ɪ ꜱᴛᴏʟᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ, ꜱᴏ ɴᴏᴡ ɪ'ᴍ ꜱᴀᴛɪꜱꜰɪᴇᴅ || SAIOUMA

Chapter 7 - Celeste, Kaede and a fake relationship

Kokichi skipped next to me as I walked into the building. I noticed Kirigiri standing by the reception with Celeste. She turned around to me.

'Ah, hello there Saihara, and-'

Celeste paused as she looked at Kokichi for a second. His eyes widened as she nodded. 'I don't believe I've met you before. What's your name?'

'A-Ah, Kokichi,' he strangely stuttered.

Kirigiri stared at Kokichi once he said his name. Celeste cleared her throat. 'My name is Celestia Ludenberg. We do not need to bother with formalities, please call me Celeste.'

'It's nice to meet you Celeste!' Kokichi said cheerfully, trying to hide the unease in his voice.

'What is your last name?' Kirigiri asked with a blank expression.

'I don't have one. I'm an orphan,' he replied, 'Besides, I like people calling me my first name. It shows we're friends!'

'Okay, what is your affiliation with Saihara?'

Kokichi smirked. 'I'm his-'

'H-He's my friend!' I interrupted nervously.

'-With benefits,' Kokichi winked.

'Well Kirigiri, Celeste, it's been nice seeing you but I need to go to my office now.' I said firmly, grabbing Kokichi's wrist and dragging him to my office, trying to hide my red face.

I slammed the door and turned to Kokichi. 'What was that for?'

'What do you mean?' he asked innocently.

'The whole "with benefits" thing! I work for Kirigiri! If they think I'm unprofessional she'll fire me!'

Kokichi looked me dead in the eye. 'Okay, so we're just going to forget about last night? Yeah, that's fine with me.'

'I- W-What do you mean it's fine by you?' I ask nervously.

'I mean, we should forget about it. It wouldn't work anyway. A detective and a-' Kokichi paused, eyeing the security camera, 'And an orphan.'

'I...'

I found myself lost for words. Even though I knew that one day I'd either arrest Kokichi or never see him again, it still hurt having him tell me that we'll never be anything more that a criminal and the person trying to catch him. Last night gave me a small piece of hope. Kokichi had just stomped on that hope and shattered it.

'Nishishi! You- You actually thought I was being serious?'

I looked up to see Kokichi laughing. He smirked. 'As if I'd want our game to end. It's been too fun! Last night was only the start~'

I found my face turning red again at his flirty tone. 'K-Kokichi, I-'

'Shhh~ Don't worry, that thing I said back there was just a lie! I am a liar after all!' Kokichi said, placing a finger on my lips, 'Well, as fun as it's been, it seems to be a tradition that our dates are cut short! My friends are waiting for me!'

He winked at me before skipping out my office towards the back exit.

I sighed, sinking down into my chair. Why does everything have to be so complicated?

My heart stopped as my phone buzzes, scaring me. I opened it to see I got a text message.

Hey Shuichi! If you're free this afternoon, do you wanna meet up at a café and catch up? It's been a while!

I smiled as I looked at the contact name.

Kaede Akamatsu

*****

Celeste Pov

I watched as Shuichi dragged Kokichi away. I turned back to my girlfriend. 'That was... interesting.'

She sighed. 'Celeste, I know you have loads of... friends... so... Could you get one to keep an eye on Kokichi? I don't trust him.'

'Of course. Chances are she'll say no, but Peko would be the best bet,' I said, 'If she refuses, I could easily blackmail her.'

'Blackmail..?' they asked, 'I'm not sure...'

'Don't worry Kyoko, it's nothing big, she just has feelings for the leader of the Kuzuryu clan. You know, the one she's devoted her life to protecting?'

Kyoko nodded reluctantly. 'Okay... As long as it doesn't escalate above that. You're lucky that you have connections with the authorities, otherwise you would probably be in jail....'

'Mukuro is responsible for that. She said if I got caught she would say it's to do with your detective work.'

'That's good. Has she got back to you about our date on Saturday?' Kyoko asked, 'It's been a while since all three of us went on a date... I hope she doesn't have to cancel again.'

'She's going to try her best to be free. Of course, she can't guarantee it, but...'

They smiled. 'Thank you... I know it must have been hard trying to find a day that we're all free.'

'It will be worth it,' I replied.

*****

Shuichi Pov

I walked into the café and Akamatsu waved at me from a table. I smiled warmly and sat down with her.

'Shuichi! Here, I got you a coffee. It's been a while, hasn't it?'

'Y-Yeah, it has... How have you been?'

She smiled. 'It's been going great! I've decided to start focusing more on myself instead of earning money, and I've been much happier lately.'

'That's good,' I said. I don't know what it is, but something about Akamatsu made me feel... different.

'So how has your detective work been going?' she asked, 'I saw you on the news the other day.'

'Heh, it's... tiring,' I admitted, 'The phantom thief is a handful.'

I noticed her zoning out. 'Uhm, A-Akamatsu?'

'O-Oh, sorry,' she said, 'I stayed up late last night playing piano, so I didn't get much sleep... Also, you don't have to call me Akamatsu, I'm fine with you using my first name!'

'Ah, okay K-Kaede,' I said, 'You know, my uncle has been pressuring me to date someone... It's starting to get annoying...'

'Really?' Kaede asked, 'Same with my family. They always asked whether I have a boyfriend, and I just want to be honest with them and tell them that I am dating someone, but I don't think they'd be happy that it's a girl...'

'Wait, you're dating a girl?' I asked, 'Who?'

'Ahaha...' she laughed awkwardly, 'You know Miu? From high school? Yeah, her...'

'Now I think about it, you would get along well,' I said, genuinely happy for her, 'Why don't you want to tell your family about her?'

'They're... homophobic...' Kaede muttered, 'I eventually got sick of them asking and told them I had a boyfriend. It's getting harder to hide that it was a lie, now that they're asking to meet him...'

I suddenly had an idea. I think Kaede had it at the same time, because we both spoke in unison. 'Will you pretend to date me?'