Chapter Text
It was still.
Aside from the gentle dripping of the recently run faucet, all Kokichi could hear was his heart pounding loudly in his ears, face, and hands. The steady beating kept him grounded to his body, kept the painful heat in his face alive. The hand on his throat, constrastingly cold, was met with no checkered barrier or resistance. The texture of slowly running blood made his hand briefly slip in slick.
...
Alright. He'd been waiting long enough. Time to get this shit over with.
With a grimace he squeezed his throat one last time and coughed back into the sink, other hand grasping the edge of the counter. Petals fell gracefully in mockery of his fragility, stark purple looking back at him as he watched with tearful contempt.
"Fuck you." Kokichi rasped, trying to aim his jab at the sink and not the mirror.
Fighting off drowsiness as he coughed out as much as he could manage, he found himself blissfully grateful that the blood in his throat had cleared after the last of the petals exited his system. Lethargically he reached over and turned on the sink once he was done, letting it continuously run as he stepped back and sat on the floor.
With slow blinks he looked up to the ceiling, entire body relaxing against the wall as the pain in his throat continued to surge. How long had this been going on, now? A month or two at most, but it felt longer considering how he'd become so used to it. Blood had become a recurring sight to Kokichi, flowers a reminder. His peers at school were beginning to catch on, with some people lingering by the bathroom to make sure he was doing alright, even if he made extra sure to cough quietly. It didn't help that the awkward atmospheres at DICE meetings got increasingly tense, either, ever since he was found coughing in the kitchen- and for fuck's sake, Kokichi had toilet seats and the contents in trash cans memorized better than the features of his mother's face.
Never in his life had Kokichi felt so helpless.
Feeling like this was a foreign thing to him. It wasn't that everything Kokichi did was always planned out, but it was rare that something unpredictable happened and got pushed to a point where he lost his grasp of control. Now, he kept finding himself in these situations where he felt so exhaustively useless that sometimes he just had the urge to wait until it all went away. Unfortunately, if he did that, he would die way quicker than he wanted to.
To make matters worse, he had little to no leads on how he could fix his problem. From what he had researched, he had an unusual type of disease driven by romantic intent known as Hanahaki. It meant that he had fallen into unrequited love. There were other shitty additions to it as well, like the fact that it's practically incurable without surgery and gradually gets worse over the three months that it lasts. It didn’t hit him quite as hard as you’d expect unrequited love or a more commonly incurable and quickly killing disease to, though. There was one small factor that was what kept Kokichi hopeful.
If the afflicted person confesses how they feel and the sentiment is mutual, then the root will wither, eventually dying and disappearing without a trace.
Keeping that in mind, he believed that he could get through it by himself. Getting the person he was in love with to fall back should've been easy enough, surely. But after 3 hours of pacing in his room and thriving off of sugar alone, Kokichi realized something that completely altered his situation while lying on the floor mid-sugar crash.
He had no idea who he was in love with.
Kokichi wasn’t sure if it was common sense to know or if he just hadn't thought enough about it, but he was incredibly frustrated nonetheless. If reading all sorts of cheesy romance novels and watching a ton of angsty teen dramas didn't teach him anything (in fact, he just became more bothered with the fact that he was experiencing something so gross) and trying not to think about it didn't get him anywhere, then what the hell was he supposed to do? Kokichi didn't even know his sexuality. Sure, he'd never thought about it strenuously, but he was pretty sure that teenagers typically knew by sixteen. Thinking about it made him want to scream.
Threading his fingers through his hair, he barely resisted the urge to rip it all out, shoulders tensing with his movement. Sure, being alive or whatever was going decently well for him, but what mattered most to him was his family- and no, not his biological family, but his actual family. See, DICE was still an active and running organization with people of many different backgrounds and stories. Some he knew nothing about, some he shared his deepest secrets with- but regardless, all of them were people who were depending on him. He was the one who brought them together, who united them, who gave them a place to go when they needed help. To him, they're the world, and if he ever lost them- or, if they ever lost him... He'd rather not think about it.
But as exciting as continuing with his life's passion sounded, the lingering chance that Kokichi would die choking on flower petals before he'd even make it to the next year came closer and closer each day, haunting him like a vengeful ghost.
