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You watched the figures of your classmates while they went about their daily activities. There were so many smiles, so much joy. At least from most of them. Whispered words caught your attention here and there but you ignored them. In your corner of the room, it was quiet. Right now in your little corner of the room, it was just you and Maki. Everyone in the class was more or less friends, but you had to admit that certain groups were closer than others. Squads, you remember Kaito having called them. You were the one person in class who floated around without too much warning. One morning you were with Angie, Himiko, and Tenko. That same afternoon you were watching Gonta, Kokichi, and Mui do something crazy. But if you had to say you aligned more with one group than any other, it was probably the group consisting of Maki, Kaito, and Shuichi. Full disclosure, the reasoning for being closest to this group was entirely Maki.
Today though, there was no Kaito or Shuichi. The later had snuck off on a date with Kaede and the former had admitted to having a boyfriend just a couple weeks ago. So Kaito was likely somewhere with him. You had the feeling that Maki had been more crushed than she'd led the others to believe when Kaito admitted to being gay. You know your best friend well enough to tell that the girl probably had a thing for Kaito. Being best friends, Kaito had told her everything first, so she'd likely just had time to prepare her poker face when he admitted it to the squad, and by extension the class.
So for today, you were sitting with just your best friend. Your wonderfully straight best friend. Your best friend who you certainly did not have a crush on. You kind of wished you were as good at lying as Kokichi. Perhaps you needed to take lessons.
As fortune would have it, the last class of the day for all of you was Study Hall. Because most of your class actually wanted to study or get some help, you usually all met up in one of the empty classrooms and did whatever you needed to do. Sometimes like with the case of Kaito, Kaede, and Shuichi your classmates might sneak off to do something more entertaining. But they didn't abuse that 'sometimes' rule. As long as it wasn't abused then no one said anything. Except for Kokichi, who took every chance he could to gossip about what their friends might be doing. So far, you're pretty sure he's verbally created at least 8 fanfictions just by going on and on about what your friends are 'probably' doing. The shocking thing? Only about 2 of those are actually 'mature'. You've come to realize that the Ultimate Supreme Leader is a lot softer in nature than his personality might betray. Not to mention kinder and far more protective of his friends. He'd told you at least once or twice that if anyone ever messed with you then you should come to him and he'd have his organization deal with them. By that, you're pretty sure he means have Gonta deal with them, the likes of which you're certain has become an unofficial member of D.I.C.E.
You, unfortunately, would never do that. If you were ever having a problem, you were the kind of person to deal with it on your own.
In your distraction, you didn't really focus much on your homework. Looking down at the page that wasn't even half complete you muttered to yourself quietly. "Wish this was easier," was the grumble that you gave out before giving up and turning your attention to Maki. She'd finished a while ago and had begun to focus on something more interesting on her phone. "Whatcha lookin' at?" You asked as you made a show of leaning over her shoulder to see. When you'd first become friends she would have pushed you if not something worse, but you had the seemingly magical ability to wear down people's defenses, at least according to Kaito, so you felt a small burst of satisfaction when Maki didn't even twitch when you lazily rested your head on her shoulder and peered at the screen. It was just some silly phone game she was playing, one you'd introduced her to a while ago and you'd started playing together. "You seriously that bored? You could have tried to get my attention," you say with a small hint of a laugh as you close your eyes and just allow yourself to lean on her. You were just one of those friends that was highly physical, the touchy-feely kind. Your friends had all either given up or given you boundaries after they got used it. You respected whatever line certain people drew. No sneak attack hugging Tenko, don't lift up Himiko, that general kind of thing. Maki, however, after she gave up on complaining she never gave you any boundaries. So you did as you pleased without doing anything you personally knew would make her too uncomfortable.
"You looked like you were struggling with those problems, I didn't want to distract you. Speaking of which you should really finish," the girl responded without once glancing towards you. Irritated, you gave the slightest hint of a huff.
"Nope, I don't wanna today. I'll do it later. Or better yet, tomorrow when I wake up," you tell her, ignoring the heavy sigh that she gives you in return. Besides, it's not like it'll be as hard to finish these problems when you're finally on your own. It'll be quieter, easier to concentrate, and you'll have help you can't really ask for in the middle of the classroom.
And you won't have this beautiful red-eyed distraction sitting next to you, so close and yet sooo far out of reach.
Maki gently moved your head and directed your attention back to the homework sheet. Realizing there was no other option, you pulled out a set of headphones and placed them overtop your ears. They were the most expensive pair you'd been able to get your paws on, wireless and the sound didn't easily leak out for other people to hear unless you took them off. Pulling out your phone and clicking onto a music app, you picked something to play and started working. It wasn't really the music that made it easier to study, but the fact you couldn't hear any voices besides the singers if something with vocals was your poison for the day. Eventually after an indistinct amount of time you felt a tap on your shoulder. Pulling off your headphones you glanced at Maki who was packing up her things, so you began to do the same.
In an unspoken agreement, she waited for you to finish before the pair of you left the classroom and headed towards the dorms. When the pair of you got to the dorms, you followed her to hers.
People had called you insane before, crazy for being friends with such a woman. Completely suicidal and mad for being close enough friends that you often went to her room and slept there if you accidentally stayed past curfew. The Ultimate Child Caregiver was what she'd entered this school as, but a little digging from some of the more malicious members of the student body had found her real talent to be that of the Ultimate Assassin. Your class had been fearful at first, but they tried not to let that change anything. Maki was still Maki. The group who targeted her just kept chugging along. Apparently more people lied about their talents than expected, so they made it a mission to out anyone who said they had a different talent than what they actually possessed. You were shocked to find out so many people hid their talents, but then again, you did too. You were lucky to have not been targeted yet, but it wasn't like you said your talent was something that it wasn't. You just never said what it was.
The Ultimate Medium tended to be something that either scared people or made them laugh. You had never been limited to just dealing with ghosts. All things spiritual you were skilled with. Fortune readings and tarot cards, little spells for hope and luck, but nothing compared to your ability to speak with the dead. Flawless, others had called it. So, you did what any woman who could see ghosts 24/7 did. You started making friends. And then, once you'd made friends with enough of them, things just started to get crazier and crazier until your new normal was dealing with wispy motherfuckers who couldn't solve their own issues and were yelling at you to go yell at your son. No, I'm not slapping a Yakuza boss and no amount of haunting will convince me otherwise, I swear to god I'll salt you. When that phrase actually left your mouth one afternoon, you realized you would never be 'normal'. For you, that was okay because a normal girl never would have gone to Hope's Peak let alone met Maki. Maki had never asked about your Ultimate Talent after you kept it quiet from the class for long enough. Most people didn't ask. Kokichi seemingly had a vendetta to find out, but he was the only one. Angie apparently already knew, saying that Atua told her, but she called you something very different. The title you'd have among her own people. Apparently, if you went to her island you'd almost be as important as her! Almost. That was of course under the assumption you could only see spirits and not Atua. You could. Long story.
