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Everyone was lazying around after breakfast in the common room. They had gotten used to the living quarters where Danganronpa participants were required to stay for a while, so everything eventually grew mundane. It didn’t help that the weather was quite gloomy, with dark clouds threatening to spill heavy rain into the streets below.
Tenko, Angie, and Himiko were sitting on the floor arguing over magical cards. Korekiyo and Ryoma were going over old newspapers together. Kirumi was wandering around looking for objects to clean and spaces to tidy up. Maki and Kaito were having a conversation- well, Kaito was yapping nonsense while she listened. Miu, Gonta, Kiibo and Kokichi were also sitting in a circle talking about whatever came to mind. Shuichi was pouring over online documents on Danganronpa, with Rantaro and Kaede peeking over his shoulder every so often.
To say the least, it was a relaxed day, as was their usual routine.
Over the past week, the teens had been given the opportunity to receive their past memories that were taken from them upon entering the killing game. Some accepted immediately while others were hesitant to regain such knowledge. They didn’t know what their situations were like before the killing game, but they must have been absurd if they were willing to sign up for mental health issues for the rest of their lives.
This topic was sparked in one of the circles.
“Most of you still have passions for the things that made you ‘Ultimates’,” Keebo pointed out. “Kaede still does her piano, Shuichi’s always researching unsolved cases, Angie’s been painting… you get it.” He waved his hand instead of continuing. The students mentioned looked up at the sound of their names. Shuichi was suddenly interested in Kiibo’s talking.
“Gonta loves bugs more than ever!” Gonta stated with a smile. Kiibo smiled back and nodded.
“Exactly,” he replied. “Which has me curious about one thing.”
He looked over at the purple haired boy next to him, who was looking up at Gonta with a ghost of guilt in his eyes.
“What makes you the ‘Ultimate Supreme Leader’, Kokichi? I really haven’t seen you exactly lead anything.”
Kokichi’s head rose at the question, and he cocked his head at his friend.
“I’m a leader. Duh. Of a secret organization” Kokichi smiled innocently, although it never met his eyes. He had just received his memories the day before, and he seemed out of it after that, as if contemplating all that he had been shown.
“I guess I understand,” Kiibo said slowly, “but seriously. Why were you called that in the first place? Team Danganronpa must’ve given you that title for a reason. I kind of doubt your organization is real”
“Ah…” Kokichi sighed with a nervous smile. He did know the reason. He did receive his memories back. They made his head spin with a jumble of different emotions: anger, sadness, longing for a sense of belonging, and yearning for the people he once loved. “I mean, I do have a group, but there’s not 10,000 members. Just 10.”
He looked around the room to see if anyone else was paying attention. And oh boy were they paying attention. Practically everyone was tuned in to their circle’s conversation, some more obvious than others. Kiyo was still looking at his newspaper, although his eyes weren’t moving anymore. Shuichi was eyeing them from his spot on the couch, as were quite a few of the others in the room. He recalled Kokichi’s motive video, where there were ten people displayed on the screen. Were they actually real?
It wasn’t every day that they all talked about the more serious stuff together. Maki was still learning to tolerate Kokichi, but everyone else was slowly starting to build their friendships with him. He was such a complex person in the killing game with steel walls around him. After the game, he mellowed out. Was he about to share his past with them?
“I guess I could tell you,” Kokichi spoke quietly, as if it was a sacred topic to tread upon.
-
Rain threatened to consume the ground it fell upon. Its noise thrashed violently against any victim’s ears. A young boy with black hair trudged along the streets of rundown Osaka, cold and wet. A sneeze escaped his chest every so often as a result.
As he walked, his eyes wandered down the alleys that he passed out of boredom. Alley after alley after alley. They were all the same. It was boring.
Until something caught the boy’s eye.
He stopped and backtracked, looking down a particularly dark alley. Along one of the walls, was a person. Not just a person, but a boy who must’ve been his age, maybe a bit older. He was folded in on himself, knees close to his chest and head down.
The black haired boy cautiously stepped towards the other boy. He must’ve heard the footsteps because his head snapped up from his knees. His eyes- or rather, eye- were wide and red-rimmed, as well as his nose. He had blonde hair that covered one eye, giving him a mysterious look.
This looked interesting, but also kind of sad.
The raven-head placed his arms behind his back and leaned over the blonde. His eyes were wide with curiosity as he surveyed the boy in front of him.
“What are you doing?” he asked simply.
The blonde stared up at him, pondering whether to answer or not. If this boy was here to mug him, he was sorely mistaken. He looked extremely small and weak. There was probably no need to worry.
He sniffled a couple times before answering. “I… I ran away from home.”
“Ran away?” the raven-head echoed curiously. “Why would you run away from your home?”
“Why do you wanna know?” the blonde replied coldly, his visible eyes narrowing to a slit. He averted his gaze, irritated that this boy was questioning him.
