[She feels a little guilty ratting Kokichi out like this, but... well, she did promise she'd make him more friends, didn't she?? And that means making sure that Kokichi and Shuichi are able to talk to each other a little better. In spite of Kokichi's.......
*gestures to all of him*]
I told him about my own back when you told me about his, and his first question back then was why I hadn't talked about it with you. And then he brought it up again earlier and said that I'd hurt your feelings if you ever found out on your own. And he's really grateful that you, um, put up with him.
He acts like a jerk, but he really does think of the two of us as his friends. The only two people outside of D.I.C.E., it sounded like.
Edited (REDUNDANCY what i get for stopping a tag to get food and then starting over again without rereading) 2018-03-03 00:46 (UTC)
[Oh my fucking god that little dumbass is out there somewhere having a liar's meltdown, isn't he? Why are you so smart yet so stupid, Kokichi. Why.]
Mmm...I think it's probably more like...we're the only two people outside of DICE who return the sentiment. He said several times during the game that he thought of all of us as his friends, and...I don't think that was a lie.
[At the time, it had sounded like one, but knowing what he knows now...he's certain that he had that wrong. Kokichi hadn't been taunting or messing with them, he really did think of them as his friends, even if most of them didn't return the sentiment.]
It's just kind of surprising to hear that he apparently cares about me "a lot." I never really got that impression from him...
[How many times had Kokichi said something that meant he cared, yet managed to sound like he meant that he didn't? So many times. Ever since the killing game ended, Shuichi had just sort of assumed that Kokichi cared about him as much as one would naturally expect a friend too. A normal, average amount of care.]
[But if Kokichi cares enough to lecture Kaede about his feelings over something so minor...apparently he, once again, had that wrong.]
[Well, she wasn't there for most of the game, so. That's news to her. But it also sounded different when he was talking about Shuichi, specifically, and the attention Shuichi paid to him.]
Well... I think he tries really hard to pretend like he doesn't. Because that's just the kind of person he is.
[Does Kokichi do the average, normal amount of anything??]
[He hums thoughtfully, but doesn't elaborate. This is something he'll have to think about on his own, later. If they start trying to puzzle Kokichi out, they'll be here all day and then some.]
Wait, so...was this a conversation the two of you had over the communicators?
[He's just still having trouble wrapping his mind around the idea of Kokichi carrying on a conversation once he realized he couldn't lie. Surely he would have just...hung up immediately?]
[Hey, you brought him up! Shuichi is just trying to make sense of all this, since he wasn't actually there.]
It could be either, with him. [A beat.] Um. How did you even...get onto that topic in the first place? Did he just call you specifically to tell you to talk to me about your nightmares?
[She shakes her head, snuggling in against him a little more closely to muffle a sigh.]
No... for some reason, he texted me to tell me the truth about D.I.C.E. You already know it, right? That they just play pranks on people?
[Just kind of assuming Shuichi knows, otherwise... whoops, sorry Kokichi.]
I think that virus in the communicators must make you want to confess things? Which is probably why he texted me that in the first place, come to think of it.
[Um. Hm. Does she really want to tell Shuichi that Kokichi thinks she's attractive and that confuses him because he's pretty sure he's gay?? And does that also mean she wants to confess that sometimes she still thinks about the time she and Kokichi spent together?? Oh boy. Maybe not now.]
We ended up getting on the topic of our -- yours and my -- relationship, and that's when he started accusing me of not considering your feelings at all. That's how we started talking about the... nightmares, again.
Mmm. [He nods. Yup, he's known about DICE for a while now. The only reason he hadn't told Kaede before now was because it wasn't his secret to tell. But he doesn't get a chance to explain that, given what Kaede tells him next.]
[It's not like Kokichi hasn't accused Kaede of not considering people's feelings before. The incident in the escape tunnel comes immediately to mind. And if he's being truly honest with himself, maybe the leader had been more correct about that than Shuichi had wanted to admit at the time. But to accuse her of doing that now, and in the context of their relationship...something about that just rubs him the wrong way.]
[He frowns, squeezing Kaede a little bit.]
I'm not sure that's something he had the right to tell you... [After everything Kokichi put them through in the killing game...he really doesn't have much room to talk when it comes being considerate of other people's feelings. Even if this is a romantic relationship and that wasn't...the situations are still comparable.] You should have told me about your nightmares sooner, but that's just one mistake. It doesn't mean you never consider my feelings.
[It's hard for even her not to get down about it, letting out a little discontented noise. It's still kind of hard to talk about, but... Shuichi's being so patient and considerate. He's such a good boy, she doesn't deserve him.]
Thank you, Shuichi-kun. For, um, listening and being understanding.
[Shuichi still isn't sure he agrees, but he's not sure what else to say to her that he hasn't already said. Giving motivational speeches to make people feel better has always been more Kaede's thing than his...]
You're welcome, A-- [...] Kaede...san.