When you got to Maki's room the two of you stepped inside. She started putting her stuff away as you flopped down on her bed without a second thought.
"You need to stop doing that, what if I'd had knives in it or something," she said with a huff. Her tone was annoyed but you were able to pick up the smallest trace of worry as she looked down on you from where she was still putting her things away. You had a reckless streak that she took every opportunity to call you out on.
"Then I'd have the pleasure of dying before my next English test," you said with a remorseless laugh.
"That's not something you should joke about," the black haired girl said as she seemed to freeze for a moment in her organization, looking anywhere but you. Maybe it wasn't something normal people should joke about, but death was something you were rather remiss about. You'd been surrounded by it your whole life, the boundary between life and death was slim enough to you that it didn't matter enough to warrant any kind of special caution even if your best friend and first love was an assassin. Of course, to Maki herself you'd only admit to having given her one of those titles. You were too scared to say anything.
"It's a shame our dorms aren't closer, I don't wanna walk all the way to mine today," you groaned as you made yourself more comfortable on her bed, scooting over just enough to give Maki the room to sit as she got rid of her shoes.
"I suppose that's just the way things go. Classes usually have their dorms next to one another, but classes don't usually have 17," Maki said as she glanced at you. That's right, you were the unlucky 17th member of the class, meaning that your dorm room was far away from the rest of the class. You were surrounded by some unsavory types that made going to your room a pain. Literally, if they could help it. It was always nice when Maki walked you to your room after classes, but as you'd stated earlier you weren't the type to ask for help. You pulled yourself up and dealt with the problem on your own. That was how you'd always been and you were fairly certain that's how you'd always be. It was just your nature you supposed. You actually stopped letting Maki walk you to your dorm after one of them gave the offhanded comment that she was something of a bodyguard. She was your best friend, you refused to associate your relationship with that of a bodyguard. You refused to abuse your friendship like that. So every day after school you made an excuse to go out for a couple hours or to go to Maki's room instead. Eventually, she stopped bringing up the idea of going to your room. Which you supposed was better in the long run. Whenever Maki came to your room you had to hide all of the things relating to your Talent. Which meant shoving many things like jars of herbs, bags of crystals, at the very least 3 tarot decks, and more salt than could be account for into your closet or under your bed. Even then, your room always still smelled like herbs afterward. Once, Kokichi had busted in trying to figure out your talent, luckily it was when Maki was around so you had everything stashed already. He'd guessed Ultimate Chef. Maki had almost killed the poor boy. Of course, the next day in class you told him that he was wrong again.
"You sure you aren't the Ultimate Chef?" The girl sitting next to you asked, almost reading your mind. You blinked a couple of times before laughing. "What, it's a serious question. You just always smell like herbs. And when you don't it's because your perfume is covering it up," the red-eyed girl said with the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks as you kept laughing.
"That's not why I'm laughing, I was actually just thinking about the day Kokichi busted in and tried to figure out my Talent. You chased him all the way out of the dorms and halfway across campus before Kaito and I could finally calm you down. But no, I'm not the Ultimate Chef. If I was then I think I would smell more like food than just herbs. I also think I'd likely weigh a lot more, I have zero self-control when it comes to good food. Ah, but, it's a fair guess. Do I really always smell like herbs?" You asked as you tilted your head to the side.
"Unless you have perfume on, yeah, you usually do," the girl said. Finally, she allowed herself to lie down on the bed next to you. You were both hanging halfway off the bed, trying to lay down lengthwise. Neither of you seemed to care as you stared at the roof. "Why haven't you ever told anyone?" The question took you a bit off guard and you found your next words being an honest answer to the question.
"I hate my Talent, it's useless and half the people I've ever met have been quick to tell me it's not even a real talent. It's not even real at all, or possible what so ever. I got used to not telling anyone after someone insulted me over it," you said as you closed your eyes. Mediums aren't real, neither are psychics, those are the words that had been burned into your memory since you were little more than 4 and tried to tell someone that you could see ghosts. Back then they were more gentle. You were a child, after all, you'd grow out of it. But you were born in a graveyard, it was perhaps your destiny. Your mother died when you were very little, but from what you'd been told she was a Medium as well, so you trusted your ability.
Something you'd learned from these spirits was that mortality became something pointless once a ghost passes, grudges don't hold if they can find a reason to forgive. Often times that reason turns into pity when it comes to serial killers who were messed up in the head. Other times the fact a killer is remorseful or forced into it is enough to convince a ghost to pass on. But sometimes, the truly wicked become haunted. One of your jobs was to try and figure out why and end the haunting for the safety of everyone. The longer a spirit linger the more powerful they become, similarly, a spirit becomes more powerful if bound to someone that's familiar with death. Like yourself. The most powerful spirits bound to you could without a doubt be called poltergeists if something bad were ever to happen.
Maki was quiet for a while as she processed this. "You don't even trust me?" She asked. You could have sworn she sounded hurt but the moment passed too quickly for you to tell for sure.
"I do trust you, there are just certain things I'm not strong enough to say," you told her. Truly it was your fault you couldn't say anything. You didn't have the courage. Maki seemed satisfied with this answer. "You didn't happen to hear what Kokichi was saying about Kaito today, did you? Apparently, he seems to think he figured out who the mystery boyfriend is," you say as you try to initiate some form of conversation. You almost hit yourself in the head for deciding to bring up this as the topic.
Maki, however, instead of getting upset for your bringing up her old crush seems to perk up slightly in curiosity. "I'll kill him if he starts trying to bother them. I know he stalked Kaede and Shuichi on one of their dates, just cooing and taking pictures like a creepy old man," the red-eyed girl's hatred was without boundary and completely within reason. You shook your head, knowing that was something Kokichi would without a doubt do.
"How do you feel about it? You had a crush on him at one point, right?" You approach the topic carefully, eyes darting away somewhat as you try not to upset the other girl.
Maki doesn't seem much shaken in the least. You can't tell if it's her natural poker face or if she's being completely honest with you. "And I had a crush at Kaede at one point too. I have a bad habit of becoming fond of adorable idiots. But that's all they were. Crushes. They both found their perfect match so it doesn't much bother me," she said without much hesitation. Given her tone, you can go ahead and assume she's being completely honest, but her words take you entirely off guard.
"Wait, seriously? Kaede? I thought you were straight, how could you not tell me? I'm your best friend, I'm entitled to know these things!" You put on an expression of mock betrayal and talk loudly to keep her from hearing the pounding of your heart. You throw yourself upwards and sit straight in hope that'll help to mask the pink on your cheeks as your thoughts completely run wild for half a second. She's not straight. She's not straight. She's not straight. The words rebound around your skull a couple of times before you squash the growing cinders of fanciful hope under your foot. You aren't like Kaede or Kaito. Your own personality isn't that of a loveable idiot, though idiot still applies. Which, by logical and reasonable conclusion, implies you're likely not her type.
