Kaede noticed Shuichi, who seemed to be feeling better after his help solving the second case...
She knew eventually that she had to tell him...
...But when?
***
It had been a while since the first year of Hope's Peak started, and already, a lot of things happened.
There was the shooter who turned out to be trapped in the fifties, then there was the crazy lady who made the crazy games and put some ACTUAL FUCKING GHOSTS in one of them.
All of this was a lot for Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, to handle
Not that he wasn't used to it. One would say he's been through all nine hells and back...
One who managed to be there for the lot of it was... well.. Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist
The two had a great friendship, but what people didn't know is that it went way back.
Kaede and Shuichi had actually been the best of friends since kindergarten, long before they attended Hope's Peak.
It was a fairly simple introduction to eachother, really.
Beginning of the school day, friendly hellos, Kaede defending Shuichi from almost getting eaten by the alleged monster in the sandbox.
It went all the way to their tween years, which resulted in Kaede trying to not only help Shuichi through his incident, but also through a rough breakup with Kokichi.
Yes, Shuichi and Kokichi used to date.
Yes, it was dysfunctional as all hell...
Kaede was practically an angel for him.
But time and time again, he was not sure how to show his appreciation apart from a simple "thank you".
This time, he had an idea on what he should do to show his gratitude...
One day, Shuichi was holding a secret right in his hands.
He walked down a hall.
He then got to the fourth floor and walked to the music room.
He knew she was there...but strangely enough...no music?
With a deep breath, he decided to knock gently.
"Come in~"
That was her!
He opened the door to see her sitting on a piano stool, awaiting him.
"I...I've been waiting for you, Shuichi."
"That's nice to know... I hope I'm not late.."
"You weren't!" She smiled warmly
"Great to know!"
Shuichi put his gift on a classroom desk in the music room someone forgot to clean up
With that, she invited him over for a seat right next to her.
"You don't mind playing a tune with me, do you?"
"...I don't mind at all."
With that, the two sat together, Kaede leading with a tune.
The tune in question happened to be Clair de Lune.
"I keep hearing this song in my ears, I dunno why..."
"I mean, it is a memorable tune..."
"That is true."
They continued playing and felt some form of...connection between them.
This was not just friendship they felt. It was deeper, deeper than any hole dug.
As each note played they felt it more and more
The feeling was just growing and blooming like a flower in perfect spring, their hearts warming to the point they'd melt.
Eventually, they finished the last few notes of the song.
"That was beautiful..." Shuichi said
"As it ever was.."
Shuichi wanted to say some as a reply to Kaede's comment...but he wasn't sure about her response.
Kaede, meanwhile, was flustered deep inside.
"Um...Kaede? There's another reason why I wanted to come here..."
"Y-! Yeah...?"
"I'm not that good with words, as you know...So I decided on another way to show my feelings..."
Shuichi walked up to that same desk and picked up the gift
"This is for you, Kaede..."
Kaede let out a joyful gasp as she saw it.
The gift in question was a pair of high-end headphones. While that may not seem like much, it meant a lot to the Ultimate Pianist.
"Oh, Shuichi!!!! I... I always wanted these!!!!! This... means so much!!"
"I know...That's why I bought them for you." Shuichi said while blushing
"Aw... Shuichi!!!! Th... thank you!!!!!" Kaede's heart was burning
"Y... you're welcome... I... well.... It's kind of my way of.... Saying something..."
Shuichi took a deep breath
"Although...Knowing you...You would want me to come out of my shell and say it outright."
Kaede's eyes widened.
"Kaede...I...I love you...I started to love you since we came here, but I've never had the confidence to say it...You gave me that confidence..."
"...Shuichi.... I always wanted to say the same, but I felt that same way through and through... I'm... I'm glad to be the one to give you confidence!!!"
Shuichi's eyes widened back.
Kaede then hugged him tightly
Initially, Shuichi was too stunned to even think... then after the hug settled in for 2 seconds... he embraced her right back.
She smiled as his heart figuratively melted. He also felt something Kaede did
She took off his hat.
What was shown as plain as day was, over the refined mass of black hair, a lone standing ahoge.
And with his ahoge out, hers happened to touch his.
"...we belong together..."
"We really do..."
They stopped embracing and continued to blush. Shuichi noticed the clock in the room.
"Oh?...school's almost over."
"Whoops!!!!"
"I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Absolutely!!!!"
"Oh...Before I go...I want to give you something in return."
With that, Shuichi kissed Kaede on the lips before walking out the room with a smile.
"...she loves me.... And I love her..."
"I'll see you later...baby~" Kaede said as he closed the door
Shuichi then opened the door, awaiting her
"...Actually...Can we walk home, Kaede?"
With that, Kaede immediately got up
"Absolutely!!!!~"
THE END
CHAPTER 1: END
