The Love Project (ShuichixKokichi)

Purple and Green don't make Blue

"Well aren't you two close," Rantaro's voice chimes in. Shuichi looks away from Kokichi, who was clutching onto his arm. The redness fading from his face, he remembers Rantaro was sitting with them. He had been so distracted by Kokichi that he forgot all about the conversation they were having.

"Hey Rantaro!" Kokichi says is a sing songy voice. "Didn't see ya there!"

"Yeah, I've been here the whole time," Rantaro says, rolling his eyes slightly. "I just didn't want to interrupt your moment,"

"Oh don't worry Rantaro! We weren't having a moment!" The purple haired boy claims, though he tightens his grip around the detective's arm. What's up with that?

"K-Kokichi, can I have my arm back?" Shuichi stutters. He heart was fluttering like crazy and his head was scrambled like someone had shaken it like a maraca. He was even having trouble remembering his own name. Was he eating enough?

"Sorry Shumai~! I was just so excited to see you!" Kokichi laughs, hesitantly letting go of Shuichi's arm. His arm instantly feels cold without Kokichi holding it close to him, but he was relieved that the little leader had let it go.

"Shumai?" Rantaro questions as he plays with his necklace. He had a calm smile on his face, but his eyes were different. They had a look of menus in them that sent shivers down Shuichi's spine, but they didn't seem directed at him...

"Yup! It's Shuichi's nickname!" Kokichi says before quickly adding, "That only I can call him,"

"Oooh I see," Rantaro sighs. "I didn't know we where doing nicknames," He looks over to Shuichi. The green haired boy stares at him for second before deciding.

"Is... Shu okay?" He says in a sort of seductive voice. He raises his eye brows and smiles.

"Uh, I guess so?" He stammers. This is so weird. Shuichi could sense some kind of tenseness in the air. It was small but noticeable. What's going on?

"Okay then Shuu~" Rantaro says teasingly. Shuichi smiles at the nickname, however, he feels Kokichi tense at his side.

"What's wrong Kokichi?" Shuichi asks, thinking to himself.

"Do... you want a nickname to?"

Kokichi instantly smiles. He holds his fists up next to face and smiles like a little kid.

"Aww Shumai!" He says sweetly. "I actually have the perfect nickname I want you to call me!"

"You do?"

"Yup!" Kokichi beams before putting a finger to his lips and smirking.

"You can call me Cock-ichi!"

"W-What?!" Shuichi says startled. The ultimate supreme leader laughs at his reaction. He rolls his eyes.

"Very funny Kokichi," Shuichi sighs, shaking his head while opening a bottle of Panta.

"I know right! I'm hilarious!" Kokichi cheers. He then notices Shuichi's drink. "You could call me Panta! I love that soda!" Then Kokichi swipes the drink from Shuichi's hands and takes a big swig.

"H-hey!" Shuichi sighs, not even trying to get it back. He already knew he wouldn't be able to get it back from previous experiences. Kokichi was way more physically able than he let on.

"Wow Kokichi. That was a little mean don't you think," Rantaro says slyly. Kokichi stops drinking and glares at the green hair boy.

"Shut up you avocado! You're not apart of this!" Kokichi laughs, setting the drink down.

"But Shuichi looks annoyed. I was just helping," Rantaro retorts, averting his eyes from Kokichi. His brows furrow slightly.

"I wasn't-" Shuichi tried to cut it.

"Shumai doesn't care if I steal his drink! He doesn't care about anything I do!" Kokichi complains, holding his hand out in front of him in a 'what the hell" motion.

"Really? That's not what he was saying last week. He was complaining all morning about how you weren't doing any work!" Rantaro shoots back. His calm composer was slowly fading. "He was so fed up I had to go over to his place to help him out,"

"I wasn't-"

"Oh sweet, sweet, stupid, little Rantaro! I guess you missed the chapter where I did the work! It's called Sweet Dreams! Read it!" Kokichi smiles, laughing at Rantaro's "stupidity". Shuichi notices that Kokichi's foot was shaking like crazy under the table.

Shuichi had seen Kokichi get into plenty of fights with teachers, students, and even the headmaster, but each time Kokichi was calm and seemingly having fun. This time however, Kokichi seemed on edge.

"Hey, stop it you gu-" Shuichi tries to intervene again. He notices people around them starting to stare and whisper. Stop fighting!

"Oooh. I get it! You did the work because you felt bad! Wow, I didn't know spoiled brats felt bad for what they did!" Rantaro snarls with a smile on his face. His eyes have the look of a snake. It was like the normal, calm Rantaro was replaced by a snake in human form, ready to feed on its prey.

"Holy Moly, you're a dumbass! Maybe yo-"

"Oop! Watch what you say Kokichi. You don't want to scare Shuichi off just like your-"

Rantaro was cut off by a hard slap. Kokichi had gotten up from his seat and was now leaning across the table. He had tears welling in his eyes.

Shuichi was shocked.

"What the fuck..," Kokichi mumbles before dashing off out of the lunchroom. Rantaro was frozen in his spot. He had a red handprint on his cheek.

"Ouch... that hurt more than I thought it would," Rantaro finally says. He then starts to laugh, as if the whole thing were just a big joke. Shuichi slowly turns around to face him. Anger bubbled in Shuichi's chest. Kokichi had just ran out of the cafeteria, clearly upset... and he was laughing?

"Why... are... you laughing?" Shuichi mumbles, slightly glaring at Rantaro. The green haired boy noticed and stoped laughing.

"Sorry. I tend to laugh when things are tense," he sighs. Shuichi was still angry. He still didn't know what he was going to say that was so bad or why he was going to say it in the first place.

"I can see you're mad... I get it. I was just trying to help. When my sisters used to take things from me, I would say the same things but they never blew up at me like that,"

"What were you going to say to him?" Shuichi asks coldly.

"Huh?"

"What," Shuichi asks more sternly this time. "Were you going to say to him?"

"Oh... nothing important," Rantaro answers. Angrily, Shuichi sighs. He wasn't going to tell him anything.

The bell rings, indicating that it was time to head to class, but Shuichi couldn't care less.

"You better apologize to Kokichi," Shuichi scowls. Without another word, the detective turns and leaves the cafeteria, ignoring Rantaro's attempts to get him to stop and the eyes of others tailing him.

Walking into the hallway, he starts his search.

Where are you Kokichi? And...

What's your secret?