ɪ ꜱᴛᴏʟᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ, ꜱᴏ ɴᴏᴡ ɪ'ᴍ ꜱᴀᴛɪꜱꜰɪᴇᴅ || SAIOUMA

Chapter 9 - Realisation

I walked back home and faceplanted my bed. Itsuki looked up from his book. 'Hey Kokichi.'

'Mmph mmht mkph,' I said into my pillow.

'English please?'

I reluctantly raised my head from my pillow. 'It's nothing.'

'Kokichi, I've known you since we were kids, I know something's wrong. What happened?' Itsuki put a bookmark in his book before sitting next to me.

'Shuichi...' I muttered, 'Kissed... a girl...'

'Oh...'

After a few seconds of silence, Itsuki spoke again. 'I would have thought you'd be the last to assume things...'

'What do you mean...?'

'I mean,' Itsuki explained, 'Give him one chance. Invite him to the abandoned Hotel Kumasutra. Make a move on him, and if he rejects you, you won't have to talk to him again. If he feels the same, well, I guess you got a boyfriend.'

'Okay, I'll... I'll give it a try.'

Shuichi Pov

I'm regretting everything. Why did I kiss Kaede? She was my closest friend and I love her as a sister... I probably made her feel uncomfortable as well...

I drove towards the detective agency and went to Kirigiri's office.

'Kirigiri? What happened?' I asked, opening the door.

'Sit down,' they said, gesturing to a chair in front of her desk, 'A few days ago you brought a "friend" in with you. I asked Celeste to put a tail on him, and we found out his full name. Kokichi Ouma.'

'Ouma...?'

'Yes. Since his fingerprints match up with the ones on his cards, and some around the crime scene, he is now a prime suspect,' Kirigiri continued, 'We are trying to track his location now, and when we do, we'll take him in for questioning. Chances are he'll get arrested and will have a long stay in prison.'

'Ko- Ouma is going to be arrested?'

'Yes, that's what I said.'

The fact that the Phantom Thief is going to be arrested felt a lot worse than I thought. The feeling of relief that it's all going to be over was gone, and all that was left is despair. I'll never see him, never be able to talk to him again... I don't want to lose him...

My own thoughts made me realise that I'd done the worst thing possible for my career as a detective. I'd fallen in love with Kokichi Ouma.