it was a little before midnight. saihara sat at his desk, scribbling down suspects for a case he was working on. kirigiri had been sick, so he was in charge of her work. typically he would have had it done much quicker, maybe even by 5:00, like normal. but this case was different. it reminded him of.. the game.
there had been a few teenagers kidnapped recently. he didn't know where they were, but oh, did he pray to atua it wasn't what he thought it was.
right now they'd only figured that 13 teenagers had went missing, and he hoped it'd stay that way. if the number went up to 16 he wouldn't be able to do this.
kirigiri assured him, though. she said she had suspicions of where they could be, and none of them were a school. hell, there was barely a school in this town anymore after what happened.
he glanced at the clock after finishing his 4th paper. it was midnight on the dot.
he yawned and decided that was enough for the night. kirigiri had a flu, and had for about 3 days. she might be better tomorrow.
he put all his paperwork in a file and shut the drawer. when he got up he felt lightheaded from sitting down for so long. he stumbled over to the door and grabbed his coat off the rack.
on the drive home he couldn't help but feel bad. kokichi was at home, probably waiting for him.
kokichi hadn't been working for a while after being fired from his job at a cafe. he slipped once and broke a glass. you'd think that wouldn't get someone fired, but his boss didn't like him to begin with and that was the final straw.
he pulled up to the house and saw the porch light on, and his heart melted. kokichi left it on for him.
he walked up the sidewalk and winced at the loud crunch of leaves under his feet. when it was dead quiet, like it was now, the smallest noises felt so loud.
turning the key into the lock, he softly pushed open the door and let out a sigh of relief when it didn't creak. he heard the tv was on, just the news. he knew kokichi never watched the news, though. it made him anxious.
he walked into the living room and found kokichi, curled up on the couch and wearing saihara's hoodie.
he smiled at that. how he waited for him. well, he fell asleep, but he still waited.
he pulled off his coat and hung it up. he sat down next to kokichi, who was curled up so small that he only took up one of the cushions.
he muted the tv and gently shook kokichi's shoulder. kokichi was a very heavy sleeper so it took a few shakes.
when he woke up, his eyes fluttered open, and when he saw saihara, his eyes brightened and flung himself into saihara's arms.
"shumai! i missed you!" he said, looking up at him.
"i missed you too, kichi. i'm sorry i had to work so late," he said, petting his hair.
kokichi noticed the faint bags under saihara's eyes, and immediately sat up.
"are you tired?" he asked.
"a little," saihara said. "but i can stay up if you want?"
kokichi frowned. he didn't want saihara to waste his rest on him. plus, he was tired too.
"no! you need sleep," he huffed, and tugged on saihara's sleeve. "come onnnn! let's just sleep.." he whined.
saihara was baffled at how fast ouma could regain his energy after waking up from a nap, but complied. he sat up and let kokichi pull him to their room.
kokichi sat down on the bed, and patted the spot next to him. saihara flipped the lights off and sat down next to him.
kokichi pulled saihara down on the bed next to him. he let saihara wrap his arms around his waist. he nuzzled into saihara's chest.
"are you wearing my hoodie?" saihara asked. he knew he was, but he found it cute that kokichi borrowed his clothes. the way they were far too big for him was adorable.
"mmm, maybe," he giggled. "or maybe i just ordered my clothes up a million sizes one day!"
saihara chuckled. he brought a hand up to kokichi's face and held his cheek.
"kichi.. i love you so much," he said. "you make me so happy."
kokichi blushed. "aww, shumai! you're so sweet to me!" he smiled. "i love you too! you're my favorite person in the whole wide world!"
saihara smiled and kissed kokichi's forehead. "goodnight, kokichi. i love you."
kokichi's response was giving saihara a peck on the lips and resting his head on his chest.
when saihara drifted off to sleep, kokichi pulled a blanket over the two of them and smiled at his beloved, and laid back down.
"i love you too."
