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[ Welcome to hell! Welcome to hell!

Which is to say, welcome to the morning after Ouma and Shuichi's game went a little further than it probably should have. Ouma had ended up killing even more time in the tacky love hotel by giving it another, more thorough investigative sweep -- not that he found anything particularly useful, but it's good to know the layout of the place and what exactly can all be found in there item-wise. Who knows what might end up being useful or relevant in this mutual killing game fiasco. Although he lowkey hopes some of the shit he found never ends up being relevant -- but knowing Miu, it's possible.

So Ouma's a little sleep deprived, between staying out that much later and...the general exhaustion...plus his inability to stop thinking about it. Even though he'll act like he slept like an absolute baby, 'cause he's a liar. He's even dragged himself to the cafeteria for breakfast, because that's how utterly unaffected he is. Plus, he is hungry.

Thankfully (but also annoyingly, because now he's gotta go see what they're up to right now), most of the ~*~student council~*~ of Angie's, aka the brainwashed idiots, aren't really around right now. That leaves...Korekiyo, Maki, Miu, and Kaito. What a wack group. Although one of the others might show up later...or altogether, since they're teaming up. No Shuichi either, which is interesting.

But not unsurprising, he supposes.

He doubts anything would've happened to him, but there's a paranoid part of him that kind of wonders.

He's almost considering just nabbing some snacks and taking them up to his room right now, because this is pretty uninteresting!! No fights breaking out or anything. Plus, the meal quality around here has really taken a nosedive since Kirumi's death. Oh, well...

The Monokubs will probably show up to say something inane, so he should stick around. ]

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[Shuichi doesn't bother answering that question. He really doesn't need to with the way the rest of the table all chimes in to protest, from Maki's unrestrained scoff to Miu's more vulgar take on "who cares?" Instead he just stares Ouma down, frowning and frustrated and more than a little uncertain. What exactly in Ouma even trying to accomplish right now? If there's anything he's figured out so far, it's that there's usually a method to the madness.

It's while he's musing on that point that he feels the foot running up his leg and the train of thought comes to an abrupt, screeching halt. He stiffens, face going bright red so quickly it's frankly a miracle nothing burst in the process. For a long few moments he remains still, in disbelief and barely able to process current events let alone react properly, and fortunately the foot pulls away before pushing things into really risque territory.

Not that that really helps.

All at once, Shuichi's senses return to him, and he pushes away from the table to stand very suddenly. It's not at all a subtle movement and his chair scrapes against the floor loudly enough to draw attention back from the general ire at Ouma. Which, of course, does not help with his current redness issue. Distantly, he registers Kaito asking him what's up, and he shakes his head as he steps away from the table.]

S-sorry. I'm just...not feeling good. I'm just gonna go back to my room to lay down...

[He hears the general assent and murmurs of concern from everyone as if through a pane of glass, unable to focus on any of them in his sudden urge to evactuate. He can't even bring himself to look at Ouma before he turns to flee the room.

Of course. When he'd been thinking maybe Ouma was trying to help him out in a way, too. But that's been the theme of his life since last night, hasn't it? Ouma keeps giving him reasons to hope, little gestures that can read as kind when he thinks about them, only to unceremoniously step on those hopes the moments Shuichi's convinced himself of a more positive interpretation of things. It'd be exhausting even if he wasn't already so tired.]

[ Ouma almost seems to bask in the negative attention he's garnering, evidently unbothered as he picks at a few cubes of ice in his glass and acts like he's been minding his own business this whole time or something. As Shuichi abruptly pushes away from the table and stands up, Ouma will look at him just as everyone else is doing. Not that Shuichi is looking back at him, which is a little disappointing, but his face sure is red as he spins around to leave.

Ouma watches him go, probably the only one looking unconcerned about it (he knows it's a lie, anyway) as he keeps playing with his ice for a few more seconds. Eventually, he pushes his empty glass out of the way, apparently bored with that as he excuses himself from the table to leave himself.

