☆ opposites attract | saiouma fic ☆

nineteen | reflect

☆

"What's brought this on all of a sudden?" Kyoko quizzed, raising an eyebrow at her son.

"Nothing in particular. I've just noticed that a lot of people seem to have the wrong idea about him because of all of these rumors being spread, so I want to know the truth." Shuichi replied, nervously having a seat next to her on the couch.

Kyoko's face had a flicker of surprise for a moment, right before switching back to her typical deadpan expression.

"They're spreading rumors about Kokichi? What kind?"

Shuichi grimaced. "It's a lot... they've been saying he fought people at his old school, bullied them, beat them up, and they're even going as far to say he committed arson..."

Kyoko began to stifle a smile, obviously finding all of this ridiculous. "That sounds... really foolish."

Shuichi let out a sigh of relief at that. "So all of these rumors are false like I suspected, then?"

She nodded. "Correct, it's all mainly false. He did set something on fire, however, it was an accident. He was in culinary class."

Suddenly feeling a lot more relaxed, he hummed in acknowledgement. "Okay, then, uh... why did he actually end up getting expelled from his previous school? As far as I know, he does seem like a bit of a drama starter, but I don't think he'd go as far as to hurt people for his own entertainment."

Kyoko paused for a moment, but quickly found her resolve. "I'll avoid going into too much detail since I'm sure he'd prefer to tell you about it himself, but... Celeste informed me yesterday that it's because he decided to get revenge."

Shuichi blinked a few times out of confusion. "...Revenge?"

"Yes. I realize how ominous that sounds, but it's the truth. Kids at school weren't entirely fond of him, and he eventually reached a breaking point." She explained.

"Oh..." Shuichi muttered. He was definitely surprised, but also sort of expecting this. "I see. That sounds pretty bad."

He left it at that, and decided not to pry any further. He didn't want to invade Kokichi's business more than he already was. He'd already achieved his goal of finding out whether or not the rumors were true or false.

Still, that whole revenge thing would probably weigh on his mind for a while... did that mean all of Kokichi's bruises and injuries were from the kids at his old school?

Shuichi didn't even want to think about it.

There was a bit of a silence for a moment before Kyoko decided to try to lighten up the mood.

"It does sound bad, but you shouldn't worry about things too much. He has you, doesn't he?" She asked, gently ruffling Shuichi's hair.

"Yeah, that is true..." he sighed.

"Come on, tell me about some fond memories you have with him. It might help you clear your conscience a little bit, don't you agree?"

Shuichi nodded, and began to think.

"Ah, well... we've been spending a lot of time with one another ever since the first day of school, and it's been really fun. We worked on an art project together, we walk to class with each other whenever we can, he showed me his cat, and we ended up finding a common interest in books... he has a strong personality, but he's been pretty kind to me, so I'm grateful. Actually, when I went out with Tenko and Kirumi earlier today, they told me that he'd been asking them questions about my interests and things I like... it really does make me happy that he's being thoughtful towards me."

He just rambled, and rambled, and rambled.

Naturally, Kyoko listened intently to every single word, and it didn't take long for a smile to form on her face.

"I see. Then I'm positive that as long as you continue to be there for him, there won't be any issues, okay?"

Of course, Shuichi began to smile too. "Yeah."