#why isn’t is like. toujou or someone?

[greyhavensking]

I… finally caught up on daiya no ace. I don’t know what to do with my life anymore.

but hey at least I got the greatest misawa shot of all time

[forbidding-souda]

Hello! If it's not much trouble could I request Kokichi, Hajime, Nagito and Shuichi with a crush on an S/O who is incredibly cold and stoic on the outside, but is very caring and laid-back when you get close to them? Ooh, and they rarely blush but when they do they get very flustered and try to hide it? Thanks again!

Kokichi Ouma, Hajime Hinata, Nagito Komaeda, and Shuichi Saihara with S/O who is stoic on the outside but laid-back on the inside.

Those like cold but secretly anxious character like this are very hit or miss omg I used to rant about that all the time when I was a kid please

currently playing: mover awayer by hobo johnson

-Mod Souda

Kokichi Ouma

warnings: kinda spoilers for v3 chapter 4

o He greets you every morning. Even if you ignore him, or, more often, tell him off.

o He tries not to let it bother him. Really, what more can he do?

o There's not a part of him that wants to pick on you as he does the other people.

o That doesn't mean he doesn't do it. He'll bump into you on purpose whenever he walks past you. He'll walk up to someone, whisper nonsense and point at you to make you think he's talking about you.

o Things to mess up ur mind.

o It isn't until that he learns that Miu Iruma has a plan on killing you, the stone-faced unapproachable one, that he decides to act upon his feelings for you.

o You were so close to figuring out who the mastermind was. Subtleness was not something you excelled in. And Iruma didn't like you poking in her business.

o After the fourth execution, he started to laugh. His small shoulders bounced up and down. And then, he explained to you what he had learned. He showed you the notes she wrote to herself. Things about your schedule and people who trusted you.

o You fell into his arms. It surprised him. He had never seen you so shaken up.

o Your breathing pattern was all over the place and your eyelashes kept fluttering against his shirt.

o "It's okay." He says softly, a bit unsure. His fingers run through your hair. His eyes still flicker around the room. Will anyone else see you like this? Would you care?

o But no, the two of you are alone. And there you let yourself thank him for protecting you.

Hajime Hinata

➳ "Don't let it affect you."

➳ The mysterious voice pulls him in. He was just standing outside of Hope's Peak, looking in, letting all the students pass him.

➳ He did not even notice one had stopped to stand with him.

➳ "What?"

➳ "I said: don't let it affect you. You look rather foolish standing here." And with that, you were out. Walking past him into the world that he could only wish to be a part of.

➳ He gulps.

➳ He stopped wandering around the school after that. Just out of embarrassment.

➳ But from the window next to his seat in the classroom he can see when you walk in and out of the courtyard. Always alone.

➳ One day, he stands outside just to try and get your attention. He stares up at the tall building in front of him with shyness. The morning air tickles the back of his neck.

➳ "I haven't seen you in a while." You come up behind him once again. "You used to mope around here like once a day. Did I embarrass you?"

➳ "Yes." He answers plainly as he tries to hide his interest.

➳ You grunt and run your tongue across your teeth. "Good."

➳ You went from making fun of him to just wishing him good morning. It became a part of his routine to go see you in the mornings. There was no official greeting. No introduction. He did not know your name.

➳ Your harsh ruling over the conversations made him anxious to try to talk to you more. Where do you even go after school?

➳ "Hey," you bump into him, hard, on purpose. His standing posture falters as he tries not to fall over.

➳ "Seriously though, why do you just stand here?"

➳ His tongue burned in his mouth. "What?"

➳ "I'm seriously serious this time. I won't make fun of you. I'm just curious." You cross you arms, trying to hide a smile from your lips.

➳ "I just like the school."

➳ You hum in approval and nod your head. Good answer. There's a moment of silence between the two of you as you reach into your pocket for something. He watches stiffly. In between your fingers are two pieces of candy. You offer some but he declined.

➳ "I do, too." You stick a piece of candy in your mouth. "That's why I go here."

➳ After that, every morning you'd ask him what he's doing here.

➳ It is a fun way to pick on him. The little reserve course student staring up at his superior.

➳ Once again you cross your arms, leaning back with your weight on one leg. "Do you got a crush on me or something?"

➳ "Do you have a crush on me?"

➳ You take a step back. "Absurd. Don't suggest that."

➳ There was still warmth to your cheeks.

➳ He doesn't respond. A breeze blows past him and pushes a stray hair from your face. He looks at you head-on. You can't handle it.

➳ "I'm going inside the school now."

➳ A smile falls on his face. All he does is turn around, shoulders squared, laughing to himself.

➳ So you call after him: "The school that I go to and you don't!"

Nagito Komaeda

⭑ "Quit with that." You snap after removing a lollipop from between your lips.

⭑ He remembers looking, thinking you're talking to him.

⭑ What he didn't realize is that there was Ibuki standing behind him and giving him bunny ears with her fingers.

⭑ She eeked at your tone. "So intimidating!"

⭑ Over time, Nagito had noticed the way you slowly transitioned into defending him from the other people on the island with you.

⭑ He had no idea why. It's not as if he did anything to you, or in your favor.

⭑ He thought that it's not as if you had a crush on him.

⭑ You're perfect in his eyes. The way the sun of the island reflects in your eyes, showing off their real color.

⭑ He'd only been close enough to notice once.

⭑ That was when Saionji decided to take a bucket of seaweed and throw it over you.

⭑ Nagito was one of the few that decided to help peel them off of you. You looked up, glancing at him through your eyelashes.

⭑ You didn't say a word.

⭑ And you still don't. Not to him, at least. You hadn't spoken to him since.

⭑ Other than saving him from the harassment of the other students, you haven't spoken to him at all.

⭑ He watched you talk to everyone else from across the dining hall. You smiled but it's small.

⭑ He wondered what your laugh would sound like.

⭑ The first time he heard you laugh was when Kazuichi got blown away by an explosion.

⭑ It distracted him from any catastrophe that surrounded him.

⭑ And the first time you hung out with him... he will never forget it.

⭑ 'Hung out' is used loosely.

⭑ What you did was walk up to him and asked him to help you tie an apron behind your back.

⭑ His fingers brushed against the skin of your neck and the shirt covered your lower back.

⭑ "Thank you." You say, not turning to look at him. You didn't want him to notice how hot your cheeks felt.

Shuichi Saihara

♙ You laugh, resting your head on his lap as you look up at the ceiling.

♙ If you were back home, you would be staring up at all of the doodles you've been doing.

♙ But here, in Shuichi's room in the prison-like killing game, the ceiling is just filled with wires and cords.

♙ "Like a mechanical night sky," you comment.

♙ Given no response, you glance up at him.

♙ Fast asleep. Not even covered by blankets.

♙ You just tuck him in and leave him be. And he wakes up alone.

♙ He enters the dining room the next day to the sight of Toujou giving you a cup. You cock your eyebrow at her as your way of a thank you.

♙ Your face doesn't even alter when you see him. It unnerves him every time.

♙ He had to get used to you being the one to call who you thought was the killer before the class trial with no sense of fear. You were bold. You didn't have a worried bone in your body.

♙ Even though you were full of edges and points, you didn't exactly stand up for him.

♙ When Iruma would make her comments or when Ouma would try to psychoanalyze him you just watched from a distance, drinking whatever beverage Toujou had decided to give you.

♙ That's what it was like dating you. You did not want the others to know that there was any relationship going on.

♙ It might be dangerous.

[gintokisimp]

Daydreaming about Silver isn’t good for your Health. Chapter 1: Do you really need a reason to celebrate?

My first fanfiction I wrote. Post Canon GinTsu story. Does ignore some original story parts. All characters involved are adults. Later chapters are full of smut. 

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Light Angst, PWP

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 3,010

"Oi old hag, give me more sake" Gintoki shouted, slamming his fist on the counter.

The ochoko in front of him rattled under the force. 

"Why should I? It's not like you're willing to pay for it. Stop drinking and get out!" Otose yelled back at him.

"What are you saying? I have my money right here!" He babbled back at her and waved his hands, but instead of pointing at his wallet, Gintoki pointed at his crotch region. 

Otose clicked her tongue in disgust.

"I even won something at the Pachinko today, that's why I need to celebrate - that's why everyone needs to celebrate with me. Excluding you cause you need to serve me more sake on this special occasion!" He continued.

"Forget it already! You're only here because you think you can invite everyone on the house. I'll kick you out of my apartment tomorrow!" Otose was getting impatient with him.

"Otose-san, please calm down." Shinpachi pleaded, but he couldn't hear Otoses answer. The bar was packed to the brim and the noises made his ears tingle.

"PATSUAN stop talking to that hag. She will rob you. No more talking, more drinking!" Gintoki leaned over to Shinpachi, the scent of the alcohol brushing over his nostrils and he basically screamed in his ear.

What money though? Shinpachi sighed and got up from his chair next to Gintoki. Let them fight, it’s never a serious matter anyways. He left him alone fighting with Otose-san. On the surface, nothing really changed in the last few years. But in reality, a lot has changed. Someone would notice it in the small details: Katsura celebrating alongside the Shinsengumi. Kaguras growth spurt. The slightly different flair of the bar, after it was destroyed a few years ago and the weird forming of couples. Even the gorilla had given up his stalking habbit.

Shinpachi still had no luck though. But he always appeased himself, that Gintoki did neither in his early thirties. So in conclusion, it wasn’t that bad to concentrate on more important things in life before finding the love of your life. There was the Dojo. And of course Otsu-chan. 

Shinpachi nodded with a smile, lost in his thoughts. 

Gintoki really invited everyone. Hasegawa was sitting next to him and enjoyed the "free" drinks while listening to Gintokis and Otoses fighting. It didn't even bother him that Gintoki started bragging about his Pachinko winning streak. He was just happy to be here. It wasn't that much but still more than he ever owned since he got homeless and after all these years, Gintoki started to feel bad for him. Everyone kind of got their lifes sorted, but he was still living on the streets. Usually Gintoki would not care to ask him to get a drink with him, but they are pachinko buddies, so he felt the obligation to invite him. 

Otae and Kyuubei sat at one of the tables and enjoyed their drinks together with Zura and Elisabeth. Toujou sat between them and nodded heavily at everything they said. It was a weird sight, but today was different. It's a celebration after all. What a stupid reason for a celebration. I could have come up with something better. Gintoki thought after the pointless debate with his landlady. He hoped no one would get behind the actual reason. His eyes wandered lazily through the room. 

Hijikata, Sougo and Kondo arrived at the bar a few minutes ago and were already in a heated discussion if they should kick out Hijikata for putting disgusting amounts of mayo in his beer. Gintoki didn’t remember inviting them, it was probably Kagura's doing. Even Gengai had found his way here for a small drink. But instead of enjoying himself, he eagerly worked on an update for Tama who was standing right next to him. 

She was also here.

He had noticed her arrival before she even stepped through the sliding door. He always feels her presence lingering through the back of his head. After all those years of knowing her, he had never felt nervous or anxious around her. In fact, her presence comforted him in a strange way. She was such a good friend. But the last few weeks have been different. It all started with an accidental meeting they had on the streets of Kabuki-chō.

a few weeks prior

It was a sunny day, not too warm, not too cold. Cicadas chirped, the streets were busy, lively conversations echoed through the streets. All in all, the perfect summer day.

After a job well done, Gintoki and Kagura were casually strolling through the alleys of Kabuki-cho, when they came across a Pop Up Shop that sold kinky stuff. Gintoki didn’t bat an eye on it, but Kagura stopped in front of the store windows, since she never saw this special kind of shop out in the open. They were advertising a lot of different things and displayed strap-ons in the store windows. A vast sign in the window read:

Can a man really size up to these?

Try them out now!

Kagura read the sign and glanced over to Gintoki.

"Gin-chan, why are they displaying them in public? Are they trying to make men insecure? Are they making you insecure?" she asked innocently.

Gintoki stopped in his tracks, a vein popped on his forehead. "HUH?" Why are you asking?” He snarled at her, impatient to get home. Why is she asking those kind of things? Stop annoying me.  

“Why are you so snappy, are ya scared that they are bigger than you, huh?” Kagura started to laugh and his face began to burn. 

“Tch, of course not” He mumbled back at her. “Why would I of all men be scared?” Nervously, he clenched his fists. 

“Maybe because you’re a liar.” She retorted. 

“Lying about what?”

She pointed at the sign. Gintoki had already read what was on it and he sighed. 

"Well, it's definitely not right to brag in front of you,but you leave me no choice." His eyes brushed over the selection and finally, he pointed at a model that was roughly 25 centimeters. "I definitely can."

"Nah you're lying. The screwdriver you once had was bigger than your actual thing!" she snickered.

"I'm not lying, shut up!" He was getting very uncomfortable while talking about those things with Kagura. But she was an adult now and it should be normal to talk about this as adults, right? Right?

"Liar!" She screamed.

"Oi, let's go, we need to be at home soon." Gintoki ignored her bickering. He wanted to get home quickly since Bleach had a rerun and he didn’t want to miss it. 

He turned around fast while he started to walk, so he didn’t notice the woman standing behind him. He slammed straight into Tsukuyo. She was just standing there, now close to him. A little too close. Gintoki guessed she just wanted to say hello and overheard their conversation. Oh..

"Tsukuyo.. why.. what are you doing here?" He asked in confusion to meet her here and she stumbled backwards. 

Tsukuyo didn't answer. She was visibly getting nervous and her ears started to glow a bright pink. Kagura turned around with a smile. 

"Tsukki! We were just talking about this weird shop there. I guess they just want to make men insecure!" She explained, happy to meet Tsukuyo again.

"..uh. yeah I guess so." She said with a lowered voice. "We have a lot of those shops in Yoshiwara though."

"But why are you making a face like that then?" Kagura asked.

"Uhm.. what?" The color from her ears slowly spread to her face. 

"Is it because of what Gin-chan said?" 

"Ka.. Kagura!" Gintoki was shocked how blatant she could be sometimes.

“Don’t worry, he’s lying!” 

“Kagura, stop!” Gintoki felt his face burning again. Kagura ignored him and her eyes flicked between his and Tsukuyos face, visibly enjoying their ashamed reactions. A grin plastered her face. 

"Excuse me, I.. I need ta go." Tsukuyo turned around and hurried away from them in a different direction.

"Tsukuyo, wait!" He weakly held out his hand, but she was already gone.

Since then, he always felt nervous thinking about her. And he did think a lot about her in the last days. He doesn't even understand why. It’s not like it was an unusual situation for him, things like that happened a lot in this district and she for sure was used to it as well. But something was... odd.

The truth was, he was just making up an excuse to invite everyone and have her invited as well. They hadn't met since that incident and he felt the strong urge to see her again. While planning this whole thing earlier, he casually asked Kagura if Tsukuyo would also come to the party. Kagura just grinned at him.

"Of course I already invited Tsukki. She's coming just for you!"

Her reaction kind of scared him. He still didn’t figure out why. But right now it didn't really matter, he could not concentrate on that anyways. His mind was a little blurry from the alcohol and drinking was the only solution he knew against his growing nervousness. Without turning around, he felt her walking past him. 

His ears prickled. 

"maa Gin-san, what's wrong? Did you drink too much?" Hasegawa noticed his weird behaviour.

"Urgh, shut up. It’s nothing" Gintoki snarled back.

Tsukuyo elegantly sat down at the end of the bar, as far away as possible. Gintoki noticed Kagura immediately spurting to the bar stool next to her and they started talking. Gintoki lowered his eyes and focused his empty ochoko in front of him. 

"Where is my drink? Didn't I tell you to give me more?" Gintoki shouted more aggressively than he intended to.

"Pay your rent and I'll give you more, that was the answer." 

While picking up their pointless fight again, Gintoki overheard Kagura snickering. Tsukuyo was quiet, but Kagura didn't stop her laughter. He just hoped Kagura wasn't making her uncomfortable.

Ultimately, it was his job to do that.

Shinpachi heard it as well and got worried about what Kagura was on about again. For a few weeks now, she tried to act mysterious. She was planning something, but Shinpachi couldn't figure it out yet. Still standing next to his seat, he decided to interfere and walked over to them. 

"Kagura, what are you doing?" He asked as soon as he reached the two women. 

"Oh Shinpachiiii I'm not doing anything!" She replied, still snickering.

"Sure.” Shinpachi adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. “But it doesn't look like Tsukuyo-san is enjoying your ‘nothing’!" Kagura stopped laughing, but continued to smile. 

"She was teasing me about liking that ass face Sougo over there, so I told her she should just admit that she wants to fuck Gin-chan - "

"Kagura!" Shinpachi yelled, his eyes widened in shock.  

"- and she didn't even deny it yet." Kagura finished her sentence.

"Kagura, you can't say that, that's rude!"

"But Shinpachi, it's the truth! I know it!" Kagura slammed her fist on the bar, emphasizing her words.

"Stop making assumptions about other people's lives, Kagura!" Again, Shinpachi adjusted his glasses, but this time it was rather shaky. 

Tsukuyos mind was blank. What did she say? Why would she bring that up? How could she know what was haunting her dreams for the last months? Or did she just try to make a joke.. yeah, yeah that's probably it.  

Tsukuyo came here with the expectation to have a nice and chill evening with Kagura and Otae. At least that's what Kagura told her on the phone earlier. She arrived at the bar and saw a lot more familiar faces than she anticipated.

And then she saw him.

His broad back facing her, he was fighting his usual arguments with Otose. She involuntarily tensed up, averted her eyes and hurried to get the opposite side of the establishment. She didn't want to meet him. Not after all those embarrassing dreams.

"I just know it, it is obvious! I'm sure everyone knows it!" Kagura's voice broke through her thoughts. 

"I don't understand what you're talking about Kagura, please just leave Tsukuyo alone!" Shinpachi replied desperately. Apparently, they had exchanged a few more words while Tsukuyo was caught in her thoughts. 

"Shinpachi, you can't be serious. You're such a virgin." Kagura snickered.

"Kagura!" Shinpachi's face turned red. Kagura continued to tease the poor boy and Tsukuyo was glad she wasn't the center of attention anymore. 

"He doesn't even know I'm here. Why should he care.." Tsukuyo mumbled to herself, nervously tapping her fingers against her thighs.  

"Tsukki, tell him!" Kagura exclaimed all of a sudden. Tsukuyo froze. 

"Tell him what?" Tsukuyo asked casually. 

She hadn’t listened to Shinpachis and Kagura's conversation anymore.

"Yea, tell him what?"

Asked the voice that makes her skin prickle in excitement. She turned her head around, knowing what, or rather who was behind her and looked directly into mischievous shining crimson eyes. Her heart stumbled.

"Uh.. I .. nothing. I don't even know what they're talkin’ about. Really, ya should mentor ya kids better." She tried to act cool, while choking on her kiseru with closed eyes, coughing in his face. 

"What do you want to tell me? " He continued, unbothered by the smoke.

His words were enough to make her knees weak and Tsukuyo was glad that she wasn't standing. She would be lying on the floor by now, struck by his intense stare. It sent a cold shiver down her spine, and as he slightly tilted his head in a silent question, she could feel her face heating up. 

"Who said we.. we are talking about ya?" She stammered. 

"We were!" Kagura yelled from behind her. 

Please Kagura, shut up, only this one time! She pleaded silently.

"You were? " Gintoki was teasing her, a light smile played around his lips.

Tsukuyo was sure he was drunk, but right now, he didn't even seem tipsy anymore. His eyes were clear as day. It almost seemed like he was prepared for this and he captured her quick glances at his face with his eyes. Was she imagining things or did she catch a glimpse of pure, primal lust in his eyes. She blinked and it was gone. Dead, bored fish eyes stared back at her, almost uninterested. 

He didn't hear what Kagura said, did he? No, that's impossible.  

Tsukuyo could not focus, not with him in front of him, not with him looking at her, waiting for an answer. She tried to look somewhere else and began to stare at his arms. His right arm, biceps flexed, was supporting his weight on the bar counter. Is he doing that on purpose? She didn't realize until recently how muscular he really was, or rather, she didn’t really care about it prior to their.. encounter.

Why would he need to flex his arms while he was just standing. Veins stretched over his muscles, hypnotizing her more and more the longer she stared. She could almost grasp his blood pumping through them, if he would just let her touch him. Tsukuyo imagined her nails scratching along them, his hands sliding up her spine, pulling her hair and bowing her back and -

"And?"

He was still staring at her, waiting for an answer.

shit.

Gladly, Otose interfered before Tsukuyo had the time to make up an answer. 

"You know, Gintoki, I could forget about the rent if you just gave me some damn grandkids." She said thoughtfully, while puffing out the smoke from her cigarettes.

For a second, Tsukuyo really believed that Otose would distract Gintoki from the question. But actually, she made it even worse.

"HUH, what are you saying woman?" Gintoki snorted at Otose.

"I said you should give me grandkids!" Otose replied a little louder. 

"How does this affect me baba?!” Gintokis attention was now directed at the bar owner. However, his body was still facing Tsukuyo and now, while he was getting worked up again, he flexed his supporting arm even more and unwittingly leant closer to her. The closer he got, the more she felt like her head would explode. Tsukuyos ears were as hot as the midsummer weather outside and her heartbeat quickened, racing the blood through her own veins. 

"Tch, don't play stupid, you idiot." 

"Don't call me stupid, there's no one in this bar who could give you your damn grandkids!"

Tsukuyo flinched. Gintoki noticed that and he turned his head back to her. What's wrong with her, is she in pain? He was confused. His arm started to hurt and he shifted it around. He had placed it in an uncomfortable position in an attempt to cover up his nervousness. Of course, it didn’t work. 

Kagura noticed Tsukuyos reaction as well. "Gin-chan you idiot, shut up!" 

"What the hell did I do wrong? " Gintoki now yelled at Kagura.

"Ah whatever, I don’t have the nerves for this." Otose left them fighting and walked over to her paying customers.

"Everything, you're doing everything wrong!" Kagura exclaimed.

“I would be very happy if you could just explain me what the fuck I did do wrong!”

“You’re making her feel bad!”

“Who?” 

“Men are stupid, men are really stupid!” Kagura threw her hands up. 

"Oh you think so? Go tell your loverboy Okita-kun, maybe he cares about your bullshit." Gintoki mocked her. 

"ew he's not my lover, I could never love a punchable face like that." Kagura's face was genuinely disgusted. Gintoki and Kagura turned their heads as they heard Sougo's sadistic laughter from the table. He was smirking with his eyes closed. Glancing over to Kagura.

"Oh I will make you love me." He whispered loud enough for them to hear it.

“You! Shut up or I’ll make you!” Kagura was visibly getting angry, cracked her knuckles and stomped over to their table in an attempt to beat him up.

"No Kagura, stop!" Shinpachi yelled franticaly and followed her.

And with that, facing each other, Gintoki and Tsukuyo were alone.

[oumakokichi]

Do you think that Kokichi had any remorse for Gonta during trial 4 or did he actually not care? I've seen a lot of people saying different opinions from both sides of the argument. But I'm really confused because there was a moment where after Gonta was executed, correct me if I'm wrong but Shuichi asked Kokichi if he could reveal the secret of the outside world (?) But Kokichi replied with something like “I don't want to....” and seemed generally upset? But then a few moments later he snapped out if it and began acting like he had no sympathy whatsoever. I just really wanna know how Kokichi actually, truly felt about Gonta and if he regretted manipulating him. Sorry if you've already been asked this and have already given an answer, thank you!

Hi anon—I actually wrote a pretty big master-post on chapter 4 not too long ago which I think more or less sums up my thoughts on Ouma’s behavior in the post-trial! You can find it here if you want (it’s pretty long and I tried to answer a whole bunch of questions about Ouma in chapter 4 specifically, since it’s the chapter I get asked about the most).

More specifically though, I’m afraid that there is no easy, definitive answer to that question. I can only share my personal opinions about how I believe Ouma felt in that scene. And personally? I do think he was genuinely upset and distraught about Gonta’s death, that he even momentarily considered giving up all his plans and being executed alongside him, and that he cared about Gonta and deeply regretted using him as a sacrificial pawn in his plans.

I’ll discuss what I mean in more detail, but it’ll probably get pretty long, so I’ll put the rest of this post under a cut as always!

The thing is, though, I’ve shared my personal thoughts about the chapter 4 post trial many times, including my reasoning and all of the textual evidence that shows how much Ouma cared about the rest of his classmates. But ultimately, there will probably always be some people who disagree, because their reading of the text will always be a little bit different. Unless we ever have an interview from Kodaka in the future where he directly says, “this is what Ouma was thinking and feeling at this exact moment,” there really won’t ever be a way to know what was going through his head with 100% certainty (and I do feel like leaving it open-ended is something of Kodaka’s intention, anyway, especially since Ouma is supposed to be a very polarizing character).

