Mahiru felt as though she had been stuck with, perhaps, the least important job on the island. Then again, it was more self imposed than one that Byakuya had given her, but she was more annoyed at the fact that she felt an obligation to do it. Still, beats wandering around with no objective or purpose.

FOR YOU SEE, Mahiru, our SHSL Photographer, was currently hunting for the SHSL Mechanic, Kazuichi Souda. Yes, the last person on the island she'd want to be finding, I know, more importantly SHE herself knows...

But, it was their second night on the island, and the rest of the group had congregated at the hotel for dinner, and to discuss any new findings. All was going rather well in that regard, and Mahiru was looking forward to sitting down and resting, talking with her fellow ultimate's, getting to know them better, and, although she would never admit this, teasing Hajime with his somewhat demeaning nickname.

Except one person hadn't show up. Kazuichi wasn't present for the evening meal. Immediately everyone assumed the worst, that someone had already decided to kill someone. However, Monokuma showed up, and made a personal guarantee that he was, in fact, not dead. Any information on his location was, as their headmaster so eloquently put it, 'Given out on a need to know basis, and you DON'T. NEED. TO KNOW!'

So, Mahiru made it her personal goal to follow through on the job she had completed in the morning; find Kazuichi and drag his possibly mechanical ass back to the hotel. The redhead wasn't by any means thrilled. I mean, we wasn't the first time either, but that time she figured that Kazuichi had genuine reason to separate himself from the group. He was obviously afraid, as Monokuma showed up and declared a killing game and no one had spoken to anyone since. He had anxiety and that was understandable.

However, things were different now. They were all meeting, under the pretence of finding a way of the island, in a situation where it was impossible for anyone to murder someone without being caught. No one, absolutely NO ONE would make a decision as stupid and miscalculated as that. There was no reason to fear being murdered at the hotel, so whatever reason he had, it better be worth it. These were the thoughts spinning very violently through the head of Mahiru Koizumi.

The wind began to whip and blow, sending her short red hair in many directions. In the bright light given of by the stars, her freckles and light brown eyes were more noticeable than during the day. Although, the night light emphasising her features didn't calm her down.

In fact, it annoyed her, under the pretence of, 'I'm not able to enjoy this beautiful night because I'M stuck chasing a shark toothed mechanic who decided to be emo tonight. JOY.'

She had searched his cottage, the market, the ranch and even the airport. She was considering checking the central island, before realising that she hadn't checked the beach yet. So she decided to make her way over there. I mean, it makes sense. He should be in the one placed she hadn't checked, right?

And she was right, he was on the beach. Though, when she was getting angry earlier, she didn't actually expect him to be having an emo moment. Actually, that seemed completely out of character for him, considering he was very punk in style. He was sitting on the shore, staring of into the deep blue ocean, obviously thinking about something. Also obviously, in detail. That was more than enough to shock Mahiru.

It was at that moment, she began to ponder whether or not she should actually interrupt him. Whatever he was thinking about, it was obviously of great importance to him. Whilst she wasn't exactly impressed by Kazuichi's personality, she had enough decency to respect his feelings.

Still, Byakuya and pretty much everyone else would be annoyed if she didn't bring him back.

So, with a silent sigh of exasperation, she began to walk toward him.

She probably should have expected him to be so jumpy at the sound of footsteps.

'AAAAAH!'

He jumped at least 3 feet in the air out of shock. He fell onto his backside and, with closed eyes, threw his hands up in front of his face in defence.

'Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please don't kill me, PLEASE...!'

He repeated those words over and over, genuinely fearful for his life in that moment. It was at that point that Mahiru properly got to inspect his face. It wasn't freckled like hers, and his teeth were unnaturally sharp. Hence, he was often compared to a shark. She also saw his obviously dyed pink hair spill out from under his beanie. In this situation, he looked kind of cute.

IN THE CHILDISH WAY, LIKE HOW A CHILD CAN BE CALLED CUTE!, Mahiru could hear her mind reasoning with herself. Kazuichi, the mechanic, cute like that? No, impossible. Never. Besides, he was such a coward it hurt.

