Love and Lies [Saioumami]

Rough Him Up

"Kokichi, wait up!" He looked up from his phone to notice Shuichi approaching. Using the wall to launch himself, Kokichi ran away as fast as he could, weaving in and out of students and pushing others. There was no way he'd let Shuichi catch up to him, not after what Momota said in the bathroom the day prior.

With a sigh, Kokichi slowed down to a brisk walk as he made his way around another corner, certain that he'd shaken Shuichi from his trail. Out of nowhere, Rantaro jumped in front of him, frightening the smaller boy. Kokichi shouted and immediately punched Rantaro in the face before he could stop himself.

"Oh shit. Rantaro I'm so sorry!" He hurried to apologise whilst Rantaro laughed the pain away.

"Don't worry it's fine, I was ready for it." Rantaro's face fell without reason as he looked behind Kokichi and nodded.

"Kokichi Ouma we need to talk." Shuichi appeared behind the Supreme Leader, grabbing his wrist and dragging him further down the hall. Rantaro followed behind, the three all ignored the curious stares from other students as they pushed past on their way to the courtyard.

Kokichi continued to shout as Shuichi hauled him towards the edge of a building where no one hung out due to it being out of bounds. Shuichi swung Kokichi forward and pushed him into the wall, both he and Rantaro cornered the small boy, giving him nowhere to run. Fuck he's stronger than he looks. "I'm sorry but this is the only way you're going to let me talk. Why have you been avoiding me all day?"

"Is it because Shuichi and I are dating now?" Rantaro questioned, clearly feeling guilty.

"I don't give a shit if you two are dating, just don't fuck in front of me," Kokichi joked. "Congrats on finding your soulmates, I'm so happy for you both, but leave me alone."

"Why don't you want to be around us?" Shuichi's voice oozed with desperation.

"I have a super top-secret mission to carry out which requires me to be really sneaky. You two may blow my cover." Kokichi grinned, enjoying the annoyed eye-rolls.

"We all know you don't actually run a 'super evil organisation'. Neither of us will let you go unless you tell us what's happening." Shuichi's eyes had an unusual threatening aura.

"Is it because Celeste's now dating Kirigiri? You know if the both of you broke up it's not something you need to hide from us." Kokichi cocked his head, narrowing his confused eyes. "Oh are you two still together?" Rantaro seemed embarrassed at his incorrect assumption. "Sorry, I just thought something happened since Celeste and Kirigiri seem to be hanging around each other all the time."

"Yeah, it's fine. They're just friends anyway," Kokichi mumbled.

"How about this: you two are coming over to my house after school," Shuichi demanded. "Actually, you two are coming to my house, I'm not taking no for an answer."

"You're going to have to." The little liar tried to squeeze past the two, proving unsuccessful as Rantaro sandwiched Kokichi between himself and the bricks. "Okay look Shuichi. I'm not allowed out on such short notice, so the answer is no. Let me go."

"The great criminal Kokichi Ouma can't go out without his parents' permission?" Rantaro chuckled. If only you knew... I'll tell you someday I think.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. I'm not going," Kokichi reiterated.

"Kokichi..." Shuichi's voice wavered, the boy almost on the verge of tears. "Did I do something wrong? If I hurt you I'll do anything to make it up to you. Please tell me, I value our friendship more than anything. You know that, right?" Oh no, no no no no. This is the opposite of what I wanted, I never wanted to hurt him. I need to do something to fix this.

"No Shuichi you've done nothing wrong I promise. It's Momo-" Kokichi slapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late.

"Momota? What did Kaito do?" Kokichi didn't attempt to answer, he just launched from the wall yet again. Rantaro anticipated his move and grabbed him, shoving him back into the wall harder than the first time. 

Kokichi winced, hearing his back crack from the impact. "Damn Rantaro, at least pay me before we start!~" He flirted, winking at the Ultimate Adventurer.

"You are coming to Shuichi's house. We need to talk about this. Shuichi and I are concerned about you and last time we gave you the benefit of the doubt you ended up in hospital." Okay well, that is fair. This exact scenario happened a few years ago, but Mother and Father forced me to start gambling on my own. I ended up making a few guys mad and they beat me up in the street.

"Can Celestia come too?" Kokichi asked, wanting to have someone with him that knew about his true feelings. If Celestia accompanied him, Kokichi would be able to talk to her if he had a panic attack or something of the sort. "You know how it is, always needing to be near your partner." 

"She can come, I'm sure Kyoko won't mind having a friend over." Shuichi agreed, much to Kokichi's delight. "Oh which reminds me, Kyoko told me to tell you something."

"Yeah? What is it?" Kokichi couldn't remember any reason she'd want to talk to him unless it was about Celestia, but surely a detective wouldn't ask someone else to pass on information that he'd asked to remain secret.

"I don't know what it's about, she didn't say, but she wants to talk to you. Maybe you two can talk tonight?" What if it's about my soulmarks?

"Sure, sounds great!" Kokichi clapped his hands together. A loud siren interrupted the group's conversation, putting it on hold for another few hours. Wrapping his arms around his taller friends' shoulders, Kokichi put on his best smile and lead the group towards their next class, dreading his new after-school activities.