It All Started By One Single Tear (Rantaro x reader x YandereMastermind Kokichi)

Chapter 3 Part 14: Learning More About Maki

Your POV:

    The announcement didn't mention that it was nighttime, but by the look of the room, I knew it was nighttime. I let out a yawn since I was tired from taking a nap while playing hide and seek with Kokichi.
    I rubbed my eyes to get the sleep out of them. I made a commitment to train with Kaito, Maki, and Shuichi every night. I did wonder however... is Kaito alright?
    He wasn't speaking much every since we started talking about the dead coming back to life. The thought made him nervous for some reason.
    *ding dong*
    My ears perked up slightly. I was tired, but I could've sworn that I heard my door bell being rung. The door bell kept ringing. Maybe Kaito was alright after all. Maybe I was just being too nervous.
With a small sigh, I walked over to the door to open it. The ringing still wouldn't stop. The only way for me to stop it was to open this door. When I opened the door, I was shocked to find...
Maki was the one at the door. It wasn't Kaito. This was worrying me even more. Was Kaito alright?
"M-Maki?" I asked.
"Kaito's resting. He says he's not feeling well...and that we should train without him." Maki explained, "and (y/n), why do you look so tired?"
"I was playing a game of hide and seek as a promise to Kokichi..." I explained in response, "I fell asleep in my hiding place, and I wasn't found until a few minutes before nighttime started."
"I see..." Maki muttered in response, "between you and me, he exposes everyone's secrets to get people to create suspicion."
"I guess you're right about that..." I muttered in response.
"He did that with you, and he did that with me..." Maki explained in response, "now let's go. I didn't come here to make small talk with you."
"So just you, Shuichi, and I..." I muttered, "alright. Hopefully it'll be quick tonight. I'm still tired."
With that, Maki and I went to the courtyard to meet up with Shuichi. It would only be the three of us today since Kaito wasn't feeling well. I was wondering why he wasn't feeling well though. It worried me that we wouldn't get to see his charismatic behavior tonight even if he never finished his part of training.
Before I knew it, the three of us were doing our normal push-up routine in the courtyard. It was honestly strange not seeing Kaito here. It was also very quiet. As we all did our push-ups, it was silent until...
"Hey..." Maki said.
"What is it?" Shuichi asked.
"I'm talking to the both of you," Maki said in response,
"I'm sorry," I replied with a tired tone of voice, "what do you need?"
"Why are you both training...?" Maki asked, "I don't think a detective or an otaku needs to do this."
"We probably don't need to do this, but..." I trailed off, "I tend to put myself under the bus a lot of times. Because of my observation skills, I tend to overthink and worry about the tasks I need to do..."
"Same with me..." Shuichi explained in response, "overthinking and worrying about what I 'need' to do... When I'm with Kaito, I feel like...all that stuff just fades away."
"I feel the same way to an extent..." I muttered nervously.
"Do you both...look up to that idiot?" Maki asked in response.
"Ah, I don't know if we'd call it "looking up" to him..." Shuichi explained.
"It's just that we've never been around someone so relaxed...and impulsive... I think that's something we've been missing for awhile," I explained.
Maki let out a sigh. It kind of seemed like I was getting to know what Maki felt. Even if it was a little, I was starting to understand her more. She was starting to open up slightly. This honestly did make me very happy. I was basically forced to share my past with everyone because I would've been voted for a murder that I didn't commit. If it weren't for my ability, Kaede would've surely been dead.
Maki had the choice to open her past to us. Something I never had the choice to do in the beginning because Kokichi found something out about my past and used it against me.
"I never realized until now how gross it is to hear men talk about being manly," Maki explained, as she sprang up from the ground.
Shuichi and I did the same after finishing our reps. Maki was quicker than us though. She always was. Her training as an assassin basically gave her that stamina and speed. I was slightly jealous of that. As an Otaku, I didn't need that... It wouldn't hurt to be more active, but my talent wasn't about being active.
    "You're really fast...as usual," Shuichi said nervously.
    "Y-Yeah..." I stuttered.
    "I used to be forced to do push-ups until I passed out. 100 push-ups is nothing," Maki replied, moving a strand of hair out of her face.
    "What?" I asked in response.
    "About Kaito... I sort of understand what you both mean," Maki explained, "but I'm a bit jealous of how carefree he is...even if he is useless. I was taught to only value the essentials... I was forced to abandon anything nonessential so they could mold me as they saw fit..."
    I was understanding Maki more from what she was saying. This was how she was raised. Doing push-ups until her body couldn't take it anymore. She was forced to take out nonessential things in her life, even nonessential things that could cause joy. That's why she was always so stone-faced, unbothered by almost anything.
    "After everything they did to me... I sometimes wonder what I am anymore," Maki explained, "I didn't ask to become this way. It just...happened to me..."
    'That's what life does...' I thought.
I was sad to even thing that this kind of life even happened to Maki. She never asked to become what her talent was. That was forced on her.
