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This was a horrendously dumb idea.But alas, there Shuichi was. Standing outside the abandoned mansion at the edge of town, bordering on the edge of a forest, waiting for his friends from school to meet him. The meeting was NOT Shuichi's idea. If he had his way he would be at home in his bedroom reading or helping his uncle with whatever case his agency was working at the moment.The idea was his friend Kaito's, and this wasn't the first time he had been in a situation like this. He had a moderately popular YouTube channel, mainly due to his brand as an 'exorcist' who was absolutely scared outta his mind of ghosts.Personally? Shuichi wasn't exactly clear if the exorcist thing was a bit or not. If it WAS a bit, Kaito was very committed. Yes, he had wondered if Kaito was delusional MANY times, but he didn't have many other friends. So when Kaito asked him to be his cameraman slash 'Sidekick' he couldn't make himself say no.Along with Kaito came Maki, his partner on the channel. From the beginning, Shuichi had always gotten the impression she was dragged into this like he was, but that didn't stop them from becoming friendly. Maki never made any proclamation about being an 'exorcist', but she didn't use any of her typical tough-love honesty to tell Kaito he was crazy when he said it. Was it suspicious? Kinda. Did Shuichi really care all that much? No..."Hey Shuichi! You're here early!" Shuichi jumped at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.Turning to look behind him, he was met with the arrival of Kaito, Maki trailing behind."Ah- hey," Shuichi smiled. "Hello Maki," He waved past Kaito, where he was met by a nod. “It's 3:15, Weren’t we supposed to meet at three..?” he asked, slightly confused at Kaitos assertion he was “early”.
Maybe it was just his own worries about being late, but he assumed his prompt arrival could have been interpreted as “early” by anyone who was typically fashionably late.
“Don’t concern yourself with him. He made us late because he didn’t want to come.” Maki spoke calmly, taking a chunk of her hair in her hands to fidget with.“That’s not true at all-!” Kaito began, turning to face Maki.It was around this point that Shuichi began to tune their conversation out, adjusting his bag that had been draped over his shoulder. It wasn't uncommon for the pair to get into short debates over things. He would admit, Maki was usually right. Kaito had his heart in the right place usually, but then again the day they had met he had hit him, so sometimes he didn’t express his feelings properly.
To be fair, I’m the one who didn’t separate myself from the situation. That's a bit of a me problem isn’t it? He’s a nice guy, so it worked out for me didn’t it?
He mused silently to himself, staring absently down at his hands until-"Okay, enough wasting time, we should just go inside-!" Kaito clapped his hands together, snapping Shuichi back to reality as he turned to face him."There's no need to be scared sidekick, we can get this done fast!" "Tell that to yourself, we’ve been ready this whole time." Maki stated, annoyance in her tone as she walked to the door of the house."Ah-!? Wait up Harumaki!" Kaito ran ahead to catch up with Maki, as Shuichi adjusted the lens on his camera, turning it on.Walking briskly after the pair, he stopped at the door. His two friends were already inside, but it felt like there was some kind of invisible barrier he'd be crossing if he stepped over that threshold.A bit weird, especially because Shuichi didn’t particularly believe in the supernatural. If he did, he would’ve said that there was something bad waiting behind this door. It was almost like-"Sidekick! Hurry up, Harumaki and I wanna get this done ASAP." Kaito shouted from inside the front room. He could practically feel Maki roll her eyes from where he was."Oh- sorry...!" Steeling his nerves, Shuichi stepped inside the home, letting a rush of cool air come over him.As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a blur in his peripheral vision. Flipping his head around, he saw nothing except the door slowly creaking shut behind him. While that was... quite strange, he did have a 'job' he was meant to be doing here. So he pushed the possible supernatural sighting that went against all his personal beliefs out of mind and quickly caught up to Maki and Kaito."Is there anything you wanna look at or-" Kaito stammered, his fear clearly visible to anyone.Shuichi wasn't aware of if Kaito knew about how scared he looked, but he really didn't have the heart to bring it up.That was Maki's job."We just got inside, there's nothing to freak out over yet. Let's just get this over with, I have work to do." Maki frowned, pressing ahead through the house."Isn't there anything you need to say about this house in your video.""Oh-! Yeah uh...! There's this rumor that anyone who goes to the top floor of this house dies and comes back as a... uh..!" Kaito shuddered, going pale in the face at the thought."A ghost...?" Shuichi attempted to finish the sentence for him."WHERE!?!" Kaito flipped around so fast he was sure he had gotten some kind of whiplash. He had to suppress a laugh at his horror.“You’re an exorcist aren’t you? Man up.” Maki sighed, turning to Shuichi, and technically the camera by default. “Shuichi, I’m going upstairs to make sure there's nobody hiding up there before you two come up.”“Alright, be careful…” He gave her a smile. Maki was a lot more confident than him, that was for sure.Shuichi had his fair share of irrational fears. Which definitely led him to question why he decided to help his friend on his ghost hunting endeavors. But then again, with so few close friends he truly did want to please the ones he had. Not that he thought Kaito or Maki would be mad if he said he didn’t want to do this, he was just a people pleaser.“H..hey Shuichi, lets get some footage down here while Harumaki makes sure the next floor is clear…!” Kaito interjected into his thoughts, suppressing a fearful stutter.“Yeah, okay.” He walked over, careful to keep the camera in his hands steady.It wasn't a cheap camera after all, and Shuichi had always been pretty particular about keeping his things in good shape. Not because of a lack of money, he probably had enough money from his parents' futile attempts to buy his affection saved in his account that he could get a new one. But he was also kinda sentimental about this camera. So he was gonna keep it around until it broke, which hopefully wouldn’t be any time soon.
He also did have a bit of a hidden petty side, mainly directed at his parents. It was a bit embarrassing but it was okay just on this one thing.
“So rumor has it that anyone who’s dared to go up to the third floor is killed.” Kaito mumbled, uncharacteristically quiet for a guy whose volume is typically cranked up to eleven. Luckily for Shuichi, his lav picked up what he was saying. “I could show that damn killer who’s boss around here. I mean c’mon I’m Kaito Momota…”As Kaito trailed off, Shuichi took the time to look around the house. While he didn’t know much about architecture, he could tell this house had been beautiful in its prime. Where arches of wood used to stand tall as entrance ways to rooms, now planks rotted and splintered.
How could the wall have been destroyed like this? I don't understand how someone would destroy something this beautiful...
The first floor seemed to contain a front room, a small living space, that was sparsely furnished with an old couch and tube television, a bathroom, and an expansive kitchen. As he ducked through a torn out section of the wall, a loud crash rang from behind him."WHAT WAS THAT-!” Kaito shouted, scrambling over to Shuichi and taking hold of his arm tightly.“Gah-! Kaito!?” He jerked his arm away, the sudden pressure having freaked him out just a little bit more than it should’ve.And heavy, awkward silence fell over the room."Shit- my bad man I didn't mean to freak you out." Kaito released his arm and cleared his throat.Shuichi tugged on his sleeve, readjusting it."No, it's my fault. I'm sorry for shouting, I'm gonna go see what that was, alright?"Kaito nodded, motioning him to go Peaking around the corner out of the kitchen, Kaito lingering not far behind, Shuichi saw a familiar blur of motion in his field of view. He stumbled backwards, taking hold of the exposed planks in the wall with his free hand as the source of the crash came into focus.An intricate chandelier had come loose from the ceiling, and had fallen in a heap in the center of the front sitting room. It looked pretty expensive, twisted gold arms crusted with clear crystals.Which wasn't exactly relevant to why it had fallen, but it did make him feel sad for whoever had spent the money to get it installed in this home.
Though I could’ve sworn it was tightly adhered to the roof when I passed under it earlier…
He shuddered at the thought that he could’ve been unlucky enough to have been under it when it fell if he had lagged behind Kaito.“Is everything alright i..in there Shuichi?” Shaking off that momentary guilt, he turned the corner and nodded at Kaito.“Yeah, it was just a fixture that fell out of the ceiling. Nothing supernatural, I promise.” He assured, smiling at him with confidence. He was almost sure he heard Kaito let out a short sigh of relief “Psh- duh, I was just testing to see if you’d lie to me! You passed, great job Shuichi! Gold star!" he grinned with mock confidence that rivaled any he’d seen before.Shuichi gave him a smaller smile in return, and walked back over, readjusting the camera on his hand. He was definitely going to have to cut some of this in post-production. Kaito wasn't going to like being portrayed as a total scaredy-cat on his own personal account. Maybe he could make a cut content video?“Upstairs is clear, let's go.” A voice spoke behind them, causing both Kaito and Shuichi to jump. Shuichi turned quickly on his heel to face the noise, free hand clasped over his chest nervously. Somehow, without either of them noticing, Maki had managed to make her way back downstairs. She stood unbothered behind them.“Oh.. Maki it's you... are you ready to go Kaito?”Kaito turned at the mention of Maki's name, seeming to lose his nervous edge and nodding.“Who else would I be… Pull yourselves together.” She muttered. He had to assume she didn't fully understand how terrifying her silent appearance was…Though to be fair, his heart was beating just a lot faster than he thought it would be.“Yeah! It's just Harumaki, no need to freak out!” Kaito flashed him a confident grin and a thumbs up. Maki stared at Kaito, giving him a slightly judgy look before he continued ahead.“Let's go up then! Try and keep up Sidekicks!”Giving him a look of exasperation, Maki turned, following next to Kaito with Shuichi not far behind.Absentmindedly adjusting the lens on his camera, he must have lost focus, because next he knew, Shuichi felt a tap on his shoulder as he idled on the steps of the stairs.“You're being left behind.”
Did I really stop moving? I gotta stay focused...
"Ah-! S..sorry Ma- uh…?”As he began to reply, he paused. The voice didn’t sound like Maki… It wasn't feminine and flat toned, and it definitely wasn't Kaito. It didn’t have that “motivational speaker” dialect he did. Whoever had tapped him sounded, for lack of a better word, dramatic. Not Kaito or Maki.But if it's not Maki or Kaito...Nervously, he turned around, trying to get a look at his mystery companion, where he saw… Nothing. “W..what the-?” he stammered, frantically looking everywhere around him.This wasn't possible. He knew he felt something on his skin, the seam on his sleeve was still folded where the finger had pressed in on it. This was just like what happened when Kaito grabbed his arm. Maki turned around from the top of the stairs to face him.“Who are you talk-” She paused, looking him up and down carefully. “Are you okay? You look paler than normal.”Her words fell on deaf ears as he spiraled deeper into his thoughts. Shuichi could deal with little figures running past his vision. The chandelier had freaked him out a bit, but there's a logical explanation for a falling object in an aging home. But this was different. He hadn’t just felt this one, he had heard their voice. Panic welled up in his chest as his breathing grew more ragged and anxious.“Shuichi.” Maki grabbed him by his hand, untangling it from his hair. Since when was his hand in his hair? She must have walked down while he wasn’t paying attention, her touch made him yelp.“What's wrong? That idiot is already upstairs, you’re being unusually slow.” She released him from her tight grip, with an uncharacteristic look of concern on her face.Maki wasn’t exactly one to show much emotion in Shuichi’s experience. She hadn’t gone into intricate detail, but he knew she had a vexed past, and didn’t have all that much experience with people. So for her to look even this concerned at his state of panic? He must've looked pretty ragged.“It's ah- It's nothing, I’m sorry…” Shuichi smiled, in a weak attempt to reassure her that he hadn’t almost gone into a panic of massive proportions.She glared at him, as he averted his eyes, tugging a section of his bangs over his face.“Fine. If nothings wrong you should stop acting so weird. You know how that guy gets when he sees you acting nervous.” She huffed, turning around and making her way back up the stairs, as he followed beside her."Wh–what took you two so long? Cmon!” Kaito called from across the second floor.“I’ve already checked most of these rooms and there's nothing here. But uh! You should check too y'know? Ghosts are too scared to come out of hiding in front of the world's best exorcist!" He laughed arrogantly."Shuichi thought he saw something, it's not my fault you’re too scared of ghosts to comfort your ‘sidekick’ when he’s worried.” She sighed, lifting her hands to do air quotes around his nickname.Maki was never a huge fan of those. Except, for some reason she always tolerated Harumaki from Kaito. The one time Shuichi had attempted to pry about this, she hadn’t spoken to him for the next 24 hours. He hadn't tried again after that, although it did help him realize how much he had come to rely on her as a friend.Don’t get it wrong, he was close with Kaito as well. Kaito was the second person to approach him at school, and he was eternally grateful, but Maki kept him grounded in reality in a way Kaito couldn’t. That was quite useful when your main after school activity was filming ghost hunting videos. Much appreciated.“Shuichi, I’ve already explored this whole floor so how about you get some uh. Whatever the background footage is called!” This time Kaito spoke directly to his camera. He grinned, giving him a thumbs up.“Do you mean B roll?” He laughed nervously, readjusting his hand around the video camera.“Yeah, the background stuff, we’re burning light so we should probably get outta here soon.”“You’re only saying that because you have an irrational fear of-”“Good luck sidekick!” Kaito put his hand on Maki’s shoulder as he blatantly ignored her comment. She looked up at him, shooting daggers with her glare, which he seemed to not notice.Walking off towards the first door, Shuichi wouldn’t admit that he was actually a bit excited to investigate these rooms. He had picked up certain case files from his uncle’s private investigator agency, and despite… certain past mishaps, he truly did enjoy solving mysteries. Though recently he did tend to stick with what he was good at; runaways and missing pets, with the occasional infidelity case thrown in for a bit of excitement. Even if he had really wanted to, he knew that after the last time his uncle wouldn’t be letting him near a crime scene like that one any time soon.As he glanced around the room his eyes were immediately drawn to the unusual presence of a pile of new clothing on the floor. Placing his camera carefully on the rotted mattress that sat atop an older, detailed bed frame. Upon further glance, the clothes all had rips or shoe prints on them. Maybe someone had dumped their old clothing here?Putting that aside, nothing else in the room really stood out to him. Grabbing his camera, he wandered out of the room, and into the adjacent room.“Hey, Shuichi.” Maki abruptly grabbed onto the back of his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.“Wha-? Uh,” he quickly composed himself before speaking. “What is it Maki?”Releasing his collar, she spoke in a hushed tone.“There's nothing here, despite how freaked out that idiot is, we should probably put something in your video to spark interest.”“You mean… clickbait?”“Whatever,” She rolled her eyes. “How can you use the inherent creepiness in this house to your advantage?”Mind drawing a blank, he put his hand up to his face in thought, chewing on his nail.(It wasn’t the best habit to have, yeah, but he had latched onto seeing his mother do it in their minimal interaction during his childhood. Regretfully, he had picked it up, and nothing he seemed to try made him stop.)“Well, I could knock something off the wall…? Maybe that would be scary?” He suggested awkwardly, moving balance back and forth between his feet.“Have you seen a single horror movie in your life?” Maki balked, a disappointed look on her face.“Ah- no..? They make me nervous…” He chuckled, trying to break the momentary silence enveloping them."Alright well, you're smart enough, you can think of something. I’ll bring him over in a few minutes."Sighing, Maki walked away, returning to Kaito a few doors down. Looking up at the ceiling, he fell into deep thought
What does she want from me? I don't think Kaito would exactly enjoy this, but it isn't my call...
