✧ Chapter 69 ✧
[ Now I Realise to Love, Is Death ]
▹⋇⋆*＊❀　❀＊* ⋆⋇◃
[ Shuichi's PoV ]

"What do you want Ouma?" I asked, turning around to face him. He looked down at me, sticking his tongue out.

"Look who's the shorty now?" he grinned, teasing as Kaito started to stand but I beat him to it.

"Oooh scary." the previously taller boy grinned before pretending to faint. "But you didn't have to stand to prove me wrong, sweet Shuichi, I know I'm short."

"Or," he leaned forward so he was whispering in my ear, the very gesture I remembered from my nightmare last night, "Were you just trying to show that you're not scared of me? Cause I can actually see the fear in your eyes!"

I moved away, feeling my heart hammering against my ribcage just like earlier. Was I scared of him? No way. Perhaps this was another one of his mind games to act as if he were really a 'evil supreme leader'..

He and I stared at each other for a moment, his eyes full of curiosity and also what seemed to be smugness. I refused to break eye contact, though the silence was driving me insane. After a few more seconds, I shifted my gaze, making him smile happily and turn to the others.

"What brings you here, Ouma?" Kaede coughed, looking from me to him, as if she were trying to figure something out.

"Oh you know," he put a hand on his head, "I was drawn by the smell of happiness and decided to add a bit of fun to your little 'blooming friendship' by secretly adding pepper to space-boy's boring ol' soup."

"What?" The astronaut looked down at his food, before remembering that he didn't order any kind of soup. "You little liar-." he stood up, but Ouma didn't even flinch.

"What? All I said was just a few words, it's either you believe me or nah." the shorter boy shrugged, looking nonchalant as Kaito's expression twisted to an annoyed one. Though I knew he could go from that mood to furious in two seconds flat, so I needed to act fast.

"Hey guys, cool it." A low voice spoke up, making me look to the right and see a boy with green hair which matched his eyes. He had a small frown on his face with a plaster on his cheek. He had on a simple blue striped shirt with a strange symbol on it with baggy brown trousers and grey shoes.

His wrists were loaded with various bangles and bracelets, some made of plastic, and others from multi coloured yarn. It looked as though a bunch of kids had taken him hostage and forced the guy to wear the accessories.

His eyes surveyed the scene for a moment before turning his attention to Kaede, who seemed to be relieved to see him. "Hey Rantaro.." she smiled, the boy gave her a smile in return before facing us once more.

Kokichi was looking up at the new guy, his eyebrows raised. "Oh hey.." he paused when looking at his green hair, "Avocado. Can I call you that?"

Rantaro ran a hand through his hair, as if he were processing his newfound nickname. "Just lower your volume and don't cause a fight. Okay?"

"Alright Greenie." Kokichi rubbed his nose, before sticking his tongue out at Kaito and skipping off. However, at the last second, he glanced in my direction and winked, making my face feel slightly warmer than usual. I quickly placed a hand against my cheek, trying to act cool while listening to my friend's bantering.

"That little.." Kaito murmured, "He's so immature." He then rolled his eyes just as the bell rang, signalling that half an hour has passed. Maki and Kaede looked at each other; having their weird telepathy conversation again. I wonder how could they do that.

"We should cut Ouma some slack.." Kaede said as Kaito looked miffed, as if she had suggested something impossible. "After all, didn't you hear what happened to him?"

That caught my attention. Though I didn't know why. "It's all over the school.." Maki muttered, tugging at her short hair, "It's mostly because of that meddlesome journalist who can't keep his news to himself."

"He is a journalist after all." Kaede offered, giving the assassin a grin which she purposely turned away to. "He's just doing his job."

"A journalist or not," the assassin continued, "He annoys me. Keeps poking his nose into other people's business with his bunch of followers like a flock of sheep.." she pulled her twin knives out the table, making the furniture shake.

"What happened to Ouma?" I asked, trying to learn something about him. Mostly because I believed in knowing the stories of others before I judged them fully, that sort of thing..

"His parents kicked him out," Kaede twirled a strand of her blonde hair, her warm lilac eyes darting over to Rantaro every now and then, a small frown on her face, "Apparently he had turned up at their house yesterday and they had a pretty heated argument. At least he's staying at Hope's Peak for now but when the holidays arrive, he might not have a place to stay."

