i had this idea from that 'do i look like your girlfriend?' audio on tiktok......
//
it had been about 2 months since the end of danganronpa, maki and himiko had already gotten jobs for themselves, maki being a nanny for a rich family and himiko pursuing her passion for magic, doing street performances that racked a surprising amount of money and got her featured on tv multiple times.
they also ended up getting together, too. shuichi was happy for them.
shuichi was being rather useless, more or less rotting in his bed (finally, he bought his own instead of having to share with himiko and maki..) and contemplating. detective work wouldn't do. he couldn't handle seeing murder scenes again, not yet at least.
so he was on the hunt for a job now, as maki had been fed up of shuichi practically being a housewife (except for the fact that he wasn't married, didn't have children to take care of, and didn't do any chores besides his own.), and had told him to get his shit together, because it was difficult for all of them to cope, but that didn't mean shuichi gets the right to give up on trying to recover.
he reasoned that she was right, and he had finally gone outside of their little apartment. they lived in a cozy town that looked straight out of a 90's movie, it had a big market with fruit stands and all.
shuichi thought it would be the best idea to go to the market and see if anyone could provide him with some work.
so he did.
he was aimlessly walking around now, sort of dissociating a little bit, glancing to his right, then to his left, too nervous to actually go up to any of the vendors and ask.
it was cold, shuichi sighed and his breath came out condendensated, a white vapor that disappeared a few seconds later. he was wearing a coat, gloves, loafers, earmuffs, the whole shtick really.
the air was foggy and it was slightly windy, shuichi's nose scrunched a bit as he shivered a tiny bit.
saihara reached the center of the market square, it was open and circular with a fountain in the center. there weren't many people there, shuichi observed.
his eyes vaguely glanced at each person, an old man in his late 40's wearing a paper boy hat and smoking a cigarette, a young businesswoman speaking on the phone, seemingly to her boss, a boy, seemingly in his late teens, with hair as white and fluffy as snow and eyes as cold as ice- wait, kiibo?
shuichi's jaw dropped for a minute, he thought he was hallucinating and he blinked multiple times, but the boy didn't go away. he looked exactly like kiibo, just.. a human..
he even had scars on his face, 2 lines that connected from his eyes all the way to his jaw. they were hardly noticeable. he was wearing a pair of gloves and a scarf that sat too high on his face. a long sleeved black turtleneck shirt underneath his dark brown leather coat and black pants that looked too fancy to be jeans, perhaps dress pants.
he seemed to be fumbling with something, his gaze was so similar- no, it was absolutely identical to the gaze kiibo had when he was frustrated..
shuichi trembled a bit, and he nearly ran over, climbing down the small steps into the round center area that lead to the fountain.
the boy sighed softly, his voice was audible in that sigh. it was absolutely identical to kiibo, the same exasperated sigh he'd give when kokichi was bothering him, and he'd follow up with a 'why are you sighing? robots don't breathe!'.
the boy was seemingly alone, still fumbling with that, what was it? his button? shuichi got a bit closer. it was in fact the button on his coat.
shuichi had no idea how to approach him, he felt sick to his stomach, he wasn't sure how else he should feel.
the boy looked up at him, a bit strangely. confused.
'can i help you?'
his voice was slightly concerned, maybe a little bit wary, and shuichi nearly exploded. it had to be kiibo.
'i- me? n— no, i'm okay, sorry. you just.. you look like my really close friend.'
shuichi mumbled, stumbling over his words a bit as he approached the boy further.
'like.. you really look like him..'
he trailed off.
'do i?'
he asked, tilting his head and seemingly abandoning trying to fix his button for the time being.
'..yeah.. i can't believe it, you could be his twin..'
he mumbled, this is the first time since the killing game that shuichi has maintained eye contact with someone.
'your appearance, your voice- just your mannerisms, too.. the only difference is.. you're a human..'
he mumbled that last part to himself.
'mh, that's rather strange. i'm rather unique looking,'
he chuckled a bit.
