We're "Just Friends", Right? [Pregame Kiibouma]

Chapter 18: Tricked

Shuichi heard the knock, but didn't make an effort to go see who it was.

"Shuichi! Answer the door!" Maki yelled. Kiibo cringed. "She's so loud...."

Kokichi heard his friends yell. Now was the time to scream. Kokichi opened his mouth and started screaming, but before even a second of it could be let out, Shuichi wrapped his hand around Kokichi's mouth, muffling the sound. "Shut up." He whispered, his voice cold. It sent a shiver down Kokichi's spine. "If you shut up, I'll just send your friend away. They'll be safe and sound. If you don't...." Kokichi gulped. "I'll kill them."

"That's it!" Maki shouted, and kicked the door. She played lots of sports and was very fit, so she knocked the door down. "I'm coming in!" Kiibo hadn't been expecting her to knock down the door. "Maki! You can't just... this is breaking and entering!"

While Kokichi was still processing what Shuichi had said, Shuichi quickly grabbed the tape with his free hand and wrapped it around his mouth. Shuichi headed down the stairs to see that his door was off it's hinges. "Wha- What the hell?!" He screeched.

"Oh boy... Maki, you've really screwed up...." Kiibo mumbled. "Shuichi!" Maki yelled, and ran at him. She pinned him to the wall. "Now! Tell me where Kokichi is!" She demanded. It was hard for Shuichi to breathe in that position. Kiibo carefully walked around the door. "K-Kokichi...?" Shuichi wheezed. "Uh, Maki? I don't think choking him is the best course of action...." Kiibo said. Maki didn't falter. "Where is he?!"

"I don't...." Shuichi wheezed. "Maki!" Kiibo shouted, sternly. Maki sighed, and dropped Shuichi to the floor. "Ow...." He rubbed the back of his head. Maki glared at him and crossed her arms. "Maki, you need to calm down. He might've not even done anything!" Kiibo said. Maki ignored him. "Alright! Now talk!" Maki demanded. "What do you want from me...?" Shuichi asked, clearly annoyed. "Where's Kokichi?!"

"I don't know, why are you asking me? Didn't he go to school?" Shuichi asked, adding a drop of concern in his words. Kiibo shook his head. "You know where he is now spill!" Maki demanded. "Maki, calm down...." Kiibo mumbled. He had gathered that she wasn't very good at listening. "I don't know! Go away!" Shuichi shouted back. "Don't shout at me! You know where he is. What's wrong with you? Why would you stalk him, and-" Shuichi interrupted her with a laugh. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?! You broke down my door and attacked me for no reason. I could land you in jail!" Shuichi yelled.

Kokichi heard muffled sounds of people yelling. "Please... whoever's there.... help me.... no. I have to help myself!" Kokichi started trying to get the tape off, rubbing his face on the drawer. It hurt his face and wasn't working. "Maybe I should work on getting myself untied...."

"Maki, maybe we should leave before things escalate even further." Kiibo said. "But-" She fell silent under Kiibo's glare. "Ugh... fine...." She started towards the door in a huff. "Sorry, Shuichi... will you be able to fix the door?" Kiibo asked. Shuichi shrugged. "Maybe...." Kiibo realized that Maki had already left, so he hurried after her. Shuichi watched him leave with a smile on his face.

Kokichi noticed that the yelling had faded. He used his fingers to pull off the tape, which was hard since they were tied. "They're probably gone...." Kokichi thought. "Sh-Shuichi?" He called out. Shuichi heard him, and hurried up the stairs. "I'm alright, Kokichi! Those two knocked my door down, though. Entertain yourself while I fix it, ok?" Shuichi said through the door. "O-ok."

Shuichi headed downstairs, and started fixing the door. Sure, he got stares from the neighbors, but who cared about them? "I need to hurry, then I can go back to Kokichi."

Kokichi layed on the bed, bored. He had figured that he would've been saved by now. He sighed.

Eventually, Shuichi finished. He came back up the stairs. "I'm back!" He announced, unlocking and opening the door. Kokichi immediately noticed that he had a ton of bandages on his fingers. Shuichi noticed that Kokichi was staring. "Oh, don't worry about these. I just hurt them while I was fixing that door." Shuichi explained. He sat next to Kokichi. "But what about you? Do you need anything?" He asked. Kokichi shook his head. "Are you sure? You haven't had any food, other than the candy. And you haven't had any water." Shuichi said.

"I-I'm sure." Kokichi said. "Hmm... alright! I guess that's fine. But, if you do need anything, tell me and I'll get it for you. Ok?" Kokichi nodded. "Anyways, what do you wanna do now? I'm sure you're bored." Shuichi asked. "Um... I d-don't know... w-what do you want to do?"

"He's... asking me? Oh... maybe we could ba- no. No. He wouldn't want that, it's too early." Shuichi thought. "Hmm... wanna watch Danganronpa?"  He asked. "I g-guess...." Kokichi said. "Alright." Shuichi got off the bed, and grabbed the remote. He turned it on to Season 43, which was known for having the most brutal and gory deaths. "He already gets scared with the other seasons, I wonder how he'll react with this...."

The first trial was beginning to close, and it had been decided that the Ultimate Exorcist was the blackened. The Ultimate Accordionist kept arguing for her sake, but eventually, it was voting time. She, of course, was chosen, and was the correct answer. She started giving a speech about 'not giving up' and other things like that, but was then dragged off to her execution. Her execution was her being boiled alive with boiling water, the same thing she used to exorcise demons and spirits.

In this season, they had decided to not censor the deaths, a decision they immediately went back on after. Kokichi had a terrified look on his face, and was gripping Shuichi's arm toghtly. He buried his face in Shuichi's arm. "Huh? Kokichi? What's wrong? Its getting to the good part!" Shuichi asked. "I-I h-hate this s-season...." Kokichi stuttered, trembling. "Oh... here." Shuichi got closer to Kokichi, and grabbed the blanket. He wrapped it between the two of them, and also wrapped his arm around Kokichi. "Here. If you get scared, just... hide yourself in my chest or something.

Kokichi nodded. Shuichi smiled at him. Shuichi rested his head on top of Kokichi's. "Oh... he's so sweet...! I wonder, though... maybe what I'm doing is wrong? Maybe I shouldn't be worried about making him happy... maybe despair is the answer. I bet despair would cost less."

《________End of Chapter 18________》

Words: 1118

[Thank you for reading. Man, Kiibo and Maki were so close. Maybe next time...
Hope you enjoyed. Vote if you did. Sayonara.]

[Btw, the reason I updated early was because I'm not sure if I'm going to have internet tomorrow.]