❀ The Disease Called Love [Oumasai/Saiouma] ❀

Enduring All the Pain

✧ Chapter 35 ✧
[ Enduring All the Pain ]
✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

Kokichi was sitting in the garden, glumly staring at a piece of paper in his hand. He sighed, twirling a pencil around with his finger. What was the best way to confess to Shuichi? Seriously. Was he really worth the risk? Hell yeah. Anyway, the purple haired boy knew that the detective was attending some extra lessons, and Keebo was in the dorm room, trying his best to control the mess in there. It's.. probably the popcorn machine's fault. Probably.

Kokichi  yawned, scratching his left arm and placing the blue pencil behind his ear. Above him were the branches of a tree he thought was rather pretty. It bloomed with pale yellow and red flowers, which occasionally drifted down to land on the soft green grass.

Kokichi swung his legs, kicking at the dirt. In front of him was a pool of water, allowing him to stare at his reflection easily. He saw a teenager, long, curled out purple hair almost touching his shoulders and dark purple eyes. With his usual checkered bandanna and school uniform, he looked slightly messy.

He sighed, reaching up to pull his hair together and held out a rubber band with his other hand. He's never learnt to tie his hair before, but after five tries, he managed. He recalled the time when he was living with his foster family, before he ran away from home to form DICE.

No one taught him much. So he had to learn it all by himself. His family wasn't abusive or anything. It was just empty, for fear of getting arrested. He remembered the forced smiles and the fake laughter. The loneliness and the darkness. The fear and the guilt.

Kokichi gazed down at the pond, this time, seeing a teenager with his hair tied back. He looked ridiculous, but he kinda liked it too. His hair was obviously messy, since he didn't brush it. Kokichi sighed, running a hand through his hair as he continued to look at his reflection.

"I didn't expect you to be the narssistic type."

A new voice startled him, but he chose not to show it. Kokichi glanced behind him to see Kaede standing there, a smile on her face. He felt slightly disappointed that it wasn't Saihara, but he pulled out the rubber band. Ouch.

"What do you want, Akamatsu-chan?" he twirled the accessory around, "Wanna play a game? Sorry to disappoint ya, but those are reserved for Saihara-chan." he grinned.

Kaede just gave him a small chuckle, "I just wanted to talk. About both of you, actually."

Kokichi's enthusiasm shifted to mild curiosity. "Hmm? What do you wanna know? Talking to a liar like me isn't really going to help, ya know."

Kaede nodded, her smile fading slightly, "Yeah, I kind of knew you'd say that. It's about your.. admiration for Saihara. Save for a better word." Kokichi raised an eyebrow, suspicion creeping into his mind, "What do you mean? I don't like him." he lied.

"It's pretty obvious. After all, I'm his best friend," she told him, "Look, all I want to do is to protect you. Both of you." she added. "I don't know what I'd do if.. you and Shuichi get taken away."

Kokichi felt suspicious as Kaede continued to look at him with her light purple eyes. "Whatever are you talking about, Piano Freak?" he scoffed, "Saihara and I are just.. friends." he forced out.

Ugh, he just friendzoned himself.

"You hesitated there," she laughed, "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. Besides, I don't want you thinking that I'm the traitor you're looking for."

"You're not?" he asked with a small smirk, "I'd peg you as the traitorous type, you see. Offence included."

Kaede gave him a sad smile, "Do you really think so? Then you've got that wrong, Ouma. Friendship.. it's important to me. So I assure you, I'm not a traitor."