A Dɪғғᴇʀᴇɴᴛ Kɪɴᴅ Oғ Lᴏᴠᴇ

Good And Bad News

"Kurai, darling, can you grab the claws for me?" His mother asks. Silently, the boy passes over the claws that are to be attached to the Monokuma. They prick his hand, and cause some pink blood to leak out, along with the other small cuts from careless handling of sharp objects. "And go patch up your hands. I don't want you bleeding everywhere."

"Yes, mother."

The boy obediently walks away to find the bandages. He keeps trying to remember the names.

Kai... And... Uh...

Shu. Kai and Shu.

He wraps his hand in bandages, rubbing the collar around his neck. His mother tied him to the wall by it when he was disobedient.

I deserve it. I just need to listen to mother, and everything will be fine.

He looks into the mirror, finding his hair long and scruffy. It must have been months since Mother had first found him.

Now I'm back home. Mother looks after me. I'm safe here.

Then why do I need to remember those names?

***

"Kyoko, I have a really good lead on this case. Can you look after your cousin for me? Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Okay, Dad. Stay safe, she's dangerous." Kyoko nods at him, and Shuichi's uncle calls up the police station to tell them the news.

***

The sirens made his head hurt. Mother tied him up somewhere dark. He hates the dark. It could be filled with anything. Plus, it makes noises deafeningly loud.

I just have to stay here and not make any noise. Mother will come soon. I did nothing wrong, she'll come.

Suddenly, he hears gunshots. His eyes widen, and tears begin to silently fall. He had learnt to hate the sound of gunshots.

How many? How many have I killed?

No, stop thinking about that. And stop that whining!

He tries to fall asleep, but to no avail. He just wants his mother to get him out of there.

"Come on! He must be down this way somewhere." The urgent voices of strange men called. The boy cowers back, making sure not to let himself get caught.

Suddenly, the door bursts open. He avoids making a noise, just cowers back even further.

Don't let them take you. Mother will be here any minute.

"Poor thing... What did she do to him?"

He cowers back even further as they approach him. He wonders where Mother is.

***

"Hey, Shuichi, good and bad news." Shuichi's uncle, Haru, says over the phone.

"What's the good news?"

"We found Junko's lair, and she's dead, and we found Kokichi."

"... What's the bad news?"

"He's very mentally unstable. He's spoken only two sentences, and those are asking about his mother, and Kai and Shu. I'm not sure who he's talking about..."

"Ah... Can I see him?" There is a hint of hope in his nephew's voice.

"Sure. I'll send you the location when we arrive."

With that, Shuichi hangs up. Haru assumes that Kaito is there to help comfort him. He'd almost been living there for a bit.

And with that, Kirigiri begins the car.

Word count: 514

This chapter is brought to you by my either having a panic attack or just hyperventilating about socially transitioning, how to do it, and the implications-