☆ opposites attract | saiouma fic ☆

forty-two | nervous

☆

After Shuichi had that conversation with Maki, he went about his day as usual. Thankfully, nothing happened. The day was actually pretty uneventful, the only topic of conversation amongst the class being the party that happened during the weekend. Shuichi and Kaede's initial plan actually ended up working pretty well, as there was a noticeable difference in the way that Kokichi was being talked about. Rather than all of those rude rumors, it was only about how fun he seemed to be.

As of right now, though, the trio was walking home together. Shuichi and Kokichi were holding hands as per usual, while Kaede seemed to be oddly quiet. It was most likely just her nerves getting the best of her; she does have to do something way out of her comfort zone today, after all.

"Hey, Shuichi? I noticed that Maki wasn't giving me any dirty looks today. What's up with that?" Kokichi asked, kicking rocks across the pavement as he walked.

"Really? None at all? That's good..." Shuichi replied, following the rocks with his eyes. "I'd say she's just trying to improve her attitude towards you."

Kokichi tilted his head. "You think so? Is that what you were talking about with her earlier today?"

"Yeah, which kind of brings me to my next question..." Shuichi subconsciously gave Kokichi's hand a squeeze. "Would you be willing to talk things out with her? She's a little nervous about it."

Kokichi thought about it, eventually shrugging. "Sure! As long as she doesn't beat me up again, it could be interesting."

"Great. I'll let her know." Shuichi smiled, then turned to look at Kaede, who was pretty much staring off into space. "Um... are you feeling okay, Kaede?"

Kaede drifted back down to Earth, quickly turning her head towards the other two. "Yup! Fine! I'm just gonna have to do a lot of stuff this afternoon, I'm trying to mentally prepare myself."

"Hm? Stuff like what?" Kokichi questioned.

"Let's see... I gotta feed my pets and clean my room, head over to the concert venue immediately after, go over all of the songs again, make sure all of the props and lights are okay, get my hair and makeup done, and then perform in front of thousands of people with a very pretty famous girl who makes me nervous! I convinced her to change one of the ending songs, so I can't mess this up."

Confused, Shuichi tilted his head. "Why did you convince her to change it? Do you have something planned?"

Kaede nodded, unable to hide her cheerful smile. "Yeah! I can't tell you though, obviously. You'll see what it is later!"

"Ooooh? I'm intrigued! It better be good!" Kokichi demanded, letting go of Shuichi's hand for a second and jumping onto Kaede's back at full force.

Kaede yelped, stumbling as she caught him. "Woah, hey! What are you, a frog?"

"Yup! Frogs are super cute, so thanks! Aren't I adorable like a frog, Shuichi?" Kokichi teased, glancing back at Shuichi, who was watching the chaos.

Shuichi blushed, nodding. "Um... yeah, I think so."

Kokichi smiled. "Thank youuuuu!"