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Are you busy right now?

[It's a good ten minutes before she actually responds, hinting that yes, she probably is busy, at least at that very moment he'd texted her.]

Shuichi-kun!! ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡ ~♪ I was just playing Chopin's Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. 31! I'm not busy~*･ﾟ✧♪♡✧･ﾟ*

Edited 2018-01-23 02:45 (UTC)

[That's fine, he's not in any real rush here. This isn't life or death stuff he needs to talk about or anything. So he just goes back to reading while he waits on a response.]

[Aww. What cute emojis...wait is that last one supposed to be a face or a trail of sparkles? He honestly can't tell.]

It's fine! I had a feeling you might be doing something like that.
And I didn't want to interrupt, if that was the case.
But if you're done playing, I'm going to come over for a bit, alright?

[Shuichi, she gave you room access and she's your girlfriend. You really probably don't need to keep double checking to make sure it's okay for you to come over.]

Please do! I'd rather play for an audience, even if you're just reading. ♡〜٩( ╹▿╹ )۶〜♡ The door should still open for you, right?

[She's literally just sitting on the couch with her keyboard in front of her, dressed in a usual skirt-and-sweater combo. Very comfy, very casual.]

Actually, there's something I want to talk to you about before you play for me.
It has to do with what we talked about yesterday.

[Wait, that sounds like it might be something bad. Like a We Need To Talk, It's Not Working Out kind of talk. Which is the opposite of what he's going for here.]

It's nothing bad, though. Promise!
Smiling face

Wait, crap. Hold on...

[Kaede, don't wait on him, it's gonna take a minute or two, you know how he is with computers. How the fuck do you send an emoji over brain text??? Kaede and Kokichi make it looks so easy...]

:)

[He Tried.]

Edited 2018-01-23 17:26 (UTC)

[...Yeah, he phrased that really poorly. How can she be anything but anxious after that kind of opener? Even when he says it's nothing bad, it still sounds really--

Smiling face

If nothing else, it makes her laugh, dissolving some of the tension from that ominous first few sentences. She does hold on, waiting to see if he manages it.]

You did it! ٩(ó｡ò۶ ♡)))♬ That wasn't so hard, was it?

You and Oma-kun make it look so easy... But it wasn't that hard, I guess. Just...confusing the first time.

Anyway, I'll be over in a minute.

♥

\(-ㅂ-)/ ♥ ♥ ♥

[The door is, of course, still open to his communicator.]

[The door may be unlocked, but he still knocks on it as he pushes it open and peeks inside. Just to be sure he doesn't startle her or anything.]

Akamatsu-san? It's me.

[Did she go back to playing piano in the minute it took him to walk down the hall...]

[She. Sure did. Just a short etude to try to get some of her residual anxiety out, because "we have to talk" is really alarming!! Even with the smiling face and the heart. She's just finishing it up when he walks in, and she lifts her fingers from the keys and gives him a quick smile.]

What's up?

[Kaede, you have a problem. it may be your talent but...also. You have a problem.]

[But perhaps an in-person smile will be more reassuring than a text one. Because he's definitely doing that and very clearly happy to see her. After slipping his shoes off, he crosses the room and sits down right next to her on the couch, immediately reaching for her hand to lace his fingers together with hers..]

Mmm...nothing really. Nothing new, anyway. It's just...since we ended up going to sleep along with Oma-kun yesterday, [That was apparently not originally part of "Operation Go The Fuck To Sleep, Oma-kun", but that hadn't stopped him from going along with it.] we never actually...revisited the topic of supporting him. What that means for us, I mean. With uhm...regards to the game.

[They need to start having more sex, that's what he's trying to get at here. They both agreed that they'd play for him, but ended up not discussing the matter beyond "we'll have to really start focusing on our squares then, huh?".]

Edited 2018-01-23 21:32 (UTC)

[It does make her feel better, especially when he takes her hand. Hope he doesn't mind a quick smooch to his cheek as the keyboard powers down to its unit on the coffee table.]

...Oh!

[Oh. Oh. So that's what he wanted to talk about. She's admittedly relieved, even as a pink flush rises to her cheeks.]