Maki's expression turns to one of panic for a second when you bolt upright. You're a little bit confused by this as she's never been one to get spooked from your sudden actions. She just kind of got used to them after the first week of you acting sporadically and nothing was ever said about it. "I didn't have a crush on Kaede when you became my best friend though. It was beforehand. So, therefore, there was no reason to mention it. Besides, I couldn't even begin to guess what you or the rest of the class's reaction would be to that kind of thing. We were all strangers. One of you could have gone off on me, telling me how wrong it is to be gay," the words feel thin to you, like some kind of excuse. Tenko had pretty much come out the very first day. You're actually fairly certain she'd called herself a man-hating lesbian and the boys were able to take it in stride with a laugh. She went on about degenerate males, but it was obvious enough by her actions that she didn't treat the boys in class with any animosity. Her actions had almost become comical, at least to the guys who just learned where the line was drawn and came to accept things as they were. Surely this would have set such worried at ease. But why would Maki lie to you?
"I suppose that's fair..." You said with the hints of a frown claiming your features. Maki shakes her head at you.
"Anyway, yeah, all they were anyway were crushes so it doesn't really matter to me all that much," at least at that moment you could tell she was being honest so it set your mind a little at ease knowing Maki wasn't eaten up by Kaito being forever out of her reach as anything more than a best friend.
"Have you ever fallen in love before?" The question is out of your lips before you have time to realize what it is. Maki seems taken off guard once more. Not only that, but you've gone ahead and set up a landmine that you're going to have to step over.
The other girl goes silent for a long moment. "Yeah, I think I have once. Maybe twice, but I haven't decided yet," she said with what could almost be described as a hint of hesitance. This just makes you curious, but you decide it's for the better not to press much harder than that. You have no idea how she's going to turn the question on you. "What about you?"
Having the question thrown back at you is something completely expected, but it doesn't make the situation any better on your poor heart. There's a hint of panic in your chest before you quell it. "Yeah, once," you admit. "It's not important though. I doubt she'd ever like me back," you let out a nervous laugh as you say more than you needed to.
"She? You're just as bad as me!" The red-eyed girl accused as she sat up, eyes glaring into yours. Both of you were sitting up now, leaving you no escape from the harsh glare. You let out a genuine heartfelt laugh while the gaze slowly begins to soften.
"Hey! Don't glare at me like that, come on, have a little mercy," you spit out in between your giggles. "I suppose you could say I was hesitant for the same reason. I guess it is something pretty hard to admit, no matter where you fall LGBTQ+ wise. B by the way in case you're curious."
"I figured it was something like that considering the way you oogled that upperclassman the other day," Maki said. Was... she making that up or did she actually think you'd been staring at one of the upperclassmen? In all honesty, she might have, you were looking at one for a long time yesterday. But the reality of the situation was that you were just curious about the spirit that had been following him around. You'd never seen one that took such a flamboyant form, and you had some pretty flamboyant spirits in your collection. Maybe she'd misinterpreted it?
"Do I note a hint of jealousy from your tone, dearest Maki Roll?" You cooed while using the nickname that Kaito had started. You were the only one in class brave enough to start using it after he did, you were pretty sure Shuichi could get away with using it if he had the inclination, but you were fairly certain no one in the class could escape her wrath if they tried. Well, Kokichi had tried. It did not end happily ever after for anyone. "Don't worry, I was only looking because I noticed something weird. Call my Ultimate Talent the reason I stared if you so choose, but I couldn't develop a crush right now even if I tried. My heart is already stolen. And since it's unlikely the emotion will ever be returned, your dearest best friend is all yours," you try to make your tone teasing but the words taste like poison on your tongue considering who you're telling them to. Luckily this seems to set her at ease slightly as she just shakes her head.
"If she does ever return your feelings than what I said to Kaito also stands with you. If this person isn't worthy of one of my friends, I'll have to kill her," there was a hint of a vicious fire in her tone and you don't doubt for a second that Maki told Kaito something similar. It makes your heart warm while also filling you with ice at the same time. The word friend scorches your skin like a hot dagger as your cheeks warm slightly. "Just to make sure that she is, you have to tell me who she is."
That last sentence feels like a nail entering a coffin as you go into panic mode. "Maki, I'm not telling you who she is so that you can assassinate her. You promised me that you wouldn't kill anyone you didn't have to. Furthermore, aren't you free of your organization now that the cops caught on to them? Who's gonna clean up the body?" Your expression is incredulous as you try to make it hard to read. Not too long ago the organization that Maki had been apart of had gotten caught and went up in flames. The orphanage was placed under protection by the police and detectives were on the case for months tracking down each and every assassin. Some were put to death, others were psychologically tested and those seen as fit enough were given life in prison or the chance at rehabilitation if they were young enough. Maki's connection to the place was never discovered. It was a wonder how considering she literally had the title of Ultimate Assassin, but no detective could connect the dots and she got away completely scot-free.
She'd been happy when everything was said and done. She wouldn't admit it, but the day she realized she was free her eyes were rimmed red like she'd been crying. You spent the whole night talking with her, just reassuring her that she was finally free. As well as reassuring yourself through text messages that she really was free. That day she'd decided to actually become the Ultimate Child Caregiver. It was a shame it was too late for the Ultimate Assassin title to be buried deep enough to never be found. You hated the looks that other students gave her.
The girl in question nodded a couple times. "Fine. But you better tell me immediately if this girl breaks your heart," her expression darkened to a degree that almost gave you shivers, but you stood your ground. In response all you gave was a nod, not trusting your voice. Even if it wasn't Maki you were in love with, even if your heart got broken, you don't think you'd tell her. Not for distrust, but for fear of the other person. It went along with the same vein of not telling her if people are bullying you or not. Glancing at the clock you could see her frowning. "It's starting to get late. You really should go back to your room and finish your homework. Your grades are poor as of late, I'm starting to worry," Maki says.
You frown before you say, "fine, fine. I'll get out of your hair." Gathering up your things and making sure you have everything, you push yourself up to your feet and give the ex-assassin a quick hug before leaving the room. She doesn't return it, but she doesn't have to for you to know the sentiment behind it is returned. You quietly curse the fact you can't stay longer, knowing full well what awaits you on your way to back to your own room.
You're hopeful that it's late enough you won't encounter anyone on your way to your room, but if you weren't the Ultimate Medium you would have been picked to be the Ultimate Unlucky student, or so it seems anyway. On your way back to your dorm you're accosted by three familiar faces you really wish weren't familiar. You don't know their names so instead, you've taken to mentally calling them Goldie, Snippy, and Slow. The reasoning for your picks should be obvious enough. As cliche as it was, Goldie was the leader of the little troupe.
