Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Shuichi," it said kindly. That voice—one he hadn't heard for what seemed like years—one that belonged to a generous, caring soul…

Kaede?

"Yes, that's right. I'm Kaede, see?" he felt hands again, this time gentler, holding his face in their hands like it was thin glass. Kaede's hands.

Was I speaking out loud?

He heard her giggle, light and feathery. "Yes, silly, you are speaking out loud," she said. "Can you see me, Shuichi?"

He tried to focus his eyes, to make sense of the watercolor before him. He stared intently, and slowly, the watercolor slowly began to take shape and become more than just a splurge of horrifyingly unfamiliar colors. He saw blonde hair, magenta eyes, and a kind smile: Kaede Akamatsu.

"K-Kae…de…" he rasped out. The girl smiled and put a careful hand on his shoulder.

"Don't use your voice too much… I don't want to overwhelm you, but everything's going to be okay now, alright?" He nodded, moreso to please Kaede than anything, but he still decided not to talk, seeing as doing so resulted in uncomfortable pain.

"You need to lie back down and rest, okay?" Kaede advised. Her voice was raspy and hoarse, as though she really needed a drink, but he couldn't determine why. Shuichi did feel rather sleepy, so he nodded again and allowed his friend's gentle hand to push him back down onto the covers of his bed. Distantly, he was aware that he wasn't home, and his logical mind was blaring that he couldn't rest, that he needed to find a solution to this mystery, too. But he was more tired than anything, so he laid back and allowed his eyes to slip shut.

°•×•°

Shuichi awoke again, this time greeted by Kaede and Kaito together. It didn't take Shuichi long to become at least somewhat coherent, and managed to have a conversation with them when he was.

"So… what happened? How is everyone alive?" he asked, before quickly adding: "N-Not that it's a bad thing! This is the best thing that could've happened, but–"

Kaito interrupted him with a chuckle. "Still the same old sidekick, huh? Alright, well, we'll explain it to ya!" he declared. Kaede looked at the taller man worriedly.

"Are you sure he's ready…? I don't want to overhel–" she started, but was cut off by Kaito pounding his fists together and releasing a determined puff of air.

"Nonsense! My sidekicks can do the impossible, and Shuichi has done the impossible! He can take this, Kaede," he insisted boldly. Kaede sighed and nodded slightly.

"I guess you're right… Okay, Shuichi…" the aforementioned boy sat in his bed anxiously, finally about to get an answer to his most burning question.

"The game wasn't real," the two said at once. Shuichi's eyes widened, then he shook his head.

"T-That's not possible… I-I saw it all happen! You dying, and Kirumi, and Korekiyo, and Gonta, and you, and e-everyone! I checked the pulses, everyone was dead!" he rambled off. He didn't know why in the world he was being so insistent that the killing game was real. He never wanted it to be real for a moment. Kaito grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Shuichi! Calm down, man. You're gonna make Kaede think I'm wrong if you keep blubberin'!" the tan boy said firmly, with a hint of desperation in his tone. Shuichi forced himself to take a deep breath and shook his head dizzily.

"...Okay… S-So everyone's okay?" he asked. Kaito and Kaede shared a look, making Shuichi sit up straighter. "W-What? What is it?" he asked frantically. Kaede sighed.

"Well, there's–" She was cut off by Kaito putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax your throat. That's what the doctors told you to do, you gotta take care of yourself more!" he told her. Kaede nodded with a slight smile and beckoned for Kaito to explain. With a preparatory breath, the former astronaut began to speak.

"Uhm… define 'okay' would be the best response to that question, I guess… Everyone's alive. But we're all pretty screwed-up in the head, most of us got some kinda physical disability right now, and… Ouma's comatose," Kaito said the last part like it was going to earn him a slap in the face. Shuichi's eyes widened.

"Ouma's…?" was all he managed to whisper. Kaede looked down as if the ordeal was somehow her fault, and Kaito had a similar expression, but he added more to his bombshell of information.

"The doctors said he should be awake soon, though! You know how that kid is, he's stubborn." There was a hint of fondness in Kaito's voice. Shuichi figured that whatever happened in the hangar that Kaito hadn't the time to tell must have changed his views on Kokichi somewhat if he was able to talk about the liar without complaining about him. Kaito's words only made him feel slightly better. Kaede nodded passionately, bringing her fists up to her chest.

Shuichi sighed shakily and hugged himself gently.

"I stole your heart, so now I'm satisfied! I don't need to steal your life anymore!"

Kokichi can lie about a lot of things, but he can't hide the warmth of his hand.

Kokcihi would wake up. He had to.

°•×•°

At the end of that same week, Shuichi had spoken to every one of his former classmates, excluding Kokichi, but that didn't stop the blue-haired boy from visiting. Most everyone was pleased to see him, especially those who died sooner and hadn't spoken to him for some time, such as Rantaro, Kirumi, Angie, and Gonta. Everyone else had a rather neutral reaction and didn't have much to say. When Shuichi wasn't attending the mandatory therapy sessions held by the Future Foundation, or eating the scheduled meals, or sleeping his exhaustion away, he was with Kokichi, holding the smaller, thinner, colder hand in his own and listening to the heart monitor.

"...You probably don't want me here…" Shuichi murmured to his unconscious companion. "I-I know 'sorry' can't fix everything I've done to you, but I…" Shuichi took a moment to recollect himself before he started sobbing again, as he usually did at Kokichi's bedside. "I want to be here now. I want to make up for how I ignored you and your efforts to save us…"

He was met with expected silence, which made the tears he was trying to hold back fall and a resisted sob slip past his lips. He held Kokichi's hand tighter, using his own free hand to bury his palm into his teary eye until he saw stars speckling his vision, mumbling as many apologies as he could before he couldn't anymore apropos of his hyperventilating breaths and broken sobs.

"I'm sorry, Ouma… I'm so, so sorry…" he whispered. Before he could do anything more, however, a knock sounded on the door.

"Mr. Saihara…? May I come in?" That voice belonged to one of Kokichi nurses who came to check his vitals routinely. Shuichi came to visit Kokichi most often, so she was aware of the former detective's frequent visits. Shuichi rubbed his eyes and released Kokichi's hand and mumbled a weak "yeah," allowing the woman to enter the room with a small smile.

"It's curfew, Mr. Saihara… You can come back tomorrow if you'd like," she said kindly. Shuichi sniffled and nodded, standing from the uncomfortable guest chair that he moved back to the corner of the room. He gave Kokichi's hand one last squeeze, a silent "I'll be back," before he left the room and returned to his own, feeling exhausted from all the crying he'd done. The moment Shuichi's head hit the pillow, he felt himself begin drifting off into a semi-welcome sleep.

Some time after that, Shuichi was barely awoken by distant shouting. Before he could even process the words being spoken or what could've been happening, his eyes slipped closed and he drifted again.

°•×•°

Shuichi was sitting at the long table with the other participants, talking idly as if it were a normal day, though it wasn't at all. Kaede, Miu, Tenko, Angie, and Tsumugi could scarcely talk as it was, and all of them were advised to limit their speaking to allow their throat and vocals to heal. Kaede, Miu, and Angie had problems following that rule, however.

It wasn't until Rantaro spoke up after Kaede snapped her fingers before him and reminded him that everyone was chatting that Shuichi felt some real emotion that morning.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I spaced out again, didn't I?" the green-headed male said nervously. Kaede smiled and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Before anyone could continue talking however, Rantaro started his own topic of conversation.

"The doctors told me Ouma woke up last night," Rantaro said. Shuichi stood from his chair immediately.

"R-Really?!" he shouted incredulously. Everyone else at the table—besides Rantaro, who seemed like he thought everyone else knew already—had wide eyes, some of them clearly were not expecting Kokichi to wake up at all.

Rantaro nodded. "Yeah, but they said… what did they say…" Rantaro mumbled frustratedly, snapping his fingers as if luring the memory to his mind. He looked back up when the answer came to him. "Something weird's going on with him, that's what they told me."

Shuichi pushed his chair in, thanked everyone for their time, and left the room with supportive comments from those who could speak. He rushed to Kokichi's room the moment the door was closed and got there within minutes. He swung the door open, needing to see something—anything—other than a comatose Kokichi.

That was what he got. His eyes landed on multiple nurses who were doing multiple things to Kokichi, who was sitting up with open eyes, though they were hazy and devoid as a cataract. There was a nurse inserting a needle into Kokichi's forearm, one feeling his throat, and one checking some things on a monitor. The most horrifying part was Kokichi sitting upright, staring blankly at the bed as all of these tests were being taken on him. It didn't take long for them to finish, and one of them spoke to Shuichi before they left.

"Mr. Saihara…" they began sadly, making Shuichi's concern spike higher. "Mr. Ouma isn't physically responsive at all. He's awake, but it's as if he isn't here… Like there's static, in his mind.

"His body is giving off natural responses. His eyes dilate to light and he jolts at loud sounds, but other than that he hasn't shown any signs of coherence," the nurse finished with a brisk sigh. Shuichi stood there, horrified. He felt his face grow hot and his breathing begin to speed.

"W-Why…? What–... W-W-What can I do…?" he asked, stumbling over his words as he tried to process the information. How had this happened? The last time he'd truly talked to Kokichi, the smaller boy was chipper and smiling, even if it was an act and Shuichi said horrible things to him out of anger. How was he completely unresponsive, but Ryoma and Tsumugi weren't? Their bodies had gotten completely demolished, too!

The nurse looked back at Kokichi, who hadn't moved an inch, before returning her sympathetic gaze to Shuichi. "If you're really dedicated, just stay with him. Try to get through to him. Anything is progress right now," she said. Shuichi nodded firmly, completely ready to stay with Kokichi as long as it would take to make sure he would be okay. The nurse nodded back and left the room, leaving Shuichi with this brand-new Kokichi whom he'd never known.

"Ouma…? Hey, are you there?" he asked softly, raising a hand to hold Kokichi's, but he stopped momentarily, and decided to grasp the smaller boy's thin shoulder instead. He gave him a gentle shake, saying his name again in hopes to get some sort of reaction out of him. Shuichi felt tears slip down his face; he could barely take the heaviness of the grief and guilt he was feeling.

"Hey…" he tried again pathetically, giving him a weaker shake. Kokichi didn't give a sliver of a reaction.

In the span of about 2 hours, Shuichi tried everything he could think of to get Kokichi to react to him. He made faces, he told him about the Future Foundation, he brought Kokichi some Fanta, he even tried giving him a hug, figuring that physical contact, of all things, would provoke some kind of reaction from him. Shuichi pulled at his bangs and combed through them nervously as he tried to think of something else to try, but he couldn't come up with anything else. He hugged Kokichi again, though he was mostly searching for comfort than anything else that time.

Shuichi was about to break down into a puddle of tears. That was, until he heard a quiet sigh elicited from beside him. He pulled away slightly to observe Kokichi, and confirmed that it was indeed him who had made the soft sound.

"Ouma? C-Can you talk to me?" he asked kindly, making sure Kokichi could see his face again. He received no response, save for a nurse entering the room.

"Lunch time, Mr. Saihara. You need to go eat," he said. Shuichi frowned, partially because he didn't like that nurse and found him rude, but more so because he had to leave Ouma when they had potentially almost made progress. He looked back at Kokichi and gave him a small, false smile. If Kokichi were himself he would've seen directly through it.

"I'll be right back, okay? I promise," he vowed. He left the room, feeling nothing more than the need to run back in and stay with Kokichi.

He went to the dining area and ate nearly half of his lunch as quickly as he could manage with his poor eating habits before he threw his plate away and grabbed another one. He put a very small amount of food on it and left without a word, returning to Kokichi's room with the smallest of smiles. Seeing the former leader right where he was before made Shuichi's heart shatter into a million pieces.

"I'm back… I-I, uhm… I brought you food. I don't know if you'll be able to eat it, but…" Shuichi trailed off, not knowing what more to say to someone who possibly couldn't even process his words. Shuichi spent another hour trying to get Kokichi to eat something, the poor kid looked like he could snap from a gust of wind.

While his attempts fell flat with lunch, and later, with dinner, Shuichi had promised not to give up on Kokichi, and that was a promise that he intended with all of his heart to fulfill. Shuichi sat with him from after dinner to curfew, holding his hand and trying not to nod off. While he was there, Kokichi also looked like he was growing tired, his upper body swaying slightly and his eyes falling closed for longer periods of time. Shuichi looked at him from his seat next to his bed.

"...You need to sleep," he said simply, using his unoccupied hand to gently push Kokichi down by the shoulder. There was no protest from the smaller boy, and as soon as his head came into contact with the pillow, Kokichi was out like a light.

Shuichi sighed, released Kokichis hand, and stood from his chair. "Goodnight, Ouma… I'll come back tomorrow," he whispered, leaving the room with the plate of uneaten food. After throwing the plate away, Shuichi headed to his room and changed into night clothes. He laid down in his bed and couldn't shake the feeling of hopelessness that loomed over him as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

°•×•°

A couple of weeks passed. For Shuichi, it was days that blended into each other, all of which consisted of him dedicatedly sitting at Kokichi's side. Even when he wasn't trying to elicit a reaction out of Kokichi, he was there, sitting with him and grasping his hand. The nurses told him that an error occurred after Kokichi's death due to the hyperactivity in his brain, and it caused his mind to almost shut down, and that was what caused his conscious unresponsiveness. Knowing what haponed didn't make Shuichi feel any better.

Kaede and Kaito continuously insisted that what he was doing wasn't healthy and he needed to take time for himself. This topic got brought up again at dinner one night.

"Sidekick, seriously. This isn't good for ya, putting that responsibility on yourself every day," Kaito said. Kaede nodded in agreement.

"You need to focus on your own recovery," the blonde corroborated raspily. Shuichi but his bottom lip as he fought back tears. They didn't understand, and it frustrated him to no end.

"Ouma put the responsibility of all of our lives on his shoulders," he said quietly, shakily. Kaito's eyes widened, as did Kaede's, but Shuichi pressed on. Kokichi couldn't defend himself, so Shuichi would do his best to defend him. "I don't know about you two, but the simulation felt as real as it could've to me. I can't imagine how much it would hurt to get crushed slowly and know you'd still be hated afterwards."

Kaito's gaze trailed down to his lap, a guilty look on his face, probably remembering how he was the one who crushed Kokichi in the first place. Kaede's expression morphed into one of sadness. Shuichi watched them with a firmness in his eyes that hadn't been there since he woke up from the virtual reality.

"Ouma needed to focus on getting out alive like the rest of us were, not conjuring up a suicide scheme to rescue everyone. He wasn't focused on winning the game like most of us were, he was set on ending it. He went down some horrible roads, but he had the same end goal as you did, Akamatsu." Kaede looked up at him with wide eyes, as if the thought had never occurred to her. Kaito clenched his teeth and tried to blink the tears in his eyes away. Shuichi sighed, though it was wavery and exhausted, and stood from his seat. It was then he noticed that the entire rest of the group was staring at him. He was quick to leave after coming to that realization, grabbing a plate of food and hurrying out of the room.

When he made it to Kokichi's room, however, he stopped dead in his tracks and almost dropped the plate if foods.

Kokichi was looking at him. With clearer and more coherent eyes, Kokichi was definitely looking right at Shuichi. Though his expression was still blank and unchanging, the sudden progress made Shuichi feel lightheaded. He stumbled over to Kokichi and set the food down on the bedside table, occupied only by a vase with fake plants inside. The violet-haired boy's eyes followed him. He grasped his hand and forced words from his mouth.

"O-Ouma..?! You can see me, right?" he asked hopefully. He felt Kokichi's hand squeeze his, and although it was gentle and for a brief second, Shuichi was certain it wasn't a twitch: Kokichi could both see and hear him (which may have been the case the entire time, but having it confirmed to him made Shuichi's heart simultaneously stop and swell with hope).

Tears fell from his eyes and he chuckled quietly in disbelief. He couldn't dwell too much, though. Kokichi needed to eat. Since he's been unresponsive and wouldn't eat, the nurses were keeping him alive the same way they did when he was in a coma, by injecting things into him. Shuichi grabbed a slice of bread and tried handing it to him, but Kokichi only stared at it.

Tenacious still, Shuichi carefully ripped off a decently-sized piece of the bread and held it to Kokichi's lips, a small blush making its way onto his cheeks. It was a little bit embarrassing, but Kokichi absolutely needed to eat something… and Shuichi wanted to see him get better in any way possible.

To the former detective's relief, Kokichi slowly took the piece of bread and ate it—though he mostly let it dissolve in his mouth before swallowing it. Shuichi didn't care. More tears ran down his face, but it wasn't mentioned as he continued to feed Kokichi with a new sense of hope and joy blossoming in his chest. Kokichi managed to finish an entire slice of bread before he refused any more food. Shuichi held his hand and talked to him with a little more life in his tone now that Kokichi was looking at him and his hand motions. Curfew came in what seemed like minutes, but Shuichi was determined to stay with Kokichi that night.

"I want to stay with him tonight. Please," he asked the same nurse who came after every meal to check on Kokichi. The nurse shook his head.

"You aren't allowed to do that," he said coldly. Shuichi gripped Kokichi's hand tighter while the smaller boy's eyes were just trained on anything that was moving, looking back and forth between the nurse and Shuichi.

"Please," he said again, trying his best not to stutter to prove his point, but even Kokichi looked down at their connected hands as Shuichi's palms began to grow sweaty with nerves. "We're making progress here. I made a promise to stay with him."

The nurse looked unsure. He sighed and approached the door. "I'll talk to Mr. Naegi. Wait just a moment," he said, then left the room. Shuichi let out a shaky exhale and looked at Kokichi, who stared back at him. Not 5 minutes later the nurse returned.

"You can stay if you really want, but we can't move a bed in here on such short notice," he informed, almost as if he was glad to report that Shuichi wouldn't have a place to sleep. The blue-haired boy wasn't fazed. He nodded and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you," he said genuinely. The nurse looked slightly surprised before he looked away and furrowed his brows.

"Yeah…" was all the other male replied with. He left the room and shut off the lights, leaving Shuichi and Kokichi sitting beside each other under the pale moonlight shining through the large glass window to their right.

Shuichi tried to get Kokichi to lie down, but the violette continued to sit back up. Confused, Shuichi tried gently pushing him down again, but he sat right back up after a few moments, looking at Shuichi as if trying to silently convey something to him. The former detective felt himself growing anxious under the pressure of Kokichi's stare.

"O-Ouma, you need to rest…" he mumbled, trying and failing to sound more confident. Kokichi stared at him for a few moments longer before he allowed Shuichi to push him down again and didn't sit back up. The blue-haired boy felt himself get tired, and laid his head somewhere without thinking, drifting off into a more comfortable sleep with Kokichi by his side and positive thoughts filling his mind.

°•×•°

When Shuichi awoke in the morning, he noticed 2 things: he'd fallen asleep with his head on his and Kokichi's intertwined hands, and Kokichi was awake and sitting up, but making no move to remove his hand. Not that he'd made many moves at all since he'd woken up besides looking around, sitting up, and eating bread.

"Ah… sorry, Ouma," he apologized tiredly, lifting his head and parting his hand from Kokichi's, both of which were warm and sweaty from being together all night. He stood up and made his way to the door. "I'm going to get breakfast. I'll be right back, okay?"

He earned no response, and sadly, he didn't necessarily expect one.

When Shuichi returned with food for Kokichi, he sat and helped the smaller boy eat as much as he could before he refused any more. It wasn't much, but as long as he ate something each meal, Shuichi was happy. He set the plate aside and sat with Kokichi in comfortable silence until a voice sounded over the intercoms. He recognized the voice as belonging to Mr. Naegi, the owner of the Future Foundation.

"To all of our simulation recoverees, please head to the cafeteria immediately… T-Thank you!" he said the last part as if he forgot it for a moment and quickly shut off the intercom. Shuichi looked at his companion, who looked back with a usual blank expression.

"You can't walk, can you…?" he asked solemnly, already predicting the answer. Kokichi hadn't walked for a while, and who knows what physical damage he'd suffered after being crushed in the virtual reality. Shuichi sighed quietly as he figured out what to do. "Okay. I'll go, and let you know what they said when I get back, alright?"

Kokichi didn't respond, so Shuichi just squeezed his hand and left the room. He got to the cafeteria and sat in his usual seat, feeling uncomfortable without having Kokichi there with him, even if it wasn't necessarily voluntary company. Kaede sat on his left, and Kaito on his right, so he felt at least a bit comfortable in his curious and anxious mind.

Minutes after everyone was present and seated, the founder of the Future Foundation, Mr. Makoto Naegi stepped into the room with a sheepish smile, alongside a woman with lavender hair and a stone blank face whom Shuichi vaguely recognized as the co-founder.

"Hello, everyone! U-Uhm…" Mr. Naegi began, silencing any of the former Ultimates who were still chatting. The co-founder woman sighed and folded her hands in front of her.

"We have news for all of you," she said firmly. Mr. Naegi seemed to relax a little bit now that the attention wasn't completely on him. The woman continued: "Within a week, you'll all be returning to your legal guardians with whom you lived before Danganronpa."

Chatter arose around the room again, mostly of delight and anticipation. Some people, such as Maki and Ryoma, didn't appear as excited as the others, if at all. Shuichi himself felt overjoyed at the fact that he was going to see his uncle again, who cared for him like no one else wanted to when it mattered. He wasn't home very often, but always made sure to take days off to make sure that Shuichi wasn't feeling or being neglected.

"In the final week you all are here, we're going to make sure you're all stable enough to return home. Physical therapy will last longer and be every day for those of you who need it, and group therapy will be daily as well," the woman continued. Shuichi decided to speak up after a moment of silence.

"W-What if someone hasn't… started physical therapy yet?" he asked shyly. The attention of his peers and his superiors were directed to him, and it made him feel hot. Mr. Naegi smiled, seemingly happy to provide an answer.

"You must be talking about Mr. Ouma!" he said, making Shuichi's face become red as he nodded ever-so-slightly. "He'll start physical therapy after lunch today, and continue after he's discharged if need be."

The co-founder, who was then introduced as Ms. Kirigiri dismissed everyone and Shuichi's former classmates began to leave. He himself was about to exit when he heard Mr. Naegi calling him.