He paced around the room, taking off his bag and grabbing his tripod. As he set his camera up, he muttered under his breath,“Maybe I’ll just… shout or something. that’ll get Kaito at least..?”“Have you ever played a prank before? That's suuuper boring,” Shuichi stiffened, as he felt a hand place itself on both of his shoulders.Why are so many people touching my arms today? Ah-! Hold on, is that...?It was the same voice. The voice from the hallway that had terrified him. That eerie dramatic voice that couldn't be Kaito or Maki. And yet it almost was like he had heard it before this too… He recognized the voice from somewhere.As he turned his head he felt like everything was going too fast, but also… too slow. It seemed like time had stopped and he was the only one moving at all. Finally facing his mystery companion he saw-“Boo.”A boy. Smaller than Shuichi by a few inches at least, with a mess of purple hair in a… was that a straightjacket?"You’re—!" he gasped“I’m-!” The boy mimicked, widening his eyes in a manner he assumed must've mirrored his own.Letting go of his arms, the boy backed up flashing him a mischievous smile, and… were his shoes not touching the ground?“AAH-!” His shout was muffled by a cold hand clamping over his mouth.“Shhh! Geez you’re jumpy arentcha... Can you quiet down pwetty pwease~?” He cooed, staring at him with his playful violet eyes.Shuichi nodded vigorously, desperate to be freed from his (albeit loose) grip.“Good, that's muuuch better isn’t it? We’re all friends here.” The hand fell from his face.This couldn’t be happening, could it? It must be his brain playing tricks on him. There is no way there is an honest to god ghost here right now. This has to be Maki and Kaito playing a prank on me, right? Was this boy from the theater club?Though yes it may seem cliché to think, it was all that was running through his head as he stared dumbfounded at the person standing in front of him.“Y’know, I was thinking of scaring that other guy, but you're really spooked! Score one to me, nishishi~.” The boy teased, pacing around him in a circle slowly.“Who- Who are you?” He stammered in response, weakly lifting his hand to point at him.“You don't recognize me Shuichi? I'm so hurt!” Tears welled in the boy's eyes as he spoke, clasping his hand over his chest.All the color drained from Shuichi’s skin. He reached his hand out to him, mouth open in shock.“I'm sorry, where do I know you from…! Can you please remind me??" As he attempted to navigate the situation properly and not upset him further the boy in front of him... started laughing.Laughing and wiping away his tears as if he hadn't just begun crying a minute ago.“Huh-?”“Nishishi~ yes, we were lovers in a past life of course! I was an evil overlord and you were my personal servant~!”Shuichi stared ahead at him.Is he messing with me? There's no way that's true..."But who knows, I do lie a lot y'know? It's kinda my thing."He grinned, placing his hands behind his head and tilting back on his heels."Your name is Shuichi, right? That's what the girl here with you called you. Is she your girlfriend or something~?" He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. It had been months of following Kaito and Maki around with a camera and they had never once seen a ghost. Never once had he dealt with supernatural visions or experiences, but now it was undeniable. His two friends were off doing who knows what waiting for him and he was standing here talking to a ghost. A real ghost, standing in front of him.The room seemed to spin as a day's worth of stress and confusion hit him like a ton of bricks. Backing up until he hit the old bed, Shuichi slid to the floor, clenching his hands into fists. His nails dug into his palms as he attempted (and failed) to get ahold of himself and respond to the person in front of him. "Woah, are you seriously crying? I... I was lying, I'm just messing with you. What did you wanna know? My name?" Biting back a sob and ignoring his words, Shuichi released his grip on his own palms and put his face into his hands, unsure of what to say. It was pathetic. Crying infront of some poor guy he doesn't know.
He’s dead, he has enough problems already… he doesn't need to deal with me crying.
"Hey Shuichi! Is everything alright in there?"Breaking him out of his own head, Kaito shouted from the other room.
But Kaito is terrified of ghosts... I need to keep him out until I can get this one out. But I don't know how! He doesn't seem malevolent but he's a GHOST. I don't deal with ghosts!
“Sidekick?”Loud footsteps came down the hallway as Shuichi attempted to get to his feet and fix himself up before-“What's going on-! Woah man, are you crying..?” Kaito burst through the door, Maki seemingly absent, and pointed at the boy in front of them. ”Who the hell is that guy?!”The purple-eyed boy’s jaw dropped as he turned pointedly to Shuichi with a fearful look on his face. “Crap- you have an exorcist with you? You didn’t tell me he’d be able to see me Shuichi!”At the mention of an “exorcist”, Kaito’s eyes went wide. “Is… is he-”“A ghost?”“A GHOST?!” Kaito quickly scrambled back by the rotted bed with Shuichi, sliding behind him almost as if to use him as a shield.“Sh–Shuichi, can you see him?” He stammered, leaning against the bed for support. “You never told me you were an ex–exorcist Sidekick!”It was hard to tell how Kaito was feeling. There seemed to be a mix between disbelief, fear, and excitement in his tone. He was an enigma to say the least. Before he could respond to Kaito, a figure entered the room, and a slam rang out throughout the small space.“Ghk-!”Unbeknownst to Shuichi and Kaito, Maki had come into the room, grabbing the ghost by the neck with her left hand and shoving him against the wall next to them. She held a golden hunting knife to his face with her right hand, pink tinted blood dripping down the boy’s jaw where it connected.“What do you think you’re doing?”He tilted his head away from her knife, giving her a cocky grin as if he wasn’t bleeding and choking for air.“What am I doing? Talking to my dear friend Shuichi of course, right Shuichi? Tell your girlfriend I’m a good guy!”“I-I.. Huh?” He stuttered, pulling his hair over his eyes."Girlfriend!" Kaito shouted indignantly. Where did Maki even get that knife from? Did she have that hidden in her pockets this whole time?As he silently pondered, Kaito pushed him aside, tentatively walking over towards Maki,“Hey Harumaki, slow down a bit, maybe he–”“Shut up and go stand with Shuichi. I can take care of him.” Maki stared at him, speaking forcefully. Kaito gratefully obliged, taking refuge from the ghost and Maki behind Shuichi.“W–woah there killer girl,” The ghost began, raising his hands up by his head, “How about we talk this out-”“You're not the one asking the questions.” She put the knife up to his chin, releasing him from her grasp. “Who are you, what are you doing here?”“Ngh- finee… My name is Kokichi, this is my evil lair, and you’re all intruding on my afterlife.” He groaned, lowering his hands and fidgeting with his sleeves.“Your evil lair?” She raised an eyebrow at the statement, repeating his words.“Yeah, my evil lair, I’m a world famous evil supreme leader, and I could have your head for this y’know? My armies still exist in the near shore.”“If you’re a self admitted evil spirit, then I’ll exorcize you right now.” She lowered her knife down his throat, pushing inward slightly.“E–exorcize?” Shuichi stammered, “Are… are you seriously an exorcist?”Maki turned her head, glaring at Shuichi with murderous rage. He shuddered, averting his eyes and shrinking from her gaze.“That moron has been saying it this whole time.” Kaito squawked in protest at her use of moron, but Maki ignored him, continuing. “I don’t blame you for not believing him, Shuichi. I shouldn’t have left you alone in this room.” As she began to return her gaze to Kokichi, he pushed her arm away and slipped past her side.“Thanks for the distraction Shuichi! You’re awfully useful!” He grinned, making a run for the door. Kaito, emboldened by the days worth of snide comments and insults, pushed Shuichi aside, and shouting,“You’re not getting outta this supernatural!” He ran after Kokichi, who failed to dodge his attack as Kaito grabbed him by his arm and slammed him down into the floor. “A–aghhh.. Ouch ouch ouch- Dammit…” He groaned, face pressed against the ground by Kaito’s knee as Maki walked over with her blade.“Send this evil spirit to the afterlife so we can get outta here Harumaki!”This wasn't right. It wasn't fair, and it was gonna be Shuichi’s fault if they exorcized him in an attempt to “protect” him. Watching Maki bring her knife down to Kokichi's neck, he felt his heart lurch. In a moment of agreement with himself for the first time all day, Shuichi ran over, grabbing Maki by her arm and pulling the knife away.“Hold on-!”As he spoke, Maki wrestled her arm free, pointing the knife at Shuichi as he yelped and backed away.“Maki-!”“Do you wanna die?”“H–huh!?! Maki please!” Shuichi pleaded, looking between Kaito and Maki, both of which were staring at him like he had two heads.“Why are you doing this man? He was gonna attack you before I showed up?” Kaito frowned, pressing Kokichi harder on the floor as he whined in protest.“Attacking?!”“He wasn't attacking me, he's not an actual evil spirit, he said he was just lying about that before you got here.” Shuichi attempted not to get too emotional, but his attempt was in vain as he practically begged Maki.“Please just stop… Do you really need to exorcize him?”“You have no idea what you're doing Shuichi.” Maki growled, lowering her knife. “It doesn't matter if he's evil or not, he's a spirit. An exorcist's job is to eliminate spirits.“Hold on Harumaki…” Kaito raised his knee slightly from Kokichi’s back. “Isn’t it protocol to check what they’re still doing here? Their unfinished business matters,"Kokichi dug at the floorboards with his nails, pulling himself forward slightly in an attempt to escape before Maki stepped hard on his hand.“Escape isn’t an option. Stay still, or I’ll throw this knife into your skull.”“Aaagh-! Ow ow okay I’m sorry I’m sorry-!” He groaned, going limp against the floor.“What would you know about protocol, you’ve never even exorcized a spirit.” Maki hissed, turning to look at Kaito. “You don’t have seniority on this matter, you’re only here because you forced your way in. And now look what's happened.” She pointed at Shuichi, “You dragged Shuichi into this, and he could've been attacked by an actual evil spirit, not just that one.”Kokichi let out a meek whimper in protest, as Maki wiped at her eyes.
Was she crying? Maki never cries.
“You don’t even understand what this means, do you?”“Maki-” Shuichi cautiously spoke up, moving to stand next to her. When she didn’t point her knife at him, he continued, “I understand- well… No. I don’t understand what you’re feeling right now, but he didn’t hurt me. I’m okay.” He smiled weakly, pointing down at the boy on the floor, still trapped under Kaito, who gave him a nod to continue talking.“If there's a reason he’s still in this house after he died, wouldn’t it be the fair thing to do to find out why?”“Life isn't fair.” Maki grimaced, looking him in the eyes as she spoke. “I-I’m not alive… if that counts for anything!” Kokichi quipped, raising his unrestrained hand.“He’s also an asshole, and I don’t want to deal with whatever his unfinished business is.” Maki frowned, as if his last comment has proven her point.“You should at least give it a shot, Harumaki!” Kaito smiled, “Maybe if we finish his unfinished business we’ll all be less freaked out by ghosts!”“All?” Shuichi gave him a questioning look.“...fine.” Maki grumbled, putting her knife in a sheath from her pocket and securing it on her belt. Kaito grinned at her, as she waved him off of the boy on the floor.“If you do anything to disrupt my life, or anyone else's lives, I will eliminate you.”“Mmm... yeah yeah, “ get it. You’ll kill me with your big scary knife, whatever,”Kokichi glared at her, standing up and brushing off his clothes. He twisted to look at the back of his jacket. “You got your dirty footprints all over my jacket. Honestly, exorcists are such animals.” He glared at Kaito indignantly. “Who cares about your jacket man, just tell us why you’re hanging around the near shore.” Kaito groaned, crossing his arms over his chest.“I care Kaito. I’ll mail you my dry cleaning bill,” Rolling his eyes, Kokichi turned to Shuichi, strolling over to him and leaning up to his face.“You’re pretty reliable Shuichi, how about you ditch these jerks and be my friend instead!” Shuichi slid back, putting his hands up, “I don’t know anything about you Kokichi…”“That's the best part!” He grinned, placing his hands out at his sides. “You don’t know anything about me! That means I could tell you that I actually died in a mechanical accident and you would BELIEVE me!”“Hey! Shuichi isn’t stupid, why would you be here if you died in a mechanical accident, dumbass!” Kaito complained. Kokichi rolled his eyes.“Because I like the aesthetic?” “How did you die, Kokichi?” Shuichi interrupted their conversation before it could descend into an argument. There was more important information to be found, and if he knew-“Dunno.” He shrugged. “I was walking to rehearsal for the play at my school and I lost consciousness. Woke up here and I was dead.”“Which school? Do you have any memories after passing out?” Maki asked coldly, joining in Shuichi’s interrogation.Kokichi looked between the two of them and whined, placing his hands over his ears.“Lalalala~ I’m not listening! Enough questions for today, you guys are giving me a headache!” “You’re insufferable, that was two questions and this isn't your-”“Hey, it's getting late anyways, how about we come back here tomorrow after school and finish our investigation then! I’m sure Shuichi will think of some good interrogation questions for us!” Kaito placed his hand on Maki’s head, causing her to get silent fast, before pushing it off, and grabbing a chunk of her hair to fidget with.“Whatever… We shouldn’t force all the investigation on Shuichi. He isn’t going to be any help in a possible murder investigation.”“Ah… yeah…”While wounded by her words, Shuichi did agree slightly with Maki’s sentiment. He wanted to see the truth behind what happened. But why would it matter if they found Kokichi’s killer if he was already dead? What if he found the wrong person and they got convicted? It would just be a nuisance to everyone around him, and Kokichi wouldn’t get the benefit.