As mentioned before, he was aware that there existed methods of disposing of the root by surgery, but the safest options were ridiculously expensive and the cheapest sold illegally in places he'd rather not go back to. Don't get him wrong, he'd love to support his "local small businesses", but he didn't want to take the easy way out. That's for chumps.
So even if it meant hours of research, barely getting any sleep and occaisonally passing out from blood loss, Kokichi knew he had to stay determined. He couldn't die yet.
He had DICE, after all, and DICE was all everyone had. So for them, he had to get better.
Releasing the grip on his hair and rising listless to his feet, Kokichi looked into the mirror and couldn’t help slightly grimacing at his sad state. Noticeable dark semicircles were below his violet eyes, and he couldn’t deny that he looked- and felt- extremely tired. He knew that his condition had been gradually getting worse over the past couple of weeks, but he didn’t remember looking so bad the day before. He seriously needed a nap.
After half-heartedly cleaning the mess on his counter and washing his face, Kokichi stumbled out of the bathroom and face-planted on his bed, immediately relaxing into the ridiculously soft mattress. But even as he dozed off, a stubborn reminder stuck in his brain.
He had to find out who he was in love with, no matter what.
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"Ouma-kun! Open the freaking door!"
Kokichi startled awake, tumbling onto the floor when he found that he was hanging off of the bed. Tangled inside of a sweet-smelling comforter and thin bedsheets, he blinked in confusion while the distinctly fuzzy shapes in his room materialized into objects, his brain feeling as if it was full of cotton. Unfortunately, the thing that awoke him started to persist, and after listening for a second longer he recognized it as a voice, accompanied by an overzealous knocking on his front door.
"Geez, I swear to god- I know you're in there, idiot! Open the door!"
With sunlight blazing directly into his room, his eyes watered as he glanced at his clock, and he only grew increasingly confused when he saw that it was 3:34 PM. That meant that he had missed school and slept for almost 10 hours straight, but that became the least of his worries when the person at his door grew even more agitated than before.
"I came all the way here to check on you because I was worried and you're giving me the silent treatment? This isn't a game Ouma, I'm serious-"
"Goddd, shut up! I'm coming, I was just asleep, christ," Kokichi shouted haphazardly, growing annoyed by the shrill voice. Quickly jumping up and changing out his slightly bloody shirt, he simultaneously sprayed air-freshener to mask the overpowering scent of blood, throwing it somewhere behind him once the smell started to get far too strong.
Eventually reaching the entrance, he tried to open the door, only seeing out of a crack of it when he forgot to undo one of the latches. He also got a glimpse of whoever was there- his classmate Kaede Akamatsu, sporting an irritated glower that flicked to him when the door budged- and he couldn't help the small laugh that escaped from him, despite the voice in the back of his head asking how the hell she knew where he lived. "Uh oh. Not another hitman! I'm sorry, but I think I'd rather keep this latch on- who knows what you'll do to a poor birthday boy like me." He cried as her pout grew heavier, "I- I haven't even opened my presents, miss-"
"You said it was your birthday a week ago, even though I know it's in July and we're currently in October." Akamatsu deadpanned and he lowered his head, briefly flashing a panicked expression. Uh, oops. Looking to the side, he undid the latch, trying to fight down a laugh at his stupid mistake. "Yeah, well, not my fault I'm always partying. If you think about it, every day could be your birthday."
"... Right, okay, whatever. Can we just talk for a moment?" And actually talk, not you evading my questions for thirty... seconds, and then... god, Ouma, what is that smell?" Slightly grimacing from the intense sea salt smell drifting from his room, she stopped talking mid-sentence, covering her mouth and nose with her hand. It took Kokichi the most extreme efforts to resist the urge to laugh again, eyes watering in his efforts as he settled for an upset frown instead.
“Well, I had to cover up the smell of blood somehow.” He rolled his eyes, revelling in the shocked look on her face. "What? You think that having an STD is quick and clean?"
“Huh? Wait, what-”
Weirdly enough, Kokichi was pretty happy that it was Akamatsu who came to check on him instead of somebody else. Even though she came off as a goody two-shoes at first, he supposed that she was actually kind of entertaining to be around, since she had a way with getting people to shut up and wasn't so much as a stickler for the rules if there was a good reason. Although she could be infuriatingly oblivious at times and tended to lash out easily, she'd be boring if she was perfect. He'd even go as far as to call her a friend- but only because of that one time she bought him a soda after Mondo punched him in the face. Not for any other reason, of course.
