"Love" Letter

Disclaimer: I also do not own Persona 5 or Dangan Ronpa V3. They belong to ATLUS and Spike Chunsoft.

Summary: While trying to finish up a school report, Shuichi gets a phone call from Goro asking him to send a report on the current dragon sightings. As odd as of a request it was, Shuichi couldn't exactly refuse. Alas, the moment he turns away from his school report, a certain someone decides to ruin his report and leaving traces that point to the obvious culprit.

Pairing: Implied Shuichi/Kokichi

Rated: K+

Genre: Friendship and Humor

Warning: Cursing and unintentional OOC

Prompt from Tumblr (Admins °M° & Chamomile) and for the AUideas Advent Calendar "Extra Letters" AU.

So in this AU, I decided that Shuichi and Goro are colleagues when it comes to detective work. Then again, I want to see the reception before I think of anything else. Also, it's an excuse for the compare/contrast and it's still Smash Brothers because of all the characters involved. Enjoy!

In this story, Shuichi, Kokichi and Goro are all 19 years old.

Shuichi Saihara wasn't the most talkative individual. Yet, people usually went to him and asked him to do small favors for them. Being the person he was Shuichi found himself doing menial tasks while trying to balance out schoolwork and his work as a detective. Shuichi felt that he didn't deserve to be a detective seeing as how he just stumbled upon a hard to crack case on accident. The adults recognized his effort and allowed him a chance to pursue his dreams in being a detective. Alas, Shuichi still needed to take the classes needed even though they had already decided Shuichi was good enough to be considered an "Ultimate". Shuichi rolled his eyes whenever "Ultimate" came up. The concept of a school with the best at what they were doing was simply absurd. Shuichi felt it was an insult to those who worked hard to become what they were instead of having it handed down.

Because of that, Shuichi wanted to prove that he knew what he was doing in the field. The young detective made a bet with himself. If he graduated at the top of his class specifically in criminal justice, law enforcement and a few other classes, he would be satisfied with the title of Ultimate Detective the adults have labeled him as. Hell, he would be able to stand next to those who were successful detectives with a proud smile on his face.

Alas, that last part would take a while. Shuichi hated interacting with others and constantly struggled to look people in the eye. A requirement to becoming a detective included observing others and making deductions based on their body language. Shuichi struggled enough to even get on the emotional level as those he helps. But that didn't matter now. His grades came first. If he could get past the hard part, he would be in the clear.

That was why Shuichi was currently staying after class in one of the classrooms writing a report. He had one more week to turn it in but Shuichi had delayed getting anything started due to his job. The professor understood what he was doing outside of school and offered to extend the deadline just for the detective. Shuichi needed to prove he could do the report before the deadline and required no extension. When Shuichi forced himself to sit down and write, he managed to get a lot done. Granted, it would be easier to type it up, but Shuichi was the old fashion in a sense. First, he would write out the essay. Second, he would look over his paper and correct the mistakes he made. Then he would type it on the computer and repeat the process. This way, the professor could see the effort put into his assignment thus shooting his grade up even higher in the class. It was a full proof plan.

Shuichi had one more paragraph to write before someone had called him on his phone. The familiar ringtone made him it up.

"Hello? This is Saihara."

"You don't need to sound so formal with me Shuichi-kun."

Shuichi jumped at the light-hearted tone on the other end. A blush threatened to creep up on his face. "A-Akechi-kun…my apologies…do you need something from me?"

If there was a positive to being a detective, it was the connections he made. In this case, the connection ended up becoming a good friend that Shuichi trusted. Goro Akechi was everything that Shuichi wished to be. He was kind, charismatic and good with interacting with others. He had the perfect face and a nice body and he was smart to boot. His sense of justice was second to none. Shuichi wished he had the courage that his friend constantly displayed whether it was in the field or when on interviews.

Meanwhile, Shuichi was stuck in the office doing paperwork and doing the tasks that involved helping students with finding lost pets. Shuichi knew he could never do what Goro did…and he was rather contempt with that if it meant avoiding having to look at someone in the eye or observe a dead corpse.

"You know me Shuichi-kun. I need your great detective skills again."

Shuichi found himself pouting. "Very funny. You know I just do paperwork around the office."

"I know. You also gather more information than anyone else. Your research on topics such as the supernatural entities that plague our society have been the most useful."

Shuichi didn't know about that. Everything about the supernatural beings felt like a hoax. Shuichi has had his fair share of encounters but they could be labeled off as just a dream. The good thing is that Goro had also witnessed the same supernatural phenomenon and as a result Goro wouldn't consider him crazy. Goro was one of the few people who supported him and Shuichi was grateful for that.

