𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁 | 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙢𝙖

𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁

Shuichi had his eyes on the chalkboard. Nothing could stop him from answering this. Absolutely nothing. He raised up his hand to write the equation that would lead to the answer, which would therefore make his uncle proud. His main priority always was making sure he would make his uncle happy.

I'm on a roll, he thought. I can answer this really quickly. Nothing will interrupt me, so nothing can stop me.

The male started scribbling some numbers. A few were shut in parentheses, and another few—followed by an equal sign.

He was almost finished. The numbers in his eyes started to look more lively and decreased in number. This made him feel very much at ease.

Suddenly, the door opened. Shuichi Saihara was busy finishing up what he was told to do, and he wouldn't bother to turn his head just to look at who was there. They were irrelevant currently, if it was in comparison to the symbols.

It was only a loud shout by the person at the door that shattered his concentration. The chalk fell out of his hand and everyone looked towards their right.

A boy with purple hair which defied the laws of gravity and an interesting taste in clothing. Shuichi took merely a small notice of him, of course, because now; making his uncle proud would be a distant memory. At least in the present. He was almost finished—and he could've told his uncle all about how he solved such a hard question without any help and in front of a crowd.

The teacher stood up from her seat that she took at the side of the classroom when Shuichi had begun the solving. She walked forward and slid open a drawer. Stressed, she pulled out the blue folder that held the attendance and flipped over a few.

"How long will you be staying, Kokichi?" she asked. As she waited for his answer, Kokichi Oma pretended to be thinking by putting his index finger on his chin. He tilted his head and focused his eyes to the side to add a little flavour.

"Hmm," he hummed. "I will be here for as long as I want!" He grinned widely before finding himself his chair and propping his legs in a criss-cross fashion on his table.

That empty desk was unfortunately right next to Shuichi's. The straight A student, Shuichi Saihara, had wondered why there was one if no one took it.

The teacher sighed as if it happened all the time. Well, Shuichi wouldn't know, since he had just joined the school not long ago.

I've been here for a month, and never, ever, have I seen that face among the halls or in a class.

"Sorry, Shuichi. Continue please." She gave a tired but reassuring smile. He nodded hesitantly, but he knew his mind had fogged up.

-

After class, Shuichi attempted to approach the bold young man. He was usually a stuttering mess, so he couldn't help but wonder what would come out of his mouth.

Kokichi was still in his pose where his legs were on the table as he was leaned back in the chair. He looked up at the standing boy and grinned.

He must love teasing, thought Shuichi, though he pushed it away as he knew he would be a teensy sensitive to it. After all, he wasn't exactly social.

"Hey there, emo," was the first thing Kokichi said. Shuichi's mouth opened and he was in a stance where he was trying to ask a question.

"What do ya wanna say? Oo, cat got your tongue? Yeah. A lot of people get like that around me."

Shuichi was generally surprised how someone could be so energetic. He was almost envious of the fact that he could just say something so assuming right off the bat.

"W-what's your name?" Wow, great way to start. Look at that face. This guy's about to go on a teasing spree.

The bell rang for their next subject and Kokichi said a 'toodles' before heading the opposite direction of class. Shuichi concluded that Kokichi, the shorter of the two, didn't enjoy following the rules.

While the teacher was doing his job, Shuichi couldn't stop thinking about the way Kokichi barged into the classroom which stopped his line of thinking. It was. . .how would he describe it?

Didn't he just learn a word in literature class a month ago? Maybe in the beginning of the year? Nothing really came to mind.

The religion teacher who was in front of him right now hinted. "—that's a spirit. Now, do we believe in this? No, because we're devoted Christian's and—"

That's right! Spirt. Espirit. That was the word that was ringing in a close but distant place. At that time, he couldn't really hear the teacher, so when he went home he just searched up the Google definition.

He knew the definition word by word. The quality of being lively, vivacious, or witty. When Shuichi had seen this word, he couldn't help but feel guilty about how he didn't have even one trait listed. His uncle told him that it was fine and all, and he had another word to describe him that has yet to come.

But now he understood that, because personalities contrast. He didn't completely want Kokichi's personality, but he admired it.

A tense feeling, was it not? A voice echoed in his ear, slow enough for Shuichi to make out every syllable.

There is only one more class after this one. I'll talk to him once I'm finished and I hope he'll be there.

-

The eccentric lad was with Shuichi behind the school now. If he wasn't wrong, this could be a confession of somewhat. But he knew what shy people looked like when flustered; he liked to tease people. Normally not to their limits, of course.

Right now Shuichi looked normal. He wasn't blushing out of his mind or anything, so it was weird. It would've made sense for the purple-haired boy to think, Oh! We've only met for a day, so he wouldn't like me. But Kokichi knew that way of thinking was naïve. Anything seen at first glance should also be taken into account.

"So~ Mr. Emo, what did you want from me? Perhaps a confession~?"

Shuichi only then blushed and then pulled his hat down. He always wore it since it was a gift from his parents. He also had a hard time looking at someone in the eye when they were talking.

"N-no, not that. I just wanted to ask. . .if you wanted to hang out."

Kokichi knew that he wasn't seen because of that cap covering the other's beautiful face, so he allowed himself to widen his eyes.

"Really now~? Is this a joke?" He asked. It might've come off as a joking tone, but he was actually serious. Perceptive as he was, Shuichi didn't notice this.

"O-of course not! I just wanted to hang out. . .you can say no—"

"No way!" Kokichi interrupted. He was glad. "I would be more than grateful to hang out with you, my beloved Shumai!"

Shuichi turned rigid at the sudden use of a nickname since Kokichi had never even heard his full name, but he smiled under his cap.

"Y-yeah."