(Okay, he's not going to even try with this- he's lying, Akamatsu's pretty cool, blah blah, he'd take a bullet for her, etc. No need to RUB IT IN.)
"Hey, are you even listening?" No. "You don't even have an STD, do you?" She was so gullible that he almost felt bad. "Ugh," Akamatsu decided to drop it with a dismissive shake of her head.
“Listen," She sighed, crossing her arms. "I hate to push you into a corner like this Ouma, but… you're actually sick- like, with something serious- aren't you?” The pianist asked in a patronizing tone. Regardless of how hard she tried to hide it, Kokichi could still recognize the anxiety in her posture, the way her eyes wavered a little just by looking at him. He could also recognize that lying to her about this was really, really going to suck, but he was absolutely determined to leave this in his hands and his hands only.
Supreme leaders have themselves and themselves only, after all.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know." He grumbled, digging his shoe into the floor. "The other night I was bitten by a vampire, so that might explain some things.” Akamatsu groaned and rubbed her face with her hand. "Do I look pale to you, Akamatsu?" He turned around, examining his arms and ankles. With an irritating grin, he flashed his skin in front of her face anticipating a response, but much to his dismay, she glanced up from her hand and looked completely drained.
Grin immediately dropping from his face, he turned back to her and left his arms by his side, hating how concerned he suddenly felt.
“Ouma, I know I might be fretting over nothing since you skip school sometimes anyway, but everyone's noticed what's been going on with you. You've been coughing for a month and a half now and eating barely anything. Your frequent trips to the bathroom are growing by the week, and all you do in there is cough. Not to mention, that one time you..” She stopped herself and shook her head, but he immediately understood what she was talking about from how sadly she stared at the floor. "I mean, I think it freaks you out when people say stuff like this to you, but I'm worried about you, really."
Blank faced, Kokichi slipped his hands into his sweatpants pockets as he tried to find a good response, leaning against his doorframe. Chewing the inside of his lip, he stared straight ahead as he tried to think of something, anything, but his brain refused to work with him.
Eventually Akamatsu looked back up at him, her eyes watering. She shook her head and rubbed a hand against her temples, lips pursed in frustration.
"I don't know why you're hiding it, but you can talk to me about anything, Ouma. Really." He could only guess that something happened before this for her to look so distraught, but he couldn't help but feel like it was entirely his fault.
Completely at a loss for words, he considered trying to comfort her but found his train of thought interrupted when something suddenly clattered behind him. Both him and Akamatsu jumped at the same time and curiously looked inside of his apartment, Kokichi sighing in relief when he found that it was just his "roommate".
"Hi, Conan! I see that you got into a fight again." He grins, brushing his cat with his foot as he walks over to greet them both. Conan flicks his ear at him and glances up to Akamatsu, slightly wary.
“Woah, I had no idea that you have a cat!” She smiled and crouched down to pet him, letting him sniff her hand before he rubbed his face against her fingers. The previous matter seemed to be almost entirely forgotten as a wide smile spread onto her face, her thumb brushing against the bridge of Conan's nose. For a second he wasn't sure what even happened just then, but then he saw Kaede wiping her face as she scratched his cat behind the ears. When he crouched down to see her face better, he noticed that her eyes were sort of puffy from what looked like to be hours of crying.
"Akamatsu, I'm going to be fine. It's nothing major." He tried his hardest to believe what he said as he reached over to lightly touch her hand, and when she glanced back up at him with tears streaming down her face, he realized that he'd never seen her cry before.
"Okay. I'll believe you." She smiled again, and it felt like somebody had just stabbed him in the heart or something. "Sorry, um... I'm not trying to get pity points with this, but just know that everyone's worried, okay?"
He wished that he knew how to console her better, but he could tell that she was kind of embarrassed for crying, so he decided to drop it.
At some point, the awkward silence melted into casual conversation, and she told him about what he missed in school, also explaining that Amami had told her how to find him. Then she started talking about how she had made soup with Tojo in Home Economics and that immediately got his attention. "Soup?"
"Yeah! Actually, I saved some of it, so do you want me to bring you some tomorrow afternoon? If you leave the door unlocked, I can put it on the kitchen table or something if it’s hard to get out of bed.” She brought up, a genuine grin gracing her pretty features. He didn't see her as anything more than a friend, but the sweet gesture had his heart feeling light. She did too much for him.
