Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Tsumugi clicked open the door to her lab, the last thing she expected to appear before her was Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader brought to tears as he tightly clutched onto a... stuffed animal?

At a closer glance, Tsumugi realized the stuffed animal was in poor condition— one of the arms falling off and rips all over the fabric, revealing small amounts of cotton falling out of the stuffed animal.

Strands of Kokichi’s hair clung to his face as the tears only kept streaming, and he hesitantly held it out to her.

“You can sew,” He whispered, his voice cracking and evident with hurt, “Can you fix her?”

Tsumugi was taken aback at how torn Kokichi was over the old stuffed animal... It definitely had seen better days, and it was quite dirty.

Even then, she couldn’t stand to see him so upset any longer. His voice was so pained, and by the looks of it... the stuffed animal wouldn’t be so hard to fix. Definitely some sewing on the arm, and perhaps some more cotton stuffing...

Tsumugi gave him a polite smile and nodded, stepping back and welcoming him inside her lab.

“Of course, Ouma-kun,” She told him, “Come in. I’ll take a look at it.”

Kokichi stepped into her lab, sniffling and carefully holding it in his hands. He most likely didn’t want to take any chances of damaging the stuffed animal further.

Tsumugi reached into a nearby drawer that she had, pulled out a sewing kit and taking one more glance at the stuffed animal.

“Ouma-kun?” She said gently, not wanting to startle him any more than he already was, “Could you set your stuffed animal on the table? I’ll be there soon.”

Kokichi was swift in complying, setting the stuffed animal on the nearby table and staying close to it.

Tsumugi hummed. The stuffed animal had gray fur, so... She should probably use gray thread to sew the arm back on, so it would match and not look out of place. As for the cotton... she was sure regular white would do.

Oh! One of the ears were a little ripped too, so... perhaps a light pink? To blend in with the original color, of course...

Tsumugi soon walked back over to the table, setting her equipment down beside the stuffed animal and scanning over it once more.

“Okay,” She began, glancing over to Kokichi, whose eyes were still watering, “I’m just going to use this gray thread to patch up the arm, okay? It’ll be brand new by the time I’m finished with it!”

Kokichi trembled, nodding as his lower lip quivered.

“Be careful. Please,” He responded slowly, his words slurring as he peeked over at her work.

Tsumugi smiled at him.

“I will, I promise.”

And with that, she got to work. She began using a needle and thread to put the arm back into place, carefully moving it when necessary and staying rather attentive. She would feel guilty for the rest of her life if she messed this up.

Soon, though, the arm was nicely sewn back together, and after some further adjustments, it hardly looked like it had even fallen apart at all!

Kokichi’s tears soon were drying as he began to grin, happiness in his voice as he admired the familiar stuffed animal.

Tsumugi was quick to patch it up— fixing the ear and other tears that the stuffed animal had gotten over the years.

And, once she announced to Kokichi that she was done and it was safe to pick up the stuffed animal once more, he was quick to grab it, holding it close to his chest and rubbing the soft fabric against his cheek.

“ ‘Ank you, Tsu!” He said with a happy grin, “ ‘S fixed now!”

Tsumugi gave a laugh, surprised at the usage of her first name, let alone the nickname. She reached out to gently pat Kokichi on the head.

“Anytime!” She smiled at him, “I’m glad I could— Ah!”

Before she knew it, Kokichi had tackled her into a hug, his arms tightly squeezed around her as he giggled.

Tsumugi only sighed, reaching her arms out and returning the hug, holding him close to her.

This was certainly unexpected, and she most definitely did not expect to see such a vulnerable side of Kokichi tonight.

But what kind of person would she be if she didn’t help out a fellow classmate in need?