Danganronpa: Painful Truth

Non-Lethal

Kokichi stood in the dark kitchen, struggling to calm his uneven, shallow breaths. He wiped his face again angrily, but his eyes refused to stop leaking. He took another sip from the cup of purple soda in his shaky hand. He was glad that no one was there to tell him to drink water instead. Water was boring. He needed something to relax and distract him.

Contrary to Shigeri's assumption, Kokichi's nightmares had only gotten worse. He had been in the press in this dream, weak and immobilized. Maki had been the one operating it, surrounded by the others from the killing game. Everyone had been hugging each other and celebrating, cheering for Maki like a hero. The screeching of the press had been quieter than usual, so he'd been able to hear the relief in every single one of their voices.

"It doesn't matter," he hissed quietly, almost desperately to himself. "I don't care. The lame boring heroes...are supposed to hate the super cool villain. That's how it goes. I don't care."

Even the empty, silent kitchen seemed to know he was lying. It didn't make sense; now that he was back home with his actual friends, he had no need to associate with any of those naive losers. But there was still a part of him that wanted to reach out and interact with those who had been forced to endure the game alongside him.

Unfortunately, it would be impossible. For that to happen, they would need to trust him. In order to gain their trust properly, he would need to trust them first, which was already a difficult task for him. How could he be expected to exchange trust with any of them after he'd already convinced them that he was an insane force of evil that wanted to see them suffer?

"I don't care," he repeated stubbornly, rubbing his eyes. "I don't care I don't care I don't care!"

As he stood alone in the darkness, muttering pointless lies to himself, it finally occurred to him that the suspicion and isolation of that game might have affected his mental state more than he'd thought. He would never give them the satisfaction of knowing, but Shigeri had probably been right to oppose his reckless plan until the end.

Bright, harsh light suddenly filled the room, startling him badly. He nearly launched the rest of his purple, sticky beverage across the kitchen. He dabbed frantically at his eyes again, but it was too late. Maki was already standing at the entrance to the kitchen, watching him suspiciously. Under the fluorescent lights and her cold glare, he felt exposed, and vulnerable...and slightly scared.

Refusing to give up, Kokichi wrestled his expression into a wide, mischievous grin that made his face sore. "Gooood morning Maki Roll! What brings you here so early?" He giggled playfully. "Nee-hee-hee! If you're here to kill me, I don't think turning on the light was a very smart move! Oh well, better luck next time~!"

Maki felt her anger and suspicion start to fade, like it always had whenever a younger child at the orphanage had started to cry while being scolded. It hadn't been a trick of the light, or her imagination, she was sure of it. Before she had alerted him to her presence, he had been crying, by himself. What would be the point of faking his emotions with no one around to see the performance?

"Don't be stupid," she grumbled. "It's a kitchen. I'm here for breakfast."

"Oooh what's on the menu, Maki Roll? Rice? Toast? Muuuurder?" He smirked slyly.

"Shut up," she snapped, opening the pantry to retrieve a box of cereal. "More importantly, why were you in here in the dark?"

"I don't have to tell you~!" he sang. "I live here, ya know."

"You were crying."

He bristled slightly, but his expression didn't change. "Oh, that? I was just practicing my sob stories. Soft-hearted people are soooo easy to manipulate!" He laughed loudly. "Did it work, Maki Roll? Were you worried about me? Did your cold, black, murderous heart warm up when you saw my cute little face?"

She scowled as she poured the cereal into a bowl. "Why do you treat me like I chose to be an assassin? You don't know anything about me."

His face turned slightly more serious. "Killing for profit isn't exactly self-defense. You didn't have to."

She glared at him for several moments. "You actually think I got to keep the money, don't you?" She sighed at his skeptical expression. After a few moments of hesitation, she started reluctantly recounting her past.

By the time she finished, Kokichi's expression was full of curiosity. "Wow, you're actually telling the truth, aren't you?" He smirked suddenly. "But who said I wanted to hear your whole life story?"

"I don't care what you wanna hear," she muttered flatly. "Now that I'm able to give up on being an assassin, I don't want my intentions to be misunderstood. If I'm gonna be disliked either way, it should be for who I really am."

"Well well, I'm impressed." He grinned darkly. "Maybe we'll stop considering you our prisoner and start planning your initiation! But you'll still need to prove yourself! Nee-hee-hee!"

Maki rolled her eyes at him, pouring milk over her cereal. "Yeah, I'll pass. I have training to do."

"Good!" He nodded, pointing at her determinedly. "Go learn plenty of non-lethal fighting techniques, or you won't be of any use to my organization at all!"

"I'm not joining your stupid little drama club," she grumbled at him.

"Are you sure? Because that means you're still a suspicious person, ya know!" He frowned at her. "I guess, as the leader, I'd better go with you! I gotta make sure you're not training to kill all of us!"

Maki ate her breakfast patiently. "I'm not bringing you."

"I thought you might say that. That's why I'll just follow you instead! Nee-hee-hee!"

"Do you wanna die?" she snapped automatically. She regretted it immediately as he let out a theatrical gasp. "Well even though I don't kill people anymore, I can still kick your ass."

"You'll have to catch me first~!" he giggled. "Heeeey, maybe that can be your training! See if you can catch me without murdering me!"

Maki wore a pained expression. As annoying as he was, she could no longer detect anything threatening about him. In fact, now that her judgement was no longer clouded by suspicion and false memories, she recognized his behavior. It was common in children, especially those who grew up without parents. The brat just wanted attention.

"Do whatever you want," she shrugged, placing her empty bowl in the sink. "I can't stop you. Like you said, you live here." She eyed his childish, colorful attire briefly before turning to leave. "But you might want to change out of your pajamas before you go run around outside."

Kokichi cringed as she exited the kitchen. Of all the people in the building who could have found him in such a state, of course it would be Maki. She'd been surprisingly casual toward him, but also surprisingly nosy. He definitely hadn't expected to hear such a depressing backstory from her. It hadn't sounded like a lie, either.

He chugged the last of his drink and took a deep breath before heading back to his room to change. Even though Maki generally made him nervous, pestering someone into a game of tag was always a good way to distract himself from upsetting situations. And even if she did decide to claim revenge and kill him, at least he would finally get some proper sleep.