Chapter Text
Shuichi Saihara had never really given much thought to soulmarks.
He knew the basic reasons behind them and why they were important, like the fact that once you touched your soulmate for the first time you’d both have a mark in that place and that you were now destined to be together, but to Shuichi he had just never thought about it more than that. It was just something that happened or didn’t. He figured he should think more about the mysteries that needed solving then worrying about what ifs. If he got a soulmark from someone, great, he'd just deal with it when it happened.
As a detective in training who worked on mostly infidelity cases, his brain was more wired to focusing on the uncertain things that were more serious than love and all that. He’d seen many times when people who claimed to be in love had fallen apart. He wondered why they even tried when soulmates existed. Soulmarks were certain signs of if a relationship was going to work after all. There was some mystery to them as no one really knew what caused them, but they just sort of happened and your fate was then decided. That was more a mystery doctors researched than a detective.
Of course Shuichi never knew how much of a mystery soulmarks could be until one fateful day.
Shuichi was waiting in line at his local cafe like he did after most school days. He had spent far too much time working on a missing pet case instead of sleeping like he should have and needed coffee to be able to function the remainder of the day. He still needed to do the food shopping for everyone in his apartment after all. Plus, Kaito had asked him to pick up some brownies from this cafe as they were ‘Out of this world’. Shuichi could practically hear Maki’s eye roll at that one.
Shuichi yawned as he looked at the food, ‘Four left. That’s perfect so Akamatsu-san, Harukawa-san and myself get one too. I hope I have enough money for all this and all the ingredients for dinner?’
As Shuichi was looking at the treats, he felt something softly hit him. This wasn’t the first time he'd been walked into today, but he still wanted to check to see if the other person was okay.
He turned to see a boy with wild purple hair wearing a white and black checkered scarf around his neck rubbing his forehead.
Shuichi noted that this boy had a reddish mark where he was rubbing. He knew that this was a soulmark just from the colour.
The boy glared at him, “What’s the big idea walking into me! You should watch where you’re going!”
Shuichi raised a brow, “..I don’t mean to be rude, but I was standing still. It was impossible for me to have walked into you.”
The boy’s glare instantly vanished and was replaced with a wide smile, “Nishishi~ I knew that. I was lying before. I didn’t hit you at all you know.”
Shuichi was really confused now. His detective brain had already kicked in as he thought about what had happened, “But... I felt you hit me. Is that another lie?”
The boy simply kept smiling as he used Shuichi being slightly distracted to walk in front of him in the line, placing a bottle of grape soda on the counter.
“Yes, and now I’ve taken your place in line. You snooze you lose~ Walking into people does create the perfect distraction to jump the line when they act this way. It's almost so easy that it's boring.”
The boy then asked the person operating the cash register for the entire chocolate cake before he grinned at Shuichi again.
Shuichi stared at the boy as he grinned. He was confused as to why someone would pull such a stunt just to skip a line.
The person at the register then put the cake box down and the boy slid his money across the counter. He then winked at Shuichi as he picked his drink up and put it in his bag with what Shuichi assumed was other shopping. He then picked up the cake box and looked at Shuichi again.
“See you later emo hair.... but that was lie, I doubt we ever will.” And with that he left.
Shuichi just sighed, ‘Well that was.... interesting….. I don't have emo hair… I think.’
Shuichi then remembered where he was and quickly went to the counter to order his coffee to go and all of the remaining brownies. He quickly left the cafe to finish his errands.
“Shuichi! You got the brownies we needed right?”
Shuichi slipped his shoes off and held up the bag out to Kaito, “Yes, I got them Momota-kun. I also got the food for dinner and the textbook you needed, but we didn’t really need the brownies though. It’s more of a case of you wanting them.”
Kaito quickly tried to take the bag that contained the treats, but someone else got there first. They moved like a blur and removed the bag from Shuichi's hand. Shuichi would have been surprised, but he was used to his other housemate doing this.
“Did you make Saihara buy you more brownies again?” Maki asked, glaring as she held the bag in front of Kaito’s face.
Kaito laughed, “Don’t worry Maki-roll! I’m paying him back for them and my textbook, I would never make my sidekick pay for my stuff.”
