"Hey, Assmami!"

Rantaro looked up from his lunch to see Miu, standing before him with her arms crossed and a pout on her face.

"Hey, Iruma-san," He greeted, taking a bite out of his food.

"Why are you sitting out here alone, huh?" She asked. "Staring at hot girls with those skeevy eyes of yours?" She laughed. "Wow! I didn't know you had it in you."

Rantaro sighed. The weather on this fine Monday had been rather nice considering how close winter was, so he opted to sit outside and take a moment to appreciate the world around him; maybe reflect a little on the past few days. So much for that, though- the moment Miu stepped foot outside was the moment his peaceful lunch was doomed.

He didn't really mind it, though. (But that didn't mean he was happy about it.) "I'm out here because the weather is nice, and it probably won't be like this for a while. You can join me if you'd like, Iruma-san," He gestured to the space on the bench next to him.

Miu seemed genuinely taken aback for a moment, hesitating before speaking again. "I'm not here to join you, peasant!" She tilted her head up slightly to hide her cheeks (which were now slightly tinted pink).

"Then what are you here for?" Rantaro inquired, taking another bite from his food.

An awkward silence arose between the two- no one saying anything for a solid minute; Rantaro was waiting patiently for Miu to speak her mind while she hesitated- until Kiibo (who had been watching from a bit further back) finally approached the two, catching Rantaro off guard for a moment. "Come on, Iruma-san." He placed a hand on the small of her back, the cool feeling of his robotic arm making her visibly shiver. "We've been over this plenty of times. You can do it."

Rantaro watched the scene in front of him unfold with a raised brow, quietly munching down on his food. It was a nice source of entertainment- Miu was probably the most chaotic of his classmates- aside from Kokichi, of course.

"F-fine!" Miu whimpered. Suddenly, she pulled out a small gift box from seemingly out of nowhere. (He wanted to know how she had done it, but this was Miu he was dealing with- perhaps it was better not to ask.) "I-I'm sorry for b-being a bitch and not helping when that u-ugly ass abortion fell and hit his head." She mumbled, holding out the gift box to him.

Rantaro blinked, staring at the small box. "Well, thank you for the apology, but shouldn't you be doing this for Ouma-kun and not me?" He asked. It felt strange to call him by his last name again.

"We assumed you could give it to Ouma-kun for us." Kiibo chimed in, a kind smile on his face.

The adventurer tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Why me?" He asked. He hadn't told anyone that Kokichi stayed at his place- surely there's no way they'd be able to figure that out.

"Well, you were the last one with him." Kiibo answered. "I assume you were the one who brought him home, so we were hoping you could drop this off at his place, or maybe tell us where he lives."

Ah. That made sense. Rantaro shook his head. "Sorry, guys, but I don't think I can help you." He brought a hand to the back of his head, scratching his scalp in a sheepish manner. "As we were walking, I asked him where he lived, and then he stopped me and insisted he could walk home himself. I objected, but he found a way to sneak off. I don't actually know where he lives." He felt bad for lying, but at least he was being truthful when he told them he didn't know where Kokichi lived.

"Ah," Kiibo deflated, the smile on his face disappearing. "I see. Thank you anyways, Amami-kun. Let's leave him alone now, Iruma-san." Rantaro was about to go back to eating his lunch, wrongfully assuming that the conversation was done, only to get interrupted.

"Excuse me?!" Miu exclaimed, the embarrassed(?) look on her face gone without a trace (Rantaro was still unsure as to what emotion was on her face, so he just assumed it was embarrassment). "You're telling me that I went out of my way to do this and it was meaningless?!" She yelled.

"I mean... I can give it to him if you'd like?" Rantaro offered. "But that'd have to wait until when he gets back, and at that point wouldn't it be better if you gave it to him yourself?"

Miu stammered nonsense for a few seconds- trying her best to think of a snarky retort to shoot at Rantaro. It was all for naught, however; not even a minute had passed before her shoulders slouched. "Dammit..." She groaned, looking absolutely defeated. "Let's just go, Kiiboy,"

For some reason, Rantaro was reminded of Kokichi. Maybe it was the nickname. Now that he thinks about it, he vaguely recalls the three sitting together during lunch quite often. Although Miu and Kiibo tended to be the butt end of his jokes, he could tell the two really cared about his well-being. They probably even missed him, too, if only a little.

