Through the Years (NDRV3)

2:|| Introductions:

Kaede's eyes were torn away from the piano at the sound of the voice of the caretaker, Komaeda. He was such a sweet man, clearly loved being around kids and dealt kindly with them. The caretaker wanted everyone together for something special he wanted to say. 

All fourteen kids gathered around Komaeda in a circle and stared at him with curious eyes. Somehow, Rantaro had convinced the loner, Korekiyo, to sit with him and Kaede. It was nice to see him not down in his spirits for once. 

"We have a new kid joining us today, and once he's introduced himself, I want all of you to introduce yourselves to him," Komaeda told them all. 

Kokichi's eyes sparkled. "Epic! I love new things! Bring in the new boy!"

On cue, a boy with deep navy-ish blue hair peeked his head out from behind the caretaker. His golden eyes were huge as he looked from each face to the next. Kaede supposed he was shy. 

"Go on, introduce yourself," Komaeda said gently. 

The boy pursed his lips. "Hi... I'm... Sh... Shuichi."

Kokichi placed his hands on his hips. "Sh... Shuichi? Who do you think you're shushing, Shu?"

Shuichi's eyes went wide. "Shu?!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm calling you now."

Komaeda shot him a glare, which was basically telling him to shut up and stop overwhelming the new boy. Thankfully, Kokichi listened, though his eyes were still fixated on Shuichi, almost in awe. 

"Now, everybody go on and introduce yourselves to Shuichi."

"ME FIRST! I'M MIU!"

"COME ON, POOPHEAD! I WANTED TO GO FIRST!"

"NANANA BOO BOO!"

Komaeda pinched the bridge of his nose. "Miu, Kokichi, cut this behavior out, now."

Kokichi rolled his eyes. Kaede didn't dislike him, but he wasn't her favorite person at all... He was so sassy and blatantly disobedient, but he was certainly a character, and people either loved him or they hated him. The boy claimed to have followers, but he was known to lie for attention, so... 

"Well, Shu, I'm Kokichi!"

Shuichi bit his lip. "I knew that. Komaeda told me you were standing in the corner because you...  bit someone."

"Yeah. It was Kaito. He's a weenie."

Kaito was offended, but he was always offended at anything Kokichi said to him. Kaede wished desperately that the two boys would just get along. 

"By the way, I'm Kaito, and I am NOT a weenie."

Shuichi blinked at him. "Kokichi can have opinions, you know."

Komaeda placed a hand over his mouth to mask a laugh. "Okay, okay, let everyone else introduce themselves now."

"Angie is my name!"

"Eww, a smelly boy!" That was Tenko, little to Kaede's surprise. 

Komaeda sighed. "Shuichi, that's Tenko, since it's obvious she won't introduce herself."

The introductions went on from there, except Korekiyo said nothing. But Kaede expected as much from the poor lonely boy. 

"I'm... Maki. Hey."

"I'm Tsumugi!"

"Nyeh... Why was I woken up from my nap for this...? I'm Himiko..."

"K1-B0, but you may call me Kiibo! I'm a robot designed to function almost exactly like a human!"

Shuichi blinked at him. "That's... Cool. Nice to meet you, Kiibo..."

Kiibo looked proud to be called cool, and Kaede couldn't blame him. She actually thought he deserved to be called cool, too. 

"I'm Kirumi."

"Ryoma..."

"Rantaro."

"And I'm Kaede!"

Kokichi mimed a gag and snickered as Kaede spoke. Her cheeks were most likely pink with annoyance, which made her feel embarrassed at the same time. 

Komaeda clapped his hands together and smiled. "Now we all know each other, isn't this great?"

Korekiyo shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"I wanna go home..."

"Not this again... Kiyo, buddy, you can't go home right now, not until the evening when your... sister can pick you up..."

His voice was strained as he mentioned Korekiyo's sister, almost as if the words were poison. Kaede didn't understand what was so wrong about the girl, but Komaeda seemed to really dislike her. 

"I know..."

Rantaro reached his arm out, his eyebrows questioning for a hug. Korekiyo was reluctant at first, but he eventually gave him one, looking more peaceful than he had in a while. It was good to see. 

Kaede decided to approach Shuichi and try to talk to him. But she frowned when she noticed Kokichi dragging him along to the corner where he had been standing in. 

"What do you think you're doing, Kokichi?" she inquired of him sternly, glaring. 

"I'm showing him my second home," Kokichi explained casually. 

"YOU'RE A DELINQUENT!" Tenko shouted bitterly at him. 

Kokichi cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back, "I'M EVIL AND I'M PROUD! YOU'RE JUST A BIG MEANIE WHO PICKS ON BOYS! I BET YOU KISS GIRLS!"

Shuichi gave a wail, and Komaeda rushed over to take him away from all the yelling and drama. He needed to calm down. It seemed that he got overwhelmed easily. 

Kaede saw a stab of pity across Kokichi's face for a second before he shrugged and leaned against the corner wall. 

"Leave him alone, you're scaring him," Kaede told Kokichi, her cheeks burning pink once again. 

"Go tell your mommy on me, see if I care."

Kaede rarely got angry, but she was mad that this was happening on the day a new kid came in. She stormed off, on the verge of tears of rage. 

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Here, another chapter in less than a day after the first was posted, woah! 🙏🙏 I hope people are liking this, please don't be shy, comment. It gives me motivation. 

(word count: 857)