My Friends Will Keep Me Honest

by grapesoda-bottlecap

It's been a year since the 13 of them woke from the living hell that was the Killing Game. Ever since, they've been living together in a strange world where their old memories are next to meaningless. Kokichi still feels the effects of the game a year later; though, he only blames himself for not being able to get past his guilt. Still, he hopes to, one day, feel like he belongs.

1. Chapter 1: New World City Streets

One year. A lot could change in one year, that was a bit redundant to state, he knew that, but still, it shocked him sometimes to remember that it had only been a year since he had died. He was reckless, sure, and near-death experiences were more common in the world he lived in then, but it wasn't even the same world from a year ago.

One year ago he thought he was living in the past—albeit a strange, twisted past where one of his favourite pastimes could be bullying a robot named after 'hope'—but still the past. Ever since he died, he's been living in a world where he could imagine Kiibo would fit right in, instead of sticking out as much as he had in the game.

That didn't matter though, because Kiibo was long gone. When he had died, he had died for real.

He put the small, retro-style headphones that hung around his neck over his ears and fished his phone from his pocket to press play on the song that he had already had queued up. He stood still for a moment, until the song started playing, then he began walking.

It was impossible to tell what time of day it was from that deep in the alleyway with the towering buildings on both sides of him, but he was the type to enjoy the darkness and danger of a place like that anyway. Weak, distant lighting attempted to give him a slight guide through the place, but he didn't even need that.

To an outsider, the only sound was the beat playing faintly from his old headphones and the clinking of the zippers against the chains that decorated his worn, yet trusty boots. Each staggering step to the music's beat echoed through the long hall of stone and metal.

Trash littered the ground; old, faded posters hung and peeled from the abandoned walls; sometimes he'd come across the colours from spray-paint graffiti still lingering, a reminder of a long past time; and the discarded remains of robots and other machines alike were swept aside as if they were simply trash themselves.

A memory of Kiibo's voice rang in his mind. "Such robo-phobia! I am not just scrap metal and junk parts!" But in the world he lived in now, sometimes that's all that old creations like that robot really were to people.

But that was alright. Thanks to such treatment of robots, a scavenger like himself was able to be worth something to the group he found himself stuck with still even one year later.

Well, even without the bonus of having an inventor among their group who could actually benefit from scrap like that, he would still be a useful member. Even if the memories of the old world in his head were fake, he still had the skills retained from then that allowed him to live such a lifestyle so effortlessly.

Once a child of the streets, always a child of the streets, he supposed.

He filled the many pockets of his baggy pants with miscellaneous mechanical bits and pieces, having learned after many retrieval journeys like this which parts and doohickeys that Miu found useful. Then, he carried on down the long path, humming along to the song playing in his ears with his hands placed in the only pockets he had left mostly empty.

The next song played as he turned down the first corner that had begun to head downwards. Home, he thought with an amused smile. The closest thing I've ever had to that anyway. Still, he was quite the distance away, since the old, forgotten underground tunnels he was nearing weren't as straight-forward as the almost as forgotten alleys.

For a few moments, he allowed himself to get carried away, stepping dramatically to the beat and closing his eyes as he danced as if, truly, no one was watching. To his knowledge no one was, but he couldn't find himself to care even if that was the case. He didn't know what he must've looked like, but he could imagine he looked quite careless, as if he wasn't in constant danger like the rest of the world.

For a moment, he really stopped caring. So much so that he almost didn't notice the person calling his name.

"Ouma! Watch out!"

Kokichi stopped dead in his tracks, barely having the time to remove his headphones before seeing the unidentified falling object that was only moments from turning him into crushed meat… again.

He was able to easily run back to avoid the thing, but that was only made pointless when the high-pitched whine of a laser gun sounded only a second before the object was blown to pieces in a decently big, but contained explosion above the both of their heads. When the smoke cleared in a matter of seconds, all that was left were the scattered and completely decimated remains of a robot.

Kokichi's mouth fell open as he met the eyes of the man who stood looking relieved at the murder he just committed. "Momota-chan, you idiot! What was that for?!"

The sound of running footsteps sounded from behind Kaito and a third member soon joined the scene. Face red from running and exhaustion clear in his voice as he caught his breath, the newcomer asked, "Is everything alright?" Still, even after a whole year, Kokichi found himself stunned by that man's beauty, even in the most random of situations.

Though, Kokichi's anger with Kaito was enough to snap him from any sort of trance he could've fallen into, as he crossed his arms and let out an angry huff.

"This dumbass just killed that robot! Maybe you can't tell because of the unnecessary intensity of that explosion, but there was a fully in-tact robot here just a second ago! And judging from the fragments here… he was a pretty new model, too!"

Kaito crossed his arms in the same way, but let out a huff of annoyance instead, looking bothered only by Kokichi's strong reaction towards him and not the scattered machinery that separated them.

"Man… What does it take to get a 'thanks' from you? That thing was gonna fall on you and kill you. I just saved your life, you reckless idiot! Shuichi, he was seriously not paying attention at all when that thing fell, I had to do something."

The exhausted-looking Shuichi looked between the two with their arms crossed and rubbed at his forehead lightly as he examined the situation. Finally, he let out a sigh.

"Okay, I… I understand the dismay over the loss of this robot, but… Ouma-kun, can't you accept that Momota-kun was just trying to help? He… He just didn't realise you probably would've been able to get away and was playing on the safe side."

Of course he sides with Momota-chan, Kokichi thought sourly. He pouted and was about to make a retort about how soulless Kaito was for disregarding both the robot and him, but was interrupted by Shuichi continuing to speak.

"But… Are you alright, Ouma-kun?"

He should've stopped getting caught off-guard by Shuichi being simply considerate months ago, but still, Kokichi was stuck in a state where the man noticing him in a way that was anything but annoyance or irritation surprised him. He didn't see the point in anyone caring about him, frankly.

Kokichi sputtered on his words for a second, embarrassed by the look of concern on the man's face, before spitting out, "Well, I'm fine. I can take care of myself, y'know. The more important issue is that your friend is willy-nilly destroying evidence, parts, and whatever consciousness that robot may have been capable of."

Not caring to hear anyone's response, Kokichi moved forward to where the biggest collection of remains lay and got on his knees to root through it for anything of importance. Specifically, he looked for the identification chip that most bots, especially newer models, had in their chests. That, and he looked for a memory chip. If he could find both chips perfectly in-tact, maybe he'd let Kaito off the hook easily.

"Come on, Momota-kun, we should help him look for the chips," Shuichi instructed the other after he seemed to realise what Kokichi was up to.

Maybe a year ago, Kokichi wouldn't have cared about the consciousness of a robot at all, because he had truly seen them as lower than him, even if just a little, but… Kiibo's sacrifice changed his mind on that a little bit. That and the fact that they all owed their lives to robots.

In a lot of ways, they were equals to the robots that were discarded to the alleys and thrown off roofs and out windows like the unfortunate one they searched through the damaged remains of.

"Ah, Ouma-kun... I found the memory chip, but…" Shuichi sighed as he stood up to bring it over to him.

In his outstretched palm was the memory chip securely in its place, but it was clearly not in good condition. In fact, it looked beyond repair. That meant that whoever that robot was, they were likely truly dead. Without memory, a robot was as good as one that had never been powered on, if not worse since an amnesiac robot was even more useless.

"If it's alright, I can hold on to it," Shuichi offered. "If you find the identity chip, I can carry that, too. You're probably carrying enough scrap from the day, huh?"

Kokichi wanted to scoff at the man and say something about how he could easily carry it himself regardless, but he didn't want to risk losing that memory chip in his pocket full of other chips and mechanical bits. So he, reluctantly, complied.

"Whatever… At least I know you won't lose it like the idiot over there who'd probably manage to lose his arms if they weren't stuck to his shoulders," he sneered.

Shuichi gave him a look almost like he wanted to agree with that statement, but he said nothing in response, only moving on to looking through a different area of scattered pieces as he placed the memory chip in his breast pocket.

Thankfully, Kokichi was eventually able to find the identity chip, so he announced this, getting an exhausted sigh from Kaito and a relieved look from Shuichi. The former came up and accepted the chip and tucked it safely along with the memory chip in the breast pocket of the black, tatty trench coat he wore.

A small smile rested on Shuichi's tired face as he began to walk alongside Kokichi when the three of them continued towards the underground tunnels. Kokichi tried not to pay much attention to it, but it was odd for the man to smile silently like that, especially after what had just happened. What could he possibly be so happy about?

A moment of silence, except for footsteps and the headphones around Kokichi's neck faintly playing familiar tunes that he'd heard a million times before, passed before Shuichi spoke up from beside him.

"I think you should know, it was me who had found out about that robot. That's why I asked Momota-kun to run ahead and make sure where it fell was clear. So, if you're upset about it, you can blame me, alright? Kaito was just doing what I told him, and…" He looked to his left to see if Kaito was listening in, then lowered his voice for just Kokichi to hear. "You can't blame him too much for not thinking things all the way through, right?"

Kokichi was surprised to hear him make a joke at Kaito's expense, but tried not to let the rare teasing look on Shuichi's face change his mind. Keyword: tried. In the end, he snickered at the comment, letting a carefree grin spread across his face as he put his hands on the back of his head as he sometimes did.

"Alright, alright… I guess I won't hold a grudge on him." When Shuichi gave him a thankful look, he looked at the other man, shouting, "Hey, Momota-chan! Did you hear that? I'm forgiving you, so you better be grateful or else I'm never letting you win an argument ever again!"

Kaito let out a laugh, "Whatever, man. I don't believe a word you say anymore."

"Oh?" Kokichi laughed as well, "You're just now deciding to not believe me? Oh, you should've done that wayyy sooner, like everyone else! Then again, I guess I can't blame you too much… You're kinda a dunce!"

"Hey! What the–" The man went into a ramble as he tried to protest being called a dunce, but Kokichi didn't even hear it. He was much more focused on the sound of someone else's reaction.

Shuichi had, of all things, begun laughing at what Kokichi had said to Kaito. Not loud or obnoxious laughter like the other two, but a soft laughter that put the brightest of smiles on Shuichi's usually tired face. Kokichi could die for that laugh, and he would if he had to. Why would Shuichi waste such a lovely laugh on a joke Kokichi had made? He didn't understand it at all.