The latter boy continued to stare, then crouched down in front of the boy. Their eyes met, and the blonde was surprised to see the boy smiling at him. His purple eyes were filled with empathy as they looked at each other. His skin was deathly pale, and his face was pretty slim. Why was he looking at him like that?
“If it makes you feel better, I’m an orphan.” The raven-head stated. “What’s your name?”
An orphan? The blonde hesitated. This boy seemed nice enough. Maybe this could be a good interaction.
“M-Mezeto…” He replied. “What’s yours?”
The other boy smiled. “Kokichi. Kokichi Ouma , apparently.”
Mezeto nodded, not really understanding but deciding to look past it. He removed his hug around his knees and brought his hands to his lap.
“If you really wanna know… My mom tried, um, k-killing me.”
Kokichi’s eyes widened, then a frown found its way to his mouth. He cocked his head, placing a hand to his chin.
“Oh… I’m sorry. It’s probably good you ran away, then.”
“Yeah… I don’t think I’m going back,” Mezeto admitted. When he said it out loud, realization dawned on him. He seemed to space out and his eyes fell to his lap.
It was raining pretty hard to the point where the water found its way to his face. The droplets were warm and spilled all over his cheeks.
“I-I’m not going b-back,” Mezeto stated again, making it much more real for him.
He felt Kokichi’s gaze on him, but he didn’t care. He had no home anymore. No more warm meals, no more bed, no more place to stay when the weather was atrocious. He had nothing.
Suddenly, there were hands on Mezeto’s back, and he found himself in a cold embrace. Kokichi’s clothes were much more soaked than his, yet the contact sent warmth spreading from all points of contact. Mezeto didn’t know what power of trust allowed him to hug back, but he did. He hugged Kokichi back, clutching his tiny waist and burying his wet face in Kokichi’s thin shirt.
“Let’s be friends. I can help you learn the streets, and you can keep me company.”
Kokichi’s voice came softly above him, and Mezeto couldn’t choke out a single word as he just sobbed harder in this kind stranger’s arms.
-
“That’s so sad,” Kaede sighed with a hand on her cheek. “Why would his mother even think of doing that to him?”
Everyone silently agreed with her. This story had an interesting start, and by now everyone was paying attention to Kokichi. Miu and Kiibo moved so they were facing everyone else in the room instead of sitting with their backs to them.
Shuichi had long abandoned his computer. It lay closed on the coffee table in front of him, and he had grabbed a pillow to hug instead.
“Were you always an orphan, Kokichi?” The detective asked.
Kokichi smiled and replied simply, “You know it.” He said it like it was normal, unphased by the question.
“So, you guys became friends, then?” Miu asked.
Kokichi nodded and leaned back on his hands.
“Ohhh yeah. He was the first friend I actually had. Every kid in that orphanage was messed up.” His face grew serious as he recalled his experiences there. “Even the ‘caretakers,’ if they could even be called that. For a Japanese orphanage, it was pretty shitty. That’s why I took to the streets instead.”
Hearing Kokichi speaking so openly felt fictitious. He hadn’t spit out one joke as of yet. They were still getting used to it, sometimes wondering if he was lying even then, but he seemed serious. And he liked Kiibo and Miu especially, so he was most definitely going to answer their questions honestly. He continued his tale, making himself comfortable on his spot on the floor.
-
Kokichi and Mezeto ran as fast as they could. The streets were bustling with tourists and shoppers today. It must’ve been the weekend. Everyone was eager to get their errands done before another busy work week started.
“Come back, you rascals!” A grown man shouted some distance behind them in the crowd.
Kokichi snickered, out of breath but powered by adrenaline. A bag of fruit flew around in his hand as he ran behind Mezeto. His friend was also laughing despite the chase, weaving through passersby and bolting past farmers’ booths.
Eventually, Mezeto slowed down and dove behind a building at the end of the street. He panted deeply with his back against the wall. A similar plastic bag was in his hand, threatening to puncture from the weight of its contents. The blonde looked down at his prize and smirked. This would tide them over for at least a week with the way they ate. He was pretty proud of their steal.
He looked back up, expecting Kokichi to be there, but he wasn’t. How odd.
“Kokichi?” Mezeto called, and decided to peek around the corner. As he stepped around the corner, a force knocked him to the ground. His bag flew out of his hand and sent a few apples rolling down the sidewalk.
“Ow… what the hell…” he mumbled, clutching his forehead. Suddenly, a hand was grabbing his collar, and he shouted in surprise as he was pulled from the ground. Did that old geezer actually catch them?
“Thief!” A voice shouted. Except it wasn’t deep in the slightest. It was actually pretty high pitched and girly, and it came from slightly below him. Fearfully, he opened his eyes and came face to face with a girl around his age. He blinked in confusion, wondering why there was a girl shouting at him. He looked past the girl’s pigtails and spotted Kokichi jogging towards them. He still had a bag in his hand, thankfully.