Still the scene in front of her was positively hilarious. She couldn't help the slightly immature chuckle that escaped her mouth.

The sound of heartfelt laughter is what caused Kazuichi to open his eyes. He looked up at the pretty redhead standing above him, chuckling as though she had just witnessed the funniest joke in history of ever. Then again, he did have a hysterical outburst, which now seemed like a very stupid thing to do.

'Ummmm... h-hi, Mahiru...' every inch of the mechanics words were dripping with embarrassment, 'Um, wh-what are you doing,eh, here?'

He asked this partly out of genuine interest, and partly to stop her from giggling away to herself.

Mahiru stopped, thought about why she had actually come here, and proceeded to answer the mechanics question, 'Oh, Byakuya wants you over at the hotel for a discussion. And, you know, DINNER.'

The grease monkey processed before replying, rather stiffly, 'I'm not going.'

Mahiru was very startled, and subsequently angered, at Kazuichi's remark. 'Hey!' she exclaimed rather forcefully, 'Are you afraid of murder? Is that it? No ones going to murder anyone when we're all in such a big group! Stop being paranoid, and...'

'It wouldn't make a difference if I wasn't scared of being killed. I still wouldn't go.'

The photographer stopped, genuinely shocked by those words. He has another reason for being here? Was that what he was thinking about?

Kazuichi, feeling as though he had won with those words, turned back toward the sea and kept doing... whatever he was doing before. He honestly just wanted to be alone. He didn't want to see any of the ultimate's right now. They probably didn't want to see him either. Their 'leader' probably just wanted to seem considerate by sending Mahiru after him. Yeah, that has to be it, he thought rather defiantly to himself.

Mahiru had very conflicting opinions right now. If he wanted to be alone, then that really was his decision. She should probably just leave him be. Alternatively, her caring side demanded that she find out whats wrong with him and help him. Even though he si the opposite of what a boy should be.

She gave into that side of herself, and proceeded to sit next to him. Kazuichi took notice of this, but didn't seem to bothered. She wasn't the worst person to be alone with. Teruteru on the other hand, now that would be a different story.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the wave lap up against the shore, sometimes reaching just far enough to touch their shoes. The gentle ocean breeze brushed past them, the dazzling night sky shining brightly down on them. Neither one of them seemed to notice the other, yet both were keenly aware of the others existence.

Silence enveloped them, and became a layer of comfort between the two. Kazuichi was thankful for this barrier, it made him feel alone. It was what he came out here for after all.

Then, in three words, Mahiru shattered this barrier.

'Are you okay?'

Mahiru noticed the visible shock on the mechanics face, which quickly shifted back into his thinking face.

'You wouldn't understand...'

Most people would walk away after those words, thinking that the problem is beyond their comprehension. Our redhead is not 'most people', and she's persistent.

'Then help me understand.'

The mechanic chose his next words very carefully. 'It's a long story...'

Mahiru saw the words as more of a cliched way of getting rid of her than a carefully calculated strategy. 'We've got time.'

So Kazuichi caved. He didn't tell her his whole story, they definitely didn't have time for that. But he decided, she wasn't going to leave unless he caved. He sighed, before beginning his story, 'All I've ever wanted is to be accepted by people.'

Mahiru was no longer keeping count of the times Kazuichi had shocked her that night.

'Since I was little, all the kids used to pick on me for one reason or another. 'Cuz I was smart, 'cuz I dressed weird, 'cuz my family was poor... anything really.'

'I had no idea...' Mahiru interjected rather quietly. She also began to blush as she realised that she was sounding slightly cliched now.

Kazuichi took no notice of this. 'Even when I had friends, it never stopped. No one ever gave me a chance. Elementary school, middle school, nothing ever changed. I was always Kazuichi, the one nobody liked.'

'Then I got accepted into Hopes Peak, where there were people with talents, just like mine. But I was scared. Scared that if I just stayed the same it would just be the same massacre I had been living my whole life. So I changed. Everything.'

Mahiru didn't want to pry, but was very interested in his story. 'In more than just appearences?'