That being said, I do think it’s worth analyzing the text and drawing your own conclusions, because ndrv3 is a game that changes a lot depending on how you interpret it, and Ouma’s character is included in that. It’s really easy on a first playthrough to get wrapped up in what Ouma says or does without really looking at why he says it, or at his underlying motivations. Going back through the game on a replay though, I do personally think it’s possible to guess at what he might have been feeling during those super conflicting scenes in chapter 4.

In my opinion, I think Ouma did truly care about Gonta as a friend, and that his guilt and remorse over what he did was genuine. Not only did Ouma and DICE have a very strict taboo against killing (mentioned directly in his motive video in Japanese, though the part about it being an actual rule was stripped from the localization), but we don’t see Ouma’s façade crack like this very often. Most of the time when he does his trademark “crocodile tears,” it’s with his very loud, exaggerated crying sprite, and he bounces right back to acting normally within a moment or two.

There are a few exceptions to this, of course—he uses the “crocodile tears” sprite to cry at Kaede, Amami, and Toujou’s deaths, but it’s still very likely he was shaken up by seeing them dead). Nonetheless, we don’t see his much more subdued crying sprites more than a handful of times, particularly in the chapter 4 post-trial just before Gonta’s execution, as well as in Momota’s flashback in chapter 5 when he talks about how Ouma actually hated the killing game the whole time.

I’m aware that some people simply brush these moments aside and assume that Ouma is lying though all of them, but I personally just can’t agree with that interpretation. Assuming that Ouma is lying whenever he shows remorse or guilt or hatred for the killing game means assuming that he’s telling the truth in pretty much every other scene—which doesn’t make much sense, given that his entire character is centered around the concept of lying, as well as moral ambiguity and subverting expectations. Assuming that Ouma actually means what he’s saying 100% of the time unless it just happens to involve showing any kind of guilt or remorse turns him into a very boring, predictable, uninspired character (none of which are words I would use to describe him personally).

Ignoring those moments where Ouma shows genuine attachment to his classmates and distaste for the killing game also means ignoring several key pieces of evidence and clues about him that we are directly provided in the game, including his motive video and Momota’s flashback in chapter 5. Personally, I don’t feel like there’s any reason to include these scenes at all unless it’s to help shed light on Ouma’s motivations and provide players with a clear reason to try and go back through the game again to look at Ouma’s actions through a new perspective.

I also feel that Ouma genuinely cared about Gonta because to put it simply, there was no incentive for him to lie in that scene. He got absolutely nothing out of it—and considering he turns around and starts playing the villain on purpose all of 5 minutes after Gonta’s death, he definitely wasn’t trying to earn sympathy points or trick the rest of his classmates into trusting him. In fact, he could’ve easily tried to make himself look more sympathetic by putting all of the blame on Miu for trying to kill him, or even on Gonta. But instead he fully admits to coming up with the plan to kill Miu and spends the entire post-trial trying to convince everyone not to hate or blame Gonta.

If he was truly as sadistic and horrible as he pretended to be, I think he would’ve pulled a 180 and started throwing names and insults around while Gonta was still alive to hear it, not after he was already dead. If he didn’t care at all about Gonta’s feelings, he had no reason to try and take all the blame on himself while insisting that none of what happened was actually Gonta’s fault. If anything, revealing himself to be this horrible, evil villain who enjoys seeing other people suffer or die would’ve really been adding insult to injury, and probably would’ve crushed Gonta completely, even before his execution started.

But… Ouma doesn’t do any of this. Despite having every opportunity to either portray himself as more of a victim and fling all the blame on Miu and Gonta, or else to completely embrace being a villain who loved seeing people suffer, he doesn’t do either of these things. The way I personally see it, Ouma waits until Gonta is already dead, and when the rest of his classmates begin pushing him for answers about the outside world and demanding to know what Gonta saw, that’s when he finally snaps and resigns himself to acting like a villain in order to make everyone hated.

You could argue that trying to make everyone hate him had a twofold effect: it helped set the stage for him to pretend to be the ringleader in the next chapter, which he clearly wanted, but it also was a way of taking things out on himself and shows just a small glimpse of how much he hated having to dirty his hands in chapter 4. After all, Ouma even says it himself: that the “role of a villain is perfect for him,” because he’s already made everyone hate him. We see Ouma occasionally tease or antagonize the rest of his classmates plenty of times throughout the game, but it’s true that he doesn’t really step into that “villain” role until the end of chapter 4, once he’s crossed a line that he can never come back from by manipulating both Miu and Gonta to their deaths.

None of this is to say that what Ouma did to Gonta is okay, by any means. I think he definitely did care about Gonta and even thought of him as one of the few trustworthy people in the killing game, even someone close to a friend, but that doesn’t mean that manipulating him and using him like a chess piece was okay in the end. I just also think it’s important to realize that there were plenty of extenuating circumstances that led Ouma to act the way he did—including the fact tha he knew Miu was going to kill him, that he already suspected she had measures to prevent him from fighting back or killing her himself in the VR world, and the fact that he did not want to die or get everyone else killed in the trial.

It’s possible for people to care about others without necessarily treating them the best or doing the right thing. A huge part of Danganronpa, something that’s been evident from the very first game, is that sometimes characters can and do hurt each other, even when they care about each other or wouldn’t be a threat otherwise.

It’s the existence of the killing game itself that causes so many characters to go to extremes that they normally wouldn’t, whether it’s Maizono trying to frame Naegi in dr1 despite caring about him a lot, Kaede deciding to try and commit murder under everyone’s noses despite trying to unite the group and wanting everyone to trust her, or Ouma using Gonta as a pawn to kill Miu in his place because he didn’t want to die.

At the end of the day, people are still probably going to have very polarizing opinions about Ouma and the things he did in chapter 4, and that’s honestly okay. In my own opinion, Ouma definitely isn’t a completely flawless, innocent baby who “did nothing wrong”—he absolutely is manipulative, cold, and calculating when he wants to be, and it’s a fact that he got two people killed, even if he didn’t want things to reach that point. But I also personally don’t think it’s fair to write him off as the exact kind of “evil villain” he pretends to be; not only is it a shortsighted interpretation of his larger motivations, but it also completely ignores any replay value and completely shoots down the appeal of trying to interpret Ouma’s thoughts and actions because “he was lying about feeling bad anyway, what’s the point in analyzing him.”

Tl;dr: I do think Ouma cares about Gonta, that he probably even thought of him as the closest thing he had to a friend in the killing game, and that what he did to Gonta in the end wasn’t okay. I think he really did respect Gonta for being such a sweet and kind person, but that he also knew Gonta was extremely naïve and that he would be one of the easiest people in their group to manipulate, hence why he decided to rely on him instead of anyone else. Their friendship is an important part of both of their character arcs, but it’s definitely not what I would call “on equal footing.”

I understand why Ouma’s actions might make some people really resent him, but I also believe that kneejerk reaction of anger and dismissal is exactly the point: Ouma does feel terrible about the things he did, but he doesn’t want anyone’s sympathy or forgiveness, not even the player’s. This, in my opinion, is why he starts embracing the villain role so completely from this point on, and why he’s never quite able to make the same sort of cold, calculating sacrifices in chapter 5 that he did in chapter 4.

I hope this helps answer your question, anon, along with the other chapter 4 post I wrote! Thank you for all your support!

[tracingdreams]

Daiya no Ace: The Dramas. Special Drama 3: “Onward, to Jingu!”

So I know I haven’t finished part 3 of the service station one yet - but I will - and this one inspired me more this evening. 

Featuring Eijun, Furuya, Haruichi, Miyuki

Summary: The team are heading to Jingu for a practice game. Theoretically. What’s actually happened is that Miyuki, along with the usual three first year suspects, have a bit of a travel problem, thanks entirely to Eijun…

Miyuki: Furuya, are you here? Furuya: Yes. Miyuki: Kominato? Haruichi:  Yes, I’m done.

Miyuki: Sawamura? (Before he can quite finish speaking, Eijun replies with…) Eijun: SAWAMURA EIJUN PRESENT AND CORRECT!

Miyuki: Annoying… Eijun: I, Sawamura, am always ready to do my part in a game! Miyuki: (Clearly weary): And why is it that, if you have that level of conviction, do you suddenly decide right before getting on the train that you have to go to the restroom?

*Eijun: One’s hands and ones stomach aren’t bound by the whims of time, you know! And it wasn’t just me. Furuya and Harucchi also came with me! (*Note: I am unsure about the first part of this line because he gets incoherent when he’s excited. But it conveys the sense anyway)

Miyuki: Yes, but you were the one who got lost finding the restroom, weren’t you? Eijun: Ack..

Miyuki: (Sighs): On a day when we have a game at Jingu, and this is what happens. Are you all right?

Haruichi: But it’s unusual that we weren’t able to hire our usual bus this time. Miyuki: Well, we can get there easily by train. It’s a good thing that it’s not a major problem. But I never thought that we’d get separated from the others because of a toilet crisis! Furuya: (just catching up with the conversation) It’s not my fault, you know. Eijun: (Angry): You went to the restroom too, didn’t you?! Haruichi: Eijun-kun. Don’t yell on the train.

Eijun: Ah, good point. Furuya: But it’s a while since I’ve been on a train. Eijun: Is it? Haruichi: Now I think about it, the last time was when we went to the Tokyo Dome to see Glay, live. (Translator’s Note; !?!!?!! WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN So many questions…) Eijun: Ah! Kanemaru and Toujou were with us too, weren’t they? Miyuki: You guys almost got swept away by the wave of people at Shinjuku, though. (Translator’s note: It is LIKE THAT at Shinjuku station. >< OMG the memories!)

Eijun: (Gasping): How did you know that?! FURUYA! You blabbed, didn’t you?! Furuya: I didn’t say anything. Eijun: Then, Harucchi!

Haruichi: It wasn’t me (he sounds hurt). Eijun: Then who leaked? Was it Kanemaru? Toujou? No, Toujou’s a good guy. So it was Kanemaru? It must have been Kanemaru! That wretch, Kanemaru! Haruichi: And he’s convinced himself.

Miyuki: Sawamura. I heard it from you. Eijun: Me?! (He sounds genuinely shocked). Miyuki: The night you went to the Tokyo Dome, you came to my room to tell me about it, remember? And then there was Chris-senpai. You went specifically to his classroom to report to him about it, too. Apparently you were being a nuisance.

Eijun: Gnngh…Ah…now you mention it, I did… Miyuki: (Amused): Don’t get swept away this time, huh? Eijun: I, Sawamura Eijun, am a man who learns from experience! I won’t make the same mistake again! (The train announcer announces the next stop is Shinjuku). Miyuki: There. We’re at Shinjuku. Eijun: I got it already!

(There is the sound of a lot of people).

Eijun: Ah, here it comes! As if I’m going to be defeated! Haruichi: Hey, Eijun-kun! Eijun: Harucchi! Don’t get swept away! If you get swept away it’s the end of everything! Haruichi: That’s not what I meant… (There is the sound of train doors closing. Eijun sighs in relief).

Eijun: Ah, that was dangerous.

Miyuki: It wasn’t a bit dangerous. Eijun: Huh? Furuya: Hey, there’s Maezono-senpai. Eijun: Huh? Outside the window of the train are the many faces of the Seidou Baseball Club members…Kuramochi-senpai, Kanemaru, Toujou…Shirasu-senpai and Nori-senpai. Even the boss. Are they looking this way?! Furuya: Even though we were meant to change trains at Shinjuku… Eijun: What?!

Miyuki: You were making such a fuss we didn’t manage to get off the train in time. Eijun: Wait, Shinjuku wasn’t a station to avoid getting off at, then?

Haruichi: Today’s game is at Jingu Stadium, so we needed to change at Shinjuku… Eijun: What?! Furuya, did you know that? Furuya: I knew. Eijun: What is this madnesss!!!!!!

Miyuki: (Entirely calm, probably because he’s now got such an Eijun-madness-tolerance level this doesn’t even register): What’s done is done. Never mind. If we change at Yotsuya, we can get a train back quite easily. Eijun: Geeeuuhhh! Miyuki: And after, you’ll have to apologise to the coach. Eijun: Why just me?! You were the one who told the coach it’d all be fine, you’re just as guilty, aren’t you?

Miyuki: Huh? Why me too? Although I suppose if I hadn’t agreed to come with you, you wouldn’t have had permission [I assume to go to the restroom].

Eijun: (Crushed): I’m sorry. Miyuki: Hey, now. We’re gonna change at the next stop, Yotsuya, so be prepared, okay? This time there won’t be many people, so there’s no risk of being swept along by the crowd. Eijun: Yes! I, Sawamura Eijun, will not make the same mistake twice! Haruichi: He probably will though. Furuya: Mm. (The scene changes. They have arrived, finally, at the station for the stadium).

Eijun: Ah, for a while there I didn’t know what was going to happen. Miyuki: Don’t be so complacent! (Translator’s Note, Miyuki actually says ‘aah ja nee yo, which literally means it’s not “ah!” but that didn’t really mean much in English, so I used the intent rather than the actual words here). The train we had to change onto was late, and that was definitely a problem. Look! At this rate we’re only just going to make it to the start of the game preparations!

Eijun: That just means that the Captain’s leadership skills weren’t very good. Miyuki: (Annoyed now): And after we got off the train, you kept stopping to look at this and that on the way through. Are all the food stalls really that interesting? (Note: He is more specific, but food words are my nemesis and I can’t make it out).

Eijun: Ah, well, (he laughs), I wanted to buy some delicious noodles. Miyuki: Don’t eat right before a game! Haruichi: Honestly. Maybe Eijun really needs a collar and lead. Eijun: Am I a dog? Do you think I’m a puppy? Furuya: I’m already pretty tired out… Miyuki: Hey, the game is after this, you know! Eijun: Look! That’s…! Miyuki: Now what? Eijun: They’ve got a batting centre here! Look! There! It says you can hit pro level fast-balls! Furuya: (Suddenly energised) Professional fast-balls… Miyuki: Hey, hey, now what are you doing getting all fired up before the main event? The thing you guys should be getting excited about isn’t the batting centre, it’s that over there, isn’t it? (Presumably he means the stadium). Haruichi: That’s right. When we’ve got this game at Jingu Stadium waiting. Eijun: Ah! So we do! Furuya: Oh. Haruichi: What’s up, Furuya-kun? Furuya: The Jingu Stadium is over there, right? Haruichi: Mm, it is. Why? Furuya: For some reason it seems to be surrounded by people. Haruichi: You’re right. I wonder what’s going on. It can’t be the crowd for the game, surely? It wouldn’t be like that just for a practice game? Eijun: (Starts laughing slightly maniacally). Haruichi: What? Why are you suddenly laughing like that? It’s creepy. Eijun: It’s surely the female fans of I, Sawamura Eijun, and the passionate fans of High School baseball! There’s no mistaking it! (?!!!?! Translator’s Note: This is the guy who can’t even notice that Wakana and Nishino, and probably Haruno are all interested. Facepalm groan). Furuya: It’s probably for me. Eijun: What did you just say? Furuya: I won’t give up the mound. Miyuki: You guys! I already told you not to get all hyped up! Although it is strange. When you think of who comes to the games, these people don’t look like they’re associated with school baseball… Haruichi: I’ll go ask. (He leaves) Eijun: That’s Haruichi for you. Always perceptive! (Soon Haruichi returns). Haruichi: I asked someone. At the Jingu stadium, today, they’re apparently holding an all star game for some anime called Daiya no Ace. (Translator’s Note: LOL, fourth wall collided with at speed). Eijun: Daiya no Ace? All star? Does that mean that I’m also now an all-star? Miyuki: Obviously not! Then, in that case, we’re not playing at Jingu? Surely…the game isn’t at the Second Jingu stadium instead? Haruichi: In that case, the entrance is on the other side, isn’t it? Furuya: Ah… Miyuki: What’s up, Furuya? Furuya: That guy over there is the coach, isn’t it? Eijun: Ah! The Boss is looking over this way! (He starts yelling), BOSS! I, Sawamura Eijun have arrived at Jingu Stadium! Haruichi: The coach…looks like he’s saying something. Hang on…”You lot, what are you doing! If you’re even a minute late I won’t put you on the field!”…he’s angry… Miyuki: Huh…Ah, shit! There’s only a minute before the pre-game gathering. RUN! (and he takes off). Haruichi: Wait, Miyuki-senpai! Furuya: Ah, no fair!

(they both set off running after Miyuki)

Eijun: Are you guys going to just leave me behind?! Ah! Dammit! (he starts running) Why me?!

Miyuki: If you come to that, it’s all because you had to go to the restroom!

Furuya: And wouldn’t get off the train.

Haruichi: And kept taking diversions.

Eijun: Dammit! Next time I will definitely get on the train properly! Although, one day I am definitely going to play in a stand-out all star game!

Furuya: Me too.

Haruichi: In that case, me also.

Miyuki: You lot! Hurry!

(The first years): Yes sir!

(The end)

[fooliery]

why do you feel the need to lie about everything? - from kirumi!

My my my. Kirumi Toujou? Having opinions? What a surprise.

...That's an exaggeration. Of course Toujou had her own opinions. He had seen many of them himself: don't call me mother or whatever she had said... Well, if she didn't want to be called one, she shouldn't act like one. That's what he thinks.

So confrontative, too... He wonders if she'd shut up if he ordered her to. Probably so, but that'd be boring, right? Why punish a little conversation? It always reveals something about someone's character, no matter how guarded they were. So he'll entertain her little inquiry.

"Why do you fill out every order? 'Because it's your duty', right? Because it's who you are?" Ouma blinks, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. "I lie because it's who I am! I'm a liar, after all. It really is that simple." He leans in, just enough to encroach on her personal space, staring unblinkingly up into her face. "Why d'ya ask, huh? Does it frustrate you? Confuse you? Isn't it easier to just accept things as they are?"

"Nishishi..."

[musicprincess655]

Okumura Koushuu is not very observant, but eventually he has to realize that his teammates are also his friends

Written for @daiyarpwk2020 day 2: Bonds

Koushuu is, perhaps, less observant than the people around him. It’s not exactly news to him, but it feels like a pretty poor excuse for explaining why he never realized he and Asada are friends.

In fact, other than Taku, Koushuu thinks Asada might be his best friend. They don’t have the same wordless ease born of knowing each other far too long, but if Koushuu actually craves someone’s company, he’s most likely to seek out Asada, and if Asada finds him instead, Koushuu never feels the urge to tell him to leave.

He realizes it all in a rush when they’re walking back from the cafeteria later than the rest of their batchmates. A year of this life should’ve gotten them used to the ungodly amount of food they have to eat to keep up their bodies, but they’ve settled into a routine of eating slowly and steadily, and Koushuu, at least, will never be the kind to scarf down his food like some other teammates he could name. They linger late, taking their time, and a kind of camaraderie is born from being in this slowpoke squad.

“Do you think we’re good senpai?” Asada asks, not looking at Koushuu. “I mean, we’re not setting a very good example, right? Taking so long to finish our food.”

Koushuu privately thinks it might actually be better to let the first years know some of their senpai still struggle. It shows them that no one on this team is superhuman, that through hard work, all of them can rise.

“I think if they can’t keep up, they’re not worth worrying about,” Koushuu says sharply. It’s the kind of acerbic comment he usually reserves for Taku’s ears only, the kind that just sounds mean – and it is, but he didn’t only mean it that way – that would get him in trouble.

To his surprise, though, Asada just huffs a laugh into his fist and keeps walking, and that’s when Koushuu realizes. Asada gets how Koushuu is, and accepts him for it, rolling with the punches much like Taku does, just in his own way.

“One of them asked me to help with pitching from the stretch,” Asada continues. “I don’t know if I’ll be a very good teacher, but I’ll try. I asked Sawamura-senpai to help me.”

“Don’t let him overpower you,” Koushuu says. He doesn’t have the same antagonistic relationship with Sawamura that he used to, but they still have strong, opposing personalities, and they still butt heads, and Asada seems like the type to let Sawamura talk right over him.

“He said he just wants to watch,” Asada says. “Not that I think he won’t chime in, but he and Nori-senpai helped me a lot last year. I want to do the same for the first years.”

Sawamura, at first glance, doesn’t seem like a good matchup for Asada at all, but Asada needs that kind of reassurance in a way Koushuu never has, and Nori was a good way to temper that. Asada isn’t a pitcher like either of them, and he might never be the ace, but he’s a wicked closer, and that’s the influence of both of those pitchers.

“Let me know if you want me to catch for you,” Koushuu says. “I’ll make time.”

Asada doesn’t even look surprised at the offer, which means he probably realized they’re friends long before Koushuu ever did.

***

Kuki is loud, and boisterous, and gets in people’s faces, and in general, he seems like the kind of person Koushuu hates the most.

But he’s also a brilliant pitcher, and his second year is showing the potential he has for rising to take the ace number. It won’t be possible this year, not with Sawamura and Furuya fighting with each other for glory, but Koushuu will eat his own batting gloves if that number 1 isn’t emblazoned on Kuki’s back next year.

Then there’s the fact that Kuki’s interesting as fuck to catch for, and unlike Sawamura, who has a style built between him and Miyuki, Kuki is still growing into what he can do, and Koushuu is helping to shape that.

Koushuu doesn’t appreciate having to agree with Miyuki Kazuya on anything, but making a pitcher grow and bloom is thrilling in a way baseball hasn’t been for a very long time. Dare he say it, he’s even having fun.

“What the fuck was that?” Koushuu growls as he snaps the ball back to Kuki. He’s lucky he snapped his hand up fast enough to keep it from flying over his head.

“An experiment!” Kuki tells him cheerfully. “I saw some video from America, and this pitcher could do this cool trick shot.”

“It’s not so cool if you take a batter’s head off,” Koushuu says, because that’s exactly where the ball would have landed if a batter was actually standing there. He’s glad it’s not one of the nights where Asada stands in for them. It would’ve sent him running, scared shitless. Masashi…well, it might actually do him some good to get the fear of God put in him, but Koushuu doesn’t really want to see him decapitated.

“Lemme try a few more?” Kuki asks. “I think I can get it. That felt weird, but I think I can fix it.”

“It might fuck up your form,” Koushuu warns.

“Come on, Kou-chan, please?” Not even Taku calls him that, but Koushuu has somewhat given up on getting Kuki to quit it.

Koushuu is not indulgent, never has been. This is probably a waste of his time, and there’s better uses of it. For example, fixing this new quirk in Kuki’s slider that might be nothing and might be a game changer, Koushuu hasn’t decided yet.

But…

Well…

“Keep them in the zone,” Koushuu relents, and with that, he also has to add Kuki to the growing list of Friends Koushuu Has. He wouldn’t agree to sit around and let Kuki possibly fuck up one or both of them if they weren’t. He definitely wouldn’t allow the nickname if they weren’t.

“I’ll do my best!” Kuki says, and immediately throws a ball. But then he gets it in the strike zone.

And then Koushuu thinks he sees what Kuki’s going for.

“Relax your wrist instead of your fingers,” he suggests, resetting the way he squats.

When the ball comes to him, it’s far from perfect, but it might be something.

“Did you see that?” Kuki demands, laughing to the ceiling. “I did it!”

“Do it again,” Koushuu says, throwing the ball back. “Prove it’s not a fluke.”

Stumbling and flailing, more failures than successes, Kuki does.

***

Yui is a rival, but he’s also a good captain. He’s doing a far better job than Koushuu ever would’ve. Unlike Miyuki, Koushuu had the good sense to turn the coach down when he offered the position. Koushuu is good at intimidation, and he’s fine at teaching a few selective underclassmen, but a captain needs to be for everyone, and that was the fatal flaw of Miyuki.

He recognizes, of course, that Miyuki did the best job he was capable of doing, and no one can fault him for the work he put it to make his captaincy function, but anyone who wanted to look could see that it only worked because Kuramochi was, essentially, a second captain rather than just a vice. After a year of Kanemaru as captain, supported by Toujou and Sawamura but not dependent on them the way Miyuki was on his vices, no one needs a repeat of the past, and Koushuu has never been shy about telling the coach what he thinks.

Besides, he likes being vice-captain. He gets all the perks without any of the work. Koushuu is mostly left alone to work with the pitchers and catchers, but now his voice carries more weight. Kuki is happily handling the moral support side of the equation, and Yui gets stuck playing keystone and, somehow, not crumbling.

It doesn’t mean there aren’t cracks, though.

“My head’s gonna explode if I look at that any longer,” Yui complains, rubbing his palms over his eyes.

Koushuu lowers the playbook they’ve been looking at down to the desk. It’s not that late. Koushuu’s roommates aren’t even back from the baths yet.

But Yui looks exhausted, slumped in his desk chair, and Koushuu can’t bring himself to point out that they’ve been at this for less than an hour.

