"With You Again" ☆ Saiouma Halloween Special 2021

"Goodbye, Kokichi Ouma."

The fifth hour

I sit in the kitchen, hair wrapped around in a towel. Apparently, Shuichi wants to make sure that I won't catch a cold before we leave. He's grabbing my things for me as I collect my thoughts.

Shuichi enters the room with a bag slung over his shoulders. "Alright, Kokichi. We're ready to go."

I don't respond. I'm kind of... upset with him right now. I know that it's best if I hurry and leave as soon as possible, but I think that I have the right to know what I've gotten myself into before I set out on a new path.

"Kokichi? Didn't you hear me?" he walks up to my side and taps my shoulder lightly. "We need to go."

"I'm not leaving." I say sternly. "Not until you tell me everything."

"Everything...? What do you mean by that?" he asks, golden eyes resting on me.

"I know that there's more to this. I want to know why I can touch you... and why others can see you... and why you chose me..."

"I told you that wasn't important." Shuichi replies.

"Well it's important to me!!" I shout, loosing patience. "You can tell me, or we can both stay here until the police arrive!"

Shuichi goes quiet for a moment. "If it'll make you get up, then fine. Ask me anything."

I turn to face the former ghost. He looks absolutely defeated.

"Did you lie to me...?" I ask him in a whisper. "About Kaede and the others wanting to... hurt me...?"

"..."

"Answer me, Shuichi..." I end up pleading, ruining my strict aura.

"...No. I didn't." he finally says. "In a way."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I yell.

"They were trying to kill you. The real you." he continues.

"The real... me...?"

"Yes. The Kokichi who was everyone's friend. The one who was prideful, but sweeter than he looked. The one who stuck by me when nobody else would..." he looks me directly in the eye. "The one... who I fell in love with."

I can't help but stare at Shuichi's vulnerable expression. "You're... you're talking in riddles... this is our first time meeting..."

"You're wrong." Shuichi interjects. "We've met before. We were best friends. You just... can't remember it."

"But I've never seen you before!"

"You have. We went to the same school... I was the Ultimate Detective. I had just transferred and you showed me around the school. We were really close..." he trails off, breath hitching. "I ended up falling in love with you. I wanted to tell you, but..."

I look up at Shuichi in shock. I can't believe what he's saying... it's all lies... I thought he would never lie to me...

"...but I died." he finishes. "There was a car crash. The person responsible was a suspect I was investigating."

"S-so... you are a ghost?"

"I'll get to that," he promises before continuing his story. "I never talked to anyone but you. Nobody knew who I was. Nobody came looking for me when I disappeared from school that day." He sighs. "Nobody... except you, of course."

"M-me?" I gasp.

"Yes... you came looking for me when nobody else did. But of course, you couldn't find me. You were devastated. I was devastated. Until one day, when I was given an offer by the gods. I was told that I could go back to earth as a ghost... but with a cost. And that cost..." he paused and turned away. "...was that everybody I knew would forget me."