Their first date was at a mediocre Greek restaurant, at Tenko's insistence. He didn't like Greek food, but Kaede did, so he swallowed his pride and ate the shitty meal.
Kaede had laughed and smiled all through dinner, so it was worth it, in Saihara's opinion. She wasn't able to finish her dinner, so she had it packed in a styrofoam container and took it home.
She called him the next day at lunch to say that the container had spilled all over her bag, and now everything smelled like the restaurant. He'd chuckled along with her, as she then launched into a story.
Their second date was at the movie theatre. An action movie had just rolled into theatres, and Kaede had been talking about it non stop. She was over the moon when they arrived at the theatre, and she appeared to relish every second of the film.
Saihara watched her with a small smile. Her excitement meant so much to him, and he wanted to remember every single detail that he could.
The way her eyes shined in the darkness was so moving that Saihara truly had no words for it.
He took Kaede dancing on their ninth date.
A 'romantic night' was the theme of the one dance club in town, and so it was the spot for them. Kaede had enjoyed every second of it. A few times, she had looked at the pianist with a tiny smirk, as if she was thinking, 'I could do better.'
Saihara was sure that she could, and he whispered that in her ear as they pivoted around the floor, pressed delicately against each other.
He smiled every time that she did, as if she had a captivating power.
For their twenty-sixth date, they stayed at home, and watched an old movie on a VHS tape. Kaede had made popcorn, and the two were snuggled close together under a warm blanket. The entire time, they held hands underneath the fabric.
Kaede squeezed his hand during the scary parts. Saihara didn't know if it was reassurance, or her own fear, but he appreciated it all the same.
After the movie was over, Saihara went into the kitchen to wash the butter from the popcorn off his hands. When he came back, Kaede was looking at her phone with a worried expression. As soon as she saw him, and slipped it in her pocket, and kissed him gently.
So he ignored the churning of his stomach.
On their thirty-third date, he bailed her out of jail.
Saihara had rushed to the detention centre in the middle of the night, bail in hand. It was paid quickly, and Kaede was let go easily.
They drove back to Kaede's house in silence, Saihara's fingers gripping the wheel tightly. He stopped outside her front gate, and whispered, "What happened?"
Kaede responded, "They accused me of killing some musician guy. I've never even heard of him! But they suspect me, even though they have no evidence."
Saihara placed his hand on her's, "Hey. I'll stick by you, no matter what. Stay safe, okay?"
Kaede nodded, and kissed him gently on the nose, before getting out of the car, and running up her front steps.
It was only after she had gone inside, that Saihara wondered why she insisted there was no evidence.
Their fifty-ninth date, and their last, was spent at Kaede's house.
She had gone to the washroom, and left Saihara alone in her office. He had wandered around aimlessly, until he came across an odd file on her desk. He had hesitated one moment, then lightly opened it.
Hundreds upon hundreds of picture were inside. Every single one of them was of a dead body.
They people had been tortured mercilessly, and some hardly looked like people anymore. As Saihara leafed through them, he found that one of them was the pianist from the dance club, all that time ago.
What was this doing here? Why did Kaede have these photos?
"Oh… You found them…"
He turned to look at her, as she stood in the doorway. Her face was quiet and blank, while his own was stretched wide in horror.
(He watched her receive an injection that removed all her memories of the past few years, remove all her memories of him, and that wasn't even the end, because his fourteen other classmates had to go through the same thing.)
Their first date (or perhaps their sixtieth) was spent watching the stars twinkle in the darkness. The Prison School itself was okay, but the Game of Mutual Killing was less so.
Nobody had died thus far, but Saihara knew the peace couldn't last. Tenko, who had once been his closest friend, was now cold and nasty towards him.
But with Kaede, he felt almost like they could be saved. He had fallen in love with her all over again, with a girl like sunshine.
(She was a murderer, she was vicious, and horribly dangerous, but he still loved her all the same. Her psych profile said that she lured kind men to their deaths, but he didn't care, he didn't care one bit.)
It was funny, that despite all the criminals there, he was the one to succumb to despair.
It was funny, that Saihara had been the one to kill, despite constantly urging Kaede that she could never give in, that she had to stand up and fight back.
It was funny, that Kaede had died at his hands.
(The doctors probably would have called it delicious irony, as they scribbled down results on their clipboards and laughed at him while he was dragged to his death.)
He thought of her as he died, as his heart was pierced, and he fell to the ground.
Her smile and her bright eyes and her laugh and the way she moved, and how she talked and her special mannerisms and the funny way she held doors open and her dance moves and dear god he couldn't face her in death.
(One time, shortly after her conviction, he had gone back to her house, and found her old bag that she had held the shitty Greek food that spilled everywhere, and sniffed it. He'd sniffed every inch of it, and felt the ugly stench fill his nostrils, and he had relished every moment of it.)
He had loved Kaede Akamatsu so much that it made him sick, and in the end, it had lead to both their downfalls, all because he was so blind to her faults.
(He wished that they had never gone to that Greek restaurant.)
He had killed her, all because his own desperate love for her wouldn't let him believe that she had messed up so badly before.
(Shuuichi Saihara had fallen in love with a fallen angel, and he had done nothing but give her wings.)