Shuichi smiled, “It’s okay Harukawa-san. I got one for each of us, that way Momota-kun won’t eat them all. Akamatsu-san and you get one too.”
Maki sighed as she lowered the bag, “Honestly. Don’t waste your money on us. Save it for yourself.”
Maki then glared at Kaito once more, “And you. You’re not getting anything until training is finished.”
Kaito looked a little sheepish, “Oh come on Maki-roll.”
Maki just glared harder, “Do you want to die?”
Kaito gave up then, “Okay, training first! Let’s go sidekick!”
Shuichi sighed as he downed the last of his coffee and entered the apartment living room, “Alright, but then we’re having dinner. We have to study for exams coming up soon too.”
Kaito scratched his head, “I’m not doing well at all today.”
“I’m home!”
Shuichi, Kaito and Maki all looked up to see Kaede walk through the door.
Shuichi greeted her first, finding it difficult as he was exhausted from push ups, “Hey ...Ak ...akamatsu-san. How.... was... Yumeno-san’s.... show?”
Kaede laughed as she slipped her shoes off and entered, “It was good. I wanted to thank her for inviting me more but Chabashira-san sort of jumped on her. How’s training going?”
Kaito gave her a thumbs up, “Already done a hundred push ups! Haven’t-”
“He’s done twenty. I've been counting yours as well as my own. Don't think you're getting out of this.” Maki said, cutting through Kaito’s excuse before he got to even start.
Kaede laughed, “Well, while you guys finish up, I’ll start on dinner. It is my turn after all, and Saihara-kun did buy more food today so I think I'll make curry. Is everyone okay with tha-.... Did someone buy brownies?”
Kaito laughed, “Yep. Shuichi got us one each, we’re eating them after dinner.”
Kaede smiled as she grabbed one and started to eat it, “I haven't eaten since breakfast so I'll have mine now.”
“Hey come on! I said after dinner! Maki stop her.” Kaito stated as Kaede ate, a huge smile on her face.
Maki shrugged her shoulders, “She can eat hers when she wants. You’re the one who made Saihara buy them so you’re waiting till after dinner. Now, finish. Your. Push. Ups.”
Kaito sighed as he got back to work, giving into Maki's glare. Kaede just laughed softly as she got dinner started.
“Ninety eight.... Ninety nine.... One hundred.” Shuichi said as he finished. He then collapsed onto the floor in fatigue.
Maki who had only just broken a sweat smiled faintly, “You’re getting better Saihara. I can see that your efforts are paying off.”
Shuichi slowly managed to pick himself up and thanked her, “Thanks Harukawa-san, but I know I'll never be as good as you two. Anyway, I’ll wash up and help Akamatsu-san finish dinner.”
As Shuichi started to walk to the bathroom, Kaito caught sight of something underneath Shuichi’s shirt. Something that wasn't normally there.
“Shuichi, you’ve got something on your back.”
Maki turned and looked at Shuichi, ready to brush any dirt off incase it was someplace Shuichi couldn't reach. She stopped in her tracks however as her eyes narrowed, “Is that? Akamatsu, do you know about this?”
Kaede re-entered the room to see what the fuss was and looked too, “..... Wait... is it? No.”
Shuichi started to get a little curious himself, “I can’t see it? What is it?”
Kaito simply walked over to Shuichi and lifted his shirt up. Shuichi started to stutter then as embarrassment took over.
“Momota-kun! Some warning next time! There's girls present!”
Kaito ignored him though as a look of shock covered his face, “...No way.”
Shuichi, forgetting about his embarrassment, let his curiosity take over again, “What is it? Am I sick or something?”
Kaito's face then broke into a smile as he laughed, slapping Shuichi on the back as he did, “Congratulations bud! Were you keeping this a secret from us or something?”
Shuichi appreciated the gesture, but the slap still stung.
Kaede walked over and smiled, “Wow Saihara-kun, you're so lucky! I support you all of the way. When can we meet them?”
Shuichi raised a brow as his brain started to try and figure out what was going on, “I seriously have no idea what you guys are talking about. What is it?”
