Needle and Thread - Oumasai

Practice makes perfect!~

Shuichi awkwardly walked next to Ouma as he tried to come up with something to talk about, but failed. The two of them were heading towards Kokichi's house in silence. Occasionally, they looked at each other, but neither of them could think of how to start a conversation.

The smaller individual was doubting whether to reach out to attempt to hold Shuichi's hand or not. It could either make things a lot less awkward, or create a way more awkward situation. He knew that they only had a around 10 more minutes before they arrived at his house and the taller male would have to leave him.

Kokichi decided to go for it and outstretched his arm, gently brushing it against Shuichi's hand, entwining their fingers together.

Saihara grew a large blush on his face as he felt the warmth from Ouma's hand. He looked over to see a large smile on the smaller individual's face.

"Do you want to do something tomorrow, too?~"

"Sorry...I'll need to catch up on studying.." Shuichi regretfully stated, looking downwards out of guilt.

Kokichi immediately changed the subject, asking a question that he's always wanted the answer to, "Sooo, what are your opinions on soulmates?"

Saihara thought about it for a bit before responding, "People shouldn't have to rely on destiny so much. Why should red strings decide who you should be with?" He nervously scratched the back of his neck, "...but..um...I think I've changed my mind. I would've been missing out on a lot if I kept ignoring it..."

He glances over to the shorter male, "..a-and what about you..?"

The Ouma's smile widened, "I don't believe in soulmates. Relationships are pretty draining, too."

Saihara felt a bit disheartened to hear that, but tried to keep a smile on his face, "Ah, alrig-"

"I'm not sure if I was just lying to myself. I never thought that I would ever have a soulmate, nishi~ ...and even though relationships are exhausting, I suppose they can be rewarding too..."

"Does that mean you've changed your mind..?"

Kokichi grinned at him, "Nope! Soulmates are illusions and relationships suck!"

"It's not a bad thing.. I-I didn't mean to make you upset!" Shuichi started to panic, but was calmed down by the smaller boy laughing and telling him that it was 'just a lie'.

"So, about what happened at the beach... was that your first kiss?~" Ouma asked and stared at him with curiosity.

"..W-Was it t-that obvious..?"

"Yup~"

The taller male buried his face with his hand to hide the sudden wave of embarrassment that hit him. "W-Was it.. bad? N-Nevermind! D-Don't answer t-that! S-Sorry, sorry!"

Kokichi squeezed his hand to comfort the other and responded anyway, "Not really, I thought you were gonna be much worse~"

"I d-don't know whether that's a g-good thing or not.."

Ouma stopped in his tracks and peeled the other's hand away from their face to look him in the eye, "Do you want to....try again?"

Shuichi froze, "..D-Do you?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't of asked."

Saihara stuttered, feeling that his pulse was racing, "O-h.. I.. o-okay.."

The purple-haired male still didn't let go of Shuichi's hand as he stood in front of him and closed his eyes, "Go ahead."

Shuichi bit his lip nervously as he hesitated for a few moments, afraid to screw it up. Eventually, he leaned his face close to the other male's and was nearly about to kiss him, but Kokichi pulled away.