Kokichi squirmed and wriggled, desperate to escape the astronaut's grasp on him, but he was much stronger than he anticipated. He began to reach up behind him and scratch at Kaito's leg like a complete animal.

"Guys! A little help over here!" The astronaut bellowed as loudly as he possibly could, in order to get the attention of every single person in the room, and most likely, the whole school, by how loudly Kaito shouted.

Almost all of the students in the entire room apart from Tsumugi rushed to his side, and helped Kaito apprehend the smaller, purple haired male. A little while later, all of the students were inside the room, meanly putting a heavy piece of kitchen equipment on his back to apprehend him, instead of doing it themselves. The weight of the box was crippling down on his back, and he was almost scraping across the ground with his hands in order to try and escape the torture.

He eventually tired himself out, his nails cracking slightly under the pressure that he had put to them trying to escape. It felt almost as if his entire body had gone limp, inside.. he simply felt numb. Kokichi's mind replayed the same two sets of memories as he firmly closed his eyes; the roof and what he had nearly done.

There was one sight that haunted him now, and would continue to for the rest of his life.

Tsumugi's smile.

As he was being dragged off, there was a smile.. he only caught a glimpse of it before he was pinned to the ground by Kaito, which was a sentence that he never thought, or wanted to say. All of the jokes aside, all of the defence mechanisms, the sarcasm, the fake smiles.

Oh, the fake smiles. He could make a loud and impassioned speech about how much he hated doing that, how every single one he made hurt him a little more, took more and more out of him and stabbed into his heart. He used to do it so unbelievably much, and it was hilarious in the beginning; everything he did and said originated off as a joke or a little packet of a molten entertainment.

Kokichi wanted to scream and shout until his voice broke completely; when he talked this throat would hurt and ache, having no voice would make for the perfect punishment, the perfect execution for a liar like him. His voice would break along with his soul, so not more poisonous lies could seep out of his lips to infect the others.

Suddenly, the large weight was lifted from his back, but the same heavy foot belonging to the astronaut was soon returned to keep him down, but he wasn't struggling whatsoever anymore. Whatever he was going to face, nothing could be worse than what he'd already been gone through.

The liar heard something being mumbled to him, or to someone else.. or across the room, or maybe he was simply hearing things again. He knew what they were all saying, 'monster', 'danger', 'murderer', so he didn't even bother to listen, well that was until Kaito shouted his name in order to get his attention, and to snap him purely out of his trance.

"Kokichi!"

He looked up with a deadpan expression, but rolled his eyes as he refused to reply. Kaito shouted again in his face; he didn't bother to give a reply. Kokichi wasn't expecting a sharp kick to his side however, but wasn't quick enough to see who it was. He flinched at the jab, feeling his body begin to twist into a protective ball. His sides were aching now and he soon remembered why it hurt. A 'stabbing pain' couldn't be taken more literally then now.

He groaned out, his hands shaking as they morphed into strong fists, "Just kill me, I deserve it don't I?~ H-Hand me the knife.. I'll do it myself.." after he managed to spit those words out with all the bitterness and heartache that he could manage, the foot on his back became lighter and the astronaut gave out an order that he never expected to hear.

"I'll deal with him, just give me a couple of minutes, but I needa be alone."

There were muffled of inaudible chatter but he soon repeated the question, bellowing from his very soul. All the students left except for one.

EdgelordGaydar is the artist behind this marvellous creation. Maki has the look of, 'kneel down before me peasant!' Which I absolutely adore to bits. If you couldn't have guessed, I love characters in pain, surprise, ahahaha.. anywho, go follow them and check out their amazing artbook! 

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Little miss assassin, but Kaito didn't notice her, slyly positioned in the corner of the room, tucked away in the shadows. She locked eyes with Kokichi, simply staring him down.. but not giving away her emotions. Kokichi soon broke off from staring at her, and shifted back over to Kaito.

"Got me alone so you can kill me? Nishishi.. go ahead, I won't tell.." He murmured, tilting his head so that he could see Kaito clearly.. yet the astronaut, he took his foot off him and offered him a hand so that he could stand up.

Depending on people.. even when he nearly did something so excruciatingly horrific, confused him to his very soul. He shakily took his hand and was pulled up, only to be asked the question, "Why'd you do it? What drove ya to pick up the knife?"

"........." He simply looked down as he felt the word on the tip of his tongue, but was unable to say it.

"Kokichi..? I'm trying to see the best in you here, but you need to answer me."

He couldn't say 'mastermind'.. he just melted down in front of his ex-attackers face, "..S..Shuichi..."

Kaito was puzzled, why would he say that..? After Tsumugi had told them that he had pushed Shuichi off the roof, wouldn't he be the last thing on Kokichi's mind? It would be almost condemning to say the name of they person you tried to kill.. "Whatda mean Shuichi, what's he gotta do with this?!"

At this moment, all Kokichi wanted to be was alone. He knew that he couldn't let anyone see him without his mask, how vulnerable and stupid and childish and scared and.. and..

His mask was breaking, he could feel his tears scratch away at it, and the many smaller pre-existing cracks grow until they connected together, and shattered in one explosion of torture. The tears felt like streams of acid as they poured out from his eyes, never seeming to end. Kaito must be confused right now, seeing such a emotionless monster break down like this, no, he wouldn't be confused, he would be pleased; satisfied that the well deserved karma had finally hit the monster that he was.

But when the time came, when he was expecting a knife in the back, the same knife he had almost committed murder using, a slap to the face, a punch across the cheek or a kick to the stomach.. he was greeted with warm arms.

mythical_bean drew this amazing piece of art, I really do love it with my extire existence as it is blatantly amazing, I shouldn't even have to explain how much I love this as I said my piece on the last chapter! Please go follow their Instagram for more art! 

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He was too far gone to protest any further and collapsed into the astronaut's eyes, letting him see everything that he had been keeping inside. Then a scream emerged out of his mouth, unlike anything that he ever thought he could manage.

The scream was coated in pain and anguish, but it wasn't hollow, it wasn't the voice of a monster, it was the voice of someone who was lost. "AHGHGHHHHHH.. AHAHAHHHHHH!"

"F-FUCK THIS GAME, IT'S NOT FUN ANYMORE! I WANNA GO HOME.. J-JUST LET ME GO ALREADY! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU! LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO BE ENTERTAINMENT, I DON'T WANT TO BE USED LIKE THIS!"

He broke off, only to scream once again, "SHUICHI, STOP BEING SELFISH! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! I NEED YOU SO JUST.. WAKE UP ALREADY! PLEASE.. I-I.. I'M LOSING THE GAME.. I NEED YOU! PLEASE JUST.. please.."

Kaito then hugged him, the agony in the liar's voice was enough to prove that he wasn't lying this time..

There's a saying; keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.. but there's something else to it, a line that no one ever notices.

Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.. because they're the loneliest and most isolated people that you will ever know.

Kokichi didn't even care that it was Kaito who was supporting him, he didn't even care if he was Tsumugi herself. In this moment, he was weak and only the arms of another, whoever it was could bring him up, especially when he had fallen so far.