Phobia

Scopophobia

A specific name flashed in front of the crowd, bringing joy to Monokuma and the mastermind. She couldn't wait to get her hands on the boy who was now freaking out. Deep down he was full of so much despair that the mastermind knew he would bring her immense joy and satisfaction. There was only two people in this current season that the mastermind wanted desperately to see suffer, and now she was finally getting half of her wish.

"Hey it'll be alright. It'll be over before you know it." Rantaro smiled.

Both Kaede and Kaito quickly hugged Shuichi before he shakily shuffled on the stage. As soon as the detective stepped foot on the elevated surface he was wrapped up by chains and pulled into the centre, enough slack on the chains to move a few steps all around him.

Kokichi couldn't help but worry for the boy, he felt like Shuichi was different to all the others. No one knew how much he genuinely cared for the detective, which was something he had trouble doing due to trust issues. The supreme leader didn't want to see the boy he cared for suffer like this, and he secretly hoped the detective would feel the same way about him. Monokuma jumped over to his new victim and took his hat, throwing it to whatever other student would pick it up.

Monokuma let out a few random laughs and cackles whilst large screens came down from the roof and placed themselves all around the victim. Mannequins shot out of nowhere and placed themselves around the detective where screens were absent, causing him to be fully surrounded by plastic and glass.

Shuichi was clearly already terrified, snapping his head around to look at his inanimate captors. Before long the bits of plastic all came to life; the mannequins had eyes that watched Shuichi's every move, the screens had eyes that bore into Shuichi's soul. The detective tried to step out of the view of all of the staring horrors but no matter where he moved, the eyes were still watching him. 

He could feel his heart racing a mile a minute, it felt like it was going to rip out from his chest at any moment. Sweat dripped down his face as hateful eyes filled his vision, staring at him from humanoid figures and images, his body started shaking as the memories flashed through his mind of what he had done to that man years prior, the reason he wore his hat everywhere.

As the time ticked on Shuichi felt more and more restless, moving around more and more to try and escape the stares that seemed to grow more and more hateful towards the boy. To everyone else watching, it just looked like a few videos of eyes and mannequins around a panicked child, but to Shuichi he felt like someone was about to hurt him, that he was in immense danger and could die any second.

His breathing quickened as he constantly tried and failed to run away, he lashed out and tried to kick over something, anything, but they were all just out of reach from him every try. As Shuichi kept breathing heavily he started feeling dizzy and faint. He looked directly at a mannequin staring with malicious intent before passing out from hyperventilation, hitting the ground hard on his arm.

Chains rattled as they retreated from the limp body, screens and mannequins disappeared to wherever they came from to leave just Shuichi lying on the stage, sweating and breathing slowly as it started returning to normal. Everyone watched in shock the entire punishment as someone whom everyone loved and cared for as a friend (or more) was trapped in a situation he clearly couldn't handle.

Acting fast, Kokichi ran up and knelt next to Shuichi's body, placing the hat he had caught earlier on his head as he flipped Shuichi on to his back and held his fingers to his neck, checking for pulse.

"Kokichi! What do you think you're doing?!" Kaito shouted, attempting to make his way towards his sidekick before being stopped by Kirumi.

"Leave him Kaito, can't you see what's going on?" Kirumi hushed, keeping quiet so Kokichi wouldn't hear her. "Shuichi isn't in danger, Kokichi knows what he's doing." She smiled, knowing that Kokichi would never put Shuichi in danger.

The supreme leader ignored Kaito's aggressive question, embracing Shuichi in his arms as they shared a one-sided hug. Kokichi felt like crying, but he wouldn't let anyone see him weak and vulnerable. Shuichi didn't deserve to be punished. He wished he could've taken the detective's place for him so he didn't need to feel more pain than what he had already been through with Kaede's failed murder plan. The liar knew he wasn't supposed to know of said plan, but he was small enough to hide and listen in on people's conversations without their knowledge.

Shuichi slowly stirred and his eyes fluttered open to see Kokichi's grinning face inches from his. 

"Morniiiiing sleepyhead! You're finally up Shuichi!" Kokichi giggled as he moved back to allow Shuichi to sit up. The boy groaned as he held his arm that he landed on.

"H-huh?"

"You passed out you little baby~" Kokichi teased, but only Shuichi could see the concerned expression as the liar whispered to him. "Are you okay?"

Shuichi smiled as he took the smaller boy's hand and stood up, whispering back, "yeah I'm alright. Thanks."

Kaito got offended at his sidekick being called a little baby. "Not the time you-" Kirumi slapped him with the back of her gloved hand, the ring causing him enough pain to shut up.

"Let them have their moment." Kaede whisper yelled, excited for another possible relationship as the entire class watched.

"If it's what Shuichi wants, let them be." Maki mumbled from Kaito's side.

The two boys on stage made their way back to their classmates hand in hand. Kokichi made clear that they were only holding hands so he could catch the other boy in case he fainted again, he didn't actually care for the boy, right?

"Unfortunately Shuichi already told you all about his fear so he ruined my plan but oh well that was entertaining enough~!" Monokuma cackled, his last comment angering a lot of students but they all knew nothing could be done. It was Monokuma after all.

Shuichi looked down at his feet, feeling ashamed at what had just happened in front of all the other ultimates. The detective felt a familiar hand on his shoulder and looked up to see a smiling pianist. 

"It's alright Shuichi, you got through it in the end!" She beamed.

"Yeah I was surprised someone like you could last that long!" Kokichi laughed after his backhanded compliment.

Shuichi just smiled in response. "Thank you guys."