❀ 4.3 - El Amado ❀
❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀
"How scary is this movie? Maybe I shouldn't watch this…" I say, looking in all directions of the room. Kokichi glances my way, unperturbed by my anxiety.
"It's not that scary, I promise~" Kokichi comments with a pleasant smile, prompting my stomach to sink immediately. He "promises"?!
"You're lying to me! I'm serious, Kokichi, this better not give me nightmares! If it does, I'll never speak to you again!" I snap, looking nervously from the screen to the comfortable teen sitting cross-armed beside me. He looks pretty amused by my discomfort, something that only serves to irritate me.
"Aw, yes you will. You like me too much to never speak to me again. Also, if you don't remember, we both saw how well trying to give me the silent treatment worked the last few times you tried it. Either way, if you really get scared, you're welcome to jump in my arms!" Kokichi reassures me...which fails to do its intended purpose. Nervous by a large margin, I look back at the other couch currently blocking my exit.
Would it be possible to just swat it out of the way and make a break for it?
"Mousey mouse, nothing scary has even happened yet, calm down. Look at the cute doggy! Be one with the fluffy!" Kokichi says, reaching over the side of the couch to haul out a large blanket and turning towards me to scoot closer to pull it over both our shoulders.
"H-How am I supposed to relax when you're making me watch a scary movie and-" I cut myself off with a flinch when I feel him wrap an arm around my waist and force me to recline into the backrest of the couch with him. I squirm until he gets the message and moves his hand so it's not on the most ticklish part of my waist. "...Doing stupid things like pretending to flirt like this?!"
"Nee-hee-hee~! Is that how you're interpreting it? Me flirting? Are you sure you aren't just seeing things that aren't really there…? You kinda do that a lot, y'know?" Kokichi has the audacity to say with a raised brow, prompting me to scowl as a result. "Seeing" things? No no no...I'm not seeing anything because I know there's nothing there. You know what I do see through? I'm sure I see a dumb leech trying to play pretend about it.
"You literally called it a date the second I sat down on the dumb couch," I accuse, watching an expression of confusion roll across his face. Oh, great. Here it comes…
"Darn...it's so hard to joke around with you...you take everything too seriously," Kokichi laments with a sad face. "I almost don't want to hang out and watch movies with you anymore."
"Oh, that's awesome! Peace out, Leech Face, thanks for the beef jerky-" I say, moving to stand until Kokichi wraps his other arm around my waist to lock me in place. Just as I'm about to complain, Kokichi bursts into a dramatic and pitiful fit of tears for show and throws himself straight across my lap.
"Waah! I'm sorry, I'm lyyyying! After all the trouble I went through to get this all set up for the two of us, you just can't leave!"
"W-What?" I ask, totally confused by his words. He's saying he set this all up for us? When he had no idea I'd be waking up tonight? "You're right, that is such a lie. You didn't know I had woken up until twenty minutes ago!"
Kokichi goes full stop with his exorbitant amount of sobs, turning his head slightly to look up at me from his layed out position with a mischievous edge to his demeanor.
"But didn't I? How sure about that are you, Prairie Dog…?" He inquires with a sneaky look forming in his violet eyes as he promptly bends his legs and crosses his ankles comfortably in the air behind him. "What if I had predetermined knowledge on it? What if I told you...it was maaaagic-"
"Himiko is the Ultimate Mage here, not you. And I don't believe you," I object, peeking a glance at the TV and suddenly yelping at the sight of something in this movie that looks like smouldering human body parts. My hands immediately fly up to cover my eyes with my hair. "EW! What is that thing?!"
"Ah, the movie really picks up now!" Kokichi says, making me wiggle my legs until he lets out a laugh. "Hey, you aren't that scared, right? It's just a movie~"
"I-I don't care! That doesn't change how I feel right now! I don't like body horr-" I start to say before I'm cut off.
"But you're totally cool with revisiting the love hotel where Ryoma died though, right?" He asks innocently, finally prompting the pieces to come together in my mind.
So he saw me enter the hotel and decided to set this all up while I was inside getting my bag...ugh, this isn't Kokichi just torturing me over my crush on him and over my dislike of horror movies- this is him trying to capitalize on gathering intel on my business.
In short: I don't wanna answer him.
I reach to my left as I give him a scathing look, bringing up my bag of beef jerky to take another piece to chew on it slowly. Despite my sudden tight-lipped hostility, Kokichi pushes on anyways with a pleasant smile. He's gotten a little too comfortable laying there on my lap…
"Why did you go into the hotel? For that?" Kokichi asks, pointing a finger towards my bag on the floor to the other side of me. Although he's pointing at it, he never looks away from my face. Obviously he's trying to read my reactions to get his answers since I've made it obvious I'm not about to talk. "Those are the blueprints for the monokubs, right? Can I just-"
When he reaches his hand over to pluck a rolled up blueprint from the bag, I slap his hand away and raise my knees to push him off of me.
"No, you can't. Thanks for asking," I curtly respond.
I shouldn't be watching movies right now anyways. I should be reading those blueprints and books so I know how to properly remove obstructing devices in their systems and then remove those dumb bombs they're stuck with.
Stupid Kokichi doesn't need me here.
"Do you really want to be here stuck with me right now? You could be doing anything else. Be honest, this can't be all that fun for you. All I'm gonna do is bully you and cover my eyes when there's a scary scene…" I state, covering my eyes yet again from the projector screen when I see another gory scene of a body...bodies? I don't know, the bloody mess flashes across my vision just barely with how fast I cover up my eyes with my hair.
Kokichi sighs dramatically, which is enough for me to prepare for his rebuttal to my claims.
"Of course I want you here! And yeah, this would be WAY more fun if you'd stop trying to run away! We're barely fifteen minutes in and all I've heard out of you is complaint after complaint!" Kokichi accuses, prompting a mild edge of surprise in my gut. That's not at all what I thought he would say. "Just for one night, let's forget all this killing game stuff. We're just two people watching a spooky movie together in the dark. Okie dokie?"
I drop my hair to look him in the eyes, examining his features for any sign of deception. When a smile graces his face and he shoots me a wink, my brain short circuits and my cheeks embarrassingly grow several degrees hotter much to my dismay.
"F-Fine. I'll try to watch this stupid movie with you...just don't think this means anything. As soon as it's over, we're not friends anymore."
Kokichi's expression contorts into a look of dismay in the corner of my eye as I peer at the screen, make a face, and pull my hair up again.
"We're not friends once we leave?" He asks sadly, watching as I Iook back at him and shake my head 'no' in response despite the small specks of tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "In that case, we're never leaving the AV room! And I'm gonna put the movie on loop!"
I roll my eyes, looking past my curls to the projector screen to see if the horrors are gone. The doggy on the screen has come back, which is enough to allow me to drop my hair again and relax.
