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Shuichi pulled the hood of his black hoodie further over his face to block out the rain as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He felt anxiety begin to bubble up inside him as he walked down the sidewalk, Kaito and Maki walking a few feet in front of him.
Shuichi had yet again allowed himself to be peer pressured into something he was not comfortable doing by Kaito. This time it was a haunted house.
Shuichi didn’t really handle scary things that well, and the few scary things he could handle, he preferred to steer clear of. He saw enough scary things helping out at his uncle’s detective agency and working on cases with Kyoko at Hope’s Peak.
He saw enough real corpses, he didn’t need to see some fake ones in a poorly lit room. But Kaito said he really wanted him to go, and Shuichi could almost never say no to Kaito.
Shuichi’s breath hitched in his throat when he noticed the large group of people standing outside of the building the haunted house was located in. More anxiety bubbled inside him at just the sight.
He was so focused on the large crowd, he almost ran face first into Kaito’s back, not realizing he and Maki had stopped.
“Hey Sidekick,” Kaito’s voice broke him from his thoughts, “you okay?”
“Uh, y-yeah,” Shuichi stuttered. “I’m fine.”
“That’s good,” the astronaut replied, slinging his arm around Shuichi’s shoulders and pulling him up between him and Maki. “Wouldn’t want you to be super freaked out or anything.”
“Yeah,” Shuichi awkwardly laughed. He was glad Kaito was so dense. Literally anyone else would’ve been able to spot that he was obviously lying.
Maki, on the other hand, wasn’t so dense. She slid her hand up to Shuichi’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He glanced at her, and they shared a knowing glance.
He supposed there was nothing to be afraid of with the Ultimate Assassin by his side.
Shuichi allowed himself to be led closer to the large group, feeling less freaked out squished in between Kaito and Maki. But when they grew closer, the detective caught sight of a familiar blur of purple staring at his phone at the front of the line. Shuichi froze at the sight of him.
“Shuichi?” Kaito questioned when Shuichi stopped walking. He followed his gaze before a smirk spread across his lips. “Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to mention that I invited a couple more friends along.”
Shuichi glanced at Maki at that, who just shrugged in response.
“Figured you wouldn’t want to third wheel the entire time.” Kaito shrugged, grabbing Maki’s hand and intertwining their fingers, causing the assassin to go bright red.
Shuichi trailed behind them as they cut through the line to get to their other friends, the detective muttering apologies to the angry people they were essentially cutting.
“Hey guys,” Kaito greeted, as they got to their friends who were closer to the front of the line.
“Hey virgins!” Miu yelled in response, a little too loudly for Shuichi’s liking as she earned a few stares.
“I hope you guys weren’t waiting here too long,” Maki stated.
“We haven’t been here very long,” Keebo reassured. “Everyone got here pretty much right after we did.”
“Yayyyyy Space Idiot and his goth girlfriend made it,” Kokichi cheered, finally looking up from his phone. He glanced behind them at Shuichi and his eyes widened. “Shumai? What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d bring him along too,” Kaito replied before Shuichi could say anything.
“Why?” Kokichi asked, his face blank.
Kaito shrugged.
“No, seriously,” Kokichi pressed, “why did you bring him?”
Kaito furrowed his brow. “I don’t like leaving him out of things. Why are you upset about it anyway? You of all people would normally be
happy
he’s here.”
A giggle erupted from Kokichi’s lips and just like that the mask was back. “Yeah, sure thing, bestie. Just curious, that’s all.”
Kaito just rolled his eyes, turning his attention to Maki. Kokichi took that as his opportunity to squeeze past him and towards Shuichi.
“You really need to stop letting him peer pressure you into these kinds of things,” Kokichi mumbled to him, letting his mask drop once again. Shuichi always felt a gross, fuzzy feeling burst in his chest everytime Kokichi dropped his mask around him, knowing very few people got to see that side of him. It was comforting, knowing Kokichi felt safe enough around Shuichi to let him in.
Shuichi sighed. “I know.”
