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It had been three days since the most recent trial. Three awkward, quiet, dreadfully boring days. Kokichi was getting rather sick of the way everyone scurried around each other like frightened mice, hiding in their bedrooms or among their groups of friends.
He liked to think that he understood where their fear came from. This was a killing game, after all. Still, it bothered him. They were acting like there was some monster in the shadows that would simply leap out and grab them, but that wasn't the case. Every single death had been the fault of one of them . In his opinion it was no different than the idea that you might meet a serial killer by chance in your day to day life and never know. Everyone in this school had the potential to be a killer. Everyone.
However, knowing that fact didn't make it any less shocking when Kokichi entered the game room in the basement, and discovered the most horrifying thing he had ever seen in his life. Kokichi's eyes went wide, and for what felt like an eternity, all he could do was stare at the scene before him as his heart dropped.
There was blood all over the floor, and smeared down the wall in one spot. Furniture had been knocked over and thrown around erratically. Worst of all, in the center of that blood, slumped on the floor with his back against the wall, was Shuichi.
He didn't know how long he had been standing there, frozen in shock, when the detective let out a low, agonized moan. Despite how much blood he had lost, Shuichi was alive! That realization was enough to snap Kokichi out of his shock and into action, and he rushed to Shuichi, kneeling beside him.
"Shumai! Shumai?! Can you hear me?!"
The detective just barely opened his eyes, groaning again as he tried to lift his head, resulting in it rolling back instead of hanging forward. His eyes were just barely open, and Kokichi couldn't even attempt to understand the sharp pain it sent through his heart seeing Shuichi like this.
"Fuck- fuck- shit- fuck- hold on, Shuichi! Please !" He said frantically as terror and panic ripped down all of his walls and masks. He wasn't sure when he'd started crying, but he could feel the tears running down his face as he took off his white jacket, revealing a black tank top underneath, and pressed it over the two deep gashes in Shuichi's stomach. Shuichi whimpered, which made Kokichi feel absolutely terrible, but he knew this was necessary. Pressure would stop the bleeding. He knew that much, at least. Still... what could he do on his own? He needed help, and fast.
As carefully and tightly as he could manage, Kokichi tied his jacket into place over the wounds, thankful that they were so close together. "Okay... that will have to do... just hang on, Shumai, I'm going to get help." He promised, even though it seemed that the detective had fallen unconscious. His knees felt like jelly as he stood, but he forced himself to stay upright. He then turned around and sprinted off as fast as he could, heart thundering loudly in his chest. He hated to leave Shuichi alone when he was like that, but he didn't know enough about first aid to save him.
He raced outside and towards the dorms, intending on pounding on doors until he found somebody to help, but instead he nearly ran directly into Maki and Kaito.
"Hey, watch where you're-!"
"Shut up!" Kokichi snapped with uncharacteristic anger. "Somebody tried to kill Shuichi, he needs help!" As soon as he said it, Kokichi knew it was true. It was the only explanation for Shuichi's injuries, and the mess in the room.
"What?!" Kaito shouted, sounding outraged, while Maki's expression barely changed at all. "What the hell did you-"
"Take us to him." The Ultimate Assassin interrupts, her voice cold and unshakably calm.
Kokichi nodded, quickly spinning around and sprinting back the way he had come, praying that somehow Shuichi would be okay. He could hear the footsteps of the others close behind him. He was going so fast that he nearly fell down the stairs as he led the others into the basement.
When they reached the game room, Kaito froze the way Kokichi previously had, while Maki sprang into action, kneeling beside the fallen detective and checking for a pulse. "He's alive, but he's weak. We need to stop the bleeding."
Kokichi nodded and ran off again, not bothering to tell the others his plan. There was no time for that, and he really didn't care what they thought he was doing anyway.