He also doesn't know Kokichi. So why was this case drawing him in so much? Why was part of his brain desperate to know what happened to him?
“Don’t underestimate yourself Shuichi!” Kaito frowned, maintaining eye contact with him. “You’re a great detective! Who cares if you may make mistakes, or whatever happened last time you solved a case. Isn’t the fact you solved it what matters?”“What if-”“No what if’s. We're gonna solve this case.” Kaito brought his hand down onto Shuichi’s shoulder. “And, I’m gonna teach you how to do all the cool exorcist stuff me and Harumaki do!”“What-!” He choked on a gasp.“I mean, you can see ghosts! You must be an exorcist too right?”Maki stiffened at Kaito’s words, looking down at her shoes.“Don’t be so reckless. There's… probably a reason he isn’t already doing what we do.”“Nonsense!” He grinned. “Even if he isn’t the best at it, the impossible is possible! I’m gonna get you into shape Shuichi!”“Get me into shape…?” He laughed nervously. “Like…you're gonna make me work out?”“Me you and Harumaki are gonna come back here after school to train you as an exorcist, and solve Kokichi’s murder! How does that sound Ko-” Kaito paused, looking around the room. “Huh. He’s sneaky… He must've left the room…”“I’m right here…” Kokichi spoke, putting his head on Kaito’s shoulder. Kaito practically jumped out of his skin.“GOD!! You CAN’T do that shit... Freakin’ me the hell out.”Kokichi grinned, “Nishishi~ Awee… but it's super fun!”Moving away from Kaito, Kokichi stood again facing Shuichi.“So, you’re gonna be back tomorrow?”“Ah, yeah.” He nodded. “Are you alright with that?”“Wellll~ Y’see there's this curse I got placed on me that dooms anyone who lays eyes on me twice to fall madly in love with me! So if you’re alright with that, you can totally come back!” “Bullshit! Shuichi would never fall in love with you!” Kaito shouted, walking towards the doorway, Maki not far behind.“Rude… I was just lying anyway, but he totally might!” Kokichi pouted.Shuichi walked towards the door as well. Waving behind him.“I’ll see you tomorrow Kokichi, I promise.”“Sweet! Bye Bye Shumai~” “Wha-? Shumai?” Shuichi sputtered.“Who the hell is Shumai?!” Kaito exclaimed, staring back at them, as Kokichi broke into maniacal giggles.“Nishishi~ See ya!”Shuichi walked out of the room, following behind Maki and Kaito while fumbling with his camera in an attempt to turn it off.Was he recording that whole interaction? He’d have to check on his computer at home… Suddenly realizing what he had just agreed to do, one thought entered his mind;
What should he tell his uncle he’s doing tomorrow?
He absolutely couldn't know Shuichi was investigating another murder. Maybe he could ask if he knew of any missing teenager cases around town lately? Could those tie into Kokichi’s murder? He definitely hadn’t heard about it before today. Also– was he somehow an exorcist without his knowledge? He had a lot of pieces to put together in this puzzle. Waving to Kaito and Maki as they left the house after reaffirming their plans for tomorrow, he began his walk home.Tomorrow was important, his investigation and exorcist training were starting, and there was a lot to do to prepare.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The files hadn’t yielded much.Shuichi couldn't find a single record of a missing high schooler in their town named Kokichi. Although, he was hoping it was just because he didn’t have his last name. He’d have to jot that down in his notebook to ask when they got to the house for training later in the day...Speaking of training, Shuichi was less than thrilled that he was going to be attending. It was quite a bombshell to have dropped on you at 16 years old; that your whole life you had somehow never figured out you were an exorcist. Honestly, he wasn't sure he really believed it himself. Even if his perception of his own life was crumbling before his very eyes, classes were the same as ever. The consistency was nice. He didn’t dislike class either, it was honestly a bit fun. He liked the familiarity in his routine, it was easy and comfortable. Though he didn’t interact with most of them, he was aware of all his classmates, and there were no issues between them. If anything, they actually tended to come to him for help with minor mysteries in their life. Constantly explaining he was just a trainee and not a full fledged detective had gotten slightly irritating over time, so usually Shuichi tried to just help them with their little tasks. They were kinda fun. He liked helping people, it made him feel good about himself and his impact. Although he always felt a bit awkward receiving their thanks, that never got easier.Even if he had gotten any requests from his classmates today, he wouldn't have been able to fulfill them because of his obligation to the investigation. Which he really should be getting to right now.“Shuichi?”A hand placed itself on top of his head as he hastily placed his school supplies in his bag. Slowly straightening himself from his hunched position over it, he turned to face the voice.“I wasn’t sure if you were sleeping or not,”It belonged to Kaede Akamatsu, one of Shuichi’s few, non Kaito or Maki, close friends. She was looking down at him with concern“You look nervous. Well, you always look nervous…” She muttered, shaking her head and looking at him again with a sympathetic frown, “You look more nervous than normal, are you okay?”
Of course I’m nervous… I met a ghost yesterday, almost watched him get exorcized by two of my other friends and found out that I myself may be an exorcist. Why wouldn’t I be nervous?
“Ah– No I’m okay, just uh… Kaito wants to take me and Maki ‘training’ with him tonight?” Shuichi gave her a small smile, standing up and grabbing his bag.“Pfft- Training? Do you mean like… working out?” Kaede suppressed a laugh, not so discreetly looking him up and down.
That, and to kill spirits… But if I told her that she’d think I was lying.
“Yeah, he thinks it would be fun…” He laughed, nervously tugging at his bangs as Kaede rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure how to feel.”“Maybe I should make you some kinda workout playlist, I’m sure I could put one together!” She tapped her finger to her face, looking up at the ceiling as they walked “Even if you're not the most… athletically inclined… I could record something when I practice for my piano rehearsal tonight that may help!”Kaede was so encouraging… bright and shining like the sun. Shuichi had to admit he was definitely intimidated by her light. It was still shocking that someone like her had decided to pick him as one of her friends. Then again, he could say the same thing for Kaito, and although she hadn’t chosen him of her own free will, Maki.As they approached the hallway leading to the auditorium, making idle conversation about nothing, he stumbled backwards. Someone had run hard into his side, interrupting his train of thought and conversation with Kaede.“Wha–?”“Shuichi, you should really watch where you’re going.” Kaede scolded him, giving the girl, who he now realized had dropped a stack of printed fliers, a look of exasperation, and kneeling down to pick up the papers from the ground.“She ran into me…” He mumbled, rubbing his shoulder where her face had connected. Ouch…Kaede ignored this, looking up at her with a sympathetic smile.“Are you alright?”The girl had long hair, bangs covering her eyes, and a frown on her face, as she stared down at the dropped fliers. Her brows furrowed as she looked up at Shuichi and Kaede.“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” She grimaced, pushing her tangled hair out of her face and quickly taking the papers from Kaede’s hands and placing them aside on the ground.Joining them on the floor, Shuichi grabbed a piece of paper from the pile.“Ah– I’m sorry, I should’ve seen you… Please let me help,”Before he had a chance to see the paper, two other girls came around the corner. They all must’ve been friends, considering the matching accessories he noticed each of them wearing.“I thought I heard you run into someone ! I told you this was a bad idea, this is karma for being silly.”The taller girl with pale brown hair sighed, bending down to assist.“Now you involved some poor couple in your nonsense…”“Couple?!” He sputtered, face flushing as he heard her words. Meanwhile, all Kaede did was laugh and shake her head.
Easy to laugh when you're out of the other half of the “couple's” league.
Shuichi thought mournfully. He didn't particularly have feelings for her, but if he did? Oh boy.“What are your fliers for?” Kaede cheerily questioned the girl who had run into him, seemingly brushing off the “couple” comment much quicker than Shuichi was able to.“She’s convinced one of our friends is missing.” A quiet voice spoke from above them, coming from the girl still standing with her arms crossed over her chest.At the mention of a possible missing student Shuichi stiffened. Could this be connected to the disappearances in relation to the house he had met Kokichi at? Maybe it was, and he’d actually have some concrete information to give Kaito and Maki. This could bring them one step closer to finding the killer before they even interviewed the victims.“Missing?” He interjected, looking at the girl who had run into him as she began to argue with her friends.“I’m not convinced he’s missing. No one has seen him for weeks. He would be legally missing if anyone wanted to report his disappearance.” Grabbing a paper off the pile and finally looking up at him, with uncomfortable intensity in her glare, she handed Shuichi a poster.“Have you seen my friend?”The familiar grinning face of the ghost he had met in the house yesterday stared up at him. “Kokichi Ouma..?”Shuichi muttered. There was the last name he was looking for, and a confirmation that he had been a student at the school that they attended. Despite giving him a bit of relief on the name part, this also answered another question– why had he seen nothing in the missing persons database? Making a mental note of these things that he’d write down later, he shook his head.“I haven’t… I’m sorry,”It was a lie.Well, it was actually more akin to a partial truth. Shuichi hadn’t seen him alive, he had seen him as a spirit. But what else was he meant to say? That he had met this boy’s ghost? He wasn’t going to be the one to break the news that he was dead, especially with his only proof being “I saw his spirit yesterday” He felt his heart lurch at the thought of someone having to inform his friends he had died.Kaede glanced at the paper in his hands, slowly shaking her head no as well.“How long have you been looking for him?”“He’s been gone for two weeks. Today actually makes 18 days.” She grumbled. Standing up, papers in hand, and handing a pile to each girl with her. “They think he just ran away again, and I think they’re morons.”“Because that's something he does Hoshiko.” The taller girl spoke bluntly, fidgeting with a charm on her necklace. Each girl seemed to be wearing the same one– a 6 sided die. “This is normal for him. I get being concerned for him, but you’re getting a bit too freaked out…”“Has he ever gone no-contact for weeks at a time before? No.” Hoshiko countered, “I have a gross feeling about this, and I’m not gonna ignore it because you guys don’t care. I will find him.” Turning to look at Shuichi and Kaede one last time, she stormed off down the hall.“Gah–! Hoshi, wait!” Quickly, the taller girl walked after her, shooting an exhausted look to her remaining friend.“She’s usually nicer than that.” She sighed, taking a beat before turning to face them.“Well she has a point, why do you guys not care as much as her?” Kaede crossed her arms, staring at the girl in front of them. “K–Kaede!” “We do care, but Ko always talked about running away. He used to just disappear sometimes, which would freak everyone out, and then he’d show back up.” She spoke calmly, a small frown crossing her face. “He’s always done stuff to get a rise out of people.”“Do you have any idea where he used to go?” Shuichi spoke up, folding the missing flier and putting it in his bag to show Kaito and Maki later.“He never really told us, usually all we gathered was that whatever he said about where he went wasn’t true–”Her voice was cut off by a chime from her phone.“That's probably about the posters…” She mumbled, grabbing the few remaining fliers from the floor. “I know it's weird to ask strangers, but if you have any information you think is important, Hoshiko put her number on the signs. I’m sure she’d love to hear it.”Watching the girl walk away, he felt the pit in his stomach grow, gnawing at his conscience. None of them even knew they’d never be seeing their friend again. “Shoot–” Kaede spoke up, intruding on his self pity, “I gotta get to the auditorium, I have a recital next week to practice for.”“A recital?” momentarily distracted from his nauseating anxiety, he turned back to face her.“Mhm~! I have a piano recital next Saturday, are you able to make it?” She glanced at her phone, then back at him expectantly. Her smile was so bright… so reassuring… It was like all his nervousness over solving the murder subsided when he saw it.“Of course, I’ll be there.” He smiled, “I wouldn’t miss it,”“Yay!” She cheered, “You better not!”After pulling him into an awkward side-hug, which caught him wildly off guard, Kaede walked off down the hall, waving over her shoulder.As he straightened out his uniform, he heard a distinct ringing from inside his pocket, loudly alerting him of a notification on his phone. [Kaito
Meeting @ house at 5pm! Exorcist training :))
Did you review the footage from yesterday?
Bring anything you found about the spirit! :D]
Right… exorcist training. Woohoo!...