We didn't, did we? Jeez, you should have told me that over text, I was getting worried!

I told you it wasn't anything bad!

[His own cheeks are faintly pink as well, which may have something to do with why he DIDN'T say it over text.]

But...sorry. [Because, yeah, she's right, he should have made his intentions a little more clear.] It just...seemed better to talk about it in person from the beginning...

Y-yeah, you're right...

[To both of those things. She takes a deep breath and shifts on the couch to face him more easily, shifting to sit on one of her legs.]

So... I guess we have to figure out which squares we want to complete, right? If you're really sure about supporting him...

[We are talking about Takoma-chan, here.]

I'm sure. [Takoma-chan or not, Shuichi's not going to go back on a promise to a friend. Even if that friend is an annoying liar. His mind is made up, and the only way he'd change it is if Kokichi pulled a stunt on the level of his mastermind scheme.] If a game isn't fun, then you shouldn't have to play it.

[That's Kokichi's philosophy, anyway. Apparently he doesn't apply it to himself all that well, though.]

But I really don't think it'll be like this forever. I'm sure he'll find someone who makes the game fun for him eventually. But if he keeps playing the way he's been playing so far, that's never going to happen.

[Shuichi is pretty sure he'll just give up and resign himself to being unhappy and he's not sure he wants to see the end result of that. Kokichi is...volatile. And kind of unhinged. But he's their volatile, unhinged little weirdo and dammit this time he's going to help him instead of just leaving him alone.]

[Because Kaito's "don't pay attention to him, that's just what he wants" approach was a spectacular failure. Time to try the opposite.]

But it's not just figuring out what squares to complete. I mean, that's a big part of what we need to do but...if we're going to do that, then we also have to be more serious about playing the game in general. Which...we haven't been since we're not really playing.

[Not in the way the station wants them to, anyway. Because they're not playing for the station, they're playing for themselves.]

And that's...something we should talk about, right? Since it means we'd be changing the way we've been approaching the game up to this point.

[He's probably overthinking it, maybe placing too much importance on their "approach"...but in his mind, it's the right thing to do.]

[He doesn't WANT to play with anyone other than Kaede but the fact of the matter is...she already has. And it's impossible for him to complete a card if he's only playing with Kaede. There are unpleasant kinks on there that he doesn't want to ask/make her to do, as well as harmless kinks that she just plain CAN'T do. Which he was fine with, when he was only playing the game for himself. But who knows how long it'll take Kokichi to find people he can play with both safely and enjoyably. His personality is something of an acquired taste...]

M-mm...

[She doesn't really want to change the way they'd been playing, because they'd just been playing for each other. Playing to support Kokichi would involve... doing some things she isn't sure she's comfortable with, and things she couldn't possibly ask Shuichi to do. Or, like his square, things that he just can't do with her. Prostitution doesn't work if you're already dating, right? And she still doesn't know what to do about blades.

Her fingers tighten gently around his hand. She's trying not to be selfish, but it's hard.]

You mean... doing things with other people involved, right? Like a lot of people do here, when they just... place advertisements asking people to help them complete their squares?

No! [The response is immediate, and his tone has taken on that rare, assertive tone that usually only comes out when there's a murder involved. Playing with complete and total strangers is part of what messed Kokichi up so badly. He doesn't want to see Kaede get hurt like that, physically OR mentally. His grip tightens around hers.] I mean...

[Woah there, maybe calm down a little? Use your normal voice, this isn't a class trial. It's just a conversation.]

We don't have to go that far. And I don't want to go that far. [His fingers loosen into a more relaxed grip around hers.] But...maybe it would be okay to occasionally play with friends? For those squares that we can't complete on our own.

[There's a little noise of shock that escapes her lips when he raises his voice, and she flinches, blinking at him. She's only heard him like this once before, when they were on opposite sides of class trial. Or, well, the same side, but the side she'd had to encourage him to fight for.

Her grip tightens on his hand again, and she lowers her gaze, looking at their joined hands.]

