We welcome all you guests who traveled through the forest into our hidden mansion halls, where the children of the deceased Machirin Ouma and Kankou Ouma now reside in. A strange bunch of quadruplets, but one we hope you will enjoy greatly. Ranging from oldest to youngest, they'll all be very pleased to make your acquaintance.
Kouchi Ouma
The oldest of only a few minutes, Kouchi Ouma tends to be rather quiet and reserved. Being raised in a church after the sudden and tragic death of their father Kankou months after the death of their mother has taught Kouchi a lot about patience and kindness. Serving as the Ultimate Preacher, Kouchi makes time for everyone and would do anything to protect the innocent. A family person through and through, their biggest concern and care is always the safety of their family.
When not reading or advising others, one can often find Kouchi gazing at the stars, tracing constellations and telling the stories of how the constellations came to be! They also enjoy other hobbies like sewing, knife collecting, and intellectual debate. While they do their best to seem presentable at all times, being a romantic at heart means they cannot help but let that mask slip a bit when around their crush Gundham, easily swayed into games of dramatics. He also takes a lot of night time walks.
Kouchi may seem quiet and responsible if a bit repressed, he's still got that Ouma humor and mischief in him if you give him a tempting enough opening. With a bit of a temper when pushed past his admittedly quite long patience, Kouchi can be a greater force to be reckoned with then one would have ever guessed, though endlessly loyal and perhaps a bit blind to those he manages grow fond of. With so much turmoil in his heart, is he really as unworthy as he thinks he is? (He/They)
"When it is your job to speak, and to speak with fervor, you must learn to press on even if it feels like choking."
Kokichi Ouma
The one everyone knows the best, a clever leader and quick with his tongue. Kokichi after the death of his parents has taken on the role of leader of the house, as he shelters both his family and the many people he's picked up for his organization. With more going on behind the scenes then anyone could ever know, the Ultimate Supreme Leader refuses to let his family suffer like they used to any longer.
With a love of mayhem and a wide protective streak of their youngest brother Kimochi, Kokichi always does what he thinks is best, unless it would be really really funny. The self proclaimed good twin to their youngest brother, Kokichi's strict moral compass keeps the more questionable habits of his siblings in check. Don't let any of that fool you though, he's an evil leader with eyes on big things capable of making the hard choices and you would be wise to not forget it.
Kokichi might be a prankster with his fingers in far more pies then anyone realizes, but he's a good friend and a beloved leader, though his siblings make sure he never gets too big of an ego. Get on his bad side though, and he'll be the only one protecting you from the more protective sides of his family. With such risks around each corner, is really as much of an unreasonable liar as he seems? (He/Him)
"Guess which idiot managed to get himself sick while on a top secret mission! It’s a tough job being such a generous supreme leader. I had to allocate staff to nursing him back to health, how wasteful!"
Koharu Ouma
Having to be the brightest star in any room despite being the smallest Ouma, Koharu is by far the flashiest and most fashionable of the family. Acting sweet and nice to the other reserve course students Koharu has quickly shot up as one of the most popular kids at school as he twists every detail of himself in public to be more palatable and praise worthy. Though he acts warm and sweet, he projects an air of almost godly presence and confidence. If you get blinded by his light and complicated vocabulary, you'll never see into his fiery core. Though peek behind his curtain at one's own risk, Koharu will not take kindly to challengers for his crown.
While one would assume most of his passion would lie in fashion, math, and makeup, his true interest lies in the animals around him that forms his largest obsession. Having a fascination with them since a young age and finding comfort in their simple easy to please natures, Koharu can often be found taking care of the local strays when he has free time. He's wildly protective of animals and hates those who takes advantage of them, seeing it as pointless cruelty, almost demonic in nature, that he cannot abide.
Koharu may see the world differently and less emotionally then most people, but that doesn't mean hes not the most loyal companion you can find if you manage to get his attention, let alone even a smidgen of trust. Is his heart truly as purely analytical as he makes it seem? (He/They)
"Find what you do effortlessly, then put effort into it!"
Kimochi Ouma
The evil twin to Kokichi's good twin, Kimochi is a bit of an odd one. Quiet and almost always smiling an empty smile when he's not pretending to be Kokichi, Kimochi may seem unassuming but a few incidents hard Kokichi pulling him out of formal schooling for safety reasons. As the body double for Kokichi and main protector of the secret organization, there is no line he won't cross or act he won't do if it's to protect those under his hand from any harm as long as Kokichi doesn't order him to stay out of it. Endlessly obedient to his leader, he doesn't often get to protect his brothers best he likes.
Despite this though, he does hold a kind playful side to those that he likes that don't hurt his family. Quick to judge someone, it's hard to change his mind from the more black and white views he quickly forms on people he meet. Despite this colder nature and constant mimicking of his brother, he's actually the clingiest member of the household, craving physical affection constantly when he can get away with it. With a love language of mimicry, Kimochi may be a bit greedier then most would believe.
Kimochi may seem cold and dangerous to outsiders, those who get close to him seem to get incredibly protective of him. Despite this though Kimochi prefers to settle his own problems alone, and to not worry or slow down those around him even to his own detriment. Can he really be summed up as just the evil side to Kokichi's good side? (He/Him?)
"The fight’s over and nothing hurts too badly. I’m okay."
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Muns: Welcome to the mansion! We hope you all enjoy the family we've created for Kokichi, with secrets and truths lying dormant, there's many things to learn, and many things you may wish you never did. With other characters to find in the area, and questions of what's good and what's not, can you discover everything there is to learn?
It was a rare moment that left them alone. They had, of course, indulged in each other's company before, but they were never alone. Never without eyes on them. Be they the ever watchful eyes of their siblings always seeking to poke where they need not be, the crowding eyes of Dice, or the unworthy gazes of the masses, Koharu was never alone. Never felt as if he was alone. Even the few stolen moments of peace and companionship had not allowed Koharu to release his guard too much. Not when his watchers, his enemies, were always right around the corner.
This night, however, was different. His enthusiast imp of a brother had gathered his group and disappeared for the night on some vapid quest or another, not to return likely until dawn, and the shepherd had excused himself to pastures unknown. Thus it was only the two of them, him and the Little Prince.
"It'll be like a sleepover," Kimochi declared, excited and starry eyed as seemed to be his default. The idealism washed off of him in waves, lapping at Koharu's feet as his younger brother circled him. Kimochi had proved himself easy enough to appease, to indulge, compared to the rest of his blood. If he had but time enough he was certain he could sway the little prince's thinking, yet time had not been afforded to such an endeavor. Even in moments like these, which seemed ripe for capturing such a malleable mind, there was something giving him pause.
In this case, it was the utterly incomprehensible words his brother insisted on throwing at him. "A sleepover," he repeated.
"You've never had one?"
He hadn't. It hadn't seemed prudent. Had, in fact, seemed antithetical to his goals to invite strangers into a personal sanctum of his. He rejected the idea of stating this outright, of course.
"I suppose I can indulge you," he said instead.
Kimochi smiled at him. Shining, bright, burning with the power to sway or swallow whole anyone that might stand in his path if he learned to hone the skill. Koharu returned the smile as a teaching exercise. It went wildly underappreciated.
