. “It was a sweet thought, sidekick, but maybe not too practical. How about a compromise?”“… Um, how about…” Nervously, the boy met Maki’s eyes. “How about, you taste a bit of each flavour, and I get you five of your favourites?”A part of Maki still wanted to protest – five was still a lot, in her mind. But, she did acknowledge the thought behind Shuichi’s suggestions. And… She was planning on visiting her orphanage tonight for the party…“… Fine. Just five.”---It was difficult to choose from all the flavours – they all tasted so different, yet all so wonderful at the same time. Seeing Maki deliberate between two flavours – matcha and raspberry cheesecake – for nearly a minute, Shuichi ended up getting her both flavours on a waffle
- a replacement for a birthday cake, according to Shuichi. The waffle was as big as the plate itself, drizzled with honey, and two large scoops of ice cream stacked delicately on top.Compared to the rest of Maki’s life, this felt like a dream.
These treats should be enjoyed by the young and innocent, not people like her.
Maki wasn’t about to let the food go to waste, however. The knife she held in her hand was different from the one she was used to, but it cut through the waffle all the same. With a little bit of ice cream on top, she lifted it up to her mouth to taste.It was perhaps the best thing she had ever eaten in her life.A part of her instinctually wanted to stuff it all in as fast as she could – the only point of eating was to fuel the body, and taking longer than necessary to finish one’s food was a waste of time. At least, that was what was drilled into her. But another part of her thought of those who would never have the chance to taste something as heavenly as this, and she forced herself to slow down, savour it for those who could not. Closing her eyes, her mind drifted to those children, to her.She had only eaten ice cream once in her life, before it was cruelly cut short. Maki tried to remember that day – it was her birthday, and she stole a cup of ice cream for her. The sight of her joyful smile was worth the harsh punishment afterwards, when the caregivers found out. There was a bittersweet pang in Maki’s heart, but she resolved to preserve that memory for as long as she could.Then she opened her eyes, and saw Shuichi giving her a stupid look.“W-What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Silently cursing herself for forgetting that Shuichi was right there, Maki quickly took another bite and hid herself behind her hair. “Wipe that dumb look of your face already!”“A-Ah, I’m sorry!” Unfortunately for Shuichi, his hair wasn’t long enough to hide behind. Instead, he just kind of used his ice cream cone to shield his face. “I just… I-It’s rare to see you so relaxed and- and happy, Maki. It’s, um… Nice to see.”“… Don’t say such stupid things,” she mumbled, as she tried to sink into her clothes. Ah, if only she were wearing a mask. “I’m not… nice, and you know it.”“That’s wrong!”The sudden passion startled both of them. Under Maki’s stare, Shuichi rubbed his neck. Even so, he gathered his bravery to explain, as if laying out pieces of evidence in court.“If being a detective taught me anything, it’s that the world is rarely black and white. Sure, there’s a lot of greedy, malicious people in the world, but… Most people are good. Criminals do bad things for good reasons, or out of necessity, all the time. Even if they do bad things… Those actions don’t define them. What you do, your job, your talent, it doesn’t define you either.“I’ve known you for two years, Maki. I know you. You don’t kill just because you want to. You were forced into this life. Even if you argue that you chose this life, you only did so because you didn’t want your friend to suffer. And even after she passed, you kept going, because you cared about the children in the orphanage. You chose to suffer so they won’t.“You’re a good person, Maki. Truly.”“I…”Maki heard this from Kaito, countless of times over the years, but not from Shuichi. Not… Laid out like that, as if they were irrefutable arguments. With Kaito, it was easy to dismiss them as more of his lofty platitudes, but with the logical Shuichi? It was harder to ignore. All the arguments she had disappeared as she saw the passion and determination in her friend’s eyes.“… Even if you think I’m a good person, it doesn’t help, does it?” She eventually replied, unable to look into his eyes for long. “I’ll still kill, and hurt people, and that won’t change.”“… No, I suppose it won’t. Not unless you have absolutely no choice.”There was a solemn silence between them for a beat or two, before Shuichi spoke up again.“I- I’ve been thinking. You said that the money that could buy those twenty pints of ice cream could be used for something else, right? M-Maybe, I could donate it to your orphanage. I- I mean, I don’t have much use for all the money my parents sent me. And even if it’s not enough for you to quit entirely… It could ease some of your worries, right? Maybe you won’t need to work so hard…?”“You…” Maki searched the other’s face. He was entirely serious. “You’d… do that?”“Of course. You’re my friend, and if I can do something to help…”“… Thank you.”It won’t be enough – Shuichi’s allowance was only a fraction of what the orphanage needed. But it would help. But even if it wasn’t much, and it would change little for Maki, the thought allowed her cold heart to feel a rare warmth.She allowed herself to smile – a genuine, grateful smile. And Shuichi smiled back.“… eeeeEEEEEEEEEEE!”The moment was promptly ruined by Kaito’s squealing. Somehow, neither of the two noticed their friend quietly creeping closer and closer to their table for the entire conversation. Two pairs of mortified eyes stared him down, but that just seemed to encourage Kaito’s happiness.“My bad, couldn’t help it! You’re both just so cute when you smile like that!” Turning around to return to his seat, Kaito missed the blushes that immediately spread over his sidekicks’ faces. “Carry on with your date! You two are doing great!”Once Kaito got involved, there was no returning to that previous moment. The “date” carried on with a more light-hearted tone.
Days remaining: 12
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next day was a Monday, so the three had school. Though Hope’s Peak was no normal school, after The Incident, the school administration finally decided to make it school policy that all Primary department students must attend core curriculum lessons, not just their electives. Shuichi didn’t really mind – his class, though one of the rowdier ones, were filled with mostly friendly people. Besides, he didn’t mind having to sit through lessons when he had his best friends on either side.Morning carried on as per usual. Kaito was too busy puzzling over the History texts to make any references to the “training regimen”. For a few hours, Shuichi and Maki could pretend that the past two days never happened, secretly praying that Kaito had forgotten about it.Of course, they had no such luck.For at lunch, Kaito left them alone at their usual table, saying that he didn’t want “to be a third wheel, wink wink”. (Yes, he said “wink wink” out loud while nudging Shuichi’s shoulder.) Maki’s eyes trailed him till he found some other classmates to bother.“Just let him be. He’d be fine,” Shuichi told her, unpacking his lunch box and pushing it into the middle of the table between them. “What did you bring?”“Energy bar.”Maki stuffed said energy bar into her mouth, then picked one of the onigiri from Shuichi’s lunchbox. Such was their usual routine. They ate mostly in silence, without Kaito filling it with his usual chatter, but it was comfortable anyways. Peaceful, even.Though, as any Hope’s Peak student knew, peace was a short lived thing in the academy.“Shuichi! Is it true? Are you actually dating Maki?!” Kaede shouted as she ran towards their table, slamming both her palms onto the surface in her excitement. Just as delighted as Kaito was the day before, she started babbling before Shuichi could give a proper reply, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I can’t believe it! Aaaah this is so sweet, just like Elgar’s Salut d'Amour!”“Wait, Kaede-”“To be honest, I kinda hoped one of you’d end up with Kaito, or Kaede. Emo or edgy slash bubbly optimist is an amazing dynamic!” Tsumugi followed closely behind, an almost manic grin covering her face. “But the friends-to-lovers trope is always a classic!”“What. What are you talking about.”“Oh, you know, we were just talking to Kaito!” Kaede gestured to Kaito, who waved when he noticed. “We were wondering why Kaito wasn’t eating with you guys – I don’t think I’ve seen Kaito not eat with at least one of you before. Then he said he didn’t want to disturb your date!”“D-Date?!”The two sidekicks shout at the same time, then looked at each other with varying levels of panic and horror, rapidly shooting silent messages of What do we do? I don’t know, you say something! WHAT DO I SAY. SOMETHING!!!“Uh, this isn’t really-” “That’s not- we’re not-” “It’s complicated!”To both of their anguish, Kaede and Tsumugi just exchanged knowing looks and giggled. Shuichi wished he could just disintegrate, while Maki looked like she was seconds away from bashing her head against a wall.“Oh, to be part of a ‘complicated’ romance… It sounds like you’re part of a romantic drama! Ah, how wonderful… A plain girl like me can only dream of being part of a story like that…”“Yeah, you’re really lucky Shuichi, to get to date another girl!”“Oh…? Kaede, don’t tell me… Are you perhaps… into yuri too?”“Huh? What’s yuri?”Three pairs of eyes turned onto the pianist. A beat. Then, with a slightly deranged laugh, Tsumugi grabbed her wrist and started dragging her off, tapping something into her phone, giggling and saying something about Toko and Hifumi’s lecture slides. Sweating and stumbling slightly, Kaede waved to the other two.“Enjoy your date, Shuichi, Maki!”“…”“…”“… What just happened?”That restarted Shuichi’s thought process. Kaede and Tsumugi were aware that the two of them were dating. Well, no, not dating, that’s the thing. Kaede was pretty popular with the girls in the school, and Tsumugi was perhaps the most gossipy girls here. If they start talking, the whole school would know about this in less than a week, and it would be a huge misunderstanding, and this was going to be such a mess, and-“Shuichi. Shuichi, hey.” Two finger snaps right in front of his face. Shuichi jerked out of his thoughts. “What are you panicking about?”“The- those two, they know. No, they don’t know, but they’re going to- to spread the news. Everyone’s gonna find out, and they’ll all misunderstand!”“… Shit.”Shuichi looked around, but there was no sign where the two girls have gone. Did Tsumugi say something about lecture slides? Even if they were looking for a projector for the slides, they were in a school, and there were lecture theatres everywhere. Checking every possible room, even if he limited his search to the Humanities Building, where Toko and Hifumi usually worked, would take… Twenty minutes, at least; Shuichi wasn’t familiar at the building at all. And that was assuming Tsumugi even needed a projector screen… Considering all that, the chances they’d be able to clear up the misunderstanding before the two girls spilled the news to someone else was practically non-existent.The look of dismay on Shuichi’s face was all Maki needed to reach a similar conclusion. Groaning, she began to storm off, and soon returned, dragging Kaito by his collar.“H-Hey, Maki Roll, what’s wrong?!”“Just what did you tell Kaede and Tsumugi?”“Huh? Barely anything! I just said I was eating there to let you two spend some romantic alone time, you know?”The two stared at their friend with matching deadpan expressions. A moment later, Kaito began to sweat.“Uh… Wait. Wait, did they actually think you two are dating?”More staring.“Um, whoops, my bad? But it’s just the Kaede and Tsumugi, right?”Even more staring.“… Oh. Oh, wait. They’re… They’re going to tell the others, aren’t they?”Shuichi buried his face in his hands.“Kaito, you know that this is exactly why Shuichi hates gossip!” Shuichi didn’t need to look up to see his friends’ expressions in his mind’s eye. “The news is going to spread before we can control it, just cause you couldn’t keep your big mouth shut!”“I- Look, I wasn’t thinking-”“Exactly. Because you weren’t thinking, you got us into this mess!”“W-Wait, Maki-”Before Kaito could run off, Shuichi grabbed his sleeve, letting Maki run off. Before Kaito could protest, he shook his head.“Kaito, just let her be. She needs time to calm down.”“B-But-”“Besides, I don’t think she wants to see you right now.” Kaito’s face fell, sullen. Grimacing, Shuichi tried to give a comforting look. “I know you didn’t mean it, but… It still happened, and there’s nothing we can do to stop the rumours from spreading. Cat’s already out of the bag.”“Yeah, I…” With a sigh, his friend hung his head. “… I’m sorry, Shuichi. I’ll be more careful next time.”Before Shuichi could reply, the bell rang, signalling the end of their break.“Come on, we’ll see Maki at class.”---Maki was already in her seat when the boys returned to their homeroom, refusing to look at Kaito. Thankfully, Kaito didn’t say anything, and just slid into his own seat. Looking between his friends, Shuichi sighed. Though Maki could get irritated by Kaito’s foolishness at times, actual arguments between them were rare. Hopefully, Maki would be ready to talk by the end of the day-“Hey, Slut-hichi!”
Aaaand here comes another blonde gossipy girl.
Slamming her palms on his desk, but more intentionally than Kaede had not too long ago, Miu leaned over the desk until she was practically on top of Shuichi. Honestly, he should’ve expected this. After the doujinshi trio, Miu was the next student most interested in love life gossip.“Damn, Shercock Homo, I knew you were a perv, but I didn’t realise it takes that little to get you worked up!”“H-Huh? W-What are you talking about, Miu-?”Miu leaned even closer, practically shoving herself into Shuichi’s face at this point. Shuichi tried his best not to look down, face burning up with the attention her actions are attracting.“First Kaede, then Kaito, then Maki? Pff, who’re you gonna jerk off to next, you fucking virgin? Little pancake Himiko?”“M-Miu-”Before Miu could go even further, she was suddenly yanked off and tossed into Kaito’s desk. But because it was Miu… Well, you could probably guess her first reaction to being tossed like that. Somehow, Maki managed to maintain her glare throughout.“Shut. Up.”“E-Eek! D-Don’t go all r-rough on me, bitch! I swear I wasn’t hitting on your boyfriend!”The first part of this entire debacle was just ordinary Miu shenanigans, and though dramatic, the class was used to it, and didn’t pay too much attention. However, the moment she mentioned that last word, more than a few ears perked up.“Oh! Shuichi is Maki’s boyfriend now? Gonta’s very happy for you!”“Ah, yes, yes! Atua told me this just now – He says He blesses your relationship!”“Hey, degenerate! You better not do anything, or I’ll punt you into the sun!”After that, the class descended into chaos. The more enthusiastic classmates rushed over to their tables, clamouring over each other for more details. Even the calmer ones watched from their seats, several murmuring under their breaths or to their friends. It came as a surprise, after all – Shuichi and Maki were some of the quieter loners of the class, and though close, no one had noticed any romantic feelings between the two.
Because there were none!
