Hypothermia in December (Saiouma/Oumasai)

Where is Here and Who Am I?

Chapter 1: Where is here and who am I?

Kokichi found himself shivering uncontrollably. The weather was cold enough but to add salt to the wound there was a heavy snowfall. He couldn't keep going for much longer. He hadn't dressed appropriately for the occasion. Thinking back on what had happened, Kokichi noted that he didn't even remember getting dressed at all or why he was even out in the snow.

The dark night sky above him only made him more scared. He couldn't remember anything at all. Where was he trying to get to? He had a car, why had he attempted to walk through the blizzard? This was a terrible idea, though he didn't even know if it was his. Maybe his parents or some friends had convinced him to come out here, he didn't know.

Kokichi had always been scared of night time. It was ominous and he knew something could easily be hiding just behind his short sight. Every noise freaked him out even if it was just the sound of nighttime animals trying to make it back home.

Before he knew it, he had even forgotten his own name. It had all gotten to be too much. Instead of continuing to walk, the boy had stopped in his tracks. His bare feet stood on the snow. What month was it? Did he even have parents or friends to persuade him to come out here in the first place? None of this made any sense.

His legs shivered for a few more seconds before he eventually fell to his knees, unable to even stand anymore. The snow was up to his thighs now that he was down. The shorts he was wearing weren't helping him stay warm at all. In fact they seemed to be extremely thin and tight to his small and fragile body. Were these even shorts at all? Maybe they had just been underwear. His fading consciousness made it harder and harder to tell.

His arms that had been holding him up on his knees gave out soon after and he found himself lying down in the snow. His skin was extremely fair and turning purple. The snow fell fast and started to cover his body. His bare back and unclothed legs were covered in a sheet of snow. It'd be a miracle if he made it out of this situation alive.

He felt his body almost started to heat up. "This is how I die" he thought to himself. No one would see him through the snow even if someone else somehow found themselves out to where he was in the middle of nowhere. He remembered one thing, the threat of hypothermia. He wondered why he started to feel warmth through his body before remembering that it was a side effect of hypothermia.

With what little life he had left, Kokichi tried to yell for help. The last thing he noticed was his speech being slurred, unable to even tell what he was trying to say. No one was coming to help him. With that he found his eyelids start to feel extremely heavy. He wasn't even able to attempt to try and keep them open.

——

Kokichi opened his eyes slowly. Unable to fully take in the bright lights surrounding him.

"Oh Shuichi!! I think they're finally awake!" A loud voice was heard yelling. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" Kokichi had tried to open his eyes to see who was talking to him but things were still a bit too bright and disorienting.

"Oh sorry, let me shut some blinds. You've been out for a while kid, how's you even end up in the woods anyways?" The mysterious voice shut the blinds, making the light problem significantly more tolerable. "Sorry, I shouldn't be asking so many questions at once, wouldn't want to confuse you even more." The voice apologized.

Kokichi was able to open his eyes enough to see a blurry and buff man in front of him. He had spiky hair that looked to be a dark purple. Kokichi's vision slowly began to focus. The man held a hand out to Kokichi, "my name is Kaito!" He said with a smile. Without any words, Kokichi held his hand out and shook the mans hand.

"Sorry again for the blinds, they were open to hopefully heat you up a bit. I read online that I shouldn't put you near a fire because sweating would only further the heat loss in your body. That why you only have a blanket and the sun." Kaito had put a hand on the back of his neck.

"I- m.. my." Kokichi tried to speak up but couldn't. He tried but not much came out. He wanted to tell the man his name since he had told him his own. But the smaller boy tried his best to even remember his own name.

"Hey don't push yourself too hard to speak kiddo. The internet also said you might have some speaking problems and memory loss. Listen, I'll give you a few minutes to yourself and I'll be right back." Kaito pat Kokichi on the head before exiting the room.

Kokichi looked around slowly. He felt exhausted. How was he alive? He lightly remembered being stuck in the snow and being unable to move himself but how would he have survived that? He had been wrapped in a blanket but underneath had nothing on at all. He vaguely remembered having at least some underwear and possibly shorts but now he had nothing.

One blind was still open, allowing the suns light to shine into the room. Kokichi tried his best to push himself to stand or at the very least to his knees but found it still to be too hard. The room he was in was somewhat large. There was a huge bed behind him. He was situated on the floor in front of a large leather couch with an unlit fireplace in front of him. There was a computer to the left of the fireplace, it had been left open and it looked like some website listing the effects of hypothermia was last visited. Maybe he died and this was heaven. The lights sure had been bright when he first woke up anyways.

Not too long after he had left, Kaito had returned with a second person trailing behind him. "Kaito this is insane, we have to taken them to a hospital!" The new person had tried to get his attention.

"Hello again mysterious person we found out in the snow last night, this is my friend Shuichi." Kaito has sat down next to him on the floor, handing Kokichi a warm cup.

"Why are you telling him my name? He could be some serial killer trying to kill us!" Shuichi paced back and forth.

"It's hot chocolate, I wasn't sure if you liked coffee. Do you need any help drinking it?" Kaito asked Kokichi, seemingly ignoring Shuichi's panic. Kokichi slowly shook his head yes, his limbs still felt extremely stiff. "Kaito this is stupid! We can't help them, we aren't doctors, we don't even know anything about them!" Shuichi began pacing again.

"Once they can move and talk again we can ask them if they want to go to a hospital but what if they don't want to? Not to mention that we don't even know if they're from here." Kaito held the hot cup up to Kokichi's lips.

"What if he doesn't move?! The hospital would be able to speed up the healing process! What if he becomes reliant on us or something?" Shuichi was obviously stressed.

After finishing the cup of hot chocolate Kaito began to speak again. "Do you wanna lay down and sleep? We have a pretty comfortable bed." Kaito pointed to the large bed Kokichi had noticed earlier. Kokichi slowly nodded his head again and Kaito hoisted him up bridal style and laid him on the bed. He slowly put a second blanket around Kokichi and told him that he would leave him alone for a while. Kaito left the room, pulling Shuichi out behind him.