"Mr. Saihara!" he called, approaching the taller boy with a smile. Shuichi looked over his shoulder and allowed the door to shut before him. He turned to face Mr. Naegi with a small smile. Ms. Kirigiri bid them goodbye and left to tend to other matters.

"I wanted to talk to you about Ouma," Mr. Naegi said. Shuichi nodded, curiosity blooming in his mind. "The only living relative he has is… not permitted to be near him. I figured you of all people might know of anyone else he could go to?"

Shuichi's brows furrowed in thought.

"Not permitted to be near him?" What does that mean…? More importantly, where is Kokichi going to live?

Shuichi thought about it long enough for Mr. Naegi to seemingly grow uncomfortable. "W-Well, it's alright if you can't think of an answer right away, I was just wondering–"

"I could take him in," Shuichi offered bluntly. He then realized what he'd said and his face became red. Mr. Naegi didn't seem fazed, as he only smiled warmly.

"We'd need to get documented permission from your legal guardian, but I've spoken with your uncle before. I don't think he'd have a problem with it," the shorter, spiky-haired male said. Shuichi nodded in agreement. His uncle was a kind man, and understood Shuichi very well due to his experience as a psychiatrist and therapist. Mr. Naegi bid him goodbye and Shuichi went back to Kokichi's room, catching sight of the bedridden boy staring at the foot of his bed again, picking subconsciously at the bedsheet as if he were bored. He looked up at Shuichi as he heard the door open.

"Hey, Ouma…" he said kindly, closing the door behind him and sitting in the chair he'd left next to Kokichi's bedside. The aforementioned boy watched him, looking less bored and tired than he did when Shuichi first entered the room. "They're gonna have you start doing physical therapy today…" He was hesitant to tell the former leader that he'd signed him up to live with them without Kokichi having a say in the matter.

"...And we're all going back to our homes, with our legal guardians next wee–" he was interrupted by Kokichi forcefully grabbing his wrist, and the beeping of his heart monitor began to speed.

"O-Ouma?!" Shuichi asked, completely startled by his companion's sudden and unusual outburst. He grabbed Kokichi's hand, almost instinctively, until he realized he actually needed to be calmed down, because his heart rate was skyrocketing and his body was beginning to shake uncontrollably. Shuichi grabbed Kokichi's other hand and held them firmly, trying to ground him without scaring him further or hurting his fragile body. "Ouma, hey, it's alright… Deep breaths. It's okay. Y-You can stay with my uncle and I if you want?"

It didn't take long for Kokichi to calm down after the suggestion was made. He looked at Shuichi, then at their connected hands, then back up at Shuichi, who smiled reassuringly at him and whispered affirmations to him.

"...D-Does this mean you want to live with us?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. Kokichi didn't respond for some moments before he felt his right hand be gently squeezed by Kokichi's left. He took that as a confirmation, and returned the gesture with a smile. "Okay."

°•×•°

Lunch came and went as usual: Shuichi ate, grabbed some food to bring back to Kokichi, and assisted the smaller boy in eating a little bit before they sat and spent time together again. The door opened and a nurse entered, with long, fluffy-looking light brown hair and strawberry pink eyes. She pulled down her surgical mask to reveal a welcoming smile.

"Hello! I'm one of the physical therapists here, I've been assigned to help a Mr. Ouma Kokichi?" Shuichi assumed that her questioning tone was more for politeness' sake, but he confirmed her thoughts anyway. He looked at Kokichi, who stared at the woman beside the door as if she were something totally foreign to him.

"Ouma, she's gonna help you move normally again, okay?" he asked, hoping that Kokichi would warm up to the nurse if he knew Shuichi was okay with her. The former leader looked to his companion, then back at the nurse with looser shoulders and a more relaxed look. Shuichi marveled about how much progress he'd been making in terms of reactions to things and processing information. Weeks ago he would have never gotten his hopes up high enough to assume that Kokichi would be able to even look at him, and now the smaller boy was clearly comprehending things Shuichi was saying and taking them into consideration.

Not long after that, Kokichi was sitting on the edge of his bed, legs dangling over the edge. Shuichi realized that Kokichi had been wearing the same sweatshirt and sweatpants that he'd woken up from the simulation in, and then became aware that Kokichi could probably use a shower. The nurse tapped a metal utensil against Kokichi's knee to test his reflexes (which were mild but there nonetheless), and then asked if he could move any part of his legs. Shuichi held Kokichi's shoulder reassuringly, and the smaller boy's legs began to sway back and forth, very very slowly and minutely. The former detective let out a faint breath of relief.

"Good job, Kichi…" he murmured encouragingly. "You're doing great…"

Kokichi's head snapped to face him and the nurse looked up from Kokichi's legs to smile at him. "Do you call him that often?" she asked sweetly. The latter was confused on what she was talking about until he realized with a jolt what he'd said.

Kichi…

"Ah! N-No, I don't, that was an accident, I didn't think about it! Ki– O-OUMA! OumaI'msosorryIdidn'tmeantocallyouthatI–" He felt his breathing begin to speed as his rambling continued and became unintelligible. Kokichi's expression changed slightly, but Shuichi wasn't in the right mind to tell how. The nurse's attention was quickly shifted to him and his declining mental state. She put a firm hand on his shoulder that contrasted her usual bubbly, gentle personality.

"Mr. Saihara! Breathe, Mr. Saihara," she said calmly. Once she succeeded in getting the hyperventilating boy's attention, she smiled. "Hello! We're gonna try the Box breathing technique, okay? You know what that is?"

Shuichi took a moment before he nodded. Meanwhile, Kokichi watched with an ever-blank expression as his companion inhaled, held his breath, exhaled, and held his breath again for 4 seconds each, repeating the process a few times until he was able to breathe normally again. When Shuichi was calm enough, the nurse went back to testing Kokichi's legs, feeling them and having him try to move them again. One that was done, about half an hour later, she stood upright and held her arms straight out in front of her and asked Kokichi to do the same.

Kokichi looked at Shuichi for a moment with analytical eyes before he shuffled closer, slightly. The latter's breath hitched and he felt his heart practically stop while the nurse just smiled and giggled fondly.

"You two are very close, huh?" she asked. Shuichi's face was red and he took a deep breath. He wanted to be close to Kokichi more than anything, but he couldn't help but feel like he was taking advantage of the violette's damaged psychological state in times like this. He nodded slightly as Kokichi's focus was then on attempting to raise his arms. Though his arms were shaking madly and it looked like he wanted nothing more than to sleep, Kokichi managed to raise his arms all the way up, imitating the nurse's pose. Shuichi smiled and congratulated him, and the nurse did the same before asking him to bend his arm however he wanted. The former leader did so, and then curled and uncurled his fingers at the nurse's request. That process took about an hour.

The woman scribbled something down on her clipboard and held it to her chest with a smile. "Well, while the first day of physical therapy is mostly diagnostic, I'd say our main focus should be getting you walking again. You did very well, so you won't need too much therapy!" she said enthusiastically. Kokichi simply watched her with a blank expression, and Shuichi smiled softly.

He's going to get better… And I'll help him. Not only do I want to, I owe it to him to be here.

The nurse bid them goodbye and Shuichi helped Kokichi sit properly in bed as he usually did. A few moments of silence passed while the ravenette gathered his thoughts until he broke it.

"I'm sorry… a-about me freaking out on you earlier, I mean. I had anxiety before, but after the game it got much worse… N-Not that I'm making excuses f-for my own incompetence!"

Kokichi stared at him, eyes shifting about his now trembling form. Shuichi took a few deep breaths, though it was a bit more difficult unguided, and calmed himself down with a meek mumble of "Sorry…" to which the smaller one didn't respond.

°•×•°

The week went somewhat smoothly. Kokichi's physical therapy continued, and with it came the violette's consistent exhaustion. Shuichi expressed concern for how much he was sleeping, but the physical therapist (whom they'd come to know as Ms. Yuma) insisted that his body just needed rest and that he was perfectly fine. Though Kokichi had some bruises that needed to heal from when he fell over trying to walk for the first time since the simulation (and Shuichi's heart still needed to recover from the absolute scare the whole scenario gave him).

Because Kokichi was asleep often—and some of the other former Ultimates were growing concerned about Shuichi himself—the latter decided to take some time after lunch to spend with Kaede, Kaito, and Maki in the cafeteria. All was quiet for some time before Maki spoke up in her blunt and cold tone, stone-faced as usual.

"So why Ouma of all people?" she asked. Shuichi stiffened slightly and gripped his bottle of water a bit tighter, internally cringing at the crinkling of the plastic beneath his fingertips.

"I-I'm sorry?" he replied, partially asking for her to elaborate but also genuinely apologizing out of instinct. Maki's stare hardened and Shuichi felt as though his skin was burning.

"Why are you giving Ouma your attention over your real friends?" she clarified. Shuichi's brows furrowed, his anxiety quickly beginning to cave in to irritation. "He's not your responsibility, Shuichi."

Ah. There was the irritation. "...No, he's not. But he's my friend, and I want to make up for how I treated him."

It was like someone ignited a fire inside of Maki. Her eyes shone with a spark of determination and hardness that seemed so cold. "'How you treated him'?! Shuichi, he treated us all like less than dirt to get his way, you owe him nothing!"

Kaede opened her mouth to restore the peace in the room, but Shuichi spoke up before she could begin.

"He was trying to save us all! Who knows how long he was planning to kill himself for the sake of people who hated him?"

"We hated him because he made us hate him! Have you forgotten what he did to Gokuhara?!" Maki's voice gradually rose to a shout, but Kaito put a hand on her shoulder and she quieted, like someone poured water on the fire. The tanner man had a dark look of regret on his face, uncharacteristic for the usual optimist.

"Maki-Roll… I'm sorry about this, but you just haven't seen the other side of Ouma. You know…" Kaito took in a breath, slightly shaky, and continued on. "...I asked 'im when he started the whole suicide plan, since, well… y'know, it probably took a while to plan out. And he—that crazy bastard of a kid—he told me it was since Gokuhara died, and I think…" Kaito took another shaky breath, and it seemed like it was getting harder for him to take a breath in. It dawned on Shuichi that Kaito had horrible asthma since the simulation and it took a lot out of him to speak for too long.

"...He felt so guilty about Gokuhara that he…" Shuichi trailed off and Kaito nodded as he caught his breath, pointing a finger at the former as if to say "what he said." Maki shook her head fiercely.

"No. When killing Iruma and Gokuhara didn't satisfy him, he ran out of people dumb enough to fall for his antics so he killed himself. It's as simple as that," she said as if it were final. It wasn't, and Shuichi would make sure he defended Kokichi against people who would talk horribly about him when he couldn't defend himself.

"That's just what it is: simple. You're not seeing the bigger picture, Maki. What he did to Iruma and Gokuhara was very wrong, but in the end he and Kaede wanted to achieve the same goal. They wanted to end the game, not win it, and I admire that more than anything." Kaede gave a weak smile at the compliment, completely helpless to aid the situation. Maki's nails grated against the table and she stood abruptly, not even bothering to push in her chair as she walked away and left the room.

Shuichi felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. Kaede put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"It's alright Shuichi! Maki just isn't used to… not having to be so defensive. I think you're doing the right thing, defending Ouma. It's adorable!" Kaede wore a smile the entire while she talked, but Shuichi's face quickly flushed red at her final comment. Kaito grinned.

"Yeah! Ouma and I may not get along the best, but you both deserve each other, especially after everything you both went through!" he said boldly. Shuichi's face felt so hot he feared he may soon need to dump his water bottle all over it. He felt grateful that Kaito and Kokichi had a better relationship, at least, even if it was over the hangar and Kokichi wasn't exactly in the position to say otherwise.

Kaede smiled. "I doubt he'll let the rest of us in, so take care of him for us, okay?" Shuichi nodded slightly and tried to will his blush away.

"Yeah… I promise, I will." He made another promise to protect Kokichi, and he planned to keep it, too.

Kaede chimed in again. "So, how are you feeling about bringing Ouma with you to live with your uncle tomorrow?"

Shuichi smiled softly at the thought of his uncle meeting Kokichi. "I'm excited. I think Uncle will love him… Speaking of which, I should get back to him. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

With that and waves of goodbye from his two friends, Shuichi returned to Kokichi's room and pulled up his chair. He held his unconscious companion's hand and quickly fell asleep, anticipating the next day with positive thoughts.

The suits are a bit too much… Shuichi thought to himself as he then stood upright, taking in the sight of his purple-haired companion. He smiled as Kokichi looked up at him, expression neutral as it was daily. His legs were shaking slightly, but otherwise he stood still since Shuichi wanted to fix some things with his outfit.

"Okay, I think everything's good now…" he mumbled, more to himself than anything else. Before he could speak again, however, Kokichi slowly reached up and patted the top of Shuichi's head. The taller boy's eyes widened significantly at the sudden and very affectionate action until the realization occurred to him.

Oh… he's trying to fix my hair. He didn't know why he felt a sliver of disappointment at the thought. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, as Kokichi lowered his arm back to its usual limp position and they saw a car (that Shuichi realized was his uncle's with a jump of his heart) pull in outside the window. He quickly looked over Kokichi again, then himself, then grasped the short boy's hand out of pure nerves, though the gesture wasn't rejected.

Shuichi and Kokichi watched as his Mr. Saihara approached the front doors, and the former of the two mumbled "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" continuously. Kokichi looked up at him, then at the door as it opened and Mr. Saihara walked in with a slightly nervous look until he saw the two boys standing right before him.

"Shuichi!" he gasped, quickly coming over and bringing his nephew in for a hug. Shuichi's hand was pulled away from Kokichi's, and the latter watched the affectionate reunion blankly. The hug was broken and the older man's attention was directed to the other boy, who was much shorter than him. He grabbed Kokichi's hand and shook it with a smile. "You must be Ouma! Oh, thank you so much for everything you've done for my boy since that terrible show!" he said in the warmest tone humanly possible. Kokichi stared up at him with the most stunned expression Shuichi had ever seen, and remained silent. Mr. Saihara backed away and looked downward with a confused look, brows furrowed slightly.

"Er… Are the kid's legs okay?" he asked uncertainly. Shuichi looked down at Kokichi's legs and noticed that they were shaking more than they were mere minutes ago, though he internally praised Kokichi for being able to stand on his own as long as he had already.

"Y-Yeah… He's been in physical therapy, but he can't stand for too long…" the smaller Saihara replied sheepishly, and the older nodded knowingly.

"Ahh. Well, let's get you two in the car then!" Mr. Saihara said enthusiastically as he opened the door for the two boys. They exited and got into his car, bidding the Future Foundation goodbye with sorrowful glee while it got further and further away. The car was quiet for some moments, with Shuichi thinking and Kokichi…

Who knows what Kokichi's thinking? The doctors said his brain practically shut down, so what if he's not thinking at all…?

No! No, he thinks! He tried to fix my hair before Uncle got here, which means he thought that it was messed up.

Having reassured himself, Shuichi felt slightly better. His uncle spoke up with, "I got the room set up!" To this, his nephew grew confused.

"Room?"

Mr. Saihara looked back at the younger Saihara with a disappointed look. "Shuichi—as much as I wish—I haven't come into thousands of dollars since you left. We still only have 2 bedrooms," he said. It was obviously a joke, Shuichi was aware and thus knew not to take the otherwise sarcastic comments to heart, but Kokichi wasn't aware of such things. His brows furrowed ever-so-slightly as though he was confused how someone could speak to Shuichi rudely. Neither the aforementioned boy nor his uncle noticed this, and continued on with their conversation.

"S-So… I can sleep on the couch, is that alright, Ouma?" Shuichi asked anxiously. The smaller boy just looked over at him, so he sighed and tried to force his blush aside. Mr. Saihara laughed heartily.

"Nonsense, Shuichi! I have another bed set up in your room! Unless you want to be sharing…"

"N-N-No!" Shuichi shouted out of pure embarrassment, face red as Himiko's hair. Kokichi jerked slightly at the sudden and loud noise, but kept his focus straight ahead to the back of Mr. Saihara's seat. "Sorry…" he mumbled to the startled boy, looking anywhere but towards him as he felt the temperature in his face only rise.

Mr. Saihara chuckled again and turned on the radio to avoid what would have been extremely awkward silence in the car. They rode for over an hour in silence.

"So tell me about Ouma. What was he like before all these medical errors happened?" Mr. Saihara spoke up, turning the radio down to be able to hear his quiet nephew, whose face softened as he recalled the lively Kokichi he missed so much.

"He was just… really cheerful. Even if he was pretending, which I'm certain he was, he always had a smile on his face and took our focus away from the grim situation. He liked to hang around me, Gokuhara or K1-B0… I think he wanted to be our friend, but felt like he couldn't. He always was paranoid like that, since the start." If Kokichi was aware that he was being talked about, he didn't show it. Mr. Saihara nodded and hummed in acknowledgement.

"I see," he mused. "Did any of you want to return his friendship?"

Shuichi looked away and balled the cloth of his pants up in his fists. "...I don't think we ever realized how much he was trying to do for us," he admitted guiltily. His uncle nodded again.

"So the kid survived?"

Shuichi grew stuff and his fists gripped the cloth so hard his knuckles bleached white.

"...No."

Picking up on the fact that Shuichi didn't want to continue on the subject, he quieted and turned the radio back up.

°•×•°

"...Aaand this is your room! Welcome, boys!" Mr. Saihara said proudly, throwing the door open extravagantly. The room was just how Shuichi had remembered it (though it had only been months since he was last home), save for the extra bed a few feet away from Shuichi's bed.

"I didn't know whether you'd want a change of pace or not, Shuichi, so I kept it the same. We can definitely redecorate if you and your friend want to! It'll make the kid feel more at home!" he added. Shuichi nodded with a small smile, observing the blue walls and dark furnishings. He'd definitely want to redecorate to something brighter, and he doubted Kokichi would want to spend his time in such a dark room, either. Mr. Saihara announced that he was going to prepare dinner and left the two boys on their own.

Shuichi led Kokichi inside the room and to the new bed that his uncle had brought in. "This is your bed. We can get some covers and pillows you like for it soon, but is this okay for now?"

Kokichi didn't respond verbally, but he got up onto the bed and sat in the center of it, the mattress hardly dipping in due to the lack of weight, and sighed gently. He then flipped onto his side, head on the pillows, and allowed his eyes to slip closed as his legs stopped shaking. Shuichi giggled quietly. "I'm taking that as a yes, you know."

Kokichi didn't respond, which immediately lit the fire that was Shuichi's anxiety and the latter began to worry. "Ouma?" He approached the seemingly slumbering boy and shook his shoulder gently. "Kichiii…"

Kokichi's eyes opened and he looked up at Shuichi, who smiled slightly at him. "Hello…" he murmured. "You can't go to sleep yet, Uncle's making dinner."

He must have been really exhausted to fall asleep that fast. Is he always that tired?

Kokichi sat up as a response and Shuichi gave his shoulder a short massage in support. "At least you'll sleep better tonight. Not in some… hospital bed."

Or a dorm room.

Kokichi just watched tiredly as Shuichi grabbed the remote to his television and handed it to him. "H-Here. Maybe watching something can help keep you awake?" The smaller boy only stared at the object in his hands, like he was unsure of what to do with it. "Ah…" Shuichi took it back and turned it on, feeling a bit less enthusiastic due to Kokichi's confusion on how to use a TV remote. He turned the TV on and activated a streaming service he used often, scrolling down to the 'Recently Watched' section out of instinct.

"We could watch… mmm… Oh! We could watch my favorite crime show, i-if you want? If not, we could definitely watch something else!" Shuichi grew eager to watch the show, but knew he needed to respect Kokichi and what he wanted as well. The smaller boy looked at the TV, then at Shuichi. He looked at the remote in his hands—or, more specifically, the way his thumb rested on the 'OK' button—and reached out for it. When Shuichi handed it to him, mildly confused, Kokichi hit the button to resume the show from where his taller companion left off.

Shuichi perked up again. He smiled at Kokichi as the latter held the remote up for him to take. Shuichi rested it on his mahogany bedside table and sat on his own bed, memories of the plot and current case from all the months ago that he'd last watched it. They watched it for the few hours it took Mr. Saihara to make dinner.

"Shuichi, Ouma!" he called loudly. Kokichi flinched harshly and his gaze snapped towards the door. Shuichi noticed this and walked over to Kokichi's bed, putting a kind hand on his shoulder. The smaller boy recoiled again, this time looking at Shuichi, eyes darting frantically as he examined his face. He was clearly overwhelmed. Shuichi let go of him immediately, holding his hands up in an unspoken surrender.

"Ouma..?!" he asked concernedly. Kokichi was breathing heavily now, still trying to observe him as if he were a threatened animal. "Ouma, hey. You're alright… It's okay, see?"

The pure reassurance in his tone made Kokichi's shoulders relax slightly and he sighed gently. Shuichi smiled and nodded. "There you are. Everything's okay, Kichi. It's okay," he said slowly. Kokichi stared at him with slightly furrowed brows, but Shuichi didn't do anything more. He didn't move nor did he speak again, just allowing Kokichi to calm down from his overwhelmed state.

Once Kokichi was more relaxed the door opened. The violette didn't react to it by any means other than a subtle jerk of the legs as Mr. Saihara walked in and looked at the two boys confusedly.

"What are you two doing?"

Shuichi stood upright and smiled nervously. "Nothing, Ouma just… got a little startled," he replied. The taller Saihara looked at Kokichi, who looked back at him (and still looked a bit shaken), then nodded in understanding.

"Ah, I see. Would it be better for him if I didn't yell?"

Subconsciously, Shuichi was everlastingly grateful for his uncle's understanding of people and ability to know what was going on with Kokcihi. He nodded and Mr. Saihara hummed as a response, then looked at Kokichi again, who stared back with blank eyes. The trio headed downstairs to the dining room to eat.

This time, Kokichi seemed to understand what was being asked of him and ate on his own, with occasional praises from Shuichi and thumb-ups from Mr. Saihara. They sat and ate with short, simple chatter until everyone had finished.

"I'll get the dishes," Mr. Saihara said nonchalantly, reaching for the rest of the plates on the table. Shuichi's eyes widened a fraction.

