It made perfect sense.

Yet, Shuichi couldn't understand it.

It had started a few weeks ago. Kaito had told him, Kaede, and Maki that he was going to be away for a week or so. The three of them tried questioning him on where or why he was going, but the astronaut in training somehow managed to always avoid the questions.

Shuichi supposed it wasn't too big of a deal. Kaito would text them sometimes during the time he was gone, so it wasn't as if anything bad were happening. (He was just glad it was during their break- He'd probably have been the one tasked with helping Kaito catch up, which wouldn't have been fun.)

The peculiar part comes next. Just a few hours ago, Shuichi had been invited by Kaede to join her and Maki at their favorite hangout spot- the Hanamura Diner not too far from his house. That lead him to where he was now, chatting with the two girls on a pleasant day at the start of the month, when the doors suddenly busted open, instantly catching the three's attention.

"I knew you guys would be here!" The familiar voice at the door made the three smile at varying degrees. They were all very happy about Kaito's return- some of them were just more expressive than others- such as Kaede, who had suddenly got up from her seat, running up to Kaito and jumping to hug him. Shuichi and Maki could do nothing but watch intently as Kaito caught her with ease, spinning her around and laughing alongside her.

Shuichi spared a glance at Maki. She was holding her drink to her mouth, knuckles white around the glass as she shook slightly. Maki looked as if she had murder on her mind, which instantly made Shuichi whip his head back to Kaede and Kaito.

"I missed you!" Kaede cooed. Shuichi had never seen such a pretty smile before. It made his heart jitter.

Kaito nuzzled his head into the crook of her neck. "I'm sorry, babe," He murmured, loud enough for Shuichi and Maki to hear.

...Babe?

Shuichi felt his heart sink to his stomach.

Since when were Kaede and Kaito dating?

He swallowed down the sudden sorrow in his stomach, smiling shakily as the two approached the table. "Welcome back, Momota-kun..." Shuichi was surprised he was able to say anything at all due to how choked up he felt. Even though they were standing next to each other now, he felt as if the image of Kaito hoisting Kaede up into the air would forever be burned into his head.

Maki wasn't having any of it, however. "Since when were you two dating?" Her voice was sharp and demanding- enough to make Shuichi flinch slightly. (That wasn't saying much, however, as Shuichi was a very jumpy person who tended to flinch a lot.)

"Ah, um," Kaede's cheeks tinted pink as she looked down at her shoes briefly. "For a while now, actually..." She admitted.

Kaito nodded his head, pulling Kaede to his side. "Sorry guys, but we agreed to keep it secret so it wouldn't make things awkward," He said, patting Kaede's hair.

Kaede gave a side hug to Kaito, nuzzling her face into his side. "But I missed him so much I just couldn't help myself!"

Shuichi's mood soured further.

"I missed you too, baby," Kaito planted a kiss on the top of Kaede's head, making her giggle slightly.

Apparently, Maki's mood had been spoiled as well. She shot up from the table without a word, briskly walking past Kaede and Kaito and out of the diner.

"What the-?" Kaito stared at the door with a confused expression.

Kaede looked guilty. "I think I messed up..." She whimpered.

Shuichi opened his mouth to give Kaede some comforting words, but Kaito had beat him to the punch. "It's alright babe, I know you didn't mean to upset her."

Shuichi bit his tongue, helpless to the feelings of envy festering inside of him. He rose up from his seat, catching the attention of Kaede and Kaito. "I'll look for her." He pulled out his wallet, placing a few yen on the table for his and Maki's drinks.

Kaede shook her head. "No, I should-"

"It's alright." Shuichi interjected. "Just..." He paused for a moment, gambogeish grey eyes landing on their intertwined hands. "Have fun, you two."

He didn't spare them another glance as he hastily made his way out of the diner. He pulled his phone out as he walked at a brisk pace, calling Maki's phone and hoping she'd pick up.

She hadn't. He could've bet on that. Shuichi knows he promised Kaede and Kaito he'd look for Maki, but the tears stinging in the back of his eyes and the bile he felt rising up in his throat had sent him running back home.

