✧ Chapter 39 ✧
[ Life Has Entangled Them ]
✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

"I knew you couldn't be trusted." Kokichi muttered, his voice shaking as Shuichi stared at Rantaro's amused expression. How? How can he be smiling at a time like this? But then again... he was the traitor they were looking for. 

"Funny you should talk about trust.." Rantaro looked at his fingernails, before clenching his fist, "Weren't you and Saihara talking about that earlier?"

"And before you can protest.." he smirked, holding up a hand, "Oh boo hoo-hoo.. Saihara-chan.." he mocked in Ouma's tone, "Please trust me, I'd do anything for you."

"I never said that," Kokichi snarled in a tone Shuichi had never heard him use before, "You traitor. YOU FILTHY-."

"Oh, don't say that, Ouma.." Rantaro's expression shifted to a look of mock disgust, "The people reading this book need to learn how to stop swearing you know.. they need to know good morales."

"Screw them!" Kokichi glared at the green haired traitor, who was playing with the strings of the hoodie, "They should learn from other people rather than a worthless trash like you."

"Kokichi," Shuichi rested a hand against the shorter boy's forearm, making him stop his rant. He too, couldn't believe that the green haired boy standing before them.. was the one they were after all along..

"Amami.." the detective took a deep breath and faced the teenager, "I can't believe I actually trusted you."

"Trust.. a simple concept. But once broken, it can never be the same.." Rantaro pulled out a blue piece of glass from his pocket and inspected it. "Tell me Saihara... if you truly trusted me.. why didn't you admit that you had a crush on me?"

Shuichi's heart skipped, as he started to get breathless, "I..I never had a crush on you." On his left hand, Kokichi's grip slipped slightly out of his hand, recognising the lie.

"The signs were clear," Rantaro looked playful, spinning the diamond shaped glass with his slender fingers, "The way you smiled. The way you laughed.. you wanted to spend more time with me, didn't you?"

"Shuichi," Kokichi whispered, his grip tightening on the blue haired boy's arm, "Listen to me, he's playing mind games with you. You're not to blame."

"Who are you to stop me, Ouma-kun? Hmm?" Rantaro tilted his head, a strand of his green hair falling in front of his bright pink eye, "Liar versus liar, am I right? You established that.. tell me Saihara, do you actually believe that scheming liar? How sure are you that he's actually not a traitor?"

Shuichi stared at Kokichi, who seemed to be struggling to restrain himself from punching Rantaro. The traitor was right.. what if Kokichi was lying all over again? Just to get him into trouble? How could he be so sure that Ouma's love was genuine?

"That's right, Saihara," Rantaro smirked, clearly noticing Shuichi's struggle. "You can't decide can you? You had your heart broken by Momota.. a pity really." the green haired teenager stared at the dark, star speckled sky, "You and him would've made a pretty great couple if he didn't die."

"Shuichi!" Kokichi interrupted. "Don't listen to him!"

"Ever wondered what happened to Momota?" Rantaro spoke up, his hair waving in the cool wind, "He didn't want to admit who he had feelings for. So we tortured him. Brutally."

"Stop.." Shuichi muttered, "Just stop."

"When we placed him in the Neo World Program," Rantaro continued as if he had not heard Shuichi, "We found out he loved that Assassin, Maki Harukawa. After we finished the first test of the Program.. the experiment was a success and we finally killed the two."

"Next was Tetsuya and Iruma.. they were rather feisty. Those two.." Rantaro shook his head, "They were so in love, it was sick. Surprisingly, Tetsuya seemed weaker than Iruma, hence, we were able to erase his memories."

Rantaro stopped talking, tilting his head as Shuichi started to tear up. "Look at yourself, Saihara. All this time, you wanted the truth, didn't you?" he smiled as Kokichi glared at the green haired traitor.

"The truth is always so difficult to accept. Hide your eyes again, Saihara. Be afraid of the truth."

"Don't listen to him," Kokichi held Shuichi's hand, reassuring him, "You have to trust me, remember? Even a liar like me.. can tell honest truths. You cant fear it, just accept it!"