"We can tell stories and braid each other's hair and-" Koharu stopped listening as Kimochi grabbed his hand. It was a... disconcerting habit of his youngest blood, this... physicality. Most often employed to move Koharu between locations, he had noticed. A strange posturing that Koharu should put a stop to before Kimochi began to believe he could haul Koharu anywhere with such a tactic. It was rather bold of him to attempt tricking Koharu into complacency, admirable almost. Koharu wouldn't be fooled though.
The time spent was surprisingly enjoyable, if unproductive. Kimochi's excited chatter fluttered around him like a song as he pruned and plucked at Koharu's hair. When applicable he made commentary to show that he was still engaged, regardless of the truth of his wandering mind. It was soothing. Knowing that he was unwatched for once allowed him to let his guard down more than even what he usually allowed his family to see.
So of course he did the one thing he had always trained himself not to do. He allowed his tongue to slip.
"The solitude is appreciated," he said softly.
Kimochi laughed. "Yeah. Kokichi hasn't left me alone since I stopped going to school. Though, I suppose I'm not really alone if you're here."
"You make acceptable company," he admitted. "All of you do. If I could keep you all to myself, I would." Koharu paused, panic from how he had let such words fall carelessly from his lips slowly rising within. Disgust joined panic when he felt his heart begin to race in such a crude, almost mortal, distress. Still, he had to keep control as he reapplied his glamor, to show nothing on his face towards the slip, not even a small grimace at the disgustingly nearly human response his body had. Not for the first time, he cursed the weakness of his body, unable to truly hold the divine soul that rested within. Truly to make such a mistake, especially to his Little Prince who was so close to being properly guided, was not just disgrace but sacrilege towards all Koharu knew to be fact. Even as he knew later on he would have to discipline his body for betraying him, he had to fix things. He opened his mouth to say more, to cover his mistake somehow, but Kimochi was speaking before he got the chance.
Kimochi laughed, too soft and too sad to be any sort of falsehood. "Me too." His voice dropped even lower, to the point Koharu had to strain to hear. "I'd devour every bit of you if I could."
Was it... relief or fear that was coursing through him at this moment? Was he supposed to rejoice in this... shared sentiment... or run from it? Should he flee from the thought of his brother beholding some guarded part of himself or...
Kimochi leaned his forehead against Koharu's back. "Just this once, you're all mine, Koharu."
Kimochi had never caused him to feel so chilled... or so cherished. It was... odd.
Surely, it should be nothing for a god to be desired by the lower masses. It was natural even. Everyone should seek out his company, his approval. Everyone should harbor the utmost respect and fear and love for him.
Kimochi wasn't "everyone" though. He wasn't one of Koharu's sycophants. The Little Prince was his blood, his chosen lineage. It was... For once, Koharu could admit that he didn't know what it was. What did it mean for Kimochi to say such a thing? To feel similar, if not the same, things as Koharu? His body had become very still but his mind was racing. Racing with possibilities and potential and puzzles with pieces missing that just needed to be placed--
Then Kimochi pulled his hair. He laughed a bit awkwardly, something Koharu had never heard his charismatic brother do before. "Haha, sorry. My hand must have... must have slipped."
His hand. How... transparent. He knew Kimochi could lie better than that.
As ever, it was up to him to offer the kindness his siblings so desperately craved. He reached behind him to pet Kimochi's hair, smiling magnanimously at him. "I will not hold such a slip against you."
The thing about hanging out in graveyards at two a.m is that none of his siblings knew that he did it. Kokichi knew that he had a hard time sleeping, but he hadn't had Dice following him around since they were suddenly reunited with their other siblings and none of the others had ever asked Kimochi about what he got up to at night.
Kanade had said it best, hadn't she? He didn't tell them about his nightmares or his fears. He was constantly hiding knives and lighters from Kokichi so that he wouldn't ask what Kimochi got up to when he wasn't being watched. He hadn't even told his brother about Kanade, not directly. Kimochi knew that Kokichi was aware of her, because Kaede was aware of him and seeing them together was part of what led to him getting introduced to their class. They'd never hung out together though. She existed as a completely separate slice of his life. A secret that wasn't a secret.
Kokichi would care if he knew. He didn't think the others would though. Kouchi shared his company, but he didn't share himself. Karin cared if he was hurt, but she didn't have the time to care about him when she was always trying so hard for the others. Koharu barely looked at him most days. Of all his new siblings, only Kouchi had said that he loved him. Kimochi still didn't know if he believed that or not, but even if Kouchi loved him, that didn't mean Kouchi cared about him.
Kimochi didn't expect them to. They wanted to get to know Kokichi, and he was always good at being the biggest person in a room. Being flashy and interesting and pulling all eyes on him. Kimochi wasn't like that unless he was pretending. So it made sense that they didn't need Kimochi for anything when Kokichi was right there. It made sense that even when he was a part of a set instead of a pair, that Kimochi was basically just a spare.
It didn't hurt when it was just the two of them.
Kanade had already headed home for the night, so it was just him now. He tried to be home before the sun rose and thus far no one had caught him or run into him with those rules. Tonight was the night that changed though.
Kimochi walked around the back of a mausoleum and caught an unexpected sight. He recognized his own face easily enough, even if the other details took a moment longer to sink in.
He didn't flinch at the flash of a knife coming at him and the blade stopped when his brother recognized him. He didn't question the bright red stains on his clothes or the wild fire look in his eyes, which seemed to cool as he realized Kimochi was the one that had found him. He stayed silent, watched the gears change from fight toward flight, and spoke before seeing if it would hold. "Kouchi."
Just that. Just the acknowledgement that he'd found his brother blood splattered behind a mausoleum, dragging a man by his heels.
There was a lot to unpack here, but Kimochi, selfishly, wondered if this was why his brothers didn't care about him. If they were all too busy hiding from each other to care. Kimochi was the same to an extent, but he had at least tried. That was only his first thought.
His second thought was that Kokichi wouldn't like this if he knew.
"Kimochi." His name was said with a tense sigh. It was probably stressful to be caught burying a body. "I... can explain."
Kimochi had kept his face blank this whole time, just thinking and processing. He supposed that it would be strange not to talk about finding your brother burying a body in the middle of the night. Kokichi would want the who and the why and a few other details that Kimochi himself didn't really care about. And really, the idea of an explanation left a sour taste in his mouth because Kouchi telling him anything like this wasn't so much a choice as it was damage control.
Well, his siblings hating him had never stopped him from smiling before, so he wouldn't let it be any different now. Even if his insides felt like they were twisting up for all the wrong reasons and he could already see the disappointed look Kokichi would have given him, Kimochi had already decided that he wasn't going to tell anyone.
Kimochi had never had a hard time smiling. It wasn't any harder now. "Let's walk home together," he said. "I'll wait."
Kouchi stared at him, a calculating expression on his face. Kimochi could make a few educated guesses on what his brother was thinking, but the truth was that he didn't know Kouchi well enough to make more than basic assumptions. Kimochi leaned against the side of the mausoleum and slid down until he was crouching beside it. Then on a whim he also closed his eyes, just in case his brother wanted to hit him with the shovel and tell him it was all a dream. Kimochi wasn't the boss of him, after all, he couldn't tell Kouchi how to deal with his dark secrets. That was Kokichi's job.