Aside from the feeling of impending doom that stemmed from the mere thought of training with them, Shuichi was actually looking forward to seeing Maki and Kaito. If he could ignore the dread he felt over working out with them.And a small part of him was ready to see Kokichi again too. Call it “detective's intuition”, but he had a feeling that the mystery surrounding that boy was twisted. The lack of an official police report after two weeks of zero contact or sightings, his possible amnesia around how he died and to who? That piqued Shuichi’s curiosity. Who had he been in his life? What was left unfinished in his life that he still had to finish? So many questions and so few answers to them.Although, he was completely happy to let Kaito or Maki take the lead on the investigating aspect of this. Even if that was just his own anxiety talking, Shuichi was terrified of being wrong about this. What if he wrongly led them to a killer? What if evidence he found didn’t hold up legally? Would there ever be anything but misery waiting for those involved?They weren’t things he wanted to think about, but he couldn’t help it. Things had gone all wrong last time. He had promised himself, and his uncle, that he wasn’t going to take on a serious case again. The risk was too high. But for some reason this was… different. The murder was alluring, almost magnetic. Shuichi wasn’t gonna make a mistake on this case. He was going to put Kokichi’s spirit to rest one way or another. ____________________________________________ The house was just as creepy during the day as it was at night, if not even more.It was nothing short of decrepit. Rotting exterior and a big red condemned symbol on the formerly impressive wooden columns holding up the covering to the entrance.Even if it had looked the same yesterday, Shuichi was looking at it with an entirely different perspective than he was before. It wasn’t just a house, it was a house that was actually haunted. A house connected to at least one death. Those rumors everyone had spread were absolutely 100% certified to be true. The house was actually haunted.And there he was. Standing outside of this monumental building, with two of his friends, getting ready to train his latent exorcist abilities. Preparing himself to question a dead boy who admitted to lying for his own enjoyment.It was hard to believe.While Shuichi had spent the last few hours wallowing in his own pity over the thought of how difficult this was going to be, Kaito clearly had not. He actually seemed excited.“Shuichi!” Kaito shouted excitedly, “You ready to learn how to harness your exorcist abilities today!”No.“Yeah, I guess so.” He smiled slightly, waving at Maki behind him.This felt like yesterday. It was already falling into familiarity. Walking together to the house like yesterday, now without his camera and instead his school bag. He would’ve dropped it off at home, but that would mean questions from his uncle or aunt about where he's going and what he's doing. Unlike some, he wasn't the biggest fan of lying.Walking inside the house, Shuichi followed close next to Kaito. Until a book slammed into the wall directly above his head.“Hey–! Who the hell threw that!” He shouted, looking around the seemingly empty room.“Sooryy~ She was aiming at me,” Kokichi peeked around Kaito’s shoulder, making his presence known. While sufficiently terrifying Kaito, it only earned him a look of pure contempt from Maki. “She?” Maki stared at him, turning her sights on the rest of the room.“Where the hell did you go you little shit!!”The ‘she’ they had been referring to must’ve been the girl with the singed blonde hair who had aggressively stomped her way into the room while they had been focused on Kokichi. She sounded pissed, and she had a half-melted chunk of metal in her hands. Based on the book that had launched itself at Kaito’s head, that didn’t seem like a good sign.“Just because you're a sneaky fuckin’ runt doesn't mean you can hide from me Kokichi! I’m gonna kick your ass into the far shore for this!”She immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw Maki and Kaito, seemingly ignoring Shuichi, who was only standing slightly behind them.“Huuh-! Who the fuck let two pervy lookin’ exorcists in here!” She whimpered, shrinking back and holding the object in front of her defensively, “I can feel their eyes on my smoking hot body!”“Pervy?!” Kaito glared at her incredulously. Maki, meanwhile, just looked exasperated. Kokichi floated out from behind Kaito to stand next to the girl, hand on his chin as if he was in thought.“I see the vision, but even guys with creepy goatees don't go for nasty girls like you Miu. You’ve got nothing to worry about!” The girl wilted at his words. “Ghk-! What the hell... You and your damn lies, any man worth his salt would wanna get with the Miu Iruma…”She seemed to come to her senses, realizing that Kokichi was now next to her, and that she had just been throwing books at his head minutes earlier.“Hold on– Don’t get chummy with me bitch! I’m still pissed at you!” Miu harshly grabbed Kokichi by his shirt (which was different from yesterday's straightjacket… Shuichi would have to ask about that) and dragged him closer to her.“Can you get your greasy hands off me? I think we both know where those have been…” He grimaced at her, peeling her nails out of the fabric of his shirt as she shrunk away from his insult.“Fuck you man! Y..you’re the one who blew up my invention...”Kokichi materialized behind Shuichi, touching his cheek with a cold hand.“Watch out for her Shuichi… She's super mean, and she's a slut, the worst of both worlds!”Deciding to ignore the foul language he had used to describe her, Shuichi managed to insert himself into the conversation.“Who is she?”“Another spirit.” Maki grumbled, “As if one supernatural wasn’t enough.”“Hah-! I’m sure he’s seen me before in his sexual fantasies, I mean look at me, and look at him!”Shuichi and Kaito exchanged a look. He could tell he wasn’t going to be fond of this girl from the way his head hurt every time she spoke. “Uhm… What's your name?” He added awkwardly, attempting to ignore her rude remark.“Are you sure he’s an exorcist?” The girl raised an eyebrow at him and looked him up and down. “Just looks like your average anxiety ridden dweeb to me!”Ouch… Harsh. That one hurt more than the last.“Your name. Now.” Maki placed her hand on her pocket, where Shuichi assumed her knife was stored.“This gorgeous woman standing in frontta’ you is Miu Iruma. Virgins all over the world fall to their knees at the thought of me, so you may not wanna leave that emo boy’s side for a while!”“Emo-?” Shuichi looked down at himself with a frown. Somewhere in the room he could hear Kokichi’s giggling.“Well, since she’s here, how about Harumaki and Shuichi start interviewing her,” Kaito suggested with a grin, not so subtly backing away from the ghost.“Ah– are you not going to help Kaito?”“Nah, I’ve gotta… get everything ready for your exorcist training y’know? It’ll save us some time! Plus, I was thinking after we finish and it’s dark we could go outside to look at the sky!”To say Kaito loved space was an understatement. When Shuichi and Kaito had first met to film a ghost hunting video, they had run a bit later than they thought they would, and by the time they finished it was night. Kaito had spent an extra hour explaining every constellation and planet in sight in excruciating detail. He would never tell him this, but before this, Shuichi had never thought about Kaito in terms of booksmarts. But, Kaito was so knowledgeable about space it had completely changed his tune on helping him out with his filming. His passion was infectious, it was the reason he had stayed around doing this crazy stuff, it was the reason he became friends with Maki, it was why he didn’t only rely on himself all the time.“I wasn’t planning on asking you to help anyways.” Maki popped her knuckles as she spoke. “Even if you are only saying that to get away from the ghosts.”“HEY-!”“The fuck you mean ‘ghosts’!” Miu shouted indignantly, approaching Maki and Shuichi as Kaito quickly took his leave. “I only see one ghost in this room and it's that bastard over there!” Pointing her finger into Maki’s face, she motioned with her head to Kokichi.Shuichi glanced at Kokichi, who shrugged, before turning his attention back to Maki, who had grabbed Miu by the arm.“N–nghh–! Le–let go of me bitch”“Don’t put your finger in my face. What do you mean you’re not a ghost.” Maki ignored her pleas, dragging her closer to her body.“Ah! Maki you should really let her go–” Shuichi reached for them as Maki gave him a piercing glare.“You really should, she’s probably into that,” Kokichi snickered, materializing behind Shuichi and spooking him. That, of course, only made Kokichi laugh harder. So far he wasn’t a huge fan of this habit of his.Maki rolled her eyes, releasing Miu from her grip, who made a meek sound at Kokichi’s comment and rubbed her arm. In an attempt to create peace with her, Shuichi cautiously approached her to question her.“Why do you believe you aren’t a ghost?”“I don’t speak to emo losers,” She turned herself away from him, speaking matter of factly.“I can dress however I want to-!” Shuichi spoke slightly louder than he intended, emotions getting the best of his judgment. Only so many insults were able to be handled in succession like this, but he truly didn’t intend to yell at her.“Eek-!” Miu squeaked, facing him with abject terror in her eyes.“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to–”“Look at what you did Miu!” Kokichi pouted, interrupting Shuichi by placing his arm around his shoulders, “You upset my newest subordinate! You better get down on your knees and beg like a dog for an apology.”“Subordinate?” Maki questioned, as if taking the words out of his mouth.“Yesterday when we met I claimed him as part of my pack, I can do that because I’m the alpha.” Kokichi grinned, giggling at his own words.Before anyone could comment on that, someone groaned from the other side of the room.“Eeugh… There's no such thing as an ‘alpha male’ you degenerate…”A girl with long green hair shuddered, floating ever so slightly off the ground, similar to Kokichi and Miu. She glanced at him, giving him a disgusted look.“Please say another man didn’t die here…” She scrunched up her nose, looking Shuichi over analytically.“Wha– No I’m not dead…” He muttered, “Who are you?”The girl ignored him, instead turning to face Maki,“I just ran into a degenerate male exorcist walking out of this house, is he under your watch?”“Yes, he’s with us.” Maki had a hint of shame in her voice, as she turned to face Shuichi. “You said you have a notebook with you? You should start writing any information we learn here down so we can review it with that guy later.”He nodded, placing his bag on the floor momentarily to pull out a small notepad. It wasn’t that full currently, only a few basic observations, but it was a start. “Welll~ Miss scary exorcist, what's going on with these interviews?” Kokichi pondered, standing in front of Maki, his hands resting behind his head. “I have a feeling they're just an excuse to get us all alone so you can threaten us with that knife of yours…” “K–kokichi–?” Shuichi attempted to counter his words, to no avail, because he was interrupted. “Knife?!” Miu jumped, reentering the discussion and grabbing the melted part of her invention off the ground. “Screw that! I am not dying here!”The second girl shook her head sadly at Kokichi and Miu, again ignoring Shuichi in favor of speaking to Maki.“I wouldn’t mind if you killed the boy, but I can personally vouch for Miu’s safety”“Hey!” Kokichi whined in protest, “Not fair, I’m a former evil overlord, and Miu is just some cum stained shop towel!”"Cum stained?!" Miu gasped, her nails digging into her thighs above her knees. Their banter was honestly a bit overstimulating...“I promise that Maki won’t stab any of you, we just want some information surrounding your deaths, ” Shuichi offered, hoping Kokichi would use the ‘leader’ talent he preached to get the girls to cooperate with him. Before any of the spirits could respond–“Don’t make promises on my behalf, if they try anything I plan on erasing them.” Maki shot Shuichi with an irritated glare, then turned to stare at the three ghosts.“Haha… Sorry–” He laughed nervously, pulling his hair over his eyes to hide from her piercing eyes.“I’m not angry at you, you apologize too easily.” She sighed, staring at him as if he had just done something blatantly dumb. Pointing at the three ghosts, she spoke authoritatively, “Shuichi is going to ask you questions. No matter how pathetic he sounds, you’re going to answer his questions honestly.” Maki stared down at Kokichi specifically while she said ‘honestly’. He gasped, hand clutching his chest as he spoke incredulously,“Why I never! Me? Lie? It’s so rude to make assumptions like that Harumaki~”Maki’s gaze hardened as she put her hand over the knife in her pocket.“Do not call me that.”Shivering for dramatic effect, Kokichi backed away, hiding himself comfortably behind Miu.“Whatever you say Harumaki!”Before she could take a step forward, Shuichi took hold of her arm lightly, shaking his head as if to say, ‘Don’t bother, it's not worth the energy.’She shook him off of her, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly. Understandable, considering her preexisting dislike of nicknames being combined with her current hatred of Kokichi.“I’m going to find Kaito, I’m not letting him skip out on the annoying part of this because of his ridiculous fears.” She sighed, turning to Shuichi, “If anyone tries anything, this should keep you safe.” Maki dug in the pockets of her jeans and pulled out a small bracelet. It was made of red string, with a golden star hanging from it. He held out his wrist, as she carefully tied it on.“It’s a protection charm. For until you… get your exorcist training.” The second part seemed like an afterthought as she secured the knot.“Thank you!” He smiled, “I really appreciate it,”A flash of something he couldn't discern crossed her expression, as she nodded curtly, turning her back to him and leaving the room.Take a deep breath, it's all gonna be okay. Just a few questions and then he can go do whatever training Kaito has planned. Shuichi looked at the spirits. Pulling out his notebook, he attempted a smile before beginning to question them.“Uh– alright, I have just a few questions for you guys so you should get comfortable.” He paused, as Miu and the other girl grumbled under their breath. “It shouldn't take too long, so– w…wait, where did Kokichi go?” Everyone remaining in the room looked around, confused. Those deep breaths were for nothing if he was just gonna be on edge the whole time.As he turned back to them, there Kokichi was. Between the two girls as if he hadn’t just disappeared.“What–?”