Danganronpa: Painful Truth

Empathy

Maki sheathed the practice sword she had borrowed from Peko and sat on the ground. She sipped from her water bottle, then poured a portion of it onto her head.

"Awww, break time already?" Kokichi mocked her from above, although he was secretly impressed and slightly intimidated. They had been out for hours, yet she had shown no sign of even slowing down until that moment. "Don't forget to eat snacks to refill your stamina bar!"

She continued to ignore him, just as she had been for the past several hours. Scowling, she resumed her hydration.

"Aww, lemme guess, you forgot to bring snacks? Wow, I thought a trained assassin would be more prepared! Nee-hee-hee!"

She rolled her eyes, but stayed silent.

With a giggle, he pulled a granola bar from his pocket and dropped it. It smacked her on the head before tumbling to the ground.

Beneath his deliberately annoying grin, he was nervous. Bringing extra snacks for training was something he'd have done for any of his minions without a second thought, but how would someone like Maki react to his attempt at a friendly gesture? Would she be surprised? Would she reject it outright? Would she attack him and kill him?

He shoved the latter option from his mind, feeling silly. They were home. No one would let her kill him there...right?

Maki narrowed her eyes at the offering, then glared up at him. "What is this, poison?"

He sighed quietly to himself. Of course his idea had been too ambitious. He should have just ignored Maki and gone for an easier target, like Shuichi or Himiko.

He adopted an evil grin. "Oooh nothing gets past you, huh? Well, that's for me to know, and you to find out~!" He lowered his voice menacingly. "The hard way."

To his shock, she shrugged and unwrapped the granola bar. "Guess so," she muttered, nibbling at the corner. "I can't tell what you're up to, but thanks, I guess."

He opened his mouth to reply, but an inexplicable wave of anxiety suddenly seized him. He couldn't even think of a good lie or joke to tell. "Okay well, bye~!" he announced, in the most obnoxious voice he could muster. He scrambled to the other side of the tree before leaping down and sprinting into the forest.

Maki frowned as she watched him run away. "That was...weird."

She heard footsteps from behind her and quickly spun to look. To her horror, Kaito was striding confidently toward her training spot. He was beaming with his usual cheer until he spotted the fleeing Kokichi. His brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, but he grinned at her as he approached. "Heya Maki Roll! How's the training goin'?"

"Kaito…" she muttered. She'd had no time to craft what she planned to say to him, especially with Kokichi's distractions. She could still feel the exhilarating emotions she had felt for him during the killing game. She only wished she could identify them properly.

"It's fine," she replied abruptly. She took a deep breath before continuing. "And don't...call me that for now. I need to talk to you."

Kaito frowned, looking concerned. "Yeah, anytime! What's goin' on?"

Maki clutched one of her pigtails and stared at the ground. After gathering enough courage, she began to speak. "It's about...what I said to you before your execution." Without giving him a chance to interject, she poured her heart out to him, fumbling over her words in her haste to get them out before she lost her nerve. She detailed all of her confusion, her uncertainty, her guilt. By the time she was done, her throat felt tight. The silence lingered heavily between them for what felt like an hour.