"Gonta, why are you holding Shuichi like he's an infant?" you asked, staring up at Gonta.
Gonta had Shuichi cradled in his arms protectively. Mentally, your head was wrapped in knots. You couldn't wrap your head around the situation. Why was Gonta carrying Shuichi?
Shuichi's eyes were closed peacefully as if he was simply drugged to sleep. Now that it crossed your mind: was he drugged? It would've been surprising for Gonta to drug someone, but it was a good question nonetheless. Gonta simply stared straight down at you; his size intimidating you. Heh.
Slowly, you reached up and rested your palm on Shuichi's forehead softly — you had to go onto your tippy toes. "Erm, is he okay? Did he fall asleep somewhere? Are you carrying him to his room? It's right over there." You bombarded him with questions while pointing back to Shuichi's dorm. Shuichi's forehead wasn't warm, but you couldn't help but have a bad feeling about things. "Is he okay?"
"Gonta accidentally hurt Shuichi..." Gonta said, staring down at the boy in his arms. "Gonta hear Shuichi not like bugs, so Gonta taking Shuichi to Gonta's lab. Oh, Gonta should take you to lab too, (Y/n). Please come with Gonta for your own good."
"Oh, erm, sure...?" you replied, questioning your response while raising a brow. "I mean, I'll follow you without being forced. I'm just worried about Shuichi. Did you knock Shuichi out so you could take him to your lab? If yes, then I'll come along just to know if Shuichi ends up fine."
"Yes!" replied Gonta. "Shuichi not being cooperative, and when Gonta went to grab him, Gonta accidentally hurt Shuichi."
"Ah, I see," you confirmed; "That's not cool beans, but, erm, I'm sure Shuichi won't hate you for it. Say... if I have to go to your lab, could you, y'know, heh, carry me there? I don't really feel like walking around. Plus, if you're worried I weigh a bunch, then... uh, I dunno. Hope for the best, I guess."
"Huh? (Y/n) want to be carried? Sure! Come close to Gonta, and Gonta give you piggyback ride." Gonta grinned while slowly leaning closer to the floor. As Gonta crouched down, he kept Shuichi swept softly in his arms protectively.
"A piggyback ride?" you repeated, cocking your head animatedly. "Erm, well, I'm cool with it, I suppose. It would be pretty cool, too." Awkwardly, you approached Gonta's back and lifted a leg. Your right leg bent down onto his shoulder, and you felt his strong, rough hands grip onto your knee to steady you. "Woah," you mumbled to yourself, using Gonta's back to steady yourself while it felt like you had no control over the leg Gonta held.
Clutching Gonta's shoulders, you mounted your other leg over his shoulder and allowed him to grip it. Your eyes widened while you quickly wrapped your arms around Gontas neck to steady yourself.
Hesitantly, you reached up and gripped his shoulders. "Just... try not to drop me, okay, big guy?" Slowly, you lifted a leg over his shoulder with his slight assistance. With a clear sense of gentleness, he lightly reassuringly squeezed the knee he had in your hand and kept Shuichi cradled in his other arm. You looked down at his face and saw his reassuring, glistening grin.
Without hesitation, you grinned right back. "Cool beans!" you beamed. "We should go to where you were taking Shuichi, yeah? I still dunno the full reason as to why you, erm, want to, but if Shuichi is being forced to go, I'll go too. So, my dear friend Gonta," you paused to pat his shoulders. "Charge!"
"Charge?"
"Charge!"
"Huh? What do you mean, charge?"
"I mean to, y'know, start galloping. Like a horse!"
"Huh? But Gonta not a horse."
"I know th—" you sighed before you could finish. "Y'know what? Just start running or something."
"Oh, okay! Gonta run then," he said before tightening his grip on your leg.
"Wait, no, I didn't mean to actually—Woah!"
Before you could finish, your body sprung backward a tad and forced you to grip Gonta with more force. Gonta was sprinting at large velocities down the school hall, forcing the wind to blow through your hair not-so-graciously. You squeaked at the sudden force and widened your eyes. Gripping Gonta's shoulders, there was one thought that crossed your mind: this would be how you died, wouldn't it?
Though that thought crossed your mind, you mentally thought it was quite silly. When would this moment ever happen in your dull, monotone life back at home?
Back at home?
Wait, you were starting to remember stuff!