So he just wants to watch movies with me. And somehow he's not lying. He's just miraculously being truthful all of a sudden? When I asked him to be honest just a moment ago, I didn't think he actually would try being honest. Not that I can actually verify that he's being truthful right now. He'll have to prove me wrong while we're hanging out.
Everything is telling me this is a bad idea. That I should forget about this and head back to my room on the double where Rantaro's waiting. I told myself I'd avoid Kokichi from now on so I could overcome my stupid crush on him, and yet here I am.
…
Let's just pretend then. Let's just give into the lie until it falls apart, because we both know it will.
I set aside my beef jerky snack and scoot closer to Kokichi, hooking my arm with his under the blanket. Feeling the gesture, Kokichi glances my way with mild surprise as I get cozy and pull up the hood of my suit over my head in case I need to hide. Both from the movie and Kokichi, who's now attempting to lean forward and get a look at my face even though I'm making an effort to hide how red it probably is.
Eventually, he just stops and leans back to watch the movie with me.
Other than the horrifying sight of body-horror and gore occurring on the screen, Kokichi seems to keep true to his word. He doesn't bring up the killing game at all- though that isn't to say it's smooth sailing during our movie time.
Kokichi pokes me every now and then under the blanket, which almost always has me flinching from how tense I am watching this movie with him. Sometimes he blows on my neck to scare me, and I have to swat him multiple times. I don't hit him very hard, which he seems to find amusing. Still, he thankfully keeps any comments to himself about it.
Another rather scary scene occurs, making me squeak and pull my hood over my eyes. Peeking out from a small gap in the fabric as I sink back into the couch in order to make myself as small as possible, Kokichi lets out a laugh of amusement that cuts through the tension of the scene.
"Nee-hee-hee! What are you so afraid of? It all looks so fake! They probably used some kind of fruity sandwich jam for all the blood and stuff!" Kokichi claims through his giggles until I peer up at him.
"I-I still feel uncomfortable looking at it all…" I whine, prompting him to ease up on his laughter to pat my head in almost mocking comfort. I show more of my face so he can see my scowl under my hood. "Don't patronize me just because you can handle gore and I can't."
"Aw, no, that's not what I'm trying to do...I'm trying to get you to see it differently so you're less scared! I mean, the more you know about something, the less scary it can possibly be, isn't that right?" Kokichi inquires, prompting my irritation to fade to a certain degree. True, he's not wrong, I guess…
That said, I return my focus to the movie and try to get comfortable with looking at it directly. Even though I definitely have a grimace on my face at the sight of the gummy-looking practical effects, I try to power through it.
I may or may not end up leaving this movie night with an eternally plastered look of distorted disgust, but at least Kokichi won't be able to make fun of me for covering my eyes.
...I know what he said makes sense. The more you understand something, the less you fear. That may not be true for every situation that can happen, but it's true for most. He said he wouldn't talk about the killing game anymore tonight, and his comment probably isn't in reference to the killing game in the first place, but...I can't help but wonder if he's hinting at it beyond my fear of the movie we're watching.
My heart nearly leaps up into my throat when the chaos on the screen increases, which is made worse when Kokichi pulls his arm from my grip inexplicably. As embarrassing as it is, I'm unable to stop the distressed whine that escapes me when I'm left to grip air. On the other hand, Kokichi snickers in amusement.
I'm making the effort to WATCH the ugly scenes, the least he could do is let me use him for moral support!
"Now, hold on, I'm just getting cozier," he answers before casually resting his arm behind my shoulders so I'm instead forced to grip on the front of his clothes nervously.
This is...so embarrassing.
That's what a little voice says in the back of my head despite Kokichi's obvious enjoyment of the situation- whether it's for the reason of torturing me or because he's actually enjoying our time together is up for debate.
A little less than an hour later, the film finally ends and I'm left in a frozen state of not wanting to move and also wanting to run back to my room to hide under both Rantaro's arm and my pillow.
"...Well, I've got to give it to the director. He was certainly...creative. Especially for a film made in nineteen eighty-two," I cheep nervously as the credits roll.
"It's one of the better horror flicks out there in my opinion. So, how are you feeling?" He asks, surprising me when he unexpectedly reaches over with his free hand to tilt my chin up where I can look up at him.
Sometime while watching the movie, his presence became so comforting that I had forgotten about being nervous in this situation. I had been more concerned over the movie and scares presented there.
So the moment my eyes make contact with Kokichi's violet gaze, I realize just how much of a bad idea this had been for me to agree to. It's the sudden dryness of my mouth before I can even try to form a coherent response in my head. The sensation of my heart speeding up despite the movie having ended stuns me into a paralyzed state...but only for a moment.
"I…" I nervously speak, well aware of the embarrassing tremor in my voice as I lean back from his touch and swallow down my anxiety. "I watched your horror movie, okay? I-I'm gonna leave now."
Kokichi's face falls and he pouts, keeping me rooted to the couch with his arms around me when I shift to try and stand up.
"One more! Please~?" He asks, leaning much closer to me than I'm comfortable with. "It's gotten too romantic to call it quits already."
Had we been a cartoon or something, my eyes would have popped straight out of my skull then and there.
"Gyh! That's EXACTLY why I should call it quits now! Believe it or not, I'm completely uninterested! I'd rather eat cauliflower!" I complain, somewhat getting a hold of myself and watching as he lets out a long sigh. He releases me from his hold to lean back into the couch.
"Alright, you can go. But if you leave now...I'll take it as an answer," he says as I finally stand up. Hearing his strange words however, I pause and turn to face him. He'll take it as an "answer"? To what? He never asked me anything as far as I can remember.
"What do you mean 'as an answer'?" I ask curiously, watching as Kokichi examines his nails thoughtfully.
"Oh, you know…" he says, though he makes no move to elaborate. Mildly frustrated, I toss him a scowl.
"No, I don't know. That's why I'm asking you," I huff, feeling my temper rise slightly to a three on the anger scale. For once, I'm almost relieved since it pushes down the intense fluttering of butterflies in my stomach and replaces it with a fire of vexation instead.
"It's the whole reason I brought you down here!" Kokichi states, suddenly visibly irritated as he too stands up and places his hands on his hips.
Startled by his sudden proximity, I move to take a step back until he grabs my hands and tugs me in his arms. It's like one moment I'm somewhat in control of myself, and then the next I'm a stiff board plank at risk of eternal petrification.
What? Wait a second, what's happening?
I blink up at him, so stunned that it's all I can do as I process my arms curled up into my chest protectively and the feeling of his arms firmly around me. The horror movie already ended, so it's almost ironic I'm even more terrified now than I was sitting through the last half of such a gory movie.
What is this? What's he doing?
"D-A-T-E," Kokichi spells out to me slowly and deliberately. I want to almost snap at him and tell him that doesn't answer my question until he grins and adds, "If you're ditching a date, you're telling your date you're not interested. You said so yourself a moment ago. So I guess my chase ends here, right? Because your answer is a resounding, 'no, I don't want to even try'?"
