Maki crossed her arms and stared at Shuichi trying to figure out what she should do. Shuichi was anxiously scratching at his arms.. something he did when he was anxious.

Trust was not a thing she gave to people easily. But.. if his story was true then..

The story had to be true. There was no other way of Shuichi knowing all that information about her.. only she knew that. Although his story was almost unbelievable.. it was still possible.

If the 'other' version of her had trusted Shuichi, he must be trustworthy.

"I guess I have no choice. If the 'other me' told you that information.. you must of proved yourself to 'her'. However, you haven't proved yourself to me." Maki scowled down at Shuichi.

Shuichi tried his best to smile. It hurt him so much that 'this' Maki didn't trust him.. that she was as cold as the last time.

All the effort he had given to being her friend was gone.. he had to re-build it all. Start again from scratch.

"So said you needed a crossbow?"

"Ah, yes.." Shuichi stuttered anxiously awaiting Maki's reply.

"What do you need it for exactly?" Maki's response was.. cold.

"Well, I..uhh.." Shuichi took a deep breath. He needed to get himself together. "I need to get a survaleince camera out of my room. I can't reach it and I can't have Monokuma monitoring seeing what I'm doing."

Maki took a moment to think. "Fine. I'm not giving it to you. I'll shoot it down myself." She walked over and carefully selected a smaller crossbow with a grapple-styled arrow ready to fire. She shot a look up-to Shuichi and strode out of her lab, Shuichi following her out. Maki placed something underneath the door then made her way quickly towards the dorms. Shuichi was trying to keep up with her but she was maintaining an exceptionally fast pace.

They walked.. well ran in Shuichi's case, to the dorms. Maki stopped outside Shuichi's door and started tapping her foot against the floor impatiently, waiting for him to unlock the door.

Shuichi fiddled with the lock but eventually managed to unlock the door which Maki entered without asking. She looked around the room and spied the camera. She took the crossbow down from her side and adjusted a few settings before aiming it at the surveillance camera. In one swift motion, she went down onto one knee and pulled the trigger, the arrow shooting straight through the middle of the camera.. destroying it. Maki then sprung up from the floor and grabbed the arrow along with the leftover camera part. She landed back on the floor swiftly and handed the camera to Shuichi.

She was about to exit the room when Shuichi thanked her. "Thanks Maki.."

She froze. Ever-since Shuichi had told her about his situation.. she had one question which she needed to ask. Maki let her arms fall down to her sides and turned back to face Shuichi. "In the last game.. did the I kill anyone?"

"No, you didn't"

Maki seemed somewhat relieved. She nodded to Shuichi, thanking him in her own sort of way.. before swiftly walking back to guard her lab door.

Shuichi went over and collapsed onto his bed.. unaware that he had left the door open. He buried his head in his hands and took a deep sigh.. "Maki knows.. it's only one person.. it's not like everyone knows.."

Shuichi let out a frustrated groan.

He stretched up, trying to steady his nerves and sleeves of his arms fell down, lapping against his barely visible biceps. But he snapped his head up at the sound of a gasp coming from near to the door.

"Ahh!" Shuichi screamed out of pure shock, he instantly spun his head round to see who it was. He froze when he recognised the figure.."K-K.."

The figure froze in the doorframe. "Shuichi.. I.."  

Shuichi opened his mouth to talk but couldn't seem to speak. "..."

He quickly put his arms down, yanking at the sleeves self with a mass panic on his face. In his mind, they were hideous, the scars. They were just signs of when he was weak and couldn't find anything else to numb the pain. They were and always were going to be reminders of how the killing game had taken everything from him, including his will to live.

"Shuichi.. did you.. to yourself.." The tall figure looked him up and down, before a fake confident smile appeared on his face, "No need for that kinda reaction! It's completely A-okay. Seriously no need to hide them.." it was clear to see that Kaito didn't particularly know what he was talking about but Shuichi was a little taken back at how little name calling there was or teasing.. or disgust. Fear. Disappointment. Anger. Blame. Guilt. Sadness..

Yet he remained frozen.. he couldn't move.. no matter how much he begged his soul.

"Now, listen Shuichi. I'm going to make you my sidekick, you're my responsibility now. Let's start off with training! You'll need to be strong to beat the challenges you're gonna face! I'll meet with you an hour after we've all eaten. I'll be outside your dorm."
Kaito triggered a memory.

Suddenly, Shuichi was back.. he had escaped the game and was talking with Maki about Kaito...

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He took a deep breath then turned back and looked up at the sky. He saw Maki walk up alongside him and look up at the sky along with him. After a while of looking up in silence, Maki started the conversation, "Kaito would have loved to see this. He would of probably said something to inspire us, right?"

He glanced over at her and caught her eye, "I'm sure he's proud of his sidekicks.. like he always said.."

"The impossible is possible, all you have to do is make it so!" they both exclaimed in unison.

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"Kaito.." Shuichi snapped back into reality.

"No buts Shuichi. You're training with me tommorow. Maybe I'll get Maki to join us, she can be one of my sidekicks too." Shuichi could see the smile beginning to form on Kaito's face.

"O-Okay.." He stuttered, trying to push the memories to the back of his mind..

Kaito grinned triumphantly. "Well, I'll see you for training. Sidekick." and with that, Kaito pulled away from the doorframe only to say one last thing.

"And those scars.. they're scars of a hero."

Shuichi's heart was racing out of control.. a hero..? A hero. Kaito's hero..

It had started in the first game. After Kaede's death and then.. it had continued. The flashbacks of the first game didn't help, all the horrific memories..

Shuichi quickly closed the door to stop anyone else from eavesdropping on him then went back to sitting on his bed, tracing delicate fingers over the top of his ridged memories.. preserved in battle scars.

After a while, comic relief took control and Shuichi found himself laughing to himself as he thought about his situation. He had plans for this evening.. he actually had plans. He had 'training' with Kaito and was also meeting up with Kokichi later that evening..

Kokichi.. for all the time Shuichi had spent with 'this' version of him, he had actually grown kind of fond of the purple haired liar. He seemed different from the last game.. somehow. Was it because he had spent time with him this time around?..

Wait. Did that mean that if Shuichi had spent time with Kokichi the first time around then.. people wouldn't of died?

No.
There was no way of knowing that for certain.

Shuichi shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts.

Kokichi was his friend.. there was no way he was going to let him die. Not this time. He wasn't going to make the same mistake again.. before Shuichi stop stop himself, tears were falling down his cheeks and trickling down his uniform..

Shuichi suddenly shot his head up, his eyes widened. Finally realising his thoughts.. "I.. actually care about Kokichi?!"

This absolutely beautiful fanart was created by St_A_r

For the last scene. I can't get over how talented they are! This drawing really shows the feeling I was attempting to show.. Please go follow them and comment if you like their artwork! (I mean.. come on, it's amazing.)

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(If you want to draw fanart for upcoming scenes then pm me)