Kimochi's job, he had long ago decided, was to keep, love, protect. It was odd to do that for more than Kokichi now, but he was trying. Had been trying. Being the evil twin made it easier to love without restrictions after all. Though... he supposed he wasn't a "twin" anymore, strictly speaking.
"I am finished."
Kimochi opened his eyes at that. He was almost surprised that Kouchi hadn't decided to hit him with the shovel, but he was pretty pleased about it. The chances of his new brother trying to bury him out here were lower than being dragged home and gaslit again, but it was still a concern.
He felt distinctly more cheerful when he dusted himself off and stood, giving Kouchi another smile. "Let's go."
Kouchi was tense. Kimochi would be tense if he was going home after doing something that would make Kokichi mad at him. He wanted to offer to hold Kouchi's hand, but he isn't sure if his brother likes that. He wanted to ask if Kouchi was okay, but that would be a silly question when he was walking so stiffly. Kouchi was very clearly upset and at least one of the reasons why was Kimochi's fault.
Kouchi sighed. "You must have questions."
He did, but probably not the ones Kouchi meant. He tilted his head at his brother, but stayed silent and waited for Kouchi to fill in the blanks however he wanted.
"I assure you that my actions were not taken lightly. That man was a blight upon this world that needed to be cleansed."
Oh. Not an accident then. He wondered if Kokichi would still forgive him. Kouchi was their brother, so surely he wouldn't get kicked out of Dice? It's definitely way worse that he did it on purpose, but maybe being their brother would change things?
"There is unchecked darkness and cruelty in this world, Kimochi, and someone has to stand against it. Those that hurt others can't be allowed to continue getting away with it."
He had done this before then. More than that, he absolutely planned to do it again. Kokichi wouldn't allow that at all. Kimochi knew that more than most. Kokichi would never want Kouchi around Dice.
Kouchi stepped in front of him, looking Kimochi in the eye as he said, "I would never hurt someone that didn't deserve it."
That wouldn't soothe Kokichi. He didn't like it when you hurt anyone at all. He wouldn't be as kind to Kouchi as he had been to Kimochi. They were older, after all, and Kouchi wasn't even sorry.
Kouchi placed a hand on his shoulder and that was when Kimochi realized that his brother was waiting for a response. "This can be our little secret, right, Mochi?"
That sent a small jolt through him. This was the first time that any of his siblings had called him by his nickname and it was... it was a bribe. It felt like a bribe. Like a carrot on a string. He hated strings... He ignored all that though. Pushed it away. It would be odd if his brother didn't try to manipulate him after catching him burying a dead body, right? This should be expected. It shouldn't hurt. It didn't matter.
"Kokichi would be mad," Kimochi told him. "You know the rules of Dice, right? Even if you were doing this before, how can you keep doing it knowing that?"
Kouchi was watching even more closely now. Kimochi couldn't guess at what he was looking for, what he was finding. "Some things have to be done even if others don't like it. That's what it means to do the right thing."
"This is more important to you than being kicked out of Dice?" he asked. "More important than Kokichi hating you?"
Kouchi smiled at him, kind and indulgent in a way that Kimochi wasn't prepared for. "Kokichi's feelings are not your responsibility, Mochi." Kimochi blinked at Kouchi in surprise before looking away.
"Ah, s-sorry."
Kouchi turned Kimochi's face back toward him, a serious look in his eyes. "I would never hurt you, Mochi. I would never hurt any of you."
Oh. It seemed that he had never been in danger of the shovel after all.
Kimochi wasn't able to stop himself from reaching out to grab onto the front of Kouchi's coat. He was already clinging to him before he had noticed. He still didn't know if his brother liked being touched though and Kimochi still hadn't said anything, had he? So he didn't know how else to say that he wasn't mad when he was so many other things at the same time.
Kouchi seemed to understand though. He opened his arms, inviting Kimochi to hug him and he took the opportunity to embrace his brother unreservedly. It was too early for there to be a rift formed between them. Not when Kimochi had only just found him and the others.
They stayed that way for a while, but eventually they needed to continue on their way if they wanted to be home before sunrise. Once they were outside the house, Kimochi pulled on Kouchi's sleeve to stop.
"Thanks for not hitting me with the shovel," he whispered before walking past him.
"What?" Kouchi asked behind him, but Kimochi didn't stop to answer. Probably better not to tell his brother what he was expecting.
Kouchi POV
The ground was soft. It had rained the day prior, making the earth supple enough that he could dig the shovel in without problem. Working in the mausolem's shadow was both a help and a hindrance. He had chosen a spot that was unlikely to receive much foot traffic and a time that left the cemetery virtually vacant, but it was also dark. Kouchi was used to doing his deeds in the dark, but it never stopped being something of an annoyance to him. Luckily, burying a corpse didn't require much in the way of sight. Just shoveling one scoop of dirt after another.
Unfortunately, no plan was ever 100% fool proof. Even at nearly two in the morning, there would be some unlucky soul stumbling across him. He wasn't in the habit of hurting innocents, but frightening them or knocking them out when necessary? He could and had done that as needed. It had been a long time since he'd last had such a problem. Odd, then, for it to happen tonight.
It was reflex that had him whipping out his knife and holding it out in preparation of disabling whomever had stumbled upon him. He knew that he was still covered in blood, so he expected screams. Most people would scream when they stumbled upon a bloody man burying a body in the night. And yet, silence.
The lack of immediate opposition prompted him to examine the newcomer more closely. He felt nearly foolish once he'd done so. In the darkness he'd nearly failed to recognize his own brother. He would certainly feel bad if he had accidentally brought harm upon him. Still, it was odd that he was so quiet. He was certain that even Koharu would be startled if he came upon him in such a manner.
"Kouchi," Kimochi greeted him.
Kouchi knew that Kimochi could be a bit reserved, but this still seemed abnormal. Kouchi studied him closely in the dark, but he didn't see any traces of fear. There was no shaking or trembling. The boy didn't even look tense. Kouchi was glad that this did not inspire fear, but it wasn't normal.
"Kimochi," he greeted in turn. It was a bit exasperating to be caught by one of his siblings. In all the time that he'd been doing this, why did he have to be caught now? Why by one of his precious siblings? And of all of his siblings to stumble upon him in such an unfortunate moment, he wished that it hadn't been Kimochi.
The thought of tainting their relationship was not something that Kouchi relished. He wanted to be a guiding force in his baby brother's life. He didn't want to be seen as some boorish fiend, recklessly taking lives for the thrill of it. He didn't want to distress him with this. If he'd had a choice, he would have rather it had been Koharu to stumble upon him. He was all but certain that Koharu would have little care for his activities, whether or not he respected the importance of his work.
Now was not the time to get caught up in his own thoughts though. His brother still had not spoken beyond his name and allowing Kimochi to get too tangled in his own thoughts would surely result in a worse response, he was sure.
Clearing his throat to reclaim Kimochi's attention, he said succinctly, "I can explain."
Kimochi's face refused to reveal anything to him. It was blank, almost statue-still, as if looking through Kouchi to the world beyond him. Had he already caused some irreparable damage to his brother?
But then Kimochi smiled at him and Kouchi didn't detect any artifice to the expression. "Let's walk home together," he said. "I'll wait."
That was... a rather generous offer, he supposed. Allowing him to complete his task before attempting to calm whatever upset he had caused in Kimochi's mind. Kouchi wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth however.
