A/N (I lied. AGAIN. Who's counting?) Before I start, this amazing fan art was made by MsNobody357 . She's such a great friend to talk to and her art style is JUST CUTE. KSKSKSKS ISTG, I cried when she made this for me and I'm not kidding because! FANART. I'VE.. NEVER GOTTEN THAT BEFORE- MY HEART- I LOVE IT TO BITS AND THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! <3 You're such a great friend, author and your deep thoughts are just XD- you're amazing and, I don't deserve you. This chapter is dedicated to you,  friend :)

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✧ Chapter 27 ✧
[ The Pain, There's No End ]
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The two teenagers were back in Kokichi and Keebo's room, after Mondo and Mikan's execution. Shuichi couldn't get the crying from Ishimaru and Chihiro out of his mind. It was mixed with the memory of Monokuma's cruel laughter as he hit the red button located in front of him with a huge mallet.

"Shuichi.. if the water from the sprinklers spoilt everything," Kaede began, sounding worried, "Does that mean that Keebo's laptop is broken too? And.. that?"

Shuichi looked over at the girl, who was pointing to a familiar metal box. It was the same case which had the words 'Do Not Touch' written on it. The box seemed to be unhinged slightly, as if it had been forced open. Shuichi set the broken laptop of Keebo's on the table.

He looked at his best friend with fearful eyes, the two thinking the same thing. They had accidentally left the dormitory door open in their haste, which meant that anyone could've entered the room uninvited. Which also meant..

"How could we have been so careless.." Shuichi whispered under his breath as he slowly reached for the box. "Wait, you're going to open it?" the blonde girl asked in a slightly panicked voice.

Shuichi nodded. "But close the windows and doors first. Make sure we're not being watched." After what Gundham had told him, with the messages from the traitor popping up everywhere, he was going to be cautious.

Kaede nodded, moving around the room to make sure they were not being spied on. As soon as Shuichi was confident that the room was concealed enough, he opened the box.

Kaede inhaled sharply as a piece of green paper greeted them. The use of the newspaper cuttings. The disorganised use of the upper and lowercases just empathised how dangerous the traitor was. It was threatening. And terrifying.

"Shuichi Saihara," the black words greeted him, 'You can search all you want, but you'll never come close to finding who the mastermind is. The only way you can stop me, is to come forward yourself."

"..." Shuichi dropped the box with a loud thud, making Kaede flinch. "Shuichi? Shuichi! Wh-what are you doing?" the girl dropped to the floor beside him as he didn't take his eyes away from the message.

"The.. traitor. Kaede, don't you see what's happening?" he muttered after awhile, "He's calling me out. All this is happening because of me."

Kaede shook her head, "No. Don't freak out on me, Shuichi! Please!" she tried not to panic. "Shuichi!" She jumped when the door burst open, to reveal someone she never expected.

"What's going on here?" Kokichi asked, sounding breathless as his purple eyes surveyed the scene. He noticed the trembling Shuichi and Kaede, who was holding him up.

"You've been going through Keebo's things?" the purple haired boy asked, sounding calm, his voice remaining steady. Kaede nodded, glancing at the message which was still taped to the underside of the metal box's cover.

Kokichi gripped the doorframe, slightly scraping the paint off with his nails. "Come with me you two."

"What?" Kaede and Shuichi asked, the blue haired boy finally snapping out of his trance. Kokichi sounded extremely stressed, which was unlike him. "Just follow me. Now."

Kokichi's quiet voice was enough to make Shuichi forget the contents of the box and break from that hypnotic trance.

Kaede scrambled to her feet as Kokichi held out a hand for Shuichi to take. The blue haired boy reached out, before sighing and avoiding the other boy's hand. Shuichi held his head, standing up by himself. "Where are we going?"

Kokichi tugged at the lanyard around his neck, not looking at the two taller teenagers as he smiled at the ground.

"Kokichi." Shuichi empathised, "Where are we going? Why did you make us stand?"

The purple haired boy continued to play around with the lanyard before finally taking a deep breath. "We're going to see Keebo. He's back from the hospital. And.." his voice caught, but he was still smiling, "He.. doesn't remember me."

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Kokichi led the two to the garden, where Keebo Tetsuya was sitting on a bench by a small cherry blossom tree. The smaller boy pointed to Keebo, who was just gazing up at the branches above him.

"He looks.. fine." Shuichi noted. Truthfully, his mind was occupied by the note he and Kaede had found in Keebo's locked box.

"Of course he looks fine," Kokichi huffed, sounding annoyed, "The serum worked on him. Now he doesn't seem to remember me."

"What?" Kaede's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"You know, instead of just questioning me all the time," Kokichi glared at her, a strand of his purple hair falling in front of his face, "Why don't you see for yourself?"

Shuichi was starting to get mildly irritated by the purple haired boy, who was staring at Keebo with a frown on his face. "Fine," Shuichi and Kaede walked over to where Keebo was sitting, leaving Kokichi behind. "We'll go talk to him."

