Shuichi's POV:
I feel like some of the pieces are starting to fall into place. From the lies Kokichi tells me about his parents I'm easily spotting how he lies. I now just have to figure out his true self.
We ate our food and walked back to the dorms. Kokichi seemed to be a little off after getting on my case. He knows I know something, obviously.
"Hey, whatcha wanna do now?" He asks. I slump onto the couch and sigh.
"I-I think I'm gonna take a nap or something.." I say, feeling my heavy eyelids slam together.
"Okie! Have sweet dreams!" Kokichi chimes and runs to our bedroom.
I close my eyes, feeling myself lose consciousness.
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*
"Shumaiii~" I hear Kokichi's voice call after me.
Huh? Where am I? It seemed to be a corridor. It was decorated like a play house of some kind.
"Kokichi where are you?" I ask.
"Nishishi~" Is all that was heard. I start walking the only direction I could. Forward. With each step I took, the wall behind me came followed. Creepy.
All of the doors were locked.
"You're getting warmer Detective~" He calls out. I keep walking, checking every door.
I then reach the end of the corridor. There was a white door, different from all of the rainbow colored ones.
I open it and it was just a small room, fit for two people. I walk inside since I saw Kokichi in a white uniform with his back facing me.
The door slams behind me, causing me to jump. Kokichi turns around.
"You caught me!" He chimes and walks closer. I try to back up, but my back is hit with the door.
We get so close out noses almost touched. He smiled up at me, causing my cheeks to heat up. I felt as red as a tomato.
Then, he kissed me. He tasted like grape soda and candy.
I felt all giddy and happy inside. And then,
I woke up.
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I wake up on the couch, feeling really sweaty and hot. I touch my lips with my fingertips, feeling a blush creep onto my face.
Why would I dream something like that?
Maybe... Just maybe...
Click Click Click
I hear a clicking sort of sound from the other room. Our bedroom. I slowly get up and quietly walk to the door. I creak the door open and the clicking noises got louder and faster.
It was Kokichi sitting at his desk, moving his arm strangely on the desk. He was holding something that made the noise.
"Kokichi what are you doing?" I ask. He jumps and yelps.
"Jesus Shumai! You scared the living shit out of me! Look at what you did!" Kokichi whines. He turned around, showing me his face. Kokichi was holding a small pocket knife. He had tears in his angry eyes while he held up his finger.
"O-Oh my god! You're bl-bleeding!" I say, rushing to him.
"Nishishi~ Yup! I was playing and you scared me which made me cut my finger! Suffer Shumai!" He says while smacking the top of my head.
"S-Stop messing around! It's bl-bleeding a-a lot!" I say frantically.
"You're such a baby!" He jokes. I groan and run to the bathroom.
Now that I remember, he had bandaids all over his fingers when he first arrived. Now, he didn't have any. That game was probably the cause.
I grab the pack of bandaids and run back to the room. I looked at the clock hanging above the door to see I had been sleeping for about an hour and a half.
Yikes. He was sitting on his desk, swinging his legs back and forth. He didn't seem to mind the blood dripping from his finger. Kokichi seemed aloof right now, like he didn't even feel the pain.
Spooky.
I run up to him and sit on his desk chair. I take a cotton ball and dab some disinfectant on it. I softly pat it on Kokichi's finger. His face showed his goofy smirk.
I wrap a colorful bandaid around his finger, a blue one. He frowned.
"Kiss it." He states. I blush.
"H-Huh?!" I jump and fall out of the seat. He chuckles.
"Haha oh my god! That reaction was fantastic!" His face then loses a smile. "But seriously. Kiss it! It's your fault this happened! If you wouldn't have scared me I wouldn't have cut myself!"
"Y-You don't know for su-sure!" I fire back, my face feeling like steam was coming off of it.
"Nishishi! I'm a pro at that game. I never mess up anymore. So kiss it to make it feel better!" Kokichi whines. I sigh.
I muster up the courage to grab his hand and kiss the top of the bandaid. It was a small peck, but Kokichi was gleaming with joy when I looked up.
"H-How embarrassing..." I mutter.
"Aww thank you soooo much Shumai!" He chimes. Before I know it, he kissed me on the forehead, hopped off the desk and ran off.
I was frozen in shock and I felt.... good.
My heart was pounding and my mind was racing. I felt my face was as hot as desert. I places my hand over my mouth. I was still on the ground from where I fell.
Why did he...?