His mind was firing off almost as quickly as his heart, thoughts flying like bullets. Shuichi, his rival, one of the few people in this game that Kokichi may have kind of sort of cared about, was hurt, and probably dying, and he couldn't stand that thought. He knew that anyone could be a target in a game like this, but... Shuichi? Kind, brave, clever Shuichi, had seemed almost invincible in the face of all the chaos. What would Kokichi do without him? Who would he play mind games with? Who would he antagonize?
His thoughts were interrupted when he nearly ran right into the storage room door. He threw the door open and began looking through the room frantically. There had to be bandages somewhere. Anywhere!
His thoughts were still running wild. Kokichi had never felt so panicked before. Shuichi couldn't die. He couldn't! Kokichi wasn't certain of why, but he felt like he needed the detective to live. He needed things to be okay. He would give anything to go back to being bored.
One hundred years passed in five minutes as Kokichi took out his sense of panic on the shelves, practically tearing the storage room apart, before finally finding a single dusty first aid kit tucked away behind a shelf. He picked it up and returned to the game room as fast as he could, though he paused for a moment outside the door to catch his breath and regain his composure. He wasn't freaking out. He was completely fine. He definitely wasn't crying only a short while ago.
When he entered, he was shocked to see that Shuichi was gone.
"What the fuck?! Where is he?!"
"On the couch in the back room." Kaito said flatly, leaning against the door of said room. "Maki and I moved him so he wouldn't have to stay on the floor."
Kokichi nodded and tried to push past Kaito to give Maki the first aid kit, but was surprised when Kaito stopped him.
"What the fuck?! Let me in!"
"No. You're not going anywhere near him. How do we know you didn't do this?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! If I did this, do you really think I would be trying to help?!"
"I never fucking know with you. All I know is that my best friends are in that room, one of them is dying, and the killer might come back to finish the job! So no, I'm not letting you in."
Kokichi huffed in annoyance and nearly hit Kaito with the first aid kit. "Here. Give this to Maki. There should be something useful in there." Or at the very least, he hoped so.
Kaito looked mildly confused, but he nodded and took the kit, then turned and entered the room.
Something he had said really stuck with Kokichi. The killer might come back and finish the job. That sent chills down his back. Somebody did this. Somebody had gone out of their way to hurt Shuichi, who definitely didn't deserve it! Kokichi took a slow breath, looked around the room, and made a decision. He would find out who did this. He almost felt like he had to.
But where to start? Kokichi may have been smart, but he was no detective. Still, he had watched Shuichi's investigations enough times… surely he could figure it out?
No, he had to figure it out. Whoever had done this wasn't going to go unpunished. So, he decided he would start with the obvious. The bloodstains everywhere.
He walked over, and looked at the place where Shuichi had previously been lying. Most of the blood was pooled around where he had been sitting, but there was also some splattered on the overturned furniture, and streaked down the wall. It almost looked as if he had been backed up against the wall when he was stabbed, and had more or less slid down the wall as he'd started to bleed out. There was a significant amount of blood too. How long had Shuichi been here, alone, in pain, and bleeding out?
Kokichi tried his best to ignore the way that thought made his heart ache. Surely that was just pity. Yeah, he felt bad for the detective. That was all. Nothing more to it.
Right?
"What are you doing?" Kaito's voice pulled Kokichi from his thoughts.
Putting on a mask was easy. A smile, spin on his heel instead of just looking over his shoulder like a normal person would, a slight tilt of the head, and suddenly nobody would even guess how worried he was.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm investigating !"
"What? Why?! Shuichi isn't dead, you asshole, so don't start acting like this is a murder!"
"It's still attempted murder, space cadet." He rolled his eyes, letting a teasing tone enter his voice. "Look, someone did this, and they're still here in this school. You said it yourself, they might even come back and finish the job. Now, I don't know about you, but I happen to have noticed that Shuichi handles the trials better than the rest of us. He's the reason we're all still alive. I would hate to get killed just because someone stupid thought they could get away with murder, wouldn't you?"
Kaito watched him and for a moment, Kokichi was pretty sure he was about to get sucker punched, but then something in the astronaut's eyes softened.
"...you really didn't do this."
"No shit! I already said that!"
