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Ever since Kokichi was a child, he had been taken advantage of by people tricking him, because they were older and smarter than him. Because they knew more than him.
But that's exactly why he learned to figure out things on his own.
He had always been alone.
He learned quickly, that there was only one way you're able to always hide your weaknesses. You just have to lie.
If you always lie you're practically invulnerable, right? There is no way anyone can ever know if they actually hurt him. Or if what they found out about him was actually true.
There is always the possibility, he could have lied.
And that's how he can always stand out on top and act like everything was part of his plan. Always.
Of course, he is also used to people antagonizing him because of that.
After all, who would want to be friends with a liar?
But he wasn't sad to be alone, it was better that way. Trusting someone also meant to let yourself openly be vulnerable.
And he would never do that.
That's why, one of the concepts that disgusted him the most were 'soulmates'.
He always claimed, he had no soulmate. That his soulmate died or something.
But that wasn't true. Almost every night he would stare at the ugly spot on his ankle and wish it was gone.
Sometimes he even thought, that maybe his soulmate really died.
There would probably never be a person, who can stand to be around him. And get to know the 'real' him.
Every time someone he knew found their soulmate, they instantly gravitated toward them. They seemed to lose all their common sense. Some of them even sacrificed themselves for no reason when their soulmate was in danger. Sometimes this even resulted in both of them dying when one person could have survived.
Kokichi could never imagine him doing something like that for anyone.
And this is also the very reason, he was hoping to never meet his soulmate.
He didn't want anyone following him like a lost puppy just because he happened to be their soulmate.
He didn't want anyone to like him superficially. But more importantly, he didn't want anyone to actually get to know him. Liking him for himself.
That would mean he would have to give away the only control he ever had over his life. And be at the mercy of said person.
Unfortunately, fate didn't really want to go his way. He did meet his soulmate when he was in school one day.
You were looking at him with curious eyes when he strangely stared at the symbol on your collarbone for longer than necessary.
Your soulmate mark... wait, maybe the reason he was staring was because...?
"Hey, cut it out with your creepy ogling at their chest!" Your friend shouted at him.
Huh? You didn't think he was doing that...
"Oops, totally caught me." He grinned and looked into your eyes now.
Oh, so he was really..?
"Seriously, get away you creep." They shouted once again.
"Awww, you're so mean..." the boy said, looking like he was a toddler about to cry. Still he didn't look truly sad. His eyes looked empty, like he was just pretending.
"I'll get going then, hehe." He grinned again. His demeanor changed so fast, that it caught both you and your friend off guard.
You didn't know why, but you felt like there was something about that person... like you would meet him again.
And fate graced you since you did meet him again. Over and over again.
It was strangely comical, how you would meet each other in the strangest of circumstances. You wondered if he really was your soulmate.
But he immediately shrugged you off, when you presented him your theory.
"No, way. I don't have a soulmate."
"You don't have one? But... everybody does..."
Even though it was common knowledge, there was strangely never anyone who confronted him with this, when he claimed he didn't have one.
Maybe people just didn't care enough? But you did.
"Yeah, you're right. I lied. It's actually a really sad story..." he trailed off, his face changing into one of sorrow.
...which was obviously fake. You wouldn't call yourself the best person at reading other's expressions in the world, but you could recognize that.
Which didn't mean he was bad at lying. At all actually... everyone seemed to always fall for his lies or think he was lying when he was telling the truth.
Everyone but you. Somehow you always knew when he was lying.
And it scared him.
"So, when I was very young, my soulmate tragically died in a car accident..." he continued his fake story.
"I know you're lying, you know..."
"That's kinda rude. You didn't even let me finish my fake story!" He fake cried.
"I don't know what it is in your past, that caused you to always lie, but you can drop your act around me."
He stayed silent for a while. Then he grinned. "Wow, someone is really an empath, huh?" He teased.
You didn't answer. You didn't know why he would lie about this.
If he really was your soulmate he would tell you, right?
But if he wasn't, he had no reason to lie to you.
"Okay, I'll tell you. It's true, you're my soulmate." He shrugged.
Huh?
You felt surprised when he said that. Surprised, because...
"Aww, you look shocked. So, you actually believed that? Too bad, because it's a l-"
"It's the truth."
That's why you were surprised.
You felt it the moment he said it. You felt, that it was the truth and could never be a lie.
Now, that he's finally said it, you actually knew for sure.
When you looked up at him, he didn't have his carefree smile anymore.
He looked weirdly worried.
He hated this. He hated, that you could see right through him.
He wanted to repeat his 'Uh... no. It's really a lie.' but he couldn't.
You would probably notice it, if he would lie again.
But there was no way, right? There was no way you could actually know.
He already accepted, after your countless 'coincidental' encounters, that he was was probably not able to get rid of you again.
But still, he hasn't accepted telling you the truth.
He wasn't able to. No matter how hard he tried.
Even if he did decide to keep you around, he still had to keep you in the dark about his real intentions.
How could he comfortably live with someone like that? Always seeing his weaknesses. Always knowing when he's lying.
If one day, even he isn't sure anymore if he's lying... would you know?
"I don't know why you're so worried, but if you want to, I'll play along."
"Huh?"
Of course, you always imagined having a wonderful relationship built on trust once you met your soulmate, but...
You fully believed that you could gain his trust one day.
"If you want to, I can act like I believe your lies. Like I believe we're not soulmates. If it makes you more comfortable..."
So you would lie for him? That sounded fun. But...
"Hm, that is no good." He answered, "If you're the soulmate of the Ultimate Supreme Leader, you have a reputation to live up to, you know? You have to be my partner in crime."
"So, no lying to each other, right? We have to lie with each other and fully trust each other. That's what it means to be partners in crime, right?" He asked with a childish grin.
He had this gleeful, child-like look on his face again. And this time it didn't even look too fake.
Of course, he didn't really instantly change from wanting to give you 0 trust, to 100%, but he wanted to try.
He really wanted to try.
After all, two lies are more convincing than one, right?