At Last || Saiouma fanfic

See You Later

     Shuichi took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He needed to think calmly and rationally about what to do. Kokichi sent his location, he hadn't been responding to calls all night, it was likely that he was in trouble. He had to go, what else could he do?

     He walked down the stairs, still in his pajamas, and quickly slipped on some shoes and the hat Kokichi had given him before exiting the house. The street outside was icy, the puddles of melted snow on the ground glowed orange from the reflection of the flickering streetlights. 

     He opened the car door and clicked on the location Kokichi had sent, imputting the address into google maps with his shaky fingers. He didn't bother putting his seatbelt on as he backed out of the driveway and sped down the desolate road.

     The directions lead to a bus stop stationed just outside an alleyway to the north of the city. Shuichi stopped his car down the street and began walking down the sidewalk, glancing around nervously as he approached the area. As he turned the corner, one of the few working streetlights illuminated a large bus that seemed to shudder in the cold pulling up to the stop, and Kokichi was about to get onto it.

     Shuichi dashed down the street, losing his hat as he ran but not caring to pick it up. "Kokichi!" He yelled, catching the boy's attention.

     "Ah, Shumai! And here I thought you weren't coming.." He said, pouting dramatically and turning to face Shuichi.

     "Kokichi, what's going on here..?" Shuichi replied, catching his breath as he reached the edge of the walkway.

     Kokichi's feigned look of sadness turned into that of a genuine one. "I'm leaving." He said bluntly, his purple eyes fixed on the icy pavement.

     Shuichi's words caught in his throat for a moment. "I- you're.. leaving? N-no.. this is just another one of your pranks, right?" He said finally, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

     "Nope, I'm being honest for once. I'm.. I'm not welcome in that house anymore. I'm going to live with my big brother in the next state over." He said, his voice beginning to shake.

     Shuichi stayed silent for a while. "..We can stay in touch, right? We have each other's phone numbers.." 

     "I thought about that. I think it's best if we don't, it'll just make it hurt more. And you know what they say about long distance relationships always ending in breakups. I'd rather just remember you.. remember us in a positive light. It's better that way."

     Shuichi nodded, tears forming in his eyes. Suddenly, Kokichi grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss. Their first kiss. He pulled away quickly, staring into his teary gray eyes. He let a small smile creep up on his face. "Sorry, had to do that at least once before I left." Regaining his cheery composure, he grabbed a backpack off of the ground and hopped up onto the bus. 

     Shuichi, still dazed from all the things happening at once, gave a small wave. "Goodbye.." He said weakly, forcing himself to smile.

     "Lets just say 'see you later'. Sounds way less depressing that way." He said as the doors of the bus began to close.

     "Okay, see you later." Shuichi replied, his smile now being almost genuine. It amazed him how Kokichi could still be so cheerful and happy in a situation like this. 

     "See you later, Shumai! Love ya!" He got out of the way of the doors of the bus as they closed. And with that, the bus sped away. No fanfare, nothing like you saw in the movies, just the sound of the occasional passing traffic and his own sobbing. He stood there and stared, hoping maybe the bus would miraculously turn around and he could talk to Kokichi one last time, but nothing of the sort happened. He just stood in the cold in his pajamas until the morning sun peeked up over the city skyline. 

     Suddenly something bumped against his foot. His hat, blown there by the wind. The one that was dirty and worn and bore a last name of someone who was still completely unfamiliar to him on the tag. He grabbed it off the ground and clutched it to his chest. Under his breath, he repeated the words Kokichi had said quietly, as if talking to the wind. "See you later..."

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that was painful to write-

anyways this is most likely the end, if i feel like it i might write an epilogue or something similar but dont count on it. anyways thank you for reading i hope you liked it!!