“I can finish up,” Koushuu says. “Get some sleep. I’ll tell you the important stuff in the morning.”

“You’re not even the one starting,” Yui protests without heat. “I’m the one that needs it.”

“You need to rest,” Koushuu says. “I’d do this anyway. It’s no trouble.”

“For a practice match you’re probably not playing in?” Yui asks.

Koushuu shrugs. The data analysis has always been one of the better parts of being a catcher for him, and just because he’s not playing this practice match doesn’t mean he can’t use it for practice. Besides, he started yesterday, and he’ll probably start again as their season gets rolling. It’s still spring. Even though their last summer is coming, it hasn’t started yet, and Koushuu is trying to enjoy the time they have left. In as much as he enjoys baseball, anyway.

Yui’s head lands on his shoulder. Koushuu jumps, because Yui isn’t usually the touchy type, and Koushuu definitely isn’t, but he lets Yui stay there anyway. It’s been a long day, and being captain is hard, and Yui has been fighting barriers Koushuu never has for far longer than this.

“I quit being captain,” Yui says. “You can do it.”

“You know I’ll just make Kuki do it,” Koushuu says. He knows Yui doesn’t really mean it.

“I feel like I keep fucking up,” Yui says. “No matter how hard I work, I always feel like there’s more to do.”

“You have vice-captains for a reason,” Koushuu says. “Let us help you.”

“So you’ll do all the data analysis, and Kuki will handle everyone’s emotional problems, and that just leaves me doing what?” Yui asks.

“Leading,” Koushuu says, and he gently pushes Yui off. “Go sleep. It’ll be better in the morning.”

Koushuu stays up later than he should and walks into breakfast blinking sleep out of his eyes, but the relief on Yui’s face, coupled with the way the dark circles under his eyes have faded, is worth it.

“Aren’t you the diligent vice-captain?” Taku teases when Koushuu sits down, cursing the lack of coffee. “You’re a good friend.”

Koushuu really should have realized that Yui was also his friend sooner.

***

“That is blatant favoritism!” Kuki complains as Koushuu throws a pillow at him and growls for him to shut up. “Taku-chan started it and you didn’t say shit to him.”

“Can’t help it if I’m his favorite!” Taku grins as he passes by Kuki on the racetrack, piloting his Princess Peach across the line to lap him. “Or maybe Asada is now, I can’t tell.”

Asada shrinks and focuses on keeping his Luigi on the track.

“Nah, if you’re not the favorite it’s definitely Kaoru-chan,” Kuki says. “They have this catcher bond that can’t be bro – dammit, Kaoru-chan!”

“You snooze, you lose!” Yui crows, browbeaten into taking a night off and thoroughly enjoying himself. “And I say Seto’s the favorite.”

“You’re all wrong,” Koushuu snaps from where he’s trying to focus on his homework. He’s not suffering the indignity of makeup exams again. He’s a third year. It’s demeaning. “Masashi’s my favorite.”

Masashi has been patiently waiting for one of the four controllers to open up, leaning against Koushuu’s desk as he works, and he looks up at the call of his name but doesn’t say anything. Koushuu adores him for it. Masashi stayed on later than he normally does because the other four had declared it a third year bonding night and camped up in Koushuu’s room with Mario Kart. He hasn’t said much – usually doesn’t – and that’s just fine with Koushuu, because he really wants to get ahead on his homework before it comes crashing down around his ears.

“You wound me,” Taku complains. “How is Masashi your favorite? No offense, Masashi.”

“None taken,” Masashi says.

“Taku, you’re fired as my best friend,” Koushuu says. “Masashi, you’re hired.”

“I don’t want to get in the middle of anything.”

“Too bad.”

Everyone else complains a little more before letting it slide, taking Koushuu’s mood for what it is.

“You dropped a decimal there,” Masashi says, pointing to Koushuu’s homework. He’s right. Koushuu fixes the mistake. “Are you actually mad at them?”

“No,” Koushuu says. He’s annoyed, sure, but they mean well, and it’s not their fault he has a hard time focusing on baseball and homework at the same time. Besides, he can’t actually bring himself to break it up when they’re having so much fun.

He’s really gone soft since his first year.

“Good,” Masashi says. “If you need help, I’m okay at math.”

“Thanks, Masashi,” Koushuu says, and he means for more than just the homework.

He and Masashi don’t talk all that often, but Masashi offers a quiet kind of companionship that Koushuu can’t get from any of the others. At least this time, Koushuu recognized the friendship for what it was early on. It’s a strange kind of friendship, not one he ever knew existed, but he’s grateful for Masashi anyway.

“If you want a turn, go take one,” Koushuu tells him. “Send Taku over if you do, I’m doing history next.”

Masashi goes, clapping a hand on Koushuu’s shoulder on the way. It hurts, a little, but Koushuu doesn’t complain.

***

Koushuu sits in the grass, knowing it’s staining his uniform pants, and he can’t bring himself to care. He has a diploma in his hand, and he never has to wear these again.

“Jeez, try to look less like someone died,” Taku complains, dropping into the grass beside him. “This is a time for celebration.”

“You’re even less eager to leave than I am,” Koushuu says. He made friends here, created memories, played baseball that restored the fun of the sport to him, but Taku loved it here. He’s grateful he made the decision and Taku chose to follow him for that if nothing else.

“True, true,” Taku agrees easily. “But it does give me the chance to do this.”

He holds out a button under Koushuu’s nose, and Koushuu realizes his jacket is hanging open.

“Is this your second button?” Koushuu asks. “Is this a confession?”

Of all the things he expects, he doesn’t include Taku laughing at him.

“Is this…of course it’s not a confession!” he says, grin in place. “This isn’t news to you.”

Koushuu shrugs, because it kind of is.

“Koushuu, we got playground-married when we were seven,” Taku says, incredulous. “I made you a flower ring and everything!”

Koushuu doesn’t admit that he’d kept that ring until it fell apart.

“We haven’t been…together, though,” Koushuu says.

“Of course not,” Taku replies. “We’re in high school, and we were busy with other stuff, and you had to work through those weird crushes you had on Miyuki-senpai and Sawamura-senpai.”

“I did not have-!”

“You totally did, and it’s fine,” Taku says. “I’m surprised you didn’t date anyone this entire time, though. I did.”

Yes, Koushuu remembers the girlfriend Taku had for a few months, remembers how fiercely and furiously jealous he was of her. Taku’s confession, if it can be called that, isn’t a surprise, sure, but Koushuu expected to continue as they were, best friends and maybe something a little extra, growing closer without him realizing it.

But, of course, life isn’t that kind. They’re not going to the same university, although they’re both staying in Tokyo, and Taku isn’t playing baseball anymore. He still loves it, but there are other things he wants out of life, and he told Koushuu he was happy to keep supporting him in the aftermath of the huge fight they had about it.

Koushuu reaches out, but instead of grabbing the button, he grabs Taku’s hand, holding the button between their palms. Taku rests his head on Koushuu’s shoulder, and they watch the sun sink together.

“You’re not allowed to lose my number,” Koushuu threatens. Taku laughs.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he says. “Come on. Our moms are making some huge celebration dinner at my house that they think we don’t know about.”

Koushuu didn’t know about that, actually, but he’s not surprised Taku did. He lets Taku tug him to his feet and lead him home, just like always.

[katastroficwriter]

Fic title, "vulnerable"? :)

vulnerable

Summary: Kiibo and Ouma should never be together.

Especially when exploring a decrepit high school with rotting floorboards.

In which Kiibo and Ouma dug themselves a deeper hole than expected when they accidentally crashed to the bottom of a run down school with no other way out.

Tags: Supernatural, Heart-to-heart conversations

                                         ———————————-

“So ghosts, am I right?”

“GAAAH!!! SHUT UP! STOP TALKING ABOUT GHOSTS! I DON’T SEE NO GHOST! GHOSTS AREN’T REAL! YOU PROBABLY JUST MADE GHOSTS UP!” Momota’s sudden outburst easily grabbed everyone’s attention from whatever conversation they were having..

The next thing they saw was the face-splitting grin that slowly took over the supreme leader’s face.

“What’s the matter, Momota Kaito-chan, “Luminary of the Stars”? Scared of a few ghoooooosts~?” he cooed mockingly. “Then again…you know what they say! The more terrified they are…the louder they howl. Wow~!  You’re such a big coward, Momota-chan!”

“SCARED? ME? Of-of-of c-course not! Why the hell would I b-be s-scared of something that doesn’t even e-exist!” the astronaut stammered, taking a couple of steps back. “And I’m no coward!”

“I beg to differ, Momota-kun. There have been countless traces of the souls of the dead roaming in plenty of villages I’ve visited in the past, ku ku ku…” Shinguuji added, waving his index finger a little. “It was truly a wondrous experience. I still remember it as if it were only yesterday.”

“See? Even Shinguuji-chan says they’re real,” Ouma snickered. “And that’s why I want to see them for myself!”

“I-It has to be a lie! You probably roped Shinguuji into this! As long as you’re involved, it has to be a lie!” Despite the strength in Momota’s accusation, everyone can tell how badly his legs were shaking like a newborn fawn’s.

“You’re just afraid of the truth, that’s why you always dismiss it as lies,” Ouma tapped at his lips with a deceitfully serene smile.

“Everybody settle down!” Akamatsu huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “Anyway…what’s with this sudden interest in ghosts, Ouma-kun?”

“Finally! Someone asking the right questions. I knew I can count on you, Akamatsu-chan~” Ouma waved his arms up and down with uncontained excitement. “You see…I wanted to propose a class bonding activity in the form of a test of courage!”

“A test of courage? Hah! I’ll ace that like how I aced my astronaut exam!” Momota slammed a fist against his chest, color returned to his face.

“After your shameful display? I highly doubt that,” the supreme leader made a show of flicking dirt off his nails.

“Ouma you bastard–”

“But a test of courage in Spring? Isn’t that a little…off-season?” Shirogane spoke, raising her hand. “Wouldn’t Summer or Autumn be a more suitable time for those kinds of things?”

“Oui, Oui! Shirogane-chan!” Ouma crossed his arms over his chest. “But you see, the abandoned Saishuu Academy would be demolished next month! We absolutely cannot afford to wait for Summer or Autumn!”

“Saishuu…Academy?” Saihara lifted the bill of his hat as he spoke. “Why there?”

“Huh? Is there something going on with Saishuu Academy, Saihara-kun?” Akamatsu tilted her head to the side.

The detective tugged his hat lower, “Um…none that I know of. It’s just…my great-great-grandfather used to go there during his time.”

“Exactly!” Ouma pointed at the detective. “Saishuu Academy is one of the, if not the oldest school in the entirety of Japan! It’s bound to house a lot of ghosts in it!”

“What makes you so damn sure about that, you gremlin? It’s not like people fucking died there!” Iruma scoffed.

“Shut your stinky mouth and listen, pig, you might actually learn something if you do,” Ouma slammed a hand on his desk.

“H-hiiee!” 

“The school has a clean record, sure. But I’ll have you know that Saishuu Academy was in fact built over an execution ground for criminals! A prison! There’s plenty of deaths on that land, that’s for sure!”

“Nnngh…you’re probably just lying again!” Yumeno pointed an accusatory finger at the leader, though her bravado was belied by her pale face. “Y-you’re just saying that to d-disrupt my mana flow!”

“Oh, but what Ouma-kun said is in fact true,” Shinguuji chuckled. “I even have records of it in my lab. I would present it to you all, however, it’s a very old record and thus very fragile to the elements. I do not wish to damage it.”

“S-stupid! This idea is stupid anyway! Why do I have to go through a test of courage when we already know how courageous I am!” Momota slammed his fists together. “G-ghosts or a-ayakashi, or y-y-youkai, they aren’t r-real and are just stories invented to t-torment the feeble-minded!”

“No need to be shy, Momota-chan, we all know you mean you,” Ouma smiled. “Anyway! If anyone wants to join in the fun, just go meet me and Kiiboy by Saishuu Academy’s school gate. I’ll only wait for 10 minutes. I’m entering the school whether or not you all come, just saying.”

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a class bonding activity?!” Chabashira raised a fist.

“That was a lie, really. I’m just making this announcement in case I die while exploring the place, nishishi! That way you’ll know where to look for my remains.” The leader hopped off his seat and approached the albino robot, who was currently sitting idly by the wall in sleep mode while he charged.  “Speaking of which, I really love nature so make sure you spread my ashes in the forest, okay?”

“B-bullshit! Stop fooling around!” Momota gritted his teeth.

“That aside…did Kiibo-kun already agree to this? I didn’t think he’d be the type to go on trips like this one,” Amami rubbed his nape.

“Oh, he doesn’t have a choice, really,” Ouma proceeded to poke and prod random buttons on the robot’s body. “I just needed something to take paranormal photos of! Kiiboy’s a machine, so he can definitely detect ghosts and print out a photo for us or two!”

“H-hey, you should stop messing with Kiibo, what if he blows up or something?” Momota shuddered had the thought. He still needed to go to space! There’s no way he’s going to die from an explosion!

“…Mmm? Huh? Up already? But I’m only at 79 percent…” Kiibo mimicked a yawn. “How did–”

“Morning sleepyhead~ Wanna go on a test and courage with us later?” the supreme leader flashed the android a toothy grin.

“O-Ouma-kun? Test of courage?” Kiibo’s brow furrowed as he began perusing the recording of the conversation which he slept through. “What for?”

“Just for some good ol’ class bonding,” Ouma tucked a strand of hair behind an ear. “You have no choice by the way, I only asked you for the sake of formality.”

The albino frowned at the remark after reviewing the entire conversation he missed. “You might as well have forgone the pretense of being polite, Ouma-kun. Go use your smartphone instead. After all, it’s still a machine which can also take photos.”

“Whaaat? No way! It has to be you, Kiiboy!” Ouma shook the robot by his shoulders, fake tears streaming down his cheeks. “Your flashlight function is way better than a phone’s! And you don’t need to hit a shutter just to take a photo! You’re more useful and convenient than any old smartphone for this!”

Kiibo paused at the unexpected praise. “…You’re just saying that to butter me up.”

“I’m nooot! I don’t just mean your camera function, I also mean your recording device! You can pick up subtle sounds right? Maybe you can pick up the messages of the dead too! That would be so cool! Come on Kiiboy, pleeeeeeease?” Ouma gave the android his best puppy dog eyes. “And didn’t the professor fix your shitty battery usage problem? That makes you even more useful!”

“Well…true…” Kiibo rubbed the back of his head, still a little weirded out from the leader’s behavior. “…Fine, I guess. But only to keep you out of trouble.”

“Yippeeeeee!!!” Ouma released the robot’s shoulders and started jumping around. “You’re the best, Kiiboy!”

“Kiibo-kun is so easy to sway as always,” Yonaga chimed.

“He still has a ways to go,” Hoshi tugged his hat lower. “He’s too soft, which is exactly why Ouma never stops bothering him.”

“That said, who’s going?” Amami asked, turning to look at the others. “I hardly know anything about the school since I’m almost always overseas, so I’m kinda curious about it. I’m going.”

“I will. I can’t help but worry,” Akamatsu raised her hand. “If something goes wrong, having more people around would make it easier to find help.”

“I will too! It would just be like Ghost Hunt! I’m so pumped!” Shirogane bounced in her seat excitedly. “I actually learned some basic warding spells from some monks for my cosplay research. If something does turn up, we won’t be completely helpless!”

“I’ll pass, this is a waste of time,” Harukawa played with one of her pigtails. “Not to mention dangerous. This is just asking for trouble.”

“I’ll pass too, unfortunately! I have to offer a special prayer for Atua tonight. I can’t afford to miss it,” Yonaga squished her cheeks together.

“I’ll go. I would love to do some recording of my own. Maybe I would be able to discover something new to add to the one I already have,” Shinguuji chuckled.

“Hyahaha! I’m cumming alright! I’m gonna take my ghostbusting gear with me!” Iruma grinned. “Ghosts or not, as long as I can test out my babies then it all checks out!”

“Gonta and Toujou-san are still away on a trip. It’s a shame that they can’t go,” the artist sighed. “Everyone seems so lively about the idea!”

“I don’t want to risk my entry in the next Tennis Tournament if I get in trouble for this,” Hoshi murmured. “Take care though. Don’t want any of you getting hurt.”

“That’s sweet of you, Hoshi-kun,” Akamatsu smiled.

“Well I’m not going! Tests of courage are nothing but a sneaky ploy for degenerate men to get handsy with girls!” Chabashira huffed.

“Mmmm…I’m going, I want to test out my exorcism magic I’ve been honing…” Yumeno rubbed her chin with a thoughtful look.

“If Yumeno-san is going then I will too~!!!” Chabashira pumped her fists in the air.

Saihara chewed on his lower lip before nodding to himself. “I’m going too. I’ve never seen its interior before, but I’ve heard rumors that it had plenty of secret rooms.”

“Wh–you too, Shuuichi?!” Momota gaped.

“It’s totally okay if you don’t come, Momota-chan! Just because your bestie is going doesn’t mean you have to. You don’t have to push yourself so hard,” Ouma cooed.

“Why I outta–”

BING! BONG! DING! DONG!

Ouma said nothing but smirked at the astronaut as he was literally saved by the bell, much to the other Ultimate’s chagrin. Their homeroom teacher entered a few minutes later, successfully ending their discussion about their plans later.

—————————————————-

“I’ll have you know that I’m leaving as soon as an hour is up,” Kiibo spoke as he carefully avoided stepping on rotten floorboards.

“What? Why?” Ouma stared at his partner in disbelief. “Don’t be such a spoilsport Kiiboy! Live a little!”

“Yes, I want to live, that’s why I do not want to stay here any longer than what’s necessary,” huffed the android. “I don’t want to worry the Professor for staying out too late. Not to mention this entire building is a hazard to everyone.”

“Tsk, fine, whatever. But you better get some good shots of ghosts you hear? I don’t want to leave this school empty handed,” Ouma pouted.

“That’s hardly something I can control, Ouma-kun,” Kiibo sighed.

Before entering the school premises, everyone drew lots for their pairs: Kiibo and Ouma; Shirogane and Shinguuji; Saihara and Yumeno; Chabashira and Iruma; and lastly, Akamatsu and Amami. It turned out that Momota’s evident fear of the supernatural made pairing up easy for everyone. They were all going to enter the school in that order, but they were free to explore any of the academy’s floors.

“Still, this really is a big school,” the android said with awe.

“Mmhm! It has tons of stuff in it. A church, a dormitory, clubrooms–” Ouma looked around the area, taking note of tattered and worn school festival fliers still posted on the cracked walls. “The land the property was on is really big, they were going to tear the school down and build a new mall.”

Kiibo looked at the fliers with dismay, “That’s…a bit of a shame. To have a place so full of memories get torn down for something like this.”

“Yeah. But time waits for no one. Money makes the modern world go round. Something abstract like memories don’t have economic value,” Ouma frowned, but eventually relaxed. “Anyway, detected any ghosts yet?”

Kiibo reviewed his memories and shook his head. “Sorry, still nothing.”

“Gahhh that’s so lame. How about we take the other way around?” Ouma huffed.

“N-NGAAAAAH! WHAT IS THAT? A ZOMBIE?!”

“Yumeno-san calm down! That’s just an old human-body model!”

“SAIHARA WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO YUMENO-SAN?!”

“Quite the loud bunch aren’t they?” the raven-haired Ultimate shook his head. “Maybe that’s why ghosts aren’t showing up. Maybe inviting them wasn’t such a good idea.”

“I think it’s better this way,” Kiibo chuckled. “The more the merrier, as they all say.”

“Nishishi! Maybe so,” Ouma huffed in amusement. “Mm? Hey, have we checked this room before?”

“Hmm…I don’t think so,” Kiibo looked up at the rusty signage above the dislodged door. “The library, huh.”

“Oooh! They probably have valuable books left behind, that’s a nice find. Let’s go in!” Ouma grabbed the android by his wrist, skipping through the doorway.

“Wait, not so fast Ouma-kun! The floor might give out–”

*CRACK*

“Huh?”

“Ouma-kun, hold onto me–!”

The floorboards had collapsed under their combined weight the moment they took their first step inside the old library. Down, down, down, they crashed. How many floors have they gone down exactly? None of them could keep count with both of their eyes shut tight. The only thing Ouma could register was the feeling of falling and strong metal arms wrapped around him protectively.

————————————————————-

CRAAAAAAAASH!

Akamatsu’s head perked up at the loud noise. “Oh no…”

As though reading her mind, Amami pulled out his cellphone and sent everyone a text.

‘Yell out your names if you’re safe. If you’re inside a room, get out so we can hear you.’

The pianist and the survivor nodded at each other before initiating the roll call.

“AKAMATSU KAEDE!”

“AMAMI RANTAROU!”

There was a beat of silence until the next person followed.

“YU-YUMENO HIMIKO!”

“SAIHARA SHUUICHI!”

“IRUMA MIU!”

“CHABASHIRA TENKO!!!”

“SHINGUUJI KOREKIYO!”

“SHIROGANE TSUMUGI!”

Silence followed.

“That can’t be right…where’s Ouma-kun and Kiibo-kun?” Akamatsu’s forehead creased with worry.

“That could only mean that they were the ones who crashed. We better look for them fast, they’re probably hurt,” Amami hastily tapped another message, telling everyone to meet up at the entrance hall. “Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Akamatsu and Amami carefully proceeded towards the meeting place, mindful of their footsteps now more than ever. Shirogane and Shinguuji arrived at the designated place before everyone else, followed by them, and the others arrived shortly after.

“Ouma’s probably messing with us again,” Iruma scoffed, tapping her finger against her arm.

“I agree! What if he didn’t do his roll call on purpose to spook everyone after destroying part of the school!” Chabashira nodded.

“I don’t think Ouma-kun would do anything to risk his own safety,” Saihara murmured. “Not to mention, Kiibo-kun was with him.”

“Correct! Even if Ouma-kun decided not to do roll call, Kiibo-kun still would have done it himself,” Akamatsu’s brows furrowed in concentration. “Was anyone near the crash?”

“I was on the first floor with Shinguuji-kun,” Shirogane raised a hand. “We heard something crash nearby but we didn’t see anyone at all. If Kiibo-kun and Ouma-kun did fall…shouldn’t we be able to find them on this floor?”

“That’s a good point.” Amami rubbed his chin. “How close were you to the crash, exactly?”

“Not very close, but I can pinpoint us to its general direction,” Shinguuji raised a hand.

“Alright. Everybody stay close. We can’t have anyone else getting hurt,” Akamatsu took a deep breath and slapped her cheeks. “No use panicking! Focus, focus!”

“Shouldn’t we call the fire department for help?” Saihara asked.

“But what if they were taken by ghosts? No one would believe our story!” Yumeno interjected.

“Shh! Everyone focus!” Shirogane turned to look at the others. “Now’s not the time to entertain thoughts like that. We need to try looking for them first before calling the fire department.”

“I’m on board for that. We practically broke some rules just entering this shithole,” Iruma flipped her hair.

“We’re here. I’m not sure of the specific source of the sound, but it should be around here,” the anthropologist proceeded to tie his hair in a neat ponytail.

“Okay, let’s split the rooms among ourselves. Got it?” Akamatsu regarded her friends with a look of determination.

“Got it!”

Their search didn’t end up being completely fruitless when Saihara managed to locate a hole in the infirmary’s flooring. But that very same discovery led them to their next problem. If there was a hole on the flooring of the first floor…then where does it lead to exactly? They were met with darkness even after flashing their lights on the hole. Ouma and Kiibo should have landed on the first floor if not any of the floors just above them.

“This is a big problem.” Amami concluded.

————————————————————

“Ouma-kun. Ouma-kun, wake up.”

Ouma hissed in pain as he shifted to his side. “O-oww…what–what happened?”

“The floorboards collapsed from under us and we fell a couple of floors down,” Kiibo replied, helping the supreme leader sit up. “Take it easy, you have a slight head injury and a twisted ankle.”

Ouma instantly raised a hand to touch his head, only to feel his scarf wrapped around his head. “What floor are we on, exactly?”

Kiibo pursed his lips. “…We would be in the equivalent of the basement floor. I reviewed my memories and we already went past the first floor by a couple of levels.”

“The basement level? The map didn’t have anything like that at all,” Ouma withered in pain, resting his weight on the robot.

“That’s what I thought too. This was probably one of the secret rooms Saihara-kun meant,” the albino paused to point at the spot across them. “…Though judging by the look of those rusted iron bars…we’re actually inside an underground dungeon.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that I’m in pain and we’re currently stuck, I would have thought that this was cool,” Ouma groaned. “Tch. There’s no use texting the others, there’s no way there could be reception in a place like this.”

