Chapter Text
It was so cold as Shuichi’s shoes crunched underneath the snow. His fingers were red from the lack of gloves, his cheeks were rosy red, and his nose was starting to run. He was lugging a bag full of various necessities ranging from clothes to food that were stuffed in there. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and his chapped lower lip was quivering harshly as he was shivering on the way to his friend’s house. He needed a place to stay. He had nowhere to go after a huge nasty breakup with his now ex-boyfriend. It hadn’t gone too well, a small argument had burst out, Shuichi had sobbed the whole time as he had to stuff clothes and other things into the only bag he had. And he had left without saying a word to his fumingly angry ex-boyfriend. Just thinking about it was making Shuichi sob and release more hot tears. The navy haired boy, after what seemed like an hour of walking in the cold weather, finally reached the house of his two friends: Kaito and Kokichi. Shuichi balled his freezing cold hand up into a fist and he loudly knocked on the door. No response. Well, it was around 11:30 at night so they were probably already sleeping in their bed. Shuichi knocked louder, almost banging, on the door. Please it was just so cold and he wanted to get warm.
Kokichi was the lighter sleeper of the two and he sat up upon hearing loud knocking at their door. “Kaito, wake up! Someone is at the door!” Kokichi reached an arm over to grab hold of Kaito’s shoulder and he started to roughly shake and pull them awake. Kaito opened their eyes, a little agitated that they had been roughly shaken awake out of their deep sleep by Kokichi. Kaito sat up, scratching the back of their head as Kokichi was looking at them with a worried look on his face. The taller of the two sighed and they got out of bed to see who was outside the door at this late hour. They padded out of their room, down the stairs, through the living room, and over to the door. When Kaito opened the door, they were met with a freezingly cold and crying Shuichi. “Shuichi!? W-What are you doing here!?” Kaito asked, surprised to see Shuichi on the doorstep. “I-I...I need a place to stay. J-Just for a while. P-Please, I broke up with my boyfriend and I have nowhere to go.” Shuichi managed to stutter out as he shivered. Kaito sighed and they rubbed the back of their neck. “Okay come in, I’ll go set up the couch for you to sleep on.” The taller one said and Shuichi hurriedly stepped inside the warm house.
Shuichi wearily and exhaustingly watched as Kaito began to set up the couch for him. Shuichi set his bag down and he tiredly trudged over to the couch and he flopped down onto it out of sheer exhaustion. He was so tired, so upset, so hurt, but grateful that he had a place to stay. He conked out almost immediately after his head had hit the soft pillow.
Kaito watched for a moment before they decided it was time that they go back to bed themselves. So, they headed back upstairs and into the bedroom they shared with Kokichi. Kokichi was still awake and he was sitting up on the bed with a worried look on his face. “Don’t worry, it was just Shuichi. He needed a place to stay.” Kaito assured him. Kokichi wanted to press further but Kaito was already asleep and snoring away. The short male sighed before laying back down and he began to close his eyes so he could get back to sleep.
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Shuichi woke up in the morning to the smell of breakfast wafering in the air. His sleepy eyes soon opened, squinting to adjust and blinking to remove sleep from his eyes. The navy haired boy sat up and he looked around, slowly getting off of the couch and he wobbled into the kitchen. Kokichi had his hair in a ponytail, a short but nice one, and he was cooking breakfast. “Shumai, you’re awake!” Kokichi beamed a grin when he saw that Shuichi was finally up and about. Forgetting about the food, the shorter of the two immediately enveloped Shuichi into a tight hug. If it weren’t for the situation at hand, the fact that Shuichi had gone through one nasty breakup, he would’ve been happy. But he was feeling sad still. Really sad. The memories of last night came flooding back to him but he hugged Kokichi in return as to not worry him. “Kichi, your eggs are burning.” Shuichi reminded and Kokichi swore as he broke away from the hug to go back to what he was doing. “Where’s Kaito?” Shuichi asked. “Oh, Kaito is still asleep! They’ll wake up soon though!” Kokichi assured as Shuichi began to take a seat at the table. Shuichi nodded his head and he stared down. Kaito and Kokichi were really nice to him and he probably would not be able to thank them enough.
