The Final Truth

The Final Truth - Chapter Seven

... I got to spend time with Shuichi today.

It was nice.

Shuichi felt his breath catch in his throat. This was the first time Kokichi had properly spent time talking about him in his notebook, and seeing his name written in fine pen made him feel... warm. Cared about. But this was Kokichi - he never ever understood how Kokichi saw him - maybe Kokichi didn't care about him at all? The thought hurt, but Shuichi couldn't yet rule it out as NOT a possibility.

However, if Kokichi's only telling the truth in this diary like he claimed, then... maybe he could get some answers.

He glanced down and continued to read.

After Kaede, I... I wanted to see if I could cheer Shuichi up. With my plan in motion I know this probably won't end up well but... while I still can, I need to help everyone stay motivated and happy. If someone falls into despair then another could die.

And besides that... I just wanted to spend time with him. That was a thought I didn't regret for a second. Our time together was so fun! Shuichi's not boring at all... in fact, I find it quite enjoyable teasing him.

I figured something that would grab his attention would be learning about DICE. I wanted to impress him though, and I also needed to make myself look like a threat for my plan to work, so even though I don't actually have that many members, I lied and said I had over 10,000. Lying nowadays has started to become a much easier task... I honestly hate lying.

"He... hates lying?" Shuichi muttered to himself, slightly confused. That doesn't make any sense, Kokichi was notorious for lying. Why would he do something he hated... so often? Shuichi shook his head gently from side to side, deciding to try and push the thought aside for now - maybe the diary has an answer to that later. It would be wrong to try and draw conclusions without analysing all the evidence.

Instead, his thoughts turned to the earlier paragraphs. Kokichi talked to him to begin with out of pity, which figures. Shuichi felt slightly saddened by the realisation that his... friendship?... with Kokichi began out of pity, however he felt comforted that Kokichi thought he... wasn't boring at least.

He sighed, a small hint of hope in his chest as he continued to read, curious, and wanting to figure out what Kokichi really thought of him. For some reason... Kokichi's opinion of him, of Shuichi, meant a lot to him. He wasn't exactly sure why though. Kokichi had always - always! - been an enigma, a mystery to solve.

And Shuichi wasn't the sort of person to give up easily.

Not anymore.

He turned the page and kept reading. It seems like Kokichi had concluded writing about him though. He ignored the slight feeling of disappointment in his chest at that fact and tried to focus on what Kokichi was saying.

Gonta was the one that found it. The beginning stage of my plan.

No one seems to understand what it means yet - and of course they wouldn't, it's only step one after all - but they're certainly all on edge. I hate making them all worry like this, but it's something that has to be done - otherwise, well... the mastermind will win. I can't even comfort them, I have to keep being annoying and intimidating. If I don't... then I'll become a target. I just have to let Shuichi and Kaito cheer everyone else up.

We have motive videos now, which confirms my theory - when we team up, we get punished. I tried to tell the others about this, but I don't think they're listening to me, which is understandable considering how I'm acting...

I'm back in my room right now. I need to think of a way to make the motive videos lose their power. They're supposed to show us... important people in our lives, to make us want to check on them. If... maybe if we... watch them together...?

Alright, I guess I'll have to think of a plan.

Shuichi stared at the page for a moment, slightly confused. Kokichi... seemed to have manipulated Gonta into kidnapping them so... so the motives lose their power? While what Keebo said at the time - that no one seeing their own video was important and would make the videos lose power - it had also created a new motive, and the assumption that no one had their own video wasn't even correct. Kokichi's plan was actually... incredibly smart.

"It... it might have actually worked..."

If they had actually listened to Kokichi - would Ryoma and Kirumi still be alive...? How many people wouldn't have suffered if they hadn't just written Kokichi off as an annoying nuisance and actually took the time to listen to what he had to say?

How many people... would have been saved?

Hi everyone! Yes, I know it's been a while haha, but I'm back in it now. I wanted to focus on another fanfic since it was almost finished, and now it IS finished, so I'm moving my attention to this story. Hopefully this means chapters will be out more frequently but I can't promise anything...

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I think it's slightly shorter than normal, but I'm trying to get back into the writing style lol, sorry about that. I'm looking forward to seeing you all next chapter!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