Who They Were Before // Shuichi x Reader

"As her classmate."

"Aww, you beat me again, Kokichi! How can someone be that good at Uno anyw-" Y/n was quickly interrupted by a knock at the door. "I'll get it!"

"Shit, I hope it's not the neighbours. My music weren't even loud last night, right?" Kokichi stated worriedly.

"Oh, I don't know. Let me open the damn door before you start conspiring."

She opened the door to be met with a wonderful sight. Shuichi! I mean, maybe not so wonderful. His eyes were red from crying, overstuffed bags were falling from his hands, and, furthermore, he had extremely unbrushed hair. At least the last thing was cute, eh?

"I'm - so sorry for um- being here like this - but -" Before he could finish he broke down into tears. "Sorry, I - just- I think I just need to, uh, calm down." He took a deep breath, and explained to Y/n exactly what happened.

"Wow, Shuichi, I'm so sorry. On your anniversary too? You deserve better." Inside her head, she thought about adding 'someone like me', but that's too far, she figured. "Oh, and yes, you can stay with us. I'll arrange something for you to sleep on."

"No, no, no, and no! Sue is not staying here, Y/n, stop being such a kind bitch and-" Kokichi came running into the room. "Ohhhh, Shu. Ichi."

"Hi." He replied with a sniffle.

"I'll meet you upstairs in a minute, Shuichi, lemme just talk to Kokichi."

He nodded, and began to bring his luggage upstairs. He was surprisingly quite muscly, in a subtle way.

"Right, Kokichi. Shuichi is staying here, as Kaede dumped him for whatever personal reason, and you just need to be thoughtful, okay?"

"Hmmm, okay then. Also, he is not sleeping in my room. I bet he snores."

"No, he's sleeping in my room. I have a spare mattress under my bed."

"Ooo look at you! Sleeping in the same room as your crush! You're hoping it'll be the same bed soon, eh..."

"Kokichi! Don't be so...weird!"

"Y/n, are you coming upstairs?" A shout came from Shuichi.

"Oh- um- yes! I'm coming now!" Y/n shouted back, while giving a quick punch to Kokichi's arm. In all due respect, he did deserve it.

When Y/n got upstairs, she began to pull the mattress out from under her bed. She tried to act like it wasn't hard work, but it was. Shuichi saw her struggling, though, and started helping her, being the gentleman that he is. How Y/n longed to be with him, to make her fantasies reality...

"Y/n, where are we putting it?" A panting Shuichi had interrupted her thoughts.

"Over there, I-I guess." Y/n hadn't noticed, but her face had gone beetroot red.

"Woah, are you okay?" Shuichi asked her, with a confused look.

"Yep- uh- I'm just gonna go to the bathroom." Y/n ran off to the bathroom, and began to think to herself. Why did she think she even had a chance with him? She had told herself that everyday for the past God-knows-how-many years. Wait, had it been that long, since the day they met?

~

"No! Don't call my mommy and shout at her! I spilt orange juice on my blanket, that's why I don't have it. My very kind mommy is washing it, so, blame me! I'm the bad girl." Y/n protested through sobs.

"Right, well, we still have to inform your mother on her mistake. It's school policy." Miss Monomi explained, as Y/n's cries grew louder. "We'll get you a spare blanket from lost and found."

"Don't make Y/n have naptime with an old raggy blanket! She can share mine with me, as her classmate." A tall boy with messy blue locks insisted.

"Yeah, I'll share a blanket with..." Y/n didn't know his name. They had never actually met, or even spoke to each other.

"Shuichi, Shuichi Saihara!" He beamed, grabbing her hand.

"Right, you kids do that then. Y/n, this is your second time forgetting your blanket, so you will have another strike on the list." Miss Monomi said more, but Y/n didn't care. She fell in love that day. The boy with the starry blanket, Shuichi Saihara, would always have her heart.

~

"Hey, Y/n, are you okay in there? Do you need anything?" Shuichi asked, knocking on the bathroom door. Y/n opened the door with tears of happiness in her eyes, and just hugged the life out of him. "A-ah, Y/n!"

Whether it was the silence, or whether it was their warm embrace, but right there and then, Shuichi realised something. He quickly got out of the hug and proposed the question, "Do you have a computer?"

"W-what? Oh, yeah, there's one in Kokichi's room. Is everything okay?" Y/n answered with extreme confusion.

"Yes, everything's great, I just need to write an email to a friend."

"Hmm, okay! I guess I'll leave you to it then, eh?"

"Thanks again!" Shuichi practically sprinted into Kokichi's room, and logged into his email account. There was no time to waste.

As soon as he got there, he opened the email tab and logged in. If he wanted to get it done with, he couldn't have Kokichi snooping in his business.

Shuichi spilled his heart into that email. Whether Nagito would care, or listen, was a whole different matter. After he had finished, he was satisfied with his decision. As he clicked the 'send' button, he felt happier than he ever had before. He shut down the email tab, and left Kokichi's room exactly how it was. Or so he thought.

Just a minute or two after Shuichi had left, Kokichi went to his computer to work on an assignment, when he noticed an extra tab open. "I never sent an email to anyone, did I?" That was when he realised it was Shuichi's account. He read the response from Nagito, 'Hi, Shuichi, thanks for letting me know. I'll help you. You know, when we were kids, I always knew it was you. And I'm hoping it always will be.'

"Oh my God..."

-//-
1034 words
4/9/22