Shuichi's POV
It was lunch time. I was eating a bento and Kokichi wasn't eating anything, he was just drinking panta like he always does. I questioned it in my mind but didn't bring it up.
As me and him chatted, I could see him hungrily eyeing my food, I picked up a piece of sushi from the container with my chopsticks and held it up to Kokichi, offering him some.
"You want any? You look a bit hungry considering the fact you're only drinking panta."
Kokichi laughed and said, "I eat during class to pass time which is why you never see me eating anything." This statement made me uncomfortable because I'm always watching him in class and he's never eaten in it before.
Now something was definitely suspicious about him, but i shrugged it off and didn't bring it up in fear of starting up an argument. I was going to speak but Kokichi did before me.
"Why ya askin? Could it be that you're worried for little ol' me? Aww thanks my beloved Shumai! I'll keep that in mind!" I blushed and looked over to the side, obviously flustered.
"N-no.. erhm.. hey Koki?" Kokichi jumped surprise at the new nickname, an obvious shade of red was now visible on his cheeks.
He purposely spilled some panta on his lips, I was confused at this action until he grabbed a napkin and covered his cheeks, pretending to wipe up the carbonated drink.
Smart.. but I saw that, try to be more unobvious next time. "Do you need help with that?" I asked, acting like I didn't just see the boy's mini panic attack.
"Well yeah obviously! A peasant like you should always help a leader in need." He said, sassily crossing his arms like a little kid who just got denied their way.
"Ok ok I'll help" I said with a playful giggle as I gathered up a few napkins and wiped the smaller boy's chin and lips. I could see him blush as I did it.
"Oh.. y-you actually helped? I was just joking dummy!" He raised his voice near the end of his sentence, probably trying to cover up his obvious stutter.
I laughed and said, "Anyway, do you want my last sushi roll?" I genuinely asked, worried for Kokichi's health.
He shook his head and replied with, "I already said no, eat it or give it to Miu, wait speaking of Miu-" he picked up a nearby packet of ranch and teared it open.
He threw it at the inventor and it landed in her hair, the girl shrieked and rushed to take it out.
He couldn't keep a straight face after doing that and we both broke into laughter. Our laughing was soon interrupted by the bell ringing, and as I was gathering my stuff, Kokichi tapped on my shoulder from behind.
Kokichi's POV
I took one of my spare keys out of my pocket and tapped on Shuichi's shoulder. I handed it to him. "Here, this is just in case" I said with a bland smile.
He looked at me with suspicious eyes but took it anyway. "Anyways I'm gonna skip class again like I usually do, cya Saihara-chan!" He waved goodbye and after he left I made my way to the rooftop where I usually go.
I sat at the bench that was located there and took out a notebook. I usually wrote in this notebook everyday, jotting down what occurred at school or just in general, kind of like a diary.
I wrote about how I gave Shuichi the key so the next time I attempt he didn't have to have a full on 1v1 battle with a locked door.
I laughed at my own joke since I usually use humor to cope with my issues. Soon I got bored of writing and doodling and put away the book. I decided to take a nap while I waited for school to end.
I woke up to Shuichi towering over me and lightly shaking my shoulder, trying to wake me up. I sat up and sleepily rubbed my eyes. "Wow, school's over already? Ok! Fine with me!" I said, snickering.
I jumped up from the bench and walked by Shuichi's side as we exited the building and made our way to the dorms. Shuichi stopped me from going to my dorm by grabbing ahold of my forearm, trying to get my attention.
"Here" he handed me his dorm key. "This is because you gave me yours, don't lose it" I nodded and smiled before turning around and finally going into my mini apartment.
I wanted to go straight to bed and ignore my growling stomach, but I started to feel nauseous and wobbly. I stumbled to my kitchen and opened the fridge, feeling like I could collapse at any second.
I grabbed a bottle of panta and started chugging it down, trying to calm my hunger pang since it usually worked, but this time it didn't.
I felt sick knowing I'd have to eat something for this first time in a while after forcing myself not to. I scanned the food inside of the fridge and eventually ended up settling on a small bag of chips.
