Kokichi's fearful eyes stared into Maki's cold ones, silently pleading for mercy. Her grip slowly began to tighten, Kokichi's hands beginning to claw at her for air. Suddenly, Maki's eyes widened and she dropped him, standing up and taking steps back. Kokichi gasped, curling up in a terrified ball of fear. No words came out as he assumed his worse fears were true. That he had figured out Maki's true motives. He expected another attack, only to be met with Maki running off to his bedroom, her shutting and locking the door.
Confusion filled his mind as he continued assuming the worse. Surely Maki wasn't done with him. Perhaps her plan was more complicated than he originally assumed. Kokichi thought back to the killing game, how he planned many events that both saved his life and could've potentially ended the killing game. Of course, Maki having the memories of a professional assassin, she should be one step ahead of him, with maybe a few exceptions in-between. There was that time Kokichi discovered her talent before anyone else, the process of it having slipped his mind. There were only remanence of the male he was forced to be, his old thought process becoming nothing but a mess to him now.
Still, there was no way he could just give up. After everything he had been through, he refused to die to some girl who has barely even spoken to Kaito all this time. His thoughts went to Kaito, and how he'd perceive his death. There could be a mix of reactions. Possibly anger if Kaito planned on ending the smaller male off himself. Maybe amusement that Maki snapped in such a way. There was doubt if sadness would present itself in any timeline he thought of. After all the two had been through, it couldn't be too must to assume Kaito was sick of him. Which lead to Kokichi's most feared timeline. That there was a chance Kaito left them alone for this exact reason.
He hadn't realized till now that he was crying, breathing becoming slightly hard. If he didn't figure something out soon, he'd surely be dead. At this point, it wasn't even about who'd cause it. All that mattered was out smarting the assassin. Shakily standing up, he glanced around the room for any type of weapon, hopefully something easy to hide. However, after a certain incident involving sharp objects, most had been thrown out or hidden in higher places. Still, Kokichi refused to accept defeat in this situation. Taking some deep breathes, he entered the kitchen and pulled up a chair to a high up cabinet. The chair itself wouldn't provide enough height, an empty drawer being pulled out and stacked on top.
Standing on top and trying his best to retain balance, he slowly reached up and swung open a cabinet door, spotting a certain sharp object he hadn't seen in weeks. Moving up with the tip of his toes, his hand touched the tip of the handle, struggling to grab it enough to drag it down. Frustration set in as he gave a small jump, grabbing the handle and pulling it down. However, all his balance was gone, the chair tipping over and sending Kokichi to the floor with the knife falling out of his hand. There was a loud crash, Kokichi's eyes only shutting for a second before snapped open to watch the knife. There was no time to react before it landed face down right next to his arm, slicing into the side.
The cut wasn't all that deep, though enough to cause it to bleed. Biting his tongue, Kokichi tried his best not the scream, immediately pulling his arm away and holding it close. Kaito definitely wouldn't be happy if he saw this, striking more fear into the male. But there wasn't time to process that as a loud bang came from the room over, followed by running footsteps. Kokichi took action, grabbing the knife and running towards the sound.
Everything happened fast, his arm being grabbed in a tight grip, the knife being thrown to the other side of the room, and his body being slammed into the side of the wall. Kokichi kept his eyes shut, fearful of the look he'd receive from the assassin. Her grip tightened for a second before releasing him, allowing him to drop to the floor. He opened his eyes, quickly searching for the knife or anything that could be use in defense. Maki recognized this, place a foot on Kokichi to keep him down. She didn't push him down much, knowing his fragile body wouldn't be able to escape either way.
Kokichi's life flashed before his eyes as he thought of all the things Maki might do to him. This lead to everything else he has gone through. Here he was, trying to turn the tables and, of course, failing miserably. Just like everything else in his life. There was no winning. And now, he had fallen right in the assassin's trap.
Despite Maki's foot barely touching him, he felt as if he couldn't breath, eyes wide in fear as he shakily tried to grab Maki's foot. He struggled a little before essentially giving up, tears escaping as he laid there in defeat. His vision blurred, fear overtaking him completely. Time seemed to stop as he continued in this state, struggling to take deep breathes. His mind was being overruled by terrifying memories. Everything has been for nothing. And now he will die.
The foot suddenly left him as Maki quickly moved to the ground, staring blankly at Kokichi. There was doubt that what was happening was real, considering Kokichi clearly wasn't fully acting how Kaito described. When asked to watch him, she expected him to curl up in a corner and fall asleep. Instead, he was an absolute mess that refused to calm down.
"Kokichi," Maki said slowly, searching for a reaction. It was as if the male didn't hear her, only staring up at the ceiling with a terrified expression. "Kokichi, can you hear me?" Still nothing, earning a sigh from Maki.
