Never Really There

Chapter Five: The Not So Warning

Again, Shuichi is in his dreams. This time, he's in the killing game. Everyone is dead, everyone except for him. He's alone, but can hear the voices of his late classmates. "Look who's alone now!" The voice showed itself, it was none other than Kokichi. The liars ghost had a soft purple glow, it was faceless other than the wide smile it wore. It laughed at Shuichi, as if to mock him. Shuichi was terrified. He felt guilty for saying Kokichi would always be alone, he just lost his temper in the moment. He realized he had never actually apologized for saying those cruel words because he never thought to. "I'm sorry, Kokichi! I didn't mean those words!" The liar just laughed in response. "Now you want to apologize? After the tables have turned? How pathetic!" Shuichi wanted to tell the ghost to just shut up, but that would only make things worse. "Y'know, nothing you see here is real, everything is just state of your mind. But when will you realize-" The ghost's smile was replaced with a serious expression, or at least Shuichi had imagined since it had no face other than it's mouth. The rest of the Supreme leader's sentence was fuzzy, Shuichi couldn't understand it. Hopefully it wasn't important, but it seemed important. What were these strange dreams? Were they trying to tell him something? But what was needed to be told to Shuichi. He knew everyone in the game was alive and well. He knew they just haven't encountered each other due to contact information not being exchanged. Kokichi explained that the day he returned to his apartment for the first time since the game. But wouldn't Shuichi had to of seen someone from the game other than Kokichi, Maki and Himiko? None of this makes sense! "You better take that warning seriously, or else you might become crazy and a threat to yourself!" Oh no, Shuichi didn't pay attention to whatever Kokichi's warning was, so could it even be considered a warning? It was more of a not-so-warning. Threat to himself, what did Kokichi mean? "What do you mean threat to myself?" Shuichi felt stupid for asking this, but he needed to know. "Did you not pay attention? I'm not re-" Shuichi woke up. Why did Shuichi wake up at the most crucial parts of his dreams? He looked around for a clock to check the time, and realized he wasn't in his room. A fridge, cabinets, oven and stove. He was in the kitchen? Did he fall asleep there? Or sleepwalk? Shuichi got up to observe his surroundings. Dishes were in the sink that weren't there before. Did Kokichi finally eat? Shuichi felt relieved. He finally checked the time, it was 3:17 am. Before heading to his room, Shuichi checked on Kokichi who was asleep on the couch, he didn't look peaceful though. His expression looked pained, and he was crying in his sleep. Was he having a nightmare like the ones Shuichi had? The taller boy gently shook the shorter one awake. "Wha- Shumai?" Ah, that nickname again... Kokichi rubbed his eyes, then looked at Shuichi. Kokichi realized he had been crying in his sleep, because when he rubbed his eyes, he felt tears. "Are you ok? Did you have a nightmare?" Kokichi tried to remember what he dreamed about. "Yeah, just a nightmare, nothing to worry about Mr. Detective!" "You were crying in your sleep. What was it about?" Shuichi didn't mean to interrogate Kokichi, he just wanted to make sure he was ok. "I was just alone, you were there mocking me, see? Nothing to worry about!" Shuichi's heart sank, because of what Shuichi had said, Kokichi had a nightmare because of it. "I'm sorry for what happened in the game, there was no excuse for it... I'm also sorry for what happened at McDonald's, I was just worried," Shuichi felt a pair of arms around him. "It's fine Shumai, besides, what happens in McDonald's, stays at McDonald's," this calmed Shuichi down. Both boys went back to sleep, this time it was a dreamless sleep, the taller boy still not understanding what was happening am didn't pick up on the clues. The weightless scale, the disappearances, the lack of Kokichi eating, the dreams, why he woke up in the kitchen, the funny stares, Shuichi just couldn't see the situation he didn't realize he was facing.