ShuichixKokichi‼️

Chapter Eight

(A/N: this chapter takes place about twenty minutes before the previous chapter's ending. Enjoy!)

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Shuichi's POV

The hallways were hard to navigate after the last classes before the free time bell rang throughout the school. I was finally starting to memorize me route to my dorm room, where I surprisingly spent a lot of time during the days, considering the course of classes I take. All I knew is if I heard the word 'law' one more time that day, I'd lose it. My so called aspiration really did find its way into my personal life.
I shivered despite my dark jacket, letting out a breath I hadn't even known I was holding in. The dorm hall often was quite cold. I pulled my key from my pocket and unlocked my door, rushing into the room and shutting the door behind me. The change in temperature was dramatic! The warmer air hitting my face felt like a relief. I wasted no time putting my books and folders down on my desk and sitting down on my bed. It wasn't the softest mattress whatsoever, but I've grown to find it fairly comfortable. After a little over a week, this bed has become my favorite thing ever.
"I should probably make myself something to eat.."
I trailed off. My body started to gradually felt weighed down, heavy, I lost motivation to move even an inch.
Maybe I wouldn't be going to make myself something to eat.
I stretched out and settled down on the bed, lazily pulling the blanket over half of my body. I gave in to the exhaustion and let my eyes shut. Moving into a more comfortable position, I slowly drifted.
Hey, I wonder if kokichi wanted to...

Knock knock!

"Mmh..what?"
My eyelids fluttered open from the sudden noise. It had been so quiet, that knocking sound easily woke me up from my nap. I checked the time on my phone.
1:13 PM
Oh, I didn't sleep very long. No wonder I'm still so tired.
I stood up to answer the door, dragging my sluggish legs across the carpet. Maybe it's Rantaro wanting his shoes? Or perhaps one of my other friends. Kaede Akamatsu, Kaito Momota, and those other few people I met; Gonta Gokuhara, Maki Harukawa — she was intimidating to say the least, Kaito had introduced me to her a couple days ago, but I suppose she's nice — hmm, what was that other person's name? Korekiyo Shinguji, who was an odd man, then those two girls I saw the first day we got her, Tenko Chabashira or Himiko Yumeno. I expected it to be anybody to be truthful.
Or it could be him?
I tried to fix my hair but to no avail, the messy locks of hair tangled from shifting in my short sleep. Oh well, I didn't need to look presentable.
I unlocked my room door and opened it, adjusting to the brighter light of the hallway. I knew it.
"O-oh, Ouma-kun, I had no idea you were coming by. Come on in."
I stepped back into the room and made sure he had plenty of space to get through and walk into my dorm, but before I even took a step Kokichi had already shimmied his small body past me, bending down ever so slightly to avoid bumping his head into my arm. He was such an odd boy, I just couldn't figure him out.
"You lied to me Saihara-Chan! You said you were going to change around this time!"
I looked at my apparel. He was right, I never did change. My face felt heated, I could already tell my face was flushed a light shade of pink.
Kokichi was very child like, I observed. He always smiled and kept up his teasing. He was also very immature.
His comment on wanting to watch me change proved just that.
It wasn't even a few minutes and we were already in my room. I pointed out his clothing, seeing as he wore clothes that didn't quite match his usual fashion sense, but it looked good on him. He looked really cute- hey, wait! I can't think like that!
I mentally grumbled at myself to stop being so indecent, especially since me and Ouma-kun hadn't been friends for too long, if you could even call us friends. I decided to change the subject to distract my mind.
"Hey Ouma, how come you use a...feminine term when talking to me?"
I paused mid-sentence to figure out how I should word my question. I thought about this for a while. I see no reason why he would talk to me that way, unless I seem feminine to him?
"Hm? Oh, because you're real girly Shumai! You're like a skinny girl with men's clothing!"
My face erupted into an intense blush from his answer. I covered the lower half of my face and turned away to avoid eye contact with him.
"I'm not that girly, I think the way I look is just fine!"
Though he was simply doing his regular mocking, I didn't see the same energy behind his words like he usually had. It was as if he was worn out and almost sounded strained, his voice was littered with the smallest hint of physical hurt. It was easy to tell, but maybe mentioning that to Kokichi wouldn't be the best idea. I kind of wanted to examine his behavior further, come up with a hypothesis, see if I'm right. Weird? Maybe. But I couldn't help myself.
"Sure ya are Saihara-Chan, but it's okay!,"
Ouma-kun raised a finger to his lips. He did that often, giving off a very sinister vibe. His grin was so wide that his eyes were light violet slits.
"I like feminine boys."
"WHAT?!"
I scooted away from where I sat on the floor of my room, eyes wide. Was he serious? Was he gay? Was he implying that he was interested in me, or was he saying this in a general sense?
My heart did flips in my chest, pounding so hard I could feel it in my ears.
"Y-you're not saying what I think you're saying, r-right Ouma?"
I had to know. I didn't even know how I felt, but I needed to know this. Kokichi began to laugh his ass off, leaning forward as he did so.
But I saw something in him, in his body behavior. His hesitation, his sudden change in facial expression, his eyes. I could suspect doubt. It was only for a split second before he went right back to his laughing fit.
"No, that was a lie! Aw, did you really think I liked you?"
He calmed down, leaving room for me to get a word in, but I was speechless. Kokichi's grin turned to a small smile.
"I do like you Shumai, as a friend. Now that's not a lie. Let's officially be friends!"
I let me face soften at this. My heart still pounded like a drum, reminding me that the rush wasn't over. In spite of that, I nodded.
"I'd like that Ouma-kun. Let's be friends."
Me and Kokichi Ouma were finally friends. My stomach seemed to form a pit, and I felt a ping of disappointment, though I didn't know why. I didn't know what my feelings were. I secretly wanted much more. I often found myself thinking of the boy in front of me. I would imagine him being all mine, only mine, like a piece of property. I didn't like anyone else talking to him, not even the thought of it.
I think I wanted Kokichi Ouma.
But right now, he wanted to be my friend. That was enough for me. This time, I don't think he was lying.
I would have to suppress these increasing feelings until I was even perfectly sure of how they felt, but I was okay with that. I liked that.