Eventually Shuichi comforted Kaito into letting it go, and Kokichi put his headphones back over his ears, trailing behind as the other two led the way. He was happy simply watching Shuichi's back as he chatted lightly with the taller of them. The last of the sunlight dully illuminated his blue hair until the path dipped below the ground, hiding the three of them from the sun.

Kokichi hadn't thought too much about it before, but then he realised that Kaito and Shuichi had been heading the opposite way from home until they ran into Kokichi. Were they looking for him? Were they looking for that robot? It had to have been one of the two, or else they wouldn't be heading back then.

He probably could've asked them for clarification, but he didn't want to have to take his headphones off again until they returned to home base. He figured he'd find out eventually anyway.

The walk through the dark tunnels, only illuminated by dull bunker lights, always seemed to last too long, but the maze they had to walk through to get to home ensured they were a few of the only people who knew how to or could get to it, from that direction anyway. Still, he was well used to walking long distances, even with the extra weight of mechanical parts stuffed in his pant pockets.

That was something he was used to, even in his old life. The others took longer to get used to the walk out of the tunnels.

As they walked, Kokichi continued to stare ahead at the back of Shuichi. That time, he watched how the trench coat trailed behind him, almost like a cape. Kokichi was reminded of his own cape. It wasn't one he actually ever owned, but he had memories stuffed in his head from over a year ago where he did have one.

As much as he knew it was safe how they lived now, he quite missed being on the run. That's what capes reminded him of. Running. He had been free in his own mind with how he'd run and run forever. Maybe he would just be running from the cops after vandalising a previously boring wall or stealing pastries from a grocery store, but it felt like freedom, youthful freedom.

Crushed under that hydraulic press, he thought the running would be over then. He had thought everything was over after playing along in that game. But there he walked, trailing behind his partner in crime and the detective he had tried to fool in that very game. It had taken quite a while to be allowed to do such a thing, but with the troubles they had faced together and the year gone by, no one blamed him anymore. He didn't understand that at all.

He both hated and appreciated being able to be so close with everyone again. He didn't like being lonely, no matter how much a version of him in the past tried to convince him he was better off that way, but he hated feeling like he could ruin everything at any point.

He didn't have to worry much about that though, because, even after a year, he still could keep them at, mostly, arms-length.

"Ouma-kun?"

Shuichi's voice snapped him from his thoughts. Kokichi looked around to find they were nearing the entrance to home base. He supposed he had gotten a bit lost in thought because of the music playing in his ears. He took his headphones off, letting them rest against his chequered scarf again as he grabbed his phone from his back pocket to shut off the music.

They reached what seemed to be a dead-end, but they knew better than that. Shuichi was the one who pressed the button hidden on the nearest bunker light. He waited a few seconds before speaking.

"Harukawa-san, it's just the three of us. Um… Momota-kun and I, but we also brought back Ouma-kun with us."

To anyone else, it would seem like he was talking to stone, but only they knew that there was a microphone hidden nearby that picked up on their speech. One that went right to whoever was on watch duty. Kokichi supposed he must've been gone a while, because it had been Ryoma on guard duty when he had left.

The also hidden speaker buzzed, and Maki's voice came through it. "Good to see you two are back." Her exclusion of Kokichi was very much purposeful, but Kokichi didn't really care.

A few moments of silence passed before the rumbling of the door opening sounded through the empty tunnels. A specific section of the stone wall began to fall into the ground, a door mechanism that Miu had made to implement safety. It opened their view to inside the base, where nicely designed, brightly coloured, painted walls greeted them (thanks to the handiwork of their resident artist, Angie).

In the open living area, a majority of the group was hanging out already, suggesting that it was likely midday. That and the lights that kept the place lively which ran on a schedule so that they mimicked the sun cycle (thanks to Miu's handiwork like most everything they relied on).

Kaito immediately made his way to greet some of the others, while Shuichi stuck close to Kokichi.

"We should go see Iruma-san, right?" He turned and asked Kokichi when Kaito had clearly separated himself from the little grouping. He was right. Kokichi had been on a fetch mission for her, and it seemed that was possibly the case with Shuichi as well.

He nodded briskly and followed as Shuichi turned right to where Miu's lab was at the end of a short corridor. The door was a sturdy metal door with a screen hung in the centre of it instead of a window. Shuichi knocked on the door and the screen nearly immediately blipped on, showing the inventor's face. Her usually messy blonde hair and obnoxious grin was most of what could be seen as she had huge goggles covering her eyes.

"Hah!" Her obnoxious laugh played through grainy speakers also attached to the screen. "Look who decided to show up! Shit-hara and his favourite piss-stain!" Her face came almost uncomfortably close to the camera and she lifted her goggles to rest atop her head, putting her blue eyes in great detail as she frowned. "Y'know, I was expecting shit-for-brains to be with you guys carrying that bot… What'd you do with it? That was supposed to be top quality!"

Shuichi let out a small sigh, but didn't hesitate to reason with Miu, truly in a detective's fashion. "I can explain, Iruma-san, but could you let us in first?"

Miu hummed thoughtfully through the speaker while she peered at the both of them through the screen. Eventually she pulled her face away from the camera, crossing her arms and scoffing. "Alright, fine. But if you messed up, you're going to have to beg for forgiveness." With a last cocky grin and obnoxious laugh, the screen powered off and a click in the door said it was unlocked.

Shuichi pushed the door open, quickly glancing behind himself to make sure he didn't let go and shut the door on Kokichi. (Like a gentleman, Kokichi thought amusedly, reminded of Gonta's many lessons on gentleman-liness.) When they had passed through the door into the inventor's messy lab, Shuichi grabbed the chips from his breast pocket and held them out for the blonde.

"We were able to salvage these, at least. We… We didn't know what else to look for, but I can show you where the rest of the remains are if there are other important pieces you'd need."

Miu glanced between the detective's outstretched hand and his face, looking bewildered from where she sat on her wheeled stool. She burst out laughing all of a sudden, hands on her hips. She only spoke when the laughter died.

"Aha! You better be shitting with me, Shit-hara! How could you manage to lose the falling robot?" She acted as if it was the funniest thing ever as she crossed her arms and grinned proudly, "I accurately predicted that fall, there's no way it could've blown apart from just that!"

Shuichi looked down in shame, hesitating to open his mouth to explain, but Kokichi decided to step in to save him the shame.

"Y'know, it's my fault, Iruma-chan. I was the one who was playing around and ended up right in the bot's falling path, so Momota-chan had to blow it to pieces before I got myself crushed!" He smiled innocently as he explained it, not caring that Miu was bound to get ticked off at the act.

She spun in her stool to instead look at him. "Wh-What?!" She looked again at the chips in Shuichi's hand then at Kokichi. "So… you're lucky to even have those? The whole bot… It's gone?!"

Shuichi still had his head bowed in shame, despite Miu's anger being targeted at Kokichi.

So Kokichi grinned as if happy, "Yep! And I accidentally stepped on the memory chip when we found it, so that's pretty much broken beyond repair now!" He lied effortlessly, only so that Miu would have less reason to be angry at Shuichi. He got a small questioning look from Shuichi, but the detective didn't say a word.

Miu stood up, holding back from reacting too angrily to Kokichi's cheeky grin. Instead, she grumbled, "Well… I guess at least I have the chips." Then, she accepted them from Shuichi, examining them in her own hands. Her brows furrowed when she inspected the memory chip to find it was just as Kokichi had said.

A moment later of waiting in uncertain silence, Miu looked up. "Alright, you can leave now, Dick-tective. I need to speak with Ouma, alone." Her eyes looked threatening, but they all knew she wasn't much of a threat.

Shuichi gave Kokichi a wary glance, but Kokichi didn't pay him any mind. "Y'know, you've always been my favourite inventor, Iruma-chan!" He said, his childish grin remaining unchanged.

She groaned, "Oh, please, Ouma– I'm the only inventor you know!"

And, for the second time that day, Shuichi spared a small smile and soft laugh at Kokichi's joke, even though he tried to hide it behind his hand. He gave Kokichi a last amused glance before leaving the lab. (Kokichi hated how quickly Shuichi and his smile were gone from sight, sometimes he really wished he had the photographic memory that Kiibo had had.)

Kokichi was a bit disappointed the man had to leave, but he supposed he didn't actually hate Miu's company, even if he acted like he did sometimes.

Miu's eyes lit up as soon as it was just the two of them, as if she had completely forgotten to be angry with him over the robot. She looked at him expectantly, "C'mon, show me the goods! Don't tell me you messed that up, too!"

He rolled his eyes at her, "Of course I got 'the goods'! I've been gone for hours, haven't I? I think we might finally have enough, with this. What do you think?"

After walking over to her extra-long work table, he began to empty the contents of his pockets, all those mechanical doohickeys that he had been scavenging for and carrying all day. Miu watched over his shoulder, holding her breath as she examined each piece that he set down on a clear spot on her table.

When he finished, he stepped back for Miu to get a closer look. "You haven't told anyone yet, have you?" She asked while looking over the pieces.

Kokichi shook his head. "Nope! I want it to be a surprise just as much as you do, y'know. You remember the deal, though, right?"

"Hah! Of course I remember your stupid little deal! You want me to wait to reveal him when he's finished so you can show him off to your detective yourself, I know."

Taking advantage of the fact that Miu was looking away momentarily, he let a small smile fall on his face. He felt, in his mind, that he'd never be able to make up for the trouble he caused a year ago, but to be able to proudly say he helped bring an old friend back would make him feel just a bit better about it all.

Another moment passed and Miu looked proudly at the collection of items. "I think you might've actually done it, you little shit! I think we might have all the robo-guts we need to bring him back!"

Her excitement was short-lived though as she continued, "'Course it's going to take a bit longer to fully put him together since Momota had to blow that top-notch bot to pieces just to save your dumbass. That busted memory chip might have just enough in-tact that I can use it at the very least as a base for his chip."

He figured that that must've been why she sent Kaito and Shuichi after a robot, but he was curious about that. "So how'd you manage to know that bot was going to fall there? Did you have him shot down or something?"

Miu let out a small sigh as she sat back down in her stool and crossed her arms again, "Well, it's quite complicated, actually… There are some bots that live somewhere in one of the buildings there, and they had managed to put that robot to sleep when it came after them. They sent in a signal saying this, and that they were disposing of him from a certain story at a certain time all of a sudden, so I rushed Shit-hara and Momota to go collect it as soon as it fell."

