✧ Chapter 68 ✧
[ The Love That I Had ]
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[ Kokichi's PoV ]

"Hey Tetsuya!" I called, waving a hand at my new roommate as I pulled off the lanyard around my neck to hang it by the doorknob.

"For the last time.." the boy pulled off his light green headphones and frowned at me. "Stop calling me that.. it's just Keebo."

"Okay, 'Just Keebo'." I smirked, throwing down my backpack and jumping onto a swivel chair. "Whatcha doing?"

The scientist sighed, pulling apart several wires and connecting them to a green circuit board. "Trying to build something.. but you're distracting me."

I grinned, pulling a strand of hair to uncurl it, "I know, I know, I'm really distracting aren't I?"

"I didn't mean it that way."

Its only the first day of school and I was already bored of it. Keebo was my new roommate, and it was as exciting as watching paint dry. He was the most boring, uninteresting guy I've ever met. But then again, he was a strange looking person.

He had light blue eyes, and his hair was slightly gelled. A plain white shirt over a blue-black jacket, along with black trousers. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows to expose a mechanical right arm, and normal one.

He and I met earlier, while he was unpacking his things and sorting everything out on his side of the room. But me? I just threw everything on my bed and called it a day. Easy! Besides, I don't think he had the guts to tell me to clean up. Which was fine by me. No one tells me what to do.

I got up and stood by the window, picking up a bottle of Panta and unscrewing the lid with my teeth. Took me several tries— and a bit of a cut on my gum —but I eventually managed to pop it off. Nothing interesting ever happens.. since this felt like a normal preppy college school after all.

A female teenager with dyed hair and a guitar strutted through a crowd of lost freshmen, strumming a chord while belting out the lyrics to 'All Star'.

She was then accompanied by a green haired teenager, who was holding a microphone stand and the long wire of a microphone trailing behind him. He looked just like a freshman, but he seemed to know the girl well.

"Music students." I muttered to myself, watching as the green haired guy walk beside a girl with blonde hair, and a smile on her face. The more I watched, the more I came to realise that it seemed that she liked him. Interesting.

"Are you watching people?" My roommate's voice spoke up but I rolled my eyes, not taking them away from the crowd of bustling people.

"I'm watching the clouds, dummy. It's much more interesting than a bunch of strangers."

I noticed that familiar shade of blue again as Keebo mumbled something intelligible. It was that cute emo looking kid with blue hair and warm-golden eyes. Were they gold? Or just grey? I couldn't really put my finger on it, but I decided to just go with gold. He was walking with that kinda rude, purple haired guy.

I found myself taking my phone from my pocket and raising it to snap a picture. Maybe I did it impulsively, but something about that emo guy intrigued me.

My eyes followed them all the way, watching as they finally entered the building with a bunch of other people. When I met him earlier, I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of familiarity about him. Whatever it was, it was comforting.

I didn't know how long I stood by the windowsill, watching freshmen and seniors fighting with water guns and balloons. Some students seemed to be happy to get along with the others while others appeared wary of strangers.

I watched and waited, looking at the field of green slowly turn darker as the sun sank behind other buildings. Lights from standing lampposts turned on all at once, making some people flinch from the sudden change. Somehow that made me smirk.

Then I noticed him once more. Shuichi-guy walking out of the other boy's dormitory. His blue hair swept to the side as he looked around. Judging by the bag he was carrying and a book he was holding, he was a bookworm. Again, interesting.

With his mouth set in a thin line, he brushed past other a long haired male (or was that a female?) student and made his way to a shady looking building. Seems like the library.

Hm.. perhaps he wanted someone to talk to. Well, out of the kindness of my heart, I'll go ahead and invite him to join me!

"Yeah, go ahead." Keebo's voice said, nearly scaring the Panta out of me. "You do realise that you were saying all that out loud, right?"

I rolled my eyes and left the room. It was kinda chilly, so I wrapped my checkered scarf (Scarf. Not bandanna. FOR NOW. I know it's a bandanna but- people. He can have a checkered scarf, bandanna, shirt, shoes,- WHATEVER. I know. It's. a Bandanna. Now continue.) around my neck and pulled the black jacket off my waist to shove my arms into its sleeves. Perfect!

Skipping past the other rooms, I made my way downstairs to head over to where Shuichi was going. Keebo was boring to talk to.. so maybe the detective could have something fun to talk about instead..

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But how do I approach someone?

I hid behind the bookcases, blowing onto my hands to try and warm them up. The library was cold, no surprise. But still! Does the librarian want us to freeze to death?

Shuichi was sitting at a rectangular table, taking several books from his bag and proceeding to read them. Was he studying? I hope not.. or else he'd be labeled as a 'nerd' in my book. Not that I have anything against nerds..