“Don't tell me you'll bring a spoon, too," Kokichi replied hopefully, to which Akamatsu laughed and affirmed. His heart panged again with guilt for keeping everything from her, but he supposed that it couldn't be helped.
Eventually, Akamatsu left with a promise for some soup and a revisit to Conan, waving with a gleeful expression as she walked away.
Kokichi nearly missed the stressed sigh of desperation Akamatsu let out when she’d gotten a few steps away.
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Taking a deep breath of fresh air, a nearby orchestra of crickets was the only company Kokichi had out in the empty countryside. It had been a few hours since Kaede last visited him, but it felt like it was ages ago from how much he'd done since then. Between doing some stuff with DICE, (avoiding their concerned questions,) cleaning up his room and his current excursion, he was undeniably exhausted, but the relaxing atmosphere of the area he was in felt nice. Kokichi’s trips here to burn the bags full of flower petals he collected over the school week certainly made up for how much energy Japan train stations took to navigate.
With his phone reading 5:04 AM, the breezy weather and strikingly green grass below him after the thunderstorm from earlier were a death trap when he could barely keep his eyes open. He was sure that he’d eventually fall asleep if he didn’t start moving soon, so, stretching his arms far above his head, a breathy yawn escaped from Kokichi’s mouth as he stared up at the stars, the last embers of the smoke from the fire beside him melting into the cloudless sky in an almost hypnotizing way. The dull smell of burning flowers only felt like something minor compared to how bright the stars were. He wished that his subordinates could see how peaceful it looked, but it wasn't something you could catch on camera, even though the expensive phone his school provided for him was so high tech.
Humming a random tune to himself, Kokichi nearly jumped when he suddenly got a text. Sluggishly opening it up, the supreme leader struggled to keep his eyes open as he read what was sent.
[Today, 5:05 AM]
>KS98: Ouma-kun, this may be a useless thing to ask when you will most likely lie, but are you taking care of yourself correctly?
Oh, it was Korekiyo. Why was he contacting him so early in the morning? Well, considering who it was, he probably somehow knew that he was awake. How scary.
>kinghorse: of course i am! what, did somebody tell you about my habit of bathing in virgin blood?
>kinghorse: trust me, it’s good for your skin
>KS98: Oh, is that true? I’ve always been curious as to why Yonaga-san does it, but whenever I ask, she brushes it off.
>KS98: Well, no matter, that can wait for later.
...
>KS98: You are sick with some sort of coughing illness, correct? I know you do not like when people pry into your business, but it is not only I who is curious.
>kinghorse: what!! slander! that is blasphemy
>kinghorse: ever since i started drinking seltzer water and hydrating my skin i’ve been immune to sickness
>KS98: ...I see. Well, whatever may happen, if you do happen to contract something or find that you already have, feel free to tell me as I am well informed in strange sicknesses… and also quite interested.
Kokichi frowned.
>kinghorse: ‘strange sicknesses’? it sounds like you already have some theories on an illness i don't have
>KS98: We shall wait and find out, then.
>kinghorse: how mysterious! can't wait until everyone finds out that i've caught aquagenic urticaria nishishi
>kinghorse: wait oops pretend you didn't see that
>KS98: Aquagenic urticaria? You are lying, that of which I can tell, but if it was true it would explain why I have never seen you drink water.
>kinghorse: what!! but i love water and it's completely flavorless and awful taste... i'd drink it every day if i could!
>KS98: This may come as a shock to you, but you can.
>kinghorse: no..... no way..
>KS98: Aside from that, I have a skin routine to get to, so I'll see you in class Monday. As much as it may irk you, try and get some sleep.
>kinghorse: ok! have fun spreading radioactive waste on your face
>KS98: From my knowledge, face wash isn't radioactive, Ouma-kun.
>kinghorse: that's what the government wants u to think kork
Not caring to wait for a response, Kokichi shoved his phone back into his pocket as he got up and stomped out the remains of the fire, then walking back to the train station in no hurry. Not thinking of much in particular, his mind floated to how much Korekiyo had changed in his time of knowing him.
