At Last || Saiouma fanfic

Lunch Date

       Shuichi sat impatiently in the lunchroom, tapping his foot on the ground to create a rhythm that let everyone within a ten foot radius know how he was feeling. He glanced down at his food and took a small bite of his, now cold, mac and cheese hesitantly. Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention to the left entrance. He smiled hopefully, but his happiness was smothered as Maki appeared from within the hallway. She tilted her head slightly to the right, confused as to why Shuichi had been looking her direction before she even came in, though she quickly covered her confusion with a nod of greeting toward him, which he returned with a smile that didn't exactly reflect his true feelings at the moment. Maki looked away and walked briskly toward the salad bar.

       Shuichi rested his chin in his hand with a heavy sigh and diverted his attention from his annoyance by examining a crack in the pasty white brick wall directly in front of him. He picked at his food for another five or so minutes before he finally decided to leave. He glanced at the clock. It was 1:30. He leaned back in his chair and buried his face in his hands. "This is so like him..", he muttered to himself. Maki looked his direction, her confused expression from earlier making a reappearance, though this time she made no effort to hide it. Slightly embarrassed from being caught talking to himself, he gripped his lunch tray from either side and threw away his hardly-touched lunch, his hat angled over his eyes to hide the swirl of disappointment that filled his head.

       Maki looked briefly toward her salad before turning back to Shuichi. "Are you okay, Saihara?" She said, her voice showing genuine concern. Shuichi adjusted his hat. "Ah, I'm fine.. I just- Kokichi invited me for a lunch date at 12:30.. uh.. but you know how he is," He mumbled, trying desperately to hide how upset he truly was. Maki frowned slightly and looked away. "Don't get yourself down about it too much. He's not the most organized, it's possible he just got busy, or forgot." She said, stabbing a crouton with her fork. Shuichi smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Maki," he said simply, turning away toward the exit.

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       Kokichi strode down the hallway, his hands in either pocket. He stopped mid-step, interrupted by his phone beeping at him. Everyone in the hallway turned to look at him instinctively for a brief moment before continuing on their way. He took his hand out of his pocket and with it his phone, nearly dropping it but catching himself. He turned the screen toward him, and read the alarm name with sinking horror. "Lunch date with Shuichi <3", it read. He looked up at one of the school's digital clocks a few feet ahead of him, reading 1:30. It was daylight savings. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵! He thought, cringing to himself. He had forgotten to set his phone ahead. Just his luck.

       He knew Shuichi was more than likely long gone by now, but he thought he might as well go just in case. Despite his instincts, he walked calmly as if nothing was wrong. He was just too used to deceiving those around him, so he didn't want people to know that he was in a hurry. Revealing his true intentions or, God forbid, being truthful, just made him feel so vulnerable, no matter the circumstances. But Shuichi.. Shuichi was different. He couldn't say why, it's not like he was his first love, no. Relationships always ended sourly for him due to his deceptive nature. But despite that, Shuichi is one of the very few people he felt comfortable putting any kind of trust in. Because of that, he never wanted to disappoint him, so he was now conflicted as to run or not. Thinking too hard will do that to you.

       He finally decided to just run. Thinking logically, no one really gave a fuck about where he was going anyways. He nearly lost his scarf, but he clutched it to his chest. Finally, he approached the lunchroom, out of breath. He paused just outside the door to catch his breath. Once he did, he stepped inside, prepared to be disappointed. Inside, he found just what he expected, an empty cafeteria. Scratch that, Maki was there, having a late lunch, it seems. Though, that didn't change the fact that there was no Shuichi.

     Kokichi turned around with a quiet sigh and was about to walk away before he was stopped. "Kokichi?!" Maki said, sounding slightly angry, but mostly surprised. Kokichi whipped around with a false grin. "Did I do something wrong?" He said mischievously, expecting to be able to screw with Maki in one way or another as he usually did with the rest of his classmates. "No," She said with a tired sigh. "Saihara was just looking for you." "A-ah! Was he?" He said, his mask slipping just a bit. "..Not that I care, but where did he go?" Maki picked up her plate, with only a few odd scraps of veggies left over. She pointed to the exit across the room wordlessly as she walked toward the garbage can without looking at him.

       Kokichi looked around aimlessly for a few seconds before calmly walking toward where Maki was pointing. Once he was sure he was out of sight, he looked down the hallway ahead of him, lined with classrooms and clocks. Each clock seemed to be mocking him, displaying the time 1:37 oh-so-proudly. He shook off the thought and ran down the hallway as fast as he could, looking down every turn for a sign of Shuichi. Finally, as he was nearing the end of the corridor, he caught a glimpse of Shuichi turning a corner in one of the branches. His face lit up and, despite his lungs screaming in protest, he ran toward him.

       "S-Shumai!" He yelled, restraining his voice just a bit in fear of someone hearing him. Shuichi turned in surprise, and, upon seeing Kokichi running toward him, exhaled and waited somewhat awkwardly for Kokichi to catch up with him, his arms hanging at his sides as if his hands were made of stone. Kokichi, upon reaching him, gripped one of Shuichi's hands with his two and looked into his eyes, feeling guilt wash over him like a massive wave in the midst of a storm. "Shumai.. I'm so sorry, you see I-" "I don't need any of your lies, Kokichi. Lets just go to our next class," he replied in an affectionately annoyed tone, placing his other hand on top of Kokichi's before shifting to holding just one hand, as to more easily walk.

       Despite knowing that Shuichi wasn't mad, he couldn't help but look at the floor as they walked. Something he has said wouldn't get out of his head. "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘒𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪." He clenched his unoccupied fist at his side. "You okay, Kichi?" Shuichi said, stopping. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Kokichi replied, lying flawlessly. Shuichi turned away blushing. "S-sure. That was a silly question," Kokichi giggled under his breath. "Nee hee hee! Don't worry about it. It's nice to know you care." Without another word, they continued down the hallway to their next class.