Voided Truth (Hollow Lies Sequel) (Danganronpa)

Chapter 6 ~ The Search For Himiko

The car was unbearably quiet, everyone waiting for the inevitable to happen. They all knew it was coming, having already discussed the possibilities before getting in. And yet, it wasn't coming. Everyone seemed to be holding their breathes, concerned as to why nothing was happening. Kaito slowly turned to look at Kokichi, seeing him frozen in place, eyes locked on Shuichi. His face showed what was on his mind, worrying Kaito on what might happen next. It wasn't normal for Kokichi to be this quiet when confronted with one of his biggest fears. Kaito slowly placed his hand on Kokichi's shoulder, hoping it might calm the smaller male. Instead, it activated what they had all been waiting for. 

Kokichi let out an ear piercing scream, startling Kaito into jumping back. Shuichi immediately turned to look back in concern, the look causing Kokichi to freeze in fear again. Maki was the only one who barely reacted, giving only a slight flinch. Shuichi quickly looked away, hating seeing the fear he was causing. Kokichi turned to Kaito and clung to him, trying to hide his face so that he wouldn't have to see Shuichi. Kaito patted his back, hoping they'd get to their destination soon. Unfortunately, it was going to be a long ride.

Kokichi was shaking like crazy, starting to feel unable to breathe. Even Kaito's attempts at comforting him did nothing, as he couldn't help the nagging fear that it might be Shuichi. That when he would finally look up, Shuichi would be the one holding him, with his sickly sweet smile and malice in his eyes. Kokichi began to cling tighter, refusing to look up and face this fear. 

"I think this was a bad idea," Kaito complained, continuing to pat Kokichi's back.

"Did you have a better idea," Maki asked, annoyed that they all couldn't even go on a simple car ride.

"I mean, we could've dropped him off at Kiibo's-"

The car suddenly came to a stop, causing everyone to slightly fly forward. Kokichi finally looked up, wondering what the stopping was for and hoping it wasn't anything he feared.

"You're only mentioning this now," Maki asked, voice slow and low. 

"I didn't think of it before. Besides, I don't even know where he lives." 

Maki turned to look at the two males, looking into Kokichi's fearful eyes. "Do you have his phone number?"

Before the males got a chance to answer, Shuichi stepped in.

"There's no time," he said, directing all attention his way.

"Excuse me?"

"We don't know how much longer Himiko will be there or how long it will take to get to Kiibo's house. We need to keep going or we might lose her." Shuichi's voice was shaky, knowing no one would be happy about this. But it wasn't necessarily up for debate. 

Without saying a word, Maki went back to driving, going over the speed limit. Kokichi saw Shuichi's logic as a threat, thinking this was all a trick until he was able to make a move. He went back to hiding his face, trying to pretend the detective wasn't there and think of something else. This was in no way easy as his mind could only think of possible scenarios that Shuichi could be planning and how easy it might be to accomplish them. He wished he had known where Kiibo lived and they would take him there. Though he didn't like the idea of being in someone else's house, it was way better than being here. But because of Shuichi, it wasn't an option, even if he did know the address.

He tried to keep his mind busy by thinking of Kiibo. More specifically, Kiibo's past after they left him. He wondered what life could've been like if he had just agreed to go with them. For one, he wouldn't be nearly as traumatized as he is now. Second, they possibly wouldn't have joined the killing game. At least, he wouldn't have. And maybe he could've stopped Kiibo from signing up. Maybe they all could've been living a happy life right now with being on the run. It also would've gave him a chance to get closer to Kaede. He knew so little about her, both in and outside the killing game. It seemed odd since Kiibo was more of an open book. But he hadn't questioned it back then, finding her presence scary.

The car came to a stop, dragging Kokichi back to reality. He slowly looked around, finding they had parked near a public area. He gave a confused look, having forgotten what they were even doing in the first place.

"You can wait in the car," Kaito said, surprising Kokichi into flinching.

Kokichi was about to nod but quickly shook his head no. He didn't like the idea of being alone in a public area. There were too many variables that could happen. Some including Shuichi.

"Huh? But you-"

"This might actually be good for him," Maki said, opening her car door. "He needs to be around other people. Now, let's go and hope she is still here."

Kaito hesitated before unbuckling both Kokichi and himself, opening the car door. Kokichi was very slow as he moved across the street and planted his feet on the ground. A cool breeze hit him in the face, causing him to shiver. He immediately went to holding Kaito's hand, not wanting a chance at getting seperated. Once everyone was out of the car, Shuichi lead the way further into the public area.

There was many people walking and talking, talking about their weekend and fangirling over some familiar names. Some stared at the four, admiration in their eyes as they watched them with disbelief. People started to whisper and stare, debating on asking for an autograph or not. Whether everyone got their memories back or not was still a complete mystery to the public, keeping people from deciding to approach them as they genuinely didn't want to cause any harm or panic. Kokichi couldn't stop trying to look at everyone, hoping to predict potential threats. But no one seemed to be making a move, only taking pictures and fangirling to their friends.

Shuichi suddenly stopped, causing everyone to stop with him. There was silence between the group before a loud, familiar voice came from not too far in front of them.

"What did I say about taking pictures," the feminine voice raged. 

Kokichi quickly moved more to the front, shocked at what he was seeing in front of him. Up ahead was Himiko, grabbing someone's phone and breaking it in half. The person ran off, surprisingly fearful of the encounter. Kokichi immediately took note of Himiko's outfit, scared by the change. Himiko wore a black leather jacket, a grey tank top underneath. Instead of her usual skirt was a pair of black shorts going over red leggings. And no more were her elf like shoes, now replaced with normal sneakers. On her back was a dark red studded backpack, her name written on the side.

Himiko noticed something else was the center of everyone's attention, soon looking over and meeting eyes with the shaking male. Her frown turned into a smirk as she walked over to them, making direct eye contact with Kokichi, who moved back behind Kaito.

"Well, took you long enough," she complained, stopping in front of Shuichi. "The great detective sure took his time finding the sweet, innocent mage Himiko. Too bad he was too late." Himiko giggled, her gaze going towards Maki, then Kaito, and finally Kokichi. "Well, would you look at that. The whole gang is almost here! Aye, where's that waste of space Kiibo?"

Kokichi felt a pain in his chest, glaring daggers at the girl. If it weren't for him being weak, he'd have smacked that smile right off her face. Instead, he only clung tighter to Kaito, wishing he could snap Himiko out of whatever this was.

"Himiko," Shuichi said in shock. No one knew how to respond, bewildered by the sight in front of them.

"What is wrong with you," Kaito said.

Himiko glared at him. "Me? I'm not the one who turned Kokichi into my personal fuck toy."

Everything seemed to go silent as they all processed what she said. Once they did, Kaito was furious.

"It isn't like that anymore! I don't know exactly what I fucking did back then but I'm not like that anymore."

"Oh? So explain to me why poor little Kokichi over there is shaking to death while clinging to you like a life line." Himiko walked closer to the two males, specifically next to Kokichi. "Imagine clinging to one of the people who broke you. How pathetic." 

Before anyone could react, she smacked Kokichi. This would've caused silence once more but Himiko continued. She leaned in close to Kokichi.

"Kaito can't 'protect' you forever." 

She backed up, knowing she was about to receive a lot of backlash. But it didn't matter. Kokichi's breathing had picked up dramatically, his vision starting to fade as he fell backwards onto the concrete.