You looked down at your arm. Carved deep into your skin by you was a reminder of how much you hated life.
"Depressing
Isolating
Consuming
Emptying"

Covering your scars that you had just cut over once again to keep the accrostic poem freshl written into your arm, you sighed. Kokichi was the leader of DICE, the prank group you'd started together, and you turned its name into a depressing acronym. Everyone was oblivious to what you'd been doing to yourself because you hid it well. Thank goodness the uniform everybody wore was long sleeve.

"Hey (Y/N), we're gonna prank that cranky neighbor! Wanna help?" Kokichi called from outside your bedroom, knocking on the door quietly.

"Sure, gimmie a second to get changed," You replied numbly, getting your DICE uniform and after locking the door so Kokichi couldn't peek, you changed.

You quickly finished and opened the door to your room. Standing in the doorway mere inches from your face was Kokichi, with a lazy smile on his face like nothing was happening. You let out a small screech in shock and while blushing, stepped away from the male. He erupted into laughter and you found it cute. Whenever he was in his leader outfit you found just about anything he did to be much cuter. Pushing those thoughts aside, you spoke sternly because he couldn't know that you liked him in that way.

"Kokichi, what the heck?!" you questioned, pouting.

"I just wanted to scare you. And it worked!" Kokichi teased, grinning playfully in a mocking way.

"Gosh dang it!" You grumbled, unable to come up with a good response.

Still snickering a bit, Kokchi lead you to the location of the rest of the DICE members. Kokichi pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and went over an infiltration plan to sneak into their house and mess with things slightly; such as opening windows/cupboards, turning on lights, moving things a few inches, turning on appliances, etc. You were given the task of opening every window because for whatever reason the neighbor always had them closed.

Kokichi finished explaining, rolled up the paper, and stuffed it away so it wouldn't fly off during the infiltration if we had to run. He quietly lead everybody to the backyard, hiding in the bushes at the edge of their yard. Then, Kokichi ran over to their back door and pulled out a bobby pin. He messed with the lock until it clicked open, and he lead you all inside.

Everybody, including you, hid until the obvious cue. Kokichi knocked on the neighbor's front door and once they answered, you heard Kokichi starting to distract the neighbor by being annoying and leading them outside. All of you got to work on your various tasks, and you began by opening the far back window. You continued getting closer and closer to the front window, being careful not to be caught by the neighbor.

Suddenly, the very front window squeaked as you opened it. The neighbor whirled around, saw you, and began screaming. "What are you doing in my house?!" They ran inside!

"Abort mission! Abort, abort!" You called to the other DICE members, opening the back door and waiting there to be sure everybody inside escaped safely. The neighbor was almost done checking their house, so you ran out the back door after the last person escaped. They were all nowhere to be found. Confused, you had no choice but to circle out to the front yard, run, and hope for the best.

Kokichi was waiting at the edge of their lawn and once you caught up, he began running with you. The neighbor had begun to give chase and they were fast, as well as angry! It scared you knowing that they could potentially apprehend you and send you to jail for breaking into their house. For that fear, you kept running. Kokichi was faster than you and you lost sight of him.

Sighing, you looked behind you. You had made it about three blocks down and the neighbor was nowhere to be seen. 'Stupid idiot. Why did you make that window screech? At least now you can punish yourself forever.' You scolded yourself, hiding in a nearby alleyway. You took out a small bottle of liquid poison and slowly opened the cap. Might as well die in secret. Kokichi was the one person who you thought cared but he left you in the dust to save himself. What a careless bastard. You brought the bottle to your lips unsteadily, shaking in the knowledge that you would probably die from this.

"What are you doing with that poison?!" Kokichi gasped, apparently in the alleyway as well. You turned around and peering inside was the purple-haired male. Fear was painted on his face, his grape purple eyes wide. He was clearly out of breath from running and he was covered in sweat, as well as his cape now somewhat dirty. He didn't seem to care as he was now fixated on you. You had never seen him this concerned.

"Did you fall for this joke?" You faked a grin, hoping to make him feel stupid, "This is actually water. I put it in a poison bottle to see if people would think I'm poisoning myself."

"If you wanted to prank people, then why are you in an alleyway? You don't act upon pranks in secret," Kokichi growled. He strode over to you and after tearing the poison from your grip, carefilly dumped all of it onto thr groud so that none splashed on either of you, "Why are you trying to poison yourself?!"

A tear escaped your (e/c) eyes. Then another. And another. You hated seeing Kokichi panicked and worried like this. You wanted to see his eyes sparkle and hear his laugh, not watch him droop and hear his concerned questions. It broke your heart in two.

"I... don't want... to live..." You whispered, rolling up your sleeves to show Kokichi your cuts. He let out a gasp at their number. Your arms were covered in many deep or shallow streaks of red, some a more scarlet from being fresh and others a mahogany shade from age. You couldn't see an unmarked spot on your arm. What Kokichi was most horrified about was the awful accrostic poem you had made out of the name DICE. He couldn't believe that the thing you had established together was now another symbol of sadness.

"Why... why would you do this to yourself?" Kokichi choked out in a thin whine, tears beginning to stain his face. The water caused his amythest purple eyes to glimmer like gems, but they didn't look pretty. They looked dull and empty inside, like he had lost hope. Like they had lost the only thing that lit them up and they didn't need to heal.

"I-I... I'm so sorry..." You sobbed, your sleeves falling over your arms again. Your eyes couldn't bear to meet Kokichi's broken ones, and you silently let your tears stain the concrete floor. You felt a hand gently grab yours, and you noticed it was Kokichi. You looked at his tear-soaked appearance painfully.

