✧ Chapter 59 ✧
[ And As the Intermission Of ]
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[ Kokichi's PoV ]

I skidded backwards as Izuru leapt at me, but he was quickly fended off by Hajime. The brunet then swept forward and intercepted the long haired man's blade with his own.

Izuru dodged and slashed the knife at his attacker, a battle so silent yet intense the longer I watched.

None of them said a word, but as the fight progressed,Hajime made a small sound of annoyance as the blade of Izuru's slashed across his forearm.

I couldn't focus on so many things at once-

-

We had been walking past a couple of doors, needing to knock out a few doctors to prevent them from arresting us every now and then. Chiaki was holding a device with Keebo, who kept muttering something about an obstacle up ahead.

"The scanner says that whoever's up ahead.. they're registered as 'dangerous'. It pretty much fits Izuru.."

Sure enough, that obstacle turned out to be Kamukura himself, who I remembered vaguely from the depths of my memories..

A man who held no emotion yet possessed every known talent in Hope's Peak. A mere reflection of Hajime Hinata, but with no worry in his blood-red irises as he cut through anything standing in his way.

-

"We have to split up!" Hajime shouted, holding up a knife in a defensive pose just as Izuru narrowed his eyes just the slightest. Almost as if calculating some unknown mathematical problem in his mind. In a way, maybe he was.

"Ouma," the brown haired student didn't take his eyes away from his opponent, despite him addressing me, "Go- find Shuichi and make sure the doctors- won't get their hands on the serum's recipes!"

"I'm afraid you're too late, Hajime." Izuru spoke up, his monotonous voice making Keebo, who was standing beside Chiaki and I, shiver. "We have the Regain serum recipe.."

"All we need.." he suddenly dodged and before I knew it, he had materialised in front of me and slammed his foot against my chest.

Pain erupted from there, making me gasp as all the air from my lungs were abruptly forced out. My back hit the floor, as I tried to blink the spots out of my vision.

"Kokichi!"

"Ouma!" I heard Maki yell as the pain continued. There was a loud bang of a gun, followed by silence.. I was expecting some sort of pain.. but nothing came to me. In fact, my mind hazily realised that the gun Izuru had pointed wasn't aimed at me. But to one of my friends..

Turning my head, I used my elbow to prop myself up, holding a hand to my chest. I couldn't see much..

I needed to see what's going on..

"Stay awake! You can't-!"

But.. but my eyelids slowly slid shut, sending me to darkness as the pain continued to burn.

"What did you do to him-?!"

Where's Shuichi? I needed to find him so I can end this madness..

But that voice..

It sounds familiar.

Somehow..

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My eyelids shot open, as everything seemed to be a blur.. light beamed down on me the more I focused.. but all I could think about was the continuous pain in my chest.

Then it came rushing back to me simultaneously.

Someone got injured- that loud sound of that gun- Maki's voice.

I had been dreaming about nothing.. just blank, empty darkness.

Slowly, I shifted my bruised hand to press against my chest.

Oh come on.. did Kamukura really have to kick me that hard? That's so mean of him..

Tiny flashes of pain travelled through my body, but thankfully, it was not as bad as before.

Taking a deep breath — which hurt my chest even more so I regretted it — I rolled over, getting on my knees and placing one hand on the ground to get up.

"Need a hand?"

An unfamiliar voice made me look up. Right there, in front of me, was a person I've heard about, seen him in the Timeskip Program, but never met..

Shuichi Saihara..

I scoffed to myself, getting up on my own despite the pain. "I think I can handle this on my own.."

Now, I stood in front of him, realising that he was taller than me. He was wearing a hospital gown, with a bandage wrapped around his head. Pale skin, warm stormy grey eyes.

However, I decided to ignore all that, and instead, my mind noticed that if I hugged him.. the top of my head would rest neatly against the bottom of his chin.. damnit Ouma- don't think that way! I didn't want to hug a stranger like him.. or.. did I?

Even though Past Ouma was long gone, I wondered how did he ever fall in love with this strange, uninteresting blue haired guy standing before me.

But boy, I got my answers. This Shuichi guy was attractive, sure. And emo looking, but his eyes.. they held unspoken secrets that I was curious to find out about.

"Whoa." I said dumbly, staring at his beautiful eyes. Shuichi smiled slightly as if uncomfortable by my stare.

"You've.. been staring at me for quite a long time.. are you alright?"

I could only nod; since he had caught me off guard. Was this what it's like? Like how that strange creature could paralyse its prey before they attacked? Because this was what it felt like.

However, my body tended up when he brought he into a tight hug, my hands still outstretched.

His hug was so warm.. I found myself actually relaxing to his embrace, despite me not really knowing him. I could only stare into the blank space of this blinding white room as we stood together.

I closed my eyes, letting myself relax-

No. I couldn't relax.. my friends needed me.

As if Shuichi could read my mind, he was already pulling away from the hug and was now holding me by my shoulders. Tears glistened in his eyes, but I caught sight of a sudden movement behind him..

Despite us being in a room, blazed with white lights, I could tell that someone was watching us.. and my unease grew just the slightest.