Digging was mostly mindless work. It left him room to think. Room to watch his brother crouch beside the mausoleum and close his eyes. He wished that he could simply peek into his mind and know what needed soothing. Alas, it was rarely that easy when he wanted it to be. So instead, he returned his attention to the hole and the words he would craft for his brother.
Kimochi was a kind soul, surely he would be moved by the necessity of Kouchi's work. He would understand that Kouchi was trying to protect others. Perhaps if he emphasized how their desires were similar, that they both wanted the best for their family, Kimochi would be swayed from taking any action against him. He could talk his brother into keeping his confidence. Kimochi had always been receptive to him, that wouldn't change so easily.
The only problem that he could foresee was if Kimochi insisted upon reporting his activities to Kokichi. His older brother had such a stigma against such things that it would be a hassle trying to plead his case. He knew that they were close, the closest of any of them. Kouchi feared that he may have to crack or break their bond to get Kimochi to hold his tongue. He didn't want to stoop to that.
Kouchi didn't fear his siblings. He loved them dearly, but if they couldn't understand what he was doing, that would cause a problem for him. He didn't want to give up their presence, but neither was he willing to give up his work. And honestly, culling the filth of his world was keeping his siblings safe too. It would be heartbreaking if they misunderstood his calling, but he was prepared to do what needed to be done.
Once the digging was done, he lowered his victim gently into the hole. Kouchi positioned him, made certain his eyes were closed, and said the prayer to guide him to rest. It was the least that he could do after all, even sinners deserve peace in death. Filling the hole went much quicker.
He was surprised that Kimochi seemed not to have moved in all that time, but he was responsive when Kouchi announced that he was finished. He was smiling, cheerful even, as he came to Kouchi's side. "Let's go."
Kouchi expected that Kimochi would be the one to continue their conversation. There was no version of this moment that he'd rehearsed prior where his siblings didn't have some question or naive moralizing they attempted to push upon him. Yet Kimochi remained silent. Was he afraid after all? Did he believe Kouchi would harm him?
He needed to fix this. Looking over at his brother, he tried to prompt him to speak. To give Kouchi some indication of his thoughts or feelings so that he could collect and counter them as needed. "You must have questions," he said.
Kimochi still refused to speak, merely tilting his head at Kouchi and watching him. Fine. Kouchi was nothing if not good at guiding others to where they needed to be led.
Kimochi was emotional, he could use emotions to sway him. If he explained it, he was certain that it would make Kimochi understand.
"I assure you that my actions were not taken lightly," he explained. "That man was a blight that needed to be cleansed. There is unchecked darkness and cruelty in this world, Kimochi, and someone has to stand against it. Those that hurt others can't be allowed to get away with it."
More silence. Kouchi didn't let his frustration show. He reached out to Kimochi, placing a hand on his shoulder and trying that much harder to build a bridge between them. "This can be our little secret, right, Mochi?"
This seemed to visibly affect Kimochi more than anything else had. His eyes widened and posture straightened as if from shock. Kouchi was aching to get a proper foothold into his mind, but Kimochi looked away before he could fully dissect the reaction. It would have been frustrating, but it did finally get Kimochi to speak.
Kimoch’s words were soft, almost as if he were afraid, but they did not hold any uncertainty. "Kokichi would be mad."
Of course. Kouchi expected nothing different. If there was to be any objection to his deeds, he was not surprised that it would be on Kokichi's behalf. Kokichi had been alone with Kimochi the longest and that imprint was on everything Kimochi did. His entire moral standing was to step in the footprints Kokichi made for him. It was a poor foundation if one could call it a foundation at all. Even so, it was not surprising he'd lean on those morals while in duress, Kouchi could not blame him for latching on to it. Though it was a bit of a problem knowing how much of a pacifist Kokichi was.
"You know the rules of Dice, right?" Kimochi asked him, looking at him with pleading eyes. As if soft words and eyes could move Kouchi away from his calling. It couldn't, even if it made his chest ache, and he needed Kimochi to know that before they could move any further in this conversation. "Even if you were doing this before, how can you keep doing it knowing that?"
"Some things have to be done even if others don't like it. That's what it means to do the right thing." It was a hard lesson for anyone to learn, but it was one that had to be taught, and one he had hoped he could shelter Kimochi from, if only for a little longer.
Kimochi's brow furrowed, as if he couldn't understand that answer. Perhaps he couldn't. Perhaps the only law to him really was Kokichi's word and it could only be broken or bent by Kokichi himself. A part of him, small but he was very much aware of it, was still toying with the idea of folstering cracks there for the sake of both Kokichi and Kimochi. He didn't want to do so unnecessarily though, there would be time for more closely examining their dynamic later. It wasn’t important now.
"This is more important to you than being kicked out of Dice?" Kimochi asked. "More important than Kokichi hating you?"
At last he states his bias out right. His brother really was such a fragile thing, building his entire self on the shakiest of grounds. Kouchi didn't want to imagine what would happen to him if Kokichi ever did end up hating him. Would Kimochi break? Would there be enough distinct pieces to bind together into a functioning self? How had they come to be in such a state? Kokichi, whole and hale, while Kimochi clung to the edges of him? No, he had to get his mind off of this, it was a problem for later.
Kouchi offered him a smile the way he offered absolution to sinners. "Kokichi's feelings are not your responsibility, Mochi."
Kimochi blinked at him in surprise before looking away. He didn't believe Kouchi, that was written all over his face, but he apologized anyway. "Ah, s-sorry."
Kouchi pulled Kimochi's face toward him again, re-establishing eye contact. While he never had been one for making true eye contact, finding it quite uncomfortable and so choosing to stare at noses and the place between eyes, it was too important to forgo this time. "I would never hurt you, Mochi. I would never hurt any of you."
It did sting, just a little, to see the realization light up Kimochi's eyes at his words. It was understandable though. When you see a loved one do something so out of the ordinary, of course you start to wonder what else they might be capable of. The fact that his words seemed to have a positive effect (finally) made his shoulders finally start to untense.
Kimochi grabbed the front of his shirt, hesitant and slow, as if he would back out of the motion at any moment. The sight made his heart fall, his poor brother so hesitant to take even a hug. So Kouchi opened his arms to offer the comfort his brother sought but couldn’t bear to ask for and Kimochi took it gratefully. He sank into Kouchi's embrace and Kouchi was certain that, if nothing else, his brother would be okay and his secret was safe for this night. He would speak with Kimochi more later to make sure he had made proper and healthy peace with what had occured this night but for now things were good.
They stayed silent the rest of the trip home, until they were outside the mansion. Kimochi pulled on his sleeve and Kouchi paused to allow him to speak. Kimochi wasn't looking at him and his voice was low as he said, "Thanks for not hitting me with a shovel."
"What?" Kouchi asked. Kimochi was already moving past him before Kouchi could properly tackle that sentiment. It left a disturbing picture in his mind about what his brother might have been thinking and Kouchi doubled down on his intention to speak more with Kimochi. His youngest brother was very lost, and Kouchi grew only more determined to help him find his way.
Kimochi listens to his new brother share his philosophy on life and learns more than Koharu thinks he will.
