#or that he rolled the gachapon like 10 times

[kiiboumacore]

And here it is! The entry that finishes out @kiiboumaexchange -- a backup fic for @eterna09. Apologies for the wait, I hope it was worth it!

The prompt I was given was:

Kiibo and Ouma fighting over something silly but make up afterwards. Lots of fluff please

So maybe I flubbed the ‘silly’ part a little bit, but I made it super lighthearted and fluffy to compensate. Please enjoy! It's on A03 now, you can find it here. The notes have some more thoughts if you'd like to read.

Title: keeping you close Words: 5477 Pairing: Kiibouma

“It’s getting late.”

When Kiibo says this, Kokichi’s brain hangs up. He clicks his lips and slowly snakes his hand up the robot’s arm. Kiibo clears his throat, raises the appendage along the table, and speaks a little more firmly.

“...Ouma-kun. It is long since time that you went to bed. I will not accept anything less.”

Kokichi doesn’t let go of his arm, but he does feel the need to say something cheeky back. It’s clear that he’s fighting a losing battle, but…

“Don’t wanna. Not tired. Unlike some loser robot, humans can run on willpower alone, did you know?”

Kiibo scoffs. He’s positive, by now, that the “scathing” things Kokichi says can’t make a dent in his fortified self-confidence, but it’s a little hard to resist calling him out all the same. He rises from the table without further debate, returning the hold on Kokichi’s wrist just to give it a light tug.

“You know well by now that this ‘willpower’ of mine lasts far longer than your own. I need rest but once a week--” He stops briefly, only to add with a smirk, “Unlike you. Now, then, that is enough. Follow me.”

Kokichi stares at their joined arms, only leaning his upper half across the table as Kiibo moved. Flat out against it, there really is only one thing he can do. He sweeps his free arm across the top of it, freely scattering an inhumane number of chess pieces on the ground below. Kiibo’s sure his horror has more to do with the racket it creates rather than the mess, but…

“Ugh--Ouma-kun!!”

The culprit smirks as a child would.

“What? Can’t sleep now, gotta clean that up. It’d be sad to leave a mess, right?”

Kiibo finds himself staring exasperatedly at the scattered pieces. Deeply contemplating Kokichi’s words, he reaches a stark conclusion: don’t let him win. Though he itches with the urge to clean the evidence of the leader’s fit, that behavior only grants him more of the same. Always.

So, tearing his gaze away from the mess, he yanks on Kokichi’s arm.

“No! I’m not playing this game, Ouma-kun!” And, anyway, he cannot continue to get what he wants just by being a brat- “That’s enough, we’re going!”

“Oww-- geez!! Fine! Come on, let go of me!” Failure number one: he attempts to hold fast against Kiibo’s tugging. With an aggrieved, defeated groan, he peels himself from the table. “You’re just the worst, Kiiboy…” It’s mumbled so that the robot can hardly make it out. “If you’re salty ‘cos all you do is lose, you could just say that.”

He can’t help but shove the board off the table, too, but mostly for “completionism’s sake”.

The reason that the Supreme Leader had a persistent disdain for such a natural human function like sleeping still remains a mystery to Kiibo, but perhaps it wasn’t anything a little tough love couldn’t correct. That hollow “thunk” of the cardboard hitting the ground behind him has him rolling his eyes again.

Sometimes, it’s a little hard to separate Kokichi’s purposeful mischief from his simple compulsions… However, to Kiibo’s pleasant surprise, the other boy falls cleanly into step with him afterwards. He slides his hand down Kokichi’s arm to take his hand properly; his grip is decidedly loose.

“Kiiboy.”

Just don’t answer him.

“....Hey, Kiiboy!”

If you do, you’ll just rile him up again.

“Wow, you jerk. I gotta super important question, yanno.” Kokichi glances to the side as he says it. His tone is dismissive at worst.

Kiibo doesn’t particularly react. He carries on past the rows of chairs and tables before finally forming a response, the answer to what Kokichi hadn’t yet asked. “I’m taking you to your room. If I am not there to ensure you get a full eight hours of sleep, you will surely escape in the night. Of this, I am certain.”

That explanation is kind of not great. Kokichi’s tongue pokes slightly through his lips. While his concerns are with the fact that his room is off-limits, what he says is something entirely different, characteristic smirk tracing onto his face.

“...For real? Sounds like somebody just wants to watch me sleep--”

“That is not true!” Kiibo, with a delicately reddening face, cuts him cleanly off before he even finishes speaking, and Kokichi snickers wildly. “I-- am looking out for your health, as all good partners should!”

...What book did he read that in?, Kokichi finds himself pondering, but raises another point rolled up in his jubilee. “..I mean, sure, fine. But I gotta warn you--yours truly has a total sleepwalking problem. If you get attacked blindly in the night: not my fault. I’m a pacifist, yeah?”

Kiibo blanches, his surprised eyes regarding Kokichi with suddenly more care than usual. Then, with that, a realization, as sheer distaste on his features. “...That cannot be true. This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

Kokichi grins near immediately.

“Just like I thought! Nothing gets past you, huh?” It’s plainly said in mocking.

Regardless, Kiibo’s noise of affirmation holds all of the confidence in the world.

------------------------------------------

The dorm building in the dwindling hours is kept somewhere between “cold as balls” and “Alaskan meat locker”. Quite a few, if not all, of the other students had already gotten to bed; the lobby is silent and unmoving.

Mostly, though, it’s just dark.

Even in this light, Kiibo can tell Kokichi is hesitant to open the door.

Kokichi steps in first, tossing his keys into a clearly haphazard but somehow still very specific direction in the dark. Kiibo follows the sound it makes with a glance and a bit of a frown. It hasn’t gotten lost yet, but surely it might someday, right?

The world of the Supreme Leader sure is one not of this planet. Shrugging, he trails his hand along the wall for the lightswitch.

Kokichi’s own hand immediately follows, slamming against the plastic and blocking Kiibo from even touching it. The robot blinks in surprise.

