Promises and Struggles

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Ouma wakes to another nightmare. He hugs his pillow, shaking. There were things that would never go away.

He turns to the others, who are cuddling in their sleep. They're too busy for him.

Not that they'd want to help me, anyways. I'm just a liar.

He sighs, waiting for the nurses. He wanted to talk to Kaede, but he still couldn't walk. He knows he has to use the wheelchair, but he's not keen on it. To him, getting into it means admitting that he won't be able to walk ever again, and that scares him.

***

Ouma sits in his wheelchair in front of Kaede's room. Suddenly, he questions if this was a good idea. Still, the nurse knocked, and it was too late to back out.

The nurse opens the door, and Kaede is sitting on her bed on the other side. She's out of her Danganronpa clothes, into jeans and a pink shirt, tied up on one side. The girl smiles when she sees Kokichi.

"Hi, Ouma. Did you come to visit me?" She asks. He nods, smiling back. He was glad she wasn't upset to see him.

The nurse leaves, and Kokichi sits there. The pianist sits down near him.

"Uh... I wanted to ask you something, but it may be a bit personal, so don't feel pressured to answer or anything."  He says, beginning to blab a little. She just smiles slightly.

"Go ahead."

"Well... Do you get nightmares about the deaths? Does it get any better?" His voice quavers slightly.

"You have them too?" She asks. He nods, averting his gaze. She takes his hands, smiling.

"Well, then let's get through this together, okay?" He smiles at her response. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, this mental recovery. But...

"Tsumugi's really, fully dead, isn't she? I killed someone. I fully killed someone." A tear falls down his face. Kaede doesn't know how to help, so just embraces him. They stay like that for a few minutes, Kokichi trying to pull himself together.

The two eventually pull apart. Kaede wheels Ouma back to his room, where Shuichi is sitting on his bed. He was in a grey hoodie, and black jeans.

"Ah, Kokichi! The nurses say we can all leave the hospital, including you. Uhm.... Do you need help getting changed?" His face is red at the last question. The liar wanted to be more independent, so he shakes his head.

"I'll be fine." He wheels himself to the bathroom, grabbing the clothes on the end of his bed.

The shirt, he changes with ease, like nothing happened, but when it gets to the changing his pants, he ends up struggling. His stubbornness makes him wish to refuse help, but his logic tells him he needs it.

"... Shuichi? Can I have some help?"

He stays, stuck on the floor, until the detective comes in to find him on the floor. He helps prop the shorter boy up. They both had faces red with embarrassment.

With his help, the leader eventually manages to get changed. Saihara places Ouma back into the wheelchair with a small bit of effort.

"There. Now everyone's waiting outside to find our families. Shall we go join them?"

Word count: 536

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