"W-Wait, you don't have to do that!" he said nervously. Mr. Saihara chuckled and continued taking the plates and silverware.

"Just this once, Shuichi. You two go have fun, do whatever you want, okay?" he insisted. Hesitantly, Shuichi rose from his seat, causing Kokichi to do the same.

"...Okay… Let's go back upstairs, Ouma."

And with that, Shuichi and Kokichi headed back upstairs and into their shared room. Kokichi sat on his bed again and laid back down, sighing gently as he seemed to get comfortable again. Shuichi watched with a small smile.

"You really must be tired, huh…?" he asked quietly, earning no response from the other boy, who was apparently asleep. He sighed softly and approached Kokichi's bed, carefully pulling the duvet out from under him and covering his small body with it. "Goodnight, Kichi…" he whispered kindly before getting into his own bed and pulling the covers over himself. He turned on the TV and continued watching his crime show as his eyelids grew heavier. An hour later, the TV automatically turned off and the only sound in the bedroom was the light breaths of Kokichi and Shuichi as they dreamed.

°•×•°

He awoke to shouting. Slowly, lazily, he opened his eyes, wanting the noise to stop so he could go back to sleep. The bleariness in his eyes cleared and he looked ahead at the bed not far from his own. On it sat a boy, sitting up against the headboard with his knees to his chest, whimpering and shaking uncontrollably. It was then Kokichi realized…

That was Shuichi.

And then his brain went into overdrive. Why was Shuichi crying? Did he make him cry? Is he in pain, did someone hurt him? Who would dare to hurt Shuichi, he couldn't stand for that! He didn't even realize he was moving until he was at Shuichi's bedside, watching helplessly as his cries morphed into hyperventilation.

Okay, he needed to think. What could he do? His mind felt fuzzy and static-y, but that wasn't unusual. He remembered the nurse that helped Shuichi while he was getting tested a while ago. How did the nurse help him? How did you get someone to calm down?

Once she succeeded in getting the hyperventilating boy's attention, she smiled. "Hello! We're gonna try the Box breathing technique, okay? You know what that is?"

Kokichi watched with an ever-blank expression as his companion inhaled, held his breath, exhaled, and held his breath again for 4 seconds each, repeating the process a few times until he was able to breathe normally again.

So he needed to get Shuichi to know he was there. He liked it when Shuichi held his hand, and he always touched his shoulder to make him feel better. Maybe he could do that? Carefully, he moved his hand to touch his friend's shoulder. Shuichi jumped and let out a sharp gasp and tried to move away, mumbling out nonsensical pleas about the other Ultimates. Kokichi stopped for a moment before he got up onto Shuichi's bed and sat in front of him. The latter didn't seem to notice he was there.

Kokichi shuffled forward slightly and grabbed Shuichi's hand. Shuichi's breath hitched and he made eye contact with the other boy in the room, who stared back with an expression so blank yet so concerned. Feeling slightly accomplished, Kokichi got a bit closer.

"...Kih… Ki-ichi…?" Shuichi muttered out weakly between his sobs and gasps for air.

He was supposed to do something at that, he realized, so he nodded despite the heaviness of his head. Shuichi grabbed his hands tightly, like he was afraid Kokichi would disappear if he didn't.

Well, that wouldn't be good. If he disappeared then Shuichi would be all alone. He couldn't let that happen, so he got ever closer and wrapped his arms around him. Shuichi gasped again as though he were shocked.

"...Kichi…? Y-You… Y-You're here, right…?" he whispered. Kokichi didn't know what else to do, so he settled for nodding again. Shuichi sighed a bit and his shaking started to stop as he calmed down. Kokichi just stayed there and didn't move, primarily because he had to clue what else he could do, and this felt very unnatural as it was.

A few minutes passed and Shuichi spoke again, breaking away from the hug to look at him. "...I'm okay now. Thank you, Ki– Ouma. Sorry…"

Kokichi's brows furrowed. Why does Shuichi have such a problem with calling him Kichi? Does he not like him enough? Did he do something wrong? That's bad, if he did something wrong, then surely he's going to be hit any moment now—

"O-Ouma? Hey, are you okay?"

Oh. Shuichi was still there. That's good, he's not at his house, which means his father's probably not around either.

"H-Hey, what did I do? Is it because I called you Kichi?"

For some reason, his automatic response was to shake his head. He wanted to be called Kichi, it made him feel safe. That was what Shuichi called him, and only Shuichi. He wanted to keep that close to him, though he couldn't figure out why. Shuichi blinked.

"...Oh. D-Do you want me to call you Kichi?"

He nodded immediately. Apparently too immediately, because Shuichi looked a little surprised. Then he blushed and mumbled out an "okay." Kokichi felt slightly better, but more tired than he'd felt in weeks. He wanted to hug Shuichi again, but was nervous that he'd just be pushed away in disgust. Maybe he could just fall asleep there anyway, then Shuichi wouldn't have to touch him again…

"Kichi? Oh… Hey, you need to go back to bed. I-I'm so sorry I woke you up…"

He felt someone gently grab his arm. For a second he thought it was someone else, and he must have shown it, because Shuichi shushed him and told him he was alright. Next he knew, Kokichi was back in bed and felt his thoughts slipping away as his eyes closed, the last thing he heard being: "Thank you, Kichi…"

Ryoma's flesh being eaten, Kirumi's blood splattering on the concrete, Angie's coat being stained with her own blood, Tenko being stabbed right before his eyes, Korekiyo being boiled alive, Miu's agonized purple face, Gonta's burning, impaled body, and—

He watched helplessly as the trial progressed and the conclusion was reached: Kokichi was dead. Kokichi was crushed alive, snuffed out of this world like he was never there to begin with. He who tried harder than anyone else to end the killing game became another one of its fruitless sacrifices. All of the happier times he'd spent with Kokichi flashed behind his eyes, all of the times he'd called him Shumai, and—

No one was going to call him Shumai anymore… No, no, no NO—

He gasped awake, finding it harder to breathe that it had been in some time. Kokichi was gone, he was alone in a cruel world now. He sat there and cried, cried out of grief for the loss of the one he chased after in curiosity. He missed him, missed his smile, missed the way he giggled after flustering him with a silly comment. All of that was gone, faded and smudged like ink on wet paper.

He felt something touch his shoulder and he immediately tried to recoil. He didn't want anything touching him right now, he wanted to be alone, he didn't want the pity of the others or the "it wasn't your fault" talk. He wanted Kokichi. He wanted everyone else back, he wanted everything to be okay again. He felt something moving around him. Hopefully they weren't talking about him or trying to touch him like they cared.

Something grabbed his hand. He tried to get away again, but whoever it was held on. He looked up at who dared to try and console him (they all hated Kokichi anyway!), but instead of what he ever could have imagined he would see, his eyes were met with…

"...Kih… Ki-ichi…?" His voice sounded broken and pathetic. Kokichi stared at him with slightly furrowed brows, and he nodded slowly. He didn't try to back away this time.

Kichi's here… Kichi's here. He squeezed Kokichi's hands tightly. Please don't leave… Please don't go away again, I need you.

Kokichi didn't do anything for a few minutes and distantly he wondered if he was about to vanish. Then Kokichi came forward and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. He was confused, but accepted the hug gratefully, holding onto Kokichi like he was his lifeline.

"...Kichi…? Y-You… Y-You're here, right…?" he whispered pleadingly, internally begging Kokichi not to leave him. Kokichi just nodded, and he suddenly felt calmer, warmer, and safer. They stayed like that for some time as he calmed down and realized that the hell he'd just gone through was only a nightmare. He let go of Kokichi and sighed as he tried to speak again.

"...I'm okay now. Thank you, Ki–"

Don't call him Kichi. He probably hates that and can't even tell you.

"Ouma. Sorry…"

Kokichi's brows furrowed again and he looked at Shuichi like he'd offended him somehow. Then, a few moments later, his brows untangled and his eyes became cloudy and hazed, as though he were in a trance of some sort. The lingering fear in Shuichi's chest dissipated and was immediately replaced with worry. He leaned slightly closer in an attempt to get his companion's attention.

"O-Ouma? Hey, are you okay?" he asked tentatively. The fogginess cleared slightly and Kokichi's breath hitched so quietly that Shuichi wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't paying close attention, but all of his senses were on high alert for any sign that Kokichi wasn't alright. Still, he knew Kokichi was capable of responding beyond just a hitch in breath by now, and thus his concern grew. "H-Hey, what did I do? Is it because I called you Kichi?"

Not a moment passed before Kokichi shook his head and looked up at him with clear eyes. Taken slightly aback by the sudden change in behavior (and accidentally letting a surprised "oh" slip past his lips), he asked another question: "D-Do you want me to call you Kichi?"

This time his query was answered with a fervent nod. He felt his face grow hot and he looked anywhere but at the boy across from him as he mumbled. "Okay…" Kokichi didn't respond, but his eyelids lolled somewhat and his shoulders relaxed substantially as though he suddenly became exhausted. Shuichi figured that was probably the case when the smaller boy nearly fell into him.

"Kichi…?" he asked worriedly. Noticing just how exhausted the aforementioned boy truly was, he began to feel rather guilty. "Oh… Hey, you need to go back to bed. I-I'm so sorry I woke you up…"

He got up from his bed and he gently pulled Kokichi with him by the arm. Once he was standing, however, there was an incline in the violette's breathing and he tried to yank his arm away from whoever he believed to be holding him. Shuichi didn't have the time to see his expression, but the sudden act of distrust chipped at his heart just a bit. Kokichi was weak and his arm barely left Shuichi's hands, but the latter quickly grabbed him again before he could collapse entirely. Legs that couldn't fully function paired with overwhelming exhaustion was basically a recipe for disaster.

Shuichi tried to soothe Kokichi in hopes that he wouldn't try and rip himself away again. "Shh, it's okay. You're alright," he said softly, rubbing Kokichi's arm the slightest bit. Barely a minute later, Kokichi was back in his own bed and Shuichi had pulled the covers over him. The former leader's eyes were closed, but his breathing was still slightly uneven, so Shuichi quietly thanked him for how much he'd helped that night. After that, Kokichi was out like a light, face half-buried in this pillow and the duvet covering up to his nose. It was truly one of the most adorable sights Shuichi had ever seen, but he tried not to consider that too much to keep his face at a regular temperature.

He returned to his own bed and was met with more pleasant dreams the rest of the night.

°•×•°

When Shuichi awoke the next morning, the first thing he did was check the bed next to his own. Kokcihi wasn't there, which did make a little voice in the back of his mind whisper all of the worst possibilities, but he tried to remain calm and rational as he got up, and headed downstairs. He was only slightly bothered by the fact that he couldn't completely keep up with his usual morning routine (which consisted of changing clothes and fixing his hair) due to the fact that he had no other clothes to wear besides the suit and the sweatpants and shirt the Future Foundation provided.

When he got downstairs, his anxieties were immediately quieted as he was met with the sight of Kokichi sitting at the dining table, watching idly while his uncle prepared some sort of food at the stove. Mr. Saihara apparently sensed his nephew's presence, because he turned and smiled brightly, chipper as always.

"Morning, kiddo!" he said. "How did you sleep?"

Shuichi sighed and took an empty seat at the table. "I had a really bad nightmare last night," he admitted. Suddenly things felt more natural, as if he'd never been gone—he was so used to telling his uncle everything. Mr. Saihara sighed as well and turned the stove off.

"I thought that might happen. A kid like you, with something as horrible as what you went through… We can try and find something to help." Shuichi looked down at the table on which his hands were fidgeting with one another.

"...Kokichi helped me come down from it." He felt like he should be more enthusiastic about the obvious progress Kokichi was making, but he felt timid about the ordeal. Of course, he didn't appreciate the quiet boy's help any less. This seemed to surprise his uncle, who wore a slightly shocked expression as he presented two plates of omelets in front of the boys. And grabbed another for himself. He sat down and looked at Shuichi, then at Kokichi, then back at the former.

"That's unusual. Kids with as much mental trauma as he's got… I didn't expect him to get to a level of coherence like that for a long while!" he said. Shuichi smiled and looked at Kokichi, who looked back at him with his usual blank expression.

"That's amazing… H-He nodded, too!" he added, hoping to receive more positives regarding Kokichi's condition. Mr. Saihara chuckled and nodded himself.

"That's great! The kid's really coming along!" he said, but it sounded to Shuichi like he was biting back the urge to say any more. Slightly concerned about that, Shuichi ate his food along with his uncle and Kokichi.

When everyone was finished eating and the dishes were done, Shuichi was about to head back upstairs with Kokichi when Mr. Saihara spoke.

"Hey, I got news for you two, c'mere!" he said, sounding amused. Shuichi immediately apologized and brought Kokichi back over to where his uncle stood against the counter. "We're gonna get you two some stuff today! I bought you two some clothes that I figured would fit for today. Left 'em in the bathroom. Go get showered and get into some fresh clothes!"

Shuichi smiled gratefully and nodded. "Okay! We will, thank you so much, Uncle!" Mr. Saihara chuckled and made a shoo-ing motion at them and Shuichi took Kokichi's hand and went upstairs with him.

"Alright, I'll get in first, I can shower quickly and save the hot water." Truthfully, he was concerned about whether or not Kokichi would be capable of showering, seeing as he could barely use a TV remote the day before. And he was nowhere near ready to even think about assisting, especially not when Kokichi wasn't himself by any means. He wanted to delay confronting that worry as much as humanly possible. Kokichi didn't say anything as he entered the bathroom.

When Shuichi's shower was done in about 10 minutes, he exited in a pair of black sweatpants and a large blue hoodie, feeling extraordinarily refreshed after getting a good shower and into fresh clothes. He sat on his bed and grabbed his old hairbrush and brought it through the tangles in his hair. He looked at Kokichi and sighed to himself.

"T-The knob turns left for hot water, there's shampoo and conditioner in there, and your clothes are on the counter. I-If… If you need anything, just let me know…" he advised timidly. Kokichi entered the bathroom and shut the door. 5 minutes passed… then 10… then 15…

Shortly after 15 minutes passed, the door opened and Kokichi exited, clad in the same black sweatpants and a large, purple hoodie that nearly reached his knees. It was clear that Mr. Saihara misjudged the size of the boy who'd be staying with him and his nephew. Shuichi giggled softly at the sight, feeling slightly more connected to Kokichi at that moment. He felt that this moment between the two was more raw than any other had been, and it made him feel comforted.

"Feel better?" he asked. Kokichi responded by looking downward and grabbing the end of the hoodie, almost having to lean down to do so. He looked back up at Shuichi as though he were inquiring about its length.

"O-Oh! I guess Uncle didn't know your size when he got those… Don't worry, we'll find things that fit today!" he said. Kokichi sat down on his bed with a blank stare towards the ground and Shuichi sighed quietly to himself. He missed the Kokichi he remembered (he couldn't say he knew him all that well because, in truth, he didn't know a single thing). He and Kokichi headed downstairs and met his uncle at the door. They put on the wearing tennis shoes from the Future Foundation and everyone headed out.

°•×•°

"Hey, boys! I found something!"

A few seconds after Mr. Saihara called, he saw two heads appear from behind a clothing rack. Chuckling to himself, he held up a sweater he thought Kokichi would like. Shuichi looked down at Kokichi.

"Do you like that one?" he asked. Kokichi looked up at his nephew, at the sweater, then back at Shuichi. He approached Mr. Saihara and grabbed the end of the sweater, tugging at it gently as if asking for permission to take it. The older man let go and Kokichi walked over to Shuichi, holding the sweater up to him as if presenting it. Shuichi smiled and nodded. "Okay! Thank you, Uncle!" Kokichi looked at the man and nodded slightly in agreement.

Mr. Saihara smiled and watched as the two boys walked off to find more clothes and decorations they liked, with Shuichi smiling more genuinely than he had in a long time and Kokichi looking up at him and listening to him speak like every word was gold.

Those two kids got something special. They're adorable! he gushed internally.

°•×•°

The three arrived home and set down the bags of items with a huff.

"That stuff is heavy… I didn't even realize we got so much… I'm sorry," Shuichi muttered between breaths. His uncle chuckled and patted his back.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo! You've got no idea how much I would've spent for you to come back." Shuichi smiled softly at his caretaker and nodded slightly. He then looked at Kokichi, who was still breathing a bit heavily. Before either he or his uncle could speak, Kokichi dropped to his knees and began rifling through one of the bags until he found the hoodie Mr. Saihara had found. He gripped it tightly and went upstairs without Shuichi, whose eyes were open wide in shock.

"K-Kichi, wait!" He began to run after him, but stopped and glanced back at his uncle. "I-I'll be right back to help put stuff away!" he promised. Mr. Saihara nodded with a smile and Shuichi ran upstairs after Kokichi. It seemed he went into the bathroom off of their room. He approached the door and knocked lightly. "K… Kichi? Are you alright?"

The door swung open and revealed Kokichi, now clad in the same black sweatpants and the hoodie they'd bought, which fit him much better. It was black with checkered sleeves. Shuichi smiled and giggled faintly. "You really like that one, huh?" Kokichi nodded.

He only does that when it's just us…

Deciding not to dwell anymore on it, Shuichi took his hand and the two headed downstairs to help his uncle unpack things. His uncle made a comment about how much Kokichi seemed to like the hoodie, Shuichi laughed, and the three got to work, two of them not noticing the shaking in Kokichi's legs.

°•×•°

It reached 9 o'clock at night and they were almost finished putting things away. Shuichi went back upstairs to their room with another heap of clothes to put away. Kokichi was already there, putting some decorations they'd liked on a shelf. Shuichi set the pile on his bed and sighed gently as he grabbed a shirt to hang and begin the process.

"Today was really fun, you know?" he said to Kokichi, not looking in the direction of the smaller boy as he continued to put clothes away. "It felt… almost normal, I guess? And having you around is–"

Suddenly, a loud thump, from just right next to him. Assuming a decoration had fallen, he looked over, but his heart immediately stopped when he did.

Kokichi lay, unconscious, on the ground, his entire body trembling slightly, and a shattered fake plant on the ground next to him.

"Kichi! Kichi, wake up! Wh… Hey!" He couldn't form words, afraid as he was. All he knew was that Kokichi could be in danger and he hated it. Luckily, Kokichi began to stir with a faint whine just as Mr. Saihara practically broke down the bedroom door to enter. The smaller boy opened his hazy violet eyes and met Shuichi's golden ones, filled with worry and guilt. His entire body was still trembling, and it was then that Shuichi realized what had happened, making tears build up in his eyes and a harsh sob escape his lips because it was his fault that Kokichi got hurt–

"What the hell happened?" Mr. Saihara asked, voice laced with more concern than anger, getting down beside Shuichi and looking over Kokichi like he was afraid that touching him would break him. Kokichi looked up at him and he gave a small smile. "Hey, kiddo."

"I-I wasn't paying attention, he's been standing way too long, I-I… It's my fault, I'm so sorry…" he said miserably. Mr. Saihara sighed quietly while Kokichi sat up with shaking arms (and help from Shuichi).

"It's not your fault, kid," Mr. Saihara said, somewhat sternly. "He's alright, see? You're fine, aren't you, Kokichi?" Kokichi looked at him and seemed to understand that Shuichi's self-confidence was on the line. He then grabbed Shuichi's hand, which caused the latter to look up at him with teary eyes, and move his free arm and legs about as much as he could while Shuichi watched on somewhat confusedly.

"I think he's trying to show you that he's fine," Mr. Saihara said. Kokichi stopped moving his limbs after that, so it was presumed to be the correct answer. Shuichi sniffled and nodded slightly.

"...Yeah, just… Kichi, if you feel like you need to rest, then rest. You don't have to wait for one of us to say it's fine… And I'll pay more attention to you when we're busy, okay?" Kokichi nodded slightly, then looked at the broken object beside him. Something about that seemed to flip a switch inside of him, because his breath hitched and he frantically began trying to gather the broken pieces, despite the uncontrollable shaking in his arms that made the task near impossible. Shuichi immediately grabbed his wrists to keep his already fragile hands away from the sharp pieces. "Kichi, hey. Be careful, you're gonna get hurt… We can fix that tomorrow, you need to rest."

Kokichi looked at him with an expression of incredible (for someone who expressed as little emotion as he did) shock, like Shuichi had just told him to do something totally outlandish. He looked back down at the broken material and tried once again—weaker, this time—to try and fix the mess he created. Shuichi held his hands still. "Kichi… No. It's okay."

Gently and carefully, Shuichi helped Kokichi up and the smaller boy laid down in his bed, with Mr. Saihara watching by the door, probably paranoid that something else may happen. Shuichi walked up to his uncle and sighed quietly.

"You should get to bed, too. Bet you're tired from being out." Shuichi nodded and went to change into pajamas and Mr. Saihara left; Kokichi hadn't changed, but Shuichi figured he'd be alright for that night. He got into bed and tried to get some rest.

Time passed and he couldn't get to sleep. He sat up and rubbed an eye, glancing over at Kokichi, who was sleeping peacefully in his own bed, head sinking elegantly down into the new, soft pillows. He got up and crept over to the door as quietly as possible, opening it slowly, exiting slowly, and closing the door even slower. He went downstairs to the kitchen and prepared himself a cup of tea. While waiting for the tea to boil, he heard a quiet shuffling come from the nearby stairwell. On instinct, Shuichi tensed and began feeling around for anything that could be used in self-defense. His body relaxed when he saw Kokichi appear from around the corner, then tensed again at the realization that he woke him up.

"K-Kichi!" he squeaked, immediately wincing at how loud his usually timid voice sounded so late at night. "H-Hey, you need to be resting..! Come here, s-sit down…" he hastily ushered Kokichi over to the dining table and pulled out a chair. Kokichi was seated and his legs began to stop shaking slightly. Shuichi sighed in relief and sipped his tea to try and relax once more. He gave Kokichi a somewhat firm look.

"You can't do that anymore. I don't even know how you made it down here, but… Kichi, y-you could've fallen down the stairs! P-Please, just…" he took another sip of his tea. "be careful. For me."

Kokichi stared at him for some moments before he looked down at his trembling legs and remained silent. Shuichi felt slightly guilty for probably making him feel bad, but Kokichi needed to know that he couldn't go doing dangerous things like that anymore. He sat beside Kokichi and held his hand, setting his tea down on the table. "I'm not mad at you… I'm not mad at all, I promise. I just need you to be safe."