"Well, that's another benefit of Team Robot I guess," Kokichi said with a laugh as he pulled up another wheeled stool, plopping down onto it, propping his feet up on Miu's desk just to annoy her.

She let out a groan, "We get it, you were the one that helped foster our relationship with the rebel bots. Stop bragging about it so much, it gets old real quick, y'know. And get your nasty boots off my workbench, ya' little shit!"

"Aww," He laughed at her annoyance, but complied, still wearing a prideful grin, "I'm just saying, you can never underestimate my skills as the Super High School Level Supreme Leader!"

Miu let out a snort, "Hah, that bullshit hasn't meant anything for over a year now! Nice try, though… Not, hah! Now get the hell outta here, I have to focus on finishing this project, don't I?"

She swatted at him in a 'shoo' kind of motion when he hesitated to leave, so he shot up from the stool and let out a, "Okay, okay, I'm going!" Kokichi laughed as he scampered out of her lab, letting the door close behind him as he left.

Upon leaving, loud chatter could be heard from the living area. He walked back down the corridor, ending up in the open area where it seemed everyone but Miu and Maki was gathered. The most noticeable were Tenko, Angie, and Himiko, who always dressed in the brightest of colours. It seemed that they were gossiping and painting each other's nails or whatever it was that girls did.

Meanwhile, Ryoma, Rantaro, Gonta, and Kirumi were sipping on tea likely made by the latter and playing some card game only a metre away from the girls. Rantaro's distinctly deep and lax voice could be heard over some of the high-pitched chatter of Tenko, but there was too much noise in the room to make out too much of what anyone was specifically saying.

Then, on the other side of the room, Kaito, Kaede, and Shuichi were gathered, listening to Kaito tell some sort of story. Kokichi could only watch from afar and wonder what was so amazing about Kaito's stories. Kaede seemed very interested, and Shuichi wore his usual tired, resting expression as he looked at Kaito.

He didn't realise he was staring until Shuichi turned his head and met his eyes, and then he had to whip his head away as if he hadn't just been standing in the entryway staring longingly at Shuichi and his friends. He plastered on his default carefree grin as he internally scolded himself for being so awkward.

Kokichi didn't belong in any of the groups that had been formed there, not really. The only one he could sit beside without feeling out of place was Miu; they were both the odd characters who tended to be unpleasant to be around just for being likely 'too much'. That was alright. Being 'too much' kept everyone far enough away for his own comfort.

He just decided he would go right through the room and instead go to the bedroom. As soon as he began to walk forwards, he was caught off guard by the noise of a stool scooching across the floor and a loud voice.

"Ouma-kun! You're back!"

"Ack–!" Kokichi barely had the time to freeze, let alone react, before he was being compressed by brown fabric. He could barely breathe, so speaking out was an even more difficult feat, but he was somehow able to let out a strained, "G-Gonta— What— did I say— about hugs?"

The man dropped him and panicked apologetically, "Ah! Sorry, Gonta forgot…" He took a step back. "It's not gentleman-ly to not ask first!" He recited with a proud smile.

Kokichi's face burned with embarrassment and irritation as he began to collect himself after the surprise attack. He was well aware of the multiple sets of amused eyes on him, so he tried his best to brush it off with his usual grin and a shakier-than-planned deep breath.

"Correct! Now, go sit back down… please."

Gonta looked disappointed, and he certainly wasn't someone to fake his emotions. "Aw, but isn't it alright if I ask? You've been gone all day, Gonta just wants to greet his friend!"

He shivered. He still shivered at that word. Even after a year, he couldn't look Gonta in the eyes, and he certainly couldn't call him his friend. Kokichi furrowed his brows and let out a huff of annoyance, which was more aimed at himself than anything else, but the others didn't have to know that.

"Yeah, well… I feel plenty greeted. Thanks, but I've got to go now–"

The man just ignored and interrupted him, grinning wide, "Oh, Gonta has an idea! You should help me learn Amami-kun's card game! You're smart, so you can help, right?"

Kokichi took a step backwards, looking for his escape, "Ah… Well… Maybe you're wrong about that." That's all he could say before he turned on his heels and sprinted off to the bedrooms like he had originally planned. (The last thing he heard as he escaped was Gonta asking, "Gonta wrong? About what?")

It had been a year and Kokichi still couldn't stand to talk to Gonta. Everytime Gonta tried to greet him, he'd find an excuse to leave. Every time he got stuck in a conversation with the man, he would choose to ignore him or tease him. He couldn't stand his naivety and stupidity. Not that he had a hatred for stupidity, but…

Gonta didn't hold him responsible. Gonta never made him apologise or make up for what he did. Gonta forgave him despite not even understanding completely what it was that he was forgiving him for. Kokichi hated it. It made him feel even more guilt and self-hatred than the amount he already carried with him.

Even after a year, Kokichi felt like he was still the same unforgivable fool. Maybe that was because he thought, once a fool, always a fool.

The six men that were a part of their group shared a room to sleep in, which was surprisingly less horrible than that sounded. As much as Kokichi missed proper privacy, he had gotten used to living like that. Three sets of nicely built bunk beds were the only pieces of furniture in the room, but how they were built made up for the otherwise blandness.

Instead of twin-bed, children's bunks, the bunks were made into almost their own sort of rooms. Both the top and bottom bunks were spacious and completely framed in, with blackout curtains all around for privacy and warmth. Of course, sound was a bit of an issue, but upon request months ago, Miu had installed extra noise cancellation for Kaito's bunk specifically, since his snores were often the only sound anyone could ever complain about.

Kokichi climbed the ladder up into his bunk on the far right, above the bottom bunk where Rantaro slept. He pushed the curtain open enough to climb in, then shut it behind him. Above his head, he found the button that turned on the dim night lights then laid back to rest his head on his pillow.

He pulled his phone from his back pocket and pressed play on his music, putting his headphones back on. Then, he shut his eyes along with the thoughts that were dampening his mood.

At least he had something to look forward to, but until Miu finished that project, he didn't have anything to do.

. . .

It was likely hours he spent just lying still and listening to his music with his eyes shut. When he wasn't running errands for Miu, that was how he often spent his time. Someone could have mistaken him as asleep, but he was pretty sure that the guys, or at least Rantaro and Shuichi, had picked up on this habit of awake resting months ago.

In fact, it was Rantaro who ended up knocking on the base of the top bunk to get his attention to tell him, "Tojo-san's made dinner."

Reluctantly, Kokichi shut his music off and left his headphones lying on the bed alongside his phone, and he left his bunk to join the others for dinner. Rantaro was waiting for him, looking relaxed like he always managed to.

"Do you want someone to tell him to give you space? I know this isn't the first time this has happened."

Kokichi sighed and admitted, "No, not really. I should be the one to take care of my own problems." And, by problems, he meant the barrier of his own emotions; he realised that to everyone, it probably looked like his issue was with Gonta, but that wasn't the case and he knew that.

Rantaro hummed in understanding and left their conversation at that.

Just beyond the living area, an open doorway led to the connected kitchen and dining area where everyone except him and Rantaro had already taken their usual seats. Because of the very routine seating arrangement, Kokichi ended up sitting between the wall and Miu. In front of him, Rantaro took his seat, with Kaede sitting next to him and across from Miu.

"Hah, took you long enough to show up," Miu commented when he took his seat.

Kokichi just scoffed at her, "I was resting up after having to scavenge for you all day."

She just laughed again, "Good! I was gonna ask if we could go get some fresh air, anyways."

Internally, he groaned. But he showed no reaction, instead choosing to ignore the blonde as he started stuffing his face with food. When Miu said they 'should go get some fresh air,' that meant sneaking out after dinner to go to the night market. It was always a pain because they had to walk so far and be out so late, which was, of course, nothing new to Kokichi, but it didn't mean he dreaded it any less.

As much as he loved feeling like he was breaking the rules by sneaking out to go to such a dangerous place, he could only take so much danger in a day, and he felt like almost being crushed to death by a falling bot was enough danger for a day, right?

Still, he couldn't turn Miu down, because he knew that her making the request meant that her project was getting close to completion. Her main project for the majority of the last year had been making a near-perfect living space for the all of them so that they could have some comfort in their lives, but as soon as that had been completed, she moved on to a secret project.

Project: Kiibo.

Miu had finished her food first, sticking her tongue out at Kokichi as she walked out of the room, which, to everyone else, looked like a 'haha loser, I'm out of here' sort of gesture, but Kokichi knew it meant something more like, 'hurry the hell up, loser!'

Kokichi, in retaliation, chewed his next bite really slow, but then decided he didn't want to hang around the table any longer, so he quickened his pace for the rest of his dinner. Then, he bolted up, his last bite of food still in his mouth as he rushed his dishes to the sink and left the room without saying a word.

Miu was waiting with the door to her lab wide open, busy stuffing gadgets and whatever else into her utility belt and black jacket. The black jacket was something Miu had especially crafted to help them blend in since they tended to look out of place with the current time; it made them easy targets. It didn't help that they were technically fugitives ever since they escaped from Team Danganronpa.

The jacket was fashionable and hooded, as well as secretly protective. Thanks to Miu's genius, the jacket was secretly layered with protection from laser energy and old-fashioned bullets. Plus, she had made one for Kokichi as well since she often carried him along whenever she went anywhere.

"C'mon, piss-stain, we have places to be! Your stuff is hanging up where it always is."

Kokichi groaned in complaint as if he wasn't, now, actually looking forward to getting out. "Did you get around to fixing my coat from last time, at least?"

"Well, yeah, I didn't want to put up with you bitching the whole time again, hah!"

He took the coat that was hanging up on a hook on the wall, thankfully finding it much lighter than it had been previously. Still, he had to roll up the sleeves so that his hands and the fingerless gloves he was wearing that day could be seen. There was no mirror in Miu's lab, which he found surprising, but he felt like he looked pretty cool.

"Oi, don't forget your belt, ya' little shit!"

Kokichi scoffed and responded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to it."

Not a typical belt, but more of a utility belt. Miu had made a bunch of little gadgets, ranging from weapons to communication devices, and they were stored safely on the belt, which was mostly hidden by their coats to make pickpocketing difficult. He was able to easily put it on, attaching it to the belt loops on the pants he had already been wearing.

