Beneath the Mask [Oumasai]

Chapter One

Shuichi's POV

The killing game was going on for more than a week now. Today was the day after the third murder. The memories were still fresh, and I still couldn't get the sight of my friends's dead bodies out of my head. First Angie, then Tenko, and lastly, Kiyo. There was a deep ache in my heart every time I thought about my deceased classmates. And the executions... They were way too brutal, even if the people who were punished killed someone. Every night, I went to sleep anxiously, fearing what the next day will bring. I was terrified of waking up to a sound of a body discovery announcement again. Too many of my friends died already. And all I could do for them is to uncover the truth of their deaths...But I knew that being anxious and depressed about it was the worst thing I could do. I had to keep my head up and continue to try to reveal the mastermind. After all, it was the only way to leave this hellish place.

I was sitting in my lab, staring at the wall distractedly, with a book on my lap. Reading wasn't very easy when my head was so full of thoughts.

Suddenly, i heard the soft thumps of someone's footsteps, growing louder with every second. I looked towards the door, wondering who it is and if they are actually intending to come here. Then, the door swung open, revealing the short, purple-black haired boy, Kokichi.

"Hello, Shuichi!" he called out cheerfully. "I'm pretty bored, soo i thought that maybe we could hang out?" He stepped in without waiting for an answer, closing the door behind himself.

"Sure." I closed my book and got up from my chair slowly. I guess some company is better than sitting alone."What do you want to do?"

He started to walk toward me, a smile appearing on his face."Well, I think you should decide this time, since we always did wh-" Before he could finish his sentence, he tripped over and fell, smacking his head on the floor.

"Ah! Are...are you okay?" I rushed to his side, kneeling down beside him. I knew that he probably will just laugh it off, like he did last time, no matter how seriously hurt he is.

He sat up, rubbing his forehead. "I'm definitely not okay, think I need to go to the hospital..." he whined, obviously overexaggerating it. "...But that's just a lie. I'm actually fine!"

I heaved a deep sigh. "You end up hurting yourself quite often... You should be a bit more careful," I advised, standing up from the ground. Then I stretched out my arm, offering to help him up too. He placed his small hand in mine and I pulled him to his feet. I looked at him closely, making sure he wasn't lying about being fine. Luckily, not even a bruise was left on him this time.

He dusted off his clothes and glanced around himself. "Wow! Your lab is sooo cool!" he exclaimed in awe. He saw the inside of the room for the first time, since it was just discovered the day before.

"Yeah." To be quite honest, I've had a bit of a bad feeling about this place. There were poisons and folders containing a lot of detailed murder cases. I was afraid that someone may use any of those in the future to kill another one of my friends...But at least it was sort of peaceful at the same time.

"So, what should we do, Shuichi?" Kokichi asked, his purple eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Um...maybe we could...go to the library and read...?" I suggested, but I had the feeling that he wouldn't like this idea much. He just wasn't the type who would do this kind of stuff, but I had no better idea at the moment.

As I expected, his grin disappeared. "That's kinda boring, but," he paused, his mouth curving into a smile again. "If that's what you wanna do, I'm fine with it. Let's go to the library then!" With that, he rushed out of the lab, leaving me behind.

"H-hey, wait!" I called out, chasing after the boy.

"Nope. Let's have a race!" he yelled over his shoulder, then quickened his pace, even thought he was already far ahead of me.

"But that's unfair, you ran off way earlier!"

"Sucks to be you then!" I heard the mocking answer from the middle of the staircase. Since I knew I already lost, I slowed down. There was no point in exhausting myself after all. Besides, running down the stairs is kind of dangerous anyways.

I was out of breath by the time i reached the large doors of the library. Kokichi was there,leaning against the wall, his chest heaving and his face as red as a tomato.

"Huh, looks like I won," he huffed victoriously. Of course, he had a big advance compared to me. His body was lithe and fit for running, not to mention the fact that he took off too suddenly, leaving me no chance to catch up.

I rolled my eyes, feeling slightly annoyed, then I entered the library with Kokichi by my side. I walked over to one of the shelves, took off a crime novel without thinking, and sat down, my back resting against the bookshelf.

A few minutes later, Kokichi plopped down beside me with a book in his hand. I was surprised to see that it was one the same genre as I chose.

"Ah, you like these kinds of books too?"

"Nah, not really. I don't like reading in general, y'know. But since you chose to do this, I thought that maybe I could give it a try," he replied without looking up, his fingers brushing across the dark blue cover.

We sat in silence for a long time. I was about at the middle of the book when I felt Kokichi's head slump onto my shoulder. I turned my head to glance at him. He fell asleep...So I was right when I thought reading will be boring for him. This situation was kind of awkward. What if someone came in and saw us like this? That would certainly be unfortunate, since everyone would probably jump into conclusions. And I didn't really want anyone to think that there was something going on between the two of us. Even though I'm kind of fond of him... But I don't think he feels the same way.
I decided not to wake him up. After all, he looked so peaceful. And if anyone comes in, I can just shove him away, can't I?  Knowing that there was a solution to the problem, I turned my attention back to my book and continued to read.