No word from Kokichi at all. Shuichi sighed and sipped his tea again, assuming he wasn't going to get an answer for some time. He needed to get Kokichi back to bed, and he figured (with a small warmth in his heart) that he wouldn't want to go without him. He took a larger sip to try and finish off the tea and discarded the cup in the sink to clean tomorrow. "Let's go back to bed, okay?" Kokichi looked up at him and stood up, but didn't do anything more, his legs beginning to shake again.

Shuichi held Kokichi's arm firmly as he helped him upstairs again, his anxious brain scrambling to make sure that Kokichi wouldn't collapse, fall, or injure himself in any way. They got back into their own beds and Shuichi let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Goodnight, Kichi…"

Kokichi didn't respond. Shuichi didn't expect him to.

°•×•°

The morning came and Kokichi was better rested, able to stand and walk without the terrible shaking in his legs making the task difficult. Mr. Saihara made breakfast and they ate, did their dishes, and went back upstairs to hang out. Shuichi's phone buzzed with a text in the middle of his talking.

'Momota-san

Yo, shuichi! We're going to hang out at some cafe near Kaede's place. Wanna come??👍

Thu 10:17 AM • Read'

Shuichi sighed quietly and typed a response:

'Can Ouma come with? Uncle has work today and I don't want to leave him alone. He won't cause any trouble.

Thu 10:18 AM • Delivered'

Shuichi was nervous about asking for Kokichi to come. Kaito hadn't talked to him since he'd woken up, and he assumed that it might be something of an awkward situation. However, the phone soon buzzed again.

'Momota-san

Of course! Kid's always welcome!! I'll send you the address. If you get there first reserve a table for 5!

Thu 10:20 AM • Read'

Slightly surprised, Shuichi typed a quick reply of confirmation and put his phone down, looking at Kokichi, who had waited patiently for the ravenette's attention. "We'd better get dressed; Kaito wants to meet up with us at a café."

They stood and took turns changing in the bathroom and headed downstairs. Mr. Saihara had already left for work, so it was up to Shuichi to drive his old (though it wasn't really that old since he was only gone for some months) blue car to the café. They got inside and immediately Shuichi was hit with the nostalgic smell of coffee from not only the scented fresheners, but also from the countless cups of coffee he drank in the car. They began making their way to the café and arrived not too shortly after. He parked, but before they went inside, Shuichi looked at Kokichi, who met his gaze a second later.

"Kichi, Maki will be here today. She might say some mean things, but I promise you that she doesn't mean it, okay? Don't listen to her if she says something about you." Kokichi nodded and they exited the car and entered the café. Luckily (for Shuichi's social anxiety), Kaito, Maki, and Kaede were already there in a booth to the right of the entrance. Kokichi grabbed Shuichi's hand and the latter squeezed. Kaede's eyes averted from the other two and she spotted the two standing by the door. She gasped and smiled, making a quick comment to Kaito and Maki that couldn't be heard before waving them over. Shuichi took the initiative, taking a step forward and thus walking over to the table. Kaede scootched over and patted the seat next to her as the other two greeted them. Shuichi sat next to Kokichi, who sat next to Kaede.

After that, no one seemed to know what to say. Kaito seemed hesitant to speak to Kokichi—who was watching the employees prepare drinks behind the counter not too far away with a blank expression—biting his lip and glancing at the smaller boy every few moments. Maki looked completely aloof as she watched people enter and exit the café. Kaede tapped the pads of her fingers against the table, waiting for someone to say something. When no one did, she spoke up in a slightly forceful manner: "So! How have you guys been?" Kokichi kept watching the staff, but Shuichi leaned slightly to look at her and returned her smile.

"We've been alright. Uncle absolutely loves having Ouma around, it's actually really sweet," he said, chuckling lightly to himself. Kaede giggled.

"That's adorable! Your uncle sounds like a really nice guy!" she replied, to which Shuichi nodded. Kaito opened his mouth and finally spoke up.

"S-So, uhm… Ouma…" he mustered. Kokichi seemed to snap to attention and looked up at Kaito with slightly raised brows. Kaito fidgeted with his fingers, and Shuichi felt unnerved seeing the once loud, optimistic Kaito knocked down to stuttering and fidgeting in the face of someone who possibly didn't even fully understand why he was behaving so strangely. Shuichi wondered if Kaito was going to mention the hangar, or maybe even apologize for it. That wouldn't be good: Kokichi wasn't in the right mind to respond to that, and Kaito wasn't in the right mind to receive whatever response Kokichi could give, because it would be almost completely devoid of any actual understanding. "Do you like livin' with Shuichi?"

Kokichi was still for a moment before he simply scooted closer to the aforementioned boy, who quickly became flustered, although grateful Kaito didn't bring up the game. The unspoken 'yes' seemed to lighten the mood a bit, and the former astronaut smiled. "Haha! Yeah? Have you been taking care of 'im? When he does that self-deprecating crap." Kokichi had to think about that for whatever reason, but Shuichi could answer the question just fine.

"...Kichi…? Y-You… Y-You're here, right…?" he whispered pleadingly, internally begging Kokichi not to leave him. Kokichi just nodded, and he suddenly felt calmer, warmer, and safer. They stayed like that for some time as he calmed down and realized that the hell he'd just gone through was only a nightmare.

He grabbed Kokichi's hand and held it gingerly, like it was glass. "He has. He's helped me a lot, especially with my anxiety," he confirmed. Kaito nodded, still grinning.

"That's great! Good to hear, right, Maki-Roll?" He gently nudged the brunette with his elbow, causing her to shoot him an irritated look before her features quickly smoothed out into a calm expression once more, looking Shuichi directly and unforgivingly in the eye. Shuichi tried not to look down.

"...Yeah. I'm glad you two are doing alright."

Well, that certainly is not what Shuichi—or anyone else at the table, judging by their reactions—expected. Maki simply went back to watching civilians go by and played with one of her long, chestnut pigtails. Kaito smiled even more at Maki's unique positivity and started another conversation. They all talked, ordered drinks, then continued chatting as they took intermittent sips from their beverages.

Shuichi felt the flower of hope continue to blossom in his chest.

Throughout the entire time they'd loved together, the two boys had been thoroughly inseparable. Through every nightmare, every one of Shuichi's anxiety attacks, every one of Kokichi's seemingly trauma-related breakdowns, the one was always there to help the other calm down, no matter what. Shuichi would use verbal reassurances and encouraging facial expressions typically, and Kokichi would use physical grounding methods and other stimulating tactics to help Shuichi calm down. Through the happy moments, they were there for one another all the same. They grew used to each other again and Shuichi grew confident in their friendship, no longer feeling like Kokichi was being pressured to be his company. They went everywhere together and spent as much of their free time together as possible, too, though Shuichi had therapy and Kokichi had his physical recovery appointments regularly.

The two were eating dinner together one Sunday night while Mr. Saihara finished up some papers upstairs when the house phone began to ring. Kokichi looked at the phone, then at Shuichi expectantly, and the taller boy stood and walked over to answer it.

"Hello?" he voiced into the receiver.

"Am I speaking to a… Kazue Saihara?" a rough, deep-ish voice asked, somewhat rudely in Shuichi's personal opinion, and clearly unprepared judging by the way the stranger narrowly avoided mispronouncing his uncle's name.

"Ah, no. He's busy right now… Can I take a message?"

There was a long, hesitant pause so durational that Shuichi considered hanging up the phone. Finally, the other person spoke. "You can't get him now?"

Slightly annoyed now, Shuichi's brow twitched as he slowly replied, "I could, but he's got important work-related matters that he's dealing with."

The person on the other line immediately spoke. "I'd like to speak to him now, if you don't mind."

Shuichi sighed frustratedly and put the phone down and headed down the hall to retrieve his uncle, quickly locating him in his study—which was really his bedroom-slash-workspace, but Shuichi had grown up calling it his uncle's study as a funny little habit and it was dying hard.

"Uncle?" he voiced into the room. His uncle turned to look at him with his usual warm smile that looked so in-place under the dim yellow glow of the lights he liked so much (he claimed that dim, soft light helped his eyes and focus). He hummed, beckoning his nephew to go on. "Someone's on the phone for you."

"Tell them I'm workin'."

"I did. They want you now," he replied.

His uncle sighed and stood up, leaving his study and walking to the phone. He picked it up and put it to his ear. "Kazue Saihara speaking," he said. Quite some moments passed and his uncle's eyes widened, his dark gray brows furrowing slightly. "...I've been told that cannot happen," he stated finally, a hint of caution in his voice. Then, his brows furrowed more and he started to look rather annoyed as the other person on the line started to yell, though Shuichi wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying. "Sir, that's not my decision. That's what I've been told from the Future Foundation," he tried to explain. He was met with more yelling, so he sighed and interrupted the person with, "How 'bout this? We can meet up somewhere and talk about this…" A pause. "No, not until I'm certain it's legally fine." Another pause. "Right. I'll call you from my own phone shortly."

Shuichi narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out who Mr. Saihara could be speaking about the Future Foundation with. It didn't sound like Mr. Naegi, and it certainly wasn't Ms. Kirigiri. Neither of them were nearly as rude, either. Mr. Saihara bid the unnamed person a quick good-bye and hung up the phone, muttering to himself about how "he wasn't very kind." Hesitantly, Shuichi spoke.

"Who was that?" Kokichi nodded from his seat at the table, indicating that he also wanted to know who the unnamed person was. Mr. Saihara looked hesitantly at Kokichi before he ran a hand through his graying dark blue hair.

"No one important. I'll get it sorted out, don't you two worry," he said calmly, with a slight edge in his tone, yet he smiled as though his lie would fool the two people who would see through it best. Shuichi watched his guardian concernedly as he walked back into his study and shut the door behind him. He looked over at Kokichi, who stared back at him. He shook his head and pulled a smile to his lips.

"I'm sure it's fine!" he said. Kokichi seemed hesitant before he nodded slowly like he was convincing himself to believe Shuichi, who finished his food, washed his plates, and went into the living room nearby to turn something on. Kokichi soon finished as well and followed him there. They sat on the couch together, pulled up a blanket, and watched an entire movie, though Shuichi had to wake up his friend frequently because he kept falling asleep. When it finished, they began scrolling via the remote to find another film. However, Kokichi yawned again and tapped Shuichi's shoulder. The latter looked at him and hummed knowingly; he was getting pretty tired himself. 

He suggested going to bed and Kokichi seemed more than pleased with the idea, willing himself to get up and waiting for Shuichi to follow. They walked upstairs and entered their room together. Kokichi grabbed some clothes and went to change in the bathroom, as per usual, while Shuichi changed quickly outside. When they both were decent, Kokichi came out and they threw their dirty clothes in the bin, getting into their beds afterwards and immediately getting comfortable. There was a comfortable silence for some minutes until Shuichi heard a rustling come from Kokichi's side of the room. Assuming that he was just moving about, he didn't bother to look over at him.

That is until he heard the faint and familiar clacking of dice… Silence… And then–

CLAP!!

Startled, Shuichi shot up and looked over at Kokichi, only to see him sitting up with the two dice lying atop the covers over his legs. He was looking at Shuichi expectantly, and after his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a small, faint smile on the face of his purple-haired friend.

He smiled, he smiled, he smiled, he smiled–

Immediately, Shuichi threw the sheets off of himself and hurried over to the former leader, who flinched back ever-so-slightly before he seemingly remembered who it was that was approaching him and relaxed a bit, though a tense hesitancy was still present in his shoulders and facial features.

Without thinking, Shuichi grasped Kokichi's thin, frail hands with a smile so genuine that it tired his face within moments. A joyful, relieved, and purely emotional chuckle bubbled past his lips and despite the racing of his thoughts and the overwhelming sense of need to embrace Kokichi, he remained still so as not to startle his friend, and parted his lips to speak.

"...You…" He cleared his throat briefly to rid it of the cracking. "Y-You smiled! You smiled, Kichi!"

Hesitantly, Kokichi nodded. Shuichi shook his head and another laugh bubbled out. "I'm just so happy, Kichi… I'm so happy…" Of course, Kokichi wouldn't smile again, probably for quite some time, but that didn't matter to Shuichi at that moment. Kokichi smiling—even if it was for a moment, and even if it could be months before he did it again—was one of the largest milestones in his personal progress, second only to renewing his ability to walk and move. Whatever doubt that Shuichi's anxiety may have instilled in his mind that Kokichi wasn't going to get better was stomped out like a small flame in the face of blatant proof like that smile.

For a small moment, when Shuichi saw that small grin in the dark, he saw the Kokichi who loved to play pranks and tell jokes for fun, even if no one was amused but himself. It was like that Kokichi had shown himself once more for just a minute, through the small act of trying to make Shuichi laugh… Because that's who he was—making others laugh with no real intent, just for the sake of seeing his peers smile with him; that's who Kokichi Ouma was. And he was there. He flickered back into Shuichi's world with a smile like he'd never left at all.

He could see Kokichi tensing slightly at the sight of his friend behaving so unexpectedly, so he took a shaky breath and tried to relax, loosening his grip on his companion's hands. "S-Sorry. I'm just so glad! Did you do that to make me laugh?" He was responded to with a nod. He smiled softly and sincerely at the boy staring at him. "Thank you. This is… I feel really happy, Kichi." He tried to convey all of his raw and unbridled joy into his tone since his words just weren't going to suffice. Kokichi seemed to understand as he nodded after some seconds of what looked like contemplation.

Unfortunately, they still needed to sleep. Shuichi felt far too peppy and happy to sleep it off, but Kokichi looked sleepy, eyes falling closed every few blinks and taking too long to be pried open again. So he tried to find the tiredness he felt nearly all the time and will it into actuality. Able to calm himself for at least a little while, he advised Kokichi to get some rest and told him that he'd be downstairs if he needed anything. With that he headed downstairs and began to prepare himself some tea.

His eyes got caught on a light in his peripheral while he was heating up the water and upon looking he saw that his uncle's study light was still on, leaking softly through the crack under the door. His brows furrowed; usually his uncle didn't stay up late at all. Worriedly, he approached the door and knocked gently. Nearly a minute passed before the it clicked unlocked and opened, revealing his uncle, looking significantly more stressed than earlier that afternoon.

"Uncle?" he voiced weakly, all anticipation he was feeling to tell his guardian about Kokichi's smile quickly melting like a snowflake on someone's bare finger. "Are you alright?"

His uncle smiled and scratched at his scalp sheepishly. "Yeah, kid, everything's fine. Don't worry your young, youthful head about it!" he assured. Doubtful about Mr. Saihara's words, but overwhelmingly eager to tell him about what had just happened, he forced himself to brush the issue off and put it on the internal back-burner.

"Alright… Well, you'll never believe what just happened!" His uncle tilted his head and nodded, beckoning for Shuichi to continue. With the widest and happiest smile, he did as much. "Kichi… He smiled at me! He tried to make me laugh, and he smiled for a second!"

Mr. Saihara's eyes widened and his overall mood seemed to brighten substantially. "Really?" he asked incredulously. When Shuichi nodded again, it was like someone had removed the last of the stressed, worn-down Mr. Saihara and brought his usual upbeat, optimistic self back. He smiled pleasantly. "That's fantastic! You said he was tryin' to make you laugh?"

Shuichi nodded again, and his uncle smiled fondly at the thought. "That's sweet. He really cares about you, y'know," he said, like it was obvious and everyone probably knew it already. Shuichi furrowed his brows at the idea. Obviously, Kokichi was clingy towards him and went out of his way to help him when he needed it, but there was no sure telling that such things were on his own free will. If Kokichi was told to do something, or social cues heavily suggested that he needed to do something, he did it the best he could without question. No one could say with certainty—not Shuichi nor his uncle—that Kokichi didn't feel like he was required to be a companion to Shuichi, or that he needed to despite his own wants.

He realized that his uncle was staring at him with an unimpressed expression. Dragged out of his stupor, he stared back. "W-What?"

"You're doing it again," his uncle deadpanned.

"Doing what?"

"Thinking about things too much. He does care about you. I haven't worked with anyone quite like him before, but I know what it looks like when someone who's… not as emotional is trying to show that they care." As his uncle explained, Shuichi narrowed his eyes in mild confusion.

"What do you mean…?" he asked softly. Mr. Saihara chuckled quietly and shook his head, like he was in disbelief that his nephew was still blind to the reality of his friendship with Kokichi.

"Remember when you said Ouma calmed you down from a nightmare?" his uncle reminded. "He did that on his own, didn't he? You didn't have to ask 'im to help, right?"

Shuichi's eyes widened, and he remembered.

Kokichi watched with an ever-blank expression as his companion inhaled, held his breath, exhaled, and held his breath again for 4 seconds each, repeating the process a few times until he was able to breathe normally again.

Kokichi came forward and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. He was confused, but accepted the hug gratefully, holding onto Kokichi like he was his lifeline.

He let out a small, disbelieving puff of air through his mouth because he saw how to calm me down and did it himself! He's been learning and retaining information like that since before his therapy even started.

…And he's been using it to help me.

Shuichi's face flushed and he waved a hand dismissively. "I-I remember! I get it, I g-get it!" he shouted, probably too loudly considering the hour. He hoped he didn't wake up Kokichi with his volume, though he subconsciously knew he didn't; Kokichi slept like a rock most nights, save for the ones on which he had nightmares. Calming himself from his flustered state, he sighed and looked up at his uncle.

"Thank you. I've been… doubting myself on things like that," he said sincerely. Mr. Saihara nodded with a smile.

"It's no problem. Now, we have more pressing matters," he said, tone suddenly shifting to something more serious, so fast it almost gave Shuichi whiplash. A sinking feeling emerged in his stomach.

"Y-Yeah?" he asked meekly.

"Did you get a picture of it? Do I get to see my boy smile yet?"

And just like that, the air seemed to lighten and Shuichi could breathe once more. He sighed and shook his head with a smile, trying to ease the way his heart melted at how Mr. Saihara had just referred to Kokichi as "his boy," meaning he now also thought of Kokichi as a son, rather than just Shuichi. His uncle absolutely adored Kokichi with all of his kind heart and he almost felt guilty that he didn't get a picture for him to see.

"Ah, n-no… I barely got to see it myself. B-But the Foundation has sent us pictures we took from our Monopads! Kichi and I took one together when it first began, if you'd want to see that."

He could see the mild displeasure in his guardian's eyes at the mention of Danganronpa, but he nodded after a few moments, arms crossed with hesitation. "...Sure," he said simply. Shuichi smiled in an attempt to assure his uncle that things would be fine and that—even if the picture had some negative connotations—it was still something worth seeing. He headed upstairs, silently entered his and Kokichi's room and grabbed his phone. He spared a caring smile at Kokichi's still-sleeping form under the covers as he left, then headed back downstairs and met back up with his uncle, who hadn't moved from his previous place.

He unlocked his phone, scrolled past the pictures of Kokichi, the pictures including himself and the others, and the miscellaneous things he'd saved, and found the image he'd been sent months ago. He opened it, and his eyes were met with the Kokichi he tried to know, the Kokichi who did all those things for fun, the Kokichi who'd smiled at him just over an hour ago, grinning widely and childishly with his face considerably close to the camera, cheek pressed up against Shuichi's as the latter smiled much more sheepishly at the notion of close contact with such an eccentric and boisterous person. He obviously wasn't alerted that Kokichi was going to grab him and pull him closer, resulting in their faces pressed together, but it did make it so they both fit in the picture with how close the camera was. They looked happy and it was a fond memory for Shuichi, and he supposed that was what mattered.

His uncle slowly took the phone and his eyes softened, all traces of hesitancy bleeding out of his features, a warm, loving smile gracing his lips. "You'd never think that kid could smile like that," he said softly. Shuichi nodded slightly in understanding. He had taken it for granted when Kokichi would smile like that all the time, even if it progressively got faker and faker. He hoped that he could seize the opportunity to make sure that every one of Kokichi's smiles from then on would be genuine and happy.

"He smiled all the time. He was such a…" What words could he use to describe that Kokichi to someone who didn't know him? Ethereal? Like a positive and carefree enigma that couldn't be penetrated? "...fun person to be around."

It didn't do Kokichi Ouma justice, but his uncle would come to see that with time. Mr. Saihara handed the phone back and sighed, like he'd just gotten a little shot out of the way at a doctor's office. "I'd like to meet him," he said. Shuichi smiled.

"I think you two would get along," he replied. His uncle chuckled and patted his head.

"Speaking of 'getting along', you'd better get on to bed. Can't have you more tired in the morning than you already get." Shuichi huffed, but nodded and left to clean up his tea in the kitchen—which was really just water that boiled over considering he had completely forgotten about it—and headed back upstairs to bed.

(But not before making sure his uncle went back to his study and shut the light off so he could get a good night's rest, too.)

"Morning, kiddo!" he said cheerfully. It seemed whatever dilemma he had been having since yesterday got resolved somehow and he was back to his usual chipper self. "Get up and get ready, we're doin' something today!"

Shuichi would've laughed at the way his uncle made it seem like they never did anything at all it it weren't for the fact that he had been awoken from a rather pleasant sleep—probably a standard sleep for people without frequent and horrific nightmares, but Shuichi didn't fit that particular quota. He sighed and looked over at Kokichi for his reaction, but the other boy was still completely asleep, and it appeared he hadn't even stirred. Shuichi blinked, somewhat surprised that Kokichi of all people was such a deep sleeper; though maybe he was just another victim of nightmares who was finally getting a peaceful rest. He stood and grabbed clothes to change into while Mr. Saihara approached Kokichi and gave him a much more gentle awakening. He decided to change in the bathroom since Kokichi wasn't awake yet and his uncle was present.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, changed and hair groomed, Kokichi was awake and dressed and his uncle had left. A quiet, accidental "oh" slipped past his lips and he smiled sheepishly while Kokichi blinked at him with bleary eyes, clearly still waking up a bit.

"That was fast… Did Uncle tell you what we're supposed to be doing today?" He got a small shake of the head as a response, so he hummed in acknowledgement. "We should go downstairs then." This time, Kokichi nodded, so he headed downstairs with the former right behind him. His uncle was standing beside the door, typing on his phone, but he quickly pocketed the device when he saw the boys appear from the stairs.

