Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Kaito breathed a sigh of relief as he and Shuichi entered the small American Town of Hope’s Peak. Their multi-hour drive and plane flight were finally coming to a close, and they were nearing their final stop before officially being enrolled in Hope's Peak.

“God, I can’t believe we’re finally here! One step closer to the stars, buddy!” Kaito said, patting Shuichi on the back whilst driving. Shuichi, barely cognizant, responded with a groan.

“O-Oh. Yeah. Sorry, passed out…” Shuichi rubbed the sleep from his eyes and took a sip of water. He peered out the window, looking at the forest scenery passing by, as the speed limit slowed down and the trees thinned out to residential homes.

“I can still barely believe we both got into Hope’s Peak.” Shuichi said. 

Kaito Gave him a chuckle. “I can. You’re a certification away from being a full fledged detective, as far as I’m concerned.”  Shuichi almost self deprecates, but Kaito isn't having that. “I’m not gonna let you say that ‘I’m not a real detective’ shit anymore, you're officially in the criminal sciences course!” 

“That doesn’t mean I’m a detective now, Kaito.” Shuichi grumbled. Kaito was good at stomping his self doubt, so Shuichi knew what was coming. The same words Kaito had used to reassure him time and time again: 

“You’re in THE Hope’s Peak University’s criminal sciences course. Just knowing you’re accepted is enough for a job. You may as well be one!”

Shuichi’s self doubt wanted to keep pressing, but Kaito was right. Hope’s Peak University was an extremely prestigious school, by all accounts. Young high school graduates from all across the world were scouted and invited by the University - getting scouted and going meant was a practically guaranteed success. In order to get in, there were two requirements: you need to be a Highschooler or High School Graduate, and you have to be the very best at what you do. These students were widely referred to as “Ultimates,” due to their proficiency in their respective field.

There were a variety of well known Ultimates across the world, the Ultimate Gymnast, Ultimate Idol, Ultimate Chef (never heard anything nice about this one,) Ultimate Gambler (Didn’t even know that was really a talent to be cultivated,) and so on. Many people from all walks of life came to seal their future. And starting as freshmen this year were Kaito Momota and Shuichi Saihara: the Ultimate Astronaut and Ultimate Detective.

Shuichi was chosen as this year's Ultimate Detective, not only for his shown excellence in criminal sciences, but also for solving a long dead cold case in about half a week - a case that the police had gotten nowhere within the span of about 30 years. Despite the praise he got, Shuichi considered this a massive fluke, and thought the same of every subsequent case he received after the spotlight was put on him. He was a genius, but he was still very self conscious.

Self doubts aside, Shuichi was still an excellent detective. He was exceptionally well regarded by his clients, not just for his rates, but for his follow ups after cases. He would always set up a date to contact them later within the month to ensure that they, their loved ones, or whoever he was tasked to find was safe and sound. All previous Ultimate detectives were good with logical thinking and deduction - but Shuichi was also exceptional with people and emotional connections when he had the confidence to show those skills.

Then there was Kaito, a very… let's say ‘unorthodox’ case in the Ultimates Initiative. As the ultimate astronaut, he was an expert on basically all astronomical sciences. Math, physics, chemistry, hell, even some astrology. If it was space, Kaito was on board, could, and would give a lecture on it.

All of that being said, Kaito’s common sense could be a bit… lacking. He was so eager to get into space, that before he had even graduated high school, he requested a friend of his forge his documents so that he could enter Japan’s space program early. Everyone was very impressed with his qualifications, and the fact that he had the skills to back them up - until they did a more in-depth background check, and found that he was in fact not qualified. Despite this extremely irresponsible behavior, they were so enthralled with his performance, that they told him that once he actually was properly qualified, they would gladly accept him. This incident, however, caught the attention of Hope’s Peak, and as such he was scouted. Kaito, of course, immediately accepted.

Most importantly though, Shuichi and Kaito had heart. They were kind and dedicated people, looking to set their futures in stone, as they finally found the campus of Hope's Peak University. Due to its relatively small student body, the campus wasn’t massive. There were only about 20 or so Ultimate Students accepted every year. Usually most of them at once, but some students are ones they had to reach out to fast - a lot of universities were gunning for someone who could be considered an “Ultimate.” Shuichi had many offers before Hope’s Peak reached out, but he accepted the one from Hope's Peak particularly because he knew Kaito would also be attending, and therefore, rooming with him. Who wouldn't take the opportunity to roommate with your best friend at your dream school?

Kaito didn’t receive nearly as many offers, due to him forging his qualifications. Go figure.

The two of them peered around campus, placed in the center of a relatively small city in the northwest United states, bustling with activity. “Wow, this place is a lot more active than I thought it would be.” Shuichi said aloud.

Kaito was still keeping an eye on the road, glancing at his phone for directions - thankfully they had a signal here, no more paper maps. “Well don’t forget the reserve courses too. It’s not entirely Ultimates here.” Kaito commented.

The whole 'Only one way to get in' was a bit of a lie. Because of the fact that scouting people, paying for their housing, and their education is, well, extremely expensive, later into the University’s lifetime they introduced the ‘reserve course.’ Basically, as opposed to Ultimates, Hope's Peak also scouted highly scoring and extremely intelligent students as well in order to keep the student body above 32 people at a time and to generate more income. Nodding along at Kaito's explanation, Shuichi thought through his schedule, planning a route around the campus he was just introduced to. He kept scanning his surroundings until he thought he saw something weird. Not like, supernatural but shocking - a girl with blonde hair, a pink sweater and-

Before he could pick up any more than that, he lost her face in the crowd. He turned to look behind him, in hopes of catching them again.

“You good there, buddy?” Kaito asked Shuichi, who looked like he had seen a ghost at this point.

“...it’s nothing.” he seated himself back down and pulled his hat down over his eyes, as Kaito pulled up to the dorms they were staying at.

As Kaito and Shuichi brought their final suitcases up, Shuichi collapsed face first onto the bed he picked (their room was on the 2nd floor.) They were much larger than either of them had anticipated - there was actually a living room and two bedrooms. Still right next to each other, which was nice because Kaito snored like no one’s business, but Shuichi still liked having him close.

“Whew… good job, sidekick…” Kaito said, less winded. Sidekick was a nickname they carried through high school. Shuichi rolled over onto his back to respond.

“I barely did anything, though…” Shuichi groaned. Kaito ruffled his hair.

“Nonsense, you did more than what you would’ve done 2 months ago! Any progression is progression.”

God damn it. Why was Kaito so damn good at being supportive? Shuichi finally sat up. “Well, can’t argue with that.” Shuichi groaned.

 Kiato reached his hand out. “Now c’mon, orientation starts soon. If we’re early, maybe we can make some connections!”

“O-Oh yeah, maybe.” Shuichi said, stumbling to his feet, slipping his hat back on. Over the past few years of high school, Kaito had been trying his damnedest to get Shuichi out of his shell… to little avail. Not only was Shuichi incredibly shy, but with college admissions and detective work, he had lost a lot of time for any socialization. But now that they were right out of exam season, and in a brand new town, Kaito was ready to strike and get Shuichi out there!

“Sorry Shuichi, we ain't leaving until you at least talk to someone!” He couldn’t truly call himself the ‘Luminary of the Stars’ if he wasn’t there for his friends, could he? Shuichi let out a playful groan. He knew Kaito would hold him to that. And maybe it would even work out, too.

 So, leaving their suitcases unpacked in the living room for now, they stepped outside their door - the cool breeze going across their skin again, looking outwards onto the campus over the hall’s railing. The trees gently sway in the wind as the afternoon sun starts to fade into evening.

Shuichi felt something. Almost undetectable. Like his brain was trying to convince him it was nothing, like there was something just out of focus he was trying to see. Like a doorway with wallpaper pasted over it. “Do… do you feel that, Kaito?” Shuichi asked, begging that he wasn’t crazy.

Kaito gave him a strong grin. “Hell yeah buddy. The start of our next chapter!” he strolled down the hall and towards the stairs, his jacket flapping in the wind.

…he might be crazy.

Shuichi was having a very pleasant walk with Kaito, just a regular conversation, but in English, for practice. He was going on about his usual hyper-fixations: space, space, and more space. Most of it went over Shuichi’s head, but he loved listening nonetheless. He kept seeing Kaito pulling out his map. But, Shuichi, having memorized it as he came in, kept correcting him. Students looked on as Kaito kept bickering at Shuichi to let him check the map, and then would immediately go back to space stuff.

The student body grew more dense as they reached the auditorium where orientation was being held. A Total of about 50 students were there at the moment, all Shuichi assumed to be new attendees. Many people of various shapes and sizes, a variety to be expected from an international program. Up on the stage were three people - a taller girl with long braided lavender hair, a man with short blonde hair and glasses, and a shorter man with scruffy brown hair. The three were chatting amongst themselves, waiting for the rest of the freshmen to arrive. After the auditorium was sufficiently filled, the smaller man came up to the microphone.

“Good evening! May I have your attention please, everyone?” he spoke into the mic. Though not everyone may not have been familiar with him, Shuichi was well versed in the campus and its history - he had researched it all the night he was accepted. That was Makoto Naegi, the first Ultimate Lucky Student. After his time at Hope’s Peak, he had decided to work there as a teacher. Over the years, he eventually made his way up the chain to headmaster at the young age of 25. Despite his questionable status as an Ultimate, (seriously, how is luck a talent?) Makoto had well since proved himself as a reliable and dedicated person, who would personally help anyone he could whenever he could while still exceeding expectations as headmaster.

As everyone quieted down, Makoto spoke again. “Hello, students and staff, It is my absolute pleasure to welcome you all to Hope's Peak University. We are honored to find you all here today, whether you be an Ultimate or reserve student, we are dedicated to creating your future with you.” Makoto went on about usual college stuff (he assumed at least, college in Japan and America differed greatly) remaining enthusiastic and captivating through most of the lecture. After about an hour, Makoto concluded. “With that out of the way, are there any questions or concerns about life here at Hope's Peak?” At that, many students rose with a variety of questions. None were of particular interest to Shuichi- except one.

A boy with dark purple hair trotted up from the very end of the line. “Hi there, how can I help you?” Makoto engaged cheerily. 

The boy had a shit eating grin on his face. You didn't need to be an ultimate detective to see that this guy was prepared to be a little shit - and that the two people accompanying Makoto were plenty exhausted from these types.

They boy cleared his throat and tapped on the mic. “Do you have any comments on the excessive reports of supernatural and paranormal activity?”

Silence. For what felt like hours, you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium. Everyone sat with baited breath. Wh… what was happening?

Makoto cleared his throat, “I'm glad you asked, actually. I'd like to turn my wife, Miss Kirigiri over.”

The lavender haired girl stepped towards the microphone. “While those reports have some foundation in reality, and I will not deny that these people have seen these things, I assure you that there is no correlation between Hope's Peak and these sightings. They are simply rumors, and no more than that.” She said this with a near intimidating calm. It relaxed everyone in the room somewhat, but the next question locked up a few more people back up.

“There's an undeniable correlation between the influx of students and reported sightings in the area. That seems preeeeeettty damning…” the boy said, his hands resting on the back of his head, rocking on his heels.

Kirigiri's face didn't move a muscle. “Likely a result of the increasing population. As more students are accepted and as the city grows larger. More people, more reports. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The boy's face lost its hostile smile, and faded into something more inane. “Maaaan. Boring!” He hopped off of the microphone, and trotted off like a small child.

“...the hell was that about?” Kaito asked Shuichi. Shuichi shifted his gaze to Kaito.

Shuichi felt his hand instinctively meet his chin. “For some reason, Hope's Peak in particular is a hotspot of reported supernatural activity. Tons of reports of sightings from students and residents. I don't think there's anything terribly truthful behind it, but it's certainly odd that this area in particular is so... well, strange."  as he finished his mini-infodump, he noticed that Kaito was trembling. “O-Oh, sorry Kaito! I forgot that stuff kinda gets under your skin.” Shuichi said, scratching his cheek- a nervous tick of his.

Kaito lifts a shaky thumbs up. “W-W-W-What do you mean!? I-I-I'm fine!” His cracking voice betrayed his attempt at seeming composed.

“Could you calm your friend down there? He's way too loud, and he’s shaking so fast he might vibrate through the floor.” a dark haired girl in front of them said.

Shuichi gives her a sympathetic smile. “Ah, sorry. He doesn't do super well with occult and supernatural stuff.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Huh. Me neither. But why would he even come here if that’s the case?”

“Well, to put it simply, he’s too stubborn to admit that there’s anything that even remotely scares him. If anything, he got more amped up to come - to conquer his fears.”

She nodded. “Well. Gotta go. Bye.” She picked up her purse and walked towards the exit.

“She seemed nice,” Shuichi commented. “Ready to head out Kai-”

Kaito, contrasting his pervious look of horror, had a smile on his face. “You did it man! You weren’t nervous at all!”

Shuichi raised an eyebrow with an uneasy smile. “Huh? I mean… she just kinda complained to me.”

“Well then, let's keep this momentum going!” Kaito hopped up, walking in the same direction as the girl, her long pigtails trailing behind her.

“W-wait, what? Kaito, we shouldn't bother her!”

“She spoke to us first, remember? C'mon, it's not like she's gonna kill us.”

“...okay.”

They paced towards her, and Kaito called out. “Hey, wait up!” 

She glanced behind her, seeing the boys approaching. “Can I help you?”

She wore a skirt with black leggings and a red sweater, with long pigtails that went down to her thighs. Her eyes felt like daggers on Shuichi, despite her face showing no ill intent.

“Hey, I'm Kaito Momota! This here is Shuichi Saihara, we wanted to properly say hi.”

Shuichi was very, very nervous. He didn't like the idea of bothering people, and he felt like this girl wanted to kill him.

She glanced away towards the ground, thinking. “Okay. I'm Maki, Maki Harukawa.” She gave… some semblance of a smile, and the tension seemingly broke apart.

“Awesome, you're from Japan too? Nice to meet someone from back home. I’m trying to help this guy get out a bit more, school and work had him going crazy. He's the Ultimate Detective so his work requires a lot of time and focus.” Kaito responded.

“K-Kaito!” Shuichi blushed, not as playfully anymore, tucking his hat over his eyes.

“Oh. I think I've heard of you. You solved the… Yatsu Shinda cold case, right?” Maki asked, interest seemingly piqued.

Shuichi shyly avoided eye contact again. “Y-Yeah. That's me. Nice to meet you.”

“I'm the Ultimate Astronaut! They call me the Luminary of the Stars!” Kaito said, waving his hand upwards dramatically. Only he called himself that.

“Oh yeah. You're the kid who forged his papers.” Maki said, expression unchanging.

Kaito nervously rubbed the back of his head with a grin. “That would be me! Gotta get space as fast as possible!”

She nodded. “Well, for the time being, I have class to attend to. Nice to meet you.” She turned, coldly walking away.

“H-Hey, wait, what's your Talent?” Kaito asked.

She didn't respond.

“Damn. She was really closed off.” Kaito thought aloud.

“Maybe she just wasn't interested?” Shuichi suggested.

Kaito shook his head. “Maybe we just gotta help her bring her mask down. Like I did with you. Good talk though, Shuichi!”

“S-Stop, I barely said anything.”

“Oh? Well if you don't think you did good, let's find someone else-”

“K-Kaito-!”

They walked around the auditorium looking to strike up conversation. While there were a few stragglers, not many were up to talk. Shuichi kept trying to tell Kaito that he was fine, but Kaito was determined to get one more conversation going.

“Holy SHIT!” Kaito said, borderline shouting, causing Shuichi to jump.

“What!? What's wron-”

“That's Ryoma Hoshi! THE Ryoma Hoshi!” Kaito said in a hushed voice.

“O-Oh…? I'm sorry, I'm not familiar…”

“He's the Ultimate Tennis Pro! He's the reason I ever picked it up, it's my favorite sport- I've always looked up to him! I'm gonna go say something!” Kaito dragged Shuichi by the waist - he had gotten used to it at this rate.

“Hey! Hey!” Kaito called out to the shorter boy. He peered over his shoulder, seeing Kaito approach. “Hey there. How can I help you?” He responded in an unusually deep voice, twirling his candy cigarette in his hand.

Kaito stuck out his hand. “Hey! I’m Kaito Momota, you’re Ryoma Hoshi, right?”

Ryoma gets an uncomfortable look on his face. “Ryoma Hoshi… no longer exists.” He places a candy cigarette in his mouth. “I’m nothing more than his empty shell.”

Kaito appeared genuinely taken aback. “Uh… well, it’s nice to formally meet you, I’ve been a fan for a while. I’m sorry you’re feeling that way, I used to look up to you a lot.”

Hoshi had a pained expression, tugging down his beanie over his eyes. “Yeah… I think it’d be best if you forgot about me.” He said, walking off.

“H-Hey wait a sec…!” Kaito paced after him, letting go of Shuichi. Shuichi wanted to stop him, but he knew that wasn’t something he was capable of doing right now, so, he took another look around the auditorium as the last of the students trickled out in order to wait out Kaito's little hyper-fixation. As he scans the room, he sees a girl out of the corner of his eye.

Blonde hair. Pink sweater. Purple skirt. Backpack. Leaving the building.

He wasn’t hallucinating. Not earlier, and certainly not now. Before Shuichi could even process the images in his mind, his legs were rushing him towards this person. He would have to explain to Kaito later, right now he had to move. Pushing through people like fighting against the ocean’s waves - just as when he had last seen her. A sea of people, a hint of blonde poking out, he felt like he was drowning. Until finally, he emerged out of the crowd and encountered the blonde - crashing directly into her.

Shuichi looked up from his faceplant. “K-Ka-” but when his eyes met the girl, he didn’t recognize her.

“GYAH, FUCK!” Watch where you’re going you fuckin’ virgin!” she shouted, falling on her butt.

“O-Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Shuichi pleaded, reaching to help her up. As he leaned down, she quickly stood back up - without hands?

“Sorry, dickless, but as much as I’m sure you wanna fuck me, running head first into my tits ain’t the way to do it!” The strawberry blonde girl vulgarly shouted at him, now towering over his head in her pink school uniform, adorned with straps and a choker. He looked down, and saw robotic arms sprouting out of her backpack, lifting her up off the ground.

I-I’m sorry I…” he stumbles, looking away. “I thought you were someone else. Got lost in the crowd.” He inspects her pack more closely. “That’s… an amazing piece of tech though, where did you get that from?”

As though he had flipped a switch in her brain, her unpleasant frown turned into a smirk. “Why, this gorgeous golden brain, of course!” She said, jutting her chest out. “The Ultimate Inventor herself - Miu Iruma, bitch!”

“Oh! I-I’ve heard of you before! Your contributions to the field of investigative tech have revolutionized the way we document evidence!” Shuichi said, starting to get giddy. He hadn’t expected her to be this vulgar. “The facial recognition algorithms you created have saved countless lives, investigating criminals and finding missing persons! And the AI you made for making visual connections between objects helped put lots of evidence under new light!”

“Oh? That’s what they used that shit for?” Miu scoffed, seemingly uninterested in those achievements. “Ahh, that shit’s small time - check this shit out!” She shouted, pulling out what looked like a pair of gloves.

“What’s that one?”

“This shit? When I’m done with it, it’s gonna let you type out essays and all that shit for you - while you’re sleeping!” She grinned wildly, strapping it on, wires tangling everywhere.

“That’s… interesting. How are you going to type something cognizant while you’re… asleep?” Shuichi asked, desperately trying not to set her off.

Miu scoffed, “Dunno! But as soon as I’m done with this bad boy, I’ll have it all figured out! Your wet dreams will become your ultimate smutty fan-fic!”

Shuichi was not particularly enthralled by this upcoming invention. “W-Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person. I’m Shuichi Saihara, they call me- I mean, I am the Ultimate Detective.”

“I see, I see, nice to meet a fellow ‘in-your-sleep’ invention appreciator! Catch ya later, Shyhara!” She shouted, her tentacles carrying her away.

That was an odd chance encounter. Though while his thoughts were still on Miu, they faded back to thoughts of the girl he thought he saw. “Why… why did I even get my hopes up?” He tucked his eyes under his hat again, trying to hide his eyes watering. Even just thinking about her made him tear up.

Kaito came up behind him, patting him on the back. “You good, buddy?”

Shuichi wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “Yeah… just… thinking about her again.”

Kaito gave him a sympathetic hug. “I’m sorry.”

“No… it’s my fault. I was an idiot. I saw a random blonde girl in the crowd and for some reason… I thought it was her.”

Kaito gave him a pat on the back.

“You’re not an idiot… it’s okay. Let’s head back to the dorm.”

Shuichi nodded.

He could swear he heard that melody. That he could hear that voice.

—

…

“..uichi?”

…

…

“...Shuichi!”

Shuichi rose with a grunt, a seashell in his hand. Sometimes it helped him rest. Made him feel like She was there with him in some way. Kaito had his hand on Shuichi’s shoulder.

“Jeeze, you alright man? You haven’t slept in later than me in a while.”

“S-Sorry… long night I guess.” Shuichi yawned, creeping out from under his comforter.

His memory started returning to him. Orientation had just wrapped up yesterday, all that was left for them to do is wait for their afternoon classes. He had gone to bed crying over… well, the usual. “Kaito… thanks for always being here with me.” Shuichi said.

He simply turned and gave Shuichi a thumbs up. “Same to you, bro.”

Shuichi got dressed, slipping on his usual black jeans, and a white t-shirt with his old school's jacket slipped on over it. Stepping out into the living room for their first breakfast of the new semester. Kaito had gone to the store earlier that morning and had whipped up some eggs and bacon. “So, what’s your first class for today?” Kaito asked, striking up conversation, glancing at his phone.

“American lit. They just call it ‘English’ here, which is a bit confusing since there’s another class that’s called ‘English speaking.’ You?” Shuichi continued, scrolling through the classes he has for his semester.

“Ugh. Algebra” Kaito groaned

Shuichi raised an eyebrow, amused. “I thought math was your best subject?”

“Yeah, doesn’t mean I have to like it.” 

As highly esteemed Hope’s Peak was, students still had to take prerequisite classes, as most of them had just graduated high school. Nothing either of them couldn’t handle, plus most of it was paid for. Shuichi scrolled through his phone, passively keeping track of the time. He didn’t engage in social media terribly much, but he did have a few books downloaded on his phone. After some time eating and chatting, it was nearing 11:30, which meant his first class would begin shortly.

He stuffed his phone back in his pocket, and walked off. “I'm headed to my first class. Catch you later Kaito.” He waved.

He waved back. “Good luck Shuichi!”

Shuichi didn't have high expectations for socializing in classes. Sure, there were plenty of new people, but he had assumed that most of them weren't there to talk to a weird scrawny just-out-of-high-schooler.

He was among the first to arrive, so he took a seat at the very front of the class, to hopefully not get distracted by others and keep his mind focused. The Professor, Miss Fukawa, was at her desk, presumably grading papers. She seemed… very nervous. Especially for a teacher. It was comforting in a way, that everyone was a little bit nervous on their first day. More and more students made their way in, Shuichi noted that for once in his life he had a relatively normal hair color. Also a firm reminder that he was very short. The two final students that came in were a (somehow) shorter boy with purple hair wearing what looked like a straitjacket with a checkerboard scarf, and a very tall and muscular boy wearing glasses with an unkempt pony tail going halfway down his back, wearing a dress shirt and dress pants.

The purple boy scanned the room, and then locked eyes with Shuichi. This made him somewhat confused, as the look seemingly said ‘you will do!’ with his grin - his grin reminded him, this was the kid who asked about paranormal activity. Shuichi waved at him in an attempt to break the silence.

Might've been a bad move, as he took this as an invitation to sit right next to him. The taller boy followed.

“Uh… hey, nice to meet you. I'm Shuichi Saihara.” Shuichi thought he would still having a hard time shaking off his nerves, but for some reason this boy felt more… approachable?

He grinned. “I'm Kokichi Oma! I'm the Ultimate Supreme Leader!” He said, giving Shuichi a firm handshake.

“O-Oh, I see. I didn't know that was a talent they were scouting for. How did you get that title?”

He chuckled. “Nehehehee… I'm the leader of a legion of demons plotting to take over the world.” He put his finger to his mouth as if to silence me.

“...excuse me?” Shuichi said, nervously chuckling.

“Oh, that was a lie. I'm actually the Ultimate Paranormal Investigator.”

The tall boy turned his head to him, a confused look on his face. “Kokichi… you told Gonta that you were Ultimate Marine Biologist…?"

“Oh. That was a lie too.” He leaned back in his seat.

The taller boy made a frankly terrifying face. “Kokichi… lying not gentlemanly at all!”

Shuichi decided to interject before this ‘Kokichi’ kid started something. “Uh, hi there! I'm Shuichi Saihara, The Ultimate Detective. Who are you?” He reached out to give the tall man a handshake.

The man's face became friendly again. “Gonta's- erm, My name is Gonta Gokuhara! Gonta is Ultimate Entomologist!” He grabbed Shuichi's hand with a soft grip. “G-My goal is to become true gentleman! S-Sorry, Gonta is new to English!”

Shuichi couldn't help but smile at the earnest man. He looked terrifying, but he was very clearly a sweet person. “Nice to meet you Gonta! A-And don't worry, I still struggle a lot with English. Where are you guys from?"

“We're both from Japan, and judging by your name, I assume you are too?" Kokichi prodded.

“That's correct. Glad to meet some people from home.” Shuichi continued. They chatted through the majority of the rest of the class, mostly Kokichi bothering Shuichi while the professor was talking. She glared at him multiple times. Being their first class, it was fairly short and sweet. Mostly just the syllabus and homework for the next class.

“A-Any q-questions s-s-so far?” The professor stuttered out. Heads shook, and the rest of the class left the room, Shuichi being followed by Kokichi and Gonta.

Shuichi peeked over his shoulder to speak. “It was nice to meet you guys. I'm glad I could start off making some friends already.”

“Gonta is glad too! It nice to meet you too, Shuichi!” 

Kokichi handed Shuichi his phone. “Here, put in your number. Let's get together sometime! Gonta's not good with the phones.”

Shuichi put in his contact. “Nice. You guys off, then?”

“Yeeeaaahhh… got my next class in about 20 minutes.” Kokichi said with a fake sad expression. “Oh, by the way, Shuichi?”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Why are you here?”

He couldn't tell why, but the question made his blood run cold. “Wh-What do you mean? I was scouted as the Ultimate Detective, remember?” 

Kokichi's grin crept further up his face. 

“I mean why are you really here?”

Shuichi couldn't formulate a response. Despite Kokichi's expression he couldn't feel anything from him. No amusement. No anger. Not even boredom.

Just cold nothing.

His grin receded. “Well, if you say so.” He started walking away, Gonta in tow. He peeked over his shoulder and smiled again. “Either way… you're certainly not boring.”

Shuichi nearly collapsed.

“Wh… what the hell…?"

Shuichi didn’t consider himself much of a science student, but he was far from bad at it. He was looking forward to what the contents of the class would be, and what other kinds of people might be taking it. He found out shortly, entering the classroom and seeing a familiar strawberry blonde haired girl with a pair of steampunk goggles strapped on over her head. Her outfit differed from yesterday, going for a low cut pink t-shirt and jorts. She would be a jorts person.

The sound of the door opening caught her attention. She waved her hand down and looked at him. “Hey, if it ain't Shyhara! The fuck is up my man?”

Shuichi chuckled and sat next to her, bullets of sweat forming at her vulgarity. “Nice to see a familiar face.”

“Yeah, right!? Can't deal with all these fuckin’ virgins sitting next to me and hitting on me.” Her smile turns to a squint as she closes in on Shuichi's face. “...you're not here to hit on me, are you?”

“N-Not at all, just socially awkward.” He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

She smiled and folded her arms. “Well good! I have the best boyfriend in the galaxy and he's better than any hu- virgin here.”

“Oh! I'm glad to hear that. I'm single at the moment.” 

“Uhhh, yeah I could guess that one, haah!” Miu snorted.

“Excuse me, but could you please be a bit more quiet?” A chilly voice said from behind.

Sitting behind them, seemingly from out of nowhere, was a taller man, hair flowing down to his back. He wore a mask and a black dress shirt. A lot of people here are weirdly formal.

Shuichi went to apologize. “O-Oh, my a-”

“Who cares, ya weirdo, we're havin' a fuckin’ conversation!” Miu interrupted.

He shook his head. “Well, it mustn't be a very private one if you're speaking that loudly.”

Miu squinted at him, and Shuichi gave her a look. Asking, no, pleading ‘please just lower the volume a bit.’ “Ffffffffffuckin' fine, I'll cool it. Sorry, force of habit.” she crossed her arms like a grumpy toddler.

“Ahh, I see. Well, worry not then. I'll keep that in mind for the future.” He nodded.

There was something really odd about this guy upon further inspection. Shuichi was good at reading people. Really good. But for some reason… he was getting nothing out of this man. No body language, no tricks, he barely even moved when he spoke. It wasn't like that Kokichi kid, where he seemingly willed it, the masked guy was just like that. At any given time. Just a strange silence from him.

“S-So.” Shuichi said with an unintended stutter. “I'm Shuichi Saihara, I'm the Ultimate Detective. Nice to meet you.”

His eyes moved. He seemed to recognize Shuichi. “Ahh, yes… the Ultimate Detective… a very noble and esteemed title. I've heard of your work, and I have to say it's a pleasure to meet you in the flesh.” He placed his hand on his chest - it was wrapped with bandages. “I'm Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Anthropologist. Please, call me Kiyo.”

Miu and Shuichi had turned around to talk to him. He may have been unnerving, but he was a very kind and well spoken person. As class continued with the usual welcomes and such, Shuichi kept looking back to Kiyo. He was eerily still, just as before. At this point, he was under the impression that all of the Ultimates are completely weird and just kinda accepted it.

The professor spoke further about the contents of the course, Miu sighing in what seemed like disappointment and exasperation. “God this shit is gonna be so dull…” 

“Yeah, being an inventor I can imagine that sciences at this level would be boring.” Shuichi added.

She scoffed. “Yeah, no shit Sherlock! And the fuckin textbook, could this shit be any more out of date? I've read this one in my sleep 10 times!”

…why didn't that sit right with Shuichi? He scrolled to the back of the book. ‘Published Nov. 2023.’ I guess she’s an avid reader…?

“I must admit that I too find the sciences a bit droll.” Kiyo said. “But, it is something wonderful about humans, wouldn't you agree?” He moved his hand to his chin. “In the mere blink of their existence, humans will document and study all that they can, not for themselves, but to hand down future generations to come, hoping to leave even a scratch of their presence to be remembered by time, only to still be lost to this vast, dead, universe… beautiful, is it not?” His words crept out of his mouth like fog from dry ice.

Miu and Shuichi's stares went blank.

“How are you so fuckin’ effortlessly creepy!?”

Despite Miu's *ahem* creative language Kiyo still agreed that they should be friends. Something about them being “an interesting bunch later.” Whatever that meant.

The final period of the day before he reconvened with Kaito for the day, this one was algebra. Shuichi was learning firsthand what that vague dread he had for it this morning felt like.

He was also good at math though, so he doubted it would be that big of a pain. Plus, he's two for two on making friends in classes. Maybe this one will be fun as well?

*snip*

“Huh?” Shuichi looked behind himself. No source for the noise, nothing immediately clear at least. That was… odd. “...this strange atmosphere is going to take some getting used to.”

When he entered the classroom, it was… immaculately clean. Not that the other rooms were dirty, it's just that his one was practically spotless - even the ceilings.

In the center he only saw one person, a girl with white hair wearing a maid uniform, sweeping. 

“Uhhh… excuse me?” He asked the girl. “Is there class here today? I'm in 180C, right?”

She nodded. “Indeed. This is room 180C, college algebra with Professor Fujisaki.”

Wow. Shuichi wasn't expecting a response that articulated. “O-Oh, okay. I wasn't sure since you're cleaning up it seems.”

“That is correct. I arrived at the classroom early, so I found it fit to clean up just a bit.”

“Oh… I see.” Shuichi sat down next to where she was sweeping. Yeah... a 'bit.' “So… you're an Ultimate too?”

She chuckled. “Yes, yes I am. I'm Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid. It's a pleasure, let me know if I may help you.” She ended with a short bow.

“Wow… you cleaned this whole place up yourself? That's amazing.”

She shook her head. “Think nothing of it. It is simply the duty of a maid.”

“Well, I wouldn't go that far. That may be a part of your duty, but that's no reason to downplay your own efforts.” Shuichi argued.

“Hmm… I suppose you're right. If it is your request, I can cease that. Would you like me to?” 

“What? Oh! No, I didn't mean it like that, I just think you should give yourself more credit.”

She nods with that consistent level of calm. “I see… I will take this into account in the future, Mr….?”

“Oh, Saihara. Shuichi Saihara. You can just call me Shuichi. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

She bowed again. “Likewise, Shuichi.”

They conversed as the classroom continued filling up. As uptight as she appeared, Kirumi was still a very social and friendly person. Shuichi felt as though he could talk to her for hours on end. As they finished something about true crime novels, a boy with blonde hair with a twinge of green walked in. He looked around the classroom in awe, seemingly.

“...hey, are you okay?” Shuichi asked him

He looked towards the voice and smiled. “Oh, hey there!” He said in a smooth and laid back voice. “Sorry, I've never really been into a real high profile university like this before, I'm soaking it in.”

Kirumi nodded and smiled “I see… who are you then?”

“I'm Rantaro Amami. I'm the Ultimate Adventurer, it's nice to meet you two.”

Shuichi enjoyed the change of pace that came with these two more laid back people. Kirumi had spoken about various different clientele she had worked for, describing when she had served as a bodyguard more than once - strange to think someone her size could be that strong, but he's learned at this point that Hope's Peak would never stop surprising him. Rantaro spoke about his travels - his mission to search for his sisters across the world, and all the places he had seen on the way, just finishing up his recount of seeing the grand canyon on his was to the school.

“Wow, to have seen so many places at your age, you're more well traveled than I… how old are you, Mr. Amami?” Kirumi pondered.

“Well, ahh… how old are you guys?” He asked.

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. “Uh. I'm 19, why?”

He snapped his fingers. “Yes! Me too! I'm privileged to have so much traveling under my belt at my age. Truly has been a blessing.” Every time Shuichi thinks the Ultimates are done being weird, he's reminded of the caliber of person he's dealing with. What a strange way to ask that…

Class ended and they said their goodbyes. Kirumi bowing, and Rantaro doing… something with his hands. Shuichi tried to replicate it, but failed.