[Kimochi & Koharu]
[Sibling Bonding, Kimochi POV, Introspection, Character Study]
Kimochi had already been outside when Koharu found him. He had learned very early on that he could rarely tell what Koharu wanted from him based on invitation. Unlike Kouchi, who phrased his overtures like a request, Koharu's was always a demand. He would bid that you come with him and sometimes start walking away before you'd even given your answer, so assured that he knew what response he was likely to receive. It could be that he wanted to spend time with you, needed a favor, or wanted to use you in one of his schemes and he would approach them all in the same way.
Though with Koharu, he supposed that they all amounted to the same thing. He was the most esoteric of Kimochi's siblings. Koharu had been poorly trained by the rest of his siblings, so he rarely said what he meant.
Kimochi never turned Koharu down. He never had to, as Koharu had never asked for his time when he was particularly occupied. He suspected that Koharu hadn't worked out how much Kimochi liked him and didn't want to put it to the test just yet. He didn't look forward to when Koharu felt comfortable enough to test Kimochi's placement of him. The thought made him squirm in discomfort, but he was also fairly sure that it was inevitable. That's just how Koharu was. If Kimochi looked closely enough, he was fairly sure he could peel back the layers of his brother and find strings of code where there should be flesh and blood.
He was pretty sure that, on some level, Koharu thought that, too.
Today seemed to be one of the rare days that Koharu was having a human experience. Kimochi didn't know why Koharu picked him as a companion for the day, but he was pleased by it. Koharu seemed happy. Kimochi liked that.
They were nestled in a secluded area of the park. Koharu enjoyed seclusion for his human moments, though there was always a moment when he first followed Koharu into an isolated area that he wondered if Koharu would kill him. Kimochi had made this observation out loud once and Koharu had been offended at the thought that he would waste their blood so fruitlessly. Kokichi had been annoyed by the sentiment when he'd overheard it, but Kimochi had held it close to his heart like a treasure. It had done the job it was meant to, reassuring Kimochi that he was valuable in the way Koharu cared to measure such things.
Koharu was often gravely misunderstood by their siblings, but sometimes he was rightly seen and harshly judged for it. Kimochi didn't want to do that to Koharu. He had enough people to scold him and not enough to love him in a way that he understood. So Kimochi was trying and soft moments like this made him think that he was succeeding.
Koharu was standing particularly still, a handful of seeds being offered to the open air. It would make a nice picture for Kokichi to draw if he ever saw it. After a few moments of this stillness a bird had perched on Koharu's palm, accepting the offering of seeds and picking at them. Koharu smiled, something between smug and genuinely pleased.
Kimochi himself was sitting down a few steps away, hand brushing over the fur of a small black cat that had followed them here. His eyes were mostly on Koharu, watching as his brother emerged from the cloak of coldness that he often wrapped himself, peeking out from behind the mask to talk to Kimochi.
"--of course, it will take time for them to trust you like this, but it is very simple to get to this point. They know what they want, they just need some repetition to learn you are the embodiment of it."
Kimochi enjoyed moments like this, where Koharu let himself seep out unfiltered. It was like seeing Kokichi's soft smile or the expression Kouchi wore when he pulled back someone's shell and helped them. Small, private, and true. Kimochi wanted to swallow these moments whole and hoarded them in his chest like a vault.
"So simple in craving affection, craving food, truly easy to understand and easy to bring to hand."
Kimochi smiled at Koharu, laughing quietly. Kimochi didn't understand how his siblings could misunderstand Koharu sometimes, when he always said what he was thinking so clearly. Though perhaps some weight should be given to the fact that they just disliked the thinking and not that they misunderstood it. (Though they did misunderstand, that could not be understated.)
"It'd be easy to abuse this," Koharu went on. "To coax a bird into your hand just to suddenly squeeze and never let go. Easy to bring them close and pluck those feathers that would mean they would never fly off."
"You would never do that," Kimochi said softly. "Because you don't want to hurt them."
Koharu looked at him then, meeting his eyes and holding the look for longer than Kimochi thought was necessary. Kimochi let him though. He had no problem being watched, being stared at, like some people did. Koharu frowned at him, just a bit. "Wouldn't it be better for them? Comfort, safety, all under the watchful gaze of a kind and generous superior predator? All they would need to lose is something small but dangerous."
Kimochi thought of saying, "You're not superior," as Kokichi might, but it would be an unproductive sentiment. He thought of trying to explain how that might hurt them, as Kouchi might, but Koharu would think the ends justify the means. None of those sentiments were his own though. Just the echoes of his siblings that he knew well enough to have absorbed, to predict, to pluck out of the air between them because he couldn't pull the right answer out of Koharu himself.
He thought the right answer might be to debate and define the meaning of comfort and safety, but Kimochi didn't have any interest in that. That was an argument for Kouchi and Koharu. Kimochi wasn't interested in trying to take a hammer to Koharu's mentality. Kimochi wasn't a hammer.
Kimochi's silence emboldened Koharu and he smiled like he thought he was winning. Perhaps that’s what silence meant when it came from others. He looked puffed up and proud when he continued. "Really, they should be thankful that I'm satisfied with these small moments. They owe us their very lives every time they leave unharmed. It would be completely in our rights to bring our teeth and claws down on them like any other predator."
Kimochi thought, when his siblings feared Koharu, this was probably what they saw. Someone waiting to consume them, to feast on their weakness and swallow them whole. They weren't wrong to fear it, Kimochi knew that. But he understood Koharu in a way that Koharu could never understand himself, because Kimochi was like that, too. He devoured pieces of their siblings all the time; softly, slowly, he had stored every part of them away inside him. The two of them were greedy, they were just greedy for different things.
The others didn't know that if Koharu could love them the way that they wanted him to, he'd be more dangerous, not less.
"It is only our mercy that spares them," Koharu said. "Is it so wrong to ask for recognition?"
"I recognize you, Ruru," Kimochi said.
Koharu's tongue seemed to trip over the air as his mouth opened and words failed to come out. He didn't do anything so obvious as sputter, but the way his eyes subtly did a double take over Kimochi amounted to the same thing, he thought.
Kimochi watched as Koharu took his words and whatever thoughts they inspired, and shoved them out of the way. They didn't fit the narrative, so there was no room for them now. Kimochi wondered where they went. If Koharu put them in his pocket for later or if they were crushed outright. Would he pull them out later and study them from all sides or would they just evaporate, unneeded and unused?
Koharu was no longer looking at him as he asked, "If some stroking is the cost for food and safety, why not take it? Animals understand there is always a cost, something to appease, and do not hesitate. Simple and effective."
There were more birds in Koharu's hand now. Even as he spoke, he kept himself mostly still and the birds remained settled. Kimochi wondered, if he held out his hand and a bird came to him, would that ruin the metaphor or prove Koharu right?
This time when Kimochi stayed quiet, he didn't think Koharu was taking it as a victory so much as permission. Permission to take a rest, perhaps. Even when he relaxed around their siblings, Koharu spent a fair amount of time biting his tongue. He wasn't doing that now. Koharu wore so many masks, Kimochi didn't think he could ever learn just how many, but here he was slipping another one off. Taking off another layer and letting a neglected part of himself breathe. Kimochi wondered if this was how Kouchi felt when someone finally let out something they were bursting to confess.
