After the departure of the mage, Kaede was left understandably confused, staring after the blank space where the red-head had been stood moments before. She seemed like an odd girl, Kaede decided. She couldn't really see what was wrong about this situation – so, it must have been Himiko who was a tad strange, not her and Kokichi, right?

     After all, they were just hugging, weren't they? He seemed nice, he was funny, and pretty cuddly – Kaede didn't mind this, and she wasn't sure what exactly was strange about it. This was a thing that normal people did, right? He certainly acted like it was perfectly normal, so she had no reason to believe otherwise.

     "She's kinda weird, ain't she?" Kokichi spoke, almost as if he read her mind. And in a way, that was partly true. With most of her memories filtered out, her thought patterns were easy enough to follow – predicting what she was about to think or say wasn't exactly a difficult feat – for the supreme leader, anyway.

     "I'm not sure what the problem is." Kaede conceded with a tilt of her head, frown creasing her features. Evidently, she was as clueless as he'd thought she was. Kokichi decided this was a rather fun thought – she'd believe just about anything he decided to tell her with little to no questioning. After all, it seemed she'd taken a shine to him more than the others – he hadn't been harassing her over her memories or what had happened, or anything like that, and it seemed she was grateful. Despite how curious he was, it seemed as if holding back on dogging her with questions had served him well.

     "Oh, I just think she's got a few screws loose, you know? But you didn't hear that from me." Kokichi grinned at Kaede, who still possessed that wide-eyed, deer-caught-in-headlights type look on her face.

      "I mean... Why does she think it's weird? This isn't weird, is it...?" Kaede questioned with a tilt of her head in the opposing direction, and once again Kokichi was reminded of how little the pianist remembered. Had she been in her right mind, she'd have known clear as day that this was a little odd, but she wasn't, so she had no idea. And that was especially fun.

      "No, of course it isn't, silly!" He chirped to her, setting his chin atop her shoulder, peering at her with innocent, violet eyes. "Well, to some people, maybe! But they don't know how close we've always been! They have nooooo idea, we're like the best of friends! So it's okay for us to do this! They just think it's weird because they don't know!"

     The lies fell from Kokichi's lips like a spider weaving it's web, and Kaede nodded along thoughtfully, seeming to accept every word. Once again, he was struck by just how oblivious the pianist was – he found it was rather fun to watch her just accept whatever he said where she would usually roll her eyes and disregard him – but found he was almost guilty, too. Almost. It wasn't as if he was doing her much harm – a simple joke was all it was – really.

     "So... We were close friends? Before I lost my memories?" Kaede questioned – yes, she had accepted his lies so easily, it was like taking candy from a baby.

     They had their fair share of encounters, that was true enough – being in the same class with their mutual interest of Shuichi meant that they were typically in close proximity, even if this had not been contact of any great substance. While it was true enough, also, that Kokichi had an interest in Shuichi it was not in the same romantic sense that Kaede's was. No – Shuichi was simply a classmate beloved by many, so not only did he get a reaction from him whenever he messed with him, but several others would always flare up in response to their oh-so precious detective being Kokichi's target. It was much more fun to kill several birds with one stone.

     "Oh, reaaaally close!" Kokichi nodded along, wearing the same grin he always did – spelling out trouble with a capital 'T' – only if you knew him well enough, which right now, Kaede did not. "But the others don't know about it, you see! We had to keep our friendship a secret, or else everyone would start thinking bad of you too, because everyone hates me! They say I'm a liar! Which isn't true, so you can't believe them, Kaede!"

     "Well, they did seem to have something against you..." Kaede admitted bashfully, an almost sympathetic look passing her face, brows knitting together with a nervous, apologetic smile. "I don't know if I said this much before, but, well – thank you for thinking of my reputation like that. Though, I guess I'm a little embarrassed to think I went along with something that... Well... It doesn't feel right to hide a true friendship, even if it gets you a bad reputation."

      For a moment, Kokichi said nothing in return, simply staring at the blonde girl with a blank expression (which, in truth, rather alarmed her. Had she said something wrong, perhaps?).

     It was like a sucker-punch to the gut the way her words suddenly hit. Yes, their friendship may have been totally fabricated, woven into existence with his sly, deceptive words mere moments before – but it was clear enough she meant the words she said. If Kokichi really had been her friend, this is how she would have approached it? Without cowering away from everyone's judgements (which there surely would have been plenty of), without shame of being associated with him? He had no reason to think she was lying – what reason would she have to lie? This was her own thoughts and feelings, unaffected by anyone or anything else – no memories, good or bad, to shape the way she saw him. No bias, just her own honest words.

     Since when was Kokichi one to care for honesty? The thought almost made him scoff. He wanted to call her naïve, but really, she was just vulnerable. She didn't know any better. It was bittersweet, somehow both false and true. He'd never had the chance to hear something so serious from the pianist, not a single thought of such had ever crossed his mind. She was just another classmate, for what reason would he ever need to hear such things from Kaede Akamatsu, ultimate pianist? Yet here it was.

     It was strange, Kokichi felt like he was taking advantage of Kaede – was he? Not exactly, he'd told her a few innocent lies and stolen a hug or two he wouldn't have otherwise gotten, but that wasn't a hanging offence, was it? But hearing something so genuine and heartfelt (even if she hadn't realised how serious it had been compared with how light Kokichi had intended the interaction to be) – well, it felt like it shouldn't have been for him. Like he'd heard something he wasn't supposed to, like maybe he'd done something dastardly.

      It was strange for Kokichi's thoughts to spiral and span so many emotional cores. Things people said to him often did not strike him so deeply – so why did this? It was such a little thing, why was he thinking so deeply about this?