O-Oh... of course. [And she's relieved, tbh. She didn't really want to think about Shuichi playing with strangers. Not even out of selfishness (though that's part of it), but because he might get hurt.]

Mmm... almost all my friends are girls.

[She sounds a little doubtful, but maybe she can do something?]

I don't... mmnggh, it's going to sound weird, but... I don't want to do what we do with another guy. It was different with Oma-kun, but...

[She doesn't want to knowingly go into sex with some other guy. She likes her guy just fine??]

[His brow furrows a little.]

N-No, that doesn't sound weird. [Honestly, he's kind of relieved. Because he also doesn't want Kaede having sex with other guys.] And of course, even if it's a friend it wouldn't be the same as what we do. For one thing: technically you only need to be aroused for it to "count" in terms of square completion.

[And there are other points he could make here as well, as to how it would be different. How they don't have to drastically change their approach. But they can come back to that in a second. Right now, he's more baffled about that doubtful tone of hers.]

But, um...don't...you like girls?

[That was the impression he got when they'd introduced themselves to Tsumugi. And a few other times, when Kaede's perverted old man side came out.]

Huh?

[Huh? She's flushing pink with embarrassment and a little confusion, because what on earth could have given him that impression...? Sometimes girls are just cute? Where's Tenko, she'd agree with her!! And probably threaten to choke Shuichi out, but that's not relevant.]

U-Umm... I'm friends with girls, and I think they're really cute, but I don't like them the way I like you... I think.

[Doesn't... doesn't everyone like girls??? Except gay guys, obviously.]

[Ah yes. Tenko. Yes. She would most definitely prove that it's possible to be a 100% heterosexual girl and also think girls are just cute sometimes.]

[Yeah. Definitely the one you want backing you up on this.]

Oh. It's just...some of the things you said back at school...like when you were talking about what a nice body Shirogane-san has...I just assumed...

[He assumed she was into both boys and girls. So...is the truth actually that she's just a pervert??]

U-uhm...never mind. Sorry?

[Is this something he needs to apologize for?]

Well, yeah, she did... Tsumiki-san has a nice body too, don't you think?

[Cheerfully! Does not see anything wrong with... hm. ...Hm.]

A-Anyway... What about you, Saihara-kun...?

[Do you... do you have friends to play with?]

Tsumiki-san is really nice, and it seems like she'll do anything you ask!

[And also she's a little too meek for her to be Shuichi's type, she's pretty sure? So. Safe.]

[...I probably shouldn't actually answer that, right?]

Eh? What about me? [Are you asking if he's into both boys and girls as well, or...ah. Okay, not that.] Oh um...well right now I don't have any friends I'd be comfortable doing something like that with but...I'm sure that will change by the time we run out of squares we can do together.

[Okay, well...no, he guesses he'd maybe be okay doing something with Kokichi. Not sex, but...you know. A handjob or something maybe? That would only be...slightly weird. As opposed to super weird and uncomfortable.]

[But he's not playing anymore, so that's not an option.]

[And while Tsumiki seems plenty nice and he considers her a friend...it would just be too weird, given the circumstances. He needs a little more time to get used to her still.]

Because even if we do decide that it's okay to play with friends, it's not like we have to do so immediately. There are still plenty of squares we can do together.

I just...felt like we should discuss the possibility before we actually reached that point. Especially since...now we know that we may not always have a say in who we play with. No matter how careful we are from here on, there's always the possibility that something like what happened with those memory ornaments will happen again...

Yeah.

[She exhales a quiet sigh of relief, squeezing his hand again. Let's just... move away from the topic of getting aroused around other people, shall we? She doesn't like thinking about him with other people, and now she has more questions about herself, which isn't what she was expecting out of this conversation, frankly.]

You're right. I... hope it doesn't happen again, but... I'll still want to be with you, no matter what happens.

[That's not going to change any time soon. She leans in and presses a quick kiss to his lips, though she's not sure who's she's reassuring with that kiss, really.]

So... as for the squares we can do together... [Still embarrassing to talk about, but slightly more fun.] Do you think they'll give us a prize if we get an actual bingo?

text; backdated to the end of "december", the evening after clearing the air with kokichi

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