[The stairwell is probably not the best place at this time. Sight lines are funky, and with the strange silence there's no way to tell when someone else is around until you're already just a flight of stairs away from them. Which is to say, Kokichi doesn't notice his company until movement at the top of the stairs above him catches his attention, and he immediately pauses.
Looking up, though, he's not prepared to actually recognize the figure standing there. Someone familiar in a real way, not that vague sense of familiarity with all those random classmates. He knows that face all too well.
And despite the silence, he can still recognize the shape of his own name of Shuichi's lips. Obvious recognition, clear shock.
Shit.
Whatever thoughtful expression Kokichi had been wearing is immediately erased, his face going entirely, carefully blank. Hell if he knows what kind of face he should be making in this situation. It's all he can manage in this moment to the eliminate any unintentional hints to what he's thinking.
There's a long pause. Silent, of course – they didn't really have an option there.
And then Kokichi turns and runs back down the way he'd come, a pale ghost quickly disappearing down into the dark.
Shit.
It's completely irrational. He's been wracking his brain trying to understand what connection there might be between this place and the killing game, and he's running from the first thing he's seen that solidly links the two. He should be harassing Shuichi for information, interrogating him for any slip-up that might reveal involvement in either, or both. If it were anyone else, maybe he would be.
But he can't deal with this right now. Not Shuichi. Not the person who actually stands a chance of seeing through him when he's as off his game as he is right now. And given how things left off between them, he can't even predict how that interaction would go right now.
And maybe, well...he doesn't want to deal with the most likely possibilities right now. Anger? Apathy? The chance that Shuichi could be involved with any of what's happened? Kokichi's danced such a narrow line with his feelings regarding the detective – equal parts wariness of someone clever enough to watch out for, and wanting to trust him. He can't even process any of it right now.
drops a goddamn novel at your feet in appreciation
Looking up, though, he's not prepared to actually recognize the figure standing there. Someone familiar in a real way, not that vague sense of familiarity with all those random classmates. He knows that face all too well.
And despite the silence, he can still recognize the shape of his own name of Shuichi's lips. Obvious recognition, clear shock.
Shit.
Whatever thoughtful expression Kokichi had been wearing is immediately erased, his face going entirely, carefully blank. Hell if he knows what kind of face he should be making in this situation. It's all he can manage in this moment to the eliminate any unintentional hints to what he's thinking.
There's a long pause. Silent, of course – they didn't really have an option there.
And then Kokichi turns and runs back down the way he'd come, a pale ghost quickly disappearing down into the dark.
Shit.
It's completely irrational. He's been wracking his brain trying to understand what connection there might be between this place and the killing game, and he's running from the first thing he's seen that solidly links the two. He should be harassing Shuichi for information, interrogating him for any slip-up that might reveal involvement in either, or both. If it were anyone else, maybe he would be.
But he can't deal with this right now. Not Shuichi. Not the person who actually stands a chance of seeing through him when he's as off his game as he is right now. And given how things left off between them, he can't even predict how that interaction would go right now.
And maybe, well...he doesn't want to deal with the most likely possibilities right now. Anger? Apathy? The chance that Shuichi could be involved with any of what's happened? Kokichi's danced such a narrow line with his feelings regarding the detective – equal parts wariness of someone clever enough to watch out for, and wanting to trust him. He can't even process any of it right now.
So, yeah. Booking it. Bye bitch.]