Dejection, Desertion and Despair
Those words described the state of Korekiyo Shinguji quite well. He didn't know how long he had been in his dark cell. Days? Weeks? He didn't know, nor did he care. The inmates were quite loud around him, as they conversed with each other through their cell bars. As an anthropologist, this would have been a great time for further research about humanity.
But it didn't matter, did it?
He wasn't an anthropologist anymore. His license was stripped away the moments they stepped their foot into this wretched prison. The moment he got caught.
The moment he made a mistake.
In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best idea to target someone who's best friend is an aikido master. But he was desperate. His sister asked for a new friend. 99 had been sent to her already and she has slowly been getting more and more impatient. She asked again and again, day after day, so Korekiyo didn't have much enough time to plan his next murder. Instead, he had hoped that killing Himiko in her sleep would be the best option. Her heart was pure enough from his observation, so she was the best choice for a friend. It would have been so easy, weren't it for the fact that her girlfriend Tenko had been sleeping besides her.
Needless to say his plan backfired and the police arrived in a matter of seconds to arrest a heavily bruised Korekiyo. It didn't take long to connect him to his other murders, as his diary had been found inside his dorm, which explained any of it in detail. In hindsight, it was incredibly dumb to have a diary for his murders, but his therapist used to say that writing about his day would help him to recover. That was about 2 years ago, when his sister passed away due to a deadly illness.
He brushed some of his longer hair out of his face and glanced through his barred window. The moon had already risen up from its somber sleep and was now shining its light onto the dirty ground of the cell.
His sister hasn't talked to him in a long time. The former ultimate can't count the number of times that Korekiyo put off his mask and waited for her to speak. Said mask was now on a pile of other masks on his bed, leaving his soft, feminine mouth exposed.
But there was nothing.
Nada.
Of course, there was his second love, but Kiyo tried not to think about him. It would just hurt even more, than it already does.
The fact that the love of his life had been gone, should have hurt him a lot. But Kiyo didn't feel anything anymore. Just pure and utter emptiness, alongside silent despair.
Because of his vain , yet terrifying glance, the prisoners avoided him and so did the guards. They only accompanied him to the cafeteria and then back to his cell. Other than that, not a single soul had visited him. Not even his classmates from Hope's Peak had paid him a visit. It was obvious to Korekiyo that they wouldn't come. It was very easy for him to imagine their scowled and disgusted looks on their faces. After all, in their eyes he was a sick, incestous murderer who rightfully got what he deserved.
Still, he didn't mind that much. Right now, any sense of life has left the boy. His eyes were red, due to his lack of sleep, the hair messy and his uniform, one of the few gifts from his sister, had been taken from him and replaced by a smelly orange prison suit. He got used to the smell by now, so Kiyo didn't complain. Right now all he wanted was to wait until death gives him his sister back. Maybe he should eat or drink less? Or maybe….
"Korekiyo Shinguji."
With a groan, the inmate slowly looked up from his bed and glanced through the bars. To his surprise, it was one of the many prison guards of this building. Their stoic look didn't hide the fact from Kiyo that they were really uncomfortable about even being in the former ultimate's presence.
"There is a visitor for you, so get up you filthy lunatic.", they said and then stepped aside.
Korekiyo perked up in confusion. Someone was visiting him? To say that the black haired boy was surprised was an understatement. Before he could imagine who would even visit him, a figure appeared with short green hair, a dark blue shirt, along with a wristband and a necklace decorated his slender body. Rantaro Amami was his name, ultimate traveller, Kiyo's classmate
...and also second love.
"Hey Kiyo, how are you doing?", he asked in his usual calm and relaxed manner. The former anthropologist blinked a few times in confusion, to ensure that his eyes were not playing any tricks on him.
He remembered well on how Rantaro was one of the few people to not be crept out by him. Instead, he approached Kiyo and the two quickly learned about their similarities. Like how they both love to travel or how they both value their sisters for example. It didn't take long for both of them to eventually develop feelings for one another, something that the black haired boy did not expect to happen. After all, he was already in love with his sister at this point, but he couldn't help it. Even in Rantaro's presence, Kiyo felt so much at peace like nothing else. He continued the relationship, in spite of his sister mocking him or giving him sleepless nights. The other ultimate didn't know about any of this, as the former one never once told him about it. Mostly because he didn't want his love to be worried, but also because of his mission to give his sister 100 friends. After the arrest, a week ago, Kiyo didn't see Rantaro at all.
And yet here he was, standing outside of his cell.
Forcing himself to slowly get up from his bed, Korekiyo gave a curious, yet lifeless glance at the other boy.
"Ah Amami…..It has been a while, has it not?"
Rantaro nodded slowly and the raven haired could now see upon closer inspection that his lips were shivering.
"Oh yeah...It has…", he replied.
A wave of silence filled the room, with both of the boys looking away from one another. The only sound were some crickets from outside the building singing their nightly song. Water was dripping from the sink at a slow, yet unbearing pace. Neither of them knew what to say, until one of them talked again.
