⚠️TRIGGER WARNING! Contains abuse, alcohol and drug references.⚠️
*At Shuichi's house*
"Wow Shumai~! Your attendance is gonna be bad! You haven't had a full day at school for a while, huh~?"
"Oh Atua, you're right..! Well.. there's not much I can do now.. to be honest, it's been worth it..!"
"R-really..?" Kokichi looked up at the taller boy with hope-filled eyes and a smile.
"Yeah..!"
Kokichi fiddled with his hair and blushed, smiling; Shuichi blushed too.
"Sooo.. whaddya wanna do~?"
"Well, I was thinking we could head over to yours to grab some of your stuff considering you wanna stay here for a while.. Only if you're okay with it, of course..!" The emo suggested.
"Oh.." Kokichi looked at the floor for a second.
"O-okay.. just.. wait outside. If anything happens, run inside and get me, okay..?" Kokichi fake smiled out of anxiety.
"Okay..?" Shuichi was confused, but agreed.
The boys headed over to his house, but Kokichi stayed close to Shuichi the entire time, and wasn't his usual obnoxious self.
"We don't have to go if you don't want to.." Shuichi put a hand on his head in an attempt to comfort him.
"No.. it's okay.. besides, I have you with me~!" He fake smiled again.
They arrived at what seemed to be a dirty, cracked house. It smelled strongly of smoke and alcohol.
"You live here..?"
"I wouldn't say live.. but yeah this is my house.. Just don't come in unless anyone approaches the house or I shout you. Then run straight to me. Got it?" The leader sounded serious.
"Uh.. yeah. Got it." Shuichi felt a little fear.
Kokichi checked outside before running into the house.
"Huh.. what exactly is going on here..?" His ultimate detective self got the better of him as he questioned the situation.
He couldn't stop worrying about Kokichi, but remembering how he reacted to Rantaro gave him a little reassurance. Soon, a tall, scruffy, drunk man started walking towards the house.
"Unless someone approaches the house....run straight to me."
Shuichi ran inside and tried to find Kokichi. There were no lights and the house was filled with used drugs and empty alcohol bottles.
"Kokich-!" Shuichi tried to shout; before he could finish Kokichi was alert and had a hand over his mouth.
"Shh.." The leader had his eyes fixed on the tall man.
"That's my dad. Go hide. Now." He sounded serious.
Shuichi obeyed him, and hid underneath a table. The man fell into the house.
"H-hey d-dad..! W-w-welcome h-home~!" Kokichi stuttered.
"Get me a bottle of Vodka. NOW! Make yourself useful for once, you rat." His dad yelled.
"Y-yeah.. o-okay.." The boy grabbed a bottle out of a half-broken cupboard.
"I've had a stressful day. Be a good boy and turn around." His dad took a belt and lifted Kokichi's shirt.
"Let daddy get his anger out." He hit Kokichi on the back, hard.
The boy winced. His dad finished the bottle, and held it up to hit his son.
"NO!" Shuichi ran from under the table to in front of Kokichi, and held the bottle.
"Shuichi you idiot!" The boy looked at the detective in fear and worry.
"Who the fuck are you?!" The tall man yelled.
"Shuichi Saihara. Ultimate Detective, Ultimate student of Hope's Peak Academy." He stated, proudly showing his school ID.
"And I think you should know that what you're doing is considered child abuse, which is illegal."
"Like I care!"
"SHUT UP DAD! In fact, I'm never calling you that again. I might live in your house, but I refuse to call myself your son."
"You can't do that. Come here, give your daddy a kiss."
"No. I'm going, and don't expect me to be back for a while." He snapped, grabbing a checkered backpack filled with his stuff.
He held Shuichi's hand and walked out of the house, leaving his father speechless.
"Thankyou Shumai.. you saved my life~!" The boy smiled at him.
"I saved your life..? Koki, you saved my life..!"
"Heh.. nah~! I just finally answered back. Promise you won't tell anyone about any of this.."
"Of course not."
The boys held hands as they walked, they stayed in silence until they arrived at Shuichi's house.
"You can do organise your stuff, I'll start making some noodles..!"
"Okay~!"
Kokichi ran upstairs to Shuichi's bedroom. He moved all of the detective's clothes to one half, and put his in the other half. He threw more blankets onto his bed and hung some worms-on-strings above it. He put his little rock pet on one of Shuichi's shelves.
He walked back downstairs to find the taller boy sat on the sofa with a bowl of noodles, and another on the table for the shorter boy. He picked up the bowl and sat beside his crush.
"So.. what do you wanna watch..?"
"Hmm.. you can pick this time~!"
"If you say so.. um.. what about Ultimate high school host club..?"
"Oooh~! That sound good~!" The leader kicked his legs a little.
Kokichi giggled through the whole thing.
Heh.. cute..
Shuichi thought. He smiled at the happy boy and blushed.
"Hey Shumai~! He's just like you~!" The boy pointed at a guy who was protecting the protagonist from another man.
Shuichi didn't know whether that was a compliment or an insult, but he smiled anyway.
"Yeah.. I guess he is a bit.. and he's just like you..!" He pointed to a mischievous but flirty boy.
Kokichi giggled. He started to yawn as he leaned on Shuichi's arm and wrapped his arms around him. Shuichi rested his head on the smaller boys head.
"You tired..?"
"Kinda~" Kokichi yawned.
"Do you wanna go to bed..? I'll carry you.."
"Yeah.. okay.."
Shuichi picked the little boy up like a child. Kokichi's arms wrapped around the taller boys neck, with his head hanging over his shoulder, facing backwards. Shuichi carefully placed him on his matress-bed and tucked him in, and gave him his little plushie.
"Goodnight, Koki.. sweet dreams.."
Shuichi snuggled into his own bed.
"Goodnight, Shumai.."
And with that, the boys fell asleep.