Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

4.24 - Echo of a Person

I sit him up against me to pull his hair aside and check the back of his neck. With Kaito already shifting the light for me, I'm able to make out a visible bump on his nape- something he'd willingly let me check for during Ryoma's murder trial. Unlike before though, he was definitely administered a drug this time.

"Who could have done this? First Himiko and Tenko- now Kokichi of all people? This is by far the weirdest thing I've ever seen! Why would someone sexually assault a guy?" Kaito asks, making me drop Kokichi back on the bed and pillow unceremoniously to give Kaito a long dark look.

"Do not start with your weird sexist remarks. People as a collective of all genders are capable of everything bad as much as they're capable of everything good. Why are you asking that? As long as there is a 'want' for something, there will be people that will exploit, cheat, and take regardless of whether what they are taking infringes on another's property or human rights," I inform him sourly, watching as he visibly flounders under my scrutiny. "We'll talk more about it later. Trust me. Someone needs to re-educate your outdated and sexist ideologies."

"Okay..." Kaito wilts, adding no more input. Before I can add anything else in, I feel movement against my knee, directing my attention back on the bed where Kokichi lays.

He shifts, bleary eyes peeking open and landing on Himiko before he rolls over onto his side with an annoyed grumble. He hardly seems to care who he's just seen, and no attempt is made to investigate his room for any more intruders.

"Get out..." Kokichi mumbles, cheek settled against his pillow. Strange reaction to finding someone you're not even close to inside of your room.

"Kokichi, wake up. Don't go back to sleep, we need to talk," I try to gently rouse him from his sleepy state, making him frown and peek open an eye. Despite whatever he said to upset me while I was in an altered state with Himiko's magic powder, his sleepy expression still manages to hit me like a cupid's arrow to the heart.

No! Not right now, this isn't the time for a reaction like this!

"Uh...are you okay, Prairie?" I hear Kaito dare to ask, his voice hesitant after my previous reprimanding.

"Yeah, if you need to sit down, we'll understand. You've been through a lot in the night and your face is getting really red right now..." Shuichi also says, only causing the inferno to get worse knowing how obvious my emotions tend to be.

"No, I'm fine," I try to object firmly. Himiko isn't saying anything reassuring, so I risk peeking up at her where she stands across the bed from me on Kokichi's other side.

Himiko is visibly shooting me an unamused stare like she's not surprised. Which only makes my face worse since she knows what's causing my expression, of course.

"Prairie," Kokichi speaks up out of nowhere in a soft voice, a hand landing under my jaw and cheek to cup my face warmly. With how unexpected it is, both because I didn't notice him moving and because it's out of character paired without his nickname for me, I flinch in surprise and redirect my attention back down to him. "Once we're married, you're gonna legally take my last name, right?"

...What.

"What?!" Kaito exclaims, staring at him like he's grown another head. "Are you seriously not giving up with that? Stop teasing her, hasn't she been tortured enough thanks to your lies?!"

It's like Kokichi doesn't even hear him, because his gaze won't move from me. It's weird, that's for sure. He usually has something snarky to say back to Kaito, a self indulgent one-up always prepared at the snap of a whip.

"Hold your horses...look, he's not even listening to us," Himiko says, watching as I shift away from Kokichi's touch to hide behind Shuichi and use him as a shield. Maybe if he sees the one he was flirting with yesterday-