☆ opposites attract | saiouma fic ☆

twenty-six | questioning

☆

Shortly after having that conversation, the two of them decided to head back to class together. They actually had a pretty good rest of the day, although Shuichi occasionally could feel a pair of eyes on them during class changes. He tried his best to simply disregard it and brush it off, not wanting to cause a scene.

Once the afternoon arrived, Shuichi decided to walk home together with Kokichi and Kaede. There was a bit of a bond forming between the three, and it was quite obvious to everyone around them.

"Hey, Shuichi? Do you think that you can do the honors and invite everyone to the party?" Kaede asked. "I would, but I gotta practice for this piano performance as soon as I get home."

"Oh? Sure, I don't mind."

"You play piano?" Kokichi tilted his head, kicking pebbles across the pavement with each step.

Kaede's face immediately lit up. "Yeah! You didn't know? It's, like, my number one passion! I've been doing it since I was a baby!"

"Nerd," Kokichi snickered, earning a firm smack upside the head from Kaede. Of course, he took that as an opportunity to start being a complete drama queen.

"Ouch! I was just kidding! That hurts... do you lift weights or something?" He whined, now aggressively rubbing the spot where he got smacked. Fake tears welled up in his eyes.

Kaede shrugged, giggling. "I do when Kaito makes me workout with him. I guess it is paying off, huh?"

"Kaito? You mean, the dude who's haircut is the reason hats were invented?" Kokichi sniffled, earning an even firmer smack upside the head from Kaede.

"Hey! We don't talk smack about people's haircuts, okay?" Kaede lectured, prompting Kokichi to now just full out start fake sobbing.

"Ack! Who are you, my mom or something!?" Kokichi yelped, aggressively wiping his tears and wailing for the whole street to hear.

Shuichi frowned. "You two, people are staring. Please don't cause a scene, okay?"

Suddenly, Kokichi's tears dried up as if they were never there. "Yeah, Kaede! Why were you causing a scene?"

"I'm talking to both of you, Kokichi."

Kokichi sadly looked down at the ground in response to that, making Kaede burst out into laughter.

"Imagine getting humbled by your boyfriend? Could never be me." She teased, nudging Kokichi on the shoulder.

"That's because you can't get a boyfriend." He retorted.

"Duh! I like girls,"

"Whatever! Besides, as much as I wish Shuichi would be my boyfriend, he isn't." Kokichi frowned dramatically, turning towards Shuichi and giving him puppy eyes.

Shuichi went red. "What?!"

"Pfft- I'm just kidding, but your reaction was funny!"

"Oh..." He mumbled.

Kaede raised an eyebrow. She knew damn well that Kokichi wasn't kidding, but she decided to just keep it quiet for now.

"Anyways! About that piano thing, it's a week from now. Next Monday. Would you guys wanna come see me?" She asked, just trying to find a change of topic.

"Of course, Kaede." Shuichi said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Yup! Same!" Kokichi added.

"Great! It looks like we're at my house now, though... I'll see you guys later, okay?" Kaede smiled, waving goodbye to both of them as she walked off.

After that, Shuichi walked Kokichi home, and he was then left by himself. For a moment, his heart felt like it was swelling up.

He glanced down at his new necklace, fidgeting with it some more.

"I wish you wouldn't play with my feelings so much, Kokichi..." He mumbled solemnly, lamenting over all of the times that Kokichi would 'jokingly' flirt with him.

This wasn't good. He didn't know how to identify any of these feelings in the slightest. He needed to talk to somebody about this. Someone who was good with emotions.

So, the moment he opened the front door to his house...

"Dad? Can I ask you a question?"

"Hm?" Makoto, who was sitting on the couch, quickly turned his attention to Shuichi. "Of course, what's wrong?"

"Uh... how did you know that you loved mom? Like, what made you realize it?"