✧ Chapter 37 ✧
[ In the Heart of the Patient ]
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The purple haired teenager slid his headphones on, pressing 'play' and falling back on his bed. As Kokichi lay against his pillow, he stared at the lights flitting in through the windows of their dorm room.

Keebo was fast asleep on his own bed, his left arm hanging off and the other holding what seemed to be a photograph. But from this angle, Ouma couldn't see who was in the picture. Perhaps it was a photograph of his family?

Sighing, he touched his own throat, feeling the peeling skin and the sting of pain. Whoever this traitor was... they definitely weren't working alone. Kokichi continued to stare at the ceiling, his mind drifting to different topics and finally settling on an old memory.

He closed his eyes, remembering he first time he met Saihara.

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[ Eight Years Ago ]

Kokichi ran down the street, carrying a small black and white puppy in his arms while getting chased by an adult.

He pushed past a couple, who were laughing and holding hands. He didn't give them a second glance, since he always witnessed such a thing. Couples. People in love.

Eight years ago...

Love was legal-

He skidded to an alleyway, backing against the grimy bricked wall. "Shhh.." he whispered to the dog, who was whining softly.

"Come here, you brat. Where did you go?" the man snapped, looking around while holding out a rusty metal pole. "Give me back the stupid mutt and we'll call it even."

In his arms, the ragged puppy huddled closer to Kokichi's chest. Ouma stroked the animal's matted fur, calming it down as the man's shadow appeared on the walls. He glared at the shadow, waiting to spring out of the alleyway and maybe kick that stupid man where it hurts.

Damnit, how did he get himself in such a situation? All he had done was come across a man beating up a stray dog. True, he might've possibly called the man some names. And probably tripped him and taunted him with threats.

"Hey you!" Kokichi flinched when he heard the man call for someone, but obviously not him. From where Kokichi was standing in the shadow of a building, he could see a blue haired boy wearing a cap, looking up at the adult. "Have you seen a purple haired brat run past? He's carrying a scraggly animal as well."

"..." the boy looked around, suddenly making eye contact with Kokichi. The two regarded each other for a moment, the boy's eyes darting down to look at the small dog.

"Funny you should mention it," the boy turned away from Kokichi and pointed across the street, "There's someone who you described, running down that way."

"What's he wearin', kid? I don't trust you, since you might be lyin'." the man spat, making Shuichi stare up at him with serious eyes.

"Grey shirt. Black pants. Messy purple hair, am I right? The dog was black and white." he replied simply.

The man ran off without a thanks, making Kokichi heave a sigh. Lies could save you. He learnt that a long time ago, but now his encounter with that blue haired boy reinforced his belief.

"Hey."

Kokichi looked up from the dog, to see the blue haired boy watching him with a curious expression. "Why were you running away from him?" he asked.

Kokichi debated if he should lie... after all, that's what he did best. But the other kid looked genuinely concerned, so he decided to tell the truth, "That man was hurting a dog.. I couldn't let him hurt it further." The puppy licked Kokichi's cheek, as a 'thank you'.

The blue haired boy smiled slightly, staring at Kokichi with his golden-grey hued eyes. "You're nice.."

"You too," Kokichi told the other, "You saved us both by telling that man a lie."

The boy blushed slightly, as if Kokichi had said something which pleased him. He held out a hand, "I'm Shuichi Saihara.. you?"

"Kokichi Ouma," he carefully shifted the puppy to one arm and shook the boy's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

The two boys smiled at each other, Kokichi obviously shorter than Shuichi. "Well Saihara-chan," the purple haired boy hefted up the puppy, so it was comfortable. "I have to take this puppy to the vet.. I'll see you around."

Shuichi blushed once more, even though the shorter boy didn't seem to say anything affectionate whatsoever, "S-Sure. Take care, Ouma. Maybe we'll see each other again."

Kokichi nodded and gave the other boy a wide grin before skipping off with the puppy in his arms.

—

Behind him, Shuichi was watching him leave; his heart beating wildly.

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Kokichi stared glumly at the ceiling. On the first day of Hope's Peak.. Shuichi didn't seem to recognise him. He was still the same, hat-wearing, emo-looking kid. But something seemed different about him.

Despite the two not seeing each other for several years, Kokichi could remember Shuichi's features: The same golden-grey eyes, pale skin and the fact he always seemed to wear blue, grey, or black; definitely emo.

Saihara had walked into the classroom, his hands holding onto the straps of his bag and keeping his head low. Of course, Kokichi had spent the next hour wondering if the quiet kid was the same blushing, helpful, (pretty cute), boy who had saved him from that hateful man.