[Okay he's not exactly sure if he should have tacked the -san on the end there, and it's obvious from his hesitating tone but...hey, he said it without stuttering at least. Even if it was kind of muffled because he has part of his face buried in her hair.]
[Her face slowly suffuses with color as she tilts her head. Oh, was he trying to hide? Good luck, boyo, she wants to see your face. A small smile is starting to curve her lips as she looks up at him, embarrassed but obviously pleased.
Before he can start to second-guess his choice too much, she sneaks in a kiss. She wasn't expecting it!! Next time let her prepare her heart some more, Shuichi! So a kiss is all he gets until she can find her words.]
[Ugh, let him hide!! She doesn't need to see just how red his face turned over something so simple.]
[Except, she absolutely gets to see it because she's more determined to look at him than he is to hide. And also to kiss him, apparently. Not that he can really complain about that.]
[She pushes at him a little with a laugh, trying to roll him over on his back so she can straddle him. Her nose brushes against his as her smile widens, though her blush doesn't fade at all.]
You said my first name... can you say it again? Please? Just "Kaede."
[The attempt to roll him over onto his back is an overwhelming success, largely owing to the fact that she caught him off guard. He can't really protest or resist, just roll over.]
[And be straddled.]
[Bold, Kaede. Bold.]
[For a moment, all Shuichi can do is just stare up at her in dumbstruck embarrassment. But, eventually...]
K-Kaede.
[Oh wow hey the wall is so interesting? So very interesting. He's just going to focus on that for a minute.]
[She giggles quietly at that dumbstruck expression, and makes a note to do stuff like this more often? If only for the cute faces he makes.
Yeah, this is much better than talking about all that serious stuff.
And he only stuttered a little bit... her breath catches when he says her name, chest tightening with an almost absurd happiness as she laughs again and shifts her weight to free up one hand. Unsurprisingly, that hand goes to his cheek to try to get him to look toward her so she can give him another kiss, this one lingering longer than the last.]
M-mm... [He just sort of...nods because that's about all he can manage right now. Just a little overwhelmed thanks to all these kisses and first name usage and being straddled. But he's looking at her again, at least. He can manage that, even if words are failing him.]
Huh? Oh! [Right. She apparently sent him some embarrassing, truthful texts. He'd almost completely forgotten about that, thanks to everything else they'd talked about afterwards.]
Um...would it be easier if I read them now, while you're here?
[He'll get the hang of it someday!! He is trying his best.]
Mmhm, sure. [He stretches out his arm towards the bedside table, groping half-blindly for the watch. Because apparently this is easier than asking Kaede to let him up for a second.]
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[Shuichi pulls back a little, just enough to be able look at Kaede again. His brows are knitted in confusion.]
Oma-kun did?
[How in the world did that conversation come up and since when does Kokichi care about him "a lot"?]
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[She feels a little guilty ratting Kokichi out like this, but... well, she did promise she'd make him more friends, didn't she?? And that means making sure that Kokichi and Shuichi are able to talk to each other a little better. In spite of Kokichi's.......
*gestures to all of him*]
I told him about my own back when you told me about his, and his first question back then was why I hadn't talked about it with you. And then he brought it up again earlier and said that I'd hurt your feelings if you ever found out on your own. And he's really grateful that you, um, put up with him.
He acts like a jerk, but he really does think of the two of us as his friends. The only two people outside of D.I.C.E., it sounded like.
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Mmm...I think it's probably more like...we're the only two people outside of DICE who return the sentiment. He said several times during the game that he thought of all of us as his friends, and...I don't think that was a lie.
[At the time, it had sounded like one, but knowing what he knows now...he's certain that he had that wrong. Kokichi hadn't been taunting or messing with them, he really did think of them as his friends, even if most of them didn't return the sentiment.]
It's just kind of surprising to hear that he apparently cares about me "a lot." I never really got that impression from him...
[How many times had Kokichi said something that meant he cared, yet managed to sound like he meant that he didn't? So many times. Ever since the killing game ended, Shuichi had just sort of assumed that Kokichi cared about him as much as one would naturally expect a friend too. A normal, average amount of care.]
[But if Kokichi cares enough to lecture Kaede about his feelings over something so minor...apparently he, once again, had that wrong.]
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[Well, she wasn't there for most of the game, so. That's news to her. But it also sounded different when he was talking about Shuichi, specifically, and the attention Shuichi paid to him.]
Well... I think he tries really hard to pretend like he doesn't. Because that's just the kind of person he is.
[Does Kokichi do the average, normal amount of anything??]
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Wait, so...was this a conversation the two of you had over the communicators?
[He's just still having trouble wrapping his mind around the idea of Kokichi carrying on a conversation once he realized he couldn't lie. Surely he would have just...hung up immediately?]
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Yeah... I think it was that important to him. Or he just wanted to argue with me that much.
[Maybe both.]