As Shuichi stepped out and began walking to his next class he couldn’t stop thinking about weird habits he had observed from these Ultimates. Kokichi's weirdly calming presence, Miu's constant stopping of herself when speaking of her plans for the future, Kiyo's talk of humanity as though he were a distant observer, Rantaro's unfamiliarity with the situation, how Kirumi was even able to clean the ceiling - the piece of... thread(?) he found on the shin of his pants.

Maybe he wasn't crazy. Maybe it was just the rest of the school.

—

Kaito was leaning on the wall next to the doorway, keeping an eye out for Shuichi. It's not like he was late, but he wanted to catch him as he went into the class.

“Kaito?” A head peaked out of the door. Maki was in this class with him too. “Are you coming in, or…?

“Oh! No need to worry about me, Maki. I'm just waiting on Shuichi.” Kaito waved at her.

“...what are you guys, five years old?”

“I just wanna see my sidekick, ask him how he's doing. I made an internal wager that if he didn't try to hold a conversation, I was gonna make him do 150 pushups.”

“Pushups?” Maki asked. “Well whatever.” She shut the door, as the lights in the room flickered off.

Finally, the sound of footsteps were heard again. Shuichi walked down the hall in his usual manner. Power walking in his usual manner. Almost running-”

“Kaito…” Shuichi wheezed “I am so glad to see you holy shit…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy buddy!” He placed a hand gently on his shoulder. “Take a breather. What's wrong?”

Shuichi caught his breath for a moment. “All of the students… everyone here is really weird. I-I got completely lost in the halls thinking about these weird ticks they all had, and then I'm wondering if I'm looking too deeply into things, if anything I'm noticing is even weird, or if it's even happening…!” 

“Hey, hey, easy! Take it easy, buddy.” Kaito took off Shuichi's hat, and tussled his hair. “Don't worry about it, man. These Ultimates are bound to be stranger than the average person. It makes sense you'd pick up on some weird stuff, and you're getting in your own head about whether or not it's okay to even do that.” He slid down the wall, and patted the floor next to him. “Take a seat. Let's get you out of your own head for a sec.”

Shuichi nodded and slid down the wall next to him. He sighed heavily. “I don't know Kaito… maybe I'm just not cut out for this.”

“Nonsense. If you can work your way through a case, you can work your way through a social situation. Hell, a case seems like it would be harder, to me at least.”

“Well, a case deals in facts, clues, evidence, leads… when I meet a new person it’s as though I’m starting a completely new investigation. I feel like I know nothing, and I’m one step away from screwing up and never finding the truth… whatever that would be in this analogy.”

“Well, the only way to find that evidence is to start looking. And I know that’s your strong suit. I know that you’re capable of this, Shuichi.”

Shuichi pulled his cap back on. “...thank you Kaito.” He looked back up at him with a smile. “I… I was a bit overwhelmed.”

Kaito stood up. “Ready to head in?”

Shuichi nodded, and entered a darkened classroom with a video playing on the screen. I guess even here, lazy teachers are inescapable. 13 other people present, with a few silhouettes he recognized. Kokichi and Gonta waved, Miu shot him a middle finger. Kiyo was still eerily still.

He and Kaito sat next to Maki. “Oh, hi again Maki.”

She nodded.

Kaito let out a giddy chuckle, “Oh hey, Shuichi, guess what? Me and Maki had the exact same schedule as each other today! Can you believe that?” Kaito said, gently elbowing him.

Shuichi blinked in surprise. "W...Wow, really? That's a weird coincidence."

"I know right!?" Kaito continued, looking at Maki. "It must be DESTINY, Maki-roll!"

Maki scowled at Kaito, her eyes almost glowing. "Do you wanna die?" Her voice cut through the silence like a dagger, and he felt his skin run cold again.

As if catching herself, Maki shook her head. "Sorry. Bad Habit."

“I mean…” Shuichi shrugged, “if you're offering.”

Kaito, Maki, and Shuichi all chattered quietly during the video. Something about Hope's Peak that nobody really cared terribly about. Maki said ‘do you wanna die’ at least five more times. Always in response to Kaito… being Kaito. His ability to work down the masks that people hide themselves under is interesting. Maybe that's his strange quirk.

By the time the video finished, the professor came up to the front of the class. He was a fairly average looking person, with pale white hair, black dress pants with a standard button up shirt, and, most unusually, a pair of glasses with red lenses. “Well now, I hope everyone has had a pleasant first day at Hope's Peak. I'm Professor Dover, the English language teacher - I'm aware this class may be smaller than you're used to, but I trust you'll enjoy the more welcoming atmosphere with other Japanese speakers.”

Now that he mentioned it, all of the people he had spoken to had known Japanese. Guess that's what made them easier to talk to?

“I'll start with the syllabus for now, any questions this far?” He asked the class.

Ryoma raised his hand - he was in this class too. “Yeah, uh, what was the purpose of showing us the video?”

The professor snapped his fingers and pointed. “Good question, Ryoma! If you want the truth, I was being lazy, but if Mr. Naegi asks, it was a way to ease you into the class.”

…no one was really sure how to respond to that.

After properly explaining the Syllabus and the course's contents, he dismissed the class. “It’s lovely to meet all of you, and I look forward to seeing you this semester. But for now, thanks for bearing with me!” He returned to his desk and slouched lazily in his chair. As Shuichi stood up, he spun around and saw something that made his stomach flip.

Blonde hair… pink sweater… purple dress… music note hair clips… striking purple eyes. It was unmistakable. It wasn't some sort of hallucination, it wasn't Miu again, it could have been no one else but her. And she was staring right at him now.

“...Kaede?”

Kaede froze, her eyes widening suddenly with shock. Before another word could leave his mouth, she took off running.

“W-wait!” Shuichi shouted, now running after her, dropping his bag, and leaving Kaito very confused. He didn't know what was happening, how this was possible, why he couldn't stop running, but he didn't care either. Whoever, or, whatever this was, he needed to speak to her desperately. She was much faster than him, but he wasn't going to let his nights of training with Kaito go to waste. He had to catch up, he had to reach her this time - he jumped down a flight of stairs, ran what felt like a marathon down the hallways, crashing through doors, until finally they making it to the exit of the building.

Kaede was winded - it had to be now.

“K-Kaede!” He heaved, his breath long since left him. “I-Is that you!? Please tell me it's you!”

She turned around and looked at him, tears in her eyes

“I'm sorry.”

…

…

…

…

“-what's wrong buddy!? Shuichi!?” A familiar voice faded in and out of Shuichi's perception. In what felt like a fraction of a second and an hour at the same time - the girl in front of him was gone. He was being shaken by someone.

“I'll… all… bulance… 

Voices faded in and out as the strange void in his mind slowly released him. A voice in his head whispered.

“You may move.” 

And he snapped out of his trance, gasping for air. “-KAEDE…!” he shouted, completing a thought he had minutes ago.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down Shuichi! Calm down… I'm here. I'm here.” Kaito was kneeling on the ground with Shuichi. He hadn't even noticed he had fallen. “It's okay buddy, it's me. I'm here…”

Shuichi felt tears beginning to form. “It was her.”

Kaito withdrew from Shuichi's shoulder. “N-No, Shuichi… it wasn't-"

“IT WAS HER!” Shuichi shouted. He let out a pained sob, burying his hands in his face. “I lost her again…”

Later in the evening, an inconsolable Shuichi returned to Mr. Dover's class. Kaito and Maki close behind, trying to talk him down from whatever panic attack he had been suffering.

Kaito pleaded with him, grabbing his shoulder more firmly. “Shuichi, you need to calm down! It wasn't Kaede, you know why it can't be-” 

Shuichi slapped his hand off without even looking. “I know what I saw.”

They reached the classroom, Shuichi stormed in. “Don't follow me.”

Kaito and Maki stood in a painful silence. Shuichi hurt Kaito. But he couldn't bring himself to blame him. He wasn't okay. Despite how long it had been since he knew Kaede, he just… wasn't over it.

Maki wanted to help, but she didn't even know where to begin. She should just walk away. It's not really her business, and she knows she shouldn't be getting attached. But… something in her felt a sort of camaraderie with Shuichi. A loved one, stolen away by... this bullshit. Despite her better judgment, she decided she was going to help these two idiots. “...alright, I'll bite. Who's this ‘Kaede’ he thought he saw?” Maki asked Kaito.

Kaito's face held a pained expression.

“Shuichi's best friend.”

—

It had been 3 years since Shuichi had met Kaede.

In their freshman year of high school, they had the same homeroom class, and they instantly hit it off. Shuichi was shy, but it was complemented by Kaede’s outgoing nature and encouragement. She did the talking, and he tagged along. He was still quiet, but she helped Shuichi make his way into different social circles much more easily than he would have. He would even stop wearing his hat around her sometimes. His introversion perfectly fit with Kaede's extroversion, leaving them practically inseparable. 

They had boundless respect and appreciation for one another.

Shuichi found Kaede's ability to inspire and encourage others to be amazing - well beyond what he thought he was capable of. When she spoke, she lit up a room and captivated everyone's attention, always doing everything she could to lift up those around her. And her ability to play the piano was simply mesmerizing. Kaede’s love for the piano wasn’t without its insecurities - but Shuichi made those disappear. When he would listen to her play, or talk about her favorite songs, compositions, whatever it was, she didn’t feel like Kaede Akamatsu the “piano freak.” She was Kaede Akamatsu, Shuichi’s best friend. Her singing voice as well was enchanting. While her strongest suit was the piano, she was without a doubt an incredible singer. She could've been an Ultimate in it if she wanted to, but her heart always lied in the piano.

Kaede found Shuichi's ability to deduce and think outside of normal reasoning fascinating. She was among the first to recognize his intelligence, the first to push him to be better, to help him start to love himself, and to push him to always seek the truth. Kaede was no slouch either in her own smarts, which is why she used to accompany him on older cases he had tackled. She made him feel strong, she made him feel reliable. She found his introversion charming, and that underneath the shyness was an incredibly kind and loving person.

They were each other's best friend.

But one day, Kaede didn’t show up to class. This was unusual to Shuichi, as she was rarely ever absent and actively enjoyed school. When Shuichi returned home, he found that there was no sign of Kaede at her house either as he passed by - not even her parents. He went to all of their favorite spots in their hometown, talked to all of her and his friends, but there was no trace of her, until he visited the last spot he could think of- her favorite spot. There was a dock on a nearby beach that she always loved to visit when she was upset. Whenever she felt alone, Shuichi would find Kaede there.

Every day he curses himself for not checking there first.

As he reached the beach, he saw her figure standing on the edge of the dock in a silky white dress. She simply stared out into the ocean. Shuichi ran at full speed to the end of the dock. There was a level of urgency that he couldn’t shake. Whatever it was she was dealing with, he could help her… they could get through this together… right?

“K-Kaede!” He shouted, sprinting down the dock.

She was startled by his cry, not expecting any company. “Shuichi!?”

He stopped in front of her, panting heavily. “Wh-where have you been…? You weren’t in class… I couldn’t find you anywhere… what’s wrong?”

Kaede was crying. “I… I’m sorry Shuichi.” There was a sudden jerking motion.

She was pulled into the water.

Before he even realized his legs were moving, he was sprinting after her, diving head first into the freezing water, reaching for her, ignoring any fear, any hesitation.

And his inability to swim.

He struggled, sinking like a rock chasing after Kaede, blindly swinging his limbs to pull himself outwards towards the ocean, down towards the floor. He grew dizzy, his body begging for air, shouting at him to breathe. But it was far too late for that. He had completely lost his sense of space, up and down were indistinguishable to him, like he had dove into the void.

Until his consciousness failed him.

He woke up on a nearby beach, coughing and spewing up water. A lot had entered his lungs. He was lucky he didn’t suffer any lasting side effects. He snapped his body up as soon as his eyes opened, trading the water in his lungs for fresh sea air. As his breath steadied, he looked around. Nothing but the empty beach and waves on the water. And a seashell in his hand. Kaede was gone. She had drowned. And it was his fault. He returned home, soaking wet, sobbing.

He wished he had drowned with her.

For the rest of his school year he was lost. Everything reminded him of her. His social life collapsed, his grades plummeted. His parents eventually became so concerned for his wellbeing that they found it necessary to send him to live with his uncle where he attended a new school. They had hoped, the new environment would be a good break away from everything that reminded him of Kaede. But even then, he still felt broken. His best friend… he failed her. How was he meant to function without her…? He barely even felt like it was possible. Transferring to a new school didn’t help either, he didn’t know anyone. So, alone he remained. He felt like a completely blank slate.

Like nothing.

“Hey!” 

A voice rang out from his right. Shuichi had seated himself next to the window, where assumed he would be the most secluded - apparently not, as this boy with purple-ish hair came up and sat next to him.

“My name’s Kaito, who’re you?” He said, grinning from ear to ear.

Shuichi ignored him. And ignored him. And Ignored him.

Despite his insistence on not communicating, Kaito didn’t stop.

Slowly, Kaito chipped away at Shuichi’s wall - or “mask” as he liked to put it. He would endlessly talk about his plans, what he loved about space, what he was doing, basically anything he could run his mouth about, even if Shuichi wasn't listening.

Kaito’s dedication to making Shuichi his friend eventually wore him down. “...anyways, that’s the, uh, hypothetical space station of my dreams.” Kaito finished info-dumping. The school bell rang, indicating it was time to go home. “...well, I hope you enjoyed listening! I’ll catch you later Shuichi!”

“...bye.”

Kaito snapped back, seeing Shuichi, who was finally looking at him.

He smiled. “...see you later.”

Obviously, Kaito wasn’t a magical fix - Shuichi still had much to work through.

But he didn’t have to do it alone now.

Mr. Dover had been wrapping up his work in his class, finally ready to go. Such a lovely group of kids this year! He was looking forward to the upcoming semester.

The door swung open. “Don't follow me.” Shuichi, one of his students said. He looked furious. He walked up to his desk, and stared him straight in the eye.

“Show me this class’ roster.” Shuichi demanded. 

“Is… is something the matter Shui-”

Shuichi clenched his fist and slammed it on the desk. “Was there a Kaede Akamatsu in this class, yes or no!?”

Uh oh. Of course, of all of the kids to peek through, the one smartest kid had to see the legally dead girl. He knew trying to gaslight him was unwise right now; he appeared to be emotionally unstable.

“...okay. I'll give you the truth. I'll need a few minutes to call Mr. Naegi, but you will get answers.”

Shuichi's eyes narrowed. “...make it quick.”

Mr. Dover reached for his personal phone, and dialed a number in. “Hello, Mr. Naegi? Yes, it's Primrose… I'd love to catch up, but this might be a bad time…. I'm afraid it's bad - broken masquerade.” He spoke silently into his phone.

‘Broken Masquerade?’ What the hell is going on…?

Dover hung up the phone. “Okay… come with me.”

Shuichi, Kaito, and Maki followed Mr. Dover through the dimly lit campus, the sky transitioning from its vast orange, to its endless darkness, speckled with stars. Kaito would comment about how well you can see them, but… this wasn't the best time.

“...I can't believe I got dragged into this.” Maki groaned quietly.

Kaito whispered back, “Hey, sidekicks help sidekicks! We're gonna get him through this.”

“And since when am I your sidekick?” Maki frowned.

“Since I decided just now.”

“Do you wanna die?”

Shuichi had tuned it all out. Something was off. He had felt it from the beginning. Kaede was the final push he needed to look for answers. They reached Makoto's office, and Mr. Dover stepped aside. “Mr. Naegi is ready when you are. I hope this gives you the answers you're looking for.”

“Kaito, Maki,” Shuichi turned towards the two. “I'm asking you to come with me. I won't make you, but-”

Kaito gave him a smile. “All ya had to do was ask, buddy.”

Maki rolled her eyes. “It's not a big deal. I basically already know anyway.”

“Okay, that's perfectly fine.” Dover said, shrugging. “Your college life is about to get much easier… or much more confusing. Probably both!”

Shuichi opened the door, met with a gently smiling Makoto Naegi. “Good evening, pleasure to meet you all in person, Shuichi, Kaito, Maki. Now…” he swiveled in his chair and grabbed a folder, placing it in the center of his desk. “Let's get down to business.”

Shuichi nodded, grabbing the folder. He slowly cracked it open, and observed the contents. On the top of the page was a title that read ‘Ultimate Masquerade.’ Makoto began, “It's far from a secret that Hope's Peak is a strange place, especially this University in particular. Today the discussion of the abnormal and supernatural occurrences that take place here leads us to our program known as the 'Ultimate Masquerade.'”

Shuichi's eyes kept getting wider as he read through its contents. “Is this…?”

“A joke?” Makoto chuckled, “I'm sorry, I get that question a lot.” he nervously fidgeted.

Shuichi covered his mouth, as he did whenever he found himself deep in thought. “...I can imagine so.”

Kaito peeked over the folder. “What's it say?”

Shuichi closed the folder slightly. “...y-you're gonna wanna be prepared for this one, Kaito.” Shuichi stuttered, only half joking.

Makoto continued his explanation, “Hope's Peak as a town and as a university have always existed to create a healthy and welcoming place to live for all. So, these precautions have been put in place to create a safe haven for even the most… let's say unusual students.” He gestured his hand vaguely in the air as he explained further. “To coin a phrase, ‘all legends have a basis in reality.’ After my first year here, I've found that it goes both ways. Even before Hope's Peak University, this town was founded as a sort of safe haven for the unusual.” Makoto said, bringing out a decrepit looking book, titled simply 'Hope's Peak.' “Werewolves, demons, aliens, cryptids, sea monsters, anything you can think of…”

Kaito's face went white as a sheet. “...they're all-!?”

“Real.” Maki opened her mouth, hooking her finger on the side of her cheek widen her mouth's gape, revealing her unnaturally long canines.

If Kaito wasn't frozen stiff, he would've screamed.

Makoto struggled not to giggle at Kaito’s frankly adverse reaction. “...a-anyways, as you may have inferred, a large majority of the student body are inhuman to a certain degree. ‘Meta-human’ is the exact terminology that we use. We've found that when selecting Ultimate students, quite a few of them fell into that category.”

“So… Kaede is one as well?” Shuichi asks.

Makoto nods. “Yes, Miss Akamatsu is a meta-human within our student body.”

Shuichi feels a wave of relief flow across his body. She's… alive.

“I'm aware of you two's history, so I'm sure this is quite a relief to hear. I'm glad we could break this to you.” He continued.

Shuichi placed a hand on his chin again. “One thing I don't get is how you'd expect people not to notice these things. Why even bring regular humans in the first place?”

Makoto smiled at Shuichi's inquisitive nature. “Good question. That was a problem we ran into as well. While scouting Ultimates is a good way to find meta-humans, it's not perfectly reliable. A lot of Ultimates are Meta-humans, but there are also those who are just exceptional humans. We're adamant that both should be welcome here, which is why the Masquerade exists. ‘Masquerade’ isn't just a codename, it's also a spell of sorts. Normally, it will silence… let’s call them ‘anomalies’ and visually conceal Metas to those under its effect, altering the memory to make it appear mundane or as though it didn’t happen. Any Metas go unaffected as per the spell's parameters, so nothing of the sort happens to them. There are two outliers that emerge from this system, however: Those who have meta-human biology without knowing, and those with extremely fine levels of perception.”

“But… why wouldn’t Kaede say something…?” Shuichi asked in disbelief.

“For the sake of maintaining the Masquerade, our Meta-Human students have been advised to not reveal it to those who are under the effect of it, which they’re able to see visibly. In the case of Miss Akamatsu, to people under the Masquerade's effect, she would be effectively unperceivable, because of her status of being legally dead. Which became a major problem due to the fact that you had actually noticed her, and the fact that you have such a strong connection with her.”

Shuichi sighed. “So… what now then?”

Makoto gave him a peace sign. “You have two options.” Lowering his middle finger, he explained. “One: you can forget all of this, and we can use a more specialized version of the Masquerade spell so you’ll never see any of these things again.” His hand formed a peace sign again, “Two: I can remove any and all effects of the Masquerade and you can proceed with your college life in whatever way you please.”

Shuichi ruminated. “...Why would anyone pick option one?”

Makoto laughed. “Honestly, you’d be surprised how often people choose to forget. Regardless of how mundane most of our students are - relative to their Meta status - some people choose to forget.”

Shuichi shrugged, “I guess I can understand that. But I’m not going to turn my eyes away from the truth. Ka- someone…" Shuichi caught himself, "someone taught me that a detective always has to look to the truth. No matter how terrible it may be.” He clutched the rim of his hat. "I won't be forgetting anything."

Makoto smiled. “That’s exactly what I like to hear, Shuichi. I have faith you’ll be everything I hope you’ll be. Mr. Momota? Would you prefer the former option? This seems to have shaken you up.”

Kaito had upgraded from frozen stiff, to shaking at a rapid rate. “W-W-W-W-What? I-I-I’m not scared! What kind of a man would I be if I looked away from this!”

Maki covered her ears. “You’re being too loud again.”

Makoto gave him another nod. He brought out a small square sheet of paper with a red circle drawn on it, laying on his desk and double tapping.

The paper burst into flames, and disappeared. A figure faded out of nothing next to him, the blonde man who Shuichi had previously seen. His skin had a much deeper red, and he towered much higher than he did before. Horns also sprouted from his temples.

He pushed up his glasses in a condescending manner. “You can just call my phone, Naegi.”

Makoto laughed at his aloofness. “Yeah, but this is more fun. This is Mr. Byakuya Togami, he’s the financial backing behind this school. He also helped develop the Masquerade spell with a few other colleagues of mine.”

“...the president of a massive financial conglomerate is a demon?” Shuichi asked.

“You’re surprised?” Maki raised an eyebrow.

“N-No… it just feels a bit… on the nose?” he nervously chuckled.

Byakuya rolled his eyes, as though he had heard this conversation about 200 times. “So, three broken Masquerades on the 2nd day? That’s a new record, Naegi.” 

Makoto nervously scratched the back of his head. “T-Technically only two. Miss Harukawa is a Vampire.”

Kaito popped up, shocked and appalled. “T-That’s a terrible thing for a child-caregiver to be!”

Maki glanced at him. “I said I didn’t really like kids, didn’t I?”

“Alright…” Byakuya raised his right hand at Shuichi and Kaito. “Let’s get this one over with.” Kaito braced for… something. Shuichi was curious to see the process of the total removal of a magic spell - no way he could look away.

“Okay, you’re done. Goodbye.” Byakuya faded from the room again.

"...well that was fairly anti-climactic." Shuichi said, disappointed slightly.

“...th-that was it?” the astronaut searched around the room, surprised at the brevity. He flinched at Maki, whose skin appeared much more pale now.

“Yup. You’re all set.” Makoto said. “Also, this goes without saying I feel, but don't post any of this information online. We have web crawlers that monitor online discussions for these topics, and if we catch you that's grounds for expulsion. Are we all clear?”

Shuichi nodded. Kaito did so much more frantically.

“You’re free to go, enjoy your nights.” Makoto sent them off with a bright smile. “Oh, and Shuichi?” 

Shuichi turned to answer. “Yes?” Makoto gave him what could only be described as the perfect combination of the most wholesome smile and the most devious shit eating grin. “Miss Akamatsu called our front desk and informed us of the broken Masquerade - I told her to come down so... she should be outside.”

Shuichi’s heart did a flip.

Before he knew it, he was running again, flying past Maki and Kaito. Blowing through doors, jumping down stairs. Tears ran down his face, until finally, he found himself outside, in front of a familiar blonde. She was practically sparkling in the moonlight.

“Kaede…”

She turned around and saw the boy. She gasped again as though her cover had been blown again, but before any words could come out, she looked up and down his body - no Masquerade was over him. Tears started rolling down her face.

“Shuichi…”

Their hug felt as though it lasted for decades.

Kaede could only weep as she wildly apologized to Shuichi “I-I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I-I-I wanted to tell you so badly! I wanted to say something!”

Shuichi hugged her with so much strength. “I finally found you… you’re okay…! I’m so happy you’re okay…!”

Kaito and Maki soon arrived behind the detective, seeing them together. Kaito smiled silently to himself. He waits for them to stand up, and steps closer. “So… this is the Kaede Akamatsu!” He sticks his hand out for a handshake. “I'm Kaito Momota -Thanks for takin’ care of my sidekick all those years back!”

Kaede chuckled, and met his hand. Kaito felt a cold chill go up his arm as she did. He looked down. Webbed fingers… claws… scales!?

“aaaAAAH-”

Maki swooped in before Kaito could start screaming to the heavens (which apparently were real.) “You'll have to excuse him, he's an idiot.”

Kaede laughed again, and turned back to Shuichi. He gasped, now in full awe of the moon's light on her form.

She looked basically the same from a first glance, but taking in the changes… her skin was now a brilliant light blue, scales sparkling against the moonlight. She had a pattern of lighter blue scales going down the middle of her face, between her eyes of striking yellow. The pattern suggested a snout, but had no visible nose. In place of her ears, she had webbed fins, her pristine blue offset by the lovely pink of her webbed features. Lagging behind her now was a large tail, adorned with the same colors. Was she slightly taller now, too?

Shuichi's mouth was agape.

Kaede's stance shifted to something more self conscious. “Y-Yeah… this is the real me…” she felt a melancholy smile form on her face. She was no stranger to people reacting badly to her true form. She was a gross, slimy, Lovecraftian horror with a nice voice. She had prepared for Shuichi's rejection, his surprise, his disgust. She wouldn't blame him if he took off running.

Shuichi reached for her hand again, feeling her gentle scaled knuckles.

“You're beautiful.”

Kaede's frown faded into surprise, looking at Shuichi once more. No hint of any fear. No trace of any disgust. Just the way he used to look at her. Her shock transitioned to a smile, and then a grin, showing her pointed teeth. She blushed, tears falling down her face. “...Thank you!”

"So… you're a mermaid?” Shuichi asked.

Kaede giggled. “Not quite. I'm a siren!”

Shuichi was in thought again. “Ah, so that's why your voice was always so alluring…”

Kaede blushed. “Y-you thought my voice was alluring?”

It was Shuichi's turn to blush now. “I mean- uh… ah! Y… w-well y'see…”

Kaede giggled, before her mood became somber again. “I… I'm sorry I left you behind that day. I… I didn't have a choice.”

Finally, Shuichi would have an answer. “What happened?”

“Well… I started developing my gills and scales at the time. I didn't have any way to hide them and I didn't even know that magic existed. At first it was manageable… but soon it became too much to hide, so… me and my parents came to the decision that we had to run away.” Tears were welling up in her eyes. “I wanted to stay but… I had no idea what would happen if I did.”

Shuichi trembled. “I see… but why did you feel you couldn't trust me with that…? I… I was so scared and worried about you. I thought you had drowned.”

Her voice was trembling. “There's not a day that goes by where I don't regret not telling you. I… I hurt you so much. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…!” she let out a sob and fell to her knees.

Shuichi knelt down next to her. “It's okay.” He hugged her again. “It's okay. You… you did what you needed to do.” Shuichi reached into his bag, and showed Kaede the shell. “That was you that saved me that day, wasn't it?”

She gasped at the shell. “You… you kept it…?”

“When I woke up on the beach… I… I didn't have any way of knowing… or even any reason to, but… I always believed it was you.” He grabbed Kaede's hands and gave her a warm smile. “I always believed in you.”

Kaede's lip trembled as she let out another wild sob. She collapsed into another hug, and Shuichi was more than happy to oblige.

The four retraced their steps back to the dorms. Immediately, Shuichi could tell that Masquerade hid a lot. He saw much different silhouettes walking across the campus, some much taller than 6 feet, some much shorted than himself. In the air were now mysterious fireflies that he couldn't identify, specs of light floating around. The electric lights that were spread along the walkways now had visible glyphs on top, emitting an additional warm yellow light. The trees sprawled higher than they appeared before, with dark blue leaves adorning the tops, with moss and vines cascading down.

All Shuichi could say was just… “wow.”

“I know, right? I'm glad you can truly see it now.” Kaede grinned.

“Maki Roll, you could see all of this the whole time and you didn't say a word?!” Kaito said. The wonder was starting to outweigh the fear he felt.

Maki squinted at Kaito. “...Maki Roll?"

Kaito nodded. “Yeah, like harumaki rolls.”

She made a menacing face at Kaito. “Yeah, I got it, don't call me that.”

“Whaaat! But it's such a great nickname!”

“Do you wanna die?”

Shuichi chuckled at their banter. He had noticed they were walking in the same general direction for the dorms. “Are you guys also in building V?” Shuichi asked.

Kaede nodded, “Yeah that's right! So cool that we'll be so close to each other.”

“Yeah! What's both of your room numbers?” Kaito prodded.

“I'm in room 22. How about you guys?” Maki added.

Kaede gasped “NO WAY! I'm in room 24! That's awesome!”

Shuichi started laughing. 

Kaede got very confused. “Uhh… you okay Shuichi…?”

He sighed off his laugh. “I'm in room 23 with Kaito.”

Kaito snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah! I completely forgot!”

“We're seriously all right next to each other?” Maki said, half complaining, half pleased.

“It's DESTINY Maki Roll! The stars aligned for all of us!” Kaito shouted.

Maki rolled her eyes and fidgeted with one of her pigtails. “Shut up. You're an idiot.”

Kaito put his hands behind his head with a grin. “You're a vampire, Kaede's a siren, I'm convinced that anything is possible now.”

“Well, we 'made it so,' I guess.” Shuichi chuckled, pushing through the dorm building's front door.

“Honestly? In terms of the Masquerade stuff? I think I could get used to this!” As he finished, the door in front of Kaito swung open.

“Really!?” Kokichi popped out, shouting, now presenting in his new form.

“AHHHHHH!!!”

Kokichi's skin was now a light and desaturated purple, with the tips of his hair now fading into a brighter white-pink. Adorning his hair were two tall horns with black tips. He had black markings under his eyes, like small diamond tattoos. With the addition of fangs sticking out and pointed ears, Kokichi was a certified terror for Kaito - visibly as well now.

“Oh god damn it- not this little shit again.” Maki started.

“You guys broke the Masquerade, congrats! Now I can finally show my love for Kaito to my fullest extent!” Kokichi shouted.

Kaito was trembling. “Y-You don't scare me K-Kokichi…! I'll… come out the other end of this stronger than before…!”

Shuichi noted Kokichi's new appearance. “Wait, you know Kaito?”

“Yeah. I met him in second period, and we became best friends! No offense, Saihara-chan!”

“ You became everyone's biggest annoyance as soon as you got here.” Maki spat.

Tears welled up in Kokichi's eyes. “Wha…? I… I just… I just wanted to be friends! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! MAKI'S SO MEAN!” Tears flooded out of his face like a faucet, and then suddenly stopped. “Phew! I needed to get that one outta my system.”

“So… this is what you really look like. You're a… demon?” Shuichi asked.

Kokichi shrugged, “Close enough! An incubus specifically. Though I'm more into the STEM part of it than the sex part.”

“STEM…?” Kaede pressed.

“Oh you know, shenanigans, tomfoolery, escapades, mischief.”

“GONTA HEAR SCREAM…! What happen!?” Thundering footsteps are heard from their room, with Gonta now stepping out of it.

Kaito almost screamed again, but Maki covered his mouth. “Hi Gonta,” she said in her usual deadpanned tone.

“Oh! Hi Harukawa-san!” Gonta waved a hand, showing chitinous looking coverings on his arms. Antenna were now sprouting out of his head. Other than that, he was fairly normal - disregarding the wings on his back that fluttered as he arrived. “Oh! Shuichi no longer have mask!”

“Yeah! Nice to properly meet you Gonta.” Shuichi said, extending his hand. From under Gonta's arm, another hand reached out to meet it. “W-Whoa!”

“Ah!” Gonta retraced it. “S-Sorry… Gonta forgot he scare people sometimes…”

Shuichi shook his head. “No, it's alright, Gonta. It just caught me a little off guard. I think it's fascinating.”

“Shuichi like bugs!?”

“Y-Yeah, I think they're pretty nice.”

Kaito shook his head. “Uhh, I dunno. They're super-” Maki quickly covered his mouth.

“If you value your life you will not finish that sentence.” Maki whispered, genuinely concerned.

Kaito nodded. “W-Well! Nice to formally meet both of you!”

Shuichi nodded. “Yeah! I can't wait to meet everyone again.”

“Nehehe, you're so cheesy Saihara-chan!” Kokichi walked back into his room. “Planning my demon invasion now, byyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

*SLAM*

“...god, emphasis on ‘nightmare’ with that little menace.” Maki says.

“Oh! Latine loqueris?” Kaede said.

“Wh-what?” Kaito asked.

“Ita. ducentis annis aliquid facere oportuit.” Maki replied to Kaede.

Shuichi blinked in confusion “Are… are you guys speaking Latin…?”

After the run in with Kokichi, they finally made it to their rooms.

“Jeeze. What an exhausting day…” Kaede said, stretching her back.

Shuichi nodded. “Yeah… this really did turn into quite an eventful one.”

Shuichi stopped at his door, as Kaito entered their room (presumably to collapse,) and remained outside, talking with Kaede.

“It was… really nice to see you again.” Shuichi said.

Kaede's smile grew wider, looking into Shuichi's eyes. “Yeah… I never thought this day would come…”

As they stared, they broke eye contact and hugged again.

“I… I missed you a lot.” Shuichi muttered.

Kaede nodded. “Mhmm.”

They broke the hug and met each other's eyes again.

Shuichi blushed. “I… I have a free day tomorrow. Do you wanna do some catching up…?”

“I'd love to.” She turned down the hall, and looked over her shoulder. “It's a date!”

Shuichi blushed even deeper.

“O-Oh… one more thing?”

Kaede turned around, seeing Shuichi with his hat in his hand. “I… I used this hat to hide my eyes. To avoid eye contact… and to shield myself from the truth… I was… afraid to look towards it. Your death made me think that the truth was terrifying. That the truth would be something… horrible. But meeting with you again today made me realize… that I have to face the truth. Finding the truth… is what led me back to you.” He placed it gently on her head. “I don't need it anymore. I'm ready to face the truth. No matter what.”

Kaede could only smile. “You look good without it.”

They said their goodbyes for the night, and returned to their rooms. Kaito had collapsed on the couch, face first. After today, could you blame him? Shuichi took off his jacket, and laid in his bed.

Through the wall though, he heard something. The walls were thin - so from Kaede's adjacent room, he could hear her singing - Clair de Lune. His body relaxed, enveloped in the music. He smiled. It was a strange feeling. The sound seeping into his body. He closed his eyes.

Hope’s Peak would be the hardest thing he had ever done for a number of reasons. It was a terrifying new place, with hundreds of people and things that he’s completely unfamiliar with. But… with Kaito, Maki, and Kaede… he could make it.