Though Shuichi shouted this in his mind, they did not translate out of his mouth. The attention was too much, the overlapping voices made his ears ring, the crowdedness suffocated him. Beside him, Maki hunched and looked around frantically, like a cornered animal with no way out. Realising she couldn’t help, all Shuichi could do was close his eyes and clench his teeth, and pray that the noises would finally stop-“HEY, EVERYONE! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!”Shuichi opened an eye, just in time to see Kaito pushing his way through their classmates. Standing in front of his sidekicks, the hero shooed the others away, drawing their attention away from his two friends. Shuichi exhaled slowly and sat up, only now realising that he had hunched over his desk, shoulders tense and arms shielding his head.“Guys, I know y’all are pretty excited, but don’t crowd them! They don’t like it! Give them a little space!” Once the class quietened down, Kaito continued. “… Look, there was a little mistake, ‘kay? Shuichi and Maki Roll just have a… a trial going on, nothing serious! So, don’t believe what the rumours may tell you. Also, I don’t think either of them wanna talk about it. Definitely not now, at least. So, just let them talk when they’re ready.”There was a tense, uneasy silent for a few moments, before Gonta stepped forward, looking guilty.“Maki, Shuichi, Gonta’s sorry! Gonta not know you’d get scared. Like bugs, when they like the dark, and then there’s bright, painful light. Classmates won’t force you out of hiding, promise!”The others, either out of genuine guilt, were guilt-tripped by Gonta, or just didn’t want to stay quiet, gave a few smattering apologies. It’s clear that they were still curious, but at the very least, no one asked. Shuichi let himself relax, as his classmates’ returned their attentions to whatever they had been doing before Miu. Satisfied, Kaito turned back to his sidekicks, checking them over with barely concealed concern over his face.“You guys okay?”“Y-Yeah. Thank you, Kaito.”Shakily, Shuichi gave his friend a smile. Then he turned to Maki, who stared at the floor, hands still tightly clutching her arms, nails digging into her skin. Noticing this, Kaito gently pried her hands apart, the touch shocking her back into reality.“Kaito, you…” Maki bit her lip, looking away. “… You can be an idiot, but… Yeah. Thank you. For telling them to shut up.”“Heh, of course!” Eyes lighting up, Kaito squeezed her hands, a bright smile spreading across his face. “Well, the whole thing was kinda my fault. What kinda hero would I be, if I let my sidekicks suffer because of a problem I caused? I wasn’t gonna leave you guys hanging!”Maki rolled her eyes and huffed, lips twitching into a small smile. Kaito looked at her for a moment longer, squeezed her hands once again.At his best friends’ reconciliation, Shuichi felt a lot lighter.
Days remaining: 11
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Hope’s Peak Academy was unlike any other school in many ways. One of which was that students were given a lot of freedom with what they want to learn and how to learn, as long as it had to do with talent development and provided that they submit monthly reports on their progress.Another different thing about the academy was that it accepted criminals into their student body. These illegal talents are not usually scouted like other students. Instead, there was a special program which allowed criminals or criminal organisation to “recommend” students. Though some sort of evidence must be provided to justify the recommendation, the academy would provide the recommenders with monetary benefits, and these evidence would never be disclosed to outsiders. Only the highest levels of school administration and the secret government agency in charge of talent recording and study would have access to them. The study of illegal talents was useful in capturing other criminals, at the expense of letting the criminal students and their organisations go free.The public was not aware of all these, of course. Yes, talents such as the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader and Ultimate Yakuza were known, but the more dangerous talents like the Ultimate Assassin hid within the midst of the student body, unbeknownst to even their classmates. They were given false titles and their practical exams were not open to the student body or public to watch – instead, the school would come up with all sorts of excuses to protect the students’ hidden identities.Maki had been accepted into the school with the title of Ultimate Assassin, awarded after the Ultimate Detective of Class 78, who specialised in homicide, did not even suspect her for being behind multiple, seemingly unrelated cases. Though she was not proud of her talent, she was somewhat glad that she was good enough to enrol at Hope’s Peak. The full scholarship took her worries about school tuition fees, and the fake talent of Ultimate Child Caregiver, though somewhat embarrassing, was at least something she was familiar with. Unfortunately, as a student, she was still required to submit monthly reports on her talent development. It wasn’t fun having to remind herself what she was, at least to the school, each time she had to write a report.For the first few months of her student life, she managed to satisfy the school by attending Health Science seminars and practicing in the shooting range. The loneliness of learning and practicing in secret was not a problem to her – it was the constant lying and making up of excuses for her schoolmates. What was worse, she had an Ultimate Detective in her class, who also attended the Health Science seminars and practiced in the shooting range. It was no surprise when Shuichi finally caught on before spring break, and told Kaito right after.Maki was prepared to kill them. She didn’t want to, but she knew they won’t want anyone, especially not an Ultimate Detective, digging into their secrets.But she didn’t, because the orders never came. She didn’t know how, exactly, but the school must’ve made a deal with them. Even more surprisingly, the two boys didn’t shun her. Shuichi was wary and stayed away, of course, which was the sensible and correct response. Kaito, on the other hand, decided he was going to bother Maki even more than usual, which was the stupid and wrong response. Even worse, Kaito dragged all three of them to “training”, and Shuichi let his guard down, something Maki didn’t really understand, even now. Why did a “hero” like Kaito, or a detective like Shuichi, want to spend time and care about a killer like her?Even if she didn’t understand these two idiots… She couldn’t deny that it felt good having friends. Having people see her past and treat her better than she deserved. They were her idiots.… Her sentimentality was making her lose focus. She wasn’t planning on thinking about these weird feelings.Back to the present. Tuesday, after today’s school lessons have ended, just after lunch. She was currently in a police car, seated at the back. Next to her was Shuichi, who was looking through a manila folder. This was a common occurrence nowadays – helping out in detective investigations, especially in homicide cases, were good experiences to write about in her reports. Even if the officers weren’t exactly aware of her talent, they were used to her presence and strange insights now. Besides, she didn’t mind spending some more time with the detective.The two have already been briefed about the case that was reported the night before: Master Shikiba was having supper with a friend, Mr Isoyama, at his own estate when he suddenly dropped dead at the table. With the state of the body and Mr Isoyama’s apparent criminal record, the visitor became the primary suspect in what was very likely a planned murder. Shuichi was going through the contents of the folder provided by the officers, and handed Maki a few photographs – pictures of the crime scene. First was the dining table, that had a platter of tiny cakes and one half-filled tea cup, thick with powder and nearly opaque. The next was another tea cup that had fallen and spilled over the dark floor, staining the wood with tea and residue. Finally, there were pictures of the body itself – eyes wide and glassy, hands clutching his chest in agony.“Heart failure, possibly from poisoning,” Shuichi read from the preliminary report. “The body is being re-examined at the morgue. A blood toxicology report was ordered, but would only be ready earliest by this evening.”“BT toxin, or foxbite,” Maki pointed at the picture of the fallen tea cup. “If the poison came from the drink, then it’s those two. They with the state of the body, and colouration of the tea. BT toxin’s prepared in a lab, and are produced by… Certain organisations. Foxbite poison can easily be made from the roots or leaves of the plant. They’re not easy to grow, though. They aren’t local plants. Both poisons take from a minute to ten to take effect.”“Y-You can tell, just from these pictures?”Maki just stared blankly at him. Shuichi coughed, and jotted that down in his notebook.“Ah, okay, we’ll check the estate’s garden, if there is one, for foxbite. And question the cook and maid, and check the kitchens…” The detective looked at another page from the folder. “The prime suspect was already interrogated yesterday. He admitted to having been in the kitchen for a snack, as he was hungry, so he may have poisoned the food for dinner. Also, here’s his records from the station. He was arrested twice for assault and had ties to the Tora Clan, two years ago.”“Tora Clan?” Maki paused, then shook her head. “No, they mostly deal with physical weapons. They like being showy. They aren’t likely to be involved here, and a member wouldn’t have access to poisons.”“Hm, could it be that Mr Isoyama was framed?”“Maybe, though he could’ve prepared the foxbite poison too.”“There’s not enough information in here.” Returning the contents into the folder, Shuichi leaned back and looked outside the window. They were about to drive up into the estate. “We’ll need more clues.”---There was an estate garden, though it took a bit to get the information out of the household staff. Master Shikiba was well off, but not absurdly so. There were only two staff, the cook and the maid, who were both still too shaken from the incident the previous night to guide them around the place. Eventually, though, the Hope’s Peak students managed to find their way around.“… No foxbite.”“Ah… Are there any other plants that could be poisonous here?”“Yes, but not unless Mr Shikiba decided to eat them raw, and it’s not to a fatal degree.”There was a slight flicker of disappointment over Shuichi’s face, but he was used to investigating false leads. Still, the detective decided to sit on a bench to sip some water, and Maki took it as a sign to take a break. She looked around the garden again, trying to name as many plants as she could, before a shade of blue caught her eyes.“Hydrangeas.”“Huh?” Shuichi followed her eyes to the flower. “Oh. It’s the same shade as the hydrangeas from two days ago, remember?”“Obviously, it was just two days ago.” Maki rolled her eyes. Then, she added after a beat, “They haven’t wilted yet. Those flowers you got me, I mean.”“You… You kept them?”“What, did you expect me to throw them away? They’re pretty.”“Ah, that’s not it. I just…” Shuichi rubbed his neck, smiling awkwardly. “I just didn’t expect you to like them so much. I… I didn’t want to get them at first, but Kaito insisted, and made me choose which ones to get. It was both our presents, really.”Maki could imagine that. Kaito wanting to get her something nice for her “date”, but also making Shuichi choose the types of flowers, so they’d both have a part in the decision… They didn’t need to, but it was still sweet. And the little heart-shaped chocolates she tried… She didn’t find her birthday too important, but celebrating it with her best friends was wonderful.Maki caught Shuichi staring again, and she quickly wiped the dumb smile off her face. With a soft, almost melodious laugh, Shuichi stood up, and they returned to their investigation.---The household staff, the fifty-something cook and early-twenties maid, shared a single bedroom. The room was small and simple, with two beds and a shared dresser. There was a vase of several kinds of flowers (no foxbite, though) that added some colour to the room. It did not help the tense, gloomy atmosphere at all, however.The maid was sitting in her bed, curled against the bedframe, nervously tugging at her long sleeves, while the cook sat beside and comforted her. Shuichi had tried to speak, but the maid simply got even more distressed and the cook sternly shook her head. It took some convincing, but the cook eventually agreed to leave the room and speak with the detective and his assistant, as long as they left the maid alone to rest.“She’s very sensitive,” the cook said as she closed the door, sighing. “Easily frightened. Nearly spilled the tea and dessert because of that cr- Ahem, that guest’s boisterous laughter.”“Was Mr Isoyama a frequent guest here?” Shuichi was already taking down notes.“Yes, he and the Master were close. I believe the Master even included him in his will – a nice sum of the estate would go to him if the Master passed.”“Could you tell us more about your colleague?”The cook then elaborated more about the maid, as well as herself. The maid had been an orphan with few qualifications, but the Master had been kind enough to take her in a little more than a year ago. The cook herself was only employed by Master Shikiba a few months ago – before that, she had worked part time as a cook at a small restaurant and a gardener. The maid had warmed up to her immediately. It was clear by the way she talked about the maid that the two were close, and she treated her younger colleague almost like a daughter.“She’s a good girl, but the Master was very strict with her. I wished she could find work elsewhere, but she disagreed, said she shouldn’t turn her back on the Master like that.”“… Now that Master Shikiba’s dead, she’d have to find work elsewhere.”“I suppose so,” the motherly cook smiled. “I hope I can teach her to cook. Maybe we could open a diner together.”Then the interrogation ended. The cook returned back to her shared bedroom, while Shuichi thought for a moment. From the look on his face, Maki could tell that he had already solved the case, and was just piecing the whole story together.“I think I got it, just…” Shuichi grimaced. “I may need to dig through the trash.”---Shuichi found what he had apparently been looking for in the kitchen, as he had suspected. After taking a few pictures, bagging the tiny remains of the foxbite, and writing his explanation into his notebook, he presented his answer to the officers. The full toxicology report was not ready yet – it was only late afternoon – but what was found supported Shuichi’s claims. The cook was taken to the station for further questioning, in hopes of prying a confession out of her. The maid was close to tears, horrified at what the cook had done.Shuichi grimaced, and Maki understood. Homicide cases were rarely straightforward, and both sides – the culprit and detective – were well aware of that. It was something the two of them could understand about each other.Still, Shuichi’s guilt was dumb and excessive, so Maki punched him.“O- Ow! Maki, what-”“Stop sulking. You solved the case and found the killer. You should be celebrating.”“I… How can I celebrate?” Shuichi turned back to the police car, and watched it drive away. “Master Shikiba’s still dead, and nothing I did changed that. Now someone else would be arrested, and yet another would be emotionally traumatised. And, even if it was wrong, the cook only did all that to protect her friend…”“… I know. But it’s not your job to feel bad for all this.” At Shuichi’s uncertainty, Maki sighed. “Look, what’s done is done. Even if you weren’t here, another detective would figure the case out eventually. The cook had left behind too many clues, and was too open with her testimony. And even if no one did, an innocent may be arrested due to police bias, and the maid would still be traumatised by this. It’s not a ‘good ending’, or whatever. But murder never ends happily. Solving the case would make things easier for everyone, and give them closure.”“I guess you’re right. Homicide cases are never as glamorous as in the novels… I’m really not fit to specialise in them.” Though still saddened, Shuichi managed to smile. Good. “Thank you, Maki. And, you’re right. Maybe we should celebrate.”“Well, you still owe me those drinks-”Before she could continue, both of their phones buzzed simultaneously. Worried, Shuichi checked, and instantly smiled in relief. “Ah, it’s just Kaito. Um, his astrophysics classmates recommended him some restaurant, and he’s asking if we want to get dinner there.”“… You forgot to mention the winky face.”The two looked up at each other, and simultaneously sighed.“I’m not wearing a suit again.”