He's...he's being serious? He wasn't just saying that to make me uncomfortable?
"So if you leave now...you bet I won't try chasing you again. I'll respect a legitimate 'no' if that's what you're saying, but I just want to make sure you know exactly what a 'no' carries with it," Kokichi explains, smiling brightly at me as I break my brain trying to decode him. "Trying" being the operative word here. I know I'm not dumb by a long shot, but boy do I feel pretty dumb when I try to understand Kokichi's behavior.
Where do I even start with this? Okay, disregarding the fact this is probably a total lie, why would he even give me an ultimatum now of all times? There's no doubt he's implying he's interested with his words, but...this isn't one of the other guys. This is Kokichi. A known liar.
…
But what if he isn't lying? What if his cruel words before in the classroom were the lie?
"...You said you'd never be interested in a bitch like me," I remind him, even though I don't actually want an answer to that bitter memory.
"Well, yeah. I'm a liar, you're gonna have to take me as I am. I'm not usually hostile like that though, I promise. It's not a very good idea to get close to someone in a situation like ours. Someone could hurt you to hurt me...or on the other hand, you're in a position to hurt and take advantage of me. I'm sorry I was so cruel. It wasn't until I thought you'd never wake up that I regretted pushing you away," Kokichi elaborates, hugging me close to rest his cheek against mine. Now I'm really panicking on the inside. "But you woke up! So...let's get our date game on, or we can call it quits here. Permanently."
He pulls back to give me some space, watching me quietly with an unreadable gaze. I can't tell if he's nervous or anything like I am...he looks pretty relaxed. And I can't tell if he's lying still either, even though I'm somewhat trying to stifle the logical side of myself insisting it is a lie.
His behavior up to this point doesn't match what he's said. It would be stupid to fall for his flirtatious claims.
Scarier than that is knowing how much I want to give in to curiosity and throw caution to the wind, despite what I know. The need to allow my skittish nerves over him run rampant without a need to feel ashamed or reel myself in.
I said I'd let myself pretend, right? Like it's true? In that case…
With careful movements, I set my bag back on the floor and take my seat on the couch again.
The feeling of my doubts melting away into acceptance has me breathing a small sigh of resignation. Chances are, even if this is a lie like I suspect, he's probably littered some kernels of truth in his words. Not that I'm in the mental state to think about that right now though, considering everything related to him liking me back are probably none of those kernels of truth. The things I'm feeling right now are very new, very alien...and very scary.
Is that a testament to how much I like him, or the idealized version of him I've attached to? Is this really how crushes work? This all seems very confusing and messy, I'm obviously not ready for this kind of a thing- even on a level like this where I know it's totally illegitimate.
Kokichi, with a skip to his step originally not present prior to my answer, finishes inserting another movie in the disk reader attached to the projector. When he sits down with me, I'm all the more jarred by the situation when he promptly pulls me back over to his side to get cozy again.
Come on, me, you can still back out of this! You're not totally wrapped around his little finger yet and you don't need him! There's plenty of fish in the sea, don't settle for the bloodthirsty piranha!
He picks up the blanket to smooth it out over us again, allowing me a moment to examine his features. I don't really know what I'm supposed to be looking for…I'm almost tempted to use my intuition to get a clearer answer on his behavior here, but I decide to reserve it for my work on the monokubs. Plus, I need a break more than ever after what happened. I don't want to sleep for another five days just to confirm what I already know about Kokichi.
That being said…I've noticed the time in which I fall asleep after abusing my intuition has increased since the last time. First time I overloaded, I passed out for maybe a few hours. Then there was when I was in the underground office system under the Academy where I passed out for two days, but this most recent time it lasted five days. Does that mean that every time I abuse my intuition, I'm putting myself at risk to pass out in rising increments of time? If I strain myself again, does that mean I could end up sleeping seven to ten days just to recover the next time?
It's obvious there's a pattern there, but on the other hand…maybe I should be abusing my intuition?
Not to be reckless, but this last time I was able to abuse it way more than I had in prior times. In fact, I went off using it immediately after I woozily woke up when Monosuke dragged me out of the underground. I know I had no choice since Kirumi was trying to kill me, but the fact I was able to hobble into the hotel and wash off both old and new blood after just waking up and using my intuition like crazy to get away from Kirumi was a very new thing.
So in other words…I can maybe train myself using it so I can increase the threshold of strain I can handle- even if the consequences of that training means an excessive amount of sleep.
Should I really risk it though?
I hate that I can't just go ham using it. Not having any sort of rebound or backlash would have been the best advantage, but at the moment it's more of a liability than a step up over Monokuma. Worse than that, he knows something about it that I don't. So maybe me having it is normal to an extent? Are there other people like me? I don't understand. I don't know why I'm able to do things like that.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Kokichi half snaps me out of my mental musings with a low query, prompting me to look up from the spot on the floor my vision had locked on to look his way curiously.
Well, I guess I could try talking about it in a sort of vague way? He did imply he knew I had an advantage over the rest of them, and while I'm sure he wasn't referring to my intuition, I don't know what he was talking about.
Then again, it may be a bad idea confiding in Kokichi or asking for advice, especially right now with this little pretend date he's trying to pull...
No matter how much I want to trick myself into thinking he's interested- regardless of my denials about liking him and wanting to separate myself from him- I need to remind myself that this is a lie I don't want to get legitimately tangled in.
I don't know what his motive here is and I know he wouldn't be playing this up so much unless he had something to gain out of it. In the scenario that this is a lie, it knocks off the motive being something like a kiss or frisky business of the type. Kokichi said it before, he's not interested, and I have reason to believe that was the undeniable truth.
Whatever. Let's talk so I don't have to watch whatever this "Grudge" movie is…
"Remember back in the hotel, when you implied I shouldn't quit trying to escape just because it wasn't easy? Not that I've changed my mind or anything, but what sort of 'advantage' do you think I have based on that Sudoku puzzle book you got from me?" I ask curiously, noting the edge of surprise in his features as he gives me a funny look.
"Ooh, are we cool with talking about the killing game then?" He asks, the fingers of his arm across my shoulders playing with the tail end of the blue ribbon around my neck. It tickles a little, but I just reach up and slip my fingers under the ribbon so there's less of that light friction tickling my throat.
"For the moment," I answer, resulting in his smile slowly forming into a more sly fox-like grin.
"You know…you're starting off questioning me, but how do you know I'll answer you truthfully? I could lie or say something crazy for every response I give," Kokichi points out, causing me to shrug almost immediately and answer him, "I don't really care about whether it's a lie or not."
His brow furrows slightly, peering at me studiously for the odd response.
He's not as expressive as this when we're around the others, is he? Usually he's got that blank mask across his face or a fake smile. Like Rantaro sometimes sports.
"What's the point of asking me anything if you're sure I'll give you bogus answers?" Kokichi inquires dryly.