Overhead, the sky was dark and slightly turning to brilliant shades of orange and yellow. Everything was quiet, save for the sounds of Shuichi and Kaede's heavy footsteps and Keebo's low humming.

"Keebo?" he called as soon as he was within hearing distance from the other boy. The pale greyish-white haired boy turned, tilting his head. "Hello there.. do I know you?"

Those six words struck Shuichi, making him glance at Kaede, wondering if she heard him say that too. Keebo was in his usual Hope's Peak school uniform, and there was something new about him.

There was a red mark on the side of his neck, which was shaped like the slashed eye of Monokuma. "Uh.. yeah, you know us. Or at least, you used to-." "Ah wait, you're Shuichi Saihara and Kaede Akamatsu," Keebo interrupted with a smile. "Of course..."

Shuichi hesitated. Why did Keebo recognise him and Kaede, but not Kokichi? "Uh.. don't you recognise anyone else?" the blue haired boy asked.

"Sure I do," the scientist smiled, "There's Maki Harukawa.. Kaito Momota.." he boy went on and named a few more students. All except two. Miu Iruma and Kokichi Ouma.

Shuichi just stared at Keebo's small smile, wondering why couldn't he remember them. "Shuichi," Kaede touched his wrist, "I think I know what's going on here."

"Uh, Keebo.." Shuichi held up hand to stop the blue eyed boy from talking further, "We'll be right back."

The boy nodded, going back to stare up at the branches of the tree.

"The serum, remember?" Kaede whispered, folding her arms across her chest as she looked up at the sky. "It erases memories of any past lovers. Maybe that's why Keebo's memories are still intact. He knows us as his friends, but he loves- or rather, loved," she corrected, "Miu."

"But what about Kokichi?" Shuichi asked. "Keebo isn't in love with him, remember?"

"I'm guessing that the serum takes away all sorts of love. Even the closest friendships," the blonde girl muttered, "That's why he doesn't remember Miu or Kokichi. They were close to him. And they had to be erased from his memory."

"Jeez," the familiar voice of Kokichi piped up from behind them, "Must you really make it sound so melodramatic?"

"Kokichi..." Kaede muttered, "I'm sorry-."

"What for?" the purple haired boy wrinkled his nose, "Keebo's better off if he isn't close to me, after all. Isn't it better that way?" he said bitterly. "I'll see you two around, thanks for talking to Keeboy for me."

He smiled suddenly, giving Shuichi one last look before skipping away merrily. The two watched as Kokichi disappeared back into the boy's dormitory building. Shuichi looked up at the sky, which was streaked with hues of pink and orange.

"Sunset. It's probably best if we started heading back to the dorms, Shuichi." Kaede sighed, "It's a good thing Keebo's back. After all, we have our friend back and-."

"But not Kaito," Shuichi muttered, looking down at their shadows, "He's supposed to be back two years ago.. thanks for your help Kaede, but it's best if we stopped all investigation and.." He avoided her eyes as he said the next few words, "Maybe its best to think of Kaito as dead."

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[ Heartbreak Hospital ]

Kaito slowly opened his eyes, seeing nothing but the frame of a door. He was in a dark room, his arms and legs tied up by the feel of it. Looking around, he realised that someone had thrown him onto a cool, marble tiled ground..

The last thing he could remember was getting injected by that liquid Fuji gave to him. And he blacked out. How long has it been since then? Hours? Days? Months?

Kaito winced when he tried to get up. His arms were strangely healed from all the torture his captives had caused him. In fact.. he propped himself to sit up, slightly breathless despite the simple movement.

He looked at his arms, examining it closely. It was all unmarked and clean. No scars, no burns. Even his clothes were just slightly dirty because of the floor.

He wondered why couldn't he hear anything. No shouting. No alarms blaring. No voices.

As soon as the thought finished, the door was flung open and a person stood in the light. Kaito narrowed his eyes at the figure, who had long hair tied into two low ponytails and a crossbow in hand.

The figure rushed forward, and without even thinking, Kaito remembered who she was.

"Maki Roll?" he whispered, but he couldn't hear himself. His throat was sore and his vision starting to blur very slightly. The red eyed girl kneeled in front of him and wordlessly took out a key from a huge keyring she was holding.

"Maki, how did you.." Kaito faltered as soon as she stared at him with her intense blood red irises. He wondered how could anyone have such beautiful yet cold eyes.

To his surprise, he found his handcuffs unlocked and his arms free. The girl narrowed her eyes and whispered under her breath, "Just.. follow me."

Kaito was about to ask more questions but was silenced by her glare. But him being stubborn, as per usual, gave her a smile in return. "Hey Maki Roll, how much time do we have?"

"Barely enough, you fool," she chided, looking away from him, "Now follow me, and don't-."

She was cut off by a sudden kiss from the taller male. He didn't even hesitate. He spent so much time in his hospital, that he didn't care if she had feelings for him or not.

He didn't care who was watching. He just needed to show her how much he loved her. She was the reason why he held on for so long after all.

He pulled away, his hands suddenly feeling cold..

♥ End of Chapter Twenty-Seven ♥