The New Motive

The Walk

"Toby, Toby, Toby! No!" Shuichi yelled as he ran over to the cat sitting on the counter in the kitchen. "Don't you dare. I have to go to school in a minute and I don't have time to clean up after you right now."

He stopped a few feet away trying to convince the feline to stop, but he just looked at the detective and then back at the glass next to him, paw still raised next to it.

"Aw, are you two having fun together?" Kokichi asked, walking in with his bag to pick up the grey cat in his arms, pulling him away from the cup. "What are you doing? Silly boy," he smiled at the animal who just mewed quietly in response.

"He's trying to knock the dishes off the counters again."

"What!? No. He would never," the violette said. "Isn't that right T?"

He just meowed again before turning around and swatting the glass off the counter and cuddling up against the leader, purring.

Shuichi just shot him a look that said 'I told you so' as a reply.

"Hmm," he looked down at the glass all over the floor then back up at the taller before glancing at the cat and back to the floor. "I'll clean that."

It had now been a few weeks since the shorter male had brought home their cat and he'd already broken almost half of their dishes from pushing them off of everything. But immediately afterwards he'd always run to the violette to lay down and avoid getting in trouble. He also had a habit of trying to trip Shuichi whenever he walked through the door. But they both loved him anyways.

So once the mess was cleaned the two males said goodbye to him and started walking in the direction of the school.

They didn't make it very far, though, before someone ran into them as they were rounding a corner, knocking the taller to th he ground.

"Shu," he exclaimed, kneeling down next to him, "are you okay?"

"I, . . . Yeah, I'm okay," he said, taking the other's hand as he extended it out to help him up. "Thanks."

But that's when he caught a glimpse of who he'd ran into.

"Akamatsu. What are you doing here? The school's the other direction."

"I, uh, . . . Yeah, I know. I'm sorry for running into you like that. Geez, this happens a lot, huh?" she chuckled nervously. When she saw that neither of them were laughing about it though, she continued. "I was headed to your house to see if you'd want to walk to school together today, . . . but it seems like you're busy."

"Well . . . "Shuichi wondered aloud, turning to the shorter for approval. He thought for a moment then reluctantly nodded. "Why don't you join us? We have to head to the same place anyways."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, sure. We were just talking about some stuff." He explained as he continued walking with the violette, the pianist following next to them.

"Like what? If you don't mind my asking, that is."

"Nothing much, just the dance."

"The Winter Dance?"

"Mm-hmm," the shortest of the group replied quietly, taking his boyfriend's hand in his own and moving closer to him, watching the blonde carefully. "Who are you going with?"

"Well, I was going to ask Kiibo if he'd want to go with me. You know, since we were paired together in the academy, we spent more time together. But I don't think he was wanting to go. So, . . . I'm not really sure. What about you? Who are you guys going wit- Sorry. That was a stupid question? What are you two planning on wearing? Are you gonna match?"

"Uh," the taller said as they turned to look at one another briefly. "We're not sure quite yet."

"You should take Irima," Kokichi blurted out, not really thinking about it.

"Huh, what?"

"Oh, nothing. I just figured, you know, you wanna go, right? Well, you don't have anyone to take. And no one else is desperate enough to get near that filthy cumdumpster, so why not?"

"Kokichi, not so loud. I know you two don't get along, but she's really not the worst person, you kno-"

"Besides," he cut the taller off. "I think . . . I think she'd like to go with you."

"Oh," she said, seeming like she didn't believe him. "Is it because you think that way of me, to-"

"No, I just," he sighed, trying not to talk to her any more than he had to. "I think you'd enjoy yourselves. She has a thing for you, ya know? So at least she could have a good time. Not that either of us care."

"She doesn't like me," she said blandly.

"I don't think that's true."

"You're lying. I thought she was seeing someone."

"She probably made it look that way to try and see if you'd get jealous to see if you felt the same way. But she gave up when she saw you were too focused on Shuichi to even notice her. But she's pretty stubborn sometimes. If you're lucky, she hasn't given up on you yet."

"But . . . " she thought aloud in disbelief. "Are you lying to me?"

"Could you really blame me if I was? Besides, I did my part. Find out for yourself, if you feel that way, that is. Maybe she likes you. Maybe I'm just a liar." By that t I'm me they'd gotten to the gates in front of the school and had to part ways. "Bye, Piano Bitch," he called back walking off to his morning classes.

Shuichi stayed behind for a moment though when Kaede spoke.

"Hey, Saihara."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Is . . . Is he telling the truth? About Irima?"

"I couldn't tell you. She doesn't talk to me about things like that."

"I see."

"But . . . I think you should talk to her about it."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I do," just then the bell rang out across the campus, calling everyone inside. "Well, I have to go now. I'll see you later, maybe. Bye," he called back waving as he walked off. "Good luck."

"Bye," she whispered back, waving as the bell stopped ringing, standing alone in the courtyard for a few more moments before turning to head off to her first class.

Hey, sorry for posting this a little later than usual, but I finished it so why not, right? Have some Irimatsu, or whatever the proper name for it is. AkaMiu? I don't know. Anyways, I hope you're all doing alright in quarantine. Stay safe and take care of yourselves. And for anyone who needs it: Drink some water or eat something if you haven't in as while. And if it's late, try to get some sleep soon. Anyone wearing some form of binder, take it off for a bit and breathe. Or whatever it is you need to do. I've been neglecting my health and trying to get better at not doing that lately. So I just wanted to let you all know that you're important and I love you guys. So, until next time. Bye. ^w^