Kokichi was not one to wake up early.

Like most people, he valued his sleep time a lot—perhaps even more so.

Today was different, however. Today, Kokichi was on a mission. A mission that might very well change the course of life itself...

"Operation: Get Kaede a Boyfriend is officially a go!"

Speaking into his hand as if a walkie-talkie were actually there, Kokichi turned to face Miu and Rantaro. All three of them were gathered in a rather secluded part of the school's courtyard.

"Hell yeah!" an enthusiastic Miu exclaimed. "Let's fuckin' do this!"

"Still not exactly sure why I'm here..." Rantaro said.

"I need someone to pin the blame on when Kaede finds out we did this," was Kokichi's answer. Rantaro opened his mouth to reply, only for Kokichi to speak again.

"Anyway, here's the plan: Kaito's gonna walk in through those gates," he gestured behind him to the path that led from the courtyard to the street, where the gates were, "in about five minutes. When he does, Miu and I are gonna go up to him and get his number. And if we can't get it, or something unexpected happens, that's when you'll come in, 'Taro. Any questions?"

"No, I got it," Rantaro replied, "but why do you need Kaito's number? And what's your plan after you get his number?"

"I'm gonna put it in Kaede's phone, duh." Kokichi pulled out said phone from his pocket and flashed it to the other two, the piano charm attached to it gleaming in the morning sun.

Rantaro raised an eyebrow. "How did you—Actually, nevermind. I've known you for far too long to be asking that. Don't you think Kaede will realize her phone's missing?"

Kokichi waved a dismissive hand. "Pfft, Kaede's in the music room. As long as she's in there, she won't even notice it's gone."

"Alright, then... Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Great!" Kokichi checked the time on the phone before pocketing it. "Alright, it's 7:30 right now, so..." He turned around to see students sporadically entering the school, and his smile grew wider. "Even better! He's here right now. C'mon, Miu, let's go!"

As Miu and Kokichi left the courtyard, Rantaro leaned against the side of the school building. "I guess I'll hang back here, then."

Meanwhile, Kaito was currently engrossed in his phone as he strolled through the school's gates. Reading about how a solar eclipse was supposed to happen two weeks from now tended to do that to him, and to the point where he barely registered the fact that someone was trying to get his attention—or, rather, two someones.

It wasn't until a fingerless gloved hand snatched his phone that he finally looked up. "Hey, what the hell?!"

Kaito's annoyance grew deeper once he realized who the two people standing in front of him were—his classmates, Kokichi and Miu.

Great. Those were the last two people he wanted to see this early in the morning. Unfortunately, he knew that ignoring them wouldn't do much, so instead, he snatched his phone back from Miu, glaring at her and Kokichi as he pocketed it.

"What do you guys want?"

"Alright, alright, I'll spare you the boring parts and cut to the chase," Kokichi spoke. "We need your number."

Kaito blinked. "What? You mean my phone number? And why the hell would I even give that to you?"

Kokichi rolled his eyes. "Jeez, Kaito, relax. I'm not trying to hit on you, if that's what you're thinking—you're not my type anyways. One of my friends are interested in you, actually."

Kaito had to do a double-take at that. Someone had a crush on him? And assuming Kokichi was telling the truth, why hadn't he noticed it before? Was he really that oblivious?

At the same time, though, a small part of him kinda hoped it was true, because that meant there was a (admittedly small) chance that it could be her that liked him.

"I know, I was shocked too," Kokichi commented, pulling Kaito out of his thoughts.

"Right?!" Miu cackled. "Who knew someone could fall for a dumbass like you?" At the glare Kaito gave her, she almost immediately wilted. "H-Hey, calm down... I-It was just a joke, you know..."

Kaito then directed his glare at Kokichi, eyes narrowed. "And why should I believe you?"

"Believe it or not—and considering that you're...you, it's probably the latter—Kaede told me that she had a crush on you."

"...Kaede?" Huh. So that small chance did end up becoming true. Who knew?

Kokichi and Miu stared at Kaito expectantly. "So?"

"So what?"

"Did you like her back or what, idiot?" Kokichi asked.

Kaito's mind blanked as he struggled for words. "Well, uh, I..."

Miu guffawed. "Ha! Look at his face! He's totally fuckin' whipped!"

Kaito turned to the side to try and hide the red blooming in his face, and he scratched the back of his neck. "I... I guess so, but... Won't it be a bit awkward trying to talk to her now? I mean, we're classmates and we haven't really talked to each other..."

"Who gives a shit?" Miu asked. "It doesn't matter if it's been two weeks or two months since you guys last talked, as long as you still like each other. Besides, what've you got to lose?"

As much as Kaito hated to admit it, she was right. He might well at least get to know Kaede and see what came out of it. And even if it didn't amount to anything, at least he wouldn't have to stress over what could've been.

Still, though... considering the fact that all of this was coming from Kokichi and Miu, of all people, Kaito couldn't help but have his doubts.

"Wait, you still haven't answered my question. What reason do I have to believe that any of this shit you're telling me is the truth?"

"How about I just give you her number, then?" Kokichi negotiated. "If I'm lying to you, you have full rights to yell at me."

Kaito stared at Kokichi long and hard for a few moments before doing the same to Miu. Then, he nodded.

"Fine."

"Great choice." Kokichi held his hand out, gesturing for Kaito to give him his phone.

Kaito grumbled and hesitantly gave the other boy his phone. "You better not steal it or I'm kicking your ass later."

Kokichi took the phone and did a bit of swiping and typing before giving it back to Kaito. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Kaito ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I gotta go now, so... See you later, I guess."

As Kaito walked past Miu and Kokichi, he was still perplexed by the whole situation. Why were they trying to help him get closer to his crush? Ultimately, he decided that trying to figure out why those two why and did anything was going to give him a headache, and just tried to push the matter aside.

Miu and Kokichi exchanged a glance soon Kaito disappeared inside the school building.

"Huh. That was easier than I thought it was going to be," Kokichi spoke first.

"Ditto," Miu agreed. "So, what the fuck are we gonna do now?"

"I'm going to the music room to give Kaede her phone back. In the meantime, why don't you think of a plan on how we're gonna get the other two couples together?"

With that, Kokichi sauntered away, leaving Miu to huff at his back. She muttered, "Of course that fucker leaves me here to do all the work. At least I'm the one in charge this time," before walking off as well.

All of this was either going to end absolutely horribly or absolutely perfectly.

Author's Note: And the second chapter is done! Shorter than the first one, but I hope you still enjoyed it nonetheless.

As always, thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts! I'll see you next time.

(Fun fact: This entire story was originally planned to be a pure chatfic. That was obviously changed, as you can see, although there will be a few instances of the characters texting each other throughout the fic.)