Saihara's POV:

It had been maybe a few days after Momota's passing, Kokichi didn't come to school for the first two days along with Harukawa, in fact, barely anyone seemed to have the strength for classes. How could they?

His desk was decorated with white stargazer lilies, and even a tiny model of a spaceship. His chair had been given a magenta jacket and it stood out as a solemn reminder to the rest of the almost barren classroom.

I glanced over at Kokichi, he was doing better than I expected, he was wearing his headphones which I realized now how long it's been since he actively wore them, he seemed to be reading a book in braille when all of a sudden Akamatsu was approaching him. I felt myself growing tense about her when she handed him a letter and seemed to say something, but I couldn't hear what it was. He stared at her confused before nodding, and before I could make my way to ask she approached me as well.

"Hey I'm helping to host an event at the park tonight, sorry for the late notice but I was hoping you and Ouma could come," she asked, I took the vanilla envelope from her hands. The information in it was sparse, just a location and a time along with a note saying how food and drinks would be provided.

However, it was the name of the event that had surprised me.

DICE Memorial Service

I turned over to look at Kokichi, I realized now that must've been what Akamatsu was talking to him about, he wouldn't have been able to read what was written. I got up from my seat and headed over to him, grateful for once for the school's lackluster education.

"Hey, Akamatsu explained right?" I asked, and he nodded, "so, do you want to go?" I asked, he shrugged, 'I don't know what this is, to be honest, and I've never been to a funeral before he admitted.

"Wait what?" I asked shocked, 'I don't think my dad had one, and when DICE died, I was still in the hospital recovering when they did that service, my mother I don't think she even really had a service and I wasn't there because my aunt thought knowing would hurt me, and Momota was only recent...' he explained.

I bit my lip, "I've been to two...but this doesn't seem to be like any service I've ever been to" I admitted, "I want to go" he said, "you sure?" I asked, "yeah...it's in DICE's name so I kind of has to see," he told me though I could see some apprehension in his eyes.

~-~-~-~

As we headed toward the clearing I could tell Kokichi was concerned, and I was too. It was a sudden invitation, and we didn't know exactly what the three had in mind as we were led to a small park. The area had been decorated with fairy lights and had set out tables with a white tablecloth on them. There was some food, mostly comfort food, and a small podium near the front. There was also...

Hung on one table near the podium was a simple photo, one taken years before what happened it seemed. It was of maybe fifth grade Kokichi, Chiasa, and the rest of DICE. They seemed to be at some sort of marine park and we're smiling widely at the camera while others like Danuja had become entranced by the sea life. I realized all too grimly how there likely weren't many photos of the entire group, so this might've been one of the last remainings.

Yet the photo was lit up with pride, and I realized beneath them were smaller photographs of each member individually. Rather than maybe a school photo, however, they seemed to be collected through different sources and times, like candid shots. It didn't feel like some sort of funeral, even with the inclusion of some flowers they weren't in big bouquets but tiny vases, a simple offering.

Overhead there were some speakers, and Kokichi seemed shocked by the music as if it was from a long-ago memory and mumbled something to himself about his headphones. Even though the music wasn't my personal taste and dated, it still made me smile despite the setting. 

Then I paid more attention to the guests, everyone from our class was there. Everyone who was still alive at the very least, even Harukawa though unlike the rest of the guests who dressed up slightly she was still in her school uniform.

The grief and pain of the loss still present within her. 

But it was more than just our classmates though, and Kokichi clearly realized to with the way he squeezed my hand tightly as if asking for more reassurance, and I tried to infuse some strength in him.

Here, was the red-headed father of Izumi. The one that had shared painful but bittersweet memories of his son with Kokichi just weeks prior, and the army that made up Sanyu's family, her mother exchanged a warm smile with me and a simple wave. Even my aunt was there, although she was dangerously close to the punch bowl my uncle, even more, surprising was beside her. It seemed whatever family DICE had was gathered here, as finally, someone took to the podium.

The podium was bigger than him, maybe that was a bad sign for his health, so he used a crate to not look as short. He didn't have any sort of fancy clothing, but he did have a white shirt likely from his school uniform and black pants. His hair had been tied back, I hadn't even realized it was long when I had met him, his face was still fresh with youth. The same youth in the photos of DICE.

Aito Danuja.

"Uhm...thank you for gathering here today..." he started causing a screech from the poorly set up sound system, Kokichi winced but I don't think it was from the microphone sound.

"You probably know who I am...I mean it was in the emails and invites...but uh, my name is Danuja Aito...and..." he started before taking a deep breath, "like everyone here today, I lost someone.

"I might have been just six years old when my brother died, he was fourteen. In a few years, I'll be older than my brother.

"I don't say this for pity, but I can't remember much about my brother anymore. And the memories I did have of him always made me sad growing up, so maybe it was on purpose or maybe just the way memories work, but slowly I forgot almost everything about him, I can't tell you for the life of me what his favorite color was, or a time where he laughed so hard milk came out his nose.

"What I can tell you though, is that I miss him.

"It's not logical, is it? To miss someone you don't even remember, to miss someone who has been gone for years, but when do feelings work on logic? We can try and reason our way out of every emotion, but our hearts don't care. They will grieve all the same, and they will soar when good times come even when we know better all the same.

