Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

3.3 - Not A Child

I consider throwing him a rejection, but instead just give him a salty "fine" and lead him out so we can talk by the stone tablet. Of course, I notice Rantaro peer around exit of the building with the other two curious Ultimates and have to hold in another rush of irritation. Are they watching to make sure I don't potentially go ballistic on Shuichi?

It seems that everything I do needs to be monitored, according to them.

Once we've stopped, I turn to face Shuichi and narrow my eyes up at him to remind him I'm not likely to be so nice with the current mood I'm in. At this notice, he swallows but visibly steels himself for what he's about to say.

"I'm very sorry for calling you moe earlier. I can see it upset you a lot, and I take it back entirely," Shuichi states, bowing in apology as I stare at him quietly. Does he even know why it upset me so much?

"Why would it upset me?" I decide to ask, staring at him so intently that when he straightens up from his bow, he sort of shrinks back at my query. He's the Ultimate Detective, this should be a piece of cake for him.

"W-Why...? Well...you're not some anime character that should be categorized into a static archetype, you're a real person," he decides to go with. I conceal my frown poorly, because he winces. "Ah, t-that's not it, is it?"

With that, I put both hands on his shoulders and pull him down to my level a little, staring him in the face.

"Everyone has thrown it in my face and it's impossible to ignore. You just watched some of it right now, and somehow you don't even know. What's the point of apologizing if you don't even know what you're apologizing for? ...I don't need empty words, Shuichi. I need space," I carefully tell him, giving him a hug and then pulling away to leave him with that.

The hugging Shuichi part was a last minute idea that had formed in the back of my mind while we talked, and as soon as I'm completely out of their eyeshot, I hurry around to the main building of the school in a sprint easily achieved despite the heels on my feet. With a bit of a smirk on my face, I stop as I enter the main doorway...and pull out the two other items Shuichi had revealed to me, that being the red orb and the ema plaque.

Those dumb dweebs didn't even notice I picked Shuichi's pocket. I bet they would hate it...if I gave them to Kokichi.

Once I take a deep breath and calm the rush of jitters from my heinous act, one I know with a bitter taste in my mouth that Rantaro would call "childish", I continue my run until I reach the stone dragon I met Tsumugi at. To my delight and luck, Kokichi happens to be one of three people hovering near the statue, but despite expecting to see him, I still stagger in my stride when he glances my way from the sound of my clicking heels.

Last time I saw him, I flipped him on his backside and played with fire by showing him my accuracy at knife throwing. With my stagger, I feel a horrifying chunk of my bravado drop like a rock in water.

"Ah! Look, Gonta! Prairie Dog decided to finally grace us with her presence! See, I told you she wasn't lying dead in a pool of blood!" Kokichi brightly exclaims, waving at me in mock excitement...I think. Well, not that it matters. I don't need him to be excited to see me.

Forget shame. It's only a matter of time before Shuichi and the others find the items missing and realize what I did.

"Small Prairie! Gonta glad to see you safe! ...Hm? What Small Prairie have in hands?" Gonta inquires as he reaches up to adjust his glasses and get a better look at me upon my approach.

"Here you go," I comment, handing over the ema plaque to Kokichi without waiting for him to take it from. I drop it in his arms and watch him fumble for a second, an amused smile etched on his face despite my rudeness. "Happy unbirthday."