“I’ve been here this whole time! What’re you looking around for? That was kinda silly of you Shuichi.”It was going to be a long evening. “Alright… I already know you two’s names, but I need to ask again for my notes, is that okay?”Miu rolled her eyes, as Kokichi nodded vigorously,“Alllright~! I’ve always wanted to be questioned by a real detective! Nishishi~” He cheered, throwing his hands in the air and hitting both other spirits in the face.The girl (whos name Shuichi still wasn’t sure of) growled,“Ugh– watch where you’re swinging your hands, you… you degenerate!”She stormed over to Shuichi, getting too close to his face for comfort,“You listen to me, male…” She grimaced at him, flashing a disgusted look as she got close to his face, and he shrunk back. “I’ll comply with your so-called ‘questions’, but if you even attempt to do anything to me or Miu, I won't show you any mercy.”“So-called questions”? What was that even supposed to mean…“Keh–! I don’t need your protection Miss-andary!” Miu scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I promise, I don’t have anything too strange to ask… But ah– please let me know if I’m being weird.” Shuichi nervously took a step back from her.It was already stressful enough to be questioning murder victims. But, this was just teetering on the edge of too much for him. So far he had gathered that he was questioning a liar and a prankster, a self absorbed girl with an extremely foul mouth, and a raging boy-hater who could probably take him down in one punch.Thank god for Maki and her foresight.“Okay, I’d like you all to state your full names and ages.” Shuichi paused. “Please,”He clicked his pen, scribbling absentmindedly on the page to make sure it was working. As he did, long black tendrils came out of the top. At least that was going right for him today. His pen dying may just have been his breaking point. Maybe.A moment of silence passed, compelling him to speak up, “Ah– Uhm, my name is Shuichi Saihara, and I’m 16,”It was an awkward introduction, he’d admit, but maybe it would get someone else to speak up. At least he hoped it would.After a beat of continued silence, during which he slowly felt his face heat up in embarrassment, the so far unnamed girl spoke up.“Tenko Chabishira, 17 years old.” She seemed calmer than before, her anger had subsided slightly. Although she still didn't seem too enthusiastic to be talking to him, considering the permanent frown etched on her face.“Tenko… Thank you,” She nodded, and Shuichi turned to look down at Kokichi. He had clearly made himself comfortable on the floor, he was sitting with an exasperated look of his face as toyed with his hair.“Whaaattt….” He groaned, pouting. “You already know my name Shuichi, so asking me is just a waste of all of our time. Y’know you are a lot more boring today than yesterday.” Kokichi put his hands on his hips.His attitude was annoying to say the least. Hadn’t he just told Shuichi he wanted to be questioned? Was that a lie? Obviously that wasn’t unexpected, but he wasn't particularly loving that habit so far. He himself wasn’t a big liar, hence why lying to Kokichi’s friends had been weighing on his heart ever since he told them that he hadn’t seen their missing friend. “Please, I just want to hear you say it once,” Shuichi gave him a pleading look.“Ughh… Finee, but only because you look so miserable, and I kinda feel bad.” Kokichi conceded, the win went to Shuichi. “But careful, after you know it, don't dare say it three times in a row!”“What does that even mean–”“Stop being a fuckin’ nerd for once and say your damn name!” Miu groaned, rolling her eyes so hard they probably would have fallen out of her head if it were possible.Sticking his tongue out at her, Kokichi stood up, and brushed himself off. “My name is Kokichi Ouma, I’m also 16, andd~ I lead a double life as an evil overlord.” Kokichi grinned, took a small bow, and sat back on the floor.Shuichi chose to ignore the ‘evil overlord’ comment until later, writing ‘delusions of grandeur?’ next to his name before looking at the one remaining girl in the room."The fuck you lookin at Emo-hara, I ain’t talking to you!” Miu scoffed, glaring at him.Deep breaths. So many times today he needed those reliable deep breathing techniques that his uncle had taught him over the years to deal with nervousness. Although this wasn’t nerves, it was a big knot of annoyance slowly coming undone in the back of his brain. “Hurry up and introduce yourself, bitchlet, I’m sure Shuichi’s eyes must be burning from looking at your ugly ass for so long!” Kokichi declared, scowling at her.“Huuuh–!” Miu whined, confidence shriveling. She turned to Shuichi with teary eyes, “Miu Iruma, 16. And for your information, I’m not dead, because this… gorgeous genius would never… let herself die!”The breaking in her voice didn’t seem like it was all from Kokichi’s insults, and the slight shaking he noticed in her hands didn't either. Had it truly taken however long she had been dead for her to realize? Shuichi didn’t exactly know how long she had been dead, he assumed not too long by the look of her clothes and makeup, but still. Isn’t death jarring? Shuichi had always assumed it would be. It had been, to him at least. Was everyone’s experience regret and panic, every mistake you’ve ever made playing in your head like a sick movie? Would that not make you think it truly was the end? Or, was he just super unlucky. In nature’s laws did it state “death is calm* (*for all except Shuichi Saihara)”Before he had started living with his uncle he had experienced a few near death moments, and no matter how badly he had wished they had just killed him at the time, that terror always took over.It had been a while since Shuichi felt that. Although he really couldn’t remember exactly how long, he knew it had been at least a year. Baby steps, but steps nonetheless.“Alright, Thank you.” He gave Miu a smile in an attempt to be reassuring, the message was poorly received, and she groaned, sitting down on the floor with considerable distance between herself and Kokichi. “I’d like to also know how recently it was that you uh–” He glanced down at Miu apprehensively, “--ended up in this house…”Good save, touchy topic avoided.“Ooo-!” Kokichi shot up, straining his arm to raise his hand high in the air, “Pick me! I’ve got an answer Shuichi! Pick me, choose me–!”“Do you ever shut up!” Tenko groaned, clenching her hands into fists that were dangerously close to Shuichi.“You can’t speak to your adoring, kind leader like that Tenko,” Kokichi whined, tears welling in his eyes, “You’re all s…so mean to m..mme… I just wanted to… h..help Shuichi!!”It was almost like the killer had chosen three people who clashed most and killed them all in the same place just to cause problems.“What were you going to say?”Kokichi wiped the questionably real tears from his eyes, giving Tenko and Miu both dirty looks.“I’ve been here since 1969, some time between July 22nd and November 25th!” He grinned. His lie may have been believable if he didn’t know exactly how long he had been missing.“That's… a lie.” Shuichi sighed, pulling the folded missing poster out of his pocket, undoing it and handing it to Kokichi, who grabbed it quickly.“Whuh–?”“I mean, unless your friend was lying to me. But based on her face… I wouldn’t think she was.”Kokichi had no response to that, his face was flat… unnaturally blank and lifeless. Did the poster upset him? “Well I made my first genius invention in that basement like 2 months ago.” Miu declared, standing back up and pointing one finger into Kokichi’s face. “And this little cunt just destroyed number 59!” He shuddered, grimacing as he lightly pushed Miu’s finger off of his face.“Eww… Get your whore hands away from my mouth, I don’t want to taste your filth!” Before Miu could respond, Tenko, who had been pacing circles around the room, pushed through them,“I’ve been here the longest. Three months.” She paused, before quickly scowling at Shuichi, “By the way don’t think I’m answering these questions for you, degenerate. This is only happening because that exorcist girl said I should.”“Well… I’m an exorcist too?” He laughed nervously, not even completely sure of the statement himself to be honest.“Pfft– I’m not answering because she's an exorcist! It's because she isn’t a man!”“What?”The disgusted look returned to her face as she looked at him,“Men are nothing but worthless creatures who exist to do nothing but drain girls!”That was… Something he wasn’t going to even attempt to pry at today. Or ever to be exact. He wasn't a therapist, he was a detective.“Alright… Well thank you for your honesty.”Before he could even take back the statement, Kokichi gasped sharply, making Shuichi wince.“I heard that Shuichi!” Kokichi materialized behind him, a gust of cold air washing over him as he did, causing him to shiver.“You’re so mean, y’know! Lies are how I express myself.”“Do you need to ‘express yourself’ during a murder investigation?” Shuichi raised an eyebrow at him, looking over his shoulder.“Aren’t detectives meant to make the victims of criminal acts feel comfortable? I may just need to report you to your manager.” Kokichi pouted, his face turned down as he looked up at Shuichi.Was now the time for Shuichi to realize how small Kokichi was in comparison to him? He must’ve been a bit smaller than Maki, not only in height, because he seemed quite thin. And was the gray-ish hue to his skin always there, or was that because he was dead? If he had taken his hand when he was alive would it have been as cold?No… These weren’t appropriate investigation thoughts. Or healthy thoughts in general, he barely knew him.Banishing the images to the back of his mind, Shuichi needed to get a real answer out of Kokichi on how long he had been dead. Considering the relentless buzzing in his pocket from his phone he had to assume Kaito was done setting up whatever training he had prepared and Maki was on her way to find him.“I need you to answer me honestly Kokichi,” Shuichi responded, trying to prevent his desperation from entering his tone. “I won’t be asking any more questions today if you tell me when you died.”Kokichi exhaled loudly, crossing his arms.“You’re lucky you’re my favorite Shuichi. Fine, I’ll tell you when I died, and as a little bonus, what I remember about it!” He smiled, reopening his notebook and hoping the dizziness he felt every time they spoke would subside,“Prepare yourself for the story of the century! Ah-hahaha~” He grinned wide, giggling almost manically, “The twisted tale called the Disappearance of Kokichi Ouma!”“Get on with it cockichi, your ass is gonna clean up the mess you made outta my invention!” Miu shouted at Kokichi for the final time before opening a bedroom(?) door and slamming it shut as she got inside.Tenko, apparently, had wandered off, or maybe she just needed a new room to pace around.So that left Kokichi and Shuichi. Alone together for the first time since yesterday, as Kokichi was about to maybe tell the truthful story about how he had found himself in the very home they stood facing each other in right now. “Well, you got the gist of when I died from that poster you have,” Kokichi gestured to the paper that he had very unceremoniously left on the floor.“Ah– yes, I wrote it down earlier, I mainly would like to know the circumstances leading to your death,” he noted, idly shaking his pen between his fingers.“So, on that day, I was with my subordinates,” He began, disappearing and reappearing rapidly back in the straightjacket-esque outfit he had been wearing the day before.“Subordinates?” That may have been less than helpful in his serious investigation, but it did aid in the confusion over if ghosts could change clothes.“Yuppers~ My organization and I were leaving the school after rehearsal for the drama club play,” He took a few steps forward, pantomiming the opening of a door.“Is this ‘organization’ the drama club?” He questioned, looking up from his notes.Kokichi stared blankly at him, shaking his head.“Nuh-uh, it’s totally seperate”
That has to be a lie…
“It is not a lie! I hate lies and jokes, Shuichi.”
How did he know–?
“I bet you’re thinking ‘How did he know!’ right about now!” Kokichi snickered, speaking in a mocking tone.“Ah-!” “The thing is, after 10 years of being an overlord, you get mind reading powers!” He put his hands at the sides of his face and wiggled his fingers.There was no point in arguing, he was just going to keep creating more elaborate lies with every question.“As I was saying!” Kokichi continued, “I was leaving rehearsal. It was around 8:00,”“Eight? How far along in rehearsals were you?” he pondered aloud, writing the time on his notepad.“It was the week before the show, you may have been unaware since you occupied your time filming Kaito get scared by fake ghosts.” Kokichi added matter of factly.“Haha… True…” He smiled, shaking his head.“I separated from our group because I had left my phone backstage, and as I was walking across something slammed into my head, and I passed out.” Kokichi mimicked being hit in the head, and floated himself softly to the ground face down.
Hit on the head… I’ll have to check with Miu and Tenko if this is a pattern next time I see them. Although, Kokichi is surprisingly the most bearable to be around alone.
“Was that when you–”“Heyy! Shhh…” Kokichi looked up from the ground and waved his finger at Shuichi. “Hush! I’m not finished!”“Ah– I’m sorry…” Backing down submissively, he returned to his notes, “So you got knocked out around eight at night?”Kokichi nodded, standing up and disappearing swiftly to change back into his t-shirt and shorts.“After that, who knows. I must’ve been drugged or something, because my memory’s super fuzzy.” He picked at his nails as he spoke, and upon seeing the disappointment Shuichi was struggling to hide, “Awwww… Sorry Shuichi! You disappointed?” He cooed, “Yeah, I only remember that the killer wasn’t too strong, because they could hardly drag me around after I went limp!”“You were dragged here?!” His eyes widened, and he turned his notebook to a clean page.“Oopsies, was I not meant to tell you that?” Kokichi tilted his head to the side.“N–no! That's actually important. That means you were killed here, correct?” His pen scratched against the new surface beneath it as he wrote.“Yup! Not sure where though, Tenko thinks my body was moved when I died, so I woke up in a different room.”Before any more developments could be made in the conversation, the door leading outside through the kitchen opened.“Shuichi, Kaito wants to start your exorcist training now.” Maki made herself visible in the doorway, “You know how annoying he can get, so you should get moving.”Kokichi frowned, whining loudly, and high pitched,“Nooooo! I was just about to have him complete the blood sacrifice ritual to join my organization!”Maki ignored his protests, opting to continue her conversation with Shuichi instead,“We’re outside through this door,” She pointed behind her, glancing at Kokichi, “He said no ghosts. I thought he’d be good practice for you, but I assume he didn’t tell you much.”Shuichi stifled a laugh at Kokichi’s dramatic reaction.“Well, I know when I’m not wanted,” he lamented, frowning at Shuichi, “I better skedaddle before Miss exorcist shocks me into oblivion.”With a smile and a wave, Kokichi disappeared for the final time that day.“Come on,” Maki pointed next to her on the ground.“Ah…haha… why are you calling me over like a dog…” “You follow Kaito around like one.” She said dryly, before motioning him to follow again, which he did.
Was that meant to be a joke?