Kokichi sucked in a breath, reaching his hand over and lacing his fingers with his beloved detective’s. He knew how much Shuichi didn’t like scary things. A large grin appeared on his face as he built his mask back up. “It’s okay, Shumai, I’ll protect you from the scary monsters,” he announced, loud enough for the other four to hear them.
Shuichi smiled softly. He’d be lying if he said Kokichi being there didn’t make him feel better. “I’m sure you will.”
* * *
His anxiety just got worse the farther in line they got. The comforting squeezes Kokichi was giving his hand were doing very little to calm him down at that point. When they had gotten halfway up the ramp and the security guy was telling them the rules, it felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He had been so caught up in his own thoughts he didn’t even notice when Kokichi slowly tugged him away, pulling him so they were standing a couple feet behind the rest of the group. He didn’t realize what the smaller boy was doing until he felt his arms wrap around his middle and his fluffy hair tickle his cheek as he buried his face in his neck.
“K-Kokichi?” he questioned before the purple haired menace shushed him.
When he was provided with no explanation, he returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around Kokichi’s shoulders and burying his face in soft purple hair.
It was when Kokichi started tapping his finger on Shuichi’s shoulder that it clicked.
Four-seven-eight.
Shuichi was then reminded of one of the many perks to having a boyfriend who could read people so easily. The detective squeezed Kokichi closer, breathing along with his taps.
In for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, out for eight seconds.
When Shuichi’s breathing had evened out, Kokichi pulled back slightly, just enough that their noses were barely touching.
“You okay, baby?” Kokichi whispered. Shuichi just gave a small nod, causing the other to smile. “I’m going to put snails in his dorm.”
“Kaito’s?”
“I don’t like that he dragged you here,” he muttered under his breath.
“Don’t blame him, it’s my fault for being so easily peer pressured.” That comment earned him a glare from Kokichi.
The liar sighed before, “Just remember that it’s not real, and they’re not allowed to touch you.” He leaned closer until their lips were just centimeters apart. “And if it makes you feel better, everytime we do one of these, Kaito becomes a sobbing mess halfway through and has to be dragged by Maki so look forward to that.”
Shuichi laughed softly at that, and Kokichi couldn’t help but capture his lips in a soft kiss. The detective took comfort in the feeling of his boyfriend’s lips against his before they were rudely interrupted.
“Aww, look at the queers,” Miu cooed, causing the boys to pull apart and Shuichi to flush bright red.
Kokichi spun around in Shuichi’s arms, pushing his back against the detective’s chest and bringing his hands up to intertwine their fingers. “Don’t worry, Shumai, she’s just jealous.”
“Jealous, my ass. I’ve got all I need right here,” Miu hollered, wrapping her arms around Keebo’s shoulders, and Shuichi’s sure they would be blushing if they had the ability to.
Soon after the security guy had them walk the rest of the way up the ramp. Shuichi rationalized that the middle was probably the best place to be, he’d be squished in between the people in the front and back and therefore be protected from the threat. Deciding to go with that logic, the detective followed close behind Miu and Keebo, trying to stay in the middle, before Kokichi grabbed his hand and yanked him back. The leader took Shuichi’s spot behind Miu, pushing the blue haired boy into the very back.
“What are you doing?” Shuichi asked.
“Trust me, you want to be in the back,” Kokichi replied, squeezing his hand.
“What?” Shuichi sputtered. “Why would I want to be in the back? What if something follows us? At least in the middle I’ll be protected.”
“Then don’t look behind you,” Kokichi reasoned. Shuichi just stared at him, dumbfounded, before Kokichi sighed. The liar stepped closer to him, speaking softly so no one else in the group could hear. “The middle is the worst place to be because that’s where all the scared people go. The actors know that and that’s who they target.”
“Wait, really?”
Kokichi nodded. “The front and back are the best places to be because the front is usually where the braver people go so the actors don’t waste their time and by the time the people in the back get to them they’ve already done their thing,” the purple haired boy explained. “Realistically, I’d prefer for you to be in the front so you don’t have to worry about anything following you, but Kaito’s busy acting manly and pushing you up to the front would be suspicious anyway. So just, don’t look behind you.”