“…I’m sorry, Ouma-kun.” Kiibo looked down.

The supreme leader raised a brow. “For what?”

“If only I had the ability to fly, I could have gotten us out of this mess right away,” the android explained. “I don’t have the strength to carry you out of this room either.”

“You could have just explored the area, searched for the exit and then come back for me afterwards,” Ouma huffed.

Kiibo shook his head. “That’s a risky idea. I don’t want to leave you alone during a crisis like this. What if more of the school gives out? If I left, there’s a big chance that we’d be separated by debris and only one of us could get out.”

“That’s…true. Heh. I guess my head isn’t working as well as I hoped right now,” Ouma chuckled half-heartedly. “I’m…sorry too. I got us into this mess in the first place. I wasn’t being careful earlier, so we fell. We’re more or less even.”

Kiibo was taken aback by the sincere apology, but did not dare to comment on it. They couldn’t exactly afford to bicker during an emergency like this one. It was clear that Ouma was too hurt to put up his usual mischievous demeanor, too.

“I’m glad you were my partner.”

“Huh?” the albino stared at his companion in confusion.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Ouma huffed as he slowly sank into a lying down position, resting his head on the robot’s cool lap. “If I had fallen with anybody else in our group, one of us would have already died; or worse, both of us would have just died and rotted together with this school. Look at you. It was a nasty fall, but all you have are scratches. You really are something, huh.” He grinned up at the albino.

Kiibo chewed on his bottom lip, a little embarrassed from the praise. “I don’t mean this in an offensive way, but–”

“Go ahead and say it.”

“Okay.” The albino took a deep breath. “Ouma-kun, did you rig the pairing lots so that I would be paired up with you? You did point out all of the convenient tools and functions I had for your exploration idea…”

Ouma simply chuckled in response. “You probably won’t believe me, but that was all luck. I never really cared about who you get paired up with, I just wanted the ghost pics.”

“I see…I thought just as much,” Kiibo nodded along. “I wonder if…the others are looking for us right now.”

“They are. You’re with me after all. If it were just me alone, they probably would have just left me behind,” Ouma sighed nonchalantly. “Then again if I were alone, I’d already be dead. Nishishi!”

Kiibo frowned. “Even if you were alone, we would still look for you, regardless of whether you’re dead or alive.”

“And what makes you say that, Kiiboy?”

“We’re friends, Ouma-kun. If such an obvious answer wasn’t clear to you, then you probably need to rest as much as you can right now,” the robot’s frown eased after finishing his sentence.

“Heh…I guess I can do that,” the raven-haired Ultimate shifted in his position a little, careful not to aggravate his aching leg as he did so. “I don’t wanna sleep in a shithole like this though, so you and I are going to be talking for quite a while until we get rescued.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kiibo smiled.

Being stuck in a very deep hole was probably the worst time to start getting to know a person more. But since that person is Ouma, a crazy situation like this is probably the only thing that could get him to talk sincerely. From his love for shounen manga to his hobbies, these were all things Kiibo had hoped to learn from the supreme leader at school and not in some hidden dungeon.

“Kiiboy, can I level with you for a moment?”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing for a while now?” Kiibo lifted a brow.

“Just shut up and listen to me,” huffed the other teen.

“Alright, sorry.”

Ouma released a sigh before speaking. “…I honestly think I’m going to die here. But even if I die, surely you won’t. That’s why I want you to record something for me.”

“…You mean a will?” Kiibo’s forehead creased with worry.

“Haha! Not quite,” Ouma shook his head. “Just some things I wished I was able to tell everyone before we both got into this mess. A confession of some sort.”

“Ouma-kun…”

“I want you to show it to everyone in the worst case scenario,” Ouma continued. “But if I ever survive this, whatever I’m going to say is going to be just between you and me. Understand?”

“Y…yes, I understand,” Kiibo nodded, though his worry was still very much present on his face.

“I’ll start now, ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Then I guess I should start about my parents…”

——————————————————————-

It had already been more or less two hours since Kiibo and Ouma crashed. The firemen struggled with trying to figure out how to pull them out from such a deep and dark pit. The realization that their two classmates had fallen lower than what they had expected brought chills down their spine. It took the firemen another hour to finally be able to rescue the missing Ultimates, much to everyone’s relief.

The EMTs carefully strapped Ouma to a stretcher and ushered him into the ambulance so they could take a better look at his wounds. Everyone then got off with a heavy scolding both from the rescuers and their respective parents for doing something dangerous without even contacting an adult. Though for Kiibo’s case, he was praised right after for his quick thinking during the emergency, otherwise the supreme leader would have been in a critical state.

“I hope you all learned a valuable lesson from this experience,” a fireman huffed.

“Yes, sir…” the teens all responded in unison.

“Let’s go home and get you fixed,” Iidabashi gave his son’s hair a ruffle. “Also cleaned up, you’re terribly dirty.”

Kiibo’s gaze lingered at the ambulance before turning to look at his father. “…Okay.”

The premises of Saishuu Academy was completely locked down the next day in light of the incident during the previous night. Both Kiibo and Ouma were sought after by the Newspaper Club, determined to secure an exclusive interview from them regarding their experience of being trapped. Unfortunately for Ouma, his twisted ankle prohibited him from escaping their pesky advances. And just as unfortunately for Kiibo, he still had the stamina of a senior citizen, but his father did improve his strength in order to assist him in emergencies.

“Ouma-kun, may I speak with you for a moment?”

It took Kiibo about two weeks before he could muster the courage to talk to the raven-haired Ultimate. They had to keep a facade that things were back to normal after all.

“Depends on what you wanna talk about,” Ouma leaned against his chair. “If it’s about that then no. I don’t want to hear anything about that stupid school anymore.”

Kiibo shook his head. “It’s…kind of related, but it’s not about the incident.” He pulled out photos from one of his pockets. “I thought that maybe…you needed to see this.”

Ouma lifted a brow, curious, as he accepted the photos.

The android shifted in his place. He specifically chose to speak to Ouma today since everyone was out eating at the cafeteria and the supreme leader had slipped away from the group not completely unnoticed. It was the only chance where they’ll have some form of privacy during school hours.

“UWAAAH! WHAT THE HECK! THAT’S SO CREEPY!!!” Ouma shuffled out of his seat in a panic, haphazardly throwing the photos on the table.

“…You did say you wanted photos,” Kiibo murmured as he picked the photos up. It was a photo of his memory during the incident; specifically the time right after they landed in the hidden dungeon. For a brief moment, he had caught a glimpse of a woman cradling Ouma–she disappeared as soon as he blinked though. That was why he wasn’t able to record her face in high definition.

“Y-yeah! But not when it involved me!” Ouma pointed an accusatory finger at the photos in the albino’s hand. “Have an exorcist burn it!”

“But Ouma-kun…” Kiibo shuffled through the different photos and picked one out to show the other Ultimate. “I think…it’s your mother.”

Ouma’s eyes visibly widened at the photo. It wasn’t taken inside the dungeon, no, the setting was entirely different. In fact, it was right when Ouma got brought inside the ambulance. A translucent woman stood waiting outside of the ambulance. Thanks to the lighting, her face was properly recorded. Even more so when she was looking right at Kiibo, giving him a wave. 

Jet black hair, soft, lilac eyes…

Her features alone were a dead giveaway that she couldn’t be anyone else but Ouma’s mother. 

Ouma shakingly took the photo from the android, this time staring at it with awe instead of fear. “…It’s really her…”

“Yes. That’s why I thought that you needed to see this,” Kiibo scratched at his cheek nervously. “…Do you really want to have these burned?”

Ouma let slip a sincere smile, “…Maybe not.”

Kiibo perked up, pleased to be able to make him smile.

Bonus:

“I’m only keeping this one. Buuut—!” Ouma snatched the photo of the hidden dungeon and showed it to the android. “You definitely have to show this to Momota-chan!”

Kiibo shook his head, “I don’t see why you need to–”

“Show me what?” both Ultimates turned their heads to face the astronaut.

The android paled at the very sight of the grin that took over the supreme leader’s face.

“Kiibo showed me this really cute photo he took on the way to school! And I thought you’d like it too!” Ouma chimed, slightly limping his way towards the taller Ultimate to hand him the photo.

“Momota-kun, wait–!”

Alas, Kiibo’s words fell on deaf ears.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!”

“Nishishi! So ghosts, am I right~?”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, OUMA!!!”

———————

If you’re wondering why I never explained what those memories were…that’s because Ouma survived. Kiibo’s not obligated to show you what it was.

[redfreesias03]

PUPPY LOVE!!

“Rather than a love interest, you’re more of a friend? Well, rather than a friend, you’re my archnemesis, aren’t you? Every time we meet, we fight! We FIGHT! Mmm, but…it’s kinda fun.”

OR: two dorks realize their constant squabbling was just because they liked each other.

hai!    dokkyuun!    seeno ! papii LOVE!!!    pappapii LOVE!!

Okay! *Heart squeeze* Ready? Puppy LOVE!!! Pu-puppy LOVE!!!

daiichi inshou wa    maji    SAIYAKU (papii LOVE!!!    pappapii LOVE!!) tomodachi ika    tte iu ka    ENEMII!! (papii LOVE!!!    pappapii LOVE!!)

My first impression of you was seriously AWFUL (Puppy LOVE!!! Pu-puppy LOVE!!!) Not even a friend, more like an enemy!! (Puppy LOVE!!! Puppy LOVE!!)

atta totan ni    chibichibi katte na adana    nanisama!? ichiban nigate na TAIPU honto    arienai yo ne!? arienai!!

As soon as we met, you took the liberty Of calling me “Short Stuff", just who do you think you are?! You’re the type of guy I can’t stand at all You can’t seriously be for real, right!? You’re unbelievable!!

au tabi    itsumo no    kuchiGENKA (papii LOVE!!!     pappapii LOVE!!) inu to saru     HABU to MANGUUSU (papii LOVE!!!     pappapii LOVE!!)

Each time we meet, we always FIGHT (Puppy LOVE!!! Pu-puppy LOVE!!!) We’re like cats and dogs, a viper and a mongoose¹ (Puppy LOVE!!! Pu-puppy LOVE!!!)

kyuu ni chinmoku    nan na no hen na kuuki    masaka ne KIMI no kao ga     akaku naru!!

Suddenly you get quiet, why? There’s a really awkward mood now–that can’t be, right? Your face has gotten really red!!

papii LOVE!!!

Puppy LOVE!!!

wake    wakannai!    wake    wakannai! nee     KOKUHAKU suru nante totsuzen sugiru yo naze    doushite    watashi no mune haretsu shisou na no?

I don’t know why! I don’t know why! Hey, your love confession Came way too out of nowhere W-why is my heart pounding so hard it feels like it’s gonna explode?

「masaka watashi mo SUKI, na no kana… iyaiya    sonna no    zettai nai shii!! 」

“It couldn’t be that I like him too, could it… No, no, there’s no way it’s because of that!!”

me ga KYORO KYORO    kyodou KYODO KYODO

My eyes are shifting around the room, I’m acting funny

chou kinchou!    hatsu toujou! warawanaide!     papii LOVE!!!

This is so nerve-wracking! It’s my first time doing this! Don’t laugh! Puppy LOVE!

chotto    matte yo    ikinari suginai!? kokoro no junbi mo    hettakure mo nai! daitai    nande    koo naru wake na no? ittaizentai    hai!     TENPAttaa renai taishou    tte iu ka tomodachi? tomodachi    ttsuuka    tenteki da yo ne? au tabi    itsumo    KENKA! KENKA! maa    un…    tanoshiin dakedo

Wait a minute, will you? Isn’t this too sudden!? My heart isn’t even freakin’ prepared How did we even get to this point? What the heck, okay!? I might’ve lost it for a second Rather than a love interest, you’re more of a friend? Well, rather than a friend, you’re my archnemesis, aren’t you? Every time we meet, we fight! We FIGHT! Mmm, but…it’s kinda fun

hoka no hito to wa    nanika ga chigau myou ni    RIRAKKUSU    dekiru tte iu ka demo demo   SUKI to ka    sou iu no ja nakute mo iya    wakkannai    ki ni natteru kamo iyaiyaiyaiya    zettai naisshii!! nande    konna ni    hisshi ni nan no? SUKI?    KIRAI?    KIRAI?    SUKI? wakkanai…

You’re different from the others, I mean, in a weird way, I can relax around you But, but that sort of thing isn’t really love Oh, I don’t know, I might care about you… Nonononono, that’s definitely not it!! Why do you get me this worked up? Is this LOVE? HATE? HATE? LOVE? I don’t know…

hai!    dokkyuun!    seeno ! papii LOVE!!!    pappapii LOVE!!

Okay! *Heart squeeze* Ready? Puppy LOVE!!! Pu-puppy LOVE!!!

hatsukoi no aite wa    kimeteta no (papi LOVE!!!    pappapii LOVE!!) MODERU ka    haiyuu ka    oujisama (papi LOVE!!!    pappapii LOVE!!)

I’d set my heart on who my first love would be (Puppy LOVE!!! Puppy LOVE!!!) A model, or an actor, or a prince (Puppy LOVE! Puppy LOVE!)

kedo doushite    wakaranai KIMI no koto ga    dandan SUKI na no kamo tte    kanjiru

But, I don’t get it at all, why have I gradually started to feel that I like you, maybe?

papii LOVE!!!

Puppy LOVE!!!

wake    wakannai!    wake    wakannai! mou    jibun no    kono kimochi rikaifunou da yo kooitsu wa koitsu wa koitsu wa    koi kashira yappari yappari    hen kashira nee    dareka    oshiete

I don’t know why! I don’t know why! Geez, I don’t understand My own feelings at all This is, this is, this is love, I think? …yeah, that’s too weird after all, isn’t it? Hey, someone explain this to me

「kokuharu mohan kaitou nanka    kyoukasho doko ni mo nottenaishii!!」

“The ‘right answer’ to a confession isn’t anywhere in my textboooooks!!”

konna kimochi wa    hajmete dakara

Because it’s the first time I’ve felt this way…

aa    sou ieba    itsuka watashi ga    hekonda toki daijoubu! daijoubu! kan to ka naru yo, to genki kureta

Ah, now that I think about it, Whenever I feel down, You told me “It’s okay! You’ll be fine! you’ll get through somehow” And cheered me up

wake    wakannai!    wake    wakannai! nee     KOKUHAKU suru nante totsuzen sugiru yo naze    doushite    watashi no mune haretsu shisou na no?

I don’t know why! I don’t know why! Hey, your love confession Came way too out of nowhere W-why is my heart pounding so hard it feels like it’s gonna explode?

「masaka watashi mo SUKI, na no kana… iyaiya    sonna no    zettai nai shii!! 」

“It couldn’t be that I like him too, could it… No, no, there’s no way it’s because of that!!”

me ga KYORO KYORO    kyodou KYODO KYODO

My eyes are shifting around the room, I’m acting funny

chou kinchou!    hatsu toujou! warawanaide!     papii LOVE!!! chou kinchou!    hatsu toujou! papii pappi pappi!     papii LOVE!!!

This is so nerve-wracking! It’s my first time doing this! Don’t laugh! Puppy LOVE! This is so nerve-wracking! It’s my first time doing this! Puppy Puppy Puppy ! Puppy LOVE!!!

---

¹ Literally, dogs and monkeys, vipers and mongooses. “Cats and dogs” is much more familiar to English speakers, though, but I’m pretty sure the whole “vipers and mongooses have it out for each other” thing is fairly well-known.

[kawaiikichi]

Chocolates for My Beloved (Saiouma)

Hello! As I’m sure you all know, today is Valentine’s Day. So, I have come with a Saiouma Valentine’s Day one-shot for you all! Tbh, this was actually my very first Saiouma piece (like, ever) and I had it uploaded on Fanfiction Amino, but it didn’t get a whole lot of attention TT_TT

So, I figured I’d put it up here because one, I have been meaning to come back to this and edit it for the longest while, and two, I will get to actually post it on Valentine’s Day rather than a month after XD

Title: Chocolates for My Beloved

Summary: In order to express his feelings to a certain detective on Valentine’s Day, Kokichi decides to make some chocolate for him. But, upon seeing Shuichi with Kaede, Kokichi begins to have second thoughts about it...

One-Shot Notes: Non-Despair AU where they are all attending Hope’s Peak (they all have their talents still)

One-shot is under the cut!

Kirumi made her way to the dining hall. Himiko had developed a sore throat and requested that Kirumi make her some tea. Of course, Kirumi was not one to turn a request down, so she decided to do it.

The school was deadly quiet except for her strolling the dim, moonlit halls.

At least, she thought she was the only one awake and wandering about the school at this time of night.

As she was about to take a left, she noticed a stream of light coming from the Home Ec classroom.

“Hm? I thought nobody else was up at this time...” she murmured under her breath as she made her way over to the door.

She stopped, making sure her silhouette wasn’t showing before poking her head in curiously. She was not prepared for the sight before her, eyebrows quirking up in mild surprise.

It was total chaos in the Home Ec classroom, supplies and equipment strewn everywhere by one of the stations. In the middle of it all was Kokichi, who had his bangs pinned back by glittery pink bobby pins that he probably stole from Miu and a light purple apron tied around him. Dark smudges covered his cheeks, the tip of his nose, his forehead, and his apron as he ran about the room in a rush. She could hear him let out a string of curses before he came back into view with a pan in his hand, smoke drifting up from it.

“Why is making chocolate so hard?!” he whined.

He pouted, putting the pan into the sink along with several other ruined pans.

Kirumi could only stare, surprised by what she was seeing.

“Ouma-kun...making chocolate?” she silently withdrew from the Home Ec classroom. “That is quite peculiar...” she murmured under her breath.

She decided to keep that information tucked away in her mind in case she needed it as she headed off to go make the tea for Himiko.

❤️🍫❤️🍫

“Ouma-kun was trying to make chocolate last night?” Rantaro questioned, blinking his green eyes in surprise as he looked up at Kirumi, who stood by his desk the next day.

“Yes. I saw him in the Home Ec classroom when I was heading to the dining hall to make some tea for Yumeno-san.” she explained.

“Hm...he never really puts in the effort when it comes to that class...” Kirumi took a seat across from Rantaro. “I wonder why he’s doing that...” he trailed off.

“I have been thinking about it and I might have come up with something.” she looked over at the date, which was written on the chalkboard. “Do you know what day it will be in two days?” she asked.

“The 14th, right?” Rantaro answered.

“Indeed. In two days time, it will be Valentine’s Day.” Kirumi explained.

Rantaro’s eyes widened a fraction, finally making the connection.

“Are you saying that Ouma-kun is making Valentine chocolate for someone he likes?” he asked.

“That would most likely be the case.” Kirumi replied.

“I see...” Rantaro trailed off.

He looked around the classroom before his gaze finally settled on Kokichi, watching as he crowded around Shuichi’s desk. He then leaned in towards Shuichi’s face, causing the detective to nearly fall out of his chair, a blush painting his cheeks a bright red.

“I think I have a pretty good idea as to who he might be making that chocolate for.” he said.

❤️🍫❤️🍫

“...And then, Saihara-chan saw right through me! I honestly was shocked when he called me out on it—“ Rantaro cut Kokichi off, glancing down at the supreme leader.

“Isn’t that a lie, though? You being shocked, that is.” he asked.

“Of course it is, my sweet Amami-chan! I knew he was going to call me out on it sooner or later. He even said that the game should just be called Two Lies and a Truth because of how much I lie. Isn’t he just so cute?” Kokichi gushed, his purple eyes sparkling with childish delight.

“Indeed, he is. He must be so cute that you’ve brought it upon yourself to make Valentine chocolate for him.” Rantaro pointed out.

“Hm? Me? Making Valentine chocolate for Saihara-chan?” Kokichi questioned.

Rantaro didn’t realize that Kokichi had stopped following him until he looked to his side. He turned, seeing a blank expression wash over Kokichi’s face for a split second before one of his signature smirks took its place.

“Wooooooooow, Amami-chan! You sure like to jump to some crazy wild conclusions!” Kokichi raced over to Rantaro and clung onto his arm. “Whatever made you think that I would be making Valentine chocolate for my beloved Saihara-chan?” he asked, sparkling purple staring into inquisitive green.

“Toujou-san saw you in the Home Ec classroom last night. She said you messed up the recipe a few times.” Rantaro commented as they resumed walking down the hall with Kokichi hanging off of his arm.

“Is that so? Toujou-chan must have bad eyes then because I was nowhere near the Home Ec classroom last night! I was in my bed, sleeping like a baby!” Kokichi declared.

“You never have a good night’s rest to begin with, so don’t think you can fool me with a lie like that.” Rantaro deadpanned.

“Nishishi~Of course, of course. I don’t think I could ever fool you, anyway.” Kokichi stated.

“So, you admit that you were making Valentine chocolate in the Home Ec classroom last night?” Rantaro asked.

“Nope!” Kokichi made sure to pop the ‘p’ as he continued to cling onto Rantaro. “Like I said, I was in my room. Come on, Amami-chan, you know how much I despise that class! Or could it be...you forgot?” Kokichi’s voice began to waver as crocodile tears began to well up in his eyes.

“I would never. And also, your crocodile tears won’t work on me, so don’t bother.” Rantaro said.

“Ugh, you’re soooooooo boring! Even that disgusting pig is more amusing than you!” Kokichi pushed himself away from Rantaro, bringing his arms behind his head in a laid back expression. “So not fun...” he mumbled.

“Well, sorry for not being fun.” Rantaro said.

He then released a sigh, shoving his hands into his uniform pants pockets.

“You know, I’ve helped make Valentine chocolate before. I can help you, if you’d like.” he offered.

Kokichi didn’t respond at first. Rantaro almost thought the boy had stopped mid-walk again when he heard footsteps come up beside him.

“Would you really, Amami-chan?!” he asked excitedly.

“So what Toujou-san said was true...” Rantaro murmured with the roll of his eyes.

“Don’t be like that!” Kokichi clung to his arm again. “So?! Will you help me?! Will you, will you, will you?!” he asked.

“Of course I will.” Rantaro replied.

“Yay! This is why I love you the most, Amami-chan!” Kokichi declared, a wide smile spread across his face.

“I thought Saihara-kun was the one you love the most...” Rantaro mumbled.

“Hm? What was that?” Kokichi asked, a threatening look crossing his face as he said that.

“It’s nothing. Just know that we should do it tomorrow night.” Rantaro said.

“Huuuuuuuuh?! Why then?! We should do it tonight so that we can get it out of the way!” Kokichi whined.

“You wouldn’t want to give Saihara-kun day old chocolate, would you?” Rantaro asked.

“Geh...! What’s up with you insisting that I’m making Valentine chocolate for Saihara-chan?!” Kokichi asked.

“Um...you told me that you had fallen hard for him two months ago? Like, you were swooning over his pretty looks, his eyes, and you wouldn’t stop talking about how good he looks in—“ Kokichi cut him off.

“Ugh, stop already!” Rantaro swore he saw Kokichi’s cheeks turn pink. “I now regret telling you everything!” he whined.

Rantaro couldn’t help but chuckle as he let Kokichi pull him around the corner.

❤️🍫❤️🍫

“Okay, have you chopped up your chocolate?”

“Yup! All chopped up!”

Rantaro looked over at Kokichi, who had finished chopping up his chocolate.

“You know, I was afraid you were going to cut yourself with the knife, but I guess I don’t have to worry about that.” Rantaro stated.

“Amami-chan, you’re so mean! You act like you can’t trust me with anything!” Kokichi whined.

“That’s because half of the time, I can’t.” Rantaro glanced over at the pan sitting on the stove. “Have you checked your cream to see if it’s scalding yet?” he asked.

Kokichi’s eyes widened in horror at the realization.

“Shit!” he exclaimed as he quickly scrambled over to the stove, peering into the pan.

Rantaro watched as Kokichi released a drawn out whine.

“It’s burnt!” he complained.

“Let me take a look.” Rantaro said as he made his way over to Kokichi. He peered down at the pan before sighing.

“I think I know what the problem is. You’re not keeping an eye on it.” Rantaro stated.

He heard Kokichi let out an overly dramatic gasp.

“How dare you, Amami-chan! I am totally keeping an eye on my stuff!” he exclaimed.

“I’m not sure I believe that. You’re such a scatterbrain sometimes, you know.” Rantaro stated.

“Below the belt, Amami-chan.” Kokichi shot back.

“It’s the truth, though.” Rantaro pointed out.

Kokichi whipped his head around so fast that Rantaro swore he had gotten whiplash.

“A-ma-mi-chan~” Rantaro had a wide smile on his face, but the look in his eyes was sinister. “Continue to insult me and I’ll make sure I have my secret organization come and kill you.” he spoke, the sweet tone of his voice contrasting greatly with the deadly threat.

