Memories {Oumasai/Saiouma}

~ 20 ~ Cultural Melting Pot

⚠️~TW~⚠️ Bullying.

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It had been a few days since Shuichi and I went on our beach date and since then we were always around each other. Wherever Shuichi went, I went, but on the off chance I wasn't able to, like when he had confidential meetings, I'd spend that time in his room, or doing jigsaw puzzles to keep my mind from wondering. People would say I was being overly clingy, but Shuichi was the same around me, he wanted to be able to see me and be near me as much as possible. I think we were both scared. Neither of us said it, but we both knew someone would attack me soon, and we both knew they could succeed. I wasn't too worried though, since Shuichi promised he wouldn't let anything happen to me.

The police officers that were surveying Yonaga and Chabashira were now assigned to survey Shinguji and Miu. I silently prayed Miu would live since no matter how much we teased each other and talked shit, we were really good friends, in the game at least. Well, that was before I found out she was planning to kill me. I didn't blame her though, but I could never help the betrayal I still feel at her actions.

Everything was going well. I looked up at Shuichi across the table from me, he was calmly eating his cake while watching the world through the café window. It was nice to see him calm, he worried about things so much that to see him like that... he definitely deserved it. I leant forward and stole a strawberry off his plate, shoving it in my mouth before he could protest. He just looked over at me and smirked.

"You know if you wanted me to feed you, you could've just asked." He took a large piece of mango from my plate and slowly lifted it to my face. I wasn't expecting him to do that, but hey I wasn't complaining. I opened my mouth slightly, not really sure of what to do, but quickly shut it when Shuichi snatched the mango from in front of my face and ate it himself. We both laughed, we were having a great time together.

"Hey Shuichi! Long time no see!" Momota appeared from nowhere and slipped into the chair next to him, an overly joyful look of his face that was attempting to hide his anger that was so clearly there. Shuichi didn't reply, instead he just stared at the table clearly annoyed. "So, how are things? Are you doing well?" We sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. Shuichi and I just wanted nothing but for Momota to leave us the fuck alone.

"Shuichi. We should hang out together soon, the group misses you ya know?" He put an arm around Shuichi's shoulders, pulling him into a side hug. Shuichi's face twisted slightly in disgust as he tried to pull away but every time he did Momota tugged him closer. I needed to do something.

"Get away from him." I glared at Momota, hoping that I was at least slightly intimidating. My heart was racing, I was scared to stand up for Shuichi since I was still terrified of Momota, but I knew I wanted to help.

"Why should I? We're bros. You know he's just using you right? Shuichi wants nothing to do with you, all you are to him is a toy for his entertainment. So stop thinking you're worth anything and just-"

"Shut up." We turned to Shuichi, both equally as surprised at the harsh tone coming from him.

"Awe c'mon Shuichi, it's not like you actually  like him any more than I do! Let's have some fun with the little fucker." Momota turned his gaze back to me, causing chills to run down my spine as he removed his arm from around Shuichi to crack his knuckles. 

"Hurt him and I'll return the favour." Shuichi was still looking at the table, but his face was different, more filled with hatred. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the look that was on his face when he stabbed Momota, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise if it was.

"What are you gonna do? Junko pose me to death?" He went to laugh but cut himself off with a scared expression on his face. Getting a bad feeling, I glanced at Shuichi's hand and saw the pocket knife pressed to Momota's side. Glancing around the café I realised no one had noticed what was going on, we weren't talking that loud so it was no wonder. I mentally sighed in relief.

"Alright alright I'll leave, no need to go all Leon on me now. Let's catch up another time!" Momota got up in a hurry and left the café, making me wonder why he was even here in the first place. I focused my gaze back to Shuichi and was surprised at how normal he was acting, as if he didn't just threaten to kill someone.

"Shuichi..." I was cautious, I trusted him with my life, but I couldn't help but be slightly worried. Admittedly, I should've worried about this when the first incident happened, but I was too injured to care at the time. "What was that about?"

He looked up at me and smiled. "No one talks shit about my beloved." He continued to eat the remainder of his cake, and I couldn't help but smile back as I did the same. Most people might've seen Shuichi as crazy now, an obsessed stalker type, but I saw him as Shuichi, my loving boyfriend who just wanted to protect me, and someone I would gladly give my life for.

We both finished our meals and I held Shuichi's hand over the table, both about to leave before I noticed a familiar face in the kitchen. "Hey Shu." I nodded towards Shinguji, not wanting to bring unwanted attention or be rude by pointing at him. Shuichi understood what I was saying and we sat back down, watching Shinguji in case anything suspicious happened. It was unlikely something would happen right in front of us, but it had  been a few days since the last murder so you never know.

Both Shuichi and I jumped to our feet as a loud explosion sounded around us, accompanied by a bright light from the kitchen. People around us were yelling, some were trying to figure out what was going on and others were just plain panicking. I clenched my eyes shut, they were sore due to me facing the source of the light, Shuichi wasn't as affected as he was facing me. I felt a hand grab mine and pull me somewhere, opening my eyes I found us in the kitchen of the café with someone curled up on the ground.

Shinguji was crying, lying on the floor covered in burns and blisters slowly forming. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, I twisted around and came face to face, or face to shoulder, with a strange, unknown person. They held a finger to their lips and handed me a piece of paper before running off, I tried to chase after them but they immediately disappeared in the crowd of people overlooking the scene. 

Shuichi was on the phone presumably calling an ambulance, so I looked around for the cause of the situation. I drowned out the noises of people crying and putting out spot fires, mentally listening to music that wasn't there to focus myself on my own task. Looking around it was obvious that the oven had exploded, but not clear from what exactly, is it just defective? I noticed that the oven was in fact a gas oven, maybe there was a gas build up?

Regardless of the cause, or the situation, I knew what had really happened. I looked over at Shuichi to find him watching me. We shared a look, we both knew what this meant. 

The killer had struck again, but this time, we had witnessed it.