At first, it was hard for anyone to tolerate both himself and Korekiyo. With Kokichi's annoying antics and Korekiyo's sinister babbling, Rantaro, for whatever insane reason, reached out, and- as much as Kokichi hated to admit it- they'd both become more tolerable over time, from what Rantaro told them. He once said that introducing them to shitty American sitcoms was what had changed them, but with Rantaro, it was difficult to tell if he was joking or being serious.
Korekiyo was still nosy as ever, though- that hadn't changed. He was probably going to continue pestering Kokichi about his coughing issue and wouldn't stop until he opened up to him, but that's the thing- nobody was going to find out, and he was determined to keep it that way until he got rid of his Hanahaki himself, no matter the cost. (He felt bad for making everyone worry, but it was his problem and would remain his problem until he fixed it.)
Finally arriving at the train station, his feet made wet smacking sounds and left dirty footprints against the concrete, mysteriously untied shoelaces dragging behind him in tow. Leaning against one of the posts, a soft sigh escaped his mouth as his senses started to dull, his previous indolence starting to wear rapidly. The train would be here shortly if it came on time, but he still had another train ride to take after this one and a 30-minute walk back to his apartment. He was pretty resilient when it came to making sure he was a safe distance from civilization, but doing this every Friday night/Saturday morning was starting to get tiring.
Shaking the intruding thoughts from his head, Kokichi kept his mind empty and sat down in a seat one his train arrived, his hand migrating back to his pocket once it started to move. He supposed he could mess around on his phone since he had nothing else to do.
Responding to Rantaro, Gonta, and Kiibo's worried texts from earlier, he soon after found that Kaede and Shuichi wanted to bother him too. Kaede wasn't much of a surprise, considering that she even wanted to bring him soup, but Shuichi? They rarely talked. Why did he bother?
Kokichi didn't know much about him, either- he was generally uninteresting, didn't have much of a reaction to his lies unlike Kaito, and wasn't fun to annoy like Kiibo, but that hat he always wore only served to get more obnoxious the longer it stayed, that was for sure. Sometimes he was tempted to knock it off of his head, but Kaede would likely smack him sideways if he tried, seeing that she had protective tendencies and Shuichi stuck to her like a stubborn piece of velcro. In short, he was boring, but he checked to see what he'd sent him anyway.
Feeling another yawn crawl up his throat, Kokichi opened the message, only to find that he had deleted it. He started typing before he thought about what he was saying.
[Today, 5:23 AM]
>kinghorse: hey!!!!!!!!! wtf you can’t do that to me
>kinghorse: what did you say what did you say!!!!!
The moment the messages sent, Kokichi’s eyebrows raised in surprise when he heard a notification from a phone on the floor across from him. Beeping immediately after his text was sent, the case was also adorned with a picture of a bird that he could've sworn he'd seen before, specifically in a time when it had been clumsily dropped on the bathroom floor in a rush to get back to class- by one of his classmates, in fact.
As Kokichi stared at the scene, the most notable thing after looking for a few seconds was Shuichi Saihara himself slung across the train seat, seeming to be dead asleep and in the same attire as always- except bloody and beat up to a point nearly beyond recognition.
The scene was almost eerie. Without any other person in the same train as them, seeing that they were out early in the country, it was deadly silent, sans the rhythmic beat of the train moving against the tracks. He wasn’t sure how he missed his classmate asleep on the seat when he walked in, but he could infer that it was because Shuichi looked like an entirely different person in this state.
Kokichi barely registered that he was walking over to him until he saw Shuichi up close. His hat was covering a portion of his face, but a more critical look showed that Shuichi had various bruises scattered across his skin, multiple broken cuts on his lips, matted hair from god knows what, and a dried bloody nose that was possibly even broken. Even while he was asleep, he looked exhausted, if not desperate for comfort with his fingers held firmly onto the brim of his hat despite being unconscious. Evidently, he had gotten into a nasty fight- even weirder, considering that Shuichi seemed like a pacifist or too much of a coward to hurt another person- but with his interest getting the best of him, Kokichi extended a finger and poked Shuichi's cheek in an attempt to wake him up, hoping that he wasn't a deep sleeper.
Shuichi had hardly stirred, slightly twitching in acknowledgment, but ignorant otherwise. Kokichi huffed and decided to take a different approach, snickering mischievously as he moved dangerously close to his face.
“HEY! Sai-ha-ra-chan!”