“I already told you, we have a reason!” Kokichi shouted to the girl. She let go of her grip on Mezeto’s shirt and turned around. Mezeto sighed and backtracked to pick up the fruit that left his bag.
“A reason to steal?” The girl asked. “It’s stealing! Do you not feel bad for the farmers who waited months to harvest those fruits?”
Kokichi reached them and came to a steady stop. He was panting from running around, but kept a calm expression.
“I understand that. But we gotta stay alive somehow. Who’re you to assume we’re filthy little thieves?”
“Because you just stole, ” the girl asserted. She placed her hands on her hips stubbornly.
Kokichi sighed and mimicked her pose. “Listen,” he started, “my accomplice and I live on the streets. No one wants a couple homeless teens working normal people's jobs. How disgusting! Where’s the fun in that? So we have no money and have to take this food. Atua, strike me down if I’m lying!” He lifted a finger to the sky at that last bold remark and waited. After a few seconds he dropped his arm and winked. “See?”
The girl stared at Kokichi, seemingly hesitant to say anything. She began to fiddle with her fingers and looked at the ground.
“I see…” she admitted. Mezeto walked past her and handed his bag to Kokichi.
“Here’s my bag, by the way. A few of the apples are bruised, though.” He shot the girl a dirty look, and she cowered under his gaze. Kokichi watched the scene silently, looking down at the bruised apples. He dug into the bag, reaching for a fruit in the middle. He pulled out a nice looking pear, examining it closely in front of his face.
“That’s fine, I’ll eat ‘em,” Kokichi said dismissively before dropping his gaze from the pear. “Do you like pears?”
His question was directed towards the girl, and she jumped at the sudden attention.
“Me? I-I guess I do. Why?”
Kokichi looked down at the pear in his hand. He felt Mezeto’s questioning gaze on him but he didn’t care. He walked over to the girl and held out the pear.
“I saw you eyeing them in the crowd, before you spotted us. You’re hungry too.”
He shoved the pear towards her. She was too stunned to speak, wondering how the boy had noticed her in the first place. Hesitantly, she brought her hand up to accept the fruit given to her. When she did so, the boy smiled.
“I’m Kokichi,” he offered.
No questions as to why she was lingering near the fruit stands. No accusatory remarks. Just a silent offer of peace.
“I’m… Ayano,” the girl replied after a moment’s thought.
“Cute. Let’s find a place to eat these in peace. No old men allowed!”
Kokichi turned to Mezeto with a smirk. Mezeto had stood off to the side with a confused expression during the whole exchange. At the look, he rolled his eyes and followed as Kokichi began to walk down the sidewalk, bags swinging at his sides. He couldn’t say no to his friend and partner-in-crime.
Ayano hesitated to follow at first, but she looked down at the pear in her hand. She clutched it tightly and took off after the two boys, her pigtails dancing loosely behind her.
-
“Was she an orphan too?” Rantaro asked. She was accusing them of stealing, so she must’ve been someone’s daughter.
“Yeah, she was,” Kokichi replied, earning a confused tongue click from Rantaro. He sensed Rantaro’s next question so he continued. “She told us that she was mad at us for stealing because she didn’t have the guts to do it herself. She’s always been really sweet and is pretty stubborn when it comes to rights and wrongs.” He smiled at the thought of her. “I sometimes wonder how she made it so far without stealing.”
Kokichi felt Kaede's soft gaze on him, as well as Kirumi and Angie. They were kind girls in general and always willing to help others. They admired Kokichi’s small act of kindness to Ayano, and were secretly eager to hear more about her.
Shuichi was also staring at the boy on the ground. He was bewildered, to say the least, in being able to hear about his past first hand. He had certainly come a long way since exiting the killing game, and Shuichi was proud of him for that.
Kokichi caught his eye but quickly looked down at the ground.
Shuichi’s pretty focused, he thought. Without any further questions, he decided to continue.
-
The next day, Kokichi slowly woke up and lifted his head from Mezeto’s lap. The new trio had decided to sleep behind a convenience store dumpster, which wasn’t very comfortable. Luckily, Kokichi and Mezeto were comfortable enough to make accommodations. Apparently, so was Ayano. Kokichi felt her laying against the back of his thighs, seeing as he was on his side. He looked up and saw how comfortable she was, so decided against moving.
After another twenty minutes, Mezeto woke up, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn.
“She looks comfy,” he stated with a look down at the girl. Kokichi looked up and smiled.
“I’m glad. With the way she seems, she probably doesn’t hunker down so close to civilization.”
Mezeto nodded in understanding and awe at his friend. He wondered how he got so lucky with the boy he now ventured through life with. He definitely knew his stuff, and he was both friendly and fun.
