Author note/ warning - A lot of angst and very strong themes of suicide. If you don't want to read it,  then please comment down below and I'll summarise it for you. 

Shuichi didn't want his thoughts to turn negative.. but he couldn't help it. After what had happened with Maki earlier, he had to make sure that it truly was Kokichi, the boy he loved.

"Kokichi.. I have a question.. but you can't ask why.." He pushed the boy away from him, holding Kokichi out in front of him, grabbing him by his shoulders.

The smaller boy looked startled by his gesture, not choosing to question it due to the serious look on his face. "Ask away!"

Shuichi looked downwards, taking a deep breath. "Before.. when we weren't.. like this, when you didn't know about my situation, what did I do to make you suspicious of me?"

He put a finger to his chin, seeming to be in deep thought. "Weeeeeell, you did quite a lot. First stupid thing was saying my name when I hadn't introduced myself, boy that was dumb! And second, that list of murders! I mean.. I thought you were the mastermind, nishishi~"

Shuichi flinched as the mastermind was mentioned, the thoughts of him murdering Tsumugi coming flooding back to him. He shook his head, once again suppressing his thoughts. He'd have to face them eventually, but for now, he would spend his time with Kokichi.

It was a killing game after all.

You never know who is going to die.

Kokichi noted how the detective's face had fallen into a sadder expression, "Hey, aren't you meant to be happy that I'm not the mastermind, and I'm not trying to kill you? If anything you look disappointed. Hmph."

"What..?"

"I said that you look disappointed with me not killing you." The smaller boy said this with a small pout on his face, puffing his cheeks out adorably.

"Oh.. right." Shuichi looked down towards the floor, before he clenched his fists and spoke again. "I know it's you.. I know it is.. but after what happened w-with.. the mastermind, and how I let that happen to you.. I can't exactly trust my instincts anymore.."

Kokichi's expression fell. "What happened with me wasn't your fault. I don't remember much of it to be honest. I just remember that I was attacked and stabbed, hauled onto a metal slab and then you running in and saving me, that's about it."

"What if I can't save you next t-time?" His voice tried to remain strong but it broke as he finished his sentence.

Kokichi could see that Shuichi was starting to spiral again, so he firmly grasped his shoulders and pulled him down to eye level. "There won't be a next time, I'll be on the lookout, I am the Ultimate Supreme Leader after all~"

"There's always a next time." Shuichi took his eyes off of Kokichi and dropped them down towards the floor, not able to keep eye contact, "Sorry, I'm bein- mgh.."

Kokichi cut him off with a kiss and Shuichi instantly melted at the contact, his sentence suddenly not mattering anymore. Although the kiss was sweet and gentle, there was definitely some passion in it.

The smaller boy pulled away, staring at Shuichi's face, which now had a gentle blush coating it. He grinned widely, as he spoke, "You were rambling on and on. I'm starting to think that everytime you go on a emo rant, I'll have to kiss you!~"

Shuichi blushed, only to see Kokichi pull closer, almost to kiss him, but pulling away at the last moment, hearing Shuichi let out a sharp exhale of want and frustration.

"Just wanted to tease you a little~ Nishishi~"

Kokichi raised a hand and gently stroked the navy haired boy's cheek, "Meet back here at 9pm, got it?"

Shuichi raised an eyebrow, well aware of how weird and out of the blue this sounded. "Why?"

The shorter boy blushed lightly in response, "Because, y'know, it's kinda romantic..? Okay, that's a lie, but trust me on this, it'll be totally worth it but it's kind of a surprise~"

This whole thing seemed very ambiguous but he had already made sure that Kokichi was Kokichi, and not Tsumugi in one of her cosplays. "Fine.. but I've never been a fan of surprises.."

Kokichi smiled widely with excitement, pulling away from the detective and running towards the door to the roof, letting out a small 'Nishishi' as he went.

~

Shuichi headed down in to the dining room, his mind still racing from what had just happened.

He was greeted by Kirumi, who almost ran to his side, "Shuichi, there is breakfast for you in the kitchen, it may be cold but I can almost re-heat it if you so desire."

Shuichi scanned around the room, looking at the faces. Maki, Ryoma, Tsumugi and Keebo..

"No, it's fine Kirumi, I'll.. just.. uh.." He couldn't take his eyes off about Tsumugi and how relaxed she was. Her hands were placed gently on the table, her index finger tapping ryhmittely.

He stared directly at her for a few minutes, finally grabbing her unwanted attention.

"Good morning Shuichi.." Her gaze scanned up and down his body, "Oh, a-are you cold, you're shaking!"