The detective woke up with a startled shout, instinctively moving away as his eyes adjusted to the fluorescent train lights. He sat up and rubbed a hand against his forehead with a confused look on his face as if he didn’t know where he was, but from the way he slowly fell into a slumped position and let out a tired sigh, it must've gotten back to him pretty quickly. He seemed to think that he was by himself with a bitter melancholy surrounding him until he noticed that he was not alone. Pulling the brim of his hat further down in the process, he turned to Kokichi, his shoulders stiff. “Wait, Ouma-kun? Hold on, what are you doing here?”
“Morning, sleepyhead! I just got back from placing mousetraps all over Momota-chan's bedroom floor. What about you?” Kokichi greeted, turning his attention to Shuichi’s phone when he remembered that it was there. Curious, he picked it up and immediately noticed large jagged cracks in the interface that completely distorted the screen, but most notably his phone was at 16% and had large black splotches that obscured parts of the standard background. Kokichi thought Shuichi was the type to be overly responsible with something like a phone, but maybe he wasn't the cause of this?
“Oh... um, good morning," Shuichi mumbled in response, turning to face him all the while entirely avoiding eye contact, the hand holding on to his hat stubbornly falling to his side in tow. Starting to throw his phone between his hands, Kokichi put on a cheery facade, pushing down the tiredness to interrogate the detective.
"So... what happened? Who beat you up? Did you tell Harumaki-chan that her shirt was on backward or something?" He chided, his wide smile slightly strained. Shuichi didn't look surprised that he asked.
"Ah, no, it's not that... I just got off of a tiring shift and tripped down the stairs by accident as a result of being lethargic. Luckily, nothing too fatal happened, so I didn't need to go to the clinic or anything." He told him, but judging by the way that those bruises couldn't possibly have been inflicted by stairs and the way that he was acting- like staring off to the side, slightly fidgeting despite how hard he tried to stay still, and the different kind of uncomfortable unlike to the one he always was- he didn't like to lie, and what came out of his mouth couldn't have been anything else but dishonesty. It was alarmingly believable, though- if it were told to someone who didn't get to see the damage that had been inflicted on him up close, they might've been unable to see through it. He might've been used to lying.
"You're working nights? Money must be tight, huh?" Kokichi asked, slightly tilting his head to the side, once again leering at the broken phone. It now rested between the index and thumb fingers of his right hand, tantalizingly swinging side to side as Kokichi moved his wrist. Shuichi (, not seeming to care that he was messing with his phone,) slightly flinched at his question but didn't answer, still staring at something off in the distance.
But... Kokichi decided not to pry any further.
"Oh, um, aren't you sick, Ouma-kun?" Shuichi asked, completely diverting the topic. "I mean, as long as you're taking medicine, I suppose going out for a bit shouldn't matter so much, but..." He trailed off, his awkwardness as evident as ever.
“Nah, being sick won't stop me! Having a little cold won't stop me from being the ultimate supreme leader, nishishi.” He snickered, finding his arms slipping into a relaxed position behind his head, the phone now situated in his palm.
"Ah... I guess. You should rest as often as you can, though." Shuichi advised, suddenly meeting his eyes. Kokichi's floated to the large purplish bruise on his cheek, and he started to wonder if he had any others that were more hidden.
"Well, I'd be breaking my organization's laws if I went and took care of myself. There's a death penalty for that, since it's evil, and all." He sighed, staring scrutinizingly at his nails. Shuichi only furrowed his eyebrows, seeming confused, if not overly curious as well.
"A death penalty? Isn't that a bit much for something so minor? And- wait, aren't you the leader? Are you saying you'd execute yourself?" He asked with a concerned glance, yet there was a hint of a smile there, too, as if he could tell that it was a stupid lie.
"Well, each member- including myself- signed a contract upon joining that agreed to all of the rules. There's an extra rule at the bottom that states that if I die, they're allowed to use all of the nukes we stole to blow up the world. Cool, right?" He grinned, the action coming more genuinely from such a ridiculous lie. Shuichi slightly paled for a second, as if he thought he was telling the truth, then it relaxed into bewilderment, yet that smile still remained.
"... There's no way that's true." Shuichi sighed, shaking his head.
Furthermore going into fake detail about his organization of ten thousand members, despite there only being nine, they ended up talking for the majority of the train ride. It wasn’t until the train came to a stop and a chirpy voice announcing the destination over the intercom did he notice the sun peeking over the horizon and the other people crowding around.