Kaito just sighs. "Maki mentioned something when we were moving him. She pointed out a bunch of little cuts all over his arms." The information was probably the closest thing Kokichi would get to an apology from Kaito, but he really didn't mind that.
"Cuts like-
"Defensive injuries." Kaito quickly clarifies. "His clothes are kind of ripped up too."
"That combined with the way everything was thrown around almost definitely means that he tried to fight back." Of course he tried to fight back. Shuichi may have been a little too trusting at times, but he was no pushover.
"Yeah… something like that. Maki said thanks for the first aid kit, by the way. It will take some time for her to get him stable, but she thinks she can do it."
"Who would have guessed that the Ultimate Assassin also knows how to save lives?"
Kaito huffed. "She said something about needing to patch herself up a lot. Which makes sense, I guess. If she can save him, I don't really care how it's possible."
Kokichi felt much the same, though he wouldn't say so. Some part of him, deep down, genuinely hoped that Shuichi would survive this.
He turned his back on Kaito to continue his investigation. He wasn't sure how much else in this room would be of use. Nothing immediately caught his attention, and he was about to leave, when he saw it. A small black streak on the wall, near an overturned arcade machine. He went over to get a closer look.
It was barely noticeable, but it was definitely there. A shiny black smudge on the wall. He was standing close enough now to tell that it smelled of oil.
Unfortunately, Kokichi could only think of one person who was likely to have had oil on their hands, and really, it wasn't even a person.
Actually, now that he thought about it, that made sense. Who but a cold, uncaring machine could have done this to Shuichi?
"You're going to make sure nobody fucks with them, right?" He asked, turning to Kaito.
"Of course."
"Great. I'll be back."
"Where are you going?
"To avenge Shuichi." With a cheerful wave, Kokichi walked out before Kaito could question if you can avenge someone that's still alive.
The walk upstairs felt like it was passing in slow motion, each step taking way longer than it should have. With everyone hiding, and without Shuichi to bother, everything felt too quiet. It felt like the world was holding its breath. It felt… wrong.
This whole thing felt wrong. Kokichi still couldn't wrap his head around how this could have happened. Everyone liked Shuichi.
Or at least, everyone seemed to. Hell, Kokichi would never admit it to the guy's face, but even he liked Shuichi. He always made things more interesting, and was easily the most exciting of all Kokichi's "classmates". He was clever, and quick, and maybe a little too kind for his own good, and-
He shook his head, stopping himself before he could let the thought go too far. He liked that Shuichi was different, and appreciated him as a rival, and that was it .
Though, that didn't necessarily explain the rage he felt when he pounded the door of K1-B0's Ultimate lab. He was usually there during the day, so that had been Kokichi's first guess on where to find him.
"Hello?" The robot sounded confused as it opened the door.
Upon seeing its face, all that rage Kokichi had been trying to ignore very suddenly hit a boiling point. He took a slow breath, putting as much energy as he could spare into not flying off the handle.
If there was one thing that Kokichi was good at, however, it was lying. It came naturally. In the split second that it had taken for all those thoughts to cross his mind, he had painted a false smile across his face, as easily as breathing.
"Hey Kee-boy," a fake carefree tone always took a ridiculous amount of control. In another life, Kokichi could have been an actor. "Have you been in the basement recently?" It was quite possibly too obvious of a question, but what else could he do?
"The basement? No, why?"
The cluelessness in its face only increased the heat of Kokichi's already simmering anger. No way in hell was this robot that stupid.
"Oh, no reason. I was just curious. Can I come in?" It was a rhetorical question, as Kokichi had already slipped past K1-B0 and into the lab. His eyes darted all over, looking for some kind of evidence. A hint or a clue, hell, a smoking gun would be nice so he could wrap this up quickly.
However, nothing immediately stood out to him. The lab was fairly clean, but not suspiciously so, there was nothing that even vaguely resembled blood, and K1-B0 seemed genuinely confused. Well, as genuinely confused as an unfeeling robot could be.