Somewhere, far away, I could hear something.. but I brushed it off as the ringing in my ears. I turned my focus back to Shuichi.

"Hey," I held up my hands, the small movement making my arm hurt, "I like the admiration and adoration, but the stare's getting a little too creepy."

"Oh," he suddenly blushed and looked away, rubbing his neck with his hand. A gesture I always thought as embarrassment. "Sorry, I just couldn't help but see that you're hurt.." his worries eyes glanced to the side of my cheek.

Instinctively, I reached up and felt the faint tingle of pain radiating from where my fingers touched the skin. A bruise?

I was stopped when his fingers touched the bottom of my lip, where there seemed to be a cut. Swallowing, I could taste something metallic. Blood. My hand dropped to my side as my stomach flipped.

"You.. you don't have to fuss over me like this, Saihara-chan." the name slipped from my lips naturally, as if I had used it so many times.

Shuichi's eyes focused on me, as my heart beat faster. I wanted to break free from whatever spell he had put me under but he was just so entrancing.

His eyes showed so much concern.. I could feel my hands trembling as he slowly leaned forward.

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[ Shuichi's PoV ]

"Kokichi!" I slammed my hand against the glass, kneeling on the floor as I watched the scene unfolding before me.

"Kokichi, stop!"

"He can't hear you, Shuichi, you might as well give up, and let him live his desire." Kaito's voice drawled from where he was standing. My vision swam as more tears pooled in my eyes.

Kokichi was staring up at my programmer self with wide eyes, slowly drawn in by a mere imitation of me.

The Neo World Program room.. a place where desires were programmed into reality. I hated reality..

But I had to trust that Kokichi could see through this lie, even if it seemed so realistic.

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[ Kokichi's PoV ]

As Shuichi leaned down to kiss me, I kept hearing that strange sound in the distance.. like a steady drum beat, calling for my attention.

"Whoa there, Saihara-chan." I placed a hand against his chest, stopping him before he got too close, "Isn't this a bit too much?"

The other teenager blinked, his eyes worried, "Huh? What do you mean-?"

"I mean," I empathised, "I've got my memories erased, and I suppose you have to catch me up to speed. Remind me of everything. Heck, how did you even get here?" My hand waved to the room, which was empty except for the two of us.

Shuichi looked around, as if he had just realised where he was, "Oh. It's just one of the waiting rooms after.. Kaito had discovered the Regain serum's recipe.. he locked me in here."

"Okay," I nodded, looking at my nails, pretending to know who this strange 'Kaito' person was, "What else do you have to tell me? What were they planning to do? I mean, I know we're the Masterminds, so.."

"You have to get out of here, Ouma!" he suddenly exclaimed with so much genuine concern I was momentarily shocked, "I don't want them to get you.. the torture.." his voice trembled, as he looked away.

"They'll do anything to get the serum's recipe out of us just to revive Junko Enoshima.."

"Junk- who?" I repeated as I raised an eyebrow, feigning ignorance, "Sounds like some trash can.. full of junk. I don't know about that Enoshima part though.."

Shuichi managed to make a small smile, making me blush slightly. He had.. a cute smile. The way the corner of his mouth turned up and the faint tinge of redness on his cheeks. "I knew I could count on you to lighten the mood."

"Oh, that's me," I winked, "Always endearing and exciting. Hey, I heard that you like me, don't you?"

Shuichi blushed, almost immediately as if he was caught off guard. His blushing was so.. cute. Everything about him was so adorable, I could tell why Past Ouma fell in love!

Ignoring the sounds at the other end of the room, I looked up at him and decided to maybe throw in a bit of my own 'charm' as well.

We were merely inches apart, but I still felt like something was wrong.. I couldn't put my finger on it..

"Hey Saihara-chan.. I wanna ask you something,", still smiling slightly, I focused my gaze on his, "What's the first game we played together?"

His shoulder relaxed, "That's easy, if you have to keep asking me these questions just for me to earn your trust, go ahead! We have all the time in the world to do so.. no rush."

He's avoiding the question..

"Oh," he continued after about a minute of silence, "To answer your question, it's Tic-Tac-Toe, of course!"

Honestly, I was lying to him. I didn't know how we had spent our time together. Or how we even met. Heck, I don't even know a lot about him... but I played along.

"But yeah I remember I beat you. Next question, what's my favourite drink of allll time?" I questioned him.

Shuichi smiled fondly, "Panta, of course. It must be grape."

At least nothing changed. Speaking of that carbonated drink, I could really go for a bottle right now.

"Second last question!" I held up my pointer finger, bringing out the Joker card from my pocket as I did so, "Does this hold any significance to you?"

Shuichi paused, looking at the card in my hand, "I.. uh.." he looked at the wall, as if collecting his thoughts, "My memories are a little rusty too, Ouma.. sorry if I think for too long.." he chuckled, nervousness creeping into his uncertain voice.

"Oh sure! Take your time.." I started to walk around, to the direction of the faint hitting sounds.

But was stopped by Shuichi's hand holding me back. I looked down at my wrist, and up at his eyes which seemed to be slightly panicked. "What are you doing, Saihara-chan? I'm just taking a walk! Unless I can't do that too. You're rather controlling.."