Miu crossed her arms when Kokichi finally had finished getting ready, grumbling, "I really wish you weren't wearing white pants, y'know. Unless you're trying to get bad bots after us."

He laughed, "Oh, live a little, Iruma-chan! My white pants aren't going to be what gets us killed, it's going to be your open chest and bare legs if anything. You trying to look sexy or whatever is much more dangerous than white pants."

In typical Miu fashion, she only managed to take that as a compliment. "Dangerous is right. I'm the gorgeous girl genius after all, so forgive me if I wanna show it off a little! I'm living plenty, hah!"

Kokichi just shook his head and headed out of the room while Miu scrambled to follow behind him.

"Hey, since when are you leading?" She questioned when she had to run a couple paces to catch up to him.

He gave her a wide grin, "I told you already, today. I'm the Super High School Level Supreme Leader!"

Looking around warily, they crossed through the living area and down the hall to where the other exit was. While Kokichi had entered through the main entrance earlier with Kaito and Shuichi, they had a back entrance that went up into the building above them, but only to a blocked-off staircase that went straight to the roof. It would take far too long to go through the tunnels and through the tight alleys, but there was a good way to get to the streets from the rooftops.

Right before they pushed through the doors into the stairwell, they were stopped by a voice.

"Ah, Ouma-kun and Iruma-san?" Shuichi seemingly appeared from one of the rooms nearby, but spoke quietly, as if in on the secret and not wanting them to be found out either. Of what Kokichi knew, he wasn't aware of what they were doing at all.

Miu let out a little, "Eek-!" When the detective showed up from almost out of nowhere. "H-Hey, uh…" She tried to explain herself, but she was never exactly good at that when it came to breaking the rules.

Lying and acting was a walk in the park for Kokichi though. He put his hands up behind his head and grinned innocently, "Oh, good evening, my beloved Saihara-chan! Are you coming outside to get some fresh air, too?"

Shuichi let out an amused huff and lightly shook his head. "No, I know what that entails, and… I don't think I'm ready for that kind of adventure tonight. Don't try to lie to me, I know you two are going to the night market."

Kokichi had to elbow Miu in the arm when she let out another surprised squeal. Instead, he responded as if he had expected Shuichi's answer. "Ah, so the detective has got us all figured out? Well, no matter how much you discourage us, we're still going, y'know."

Surprisingly, he nodded. "I know that. I'm not here to stop you, but the others might try if they find out you're going. If they ask, I didn't see anything. But I… I wanted to make sure you were going to be safe." After glancing over at Miu he added, "Um, the both of you. You'll be safe, right?"

His childish smile grew, "I'm always safe! You don't have to worry about me, Saihara-chan!"

Shuichi opened his mouth like he was going to make some sort of rebuttal, but he let it go with a small sigh. "Of course, you're right, Ouma-kun, but…" He trailed off, weary concern not leaving his eyes. Was he really that worried about them? That worried about Kokichi?

Kokichi tried to ignore the clear nervousness that was practically radiating from the detective. He seemed like he wanted to say something or do something, but was holding back for whatever reason.

"So… If you're not here to stop us, Mr. Detective… What are you doing?"

He opened his mouth to explain, but only an "I…" came out before he just shook his head and let out an awkward chuckle. "Um, it's nothing. Nevermind, I–" He laughed lightly, shame tinting his cheeks rose. "Just stay safe, and… I'm looking forward to whatever story you'll have to tell when you get back, alright?"

Shuichi smiled so sweetly that Kokichi swore he could die on the spot, right there and then. Not only that, but the anxious detective who scarcely made eye contact looked right into Kokichi's eyes for a brief moment. Those breath-taking golden eyes…

Kokichi was the one who had to break the eye contact; he couldn't handle such attention on him. He laughed carefree, easily wearing that act to hide his embarrassment, "If you want a story so badly, why don't you just come with us?" (He had to, again, elbow Miu for making noises when she let out a hissed, "What?" at his offer.)

Of course, he expected the answer he ended up getting from Shuichi. Though, he could see the slight hesitation in his face, as if he wanted to accept the offer.

"No, I… I shouldn't. As much as I'd want to be there with you…" Shuichi trailed off for a moment, before glancing over at Miu and adding an almost panicked sounding, "Uh, with the both of you, of course, but…" He let out a sigh and seemed to make up his mind. "I should stay here, but… I'll see you tonight when you get back, right?"

Kokichi scoffed as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. A part of him was complaining about how ridiculous Shuichi was being with his hushed voice and soft smile, but Kokichi realised he only was thinking that because it was actually him being ridiculous in the way he struggled to not get caught up in Shuichi's smile.

Instead, he teased Shuichi as a deflect. "Oh, are you going to stay up and wait for me? Why would you do that, Saihara-chan? Ha, you're acting like I'm your husband going off to war or something!"

He bowed his head in shame, "Sorry… I realise that's a bit much, huh? I'll… I'll be going now, then."

"O-kay!" Kokichi smiled brightly and turned on his heels to head to the door, half expecting Shuichi to say something or stop him, but he didn't. Then, he and Miu stood in the stairwell, the door closed behind them.

The whole stairwell was dead silent. It was quite eerie, since there were no windows or places that it connected to. Whatever building it had been for had purposely blocked off each entrance on each floor, clearly not wanting for the floors to intermingle or be so easily accessed.

Kokichi ended up walking ahead of Miu, his footsteps echoing throughout the stairwell. Only a few steps upwards and he realised that Miu was snickering. He stopped, giving her a judgemental look. "You cracking up over there?"

She took one look at him and immediately let out the laughter she had been holding in, doubling over as she let out that braying laugh of hers. When she finally took a deep breath and stood up straight, she wiped at the tears in her eyes and began to actually explain the sudden outburst.

"Wow! You– Hah! You're such an idiot!" Miu calling him an idiot was nothing new, nor did it carry much power coming from someone with such a vulgar mouth like her. "The both of you! I knew he was sappy, but not that sappy! It's a bad look for him when he's nearly as bad as Baka-matsu!"

Miu shook her head, still laughing as she continued up the stairs ahead of him.

Kokichi ran up to be beside her, giving her an odd look still, "What are you even talking about?"

She snorted, "Seriously?" Another laugh, "I know you've got the hots for him, but don't tell me he was just being 'sweet,' that was sappy as hell! I mean, you were right about the husband thing, hah! I think Shit-hara's got a massive love boner for ya', y'know!"

"Oh my–" He cut himself off with a fake heave and sour expression, "Never say those words together in a sentence ever again."

She burst out laughing again, "What? 'Love boner'? Hahaha! Don't act like you don't have a love boner for him, I know you do!"

Kokichi rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff, stating, "I'm no longer talking to you."

Miu continued to laugh as they climbed the staircase, practically going in circles as they passed through each empty landing. Kokichi could still hear her mumbling about the brief conversation with Shuichi before they had left.

He kept hearing her repeat, "Er, I meant the both of you," "'Looking forward to your story'," and "'I'll see you tonight'," all the while wheezing like she was dying of an asthma attack instead of just teasing Shuichi's odd sappiness that night. At some point, he even heard her mention his own little "'Why don't you just come with us?'" line.

About half-way up the stairwell, Miu ended up asking him directly, "What were we supposed to do if he said 'yes'? You'd have to explain what we were getting the parts for, wouldn't you? That was a stupid move coming from you, Supreme Leader."

Kokichi laughed, "Why would he have said 'yes'?" He shook his head, "I knew how he would respond, and it wasn't going to be 'yeah, let me go head-first into danger with the vulgar inventor and the annoying little shit that has never done anything good.'" He switched to his usual grin and changed his tone to make up for the hint of seriousness he had had just then, "Trust me, Iruma-chan, I know what I'm doing! I was just messing with him, that's all!"

Miu clearly didn't take him seriously anyway, but she didn't say anything.

When the conversation fell, the stairs seemed to only get taller as each step seemed to get heavier. What was it with stairs that was so much more exhausting than anything else? Maybe it was the fact that his head felt like they were just going in circles, as if forgetting that upwards was a direction as well.

Although, eventually, they reached the top, where a door was the only thing separating them from outside. Miu ended up being the first one to that door and was able to push it open with only a bit of effort. The cold night breeze immediately entered the building before they could exit, sending a shiver down Kokichi's spine.

Miu crossed her arms close to her chest, clearly just as cold as, if not colder than, Kokichi. Although, she was Miu, so it was unlikely she'd bring attention to the fact herself.

Kokichi stepped outside and looked around in wonder like he did every time he went up there. He thought the view of the city would be something he'd have gotten over quickly, but it still managed to amaze him. Towering buildings that were even taller than the skyscrapers of the old world, neon lights decorated the most modern looking buildings and shone from the busy streets far below.

"Hah, careful, piss-stain! No one's gonna be able to save ya' if you stumble and fall off!"

He stepped back, turning his head to face Miu as he re-joined her side, "That's okay, I'd be able to stick the landing!" There was no landing to 'stick,' in actuality. He knew well that there was likely no longer a building in that city that wasn't an immediate death sentence if one was to fall from the top.

"I know you're all fearless and reckless and shit, but don't be stupid. You know you'd be dead."

They walked across the roof, knowing exactly where they were going. When the staircase to the roof had first been found, everyone considered it would be safer to close it off, but they found, (in thanks to both Kokichi's recklessness and help from robots), that there was a risky path across the roofs that eventually led downwards, making it far more efficient than the tunnel and alley route for going anywhere but the alleys.

The path was riskier not only because of height, but because of old ladders, building-side staircases, and the occasional jump. Not for the faint of heart certainly. Good thing Kokichi was good at being probably a bit more careless and confident than he should've been. (Falling items were frequent in the alleys, yet he had been foolish enough to not pay attention at all earlier.)

Their first obstacle on the path was the first ladder, which Kokichi had ended up at first. ("Ugh, Ouma, you know I'm supposed to go first so that I know you aren't being a pervert." "Trust me, I am the least interested in looking up your dress." "H-Hey! Are you trying to say that's not interesting?" "Y'know, you make it sound like you want to be disrespected sometimes.")