Anyone would’ve been terrified of his threat, but Rantaro hung around the supreme leader long enough to know better than to be scared. He sighed deeply.

“I know you won’t kill me. Besides, I’m the only one who can help you with making the chocolate.” Rantaro said.

“No, you’re not! I can get Mom to help me, you know!” Kokichi pointed out.

“Yes, but I don’t think Toujou-san would be able to tolerate you for this long. Only I can do that.” Rantaro explained.

Kokichi pouted.

“Geez, you’re being like Saihara-chan...always acting like such a goody-two-shoe...” he mumbled.

Rantaro chuckled.

“Well, I have to keep you under control somehow.” Rantaro dug through one of the cabinets and pulled out another pan. “Here, let’s try again. And this time, I’ll help you.” he said.

“Okay!” Kokichi chirped before taking off the stove and skipping over to Rantaro. Rantaro reached for the carton of heavy cream and he poured some into the pan, taking it over to the stove. Kokichi followed him, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Okay, so what we’re going to do is set a timer for the heavy cream so that we can prevent it from burning due to lack of supervision. Can you do that for me?” Rantaro asked.

“Of course! Anything for my darling Amami-chan!” Kokichi declared as he whipped out his phone, the purple glitter phone case gleaming in the light. “How long should I set it for?” he asked.

“Thirty minutes will be good enough.” Rantaro replied.

“Okie dokie!” Kokichi declared as Rantaro turned the stove on to medium heat and Kokichi started the timer.

“Now, you will have to stir it frequently so that a film doesn’t form on the top of the heavy cream.” Kokichi pouted at the thought of having to stand in front of the pan for nearly half an hour. “Here, use this. The silicone of the spatula will prevent the heavy cream from sticking to it.” Rantaro explained, handing Kokichi a purple silicone spatula.

“Okay!” Kokichi replied, taking the spatula from Rantaro and beginning to stir the heavy cream around.

“Make sure you’re not continuously stirring it. Stir for a bit, wait a couple minutes, then stir again.” Rantaro instructed.

“Yes, daddy.” Kokichi drawled out in response. 

This caused Rantaro to choke on his spit.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Rantaro asked.

“What? All I did was call you daddy.” Kokichi responded, blinking up at him innocently as he stopped stirring the heavy cream. 

“Okay, that has a weird ring to it, so please stop calling me that.” Rantaro said.

“Hm? I’m pretty sure I can say whatever I damn please, Amami-chan. If I want to call you daddy, then I shall!” Kokichi chirped.

“I literally can not see you in any other light besides as a best friend, so don’t continue to call me that because I am most certainly not your ‘daddy.’“ Rantaro pointed out, placing his hands on his hips as he eyed Kokichi sternly.

This caused the supreme leader to burst into loud fits of laughter.

“Man, why’d you have to get all serious like that?! I was only messing you, you know! Or maybe I wasn’t. Who knows~” Kokichi said.

Rantaro let out an exasperated sigh as he watched Kokichi resume stirring the heavy cream. He couldn’t help but admire how Kokichi was trying his hardest to make the best batch of chocolate he could for Shuichi. It made him think that Kokichi truly did love Shuichi with all of his heart.

He examined the small band-aids littering his fingers and hands from when he had either cut or burned himself the night before (and from last night, from what Kirumi had told him), the smudge of bittersweet chocolate on the rise of his pale cheekbone, the way he had his hair pulled back into a small ponytail with a purple scrunchie, the glittery pink bobby pins that he pinned his unruly bangs back with, and the way the tip of his tongue rested on his upper lip as his eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. Kokichi looked so pure and so at ease in this situation that Rantaro couldn’t help but pull out his phone and take a picture of him. The shutter went off and he swore he saw Kokichi jump a little before he stopped stirring.

“Amami-chan, did you just take a picture of me?” he asked in mock surprise.

“Yeah. You just looked so peaceful that I couldn’t help it.” Rantaro explained.

“Hm...is that so...” Kokichi tapped a finger against his chin. “Well, we can’t have that!” he exclaimed.

“Eh?” Rantaro questioned.

“You’re not going to get a very good picture of me if I’m not facing the camera!” Kokichi stirred the heavy cream before turning to face Rantaro. “Go on, take another picture of me!” he declared.

Rantaro sighed, shaking his head as a small smile graced his lips.

“Alright. Just make sure you keep stirring the heavy cream.” he said.

“Of course, Amami-chaaaaan~!” Kokichi singsonged as he posed for Rantaro, who took his picture.

Rantaro looked through his photo gallery, silently deciding that he was going to show these photos to Shuichi when he saw him next. Kokichi noticed how Rantaro was staring down at his phone with a smile on his face.

“Oi, Amami-chan! I thought you were assisting me! And don’t think I don’t see you ogling my pictures! I know I’m sexy.” Kokichi spoke teasingly.

Rantaro snorted, a laugh dancing on the tip of his tongue.

“What?! You don’t think I’m sexy?! I mean, look at me in this cute purple apron! And how I tied my hair up! My angelic face! My gorgeous eyes! My luscious and soft lips! My slim body!” Amami was shaking with laughter as Kokichi gesticulated wildly, spatula in hand. “Amami-chan, wouldn’t you want to fuck me?!” he asked.

Rantaro was choking on gasps as he calmed his laughter.

“I...I think you should save that little spiel for Saihara-kun...” he trailed off.

He could see the red begin to seep onto Kokichi’s cheeks (it amused Rantaro how Kokichi let himself be more vulnerable around him). Before he could say something, the sound of Kaito screaming in a high pitched voice reached their ears.

Rantaro quickly looked over at the door, wondering if Kaito had seen them as Kokichi burst into laughter.

“Nishishi~Amami-chan, you are way too funny! That was my timer!” he declared, picking his phone up from off the counter.

“I don’t even wanna know how you ended up getting that...” Rantaro murmured.

Kokichi reached to turn the stove off and he brought it over to the bowl where the chopped chocolate was in. After pouring the scalded heavy cream into the bowl, whisking it together, adding in chopped almonds (“Saihara-chan told me that he reeeeeeeeally likes almonds! And that’s the truth!” Kokichi had chirped excitedly), and pouring the chocolate into the heart shaped silicone trays, they put the trays into the fridge so that the chocolate could set and solidify.

“I can’t believe it’s finally done!” Kokichi exclaimed as he nudged the fridge door shut with his hip.

“Well, all we have to do now is wait. We’ll come back early in the morning to check on them.” Rantaro glanced over at the equipment sitting on the counter. “But for now, let’s get this cleaned up.” he suggested.

“Okie dokie!” Kokichi declared as he skipped over to Rantaro and he began to help him wash the dishes.

Kokichi squeezed some soap onto a sponge and he began to rub the sponge against the surface of the bowl he mixed the chocolate, heavy cream, and almonds in as he spoke.

“So, Amami-chan, do you think you’ll get something for Valentine’s Day?” Kokichi asked.

“Hm...I would like to hope I do.” Rantaro admitted, bringing one of the saucepans under the gushing water.

“Who do you hope to get chocolate from?” Kokichi asked.

“I wouldn’t mind at all if I ended up getting obligatory chocolate, but I secretly hope that the girl I like gives me chocolate.” Rantaro explained.

“Ooooooooh, Amami-chan’s got a crush!” Kokichi rinsed the bowl and he put it in the drainer. “Is is Toujou-chan?” he asked.

“No. I don’t think I could ever see her in the romantic sense.” Rantaro said.

“Then, how about Shirogane-chan?” Kokichi asked.

“No way. Shirogane-san is not even my type.” Rantaro pointed out.

“Then, could it be...” Kokichi let out a dramatic gasp as he ran some water over the spatula. “You have feelings for Akamatsu-chan?!” he exclaimed.

Kokichi watched as a deep red blush exploded across Rantaro’s face.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I guessed correctly! But then again, that’s a lie cuz I knew aaaaaaaaaall along that you were head over heels for her!” Kokichi added soap to the spatula and he rubbed it with the sponge. “You were so obvious, after all. You’d always stare at her whenever you got the chance and you took every opportunity to assist her with anything just so that you can talk and spend time with her. I’m shocked that Bakamatsu-chan is so oblivious about your feelings for her. Your feelings for her are as plain as day!” Kokichi pointed out.

“You’re one to talk. You start grinning like a goddamn fool and act all giddy when it comes to Saihara-kun. If anything, it seems to me that your feelings for the person that you like are more obvious than my own.” Rantaro remarked.

“Oh, you hush, avocado head! I’ll have my secret organization tail you and kill you for trying to act like a smartass.” Kokichi stated.

“I’ll tone it down.” Rantaro said, choosing to go along with Kokichi’s antics as they finished washing all of the dishes, dried them off, put them back in their appropriate spots, and left the Home Ec classroom, flicking off the lights and closing the door behind them.

❤️🍫❤️🍫

Kokichi skipped down the hall the next day with a pink bag filled with the chocolate he had made last night in his hand. He had been ecstatic that the chocolate he made (with the help of Rantaro, of course) had turned out just right. He knew for a fact that his beloved Saihara-chan would love the chocolate that he made just for him.

He turned the corner as he spotted a familiar figure in the middle of the hallway. He beamed, knowing that hat from anywhere.

He got ready to call out to the taller boy when he saw that Shuichi wasn’t alone. Kaede stood before him, holding what might’ve been a small bag of chocolates. He stopped in his tracks, watching as Kaede presented him with her chocolate.

“I...I like you a lot! Please accept my chocolate!” she said, her loud declaration ricocheting off the walls.

Kokichi felt his stomach twist in disgust at the sight before him. He swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump that had somehow formed in his throat. He hated this feeling and he desperately wished that it would just disappear.

This was definitely not how he wanted this day to go at all. All he wanted was to present his chocolate to Shuichi, flirt with him a little, confess to him, and hopefully be able to take the next step in their relationship and begin to date. He definitely was not expecting Kaede to confess to Shuichi and give him her homemade chocolate.

Rantaro’s heart was going to be broken once Kokichi told him what he had seen.

But, that wasn’t important now. Right now, Kokichi needed to do what he did best: act natural and pretend that the pain didn’t exist.

He plastered on the widest grin that he could muster up as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Oh my! What is it that we have here?!” he called out in an obnoxiously loud voice.

Kaede let out a surprised squeak while Shuichi turned to look at Kokichi.

“Ouma-kun...!” Shuichi exclaimed in surprise.

“Hello, my beloved Saihara-chan!” he clung to Shuichi’s arm, beaming up at him. “You’re looking as cute as always!” he chirped.

An adorable blush spread across Shuichi’s cheeks as he averted his gaze.

“Uh...” he trailed off.

Kokichi grinned before looking over at Kaede, acting like he had just noticed her.

“Oh, we’re not alone. Hi, Akamatsu-chan!” he greeted.

“Ouma-kun, what in the world are you doing here?” she asked.

“Oh, I was just hoping to confess my feelings to my beloved Saihara-chan, but then you beat me to it!” Kokichi declared.

“Huh?! That’s not what it is! I was just—“ Kokichi cut her off.

“Oh, that was a lie.” he stated.

“Huh?!” Kaede exclaimed.

“Ouma-kun, that is something I don’t think you should be lying about.” Shuichi chided as he looked down at him.

Kokichi could see the way that Shuichi was looking at him. It was that look he got when he was trying to figure out if his statements were a lie or if he was really telling the truth. His eyebrows would furrow, his eyes would narrow, and he would touch his chin like he were contemplating something. Kokichi noticed the way Shuichi pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth with one of his canines digging a little into his bottom lip, which was something he does when he’s getting ready to call Kokichi out on his lies. Kokichi swallowed, his eyes trained on Shuichi’s lips. The action was so goddamn sexy that he just wanted to knock that silly hat off of Shuichi’s head, grab him by his shirt, push him against the wall, and kiss him until his lips were nice and swollen—

Okay, he was seriously starting to get carried away.

“But, in all seriousness, I’m actually looking for my darling Amami-chan.” If Kokichi hadn’t shot a glance at Kaede, he would’ve missed the distinct pink blush spreading across her cheeks at the mention of their green-haired classmate. “Any ideas as to where he might be?” he asked.

“Um...I could’ve sworn that I saw him in the library...” Shuichi trailed off.

“Okay! Thank you very much, my beloved~” Kokichi purred.

“Wha—?! Be-Beloved?!” Shuichi squawked out, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

“Nishishi~” Kokichi pulled away from Shuichi before beaming at Kaede. “Well, you can go back to confessing your undying love to him!” the words were like a sword being plunged straight into his heart. “See you losers around!” he said before skipping off. He then stopped, turning to wink at Shuichi and blow a kiss in his direction. The detective sputtered, the blush spreading to his ears as Kokichi giggled before turning away.

As soon as he did, the mask slipped off and he practically flew down the hall to the library. All he could see in his mind was Shuichi and Kaede and hear her love confession. He could practically hear Shuichi accepting her confession and the two of them beginning to date. Everyone would be happy for them because obviously, Shuichi and Kaede were a good match. There was no way that he would end up getting that much support if he has somehow managed to sweep Shuichi off his feet and get him to date him. Who would love someone like Kokichi Ouma, anyway?

He shooed those thoughts away as he arrived, swinging the door open and startling the librarian and some of the students.

“Amami-chaaaaaaan!” he called out.

“Oi, keep it down!” the librarian barked out.

Kokichi paid the librarian no mind as he began to search the library for a familiar mop of green hair. He then spotted Rantaro, who was flipping through a comic based off a popular television series by the name of Danganronpa.

“Amami-chan!” Kokichi called out.

“Ouma-kun?” Rantaro watched Kokichi in surprise as the supreme leader made his way over to him. “What happened? Did you manage to find Saihara-kun?” he asked.

Kokichi shook his head.

“Nope! I looked eeeeeeeverywhere for my beloved Saihara-chan, but he was nowhere to be found! So, I guess I can give my chocolate to you instead!” Kokichi handed him the bag of chocolates that was meant for Shuichi. “Here, take this as friendship chocolate.” he said.

He tried to keep the façade up, but he could tell that it was breaking by the way Rantaro watched him with concern flickering in his eyes. He closed the comic, putting it back on the shelf.

“Ouma-kun, did something happen?” he asked.

“Hm? Whatever made you think that, Amami-chan?” Kokichi asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“You may think that it’s not obvious, but the look in your eyes says otherwise.” Rantaro stated.

Kokichi could feel his lips pull into a strained, artificial smile as he forced out a laugh.

“Oh, Amami-chan, you’re so funny! I’m not upset at all! I just felt like giving the chocolate I made to you for a change!” he said.

Kokichi brought his hands behind his head, trying to hide how they were trembling.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, my darling Amami-chan! I’m going back to my room and crashing for the rest of the day.” he turned on his heel. “Bye bye!” he chirped before skipping off.

Rantaro stared at the bag of chocolate in his hand, frowning.

Something wasn’t adding up. Kokichi had put in so much time and effort into making these chocolates, so why in the world would he give up on giving them to Shuichi? The only way Kokichi would’ve just given up was if he had seen Shuichi, but he had seen him being offered chocolate by someone else—

His eyes then widened, the pieces clicking together.

“Shit. I need to find Saihara-kun.” he said before storming out of the library in search of the detective.

❤️🍫❤️🍫

Shuichi made his way back to the classroom to grab up his bag and head back to the dorm for the day.

He had ended up getting an unexpected request from his best friend Kaede, who had wanted to confess to Rantaro, but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. So, he had decided to pretend he was Rantaro and have Kaede practice with him until she felt confident enough to confess to their green-haired classmate.

What he didn’t expect was for Kokichi to interrupt them during their practice session. He had pestered him a little (since when did the supreme leader not pester him?) and tried to casually flirt with him like he usually did. Anyone who had seen Kokichi and didn’t know any better would’ve thought that Kokichi had looked absolutely fine. But, Shuichi knew better. He had been observing and analyzing Ouma long enough to tell when something was off with him.

When he had stared at Kokichi, he could see what might’ve been hurt and betrayal floating about in those deep purple eyes that Shuichi had grown to love. It was only there for a half a moment, but it was enough to tell Shuichi that something was indeed wrong with him. What exactly was wrong with him, Shuichi didn’t know. But, he knew that something was bothering him and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

He was so ready to call Kokichi out, to tell him to stop acting like everything was okay when it actually wasn’t. But, Kokichi had beat him to it, smothering those raw emotions that had flashed through his eyes with an eye twinkle (he wondered briefly how someone could fake that) and began rambling on about what Shuichi assumed was another lie before dashing off in search of Rantaro.

His stomach twisted at the thought of Kokichi gifting chocolate to Rantaro. He had wished that what Kokichi had said before about gifting the chocolate to him was true. But, it was quite selfish of him to think this way. It wasn’t like the trickster felt the same way that he felt, right?

He stepped into the classroom to be met with Rantaro.

“Ah. Amami-kun.” he greeted.

“Yo.” Rantaro replied.

It was silent as Shuichi made his way over to his desk, picking up his bag. As he began stuffing his books into it, he heard Rantaro speak up.

“By any chance, did you happen to run into Ouma-kun earlier today?” he asked.

“Ouma-kun? Yeah, I did run into him. Why do you ask?” Shuichi answered.

He heard Rantaro let out a small ‘tch’.

“Just as I thought...” he mumbled under his breath.

This caught Shuichi’s attention.

“Hm? What is it, Amami-kun?” he asked.

“Here, take this.” Rantaro said before throwing something in his direction.

“Ah!” Shuichi exclaimed as he caught what Rantaro had tossed him. He looked down at what Rantaro had given him and a sharp gasp escaped his lips.

“Isn’t this your chocolate, though?” Shuichi held up the pink bag of chocolates that he had seen Kokichi holding before. “Ouma-kun said that—“ Rantaro cut him off with the raise of his hand.

“Actually, those chocolates are meant for you.” Rantaro said.

“For me?” Shuichi could hear his heart pounding in his ears. “But, Ouma-kun said that—“ he was cut off again.

“If that’s what he said, then just know that that was a lie. Look at the tag on the bag.” Rantaro instructed.

Shuichi did as Rantaro had said, picking up the sparkly red heart-shaped tag and turned it over to see Kokichi’s swirly handwriting on it.

To: My beloved Saihara-chan~!!!

His cheeks grew warm, heart racing faster as Rantaro spoke. “He’s in his room. You should probably talk to him. You like him, don’t you?” Rantaro asked.

“I...” Shuichi held the bag in his hand. “I do like him...I like him so much...” he trailed off.

“Then, go tell him. I’m sure he’d be ecstatic if you did.” Rantaro suggested.

Shuichi smiled softly at the bag of chocolates before looking at Rantaro.

“Thanks, Amami-kun.” he began to hurry out of the classroom before he remembered something. “Oh, I almost forgot! Akamatsu-san wanted to talk to you behind the school! She said that it was really important.” he said.

“Really?” Rantaro blinked his eyes twice before smiling. “Okay. I’ll definitely go see her.” he said.

“Thanks. I think she’d really like that.” Shuichi said.

Rantaro chuckled a little.

“Now, don’t keep Ouma-kun waiting. Go get him, tiger.” he said jokingly.

Shuichi wanted to roll his eyes at the Spider-Man 2 reference, but decided not to as he raced out of the classroom and down the hall to the dorms, bag of chocolate in hand.

How could he have been so blind? Kokichi had thrown the truth in his face and yet he had deemed it as a lie and something that he shouldn’t be joking about. Kokichi was going to confess and he just had to ruin it.

Way to go, Shuichi Saihara.

As he ran down the hall, he got a text from Rantaro along with a few photo attachments and a video attachment.

Amamiʕʘ‿ʘʔ: Ouma-kun might try to refute you if you ask him whether he made the chocolate or not, so show him these as proof. The video was something I took without him noticing, so he has no idea about it XD

[IMG_5709]

[IMG_5710]

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[IMG_5712]

[IMG_5713]

[VID_0017]

He tapped on the photo attachments one by one and watched as pictures of Kokichi in an apron with his hair tied back, bangs pinned back by glittery bobby pins that he probably ripped off of Miu, chocolate smeared across his cheeks, and a happy smile spread across his lips as he posed for the camera, occasionally moving to stir something in a saucepan showed up on his screen.

He then tapped on the video and listened as Kokichi began to speak.

“Oi, Amami-chan! I thought you were assisting me!” the camera was tilted at an odd angle, the camera capturing Kokichi’s legs and a part of the apron he had on. “And don’t think I don’t see you ogling my pictures! I know I’m sexy.” He heard Rantaro snort as the camera shifted to get a better view of Kokichi (without him seeing it, of course).

“What?! You don’t think I’m sexy?! I mean, look at me in this cute purple apron! And how I tied my hair up! My angelic face! My gorgeous eyes! My luscious and soft lips! My slim body!” he could hear Rantaro laugh as Kokichi gesticulated wildly with a spatula in his hand. “Amami-chan, wouldn’t you want to fuck me?!” Shuichi nearly choked, blushing furiously at what Kokichi was implying as Rantaro spoke.

“I...I think you should save that little spiel for Saihara-kun...”

Shuichi felt the blush crawl up to his ears at Rantaro’s statement. He then saw how Kokichi’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of red, causing his heart to race.

He looks cute like that, he had thought to himself.

He arrived at the dorms a few minutes later and he made his way down the hall to Kokichi’s room, which was at the end of the hall next to Keebo’s. He stood in front of the door, letting out a shaky sigh.

“Well...here goes nothing...” he murmured before reaching out to knock on the door.

“Ouma-kun? We need to talk.” he called out.

Silence answered him. Shuichi tapped his chin thoughtfully. Was Kokichi really in there?

“Hey, Ouma-kun? Are you in there? We need to talk. This is important.” he tried again.

This time, he heard something plastic hit the door. So, Kokichi was indeed in there.

“Look, I can’t talk to you if you don’t open the door for me.” Shuichi said.

He heard footsteps making their way to the door and then a voice.

“What, Saihara-chan? Did you come to show off your chocolate that Akamatsu-chan gave to you? Did you come to rub in my face that you and her are now an item?”

“What?! No, that’s not i—“ he then stopped, noticing something. “Wait a second. Did you see when Akamatsu-san had presented me the chocolate?” he asked.

“Nope! I only just assumed that was the case because the two of you were alone in the hallway when I was looking for my precious Amami-chan~!”

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?” Shuichi asked.

“Haaaah, Saihara-chan is way too boring. Yes, it was a lie. I did hear her go off about how much she liked you and what not.”

“So you came up to us on purpose...” he stared at the door. “Ouma-kun, I just want you to know that that was most definitely not what it was.” Shuichi said.

“Oh? Then tell me, what exactly was it?”

“It was...” Shuichi found himself reaching up to tug on his cap. “Akamatsu-san was wanting to confess to Amami-kun today, but she didn’t know how she was going to go about it. So, she practiced her confession on me.” Shuichi explained.

“Heh...that’s a nice, convincing lie you’ve made for yourself. I don’t know why you think I was so concerned about what you two were doing that you had to come out of your way to say that it was a total misunderstanding, but—“ Shuichi cut him off.

“But, aren’t you lying too, Ouma-kun?” he asked.

Kokichi was silent. Shuichi bit his lip, wondering how to proceed with this. Based on what he had heard from Rantaro, his observations from Kokichi earlier, and the attachments that Rantaro had sent to him, he couldn’t deny it any longer. He had to present Kokichi the facts if he wanted to get him to open up.

“Ouma-kun, maybe we should have this talk inside your room. It’s kind of hard to communicate like thi—“ Kokichi cut him off.

“No way! Why would I want to do that?!”

Shuichi let out an exasperated sigh.

“Okay, how about we do this? I’ll ask you some yes-no questions. Knock once on the door to say yes, twice to say no, and three times to say that you don’t know. Okay?” he asked.

He heard Kokichi knock once.

“Okay. And please be honest with me, okay?” Shuichi asked.

He heard Kokichi knock once before adding another knock. Shuichi held back the urge to chuckle as he spoke.

“Okay...so, did you overhear her confession speech?” he asked.

Kokichi knocked once.

“Okay. Did you happen to misunderstand the situation?” he asked.

It was silent before he heard Kokichi knock once.

“Were you trying to interrupt us on purpose?” he asked.

Kokichi knocked once.

“Was that chocolate you had with you really meant for Amami-kun?” he asked.

Almost immediately, Kokichi knocked on the door twice. Shuichi couldn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped his lips.

“Are you sure you’re telling me the truth?” Shuichi asked.

There was a knock. Before Shuichi could continue, he heard Kokichi add another knock.

“Can I...try and guess who the chocolate was for?” Shuichi asked.

It was silent for a little while. Shuichi could practically see Kokichi hesitating behind the door, wondering how to answer him without totally giving himself away. He could imagine one of Kokichi’s eyebrows quirking up, thumb being caught in between his plush lips as he gnawed at his fingernail, deep in thought. It was a sign that he was really thinking something over; a sign only Shuichi had been able to pick up on.

