✧ Chapter 72 ✧
[ C4: The Plague That I Have Caught ]
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[ Kokichi's PoV ]

The room was unusually bright. Great. Maybe Keebo had forgotten to turn the lights off again.

A low rumble nearby made me sigh. That was probably his stomach. But then again, he had told me that now he was half-robot he didn't have to go hungry very often so it couldn't be him.. right?

I opened my eyes to be greeted by darkened sky with heavy grey clouds scattered around. The once slightly cloudy dark blue sky was now a shade of deep indigo, fading to a lighter shade as it neared the horizon. The air was perfumed with the scent of a promising storm.

I moved my left arm, realising that something warm was pressed against it. I had somehow fallen asleep, my head resting on Saihara's chest. It seemed like the slow rhythm of breathing was what had lulled me to sleep in the first place.

I sat up, hastily smoothing down my hair and staring at the boy lying on the ground. His beautiful gold eyes were still closed, despite the sun's weak rays beaming down upon us. How did we fall asleep in such a short time? The last thing I could remember was holding his hand, our eyes trained directly on the pale silver moon.

Once again, I felt that strange flip in my stomach the more I stared at him, followed by a wave of excitement. We had been lying on the floorboards, my hand limply in his. I hoped he didn't mind that I was practically killing him with my weight but then again, he didn't move me away in the middle of our sleep.

I just slept with my crush. The realisation hit me faster than I could have processed. I covered my face, feeling it heat up again. My eyes focused on the small drop of rain which had hit the polished wood. Another drop joined the first, before it soon started to pour.

I raised my arm up to shield my eyes, startled at how fast the rain had started.

"Ugh.. it's raining.?"

I turned to see Shuichi, still lying on the ground but with an arm across his eyes. I giggled, wiping away the water which dripped down the side of my face, "Well, duh, I never pegged you as a fan of the obvious, Saihara-chan~! You're supposed to be wayyy smarter than this."

He moved his arm so he could give me a poker face, before sighing heavily, and sitting up. "We should head back inside.. we might fall sick." His eyes appeared dull in the morning light; though he hastily looked away as soon as he made eye contact with me. What's up with that?

This was the type of rain which could make people fall sick easily, the sun and the water, mixing to create a humid environment. And also.. I glanced up at the sky, which was starting to turn a light shade of blue as the sun rose higher.

"Ouma? Come on." he held a hand up to shield his eyes, just like how I was doing. He beckoned me to move, and I obeyed, seeing that the rain and the heat was getting heavier with each passing second.

"At least you're not wearing your nerdy ol' glasses, Saihara-chan." I said, carefully skipping after the detective, who turned away again, his face red. I found that kinda cute, how he blushed at every compliment I gave to him.

He was like a little kid who never had enough attention. Hmm.. perhaps his childhood wasn't the best. Well, it's my duty to make sure he's got enough love and adoration from yours truly.

Just as I realised that we were dripping water everywhere along the marble tiled floor, I noticed that he was now making his way to a small drainage ditch nearby; wringing his clothes out as much as he could. What a considerate guy.

We were standing near the door of the roof garden, where a small shelter made of plastic was fixed over the entrance. Perfect! A warm draft blew from somewhere, blasting me with heat and making me feel more comfortable; despite my bare feet feeling as though they were dipped in ice cold water.

"You don't like my glasses?" he finally looked over at me, tilting his head slightly as a drop of water trailed down his neck and to his collarbone. I turned my attention back to him, trying not to focus too much on how his clothes were sticking to his chest. Gay thoughts. BEGONE.

"Niheehee.. you forgot all my habits so quickly, darling-chan. I like to lie. Your glasses make you ten times cuter." I tugged at my hair, watching the water dripping off the strand and fall into the ditch with a steady trickle. I found that kinda amusing.

At my words, his face turned beetroot red, before shutting up and silently squeezing the hem of his shirt dry. Silence befell on us, except for the background sound of the rain hitting the canopy above us, and the occasional drop which hit the side of Amami's guitar. Whoops.

"Can you tell me more about yourself?"

I glanced at him, but he didn't raise his eyes to look at me, concentrating on the task at hand. His question unnerved me for a moment, making my fingers slip on my shirt.

"I want to understand you better, Ouma." he continued, raising his volume slightly to be heard over the rain, "Just tell me anything you want, lies, or not. I'd love to know." his golden eyes flickered to me; probably wondering why was I staying still. "And besides, we have a lot of time, seeing that we don't have any classes.. and there's a heater right here."

Shuichi Saihara. You're such a wonder.