It made perfect sense. Kaede and Kaito were always the cheery ones of the group- they complimented each other nicely, personality wise and appearance wise. (Leave it to them to make purple and pink look so good.)

Yet, Shuichi still couldn't understand it. He rushed into his house, ignoring whatever his Uncle had said to him as he kicked his shoes off and made his way into his room. No matter what angle he looked at it from, he couldn't wrap his head around it.

Shuichi turned on his bedroom light.

"Saihara."

Shuichi screamed, jumping up so high he banged his head onto his doorframe.

Sitting on his bed, arms crossed and foot burning a hole into the ground, was none other than the girl he was supposed to be looking for; Maki Harukawa.

"Harukawa-san!" Shuichi hissed, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "What are you doing here?!" He brought a hand up to his head, rubbing the small bump that formed from the impact.

"What in the hell was that?" She spat, rising up from the bed. This was the first time Shuichi had ever seen an emotion so clearly on her face- pure, unbridled anger. She stepped forward.

"What do you mean what was that?!" He asked, still shaken from the not so pleasant surprise of his friend in his room. "You know I'm jumpy! How'd you even get in here?!" He stepped backward, feeling his back against the door.

"You know damn well that's not I'm talking about!" She stepped forward. "Your dad let me in."

"Uncle," Shuichi corrected. Maki took another step forward, her glare deepening. "Sorry," He squeaked.

Maki was now standing directly in front of Shuichi. "Answer me, Saihara."

Shuichi had noticed that whenever she was upset or annoyed or overwhelmed with any sort of negative emotion, she tended to leave off honorifics from names. It wasn't often, but it was enough for him to pick up on. Another thing the detective had picked up on was her voice and how it wavered. It was slight, but he definitely heard it.

Now that she was standing so close to him, Shuichi could see her red eyes more clearly- they were watery.

Shuichi felt his body ease up a little, finding a strange sense of comfort in being reminded that he wasn't the only one saddened by this. "I know just as much as you know, Harukawa-san." He sighed, looking at Maki with sympathetic eyes for a second before he turned his gaze downwards.

Maki grabbed Shuichi's chin, forcing him to look at her. "And you're just gonna sit there knowing damn well what you saw?!" The tiniest bit of spit flew from her mouth. Shuichi flinched, feeling it hit his cheek. With a deft wave of her hand, Maki wiped it off of his cheek, leaving her hand to linger against his face for a bit.

"Says the girl who stormed out of the diner!" Shuichi's voice cracked slightly as he said the only retort he could think of.

Turning the attention to Maki. A bad move on his part, really.

The hand on his cheek tightened. He could feel her nails against his skin.

Shuichi cowered. "Okay, okay, sorry!" He yelped. Maki retracted the hand from his cheek. "But what do you want me to do about it?!" His breath hitched in his throat.

"Literally anything!" Maki yelled.

Shuichi normally wasn't one to raise his voice, but with the jealousy swarming throughout his body combined with Maki's yelling, he felt himself start to shout as well. "Why are you so worked up about this?!"

Maki had rose to the tips of her toes, leaning forward. "Why aren't you worked up about this?!" Maki barked. There noses were almost touching.

The two sat in silence after that. Neither of them knew what to say. Shuichi simply stared at Maki, and Maki merely stared right back.

After what felt like hours, Maki finally stepped away from Shuichi, taking a seat on his bed.

Shuichi's shoulders had tensed up sometime during their brief argument. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, sliding down to a sitting position against his door.

"You're upset too, aren't you?" Maki's voice was back to it's usual neutral tone as she watched Shuichi lean his head against the door.

Shuichi merely nodded, staring blankly at his ceiling. "I don't think I've ever felt jealous in my life until now." He admitted as he let out a dry laugh. "I don't know why, though."

"You feel the same way about Akamatsu-san as I do about Momota-kun, that's why." The honorifics in the names were a big indicator that Maki had calmed down.

