A/N: age regression is a coping mechanism!!! don't treat it weird!!
Age regression is a coping mechanism. One where you regress to the mind of a child. It can help with stress, trauma, depression, etc. or it can just be for fun!
And even though it was kind of embarrassing, and no one would probably ever believe this, but Kokichi Ouma was an age regressor.
...It helped, okay?!
When he was regressed, it was like the only time he was actually okay. No stressful thoughts or feelings of hatred towards himself. The only problems he usually had were just simple baby things! Like losing his favorite stuffed animals or something.
It was...nice. To feel okay like that. It was such an unusual occurrence. And he felt really glad he had some sort of safe space!
But he didn't tell anyone about this, though. Not even the people closest to him! No, he couldn't have anyone finding out that the Ultimate Supreme Leader used pacifiers and played with stuffed animals in his spare time.
Which is why he couldn't regress during this killing game. It was too much of a risk! What if someone gets killed while he's regressed and he's halfway big and halfway small during an investigation? What if someone finds him when he's small and learns about his regression?? And what if when he regresses he ends up freaking out because he's little in a killing game???
And what if his deepest fears are correct and this is being broadcasted to other people????
No way. Kokichi couldn't regress right now.
Even though this is probably one of the most stressful environments he's ever been in and regressing would definitely help him during this. ..it was just too risky! He couldn't do it. He couldn't.
And it's not like this is the first time he's stopped himself from regressing. He's done it before, convincing himself that this coping mechanism was stupid, and that he shouldn't do it anymore. When he thought that, he could force the urge away for months.
This situation was a little different, though, due to how stressful it was. He was bound to start feeling like he had to regress at some point. But that didn't mean he couldn't control himself.
Though, just because he could control himself, didn't mean that someone else could.
Kokichi's very aware of what he acts like when he's starting to feel small. That's how he knew when to stop it when he had to. And yeah it isn't the same for every age regressor, but it definitely alerted Kokichi when Shuichi started exhibiting that behavior.
They were at the dining hall in the morning when it happened. Shuichi had been keeping pretty quiet, which wasn't that unusual, but it did seem like his mind was stuck on something. And he was sitting right in front of Kokichi so it wasn't too hard to notice. So out of curiosity, he started to pay attention.
When he did, he had noticed that when Shuichi did start to speak, it sounded... kind of baby-ish. Basically, his voice was a little high pitched and his sentences were a little jumbled. But he would correct himself immediately and it was slight enough that nobody else noticed.
Still, Kokichi did.
His immediate thought was that Shuichi was slipping into being little, but trying to keep himself big. And it wasn't that odd that there was another age regressor in here. A lot of people hide their regression so, really, it could be a lot more likely that you're friends with an age regressor than you think!