Standing up, Kokichi lightly brushed off his pants and turned to Shuichi, still feeling relatively tired but more awake than before. “Welp, it’s time for me to take my leave. Wherever you’re going, don’t get too lonely without me!” He told him, heading to the door with a slight skip in his step. That wasn't intentional, but whatever.
“Ah… okay. Bye, then.” Shuichi waved, slowly letting his hand fall once Kokichi was out the door and more people had started to file in. Despite the growing noise around him, hearing the detective’s quiet dejected tone got something in Kokichi’s heart to lightly tug and he immediately turned back around, pushing his way to him without realizing what he was doing. Previously looking down, Shuichi's head shot back up in surprise, and Kokichi got a closer glimpse of one of his visible eyes, a calming hue of grey that looked bronze in the warm lights of the train. Fortunately, the supreme leader found an excuse for his sudden return, but almost stuttered it out from how distracted he got by his admittedly stunning eye color.
“Hey, sorry, I forgot I still had this! It’s nearly broken, but we can still text while we’re apart if you want.” Having almost carried Shuichi's phone out without noticing, he shoved it back into his hands, then hurriedly turned tail and ran away as quickly as he could. He completely missed his reaction, but getting to his next train as fast as possible was the only thing on his mind.
Somehow finding himself in his designated train just on time even though he wasn’t paying attention, Kokichi sat down with a huff, winded. He hadn't run that far, but his heart was pounding, mind racing with questions. Unfortunately, he didn't get much time to think about it, suddenly receiving a text.
[Today, 6:54 AM]
>SSaihara907: hey, thanks for giving me back my phone. I didn't even notice that you had carried it out.
Abruptly, his stunning eyes appeared in Kokichi's mind, and he forgot how to breathe.
They vaguely reminded him of a clockwork, for some reason.
Shaking the fogginess from his head, Kokichi willed his thumbs to move, despite how numb he felt.
>kinghorse: aww, of course! anyfing fow my bewobed saihawa-chan.
Shuichi seemed to hesitate for a moment, the text bubble wavering.
>SSaihara907: ...your what?
With a chuckle, he continued to text Shuichi until his phone died, an annoyed grumble escaping him when his screen suddenly went black. Sleeping on the rest of the ride to Tokyo, he then took the long walk back to his place, stifling many yawns on his way back. Dragging his feet up the apartment stairs, he didn't bother to lock his front door behind him and instead fell into his bed, not even taking his muddy shoes off. There were still a million thoughts racing through his head, about DICE, his disease- Shuichi and his stupid eyes- but all that did was make it easier for him to fall asleep.
It didn't take very long until he passed out.
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Kokichi didn't know what happened. One second, he was asleep, then the next he was awake and coughing drops of blood all over himself.
To think that it had been a day since his last fit in his bathroom.
There wasn't much he could do when he woke up coughing. It happened often, but it was a significant pain in the ass when he had to wash the blood out of his bedsheets, so he often tried to run to the bathroom before it got any worse. It didn't ever work, since he usually just fell on the floor, like just now with a deafening thud, but this time it wasn't only Kokichi there. Sure, sometimes Conan walked over to sit and wait it out with him, but today there was a person- a classmate- who just happened to be there right when Kokichi started to have a fit.
All at once, Kokichi remembered Kaede telling him she would bring the soup in for him if needed, himself forgetting to lock the front door in a daze, and the unforgettable poker-faced look on Ryoma Hoshi's face that was recognizable when seeing that the aforementioned person was standing a few feet away, looking over with Conan watching slyly in his arms.
Kokichi felt his plans withering away when Ryoma disappeared and came back with a glass of water, dead eyes looking between the phone in his hand that had 119 on speed dial and the mess of petals and blood on the floor. Pushing the glass into his hand, he asked, "Ouma... is this what you've been hiding?"
With words dying in his throat, all Kokichi could scrape from the shambles of his dignity was a small chuckle and a boastful look, smiling in Ryoma's face as if he wasn't collapsing right before him. Right on cue, he started to choke again, gasping and coughing all over himself.
Furrowing his eyebrows, Ryoma took the candy cigarette out of his mouth and stared him dead in the face from his crouched position next to him, a prying and annoyed tone rumbling from his throat, "You know, I could just call an ambulance and walk out of here. I know you won't like that, so explain."
Ohhhhh, shit.