Shuichi thought about it for a brief moment. He thought about all the times Kaede had been there to lift his spirits when they were down, all the times she was one of the only people he felt he could confide in, all the times she'd smile or laugh and he'd swear his heart would take flight at any second, all the times-

He nodded. "Yeah. But you saw how happy they looked. I..." He bit his lip. The stinging at the back of his eyes was more prominent. "I don't want to be the one to ruin that. Even if it hurts me."

"Then I'll do it." Maki crossed her arms. "I know you're smart enough to not tell anyone what I'm about to say, so I'll only say this once. I'm selfish and rotten and I've never felt this way about anyone before." She sniffled, her breath hitching in her throat. "I'm desperate and I'm more than willing to do it." She stood up, blinking away any tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes as she walked over to Shuichi. "Here's your ultimatum. Figure out what the hell's happening before I do. Now get up and get out of my way."

Shuichi didn't want to ask her what she'd do if she figured it out before he did. (He had a few ideas, though- none of which he liked.) Instead, he wasted no time in obliging to her request, hastily standing up and stepping aside. Neither of them said a word as Shuichi watched Maki turn down the hall and leave his house.

For a few minutes, Shuichi allowed himself to stand there and process everything that had just transpired in the past few minutes. He was hoping to have a relaxing time hanging out with Kaede and Maki at the diner, but was instead violently launched into whatever this disaster was.

Letting out a final sigh, he made his way to the front of the house, slipping on his shoes.

It made perfect sense.

Yet, Shuichi still couldn't understand it. Actually, he didn't want to understand it. However, being the detective he was, Shuichi was determined to get to the bottom of it.

And he'd do it the best way he could- following his heart (which Kaede had taught him), trusting his gut (which he learned from Kaito), and sticking to it until the very end (something he had picked up from Maki).

Unfortunately for him, his gut (and his heart) had decided to take him to Kaede's house. Shuichi could have easily waited at his own house- he could have even texted Kaede to come back to her place because he wanted to talk to her- but instead, he waited for around a half hour, pacing around her house. (Oh how he hoped there was no one nearby who had seen him- he most definitely looked like a creep.)

Shuichi took the time he had to himself to think various things through. He usually enjoyed talking to Kaede, but with each step he took the anticipation had only filled him with more dread. He felt that he wasn't ready to talk to Kaede yet (especially not after what he witnessed at the diner), but Maki's words rang in his head alongside the sight of Kaito and Kaede at the diner, and he knew he didn't have much of a say in the matter.

"Saihara-kun?" Shuichi jumped slightly, turning on his heels to face Kaede.

"Akamatsu-san!" Shuichi's heart was pounding wildly in his chest. Only this time, it wasn't in a good way. "Hey, um," He took a deep breath. He could do this. "I was hoping I could talk to you?"

Kaede beamed at him.

He couldn't do this.

"Of course!" She nodded her head, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "What's up?"

"Ah, um, well," Shuichi stumbled over his words as he desperately tried to think about what to ask her.

He asked the first thing he thought of. "Why Momota-kun?"

...He should've just stayed home.

Kaede tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion. "Why Momota-kun?"

It was too late to back out now. "Y-yeah, why'd you decide to date Momota-kun?" He asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Kaede asked. "You know how he is! He's so sweet and passionate- I really admired him, and I guess at some point in time I started liking him..." 

She had such a big smile on her face.

Shuichi's breath hitched in his throat. He felt the stinging feeling in his eyes again. "So, did you ask him out?"

Kaede shook her head. "Surprisingly enough, he asked me out..." She looked down at her shoes briefly.

Shuichi furrowed his brow. He had been around Kaede enough to know what she did whenever she lied- one of which was looking at her shoes for a second. (No, he hadn't learned that from ogling at her. He was merely observing her like the detective he was, that's all.)

Now that he thought about it, hadn't she done that at the diner? At the time, he was too distraught to notice, but he was sure she had done so when she talked about how long her and Kaito had been together.

Kaede's answers were rather vague, too- something peculiar for her. The blonde could tell you the exact amount of days since an event had happened if it concerned something she was passionate about. (It embarrassed her a little once it was brought to her attention, but Shuichi thought it was cute.) Surely she'd be passionate enough about her boyfriend to tell him and Maki the exact date of when they got together.