"People need to learn it, too. How to bow their heads and take what is so generously offered, to learn they could be stronger in the hands of someone that knows how to bring out their full potential." Koharu was gently stroking the birds and they preened beneath the attention. His face softened as well and his words were smooth like silk as he continued speaking. "They fall so easily into the same repetition. An animal will happily admit that you are their better so they may reap the rewards you give, but people recoil and lash out. Even if they would be better under the thumb of one smarter, one who could bring out their best selves, they bite and claw for dominance they cannot possibly earn nor do they even want. Then they dare pout when the hand holding them drops them back into the dark. As if everything gained wasn't a gift that they had rejected."
Kimochi crawled closer to Koharu, leaning against his legs and pulling the cat in his lap close enough to cuddle. His brother was in so much pain and he didn't even know. So wounded from the rejection of his siblings that he was poised to lash out and smother them all for their own good. Did Koharu realize that he was ready to pop? That the pressure of his own mindstate could snap if he kept stretching it so thin?
"I accept the gifts you give me," Kimochi told him. "And I won't bite you for doing your best."
Trembling. Koharu was trembling. Kimochi could tell by the way he became stiffer, stood straighter, that he was anything but. The same way that Kokichi's face went blank when you caught him off guard, Koharu became still when he was off balance. It was an assumption on Kimochi's part, but he felt confident in making it. Confident in the way that Koharu refused to look at him, that there must be something loose in his eyes. Some expression that would tell Kimochi what he wanted to know if only Koharu would let him see it.
He never would if he could help it. Kimochi knew that. He wouldn't prey on his brother by trying.
Koharu let out a heavy breath. "Better to keep such confused and anxious creatures ignorant and dazed of what you truly want. Better to hide the hand they rest in. Never realizing the debt your mercy has given them, ignorant to the gift of not being hunted and devoured. So content and pliant that they'll never even notice how you tug them along to repay the debt."
Kimochi watched as Koharu pulled himself together in real time. Forcing his shoulder to relax, adjusting his stance, picking out a smile. Kimochi watched his brother pick up a mask and put it on his face before looking down at him, and Kimochi admired it, just a bit. He wished could draw a map of all the ways that Koharu was so very weak and so incredibly strong, but Koharu would see that as an attack or a betrayal, so the beauty of what he was seeing had to remain only in his mind. He smiled at his brother, even though Koharu would never understand what a smile meant from him.
"It's the kind thing to do, for someone superior to take charge and think for them," Koharu explained. "Why do they need to know anything? This sparrow doesn't. That cat doesn't. They are happy, so why should a human be any different? The sooner you understand what you want, Little Prince, the sooner you can also move seamlessly through the anxious masses, bringing hope and peace to those lost and cold souls practically begging for someone to take the hard choices out of their hands. No matter how much they think they want that choice. So if they're going to put their life on your shoulders, rely on you to think for them, then it's only right that you get to decide what is best for that life. What that life can give you. It's simply natural to take what is given. Whether it be birdseed or the right to exist. If they didn’t want to do the things I ask for in return for this aid, they could simply try to take their lives back. They never do though, and they never will."
Kimochi placed the cat on the ground as he got to his feet. His rise startled the birds out of Koharu's hand, but the way his eyes remained on Kimochi, he didn't think Koharu is too upset about that. Kimochi decided early on that the easiest way to deal with Koharu was on his terms, so he would do just that now and become the hand that guides him. Just for a moment. Koharu would never let himself be led for long, but Kimochi thought he would benefit from a rest in someone else's palm for once.
"Would you like to get a pet, Ruru?" Kimochi poses it as a question because Koharu would bristle at an order. And he smiles because his brother thinks he understands those, even though he does not.
Koharu looked at him strangely, but Kimochi didn't bother trying to puzzle it out. Koharu's thoughts didn't really matter right now, because Kimiochi had already decided that they were going to go to the pet store and Koharu was going to be happy and that was all there was to it.
"I... suppose that we can."
Kimochi took his hand as he led the way.
Koharu was terrible at holding hands. He's stiff and his pace falters as Kimochi tugs him along. Normally, Kimochi would match his pace to that of his companions, but if Kimochi stopped moving right now, he's fairly sure that Koharu wouldn't take another step. He didn't mind so much that his palm was sweaty. Koharu probably didn't do this often and everyone was nervous the first time they held hands. That was okay. Kimochi laced their fingers together and Koharu's twitched like he wanted to pull away. But he didn't and Kimochi considers that a victory.
There was a long moment of silence between them that was peaceful for Kimochi but he suspected it might be awkwardness or confusion for Koharu. Eventually, Koharu cleared his throat and spoke. "I did not think you wanted a pet."
Kimochi didn't know if it was meant to be a statement or a leading question.
"Ruru should have a pet," he answered. "I think it will make him happy."
Koharu didn't say anything more the rest of the walk.
Talent: Being Goth, not an ultimate
Likes: Photography, Sex, Drugs
Dislikes: Kaede, People That Try To Control Her
Fun Facts: Used to play the violin but hated it
Nao Mochizuki
Talent: Ultimate Overseer
Likes: Quiet, Hunting, Practicality
Dislikes: DICE, Inefficiency, Losing
Fun Facts: Dyes his hair black, he's actually blonde
Hirone Yano
Talent: Ultimate Violinist
Likes: Junko, Tumblr
Dislike: Being Bossed Around, Being Ignored
Fun Facts: Very strict classy parents
Komasa Tao
Talent: Ultimate Trapper
Likes: Making Friends, Skirts
Dislikes: Attention, Cruelty
Fun Facts: Actively tried to turn down the Hope's Peak invitation
Saiga Aoki
Talent: Ultimate Sharpshooter
Likes: Scaring People, Sex
Dislikes: Boring Girls, Prudes
Fun Facts: Has absolutely been punched in the face by Rantaro at least once for being a creep
Kimochi and Kokichi had a lot of things that they knew, but didn't talk about. Kanade Akamatsu was one of those things. Kimochi contemplates his relationship with the the two.
[Kimochi/Kanade, Kimochi & Kokichi]
[Non Despair, Established Relationship, Character Study, Open Relationships, Developing Relationships, Knifeplay, Fluff, Humor]
Dice headquarters was an old abandoned mansion in the woods. It was at the edge of the city and easy enough to keep secret. There were enough rooms for all their new siblings, for Dice, and they still had some rooms empty. Kimochi had been the one to find and secure the mansion. Kokichi never asked him how and Kimochi never told him. It was one of many things that they never talked about.
They didn't talk about Kimochi not being in school, either. Everyone knew that he wasn't, of course. Dice often asked him for favors precisely because he would have the time to get them done. None of them knew why he wasn't though and neither he nor Kokichi talked about it. Kimochi was second in command of Dice, in charge of finances, in charge of the base, and even after everything, Kokichi had never taken that rank from him. Kokichi trusted him with those things. But there were other things that he wasn't trusted with. Couldn't be trusted, because he was the evil twin.
Kimochi acted out and lost rights, that's just the way it was. He threatened bullies with fire, so he lost the right to school and lighters. It was only fair. Kimochi couldn't be trusted and he was smart enough to keep up with anyone else's studies anyway, since he regularly helped Dice with homework. He didn't miss it, really. He only missed Kokichi's company.
The first time Dice caught him practicing knife juggling, he lost the right to knives.
It didn't stop him from having either, on occasion. It made him cautious, hesitant, and he tried to be respectful of Kokichi's wishes. But Kimochi liked fire and he liked knives and he was the evil twin.