Kaito scoffed into his plate of waffles, making me inch my food away from him slightly. "Serves him right. No one should be disrespectful to their parents."

"Not unless your parents are either alcoholics or abusive." Kaede pointed out, now frowning down at her plate as though it owed her something. "But that's just what I heard. It might not be true, seeing that it's Ouma we're talking about."

Just as I was about to answer, a burst of static came from the speakers, making almost everyone flinch at the loud noise. I nearly hit my glass of orange juice all over Kaito. "What the heck was that?" he demanded, looking up at the ceiling as if someone would answer.

A garbled voice spoke up, blurred with static for a moment before it finally cleared. The person sounded too cheerful for the morning, even though it was nearly ten. It didn't sound like it belonged to a male or a female.. or even human, that is.

"Announcement!" the same high pitches voice piped up, "Urgent announcement! Please make your way to the gymnasium immediately! There are some important matters I have to address to all of you! Teachers are not included, because you have been briefed!"

The speakers shut off, making the five of us look at each other. "Doesn't sound human." Kaede was the first to say, "Wasn't it strange?"

"Let's just go and see whatever they want." Kaito started to stand. He was the type who likes to obey teacher's orders.. but I had a feeling he was trying to impress Maki.

Kaede looked at me, as if reading my thoughts. "Don't worry," she whispered as Kaito talked enthusiastically to the assassin, who seemed perplexed to see the guy with his continuous one-sided conversation. "Maki's actually really nice, though she might have some trust issues.. due to her.. past."

"Oh." I replied dumbly, wishing I had my cap to distract myself from Kaede's gentle smile. She was a cute girl, obviously friendly enough to be able to befriend someone like Maki so easily. At times like this, I wished I could talk normally, instead of just hiding and getting my tongue tied.

"You're the Ultimate Detective, aren't you?" she asked as we headed towards the gymnasium. I nodded slightly, remembering Kokichi's smug face when I seemed unsure of my 'profession'.

But the thing is. I wanted to be a detective, I loved solving complex puzzles and mysteries, but at the same time I had a feeling I lacked the proper skills..

"It's alright, Shuichi," Kaede smiled even wider, looking ahead as the crowds of other students confusedly made their way to the gym as well.

"Hope's Peak is a great place to enhance your abilities. I came here to make friends, play music for them and.. well, try something new. Music is meant to be shared."

"..." I nodded, not trusting myself to say the correct words and finally entering the gymnasium.

A crowd of students were gathered with us; looking impatient. They appeared to be a mix of seniors and freshmen, but they bore the same expressions: annoyance.

"I don't know what's going on and why they're calling this gathering," a blond teenager with glasses spoke up in a snobby voice, "But this is a waste of time."

"Come on Togami.." a shorter boy with soft brown hair smiled at him. "It could be important.. and besides, whatever she has to say could help us settle in."

I turned to the person beside me, wanting to talk to Kaito but instead, came face to face with none other than Kokichi again. I leapt back, accidentally hitting against Maki. She shot me a glare, but didn't say anything.

"Jumpy?" the shorter boy in front of me grinned, noticing my reaction. "My my, Saihara-chan, you better be more careful. You don't wanna anger Miss Meanie over there."

"I can hear you perfectly well and if you don't shut your mouth, I'll do it for you."

"Sorry," Though I didn't know what was I apologising for, "I.. I just wanted to ask why was our principal a female-."

"Budget cuts." Kokichi replied, scratching his head with a bored expression, "Just kidding. I don't know, don't look at me. Maybe because they wanted a change-."

"Hello everyone!" a cheerful voice rang out, and a burst of sparkles appeared on the stage before us. The bright light then formed into a figure of a rabbit, mascot-like and half the height of Ouma. "Welcome back to Hope's Peak Academy! I am your new principal, Magical Girl Usami!"

The small animal twirled on the spot, and I realised she was holding a long stick, with a heart symbol on the end with feathery white wings. The rabbit itself had angel wings and a frilly pink dress.