"Hey, kiddos!" he exclaimed. "You guys all ready to go?"

Shuichi nodded slightly. "Yeah, but where are we going?"

Mr. Saihara chuckled and put a hand on the doorknob to open it. "Somewhere fun! Somewhere different!"

Shuichi didn't know what he expected from a man for whom settling down and taking things easy was not a mastered skill. His uncle opened the door and the three left the house and got into Mr. Saihara's car. Shuichi initially sat in the passenger seat, but Kokichi expressed that he wanted someone to seat in the back with him. Mr. Saihara had told them that the car ride was going to be a bit lengthy, so Shuichi decided to sit in the back with his friend, who seemed much more pleased afterward as they pulled out of the driveway and began their mysterious journey.

Mr. Saihara encouraged them to do whatever they wanted in the back seat and let them know that he kept snacks in the glovebox if they got hungry. Shuichi ended up taking a bar of milk chocolate—not his favorite, his favorite was dark chocolate—and gave some to Kokichi, who seemed to enjoy the sweet very much. After a while of riding in silence, Shuichi decided to speak up.

"H-Hey, Kichi?" The boy looked at him. "I have my earbuds on me… Do you want to listen to music?"

Kokichi nodded, so Shuichi pulled out his phone and plugged in his earbuds, giving one to Kokichi. They slipped the earbuds in, which required Shuichi to unbuckle and move a seat closer to Kokichi, and he began playing his playlist, quickly letting him know that he could change the song if he didn't like it.

Just over an hour later Mr. Saihara looked back while stopped at a light to see why it was suspiciously silent, only to see his nephew and Kokichi passed out leaned against each other, with Kokichi's head resting on Shuichi's shoulder, and Shuichi's head on Kokichi's.

°•×•°

When Shuichi next awoke, the car was no longer in motion and he felt something being pressed against his face. He pried open his eyes and realized that the thing he felt on his face was Kokichi's finger as he poked his cheek repeatedly. Mr. Saihara just watched with a smile.

"Mornin', kid!" His voice had a slight hint of amusement in it. Shuichi wondered why for about 5 seconds before he realized how he'd fallen asleep: with his head on top of Kokichi's, whose head was on his shoulder. The smaller boy hadn't moved him at all, and it seemed he only shifted slightly to better see Shuichi as he poked his face repeatedly.

"Ah… S-Sorry…" he mumbled, sitting upright and allowing Kokichi to do the same. The smaller boy tilted his head side to side, eliciting some cracks from it, and removed the earbud Shuichi had lent him, carefully setting it in the lap of his taller friend. He was then still once more, waiting for someone to do something and looking out the window. Shuichi did the same, peering out the window to reveal where they were.

°•×•°

Mr. Saihara got them signed in at a front desk and Shuichi and Kokichi were immediately brought into another room. The person who escorted them—someone in a dark uniform—left to go do something, claiming they'd return shortly. Despite their friendly attitude, the suspiciousness of it all made Shuichi feel completely unsafe and his senses were thrown into overdrive. He felt like he could hear every little sound and feel every bead of sweat descend down his face and he hated it.

Somewhere in his jumbled and afraid mind, he became aware that Kokichi was still with him, inching closer and closer to him as he observed the dark, poorly lit room, seeming very uncomfortable. He gripped Shuichi's hand and a faint whine of distress slipped past his lips. Shuichi pulled him closer with one arm, silently trying to convey reassurance and comfort he didn't even feel himself. All he could think was that he needed to keep Kokichi safe at all costs; he couldn't let him get hurt, he couldn't fail him again.

After what seemed like forever for the two boys, the door opened again and the same uniformed person came back with vests and guns. Shuichi was exceedingly confused and moved slightly to try and hide Kokichi from view. The girl seemed to notice how tense they were and lowered her arms, the vests hung on them nearly slipping off.

"Are you two okay?" she asked kindly. The hint of confusion in her tone made Shuichi lower his guard, if only slightly.

"W-What is this…? T-This place?" he asked, trying to force the stutter away to no avail. "We… w-weren't told," he added quickly so as not to seem weird.

The girl smiled in relief. "I thought somethin' serious was up! Skittish ones, are ya?" When she didn't receive a verbal reply, but a hesitant nod from Kokichi, she held up the items in her arms once more. "Y'all are at L.Z.R.! Lazer tag, arcade-ish place! Sorry we don't got signs up yet, this place is brand new."

Almost like magic, all of the stress and tension in Shuichi's mind and body completely desintigrated and he slowly released Kokichi from his hold. The smaller boy let go of him, but didn't back up at all, as though he was still hesitant to trust this girl. She handed them each a vest and fake gun, which glowed blue upon activation, as did a small part of the vest's shoulder pads, and introduced herself as Jenma. Shuichi inquired at the peculiar name, to which the redhead responded that she was from America.

Kokichi nodded slightly, seeming to understand certain things at the given information, such as Jenma's accent. Jenma proceeded to give them instructions on how to play the game: aim for the glowing parts of the red team's uniforms and don't let them hit you. The team with the most players left standing would win.

"So the other players are just… random people?" he asked. Jenma furrowed her brows with a slightly confused smile, but quickly replaced it with a more cheerful grin.

"Yeah! That's how these kinda places work. Once we get enough people who wanna play, ya go out and play a round!" Shuichi nodded in response and Kokichi just looked at her. She looked back at the smaller boy—who was just slightly shorter than her—and smiled. "He's not a very talkative one, is 'e?"

Shuichi shook his head and muttered a small "no." She smiled in understanding before a mild buzzer noise sounded from a speaker inside the room and a sign above a second door lit up. She looked back at them and clapped her hands excitedly. "That's your cue! Get on out there, have fun! And this is an exit, too, if y'all need it!"

Shuichi looked at Kokichi, who was looking back and forth between his taller companion and the door frantically. The ravenette held his hand and looked at him. "Kichi, do you know what you're supposed to do?" Kokichi didn't respond at all, only looking up at him with a slightly stressed look. "If you see someone with a red vest, you shoot them," he explained. "And try not to get hit."

Kokichi's eyes widened a fraction and he looked at the faux weapon in his hands like he'd just realized he had it, then looked back up at Shuichi and frantically shook his head. The latter smiled reassuringly and giggled slightly. "It's fake, Kichi. No one's gonna get hurt, it's just a game."

He could practically see the stress ooze out of Kokichi as his shoulders relaxed and he seemed to get comfortable with their scenario. With that, they opened the door and stepped into the dark room, their defensive skills and strategic minds being put to the test yet again, but this time they were together.

Immediately, Shuichi was on his guard. Kokichi looked about the same, staying close to Shuichi with his glowing plastic weapon held tight.

On the wall ahead, they saw a warm red reflected and becoming more prominent as its owner was getting closer to rounding the corner and potentially taking them out. Shuichi grabbed Kokichi's wrist and pulled him to the left and they hid with their backs against the dark, firm material of a barrier. On a closer wall to their left, they saw the light again; they were about to turn the corner and get them.

Kokichi held up his plastic gun, ready to fire, as did Shuichi. But when the person actually rounded the corner and spotted them, the ravenette hesitated.

Kokichi didn't. He started rapidly firing the weapon, almost as if in a panic, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, even when the other player's vest deactivated and the red glow was gone. After a few moments of rapid-firing, Kokichi opened his eyes and saw the other player watching him with slightly confused eyes. He quickly lowered his arms and stepped away from view behind Shuichi, who just waved sheepishly. The stranger shot them a brief, congratulatory thumbs-up, before finding their way to an exit and leaving the room.

Shuichi sighed and turned to look at his shorter friend, who stared back up at him with his usual blank expression. "Good job, Kichi. That was good!" he whispered with a smile. Kokichi seemed to brighten at the praise from his friend, and nodded quickly, fingers tightening around the fake gun with determination.

The game progressed, and Shuichi and Kokichi lasted. The neon scoreboard high up on the wall showed that the two boys were the only ones left on their team, with a single player remaining on the red team. Kokichi was on complete defense, while Shuichi was just trying to enjoy the fun of the game. Both of them were having a lot of fun as they gradually eased up and allowed themselves to relax, albeit slightly.

Just as the duo was about to round a corner, a figure appeared from behind a wall in their peripheral, glowing red. Kokichi couldn't move out of the way in time—he hadn't had enough time to process the sudden movements and what was happening—and his vest quickly went dark and his figure was illuminated only by Shuichi's gear. The latter immediately raised his weapon and his eyes locked on the red glow and faint image of a tall teenager. Instinctively, he pulled his finger on the trigger of his faux gun and began firing, stepping aside and behind a nearby wall. Kokichi got down onto his knees and shuffled aside to stay out of the way without leaving the arena. The other person quickly retreated behind the wall while Shuichi strategized on how to win what was now a one versus one game.

°•×•°

Kokichi sat against a curved barrier near where he was taken out by the last red player. He didn't know where Shuichi had gone and he didn't exactly like it.

…

Okay, he hated it. He wanted to get up and find Shuichi, or maybe curl up on the floor and figure out what he was going to do without him. He knew he was technically supposed to leave the dark place completely, but that would mean leaving Shuichi alone with a stranger who was supposed to shoot him! He knew Shuichi said it was a game and the guns were fake, but what if the other person was crazy and wanted to hurt Shuichi?

That did it. He absolutely couldn't leave Shuichi in a dark room with someone who might be crazy. No way, no how, he could not do it.

…But it would be cheating if he got up and followed Shuichi around. Then they would lose. The dark place was quiet, so maybe he could just listen and if anything happened, he could do something!

But what would he do? What if he made things worse if he tried to help? He did end up doing that a lot. Maybe he just shouldn't do anything at all. Shuichi was stronger than he let on, he'd be okay! And there was a chance the last red player wasn't even crazy at all. He didn't need to do anything but stay there.

So he did. He sat there for some amount of time he didn't really know. Maybe he almost fell asleep. After a while, though, a buzzer went off and the scoreboard way up near the roof changed from one versus one to one versus zero. Someone had won the game.

Kokichi stood up and debated on whether or not to find Shuichi or leave the arena. Maybe Shuichi had assumed that he'd left already? Maybe he'd find Shuichi on his way to the exit! He took a step towards the glowing red 'exit' sign way across the room. Then another, and another, and…

He was doing something without having to roll a die or Shuichi telling him he could! Determinedly (and slightly proud of himself), he continued on towards the exit to find Shuichi and never leave his side again because he was starting to feel lonely without him before someone bumped into him.

"O-Oh! Sorry, Kichi, I didn't see you!"

Shuichi! I missed you, Shuichi! is what he wanted to say, but the words didn't want to leave his mouth. He wanted to hug Shuichi, but no matter how much he willed himself to, his body wouldn't move. Why couldn't he move? He wanted a hug, that was all, so why couldn't he just move?

"Come on, let's go back out to the front desk, I think Uncle's still there."

Oh, God, Shuichi was used to this?! He wanted a hug. He wanted to feel better. Doing what he could, he forced his arm to move and grabbed Shuichi's hand just before they started walking.

"Are you okay, Kichi?"

No. No, he was not okay! He wanted to tell Shuichi that he missed him, that he wanted a hug, he wanted out of his body so he wouldn't be trapped and confined in it anymore. Why was he feeling like this? Like his body was going to burst from all of the overwhelming feelings he felt. He'd never felt that way before. He wanted a hug. A hug from Shuichi—that would drain out all of the heavy feelings ready to make him pop. He squeezed Shuichi's hand a bit, an empty reassurance that he didn't feel. He couldn't burden Shuichi with his feelings.

Even if he wanted to.

°•×•°

Kokichi was acting slightly off, but Shuichi couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong. He seemed okay, physically. His legs were steady and he hadn't collapsed at all since the first time after they went shopping, and he'd done much more physical therapy since then. They'd been having fun during the game; he could tell by the way Kokichi looked at him with excited eyes that he was having fun, too, even when he got out.

He's been fine, what happened in the few minutes that I was gone?

They reached the front desk and saw Mr. Saihara sitting in a chair, eyes on his phone. He seemed to have heard them come out, and looked up. He smiled upon seeing the boys walk out, Shuichi removing his vest and then Kokichi's and handing them to Jenma, who was at the front desk with a smile and gladly took them, wishing them a nice rest of their day before she disappeared below the counter, probably to put the gear away. They walked up to Mr. Saihara and Shuichi smiled.

"Did you guys have fun?" the man asked, with an unusual strain in his voice. Shuichi was now even more confused, but nodded enthusiastically. Beside him, Kokichi also nodded, though it was obviously a much more lackluster gesture.

"Yeah! Kichi lasted until the last person, and I won!" Shuichi said happily. Kokichi's head practically snapped to look at the taller boy in surprise. He was clearly not aware that it was his friend who had won the match. Shuichi giggled at the violette's reaction and tightened his grip on Kokichi's thin hands. "It was really fun. I think we both got to relax a little."

His uncle nodded and stood up. "I'm glad, then. We'd better get going back home so I can get dinner ready." Before they headed out the door Shuichi bid Jenma goodbye and thanked her for her kindness. The redheaded girl grinned ear to ear at the sweet words.

"Don't even mention it!" she'd said. "It's my job as a person to be nice."

Shuichi smiled and nodded, letting the glass door go behind him as they left L.Z.R..

The car ride went smoothly after that. Kokichi didn't do much, listening to music with Shuichi's earbuds while the latter napped against the door of the car. Mr. Saihara kept quiet the entire ride. It seemed like 5 minutes before they were home again. Kokichi looked at Shuichi and raised a finger to poke his slumbering face until he finally groaned and sat up as he woke up. Mr. Saihara shut off the car and stepped inside without a word. The two boys followed moments after, removing their shoes at the door.

When they had their shoes off and Shuichi had taken his jacket off, he concernedly approached his uncle, who seemed immensely distressed as he ran a hand through his hair while he sat on the couch. Kokichi followed right by his side, gazing at his caregiver with a twinge of worry in his doll-like eyes.

"Uncle… Are you okay?" Shuichi asked softly, taking a step closer if, in fact, his uncle was not okay. Kokichi did the same. Mr. Saihara sighed and shook his head ever-so-slightly, and it was then Shuichi noticed that he had tears in his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

"...Kokichi's father wants him back," he said gravely. "He's threatening to cause legal issues if we don't hand him over."

Shuichi pulled away from the smaller boy slightly and smiled softly to himself. That was until he came to his senses about his newfound predicament—then he was a blushing mess due to the fact that he had no clue how to get Kokichi into his bed in an appropriate manner. After about 5 minutes of pure contemplation, he decided to simply not think about things and pick up the smaller boy. Once he did so (after nearly tossing Kokichi due to how unexpectedly light he was), he laid him in his bed as gently as a human possibly could. He then approached the closed bedroom door and locked it. He didn't want to see his uncle at that moment, and he needed to at least attempt to sleep his stress off without interruption. After that was done, he got into his bed and immediately fell asleep, without even pulling the covers over himself.

°•×•°

The following morning, Mr. Saihara sat before a very dissatisfied Shuichi and Kokichi, both of whom were watching the taller man with blank, apathetic faces. He sighed.

"Look, I've just talked to 'im. I never said I was gonna do a thing… I just needed to tell you two before things get even more serious, because Mr. Ouma's already threatening to press charges or take things to court," he said exasperatedly. Shuichi's brows furrowed, and Kokichi grew pallor and began to anxiously fidget with his hands which—despite being under the table—didn't go unnoticed due to the slight shifting of his arms as a result.

"And you didn't think to tell at least Kokichi about what's going on? That's a part of his life and no one has the right to keep it from him," Shuichi refuted.

"I didn't know what else to do! There's been… a lot going on since that call!" Mr. Saihara tried to reason. His nephew pursed his lips.

"What else aren't you telling us?" he asked suspiciously. His uncle paused, then sighed, scratching his head in an attempt to ease himself.

"Ever the detective, eh? Well…" There was a hesitant pause, but the man quickly resumed when he saw the impatient look on his nephew's face. "I did a background check since the guy sounded… sketchy. It turns out he's been in prison since Kokichi was about 7 years old. Got out just over a year ago with good behavior."

Shuichi immediately felt dizzy from the mental whiplash of information. Kokichi, however, looked like he was about to pass out, pale as a sheet and breath heaving. His arms and hands were shaking, though he wasn't straining them in any way as they rested in his lap. Concerned, the ravenette put a hand on his friend's shoulder, successfully getting the latter's attention. Hazy but frantic eyes were on him, and he felt his stomach pool with worry and dread for his smaller companion.

"Kichi? Are you feeling okay? Y-You don't look so good…" he commented worriedly. Kokichi hummed faintly and brought his elbows up to rest on the table, burying his face in his trembling hands. He really didn't seem to fare well at the mention of his father, but at that moment it looked like he was having a psychosomatic reaction to the stress of the situation. Now more concerned than ever, he stood from his seat, gently pulling Kokichi's arm to help him up as well. "You need to lie down… I'll be back in a minute," he said softly, the last bit directed at his uncle. The older Saihara nodded while Shuichi walked his sickly friend upstairs.

Kokichi walked worryingly slowly, but Shuichi didn't care as long as he didn't pass out. The moment Kokichi was in his own bed, he was out like a light, even snoring quietly into his pillow. Carefully, Shuichi reached out a hand and pressed it to the violette's forehead.

Oh, God… He's really warm!

Shuichi let his hand rest on the other's forehead for a moment, a silent and primarily subconscious display of comfort to the unconscious boy. Once he realized he might have left his hand there for too long, he quickly retracted it and brought his arm to his side. He then left the room, shutting the door quietly, and headed downstairs to the kitchen, walking past his uncle.

"He's okay?" his uncle asked. Shuichi shrugged mildly, not wanting to rekindle the fire that was their disagreement beforehand. He opened one of the cupboards and began rifling through it for medications.

"He's sick," he said simply, keeping his focus on finding the things he needed. "I think the stress of all this is causing it."

The words seemed to cut Mr. Saihara deeply, and he looked down at his interlocked hands, resting tense on the table. It was clear he didn't like the notion of being responsible for any sort of harm coming to someone he considered a son. However, he nodded slightly in understanding. There was a long pause before,"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Shuichi paused in the middle of closing the medicine cabinet, not bothering to look in his guardian's direction as he thought about the query for a moment. "...You're not going to let him go, are you?" he asked hushedly, like his voice wasn't strong enough to support the weight of the question. His shoulders hunched in tension and tears sprung to his eyes, threatening to fall.

Immediately, as though he were both expecting and not expecting the question, Mr. Saihara shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "Not unless I'm sure he's going somewhere he's safe and taken care of. Right now I couldn't be farther from sure."

Shuichi suddenly felt like he could breathe. He sighed in relief and his body eased up as he moved to different cabinets for soup and towels, temporarily discarding the medicine he grabbed on the counter. "Do you know what he was in for? Kokichi's dad, I mean."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his uncle nod, his expression darkening. "Yes…" he said slowly, clearly not wanting to elaborate further. But Shuichi's detective mind needed to know; any information kept from him was like an ache in his back. However, his uncle unexpectedly continued before he could speak. "His name's Junichiro Ouma. He's been in prison for about 8 years."

"For what?" Shuichi pressed.

"...Child and domestic abuse. Lots of it," Mr. Saihara said, as though that simple statement didn't solve so many of the unconnected puzzle pieces in Shuichi's mind. Just like that, the ravenette felt ill, and distantly he wondered if this was how Kokichi had felt less than an hour ago: dizzied and faint, like his brain was being jostled about in his skull. His hunch had been right—Kokichi was mistreated, to what degree, Shuichi couldn't imagine. All of that suffering, even during the game when he didn't have his correct memories, affected him. His personality, the way he coped, the way he reacted to people, it was all off-kilter from whatever trauma he sustained in his childhood.

All he could think about in that moment was the menacing, intimidating, insane Kokichi he saw later in Danganronpa, who spat on Gonta's grave with a smile and an arsenal of disrespectful jokes, whose eyes slowly became dark purple pools of despair and malice, and who killed himself in the most convoluting and selfless way possible. Shuichi wondered if maybe things would have been different if he hadn't suffered as a child. Maybe it would have been different if he had known—if he was aware that Kokichi was just damaged, that he was just trying to help in the only way he knew how and it was slowly chipping away at his own sanity. If such a small variable as Shuichi's knowledge had been different, would the entire game have changed?

What would Kokichi be like at that moment if things were different? Would he be able to smile and laugh and speak freely? Would he have become a victim of the game? Perhaps he wouldn't have been involved in Danganronpa at all.

"Kid? Are you feeling alright?" he suddenly heard his uncle speaking to him. He snapped to attention and closed the open cupboard, laying the washcloth and soup broth onto the counter beside the medicine. He nodded slightly, just a small, placeholder reassurance while he worked up the will to speak.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" he mumbled, turning on the kitchen faucet and soaking the small towel under the cool water. He wrung the excess liquids out of it and shut off the tap. "I'll be right back." His uncle nodded curtly as he grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator as well as the medicine from the counter, and took them with the washcloth upstairs. He quietly opened the door and entered the room, sparing an affectionate glance in the still-slumbering Kokichi's direction. He placed the medication and water bottle on his own mahogany bedside table—Kokichi's white bedside table was far too cluttered with various things to be useful, such as books, drinks, candies, and his dice.

He approached Kokichi, who had shifted onto his back in his sleep to sprawl out across his bed (undoubtedly an attempt to cool himself down) and moved the wet cloth to his right hand. He put his free hand on the smaller boy's forehead once more, only to feel that his temperature had only increased. He seemed to be overheating, taking in deep, heaving breaths and having kicked all of his covers off. Shuichi carefully pushed back Kokichi's violet bangs and placed the cool, damp cloth on his warm forehead. The latter's reaction was nearly instantaneous, his tense and uncomfortable muscles relaxing slightly along with his facial features, and he sighed gently in relief at the cool contact.

Shuichi wiped his hands on his shirt to dry them, then grabbed the medication bottle and opened it, quietly shaking two pills into the palm of his hand. He closed the container and placed the two pills on an empty space on a shelf above Kokichi's bed. He grabbed the water bottle and placed it beside the pills. Then, he moved to his side of the room and silently rifled through his drawers and desk until he found a pad of sticky notes and a pen. He removed a sheet and clicked the pen.