I could use my intuition later to verify what's true or not from him, but I can't tell him that.
"Maybe I'm asking legitimate questions, but maybe I also just want to hear your voice when you talk? I don't know…" I grumble, looking away quickly when my face starts to get incredibly warm.
"...That's a level of stupid I wasn't expecting out of you, Prairie Dog. So forgive me when I say I believe you, but at the same time, I don't believe you. If you think saying something true and embarrassing will distract me, it won't. But that's so cuuuuteee~" He has the nerve to coo, reaching over with his free hand to pinch my cheek. My stomach flip-flops uncomfortably, making me stand up again and shove the bundled up side of the blanket I was using against him.
"I'm not interested in talking to someone that's gonna have a double-standard on who gets to lie and who doesn't. If I have to take you as you are, a liar, then you should have no issue if I don't wanna answer anything or lie myself," I state, picking up my bag and moving to the back of the room quickly to push the couch down on its legs. "Think of it this way: you can stop pretending now and we can both head on back to bed."
The furniture slams down loudly as I speak, shaking a bit upon impact against the ground. Before I can push it away though, I feel Kokichi grab my arm and turn me to face him. I'm already ready to talk back, up until he pushes me against the wall and rests his arm an inch or so above my head.
Just like the other times when he's done something very bold and forward, the words I prepare die out straight on my tongue.
Kokichi on the other hand just seems more than amused. I can only imagine the smile on his face means he finds it funny how easily it is to play with my emotions.
"Fair point. Come back?" He asks, purposefully leaning closer so the thoughts in my head slowly start becoming white noise again. His free hand finds mine, carefully weaving his fingers with my own until I find him leading me back to the couch.
Honestly, I kind of want to beat him up to settle the confusion in my brain as it goes haywire. I promised Rantaro I would work on my temper though, so beating Kokichi up is unfortunately not on my agenda.
…Yet.
I sit down with him again, feeling the blanket cover us once more.
It's quiet for a little while, enough for a scare or two in the movie to catch me off guard. Although he's not as close as he was when he pushed me to the wall, my heart is still pitter-pattering violently from the fact his hand hasn't released mine since then.
I almost forget I've asked him a question in the last ten minutes when he finally responds.
"The gibberish in the margins of the puzzle book didn't make any sense to me. When I first read them, I thought you were one of the stupider people here just trying to look smart because of your massive ego. So far, it looks like my first impression was totally wrong. You're legitimately brainy, maybe in a way even I don't understand," Kokichi speaks up, removing his arm from behind me to fold both behind his own head and stretch out his body. I hear his bones crack a little before he relaxes and lets out a sigh. "So my deduction came to be the idea of you secretly being somewhat of a genius…and guess what? I'm right."
…
"You're wrong," I say after a pause, somewhat embarrassed by his claims. "Maybe I'm on the smart side, but I'm not a genius by a long shot."
Kokichi scoffs at that.
"How'd you figure out Tsumugi used the blanket as a body bag and filled it with chains to get it to sink in the water outside the hotel? Even Shuichi was stumped over it, and the rest of us were crawling around the school looking for his hotel key," Kokichi says with a bit of a grin. "Even caught me by surprise."
Shoot. I don't have an answer to that, but I didn't figure it out…I just used my intuition to compile all the details and do the work like a calculator.
"...I'm not a genius and that's hardly an advantage. You're really smart too, so if you're putting me up as someone that should continue to go against Monokuma, why can't you just elect yourself to that position? You just sound like a coward to me," I comment, not holding back with my words since he hasn't held back with his.
He lets out a chuckle of amusement, even leaning forward to rest his elbows over his knees and hold his chin over his hands.
"For someone with such an ego, I'm surprised you're not jumping for joy at the fact I'm calling you a genius," Kokichi laughs, obviously avoiding the question.
Well, maybe it's for the best we let that query die away then. I don't want to accidentally reveal that I-
"Speaking of what happened in the hotel though…when I brought up your advantage, you got preeetty hostile and shut me down, remember?" Kokichi adds, turning his head in his hands so he can look at me with a piercing inquisitive stare. "Considering you're denying what I've assumed to be your advantage, that tells me you were thinking about something else. If being a secret genius isn't right, then what is that advantage of yours?"
I stare at him quietly, not saying anything. He seems to understand my expression though, smiling and sitting up properly to lean back into the couch with me again. Our conversation evidently dies off when I choose not to respond, leaving the question to hang in the air. I don't even want to say "I can't answer that", since it'd be a dead giveaway that not only is there an advantage, but it's one I'm not allowed to talk about.
The movie is getting creepier and creepier as it nears its end, but I'm surprisingly not as scared as I was when we were watching the previous movie. Maybe because I'm more focused on the conversation? Still, Kokichi manages to get me to jump when he pokes my side suddenly under the blanket.
"Stop that," I huff, scowling in his direction, feeling my face growing warm again when I realize he's not even focused on the movie anymore. In fact, he seems entirely focused on me right now. Taking in his appearance, it slowly occurs to me that this poke probably wasn't to scare me like his previous attempts, but to get my attention.
Well, now he has it. What does he want?
"What is it?" I ask with a puzzled frown.
He's just staring at me with an unreadable look.
Kokichi takes hold of the blanket and pushes it off of us, making me tremble a little as the cool air of the AV room hits the open areas of my skin where I'm sitting with my legs and feet up. Confused, I look back at the movie and then at him. The movie's not over…is he saying I can leave now? That we're done in here?
Before I can ask, he grabs my legs and turns me so I'm facing him instead. It's a single fluid motion that immediately changes the mood of the room when he crawls closer without a word to explain himself. Something that sets off several alarms when I'm forced to lean back to reclaim some space.
Oh God, is he trying to do what I think he's trying to do?! Wait, this is supposed to be a fake date! Did I miss something?! Did I pass out?! Am I having a nightmare?! Stop, stop! I thought he was LYING!
I squeak and try to scuttle off the couch, only to be held back by Kokichi pushing me down on my backside. His hand grabs mine and pins it up above me with little effort, leaving me an embarrassed mess under him. There's short circuits happening in my brain that I didn't think could be possible. As much as my nerves are screaming at me to just throw myself off of the couch, there's a curious side that also wants to just lay there to…see what happens.
Thoughts in my head begin to grow silent and completely void of further reasoning.
Unlike me, Kokichi seems pretty composed. He looks serious as he stares down at me, examining my features as I keep my free hand knotted up in the front of my suit as if to anchor me to reality. I have no idea what I look like, but I'm pretty sure there's about twenty different variations of fear and anxiety visible on my face- along with the unmistakable feeling of heat radiating off of my cheeks.
"You must trust me a lot to be letting me do something like this. It's not like you don't have the strength to shove me off, you've done it before. Just get a little angry and bam, I'll go flying," Kokichi says, a bit of a smile playing at his lips now that he's talking again. "...But I guess you don't want that, do you? You're here because you want me out of all the people trapped in this academy with us."