Days remaining: 10
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Lasselle’s was a small Italian restaurant found in the middle of nowhere. The area it was located at received little traffic, as most commercial buildings around there were not in use. However, the food there was excellent and affordable, and the recommendation sounded good enough for Kaito to suggest having a date there. Not for himself, of course, but for his sidekicks!The restaurant wasn’t too far away from where he had been studying, so he had plenty of time to check the place out before the others arrived. The place was mostly empty, as expected for a weekday evening and at such a location. Still, the atmosphere seemed warm and cosy, perfect for dating. With the shortage of customers to attend to, one of the few waiters was quick to notice the boy looking in from the entrance.“Hey! I’m waiting for two others, but can we have separate tables?” Kaito scanned the room and pointed to two tables, each with two chairs, just beside each other. “Like those two?”“Uh, sure…?” The waiter looked at him strangely. Kaito supposed they didn’t get this sort of request often. They led him to the tables, a little hesitant, but curiosity got the better of them eventually. “May I ask why you want separate tables?”“Oh, the other two are on a date, and I don’t want to distract them!”“You… But the tables are right next to each other. Shouldn’t you give these two privacy?”“Oh no, it’s fine.” With a bright, proud smile, Kaito elaborated, “They’re both my friends, and I thought they needed to work on their social skills, so I decided to set them up! They could use some extra practice without me. But I need to be here to track their progress, and provide suggestions cause neither of them have done anything romantic yet.”Granted, the books on romance Kaito had borrowed for research focused more on people who were meeting each other for the first time, and recommended asking questions that Shuichi and Maki already knew about each other. But the two looked up to him – there was a reason why he was the hero, after all – so he needed to be there for them and provide them with guidance! The waiter was still looking at him weird, not understanding the logic behind Kaito’s actions, but he didn’t have time to explain further before the sidekicks of the hour arrived.“SHU! MAKI ROLL!!!”Shuichi, as Kaito had strongly recommended, was wearing one of the suits they bought the previous Sunday. Shuichi definitely got most of his genes from his famous actress of a mother, and between his beautiful features and dashing suit, Kaito thought he looked like a celebrity. He didn’t get why his sidekick got embarrassed from wearing that when he thought Shuichi looked so handsome in it.… Wait, no. He thought girls would think Shuichi looked handsome in it. Kaito was not a girl. He just thought Shuichi looked really, really amazing in a totally bro-like, not weird way. Which was like saying Shuichi looked really hot, but like in a guy way.Maki, on the other hand, and to Kaito’s surprise, was wearing something unexpected. A dress. The only one she had, and one she had only worn once before, at a concert Kaede had performed in, alongside several world-class musicians. Kaito had thought she looked stunning that day, and this time, having not expected this, the stunning factor must have increased by at least ten times. That, and the fact that Kaito now knew why the girl almost never wore that dress: it provided zero cover for her upper arms, which were covered in scars from her horrible childhood. It was a hassle to conceal them with makeup so as not draw attention, and that costs. Although, honestly, Kaito thought she’d look awesome even if those scars weren’t concealed – even if they came from a bad place, they were proof of Maki’s strength and reminded them of the possibility of her life getting better.“Maki, you’re wearing that dress today!”“W-Well, yeah,” mumbling, Maki fidgeted with the fabric, an absolutely adorable little blush covering her face. Obviously, Kaito didn’t mean it romantically – he wasn’t going to steal her from his bro! They deserved to be happy! Even if it’s just practice – but in a totally normal and platonic way. “You made Shuichi wear the suit, and he’d just look dumb if he was the only one wearing something formal.”(She then side eyed Kaito’s hoodie, which was super cool and covered in stars.)“We suffer together,” Shuichi agreed, nodding solemnly.“Come on, bro, don’t look so glum! You’re going on a date!” Kaito reached out instinctively to ruffle his gloomy sidekick’s hair, but then realised the messy look didn’t match the rest of his suit, so he quickly combed the hair back. At least Shuichi didn’t look so sad now. “Anyways, I reserved seats for you! There.”“… Uh.” Shuichi looked between the tables, which were, again, right next to each other. “Are we sitting together?”“No, obviously, we’ll be at different tables!”“But you’d be right there? Next to us?”“Different tables! You can just ignore me.”His sidekicks then shared a Signature Sidekick Look. Deciding not to argue against his decisions, they sat down and accepted the menus from the waiter. Kaito watched them decide on what to get, and only remembered that he should look at his own menu too after they relayed their orders to them. The three turned to look at him, and quickly clearing his throat, Kaito scanned the menu and ordered the first thing that caught his eye – the pesto pasta. Which was green. That made him recall the Sutton family incident of 1955, and want to tell his sidekicks that aliens may not be little green men – they weren’t even described as green by the witnesses! – and that there have been signs of microbial life on Venus and Mars. But then he remembered that the two were on a date, and he shouldn’t interrupt, so he kept quiet.Fortunately, his generally introverted, asocial sidekicks did not require him to lead their conversations. They enjoyed silence together at times, but today, they had some topics for discussions. According to Shuichi’s messages, they had arrived here shortly after solving a homicide case that the local police force and Hope’s Peak Academy assigned Shuichi. Though both of them worked well together and Shuichi solved it without much difficulty, there was a hint of sadness behind his eyes. He moved on to complain about the other homicide cases Hope’s Peak wanted him to solve – he didn’t want to specialise in homicide, after all. And Kaito totally understood. Who’d enjoy investigating dead bodies?! And what if he accidentally angered the ghosts of the victims – not that ghosts exist! Just, on the tiny, tiny chance they did. On that note, Kaito began to worry for Maki. The poor girl was forced to make dead bodies! Oh stars, Kaito really, really hoped she wasn’t haunted by (hopefully non-existent!) vengeful ghosts.Though there were times Kaito felt the almost unignorable urge to add in his own opinions, he tried to restrain himself and allowed his sidekicks the space and time to talk. And it was a nice change of pace, to hear the awkward Shuichi and aloof Maki talk so much. It was clear that the two enjoyed each other’s company. Kaito mindlessly twirled and ate his pasta while he watched them, the delighted expressions on their faces bringing a smile to his own.His sidekicks deserved the world.There had been a time, in the previous year, when Kaito didn’t feel really well. Their homeroom teacher wanted Shuichi, who shared a dorm with him, to bunk with someone else for a time, but Shuichi refused. He stayed so he could watch over Kaito during the night, to help him to the bathroom and check his temperature every few hours, in case they needed to send him to the hospital. Kaito didn’t like being bedridden, and still wanted to attend classes, as there were tests coming up. Maki convinced him to stay, and the two of them helped him set up a camera so he could watch the lessons once he felt well enough. They didn’t need to, shouldn’t have needed to, for it was the hero’s job to look after his sidekicks, not the other way around. But they did, and as Maki had told him then, he couldn’t be the hero all the time.Kaito didn’t like feeling weak, or useless, but his sidekicks – his friends – didn’t mind. It was hard to accept that he couldn’t give his all 100% of the time, but it made him determined to give his very, very best whenever he could.He’d do his best to ensure that his best friends were happy.But a big goal like this needed small steps to be completed first. You couldn’t launch a rocket without first loading up sufficient propellant, after all! Part of this metaphorical propellant was developing both their social skills in the arena of romance. And since Kaito was a guy, it was only right for him to mento Shuichi. At the previous ice cream date, Shuichi had succeeded in terms of romantic gift-giving, but had not initiated any form of romantic flirting, which would directly contribute to the main goal of this entire training regimen! As such, Kaito had planned to have Shuichi practice on this date, and brought a book of pickup lines for ideas. Kaito waited for a pause in the conversation, as the two were busy with their food. The perfect time to initiate his plan!“Psst, Shuichi! Bro!”“Hrm?”“You should compliment her!” Kaito flipped open to a random page. “Tell her… She has beautiful eyes.”“H-Huh?” Shuichi’s face flushed red, which was, coincidentally, the shade of Maki’s eyes. “She has beautiful eyes???”“What and who are you talking about.” Maki looked up from her food, deadpanning. “I thought you weren’t going to disturb us, Kaito.”“Oh, no, no, I’m not disturbing you guys! Just carry on with eating!”Maki gave him another look, and he flashed her his winning celebrity smile. The moment she looked back down for another bite, Kaito leaned forward again to whisper into Shuichi’s ear.“I didn’t mean to refer to her by third person! Tell Maki she has beautiful eyes!”“But she already heard us!”“Oh, for goodness’ sake-” Kaito rapidly flipped through the book. “Uh, tell her, her laugh sounds cute.”“But… She hasn’t laughed yet?”“Uh, uh, tell her, her voice sounds sweet, like honey.”“… Are you serious?”“You know I can hear you two, right?”“Ugh, fine!” Not looking up from the book, Kaito picked one at random. “Tell her she looks really sexy tonight.”There was a beat. Both his sidekicks stared wordlessly at him. Then Shuichi turned an even brighter red and whisper-shouted, “I’m NOT telling her that!”“Shuichi, come on! You gotta work with me here! I’m running out of compliments!”“Are those. Are those seriously all the compliments you prepared.”“Nah, those are only from the book, Maki Roll. I mean, I have a bunch of my own compliments! Like, you’re sweet and kind and beautiful and fun to be around-” Kaito paused, remembering just whose date this was. Oh fuck, she’s blushing at my compliments before Shuichi even flirted with her yet! “C-Come on, Shuichi, you should compliment her too! And you can’t keep relying on me for suggestions, you gotta use your own brain this time!”Still red in the face, Shuichi looked between Kaito and his date. Then, ducking his head, he sighed.“I… I really like seeing you smile, Maki. I think it’s cute, knowing that you’re enjoying yourself and the food.” A smile spread over his own face, and shyly, he looked up to her. “If having dinner here makes you happy, then I hope we can come here more often in the future.”Maki stared at him, speechless for a moment, before mumbling inaudibly under her breath. That was a good sign. Heh, trust Shuichi to come up with such a sweet, perceptive answer like that – that’s what Kaito loved about him, and made him so proud. Even on his first try, he managed to get Maki all flustered! Chuckling, Kaito patted him on his head.“Good job, sidekick! Now, go think of another hundred compliments to give her!”“What-?!”
Days remaining: 10
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Hope’s Peak Elementary was located next to the main Hope’s Peak Academy campus, just across street. Compared to the main academy, the elementary school was much smaller and received a lot less funding. Hope’s Peak Elementary students, though they showed potential for talent, were in the end just elementary students – the youngest class consisting of five and six year olds – and behaved as such. Thus, they did not share the same level of freedom as Hope’s Peak Academy and needed more monitoring by staff. The smaller funding and the necessity of monitoring led to the staff at the elementary being much more busy and overwhelmed as compared to their high-school-and-college counterparts.At the beginning of the year, a Hope’s Peak Elementary administrative member had approached Maki with a request, for her to help at the afterschool care centre located within the school. Though Maki wasn’t actually the Ultimate Child Caregiver, most of the academy’s student body believed so, and helping out at the request of a school administrator was probably expected of her by her peers. Maki didn’t really mind, though, and probably would have accepted the request even if there wasn’t any peer pressure.Shuichi, however, wondered if there was a hidden motive behind Hope’s Peak having Maki help out in the elementary school. But as it was just a theory, he mostly kept it to himself. Still, he wanted to do his own investigation, and volunteered to help out. Plus, Maki had done so much for him in his past projects and investigative works. This was a chance to repay her.It was afternoon. School has let out for the Primary Department for the day. Shuichi was waiting outside the lobby of Maki’s dormitory building for her, when he heard what sounded like crying and shouting.The lobby wasn’t large. Shuichi spotted the three girls immediately – Maki, and two other girls he didn’t really recognized. Seniors, he believed. The crying girl on the floor, he thought he saw her in the Biology Building and the nurse’s office before. The nurse’s apron further cemented Shuichi’s theory. The angry girl facing of Maki, he vaguely remembered seeing her dance demonstration during a practical exam, but could not recall her name. The dancer, though dressed finely and neatly, glared at Maki with the vitriol unexpected for a face like hers.“P-P-Please don’t fight! I- A-A person like me d-doesn’t deserve to be fought for!”“A person like you don’t deserve to be treated so harshly.” It was a wonder how the dancer could manage to keep up her disgusted expression, even as Maki gave her her death glare. “You. Shut up.”“What? I’m just telling the truth! Seeing this stinky pig’s face makes me wanna puke!” Covering her mouth, but not muffling the cruel laugh, the dancer made use of her height to lean over Maki. “Wait, you’re the child caregiver, right? Ew, I bet you gotta change diapers and clean up baby puke all the time! Kyahaha, I can’t take someone like you seriously!”A dark look crossed Maki’s face. Shuichi noticed, for a second, how her hand clenched into a fist. If she wanted, she could easily kill the girl in front of her before she reacted. But, slowly, said fist relaxed, unnoticed by the dancer. A rare sort of anger seared through his chest as the dancer continued her vicious mockery, and Maki glared at the floor.“What, aren’t you going to say anything? You’re so weird, trying to defend someone you don’t even know. Maybe the silent treatment would work with crying babies, but this is the real world! No one would stop picking on someone else just because you told them to! You must be really stupid if you think you don’t know that, you hideous bitch-”“That’s wrong!”The dancer’s attention and current object of hatred shifted to Shuichi. There was a moment when he faltered, but seeing the other two, the nurse and Maki, bolstered his confidence. Recalling what Kiibo had told him before, Shuichi stated as calmly as possible.“‘Picking on someone else’ to the point of tears may be legally classified as harassment, a crime punishable by fine or by imprisonment. If the victim wishes, she may sue you in court. Even if she does not sue you, or you’re punished by the law, school policy forbids bullying of fellow students. The security camera over there likely captured the incident, which I can use as evidence when reporting this to the school’s discipline committee.” Shuichi kept a straight face, even as the horror and fury grew on the dancer’s face. “In addition, regarding what you said about Maki, you have no evidence of what she does and are basing your arguments on speculation instead of solid proof. As her friend and your schoolmate, I ask of you to apologise to both of them for causing them distress.”“You… You… Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I’m sorrrrrrryyyyy!” Somewhat unexpectedly, the dancer ran out crying. Shuichi’s instincts as a detective told him to chase after the culprit, but there were more important matters to attend to.“I-I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! B-Because of me… Hiyoko got mad at you…!” Getting on her knees, the nurse prostrated herself before Maki. “P-Please don’t hate me! I-I’ll do anything! J-Just don’t- H-Huh?”Maki wasn’t one that enjoyed physical touch much, which was why Shuichi was surprised to see her kneel down and hug the wailing girl. The nurse whimpered and burst into a new round of crying, muttering apology after apology, drenching Maki’s clothes with tears and snot. Maki kept an even expression, patting the other girl’s back in a slow rhythm.“I don’t hate you. You’ve done nothing to deserve that,” she said quietly, once the nurse calmed down enough.“B-But, I’m ugly, and annoying, and disgusting, a-and-”“Even if you’re all that, which you aren’t, I won’t hate you. No one deserves to be hated just for that. What that other girl said was false and you shouldn’t listen to her.”“B-But… But…”“… Look.” Maki stood, and offered the nurse a hand. Staring at her in shock, the nurse slowly took the hand and stood up. “It’s fine if you don’t believe me yet. But I hope, one day, you will. What’s your name?”“M… M-Mikan Tsumiki.”“Mikan. Will you do me a favour?”“Y-Yes, a-anything!”“Go to the school’s counsellor, and tell them what you think about yourself.”There was a brief look of confusion, but Mikan was quick to agree. Nodding and bowing multiple times, she ran out of the dormitory to, presumably, search for the school counsellor. Once gone, Maki leaned against a wall and sighed.“Um… Maki? Are you alright?”“Yeah.” Her tone was even, face stony. “Why wouldn’t I be?”“That girl… What she said hurt you.” Shuichi looked at the fist – it was trembling again. Gently, he took the hand and squeezed it. “You know she didn’t mean it. She was just being cruel. She didn’t have anything to back up her claims.”“… I know… But thank you.” She averted her gaze. “It… was nice to hear you say all that.”Maki smiled, and Shuichi’s chest felt funny. Then, realising that he was still holding her hand, he quickly let go. Clearing his throat, he gestured out at the door.“Give me another minute. I’ll change out of these clothes, then we’ll go.”--The afterschool care program had roughly thirty students and two staff caregivers. The students mostly remained in a large room the size of two regular classrooms, and their time was occupied with homework and games between one another, while the staff simply supervised. The age of the students ranged from six to twelve but, perhaps because of the school culture and philosophy of allowing and encouraging students to explore their own passions and learn about what they wanted to learn, the students were quite independent and did not rely on the staff much. The only times the caregivers were needed were when a student got overwhelmed and broke down, when a fight broke out or when a student requested certain resources not readily available in the room.Although Shuichi volunteered to help out, there wasn’t much Maki had him to do, other than to keep an eye out for problems or danger. In the end, Shuichi just sat in a corner with the other two staff and watched his friend from afar. Unlike the actual, trained staff caregivers, Maki was much more involved with the children. Though the staff went mostly ignored, Maki was pulled into the students’ games and tutored whoever asked for help. Strangely, whenever the rare student came to the staff for assistance, the two staff directed the child back to Maki. Shuichi observed, and filed this knowledge into the back of his brain.Another interesting thing happened at about halfway through the session. The vice principal of the elementary school came into the room to speak with Maki. After a minute or two, Maki nodded, and the two went to the back of the room where Shuichi and the other staff were seated. Without giving an explanation, Maki pulled him and gathered the children over to the centre table, while the vice principal and staff watched.“We’ll be playing a game, and Mr Saihara here,” Maki pushed him to one side of the table, opposite of the children, and turned him around to face the back. She let go afterwards, and he couldn’t see what she was doing after. “Will be my assistant. I will write a word on this whiteboard, and I’ll give you two minutes to discuss with each other to find three words to describe this object. After two minutes, you will tell Mr Shuichi the three words, and if he can guess what I wrote on the whiteboard, you all win a point. If he cannot, I’ll win a point.”The children began clamouring and talking over each other, but whatever Maki did, the noise suddenly died down. Shuichi didn’t hear anything other than the words “Start” and “Time’s up”, and the hushed whispering of many little voices in between. Then, he felt Maki turning him around, and he faced the owners of those eager voices. One child, whom the others must’ve designated beforehand as their speaker, cleared their throat almost comedically professionally, and spoke in a clear, confident voice.“Sweet, brown, rectangle.”“Um, uh.” A little surprised by the speaker’s voice, Shuichi guessed, “Chocolate? A chocolate bar?”Evidently, that was the right guess, because the group exploded into happy cheers. From the corner of Shuichi’s eyes, Maki made a small mark on the whiteboard, a miniscule smile on her face, even if she had “lost”. Between the children’s excitement and Maki’s smile, Shuichi’s heart melted.