He kept his exploits contained to the night, when everyone was asleep. Kimochi wandered the streets at night, finding new and stranger places to play, to relax, to run, to hide. He explored the woods around their house, the river bank, and the graveyard. Slowly making a map of the city and the people in it. And when he was tired, he knew where to find Kanade most nights, in the cemetery, cigarette in hand, leaning against a gravestone.
Kanade never turned him away, never blinked at him, never faltered. Kimochi had shown himself through stories, through knife throwing, through hand holding and laying his head in her lap. He had offered himself to her and she accepted. She always accepted.
Kanade Akamatsu had shown herself to be an easy presence to get used to. She had never asked to see him, merely shown up where she thought he might be. She didn't ask him what he did, but she made a point of saying that she didn't care what he got up to. If asked, she wouldn't say that they were dating, but she would say that he was hers.
Kimochi was amused by it, charmed by it, and tolerant of it in turns. He didn't have a problem with dynamics he couldn't name as long as he understood them. He understood Kanade. She was equally careless and cautious, sarcastic yet sweet.
When he laid his head on her lap, she pretended not to smile. When he took her hand, she wouldn't always hold his back, but she never pushed him away, never pulled away, and he increasingly left her company with a token of her presence to remember their time by.
Like leaving her signature on him, constantly toying with the idea of claiming him while refusing to do so outright. A black lipstick kiss on his collar, a bite mark hidden on his thigh, a shallow press of steel along his lower back. She marked him however she could, wherever she could find, silently and fervently. Kimochi never stopped her, even when the marks were something visible.
And even when Kokichi saw them, saw the lipstick, or a bite mark, it was just another thing they never talked about. Kokichi knew he had someone, had found out who, and just like so many things before he chose not to ask. And Kimochi didn't explain it because until Kanade wanted to claim him, there was nothing to explain. Until Kokichi decided to ask, there was nothing he needed to say.
Kimochi was as used to not talking about things as he was at reading between the lines to know what was being ignored. So when she was watching him wrap his fingers one day, tending wounds from a failed attempt at blade juggling, he could easily read the look in her eyes. They were beautiful even in the dark, ardent and wholly focused on him, on his pain. So he asked her, "Do you want to hurt me?"
Straight forward and without judgment, because that's how Kimochi was.
Kanade met his gaze without flinching, because that's who she was, as she answered, "Yes."
So he gave her the knife, gave her his skin, and bled for her.
Kanade could be a soft touch with a knife, when she wanted to be. He'd watch her trace elaborate designs all across his skin with just the scrape of a knife, fully losing herself to whatever hidden confessions she was writing on him, until she finally overflowed, pressed too hard, and broke skin. It could be hours before her control would slip. Sometimes the lines crossed over each other, sometimes they never did. Sometimes she took a wet cloth to his skin to clear the board, dry him off, and start again.
She always seemed startled when she nicked him. So deep into her trance that she didn't know what she was releasing. And when her hands weren't steady enough for a blade, he made her use her fingers, her nails, her lips, her tongue. Any part of her to imprint her sadness on to his skin where he could hide her secrets, hide her, deep inside himself.
Kanade was really soft inside and she didn't want anyone to know it. She liked the thrill of having a blade against her skin, but she didn't like bleeding. She didn't want anyone to see her bleed. She didn't know that Kimochi could find her in her eyes, her kiss, her touch, whenever he was holding the blade. Kimochi didn't like when Kanade was afraid though, so he let her have the knife and did the bleeding for her. Then he swallowed up every sad piece of her that she dropped in the aftermath.
Kanade was easy to love. She showed him all her cracks by recreating them on his skin, then he in turn kissed away the wounds. He kissed handprints off her skin, licked away the imprints of claws and teeth, caressed her every wound closed.
He whispered to her in late hours of the night when they both refused to sleep for one reason or another. "I'll hold all your sadness in my skin, so it can't hurt you. I'll take all your anger, so you don't have to fear it. If you're ever afraid, I'll be the bigger demon that will chase those fears away."
Kanade rarely said anything to these promises, but when she laced their fingers together, he knew it was a deal. They didn't talk about it, but he understood her.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
It was awkward the first time a Dice member caught him with a knife to her neck. Not for him because Kimochi was fairly shameless in most areas of his life, and not for Kanade because she didn't care about most people's opinions, but certainly for the Dice member who looked at Kimochi like he was a freak. There was no doubt that they would tell Kokichi and he would have to talk about it.
He moved the knife away from Kanade's skin, taking a step back from where he crowded her against a wall. "We'll do this later," he said quietly.
Kanade smirked at him and said, "We'll see," but it felt like a promise.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Kimochi went to Kokichi's room as soon as he returned home. It was better to let Kokichi say what he wanted to say than to try and put it off. He knew that Kokichi wouldn't think he was about to slit some girl's throat in the graveyard, though whether or not that particular Dice member had the same faith in him he couldn't say. He was equally sure that Kokichi hadn't put any thought into what exactly Kimochi had been doing.
He was proven right when he opened the door to his brother's room and the first words out of Kokichi's mouth were, "What the fuck, Kimchi?"
"You wouldn't understand, Chichi," he sighed. That wasn't entirely true. He was pretty sure that Kokichi could understand it if Kimochi told him that it was adrenaline and intimacy and not really about knives. Kokichi didn't want to understand though. He didn't want to know that Kimochi gambled with blades the way that Kokichi gambled lies. Kokichi wanted to say "That's weird" and take the knife. Kokichi wanted to laugh with him like nothing was wrong and be secure in the knowledge that he was protecting Kimochi and keeping him from going off the rails. He wanted to be the Supreme Leader, ordering around his second in command, the big brother that knew better, and Kimochi didn't want to deny him that. Didn't want to deny him anything.
So he let nothing be wrong.
Kimochi tossed himself onto the bed theatrically and said, "It's really hot though, Chichi."
Kokichi groaned and tried to push him off the bed. "Ew, don't bring your weird fetishes into my room."
"You show off your weird fetish when you play the knife game."
Kokichi gasped and made the most offended face possible. "I do not! That is not a fetish."
"Whatever you say."
Kokichi does push him off the bed then, at the high price of Kimochi dragging him along to the floor. They both laughed. The moment was natural, normal. Nothing was wrong.
Kokichi took the knife.
Another thing was added to the list of things that they didn't talk about. Kimochi thought that was okay though, as long as Kokichi didn't look at him the way that Dice member did. As long as Kokichi still loved him. Kokichi was the leader and even a second in command was meant to take orders.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Being with Kanade was the opposite of being with Kokichi. Kanade rarely gave him advice. Kokichi was supportive and bossy, jovial and lighthearted. Kanade was sarcastic to a fault, mocked him to make a point, and rolled her eyes when she thought he was being foolish. She listened to everything he said though. She always listened. He never lied to her and she never tried to make him.
He had his head in his lap and his eyes on her when he told her, "I think I'm in love with you."
Kanade responded exactly as he expected her to, exhaling smoke and not even sparing him a glance as she responded. "Sucks to be you."
Kimochi laughed, catching her empty hand and entwining their fingers. "It's not that bad, really. Sometimes I get to kiss you."
"Well, aren't you easy to please?" She drawled before taking a long drag on her cigarette.
