Chapter Text
“Eh? You want me to do a Secret Santa?” Kaede seemed a little shocked. Maybe when Maki said she needed a favour, the pianist was expecting something else. Maki shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter what it is. As long as it involves giving gifts to people.” She looked to the side, blushing a little. “…And we can choose who to give a gift to.”
A few seconds of silence. There was a rustle somewhere behind the library bookshelf. Kaede squinted a little, much to Maki’s discomfort. Come on, it isn’t a big deal. Don’t look at me like you’re trying to figure out my motives. Just say yes, already.
“Hm…”
Come on…!
“Okay!” Kaede’s smile was carefully carefree, as if she knew that Maki had some secret agenda but was decent enough not to question her. “It’s a bit too early for a Secret Santa, so I’ll try to find another excuse for us to give gifts. I’ll go research for a bit and let you know!”
Maki nodded in response and swiftly walked away, her mission complete.
There were two more love languages Maki had yet to try: Receiving gifts and…the other one. The one that involved touching.
So, yeah. It was clear which one she’d do next. And to do it, she thought to herself, I had to cash in a favour. After all, Kaede did say she owed me one. Let’s hope this works.
She was so stuck in her worries about it working, in fact, that even her assassin training didn’t help her notice a looming presence hidden behind the bookcase, watching her.
~~
Class was normal the next morning, except for one detail that Maki couldn’t help but notice: Kaito and Shuichi were late. This wouldn’t be noteworthy except that Shuichi was rarely – if ever – late to class.
Maybe he had a case that ran overtime and Kaito skipped class to help him…? Maki stewed in her thoughts a little. She put on a nonchalant expression, but even she couldn’t help but wonder. And perhaps worry a little.
“Hey, everyone! Can I have your attention for just a sec?”
Electing Kaede as a class captain was a good choice; her voice was clear and yet not too loud or grating. Rantaro chuckled beside her. Kaede gave a determined smile to her classmates and pumped her fists.
“I got some good news! We’re gonna celebrate something very special this Friday – something that’ll make you all happy, guaranteed.” She flashed a glance at Maki. Well-trained in the art of stone-facing, Maki gave her absolutely nothing in return. Kaede winked anyway and continued her announcement.
“We’ve never actually done this at Hope’s Peak before, so we’ll be the first class to ever celebrate it! It’s a super cool holiday where you…well…” Kaede hesitated for a second, but then she slapped her grin back on and got back to the show, “Where you make up your own holiday!”
“…huh?”
It wasn’t clear who made that remark, but it honestly could’ve been anyone in the room. Maki watched as Himiko’s brow furrowed to her left, and Ryoma raised an eyebrow to her right. A slight murmur rippled throughout the class.
“The f*ck is she talking about…?”
“Make up our own holiday? Sounds like a joke.”
“Gonta confused…is today holiday?”
“Sounds like the class captains are finally out of ideas!” Kokichi piped up, smirking easily as he threw his legs on top of his desk. “What’s next, then, huh? You gonna ask us to come up with event ideas for you so you don’t have to do your job? That’s just devious, Class Captain!”
“Hey, that’s not true, and you know it!” Kaede huffed. To her credit, though, she quickly shook off the mixed reactions and went back to her usual chipper self. “I just figured since we haven’t had a nice holiday in a few months that you guys would appreciate an excuse to have some fun. But the next holiday is months away, so I had to get a little creative.”
“The reason why we want you to ‘make up’ a holiday is so we can all celebrate something that we agree on.” Rantaro put his arms on his hips and chuckled a little. “We’re not doing this because we’ve run out of ideas. Though if you have any suggestions for holidays, Kokichi, by all means, tell us.”
Judging by how Kokichi giggled, Maki was certain that this was exactly what he wanted to hear. God, what is he up to now? This wasn’t helping her already grumpy mood.
“Nishishi! I’m so glad you asked, O Captain, my Captain! Because I happen to have a wonderful idea – one that certain people in this class would just love to celebrate.” A flick of a glance and a devious, dark-eyed smirk. If Maki didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought that he had glanced at her.
Faintly, alarms went off in her mind. Something was up. Neither Kaito nor Shuichi were here to tame the mad trickster, so it looked like it was up to her. She rolled her eyes as she said, “Whatever it is, it’s bound to be something malicious. It’s obvious that you have some kind of ulterior motive here.”
“Huuuh? Maki Roll, are you calling me a liar?? Th-That’s so mean!!” On cue, Kokichi turned on the crocodile tears, but Maki wasn’t having it.
“Do not call me that.”
That was apparently enough to stop Kokichi’s ‘tears’ as a mocking grin quickly replaced it. “Ohh, right. There’s only one person in the world – no, the universe – who can call you that. That’s a shame. It’s such a cute nickname, just as cute as you!”
It only took a second for Kokichi to start giggling again. “Heh, that was a lie, obviously! You’re suuuuuuper ugly! But even ugly people deserve a chance at love. So, on behalf of lovers everywhere, I propose a holiday!” He whipped around to face Kaede and Rantaro, who were standing there at the front of the classroom with confused expressions. Kokichi’s smirk grew until it seemed demonically large. “Let’s do a Hero’s Day! The day when we give really really really romantic gifts to people who are our heroes! Have any ideas on who to give a gift to, Maki-kins? Because based on what you said to Kaede in the library, it sounds like you have an idea—hurk!”
Kokichi had been interrupted rather violently. He would’ve kept talking, but Maki’s sharp-clawed hand tightening around his jugular vein shut him up pretty quickly. “Gh…!”
“Are you done?” A twitch in her fingers dug into his skin. “Because I can go tighter.”
“Maki Roll!”
…Kaito? In her surprise, Maki loosened her fingers to turn around towards the door. Kokichi squirmed out of her grasp with a few gasps and coughs. All Maki could focus on, though, was the wide-eyed astronaut that had suddenly appeared in the classroom.
Then her eyes crawled down his body and to his hand. There was something familiar grasped within his fingers. From a distance, Maki could discern paper, text, and a title: Love Languages.
Love languages…
Suddenly, Shuichi burst into the room. He bent over and wheezed for breath. “Kaito…! Hide that before Maki sees—”
“I’ve seen it.”
"...O-Oh." Both Kaito and Shuichi stared at her like a pair of wind-swept pigeons. It would have been funny if not for all the puzzle pieces finally falling into place.
Kaito has Shuichi’s research on love languages…Kaito has spoken about how hanging out with someone is a way of ‘talking’ to them…Kaito has even texted me about quality time…
LumofStars: u gotta spend time with people to show u love them!! Just like how I spend time with u :D
Oh. Oh sh*t. He'd known all this time, hadn’t he?
Maki couldn’t take it. She sprinted out of the room before anybody could even blink.