It wasn’t a long walk to the clearing in what used to be a backyard where Kaito and Maki had placed their bags. Considering there was nothing set up, Shuichi assumed that Kaito had simply refused to enter the house with the ghosts and Maki had been stuck out here to keep him from freaking out.“Shuichi!” Kaito grinned, beckoning him and Maki over. Kaito didn’t seem to have particularly planned his outfit around the idea of training. To be fair, neither had Shuichi, the idea didn’t even cross his mind in all honesty.Kaito always tended to wear a lot of loud colors and patterns. He had to assume he was partial to space themes because of his astronaut aspirations, but it wasn't atypical to see him in bright flashy colors.“Me and Harumaki decided today’s lesson should be more general preparation for your actual exorcist training.” Kaito announced, in his typical loud manner.“Huh?” What was that even meant to mean? Shuichi carefully placed his bag on the ground next to Maki's.“He didn’t explain his idea well enough.” Maki sighed, “What the idiot means is he wants you to exercise. You need to get a bit stronger.”“Yeah! That's what I said! Now c'mon sidekick, let's get started!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Who would’ve thought exercising hurt so bad.Maybe it had been hard on purpose. Maybe, just maybe, Kaito was just some kinda sick sadist freak who wanted every single fiber in his body to be on fire.Or, the more likely answer, he woefully overestimated how many pushups Shuichi had done before. The goal Kaito set was 100, and he had barely made it to 30 before he collapsed into the ground, struggling to breathe or move his arms.By the time he had gotten back to his uncle's apartment he had barely enough energy to stumble into his room before he ended up falling asleep on his floor. No pillow, no blanket, just cold hard floor. Which wasn't conducive to a pain-free back and neck. And face, that wood indent was definitely gonna take longer to disappear than he'd like. Midnight Shuichi was a lot less logical than daytime Shuichi.Another great thing about sleeping this haphazardly, that Shuichi had found out the hard way, was that your clothes from the night before were still going to be sticky and awful when you changed. A very fun thing to deal with before he took quite possibly the longest shower of his life. He had planned on burning these clothes, but it didn’t seem like the safest option, so he decided against it.Which quite possibly would’ve made him late to school, if he hadn’t heard the warning knock on the bathroom door. He didn’t think it had been that long, he tended to give himself plenty of time for circumstances like this where he felt particularly uncomfortable with himself. Maybe I slept in today? It’s possible I missed my alarm… He wondered, turning off the water and grabbing his uniform either way.Shuichi assumed that the knock must have been his aunt or uncle, who knew when he left for school, and that he should probably hurry and change before he got any more distracted.Though when has anything been that simple lately.When he opened the door, still haphazardly buttoning his uniform shirt, tie hanging loose on his shoulders and still with wet chunks of hair obscuring his vision, he “saw” a face staring back at him, stifling a laugh behind his grin.“Wow, how handsome~” Kokichi – who had somehow managed to get into his house – teased him, reaching his fingers to Shuichi’s face and pushing his hair away from his eyes, “You should be a cover-model or something Shuichi. I’d rate your appearance five stars!”“Why are you here Kokichi?” He ducked away from the hand, grabbing his phone off the bathroom counter, revealing he still had plenty of time to finish getting ready before he’d be late for school.“I came to warn you that I sent a nuclear bomb to your school this morning, so you should probably stay home today!” Kokichi peeked into the bathroom, showing up as a blur in the mirror next to him. That was jarring, until Shuichi’s sleepy mind remembered he was in fact a ghost. Baby steps… baby steps…“You don’t have access to nuclear bombs.” Shuichi muttered, leaning around him to grab a towel, “So that's definitely another lie…”“Awe, you got me! I did before the whole death thing though.” Kokichi pouted, clearly lying again, “You’re really no fun in the morning Shuichi, total bummer.”Brushing him off, he rubbed his hair with the towel in a moderately successful attempt to dry it enough that it wouldn’t be dripping on his back and his shirt.“You never answered my question Kokichi, how did you get into my house.” He paused, giving the gears in his mind a moment to wind while his face was still obscured, “And how did you know where I lived?”Kokichi shrugged, using his palms to push himself up to sit on the sink, then he took an object out of his pocket, waving it around with a mischievous smile,“That moron exorcist just left it out in the open last night! Being the compassionate evil overlord I am, I decided to snatch it so no one would steal it!”Sure enough, when he looked up Shuichi saw an oh so familiar phone in Kokichi’s hand, with a text pulled up from when Kaito had needed his address to preview a video edit on his computer.“So you showed your compassion by committing a crime?” He questioned, discarding the wet towel and for the first time all morning getting a good look at Kokichi. He was wearing another unfamiliar outfit, prompting a secondary question, “Did you also steal those clothes?”Kokichi looked down at himself, placing Kaito’s phone on the counter. He’d make sure to grab it before they left so he could return it.“Why would you ask that? Do you see something you like Shuichi?” He widened his eyes in mock shock, tugging at his collar to fan himself, “And you took one look at me and assumed ‘good thief’? Oh my~ I’m blushing!”“I.. never said you were a good thief,” Shuichi muttered with a small smile, earning the satisfying sight of Kokichi’s jaw dropping in shock, “I just assumed you died in the straightjacket, so you must have taken those.” He sighed, glancing around him at the mirror to fix his shirt.“Well just because I died in it doesn’t mean I can't change clothes. Also, rude.” Kokichi pulled his jaw off the floor, and reached over, tugging at a strand of Shuichi’s hair before he pulled his head away, “I had a few changes of clothes in my theater bag, and whoever killed me left this in the house for me!”He proudly showed off his shirt, a harsh neon teal color with white text stating, “I died and all I got was this shirt.” How classy.“Aren’t they just the sweetest! I mean if they hadn’t killed me I would’ve asked them to join my organization!” He exclaimed.I guess that explains the piles of clothing in the bedrooms. He thought, recalling the strange room he had come across before seeing Kokichi. Miu and Tenko must have some there too.“Ah– yeah, the mysterious, not the theater club, organization…” Shuichi nodded, leaving the bathroom and grabbing his bag for school off his bedroom door as Kokichi trailed behind. “Yup~!” Kokichi placed his hands behind his head, making his way to the door before Shuichi and simply walking through it.Which definitely caught him off guard. Until he remembered, yeah, he can do that. He’s a ghost. Don’t be judgemental, it was too early for the laws of physics to be broken in front of him.“Tell me again why you’re at my apartment Kokichi?” He said wearily, glancing over at the boy as he hovered next to him.“I’ve decided to return to my studies!” Kokichi beamed, “Although I did read this magical spellbook once that gave me all the knowledge in the world, I need a good reminder sometimes.”His mind went blank.“Oh. Okay…?” He responded wearily, focusing a higher percentage of his energy on not complaining about his sore… everything than the nonsensical lies.Kokichi must’ve seen his vacant, confused stare, so he clarified slowly, as if talking to a little kid,“I’m gonna follow you to school today Shuichi.”Oh.“I think Maki would kill you.” He sighed, stepping outside into the cold, just now realizing he should’ve thought to grab another jacket in late fall.“And she would have every reason to!” A different, yet familiar voice spoke. Tenko stood outside the apartment building, hands on her hips.“Oh yeah! Tenko practically begged me to come!” Kokichi looked at her, cringing at the sight of her before turning back to Shuichi. “Please! I’d never beg a degenerate for anything. I wanted to make sure he would stay in line.” She snorted, shaking her head and ‘joining’ their walk to school. Although she did make a point to stay at least 5 feet away from Shuichi. “No, but she toootally just lied!” Kokichi retorted, jumping off the ground to hover next to Shuichi. “She couldn’t care less about me! She just wants to see this girl she has a major crush on!”“A girl?” He faltered. If Tenko had someone special in her life, maybe he could question her about her disappearance. So far he had really only been considering talking to Kokichi’s friends, but of course Tenko, and even possibly Miu, would have some close friends that were worried about them. Shuichi wasn’t sure why he had only considered Kokichi when he planned his questions, but maybe he could ask Kaito to go talk to people they knew with him.“My feelings for her are more than a ‘crush’!” Tenko declared in a threatening tone, “What, do you have a problem with it, male? If you do, I won't show you any mercy.”Before he could begin to stammer a response, Kokichi broke into a fit of giggles,“You think Shuichi would have a problem with your crush on Himiko? Have you seen him!”“What is that supposed to mean!” He gave Kokichi a horrified look, which only made him laugh even harder.“God stop my stomach hurts–!” Kokichi cackled, practically doubling over as he held onto Shuichi for support. “It was not that funny.” He muttered, pushing Kokichi’s hand off his shoulder, and ignoring his antics. “Psh– Typical boy behavior.” Tenko grimaced, pointing her finger aggressively at Shuichi, “I only have pure and innocent intentions mind you! I just want to make sure Himiko hasn’t been brainwashed by that little cult leader!”Momentarily pausing laughing, Kokichi grinned, “Yeah me too! I’m the only one allowed to brainwash the innocent, so.”“Liar!” she growled, “I’m talking about the student council! In my absence she may have turned to them for comfort because of how much she missed me!”There was clearly a backstory here that Shuichi was missing, but he didn't have the energy to ask right now. He honestly just wanted to lie down for another hour to give his aching body a break. Missing school wasn’t an option though. He had to put together a plan to question people who knew all the murder victims, and now make sure Kokichi and Tenko stay out of trouble. Emphasis on Kokichi of course, with his unpredictable nature.It’s gonna be a long day.— — — — — — — — — — — — —As predicted, Kokichi decided to be a problem.As soon as they had gotten to school, Tenko had run off to find her friends from when she was alive, leaving him and Kokichi together.All alone.It wasn’t exactly easy to communicate with him either, which was clearly driving Kokichi crazy. He didn’t think he’d have to explain that going into school and loudly talking to ‘yourself’ made you look mildly insane, but there he was, saying exactly that. To this, Kokichi made an exaggerated vow of silence, pantomiming zipping his mouth shut.This, of course, didn’t stop him from trying to distract Shuichi from his school work.Class went with little incident for a few hours. Only minor things, like Kokichi wandering around his classrooms, snatching various things from people. Meaning Shuichi had to look at him very angrily without seeming weird to his unaware classmates. Well, without incident up until his fourth class of the day, right before lunch break. After rummaging through his bag, Kokichi had pulled out Shuichi’s notebook that was being used for his investigation into the disappearances linked with the house. Flipping past all the evidence notes and nonsensical facts of the case so far, he landed on an empty page.Grabbing a purple pen out of his bag with the notebook, Kokichi scribbled something down before sliding the page on top of his math work.
“I’m bored”
He glanced at Kokichi, who was floating next to the desk, his arms resting on the surface and the rest of him trailing behind as if he was laying down mid-air.
“You could always go back to the house.”
Shuichi angled the pack back to him, returning to his work. It had to be less than a minute later that he felt a hard tap on his shoulder, and the notebook obscured his work once more.
“Ew no lol. I wanna do something fun”
Kokichi smiled at him, taking the page back to add more to his thoughts.
“Can you close your eyes for 1 sec??? Plz”
Confused, he wrote back,
“No… I don’t trust you.”
He glanced at Shuichi’s response, putting his hand on his heart as he gasped. That almost made him laugh, which he reprimanded himself for internally as Kokichi scribbled down more.
“RUDE :P”
He put the paper back in front of Shuichi harshly,“Sorry” He shrugged at him. He had already figured out he wouldn’t be getting any of his homework done during this class, so he turned in his chair to face Kokichi better, who was doodling by his apology.
“:P :P :P :P”
“:p”
Kokichi noticed his drawing, giggling, and continued to question him. (Isn’t he the detective here? The dynamic was all messed up)
“What r u doing 4 class”
Yes he used the number four on his note. Shuichi felt so bad for all his former teachers who had to read his essays.“Algebra.” He grabbed his classwork, handing it to Kokichi, who looked it over and gagged theatrically, placing the work back on Shuichi's desk and shoving it as far as possible from himself.
“You like algebra more than you like me :/”
He wiped at his eyes, crocodile tears falling from his eyes and onto his notebook, never hitting the paper. That must also be a ghost thing.
“What does that even mean?”
