✧ Chapter 31 ✧
[ Though They've "Fallen in Love" ]
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He gasped as the table slid aside, plates and utensils falling to the floor with a loud crash At the sound, the students went quiet.. Shuichi quickly looked up and he saw Maizono and Celestia standing there. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" the blue haired girl exclaimed, a hand to her mouth.

Shuichi wasn't sure what she was apologising for, but he heard Keebo's loud voice beside him. "Ouma.. Ouma! Are you alright?!"

Celestia just smiled slightly when Shuichi turned to see Kokichi's shocked expression and a knife dripping with blood. Kokichi held his hand close to his chest, his shirt stained with the same liquid.

"You did that on purpose!" Kaede exclaimed to laughing Ultimate Gambler and Ultimate Pop Idol. Shuichi immediately scrambled over to the purple haired boy. "Kokichi! Say something! Where did you hurt yourself?" he demanded.

"What?" Celestia asked, a fake smile on her face, "Of course we didn't do that on purpose, Akamatsu. It's just that you were so ugly, Maizono tripped over and knocked into the table!" she gave an airy laugh.

"T-Take that back!" Kaede snapped, losing her temper as Keebo held out a hand to stop the girl from attacking the two laughing ones. "Don't get into this fight, Kaede. They're not worth it."

Shuichi grabbed Kokichi's arm, trying to see the injury but to his surprise, Ouma seemed to be... laughing? Or just laughing from the pain. That's it, right? Because there was no way he was laughing while sustaining such an injury.

"If this was all I had to do to get your attention," the purple haired boy said in between laughs, "I should've done his sooner! You're a funny, challenging guy, Saihara-chan."

Shuichi turned Ouma's bloody hand, wincing slightly at the deep cut on his finger. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have chopped it off fully, but it really was so deep. The detective knew that he had to bring the laughing student to the medical room as soon as possible.

"Follow me, quickly," Shuichi told the boy, who was smiling despite his injury. "Alright.. thank you, Saihara-chan!" he beamed as Kokichi looked at his finger, which was practically blood-soaked by now.

Shuichi wordlessly held the bloodstained sleeve of Kokichi's white shirt and led him to the office. Behind him, he could hear Kaede arguing with Celestia and Maizono, who were laughing. Hopefully, they would be okay without him.

Did those two girls hit the table on purpose just for Kokichi's hand to slip? If so... he cast a look at the smaller purple haired student, who had his eyes fixed to the ground. How could he be hiding his feelings so well? If Shuichi were in his shoes... he'd be well, crying. Mainly because he's such a weakling.

"Hey," Shuichi told his classmate, "You okay?"

Kokichi just cast him a brilliant smile, "But of course! Why shouldn't I be?" there was no doubt about it. He was in pain, but apparently chose not to show it.

"You don't have to act so brave around me, Ouma."

"I- Huh? I'm not acting!" Kokichi grinned wider, as if he found the whole prospect hilarious, "I've never had such an injury before. I cant believe you're actually concerned for me!"

Shuichi looked at the signs above the doors, pretending he didn't know the way to the medical room. But of course he did.

What was that strange feeling in his chest when he saw Kokichi getting injured? The blue haired boy stubbornly brushed it off as shock... but it was suspiciously becoming something else he didn't want to acknowledge.

Shuichi felt his hand tighten around Kokichi's wrist, remembering the malicious laughter from the other students.

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[ Medical Room ]

He sat in front of the purple haired boy, clumsily placing a gauze on the side of the boy's finger. "Have you ever tried tending to wounds, Saihara-chan?"

"Uh... I have taken some mandatory first aid classes before, back in my uncle's detective agency." the detective admitted, his face heating slightly as he tried to cover the wound. He hated it whenever he brought his past up, since that would sound like he was bragging..

His uncle was a renowned detective who traveled all across Japan to solve crimes. All Shuichi has ever done was to track down a pet alligator for a friend once, or catch a thief breaking into a house.

However, there was that one infamous incident.. which caused him to wear his hat.

"It doesn't look like you need stitches.." Shuichi told him, keeping his mind focused on the task at hand, "Just apply pressure to the wound for at least ten minutes. Can you do that with your other hand?"

He expected the other student to refuse his help. To his surprise, Kokichi silently held his injured finger, doing as he was told. Shuichi rolled out a long roll of bandage, his mind occupied by the thought of Maizono and Celestia's actions..

Kokichi was humming quietly, occasionally peeling the bloodied gauze away from his hand and checking the wound. He looked so childish, swinging his legs and drumming his uninjured fingers on the bed.

"Hey Saihara-chan," he said as Shuichi was at the sink, disinfecting his hands with soap, "Is the wound supposed to be blue?"

