𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 | 𝕠𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕒𝕚 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕤𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕒𝕦

Chapter 7

...

"Kaede?"

"Oh, hey! What's up?"

"Is there any way I can move in with you for the time being?~ I just adore you so much that I want to be with you for a while!"

"That's fine! I'll just have to tell my parents somebody is staying with us for a while. Um, you just need a room, right?"

"Yeah! Don't worry about walking with me to school or dropping me off or whatever. I'll go by myself."

"Sounds great! So I'll see you...?"

"Within the hour! Bye, my dearest Kaede!"

...

Shuichi waited in his usual spot for the supreme leader. He thought maybe Kokichi had calmed down and would give him time to explain, but the boy never showed.

Shuichi sighed and pulled his hat down to cover his eyes a little better, then walking across the street to at least walk with Kaede.

"Kaede~ you're the best! Thank you SOOO much for letting me stay with you!"

...Huh? That was Kokichi's voice, wasn't it? Shuichi walked a little bit to be able to hear the conversation a little better.

"Anytime, Kokichi! Uh, by the way... Do you mind explaining what happened with Shuichi? You sounded like you hated him when you called me, and from what Shuichi had explained to me about your lash out..." That was definitely Kaede. But what were Kokichi and Kaede doing there?

"Because I do hate him! I hate him so much, I never ever want to see his face ever again!" Kokichi yelled, though Shuichi couldn't hear the lie in his voice. He took a deep breath to prevent any tears from falling, and decided to go to class since he didn't want to be caught eavesdropping again.

—

"Tell me the truth, Kokichi. I know you don't hate Shuichi that much." Kaede told him calmly. Kokichi sighed, then glanced around.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone, okaaayyy? If you do tell anyone, I'll hire my personal assassin to kill you!" He giggled. Kaede just sighed and agreed.

Kokichi took a deep breath. "You see... I kind of l-li—"

"Kokichi! What the hell are you doin' to Kaede? You better stop bothering her if you know what's good for ya!" The booming voice of Kaito Momota yelled from a little ways off. Kokichi scoffed, then started giggling. "What are you gonna do about it?" He cling onto Kaede's arm. "I'll bother her as much as I want!"

Kaede just sort of stood there. "Kaito, please, he's not doing anything to me—" Kaito started running, preparing a fist to (what Kaede assumed) punch Kokichi. The small boy's smile faded, and he took off running. Kaede sighed, crossing her arms. "We can't have anything nice with those two, can we?"

She continued to walk to school, eventually seeing two girls by the name of Ibuki Mioda and Sayaka Maizono across the street. Kaede smiled, running up to them. "Hey, ladies! What are my two favorite music buddies doing here?"

Ibuki smiled and waved at her. "We're just vibing! Wanna hang with us?" She asked. Kaede didn't bother asking what 'vibing' meant and nodded, walking with them to school.

"Oh, yeah! Kaede! Are you doing anything this Friday?" Sayaka asked, rummaging through her Lulu Lemon bag. "Uh, I don't think so, why? Is there something you want to do?"

Sayaka nodded and pulled out an envelope from her bag. "Come to my Halloween party! I invited everyone in our grade via email, but Music Club members get a special paper version! It includes a ticket to my next concert, hehe!" She giggled and handed it to Kaede. "Feel free to invite a plus one, or three! There's a good chance I missed somebody, anyway. The location and times are in there! I just thought a grade get-together for Halloween would be fun~"

"It's gonna have live entertainment, too!" Ibuki piped up. "Me and Leon are gonna sing a duet once the clock strikes midnight! It's one of my own rock songs, called 'Grandma's Eating Her Grandkid's Birthday Cake Again'! It's gonna be a hit!" She shouted, laughing. Kaede giggled. "Alright! I'll be sure to be there. Korekiyo asked me and Mahiru to help him with something on Halloween so I might be a bit late," The blonde explained.

Sayaka nodded. "Just as long as you're there! I'm gonna go hang out with my other friends, but it was nice walking with you and Ibuki! We'll all have to perform together sometime." She winked, then walked away. "Ibuki's gonna do the same! Bye bye, Kaede!" Ibuki waved, running a little to catch up with Sayaka. Kaede waved to the both of them and made her way to her little group.

"Hey gu—" Kaede started, then stopped when she saw the scene going on in front of her.

Miu was holding back Kaito as Maki choked Kokichi. Oh no...

"Ka-Kaede! I...I could u— GAH!— use a little help right now..." Kokichi choked out, clawing at Maki's hand. "Don't ask for Kaede's help, you knew what you were getting yourself into." Maki growled, tightening her grip.

"Maki, stop! Can't you see his face turning purple? You're gonna kill him!" Kaede cried, running over to help Kokichi. Maki was surprisingly strong for a Child Caregiver.

"Don't fuckin' help him, Kaede! You don't even know what he did!" Miu yelled, still trying to hold back Kaito. "For fucks sake, stop fucking moving around! Shuichi, get your ass over here and help me!"

Kaede looked in the direction Miu was yelling only to see a teary-eyed Shuichi. "Maki...please let him go..." he asked weakly. "After he made you cry?" She didn't even turn her head. "yes..."

Kaede saw Kokichi just about pass out as Maki dropped him. He was gasping for air on his knees, a fearful look in his eyes. "Kokichi, are you ok?" Kaede asked, quickly helping him up. He nodded, smiling at her... though it seemed forced. "P-Perfectly fine! I've experienced worse~"

Kaede clenched her first and looked at the others. "What the hell was that for!? Maki, you could have killed him! I though you worked with children!"

Kaito scoffed. "That little shit made Shuichi cry! Anyone who messes with any of us deserves it!" Kaede shook her head. "Kaito, I thought you were better than that! You guys probably don't even know the whole story, do you!?"

Miu bit her lip. "B-But... it's what Maki told us to do..." Maki glared at her. "I saw Shuichi walking alone and crying and I assumed it was his fault. Shuichi doesn't have interactions with anyone else. Besides, Kaito was already chasing him, all I had to do was catch him." She crosses her arms.

Kokichi giggled in the background. "Well of course the Ultimate Assassin's first thought would be to kill me!" Kokichi smiler, putting his arms behind his head. "But... that came out of no where... you guys didn't even ask what happened to Shuichi...WAHHHHHHHHHH! YOU GUYS ARE SO HORRIBLE! SO MEAN!! TELL THEM, KAEDE!" He grabbed her arm and sobbed into it.

But...by the look on everyone's faces and the directions of their heads, it wasn't Kokichi's sudden crying that stunned everyone.

"Kokichi, did you say... Ultimate Assassin?"

-

WOW sorry if the end seems rushed/doesn't make sense I was trying to get it out 😔 I know it's been October in the fic for like 7 months but I promise the next chapter will have halloween but also through Kaede-vision again bc 😳😳 but!! I was reading the comments all of you guys leave an I? Love? Y'all? So? Freaking? Much???? Thank you all for supporting this weird book!! It really gives me motivation to not just end it right here :3 ily!! Have a good day/night!!
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Edit* I'm so sorry for the inconsistency in chapter releases, I'm gonna try to get on a schedule! Maybe every Sunday, but if not it'll come out the following Tuesday

Word Count: 1336