Damn it, Shuichi had made this detective stuff look so easy. The longer this went on, the more Kokichi missed him. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Shuichi didn't-
No. He wasn't going to think about that. Not now. Revenge first, feelings later.
"What do you want, Kokichi?"
"What do you mean? I can't spend time with my friend?"
"I thought you didn't like me."
K1-B0 was right, as much as Kokichi hated agreeing with it. Lying was one thing, but something that wasn't human trying to convince people that is was, was a different matter entirely, and Kokichi was equally fascinated and disgusted by the idea.
He didn't let any of that show, though. His only interest was in vengeance for his favourite detective.
"Nevermind that. What have you been up to today?"
"You are asking me a lot of questions, Kokichi."
"Is that a problem? It's not like you have anything to hide."
"I suppose that is true, but you are making me nervous."
Nervous? God, this robot was obnoxious. He hated that he couldn't just get right to the point with this, but at the same time he couldn't just show his hand like that. He began to walk around the lab as he bickered with the robot, trying and failing to find anything that looked incriminating. After all, even he wouldn't accuse someone of attempted murder with no evidence.
"Why would you be nervous?" There wasn't anything obvious, and starting to dig through drawers would be way too overt.
"Because I know you do not like me, and you are acting strangely."
"Am I acting strange? Or are you just paranoid?"
"I doubt that."
"Why?" He takes a step closer to K1-B0, who had been following him around as he'd paced the room. " Everyone is paranoid right now, why wouldn't you be?"
"I… um… that is to say…"
"Maybe you think you're safe." This strange anger was really getting the better of him today, but Kokichi tries to use it to his advantage and appear intimidating. "Is that it?"
"Safe from what? Kokichi, you are not making much sense!"
"And you're playing dumb."
"I am not-"
"You really expect me to believe that you have no idea what I'm talking about?"
" Yes! I do not know what you are talking about!"
Kokichi gives the room one last visual sweep, before dropping the intimidation act. "Okay."
"...you believe me?"
"Sure. Forget I said anything."
"I cannot just forget things, Kokichi. Now, what were you talking about?"
He doesn't acknowledge the question. "Alright, thanks, bye!" He slips out, slams the door behind him, and quickly finds a hiding spot to duck into in case K1-B0 tries to follow him out. Fortunately, he doesn't, and after a few moments, Kokichi walks away.
Fuck. Fuck. Kokichi had no idea what he was doing, and he absolutely knew it. He was rarely ever one to come up with a plan, but that philosophy was really getting the best of him here.
He needed to keep looking. There was an answer somewhere, he knew it. But for now, he wanted to return to the games room and check on Shuichi. He told himself, over and over, that he was just curious. He just wanted to know if Shuichi was alright. He didn't need to know. He didn't care . He just…
He just felt a horrible ache in his chest when he thought about it. It had only been a few hours, and he already missed Shuichi horribly. There was a difference between not being around him, and knowing he might never see him again, and it was a difference that Kokichi felt keenly, like a black hole following him. He couldn't keep something in mind to tell or tease Shuichi about later, because Shuichi was dying. He couldn't think up jokes or mind games to try out on the detective, because he might never see him again. He couldn't…
He couldn't stand this.
He needed to know if Shuichi was okay. He couldn't imagine surviving this dreadful place without him.
He wasn't sure he wanted to.
Sure, Kokichi may have talked a lot about killing someone and winning the game, but it was all bullshit. What he enjoyed was playing the game, seeing what it did to people, calling them on their bluffs. But winning? What was the point in that? Everyone would die, his fun would be over, and sure maybe he could go home to his organization, but would it feel the same? Would running D.I.C.E. be as fun as it used to, now that he'd had a taste of something different? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know either.
These thoughts occupied him until he reached the bottom of the stairs. He paused there to compose himself once again. He didn't really want Kaito, of all people, knowing how much he cared.
Kaito looked up as Kokichi entered the room. "So, how'd that vengeance go?"