'my name is kiibo,'
he said. tilting his head a bit and reaching his hand out for shuichi to shake.
shuichi paused for a moment, he felt sick again.
this had to be some sort of cruel joke his mind was playing on him, but he felt instantly grounded, almost too grounded, like the world was crashing down, as he took kiibo's hand. his grip was firm, but gentle. like how in the love hotel.. kiibo shook his hand.
'i..'
shuichi started off.
'you, haha- you don't know me, do you?'
he asked a bit nervously, swallowing.
'no, not really.. what's your name?'
he asked, letting go. he didn't seem wary anymore, despite the fact that shuichi was acting weirder and weirder by the second.
'i'm.. i'm shuichi, shuichi saihara.'
he mumbled, messing with a strand of his own hair.
'i'm.. a detective, or i used to be.'
he said quietly, looking away. kiibo tilted his head.
'you're awfully young to be a detective...'
he muttered.
'yeah.. i was,, mmm..'
shuichi hesitated a bit.
'do you know about danganronpa?'
he asked nervously, his voice straining a bit. shuichi never went out of his way to tell anyone he was in danganronpa, obviously, he didn't like the memories he had with it.
'danganronpa.. i hated it,'
he said, tilting his head.
'the producers.. they stole my designs,'
he muttered, crossing his arms.
'your.. your designs?'
the raven haired boy asked.
'my designs.. i had multiple, they were stolen by danganronpa and used to make different robot characters..'
he sighed.
'the more recent one.. he's based off of me.. i don't keep up with danganronpa. it hurts to see what would've been my real creations be murdered.'
he sort of pushed his hair out of his face and looked up at shuichi.
'..so that's.. you're..'
his eyes widened.
'you designed kiibo..?'
shuichi asked, his voice soft and slightly raspy.
'is that the one that looks and acts like me? if so then yes. kiibo wasn't his name, though.'
he said quietly.
'his model name was K1-B0, but he didn't have an actual name registered, so team danganronpa must've used my name for him as well..'
he muttered.
'his design wasn't complete when they took it, either. the blueprints were for the prototype, but.. it seems like they built him regardless.. how careless..'
he frowned.
shuichi looked at him for a moment and his eyes softened, kiibo looked away a bit nervously, his face flushed.
'uhm, anyways..'
he said a bit nervously, he wasn't really intending to rant like that..
'yes- i know danganronpa- vaguely..'
he mumbled.
'i was part of it.. i knew kiibo, he.. uhm, he saved us? he.. sacrificed himself..'
shuichi frowned at the memory, the white haired boy only smiled softly.
'i'm glad you're alright, though. you're.. rather charming, actually,'
the boy chuckled a bit, the black haired boy looked away and blushed a bit, laughing breathily and nervously.
'would you like my number? i'd be interested in learning more about you..'
he asked, a hint of pride in his voice, the same kind where kiibo would confidently ask something from shuichi despite the fact that he himself was also a nervous wreck sometimes.
'yes, please, god please.'
he laughed.
they exchanged numbers that day, and shuichi had told himiko and maki about it too. they seemed thrilled.
they had met up a few times.
..and held hands once..
and then a couple of times..
and then it was normal for them.
kiibo would go over to shuichi's house and shuichi would go to kiibo's.
a few months later, they had fallen asleep in each others arms. himiko took a photo for 'prosperity'..
maki convinced her to delete it.
and then, after a while of staying up, maybe a little drunk on lack of sleep, they kissed.
they found that they liked it, so they did it more often.
kiibo decided to watch danganronpa. he frowned every time kokichi bullied, well, kiibo. but it felt more personal. he cried every time someone died. he felt like he was actually there, like those were his actual friends, now gone.
he cheered shuichi on during the last trial, frowned when kiibo was being controlled.
it wasn't a fun experience to watch, he hated every part of it, but it felt important to know. and he felt part of himself with them, with everyone, kiibo's friends and kiibo himself.
he would often find himself missing miu, they'd surely have plenty to talk about. or kokichi's pranks.. or kaede's hum as she played her music, all of it, really.
shuichi was glad, glad he had this. because this, whatever it was, was so important to him. it was everything.
he was glad he could savor it, glad he could have this.
because this was so important to him, and he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he'd loose kiibo again.