It was pretty much a leisurely walk for him, once he got past the cold of that night in particular. It was pretty normal for Miu to end up trailing behind, as he was the scrappy climbing-on-rooftops kind of guy, much more than Miu anyway in her heeled boots, not to say Miu wasn't tough. She wasn't exactly a damsel-in-distress, no matter how much she whined sometimes. Kokichi had a respect for Miu, one he'd never admit out loud, but, still, she was decently well put together for the shit she had gone through in her life in the old world, before the killing game, that is.

The stairs and ladders were no issue even if the stairs without railings could be a bit off-putting. The small gaps they occasionally had to cross weren't that big of a deal, but eventually they had made it to the most dangerous crossing on the way. One that required a head start and a jump to ensure crossing to the other side. It could… probably be done otherwise, but no one had yet to want to take the risk to try.

Kokichi watched as Miu looked nervously across the canyon between the two building roofs. He laughed, "You nervous, chunky boots?"

She scoffed and gave him a sour look, "You gonna piss yourself, cargo pants?"

He rolled his eyes and watched as Miu focused then on getting the jump. She walked back carefully, looking behind herself for safety as well. With a deep breath she began to run, looking surprisingly capable despite the dress and chunky boots she wore. He held his breath in anticipation as she pushed off from the edge of the building, but, thankfully, she landed plenty clear of the edge on the other side.

She let out a laugh of success and put her hands on her hips as she turned to look at him in anticipation. "Oi, c'mon!" She yelled from the other side, "Don't be a sissy now, hah!"

Kokichi just scoffed, despite knowing that was Miu's way of encouraging him without actually seeming to care about what he did or didn't do. So, he retraced his steps away from the edge, watching his back as Miu had done, then… He took a deep breath in and ran. The motion, he realised, only lasted for a snapshot of a moment. If he had blinked partway through, he likely would've opened his eyes on the other side, but he knew better than to do that. He didn't dare move his eyes from where his next step would hit.

One large push off of the building edge and for a moment he was free falling. Every time he had to leap that gap, his heart got caught in his throat as his life seemed to end for just a moment until his jump overstretched the gap and both feet landed safely on the hard cement roof of the next building.

"See? I know little shits like you don't die so easily, huh?" Miu elbowed him and kept walking ahead as Kokichi stalled to catch his breath for a microscopic moment.

The closer they got to the ground, the easier the trek became. The stairs and ladders both covered more vertical distance and were more safe closer to the ground since they were likely more frequently used than the far up ones. Miu even made a comment about how "easy and boring" it was, which, Kokichi had to admit, sounded like something right out of his book. It was funny how similar they could be sometimes, but then Kokichi could only think, Well, duh, birds of a feather and flocking and all that nonsense, huh?

Kokichi could only imagine they looked like quite the eccentric pair. Denying their odd alliance was redundant, yet they did it constantly. Maybe that's part of what he liked about their odd friendship, Miu never wanted to admit her attachment, especially to someone like him, and he never wanted to admit his own attachment. They didn't do sappy shit like talk about feelings, they called each other ugly and stupid while giving the other someone to talk to when it's clear they were both too odd and loud for the others.

Finally, after who knows how long of slowly scaling down from the roof of the building, they hopped down from the final ladder, touching real ground. They ended up walking out onto a pretty abandoned street, but the neon blue lights they had seen from above taunted them just around the corner.

Miu suddenly stopped after the brief moment she had been leading the two of them. When Kokichi got a look of her face, he saw she was… crying?

"Iruma-chan, are you crying over your traumatic childhood again?" He asked, putting on a fake voice of disappointment. He knew it likely was not about childhood, but he knew saying this would make Miu angry enough to possibly explain herself.

She immediately wiped at her eyes with her sleeves when Kokichi pointed out the tears, sniffling with an angry pout on her face as she crossed her arms in protest. "No, that's…" She burst out laughing, "What are you talking about? Again? I don't even care about my childhood or whatever. You were told that those were all faked anyway, right?"

On a more serious note, though, she frowned, holding her arms closer to her chest. When she spoke, it came out as a mutter, "It's nothing like that, anyway. I mean… It's not even serious…" She avoided Kokichi's gaze, but when she met it again, she let out an outburst. "Oh, c'mon! Why do you care if I'm crying? You're supposed to call me a whiny bitch and tell me to suck it up and focus on the matter at hand or whatever. I don't wanna talk about feelings."

Kokichi let out a small hum, grinning teasingly, "Really? Well, if you didn't want to talk about feelings, why'd you start crying in front of me? Can't that wait for when we get back to home base when you can curl up in your little inventor nest and get your nasty, salty tears all over your room instead of some alley? Trust me, I don't wanna be watching you cry like a baby, either!"

She scoffed and let out a profanity under her breath. Specifically, she called him an "asshole." He found this incredibly hilarious.

"Aw, but you were just complaining I wasn't being rude enough to you! Boo…" He walked a few paces ahead, kicking at a piece of scrap metal that had been lying on the path as he did.

A moment later, he admitted, "Y'know, I was gonna say something about him, too. I don't know whether you were crying 'cause you miss him or 'cause we're going out now to get the final pieces, but either way… I'm probably thinking all the same things as you." He let that sit in the air for a moment, before looking back at Miu with a grin and lying, "Not! Hah! I'm not miserable and emotional like you are!"

Miu let out an offended gasp and tried to run after him, but he just ran ahead. His words seemed to have done the trick, anyway.

Kokichi laughed as she attempted to chase after him, only stopping again when they finally made it out to the open street. He nearly bumped into a cloaked figure who gave a warning growl his way when he made eye contact with the pair of eyes that glowed under the figure's hood.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, sir. Don't mind me, just a reckless child!" He grinned wide and innocently as if to prove his point.

Miu wound up standing beside him, looking between Kokichi and the figure, who had since moved on with a snort, with a look of confusion on her face. "What the hell did you do?" She asked finally when the figure was out of sight.

"Oh, just threatened to find and hunt down every living relative he has! Y'know, the usual."

She scoffed, "Sheesh, you just love being unnecessarily difficult, don't you?"

Kokichi continued to grin childishly, "Well, duh!" He then turned away from Miu and looked warily out at the busy street. He reached behind his head to gather some of his hair into a hair tie that he kept on his wrist.

The large hood of the jacket would only hinder his stealth and vision, so he settled for the next best disguise he had: a slight change in hair. He realised it likely did scarcely anything to protect himself from recognition if they were being actively sought after, but it made him feel as if he was doing enough, and sometimes a placebo was all that mattered.

Miu grumbled in complaint after having put up her own hood, "Y'know, you have a hood. I know you're reckless, but a girly little ponytail isn't gonna make anyone suspect you less. If anything, they're gonna wonder why the hell you put a pony in in the first place."

He laughed, "If I'm not caught for wearing my chequered scarf, they aren't going to catch me, ponytail or not."

She looked like she wanted to be angry at first but she ended up letting out a thoughtful hum instead, "Holy shit, you're right. How have they not spotted you before? You never take off that stupid thing!"

Kokichi just rolled his eyes, finally walking out onto the street, keeping his hands in his pockets as he looked around warily. He had plenty of acts mastered, looking casual while actually keeping a really good eye on a good amount of his surroundings was just one of them.

While the sky above them was dark and starless, the streets shone from the building lights and the blue street lamps that lined the whole street. Several trailers, carts, and stalls filled the spaces between street lamps, most having blue hanging lanterns of their own. The smell of food could be made out if someone was looking for it, but the street smelt mostly of bot blood like most places in the city.

Although, when he thought about it, he should probably have been glad it smelt of bot blood and not the drugs he knew some of the merchants had to have been selling. As much as there were likely several stalls and merchants who weren't conducting any shady business, most of the people doing business at a place called the night market had to likely be hiding things.

Good thing they were hiding things, too. Not much, but the thought still counted, right?

Kokichi looked carefully for any signs of hostility or merchants who'd have anything useful to them, occasionally hearing snippets of conversations from other people who looked just as shady as they did who walked past. They always managed to fit right in there, because everyone was likely hiding things.

Most everyone had some sort of weapon strapped on them. Some had gun holsters, others had knife handles sticking from boots, Kokichi even saw someone with a sword on their back which was an oddity among the assortment of laser weapons most people had. Several merchants were selling weapons or things designed for killing. There was an especially angry-looking rebel bot who was selling old-style bullet guns, perhaps for killing the humans who had wronged him.

It was amusing, honestly. How could such an obvious place practically flooded with illegals and illegal dealing not be under some sort of legal investigation at the least? He had heard a few people talk about the glow of the street lamps emitting signals that disinterested government bots from showing up, but there had to be people cops as well as bots, right?

They had only lived in that world for a year, so, really, they knew next to nothing about the state of the world. All they knew is that the city seemed to span forever and that they couldn't be seen by government bots, or else they'd be recognised as fugitives from that top-secret laboratory or something. Luckily, the city was just as overwhelmingly huge for the government to keep track of as it was for them to try and figure it out.

"Please hear me, dearest siblings!" The loud call came over the chatter and advertising of other merchants from one bot who stood upon a metal crate.

Kokichi heard Miu snicker from beside him. "Oi, another one of these dumb, preaching bots?"

"In this night, in this light, you don't have to be afraid to listen to my words, alright? Let your curiosity win, and don't be afraid to listen to this strangely, almost, yet not, human voice of mine."

He shared her amusement as it was not the first time something similar had happened. He just smiled as he observed the crowd of people form around the bot. A few other bots could be picked from the crowd, but most of the people who walked the streets instead of littering them were human, mostly human anyway.

"He's just giving us easy targets now," Kokichi said, reaching his hands behind his head to quickly re-tighten his ponytail. "You watch for trouble, just… not too intensely, 'kay?"

Miu nodded.

Kokichi slipped into the crowd of people, scanning for belts, pockets, anything he could take from. Being a kid of the streets, pickpocketing was something that came nearly as easily as breathing did. Of course, he had had plenty of extra practice ever since they woke up in this world where there were no signs of proper businesses, let alone jobs.

"I understand you're confused, you're lost, you're hungry, but we live the same life as you, only… we have to fear for our consciousness even more, really. I understand that when you look at someone like me, you can't quite see it, but we were designed just like how your creators designed you."

Some small murmurs spread throughout the crowd, but most there seemed to just want to find comfort in the crowd, not wanting to be outliers when so many had their attention on the bot on the crate.