Kokichi smiled at him, no longer crying, and changed the topic in his notes.“Plzzzz close your eyes, PLZZZZZ” Quickly adding another part, “Trust me! I’m very trustworthy Shuichi <3”He would admit, it didn’t take much to wear him down. Shuichi reluctantly closed his eyes, embracing the ability to rest them for a bit.“Yay!” Kokichi beamed, speaking for the first time since he had vowed silence earlier in the day. That must be some kind of record, because otherwise he seemed to always be talking. Not that he really minded. He wouldn’t say that to Kokichi though.As Kokichi did whatever he was doing, Shuichi could hear him humming quietly. It sounded… nice. Kinda soothing in a sense. He had a nice tone. It wasn’t a song he recognized, probably something from the show they were performing in a few days. Well, he himself wouldn’t be performing, unless he possessed one of the actors. Was that possible? Could he actually possess someone, or was that only fictional spirits? Pro tip; never think too much around Kokichi Ouma. Ever. Do not ever make this mistake. Getting lost in thought was a bad, bad idea.“Tadaa~” Kokichi sang, slipping Shuichi’s phone out of his pocket as he opened his eyes, facing the camera right at him.His jaw dropped. There were doodles and nonsensical words written all over his face. When he pushed his bangs off his forehead that was somehow covered too, even though he had never felt his hair move once in the few minutes his eyes were shut.“You look great Shuichi!” Kokichi swooned, running his fingertips lightly over his cheek, “Who did your makeup? It's gorgeous~!”Shuichi had to suppress a scream as he glared at Kokichi, physically shaking with anger. Never had he wished for Maki and her exorcist knife more than he did right now. Screw training, he wanted his spiritual power right now to zap Kokichi silly right here right now.“Oh don’t look at me with those cold eyes, Mister Detective!” Kokichi cooed, with an evil grin, “I did you a favor! That edgy eye makeup was nice, but this is way better!”He glanced around the room, eyes locking with Kaede, who couldn’t see him, meaning she was staring straight at Shuichi.He had never seen Kaede so confused in the entire course of their friendship.Before he could think of how to respond, instinct kicked in, and he immediately covered his entire face with his hands, feeling it heat up under his fingers as the bell rang to end class.“That's my cue, I’m gonna do some exploring!” Kokichi spoke his thoughts out loud, “Cya Shuichi!” Patting him on the top of his head, Kokichi left the classroom. Well, he assumed he had. Shuichi’s face was still buried deep in his hands until Kaede grabbed him by the arm and practically dragged him out of his chair and into the bathroom down the hall.“We’re in the girls bathroom, but I locked the door, so no ones coming in,” Kaede sighed after closing the door, grabbing his wrists and pulling his hands away from his face.“Kaedeee…” He groaned miserably, “How am I supposed to get this off...”He could tell she was trying her best not to laugh as she responded to him. At least she was trying not to. Kokichi was unapologetic. “You’re lucky no one saw this, go over there,” She motioned to the counter between two sinks, “I have makeup wipes in my bag, I’ll clean this off for you.”Once he had dragged himself over to the counter, she cautiously approached him, lightly wiping his cheek with the cold makeup remover.“Should I ask?” She had a sympathetic smile, attempting to coax an answer out of him clearly. But again, what was he supposed to say? That the ghost boy he met earlier this week was very very mean to him today?“No…” He mumbled. She nodded, grabbing another wipe from the package and starting to get the pen off the other half of his face.“Can you move your hair? I have a headband if you need it.”Shuichi pushed his hair out of his face, shaking his head slightly. If Kaede had a headband in her bag it was definitely not something he would wear of his own free will. He was already humiliated enough by Kokichi’s prank, he didn’t need to add insult to injury.“You know, you should totally wear this to my concert this weekend,” Kaede teased, “I think you’d fit in perfectly.”Her joke momentarily distracted him from the impending sense of doom, and the fact that Kaede was extremely close to him. The proximity was very… awkward. One time when she had tried to teach him to play piano he thought his brain was gonna fry he was so nervous about it.“I should not,” He laughed, “I look like I’m crazy…”“Maybe you are crazy,” She shrugged, “I saw that video on Kaito’s channel you posted a few days ago. I don’t think I could handle that much screaming in terror in one day without hitting that guy.”Shuichi had honestly forgotten that he posted a very edited version of the footage he had gotten when they first investigated the house. He of course had cut out the section where he had run into Kokichi. Someone who already wasn’t keen on being filmed definitely didn’t want what looked like him crying over absolutely nothing on the internet forever.“There!” Kaede moved her hand off his face, nudging him to look in the mirror.When he turned around, his face was completely clean. He was honestly convinced that Kaede Akamatsu was an angel sent straight down from heaven to save his life.“Thank you so much Kaede,” He looked back at her in the mirror.“Oh, I grabbed your phone from your desk by the way!” She admitted, grabbing it off her bag and handing it to him, “I think Maki was texting you.”When he looked at his phone, sure enough, there were two missed texts from Maki. Quickly, he sent back his response.
[Maki
Did you want to interview Kokichi’s friends.
I’m available after school today.
Yesh I can
*yeah
Okay.
You have the phone number from the poster, right.
Mhm : )
I’ll meet you by the arts hall after class.
Alright, see you then]
“Are you ready to get outta here Shuichi?” Kaede asked, walking in the direction of the door.“Ah–! Just one second!” He said, using the photo of Kokichi’s missing poster in his gallery to get the phone number of the girl from the hallway. Typing it in, he sent her a text as well.
[Hoshiko
Can I meet with you after school to talk about
your missing friend?
Just want a bit of your time to ask some questions. Sorry for the inconvenience.
dure lol
**sure
Im in the play 4 drama clyb so we can talkj
while im doing my makeup 4 runthrough.
had to cast a new lead bc kokichi disappeared
so im stuck w/ it now ]
Satisfied with her answer, Shuichi put his phone back in his bag, and walked over to Kaede.— — — — — — — — — — — — Maki was exactly where he thought she would be after class.On time, as she always was when she wasn’t lagging behind with Kaito, Maki stood in front of the arts hall with her bag hung on one of her shoulders.Maki exchanged a glance with Shuichi, before he knocked on the door leading to the dressing room near the theater. “She said to meet her here,” He muttered, feeling an unusual lack of a presence behind him. Kokichi really had been trailing him all day huh? Maybe he went to find Tenko? Or did the idea of seeing his friends make him uncomfortable? If it was the latter he knew he’d never admit it to him.The girl with the pale brown hair from the other day opened the door a crack, peeking out.“Oh god.” She groaned, closing the door promptly into his face.Dejected, he turned to Maki with a frown.“Sorry for wasting your time, I could just text her later–”Before Shuichi finished his apology, Maki turned to face the door at the sound of talking, himself not following far behind.Shuichi pressed his ear against the door, attempting to hear the conversation, until the door opened without warning.“Ah–!” He stumbled forward, being caught only barely by Maki, who had grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him back.“Careful.” Beneath Maki’s stare, he felt like he could feel concern hidden deep inside of her. He attempted to smile at her reassuringly.“I’m alright, don’t worry.”She sighed,“You wouldn’t be a useful detective with a broken face. Wasn’t there a smarter thing to do than lean against a door?” She shook her head, “No wonder you’re only an apprentice.”… OuchThe girl who had answered the door was pushed forward by one of the other students in the room, who stood behind her with their arms crossed.“What do we say when we are rude?” they spoke condescendingly to the girl, a small smile on their face.The girl was not in the mood for this person's antics. Shuichi couldn't help but notice how similar it sounded to something Kokichi would've said. These were definitely his friends.“I’m 17, you’re not my boss.” She glared at him, turning back to Shuichi and Maki, rolling her eyes, “Sorry for slamming the door, I assumed Hoshiko forced you to come here so she could yap about her theories.”Somewhere behind the girl he heard an indignant gasp, eerily similar to what he had heard Kokichi do in the past,“Don’t act like I’m crazy Yui. He came here of his own free will,” Looking past the girl (Yui? That must be her name.), Hoshiko gave him a small wave, leaning around a doorway. “I just gotta finish getting into this stupid costume. I'll be out in a minute.” She grumbled, closing the door again.“Yeah, take your time.” He smiled, looking around the room at the people who were still in there.He immediately recognized the two girls from yesterday, and the fact that the matching necklaces they shared with Hoshiko was also shared with two people in the room. One of them was definitely larger than Shuichi, in height and strength, with red hair.. The other, who had been previously teasing Mika was around his own size. Their blonde hair was styled similarly to how Kaito did his. Chunks were spiked above his head, and others hung limp as he dragged a brush through it to take it down.There must have been at least one other girl in the changing room, as he could discern a few voices muffled through the door. About half of them had makeup or costumes on for the show the drama club was presenting. The others were dressed in all black, stage crew he assumed.The boy with the red hair noticed Shuichi standing next to Maki as his gaze shifted through the room, and narrowed his eyes at him.“Oh–! Shuichi, right?” He pointed at him with a smile, “You’ve done tech work for productions before.”Maki turned to him, eyebrow raised slightly,“What did you do for technical work? I find it hard to believe with how few pushups you could do that you were building sets.” She stated matter of factly, calmly stabbing a cold knife right through his heart.“I uh– I helped out with audio and things like that when we were first years,” He mumbled, shame coming over him like a wave. The fact he had helped out wasn't the problem, it was when he had. He had been extremely awkward during his first year at school, and spoke to practically no one. But nevertheless he should still have recognized the people in this room, right? Had he really gone an entire year without even looking at any of the people around him’s faces?"Yeah, I remember you asking me to tell Kokichi and Ren to stop messing around with their mics backstage.” He laughed, pointing at the person with the blonde hair, who made a sound of protest muffled by the hair ties they were holding between their teeth. “You also wore that hat all the time and never looked at anyone.”Before he had a chance to stammer an embarrassed response, the changing room door opened, Hoshiko walking out and muttering something under her breath as two girls behind her tugged at the costume she was wearing.It was a straightjacket that had become familiar to both Shuichi and Maki in the last few days. It looked almost identical to the one Kokichi had worn on the day they had met in the house.“This stupid ass costume is too big on me… Why couldn’t Kokichi wait till after the shows to disappear without a trace.” She grumbled, swatting the hands away from her back and walking to Shuichi.When she noticed Maki next to him, she stared at her, confused.“Maki?” She hesitated, tilting her head."Oh– Do you know each other?” He inquired. They did certainly share a look that implied they were acquainted somehow.“She lives at the orphanage I stay at.” Maki said calmly, “We aren’t close. She gets in trouble all the time.”Hoshiko rolled her eyes, shrugging and smiling at them.“They just hate me.” She quipped, “Maki is never around but we’ve both been there for the same amount of time.”Shuichi nodded. It wasn’t important enough to write down, but it did remind him to take his notebook out of his bag so he could scribble some illegible facts of the case as they spoke.“Okay uh,” Hoshiko started, “Lemme introduce everyone.”Hoshiko quickly rattled off half a dozen names connecting to each person in the room. In an attempt to remember each of them so he didn’t have to ask them, he wrote them down in his notebook. Mika, Yui, Naruse (but he said to call him Naru), Ren, Aori, and Nene.“Can you tell me about the last time you saw your friend?” He turned to face the group, Maki taking a seat on the counter behind him next to his bag.An uncomfortable energy immediately filled the room. It was like his question had thrown a wet blanket over everyone’s mood.“Ah– Uhm… Sorry… Did I say something weird?” He fidgeted with his bangs, obscuring half his vision with them. Sometimes he really did miss that hat from first year, having eyes on him was uncomfortable. It made him feel all gross and shaky.“Nah, you’re good man.” The blonde person that Hoshiko had called Ren spoke up, “It’s just weird being interrogated.” They turned and elbowed a girl with shoulder-length white hair, who had been distracted doing her makeup.“Nene, it's your turn to talk to the cop! Tell him what you know!”“I’m not a cop,” Shuichi interrupted, smiling at the girl who looked outlandishly nervous, “I’m uh– A detective I guess.” “You guess?” Maki mocked him quietly, “You should try sounding more trustworthy.”“Sorry…” He laughed, nervously turning back to Nene, “I’m just trying to help find your friend. My uncle is a detective, I just tend to help him out with cases.”Again, a lie. He mentally lamented, My uncle doesn’t even know about this case.He wasn’t trying to find Kokichi, he knew Kokichi was dead. Their real goal was to figure out who may have killed him. Considering the killer could very well be in this room, it felt like a good starting point. Shuichi also wanted confirmation that everything he had told him yesterday was the truth, and not Kokichi messing with him.“Kokichi… left this room a few weeks ago.” Nene looked at him, her voice quiet and whispery. “He went to get his phone backstage.”“We usually walk to our homes together.” Naruse nodded, freeing Nene to finish her makeup, “Me, Kokichi, Mika, Yui, and Ren all live in the same foster home.”“A foster home?” Shuichi clarified, writing information down on his paper as he heard it.“Yeah.” Mika affirmed Naruse’s comment, glancing at the other people he had mentioned who were still in various spots in the room, “Kokichi usually didn’t like to be there alone, but he was angry at us, so we just thought he was proving some kind of point.”“So you had a fight?” Maki deduced, fidgeting with her hands as she spoke.That explained the nervous energy that had come over everyone when he brought up the day Kokichi disappeared. Their fight was, in their minds, a contributing factor to his disappearance. That guilt had to be miserable. He couldn’t help but empathize with their pain. Then again, what if that had been why Kokichi was chosen to die? Maybe he was killed in an unrelated case to Miu and Tenko, and the location was a coincidence. Or maybe one of these people was the killer, and just took a golden opportunity.“What did you fight about?” Shuichi continued, scrawling “Possible suspects” by the names he had listed earlier.“I honestly don’t remember.” Aori, a girl with pale orange hair who had been helping Hoshiko earlier, laughed nervously. “I think it must have been kinda dumb, Ki is a bit of a crybaby sometimes.”“Yes. It was over something he wanted to do as a group.” Mika nodded, “ Probably stealing something, he was kinda a kleptomaniac.”That would explain why he had been so flattered at Shuichi thinking he was a thief. Because he was a thief.