When your head made intense contact with a hard surface, your world became just as dull as your thoughts—completely dark.
You were knocked out.
--┬┴┬┴┤├┬┴┬┴--
"Y'know, when I said to get everyone, I didn't mean to knock them out! Man, what a shame. I really should stop relying on others, huh...? Man, you really had to get my two favorites..."
"Huh? Gonta not one of your favorites...?"
"Huh? Oh. Nope, I lied just now! You're one of my favorites, Gonta!"
"Oh, okay!"
"Stop manipulating poor Gonta! Such a kind soul... We're in such a plainly vicious world."
"Typical for degenerate males... Pulling such low moves..."
"Ah, um, Gonta is a male, too..."
"Shut up, degenerate!"
"Nyeh... this conversation is such a pain to keep up with..."
Mumbles of words flowed through one ear and out the other, compelling you out of your knocked-out state of mind.
Get any nostalgia?
They seemed to be rushing through conversations while hovering nearby to your knocked-out body. A headache crept up to your skull — what happened? The last memory you had before being forced to an uncomfortable slumber was Gonta running intensely down the school halls. Though wasn't running in the halls against typical school parodical?
You let out an annoyed groan; the conversation that was continued went to an immediate pause. It was like through your accidental noise, it completely paused the moment — time as well. Without opening your eyes, you reached up and rubbed your forehead. If you were to guess anything, it was that whatever knocked you out would leave a mark of some kind. Annoyed, you groaned again. "What happened?" you asked, slowly cracking an eye open.
You were sitting up against a tree. The large group of familiar faces was surrounding you with mixtures of curiosity and concern. "Hm?" you hummed, cracking open the other eye. "Erm, am I missing out on something? Why is everyone, uh, staring at me...?" To be honest, you were slowly growing a pit of unease in your stomach. Everyone was just staring at you without saying a word — it was making you extremely uncomfortable.
There were multiple people in the room: Tenko, Korekiyo, Keebo, Tsumugi, Gonta, Himiko, and Angie. They all sort of just stared at you... more specifically, your head.
"Oh dear, are you alright?" asked Angie curiously.
"Umm..." Tsumugi hummed, pointing at your forehead. "You've got a little..."
"Boy, you're so lucky you got to skip all the boring explanations and stuff!"
"Gh—!" you squeaked, taking in a loud gasp of air in your short surprise. Kokichi had jumped out in front of your vision as if he were his own jump scare. He was sat down right next to you, but you didn't notice due to the eyes that were preoccupying your attention. His right arm was holding his weight in his place on the floor, while his other hand was next to him in a balled fist childishly. The shine in his eyes seemed to have a childish glimmer shining through him.
"Though I guess that means I have to give you a run-down on what you missed..."
"Huh?" you mumbled, raising a brow at him. "How much did I miss...?" You crossed your arms.
"Y'know, (Y/n), you should really stop getting knocked out. It's not very healthy. How am I supposed to not act like I'm worried for you when you keep getting yourself hurt? Mentally, and physically... Dummy."
"Ah, you have a good point," you murmured, tracing your eyes to your shoes nervously. "I didn't realize how often I get knocked out until now... heh. Oops."
"'Oops' indeed, stupid-head," he grumbled, flicking your forehead. You winced a bit at the pain. "See? You winced! You got hurt this time! So much for saying I'd come running to you in pain..."
"Hey! Those weren't my exact words! I said something on the lines of... 'planning on finding out whatever you're hiding,' or something," you retorted, pouting. "And plus, I'm not a stupid head! So not cool beans of you."
"Yeah, yeah. Whateves, Stupid-head."
"Don't make it a nickname!"
"Well, anyway," Kokichi started, still ignoring his peers around him. The people who were previously watching your exchange started their own conversations in the meantime. "Aren't you curious how you got knocked out? Because, like, I could easily tell you what happened, y'know."
"Do tell then. It'd be pretty cool beans," you said.
"Nee-heehee... You're so simple-minded. Isn't it obvious? You woke up next to me suddenly, and you don't have a good last memory. It's obvious I knocked you out!"
"Did you actually?" you asked, letting out a disappointed sigh.
"Huh? You sound doubtful... Do you not believe me? (Y/n), if you think I'm lying to you, I want you to know I hate lies and jokes. Why would I tell you I knocked you out if I actually didn't!"