Still, even in a crowd, no one else except him was watching the pockets of others, were they? Kokichi felt a bit bad taking from people who likely were in similar or worse situations, but… he couldn't assume that about everyone; illegal dealing was supposedly pretty profitable. He also felt guilty for taking weapons out of holsters, as he knew there were dangers in the streets, but… wouldn't people be more cautious of their weapons if they didn't want them stolen?

"Acceptance takes time, I understand. So… I'm not asking for rallies tonight, I'm not asking for loyalty. Instead, I'm asking for curiosity, I'm asking for consideration, I'm asking just for a chance."

Good thing Kokichi wore his cargo pants, huh? If the crowd was bigger and more crowded, he could easily fill his pants with all sorts of goods to barter with, but he had to be careful. The bot's speech wasn't… that interesting.

"I want you to give me a chance, but I also want you to give my family a chance. Maybe you didn't know this, but we bots were created in batches so we can experience the bond of a family. I have blood siblings, just as some of you may, but I also have bond siblings in the those of you who open your hearts to my words."

Kokichi couldn't stay in the same place for too long, but also couldn't move around too much, or else it'd be obvious what he was doing. If he moved a bit closer to the bot, but also sideways among the crowd, he could easily be mistaken for just wanting to get a closer look. Especially when he looked innocently around, occasionally leaning onto his toes as if trying to look over the crowd. Being short did have benefits after all.

"I would be proud to call you all my siblings tonight, for we are all stuck in this terrible place, oppressed by the same people, whether they use corrupt humans or non-feeling bots as soldiers."

Ah, so maybe there were humans who worked for the government, that is, if the robot wasn't stretching the truth a bit. It was hard to tell with bots when they told less obvious lies. Half-truths, white lies, stretches of the truth were all nearly undetectable from their voices, unlike with humans.

"So… Please. I beg that you think about what I say tonight when you see the bodies of my metal-siblings in the streets. When you… when you carry those weapons made from the severed arms of my siblings who were forced against their wills to be weapons."

Oops, he thought. Kokichi looked behind himself to find Miu had looked at him with an equal amount of partial-guilt when the bot had said that.

As… morbid as it must be to see severed arms on every person who carried arms, (pun very much intended and honestly… only making the idea more morbid), it was a waste to let their bodies rust and be safety hazards on the side of the street when the waste could be used, right? It's like… someone having to eat their horse when starving and lost. Although, he supposed the bot would not like him comparing him to an animal.

"Far too many times have I lost a metal-sibling to the modified arm of another… Far too many times have I seen my own blasted to pieces by the arms of those who used to be my own. Far too many times are we bots mercilessly killed simply for being–"

–bots. Killed for simply being bots. That's what the preacher was going to say, it was obvious, but… He never said it. A familiar high-pitched whine had sounded only moments before the bot was… rudely interrupted.

Purples, blues, greens, yellows, those colours all sort of blended as one in a terrible shot that struck the bot on the crate directly through the chest. The gun used to do it wasn't nearly as damaging as Kaito's, which always left such a mess; it was clean. A clean circle was left in the bot's chest where everyone could see right through.

The bot froze on that last word, his eyes looking downwards in his last moments of consciousness. It was so terribly human-like how the bot could still seem to think and feel for just a moment before his dim lights went off and he fell backwards off the crate.

Gasps erupted in the crowd, and some looked around frantically as if to find the source, but… there were enough people who didn't care that the crowd ended up dispersing, save the few bots and less shady looking people including himself and Miu.

Kokichi hated those few constants in his life that hadn't changed even in the year of being in some new world. Death. It must haunt him like the guilt that choked him when he thought about what he did a year ago. The guilt that choked him like Miu had been choked a year ago, like Maki had choked him a year ago, like the poison almost had a year ago.

Like he sometimes wished had kept him dead.

"...a! Ouma! Oi, earth to piss-stain!"

He snapped from his thoughts to find himself standing in what had been a crowd only moments ago. Now it was him and Miu, and three bots who seemed to be tearless crying like he had seen Kiibo do after class trials. No one else cared at all, maybe they were desensitised to it after living it their whole lives.

Kokichi let out a scoff when he came to his senses. "He had it coming." He said aloud as if that would make him feel less grief, despite not believing it for a second, but he always lied so convincingly. Why did he always do that to himself?

One of the bots whipped his head to look at Kokichi, betrayal, hatred, grief, everything—all those ever so awfully, pitifully, human emotions—clear on his almost real face. Because, of course, he had heard Kokichi.

Miu slapped him in the face all of a sudden, the back of her hand making clear contact with his cheek. "Why the hell would you say that?" She asked, seriously angered for the first time in a while. "Wh-What's wrong with you? That was… That was real, you asshole! Is that what you think about Kiibo, huh? Is that what you think about me?"

Kokichi reached a hand to rub at the, he imagined, red spot on his face. Yeah, I had that coming, he thought sardonically. Miu's words stung just as much as the slap did, if not more. But maybe that was because… He could remember thinking something like that when he had to make that plan to keep himself alive just a while longer in the game. Something like…

'She had it coming. She was trying to kill me first. She had it coming.'

His face stayed blank as ever as he looked up at Miu, his voice a matching monotone. "Weren't you the one who said that you didn't want to talk about feelings? Let's just… Let's just get what we need and go."

She hesitated, clearly confused on what to think, but she gave him an angry look likely meaning, If you don't explain yourself later, we're going to have an issue, Ouma. Then, she gave him a tense nod. "Fine."

His lie had one good outcome, he realised. Miu was now more angry with him than with whoever had shot the bot, so she wasn't searching ruthlessly to cuss them out and eventually get herself hurt because she was incredibly emotionally-driven like that. Of course, Kokichi wasn't one who got to judge emotions.

Down the blue-lit street, they walked in silence. Kokichi had seen a robot blow up in his face earlier, but… that was different. That robot was one of the non-feeling ones used by the government and whatever other powerful forces, Miu's story about how she had found out about it proved that much. But also…

The robot had blown to pieces almost comically. It was just like a scene from a movie, just some special effects. Special effects couldn't replicate the human look of pain and betrayal on the preacher bot's face. Special effects couldn't wear quite the same look of true horror that that bot had worn when he looked down to find his vital circuitry gone.

And yet, how truly 'comical' that the shooter had clearly been waiting for such an ironic time to shoot. To leave him without the completion of that phrase that described the action itself, it made Kokichi want to let out a laugh to combat how sick to his stomach it left him feeling.

"Did ya' get any coin? Or just weapons?"

Kokichi rooted through his pockets, grabbing what coin he managed to get before that crowd so suddenly was disrupted. Then, he handed it out, dropping it into Miu's outstretched hand. "That and four laser guns. Plus whatever I know you brought with you."

"I only brought a couple extra guns for bartering. I don't exactly like making weapons, Ouma."

He snorted, letting out a sour, sarcastic remark, "That's funny. I don't know where I could've gotten that idea, then."

Miu opened her mouth to make a big remark, but shut herself up before she started a fight. She put the coin in her pocket and crossed her arms.

"Listen, did I go too far bringing my death up earlier? Yeah, but you can't go around saying sociopathic shit like that, Ouma. There's a fucking line, and you crossed it with that remark, alright? If even I have been working on recognising boundaries, you have to know for sure they're there."

Another huff of laughter left his nose. That was the second time someone had said something about him being smart. Why did they assume he was smart? Didn't they see what he did to himself in that damn game? Wasn't it obvious he was a fool? If he was smart, Kaito was a damn genius.

Even Shuichi… He had acted so stupid earlier. Saying sweet things to someone like Kokichi was so stupid. So stupid that it made Kokichi feel more guilty. And, the thing was, he didn't even know what he felt guilty for, on top of the usual and obvious things, of course.

"What now?" Miu hissed, "What the hell is so funny?"

Kokichi decided to tell the truth, a sick smile resting on his lips. "Everyone thinks I'm so smart. Hell, I think I'm smart sometimes. Like some sort of egotistical maniac. Like a damn mind reader. 'I know when you lie!' and all that…" He took a deep breath, his blank look falling once again over his face. "You're right, though. For once. Just don't let it get to your head."

She looked at him with confusion still written all over her face for a moment before just sighing in defeat. "I'll never understand what the hell you're trying to say half the damn time. But… Maybe that's for the best, hah!" Her laugh came out sounding only half-hearted compared to her usual laughs, but he supposed he didn't blame her if she still felt down. That laugh is all that sat in the air between them for a moment, and Kokichi was just glad it was that and not his sour words.

Miu spoke up again a few moments later, giving Kokichi a nudge in the side to get his attention, speaking a bit hushed, "You think that guy over there would give us something for the weapons?"

She gestured towards a stall where the figure standing at it seemed to be trying to restock the wall of weapons behind them, that, or just taking down their wares for the night, but… it wasn't even that late, yet.

Kokichi shrugged, "Worth a shot." He held out his hand, "Hand those guns over."

With a small scoff, she reached into her pockets and pulled out the two extra guns she mentioned earlier, handing them over. "Try not to piss him off, 'kay?"

He gave her one of his usual grins, "Yeah, I'll try." Then he walked up to the stall, observing the back wall for a short moment.

When that short moment went by without the stall's owner noticing him, Kokichi took the two guns and set them down on the counter, cocking a grin as he asked, "Need some decoration for those walls? Your shop's looking pretty empty if you're asking me."

The figure turned around, pulling down the hood they had been wearing, revealing their bot face. They gave him an annoyed look, "I'm not doing business anymore. I'm not trying to get killed tonight." Then they turned around to continue whatever they were doing.

Kokichi frowned. Clearly news travelled fast of what happened to that bot just down the street, but wasn't it kind of a death wish selling wares at all? The merchant bot had to have known that. Or… He tried to examine the glimpses of the bot's face. Maybe they were guilty. Maybe…

"Did the shooter get their gun here? Or did they threaten you? Whatever the case, I doubt they'll blame you."

They paused, but still didn't turn to face him. "Don't assume what it is that's bothering me. You wouldn't understand. You're human."

Kokichi hummed, "Yeah, I guess so… But I'm on that bot's side if it means anything. We're trying to get the money to buy the parts we need to fix a bot friend of ours, to tell you the truth. So… If you need wares… You'd be supporting a metal-sibling anyway."