I’m really lucky to get to date her.
Wait, no. What? Shuichi flinched, only comprehending the random thought a second later. I’m not lucky, I’m not- I’m not ACTUALLY dating her. But, yeah, whoever would hypothetically date her would be lucky. She’s so sweet, and caring, and cute, and-
Wait.
… Oh.
… Oh no.Shuichi didn’t have time to process the theory that formed in his head before he was being turned around for the second round of Maki’s game. This theory… This was only a theory. Shuichi had taken months to accept that he had a crush on Kaito. He couldn’t be sure of his feelings at the moment. Not immediately. He… He needed time, time to sort out the confusion and panic and happiness and warmth in his chest. And this, here in Hope’s Peak Elementary’s Activity Room, in front thirty-odd elementary school students, three school staff and Maki herself, was not the place to do so.As he was turned around again – Shuichi tried not to blush when Maki’s hands lingered over his shoulders – he pushed those thoughts and feelings away.He… He would deal with this mess later.--The game continued for about ten more minutes, before the vice principal spoke to Maki again and left the room. A part of Shuichi wanted to ask, but the other part of him held himself back. If this was what he thought was happening, then he’d let Maki talk if she wanted. Besides, it may be too early still.Shuichi’s performance during the game must’ve been particularly impressive for the children – he managed to guess all the words correctly, even the ones about emotions or abstract concepts. They got even more impressed when a child asked if he was from Hope’s Peak Academy, and Shuichi mentioned that he was an Ultimate Detective. He ended up entertaining the children with stories of his past cases, sans the ones involving homicide, allowing Maki to take a break. The children were even more excited when he told them about the cases Maki had helped him with.The program ended about half an hour later, at 5pm. Several children have been picked up by their guardians already, and the rest of the guardians waited outside. When Maki and Shuichi led the group out of the room, a certain purple-haired boy waved at them from aside. The sidekicks gave their goodbyes, but before they went to their friend, a child – maybe about six – on Maki’s sleeve.“Miss Harukawa, who’s that?”“Him?” Maki glanced to Kaito. “That’s Mr Momota. He’s our friend.”“Oh.” The girl seemed to think for a moment. “Then, is Mr Saihara your boyfriend?”Shuichi’s face felt really hot all of a sudden. It would be nice if the universe decided to kill him right about now.“…” Maki glanced to Kaito again. “… Yes.”“Really?! Are you getting MARRIED?!?”“I- I don’t think we’re of legal age yet?!?” It would be really nice if the universe decided to kill him right about now. “How old do you think we are?!“Um… Fourteen?”“No!” Another child from the group shouted. “Older! Like, forty!”
It would be REALLY nice if the universe decided to kill him right about now!!!
Maki shook her head, face twitching, like she was barely holding back her laughter. Shuichi glared, trying to convey the hurt and pain and betrayal, which only made her smirk grow even bigger. Covering his face, Shuichi turned around and walked straight towards Kaito.“Hey bro, ready for your dinner da-” Kaito paused, confused by Shuichi’s embarrassment. “Huh? What happened?”“Please don’t ask.”
Days remaining: 7
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Shuichi and Kaito shared a dorm room, so they stuck with each other all the way back from Lasselle’s. The dinner started with the three friends in two tables – Shuichi and Maki across each other, while Kaito sat at the table beside them. However, as dinner progressed, Kaito’s suggestions and instructions to Shuichi got more frequent, and somehow the tables gradually came closer and closer together. Shuichi was aware of a waiter’s – the same one that waited on them the previous occasion – was watching their interactions with each other. They probably got invested in the trio’s strange dynamic after Shuichi and Maki explained why they didn’t mind Kaito watching them the entire time.The “date” went pretty well, in general. Even though it was difficult for Shuichi to focus, being seated between his two crushes.Shuichi had thought things over, from his realisation at the elementary school, up until he returned to his dorm room and took a shower before bed. Feelings were a messy thing, but he was satisfied with his final conclusion: he did like Maki, and he did still like Kaito. The two of them had been his best friends for years, and now he couldn’t imagine life without the both of them by his side, whether platonically or romantically. Kaito was confident, encouraging, and though his ways may be a little strange, it was clear that he cared for his sidekicks. Maki, though not as outgoing or loud as Kaito, had a kind and sweet heart under her tough exterior. Being with them gave Shuichi a sense of joy and comfort no one else could make him feel.“Hey, Shuichi.” When Shuichi left the bathroom after changing into his sleepwear, he found Kaito sitting on his own bed. Kaito looked different, when his hair gel was all washed off, and the normally spiky hair returned to its natural fluffy, messy state; for some reason, seeing Kaito like that made Shuichi’s heart race. Kaito was patting the mattress beside him, and obediently, Shuichi sat. “So, it’s Friday.”“It is.”“The sixth day is almost up,” Kaito hummed. His smile was a little softer than usual, considering how late it was and how tired he must be. “How was your week of dating Maki?”“It’s just practice…” Blushing, Shuichi looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. “Um… It was surprisingly fun, actually. Even if you kept making me wear a suit. It was, um, n-nice to spend time with Maki… And wearing a suit isn’t too bad…”Shuichi looked up, and nearly jumped at how close Kaito was, and how intensely he was staring at his face.“Shuichi… Are you blushing?” At his mortified, widened eyes, Kaito laughed. “You are! You’re cute when you get flustered, you know? Is it because… Wait, you said at the start that you liked someone, right? Was it Maki all along? Man, I thought it was Kaede!”“W-What? N-No, it wasn’t. She told me she only liked me as a friend, and I got over her,” Shuichi quickly replied, embarrassed by the memory from two years ago. “Besides, I don’t think she even likes boys that way.”“… Huh? What do you mean, she doesn’t like boys?”… Fuck. Did I just out Kaede to Kaito???“Um, uh…” Shuichi grimaced, unsure how Kaito would react if he explained. Kaito was raised by his grandparents, and wasn’t exactly… up to date with modern society in some aspects. But, looking at Kaito’s face now, Shuichi couldn’t find any hint of horror or disgust. Just simple, innocent confusion. “Well… I’m not entirely sure, and she probably isn’t sure herself, but… I think she may be a lesbian?”“Uh, what’s that?”“It’s, well… It just means she likes girls. Not guys.” Seeing Kaito’s continued confusion, Shuichi elaborated slowly. “You know, romantically. Physically. It’s like how a a guy and a girl can date, but instead there’s two girls.”“Oh… Oh, I get it,” Kaito nodded slowly. “Huh, I didn’t know that existed.”“Yeah, well, some people… Aren’t very accepting of these non-traditional kinds of romance. But people can be attracted to all kinds of people, and everyone may feel attraction differently. Ah, I’m- I’m not exactly an expert on this sort of stuff, though! I only learned about this a few years ago…”“Well, that’s a few years earlier than me, so… Good job, sidekick! Shouldn’t have expected less from an amazing information-gathering detective like you!” Even as Kaito clapped him on his back, Shuichi could see the gears turning in Kaito’s brain. “Anyways… Back to the original question about your original crush! Was it Maki, some other girl, or, uh… Someone???”“Ah, no, it was… It’s a guy.” Swallowing, Shuichi continued quietly, “I’m bisexual. I get crushes on both girls and boys.”“Oh.” There was a pause. “So… Do you think you’ll ask him out on Valentine’s Day?”“I- I don’t know. I don’t know if h-he even likes guys, and… It’s complicated now.” After a few seconds of consideration, Shuichi decided to admit, “I think… I think I like Maki too. I like both of them, and I don’t want to lose my friendship with either. Plus, I… I don’t know if I can decide between them, if it really came down to it.”“… Man.” With a fwump, Kaito dropped onto the bed. “When you said you liked Maki, I got really excited, you know? I mean, I think you guys would be awesome for each other! But yeah… That sounds like a difficult problem.”“Yeah.” Shuichi followed suit and lay down. There was a few seconds of silence as both boys organised their thoughts. Eventually, Shuichi sighed, “It’s late. We should get some sleep. Maybe I’ll think of a solution tomorrow.”“Ah, okay.” Kaito stood, and then dropped onto his actual bed. “Good night, Shu.”“… Good night, Kaito.”--Hope’s Peak Academy’s library was one of the largest in the country, with a wide range of books covering topics from all sorts of fields to cater to talent development of all kinds. Maki had only been here a few times in the past, to check out books on human anatomy and wilderness survival, but that was a while ago. She didn’t exactly want to read much about assassins, not if she could help it, so she relied on other projects to satisfy the talent development requirements.But today, she wasn’t here for her Ultimate Assassin talent. She was here for her Ultimate Child Caregiver talent.She had her suspicions, and she believed Shuichi had them too. It was strange, when Hope’s Peak Elementary asked her to assist in their afterschool care program. Surely, they knew that her Ultimate Child Caregiver title was just a cover, and if they had not known, surely the higher level administrators would step in and bring her, a professional killer with a body count in the hundreds, away from the elementary school students. But the academy had not, even though she mentioned the program to her homeroom teacher. She also didn’t miss the fact that the actual staff caregivers got her to handle most of the caregiving tasks, plus whatever had happened the day before. The vice principal of the school would not come in to ask her to organise a team game with the children on the spot for no reason. And she knew the look of someone assessing another. She knew the feeling of being assessed by another.It was a test, perhaps one of many to come.The vice principal had been evasive with his words, but he was not a master of hiding his emotions. She could tell, from the glint in his eyes, how shocked and impressed he was. He saw potential. Maki hadn’t been sure what to feel about this at first, but now she was determined to develop that potential, and possibly gain a second talent. Students with multiple Ultimate talents were exceedingly rare, though there had been a few that qualified in the past, and they were given special attention and extra benefits from the school. Doubling the grant money her scholarship gave her was attractive enough, but there were some personal reasons behind her desire to learn. And maybe, in the future, if there weren’t enough assassination jobs to take up…Maki finished her second book. She had many firsthand experiences working with children, but there was much theory that she had not heard of before, and the surge of new knowledge made her head buzz. It felt good and she had half a mind to reach for the next one on child psychology, but she also knew she had been sitting in that same position for nearly four hours. So, she stood and stretched, popping her joints, before sitting down. As she reached for her water bottle, her eyes landed on that familiar, spiky, purple hair. For some reason, Kaito was at the library, returning a book to a shelf not too far away.The physics and astronomy section was at the opposite side of the library.
… Why is he returning a book on LGBTQ history???