"Someone was out awfully late, and here we were waiting for you. That's kinda rude, don't you think?" Goldie purred in that familiar velvet tone that usually meant you were screwed. Quickly and sharply sucking in air, you tried to keep your expression passive. Any emotion that played on your face was something that ultimately they felt the need to crush. If you were being honest with yourself you really didn't have the energy or patience for this tonight. "No bodyguard tonight either? You know, it's dangerous to be alone this late at night. Perhaps we should walk you back to your room."
"Actually, really sorry, but I have to go bye," you spit out as you bolt. You were never the most athletic in school but you take off running with Cerberus itself at your heels, almost literally considering the nature of the three divas. You can hear a disgruntled howl behind you as the three-headed beast tries to give chase. You end up booking it well past your room, knowing there isn't a big enough gap between you and the women for you to open the door and get safely inside. You just have to wear them out or hope that help arrives. You don't pay attention to where you're running, you just book it down the halls. You don't know if you're going in circles or any specific direction, you just know you need to run.
There doesn't feel like there's any ground under you, you don't have the time to process it before your feet are flying off it. Your legs burn, your lungs burn, but your mind is burning with enough fear to keep your running for hours if you really needed to. The chaotic barking growls that come from behind you don't sound human anymore, but they never did. Malicious people like them aren't human anymore. You wish you had a talent that was more useful, but there's really nothing you could do. The most any of the spirits in your service could do would be knock something down and you'd likely be the one to get hurt.
You can't tell if it's been minutes or hours by the time you end up careening into one of the familiar common rooms. With no ability to stop you crash right into a wall on the other side of the room. This common room is safety and home, but with no one else in it this late at night, it might just end up being your tomb as the three-headed beast snarls and starts to grab at your form. "H-hey, can't we just talk this out?" The words leaving your throat fall onto deaf ears. Your heart is thundering in your chest so loudly that you don't hear the clattering, tinkering noise of something about to fall down from its perch. You don't notice when one of Angie's statues comes down from a shelf, accidentally jostled lose by your entrance. You finally notice when it makes contact with your skull and you notice nothing afterward as pain fills your being, quickly followed by a dark nothingness. At least you can be certain of the fact Maki will attend your funeral.
(-)(-)(-)(-)
The three girls at least had the decency to call a teacher or a nurse or something, but that's likely only rooted on the fact they didn't want you to potentially die and have that blood on their hands. It's certainly not out of any form of kindness. As for your classmates, they notice one of Angie's statues having fallen over the next morning but they don't think much of it. The blood has been cleaned off the statue itself and nothing is mentioned by the teachers. At least not until your absence is noted in homeroom. Apparently, Atua had told Angie that something bad happened to you but not exactly what, so that was the line she used when she began pestering the teacher. That's the moment they find everything out. A year and a half of being bullied, and never did you speak a word, never did you even given the impression. Homeroom is silent, the entire class trying to decide what to do. What happened?
"There were certain things that she'd never tell me... I always thought that it was because even she was scared of me, everyone is. But... maybe this..." Maki is the first to mention anything. Her tone is upset and she hovers close to Kaito and Shuichi as if the pair will be able to make sense of the situation. Neither one looks any less confused than Maki, but their presence keeps her from turning furious.
"No, she definitely wasn't scared of you. Trust me, I would have been able to tell. I'm the king of liars, I can tell a liar from a truther! And besides, some topics she skirted with me the same way she did with you. If she was scared of you then that means she was scared of me. Which is obviously impossible, we were besties! I think she didn't want anyone finding out for some reason," it's shockingly enough Kokichi who consoles Maki. There's a small hint of joking lightness that teeters in his tone, but compared to usual he has the seriousness of the grave. He tries to keep the conversation as light as possible for the members of the class who are already freaking out, or in the case of most are viciously upset and ready to start a fight. Some eyes are gleaming with a rather feral intent as Kokichi speaks.
"Well, look on the bright side guys. Now it's all out in the open. The bullies are going to get punished and apparently the injury wasn't that bad. I was talking to the teacher, it shouldn't be anything more than a mild concussion at worse. No permanent damage! We should be able to go visit her after classes today," Kaito said with his normal chipper nature. It was obvious he was just trying to cheer everyone up though, as his own voice held something somber in the edges. It seemed to waver for a moment as though he wasn't entirely certain of his words.
"I should go punish those bullies myself," Maki's growl is murderous and quiet. Narrowed red eyes glint dangerously as they sweep over the class for any spark of disagreement in her statement. Shockingly enough or perhaps not shockingly at all, Tenko joins her rage with war cries. "Yeah! Those girls whoever the heck they are were acting like degenerate males! They need to be punished, right Himeko?" The aikido master said as she struck a pose. The look in Kaito's eyes is telling enough to the fact he'd like to intercept this conversation before it gets worse, but he just gets drowned up by the subsequent noises of agreement.
Himiko gave a rather passionate nod in response to her girlfriend's cry. "I'll curse them! I'll use the darkest magic I know how. Angie, you have to help," the little witch said as she glanced at the oracle in question.
The artist was making a rather dangerous expression, her smile was large and eerie to the point it bordered on terrifying to anyone who hadn't seen the look before. "Oh, don't worry. Atua is already very angry, they will only be forgiven after they have faced His divine punishment," her smile was unnerving at best. At worst, it could be assumed she'd use the blood of the corpses for some dark sacrifice after the other girls had their fun. It wasn't even just the girls who seemed to be plotting murder either.
Korekiyo nodded along silently with the conversation before he piped up in order to offer up his own thoughts. "Such ghastly and unworthy creatures they must be. So unworthy," his words turned into a dark muttering as Kirumi shook her head with a sigh. She was one of the few who had kept her composure, but the anger was still evident in her eyes. You were a precious member of the class. Even if you didn't want to burden them with your problems, it seemed to class was more than ready to fight to the death for you.
The cries for retribution were finally drowned out by Kaede, who'd been trying to get the class's attention for the last five or so minutes. "Guys, school ended a while ago. I think the most important thing right now is that we go visit her and make sure that she's okay. After all, wouldn't it suck to get hurt and then wake up all alone? We gotta go make sure she knows we care and we worry about her. And also yell at her for not telling us sooner," there was a chorus of agreements following the words of the pianist. A wonderful and dangerous class rep she was, at least when someone messed with a member of their happy 17 person family. It was almost like a field trip of sorts as the gaggle of students made their way towards the wing of the school that focused on medicine. There wasn't much of a reason to take you to the hospital when there were already so many Ultimates focused on medical technology within the school. It wouldn't be a lie to say you'd gotten better care here than at actual hospitals.
In spite of Kaede's rousing speech about not letting you wake up alone, you ended up doing just that. You gained consciousness for the first time somewhere in the middle of the school day. A couple of tests were run to judge cognitive effects and then you ended up falling asleep again once you were deemed to not be in any serious kind of danger. The second time you woke up was a couple of minutes before the parade of your classmates finished their procession into your room. You got a minute warning before the grand entrance of 16 students, trying to cram themselves into the medbay. There was gawking at the massive bandage on top of your head as well as cooing over your poor injured state. There was also a murderous aura coming from the back of the room. Considering the most dangerous students like Tenko or Angie had wiggled their way to the front in order to dote, you had a feeling you knew who it was.
