Memories {Oumasai/Saiouma}

~ 24 ~ Sneaky Vacation

Lily and I were happily chatting about random things about ourselves, enjoying our time together before a creaking noise interrupted us. My head snapped to the heavy double doors next to the reception desk as Shuichi emerged. I jumped up and ran to hug him, nuzzling my face in his chest as he and Lily chuckled.

"He's like a cat don't ya think Shuichi?" I smirked as an idea popped into my head. I removed myself from Shuichi and turned so I could see the both of them, putting one fist next to my cheek and the other above my head in an attempt to resemble Yumeko from that gambling anime, Kakegurui?

"Nya~" I giggled as Lily broke out in more laughter while Shuichi just facepalmed to hide his not so obvious blush. 

"Kokichi, I love you... but why..."

"Because I'm cute~" I teased while packing away the rest of my stuff and making my way back to Shuichi, although not before stopping to give Lily a massive hug.

"Come on, let's go. Thank you again Lily, I'll see you next time I'm in." We all waved goodbye to each other as Shuichi and I left the building. He was about to go to the car before I grabbed his hand and ran towards the park, pulling him along behind me. "Kokichi where are we going?!"

"To the park! We need to spend some  time outside you know!" I slowed down and let go of his hand, slowing my pace so we could walk side by side. I didn't get a response, so I assumed him walking beside me was his way of non-verbally accepting my maybe too forceful request.

"So how were things? I assume you and Lily got along." I felt a familiar, warm hand slip into mine again.

"Yep! She's awesome! I feel like we're best friends already."

"You two definitely are, she's actually not that outgoing at all so it was kind of surprising to see her hug you back." She's not outgoing huh? Interesting. 

"Guess I have that effect on people!" I smirked at Shuichi as I gently elbowed him.

"Hey I was-" He hesitated in thought, "okay fine you got me." A comfortable silence slowly surrounded us as we walked towards the park, the sound of people's chatter and passing cars filled that void. We had a longer walk than I had anticipated until we got to the park so I decided to talk more and hope Shuichi didn't find my voice annoying.

"So, how was the meeting?" Shuichi groaned in annoyance. Was that aimed at me? 

"It was boring. There was nothing new and it was just everyone going over the case to the other detectives and police that don't do their jobs properly anyway. But I did manage to get Shi- her  higher on the list of potential suspects, so she'll be treated more as a threat right now." 'Her'? Oh right, it wouldn't be a good idea to say Shirogane's name out loud in public like this.

I nodded as I was about to respond, but got distracted by the café we passed by. I gripped Shuichi's sleeve and shook his arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Can we go there instead of the park?! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseple-"

"Okay okay!" He chuckled and held his hands up in surrender. "Calm down Kichi, we can go." I giggled and jumped up and down in excitement. The café we had passed was new in town, and had already been given a 4.8/5 rating online because of the obviously immaculate food, but also the little hologram lights that seemed to float out of nowhere around you which simulated fairies. It was even decorated like a fairy wonderland inside, it looked so adorable and I had wanted to try it for weeks.

We walked in, took a seat and ordered our lunch as Shuichi watched me try to catch one of the 'fairies' and obviously failing. We enjoyed the scenery of the 'forest' together, me probably a bit too much, before our food came. Shuichi had ordered spring rolls because he wanted an 'actual lunch', whereas I, as a human made of sugar, ordered a small cake. Shuichi immediately started eating as I looked down at my food, sadness washing over me as I stared at the dice-styled cake on my plate which only reminded me more of the group I had left behind three years ago.

I sighed, picking up my fork and slowly eating, not in as good of a mood as I was just a minute earlier.

"Kokichi? What's wrong babe?" I plastered the best fake smile I could muster on my face. 

"Nothing's wrong! This just looks really good!" I shoved a piece of cake in my mouth and immediately felt my eyes light up in delight. It tastes really good too!

Shuichi stared at me in silence, frowning while obviously trying to read my body language and figure out what was wrong. He leant over the table and grabbed my hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. "I won't push you to talk about anything if you aren't ready, but whatever it is just remember I love you and I'll do anything to help you Kokichi." 

I couldn't help the tears of joy that poured down my face from his words. Even though he complimented me and encouraged me a lot, it was still new to me to be told things like that so when Shuichi said nice things to me, even when he told me something simple like how he loved me every day, it made me feel so happy.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Shuichi moved his hand from mine to my face, using his thumb to wipe the tears away from my cheeks as I continued to cry. I nodded in response to his question, using my own hands to rub my eyes to try and stop the tears from flowing in the first place. Unlocking my phone and opening the message I received earlier, I slid it across the table and watched as Shuichi read the messages, clearly slightly confused.

"Is this from DICE?" He slid my phone back to me which I put away before playing with the cake chunks on my plate.

"I don't know... but I miss them. I haven't seen them in three years. I used to talk to them occasionally over the phone but... I don't know it's just not the same." I groaned as I struggled to choose the right words, feeling relief wash over me from finally opening up to Shuichi about how I felt.

"I'm sorry Kokichi... I wish we could see them but we're needed here right now. I know a while ago you mentioned they're only a few hours away but something might happen in that time, we just can't risk it." I nodded, slightly upset that he wasn't even considering the option, but I tried to hide that from him. My head shot up to face him, a grin making its way onto my face as I remembered a certain conversation. Shuichi tilted his head in more confusion at my reaction.

"You know, a really nice person told me something earlier: 'If you and I just happened to travel for the investigation, and we just happened to pass by that area, we might just happen to see my friends.'"

Shuichi nodded slightly as I stuffed cake into my face, hoping he understood what I was trying to say.

"Alright, I'll need to contact some people but let's do it. I know how much you need this." I couldn't help but squeal in excitement, earning a few odd looks from the other customers around us. Shuichi smirked, "let's go on a sneaky vacation."