Maki sighed as she placed her palm next to the mark, “There’s no doubt about it. This is a soulmark. Same as mine and Kaito's.”
Shuichi turned and looked at Maki’s own soulmark that was on both her palms, “Huh, Are you sure?”
Maki nodded, “Same colour and everything.”
Kaito lifted his trousers up slightly to show the marks on both his ankles, “Maki-roll is right. Definitely the same.”
Kaito then slung his arm over Shuichi’s shoulders, “Awesome! My sidekick is like me and Maki-roll now! But I got to judge them for myself before you get into anything. I want to make sure they're good to you after all. No sidekick of mine is getting into a bad relationship!”
Kaede smiled, “Yeah! Come on. Details Saihara-kun! You have to tell us everything!”
Shuichi turned bright red as he tried to think of a response. It was Maki that caught on first.
“.... You don’t know who gave you this do you?”
Shuichi simply nodded, “I have no clue at all. I was out shopping so a lot of people hit me. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if Momota-kun hadn’t seen it.”
Kaito looked concerned, “What, seriously? You don’t have a clue?”
Shuichi nodded again, “I was honestly more focused on getting everything we needed to survive this week.”
Kaede then clapped her hands together, “Saihara-kun, this is just what you need! You can find your soulmate again using your detective skills! That is just perfect for you as you love mysteries!”
Kaito’s worry left him as quickly as it arrived, “Yeah! You got this Shuichi! If anyone can solve this you can! You're the best Detective out there.”
Shuichi smiled nervously, “I'm still only in training guys.”
Maki sighed as she smiled slightly, “You can still do this, and we’ll also help you anyway we can. You’ve got a lot on your plate as you work for your uncle, so let us do what we can with our own skills to make it easier. I can get into places you can't anyway so we can use that.”
Kaede hugged Shuichi, “Yeah! What are friends for after all! The more help you have the better chance you'll have at finding them again.”
Kaito laughed, “Hey, let me in on some of that action! There’s no way that I, Kaito Momota, Luminary of the stars, wouldn’t help too! I’ll get the truth out of anyone.”
Kaito joined the hug then, pulling Maki with him.
“Do you want to die.” Maki said while rolling her eyes, but she didn’t let go.
Shuichi smiled warmly, “Thank you, all of you. I wasn’t really paying attention to many people who walked into me as I was so focused on other things, but I’ll figure out something. I'll simply retrace my steps. I'll check people in my classes and all the shops I went to.”
Shuichi then sniffed the air. He knew instantly what had happened.
“Err... Akamatsu-san.... the curry’s burning.”
Kaede's face paled as she immediately let go and ran to the kitchen, “Ahhhhh! Someone open the windows! We can’t let the smoke alarm go off! I’m not annoying our neighbours again!”
Maki was like a bullet opening the window while Shuichi and Kaito grabbed blankets and pillows to fan the smoke away from the smoke detector.
Despite it being burnt, the curry still tasted good. Still, Shuichi had heavy thoughts on his mind.
‘I met my soulmate. I've never thought about it that much. Will I even like them? Are they a boy or girl? I wish I thought about this more before it all happened… Still, this is going to be an interesting mystery. Akamatsu-san is right, I can use this to test and sharpen my skills.’
Meanwhile somewhere in the city, a certain purple haired boy in a white and black scarf was walking down an alleyway.
Kokichi Ouma smiled as he made his way to D.I.C.E headquarters, sneaking round several buildings near his school.
He stopped in front of what appeared to be a large rubbish container. Kokichi then lifted a small panel before quickly typing in some numbers. The bin then swung open like a door and showed a hidden passage that Kokichi was very familiar with. Smiling, he quickly made his way inside, shutting the ‘door’ as he did.
Kokichi walked down the corridor and as he turned the first corner some lights came on. Kokichi quickly looked at his shopping bag.
‘Right, so I got the latest issue of ‘Phantom Thief Rei’ and the cake for my organisations break.’
Kokichi then started to snigger, “That rhyme was terrible, oh man.”
Kokichi then reached the stairs that led down to a door with a clown mask on it. He smiled as he simply kicked the door open.
