Love and Lies [Saioumami]

The Marks Appear

11:55 am. Five minutes until the medication does its job. Kokichi kicked his legs as he waited for the ceremony to continue, glad no one could see how terrified he was. The cafeteria had been transformed to accommodate the three senior classes who were currently waiting until the clock ticked midday for their soulmarks to appear. Each student had a curtain hiding from them from view as their soulmarks could appear anywhere on their body.

Rustling brought Kokichi back to reality as he watched his gothic girlfriend pull the curtain closed behind her. "I remember my first ceremony, it was scary for me too." Celestia smiled gently at the boy below her, sitting on a chair she brought in from the spares in the cafeteria.

"The great Celestia Ludenberg? Scared?" Kokichi slapped his hand over his heart, imitating shock. "Why are you here anyway? And how did you get out of class?"

"My class is having their ceremony too, along with yours and one other with that weird pink-obsessed teacher. All I had to do was tell a teacher to show me where you were and they did." She smoothed out her skirt as she sat down next to her boyfriend. "As for why I'm here, I wanted to help you with anything. Not just because we're fake dating, but because you're my first friend."

Before Kokichi could reply, a bright, blinding light enveloped them. Kokichi threw his hands over his eyes, squeezing them shut as tight as he could whilst trying to ignore the tingling feeling throughout his entire body. Once the slightly orange tinge to the inside of his eyelids subsided, he rubbed them as he noticed the bright light dissipated. "What the fuck was that?" 

"Your soulmark," Celestia smiled at the boy. 

"Damn you'd think they could make it less painful on the eyes." Kokichi and Celeste shared a chuckle as a doctor pulled back the curtain, closing it behind them. 

"Kokichi Ouma?" They glanced between the two students sitting in the curtain. 

"Right here," Kokichi rolled his eyes. Surely they see our ID's before they come here?

"Could you please leave then Ma'am? We don't permit guests during the procedure." Celestia nodded and slipped through the curtain with the chair she brought with her, presumably to return it to where she found it. "Please remove your shirt so I can identify your soulmark. It needs to be recorded for legal reasons." Yeah yeah, we'd been told the whole spiel like an hour ago. They need to record our soulmark in case we commit a crime so then it can be used as an identifier. Kokichi internally sighed as he zoned out for the explanation whilst taking off his jacket, scarf and shirt.

As he bundled up his scarf, the shirtless boy noticed a small black image on his inner wrist. An... orca? Inspecting the small killer whale now clear against his pale skin, he noticed the orca seemed somehow cartoonish, a large eye staring back at him. "That's odd." What the fuck does that mean?

"What's odd exactly?" He asked the doctor who was inspecting his neck and shoulder area. They grabbed a mirror and showed Kokichi his collarbone, where a small compass-like blob lay. "How do I have two?!" Not even bothering to hide his panic, Kokichi stared at the doctor in shock.

"It's not common, but not rare either. As far as I know, it means either a polyamorous relationship or-"

"-One of the soulmates dies..." Kokichi finished the doctor's sentence. Instructed to put his clothes back on, Kokichi's mind ran wild with worrying thoughts as he adjusted his clothes to hide his soulmarks. Once he replaced his clothes, the doctor grabbed the curtain and folded it back up, exposing Kokichi to the other few students who also finished their ceremony. 

"Do you have any more questions?" Kokichi didn't answer, he had more important things to worry about as he felt his mind cloud with depressing thoughts. Am I going to die? Is someone going to kill me? Will I watch someone die? He couldn't take it anymore, the dam of tears was about to burst and the supreme leader knew he needed to run before he broke down in the middle of the cafeteria. Running as fast as he could, Kokichi ignored the weird looks from other students, too occupied to hear the female voice shouting his name.

Kokichi ran and ran, tears flying behind him as he went wherever his body took him. Before long, he found himself in a small public garden, climbing a large tree. He sat in a branch that shrouded him in a leafy curtain whilst he sobbed into his hands, no longer knowing why he was crying.

"Ouma, please come down." A strange, feminine voice begged from the bottom of the tree. He couldn't see the owner clearly due to the leaves shielding him, so he decided to try and wipe his tears and calm himself. 

"Please Kokichi? We know it's you, your uniform doesn't blend into the tree well," Celestia's voice joined the other one. She doesn't deserve to suffer any more than she has to... Kokichi sighed and slipped down the tree, thudding to the healthy grass. Kaede Akamatsu and Celestia stood before him, their faces coated in confused concern. If I'd known Akamatsu was down here I would've stayed in the tree.

Akamatsu was a kind, caring soul who wanted nothing more than to help people, but she was Shuichi's childhood friend which meant they were as close as a newlywed couple. It hurt Kokichi that he couldn't be close to Shuichi like that, but he knew it was his fault because of his annoying and rude exterior.

"What happened Ouma?" Akamatsu encouraged an answer from the boy.

"What makes you think anything happened? I'm fine Kae-yay-de!" Kokichi purposely mispronounced the girl's name, something he'd always done due to his secret jealousy towards her.

"Stop acting Kokichi." Celestia's caring tone caused a switch to flip inside Kokichi, his tough exterior evaporating as he cried. He sobbed into his hands as the two girls watched on in pity. Kokichi's voice hitched as he tried to stop his tears, only succeeding in sobbing harder. A pair of arms snaked around him, pulling Kokichi closer to the safe, gothic aura. "Kokichi, please talk to us. We're both worried about you."

"I-I just got a bad soulmark," Kokichi mumbled. "I'm not t-talking about it a-around her." He mumbled the last part, not wanting to offend the Ultimate Pianist any more than he already had. 

"It's okay Ouma, I know we don't talk much outside of counsellor affairs. Just as long as you're okay. I'll always be here for you no matter what, despite what anyone else may think I know you're a really kind person. You don't deserve to be treated the way others treat you, especially Momota." Akamatsu smiled at him, her happiness and cheer unwavering.

"Thank you, Akamatsu..." Maybe she's not so bad after all... The Vice-Counsellor gave Kokichi a quick hug before waving as she made her way back towards Hope's Peak. He felt happy that Akamatsu wouldn't see him as his weak self, but also upset as he felt he had yet again pushed someone away.

"So, what's the matter? You can talk to me." Celestia led her boyfriend to a vacant metal bench, sitting to face him as he continued to cry, 

"I don't even know w-why I'm this u-upset about it, I've never c-cried like this before. I'm s-sorry." Kokichi felt horribly guilty for the entire situation. 

"That's why you're so upset. Something set you off and now everything you've been holding back has rushed out at once. It happens to me too." She smiled, her demeanour like a caring mother as she rubbed Kokichi's shoulder. "So, let's start from the beginning." Kokichi shook his head.

"Let's s-stick with the beginning, I don't need to t-talk about anything else. At least n-not here and not now." Celestia nodded understandingly as Kokichi continued, interrupted by involuntary hiccups and sudden sobs. "I got t-two soulmarks, not just one. I keep w-wondering if I'm going to d-die. If s-someone I love is going to die. I'm scared, Celestia."

"It's going to be okay." Celestia pulled Kokichi into her chest as he broke down yet again, sobbing hard as she stroked his hair, soothing his sobs.