She had never dealt with a situation like this, quickly getting out her phone and searching up what was going on. As much as she disliked Kokichi, she needed to make sure he was okay. And needed to have correct information when bringing this up with Kaito. It didn't take long for her to find what she was looking for, sighing once again before turning back to Kokichi and slowly forcing his head in her direction.
"Kokichi, stay with me here. You need to concentrate on breathing." Her voice wasn't necessarily sweet or calming, just monotone enough to keep her true emotions from showing.
Though the male didn't respond, his eyes kept going from Maki to behind her. She continued.
"Listen, everything is okay. Just take deep breathes."
There was the urge to yell at her, tell her that he was trying. But he couldn't get the words out. Maki tried her best to help, instructing him how to as if he didn't know and counting seconds before the next breath. Slowly, his rapid breathing began to die down, his eyes now staring right into Maki's.
"Keep at it. Try to stay calm. I don't know what exactly is happening with you but you aren't in danger. Okay?"
There was still no response but he still listened. Maki tried not to make any sudden movement, watching the male for any reaction that may indicate he was getting worse. Fortunately, he wasn't.
"Do you need anything? Like water or some kind of medication?"
Once it became clear Kokichi wasn't going to answer to anything she said, she gave up trying, just sticking by Kokichi and pointing out the situation. Not the part where he attacked her but how everything is calm right now and that Kaito would be back soon. This seemed to help, Kokichi finally making a move and curling up into a ball. There was silence for awhile, Kokichi's breathing having fully calmed and the tears stopping. Maki just continued to watch him, not believing she just had to deal with that. This somewhat reminded her of her time back at the orphanage. Well, her fake memory of it. In them, she was use to comforting some of the other kids. However, they were usually for trivial things such as kids fighting over toys or having a disagreement over favorite animals.
Her head began to hurt slightly when thinking of the time, which she assumed it was due to the memories being fake. She snapped out of her thoughts, realizing the two were still on the kitchen floor.
"Kokichi," she asked, nudging him slightly.
There was no reaction, earning an annoyed look from Maki. Maybe if this was her house, she'd leave the male there for the night. But Kaito surely wouldn't be happy about it. Muttering to herself, she picked the male up and carried him to the bedroom, setting him on the bed and leaving the room.
Even more exhausted than before, she flopped onto the couch, glad that this was only going to be a one time thing. However, before she could fully relax, the front door burst open, Kaito walking in with a lot of bags. She was filled with anger, beginning to hate this house and its tendency for loud noises every five minutes. Not only that, but clearly whatever Kaito has been doing, wasn't helping Kokichi in the slightest. Once Kaito set all the bags down, she began interrogating him.
"I thought you said he didn't do much," she said, voice cold.
"He doesn't," Kaito said, confusion in his voice.
Maki pointed to the tipped over chair, broken drawer, and the knife in the corner. "Then explain this."
Kaito stared in disbelief, looking back at Maki for an explanation.
"He tried to attack me. You're telling me he's never attacked you?"
"No... Most he's ever done close to an attack is his freak outs after a nightmare."
"And how often do those happen?"
"I don't know. Every night? Look, I'm aware he's-"
"No, Kaito. You clearly don't know what you're doing."
"You think?" Kaito raised his voice, just as tired and done with the day as Maki. "I didn't ask to become his therapist! But if I don't try, no one will."
"At least do your research. If he is getting worse, there is no telling what he may do. We don't even know why he acted the way he did."
"I know! But this isn't as easy as just searching up all the answers."
"Have you even tried?"
"Well... no."
"Seriously? Do you wanna die?" Maki stopped, taking a couple deep breathes. "Look, clearly what you're doing isn't helping. And I can tell it's killing you. Maybe it's time to let someone else try."
"I have! But Kokichi won't leave the house!"
Kaito was beyond furious, frustrated with everything going on and wanting it all to stop. This wasn't how he expected life after the killing game to go out. All this effort he has put into one person and it seems to be worth nothing. And now being questioned by one of his closest friends was really pushing it.
Maki was about to respond, but stopped, looking around. Kaito gave a confused look before hearing it. There were footsteps followed by a scream. The two ran into the bedroom to find someone pinning Kokichi down. The second the two entered the room, the person jumped off him and dashed out the window. Maki followed close behind while Kaito stared in shock. Now on the floor, Kokichi curled up in a ball and cried. And it wasn't silent either. This irritated Kaito, knowing he'd once again have to try comforting the male into sleep. Picking Kokichi up, he laid in bed and pulled Kokichi close.
Kaito knew the conversation with Maki was far from over. But for now, Kaito wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep. And so, pulling the blanket over him and Kokichi, the two fell asleep.
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🌿Aha! I didn't take forever to write this! It apparently is possible to get stuff done. Actually had fun writing it. And it's also probably one of the longest chapters I've wrote.🌿