I hear knocking on the door. I shake my head and stand up. The knocking came from the front door. Before I can open our bedroom door, I hear:
"Ahhh! Shit!" It was Kokichi. I quickly open the to see Kokichi on the ground and 2 people around him, one hugging him near to death. I hid behind the door, as they seemed to be close so I didn't want to interrupt. They all wore the same white uniform that was in Kokichi's closet.
"Yashi get off of me! You're gonna kill me!" Kokichi begs. The girl with pigtails giggles and stands up.
The guy standing behind them was tall with red poofy hair.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asks, sounding sort of sad.
"Oh, well we just wanted to see how you were doing! Wow! You really did go to Hope's Peak! I thought that was another lie." The girl apparently named Yashi said.
"Yeah.." Kokichi responds dryly. Is he okay? He isn't even making eye contact with the two guests...
"Boss." The taller male speaks up. "Look, you need to let go. It happened 6 months ago. They don't blame you for anything." He says wisely with his hand on Kokichi's shoulder.
"Korato doesn't either. They forgive you. So forgive yourself." Yashi says sadly. Who's Korato? Maybe Kokichi's friend that is like his brother??
Kokichi was silent. Then, he took a deep breath. "Thanks for visiting." He mutters.
"Don't push us away. Please.." Yashi begs.
I decide I can't take this anymore. I open the door and pretend to look confused.
"Oh. Kokichi I-I didn't know you were going t-to have visitors.." I say quietly.
He smiles brightly. "Don't worry Shumai! I didn't either!"
The others smile at me. "You must be our Boss's roommate!" Yashi chimes.
"Ah uhm yeah... My name is S-Shuichi Saihara.." I chuckle nervously.
"Don't mind him guys! He's just mega shy!" Kokichi giggles.
"So.. a-are you guys DICE?" I ask. The flinch at the question but nod.
"Yeah. I'm Jarson. And this is Yashi." The tall male said. I nod.
"W-Well it's nice to m-meet you.." I say. Yashi glances over at Kokichi and whispers something to him. His face turns bright red and he punches her shoulder. She punches him and they start fighting on the floor.
Jarson sighs and crosses his arms. "They are so immature.." He shakes his head. I chuckle a little.
But what was the sad situation about earlier?
"Hey. There's a fair in our hometown. Would you like to go with us?" Jarson asks.
I jump. "Ah are y-you sure?"
Yashi stops choking Kokichi and runs up to me. "Yeah! Please come!" She begs. Kokichi coughs and stands up.
He brushes his pants and shirt. "Oh yeah! The annual fair! I forgot about that!" Kokichi pipes up.
"It's only Saturday. It lasts all day and you can even spend the night at our headquarters!" Yashi chirps.
"A-Ah.. uhm.. I-I'd love to go." I say with a slight smile.
"Okay cool! It starts in like an hour so we have to go." Jarson adds.
"Eh?! Ah. Wh-Where's your hometown?" I ask.
"Mikosha City! It's only like 30 minutes away!" Kokichi answers.
Mikosha City? Never heard of it.. Maybe it's a small city..?
The four of us walk into our bedroom and they all gawk over Kokichi's pictures and stuff while I gather my wallet and such.
"Ready to go?" Jarson asks me.
I nod. "Y-Yeah."
We all walk down the dorm complex and to the parking lot. There was a white van with a logo that seemed to be theirs. Jarson goes into the drivers seat and Yashi sits in the passengers seat. Kokichi and I take the backseat.
I expected the other 7 members in DICE to be in the car, but they weren't. I could tell Kokichi was hoping the same thing.
The car ride was unusually quiet for a while. Yashi broke the silence with a chuckle.
"Hey boss, remember all the fun we had?" She says in a daydreamy tone.
"Yeah.." Kokichi mutters.
"Hey, don't be like that! It's okay!" She says with a smile.
He doesn't respond which concerns the whole car.
"Here." She starts. There was rumbling in the front while she dug through items.
"Just like old times!" She chirps and hands him a mask. He holds it in his hands but then smiles.
I was a mask that looked like a clowns face.. Interesting.
"Welcome home!" She chirps.
He sighs and relaxes in his chair, putting his feet on the back of the driver's seat.
"So are we making a pit stop first or straight to headquarters?" Jarson asks Kokichi. Kokichi glances at me.
"Hmm... I don't think Shumai can run very fast. So let's go home." Kokichi responds with a smile. Home...
"Alright boss!" Jarson picks up the speed and rolls the windows down.