I grabbed a book from the shelf and paused, my hand against the spine of a black leather bound. Déjà vu.. did I do this before? My hands felt colder than before, but it wasn't because of the air conditioner.

Focus, you idiot. I scolded myself and took down a book about random Japanese urban legends before making my way over to the boy.

Shuichi jumped when I threw the book onto the table, giving me a frown. "Hello?" his voice had an accusing tone, as if I had committed a crime.

"Good evening Saihara-chan!" I greeted happily, sitting in front of him as he silently pulled away a couple of books which were blocking me. How polite.

"Good evening, Ouma..um.." he brushed away that same strand of hair away from his face once more. "What brings you here? It's a coincidence we meet again."

"Oh you know," I grinned, carefully putting my feet up on the table and making him frown harder, "I was just minding my own business, and saw you at this table!" Total lie, but that's what I'm good at.

Shuichi nodded, reaching for his book once more but I closed it, nearly hitting his hand in the process. "Hey!" his expression started to look annoyed, "I was reading that!"

I took a look at the cover before laughing, "You're reading about medicine? Aren't you a detective? More like defective."

Shuichi's face flushed with embarrassment, before I realised that I might've hurt his feelings. So I added, "But then again, I was lying. You're probably not a detective.."

"I..I am!" he blushed, pressing the back of his hand against his reddened cheek, "Ugh, no.. maybe I am, maybe I'm not.." Well, at least he forgot about what I said, so mission accomplished.

"Whatever do you mean, Saihara-chan?" I raised an eyebrow as he sighed, running a finger across a embossed title.

"I never see myself as a detective.. all I did was to solve a crime before the police did. Nothing special."

I scoffed, giving him my biggest smile, "You're right, you're nothing special. How boring.."

Shuichi glanced at me, his eyes bore into mine as he seemed to think about my statement. I smiled wider, a hand behind my head and stretching my other arm out. "Are you checking me out? I appreciate it.."

"You said you're a liar.. right?" he raised an eyebrow as I blew a strand of hair away from my eyes.

"Sure am. It makes life somewhat interesting. Why do you ask?"

"So.." he looked uncertain, "Whatever you say are lies?" he sounded amused, yet cautious. As if he were trying to understand me? Please. Trying to understand me could take years.

"They're little stories I like to make up when I'm bored or I just wanna mess around with people.." I held out both hands, leaning forward so my chair stood on all four legs again, "It's interesting.. right? Trying to analyse each and every sentence I say to search for something as simple as the truth.."

"In a way.." he frowned, but didn't lean away, "I guess I understand you..?"

"No, you don't." I huffed, pushing away from the table and the loud screech of my chair echoing through the room, "You're only lying when you said that. As a liar, I can pick lies up just as easily as picking your nose."

Shuichi looked confused, his eyebrows furrowed, "I wasn't lying-."

I rolled my eyes, getting annoyed. He was definitely lying to me. The uncertainty in his voice? The repeated sentence? How infuriating..

"Bye Saihara-chan!" I gave him my biggest grin and turned around to walk back to the room, "It was great talking to you.."

Yeah right..

You liar.

And to think that I would actually find something interesting about that emo guy..

However, he was willing to try to understand me.. was he? I couldn't help but smile faintly at that.

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[ 8:00 am // Shuichi's PoV ]

"Shuichi!"

My eyes shot open, my heart immediately racing from the shock. Kaito was staring down at me, his expression worried. That's not good.

"What.. what is it?" I muttered, placing the back of my hand against my forehead, "Are you-."

"No, are you alright?" he asked, "Man, did you have some scary nightmare or what?"

I sat up slowly, using my elbow to prop myself. "I.. I think so.. ugh, maybe the stress of school is making me go insane.."

"You can say that again.. come on, we can get breakfast and then head on to class." he moved aside as I placed a hand against my chest, feeling my heart hammering away. What kind of nightmare was that..?

Maybe that nightmare I had of Kokichi was because of that conversation I had with him yesterday.

Why was he pushing me down the stairs? And why were his eyes tinged with a dark pink hue? Whatever it was, it's unsettling. Smoothing down my black shirt, I reached for my cap to find that it wasn't there. Oh right.. I had left it at home.

I could feel myself slipping back into my old habits.. those unnerving magenta eyes made me want to avoid people's gaze again. Especially Ouma's.

"Hey sidekick, you coming or not? I heard they have waffles."

Kaito was already at the door, his wide, contagious grin making me smile slightly. "Yeah.. just a minute." I grabbed my dark blue hoodie and threw it on, following Kaito.

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We got to the cafeteria, where there was a large brown haired girl stuffing her face with what seemed to be an enormous slice of pie. Beside her, was a huge mountain of a man telling her to chew with her mouth closed.