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It could be either, with him. [A beat.] Um. How did you even...get onto that topic in the first place? Did he just call you specifically to tell you to talk to me about your nightmares?
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No... for some reason, he texted me to tell me the truth about D.I.C.E. You already know it, right? That they just play pranks on people?
[Just kind of assuming Shuichi knows, otherwise... whoops, sorry Kokichi.]
I think that virus in the communicators must make you want to confess things? Which is probably why he texted me that in the first place, come to think of it.
[Um. Hm. Does she really want to tell Shuichi that Kokichi thinks she's attractive and that confuses him because he's pretty sure he's gay?? And does that also mean she wants to confess that sometimes she still thinks about the time she and Kokichi spent together?? Oh boy. Maybe not now.]
We ended up getting on the topic of our -- yours and my -- relationship, and that's when he started accusing me of not considering your feelings at all. That's how we started talking about the... nightmares, again.
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[It's not like Kokichi hasn't accused Kaede of not considering people's feelings before. The incident in the escape tunnel comes immediately to mind. And if he's being truly honest with himself, maybe the leader had been more correct about that than Shuichi had wanted to admit at the time. But to accuse her of doing that now, and in the context of their relationship...something about that just rubs him the wrong way.]
[He frowns, squeezing Kaede a little bit.]
I'm not sure that's something he had the right to tell you... [After everything Kokichi put them through in the killing game...he really doesn't have much room to talk when it comes being considerate of other people's feelings. Even if this is a romantic relationship and that wasn't...the situations are still comparable.] You should have told me about your nightmares sooner, but that's just one mistake. It doesn't mean you never consider my feelings.
[So...don't let it get you down too much, okay?]
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[It's hard for even her not to get down about it, letting out a little discontented noise. It's still kind of hard to talk about, but... Shuichi's being so patient and considerate. He's such a good boy, she doesn't deserve him.]
Thank you, Shuichi-kun. For, um, listening and being understanding.
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[Shuichi still isn't sure he agrees, but he's not sure what else to say to her that he hasn't already said. Giving motivational speeches to make people feel better has always been more Kaede's thing than his...]
You're welcome, A-- [...] Kaede...san.
[Okay he's not exactly sure if he should have tacked the -san on the end there, and it's obvious from his hesitating tone but...hey, he said it without stuttering at least. Even if it was kind of muffled because he has part of his face buried in her hair.]
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[Her face slowly suffuses with color as she tilts her head. Oh, was he trying to hide? Good luck, boyo, she wants to see your face. A small smile is starting to curve her lips as she looks up at him, embarrassed but obviously pleased.
Before he can start to second-guess his choice too much, she sneaks in a kiss. She wasn't expecting it!! Next time let her prepare her heart some more, Shuichi! So a kiss is all he gets until she can find her words.]
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[Except, she absolutely gets to see it because she's more determined to look at him than he is to hide. And also to kiss him, apparently. Not that he can really complain about that.]
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It takes a couple long seconds, but she finally does pull back, eyes sparkling.]
What was that, Shuichi-kun...? It was kind of quiet, I couldn't hear too well...
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I said you're welcome...
[You heard him!]
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[She pushes at him a little with a laugh, trying to roll him over on his back so she can straddle him. Her nose brushes against his as her smile widens, though her blush doesn't fade at all.]
You said my first name... can you say it again? Please? Just "Kaede."
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[The attempt to roll him over onto his back is an overwhelming success, largely owing to the fact that she caught him off guard. He can't really protest or resist, just roll over.]
[And be straddled.]
[Bold, Kaede. Bold.]
[For a moment, all Shuichi can do is just stare up at her in dumbstruck embarrassment. But, eventually...]
K-Kaede.
[Oh wow hey the wall is so interesting? So very interesting. He's just going to focus on that for a minute.]
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Yeah, this is much better than talking about all that serious stuff.
And he only stuttered a little bit... her breath catches when he says her name, chest tightening with an almost absurd happiness as she laughs again and shifts her weight to free up one hand. Unsurprisingly, that hand goes to his cheek to try to get him to look toward her so she can give him another kiss, this one lingering longer than the last.]
Thank you, Shuichi-kun.
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...Ah!!
[She almost forgot, her arms squeezing him a little more tightly.]
Um... when you read your texts later... don't laugh, okay?
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Um...would it be easier if I read them now, while you're here?
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[Embarrassed Kaede noise, muffled right into his shoulder as she buries her face in it.]
I guess...
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[Keyword being "try" because sometimes this sci fi space tech is too much for Grandpa Saihara here.]
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Um... can I delete just one... you can look at the rest...
[She kind of wants to take the truth about Mozart to her grave tbh.]
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Mmhm, sure. [He stretches out his arm towards the bedside table, groping half-blindly for the watch. Because apparently this is easier than asking Kaede to let him up for a second.]
[Or just telling her to get it herself.]
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i really need to make more icons...
poor shuichi
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