Shuichi raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t told the others this secret?”
“Nope,” Kokichi giggled, popping the p as he pulled back. “That would ruin the fun.”
Shuichi just shook his head as the door to the haunted house opened and the group began moving forward.
They entered the building, Kaito in front with Maki behind him, Miu and Keebo in the middle, and Kokichi and Shuichi in the back. Inside the building was a dark hallway with old fashioned TVs lining the walls, all stuck on static.
They were approached by an actor, who didn’t speak and whose face was covered by a black mask. They held what looked like human entrails. Shuichi was shocked by how very unphased the rest of the group was.
The actor approached Miu, wrapping the entrails around her shoulders.
“Ew gross, why me?” she squealed. Keebo covered their mouth to stifle a laugh.
“You’re the chosen one,” Kaito whisper shouted.
“I thought they couldn’t touch us,” Shuichi muttered to Kokichi.
“Oh, sweetie, we haven’t started yet,” the leader replied, seemingly taking pleasure in the flash of fear in Shuichi’s eyes. “This is the owner and the guy who runs things around here. He usually does something freaky at the beginning.”
Shuichi just nodded in response as the actor, owner apparently, untangled the entrails from Miu’s shoulders and began leading them further down the hallway.
They reached the end of the hall and the owner stopped. He pointed at the wall behind him before pointing at the group. Shuichi looked up and noticed the wall he had pointed at was covered in missing posters.
Miu gasped dramatically. “Are we going to go missing?”
“What a shame,” Maki blankly mused.
“Hell yeah,” Kokichi giggled, throwing his arms behind his head. “No responsabilites.” Shuichi rolled his eyes.
But the lighthearted banter quickly died down as the owner stepped to the side and pushed open what Shuichi hadn’t even realized was a door, allowing the group to enter.
“Starting now?” Shuichi asked nervously.
“Starting now,” Kokichi confirmed, reaching over and grabbing his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “It’s not real.”
Shuichi nodded. “It’s not real,” he repeated, deciding to focus on the warmth of his boyfriend’s hand.
The door closed behind Shuichi as he entered the first room. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in as he assessed his surroundings, being dumb enough to think he’d at least be safe in the beginning.
At least Kokichi’s haunted house secret seemed to be true, as the actor in the first room stepped out of the shadows as Miu and Kokichi stepped in front of her.
“Do you like my eyes?” she asked, holding out her hands. Shuichi peered over to see an eyeball perched in her palms.
“I don’t want to see that shit,” Miu exclaimed, earning a “language, darling” from Keebo. Shuichi found himself walking faster in an effort to push them along.
“You have very pretty eyes,” the actor continued, turning to Kokichi. “May I have them?”
“I still kind of need them, bestie. Thanks anyway though,” Kokichi called as Shuichi pushed him into the next room.
The next room began with a sharp left turn, before they entered what looked like a living room.
Before Shuichi could even make it fully into the room, a fuse box hanging on the wall on the left made a crackling sound as sparks flew from it. The sound not only caused Kaito and Miu to produce loud, high pitched screams, it also caused a jump from Shuichi. Kokichi squeezed his hand as he made fun of Kaito.
Shuichi opted for wrapping his free arm around Kokichi’s arm that was closest to him, pulling him as close as possible without making it hard for them to walk. He felt a little pathetic that it was only the second room and he was already clinging to him, but it made him feel safer. Miu glanced back at them as they maneuvered around the two skeletons sitting in chairs in the middle of the room. She snorted as her eyes landed on where they were connected.
“Scared, Saihara?” she teased.
Shuichi deflated a bit as Kokichi blew her a raspberry.
Through the door was a hallway, where at least three actors came out from openings in the walls. Shuichi wasn’t actually sure how many there were as he made sure to keep his eyes glued to where his fingers were intertwined with Kokichi’s.
The next few rooms were relatively mild. (Though the actor who came out from behind the rack of clothing asking about his car’s extended warranty had made him laugh.)
By the time they got to the sixth and seventh rooms though, the bravery in the group had dissipated. Miu had opted for using Keebo as a shield, and Kokichi had not been lying when he said Maki would have to drag Katio’s ass to get him to keep going.