Now, Shuichi was presented with the question of why Kaede would lie about such trivial things. "I feel like there's something you're not telling me."

Kaede blinked, her ahoge twitching slightly. She hesitated a moment before answering. "What do you mean?"

An ahoge twitch and a brief hesitation. He was on the right track. Shuichi decided who asked out who first was unimportant, and opted to ask about when they'd got together. "You're a very punctual person, Akamatsu-san. Earlier, you told Harukawa-san and I that you two had been together "for a while" instead of giving us an actual date."

Kaede bit her lip, grabbing her arm as a guilty look took over her expression. "We got together a month and a day ago." She answered. Shuichi didn't buy it- but this time, there wasn't any reason to not buy it. There was no tell from Kaede that she was lying, there was no memorable event from a month ago that could prevent them from getting together, there was no reason to not believe her.

He vaguely recalls Kaede telling him to follow his heart.

There was one reason to not believe her- his own selfish wishes. (And Maki's, too, he supposed.)

"Akamatsu-san." Shuichi put a hand to her shoulder. He wasn't sure where to take the investigation next after this, but he had a genera idea. Unfortunately, he'd have to bluff to get there. "You're acting strange. Is there anything else you're not telling me?" But first, he gave her one last chance to come clean.

Kaede didn't take it. She smiled, removing her hand from her arm and placing it on Shuichi's outstretched arm. "You know I don't like hiding stuff from you. You're my friend, Saihara-kun."

Shuichi's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly shook his head. "I know you don't. But what if you had to?" He prompted. Kaede's mouth opened slightly. Bingo. "You're a very selfless person, Akamatsu-san. When I asked you to keep the reason why I wore my hat a secret, you didn't say a word about it. Even after I stopped wearing it, you still never told anyone, didn't you?" He asked. Kaede shook her head, and he decided to present to her the conclusion he had reached. "You know something about why Kaito left, don't you?" He asked. "You were told to keep it a secret, so you did."

Kaede said nothing for a minute.

"Ah, you don't have to tell me what it is-" Shuichi assured. "I'm just looking to confirm whether or not you know."

After a bit of silence, she sighed, smiling slightly. "You're a detective through and through, huh?" She asked. Kaede slid her hand up to rest on Shuichi's own hand, gently pulling it up to rest on her cheek.

Shuichi's face flushed at the intimate motion, his head reeling as he watched her lean her head into his palm and his heart racing as he felt her soft cheek against his skin. He suddenly remembered that Kaede had a boyfriend- Kaito, too, of all people- and pulled his hand away, although a bit reluctantly. (He did not want to be on the receiving end of the lecture he'd get from Kaito about how unmanly he was for putting his hands on someone else's girl.)

Kaede pouted slightly, and Shuichi resisted the urge to put his hand back against her cheek. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid you're wrong." She looked down at her shoes briefly. "I don't know anything about why Kaito left."

Shuichi frowned. Despite her tell, he wanted so badly to believe Kaede. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Okay, so maybe you don't know anything about why he left..." Perhaps it was a partial lie. But if she really didn't know why he left, then what did she know that he didn't?

It clicked in Shuichi's mind. "But you definitely knew when he was coming back, didn't you?"

"Huh?" Kaede blinked.

"You were the one who invited Harukawa-san and I to the diner, the same place where Momota-kun just happened to guess we'd be at." Shuichi exclaimed. "It seems too convenient to be a mere coincidence."

Kaede awkwardly laughed. "Yep..." She admitted, nodding her head. "You got it. I should've known I wouldn't have been able to hide it from someone as smart as you."

Shuichi blushed slightly at the compliment. She was always so direct- he had known her for around a year and he'd still get as flustered as he did when they first met. A sudden thought entered his mind. "But if you knew he was coming back, couldn't you have just met him privately so you could be intimate without us finding out?"

Kaede said nothing, unable to look Shuichi in the eyes and instead looking at the ground.

The only idea Shuichi could come up with was... "Did..." Was that really it? "Did you want us to find out?"

Kaede nodded in a meek fashion.