"Maki, wishing hard enough won't make someone drop dead," you chide. Even though you can't see her, the two or three giggles from Kaito and Shuichi you hear give you a good impression as to the fact she's begun to blush at your comment. "So it seems like I can leave whenever I want, but they recommended that I stay the night in case something happens. Would someone want to maybe be a dear and grab my headphones from my room for me?" You ask. Gonta is of course the first to volunteer.
"Getting things for sick friends is very gentlemanly!" Was his response when someone else offered to get them. Despite Maki being your favorite, you were still good friends with Kokichi and by extension Miu and Gonta. You almost laugh as you watch the retreating goliath. You're happy you'll be getting the headphones back soon. You had the feeling it would start to become difficult to concentrate on literally anything after a while if you didn't have some kind of sound blocker. On top of the worried voices of your friends was the panicked worry of the spirits within your service. Your eyes darted around at the occasional movement. What caught your attention the most was the spirit that tailed Angie 24/7. The spirit she'd come to call Atua. You didn't know if it was a real god or not, but it was an impressive and semi-omnipresent creature none the less. It was the most powerful spirit you'd ever encountered. And presently, it looked a little peeved. Perhaps it had become fond of you somewhere along the way? Besides Angie, you were the only one who took note of it and on occasion left treats as offerings. Furthermore, it was fond of Angie, and you always were kind to Angie.
"Everyone, give her a little room, okay? We don't wanna overwhelm her," it was Shuichi who spoke up. You smiled at the boy in thanks even though you knew that you'd continue to be crowded until the class was satisfied with your safety. It made you laugh a little but fatigue was already starting to wear on your mental state as the constant drone of voices on top of even more voices became something daunting to listen to. Your ears and head were a sensitive thing and this constant buzz would eventually start to turn from draining into painful. You didn't want to mention this to your friends though, they'd just end up worrying about you. Though you truly wished they would have come in more manageable groups of two or three.
"Actually, I believe that most of us should get out. We've all made sure that she's okay, there shouldn't be more than one or two of us in the room. We're just going to overwhelm her like this and that's going to make her worse," it's the voice of Maki that silences the chatter like a knife going through the air. She puts extra emphasis on the word worse and there's a little shuffling backward and sheepish looks, enough that you finally feel like you have a small bubble of personal space. It would be Maki, wouldn't it? As much as it wasn't the talent she got here for, Maki is still the Ultimate Caregiver. Especially in your eyes. Whenever someone got sick or hurt in spite of all her complaining she was right there when it happened. Some looked hesitant to leave you be, but others nodded in agreement and knowing this class you could only ever lead by example and hoped the lemmings followed. That being said, she was really the one person you didn't want to see leave.
"Maki's right. We should really let her sleep for the time being. It's best if we aren't all breathing down her throat," with the support of Maki's statement, Shuichi speaks up a little louder and a couple of your more understanding classmates gives short nods of compliance once they realize that you're starting to become not only tired but uncomfortable as well. Slowly everyone filters out of the room and go back to what they were planning to before the after class detour. The ones like Kokichi who are harder to coerce into leaving get coerced by Maki. Eventually, the class had slowly drained from the room, happy to simply assure your safety. Gonta had returned and given your headphones to Maki with a whisper, the quietest you'd even seen Gonta be in fact, before rushing away like most the rest of the class. Pretty soon the room had gone from 16 to 3 visitors. You looked at those who remained, your eyes landing on Maki, Shuichi, and Kaito. Your eyebrow quirked slightly out of confusion before the red lights started going off in the back of your head. Interrogation? The hair on your arms bristled at the mere thought.
"Alright. Spill everything. Now. Names and all." Maki's growl was sinister, but the gargantuan wrath that seeped into her words wasn't directed at you. None the less you shivered. Voices cried in the back of your mind not to do this or to say that. But there was something else now too. There was a daunting unfamiliar familiarity that surrounded Maki like a shady aura. So misy and foggy yet comfortingly a reminder of something you couldn't quite remember. Like a lost puzzle piece showing up after a couple of years, the last one you need to fully finish a picture. Your mind is still too foggy to put down that missing puzzle piece despite how important it feels sitting in your hand. You felt like your mouth was full of cotton and you shiver under her gaze. You turn your expression into the best approximation of a glare you can muster and shake your head furiously.
"No way! You're going to do something stupid and get not only them hurt, but also yourself," you say with all the ferocity you can muster in the face of Maki. Her expression shifts slightly into what might be considered shock.
"She won't because I'm not going to let her," the voice that speaks next is Kaito. He goes to stand beside you, resting a hand on your shoulder as Shuichi flanks your other side. "I promise that I won't let Maki do anything that could have negative repercussions. We just want to make sure you're safe, and with their actions, these girls made life unsafe for you. We want to deal with the situation. Which means getting their names so we can better talk with the teachers about this. If we don't do something it's going to be ruled an accident and something like this might happen again. Which scares us. Especially Maki," Kaito then glances at the red-eyed girl as though prompting her. She looks like she wants to say something else, but quickly turns her head downwards.
You sigh, feeling yourself relent. "I don't know their names. I never caught them so I just gave them nicknames, but I could probably have Angie draw pictures of them well enough and I could without a doubt pick them out in a crowd. I'm pretty sure they're third years but they could still just be second years, I'm not entirely certain," you explain and Shuichi nods. He takes out a notepad and jots a couple things down. It seems the Ultimate Detective is already on this case whether you're compliant with his demands or not, so it's better that you just go along with it.
Kaito nods along as you speak. "Alright! We'll get started figuring out what happened here and making sure that you're safe from now on. Apparently, one of the dorms real close to our little class cluster got abandoned when the student dropped out, so we're going to see if the headmaster would be willing to put you there. You'd end up in a room right next to Maki so you'd be nice and safe! No more late night walks through god know where trying to get back to your room," You laugh a little at the excitement of Kaito's words but there's a glint in his eyes you can't recognize when he mentions putting you smack dab next to Maki. Your heart nearly jumps from your chest for a moment, but you're quick to retake control. "Anyway, we shouldn't be keeping you up considering we were yelling at the rest of the class for doing the same thing, so we'll go ahead and leave you be. But don't worry, we won't leave you alone. Considering her title we've voted that Maki will keep taking care of you!"
"Excuse me, but we voted what and when did this vote happen?" The black haired girl interjected eyes flashing slightly. Kaito just looked at her for a long time. The two stared at each other for a long second before Kaito grabbed Shuichi and bolted out of the room. Maki sighed as she watched the idiot run. If she'd actually cared to she could have easily outpaced the moron, but she wasn't going to drop to his level and play his games. That was just asking to lose.
