Who We Were Before

An explanation

"Okay Shumai lets start with everything you already know. Tell me everything you remember and I'll try my hardest not to lie to you. No promises though nishishi."

Shuichi was ecstatic to find out what he had missed when he was still in the simulation. That doctor had been borderline useless in answering his questions and he was eager for some real answers.

"Okay, so when Himiko, Maki and I stepped out of the academy, we all passed out. When I woke up I was in the hospital and this doctor came and told me that they had implanted some chip in our heads that caused a coma and... why are you laughing?"

Kokichi was rolling around on the bed clutching his sides in laughter. "That's hilarious!" He managed to choke out between his giggles. "You got Rantaro's doctor!"

Kokichi looked back up at him, his laughter finally dying down slightly.

"Sorry about that. Anyways, yeah don't believe a single word that doctor told you."

"What?"

"Rantaro had the same wacky doctor when he left the game. Told him he had a chip in his head or something. Man was he confused when Kaede woke up and was told something totally different. Turns out that nut job doctor is just a big Danganronpa fan and likes to give patients false news for fun so he can watch them fall into despair. The only reason he's kept around is because he's one of the top doctors in Japan apparently. But yeah don't listen to anything that wacko said."

Shuichi seriously didn't have a response to the words that had just left his roommate's mouth. Everything that doctor told him was just a lie? No wonder the dude seemed crazy, he actually was!

"Wait so," Shuichi started. "What actually happened then if what he said was a lie? How are we all still alive?"

Kokichi smiled at that. "Well they can't exactly have people partake in an ACTUAL killing game. That would get shut down immediately. All that stuff about you being fictional? That's all a lie. The world is perfectly normal. The truth is, everything was just VR."

Shuichi was confused at that. He glanced across the room to Kokichi's wheelchair which had been folded up against the wall next to a small medical bag. If everything was fake, how did Kokichi get hurt?

He turned back around at Kokichi to ask him his question but instead his eyes widened in shock. Kokichi was clutching one of his legs, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes half-closed as he looked like he was about to scream in pain. He caught sight of Shuichi's worried expression and quickly held up his hand signaling Shuichi to wait.

After about 20 seconds, Kokichi let out a sigh of relief and released his leg, turning toward Shuichi and smiling as if nothing had ever happened.

"Kokichi? What was that?"

Kokichi's face soured as he tried not to meet Shuichi's eyes.

"Just a random burst of pain Shumai. Side effects of the press or whatever. It happens to me sometimes so don't worry about it too much! They're starting to get a lot shorter now though so maybe I'm finally healing! Wow Shumai maybe your cuddles are magic!" He looked up to Shuichi with a grin.

Shuichi couldn't help but chuckle a bit at that one. Sure he was still concerned but Kokichi was in good spirits so he didn't feel like there was anything serious to be worried about.

"Nishishi so anyway I saw you looking at the wheelchair. You're wondering why I have it if it was all VR right?" Shuichi nodded in response, silently telling him to continue.

"So you know how in Miu's virtual world, death in the virtual world would cause a death in the real world due to shock? It's a similar concept. Obviously I'm still here and alive and my bones aren't crushed into pancakes so it's not exactly the same, but most of us still feel affects of our deaths."