“Your great leader is back from his dangerous mission! I bring jewels I stole from the museum!”
A girl with her hair in two pigtails ran up and took the box Kokichi was holding out.
“Boss is back with cake.” She called out.
Kokichi frowned, “Arisa, I’m telling you that priceless jewels are in there. Come on, you’re meant to believe your leader when they tell you things.”
Arisa turned, “I’m sorry boss but your lies don’t-” She then fell silent.
Kokichi cocked his head to the side, “Hmmmm, something wrong? Or are you just admiring my handsome face? I know it's amazing.”
Arisa quickly turned away, “Ah, no. It’s nothing.” Quickly disappearing with the cake into the kitchen.
Kokichi was actually confused now. Arisa normally hugged him when he returned after she told him his lies didn't work. He came to the conclusion that she really wanted the cake now or something.
Kokichi, instead of worrying, slipped off his shoes and headed to his room quickly to place the new comic on the ever growing pile. He knew he needed to organise it, but he had more important duties to do as a leader of a prank group, and he would never make his subordinates clean it either. There was some organisation in the chaos. It matched his personality really.
While he was there he got changed into his uniform before heading down to dinner. It was Tori’s turn to cook after all, and he knew that Tori was the best when it came to serving D.I.C.E good food.
Kokichi quickly ran out of his room to get to the dining area. Most of D.I.C.E were setting the table when he arrived. Arisa stopped whispering to Buroda, the fattest member, when Kokichi entered. Whatever they were saying, Buroda had nodded to agree before sitting at the table.
It was oddly quiet today. That raised Kokichi’s suspicions straight away, ‘First Arisa, now this. As the leader I have to get to the bottom of this.’
Kokichi then grinned, putting up his familiar mask to hide his insecurity, “Okay, what’s going on? Are you guys planning a prank for tonight when we spread mayhem? Nishishi, Come on, you have to tell your leader all the juicy details~”
Takane, the oldest of the three girls in D.I.C.E, just smiled, “We were just thinking that it might be fun to maybe spray paint something near the hospital. Something that the sick kids could see to cheer them up. The police would still be mad, but the kids would be happy.”
The rest of group, taking Takane’s lead, nodded in agreement.
Kokichi was silent for a moment, his face blank of emotion, “That sounds kind of boring.”
The group looked sad, but Kokichi smiled, “If you’re going to do that add lights too! Make it so they can see it anytime! That will really annoy the police to!”
Haru, the tallest member, laughed, “Of course, we’re D.I.C.E after all! We shouldn’t do something simple, the whole city has to see it. You had us worried there for a second Boss.”
Kokichi laughed, “I was just creating suspense. But back to the point, what type of evil organisation would we be if we did the same as everyone else! We’ve got to be loud!”
Buroda then spoke, “Boss, do you have any other topics we should discuss before dinner?”
Kokichi thought for a moment, “Of course, I have to tell you all about the jewels I stole today. I hid them in a cake box and Arisa took them before I got to show you. Why are you so mean to your leader Arisa?”
The fake waterworks were about to start, but Tori came out of the kitchen with dinner. Kokichi immediately changed to his signature grin. Arisa just sighed with relief.
“Tori, you better make sure there’s no poison in that, we are in trouble with that rival gang after all. Remember, they want us all dead after we pulled a joke on their boss. I wouldn't put it past them to tamper with our food supply.” Kokichi said, a smile on his face the whole time.
Tori just sighed, “You know lies don’t work on us Bo..... I.....”
Kokichi raised a brow again, he knew something was still up. Takane hadn't fooled him that easily.
At that moment, Takane chimed in, taking on the mum role yet again, “Tori, what did you cook?”
Tori turned to face her and smiled, “Oh... I made vegetable gyōza and tempura. I also cooked some extra rice as we need our strength when we go on the streets tonight.”
Kokichi was still thinking about why the group was acting weird, however he didn't peruse it as he didn't want to sour the groups mood even more. Tonight was meant to be fun after all, and he didn’t want to upset his family. Yelling at them would just bring back painful memories of the orphanage after all. His job as a leader would be to wait until they were ready. He trusted them after all, more than anything in the world.