"Our principal is a bunny rabbit." a guy with pink hair frowned, "That's strange. But luckily. This isn't as awkward as the time I had to play the trumpet for the Princess Sonia-."

"Save your conversations for later, young man," the rabbit spoke, her sweet, high pitched voice nearly making the speakers short circuit. "Because this is a new and entirely type of semester! No tests! No lessons! Just having fun with your new friends!"

A burst of outrage emitted from the crowd of students, making the rabbit leap backwards from the onslaught of negativity.

"But we came here to study!"

"Making friends? What is this? Preschool? We don't have time for this!"

"There's no way I'm going near those degenerate males.."

"But we do get to keep eating at the buffet, don't we?"

"At last.. I can make a hundred friends.."

Usami seemed to be stunned by the protest, but waved her wand to send a burst of pink glitter into the air. "Patience my dear students!" she exclaimed, waving her paws, "This will count as 90% of your grades. The 10% counts as physical education, because you will be walking around a lot."

More outraged muttering.

"Can we switch the 90% to physical education instead? Because I'd rather play baseball than to make friends." a redhead sighed, making me realise I had seen him somewhere before.

"Now this is a new semester! A new year! A new.." Usami seemed to have lost her words for a moment, "Way to make new friends! Check your new student handbooks, and look at the rules of the game!"

Everyone went silent, surprisingly doing as they were told. Even Kokichi seemed interested in his device, occasionally glancing at me when he thought I couldn't see. Or maybe because I was doing the same thing as him.. mostly because I was curious as to why he kept staring at me-.

I shook my head, looking at the glossy screen of my tablet.

╔═════ ∘◦ ✾ ◦∘ ══════╗

❀ Ultimate Character Development Plan! ❀
Hosted by: Magical Girl Usami

All of you will be issued a Monopad, thanks to the generous help of our previous owners. Your main goal is to collect one full star/flower! (six pieces for seniors, five pieces for freshmen) Failure to do so will result in repeat of the year. Mingle around with your fellow schoolmates and collect your Hope/ Friendship Fragments!

Have fun and don't forget to leave your
reviews on the school newspapers!

💕 Best regards, Usami 💕
Magical Girl // Head of The Academy

╚═════ ∘◦ ❉ ◦∘ ══════╝

I swiped the message away, feeling confused as soon as I realised what I was seeing. A profile of myself was displayed, my height, weight, likes and dislikes.. how did they know these things about me? And that picture.. I couldn't remember when I'd taken it.

I swiped left and came across other students' profiles as well, labeled neatly as freshmen or seniors. I felt as though I were invading their privacy.. but wow, I didn't know Kokichi disliked pig feet. Uh.. weird. But who am I to judge? And Kaito surprisingly liked houseplants.

"Dude." Speak of the devil, "This is wicked."

"All we have to do is fill these petal-shaped slots up? How boring.." Kokichi spoke up, shoving the screen of his tablet in my face. I pushed his hand away, making the shorter boy grin up at me.

"HINATA!" a loud voice exclaimed, scaring a handful of students and causing a few of them to scold the loud student, "They're called Hope Fragments! They're like you! Oh this is amazing! There's so much hope!"

"Lets get away from this crazy town." Kaede whispered to us, as we left the gymnasium. I hesitated after taking a few steps from where I had stood. The purple haired leader was staring at his tablet, with a gloomy expression on his face.

I frowned. Something about him just felt.. sad. "Ouma." I called before I could lose my confidence, and that waffle I ate earlier. "Do you.. want to hang out with us?"

The boy looked up from his device, smirking. "Me? Hang out with you? Please, you're so boring-."

Before I could lose my nerve, I strode over and grabbed his wrist, blushing and pulling him after my group of friends. After a moment of shocked silence, Kokichi relaxed and walked beside me; making me let my hand slip off.

Perhaps it was because of Maki and Kaede's story which made me feel bad for him.. how he didn't have a home to go to and those rumours he spread. When we were at the library, he did say he liked lying.. so perhaps he was lying about calling me boring.

And besides, he hasn't said a word ever since I took his hand.. I treated that as a good sign.

Maybe this whole Character Development Plan...

Would be a great idea..

♥ End of Chapter Sixty-Nine ♥