“Nooope! Light stays off.”

“...Why?” Still, mostly out of respect, Kiibo drops his hand.

“Gotta. It’s late. Otherwise, I’ll turn into a pumpkin.”

Okay. Kiibo sighs. It’s another one of his boyfriend’s quirks for that seemingly endless list. The robot leaves the doorway without further argument. The dorms have roughly the same layout from person to person, so if he’s careful, making his way to Kokichi’s bed should not be a problem.

But as soon as he hears the door shut behind him, a pair of arms close around his waist.

Kokichi’s lithe form presses against his back and Kiibo settles naturally against it, albeit surprised as he may be. The Supreme Leader’s affection is only ever a private affair, meaning it’s always--Kiibo hesitantly places his hands over Kokichi’s--kind of nice.

“...I lied.” He says listlessly, the smile audible in his voice. His forehead is pressed comfortably against Kiibo’s shoulder blade. “I’m suuuper tired. Sing me to sleep, Kiibaby…”

“I will not.” Kiibo’s eyes are fixed to Kokichi’s arms. A smile of his own had crept onto his features. “...However, I do have a sampling of several lullabies, if you’d like.” It’s rather unsurprising that Kokichi had lied to him, in any case.

His level of energy must have an equal burnout, right?

“Nope. It’s not the same. I want a kiss instead~ I’ll call it even.”

With such a dreamy tone, it’s nearly impossible to tell if he’s joking or not. Surprise again paints Kiibo’s features, and his hands tighten around Kokichi’s. “Ah-- I see… Unfortunately for you, I will choose not to until you are in your bed. I hope you understand.”

He’s exercising his developing sarcasm.

This small fact makes Kokichi laugh. “...I get it. I must be a bad leader if Kiiboy wants to make all the rules..” With this, he moves toward the bed, gently guiding Kiibo as he walks. Kiibo steps with him carefully. The contact is very little, and yet he feels deeply warm.

Kiibo is not given the time to dwell on that for very long, though. The ground quickly moves out from under him!

Kokichi, suddenly not-so-keen on fighting battles he will lose, immediately releases him from his grasp.

Though the fall to the floor is short and almost painless, Kiibo shouts in his shock regardless. Something or other clatters together in the racket. Kokichi stares down at him, bewildered. Whatever it was, he’d cleanly navigated around it…

“..Ouma-kun!” Kiibo feels a little more flustered than anything else, so what else can he do but scream about it. “Leaving whatever you wish on the floor is dangerous! I could have gotten hurt...”

But you didn’t, though… With a slightly uncharacteristic grimace on his face, Kokichi got about quickly scattering the objects with his feet. “Like a buncha marbles could hurt a robot, anyway.. I’m super forgetful, so these things happen.”

Marbles?

Kiibo squints in the dark. Though faint, he can make out the small glass orbs with the light shining from his body.

They’re everywhere.

“...Turn the light on, please.” It’s a demand phrased as kindly as possible. There’s something that makes a little more sense now; Kiibo knows to an absolute what he’ll find when Kokichi obliges him.

Kokichi almost seems to be bracing himself when he does. There’s a breath he hardly realizes he’s holding.

And his room is another realm, too.

To say nothing of the marbles, there’s hardly any empty floor space at all. Toys and small, useless kitchen appliances in their unopened boxes are stacked wherever they would fit. Even tinier figurines of characters Kiibo has never heard of line any flat surface. Kokichi’s bed is at the center of it all, decked out with plushies.

Kiibo quickly hops to his feet, the shock washing over his entire body. The untouched nature of nearly everything he lays his eyes upon gives an alien feeling of cleanliness...

“What is all of this? You cannot seriously be living this way!”

Kokichi’s body feels cold once more. He folds his arms over his chest. He’d been preparing for something like this for a long time, but… “Huh? Leave me alone! You’re janking my business empire just by lookin’ at it!”

Selling it? Kiibo pauses to ponder that… “That has to be a lie! Ouma-kun, if you need help getting rid of these things, then--”

“No way! It’s mine, so keep your hands to yourself!” As if protective, Kokichi quickly crosses in front of Kiibo to stand before one of the messier stacks of boxes.

“There is no way you need every single thing in this room! I can help you, so--”

Kiibo attempts this offer a second time and Kokichi quickly cuts him off again.

"I don't need your help!!" He exhales, and quickly scoops up an unopened waffle iron. "Your brethren… wouldn't it just break your heart? I guess you don't understand that, since you're just a robot…"

It manages to blindside Kiibo, but only just. "N-no… That's extremely robophobic! And more to the point, has nothing to do with this!" He extends his arms for the box, though. "Hand it here. You do not need it."

Kokichi sticks his tongue out at Kiibo and turns to hide the box from his grasp. "No way, no way, no way! I don't wanna heartless jerk to decide what I get to keep…"

Heartless. Again. Kiibo scoffs outright and balls his fists at his sides. "I will not take this from you. I have gone out of my way to extend my help. Clearly, you have a problem. I cannot imagine that this mess is good for your peace of mind.."

"Doesn't matter!" Static sets in in Kokichi's brain and he tosses the box aside almost carelessly. "It's my stuff. If it drives you so nuts, then get outta my room…!"

The robot huffs in frustration. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

"I don't want your stupid kiss anymore anyway!"

That does it. For the first time since his date of creation, Kiibo says, "Fine, then!" and storms out. This time, he's careful to avoid the marbles. "If you change your mind, there is only one place to find me."

Ah. That was a lie.

Kokichi watches him leave with empty eyes and finds himself fiddling with his hands. Of course he'd actually leave. Thinking something like that, he snatches up a handful of the marbles that had caused this shitshow to begin with. But, because he's so clingy, he'd offer to come back any time. That's Kiibo. Kokichi groans in thought.