"So…", Kiyo began slowly. "What brings you to me?"
"Well….I wanted to see how you were doing.", Rantaro replied.
The inmate nodded slowly, but before he could say something, the other ultimate beat him to the punch.
"Okay I had it."
The ravenhaired looked surprised and saw that his love was glaring at him with a burning aura around him. His normal calm and cool demeanor was gone and replaced by utter fury.
"Why didn't you tell me?", he asked slowly, yet forcefully.
"Whatever do you mean Amami?", Kiyo replied in ignorance.
The traveller's right eyebrow twitched for one moment, before the calm visage was once again on display.
"You know well what I mean. I am talking about your murders."
So playing dumb didn't work that much Kiyo realized. He completely forgot how sharp the other boy was, even rivaling that other detective from the upper class.
"Ah yes.", the prisoner replied slowly. "I forgot to tell you, my apologies. It wasn't a big issue after all."
But that answer didn't seem to satisfy Rantaro, as he crossed his arms and glared at the anthropologist.
"You `forgot` to tell me? You killed people Kiyo. Innocent girls."
"So? I only did this to make my sister happy. After all, she deserves a lot of friends. For that I have no regrets whatso-"
He didn't even have time to finish his sentence, as suddenly two hands grabbed around his neck and pulled him towards the bars. Kiyo didn't realize that he stepped this close towards the line that separated him and the ultimate traveller. A look into his eyes revealed absolute fury towards the anthropologist.
"No regrets?! No regrets?! You killed people, Kiyo! Innocent people who just wanted to live their life to the fullest, but you took it from them! You took it without any thought of it whatsoever! And for what? A delusion?!"
Again though, the black haired teen didn't answer at all. He simply stared at Rantaro with an empty expression. This infuriated them even more however and they tightened their grip on their neck, though not enough to actually seriously injure the inmate.
"Do you have any idea how much you hurt others?! Do you have any idea how much you hurt ME?!"
The last part took Kiyo off guard, as he started to glance back at the green haired boy. He could see that tears were forming under his curly hair and that his arms were shaking.
"Knowing that I introduced my sisters to you...Were you planning on killing them as well?"
But there were no words coming out of the inmate's mouth. He just stared at him silently. Eventually, Rantaro let go of his neck and stared at him with an empty expression, with the tears now being fully noticeable on his pretty face.
"Fine!", he spat out bitterly. "Say nothing! We're done!"
It took a few seconds, before the ultimate stepped up from the bars and left, willing to just head home and to forget about the whole situation. Maybe he should have listened to Kokichi to not try to talk to a sick delusional murderer. He should just forget him and move on to the next place, like always-
"Please don't leave me."
Rantaro stopped in his tracks and then turned around. Kiyo now looked Rantaro straight in the face, with some life being visible in his eyes again.
"I….I did not intend to….send your sisters to mine….I...couldn't….I….could never….hurt the person I love….willingly….", he stammered slowly.
"Oh? So if you didn't want to hurt me, as you say then you know what you did was wrong.", Rantaro replied coolly, wiping his tears away with his right hand.
The raven haired hesitated for a brief moment, before finally nodding.
"Yes….I...I did kill 99 people…..Murder is seen in most societies as wrong…."
He then looked to the side briefly, as another sigh escaped his mouth.
"But sister...When she returned to me, she gave me the proposition….to give her friends...or she will leave me forever…..I….I love her….She'd get mad, if I ever hesitated with my mission…Said it was in the name of love…"
"That wasn't the case though, wasn't it?"
Kiyo moved his head back to Rantaro again, who was now standing in front of his cell again, with his arms crossed. However, his look was less furious this time and more concerned, as he secretly couldn't stand seeing his love in a broken emotional state.
It was clear to him that Kiyo was not a bad person, since he saw all of his good sides in the last month. His politeness, his smell, and his love for travelling were only a part of many things that he liked about the former anthropologist. But that didn't change the fact that he had dated a murderer, a monster.
Still though, all monsters were misunderstood.
"That wasn't your sister.", he continued. "You told me that she was always supportive of you, wasn't she? That she always loved you and didn't mistreat you. Tell me. Would your sister ever be so mean towards you? Would she ever force you to do something you wouldn't want?"
It was undeniable at this point that Rantaro's words were the truth and yet, Kiyo didn't answer immediately. He knew what he wanted to say, but it hurt how right the traveller was. The being who he had been with the last 2 years wasn't her, but just a tulpa Kiyo unconciscously created for himself, to cope with his sister's death. An illusion, made out of a desire to see his first love again. It was like a dream come true, when his sister reappeared out of nowhere.
But it wasn't even a dream wasn't it? All it was, was a venomous nightmare and he needed to wake up.
So eventually, Kiyo nodded.
"No….She wouldn't treat me badly…", he slowly replied. "My sister was kind and supportive...Not like the evil spirit that haunted me…..I….I was delusional…."
