✧ Chapter 1 ✧
[ While Only Barely Alive ]
✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

"We need to talk. Meet me in the school garden, two in the morning. From, Ouma. P.S. Make sure you're alone."

Shuichi narrowed his eyes at the handwriting, frowning as he read. What did Kokichi mean? He wasn't being very specific. And he wasn't sure if he trusted him.. but then again..

He felt his heart skip a beat whenever he heard Kokichi's name in his mind. Why was he feeling this way? He wasn't even supposed to be feeling this way!

He glanced at the clock on his desk, still holding the paper as the seconds ticked away.

It was nearly half past one, in the morning. Furthermore, he was supposed to be studying for his upcoming math test.

However.. this sounded urgent.

And Shuichi knew he couldn't really leave Ouma hanging around like this. Especially when there was a curfew in their school. No one was allowed outside in the halls or grounds when it was past ten.

No. He reminded himself again, turning away and stuffing the note deep into his pocket.

Shuichi grabbed his dark navy blue hoodie and put it on. Tugging on the sleeves and making sure he had his key card to his dorm room, Shuichi grabbed his backpack and unlocked the door.

Without really thinking too much about it, Shuichi headed to the garden. If Kokichi needed to talk to him, he might as well see what he needed.

It shouldn't be a problem. Right?

✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

[ Present Day ]

"Dangan Island." Miss Yukizome Chisa said to the class, while tapping the board with a long ruler. She slowly walked around the class, waking the students who had fallen asleep.

"A place where people can live a beautiful life along with millions of other people, young and old. Isn't that true?

As all of you are smart, open-minded teenagers, can anyone tell me what are the three main rules about staying in our paradise?"

There was a silence as Shuichi continued to stare at the clock, hanging on the wall at the corner of the room. He had five more minutes till the bell rang, to signal the end of History lesson..

He didn't dislike Miss Chisa.. he just hated the fact that her lesson was rather repetitive. The other students didn't seem to want to speak up as well, which surprised him a little. The class was unusually calm and quiet today.

"Come on students," Miss Chisa tapped on the board a little harder, "Answer the question- oh, yes Keebo?"

The boy lowered his hand, before clearing his throat and standing up, "Our three main rules are that we can have all the food we want, everything is provided and we just live in a paradise where people can do whatever they please."

Of course, Shuichi knew this by heart, since it was written in the textbooks over and over again.

It was even on the school's bulletin board, and engraved on the school's water fountain. There was even a banner, hung up in the cafeteria with these very words.

"However," Keebo continued, "There is one rule-."

"Which I will allow another student to answer, thank you very much, Keebo, you may take your seat." Miss Chisa nodded, making the student nod and sit back down.

Shuichi held his breath as Miss Chisa walked up to his desk. "Now, Saihara.." she smiled gently, "Would you like to finish Keebo's answer?"

Of course she would ask him..

After all, she had always tried to make Shuichi speak up in class, or even made him give speeches to boost his confidence. However, that always took a negative turn and made Shuichi even shyer than he was..

This was just his classroom, with his classmates, so it shouldn't be a problem, Shuichi said to himself and shakily stood, holding up his textbook.

"Saihara," Miss Chisa continued, in her gentle tone which made him a little uneasy, "What is the rule you must obey when living in Dangan Island?"

Shuichi looked up at her, the side of his hair covering his left eye and obscuring his view. "..."

He really tried his best to form the words, so he forced down the panic welling up inside him. He had to be more confident.. somehow.

Shuichi took a deep breath before exhaling, "The one rule we.. we must obey on Dangan Island is to.. to never fall in love." he managed to stammer.

"Very good Saihara, you may take your seat." Miss Chisa nodded, walking away as he collapsed back onto his chair breathlessly. Shuichi leaned back and covered his eyes with one arm.

Damnit.. why was he always such a coward? He wanted to be brave like all the other students, who didn't seem to have a problem with saying what they thought.

He opened his eyes again, folding his arms across his chest and gazing out the window.

He was already bored of this dull, meaningless life. He was tired of obeying that one rule of the Island. To never fall in love.

Shuichi slowly flipped a few pages of his history textbook and read the paragraphs, remembering each line carefully. In the background, he could hear Miss Chisa walking around again.

Everyone knew the rules, it was repeated over and over again.

Drilled into each of their minds each day, from morning to night.

Of course, there were complications as to how to keep the people still living on the island alive, so the doctors came up with a solution.

Since people couldn't fall in love, they thought of harnessing technology to modify people and create new human beings.

Of course, that worked out well after years of hard research and attempts.

Shuichi, and his classmates, didn't have actual parents. All of them were scientifically modified, but still able to live and breathe, just like normal. They weren't robots, so they were free to do whatever they wanted.

"Now," Miss Chisa stood at the front of the class, nearly scaring Kaede off her chair when their teacher hit her ruler against the girl's table, "Can anyone tell me about the Disease?"

"..." The rather quiet students exchanged sideways glances, since the Disease was a rather sensitive topic. After all, almost every week, someone was infected.

Miss Chisa waited, "Students? Isn't anyone willing to answer me?"