He then heard a soft knock, one that was more hesitant than his others knocks. It was like he feared what Shuichi was going to say next.

“Okay...” Shuichi stared at the tag attached to the bag before speaking. “The chocolate...it was for me, wasn’t it?” he asked.

The other end was silent. Shuichi sighed before continuing.

“I...I think that’s the case because the tag on the bag says that it’s addressed to me and...” Shuichi reached to open the bag and pulled out a heart-shaped chocolate, biting into it. “It also has almonds in it. I’m the only one in our class that even likes almonds.” Shuichi explained.

He took another bite as he spoke.

“I heard that you made these, Ouma-kun.” he commented.

“I did no such thing.” he heard Kokichi say.

“I know that’s also a lie. Amami-kun sent me some pictures and a video of you making the chocolate.” Shuichi pointed out.

He could imagine Kokichi letting out a string of curses under his breath, cursing Rantaro for giving him away.

“Ouma-kun.” he gripped the bag in his hand, making sure not to crush the chocolate inside. “The chocolate...it tastes really great. And I really appreciate the effort that you put into making this for me. You know...” he trailed off.

Shuichi swallowed. It was now or never.

“This is one of the reasons why I—“ Shuichi watched as the door flew open and Kokichi practically flew into his arms, nearly knocking him off his feet as the shorter boy nuzzled his face into his chest. Shuichi’s cheeks flushed red. “O-Ouma-kun...!” he squeaked out.

“No...” Kokichi’s hands fisted themselves in Shuichi’s shirt. “There is absolutely no way that I’m letting Saihara-chan confess before I can!” he shouted into his chest.

Shuichi watched as Kokichi raised his head, moving his hands up to cup Shuichi’s cheeks and he brought his face down towards his own, their lips coming together in a kiss.

At that moment, Shuichi felt like everything in his world was complete. Kokichi’s touch was gentle and his lips were soft and plush against his own, tasting of Panta and sugar. Shuichi wished that the moment would last forever; he wished that he could continue drinking in the taste of the smaller boy’s lips. However, Kokichi pulled away from the kiss before he could. He stared up at Shuichi with an unusual seriousness in his eyes.

“Saihara-chan, I love you. You’re the only one that I could ever love this way.” he confessed.

Shuichi was mesmerized by the way Kokichi’s eyes sparkled with so much love that it felt like he was drowning in it. He loved the way Kokichi’s thumb rubbed the rise of his cheekbone lovingly, the way Kokichi stared at him like he was the best thing that ever happened to him, and the way his lips quirked in a soft, genuine smile.

“I...I love you too, Ouma-kun.” he replied.

“Kokichi.” Kokichi continued to stroke his cheek with his thumb. “Call me Kokichi, Saihara-chan.” he whispered.

“Then, you can call me Shuichi.” Shuichi said as the distance closed between them again.

The bag of chocolate fell by his feet as he reached up to cup Kokichi’s cheek, his other hand moving to rest on the smaller boy’s hip. Kokichi hummed, his arms moving to drape themselves over Shuichi’s shoulders. The kiss blew Shuichi away, making his mind go absolutely blank.

They pulled away from the kiss after a few minutes. Shuichi stared down at Kokichi, admiring how his cheeks were flushed an adorable pink.

“Kokichi...you’ll be my boyfriend, right?” he asked.

“Of...” he watched Kokichi’s cheeks grow even pinker. “Of course I will be...there’s no way I’d pass up such an opportunity!” Kokichi beamed up at him. “I’m going to be the best boyfriend that you will ever have!” he declared.

Shuichi’s cheeks flushed red.

“I...I’ll try my best...” he murmured as his eyes locked on Kokichi’s hands, which were littered with band-aids.

“Did you hurt yourself when you were making those chocolates?” he asked.

“Hm?” Kokichi’s hands quickly went behind his back. “Of course not! Why would I be so silly as to cut myself?” he asked.

“You have bandages all over your fingers. I could feel them when you put your hands on my face just now.” Shuichi pointed out.

He extended his hands out towards Kokichi.

“You don’t have to lie to me when we’re alone, you know.” Shuichi told him.

Kokichi sighed.

“Fine, fine. Just know that I’m doing this for you!” Kokichi said as he placed his hands in Shuichi’s, putting his band-aids on display. Shuichi stared down at them, running his thumbs along the band-aids covering the tips of his fingers and various spots along his fingers and palms of his hands. A soft smile spread across his lips.

“It makes me so happy that you made homemade chocolate for me.” he said.

“Geez, Shuichi, you’re being way too sappy! You’re acting like those guys in those shoujo romance mangas.” Kokichi teased.

“But, I think you like it when I act like a sappy romantic.” Shuichi stared at Kokichi as he brought Kokichi’s hands up to his lips, kissing them softly. “See? You’re blushing.” he said, watching how Kokichi’s cheeks began to take on an adorable shade of red.

Kokichi let out a small huff before pulling his hands away, turning on his heels.

“Come.” he said.

“Huh? You want me to come in?” Shuichi asked.

“Well, duuuuuuuuuuh. What else did you think I meant?” Kokichi asked, glancing over his shoulder at him.

“Ah! That is...” Shuichi trailed off.

“Nishishi~! Well, don’t just stand there! Come in!” Kokichi called out.

Shuichi got ready to follow him when he realized that the small bag of chocolates had fallen to the ground at some point when they had kissed. He scrambled to pick the bag back up.

“Now, we need to plan out our first date!” Kokichi declared.

“First date?!” Shuichi squeaked out.

“Why, of course! You get a boyfriend and you don’t think about taking him on a date?!” Kokichi let out a dramatic gasp. “Shuichi...could it be...that you don’t actually love me...? Was that confession all a fluke...?!” Kokichi choked out as big, fat tears welled up in his eyes.

“Ah! N-No, that’s not it! I didn’t mean it like that, I—“ Shuichi was cut off by a laugh.

“Nishishi~! Juuuuuuuuuuust kidding! I know that my beloved Shuichi truly loves me!” Kokichi said.

“I do. I would go up to the roof right this second and shout out to the whole world that I love you.” Shuichi said.

A melodic laugh rang through the air and Shuichi would do anything to be able to hear that bubbly, genuine laugh from Kokichi again.

“Geez, Shuichi, you really are a romantic sap!” Kokichi exclaimed, reaching out to take Shuichi’s hand and pull him into his room.

Shuichi closed the door behind them as he listened to Kokichi chatter excitedly about various things they could do for their first date. As Kokichi turned to him with a wide smile on his face, Shuichi couldn’t help but think that with Kokichi as his boyfriend now, everything felt complete.

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 4-Unsolicited Statement (Part 1)

To all the people who sent me messages the past month: I swear I will answer them tomorrow!

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. The word used here is sanpaku, a Japanese term referring to when the whites above or below the iris are visible. The literal translation here is “having a sanpaku with all his strength” but since that makes no sense I had to do some creative interpretation

2. I believe this refers back to the first chapter of Book 1 when Minato mistakes Masa-san for a ghost or zombie. Yokai has a lot of different meanings (since there’s so many types of them) including ghost or spirit, so that’s why Minato told everyone to forget what he just said,  probably

3. This is a real game. It’s the Japanese version of the Game of Life

4. Minamoto no Tametomo (1139-1170) was a samurai with many legends, such as sinking an entire ship by shooting a single arrow into its hull and having a left arm that was four inches longer than the right one so he had a longer draw

5. If you read/watched Chihayafuru you’ll probably be familiar with the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, which are one hundred classic poems by one hundred poets.

6. This is poem 77 by Emperor Sutoku. I used the translation here

7. Shugendou is an old religion that combines Shinto, Buddhism, local practices, etc. Apparently they train in mountains a lot

8. Altair and Vega, aka Cowherd and Weaver Girl or Hikoboshi and Orihime, are the two stars involved involved in the Tale of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, which Tanabata is centered around. The tale involves two lovers separated by the Milky Way who could only meet each other on the seventh day of the seventh month by crossing a bridge of magpies

9. You’ve probably seen this in various anime, like MHA, but a cavalry battle or chicken fight is where a team with one person is carried by three people have to take headbands from the other teams

10. The school year in Japan starts in April and ends in March, so anyone born between April and March of the next year would be in the same grade, so even though Ryouhei is born in February he is one year younger than the other boys 

11. The original combined guuguu neru (which means sleeping soundly or snoring as you sleep) and schlafen. I debated whether to keep it like that or not before deciding to translate it

12. Egg drop soup is a Chinese dish of chicken broth with wispy beaten egg

13. See Chapter 2 of Book 1 for this incident

Previous | Next

Nanao grandly stretched towards the sky that signaled the end of the rainy season.

He was in the corridor on the third floor of the school building. As he walked, girls followed him in succession, and the other students trembled and gave way to them. Thanks to Shuu arriving at Kazemai High School a few days ago, the Nanao Fan Club was not able to admire Nanao in hakama, and they were falling into a state of starvation. Perhaps because of that reaction, he was more surrounded by girls than ever, and the boys, who felt nothing but animosity, made sour faces. However, there was a way to deal with this.

“Thanks for waiting, Kacchan!”

When he opened the classroom door and shouted that, there was Kaito, who made impressive sanpaku eyes. (1)

“I’m not a little kid, so stop coming to get me. We can go to club by ourselves, at least.”

“But Kacchan, weren’t you the one who said not to be late?”

“Good grief, what a pain.”

When Kaito stood from his seat, the girls surrounding Nanao left, scattering in all directions.

The power of the Kaito Barricade was immense. The fact that Kaito won’t sit back when it came to Nanao was a lesson etched into the bodies of those who adored and idolized Nanao. But, because he could also drove away the undesirable suitors—in other words, the girls who were secretly acting before the others—they maintained a reasonable distance as to not wake the sleeping gatekeeper.

How dependable. That kind of skill was not something one resolved to try to learn.

However, Nanao felt a little sorry.

“Nanao. Kaito-kuuun. You guys are early!”

Ryouhei ran up to them with a smile. By chance, he also met up with Minato and Seiya, and so the five walked to the kyudojo together.

Minato, who had a bandage around his left wrist, was chipper, raised his left hand as he was walking and made his tenouchi in mid-air. Similarly, Ryouhei was also pretending to shoot a bow. Seiya and Kaito kept watchful eyes on the two, who were both in a state of impatience for not being able to draw a bow sooner, so they would not get in anyone’s way. It was a charming scene with a fine combination of people, but Nanao’s heart was not there.

Because, recently, there were “footsteps” coming from an empty room in Nanao’s house.

On the second floor, there were sounds, as though a child was running lightly.

——Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Three years ago, they moved to their current house. For their parents, it was their dream home, and for Nanao and his three-years-younger sister, it was a newly built, beautiful home with large bedrooms. Their school districts changed by moving, and he and Kaito ended up going to different middle schools, but the distance between their houses hadn’t changed much and it was a comfortable home.

However, for the past few months it had become possible to hear footsteps. Although they hadn’t been deciding on a time, there were many instances of the inside of the house falling completely silent. It couldn’t be called a boast, but neither Nanao nor his parents had any psychic powers at all. They could not tell any experiences like seeing ghosts or talking to time travellers. And yet, everyone in his family had been hearing those footsteps. Thanks to that, it was a bit scary to stay home alone.

When he talked about it during their break in club practice, the girls covered their mouths with their hands.

“Uwah, scary!”

“Isn’t that really dangerous?”

Seiya mimicked Nanao’s tone.

“…There’s footsteps coming from an empty room, you know? On the second floor, there’re sounds, like a little kid is running lightly… Tap, tap, tap, tap…”

“Stop——!”

“Takehaya-kun, you’re awful—!”

Seiya gave a little chuckle.

“Sorry. But, what is that phenomenon, really? There’s also the possibility of rats, tanukis, or weasels.”

Nanao shook his head.

“Nope. We called someone to check to see whether or not there are small animals settling in the attic, but there was nothing unusual.”

“Is that so, hmm.”

Minato, quietly listening to everyone talk, muttered just a few words.

“A little kid’s footsteps…that sounds like a zashiki-warashi…”

“Zashiki-warashi…that’s the yokai that looks like a child and brings luck to those who see it, right?”

“Ah, no, forget what I said!”

At the word “yokai”, Minato hurriedly withdrew his remark. Beside him, Masa-san was holding back a laugh. (2)

Ryouhei’s eyes were sparkling.

“Awesome! Having a zashiki-warashi live with you is the best. I wanna meet it too! I wish one would come to my place as well.”

Hearing that, Kaito wrinkled his brow.

“Ryouhei, aren’t you no good with spirits?”

“Nah. I hate ghosts, but I like yokai.”

“Once again, the distinction between what you like and don’t like is practically nonexistent. How are they different?”

“They’re completely different. Ghosts are scary, but I want to be friends with yokai.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it at all.”

Next to Kaito, whose brow wrinkle was getting deeper and deeper, Nanao was thinking.

I see, so there is also that kind of explanation. If I think that, then those footsteps aren’t scary.

They’re lucky footsteps.

If that’s the case, let’s warmly welcome our sudden visitor.

A corner of Nanao’s mouth lifted.

The next day, the place Ryouhei headed for was a large estate surrounded by white walls.

Even when standing before the gate, the only thing that could be seen was a single path leading to the forest, and the essential residence could not be seen anywhere. Ryouhei could not hide his surprise at how a place like this was owned by one person.

“What a huge place. I wonder if this is the intercom?”

Ryouhei pressed the button.

“Sorry for how sudden this is. This is Yamanouchi Ryouhei from Kazemai High School speaking. Is Fujiwara Shuu-kun at home?”

“——Please excuse me, but have you made an arrangement with him?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“——I am afraid I must decline visits from those who have not made arrangements beforehand. I am sorry.”

“I understand.”

Ryouhei hummed while he walked along the white wall.

When Shuu returned home that evening, the butler, Toujou, was waiting for him. He seemed somewhat agitated.

“Yamanouchi—Ryouhei came here?”

“Yes. As he had been waiting before the gate for a long time, I allowed him to enter, based on my judgement. Please forgive me.”

“No, it’s no problem.”

“And, there is another matter. To tell the truth, I, Toujou, unintentionally succumbed to my youthful impulses… That young man is quite strong. I was overwhelmingly defeated.”

“Defeated?”

Toujou was speaking in an unusually roundabout way. In the first place, it was the first time he showed in a guest without confirming with him. Shuu opened the door to the guest room.

The room was decorated with a bamboo for Tanabata that was so tall it almost reached the ceiling. A single table was placed in the center of the room, and sitting in front of it was Ryouhei, who grinned at Shuu from ear-to-ear when he noticed him. He could practically see the illusion of a tail wagging back and forth. What’s more, to his surprise, even his little sister Sae and his mother were there.

Shuu felt vertigo and pressed his hand to his forehead.

“Shuu-niisama, welcome home!”

“…What are all of you having so much fun with?”

“It’s a board game, Shuu-niisama. Sae has made a lot of children!”

“Children?”

Sae showed him a Japanese board game with the slogan, “Life has many ups and downs. Aim to be a billionaire!” (3) His grandfather left it to him as a present when he was young. You spun a roulette and advanced your piece by the number of spaces you got, and aimed for the goal indicated on whichever space you landed on. The pieces were in the shape of automobiles, and pins of people were inserted into the seats, but as children were born, the number of pins riding in the car also increased. Sae’s car piece was full.

“Will Shuu-niisama be joining us next?”

“No, please, the four of you should continue on like this.”

At Shuu, who declined, Ryouhei grinned meaningfully.

“In that case, I guess you don’t feel like beating me?”

“…Alright. Let’s do this.”

After the game began, toy banknotes went flying. Thirty minutes later, the winning order was decided with Shuu’s mother in first, followed by Sae, Ryouhei, Toujou, and Shuu. Shuu could not accept himself being in last place, but it felt fresh having those faces surround the table. Afterwards, they played many other games, and then took dinner together. When the meal was finished, Sae was completely attached to Ryouhei.

Ryouhei sat next to Sae on the couch, and showed her something on his phone. It was the figure of Shuu drawing his bow at Kazemai High School.

“Shuu-niisama is so amazing! He looks so heroic!”

“For the Japanese bow, there aren’t only two choices of hitting or missing, and hitting correctly is in itself incredibly hard. Shuu-kun is super amazing. He is already a god.”

Shuu’s mother put a slim finger to her mouth.

“Well, I had thought that getting the highest score comes from hitting the centre of the target…”

Sae grasped Ryouhei’s hand.

“Shuu-niisama doesn’t talk about it at all. He told us not to come and cheer him on.”

“Hey, Sae.”

“Isn’t it okay? Ryouhei-san, could you please give me this picture?”

“Gladly.”

Sae borrowed her mother’s phone and took Shuu’s picture, then gently hugged it close.

“Well then, I also have a gift. Please write on it by time you go home and tie it on the tree.”

A strip of paper for Tanabata was placed in Ryouhei’s hand.

Shuu and Ryouhei moved to Shuu’s room.

The sight of his always prim mother swinging from joy to sorrow was strange and lovely. It had been a long time since he had heard his mother’s laughter from up close.

“Sorry about that, Sae said something unreasonable.”

“Not at all. Your mom is really pretty. As expected of a parent and child, you really look a lot like her.”

Shuu was shocked.

“…Where do you think we are alike?”

“When we were getting in the bath at the hotel we were staying at for the regional tournament, I saw you washing your hair, but I think it’s around the nape of your neck or behind your ears, like, the back of your head.”

“The ‘back of our heads’ are alike…?”

“Yeah, exactly alike. When you and Sae-chan and your mom are together, you really get the sense of, 'This is the bloodline.’”

At Ryouhei, who stated that so definitively, Shuu burst into laughter. Normally, when people said that they were alike, it was their eyes, voice, way of speaking, and other traits like that. That unexpected answer was unbearably funny.

He felt like that even if he and Ryouhei were standing in the same place, the scenery they both saw would be different. Ryouhei’s everyday was brimming with new discoveries, and it was brightly coloured.

“By the way, what kind of business did you have here, Ryouhei?”

“That’s right. I wanted to repay you for lending me your arrow.”

Ryouhei handed him an amulet.

“It’s from a shrine famous for the guardian of sports and Emperor Sutoku, but the god of improvement in kyudo is also enshrined there. My dad had a business trip so I asked him to get me one. You’re also matching with Minato and the other guys.”

“Thank you. This will encourage me.”

Shuu accepted the small pouch.

When it came to historical archery masters, the name of Nasu no Yoichi, who shot through a fan on a ship during the Genpei War, would come foremost to mind, but the person who was deified at the shrine was Minamoto no Tametomo, the eighth son of Tameyoshi and military commander during the Heian era who was said to have used a powerful bow and was unparalleled. Legendary tales of him, such as him being a giant who was over two meters tall and his left arm being longer than his right arm, and that it took five people to string his bow, remained through the ages. (4)

On the other hand, Emperor Sutoku was the seventy-fifth emperor, and famous as one of the poets for the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. (5)

Though a swift stream is

Divided by a boulder

In its headlong flow,

Though divided, on it rushes,

And at last unites again. (6)

——The flow of a river is swift, and even if it is blocked by a rock and divided, I believe I will definitely meet with you——.

This poem was regarded as a love poem, and it still attracted the hearts of many women even now. It seemed that the feeling of longing for someone remained unchanged in any age.

Thought was humanity itself.

It was something brought into existence by people.

People were always thinking something. They were creatures who could not stop thinking.

Practitioners of Shugendou (7) meditate and become ascetics as a means to suppress the “thoughts” which were brought about by people, in order to reach the level of the gods and Buddha. By casting away worldly thoughts, which were part of a wicked heart, with the chanting of sutras and the relentless sounds of waterfalls, and by being forced to concentrate intensely under the circumstances of being side-by-side with death, one would recall the bodily intuitions which were naturally endowed humans, as living things.

Words were thinking itself. Those who were able to not think of anything without training to do so were probably babies who had yet to learn words, people who were sleeping, and the dead.

Reaching the level of the gods?

Babies and the dead—— ?

The wind that came dancing in from the window blew through Shuu’s and Ryouhei’s hair.

“Ryouhei…I can see it now. I found the hidden door…”

“Hidden door? Where is it?”

“You can also find it. Follow me, I’ll be waiting.”

“Shuu-kun, don’t say difficult things like that. I don’t really understand, but okay.”

Ryouhei laughed lightly, carefreely.

Let’s open that door.

A spiral staircase leading upwards is there.

A staircase that has the same shape as DNA. Inherited memories.

To the place we must aim for.

To where light is shining——.

Before he went home, Ryouhei tied the strip of paper, on which he had written, “Family trip to the southern islands”, to the bamboo.

“Shuu-kun, what did you write?”

“Nothing. Just my name.”

“Oh, so it’s a wish only the other person knows. Mm, I hope it comes true.”

Shuu smiled gently.

In his head, Ryouhei recited the words Sae whispered into his ear when she gave him the paper.

“This is kept a secret from Shuu-niisama, but when you write your wish here, it is not Altair-sama and Vega-sama who grants it, but Father——.” (8)

After his committee meeting, Nanao went to the kyudojo by himself. There were only a few scattered signs of people in the school, probably because most students were either already going to club activities or going home.

With the Nanao Fan Club no longer shadowing him, Nanao regained his everyday life. There were still the sounds of a child’s footsteps at his house, but it was charming if he thought of it as the mischief of a zashiki-warashi. With this, he was able to concentrate on practicing until the national tournament in August.

As he was walking in the hallway with a light gait, some people who were passing by deliberately bumped into him.

They were three third-year boys.

“Oh, sorry. No girls today, Nanao-sama?”

“You’re going to club now? Kyudo doesn’t suit a shallow guy like you at all. Or are you aimin’ for a university sports recommendation spot? Doesn’t seem like you’d have a lot of rivals for kyudo. Maybe I should do it too!”

“What about Kacchan?”

“Kacchaaaan!”

Nanao clenched his fists behind his back before the third-year boys whose faces were distorted in loud laughter.

Don’t say my cousin’s name with your filthy mouths——.

He wanted to say that.

He wanted to punch them hard.

However, if he caused trouble here, he would be playing into his opponents’ hands. If Nanao caused a problem, he would then not be able to go to the national tournament. Because their own activities for their future courses were going badly, they were looking for an unwitting scapegoat. At their cores, they were not dissatisfied with the other person, but irritation at themselves for not being able to study for university entrance exams, even though they thought they must do it.

“Yo, Nanao-chan, why so quiet?”

It happened when one of them roughly grabbed Nanao’s collar, and Nanao glared back at him. Someone ran in from ahead of his field of vision and tackled Nanao.

Ryouhei held Nanao, carried him over his shoulder, and ran away as they were. At this extremely sudden event, the left behind third-year boys stood still, open-mouthed.

Nanao was carried on Ryouhei’s shoulder, folded in half around his waist, until they passed through the hallway.

“…Ryouhei, could you put me down soon? There’s a lot of pressure on my stomach and it hurts, and blood is rushing to my head.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Nanao stretched his body with a sigh after he was dropped onto the ground. He had often been the one to ride on top in cavalry battles (9), but being a high schooler and getting shouldered like a sack of rice was proof that one never knew what was going to happen in life.

After he fixed his disheveled hair, he looked at Ryouhei and saw that he was frowning.

“I went to get something I forgot in the classroom, but does that kind of thing happen a lot? Why did you stay quiet even though they said all that to you?”

“It’s not like I don’t understand their feelings. We were walking in a big group and I guess it was an eyesore. Since a long time ago, I’ve been raved about by girls, which means that I’m trashed by the boys. I guess I’m, like, used to it.”

“Don’t get used to that kind of thing. It makes me sad.”

“Ryouhei…”

“So, I’ll listen instead. Tell me all about it, Nanao.”

Ryouhei’s earnest eyes pierced through Nanao.

The reason why so many people could not refuse Ryouhei’s requests was probably because rather than it being Ryouhei’s own desire, he seemed to have read the other person’s mind. He correctly guessed the hidden wish that the person concerned had not even noticed themselves. And, Ryouhei did not notice it either.

“I see, mm. Alright, then can I complain for a bit?”

Nanao opened his mouth wide.

“If you want to complain, come tell me one by one, not in a group! And, who the hell’s putting trash in my shoe cupboard and desk! Don’t do this sneaky, petty harassment. Don’t freakin’ underestimate me just because I’m short!”

“Yep, yep…hmm? Short?”

“While I’m at it, I’ll tell you this too. Even though you were born after me, why the hell did you grow so much taller! It’s unfair, you know!”

Ryouhei was born in February. (10) He scratched his head.