Maki doubted her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she couldn’t help staring at the boy in surprise. Kaito, Maki had to admit, was knowledgeable of many topics far beyond her level of comprehension, but his childhood had perhaps unintentionally sheltered him from other topics. Seeing him apparently having read that book was a shock. But perhaps Maki had stared at him too intensely, and feeling her gaze on him, Kaito turned. Immediately, his face lit up with a puppy-like eagerness at the sight of his friend.“Maki Roll! I was looking for you!”“Shush, we’re in the library!”“Oh, right, my bad!” Kaito jogged over and slid into the seat across, that stupidly endearing smile on his face. Before Maki could ask him about the book, Kaito beat her to it. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something. Are you a lesbian?”Out of all the possible questions, Maki did not expect that one. If she had been eating something, she would have been at a risk of airway obstruction and asphyxia.“W-What?! Why- Why are you asking me that?”“Uh, cause, you know…” Kaito shrugged with a sheepish smile. “Cause I made you practice dating Shuichi? I just kinda assumed, cause you’re a girl… But it would be weird if you didn’t even like guys in the first place.”“If you were worried about that, you should’ve asked before starting the training.”“Yeah, I know. Sorry ‘bout that. But in my defence, I didn’t know anything about this LGBTQ stuff until yesterday, when Shuichi told me.”“Oh.” Maki blinked, not surprised that Kaito didn’t know about this stuff beforehand – it was pretty obvious he didn’t – but was surprised Shuichi finally said something. “So, did Shuichi finally tell you that he’s bi?”“Yeah! I can’t believe I didn’t realise guys could like other guys this entire time! And Shuichi has a crush on some guy! Man, I wish he told me sooner…” Kaito paused. “Wait… Did you know this about Shuichi the entire time?!”Maki had known since about a year ago. It was both painful and hilarious to watch Shuichi deny all her accusations of liking Kaito in more than just a friendly way, and how he panicked after finally accepting that fact. The two talked about it and decided that neither would tell Kaito about the other’s crush, and Maki wasn’t about to break that promise, even if these boys were being so dumb. So she just gave the dumbass in front of her a deadpan stare. Seriously, how could he be so clever and so oblivious at the same time?!“Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter if you knew or not,” Kaito eventually said. “But you didn’t answer my question, Maki Roll! Are you a lesbian?”“No, I- I do like… certain boys.” Maki refused to look into the eyes of said boy opposite her. “But, I’m demi. I only like people I’m close to. Close friends.”“Oh…! Like Shuichi and me!”Maki twitched, face heating up despite her trying her best not to react to Kaito’s statement. She could feel his eyes on her, hear the gears turning in his head… The longer the silence lasted, the faster her heart pounded. Did he know? Was he about to realise why she got so flustered whenever he smiled at her, whenever he touched her? Shit, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have said that-There. The gasp she knew it was coming. Her heart pounded like a drum. Shit, shit, shi-“Hold on, do you… Do you like Shuichi?!”“I… What?” In her shock, she looked up – Kaito was smiling so widely, so excitedly. A million things raced through her mind. “W-What?! N-No! I- I mean, he’s really nice, and smart, and weird, but he’s- I- He…”There was a lot of things Maki wanted to say to that, but her mouth had stopped working. Just, what?! Where did that question come from? She never actually thought about this before, never even considered this possibility. She knew, from a long time ago, that she liked Kaito. Because, even if he acted dumb a lot of times, there was a part of her that secretly found it endearing. He was sweet and kind and annoyingly handsome – even with his weird hair and fashion sense, Maki couldn’t help but to think so. And whenever he was around, her heart felt weird and was strangely vulnerable to that guy’s stupid smile. She had accepted that fact, and didn’t think anyone else could make her feel the same way Kaito did.Shuichi, on the other hand, was… He was different. He was quieter, gentler, caring but in a softer way compared to Kaito. While Kaito talked big and had his head in the clouds, Shuichi was more grounded, more logical, and thought more similarly to Maki. The two of them were close, but in a different way from Kaito. And, sure, the “dates” with Shuichi were fun and she enjoyed them and had honestly looked forward to them, but… But she doesn’t actually like him that way, right? Right?!… Kaito was not helping with that expression. Maki wanted to scream, but since they were in a library, she just screamed silently into her hands.Suddenly, she felt a warmth carefully placed on her shoulder. It was a familiar warmth, a hand. Maki looked up, and her chaotic, confusing, messy thoughts dissipated at Kaito’s sympathetic smile. It was so different from his previous expression, and the sudden calm she felt gave her a bit of whiplash.“Heh… Guess it’s not so easy dealing with emotions, huh?” Kaito said, his usually loud and boisterous voice now soft and gentle. “Calm down, and then we can sort your feelings out together!”“This… This is dumb. I don’t… I don’t like Shuichi that way.”“Are you sure?”The seriousness in Kaito’s voice gave her pause.“If you’re not sure.. How ‘bout this? How would you react if Shuichi said he liked you?”How would she react? With disbelief, of course. Shuichi knew her. He knew of her dark past, had been at the brunt of her coldness multiple times before. She wasn’t delusional, she knew she wasn’t interesting, wasn’t pretty, wasn’t as bright and warm and optimistic as Kaito or Kaede. Shuichi was good, he was sensitive, and he, like Kaito, deserved the very best. If someone as wonderful as Shuichi understood all that and still wanted her, she’d be… She’d…Maki’s heart did flips at the very possibility.… Fuck. Maybe she did like Shuichi.Something about her expression must have changed, because Kaito grinned even wider. Before she could say anything, he was already talking.“I won’t tell him, but you two gotta work that out! And since you’re my sidekicks, it’s my duty to help you guys! And I got just the idea.” Maki felt that warm hand leave her shoulder, but she was too stunned to protest. “I need to prepare first, though, but everything will be ready by tomorrow! I promise!”Kaito didn’t wait for a response, before turning and running out of the library. The room suddenly felt colder. Maki could only stare at the door, slowly processing everything that had just occurred.… What was she going to do with these two?--Sunday. It was almost weekly tradition at this point for the trio to gather at the balcony of the Biology Building to do their homework and study together. Kaito wasn’t paying much attention to the screen of his laptop, and was mostly glancing between his sidekicks and his watch. Once the minute hand reached the desired time, he stood up and loudly announced:“I’m gonna go use the bathroom! Shuichi, are you coming with me?”“H-Huh?” Shuichi looked up from his own laptop, confused. “Uh, I don’t need to go.”“Are you sure?” Kaito raised his eyebrows and stared at his sidekick intensely. “I’m pretty sure you actually need to pee.”“Um, n-no? I… I don’t?”“Aw, don’t be shy now, bro! It is very important to take care of your bodily needs.”“B-But, I don’t need to now?!”“Come on, Shu, it’s f-”“What are you two planning.”“Nothing!” Kaito quickly turned to Maki, flailing his arms to show her how much he was obviously not planning anything with Shuichi. “I’m obviously not planning anything with Shuichi!”For some reason, that was when Shuichi finally caught on.“Oh! Uh, yes, I- Uh. I just remembered. I do need to, uh, use the bathroom.”“See?! I told you!”Kaito immediately dragged Shuichi out of his seat, leaving a very dumbfounded and very exhausted-looking Maki behind. The two boys quickly turned a corner, out of the other sidekick’s earshot, before Kaito hissed.“How did it take you so long to notice my signal?!”“We didn’t agree on a signal beforehand!”“Seriously? But the bathroom excuse’s a classic!”“I didn’t realise! I’m sorry!”Kaito sighed, but there was no point arguing about this further. The important thing was that it was time, and they needed to start the second stage of their plan. Shuichi, however, was fidgeting, and his eyes were flickering left and right.“The second stage hasn’t even started yet, and I already messed up!”“No, it’s fine! I’m sure Maki wouldn’t think badly about you because of that! And anyways, even if she does, you can just blame it on me, right?” Kaito grabbed his shoulders, forcing his nervous sidekick to look him in the eyes. “Come on, bro. You can do this! This is basically what you’ve been practicing for the entire week!”“I… I know, but, a-are you sure about this?” Shuichi tried to look away, but Kaito grabbed his chin before he did. Shuichi’s face flushed a bright red. “I- Kaito?”“Shuichi, you can’t run away from your feelings forever! You gotta confront them!” Eyebrows furrowing, Kaito pushed his face closer, making sure he was the only thing in Shuichi’s vision. “And that means, you gotta tell Maki how you feel. Even if she doesn’t feel the same way, even if you don’t actually end up with her, you still need to get that off your chest. Otherwise, it’ll haunt you forever!”“B-But… What about my, um, my o-other crush?”“I told you this yesterday. You gotta tell her everything. Communication is important, Shu! You two are friends, so you gotta work together to resolve this as a team.” Behind the mixture of emotions, Kaito found a flicker of uncertainty behind his eyes. That’s when he took the other’s hand and squeezed it, delivering the final blow. “Don’t forget, you’re my sidekick! You’re smart and kind. I know you’ll make the right decision in the end! I trust you!”“Kaito…”Shuichi closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. When he opened them again, his uncertainty had disappeared, and was replaced by determination. Kaito felt pride swell in his chest. His sidekick, his friend, was ready to face his fears.The two returned to the table where they left Maki, who watched them return with a raised eyebrow. Grinning, Kaito made his second announcement:“Okay, sidekicks! You’ve been working hard and have done a great job today!”“We have only been here for an hour.”“And within that hour, you two have completed the rest of this week’s homework!” Kaito gestured to the outside. “So, I was thinking, you two deserve a break. And since the weather is so nice today-”“It’s really windy and chilly outside.”“-Maki! Stop interrupting me! The weather is nice today, so you two should go to the park and enjoy the sunshine! Get some much needed Vitamin D!”Maki looked at Kaito, then at Shuichi, then sighed. Still, she had begun packing her things. “Are you coming along too, Kaito?”“Nah, I haven’t finished my homework.”“Of course you haven’t.”To tell the truth, Kaito had already completed his week’s homework on Friday, and was just touching up on his research paper on the feasibility of future commercial asteroid mining and helping an astronomy major with her own study, but as long as Maki believed he was staying back, he didn’t mind whatever excuse he made up. He shot Shuichi with double thumbs up when Maki wasn’t looking, waited for the two to leave the balcony, and waited a little while longer. He did the reconnaissance and gave Shuichi the route to follow, so he knew exactly where the two would go. Once a minute had passed, he made his own way to the park.The park next to Hope’s Peak Academy had the benefit of having students with plants-related talents caring for it. Hence, even though it was still winter, the park was lush with specially bred and genetically modified plants and flowers that continued to grow and bloom, like the Forever Sakura trees the Ultimate Botanist had created a few years back. The foliage provided Kaito with decent cover, as he watched his two sidekicks from afar. Far enough to provide them with some privacy, but close enough to notice any signs of distress. Not that Kaito was expecting anything like that – he trusted both of his sidekicks – but… Well, he couldn’t help but to worry.… And, fine, maybe he was just a little curious as to how this would end up.And was it really stalking if they were his best friends and he was the one who told them to go there?Trudging through the foliage was much less comfortable than walking on the regular path, but he didn’t want to be seen. Even if he longed to walk with those two, to be near them, he didn’t want to ruin this moment for them. When Shuichi had confessed his feelings for Maki, and Maki realised her feelings for Shuichi, Kaito himself had felt a strange mix of feelings. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling and why he was feeling, but he knew this was something he should be delighted about! He loved his sidekicks – in a definitely platonic way, he meant – and wanted them to be happy. They were good for each other, he knew, and if they started dating, he’d support them all the way!But why did he feel a sort of… reluctance, when he imagined the two dating for real?… Surely it was nothing, right? Maybe he was just feeling nervous for them! Surely, once they admit their feelings to each other, and once he saw that, yes, the two were happy together, the strange, clenching feeling in his chest would leave.That’s… That’s what he wanted, right? For his sidekicks to be happy?… Even if they left him behind?Kaito froze from where he was hiding, behind a tree, as he watched Shuichi hand Maki her drinks. They were smiling at each other, and with them standing next to each other, they really did look like a couple. A flurry of emotions burst forth from within him.Happiness at seeing two of his favourite people in the world being happy.Fear of the two growing more distant from him.Longing for wanting to be there, having drinks and smiling with them.First, there was a strange sensation that spread, from his chest to the tips of his fingers and toes, as he realised this. Second, was the horror that came from realising that he loved his sidekicks, and not actually in a platonic way. Third, came the torrent of shame and guilt and anger towards himself. Why now? Why did I only realise this now?When the two kissed, Kaito couldn’t take it anymore. He turned and ran.
