Eternal Starlight (Kaito x Maki)

Chapter 7: Something's... Off

Though Maki wished she could stay there with Kaito, watching their project spin forever, the presentation would have to come to an end eventually.

Reluctantly pulling her hand from his, she made her way over to the light switches to restore light to the dim room. She was fairly certain that she'd heard a few disappointed "aww"s from her classmates as she and Kaito began packing up the model. They deactivated it, bringing the colorful lights and music and spinning all to an abrupt stop. After throwing the cloth back onto the project, they almost sorrowfully returned it to the back of the room.

Maki barely got to her seat before being intercepted by an extremely energetic Kaede. "Jeez, Maki! You didn't tell me it was gonna be that cool!"

"Sorry," she replied with a soft smile as she scooted her chair in and laid her head on her desk, "It was meant to be a surprise."

"I know, and it was so awesome!!" chirped Kaede while bouncing excitedly in her chair. Maki replied with a silent nod, a tiny hint of pink gleaming on her cheeks. Kaede's next remark turned that light glow of pink into a full-blown blush.

"Sooo, 'you gonna pretend like we *didn't* all see you holding hands with Kaito, or what?" she smirked teasingly. Realization hit Maki like a train as she jerked her head up from the desk, her face a shade of bright red.

"S-Shut up," she stuttered, still piecing together a retort, "The only reason you didn't do the same with Shuichi was that you were too busy playing the piano."

Kaede scoffed, turning her head to mask the pink on her own face. "Pssh, whatever." This earned her a small snicker from her friend.

Meanwhile, Kaito was having his own conversation with Shuichi.

"And then we held hands!!" he gushed while his friend congratulated him. Kaito had always been more on the emotional side, but Shuichi'd never seen him so... jumpy about something.

"Yeah, I noticed," he replied, "She looked so happy up there, she's come a long way."

Kaito smiled warmly, casting the brunette a longing glance, "She sure has. It's weird, but... pride isn't the word I'm lookin' for. My feelings are... stronger than that." he explained as he searched for the right words.

The navy-haired detective snickered, "That's called 'love' you dork."

"S-Say that again! I dare ya!" Kaito yelped defensively, his cheeks turning scarlet.

The next few minutes were spent exchanging compliments on everyone's project with one another. Though there had been murmurs about declaring an overall winner, the idea was dropped when they realized it was an impossible decision. Though the center of everyone's focus had been the projects they'd all just presented, another topic swiftly swept through the conversations.

"Didn't you hear? Apparently, there's gonna be a school dance next Friday!" spoke a bubbly voice from the middle of the room. It was Kokichi.