The spheres that roll around his hand are swirled in purple and blue. Made to look like miniature galaxies, they're important to him because…

There was a time when Kiibo had been a little less-than-concerned about Kokichi's sleep schedule. He'd been too excited to have someone to keep him company during the hours that anyone else would be asleep. It was Kokichi's favorite time of day.

The AV room smelled of popcorn, but Kokichi had been shoveling pizza into his mouth like his life depended on it. Kiibo's small warning about his figure earned little but a noncommittal grunt and yet another slice.

It made sense that the robot was the only one entirely focused on the movie. If it was an opportunity to learn about what Kokichi liked, he would be a fool not to take it.

Unfortunately, this one seemed a little over the top for him. Robots like himself were hardly meant to be driven into battle, much less ones so dangerous. Shaking his head, he looked over to Kokichi.

"... Have you seen this one before, Ouma-kun?"

"Mm?" Kokichi rolled his head over his shoulder and quickly finished the bite. "...'course I have. I'm an expert, yeah?" He tossed the remains of the crust onto the open box.

Kiibo nodded, then fell silent afterward.

"... What? You bored already?"

"N-no!" Kiibo was quick to try and lie about it, but noting Kokichi's expression, explained himself just as speedily. "...I was just thinking… I'd rather experience something new with you."

If Kiibo is correct, his companion seemed shocked for but a moment. It was quickly replaced by an unreadable smirk, though. "...Is that so?" Kokichi reached a hand out to delicately skirt his fingers along Kiibo's chest, lovingly tracing the plates. "I know of a special something."

That sultry expression is clear as day, and Kiibo's face immediately lights up a searing red. "A-Absolutely not!! I am telling you this for the last time!" He smacks Kokichi's hand away, sending the Supreme Leader recoiling with a loud laugh.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! You wanna pick something else? I don't mind. Kiiboy chose me, so he's gotta have great taste…"

Just as usual, Kiibo was quick to bounce back from Kokichi's teasing. He rolled his eyes and searched the couch cushions for the remote.

… A slightly less overt flirting attempt would, of course, fail. Kokichi should've known. He clicks his lips and slides a little closer to the robot, enough to press their shoulders together.

"Oi, Kiibaby."

"Hm?"

He reached for a pillow and pressed it against Kiibo's side. His head followed so that he was resting against the other boy. Then, looking at him inquisitively, he asked, "...You mind?"

Kiibo was sure the warm feeling that bubbled up in his chest was just residual embarrassment. He decided to focus on the television instead, suddenly unable to meet that ever-sharp gaze. "...N… Not at all. Are you comfortable?"

Hardly. "Yeah."

A faint smile appeared on Kiibo's face. They were silent for but a moment as Kiibo browsed the movie library.

"Oh yeah, I gotta show you something."

That said, Kiibo is not entirely sure where Kokichi retrieved this thing from. When he looked down, he was holding up a small suede bag. Kokichi parted the top, freely allowing the small spheres to pour all over his arm and himself.

The sound startled Kiibo, but he regarded the marbles with interest. "...Huh? Why marbles?" … and why the mess.

"Dunno. Super neat, right?" He picked one up only to hold it closer to Kiibo's face than entirely necessary. "Looook. Iruma-chan gave 'em to me. Somethin' about me being a 'monkey-brained fuck' and 'totally loving her blue ballsack'--don't gimme that face!! I'm serious!!"

Disregarding his rather vulgar comparison, Kiibo took the marble between his fingers in thought. It's glittery.

This is definitely the kind of thing Kokichi liked…

"She had a super red face, too…" Kokichi snorted. "Think the alien is trying to make friends."

"... If Iruma-san is going out of her way to do nice things for you, you should be a little nicer."

Kokichi scoffed and cozied up to Kiibo yet further. "... Yeah, whatever. I'll work on it."

Even if that was a lie, Kiibo didn't mind. At least he was willing to concede the point at all. Feeling somewhat risky, he slid his arm to rest over Kokichi's shoulder and pulled him in.

Kokichi grinned against the blood that rushed to his face.

…

Stupid, self-righteous Kiibo.

"You dumb robot!!" Kokichi casts the marbles he'd scooped up into the corner of the room. They smash into the floor and erupt into a sea of clatters.

And with a frustrated huff, he stomps toward his bed.

------------------------------------------

Kiibo is something of a stickler for rules.

That does not mean he obeys them. Kokichi finds that, instead, the robot will find hundreds of justifications for his actions. And then, when he is caught regardless…

He sure will scream about it.

Kokichi exits his adjoining bathroom with a dramatic sigh and shuts the door on the steam that threatens to follow. Kiibo, from the other side of his room, is the one who notices first.

He immediately rockets up straight and shouts in surprise for good measure. Ever the jaded one, though, Kokichi simply stares--at first, shock. Then, disbelief. He's the first to speak as Kiibo's expression rapidly becomes more resolute.

"...So? Whaddya have to say for yourself, Kiiboy?"

Kiibo tightens his hands into fists. Suddenly, he seems just about frustrated enough to explode for real. Kokichi's scrutiny is unwavering.

"I-I did not realize that you were--" He realizes that he's answering the wrong question before Kokichi even opens his mouth to say so. "Ngh… I am not sorry, Ouma-kun!! If you are not going to handle this, then I have taken it upon myself to do so!"

Kiibo also hardly understands the concept of minding his own damn business.

Kokichi narrows his eyes. "Why? Do you really care that much about making me miserable? You're super cruel…"

The lofty way that Kokichi speaks only serves to make Kiibo just that much more irritated. "No, no, no! You do not understand! This is for you. Excessive clutter must be bad for your health!"

Kokichi runs his hands through his damp hair. Again with the health. When did Kiibo become so concerned about that?

"Clutter. For real? I got it totally organized, so back off of me!" Just thinking about Kiibo rummaging through his stuff makes him itchy…

Kiibo opens his mouth to spit out another gigantic retort, but freezes. The way he speaks to Kokichi is often quite hectic, but always, if he is to dig, then…

Though he hoped he would calm down if he gave it a moment, he still can't help but yell about it. "...Why are you this way? You have no use for any of this. If you are truly so bothered by my offer, then please explain." Regardless of the answer Kokichi gives him, though, there's no way he'll give up.