“Mhn…” a tired voice groaned. Ayano turned onto her side and sighed deeply. She slowly got up and looked behind her, meeting eyes with Kokichi. “I-!”
Before she could even speak Kokichi was laughing.
“Sleep well?” he asked simply.
She stared back at him with a growing redness on her face.
“I-I’m sorry, you two. It was cold last night…” she leaned back on her hands and looked at her feet to avoid their prying gazes.
“Don’t be sorry,” Mezeto replied. Ayano’s eyes grew wide and she spun her head to him. The boy was mad at her yesterday for their heated interaction. How was he so calm with her?
The boy continued. “We do what we gotta do to stay comfortable, even for a little bit. We’re sticking together now, so do what you must.”
Kokichi nodded as he spoke and smiled up at her.
“Yeah, don’t sweat it. You're our new partner-in-crime!” He pumped a fist in the air at the bold claim and grinned. She couldn’t help but smile back at him, relieved that they were on good terms.
Kokichi continued to lay there, so Mezeto stayed sitting as well. Ayano sat close, and the trio shared a meaningless morning conversation.
As Kokichi was joking about something with world domination, a door nearby crashed open. Ayano squeaked and Kokichi shot upright. The preteens turned in the direction of the noise, hearts pumping with fear. Small footsteps echoed in the alley, and someone was humming a tune.
“Shit…” Mezeto whispered. Before he could get up, the person rounded the corner.
It was a small girl, smaller than Kokichi but clearly their age, carrying a heavy-looking trash bag. She paused to readjust her grip on the bag that was as big as her, then continued on her way towards the trio. They stared, frozen, not knowing what to do. The girl looked up when she was a few meters away and jumped.
“Ah!” She muttered in surprise and dropped the bag at her feet.
“D-Don’t be scared!” Ayano hurried to say and waved her hands frantically. “We’re sorry for intruding! We’ll be on our way!” She stood to her feet, offering Kokichi a hand. He took it and brushed his sides of any lingering dirt. Mezeto rose smoothly to his feet and swooped down to pick up their bags of fruit.
“W-Wait,” the girl spoke softly. The trio stopped and turned to her, surprised that she was brave enough to speak to them. “What were you doing here?”
Ayano looked nervously to Mezeto, who stood slightly in front of the smaller two. You never know who could be a danger, and a girl was no exception, as he had learned the hard way. Kokichi spoke up for them from behind.
“We’re sorry, we slept here last night. There was nowhere else that looked comfortable enough.”
The small girl cocked her head at him. “You slept here? Why aren’t you home?”
“We have no home,” Kokichi replied kindly. The girl’s tired eyes widened and she looked away shyly.
“No home?” She repeated quietly to herself. Kokichi nodded in reply.
The trio and the girl stood there, no one knowing what to say or do. They didn’t want to be rude and just leave after starting conversation with her, but she wasn’t saying anything. She seemed lost in thought and spoke quietly to herself.
“Do…” the girl started. She spoke so softly that they had to lean in to hear her. “Do you wanna come home with me for a bit?”
The trio stared at her. Go home with her? Why was she inviting strangers to her home?
“Come again?” Ayano asked in disbelief.
The small girl cleared her throat, clearly too shy to look up at them. She spoke to her feet instead.
“You could eat and shower, and… I dunno. I’m sure my brother would be okay with it.”
Ayano let out a sigh of wonder, Mezeto eyed her curiously, and Kokichi was still trying to comprehend what the girl was saying. He couldn’t believe that she would be open enough to invite three homeless kids to her house. It seemed dangerous.
The silence dragged on as the three decided whether or not to accept.
“This isn’t your house?” Kokichi asked suddenly. He was eyeing the trash bag on the ground. As far as he was concerned, they were behind a convenience store, not someone’s house. The girl made an ah noise and squatted to pick up the bag again.
“No, my brother and I run this store. I can go in and ask if it’s okay to have you over. Be right back.”
The girl immediately dropped the bag once again, completely abandoning it to step back inside the building she just came from. The trio exchanged confused looks. She reminded Kokichi of a sloth. She was small, quiet, and pretty lazy.
She popped back out as quickly as she left. She looked up at them and her hands laid awkwardly at her sides.
“My brother said okay. Let me throw this away and we can go,” she offered. The girl looked down at the bag at her feet and sighed. She had to pick it up again.
“Let me.” Mezeto held out his bags to Kokichi and Ayano, who hurried to take them. The tall boy then went over and picked the bag up with ease. He threw it into the dumpster without the use of the stepping stool off to the side. Dusting his hands, he looked back at her.
“Is that all?”
The girl nodded once, her long brown hair falling to curtain her face.
“Yeah…”
She turned her body but not her head as she waited to see if they were ready to follow.
“Well, let’s go! What’re we waiting for?” Kokichi announced and chuckled. Ayano slowly smiled at him before skipping to the girl, taking her arm and starting to walk. She was quite the affectionate girl, Kokichi noticed.