"You don't have to stay here and take care of me, it's gonna be pretty boring," you tell her with a warm smile as you take your headphones which she carefully hands to you. You set them down on the little nightstand that's been set up next to your bed. You would have put them on immediately if not for Maki lingering. Of course, you didn't mind if it was Maki who lingered. She was always surrounded by a kind of silence that was relaxing and made you feel safe.
"No, someone should keep an eye on you in case something happens. It might as well be me," the red-eyed girl sighs. What about the nurse? You don't voice the question, instead scooting your body over enough that she's able to sit on the bed with you. "Our 'favorite' class was miserable without you today. The teacher insisted it be group work and obviously I don't have much of a group without you. He threw me together with three strangers who obviously didn't want me around," Maki begins to talk just as the pain starts coming back to you for lack of a better distraction. Your mind focuses on her words as you try to push everything else out of your head. You let loose a small laugh at her words. You think about the class she must be referring to, the second to last one of the school day that the pair of you share. The class was really big on groupwork. Whenever the teacher called for groups you two were quick to pair off. He's tried to seperate you before for projects, but it never ends well. Eventually, he just gave up realizing you two come as a pair.
"Oh, that must have been absolutely miserable! I can only imagine, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be in such a situation. Lemme guess, were they preppy girls?" You say.
"All three of them," Maki says it matter of factly which makes you laugh even harder. Wincing in the middle of your laughing fit, you grab your head slightly, making a mental note of another thing that could cause you pain for the next couple of days. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize laughing might make your head hurt more," Maki tried to push her expression off her face but you detect a noteable remorse on her features as you shake your head.
"Not your fault, I should have thought that through. I appreciate the distraction. It's better than thinking, I've been getting a headache just trying to sort through my thoughts," you say with a sigh.
"Your thoughts?" Maki looks confused for half a second at your words. You nod and decide it best to elaborate for her.
"My mind keeps wanting to go, hey you remember this or when this thing happened, but I keep getting a headache because of it. When I was very little I got into something of an accident where my head ended up getting hit hard enough for me to lose most of my memories of my first 10 or so years of life. Apparently, that statue must have knocked something loose because my brain keeps grabbing for those memories. More than it could grab at before anyway. I by no means have everything back. I can only remember my old name with any kind of confidence," you said with a heavy sigh.
"Old name?" Maki asks. You have her curious now and you realize there's no way you can drop the situation without explaining. Not it really matters. This is one of the things you've never tried to keep secret, it just doesn't often come up in conversation naturally.
"After my accident, all I could remember was my name and the fact that I was an orphan. The doctors explained to me that I no longer had a home because the orphanage was convinced I died in the accident. They couldn't pay the medical fees so esentially they decided it best to forget about me and cut their losses. I nearly lost my life saving a kid. The parents of the kid I saved decided to foot the bill, and in addition decided they would take me in as something of an appology. It was a jarring experience to say they least. They uprooted me and moved me half way across the country like they were running from something. They had me change my name and none of us ever looked back. They wouldn't even tell me what orphanage they snatched me from. I actually got in a fight with my mom a while ago because of it. Funny how life works sometimes, huh? I could never remember anything important after the accident. I could remember a really strange cookie recipie, but not why this recipie was important enough for me to remember let alone be memorized. But now? My thoughts keep trying to pull me back to that, those years before the accident. Blurry memories of faces I can't recognize and games of house and I'm not sure if I should be scared or sad," you explain to your best friend. You weave your hand into hers as you explain yourself and she doesn't pull your hand away. She lets you cling to her as much as you need to.
"Do you remember the name of the orphanage now?" Maki asks. There's something loaded about her question. Almost like she's scared to ask but wants to know ever so badly at the same time. You don't understand why it would be so important to her, but her tone makes you think that it is.
"No, like I said everything is just kind of fuzzy. I can barely remember images, no way I can remember words!" You say. You're starting to feel tired and let your eyes close for a long moment while there's a pause of silence. Just as you're about to doze off you feel Maki wrapping her arms around your waist. You have no idea why, but you don't have the brain power to question her choices at the moment. Suddenly sleep becomes that last thing on your mind, your entire being becoming suddenly hyper aware of the slim arms around your waist. You don't dare move, but you've got the feeling you weren't going to get any sleep. After a couple of moments, Maki's breathing turned soft and shallow. Had she fallen asleep? With that thought, you allowed yourself to relax. You wished she wasn't your best friend in that moment. It was a delightfully painful experience to have the girl wrapped around you, her arms tight around your waist, and yet to still have the title of best friend looming over you like a storm cloud.
"You should tell her," you almost jumped at the voice and panicked when she thought about Maki waking up before you realized she likely wouldn't be hearing this voice. Over you loomed a creature, pure white with the typical form of a ghost. The one you might see if Korekiyo tried to describe them. Wispy tail and upper body of a human. Not all ghosts looked like this, most weren't even remotely similar to each other, but he was. Instead of a face, the ghastly creature wore a mask. It was completely blank save for a long back smile and two smiling eyes. Ghosts that wore masks were usually liars or some kind of celebrity in life, you had yet to really decide what he was.
You couldn't really respond to him since you didn't want to wake up Maki, so he continued talking as he had a captive audience now. "You know, you could just lean over and wake her up with a kiss. It would be easy. So what, maybe she turns you down and never wants to look you in the eye again, avoiding you at every possible turn and making the last years of school an absolute living hell because of it, but you know it's worth a try in case you end up with a hot girlfriend," the smile on the mask almost seemed to become wider. You can't tell if he's being malicious or acting like Kokichi.
"That's a bad idea, Finnegan," another voice interjected. A ghost of a similar build and appearance came out, but her mask was vastly different. It was more mounful, not to mention colorful. Sad and yet still beautiful. She herself had a collar around her throat and a chain that dangled from it. Suicide, she'd told you. Of course, you'd only known that since she was around to explain it when you woke up. They were there first things you saw when you woke up, though apparently before the accident you hadn't been able to see them, just hear them. Baring of course the ones storng enough to manifest. Good mediums were either the children of other mediums or normal people who had near death experiences strong enough to put them in a state close enough to death that they got 'marked' so to speak. Having both of those, this was how you became the Ultimate Medium. The combination of factors gave you far more ability than most Mediums. Of course, none of the ghosts you interacted with would tell you much about your life before the accident. Even if they knew you beforehand. No one would.
"Aisyah, your existence was a terrible idea. You know as well as I do these two would be perfect together!" The ghost nammed Finnegan cried out. One of the things you'd noticed was that some of the spirits you encountered had odd not always local names. Some were wanders who traveled too far after death. Luckily any language spoken by a ghost was heard by a Medium in their native tongue as long as the spirit themself wills it. This had the added bonus of letting Finnegan whisper in your ear on an English test whenever you forgot to study. Finnegan wasn't the best influence.
