Memories || Saiouma

Chapter III - Still Here

•12/30/XX•

I blinked. I slowly sat up. I heard the sound of a clock ticking somewhere off in the distance. It sounded calming, yet, it somehow made me anxious. The same way rain did, or when someone whispers directly into my ear. I shook my head and looked around for it.

No clock in sight. The ticking disappeared. But, there was a purple notebook in front of me. Oh yeah, the notebook. I was looking at it. I was looking at the pictures in the notebook. Right?
...
Right.

I opened to the first page, at the bottom it was labeled "4/7/XX". The notebook was kinda old, and at least a little neglected to some extent. Which was hard to believe if the owner had constantly added in new pictures onto the pages.

I flipped to the next page. A little over a week had passed since the last photo. The tape had peeled a little and I tried my best to press it down. It wasn't my intention to ruin, nor tear apart the notebook.

I looked at the picture at the top of the page. It was the same navy haired boy. He wasn't smiling this time. Well, he might've been. He was facing away from the camera.

He was sitting on a bed looking at a television. I couldn't quite make out what he was watching, though. He was wrapped in a white and black checkered blanket. It the corner of the photo I could kind of see another pair of legs. It was probably those of whoever took the picture.

The paragraph was done in pencil. There were markings where I could tell a few words had been erased and something new was written in their place. There were a couple spelling mistakes and parts where letters just trailed off, but it was still readable. On the bottom of the page was the date "4/18/XX".

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•4/18/XX•

It was some time around 10:00. Out the window a half moon and a few shimmering stars could be seen. The lights were off and the main source of light was the flashing television. It would've been the only one, but there was a small nightlight in the corner of the room.

The sound had been turned up loud enough to block out the sounds of thunder outside. Shuichi yawned and shifted farther under the blanket wrapped around him. He leaned slightly closer to the TV, dragging the blanket with him.

"Why do you think they always air the episodes this late?" Shuichi asked, glancing over his shoulder to the boy leaning against the wall. He rubbed his neck, he had looked a little to far back.

"Maybe because the best time to watch horror is late at night," Kokichi answered with a smile on his face.

"I think Danganronpa is more of a psychological thing," replied Shuichi, "Psychological horror, I guess." He smiled at Kokichi before turning back to the TV.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes. Shuichi liked spending time with Kokichi, even if they were just sitting near each other. It made him happy. Well, that and watching his favorite show ever.

"Oh look!" He exclaimed, lifting a hand out from under the blanket and pointing to the screen. It was directed towards a woman with pastel purple hair and purple eyes. She stood and talked with a stone cold expression on her face.

"Really? Mrs. detective?" Kokichi intervened with a smile, "I like Celeste-Chan better." At that moment they watched the third trial start. A woman with two black ponytails stood on screen with a smile. She was dressed in what looked somewhat like goth Lolita.
"I guess she makes things pretty interesting. I like her character," replied Shuichi.

They went back in to silence. It was a comfortable silence, though. They watched with excitement as the woman with black ponytails yelled at all the other game participants. They saw as the students proved how no one but her could be the culprit.

Finally, they smiled as she was lit ablaze. She was smiling too. But then she wasn't. A firetruck rushed forward and crushed her. The boys were still smiling though. Their eyes seemed to glow the hot pink color of Danganronpa blood. Eventually though, the episode ended and Shuichi turned the television off.

But the smiles didn't fade. They stayed firm on their faces as the boys chattered about the episode. Shuichi talked about the plot, and ended up summarizing everything that had happened so far. Kokichi talked about how he was excited for more episodes, and even more excited for more games.

They laughed and continued talking. Shuichi looked at the clock. In bright blue glowing letters, it showed 12:15.
"Hey Kichi," he muttered.
"What is it, my darling Shumai?" Kokichi hummed in response. Shuichi blushed at the name.
"He's probably just messing with me," he thought. "It's late, we should go-" he started, but was interrupted by a yawn. "To sleep." He finished, slightly embarrassed.
"Pfff, alright," Kokichi replied.

To Shuichis surprise, Kokichi snatched the blanket that was wrapped around him and flipped down on the bed, covering himself with it.

Shuichi smirked. He jumped on top of Kokichi and took back possession of the checkered blanket. He swiveled the other direction and plopped down next to him. He covered himself in the blanket and ducked his head under it.

Kokichi giggled. He grabbed on of the pillows on the head of the bed and started a fury of attacks towards Shuichi. Then, the blue haired male came out of hiding and grabbed another pillow. He threw it towards Kokichi.

But, Kokichi dodged and launched his body on top of Shuichis. Shuichi blushed, and shoved his head back under the blanket. This time Kokichi just jumped down next to him and pulled the blanket over himself as well.

Shuichi turned towards Kokichi and smiled. He yawned and closed his eyes.
"'Night, Shumai," Kokichi whispered in his ear. A shiver went down Shuichis spine.
"Goodnight, Kichi," he whispered under his breath. Soon after, he drifted off to sleep.

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End of Chapter III.