Chapter Text
9:00 PM.
It wasn't too late at night when Kirigiri decided to take a short breather from all of the multitasking she had just done. Though she wasn't entirely content with her current progress, she felt exhausted. Her dog, Mochi, could tell as well. The husky was sitting down on the ground, adjacent to her. Cerulean eyes seemed to beg her to stop working. She stretched her arms out and stood up slowly so she could get something to drink. But before she could even approach the mini fridge across the room however, the sound of keys clattering on the ground could be faintly heard from the outside. Was someone trying to get into her room? With that in mind, the detective approached the door cautiously as she turned the knob. When Kyouko opened the door halfway, the person on the other side managed to slip into her room and collapse on top of her bed. Unsurprisingly, Mochi-chan barked at the sudden presence of someone else, but it sounded more of a friendly bark. At least Kyouko was aware that whoever came into her room wasn't a threat. The detective then decided to pick up the keys that had fallen earlier and closed the door. After that, she turned around to see the intruder.
As much as she wanted to feel the least bit of shock from the luckster who was snoozing on her bed, she couldn't. With his clumsy and careless nature, she knew him mistaking her room for his own would happen eventually. Their rooms were right beside each other, it wasn't unlikely that this would happen. What she didn't expect was for him to fall asleep so quickly. His bag and an elegant looking paper bag, which was probably the item that Pekoyama had given him earlier, were messily placed by foot of her bed. Naegi's tie, which he had probably removed and threw away as he slipped into the detective's room hung on Mochi-chan's snout. The dog seemed slightly disturbed by the piece of cloth on its snout, but kept it balanced there anyway.
While Naegi's things were scattered everywhere, the luckster himself was even more of a mess. He laid on his back in his disheveled work uniform, his hair was a mess and his ahoge could be seen defying gravity once again, and the bags under his eyes made him look like a panda. She sighed and approached the sleeping boy so that she could at least put him in a better position so he doesn't wake up uncomfortably. With a prominent blush on her cheeks, Kyouko had taken off the luckster's vest and unbuttoned the two topmost buttons of his long sleeved shirt so he would feel less restricted. Naegi exhaled and groaned immediately after she had done so, making Kyouko quickly move and look away from the luckster. The detective tried her best to ignore the deafening sounds of her pounding heart by beckoning for Mochi-chan, she ruffled the dog's fur to calm herself down. After that, she handed the vest to the husky and pointed at a basket in the corner of her room, signaling the dog to drop off Naegi's vest and tie that was still perched on her snout there. Mochi obediently followed as Kirigiri proceeded to carefully lift Naegi to a more comfortable position.
It really only took a few minutes for the detective to do move the luckster, but it had felt like an eternity. Kirigiri's face was red and her heart was pounding due to her proximity to the object of her affections. She was so close to him that she could feel his breath brush her cheeks. She was just thankful that the boy was too tired to stir from his slumber. She would probably die of embarrassment if Naegi saw her face this unguarded and red. While her being in love with a boy was probably the most normal thing she'd done as a high school student, she would honestly rather deal with other things. Things she had better control of.
12:00 AM.
Kyouko reached her limit and was about to fall asleep on top of her work until a voice had spoken. "Kirigiri, I-I..." Naegi's faint voice had jolted the detective awake. She quickly cocked her head to look at the boy. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she realized that the luckster was still fast asleep. Although, it did make her wonder. Why would he mention my name in her sleep? Was he thinking of… me? Did he… possibly like me back? Wait, but he could possibly be seeing Pekoyama…right? Various thoughts swirled around Kyouko's head.
The detective sighed tiredly once more. While that was a possibility, she knew that she shouldn't let that get to her. She was distracted enough just by his presence. She also had a lot of other things to do, but fatigue was probably getting to her by now, which made her thoughts more irrational the more she tried to stay up and do work. With that in mind, the detective decided that she needed to get some rest. She slowly got up from her seat and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
12:20 AM.
Kyouko was just about to leave the bathroom until she heard a sudden loud clatter from the other room.
"Mochi-chan!? What are you doing here?!" Naegi's loud voice could be heard. A friendly bark from the dog could also be heard in reply. The detective decided to turn the knob and open the door.
"Naegi-kun, I believe I should be asking you that." She said smoothly as she walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Based on Naegi's position on the ground, he must've fallen off from the bed, which caused the loud clatter, the detective mused. Mochi-chan, upon seeing her owner, approached her and lied down near her feet.
"Ki-kirigiri-s-san.." Naegi's head quickly snapped towards the source of the voice. He quickly reddened at the sight of Kirigiri. Not only was he in the wrong room, he immediately realized that was in Kyouko's room of all places! How could he have mistakened his room for hers?! His room was a dump compared to her room! To add to his embarrassment, Kirigiri was just clad in a thin, black nightgown that ended above her knees and he couldn't take his eyes off her because she was just so gorgeous and he didn't know that she looked so amazing in a ponytail and—
"Naegi-kun," He was brought back to earth when the detective repeated herself. She tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear after she spoke, allowing for the crimson hues that had begun to blossom on her face become more evident. She was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with the luckster currently slack-jawed and staring right at her. It wasn't that she was disgusted with him, it was just that she didn't know how to respond to his reaction. The same question she had asked herself had popped right back in her head. Could he… possibly like me back?