...

There was silence between us. I found it somewhat comforting. I watched Kokichi mess with his scarf, his expression was troubled.
"Ouma, are you okay?"
He didn't answer. It seemed he had tuned me out, too focused on what he was doing. He pulled at it gently, frowning and wincing. Was he aggravated?
"Shit!"
Kokichi yelled in more of a whispering tone. It was clear to me that he was trying to be a little discrete, but he was terrible at it.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Hesitating first, trying to think if I should even try, I stood up and approached him. I sat down on the bed beside of him. It caught his attention and caught him off guard. He patted his scarf flat to his chest and neck and smiled.
"It's nothing Shumai, just having trouble fixing up my scarf! It was slipping a little bit."
I was pretty sure that Kokichi was lying to me just now. He had been telling me all sorts of minor lies all of that week, and I was beginning to figure out how to tell them from his truths. I thought of how to get to the bottom of his suspicious behavior and quickly came up with a solution.
"Oh, if that's all, I can untie it and tie it up again for you. Turn around."
Ouma frowned, then pouted, then groaned. What a child he was.
"Okay, fine, but don't steal it!"
He giggled as he turned his back to me. He sat up straight, and I began to go to work. I untied his scarf and held the two ends in my hands for a moment while I thought of what to do next. I shifted it, allowing the fabric that covered his neck to rub against his skin. A sudden flinch came from Ouma. I had to play it off.
"Sorry, I'm having trouble tying these two ends, give me a moment."
I repeated my action again. He had the same reaction, except less noticeable this time. A third flinch finally gave me the answer I wanted.
I tied his scarf back up and scooted back, giving him room to turn back around.
"Thank you so much Saihara-Chan! It's a million times better already!"
"Are you okay Ouma-kun?"
I was able to conclude from my investigation that there's something along his lower neck area to his collarbone that's causing him some pain. Of course, I'm sure it was minor, and didn't expect any foolery from Kokichi.
"What do you mean?"
"It looks like you're hurt somewhere, that's all."
"Nope! Completely fine, detective!"
I was wrong. His tone was a tad defensive compared to how he had been talking the rest of this time. I...didn't want to pry. As worried, suspicious, and curious as I was, I could feel that forcing him to tell me something he clearly doesn't want to is wrong.
"If you say so, but don't lie Kokichi, it's okay."
I offered him a smile, but got a look of pure confusion in return. I furrowed my brows together and spoke.
"What is it?"
"Kokichi?"
I finally realized what I had done. I'm so stupid!
I bowed down to him, panicking from my mistake. He must think I'm so weird.
"I-I'm sorry Ouma! I didn't mean too!"
Oddly enough, I felt more embarrassed about my reddened cheeks than my disrespectful mistake. I always blushed way too easily. Kaito often told me that it was because I'm just really kind and Kaede always assured me that it was cute, but it didn't change the fact it was embarrassing.
"God, you stutter too much."
"...huh?"
"You stutter too much. Just talk! I won't bite you!"
Looking up at Ouma-kun, I was expecting him to look irritated, given his tone. However, he was smiling, like always. I hate to admit it, but that smile was so nice and calming to me. I let out a sigh, nodding, and sat back up to face Kokichi.
"Um, yeah, sorry about that."
Ouma pulled out his phone and checked the time. From his widened eyes, I could tell a lot of time had passed.
"Huh, it's already almost time for classes to start up again. Well, I'm off!"
I watched him bounce up from the bed and head for the door.
Don't leave yet, I still want to talk!
"Oh, and by the way Shumai,"
"Oh, y-yeah?"
Just a little longer. Let me sit with you just a little bit longer.
"I'm gonna crash in your room tonight! Hope ya don't mind!"
I nodded to him and hurriedly spoke. I was nervous for some reason, hands clammy, my forehead collecting sweat by the second.
"Sounds good Ouma!"
Shit, too enthusiastic.
"Byeee!"
And then he was gone. My gaze lingered one the door for a minute or two after Kokichi had left and closed it behind him. Every day, each time I saw him, this feeling grew more intense. Every time I would see him in the hall, my heart would skip a beat, even if he didn't notice me. I normally don't prefer eye contact, I hate it in fact, but he makes it so easy. I could stare into those violet orbs all day.
"Wait..."
Did Kokichi Ouma  just say he was going to stay the night in my room?

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm trying to gradually sprinkle in some pregame Shuichi here and there until I can fit it in easily, because I love pregame Shuichi so much, so so much. This chapter was a bit longer than normal -.-'. See you next chapter!