"R-really?" Kaede nodded once again. "But why?"

The silence between them was awkward, as Kaede was unable to bring herself to answer him and Shuichi was trying to think of why she lied about wanting to keep her relationship a secret.

He wasn't able to come up with anything. Shuichi moved forward slightly, putting his hand on Kaede's shoulder as he had earlier. "Akamatsu-san," He brought his other hand to her chin, gingerly lifting up her head so he could look into her eyes. He noticed her gaze tremble and her lip quiver, and he wanted nothing more than to embrace her right then and there. "I need your help with this. You know you can tell me anything, okay?" She nodded. "Was it Momota-kun's idea? Did he ask you to keep it a secret?"

Kaede shook her head. "There's no secrets involved in this." She bit her lip. Shuichi watched more intently than he needed to. "Well, except this one. It's not like I want to keep it a secret from you-!" She quickly added. "It's just... a little hard for me..." She trailed off, taking a lock of her blonde hair between her fingers and tucking it behind her ear.

Shuichi nodded, hesitating for a moment before pulling his hand away from her face. "Then how about we work together?" He offered, giving Kaede his best reassuring smile. "You give me some clues, and I'll figure it out from there. Alright?"

Kaede smiled. She held his free hand with both of hers, and Shuichi felt his heartbeat start to pick up. "Thank you, Saihara-kun. I'm sorry for making this so hard."

"It's no trouble at all." He assured, rubbing his thumb over the back of one of her hands. "Now, can you tell me what you can?"

Kaede nodded. "Momota-kun and I aren't actually dating."

Shuichi's eyes widened. His eyebrows raised. His hand on her shoulder went limp. Never in a million years would he have guessed that. He most definitely wasn't complaining, though- the wave of relief that had washed over him was revitalizing. "So you pretended to be dating?"

"Momota-kun and I had different reasons, but it worked out for the both of us, so we agreed to do it." Kaede told him.

"You said there were no other secrets, right?" Shuichi asked. "You probably can't tell me why you did what you did because of your reason; but what about Momota-kun's motive? Can you tell me that?"

"I tried convincing him that Harukawa-chan had a crush on him, but he didn't believe me." Kaede giggled slightly. "I figured jealousy would help prove it to him, and suggested that we fake date. Though, now that it's said and done, I feel really bad for all of this." The corners of her lips etched downwards into a frown.

"It's alright- there was no way you could've known it'd turn out like this." Shuichi paused before he said his next question. Perhaps he was being too hopeful, but he was curious, and it was the only thing on the forefront of his mind. "Is your reason similar to Momota-kun's?"

Kaede's cheeks tinted pink. "Y-yeah..."

Shuichi's heartbeat roared in his ears. "Assuming that you came up with the entire fake dating idea yourself..." His grip on Kaede's shoulder tightened a little. "Do you... do you feel the same way about me as I do about you?"

Kaede lightly squeezed his hand. "That... depends on how you feel about me," Her blush had deepened.

Shuichi had pulled his hand out of Kaede's grip, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. He felt his legs tremble beneath him- and before he knew it he was sinking to the ground alongside the blonde.

"I'm so sorry if I hurt you," Kaede mumbled against his collar. She buried her head into the crook of Shuichi's neck.

Shuichi pulled Kaede into his lap, resting his chin against the top of her head. "It's okay. Just," He paused, tilting his head down and inhaling her scent. She smelled sweet, like flowers and berries. "Please don't do something like that again." He was full on shaking now, tears once again welling up in his eyes. Only this time, they were happy tears. "I was so scared," He admitted.

"I won't, I promise." Kaede wrapped her arms around him, finally returning his embrace. "I- I realized what I had done too late and I thought you'd be mad at me if you found out so I couldn't bring myself to tell you that it was just some April Fool's prank gone wrong and-"

"Hey." Shuichi stopped her rambling before it worsened. He pulled her away from him in order to look in her eyes. There were tears slipping down her cheeks. He moved one hand to hold her cheek, wiping away the stray tears with his thumb. "I'm so enamored with you, I don't think I could ever be mad at you."