"You all came here today because you also lost someone on that fateful day, a child, a sibling, a friend, or even just a classmate. Someone whose desk will never be filled, someone whose smile you will never see again, someone whose voice slowly fades away, and all of us were left with the broken pieces of a person that can never be rebuilt.

"And we all did a heinous crime all those years ago, because those memories hurt us, to remember the ones we lost meant we had to address the pain of that absence. But we couldn't accept the pain back then, so we chose to forget. We chose to forget our sorrow and by doing that, we forgot them and left them behind.

"But isn't that a disservice to them?

"How can we honor the happy memories and gifts they gave us by forcing ourselves to forget all the negative emotions? We feed off of those rare happy memories and nostalgia but chose to discard the rest, and by doing that we are actively insulting the memories of that person.

"Because humans, humans are funny. We have good sides and traits, and we have bad qualities and traits, but by only focusing on one and forgetting the other, we're not truly remembering that person. We're painting a facade.

"So...I choose to remember my brother for all he was, the sad memories, the angry memories. I will remember the brother who used to cry himself to sleep at night, the brother who once read me stories every night, the brother who grew angry and bitter at the world around him, and the one who always looked after me when our parents chose to forget us.

"It's so painful, and I can't tell you, people, that the pain will go away. That time heals all wounds because maybe it won't...but with that pain I find myself finding new memories, new things that have reminded me of him.

"I didn't realize that the type of hot chocolate I liked was the one he always gave me till I talked to his classmates, the ones who only saw me as a little kid back then. Or how I only really learned more about my brother when I found one of his remaining friends, a person who I wrongly despised for years because I blamed him for the pain of my brother's absence. 

"So the pain won't leave, but...that doesn't mean there aren't benefits to that pain, maybe right now it still feels like a stab to the gut and that all the tears and cries of the world could amount to the suffering you feel. But soon...one day...that pain will lessen, that pain will grow to become like any scar on our bodies. It's there, it's always a reminder, always leaving an impression on us...but we don't feel that pain as much.

"So please...let's not forget what happened that day, or forget the people who won't ever live to be eighteen, who won't ever have kids, or go conquer the world. Because by sharing those memories, even long after I'm gone that means someone somewhere might still remember who my brother was. Or an impression of him will be there, long after his name has been forgotten.

"So let me just say this, it sounds cheesy but...I love you Takura, I will continue to, and I will remember you. Even the way you snored all night. And I hope you guys can remember him too, and the others. We have a lot of embarrassing stories to share I'm sure, so this will be a fun evening" Aito concluded, he had puffy tear-stained eyes but slowly there were some claps for him as he concluded his speech and walked to talk to some of the other teens. I turned back to Kokichi and he was still in a state of shock it seemed before Aito approached him.

"Uhm...hi...look about what happened at the cafe I...I'm sorry, I really am sorry I know that just saying it doesn't make up for what I said but I hope at least you'll accept my apology" he said, "it's fine...I wasn't even angry at you just...is everyone really here?" Kokichi asked, Aito seemed taken aback by Kokichi speaking before replying, "anyone I could find" he told him.

"There's a lot of work I think that can still be done, I've been researching our area and the school system has a really bad track record with mental health and how they punish students...there's not much I can do now, but I hope this will at least make the adults want to change things" Aito proposed.

"And..." Aito started and seemed to fumble with something in his pocket, glancing over at me, before taking whatever was there back in his pocket. "I have something I want to tell you, but after the party and stuff...we have one more event if you want to join?" Aito offered.

"What is it?" Kokichi asked, "lanterns, we're going to be releasing lanterns with letters. Might not be the most environmentally friendly but...well it's the thought that counts right?" Aito asked unsurely, Kokichi paused before nodding, Aito seemed relieved at the lack of hostility as he made his way to check on other groups. 

"Do you need help writing it?" I asked, but Kokichi shook his head, 'they'll get it, even if I can't write the words out by pen they'll get it' he assured me as Akamatsu led us away to a table. Like Danuja...no like what Aito had promised earlier, there was laughter and exchanging of stories, and Kokichi seemed almost completely relaxed all things considered.

When the group finally made their way down to the docks, there were already lanterns waiting and pieces of paper and pens being exchanged, some writing on the backs of others as I held my own paper in thought. Kokichi hovered over his own sheet and like I had expected his letter was unreadable and the few letters I could make out I couldn't tell what word they belonged to.

...

Dear Chiasa,

It's been a long time since you've left the world. And I'm sorry I didn't try and figure out your fate sooner, but I hope you know that I'm going to make sure that the people you did leave behind, Aunt Haru and Uncle Shoto, and Kokichi will be ok. 

I'm sorry you died so young, and that even now I can't bring myself to tell Kokichi the truth about what was happening to you before you died. But I don't think you would have wanted me to tell him, would you?

Rest assured that my father, Kokichi, and I will make sure that the person who took you from us along with the other people you treasured will pay for what he has done. I hope you're happier now, and I hope you receive this letter.

From your one and only cousin,

Shuichi.

I folded the letter and tied it with a piece of ribbon to the lantern, Kokichi did the same and I wondered what he had written to them, as they were released into the navy blue sky, warm glow of yellow and orange illuminated the ocean and the sparks of fire cascaded into the deep sea and the salty breeze brought a sense of comfort as one by one the group disbanded.

But everyone left that night with a smile, as a little plaque was placed behind. It was a simple wooden one, not even a special design but I doubt it mattered much to Kokichi.

In Loving Memory of DICE