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When the first plinks of rain scatter against the library window, Shuichi is worried. When he steps outside to a cacophonous, tattle-tale rattling against the rooftops, his worry sinks to dread.
Shuichi holds his hand out past the safety of the cover, as though maybe he's just imagining the sheets of rain cloaking Hope's Peak Academy. Predictably, it comes back wet; he scowls at his hand momentarily, before he sighs and adjusts his bag.
No umbrella; Shuichi doesn't even need to check. He thought he'd be leaving school earlier, so he didn't pack one. Now, all he can do is stare forlornly out into the courtyard, watching better-prepared students walk home. Across the way, near the fine arts building, Kaede and Rantaro stroll through the rain under a shared umbrella, chatting with smiles on their faces.
This entire situation is Shuichi's fault, but he feels a bit of longing, watching them. If only he had a friend who'd—
"Hey, sidekick!" a voice booms, and Shuichi feels a slap on his back so firm it almost knocks him out into the rain. He sputters with surprise, righting himself, and Kaito's sheepish laughter fills his ears.
"Sorry if I scared ya. You just looked pretty out of it," Kaito explains, patting Shuichi's back once more with a grin.
"Ah, no… it's fine," Shuichi says, turning to face Kaito. It certainly knocked the doldrums out of him, that's for sure. How Kaito managed to sneak up on him like that is a mystery, and how his hair and outfit are still in perfect condition in this weather is also a mystery. "Hello, Momota-kun. I was just thinking about the rain…"
"Cool, isn't it?" Kaito says, looking up towards the gray sky with a grin. "Big storms with loud, rolling thunder like this… doesn't it remind you how huge and crazy the universe is compared to us?"
That was definitely not what Shuichi had been thinking about, but he looks up again, as though trying to see things from Kaito's romantic perspective. Lighting cracks the sky, ringing the school's clocktower in a thorny halo.
"I suppose it is pretty impressive," Shuichi remarks, "and then it's gone before you know it…"
"Stuff on Earth is real fleeting," Kaito agrees, seeming almost wistful. "Compared to the storms on Jupiter that've been goin' for centuries, and the nebulae that've been building since the beginning of civilization, a little rain like this…"
Shuichi waits quietly for Kaito to continue, focused and attentive. The Ultimate Astronaut rambles about the grandeur of space at the drop of a hat, and basically anything else he thinks about… but it's been less common lately, Shuichi's noticed. Kaito's been quieter, and when he thinks Shuichi isn't looking, his bombastic grins have faded to… almost pensive expressions.
Which is a shame, because Shuichi likes Kaito's boundless energy and endless philosophizing. He likes it when Kaito looks up at the stars after training and talks about everything and nothing, spinning profound advice and flagrant lies one after the other (sometimes both at once!).
… Likes it a little too much, probably… but that's neither here nor there. Mostly it's a shame because Shuichi can't help but think there might be something wrong in Kaito's life, something bringing the limitless astronaut back down to Earth.
Instead of continuing, Kaito trails off, a sheepish smirk on his face.
"Heh. Betcha didn't come out here to listen to all that, though." Before Shuichi's cocked expression can turn into a question, Kaito moves on. "You're headed home, right?"
"Ah, that was the plan, yeah," Shuichi affirms.
"That's great! You know, I was thinking about training myself by braving the elements this morning. So I didn't bother bringing my umbrella."
"Are you sure you didn't just forget…?" Shuichi asks, smile slightly charmed despite himself.
Kaito huffs, pouting for a fraction of a second before grinning again. "No problem, though! This is what a hero has sidekicks for. I bet you brought your umbrella, right?"
Shuichi regards him with a long, blank stare. Kaito's expectant grin fades.
"Ah, geez," Kaito says. "Is that why you've been standing out here all depressed?"
"Sorry to disappoint you," Shuichi says, with a slightly crooked smile. And he is sorry, really, even if Kaito forgot his umbrella too. It would've been nice to be able to lend a helping hand to the boy who's helped him so much this school year.