"My offer from earlier is still up," He speaks, surprising even himself. "You guys can sit with me if you'd like."

Miu and Kiibo look at one another. The former shrugs. "Sure, whatever," She said, proceeding to plop down onto the bench next to Rantaro.

"Thank you, Amami-kun!" Kiibo smiles, sitting down on the other side of Rantaro.

On the first day that Kokichi was gone, Rantaro had noticed how different class was without him- he just had yet to actually feel how different it was. Now that the bundle of chaos wasn't staying at his place- he was finally able to truly grasp how off-putting his absence was; especially since he was sitting next to the people closest to him.

Kiibo and Miu had a great dynamic together- their talents, personalities, everything about them complimented each other nicely- but sometimes, it'd feel as if something were missing from their antics. Of course, this wasn't the only instance of something being off that he noticed. On Tuesday, not a single threat left Maki's mouth (even when Kaito kept teasing her)- if anything, she almost looked content, which was an unusual sight to behold; On Wednesday, Angie and Korekiyo gave an entire hour-long lecture about religion, and not a single soul bothered to stop them (some, like Himiko and Rantaro, were actually interested, whereas others just couldn't bring themselves to shut them up for one reason or another); On Thursday, Tenko went the entire day without calling anyone a degenerate male- not even Korekiyo; On Friday, Kirumi was actually able to take a break from her maid duties. At some point in time, Tsumugi commented on how plain class felt. Everyone agreed to some degree- even Ryoma.

His home life was slightly altered too. Although his sisters thoroughly enjoyed the letters they received from Kokichi, they were all sad that he had to leave so suddenly. Airi and Eri were the ones most affected out of the group- enough so to the point where they even teared up a little. Fuyumisa was a little concerned, asking Rantaro if everything was alright (to which he responded that yes, it was- although he himself was curious as well). Itsuki was disappointed, yet understanding of the situation. Hikari took it the most casually out of the group, teasing Rantaro about how he'd have plenty of chances to stay with his boyfriend in the future when they were old and married. (It made Rantaro snort, yet the idea sounded... surprisingly nice. He was starting to get ahead of himself.)

Rantaro left Kokichi a few texts, to which the latter would actually respond. If he asked something about his disappearance or the validity of the call from Monday, however, the question would be avoided (or just straight up ignored). Rantaro didn't mind, however- just as long as Kokichi was responding.

He knew he'd find out more the following Monday, when Kokichi came back. So, being the patient man he was, he waited. Naturally, the days felt slower than they normally did now that he was anticipating Kokichi's return, but he didn't mind it all that much.

One day blended into another and soon enough, it was already Monday again. Rantaro arrived at the academy a little earlier than he normally did, but nobody had to know. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't eager to see Kokichi again.

He'd also be lying if he said he wasn't sure as to why he was so anxious. He knew very well the reason behind his feelings- he was just a bit hesitant and unsure as to what to do about it.

All he knew was that he definitely had to talk with Kokichi. Alone.

With baited breath, Rantaro entered the classroom, and surely enough, near the center of the room was none other than Kokichi, standing cockily in all his glory.

Oh, yeah, there was also a cluster of students surrounding him- welcoming him back and bombarding him with questions. Kokichi didn't seem to mind- if anything, he appeared to be enjoying all this attention he was getting.

Rantaro let out the breath he was holding in a faint, disappointed sigh. No big deal. If he could wait a week to see Kokichi then surely he could wait a few more hours to talk to him- right?

Apparently, he had spoken too soon. From a gap between the students, Kokichi made eye contact with Rantaro from across the room. The supreme leader winked, sticking out his tongue and waving slightly, before turning his attention back to the gift that Miu had thrusted into his lap.

Rantaro gulped. His heart skipped a beat. On second thought, he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait.

~1.7k Words

Author's Note: I originally planned to have this chapter out in the morning, like 12 hours ago... But then I ended up going out and doing a bunch of stuff. Whoops. At least it's not being posted near 11 at night, that's a good thing. Sorry if it seemed a little rushed, but then again, what else am I going to write about this whole week where Kokichi isn't there? Make it a chatfic? Ngl, I actually thought of doing that, but decided not to for whatever reason. Also, this is it, huh? The second to last chapter... The final chapter will be posted on May 4th, at around the same time. I can't believe this fic is ending. It feels as if I started it only a day ago.