Days remaining: 5
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There were times when Maki suspected that Shuichi and Kaito shared a single brain cell, like now. At these times, all she could do was to watch them flounder and make fools out of themselves. Stars, just why did she fall for these idiots again?As Kaito dragged the other boy to the “bathroom” to obviously not plan anything with him, Maki returned to the writeup their homeroom teacher wanted her to complete. It was supposed to be a reflection on her experience at the afterschool care program, but all she could think of was the last session with Shuichi.When she died, Maki didn’t think she’d ever fall for someone ever again. At that time, she didn’t think she deserved to do so. But she has, twice.Her thoughts on the two boys had kept her up the previous night, much to her appalment. One thought jumped to the other, one daydream melted into another, her friends’ faces in the centre of each. It was hard to think, hard to sort everything out, with how embarrassing and unfamiliar the entire situation was, but Maki believed she liked them both. They were very different – energetic Kaito and humble Shuichi – but both managed to worm their way into her heart at some point or another.She pushed away her thoughts when the two boys returned. From the look on Kaito’s face, she knew he had planned something. From the look on Shuichi’s face, this was something potentially important. She raised her eyebrow at them, waiting for Kaito to speak.“Okay, sidekicks! You’ve been working hard and have done a great job today!”“… We have only been here for an hour.”“And within that hour, you two have completed the rest of this week’s homework!” Kaito gestured to the outside. “So, I was thinking, you two deserve a break. And since the weather is so nice today-”“It’s really windy and chilly outside.”“-Maki! Stop interrupting me! The weather is nice today, so you two should go to the park and enjoy the sunshine! Get some much needed Vitamin D!”Maki rolled her eyes. Was this what he meant by “helping” yesterday? Making them go to the park together? Was this another “date”?“Are you coming along too, Kaito?”“Nah, I haven’t finished my homework.”“Of course you haven’t.”Though Kaito was never late with his schoolwork, Maki knew how easily distracted he could be if he wasn’t doing something he was interested in (re: push ups). But, maybe this time, he’d actually let them go on a private “date” instead of following right behind them and whispering cliché pick up lines to Shuichi to pass to her.She and Shuichi headed out of the academy campus in a relative silence that was normal for the both of them. It was pretty clear that Shuichi was thinking and was nervous about something, but Maki didn’t ask. At the park, Maki noted that there were more plants growing that was normal for winter, probably thanks to the students of the academy. The dense foliage was easy to hide in and provided more animals with shelter.“You know, there’s a flower trail in this park. I know there’s the Forever Sakura trees, and other flowers the Ultimate Botanist bred for all four seasons,” Shuichi finally spoke. Not looking directly at her, he took her hand. “I’ve always wanted to check the winter flowers out. Shall we go together?”“… Uh. Sure. Whatever,” Maki answered stiltedly, having blanked out for a few seconds.It was late winter, and this year’s winter was not as cold as the rest. Even so, there was a remarkable difference between the cool winter air and the warmth of Shuichi’s hand. A sudden, chilly wind blew, and Shuichi stumbled into her. The wind wasn’t strong enough to have blown Shuichi into the ground, but Maki held onto and steadied him. Definitely not because he was warm and nice and looked really cute when flustered from their close proximity.“U-Uh, Maki? A-Are you cold?”Maki flushed and stepped back, when she realised that oh, yeah, they were in close proximity. Though she shook her head, she shivered as another wind blew at her. Shuichi hesitated, then stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her. Both faces were red, not just from the cold, and neither could look at each other.“Maybe… Maybe we should get something hot to drink?” Though Maki was looking elsewhere, she could hear the awkward laughter in his voice. “I still owe you those drinks.”“I- I thought you paid me back with those pints of ice cream?”“That was your birthday present.”“Wasn’t that Pokémon game you gave me a week ago the present?”“Can’t I gave you multiple presents?”Rolling her eyes, she let out an amused huff. Beside her, Shuichi smiled, tense muscles relaxing. Finally, their nervousness mostly forgotten, they returned to having their normal banter. They pointed out flowers they liked, talked about the plants around them, and neither spoke about the arm he still had around her.There was a coffee stand at the other end of the park, though there was no indoor seats. A tiny part of Maki felt a little disappointed when Shuichi’s arm left her to get their drinks. A few minutes later, Shuichi returned, passing a hot matcha latte to her, having known what she liked. As they drank, Maki felt the other watching her at several points, but when she looked up he quickly looked away. Finally, once her cup was finished, Shuichi spoke again.“Hey, Maki? I… I wanted to ask you about the week. You know, about the, uh, dating practice?”“… It was fun,” she admitted, quietly, staring at the bottom of her cup. “… More fun than I thought it would be, actually. Kaito has a lot of dumb ideas for training, but… I guess this was actually one of his better ideas. It was… enjoyable.”“Heh, that’s our Kaito. His ideas may sound silly at first, but a lot of them are actually good.” There was a pause. Then, voice just barely shaking, Shuichi continued, “Then, if you’d like… W-Would you like to keep doing this? But, for real, this time?”“I…” Maki’s heart skipped a beat. Did she hear that right? Looking up, she saw Shuichi looking directly at her. There was nervousness, but there was also determination in those eyes. “W… What are you saying?”“I enjoyed going out with you too, Maki.” With the kind of growing confidence Shuichi had whenever he began giving his evidence for a case, he told her, “You’re an amazing friend. Even though you were closed off at first, you’ve opened up to me over the last two years, and I see you under your mask. You’re strong, kind, and selfless. Spending time with you makes me feel happy and safe. And after this week, I think I… I know I like you, romantically.”
With a soft exhale, Shuichi bowed. “I understand if you don’t feel similarly. But, if you do… I’d be honoured to have the chance to actually date you.”… Maki wanted to say something. Wanted to express the thousands of emotions filling her soul, but the unfortunate thing about emotions are, you couldn’t really easily translate them into words. Instead, she just opened her mouth and made several choked sounds.“… Maki…? I’m sorry, was that too much?”“I- N- No. No, just-” She shook her head rapidly, blurting out the first coherent thought she had. “Damn it! You’re a detective, can’t you tell I like you too?!”“I- Huh?” A flabbergasted expression appeared on his face. “What?”“I like you, you idiot! You’re gentle and compassionate and look really cute when you’re flustered!” She continued to use her method of just saying whatever that came to her mind. “Stars, I really want to kiss you right now!”“… You… You want to kiss me?!”“… Fuck.”A bewildered, yet delighted laugh burst out of Shuichi. Maki glared daggers at him, though the effect was probably lost with how red her face was and her pout. When he recovered, Shuichi’s eyes softened, and raised a hand to her cheek.“Do… Did you really mean it? About that kiss?”“I…” The light caress made her shiver. “… Yes.”There was only a moment’s hesitation, before the boy closed the distance between them. Though it lasted for only a few seconds, the kiss felt like it lasted forever. Everything else suddenly felt so far away, so unimportant… And when it ended, all they could do was to stare at each other in silence.… The silence broke, when Maki heard a sound. Her head whipped around, just in time to see a flash of purple running through the park bushes.“What? What is it?”“Kaito. Running away from the scene of the crime…”“He was following us?!” The flash of alarm on Shuichi’s face soon faded into tired acceptance. “Ah… I really should’ve expected that. I’ll talk to him later.”“… I need to ask. Do you still like him?”“I’ll be honest, I do. I like both of you. Does… Does that bother you?”“No… I like him too.”Her feelings for Shuichi couldn’t replace those for Kaito. How could they, when the two boys were so different? Kaito was the sun, that chased the night away and replaced it with light and warmth and life. Shuichi was the moon, a guiding light in the darkness, reflecting the light from the sun without the sometimes harsh brightness and heat. Both had different strengths, different flaws, different personalities, and one could not replace the other. Feelings were unquantifiable, and there was no point in trying to decide which she liked better. It would be like comparing how much she liked sweets and soft blankets. She didn’t want to give up on either forever.One look at Shuichi, and Maki could tell he felt the same. They were two moons, orbiting a planet together, hand in hand, enjoying the warmth and light of their star. That was how it has always been for the three of them, ever since they became friends two years ago. Even after all the tribulations the three have been through, even after their feelings for one another changed, their love for Kaito remained constant.A silent conversation passed between them, one that could not be described by words, a conveyance of emotions and hopes and dreams. Shuichi was the first to put their hearts’ mutual desires into spoken words.“Do you think it’s possible? For all three of us…”“If Kaito is willing…” Maki glanced at the foliage, where she last saw the boy run through. “Yes. I think we can make it work.”
Days remaining: 5
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kaito didn’t respond to any of Shuichi’s texts until after dinner, and all he said was that his phone battery had died. Shuichi highly doubted that was the case, but didn’t press.It was now nine in the evening. It wasn’t unusual for Kaito to remain out till the wee hours of the morning, and normally Shuichi would go to bed without waiting up for him, but this time, they needed to talk. Other than the fact that Kaito had invaded his sidekicks’ privacy, they needed to discuss how their friendship would be affected by his new relationship with Maki.The two of them had agreed they would tell Kaito about their feelings together, after a few days of collecting themselves and planning. But even though Maki was more optimistic about the situation, Shuichi couldn’t help but to worry about how he’d react once that happened. There were four possible outcomes to it.First, Kaito didn’t feel the same way about either sidekick. That would be the simplest outcome, but Shuichi feared that the awkwardness resulting from that outcome would end up with Kaito distancing himself from the other two, something neither of them wanted. Even if that did not happen, and Kaito remained friends with the two of them, who knew if their unrequited feelings would cause problems in the future? Second, Kaito had feelings for one sidekick. That was much more complicated. Either said sidekick would have to choose between Kaito or the other, and the inherent drama would definitely result in tension between the group. That, or said sidekick may get with both of the others, but that may end with jealousy and more tension. Third, Kaito had feelings for both sidekicks, but did not agree with the proposed arrangement of all three going out at the same time. That would be a mess Shuichi did not even want to think about.The possibility of the fourth outcome, where all three of them could be together… It was a tempting dream.But even if there was the possibility of the situation ending with the first three outcomes, Shuichi wasn’t going to avoid talking altogether. It was like Kaito had told him earlier that day: he couldn’t run from his feelings forever. He had been running from them for months, and before meeting Kaito, he had run from his problems for years. He didn’t want to keep running, to keep hiding. He had to confront Kaito at some point.And when he finally did, he’d have his girlfriend with him.… Thinking of Maki as his girlfriend still made his face burn up.Shuichi was pulled from his thoughts when the door to the dorm room quietly clicked and opened. Kaito was careful not to let much light from the hallway in, but there was no need when Shuichi was awake. Instantly, he took note of the other’s profile: messy hair, clothes stuck to his body, distracted expression. Kaito must’ve been exercising, possibly to keep his mind off whatever he was currently thinking about. That expression quickly changed into one of surprise when he realised Shuichi was awake.“Oh, uh, hey, bro!” Kaito’s smile was clearly not a natural one. “Uh, how did the trip to the park go?”“Why do you need to ask, when you were watching us?”Shuichi’s accusation wasn’t sharp, more blunt and tired. He wasn’t too angry, just upset and a little irritated. Still, Kaito reacted as if he had blown up with fury – with a flinch and gritted teeth. That reaction was more pronounced than what the detective would have expected from the other, which, with the previously noted evidence that was Kaito’s irresponsiveness to Shuichi’s texts and appearance when he returned to the dorm, further solidified the theory that something was bothering the Ultimate Astronaut. And, though to his and Maki’s exasperation, Kaito was usually much better at hiding when he was having a hard time dealing with a problem. The fact that Kaito was so obvious this time set off alarm bells in Shuichi’s head.“Ah… Right. Sorry ‘bout that,” Kaito mumbled, avoiding Shuichi’s eyes. “I know I said I’d let you two have your moment, but I went back on my word. So, sorry. I’d let you two have your privacy next time, promise.”“… Thank you.”“Plus, you two are actually dating now, right? So, it wouldn’t be right for me to keep following you like before.”“I- Uh, I suppose, but-”“Don’t worry, I’ll let you two have more alone time!” Cutting him off, Kaito headed to his side of the room to get his sleepwear, keeping his back to Shuichi. “Besides, the training accomplished its goal. You guys don’t need my supervision anymore.”“W-Well, we don’t need it, yes, but-” Shuichi got up, tried to get the other to face him, to talk to him. “But, Kaito, we-”Kaito turned, messy hair creating shadows across his face. Between that and the dimness of the room, Shuichi couldn’t see his friend’s expression. The taller boy pressed a finger to Shuichi’s lips in a silent plea. A beat of silence. Then two, then three.“… I’m tired,” Came Kaito’s whisper. “Go to sleep, Saihara.”Then Kaito turned to enter the bathroom, and Shuichi wondered what had gone wrong.--Kaito acted like nothing had happened the previous night. His act was much better today, smiles much more natural, voice having the right inflections, calling Shuichi by his given name again. However, there were moments when Shuichi caught cracks in his friend’s façade, moments when he paused a little too long, spoke a little too quietly, eyes a little to distracted. Maki had asked, when Kaito was just out of earshot, and Shuichi relayed the events of the previous night. She didn’t reply to that, but her eyebrows creased slightly in concern.As long as their classmates didn’t look too closely, they wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong. The only point they may have noticed, was during group work. Before Shuichi or Maki could say a thing, Kaito had already found Tenko to work with. Kaede ended up joining them, a little confused.Then came lunch time. The week before, Kaito had left the two of them to eat together for the “training”. Now, even after the regimen had ended, Kaito still did not return to their usual table. Before either could get a word in, the boy was already walking away to find another table.“Okay, this is getting ridiculous.” Slamming the table, Maki stood up to follow the other.“Hold on.” Shuichi stood to grab her hand. As expected, the girl whipped her head around and gave him a glare. Shuichi kept his grip and stared into her eyes, speaking carefully, “We need to be calm about this. You know how Kaito is. He won’t open up easily. Brute force won’t work.”“… Right.” Maki sighed, tense shoulders drooping. “What would you suggest?”“We can’t talk about his avoidance directly. We need to be subtle, but persistent. Pretend nothing’s wrong. He can try to keep avoiding us, but we’ll just keep chasing him until he gets tired of running.”The two exchanged a quick look, nodded, and headed to Kaito’s table.“If you wanted new scenery, you should’ve told us,” Maki purposely grumbled, sliding into the seat across of Kaito, who nearly jumped at the sound of her voice. “How else are we supposed to know where we’re sitting for lunch?”“Huh? I wasn’t- You didn’t need to-”“Nonsense. We haven’t had lunch together in a while,” Said Shuichi, as he sat down next to Kaito. Kaito looked between the two of his sidekicks, wide eyed with shock. “It’s more fun eating with friends, right, Maki?”“Right. We’re eating here.”Kaito appeared like he wanted to protest, but couldn’t think of anything to say. Sharing a secret grin, Shuichi opened his lunchbox to share with Maki. Seeing how the two were serious about having lunch here, Kaito had no choice but to let them sit at the table. Subtly, Kaito tried to scoot away, but Maki took hold of his lunchbox, peering in. Her nose immediately scrunched up.“Cereal? Seriously? For lunch?”“W-What? It’s easy to prepare!”“You’re literally dormmates with Shuichi. His food’s heavenly.” Maki waved the half a sandwich she got from Shuichi’s lunchbox. “Just get him to make you lunch.”“But- That’s-”“Here.” Before the other could protest, Shuichi placed his partially eaten sandwich in the other boy’s box. “Eat this, and I’ll have some of your cereal.”Now with no choice but to stay at that spot to let Shuichi occasionally reach over to grab some cereal, Kaito ended up staying with the other two for the rest of lunch. Though he still remained mostly tight-lipped around his sidekicks, that was still a win in Shuichi’s books. Just before lunch could end, Shuichi asked, as casually as possible, if Maki wanted to go to Lasselle for dinner again. There was a brief moment of contemplation, before she nodded.“Sure.” Slowly, deliberately, she turned to Kaito. “Will you come with us?”“Uh, I wouldn’t want to intrude-”“You won’t be intruding if we asked.” Shuichi placed a hand on the other boy’s arm. “And we’re asking.”“But you need to wear something fancy this time,” Maki added.Between the two’s encouraging looks, Kaito couldn’t say no. When he looked away for a moment, the two sidekicks exchanged a fist bump.
