☆ opposites attract | saiouma fic ☆

forty-eight | serendipity

☆

Shuichi made sure to keep the drawing very safe with him for the rest of the day. After the final class had ended, that was when Kokichi decided to have the long-awaited conversation with Maki. Of course, Shuichi and Kaede were understandably nervous, so they kinda-sorta-maybe spied on the two of them from afar. They were standing behind a wall, peeking their heads out ever so slightly.

"It feels like we're in a spy movie. Should we have brought walkie talkies?" Kaede whispered.

"I don't think so. Wouldn't that be kind of redundant since we're right next to each other?" Shuichi replied, confused.

"Yeah, but it adds to the dramatic ambience!"

"You consider being cramped behind a wall dramatic?"

"Come on, Shuichi! Have imagination! It's more fun that way!"

"Okay, okay, sure."

"Don't you think we'd look super hot in all black with spy gear? I'm telling you, if you wanna seduce Kokichi, that's how to do it! Trust me on this. Although, maybe it's not necessary. I think you already seduce him based off of some things he's texted me."

Shuichi gasped and nearly choked on air, gripping onto Kaede's shoulder for moral support. "I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, but let's just get back to the original topic, okay?"

Kaede awkwardly laughed, glancing over at Shuichi to make sure he wasn't dying. "Okay, my bad... uh, does it look like they're getting along? Can you tell?"

Shuichi glanced at Maki and Kokichi, squinting so he had a chance at seeing a little better. He hummed as he thought. They both looked rather relaxed, it didn't look like Kokichi was making any of his usual snide comments—so far so good.

"Maki doesn't have her hands around his neck yet, so I think that's a good sign? It seems like they're just having a genuine conversation."

"Oh, yeah, you're right! Her fists aren't clenched either," Kaede nodded in agreement.

"Should we just back off? It doesn't feel like we need to watch..."

"Yeah, let's go. I don't think Maki's dumb enough to beat him up again, anyways."

With that, they both quietly backed away from the wall and left. They decided to go sit on the bench outside of the school building in the meantime, because of course, they weren't just gonna walk home without Kokichi. About ten minutes later, the door slowly creaked open. Shuichi and Kaede glanced over at it expecting Kokichi to come out, and, well... he did, but on a certain someone's back.

"Here's your shitty boyfriend back," Maki sighed, elbowing Kokichi a little bit so he'd hop off.

Kaede perked up. "Ooh, are you guys finally friends now?"

"Something like that!" Kokichi slid off of Maki's back, now dashing off to Shuichi to invade his personal space instead. "Turns out we're a lot more alike than we thought! I'm happy we got to talk, even if she still kinda hates me."

"I never said I still hate you, don't put words in my mouth." Maki mumbled, a little embarrassed.

"Ooh! So you love me?"

"No."

"What about like?"

"Maybe a little bit. Emphasis on a little, though."

"Okay, I'll take it! Do you wanna walk home with us, Maki?" Kokichi offered.

Maki hesitated. "...Sure, I guess."

They began to walk home together. It was rather peaceful, a lot more than usual, most likely because of the fact that Maki and Kokichi were now on good terms. No more drama, no more grudges, they could all finally be friends. It was like a huge weight was lifted off of the air. Maki was a little uncomfortable at first, she didn't feel like she was worthy enough to be around them after all of her aggressive behavior, but she gradually eased into things.

"Hey, Kokichi? Can I ask you something pleaseeeee?" Kaede suddenly blurted out, as if she'd been holding that in for weeks. Well, she actually kind of was.

"Yeah, what?" Kokichi looked at her, getting a piggyback ride from Shuichi.

"Are you willing to tell us why you got expelled now? I mean, you said you didn't trust me enough the last time, but you do now, right? Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Oh, that?" Kokichi thought about it for a moment, eventually nodding. "Yeah, I don't mind anymore! I trust you guys now. I actually told Maki while we were talking earlier, so there's no point in not telling you either. Extremely long story short, I hit someone over the head with a brick."

Shuichi immediately stumbled after hearing that, very caught off guard. He started gripping Kokichi harder so he didn't accidentally drop him. "Wait, what? Can you at least give more context?"

Kokichi snickered at Shuichi's reaction. "Whoops! Yeah, sorry. Let's see... It was the smelly cunt who made my childhood a living hell. I quite literally could not escape him. He spread all of these rumors about me every time I switched schools, so even if he wasn't physically there with me, he could ruin any chance I had at actually making friends. He ended up moving to the school I attended before I went here, and one day, he just started beating me up. So, naturally, I hit him with the thing closest to me. It just happened to be a brick."

Kaede winced. "Jesus. What happened to his head, then?"

"Nothing that he couldn't recover from! He did spend some time in the hospital, though. Which is why I got expelled. Oddly enough, he faced no consequences at all. I guess that's just how the justice system works sometimes, y'know?"

Maki raised an eyebrow. "Are you sad about it at all? You're kind of saying this like it's no big deal."

"I definitely am, but when I've got the sweetest boy in my life who's been helping me through everything, I don't need to focus on all that bad stuff as much." Kokichi pressed a kiss against Shuichi's head.

Shuichi blushed, "Yeah. I'm always here for you. I love you."