☆ opposites attract | saiouma fic ☆

thirty-two | reconcile

☆

About an hour into the party, things seemed to thankfully be going smoothly.

The animal lovers of the group—Ryoma and Gonta—were playing with Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg and protecting him from all of the chaos like their lives depended on it. Kirumi was preparing snacks and drinks, meanwhile Kokichi was blasting absolutely insufferable music using the new function that Miu installed into Kiibo. Himiko was giving a mini magic show while Tenko, Angie, and Tsumugi watched. Kaito was late and hadn't arrived yet, so finally...

That left Rantaro, Korekiyo, Kaede, and Shuichi together to talk. It seemed like ages since the last time they had a conversation.

"Been a while, hasn't it?" Rantaro sighed, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

"Yeah..." Shuichi languidly nodded, helping Korekiyo remove Himiko's stray confetti from his hair. "How have things been with you two? I know that Kaede and I have been pretty occupied, I'm sorry about that."

"Do not fret, it is not your liability," Korekiyo reassured him. "We've been... fine." He cleared his throat, clearly hesitating to utter that sentence.

Rantaro blushed. "Yeah. We're good."

Shuichi and Kaede made the same exact confused expression at the exact same time, prompting Rantaro to laugh.

"What? Have you two been together for so long that you're in sync now?" Rantaro tilted his head.

"Duh! Shuichi's my platonic soulmate, we're bound for life." Kaede stated matter-of-factly. "But that's besides the point! Why were you two so awkward just now?"

"Yeah. Rantaro, did you finally, uh— you know?" Shuichi whispered, trying to ask Rantaro if he'd confessed to Korekiyo yet.

Rantaro and Korekiyo looked at each other, and then back at Shuichi and Kaede. They both nodded.

"I did. We're dating now, okay? But you're the only people who know about this now, so you gotta keep it a secret." Rantaro spoke in a hushed tone, leaning forward slightly so that nobody else could eavesdrop.

"Seriously? That's great!" Kaede replied, trying her best not to squeal.

"Indeed." Korekiyo replied, a small smile on his face. "But enough about us, what about the pair of you? I imagine that it's been difficult, yes?"

Kaede let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh, yeah. Definitely difficult, but... I can't complain all that much. Especially not compared to what Shuichi's had to deal with."

"Yeah. It's been a lot. But... thankfully, I've had Kokichi and Kaede by my side. They're a big help, always knowing exactly how to cheer me up." Shuichi said, smiling a little as he pulled the final strand of confetti off of Korekiyo's head.

"That's good to hear. Do you think you'll make up with Maki anytime soon?" Rantaro asked.

Shuichi shrugged, sighing. "I can only hope so. Even though it stings, I still consider her my friend. I'll wait as long as it takes for her to come to me and open up."

"How do you intend on regaining her camaraderie while simultaneously being close to Kokichi?" Korekiyo raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure. Honestly, I'd rather not think about it... I'm not giving either of them up though, I at least know that much. They're both too important to me."

"You're not giving me up, huh?" Kokichi's voice came out of nowhere, sounding as sly as ever.

"Wait— what!?"