“I guess it’s because I do bouldering at the community center and I hang down? Also, maybe it’s because I sleep a lot. Since you aren’t conscious when you’re sleeping, the energy used by my brain might have been used for growing.”

“They do say that a sleeping child grows well. I’ll sleep a lot from now on too.”

“Yeah, sleep, sleep!”

“In German, sleeping is ’schlafen’, so combine it with 'snoring’, (11) and let’s call sleeping a lot 'snorefen’.”

“I want to snorefen?”

“Let us snorefen?”

The two clutched their stomachs as they laughed. If Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo were there, they would probably have no idea what was so funny. The dumb conversations of boys were undecipherable codes to girls.

“That’s right, Ryouhei. Listen to one more thing I have to say.”

Nanao winked.

The area, which had undergone land readjustment, brought to mind the image of a Northern European townscape. The roadside trees were still young, and houses with the newest designs stood in rows.

Ryouhei was standing before Nanao’s house. The other Kazemai kyudo boys were also carrying supermarket bags in addition to their own luggage.

Nanao’s parents’ hobby was overseas travel. Moreover, they were free-spirited backpackers who loved budget travelling without knowing their whereabouts. On that day as well, they left without advance notice, and since his sister was staying at a friend’s house, Nanao was staying at home by himself. When Ryouhei heard about that, the first thing that came out of his mouth was,

“Let’s go meet the zashiki-warashi!”

And so, under the guise of a study meeting, this halfway test of courage was held.

Ryouhei tied the strings of his apron and took out foodstuff from the bags. He was responsible for the arrangement of the salad. Minato wrapped dumpling wrappers around the ingredients with practiced movements. Surprisingly, Kaito was also good at wrapping dumplings. Nanao and Seiya finished deep-frying the chicken and making the egg drop soup (12), respectively.

“Seiya, could it be that we’re really good at cooking?”

“Yep. I think we can probably live on our own right away.”

They sat at the table, and then Minato removed the lid of the hot plate. The room was filled with the smell of dumplings. They stretched out their chopsticks as though to say, “Finally!”

“Ittadakimaaaasu. Whoa, it’s really tasty! This is super good!”

Ryouhei was vigorously stuffing his cheeks, and Nanao also looked satisfied.

“How about that fried chicken and dumplings? There’s no way the zashiki-warashi wouldn’t come out if we make it smell such a nice smell, right?”

“Let’s set some aside for it. It’ll be disappointed if we have nothing for it, even though it took the trouble of coming here.”

Kaito spoke.

“You guys actually believe in it? Isn’t it just Nanao being scared?”

“And yet, didn’t you stop coming to my house for a while when you heard about the kid’s footsteps, Kacchan?”

“Shut up,” Kaito said, then gulped down his Oolong tea.

After they finished eating, they played games in the room. Nanao’s house was well-equipped with game consoles ranging from stationary to portable, and the number of games was impressive as well. They took turns entering the bath, and gamed until it was late.

They got tired of talking and soon decided to enter their futons. After they laid out their futons out in the guest room on the first floor, Ryouhei threw himself down, lying spread-eagled.

“The zashiki-warashi didn’t show up at all.”

“We might have been too noisy. If anything, there are lots of times when it’s quiet. I guess it’ll be a game once we enter our futons.”

They lowered their voices and waited for that time to come. However, even after one hour, there was not one sound. Before they knew, all five of them fell asleep.

Suddenly, Ryouhei woke up. He saw that it was still the middle of the night from his phone that was next to his pillow. Nanao, who should have been sleeping next to him, was not there. He wondered if he went to the washroom, but he never returned. Ryouhei left the room that was filled with the sounds of sleep.

He stood down the stairs and saw light coming from the second floor. He climbed the stairs, as though drawn in by the light.

He peeked into the room where the light was coming from, but there was no one there. The window was left open, and the night sky spread out outside the window. Wondering if it was carelessness after all, he entered the room to close the window. When he placed his hand on it, there was a sudden voice.

“Oh, don’t close it.”

When he poked his head out the window, he saw Nanao sitting on the roof of the first floor.

“What are you doing?”

Nanao pointed up at the sky.

“Look, a sky full of stars.”

“Can I join you?”

“Sure.”

Ryouhei sat next to Nanao on the roof. It was chilly and the soles of his feet were cool.

It was a starry night.

A star fell soundlessly.

Moonlit nights were nice, but nights where the moon was hidden were also special. The tiny stars that couldn’t be seen normally twinkled. Words failed him before that beautiful sight.

Ryouhei sighed.

“Is Kacchan sleeping?”

“Yep.”

“Good. He’s the one who’s scared, so I was wondering if he was too afraid to sleep.”

“Nanao, could it be that you’re Kaito’s guardian?”

“What, no way, too much work. Ryouhei, what’s your wish for the zashiki-warashi?”

“A family trip.”

“Ooh, that sounds nice. Like to a hot spring?”

“…My sister is timid, so she can’t leave the house. She’s been shutting herself in our house for a long time.”

“…Huh?”

Ryouhei looked up at the night sky.

“My sister is kind, smart, and athletic—a sister I can really brag about, but apparently there are people who hate that. At the school she transferred to, there was an unspoken understanding to not stand out more than so-and-so, but she didn’t realize that and did her best for everything. That’s why she ended up not going to school anymore.”

“Is that so… That’s terrible.”

“She found the ’Kaeru kerokerote e pero kero’ you taught me really funny. (13) You’re a genius at words that goes down well with her.”

“Well, as expected of the great me.”

“But, sometimes I can’t understand her. She says she doesn’t want to see me, and yet when I leave home for competitions, she orders me to call her… I don’t get her at all.”

“Oh, that’s because she spoils you. I think that if you try talking a bit selfishly to her, she would be relieved… Though if you try to test another person like that, they might leave instead.”

“She spoils me? No way. I’m worried if I did anything to make her hate me, but in the end, I can’t do anything.”

“I don’t think she hates you at all, in fact, I think she loves you. It’s really reassuring to have someone by your side.”

“I wonder about that…”

“You can bet on that, because I said it. Believe in me, 'kay?”

Nanao said, shining brilliantly with his back against the stars.

It was as though he was being told that by a prince. If the girls from the fan club were there, they probably would have swooned.

“Yeah. You’re Nanao-sama, after all.”

“That’s right. And, since you listened to me talk about my stuff the other day, next time, tell me more about anything that’s going on with you, like about your sister.”

“…Okay.”

He was wondering if he really had to talk about his sister, but Nanao listened to him without making fun or turning too serious and gloomy. Minato and Seiya knew about it, and that was precisely why he never mentioned her with them. He wanted the image of her in their minds to be as cool as she used to be.

When I meet with everyone, I’m so happy, I have so much fun, and I can’t help but feel pumped.

Right after the two brought their faces together and smiled, a boy with the face of a Deva king appeared.

“Hey, what the hell are you guys talking about in the middle of the night?”

“Kacchan!”

Kaito crossed over the window frame and sat between Nanao and Ryouhei.

“It’s pretty cold here. You guys need to get to bed soon.”

“But what are you doing, getting up in the middle of the night, Kacchan?”

“The two of you were gone when I woke up, so of course I would have to come and see what’s going on.”

“Pretty sure you woke up because you were scared, though.”

It happened when Nanao squinted.

——Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps.

The three exchanged glances.

“I could really hear the footsteps! So cool!”

“Isn’t it just someone who got up?” Kaito said.

“No, that’s definitely the sound of a little kid running!” Nanao said.

Ryouhei turned towards the house and placed his hands together.

“Zashiki-warashi-chan, please grant my wish!”

Nanao and Kaito also placed their hands together. Nanao sent a glance at Kaito.

“You have a wish too, Kacchan?”

“No, I’m just doing it because I got dragged into this.”

“Whaaaaat, that’s such a waste.”

“And what are you wishing for?”

“…It’s a secret.”

——Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The footsteps came again.

Right when Nanao and Kaito closed their mouths, somebody’s voice leaked from next door.

“Kou-chan, no running inside the house! It’s the middle of the night!”

The three looked at each other.

——The true identity of the zashiki-warashi is Kou-chan!?

The baby from the house next door, who still couldn’t walk yet when they moved there, had started walking, and it had only been the sound of the baby running around in the house that travelled into the adjoining Nanao’s house. He never knew that sounds from next door could be heard so well in wooden houses.

The three stared at each other for a minute, and then Nanao and Ryouhei burst into laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.

“What the hell were we doing, making our wishes to 'Kou-chan…’ Isn’t it one in the morning right now? Why is a little kid getting up so late at night?”

“I heard that babies are still bad at sleeping, so they inadvertently go to bed in the evening and get really energetic at night. But I can’t help it, this is too funny…”

Ryouhei couldn’t stop crying from laughter, and Kaito was too amazed to say anything.

In the end, Minato and Seiya also got up, and they also went up to the roof.

The five gazed at the starry sky for a long while.

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[trans-shuichisaihara]

fake it till (we) make it - Scene 2

have i mentioned that i love kokichi? he’s such a little shit and i love that

(read on ao3)

Once his scattered mind begins to calm down, his first response is to shout, “What the hell’re you talking about?!”

Kokichi blinks at him, light fluttering of his eyelashes. “I meannnn, let’s fuck around with the tabloids and stuff. I’m bored and they all annoy me to no end, so I wanna pull a prank on them.”

Okay, he gets that, but- “Why with me?!”

“Becaaause,” he sighs out, “Everyone except Shuichi sucks and he’s going on tour next week. Plus he’s just a terrible actor. You at least have that going for you.” He then grins. “Plus, people eat shit like this up - you know, where the hero and the villain get together? That’s a really popular trope.”

“Dude, that was one time! And what happens when we have to film the sequel?!”

“You act as if this’ll last that long; it’s only gonna be like, maybe a month or two at max.”

A bead of sweat rolls down his face. “If it’s gonna be that short, then why can’t you find someone else?!”

Kokichi raises a brow at him. “Like who? No one would be thrilled to and you know it.”

“Well, uh-” He sputters. C’mon, there has to be someone- “What, what about that one guy, uh, Rantaro Amami?” There’d been some sort of rumor about them once, right?

“Taken. He’s a model anyway, always busy running around in a different circle. Only met him because his girlfriend was working on one of my sets designing outfits.” He sighs loudly, propping his chin on his hand. “He is really cute though...”

“Okay, uh, well...” He trails off awkwardly, trying to think of some other answer to give him. “What the hell do I get out of this? I’m not gonna ruin my reputation or anything just ‘cause you wanna screw around.”

“We’re not gonna fuck, so don’t worry about that.” Kaito has to bite back a reaction to the likely purposefully wrong interpretation of his words. “And I know people think I suck, but pretending to date me isn't going to ruin your rep, so...” He pauses for a long moment, before grinning as wide as he can. “You should just man up and help me prove the media is stupid as hell. I mean, I’m sure you hate them too, and you’re not scared of them, riiiight?”

Fuck. “Like hell I am,” he growls, massaging his temples, “I’ll do it, alright? You happy?”

He nods, grin still plastered across his face. “Yep! See you after your beauty rest, babe!” He winks and blows him a kiss.

An uncomfortable feeling immediately fills him. “Never call me that ever again and maybe I’ll sleep nightmare-free.”

“No promises!” He sings and turns away from Kaito before an argument can start, flopping back down on the couch and pulling out his phone to end all further conversation. He shakes his head and leaves Kokichi be; he has shit to do this evening, he needs at least some rest before his manager starts blowing up his phone asking where he is.

Stardom sucks when no one trusts your ability to get yourself dressed and show up with enough time for the makeup crew to do their thing.

He locks his bedroom door - just in case Kokichi decides he’s bored enough that he’s going to come and pester him more - before closing his curtains tightly to block out the morning sun that’ll soon rise. He then lies in bed for at least half an hour, despite his desire to just pass out into the realm of sleep.

Unfortunately, the tension building in his mind from his sudden deal with Kokichi makes it hard to do such a thing.

He can’t stop thinking about how the world will react to them dating. He’s not scared, it’s just- Even if it’s fake, no one would know that until it’s over, and even then it’s doubtful anyone would believe it. That’s just how fans were. He runs his hands down his face, exasperated with Kokichi, but also with himself; why the hell’d he just let himself get dragged into this?

His sleep ends up being restless, broken apart by frequent reawakening and his phone buzzing insistently. He isn’t in the mood to deal with whatever they need, so he throws his pillow over his head and ignores it.

After an unsatisfying 6 hours of sleep, he wakes up for real a bit before noon, body sluggish as he showers and throws on some shorts and a tee. He idly checks his texts as he’s making his way downstairs, astounded at the mess that was created while he slept.

Kokichi Owoma @real_ouma tweeted:

hanging out with the bae @kaitomomota #firstdate

Along with the heart emojis following the message, attached is that dumb selfie he wanted to take, which makes Kaito wonder if that was his goal all along. He pinches the bridge of his nose; the tweet already has well over 10 thousand likes and nearly half as many retweets, along with a fair number of replies. Most of them calling B.S. on it, which is a bit relieving.

He’s about to check the rest of his texts when he notices that Kokichi didn’t leave after he went to bed. Instead, he passed out on the couch, one of Kaito’s space-patterned comforters that he’s almost positive was in his bedroom closet pulled around him tightly. He’s tempted to wake him up and scold him for informing the world without permission, but he can’t be bothered. A sleeping Kokichi is a quiet Kokichi, after all.

He turns his attention back to his phone. Most of his texts are from his friends that have seen the tweet and are informing him of its existence. He doesn’t really post on his twitter, so it’s understandable that they would feel the need to let him know.

His manager is trying to give him advice for dealing with dealing with false rumors and offering to help make a public statement to shut it down, which causes him to sigh. If he has to guess, this looks like Kokichi attempting to stop him from backing out, and it works; it’d be more of a hassle to deny the rumors than to play along, after all.

He honestly doesn’t want to deal with any of this celebrity shit. He just wants to star in cool sci-fi films and be able to afford living in L.A. where all his friends are.

So, instead of answering any of the texts, he takes a picture of Kokichi sleeping for blackmail or something, then grabs his leftovers out of the fridge and tosses it in the microwave. He then sits down, pulling up the tweet again before making the decision to retweet it without any comments. Before he can regret it, he turns the notifications on his phone off and sets it aside, instead starting to make a grocery list for his upcoming trip to the store.

He’s contemplating getting them delivered instead when his lunch finishes with a loud beep, followed by a thud from the other room. He holds back a sigh; the silence he desired didn’t last nearly long enough.

“Huh?” In the living room, Kokichi hauls himself up, hair sticking up all over the place as he blinks sleep out of his eyes. In the time it takes him to grab a plate and dump his heated meal onto it, he reaches fully awake status and hurries into the kitchen to bother him. “Oh, you’re finally up!” His own phone is in his hands as he sits down in the chair next to his. “Did you see the-” For a moment, his face goes flat, before bouncing back to excited. “Oh, you retweeted it! Did you like it too?”

“Nah,” he answers, shoveling a bite of food into his mouth. After swallowing, he continues with, “By the way, thanks for that; had everyone and their mother blowing up my phone while I was sleeping.”

“You’re welcome!” He doesn’t miss a beat as he scrolls through the comments. “Hmm, it’s gonna take a lot of work to convince everyone. Care if I post about you getting ready for your day?”

“I do, actually; that’s really fuckin’ weird and won’t convince anyone of anything except that you’re a creep.”

He pouts. “Fine. But we really should talk about how we’re gonna do this.”

He scratches at the stubble along his jaw. “I guess. I’m not gonna make any gushy tweets or anything like that, before you ask.”

He hums. “Wasn’t gonna suggest anything like that. Let’s say... We’ve been officially dating for two weeks, keeping things on the down low, before we decided to come out about it last night.”

He coughs as an epiphany hits him. Fuck, he has to deal with that aspect of the media on him. “Dammit, I didn’t even think about that part. The media’s gonna be all over me for being, for being gay! Which, well, you know, isn’t a bad thing to be, but-” He can’t exactly say he isn’t when he went through that whole shebang in college, but he wasn’t wanting the world to know that.

Kokichi shrugs. “It was going to happen eventually. I mean, people have been suspecting you are since at least last winter due to the vague gay subplot going on in your latest film.”

Kaito’s forehead falls into his hand, covering his eyes. “God, can’t people tell the difference between fiction and reality anymore? That’s a fucking character-”

Kokichi’s phone rings, cutting him off. The two of them look towards it, Kokichi quirking a brow. “Oh, it’s Toujou, one sec.” He turns away from Kaito and answers the call with an obnoxiously fake shout of, “Good morning, Mom!”

Kaito rolls his eyes; he doesn’t know how Kokichi can address Director Kirumi Toujou like that. She’s scary intense when on set. He’s worked with her for two movies - both of them great, but both of them grueling to film due to her perfectionism and no-nonsense aura. He can hardly believe she’s only two years older than them with how huge the difference in maturity is.

To avoid eavesdropping on his conversation, Kaito gets up and begins to clean up his lunch and what remains of what was technically their breakfast, seeing as Kokichi didn’t bother to. He doesn’t mind doing household chores like this, honestly; he had to do them regularly while living with his grandparents. He’s faintly aware of eyes in his back as he tears up the pizza box to fit into his trash can and moves to begin washing the handful of dishes in the sink.

Finally, a loud sigh sounds from the other side of the kitchen, and he pauses to give him a glance. His phone is facedown, so the conversation is likely over. “What happened?”

“She wants me to come in today. Apparently, one of the cameramen screwed up on the shot we did a few days ago and she just noticed it and it’s bugging her. Important scene and all that.” He waves his hand. Kaito feels sorta bad for him; all scenes were important scenes to her, so this was likely not an actual emergency.

“Just one scene, right? Hopefully you won’t be there too long, then.” One scene could still take hours, but it’s still likely to be shorter than a full session.

“Dunno. You know how it is.” He stands, stretching. “Welp, good luck with your day. Interview tonight, right?”

“Damn, yeah.” He shuts the water off, drying his hands as Kokichi looks around for his car keys. “You know they’re gonna be all over me because of your tweet.”

“Good. Play along. If they ask you who made the first move, I asked you out, and you accepted because I’m ‘kinda cute’ - those exact words. If they ask, ‘only kinda?’, you respond by seeming embarrassed.” He finally locates and plucks up his keys from the ground in front of the sofa, almost hidden by the blanket draped along the side of the couch and onto the floor. “Honestly, it should be too easy to fool them.”

He has a whole script ready, huh. “Man, who died and made you director?”

“Unfortunately, no one; the universe isn't that kind as to rid the world of any of them,” he dramatically says, before he shakes his head and returns to a more neutral tone, “Anyway, I'll be back tonight; we can discuss the schematics of our act then. Don't say anything unnecessary, be vague, they can fill in any gaps themselves. Got it?”

He responds by shooing Kokichi out of his house. “Yeah yeah, don't worry. It'll be fine; I'm not stupid.”

[forbidding-souda]

Can I request Tenko, Korekiyo, Kirumi, Kaito, Kiibo, and Miu taking care of a sick S/o?

Tenko Chabashira, Shinguuji Korekiyo, Kirumi Toujou, Kaito Momota, Kiibo, and Miu Iruma taking care of sick S/O

I love all of these babes thank you ily

-Mod Souda

Tenko Chabashira

Won’t let anyone into your dorm to bother you.

Almost guards the door whenever someone walks by.

She will let you rest your head on her lap and gives you head massages.

Very calming to lay with.

And is very entertaining.

She can spend her time talking to you for hours while you sit in bed.

Can make up stories on the spot, easily, and keep your mind busy.

Will also bring board games to play with you.

She’s not skilled in carrying soup all the way to your dorm, or figuring out how to heat up a rag, but she can make sure you don’t feel lonely.

Shinguuji Korekiyo

Lets you braid his hair, only when you’re sick.

He is very good at handling pain and illness, so he always knows stretching exercises to open your lungs and things to do to stop a stuffy nose.

Brings tiny stuffed animals to you. Where does he get them? Why does he have them? You don’t know. But they always show up.

He also knows a lot about what type of medicines to give you.

Makes a lot of tea.

Isn’t too scared of getting sick, so he’ll sleep alongside you.

And lets you wear his pajamas. 

Can hum practically any lullaby in existence to help you sleep.

It’s so soothing to hear his gentle voice lead you into sleep.

Especially when his fingers trail up and down your spine, feeling every rib and every muscle.

Kirumi Toujou

She has no issue devoting all of her time to you.

Remembers all of your favorite flavors of tea, all of your favorite little snacks and the meals you won’t hesitate to devour.

Makes sure to feed you. To keep you nice and strong.

Brings a lot of blankets and pillows and can tuck you into a cocoon if you wish.

Can do your laundry and all the chores you may or may not have done before you lacked the strength.

Brushes your hair every morning, even though you are well capable, and brushing hair literally isn’t a top priority.

But she insists.

Does not allow you to leave bed. ‘Heal, I demand you.’

Reads quietly in the corner when you fall asleep.

Just being there in case you need her.

Kaito Momota

Really doesn’t care if you’re sick, you’re still going to hang out with him.

Whether it’s him carrying you to go on a walk or him forcing you to cook with him.

Gets a lot of ice cream, though. Which is always a plus.

And watches tv, so he’s gonna lay on the couch with you.

Will not want to watch something you like unless he likes it too, though.

The sound helps you sleep, especially when you are cuddled into his chest.

A joyous bundle of care. Asks if you are alright nearly every second of your time.

If you are in pain, he’ll let Maki diagnose you with something, as he has a tendency of bundling every common illness together.

Pretends like he knows what to give you but is secretly asking his friends.

You being sick does not stop him from hanging out with you..

Kiibo

A worried boy.

Understand there’s a 1% chance of you dying but what if it gets worse !!

Oh no !!

He is a hoarded of fluffy blankets - for you - so these become handy during this time.

Feeds you, like will put a fork in your mouth type feed you, 

And brings a lot of smoothies! Smoothies and milkshakes - since often he can’t tell the difference.

You can read books to him and make him listen to music with you, as you sitting in your bed for hours on end leaves to a lot of blank space.

This is the time for you to teach him how to draw, too. Just doodling together while you try not to breathe from your nose.

Miu Iruma

Gets really worried when you keep telling her you can’t hang out with her.

She knows it’s because you’re sick, but how bad can it be?

All she’ll do is not try to make you physically good again, but to make sure you’re not miserable.

She’ll bring you medicine and things to spend your time.

And she can make a pillow fort to watch movies with you.

Dates usually take place outside, but moving them inside is a lot more fun for her.

She tries to ignore the fact that you’re sick, but whenever you sneeze she’ll deck it across the room.

“I’m not trying to catch whatever the fuck you got.”

[nctsukashii-archive-blog]

Most disliked arc (chapter)? Why?

The saltiest cracker you know is me, Bepsi!10. Most disliked arc (in this case, chapter)? Why? 

I bet you saw this shit comin a mile away huh?

Chapter 2.

Now, it might surprise you, but Hoshi dying isn’t even the worst part of the chapter for me. That’s more emotionally gut punching me and my hopes and dreams that joke characters can live past chapter 3. Actually, Hoshi is without a doubt the BEST part of Chapter 2 even with his death, just because of how amazingly he’s written. 

Sadly, even Hoshi cannot save this chapter from showing just how RUSHED and UNPOLISHED it is. Because holy jeEZ THERE’S A LOT WRONG (albeit it’s personal opinion for the most part). So while you may know them, or may learn something new from my opinion, that’s all cool! Under the cut as Chapter 2 is dissected and torn into to learn why it is sadly, my least fav of V3.

- RUSHED.

Now, this is really easy to see, and I’m sure many others have noticed it as well, but it bears a lot of repeating because it’s a problem. Chapter 2 was rushed to high heavens, in the sense that it mainly serves to push the plot along and nothing more. Things happen too quickly in the story at that point, and while the rest of the game is better off for it, this is the ONLY chapter that REALLY does it so blatantly, and it feels very choking as a result of it.- Tenko’s attachment to Himiko needed to happen, absolutely, but I feel like more should have been done in Chapter 1 to show Tenko trying to talk to her more? Maybe, “OOO maybe himiko wants to be my friend??” and more interactions that show that Tenko isn’t just attaching herself to Himiko b/c she’s “the creepy gay” character. - Toujou becoming the fucking supermaid. This one is the most obvious, but mmm. Everyone relying on her suddenly feels super forced, as characters like Shinguuji and Hoshi and even Maki herself, all ask Toujou to do something for them. It feels out of character for them, and the fact that THAT interaction is the MOST she gets in Chapter 2 before the trial is fucking trash and I’ll explain why in a later point, but you can just TELL that they needed SOMETHING to give her ANY story relevance, and it hurts her character a LOT. - Kaito suddenly wanting to help Maki’s super fucking weird. Maybe if it showed Kaito like “sorry Shuichi maybe later, I wanna try talking to Maki” more in this Chapter to really see that he wants to help her, or even just him going more like “hey Shuichi wanna include Maki in our training? I feel like she could use it.” or ANYTHING that mentions Kaito reaching out to Maki more. Because as it is now, it feels like he’s suddenly placing an all or nothing bet and it makes him, p unlikable at that point b/c Shuichi just goes with it for seemingly no reason because “yeah I guess i gotta progress the plot”. - Those are the main points. Maki is done surprisingly well, actually, she’s really good here. Being sus like that and actually not letting you do FTE’s was cool, and i liked it a lot. Angie’s slow buildup was also pretty good as well, but I think they coulda put Tsumugi in w/ Himiko at some point so it’s not ‘suddenly everyone’s brainwashed!’ in chapter 3, as a slower buildup would do it good! Or at least, more buildup, I should say.