I managed to smile, my mind wandering for stories to tell him. "I can manoeuvre a helicopter. Vroom. That's one thing.." I looked over to see if he were listening, "I used to have a cat, but heck, it ran away because I didn't give it its tuna treat. Spoilt brat."

"And of course, my 10,000 members of my secret organisation are currently roaming around the world, scouting for threats to our group while causing wide spread panic."

I gave him a smirk as he raised an eyebrow. Those were some pathetic lies, but I was interested in how well he handled the stories.

"I'm pretty sure that first and last stories weren't true." he smiled knowingly as I pretended to be offended, placing my hand against my damp shirt.

"Why do you think that way, darling?" I teased him with the nickname again, watching his face flush with redness again.

"You didn't really elaborate much for that first one.." he hesitated, as he blinked a drop of water out of his left eye. "And I don't think I've heard about a secret organisation such as yours. If you were causing trouble in the world, Usami's daily newspapers would have informed us about it."

I pouted, not even bothering to hide my cover, "Fine. You caught me. That's one of my biggest secrets.."

A total lie, since the biggest secret I had is my crush on him.

"Pinkie promise you won't tell anyone about my organisation?" I held out my finger, grinning up at him. For a moment, he stayed silent, before his expression shifted to what appeared to be something unreadable.

Before I could react, Shuichi moved his head closer as I stayed frozen from shock and the feeling of excitement churning in my stomach.

His warm hand then pressed against my back, his forehead resting against mine. I held my breath, too nervous to respond to the feeling of his other hand under my chin. He caught me off guard, my thoughts vanishing and was replaced by a buzzing in my ears.

"I.. don't know if you like me-." he muttered, but I stopped him, moving closer to press my lips against his. My chest felt warm, warmer than the sunlight around us and the buzzing had faded away to match the hammering of my heart.

The kiss should have felt more exciting, more sparks as books often described it. But instead, I was greeted by familiarity. Everything about him, his warm hands, his mesmerising golden eyes and quiet personality.

They were what I've been looking for ever since I've started studying at Hope's Peak. He was my missing puzzle piece, the empty part of me I needed to survive. And I've found him.

He pulled away, the feeling of our lips colliding was now fading away as he and I stared at each other. But without a word, he leaned forward again to hug me, his arms around my neck in a embrace.

I, stayed still, the warmth of his lips against mine was still there, a lingering memory. "Ouma.." he whispered, his arms still wrapped around me, I'm sorry.. if.."

"Saihara-chan." I interrupted him, blinking back tears. I had never felt this feeling before. My parents never loved me. "I think.. I was destined to meet you. In every life I have ever had. Maybe I was born into this world, just to meet you." I then pulled away, smiling at the cute haze of redness along his cheeks.

I reached up and wiped his tears away, a drop caught on the tip of my finger. "I'm thankful.. to be by your side. And that's not a lie."

He was blushing so much, his ears were red and he had bitten his lip. Ignoring the blood, I tip toed again, the strange metallic taste now in my mouth, his hands were pressed against the back of my drying shirt. Far away, I could hear the bell chime, signalling the start of a new official day, but we just ignored it.

This wasn't Shuichi Saihara, this was someone else. A boy whom I've known for years, but only just met. "Is it.." he pulled away, using the back of his hand to wipe away the blood, wrinkling his nose a little when he saw the streak of red, "Too early to say how much I love you?"

I leaned against the wall, smirking at his expression, "Yeah, you'll sound like a total creep, Saihara-chan. Don't say that now. Maybe say it when we're on our first date, or something. Surprise me."

He laughed, "You don't mind dating me?"

"I'm pretty sure that's not how you ask someone out, sunshine."

"Fine." he rolled his eyes and pressed his cold palm against my cheek, using his thumb to brush the skin. I shrank back at his touch, relaxing after getting used to the feeling. Wow, I've never had this much attention before..

"Kokichi Ouma." I loved how he whispered my name so seriously.. "How do you feel like going on a date with me?" his eyes were playful, but I could also see the fear of rejection. And there's no way I was going to reject such a kind offer.

"Duh." I replied stupidly, taking his wrist and leaning forward to kiss him again.

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We decided to leave the roof garden, since the rain was starting to get heavier, drops of rainwater spraying us despite the cover of the shelter. I grabbed his hand, ignoring the stares from other students.

"Where are we going?" Shuichi asked, getting dragged along.

"To my room. So we can make out even more."

"Ouma-."

"I'm just kidding." I laughed at how people had stared at us even more. It must have looked strange. Hand in hand, me pulling him along and our clothes dripping with water. I then turned the corner and promptly ran right into someone, hitting against their chest and Shuichi barging right into my back. "Ow."