      Everything had rushed through his brain at super-sonic speed, but evidently, it did not seem quick enough – perhaps his expression had shifted, maybe he'd given her some odd look, but Kaede's frown only increased when he did not give a response when she had sensed his slight change – almost as if she could hear the gears grinding in his mind without really understanding why.

     "Kokichi?" Kaede's tone slightly wavered – she couldn't help it really, though she herself would admit she sounded rather pitiful in that moment.

     "Awww! Kaede!" Kokichi's usual demeanour and tone returned almost instantly (he wasn't sure what shift had even taken place moments ago) – it was best to keep things light and teasing. That's all it was, after all. He was just messing with the pianist, nothing more.

     "What the hell!?" Yet another voice came from the doorway, and Kokichi felt Kaede jump in fright from within his arms, that were still looped closely around her .His eyes shot to the doorway, where two new intruders were stood , expressions set with confusion and annoyance in equal measures.

    "When Himiko said we needed to deal with this, this isn't what I was expecting..." Maki stated, and while her voice was relatively calm and monotonous, the steely look in her eyes betrayed the annoyance she quite clearly held. Kaito, stood next to her, was not so successful in masking what he felt – expression drawn into an aggressive frown.

     "Hi, guys..." Kaede gave a nervous laugh, glancing to their other classmates with a look that was half apologetic, half embarrassed. Though, neither of them responded to her directly, two sets of eyes fixed on where Kokichi's arms were still wound around Kaede.

      "Kokichi, what the hell do you think you're doing here-!?" The sharp tone and volume of Kaito's voice made both Kaede flinch, and Kokichi's eyes roll without hesitation, nuzzling his face against Kaede's shoulder to watch the way it made the astronaut's eye twitch in frustration. It was like Kaede had become the new Shuichi – you mess with her, and everyone else reacts along with it, certainly this whole situation was fun for Kokichi (even if he did feel a teeny, tiny bit bad for how oblivious Kaede was.)

     "What does it look like? Kaede and I are bonding!" Kokichi responded with faux-innocence, voice sugary sweet and childish – both Maki and Kaito could see right through it without failure, though Kaede – well, Kaede seemed to be mentally floundering – poor girl.

     "Like hell you are! What the hell are you trying to do, huh?! What kind of scheme are you pulling?!" Kaito demanded answers, stomping over from where he and Maki had been lingering in the doorway, stopping in front of the couch Kokichi and Kaede were curled up on, hands curled into fists that rested uneasily by his sides.

     "Scheme? Why, you always think the worst of me, Kaito! How could you!" Kokichi gave a loud whine that again made Kaede jump – apparently, she had no words for this situation. Though, wasn't that fair enough? So many mixed messages were surely confusing for her. Was this normal? Was this weird? She wasn't entirely sure, but she was certainly not oblivious enough to miss how people seemed to be ganging up on Kokichi (someone she deemed to be rather nice, so far) – why was that?

     "Uhm- What's the problem?" Kaede asked tentatively as Maki made her way over too, pink eyes following the other girl's movements as she came to sit beside Kaede.

     "The problem is that he's deceiving you, Kaede." Maki replied simply – though her tone, once again, remained relatively calm her eyes shot daggers at Kokichi. "I don't know what he thinks he playing at, but he's obviously just doing this for his own entertainment..."

     "Noooo! I would never do that to my beloved Kaede!" Kokichi denied almost immediately, and though he plastered a pout across his face, the edges of a sly grin barely shone through. Kaito – evidently – was getting himself rather worked up, face growing red in anger.

     "Shut the hell up already and get outta here!" His voice boomed around the dorm common room, one fist slamming into his open palm – as if to demonstrate what he wished to do to Kokichi – yes, Kaito would certainly like to get a shot in at Kokichi should he give him enough reason to do so. For all the time's he'd wound people up, he probably deserved it, and Kaito was all too willing to deliver – in fact, if Kokichi hadn't still had his arms around Kaede, he'd have grabbed the little runt by the scarf and introduced his fist to Kokichi's jaw.

     "Don't you think this is a little much?" Kaede gave another nervous laugh, evidently in the hopes of diffusing the situation – it was strange for all three of them to see Kaede without her usual fierceness, but without a smudge of knowledge about what was going on, it was no surprise she wouldn't just jump into something she didn't understand.

     "Kaede." Maki called sharply, and pianist visibly shrank back as the assassin's fierce gaze landed on her, arms slowly unwinding from around Kokichi. "I don't know nor care what he's told you, but if I know him – which I do, more than you – it's total bullshit."

     "And he should take the damn hint – now's your cue to leave." Kaito's eyes never left Kokichi – something about the smaller male made him unbearably vexed, and he certainly wasn't doing anything to help himself.

      "Fine, fine! But just so you know, Kaede-" Kokichi released the pianist from his grip, and almost immediately, Kaito had him by a hand wound in his scarf, tugging him to his feet, steering him out towards the doorway. "They're both meanie, don't listen to a word they say!"

      Kokichi's words faded as Kaito gave him a sharp shove out into the hallway, and the lingering echo of Kokichi's giggles followed with the sound of his footsteps ascending the stairs to his dorm.

      Maki gave a slight sigh, as both she and Kaito turned back towards Kaede, though both floundered, as if they weren't sure how to approach her – and once again she felt rather small and burdensome. Her shoulders deflated and she gave a soft sigh of her own, hands folding on her lap.

     "He didn't do anything strange, did he?" Maki questioned, though really she knew this was a useless question – of course he did, finding him curled up around Kaede in the common room was strange enough on it's own.

     "Ah – no, I don't think so, I'm okay." A small smile made it's way onto Kaede's expression, and though it was only a small ray of her former glow, the sunny expression back on the pianist's expression was comforting for both Maki and Kaito. "Thank you for worrying about me! He really is... Something, isn't he?"

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