“Right! You lead the way. You’re so cute and nice! What’s your name?” Ayano asked, fawning over the shorter girl. She looked away as she was showered with sudden praise. Her voice was small as she spoke.
“Hana.”
As the girls walked ahead, Kokichi handed one bag back to Mezeto. They walked a little ways behind the two, Kokichi eyeing Hana curiously.
“What do you think about this?” He asked his friend with a tilt of his head in the girls’ direction. He couldn’t see Mezeto’s eye since his hair was covering the side of his face next to Kokichi, but he guessed the blonde was also surveying Hana.
“She seems nice. Maybe she’s doing this cuz we’re kids her age.”
“I dunno, she seems younger than us.”
“With that philosophy, you’d be 5.”
“Hey!!” Kokichi exclaimed with a whine. Mezeto turned to look at him, smirking coolly with a hand in his pocket.
The four of them made it to Hana’s house. She offered them bowls of rice and leftover chicken in the fridge, as well as water, which the trio greedily accepted before devouring immediately. Hana stared the whole time. Maybe in disgust, but they didn’t care. Living off of fruit wasn’t the most sustainable diet.
Hana didn’t interrupt until they were finished. When they were, she started to reach for their empty dishes.
“Let me do that, Hana!” Kokichi offered happily. He bounced up from his seat and walked around the table to collect their dishes.
With the stack in his hands, he turned to their host, who led him to the sink.
“You’d make a great housewife!” Kokichi noted. Hana jumped and turned back at him with pink cheeks. She was too flustered to say anything. Kokichi then laughed to himself and placed the dishes in the sink.
“I’m just kidding. Or am I? You do have the compassion for it.” The boy grinned, flustering Hana further.
“Kokichi, stop.” Mezeto laughed quietly from his spot at the table. He rested his head on one of his sleeve-covered hands and watched. Ayano also giggled but didn’t say anything.
Hana told Kokichi her brother would do the dishes later, so the two sat back down at the table. The boys shared how they met with the girls to put them in the loop. Ayano was furious at the way Mezeto’s mom treated him, but he shrugged it off.
“It is what it is. This isn’t so bad,” he said and gestured to the group. They all smiled at his remark.
“So, you live with your brother, Hana?” Ayano asked the small girl. She nodded her head and shrugged.
“Technically. He’s never home, always running the market to keep this house. I can kinda do whatever I want…”
The three stared at her. They definitely knew how she felt to be on her own. This sparked another question.
“And your parents?” Kokichi asked.
Hana averted her gaze, bringing her chest to her knees as she spoke.
“Dead.”
“Oh…” Ayano breathed, looking with compassion on Hana.
“Yeah, it happened a couple years ago. Car crash. Now my brother runs their shop, and I’m stuck at home or working all the time.”
“You don’t go to school?” Mezeto pointed out. Hana stuck out her tongue and shook her head.
“No. I don’t want to. My brother doesn’t make me.”
The three let out noises of awe. They knew that the Japanese school system was pretty strict, so her brother must be keeping her a secret. To say the least, they were rebellious in doing so.
Kokichi’s brain was working at that point. Their conversation had been pretty depressing so far. Sharing stories was nice, but he didn’t see the conversation going any further. He smirked to himself, then stood from his seat quickly. The movement sent his chair flying back, making the other three jump and turn to him.
“Let’s go on an adventure!” He shouted.
Mezeto stared at him, intrigued by this bold claim.
“An adventure, huh?” He mumbled. Kokichi clutched his hand into a fist and gleamed.
“An adventure. Something fun. I don’t know what, but why don’t we look around and see what we can do!”
He looked around. Ayano looked nervous, like they were going to do something immoral. Mezeto sat back in his chair clearly loving the idea. Hana stared at him with an unreadable expression.
It would be fun. They were all orphans with boring, depressing lives. Reality hits every single day, some wounds still pretty fresh. What better way to take your mind off of them than to search for foolish thrills?
The kids did exactly that. They took to the streets, looking around for trinkets or items in dumpsters. They did this for a few hours with high hopes, but their hopes slowly dissipated as they continued to find nothing of any value.
“Kokichi, I don’t think there’s anything to do…” Ayano sighed sadly. She was secretly looking forward to doing something silly with her new friends.
They were walking down another alley, Kokichi taking the lead and searching left and right as he walked. He spun around on his heel and pointed to Ayano.
“None of that! No giving up! This builds character.”
Mezeto groaned and put his hands in his pockets. He loved Kokichi, but sometimes the boy’s brain was three steps ahead of his own situation. He was about to stop walking and offer to take a break when Kokichi shouted. The blonde jumped and swung his head around, looking for any danger.