“Thank you, Kaede.”

Chapter Text

There was a light knocking on the door. Kaede flinched, as she knew exactly who and what it was. It was Shuichi, and they had planned to catch up today. Yesterday was their first day at Hope’s Peak University - an esteemed American college that accepted students from all across the world, and, most notably to Kaede and many others, a welcome environment for Meta-Humans. Being a siren, she could appreciate this a lot, as her high school days were cut short by her… ‘fish puberty,’ for lack of a better word. Most Meta-Humans called it a ‘Metamorphosis,’ but Kaede thought the term gave it a bit too much of a negative connotation for her liking. Though to be fair, ‘fish puberty’ didn’t sound great either.

Outfit check - black baggy t - shirt, high waisted pink jeans, and her usual hair clips in the form of musical notes. In the time Kaede sat in her room ruminating, her room-mate, Tenko Chabashira, shouted from her room, “I’ll get it!”

Kaede immediately hopped to her feet, as she knew Tenko would have a bad reaction to Shuichi, him being a ‘Degenerate Male’ as she put it. Hopefully Kaede would be able to get her off of that little tick…

Tenko swung the door open, looking down at Shuichi - Tenko was about half a foot taller than him. She scrunched up her face in a patronizing way. “Oh? What business do you have here, degenerate male?”

Shuichi blinked in surprise. “D-Degenerate!?”

“Yeah, that’s you!” Tenko said as though she were stating the obvious, “State your business!” She struck a pose at him, seemingly ready to strike.

Poor timid Shuichi couldn’t keep up with the bombastic Tenko. “O-oh, Tenko! He’s here for me, we had plans today.” Kaede called out. Tenko whipped her head around, her pigtails whipping Shuichi in the face lightly.

“Oh?” Tenko quickly exchanged gazes with Kaede, and then Shuichi again, giving him a mean squint. “...okay, well, have fun Kaede. Make sure to tell me if he tries anything! I’ll throw him to the moon and back!”

Kaede chuckled nervously, “Th-That won’t be necessary Tenko! Shuichi’s a good guy, we’re old friends.”

With her purse scooped up and a goodbye hug to Tenko, she came face to face with Shuichi - well, almost, Kaede also had a few inches on Shuichi. He always was a shorter kid, so, go figure. She couldn’t help but smile at him.

“So, you got anywhere in mind you wanna hang out?” Kaede asked Shuichi.

Shuichi nodded, “Yeah. There’s a park nearby the campus, it has some nice shade. I figured that’d be a nice quiet place to talk.”

Kaede nodded, and they started walking down their dorm building’s main hall. “S-Sorry about Tenko, she's a bit much sometimes.” Kaede nervously apologized.

Shuichi shook his head and chuckled. “Ahh, don't worry about it. I've come to expect some… colorful characters here by this point.”

“Y-Yeah, no kidding!” Kaede chuckled back, “she's nice once you get to know her though.”

“Yeah, she seems like a pretty kind person, offering to defend you like that.”

“Oh, she does that for everyone… uh, every girl , rather.”

Shuichi and Kaede kept chuckling to each other as they made their way down to the park just outside of the campus - ‘jabber-something’ park. 

The sun was coming down pretty hard on Kaede, her being a partially aquatic creature.

Kaede waved her hand at her face like a fan. “Jeeze, I didn't expect it to be this bad today… I totally forgot my-”

“- hydration spray?” Shuichi offered, pulling a bottle out of his bag.

Kaede gasped. “Yes! Holy cow, thank you! How did you know I needed some of this?”

Shuichi chuckled, “Well, I did a little bit of research last night.”

Kaede's eyes widened again, “SHUICHI you got the web filter spell off your phone already?!”

“Y-Yeah, it wasn't that hard, really. The campus provided instructions.” Shuichi nervously replied.

Kaede's neutral expression faded to a squint. “Shuuuuiiiichi? How much sleep did you get last night?”

Shuichi nervously broke eye contact, a bead of sweat manifested on his forehead. “N-No comment.”

She playfully punched him on the arm. “Bad Shuichi! Bad!”

Even then, they couldn't help but laugh. Eventually they reached Shuichi’s spot in the park, a nice bench under the shade of a tall tree.

Both of them were blushing immensely at the sudden closeness of sitting directly next to each other, too nervous to make eye contact and see that the other was blushing.

“So… god, where do I even begin…?” Kaede started, nervously clasping her hands together.

“Well… I guess from the day this all started.” Shuichi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “If you're not comfortable, we don't have to do this now.”

Kaede shook her head. “No, it's been 4 years. An explanation is long overdue.”

He gave her a reassuring nod. She took a deep breath.

—

“Phew…” Kaede sighed, well worn from a day's worth of running after tackling various cases with Shuichi that day.

Shuichi was on the floor, even more out of breath. “I could've done without that last sprint today…”

They had just wrapped up a case of paranormal happenings in an abandoned building in their home town - for years, there were rumors of it being haunted. Shuichi and Kaede decided to investigate after a child's dog went missing in the area. 

They found the puppy, but not much else - aside from a loud female voice shouting ‘leave’ at the top of her lungs, followed by rushed footsteps.

Shuichi and Kaede, naturally, ran for their god damn lives - thankfully though, right as they passed through the door it slammed shut.

They didn't stop running until they were at the kid’s house, crouching outside, about to die of asphyxiation, a heart attack, or both.

“I know, holy shit… I hate how often these cases go in strange directions.” Kaede said, seating herself on the ground while the dog licked her face.

“Good job slamming the door… that was good thinking, whoever it was chasing us.” Shuichi complimented me.

“What? O-Oh! That! N-No worries, just acting on impulse.” She said, unable to find the words to tell Shuichi that it was not her that did that and she thought it was him - it wasn't terribly important. Next owners of that house may be in for a surprise, though.

Shuichi nodded, and put his hand on Kaede's shoulder. “Th-Thank you for the help today. I-I couldn't have done it without you.”

Kaede flicked the tip of his nose. “Don't be silly, you were the detective here! Give yourself some credit.”

Shuichi blushed. “R-Right, sorry. Still working on cutting that out.”

After returning the puppy, they continued their chat on their way home, since they lived on the same street. They continued talking about their cases, Kaede helping Shuichi schedule for his follow up meetings with this week's clients. It was a part of the job that Shuichi enjoyed, no matter how self conscious he was. Kaede always liked that about him - he was such a caring person.

Eventually, they made it to Kaede's house, and they said their goodbyes.

“Bye Shuichi!”

“Bye Kaede! Thanks for the help today.”

Kaede let out a satisfied sigh as she removed her shoes. “I love that kid…”

She blushed and realized the implications of that sentence. “I-I mean not like-like, I mean h-he's like my best friend!” She fidgeted around with her arms, until she realized she was defending herself to air.

She slapped her hands on her face gently and continued inside - there was a note on the table from her parents: ‘something important came up - there's dinner in the fridge, have a good night!! Love, Mom and Dad.’

“Aw sweet, home alone. Which means - it's TIME!” She ran into her living room at full speed, and hopped on the piano her parents had purchased for her. Since they weren't here, she could play to her heart's content without bothering them with the noise. Kaede loved the piano. It was her greatest pride and passion in life. Even from when she was young, she was always infatuated with it and wanted to play any song or melody that she had heard on it. Just recently she started her first very own original composition and was more than thrilled to get started. 

Before she knew it, the sunset had turned to sundown, and then night. It was 9 PM - a bit late for her parents but nothing too abnormal. She heated up some leftovers from a night ago, and started to get ready for bed.

In her pajamas, she walked into the bathroom. “Whew, that was a good session. Though maybe I should finish one composition before I start another!” She giggled to herself.

Brushing her teeth, she fidgeted in place, stretching her back. She felt an itch. Then a scratch. Then a sharp pain.

“Ow! Okay, what was that?” She scratched her back up and down, finding her finger caught on something. She scratched at it - it was loose. “God, this is really gross…”

She pulled it out from behind her top, and examined it. It was a translucent, light blue flower petal shaped… something.

“Huh. That was weird.” She threw it in the trash and thought nothing more of it. She had school in the morning, so she wanted to get to bed.

—

The very next morning, Kaede's back felt itchy. Damn it, that thing must've given her a weird rash. Walking to the bathroom, she confirmed her suspicions - her skin in that spot was a light blue. “What the…?” she massaged her skin… it felt really weird and firm.

“Kaede! Breakfast!” Before she could inspect it any further, she heard her father shouting at her from down stairs. Well, no time to worry about it now. Probably nothing. She went and got breakfast, and headed off to school, just in time for Shuichi's exhausted body to pass by.

“Morning, Shuichi!”

“...mhg… ‘morning,” he said, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes - he tried to hide very large bags under his eyes, by keeping the brim of his hat low.

“Looks like someone didn't get enough sleep!” Kaede chuckled.

Shuichi chuckled back, “says the girl who stayed up for an entire night playing the piano.”

“OH- that was ONE time!”

School went like normal, for the most part - Kaede always made sure to bring Shuichi along with her when she went to hang out with her own friends. He never directly stated it but he was very appreciative that she made an effort to include him.

“...Kaede, is your back okay?” Shuichi asked whilst picking at his lunch.

“Huh?” Kaede asked, thinking for a moment, “not really, why?”

“You've been scratching at it a lot, right on your tailbone. Do you need to go to the nurse's?”

Kaede hadn't even realized it, but she was scratching her back quite a lot. Leave it to Shuichi to notice - he's practically an Ultimate Detective. “Oh, it's nothing. Pretty sure it's just a rash I got at that weird decrepit old house.”

“Ah, yeah… makes sense, I suppose. That place was pretty nasty.”

Throughout the day, all the way to walking home with Shuichi, Kaede kept scratching her back - it was starting to feel swollen. “GOD why is this happeningggg…!?” Kaede whined, itching it more.

Shuichi looked concerned, if not a bit amused by Kaede's whining. “Y-Yeah, I would get that checked out. That seems pretty bad.”

“I-I'll do that t-tonight. Good night Shuichi!” She shouted from her front porch.

She paced to the bathroom very quickly, not yet bothering to check if her parents were home. She looked at her back, and gasped.

“Wh-What the hell!?”

About halfway up her back now were blue of that same thing she found on her back last night - now realizing that they're scales. And on her tailbone was a strange growth.

“M-MOM!” she cried out, running to their living room.

“Kaede? What's the matter, dear?” Her mother, Tokaru, called back.

They met in the living room, and Kaede showed her back. She gasped, not a look of fear, but of panic. She turned on her heel and started heading towards her room.

“Mom, what's wrong!?” Kaede followed, begging for some sort of explanation.

Tokaru ran into her husband on the way. “Toto, what's-” he said, pausing. His eyes went wide upon seeing her face.

“Kasai… it's started.” she somberly said. He seemed to have understood. He nodded, somberly.

“Okay. I'll make a few calls.” Kasai met his daughter's eyes. “We'll explain in just a moment. Please, try to stay calm.”

Kaede begrudgingly nodded, and waited for them in the living room.

After a few minutes, a bit of shouting, and seeing some packing, her parents finally sat down in front of her, wearing grim faces.

“We're sure you have a lot of questions, and I hope that we can answer them for you - but please remember that we're for you and we love you.”

Kaede was sweating bullets. “O-Okay… well first of all, I guess, what's even going on? Why is this happening to me!?”

Her mother sighed. “You're… going through your metamorphosis.”

“Th-That doesn't explain anything at all!”

“Listen.” Her father urged, “This is going to be a massive life changer, and it'll be a lot to digest, but… you're not… 100% human.”

“WHAT!? What do you mean I'm not 100% human!? How can I not be!?” Kaede shouted, outraged.

“Your mother isn't a human - she's a siren.”

“Oh don't you even TRY to give me that! Take this seriously! Do you really think I'm gonna believe my mom is some… fictional creature!?”

Her mother reached for her necklace - a spiral seashell necklace. Kasai went to stop her but she shook her head. “No… I think it's time.” She pulled it off, and Kaede's vision of her mother started to blur- like she was staring into a mirage. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, and gasped.

Her mother's appearance completely changed. Gone was any semblance of a regular human, she had a scaled face with yellow eyes and a streak of blue running down the middle of her face to where a nose would be, only to find two nostrils. Her entire skin tone changed to vibrant sky blue scales, her hands having claws and webbed fingers.

Kaede almost screamed… but she couldn't do that to her mother. She took a deep breath, and another and another, another, another-

“What the FUCK is going on!?” Kaede shouted, gripping her head, as if trying to keep her breaking mind together.

Her father gripped Kaede's shoulder gently. “Hey, Hey, easy… it’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.” He hugged her, and Kaede felt tears silently fall from her eyes. “I'm sorry you had to find out this way. We wanted to give you more time but… your human physiology seemingly forced this out early.”

“So… that's real, isn’t it? Mom is… a siren?” 

Tokaru somberly nodded. “I… I'm sorry to-”

“No, mom, you have nothing to apologize for. Th-This is just a lot right now. Don't you dare think for a second I love you any less because of this.”

“Kaede…” she sobbed quietly. Kaede hugged her, holding her mother in her true form.

After she left the hug, Kaede sat back down on her couch, and took another deep breath. “So… what's going to happen? What can I expect from this… ‘fish puberty?’”

Her mother chuckled at the term. “Well, firstly, you'll start growing scales from the base of your tailbone… which has happened so far. As well as that, a tail will begin forming there.”

Kaede gulped. That's the weird swollen feeling…

Her mother continued, “after that you'll form your gills on your neck - since you're half human, you'll still mostly rely on your lungs, but you'll be able to breathe underwater indefinitely. Finally, as your tail and scales finish growing in, you'll grow in a new set of sharper teeth.”

Kaede's head was spinning. This was all… very, very much. “How long will these… changes take?”

“It'll happen over the course of about a week.”

“A week!? What am I supposed to do about being seen like that!?”

Her face became intense, and sad. “...you can't be seen.”

Kaede felt her mother's eyes piercing her. “What…? What do you mean…?”

“There are… groups of people who capture us and others like us. To study, experiment on, and contain us. If you were spotted by any of them from anywhere… you'd be gone. They'd erase our memories of you from everyone, and take you away.”

Kaede's hands were shaking. “Wh… why!? We're just people! They can't do that-”

“There's nothing to be done about it. Whatever they are… they can't be stopped. There's a safe haven for salt water aquatic Meta-Humans at Point Nemo. We'll be headed there once your gills form.” Her mother said.

“Can't I just use that necklace?! We can get another one, can't we!?”

Kasai shook his head. “They can't be made anymore. The art of making them has been lost to time - many sirens are killed, only being seen as monsters.”

Tears were forming in Kaede's eyes. “So we just run away!?”

Her father nodded.

“But… my school… our home… my friends… Shuichi…?”

“I'm sorry Kaede. We're not safe here anymore.” Tokaru said, tears falling freely.

Kaede was stunned. Absolutely unable to accept this. What was she gonna tell Shuichi? If she gave him too much information, he'd go looking… and that might put him in danger too.

If it was to protect him - she could bring herself to do it.

“Okay.”

Kasai sat next to Kaede, holding her. “Your gills won't grow in for another day. If you're careful, you can have tomorrow for your last day of school. I want you to at least be able to say goodbye.”

Kaede nodded, tears still flowing.

The following day, Kaede got up and peered in the mirror - nothing visible from the shoulders up, but she could feel a sort of itching sensation on her neck. She went about her usual routine getting ready, and stepped outside.

And there was Shuichi, waiting there for her in his hat like always. He waved. Maybe he was saying something. But Kaede felt like she was miles away from the situation. She was working hard to put on a face.

“Hi Shuichi. Are you ready for today?” Kaede asked him innocently.

He nodded, “Yeah, I think so. I'd say I'm much better rested than yesterday.”

He had the brim of his hat much higher on his head today.

Why did this have to be so hard?

They walked their way to school. Kaede felt normal for a little while, as she just talked with Shuichi. They arrived at school, like normal. She went to class and did her work like normal. She hung out with Shuichi like normal. 

She wanted to feel this way for as long as possible. Not some fish monster. Not a creature to be captured. Just normal Kaede. 

But every time focus waned, she felt that same itch on her neck, reminding her that she’s not welcome here. She could almost feel the slits of her gills forming.

At the end of the day, Shuichi and Kaede were talking at the end of class - she ended up holding him there for a while before he had to go to work on a case. She so badly wanted to just stay there.

It felt nice to talk to Shuichi. He always helped keep her grounded, facing forward.

They were sitting at their desks, Shuichi's behind Kaede's. She sat sideways to look at Shuichi more easily.

They were wrapping up a conversation about the last case they did together, with the ‘haunted’ house.

“...I can't believe how badly that case went south,” he chuckled, “I'm sorry for putting you in danger like that.”

“Oh, Shuichi…” she said playfully. “There's no way you could've known that would happen. It's not your fault at all.”

He looked conflicted with himself. “No, it was my fault as an apprentice that I couldn't see that coming… and I didn't even try to defend you.”

“Shuichi, I could never ask you to do that, you could’ve been killed. I'm glad we both got out. Your detective work wasn't at fault that day. You should have more confidence in yourself.”

“...did I ever tell you about my first case?” He asked.

“No, you’ve never really brought it up before.”

“...I work at my Uncle's agency as an apprentice. For the most part it's domestic stuff, background checks, cheating couples, the stuff we usually do. But one day early in… I came across a murder completely by chance. I solved it before the police did. I've only solved one case, and people act like I'm an Ultimate going to Hope's Peak already.”

“I mean, that's not something most people can do. I wouldn't be surprised if you were scouted as one. That's still something amazing.” Kaede encouraged.

He stared out the window. “...I wonder about that at times.”

“What do you mean?”

“...if solving that case was really a good thing. The look on his face when we caught him… I can still see it now. He stared at me… like he hated me more than anything in the world. I later heard that he murdered the victim to get revenge for his family. The victim… drove the culprit's relative to suicide. People kept saying… the culprit was right to do it… that the victim deserved it. And I led the police right to him. Of course he hated me.”

Kaede gave him an apologetic look. “It's not like you took sides… you uncovered the truth - that's what a detective does, right?

“Yeah, I uncovered the truth. Which makes it my fault. And I'm still suffering the consequences. Ever since that one… stupid case I've been so afraid of uncovering the truth. I'm not a real detective, Kaede. What kind of worthless detective is afraid to find the truth…?” Shuichi's hands were trembling. 

Kaede gently reached out and held his hand. “I wish there was a piano here. I would play you a song to cheer you up!”

Shuichi was taken aback. “Kaede…?”

“Hmm… a pretty song to play for you… Oh, Debussy's Clair de Lune! It's a soothing song that calms your heart. Like the moon's reflection on water.”

Shuichi looked down, and saw Kaede's hand.

“You noticed, huh? Yeah… I'm shaking too. But… I'd be a mess if you weren't here. I wouldn't be able to do anything… I would be so lost. I'm glad I'm here with you, Shuichi. With you by my side, I feel like I can stand up to anything. You give me the courage I need to push forward. So, please… be more confident.”

Shuichi's eyes met with Kaede's.

“I believe in you, so you should definitely believe in yourself.”

Shuichi gave a small nod. “Okay… I'll… I'll try.”

Kaede stood up and began to walk out of the classroom.

“But… Kaede… why are you shaking?” Shuichi asked.

Before Kaede stepped out, she turned to him. “No reason. See you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

Kaede sprinted home. She could barely hear from how hard her heart was beating, but she was sobbing. She reached her front doorstep, and collapsed. Her mother and father found her, comforting her, and apologizing. 

The next morning, Kaede looked at herself in the mirror - her scales had grown up to her shoulders, and she could see marks on her neck. It was almost time according to her parents, she had the rest of the day left. Her parents gave her one last walk around town to say goodbye to her favorite spots. She wore a white dress that covered her scales well enough, and the gills weren't noticeable yet. Near the end of the day, a few hours after school got out, they made it to her favorite spot: the dock. She would always go there when she felt sad. The sound of the water always calmed her, the moonlight on water made her feel like everything would be okay, and that the world was something beautiful. Funny how that works, isn't it? Maybe being a siren had something to do with it. Her father was already on the road heading to the airport so he could meet them at the Point Nemo hideout - apparently lots of Meta-humans live there, all for similar reasons to hers. Her mother was in the water, gathering up other Sirens for protection, and to gather other half-siren families for similar reasons to her.

Kaede stood on the edge of the dock, as she felt the divots on her neck open to gills.

No going back now.

She stood for what felt like ages. Staring into the water, now able to see tens of Sirens swimming around amongst the bed of seaweed… some others who still hadn't  lost some of their human features… at least she had some company. She took a deep breath. Time to-

“K-Kaede!”

Oh no. She looked behind her, and it was just as she feared. “Shuichi!?”

“Wh-Where have you been…? You weren’t in class… I couldn’t find you anywhere… what’s wrong?”

She wanted to break. She wanted to fall into his arms and tell him everything. She wanted him to tell her that she was going to be okay, and he would be her friend no matter what. She wanted to stay and be his partner in detective work. She wanted to apologize for her disgusting appearance, for having to leave when he still needed her.

She wanted to be normal more than anything.

But she couldn't be. She could never be Shuichi's friend like this. Not here. Not now.

“I… I'm sorry, Shuichi.”

She leapt into the water, using the semblance of her fins and tail to push herself outwards towards the sea. To forget about everything.

Her hearing had been improved a lot - she could hear all of the other sirens swimming around, silently mourning her own forceful removal.

And then she heard a splash.

Then, a muffled scream.

“ Kaede…”

Her stomach dropped.

Shuichi dove in.

He can't swim.

She turned around as fast as her body would let her, traveling at speeds she didn't know she was capable of. Other Sirens including Kaede’s mother called out to her to stop, but Kaede wasn’t hearing anything except Shuichi’s struggle.

When she returned to the dock, Shuichi was nowhere to be seen.

Bubbles were rising from below - that had to be him.

 She plunged herself into the deeper waters - she could hear his struggling slow down.

She dove down directly to where the sound led, before it abruptly stopped. 

She was running out of time. 

Her vision was enhanced due to her changes, but she still had to find Shuichi in the ocean floor's carpet of seagrass. 

Tears were welling up. 

Where is he? Where is he-

From a few meters in front of her, rose a hat. His hat.

She swam directly down from where it came, and found Shuichi. She grabbed him from under his arms, and pulled him up to the surface, fast enough to breach the water, landing on the beach’s sand with a wet thud.

Kaede could feel a film recede from her eyes as she resurfaced. That's new.

Flipping Shuichi on his back, she opened his jacket and began performing CPR.

“Don't die… don't die… don't die…!” She chanted, begged.

Suddenly, he coughed up water and began breathing again. He was still out cold, but he was breathing. She grunted as she collapsed in exhaustion next to him.

After a minute of rest, Kaede stood up. She could hear her mother and the other Sirens from in the water - she had wasted enough time already. She looked back at Shuichi, his breath slowly steadying. To his right was a seashell that had been kicked up from the heavy swimming she had done to breach the water. She picked it up, and placed it gently in his hand.

She clasped the hand in between her own two, now covered in scales, and gently kissed it. 

“Goodbye.” 

—

Shuichi was dead silent. A teary eyed Kaede finally finished telling the story of her own death. Her head was held low, and it was nearly dusk out. Shuichi could see the fireflies emerging, glowing gently in the long shadows of the trees.

Kaede sniffled. “I… I'm sorry.”

Shuichi just nodded and smiled. “It's okay.” He grabbed her hand, clasping it to his chest. “I could never not forgive you.”

"B-But..." Kaede kept crying, “I… I…!”

“ - 'abandoned' me? You saved me from drowning, I'd hardly call that abandoning. I know that you'd never do that to anyone, not willingly. And you know what? You were probably right. If you told me anything… I would've gone searching for you. And that could've put both of us in danger. It wasn’t your choice to leave. I could never hate you for it.”

Kaede sniffled again, throwing herself onto Shuichi. “Th-Thank you… thank you so much Shuichi.” Shuichi smiled, and ran his hand through her hair.

They sat in silence for some time, basking in the ambiance of the sunset as the night crept over the horizon and the air started cooling down.

“...do you wanna hear the story of my favorite case I took on while I was working with Kaito?” Shuichi asked, hoping to help lighten the mood.

Kaede lifted her head from Shuichi's shoulder. “Mhm.’

As the sun set, Shuichi began telling of the day that he and Kaito investigated paranormal sightings, Kaede cheerfully laughing along.

Chapter Text

“Tenko! Breakfast!” Kaede shouted from the kitchen.

Tenko finished her set of pullups for the morning, energetically hopping off of her pullup bar. “Whew! Thank you so much Kaede!” She could barely keep herself from blushing - Kaede was so… cute and motherly…!

She walked herself into the living room and sat herself down at their dorm’s table, the siren girl placing down their bowls of steamed rice and miso soup, “S-Sorry, I’m not sure what kinda stuff you liked, so I just prepared my usual.”

“No need to apologize!” Tenko bowed, “The basics are welcome with me! Though it’s a shame we don’t have-”

“Chopsticks? I got you covered.” Kaede said, placing down a washable pair, colored blue. Tenko hoped she would stop that or she WOULD fall in love.

“Thank you so much Kaede! I’ll take breakfast from now on though, I hear Sirens and other aquatic Metas don’t do well with heat!” Tenko said.

Kaede gave her a surprised look, “W-Wait, you’re a Meta?”

Tenko nodded, “Yep! S-Sorry, I thought you knew.” In front of Kaede’s eyes, Tenko’s neck slowly elongated. “I’m a Rokurokubi!”

Kaede clasped her hands together and hopped in excitement. “Oh wow! I’ve never met a classic yōkai before!”

Kaede and Tenko were both attendees of the illustrious Hope’s Peak University - a place known around the Meta-Human community as a safe haven for any and all to attend University without having to hide who and what they were. Not just everyone could get in though, you had to be a well performing student, or what they called an Ultimate. Tenko being the Ultimate Aikido master, and Kaede being the Ultimate Pianist.

Her and Kaede had really hit it off from the moment they found themselves roommates in their new dorm at the school grounds. Kaede was just happy to meet someone new, and Tenko was just happy it wasn’t a ‘Degenerate Male’ as she called them.

They were preparing for their first day of class, and Tenko was very appreciative of someone who could actually match her high energy and positive attitude. “So, what’s your first class today, Kaede?”

Kaede groaned. “Algebra. Makes me wanna shrivel up back into my room…” she pumped her fists, bouncing back from the annoyance, “but this is only for one semester! I got this in the bag!”

“That’s the spirit! I have chemistry.” Tenko said, chuckling nervously.

Kaede laughed, “Ironic, considering most sciences say we don’t exist.”

Tenko smiled at Kaede, staring into her adorable razor sharp teeth forming a grin. Just then, Tenko’s phone went off - 11:30, time for their first classes. “Oh! That’s our queue! Wanna walk with me?”

Kaede grabbed her purse and slipped on her pink sweater with a large collar, presumably to cover her gills. “Let’s do this!” Kaede matched Tenko’s energy, following her outside of their front door. They turned towards the stairwell, but Kaede suddenly retreated.

Tenko darted her eyes back inside. “Kaede? What’s wrong?” Kaede was facing away from the door, looking at Tenko from over her shoulder. “N-Nothing… I-I forgot something… I’ll catch up.”

“...Well, okay. I’ll see you later today, Kaede.” Tenko said, gently waving.

'What was that about?' Tenko wondered? Kaede was very suddenly very distraught. Was it really just something she forgot? Well, nothing to be done about it. She started power walking down the hallway, brushing past a ‘Degenerate Male’ in a black hat.

Tenko was on pace to her first class, and rather quickly since she had access to a bird’s eye view of the area at any given time, being able to stretch out her neck and all. With this so-called ‘Ultimate Masquerade’ she wouldn’t have to worry about being seen. Which was a relief not to deal with again, as the last time she had been found out became a huge incident. How was she supposed to know that a punch to the head would stretch her neck out involuntarily!? The dojo she attended was a mass panic after that…

While she was looming above the campus, she saw such a large variety of meta-humans all around her - it was comforting to be around so many people she could relate to. Raveling her head in, she found that another Meta had approached her towering head.

A boy with yellow-ish green hair, with antennae, blue-ish skin, and markings on his forehead highlighting a third eye that was placed in the center of his forehead. His three black starry eyes with yellow pupils looked up at Tenko with wonder. “Wow! That’s amazing! What might you be?” He asked excitedly. He looked like a ‘Degenerate Male…’ but he was also a Meta, so she would let it slide since gender was far off of any binary in metahuman society. Like far off.

“H-hey there! I’m Tenko Chabashira, I’m a Rokurokubi,” she responded cheerfully. “That’s the first time someone complimented my strangeness.”

He chuckled. “Well, it would be hypocritical to be freaked out by anyone else here.” He stuck his hand out for a shake and smiled, “I’m Rantaro Amami, The Ultimate Adventurer. I’m an extraterrestrial, as you can see.”

“Lovely to meet you! Imagine you being an Alien is how you got that title?” Tenko prodded further, meeting his hand for a shake.

Rantaro shook Tenko’s hand from side to side - seemingly doesn't get handshakes yet. “Indeed. I’ve been across space, as well as most of your planet’s continents.”

Tenko checked her phone. “Oh shoot! I-I gotta go, my class starts soon! Nice to meet you, Rantaro!”

He nodded and smiled, “Likewise!”

Tenko started power walking towards her class, continuing to peek up and down from the map. As she reached her room, she found that seats at the front had already been taken. Shoot, so much for paying attention in this class. She didn’t want to sit next to someone and risk making them uncomfortable, so she just took a seat at the back of the class.

The professor was a man with bright pink hair, wearing a usual dress shirt and pants but with a lab coat over it. A bit cliche. He introduced himself as Professor Soda. Tenko was far from pleased about it being, well, you know - but she could put up with teachers, as most of them were respectful and usually very nice.

As he started describing the semester's contents, the door behind her opened one more time. Tenko glanced over her shoulder and time suddenly slowed to a crawl. A new girl walked in, a small, 4’11” girl (cute) with red hair (CUTE) wearing a mage’s hat (SUPREMELY CUTE!!!) She instantly sat down next to Tenko, the seat second closest to the door. Tenko, being the gay disaster she was, became absolutely smitten with this girl. As the professor spoke, she whispered to the girl. “H-Hi. I-I-I’m Tenko! What’s your name?”

The smaller girl groaned. “Nyehh… introductions are a pain. But… I’m Himiko.”

Tenko’s smile grew wider. Oh my GOD she was so cute. “I’m the Ultimate Aikido master, what about you?” she asked.

A smile crept onto the girl’s face. “I’m the Ultimate Magician…” she leaned over to Tenko, whispering “...but that’s only on paper… I’m actually the Ultimate Mage!” As she finished, Himiko snapped her finger, her index finger and thumb outstretched to look like an L around her eye.

“Th-That’s amazing Himiko! Your talent is way cooler than mine!”

“Nyehh… not really…” she yawned, “It takes a lot of mana to use magic, so I’m super tired all the time.”

For the rest of the class, Tenko kept listening to Himiko talk about magic, wizardry, sorcery. and spell casting, and how they were all totally different. Tenko was captivated - completely lost, but captivated.

“Hmmm… what do you need to learn magic, Himiko?” Tenko asked.

Himiko tapped her chin, thinking. “Hmmm… you’re a meta, right? If not I’d probably get in trouble.”

Tenko stretched her neck out from Himko’s left side to her right. “That answer your question?” Tenko asked, slightly smug.

“Phew, okay,” Himiko sighed in relief. “If you were a regular human that would’ve been a mandatory memory erasure if I showed you.”

Tenko’s head rapidly reeled back to her body. “A-Are you serious!?”

“W-Well, anyways,” Himiko changed the subject, sweating bullets. “If you’re a meta-human then you have inherent magic potential. I could teach you some, if you don’t mind.”

Tenko stood up and bowed, “Yes, please! I would lov- appreciate it a lot!”

The class began wrapping up, Himiko noticing the crowd beginning to shift. “Nyeh… I’d better get going. My transportation spell takes a while, so I need to start heading to class now.”

“O-Oh! I’ll give you my number! That way we can keep talking!” Tenko said, scrambling for a small sheet of paper, and hastily writing her phone number on it.

Himiko nodded, “‘kay… I’ll text you when I get around to it. Bye bye, Tenko.” Himiko sleepily walked off

“Nice meeting you Himiko!” Tenko fidgeted while she stood watching her leave the class. Suddenly, the ramifications of her actions caught up to her, and her face turned a bright red. “I-I just gave a girl my phone number!?” She said aloud, clutching her head, legs wobbling.

“Hey hey! Good on ya.” Professor Soda said from behind Tenko.

Tenko glared at him.

Soda raised his hands defensively, sweating bullets now, his jagged teeth forming a nervous grin. “Ah- s-sorry.” He nervously walked off back to his desk.

After Tenko’s enchanting first period with Himiko, she found herself thinking of her, aimlessly wandering towards her next class. Literature, probably. She wasn’t paying terribly much attention.

“Yooo hooo?”

She wondered what Himiko would teach her.

“Helloooooo?”

Maybe they could become good friends… and eventually maybe... g-go out with-

“Are you there, my child?”

Tenko finally snapped out of her Himiko trance, as she had found herself in her class, sitting in the back again, with another girl trying to say hi. She was a darker skinned girl that had bleached white hair, and wore a yellow jacket over her white t-shirt and skirt.

“O-Oh, hi. Sorry, I was lost in thought.” Tenko apologized.

“Nyahah! Worry not, it was quite cute.” the tan girl said, grinning.

Tenko introduced herself, trying not to blush at being called cute, “I-I’m Tenko Chabashira. I’m the Ultimate Aikido master. Nice to meet you!”

“Lovely to meet you, I am Angie Yonaga! I am the Ultimate Artist, and a disciple of the great Atua!” She cheered.

Tenko raised an eyebrow. “A… Atua? What’s that?”

“Oohhh Angie is so glad you asked!” She spoke, now in 3rd person. “Atua is god. They watch over as always, and speak to Angie. Atua helps Angie make her art, they provide direction and guidance! I allow Atua to make art through me!”

Tenko was very, very confused. “Uhh… I see. W-Well, are you also a meta?”

Angie nodded, “Indeed! I am an Angel sent by Atua to live amongst the humans!”

“Wow! That’s so cool! You must’ve been super lucky to have been picked.” Tenko said.

Angie’s eyes shifted around the room for a brief moment. “Y-Yes indeed! They sent me on a very special mission!”

…it seemed she didn’t like that line of questioning.

Tenko waved goodbye, (or bye-onara in Angie’s case) and started walking to her next classes. Thinking about Himiko again made her day blur together a bit. Her third class that day, whatever it was certainly didn’t captivate her more than her new magical crush.