Even still, though, it's hardly like Kokichi wants to do this. His mouth forms a word and closes again, he utters only a sound of slight frustration in his distress. Well, it's easy to admit he has a problem--to himself. But Kiibo…

Well, Kiibo worries about him. It's not really so ideal. To share a detail is weakness and--

Kiibo tilts his head, then, in the following silence. He offers something innocuous, "... It's okay. Please trust me." and it happens to be Kokichi's magic words. The leader frowns further and pulls on strands of his hair.

Finally, he says something else. "...Fine! ...I trust you. But I'm gonna tell you a story, so listen up, 'kay? If you interrupt, I'll have your heart harvested."

"Th-- You cannot do that!!"

"Kiiboy."

Kiibo squeaks and presses his fingers together. "...I-- I see. Thank you for the opportunity."

Kokichi nods and steps past Kiibo (who now notices the marbles had been picked up) only to make his way to his desk. He quickly slides one of the drawers open and fishes an object out from it. What he holds up is a decorative keychain--glittery metal stars suspending a sleeping cat, as if dreaming.

Kiibo recognizes it immediately, but remains in the silence he was told to keep.

"... So… I know I told you something super important when we got this guy. I guess it slipped my Kiibaby's mind.." He jingles the keychain as he turns back to look at the robot. "You remember, yeah?"

… while Kiibo isn't sure what Kokichi is on about, of course he remembers. That night was…

Well, while it was one of Kokichi's more dangerous ideas, Kiibo still has to admit how fun it actually sounded. A night on the town, for just the two of them, to get away from this boring school. The leader had been so happy when he suggested it, too.

Seeing that smile, Kiibo had been excited as well.

Kokichi seemed about as frantic as he was excited and happily led Kiibo everywhere that the robot was willing to follow. He found interest in the sprawling arcades and Kokichi's apparent skill at these digital games.

He was happy to try and teach Kiibo, too, offering something like 'special, valuable lessons' and heavily laying the praise on where he could. Though Kiibo would’ve been happy adventuring with Kokichi well into the morning, once he took note of how late it actually was, he was quick to suggest that they return to the academy.

That Kokichi agreed was a pleasant surprise, but he demanded that they ‘hit one more place’, first. His curiosity winning out over his concern, Kiibo accepts this simple condition.

He is then led to a hole-in-the-wall type of place lined to the brim with small gachapon machines. Compared to the arcade, the activity here was dwindling at best. Kokichi offered little instruction, having simply told Kiibo to pick out something for him that seemed interesting.

Thinking back to the marbles, what Kokichi likes is obvious.

It felt irresponsible to waste too much money in a place like that, so Kiibo only rolled the machine of his choosing once. It featured small glittery keychains of various breeds of cat. Shiny collectibles seemed to be his best friend's favorite, after all.

When he flagged down Kokichi once more, the other boy was also holding a capsule ball in his hands. Without any warning and entirely gracelessly, Kokichi tossed the ball straight for Kiibo.

"Here ya go! Catch!"

"W--Waahh!!"

Somehow, he managed to grasp it just before it hit the floor. Kiibo frowned heavily as Kokichi stepped all the way over; the way he patted him on the back for his efforts was almost insulting.

With a scoff, he grumbled out, ".. Thank you, Ouma-kun."

"You're welcome! Since an awesome leader like me picked it out for you, you better be completely honored!"

Ah. Kiibo blinked and stared down at the capsule Kokichi had given him. Knowing then that Kokichi found him something as well, Kiibo felt all the more proud of what he'd picked out.

"..A-Ah. I see. Still, perhaps a warning next time?"

"Next time, it's coming out of your paycheck directly."

"My… my what?!"

Kokichi smacked him lightly on the shoulder blade and spoke loudly. "Quiiiet! As my subordinate, you must have picked out something great, right?"

As usual, his near-constant weaving of words that asked more questions than they answered had Kiibo in a tailspin. He decided to shelve both of these discussions for a later date to focus on what was more relevant, as well: his own capsule. With that, he shook his head and found himself grinning.

"Of course I did. I have studied your taste in gifts, so I know you will love this. Here." He held the blue capsule out to Kokichi.

It was clear that Kokichi had a sarcastic comment lined up to respond with, but his gaze quickly fixed to the ball instead. From a quick look, it was impossible to make out the contents, so he simply took it and rolled it around in his hand.

Kiibo hesitated before asking, "...Are you...not going to open it?"

"Nooope. It's flashier to wait a minute, isn't it?"

He had no idea what Kokichi meant by that. It seemed pointless, so he opened up the red capsule Kokichi had given him, instead. Inside was a plastic charm of a paper lantern. Kiibo held it delicately up with his fingers, and…

Just looking at it, he did feel happy. Even painted on, the colors were warm.

"...This is nice. From you, I could have expected something tasteless…" That was rude, actually. But he does not apologize. "Thank you. I mean it this time."

Kokichi's arm fell over Kiibo's shoulder again and he felt the weight of the leader leaning against him. He was hiding a smile, albeit poorly. "Duh, naturally! Keep it close to you, so you're always thinking about me, okay?"

(Wait…)

Kiibo knew he didn't need a charm for that. He laughed a little nonetheless, mesmerized by Kokichi's bashful expression. "If that is what you wanted, it might have been easier to just ask--"

"--no, no!! Not taking that from some dumb old robot! I'm going home!!"

More smug than he had any right to be, Kiibo followed Kokichi out.

…

The city truly never slept. Even as the hour continued to age, bright lights and gigantic screens remained lit up for all that still wandered their streets. Kokichi never grew out of his fascination with them.