"Pathetic as usual, Ouma," Rantaro scoffed, "Words can't save you. Can't you see?" he gestured to Shuichi, "The more I talk.. the more he gives in to despair."

"Why are you doing this then?" The purple haired boy demanded, as a look of confusion crossed Rantaro's face. "Why do you want to get rid of love so badly?"

"Patience..." the other boy looked at the building of Hope's Peak, a distance away from the garden. "I'll tell you my reason.."

"Love took my family away," he continued, his hand pulling at the crystal pendant around his neck, "If I wasn't so foolish... I never would've lost my sisters."

"We were going on an adventure one day.." Rantaro stared at the horizon, watching the stars, "My sisters insisted that they'd follow.. but of course, the journey was terrible. I lost them. One by one. Every time I took care of them, I cherished them and loved them.." he clenched his fist.

"They were taken away. So I vowed to destroy every single shred of love in the world so no one else can feel the pain of losing a loved one," Rantaro's voice wavered slightly, as if he were on the verge of tears. "That's why I'm a traitor for my leader... He promised me a world without love."

Kokichi held Shuichi's cold hand, feeling the other boy trembling slightly due to the shock. He had to keep talking to Rantaro.. and maybe find a way to escape and run out of the school.

"Don't even think about running away, Ouma." Rantaro said all of a sudden, noticing Kokichi tense up.

"What do you mean? I'm not even planning on running!" Kokichi scoffed, lying again as he tried to think of another plan.

"I have to keep you here till Monokuma gets here.." Rantaro muttered under his breath, tapping his foot, "He's taking forever.. but in the meantime, as a warning," he held out a dagger, shaped like a Monokuma eye. "If you so much as move from that spot, I'll stab your leg."

"Since when did you become such a sadist, huh?" Kokichi glared at him, "You're insane.. a fake."

"Keep talking Ouma, maybe I'll cut out your tongue." Rantaro grumbled, "Or maybe not.. I want to hear you cry when you and Saihara get admitted in the hospital."

"You didn't explain everything yet, traitor.." Kokichi kept him talking, as he carefully let Shuichi sit down. The detective seemed to have lost his mind, staying so still and silent that Kokichi was afraid for him.

However, for now, Kokichi had to take all the attention, so no harm could come to the distraught blue haired boy. Even if he had to put his life at stake, he had to keep talking to Rantaro.

"The library. Explain that. Explain all your actions. The photographs. The sprinklers. Everything."

"Oh right," the green haired boy snapped his fingers casually, "Yeah, I almost forgot about that. You see.. the first part of the plan was the introductions! The library was the first step, right?"

Rantaro held out the dagger, "I pretended to leave the library, after making sure that the both of you were the only ones inside. After I was sure that Saihara had seen me leave... I doubled back and activated the Lockdown, shutting you inside."

"You know how the whole thing went- oh wait," Rantaro smirked, "You were too busy getting strung up on the ceiling.. anyway. My plan worked perfectly. I burned all the evidence of Momota and the articles about the cases.."

"Second incident was the fire alarm, wasn't it? Right. This time, I had to execute my plan precisely right. I made Toko Fukawa.. or rather, her other personality, Genocide Jack, record the whole incident. It went perfectly."

"The stupid nerd can't even remember what she did, because of her split personality!" Rantaro laughed as Kokichi held Shuichi's hand, tightly, slightly afraid of Rantaro. "While she was recording, I waited till the sprinklers deactivated, and when it did, I was able to get into Tetsuya's forbidden box and take the notes he had.. they were very very valuable."

"Even more valuable than any of our lives, if I'm being honest," he smiled as Kokichi glared at him. "Oh and by the way, Owada and Tsumiki? Their deaths were not important. Those were distractions." the green haired boy waved a hand absentmindedly.

"They got into an argument because of a fake note. Can you believe that-." he laughed.

"You're sick," Kokichi snapped, interrupting him, "And this is for being a traitor!" he quickly bent down and grabbed a sharp rock, "Let's see how you'd like your head scrambled!" he yelled as he swung the rock down at Rantaro's head.

—!

"Funny," Rantaro chuckled, not letting go of Ouma's wrist, "I was about to say the same thing." Shuichi scrambled to his feet as he saw Rantaro swing the dagger back to slash at Ouma. "Ouma-!"