"Oh! There you are!" Rantaro's cheerful voice exclaimed, "Sorry Ouma.. Saihara. Are you okay?" I rubbed my nose, surprised to see the guy looking scruffier than usual. Then I realised why. He wore a white bandage wrapped around his head and a confident smile.

"Holy heck, what happened to you?" I blurted out, as Shuichi whispered something which sounded like 'wow'.

"Oh, this?" he gestured to the bandage as I gave him my most expressionless expression. This guy was either clueless or he didn't seem to care. Amami-chan was like that. He cared for others too much, and often neglected himself.

"I kinda.. fell off the library step stool when I tried to get a book for.. Kaito." he scratched the back of his neck. I started to giggle; fuelled by the feeling of my beloved's hand in mine. I was feeling slightly dizzy and it was a great feeling, mind you.

"For your beloved Kaito-chan." I teased mercilessly as Shuichi looked surprised; oh, of course he didn't know about houseplant's newfound love interest in that space dude.

Though I still wondered about how Amami-chan got smitten by that weirdo. But then again, Saihara-chan and I are now together. If I can survive being with him the sad emo dude, they could too.

"Anyway," Rantaro cleared his throat, looking at confused detective and purposely ignoring me, "Do you mind if I talk to Saihara for a moment, Ouma?"

"Yes, I mind."

Shuichi gave me a small smile, squeezing my hand for a moment. "Just go ahead and chill with Keebo, alright? We'll go on that date after this."

I tried to reply, but after those words? No words escaped from my mouth and I just stood there like an idiot while watching Amami-chan walking off with my boyfriend.

I took a deep breath and spun on my heel, eager to tell my roommate the good freaking news.

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[ Shuichi's PoV // Antique Shop ]

"These people have just the thing to help you out!"

Kaede's excited voice rang out as we watched her whirl around the store, gathering items from the shelves like a demented woman. Her hands raced to collect silver rings, delicate gold and silver bracelets; thin as lace and strung with rare, exotic jewels, and she also carried carefully designed chess pieces sculptured from glass. Though I didn't know why.

However, this was Ouma we were talking about. He was random and unpredictable and would probably like whatever I gave to him.

"For the last time Akamatsu, please, take care of the stuff." Teruya sat on the counter, swinging his legs as he watched the girl racing around the antique shop.

I didn't even know Hope's Peak had such a thing, but then again, this was supposed to be a school to enhance one's talents, so why should I be surprised?

"I predict she's going to fall over and break something, Otori." Hagakure said wisely as he waved his arms around a cheap looking ornament I assumed to be a crystal ball.

"Doesn't matter. Once broken, considered sold."

There was a loud thump as Kaede nearly ran into a glass cupboard which held digital clocks, all displaying the incorrect time.

"Oh you guys," she dumped a whole load of gold rings on the table, some dropping onto the red carpeted floor with dull tinkling sounds, "Be more positive. I'm not that clumsy."

"Okay then. I'm positive you'll drop something." Hagakure offered as the pianist rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh.

"Guys.. I still need help," I reminded them, wondering if the adventurer's words were the right thing to follow, "Amami-kun told me to get something for Ouma. A present or a gift. But I don't know what.. so that's why I need your help, and your best items."

"Only the best for your kareshi. Yes?" Teruya said something which sounded like Japanese, which I thankfully understood, but it took me awhile to process the word, 'boyfriend'.

I felt my face grow warm, realising that Hagakure was now gaping at me.

"How did you guys even know about that?" I demanded with as much patience as I could, noticing that my best friend had gone suspiciously quiet, her attention was now on the stained glass windows.

Teruyra, not the kind to be a liar, just shrugged with a sheepish look on his face, "A little.. piano bird told us."

"What Otori means, is that he saw the future with my crystal ball. However, because I have an eye for detail, I see.." he squinted into the swirling translucent ball, his glasses perching on the end os his nose, "You and this Ouma guy getting married. Oh my- that's a lot of Panta- is that a grape soda fountain-?" the fortune teller held the ball up as I raised my eyes to the ceiling.

But that gave me time to think. An actual wedding? That was new. I never really considered it, but.. why did I suddenly want to see Ouma in a wedding dress- okay- that's enough weird thoughts.

One step at a time, Shuichi. You have to get through this date first. Then plan for the future later!

I exhaled, before walking around to leave the trio to their excited chatter about weddings and whatnot.

I ran a finger across the polished shelves, thinking. Did I want to marry him? Someday? Maybe? I was seriously considering it.. but then again, we needed to know more about each other first.

A relationship was about getting to know the other person well enough.. like, his favourite ice cream flavour, or his birthday. His goals for the future and.. what he saw in me.

