Chapter Includes : 

Kokichi Ouma, Kaito Momota, Oumota, Slight Oumasai, Angst, Cutting, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Minor Character Death

It had started the day Shuichi had died. It had been an accident, the killer hadn't meant to do it. But that didn't make Kokichi any less depressed. Despair hit, and the small boy couldn't bring himself to even try not to fall into the mastermind's goal. 

On the bright side though, the first cut was an accident. The little ruler had scratched his arm on the side of his messily made bed. The cut wasn't deep but the pain gave him a feeling of peace for just a few seconds. That was enough to get Kokichi addicted to it.

He knew he was destroying himself, but he didn't care. Nobody else did either. Shuichi was the only one who ever had. The thought made the small boy sob and press the glass shard from his broken mirror further into his arm. As blood pooled around the glass, Kokichi felt the wave of pain put the depressed thoughts in the back of his mind.

Relaxing through the pain, which he was beginning to grow a tolerance to, he blinked away the tears in his eyes that had been clouding his vision.

"Kokichi! Open the damn door!" Jumping at the noise, Kokichi crawled towards the bathroom doo. Still on a sort of high from the pain, his hands came down on the gagged edges of glass covering the floor making them heavily bleed. 

Kaito's voice echoed through the room and his exasperated tone let the little ruler know that he'd been outside his dorm for a while now.

Forcing himself to his feet, Kokichi rolled down his sleeves half heartedly, not even caring if the cuts were seen, and opened the door.

——POV Switch—

As Kokichi's door finally opened, Kaito opened his mouth to question the little ruler why he had taken so long to open it, normally the gremlin was eager to snark off to him. 

The moment the boy on the other side was revealed though, the astronaut's words were ripped out of his mouth.

Kokichi was a mess, his eyes were extremely bloodshot and his eyes were glistening as if tears could fall at any moment. His hair was going in all directions and his clothes were messily put on as if him changing was a miracle in the first place. The smaller boy's eyes, while glistening, had an emptiness to them as if he could barely see what was in front of them through a jumbled, tired brain.

"K-Kokichi?" Kaito asked carefully, watching the boy closely to see if he would react to his own name.

The little ruler's head tilted up so that their eyes met. The astronaut felt a shiver run through him when looking into those depressing abysses. Unable to look the boy in the eye for more than a second, Kaito drifted his gaze downwards and felt a jolt of horror upon seeing the boy's hands.

They were drowning in blood, jagged cuts running deep on the palms. Trickles of even more of it were running down from his sleeve making them completely coated in it. What more, Kokichi didn't even seem to realize or care.

Reaching out slowly, Kaito took one of the boy's hands tenderly to get a better look. The little ruler gave a surprised jolt but allowed him to do so. Glancing down at the cuts on the hand, the astronaut noted they didn't look purposeful which made him sigh in relief. But blood was still coming from his arm, which was hidden under his stained sleeve.

Kaito slowly pulled up the smaller boy's sleeve and felt horror slowly flood through his previously calmed body as he saw the cuts and scars littering his arm. Unlike the one's on Kokichi's hands, these were obviously purposeful.

Looking back up, Kaito saw Kokichi watching him closely. He didn't show any sign of regret or mourning, just an emptiness as if him showing any signs of caring was strange.

"Why?" Kaito whispered, voice cracking. The other boy gave him a "really" look before answering.

"Nobody else cares, I don't care, why not?" Kokichi responded, voice free of any emotion as if him cutting himself up was just a day in the park.

"What the hell makes you think nobody cares!?" Kaito shouted, standing up as he got his voice back. The little ruler flinched but stayed in place.

"Shuichi was the only one who ever did," Kokichi said, voice wavering and the tears that had been in his eyes the entire time finally fell as a sob racked through him.

Kaito watched in silence, shocked at seeing the boy cry for real. He'd grown so accustomed to the alligator tears that he had nearly forgotten that the smaller boy was still human. And just like all humans, Kokichi could become depressed.

The number of fresh cuts on the little ruler's arms and hands were nearly impossible to count and needed to be bandaged before the poor boy died of blood loss. Kaito knew he couldn't just invite himself in and Kokichi would murder him if he found out he'd let the astronaut in when he was in such a bad state of mind.

"Kokichi, can you walk?" Kaito questioned, knowing he'd be lightheaded from all the blood loss. But the smaller boy nodded, eyes flashing with defiance and Kaito couldn't be more relieved to see the so Kokichi-like reaction.

The two made their way to Kaito's dorm as quickly as possible so no one would walk in and see them. Everyone was at breakfast right now, but anyone could come looking for them when people noticed they weren't there and the dorms would logically be the first place to check. 

The moment they reached Kaito's dorm room, the astronaut hurried them in and slammed the door behind him. Blood was splattered on the floor from when they were walking and Kaito noted he would need to clean that later.

Turning to the little ruler, Kaito saw the boy start to tilt to the side. Running forward, the astronaut grabbed Kokichi before he could hit the floor and pulled him close. Not exactly knowing what to do, Kaito looked down at him. The smaller boy had already snapped out of the daze he was previously in and was struggling to keep conscious, not seeming aware of the fact that Kaito was the only thing keeping him from falling. 

"We need to get you bandaged," Kaito murmured, mostly to himself knowing Kokichi probably wouldn't be able to hear him. He underestimated the boy's need to comment on everything he said, though.

"Yeah, why don't you do that then Mr. Luminary of the Stars," Kokichi answered, slurring his words slightly. Kaito bit his tongue to keep from sassing back and instead carried the little ruler to the bathroom where he had a small bandage supply.

Putting him down on the counter, the astronaut opened the nearby cabinet and began to get out things that he thought would help.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" The injured boy asked, eyeing the bandages and disinfectants placed next to him.

"No, but we need to stop the blood flow before you pass out."

"God, stop trying to be the mom friend," Kokichi teased, though there was an underlying gratitude and happiness in his tone.

Carefully, dabbing some of the disinfectants onto the wounds, Kaito tried to push the noises of pain the little ruler was making to the back of his mind. Taking the bandages, the astronaut as quickly and as efficiently as possible, wrapped them around Kokichi's thin arms and small hands.

"Is that okay?" Kaito questioned when he finished. The little ruler nodded. "Okay, you'll need to change those every few hours..I think. And if you ever feel down or need someone to talk to, just come to me," he slipped out at the end, surprising them both.

"Wha-really?" Kokichi asked, voice shocked but eyes that were shining with hope. 

"Of course," Kaito exclaimed, happy he'd let his mouth wander for once, "Nobody deserves to suffer alone."

Kokichi stared at him, an indescribable look on his face as his eyes filled with fat tears that began to roll down his pale cheeks. Kaito panicked for a moment before realizing that these tears were ones of happiness. Grabbing the boy close, the astronaut hugged him tight and let him cry into his shirt.

"You don't have to suffer alone, anymore."

(A/N : Day two! Sorry that the ending was so rushed, actually sorry that the whole Oneshot seemed kinda rushed. I'm not at all someone who's experienced depression or has cut before so I don't know what it's like and am definitely not that good at portraying it through writing so if anyone has gone through that, feel free to give me tips! Anyways, hope you enjoyed the story, bai)

Word Count : 1491