"Please, don't do this ever again," Kokichi spoke softly and carefully. But deep down, you knew it was because he was broken too.

"O-okay..." You let out a shaky sigh and a small nod. Kokichi smiled weakly and hugged you tightly, with you naturally hugging back. His embrace felt safe and warm. You wanted to stay safe in his arms forever.

"I mean it, I really do. I... I-I love you (Y/N), and it breaks my heart to see you hurting. I don't wanna see it anymore, especially if you're doing it to yourself," Kokichi admitted. He had bared his soul to you and you could tell he hadn't done it easily. His muscles were tense and rigid, making the both of you cling to the other for emotional support it the embrace that neither of you dared end.

"... Wh-wha?" You still couldn't believe what you had just heard. It was obvious he was being totally honest, but the content of the truth seemed like a dream to you.

"These aren't lies. So please... let out no more cries," Kokichi begged, hugging you tighter.

"Alright... I'll stop hurting myself; for you," You smiled slightly. This was getting heart-warming and you wished you could start hearing Kokichi go back to normal. If only you could just hear that adorable laugh of his to cheer you up right now.

"Can I ask of one more thing?" Kokichi asked quietly, as if hiding something.

"What is it?" You prompted obliviously. Kokichi loosened the embrace so he could stare directly into your eyes with his soft purple ones. Now they glimmered with that mysterious aura again, making you want to get lost in their beauty.

"This," Kokichi snapped you out of your thoughts when suddenly he kissed you! It was short and you had no time to react, but once he pulled away you pulled him back and kissed him. It turned into a make-out session and when you pulled away you were both slightly panting. You could feel heat on your cheeks and Kokichi's were dusted with a light layer of pink.

"I think I'll accept that request," You smirked a bit, and then you changed to an emotional stance, "If you're here, I don't think I'll have to bring a knife near."

(Years later...)

Many things had happened ever since that day. For example, you were now an adult. Well, actually, you were in your early twenties but still an adult. On your desk was an old poem you read to yourself every day because of the significance it now bore to you.

(Flashback)

Kokichi smiled and handed you a poem. It was Valentine's Day and you were both sixteen. You'd been dating him for a few years now. Opening the page, you began reading the poem to yourself.

'These aren't lies,
So please, let out no more cries.
I deeply love thee,
And you love me.

Even if you feel blue,
Please know that feeling isn't true.
If you need a clue,
I love you.

Remember the alleyway?
You almost killed yourself without delay.
But I showed you a better way.

"If you're here,
I don't think I'll have to bring a knife near."
What a poetic thing to say.

I'm running out of rhymes,
So I'll ask you this:
Do you think in the future
We could always be together?

-Kokichi Oma'

"Of course we'll always be together!" You smiled brightly.

Kokichi smiled back and kissed you, and obviously you kissed back. The next day you woke up realizing that you had gotten drunk at Miu's Valentine's Day party and that Kokichi's scarf was on the table. It was your dorm.

Getting up, you realized there was a note on top. You checked it.

'Sorry I couldn't tell you about this. Check the Danganronpa page. But don't worry... I love you and I'll see you soon. -Kokichi Oma'

Confused, you went onto the Danganronpa website. It showed everyone who would participate in the 53rd season and there you saw... Kokichi?! You gasped and called him but there was no reply. Getting dressed, you ran out into the halls.

You knocked on Kokichi's dorm door but there was no reply. Worry began to slowly spread throughout you, what if he was gone or dead?! Mikan, an upperclassman, approached you. She appeared unwilling to approach you but she also looked like she had something important to say.

"U-um... a-are y-y-you looking for K-Kokichi?" Mikan asked shyly.

"Yeah," You nodded.

"W-well... he's n-not here r-right now. Um... I-I saw him l-leaving with the rest of y-your class around m-midnight during th-the Valentine's Day p-party... I-I thought you w-were with th-them... I-I-I'm so sorry f-for making a m-mistake! P-p-please forgive m-me!" Mikan began crying.

"I-it's okay! Do you know where they were going?" You hopefully asked. Even a general direction would be a good start...

"N-n-no, I-I'm sorry! I-if it helps y-you forgive m-me I-I-I can t-take off my c-clothes!" Mikan began crying again.

"No thanks. Um, you helped a lot though, thanks!" You weakly smiled, but inside you were dying of panic.

(Flashback end)

That Valentine's Day party was the last time you saw Kokichi and could talk to him. The last time you really saw him was his unidentifiable corpse in the hydraulic press on your TV screen. He had thrown away his life to end the very thing he signed up for because he forgot all about signing up.

"Mommy, why do you always wear that checkered scarf?" (Male child's name) asked. He was six, and he had been made on the Valentine's Day party. His hair and eyes were purple just like Kokichi, but his skin tone was more like yours as well as the style of his hair. You had never told him about Kokichi because of his young age and he never asked, but you thought it might be important to tell him now.

"(Child's name), sit here, okay? I'm gonna tell you about somebody very special. He was also your father..."

(Timeskip)

"Mommy, can I have a checkered scarf too?" (Child's name) asked.

And thus, Kokichi was almost reincarnated. (Child's name) grew up to be a prankster like Kokichi, and even started his own prank group. One day, when he was a teen, he came home holding a shy girl's hand.

"Mom, do we have bandages?" (Child's name) demanded.

"In the bathroom cabinet," You replied. This reminded you of a similar event between you and Kokichi...

"No. I promised. That's not a lie, so I'll not let out a cry."

What a poetic thing he said.
~~~
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