This brought up another question. Finnegan and Aisyah had been pushing you and Maki together since the first time you two met. Their squeals had given you a migraine and they knew you two apparently belonged together before you even developed a crush on the other girl. They said a ton of nonsense about fate and destiny but they were squealing too much for you to actually understand what they were saying. You glared at Finnegan as you shook your head resolutely.
"No? Why not! You sh-" The ghost went silent for a moment. "Who the heck is that?" He suddenly asked as he phased through the wall. There was a pause as you wondered what the ghost had noticed that you didn't.
The door to the room you'd been staying in swung open. "Guuuuys, heeeeelp! Korekiyo hired a Medium for fun and the class has been asking her questions. But Atua says she's a total fake and no one will believe me," it's Angie who bursts into the room and suddenly you understand Finnegan's question. If it's a fake Medium like Atua assumes, then you're going to be having mirgaines and nightmares for at least another week from all the disgruntled screeches of ghosts woken up by what was essentially to them a deaf woman who would then start talking shit about them. Maki shot upwards before turning to Angie with a look that screamed of pure unadulturated blood lust. You sat up as well, moving much slower as you held your head and tried to calm down the pounding.
"And what does that have to do with either of us," the black haired girl rubbed at her eyes as a very cheshire expression appeared on Angie's expression. She looked at you, bouncing her eyebrows slightly. You shook your head and she dispairly let her head fall for a moment before looking back up. Another thing about Angie, she was very much aware of your crush. In fact, sometimes it seemed like everyone but Maki was.
"Angie, what's her name?" You groan. You know that this has nothing to do with Maki, it was you she wanted to wake up and annoy because your 'One Condition' clause as you two had taken to calling it.
"Minoru!" The bouncy oracle said.
You checked around until you found your phone, unlocking it and pulling something up before handing it to Angie. "Here. It's a log of all the times she was wrong or lied to clients. She'll be easy to disprove, just hand the phone to Shuichi and tell him to decimate her. If anyone tried to tell you the information on my phone is fake, you know the 'One Condition' clause," Angie took the phone and bolted off, leaving you and Maki alone again.
"One condition clause?" Maki asks. You can see a million thoughts running through her mind all at once and you hesitate to answer.
"Promise me you won't laugh," you say and the other girl quietly nods. You worry your lip for a moment as you decide that if Angie knows then Maki of all people should also get to know. "Angie found out my Talent the day I showed up to class, apparently Atua told her and I'm a bad lair so I couldn't tell her that she was wrong. I made her promise me she wouldn't tell anyone unless it applied to the 'One Condition' clause. That clause was that she could only tell others my Ultimate Talent if it was to disprove a fake Medium. The reason for this is because I was invited to Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Medium, I keep logs on who's a fake and who's real within the business. I know, it's a stupid Talent. 'You see ghosts? Yeah right! They aren't real, dumbass'. Maybe I'm just insane. But my Talent is what it is, that's why I get to be here. And that's why I didn't want to tell anyone." You wrap your arms around yourself for a moment as you look downwards, waiting for the insults or judgemental gaze. Of course, it doesn't come. You're talking to Maki.
The other girl is silent for a long while before she finally speaks up. There seems to be more going on inside your head than she lets on before she resolves to speak. "I don't think you're lying, and I can understand why you'd be worried over a talent like that. But I believe you," she finally says as she looks as you. It feels like a relief as the weight of the secret falls off your shoulders.
"I thought for sure you were going to throw me in an insane asylum," you say with a small laugh.
Maki shakes her head. "When I was young, one of the other girls in the orphanage said she was Medium and could hear ghosts. She said she couldn't see them but she'd been very adamant about their existence. It never really changed how she acted much, so I believed her. Besides, if I can avoid laughing at Atua I think I can afford to believe in a couple of dead people," you laugh at the last comment and nod along. Of course, what were you so worried about? Angie even convinced a couple of people to believe in Atua. If they could believe Atua why couldn't they believe you? Especially when you had someone like Angie saying that your powers were most certainly real. "How do you block them out though?"
"My headphones, that's why I get agitated if I lose them. Also, that's why I get agitated if someone tries to hold a conversation for too long. Of course, there are exceptions. Spirits tail certain people and the more people that are in a room the more likely there are to be spirits tailing them. Anything that's loud for you is twice as loud for me with double the voices. But if it's a situation like this where it's just you and me, then it's usually quiet. For one because spirits do have the tendency to wander away when their favored person is sitting in one place for a long time and for two because the spirits aren't as loud when it's only one or two of them so it's easy to block out their chatter," you explain as Maki nods along understandingly.
"Dude!" Finnegan appears from the wall with a screech and you jump slightly. Maki takes notice and raises her eyebrow in curiosity, prompting you to explain. You let Finnegan speak before you do. "That bitch is absolutely deranged! I mean, she was talking hella shit about Korekiyo and his sister, the likes of which looked about ready to poltergiste that fake. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same. She was even picking a fight with Atua! I'm shocked she didn't get smited," the ghost said loudly before taking notice of Maki's wakefulness. "Oops, ignore me," he said, ducking his head and slinking backwards slightly.
"She already spilled that we exist," Aisyah said with a shake of her head. "Appologize for screaming so loud!" The two ghosts began to squable as you turned back towards Maki.
"Sorry. One of them, his name is Finnegan, was just complaining about the fake Medium. Apparently, she was picking some fights according to him. He's... loud," you say as you glance at the ghosts occasionally to ensure they don't knock anything over. A book ends up on the floor which almost sends Maki into a panic but you just groan and burry your head into your hands. The good thing about spirits like these is that you've had them a long time, making them far more corporeal and powerful. The bad thing is that sometimes they forget that they can knock things down.
"Wait, did you just say Finnegan? I remember my old friend having a ghost companion with the same name. How many Finnegans are there?" Maki says. This strikes you immediately as odd. You don't realize for a moment why it suddenly feels eerie until you realize the silence of both ghosts. Almost like they're holding their breath.
"Uh, no. He should honestly be the only one since obviously enough he's not from Japan. But Finnegan can't be the same one your friend knew since he's been with me since my mother died. I quite literally inhereted his companionship from her," you say. Your head spins for a moment as you try to clear your thoughts, looking at the situation logically. Logic likely stopped applying the moment you started speaking to ghosts. It's time to throw the logic out the window and start jumping to conclusions.
"Hey. You mentioned you had a diffrent name before your new family took you in. What was it?" Maki asks suddenly and you feel a small bout of confusion. She sounded the most worried you'd ever heard her if you were being completely honest. You understood why, this question was both weighty and hopeful. There were a lot of things left unsaid as she asked it. You hesitated for a moment, not sure if you should say it.
"What was the name of the best friend you mentioned?" You returned. Your voice shook more than you wanted it to. Nervous and terrified of the answer. You could hear the disgruntled groans of Finnegan as you avoided the answer.
