Passionate Flames [SaiOma]

1. The Beginning

Shuichi Saihara wouldn't necessarily call himself a shy person, simply unsocial.

In school, he could count the amount of genuine friends he had on one hand. At the Ultimate Academy he would say he could only confidently call 1 person his friend. Although, he could've only said that for so long.

Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist, was the only person who had been consistently friendly towards him during the first few weeks of the group of 16 being trapped.

It had been months though, and the group slowly became closer. Kaede even got into a relationship.

"Oh, Saihara! I wanted to tell you something, promise me you won't tell anyone else." She pulled him aside after breakfast. "You're my closest friend, so I trust you with this."

The Ultimate Detective nodded, nervous despite the upcoming news seeming to be happy.

"You remember how I used to rant to you about how oblivious Amami seemed to me trying to hint that I like him?" The pianist chuckled.

"You're dating now?!"

She nodded, not able to hide her grin. Shuichi was soon grinning with her, happy that his best friend was happy.

As he promised, he said not a word to their other classmates.

"Hey, Saihara! Let's hang out today!" Kokichi beamed.

"Oh, uh sure." The detective tried to match his companion's enthusiasm.

The two spent the day doing something seemingly incredibly random.

This repeated every day as Kaede spent her time with her boyfriend, or on the rare occasion with another classmate.

Shuichi found himself able to understand Kokichi, even gaining the skill of picking out his most convincing lies. He enjoyed it, he enjoyed being with Kokichi.

He soon considered the supreme leader as one of his closest friends, his heart ached at the label however.

One day, the detective was invited to his new friend's dorm.

He rang the doorbell, nervously fidgeting with his fingers. He wasn't sure what the shorter boy wanted to do, and he definitively never allowed his mind to imagine the possibilities.

"My beloved Saihara, I knew you'd come!" Kokichi exclaimed, pulling his companion into his room and closing the door.

"So...uhm...what do you want to do?" Shuichi stood awkwardly, analysing the place.

It was messy, to say the least, with trinkets and gadgets scattered everywhere.

"Oh, I thought we could just...talk." The shorter boy said, sitting on his bed with a thoughtful look.

The detective continued to awkwardly stand at the door, still fidgeting with his fingers.

"You can sit down, don't be a stranger!"

Taking the invitation, he sat next to his companion on the bed with a self proclaimed appropriate distance between them.

"I wanna be honest with you, Saihara." He placed his hand over the detective's. "You're one of the only people here I really feel like I can trust."

Shuichi's breath caught in his throat, he swallowed dryly. What did Kokichi want to tell him that would lead with that?

"I have a question before I continue."

"Go on."

"Did you ever...like Akamatsu as more than a friend?"

Shuichi's eyes widened slightly at the question, not because it was insulting in any way but because of how out of character it felt for the ultimate beside him.