✧ Chapter 17 ✧
[ That They All Held Inside ]
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Shuichi held him close, but soon realised that the other boy had somehow fallen asleep in his arms.

He didn't know if he should wake him up or not.. but Kokichi looked pretty peaceful. His fingers holding onto Shuichi's shirt and his mouth open slightly.

Shuichi reached down and gently took Ouma's hand, making the other boy relax. He must've been really tired if he had fallen asleep like this. Without a word, the blue haired boy held Kokichi up, and made him lie on the bed.

He didn't know how to treat the large bruise on Ouma's face though. Shuichi resisted the urge to just reach over and run the flat of his thumb across Ouma's cheek.

He actually wanted to make Kokichi feel safe. He didn't know what he was actually feeling. Maybe he felt puzzled. Or troubled.

Additionally, Shuichi felt that he might've depended too much on Kaito. Every time he was either injured in their sports class or if he fell down, Kaito was there to help.

Was his love for Kaito just a mistake? Was he just too dependent on the guy that he had mistaken it for love?

For the first time in a long while... Shuichi felt doubtful. Was that all it was? Him just relying on Kaito? The blue haired boy looked at Kokichi, who was sleeping soundly, his face partially hidden by a pillow.

He looked away, feeling his heart beat a little wildly. Ouma was just a friend, that's all. A mischievous prankster.. and just a classmate. And classmates should take care of each other.

That's all it was.

Shuichi sat on a chair, relaxing a little and looking at the clock. It was nearly eight in the evening. He might as well head back to his dorm room.

But then again, he didn't want to leave Kokichi. He recalled when he had injured himself in that rain and Keebo and Kokichi had helped. The bandaids the purple haired boy actually worked, to his surprise.

And he had a sneaking suspicion..

Shuichi looked at the bed Ouma was lying on. It was the same one he had rested on when he had hurt his leg. Which meant that he had been sleeping on Ouma's bed.

He frowned, remembering that Keebo had tried to correct him when Shuichi had questioned about it. And here he was, an absolute failure because he couldn't save Kokichi from his beating from Akane. Pathetic.

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[ Outside Shuichi's Dorm Room ]

Gundham stood outside the room, reaching within his scarf and bringing out three hamsters. He regarded them for awhile and as if on cue, the bell chimed overhead.

Nine in morning. Perfect timing.

He had stayed outside Shuichi's dorm room the whole night, taking his task very seriously indeed. Whatever this whole mystery was, he will solve it no matter how long it took.

"Let's go get Jum-P back, and hope that whoever is behind this, is banished to Hell." he muttered to the animals, which squeaked and nodded amongst themselves. Gundham turned away from Shuichi's room and headed downstairs, not making eye contact with anyone he passed.

Thankfully, no one stopped him. All except a girl who he knew and was a little fond of. "Good morning Gundham!" Sonia Nevermind smiled, waving to him.

"Good morning yourself, Princess." he replied, looking away from the girl. Sonia just smiled, like she always did whenever he called her 'Princess'. It was her title wasn't it? He was just being polite.

"You should sit with Kazuichi and I during lunch, Gundham. It would be fun and we can share our interests."

"Fun?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow, "I don't know if that can work if I'm around. I bring death and despair everywhere I go. You should fear me instead!"

Sonia tilted her head, but smiled anyway. "It's perfectly fine, Gundham. I promise!" she held out her right pinkie finger.

He recalled the times when she was always helping him with his schoolwork. And when he needed help when rounding up his animals. Sonia was always there to talk to him when the other students found him strange.

She was... a little different too.

"So can you promise to hang out with Kazuichi and I? You'll have a great time." she told him excitedly, still holding out her smooth, pale hand. It was so perfect, her fingernails trimmed neatly and her hands were dainty. Just like a princess, of course.

Gundham wrinkled his nose, before cautiously reaching up and hooking his pinkie with hers. He braced himself, ready for something bad to happen.

However, to his surprise, nothing seemed to happen. Sonia just beamed happily and held out her hand, which was still hooked to his. "It's a promise then! I'll see you in class!"

With that, she let go of his hand and ran off, waving. Gundham blinked, feeling his cheeks grow a tad warmer. He found the Princess rather cute, and slight ditzy sometimes. She had some weird quirks, but her heart was in the right place.

Gundham heard a squeak from one of his hamsters. Mega-Z was pulling at his shirt, pointing to the direction he was supposed to go.

"Alright, Mega-Z." he nodded and walked off towards the well, which was situated in one of the quieter areas of the garden. His shoes parted the green grass as he trudged across, making sure to not harm any creature that he might trod on.

Soon, his eyes fell upon a simple, stone well, with a little shelter and even a wooden bucket to draw water with.

Gundham narrowed his eyes, looking down into the depths of the dark space. "I did what you asked. So do you still dare to threaten me?"

Any normal person would be confused if they see him talking to a well. But he waited for a few seconds before a low voice echoed up towards him from its depths.

"You kept an eye out for him then?"

Gundham glared at the darkness. "Yes. All he did was to just leave his dormitory room. Nothing more. Now return Jum-P to me at once or I will curse you to eternal damnation!" he snapped.

His other three hamsters squeaked, perching at the edge of the well while looking down.

"Very well, Tanaka... you completed your quest, so here is your reward."

There was a sudden quiet rattle as the bucket started to lower into the darkness. Gundham regraded the whole process with a scowl. Whoever was behind this was truly evil and dangerous.

He was just taking care of his pet cobra in his dormitory bedroom when he received a note from a mysterious person. The note itself was strange, slipped under his door and the letters were made out of newspaper clippings. So there was no way he could figure out whose handwriting it was..

The note had threatened him to keep an eye out for Shuichi Saihara. And in exchange, he would get Jum-P back, who was held captive.

The bucket was soon lifted and Gundham quickly reached into it and brought out a tired, sleeping Jum-P. "You dare to treat my precious beast this way you fool?!" he shouted into the abyss, holding the hamster close.

"Go ahead and threaten me, Tanaka." the voice laughed, "But if I were you, I'd take care of your cute, harmless little rats better. I can always use them as bait for the stray cats."

Gundham slammed his fist against the stone, making his hamsters jump slightly. "You will get banished into Hell for this! I will find you and I will personally see that you're buried alive!"

The voice just continued to laugh, "By all means, Tanaka, Forbidden One... try to find me. Tell anyone else about the voice in the well. I'm sure they'll find it amusing." the voice said sweetly.

Gundham growled and turned away, holding all four hamsters close as the voice in the well continued to laugh.

The voice was right. His naive classmates definitely wouldn't believe that there was a voice in the well. They would think that he was even weirder than usual.

They didn't understand him, after all. Gundham looked at the hamsters and kept them within his scarf, where there was a pocket they could hide in.

He regarded the building of Hope's Peak Academy. There was one person who could help him. The Princess was always imploring for Gundham to approach her if he needed help.

But how could he ask for her help? That was the problem. He was never good at talking to others, in fear for chasing them away.. Gundham sighed, looking at the ground and silently thinking of a plan.

Perhaps he could ask her..

But would she accept his words?

♥ End of Chapter Seventeen ♥