"Not as well as I would have liked." Kokichi admitted with a shrug, offering no other information. "How's Shuichi?"
"Maki is still working on him. She thinks we should wait at least until he wakes up before we try to move him. And of course the fucking monokids had to show up, just to rub it in our faces that they couldn't help us because if he dies it's a murder."
Kokichi rolled his eyes. He couldn't help but sympathize with Kaito's annoyance. "Fuck, I hate those things."
"Me too."
The moment of solidarity between the two of them resulted in a brief silence, before Kaito awkwardly cleared his throat.
"I'm glad you found him."
"Huh?" Kokichi was momentarily taken aback by the sincerity in the other's voice.
"I mean it. If you hadn't gotten to him in time…" the astronaut let his sentence trail off, and then his eyes narrowed a little. "Why were you down here, anyway?"
Kokichi was unsure of how to respond. He didn't want Kaito to start suspecting him, but telling the truth didn't seem like the best option either.
"I was just wandering around and happened to end up here."
"Yeah, right." Kaito grumbled.
"It's true!" It wasn't.
"I don't believe that. You, of all people, just happened to find Shuichi, who pretty much never comes down here. I'm not sure why he was here either but something isn't adding up."
"Maybe you need to get better at math?" He'd always wondered how it was so easy to fake a smile.
"Listen here you little-"
The door behind Kaito opened, interrupting him and nearly making him fall over. Kokichi tried not to laugh at his and Maki's startled expressions.
Maki cleared her throat, and the mood immediately returned to being more serious. "I managed to stop the bleeding and stitch up the wounds. I can't guarantee anything, but hopefully he'll be okay. Those wounds were pretty severe."
Kokichi thought for a moment, and an idea popped into his head. "You know a lot about weapons, don't you Maki? What was used to do that to him?"
"I'm not sure it even was a weapon, to be completely honest. The wounds were more like rips or tears than like the kind of cuts a blade makes, and they certainly weren't bullet wounds."
"Rips?" Kokichi frowned. That must have hurt like hell.
"Yeah. Whatever was used was probably a bit dull. Not to mention it looks like they were trying to be fast, or maybe they were panicking. He has a lot of defensive injuries."
Panicking, dull weapon, oil… shit. Kokichi was pretty sure he knew exactly who was responsible for this, and he felt stupid for not figuring it out sooner.
He drew a slow breath, refusing to let his anger show in his expression, and turned to walk away.
"Where are you going now?!" Kaito called after him, but Kokichi was already running off. He had a lot of stairs to climb.
He felt a little stupid for having immediately blamed K1-B0. He'd been so focused on that, that the idea of a different suspect hadn't even crossed his mind.
But if he was right about who was responsible… what would he even do about it? Killing was out of the question, obviously, but maybe he could convince the others to help lock her up?
He'd have to cross that bridge when he got to it, he guessed. For now, he would do things his way, and the others could be mad about it later. He really didn't care.
Before long, Kokichi had reached Miu's room. Nobody answered and, unsurprisingly, the door was locked.
Kokichi was about to turn and leave when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. A few small, almost unnoticeable droplets of blood on the ground. He silently cursed himself for taking so long. Clearly Miu had gotten changed in the time it had taken for him to figure out who was responsible, and whatever she had used in a weapon was probably inside her room. He considered trying to break in, but thought better of it. He would try it if things came down to a trial. For once, he found himself hoping that wouldn't happen.
Since Miu wasn't in her room, Kokichi decided to try the next most likely place. She would probably be trying to keep herself busy and possibly set up an alibi. He decided he'd try the room with the large computer in it.
He didn't even bother knocking when he arrived, he just went in.
Miu was working on the complicated machine, just as Kokichi had thought she might be.
"Hey!"
She squeaked and nearly bashed her head on what she was working on, then quickly turned around. "The hell do you want?"
That intense anger was still bubbling in Kokichi's core, but he kept it contained as he casually strode toward her with the carefree smile he wore like a disguise. "What'cha working on?"
"I'm trying to get this computer to cooperate!"