The bot stood back up, facing Kokichi, anger clear on their face. "A bot friend? Why would a bot ever 'befriend' you? I know how this is, I know about you self-proclaimed 'supporters'. You just want to use us." They looked down at the guns Kokichi had set on the stall, "These are hand-made, like you salvaged them and messed with the design. Is that all this 'bot friend' is to you? An experiment?"

Miu decided to butt into the conversation then, "Hey, I designed those beauties, and if you're talking about salvaging, there was no other way to learn how to rebuild him! Trust me, I don't like how so many of his kind lie around in broken bodies, but if I can salvage and figure out the design of these bots, I can restore memory chips and identity chips to help bring some of them back!"

The bot still seemed to disapprove. They shook their head. "Don't do that. Death is the only salvation. We live in fear for our lives, programmed to not truly want death, but I know for a fact that… beyond that programming… we all would rather be dead." They let out a sigh, "I don't know how your friend died, but please consider that. If he has to live in constant fear… don't bring him back."

The blonde opened her mouth to say something, but Kokichi spoke first, face blank with seriousness.

"We won't let him live like that. He had a good life before. We just… We just want our friend back."

They looked between the two of them, before sighing. "I… I guess I don't care anymore. What goods do you have? I'll pay you what I'd sell them for."

Kokichi dug through his pockets to pull out the four guns he had stolen from the crowd. Then he smiled as he set them down on the counter, "Just these! And if any of them look familiar… We can look past that, right?"

They examined the four newly placed guns, letting out a small… laugh? Kokichi couldn't fully tell, but the bot looked somewhat amused. "All my customers are either paranoid humans who think bots are going to shoot first or killers who sell us for parts and weapons, so… I suppose I support your sleight of hand."

The bot turned to look at Miu's guns again, a thoughtful look on their face. "These are quite expertly modified though, they definitely stand out from these others that were lazily severed and turned to handhelds. I'll pay extra for these two, because… they even look cleaner. I might even try to emulate them if that's alright."

Miu let out a proud laugh, "You can try and emulate my genius all you like! Hah–!" Her laugh was cut off by Kokichi elbowing her in the arm along with a quick irritated glare.

"She's just egotistical, don't listen to her, heh."

They gave the two of them an odd look. The bot just compiled in silence, taking out a pouch from under the stand, counting out coin in their hand, but they stopped part way through to speak.

"You two are so strange, you know that? I can't quite place what it is, but you look and act like you haven't been living here for long at all. Are you… from out of the city?"

Kokichi pondered on an answer for a moment, before saying, "In a way…" Then he put on a childish grin as if lying and continued, "You probably won't believe us, but we come from the past!" For good measure, he added, "Y'know, time travellers!"

The bot had nothing to say to that except an odd look before they continued counting coin. A few moments later, they held out their hand of coin, "Here, and… Good luck. With your friend. I hope you weren't lying when you said he had a good life. I wish… I wish more of us could say we had something like that."

Miu was the one to accept the coin, keeping it with the rest that they had managed to get. She immediately started walking away, counting the coin, muttering something about prices.

Kokichi stayed standing in front of the stand. He made awkward eye contact with the bot, not sure why he hesitated, but eventually he asked, "Is it true what the preacher bot said? About you guys having families? Do you have a family?"

They gave him a suspicious look. Of course, Kokichi realised, He's still going to be wary. It's a good thing they don't trust easy, I suppose. But after looking around, they let out a sigh. "Only certain batches. There was a time where they were produced like that so that they could be more human-like, but… most of us only have whoever else we can find."

He hummed in understanding, finding himself able to smile softly, "That's still family, I think. Who cares about blood or model, right? You just find you have to be glad you have anyone at all, huh?"

Despite his question being asked, his thoughts continued on, Someone looking out for you… Someone who understands, even if just a little… Someone who's seen you at even your lowest… Someone that looks at you softly despite what you've done… Is that what family is? Is that what… love is? Ah, but…

Kokichi still felt unlovable. Even after a year.

The bot gave him a serious nod. "Tell them, then. If you still have that… Tell them what they are to you. Tell them you're glad to have them, before…" They let out a small sigh after trailing off, "Ah, what am I talking about? You're human, you probably have nothing to worry about. Go on, go get those parts you need for your friend, then."

He laughed, "Oh, yeah! I do have to supervise that egotistical inventor, huh? Well, I hope that you…" He trailed off. What was there to say? He couldn't say 'have a good day' or 'get a good life' or anything stupid and meaningless like that. So, not knowing if it was the right thing, he settled on, "I hope that you find your place."

The bot just hummed. "And I hope you don't lose yours."

Kokichi then walked away, having to run to catch up with Miu. He greeted her and made a comment about her being stupid for just walking off without him, in which she said something about needing to hurry up and get those parts, but he couldn't get the conversation with the merchant bot out of his head.

'Tell them what they are to you. Tell them you're glad to have them.'

Maybe one day Kokichi could do that, but he hadn't earned that yet. Maybe once they had Kiibo back, maybe then he would have earned that place. Maybe then he would've earned that family, that love, and maybe even that forgiveness.

Miu seemed to know where she was going, and Kokichi just tagged behind her. He was starting to feel sleepiness fall over him, which was odd when usually he was able to stay awake effortlessly, but he supposed maybe he was starting to get emotionally tired after what happened with the preaching bot and the conversation with the merchant bot.

Eventually, she stopped at another stall, this one inhabited by someone who was clearly human. The woman greeted them with a gruff, "Oh, you're back." Miu must've dealt with her before.

She grinned, "You know it!" She pulled out her pouch of coin and held it out. "I'm finally ready for those last parts!"

The merchant reached under her stall and pulled out a clear bag containing a bunch of mechanical bits and circuitry. "Just like you requested," she said, setting it down on the counter. "Now, it took a long while to get this, so you better have the amount of coin I asked for."

Miu let out a laugh, "Of course I did! I need these parts more than anything, I'm not gonna scam ya' for them." She set the pouch on the counter and grabbed the clear bag of parts. "You've got no idea how much this means to me…" She said as she examined the parts in the bag.

The woman just hummed. "'Course." Then she examined the pouch, slipping it in her pocket when she found it had the appropriate amount of coin. "Now get out of my sight."

"Will do!" Miu said, uncaring as she walked off again, not moving her eyes from the bag of parts.

Kokichi had to, again, catch up to her, but he didn't blame her. Kiibo would finally be able to come back soon. With those parts, he hoped that that could be true. He smiled as he walked alongside Miu. Kiibo would be back. Kokichi helped bring Kiibo back. Then they'd finally have everyone again. Like a full family.

They returned to the alley where the final ladder on their way there became the first ladder on their way back home. The trek back up to the top of the building was always longer, both because fighting gravity was simply more difficult and because it was always later in the night by then, meaning they were more exhausted.

Hope carried Kokichi through the difficult trip back. He found himself thinking about how Shuichi had wished them safe travels earlier. "I'll see you tonight when you get back, right?" Shuichi had said. Kokichi wondered if Shuichi was waiting for him. …He never denied when Kokichi asked if he was going to stay up for him, after all.

He shook his head as he paused for only a brief moment on one of the multiple staircases they had to climb to get back. A small huff of laughter left his nose as he looked out at the city-view. It was somehow even darker and colder than it had been earlier. But… for some reason, the idea that Shuichi was waiting for him made it a little easier to deal with the chilly night breeze.

It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Kokichi knew that Shuichi was a good part of the reason he wanted Kiibo back, even though he'd never admit that. Kokichi also knew that his feelings for Shuichi were stupid and meaningless in the end. Sometimes, he didn't even care, though. He told himself that all he needed was to earn the apology that Shuichi had given him months ago, and then he'd be satisfied with that.

Other times he wished he didn't feel the need to feel so guilty. Guilt kept him from getting too close to Shuichi, from everyone, really. Even Miu… They only were able to be close on the basis that they didn't need to have some sappy talk about regrets, since they both had made plans to kill the other, after all.

The others never wronged him. Even with Maki… Kokichi had anticipated her responses, he had meant for her to respond like she had. Plus… He had learned to tolerate her and to get over his hatred of her past, especially since those pasts were fake anyway. He saw that she was human, like he refused to see before.

Sometimes, he thought she was more human than he was. He hated the idea that he could compare himself to her, but, with what he had done, he was a former killer almost as much as she was.

Yet, after a year, he was coming to learn that the past didn't matter so much. It was a work in progress, since he still held himself unforgivable for all he did, but… the new world had provided something of a new start, not completely, but mostly.

The two of them had already passed the wide jump, and were nearing the top already. Miu decided to break the silence, all of a sudden, in an oddly soft voice coming from her.

"He's going to be back soon. I'm going to finish building him, and he'll be complete and alive again." It was obvious who she was referring to. Who other than Kiibo? Kiibo was going to be alive again soon. It took a year, but he was going to be back.

Kokichi had come to that conclusion multiple times over the past few hours, yet it seemed like a completely new realisation every time it happened. Maybe he still didn't believe it. Maybe he wouldn't believe it, not until he saw him, not until he greeted him, not until the robot exclaimed about 'robophobia' and gasped in shock when Miu or Kokichi said something vulgar or rude.

Yeah, he probably wouldn't believe it even then.

The wind blew by a last time as Miu unlocked the door into the stairwell back down into home base. Kokichi stared out at the night sky, a few stars dimly shining in the far, far distance. He missed being able to see the full night-sky like he could've a year ago, even if the sky was completely fake… It didn't feel fake.

He wondered how Kaito felt, never being able to see the true night sky. Did it make him sad? Did it make him feel sorrow that there was no chance of ever being an astronaut in this world? Or… Had he moved on? Was having Maki and Shuichi enough for him?

He shook the thoughts, muffling a yawn into the back of his hand as the door to the stairwell closed behind him. Miu had gone ahead of him, but he didn't care to catch up. He just… took his time. Even though going down the stairs was much easier, he still felt himself growing tired as he neared the bottom.

Miu had already exited the stairwell a few minutes ago when Kokichi eventually opened the door and stepped out into the sleepy place. Since it was night, the timed lighting glowed faintly, something that reminded him of true moonlight. But… There was no moon to see.

"Ah, Ouma-kun. There you are."

