''Damn it, Himiko! What are you doing?!'' Himiko heard Kaito shout just before his voice got drowned in the crackling of flames that surrounded her once again. Any time that she felt a gust of wind pass her, it was a dune of soot, ash, and smoke. The path that she cleared with Miu's device to get downstairs was getting consumed by the spreading flames. Himiko was sure that she had several burns already, but her concern rested on something else, and so her mind's pain lessened the body's pain.
She was approaching the stairwell to get to the next floor when something caught her attention. Amidst the tall flames in the classroom next to her, she discerned a weird, jumbled figure tangled in the cables from Miu's lab. She decided to enter the class, get rid of the fire as much as she could, and call Kokichi for him to drop since that would take less time than using the stairs.
Himiko passed the flames with difficulty. Her hands were numb and mind darkened by former dizziness. The identity of the unclear and tangled figure she was heading towards suddenly got revealed when the fire subsided.
''K-kok-kichi?'' She stuttered, urgently wanting to run up to him, but she could not. Shock, smoke, and despair suffocated her with sorrow. Her trembling hands loosened their grip on the device, that fell on the charred floor with a muffled thud. Streaming tears felt like needles as they cooled her nearly scalded cheeks. Then the trapped figure moved and weakly nodded at her, smiling.
''Ah, Himi...'' Upon hearing him speak, Himiko felt an outburst of energy similar to that she experienced when Kaito woke her up. Yet once she got close to him, she collapsed on her knees sobbing and looking into his misty eyes. Blood veiled his forehead and passed down his face leaving thin, coagulated strips, which, in its entirety, resembled a grisly masquerade. Irregular patches of blood also stained his torso.
''No, no, no,'' Himiko cried and cupped Kokichi's face with her hands, unsure what else to do. ''I w-will get-t you out of this...my magic...'' She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his, unable to stop crying in the face of utter helplessness.
''Himiko, go. Otherwise, both of us will die, where one death could've been avoided...'' Kokichi said, breathing harshly before each said word, strands of his bloodied hair often marking his eyes with a shade that allowed Himiko to see the fleeting lustres of anguish residing in them.
''Kokichi?! I won't leave you...'' She said, mustering the strength to continue – tears preventing her. ''No, no...please, w-we can do something.'' She finally added and tugged at the wires pathetically. Releasing Kokichi wouldn't be difficult, nor were the wires sturdy enough to withstand a stronger pull on them, as they were already significantly strained by Kokichi. Himiko seized one of them but was stopped by Kokichi who grabbed her arm.
''Do you really think that I could not release myself if I wanted to?'' Kokichi said to her. She felt uneasy about his tone and manner. What was he suggesting?
''Stop with your riddles! What do you mean?''
''Maybe my fate is deserved...maybe this would be the best way to end DICE...'' He replied, immediately slumping his head, not much unlike a person nearing his death, but his eyes remained open, weakly directed at Himiko.
''What are you talking about? Is this-'' Himiko begun to understand what Kokichi meant. The truth was too burdensome for her, especially now when her limbs struggled to move and when her face was stained by smudges of blood and watered by tears. Neither could she keep her composure because of the possibility of her dream materialising; the hall with all the students anticipating her answer. Did she know the answer? Could she know it? Would she succumb to accepting her suspicion even if she did not know it with utmost certainty?
''I did it,'' he replied, trying to maintain a bitter smile on his face. ''But things did not go as planned. Perhaps having Nagito's luck would have prevented this.''
''Was this meant to be another prank?'' Himiko asked. Tears started forming in her eyes again. The strong certainty of her former suspicions did not lessen the pain that struck her after Kokichi's confession. ''So...you lied? Your promise was a lie? You did it again?!''
''Himiko'' He reached out with his hand to her, she seized it with worry and anger. In different circumstances, she would've left him, but his current state filled her with too much pity, concern and...affection.
''It started before I went to see you. Stopping it afterwards was not possible.''
''You promised, even though you knew what was going to happen! Why did you do this to me? And now look what's happened to you,'' she squeezed his hand and hung her head. ''Kokichi, w-why?''
She kneeled silently until Kokichi's hand slipped out of her grip and cupped her cheek. Her head perked up.
''Come closer,'' he said with a much feebler voice. She scuffled towards him, fearing that his weakness was a sign of his time running out.
The anxiety, restlessness, and pain she endured throughout her discussion with Kokichi were softened, neutralised, until they vanished. No longer was she bothered by the smoke, nor did she feel oppressed and trapped by the beating heat of the dancing flames. All those sensations impressed themselves on her when Kokichi kissed her.
YOU ARE READING
A Destructive Prank (An Oumeno story)
Fanfiction*Discontinued In this story, all the ultimates live normal highschool lives. Kokichi is dissatisfied with DICE and is determined to perform pranks that will bring him infamy and respect, however, in the process, he throws himself into a conflict wi...