"Is that so?" Kokichi was already scanning the room, much like he had in K1-B0's lab, looking for anything out of place or suspicious.
"Yeah, now can you leave me alone? It's delicate work." Miu seemed jittery. She was shifting and playing with the hem of her skirt as she spoke, leaving black stains on the material.
"Oh, come on, you're not that busy. And it's not like it's going to go somewhere." He looked closer at the specific part that Miu had been working on.
"Kokichi, I mean it! Get out!" She whined, trying to pull him away from the computer. But something had already caught Kokichi's attention.
"That piece there." He pointed out the part in question. "Why is it a different colour than everything else?"
"Hell if I know."
"That looks like paint on it. Almost as if you took it from one of the machines in the games room."
Miu didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Kokichi could see the panic in her eyes, and that was enough. He smirked.
"So it was you."
"W-what are you talking about, Kokichi? Is this another one of your tricks? Because if it is, I swear-"
"No, no, it's not a trick." He could hear the malice seeping into his own voice as he began to lose his careful hold on his anger. "So how did you do it?"
"Do what? You're not making any sense!"
This again. But she didn't sound confused, like K1-B0 had. She sounded scared.
"I'm making perfect sense, and I think you know that."
"Kokichi-"
"Stop playing dumb. You know what you did, I know what you did, we don't need to make this difficult."
"Shut up!"
"It wasn't even that hard to figure it out. You may be good with machines, but you're not very smart."
"Shut up !"
He had her cornered now.
"Why did you kill Shuichi?"
Miu's blue eyes were bright with panic. The room was completely quiet for what felt like forever, and then Miu broke down, tears of fear and anger running down her face.
"I saw the chance and I took it, okay?! I was getting a part, and he walked in, and… and… none of us stood a chance of winning with him in the way anyway!"
Kokichi couldn't help but laugh. It was a cold, cruel laugh. "So you stabbed him. You stabbed him with a shard of scrap metal." That last bit was a guess, but the way Miu winced told him it was likely true.
"I-I've been keeping a sharp piece with me for self defense-"
"But it wasn't self-defense. You don't have any injuries. He did nothing to deserve this."
"None of us deserve this!" Miu argued.
She was right. He knew she was right. Still, this couldn't go unpunished. He pulled back and made a fist, and then he hit her as hard as he could.
Miu let out an undignified yelp and staggered back. With her off balance, it was easy enough for Kokichi to push her to the ground. After that, he ripped a piece of cord out of the computer, and used it to tie her hands behind her back, and then tied the loose end to the massive computer itself. He could figure out what to do about her later.
"By the way, your dumb ass missed something pretty important." He told her, unable to resist rubbing her failure in her face.
"What?" She spat.
"Didn't you notice? There was no body discovery announcement. Shuichi is alive."
He felt a rush of satisfaction at the horror in Miu's eyes. With that, he turned to walk away, closing the door behind him.
Now that Shuichi's would-be killer was no longer a threat, Kokichi returned to the games room, intent on making sure the detective was okay.
Kokichi's once hot anger became something cold and uncomfortable as he descended the stairs. There was nothing left to be mad at, so now all he had left was this squirming worry in his stomach, as though he'd eaten a fistful of worms.
He quickened his pace a little, not keen on sitting with that awful feeling. He had nothing to worry about. Shuichi would be okay.
Wouldn't he?
No, he couldn't think like that. He was not going to start crying again! Shuichi would be fine! He had to be!
He shook his head, as if trying to shake off the question, as he continued speed-walking down the stairs. He didn't like the direction his thoughts were going, and he desperately wanted to ignore them, but they were just too prominent.
Kokichi had never worried about someone this much before. Even when members of D.I.C.E., people he considered family, were hurt, he hadn't felt this cold, all-consuming dread.
The feeling just wouldn't let up. All he could see in his mind's eye was that scene he had walked into what felt like forever ago now. Shuichi, on the floor, in pain and bleeding out, all alone. It made him feel sick, but he couldn't stop thinking about Shuichi. Was this game even worth playing without him?