More tears fell from the lavender eyes Shuichi had grown to love. A smile broke out on her face. "I- I can't believe this entire time you liked me too!" She exclaimed. A small hiccup escaped from her lips. "Jeez! I'm such an idiot!"

"Don't talk about yourself like that," Shuichi kissed away the new tears that fell down her face. His heart was pounding erratically in his chest- he never thought he'd see the day where he'd actually kiss Kaede. "You're perfect." His face flushed as he realized how cheesy that had sounded.

Kaede laughed slightly, bringing a hand up to her face to wipe away her tears. "If I were perfect then we probably wouldn't be here right now."

"Then you're perfect to me." The arm he had around her waist pulled her closer, as the hand on her face moved up to gently stroke her blonde hair. He let out a loud sigh of relief, resting his forehead against hers. "If anything, I'm the idiot for not realizing it was fake. It is April first after all, it should've been obvious from the start."

"Hey!" Kaede pouted. "If I'm not allowed to talk bad about myself then you're not allowed to talk bad about yourself either!"

Shuichi chuckled. She looked so adorable when she pouted. "Alright, alright," He relented. "Although, I think we're both a bit dense for not realizing our feelings sooner."

Kaede hummed happily, planting a kiss on Shuichi's nose. Her smile grew as she watched his face flush red. "I'm sure we weren't as bad as Momota-kun and Harukawa-chan, though."

"Yeah..." Shuichi has half convinced this entire day had been a dream- too eventful for his tastes, yet he couldn't say he wasn't happy with the end result. He pulled his head back a little bit, tilting his head slightly to the side before leaning back in.

Kaede had reciprocated the motions, her breath hitching in her throat and her heart freezing up in anticipation for the very thing she had been wanting for almost a year now.

Shuichi suddenly pulled away. "Shit!"

A look made up of two parts concern and two parts disappointment took over Kaede's face. "What?" It had come out a bit more rude than she had intended it to, but Shuichi didn't seem to care.

"Harukawa-san!" He exclaimed. "She's really mad right now- who knows what she'll do if she finds Momota-kun!"

Kaede's face paled as she shot up from Shuichi's lap, taking a quick second to dust off her skirt. "We have to find him before she does!" She exclaimed. "I think he was heading back home when we parted ways, we should head over there!"

Shuichi jumped up to his feet, nodding in agreement. "Let's go!" He hastily grabbed Kaede's hand and took off with her in search of their friend.

~

A lot of people stared at Maki as she made her way down the streets. Some cowered away once they saw her scowl, while others whispered amongst themselves. Maki didn't pay them any mind, however, as she kept her gaze straight forward and marched forward with purpose.

After around thirty minutes of searching, she finally caught sight of his familiar spiky hair. He was nearing his house, and there was no one else around. "Momota!" She shouted, running towards him.

Kaito turned around, a confused look on his face. "Harumaki-?" He couldn't quite finish what he was saying, as Maki had tackled him to the ground. He huffed as he slammed into the ground, moving his hand to the back of his head to shield it before it could hit the concrete. "Woah!" He laughed slightly, grinning widely at Maki with his eyes closed. "Someone's excited to see me."

Maki placed one of her hands flat on Kaito's chest to hold herself up, putting her legs on either side of him and straddling him. "What's up with you lately?" She asked, slamming her other hand down next to his head, prompting him to open his eyes. "You've been acting strange. Spit it out."

"Huh?" Kaito blinked in confusion, unbothered by the intense glower on her face. "Whaddya mean?" 

"First off, you didn't tell anyone where you were going for a few weeks, and now you were apparently hiding your relationship with Akamatsu-san from Saihara-kun and I?!" Maki curled her fingers up, balling up the fabric of Kaito's shirt in her fist. "What the hell's up with that? You're such an over-sharer, why are you being so secretive?"

Kaito was oblivious to the demanding (and clearly upset) tone to Maki's words. "Aww, you care about me that much, Harumaki? You're so cute!"

Maki's cheeks flushed red from embarrassment and anger. Kaito (unfortunately) assumed it was solely because of the former. "Shut up!" She barked. "You're avoiding my question! And don't call me cute when you have a girlfriend!"