A block of ice has formed in my throat and around my body, keeping me frozen. Kokichi's tight grip remains around my wrist above me, which I don't bother to try to rip away from. There's a small sliver of logic in my mind still trying to insist this is a lie, but it's so low that I eventually find it drowned out by the thunderous sound of blood pounding in my ears.
The temptation of waiting and seeing what happens is so overwhelming I can't even fight it. I don't want to fight it.
"...Nothing to say to me, Prairie?" Kokichi asks as he reaches out to run his hand over my neck and flushed cheek, inciting chills up along my spine that only do more to shut me down. He chuckles a little at the frozen look I'm still wearing and then sighs as he continues in a low tantalizing murmur, "Fine. I wasn't interested in talking anyways...if you catch my drift."
Kokichi offers me one last smile and then rests his forearm on the couch by my head so he can lean down more. A squeak of realization escapes me when he rests his forehead against mine, his violet eyes hazy and half-lidded as he peers at me. My face grows warmer and warmer when his nose grazes mine in an Eskimo kiss, followed by the warmth of his breath as he exhales softly from his inviting lips.
I can't look anymore. My eyes immediately snap shut tightly, terrified even though a large fraction of my nerves are singing like they're part of a choir. I know exactly how close he is and it's mind numbing. It's bizarre. When I agreed to watch movies with him, this was nowhere within my radar of presumed possible outcomes.
Please just get it over with already! I'm gonna faint! I…I should have just gone straight to my room after I got my blueprints! Maybe Rantaro could have stopped Kokichi from dragging me anywhere. I don't have enough self-control to say no to this stupid…stupid...
I whine the longer it takes him to go in for the finishing blow.
…
"Hey…have you ever heard of something called 'misattribution of arousal'...?"
Confused, I open my eyes and feel my eyebrows knit together.
"H-Huh?" I ask dumbly.
And then I feel something cold click tightly around my wrist, followed closely by Kokichi using his free hand to grab my other wrist and push it up over me.
My brain is still half mush by the time I feel metal graze my other wrist, the clicking of the object reaching my barely functioning ears before Kokichi finally pushes up from how close he was with a huge grin as he turns to burst into laughter.
"That was so EASY…!" He sputters in a fit of giggles, still sitting comfortably on the couch beside my curled up legs I've pinned to the backrest.
Kokichi isn't holding on to my wrists anymore. So then what's…?
I try to move my arms down, only to look up and see a pair of handcuffs linked in a double loop around the metal armrest of the couch- which is basically just a metal bar connected to the backrest and to the bottom of the seat.
Unfortunately, both cuffs are tightly wrapped around both my wrists, which effectively traps me to the couch with no way of comfortable maneuvering from how the cuff has been looped around the metal bar. Upon seeing my notice of the handcuffs, Kokichi snickers wildly in that trademark laugh of his.
"Nishishi! Jeez, I really expected you to fight me off when I decided to go for it, but color me surprised! You really do like me! Damn, that's some low standards you have," Kokichi laughs, finally stepping off the couch.
I'm still reeling from what nearly happened, but I still watch as he brings his attention to my bag and promptly drags it away from the couch so I'm unable to reach him or it. My heart rate increases more now, this time for a totally different reason as I turn my body to the side so I can watch what he plans to do. When I try to slide the cuffs along the bar, it meets the couch at either end, proving escape impossible.
"Yeah, there's no getting out of that until I want you to. Sorry, Prairie Dog, you'll have to grin and bear it until I free you~!" Kokichi chirps, pulling out one of the blueprints and unrolling it with interest. "Whooa! These are SO detailed! Someone put a lot of care into building those annoying bears, huh? Wow, I didn't think they'd look so complex on the inside..."
I already know what's coming next. I know because Kokichi isn't as nice as Korekiyo.
Kokichi stares at the blueprint for a moment longer.
…
And then the tell-tale sound of the page ripping hits my ears as Kokichi splits it straight down the middle.
"Oops! Oh…shoot, my bad," he says, putting the halves together and then ripping it up further and further. His effortless and fake apologies are dry like a desert, escaping his lips as he shreds the blueprint and then steps over to grab the box of disks by the projector screen. In a second, he's dumping out it's contents to toss the shreds in and bring it back to where my bag is. "So sorry. I'm really bad at handling paper. Ooo, it's just this urge to rip that I'm toootally unable to control! Wheee~!"
Helpless to do anything, I just watch as he grabs the rest of the blue prints and shreds them joyously, tossing all the shreds in the box and putting his hands on his hips with a sigh once they're all in pieces.
"Now for the finishing touches," Kokichi says, pulling something out of his pocket which cements the fate of the blueprints when I hear the strike of a match. The start of the fire is sort of pretty. Even if that horrible movie is playing behind him, I can hardly pay it much attention from the layers and layers of turmoil I'm feeling where he's left me. Eventually, the cardboard box and the pieces of the blueprint are completely enveloped in flames. Smoke fills the room, making Kokichi and I cough a little until I hear the sound of a smoke detector I didn't know existed beeping loudly over the sound of screams in the movie.
Next thing I know, the sprinklers in the room have started to go off, dousing the fire until Kokichi and I are drenched down along with it. The overhead projector sparks and then shuts off entirely under the water sprinkling into its system. Once the fire finishes dying out, Kokichi sweeps the wet locks of his hair behind one ear and turns to give me a charming smile.
"And that's that! No more monokub blueprints! Last thing we need is for you to help them make our lives even more miserable. I really don't get why you wanna help them so badly, but whatever. Not like you can do that anymore now that I've dealt with the problem," Kokichi snickers before turning his attention back to my bag to see what else is inside. "...The rest looks like useless shit, so you can keep that."
Kokichi seems to realize I've been pretty quiet thus far other than a few coughs here and there, and stares at me for a moment to probably gauge my mood. Presumably, he finds something since he starts talking again.
"Aw, are you sad I don't actually like you?" He makes a sad pout, wringing out the water from his hair despite the fact the sprinklers are still going off. "Prairie Dog, didn't I say it before? I'm not interested in a bitch like you, remember?"
…
"...Well, I'm heading back to my room since it's super late. Bye~!" He brightly states, leaving everything where it is and marching past the couch to the AV room door. Doesn't seem like he intends to free me on top of everything he's already done, leaving me to my soggy fate as I hear the tell tale sound of the couch being moved out of the way.
A heartstring inside me is pulled taut as I hide my face in the couch seat and bite my lip to contain the flurry of emotions beginning to swirl around now that Kokichi is leaving.
Stop that.
You knew it was a lie.
You knew it was a lie.
I continue to repeat it in my head until the tingling in the corners of my eyes and the thick pressure in my throat relaxes to a degree. There's no reason to feel like that. I knew it was going to fall apart from the start, and I expected it would be something like this.
Yes, I'm upset about the blueprints too, but still…
I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't disappointed by the outcome of this fake date with Kokichi.