...And now he's torn, because while the prospect of finding Shuichi again sounds fascinating, he has priorities that involve checking around the school for what's been going on with Angie and her minion group's behavior (even though he'll act like he doesn't care at all what's been going on with them, because they're idiots), as well as whatever the robotic bears are up to. He has a few pet projects floating around too, but he doubts he needs to check in on Miu yet for those. Ultimately, he chooses to forego finding Shuichi. It's not like he doesn't know where to find Shuichi, anyway. Shuichi isn't dumb enough to make a lie like that then screw it up by being caught hanging around the school grounds.

So it's at some a little later in the day, when Ouma's headed to his own room to compile his gatherings and overall line of thought, that he hesitates in the foyer of the dorm rooms. He debates with himself whether or not he should (does it make him seem too invested?? when he's totally not??), but it's not like that's ever stopped him before. He can lie his way out of most people's interpretations of what he's doing, anyway.

He knocks on Shuichi's door. ]

[He wasn't lying, at least. Shuichi really did go straight back to his room and attempt to just sleep (after a period of trying to smother himself with a pillow, anyway). It didn't work, really, beyond a very unsatisfying bit of dozing that only seemed to last a few minutes at a time, but he is doing what he said he would.

But he's not surprised to hear the knock on the door after a few hours. He did kinda hightail it out of there abruptly this morning looking distinctly unwell, he doesn't doubt that he worried at least a few of the others. It's probably Kaito just checking up on him like a good bro. Shuichi drags himself out of bed just for that, unwilling to leave his friend hanging, and answers the door.

It is very much Not Kaito.

Shuichi stands in the open doorway for an admirably long few seconds, face flat, before attempting to close the door in Ouma's face.]

[ Ouma was greeting Shuichi with a bright grin, but then he's gotta go and be like that. ]

Hey, hey, wait--!!

[ He blurts out, throwing his hands on the door frame as he pushes one of his elbows against the door itself to keep Shuichi from closing it -- not that Ouma is exactly number one in the strength department, but he's heavily betting on the chance that Shuichi might not be mean enough to crush his hands in the doorway.

Considering this is the same guy that flipped out about it when he got a little cut... Unless Ouma's fantastically pissed him off enough, but he's kind of here to figure that one out. ]

Don't be rude! I came all this way to check on you, y'know! Sick people should be grateful for visitors!!

[Unfortunately for Shuichi, Ouma is 100% right. Shuichi leans on the door to press it closed as much as possible, pointedly unwelcoming, but he doesn't have it in him to slam the door on Ouma's finger's. That's just too mean, even if Ouma's been an asshole.

So he's left giving the other boy a distinctly displeased and unimpressed look through the gap in the door, frowning.]

You know I'm not actually sick.

[ sick of ouma's shit, maybe. ]

Ehhh? So you're being rude and lying now? I can't believe anyone would wanna act like that...

[ Har har.

Ouma tries wedging his foot in where the door frame is now, just for backup -- there's way less of a risk of his fingers getting crushed now, but he doubts it'll happen if it hasn't already.

It's good that he can at least trust Shuichi's benevolence to more or less stable. But is Shuichi himself stable? That's still up in the air. It's hard to imagine him as a bad guy at all, though. ]

C'mon, let me in already! You wouldn't want anyone to see me crying outside your door, right?

[Shuichi closes his eyes, heaving a deeply exasperated sigh. He refuses to get drawn into a nonsense argument over something Ouma clearly knows is hypocritical bullshit. He does almost point out that no one is likely to take a crying Ouma seriously at this point besides Gonta, but that's a meaningless and distracting tangent too.

He's too tired to follow along with Ouma's roundabout games right now. Drawing a steadying breath, he gives the other boy a skeptical look through the gap and cuts straight to the main issue.]

Why do you even want to come in?

[He'd love to believe Ouma's here to talk seriously. But after breakfast, he can't help but suspect it's just going to be more of the same.]

[ You're always gonna get drawn into his nonsense somehow Shuichi you might as well just accept your fate...