He spotted Kokichi’s legs dangling out of a dumpster, kicking around as he seemed to be reaching for something. When he found the item in question, he pushed himself out of the dumpster and hopped to the ground. In his hands was… a horse head mask.
Ayano immediately burst into laughter and clutched her sides. Kokichi was grinning at them, and Mezeto couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What on earth are we gonna do with that?” he asked.
Hana offered that they wear it and run after people with it, but Kokichi politely shot that down. That was too basic. They needed something more original.
The kids continued to brainstorm until they landed on a plan: There was a statue at a nearby elementary school of the school’s founder. They decided that they would put the horse head on the statue’s head as a rebellious way of saying, “Screw school”!
After finalizing their plan, they took to the streets again, this time with more energy. They reached the school within half an hour of walking and lingered by the gate. The big clock above the school read 1:29 PM.
“Perfect, they’re still in school,” Kokichi announced. He was carrying the horse head in front of him and peeping around the corner. The group looked around for the statue. Hana spotted off to the side in front of the school’s garden. They decided to walk along the walls surrounding the school grounds, staying as far away from the windows as possible.
They crossed the grass straight to the statue, but once they stood before it, their hearts sank. It wasn’t massive, but it was enlarged enough to loom eerily above them. It was at least ten feet tall.
“How’re we gonna reach the top?” Ayano asked, looking up at the guy’s head.
“Looks like we’re gonna climb!” Kokichi chuckled. He turned to Mezeto, who was already eyeing his friend. “Mezi, I’m gonna have to stand on your shoulders.”
“ No, ” Mezeto replied firmly. “You can sit, but you are not standing.”
Kokichi whined and tried to argue, but Mezeto was firm in his decision. Kokichi proposed that Hana sit on his shoulders, then he would sit on Mezeto’s shoulders. Hana seemed hesitant and thought to herself with a finger to her chin. Mezeto agreed to the proposal, which ultimately led Hana to say yes as well.
So the plan was put into action. Ayano held the horse's head as Kokichi crouched to the ground, allowing Hana to get on his shoulder. Once she was sitting comfortably, Kokichi stood with the help of Mezeto. Then it was his turn to crouch, and Kokichi stepped carefully over him. They counted down, and Mezeto slowly rose, clutching Kokichi’s thighs to make sure he didn’t fall. They wobbled a few times and Hana quietly freaked, but they eventually stabilized.
Ayano threw the horse head up to Kokichi, who carefully handed it to Hana with one hand.
“M-Make it quick,” Mezeto grunted from below. Kokichi and Hana were light, but they were still two people on his shoulders. He could only balance them for so long.
“Can you reach?” Kokichi asked Hana. She extended her arms to their very limit, just barely getting the opening of the mask over the statue’s head.
“Ah!” She gasped in surprise. “Yeah, I need to adjust it.”
She grabbed two sides of the bottom of the rubber mask and yanked it over the statue’s head. Since it was bigger than human proportions, she kept having to yank the mask to stretch it over the man’s poor bald head. It took some effort, but she eventually did it.
“I did it!” She exclaimed softly, her hands still adjusting the mask.
Ayano cheered and clapped from below, laughing to herself at the scene before her.
At that moment, there was a shout from the school’s front entrance.
“Hey!” A woman in a suit yelled. “What in the world are you kids up to?!” She began to stalk towards them, and they all panicked. Mezeto’s legs wobbled from the weight of his friends, and he stumbled forward. He fell forward, expecting Kokichi and Hana to come crashing down, but there was no impact.
He looked up, out of breath, and saw Kokichi clinging to Hana’s legs. The poor girl was gripping the horse’s head in a death grip as she dangled from the statue. The sweat from her hands made her lose her grip, and the two kids slipped from the statue’s back.
“Shit!” Mezeto exclaimed and swiftly stood, bracing for impact. Ayano lunged forward and also extended her arms to catch the two. They flew to the ground, knocking Mezeto and Ayano off their feet.
“Stay there!” The suited woman screamed, her high heels pounding on the stone below.
“R-Run! Go go!” Kokichi yelled, scrambling to his feet but avoiding his friends’ heads. They hastily followed, gasping and tripping over their own feet to get away. They ran as fast as they could to the school’s entrance. Kokichi looked over his shoulder. The woman had stopped, but glared after them and threw her arms to her sides in frustration.
He stopped and rounded the corner of the school’s wall. Once the group was behind it, they bent over and gasped greedily for air. Hana straight up collapsed to the ground, breathing hard. She had never run so fast in her life. Kokichi and Mezeto were in slightly better condition, leaning a hand against the wall and panting. Ayano was bent over her knees, exhaling in a high pitch.
Then, she began to laugh. She laughed so hard that tears welled in her eyes.
“H-Holy crap!” She cackled. “That was SO funny! Hahaha!”
Kokichi burst into laughter with her, and Mezeto and Hana soon followed, even though she was tired. They laughed uncontrollably for what felt like forever, until they decided to round the corner and look at their damage.