Eventually, she made it to her 4th class, English Speaking. She wasn’t sure what kind of people would be in this class, but she was looking forward to finding out. Her English was far from perfect as well, so she would actually get a lot out of this class.

Or so she thought, as when she entered the class, she immediately saw Himiko sitting at the closest table to the entrance, and it was at that point she realized that nothing would get done.

“H-Hi again Himiko!” Tenko nervously greeted.

“Nyeh? Oh, hi again Tenko.” She replied, sluggish as ever.

…

…

…

“S-so, how-”

“Nyahaha! Angie is here!” Agnie shouted, barging into the classroom, scaring Tenko out of her pants.

Himiko’s attention perked up, and she gasped. “Oh my gosh, hi again Angie!” Himiko said, smiling widely. Angie sat right next to her, leaving Himiko between the two girls.

“Hello again Himiko! I hope your day was simply grand!” Angie said, not losing a beat of that energy.

“Nyeh. It was okay. I met Tenko, too.” Himiko gestured towards Tenko without taking her eyes off of Angie.

“H-Hi again, Angie.” Tenko tried to smile. She was NOT jealous, she was FINE. Himiko can have as many friends as she wants, even if they are religious weirdos who talk about hearing voices.

“Hello again Tenko! I hope you had a blessed day as well!” He nodded, clasping her hands in prayer.

Tenko nodded. “Y-Yeah, I did. I met both of you guys today.”

Himiko gasped. “You guys met? That’s great! We should totally hang out! I can teach you guys magic!”

‘H-H-H-H-HIMIKO JUST INVITED ME ON A DATE!?’ Tenko thought to herself. Well with one other person, but hanging out with Himiko was more than enough for her.

“S-Sure! I’d love that, Himiko!”

Angie chuckled again, “Then it is settled! Let us get together after class!”

As class ended, Himiko and Angie were still talking about every little thing that came to mind. Tenko almost got some words in, but she was mostly listening. And by listening, she was listening to Himiko. Class had wrapped up, and everyone was leaving - one boy, very, very fast.

“So, where we meeting, Himiko?” Tenko asked, antsy to hang out some more.

“Hmmm… I think the courtyard outside building V will be a nice place to practice magic… It’s got a nice open area, and there’s a mana spot directly on top of it.” Himiko slowly said. She seemed… very tired.

“Reeally Himiko? That’s amazing, I’m living in building V as well!” Angie cheered.

“Y-Yeah. We’re roommates, Angie.” Himiko replied bluntly.

“Wait, for real?” Tenko asked, “I live in building V too!”

“...weird.” Himiko commented.

The trio left the classroom, eventually finding themselves outside in the orange setting sun. There was a guy just… standing there. Weird.

“This place is so beautiful.” Tenko observed, gazing around the beautiful alpine trees, with their blue tinted leaves and slightly red trunks.

“Such beautiful creations from Atua! It is a shame that regular humans cannot see it.” Angie laments, without losing her smile.

Himiko was seemingly less impressed, “Nyeh… it’s pretty good I guess. My master’s tower - now that’s an amazing forest.”

“That sounds awesome, Himiko! Do you have any pictures?” Tenko enthusiastically.

Himiko broke into a small sweat, “Uh… no. I didn’t have a phone at the time. I have plenty of paintings though…” Himiko started swiping through her phone, and showed Angie and Tenko a picture of a painted, vibrant evergreen forest with trees of many colors, from blue to yellow, to red. It was painted as though it were referenced from a high window or a mountain top.

“Woww! That’s an amazing painting, Himiko! Atua praises your artistic ability!” she cheered, clasping her hands together again.

“Yeah! You’re a good artist, Himiko!” Tenko added, equally enthused

Himiko blushed, “Aw… th-thanks.” Surrounded by cute girls complimenting you? What’s not to love?

The three of them arrived at the ‘magic spot’ Himiko had referred to in front of Building V. It was a large bluish patch of grass, with flowers, with a few fireflies coming out early.

“Wow,” Tenko said, “You know how to pick the spots, Himiko.”

Himiko took off her backpack, pulling out the staff that was tucked into it.. “Nyeh, not really. They leave these untouched for us Mages who come here, so you can find a few here and there.” She walked to the center of the small grassy area, and spread her arms out wide, holding up the staff.

“So… what would you guys like to see first?” Himiko asked.

Tenko thought for a moment… “Use your favorite spell Himiko!”

Himiko nodded. She took off her hat, and showed the inside to them - nothing. She tapped her staff to the inside of the hat’s rim, and stuck her hand in - out came a dove!

Angie clapped. “That was amazing Himiko, a miracle sent by Atua!”

Tenko expected something with a bit more spectacle... but as long as it was from Himiko, Tenko was captivated. As the sun set, Himiko brought out more tricks - cards were pulled from thin air, handkerchiefs from every which way of her body, detaching her thumb, disappearing objects, the works - for a magician that is. Not that Tenko was any less impressed, mind you.

“And now… for my final act!” Himiko announced.

“Ooooh, I can’t wait!” Tenko said to herself excitedly.

Himiko twirled her staff in her hand like a baton, as light started to form at the tip, creating a light show - but she wasn’t done yet. Suddenly, she held her staff like a broom, and then tucked it between her legs. What was the trick gonna be here?

Himiko suddenly hovered off the ground - and then flew. Trails of pink, purple, white, and blue particles of light flew behind her, creating a show akin to fireworks. She then stood up on her staff, and grabbed it from under her feet. Now hovering in the air without her staff, she pointed it to the sky, and balls of light shot out of her staff, exploding high up into the sky in red, blue, and yellow fireworks.

Tenko’s jaw was on the floor, as her and Angie wildly cheered for Himiko. Tenko couldn't pry her eyes off the performance - but not the fireworks. Upwards at the mage… her smiling in the light of her own bright and beautiful magic.

Himiko slowly fell to the ground in front of them, now looking very sleepy. “Th-There you have it… the amazing Himiko Yumenoooooo…” her voice came to a stop as she fell backwards onto the grass.

“Hi-Himiko!” Tenko shouted, running to her side. Tenko picked her up, lifing her head up towards her. "H-Himiko! Are you okay!?"


“Myyyeeehhhhhhh…” Himiko groaned, as though she had just been awoken from a really nice nap.

“Ahhh, worry not my dear Tenko - she is simply resting. As you saw, Himiko has very potent magic - using it causes her to burn through her mana quite quickly. She must now rest for the night.” Angie lifted the sleeping magician up in her arms. “I had a blessed day thanks to you Tenko! Bye-onara!”

She walked off to one of the dorm rooms on the first floor of building V. As soon as they were out of eyesight, Tenko sat on the grass. She thought back to Himiko’s show - her passion for the craft, her amazing power, her wonderful personality, the way she smiles, and the way her eyes sparkle when she talks about magic, all of her cute little ticks, all of HER in general...

“Damn it…” Tenko said aloud, falling backwards onto the grass, spreading her arms out, staring into the moonlit sky as the remnants of Himiko’s red firework slowly trailed down, and landed in Tenko’s hand. It happened faster than she expected - she had anticipated that she would find some sparks with someone while she was in college, especially with other meta-humans. She thought she'd have a crush or two and then find someone truly worth settling for. But, fate decided to skip straight to the very end.

She was head over heels for Himiko.

Chapter Text

The sun had finally risen and shone through Maki’s window - she stepped away from it to shield her skin, being a vampire and all. While she didn’t turn to dust like media frequently depicted, with the lack of pigmentation, she gets sunburnt easily. She had just wrapped up her first day of class, and an interesting few days they were - meeting Shuichi and Kaito, finding that her, Kaito have the exact same schedule for both days of the week she has class, Shuichi seeing through the masquerade, (perhaps she shouldn’t underestimate him…?) the heartbreaking story of Shuichi and Kaede - as emotionless as she felt, even that hit her pretty hard, she felt as though she could relate to it - And Not to mention, Kokichi, that little shit.

So, after everything, waking up in her nearly spotless apartment (thanks Kirumi,) she was going to try to take it easy today.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

God. Damn it. Whatever. Probably not meant for her anyways. Just wait until Kirumi gets the door.

Kirumi made her way out of her room, crawling in the wall on the way - she was an Arachne, which meant that the lower half of her body had the appearance of that of a spider’s, as well as of 6 additional eyes on her head, all 8 of them being a deep red. It was a bit jarring to Maki at first, but Kirumi was so ridiculously nice that she was easily able to put it aside.

“I’ll get it, Miss Harukawa.” Kirumi said, realigning herself with the ground and tucking her spider half’s abdomen closer to her body to make her appear smaller to anyone unaffected by the masquerade. The large amount of space she took up appeared to Masked individuals as a large dress.

Kirumi answered the door, and greeted the guest

Please. Please don’t be-

“HeyyyaAaAAAAAAA K-K-Kirumi!” Kaito shrieked. “I-Is Maki-roll in?”

Damn it.

Kirumi bowed her head. “Welcome, Kaito. Yes, she is in at the moment. Would you like to come in?”

Well, it’s  better than Kokichi. Maki stood up from lying on her bed, and walked into the living room.

“Hey! There she is.” Kaito said, with a smile on his face.

“Hey.” Maki simply responded. “Why are you here?”

Kaito bumped his fists together, “Well, we’re pretty new in town, and we’re both off today, so how would you like to take a look around town?”

“Oh! That sounds like a splendid idea, Kaito. Would you like me to accompany you as a guide? I have assisted as one before.” Kirumi asked.

Kaito flinched, remembering the giant spider girl in the room. “Aw, n-no it’s fine Kirumi. I’m sure you’re very busy.”

Kirumi nodded back in response, and returned to cleaning duties. “Very well. Let me know how else I can be of service.”

“So, whaddya say, Maki-Roll?” Kaito offered.

Maki thought about it for a moment. Does she want to do something? Kind of. Does she know what she wants to do? No, not really. Does she want to do it with Kaito? Not particularly. But… “Fine. Only because I know you’re not gonna stop bothering me about it.”

“Hell yeah! After dropping the Masquerade thing, I’m looking forward to seeing how things have changed around town, maybe we’ll find some cool stuff!.”

Maki glanced at the ground. “Maybe.”

The two reached the center of town, which was just north of Hope’s Peak. Wonderfully, it was within walking distance, and the fall weather had the temperature at a perfect chill. There was a roundabout in the center of the town, surrounded by stores and the park that was adjacent to Hope’s Peak.

“Whoa! Now this is what I think of when I think “American town!” Kaito commented, absorbing the sights.

Maki nodded. “Yeah. most of them aren’t like this though.” She peered around, spotting various different types of Meta-Humans pacing around the plaza. An easy crowd to get away in-

She shook her head. ‘Not now, Harukawa. You’re here on leisure.’

“Well, let’s start checkin’ around the place!” Kaito said, walking towards the first store on his right.

“...which ones are we going to?” Maki asked

Kaito grinned. “All of ‘em!”

First store was a sort of thrift store, with a Masquerade veil over a door in the back - presumably the Meta-Human section.

“Ooh, nice and cozy. I love a good thrift shop, you?” Kaito asked

Maki shook her head, avoiding eye contact with Kaito. “Never been to one before.”

Kaito gasped as though he had heard her insult the stars themselves. “You’ve NEVER been!? Well let’s look around then!” He dragged her gently by the hand, as they paraded around the store, looking at all of the various clothes, nick-knacks, furniture, and whatever else it had in store for them. All the while, Kaito spent the time explaining the fun of thrifting and some one the cool finds he had found - apparently, his current favorite shirt was one he had picked from a thrift store, and he had found a number of rare movies and games for Shuichi. After a good thirty minutes of browsing, they were stopped by the veil. Or rather, Kaito was.

Kaito shook like a leaf, and Maki looked over at him with a mix of annoyance and amusement. “We don’t have to go in if you don’t wanna.”

“I-I-I Know that! I’m just… really curious what might be in there…!” Kaito said, his voice more shrill than he had wanted.

“Trust me. It’s not nearly as interesting as you think it is.” Maki frowned, walking in. Kaito followed closely, parting the curtain to reveal…

…a completely normal room.

“Huh. I… don’t know what I expected, frankly.” Kaito chuckled.

However, while the room was normal, the merchandise was far from it. A huge number of what Kaito could assume were magical apparatuses were in the section in front of them. When he further examined the room, he saw lots of other sections - seemingly similar to the non-meta store, but with very different merchandise that he couldn’t begin to understand without some sort of guidance. Maki began inspecting the pile, grabbing what looked like a flute.

“Huh. Been looking for one of these.” she commented.

Kaito glanced down at it. “Wh-What is it?”

Maki blew gently into the mouthpiece of the flute, and a lovely whistle came out of it, the noise feeling as though it was enveloping them. “Sun-Shield Flute. Casts a small spell that keeps the sun from burning my skin too badly.”

“Oh. Well that’s handy.” Kaito reached into the pile, pulling out a small wooden desktop globe on a stand. “What’s this one? Looks pretty neat.”

Maki held it, and examined it closely. “It’s a Globe of Scrying. This one will let you use a scrying spell, and show you any random point on the Earth. So, in other words, you can spy on a lot of fish if you want to.”

Kaito makes a confused face. “Why… would someone make this?”

Maki handed it back to him. “Sometimes making magic items doesn’t work out perfectly. Even the smallest variation in instructions can result in something completely different and absurd.”

“Huh. Kinda like baking.” He held onto the globe, while they browsed further. Magical clothing, other various do-dads, movies and games related to Meta-Humans and other cryptids, some old games and movies made by Metas, old technology that seemed to be specialized for Meta uses that Kaito was very curious about. Particularly, he spotted another globe looking object.

Naturally, Kaito was intrigued. “What’s this now?” he said with rising excitement.

It looked like half of a crystal ball that was fully black sitting on an aluminum stand the size of a dinner plate. “Oh. This is something you’d like.” Maki placed her hand on it. Suddenly, she and Kaito were enveloped in space. Kaito gasped, and fell over.

“Holy…” Kaito was taken aback, eyes now scouring the set of stars around him.

“It’s a Galaxy Seer. Lets you look into a defined place in space. Though, having a used one is pretty useless since you need to be able to place the output physically. So in other worlds, only extraterrestrials.” Maki explained, Kaito captivated.

“Why would someone give this away?” Kaito asked.

Maki shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe because it’s in this empty space and they didn’t know how to change where it was. Shame that there’s not a planet or something in view.”

She put her hand on the center of the crystal ball, and the visual of space receded, placing it back on the shelf, only for it to be grabbed by Kaito.

“Are you kidding me? I’m not leaving this behind!” 

Maki raised an eyebrow at him. “Why? There’s nothing there.”

Kaito scoffed, “Are you kidding me? A part of space that I’ve never seen, a brand new entire sky’s worth of stars to gaze at! Hundreds of new constellations to name! I would pay a fortune for that, and here it is for twenty bucks!” Kaito held the smaller globe and the Galaxy Seer in his hands

Maki, for a moment, saw his grin and thought it was… cute.

She shook her head again. ‘Don’t get attached.’

The two continued their trek around the town, Kaito experiencing how the Meta side of these stores differed from what he was normally accustomed to - different flavors of ice cream at the sweets shop, candy that he didn’t recognize, some that maki warned would kill him (apparently Mercury is a dessert to some non-humans.) In alleyways, there were various types of cuisine that were specific to types of Meta-humans. Werewolf, Zombie, and even Vampire ran restaurants.

“Huh,” Kaito said, “I guess Vampires are given a bad rap by the media?” He looked up at the sign of what looked to be a family owned restaurant. He wondered what Vampire culture was like.

“To an extent.” Maki replied. “Most of them are regular people, but there are some pretty bad ones - we’ve all heard of Vlad the Impaler, naturally.”

“Really? The guy that inspired them in the first place?" Kaito chuckled. "Color me surprised."

They found an all Meta clothing store, with a huge variety of sections for different creatures. Despite them both being humanoid, Kaito still wanted to take a look around, gasping and peering at every piece of clothing altered for some kind of meta that he saw. By the end of the day, they had worn themselves out, and had returned to where they started, at the northmost point of Hope’s Peak. The sun was slowly turning a gentle orange, Kaito could almost feel Maki growing more comfortable as it became darker.

“Well, that was an unproductive day. Sorry if this was… boring, just listening to me explain things.” Maki said to Kaito, looking down and fiddling with one of her pigtails.

“You kidding me? I had a great time with you! This stuff that’s second hand knowledge to you is all new to me. It was super cool to listen to you!” Kaito said, giving Maki another grin. Another one of his god damned absolutely adorable grins.

Maki looked at Kaito, bashfully brushing some of her hair behind her ear. “Well… I get around a bit.”

“Oh yeah, what is it like to be the ‘Ultimate Child Caregiver?’ It sounds a bit taxing.”

Maki’s face became serious. “You have no idea. For some reason kids just… gravitate to me.”

“I bet it’s because they know that you have a kind personality deep down!”

“Do you wanna die?”

“I can tell. You’ve been humoring me, so you at least try to care about others.”

Maki scoffed at him. “How about we stop analyzing my life?” She turned away and started walking back to her dorm.

“How long are you going to run away?”

Maki stopped in her tracks. She turned around to see Kaito giving her a straight face. For once, no bombastic expressions.

“...What?”

Kaito stepped closer to Maki.

“Your mask is coming down… I could tell just by looking at you today.”

He stopped, looking her in the eye. “You’re not the terrifying person others think you are… you’re scared.”

“...”

“So, what are you scared of?”

“Huh? What I’m…?”

“You don’t need to tell me what it is as long as you know it yourself. Just… how long are you going to run away from it?”

“...Run away?”

“You’ve been running away. It’s disappointing to see. But… if you want to stand against it, even a little… I’ll train with you! So you can be strong!” A smile finally returned to his face.

Maki’s face was cold. Staring into Kaito’s soul with her blood red eyes. Kaito was starting to anger her.

But, her anger subsided, glancing away from him.

“So? What are you gonna do?” Kaito asked her.

“Fine, I’ll train with you, I guess. Only because you’re going to bug me about this if I don’t. The only way to deal with idiots like you is to give up and keep nodding.”

“H-Hey, c’mon! Well… whatever. I’m always gonna be here for you. Shuichi and I are gonna be in the blue grass patch near the dorm building. Come join us!”

“...fine.” Maki replied, rolling her eyes.

“Alright!” Kaito celebrated, “We’ll see you there, Maki-roll!”

Kaito walked off to the dorms, Maki remaining in the gentle twilight.

She wonders if he remembers her.

Chapter Text

Shuichi was walking to school like usual, as he did every year before. He had transferred from a different city about 2 years ago now, and he had begun his third year of High School. It was rough for him, moving to a new place, but with the help of his best friend Kaito, he eventually found his place. And finally on his trek to school today, Shuichi had just reached the part of his route where Kaito usually joined joined him. He came running, wearing the school’s signature uniform, a purple button up jacket with pants of the same color. Shuichi was still wearing the one from his last school, a dark gray jacket with white vertical pinstripes on it, as well as the hat - it wasn’t mandatory but it helped Shuichi feel more comfortable. If it ever got wet, he could still smell sea water on it.

“Mornin’ Shuichi! How’s my sidekick today?” Kaito said, patting Shuichi on the back.

“A-Ah, I’m… I’m good, Kaito, thanks.” Shuichi muttered.

“So, what’s on the plate for today in terms of detective work?”

Shuichi pulled out his planner to show Kaito. “Today is a strange one. There’s been a series of disappearances and lots of paranormal happenings reported in a neighboring town. Normally I ignore the paranormal stuff, as they’re frequently nothing, but there've been about 20 reports from this town this week, on top of the disappearances . There’s too much activity for this to be a coincidence.”

Kaito shook his head. “Jeeze. Yakuza, you think?”

Shuichi shrugged. “I don’t think so, unless a Yakuza group has been disguising themselves as yōkai as their gimmick, as that’s a lot of what people are reporting.”

Kaito coughed.

“...you okay, Kaito?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. Just… choked on a bit of spit.” He replied, wiping his mouth.

Shuichi shrugged, and they continued their walk to school. Shuichi kept ruminating on the upcoming case. Disappearances weren’t anything he had tackled before, could he handle it? What was all the paranormal activity about? Were they even connected? He was uneasy regarding this sort of thing.

When the exhaustingly long day of school wrapped up, Shuichi and Kaito immediately went to the train station to head towards the town where the disappearances were happening. Shuichi couldn’t tell from the shaking of the train, but was Kaito shaking…? Probably not. It’s Kaito! He’s usually pretty level headed in these situations. Shuichi informed his uncle that they were en route to the location, and he sent some more information that had come up in his research. Apparently, there were some recurring details that kept showing up in these reports - something about a woman being seen near the scene, and a visible description, most notably their thigh length dark hair. On top of that, something… much more unusual.

“Kaito, what do you make of this?” Shuichi asked him, showing him the picture on his phone.

Kaito looked at the picture and his eyes widened. What was shown was a hand holding what looked to be a sharp, pointed tooth - and a big one at that. “P-Probably planted evidence! To scare people off, y’know!”

Could it really be? Seems a bit too far-fetched for Shuichi to believe someone genuinely thought that would serve as a distraction.

After they stopped at the station, Shuichi and Kaito were looking out the window. Shuichi was unsure of what was strange, but there was an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. “H-Hey, Kaito…?” Shuichi asked.

He looked at Kaito to his right, and found that Kaito was continuing to shake like a leaf. “Y-Y-Y-Y-Yeah, Shuichi?”

“...nothing, you ready?” Maybe best not to tell Kaito, about that gut feeling. He knew he’d never admit it, but Kaito was clearly terrified at the prospect of anything paranormal.

The town, honestly, was nothing to write home about. It didn’t even differ terribly much from Kaito and Shuichi’s home town, it was… really, really normal.

Kaito craned his head around the public area, checking the small crowd buzzing around the street. “I don’t see how someone could go missing in a place like this.”

Shuichi shook his head. “A-Actually, a crowd is an easy place to go missing in. You’d be less likely to notice someone going somewhere they’re not meant to be when your peripheral vision is filled with-” Shuichi saw a girl, with brown hair, but deep red eyes in his peripheral vision, but only for a moment as she receded back into the crowd. “...other people.”

Shuichi and Kaito continued chatting about nothing in particular as they went between the last places each victim was found to search for clues. Shuichi kept noticing strange things, but nothing like concrete evidence. Lots of strange noises, and shadows in his peripheral vision. If he was more superstitious, he’d say that this area is… haunted. All of the other residents were… very aware of their presence as well. Not like watching them directly, but there was always someone within earshot. Being observed wasn't a feeling Shuichi particularly liked, but having residents nearby for testimony was very convenient, and they were very willing to give. As night approached, they finally arrived at the last spot, where the tooth was found.

“Well, this is our last stop. Better get searching.” Shuichi told Kaito.

Kaito nodded. “Gotcha, but if there’s another dumpster you’re taking it. I am not risking another raccoon encounter.”

Fair enough. They went through their usual routine, asking for testimony, searching hard to reach places, sometimes trash cans to find any evidence that was trying to be disposed of. Everyone in this part of town was really friendly too, so Shuichi and Kaito were relieved that they weren’t going to be cussed out by a delusional old man for going in his trash. Not this week, anyways. It seemed like they were all plenty aware of the strange happenings, Shuichi even recognized a few nameplates that shared names with people who had left reports. Everyone seemed... very invested in helping solve the case. It was almost enough to distract him from the blurred vision that kept disorienting him.

But, after about 2 hours of rigorous searching, they turned up nothing. Nothing except a strange looking needle - very durable, and very sharp. The way it curved was almost like... a hair, of some sorts.

Kaito frowned. “This perp must be super careful if you haven’t spotted anything so far Shuichi.”

Shuichi’s hand cupped his mouth. “Y-Yeah… normally I’d say that I’m just not that good, but it’s kind of odd how… little there is. These streets are practically barren. That almost wraps around to being suspicious in itself.” Shuichi said, holding the needle in his hand, peering down the oddly clean streets.

Kaito playfully punched Shuichi in the arm. “Stop it with that self doubt! You’re a good detective!” 

“S-Sorry.” Shuich looked at his phone. 9 PM. It was already immensely dark outside, Shuichi now noticed. “Ah, I guess we’d better start heading back.”

He input the directions back to the station into his phone’s map. And his eyebrow raised. “Hey, Kaito?”

“Yeah, what is it bro?” He replied, leaning over his shoulder.

“Is this… is this intersection a kilometer and a half in front of us not the same one we started at earlier today?” Shuichi said, handing Kaito the phone, and reaching into his planner.

Kaito scanned the map. “Huh, I guess that is. Funny how that came out.

Shuichi reached for his phone and began rapidly tapping. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence…” He took a screenshot of the town’s aerial view on his map, and started drawing dots where every location was. “...Shit. How did I miss that!?”

“Wh-What’s wrong, Shuichi?!” Kaito said, grabbing Shuichi to calm him down.

“All of the locations - they’re in a massive circle. If you look at all of them together, they clearly center over a particular spot - or a particular home in this case. God, how did I miss that!”

“Alright Shuichi! Good thinking, sidekick!” Kaito praised.

“Th-Thanks… but I’m still kind of worried. We might run into them.” 

Kaito bumped his fists together. “No need to worry Shuichi! You have Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars on your side! I couldn’t call myself a good hero if I let my sidekick get hurt, would I? We’re gonna check that place and confront them head on!”

Shuichi was too shy to say no. “O-Okay, but let’s try not to get in a fight… if we find them, we can just call the police.”

“Fight!? I mean I would get you outta here so we can call the cops! Christ, how reckless do you think I am, Shuichi!?”

“...reckless enough to try to fight them.”

Kaito let a bead of sweat drop. “...O-Okay, maybe I meant it the first time, but if shit goes down, we’ll run.”

Shuichi and Kaito made their way around the town, finding themselves very alone. Shuichi was now seeing more of the shadows, and more strange noises. He thought he was hearing… whispers. Footsteps. Breathing. They reached the house. It was a massive house, clearly belonging to a very well off family. Maybe it was just Yakuza behind the disappearances? 

Just then, there was a whisper in Shuichi’s ear that was particularly audible - “Turn back now.”

“I-I think maybe we should head back, if this does end up being gangsters I-I-I don’t wanna end up at the bottom of a lake.”

“Y-Yeah. We’ll do one more sweep and-”

As Kaito was talking, there was a blood curdling scream coming from somewhere behind them. 

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH-” Kaito shouted back.

“We-We should - !” Shuichi started, but saw a girl with brown hair and an ahoge in a school uniform running, screaming in pure terror.

“R-RUN! IT’S THE FUTAKUCHI-ONNA!” She desperately cried out to them.

“Th-The what!?” Kaito said, starting to get as scared as she was. Just then, as the girl stopped next to them, another figure came out from the corner, a girl with long, black, thigh length hair.

“Th-The what?! Is this who’s responsible for the disappearances? We really need to stop giving serial killers cool names!” Shuichi said, panicked.

Suddenly, the girl’s hair rose upwards, spreading out like an octopus’ tendrils, and making a loud cracking sound, like striking a whip. Her eyes suddenly burning a striking red in the dark.

The girl gripped Kaito’s arm and dragged him to go. “I-It’s not just a name…!”

There was a roar from the girl that sounded like a mix between a girl’s scream and a jet engine.

“O-OKAY, RUNNING NOW!” Kaito Shouted, grabbing Shuichi and the other girl’s arm, running full speed in the opposite direction.

“Wh-What the hell is that!?” Shuichi begged for an explanation.

“I told you, it’s the ‘two-mouthed woman!’ She’s been murdering people here for months! I-I assume you guys are also investigating?!” The girl shouted.

Shuichi peered over his shoulder, and saw the girl carrying herself off the ground with her greasy, ridiculously outstretched hair like a massive spider. He held his tongue, as he knew if he said something, Kaito would freeze like a damn statue.

Seemingly, now that the monster had come out, Shuichi felt as though he was being watched all around him, like there was a captive audience on this, cheering for him to get caught. This was not a feeling he was particularly fond of.

He heard the girl behind them whistle, and almost as if on cue, another girl had jumped out from behind a fence, growling at them. Shuichi and the game screamed and gasped again, as she looked to be deformed in some way. Adjusting to the light, Shuichi quickly noticed she had… cat-like features!? They ran around another corner, now with two monsters giving chase.

“Y-You’re gonna have to explain to me what the hell is going on!” Shuichi shouted at the mystery girl.

“W-Well, my name is Komaru, I’m a third year in highschoo-”

“HE MEANT ABOUT THE MONSTERS!” Kaito shouted at her.

“O-Okay, jeeze! Th-They’re ex-yakuza, from a group that dissolved recently, and have been killing off other Metas who were members, trying to start their own gang!” She shouted

“THE FUCK IS A META!?” Kaito asked

“J-Just keep running!”

Kaito, Shuichi, and Komaru all met another crossroads, they felt the temperature drop, as another girl in a stark white kimono emerged from a corner, with pale blue skin. Shuichi felt the cold grow even more intense, watching frost form on the ground around the girl as she approached.

“You’re cornered.” The Two-Mouthed girl said. “Give up the girl or die with her.”

Shuichi looked at Kaito. He was paralyzed upon seeing the three supernatural entities at once. “...shit.” he muttered, shaking his head. “W-Why?! Why does she need to die!?”

The girls chuckled. “She’s been snooping. ‘The New Blood Yōkai’ don’t take kindly to talkers. Especially not those Masquarade dip-shits.” the cat girl replied, barring her claws at them.

“Th-That’s it?! You’ve killed more than twenty people… to start a stupid gang!?” Shuichi spat back.

“Ooooh, we got a brave boy.” The Yuki Onna said, her mouth dripping with sarcasm, as Shuichi felt the temperatures behind him quickly declining. “We gotta establish our dominance in the community. Take out some of the big players in the old news, y'know?”

Shuichi clenched his fist and tried to shield Komaru and Kaito from the girls, but they simply laughed at the gesture.

“What are you gonna do? You’re a human. You couldn't even begin to touch us, much less stop us.” Two-Mouth said, the gaping maw on the back of her head licking, eager to feast on their flesh, no doubt.

The cat girl sniffed. “Hmmm… hmmm…” she sniffed more intensely in Shuichi’s direction as they continued their approach. “Hmmm… not entirely. There’s something else in there… something subtle.”

“Well, it won’t matter.” Two-Mouth said. “He’s not gonna live another 5 minutes.” The girl charged, hair outstretching to rip them apart.

Shuich tightly closed his eyes, keeping his defense of Kaito and Komaru in place, bracing to be annihilated by these monsters.

*SLINSH!* 

*THUD*

The two monsters in front of Shuichi and the gang gasped, looking behind them. Shuchi turned around, and saw another figure, holding a massive knife in one hand, and the head of the Yuki Onna in the other, as now slowly melting frozen blood began dripping from her neck stump.

The figure had a deep red cloak on, a school uniform under it, with her face concealed in the cowl. Her blood red eyes cut through the darkness, seemingly straight into their very souls.

She walked towards the remaining two monsters, and walked through the other teens in the way.

“Move.”

 Kaito, Shuichi, and Komaru, needless to say, complied.

“N-No way… N-No fucking way…!” The cat girl said, stumbling backwards. She started to run, but Two-Mouth grabbed her with her hair. “Sh-Shut up, we can take her!” She shouted

“Are you for real right now!?” She asked. “That’s the fucking ‘Bloodsoaked Vamp!’ We can’t take her!”

Two-Mouth shrugged. “Well, let's test that theory!” She used her hair to toss the cat girl towards the Vamp, claws and knife colliding with a loud clang, as though they were both made of metal, rapidly striking each other as the cat girl flew back and landed on her hands and feet, leaving deep scrape marks on the ground with her claws. “F-Fuck you!” She lunged again, striking for the other girl’s legs, only to be met with a jump and a slice directly to her cheek.

Two-Mouth had already started charging, the tips of her hair stiffening as though they were sharpening into blades, striking the Vamp next. She barely flinched. Six hair blades flew towards her throat at once as she used her knife to systematically divert and reflect each one of them. Without a scratch on her, she charged at the opening the girl’s hair had made.

Two Mouth ducked down, letting her second mouth open to bite the girl’s hand. The Vamp had anticipated that however, and she raised her knee to strike her in the face, knocking her upwards with a yelp. “Y-You bitch!” Dizzy, she charged again, wildly flailing her hair blades, her opponent blocking them effortlessly, until they all converged onto the blade to hold it in place.

“Ha-ha! Not so yough without your pretty knife, huh bitch?!” She taunted.

From her left hand, the Vamp stabbed her in the abdomen with another knife.

“Amature.”

“F… fuck…” The Yōkai girl collapsed, clutching her stomach and slowly bleeding out. The blood stained girl lifted her up by her hair, and slit her throat in one clean slice. She flicked the blade, causing the blood to fly off of it and splatter on the nearby wall.

The cat girl was frozen solid.

“Don’t bother running. You won’t escape me.”

“F-Fuck… I’m sorry…! I’m sorry I worked with her, I-I’m sorry I killed for her, she had my family hostage…!” She pleaded, the vampire calmly walking towards her.

The assassin held the knife to her throat. “I don’t care.”

“Stop!” Kaito had run up behind her. “She was just trying to survive! She doesn't deserve to die!” 

The cat girl trembled, looking at Kaito.

“And you believed what she said? You're an idiot.” Her deep red eyes formed a squint, aggravated at the boy.

“I want to believe in her!” Kaito shouted.

Shuichi was too paralyzed to move, watching Kaito fearlessly approach this ruthlessly efficient assassin.

“...and when she betrays you?”

Kaito grinned. “Well, that just means I made a bad call on who to believe. If I always worried about that, I wouldn't be able to believe in anyone!” 

“...is he stupid?” Komaru asked, getting shushed by Shuichi.

The assassin tilted her head at Kaito, before snapping back to the cat girl that was behind her, still cowering.

“...just go already.”

The girl's eyes widened, and she took off running.

“...I knew it.” Kaito said.

The assassin turned to him.

“You’ve got good in you somewhere. Deep down. Maybe… you can’t live with yourself for what you’ve done. But you can still hang onto that good."

She stepped closer and stared him in the eye. He could almost see her face, her cute eyes with naturally long lashes, a touch of eyeliner on them creating wings, and her gentle lips with a touch of red lipstick on them.

She quickly put her hand up to his face, and he fainted.

“KAITO…!” Shuichi cried. Shuichi ran up to him, terrified for his safety, and the assassin quickly did the same to him. Both of them were out cold, laying on the ground.

Komaru walked up to them, checking their pulses - still alive thankfully. “Wh-What did you do!?”