Ouma cocks his head to the side, playing confused at Shuichi's question. ]

Hmmm...? I need a reason for wanting to see my beloved Saihara-chan?

[ Ouma suddenly grins, removing himself from Shuichi's doorframe and shrugging his arms out like he's giving up or something. ]

Maaan, I didn't think that far ahead. I kind of thought you had something you really wanted to say, since you were kicking me and stuff earlier... My bad!

[ ...Alright, he's admittedly trying to bait Shuichi here, but if Shuichi's fine with leaving things like this -- that's fine too, he supposes. Maybe. He's still figuring out how to deal with all of this himself.

So he'll turn on his heel with a small wave, like he's going to leave Shuichi alone now or whatever. ]

[This is bait. This is obviously bait. He knows this is bait.

But he still ends up stammering indignantly at Ouma's back before getting actual words out, absolutely falling for that bait out of pure frustration.]

You told me to stay quiet about everything and then brought it up to everyone!

[Just to give him a hard time. Christ. He knows even this is just more of the same, that he's falling into yet another trap here, but he can't resist the urge to lay out that injustice, cheeks going a little pink with emotion as he leans out the half-open door a little.]

[ Ouma feels his heart skip a beat when he hears Shuichi actually take the bait, maybe a little enthused about it because this is the outcome he definitely preferred. He stops in his tracks, throwing his hands behind his head nonchalantly as he turns back around to face Shuichi with a smile. ]

Yeeeeah, but I never said I'd stay quiet!

[ Even though that was inherently insinuated... ]

Maybe I just wanted to handle things myself, y'know? Is that so bad?

You were't "handling" it, you were messing with me.

[There it is, all laid out. Well, not all. He could definitely say a lot about how deliberately rollercoaster-esque it all feels, getting lead through the ups and downs of sweet gestures and being teased and pushed away, how he can't help but wonder if the entire incident last night was just to set this situation up to fuck with him like this, how much he really doesn't appreciate it when he's pretty sensitive about the whole thing to begin with because he's honestly kind of a romantic and never anticipated his first anything going down so unceremoniously and Ouma is really just pouring salt in the wound...

Yeah. He could say a lot. And for a long few moments there's a lot going on on his face as he tries to think of how to communicate any of it. But eventually he just frowns deeply and clenches his eyes shut, heaving a sigh through his nose and leaning his forehead against the doorframe.]

I really don't have the energy for this...

[Y'know. Because someone stole his first kiss and handjob virginity last night and then kept him awake by being a confusing fuck about it.]

[ smh can't believe shuichi is now half a virgin after ouma

Ouma chooses not to confirm or deny that fact, because while he certainly did have a purpose in mind for doing all that, he really did have a grand time doing it, too. He can't find it in him to feel guilty about that, either.

What does grab him is how Shuichi really does look totally pathetic and kind of pitiable when he leans on the doorframe like that, and Ouma wonders just how much sleep he even ended up getting... Geez.

Ouma takes a step back to where he was, patting Shuichi's shoulder amicably with a smile still on his face. Hopefully nobody walks in right now, because this would probably be one hell of situation to look at. ]

You suuure don't. And here I thought you might have a bit more stamina than that! This is why I like to pair a nice, fizzy drink with my breakfast. ...Do you wanna try one of mine?

[ When will Ouma learn how to interact normally rather than in an utterly backwards manner with his intentions... The real mystery.

And yeah, he's probably hoarded all the grape soda the warehouse had up in his room. ]

[ probably more like three-quarters a virgin tbh ]

Can you just...stop?

[Too tired to be very optimistic, he can see that friendly offer for what it likely really is; Ouma's still just messing with him now, making a show of kindness just so he can turn it around immediately afterwards to mock him. He'd really like to think otherwise, but he just feels too raw at the moment, like Ouma had stripped away a lot more than just clothes last night and he hadn't gotten it back, and he's left too exposed and vulnerable and Ouma thinks it's hilarious to prod at the obvious sore spots.