When he finally gathered up the courage to lean forward and tap the emo kid's shoulder... it was slightly heartbreaking when Shuichi didn't seem to remember who he was.

Kokichi placed his arm across his eyes, remembering the conversation and how it went.

"Hey, your name's Shuichi Saihara, isn't it?" Kokichi had asked with a small grin, hoping he'd say yes.

The boy nodded, looking slightly perplexed by Kokichi's enthusiastic question, "Y-Yeah, I am.. why do you ask?"

Kokichi propped one elbow on the table, still leaning forward, "Because I'm Kokichi Ouma! Nice to meet you again."

He waited to see the flicker of recognition cross Shuichi's face, but all he saw was a look of confusion. "Again? What do you mean? We've met before?"

The purple haired boy didn't lose his smile, but he felt slightly hurt, "Hmm?" he quickly wove another lie to cover his shock, "Nah, I'm justttt kiddin'! I was lying. Y'know, cause I'm a liar."

Shuichi continued to stare at Kokichi's smug expression, who was hoping he'd remember their first meeting.

And he was still waiting till this day.

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Kokichi sat up on his bed, running a hand through his rather long hair. "..." he glanced at the clock, which was sitting on a bedside table in between his and Keebo's beds. Nearly two in the morning...

Maybe he should think of something to do. The purple haired boy grabbed a hairbrush, using it to detangle the strands of hair. Accidentally catching the wires of his earpieces a few times, he finally smoothed down his hair.

He sighed, crossing over to the huge windows and gazing out at the stars. "..." Overhead, purple clouds were starting to form across the dark blue sky. It was going to rain... a perfect time to get into bed, but he felt wide awake.

His eyes drifted down to look at Shuichi's dorm room windows. Since the dormitory building was curved to a shape of a 'U', the other side of the bedrooms were across from his.

Kokichi's windows could face Shuichi's quite well, and occasionally, he'd see the blue haired boy draw the curtains to shield the room from view. Of course, he had no intention to look into the room while the boy was sleeping. Maybe.

Kokichi giggled slightly to himself, remembering when he once accidentally saw Shuichi forget to draw the curtains. Enabling him to see the detective fast asleep on his bed, face planted on his pillow, obviously exhausted after a day of lessons.

Drumming his fingers against the windowsill, he hummed along to the song playing from his phone. Monokuma would probably execute him for listening to such a song. But of course, he was all about breaking rules.

Kokichi rested his hand against the sides of the window, climbing up to sit on the sill and looking down at the garden below. Four floors down, was the ground, but he didn't feel afraid. Falling out of the window seemed to be a rather stupid way to die. And Kokichi knew he'd rather die some other way.

After all, he wasn't done with this life yet. He needed to confess to Saihara about his feelings, break the rules and find out what's going on in the hospital.

He had a sneaking suspicion that Kaede Akamatsu was the traitor.. since she seemed to be insisting that she wasn't it. For once, Kokichi couldn't tell if she was lying or not, since she sounded sincere.

But even the piano freak was hiding something. He looked at the stone well, which was a distance away from where he was.

Gundham Tanaka was always seen hanging around it every now and then several weeks ago. But now, it was strange that he didn't seen him anymore. Eh, Kokichi knew he wasn't bad.

He turned his gaze back to the star speckled sky, narrowing his eyes at the pinpricks of light. Kaito Momota. It's been so long since he'd thought about the weird space obsessed guy.

All his thoughts were now focused on Saihara, after all. Dangerous? Yes. But was it worth it? Kokichi reached up to play around with the end of his necklace, was Saihara worth everything? Kokichi leaned forward, "He's definitely worth it.. which means.."

The purple haired boy scratched the back of his neck, spinning around and facing his bed again. He hopped off the sill and walked to his desk. Here goes nothing... he sat on his spindly chair and twirled a pen around.

He glanced at the dustbin, which was full of crumpled pieces of paper from his previous attempts. "..." Taking a deep breath, Ouma placed the pen against the paper and started to write.

"We need to talk. Meet me in the school garden, two in the morning. From, Ouma. P.S. Make sure you're alone."

After tomorrow.. if Shuichi accepted his meeting, everything was going to be clear.

♥ End of Chapter Thirty-Seven ♥

Ruelle: War of Hearts

https://youtu.be/49ZhrgtR-S4

(This song is the one Ouma's listening to :) Ruelle: War of Hearts) (Because:
(*'ω｀*) "I cant help but love you, even though I'm not supposed to."