Kaito sighed. "Fine, I give in. You caught me, fair and square. But, I gotta ask, do you... Ah, this is gonna sound weird... But, do you have a thing for me, Harumaki?"

Maki leaned back slightly, her face reddening even more. "Quit avoiding my question and answer me already, idiot!" She yelled.

"No, really," Kaito had a serious look on his face now. He moved his hands to hold onto Maki's waist. "It might not seem like it, but it's definitely related."

Maki's lips quivered as her brow furrowed. "I asked you first." Her voice took on a stern tone. "I'll answer your question only after you answer mine."

"Works with me!" Kaito smiled briefly. "Alright, so, to start off, Akamatsu-san and I were talking about whatever, when she told me that you had a thing for me." Maki gritted her teeth. Had Kaede really told him that? She thought that the blonde would keep it a secret. "She also told me that she liked Shuichi, but wasn't sure if he liked her back. Long story short, one thing led to another and we agreed to fake date in order to see you and Saihara-kun's reactions and whether or not you actually liked us."

"Fake... Date?" Maki asked, the angry expression on her face vanishing into a blank one. "You guys aren't actually dating?" Her voice trailed off at the end, a twinge of sadness within her words.

Kaito grinned. "Yep! Happy April Fool's! There's no way Akamatsu-san and I would actually date. She's nice and all, but she's already got a thing for Saihara-kun. And, well, apparently you have a thing for me, right?" He asked. "It'd be pretty unmanly of me to do something like date your best friend."

Maki said nothing as she sat atop Kaito, not moving.

"Harumaki?" Kaito questioned, tilting his head slightly to the side in confusion. "You good?"

If only he knew the world of pain that was awaiting him.

Maki grinded her teeth together, tugging on his shirt as she pressed down hard on him. To say she was fuming was an understatement. "What kind of sick joke is this?!" She shouted.

Kaito flinched slightly. "Woah, sorry Harumaki,"

"Shut up!" She scolded. Maki was now trembling with a swarm of rage and confusion. She drew her hand back from it's place next to Kaito's face, raising her hand up in the air and preparing to smack him hard enough to send him through the ground and back out the other side of the earth.

"Wait!" Two voices called out to Maki at the same time- probably Shuichi and Kaede.

A loud, crisp smacking noise rang throughout the air. They were too late.

The two ran up, out of breath as they stood next to their friends. Kaede let go of Shuichi's hand in order to slump forward and rest both her palms on her knees. "Harukawa-chan-"

"You-!" In a split second, Maki had rose from Kaito's limp body (did she knock him out that easily?!), blinking away the few tears that had started to form before marching towards Kaede with a sinister glare on her face.

Shuichi stood in front of Kaede, holding out his arms. "Wait, Harukawa-san, you don't have to do that! I figured out what happened!"

"Yeah, and so did I." Maki crossed her arms. "And it sounds exactly like something Akamatsu-san would come up with."

Kaede froze up. She had really messed up, huh? She grabbed onto her elbow, lavender eyes gazing downward.

The blonde was about to come clean, when a loud groan caught the three's attention. "It was all me, Harumaki." Shuichi and Kaede's eyes widened. "I didn't think it was important at the time, so I didn't mention it. Sorry 'bout that." He let out a little laugh. Shuichi and Kaede were bewildered- he was taking the blame just like that?! "Please- leave Akamatsu-san and Saihara-kun out of this."

Maki turned to face Kaito. "I'm definitely leaving Saihara-kun out of this, but I know damn well Akamatsu-san isn't exactly innocent here."

Kaito shook his head, propping his elbow up behind him and leaning up. "C'mon, Harumaki." Kaede and Shuichi caught sight of the bright red mark on his face- a perfect handprint from Maki. Despite that, he didn't look or sound as if he was in any pain. "Don't be like that."

Maki faltered slightly at the nickname, inhaling sharply as she now found herself at a loss for words. She quickly shook her head as if she was shaking away her momentary stupor, and was about to protest when Kaito suddenly let out a horrendous cough. The force was strong enough for him to shoot upright from his spot on the floor into a full-on sitting position. Even more alarming was the fist he had raised to his face in order to cover up his mouth, and how it was now covered in fresh blood.