All of a sudden, the anthropologist's breathing became quicker.
"What have I….have I done? I…..I killed because of my inability to move on….I…..have blood on my hands...I….I deserve to be in here…"
He hung his head down again, as he finally realized what terrible deeds he had committed in the past. The breathing became even more quicker and Kiyo felt how his heartbeats gained more and more speed at every second. Sweat started to roll down his forehead and his entire body began to shake. What had he done?
Rantaro noticed the change of behavior immediately and pressed his lips onto Kiyo's. It wasn't comfortable to press his face onto the bars, but at this point the traveller didn't care in particular. Tears were starting to run from the inmate's face, as he returned the kiss eagerly and desperately. The bars weren't thinn enough for both of them to pull each other closer, so both of the boys pressed their lips on each other even more, with the tears sliding down on the anthropologist's mouth, giving it a salty taste. But neither of them cared, as they even deepened the kiss.
After a while, both of the boys pulled away to grasp for some air. A blush was visible on each of their red faces, though Kiyo was still crying.
"I...I missed you a lot Taro…", he said, while his face started to get wet by each second.
"I missed you too Kiyo.", Rantaro replied softly. I'm sorry for showing up so late, I just didn't want to see you in this state. I..I couldn't accept the fact that you'd do something so horrible."
"But I did.", Kiyo pointed out regretfully. "I killed a lot of innocent girls, all for a delusion."
He wiped some sweat off his forehead, before facing the night sky again through his small window, before glancing at one of his many facemasks lying on his bed.
"True, what you did was wrong. You are here for the right reasons.", Rantaro answered. "But even so, I still love and care for you Kiyo. We all miss you."
Surprised, the inmate glanced back at Rantaro.
"What do you mean with 'We' ?', 'he asked, confused.
"I mean the rest of the class.", the green haired boy clarified, to his boyfriend's surprise.
"Is this some kind of joke?"
Shaking his head, Rantaro pulled out a piece of paper from his pant's pocket and showed it to Kiyo. Said boy looked closer and almost gasped in surprise, as he started to read the contents of the letter.
Hey Kiyo,
It's been a while hasn't it? We haven't seen each other for a long time, have we? When we all learned the truth about you Kiyo, we were all shocked and not sure what to do. We aren't going to sugarcoat this ok? What you did was wrong on so many levels. You killed a lot of innocent girls and you're clearly messed up mentally, that's undeniable.
However, you are still our friend and we miss you. Your knowledge about human history is incredible and you were always there for us, if we needed someone to talk to. You're friendly, in spite of your creepy appearance and are really fun to talk to! Even if you deserve your punishment, we are not going to abandon you. We're sorry that we wrote this message to you, but we'll assure you that we will make up for the lost time! We'll visit you soon!
Take care!
Kaede Akamatsu
Shuichi Saihara
Kaito Momota
Maki Harukawa
Kirumi Tojo
Gonta Gokuhara
Tsumugi Shirogane
K1B-0
Ryoma Hoshi
Angie Yonaga
Miu Iruma
Rantaro Amami
Kiyo looked up, the tears making their return, as he glanced at Rantaro in disbelief.
"They….They really mean that?", he asked hesitantly, to which the other boy nodded.
"Of course. We all miss you after all. Well except Tenko and Himiko for obvious reasons and Kokichi since he hates killers. Still though, the majority of us misses you."
A shivering smile started to form on the prisoner's lips, as the tears dwelled down his face. He approached the bars carefully, to which he pressed his lips onto Rantaro's once again. The ladder was taken back for a second, before returning the gesture. This time this kiss tasted much sweeter, than the last one and they stayed in that position for much longer to enjoy each other's touch and warmth. Kiyo managed to slip his slim hand between the bars, which the traveller grabbed eagerly and caressed it.
When they pulled away, both of them smiled widely.
"Thank you Taro. Thank you so much."
"Your welcome Kiyo. I love you.", Rantaro replied softly.
However, all of a sudden, the inmate grabbed a pair of scissors from the sink. Alarmed, Rantaro wanted to say something, but to his surprise, Kiyo began to cut strains of his own hair. One by one did his once long and femininet hair disappear, before the haircut changed completely. Length wise, it was now as long as Rantaro's curly hair, who in return looked puzzled. Kiyo then turned around again and looked at him determinedly.
"I will let go of my past.", he said. "I was too reliant on my sister's memory these last two years, but no more. I will live my life to the best of my abilities, even if I have to stay here forever. It doesn't matter. After all, I got you to support me."
Rantaro's puzzled expression disappeared, as he started to smile again softly.
"Don't worry Kiyo. No one will leave you, least of all me."
Both of the boys then spent the rest of the hour talking about all sorts of places that the traveller had been to recently, before Rantaro bid his farewell as the visiting hours came to an end. In the upcoming weeks, the rest of the class visited him and both sides realized that there was always hope at the end of the dark tunnel.