“They won’t remember tonight. They’re not Meta-Human. Keep quiet, and I won’t do it to you… Komaru Naegi.” The assassin said.

Komaru felt a cold sweat envelop her. “...Th-thank you.” Komaru said to her, seemingly relieved that she wasn't the assassin's next target - yet.

She disappeared into the darkness. Komaru called an ambulance, and helped Shuichi and Kaito return home, to their scared sick guardians.

Komaru sighed as she left the hospital lobby. "...Haaahhh. Byakuya's gonna give me hell for messing this one up. I hope my next assignment's easier..."

—

“…Wait…” Shuichi clutched his head, trying to remember how the story ended. “Kaito and I saw the girl run from around the corner, and then…”

Perhaps that night had always bothered Shuichi. In the back of his mind, he couldn’t believe that they just passed out from exhaustion - there was something strange about it. A string to tug at.

“Are you okay Shuichi? You look like you have a headache.” Kaede said.

Shuichi groaned, “I just… I can’t remember.”

He felt as though there was a lockbox in his head, containing the memories of the end of that night… all that he could remember beyond the girl was waking up in the hospital. He could almost visualize the gap in information in his head. He reached out… and opened the safe. Holding the information in his hand - he was visualizing himself physically holding information in his hand. He felt a burning sensation and then a sudden headache.

“Gyyyyyyyyyyyah!” Shuich shouted, panting and gasping for air as sweat ran down his face.

Kaede gasped, catching him before he fell over. “Shuichi!? Shuichi, are you okay!?”

He rubbed his head. “Y-Yeah… I-I’m fine… I don’t know what I did just now.”

“Do… Do you need a moment...? I-I'll help however I can” Kaede offered him, concern in her tone.

Shuichi ran through his memories, recalling the story in its entirety - the Two-Mouthed Woman, the Kasha girl, the Yuki Onna…

And the Assassin.

“I need to talk to Maki.”

Chapter Text

This was gonna be a great night. Training with Shuichi again, and then Maki-Roll joining them! It’ll make it way easier to get those two much more acquainted. The entourage of the Luminary of the Stars grows larger and larger! Though by ‘entourage,’ Kaito mostly means ‘friends’ - Despite the heroics talk that he always goes on about, he sees his ‘sidekicks’ as equals - hell, he finds most of them more capable than he is at times. But that was the job of a friend, no? Help them, push them further to be better people. Shuichi’s been making amazing strides with Kaede’s help, and Maki’s walls are coming down ever so slightly!

Kaito sat outside in the grass in front of their dorm building, wearing a pretty standard tank top and sweatpants combo. He checked his watch and noticed it was 10:15. That was about 15 minutes late for Shuichi, which was odd - he’s usually very punctual. But as the clock struck that time, Kaito spotted Maki walking out towards him in a red tank top and black sweatpants. He waved cheerfully, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“So. Where’s our emo boy?” Maki asked.

Kaito chuckled, “don’t worry, he’ll be here shortly. Don’t know what’s taking so long though…”

Almost as if on cue, Maki spotted Shuichi walking back towards the dorms with a Kaede in tow. They were oddly silent, before Shuichi said something to Kaede, presumably a goodbye. The boy approached the grassy area, waving goodbye to his Siren companion. She gave him a concerned glance, before waving back.

“Hey! How you doin’ Shuichi?” Kaito called out.

Shuichi waved back wordlessly, sneaking a brief glance at Maki. “I’m… good. I had a nice day out with Kaede.”

“That’s awesome to hear! What’d you guys get up to?”

“Just… reminiscing and all.”

Kaito smiled gently. “I’m glad to hear you finally got some closure after all this time.”

Shuichi returned the smile, slowly working his jacket off. “Yeah. It was… comforting to say the least.”

…

…

…

“So, are we gonna do ‘training,’ or…?” Maki snarkily said.

“A-Ah! Right, let’s get on that. How’s 100 pushups sound for tonight?” Kaito said, hyping his buddy up. 

Shuichi winced at the amount. “R-Really? We’re gonna start with 100?”

“Hey, we’ll start with that goal and see where it goes.” Kaito comforted him.

Kaito, Maki, and Shuichi got in position and started on Kaito’s mark. Shuichi, being a skinny and out of shape college freshman, was struggling to get through them, clearly pushing himself. Kaito wasn't super struggling, as strength training was somewhat important for his astronaut training - nothing crazy, but he was able to blast through them at a decent pace.

“H-How you doin’ Shuichi…?” Kaito asked.

Shuichi was struggling at about his 20th pushup after about 2 minutes. “I-I… I think I’m dying…”

“C’mon you got this Shuichi!” Kaito cheered, supporting his friend. “How about you Maki-roll?”

“...50, 51, 52 ,52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60…” Maki systematically counted, blowing through the pushups like they were nothing.

“H-Hey, Maki! What’s the deal!?” Kaito said jokingly.

“...children… are… exhausting.” she replied without missing a beat. That explanation was enough for Kaito, but that stood out to Shuichi - he had a feeling he knew why, but he wasn’t going to say anything as of yet.

By the time Maki was done, Kaito was close to wrapping up, and Shuichi was almost ready to collapse on the ground. Kaito was cheering him on to get to an even 35, while Maki corrected his posture. By the time he managed to get the 35th in, he collapsed onto the grass, panting. Not that Shuichi was slow, just that Kaito and especially Maki were fast .

Kaito sat in the grass next to the boy, also having worked up a sweat. “Nice Shuichi! 35’s not bad for your first night back!” Kaito praised, patting him on the back.

Maki was seemingly already prepared to leave, before Kaito caught her eyes, and patted on the grass for her to sit next to him. She gave him a frown. Kaito met that with a roll of his eyes, and gestured for her to come over.

“Fine.” she said, sitting down next to the boys.

Shuichi rolled himself up off of the grass. “Ah, shoot… Kaito, could you go back up to the apartment? I left my water bottle up there… actually, you did too, it looks like.”

Kaito’s eyes darted around. “Aw crap, yeah I did… I’ll be right back, Maki-roll!”

Maki rolled her eyes, and Kaito jogged back to the building, leaving Shuichi and Maki alone.

Maki tapped her fingers on the grass impatiently.

“...so, you knocked out those pushups pretty fast.” Shuichi commented.

Maki nodded. “I gave myself a very strict regimen growing up. Like I said, children are a pain. High energy makes them hard to keep up with if I’m not fit.”

Shuichi nodded back, “I imagine vampire strength helps a lot too.”

Maki rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Don’t believe everything you see in the media. You don’t get much stronger upon becoming a vampire.”

“Really? What kind of abilities do come with it, if any?”

Maki squinted. “Is there a point to this? I don’t really like talking about this.”

“Uhh… humor me?” Shuichi shrugged.

Maki found the statement fairly innocuous, but Shuichi was the Ultimate Detective. The type of person that doesn’t ask a question just to be ‘humored.’ What was his endgame here?

“...well at the most basic level I can’t die unless directly killed. That one’s a given. Heightened senses is another helpful one for- ” don’t say stealth, don’t say killing, don’t say avoiding gunshots “ -keeping track of the anklebiters. I can also use my eyes to hypnotize people, if I really want to. Gives me a huge headache, and I really don’t like doing it though. And, while I’m out of practice, I can use ‘beast shape’ to an extent.

“What about the need for blood?” Shuichi asked. Oh boy. Maki’s favorite question.

“I don’t take it from -” don’t say targets “- living people if that’s what you’re worried about. I get bags from blood banks and sometimes butcheries.”

“Y-Yeah that’s about what I figured. A Bloodsoaked Vamp isn’t something Hope’s Peak would want to invite here.” Shuichi said, giving her a friendly look.

Maki’s eyes widened and her body tensed up for about a little under half a second. “Yeah. Thankfully we don’t have to worry about that.” She stood up from the grass, and turned away from Shuichi. “Goodnight.”

Shuichi stood up, anticipating this reaction. “I remember that night. Kaito may as well, eventually.” 

Maki stopped, giving Shuichi the same stare he had seen all of those years ago, her hair standing up on end and emanating a red glow.

“Do you wanna die?”

The detective didn’t flinch, but felt a drop of sweat creep down his face. “It doesn’t matter to me what you’ve done in your past. I’m sure whatever it is that led you down that path, you have your reasons. But Kaito has a right to know too.”

Shuichi’s golden yellow eyes met Maki’s blood red. Neither of them flinched. “If you tell him…”

“I won’t. You need to be the one who does.”

“No, I don’t actually. I don’t need to tell him.”

“Then what will do when he remembers? Kaito’s not stupid. He’ll put it together eventually. I already know that you don’t want to hypnotize him again.”

Maki couldn’t argue with that, as much as she wanted to. “Well, I’ve been trying to keep my distance, but the idiot won’t stop talking to me. As soon as he figures out what I am, it’ll be a non-issue.”

“That’s true. And if that’s what you want, I’ll respect your decision. But before you do, let me ask you one thing.”

Maki tilted her head, her stare growing more inquisitive than intimidating.

“Is that what you want?”

“...what I want doesn’t matter.”

“No, that’s wrong. It does matter.” Shuichi walked closer to Maki, expression unchanging, and said words that Maki could never have prepared for:

“You deserve happiness.”

Shuichi felt Maki’s aura roar, every piece of her screaming to him ‘I will kill you.’

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How many?”

“Over two-hundred.” she quickly responds, almost as though she was waiting to confess. “I’ve lost count.”

“How many did you want to?” Shuichi followed.

Maki stood silent, her mouth now agape. That was a much easier amount to count.

Shuichi smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

His reaction was unlike anything she had seen before. Disgust, hatred, pity, anger, fear. But Shuichi showed none of those. Shuichi was apologetic. He was caring. It didn’t matter to him. The girl clenched her fists, staring down at the ground, trembling, fighting tears with all of her might, not showing a single one.

He walked up to her, gently placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You’re not a monster. You never were.”

Maki could fight it no longer. She collapsed to the ground and let out quiet sobs.

Kaito had just made it down the stairs of the dorms, when he saw Maki fall to her knees on the grass.

He rushed over, urgently praying for her safety. “Maki! What’s wrong?”

“She’s… having a bit of a rough time right now.” Shuichi said.

Kaito nodded while kneeling to give Maki a reassuring touch. “Do you need to talk about it?”

Maki quietly nodded, bringing a gasp to Shuichi. “A-Are you sure you’re ready Maki…?”

She nodded again, stifling tears again. “I mean, now’s as good of a time as any.”

She straightened herself out a bit, and looked at Kaito. “Kaito…”

“...yeah?” Kaito responded, in an equally quiet and gentle tone.

“...I apologize in advance for the headache.”

“What? What’s that -” Kaito said, before being stopped by Maki’s hand outstretched in front of Kaito’s face. A faint static-y sound rang out, and Kaito groaned, “-AAAHHH I UNDERSTAND NOW-”

He clutched his head, panting. “Thank you for the warning Maki-roll, but ow… ow…”

“So… do you remember that night now?” Maki asked. She masked her voice well, but she was terrified of Kaito’s response. He would be disgusted. He would be terrified. He would push her away, never to see her again, as things were supposed to go. ‘How could I be friends with a monster like you?’ He would ask.

“Y-Yeah, I do. Damn…” Kaito cursed. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you as soon as I saw you!”

“Wh-what?” Maki was dumbfounded.

“When I first met you! I don’t know how my brain could’ve missed that connection with those dark red eyes. And that long hair! Though I guess you were wearing a cloak back then…”

“I-I hypnotized you into forgetting with my vampire powers, of course you didn’t remember. It doesn’t work like that.” Maki said, still unable to contain her surprise at Kaito’s lax reaction.

“Ahh, yeah, that makes sense. It’s just weird because it felt like the memory was… always there, and I’m only just now remembering it.”

“...Anyways. I’ll get out of your life now then.” Maki stood up and began walking towards the dorms.

Kaito grabbed her wrist, stopping her. “Hey, hang on! What do you mean 'get out of my life…?'"

She turned to glance at Kaito. “Well, you know what I am now. I’m a monster and a terrible person. I’m sure you want nothing to do with me.” a somber expression in her face, she looked away from him, as though she was used to this now.

“That’s not what I saw that night, Maki.” He said, his smile eternally unwavering. “What I saw was someone who saved three random people from something they could never understand. I saw you spare one of them and, us.”

Kaito couldn’t see Maki’s face, but he had a feeling it was pretty dumbfounded, or angry at him being an idiot.

“I could never 'want nothing to do with you'... because what I saw that night when I looked into your eyes was a lost and terrified girl. A girl who had finally been seen. Not a vampire, not a killer, not a monster… I saw Maki Harukawa.”

Maki trembled again at his response. There was nothing about this she understood. She expected so much rejection, violent hate, petrifying fear, and she wouldn’t have blamed them… but two people - no, two of her friends, had forgiven her like it was nothing.

She felt something warm run down her cheek. No… she can’t be crying again… not already…

She turned to face Kaito, eyes fixed to the ground. Without a word, she hugged him.

“You’re an idiot…”

The next morning, there was a knock on Shuichi and Kaito’s dorm room. Kaito, being an early riser, was the first to reach the door. Outside the door was Maki in some morning clothes, with grocery bags and Kirumi in tow.

“Oh! Mornin’ Maki-roll, nice to see you bright and early.”

She couldn’t meet eyes with Kaito for some reason. “Yeah. Me and Kirumi came to make you guys breakfast. As… thanks.”

“Oh! Well come on in, I’ll help you guys out.” Kaito offered.

Kirumi shook her head, “there is no need for that, Kaito. Me and Miss Harukawa are more than happy to serve. I would handle it myself, but Miss Harukawa vehemently insisted that she also help-”

“Anyways, wake up Shuichi, it’s gonna be time to eat soon.” Maki interrupted.

After waking Shuichi up, Kirumi and Maki got started in the kitchen - Shuichi somehow unbothered by the giant spider woman that was now in his home (getting used to it at this point, Kaito supposed,) sat down at the table and made small talk between the three of them over a cup of coffee.

“- so, you said you wanted to bring this stuff over to help as a thank you, right?” Kaito asked at the tail end of an anecdote.

Maki nodded.

“Okay… uh, what for?”

Maki gave him a confused look. “...are you stupid?”

“Wh-What!? What do you mean!?” Kaito demanded, Shuichi letting out a chuckle.

“Y’know… the whole ‘okay with me being a terrible person and a monster’ thing.” Maki deadpanned.

“Oooooh, that!” Kaito said, as though suddenly struck with the memory. “Eh, it doesn’t really matter that much to me.”

“Me neither.” Shuichi seconded.

“Nor I.” Kirumi corroborated.

“I… I just don’t understand how you guys are just okay with that. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I wasn’t already doing this for nearly 200 years.” Maki said.

“Well, that’s the thing Maki. You don't approve of it. You didn’t want to kill those people. You’d undo it if you could, you’d stop if you could. From the moment I met you, I knew you were a good person. I’m not gonna ask you to elaborate now since it’s probably some painful memory… but I know you have a reason to do it.” Kaito clenched his fist, a resolute expression on his face. It quickly switched to a grin as he met Maki’s gaze. “And if you want to stop it, I’ll help you stop it!”

Shuichi smiled at Kaito’s positive attitude, even if it was a bit of a naive sentiment.

Time and time again, Maki was taken by surprise by this man. How could one person be so accepting? So kind, and understanding? So forgiving. She thought that she didn’t deserve him… but maybe she could learn to accept that someday. Maki simply shook her head. “You’re a moron.”

Kaito chuckled. “Yeah, but you’re smiling.”

She placed a hand to her face, and realized that she could only concede.

"...I suppose I am.”

Chapter Text

It was finally time… after years of hard work, obtaining (stealing) parts, putting them together, modifying them, breaking them and fixing them, in every which way in between intentional and unintentional alike, Miu was almost done. All she had to do was complete the data transfer.

You see, Miu was an inventor. A damn good one, too. But one thing she never seemed to grasp with her gorgeous golden brain, was companionship. Love. FFFFFFeeeeelings. She had plenty of crushes and flings, sure, but she never felt particularly passionate about them in the same way she did about inventing, and that just didn’t sit well with her. Should love not have her head over heels, above all else? Seeing her friend Kaede hanging out with her boytoy made her so incredibly jealous, as much as she insisted they were ‘just friends’ (yeah, right.)

So the most logical conclusion was to combine her passions - building the perfect boyfriend! How could she not see it before? Well, her golden brain would’ve come to the conclusion eventually. But regardless of that, she was done. The body was finally complete! What stood in front of her was a robotic humanoid body - a 5’2” fairly average male build, 8K camera eyes, soft artificial hair, and most importantly, a layer of silicone skin to go over his metal exterior with artificial nerves that Miu built specially for this.

Now last but not least was a candidate for the brain. As mentioned, she had a data transfer ready with a strong AI created by the esteemed Dr. Idabashi. Which led to her second biggest problem. The thing was, that a strong AI didn’t exist. Nor did Dr. Idabashi. Not yet, at least.

Which led to her biggest secret - the staircase under her bed that led to a giant underground lab - in there was a suitcase that unfolded into a warp gate to the future. In Miu’s youth, she was in a terrible car accident. The accident left her close to death, and comatose. After the matter, what brought her back was a surgery that augmented her brain. The surgery was a success, and Miu eventually regained consciousness! But during her recovery period she found herself incredibly restless. Her brain was suddenly swimming with ideas for inventions - she could barely stay at rest when she recovered, and was only convinced under the condition that she be given broken hospital equipment to tamper with - during which she created a rudimentary mechanical limb, which would eventually turn into the multi-armed backpack she currently wore.

But what was most intriguing to her was the visualization of something big. It had to be. Swirling patterns of blueprints and energy, all tempting her to create… something. Something that was almost unfathomable to her. She wasn’t sure what it was but… well it had to be something, right?

What emerged from her mind into a real life invention was a suitcase - when opened, it fashioned itself into a door. On the door was a terminal asking for an input: MM/DD/YYYY X:XX PM/AM. Weird. She input a date randomly, and pressed enter. What she realized upon putting in that date was that the door was a portal generator that could take her from the past to the present. She walked through the portal into her hometown, in the early 2000s, a little before she was born.

“Holy shit.”

She grinned wildly, and immediately, impulsively set the date far into the future - to find a prospering human society where she explored to her heart's content. Upon visiting a robotics lecture, she met a boy her age named Doctor Keebo Idabashi. Both of them being young inventors (Keebo had a doctorate at 15, for crying out loud,) they both immediately hit it off. Despite the contrast in their personalities, Keebo being a young and shy boy who loved robotics and did his work very by the numbers in safe and controlled environments, and Miu being a bombastic, vulgar inventor who frequently tempted fate with her unstable creations, they both became fast friends, and started sharing each other's interests and projects. With his futuristic tech, he helped her improve her time portal, and gave her a workshop to use freely.

While Miu was making gadgets that let you eat while you slept, Idabashi was creating what he called a ‘Strong AI,’ an AI that could learn in the same way a human did, in short. While Programming wasn’t her specialty, she found it quite interesting, and ended up toying with it, making highly advanced learning algorithms with her own tech. Miu would spend upwards of weeks in his time period, doing basically everything with him. Eventually she was worried that her parents would notice that she was aging much faster than she should, but after moving out that was a non-issue. Due to his extensive work (and fear of being trapped in the past,) Keebo didn't venture to the past often. Which was fine with Miu, as she hated the past.

After a few years with Keebo, she eventually found herself thinking about the relationship problem again - Keebo was a good friend, yeah, but she assumed he didn’t like her that way. Keebo deserved... better, as far as she was concerned. And that was fine, she didn’t want to ruin a good thing with her fffffffffffffffffffeeeeelings for him. Until one day, she had entered his lab and found a note from Keebo.

“Miu,

I am sorry to leave you off like this, but I’ve found that I have no choice. I am sorry that I’ve hidden this from you, but as of the day of this note’s writing I will be going under surgery to remove a tumor from my brain. If you are reading this note, then I fear the worst may have happened to me. In the case of my indefinite absence, I wanted you to know that you made my last few years on this earth absolutely fantastic. I love you so much. I wish I could say that to you in person, but the opportunity has escaped me. Please, face the world. Make them know your name. Show them that golden brain of yours, and create a world beyond anyone’s imagination.

 - Keebo Idabashi”

Her hands couldn’t stop shaking, tears staining the paper. His grandfather and guardian informed her that Keebo had fallen into a coma, and would likely not be waking up. A coma. A FUCKING COMA. The word had grown into something haunting over the past few years. Hearing it again felt akin to a gunshot to the stomach to her. She could barely bring herself to the hospital to check on him. His beautiful head, bandaged indefinitely. Containing his genius. His personality. Everything about him.

Gone.

From that point, she had a mission. Keebo would not die. She refused to let that happen. Miu worked for three straight years - she thinks at least; she had lost track of any sense of time, going between the present and the future so often - creating a device that could copy and convert Keebo’s brain - his memories, personality, habits, ideas, every little thing she loved about him into beautiful data.

Combining the efforts of her and Keebo’s own work, she would, in theory, be able to make a functioning AI version of Keebo with his memories that would learn, grow, and behave as a human would that could also inhabit a robotic body. All that she needed to do was wait. Believe it or not, nearly 2.5 petabytes of data was a lot to stuff into one AI. Petabyte hard drives aren't unheard of in Keebo’s future, but that didn’t make it feel much faster watching it copy from her future PC into a hard drive she modified to work with the robot body.

Ten days. It took Ten days for all the data to transfer and carefully integrate into the AI’s model.

His body complete, drive inserted, everything backed up about three times over, the only thing left for her to do was to turn the robot on.

“Heh, I’m turning Keebo on.” She chuckled to herself. She refused to acknowledge it… but she was terrified. What if it didn’t work…? What if it broke something in Keebo? What if it made him, like, go insane?

She slapped herself in the face. “THE FUCK am I doing!? I am MIU. FUCKING. IRUMA! I don’t fail! I don’t fuck up! I am going to see Keebo TODAY, because my golden brain made him the PERFECT robot body and robot brain...!”

She enabled the power, with no doubt in her heart, as whirring noises filled the room, and lights began flickering.

It was finally time. Months ago, Keebo had discovered that he had a brain tumor - a particularly nasty one at that. Unfortunately, it had developed to a point where there was no option but to surgically remove it. Best-case scenario, it goes off without a hitch. Worst-case scenario? Well, he didn’t want to think about that. He had written a note for Miu, the inventor girl from the past that he had met one day. Despite her abrasive personality, Miu was the loveliest girl he had ever met. The time they spent together would be his most treasured memories. He looked at a picture on his phone - him and Miu, shoulder to shoulder in a selfie.

“I after this… I’ll tell you.” He said, placing his phone down. Before he knew it, he was called in for his surgery.

Keebo didn’t reawaken in the hospital that day. He found himself awake in what looked like a college dorm room.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead!” Miu said. He was so shocked he nearly hadn’t even seen her in front of him.

“M-Miu! Wh-what happened!?” Keebo inquired, preparing to stand up.

“Ah, ah! We gotta run some tests first - name?”

Tests? “Uh… Keebo Idabashi.”

Miu pumped her fist. “Yes! Okay, birthdate!?”

“Uhm… October 29th.”

Miu stood up, and walked towards the Doctor. “Good, good! Lastly…”

She kissed him passionately on the lips.

“How did that feel?”

“...amazing.” He responded.

Miu hugged him tightly. “Yep… i-it’s you alright…” she stuttered, trying to fight back tears.

Keebo looked at his body - and he realized what must have happened. “It’s okay Miu… I’m here. You did great.”

She withdrew from his shoulder, tears trailing down her face. “I-I-I hope you like the new bod’... I made it just for you.” She sniffled loudly and brushed her shirt’s sleeve over her eyes.

Keebo’s eyes widened, “You made… all of this?” He gestured at his own body.

“Yup.”

“...for me?”

She nodded, “Yup.”

He smiled at her, feeling his hands running through her hair. “That golden brain never ceases to amaze me.”

She placed a hand on his face. “It’s good to have you back, Keebs.”

He felt her touch on his cheek. It barely feels like anything changed. Miu did it - the first ever artificial human. “It’s good to be back.”

As they held hands, Miu heard footsteps down her staircase

“Miu!” A voice called out, “the power went out! You interrupted the season 3 premiere of Chainsaw Man, I've told you multiple times to let me know-”

The blue-haired girl stopped at the foot of the stairs - she was entirely in her pajamas and was holding a phone, adjusting her glasses and stunned at the scene she was looking at an actual robot sitting there with her batshit insane roommate crying into the robot's shoulder.

“...why is there an Astro Boy looking robot in your underground lab…?”

Miu let out a haughty chuckle and grabbed Keebo's hand. “THIS! My dear Tsumugi, is Keebo Idabashi!”

Keebo waved with an awkward smile as Miu dragged him across the room.

“And he's the best fuckin’ boyfriend in the galaxy!”

Chapter Text

The sound of agitated screams could be heard from the room next door - it sounded like Kaito. Over the course of about a week, his screams had gone from fearful, to surprised, to just plain angry. Because at the start of that week, Kaito had become the primary target of a certain incubus’ volatile pranks. At this rate, Kirumi thought, washing her and Maki’s dishes, Kaito would rather still fear Kokichi than be this familiar with his antics.

But, there wasn’t much to be done about it. As far as she knew, there wasn't anything anyone could do to stop Kokichi, one of his signature abilities being his uncanny ability to phase through any solid material.

They have tried crosses, holy water, Angie’s blessings, more holy water, incense, sage, a humidifier filled with holy water, Spirits and Such Consultations’ Signature techniques, Grape Panta Laced with holy water, and even a visit from an Ultimate Priest, but all that truly did was give Maki fewer reasons frequent their dorm.

Suddenly the door swung open, Kaito storming in.

“FIFTY. CREAM. PIES. All stuffed in my fridge. I don’t know where the rest of this week’s groceries went.” Kaito shouted.

He slumped on the couch, Maki gently floating herself next to him. “I can kill him if you want me to.”

“No! I can’t resort to murder, that makes me worse than he is!” Kaito said, flailing his arms.

“But Kaito, I waaaannnnaaaa…” Maki groaned. This sounded like banter, but Kirumi was a good enough maid to know when people were lying - Maki was very much not lying about wanting to kill Kokichi.

“I’m truly sorry Miss Harukawa, Kaito, I wish I had more advice to give. Out of all of my demon warding techniques, you’ve exhausted them all.” Kirumi rubbed her chin. “I never expected that one to be so troublesome. I’ve not seen anything like it.”

“...is there anything you can do personally?” Kaito asked.

“Oh? Whatever do you mean, Kaito?” Kirumi pondered, placing the last of the dishes to dry.

Kaio stroked his chin. “I mean, Kokichi respects two people as far as I know: Shuichi, and you. I mean, he calls you mom. That must count for something, right? Shuichi has enough on his plate as is with his workload, so I don’t wanna ask him unless I have to. Maybe he’ll listen if you manage to stop him?”

Maki sat up. “That… that’s actually a good idea Kaito.”

“What do you mean, actually? I’m not an idiot!”

Kirumi thought again. Could she actually do that…? No, it wasn’t a matter of if she could - she had to do it. “Very well. If it is both of your requests, I will handle Kokichi.”

Kirumi wasn’t particularly social - but she was very observant. In the 4 weeks or so she had been doing her rounds throughout the dorm building (as much as all of her neighbors insisted she didn’t have to,) she found that when looking over the grand scheme of things Kokichi was actually very simple.

Well, as simple as a pathological liar can be, in any case.

When Kokichi lied to you, he thought you were at the very least interesting - Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, Kaede, Himiko, Miu, Kiyo, and Kirumi herself to name a few.

When Kokichi actively puts on any front around you, he thinks you’re worth ‘having fun’ with - Shuichi, Maki, Kaito, Miu fit under that category as well.

If Kokichi seeks you out briefly, he’s gathering information or a favor. Which inherently means he trusts you enough to ask you for something.

When Kokichi actively seeks you out for his antics, he wants to be friends. Shuichi, Kaito, Maki, Himiko, are growing to adjust to his activities.

If Kokichi was honest with you? That’s a very good friend. Shuichi could only claim that Kokichi was honest with him sometimes, and, trusting as she may be, Kirumi found that somewhat hard to believe (Shuichi didn’t blame her for that either.)

But if Kokichi was hounding you with pranks, sinking well over hundreds of dollars into them… Well, Kirumi wasn’t sure what that was. But it certainly wasn’t hate. Was it…?

So, Kirumi wanted to try a more straightforward approach first.

She knocked on the door of Kokichi’s dorm room, poised for the unexpected. The door creaked open, and out came Gonta Gokuhara, holding a tray of cookies. “Oh! Hello Kirumi-san!”

Kirumi bowed back, “Greetings, Mister Gokuhara. I trust you are well?”

Gonta nodded. “Come in, how can Gonta help you today, Kirumi?”

“I was looking to speak with Kokichi, if he has a moment?” Kirumi entered the apartment and took a seat at the standard table that came with the room as Gonta placed the cookies on the nearby kitchen counter.

“Oh, may be hard. Kokichi-Kun said he was running an errand.” Gonta said. Kirumi noticed his apron said ‘Kiss the Bitch’ on it. Presumably from Kokichi.

“I see, would you be able to relay a message for me, then?”

Gonta smiled, “Of course! What should Gonta say?”

“Well, first, I’d like you to ask him to get out of the oven.” Kirumi said deadpan.

Kokichi’s head emerged from the top of the oven, as he phased through. “It was a lie! I didn’t have any errands!” He flipped forwards into the adjacent seat. “How’d you know I was in there?”

“Well, I’d like to say I’m rather good at reading people. I also noticed that the oven wasn’t on, the tray was far too cold to have been used or since Mister Gokuhara had no oven mitts on, and your infatuation with baked goods as of late. Additionally, those cookies on Gonta’s tray are store bought.”

“Kirumi noticed all that from just look around!?” Gonta gasped, putting his hands to his cheeks.

Kokichi nodded approvingly. “Eh. Pretty good!” Kokichi crunched a cookie. “So, how can your great supreme leader please you?”

“Yes, well, I am here on the request of a certain parking target of yours.” Kirumi started.

“Hmmmm… you’ll have to specify, I prank lots of people!”

“Not quite as much as you do Kaito Momota, however.”

Kokichi grinned unnaturally wide, assessing whether this would be fun for him.

“Unfortunately, Kaito believes that you’ve taken it much too far this time, replacing his groceries for this week,” Kirumi scolded.

“Awwww, c’mon mom!” Kokichi whined, “If anything I’m doing him a favor, if it was up to him it would be Ramen and Dino nuggets all week for him.” He snorted at his joke.

“Kokichi,” Kirumi frowned. “Maki and Kaito showed me their receipt.” She pulled the receipt out of her dress’ front pocket. “It was quite an expensive trip as well.”

Kokichi’s smile shifted slightly. He hadn’t expected Kirumi to have gone this far. He leaned onto the table with his elbows and held his head in his hands as though he were posing for a photoshoot. “Oh, looks like someone’s finally getting serious.”

Kirumi leaned forward to meet his eye level, Gonta cowering at the intense gaze that went between the two of them. “I’m asking you amiably. Please cease such intense pranks on Kaito.”

“And if I don’t?” Kokichi teased.

“I will have to seek other means of stopping you.” Kirumi’s intense expression didn’t budge.

“And why would I ever pass on something as entertaining as that?”

Kirumi stood up. “Very well. Let me know if I may assist you, Kokichi, Mr. Gokuhara.”

“Bye mom-” Kokichi waved, closing his eyes, as he felt the distinct sting of being stabbed in his hand. He opened his eyes and saw a small white dagger stuck through it. “Ooooooh! ~ Nice sho-” Kokichi grabbed the hilt and suddenly felt a painful sting. “-Ow!”

“That’s a personally made throwing dagger. Forged with silver and holy steel and a spider silk threaded hilt, from yours truly, soaked and synthesized with holy water.” Kirumi glowered from over her shoulder. “I am the Ultimate Maid, Kokichi. I do not fail requests.” She closed the door behind her, leaving Gonta and Kokichi and silence.

“I-I think Kirumi is devil.” Gonta said shakily.

“Nah.” Kokichi shook the knife out of his hand. “He’s not quite as efficient.”

What proceeded was a full week of relentless counter-play from Kirumi - certain chores were left undone, because many people in the building were unaware that Kirumi was doing them for everyone already (apparently there was a contained spirit that needed to be re-contained once a month in the basement, Miu was NOT happy.)

If that couldn’t get any worse, Kirumi and Kokichi’s clashing antics also left their mark on the building - Kokichi drilled holes in walls to spook people with (He rather disturbingly stuck his entire eye through them ,) Kirumi sling-shot holy-web(™) covered BBs through them, the floors were always slick because of the amount of cleaning Kirumi did in retaliation to Kokichi’s various disastrously messy schemes. A magic show Himiko put on was derailed by Kirumi - Tenko was about to destroy her after taking a box from the magician, until Kirumi opened it, revealing that, as opposed to the planned doves, Kokichi’s very own severed head was inside. Which was traumatizing for a few reasons.

But, our favorite Supreme Leader was relentless. Every time Kirumi thought he was done, Kokichi would come back with something more absurd, more unorthodox, and more destructive. It was the afternoon of that Saturday where Kirumi needed to reassess her battle plan.

And for once in her life, she was stuck.

She sulked for what may have been the first time in her life on the top of the dorm building’s roof.

“Huh. And here I thought you had your stuff figured out.” A deep voice spoke out. Kirumi looked behind her and found that she was in the quiet company of Ryoma Hoshi, a fellow classmate she had made a strange camaraderie with. Them both being fairly quiet, they ended up enjoying each other’s company very much.

Ryoma was also quite observant, though it didn’t take a genius to notice Kirumi was feeling down recently.

“Oh, hello Ryoma. How may I assist you today?” Kirumi asked, trying to put on some veneer of her Ultimate Maid appearance.

Ryoma twirled a candy cigarette in his fingers. “Well, why don’t we start with you telling me what’s wrong? It’s unusual to see you like this.”

Kirumi sighed. Normally, she would always put the request first - her selfless devotion meant that feelings were secondary. But, she was at a loss and folded, just this once. “Ryoma… this is the longest I've ever worked on a single task and not had it done by now. I simply cannot stop Kokichi’s extensive antics, and my attempts to stop them have only caused him to up his game. It’s… for once I’m doubting my own capabilities.”

Ryoma nodded. “I see. That’s quite a problem. If anyone could shake your confidence, I suppose it would be that little nightmare.”

“Perhaps it… no, I couldn’t even bear the thought of abandoning a request. It simply cannot happen.”

“In my experience, a true expert knows when something’s beyond their abilities.”