- CLUNKY.

This one is a bit harder to explain, and it goes in hand with the pacing issue, but lemme try. Some of the events and dialogue in Chapter 2 just feel, really clunky? Like, Shuichi’s an emotional guy and I totally understand that, but I don’t think he’d just spill his feelings to the guy that punched him for showing weakness not even 2 days ago? I dunno, maybe it’s just me. It feels like a lot of Chapter 2 was glued into the story as requirements rather than actually to tell a story. It comes in a lot of ways, as previously mentioned a lot of relationships are just ‘suddenly there’ rather than actually built up, IE Kaito and Maki, Tenko and Himiko, etc... and it makes the entire Chapter feel like it’s meshed together with ideas that Kodaka REALLY wanted to be in the game or knew would happen later on, but just couldn’t fit them in, so he shoved them in an early chapter and hoped for the best.

- TOUJOU’S ABILITY TO DO JACK DIDDLY SHIT IN TERMS OF STORY.

Somehow, they managed to make one of the stars of this chapter barely active in it. Can you fucking believe that? Like, no really, if you work off of fan translations I want you to open the translation you have, hit CONTROL+F and search for Toujou and see like, the 30 lines she has before the trial. It’s so MINIMAL, it’s so BASIC, and in those 30 sentences she’s treated like a PLOT DEVICE rather than a CHARACTER. I’m sure a bit of the reason as to why Toujou isn’t as popular as most of the other girls is just how hard the Chapter hits her in terms of not giving her any character development (even in the bonus interaction she’s just “i do this for my job” for fucc sake). Like, even if it was played for a laugh that she’s just so constantly work-focused, or the writing took it as a bit of a punchline for some dry humor (”hey toujou what’re ya doin?” “working.” and just have awkward eye contact and the ‘WOW this is awkward’ thought in Shuichi’s head after a few “...” between the both of them as it happens. easy comedy. see???) it at least would make her seem somewhat important compared to the cast. Honestly, it’s like the Tsumugi Effect but in 2 chapters instead of 6. By doing nothing in terms of plot, she basically puts on this huge fucking sign that says “HEY GUYS IM NOT STORY RELEVANT BECAUSE NOTHING IS HAPPENING TO ME SO I WILL PROBABLY DIE AS A KILLER OR VICTIM” Her trial behavior is really hit or miss as well, because some might find her ruthlessness to be really cool and makes her actually fucking interesting at any point in the story, while others might find it unlikable, excessively cruel, or just out of character for Toujou no matter how desperate she may be. Let alone that her US demographic prolly tanked quite a lot w/ her story focusing on POLITICS of all things (one of the three no-no’s in any conversation), making her very very hard to like, besides on an aesthetic level. Let alone her FTE’s are the worst in the game, as you still barely learn anything about her outside of “im a maid and im good at my job” or other points that the main story already tells you (besides that she once coddled a man so hard he became dependent and that her only weakness is not cutting konjac right ever). It just makes her feel like a barren and incomplete character.

- TOUJOU’S ABILITY TO DO EVERYTHING SO WELL SHE CAN EVEN FUCK HERSELF OVER AMAZINGLY.

Everyone has heard me go on and on about this, but if it doesn’t get said no one will know it so I keep repeating it until the end of time.By making her plan so complex, she basically fucks herself. By making a crime that only someone as competent as her could accomplish, it fucks her because only she can do it. XD. Literally, who do you think would have been able to do all that shit in one night? Saihara’s too weak to drown Hoshi. Don’t fight me on this, because if you seriously believe the detective in training with little self defense training (he worked on infidelity and missing pet/kid cases for fuck sake, his life isn’t really on the line all that often so he prolly wouldn’t know or have to train all that much to protect himself) can take the tennis player that killed over 200 people and has been playing tennis basically all his life (enough to go INTERNATIONAL in MIDDLE SCHOOL) in a fight, we’re gunna need to have a talk.Gonta’s too heavy to use the ropeway.Kiibo’s too heavy to use the ropeway and too weak to carry Hoshi’s body.Himiko’s too weak to drown someone and attempt to shove them in the staircase (which I will touch on real soon here on why even attempting to frame her the way Toujou tried to was dumb as shit).Angie’s... lbr here, prolly missing a few too many tools in her toolbox to really think of a ropeway to kill Hoshi with.Shinguuji’s too weak (and before I get arguments on this, if u think this underweight twig of a man can take out Hoshi when Hoshi’s prolly faster than him and could just run ur wrong)Maki who was the Child Caregiver at the time would be seen as too weak to do anything to Hoshi too (even if she lifts kids, again, Hoshi is fucking rIPPED and has killer legs)Ouma’s too weak (i mean he’s underweight and looks like a twig)Kaito’s a fucking moron when it comes to master plans and wouldn’t have been able to plain something like a ropeway murder (let alone his idol complex wouldn’t have let him kill Hoshi most likely... unless it was a Mondo situation but that’s a later talk)Tenko’s also a fucking moron when it comes to long term planning let alone she wouldn’t touch a man unless to flip him to death, which makes the ropeway seem almost pointlessTsumugi’s too weak to (i mean... rlly. u rlly think she could take him down? under the assumption she isn’t the mastermind ofc at this point in the story, but even then sneak murdering all the kills seems kinda.... eh? too hard for her to do.) Miu’s also a fucking moron that wouldn’t think of using a ropeway (actually, she prolly woulda done the smarter option and just pushed Hoshi’s body out his fucking window since a ropeway would be too much effort)By process of COMMON SENSE, only Toujou would make something so NEEDLESSLY COMPLICATED in an attempt to murder a guy. 

- THE DUMBEST PLAN ON EARTH AND HOW YOU COULD PLAN A SIMILAR MURDER AND GET AWAY WITH IT EASY. 

Toujou’s plan is fucking dumb when you can think of SO many other ways to get Hoshi killed with more leeway as to who coulda done it. So I bring up the window in his lab, because literally you could just push him out of it and the fall would prolly splatter that midget cunt on the ground no problem. Hell, even handcuff him. Nearly anyone could have pushed Hoshi out of the window, meaning there’s a possibility that Maki or Kaito could have done it w/o that stupid fucking ropeway let alone anyone at night (or hell even during the DAY since time of death was obscured), and it wouldn’t LEAVE THE FUCKING GLOVE.MMMM OKAY RANT HERE REAL QUICK I MEAN IT THAT FUCKING TRASH BAG GLOVE IRRITATES ME. Like, hhh I know Kodaka wanted to make a case where something like the glove gets the killer caught, but HOLY SHIT was it poor to use in a case like this. It not only feels like it’s out of place for her not to just get it in the morning, but why the fuck would she use her gloves anyways?? Why not use Hoshi’s hat? Anyone could use Hoshi’s hat as hand protection down the moronic ropeway and since it’s a beanie it’s prolly made of more strong material than I guess whatever her shit gloves are made of, since they tore like fuckin trash when she went down the ropeway. As someone that wears cut and heat protection gloves because of my job, the gloves she uses are HORRIBLY inefficient (let alone if she’s cleaning before touching food w/ them on... like please don’t that can cause so many health problems) to try and stop ropeburn. She could have also just poisoned everyone, or killed them all in their sleep, to make her job easier on herself. Can’t have a trial if no one’s there after all right? No one would suspect Toujou working on her fuckin job to come and snap their necks during the night or w/e, or poison their food before the show. But also framing Himiko is really fucking dumb. Like, she expects me to believe that Himiko, who is only 2 more pounds than Hoshi mind you, managed to drown him and stuff him in that staircase, and pull him out during the show in under a minute. LOL no. Hoshi looks like he can break her arms like fucking toothpicks without even trying?? Let alone her laziness makes it look REALLY hard for her to have planned a fucking murder. The fact that like, the first hour of the trial wants me to believe Himiko could be the killer is asinine, just because of how basically fucking illogical it is.What Toujou could have done instead, was leave his body drowned in the sink. Yeah, it’d be harder because not everyone can drown Hoshi (ie. Himiko and Ouma and prolly a few others that are considered sticks or weak), but there are a lot of people who could, and drowning someone is a lot easier than the stupid ropeway piranha bullshit. OR PUSH HIM OUT HIS WINDOW. JUST KILL EVERYONE THAT WAY COME ON.Actually, she coulda killed two people easy. Just have someone gullible like Saihara come to meet her at night in the lab after she’s already pushed Hoshi out the window (or even just come running to his room with a bullshit excuse that she saw a shadow ‘running away’ and saw that something happened in the tennis lab) and push him out the window too. Boom, makes it look like a murder gone wrong, and the only alibi that’d be able to testify about the events is hers. Easy win, everyone else gets executed.I get it, in the end, it needs to be a solvable mystery in a mystery game, but it ends up making Toujou look like a complete moron as a result of it, which is unfortunate.

- MOTIVE VIDEOS ARE RIGGED AS SHIT.

Upon learning what hers and Hoshi’s are, it seems almost rigged that they would have to be the killer and victim respectively. Hoshi’s telling him to ‘kys’ and Toujou’s saying ‘lol go kill someone’ makes it like... even if everyone else saw theirs that they’d be like.. the only two to really act on theirs besides MAYBE Miu or POSSIBLY Angie. And then we also see Ouma’s?? And his is just actively “lol u don’t kill bitch but u should do it anyways” making it seem almost counter productive. Like, bitch it just said Ouma made a rule that no killing was a thing and u genuinely expect his ass to break that? ha. The odds were stacked against the two of them, which makes it only seem more forced in the long run. Which is great from a meta standpoint, but a story can be meta while still being fun, enjoyable, and flowing functionally and logically. Which this chapter isn’t really.

- THE SADLY NOT REDEEMING BUT STILL SUPER GOOD HOSHI FACTOR.

Now, the one thing that I can praise this chapter for really well despite all its shortcomings is Hoshi’s characterization and his story. For one chapter he really makes a hard hit at the time, and it’s easy to become engrossed in his little background story about him wanting to find a reason to live. The real cherry on top is his writing and his interactions with the few people he interacts with. with Kaito, it really shows the disposition that Kaito has against him and just how Hoshi is so understanding of others and like... nice. Even when he wants a goal that goes against everyone, he still respects them. “I won’t do something reckless to endanger everyone.”, and acknowledging that it’s an entirely selfish reason why he wants to find the videos and will still not hurt anyone to do it. He may have threatened to show Maki’s video to everyone in exchange for his own from her, but he never hits her or directly harms / threatens her w/ violence or anything extremely dirty. It’s respectable. Ohhh, and Saihara’s dynamic with him is just so sPOT ON HERE. Between the great advice and compliments in general he has for Saihara such as “the world can be bright for someone that’s looked down for so long, be careful” and “you’re confident compared to before, like a weight is lifted off your back. it’s a good look for you” and other such flattery, to Hoshi being a bit more open to Saihara about his feelings (feeling jealous about everyone else having a reason to live, wanting to find one himself, openly admitting he feels he has no purpose in his life and wants to find a reason to be happy like everyone else, etc.). But this dynamic goes both ways, as Saihara also can read Hoshi super fucking well. Like, seeing the Tennis Lab is a great example of it. When Hoshi states the past is behind him, Saihara thinks to himself ‘but then why are you looking at the court with such sad eyes Hoshi-kun?’ and it’s like, just really nice that Saihara’s not dense? Like, Hoshi expresses himself pretty poetically, with the way he talks and whatnot, acting like a wise sage type w/ endless wisdom all the time, so Saihara being able to read past all the flowery language to just hear “god i miss tennis” or “im depressed” is really REALLY refreshing, and a nice balance to see. If you do Hoshi’s FTE’s it personally makes it even better, but that’s not a requirement so moving on. Even just Saihara asking him things like “are you doing well?” or “Is this what you want?” or “or just the small but surprisingly deep talks they just seem to have with one another are tiny details that really complete the dynamic that they can both read each other and can react to one another super well. It feels balanced between the both of them, even in Chapter 1, and it’s a shame Hoshi had to die because I would have LOVED to see how far it could go and how much it could have been expanded on in the later chapters. 

Sadly however, no matter how great Hoshi is, it can’t save Chappie 2 from it’s endless faults and gripes that I have with it, that ultimately make the story less entertaining as a result.

[kitsayshello]

nightmares → amami rantarou [gore/blood warning]

"I never have nightmares, Ouma-san. Why do you ask?"

I regret saying those words now. I regret lying.

I regret everything, to be honest. I can't even be a brother, nor can I help my own classmates, and so I result to lying even more.

... Haha, I guess this nightmare was in spite of my lies. Who would've guessed?

... Enough of that. I should focus- focus on getting out of my current situation.

Stepping on the old bricks, I briskly walked through the darkness and rain, hearing the cracks and pitter patter of both the falling water and bricks. I could see the outline of some birds- probably crows- as I kept walking aimlessly, unaware of what was going to soon happen.

I came across a house, one that was small.

Ironic, isn't it? It's the complete opposite of my own home; big, many floors, windows, balconies... However, this is just a small home. with a few windows, one floor, no balconies. It seems like a nice home, save aside the gloomy aura that radiates off of it.

I stepped inside. I don't know why... I guess it was out of curiosity.

... Haha. Curiosity kills the cat. Happens every time, doesn't it?

Right as I stepped inside, spikes had stabbed my feet, making me yell out in pain.

I kept walking. Walking towards my death.

It's as if I wanted it.

Tears slipped down my face as I trudged on, my bloodied feet leaving footprints behind. It felt horrible, having to walk as if you were atop of pins and needles. God, it sucked, please, PLEASE STOP, I WANT OUT, PLEASE-

Another shriek. One that was high pitched, long, and filled with pain.

A sob escaped from me shortly afterwards as I clutched my side and arm, knives poking out of the both of them. I kept walking.

Why? Why am I still walking? For the love of god, please get me out of here, I'm sorry, please, just stop, it HURTS, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE...!

... Haha.

Spears were now impaling me. I could tell I yelled, sobbed- everything, but... I was too numb with pain to hear it. To feel it.

... I just wanted out.

A chain clawed at my neck, dragging me away to who knows where. I blacked out before I could even know where I went- I guess I died... Haha...

I'm... sorry... Please, please... forgive me, I didn't mean to, I swear...

I woke up.

Tears and sweat were covering me as I shook in my bed, and I didn't even know I was screaming while I slept, hell, I even woke up screaming, and didn't notice. Not until someone knocked on my door.

"Amami-san? Are you alright in there? May I come in?" Two voices.

Two voices were out there.

"I... I'm fine, what are you talking abo... about.." I hicupped, wiping at my face. The two outside didn't seem to buy it, and why wouldn't they? It was a pathetic lie. He himself was pathetic.

God, all I wanted was their forgiveness.

The door unlocked and slammed open. I saw Toujou first, then Momota. They both had concern, worry, and anger mixed up in their expression. To be honest, who would blame them? They had to deal with me, a ball of messiness.

"Amami-san, you are most definitely not okay. What is the matter?" Toujo spoke up, walking towards Amami.

Walking. More walking.

God, stop WALKING, PLEASE, JUST STOP-

Lack of air, I can't breathe, please, send help, I'm sorry...

Toujou and Momota scurried over to help me, but I was more focused on air. "I'M SORRY, PLEASE..." I rasped out, clawing at my face, bed, hair- I couldn't tell. Momota held my hands down... At least, I believed he did. Toujou helped me with regaining my air.

I just wanted out at this point.

After a few minutes, Toujou and Momota got me to calm down. I don't know how, and I don't know why.

Why would they help me out?

Why... did they notice me?

"We're keeping you nearby for awhile, Amami. Got it?" Momota said, clasping his hands together. I only gave a slow, reluctant nod as a response.

This is going to be even worse for me. I can't even be by myself... Am I really that bad of a brother? Of a classmate? Of a human being?

I couldn't even answer my own question as darkness consumed me again, a nightmare most likely awaiting me once more.

[tracingdreams]

Daiya Dramas: Special Extended Drama #2, “Service Station, en Route” Part II

Yeah, I finally got around to translating part 2. >.>

This is the second extended drama track from the Second Season drama CD.

As with the previous, it has the same extended cast and I have broken it into three sections which I will post separately.

((Part One ))

Part Two: The story so far…

The guys are on their way to an away match and have stopped at a service station. Eijun is overreacting to everything and Furuya is apparently sleep-pitching. Pretty normal day all round…They have just left the bus to explore the service station and stretch their legs…

Part II: Featuring Eijun, Furuya, Toujou, Kanemaru, Haruichi, Miyuki, Kuramochi, Maezono, Nori

Eijun: (Yelling): What is all of this! It’s AMAZINGLY BIG! Kanemaru: Don’t yell out like that suddenly, Bakamura! Eijun: But look, Kanemaru! All these different, countless food stalls spread out -  even reaching all the way over there!

Kanemaru: Don’t point at them! You’re getting attention from other customers!

Eijun: Frankfurters and Takoyaki, ice cream, and, and even cucumbers!

Haruichi: Don’t make a big fuss, Eijun-kun! It’s embarrassing.

Kanemaru: (in low tones): He’s way too excited.

Toujou: (also low tones): When we go inside, he’ll probably make a bigger fuss, though.

Eijun: What?! Even though there is ALL THIS FOOD outside, there’s an INSIDE as well?

Toujou: A lot of people come here, after all.

Eijun: So this is not just a place where you take a break?! This place is…unexpectedly DEEP! I, Sawamura, will not scorn it, this Service Area!

Haruichi: Like I said, please, BE QUIET!

--

Scene shifts back to the coach. Furuya is waking up.

Furuya: Ah…nobody is here. (He looks out of the window). Service…area?  (His stomach rumbles). Ah…I’m hungry. Ah! (he notices something.) That’s…

Scene shifts back to the service area.

Kanemaru: Huh? Where’s Sawamura?

Toujou: Is he still in the toilet, maybe?

Haruichi: He’s over there reading something. (he raises his voice): Hey, Eijun-kun! Eijun heads over. Eijun: Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting!

Kanemaru: What were you doing? Wai…huh? (He sniffs). Can you guys smell something?

Toujou: Yeah, I can…a smell like…rotten eggs.

Haruichi: It’s as though we somehow came to an onsen…

Eijun (excited): Harucchi! You’re right!

Haruichi: Huh? What, all of a sudden?

Eijun: Look at that!

Haruichi (Looks): Ah! The logo with the three lines of hot steam! There really is an onsen here! (Translator’s note, I don’t need to describe an onsen sign in Japan, right? That’s what Haruichi is talking about).

Kanemaru: For real? This is a service area, isn’t it?

Toujou: They also have overnight accommodation.

Eijun: Right! This onsen facility is this service area’s particular selling point! A relaxing space where people who have been on the road for hours can heal their exhaustion! A place where you can make your skin beautiful and wash away your weaknesses – in this onsen here! (he names some types of service here but I can’t make them out because he’s ranting). You can also enjoy a sauna and a massage here! This is the currently highlighted relaxation spot of choice!

Kanemaru: Why…why is this guy suddenly so knowledgeable about it?

Toujou: When just now he was so surprised about everything..?

Eijun: It’s just common sense to know about this stuff! The normal aspects of a service area…!

Haruichi: Hey, didn’t you just hide something behind your back?

Eijun: Hide something? I didn’t hide anything!

Toujou: What have you got there?

Kanemaru: Show us, Sawamura!

Eijun: I don’t have anything, I told you…

Haruichi Okay…(tickles Eijun).

Eijun: Hey, don’t cheat…wahahaaa hahahahaaa!

Haruichi: Ok, got it!

Kanemaru: What book is this, anyway? It says “Complete Guide to Motorway Travelling…”

Toujou: I get it! The service area must give those things out free to advertise their facilities.

Haruichi: And he immediately picks up completely useless information verbatim.

Eijun: This is valuable knowledge about the service area, like a treasure map!

Kanemaru: There are always those people around, aren’t there? The ones who pick up useless pamphlets…

(Music begins to play)

Kanemaru: Huh? What’s that music?

Haruichi: It seems to be coming from that vending machine over there…

(They go to investigate)

Kanemaru: This vending machine has something on the monitor.

Toujou: It couldn’t be…a film of what’s going on inside?

Haruichi: Eijun, is there nothing about it written in the pamphlet you got?

Eijun: Ah! Good idea! (He starts looking)

Kuramochi: Hey, you guys, what are you doing in front of that vending machine?

Haruichi: Ah! Kuramochi-senpai and Miyuki-senpai! (Translator’s note: I love that they’re hanging out here together!).

Miyuki: Everyone drinks coffee? That’s unexpected! (Note: It’s a coffee vending machine, clearly!)

Kanemaru: Er…no. It’s just that this vending machine is a bit unusual…

Miyuki: Ah…it’s that, huh. I finally see it for myself.

Kanemaru: Did you know about it?

Miyuki: Mm. This vending machine is…

Eijun: Wait! Hang on a minute! From this point onwards is..!

Miyuki:…It’s where you can see your own coffee dripping into the cup. Service areas often have those kinds of vending machines, right? It helps to kill the boredom of waiting for your drink to be served. Because more than anything you end up watching…right?

Eijun: (gnashes his teeth)

Miyuki: Huh? What’s up, Sawamura? You look pissed off.

Eijun: You said all of it! Even though I went to the trouble of looking it up!

Kuramochi: Looking it up? Looking up what?

Haruichi: Eijun-kun’s getting quite excited over finding things out about the service area…

Kuramochi: So he’s learning more information that he’ll never need to use again..?

Miyuki: I just happened to know about it, anyway! Don’t get pissed off about something so trivial.

Eijun: I am NOT IN A BAD MOOD. I absolutely DO NOT THINK you got in my way!

Miyuki: Er…it’s coming through in your attitude. Completely.

Kuramochi: Annoying.

Haruichi: Come on, Eijun-kun. You went to the trouble of looking it up, so tell us?

Toujou: Isn’t there any specific details about it written there?

Eijun: (gnashes):

Kuramochi: Sawamura…

Miyuki: ah…what if…

Eijun: It’s exactly as you suspect, MIYUKI CAPTAIN SAMA! IT’s NOT WRITTEN DOWN ANYWHERE!

Kuramochi: So basically, after all that, you didn’t know anything!

Haruichi: Well, I guess it’s focus is more on what types of food they have and what their local specialities are.

Kanemaru: In the end, it’s a good thing Miyuki-senpai was here, wasn’t it?!

Toujou: Well, since we’re here, why don’t you buy some coffee and watch the display?

Eijun: I don’t drink coffee that much…

Kuramochi: Well, then you can just give it to Oota Buchou, can’t you?

Miyuki: He might change his favourite from Nori to Sawamura, in that case…

Eijun: (Growls). Miyuki Kazuya! You’re just enjoying winding me up!

Nori:(randomly appearing) Did someone call me?

Eijun: (jumping): N…Nori-senpai?!

(Zono is with him. They’re carrying drinks of some kind in paper cups)

Zono: I thought it sounded rowdy over here, and just as I expected, it’s Sawamura.

Eijun: Zono-senpai? What do you mean, “as you expected?”

Haruichi: What are you both drinking in those paper cups?

Zono: Tsurutani Tea. You can get it free at the booth inside.

Nori: I was kind of dragged along for the ride by Zono, so I ended up drinking it too…

Zono: What do you mean, Nori? It’s free tea! If you don’t drink at least one cup, you won’t be satisfied!

Nori: Is that how it works?

Eijun: There’s nothing more expensive than something free, isn’t that how the saying goes?

Haruichi: Eijun-kun…I think it’s a bit different…

Eijun: Something as important as that tea is bound to be in my free leaflet…(he checks). IT’S NOT HERE!

Haruichi: Well, it’s the kind of thing you get at any service area…

Zono: Why’s Sawamura looking so disappointed?

Nori: No idea. Hey, Sawamura. It’s free, so why don’t you try drinking some? It’s in the Food Court.

Eijun: Food…court? Did you just say “Food Court”, Nori-senpai? (He’s all sparkly again).

Nori: Y…Yes?

[To be continued in part 3]