She wasn't all that shocked to see him nod. 'More than just the hair and my contacts. I tried to come of as confident, easy going, optimistic even. I tried to be someone people would like. And I thought, 'Hey, this might actually work,' when I met you guys.'

Mahiru was now confused. 'It didn't work, how?'

Kazuichi was almost surprised she didn't remember, but then realised how trivial it may seem. 'Hiyoko,' he began, 'She said it herself. I'm just a loser. I try to be different than that, but in the end, that's all I am. It makes sense that she would pick up on that.'

The redhead was puzzled, before remembering Hiyoko's outburst at the mechanic in the morning. 'Oh, that...'

She didn't realise that this punk looking shark toothed mechanic had such a deep problem. Even if he didn't show it, he was very lonely. Mahiru couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Yet at the same time, she couldn't help but admire his attitude, his desire to make himself be someone interesting, someone people like to be around. But she couldn't understand his dilemma. How could people not like hanging out with him? True he was a little rude, and his manners were...lacking, but he had been pretty honest with everyone since Monokuma showed up. And from what she had seen of him, he was interesting. He was funny, energetic, enthusiastic, cute...

AGAIN WITH THAT WORD MAHIRU!

Her brain really didn't want her to think such thoughts. But she couldn't help but feel drawn to him. He had felt confident enough with her to open up to her, and, when he wasn't being a coward, he was a genuinely interesting person. And he tried so hard to get people to like him.

Mahiru stared into his pink eyes for a few moments as he gazed out at the sea. He was hurt, and felt as though no one enjoyed his company.

Little did he know, the redhead was enjoying his company more than she would care to admit.

Except, to everyone except Kazuichi himself, her next move made it quite obvious how she truly felt.

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before resting her head on his shoulder.

Kazuichi was now no longer gazing at the sea, he was shocked into staring. His cheeks went bright red at Mahiru's gesture. He refrained from looking at her, trying not to make it more awkward. If he had, he would have noticed that her cheeks were as bright red as her hair.

'Don't worry about Hiyoko,' she chimed, 'Because I enjoy your company. And I'm sure that the others do as well. Your just being paranoid.'

They sat there in silence, again. The waves continued to lap at their feet, the breeze kept on blowing past and the night sky looked as beautiful as ever. However, whereas before when the silence was a barrier of comfort, it now made them feel increasingly awkward.

Mahiru, steeling her nerves, stood up and prepared herself for the trip back to the hotel. 'I'm gonna go back, or they're gonna worry. Though they're still going to worry about you, but that's your choice.'

She turned and began to walk toward the main road. Her heart beat at en ever increasing rate, her mind scolding her for her brazen move.

Kazuichi turned to watch her leave, but thought for a few seconds before acting. She kissed me?! No, she kissed my cheek... wait does that mean...? NO! That...th-that was just a sign of friendship... y-yeah that was it.

He wasn't convinced, and his encounter with Mahiru left him with more shit to think about. But that didn't stop him from calling her to wait up as he followed her to the road.

He wasn't sure whether or not the others truly did like him. He was most definitely not sure what that kiss was about. But he was sure of one thing. Mahiru was the first person on the island to accept Kazuichi, to consider him a friend. And that meant a lot to him.

As he walked back to the hotel with his new friend, he had a thought. One that he would not chicken away from. A deathly promise he would keep, no matter what.

I will not let her die on this island.

OMG THAT FORESHADOWING!

Also, hey, wassup. If your here from the 'Your Name' fic I'm doing, yeah I know. Shoulda been doing that. But I started to replay SDR2 and got this little idea for my OTP. So yeah. My bad.

Honestly, I think this could of been better. It could have been better paced and Mahiru's attraction to Kazuichi could of been explained better. But I'm still happy with the end result.

Anyway, did you enjoy that? Did you hate it? Did you finally realise that Kazukoi is the one true Danganronpa ship?! (That is besides Hinanami, Kuzupeko and... Mukoto? Makuro? Don't know the ship name for that one) Well then please leave a review. It helps me understand what was good, what could be done better and what was bad. Which helps me make better shit. Which in the long run is better for everyone. Normally I would try to be funny here, but its really late.

So, later everyone! See you in a fic coming to soon!