Kirumi grimaced. “I would agree, but I’m not just an expert. I’m an Ultimate . Failure isn’t an option. But… I don’t know what can be done.”

Ryoma couldn’t bear to see Kirumi in this state. Nearing the point of despair and desperation that he knew all too well. There’s nothing worse than your ability being called into question when you’re at the level of an ultimate. “Well… what have you done?”

Kirumi was fiddling with webs on her fingers, crocheting with her sharp tipped nails. “Well, mostly counterplay. Hitting Kokichi back and attempting to stop his deeds in the act. I thought a taste of his own medicine would wear him out, but it appears to have done the opposite.”

Ryoma withdrew another candy cigarette. He tended to nibble them faster when in a train of thought or stream of consciousness. “Maybe… you’re giving him the wrong medicine…?”

Kirumi perked up at that. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, in tennis terms,” Ryoma grimaced slightly at the thought of tennis, but the analogy suited his needs, “what you’ve got going with Kokichi is a volley. You’re hitting back, and he’s hitting back. Your defenses are pretty close to impenetrable, which is exactly what I expected from yourself. Kokichi, on the other hand, is much better offensively, so to speak.”

“You’re the perfect defensive play to him - but you haven’t been challenging him offensively - you gotta hit him back harder. With something completely unexpected.”

“So… You’re saying I’ve been too reactive, essentially?”

The short man snapped his fingers. “Bingo.” he extended a hand to help Kirumi up. “Cut back the defense…”

Kirumi smiled at him, taking his hand and standing gently up, outstretching her full lower body, not dissimilar to a black widow’s abdomen. “Double the offense! Thank you, Ryoma, I appreciate your input greatly.”

Ryoma chuckled in a friendly manner. “Just doin’ what I can on this journey.”

A new plan was forming. “Ryoma… would I be able to request your assistance with this?”

This was easier than he thought. I mean, it was KIRUMI. He was hoping he’d be in hell at least 4 more times than she had already sent him back there. The trip back was tedious, but nowhere near enough to make him give up this back and forth. Between her and Shuichi, they were the only ones who could keep up, and while Kirumi was plenty fun, she wasn’t quite exceeding his expectations.

Nothing that bothered him though, an 8/10 game is just as fun as a 10/10 game in Kokichi’s eyes, especially when he was stuck with at best 4/10 games for about 3 lifetimes now. He knew Hope’s Peak would be a good idea! Shame that Miss Kirigiri wasn’t nearly as fun as she could’ve been. Get a gun pulled on you once, might as well have had one pulled on you ten thousand times. Though Kirigiri was the only one who had the gall to actually pull the trigger, so bonus points for her there. So much potential, but it was always holy silver to the gray matter. Pssh. Getting shot from time to time does have its novelty from time to time, but he digresses.

One thing about the current state of the prank battle though was how quiet it had gotten. Kokichi had a real doozy planned for today, and he was excited for Kirumi’s retaliation. She truly was reliable. As he (totally) paid for a Panta from a vending machine outside of the campus’ auditorium, he walked in to see a crowd of Himiko’s social circle plus a few others gathered. It was her first magic show since Kokichi’s amazing decapitation bit (shame Kirumi ruined that one.)

What overtook most of the stage was a large water tank with a smaller tank hanging above it. And just as he expected, Himiko was shaking like a leaf on top of it - she got bad stage fright, but once she got the trick done, she was a damn good magician.

What Kokichi had planned had leaned on the meaner side of his pranks, but at this point it was less for the prank and more for the back and forth with Kirumi. The tank hoisted above the tank had a hatch that would drop from below it, causing a swarm of totally real piranhas to drop into the tank after a timer went to zero. So, in the joke-making spirit, Kokichi thought it would be funny to, y’know, add a little fake blood to the mix.

Just for funsies.

They were in small and fragile glass capsules, so that they’d shatter once they hit the water of the larger tank - everyone in charge of setting up the trick knew very well that the piranhas were not actual carnivorous fish, but the blood in the water would give the audience a little kick. The top of that tank was an absolute pain to get off, though.

Angie announced the start of the trick, explaining it to those who were unfamiliar with Himiko’s routines. Himiko falls in, swims out of the tank through the secret hatch, everyone claps, Tenko pushes the limits of being ‘totally just good friends’ with Himiko.

As so, the little mage jumped in the tank as the timer started. Everyone was nervous out of their minds, as if Himiko wasn’t, y’know, an actual Ultimate Magician and also Mage (she was both technically.)

30 seconds, and Kokichi noticed Gonta getting antsy, Kaede let a bead of sweat fall down her forehead.

Kaito looked like he was about to have a nervous break.

Maki looked bored.

15 seconds, and Gonta ran up to the stage, he simply couldn’t bring himself to sit and watch Himiko die, because yes that would definitely happen.

He frantically searched with 8 seconds left on the timer. Finally, with a panicked expression on his face he looked at the crowd. “S-She’s gone!”

Everyone gasped, as the tank of piranhas opened up, and dropped its contents into the larger tank.

“And now…” Angie reached for the curtain to move them, “Open the curtain and see what’s inside!”

She jovially skipped across the stage, revealing something that made the entire audience gasp.

And something that made Kokichi internally panic.

Ryoma Hoshi’s lifeless body floating to the bottom of the tank, chunks of flesh missing from the piranha’s presumed feasting.

Everyone screamed, but all Kokichi could do was keep a smile on his face and breakdown in his mind. What happened? How could this have happened?! What the hell is going on!?

Before he knew it, a torrent of water flooded the auditorium, as Gonta had used a fire extinguisher to break the front of the tank open. After the panic subsided somewhat, Kirumi was spotted cleaning the area outside of the tank, as Shuichi and Kaede looked around the crime scene - Shuichi was a detective after all.

Kaito was guarding the exit doors with Gonta, making sure no one left. Kokichi was nervous because, well, dead person, but it went little further than that. So, it was time for his signature technique - coping through humor.

He walked up to Shuichi and tapped him on the back of the shoulder. “Sooooooooooooooo, Shumai, did ya find the murderer yet?”

Kaede blanched at his front of emotional insensitivity. “Kokichi! Don’t say things like that, there’s no way anybody at Hope’s Peak would do something like this!”

“Hmmmmm, I dunno! It would be pretty exciting though, right Shuichi?”

Shuichi shook his head. “Honestly, I’d be over the moon if there was no foul play here.” He picked up a small piece of glass - the piece of the capsules Kokichi had used to keep the fake blood in for the trick. “But, I’d need to check a few more things before I could say anything.”

“Well, I hope I did a good enough job covering up my evidence!” Kokichi grinned.

Shuichi actually chuckled at that. “Yeah, not getting me with that. I know you’d never have anything to do with anything like this.”

Kokichi’s stomach dropped.

He hoped so too.

About a half hour had passed, and Shuichi’s investigation had officially concluded, and he addressed the students who were there with him.

“Kaito, you called the police, correct?” Shuichi acknowledged Kaito’s nod and continued. “After a brief investigation of the scene, I can conclude what may have happened.”

Everyone gulped. He really knew how to keep folks in suspense.

“The night before when Himiko, Angie, and Kirumi had finished setting up the trick for today, Ryoma must’ve seen someone enter the auditorium - we can infer that because the lock has shown signs of being picked, and the presence of these capsules on the scene.”

“Alongside that, the way the ladder had been knocked over nearby the larger tank, it’s safe to assume that they went up to the hoisted tank. The top of the hoisted tank had dents on the lid that had come from the inside, someone had clearly struggled while they were in there, but weren’t able to break the lid open before they drowned.”

“Because of the decomposition of his body being obscured by the water, it’s hard to say when he may have… passed, but it’s safe to say that it was sometime last night.”

“My working theory is that whoever snuck in last night left these capsules filled with something in the tank, and was spotted by the victim. It seems Ryoma went to investigate, and fell into the tank in by mistake.”

Kokichi was trying very hard not to pale. This was… his fault? No… no, it was Ryoma’s fault! He shouldn’t’ve stuck his nose in this! Doesn’t he know about him and Kirumi’s prank war? And I mean come, ON! Falling in the tank? Talk about carelessness! That’s natural selection at that point.

“...and, upon checking camera feeds, I can rather easily pinpoint who it was that did it.”

Everyone gasped and darted their eyes around the room, scared of who it might be. Was there really a killer among them…?

Oh. Well that does it then-

“Kirumi…” Shuichi said, pointing at her. “It had to have been you.”

Heartlessly, Shuichi pointed at Kirumi as the entire room gasped again, turning towards the maid.

Her expression was unwavering. “Oh? And why ever would you accuse me?”

“There was camera footage from the building’s entrance that I was able to obtain. I saw you return to the auditorium later that night… you’re the only one who could’ve left them there.”

What the hell…?

“Uh, no!” Kokichi spoke up.

“Oh? Care to elaborate?” Shuichi beckoned.

“Maybe Kirumi had the optimal time… but Himiko and Angie could’ve easily also done it!”

“H-Hey!” Tenko shouted, outraged.

“That’s a fair point. Kirumi, what were you doing in the auditorium later that night?” Shuichi asked. “If your story checks out, we should be able to rule you out.”

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say, Mister Saihara.” She squinted.

“Well, Himiko, Angie, so you have any explanation why those capsules would be there?”

The mage and the angel shook their heads.

“Well then, Kirumi, you’re officially under suspicion of ‘wrongful-death’ to the victim-”

“What about a motive?” Kokichi argued. “I mean, she doesn’t have much of a reason to go there late at night and leave those little capsules behind.”

Shuichi shook his head. “Kokichi, you know damn well what her motive would’ve been.”

However this death ended up occurring, he couldn’t let Mom (Kirumi) take the fall for it. He needs to break Shuichi’s argument over his knee - it wasn’t a matter of if it was her; he knew Shuichi was lying somewhere.

But he couldn’t bring that up. Because then everyone would know it was his fault for Ryoma’s death. All it would take was a simple viewing of the video file to prove that it was Kokichi - if Shuichi even had something of the sort.

Damn it Kokichi, now is NOT the time to grow a conscience!

“Well, what about those capsules? Do we know what’s in them? Cuz I think you do.” He teased the detective.

“Well, by the ratio of blood to water and the time that he spent in the tank, it’s likely that the capsules contained fake blood - since he drowned, he wouldn't have bled.”

“Well, what about the gashes in his body from the piranhas?”

“Where are you going with this Kokichi?”

“Oh, nowhere in particular. I just think your explanation is full of shit.”

“And since when do you care about not being full of shit?”

There was a tense silence in the room at the two's back and forth.

“Since innocent lives are involved. I lie, love, but I have my reasons. You're just trying to steer the investigation towards a lie.”

Shuichi smirked. “So, Kokichi, the king of liars, is fighting for the truth?”

“Awww, but Saihara-chan! I've always fought for the truth.”

“Well, then, what's the problem? Kirumi was seen on camera, she had the motive, she had plenty of opportunities.”

Shuichi was being deliberately obtuse. Kirumi couldn't take the fall, she had a hell of a lot going for her - but if D.I.C.E. found out that he had broken his no-kill code, even accidentally, everything he had would fall apart. Kirumi would still be the Ultimate Maid over something like this - Kokichi wouldn't still be the supreme leader.

Kokichi had finally felt that he had met his match, in the most boring way possible. For whatever reason, Shuichi was bent on manipulating the evidence to frame Kirumi - but because he and Kaede had a monopoly on the evidence and were so tight-lipped about it, there's nothing he had to work with.

“I thought you were going to ‘face the truth head on’ now, or whatever? Does 4 weeks of having an actual social life really roll those ideas back enough for someone else to take the fall for something one of your buddies did?” Kokichi was growing more targeted. He needed to get Shuichi riled up to get him caught in a lie.

“Well, if you have any evidence or testimony that would shed light on this case, I’m all ears.” Shuichi, however, would not be so easily shaken.

Okay, Shuichi was riling him up.

“C’mon guys, isn’t this wildly out of character for Shuichi? I mean come on, what kinda shitty crack-fic is this?” Kokichi jested, sprawling his arms out and addressing the very tense room.

“Do you not have anything better to do than move this conversation in circles?” Maki spat.

Okay, something’s up. Maki of all people would not let this amount of doubt sit unchecked. Which could lead to one conclusion…

“...Ryoma’s not dead, is he?” Kokichi grinned.

That caught the room by surprise, Kokichi finally noticing a flinch out of the detective.

Shuichi’s eyes narrowed. “...What are you getting at?”

“Oh, come on. This happens after me and Kirumi have been butting heads? This is clearly just some cheap way of getting back at me to put a stop to my, frankly, hilarious pranks.”

“I don’t know why you’d think we’d go this far for something like that Kokichi. Maybe you overestimate your importance?” Kaede spoke with unprecedented venom. 

“Kaede, it’s fine. Kokichi’s just trying to rile us up.” His gaze narrowed further on Kokichi. “Ryoma’s dead.”

No lie. Kokichi felt something off again. Was this… fear? It had been so long since he felt so out of control of the situation.

His expression unwavering, he continued with his over the top body language as his veneer of composure. “Fine then, let’s see our TOTALLY ACTUALLY DEAD Ryoma Hoshi’s body.”

Shuichi gestured to the large tank that took up the stage area, and Kokichi gladly took this opportunity to finally put an end this bullshit prank.

He placed a finger on Ryoma’s neck

No pulse.

Cold as a corpse.

Kokichi’s composure was slipping. “O-Oh, okay, where’s the actual body?”

“Kokichi, is something the matter?” Kaito asked, nervously.

“C’mon, you don’t expect this to actually get me, right? We’re in hope’s peak, a fake cadaver is like $150 bucks away.”

“Kokichi, if I may ask, why are you so determined to make sure this is some sort of falsehood?” Kirumi asked, the question feeling like mockery to Kokichi’s brain.

“I… I…” Kokichi stammered. “...Alright, I give.” He reached into his pocket, revealing two more capsules of the fake blood. “I knew it wasn’t Kirumi because I put the fake blood in. Sorry, I guess.”

Everyone in the room gasped. Kokichi couldn’t muster the energy to read it. It’s over. He killed Ryoma. Even if by accident, he killed Ryoma.

The Leader found a hand on his shoulder. Kirumi had come up to comfort him.

“Kokichi… thank you for being honest with us.” Kirumi smiled in her usual motherly fashion.

“Yeah, whatever mom.” Kokichi shrugged, not even bothering with his usual smug smile.

“I appreciate you defending me, even if your motivation was selfish. Though, I personally believe it wasn’t.”

“Tsh, now that’s the best lie I’ve heard today.”

“You sure, kid?” A deep voice said.

Kokichi’s face stiffened. “No. No, you fucking didn’t.”

“It’s a lie!” Everyone in the room shouted.

Including the rather soaked Ryoma Hoshi, wringing water out of his hat.

“Okay, I thought dark magic was a no-no on this campus!?” Kokichi said, half joking, half actually kind of mad.

“Oh, it is.” Himiko said, approaching the Leader. “But you don’t need a resurrection spell for a zombie!”

“I'm Undead. Not a zombie. There’s a difference.” Ryoma corrected her.

“So that’s why ‘Ryoma is dead’ didn’t register as a lie.” Kokichi nodded, growing impressed.

“Th-thank god that’s over, I can’t lie to save my life…” Tenko said, looking exhausted.

Kokichi looked at the smiling faces around him, and couldn't help but admire the time and energy put into this bit, as mean as it initially was. “Alright, alright, you guys got me. I get the idea, I’ll cut back with the pranks. I suppose I'll show my favoritism for Kaito in some other quirky and wacky way.”

A collective sigh of relief was had across the room.

“Thanks Kokichi. Sorry for uh, gaslighting you for about an hour.” Shuichi said.

“Ah, water under the bridge Saihara-chan. I knew you were lying the entire time.” Kokichi grinned at him.

Shuichi smiled at the boy. “Of course you did. I expect nothing less from the Ultimate Supreme Leader.”

“Heeey, you finally got it!”

Shuichi blinked in surprise “Really?”

“No.” Kokichi lied again. “Anyway, see you losers later, more pranks to come! It was all a lie, I haven’t changed at all, byyyyyyye!” As he finished, he fell backwards through the floor, presumably back to hell.

Kirumi let out an additional sigh of relief. “Thank goodness that’s over.”

“Kirumi, you, uh… you didn’t need to go this far.” Kaito comforted her.

The maid shook her head. “Nonsense. I couldn’t call myself the Ultimate Maid if I failed this task you gave me.”

“Truly, what a blessing it is to have you, Kirumi.” Angie started praying.

She spoke back. “That is simply my selfless devotion.”

Chapter Text

“So, the year is 2035.”

“Yup.”

“I was in a coma for 3 years.”

“Correct."

“And now you’re attending Hope’s Peak - your dream school.”

“Mostly for the research grants to fund your revival, but yes.”

“And you didn't think that it might’ve been a good idea to contact on-site staff before you connected me to the campus’ power grid.”

“Doin’ girlboss shit, get off my dick.”

“...you had access to my lab and my future’s extensive fusion power at your fingertips.”

“I’d rather take it from here than over there. I’d rather inconvenience the school than your grandpa.”

“...I missed you so much, Miu.”

“Damn straight, fuckboy!” She gave the boy a hearty pat on the back. “Now, let’s go out on the town, and introduce you to building V’s variety of nuisances, and get you enrolled so we can pick back up where we left off!” Miu grabbed Keebo’s arm, dragging him upstairs.

“I’m glad you got me some clothes prepared.” Keebo said, admiring his new hoodie, jeans, and goggles. “I was honestly worried you’d force me to go out and buy clothes with you while I was… well, undressed, since I can’t quite be naked.”

“Hah!” Miu strutted up the stairs. “No worries! It was the crippling anxiety that making you uncomfortable after waking you up 200 years in the past in a brand new body would make you hate me forever, HAHA!"

“...we both need therapy very badly.” Keebo sighed.

“...Yeah, yeah we do.”

They ascended the stairs of Miu’s lab, and eventually stepped out from under Miu’s bed. “Yo! Plain Jane!”

“Yeah?” A voice from the main room called. “Are you about to blow up the dorm again?”

“Naah, not tonight! Probably.” Miu called, exiting her room. “D’ya wanna properly meet Keebo now? Since he’s out of testing and also no longer naked?”

Tsumugi stood up from the dorm’s couch, in her pajamas (aka, her default state of being outside of cosplay) and found the shorter robot boy.

“Wow… the Astro-Boy comparison was very adept.” Tsumugi said, examining him like a new figurine she had just received, before standing up straight. “I’m Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate cosplayer.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Keebo Idabashi. I am the, uh… I suppose I’m the Ultimate Roboticist? I’ve not enrolled in Hope’s Peak actually.”

Miu nodded in corroboration.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, what’s your favorite episode of Doraemon-?” she excitedly asked.

Miu let out an exasperated groan. “GODDDDD please stop talking about fucking Doraemon, you’re the only person on the fucking planet who knows about that show.”

“Hey, I waited for introductions first this time, alright? Plus, Doraemon’s a classic! I wanna know if it persisted 200 years into the future, sue me!” Tsumugi pouted defensively, pointing an accusatory finger at the inventor.

Keebo’s face became concerned. “Y-You shouldn’t end sentences like that.”

“Well, regardless of all of that, it’s nice to meet you, Keebo.” Tsumugi outstretched his hand for a shake. Keebo extended to meet hers, and then flinched when he saw that her hand was scaled and had a very large snake on it.

“Oh, sorry!” Tsumugi shook her hand gently, and returned it to Keebo, now appearing as a normal hand. “I like to let the girls out when watching anime, I guess it makes sense that the masquerade doesn’t apply to robots.”

“Masquerade? What on earth does that have to do with snakes?” Keebo gawked and then noticed that part of Tsumugi’s hair shifted into a snake.

Miu snapped her fingers. “OOOOH! That’s what I fuckin forgot! Yeah, basically everyone here at Hope’s Peak is some kinda monster, cryptid, or whatever the fuck.”

“W-Wait, what!?” Keebo blanched at Miu for leaving out something so major.

“Tsumugi here’s a Medusa, or whatever.”

“I’m a Shikoku Witch , thank you very much, Miu.” Tsumugi corrected, pushing up her glasses.

“Yeah, Japanese Medusa, same difference.” Miu scoffed.

“They are VERY different! You’re Japanese! You should know the difference too!” Tsumugi outraged.

“Whatever, I gotta introduce Keebo to the rest of the nuisances in building V. Later, nerd, please don’t let me catch you watchin’ hentai again.”

Tsumugi indignantly scoffed, “Highschool DxD is not hentai, it’s a modern classic!”

Keebo had the distinct feeling that this was going to be a very long day.

First up was the person Miu could tolerate the most - Shuichi, the only person who was more socially awkward than she was. Kaito wasn't particularly pleasant to her, but he and Maki were close and frequently out of the house, and Tenko was following Himiko around usually. Kaede and Shuichi might as well have been attached at hip, the so more often than not, Kaede’s dorm was Saimatsu town.

“So… uh, cryptids and monsters? What’s the story there?” Keebo made small talk.

“Ack, shit, I’m still fuckin’ pissed I forgot to tell you that. Yeah, this place “Hope’s Peak” is a safe haven-slash-college for all kinds of weird fucked up monsters from around the world - hence why I’m here.” Miu exposited.

“...you’re a normal human.”

“Honey, there is nothing normal about me.” She said, knocking on Kaede’s door. Soon enough, the door opened, and the boy detective answered, much to Miu’s amusement.

“Oh, hey Miu. What brings yoooooouuuuuuuuuuu…” Shuichi paused upon locking eyes with Keebo. “Uh. Who’s that?”

Miu patted the robot boy on the back. “This here’s Keebo! He’s my boyfriend from the future I kept telling you guys about. Told you here’s real, motherfucker!” She said with a smug point.

“M-Miu, I never said he wasn’t real, just that it was-” he was suddenly interrupted by Kaede sprinting around the corner.

“KEEBO’S HERE?!” She darted her eyes to the boy suddenly. “Hah! Told you he was real, Shuichi!”

“I-I never said-” he rolled his eyes and sighed playfully. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Keebo. I’m Shuichi, the Ultimate Detective.” Shuichi said, outstretching his hand.

“And I’m Kaede! The Ultimate Pianist! Also, a siren.” She greeted cheerfully, as always

Keebo happily shook. “Hello there! It’s nice to meet you. I’m a roboticist. And a robot now, I suppose.”

“W-Wait, now?” Kaede asked, somewhat concerned.

“Oooooh right, I forgot. Keebo went into a coma in the future so I put his brain in a robot. Pretty cool right?” Miu grinned.

“...that’s simultaneously really sad, really crazy, and really sweet.” Shuichi said, nervously chuckling.

Kaede shrugged. “Eh, I choose to see the more romantic side.”

“Anyways, you two seem like you’re busy! Have fun on your date, or whatever!” She waved off.

“I-It’s not a date!” Kaede and Shuichi blushed, shouting at the same time.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll catch you two later. Use protection!” She cackled, Miu slamming the door hard in their faces. They continued down the hall, Keebo in tow. She introduced him to the ever polite Kirumi, addressing him with a dignified bow. In the stairwell, they met a smitten Kaito and the predictably aloof Maki who was beaten up. According to Kaito, Maki fell down a hill. While carrying 5 knives. And a pistol. How the fuck was she the first to notice Maki was an actual fucking assassin? She’s had like twice the amount of hits on her this week since she defected.

Kaito’s shitty excuses were really funny, though.

On the lower floor, she found Himiko and Angie practicing magic on the Mana Spot outside the building, much to Himiko’s excitement as she had someone new to show her magic - which Keebo was absolutely fascinated by. Angie hoped she and Keebo could be great friends despite him being “an affront to nature and god, and a horrific abomination emblematic of humanity’s hubris.” So, that was nice of her.

Up next was Ryoma, who of course was perfectly chill with this addition. Apparently he felt a sort of kinship with Keebo, him being undead, and therefore ‘technically’ also not alive by most literal definitions. Keebo was a robotics major, and thus had a lot of thoughts on the nature of existence and consciousness himself. Which, unsurprisingly, Ryoma was very down to discuss. So, Miu was glad that the 3rd most tolerable person in the building was friends with Keebo.

…maybe she shouldn’t rank her friends from ‘most to least annoying.’

But between the apartments of Himiko and Ryoma were residences that she was avoiding like the plague.

Peeking at the untouched doors, Keebo bit the bullet and asked. “So, who’re in these rooms?”

“That’s not important, not c’mon let’s get you enrolled to Hope’s Peak.” She replied quickly.

“Wh- don’t you want to introduce them to me?”

Miu suddenly grabbed both of Keebo’s hands. “Keebs. I want you to look at me right now. Look at me in the eyes.”

Keebo obliged, and met probably the most intense gaze she had ever had on her face.

“I would rather deal with paperwork and bureaucracy bullshit than even get near them.”

Keebo felt a chill run down his spine. That was bad. Weird how that worked in his body, but he’ll roll with it .

“Awww, c'mon! You know you love me Miu!” A voice rang out, causing Miu to wince.

“God… FUCKING DAMN IT.” She swore, stomping her foot on the ground.

Keebo turned around, and was met with a short boy with light purple skin, purple fading up into his black hair. Most notably were his black tipped horns poking through them.

“Hiiii there buddy, you’re new! I’m Kokichi Oma, nice to meet you, I’m the Ultimate Hunter Gatherer.” He stuck out a hand to shake.

Keebo, confused, reached his hand to oblige, when Kokichi’s hand was slapped away by Miu. “Don’t listen to a single thing this motherfucker says. He’s a dickhead and a textbook pathological liar.”

Kokichi smirked. “Aw, why you gotta ruin my fun so fast, Miu? You could’ve at least let me lead him on a liiiiitle!”

“If you so much as lay a finger on Keebo, your fuckin’ fun isn’t going to be all that I ruin.” She poked him in the chest, pushing him back.

“Oh, shut up you fat sow, you and I both know that you won’t follow through on that.” Kokichi grinned widely maliciously, expecting Miu to retreat and fold like she always did.

But she didn’t. Her eyes continued to stare daggers into him. “I’m. Fucking. Serious.”

Kokichi was taken aback by this uncharacteristic confidence, but he certainly didn’t show it. “Oooooh fine, I’ll leave your little boy toy alone for now. Nothing mean!”

“And for that matter.” Keebo approached the demon, and grabbed his collar. “If you ever speak to her like that again, I’m going to send you back from whence you came.”

For the sake of entertainment, he stayed in Keebo’s grasp “Damn, Miu, you got someone with a spine to date you! Well, I’ll see you later! Especially you, Keeboy!” Kokichi backed away, phasing back into his apartment.

Miu sighed obnoxiously loudly. “You get me now?” Miu said, still seething.

“Yeah, yeah I do.” Keebo approached Miu again. “Thank you for standing up for me Miu. I love you. I know how hard it is for you to keep your composure when you're insulted like that.”

“Heeee!? Wh- no, no! I-I-I-I was just doing what a good g-g-girlfriend does! Thank you for standing up for me! I-It’s nice to see you so confident.” she stammered back.

Keebo grabbed her hand, blushing like a tomato. “Of course. Best b-b-boyfriend in the galaxy, right?”

The two nervous wrecks stared each other in the eyes, and smiled.

“That… was…” Miu’s eyes widened again. Not in anger, but in fear. “...BEAUTIFUL!”

“Oh fuck…” Miu turned around slowly. “Heeeeyyyy Kiyo! H-H-H-H-H-H-H-How’s it hangin…?!

“Oh it is hanging quite nicely, Iruma-san! That was a lovely display of humanity between you and… Keebo, was it?”

Keebo turned around to look at the person.

If he still had a stomach, he might've thrown up.

What he saw was an indescribable, shimmering, pitch black, shapeless writhing mass of flesh, bone, eyes, and emptiness folding in on itself, warping and molding in his vision in a way that would've made his blood run cold, before he quickly averted his eyes. “H-Hello.”

Kiyo blinked and then sighed. “Oh I do apologize, my friend. I forgot to adjust my form for the cameras instead of human eyes. Try again, now?”

“N-No, it’s okay. I think I’ll just keep looking this way.” Keebo said, terror in his voice.

He chuckled coldly. “Fair enough. I will bid you farewell for today, Keebo-kun. It was wonderful to meet you, and learn your story.” Kiyo chuckled.

“Wh-what? Miu didn’t-” Keebo stuttered.

“Oh, my dear Keebo.” he leaned into his shoulder to whisper in the robot’s ear, causing the world to seemingly blank out around him, temperatures to go sub-zero, and time to stop. “There’s quite a lot that I know.”

Keebo darted his head around, only to find that the odd man was gone.

“Pardon my language Miu, but… what the FUCK was that!?”

Miu swallowed nervously. “That… was Korekiyo Shinguji.”

“What on earth is he!?”

“...I say this without any exaggeration.” She grimly turned to Keebo. “Nobody knows.”

On their way across campus, Miu and Keebo found the two absences from building V - Gonta was in a field picking up insects from the area for his collection, while Keebo listened and looked, fascinated not only by his studies, but also his large and insect-like form. Miu couldn’t help but feel a smile grow on her face, watching the two boys infodump to each other as they sat on the grass together. Even Miu had to admit that Gonta’s slightly broken english was absolutely adorable.

Their outing ended up being joined by Rantaro as well, who had gotten on with Gonta very well, them both being extra-terrestrials. Keebo was able to talk about more advanced robotics with him, which was even more of an absolute joy for Miu to listen to. Rantaro even had some notes for Miu (that were promptly ignored, Miu’s a fuckin’ genius, she doesn’t need any tips.)

After demonstrating the high quality cameras that served as Keebo’s eyes to Gonta, showing him an extremely up-close and detailed shot of the bug he was currently examining, Gonta gave him a nearly spine crushing hug. All this warm fuzzy BS was even starting to affect Miu, as she let out a chuckle.

This all culminated in Rantaro using his limited telekinesis to lift his phone upwards, and take a selfie of all four of them. Miu was in such a good mood, she actually obliged and smiled - not without flipping off the camera playfully, but hey, even she didn’t have the heart to ruin these vibes.

But, time was wasting. Miu wanted to catch Makoto while she could, before his paperwork kept mounting up (about 10% was thanks to her shenaniganry.) They waved goodbye, Gonta and Rantaro still sitting in the cool afternoon shade as Keebo and Miu walked off holding hands.

Upon reaching the front desk, Miu was greeted with their usual receptionist, who she had grown quite acquainted with, acquiring permits and building clearance multiple times per week.

“Oh! Hello again, Miu. How can we help you today?” Miss Asahina said with her usual bright smile. “Oh! And who’s this you’ve got with you?”

Miu grinned, champing at the bit to do her introduction for Keebo again. “This my dear Hina, is-”

“I’m Keebo Idabashi!I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” Keebo politely bowed as Miu shrunk in disappointment.

“Ah, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Judging by the fact that you’re… well, a robot, I assume you’re looking to enroll?” Hina chuckled, giddy at the new arrival.

“Yes! That is what we’re looking to do today.” Keebo affirmed. “I look forward to working with Miu again!”

Hina nodded happily. “I’ll let Makoto know you’re coming! Looking forward to your next project, Miu!”

“Hell yeah girl, that ‘swimming-in-your-sleep’ gear is in the works right now!” Miu finger gunned at Hina, causing her to smile again.

“...how often are you here?” Keebo asked, worried.

“Well, between the explosions, power outages, property damage, building permits, license for explosives, workshop upgrades, and ‘Kokichi Instances’ as they’re calling them, a lot.” Miu said, without skipping a beat. This only made Keebo more worried.

Upon entering the office filled with paperwork, Miu cleared her throat to get the younger man’s attention.

“O-Oh! Hello again, Miu. I hope there wasn't more property damage this time…?” He chuckled, seemingly begging.

“Nope, if you peek from behind that fuckton of paperwork, I’ve got a potential new student here for you to take.” Miu confidently said.

“W-Well Miu, I can take them into consideration but-” He moved his head from behind his mountain of paperwork, spotting the robot boy. “-oh, is this him?”

“Hello! I’m Keebo Idabashi. I’m a roboticist brought from the future to this era so I could live with my girlfriend who built me from scratch.”

“...well, I’ve heard weirder frankly.” Makoto chuckled again, feeling gray hairs forming at the ripe-old age of 26. “We can discuss enrollment if you’d like, do you have any examples of your work?”

“You better fuckin’ belive we do!” Miu slammed a suitcase on the ground of Makoto’s office, revealing her time portal. “Oh, this one’s mine though, I can take you to his lab.”

Makoto was, rather reasonably, caught off guard by this. “...I see.”

“Oh come on, don’t be a pussy, it won’t kill you.” Miu hopped into the portal, dragging Keebo by the wrist. Makoto (very carefully) followed behind and was graced by Keebo’s massive lab.

“Oh, wow.” He said, looking at the various machines and projects all over the workshop. Keebo showed Makoto his work for about an hour, as well as directly demonstrating his expertise when he absentmindedly picked up and finished a project while talking to the Headmaster.

“Well, from what I’ve seen here, you could easily get into Hope’s Peak as an Ultimate. Would you like me to get started on your enrollment?” Makoto grinned, enthused by the wonderful technology that was all around him.

Miu pumped her fist excitedly as Keebo bowed to him. “I would appreciate that very much, Mr. Naegi!”

“Well then, we can get you started at hope’s peak…” He pointed dramatically at the scientist “...as the Ultimate Robot!”

“...I’d prefer Ultimate ‘Roboticist’, frankly.” Keebo nervously said.

“Ultimate Robot sounds cool though, doesn’t it!?” He said, pumping his fists excitedly. “But, alright. I can arrange that. In my heart though, you'll be the Ultimate Robot!” He shot finger guns at Keebo.

“...very well.”

Miu and Keebo were both finally done with errands for the day. Makoto was generous enough to resolve the paperwork before Miu literally died of boredom, so they went back to the dorms, hand in hand.

“You know, Miu, I don't think you ever told me how you made your time machine.” Keebo observed.

“Huh. Guess I never did, huh?” She rubbed her chin. “To be honest it's a little unbelievable. Even by my standards. After the accident it just… came to me. These patterns and blueprints were swirling around in my head for days on end. I couldn't get a fuckin' wink till I at least started in it.”

“That… is strange, even by your standards. What could that even mean?”

Miu shrugged. “I dunno. I'm not stressing too much about it.” She hugged Keebo's arm, deliberately positioning it between her boobs. “It led me to you, after all.” She spoke seductively.

“M-Miu!” Keebo gasped, embarrassed by the sudden display of affection.

Miu slowly opened the door to her dorm, and dragged him in with a dopey grin on her face. “C'mon Keebs, I've waited too damn long for this!”