The detective didn't notice that his hands were shaking until she pointed it out. He clenched his fists defensively, not wanting to let her see any more signs that he was weak.

"I'm fine, I just stepped outside for some fresh air, that's all." He spoke harshly and with aggression, not holding back his undying grudge against her.

She faked offence, acting rather scared by him, "I-I'm sorry.. I don't mean to overstep or a-anything.. but.. I heard what happened with Kokichi.."

Shuichi clenched his fist tightly, his pulse rate picking up with anger. Tsumugi, regrettably, had guaranteed her position as she had chosen to say these choice of words with a witness.

The detective took a moment to calm himself, but he still came across very cold towards her. "Of course you did. Now excuse me Tsumugi, I'm going to go anywhere but here." He shot her one last look and left the room, heading towards his dorm room.

~

The rest of the day went by quickly. Shuichi, as he normally did, stayed in his room for the majority of the time building up to whatever Kokichi was planning.

He did say nine pm, right?

Shuichi had so many thoughts racing through his head, he couldn't think straight. No, since when did he actually ever think straight..?

The detective looked down at his uniform and checked it thoroughly, wanting himself to look presentable, not like he cared about looking nice for Kokichi.. okay, that was a lie.

He checked the time.

8:23pm.

It was almost time to go but Shuichi took one last precaution. He took his pen from the top of his desk and started to write.

8:41 pm.

He set down the papers on his desk, then continued to slide them into a draw.

Shuichi took one last deep breath before heading out of his dorm, locking it firmly after him.

~

"Kokichi?" As he expected, there wasn't a response. He was almost 15 minutes early afterall, and the smaller boy never seemed to be on time.

"Shuichi!" A small jokey voice reached out to him, almost making him jump.

Alarm bells set off in the navy-haired boy's mind. He could be extremely paranoid, there was no evidence otherwise, no logic behind it.. but it somehow didn't sit right with him.

Kokichi Ouma was never early for anything.

He turned around with a fake smile, hiding his doubts. The smaller boy smirked back, "My beloved! Excited to see me?"

Kokichi Ouma would have spotted that obvious fake smile. "Y-Yeah.. of course I am.. although it is pretty cold outside.."

He let out a small whimper, followed by a cute pout. "Hmph.. maybe I can warn you up then! Can my Shuichi give me a kiss?~"

Shuichi's mind clicked, his detective skills were definitely sharpening up, maybe he really was worthy of that title.. it was one key fact.

Kokichi Ouma never asks for permission.

He took one step backwards, fumbling his keys in his pocket anxiously. "I.. I left something behind, sorry Kokichi but it's for you and it's really important that you get it! Can you wait for a few more minutes for me?"

The smaller individual smiled happily, lovingly obliging the detective. "I'll wait however long you want."

Kokichi Ouma cared about Shuichi Saihara.

Shuichi turned away, only to hear the faint click of a metal object. He flinched, turning his head back around upon the sound of disappointing tuts.

"Tch. Turn around Mr detective!" The voice was almost rhythmic in the way it sang and danced around the words. "You saw right through me didn't you, I maybe had you tricked for three, maybe four seconds? Are my cosplays really that easy to differentiate?"

Shuichi nodded, seeing Tsumugi standing in front of him, a small metal handgun pointed towards his forehead. She took a single step closer, the gun now scraping exceptionally close to his forehead.

Sakura_Wonder drew this amazingness. Just saying.. it's pretty weird asking someone to draw this without any context whatsoever.. anywho. Tsumugi looks like the evil, sadistic person she really is.. go follow them for more art and check out their art book!

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Tsumugi had almost towered over him, smiling with anticipation. Shuichi had never been this close to death before but now he couldn't die. He had Kokichi to live for.

"...."

The cosplayer's expression saddened, "Aw, don't be like that! I thought you'd be more excited. I spent weeks trying to get this right.. top ten anime deaths remake! You, the powerful detective being beaten by the innocent, dark horse of the competition!"

"...."

She yawned, not letting the gun falter in any way, shape or form. "Hmmm ~ Oh! Here's an idea, everything's worse with a choice! Okay, so when Kokichi comes up here in five minutes or so, you're going to go on over to those railings, climb over and throw yourself off the building!"

The navy haired boy's face completely drained of colour, "W-WHAT?! Y-ou can't be serious.."

Her smile grew wider, not mimicking that of a Cheshire Cat. "I'm deadly serious and I've thought it all through!" She raised her free rhand up to her chin. "Kokichi comes up here, you fall, done. Here are the other scenarios. Kokichi comes up here, you don't fall, I shoot him and frame you. He falls with you, I'll fake a suicide pact. He falls instead of you, I frame you for the murder. Get it? Plus, if you give him any indication that it's me behind it all, you'll both die."

