Here Forever || Oumasai

Five hours

Chapter Twelve

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He blinked thrice with a blank expression before breaking out into a grin.

"Shumai, Shumai," he cried, reaching forward and grabbing my arm, "How can I ever repay you!?"

"Uh- Well- I didn't really- I don't think you need to repay me-", I stuttered, mostly because the tight grip he had on my arm made me nervous.

Ouma let go of my arm to descriptively gesture his words.

"I know! I'll be forever in your debt so that you can always have an upper hand in case we ever become sworn enemies!", he yelled, demonstrating a performance of what seemed to be a dramatic battle, for who knows why.

"Why would we become sworn enemies?!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!", A voice screamed from one of the neighboring rooms.

Thin walls, I nearly forgot about those.

The room filled with silence, and Ouma let himself fall back onto his pink chair letting it slightly roll backwards.

"I'm going to stream later tonight, Shumai, can you stay in the room with me?"

Huh? Why does he want me to-

"I haven't been streaming like I normally do, because I'm sca- if I'm distracted, I won't be able to protect myself in case something happens."

"Do you mean because of the stalker?"

"Maybe, either way, then maybe I can start some drama in case they see you. Imagine rumors spreading around like crazy! 'SupremeLeader secret lover?' Wow wow! The attention," he cackled.

Secret lover!?

"What do you mean by rumors..?"

"Well, you know how it is when a famous person gets seen even just interacting with someone. Dating rumors, whatever. Shumai, I fear that I may go broke if I don't draw attention to myself!"

Yet I had seen his viewer count, so I knew that was a lie.

"I mean, I guess I can stay.. But I have to go to work in the morning, Ouma-kun."

His expression changed for a split second, anyone else might have missed it, but after trying so hard to inspect him, it didn't slip by me.

Still, his face returned to a cheeky grin a moment after, as he scolded me, "Shumai, I'm already calling you by a nickname, but you're still sticking with the formal Ouma-kun! Just call me Kokichi."

My face flushed red, "A-ah, alright.. I mean, I'll try but.. Don't scold me if I forget-"

"No! I will scold you till you remember to stop being so formal with me! Geez, what part of me even appears slightly formal?"

That was true, not only did he have the height of a teenager, he also drank an irregular amount of carbonated soda and was generally a bit childish.

Though I knew he wasn't actually childish, he was well aware of everything happening and probably approached things in the smartest way he saw possible.

At least, the smartest way to him, for him.

Was it lying? Was it a façade? Was it a mask?

No matter what it was, it worked for him. Until I came along.

Maybe it was my untimeliness that always caught me seeing Kokichi in situations where he wouldn't usually let others see him.

"Snap out of your trance, Shumai, if you keep zoning out like that, one day you're gonna get kidnapped or something!", Kokichi snapped his fingers right in front of my face.