Chapter Text
The clock in Miu's dorm read 10:00AM. Kokichi didn't like waking up this late, but he'd been out late at a party, and it was the weekend. Not like he would've had classes anyway. Kokichi wasn't even a student at Hopes Peak. The only reason he was in the dorm right now, or at that party last night, was because he was a co-worker, no, friend, of Miu. He had gotten back to her dorm at about two in the morning, after an hour of questionable guidance back to the dorm building by a drunken Miu. While drunk himself. The party itself wasn't terrible, they had food, drinks, and he had run into someone he knew.
And wasn't recognized. But that was fine, its not like he had any reason to be upset about it. It wasn't like Shuichi was an old friend, or something significant. Before he could finish his thought, his phone buzzed.
Pulling himself up off the couch, noting he was still in his costume from the night before. The thing he couldn't remember, though, was what exactly he was dressed as. While he tried to remember, he phone buzzed again. He sat up, ignoring his developing headache.
It was a text message, from a number he didn't recognize.
"Hey"
"This is Kaito, right? I got your number from somebody last night at the Halloween party. I'm Shuichi."
Oh. Someone had given Shuichi the wrong number.
Now Kokichi had options. He could let the other know that someone had been mistaken, and given him the wrong number. He could say all that, and give him Kaito's number, if he still had it, that is. Or go along with it.
"mhmm!!! this is kaitooo!"
This would be more fun.
"Great! I just wanted to say I thought you were cute :)"
Kokichi needed a plan. He knew Kaito went to Hopes Peak, so he just needed to keep them separated. He could ask Miu for help, but she would probably tell Shuichi, 'cause her girlfriend was Shuichi's best friend. That meant this was all up to him. As he continued the conversation, he realized he hadn't changed his typing style, like, at all. If anyone-someone who had spoken to kaito- else saw these messages, they would quickly realize it was not Kaito.
"ooo why thank u!!! <33"
Too late now.
Kokichi kept his phone out, waiting for Shuichi to read the message, but he didn't. Wow. Who leaves someone their basically trying to seduce on read.
"heyyyyy shuichii?? where'd u go dude?"
Kaito used the word dude a lot.
Still no reply.
Kokichi began to type again, but a loud crash interrupted him. Miu's bedroom door swung open with a bang, followed by a groan.
"Oh my god, headache..." She walked out, seemingly not noticing the short male seated on her couch.
"Boo!" Kokichi shouted. Although it probably just worsened both their headaches, it was worth the reaction.
"Oh! Shit!" She yelped, turning over to see Kokichi sitting on the couch, "What's yer homeless ass doing here?"
"Hey! I am not 'homeless', I'm just..." He paused, "without a house, right now."
"Mhm... Same fuckin' thing!" She rolled her eyes.
"No it's not! I slept in a house last night!" Kokichi argued.
"Yeah a dorm. For a school you don't even go to. And also- it's called couch-surfing. Which is basically a genre of homeless."
"No..." He paused, "okay, it is, but I'm not homeless! And I have a job."
"Fine, fine, whatevs. Just, is it nicer than sleeping at the station?" Miu laughed at the slightly insensitive comment. But she wasn't wrong. Kokichi had slept at the police station a few times, starting at 16 years old.
"Eh.. Better than a cell, not as good as the club." He said, getting up from the couch fully, and walking toward the kitchen-situation. It wasn't a kitchenette, it had a full sized fridge and and island, among other things.
"You're telling me," Miu began laughing, "That the fuckin' strip club, is better than my dorm? No way."
"Uh, yeah. The playboy bunny shaped pillow I rested my beautiful head on last night wasn't nearly as nice as the ones at the club."
Kokichi shrugged, and grabbed an artificially flavored grape soda out of the fridge. Kokichi had loved these since childhood, but the older he got, the more of a comfort item they became. He even kept them stocked in the mini fridge at the club.
His arrest record would probably be clear, too, if he hadn't started working there. But also, he would've never met Shuichi, even if it didn't seem to matter much now that he couldn't even recognize Kokichi.
But maybe his uncle would. Oh. Right. The other reason he has that record, Detective Saihara. Any strip club that would employ an underage person, one who looked younger than his age, for that matter, should be deemed unethical. But letting the same, underaged person participate in a prostitution ring? That's even worse. Obviously, at some point that becomes an issue, and someone finds out. At first, the only issue was them employing underaged people. That would only be a fine in that area though. Detective Saihara had been the officer assigned to the case. At some point, the detective had discovered the ring, and brought around 6 of Kokichi's colleauges (and Kokichi himself) into custody.
"Where'd that come from.. I don't buy that shit, did you bring that?" Miu asked, pointing her long, hot pink nail at the soda.
"Uh, I assumed you got it for me? You think I've got money to bring stuff to leave at your house" He shrugged, getting back to his thoughts.
Kokichi was walked into a police station, probably the most terrified he'd ever been in his life. He wore an oversized, local police hoodie over his small frame, and was walked into the building in handcuffs. A tall man, with glasses and slightly greying, blue-black hair by his side. Instead of walking Kokichi towards the waiting room of his co-workers waiting to be booked, he brought him into what was likely an interrogation room.
But instead of interrogating the boy, the officer simply reassured that he wasn't going to ask him about the case, the club, or anything like that.