"I-I, er, um… I'm sorry Kirigiri-san! I guess I was tired and um, well, this happened. I'm... really sorry Kirigiri-san, for everything." He muttered all of a sudden and hung his head, looking at the ground like a sad puppy. Kirigiri-san must really be mad now.. Naegi thought to himself.
"It's alright. You have nothing to apologize for.." Kyouko replied and paused momentarily when Naegi's gaze slowly moved from the ground to her eyes. When their gazes were locked to each other, she decided to continue. "I understand that you were tired and that's why I let you stay here when you came in. But, I believe that I should apologize too." Kyouko looked away from him while emerald eyes widened.
"Apologize? For what, Kirigiri-san?" Naegi wondered. She had done nothing wrong, after all.
"I let my emotions get out of hand when I got mad at you for losing sight of Mochi-chan. It was quite unreasonable for me to do so. I had already requested you to look after her, and you did your best. You must've been exhausted, Naegi-kun." Kirigiri had crossed her arms and switched her attention to Mochi-chan, who was looking right at the detective while wagging its tail. Naegi's eyes widened even more for a moment out of disbelief. She sounded so much more different; she was so much more open with him now and it was amazing to Naegi. The detective was willing to share this much with him. The luckster's chest swelled with pride; Kirigiri trusted him. A wide grin spread across his face as his thoughts sunk in.
"You really don't have to apologize, Kirigiri-san. I mean, if I had a dog and it had almost gotten lost, I really wouldn't know what I'd do!" Kyouko looked at Naegi after that. His infectious grin made her return a small smile back in return. Kirigiri walked towards him and offered a gloved hand to help him stand up. The luckster took the detective's hand and stood up with her assistance.
"Naegi-kun?" The detective spoke up as soon as Naegi was standing up properly.
"Hm?"
"Why do you have two jobs in the first place?" While Naegi was relieved that Kirigiri wasn't mad at him and that they were on good terms, he still wasn't sure how he could answer her question without giving away his true intentions. But he knew that he couldn't hide anything from the detective, nor did he want to upset her by lying, so he decided to just tell her the truth, like he always did.
"Well, I, uh.. I wanted to..um..get you something since I almost lost Mochi-chan and I made you feel really uncomfortable a while ago, and... your birthday's coming up in a few days, right? Soo, I thought I, um, could get you another gift for th—" Naegi's eyes widened when he bit his tongue. He also blushed when he realized that he had said too much. He only intended to tell her that he wanted to get her a gift to apologize! The birthday gift was supposed to be a surprise! His head whipped away from Kyouko's direction out of embarrassment.
"Naegi-kun," The detective said in a level tone. Naegi quickly looked back at Kirigiri, and to his surprise, he could see a hint of pink on her cheeks.
"Thank you... I appreciate your generosity, but you shouldn't overexert yourself just for that. Your health is much more important than getting a present for me." Kyouko continued and smiled a bit at the luckster. She was grateful for Naegi's generosity, even though she thought it was unnecessary, but he truly was sacrificing too much just for a simple gift. In fact, he didn't need to give her one in the first place.
"Yeah… I guess I did overwork myself a bit, ahaha.." Naegi replied. He looked away from her and scratched the back of his head. His head was turned towards the wall clock that indicated that the current time was 12:35 AM. 12:35!? Naegi internally yelled.
"Wait, you're wrong!" Naegi quickly looked back at Kyouko with an intense look in his eyes. The detective was slightly taken aback by his sudden outburst and it had showed on her face.
"You're the one who's overworking! It's 12:35! What are you doing up so late? You should be getting some rest too, Kirigiri-san!" Naegi continued, nearly yelling out of concern for the detective who blushed at his thoughtfulness for a moment before her face went back to a slightly neutral expression.
"I couldn't sleep with you occupying the bed, Naegi-kun." Kyouko said and crossed her arms.
"I-I, uh… right… sorry." Naegi realized that her lack of sleep was partly his fault as well, but that was completely accidental!
"But the bed's big enough for two people, though… you could have just, you know, slept beside me.." The luckster blurted out his thoughts and immediately regretted it. Both Kirigiri's and Naegi's cheeks were turning as red as tomatoes. The two of them were pointedly avoiding each other's gaze.
"...While I could have done that, Naegi-kun, I couldn't since I was still busy working on a case." Kirigiri replied.
"I guess... we're just both busy with a lot of things, huh?" Naegi said, trying to ease the tension as he moved towards his backpack that was by the foot of Kirigiri's bed.. Kirigiri followed his movement with her eyes.
"I guess we are, Naegi-kun." The luckster didn't reply as he was searching for something in his backpack. Once he finally found what he was looking for, he raised it up and handed it to Kyouko.
"Here you go. They're—"
"Bojobo dolls." She finished for him as she looked at the dolls, silently wondering where he got them from.
"Yeah, you can position them to make a wish, but I guess you already knew that, huh?" Kirigiri nodded in reply to the question.