Kaito doesn't respond, instead looking back up to the clouds, one hand resting on his hip and his lip slightly twinged in a thoughtful bite. This is Kaito's Thinking Face, the one Shuichi's seen countless times when he's thinking through a problem someone's come to him with, or working on a difficult homework assignment. And at the end of it, every time—
"I've got it!" Kaito exclaims. "If we don't have an umbrella…"
Kaito slides his jacket off his shoulders, shaking the loose sleeves of his button-down shirt out. He holds it above his head, collar brushing the tips of his hair, and regards Shuichi with a proud, expectant grin.
"We'll just have to make one," he finishes.
Shuichi's breath hitches, and his face blooms red. Could Kaito mean… using his jacket as an umbrella? Sharing it? He'll have to be so close to Kaito for that to work. It'll be more intimate than even sharing an umbrella, like Rantaro and Kaede were. He can perfectly imagine the angle: tucked underneath Kaito's shoulder, his arm spread wide above Shuichi, huddling into his torso to escape the cold rain…
"Okay, so first thing's first," Kaito says, kneeling down on the ground, "you're gonna have to get on my shoulders."
What.
"What?" Shuichi asks, blinking rapidly. "On your… shoulders?"
"Yeah, man. We gotta stack vertical so the jacket will cover both of us," Kaito says, like it's obvious.
Shuichi takes a moment to buffer. As usual, Kaito is light-years ahead of him, on an entire other planet of thought Shuichi hadn't even considered.
Still… vertical. Shuichi considers it.
"But what about your legs? The jacket won't reach that far," Shuichi points out.
Kaito frowns deeply, like he's not really fond of how many holes Shuichi's poking in his extremely cool jacket mecha idea.
"Look, man, I'll be fine," Kaito grouses. "These slippers are waterproof! I'll get my training in the elements knees-down, and you'll stay dry on the way home!"
It's not a stupid idea, exactly, but it's a ridiculous one. It's overly-complicated, potentially dangerous, questionably effective, and if anyone sees, it'll be the most embarrassing moment of Shuichi's life. If Kokichi sees, Shuichi will never hear the end of it.
Kaito keeps looking up at him, waiting. His jacket hangs open invitingly, and he has a wild, daredevil look in his eye, the kind he usually only gets when he talks about his summer adventures as a kid.
"Alright. Let's do it," Shuichi says firmly, and he's rewarded by the widest, most excited grin, a brilliant smile that makes his knees weak to look at.
"Hell yeah! Get on, man!"
===
Kokichi, in the middle of practicing his high-risk unicycle-umbrella routine, hears screaming.
He looks up, single wheel balanced precariously at the edge of a flowerbed wall, umbrella tilted back to see a bit better. The small crowd of curious and concerned students—which Kokichi has worked hard to garner the attention of, damn it—look up, too.
Across the courtyard, Kokichi sees what appears to be a purple giant streaking towards the front gate. Kaito, in his white shirt and slippers, sprints at full speed, bellowing a war cry. Shuichi, holding Kaito's jacket above his head with one hand and desperately clinging to Kaito's shirt with the other, is yelling in almost perfect unison, half as aggressive and twice as terrified.
With blank interest, Kokichi watches as the two pass through the gate. They disappear into the mists, screams echoing and jacket flapping wildly in the wind behind them.
"Those two are getting so weird," Kokichi sighs, looking back down at his unicycle pedals. He's really gonna have to up his game if he's gonna keep being the talk of the campus.
===
As a great credit to Kaito's astronaut training, he and Shuichi make it about two thirds of the way home at nearly a dead sprint. Then Shuichi clocks himself on a passing stop sign, and they're forced to take shelter under a nearby storefront awning.
"You alright, man?" Kaito asks. He's kneeled before Shuichi, and thumb runs over the other boy's forehead, calloused and gentle and very, very wet. "That was my bad."