“Hey brat,” Maki’s voice called as they approached the eighth room. “You might want to keep your eyes on the floor for this one.”
Shuichi shot Kokichi a questioning glance as the smaller boy raised his hand to block his view of the room, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. “Guess this room hasn’t changed from the past two years then,” he muttered.
The detective soon figured out what he and Maki meant.
The eighth room was made to look like a forest, the path thinning out and making them have to resort back to a single file line. Which on its own wasn’t bad, what was bad was the snowy white spiderwebs covering the walls. Snowy white spiderwebs littered with small and medium sized spiders.
Kokichi had never been a fan of bugs, but spiders were a completely different story. Just the sight of them, real or fake, was enough to freak the smaller boy out.
So when Shuichi noticed his boyfriend noticeably shrinking in on himself as they walked by a huge plastic spider attached to the wall, he decided it was his turn for comfort.
Shuichi wrapped his arms around Kokichi’s waist from behind him, trying not to make it any harder to walk.
Despite the mumble of “I’m not scared” Kokichi seemed to appreciate the gesture, melting into his arms immediately.
The detective was relieved when they made it out of the spider room, but he couldn’t help but be slightly freaked out by the animatronic that bent down as Kokichi walked past.
Shuichi slid his arms off Kokichi’s waist as they continued down the hallway, reintertwining their fingers. The liar glanced at him from over his shoulder, shooting him a giant grin, before his eyes drifted to something behind them and they widened.
“Kichi?” the detective asked.
“Shumai,” the liar started breathlessly, “don’t look behind you.”
Shuichi’s breath caught in his throat. “It wasn’t an animatronic, was it?”
Kokichi just shook his head.
Shuichi decided not to look behind him.
* * *
When the group turned the corner and entered the ninth room, Shuichi already knew what was in store. With the flashing lights and the brightly painted walls. He wasn’t surprised, clowns were a common fear, it made sense there would be a clown room. It was the clown room where Shuichi found himself no longer in the back, but with a terrified Kaito now cowering behind him as Miu and Maki tried and failed to drag him forward.
“Come on, you coward,” Miu urged. “There’s a clown room every year, you’re fine!”
“He does this every year,” Maki muttered, huffing as she crossed her arms and looked away.
Keebo stood next to Shuichi, leaning over and muttering, “It’ll probably be awhile so get comfortable.”
Shuichi sighed, before noticing the lack of hand in his and lack of body standing next to him.
He spun around, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the strobe light. There had to be at least six animatronic and manikin clowns, though Shuichi was positive that two of them were actors. There was one big animatronic clown at the very back of the room, well actually three clowns, all connected and holding a giant chainsaw as they moved back and forth. That was what Shuichi saw his small boyfriend standing in front of.
“Ko, what are you doing?” Shuichi asked, walking up behind him.
“Trying to initiate them into DICE, duh,” Kokichi replied, gesturing to the giant clowns.
“Kichi, you realize they’re not real, right?” Shuichi asked, hearing a scream from Kaito behind him, confirming his suspicions about two of the animatronics actually being actors.
“Aw, but they’re so cool,” Kokichi whined. “Boo.”
Shuichi decided he would never understand how Kokichi’s brain worked when it came to certain things. Little dark eight legged creatures that were mostly harmless were terrifying, but psychotic clowns holding chainsaws were cool? He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised. The whole theme of Kokichi’s organization is pretty reminiscent of clowns.
It was after that room that Shuichi found himself at the front of the group, and judging by the small smirk on Kokichi’s face, the liar had expected this.
Kaito was now in the very back, still being dragged by Maki.
Shuichi decided he preferred the front to the back. In the back, he still saw the scary things, even if he wasn’t the target, but in the front, he didn’t see a single thing. He just got to laugh along with Kokichi as he listened to the terrified screams of their friends behind them.
The only thing that really freaked him out was in the eleventh room, when he heard the sound of a chainsaw behind him.
“Don’t look behind you,” was all Kokichi said, linking arms with him and picking up their steps.
