Brats & Brains (Shuichi x Kokichi)

4 - Library Date With A Brat

~ Shuichi

I spend the entire next day under my covers in my room, grieving Kaede's death. Everything still feels like I'm watching it through someone else's eyes—I still feel detached from reality. This can't be real; I'm not a part of a mutual killing game with a dozen classmates I've never met, and nobody has died. I'm just dreaming...

I hear a knock on my door. Last night, Kaito asked me to work out with him after hours in the courtyard, but I declined his offer considering he knocked me out after the class trial. It's ironic how he's acting all friendly with me after knocking me unconscious just hours prior. Maybe he's making up for it, but working out is a weird way to make up.

"Come in," I groan. I'm surprised to see a small boy in my doorway—it's Kokichi. He hasn't talked to me at all since he took me to my room after Kaito knocked me out; I wonder what he wants.

"Hey!" Kokichi squeaks as he closes the door behind him. I sit up, rubbing my aching head and letting my blurry vision clear up. He starts walking towards me, but stops dead in his tracks with his mouth hanging open. "Wow! You finally got rid of that emo hat! Is this 'cause Kaede died or whatever?"

I glare at him and he giggles. "Sorry," he says.

I rub the top of my head, subconscious about the absence of my hat. I took it off in case I don't make it out of this academy alive, and to be fair—it was starting to get in the way.

"Too bad," Kokichi says, exploring my room. "You looked cute with it on."

I find myself blushing like I did yesterday when I woke up with him on top of me. Why is this boy making me feel this way? The feelings he awakens in me are similar to the feelings Kaede gave me... I shake those thoughts from my head; I'm just flustered by his compliments, that's all...

Kokichi finds my hat and puts it on his head. He walks over to me with a smile on his face and stands on his tip-toes, his nose brushing against mine. I start blushing again, even more than before. I can feel my heartbeat quickening as Kokichi's skin touches mine, and butterflies start to swarm in my stomach. I try backing away, but he just follows me and I lean against my desk, nearly knocking over my lamp. This makes the mischievous boy giggle.

"Do I look good?" he asks.

I smile nervously. "Yeah, sure. You're kind of a brat, though."

He giggles again as he backs away and I realize that I was holding my breath during that entire exchange. I inhale deeply as Kokichi leaves—with my hat—and closes the door behind him. I stand there stunned for a few minutes before I leave my room and head to the dining hall, where everyone else comments on my lack of hat.

"You look different, Shuichi," Kirumi says as she sets the table.

"How do I look?" Kokichi asks with my hat, posing with his hands on his hips.

"Gonta think Kokichi look good!" Gonta, the Ultimate Entomologist, says with a smile.

Nobody else comments on Kokichi's "new look;" instead, we all sit down and eat our breakfast. I haven't eaten since the morning of Rantaro's death. When I take a bite of my scrambled eggs, I come to my senses and realize how hungry I am, so I shove the food in my mouth as quickly as I can. I finish my food before everyone else, so I grab seconds since Kirumi made more than enough for everyone.

"So," starts Ryoma, the Ultimate Tennis Player—the very small boy with a voice deeper than thunder, "are we going to stop participating in this killing game now that two of our classmates are dead?"

Everyone is silent for what feels like hours, until Korekiyo, the Ultimate Anthropologist, breaks the silence with a string of mysterious laughter, "Monokuma is surely going to present us with another motive. There is no escape from this."