"I'm fine," Shuichi says, a little dazed. Not just from the sign, but… from everything. There's adrenaline still coursing through his veins, and the high of having just done something so stupid and yet so exciting keeps him afloat. He shrugs off Kaito's jacket, which is soaked all the way through. "I'm not bleeding, am I?"
"Nah! Nah. Just a little bruised," Kaito insists. "Put some ice on it and you'll be right as rain!"
Thunder rumbles overhead, and a gust of wind rattles the awning above them, rippling through the rain in solid waves. Kaito winces a little at his phrasing; Shuichi, oblivious, shrugs off his backpack to open up.
"I might have an ice pack in here," Shuichi explains. His hands are shaking a little, from the adrenaline, mostly, and he digs through the mountains of folders and paperwork in his backpack with difficulty.
"You keep a—man," Kaito says, shaking his head. "You're really prepared for anything,"
"Anything but rain, it turns," Shuichi starts to say, and then his whole body freezes solid.
"What?" Kaito frowns. "Hey, Shuichi, you okay?"
Shuichi doesn't respond for a long moment. Kaito's brow furrows in worry, and he reaches out and puts a hand on Shuichi's shoulder.
"Hey—say something, alright? You're freaking me out, man." Kaito's voice rises higher. "Did you get a concussion? Do I need to take you to the hospital?"
Shuichi shakes his head, and then out of nowhere, bursts out laughing.
"I," he sputters, still giggling, and he produces a single, plain black object from his bag, "I, umm…"
"No way," Kaito exhales, with a soft laugh. "You—no way, bro."
"Ah… way." Shuichi unfolds his umbrella partway, trembling with suppressed laughter. "My uncle or his wife must have slipped it in for me…"
Shuichi can't contain it anymore, and he bursts out laughing again, adrenaline-fueled and hysterical but genuine to the core. Once he starts, he can't stop, either. He puts a hand on his knee to steady himself, doubled over and shaking with laughter.
All the while, Kaito watches Shuichi, with wide, wondering eyes. His eyebrows raise, and he exhales a sigh of a laugh.
After a moment, though, Kaito's soft smile fades, and he glances down. Shuichi stops laughing, rubbing tears from his eyes and looking at Kaito questioningly.
"Guess my big idea was a big waste of time, then," Kaito sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "And we're both soaked, anyway… I shoulda known that wasn't gonna work. It's basic physics."
Shuichi pauses. Another oddly self-deprecating comment… what's gotten into Kaito lately? Maybe he should ask Maki if she's noticed anything strange about him… it can't just be Shuichi who's seeing this, can it?
That mystery lingers in his mind, and Shuichi pauses for a moment, coming down from his high of laughter and excitement, thinking carefully about what to say.
"Time spent with you is never a waste, Momota-kun." Shuichi smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "I think even if I'd realized I had my umbrella, I'd do that all over again."
Kaito blinks, then swallows hard, and for a heart-stopping moment, Shuichi's terrified he's said the wrong thing. Before he can apologize, though, a wobbly smile comes onto Kaito's face; he covers his mouth and looks down, cheeks reddening, but Shuichi can see the corners of his eyes still smiling despite how hard he's trying to hide it.
And that's odd, too. Since when does Kaito hide his smiles, or get embarrassed…? The sight still brings a grin to Shuichi's face, though.
"Maybe minus the stop sign," Shuichi adds, a bit sheepishly.
Kaito drops his hand and grins in a much more Kaito-like way, and reaches out to (carefully) ruffle Shuichi's hair. "Nah, man. That's an adventure scar! You gotta have those to be a great hero."
"I don't think… I want that," Shuichi says, touching his forehead worriedly.
Kaito launches into an extended, insistent rant about the importance of how a real man wears his achievements and failures on his sleeve, and in the meantime, Shuichi opens his umbrella and raises it over both of them. He listens with a patient—if occasionally doubtful—smile, happy above all else that Kaito is being his usual self again.
The mystery of why exactly Kaito keeps getting so bashful around him… that will be solved another day. For now, all Shuichi wants is for them to spend time together.