I was having a good time. He's annoying, he's really nosy, and he roped me into watching a movie with him…I didn't know he was aiming to tear up the blueprints because it ensured I couldn't mess with the monokubs.
But I still liked hanging out with him.
As much as I liked it though…now I just feel utterly humiliated. I let myself get too caught up in the pretty lie.
I sigh and look up at the metal bar, shifting my wrists to see the possible methods of movement. I lay back once I've determined the best path, gripping the bar with both hands and bracing my legs against the couch to arch my body up.
That's when the door to the AV room promptly shuts with a force that startles me out of my concentration.
"Heeey~! What's crackin', Kirumi?"
Those words loudly coming from Kokichi in the game room are enough to turn my blood ice cold, ironically firing me up to finish my motion. With a single hard push of my legs, I manage to flip myself up and over the side, nearly making the couch lift up on the other side until I land on both legs and let it slam back down with a wince at the noise it makes.
"...What was that noise?"
It's her voice, making me work to find some way to detach from the stupid couch Kokichi had the bright idea to leave me stuck to. Eventually I find a little nut over a screw that's poking out of the side of the armrest against both the frame of the seat and the frame that makes up the backrest.
The tools!
"Oh yeah, the couch I had up against the wall probably fell. As you can see, I was horsing around and accidentally set fire to something. Hey, you wanna go in and clean it up for me? You sure look like you're desperate to slave away for someone! You can call me your master as much as you want again~!" Kokichi laughs, the lies he speaks effortless and natural as they pass through his lips.
I scramble to stretch out my body and drag the bag towards me, looping my tip-toe first and then the rest of my foot to drag it over to me. The metal against metal isn't so loud this time, a relief for me as I eventually use my foot to spread out the items and move the books aside.
I don't have time to sort through all these stupid tools! Just give me the one that I need now!
I close my eyes tightly and activate my intuition, using a foot to curl my toes around the tool I need and passing it to my bound hand where I can quickly get to work unscrewing the nut with my eyes closed.
Of course I get to experience another harrowing situation…one after another they hit me! I shouldn't have left my room AT ALL.
It feels good to be angry, eventually getting the nut off of the screw to the frame of the seat, pulling the arm rest to see if I can stretch it out enough to just slide the double looped chain of my handcuffs out from under. When I find it doesn't quite pull away from the long screw that pierces the armrest through the middle, I lean back and press my foot against the side to pull at it. The straight shape of the screw versus the way the narrow holes on the armrest have to arc to come off makes removing only one side difficult, but I continue to attempt brute force anyways.
"...As a matter of fact, I think I will take you up on that offer. You may leave now," Kirumi speaks up, causing a laugh out of Kokichi.
"I was lying, I don't want the help of a toilet-scummy aspiring murderer," Kokichi chuckles, like it was obvious from the start. "What are you doing down here anyways?"
I pull more, hearing the click of each groove of the screw pull away from the armrest, until it clicks back several groves when the force pulls it back over the screw. I make a small noise of disgust under my breath and move to drag the cuffs to the other end to get the nut to the backrest out too. Clearly the only way to pull it off is to pull it straight back off the screw- and that can't happen unless it slides off both of the screws.
"Kokichi...she's in the room, is that right?" Kirumi inquires, what sounds like a bit of a smile in her words. "Remember what I said before? If you intend to stand in my way, I will not hesitate to cut you down."
"She who?" Kokichi plays dumb. "If you're talking about Prairie Dog, I'm pretty sure she's still a vegetable in her room with the avocado."
Stupid Kokichi! Stupid, lying, DUMB FASCIST IDIOT, KOKICHI!
The nut gets stuck either in my hurry to undo it or because of the water on it, making me have to run it the opposite way to try and get it unstuck. That's what I get for not using my intuition to unscrew this nut, I guess! Wow! Tonight is the worst night of my entire life, and I don't even remember my entire life! This is so unfair.
"I promise you will lose more standing there, than you would if you got out of my way. If you aren't lying, what's the harm in allowing me to give the room a look? Or are you saying an empty room is worth the spilling of your blood?" Kirumi inquires, making her intentions very clear. "I have no problem with making your death look like an accident if she truly is not in there."
…Got it!
I pull the bar off of the stupid couch frame and hear Kokichi sigh from outside of the room. It's when I turn with my handcuffed hands and the detached armrest that I see the other couch by the door, grabbing my nearby boots and hurrying to slide them over my wet socks. Once they're on, I go around it and crawl under just in time that the door slides open.
I see her footsteps come in slowly as she enters the room, followed closely by Kokichi's feet even though he stops at the doorway. Nervous but desperate to get out of there, I push aside my conflicted feelings over Kokichi aside and reach out to pull gently at the dangling strap of his pants to get his attention.
He surprises me when he immediately kneels down to help pull me out from under the couch, our eyes focused intently on Kirumi's back all the while I get on my feet and back out of the AV room with him quickly. Our footfalls are silent as we move, up until Kirumi finally turns around and catches sight of us crossing the game room.
I panic.
Since I'm still holding the armrest to the couch, I close my eyes and fling it forward at her face on impulse.
Kirumi obviously doesn't expect the long throw, grunting as the metal object hits her and sends her reeling back over the bag of tools and books I've had to abandon for now.
"GO!" Kokichi orders, pushing me forward so I'm running ahead of him with the stupid cuffs still wrapped around both my wrists. Thankfully the chain between them isn't as short as they usually come, so I can still do things like grab door handles and push them open for us.
My focus becomes somewhat foggy with anxiety as we race up the basement stairs and into the first floor of the school, making it all the more difficult to decide what to do. I hesitate once we're at the top step and look around, not sure of where to run next amid my panicked state.
Fortunately, Kokichi seems to already have a destination in mind, and he yanks on the chain of my handcuffs to drag me up the next set of stairs. He makes a beeline down the hall and to the Ultimate Pianist's lab, kneeling down and pulling out tools from his pocket to work on the door quickly. As he does that, I shift to stand at the corner where I can look out towards the stairway.
This is way too risky to be doing right now, what is he thinking?! Kirumi is going to be here any second now!
Just as I have the thought, Kirumi charges up the stairs and stops at the top step. My stomach constricts tightly when I notice her giving the large space a scan, her large scissors from the last time she tried to kill me gripped tightly in one hand. She doesn't seem to notice us yet in the area to the left of the stairs, since the hall breaks into two segments with the Dragon statue path as an optional escape.
Kirumi stares for a moment and then turns her attention towards the hall leading our way.
I don't think she sees me peeking when I pull back and return to Kokichi, pressing up against the wall in an effort to make myself as small as possible where he's still concentrating on the lab door. Her heels clicking down the hall are the only signal telling me she's coming our way, making me exhale softly as I prepare myself for a fight I'm definitely not ready for.