Kaito and I stayed clear from those two and picked our way around to find a table which was not packed with students.

We carried our trays to look around, though I found that a little dangerous. Don't people who walk around aimlessly with trays of food always fall in movies because of bullies? Whatever it is, maybe I was overreacting again.

However, every table we passed seemed to be occupied by either a group of musicians or by quiet kids; reading and talking. Though one snobby looking blonde guy seemed to be ordering other people around.

"This school is crazy." Kaito whispered to me, as I looked around at the other students. All of them had obvious talent, as portrayed by the way they acted.

We finally stopped by a table with two girls and what seemed to be two knives impaled on the surface of the furniture. A tray of food was left abandoned to the side, with a stack of buttered toast.

The girl on the left had short brown hair, which she kept pulling as if she were nervous or trying to calm herself down. The other was a pretty blonde, with a gentle expression and whispering to her frustrated friend.

"Uh.." Kaito spoke up, the two girls looking up at him. "Do you guys need help-?"

"No." The brown haired muttered, almost angrily.

"Yes." the blonde said at the same time, her expression turning from gentleness to confusion. The two had a silent non-verbal conversation before turning to us again. "Sorry," the blonde apologised, "We're just annoyed.."

"Annoyed?" my eyes shifted to the two knifes, "Uh.. you can't get your knives out?"

Kaito looked at me, about to laugh when he caught sight of the brown haired girl's glare. "Oh, I mean.. that's not funny, Shuichi." he said instead, making me raise my eyes to the ceiling. My friend then went ahead and sat in front of the girls. Once again, I admired his confidence.

"Shuichi?" the blonde raised an eyebrow at me, her pale purple eyes eyeing me with recognition. "You're Shuichi Saihara?"

I wondered how do people know me so well, but went along with it anyway. "Um.. yes. Why do you ask?"

"Ouma's been talking about you." the girl continued, "Says you're someone to be careful of and whatever.. but I think it's another one of his lies.. you don't look threatening to me."

"Gee, thanks." I muttered, though felt slightly uncomfortable. Kokichi was talking about me? And spreading rumours? I had to talk to him again.. no wonder that brown haired girl looked annoyed. Anyone can be annoyed with that liar, honestly.

"Well, who are you guys?" Kaito asked, grinning confidently as I, once again admired his skill in making friends. "I'm Kaito Momota! Luminary of the Stars!"

The blond girl glanced at me for a moment, as if saying, 'Is he serious?' before finally saying, "I'm Kaede Akamatsu.. I'm not the Luminary of the.. whatever. I'm just a pianist."

"Luminary of the Pianist." Kaito offered, obviously eager to give the girl a title. "No, that doesn't have a ring to it.."

"What about you?" I asked the red eyed girl, who was looking at Kaito with either distaste or amusement. I didn't know which. She then turned her attention to me when I asked her that question.

"Maki Harukawa.." she replied quietly, twisting a beaded bracelet around her wrist, "Ultimate Child Caregiver."

"Oh come on, Maki.." Kaede smiled encouragingly, "You can trust them to tell your real talent.."

Maki just gave her a small warning glare, though it wasn't scary. It was a clear message. Back off. Or maybe it was just my detective skill again, reading people's emotions too much. "Right." she huffed, "I'm the Ultimate Assassin."

"Wowww!" Kaito looked impressed, making both Maki and Kaede look at him weirdly.

"I find assassins cool! However, not as cool as stars, but you know what I mean!" he suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Maki's hands, making me suddenly remember the number for an ambulance if the assassin decided to cut off Kaito's hands.

To my surprise, the girl looked flustered, as if she wasn't expecting such a reaction. "Let go of my hands." she said instead, pulling away as Kaede looked relieved.

"Wellll, hello~!" a new voice spoke up from behind me, making everyone at the table frown instantaneously. And I immediately knew who it was based on their reactions.

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[ Usami Theatre ]

♬ Hello everyone~! It's me, Usami! It's time to thank more people because they're amazing and they deserve to be loved by my very squishy and adorable self! *muah!* 💕💋

Imma just hop into it because, why not! First thank you goes to asahi_saionji ! Thank chu so much for commenting and voting! Your comments are weally funny and we love them! 💕 We hope you're enjoying the book!

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Alrighty! Is that all those beautiful people? Sowwy if we left some out.. but thank chu for the consistent people who's voted over and over again, we really love you! 💞 You deserve these mentioned, because all of you are awesome!

And Author and I also wanna thank you readers, those who don't vote or comment, but we don't mind! We still thank you anyway because you've made our journey recognition! So, we thank you, unnamed readers! We hope you're liking the book!

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Magical Girl ✩ Usami, poofie! See you next time!

♥ End of Chapter Sixty-Eight ♥