The horse head was crooked on the statue’s head, facing in an unnatural direction. The bottom of the mask was sagging on either side from where Hana was clutching while dangling with Kokichi. It was absolutely ridiculous.
This caused the kids to laugh even harder. They sank to sit against the walls, clutching their sides.
“Mission successful,” Kokichi giggled after his fit.
-
Kokichi laughed at the memory. They found it the funniest thing ever at the time, and now it was just utterly stupid.
Miu had cackled herself silly, saying how genius their plan was. Kirumi had voiced her concern when he and Hana dangled from the statue’s head.
“It could have been a lot worse,” she sighed with motherly concern, but Kokichi just grinned at her.
Everyone else in the room was smiling fondly as they observed Kokichi living vicariously through his memories again. He had a childhood, not necessarily a normal one, but he still had the opportunity to be a kid despite his tough situation.
Shuichi stared fondly at his friend. He lay his cheek on the pillow he was hugging and watched as Miu continued to joke with Kokichi. Kiibo was watching with a faint smile, but Shuichi could tell there was a question on his mind.
“So, you led pranks. That’s what made you the Ultimate Supreme Leader?” he asked. His question still hadn’t been answered, but he didn’t want to rush Kokichi’s story too much. He was enjoying listening to his story, but his curiosity was still high.
“So impatient, Kiibo.” Kokichi jeered jokingly at him, leaning back against Gonta’s arm. Gonta didn’t react. He just smiled at his friend and told himself not to move.
“Well, I’m sorry, Kokichi. My question is still unanswered.”
Kokichi’s lips tightened when he realized the boy was right. He had gotten lost in memory and storytelling. It was what he did with his friends in the past. Old habits always resurfaced, he realized.
“Alright, alright,” Kokichi pouted. “
So, we pulled our first prank. After that, they just kept coming. It was fun, and I did all I could to keep the momentum going. At night, one of us always ended up crying. Mezeto with his mom, Hana with her parents, and Ayano with her fear of being alone. I usually made up stories to calm them down or comforted them until they fell asleep.
“At one point, Hana’s brother offered all of us a part-time job at his shop. It also helped him take more breaks for himself, so for a time, I was working a lot more than any of them.”
“Why’d you work more than them? It’s their store,” Kaito voiced out loud. He was sitting cross-legged on a couch with Maki terribly close at his side.
“I just… wanted to give them a break. The poor guy had to run the shop pretty much on his own. He didn’t want to sell it since it was his parents’. I could tell he was working himself to the ground.”
Wow…
Everyone stared at Kokichi, a new light slowly shining upon him. They realized that he was doing all he did to make sure everyone around him was okay.
Shuichi and Kaito stared at Kokichi with pained expressions. They suddenly began to understand why Kokichi was the way he was and how he was so easily able to act like everything was okay. He had to be.
“It was for a short time, though. We all still worked one or two days a week, and eventually I saved up enough money for new clothes. I wanted all of us to match, so I bought everyone a checkered scarf.”
Kokichi smirked as understanding dawned on his classmates.
“I did it to show that we were all close. No matter who looked at us, they would be able to tell that we were a group, and we were each other’s. Ayano was the first one to mention how we were like a secret organization. We played harmless pranks all the time, running away from the scene together before we could ever be caught. Mezeto called me the founder, and it eventually turned into Leader. Over time, we came across more kids like us.” Kokichi’s eyes wandered to Shuichi, then Maki. “The people in the motive video, I’m sure you recall.”
Maki’s eyes narrowed, but she looked away from Kokichi. Shuichi’s face showed his understanding, and he nodded to Kokichi to continue. Rantaro looked really confused. Poor guy.
“Do you want me to pull up a picture?” Shuichi asked before Kokichi could continue. He was caught off guard, and he eyed Shuichi’s laptop.
“Oh, yeah, if you want,” Kokichi said dismissively, but he did want to see a picture again. The detective picked up the computer and typed on the keys.
“How could you find a picture?” Tenko asked.
“Our motive videos, from the killing game,” Shuichi replied. “I’m sure they were shown to the audience… ah, yeah.” He clicked something with the touchpad, then turned the computer around to face everyone. He placed it on his lap, and everyone leaned in. It was a picture of all the members from Kokichi’s Danganronpa motive video.
Kokichi sat up and smiled when he recognized the picture.
“Yeah, so from left to right, that’s Ayano, Izumu, Hana sitting on the ground- I told you she’s lazy- Mitseru, Mezeto- me, haha! I look so cool- then Sora, Kumiko, Norayo and Toshayo. We always joked that they were brothers because of their names.”