Days remaining: 4
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kaito didn’t know why he agreed to go to dinner with Shuichi and Maki.Well, he knew why he agreed when they asked – he couldn’t say no when both his sidekicks were looking at him so hopefully like that! At that moment, he didn’t want to disappoint them, and said yes before he could think things through. He only realised what he had said and regretted it when lunch ended and the other two had left to return to their homeroom. It’s pathetic; he couldn’t even last a day without wanting to, consciously or subconsciously, to spend time with those two.
Shuichi… Maki…
These two had always special to Kaito. They were his sidekicks, and both were amazing in their own ways. When he learned of Shuichi’s low self-esteem, of Maki’s self-hatred two years ago, he knew he couldn’t leave them alone and took them under his wing. They had the potential to be so much more, but for some reason, they just couldn’t see it within themselves. Kaito wanted to be their hero, wanted to make them realise how special they were, help them become the best people they can be. It was a simple desire that grew into something more, when the two reached out and tried to help Kaito too. They weren’t just his favourite sidekicks anymore, they were his best friends, and he loved them.Kaito wasn’t sure when the nature of his love changed, or if he had always loved them that way from the moment they met.When he watched, from his hidden spot behind the tree, the two of them kiss, he finally understood. He wanted to be there, wanted to part of their happiness. He wanted to hold them and kiss them and tell them just how much they made him happy, gave him something to look forward to each day. The sun loved the moons, loved how they calmed his blinding light, accepted his blistering warmth with patience.But they were together now, and Kaito feared that his selfish presence would keep them from their happiness. Feared that his gravity would pull them in and destroy them.So instead of running towards them like he wished, he ran away. He had run back to the academy, to the roof of a random building and hid. It was harder to hide from the feelings that came from within him. Couldn’t he go back to before, before he realised what those feelings were, when he was still oblivious and everything was easier? Before the truth revealed itself, and he could fool himself with comfortable lies? When the truth became too much to bear, he trained his body, but the increased physical strength did not equate to increased mental strength. He was not strong enough to deal with his feelings.Weak.Kaito hated being weak. Hated running and hiding and lying and refusing to acknowledge the truth, but what else could he do? Confronting his feelings and confessing them would only end in pain, both for him and for those he loved. It was better to suffer in silence, better to suffer alone, than to make his sidekicks suffer with him. That was what a hero should do, after all. At least, that was what he believed – the situation was complicated and there was no obvious right or wrong.So he had decided, the night before, to not speak about this. To leave his best friends alone to be happy together, and extricate himself from their lives before things became too painful to bear.Just one day after his resolution, and he already broke.Kaito sighed. He couldn’t back down now without the two asking questions. He knew his sidekicks knew something was wrong, and were worried about him – they were so smart and sweet like that. So, he had no choice but to prepare for the dinner out, even if he planned to sit in a corner and avoid as much conversation as possible. He hadn’t worn his fancy jacket and vest since Kaede’s formal concert, but since Maki wanted him to…Shuichi and Maki were heading to Lasselle’s from wherever their investigative work brought them to, while Kaito started from the academy campus. His formal clothes drew a few eyes, though he was too distracted by his thoughts to notice. It took a hand waving in front of his face to realise that someone was calling his name.“Huh? Tenko?”“Finally! I’ve been calling your name for a whole minute!” The Ultimate Aikido Master crossed her arms, puffing out her chest in dramatically. “I thought you were one of the better ones, but I guess in the end, you’re still just a rude and inconsiderate male!”“Oh, uh, I didn’t hear you. My bad.”Tenko gave him a strange look, one similar to the ones his sidekicks would occasionally give him, just with extra annoyance due to his gender. Though, she couldn’t keep the expression up for long, and it soon morphed into a distant relative of concern.“You’ve been acting weird, Momota. Like earlier today, when you wanted to do group work with me instead of your, uh, “sidekicks”. Normally, I wouldn’t have let a male work with me and Himiko, but I sensed something off about you.” The moment Tenko finished, she suddenly grabbed Kaito by his shoulders. Before he could react, she announced loudly, “So, I’m going to flip you and figure you out! HIIIIIYAAAH!”“W-Wait, this is mY FANCY JACKET-”Mercifully, Tenko flipped him onto a bed of soft grass. Groaning weakly, Kaito stood up, trying to brush the dirt and leaves off his sleeves. Unconcerned abut his ruffled appearance, Tenko hummed loudly and nodded.“I see, I understand now… You’re afraid of your emotions!” The aikido master tutted, raising a finger before Kaito could protest. “No, I know I’m right! You’re trying to avoid and ignore your emotions, like a coward.”“I’m not a coward!”“A coward wouldn’t try to avoid talking to the people they care about!”Though Kaito opened his mouth, he couldn’t think of a word to say to that.“Momota, you can’t run from your feelings forever! You gotta face them head-on!” Seeing the expression on Kaito’s face, Tenko’s softened, just slightly. “Emotions are hard to deal with, and sometimes they’re too messy and confusing to name. But I know that, as long as you don’t try to ignore them, as long as you try to express them to the best of your abilities, everything will become clear! I can’t say I know exactly what you’re going through, but whatever it is, I know you’re strong enough to deal with this! Besides… This has to do with Maki and Shuichi, right? They’re your friends, and whatever you’re worried about, they’ll help you!”Tenko didn’t, couldn’t understand Kaito’s situation. Kaito wanted to ignore her advice entirely – expressing his emotions that openly would only hurt his sidekicks, wouldn’t it? But at the same time… Running from his feelings entirely was the coward’s way out. And, Shuichi and Maki weren’t just his sidekicks, they were his friends. Would it hurt even more, if he kept avoiding them?Kaito wasn’t strong enough to face those feelings head-on.… But he could try, little by little, one step at a time.“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right.” Pumping his fists together, Kaito exclaimed, “I can’t keep running forever! Even if I can’t tell them everything immediately, I’ll do my best!”“I can’t believe I’m saying this to a male, but… Good luck!”--Shuichi and Maki were already in the restaurant by the time Kaito arrived. Seeing the two in formal outfits made Kaito’s heart skip a beat, and he felt his mouth twitching into a big smile. A part of him hissed, told him to tone it down, to not appear so desperately overjoyed at just the sight of them, but he ignored it. They were his friends, damn it, and he was happy to see them!“Kaito,” Said Maki, appearing a little surprised. “… You’re actually wearing a suit. But… Why is there a flower in your hair?”“Huh?! Flower?” Kaito felt for his hair, and lo and behold, there was a slightly crushed daisy trapped there. Probably from when Tenko flipped him into the grass. “Wait, was this here the entire time? Shit, how many people saw me?!”“A lot. Don’t worry, they probably thought you looked cute.”Apparently not caring about the destruction of Kaito’s manly pride, Maki smirked. Rolling his eyes, Kaito reached over to quickly thread the flower into Maki’s hair. “There. Perfect!” Once satisfied, he sat down, and seeing how red she had gotten, it was his turn to smirk. Shuichi watched the affair, trying to hide his laughter behind his hand, eyes crinkling even when Maki shot him a flustered glare.“Not sitting at another table this time?”“Huh?” It was only when the waiter from the previous few times mentioned it, that Kaito realised this fact. Shuichi and Maki had chosen a round table this time, such that all three of them could sit facing each other. “Oh, I guess not.”Shuichi, Maki and the waiter exchanged a look. If only Kaito could decipher those looks.“Anyways,” Kaito started, once they’ve placed their orders. “I, uh, wanted to apologise, again. For following you two, yesterday. And for acting weird today. I thought you two wouldn’t want me to hang around you guys anymore, since you’re both… You know. Together now.”“Kaito… Even if we’re, um, dating now, you’re still our friend. That never changed. We still care about you, and we love spending time with you.”Kaito resisted the urge to reach over the table and hug them.“Heh, guess I was worried ‘bout nothing. So… How was your work today?”It wasn’t a homicide case this time, fortunately. But even so, Shuichi’s cases were almost always mired with darkness. They had investigated reports of shouting and sounds of violence from a drunkard’s home, and found much evidence for domestic abuse against two children. The single mother worked three jobs just to support the family and drank to forget her problems, but got violent whenever she drank too much. Additionally, the mother was unfit to properly feed and clean the toddlers. Though it was clearly dangerous and an unsuitable environment for children to grow up in, the mother was extremely reluctant to part with them. Though he was screamed at and nearly clawed by the drunkard, Shuichi couldn’t help but to feel pity for her.“I don’t get it,” Kaito murmured after Shuichi recounted the case. “How could a mother who truly cared for her children hurt them like that?”“There’s a lot more factors to family life than love. Families are often more complicated than most people think,” Shuichi answered with a sigh. “Like, I barely know my parents. They never visit, always too busy with work and fancy celebrity vacations. I think they forget that I exist, sometimes. They aren’t good parents, and my uncle’s still mad at them, but… I can’t bring myself to hate them. There’re happy memories of them, too.”“There are a lot of kids of different backgrounds at my orphanage,” Maki added. “Those whose parents and relatives have died, victims of abuse, some who were abandoned there at birth… I don’t know why my parents left me there. Maybe they didn’t want me, maybe they couldn’t take care of me, I don’t know. But they gave me my name, wrote down my birthday… I think that counts for something.”Kaito didn’t have memories of his parents, only vague impressions, but he knew they had loved him. They had died protecting him in that crash, after all. And he was lucky, to have his grandparents, his aunts and uncles and cousins, all there for him, always giving him support. He knew all this about his sidekicks already, but now, being reminded of it, he realised how lucky he was to have family. How devoid of the same constant familial love his sidekicks were.“I guess…” Kaito said slowly, “Now that you two are dating, you’re each other’s family.”“If you think that way…” Maki paused, averting her eyes. “… I never had a proper family before. But after I joined Hope’s Peak, when I met you two, it’s like… Both of you are my family.”“Huh? Maki Roll…?”“I agree with that,” Shuichi piped in shyly. “I was pretty homesick when I first moved into the dormitory. The only family I have is my uncle, and he’s really busy. But, Kaito, you helped me so much during those first few months. And afterwards, you two are like my family here at Hope’s Peak.”“Shu…”Stars, his sidekicks were so cute. Kaito’s heart ached with a bittersweet joy. He wished he could be with them, like they were, but even if he couldn’t… He wouldn’t mind being like this. Being family to his best friends.“… Okay, that’s enough. You look really dumb with that expression.”Kaito laughed – as if Maki didn’t look sentimental, for a moment. Moment passed, Shuichi whispered something into her ear, and Maki seemed to be reminded of something.“Speaking of my orphanage, there’s something I got to tell you. Shuichi already heard of it, but I don’t think you have yet.” Maki dug through her bag and fished out small stack of papers in a folder. Kaito didn’t recognize the forms, but he caught Hope’s Peak Academy’s crest on it. “Hope’s Peak thinks I have potential to be an actual Ultimate Child Caregiver, and I need a character reference.”“Wait, wait, what?!”“You know how I’ve been asked to help in Hope’s Peak Elementary’s afterschool program? The talent scouts finally admitted that it was to test my abilities. They said I’ve done well enough, but since I’m still studying… another talent, the school wants character references regarding that second talent. I already have Shuichi’s, from when he volunteered to help me, but I need a few more.” Maki paused to let Kaito process all that. “I’m planning on visiting my orphanage tomorrow. The caregivers can help, but for some reason, the academy trusts Ultimates more than professionals. So, would you come with me tomorrow?”
Days remaining: 4
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Maki visited her orphanage at least once a month. The caregivers were always in need of helping hands, whether it be mending torn clothes, fixing broken furniture, or relieving them from supervising the kids for a while. She visited frequently enough that the kids that had not been there while she grew up there recognised her and loved her, perhaps more than the full-time caregivers themselves. It was because of them that she was convinced to visit again on her birthday the previous week. Though the birthday party was simple, it was filled with games and laughter. Maki had brought the ice cream Shuichi bought her, and though it was winter, all the children wanted a taste – for the majority of them, it was the first time they ever tried the treat.Maki had never brought another person along with her during her visits before – it always felt like a personal thing, something special and only for her. But she trusted Kaito, and didn’t mind bringing him along. As it was his first time visiting, she gave him a tour of the place she grew up in, from the gardens to the dining hall, to the bedrooms and the activity room. She didn’t miss the pauses in his chatter, when she warned him not to step through rotting floorboards, or when they passed boarded up windows in the bedrooms that failed to completely keep the winter wind out. She didn’t miss his lingering gazes on the skinny children that lit up when she walked by, or on the group of young teens mending a pile of worn clothes.“When you said the orphanage had money problems, I didn’t expect this,” Kaito suddenly said, after a long silence.“Running an orphanage costs a lot,” Maki replied. “The only secure donor we have is the Holy Salvation Society. If it falls, and there’s no other donor, the orphanage would fall too. I… I can’t let that happen. Assassination jobs pay a lot; I can’t easily find something else to replace the money it brings.”A troubled look crossed the boy’s face.Their last stop was the activity room, which had initially been several rooms, but the walls between them were destroyed to create a large one. The caregiver supervising the groups in it nodded at Maki and left, handing over the job to her. She turned to Kaito.“I’ll be tutoring the kids with their homework. You can sit there and watch.”“Wha? Just sit there and watch?” The baffled look on his face quickly turned into one of determination. “I’m not letting my sidekick do all the work while I slack off! I’m helping too! Hey, you guys!”The boy then planted himself on a chair that was comically too small for his size. Apparently unconcerned about this, Kaito scooted closer to the nearest table of children, who had been doing multiplication homework before their attention was drawn to the strange purple boy that decided to join them. Before Maki could say a thing, the boy was already looking over at the homework questions and teaching the younger ones. Seeing that there was no way to get Kaito’s attention back, Maki resigned herself to helping another group with simpler questions.Not even ten minutes later, she felt Kaito nudge her and proudly announce that his group was done.“What-?” Maki looked over, and indeed, the worksheets were all filled with the appropriate equations. "How-? You didn’t just give them the answers, did you?”“Huh? Why would I do that? That’s defeats the point of homework!”“But…” Unable to argue, Maki just sighed and gestured to another group. “Go help that group. I’ll finish here and join you.”About twenty minutes later, she had answered all the queries of her group. The kids that finished quickly had already left the table to do something else, which she had no idea what of, until she looked up. Somehow, all the other children were done with their homework, and were all seated around Kaito, who was repairing a torn shirt and telling some inane story about fighting pirates. Mystified, Maki stared at the shocking sight, until a child noticed her and pulled her over. Several others of the large group clamoured for her to sit with them.“Miss Harukawa, join us, join us!”“Yeah, Miss Harukawa.” Kaito grinned widely at her, pulling a chair over to right next to where he sat and patted the seat. “Come on!”With all the excited pleas, how could she refuse?Kaito continued his story, seemingly even more passionately now that Maki sat beside him. The story was nonsensical and full of holes, yet the fervent manner in which he told it enraptured the hearts of all the children that listened, including Maki. For a moment, she could forget about reality, forget about trying to be the Ultimate Child Caregiver, and return to being a child herself, amazed and starstruck by Kaito’s tale. As Kaito continued to recount his wondrous epic of bravery, of venturing into the darkest and deadliest pits of Hell to rescue a beautiful trapped princess, he gave Maki an almost imperceptible wink.Maki flushed. She could almost feel herself falling for the boy all over again.Kaito’s story was unfortunately interrupted by a caregiver coming in to announce dinner, and that announcement was met with grumbles and whines. Maki shook herself out from the trance Kaito somehow managed to put her in, and quickly gathered up the children to head to the dining hall. Kaito encouraged the ones more reluctant to leave his side (“You can’t explore the universe on an empty stomach!”), and together, the two directed the kids towards the dining hall.“I didn’t realise you’re so good with children, Mr Momota,” Maki teased quietly, as they walked behind. “You’d make a good dad.”“That’s high praise coming from you, Miss Harukawa. I think you’d make a good mom too!” Seeing her embarrassment, Kaito continued with a growing smile, “If I ever have kids, I hope they’d be just like you. Selfless, caring, cute-”“S-Shut up, I’m not- I’m not cute.”“Are you kidding me?” Kaito appeared genuinely dumbfounded at that. “You’re the cutest, most gorgeous girl I ever met! Shuichi’s so lucky-”“Miss Harukawa,” A child from the back of the group suddenly tugged at her sleeve. “Is Mr Momota your boyfriend?”“…”“…”
… Why do kids keep asking me that?!