"After what I've been through...am I still even human?" Maki asked, "even Keebo acts more human than me."
I felt my eyes soften at this. Maki has been through so much, and she doubts herself as well. I now wanted to help her. She deserved someone to help her out. She needed it, maybe even more than I did.
"But...I had no choice but to—" Maki said, seeming to instantly cut herself off, "...why am I even talking to you both about this? You guys can't help me."
"Ah, but...I'm kind of the same way," Shuichi told her in response, "I never once *wanted* to be a detective. I actually thought it wasn't too great of a job. Uncovering people's secrets for money? ...It's the worst."
I don't know if I could say I knew how they felt. Yes I'm an Otaku. I never asked for that to be what makes me special from any other students. I wanted to be something more that helps others. Not just some nerd. I wanted to help people. That's one of the only reasons I've lasted this long. The drive to help other people out.
    "But now, I feel completely different. If it's going to help my friends, I'll do it," Shuichi said with a determined smile, "and it's Kaede, (y/n), and Kaito that have helped me see things that way. (y/n) is an Otaku, but she always helps us when we need it. She is special to all of us in some way."
    I was shocked that I was brought into the conversation. Did people really feel that way about me? Did people really think of me as that special. I knew I put myself down too much. I needed to get through that to help everyone.
"...I didn't ask for your story," Maki said.
With that, Maki walked away, leaving us both standing there.
"Ah, see you tomorrow, Maki!" Shuichi shouted out.
"See you tomorrow!" I exclaimed.
Maki didn't reply. She kept walking. It was the end of the training. I still couldn't get what Shuichi said from my mind.
There was still another thing bugging me. I really did hope Kaito was alright. He seemed off this morning, and I guess that carried on with him into tonight. Maybe he'd train with Shuichi, Maki, and I tomorrow.
I waved goodbye at Shuichi before heading back to my dorm. Even though I was tired, I was happy I didn't skip out on the training. I learned more about what Maki had to deal with. I could try and help her open up more with the information she gave us about herself.
    I noticed Maki when I walked into the dorm. She was being stopped by someone.
    "Welcome back, Maki! You finally came!" Angie exclaimed.
    I was shocked to see every member of the student council in the room. Aside from Angie, Himiko, Keebo, Tenko, Tsumugi, and Gonta were in the dormitory, waiting for us.
    "Y'know, Maki, it's not okay to walk around at nighttime," Angie explained with a creepy-like smile on her face.
    "Why? I'm not violating any school regulations, am I?" Maki asked in response.
    "Nyahahaha. Monokuma's regulations don't matter," Angie said in response, "but Kirumi's plan happened during nighttime, right?"
    "If no one was allowed to walk around at nighttime, that case wouldn't have happened," Tsumugi explained.
    "That's why the student council is trying to limit all nighttime activity," Keebo explained in response.
    "*Limit*... So, basically, you want to take our freedom away, is that it?" Maki asked in response.
    "Nyahahaha! You're so odd, Maki. What's more important—freedom or a person's life?" Angie asked.
    Maki was silent. This whole thing was concerning me. The student council were doing exactly what I knew they'd do. They'd start taking rights away from people. I know it's for a good cause, but not being able to have any freedom will make people more upset than happy.
    "Umm, we need to remove all worry and doubt, so everyone can have a peaceful life here," Angie explained, "cuz that's what Atua says. That's what Atua says. Atua says..."
    "People are afraid of you, Maki, so we'd prefer it if you were more careful," Tenko explained.
    That was the last straw for me. It was bad enough that they were trying to limit our freedom. Now they wanted to ridicule Maki. While I understand their reasoning, they know nothing about what really happened.
    I ran in front of Maki. I had an angry look plastered onto my face. I wasn't going to let anyone else say anything more about her.
    "You guys like to say you know everything, but you know nothing about Maki's past," I said angrily, "and nothing makes me more upset than when people make assumptions based on the surface on what's heard."
    "(y/n), what are you doing?" Maki asked, seeming to be in shock.
    "And what do you know about Maki then, (y/n)? Angie asked, "aside from the fact that she's an assassin."
    "I'm not going to tell you," I replied, "maybe you'd get the chance to know if you actually tried speaking to her instead of avoiding her."
    Maki seemed to be shocked that I even said this. Soon enough, we were basically sent to our dorms. I noticed Angie had a slightly different expression on her face. It wasn't her happy self. It looked like anger... I knew I defended Maki. She  probably got upset about that, but what I said is the truth. Both Angie and the student council didn't know anything about Maki. They won't know anything unless they try to get to know her. They didn't even know that she was forced into the talent she was given. She had no choice in the matter.
I let out a sigh in frustration as I walked into my room. I felt the tired emotion I was feeling before I went to training. That combined with what just happened made it worse. Going to bed would probably be a good idea right now.
I slowly got into the bed with a sigh, making sure I was covered up in the blankets. I closed my eyes not long after that, letting the world of sleep take me.