Keebo stammered as Miu dragged him into her room, and locked the door. She threw him down on the bed with a hungry look in her eyes, and pinned him down.

“You're all mine tonight.”

She kissed him, and he wrapped his arms around her, and embraced until they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Chapter Text

Morning routines were fascinating. Time itself didn't matter much to Kiyo though, honestly. Humans and their silly little labels to abstract concepts beyond their understanding. If not intriguing, it would be adorable.

Upon coming to Hope's Peak though, he had to start considering it. In such, he had found the appeal of night time, observing other rituals from his neighbors. Additionally, relaxing his human disguise was nice. Any corporeal form did little to express his true self outward, but it's a start. Simply disturbing is better than driving people around him mad.

As distant as he was from humans, he still held them as equals. He may be beyond anything they can fathom, but at the end of the day they're both creatures in this universe and there's no reason to pretend that he's better than them.

Which is why he was preparing for today, a picnic with the residents of building V. He was elated to join them, actually. As much as he seemed disconnected and unaware of emotion (he hasn't quite figured out expressing them yet,) he's acutely aware that nearly all of them were terrified of him. So, when Shuichi had knocked on his door and invited him, he was quite pleased! Human foods are simply delectable, and he really enjoyed the company of building V. They really were an odd bunch, the fact that the most normal person in the building was a genius astronaut spoke volumes.

Kiyo mused over his face in the mirror - no major distortions in his appearance so far, though upon opening his mouth and seeing the endless chasm of writhing darkness, flesh, and eyes, he figured he'd stick with his usual face mask at the very least.

Over his bandaged (and also very disturbing) body he wore a long sleeved shirt, and over his (still very disturbing) lower half were a simple pair of black jeans. No need to go in full uniform for this, just a casual outing.

It was a moment later that Kiyo noticed a familiar glimmer in the mirror out of the corner of his eye, resting just out of his view.

He felt a smile grace his face. The writhing distorted mass came from just out of the mirror's view, as though entering from the adjacent room.

“Ahh, you would like to meet my friends today?” He asked the entity, grabbing a pocket mirror. “Excellent, it will be wonderful for you to join us.”

The vibes today were immaculate! Not only had Himiko AND Tenko agreed to the picnic, but Kaede took the initiative to invite everyone in building V! As far as Angie could tell, everyone was coming! Even the ever elusive Korekiyo. Angie always found the young man interesting. There was always a strange vibe or sort of energy that came from fellow angels that she could quickly identify, and she felt an energy not dissimilar when in the presence of Korekiyo. That and their ‘off’ vibes (as their friends described it) they became fast friends.

As social as Kiyo wanted to be, most friends didn't invite him to places (which Angie understood was incredibly fair given his origin.) So, when Shuichi had told her Kiyo had agreed to come, she was very pleased! She'd have to make a very special dish for him.

Food could be a culinary art, no? She let Atua take hold to create a legendary meal for everyone. She was very thankful for Atua (or whatever you want to call him/her/them/it, most people just stuck with “God”) maintaining a connection with her. Without their guidance, Angie would be lost. Not to say that she was coddled, but an extra helping hand was always welcome after…

Well, not much beating around the bush anymore. If you were to ask Agnie to unfurl her wings, unless you were very close to her, she would decline. Because as much as Angie praised Atua…

She only had one wing.

Her fascination with humans and human arts led her down what was considered a sinful path - Angels could only observe from afar, not interact. But art was something that captivated her. Sure, there was art in… wherever she was before earth, but that sort of self expression was intrinsic to the human experience. She found herself too curious, and found herself amongst humans for many years.

Unfortunately, this was very frowned upon. Upon being discovered among humans, she was ostracized and banished. Everything she had in the world before her, simply gone, as she was stranded on Earth with nothing angelic to her name aside from half a wingspan and an unnaturally long lifespan. She was far from the first, but she was a Fallen Angel nonetheless. Of course, she wasn’t without commune with Atua, but she was forbidden from re-entering their realm.

Despite the bleakness, Angie never lost her smile. She enjoyed her time around humans, and while she missed her family and relations from Heaven(?) she would be (mostly) lying if she told you she was suffering here. She found solace in her ability to create different forms of art. Painting, sculptures, drawing, writing, performance, videos, music, video games, basically anything she could do to express herself. Though few were able to pick up on it in her work, there was a certain air of melancholy underlying her catalog. She loved it here, but she was ashamed of herself for falling. For feeling happy that she fell.

It was a lot to think about. The concept of “Heaven” and “Hell” made things look very simple to her, but if one thing was learned while with humans, it was that there were very few things that were black and white like that.

But, she had plenty of time to think about that. For now, she would spend time with the people she had grown so fond of. With her lomi lomi salmon salad with avocado, she returned to the blue patch of grass outside of building V. There waiting was the rest of building V (even Maki!) With their prepared dishes. Angie was SO excited! She had never had such a large group to picnic with.

“Yoo-hoo! Everyone!” She waved to the group.

“Hi Angie!” Himiko waved back, and Tenko smiled wide. A little too wide. Must be another human gesture she wasn’t familiar with!

The rest of the group said their hellos, and she placed down her food on the large blanket Kirumi had brought. “Good afternoon everyone, with me on this blessed day, I bring you Lomi Lomi Salmon Salad! It is a Polynesian dish that I am so very fond of!”

“Oooh! I love salmon!” Kaede said excitedly. “I brought an apple pie. I’ve always wanted to make one!”

Everyone excitedly praised eachothers’ dishes as they presented them. Kaito brought smoked ribs, Shuichi and Tenko co-operated to make some gyoza (an odd pairing, those two,) Himiko brought a freshly baked fairy pie (it wasn’t as disturbing as it sounded,) Kirumi had made her absolutely legendary chocolate chip cookies, Ryoma brought a few sandwiches according to everyone’s requests, Kokichi brough food that nobody trusted along with Grape Panta and Sporite (Shuichi’s favorite, apparently,) Tsumugi brought the most anime food she could, Gonta exceeded expectations and brought enough fruits and fruit salad to feed an army, Kaito somehow coerced Maki into making some Harumaki rolls together, Rantaro brought… something. It was definitely a food, maybe. Miu and Keebo brought chips and dip.

It was the thought that counted.

After a brief blessing from Angie, they began eating. Quite possibly the most fun picnic Angie had ever had! Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves, as well as complementing each others’ lovely dishes. But, Angie noticed someone was missing. “Oh? Where is our dearest Korekiyo?” She asked.

Even she could read the room and sensed the uneasiness that came from the group.

Except for Shuichi. “Oh, he texted me. He said he’ll be here soon, he just had some additional preparation to attend to.”

Angie nodded. “Very well. I hope to see him shortly.”

Korekiyo was so excited for today. So, why did this have to happen?

A visit from his… Well, ‘mother’ would be the closest comparison.

Standing in the middle of Rantaro and his apartment was a woman with long flowing hair wearing a black dress.

“Dearest K̸̨̧̛͓̮̬͙̼̲̠͇̥̹̞̟̭͙̜̪̮̭̤͇̺̩̗̖̫̪̔̌̾̈́̔̃̍̅̒̀͑͐̏͒̋͛̅̓͐̇̅́̈̈́͐̄́̿̈́͛̏̒̈́̔̀͋̕͘͜ͅͅo̴̢̧̡̞͖̺̝̼̖͎̯̠̩͎̲̫̖̜̪̜͚̙̼̙̫͓͇̦̯͇̹͊̏͗̓̑̑̀̓̌̾̉̔͆̓̀̈́͆͆̍̅̆̕͝͠͠ͅͅr̶̡͙̯̺͍̲̰̺͖͎̜̖̦͇̭̞̗̜̩̠̯̝̻̫̫̠̹̬̼̹̳̎̈̉̿̕̚͜͜͝ͅę̸̡̧̧̧̛̛̲̯̯̪̝̤͖̼͙̖̤̦͓̟͉̘͙͔̙͍͉̘̮̏͑̄̌̌̉͋̓̈̅͗̈́͑̊̐̄ͅͅķ̷̨̧͍̣̭̪̟͔͈̠̑́̔̃́̈́̂̈̍ḯ̵̧̢̞̲̱͔̞̟̜͈͉̳̱͖̓̐̾͒̾͌̀̀̎̃̂͋̀͒̒̀̽̋̈́̌̂̓̔̃̾̓̂̾̋̅ý̵̢͍̹̳̇̔̈͊̓̍͋̒̃̋̍̍̏͂̌͂̒̆̾̚̚͘ơ̴̡̨̡̥͙̯͉̲͈̘̪̩̤͖̱̖͚̯̫̫͖͕͈̰͈̲̱̬̠̬̮̙͙̠̤̠̖̰͖̞̹͇̅̐̽͋́̄̇͛̾͐͑̃̎̿̌̓̀́͐̓͑̉͘͜͝ͅ. How are you doing today, my dear?” She asked.

“Mother.” Kiyo acknowledged.

“Oh, don’t act so cold. I simply wish to talk.” She said with venom. “Describing me with those c̸̬͙̱̰̞̝̼͔̰̺̆̊̉̕r̷͕͎̩̺̪̃̊͆̍̄̅͒̽̀̎͆͑͜ę̴̗̄̈́̐̾a̸͙͙̝̐̔͛̋͘t̸̢͖͉̼͎̺̦͖̮̜̏͂̄̈́ų̶̩̺̼̖͔͈̄͂͗ř̵̡̳̝̟̓̊̆̇̍͆̾̿̚̚͘͝ë̷̬̤̘̬̜̰̖̲̬̻̘͇́̊̿͛̚͘͜͠͠s̴̢͙̺̟̻̣̥̰͍̱̪̮̺̦̰̊̓́͐͌ͅͅ’s language. You make me so sad, my ⌘̸̥̫͇̌͒̌̅̎︎̵͔̣̪̦̱͛̓͝♒̵̻̹̭̼̾͜♎̶̥͎̖̟̏͗̀͘︎̶̳͚̦̰̜̆̈́◆̸͓̇͌︎̵̬̖̯͚̱̿͗̇̀”

“I find your lack of respect troubling.” Kiyo said, packaging his dish. “Now, could we cut to the chase? My dearest friends are waiting on me.”

She chuckled. “You intermingle with those things? Pathetic.”

Kiyo scowled.

“Alright, fine, I’ll get to the chase.” She said, waiving off his anger. “You’re coming back with us, you and your sister.”

“No.”

“My, my, that was fast. Not even going to consider?” She asked tauntingly.

“No, I don't  believe I will. As much as I love my sister, I don’t particularly like the idea of being forcefully wed to her.” He spat.

His mother chuckled. “Please. ‘Familial bonds?’ You need to stop playing like you’re one of those ţ̴̺̯͍̮͘h̷͙̳̱̗͎͐̿̚i̵̪̗̝͉͍̅̍̕n̶̤͍̯̯̈́͆̄̎̕ĝ̴̱ṣ̵́̏.̶͉̞̾́͆̌”

“You wouldn’t understand, mother. I don’t expect you to.” He snapped back.

“Oh you’re just at that age, sweetie. You’ll come around.” She began to fade into shadow. “Quite soon, I imagine.” A sickly wide grin came across her face.

Kiyo simply scowled back. He was capable of being so much more terrifying.  But he knew that his human form was enough to enrage her.

He also knew that the way she said that wasn’t meaning anything good for his friends.

Angie’s sense of urgency flared up. Something was very wrong. She looked around and saw nothing, but she definitely felt something.

As if on cue, Korekiyo came running out of his dorm room, holding his food. “Everyone, flee the area!”

Everyone looked at him and felt their stomachs drop in his presence. Kiyo winced at this, but he didn’t have time for that now.

“Kiyo, what’s wrong?” Rantaro asked, concern in his voice.

“My mother visited. She’s not terrifically pleased that I’m friends with you, and I fear she may have put you all in some sort of danger.” He quickly explained.

“W-We’re gonna be attacked by your fuckin’ mom?!” Miu blanched in her usual terrified fashion, clinging to Keebo like a koala to a tree.

“No, worry not. She doesn’t have time herself. She likely sent some worshippers that-” As Kiyo spoke, a knife wound appeared in his throat “-oh dear.”

“Everyone, go, go!” Kaito commanded. Himiko prepared her magic, Maki grabbed a knife, Angie seemed to be preparing for some sort of exorcism.

Kiyo shielded them from throwing daggers that only he could see. These worshipers couldn’t be seen through mortal eyes. “No. You cannot defeat them. Save your energy and retreat.” He fell to the ground for a moment, but kept alert

“W-We’re not leaving you behind Kiyo!” Shuichi shouted.

“Yeah! A true mage always helps someone in need!”

“I know what it’s like to be hounded by your past. These things are gonna die.”

“Atua blesses and loves all of his creations!”

Kiyo was taken aback. Shuichi… Himiko, Angie, and Maki all wanted to protect him. Him. Even though he could feel their terror. He felt some semblance of a smile grace his face. He pulled down his mask, and gave Shuichi a small enough smile. “Thank you, everyone.”

Kiyo stood up, outstretching his arms, trails of blood slowly turning into a viscous black fluid as the thump of knives falling to the ground were heard. “You needn’t worry though. These cretins couldn’t kill me if they wanted to.”

They all nodded. Shuichi and Maki began to create distance between them and the invisible cultists. As Himiko and Angie went to leave,

“Miss Yonaga, Miss Yumeno.” They turned to look at him.

“I may have a plan. Would you mind… lending me your assistance?”

Himiko nodded, and Angie smiled widely.

“Of course! I am always here to help a friend!” She stood by him and crackled her knuckles. “And please, call me Angie.”

“You can call me Himiko too, i-if you want.” Himiko said, charging her mana.

Kiyo smiled again and nodded. “Very well. Himiko, can you conjure a mirror?”

Himiko nodded. “How big do you need it?”

"As big as you can make it."

Himiko nodded, and pointed her staff. “Speculum vocare superficiem!” After a flash of light appeared, a large mirror appeared behind them.

In the mirror, they could now see the cultists. Their writhing corrupted figures hidden under dark brown robes hoods. They were all uncanny, shambling creatures with serrated knives in their hands running towards them.

“Wh-Who are these guys!?” Himiko asked with terror, avoiding their slashes relatively easily now that she could see them.

“Worshippers of my mother. They follow her every whim as mindless drones. Now, you may want to step back, Himiko.” Kiyo said carefully. Himiko nodded, and walked through the mirror as if it weren’t there.

“Now, how can Auta help you and Angie?” Angie asked in the third person.

“Can you bind them all into place?” He asked. Angie nodded, and outstretched her arms. She rose from the ground, spreading her singular wing, causing rays of bright light to emanate from her. Chains made of light appeared, and wrapped around them like snakes.

“Perfect.” He smiled. “Now, Angie, be a dear, and step out of the reflection.”

Angie tilted her head in confusion. She shrugged and decided to go along with his plan.

In front of Korekiyo was a gang of about fifteen cultists, all pointing their knives and moaning incoherently.

Kiyo took his clasp mirror from his pocket and smiled. “I supposed this will be a picnic for you too.” He opened the mirror, and pointed it at Himiko’s conjured one. “Now, just like we practiced.”

He felt discomfort from the people behind him. “Worry not, these are simply thralls. They’ve long since died.”

He outstretched his hands upwards, and slowly lowered them to pose in a T shape.

“Dead reflection.”

Just like that, the reflections of the cultists were all crushed under writhing masses of the same tentacles, fingers, teeth, eyes that he saw in the mirror that morning, and suddenly receded into nothingness.

And just like that, it was over.

The mirror disappeared, and he saw the rest of building V staring at him. He bowed quietly, and began walking back to his dorm.

“Oh no you don’t!” He heard Kaede say, as she grabbed his arm. Kiyo had a confused look on his face. Were they not even more terrified of him? “We’re not gonna let you sulk in your room after just saving our butts!”

Kaito, Shuichi and Rantaro followed her. “Yeah! That was kick-ass how you saved the day there! Terrifying, but awesome!” Kaito praised him, patting the young man on the back.

“You’re really something else, Kiyo.” Rantaro said affectionately.

Shuichi gave him a knowing look and a smile.

Kiyo felt a smile again. “Very well.”

Everyone re-gathered around the blanket, food strewn about, but most of it was still edible. Kokichi hadn’t left since the attack. He ate all the chips.

Kiyo sampled everyone’s foods, and found them all immensely enjoyable. Everyone’s dish was something that felt truly made with love and care. The gyoza was mouth watering, the american style ribs were perfectly meaty and tangy, the harumaki rolls were simply perfect, the fairy pie, despite the name, didn’t contain fairies but different fruits from Himiko’s home realm, Kirumi’s chocolate chip cookies may have been heaven in edible form, Ryoma had a specially prepared sub for him, apparently Italian style, that was a wonderful mix of sweet and salty.

He even had some of the chips that were left over, he’s not above having some junk food, after all.

Everyone was… happy together. It was sweet.

“Y’know, Kiyo…” Shuichi began. Kiyo looked at him.

“You have a really great smile.” He finished.

Korekiyo felt that smile creep onto his face again. “Thank you very much, Shuichi.”

“Oh! We haven’t seen what Kiyo brought yet!” Tusmugi pointed out.

That piqued everyone’s interest and fear slightly. Kiyo had almost completely forgotten his own treat. He went to grab it in a large white box, and placed it in the center of the cloth. He slowly removed the lid, revealing a large cake.

In frosting, it read:

“Thank you for being my friends.”

Kaede, before anyone else could react, grabbed Kiyo in a large hug. “Thank you for being our friend, Korekiyo.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Yeah! You may be a bit scary, but you’re a really nice guy. I see that now.” Kaito said.

Maki nodded. “It’s good to be feared… but it’s much nicer to have people surrounding you.”

“You have super powerful magic! You should teach me some, Kiyo!” Himiko begged.

“Well, since you’re not quite human, you’re not really a degenerate male, right?” Tenko chuckled.

Kokichi had the first slice of cake on a plate already. “You’re alright I guess. Definitely interesting!”

“Kiyo very brave! Very gentleman-like!” Gonta cheered.

Kiyo could feel his emotion welling up. He’d… never felt this appreciated before. This accepted. As everyone said their own piece, Kiyo could feel something welling up at the corners of his eyes. “Oh… what is…?”

“It appears… you are crying tears of joy, Korekiyo my child.” Angie said, her trademark smile growing warmer and wider at him.

Kiyo flipped open his hand mirror again. Sure enough, small beads of tears were trailing down his cheek. He felt the smile return one more time for the day.

He looked deeply into the mirror, and once again saw the writhing mass of unrecognizable flesh. He smiled upon seeing it - seeing her rather. “This truly was a beautiful day, wasn’t it, my dear sister?”

Chapter Text

It felt like a normal day when Shuichi got up. As normal as it could be at Hope’s Peak, anyways. The morning air of the American Northwest was something sublime, even months after his enrollment. His room had finally begun being something of his own, with posters and polaroids of his various escapades with his new friends.

He checked his phone, and saw that the Building V Groupchat was blowing up. Above that was the usual good morning text from Kaede, but with three dots indicating more. He tapped on it, and then perked up at the realization.

Kaede: Good morning!
  Happy Pride Month, Shuichi! 🏳️‍🌈

Huh. It was that time of year, wasn’t it? He wondered… opening the Hope’s Peak University App on his phone, and sure enough there was a brand new announcement.

“Good morning students and faculty!

Happy Pride month to you all. This month, we’ll be once again holding our annual pride festival on campus and in town. Students, make sure your booths and stands are ready and stocked for the weekends. Staff, please ensure that things run as smoothly as they always do! Remember to be respectful, and have a lovely month!

• Makoto K. Naegi

They held an entire month-long festival for pride here? Shuichi was surprised, but also fairly pleased. He had learned quickly that gender and sexuality was played pretty fast and loose around Meta-Humans, so it was nice to know that not only would it be a great environment to be open in, and that he would learn a whole lot this month.

He stepped out of his room with a smile, greeted by Kaito, as always. “Mornin’ Shuichi! Feeling well rested today?”

“Yeah. Much more than usual. Did you know Hope’s Peak has a month-long Pride Festival?” Shuichi asked him.

“Oh for real? That’s pretty cool!” Kaito smiled, serving their breakfast. “I wonder what everyone’s gonna be up to today?”

“You’ve NEVER been to a pride celebration!?” Tenko shouted to Maki in outrage, leaving their last class of the day.

“Uh… not really, no.” She replied. “It’s not like they let me. I mean, what would they have me do, gay assassinations?” Maki shrugged. “I don’t even really get the whole sexuality thing anyways. I don’t think I’d fit.”

“Oh, no, actually, you’d fit in perfectly.” Kaede said. “That would make you aromantic or asexual.”

“What, like through mitosis?” Maki said, deadpan.

Tenko and Kaede stared at her, unsure if she was cracking a joke or not.

“W-Well, in any case, you’d still fit in well, Maki. I mean, you know how loose gender is for Metas.” Kaede elaborated.

“Uh… sure.” Maki replied. Truth be told, she hadn’t really met any other Meta-Humans outside of hits. “Well, what about you guys?”

“Oh!” Kaede gestured to herself, hand on chest. “I’m bisexual. And Tenko… well.”

“Oh! You guys may or may not have noticed,” she pointed to herself and grinned. “I’m actually a lesbian!”

“Wow. Never saw that coming.” Maki rolled her eyes.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!?”

Rantaro was in awe of this school time and time again.

He wasn’t particularly familiar with human gender and sexuality. The whole concept was, well, alien to him. On his homeworld his species had gender roles that were so radically different, he could barely even begin. They were a lot looser than Earth gender roles too. I mean, Earth widely speaking only really only spoke of two, male and female. Wasn’t that… limiting?

Well, it wasn’t his place to judge. Far from it! He was fascinated with the phenomena. People would confront him about things from time to time, like sexual attraction and romantic attraction. A lot of people had a hard time differentiating the two. For some reason, there were different expectations for how women should behave around him, and him around them. Though as soon as they got to know him, a lot of those worries and expectations faded, which was a relief.

But this month was finally a chance to dive head first into the different sides of gender and sexuality.

Stepping outside, he found himself greeted by Himiko and Angie standing in the ‘mana spot’ as they called it outside of their dorm building.

“Hey hey!” He waved, catching their attention.

Angie bounced in excitement. “Nyahaha! Greetings, Rantaro my dear friend! Happy Pride month! It is by far my favorite sin.” She said with a disproportionate amount of cheerfulness.

“Nyeh… hey Ranty. Happy gay-day, and all that.” Himiko said, very tired evidently.

“What’s your guy’s plan for today?” Rantaro asked. “Me, personally, I’m excited to learn more about you crazy guys.”

“Himiko and Angie are waiting on Tenko and Kaede - there is a wonderful parade taking place today, and once they arrive we intend to join them!” Angie replied.

Upon further inspection, Angie had a pink, green, and blue rectangle on one cheek, and a black, gray, white and purple rectangle on the other. Himiko had that same one, and another on her other cheek with six shades of red and pink colors and a white bar in the center.

“Ah! I see you peeking at our flags. Angie has a polysexual flag, and an asexual flag!” She pointed to each cheek. “Angie has no sexual attraction to any particular gender - but I have a strong emotional attraction to all!”

“I’m a lesbian. Girls are…” Himiko paused and blushed, “th-they pretty neat.”

“I see, I see…” Rantaro nodded. “I can relate on some level with those. Though, I don’t particularly identify with human genders.”

“Ahhh! I see, that’s quite interesting, Rantaro.” Angie thoughtfully nodded. “Himiko, what do you believe would suit our good friend Rantaro?”

Himiko thought for a moment, stroking her chin. “Hmmm… that sounds like Genderqueer if I’ve ever heard it.” She nodded. “Do you think boys or girls are cute?”

“Eh. I prefer boys, but I could go either way.” He answered.

Himiko hummed again before nodding. “You strike me as kinda… pansexual.” She snapped her fingers, and Rantaro felt the presence of something on his cheeks. “I put the flags on your face. Take a look.” Himiko presented him with her phone camera, and he admired the lavender, white, and chartreuse flag on his right cheek, and the pink, yellow, and blue flags on his left. “I would do your own research though. It’s okay if you change your mind, and stuff.” She sighed. “Figuring out gender n’ stuff is kinda a pain.”

Rantaro chuckled. “Yeah. Even where I'm from, I gotta agree.”

“You have the flags on, would you like to accompany us, Rantaro my dearest?” Angie asked excitedly.

Rantaro nodded with equal excitement. “Yeah! I'd love to!”

It was almost time for the actual parade, and most of building V had gathered outside in the usual spot.

Miu arrived on scene, kicking the door from the stairway in. “WHAT'S UP YOU FUCKIN’ PUSSIES!?” She had a rainbow shirt and white shorts on, with rainbow stockings, rainbow fingerless gloves, a rainbow headband, and various pride flags painted on her face.

“Hello, everyone!” Keebo said, following Miu nervously

“Oh wow, Miu. I didn't expect this much enthusiasm out of you.” Kokichi teased. “Quite an assortment of flags, you have almost as many as I do!” He said, pointing to the appropriately unholy amount of flags painted onto every part of his body.

“Girl, if any of you thought I was straight, that's on you.”

“Uh… what's that one on your forehead?” Himiko asked, gesturing to its position.

“Oh, this bad boy?” Miu grinned. “This is my very own specialty pride flag!”

“Oh? What it mean?” Gonta asked.

Miu simply chuckled. “I'm KEEBOSEXUAL!” She shouted proudly, wrapping an arm around her boyfriend.

And with that everyone either groaned or face palmed.

Keebo immediately blushed. “M-Miu!? You didn't tell me that's what that was! I thought that was an actual traditional flag!”

“It is an actual flag. Just one I made up today! I'm an inventor bitch, I can do what I want!”

Tsumugi had a thousand yard stare.

“Hey, uh, Tsumugi, are you okay?” Tenko asked.

She gave a smile that reeked of despair and resignation. “I have heard… unspeakable things, rooming with those two…”

Shuichi had finally arrived on scene with everyone. It took him some time to apply his flags, but he was finally ready. He stepped outside and saw everyone mingling and smiled. He'd made such a wonderful group of friends in only just a few months.

He began walking down, waving to everyone with his bisexual flag on full display.

“What up, Shyhara!”

“Oh! Hi Shuichi.”

“Hello Shuichi-san!”

“Why, greetings, Shuichi.”

“Good day to you, my dear friend.”

“Hey.”

“‘Bout time you showed up Shuichi!”

“Hey, kid. Glad you're hanging in there.”

“Nyeh? Oh, hi Shuichi.”

“Hey, Shuichi! Happy pride!”

“What up, Shuichi?”

“Hello, hello, Saihara-chan, my dearest love!”

“Nyahahaha! A blessed day to you, Shuichi!”

“Hope you're having a good day Shuichi. Did you take a peek at any of my recommendations?”

Shuichi couldn't help but grin. “Hello everyone!”

But there was one voice he hadn't heard yet. One very dear to him.

“Shuichi! Happy pride! I'm excited to attend the parade with you today!” Kaede said, approaching him from behind.

Shuichi smiled brighter than ever. “S-Same! I’ve never been to a parade before, I’m excited.

Kaede smiled back. “Well then, we’d better get you nice and acquainted!” She announced to the building V residents, “let's head out shall we?”

Everyone agreed, and they all set out together.

It was remarkable to Shuichi how, despite their differences, they were all able to get along as a big friend group.

The parade in town was as otherworldly as He had imagined. So many people from different walks of life expressed themselves in ways Shuichi never thought imaginable.

Shuichi met a lovely girl who held a panel on the ways vampires showed love - how intimate an act it was to share blood with another person, and what it meant for some people to become immortal with the one you love.

Aoi Asahina, a member of staff and a Mermaid, talked about her experiences. How brutal and unforgivable life in the ocean was for their kind, and how it made their love so much more special. Various tales of how mermaids and humans had fallen in love, and her experience falling in love with her wife, Sakura Ogami - who was herself an immortal.

Kazuichi Soda and Chihiro Fujisaki had a talk on what it meant for artificial beings to feel love, and how it was okay to not know what it was or what it came from. Keebo was nearly brought to tears. Miu was brought to tears.

Korekiyo actually held his own panel, about relationships between eldritch beings and mortals. The crowd seemed fairly sparse, but Kiyo assured his friends that there were plenty of guests.

Just not ones they could see.

With that unnerving comment, the rest of the day was dedicated to the various stalls and stands that residents of the town and college had set up, selling everything from pride merchandise, to foods and snacks from all across the Meta-Human world, to things That Shuichi could barely identify.

“Hey! Shuichi!” Kaede called out from behind the boy.

He looked behind him, and flinched.

“What do you think?” Kaede asked, now appearing to be fully human. No scales, webbed fingers, pointed teeth or tail, with a seashell charm on her left wrist. “Just like old times, eh?”

“Wow, yeah… talk about a blast from the past.” He said, examining her form (respectfully.)

“Yeah, other people like me have made strides in these disguise charms! Makes things so much easier.” She said. “Bit easier on the eyes, ey?”

Shuichi frowned at that. Kaede winced at his reaction. Before the moment grew awkward, Shuichi approached her, and unclasped the charm. Her siren features returned in a shimmer of light.

“I like you like this.” He said with a smile

She blushed. “Oh, you don't mean that…”

“I do.” Shuichi said firmly. “You’re perfect the way you are.”

She blushed even deeper. “J-Jeeze… you're so sappy.” She chuckled.

Shuichi chuckled back. “Look who's talking.”

Maki sat herself on a park bench, alone.

This was… dumb. Definitely not nice. Maki was definitely not having a good time at this festival. She wasn't enjoying the booths, the stands, the foods, the company, and DEFINITELY not Kaito.

She wasn't allowed to.

“Hey, Maki-roll!” Kaito shouted, causing Maki to startle.

She also definitely wasn't losing her touch…

“What is it?” She snapped in a way that anyone but Kaito would be scared by.

“I found a stand run by a few Yokai, and they had some snacks from home.” He held up two sticks of colored balls. “You like dango, right?”

Maki blinked at him. “I've never had it.”

“Well, that's perfect then!” He handed her a stick, and smiled.

She looked at him plainly, then at the dango again.

“C'mon, it won't bite. Not as hard as you do anyways!” He chuckled.

Maki slowly grabbed the stick, before taking a small bite of the first ball. A distinctive taste of sakura flooded her mouth, and her expression livened up a bit. “It's… not bad.”

“See? I knew you'd like it!” Kaito grinned. He sat down next to her. “What’s on your mind?”

Maki slowly sighed. “I just don't get this. I don't… I don't know.”

“Hey, I get it.” Kaito put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright not to know.”

“I just… I don't feel like I deserve this.” Maki muttered. “I don't fit in here. I'm a terrible person, and I'm not even gay or anything.”

“Hey, enough of that ‘I'm a bad person’ stuff!” Kaito scolded her.

“Kaito, I have a kill count well into the triple digits, if there’s a hell I have a reserved seat.” Maki scowled at him.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve nice things.” Kaito told her. “You’re trying to be better. That’s what’s important!”

She groaned. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kaito sighed. “Maybe I don’t.” He slumped on the park bench, biting down on the rest of his dango. “But there’s one thing I know for sure, Maki-roll.”

She looked at him harshly. “And what would that be?”

He sat himself back up, and looked her in the eyes.

“I believe in you.”

Maki, for the first time in her life, felt her heart skip a beat. Who… who was this guy?! How… how could one person hold so much kindness, for someone like her nonetheless? All of her crimes, misdeeds, killings, violent acts, and he just…

He still believed that she deserved to be happy.

“You’re…” Maki struggled to put her aloof veneer back on, “you’re a moron.” She spat at him without any real contempt in her voice - she was too off balance from whatever it was she was just struck with. She stood up, and began walking away with a wobbly blush on her face.

Kaito just looked on with a smile.

The day had finally come to a close. Stalls and booths were closing, the crowd was dying down, and the nocturnal Meta-Humans began emerging.

Shuichi stared into the ever beautiful starry sky of the pacific northwest, the lack of light pollution making the stars more visible than he had ever seen before moving here.

“Well, did ya have a good day, Shuichi?” Kaito asked him.

Shuichi nodded. “Yeah. Today was super fun. It was exciting to learn so much about this part of the world. It’s strange to think that all of this was just… under our noses for so long.”

“It’s certainly got its charm, I’ll say that much!” Kaito gave Shuichi a pat on the back. “Plus! You’ve been way more outgoing since we got here.”

Shuichi smiled to himself lightly. “Yeah… I guess I have been.”

Shuichi thought about his time here. His classes, his friends, his detective work… he’s done more in a few months than he would have done in a year back in Japan.

And then he thought of Kaede.

Her flags - he expected the lesbian pride flag, or something else to that effect, but she had the bisexual flag on her cheek.

She was also bi.

That… really resonated with Shuichi.

He had never really thought about it but… she really was beautiful. Everything about her, really.

Up until this point, he thought she was a lesbian. He hadn’t even really seen her that way beyond platonic admiration.

Well it wasn’t necessarily true, he was practically head over heels for her, he just knew that he shouldn’t really think about those feelings for someone who’d never reciprocate them.

But… she could.

Maybe he… had a chance?

N-No, he couldn’t ruin a good thing. She was his best friend. And… that was fine enough for him.

“Shuichi?” Kaito asked, poking Shuichi on the shoulder. “Lost ya there for a sec, sidekick!”

“O-Oh! Sorry.” Shuichi quickly said.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked.

Shuichi glanced over to part of the group that had split off - Kaede, Tenko, Himiko, and Angie were all chatting outside of the building.

Kaede, smiling her radiant smile, while her scales glistened in the sunset.

“If we’re working out tonight… could we invite Kaede?"

“So, Kaede, will you have time for movie night with me? Himiko and Angie will be there!” Tenko offered.

Kaede chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Thanks, but…” She looked over her shoulder to Shuichi… he… also had the bisexual flag on his cheek. She had never felt so seen by someone around her! She wasn’t entirely sure how Shuichi identified before this, but it was super nice to know he had that in common with her. “I have some plans tonight”

She always thought he was cute. Whoever he ended up with would be incredibly lucky. 

She just wishes she could be that lucky.

Because she couldn’t lie to herself. She was interested in Shuichi. Very interested.

…

Okay , she was head over heels for the guy!

But… he was the Ultimate Detective. He… he could do better.

He deserved better than a fish faced piano freak.

Her brain flashed back to earlier tonight. “You’re perfect the way you are.”

He… was probably just saying that to be nice.

Well, whatever he felt for whoever, Kaede would support him, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Upon entering their final period of the day, English Speaking, Shuichi and his classmates from building V had immediately noticed their professor.