'There's painkillers and water on your shelf, make sure to take them. Get some rest and come downstairs whenever you're ready, Kichi.

-Shuichi'

Satisfied with the message, he took the note and stuck it to the rim of the shelf where the aforementioned objects were, a place where Kokichi would be sure to see it. Shuichi then left the room as quietly as he came, grabbing the medication capsule on his way out, shutting the door silently and heading back downstairs to continue talking with his uncle.

"Yes."

"To Kokichi and his mother?"

"Yeah."

"And he eventually… killed his mother?"

"...Mhm."

"And he pleaded innocent to that?"

"He said it was an accident. The forensic pathologists said that she got beat to death, I assume he just went too far."

"God…" Shuichi didn't think it was possible to feel any more ill than he already had, but there he was, feeling like he needed to join Kokichi in lying upstairs. "I wish he'd done more time. Are there… pictures?"

"Of the mother?" his uncle asked with eyebrows raised in shock. Shuichi quickly shook his head despite how nauseous it made him feel.

"N-No! I mean the trial… What Kichi was like back then…" The Future Foundation—while they did have the ability to provide extensive support for the Danganronpa cast and their patients—weren't able to recover all memories from before the game. The best they could do was the most important details: family, significant events, but not things like how they behaved. Unfortunately for Kokichi, his entire childhood seemed to consist of traumas and things that were practically scarred into his mind. If he even forgot during the killing game at all, he certainly remembered very easily afterward.

Mr. Saihara nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. He did some typing, some scrolling, then he handed the device to Shuichi, who accepted with trembling hands. Upon looking at the screen, he saw a headline of 'Man Pleads Not Guilty To Murder!' with an image of the trial beneath it, consisting of the man Shuichi assumed was Kokichi's father sitting at the stand with his back straight and face lacking any trace of remorse. He had short, dark violet hair that was gelled back, and piercing yellow eyes that stood out against his slightly tan skin. He scrolled down farther and found another image, one of Kokichi.

He looked like a child, which matched the story of his father getting arrested when he was around 7 years old. He looked downward, almost as if in shame, with tears gathered in his big violet eyes. He was biting his lower lip to keep the tears from falling, and also wearing a brown sweater (obviously not his own judging by the size) with the sleeves rolled up to reveal countless yellowing purple bruises and scabbing nicks in his skin. Some scars were rounded off—like nails were pushed into his skin—and some were slightly longer, straighter wounds. From what, Shuichi couldn't decipher just by looking at an old image. Despite everything, he looked adorable to Shuichi, with slightly puffy cheeks and the curls in his hair just slightly shorter without time to grow out. Seeing his little hands with scars from nails being dug into his palms just made Shuichi want to hold them comfortingly and never let them go.

The caption below the image read: 'Ouma Kokichi, son of Ouma Junichiro, presents wounds inflicted by his father.'

He scrolled through a bit more, just skimming by and reading a few lines. It didn't take much skimming for Shuichi to discover that Kokichi was diagnosed with significant depression, anxiety, and PTSD before the trial to be presented as evidence against Junichiro, but was never medicated for any of it seeing as he was to be sent to foster care where individual medications weren't permitted.

He had to learn to cope with all of that on his own… No wonder he had such odd defense mechanisms, he never learned how to deal with things in a healthy way.

Shuichi handed his uncle the phone back. "...Okay," he said, as basically a silence-filler while he tried to process everything he now knew. He took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm glad I know this. I think this will help me understand Kichi better, I'll be able to help him more now."

His uncle smiled softly. "...That's a nice way to look at it." Shuichi nodded and hummed in acknowledgement, then stood with his hands on the table to steady himself.

"I'm gonna go lie down… You don't need anything?" Mr. Saihara shook his head, so he nodded again and started to head upstairs. Once he was in his room he walked over to Kokichi and removed the now warm cloth from his head, setting it on his nightstand. He didn't feel as warm when Shuichi felt his head, which was a relief and a small light shining through all of the current chaos. He grabbed clean pajamas, changed, and threw his dirty clothes in a basket in his corner of the room. He got into bed, pulled the covers over himself, and was out like a light in less than half an hour.

°•×•°

When Shuichi awoke again, light was no longer shining through the curtain beside his bed and Kokichi wasn't in the room. Slowly, he stood and walked over to Kokichi's side of the room. He looked at the shelf and confirmed that Kokichi did, indeed, take the medications and the water that was left for him. He smiled softly to himself and headed towards the door, feeling much more rested and calm, albeit confused about what time it was. Was it just a later hour in the day or was it early morning the next? Had he really slept through to the next day? He grabbed his phone on the way out and turned it on, revealing that it was well past 8 o'clock. He sighed and pocketed the device in one of the front pockets of his pants, leaving the room and heading downstairs.

When he reached the living room, he found Kokichi, asleep lying on the couch with one of the spare blankets draped over his body, and Mr. Saihara watching a show in the recline across the room. He paused the show as he saw his nephew come in and smiled a bit, and it looked more genuine than his other smiles had the past few days.

"Is he okay?" Shuichi asked, quietly so as not to wake his friend. His uncle nodded slightly, sparing a mildly concerned glance at the smaller boy on the couch.

"Yeah. Sick, like you said," the older man replied, voice unusually flat and lacking his typical enthusiasm. The sudden change in mood enveloped the entire house, making everyone feel dreary and on-edge all the time. Shuichi just wanted things to go back to normal, when everyone could joke around and smile and it wouldn't feel so out-of-place.

"Shhhuuu… iiichi?" A pause, during which Shuichi was trying not to completely break down into tears. "Shhuichhii? Shuichii?"

Shuichi was quiet for a moment, then, "He talked to me."

Immediately, his uncle sat upright and looked at Shuichi in pure shock. He then looked at the sleeping Kokichi across the room, and then back at his nephew. "Did he? Really?"

Shuichi nodded. "He said my name. More than once. I'm pretty sure he can say it normally now." He felt himself smile at the memory, at the sheer joy he felt at the fact that it wasn't a dream and Kokichi really was getting so much better. His uncle was smiling widely, a smile filled with pride, admiration, and care.

"That's great. That's amazing, I–" he paused to take a breath. "I'm so glad to hear that, kiddo." Shuichi nodded in agreement. Mr. Saihara sat back in his chair a bit.

"I called the authorities, before he came down," he gestured towards Kokichi. "Apparently his father legally isn't allowed to be around 'im until the kid turns 18, which he can get a restraining order then. So we don't have to worry about anything."

Shuichi's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really?" His uncle nodded and he laughed in disbelief. "Good… I hope that man stays as far away from him as possible. Does Kichi know?"

A shake of the head was his response. "No. I didn't want to freak him out more. He's… already got a psychogenic fever from this." When Shuichi asked for a clarification of his uncle's medicinal-lingo, he was told that it simply meant that Kokichi was suffering from a stress-induced illness. He looked over at Kokichi and concluded that such a statement definitely made sense. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing was still a bit heavy, but it was a significant improvement when compared to his earlier condition. He looked much better than he did before, though still unwell. Shuichi supposed—judging by the blanket covering the boy's lithe form—that he was no longer overheating, which was a good thing considering it was his main concern before.

"He should get feeling better if he knows it's not a concern anymore, then," Shuichi pointed out. His uncle pondered that for a moment, then sighed and nodded with a smile.

"You're right," he said, standing from his chair and walking over to the couch where Kokichi lay. He looked at Shuichi before he made any move to wake up the violette. "And when he's feeling up to it, I wanna hear him talk." Shuichi giggled lightly and nodded.

"I know. I'm sure he'll be happy to show you—or tell you," he said fondly. His uncle nodded and reached down to gently shake Kokichi, whispering his name in an attempt to rouse the small boy. It worked, as Kokichi started to stir and he rubbed his eyes while he sat up. The top of the blanket fell from his chest and pooled in his lap. Hazy eyes blinked at Mr. Saihara. He then looked around and caught sight of Shuichi standing by. His eyes widened slightly, he was clearly now much more awake than he was mere moments ago. He immediately stood up, discarding the blanket on the couch, and moved to stand beside Shuichi, who smiled and giggled a bit with a reddening face.

Kokichi looked up at the taller boy for a moment before he opened his mouth. "S… Shuichi," he said calmly, raising his hand slightly to point a finger at the boy standing completely dumbfounded beside him. Mr. Saihara nodded encouragingly while his nephew was frozen stiff, a mischievous smile on his face.

"You like Shuichi?" he asked, sweetness masking the teasing tone in his voice that Kokichi wouldn't be able to detect. The former leader seemed to be in thought for a moment before he shuffled ever-so-slightly closer to the aforementioned boy and nodded. "Shuichi," he said contentedly. He clearly seemed much more comfortable with Shuichi near him, even when the ravenette was in complete and total shock as his mind processed what was happening about as fast as a decades-old internet browser.

"Er…" she hummed nervously, looking back at the three people behind her. "I think we're going to have to get a little wet," she said, smiling sheepishly. The darkened sky lit up before her, shortly after followed by a loud, booming clap of thunder. Kaede jolted slightly while Kokichi practically levitated, jumping behind Kaito. The only part of him that was visible from behind the taller man was his head peeking out from behind Kaito's arm. She sighed and closed the door, successfully interrupting the sound of a second harsh boom of thunder. "...Well. We obviously can't be driving for long in this weather, and Shuichi's house is pretty far from here…" she trailed off as she caught sight of Kokichi frantically shaking his head from behind Kaito, apparently understanding where the circumstances were leading him.

Kaito noticed this after he looked back at Kokichi and smiled reassuringly. "We should have a sleepover at Kaede's place! It's closest," he suggested. Kokichi shook his head again, this time more determined than panicked.

"Shuichi!" he declared boldly as if to say 'Hey! You told Shuichi I'd come back!'

Kaede giggled. "A sleepover does sound like fun. And, Kokichi, it's dangerous to drive so far in weather like this." When Kokichi seemed less than pleased with the new change of plans and refused to respond any more, Maki sighed and pulled her phone from her coat pocket, turning it on and dialing a number with one hand. She put the phone up to her ear and, after a few moments, spoke.

"Hey, Shuichi," she said flatly. "We're not going to be able to bring Kokichi back with the storm, it's just too far. Is it okay if he bunks with us tonight?" Some silence. Maki looked over at Kokichi, who was glancing between the other three people around him like a child listening to adults talk about them. "He doesn't seem to like it, but there's really nothing else we can do. Weather got bad fast, y'know." More silence, then she sighed audibly and pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at the device like she was seriously considering hanging up. She quickly put the phone back to her ear. "He'll be fine. We'll fix up the guest room for he and Kaito and make breakfast in the morning…"

"...Shuichi, how do you think being on the phone with him would work? He can only say one word. It'll be fine. Bye." She hung up. Kokichi furrowed his brows at Maki, annoyed at how rude she was being to Shuichi. Though he didn't know why Shuichi was asking her so many questions. Maki looked at Kaede, face blank and rather tired-looking. "He's… decent with it," she reported. Kaede sighed with a smile, glancing kindly at Maki.

"Cut them some slack, hun, they're really close. Now, let's go! You guys ready?" Everyone but Kokichi nodded, the small boy clearly not understanding what he was to do next. Kaito looked back at him and put a hand on his boney shoulder. Kokichi jumped at the sudden contact but didn't move himself.

"We're gonna have that sleepover, and when we get to Kaede's, I'm gonna make sure you have so much fun you don't got time to overthink!" Kokichi only stared up at him, so he continued. "But we're gonna run to her car first, 'kay? It's raining pretty bad, so we gotta try not to get soaked!"

Slowly, Kokichi seemed to understand, and he nodded slightly. Kaito smiled and turned back to the door with a chuckle. "Okay. Three… Two… One!" Kaede threw open the door and all four people ran outside, Kokichi a little later after he realized that they were running now. He followed Kaito as they ran through the rain, tucking the mug securely under his arm so that it wouldn't be ruined. It didn't take long for them to get to the car as it was just across the street and down a bit, and Kaito opened the back door, allowing Kokichi in first, then jumped in after him.

Kaede and Kaito were cracking up as they got in the car. Apparently they thought running through the rain and getting themselves and their clothes drenched in rain was fun, though Kokichi didn't know why and Maki seemed much less than entertained as Kaede started the car. Kokichi gripped onto the mug tightly, hoping the fact that it was thinly related to Shuichi would help comfort him at all. Kaede turned on the radio, per Kaito's request, and it reminded him of when he listened to Shuichi's playlist on the way to that weird, dark place with the nice redheaded girl and back. He tried to focus on the music.

°•×•°

It didn't take long for them to arrive at Kaede, Maki, and Rantaro's house. When Kokichi looked at it, he didn't know what to say, because their house was huge. How did Kaede have a house that big, and wouldn't she get lost? Wouldn't Rantaro get lost? He liked Rantaro, he hoped that if Rantaro was having problems he would say something to Kaede or Maki.

They ran out of the car and into the house, too, apropos of the rain still beating down onto the pavement. Once inside, everyone set down their bags, except Kokichi because he only got the mug and didn't really want to let it go right then. "Okay! I'm gonna get some of this stuff put up really quick," she gestured to the bags belonging to her and Maki, mainly consisting of decorations for their home. "And Maki will show you two to the guest room! Then the fun begins…!" She said the last sentence rather sinisterly, but Kokichi couldn't tell if she was being serious or not. He didn't like the sound of that, he didn't like the way she said it, and he didn't want to have fun. When he was a kid, the word 'fun' always meant his father's friends were coming over. And what that meant for him was…

Kokichi blinked harshly and gripped onto Kaito's sleeve, almost subconsciously. The former astronaut looked down at him and his excited expression quickly morphed into one of concern seeing how distressed his friend was. He put a hand on Kokichi's shoulder, something he seemed to have a habit of doing. "Hey, you okay?" he asked in a quiet tone that Kokichi had never heard from him before. The smaller boy shook his head while his stomach churned and the memories flashed in his mind like an old film. Kaito mumbled something to himself—something Kokichi couldn't hear—before he gripped his shoulder a little tighter and stepped closer to him, almost protectively, like he could ward off whatever the smaller violette was feeling.

"Uh, hey, Maki-Roll?" he called out, making the brunette stop mid-step and turn around. He quickly tilted his head towards the boy beside him. "Kid's not feelin' too great. 'Dunno why."

Maki sighed to herself and walked back over to the two boys. She looked at Kokichi with a subtle hint of softness in her eyes. "Do you feel sick?" she asked. Kokichi nodded, forcing himself to look at her even though seeing anything at all made him feel like he was spinning. "Where?" Kokichi furrowed his brows as he tried to articulate an answer that question. Carefully, he gestured to his stomach. Maki nodded and looked up at Kaito. "It's probably from the rain. We've got clean, dry clothes upstairs, so come–" Kokichi shook his head, slowly to keep himself from swaying too far to the side, interrupting Maki from welcoming them upstairs.

Kaito furrowed his brows. "It's not from the rain, or you don't want to go upstairs?" Kokichi pointed a finger, creating the number one with his hand. "Not from the rain? What's got'cha feelin' like this, then?"

Kokichi used that same finger to shakily point at his head, accidentally poking himself due to how hard his arm was shaking from the effort of keeping it held up. Maki pursed her lips. "Thoughts?" she confirmed, like she knew how terrible he was feeling in that moment. Kokichi shrugged. They were more like memories but he figured that Maki and Kaito wouldn't be able to figure such by playing charades. Immediately, they both seemed to understand and Maki led them upstairs while Kaito tried to reassure Kokichi that he just needed to change clothes and then he could sleep things off. He felt bad about ruining the sleepover Kaede was so excited about. Perhaps he'd feel better after he changed and got clean.

Maki entered what was evidently the guest room of the house and rifled through some drawers. "Rantaro left clothes he didn't want in here, when Kaede thought he'd just be a guest. They'll fit you, Kokichi. Kaito, you might just have to make do." She tossed a plain white shirt and a pair of shorts to Kokichi while Kaito complained about having to 'make do.' Kokichi just looked at the clothes as they dropped onto the ground in front of him, which caused Maki to sigh when she noticed. "Right," she muttered, picking up the clothes and handing them to the shorter boy. "Bathroom's right there, and there are towels under the sink. Go dry yourself off and put those on," she said, pointing to a door to Kokichi's right.

He decided to leave the mug in the guest room on the dresser. It would be weird if it was near him when he wasn't clothed and then Shuichi used it, he figured. And he trusted Kaito and Maki enough to know that they wouldn't touch it. Just to be safe, however, he dried himself and changed as fast as he could without making himself feel more nauseous. His hair was extremely disheveled from being rustled with a towel, but he supposed that was okay; he woke up like that most mornings until his hair got brushed (which Shuichi did sometimes when Kokichi was worn out from therapy). He left the room and found the mug right where he left it, which made him happy, and he was feeling a bit better compared to earlier. He had other things to think about now, such as what he was supposed to do at a sleepover.

Also where everyone went. The guest room was completely abandoned. Kokichi didn't even remember the way to get back downstairs because of the size of Kaede's house, so he found himself wandering. He never even found a staircase when he came across a door with a sign on it. It looked like a spiky leaf, and there were words above and below the leaf that read 'GOOD VIBES ONLY'. Kokichi was confused, it was the only door that had something on it that he'd seen. The leaf reminded him of the outdoors, which reminded him of Gonta. All of those things were good, which matched what the sign said, so he decided it was probably safe to go in.

The room on the other side of the door was exceedingly dim, which was not what he was expecting after seeing white walls, ceiling, and decorations since he'd entered the house. The walls were red, from what he could tell after squinting so hard his forgotten headache resurfaced. A small light was across the room, shining just bright enough for him to make out the face of a person, which made him jolt with terror.

Apparently, this person was just as startled as he was, as they sat up and the small light was gone. Now he had no idea who was in the room, and he felt scared. He didn't know whether to run or cry and try to beg for his life, or maybe offer the mug as a sacrifice? No, he couldn't do that, the mug was a special present for Shuichi–

"...Kokichi? What're you doing here?" a voice said confusedly. It was close to him, but for some reason he felt like he recognized it. He heard a soft click and there was light in the dark room. He looked up and saw…

Rantaro?

Rantaro seemed to feel awkward and he smiled sheepishly. "I'm glad to see you. It's been such a long time since I've even seen you… y'know, awake." Kokichi was confused for a moment before he remembered when Shuichi told him about what had happened after he woke up. Shuichi said he was asleep for a long time, and that was certainly how it had felt. But he didn't know anyone had visited him while he was asleep. Rantaro was quiet for a while before he smiled and exhaled through his nose. "I figured you'd be different. Shuichi's told me quite a bit… but I can only remember a few things right now, so forgive me if I don't get it exactly on the mark." Kokichi nodded politely.

"You're a lot more shy than you used to be."

…Kokichi supposed from the outside it would seem that way. Maybe that was the truth. To him, it just felt like he was significantly more cautious and open than he used to be. He nodded hesitantly.

Rantaro hummed. "You're… you're… living with Shuichi, right? And his uncle!" Kokichi nodded again, and the taller boy tisked as though he were expecting the reaction. He smiled again, and it was so warm and kind, and it made him feel safe. He never felt safe, ever, unless he was right beside Shuichi and he knew that they were both protecting one another from harm. But with Rantaro there, his warm smile, he felt like he could melt. With Shuichi, he felt protected, but he was also worrying about so many things in fear of the former detective losing his fondness for him. However, he found that he didn't feel the fear of being judged when Rantaro was around. He felt like he could stop being so tense everywhere and just–

"Whoa, you look pretty out-of-it…" Rantaro said nervously, raising his hands like he was going to grab Kokichi in case he collapsed. "Try not to fall down on me, okay?" Sleepily, Kokichi nodded. "I have this big bean bag chair I read on sometimes. It's easy to get comfortable on, if you're feeling tired."

Before he knew it, Kokichi was being led into Rantaro's room and the door was shut behind him. Rantaro showed him to the bean bag chair he spoke of. It was gray and it looked soft. He tried to sit himself on it with grace… but his legs didn't agree with such plans and he simply allowed himself to fall onto the chair. He sunk into it slightly and curled his knees closer to his chest, hugging the mug in his arms securely. He didn't mean to let out the sound caught in his throat, but he found himself releasing a soft, content sigh.

He watched with half-lidded eyes as Rantaro walked around his room, turning off the lights, and turning on some. He turned on some pretty fairy lights above the beanbag chair, which was on the floor at the foot of Rantaro's bed, he turned on a lava lamp on the desk across the room, and he flipped on something else on his desk that illuminated the ceiling with colorful dots and stars, that were moving, slowly. He quickly became fascinated with the moving lights and Rantaro laughed quietly.

"The lights distract me from my thoughts. They get… more aggressive when I'm trying to sleep, y'know?"

He knew. He understood that completely.

"The colors don't clash as much as you'd think they would just buying them separately," Rantaro commented after a while. Despite the fact that Rantaro was in his bed and probably couldn't see Kokichi, the latter nodded as best he could when his body felt so heavy.

Rantaro said something else, but he was too focused on the lights to listen. He finally felt his eyes close against his will.

Maybe he should get moving lights like Rantaro…

°•×•°

What time it was when Kokichi woke up next, he didn't know. Slowly, he sat up in the bean bag chair and looked around. He was still in Rantaro's room, the pretty lights were still on, and Rantaro was on his bed, asleep. He was lying on his stomach with his head turned out to face the room, and his phone was off in his hand. It looked like he fell asleep looking at his phone.

Carefully and quietly, Kokichi stood up, keeping Shuichi's mug in one hand as he approached Rantaro. He was definitely asleep, and the dark bags beneath his eyes suggested that he didn't sleep very often. With one shaking hand, he took the phone from Rantaro's hand and placed it beside the pillow where it wouldn't be knocked off, then he took the duvet that was only covering half of the green-headed male and slowly pulled it up to cover up more of him so he wouldn't become cold. Once he was sure that his friend would be able to sleep well, he looked over at the door diagonally across the room. Before he could even step towards it, the door opened.

For a brief moment, Kokichi considered that maybe he had just awakened some superpowers within him and telekinetically opened the bedroom door, but the idea was quickly and melancholically snuffed out when Kaede stepped into the room.

