The Leader...?

I Can't Be the Leader

As Rantaro continued to lead the group, Shuichi started to get a bit calmer. The sudden exposure of Kokichi being a traitor had settled down. Shuichi would admit, though. It still hurt like a bitch, but he was going to have to deal with it. The group continued walking, when Shuichi had a sudden realization. Someone's going to have to be the leader. One of us will. We don't have the 'Ultimate Supreme Leader' anymore. Shuichi thought. Kokichi may have been quite the asshole, but it was still in his ability to lead people that hated him. He was especially good at keeping people together. For whatever reason, I don't know. But he's incredibly good at that. Shuichi sighed. I need to stop thinking about him. It isn't going to help me.

Class 53 stayed silent throughout the whole trip. No one had anything to say. Well, they did, but they couldn't say it. They all knew that they wouldn't feel right about it. A lot of them wanted to vent out that they didn't trust the rat from the start.

But that was a lie. They didn't know that.

A couple other people wanted to express how much they hated Kokichi now. He was a lying, backstabbing traitor to all of them.

But they couldn't express that either. Because it wouldn't feel right.

And, there were those who just couldn't speak about it at all. After all, they'd been friends with the Panta-loving boy. One of them specifically had been their very first friends. It's pretty easy to tell who that person was, now wasn't it?

"Right, we're here." Rantaro's sudden voice snapped Shuichi out of his thoughts. Shuichi looked up at the building in front of him.

"U-Um, Rantaro? What exactly is this place?" Shuichi asked.

"Warehouse." Rantaro said simply. "That's really it. Did you expect a regular house? I didn't think that would really work, since we needed a place that was both big, and empty." Rantaro sighed, and crossed his arms. "Not sure. Was this the right place to go?"

"That would be the most likely conclusion." Kirumi spoke up. "You had a correct deduction, Rantaro."

"Thanks," He mumbled. Rantaro  walked to the door, and flung it open. "Not even locked...." Rantaro sighed, and turned to everyone. "Alright, everyone in. Don't want to get caught by anyone or anything." Rantaro looked around. "After all, we don't know if those people are still lurking around here somewhere." The group murmured in agreement, as they began to file in through the door. Shuichi entered last, as Rantaro shut the door behind them.

"Hey, Rantaro?" Shuichi asked.

"Yeah? What's up?" Rantaro responded.

"You seem rather, moody."

Rantaro's expression shifted for a moment, and then he sighed. "Of course you would pick up on that. Ultimate Detective and all that."

"N-No, I, wouldn't blame it on that...." Shuichi winced momentarily. Spending that much time with Kokichi gave me way too many skills on picking up on social cues.

Rantaro rubbed the back of his head, and sighed again. "Look, I know what I've said beforehand, but, I really am upset about Kokichi."

"Really?" Shuichi asked. "I didn't know that you two knew each other that well."

Rantaro shrugged. "I mean, we didn't talk all too often, but I did pity the kid. He was lonely. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do." Shuichi nodded. "He, told me about that."

Rantaro tilted his head to the side slightly. "He did?"

Shuichi nodded. It had been a very cheerfully quiet day, and the weather had been very nice. Classes had just ended, and Kokichi and Shuichi had been hanging out at a table and two chairs. Kokichi had been drinking Panta beforehand, and Shuichi had been working on his homework when the conversation started.