“Gooood morning class!” The man said - he dressed very casually for the job. Just a yellow T-shirt, an unbuttoned dress shirt, and black jeans. His hair was in a bun, it seemed like he had a lot of it too. Some of the strands that resembled dreadlocks came down over his shoulder, revealing that his hair was entirely composed of snakes. “I'm Yasuhiro Hagakure! I'll be filling in for Pen-pal for a bit. Now, let's-”

“What do you guys mean when you say you're filling in for Professor Dover? He’s absent a lot, and you've never really told us why.” Kaede instantly inquired.

“Yeah, he usually seems pretty dedicated to class, even if he doesn't take it seriously.” Ryoma commented. “Doesn't make much sense.”

“Oh! He's just on his monthly leave, it's nothing to worry about, I promise!” He replied.

“...why is the first thing you say is that it's ‘nothing to worry about?’” Maki pointedly asked.

“B-Because it isn't!” Yasuhiro said nervously, trying to maintain his chilled out demeanor. “He has some matters to attend to, that's all! If anything it's probably for the best that he's gone for now!”

“What?” Shuichi asked, “why? It seems like a lot of unnecessary work.”

“He's a friend, there's no way we couldn't lend him a hand with this!” He enthusiastically said.

“Wait, so it is something he's having trouble with?” Kaito asked, eager to help as ever.

“L-Look he's told us he doesn't need help, we just have to wait it out for a bit!” He assured them, continuing to lose his composure.

“As the Ultimate Maid, it's an important duty of mine that I provide help when I can.” Kirumi said. “Could you please tell us how we can assist him?”

“You can assist him by staying away!” The professor desperately pleaded with them. “He’s got himself nice and secluded, nobody will get hurt!”

“That's on the table?! We can't let him handle this alone! I couldn't call myself a hero or the Luminary of the Stars if I didn't help someone in need!” Kaito stood up dramatically, his coat flapping with the movement. “C'mon sidekicks!” He said to Kaede, Shuichi, and Maki, “let's go help our professor who's helped us too!”

“N-No! Just give him his privacy!” Yasuhiro urged them one last time, “I promise you, you will be better off not going! L-Let’s just continue with class okay…?”

“Sorry, Professor Hagakure.” Maki said. “Once he's started there's no stopping him.”

“Damn straight!” Kaito replied. “Helping where it's not asked for is the essence of being a hero!”

“You aren't All Might, Kaito…” Tsumugi grinned dryly.

“I like your spirit Kaito!” Kaede pumped her fists. “Let's go help him out! Onward!”

She grabbed Shuichi’s wrist, and began running.

“Wh- h-hey!”

Maki sighed.

“Well. Bye.”

And just like that, they were off.

Yasuhiro sighed. “Man… I need to learn to keep my mouth shut…”

Kaito slammed his hand on Makoto’s desk. “Where is Professor Penrose!?” He demanded.

Makoto appeared to be getting ready to leave, putting his shoddy laptop back in his dilapidated looking bag. “Ahhh, Penrose!” He gleefully said, but then nervously chuckled. “He's, uh… well, he's on his leave again.”

“Yeah, we know that.” Kaede pressed, “but where is he? Does he need help?”

Makoto paled. “...no. He definitely doesn't need help. It's… it's for the best that you guys don't get involved, re-really!” He urged them.

This only made the four more suspicious. Even Shuichi, who initially was apprehensive, was finding the staff’s vagueness about their professor’s status very suspicious.

Makoto's phone beeped.

“Oops! Sorry kids, I got an important meeting. With my wife. We're going on a date!” He grinned goofily.

Even with Kaede’s frequent swooning over how the two were “#goals” she wasn't particularly amused at this time.

He practically sprinted out of the office, leaving them in the dust.

Maki sighed deeply. “Well. I didn't want it to come to this.”

She began walking down the hall of the faculty building, and increasingly curious Kaito, Kaede, and Shuichi followed.

She knocked on the door to the office of one Hifumi Yamada, the school’s resident Kitsune.

“Oooone moment!” The voice whined out. The door opened, and the tall man stood over the four. “Ahhhh, Mr. Momota, Mr. Saihara, Miss Akamatsu, Miss Harukawa. How may I assist our mystery solving gang today?” He giggled, pushing up his glasses.

“Where's Dover?” Maki said immediately.

Hifumi flinched. “Eeeeehhm… you… don't wanna know.” He said plainly.

Maki's stare intensified.

“Gyah! F-Fine! He's at his cabin! Y-You can find the address on his syllabus, just quit it with those eyes!” He screeched, slamming the door behind him and whimpering. “What a horrible night to have a curse…”

“...what did you do to him?” Kaito asked, terrified at his friend's display.

Maki shrugged. “Nothing. He's just terrified of women.” She began walking off, tapping at her phone. “I can look up his address. You drive, Kaito.”

The three stood there, stunned at her efficiency.

“...Y'know, if he wanted to compare us to the Scooby gang, wouldn't we need an animal friend?” Kaito scratched his head.

“Kokichi.” Shuichi offered.

Penrose’s cabin was apparently deep in the woods, about an hour drive to get there.

The roads grew increasingly dilapidated as they drew further and further from civilization, and Shuichi grew increasingly nervous.

“This… is a bad idea.” Shuichi offered.

Kaito shrugged. “Maybe. But jokes aside, what's been going on with him has become increasingly worrying.”

Maki starred up into the sky, as dusk turned to night. “The way I'm understanding it, Dover’s under some sort of ailment that strikes him every month. I'm not too experienced with them, but that sounds like a curse to me.”

It took Kaito all of his strength not to swerve off the road. “C-Curse?!”

Kaede winced. “Yeeeesh, I hope not. Those are far from pretty.”

“R-Really?” Shuichi asked.

“Yeah, they can be pretty deadly depending on what the caster wants.” Kaede explained. “It's a sort of… forced contract. As long as the caster has the materials for the desired effect, it can be basically anything they want it to be.”

“Magical items, organic materials, or even other cursed items can be broken down into something more than the sum of its parts to force a magical effect on someone - if you gather enough power to break through their inherent magical resistance, you can basically do whatever you want to them. A cursed individual could even be used for an especially powerful curse.” Maki elaborated further.

Kaito gulped comically. “P-People…?”

Shuichi shuddered at that.

Maki seemed to dislike this topic as well. “The worst I've seen is from one of my former colleagues. Baroque, the Vampire so Beautiful, gazing at her face is enough to drive a man mad.” She told the group. “Worst I saw her do was sacrifice another cursed human to massacre an entire building of vampires.”

“So… what is it exactly that we've gotten ourselves into…?” Shuichi cautiously asked.

The car stopped, and the four stared out of the front windshield at the dilapidated cabin of Penrose Dover.

It was covered in claw marks, broken windows, and pale dried out wood.

Kaito turned off the car, and stepped outside. Instantly the air felt abnormally cold. “Let's find out.”

“Given the dangers of tonight's mystery, I call a group meeting!” Kaito said, standing in front of the three. “So, Training Trio, I propose a buddy system!”

Kaede raised her hand.

“Yeah, Kaede?”

“Uh, why are we called the Training Trio when there's four of us?” Kaede tried not to giggle.

“Ah! Simple. That's what I called us before you were a part of our various escapades.” Kaito said, stroking his chin. “I suppose it would need a new name then…” he snapped his finger, “The Squad-hara! Perfect, now-”

“H-Hey, wait, why me?!” Shuichi asked incredulously.

“We're doin’ Detective work! Of course we're making it after you, buddy!” Kaito grinned, while Shuichi blushed in light embarrassment.

“You're an idiot.” Maki said.

“Squad-hara at your service!” Kaede grinned.

“Right! Anyways, buddy system. Me and Shuichi? We're squishy humans, especially compared to Maki.” Kaito began, pointing at her. “Which is why each of us will get a Meta-Human partner on any dangerous escapades.” He concluded with a smile, seemingly proud of himself.

“I'll go with Shuichi!” Kaede said quickly.

“Can I also go with Shuichi?” Maki asked, raising her hand with disinterest.

“Wh- hey! What's wrong with being my partner?!” Kaito whined at her.

Maki rolled her eyes. “Well, someone has to keep the idiot in check, I guess.”

“Like it or not, he's kinda your idiot Maki.” Kaede joked.

Only to be met with Maki glaring at her. “Do you wanna die?”

“W-Well then, me and Kaede will take the inside, you guys take the outside?” Shuichi nervously suggested.

“Sounds good to me. I do better outdoors.” Maki said, stretching her legs.

“Alright! Then it's settled.” Kaito reached into his pocket. “Catch!”

He threw something, which Shuichi clumsily caught. A walkie talkie.

“In case our phones stop working.” Kaito told him.

Shuichi nodded.

Investigation Start.

The foyer of the cabin was almost as bad as the outside. No claw marks to be seen, but broken furniture and holes in walls littered the hallway ahead of them. The chandelier has crashed through the floor.

“Oh God… what happened here…?” Kaede gasped.

Shuichi approached the chandelier, and found a thick layer of dust covering it. “This isn't recent… not at all.”

“Really? But… why would Mr. Dover leave his cabin in such a mess if this is where he goes every month or so?” Kaede asked, staring at the gaping hole in the floor.

The pictures on the walls, too, were caked in dust. There was one, in the broken table in the foyer. It was a group photo, seventeen people. One face was gashed out with what looked like human fingernails.

Kaede was distracted walking down the hall, her fingers running over the dilapidated wallpaper, listening intently for any movement.

She only found silence.

“I… can't seem to hear Mr. Dover here.” Kaede spoke aloud. “It's weirdly quiet outside too.”

They walked further into the house together, close and at each other's sides.

“Kinda like old times, ey Shuichi?” Kaede said.

Shuichi blinked and then nodded. “Wow, yeah. I… never even really thought about it.”

“Now that you're an actual detective, maybe we won't get in so much trouble with the cops anymore, huh?” Kaede grinned, a giggle passing through her pointed teeth.

“...I missed this.” Shuichi said with a longing smile, as they entered the kitchen. “I missed this a lot.”

“Same. I handled a few cases when I was at Point Nemo, but… it was never the same without you.” Kaede said longingly, looking into the cupboard to find various different types of tea and dried meat.

Shuichi blinked, peeking out from over the counter. “You… still kept it up without me?”

Kaede giggled. “Of course I did!” She looked over her shoulder to grin at Shuichi again. “I can't just do nothing when people need help.”

Shuichi smiled back. That was one of the things he loved liked about Kaede. “I'm glad that's a quality you never lost, even after all these years.”

Shuichi opened the refrigerator, before gagging - it still had power it seemed, and in it were shelves stuffed to the brim with raw salmon. “What on Earth…?”

“I smell fish!” Kaede came running over. “Oooh, salmon!” She reached in and grabbed a fish, before tilting her head back to gulp it down - only before realizing what she was about to do in front of Shuichi. “O-Oh! S-Sorry. One of the things that come with being a Siren - I kinda crave fish…”

Shuichi looked at her and shrugged. “No need to be self conscious. I'm pretty sure I've seen you eat gyoza like that before…” he chuckled as Kaede's cheeks pinked in embarrassment.

She much more politely, slowly bit the head off the fish. “W-wow, this is really fresh too…”

“How long ago would you say it was caught?” Shuichi asked her, trying to figure out why he thought what Kaede did was cute.

“Like… maybe six hours? It's hard to say for sure, but he's a fresh one.” Kaede said, chomping in the rest of the fish.

“So… despite the dilapidation, there is definitely someone still staying here. Wanna move on for now?” Shuichi asked.

“Yup!” Kaede stood back up, “let's go find Mr. Dover!”

“Maki-roll? You good up there?” Kaito shouted into a tree.

Maki had decided to climb up one to survey the area. After a few beats of silence, Maki dropped down next to the young man, her legs snapping.

“Ow.”

“You really gotta stop doing that.” Kaito said, cringing at the sound her breaking bones made as they reset themselves.

Maki just shrugged it off. “In any case, I think there's something just north of here.”

“Hah! Nice Maki-roll.” Kaito praised her.

Maki just let out a neutral hum in response.

“Soooo…” Kaito said, walking beside her. “How's therapy been?”

“Fine, I guess.” Maki shrugged. “I'd really rather not talk about this.”

Kaito raised his arms. “Fair enough. Glad it's helping though.”

“I still can't fathom why you think I'm worth the trouble-” Maki self deprecated, which was met with Kaito firmly, but gently, grabbing her wrist.

“Hey, I said no more of that.” He lightly scolded.

Maki stared at him for a moment, noticing his face was more stern than usual. She sighed. “Fine. Whatever you say.”

Kaito silently celebrated that move as they kept walking.

“What is it you've picked up on?” Kaito asked her.

“It's… hard to explain.” She said, “Curses are… pretty nasty magic. It requires a lot of negative energy for a lot of them. It leaves a sort of… signature behind. Whoever put this curse on him, if this is the case, must've held a lot of pain in their heart. Either it's not a curse, or it's the most potent one I've ever… seen…”

Before Maki finished, she pushed through the treeline, and was greeted with a wide open plain.

Any grass looked as though it had been burned off of the ground, and all of the trees were drained of all life, shriveled up. Anything sustaining life had vanished without a trace.

Kaito East equally taken aback. “What on Earth…?”

“...you know how I said curses can use organic life?” Maki said.

Kaito looked around, his eyes widening at the implication. “This is what can happen…?!”

“The thing is…” Maki trailed off, walking further into the circle, “I've never seen one powerful enough to spread this much.”

Kaito paled further at Maki's tone. “What… does that mean?”

Maki crouched to the ground, and picked up a completely barren skeleton of a bird, that simply crumbled to dust at her touch. “I have two theories.” She walked further towards the center of the massive clearing, the ground dipping lower and lower.

At the lowest point, there were two half circles, intersecting each other.

“Well, this confirms one theory.” Maki began. “You see the grooves in the ground here?” She ran her fingers over them. “There was a pretty large clash here. Two very strong magic users.”

“They both tried to curse each other?” Kaito asked, crouching next to her.

She shook her head. “No. Two very draining spells. Not sure exactly, but they're quite taboo to use, even in my old line of work.”

“Even for assassinations?” Kaito asked in disbelief.

Maki nodded. “You see what it's done to the place. Not only does it leave excessive evidence, it's practically permanent. This looks to have been made about eight or so years ago.”

Her eyes widened.

“This is the site of the Battle of Hope and Despair.”

“Huh? What's that?” Kaito asked her.

“It's an old battle, massively classified - even most Meta-Humans don't fully believe it's real. There's not a whole lot known about it outside of a select few people who were involved.” Maki explained, looking around the clearing under the light of that new knowledge.

“Whoa… so this is… a historical site basically…?” Kaito asked

“In the same way Roswell is a historical site… to, well, normal people at least.” Maki explained further. “Like I said, what happened is basically unknown, and most people probably don't know this place exists as evidence.”

Kaito shivered at that. “M-Maybe we should get outta here…”

Maki hummed in agreement. “Whatever Dover is here for, this has something to do with it… but it doesn't look like he's here, and I don't know any reason why he would be.”

“Yeah… this place gives me the creeps.” Kaito said, power walking away. He pressed a button on his walkie talkie, and spoke. “Luminary to Detective, status?”

A moment passed. “This is Shui… er, Detective to Luminary. We need to go. Now.”

“Huh? Shuichi, what's wrong?.” Kaito replied. “Your voice is trembling, everything alright?”

“Me and Kaede, we-” Shuichi started, but the audio suddenly cut.

“Shuichi? Detective!” Kaito called out into the device.

No answer.

“Something’s not right… we should head back.” Maki snapped.

Kaito nodded, and at an inordinate speed, they both began sprinting back.

The bedroom was beyond any of their expectations. 

While the house had seemed abandoned from an outside perspective, most of the utilities still functioned fine, and there were still rooms that were even somewhat presentable.

But the whole time, that room felt off.

Every time his line of sight met it, Shuichi felt his stomach sink, despite it by all outward appearances looking normal.

Inching closer to that room, as they explored, Shuichi felt the weight of it steadily intensifying.

His body was telling him that there was something very very wrong about that room, and the closer he got the more that stench of wrongness and danger shot up. This was… completely illogical. What was it about a single room he couldn't even see that was setting off alarm bells in every corner of his mind?

He slowly approached the door. He felt his body's temperature drop as soon as he laid his fingers on the knob, a shudder involuntarily creeping up his spine.

“You… you feel it too, don't you?”

Shuichi almost flinched, and looked at Kaede. She was petrified.

Inexplicably, they knew that if they opened that door, something terrible would be behind it.

klick. Creeeeaaaaaaak…

The door moaned as it opened.

“Oh my God.”

It was a bedroom, with what looked like a study attached.

The room was ransacked, claw marks all over the walls, clothes and papers scattered over the broken shelves and desks. The worst of it all was the bed in the center of the room.

The pristine white sheets were painted a brutal, deep blood red, bits of flesh and sinew splattered on the walls and ceiling.

“We have to go. Now.” Kaede quietly said, unable to pry her eyes from the sight.

“Luminary to Detective, status?”

They both jumped in unison at Kaito's voice coming from the walkie talkie, startlingly loud in the deafening silence.

“This is Shui… er, Detective to Luminary.” Shuichi fearfully replied. “We need to go. Now.”

“Huh? Shuichi, what's wrong? Your voice is trembling, everything alright?”

“Me and Kaede, we-”

Shuichi was shoved down, mouth covered by Kaede's hand. She silenced the walkie, mouthed her words urgently, eyes wide and hands shaking.

“I just heard something open the front door.”

Shuichi's stomach dropped again.

Some thing. Not some one .

They had to hide. And fast. Of all the destroyed furniture, thankfully the closet door remained intact, leading to a built-in one in the wall. They quickly shoved the door open, and closed it so quietly and slowly Shuichi was convinced they'd be caught with it open.

It clicked shut, and they were in darkness, only heavy breathing and thrumming heartbeats in their ears.

“Are you okay?” Kaede whispered. By the sound of it, it was a very particular frequency. One that only Shuichi would be able to hear at that moment. “You don't have to talk, just nod or shake your head.”

He nodded.

“R-Right. Me too. I'll let you know if I hear anything weird, okay?”

He nodded again.

Silence. Surrounded by coats and jackets, it was hard to hear anything outside of their small space.

He couldn't see Kaede's face, but he could tell she was petrified. Whatever came in was bad news. It killed him to wonder what it was about opening a door that made Kaede's heart pound like this.

They sat there for what felt like hours, while it couldn't have been more than a minute since they had got in there.

Shuichi nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard footsteps. They were in the bedroom, wandering around aimlessly.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Step.

It was rummaging through the room, searching.

Step.

Step.

Step 

Step.

The heavy breathing grew closer to the closet, like an animal in the middle of a hunt as Shuichi and Kaede shook in their place.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Step-

“Shuichi! Kaede!”

Kaito's voice called out, all the way from the entrance to the cabin.

Shuichi's entire body turned to ice at the prospect of Kaito running to whatever had just placed its hand against the closet door.

*CRASH*

A window shattered, and everything went quiet once more, abandoning the duo in pure silence. They released a breath they didn't even know they were holding, barely hanging in by a thread of sanity.

The footsteps returned. Lighter, and more confident as Kaito entered the room.

Kaede and Shuichi wouldn't dare move.

The closet door flung open, and in the dim moonlight was the silhouette of Kaito and Maki.

“Oh God, Shuichi, Kaede, are you guys okay?” Kaito asked.

The two of them nodded, and walked out of the closet together as they tried to calm themselves.

“What were you guys doing in there?! You scared the crap outta when you didn't answer!” Kaito scolded them.

“S-Something... Something… something came inside.” Shuichi told him.

“I-I heard something open the front door a-and- I didn't know what to do… I just hid with Shuichi.” Kaede stammered fearfully, barely holding together.

“That explains the open front door and the broken window, I suppose.” Maki commented calmly, examining the grizzly scene that was the bedroom.

“Well, at the very least I'm just glad you're safe… do you know what it was?” Kaito pressed.

Kaede shrugged shakily. “No idea. It was… really weird.”

“Either way, I-I think we should get out of here. This has all been really weird.” Shuichi offered. Kaito and Kaede nodded.

“Yeah… maybe we shouldn't have messed with this. Seems to be out of our understanding.” Kaito said, running the back of his neck.

“I'll hang back.” Maki said, peering out the window. “This thing has… piqued my interest.”

“Well, I'm not leaving you here alone Maki-Roll.” Kaito told her.

She rolled her eyes. “What was that about humans being ‘squishy’ earlier?”

“Well if you figure it out, I wanna be there too!” Kaito said, “I'm invested too!”

Maki sighed deeply. “Fine. Lovebirds, wanna get in on this too?”

Shuichi and Kaede jumped. “L-Lovebirds?!” They simultaneously shouted.

“I-It's not like that, I swear, really! Shuichi's out of my league anyways!” Kaede quickly corrected.

“It’s not- Wait, I'm out of your league?” Shuichi asked doubtfully.

“Well neither of you are beating the allegations as long as you're holding hands.” She said without missing a beat.

The two looked down, and, sure enough they had started holding hands at some point. They both blushed and retrieved their hands.

“Well, if you guys are on board…” Kaito began, peering out the window, “we're on the hunt.”

They went to where the window shattered, a whole floor to the ground. Shattered glass littered the area, shimmering in Kaito's flashlight as they slowly approached.

Examining the area didn't look like it'd yield much, but they went regardless.

The place was trashed, so anything was pretty much hidden in plain sight.

Shuichi lifted the glass, and made sure to uncover anything that may have been lying beneath the shards, Kaede was still listening intently, and Maki observed the surroundings with Kaito.

Shuichi was stumped. He sat there looking, reaching for a hat that wasn't there. His eye…

It wouldn't stop itching. He was rubbing and rubbing, but the feeling that a lash had lodged itself in his eye wouldn't leave.

He groaned, clamping his eyes shut, he rubbed them with the palm of his hand, and the feeling disappeared. He opened his eyes, and it was right there. The ground he was looking at…

“There's a paw print here.”

The other three glanced at Shuichi, before noticing his discovery.

“Hey, hey! Good find, sidekick!” Kaito gave him a hearty pat on the back.

“Great job Shuichi! That's unnerving, but super helpful.” Kaede cheered him on.

Maki was… weirdly quiet. “Well, we can follow the path this thing left.” She said plainly as she followed the track further with her eyes.

The other three quickly followed suit, as the prints led them deep into the woods. The full moon illuminated the area, casting shadows across the forest floor, making Shuichi, Kaito, and Kaede flinch at strange flickers of what looked like movement, or a figure.

Shuichi felt like they were being watched.

And he hates how accurate he always was with that.

After what felt like hours of trudging through brush and bushes, they found a clearing at the mouth of a cave.

Around the entrance was littered with bones. The skulls of squirrels, the legs of deer. And most chillingly, a fully intact spine that none of them could quite identify.

“Please tell me we're not going in there…” Kaito whined nervously.

“For once… I don't blame you Kaito.” Maki said coldly. “And you are most definitely an idiot for coming along.”

“...I hear something.” Kaede said with fear in her voice. “Footsteps.”

It wasn't long before Shuichi heard them too. For some reason, he could tell who the footsteps belonged to. The gait and pace… they were the same as the ones in the cabin.

And the same as his professor.

“You kids…” a voice murmured. It was shaky, and unstable as it echoed out of the cave. “You really… really shouldn't have come here…”

Out of the cave came the emaciated form of Penrose, clothes tattered to shreds.

“P…Professor?” Kaito asked in shock.

“Y-Yeah… it ain't pretty…” he said somberly. “But, I have it handled. I promise you kids, you need-” He stopped, and groaned loudly before vomiting a slick red and black substance.

“P-Professor!” Kaede yelped, and ran up to him-

“Stop right where you are!” He interrupted her, and she paused. “I know I look bad now, but… I can't hold it off much longer. You DON'T want to be here when it gets here…!”

“When what gets here…?” Shuichi asked.

Penrose chuckled. “Y’see… as much as I like to pretend… normal people don’t have black and white hair.” He grabbed a strand from his head, before scratching. Hard. “I’m just as much of an anomaly as the rest of you. But I wasn’t always.”

Maki tensed instantly. “Fuck. The full moon… you’re a lycanthrope, aren’t you?”

Shuichi, Kaede, and Kaito all instantly paled at her words.

“God, I wish.” Their professor said, “I fuckin wish.” Light started emerging from the clouds, shining over his body. “Well, kids, I tried to warn you. I really did.” The sound of bones crunching and flesh tearing started polluting the air, as the four students watched in horror. He hunched over, clutching his head as he began wailing in pure agony.

His body started swelling in size, crunching, groaning, growling as his clothes continued to tear and rend asunder, before he stood up on his legs.

His hind legs.

Standing at nine feet tall, black and white hair covering each half of his body, his left eye now glowing a dark red, like a scar lighting up the night. It spotted them, and roared louder than anything they had ever heard.

“He’s… an arktothrope!?” Maki said in alarm.

Shuichi looked to her, and felt dread overtake whatever remaining hope he had, as he watched Maki Harukawa, The Ultimate Assassin, The Bloodsoaked Vamp, cower in fear.

“A-A-A-A WEREBEAR!?” Kaito shrieked back, falling over backwards in fear.

“Oh shit… oh shit, oh shit!” Kaede - Kaede of all people, began swearing. “Run, RUN!”

Shuichi didn’t need to be told twice, he turned tail and ran, as his life depended on it. He heard an ear piercing wail, and turned around to see Kaede. She had leaned forwards, and let out a modulated wail, loud enough to unearth the ground in front of the bear, knocking it back into the cave's wall before she turned around and began running with them.

Kaito had grabbed Shuichi’s arm, dragging him along through the sticks and brush like a ragdoll. Wait- where was Maki?

Shuichi looked back again, and gasped. Maki, in a last ditch effort to buy them some time, was clashing with the bear, blood gushing from her body from wounds that had been made in a split second. “RUN!” She commanded her friends, as the creature broke her arm like a twig.

“I hope you got another shriek in you, Kaede!” Kaito called out to his side. Kaede only shook her head, clutching her throat. She clearly had lost her voice.

They broke back into the clearing with the cabin, and sprinted to the car.

The three of them threw the doors open, Kaito stuck in the keys-

“Wait, where’s-”

There was a loud crash, as Kaito’s windshield shattered, and the three of them screamed - Maki’s bloodied body had been thrown through the windshield like a ragdoll.

“SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!” Kaito screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to start the car.

The beast was closing in, black and white fur bounding towards the van at the speed of a car.

Shuichi moved without thinking.

“SH-SHUICHI NO!” Kaede wailed, crying out in fear as he ran directly towards the threat.

‘What am I doing?! Why can’t I stop?!’ He pleaded with himself.

Reach out for him.

A small voice in his head whispered.

He extended his hand, and shouted,

“Proséngisi psychís!”

He blinked awake. What… just happened…?

He rubbed his eyes. This… wasn’t a hospital, like he thought he might wake up in. He sat up, and was greeted by a never ending field of stark white grass up to his shoulders.

“Where… am I?”

“You’re in my mindscape.”

Shuichi flinched, and turned around at the voice.

It was Penrose.

Shuichi gasped.

He- whatever this manifestation was, was grotesque. Out of his back sprouted dark and writhing flesh, forming claws around his neck, and enveloping his body like a tumor.

“Yeah… this is a visual representation of my curse.” The dark pulsed white, and looked as though it crept further up his body. “It… it gets worse every time… seven years ago, I was just a regular black bear… and now I’m this…”

“H… How can I help…?” Shuichi asked.

“We’ve trie- hnng…” He winced in pain. “We’ve tried all we could. Eventually… it’s gonna overtake me and… and I won’t come back…”

Shuichi looked horrified. He couldn’t think of a worse way to go, to be lost in your own mind, to be trapped by an ever progressing curse, like a cancer until there was nothing left but a feral beast.

“This… I think I can hold it back long enough for you to escape, since you awakened me. Please, get out of here.” He looked up at Shuichi, and gave a melancholic smile. “If I can give you any hope… let it be that…”

The young detective clenched his fist. “No.”

Penrose flinched. “What… what do you mean no? This isn’t something you just deny.”

“I won’t accept that hope.” He shook his head, and pointed at his professor. “I reject that hope!” He began walking towards him.

“Shuichi… Shuichi, no, kid!” He tried to warn him away, but he only approached faster. He went into a sprint. “DON’T DO THIS, SHUICHI!”

He latched his hands onto the curse, and felt his arms burn. He didn’t scream in pain.

“I’m going… to save you…” Images flashed in his mind. Kaede. Maki. The good he had done for them, the companionship that he offered them that saved their lives… the day he failed Kaede. “I’m never going to let another person… go without help-” There was a crunching and tearing noise as Shuichi kept pulling harder, “-AGAIN!”

Penrose gasped, and took a deep breath for the first time in what felt like a millenia, as he watched a radiant light burst from out of his body where the curse separated -

“Sh-Shuichi, what did you-” He looked up at the boy, and gasped.

Across his entire body, were hot, burning, yellow flames as he held the curse in a ball of writhing darkness, forcing it smaller, and smaller, until it was just a handheld sphere. It looked as though it were casted of pure obsidian, pitch black and shining like a diamond. It fell to the ground with a hefty thunk, before rolling to Penrose’s feet. He picked it up. It was… so much lighter than he thought it would be. 

“Shuichi… what did you…?”

He froze.

Staring up into the sky of this realm, he was at a complete loss for any words whatsoever.

Shuichi let out a deep gasp, and shot up to a sitting position. “What the hell was that…?”

“SHUICHI!” He heard Kaede cry out, before he felt arms around his sides. “You stupid moron! Never do anything like that ever again, you hear me!?”

“Damn it Shuichi, I know you’re my sidekick and all, but you could’ve died if you hadn’t knocked the bear out!” Kaito chided him.

“Wait… Penrose!” Shuichi called out, and immediately stood up, breaking out of Kaede’s hug, and running to the cursed being.

“Sh- what!? Shuichi! We need to go!” Kaede urged him, closely following behind him and grabbing his arm.

“Just one second!” Shuichi pleaded with her. “Please just let me check one more thing!”

Her face scrunched up. “Okay. But make it…” Her eyes drifted to the bear, and she trailed off.

“What the hell…?” Kaito swore.

“It’s… working.” Shuichi said.

“Shuichi? What’s working?” The pianist asked him.

The body of the bear slowly crunched and contorted even more. But the body was compressing. It was shrinking down, until…

“Shuichi… did you…?” Kaito asked.

“I… I don’t know how I did it…”

The body came to a halt, and what sat in its place was their professor - some bearish features were still on his body, but he was no worse than when they had seen him a week ago.

“I… didn’t cure his condition. But I think… I made it better.” Shuichi finished.

The body groaned. But, it wasn’t the groaning and contorting of the body… it was the familiar groan of their professor. “Fffffuuuck dude… that was… that was fuckin’ weird…”

“P-Professor Dover!?” Kaito blanched.

The professor, now with sharpened claws on his fingers, and fangs poking out of his mouth, spread his arms out. “In the flesh.”

“Wait… so, Shuichi did it!?” Kaede said with excitement.

Penrose nodded. “I don’t know what you did kid…” He walked over to them, and placed a hand on the young detective’s shoulder. “But thank you.”

“So… you’re fully cured?” Katio asked again.

Penrose nodded. “Honestly, more like upgraded. I’ve… become one with the curse, so to speak. Now I can use it as if it were any other spell.” He snapped his fingers, and shrunk a few inches. “See look! I’m all normal again!”

“G-Great… just whe-when I had the drop on y-you…” A low growl emerged from behind them. Leaving a trail of blood, Maki was dragging her body across the ground with a knife.

“Oh shit, Maki roll!” Kaito sprinted over to her.

“S-Sorry about your car. I’ll cover anything insurance doesn’t” Penrose promised.

Shuichi nodded to the man, ran over to help Maki back on her feet.

He grinned at their antics. They were good kids.

“Professor.”

He looked over to Kaede, who had stayed in place. “What happened in there?”

“What do you mean, Kaede?” He asked back.

Feigning ignorance.

She squinted at him. “I can tell when people are lying pretty easily. So I know you’re not telling me everything.”

Penrose didn’t look fazed. “The time will come… that he’ll be able to tell you himself. For now… my lips are sealed.”

She groaned, and began walking to rejoin the other three. “Fine… just know, if you did OR do something to hurt Shuichi…” She turned over her shoulder, her scalera pitch black, with only her yellow irises cutting through the dark. “ You will see hell .”

Penrose sighed. ‘Ah, young love.’

Kaito slammed the car door shut, leaving them in front of their dorms. They were covered in wounds, caked in dirt, and splattered with blood.

“Whew, looks like you guys had a rough foursome!” The familiar shrill giggle of Kokichi disgraced their ears, as they simply ignored the little gremlin as he walked into his dorm, for some reason carrying an entire box of whoopie cushions.

Kaito looked at his watch. Three in the morning. “Well. I’m going to bed.” He slowly walked to his dorm.

“I think I might rest for a few days after this.” Kaede groaned.

“I think I might rest for a week after this.” Shuichi replied.

They arrived upstairs, plowing down the door.

Kaito fell face first on the couch, Shuichi fell face first on his bed.

“Hey… Kaito…” Kaito blinked awake, and saw Maki standing over him. “I… uh…” She lifted up her arm. “I still have some cuts. If I’m not healing… I might need some blood.

Kaito grinned. “You’re always welcome to have some, Maki-roll.”

Shuichi was startled awake.

Unsurprisingly, he had just had a pretty graphic nightmare. Kaito, Maki, and Kaede, all being mauled by a bear. He stood up from his bed. It was still dark out, he observed as he entered the living room. He smiled at the sight of Maki and Kaito crashing on the couch, as he stepped outside.

He breathed in the cool night air, listening to the insects cry into the night, watching the fireflies hover around the courtyard.

“Hey.”

Shuichi flinched, and looked where the voice came from. Kaede was in the hall with him as well, wrapped in a blanket. “Nightmare?”

Shuichi sighed. “Yeah.”

“Do you… want some company?”

Shuichi felt a small smile creep up his face. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

He leaned on the railing, and Kaede took her place next to him. Words weren’t needed between them, as she closed her eyes, and laid her head on Shuichi’s shoulder.

Penrose knocked on the door to Makoto’s office, before gently opening it.

“Wow… you really are cured.” The principal said.

The professor nodded. “Yeah. I can actually teach during full moons now.”

“But, you wouldn’t have called all of us here if it wasn’t something important.” Kyoko said from the corner of the room.

“Pleasantries are well and good,” Byakuya said, pushing his glasses up, “but do get to the point.”

He took in a breath, and let it out, mentally preparing for this conversation.

“We need to talk about Shuichi’s origins.”