He and Kiibo stood at the street corner just outside of the gachapon shop, waiting around for Kokichi's 'weirdo dad' to pick them up. Meeting such a man seemed interesting, but Kiibo was more interested in Kokichi's thoughtful expression.

Before he found the chance to ask first, the Supreme Leader began, "... did you have fun, Kiiboy?"

The question itself meant more than Kiibo's own answer, he thought, but replied quickly anyway. "Yes! I did. I've never been anywhere like it."

Kokichi grinned and crossed his arms up behind his head. Then, he leaned back dramatically to peer at the sky. "Ahh~ I'm glad. You're learning to cut loose, did you know? You can thank me any time."

...Was that true? Kiibo felt pretty happy when he thought about it that way. He stared fondly at Kokichi. "...Is that so? It is true that you are easy to relax around. Even if I do not understand you, I wholeheartedly believe that you…" His hand curled close to his chest--saying what he wished to was almost embarrassing, actually, but he felt that Kokichi needed to know. "You must be fond of me. And that makes me happy. Like this, it is much easier to be myself."

The expression that graced Kokichi's face was faintly surprised, but he seemed ready to explode from joy nonetheless. Silently he dropped his arms just to wrap one around one of Kiibo's

"...You're super full of yourself, it's nasty." The words were hardly genuine. "But… I like you. And I got plenty of stuff to teach you, yeah? If you'll stay with me forever."

The feeling behind those words was lost on the naive robot that simply replied, "Definitely. I will be sure that you someday learn the error of your ways regarding my robotic nature, as well."

And for a second, there was silence…

Then Kokichi snorted loudly.

"Sure, sure, I got it!! Super looking forward to it." And with that, he brought that blue capsule up to the light. Kiibo watched carefully as he simply squeezed one end to pop it open. Then, with a certain childlike fascination, he retrieved the keychain and dangled it in front of his vision.

Stars, and a precious sleeping Scottish Fold.

Kokichi's eyes shined, but…

"...Kiiboy, I hate it."

"What?! You're definitely lying!!"

The Supreme Leader blew the smallest raspberry in history. "...You're right. It's my favorite thing in the entire world… I'm going to keep it forever, so I never forget about this."

(Hold on.)

(That has to be it.)

Satisfied with that new answer, Kiibo nuzzled against Kokichi.

…

"That was the first time I told Kiiboy how I feel! You get it now, right?" Kokichi is frowning. Having thought about it extensively, though, Kiibo feels like he understands why.

He breaks his promise of silence to review his results. "You kept it so that you would not forget." Of course… but since he said it so plainly back then, it almost felt like a joke. "If that is what you meant, then you need only say so. I am glad that it is still important to you."

Being a dense fucker is unfortunately also a talent of Kiibo's. Kokichi groans. "It's all important to me. I told you that a dumb robot wouldn't get it. You're so mean!!"

…

Oh, now I get it.

The recognition flashes on Kiibo's face for but a moment--and in that second, he seems taken aback. "I am not a dumb robot!! If you have--" It feels sad to say it, but, "...If you're so forgetful, then you should simply keep a journal! I am sorry that you have to be afraid of losing your memories."

It riles Kokichi up, though he still seems a little saddened. "What's the difference? I already got it all like this. I don't want you to touch it anymore!"

"From my own research, I have learned that living with so much junk reduces productivity and causes heightened anxiety. It is no wonder you seem to have trouble sleeping. That is why I will not budge. We will find something better for you."

Kokichi only groaned again.

"... Please. I am better because of you. It is not often that you tell me what troubles you, so this time I will do my best to help...so that you may be the same."

Such a pushy robot…

Kokichi always loved the boy that worked so tirelessly to understand him. Even if it's only for the triumph of being right, it's…

… it's nice.

"I get it, Kiiboy… I said I'd trust you, so it's only fair. What's your plan, huh? You wouldn't be so heartless as to make me toss it all out…"

"No. I understand now. We will work to organize this. You need more shelves… but it will take a while. In the meantime… I'd like to hear it from you. More of your stories. I will definitely remember."

The surprise is decidedly pleasant if Kiibo reads it off of Kokichi's features. His chest swells with pride. The Supreme Leader was always awkward in his own right. Given a little proper coaxing, though, he would open up every time.

"Alright, alright… You're always so damn hard headed! But I'm a super gracious sort, so we're a perfect match…"

It's a compliment in this case for sure, so Kiibo lets that one slide. He puts his hand to his chin in thought. "Nonetheless, we will need to reduce this eventually. In your private time, perhaps write your thoughts down instead. But I said that I would stay with you forever, so there's hardly any rush."

The onslaught of support from his completely tenacious boyfriend already had Kokichi reeling, but having those important words brought up again feels like the nail in his heart. His face burns red. Back then, he really did word it in a too-embarrassing way, didn't he? "Shut up! Geez… if it's because my precious Kiiboy is worried about me, I'll get it taken care of. It's all a mess like this, anyway…"

Hearing Kokichi so thoroughly embarrassed, but decidedly very pleased, has Kiibo's chest warming in a way he's not sure how to describe. His smile is borne entirely of it.

"Thank you. Let's get started… there is a lot to do."

"Nope! Not yet."

"Huh?"

Kokichi issues his next demand in a wavering voice.

"...You still owe me that kiss."

Kiibo replies, knowing the answer already, “You said you did not want it!”

“Of course, that was a lie!”

But with the way Kiibo rolls his eyes, laughs bashfully, and then closes the gap between them… Kokichi knew he wouldn't need something like marbles to remember.

[justaramblingromantic]

addicted to curry

Characters/Pairing: Kobayashi Rindou and Tsukasa Eishi/EiRin

Type: Canon-verse, Freestyle

Word Count: 974

A/N: Work is kicking my ass so hard still, but have some random EiRin!

The…curry lemonade sweet tasted very…strange. 

The hard candy fizzled on his tongue with loud citric hints, but the accents of turmeric, cumin and ginger were also strongly prevalent. Everything combined resulted in a chaotic havoc rioting in his mouth, and he could not help but wither a bit, his refined palate protesting this unwarranted abuse.