"So I have to fall.. to save him?"

Tsumugi's mouth started to water, as she nodded. Shuichi was about to say something else when he heard the door to the roof open, Tsumugi dashing away into the shadows.

Shuichi was powerless and terrified. He had to jump.. he had to.. for Kokichi..

Why was this so messed up? Why, when he finally had a reason to keep on going, why, when he finally had something to fight for.. why when he, for the first time in weeks, didn't want to die, he had to?

Shuichi slowly started to walk towards the railing, placing one shaking foot forward to help guide himself. He felt his hands grasp at the sturdy metal bar, clinging onto it for dear life.

"Nishishi!~ Shuichi, I've finally got it." Kokichi ran further onto the roof, seeing Shuichi's current position. "You're reeeaaallyyyy close to the edge.. step backwards."

The detective shook his head, refusing to turn around and face him.

He couldn't let Kokichi know how scared he truly was. He had to be brave.

Shuichi lifted one of his feet up onto the railing, earning a small shriek from Kokichi.

"W-What a-are you doing?!" The smaller boy was completely frozen, not having any idea of how to deal with this. Shuichi was okay before.. wasn't he? Was he always pretending that he was fine when really there was so much hell in his mind that he felt like this was the only escape?

He knew Shuichi had been depressed.. he knew that.. was he not enough to save him? All that came out in a exclamation of panic was, "Don't do it, please!"

The navy-haired boy gripped onto the railing even more, still hiding his face from view. He was openly weeping now, the tears dropping down off the rooftop, hurtling down to the hard ground below.

He climbed over the railing.

Kokichi sprinted up to him, "S-S-SHUICHI! D-DON'T.. IF YOU GO, I'LL GO WITH YOU!"

Shuichi snapped his head back around to stare directly into Kokichi's soul, shouting as loudly as he could. "YOU STAY RIGHT THERE!"

Kokichi looked like he was about to cry, the sparkling, diamond like tears were welling up in his eyes, growing larger and heavier by the second. He clawed at his checkered scarf, in a mix of panic and fear.

Avvocadoo is so talented.. look at the emotion in his face! Plus, look at Tsumugi! She looks utterly fantastic and exactly how I described her to be! Ahhh, it's beautiful! Please, please go follow them! 

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Shuichi closed his eyes and turned back around, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do.

He didn't want to die. He didn't want to jump. He didn't want to fall 100 feet to his death, breaking his spine or cracking his skull.

But he had been playing the cosplayer's game and now, he had lost.

Shuichi took one glance back at Kokichi before turning back to look at the ledge. He wanted Kokichi's beautiful face in his mind as the last thing he wanted to see before he died.

His hair fluttered delicately in the gentle breeze as he prepared himself. He unclenched his hands from fists and laid his arms down softly at his sides. Shuichi ignored the bone chilling screams trembling from Kokichi. He closed his eyes and he took one deep breath in. Shuichi could only hear the sound of his own breathing. He knew that the only way he could save Kokichi's life was to fall.

He opened his mouth, still facing forward, and spoke clearly, "I.. I'm sorry that I couldn't live to see the end this time.. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you but I can't.. this isn't your fault, this is mine.. you were the only one who got me through this.. you alone saved me, and I didn't know that until now." A weak chuckle escaped his lips, "..I'm weak Kokichi, too weak for you. Before, K-Kaede asked me to end the game as her final wish, I want you to keep on living.. that's all I ask.. I l-love you.. I really.." He trailed off, not able to finish his sentence.

He felt himself rock forwards. As Kokichi let out another desperate plead for him to change his mind. "Y-You can't.. I won't let you!"

Shuichi kept his eyes firmly shut, his breaths were becoming more shaky. For the first time in what felt like forever, Shuichi only heard silence. There was no screaming voice in the back of his mind telling him that he had helped to kill nearly everyone that he had ever cared about due to his actions.. it had finally gone.

Shuichi's resolve broke, his shaking now uncontrollable and his breaths now desperate and raspy. He opened his eyes slowly and turned around to see Kokichi again for the final time. Shuichi smiled weakly, his eyes red and puffy.

Without hesitating any further, with Kokichi's face etched into his mind, his amber eyes shining, his scarf fluttering, Shuichi simply took one step forward. His eyes widened as he realised that he was falling. He opened his mouth to scream, to almost pray to whatever god there was out there to let him live.

*thudd clkhung*

Kokichi ran up to the ledge, staring down at the body of the boy he loved so dearly. "S-Shuichi..? No.. Nishishi~ Shuichi.. SHUICHI?!"

"Phuhuhu! A body has been discovered!"