I hesitantly put the first chip in my mouth and it took a while before I started chewing it, desperately trying not to gag in the process.
I was interrupted by my phone ringing, I used it as an excuse to put the chips to the side and stop eating them. I picked up the call after seeing it was Shuichi who was calling.
"Hey Kokichi? I'm feeling a bit sick.. I don't think I'll be going to school tomorrow. Sorry."
"Its okay Shumai! I'll just hang out with Rantaro or Kaede! No worries!" He responded with a laugh of approval and we said our goodbyes before hanging up.
I eyed the chips with blank emotion and decided to leave them on the table as I went to sleep for the night.
Shuichi's POV
I woke up to my alarm blaring at me in an attempt to get me to wake up, and it worked. I looked at the time and realized it was 11pm, Kokichi had probably already gone to school already.
I felt my stomach move in discomfort at the thought of how he got bullied everyday but then calmed down after remembering he would be with Rantaro or Kaede today.
I remembered the key Kokichi had given me yesterday and developed an idea. What if I just looked around his dorm a bit? I cringed at the thought, realizing it sounded perverted when I didn't mean it like that at all.
I shook my head to get the thought out and grabbed the key. I headed out and walked down the hall to Kokichi's dorm. I entered the metal object into the doorknob and turned it until I heard a click.
I pushed the door open and started to look around. The two main rooms I wanted to search the most were his bedroom and his bathroom, wanting to make sure there were no razors or anything he could be using to harm himself.
I was walking around a noticed something pink on Kokichi's white carpet. I looked closer and realized it was blood, it did look to be a bit old though so I shrugged it off.
I moved onto his bedroom, searching through his desk drawers, eventually finding a book. It looked to be a diary of some sort. I flipped through it, reading all of the entries. My heart dropping at each one I read.
There were so many vents in them it was almost unbelievable, every one of them were either always terrifyingly violent or deeply saddening. I closed the book and put it back as shivers of discomfort racked through my spine.
I moved onto his bathroom, rummaging through his cabinets and other places too. I stopped when I opened up a cabinet located under the sink and saw a box that was labeled with the words 'DO NOT TOUCH'.
I mindlessly shrugged and opened it anyway.
A terrifying sight appeared upon me.. knives, razor blades, ropes, boxcutters, lighters, packs of cigarettes, and crumpled up notes were all inside of it.
So that explains the blood on the carpet.. I awkwardly thought to myself, not knowing how to comprehend any of this.
I took ahold of one of the packs of cigarettes, opening it. There were only about 4 left, so I guess it was safe to say Kokichi had been smoking a lot.
I picked up two of the blades, it looked like they had been used a few days ago based on the dry blood. I put them off to side, gagging at the smell of it.
I nervously grabbed one of the crumpled up notes, questioning if I really wanted to read it since I already had a pretty good idea of what it was.
I carefully uncrumpled it, careful not to create any tears in the delicate piece of paper. I only had to read the first two words before feeling sick. The words were 'im sorry', and that was all I could take in, not fully knowing if I could stomach the rest of the note.
I just crumpled it back up and tossed it back in the box along with the other bloody blades I had taken out and examined.
I put the box back under the sink and decided to leave, feeling overwhelmed at all of the stuff I had I had just saw. All of it had already burned itself into my mind and I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I returned back to my dorm and took out of my detective journals. I started to write about all of the stuff I found and what I though Kokichi was using all of it for even though it was already quite obvious.
I really shouldn't have opened up that box, but I won't bring it up to Kokichi. I don't wanna break his trust. He most likely trusted me a lot if he made the decision to give me a spare key of his dorm, even when there was stuff like that in it.
Poor Kokichi.. he just needs someone that will comfort him whenever he needs it.... maybe that someone could be me though, I could have a chance with him, right?
1807 words! Once again I finished another chapter in a whole day, I wasn't really expecting it but I'm not complaining. Also I want to thank you guys for all of the support! This is my first ever book I've ever written and I'm glad you guys like it so much! I'm so thankful for each and every one of you :)