Day 5: Pregame/[Post-game]

TW for a small description of Kokichi's death. Only in the beginning though. Also scars in the edit

Probably the worst of the bunch this week. I can't think of much aside from "Kokichi wakes from coma, emotional moment." I didn't want to do another pregame one and I didn't want to skip, so yeah. Here we are

Hospital Kokichi: AlmondMilk79 on Reddit
Pj Rantaro: gummywormz_ on Instagram
Scars added by me

Thank you to Dana/hallucinatinghetalian on Instagram for proofreading!!

"Please, let him go! I don't care if you take me, but leave him out of it!"

"I'll do one better. You join our new game, and he gets to watch."

Kokichi's eyes shot open, panting heavily as he felt his sweat on his skin. His entire body ached and he hadn't moved yet. His eyes darted around frantically as he took in his surroundings.

Bright lights. The rapid beeping of a monitor. Cabinets. A soft mattress under his body. A person with green hair.

Green hair?

"RANTARO!" The liar yelled out, his body jolting in pain from the scream. His lungs felt like they were on fire and every limb was like jelly.

The green hair suddenly came into his sight, followed by a soft face, green eyes looking down gently. He felt a hand on his head, brushing his hair in a soothing manner to calm him.

"It's okay, Koki. I'm here, I'm right here." The male shushed softly, letting him calm down. He carefully took deep breaths, whimpering from the pain of breathing too deeply. He could still feel the pressure on his body from the hydraulic, his bones cracking and breaking through his skin.

"Hey, Kokichi! Come back, honey. You're not in the simulation anymore, you're here in the real world. You're here with me."

A simulation? That would explain Rantaro's sudden case of aliveness, but it felt so real. He really felt the hydraulic press coming down on him, the pain he experienced before his skull was caved in.

"I called a doctor, they should be here soon. Everything's going to be okay."

But it wasn't. He knew that. As he was still taking in the real world, his memories were beginning to come back. Their life before the game. High school, a single year of college, moving in together, becoming a stay at home boyfriend.

The kidnapping that changed everything.

Before he could delve deeper, the doctor arrived with a nurse, a series of medical equipment with them. They checked his vitals, found that he couldn't really walk that well without assistance, as well as a multitude of scars all across his body, one even across his eye. They explained this as his body taking trauma from the simulation, and since he had a full body death, he took on the most, even compared to Hoshi and Shinguji.

When they tried to take his blood pressure, he freaked from the squeezing and immediately ripped it off, along with the finger clamp. Even when they tried to calm him down, he refused to put it back on, so they had to resort to a watch, making sure it wasn't too tight.

Rantaro sat to the side, letting them take care of his boyfriend, as he thought about the game himself. He died so early on, the first victim, so all he could do was watch them on a monitor in his room, before the Future Foundation took over from Team Danganronpa. It was hard to watch, but what was worse was seeing Kokichi's spiral into the villain persona he took on to keep everyone allied together, and how he wasn't even able to see his death or body. Yeah, it may have caused some serious trauma, but the second to last trial was hard to get through, not knowing if he was alive.

It may have just been a simulation, but his heart still hurt.

The doctor finally finished up and gave him some pain killers, as long as prescribing him bed rest for the next week while his body rested and got used to not having to be in fight or flight. The duo left, leaving the couple alone.

Rantaro gently took his boyfriend's hand, not wanting to hurt or trigger him based on his reaction. He did tense up, but relaxed and gently held it back, staring at their hands together.

"You're okay, Kokichi. You're not in the game anymore. You're here with me, your boyfriend. And I'm not leaving your side ever again."

It was silent between the two, the only sound coming from the heart monitor. He didn't know how much time passed, but Kokichi was gripping his hand tightly, tears beginning to fall as he let out a sob, covering his face with his free hand.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry...it's my fault we're here...my fault you went through all this...my fault I'm in this situation..."

The green-haired male frowned, wanting to pull him into a hug, but knew that would only make things worse. Instead, he took his other hand from his pocket and reached up, patting his head gently and brushing some hair back.

"None of this is your fault. Absolutely none of it." "But Rantaro-" "No buts. I shouldn't have gotten upset like I did that night, but it's not my fault, I know that. It's Danaganronpa's. They took advantage of us, of my love for you and your love for me. We're in this mess because of them. Not because I got upset about buying expensive food, not because you ran after our fight, not because I ran after you. This is all on them."

The purple-haired male whimpered, more tears falling from his eyes, but he simply nodded, trying to wipe his tears away, but more just flowed. The other male cupped his cheek and made him look at him, his green ones meeting with his amethyst ones.

"All that is in the past, and while this experience was terrible, it made me appreciate our lives more. Appreciate you more. I wish we didn't have to experience death to reach that conclusion, but what happened, happened. All I know is I still love you, and I'm never leaving your side again. Not as long as I'm on this earth."

Kokichi mumbled something, but his sobbing and slobber weren't helping to get him to understand. Instead, he nodded and his boyfriend smiled at him, wiping a tear before leaning over and giving a gentle kiss on the head, making the other relax slightly.

"I love you, Kokichi. Now, always, and forever." "I-I...love...you...too..." The liar sniffled, wiping some tears as they came to a stop, looking up into his beloved's eyes. He smiled softly and nuzzled his nose, which he gently returned, appreciating their love for the other in the moment they had.

The shorter male pulled on Rantaro's hoodie, carefully scooting over to make room for him in the bed. The former adventurer helped move him over, carefully got into the bed, before bringing him close to him. He laid down on the bed with him, his boyfriend laying on his chest with one arm across his torso, the other in the space between him to not crush it. The other simply put an arm around him, rubbing his back in a comforting way.

They had a lot to think about for the future, moving on from the trauma of the killing games, but at the moment, they didn't have to think about that.

They just appreciated the other's presence in their arms, lucky to have made it out alive, to see another day with their love by their side.