Memories Can Be Deceiving

Chapter 19

[AN: Here's a mini chapter, I wanted to include this but there wasn't enough for a full chapter.]

It had been a long time since they'd woken up to the sound of screaming. Kokichi got violent flashbacks the first few months, and at the start, it was happening quite often. Once they were living together again, though, they were dying down. So it was shocking for it to happen again. It was even more shocking that it wasn't Kokichi this time.

"Kage?" Kokichi whispered gently, rubbing their shoulder slowly. Kage was facing away from him, face hidden in Kaito's chest as they sobbed.

Kaito hugged them close, stroking their hair confortingly.

"I-I remembered." They clung to Kaito like a lifeline. "Just little flashes, but I saw you. I saw your bodies. I saw what I said to Koki. I can't believe you've been living with these memories so long. It's awful."

Kokichi hugged them from behind. "It is awful. We made it together, though, remember? You helped me, both of you. It's going to be okay, Kage."

They sighed and held a little less tight onto Kaito. "I was always scared that I'd see either of you die. I still can't think of anything more awful. I've had nightmares, sure, but none so vivid. None that I really ever saw."

Kaito nodded. "I get it. I watched Kichi die with my own eyes, I still remember every second of it. Not just the death itself, but as the poison worked through him, how he drew closer to death right in front of me. That shit's hard to live with."

"It was harder for me." Kokichi joked half-heartedly. The other two chuckled, but there wasn't much humor behind it. "I watched Miu die, plus four executions. Gokuhara-Kun's was the hardest. I broke character in the end, I meant all those things I said. I wanted him to die thinking I really cared, cause I did. Even if it made you all hate me even more."

Kage rolled over to hug Kokichi. "We all saw and did things that were too horrible for anyone to experience. You may not have the memory of those you love dying like us, but you remember how we treated you."

Kokichi hugged them back. "At least you won't have that weird, guilty look on your face whenever we talk about Danganronpa anymore." He smiled a bit.

Kaito nodded. "Yeah, seriously. You always looked ashamed that you didn't remember and have that same trauma as us. It's not like it's your fault, you know?"

"I know." Kage sighed. "Can we go on a date tomorrow? I know fans will be a lot, but it's been a while."

Kokichi nodded and kissed their shoulder. "We can go see a movie or something. Wear hats so we're not so recognizable."

"Not a bad idea." Kaito agreed.

"Hopefully, Roxie won't cause much trouble while we're gone." Kage smiled. At the mention of their cat, she jumped up onto the bed and laid right on top of Kage's feet.

Kokichi giggled. "She will! She's my cat after all, right Paroxetine?" She meowed in reply.

The next morning, they decided on a movie to go see. Kokichi tied his hair up, Kage wore a hood, and Kaito just hadn't styled his hair that day. It was enough that any casual fan probably wouldn't recognize them.

They got snacks and sat near the back, just in case. They'd gotten three seats, but one was mainly just to hold the food, because Kokichi wanted to sit with Kaito. 

Around half an hour in, Kage leaned over and hugged Kaito's arm, hiding their face in his shoulder. Kokichi was confused, the movie wasn't scary by any means, in fact the only thing on screen was the character traveling through a field of pink flowers. He stroked Kage's hair gently.

"What's wrong?" He kept his voice soft, frowning at the feeling of his partner shaking.

"'M sorry." Kage mumbled. "It's just, there's so much pink. It reminded me of the hanger."

Kokichi's shoulders dropped. Of course, even to the characters the blood in Danganronpa is pink. They never questioned it, though it was weird looking back. "Do you want to go?"

"No." They said quickly. "No, just tell me when it changes scene."

Kaito shook his head. "You're not going to enjoy the rest of the movie now, though. We'll leave, we can find something else to do."

Kage sighed. "It's really okay."

"But how are we supposed to have fun if you aren't?" Kokichi questioned. "That isn't fair, and besides, we should all be enjoying ourselves."

Kage hesitated, but nodded. "Okay, fine. I still want to go on a date, though. Can we?"

"Of course!" Kokichi grinned. "Why wouldn't we?"

Kage shrugged.

Once they got back to the car, they couldn't really figure out where to go. They didn't want to go anywhere super public where everyone could see them, since they were still pretty recognizable. That made most places out of the question. In the end, they just ended up going home. 

Kage had shut down after a few minutes of trying to decide. A mixture of guilt at ruining their initial plan, the trauma that had returned with their memories, which were still flowing in slowly, and fear of being recognized made it impossible to focus on anything. They decided that they probably wouldn't enjoy anything they did, and didn't want to bring the mood down. So when Kaito suggested they just head home, they agreed silently.

Kage leaned against the arm of the couch and sighed. Kaito sat beside them and pulled them into a hug while Kokichi sat on the floor and rested his chin on their knees.

"It was all supposed to be over. Everyone was supposed to be fine now." They whispered. "I was hoping I just wouldn't ever remember."

Kaito kissed their head. "I know. We knew things weren't done, though. This was going to happen eventually. And when Kichi gets his memories back, we're going to have to help him through it, too."

Kage snuggled up to him. "I can't believe we ever thought signing up for Danganronpa was a good idea. How could we have been so stupid? How can so many people be so stupid?"

Kokichi sighed quietly. He couldn't answer that. No one could. It wasn't a matter of stupidity, of course, but he knew that Kage was fully aware of that. It was just Team Danganronpa being evil. Maybe they were naïve, sure, but that wasn't a crime. They tried to comfort them in mostly silence for a while longer, but there wasn't much they could do. Not when they didn't want to lie, both to Kage and themselves. It felt like they'd never be free from the horrors they'd experienced. The real question was, how can anyone be so cruel, just for money they didn't know that to do with? Kokichi didn't know if he believed in true evil, but if it was real, then Team Danganronpa was most definitely it.