“It really wasn’t major. He just got really angry, and he left.” Naruse sighed, glancing at his phone before speaking to Shuichi again, “We can keep answering your questions, but everyone has to be on stage.”“Oh, alright, we can follow you guys.” He nodded, looking at Maki to non-verbally ask if she was ready.She must’ve understood, because she nodded, and slid off the counter. Another perk of investigating with Maki and not Kaito; she was a bit more perceptive. Not that Kaito wasn’t per se, he was just easily distracted and hard to keep focused.Meanwhile, Hoshiko, who had been silent for quite some time now, practically shot daggers with her glare at all her friends. “ ‘It wasn’t importanttt~! it wasnt that baadd~!’ He's sensitive!! “ She mimicked, rolling her eyes and standing up from her chair. “You’re totally not serious. You guys can't be that stupid, right?”Uncomfortable silence. Clearly no one felt like answering. She walked over to Shuichi, looking up at him, which he would admit, definitely made him nervous as well. Not for the reasons everyone else was though. She just looked uncannily similar to Kokichi. Her physical appearance was one thing, similar face and eyes, but the costume just made it more glaringly obvious. It was like… seeing a ghost? Which he couldn’t really be surprised to see, considering the week he was having. “I was the last person to see him before he disappeared.” She spoke calmer, more matter of factly, “He walked out upset, I followed to make sure he was okay, and he said he was just gonna grab his phone from backstage and go home.”“Last to see him… Alright,” He mumbled, writing it down quickly before she continued.“I told him to text me when he got home, or if he wanted to talk. He said okay, and no,” She paid, turning to her friends who were gathering their things to get on stage, “He wasn’t lying, he usually texts me when you all get home.” She grabbed her phone out of her pants pocket and pulled up her messaging app. When she handed the phone to Shuichi she clicked his contact, pulling up their messages and scrolling through a few examples of him alerting her he had made it home, along with various other conversations.“See? I’m being truthful.” She said, looking back at her friends before dramatically motioning to the door, “Well? Why are we waiting?”Begrudgingly, everyone funneled out the door, Shuichi and Maki lagging slightly behind,“So…” He whispered, “Same orphanage?”Maki glanced at him, sighing and motioning for him to start walking,“Yeah. Why are you so surprised?”“Ah– Well I’m not surprised, you just never really… talk about your personal life.” He smiled awkwardly, continuing towards the stage doors with Maki.“Is that a problem?” Maki retorted with a deadly stare.Shuichi shook his head, fidgeting with his hair to avoid her eyes.“Not at all, I was just curious…”Maki nodded curtly, walking through the door held open by one of the theater club members.As they stood on the stage, Shuichi couldn't help but feel like he was retracing Kokichi’s steps. He had said that he had been taken while walking across this very stage when he had been hit on the head and kidnapped. Lost in thought, he had accidentally slowed down, and was now a few feet behind Maki. This wasn’t something Shuichi realized of course, until heard a loud boom behind him. Jolted back into reality, his body tensed at the sound, the aftershock of whatever had just happened vibrated through the stage.“Oh shit!” Yui spun around, staring at something behind Shuichi. “That was close what the fuck–”“Shuichi! Are you okay?” Hoshiko sputtered, stepping closer to him until Maki held her arm out, pushing her back.“Shuichi, move.” Maki practically ordered him. He took a few tentative steps towards her.In response to the shocked looks and Maki’s ominous warning to get away from where he was standing, he turned around as well. There sat the source of the sound.Behind him a massive metal weight had fallen right where he had been walking, just barely not hitting his head.“Wh–what!?” He gasped, taking another step back from the weight. He hand grasped his chest near his heart, which felt like it was going to explode. “Where did that fall from?”Maki put her hand on his shoulder cautiously, pushing him back from the weight slightly as she walked over to take a closer look.“What are these used for?” Maki demanded, pushing the object slightly with her heel. She didn’t seem pleased at all. Was she worried?“It's a counterweight, for holding sets down and stuff.” Ren remarked, motioning with their arm to Naruse, who looked absolutely confused, “Naru is like the only one who can carry them.”“Yeah,” He muttered, “And I thought all of them were in the stage wings.”“So where did it come from?” She continued, making her way back to stand next to Shuichi. He wasn’t exactly sure if she was concerned or mad at him… Hopefully just concerned.“It must be from the catwalk.” Mika pointed above them to a metal walkway. No one was currently standing up there. Whoever had dropped the weight was gone. There was no evidence of whoever had just made that freak accident.Unless it was an attempt on my life… Shuichi shuddered, turning back to the others and giving a small smile. “It’s alright… It didn’t hit me, so no harm done, right?”“I just heard a loud sound, what happened?” An unrecognized voice spoke from behind the curtain. As the sound got closer he was able to see a girl walking over hurriedly. She had long blue hair, and red paint splattered on her face and her oval glasses.“Did someone trip or– Oh!” The girl paused when she saw Shuichi, smiling at him. “Hello Shuichi! I haven’t seen you since last year!” Tsumugi Shirogane. They had been classmates during his first year. He would say he remembered her, but again, his first year had been rough. She was nice enough though, despite her seemingly plain nature. He remembered she liked sewing costumes, and had tried to use him as a mannequin a few times. All of her attempts were unsuccessful, but she definitely had made them.“Sorry, something fell.” He motioned to the slab of metal on the ground. Tsumugi practically went paper white, her eyes widening as she rushed over to assess the damage.“That's plainly awful!” She lamented, looking over to the rest of the drama club, “Do you mind moving it Naruse?”“Sure, not like anyone else here can,” He shrugged, rolling his eyes at his friends. When he walked over to grab the weight and drag it off stage, Tsumugi shifted her gaze to Shuichi, extending a hand to him,“I know we met first year, but I can reintroduce myself! I’m Tsumugi Shirogane, Theater club president.” She smiled as he took her hand, shaking it lightly.“Uhm no you aren’t.” Nene mumbled, giving the remaining people around her a look.“Hm?” Tsumugi pulled her hand away with a confused expression.“Yeah, ‘kichi is president.” Hoshiko huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s only been gone two weeks, slow down before you take his title.”“Oh, uh… Silly me! I guess I forgot.” Tsumugi laughed awkwardly, “Theater club sitting president. I'm VP.” She emphasized, scratching at the paint on her cheek. That… was weird. How could you just forget that someone had disappeared when you saw them every day? Shuichi made a mental note to add Tsumugi to a list of suspects when she wasn’t around to see him write her name down. Though it may have been a mistake, and he didn’t see any motive. There was just something about her that made him… uneasy. It could just be nervousness though. “You ‘forgot’? How the hell did you–” Hoshiko started, before a hand was placed over her mouth.“Calm down, it wasn’t an insult, just a mistake.” Mika spoke slowly, despite her words she still had a look on her face that made her displeasure visible.“So, why are you back in the theater Shuichi? We already found someone to do mics for us a few weeks ago,” Tsumugi smiled, continuing as if nothing had happened.“Hoshiko asked me to look into Kokichi’s disappearance, so I was asking some questions.” Tsumugi backed up slightly from him, freeing Shuichi to write her name down under ‘suspects’ without her knowledge.“Oh, really? Well if you’re investigating local disappearances I heard there were also two missing girls from our school.” Tsumugi disclosed, “Though I don’t think Kokichi is really gone, I’m sure his friends have told you how he likes to run off!”Hoshiko looked like she was going to tear Tsumugis’ throat out.“I toootally agree~!” She ‘smiled’, which despite her cheery tone looked more like she was just gritting her teeth, before letting it fall, “which is what I’d say if I was lying.”Ignoring her protest, Tsumugi continued talking to Shuichi, and by association , Maki as well.“If you’re looking into that you should try talking to the people in the robotics club! I joined for a few weeks last year so I know one of the missing girl’s friends.”That was a development. Based on how he and Miu had been introduced, he assumed the girl in the robotics club had to be her. So far, they had no leads on anything related to her, which meant this may be a way to get another break in the case.“Oh, I think I know who you mean. He’s in my class.” Mika turned to Shuichi, “His name is Kiibo Idabashi.” “Ah–! Yeah!” Ren chirped, “Kokichi used to think he was secretly a cyborg or somethin’ because he acted kinda awkward and robotic.”That sure sounded like Kokichi.“I’ll tell Kaito that you two will talk to him tomorrow.” Maki offered, pulling her phone out to text him.“Can you tell him I plan to talk to the student council as well?” He asked, to which she nodded and continued typing.“Oh goodness– it's almost time for runthrough.” Tsumugi mumbled, smiling at Shuichi sheepishly, “I gotta get this paint off my face, but keep me updated on your investigation!”“Alright, I will!” He smiled, giving a small wave, which she returned before she ran off.He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, probably Kaito confirming when they’d meet after school tomorrow, assuming he had his phone back.“We should get backstage.” Aori chimed in, Nene nodding vigorously behind her, “Thanks for looking for Kokichi by the way, I still think he just ran away, but maybe if he gets caught by a detective he’d come back for good.” Both girls smiled at him and Maki, before walking off.“Pfft–” Yui giggled, motioning at Shuichi to the few remaining members on stage, “Look at him, Ko would totally come back for that.”“Huh–?” Shuichi gave a puzzled look, as Hoshiko started to giggle.“God stop– That's cruel.”“She’s not wrong, do you remember last year when–” Mika started, suppressing her own laughter barely, but before he could hear what she was saying two cold hands pressed over his ears. Shuichi jolted straight up, which elicited confused stares from the girls, and Ren, in front of him.“Woww… she was really just gonna say that! How rude.”Kokichi chided her from his position he had taken behind him. Maki gave him an icy stare, and he took his hands off of Shuichi. “Sorry Shuichi! Mika was talking out of line, I couldn’t let you hear that private organization information.”To be completely honest, he didn't want to see Kokichi right now, so he opted to not respond.“Awe, cmon are you still mad?” Kokichi grumbled, “It was just a prank! I didn’t use a permanent marker or anything!” Continuing to ignore him, he could’ve sworn he heard Maki curse under her breath.“W..what the fuck was that.” When Shuichi turned to the sound of the voice, Hoshiko stared back at him horrified.“Is something wrong?” He asked, attempting to understand what had scared her so bad as she aggressively rubbed her eyes.“I… need to… sleep or something I dunno… I swear I just saw Kokichi–” She muttered, staring right where Kokichi was standing behind him.“Girl what–” Yui was looking at Hoshiko as if she had grown a second head, “I think you’re going insane.”“You don’t see him flickering there!?” She exclaimed, pointing directly at Kokichi, who had an equally shocked expression on his face.Mika Yui and Ren all shook their heads.“Hoshi are you alright?” Ren cautioned, putting their hand on her shoulder.“Shit, am I actually crazy??” She choked, terror in her eyes as she backed away slightly.“Shit–” Kokichi echoed her words, hiding quickly behind Shuichi, who had to resist every fiber in his being that told him to look at him. Not only because he was mad, but because she was pointing directly where Kokichi was actually standing.“There's no way you could be seeing him.” Maki deadpanned, “He isn't here. You should calm down somewhere else.”Hoshiko let her arms fall from her face, listening to Maki’s words and nodding,“Yeah… you’re right…” She reluctantly agreed, “Thanks for taking me seriously Shuichi, go and find him alright?”“I’ll try my best,” He insisted, knowing deep down that the only thing he would be finding for her would be a body.When her friends followed behind, that left Shuichi alone on the stage with Maki and Kokichi. Kokichi immediately turned to Maki, pointing a finger at her accusingly.“Hey, Harumaki, why the hell could she see me? I thought only exorcists and–” Kokichi faltered, biting his tongue, “Exorcists and other ghosts could see me!”Did Kokichi notice the slight tremble in his voice, or was that something Shuichi had just imagined right then? Why would he be so upset? Shuichi wondered, turning his attention back to them before he got lost in thoughts and theories.“Calm down, she must be a low level exorcist.” Maki opined, seeming to ignore most of his statement except the nickname, “If you call me that again I’ll snap that finger off your hand.”Slightly relieved by her answer for reasons unknown to Shuichi, Kokichi lowered his hand,“She never told me about seeing ghosts before, how would you know that?” He challenged. To be honest Shuichi was a little curious himself.“I don’t think you deserve to know anything more about me and my life than is necessary, but if it’ll shut you up I’ll just tell you.” Maki sighed, taking a breath and composing her thoughts.“Alrighty! I make no promises!” Kokichi said happily, flashing her a smile that she declined to return.“Hoshiko and I live in the same orphanage. The orphanage itself is a front for an exorcist group, who raises children with spiritual power to exorcize spirits.” She gestured to Kokichi, and continued with acidity in her tone, “Spirits like you.”“I didn’t know about that.” Shuichi challenged, which earned him a response similar in tone to how she had spoken to Kokichi.“You didn’t know because I didn't tell you. It’s really none of your business.” Shuichi shrunk at her words,“Ah– Sorry...” He muttered, quickly changing the subject to avoid Maki getting any more irritated, “Do you know where Tenko went Kokichi?”“Nope! Not a clue,” Kokichi shrugged, shaking his head. He placed his hands on his cheeks and smiled playfully, “Maybe she's still stalking her little girlfriend~”“I’ll check the campus and make sure she goes back to that house.” Maki stated, grabbing Kokichi by the back of his neck, “You’re coming too. Shuichi needs to get home.”Clearly, Kokichi was not a fan of her doing this, because he immediately began thrashing around, “Wha–! Hey!” Kokichi shouted in protest, “Put me down! This is no way to treat an evil overlord!”Smiling, and attempting not to laugh himself now, Shuichi mouthed a quick ‘Thank you’ to Maki. She nodded, before walking away, silent despite Kokichi’s loud incessant protest.Revenge is sweet isn't it. It was true though, he did need to get home. Not only was he tired, he was still sore from training with Kaito and Maki last night. Also, he needed to make a list of people he still had to question tomorrow with Kaito. Kiibo Idabashi, and Himiko Yumeno, both added to his list of suspects in the recent disappearances.Hopefully tomorrow he wouldn't be woken up by a ghost at his door. Although he wouldn’t mind seeing Kokichi again. Yeah, he was annoyed by the incident earlier, but Shuichi still found himself hopelessly captivated by him for some reason. Originally it had seemed like the murder, but the more he learned about him when they talked, the more he wanted to find out. Not just how he died, but who he was. Which would be a hard task considering how guarded his heart seemed.But that wasn’t important, was it?No
No…
Now isn’t the time to be thinking about that. Shuichi would find out eventually, he knew he would. For the first time in an investigation in forever, he truly felt hopeful that he’d find the killer.