"What? No! I'm not controlling.." he released his grip, "Sorry if I made it seem that way, Ouma. But I remember the card. I won it from you in one of our games, didn't I? That was a long time ago."

I nodded slowly, looking at my wrist. This last question.. I was going to use my knowledge from the Time Skip Programme. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at him.

"Where did we kiss?"

The detective suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable, his face flushed as his eyes darted to look at the wall. "M-Must we really say that now? There could be people watching us.."

"You didn't seem very nervous just now when you tried to kiss me, Saihara-chan!" I pouted, but felt my heart hammer against my chest. Just as I thought, this wasn't the real Saihara.

"C'mon, answer the question!" I beamed happily, switching my mood as Shuichi looked to the side. "Where did we kiss? Our first kiss! Surely you remember that! I remember it because, well, the Hospital couldn't take that memory away from me.."

The blue haired teenager looked shocked, his eyes shifting around the room, "But the Hospital erased every memory from you, didn't they? You aren't supposed to have any memories left!"

I reached up and pressed a finger to his lips, making him freeze after he finished his sentence.

"And also," I leaned in close, "Next time you want to be a fake Saihara-chan, get your facts right. I don't want a fake."

As if on cue, the lights changed from bright white to black, plunging me into darkness. However in front of me, the fake Shuichi glitched out and vanished before my eyes; a syringe filled with blue liquid dropped to the floor with a soft clink.

Did he plan to attack me? How foolish of him..

Taking out a pocket knife, I let my other senses guide me. I have to find the real Shuichi.

My eyes travelled across the room, before I cautiously approached the place where the loud sound of someone hitting the wall could be heard. My footsteps were soft but all I could hear was my uneven breathing.

Kneeling in front of the blank space, I pressed my hand against the place where I could feel the thumping. Almost like a faint heart beat.

As soon as I placed my hand on the spot, the sounds ceased.

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[ Shuichi's PoV ]

I pressed my hand against the wall as well. Kokichi was looking forward but I knew he couldn't see me. His eyes were focused everywhere but on mine.

He could see through the illusion of the Neo World Program.. now I needed him to see the real me.

I suddenly whipped around when someone pulled at the chain around my neck, my hand falling away from the one way mirror. "Nice try." Kaito told me as I looked up at him from where I knelt. "Too bad you're never going to be with him.."

I glared at him, reaching up to grab the chain and pulling back against him. "I can get back to him. And I will get him back to me!" I gave the chain a hard pull, sending Kaito sprawling to the ground.

Getting to my feet, I ran over to the control panel and stared at the strange buttons on it. Which lever was the one to open the Neo World Program's door? The words swam before my eyes, my vision blurry from running too quickly.

"Nowhere to run, Shuichi." Kaito's voice called as I was pulled away from the panel, my back hitting the floor.

Kaito stared down at me and suddenly slammed a foot on my chest, knocking all the air from my lungs. I gasped, shakily trying to push him off but I didn't have the energy.

Turning my head, I could see the white coated doctors and the strange figures in the corners of the room looking at their tablets, unconcerned about my plight. I clenched my jaw, turning away from them. If they think I was not going to fight.. they were wrong.

Before I could open my mouth to retort to Kaito's comment, a loud alarm shook the floor. The wall which separated the waiting room and the Neo World Program fell away.

I propped my elbow on the ground, suddenly making eye contact with Kokichi.

He froze, his eyes fixed on mine..

"Kokichi!" I started to yell when Kaito pulled on the chain, cutting off what I was about to say. He kicked me once again, making me face the cold floor. I shakily raised my head, not breaking eye contact with the supreme leader..

"He doesn't remember you." Kaito reminded me as I saw Kokichi's hands shake. He still didn't move towards me, like I hoped.

He doesn't remember me.

"You might as well give up now."

I looked down at the floor, seeing something dripping onto it. My tears, trailing down my cheeks and hitting the floor.

"I won't.." my voice trembled as I tried to speak, "I'm not giving up on him.."

"You're so stubborn, friend.. now watch.." I heard his quick footsteps, so I raised my head; expecting a kick to my head or my chest.

Kaito approached Kokichi, who stepped back, his purple eyes wide with shock. What was he doing? Why didn't he say anything?

I didn't have the energy to get up, the blow to my chest earlier had me shaking.. barely staying conscious. "Ouma.."

I needed to get to him..

I needed to hold his hand and tell him that everything was going to be fine..

Kaito lunged at Kokichi and grabbed him by the neck. I gasped, as the smaller boy was lifted into the air, his legs dangling as he struggled. His left hand dropped the knife he was holding with a dull clatter.

"Stop!" I yelled, trying to stand as Kaito muttered something intelligible to the purple eyed boy.

I watched with wide eyes as Kaito held out a needle and injected Kokichi with a serum filled with blue liquid.

The Regain Serum..

And all of a sudden, I realised his plan.

Because Kaito had the Regain serum recipe which was hidden in that photograph on my table, he could regain memories...

Only Kokichi now held the recipe for the Revive Serum.

Which meant.. Junko Enoshima will be brought back to life.

♥ End of Chapter Fifty-Nine ♥