"Are you... giving this to me?" She asked neutrally.
"Yeah, like I said, I, uh, wanted to apologize to you with a gift…" Kyouko said nothing as he spoke, the volume of his voice becoming progressively softer as he struggled to continue. Naegi felt like hiding himself in a hole forever. Of course Kirigiri wouldn't want something like this! What was I thinking!? The luckster thought to himself.
"How did you know… that I wanted this?" She asked, her facial features showing a hint of shock.
"Huh?" Naegi was flabbergasted.
"The dolls remind me of the time I went to Saipan a few years ago.. I've actually been looking for these. Thank you, Naegi-kun." She said and looked at Naegi with a small smile. He could feel that she was genuinely grateful, which caused him to smile and blush again for the umpteenth time that night.
"You're welcome Kirigiri-san!" He beamed at her happily as he handed the dolls to her. Kyouko noted, much to her fascination and mortification, that his expression almost resembled Mochi-chan's when she wanted to go on a walk. She always had a weak spot for anything that was cute… Kyouko silently hoped that Naegi wouldn't request for anything impossible from her in the future because she wasn't so sure if she could refuse him.
"So, what are you going to wish for?" He asked out of curiosity. Kyouko turned her attention back to the dolls that she held. The detective then approached her desk and then laid out the dolls on it to position them. Naegi stood beside her and watched as she crossed the male doll's left and right hand together, as well as the female's.
"Strength?" He wondered aloud when he saw the position of the dolls. Kirigiri nodded and hummed in agreement.
"With all the things we're doing, I believe that we both need the strength to keep going." Kirigiri said while she looked around her room, finding an ideal place to hang the bojobo dolls.
"You're right about that, Kirigiri-saaan…" A yawn escaped the luckster's lips as he replied to the detective. Kyouko giggled slightly at that.
"I guess we should both be getting some rest." The detective concluded.
"Yup, we really shooouuld…" Another audible yawn is heard from Naegi. The luckster paused for a moment so he could rub his eyes and grab his things. "And I guess I should go back to my room now, Ishimaru-kun would be really mad if he found out that I wasn't in my room yet." Kirigiri simply nodded in reply. The luckster gives the detective a lopsided smile before he turned around to go to the door and leave the room. Before leaving however, an idea had suddenly sparked in his head. Naegi spoke up and looked back at the detective.
"Hey, Kirigiri-san… Are you free this Thursday?" Kirigiri thought about what he said briefly before replying rather bitterly as she remembered the luckster's conversation with the swordswoman earlier.
"Aren't you already going to meet with Pekoyama?" Naegi's eyes widened. How'd she know about that?! After gauging the luckster's expression, the detective looked away from him and spoke up once more in a rather angry tone.
"I didn't think you were the type to cheat, Naegi-kun." WHAT!? Naegi was internally screaming. It wasn't anything like that! Kirigiri completely misunderstood the situation! This wasn't going according to plan at all!
"I-I'm not! I'm not even going out with Pekoyama-senpai!"
"Then what—" The luckster interrupted the detective with all the confidence and courage he could muster.
"She orders a box of sugar cookies for Kuzuryuu-senpai every week and we meet on Wednesdays so she can pick them up!" Naegi shouted quickly. Kyouko's eyes widened at what he had said. She turned around and breathed, trying her best to compose herself once more.
"So… um, now that everything's cleared up, uh-"
"One question, Naegi-kun." She turned around to face him, pinkish hues evident on her usually pale face.
"What is it, Kirigiri-san?" He asked as he instinctively tilted his head.
"What did Pekoyama give you?" She asked as she tucked her knuckles under her chin, looking at the elegant paper bag that the luckster held.
"Um, I can't tell you what it is… Why don't you find out what it is on Thursday?" Naegi grinned as he looked at Kirigiri. He finally steered the conversation back to the right path. Did he finally have the upper hand for the first time?
"Is this your way of forcing me to go on a date with you, Naegi-kun?" Piercing lavender eyes stared into emerald orbs. The luckster immediately lost his confidence upon hearing the detective's words and struggled to speak coherently.
"A-a-a-a DATE?! N-N-no! I-It's nothing like that, and and I-I would never force you to anything like that, Kirigiri-san! I just wanted to um-" Naegi was rendered speechless when he felt something soft touch his cheek. The luckster's eyes widened when he realized that Kirigiri kissed him! On the cheek! His brain and heart then decided to abandon his body. There was simply too much going on; there were too much things that the poor luckster couldn't process all at once. The detective's expression was smug when she stepped back, but the prominent blush on her cheeks had shown that she wasn't all that confident. She tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear and began to speak.
"I'd be glad to go out with you on Thursday, Naegi-kun. It's quite nice of you to remember my birthday. Not a lot of people— oh." Kirigiri wasn't able to complete her sentence because a loud thunk had interrupted her. An in-vitro rose had come rolling out of the paper bag that had suddenly fallen to the ground. Kirigiri pretended not to see it. In addition, the person she was talking to had also fallen.
Naegi had fainted.
Kirigiri wished for strength.