"Hi–!" she began, but cut herself off when Kokichi's head snapped to look at her, eyes warning her to be quiet. She seemed to get the memo and smiled, gesturing for Kokichi to leave the room with her. He did, nearly tiptoeing out of the room so as not to wake Rantaro. Once he was out Kaede slowly shut the door. "Rantaro hasn't been sleeping well…" she said softly. "He hasn't told me much, but I think his thoughts just get the better of him, and he won't sleep. A-Anyways–" Kaede quickly turned away from the dreary topic. "I wanted to thank you! For helping him get to sleep."

…How did he help if he fell asleep before Rantaro did? Kokichi dismissed it mentally as Kaede's smile became more cheerful. "We're gonna play some games! Do you want to join?"

A spark of hope flashes in Kokcihi's eyes. "Shuichi?" he asked eagerly. Kaede's expression immediately softened and he felt a wave of harsh disappointment wash over him.

"Ehm…" Kaede pressed her index fingers together as she thought of a way to gently let Kokichi down. "...No. Shuichi's not here. It's still raining, otherwise I'm pretty sure he'd speed here," she giggled lightly to herself, while Kokichi's eyes widened in terror at the thought of Shuichi potentially getting hurt while driving. He gripped the mug so tightly his fingers squeaked against the metal, and Kaede was quick to take back her words. "Ahh! I didn't mean that, it was just a joke!"

Seeing how horrified Kokichi looked and how pale the tips of his fingers were becoming, Kaede jerked herself into what Maki called 'caregiver mode.' It was second nature for Kaede to be nurturing to anyone who needed it, and at that moment, she knew that Kokichi needed to be calmed. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly. "It's okay. I promise, Shuichi's okay. He'd tell one of us if he were coming here, and no one has gotten anything. Even still, he's a very safe driver anyways! Sometimes he waits for every car in a three mile radius to pass before he turns onto the highway…" Kaede chuckled through the fond irritation she felt at the memories. Shuichi absolutely refused to turn if he could see a car approaching, no matter how far, because, "I don't know how fast they're going!" and "I'm not going to risk it."

Kokichi looked downward and nodded slightly, almost as though the gesture were to assure himself. His grip on the mug relented and his fingers quickly returned to their usual (still pale) shade, but now there were very visible fingerprints along its sides. Kokichi seemed to grow distressed at this and wouldn't stop trying to rub the prints off with his sleeve. It only worked partially, so Kaede offered to take Kokichi to the kitchen and find something to clean it. This seemed to brighten the smaller boy's spirits, so the blonde smiled and took one of Kokichi's hands, leading him downstairs.

Once Kokichi was on the 1st floor and sat at the kitchen table, Kaede began rifling through the cupboards under the sink for cleaning products. When she found many of them, she quickly Googled which of them would be suitable to use on a mug, and settled for rubbing alcohol. She dampened a rag with the substance and carefully took the mug from Kokichi's hands, which he relented with hesitance. Gently—a gesture not necessary but to keep Kokichi calm—she rubbed the mug with the damp cloth. Kokichi watched in well-masked awe as the fingerprints smudged, swirled, and then disappeared. Kaede then wrapped the rag around the mug and handed it back to the smaller boy. "Keep that around it so fingerprints won't get on it!"

Kokichi nodded passionately and held the mug close to him again. Kaede smiled. "I'd better head back before Kaito gets impatient and starts playing without me… You wanna come?"

Kokichi pondered for some time, then decided on 'why not,' and followed an excited Kaede back upstairs. They met Maki and Kaito in one of the many bedrooms, which apparently belonged to Kaede and Maki. Kaito seemed very pleased to have Kokichi join in on the fun, while Maki remained stoic as ever. They all sat on the floor in the center of the room and Maki opened a box of Uno cards, dealing them out with skill. It seemed not 5 seconds before all 28 cards were evenly distributed between the participants and Maki placed the remainder of the deck in front of them.

The game went smoothly. Kaito offered to help Kokichi play since the smaller boy didn't exactly understand what he was to do, and thus, gave little reaction when it was his turn. Kaito did the best he could to help Kokichi win, even using his own cards to play in the former leader's favor, but unfortunately Kaede ended up winning. Kokichi didn't seem to mind and even became engaged during the final part of the game, looking up at Kaito and showing him his cards for approval. This seemed to make Kaito happier than usual, as he smiled widely and helped his friend with enthusiasm throughout the entire game, especially after Kokichi began to participate slightly.

They played a few more rounds of Uno, a quick game of charades (in which Kokichi did not participate), and then almost everyone was worn out. Maki was yawning, Kaede's energy was dulling, and Kokichi was nodding off against the side of the bed. Kaito, however, didn't seem to understand why his friends' enthusiasm was burning out.

"Why're you guys lookin' so tired?" he asked, voice fully awake and joyful as ever. "It can't be that late, can it?"

Kaede grabbed her phone and checked the time with a yawn. "... It's 1:30 in the morning…" she reported. Kokichi's brows raised ever-so-slightly in surprise. He must've been asleep for a while in Rantaro's room, because they hadn't been playing games for too long. Kaito's shoulder slumped.

"Oh. Well, I guess we should head to bed, then," he said, placing his hands on his hips with a deep exhale, looking down at his seated companions. Maki stood, her long chestnut locks flowing down her back, with Kaede doing the same. Following suit, Kokichi stood with hesitance. He immediately remembered Shuichi's mug and grabbed it off of the floor. Kaito put an arm around Kokichi's shoulders and grinned. "My new sidekick and I are gonna head to bed now!" He looked down at Kokichi, who simply nodded tiredly. The taller man chuckled and started leaving the room with Kokichi following after. Kaede and Maki bid them goodnight as the two exited their room.

On their way down the hall, Kaito looked down at Kokichi, who was just walking beside him obliviously with his usual blank face. He pursed his lips and looked back ahead as they made it to the guest room.

Once in the room, Kaito jumped into the soft, expensive guest bed and scooted over to make room for Kokichi, who stood there in shock. He was supposed to share a bed with Kaito? Wasn't that weird? Why did he feel like it would hurt Shuichi's feelings? It felt so wrong, but he had no idea how to verbalize such concerns. Instead he just stood there, gripping the engraved mug in his hands so hard the rag wrapped around it squeaked against the metal. Kaito seemed to notice and sat up, looking confused.

"Hey, you good? Your fingers are goin' kinda pale…" Kokichi didn't reply, leaving the former astronaut to piece together the puzzle on his own. Luckily, it didn't take him long. "Ohh. Well, if it makes ya uncomfortable, I'll… I'll sleep on the floor!" Kaito smiled kindly, completely willing to selflessly follow through with his word, while Kokichi was mortified. He couldn't just make such a nice person sleep on the floor because he didn't want to share!

Kaito, as unusually observant as ever, recognized the pure discomfort that was practically radiating off of Kokichi and sighed with a smile. He got off the bed, grabbed a couple of pillows and two blankets from the bed and placed them on the floor. First, one blanket, then the pillows, and another blanket, creating a resting place on the floor. Seeming rather proud of himself, Kaito gestured to the makeshift bed. "There! See, no problem-o! You get in bed and get some rest, 'kay? The faster you get some shut-eye, the faster you see Shuichi tomorrow!"

And there was his motivation. Kokichi hastily set the mug on the bedside table and climbed into bed, marvelling at how soft one mattress and some blankets could be. After Kaito was settled in and Kokichi made sure he was alright, the former leader was out like a light.

°•×•°

*Ring ring!*

*Ring ring!*

Groggily, Shuichi threw his hand over to his mahogany bedside table and smacked his phone like that would cease the ringing. When it didn't, he groaned and sat up, dragging his phone over to him and pressing the 'answer' button, lazily holding the phone up to his ear.

"Yeah…?" he mumbled into the receiver, not really caring who was on the other line.

"Shuichi!" Kaito's voice entered his ear, a mixture of panicked and relieved. That woke Shuichi up immediately.

"Kaito? W-What's going on?" he asked worriedly. Kaito was quiet for some moments, and in that time he could distantly hear someone crying. Before he could ask, however, Kaito spoke again.

"Kokichi had a nightmare. A… bad one, too, from the looks of it…"

"Kichi..?" he asked quietly, more to himself out of shock than anything else. He quickly recuperated himself and cleared his throat away from the microphone. He finished changing and held his phone carefully like Kokichi himself was inside of it. "Hey, Kichi? Can you hear me?"

He heard a hitch in Kokichi's breath as he left his room and rushed downstairs. As he snatched his car keys from the living room coffee table, he heard Kokichi speak. "...Shuichi?" he asked softly, so quietly that the ravenette almost didn't hear it through the phone. Luckily, he did, and he quickly shut the front door and got to his car.

"Yeah, it's me, Kichi, I'm here," he said kindly. "What happened?"

Kaito spoke up after that. "Bad nightmare. Like… probably-about-the-game level 'bad,'" he said grimly, the rare tone of seriousness in him nearly startling Shuichi. The ravenette sighed to try and calm himself and gripped the steering wheel of the car tightly as he started to drive.

He remembered the aftermath of every one of Kokichi's nightmares, and he could easily distinguish when the night terror was about the game and when it was about his childhood. If the nightmare was about the game, Kokichi had a habit of hugging himself and squirming around, as though he were subconsciously trying to ground himself. On the other hand, if Kokichi's night terror was related to his past, he would either try and hide somewhere (Shuichi had caught him under his bed, in his closet, and even under the kitchen sink) or begin to harm himself via digging his nails into his skin or tugging at his hair. Shuichi didn't know everything about Kokichi's past or what exactly occurred in the hangar and had a feeling he may never, but he still tried his absolute best to help Kokichi during those nights without prying.

Thus he found himself asking, "What's he doing?"

There was silence for just a few moments before Kaito spoke up again. "He's, uh… just crying. He's kinda, like…" Shuichi could tell how hard Kaito was trying to keep the stress from seeping into his words, and he would have smiled at how concerned the former astronaut was if it weren't for the reality of the situation. Shuichi just continued driving while Kaito was trying to find his words. He was about to say something when he heard a loud sob and Kaito hissed. Then he heard a loud thud and shuffling that sounded like Kaito dropped his phone.

He would've pulled over from how anxious he felt if he didn't need to get to Kaede's house as fast as possible. "W-What happened?!" he asked hastily, but it sounded as though he wasn't heard. When he decided to be silent for a few moments, he heard faint speaking.

"Hey, hey, stop that… C'mon, that's gotta hurt, huh? S-So just… relax, alright?" He heard a tense whine, presumably from Kokichi. "Look, kid, look at me… Okay, good. Listen, Shuichi's on his way okay? Shuichi's coming, and then you can…" Kaito paused, then spoke again, louder. "Shuichi? You still there?"

Conflicted on whether to continue being worried because it had sounded like Kokichi was hurting himself or calm down because Kaito's voice suddenly became so casual, he forced himself to speak. "Y-Yeah?"

"Okay," Kaito said, then proceeded to whisper something Shuichi couldn't quite make out. Whatever he said seemed to calm Kokichi down, as the sobbing cleared and he heard the smaller boy sniffle. "Alright," Kaito said finally, sounding much more optimistic than moments prior. He heard shuffling and Kaito's voice was then closer; he'd picked his phone back up. "You're still comin', right?"

Shuichi nodded until he realized that the gesture wouldn't be seen over the phone. "Yeah. I'm just a few minutes away," he reported, fingers determinedly gripping the steering wheel. "I'm gonna hang up now, is that okay?"

"Yeah," Kaito replied.

"Don't let him hurt himself, and don't let him run away. It'll take ages to find him."

"What? Why would he run?" Kaito asked, sounding a mixture of shock and confusion.

"...Nevermind. I'm just a minute away, see you guys soon," he said, hesitantly pressing the red 'hang up' button. Within less than a minute he was pulled into the driveway and practically throwing himself out of the driver's seat. He typed in the code on Kaede's front door to unlock it and hurried inside. He went up the grand staircase that was right before the door and took a left to the guest bedrooms. Instead of taking an awkward guess as to which room Kokichi and Kaito were in, he stopped and listened. He managed to hear something coming from the farthest room and his feet started to head toward it before he could think.

He opened the door, and didn't see anything at first. The guest bed was centered against the wall to his right, and there was a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor beside it; the room looked empty, however, in terms of people.

"Shuichi!" Kaito's voice came, relieved. Shuichi's head snapped to the left and he saw Kokichi huddled up in the corner of the room and Kaito sitting in front of him. Kokichi's violet eyes were glossy, looking deep into Shuichi's dull golden ones incredulously. The ravenette found himself releasing a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding and immediately rushed over, getting onto his knees and throwing his arms around the smaller boy.

Instantly, both boys physically relaxed. Shuichi's eyes closed and a serene smile graced his lips while Kokichi started to calm, shakily returning the taller's embrace and leaning into him, and Kaito realized just how much the two needed each other. Then he thought about how uncomfortable they'd seemed leaving each other at the café yesterday, and it occurred to him that it was probably the first time they'd ever been apart an entire night since the hospital. Being able to even be near one another again must have felt like a cool, refreshing breeze after a night of stuffy hot air.

Shuichi gripped the back of Kokichi's shirt tightly with one hand, the other on the back of the smaller boy's head, holding him protectively. Kokichi's forehead rested on the former detective's shoulder and he was embracing him like his life depended on it. It looked like nothing could separate them.

After a while of sitting there and trying not to cry (and after Kaito had left to give them some privacy), Shuichi parted from Kokichi ever-so-slightly and looked at the sniffling boy with the warmest and most caring smile imaginable. He put a hand in Kokichi's hair and gently combed through his soft, dark hair. "Hi," he said softly. It was all he could think of to say after the dizzying amount of stress he'd felt just minutes ago. Seeing Kokichi right in front of him, tangible and unharmed after he was so worried about the smaller boy was a sensation that he had mixed feelings about.

Now that Kokichi was calm, Shuichi didn't really know what to do. He sat awkwardly, and decided to just simply relax and let the joy of being back with Kokichi soothe him. This didn't last long because Kokichi wriggled out of his grasp and stood up on slightly shaky legs, holding Shuichi's hand with a certain fierceness that the ravenette didn't yet understand. Despite this, he stood as well and allowed Kokichi to lead him just a few feet over to the white end table beside the bed. He grabbed what looked like a cup off of it, letting go of Shuichi's hand in the process, and held it up in front of his friend's face.

Shuichi blinked and focused on what Kokichi was presenting him: a beautiful cup with copper, lace-like accents on the bottom, and his own name engraved on it. He gasped quietly and carefully took the object in his hands like it were thin, fragile glass. He couldn't seem to pry his eyes off of the name, engraved so beautifully into the black metal. He peered through the thick, transparent lid of the cup and saw that the inside was silver metal; it looked as though it was insulated. It would keep his coffee warm, or his ice tea cold. And it had to have been engraved by hand, Shuichi's name wasn't common enough to sell on a cup like this. Which would then mean that Kokichi found the mug and thought of Shuichi enough to get his name on it and give it to him.

"Shuichi..?" Kokichi's quiet voice snapped him out of his wandering thoughts. He looked at the violette, who glanced at him with anxiety in his vibrant eyes. He must've thought Shuichi didn't like the gift due to how long he was silent. The latter, however, was tearing up so badly he couldn't find it in himself to speak right then. Kokichi was thinking about him, even when he wasn't there, and did something so amazingly kind. Something that a friend would do, meaning Kokichi thought of him as a friend. Before, he would've given anything to be a friend to Kokichi, and now they both had come so far that they were the closest of friends. Admittedly, the thought of remaining friends saddened Shuichi a bit, but he swore to himself long ago that he would help Kokichi fully recover. And when he did, then their friendship could be taken farther.

Finally he managed to choke out, "...Thank you…" His voice was soft and breaking under the pressure of every feeling he was experiencing, but he had to say something before Kokichi began to fret about having made a mistake. Once he said one word, though, it was like the floodgates had opened, and Shuichi couldn't stop himself. He threw his arms around Kokichi, still clutching the cup (which was partially wrapped in a cloth for some reason) in one hand, and found himself sobbing.

He cried so hard against Kokichi's shoulder, it nearly surpassed the night after the 5th trial during Danganronpa, after he'd lost the shining star that was his friend, Kaito Momota… after he'd lost the enigma that Kokichi Ouma had once been. On the spot, he couldn't determine when he'd cried harder, and he didn't really want to ponder it. Instead, he thought about the Kokichi he knew now, and how he never realized just how much better he'd gotten. He'd assumed Kokichi's recovery was going a lot slower than it really was simply because the latter didn't verbalize his feelings or the thoughts in his head. Truly, Kokichi was thinking and feeling what had to be at least close to what was normal, it was only because his personality and way of communicating had changed that everyone was assuming he wasn't making substantial progress. The fact that he got that cup for Shuichi proved that he knew exactly who his friends were, and that he would go out of his way to do something kind for those friends to make them happy. That was normal.

Kokichi seemed to barely know what to do, having never seen Shuichi break down this intensely before. He's only seen him get panic attacks and such after night terrors or situations that really set off his anxiety. He did what he could, though, and steadily lowered himself and Shuichi onto their knees before it happened involuntarily. He hugged Shuichi tightly in return, refusing to let go until he was certain that the taller boy would be alright. He didn't know what exactly he did to make Shuichi cry, but he figured the least he could do was be there and fix what he caused.

Shuichi cried and cried for what seemed like hours. And Kokichi stayed. He stayed right there on the floor with Shuichi and held him like he was the most fragile thing in the world. Which only caused him to cry harder. After what was truly hours, Shuichi calmed down and they just sat together, embracing one another.

After that time had passed, the door opened and Kaede walked in. "Hey… Kaito told us what–" she cut herself off when she saw Shuichi's red face and teary eyes, and the dying tear-tracks glistening on Kokichi's cheeks. Immediately, she hurried over and dropped to her friends' sides. "Are you guys okay?!" she asked in a panic. All traces of sleepiness vanished from the pianist just like magic.

Shuichi nodded and sniffled with a smile. He glanced at Kokichi, who looked back at him. But this time, Shuichi didn't see eyes devoid of emotion and a face blank with involuntary apathy. He saw eyes filled with so much life and goodness, and a face that could make so many expressions, each of them unique and beautiful. He also saw a barrier—a thin curtain in front of the windows that were Kokichi's violet eyes, a wall that was just barely stopping the smaller boy from bouncing around and giggling carefreely. And Shuichi knew that his mission—his purpose—was to open the curtains and demolish the wall.

"Ah, Kaede?" he asked from his seat at her kitchen table. "Can I talk to him for a second? We'll meet you upstairs." Kaede nodded with her usual kind smile and headed back upstairs to rejoin Maki and Kaito.

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi. The smaller boy had scooted his chair over closer to Shuichi's so he could still hug his friend, with his arms wrapped around the taller's waist and staying as close to him as physically possible. Shuichi was practically dying from how adorable it was, and how nice it felt to have Kokichi so close to him, where he could ensure that he was safe. He never wanted to leave him again.

Though Kokichi would have to get off of him sometime. He giggled and put a hand on Kokichi's thin shoulder.

"Kichi, you can let go of me now…" he said, not unkindly, but Kokichi held on tighter and whined in protest to the notion. Shuichi sighed and turned to better face the former leader, who adjusted himself as well to remain comfortable while still latched onto his companion. "Kichi. I'm not going anywhere. I want to talk to you for a second, so just listen, okay?"

Kokichi cast him a slightly concerned look, but nodded slowly and settled down, loosening his hold on the former detective enough to see him better and meet his gaze. Shuichi smiled. "I wanted to… Well, first of all, thank you again. F-For this," he grabbed the cup and held it up slightly, setting it back down as he continued. "And I wanted you to know that… I'm really proud of you. You're making so much progress… a lot more than we've realized."

Kokichi slowly lowered his arms from Shuichi's waist and his eyebrows twitched upward, clearly taken aback. He continued. "You can think just fine, right?" Kokichi seemed confused and looked a tad bit offended, but nodded. "You feel normal, right? Besides the fact that you can't say much yet." Kokichi seemed to ponder this for a few moments before he nodded again. Shuichi chuckled in relief and smiled the kindest smile he could to Kokichi in hopes that it would convey all of the positivity he was feeling onto his best friend.

"I knew it. Kokichi, I want you to know that you're amazing. You've been doing so well," he said softly, genuinely, care filling his every word to its maximum. Kokichi's lips parted like he wanted to say something, but no words came. Then, a moment later, his jaw snapped shut and his eyes welled with tears. The tears grew and grew as he stared at Shuichi with pursed lips until, finally, the first of many fell and cascaded down his face. Kokichi bit his bottom lip and averted his gaze as the tears continued. Shuichi smiled again and pulled Kokichi closer. "It's okay," he assured. "That's probably been eating at you, hm? Not being able to tell everyone that you're fine. Us treating you like you aren't… I-I'm sorry…" He looked down and forced his eyes shut in shame and embarrassment.

He was just as bad as the others were. It took an extremely recent epiphany for him to realize that Kokichi didn't need to be treated with so much fragility, and probably never did. Who was he to pretend that he was different all along?

Shuichi then felt two hands on either side of his face. He looked up and was met with Kokichi, looking at him with understanding eyes, and re realized with a jolt that Kokichi was smiling again. His smile was so sweet and kind, like he was looking at the most beautiful thing in the world. He'd only ever seen Kokichi smile like that once before, after he'd sent a blade right through his own finger. Shuichi had pretended to be focused on patching him up, but he didn't fail to notice that same, genuine smile on the pallor boy's face.

And this time, Kokichi kept smiling. His smile didn't fall within seconds like the first time that seemed so long ago, when he'd clapped his hands loudly in the night to make Shuichi laugh.

"...Kichi…" he whispered softly, placing his own hands over Kokichi's own, still on his face. Kokichi's hands were slightly cold, but unbelievably soft. Shuichi would've thought he moisturized, but Kokichi didn't own lotion. "...I… You…" How could he say anything? When Kokichi was still smiling at him like that, like he was the rarest gem in the universe. There were no logical words to speak, so he closed his mouth and enjoyed the loving touch that he so lacked his entire life. He'd almost forgotten how much he loved being held like that. He never wanted to let go.

