Morpheus - A Drv3 fic

'' Eleos ''

[01/04/20XX]

Shuuichi left his room and headed to the cafeteria. It was 8:00am, a bit later than he usually woke up but nowhere near as late as Himiko usually is. As he headed down, he ran into Rantaro in the hall. " 'sup. Slept in?" he said, chuckling. "Ah, yeah... I stayed up a bit too late last night, haha...'' Shuuchi rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He's not lying, after his conversation with kokichi yesterday he couldn't get him off his mind, even when he was trying to sleep. It was weird, it's not that the convo was anything extraordinary, so why?- Shuuichi caught himself before his mind wandered. Rantaro nodded in understanding "mhm, happens to the best of us."

The two of them spent the rest of the walk in silence, Shuuichi's mind travelling back to Kokichi. He wonders how long it'll be 'till Kokichi's discharged, and he can see him in the morning and at breakfast... he wants to talk to him again. He's still worried, after their conversation, Kokichi's smile was very obviously forced. Kokichi doesn't open up easily, he knows this, but he wants to know. He wants Kokichi to be able to confide in him, he wants Kokichi to trust him. After everything they've been through in the game, it's only the best that they all stick together.

"Morning you two!" kaede waved at the pair as they walked into the cafeteria. "Morning." "Good morning!" the two said, making their way to buffet to grab food. Shuuichi grabbed some toast and fruit. Light, but more substantial than what he'd been eating other days.

The two sat down next to each other across from kaede and maki. "Did You guys hear?" Kaede asked, the boys both visually expressed confusion. "Kirumi's getting discharged tomorrow! And ryoma might be as well, he'll definitely be out before thursday though!" rantaro smiled "thats nice. Tenko, Angie, and Korekiyo will be soon then, yeah?" kaede stared off upwards, before meeting Rantaro's eyes again "probably!" she said. "Himiko will be happy to hear that," Shuuichi added. "Mm! One of you will have to tell her though, the team is gonna install a piano in my room! I'm so excited, i'll probably be in there all day" Kaedes hands clapped together in excitement. "Congrats," said Rantaro, "but you better not be playing that thing at two in the morning- I have the room next to you" he chuckled. "Don't worry, the rooms are soundproof!" Maki scoffed. "I'm glad Iruma's not here --- I can imagine the dirty jokes already, '' she said dryly, causing them all to laugh. 

It's nice like this.

---

Shuuichi walked down the hall, heading in the direction of kaede's room. He hasn't spent any time with her alone, yet, since it still felt kind of... awkward. He knows the feeling isn't mutual, but he still can't exactly look her in the eye. Everytime he speaks with her one-on-one, all he can think about is how he killed her, how he messed up, and how much he wished he could change things. He knows they are all alive now,but the damage is done. He feels so guilty for it all...

When he arrived at her door, knocking softly. It didn't take long for the door to open "Shuuichi!" Kaede cheered, quickly opening the door wider and gesturing for him to come in. as he entered her room, he noted the brand new grand piano. "Wow, Akamatsu, your piano looks um, very fancy" he cringed slightly at his words, but kaede didn't seem to notice "i know right! I'm surprised they can afford something like this, these pianos are pretty expensive, but then again they can afford their own hospital, so..." she trailed off for a moment, before picking the conversation back up again. "Anyways, it's a really nice piano!" Shuuichi smiled softly, "yeah..." kaded sat down on the couch in her room, and Shuuichi followed suit, sitting next to her. "I'm glad you came over, shuuichi. I mean- if you hadn't I was going to find you anyways- but I'm glad you came first!" she beamed at him. "I really wanted to talk to you" Shuuichi suddenly felt a bit nervous, his mind immediately jumping to the worst of conclusions.

"We haven't really had the chance to hang out alone since you got out, and well, I kinda get the feeling you're avoiding me..." Kaede's face fell slightly, as she fidgeted with her hands. "Oh I- I wasn't avoiding you! I mean, maybe I was, but not on purpose!" shuuichi said, anxiously trying to figure out a way to make him definitely avoiding her not sound mean...