Just One More Time

2 - I'm Fucking Sick of This

Shuichi stormed into his room, not bothering to lock the door behind him as he fell into his bed. Curling into a ball, tears soaked into his bedsheets as he wept, visions of his old best friend's execution filling his vision. He watched the flashes behind his closed eyelids, katanas severing Harukawa's body and skewering every inch of her organs. She'd survived with me before, but now she's the first to be executed. Could I have saved her? What else is going to happen in the future? Will I die again?

The ringing of a doorbell snatched Shuichi from his depressed slump. Wiping his eyes, Shuichi took a deep, shaky breath and turned to see someone opening the door on their own, Kokichi slipping into the room and locking the door. "Saihara, we need to talk." Shuichi's heart dropped at the choice of name, Kokichi's expression holding depressed rage, no hint of care towards his friend. "How did you know Harukawa was the Ultimate Assassin? There were no hints towards it." He asked, the detective taking one step back with every step Kokichi took towards him. "You aren't the mastermind, are you?"

Shuichi's face dropped, his neck remembering the feeling of hands choking it to death. Ouma's accusing scream filled his ears as he died, the guilt in his eyes when he realised his mistake stabbed Shuichi's heart. Tears poured down his already stained cheeks, the detective dropping to his knees and screaming at the floor. He didn't recognise his own scream, one full of despair and pain as he continued to shout incoherently. "I just want this to end! This is the third fucking killing game and I'm sick of it! Why can't I just fucking die and stay dead?!" He heard several thuds, a warm embrace enveloping him as he bawled into his hands. Kokichi rubbed circles on Shuichi's back, shushing the boy as the two knelt on the floor.

"Hey, Shuichi it's alright. Just breathe and tell me what you're talking about. What do you mean by 'third killing game'?"

"Why are you comforting me? You just accused me of being the mastermind, again." Shuichi mumbled into his wet palms.

"I'm kind of obligated to, now that I gave you that scarf and all. It's not like I actually care about your ass," Kokichi scoffed. Shuichi sighed, sitting up and staring at the male, sensing another lie. He stared into Kokichi's purple eyes, the shining orbs searching his for an answer, begging Shuichi to tell him the situation.

"I'll explain everything," he pouted at the floor, his body filled with so much despair that it took too much energy to make an expression.

-*_*⏳*_*-

"If you hate me now, I understand. Go ahead and tell everyone I'm the mastermind so someone murders me, or you could just kill me again," Shuichi mumbled. He stared at the floor, sitting on his bed with his elbows on his knees. The supreme leader had been pacing the bedroom during the detective's explanation, chewing his thumb. Kokichi halted, turning to frown at the detective.

"I'm not going to kill you, you're my partner in crime in this killing game. Although if you leave my organisation I might have to gently poke you in the heart with a super sharp knife!" Kokichi teased, jumping onto the soft mattress beside his friend. He did recruit me into DICE, I knew this scarf meant a lot to him. "I couldn't kill you even if I wanted to-" He mumbled, Shuichi only just able to hear the smaller male. "Hey, was Yumeno ever the mastermind?"

Shuichi hesitated, burying his face in his hands out of shame and guilt. "No. I'd tell you the mastermind but they can hear us, I might've just risked my life telling you about the loop. I feel so disgusting even thinking about killing Yumeno, but I need to break this cycle, I can't go through this again!" He cried, leaning into Kokichi's bony chest as the latter embraced him again.

"We're tied together now, so I guess I'll do what I can to help. Even if it means dying-"

"No! I won't let that happen!" Shuichi shouted, his body shooting up so he could lock eyes with his friend. The purplette chuckled and rolled his eyes, smirking.

"What I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted, was I'll let you kill me! With our great minds, we'll hide your identity perfectly and you'll win! If this is all fictional, I don't care about dying, and you'll be free from the loop."

"Kokichi... I can't do that, I'm not going to hurt you," Shuichi whispered, leaning his forehead on the supreme leader's shoulder.

"Tell me if you change your mind, but I'm sure you'll break the cycle eventually Shuichi." No more words were exchanged between the two as Kokichi rubbed circles on his weeping subordinate's back. Shuichi felt his body relax, his eyes fluttering as he leant into Kokichi's chest, feeling safe with the other male. He swore he could hear the other Ultimate say something to him, but he couldn't tell if it were in a dream or real life. All he knew was that he loved Kokichi too.

-*_*⏳*_*-

"Hnng, what..." Shuichi mumbled, opening his eyes to see Kokichi gently rubbing his shoulders, smiling down at him. "K-Kokichi?"

"Morning sleepyhead!" Kokichi laughed, stroking Shuichi's hair out of his face. "Now that you're awake, we have to go."

"What for?" Shuichi asked, a faint red hue covering his cheeks as he realised he'd fallen asleep in the other male's lap.

"Monokuma made an announcement about a minute ago. He wants to see everyone in the gym."

"Oh, why didn't I wake up?" Shuichi wondered out loud to himself, stretching as he sat up.

"You were in a pretty deep sleep, you were even drooling!" Feeling around his mouth, Shuichi sighed in relief as he realised the other male lied again. "Don't worry, you didn't say anything embarrassing! Unless you did and I'm lying~. Anyway, let's go have some fun!" Kokichi laughed, jumping up and skipping out of the room. Shuichi hurried after him, the two racing each other to the gymnasium, stumbling through the doors.

"Finally! Now that you two had your 'special alone time', let's continue!" Monokuma cheered, the fourteen students turning their attention to their headmaster. "Due to a conversation between two of you little shits, I've been inspired to introduce a new motive!"

"Shuichi, you were right, the cameras do pick up audio," Kokichi whispered. His eyes widening, Shuichi's heart pumped rapidly as he figured out what the new motive could be. This is my ticket out of here, I'm about to be free.