Needle and Thread - Oumasai

Decisions and fanservice

Shuichi debated what he was going to take off.. a deal was a deal, so that did mean something.. sure, it could be something pointless like his flip flops, but he was sure that if he did that, Ouma would not be happy.

He quickly made up his mind and took off his hat, placing it down neatly beside him.

"Your hat? You took of your hat? Wowww, real risky, Shuichi."

"H-Huh? I am playing the game right Kokichi.. you can't sulk because of my choices. Besides, it's not about the clothing, it's about studying."

Kokichi sulked, "Fineeee, ask another question, but don't make it freakishly hard this time!"

The navy haired boy pulled out a separate textbook, the one with the less advanced questions in it. "Alright.. what is the lock and key method? It's to do with enzymes.."

Ouma thought about it for a while before trying to sneak a peek at the textbook. Shuichi tilted the book away from his view. "Do you want a hint?" The short male nodded in response.

"Only one key can fit into the lock.. and it is between an enzyme and what's called a substrate. Does that sound familiar?"

"A little bit..."

~

After several minutes of questions later, Kokichi got another question right. Saihara hesitated before slowly unbuttoning and taking off his shirt.

He didn't really feel like taking his shirt off was really worth the question, 'What is photosynthesis?' but because of the rules, he had no other choice.

"Aren't you gonna ask me another question?~" Kokichi was grinning, enjoying the view.

Shuichi felt heat rise to his cheeks but he didn't have his hat to hide his blush with so there was nothing he could do. "N-No! I'm not asking you anymore questions!"

"Whaaa! I thought you were going to help me study! And so far, this is definitely working!" Kokichi finished off the sentence with a laugh, which only made Shuichi feel more embarrassed.

"T-This isn't funny.. this is actually very e-embarrassing!"

Ouma shifted his body to lean closer to other, wearing a smirk on his face, "Pleeeease ShuShu~ One more question?~"

Shuichi didn't know if it was possible to blush anymore than he already was, but it turned out that it was. "W-W-WHAT? N-NO! I-I can't! If you get another one right then..!" He trailed off, a cute squeal escaping from his lips.

The shorter individual began to speak in a dramatic tone that was obviously fake, "You were the one who wanted me to study! Now you don't? You're confusing me!" Ouma whined and cried fake tears, turning his body away.

The taller boy bit the bottom of his lip, not sure whether Kokichi was pretending or whether he was genuinely telling the truth. "...hmph." He noticed that the smaller boy was turning away from him, sulking and gave in.

"F-Fine.. I guess if it'll help you.."

"Yay!~" Kokichi immediately turned around and hugged Saihara's arm as if nothing happened, his grip above Shuichi's wounds as to not hurt him, "Go ahead, ask me something~"

Shuichi huffed, deciding that he wasn't exactly going to play by Ouma's rules. He was going to ask a more challenging question. "What is the endocrine system?"

The purple-haired male pouted after thinking about it for a while, "Gimmie a hint!"

Saihara huffed, shaking his head. "Sorry but you don't get a hint with this one."

Kokichi whines again, blurting out random words, "It's the lungs! The bones! The skin! The heart! Nerves! Muscles! Stomach!" When the other male shook his head, Ouma crossed his arms and let his upper body fall backwards on his mattress, "Whatever, it's not like it matters..."

Shuichi looked towards the floor, guilt starting to flood into his body. "T-That.. That was a hard one.. sorry.. I-I w-wouldn't have a-asked if I didn't think that you could answer it.."

Ouma rolled his eyes, "I'm the 5th-to-last person on the school's ranking list. An idiot like me would definitely be unable to answer that." He rolled his body over to lay on his stomach, "I might as well just drop out at my next school."

The taller boy couldn't take it any longer. He quickly pulled Kokichi gently up into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around Ouma, embracing him into a warm hug. Shuichi rested his own head on Kokichi's shoulder, using his hand to stroke his back. "Stop.. I don't like it when you talk like that.."

Kokichi's face warmed up at Saihara's sweet gesture. He couldn't find the energy to hug the other back, yet he still leaned into the touch.

"...n-nishi, stop that, ShuShu, you're gonna make me cry...." his words formed into whispers. When he didn't get a response back, he continued to speak.

"I'm...really happy to have you as my.. s-soulmate."

Little did the two students know that there was another person who was listening in on their conversation. She had two boxes in her arms, but wasn't focused on packing anymore.

Shuichi kept the contact, not wanting to let him go. He knew that doing something like this would probably be weird or awkward.. But for some reason, it didn't feel that way. "I.. I don't want you to move.."

Ouma could notice that the other male's voice was beginning to crack, which made his own eyes start to water, "....you..um...mentioned something about me living with you..before we studied."

Shuichi was about to speak, but when the door to Kokichi's room creaked open, both of the individuals turned their attention to the woman standing in the doorway.

Ouma shoved himself away from the shirtless, navy blue haired male, "M-Mom!"

She placed her two boxes on the floor before walking over to the bed. She stared at her son with a somewhat shocked expression, "You want to move in with...with this high rank?"

Saihara's whole body froze up, unsure of what to say or do, but Ouma did something before he could.

"Yes."

"Kokichi, you're a low rank. They would just kick you out."

The shorter male went silent after that, refusing to look at his mother and he simply stared at the bed. Shuichi hesitated, before speaking in a weak, almost pleading tone, "I-I would... p-protect him."

Ouma's mother locked her eyes on the male, finding it unusual for a high rank to say such things about a low rank. Despite this, she believed him.. There was genuine empathy in his voice, and that was something no one could lie about.

"Is that a promise?"

Saihara didn't hesitate to nod in response. He shyly reached his hand over to place it gently on top of Ouma's hand, "I-It's a promise."

The mother stood there for a few more moments, eyeing the bandages and bandaids on both of the males, mainly Shuichi.

"...what happened to your arms?"