The town looked gloomy and sad. You wouldn't think a ball of light like Kokichi would grow up here. Sirens in the distance could be heard. It was the police. Kokichi sighed.
"Remember that one time you got arrested?" Yashi asks.
"Which time?" Kokichi asks.
YOU SHOULDNT BE ASKING EITHER OF THOSE QUESTIONS?!?!!
"The tenth time! When you graffitied the orphanage!" Yashi replies.
"Oh yeaaah! I remember that! My mugshot was hilarious!" Kokichi giggles. But his laugh seemed empty..
"Alright! We're here." Jarson says.
We pull up to a cluster of rundown old buildings.
"Okay Shumai. You're gonna have to take a different way with Jarson. Yashi and I like to jump." He says, nudging Yashi.
"On your mark.." She starts.
"Get set.." Kokichi adds.
"Go!!" They yell at the same time. The sprint away jumping on buildings and practically flying through the city at the speed of light.
"Those two have so much energy.." Jarson says to himself.
"Yeah.. K-Kokichi has done this before, but I d-didn't think h-he had that much energy." I add with a chuckle.
He starts walking so I follow him. "These days.. It's rare to see Kokichi like this."
"Really? H-He always acts like t-that.. A-At least towards me..." I mumble.
"Yeah. I'm glad you brought our his old self again. After the tragedy, he never smiled. It's been months since we last heard his voice, you know." Jarson explains.
"Wh-What tragedy?" I ask curiously. I clasp my hand over my mouth. "S-Sorry! My curiosity got th-the best of me!"
He chuckles. "No... it's alright. Well, I know Kokichi will never tell you, so I might as well... DICE was a group of orphans. There were ten of us, including me, Yashi, and Kokichi." He says.
"Kokichi was our leader. All of us have tragic, traumatizing pasts, so we let out our anger on the world by committing harmless crimes, like graffiti or small robberies."
"Don't sell Kokichi short though. He's much more capable than the rest of us. He has a future. He's cunning and clever. Even got the highest grade in our math class at our shitty high school. Hell he's going to Hopes Peak!"
"But... One day while Kokichi was driving the van, he had his head out of the window. He wasn't paying attention. Yashi tried to warn him about the car, but it was too late."
"As you know, there are no seatbelts in the backseat area. So we all banged into each other. I assume I injured most of them since I'm so big and stronger than the others.. Yashi was smoking and the car went into flames."
"Kokichi flew out of the window, as he was already halfway out. Yashi escaped in the knick of time. I was pulled out by Yashi and Kokichi, since I was closest to the door."
"The car practically exploded a few seconds afterwards. There was no saving them.. The worst part... Kokichi's best friend, Korato, told us not to go driving that night, since we were all stoned and drunk out of our minds.."
"But Korato came with us just in case we got into trouble.. Kokichi blamed himself for his and everyone else's death everyday. He stopped talking and had horrible nightmares. He would cry every night. It was... awful."
"We applied to Hopes Peak for Kokichi, because he needed some hope in his life. We hoped that it could change him for the better. There was nothing we could do except remind him of the pain.."
"He got accepted and we practically had to drag him to the University. It broke our hearts even more.. not knowing if he would hurt himself or others. We wanted him to make good friends again. So I'm glad he met you." Jarson finishes with a smile.
This was so much to take in. DICE was dead. Pieces kept flying together in my mind. His actions and words started to make more sense.
"Ack! I ranted! Sorry for puttin you in a tough spot! Forget about it for now." Jarson smiles.
"S-Sorry.." I say.
"Hmm?"
"I'm.. sorry for your loss. I didn't know you, Yashi, and Kokichi went through that.. I'm sorry.." I say sadly. He smacks my back, causing me to jolt.
"Oh chillax! That happened like 5000 million years ago!" He chuckles.
I sigh.
"Well you both sure took your sweet time!" Kokichi nags.
"Yeah! We've been waiting for ages!" Yashi pouts. I smile at Kokichi who sticks his tongue out at me, then giggles.
"Who won this time?" Jarson asks.
"Ugh. You already know the answer to that.." Yashi mutters.
"Nishishi! Of course it's me! I am the best! Ultimate Supreme Leaders never lose!!" Kokichi chimes running circles around us.
He stops and jumps on Jarsons shoulders, then props himself up to jump over his fiery afro.
He skips to me and smiles brightly up at me. I smile down at him. He grabs my wrists and pulls me to the door of a run down small building.
"This is DICE Headquarters." Kokichi says proudly.
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END OF CHAPTER!
word count: 2,585