[A/N] This will probably be the last thing oneshot thingie I post before the next chapter of LDOD. This is hurt/comfort. Here's a very basic plot synopsis: Bisque makes a mistake, Keiji messes up, and thankfully, Gou is there.

Gou

I hum to myself cheerfully as I head to the Warehouse. It's time to clean the inside of my helmet! We don't want a stinky boy! No we do not! I grab the mild soap and a fresh rag, and then head to the kitchen to acquire some water, making fun sounds all along the way. Keiji is plucking along, writing some paper or another in the dining room. I yank my helmet off and playfully run a hand through my hair before I get to work with scrubbing. Woah. That was powerful. I don't usually have my head exposed to the elements, but now I understand why Ren always does that when he's flirting!

Suddenly, I hear the door burst open, and I lean out to find Bisque flitting inside cheerfully, with Hachi trailing absent-mindedly behind him. "Hi! Hihihi!" Bisque calls out.

"Hi, guys!" I call out, turning back to washing my

"Oh God. What are you two up to?" Keiji asks instinctively, with what I can only imagine would be a wide-eyed, wary expression.

"Cornstarch slime!"

"You mean Oobleck," Keiji corrects automatically.

"No, cornstarch slime! We're gonna add glycerin and glue instead of water!" Bisque clarifies.

"There was this guy and his brother on YouTube who made a pool full of Oobleck. They did all sorts of things with it, like smack balls of it with tennis rackets and run across it," Hachi rambles. She sighs. "That channel really went downhill."

I leave my helmet on the countertop and swipe some baby carrots to munch on while I watch the Pair of Accidental Chaos (PAC, as we call them) start with their slime process. They get really invested in it, but I sincerely doubt that they're following any exact recipe. Because the stuff looks really sticky.

"Agh. Keiji, come help us out here! What do we need to do to get it to the right consistency?" Bisque asks.

"Sorry, I'm really busy. I'd help if I had time, but I loaded up my semester... I have night classes and whatnot and well as normal school, with as many honors courses as I'm eligible for, so I seriously don't have any time to waste."

"C'mon! Pretty, pretty please! It'll only be a minute!"

"Bisque, you're a potter! You're probably pretty well-equipped to figure it out on your own!" I encourage.

"I know, I know, but this is different than adding certain amounts of water to clay. With clay, my hands know exactly how it'll respond before I even do anything. But I dunno how much glue or glycerin needs to get added to however much cornstarch! I just figured, Keiji's really smart, he probably knows how to make it less sticky, so pleaaaase!" he begs. He leans forward and slams his hands on Keiji's paper as if by impulse, and the room instantly falls into a stiff and uncomfortable silence. "I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I—"

"God fucking dammit! I said no! Now my goddamn paper is covered in slime that even YOU admitted was too sticky! You're either such a dimwit that you forgot you have freaking SLIME on your hands, or you're so out of control that you couldn't stop yourself!" Keiji rages, slamming his hands on the table. Hachi immediately dips, mumbling about needing to wash up and chattering to herself about soap making.

"P-Please don't yell at me. Is there any way I can make up for it? L-Like, I could write down everything you tell me so that you can get something else done in the meantime!"

"What, do you think I had the entire first page memorized?! And even if I did, we have drastically different handwriting, you moron!" His face is red.

"Keiji, take a breath. Being angry about it won't bring the paper back," I reason.

"I know that, but it wouldn't be ruined in the first place if it wasn't for HIM! I should've just left when PAC came in— it's always fucking disaster with them!"

"STOP! You know I can't always help it!" Haruto begs, voice cracking a little. "I thought you said you were trying to get better, but you're just as awful as before!" he squeals. He sprints out of the room, trying to wipe tears away before they stream down his cheeks.

I turn to yell at Keiji, but when I see him, I stop myself. His arm is slightly outstretched in Haruto's direction, and his eyebrows are drawn together in regret. His breaths shake and seep through a grimace. He pulls his legs in and curls himself into a ball. "Dude, dude, go apologize!" I urge.

"That's the plan... eventually... He needs space first, though. I think. I could be wrong, cause obviously I don't have a fucking clue how to be anything better than a shit person," he sighs, bonking his head lightly on his knees a couple of times.

"Keiji..."

"I ruined it. Joanie's the only one who ever believed that I can be the kind of person I want to be, and as soon as she leaves to go see her parents, I screw it all up." His voice is hushed, small. "Everyone was right. I'm always gonna just be, 'Keiji Seikiguchi, that cocky bastard.' I lost my chance."

"Hey. Hey, look at me," I demand. He, weary, raises his eyes. "Old habits die hard. Of course you're going to screw up now and then! Even people who you'd think of as 'good' fuck it up sometimes, so why do you expect yourself to be any different?"

"But I should've stopped myself! I shouldn't— I made the choice to improve, I shouldn't throw it away like that!"

"It's not as simple as a single choice!" I point out.

"What do you mean?"

"Look, this isn't like a test. It's not like you answer each question one time and then that's it. Some choices, like the choice to change yourself, are choices that you have to make over and over and over again. You'll probably be choosing it your whole life. And maybe sometimes, you can't stop yourself from picking the 'wrong answer,' but the goal isn't perfection. It's more like—"

"Like... Like improving my average. Improving the percent of time I make the right decision."

"Exactly! It's a stumble, not a fall. You're not broken."

"I didn't... ruin it."

"You clearly get it now. So... why do you still look so blue?"

"I'm... scared. Somebody's gonna find out... probably Yuu or Azumi. And they're gonna think... everyone's going to believe that it's all an act. That every good choice I make is just to impress Joanie, and that I'm just some manipulative snake pretending to be something I'm not. And... what if I AM just pretending? It's like Sayuri always says, sometimes the mask becomes you, and she was right. I started off being meaner than I am cause... well, I won't get into the whys right now... but eventually I was just that mean. What if I am just pretending to be a good person?!"

"You're not. The fact that you're over here panicking about it proves that you're not."

"But—!"

"Besides. If the mask can become the person, does it even matter if it's a mask right now? That can just become the real you, you dummy!" I interrupt, rushing over to give him a noogie.

"NOOOOOO!" he shrieks playfully, trying to duck away from me.

"If anyone tries to say you're faking, we can just prove them wrong! I'll tell 'em off! Or, I guess more accurately, I can explain your viewpoint if they ever start to take your attempts for granted."

"Thanks. I guess... I should apologize now. Hoo, boy. Wish me luck."

"Good luck!"

I stay where I am for a while, eating carrots all on my lonesome, waiting for the inevitable conclusion of this saga.

And everything is okay. Keiji and Haruto walk back into the room together, passionately enthusing about Chinese pottery from the Neolithic era. Keiji's wearing a new bracelet, clearly made with ceramic beads— Haruto's way of "making it up to him." Keiji helps Bisque figure out the slime consistency, and this delights Bisque so much that he even hugs Keiji (and me, just because) before running off to find Hachi.

"What are you gonna do about the paper?"

He sighs. "As much as I hate to do this... it's one paper. My grade is high enough, I can just skip it. I used up a lot of time on this whole kerfuffle. It feels good to remember that none of this is the end of the world."