Was anything worthwhile without him?
Kokichi silently cursed himself. He'd messed up. He'd gotten too close to Shuichi. He'd gotten attached.
Or maybe something worse.
That thought only made Kokichi more nervous. It shouldn't have been possible, and yet… it felt correct. He hadn't just gotten attached. This was something more. It ran deeper. Sure, he had been close to others before, but even then, he had never felt like the world would just stop spinning and collapse in on itself if they died. He really couldn't imagine trying to go on without Shuichi.
Damn it! Had he really been stupid enough to fall in love while in a killing game?!
His thoughts were interrupted when he realized he had reached the bottom of the stairs, and had just been stewing in his emotions for a few minutes.
"Fuck…"
He sighed and returned to the games room. Surprisingly, Kaito was no longer guarding the door to the back area. Kokichi felt a prickle of apprehension as he approached the door, but he didn't let that stop him as he pushed his way in.
And immediately found Kaito and Maki standing there, looking angrier than Kokichi had ever seen them.
"It's about time." Kaito said flatly, crossing his arms. "Care to explain?"
"Explain what, exactly?" Kokichi took a half step backwards, and he saw Maki tense. If he ran, she would probably chase him down, and she was definitely faster than him. "I went off to find-"
"Not that." Maki interrupted. "We know who's responsible for this."
"Good. She's tied up in-"
"It's you."
Kokichi's heart began to race. This was bad . "What?"
"We know it was you." Kaito practically snarled. "We found your little note!"
"My note…" Right. That. He had been hoping, the whole time, that Shuichi hadn't kept it on him, but apparently he had. "Look, I can explain!"
"Then you'd better do it quickly." Maki's tone of voice implied what wasn't said out loud. If his answer was unsatisfactory, she would have no issues with crushing his windpipe.
"Look… I…" Was there a point in trying to lie his way out of this? They had him trapped here, and if he refused to tell them, this wasn't going to go well. "...okay, yes, I left Shuichi a note telling him to meet me here, but I swear I didn't do this!"
"Then why were you meeting here?" Kaito looked unimpressed.
Kokichi sighed. "It's stupid."
"We'll be the judge of that. Now fucking tell us!"
"I… I was going to try to coerce him into watching a scary movie with me." The guilt gnawed at him from the inside.
"...you seriously expect us to believe that?" Maki glared at him.
"I-it's true!" He said defensively. "I even found the one actually responsible! It was-"
Kokichi was cut off by a weak groan. Kaito and Maki looked at each other, and then both raced over to the couch, with Kokichi close behind them.
Shuichi's eyes had fluttered open, and though he definitely still looked dazed, he was alive. He was alive, and that was what mattered.
"What happened…?" He mumbled.
"You were attacked." Maki made absolutely no attempt to soften the blow.
"Yeah, by this asshole!" Kaito then grabbed Kokichi by the collar of his shirt, causing him to let out a small gasp of surprise.
Shuichi looked very confused as he stared at the two of them, as if trying to recall something, and then he shook his head. "No… wasn't Kokichi… he came in a few minutes after… I remember hearing his voice before I passed out."
"See! I told you!" Kokichi snapped as Kaito let go of him. Once he was no longer being held in place, he moved closer to Shuichi. "It was Miu, wasn't it?"
Shuichi nodded slowly. "How'd you know?"
"I decided it was my turn to play detective." Kokichi said with a dismissive shrug, as though it had been the easiest thing in the world.
Shuichi laughed quietly, then winced. Kokichi felt a pang of guilt at that.
"You really did an entire investigation for me?"
"Of course I did."
Kokichi heard footsteps behind him, and looked over his shoulder just in time to see Kaito and Maki leave. Kokichi couldn't help but wonder if they were embarrassed about being wrong, or if they were actually nice enough to let him have a moment alone with Shuichi. He wasn't sure he really cared, though.