Maybe he'll regret jumping to the worst interpretation so quickly later. He's usually better than this. But he's just tired, and sensitive, and he has just barely enough self-esteem to recognize that Ouma's being kind of shitty to him.

So he just shakes his head, not bothering to lift it from the doorframe or open his eyes.]

I know this is just what you're like. [ lmao dude what a lowkey drag. ] And I normally have a lot more patience for it, but...just not about this okay?

["This". Ugh, and Ouma will probably play dumb just to make him elaborate on that when it's extremely obvious and he knows Ouma is smart enough to understand.]

[ Ouma frowns, wrinkling his nose for a split second as he retracts his hand to place it on his hip. He pretends to examine his other hand, just so he doesn't have to look at Shuichi right now...even though Shuichi's not looking up anyway, but it's still easier to play it aloof like this. ]

Eeehhh... You keep saying "this" and "this", but I don't get that at all.

[ ...Yeah, that was coming from a mile away. Although it is obvious to guess what Shuichi's getting at, but. Ouma wants to hear him say it, anyway.

He's not about to encourage Shuichi's meeker, evasive traits the same as Shuichi won't encourage his assholery. ]

Shouldn't someone like you have more thorough explanations? Come on.

[Yep. Called that one. It's so unsurprising that he just sighs heavily, thoroughly disappointed to be right. His head remains afixed to the doorframe, but his eyes peek open just enough to give Ouma a very unimpressed look.]

No. You know what I'm talking about. You're just giving me a hard time.

[ a rare sighting of shuichi saihara's spine.

...Also he kinda just doesn't want to have to actually say the specifics out loud in the open like this, but. Y'know. Details. Just appreciate him standing up for himself.]

[ somebody document this stat

Ouma rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, tapping his foot slightly. ]

Fine, fine! Yeesh, you're being dramatic over this...

[ Says Ouma, who is being dramatic himself about ceding-but-not-really. He is as impressed as he is petulant over this.

He lifts and opens one of his hands up in gesture despite still having his arms crossed. ]

You're not the only one having a hard time here, either.

[For a moment he wilts a little, that first comment stinging. He doesn't want to be making a fuss over nothing, just...ugh. No. If it were just a matter of him taking things more seriously than Ouma apparently did then that would be one thing, but this is not that.

He draws himself back up, frustrated and growing a little irritated. If he opens the door a little more, it's only so he can lean out a bit more.]

You started it. And then told me to leave and not tell anyone. And then made a point of telling everyone yourself anyway and trying to embarrass me.

[ more like "succeeding" at embarrassing you, dude.

But the point is clear, he thinks. It's a little beyond just having taken things too seriously. Ouma's using it to fuck with him and that feels like a betrayal of the trust he obviously had to put forward in actually going along with any of it in the first place. He's really not seeing the part that's difficult for Ouma, here.]

[ Well if Shuichi's opening the door a little more to lean out and give him some lip, Ouma's definitely not backing down from that. He uncrosses his arms to slap a hand on the door, not trying to open it but asserting his position a little as his other hand grabs the doorframe.

Ouma you are way too tiny to be using body language like this, but go off. ]

Uh, duh? I just made your alibi foolproof. It takes a reaaal good liar to pull that off too, so you should be thanking me.

[ And his constant lies!! Shoutout to those. ]

Yeah, you got all red-faced in the process, but that's you normally, isn't it?

[This is Ouma kinda getting up in his personal bubble. Normally he'd back down, but he's frustrated and annoyed now over how Ouma's trying to defend his more unnecessary bullshit. Just once, couldn't Ouma admit he'd been more of a dick than he really needed to be?

So Shuichi doesn't budge, taking advantage of his height to aim a displeased, skeptical look down at his classmate.]

If you were just trying to cover for me then you wouldn't have been going out of your way to try to trip me up.

[You can't play off footsie as strengthening his alibi.]

[ Now it's an even worse look for someone to walk in on this scene, which is just great, but neither of them seem to be too focused on that right now. Pushing the envelope all over the place.

Ouma raises his brows, tilting his head to the side to try and make up for the fact that Shuichi can literally look down on him. ]

Huuuuh? What do you even mean?