Rindou took one look at his greying face and almost burst into laughter. 

Her shoulders shook with her mirth, and it was only out of consideration for the sensitive feelings of their young companion that she wasn’t guffawing like a hyena right there and then. Instead, the redhead flashed a huge grin at the young boy who had presented the candy to the nice onii-san who had made the yummy plate of French toast, earnestly trying to express his gratitude for the delicious breakfast. Rindou rewarded the kid with an approving thumbs up sign, since the young child was still shyly waiting for a reaction for his gift.

“Yep!! Looks like this onii-san absolutely loves your candy!”

They both cut their attention over to the trembling First Seat. Rindou bit back a muffled snicker. Were Tsukasa’s eyes watering??

But the young man gamely kept the horrible creation in his mouth even when every bit of instinct in him was telling him to spit it out now, and he weakly nodded in agreement with Rindou’s cheery comment, trying his best not to look green and to muster a wobbly smile instead.

The grade schooler brightened and started to smile back happily as well, thrilled to share the candy that he had randomly won off some weird gachapon machine, and that the older boy had seemed to enjoy his offering.

"R-Really?"

Rindou nodded again, unofficially speaking on behalf of her fellow Elite 10 member. She crouched down before the boy and beamed like a fox.

"Of course! How did ya know that lemonade and curry are this guy's favorite things to eat...together! At the same time! You're a genius, little kid! Look! Tsukasa's so happy he's 'bout to start crying-pfffft."

Eishi was trying not to twitch, what with the way Rindou was hamming it up so much that even she was having trouble containing her laughter.

"M-Maybe you should give him m-more of your candy-" the impish redhead chortled when she saw Eishi's panicked expression over the boy's head, and then he was silently giving her a very unamused look. Problem was he was about as intimidating as a floppy dishrag to her, and so Rindou paid him no mind. She was too busy turning away and snerking.

“E-Eh…! But I don’t have any more left…!” the boy fretted.

“It’s alright. Thank you for your candy. Your sentiments are more than enough,” Eishi was quick to demur, only for the young boy to look at him in marvel.

“No, onii-san! Thank you! Next time, please make even more yummy French toast for Koji! Koji will bring all the curry lemonade candy that he can find to trade!”

Eishi looked like he really might cry if the boy were to do that. His expression turned an interesting shade of ashen blue. Rindou’s was bright red from suppressed mirth.

“U-Uh, you r-really don’t have to-” Much to his consternation, his stammering denial was accompanied by Rindou cackling like a witch in the background.

The boy’s mother called for him then, and Koji hurriedly bowed and waved his goodbyes before scampering off.

“Ahahaha!” Rindou exploded into gales of laughter. Her golden eyes were all but streaming with tears as she pointed at her friend’s comically sallow expression. Now that the boy was gone, Eishi was wilting like a piece of soggy lettuce…and the accursed candy was still sitting in his mouth. He quivered piteously, not even having the energy to properly resent the other Elite for openly delighting in his misery. It was hardly the manliest or inspiring sight, but the sensitive teen was already at his limit.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” he mumbled in distress around the candy rolling around over his tongue, mainly because it was the height of bad manners to waste food and he had been raised better than to spit out perfectly edible (in theory) food, regardless of taste or flavor. Eishi was resigned to suffering through the next few minutes in a curry lemonade-induced haze of misery…or at least that had been what he had dreadfully anticipated, only Rindou had other ideas.

“It can’t be that bad-”

Catlike eyes still glinting with mischievous humor, the redhead straightened and leaned over. He watched her blankly, not realizing her intention until it was too late-

She reached for his collar and reeled him in. He sucked in a deep breath in startlement, pale lavender eyes widening-

And then her lips were planted on his.

He stilled, turning rigid. Her mouth was soft against his, but he did not have long to wonder over it. Her tongue deftly slipped between his parted lips and nimbly fished out the piece of candy from his mouth, and her mission completed, she pulled away with quicksilver ease, rolling the candy around in her mouth and sucking at it. She hummed in thought.

“…Sweet and spicy, huh. I’ve had worse~” she gave her verdict, licking her lips. The same pair of lips that had been directly connected to his own mere moments ago.

…He just gawked at her, too stumped to speak.

And slowly started to turn a dull shade of red.

“R-Rindou.”

“What?” she drawled shamelessly, loudly crunching the candy between her teeth. Unlike him, it did not take her long to make short work of the unusual tasting sweet. She was almost sorry that it was gone so quick. She thought that it was quite an interesting flavor... 

“I’m doing you a favor here! Why are you so flustered??”  

“…”

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Gacha Gacha crate Jan 19

If you’re not into reviews for this box, don’t worry guys because later/tomorrow I’ll be doing my review of the remade NMNL box! I’m so excited!

This month the booklet did a feature on Traditional Japanese toys and their modern counterparts, like a Koma being compared to a Beyblade. Along with the Kendama, and Tin toys.

Little Bears

This series by Epoch is about adorable little bears trying to find shelter from the chilly winter weather; will it be in a hat, a glove, maybe some soup? 

After some searching, I finally found my little brown bear in the most surprising place:

I can’t say he had the wrong idea though. I’m not a big fan of soups, but during winter I don’t mind them terribly.

This set is pretty small and includes 2 pieces, 3 if you get the soup bear.There are 6 in total, and each one costs 200 yen.

Ranking: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  

There isn’t much to it, and it’s pretty simple, but I find some charm to it. The spoon is a little flimsy, but the other two pieces are sturdy.

I’m not entirely sure if it’s worth the price it is because of it’s small size, but none of the other items were priced like this one was, so I can’t really compare it either.

Disney Friends Head Figure

Our next item is Donald Duck’s head!

And the rest of his body too, don’t worry.