Shuichi didn’t object, laughing softly at Kaito’s screams as they reached the end of the haunted house.
* * *
“I can’t believe Kaito peed himself!” Miu hollered, as the group made their way down the sidewalk and towards their cars.
“I did not !” Kaito snapped.
“Aw, don’t worry, Kaito,” Kokichi giggled, “you made an actor’s day today.”
“Do they really get excited about that?” Shuichi asked.
Kokichi nodded. “Getting a patron to pee themselves is an honorary accomplishment in the haunt actor world.”
“You sure know a lot about this stuff,” Shuichi mumbled, him and Kokichi once again drifting into their own little world as the sounds of Miu continuing to make fun of Kaito behind them faded away.
“Yeah I used to act in one of these before it closed down,” Kokichi stated nonchalantly. “That’s how I know all the secrets.”
Shuichi nodded at the idea, chuckling slightly as he pictured Kokichi decked out in a clown costume and scaring the shit out of people. “Yeah, I can picture that.”
“I’ve thought about signing up for this one, but we go through it every year and it’d be kind of ruining tradition if I knew where everything was.”
“I didn’t realize you went through with Kaito every year.”
“Oh yeah, originally it was just me, Keeboy, and the whore, but Kaito overheard us talking about it one year and insisted he be invited too even though we all knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it,” Kokichi explained. “Every year his experience is exactly like what you witnessed today, yet he insists on coming every year with us, he started dragging Maki along soon after his first time. I guess it was only a matter of time before he dragged you along too. Speaking of which, how are you doing?”
“Me? Uh,” Shuichi trailed off. “I’m fine. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.”
Kokichi chuckled. “Yeah, the idea of a haunted house always seems scarier than it actually is. At least to me.”
Keebo’s voice snapped them out of their little bubble as they stopped in front of Kaito’s truck. “Honey, you got scared just as much as he did.”
“DID NOT!!” Miu screamed.
Kokichi just chuckled as he turned to face his beloved detective. “Well, here you are. It’d be rude to tear you away from your besties to make you endure anymore of Miu’s screaming.”
“Yeah, I’d probably hurt Kaito’s feelings if I ditched him to drive back with you,” Shuichi chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, “but if you want to drop by my dorm tonight, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Ooooh tempting offer.” Kokichi grinned. “Is Shumai planning some dirty stuff?”
“What? No!” Shuichi sputtered, burning bright red.
Kokichi just giggled. “Kidding, obviously.” He waited until Shuichi cracked a smile to continue. “I’ll see you there.”
The leader pressed a kiss to Shuichi’s cheek before saying goodbye to Kaito and Maki and following Miu and Keebo to Miu’s jeep.
Shuichi felt Maki come up beside him as Kaito climbed into the driver’s seat of his truck. “Wow, and you didn’t even get a proper goodbye kiss,” she deadpanned.
“What?” Shuichi felt his cheeks burn red again. “He did kiss me, and I’m seeing him later tonight anyway.”
Maki shrugged. “So?”
Shuichi considered what she said. “You know what? You’re right.” He missed the way Maki’s lips quirked up into a small smirk as he jogged up to catch up to his beloved supreme leader. “Kokichi, wait.”
Kokichi turned at the sound of his name. “Shum-”
He was cut off by Shuichi cupping both of his cheeks and pressing his lips against his. He heard a quiet scoff from Miu as she climbed into her jeep, but he didn’t care.
When he pulled back slightly, he was met with pretty purple eyes looking up at him with nothing but love and admiration. “I love you,” he stated breathlessly.
Kokichi huffed out a laugh, sliding his hands up to Shuichi’s that were still on his cheeks. “I love you too, you sap. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“See you a bit,” Shuichi replied softly, allowing his boyfriend to slip out of his grip.
The detective stepped back towards Kaito’s truck as he watched his boyfriend climb into the backseat of Miu’s jeep. He waved as they drove away before finally climbing into the backseat of Kaito’s truck.
He couldn’t help but smile giddily to himself as they drove the way back to Hope’s Peak. He really was in love with the Ultimate Supreme Leader, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.