Staged Li(v)es

Chapter 6

A few days prior, after their thorough talk, Shuichi suggested that Kokichi stayed at his place to cut him off his work, and more importantly to make sure he did not meet the director. Despite the actor's protests, the journalist insisted, and the inventor even forced him to take up on the offer. He reluctantly accepted after realizing he would not be able to perform correctly anyway due to his pain, and the idea of spending time in Shuichi's personal living space did sound appealing for different reasons. Therefore, after making a quick call to his manager just to inform him of his impromptu leave, he left his phone in Miu's trusting hands (to prevent getting tracked down) and went to the address Shuichi gave him with a few necessities to survive his temporary freeloading.

Aside from the essential need of rest, and the guilty pleasure of hearing his panicked manager before hanging up, Kokichi also decided to come to the journalist's place to learn more about the latter in general. At least that was how he formulated it in his head, in truth he simply snooped around his house and possessions, trying to find out his deeply seated secrets. The reporter did tell him to make himself at home, and he did not explicitly forbid him to satisfy his curiosity. In fact, Shuichi even seemed to expect the actor to roam freely around, or perhaps he was aware that stopping Kokichi of such act was futile (though he probably did not approve his research). Nonetheless the imp made use of this privilege and scavenged through the reporter's belongings like police agents looking for incriminating evidence.

He did find some juicy stuff, like his very first promising essays which were filled with horrible grammatical errors (somehow one talking about fire rang a bell to him, but he could not put his finger on it), his personal social media accounts where he published more or less embarrassing pictures and selfies with his friends, or the different mementos and decorations which he probably kept as a souvenir of his teenage phases. And as these casual blackmail materials were revealed, Kokichi got more and more excited learning random but precious information about Shuichi, making him happy for some unknown reason. He even found the beginning of the book Shuichi was writing, the one he mentioned at their first encounter. He needed to summon all his willpower to resist reading into it but managed to put it back into the drawer where he found it with a pained whine. He would read it soon enough anyway.

But what made him the most elated was when he found all the notes and observations the journalist took of him. He discovered the multiple discarded drafts the reporter threw in the trash, which after closer inspection were scratched out because they were too subjectively positive about him. In addition, some cute details were reflected in the writing, referencing some of their discussions and adventures as little they could live in this short span of time.

Indeed, Shuichi and Kokichi had only known each other for so long, and there were still times a blissful awkwardness reigned in between the two, but nothing that would push them apart. Quite the opposite, it was mostly their bashfulness speaking, and Kokichi knew how to work around the feeling which put Shuichi at ease. And his newfound self-confidence and trust only enhanced the process of the two getting closer; the actor did not solely explore the feeling of love for fun like he did before, but also wanted to accept it, to treasure it, since the one he fell for was a wonderful person who also loved him back. He was immensely lucky and made sure to live such emotions maturely but also in a giddily teenager-like fashion because that was just his character.

And even when he was caught by the reporter who scolded him for snooping in his stuff, he could only adore the joy he experienced seeing Shuichi react to his behavior. He craved getting attention overall but having the journalist's eyes on him was even more endearing than anything he had experienced (it made him wonder if perhaps he was a closeted masochist but immediately chased the thought away). He loved the tiny frown drawn on his face as he furrowed his brows, his pouting expression as Kokichi teased him further, his averting gaze as he pretended to be offended but was unable to stay angry as a meek grin grew on his lips.