The two were, fortunately, saved from having to answer that question by a caregiver pulling the child away and bringing them to the dining table. A beat passed. Kaito awkwardly coughed.“So, uh… I’m starving. Can we go get dinner?”“Sure.” Maki tried to pretend that her face was not completely red at the moment. “Do you have anything in mind?”“Well, there’s this restaurant close by. I heard that they sell really good cakes!”“… Cake?”--Shuichi was under his biological parents’ custody until he turned nine. Even back then, his parents were always busy with work and travelled often. They hired babysitters to take care of him, but not all of them were good. Some just let him do whatever he wanted, others didn’t even come and just took the money without actually taking care of him. His parents were none the wiser, considering that they were often not even in the country, and Shuichi didn’t even know their phone numbers to call them. As a result, Shuichi had to learn to take care of himself from a young age, learning to clean the house, wash his clothes and cook for himself long before he reached even a decade old.Though he started learning out of necessity, little Shuichi found that he enjoyed cooking. He had an innate talent – not big enough to be an Ultimate, but his cooking was a little better than decent. He was able to cook a variety of delicious meals before he turned nine.Shuichi’s uncle eventually took custody of him, once he became aware of the neglect. Shuichi’s life became a lot more hectic afterwards. His uncle had his own private detective agency, but they lived in a neighbourhood where crime was common, and the local police force was often so swamped with work that they paid his uncle’s agency to settle most of the complicated cases. Little Shuichi, sympathetic of the civil workers’ plight, tried to help out as much as he could. It started with just making the officers snacks and coffee, to bringing case files around the station, to solving small cases like missing pets and lost items. He solved that homicide case by chance, when he noticed a strange detail while bringing the case file to the assigned police detective.Regardless of what he did, the days were always busy. Though Shuichi’s uncle tried, neither of them had the time to prepare complicated foods, and more often than not had to eat cup noodles for their meals.Once he started attending Hope’s Peak, however, Shuichi had a lot more time on his hands. The workload assigned by the school was much smaller than what he was used to back home. He had time to bond with his classmates, learn new skills, and practice cooking again. He learned to bake a year ago, and made several batches of cookies, cupcakes and bread to share among his schoolmates. He had been playing around with that idea for a while, and after Maki shared what had happened last night, he decided to go through with it.He and Maki came up with the plan earlier that day. The first part of the plan included grocery shopping. That was why he and Kaito were back at Aeon, the same mall they got Shuichi’s suits the week before.“So, just to get this straight,” Kaito asked, at the entrance of the supermarket. “We’re here to get materials for your date with Maki tomorrow?”“Yes,” Shuichi lied as smoothly as he could. “She wants me to teach her how to bake, so we’re getting the ingredients.”“Okay! With the two of us, we’ll get this over in no time!” Kaito pumped his fists together, then started to head off, before stopping in his tracks. “… Uh, wait, what exactly are we getting?”“Well, I haven’t decided what we should make just yet…” A deliberate pause. One, two. “Do you have any ideas, Kaito? Like, what’s your favourite cake flavour?”“Eh, I don’t usually eat sweets, but… Chocolate cakes are always good! Especially the dense, dark chocolate kind! I can’t have too much sugar, or it’ll mess with my training.”“Ah, I see. Thank you, I got a good idea now.”None the wiser, Kaito happily followed Shuichi as they got the ingredients they needed. Their shopping for cake ingredients was interspersed with conversations and planning for the next few days’ lunches. Kaito had taken up Shuichi’s offer to prepare lunch for him together with his own, so he wanted to know what kinds of food Kaito liked. Kaito told him about the traditional food his grandmother would prepare when he was growing up, and the times his relatives would gather at his grandparents’ place to prepare supper for New Year’s Eve. Hearing Kaito talk about his family gave Shuichi a bittersweet longing.“… Hey, I got an idea,” Kaito suddenly said, after finishing his story about last year’s New Year’s Eve. “Maybe I can bring you and Maki to visit my grandparents during the summer holidays! I’m sure they’d be delighted to finally meet you!”“Ah… A-Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your reunion…”“Nonsense! I get to see them every year, plus I taught them how to use video calls last year. You wouldn’t be interrupting anything! Besides,” The boy chuckled a bit nervously. “I’ve been telling them about you two for the past two years, and they’re really curious. I didn’t have that many friends my age, growing up in the countryside, so I guess they’re pretty excited.”“I-Is that so? I hope I live up to their expectations, then…”“Shuichi! What have I always told you about self-confidence?!” Suddenly dropping the basket he was holding, Kaito quickly grabbed his shoulders. “You shouldn’t be so worried! You’re thoughtful and considerate and an amazing friend! You’re buying all these ingredients to teach Maki to bake, you offered to prepare lunches for me, and you’re even asking about the food I like! My grandparents would be super impressed!”“Ah, Kaito, w-we’re in a supermarket-”“It doesn’t matter! I don’t care who hears! In fact, the whole world needs to know this!” Kaito then cupped his mouth and shouted towards the ceiling, “SHUICHI SAIHARA IS AN AMAZING PERSON AND I LOVE HIM! ANYONE WHO DISAGREES CAN FIGHT ME!!!”… There were people staring. Shuichi buried his face in his hands.“… Come on now, bro. Don’t be so shy.” Carefully, he felt Kaito pry his hands from his face. Before him, Kaito gave him his dazzling, signature smile. “What I said is the truth, and nothing less! And if you still don’t believe me, then I’ll keep fighting until you do! Now, let’s go check these ingredients out.”If Shuichi’s crush on Kaito was still a secret, his mad blushing probably divulged it to anyone who looked at him.--Valentine’s Day was tomorrow. Love life-related gossip and drama was at its peak at Hope’s Peak. Students with art-related talents have decorated the school, rumours that the Ultimate Chef was selling holiday special aphrodisiac-filled treats, and apparently there was a number of students fighting over the heart of one class’s Ultimate Lucky Student, to the distress of said student and surrounding parties. Even as Kaito was not directly involved in any drama, he couldn’t escape questions from his grandparents, who called this morning.“Are you planning on asking anyone out, Kaito?”Funny how the question he had asked Shuichi two weeks ago was turned back to him by his own grandmother. And even though there were two sidekicks in mind, he, like Shuichi back then, could not ask. In the end, he just dodged the question and asked if his grandparents were planning anything for themselves.Kaito had already resigned himself to being alone on Valentine’s when he received a text message from the training trio’s group chat. Shuichi wanted him to head to one of their dormitory’s common rooms for a surprise. Not one to disappoint his sidekick, Kaito agreed and headed there immediately. The room was empty, save for his two sidekicks, who stood next to each other, blocking Kaito’s view of a table. However, there was a strong smell of something sweet, mixed with the scent of flowers. His sidekicks exchanged a quick nod, and Shuichi walked forward, presenting a black cloth.“Close your eyes, I’m going to blindfold you.”“Wow, you’re really serious about this surprise, huh?”Kaito chuckled, allowing him to wrap the cloth tightly around his head. He tried not to react, when Shuichi’s hand slid down his neck to his own hand, grasping it and slowly leading him forward. By his side, Shuichi told him where he was going, when he had to step aside to sit on a chair. Shuichi’s hand left his, before a different hand gently grabbed his chin.“Open your mouth,” Came Maki’s voice, whispering into his ear. Again, Kaito tried not to react, even though it was getting really hard not to.Kaito obeyed. Something cool slid into his mouth, before Maki pushed his jaw upwards, closing his mouth, and slid something out. The familiar taste of chocolate coated his tongue, and behind the blindfold, his eyes widened.“Chocolate cake,” He couldn’t help but to exclaim with a smile. “The dense, dark chocolate kind.”At his exclamation, Shuichi removed his blindfold. Before him, on the table, was a dark chocolate cake, with his name written with purple icing on top. Red and blue hearts decorated the edges. So this was what his sidekicks were planning to make with the ingredients!“Did… Did you two make this, for me?” After the initial shock passed came confusion. Looking between the two, Kaito asked, “But why?”“Ah, we just w-wanted to thank you, you know,” Shuichi smiled nervously, hands behind his back. “For being our friend, for always being encouraging-”“-For helping us realise our feelings, for bringing us together-”“-And for suggesting that ‘training regimen’ in the first place. It did help us boost our confidence. The initial goal for this training was to help me – help both of us – gain the confidence to ask the person we wanted out for Valentine’s Day, so, that’s what we’re doing now.” One hand tightly gripping Maki’s, Shuichi presented the bouquet of red roses, blue hydrangeas and purple irises he held behind his back. “Maki and I have liked you for a long time, Kaito. Would you… Would you be our Valentine?”Kaito blinked. Then, the next thing he knew, he had leapt out of his seat and thrown his arms around his two sidekicks, pulling them both in for a tight hug while screaming something incomprehensibly.“K-Kaito- You’re crushing us-”“-AAAAAAAAAA OH right!” He flung his arms outwards and stepped back, his legs taking over the responsibility of displaying his excitement by making him hop on the spot. His face was beginning to hurt by how widely he was smiling but he didn’t care. “Oh my stars are you two serious? Are you two really serious?!”“Would we have baked this cake and got you flowers if we weren’t serious, you moron?” Despite her dry words, Maki couldn’t keep the smile off her face either. Kaito had to restrain himself with all his might from pulling her into another bone-crushing hug. Instead, he flailed his arms frantically and made what was definitely a very manly squeal.“Ah, u-um… Is that a yes?”“YES THAT’S A YES!!!”Unable to take it anymore, Kaito grabbed both their hands and kissed them, laughing. Shocked but clearly pleased, both leaned closer, each planting a kiss on either cheek, just as Kaito envisioned back then, hiding behind that tree.No, this was even better than he could possibly have ever dreamed of.
Days remaining: 1
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Chapter 13: Bonus Scene: Love Across the Universes
[Date: 14 Feb, Fri. Happy Valentine’s <3][POV: Kaito]Valentine’s Day, as it was for nearly every day at Hope’s Peak Academy, was filled with chaos and drama. Certain mischievous students sneaked the Ultimate Chef’s aphrodisiac into their classmates’ food, an Ultimate Lucky Student caused a storm of Forever Sakura flower petals to sweep across the campus, and that had effectively put to a stop a cat fight between several students battling for that other Lucky Student’s attention. Kaito, Shuichi and Maki managed to avoid… most of the chaos by escaping the campus right after lessons ended for the day to head to the mall, where Shuichi bought Maki the second drink he promised and had another dinner at Lasselle – it was their date restaurant at this point.The trio returned from dinner to the campus early to set up blankets and pillows at their spot in the courtyard. It was a common sight to see the three train at that spot at night, though their training was temporarily paused during winter. They hadn’t planned to return to the spot until spring, but Kaito insisted he wanted to go stargazing with the two that day. Though, with the city’s light pollution, only one or two stars could be seen, it didn’t stop Kaito from rambling about the constellations and the stars he could somehow spot in the night sky.“The sky’s a lot more beautiful in the countryside. When you two visit me during summer, I’ll show you my favourite stargazing spot!”“That would be nice. To get out of the city, and forget about our responsibilities for a while…”“Yeah… It would be nice to spend my break stargazing, instead of working on more homicide cases like last time.”“Man, you two can be really depressing sometimes. Alright! I’ll just have to make sure the summer break is the best one you’ll ever have! And the next one would be even better! … Hey, don’t give me that look. I’m serious!”When the two’s amused laughter just grew, Kaito shut them both up with a kiss each.“There, much better!” Satisfied at how quiet the other two quickly turned, he lay back down on the blanket. As he looked back up to the stars, a gentle wind blew, carrying a purple wisteria flower in the wind. For some reason, the sight made him think about something. “Have you guys heard of the multiverse theory? They say other universes exist out there, comprising of every possible outcome in existence. If other universes really do exist, then, I bet I’d find you two in every universe out there!”“But, if the multiverse comprises of every possible outcome… Won’t there be universes where you don’t find us?”“Well, technically, yeah.” He shrugged, and continued just as confidently. “But can you really say that those Kaitos are really me? If they never met you guys, then they wouldn’t have changed like meeting you two have changed me! So those Kaitos don’t count, right?”“Huh, I guess that’s true…”“Idiots, why are you two worried about such things? Whether a multiverse or other universes exist or not, it doesn’t matter to us. Just focus on this universe, this present and this future.”“Heh, you’re right, Maki Roll! No matter what’s out there, I know I’m here and I know I love you two.” Kaito took the other two’s hands in his, banishing the dark thought that had passed through his mind away. “And I know, whatever happens in the future, we’ll be able to face them, together.”
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