"'Cause your name is Kokichi Ouma—the bitch that never tells the truth," you sighed and shook your head. "You're so weird. It's like you lie more often in public than whenever it's just us. Weirdo."
"I'm so hurt..." he grumbled under his breath, letting out a sniffle. "(Y/n) just called me weird... twice in one set of dialogue...! Shiver me timbers. I'm in pain."
"Did you seriously just say 'shiver me timbers'? Not cool beans, Kokichi."
"Making me hurt? Not cool beans, (Y/n)."
"Oh, shut it. Could you just tell me what happened?" you asked, sighing. Both of your hands slowly dropped comfortably onto your lap while your legs were crossed.
"I did tell you what happened."
"Liar! Spit it out, bitch!"
"Fine, fine! You're such a dumbass..." he muttered jokingly, snickering a bit.
"I'm not a dumbass!"
"Anyway, you hit your head on a door. Pretty stupid considering all the intense build-up, huh?" he said, lightly snickering. "By the way, you have a bump on your forehead. Nee-heehee, it looks dumb," he snickered, reaching forewarn and poking it with a finger.
"Hey! Don't poke it! Goodness, Kokichi!" you scolded, wincing and swatting his hand away. "To be honest, I don't really care for the reason everyone is grouped here. I betcha y'all just overreacted and dragged my hurt body over to..." You looked around, admiring your surroundings. "...Gonta's lab? Weird, but I don't need the details. Just so you know, nobody tried killing me, heh. Y'all care about me so much that so many people gathered here..."
"Nee-heehee, y'know (Y/n), you're so stupid it's amusing," joked Kokichi, snickering again.
"I swear to fuckin' God Kokichi, I'm gonna give you a weird air swirly again."
"Those things don't even make sense! But anyway, I got stuff to do. I'll take you around with me for the hell of it, (Y/n). Is that 'kay?"
"I—"
"Mm-hmm! Good! Glad you stated your opinion."
"Bitch I—"
"Now, Gonta... Go ahead and teach them just how wonderful bugs are," Kokichi spoke, cutting you off and turning to Gonta. Whatever the rest of the group was talking about was put to a halt. "(Y/n) and I gotta run an errand, but we'll be back. Don't let anyone — minus us — leave, okay? If they try to leave, it means you gotta really show them why bugs are so great. By the way, (Y/n) loooves bugs as well, so don't worry about them."
"Mm-hm, got it," Gonta enthusiastically hummed, sending a beaming smile toward the both of you.
"W-Wait, you're leaving!?" shouted Shuichi.
"Of course. Someone's gotta break into your rooms to get the goods."
"Gh—! We're drug dealing!?" you shouted, turning to Kokichi. "Woah, woah, woah.
Look, I know I agreed to this, but I don't remember agreeing to that. I have a wife and kids to go home to. I can't be getting drunk!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Kokichi scoffed, looking to you childishly. You felt his faint annoyance, though. "First off, if we were drug dealing, you wouldn't be drunk; that's alcohol. Plus, we aren't actually getting drugs. Right, Shuichi?"
"Ah, y— wait. Why ask me!?"
"Anyyyways!" Kokichi started, placing his arms behind his head carelessly. "Nee-heehee... Lock picking is a cinch for an evil supreme leader like me."
"What? You're going to enter a girl's room without permission?"
"It seems I must be the one to take care of this. With my talent, Kokichi, I will stop—"
"Yeah, yeah. I don't have time to listen to some robot." At Kokichi's remark, you snickered. Poor, poor Keebo. "Let's see... it's exactly 9 p.m. right now, we should be back by nighttime. Welp! Have fun with the bugs till then!"
With that, Kokichi then firmly grasped your hand and walked out. Awkwardly, you strolled along and allowed him to drag you out the classroom door. All eyes were on the two of you while they watched you leave.
You stumbled on your feet a tad. Why was he taking you in the first place? You had been deliberately annoying and constantly bothered him to become his friend; was it working? If som then hell the fuck yeah! Cheers to being an annoying menace! Cheers to plot convenience, too!
You had no idea what could be happening back in Gonta's lab. All you were doing was stumbling along with Kokichi, your hands tangled together with his. You wondered: were they just going to be sitting around in the lab while you and Kokichi were getting the "drugs"? You were completely oblivious.
"Hey, erm, what's gonna happen back in Gonta's lab?" The words flowed out of your mouth before you could stop it.
