The Final Truth

The Final Truth - Chapter Four

As Shuichi glanced across the next few pages, he found he wasn't really reading the words written down. He was more imagining the scene before him, the manhole they tried to escape from multiple times that day... if they had only known the horrible truth that awaited them at the end of that dark tunnel maybe they'd have stopped trying.

Shuichi shook his head, trying to focus back on Kokichi's written words. He wondered what Kokichi really thought about that day - he'd been the most optimistic one at the start - aside from Kaede - but as time went on he also became the most broken from their escape attempts. If despair had formed inside of anyone that day, it would have been Kokichi. Shuichi sighed, thoughts of Kokichi sending pangs of pain to his heart, and just focused on reading the words written down without crying.

We tried. We tried so hard.

That big, super strong animal loving guy - Gonta? - found this manhole, and there was a sign next to it which said 'escape'. Honestly a lot of us doubted it was really an escape and was instead a trap, but that freaky bear seems like the sort of... thing, that wouldn't have something fake just waiting for us at the end. Honestly if we kept pushing and made it out then we probably would have seen the outside world.

I really thought we could make it too. Kaede and I tried to keep the group optimistic, we tried over and over and over but... we just couldn't. Monokuma must've made the course so hard - so dangerous - as some sort of motive or something - if we had kept going someone might have died.

"Died...?" Shuichi muttered to himself, small pieces of the puzzle starting to fit in his head. Kokichi was correct - when they tried that route for the first time back then, it was really dangerous, but they had all pushed that thought out of their mind, not wanting to be the only coward in the group - not when freedom lay so close.

Kokichi... was the first person to finally give in - and when Kaede pushed him, he had yelled at her, had made her upset. They had all turned on him, but... he was right. It really was a dangerous situation. At the start, when they were all excited at the prospect of escaping and adrenaline ran high, the danger wasn't as bad. But at the time Kokichi gave in, they were all exhausted. Any longer and... one of them might have...

Shuichi shook his head. Was that... really Kokichi's plan? He really was... concerned about them all? If Kokichi had told him this himself then it would have been hard to believe - as Kokichi always seemed to be lying - but in this diary... Kokichi always told the truth.

So Shuichi would put his faith in him.

I didn't want to yell at Kaede! She just wants us to escape, I know that. But if we kept trying to escape through that escape route that may not even be an escape then... someone could die. So I don't care if everyone hates me, I have to become the scapegoat and make sure no one gets hurt.

Besides, if I'm hated and perceived as a threat then killers may target me instead of other vulnerable students. I don't want to die, but I don't want anyone else to die either. Aside from making myself a much better target than the other students... I can't really do anything. So - I need to lie and lie and lie. Make myself hated, make people find me confusing. Become an... enigma.

Anything to make sure no one dies. But...

It'd be better for everyone if someone who they didn't care about died. Someone they hated. And it seems that I'd be the perfect case of that.

No. I'll do my best to not die - but if it came down to it, I'd be happy to sacrifice myself. It's not like anyone would miss me anyway. DICE can do fine without me.

Shuichi noticed tear stains on the bottom part of the page, feeling his own tears roll down his cheeks. This was proof - Kokichi really did care about them. They all treated him awfully, and all he thought about was making sure everyone was safe and that no one died - even going as far as to say he'd be prepared to sacrifice himself to stop the killings.

Shuichi took in a sharp breath, realising that Kokichi had already done that. He had sacrificed his own life to stop the killing game - and Shuichi had ruined it. He had wasted Kokichi's life - and Kaito's too. Two people died for nothing. Who knew how many more people would die?

Tears continued to stream down Shuichi's face, it finally hitting him that he had wasted Kokichi and Kaito's lives. His talent... his Ultimate... he was supposed to use it to save lives, to find the truth, but... he found the truth too late. If he had realised Kokichi's true intentions back then earlier, learned Kokichi and Kaito's plan sooner, then... then maybe...

Kokichi's death hit harder than Kaito's for Shuichi. At least Kaito died with him knowing how much everyone cared about him. Kokichi died thinking everyone hated him. And to be honest, who would have blamed him? Maki tried to kill him! The one person Kokichi had spent all his time with - Shuichi - had yelled at him and then ignored him after Gonta's trial.

... one of Kokichi's last memories - one of the last things he ever said to Kokichi - was that he's always be alone, and that no one cared about him.

Shuichi cried louder, curling up into a small ball, clutching at his chest, as his tears dripped from his chin onto the floor.

He failed him. He failed Kokichi.

Wow. Okay I didn't mean to get so deep, and I'm honestly so close to crying right now, it's unreal haha.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter either way! I was going to include something else here, but the chapter would run long if I did that - and would take so much longer to make haha - so I'll wait until next chapter to talk about it.

Thanks for your support on this fic! It's the first Saiouma/Oumasai fic I've ever written so your support means a lot to me.

I look forward to chatting to you all again next chapter!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