‘What kind of leader would I be if I upset my followers? I’ll let it slide for now. Still, if they don't say anything by tomorrow I'm finding out what's going on.’
Instead, Kokichi grinned, putting his mask up once more, “Sounds boring, but let’s see if your cooking magic worked today.”
Kokichi cleaned his plate and smiled at Tori, “It is passable. You need to work a little harder as it was quite bland.”
Tori smiled, “That’s another lie boss. You asked for three extra servings. I’m telling you they don’t work on us.”
Kokichi pouted again, “Well if you point them out they don’t. Let me have my fun, do you want a sad leader?”
Tori just laughed, “No, we don't, you’re just fun to tease sometimes.”
Kokichi pulled a slightly demonic face, “Careful, tease me at your own peril.”
Tori sighed, “Yeah, yeah. Now come on Boss, cut it out. I've grown up with you and I still don't understand how your face can even do that. It still creeps me out.”
Kokichi rose from his seat, a grin covered his face once more, “Nishishi, that's something I can't even tell you Tori. Anyway, I’ll get my cloak and hat now, everyone have your masks on and ready to go in ten minutes. If you’re late, no one gets cake.... Nishishi, that’s a lie, I would never take cake away from my subordinates.”
When Kokichi left and was out of ear shot, Arisa spoke out, “..... He doesn’t know does he? That thing’s real and not a prank, isn't it?”
Takane nodded, a serious look was on her face, “It appears Kokichi is unaware of the soulmark on his forehead, yes.”
Yamato flicked his fringe out of his face before holding his head in his hands, “It’s definitely not a prank. He would have said something by now. Something like ‘Your leader is now soulmates with the biggest bottle of Panta’ or something like that.”
Shuu, the blond member, hit the table, “Dammit! What do we do? Will D.I.C.E break up now?!”
Takane stood up, “We don’t say anything. Soulmarks are a touchy subject for him, for all of us. We made a promise at that orphanage to stay together no matter what. Remember when he thought Yuuhi had one, he started crying for real that she was going to leave us. This family is all he... us have. We have to let him see it for himself. Only then can he decide what to do next. It is not our place to do anything else.”
Yuuhi, the last female member, nodded, “We can’t ruin tonight. He’s been so excited to go out and perform crimes. D.I.C.E has to stick together. It’s good he has one though, I know Ko-, Boss thought he’d never get one.”
Takane looked at the floor, “Yes. He still thinks no one can love a liar like him after all. Well we love him, but we're family. In a romantic way though….”
Arisa, seeing the mood of the room, stood up on her chair, “Come on! We have to be happy! Let’s go make Boss have an awesome night! We’ve got to paint that picture for the hospital kids after all.”
Zensho, the final member and the quietest, stood up, “Yeah. Let’s go have fun like we always do. For Boss!”
Everyone nodded, “For Boss!”
They all picked up their masks from the sideboard and headed to the front door.
Kokichi pinned his cape in place as best he could and put his mask on.
He walked over to the mirror in his room, carefully moving past the toy air guns he had all over that part of the floor. He picked his hat off the corner of the mirror and placed it on his head. With his face covered he still couldn’t see the new addition to his forehead.
‘Now that is how a supreme leader of evil looks.’
Kokichi paused for a moment to study his reflection.
‘Why were they acting weird this evening.... my uniform doesn’t have a stain on it, Zensho washed them all yesterday. What could have them acting weird....’
Kokichi then looked at his calendar and sighed, ‘Oh... Arisa does have an exam in a few days. Maybe she’s just worried about that and everyone is on edge because of it as they want her to do well? Maybe she’s worried tonight will distract her from her studies? It's possible.’
Kokichi quickly left his room, ‘Well, tonight I’m going to distract her from all that. I will cheer her up and help her with anything she needs when she gets home. A leader has to help.... No. A brother’s gotta help his sister out after all.’
Kokichi saw everyone was standing and ready to go, spray cans in hand.
“Nishishi~ Time to cause some chaos.”
Kokichi opened the door and the group ran down the corridor before they disappeared into the night.