Kaede gasped. "I don't mean to point fingers, but just how hard did you hit him, Harukawa-chan?!"

Maki looked just as surprised as Shuichi and Kaede did. "Hard enough to maybe knock some sense into that thick skull of his, but not hard enough to do something like that," She shook her head, rushing back to Kaito's side and kneeling beside him.

Kaito groaned. "This has nothing to do with-" He let out another nasty cough, more blood getting on his fist and some dripping down his chin. "Shit!" He cursed under his breath

"I don't think this has anything to do with Harukawa-san," Shuichi chimed in, approaching Kaito alongside Kaede. "We should probably take him to the hospital."

Maki nodded, picking up Kaito bridal style in one fell swoop. "Keep up!" She shouted as she ran. "I'm not going to wait for you two."

Kaede heaved loudly as she ran alongside Shuichi. Maki was completely out of sight. "As a pianist, I think it's safe to say that I'm not made for all this running. It's," She wheezed out in between breaths, pausing for a second in order to catch her breath. "Kind of embarrassing."

Shuichi shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm definitely not built for this either," He wasn't doing as bad as Kaede was, especially since he was going a bit slower so he could run alongside her. Still, it wasn't saying much- he knew he'd be out of breath by the time they arrived at the hospital.

When they finally arrived, Maki and Kaito were in the waiting room. "Took you long enough." Maki was cleaning up Kaito's fist with some tissues as she spoke. "You two need to work out more."

Kaede sat down next to Kaito, a hand over her chest. "To think that you ran," She huffed. "So much faster than us," She panted. "All while carrying Momota-kun," She wheezed.

Shuichi was well enough to stand- although it didn't mean he wasn't short of breath. "It's not every day we run this much. "We ran from Akamatsu-san's house to find you two."

Maki hummed as she discarded the bloody tissues in a nearby trash can. "I suppose that makes up for it. After all, you two could be much worse." Kaede pouted. Shuichi laughed slightly. "But you should still work out more." She added, walking back to stand next to Kaito.

"All of us should work out together sometime," Kaito chimed in. He sounded tired and weak- very out of character for the boy. "It'd be fun-" He coughed once again. Maki swiftly held up a tissue to his mouth, catching the blood that came out.

Shuichi and Kaede could only cringe as they watched the white tissue suddenly turn red. "Let's just focus on you getting better first," Shuichi spoke.

A pair of double doors opened, and a middle aged lady walked out. "Oh my, back so soon, Momota-kun?" She asked, a disappointed look on her face. "Didn't you just get out earlier today? I knew you should've stayed longer."

"Earlier today?!" Kaede exclaimed, too short of breath to say more.

"Was... Was that where you were the past few weeks?!" Shuichi's brow furrowed in concern.

"Oh, you didn't tell them?" The lady asked. "No wonder you only had your grandparents visit you! You should be more open with your friends!" She scolded. "Now come on, all of you," Kaito rose up from his seat, approaching her with his friends in tow. "Oh my, what a brilliant red mark on your face. You sure you're not in here for that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure..." Kaito awkwardly chuckled, looking between his friends. "...I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I?" He asked.

Maki crossed her arms. "You are so lucky I'm in love with you or else I'd be giving you more reasons to come to the hospital."

The lady let out a snort at Maki's remark as she lead the four deeper into the hospital.

"What an eventful day..." Shuichi hummed as they walked down the halls.

Kaede nodded, taking his hand in hers. "You can say that again," She hummed, leaning her head against his shoulder. 

Shuichi smiled, rubbing the back of Kaede's hand with his thumb. 

~6.5k Words

Author's Note: I love April Fool's Day so much! I had so much fun writing this story, I knocked out like 2k+ words a day! I also had so much fun making the cover for this story! It's so cute! Sorry if it seems like this story has a bit more Saimatsu than Momoharu- it's my favorite DR ship and I think I got a little carried away. Thank you so much for reading :D