Kokichi stands up just as Kirumi steps past the corner, her attention turning towards us as we catch the movement of her sudden presence upon us. Without a second thought, Kokichi opens the door and shoves me inside as I see Kirumi break into a sprint. I stumble a little, seeing him turning the lock on the inside before he shuts the door with a slam that echoes through the school, effectively leaving himself on the other side with the bloodthirsty Ultimate Maid.
The hiss that leaves his lips is sympathetic but manufactured, followed by the falter in Kirumi's footsteps.
"Man, you were so close! That's a shame. Too bad, too sad. I guess you'll have to try again next time!" Kokichi brightly states, my heart already going on overdrive at the fact he's not in here with me where it's safe.
He has no idea what she's capable of, does he? Kokichi should have come in, why did he lock me in here without him?! It's dangerous and he's choosing to poke the sleeping dragon!
I step closer to the door and pause before I can turn the lock. Maybe I should wait a bit before turning the lock, since-
The doorknob jiggles a little, clicking against the lock for a second before the person testing it decides it's not open.
Good thing I didn't already turn it.
"...If she didn't know you and I were here, I would probably split open your stomach instead of hers. You're very lucky," Kirumi comments through the silence in the hall, making a cold sweat develop over my forehead at her threatening words. I'm almost tempted to swing the door open and hit her with a desk for that.
"Nishishi!" Kokichi laughs, seemingly unbothered by her words.
…
The sound of heels clicking away down the hall is enough for me to breathe a mild sigh of relief. At that point, I put my hand on the lock again and wait a minute or two longer before I finally unlock the door to let Kokichi in. Poking my head out of the hall, I'm able to confirm that Kirumi has left.
What perturbs me is that Kokichi isn't around anymore either.
I look around the area at the other two classrooms across the hall, eventually retreating back into the lab and locking the door with a frustrated scowl. Where is he? Did he just leave me again like he did with the stupid couch?
...I hate him. I don't get him at all.
As I'm mulling over plots to get some revenge on Kokichi later, I'm eventually snapped out of my thoughts by a quiet urgent knocking on the door. Is that him?!
I should have questioned more, but I impulsively open the door without hesitation and am greeted with the sudden dry look Kokichi shoots me as he hurries in and locks behind himself.
"Prairie Dog, as adorable as it is that you're so eager to see me, maybe you should ask who's knocking before you open any locked doors? Just a word from the wise," he comments, grabbing my handcuffs and dragging me over to the window of the lab. "Can you climb fast with those on, or do I need to get them off right now?"
"Eh? I think I can, w-why?" I ask, feeling him turn me and push me up on the frame of the window.
"Because Kirumi's coming back to break down the door," Kokichi quickly answers, gesturing for me to hurry and climb. "So let's disappear into that little hiding spot of yours so she thinks we're Houdini's in training."
At that, I move quickly to climb up over the wall and into the little alcove I found, turning to help pull Kokichi in just as the tell tale sound of violently splintering wood reaches our ears. Kokichi gets up in the alcove with no problem either, although he does end up half falling on me as a result of the slight drop.
"Whoops. Well, not that you hate it, right?" Kokichi comments cheekily with a grin, prompting me to scrunch up my nose in distaste and shove him off of me with a few smacks of vengeance. I only stop once the bangs in the lab get louder.
Eventually there's a crash...and then silence.
Kokichi sits up but stays quiet as we listen for the sound of Kirumi's movement. My ears strain to hear her heels clicking, which are considerably more muffled from our distance and the wall between us.
…
I don't know how long we're up there, but we're silent for the most part until Kokichi finally speaks up to break the silence.
"She's probably gone now," he says, shooting me a bit of a wicked smile. "Hey, Prairie Dog? You fancy taking a peek to see if the coast is clear?"
Rather than answer him, I ignore his presence with my arms crossed, seated as far away from him as my sanity can handle. Now that the adrenaline from Kirumi's presence has died away, all I feel is continued resentment towards the annoying leech I'm here with. Yeah, I was worried he'd get hurt, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven him. What he did in the AV room was legitimately awful.
"Praiirieee Dooog~" Kokichi tries to get my attention again before realizing I'm ignoring him. "Aw, we've stepped back into silent treatments again?"
I wonder why.
"You don't hate me, do you? Prairie Dog still loves me, right?"
No, I definitely hate you. And any remnants of my crush on you only fuel that hatred, you rancid pile of flaming garbage.
Kokichi starts crawling towards me, only to start snickering when I immediately raise my foot up to keep him at a distance. When he tries to bypass my leg, I kick at him to push him back away from me. He seems to give up at that point, hands up in surrender.
"Okay, I'll stay over here then!" He states, before pointing at the handcuffs around my wrists in amusement. "You're cool with the jewelry staying on? I can't exactly remove them when you're all the way over there."
"...Just toss me the key," I remark, watching as Kokichi snorts at the query. Ah...I guess that means there is no key. He was gonna leave me in the AV room with zero escape other than his own lockpicking skills. "You were gonna leave me there. Imagine if Kirumi had gotten there way after you left? I'd be dead."
"Oh, don't give me that. You were able to get out just fine without my help anyways! If I really had left, you would have had it handled," Kokichi answers much to my irritation.
"Yeah, because I happened to have a bag of tools with me. Don't tell me you expected me to do that, I only did it because you said Kirumi's name in the first place. Also, it took me time to get the armrest off. If Kirumi had come in without any warning, I wouldn't have 'had it handled', I would be a corpse," I snap, watching as Kokichi eyes me carefully.
"For the sake of the argument, I wasn't actually going to leave you there. I was planning on stepping out just for a bit to get you talking since you got so quiet. You know, it's a good thing I did! Otherwise, we would have both been caught by surprise!" Kokichi points out, prompting me to glare at him and then turn my gaze away. I don't believe him. His answer is too convenient. "So...handcuffs?"
Kokichi is holding up his tools when I look back at him, waiting for an answer.
…
"Fine. Just do it quick," I give in, holding out my cuffs so he can reach them. Unfortunately, he instead makes his way over to sit next to me, brushing his wet hair behind an ear where he can see what he's doing. I half lean away from him, but he ignores it as he gets to work tinkering with the lock of my right cuff. "...I hope you're proud of yourself."
Kokichi smiles at my words, even though my statement comes out bitter and hateful.
"Oh, trust me, I am. I had you wrapped up around my pinky finger even though you knew exactly what was going on. I'm not even sure how it still worked out for me in the end," Kokichi admits, making my irritation fade just slightly.
It worked out in the end because I wanted the lies to be true. Except they're not. Maybe this harsh wake-up call will help make severing my feelings to him easier.
Another thought, one that should be more important, flutters to the forefront of my mind as I watch him tinker with the handcuff lock. A small frown is playing over his features, the teen totally oblivious to the smile that's started to form across my mouth.