Shuichi was scared, though. No, frightened would be the more appropriate word to describe him. He was frightened that his ex might come, frightened of what might happen if his ex did come to get him, frightened of what might go down. His mind was filling up with so many negative thoughts. “Oh, do you have a bathroom, I just want to wake myself up a little more.” Shuichi got up from his seat. Kokichi turned his head to the side. “Nishishi~ yeah! Upstairs, second door to your right!” Kokichi said and Shuichi hurriedly made his way to the bathroom. Once he set foot into the bathroom, he closed and locked the door and he began to cry. Anxiety was in his chest and he needed to get his emotions out. Shuichi made his way to the mirror and he grasped hold of the sink. Oh, he looked so pathetic. Hot tears streaming down his cheeks and his face becoming red and blotchy. He hung his head down, chapped lips quivering as he let out silent sobs. He was pathetic wasn’t he? Crying in his friend’s bathroom. Shuichi was supposed to feel happy but he did not. He felt distraught and upset. Shuichi’s cheeks streamed with tears that flowed freely out of his eyes. Shuichi turned on the sink, cupped his hands, and began to splash water onto his face. He then patted his face dry with a fluffy towel.
After Shuichi calmed down, he exited the bathroom and went back to the kitchen. Oh, looks like Kaito is up now. “Morning Shuichi!” Kaito greeted in a cheery tone as they held a mug of hot coffee in their hands. Shuichi only smiled in response. “How’d you sleep Shuichi?” Kaito asked him. “Well, I slept great.” The navy haired boy replied. He honestly didn’t feel like talking. Rather, he felt like eating and then excusing himself and crying some more. However, there was just one little problem.
Shuichi had left the rest of his stuff at his ex-boyfriend’s house. Stuff that he needed. What was he going to do? Shuichi was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to face his ex. His thoughts were soon interrupted by Kokichi’s cheery tone. "Breakfast is now ready!" The short male declared cheerily. Shuichi hadn't realized just how hungry he was until Kokichi had said that. His stomach felt like it was in a tightly twisted knot. It growled for food, reminding Shuichi that he hadn't eaten dinner last night because of the argument and breakup. So, he was pretty hungry. Once again, Shuichi took his seat at the kitchen table and he pondered on what he should do. Kaito and Kokichi needed to know that he had stuff at his ex's house that he needed to go and grab. Yeah, they could protect him if anything happened to go wrong. Telling them could wait until breakfast was done with of course. Breakfast was ate in silence, complete silence. Nobody said a word and awkwardness hung in the air. And the awkwardness gave Shuichi an uneasy feeling of anxiety in his chest. His chest felt tight with anxiety and it took all of his strength to hold in his tears. Shuichi ate his breakfast and he helped wash the dishes.
"I..." Shuichi began, pausing, and got the attention of his two friends. "I need to go get some stuff from... his house." Shuichi croaked out, voice cracking slightly. "What!? You cannot go back there Shumai!" Kokichi exclaimed whilst he dramatically waved his hands in the air. "Y-Yeah Shuichi, I don't think going there would be a good idea." Kaito agreed, rubbing the back of their neck in a nervous manner. Shuichi looked down, a frowning forming onto his facial expression. "Please, you guys, I need this stuff. It will not take that long, I promise." Shuichi insisted, hearing the small tinge of doubt in his own voice. Yeah, he was definitely scared about going back just for some items. "I will go with Shumai!" Kokichi finally spoke up, a sly grin tugging at his lips. Kaito knew that grin all too well, Kokichi would definitely do something if Shuichi was hurt. Kaito wanted to go too of course, though they thought it best to stay here. Kokichi and Shuichi could handle themselves well. "Fine but when exactly?" Kaito asked. "I... Well, maybe noon." Shuichi mumbled softly, hands sweetly fidgeting. It was quite obvious that he had become nervous about the situation. Why did this have to happen?
"Cheer up Shumai!" Kokichi took Shuichi's hands into his and held them. Shuichi's amber eyes slowly met the gaze of Kokichi's purple ones. Kokichi had a cheery beaming expression, and Shuichi forced a smile.
”Okay.”