Himiko and Angie crowded the screen, curious to see what they looked like. Kaede was peeking around the side of the screen, Rantaro peeking from behind her, Kaito was leaned forward, Maki had already seen the picture so she didn’t feel the need to look again, Miu and Kiibo’s heads were up, and everyone else figured they could look later. The screen was too crowded.
“So anyways,” Kokichi continued, catching everyone’s attention again. Himiko and Angie continued looking at the screen, making quiet comments here and there. “Kumiko was next to join our little group. At that point, we were pretty much living with Hana and her not-so-present brother. The house was small, so we all slept out in the living room with pushed together mattresses and blankets. Then came Norayo and Toshayo. We ran into them while running away from another angry old guy. They helped us hide, and they ended up coming home with us. Then we came across Sora, then Mitseru. Those were back-to-back days. We found them… ah, in not so good condition.”
He scratched his cheek and paused briefly. “Their parents are dicks. Anyway, Izumu was the last kid we came across. He was really cold at first, and actually threatened us with a knife. He was just scared because of the way he grew up. We worked it out eventually.
“I bought more scarves with what little money I had, so we could all match and keep up the organization gag. Kumiko said our situation was like a dice because we never knew what would come next. Another group member, another prank? Who knew. The house was really full at that point, so we couldn’t take in anymore kids. Still, I would come across someone every so often, and I’d tell a story or let them know good places to stay and get food. It was all I could do for them.
“To finally answer your question, Kiibo,” Kokichi turned to him with a smirk, “they called me their Supreme Leader because I was good at taking care of everyone and leading our big group pranks. They said I gave them a place to belong… and that they didn’t know if they’d even be alive if it wasn’t for me. They called Hana the supreme assistant since it was her house.”
Kokichi chuckled at the thought, suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of longing for his friend he called family. He leaned back against Gonta, and smiled as Kiibo stared at him.
“That’s…” Kiibo started. He didn’t know what to say. He was surprised at the story behind Kokichi’s ultimate, but it made sense after it had been explained. He didn’t expect Kokichi to be portrayed as a caretaker.
Kaede was tearing up, saying, “Awe, Kokichi…” Rantaro placed a comforting hand on her back.
Miu was staring at Kokichi with furrowed brows. She wasn’t expecting to hear such a warm story from Kokichi, but the boy was full of surprises.
“They were right though. I didn’t want them to suffer any more than they already did. No kid deserves to die. I did all I could to make sure they were alright.”
The pieces clicked in Shuichi’s brain.
Kokichi played mastermind to end the game. He made everyone hate him so that they wouldn’t get too close and ruin his plan. He died thinking- knowing- that everyone hated him, yet he still died for them.
This kid was just a big self-sacrifice.
“Thank you, Kokichi,” Shuichi blurted. Everyone turned to him in confusion. Kokichi also gazed at him curiously.
“ ‘Thank you?’ What are you thanking me for?” Kokichi looked nervous. He sank further into Gonta’s side, who leaned on his hand to allow more room for Kokichi.
“It all makes sense… I know you sacrificed yourself to end everything in the killing game. You did it for us, for people who you thought hated you, because you didn’t want anyone to die.”
Shuichi averted his gaze shyly after he voiced his observation. Miu and Maki suddenly looked uncomfortable and took to playing with their fingers. Shuichi had left everyone stunned.
They all had to admit, they hated Kokichi in the killing game. He was loud, obnoxious, evil…
But after hearing his story, maybe he wasn’t evil. He had to keep up a facade for the sake of others.
Even if it was twisted… it made sense.
There were sniffles coming from the ground, and everyone turned to see Miu glaring at Kokichi.
“You’re a big idiot,” Miu sniffled. “Why are you actually a good person?”
Kokichi’s heart flew to his throat and he stared at Miu. His fingers entangled themselves together, subconsciously fiddling away. Him? A good person? Maybe back then, but definitely not now. He had practically killed multiple people. His plan had failed. How was that a good thing?
“I-I am not a good person…” Kokichi responded, but he sat up from his cocoon against Gonta and cocked his head at Miu. “Stop crying, please.”
It didn’t work. She just covered her face with her hands and mumbled, “We’re all idiots.”
Kokichi hesitated, not knowing what to do, but he got up onto his knees and stroked Miu’s hair.
“Don’t say that,” he told her. Everyone watched Kokichi comfort Miu, and they all realized that there was more to him than he originally thought. They were left to ponder with their thoughts as Miu cried in Kokichi’s arms.
“I-I hope you find them again, someday,” Miu muttered. Nobody knew what was to come after they were allowed to leave the living quarters. Their lines of contact with loved ones were shut off until the students were released, so they didn’t know who they would even go to.
Kokichi wondered if his DICE members would still love him after witnessing what he was like in the killing game. He sighed, not wanting to think about it, and told himself that it would all be okay. He continued to brush through Miu’s tangled hair and comfort her like he knew how to do.
“I hope so too.”
Everyone and Kokichi grew a little closer today.