"What?!" He turned as Kokichi giggled, "I'm just kidding! Don't panic.."

Shuichi sighed, drying his hands with a paper towel, "If you keep lying like that, no one's going to believe anything you say, Ouma."

Kokichi just shrugged, continuing to swing his legs as he perched on the white bed. He had a rather childish side of him, Shuichi realised. It was quite.. unusual.

"So what? As long as I'm having fun, no one else should be bothered by me," the other boy replied. "So why should I stop lying?"

"Because.." Shuichi began, his mind trying to come up with more reasons as to why Ouma should stop lying. "It's confusing. You're hiding your true feelings with lies and stories.. I," Shuichi quickly corrected himself, "I'm sure the other students would want to befriend you if you'd stop lying."

"But why should I change for them?" Kokichi looked at his feet, which had one purple and one pink sock on each side. "After all, lying is what I do best! Shouldn't they be changing their attitude for me?"

"That's.. a little selfish, Ouma," Shuichi frowned, as the other boy's expression morphed into something of mild annoyance. "But if lying is your thing.." the blue haired boy continued, "Does it help?"

"Psh, of course it does!" Kokichi waved a hand, "If it wasn't for my splendid lies and stories... I wouldn't have been noticed by Hope's Peak.." his face suddenly darkened, "Back in my old school.. things.. weren't exactly the best."

There was a silence as Shuichi stared at the other boy, his mind processing what he heard. Before Hope's Peak, everything was as per usual. They were normal students, but eventually scouted by people from the academy.

"Hey Ouma," Shuichi looked at the boy, who was peeling the gauze away from his wound for the second time, "How were you able to attend Hope's Peak anyway? A Supreme Leader.."

"Oh," the prankster tilted his head, "I was just skipping along the street on my way home and ta-da. They found me."

"..." Shuichi just looked at him as Kokichi smiled widely, "Yeahhhh, that was a lie. But if you insist on knowing me better, Saihara-chan." he nodded approvingly.

"I have a group of over ten thousand members! A secret organisation so big that even that Yakuza knows it! But it's a secret, of course, so you'll never know the name."

Shuichi narrowed his eyes at the student, who was still grinning, "Are you lying again?" he asked as Kokichi glanced at the ceiling, "Hmmm? Why would you say that?"

"Because I've never heard of such a thing before." Shuichi frowned as the other boy laughed, waving his bloodstained finger around, "Of course you've never heard of it! It's a secret organisation! Silly Saihara-chan."

The blue haired boy felt his face heat with embarrassment when Kokichi called him that. "Let me guess, you're not going to tell me anything else are you?" the detective asked.

"Hmm.. what else do you wanna know?" he asked as Shuichi reached over and checked the wound, making Kokichi shut up. The two boys sat in complete silence as Shuichi inspected the cut.

It was bleeding slightly, but other than that, it seemed to be fine. "Hey Saihara-chan!" he heard the leader grin, holding out a new roll of bandage, "Can you help me wrap it up again?"

Shuichi cautiously took the roll and held Kokichi's ring finger, carefully wrapping it around the wound. "..." Everything was quiet, save for the clock ticking away in the corner and Kokichi's quiet breathing. Shuichi continued to tend to his wound, trying not to focus too much on anything else.

"Is it better now?" he asked as the purple haired boy nodded, "Yep! And I'm not lying, so don't worry."

Shuichi sighed, "If you say so.." he paused, "Then let's go and check on Kaede and Keebo. I hope they're not in trouble."

Kokichi grinned and hopped off the bed, but he tripped, the sudden sound making Shuichi spin around and catch him. The smaller boy fell against his chest, making the detective stumble backwards slightly.

"Uh.. no, that wasn't intentional.." the boy looked up at him, his face a light shade of pink, "Um.." The two just stared at each other, their faces crimson.

"A-Are you okay?" Shuichi finally stammered as soon as Kokichi pulled away, "Sorry, I should've.."

"It's not your fault Saihara-chan!" Kokichi looked away, his hands behind his back but his face still slightly rosy. "I should've been more careful. Thank goodness you were there to catch me."

Shuichi looked at him, his heart beating wildly. That strange feeling was back again, a warm sensation in his chest. He quickly rubbed the back of his neck to cool off, "Let's go then.."

Kokichi nodded, "Alrighty! Thank you for helping me, Saihara-chan." he smiled up at him, making Shuichi's face flush again. How could.. he be so cute?

Shuichi curled his hands into fists, restraining himself. Stop it.. he had to stop thinking about such things or else... he cast a look at the purple haired boy, who was skipping beside him. He might get Kokichi in trouble..

♥ End of Chapter Thirty-One ♥