The Mastermind's Lies | Mastermind Shuichi AU

Chapter 22 - Kaede's Help

"Hey guys!~ Who wants to go to the café with me this afternoon?"

I placed my hands behind my head as everyone stared at me from the couches of the living room. I let out a giggle.

"What's with those faces? Do I have something between my teeth?"

"Jeez, you're so weird Kokichi. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?" asked Kaito, face strained in confusion.

"Well, I'm just really craving for one of those little pastries from last week and I don't want to go there alone.~" I fake pouted.

"What a fuckin' virgin! Can't even walk alone!"

"You're one to talk you stupid whore!" I snapped back at her. She quickly understood what I meant and let out a whimper.

"But Kokichi... we're slowly running out of money, we can't afford to go buy this kind of thing!" said Tsumugi.

"She's right Ko. You should just grab something healthy from the fridge for once too." said Rantaro.

"Gosh, what are you, my nanny?! I ate, like, 10 apples yesterday and you guys didn't even notice!"

"B-But there isn't even 10 apples-" started Himiko.

I cut her. "I found two hundred yen in my pocket yesterday and it turns out it's just enough for one of those delicious little pastries so..."

I turned around to Kaede.

"Oh! Kaedeeee!~ Wanna come with me?"

She raised an eyebrow. She set down her piano music sheets that she had been sorting.

"Sure, I guess?"

"Yay! Come on now, I don't have all day y'know."

I grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room with me, under the eyes of the others.

I successfully got out of the house and let go of her arm. We both walked in silence, her following me not far behind.

"Hey Kokichi, this isn't the way to the café isn't it?"

"Nope! We're going some place quiet so that I can kill you without any witness!"

She was startled. "W-what?!"

"Nishishi! Just kidding!"

She let out a sigh as I continued walking. We eventually reached a park. I sat down on a bench and invited her to sit down besides me.

"So... why did you bring me here?"

"..."

I took a deep breath.

"I was hoping you would be the one to come to be honest."

She raised an eyebrow at my maybe too sudden change of tone.

"What's wrong? Why are you acting so serious like that...?"

I put my hands behing my head and sighed.

"Last night, I wasn't sleeping and all so I went outside to get some fresh air and... I saw something."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"What did you see?" she asked curiously.

I stared at her right in the face. She seemed a little unsettled by my serious look.

"I think it's better if I show you."

I pulled out my phone, opened it on the video and handed it to her.

She took it hesitantly and looked at it, a look of surprise quickly installed itself on her face.

"...Shuichi? Why do you have a photo of him? And who's this man?"

"It's a video dumbass. Click it and watch it."

She did as I told her.

I saw her face switch from calm, to horrified, to confused, to sad and to angry all throughout the video.

"W-what the hell is this?! Who's this man and what are they saying?!" she semi-shouted.

"Calm down jeez. There's a reason why I wanted you to watch this video."

She gritted her teeth, looking away. Small tear prickled the corners of her eyes.

"I think that Shuichi's being held hostage for something by this man."

"Hostage?! How?!"

"I have no idea. But he's insulting him and visibly telling him all those things to get a reaction out of him. He said he wanted Shuichi to feel despair, so this man clearly has extremely bad intentions."

"You're right, it really can't be good."

She wiped away her tears.

"So... what side of him is the true one? Is this psychopath creepy side of him all a lie too? What if he wasn't even the mastermind in the first place?"

"We can't make assumptions yet." I said.

She sniffed.

"How can I help... please tell me how I can help him. I just want things to go back like how it used to be..."

I lowered my head, thinking back to how he used to be in the game. His smile, his laugh, his handsome face-

I found myself blushing for a slight moment, before I took a deep breath. I don't even know which part of him is an act anymore. His entire existence suddenly became ten times more confusing.

"We're going to have to investigate~" I said with a smirk, swinging my hands behind my head.

"Investi...gate?" she said hesitantly.

"Yep! Exactly like we did in that stupid awful dumb boring game! But this time, it won't be Shuichi helping us all..."

I put my hand in a fist and showed it to her.

"It'll be us who are helping out Shuichi. Are you down Kayayde?" I asked.

She stared at me with her mouth wide open for a few seconds.

"Kokichi... you like Shuichi, don't you?"

I felt the heat rise up to my cheeks.

"What?! Nu-uh, no way Jose! He's so ugly, with that dumb blue hair and his ugly piss yellow eyes, I have standards y'know?"

Kaede just stared at me with a small smirk. She raised an eyebrow playfully, before letting out a small giggle.

"Yeah, right. Keep lying to yourself."

I rolled my eyes. I decided to change the subject.

"So?! Are you going to bump my fist or am I going to wait here forever?"

She laughed and then raised her own fist. She lightly bumped it against mine.

"Yes, I'm down to help you!"

"Perfect! Now, let's establish a plan!"