Little Do You Know

A Speck of Happiness

As Yamamoto-Sensei traversed the maze of desks, Kokichi handed him his assignment. The teacher smiled as he continued walking, collecting other assignments. Kokichi bounced in his seat, excited to have finished the impossible assignment. He glanced at the back of Saihara's head and smiled fondly. 

They pulled two all-nighters together as Saihara helped the entire time, neither left their room except for the detective getting food and Kokichi pretending to eat. Saihara seemed to care for Kokichi but the latter continued to convince himself that it was wishful thinking. Regardless, Kokichi found himself trusting Saihara enough to walk around without his contact or eyepatch. Only in front of Saihara though, he'd wear the eyepatch if they had a visitor or if he left the room.

Kokichi heard a voice shout but was too lost in his world of romance to understand. It was only when Saihara turned and locked eyes with him that the man snapped back to reality. Saihara smiled and waved, making Kokichi roll his eyes and stick up his middle finger, turning to stare out the window in hopes of hiding his blush.

A soft nudge startled him. Turning to his side, Kokichi watched Amami smirking as he mouthed the words 'you're welcome'. His mouth hung open as Kokichi rolled his eyes and mouthed an insult.

He had to admit that things were fun now, Kokichi was having more fun than he knew possible. Every day he would join Saihara's friend group and even ended up spending time with Harukawa and Momota around, though they couldn't stop arguing at least ten times per minute. It wasn't important, Kokichi endured whatever he needed if it meant spending time with Saihara.

The siren rang as everyone scrambled to leave like clockwork at the end of each class. Kokichi followed the routine before a voice interrupted forming conversations. "Ouma, please stay behind for a moment." Watching everyone leave, Kokichi approached his teacher. "How are you going? I wanted to check in on you."

Kokichi scoffed. His teacher held him back from lunch for a stupid well-being check. "I know you're being told to ask, but I'm fine," he spat.

"I'm not being told to," Yamamoto-Sensei argued. "Ouma, you're a great student and I want to make sure you're happy here. No one should have to go through what you must've suffered to reach the point that you did."

"This seems unprofessional." Kokichi didn't want to talk about his thoughts and feelings, not now.

"That's because I'm not talking to you as a teacher." They stared at each other for a moment, lost in silence before Kokichi muttered gratitude. "Your grades could be better, but you're not on the brink anymore." Frowning, Kokichi tilted his head in hopes that Yamamoto-Sensei would explain further. "You're doing a bit better now. That doesn't mean to stop caring, but I don't want you to worry about it."

"Oh, alright," Kokichi hummed with a grin. "Guess I'm not getting expelled today? Awe, what a shame."

"I'll never understand how your mind works," Yamamoto-Sensei sighed. Kokichi wished he could understand his mind too. "I know you're trying so don't worry about expulsion. Now, have fun at lunch." With a relieved grin and nod, Kokichi bounced from the room and immediately bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going!" Kokichi spat, holding his bruised and battered head.

"Sorry Ouma," a voice chuckled. Kokichi froze, staring at Saihara who smiled at him. "Are you hurt?"

"What the hell are you doing? Shouldn't you be with the group?" Kokichi asked, avoiding the question and blush spreading across his cheeks. God, he hated how much he'd blush around the detective. Somehow, Saihara freed his shy self from the prison that Kokichi tried to force his true personality into long ago. No one had ever done that before, hell his mum couldn't do that without Kokichi having a breakdown.