"I got these unlocked easily before, but it might be all the water that's made them temperamental now...don't worry, I'll still be able to remove-" Kokichi starts, only to be cut off when a sudden chuckle escapes me at the thought in my head. Kokichi looks at my face, eyeing me with a curious glint in his eyes. "What?"
"Nothing," I say, still smiling to myself at how funny the thought is.
See...Kokichi sweet-talked me into watching scary movies and then played with my emotions tonight. He made fake advances to trap me just so he could burn up those monokub blueprints...but because of the advantage he knows absolutely nothing about, he has no idea he got nothing out of this. Sure, it makes it a bit harder for me now that I'll have to use my intuition as a guide, but I can still tinker with the systems of the monokubs to remove their bombs.
Kokichi did all of this for nothing.
Somehow, that makes the humiliation of Kokichi playing with my emotions and promptly stomping them to the ground all the more bearable, even if it still hurts.
"Tell meee," Kokichi begs, pouting as he rests his head on my shoulder. I'm tempted to...but would it break any Ugly Rules?
…
You know what? Who cares.
"That's really it. You did all of this...for nothing," I say, starting off in a little giggle that slowly overtakes me as I try to control it where I'm still coherent with my words. "When it comes down to it, you wasted your time. You know what? I totally hate your guts now, but I don't feel so bad anymore."
Kokichi lifts his head from my shoulder, looking straight at me with an unreadable expression. After a second, he smiles and cocks his head to the side innocently.
"What are you talking about?"
Good mood restored, I choose not to answer him and wiggle my wrists so he redirects his attention to them.
"You said you could still take them off, right? Please hurry. My hands are going numb," I complain, showing the red marks under a portion of the cuffs.
Kokichi doesn't move, other than to open his mouth. Just when I think he's about to refuse and try getting more information out of me, he evidently just closes his mouth into a tight smile and works on the lock again. A moment later, the right cuff pops open and he pulls the cuff open so I'm half free. The second one comes off soon after, allowing me to rub my wrists to get the feeling back in them.
"You're welcome," he comments when I don't say anything else, to which I continue the trend by raising my eyebrows his way and promptly rolling my eyes. He thinks he deserves a "thank you"? After cuffing me to a sofa, laughing at me for my crush on him, and then putting me in danger? Oh yeah, thank you very much. It's just what I wanted.
Why am I up here with him? I don't want to be around him...I'm tempted to just climb out and take my chances sneaking past Kirumi to get back to my room where Rantaro's waiting for me.
...Aren't you the Ultimate Rock Climber?
…
I stand up and quickly race to the opposite end of the alcove, surprising Kokichi by my sudden movements as I start swinging my legs over the side and promptly grab onto the wall.
"Wait, you're leaving? With Kirumi stalking around looking for you? Prairie Dog, this isn't very smart on your part…!" Kokichi says as he reaches the side of the alcove, unable to get any closer. He tries to lean out and take my hand, but I've already moved too far out of his reach at that point.
"I did tell you I wasn't a genius, didn't I? Smart or not, I don't want to be around you. I'd rather get my head hacked off by Kirumi than spend another second in your miserable presence," I say to him, lifting one hand to stick up my middle finger. "This is what I think of you now. Eat shit."
With that half-lie, I grab onto the wall and start my scale down the side of the school, ignoring the rest of Kokichi's words as I descend slowly and eventually jump from a reasonable enough height. With a tuck and roll of my legs, I eventually break into a run to get back to the dormitories, scanning the area for any sign of Kirumi. Although I don't see anyone during my run to the dorms, I pause as I'm pushing open the doors when a last glance procures a result.
I see Kirumi standing outside the steps of the school building, a weapon at hand that catches me off guard. I'm pretty sure I've seen it before- it's an extremely long and large battle axe that I think I saw hanging in Maki's lab, now that I think about it...is she not guarding her lab tonight? It's a strange weapon to see, but thankfully Kirumi doesn't seem like she's going to try and run after me. Instead, she just stands there and watches me from afar as I go indoors to head for my room.
Nothing looks out of place inside as I march up the stairs of the boys' side of the rooms, eventually reaching my dorm room and popping my key into the lock to go in.
The first thing I see is sleeping Rantaro exactly where I left him with the covers over his body, a comforting sight as I lock my door and wait to see the rise and fall of the comforter on top of him.
Jeez, he really does sleep like a rock…
It's for the best that he didn't wake up. I was definitely gone longer than the note I left would imply, and I'm all drenched from the fire-safety sprinklers Kokichi set off in the AV room. I'll bet those books Korekiyo and I found have water damage now...hopefully they're at least still legible when I'm able to return to grab them. And my lucky tools.
I sigh and start walking, only to trip over one of my abandoned maroon shoes I'd left by the door for later use. With a startled yelp, I fly forward and land face down on the carpet with a loud thud.
Almost at the same time, Rantaro inhales sharply and suddenly sits up- pushing the comforter off of him quickly through the half-lidded haze of sleep still clinging to him. The sticky-note with the word "LAME" is still attached to his forehead.
"Wha- what is it? Prairie?! You're awake?!" He asks urgently, swinging his attention around the room before he notices me looking at him up from the floor. He then seems to realize there's something obscuring a portion of his vision, removing the sticky note and squinting at the lettering in obvious confusion. "'Lame'...Prairie, what is...?"
Rantaro looks my way and then squints again.
"...Why are you soaked head to toe," he says more than asks as he climbs out of bed, a suspicious glint to his eye as annoyance begins to stake its claim on my emotions. I did everything in the book to try and wake him up before, and the sound of me being startled is what gets him to wake up like that?
He's reading the second note now, and he quirks an eyebrow in my direction once he's finished taking in its contents.
"Uh...as relieved as I am that you're finally awake, I feel as if I've missed something here. You couldn't have woken me up or something?" He asks, stepping closer to help lift me up onto my feet lightly with careful hands.
'Woken him up'...?
I've about had it with this night.
I stare at him for a moment and then step around him to walk to the bed. Once I've grabbed the pillow he was originally sleeping on, I turn to face him now that I have a weapon brandished. Realizing my intentions, Rantaro holds out his hands.
"Whoa, wait a minute, Prairie. I'm trying to have a serious conversation he-" He cuts himself off when I start swinging the pillow at him. "Prairie!"
"'Wake you up'? 'Wake you up'?! You sleep like the dead, you stupid man-child! A sloth like you wouldn't have woken up if the earth split in two!" I argue, aiming for his head and watching as he quickly ducks so the pillow sails over him.
"Okay, okay! If that happened, I'm sorry then. But what about the fact you're all-" Rantaro dodges again with wide eyes, the pillow nearly striking him again when I jump to swing it downwards over his head.
"Just shut up and cover your eyes so I can put on dry clothes! Or better yet- leave!"
With that, I manage to swing the pillow straight against his face with a force that only a truly wronged, and tragically misled woman could achieve.
❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀ 〰〰〰〰〰〰 ❀
❀ End of 4.3 - El Amado ❀