"You know… you really had me worried, Shumai. And that's not a lie. I was scared that… that I'd never see you again." He felt the beginnings of tears stinging his eyes, and quickly tried to blink them away.
"You were worried about me?"
"Of course I was. I…" he paused, unsure if he could say much else. "I would miss our little games too much."
Shuichi gave a weak smile, and Kokichi felt his heart skip a beat. It was good to have his detective back. "I don't think you're lying, but I don't think you're telling the whole truth either."
The detective knew him too well. Kokichi sighed. "Okaaaaaay, maybe I care about you just a little bit."
"Just a little bit?"
Kokichi could feel his face heat up. Nothing was harder to hide than blushing. "...yeah, just a little bit."
Shuichi took his hand, and Kokichi felt himself tense.
"You saved my life. You know that, right? If you hadn't been there-"
"Don't." He's a little surprised by the softness in his own voice. "You're alive, that's the important part. The rest, I couldn't care less about."
"Still… thank you."
"You can thank me by not letting this happen ever again, got it?"
Shuichi nodded. "Wasn't planning on it."
"Good."
Kokichi would have been content to leave the conversation there, and never acknowledge the other thoughts he'd been having, but Shuichi clearly knew him better than that.
"Something's on your mind."
"Yeah, no shit." Kokichi crosses his arms. "I just spent all day investigating your almost-murder. I have a lot to think about."
"Kokichi-"
Kokichi sighed heavily. "Look, my head's a messy place, alright? Just drop it."
"Okay, sorry…" Shuichi frowned, and Kokichi felt his heart twist up in knots. He couldn't do this.
"...listen, you're safe now, okay? I won't let anybody else mess with you. Except for me, obviously."
Shuichi stayed quiet, and Kokichi started to panic internally. Had he done something wrong? Did the detective hate him now?
Thankfully, the detective broke the silence after a few moments. "Why did you want to investigate, anyway?"
"I wanted revenge."
"Revenge?"
"Yeah, nobody is allowed to kill you except for me!"
Shuichi rolled his eyes at the shitty joke, but Kokichi could see him smiling. "Right. I almost forgot."
"Well you'd better not forget again, because I…" His voice faltered. Everything was coming to the surface now, and Kokichi felt completely exposed. He cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly. "...I can't imagine playing this game without you, Shumai. If you hadn't survived, I don't know what I would have done."
Shuichi lightly squeezed Kokichi's hand. "I believe you."
In any other context, that wouldn't have meant much. But here, now, coming from Shuichi? To Kokichi, that was everything .
Unfortunately, they were still in a killing game, and Kokichi knew there were more disasters to come. As much as he loved mind games, playing with someone's heart was an entirely different matter.
"...I should probably go. You need to rest, and-"
"Can you stay? Just for a little while?"
"...fine." He really didn't have it in him to say no.
"Thank you."
Kokichi didn't respond. He didn't know what to say, and some part of him was absolutely terrified that if he opened his mouth, everything he knew he shouldn't say would come spilling out.
They sat there in silence for a while. Eventually, Shuichi passed out again. Kokichi sighed quietly and stood up, letting go of the detective's hand. He went to exit the room, but hesitated before opening the door.
Kokichi found himself turning back and looking through the room's many shelves, until he found what he wanted. A blanket. He gently draped it over the sleeping detective and, unable to restrain himself from doing so, pressed a soft kiss to Shuichi's forehead.
"I'm glad you're alive." He whispers, before once more heading to the door. He steps out, not acknowledging Kaito and Maki as he exits the games room. They probably had questions, and he wasn't interested in answering them.
The walk to his room was much too quiet, as if the world was holding its breath. The weight of his own feelings pulled heavily on his heart, but he knew better than to pursue them. He could live with this ache. He knew now that it was easier to cope with than the idea of losing Shuichi for good.
A strange cold feeling settled over Kokichi as he laid in his bed wishing, possibly for the first time, that he wasn't alone. When he did fall asleep, his dreams only tortured him further.
He wished his mind could be as quiet as the rest of the world.