☆ opposites attract | saiouma fic ☆

thirty-four | loathing

☆

Behind them, there stood Kaito, hands shoved in his pockets. Kokichi looked visibly annoyed that he got interrupted, but Shuichi was more confused if anything. Why was he so late?

"When did you get here?" Kokichi asked, his soft and genuine tone from earlier completely evaporating.

"Oh, my bad, bros, I didn't mean to interrupt anything! I got here just now." Kaito replied, holding a thumbs up and a rather dumb smile to accompany it.

"You're pretty late... did anything happen? Are you okay?" Shuichi looked at Kaito, concerned.

Kokichi's gaze fixed on the area behind Kaito. He began to squint. "I'd say it has something to do with the girl behind him, don't ya' think?"

"Huh? What girl?" Confused, Shuichi glanced at where Kokichi was looking.

There was Maki. She had her arms crossed, and she was visibly tense. It was quite obvious to anybody with eyes that she didn't actually want to be there, and Kaito just made her come.

"Don't worry, I don't intend on staying long. I just need to talk to Shuichi." Maki stated bluntly.

"Huh? Why? So you can make him cry again?" Kokichi condescendingly tilted his head.

Maki clenched her fists. "No, but if you want to start crying tonight, that can easily be arranged—"

Kaito interrupted her by nudging her on the shoulder. She let out a heavy sigh.

"Nevermind. You're not worth my energy. Shuichi, can we go outside?"

Shuichi reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, I don't mind."

Shuichi gave Kokichi a gentle squeeze before letting go of him completely, and with that, he followed Maki outside. She gently shut the front door behind them so that nobody could eavesdrop.

Breaking the brief awkward silence, Shuichi opened his mouth. "Um... are you finally ready to tell me what's wrong?"

"I don't know about that, but... I'm sorry for what I said to you." Maki mumbled. "I didn't mean any of it, not at all. I was just saying stuff that I thought would push you away."

"But why would you want to push me away? You've been distancing yourself from everyone, Maki. It's worrying."

Maki hesitated.

"I thought that if I pushed you away, if I got you to want to stop talking to me... you wouldn't have to be burdened by my own insignificant problems. But, when you did finally back off, it hurt more than I imagined. All it did was cause more problems for you, and in the end, it didn't help me at all either."

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you, but... that's what worries me. What's weighing on your mind that's so bad you can't even tell me about it? It can't just be about Kokichi, can it?"

Maki's face reddened. "I guess it's partially about him, yes. He just frustrates me, and trust me, I hate him, but... I know that you love him, don't you? I've never seen you look at another boy the way that you look at him. That's also why I've been trying to keep my distance. If I argued with him or hit him again, that'd probably just hurt you, right?"

Embarrassed, Shuichi began to look off elsewhere. Was his crush seriously that obvious?

"Um— Yeah, it would... but, if I can ask, why do you hate him so much? I know it's not only about that ball he threw at Kaito. It can't be."

Nervously, Maki began running her fingers through her ponytail. "You're right. It's not. I'll... tell you later, okay?"

"Maki, If he did something to you, you should tell me."

"It's nothing like that. I guess it's more like... I hate him because of an internalized problem I have with myself, you know?"

"Internalized problem? Is it, like... an insecurity you're taking out on him? Maki, if it's that, you don't have to be embarrassed to tell me about it. We've been friends for almost our entire lives."

Getting redder, Maki stared down at the ground. "Stop talking."