Kokichi parted his lips again, and then the second shock of the night occurred.

"...K… Khhh… Kiiih… Kiiichiii…? Kiiichi… Kichi," Kokichi looked downward as he focused as hard as he could on perfecting his speech, his smile faded. He nodded slightly as he got his own nickname down and looked back up at Shuichi, who was watching with wide eyes and bated breath. "Kichi… aaaa… nnnnn… aaann'... Kichi an' Shuichi?" He looked back up at his taller companion as he finished, his proud smile fading as he waited for a reaction.

Practically numb from the joy buzzing through his system, Shuichi nodded immediately. "Yeah! Yeah, you and me, Kichi and Shuichi!" he agreed, grinning widely. "I'll always be by your side, no matter what. Okay?" Kokichi nodded and smiled again, cheerful and bright. It seemed to be normal for him now. He was talking and smiling again, just like he used to. And, god, Shuichi couldn't have been the slightest bit happier. He wrapped his arms around the violette again and held him close, allowing his body to relax and his eyes to close. He'd only just realized how utterly exhausted he felt. He did get up before sunrise and drove under the influence of pure adrenaline, and now it was wearing off. So, he stayed there and sat somewhat-comfortably against Kokichi.

°•×•°

Shuichi and Kokichi have been downstairs for almost an hour now… I thought worriedly to myself, turning my attention away from my friends for a moment to mine and Maki's bedroom door, debating on whether or not to leave.

I felt a small, delicate hand on my shoulder. Upon turning my head again, Maki was sitting across from me, the game we were playing discarded as Kaito watched with concern weighing on his brows. Maki's piercing red eyes looked at me, and I could see worry in them, too. She was so pretty. Looking in her eyes reminded me of all the reasons I love her.

"You okay?" she asked. I nodded and smiled to reassure her, getting to my feet.

"Mhm! I'm fine, I'm just gonna go check on Shuichi and Kokichi really quick," I said, leaving the room as Kaito started an idle conversation with Maki to pass the time. We were all getting tired, but the main objective of a sleepover was to stay up the entire night! I left, headed down the staircase, and went to the kitchen where I last saw them.

And that's where they were. Sitting at the kitchen table with their chairs pushed together and the cup Kokichi had gotten on the table. The best part, however, was Kokichi and Shuichi themselves: they were pressed up against each other, sitting upright, each of them holding the other up. Kokichi's head was on Shuichi's shoulder, and Shuichi's head was lying on Kokichi's. And Kokichi's arms were around Shuichi's neck! And Shuichi's arms were around Kokichi's waist!

I almost had to sit down myself from how completely adorable they looked. They just seemed to comfortable and content lying in a position that would leave them completely sore in the morning!

Wait…

I sighed quietly to myself and walked over to them. I didn't want to wake them up, but they were going to be in a lot of pain come morning if they stayed like that. And I certainly couldn't carry them both. I figured I'd have better luck waking up Shuichi, but I couldn't shake him since they both might topple over, so I just kept poking his head until he started to wake up.

"Nngh…" Shuichi groaned and started to sit up straight, which made Kokichi fall into his chest, which made the latter startle awake and jolt up, nearly smacking his head on Shuichi's chin in the process. "Aah!" Shuichi yelped in shock, and threw his arms around Kokichi as his chair wobbled so fast it had to have been instinct.

"I'm sorry!" I apologized quickly for startling them so much. Shuichi relaxed a little bit (but didn't move his arms) and Kokichi watched me as he caught his breath. That whole ordeal seemed to have really freaked him out. I shook my head to clear it of distractions and looked back up at them. "You guys should head back to the guest room. You'll get sore if you sleep like that anymore," I recommended. Shuichi blushed and nodded, slowly getting up alongside Kokichi.

"T-Thank you, Kaede…" Shuichi looked at me with a shy smile. "For everything. Inviting him to stay, for making him welcome, just… everything," he said gratefully. I smiled. I understood what he meant, and he didn't need to thank me. Nonetheless, I nodded and they headed upstairs.

And thus, my plan began. I walked beside them and forced myself to yawn. "I'm feeling pretty tired, but I'm trying to stay up, so I'm gonna take all the guest sheets and put them in the wash," I said. I watched Kokichi's brows furrow as he grew confused and Shuichi looked over at me.

"Where do you want us to sleep? We can sleep on the couch," he started, but I interrupted.

"Oh, no! This is a sleepover, everyone gets a bed! I'll just wait until morning to wash one," I explained, trying my hardest not to smile and be casual. Kokichi jumped a bit and looked at me with wide eyes. His face was turning red! I looked at Shuichi, and his face was even more red! "Are you guys okay?" I asked, forcing myself not to laugh.

Shuichi pursed his lips for a minute before he spoke. "...One?" he whispered.

"K-Kichi and Shuichi?!" Kokichi said, obviously very flustered. He could say more than just Shuichi's name? I looked at Shuichi, and he smiled like he was proud.

"He can say his name now, too!" he said happily, all giddy and cheerful. It was so stinking cute! I smirked.

"That's the nickname you gave him," I pointed out. Shuichi's face relaxed into a neutral expression and blush slowly crept onto his cheels again.

"I–" He stopped. "...It is, isn't it? I never really thought about that…" he mumbled timidly. Kokichi looked at me, then Shuichi, then back at me, then back at Shuichi.

"K… Kokichi?" He said it like he was trying to appease us. Shuichi nodded with a smile, and his blush faded once again.

"I just call you Kichi because I care about you," he explained. I tried to resist the urge to put my hand over my heart (something I had a habit of doing when I found something sweet), but they were too adorable that I was completely unable to. Shuichi noticed but didn't seem to understand the implications and looked back at Kokichi.

"...Kokichi and Shuichi," Kokichi corrected himself. Shuichi shrugged nonchalantly with a small grin.

"You can say that if you want. You're still Kichi to me," he said. I was surprised at his unusual boldness for a second, and Shuichi caught the same thing I did. "U-Unless it makes you uncomfortable! I can call you Kokichi, too!"

"Shuichi," I got his attention and put my hand on his shoulder. He looked at me, eyes prominent with worry. "I think he said 'Kichi' in the first place because he likes when you call him that." Kokichi nodded so hard it must have hurt his head a little bit. Both of us combined seemed to reassure Shuichi, and he relaxed.

"Okay… I'm glad," he said. I smiled.

"And, yeah, I'll just leave a bed for you guys tonight and wash the sheets tomorrow morning," I continued on with my plan, tenacious and refusing to give up. Shuichi and Kokichi blushed yet again, and Shuichi even grabbed Kokichi's hand and started hurrying him upstairs! I felt a little offended that they were trying to escape the conversation, but they waited for me as I made my way up the stairs, too.

"Okay! Shuichi, Rantaro's old clothes should fit you too, so I'll go get them," I said, leading them to a different guest room. They had obviously never shared a bed before, and I wanted their first cuddle session to be in a freshly cleaned (I had done the laundry a little over a week ago, but they didn't need to know that), neatly made bed, without pillows and blankets sprawled all over the floor and the bed all messed up. They went in the guest room while I went to go get an old pair of sweatpants and a shirt from the other one. When I came back, Kokichi and Shuichi were sitting beside each other on the edge of bed.

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" I heard Shuichi say, making me gasp and throw the clothes at him. Absolutely not!

"There's no need for anyone to sleep on the floor! The bed is more than enough for both of you!" I declared. Shuichi jumped as the clothes hit his face with a soft pmmf! and was quick to stand up.

"A-Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sound so ungrateful… I j-just don't want anyone to be uncomfortable…" I sighed and looked at Kokichi.

"Will you be okay if Shuichi lays in bed with you?" Kokichi thought for a second, then nodded slowly with a red face. I looked at Shuichi and smiled. "See! The only one who will be uncomfortable is you if you sleep on the floor!"

Shuichi sighed and bunched the clothes up in his hands. "Alright… Kokichi, if you change your mind, you can let me know any time, okay?" Kokichi nodded again and scootched back to get comfortable under the covers. I stayed for just a few minutes so I could make sure Rantaro's clothes fit on Shuichi.

I really need to plan out these slumber parties more… People would be a lot more comfortable not wearing Rantaro's clothes, I thought to myself. The door opened and Shuichi stepped out in a plain white T-shirt and black sweatpants. Kokichi immediately stood, hurried over to him, and wrapped his arms around Shuichi's arm. Shuichi just giggled and put his free hand on Kokichi's head like that would settle him down. They really wete too cute! I didn't want to leave, but—alas—I had to. I stepped into the bathroom, grabbed Shuichi's clothes, and started to leave.

"I'll just throw these in with Kokichi and Kaito's wet clothes," I explained. I was glad that Maki and I found some of my dad's clothes for Kaito to wear through the night, otherwise he probably would've gotten a cold. "Goodnight, you two. Sleep well," I said, and shut the door behind me as I left.

°•×•°

After Kaede had exited the room, Shuichi turned to his small friend, who clung to his arm still. He slowly pried Kokichi off of him and got himself settled into the guest bed, Kokichi doing the same beside him. He felt incredibly, incredibly flustered at having the violette so close in such a context, but it also made his heart swell with warmth. It didn't take long for two sleep-deprived, exhausted insomniacs to fall asleep. Neither of them even had time to think about sleeping so close to each other.

Kokichi, however, couldn't sleep for long. He was cursed with being as light a sleeper as one can be, and Shuichi had shifted just so that it woke him up. Kokichi rubbed his groggy eyes and moved himself onto his side in order to get comfortable, opening his eyes momentarily to keep them from drying shut.

They stayed open, however, when he saw Shuichi's face just inches from his own, sleeping peacefully and half-buried in soft plush pillows. His eyelashes were so long, and his skin looked so smooth, and his entire complexion just looked like that of an angel. Shuichi really was an angel, so kind and caring and his smile could make Kokichi melt. Kokichi couldn't help but wonder how he'd not only met someone so wonderful, but also that the aforementioned wonderful person cared about him as much as he did. He felt so lucky.

Suddenly, Shuichi shifted, his brows twitched, and he moved his arm just far enough that it bumped Kokichi's own arm. Just as the smaller boy was about to move so Shuichi could have enough room, the ravenette continued to reach and stretch his arm, effectively draping it over Kokichi and pulling him closer. The latter accidentally let out a startled gasp as he was dragged into a firm embrace by a still-slumbering Shuichi, who buried his face in Kokichi's hair and hummed contentedly, apparently quite satisfied having the violette trapped in his arms like a teddy bear.

"Kichi…" the taller boy sighed softly.

"Shuichi…" he parroted affectionately without thinking. He then thought about what to do for a bit, then decided he was extremely sleepy and quite enjoyed this new development in his night. So, he let his body relax, rested his head against Shuichi's chest, and let the beating of Shuichi's kind heart lull him back into a dreamless sleep.

"Shu!" he exclaimed happily. He ran up to the door and threw his arms around the taller boy, who smiled and hugged him back. Kokichi always greeted him at the door since he got employed at the local police station as a junior investigator. He was hesitant about the job at first—it reminded him so much of the game, investigating the murders of his own friends—but both his uncle and Kokichi encouraged him to take it because he was so skilled at his detective work. As a sizable plus, he was bringing justice and light to victims of unjustified murders.

His uncle appeared from around the same corner, rubbing his hands with a damp rag and a warm smile on his lips. "We just got finished makin' dinner. Now, I've got a client to see, so I'll see you two in a couple of hours," he said, grabbing his jacket from the rack beside where his nephew stood and his keys from one of the hooks attached to the wall. He rubbed Shuichi's head as an affectionate good-bye, then Kokichi's, and headed out the door. The smaller boy waved.

"Byeee, Uncle!" he said enthusiastically. Kazue gave him a small wave and a smile, then shut the door. Shuichi smiled down at Kokichi.

"What did you make?" he asked. The smaller boy blinked up at him, then grinned proudly.

"Po-tay-toe soup!" he replied with a smile. Shuichi nodded.

"Sounds good! And good job saying it, too. Just a little faster," he said. Kokichi nodded and his brows furrowed as he concentrated. Shuichi stifled a snicker at his face.

"Po-tay-toe… Potayto! Potato!" He said suddenly, like he was trying to sneak up on the word, or startle himself into pronouncing it properly. He looked up at Shuichi for approval. "Potato?" He smiled again when the ravenette nodded.

"Yep, potato soup! Now c'mon, let's go eat and you can tell me about your day, okay?" Kokichi nodded and followed along to the kitchen. He then got potato soup in bowls for the both of them and set them on the kitchen table. Shuichi waited patiently for him as he put foil over the rest of the soup, put it in the fridge, and sat down across from him, starting to talk about what he had done that day while the ravenette was gone. Shuichi had him talk about his day every day, even if barely anything worth listening to had happened, just to keep him used to talking and saying words he might've lost his familiarity with in his long silence. 

It had been a year. Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became half a year. Before either of them knew it, a year had passed and—with much therapy and care for each other—they both had gotten so much better in their own respects. Shuichi was much less anxious, less prone to anxiety attacks, and had gained a substantial amount of confidence in himself. Kokichi could say and do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and smiled all the time. He was even starting to lie again. Small, white lies, and Shuichi was helping him learn to lie in moderation, keeping him from potentially tangling himself in another web of lies and despair like he had done before. Lying was part of who Kokichi was; it couldn't be changed, and Shuichi didn't mind that at all. He wanted Kokichi to lie healthily. And he was, because he finally had someone who understood him and didn't need to be lied to.

As for Shuichi, he had gotten the Kokichi he remembered back. It felt completely surreal. For nearly two years, he'd have given absolutely anything to have Kokichi back, to have an opportunity to apologize and tell him he never hated him and only wanted happiness for him. That he really was just horribly misunderstood. And now he was right there—and perhaps he always had been—but he was showing himself, and Shuichi had been able to say all of those things he wanted to, and Kokichi had really, truly, forgiven him. They both apologized, and they were both forgiven. That was the best day of Shuichi's life. The day he realized he had gotten Kokichi back. A healthier, genuine, happy Kokichi.

"Shu?" Kokichi's voice cut through his euphoric thoughts with that adorable nickname he'd given him months ago. His head shot up.

"Hm?" he hummed inquisitively.

Kokichi's head tilted to the side a bit and concern was spread across his features. "Are you okay?"

He nodded with a smile, realizing with a blossoming warmth in his heart that he was trying not to cry. "Yeah, I'm… I'm really good," he replied. Kokichi gave him an unsure glance, but seemed to accept the answer, and blew on a spoonful of soup and ate it. Shuichi did the same, humming in satisfaction as the flavors hit his tongue. "This is delicious, Kichi," he complimented softly. The smaller boy's face reddened and he ate another bite before responding.

"Uncle helped," he said modestly. Shuichi chuckled and continued eating with him. Kokichi continued talking about his day (he hadn't done much but drew some doodles and helped Kazue make dinner—not that Shuichi minded), then asked Shuichi about his.

"It was alright," he said. "Worked on the same case. The armed robbery fail." Kokichi giggled as he remembered the story Shuichi had told him about two crooks who tried to rob a jewelry store. They had unknowingly purchased false guns pre-loaded with B.B.s and were promptly arrested.

"Hard time?" he asked. Shuichi sighed.

"Looks like it. Probably about 5 years and a fine for each of them," he reported. Kokichi giggled again, he adored justice as much as he hated hurtful people. Low-lifes like that reminded him of his father and his friends. And although D.I.C.E. turned out to be fictional, he knew that they would never have hurt anyone. If his memory served, he recalled that they had an extremely strict 'no violence' policy. Danganronpa had given him many horrible memories and some false ones, but at least some of the fabricated memories were pleasant.

"Good job, Shu," he praised kindly. Shuichi nodded appreciatively and continued eating. It wasn't too much longer before they both finished their soup and cleaned their dishes.

"What do you want to do? Uncle wants to do game night again, so we have a few hours of free time," Shuichi asked, flicking excess water droplets off of his hands. Kokichi finished rubbing his hands with a towel and hummed.

"Play the song!" he said. Shuichi smiled.

"You wanna listen to our song again?"

Kokichi nodded with fervor, so they both headed upstairs to their bedroom, which had since been updated to contain only one bed, which he and Kokichi shared. After Kaede's sleepover a year ago they realized that they both felt much more comfortable sleeping side-by-side rather than across the room from one another. It made them feel safer and kept most nightmares at bay. (Everyone who attended that sleepover but Maki called it 'The Night of Gay' because Shuichi and Kokichi got together soon after, Kaede and Maki… deepened their relationship for the first time, and Kaito thought it all was hysterical.) The new revelation, of course, overjoyed Kazue and he was quick to find and move in a bigger bed for the both of them.

Shuichi walked over to the piano in one corner of the room and sat at it. He had been practicing for a while now with Kaede's enthusiastic assistance, and was a fast learner. He learned to play many of his and Kokichi's favorite songs. The violette bounced up and down giddily as the first note played and Shuichi opened his mouth.

"I used to hear a simple song…"

"I had fun learning dancing again. I was good at it before, so doing it was really nice! Uncle even got me a…"

"Choreographer, Kichi."

"...choreographer. To help me learn dance again."

Question 2 (Anon): Maki, Kaito, and Kaede, what do you think of Kokichi since the game?

"...He's alright now that he's not screwing us over at every opportunity."

"I think the kid's great! He's really fun to be around. I blame the game for how he acted before, it was a shitty situation none of us deserved."

"He's so sweet! I tell him everything and I even think of him as one of my best friends!"

Question 3 (B3l0v3dK1ch1): Shuichi, do you think that if you got amnesia, Kokichi would be so engraved into your memory that you wouldn't forget him?

"From a realistic standpoint, amnesia isn't very selective. But it's a lot nicer to think that nothing could ever harm our relationship, even a thing like memory loss."

Question 4 (B3l0v3dK1ch1): Kaito, did Kaede tell you how she caused the Night of Gay?

"Nope. I found out all on my own! I tried getting Shuichi and Kokichi up the next morning, and, man. They were passed out and clinging to each other like some kinda koalas. And the walls in Kaede's house aren't thick enough…"

Question 5 (B3l0v3dK1ch1): Kaede, do you plan to make more Nights of Gay happen?

"Absolutely! We'll get Kokichi and Shuichi over, Tenko, Himiko, and Angie, Gonta and K1-B0, all of our LGBT couple friends! It'll be so much fun!"

Question 6 (B3l0v3dK1ch1): Maki, how are you?

"Okay, I guess. No one but Kaede's ever really just… asked that before. I feel a lot of guilt for what I did and how I was. It's a lot better now that everyone's kind of hanging out together, and no one really has any bitterness towards each other. Kaede's giving me a lot of love which is nice. I hope I'm reciprocating it like she deserves."

Question 7 (Anon): Kokichi, would you ever consider seeing your father again?

"..."

Question 8 (perfect_boyfriend): To all of season 53's cast, how are you doing?

Everyone's doing rather well!

Kaede is in a happy, healthy relationship with Maki and helps her with her own struggles.

Rantaro still struggles with short-term memory loss, but finds happiness in the company of his friends, who help him as much as they can.

Kirumi was hired as a full-time maid for a wonderful and wealthy family and very much enjoys her job.

Ryoma was pardoned from any and all previous crimes and chose to live with a gang. He claimed that he couldn't adjust to domestic life, but promised to try and stay out of big trouble.

Tenko, although mostly mute due to the in-game damage to her throat, opened her own neo-aikido dojo where she mentors children. Angie makes a profit doing art commissions from home where she can freely practice her religion, and Himiko does small magic gigs for parties and sometimes local fairs. She's long since recovered from her share of survivor's guilt. All three of them happily come home to each other at the end of the day.

Korekiyo found that his sister was still alive, contrary to his memories, and (with the encouragement of his peers) filed a restraining order against her and lives alone in a woodsy area where he enjoys peace and quiet.

Miu works on inventions and sells them off for a large income, and uses the profits on… what she desires. She found a boyfriend outside of the V3 cast whom she's happy with, and also provides updated prosthetics for K1-B0 (who now simply goes by Kiibo because he’s no longer a robot), seeing as he uses them for both legs.

Gonta is in a happy relationship with Kiibo and owns a large backyard where they look for bugs together.

Kaito has his own home he shares with his dog, Cosmo, and spends most of his free time with his friends, primarily Maki, Shuichi, Kokichi, and Kaede. He has long since apologized to Kokichi for what had happened in the game, and his apology was immediately forgiven.

As for Shuichi and Kokichi, they're doing as good as they possibly could be, content with one another.

Question 9 (GravityUniverse115): Kokichi, do you think you'll ever start pranking the others again?

"I already have! I always prank Shuichi and Kaito."

"He prints copies of my paperwork and 'accidentally' spills a drink on them. He keeps the real copies far away from where he intends to spill the drink so they doesn't get ruined. And he basically just makes up 'true' ghost stories for Kaito."

Question 10 (GravityUniverse115): Shuichi, whatever happened to Kokichi's father? Is he back in prison?

"...He keeps trying to contact Kokichi, but we don't tell Kokichi that. He calls the house phone sometimes and even tried getting the authorities involved. Uncle's working on a restraining order for himself until Kichi can get his own."

"I did some more diggin' on the guy. Real scumbag. He's not getting anywhere near either of my boys."

Question 11 (GravityUniverse115): Shuichi and Kokichi, what's one thing you love most about each other?

"Kichi's ability to make anyone feel better. He always wants everyone to be happy, and he knows just what to do to put a smile on someone's face. He's been an absolute sweetheart since the game."

"Shu is very kind. Shuichi always thinks of everyone except his self, and he makes me feel warm inside. He's very cute… I love Shu so much."

Question 12 (Anon): Jenma, what did you think of Kokichi and Shuichi when you met them?

"Real skittish folks. I felt bad they didn't know what was goin' on, so I hoped I helped calm 'em down! Guy I work with, Shindo, said the one kid—blue hair—won the game that day! Must've gotten at least a little comfortable, so that's good! I hope they're doin' alright."

Question 13 (Anon): Gonta, how's your relationship with Kokichi?

"Very good! Kokichi apologized to Gonta, and Gonta forgave him! Kokichi looks for bugs with Gonta, even though Kokichi does not like bugs! He very nice, and Gonta is so glad we are friends!"