I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking. Why did he like me in the first place? A quiet, emo boy who could barely keep his thoughts in one place. A boy with a talent as pathetic as a detective's. Afraid to look at people.

But then again, compared to... my fabricated past, the past I thought I had, perhaps everything was different now.

I raised my eyes to the cabinet before me, my eyes reflected in the glass. Instead of seeing my reflection, however, I came face to face with something which caught my attention.

Somehow, I knew this was the perfect gift I had to give Ouma.

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[ 1:38am // Roof Garden ]

"This is your idea of a date?" he smirked, the wind blowing his hair in his face and making me laugh when he shook his head. "It's awfully romantic, but nature isn't my thing."

"Very funny, you're the one who hung out here in the first place, Ouma-kun." I pointed out as he appeared embarrassed by my words. Around us, crickets chirped and tiny pinpricks of light flickered around, providing us with the view of a beautiful dew covered garden.

"Oh fine. You caught me again. You're getting really good at detecting my lies, Mister Detective."

We were stretched out on the wooden floorboards, with a thick picnic blanket placed underneath and a small plate of grapes sitting nearby. I had prepared the food, with the help of Tojo-san; she seemed to be pretty chill when I explained that Ouma and I were going to sneak out at night.

Everything went silent again. Again, it wasn't an awkward silence, it was the silence which made room for thoughts and doubts. My mind went over what I wanted to say for the twentieth time. Would he like the present? And if he accepted it.. would he lie and just say he likes it?

"Just wondering, why did you pick a picnic date, darling Saihara-chan?" Ouma's voice brought me out of my doubts. He had placed a hand under his head, the light from the moon making his eyes look brighter than usual. He looked like he belonged here, under the light of the moon and by my side.

"Oh," my mind went into panic mode, just like how it does whenever anyone asks me a question. "I just wanted to spend some time alone with you, at night.. does that make sense?"

"Nishishi.. of course. You can't resist my beautiful face, can't you?" Kokichi made a face at me, and I laughed at his expression.

"You're so weird." I told him as he beamed proudly, as if I had complimented him. He then sat up and leaned forward, making a pouty face and his purple eyes shining with  mischief.

"That's one of my best qualities, Saihara-chan. You gotta put up with my weirdness if you wanna hang around me." he wiggled his fingers in my face and I swatted them away, blushing.

He smirked again, and turned his attention to the sky. I sat up as well, but I continued to look at him even as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the present.

"Ouma?" I whispered, hearing my voice shake from nervousness. He turned to me, that smirk still on his face but it faded away as soon as I placed a hand against his cheek. He stared at me with shock; before the speech I wanted to say to him just vanishing from my thoughts.

"I.. have something for you. I know it's not much, but.." I removed my hand to pull out a flat silver box, before placing it on his outstretched palm. "I hope you like it."

He looked down at the gift, wrapped with a dark blue ribbon. "You dummy," he giggled, his voice hitching slightly which I found amusing, "You didn't have to get me anything. It's just a date." I stared at him till he just sighed, "Fine. Fine! I'll open it.."

I looked at me again before turning his attention to the box. I found it endearing that he carefully pulled the ribbon undone and made a small smile without looking up.

"I've had tonssss of presents before Saihara-chan. Nishishi~! But you're the first to surprise me like this.." his voice faded away as soon as saw the gift.

His blinked, before touching the two crystals lying among the folds of satin cloth. I watched with bated breath as he ran his thumb across the smooth surface, before tearing his eyes away and staring up at me.

"I don't know if you'd want to wear these but.." I muttered, reaching up to scratch the back of my head but stopped when he grabbed my hand instead.

"I do."

He picked up the necklace and blushed, his fingers wrapped around the chain, "I can't believe you actually got something for me, Saihara-chan.."

I was awash with emotions; nerves, uncertainty and love all rolled into one. But I somehow managed to think through the haze of it and gently take the necklace from him to unclasp it.

"The purple reminded me of your eyes, the way they shine when you tell me something you're proud of. And the blue.. means that I'll always be with you." I tapped the aqua blue crystal, strung with the other on a simple silver beaded cord.

He giggled, his face red. "You're so charming, darling-chan. Stop it! You're making me turn red.." he really was a blushing mess, his ears and neck were a light maroon colour.

I strung the necklace around his neck, letting the two crystals rest against his chest. Leaning forward slightly, I kissed his flushed cheek.

"I love you, Kokichi Ouma. I'll never stop loving you."

Once again, he blushed, his hand gently tugging on the blue crystal. "Wow Saihara-chan. You're such a creepy guy.." he teased but kissed me back, this time letting his lips rest against mine for a longer time as we sat under the canopy of stars.

♥ End of Chapter Seventy-Two ♥