[ There he goes again. He's smart enough to guess on that one -- but to be fair, Shuichi is vagueblogging it up in here, so he's asking for it, right? Ouma would say so. ]

[There's no way Ouma does these things without knowing what he's doing. Some of it Shuichi could maybe believe, if he was being very generous and optimistic, but other parts? There's no way it isn't intentional and Shuichi will not apologize for vagueblogging his sex life drama.

He will, however, level a irritated, unimpressed look down at Ouma. It could almost be called a glare, if Shuichi were one to be that aggressive.]

You were making comments and bringing up last night before anyone else did. You made sure to be as blunt as possible and you just told everyone when you could have said anything. You were...

[He reddens a little, which really doesn't work with the stern image he's going for right now but he can't say "playing footsie" seriously or in what still counts as public like this. Ugh.]

You're just...taking advantage of what happened to get a rise out of me.

[Or, even worse, that was the intent from the start, the reason why Ouma had instigated things in the first place. He doesn't want to even voice that thought out loud, but he can't help thinking it or the way his face darkens a little in doing so.]

As if I would need to do something that explicit just to get a rise out of you. Yeah sure, maybe I like that look on your face... So what?

[ There it is. Some kind of admittance to messing with him in the process. Granted, he's not exactly apologizing for it.

But there is something he needs to clarify, although he won't do so directly because that just isn't his style.

It's the way Shuichi's talking right now that makes him wonder, especially when considered with some of his behavior the night before in general -- Ouma's too good at reading people to miss it. ]

...I bet you're thinking I screwed around with you last night for that reason too, right? Don't insult me. My lies have standards, y'know.

[ He's not going around fucking everyone to get a rise out of them, okay!! And thank god for that. ]

[He should have expected bickering with Ouma would be like this, but it's just so aggravating to have every point so carelessly cut down, before he can even say then himself in some cases. Of course it would be like this, Ouma always seems at least five steps ahead of everyone else in every situation and he's always got some sharp comment at the ready. He might as well be talking to a wall for all the effect his words seem to have.

Ouma is exhausting to deal with on the best of days. Shuichi just can't do it right now.]

Fine. Whatever. It's my fault, then.

[The fight just kinda...visibles goes out of him. He straightens up a little out of Ouma's space, but the slump to his shoulders is pure weariness. He drops his gaze to the floor between them, eyebrows knitting together in consternation.]

I should have known better than to give you this kind of ammunition. I should have known you couldn't be sensitive about this one thing.

[That's maybe a little harsher than he'd like to be, but fuck it. He's upset, and he's tired.]

[ The last thing Shuichi says kind of stings, but Ouma's also still super frustrated right now. He kind of wonders why, because he could easily walk away and leave this be, but...he doesn't want to, for whatever reason. He finds himself abhorring how invested in all of this he really is.

Ouma scoffs, kicking the toe of his shoe against the door in the midst of his own irritation. ]

You really think I wanna hear a half-assed lie like that? You give up way too easily.

[ Granted, part of Ouma's problem is not knowing when to quit, so.

Ouma tries meeting Shuichi's eyes, ducking his head slightly because Shuichi's staring at the floor right now. His own countenance bears vexation as he searches Shuichi's expression. ]

So what, are you saying you regret it now?

[He can hear the frustration there -- Ouma's really not trying to hide it -- but fuck if he can make sense of it. What does Ouma have to be annoyed about here? Shuichi peeks up at him just enough to shoot him a vaguely disbelieving look.]

Do you want me to fight you?

[Hell, that would be believeable at this point. Ouma does seem to go out of his way to wind people up. Maybe he really is just looking for some conflict here and Shuichi being his normal self isn't satisfying. Ouma is trying to catch his gaze but he avoids it, frowning uncertainly.]

...I don't know. It feels like you want me to.

[At least one of them can just be honest here.]

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is shuichi standing up for himself giving you a "hard time" ouma

MAYBE SO.gif

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1/2

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