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Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't violence. His teeth reverberated from the impact, cheek glowing red in the shape of her handprint. He stumbled back, head drooping to the side. There was no energy left in him to keep provoking her, his stomach was still turning from the medicine used to wake them up.
"Where the hell is he?!"
The commotion in the hall drew their attention, a medical tray skidding past the open door from a cart that got knocked over. "Kaito, please, calm down! You can barely walk!"
One tan hand gripped the doorframe, dragging its limping owner into the room. They all looked like hell, but the astronaut looked like he had been raked through the coals. Whoever had kept them in such a state had done the bare minimum to treat his illness. Trembling legs carried his skeletal frame into the room, gripping a side table for support as he almost lost his balance. His face was gaunt, sunken in as his eyes darted around the room. Hair fell flat around his face, so different from the spiky mess they had grown accustomed to.
Violet eyes met his own, and he wanted to shrink away from their gaze. It hurt to see him like that, as if he was bearing witness to a corpse come back to life. But he held his ground, staring back as his cheek started to burn. Kaito's eyes, unlike the rest of him, still held that burning passion that drove him. It felt like a dagger in the back to have it directed at him again.
"Kaito, really, I think you should sit down-" Shuichi was by his side, of course, trying to lead him by the arm to a chair. For as weak as he looked, Kaito still had some strength in him left as he held his ground- or maybe they were all just that weak from being in the simulation. How long had they been in there, anyways?
Maki stepped forward, concern lacing those previously hard eyes as she spoke up. "Kaito?"
He was ignoring them, gaze focused on the shorter boy as he pushed himself away from the table. "Ouma!!" He staggered forward, gaining speed as he rushed at the smaller student. Kokichi screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to see whatever was in store for him as he braced himself for impact.
The arms curled around him felt as bony as they looked, different from the strong arms that had caught him when he had almost fallen off the railing in the dorms so long ago, but even as different as they were it was still comforting. Fingers curled in his hospital gown as Kaito's legs finally gave out, practically collapsing onto the much smaller boy. Kokichi stumbled back against the edge of his bed, using its support against his back to keep from falling.
Pale purple eyes opened slowly, greeted by the other two students staring at them with mixed reactions- worried relief on Shuichi, and anger on Maki. He felt a damp spot on the front of his gown, surprised to hear the tears in his voice as he spoke. "You little shit, Ouma you fucking-" he choked up, his grip on the boy getting tighter.
"Wow, who knew you were such a crybaby, Momo?" Kokichi teased, the playful lilt to his voice all but gone. He was drained, the only thing keeping him up the bed pressing into his back. "Guess you're not as strong as we thought, huh? Pretty poor excuse for a hero, don't you think?"
"I watched you die, bastard!" Kaito hissed back, looking up at him through bleary eyes. "You didn't know this would happen, you just-"
"Killed myself for you? I guess." Kokichi shrugged, unable to help the shudder that ran through him like electricity sparking phantom pain in his limbs. "All part of the game, right? We won."
Kaito barked out a humourless laugh, shaking his head. "No, we didn't! Shuichi saw through it, he solved the whole game. You made me live with the sight of you dying until my execution!" Maki and Shuichi winced at that, the memory of Kaito's corpse still fresh in their minds.
Kokichi couldn't believe what he heard, "We… lost…?"
"Yeah, your stupid plan didn't work!" Kokichi's legs felt weak, shaking underneath him. His plan had failed? Then Kaito's death was his fault, even after he had saved him… "I was already dying when they started, it was impossible to avoid… but you want to know the worst part? How I knew it was coming? I finally got to see the stars," Kaito's lip quivered, trying to smile. "And I saw you. You were sitting among the stars, waiting for me."
His legs gave out beneath him, dropping to his knees as he finally hugged the astronaut. He couldn't hold it in anymore, tears streaming down his cheeks as he buried his face in the astronaut's hair. The simulation was hell, waking up hurt worse than he had ever imagined, and fuzzy memories from the past made his head throb. He didn't know where they were, why they were forced to participate in a killing game. He didn't know if they were safe, if everyone would be the same as they were in the sim or if he had to learn who was trustworthy all over again. The only thing he didn't have to think about was who Kaito was- his voice, his touch, everything was still so familiar.
"I'm… I'm sorry Momo…" he whispered, feeling one of those bony hands move to cup his face. Leaning into the touch, they sat there in each other's arms. Shuichi had led Maki out of the room with the promise that Kaede was awake, leaving them to cry in peace.
Tan fingers caressed his jaw, tilting his head down as Kaito raised his own, lips brushing against the prankster's cheek. Everything hurt, inside and out, and he couldn't help the way he clung to him, pulling the astronaut back every time it seemed like he was going to move away. It was selfish, he knew that, it probably hurt Kaito to be on the floor like that, but he couldn't help it. He needed the reassurance that he was real, that they were alive. Anything to get the sight of the hydraulic press closing down on him out of his head.
Kisses danced across his face, each one bandaging another painful memory as he tried to calm down. A brush of lips against his own had him recoiling, hit with the memory of the only kiss they had shared in the hangar before he was crushed. With the lingering feeling of his bones snapping beneath the press and Kaito's whispered apology, he couldn't stop thinking how it was his fault, all his fault the game could have ended why didn't he stop it-
The power clicked off suddenly, the room being bathed in an eerie red as the emergency lights kicked in. Kaito's grip on him tightened, holding him protectively to a chest that felt like it could cave in at any moment as he glanced around the room. A familiar jingle played over the hospital's intercom system, and it took all of Kokichi's strength not to scream.
They weren't free yet.