Just as she finished her question, the most unexpected student raised their hand. Everyone turned to him, including Shuichi. He looked at the boy, who was sitting beside him.

Kokichi Ouma stood, his chair scraping against the floor as he stared at Miss Chisa with a frown.

"I can tell you, Miss." he said in his usual calm, confident voice.

"The Disease is called Love. None of us are allowed to love another human being, because that will trigger a war. Dangan Island will stop any sign of Love, and if any human experiences Love.."

Shuichi saw Kokichi's eyes darken, "It's punishable with either death or the Reverse Serum, which erases every memory the receiver has of the loved one.."

"I believe in that and I know that Love should be kept hidden."

There was a pause as everyone looked at Miss Chisa, wondering if she had accepted his words.

"Very good Ouma, you may sit down-."

Kokichi held up a hand, stopping Miss Chisa's sentence halfway. Everyone watched with bated breath as Kokichi fixed his unmoving purple eyes on her.

"I lied about that last part, though." he said quietly, making Shuichi hold onto the hem of his school uniform a little tightly.

What.. was Ouma trying to do?!

Was he trying to get in trouble?

"I don't believe that Love should be hidden away. That rule is freaking stupid."

"Ouma.. shut up.." Kaito Momota murmured, everyone starting to tense up. "You're going to get in trouble.."

"What did you just say, Ouma?" Miss Chisa frowned, standing at the front of the class again and leaning forward against the podium. "You.. disagree with our motto?"

"You're dead meat.." Miu muttered, shrinking down in her seat as Kokichi didn't take his eyes away from Miss Chisa.

Shuichi was in awe with Kokichi's bravery. How did he ever manage to speak up to her like that?

"I believe it's a stupid motto, do you want me to repeat myself?" Kokichi continued, looking bored as he played around with a little necklace around his neck.

One thing Shuichi noticed about him was that he never seemed to take that necklace off. He fidgeted with it whenever he was talking to someone.

"Kokichi Ouma," Miss Chisa's voice was tense, "Sit back down, and don't make me report this to Principal Monokuma. You know what will happen if I do. He won't be as merciful as I am."

Shuichi reached over and pulled Kokichi's arm to make him sit back on his chair.

"I was just standing up for what I believe in." Shuichi heard Kokichi muttering to himself, "What's wrong with that?"

Shuichi turned away from the other boy, his heart beating wildly.

How did Ouma have the courage to stand up to Miss Chisa like that?

And furthermore, stand up for something as dangerous as Love?

What was wrong with him?

✧༺♥༻∞　　∞༺♥༻✧

Shuichi sat under a tree, his eyes fixed on a trail of ants, marching up and down the trunk. He kept replaying the conversation Kokichi and Miss Chisa had argued about in class.

Ever since Shuichi entered this world, surrounded by that blinding white light, he knew from the beginning that he should never get too attached to anyone.

Because that would lead to Love.

The first time he was too close to someone, were his 'parents' who took him in, and loved him too much. Even family love was forbidden on this island.

Shuichi had watched as his parents were dragged away by giant Beast Monokumas, injected with Reverse Serum and were locked away in the mental hospital.

Of course, he didn't get arrested since he was merely five at that time. But watching your own foster parents getting beaten up and dragged away sure left a lot of open wounds in his mind.

Shuichi gripped his sleeves a little, narrowing his eyes to not let the tears spill.

He missed them so much. His mother's warm hugs and his father's words of encouragements.

But of course they wouldn't remember him. After all, whatever Keebo said in class previously was true. The Reverse Serum would erase everything you loved.

And Shuichi was careful not to love. But he did remember that he was diagnosed with something that made him prone to the effects of love, twice as much as a normal human. Which meant he fell in love too often.

Of course, Shuichi disregarded that diagnosis years ago, so he wouldn't get arrested. It was torture sometimes, to see someone and immediately but painfully fall in love with them.

Forbidden to love them openly, since this was a harsh society. A prison disguised as a paradise was the worst of its kind.

And each time, Shuichi had to be careful not to show too much affection for anyone.

Because that was the disease they called love.

And he wasn't going to let anyone get taken away because of him.

♥ End of Chapter One ♥

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

A/N (Author's Note)
Heya guys! Okay, first of all, I promise that the grammar and use of words for the first few chapters will be rather stupid, cause that always seem to happen every time I write a new book!

So.. sorry if I sound super boring. I promise it'll be better in the upcoming chapters!

Thank you so much for reading so far, (EVEN THOUGH ITS JUST THE FIRST CHAPTER BUT WOW-) and I was so so so happy when I saw that people were actually reading my book! I can cry! Uh- anyway- *grabs tissues* Thank you so much for taking your time to read this..

Finally, this book might contain, as you can see from the description, mild swearing and MILD torture, yadda yadda. But I'll to make it interesting anyway.

And heads up, the blood is PINK. But, I might've lost track along the way and might've mentioned that the blood is RED instead.. so please inform me where they are so I can correct it. 🍉

Anyway, please continue reading, and remember to vote, comment and remember that I love you guys for taking this time to read this 💕✌🏻 PEACE! :)