Chapter Includes : Kokichi Ouma, Shuichi Saihara, Maki Harukawa, Strangling, Oumasai

Shuichi and Kokichi had fought. The detective had been in a sour mood and Kokichi had been extremely anxious, spinning more lies out of his mouth than usual.

The little ruler still didn't really know what the fight had been about, all he knew was Shuichi had stormed out of his dorm, leaving him alone. Kokichi felt his legs give out underneath him as he stared at the door.

The two had fought before and Shuichi would always apologize over and over again the next day, even if it hadn't been his fault. The smaller boy found himself falling for the apologetic eyes that would always shine with sadness when that happened. Sadly, that only made the hurt worse when they would fight.

Knowing his crush was probably in either his lab or room trying to calm himself down, Kokichi shakily rose to his feet and brushed off dust that wasn't there.

Opening the door, the little ruler glanced around the dormitories and saw nobody outside of their rooms. Glancing at the time, he knew the nighttime announcement would play soon but Kokichi needed to calm down, and he couldn't do that in his room.

Making his way onto the lifeless grass, the boy sat down and looked up at the sky, covered by the glass of the dome. Stars were just beginning to show and Kokichi knew if he didn't go back soon he might get in trouble but the peace successfully kept him there.

He didn't know when he did, but he must have fallen asleep because when he

regained consciousness it was completely dark. Sitting up, the little ruler noticed another presence outside of the dorms.

Standing, Kokichi snuck forward, as quietly as possible in grass, to get a better look. As soon as the hair came into view the small boy realized who it was. Maki, the Ultimate Assassin.

As he realized who the other person was, Maki must have realized there was another person outside because she dashed forward and immediately placed her fist around Kokichi's neck.

Choking, the smaller boy looked down at the Assassin who seemed to have realized who she was holding now.

"What were you doing outside of your dorm room?" Maki questioned, tightening her grip.

"I c-could ask y..ou the s-same question," Kokichi choked out, unable to get in enough air. The last time this had happened they'd been in front of a crowd so Maki couldn't do any real damage, but now they were alone.

"I was checking for possible murderers, and it seems I found one," Maki declared. "If you were anyone else I would have just let you go after a warning but as you've said yourself, you're the mastermind," She taunted in a tone as if she didn't actually believe the lie, but would still take pleasure in killing him.

Kokichi felt his heart begin to race upon realizing the corner he'd backed himself into. The Assassin noticed the creeping panic because she had an even newer look of determination as if Kokichi was panicking because he'd been figured out or something. It this had been normal circumstances, the little ruler definitely would have laughed at her utter stupidity. But these weren't.

The grip tightened even more and Kokichi realized she wasn't letting any air in. Shakily, he brought his hands up and attempted to get hers off. But she was an assassin, Maki simply got a glint in her eyes at the sight of her victim struggling she really was a murderer. All that he could do was beg.

"No, stop...p-please..I..don't wanna d-die..yet.." The small boy pleaded but Maki didn't even flinch, she instead gave a look of pride as Kokichi saw black start to invade his vision. The poor boy struggled to stay awake but felt himself lose consciousness.

He couldn't die yet. He didn't even know who the mastermind was, he hadn't saved DICE, he hadn't even made up with Shuichi.

"Shuichi," Kokichi murmured in an almost dream-like state.

Right before he passed out, the little ruler could have sworn he heard someone call him and Maki's name, but it was probably just him creating a hallucination of what he wanted to happen. Who would want to save him after all.

——time skip—

Kokichi woke with a start, immediately wrapping his hands around his neck upon realized he could breathe again. Taking in a deep breath, the little ruler had never realized how sweet oxygen tasted when you had been deprived of it.

Glancing around the room, Kokichi realized in surprise he was in Shuichi's room. As he was looking around, the door opened causing the little ruler to jump.

"Kokichi! You're up," Shuichi's voice came making Kokichi jump. Turning to face him, the little ruler was startled once more. The detective's appearance was completely disheveled and he looked like he'd recently been on a roller coaster, his clothes loosely hanging onto him, and was a sweaty mess.

Realizing his state of appearance, Shuichi blushed a dark red and looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

"Are you not gonna tell me what happened or not," The ruler lightly teased, still surprised to find himself alive and breathing.

"O-oh! Maki and I started staying awake certain nights to make sure nobody is lurking around trying to kill. Maki went outside and I heard her talking so I went out and saw you and pulled her off you. Sorry that I wasn't early enough," Shuichi murmured, looking shameful.

Kokichi just stared in shock. He had no idea Maki and Shuichi had been doing that every night. Shaking his head, the little ruler looked down at the detective's bed.

"It's not your fault you know," Kokichi whispered. "It's my fault for claiming to be the mastermind and then going outside at nighttime. I was just an idiot."

"Don't call yourself an idiot," Shuichi exclaimed leaning over the bed to be face-to-face with Kokichi. "You're one of the smartest people I know!"

"Wha-no way. You're way smarter!" The little ruler laughed, refusing to accept the words no matter how much they made his heart flutter.

The detective flushed and murmured a small thank you, looking down. Shuichi looked as though he was deciding whether or not to do something and before Kokichi could ask, their lips were shoved together.

Upon realizing the two were kissing, the shorter boy wrapped his arms around Shuichi and relaxed into it. The kiss was sloppy and uncoordinated but to the two of them, it was perfect.

(A/N : I know this is late, and I know this rushed, but things came up and I was lazy and ended up getting behind. I'll try and catch up but I might be a day late to getting these out for a while, sorry about that..)

Word Count : 1145