This creative figure is sort of a new trend to Gachapon (at least from what I’ve seen). I saw Pokemon ones and now I’m seeing Disney ones. Instead of a capsule, the head acts as that, and the rest of the pieces are stored within it, giving you an adorable, big-headed figurine.

Besides Donald, one could also get Mickey, Minnie, and Daisy. They have semi-muted color palette and seem to be inspired by the older versions of the characters.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

It’s really cute, and the biggest thing we got in this box this month. The concept is adorable, and I don’t even mind all that much that I didn’t get Minnie Mouse like I would have wanted.

I do have a small issue though. You can’t tell in the picture, but I can’t get Donald’s beak in. I’m not sure how or what I’m doing wrong, but there are multiple pegs for it, and I can’t get the middle one inserted at all. It’s a little annoying and makes him look weird, but it’s not enough to ruin the concept or cuteness for me. As you can see by the picture, their big heads also make them a little flimsy too, so on certain materials they might not sit well.

Pokemon Bell

This series by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S features 5 adorable Pokemon hanging from red, woven bell strings. In Japan when celebrating New Years, it’s a custom to ring a bell to wash away the sins of the past year.

Now, the booklet says they have bells, but I’m not sure they actually do because the only noise I hear is the tiny paper you pull off on the string. When moved around I’m sure they do make a little noise, but that’s pretty much what all keychains or phone straps do right??

Besides Pikachu and Eevee, there was 3 other sun and moon Pokemon in this collection.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Both Pikachu and Eeevee are super-cute, in fact the whole line is, but I’m really happy I got eevee x3 The paint job is pretty well-done, I did see a few little issues, but it’s not horrible and you have to look very close to see it.

It’s really sweet looking~

Snowman Squishy

A mochi/silicon squishy, there are 8 in total. Each one includes the typical powdering silicon squishy sheet. It’s about the size of two bottle caps on top of each other, and besides the piggy I got (who reminds me of the little pig from Miffy), there is a panda, a bear, a doggy, a bunny, a frog, a kitty, and an actual snowman!

These are stretchy, but if you get ones with painted features like this, I don’t suggest overdoing it because the pain will peel/chip. I haven’t had that happen yet, but I’ve seen a lot of people accidentally do that. 

They’re all so cute~ ♥  I wish I could get the whole collection!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I love these types of squishy because of how soft and rubbery they feel~

But don’t let them get dirty, because they can be hard to clean.

I love the winter theme too, but I kinda wish they would have put this in the December box, when it might have made a little more sense. Although for this month, you could say they also resemble new years mochi.

Toilet Memo Pad

A funny little random gacha useful for taking notes in the most unlikeliest of places. This is series 3 of this line and there are 5 in total to collect. They are by J.Dream. The possible types are: 2 toilet paper rolls (in silver and light blue), 2 tissue boxes, and 1 set of 2, wrapped toilet paper (in rose pink).

Oddly, the booklet says this is a keychain, but there’s no chain of any type on it. I did notice that there is a sticky sheet though, so you can put it on things. I wish they would have included a pen; but I think that was a little too much to ask for~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Twitter Account X Danbo

These interesting little figures are based on various Twitter accounts belonging to various popular companies, like this one I got belongs to Sega. Danbo is a cardboard character (basically a person who dresses up in a cardboard outfit) who originates from the manga Yotsuba and I.

There are 6 available, one of which is a mystery from the Tokyo Hands company. Everything on it moves in some shape or form, and each includes a tweet message.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 

As cute as I think Danbo is, I’m not entirely into the one I got. He looks a little... intense. But the details on him are pretty good, and he even has detailed tattoos on his back, which surprised me when I discovered them.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality/Pricing - 3 out of 5. I’m keeping this in the middle simply because I don’t really know the prices for any of the gachapon this time. Only one had a price listed, and because I couldn’t compare it with another one, I’m not really sure where it stands. 

Content - 5 out of 5. I definitely liked the items we got this time way more than in the last box. I might be cute-biased, but I don’t know, I just found myself more drawn to this one. Plus I like that we actually got an item we can do something with. Believe it or not, but they do make a lot of practical gachapon.

Total Rank: 8 out of 10 cuties. Before I opened this box my expectations weren’t high after the previous one. But this one really made me happy, and my expectations went back up. This one felt like it was on par with the others, but it set the bar high for next months box~

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1.  Snowman Squishy - It’s like marshmallowy squishy adorableness all wrapped in one~!

2.  Disney Figure - Their big heads and smaller limbs are just precious!

3.  Pokemon Bell Charm - I love how cutesy the poses are for this collection. I’d recommend it if you like Pokemon.

4. Toilet Paper Memo - It’s a charming little object.

5. Little Bears - They’re adorable, but really simplistic.

6.Twitter x Danbo - Even if he’s a little strange, he’s still a little cute...

Well, that’ll do it for January’s Gacha review! As I said on top, I’ll be doing the remade NMNL box next because I’ve been dying to get to it, then I’ll be resuming my normal scheduled reviews. I hate that I’m so behind, but I couldn’t really do anything about it with Tumblr acting the way it was.

Until next time, stay cute~

[happysandwichparty-blog]

Japan - Day 4 (Tokyo Station & Imperial Gardens)

It seems as though we are making our way in a circle around Tokyo. Today we head off to Tokyo Station for some shopping and the East Imperial Gardens for our daily intake of nature!

The days are starting off progressively later as we settle in. Today I didn't wake up until 4:30AM! There was a massive storm rolling through so when we woke up there was a ton of rain and wind. Lucky for us nothing in this country seems to open any earlier than 10:00AM so we lazied around for a while. I finished up the blog post from the previous day and then decided to get ready. No exciting morning snacks today, we didn't pick anything up. Just a granola bar from home.

Despite laying around for a while we did head out about 8:30AM once the rain and clouds rolled out. Exactly when the weather said it would, something that never happens at home. 