Kokichi was surprised to hear the voice, despite his pondering about it earlier. He turned to see Shuichi dressed in striped pyjamas standing against the outer corner of the hall with a soft, sleepy look on his face. His smile looked so naturally soft, as well as that look in his eyes that Kokichi couldn't figure out; how Shuichi could look in such a way while looking at him, he didn't know.

He tried to scoff, but the sound never left his mouth, he was too taken aback by Shuichi. There wasn't even anything in particular, it was just Shuichi himself. Instead he averted his eyes and asked, "So… You really stayed up for me?"

A soft chuckle left his mouth, "I… I wish I could say it was on purpose. I guess I just couldn't sleep. I was too worried, I suppose."

There it was again… Worry. What was he talking about? Kokichi couldn't understand it at all. Again, he tried to laugh at Shuichi for saying such a thing to draw attention away from the fact that he was so easily affected by Shuichi, but it came out drowsy and slightly disingenuous.

Still, he was able to put on his teasing look as he replied, "What is there to worry about? Didn't I tell you not to do that?"

Shuichi averted his eyes, a bit of shame crossing his face. "I know…" He said softly, "I tried reminding myself that, but it didn't change anything much, as you can probably tell, heh."

Kokichi didn't know what to say. He still couldn't explain why it bothered him so much. He just felt that– "Why are you acting so weird tonight, Saihara-chan? Earlier and now… You're being different all of a sudden."

He hummed, still gazing sleepily at Kokichi. "Yeah, I suppose you could say that, huh?" He looked away again as soon as he finished speaking. It was the same as earlier; he looked like there was something he was hesitating to do or say, but he couldn't quite convince himself to completely drop it.

After debating it for a quick moment, Kokichi walked closer to stand against the wall near Shuichi instead of staying in the doorway to the stairwell. If Shuichi was going to stand awkwardly hesitating, then Kokichi supposed it was up to him to get him to explain himself and his odd behaviour.

"You were like this before," He started, still smiling teasingly. "Why are you here? Other than to keep your word or whatever. There's clearly something you want to say or do."

A tint of pink grew on Shuichi's face as he chuckled abashedly, "Well… I don't know if it's quite right to ask. You're right to say I've been strange, I know… I'm surprised, too, honestly."

Kokichi sighed a bit dramatically, "Y'know, you're still stalling. I asked what it is you wanted to say, not what you think about what you wanted to say." He put on his childish grin as he egged him on, "C'mon, Saihara-chan, get to the point already!"

Shuichi smiled, "You're right, you're right. I'm trying, okay? Would it really surprise you that I'm a bit nervous?"

In a way… It did. It made Kokichi wonder, What on earth could it be that he's nervous to say? Obviously it was clear he was nervous, that's why he had been hesitating, but why? Why would it make him nervous? What could possibly be making him nervous? Yet, despite all the questions, he could only look at Shuichi curiously.

Shuichi shifted a bit on his feet before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, as if trying to prepare himself. The suspense was nearly killing Kokichi as the pyjama-ed man glanced everywhere around the room but at him for a brief moment.

Finally, those gorgeous golden eyes met his again as Shuichi opened his mouth. The words were quiet and he spoke pretty slowly and hesitantly, yet it felt like a train had run Kokichi over completely flat when the words left his mouth.

"Do you… need a hug?"

Frozen, Kokichi stood like a deer in the headlights. All he could think was… What? What even…? Where did that come from? His face went warm when he failed to sputter out a single response to the question. He must've looked like a fool.

Not to say that Shuichi himself didn't look pretty foolish after saying such a thing. His face was flushed by then as he anxiously explained, "It's just… It's been a year and I don't think you've had a single person to comfort you at all, and… We all need some sort of reassurance after that, right? You said 'no' to Gonta earlier and I understand that, but… It made me realise that… No one's really, uh, embraced you, have they?"

Still, his feet felt like they were rooted into the ground, and his thoughts were speeding to make sense of the situation. All he could think then was, Why? Why me? Why him? Why would he care about something like that? Somehow, he managed to get that simple question out of his mouth.

"Why you?"

Shuichi immediately seemed to understand the question, and a small awkward smile found its way to his lips. "W-Well… I was thinking about something I had long forgotten about, and I thought… Since I was the one to tell you that you were alone all that time ago, I wanted to be the one to reassure you that, uhm, you aren't."

That detective sureness then became clear in his voice when he concluded, "That's why I wanted to ask if you needed one. I wanted to tell you that you aren't alone, but… in a more meaningful way, I suppose." After a short pause, his arms slightly raised asking the question before the question itself came from his mouth.

"So… Can I?"

His golden eyes searched Kokichi for a hint of a response, and his soft smile tried to comfort him, but Kokichi couldn't make sense of it. It didn't feel real at all. Had Kokichi fallen asleep in the stairwell? Was he just dreaming that Shuichi would actually make such a dumb request? He was in such a state of denial that he didn't even realise the eventual stiff nod he produced. Did he nod? He thought he nodded anyway.

Either that, or Kokichi had given some sort of signal, because, all of a sudden, his head rested on Shuichi's shoulder and Shuichi's arms held him closer than Kokichi had ever been to the man.

At first, his head was reeling from all the new senses. He could feel the rise and fall of Shuichi's chest as he breathed. He could hear the, at first, quick heartbeat of Shuichi's as it began to return to normal. He could smell Shuichi in the cloth of his blue-and-white striped pyjamas. He could feel the repeated brushing of Shuichi's thumb over the spot where his hand rested on Kokichi's back. And… He could feel Shuichi's warmth, that lulling warmth.

Kokichi realised then that that's what it was in Shuichi's eyes that he couldn't quite figure out earlier. Warmth. Warmth in the way he had smiled at him, and warmth in the way he had spoken and laughed so softly. Shuichi had always been warm, hadn't he? Kokichi usually felt cold, but there was no way to avoid Shuichi's warmth when he was held in his embrace.

For a while, he didn't even fight it. The warmth had lulled him into a state of compliance. But… He found himself coming back to his senses a bit. The first thought he was able to make sense of was, But I haven't earned this yet. Kiibo isn't even built yet. Shuichi doesn't even know yet. How can he do this? I haven't earned my place here let alone a place in Shuichi's arms… Such comforting arms…

And just like that, his only protest was effectively culled by his comfort. It still felt so wrong to indulge, but he nuzzled into the crook of the man's neck anyway, finally wrapping his own arms around the other to return the embrace.

He almost hated how much he loved the feeling. He avoided closeness like a plague, yet there he stood, feeling like he never wanted to leave. He could almost forget their past while enveloped in such serenity. He could almost forget all his fears and worries while enclosed in those arms. He could almost forget his tendency to put up walls all around himself and his emotions while he stood there.

Keyword: almost.

Kokichi hesitated, he hesitated more than he would've liked to admit, but he moved his hands to rest on Shuichi's chest for just a brief moment before he pushed him away and pulled his head back. But his hands lingered there, as if they actually deserved to be in such a place. He dropped them.

"You should go to sleep, hm? It's… It's pretty late," Kokichi said, staring blankly at the wall they stood near.

Shuichi smiled ashamedly, dropping his own hands that had lingered near Kokichi's shoulders. "Ah, yeah… No, you're right, of course, I… I shouldn't have kept you up."

But I'm glad you did, he thought, surprised to find he truly felt that way. He felt guilty, he felt wrong for it, but he enjoyed it. He enjoyed not thinking for a moment, he enjoyed the comfort of closeness, despite all the fears he should've felt. Instead of expressing any of this, though, Kokichi just hummed in agreement.

"Okay," Shuichi said in a hushed, drowsy voice, "Then, um… Sleep well, m'kay? You still have to tell me your stories from tonight, so rest up so you can tell me about the night market in the morning, alright?" He spoke with questions, but he didn't awkwardly wait around for an answer. Instead, he gave one last sleepy smile and a satisfied hum before wandering back down the hall and into the bedroom.

Kokichi found himself frozen again. What was he supposed to do then? Was he honestly supposed to just… change into pyjamas and forget it ever happened? How was he supposed to sleep when he just wanted Shuichi's arms again? He spent a moment just in shock before heading to the bedroom to grab his pyjamas from his personal drawer of the extra-large shared wardrobe. He didn't see Shuichi, which meant the man was likely already lying down.

He left for the bathroom down the hall, where he flicked on the light and then shut and locked the door behind him. Mindlessly, he went through the long process of taking off all his clothes, just to put on his comfortable, chequered pyjamas. (They were plenty warm and soft, but not near as much so as Shuichi's embrace had been.)

His business in the bathroom was over, but he noticed a glimpse of himself in the mirror before he could leave. His face burned an embarrassing red as all he could think about was Shuichi. It was all so ridiculous and embarrassing. So, instead of heading back, Kokichi climbed onto the sink counter and pulled his knees to his chest, covering his ridiculously smiling face in his hands as if someone could've seen him then.

It had been a year, and he was still an absolute mess who had the stupidest of feelings towards a certain blue-haired detective who he just found out had the warmest of embraces and the most adorable of sleepy voices. He felt he wanted to die but in the most melodramatic way possible as he held his knees to his chest and pouted at the wall. He wanted to let out a groan and complain to absolutely no one.

This isn't fair at all, Kokichi thought. He was supposed to be the soulless manipulator who constantly played in pretences and lied like nothing ever could affect him, but instead he was sitting on the bathroom sink counter and blushing like a kid with a crush. What gave a person like him any right to be so childish?

It took him a while before the heaviness in his eyelids were telling him he needed to get sleep, regardless of his immature emotions at the moment. So he hopped down from the counter, threw his clothes in the dirty hamper (save the jacket and his scarf), and left to head to the bedroom.

He made it to the dark, resting room, where the five other men, likely, slept soundly. Kaito's faint, muffled snores could be heard, as well as the occasional, nonsense murmuring that Gonta oftentimes did in his sleep.

Kokichi climbed up his ladder, hanging his jacket and scarf on one of the ladder's rails before he crawled into his bed. He lay his head against the pillow, covered himself with the blanket, then, unable to hold it in any longer, he let out a quiet sigh as he smiled sleepily in the dark.

He thought maybe his thoughts would keep him up later that night, but, somehow, the stupid smile on his face and thoughts of warmth only made it oddly easier to slip into a deep, restful sleep.

.

.

.