Maki glared for a moment. She relented as she took a good look at you and saw the way your fingers were shaking slightly. Neither of you wanted to get your hopes up, but the puzzle pieces line up maybe just a bit too well. Your thoughts swam once again as you tried to remember something, but you weren't exactly sure what you were trying to remember. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. Full name on three?" She said. You nodded in agreement, your heart all the way in your throat.
"1..."
"2..."
"3..."
"(Y/N) (L/N)"
You both spoke at the same time just as agreed, the words matching up perfectly. Was this some kind of apology from fate or some kind of sick joke? You couldn't even tell at the moment. Your thoughts were going in circles way too quickly to tell up from down at this point. Maki shared a similar silence. Looking at her, you were actually a little shocked to find her cheeks were red.
"Are you really..." Her voice trails off.
You open your mouth to try and say something but a random train of thought accosts you. An orphanage with a sign outfront. You're small, very small, practically shaking as you cling to another girl standing next to you. No one wants to adopt the pair of you, but you have each other so it doesn't really bother you. You wouldn't want to leave her behind. "Hey, Maki. The name of the orphanage... I think I remember," your voice is a whisper that shakes and threatens to crack as you try and summon up some form of strength into your voice. "I think its name was Braveheart Orphanage."
Maki goes completely stiff after you speak and for a moment you panic. Without warning, she gets really close, looking you dead it the eyes. "It's really you," her words are a whisper at a volume barely above your own. "I thought you were gone forever," she says and there's something so fragile in her voice that you can't help but act on impuls, wrapping your arms around her waist and pressing yourself as close to her as possible. She doesn't stiffen or shy away, in fact, she returns the hug. This is the most weakness she's ever let you see, simply for the fact she thinks you're her best friend from childhood. Because you are her best friend from childhood. The thought feels like a stick being bashed over your head. As a couple more stray memories attack you like wild dogs, ripping at what you thought was your reality and replacing it with something entirely different. Your best friend since you were five thought you died in a car crash. She became an assassin so you didn't have to, even though you had more raw skill as a silent and sneak thief kind of child. You wouldn't admit it, but you stole sweets from the nearby bakery for the younger children. The biggest shock was something that took you entirely off guard. You loved her. Even back then you completely and entirely loved her. It felt like you were standing in a stranger's spot, as if this role didn't belong to you, but at the same time, you knew that this was you. Who else could it be?
It was terrifying and you couldn't even remember everything, which was perhaps the most terrifying thing of all. The other girl said nothing, and you couldn't really blame her. You didn't trust your own voice.
"What do we do now?" You ask, your voice unsteady and fragile.
Maki gives you an odd look. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what do we do now? To find out something like this without any degree of warning. I feel... bad," your voice quivers as you speak, your eyes sting and you find yourself entirely unable to so much as make eye contact with the other girl.
"What? Feel bad? Why?" Maki's expression is one of total shock and confusion.
"Because I forgot about you. It was my fault you became an assassin and I had the nerve, the audacious gal to forget about you," you want to bury your head in the pillow and cry for a couple of moments. You felt guilty. Perhaps part of it was your own anger which you always suppressed in regards to the situation Maki grew up in. You knew most of the details and the only person you hated as much as the assholes who forced her into becoming an assassin was that traitorous best friend who left her behind. Without even knowing it, you were that traitor. But it did help a couple other things click. It made it no wonder as to why you were so protective and fond of the other girl from the very first moment the two of your met one another.
"Neither of those things were your fault," the other girl said. Maki's voice was gentle in a way you'd never heard before. At least not as this you. Perhaps you'd seen it once or twice as a child. But the fondness in her tone gave you shivers. "Besides... no, nevermind," she said quickly to banish whatever she was going to add onto her phrase. This gave you a moment of pause as you looked at Maki.
There was a split second of total silence where you couldn't even hear your own petrified breath. A sharp spike of fear jumped into the pit of your stomach and you swallowed hard. Blinking a couple times and tightening your jaw, you came to a decision. "Maki, I really, really have to tell you something," you sat up completely straight as you talked, grabbing the hands of the other girl. She tensed up for a moment on instinct before she relaxed and quietly nodded for you to continue. "If I'm being completely honest, then I've kind of had a thing for you since the very first time we talked in class, and I really wasn't going to bring it up since I was very much completely sure that you were straight but now all of this has happened and I really can't keep it to myself anymore since I kind of just realized that these memories mean I'm a total idiot who fell in love with you twice," you blurt it out quickly like ripping off a bandaid. You're certain she's going to stand up, walk away, and never talk to you again, but Maki just sits there and stares at you. You watch the expression in her gaze shifting multiple times. Confusion being the most prominent emotion you see.
"You. You love me?" The befuddled confusion in her voice quite honestly breaks your heart and you nod your head, cheeks stained red at this point. The bobbing of your head is enthusiastic despite the total mortification staining the color of your cheeks, your grip on her hands tightens like you're scared she'll slip through your fingers at any second. You are, even though she's the one who should be more scared of losing you given your track record. "Why?" She sounds genuinely confused when she asks and it feels like your heart begins to chip.
"Is that a no?" You ask in turn instead of answering.
"What? No. Wait, yes. I mean. No, it's not a no. Wait, what even is the question at this point? Ugh, okay. I love you too. When we were talking the other night, the first person I mentioned falling in love with was you when we were kids, and the second person I hadn't decided on yet was also you. So I suppose I felt in love with you twice as well. I just... Why me? Why me since the very begining? I was always mean and cold, I still am, so why?" Placed into this unfamiliar mess, the red-eyed girl stuggled to find the right combination of words.
"Because being close to you felt like home," you say. It's the only way you can put your emotions into actual words, you don't have any better ideas. "I wanna grow up and play house for real. I don't want to leave you alone again," your voice becomes a hushed whisper as tear-like pin pricks sting at your eyes.
"Okay," the other girl replied in a voice that was barely above that of a whisper. The two were silent for a long time, just sitting in the presence of one another and trying to fully process everything that had happened within the last couple of moments. That was until a large bang sounded nearby. It took all of five seconds for Maki to go into protective move, tugging you closer as she glared towards the door. The fire in her eyes is different now, even fiercer. You're certain she could take down an army like this. You on the other hand simply sighed, shaking your head slightly.
"I'll bet you all the money in my wallet that the fake medium pissed off Angie or Korekiyo and something bad happened as a result," you said. "We should really go make sure no one is killing each other. Keeping our class in line is a bit like trying to herd cats, huh?"
Maki shook her head, expression darkening as the both of you stood up. Of course, she stayed close to you, uncertain of just how stable you were on your feet at the moment. The second you stood you were reminded of the fact you'd been hit over the head with a statue not even a day ago. You wobbled slightly. "Here, let me help," the red-eyed girl said was she weaved your arms together and carefully took her hand in yours.
"Smooth," you returned with a smirk as she smiled at you. Hand in hand you two would face the madness that was your lives.