"…So what do you need today?" Shuichi asked.

"This morning, there was a case of a woman with a baby dragon in her purse. Red had gotten bitten by the dragon. While the dragon seems harmless, I need you to pull information about the dragons and see if you can look into the woman named Branwen. I'm pretty sure she has a record somewhere."

"Oh…dragons this time…" Shuichi mumbled. "Okay…"

"Is there something wrong?" Goro asked. He sounded worried for him. "I'm heading to the university now so…"

"D-Don't worry about me! Just let me go to the computer lab and print out that report. You sent the information to me already, right?"

"I did. Can I ask that you make at least ten copies? I do need to deliver them to others to help with my investigation."

"I…I understand. Just meet me in the computer lab and I'll hand it to you."

With that, Shuichi ended the phone call. He quickly put a small note on top of his paper and quickly made his way to the lab. He had easy access to the database thanks to his detective status. All Shuichi really needed was to log in to the computer, get on his email and download whatever file Goro had sent him. Shuichi did say he would look into Branwen and dragons, but it seemed that Goro already had most of the info. He rolled his eyes thinking how the detective was just giving him stuff to do.

However, the file Shuichi downloaded was rather vague. Info on Branwen was scarce and dragon sightings were rare. Once Shuichi finished his paper, he would be doing his research for the rest of the evening. Goro could wait a couple of days…right?

Alas, once Goro did arrive after Shuichi printed the documents, the two only exchanged a few words before Goro took his leave. Why did Goro even need to visit him when Shuichi could have just faxed the papers to him? Was he worried for him or was it for another reason? Regardless, Shuichi was free to return to his original project and finish it before helping his detective comrade out.

It didn't take long for Shuichi to finally return to the classroom where he left his assignment. He trusted no one would touch his things given how he left a note saying not to touch it. Most people in the class were nice and wouldn't touch anything. This was one of the pros of being a detective. Alas, someone had decided to crush Shuichi's trust and did in fact touch his report.

You have got to be kidding me… Shuichi thought grimly to himself. He immediately rushed over to his assignment to see what was done to it. His expression darkened seeing the large amount of purple scribbled on his unfinished report. He didn't even need to think twice on who it was.

Shuichi picked up his report. The first thing he noticed was that a purple heart was drawn on the top right corner of his paper. The purple marks did have its purpose. Shuichi felt his eyebrow twitch seeing how this person corrected the mistakes on his unfinished essay. From crossing out certain words not to use to pointing out run on sentences, this person clearly knew what he was talking about. The problem was that the detective didn't want anyone editing his paper until he was finished. The person had the audacity to mock him about not finishing the report.

"When I find the person who did this…" Shuichi began. He closed his mouth in a weak attempt to stop talking to himself. The last thing he wanted was for someone to come into the classroom and see him mumbling curse words to himself.

The detective decided to turn the last page with all the citations to his report. There, he saw absolute hell.

The links he had specifically printed out were whited out. Now he would have to print it again. The hyperlinks were replaced by dating websites and a message saying, "You need to get laid." Finally, there was a phone number written in purple that took up most of the paper. After the phone number was the name of the person that messed up his report. Suffice to say, Shuichi was far from amused.

"Ouma-kun…the next time I see you, you better hope that your favorite Panta bottle is well hidden. You are not seeing that again…"

Me: Done with 2091 words. Notes!

1. This does pick up from the No Pet Zone fic. I changed POVs and confirmed that Goro is very much aware of the supernatural verse. He left in order to do his own investigation. Shuichi is aware of the supernatural but does a better job hiding that he knows unlike Goro.

2. Being an Ultimate in this universe isn't exactly a great thing. You can obtain the title by others but because there's no school for Ultimate students, it just puts a target mark on your back. People don't like when you flaunt around your status as being the best at something. It's why Shuichi keeps his head down seeing as how he's still a novice at being a detective. He's in the shadow of both Kyoko and Goro in this universe so the last thing he needs is to be in the spotlight and be judged for it.

3. Shuichi brings up a good point on how Goro already had the info but asked him to look up more facts on dragons and Branwen. Because Goro already has a good idea on the supernatural, he is able to do a quick document on them that makes it easy for other people involved with the supernatural to understand. However, Shuichi has the well-documented files and makes what Goro has look even better. So even if Goro is sort of using Shuichi, his data gathering skills are unmatched. Also, Goro does care for Shuichi like he does Akira with the first name basis for him while Shuichi insists on last name basis to be polite to someone he sees superior to him.

4. Kokichi is still a troll as you can see. If I get another prompt that allows me to continue, you bet I will focus on him.

That's it. Reviews are appreciated. Ja ne!