He just wanted to know more about Kokichi. For hours, Detective Saihara asked Kokichi questions about his life. Mostly easy questions, Kokichi noted.
"Hey, Kiddo. You know, I'm really not supposed to do this, but I'm not gonna book you. I have a nephew your age, he's been living with me since he was, what, eleven?" He said, and Kokichi realized it was one of the first personal things the detective had shared about himself, "Anyway, I know how it is. You deserve another chance."
"I promise, I didn't want this.." Kokichi broke, and began to cry, "I didn't want this to happen, I-I..." For the first time in a while, Kokichi had been vulnerable. He took the mask off. The guard came down.
"Can I get you something? Water, maybe food?" The other man smiled. Kokichi's tears came to a stop. He had remembered hearing that you shouldn't take anything from a cop. That they'll take your finger prints. But Kokichi couldn't remember if detectives counted as cops.
"Are.. Detectives are cops, right?" He muttered, feeling slightly embarrassed that he had to ask.
"Yes, in order to become a detective, unless you're a P.I, you need to be a cop for a few years. Depends on the area, though." Detective/Officer Saihara smiled.
"Someone told me not to take water from pigs.. I mean cops! Sorry. You could steal my fingerprints," Kokichi said, apologizing, which was out of character for him. He usually wouldn't be so nice to a cop, but something about Officer Saihara felt different..
The other simply laughed.
"How about you keep the bottle?"
Kokichi nodded, accepting the offer.
"C'mon, kiddo, let's go to the kitchen, it's just down the haul," said the man, standing up. The officer lead the two down a hallway, carefully decorated with some fake plants and framed pictures of officer portraits. The two passed the bathroom, then began to enter the kitchen.
"That nephew I mentioned earlier, he's doing a little internship with me for school. I haven't driven him home yet, so I assume he's probably around," He looked at his watch, "Jeez, it's late..."
"Why's he living with you?" Kokichi bluntly questioned. The detective didn't respond, just grabbing a bottle of water for Kokichi, and handing it over. Kokichi walked over to one of the circular tables in the kitchen space and sat down. Just as he sat down, the door swung open. A tired looking boy, with dark blue hair emerged.
"Oh! Shuichi, there you are!" Officer Saihara said, looking at Shuichi, "Kokichi, this is my nephew. Oh, look! Hair dye twins." He said, noting Kokichi's purple hair for the first time.
"Mhm... It's nice to meet you." Shuichi muttered, sticking out his hand without making eye contact.
"Samesies." Kokichi smirked.
Shuichi was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful man he'd ever met. Or maybe Kokichi was just tired.
"Shuichi, are you ready to head out soon?"
"Uhm, Yeah, I just came in here to let you know that the prostitu-" Shuichi paused, looking up at Kokichi, "Are you with them?"
"Uhm, Uh, Mhm, M'yeah," Kokichi mocked the boys stutter, clearly offended.
"Oh. Well, one of them ran away, or something." He said, seeming to not care much.
"We can deal with that in the morning. For now, let's get home," The officer said to Shuichi, "And Kokichi, do you have someone to pick you up? If you have somewhere to go, we could also drop you off."
Kokichi thought for a second. He'd been sleeping at the club for months, so he really didn't have anywhere to go. He thought through friends, he did have an older brother, but it seemed unlikely he'd be willing to help Kokichi out in this situation.
Miu. She was a year and a half older than Kokichi, and already had her own apartment. He could call her.
"Do I still get my one phone call?" Kokichi nervously laughed.
A loud notification from his phone brought him back into reality.
"Oops! Sorry. I got a call from my uncle."
"Are you available to talk?"
"Please don't mean calling..." Kokichi mumbled outloud, while Miu watched, confused by what she was seeing.
"What the fuck are you doing...you sound schizophrenic right now."
"Texting my hot, sexy, greek god of a boyfriend." He smirked, trying not to laugh. Kokichi still though Shuichi was good-looking. Even though they'd only met twice, he sometimes fantasized about someone like Shuichi. Weird, right? Kokichi probably just needed someone in his life to care for him, but at this point it felt like not many people did. He had Miu, he had Mr. Saihara, and three people he'd befriended from the club.
"Oh, ew, gross. Also a lie, nobody that hot would date a hoe with the body of a child..." She said, with a gross smile on her face.
"No, ew, oh my god, Why do you talk like a predator? Is that a setting we can turn off?" Kokichi said, putting a hand up. He ignored whatever she said after that, looking back to his phone.
XXX-XXX-XXXX
"yesssss i ammmmm, whats uppp?!?"
"Nothing right now, in the dorms. By the way, you're a student at Hope's Peak right? I haven't seen you around before."
"mhmm! i amm."
"Okay, cool. What are you up to?"
"mmm pretty much the same thing!"
"I was wondering, Would you want to grab coffee with me sometime? I'm somewhat busy with an internship I'm doing right now, but I'm sure I could make time."
"If you're up for it, of course! :)"
"so sweettt! but idkk if im able 2 anytime sooon"
read 10:18
'He takes rejection well...' Kokichi thought to himself. He then decided to name Shuichi's contact. Maybe just his name? That'd look out of place, though, Kokichi had fun names for all his contacts. He thought of a few things, finally deciding on Shumai. Dumb nickname he knew Shuichi already didn't like.
Perfect.