We hopped on the Ginza line and then picked up the JR Yamanote in Ueno to head down to Tokyo Station. Upon arriving all the stores and restaurants were still closed, they didn't open until 10:00AM and it was only 9:00AM so we decided to head down to the gardens. It was smart to do them earlier in the day anyway, the weather was saying it could be 80 degrees! What is this Tokyo with hot temperatures? I think we brought this with us from home, oops.

You can’t actually see the Imperial Palace itself without a tour, which are available in April, but good luck getting tickets. From a sign I saw it seems they give them out at 8:00AM and 12:00PM, but don’t quote me on that. That’s okay though, we only intended on walking around the gardens.

There are two areas to the East Gardens, a lake area with flowers and a more open grass area that once had a tower at one of it’s ends.

The lake area was my personal favorite, it was more beautiful in my opinion.

I didn’t really get pictures of the second area, it wasn’t as photogenic. I do however have one nice shot from the raised area of the old tower, it shows a great contrast between the gardens and the modern city right outside them.

After wandering through the gardens I wanted to head over to Nippon Budokan as it’s right behind the area that the gardens and Imperial Place are in. However we started to walk the long way and I opted to not continue and just head back to the station. I didn’t want to do unnecessary walking if we didn’t have to.

Once back at the station we head down to restaurant street, which is in the first level of the basement in the station. There are a variety of restaurants to choose from. We chose a place that did rice bowls.

Many of the restaurants in restaurant street have you order from a ticket machine where you pick what you want to eat and pay for your meal at the entrance. You then take the ticket and head inside and give it to the waitress. 

Honestly this process was amazing, you don’t have to worry about getting a check or trying to order from a menu. It makes the eating process quick as you just wait for your food, eat, and leave.

Both of us ordered a salmon rice bowl. They were delicious, the salmon seemed very fresh.

I told you that you’d probably be tired of salmon by the end of this Japan trip - I think I’ve managed to eat it in some form every single day so far! 

After finishing up our food we head down to character street. There are shops here for a wide variety of animated characters. Specifically I was looking to hit up the Pokemon, Disney, Studio Ghibli stores.

We started at Ghibli, which has some really adorable merchandise. Depending on what else I buy during the trip I may head back here and pick up a few more things. I did buy two small things on this trip through.

Next up was Disney, this was a temporary pop-up store and mostly had Beauty and the Beast items. We are heading to Tokyo Disney later in the trip to opted to not buy anything. Finally we head to the Pokemon Store. A lot of cute things to buy, I picked up a couple small things for the Twitch stream giveaway and a couple gachapon. We will hit up a Pokemon Center later in the trip so I didn’t want to splurge on Pokemon just yet.

After finishing up character street we head upstairs to just wander through a few other places. We stopped in the Daimaru - we did go up a few floors but I wasn’t really feeling designer clothes, especially when a lot of them were American brands. However the ground floor has desserts. Right when we walked in the door there were some gorgeous mini cakes. I could have stood there and looked at them for like 20 minutes, but that’s kind of awkward. I have no pictures, but take my word for it, they were beautiful.

We did run across a little Kit-Kat boutique in the station as well, but it wasn’t what we were looking for in terms of gifts we said we’d bring back for those at work we, so we moved on. They did have the Kit-Kat tower though!

After we hopped on the JR back to Ueno and got off to do some shopping around Ueno. 

We started by walking down Ameyayokocho. It’s an open air market with many types of items. A lot of purses, shoes, and food. In terms of food, there were convenience stores with packaged items, restaurants and street stalls, and fresh ingredient stores. If so inclined you could buy fish and meat on this street.

We found some Kit-Kats here. The husband purchased a bunch for his co-workers. I picked up some matcha and some cheesecake flavored ones, but I’m really looking for the seasonal sakura matcha flavor.

There were also some stores with UFO machines on this street, we finally found a Neko Atsume machine, however it was and old one and didn’t work well, I gave it two shots and failed miserably. Next time!

After this we hopped on the Ginza line back to Asakusa, and then head back to our Air BnB.

We spent a little bit resting out legs since we did quite a bit of walking today and then we head out to explore around Asakusa some more. First we walked through the shops on Nakamise as every other time we’ve been in the area they had been closed or closing. We also finally stopped and grabbed some taiyaki!

I got a cream one, and Mr. husband picked a chocolate one. Mine is below.

And we had this pigeon creeping on us while eating them. It kept watching us and moving closer and closer as we ate. The lady next to us was not nearly as amused as I was.

After we left out pigeon friend we head off into an area of Asakusa we hadn’t walked through yet. We ended up finding the local Don Quijote and a bunch of pachinko parlors. We also stopped at a Lawson we found to pick up some more snacks for breakfast! And with that, we head back to chill more before dinner.

We spent the time in the Air BnB going over our plan for the next few days. I made a list before the trip of everything I wanted to see and do, so we went through the list, removed what we had done and organized what we still had to do. Spoilers, tomorrow is going to be Shibuya!

Around 6:30PM we head out to explore a bit on the way to dinner. The husband took me by the hostel and ryokan he stayed in the two other times he was in Tokyo - yes he has stayed within a mile radius all 3 times he has been in Tokyo.

Fun fact of the day. We could not for the life of us figure out why there was so much security at Senso-ji today. We happened to catch a huge motorcade leaving on our walk to dinner - it was sporting United States flags. Turns out the Vice President was at the Temple this evening.

Finally we head down one of the side shopping streets that shoot off of the temple and found a revolving sushi bar we passed earlier in the day. It’s day 4 and I’m just eating sushi for the first time!

My only issue with sushi in Japan with all of the nigiri has wasabi under the fish. I really don’t like wasabi, but I suppose I will suffer for some fresh fish. I’ll spare you the pictures, I mostly ate salmon anyway. The husband did get a lovely plate of mackerel however!

That was that, a nice, quick and tasty meal, great experience. So glad we were able to visit a revolving bar in Japan. Such a different atmosphere and the one at home!

We did walk by the gate and temple on the way back for the night. It looks nice at night!