But he was stopped short when someone grabbed the green haired boy's wrist.

—

Both Kokichi and Shuichi stared at the girl, who was holding Rantaro's arm. Without letting go, she flung him to the ground and pinned him down with her foot. Kokichi winced, hearing the loud thump.

"..." Kaede Akamatsu looked at Rantaro, who seemed to be as shocked as both Shuichi and Kokichi. However, he broke into a small, charming smile, "Why hello there Akamatsu."

"Rantaro," she muttered quietly, "Why?" Even that one word sounded broken, as if all the trust she had for the adventurer was gone. And was replaced with bitterness.

Shuichi looked at Kokichi, who was holding his wrist. He didn't seem to take his eyes off Kaede and Rantaro. "Ouma?" Shuichi started to say, "I'm sorry I panicked and-."

Kokichi turned to him, a small, worried smile on his face. Once again, Shuichi felt his heart flutter, despite the situation. "I understand."

"Aren't you going to let me go, Akamatsu? After all, you confessed to me that you actually liked me.." Rantaro was saying.

Kaede didn't move her shoe away from the green haired boy's back. But she seemed to waver slightly, seemingly hesitant to hurt him. "Looks like the three of you are going to the hospital later.." Rantaro laughed, "Once Monokuma reactivates in exactly.. oh, ten minutes, you're doomed."

"You don't deserve to live either!" Shuichi finally spoke up, making everyone turn to him. He was done hiding from the truth... just like how Kaede told him to, he needed confidence. "After everything you've done? You killed two people!"

"Oh, more than that, actually," Amami replied nonchalantly, "Countless more."

Kokichi took note of the smirk on his face, and the glint of malice in his eyes. He wasn't lying then...

"For Kuzuryu and Pekoyama... all they had to see was the fake arrow I planted in that camera. When they thought that the coast was clear.." he chuckled, looking up at Kaede who continued to glare at him.

"You know there are more traitors around the school right?" he continued, "Fujisaki.. Makoto, Toko.. me. Trust no one." he sighed dreamily. "A beautiful motto, isn't it?"

Kokichi let go of Shuichi's arm and walked over to Rantaro, "Go to sleep." he said coldly before stomping on the green haired boy's face, making both Kaede and Shuichi flinch at the loud thud.

"Ouma.. you.. didn't have to do that." Kaede finally spoke in her normal voice, "He's still our friend."

"Even after everything, and you call him a friend?" the boy muttered, staring at the unconscious student.

Kaede frowned slightly, "Friendship is important to me, Ouma.. there's nothing more I value. Besides, I think there's something you two need to know as well." she turned to them.

Kokichi raised an eyebrow as she unslung her pink backpack, the same one she always carried around. She unzipped the bag and brought out a black hoodie, waiting for them to recognise it.

"W-Wait, you're the mysterious person?" Shuichi stammered. Kaede set her mouth to a thin smile, "I found the person.. two of them in fact. I asked them if I could help and strangely, they obliged."

The wind picked up, making the branches of the tree above rustle slightly. All was quiet as the trio stood together.

"So there's two sides," Kokichi summarised, breaking the silence, "Monokuma, and you.. black hoodie stalker people."

"Very funny Ouma," Kaede rolled her eyes, "We're the Remnants of Love. Cheesy, I know, but once you meet them, they'll expl-."

"Meet who, exactly?"

Shuichi, Kokichi and Kaede flinched, surprised to see Monokuma, his arms folded and his red eye glaring at them. "Well, wouldcha look at that.. students roaming around after ten? UNACCEPTABLE! And who knocked Amami out?" he scowled at the unconscious student.

"It seems like someone hurt my favourite traitor!" the bear extended his claws, "Who did it?! C'mon speak up! Oi, Amami! Wake your ass up, you lazy boy!" he kicked the student with his leg. Rantaro, of course, didn't stir.

Monokuma huffed impatiently and muttered something about 'extra work' before turning to face to the three students, who were standing together. It was too late when Shuichi realised that he was still holding Ouma's hand.

♥ End of Chapter Thirty-Nine ♥