The Love Project (ShuichixKokichi)

Tasteless Nightmares

The school day drags on for what seems like an eternity before the bell rings to signal the end of the day. Shuichi yawns sleepily as he stuffs his things into his bag and slings it around his shoulder.

The detective heads to his locker to wait for Kokichi so the two could go to his house together. He stands there waiting for a few minutes until he remembers. Right... he told Kokichi that he shouldn't stay over tonight. The blue haired boy sighs and leaves the school.

Wind blows the detective's hair as he slowly walks to his house. It was really quiet without the little leader skipping around the cracks on the sidewalk. Shuichi remembers the time Kokichi had fallen on his face and made him carry him all the way to his house. He smiles as he remembers chasing Kokichi around his room after he revealed that he was actually awake the whole time. That's when he feels a chill.

Shuichi shivers as fallen leaves blow by him on the sidewalk. His ears were freezing. Man... he wished he still had his hat. Shuichi subconsciously grabs the arm Kokichi usually latched himself onto. The blue haired boy stops himself. That's weird... Why was he holding his own arm? He continues walking.

Finally, the tired detective reached his house. He walks through the front door into the empty house. The house was quiet. Too quiet.

Shuichi starts his usual routine. He makes himself some noodles and begins his homework. He works on his homework until he finishes it. Then, he takes a shower and changes into the navy blue hoodie and sweat pants he calls pajamas.

The detective plops himself onto the couch and starts flipping through channels. He finally settles on a movie about a Phantom Thief and a detective.

Normally by this time, the supreme leader would be sound asleep on his shoulder, but tonight his shoulder was bare. Shuichi sighs sadly to himself.

He hadn't realized how attached he'd gotten to Kokichi. Was this because he was used to hanging out with someone or was it because...

He missed Kokichi..?

Shuichi grabs a pillow off the couch and slams his tomato red face into it repeatedly. He was confusing himself again. The words that Maki and Kaito said this morning fly through the detective's overactive mind. Did he miss him so much because...? No! No! He missed people all the time!

Yeah... that's it. He just missed his friends. He just missed his friends. He just missed his friends!Shuichi slaps the pillow into his face on last time and holds it there. He says those excuses to himself again and again, pressing the pillow harder into his face.

The detective takes a deep breath in, pillow still covering his face. He smells something unfamiliar. Curious, Shuichi sniffs the pillow again. The pillow smelled like a combination of smoke and fake grapes. It was sweet but sour at the same time. It smelled so right...

Gah! This was Kokichi's pillow! Shuichi gasps as he launches the pillow across the room. His face was as red as a fire hydrant. The detective quickly turns off the tv and rushes upstairs. He flings himself onto his bed and curls up under his bedsheets. He was sniffing Kokichi's pillow!!? And he liked it!!? What had gotten into him!?

Shuichi squeezes his eyes tightly and tries to sleep. Finally, after much struggle, he falls into unconsciousness.

"Shumai!" Kokichi's voice yells from a distance. Shuichi looks around him, but all he sees is an endless white void. "Shuichi!" Kokichi calls again. His voice bounces off the walls.

"Kokichi? Where are you?" The detective shouts into the void.

"Shuichi please!" Kokichi's voice yells again. His voice was strained, like a guitar with its strings too tight. "Help me!"

"Help you? Where are you?" Shuichi questions, spinning in circles trying to find the boy.

"Shuichi!" Kokichi screams. Shuichi turns to see the supreme leader in the distance. Shuichi starts sprinting toward him, but the gravity feels like a ton of bricks and keeps him from getting there in time. Shuichi sees hundreds of hands grab at Kokichi and pull him into the ground. He struggles against them, but it's no use. More and more hands rise from the ground and grab at Kokichi until he's shoulder deep into the ground.

Shuichi's heart was pounding. He frantically looks around him for something, anything to help him. Shuichi tries pulling him out of the ground, but it doesn't work. Kokichi was stuck.

"I'll get you out Kokichi. Don't worry," Shuichi tried to be convincing, but he had no idea what to do.

"Why didn't you help me...?" Kokichi mumbles so quietly Shuichi almost doesn't hear.

"Wha-"

"Why didn't you save me!" Kokichi yells. "You said you'd help me! Why didn't you help me?"

"I-I am! I'm trying!" Shuichi stumbles, his voice cracking slightly.

"You left me alone! You abandoned me! You're a liar! I HATE liars!" Kokichi snarled. Shuichi is stabbed in the heart.

"I-I-I didn't mean to! I'm helping you! Just g-give me a minute!" Shuichi cries back.

"You lied to me! You lied about everything!" Kokichi growls once more. Shuichi faces Kokichi straight on. He was about to ask him what he meant when he realized Kokichi wasn't looking at him. He was look directly behind him.

Shuichi turns and sees a man slightly taller than Kokichi standing in the distance. He was far away so Shuichi couldn't really make out any details. The only thing he could see clearly was medium, purple hair flowing around him.

"Shuichi!"

The detective spins around again and is met with Kokichi being pulled deeper into the ground. Shuichi grabs the boys shoulders and tries to lift him up, but it's no use. The hands swat and slap at Shuichi and he eventually losses his grip and falls backward.

The last things he sees is the tip of Kokichi's grape purple hair sinking into to ground.

"Kokichi? Kokichi?! Kokichi!!" Shuichi screamed. He clawed at the ground, desperately trying to dig him out.

Without warning, a hand sticks out of where Kokichi had sunken and grabs Shuichi by the collar. The hand yanks Shuichi into the ground and on impact, he jolts awake.

The detective blinks as he realizes he was now in his room. The detective sits up slowly, breathing heavily. He ruffles his straight blue hair, cold sweat running down his neck. What was that dream? Shuichi stays sitting up for a moment until he calms himself down.

The detective glances at his clock.

6:30

1 hour and 30 minutes until school.

The blue haired boy sighs. He knew he couldn't go back to sleep after that dream, so he decides to just get ready for the day. Shuichi tiredly crawls out of bed and starts getting ready for school.

Once he was ready, he goes to the kitchen and gets himself some breakfast. Shuichi looks on the counter to see two blueberry muffins.

The detective grabs one and starts to eat it. He sits down at his table and thinks about his dream again. It was still vivid in his mind. He recalls the man who was standing behind him. He had purple hair similar to Kokichi's but not quiet like his. Who was that and why was Kokichi yelling those things at him? He lied to him? Left him alone? Shuichi groans. He was just thinking overthinking things as usual. It was just a dream.

Shuichi takes one last bite of his muffin and throws the wrapper away. Before leaving the kitchen, he glances back at the remaining blueberry muffin on the counter.

"You know, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!" Shuichi remembers Kokichi saying. It wasn't an apple, but Shuichi grabs the muffin anyway. He felt bad for telling Kokichi not to come over and besides, he didn't know if Kokichi would eat breakfast anyway.

Shuichi takes the muffin from the counter and heads to the door. The detective grabs his bag and heads out, muffin in hand for his Kokichi.