"Oh, whoopsies! I didn't tell you, did I?"
"Uh, nope."
"Gonta is gonna kill them all! It's gonna be a maaaassive massacre!"
"Yeah-fuckin'-right. What's going on in there?" you asked, narrowing your eyes at him.
"It shouldn't matter now..." he said, slowly turning to look at you. "Since I'm gonna kill you right now, anyway."
You gave him a side glance and a glare. You let a sigh and narrowed your eyes. "Dude, if you're gonna said shit like that, you gotta at least lung at me to scare me or something."
"Huh? Okie-dokie! Do you want me to lunge at you right now?"
You stopped walking and turned to him. "Well, I mean, I'd prefer, y'know, you don't, but have at it, I guess. I doubt you'll actually—"
Before you could finish, you let out a loud "Hmph—!" and were cut off by a hand. Kokichi had wrapped a hand over your mouth, not allowing you to let a sound out. He came up behind you and wrapped his hand around your mouth tightly. His other hand clasped around your mouth, too.
"Hmmmmph—!!" You were struggling against his grasp. You didn't think he'd actually do it, but honestly, the way he was doing the action didn't feel playful; it was rudely rough.
You flailed your arms around and tried tugging his hands off your mouth. Each try was useless. He was weirdly strong for someone of his size. You tried turning around; no avail.
"Shut up and be quiet," he whispered, tightening his grasp at your clawing fingers. "Do you not hear those footsteps?"
You paused your struggle and glanced around. You could only use your eyes moments as a way of searching due to Kokichi's iron grasp, but it was enough to see a shadow of a person going down the halls. The shadow bobbed up and down in the darkly lit halls. The lanterns dimmed the light to a beautiful shade of orange. As the silhouette slowly approached, it killed off more and more of the orange beams.
You slowly reached up, and gently grabbed Kokichi's hand. Getting the memo, he slowly lifted his hands off of your mouth. "I'm gonna hide," you whispered, slowly backing up. "If whoever this is tries anything, I'll be right here to protect you. I still have my bow on my back, and that should be enough for me to land a headshot on someone."
"You said that so regularly," he whispered back; "Have you killed someone before?"
"I hope not," you replied, still backing away. "That's off-topic. I'll be on the other side of the hall, okay?" You slowly turned a corner.
"So I'm bait, huh?" he whispered to himself, where it was barely audible to your ears. "You better have damn good aim, (Y/n)."
As you heard those words, you turned the corner. As if you were playing a shooter game, you leaned your back against the wall and kept your eyes in the general area of where they were talking. You couldn't see them without peaking, but just listening would be enough of a sound cue. Slowly, you took your bow out and prepared an arrow.
The heels that were echoing down the halls took a stop. The new person cleared their throat loudly.
Kokichi spoke first. "Heya, Kirumi! What's got you so angry?"
She let out a dull sigh. "Kokichi, what are you doing out so late? It's highly suspicious."
Their conversation wasn't what caught your attention, however. You lost focus quickly, due to the fact that Rantaro Amami was standing right at the end of the hall.
You were no longer turned toward Kirumi and Kokichi's chat. Your head was turned toward where the man stood and your eyes widened. How did he get here? Why was this happening *again*?
You didn't know about any deeper meaning to Rantaro being there. Was there a purpose as to why his figure kept showing up? It was like you had some sort of attachment to his person.
Your heart was going miles. Trembling, you reached up and placed a hand over your mouth to stifle any noise that wanted to force its way out. The end of the hall was faded into a menacing pit of black. It was like the song of evil was playing in your ears. The longer you stared at the so-called deadman, the more you wanted to simply collapse. Oh, so badly did you want to just curl up into a ball and never look up again. The mere sight of his ghostly figure made you want to run and hide from all of your problems.
Letting out a shaky breath, you trembled forward toward the illusion—or so, what you believed was an illusion. The man stood still and proud as you slowly took each careful step toward him.
When you finally arrived face-to-face with him, he still hadn't said a word. He had not moved, or even breathed. Not a whisper came out of his darkened face that was shaded by the dull, dying lights of the hallway. Shakily and hesitantly, you breathed out: "Hello?"
He stared down at you. Still, he hadn't even acknowledged your peep of words. Your hand trembled, yet you tried to keep yourself steady. Reaching forward, you went to grasp his hand that was loose to his side.
—
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