He smiled at her. "Yeah, I am."
She blew out the smoke again, slowly this time. Kimochi watched it as it left her black painted lips. "A lot of people get to kiss me."
He shrugged. Kanade had made herself clear enough on the matter of what their relationship wasn't, even if she refused to pin down exactly what they were. "Maybe a lot of people are in love with you."
She laughed. "That would mean stiff competition for you, Mochi."
"I'm not afraid," he told her. "None of them bleed for you like I do."
Kimochi didn't mind sharing. He had to share Kokichi's attention all of his life, after all. He was only ever afraid of being replaced. Being abandoned. Kanade kept coming back though, so he wasn't afraid. He'd already told her all the things that she could have been scared of and she'd parted her perfectly pretty lips and called him a fool.
"So what are you going to do if I find someone that can take a knife better than you?" Kanade question.
He didn't hesitate. "I'll eat them."
Kanade laughed so hard she choked. "Damn it, Mochi! You trying to kill a girl?"
He just laughed.
"You just let the weirdest shit come out of your mouth."
He waited until she was calm to give her the real answer. Or rather, to word his answer in a way that she would understand. "I would just make them love me, too. And if I fall in love with someone else, I'll make them love you."
Kanade gave him a wry smile. "I don't need more people to love me."
"You do," he told her firmly.
She gave him a look then, something between amused and crossed. "I don't want more people to love me."
"I know."
The staring that followed could have been a stalemate, but Kimochi knew he would win. He didn't need her to love him, just to give him pieces of herself the only way she knew how. He would protect the soft pieces of her by being scarier than anything else she feared. Just like he protected the soft pieces of Kokichi by being a bigger target than him.
Kokichi and Kimochi always thought they were twins, but when Hope's Peak reveals several more siblings that were lost to the past, the duo who previously thought they were twins must come to terms with the fact that they were actually, in fact, quintuplets.
[Kimochi & Kokichi, Kimochi & Kouchi, Kimochi &Koharu,
Kimochi & Kanade]
[Non Despair, Hope's Peak Academy, Long Lost Siblings, Family Bonding, First Meetings]
Follow up to this.
Kimochi thought the first few years of his life might have been a dream. He remembered feeling warm and crowded by things, until slowly they all peeled away one by one and it was just him holding onto Kokichi so tightly that no one could ever take him away, too.
He remembered dreaming of himself standing in front of their house, Kokichi laid out safely on the ground beside him, as the place went up in flames. He remembers a hand on his head, leaning down to whisper in his own ear, "No one has to know." He remembers staring at the fire and thinking, "I did this," until he and Kokichi were picked up and rushed off to a hospital.
Kokichi didn't remember it though, so even when Kimochi did, he knew that it had to be a dream. Just like all the other dreams of being warm and crowded.
Kimochi continued to believe this until Kokichi came home one day and asked him, "Did you know that we have another brother?"
"No, that was a dream," he replied immediately. He looked up from his book and they both stared at each other as the words sank in between them.
"You dreamed about us having a brother?" Kokichi questioned.
Kimochi closed his book slowly. "We... have... another brother?"
Kokichi nodded, moving to sit on the arm of his chair. "His name is Kouchi. I thought I'd made him up but I ran into him today."
"Oh." He wonders what that means for his dreams, but he doesn't ask. "Do you like him?" Kimochi asked, because if Kokichi does, that probably puts him on borrowed time. He's always been the evil twin, if Kokichi has other options...
Kokichi sees through this question of course. He glares at Kimochi, flicking him in the middle of his forehead. "Don't be stupid."
OoOoOoOo
Kimochi doesn't meet their new triplet right away. He didn't go to Hope's Peak, or to school at all, so it was easy not to run into him. Made even easier when he stopped wandering at night and started tucking himself into more and more secluded corners of their base to read. He wouldn't have called it hiding, but he wouldn't deny the increasing number of "Where's Mochi?" questions that he didn't answer when he heard them.
Two weeks later it didn't matter, because Kouchi showed up anyway. He had fallen asleep in the armchair that had long been designated as "his" and woke up to a face with a dark pink scarf mask hovering over him, brushing his hair. Kimochi would have startled at an intruder if it weren't for the fact he was staring at his own hair and eyes even with the mask covering most of the face. The eyes were crinkled, in a way that reminded Kimochi of how Kokichi's eyes looked when he smiled. However instead of the cryptic things he remembered from his dream, it simply said "Good morning."
Kimochi's eyes darted around until he spotted Kokichi right beside them, then he gave his own face a smile. "Is this always how you greet long lost siblings?"
"Only when they are my adorable baby siblings," Kouchi replied.
Well, Kimochi didn't hate that.
Kouchi was an enjoyable presence to be around. He joined Kimochi when he was reading, only bringing with him the soft sounds of classical music. It wasn't really to Kimochi's taste, but he didn't mind it and he began to associate the sound with his brother's presence. He would admit to being starry eyed in Kouchi's presence. He and Kokichi were together so often that Kimochi often considered them to be the same (when he didn't think of himself as being much worse), so it was odd to feel like he had an older brother. They were the same, but they also very much were not.
Kimochi soon had two very different sets of stories from Hope's Peak. The chaotic wildness that he was used to from Kokichi, and the more sedate stories offered to him by Kouchi. He found himself actively watching Kouchi, mirroring him, studying him as he never had to do with Kokichi. Kokichi just made sense to Kimochi. Kouchi didn't. Not quite, at least.
"You don't have to do that," Kouchi told him one day.
"Do what?" Kimochi asked.
Kouchi’s eyes softened like he knew a secret Kimochi didn't. It felt odd to be on the receiving end of such a look. "Copy me. You can be yourself around me."
Kimochi smiled in turn, adding a teasing tone to his voice as he asked, "Oh? And what if I'm awful?"
Kouchi met his eyes as he answered, "I won't mind."
Kimochi didn't believe him, but he liked the thought. He remembered the last time he'd gone to school, Kokichi worriedly wrapping himself around Kimochi and whispering that he loved him even though he knew that Kimochi was broken. He didn't think Kouchi would do that, but even if he did, he didn't want his new brother to think that he was a monster.
OoOoOoOo
Hope's Peak must have some kind of obsession with Oumas, because they kept collecting siblings that Kimochi didn't remember having.
He saw Koharu the least of all his new siblings. Koharu seemed to always be busy and most days, Kimochi saw him more in passing or heard of him from whispers and rumors. He saw Kouchi dragging him to put ice onto a black eye, heard Dice members praising his helpfulness or his smile, and listened to Kokichi calling him a liar. Kimochi was rarely ever alone with Koharu, rarely ever even in the same room.
Despite that, Koharu became a fixture in their home frightfully quickly. One day, he was watching Kokichi throw himself on the bed and tell him about their new sibling and the next Koharu was bringing in boxes of things for "Safe keeping."
Well, Kimochi no longer had to worry about being the worst twin, at least. Every few days Kokichi had a new complaint to launch against Koharu and new whispers to listen to from Dice. Kimochi absorbed all this as he always did, writing down every new bit of information that he could.
Kokichi called Koharu a liar with the small purse of his lips that meant he was offended. Kouchi called Koharu a liar in the voice of someone that was highly amused. It was only when he talked to Koharu himself that he realized what they meant. Koharu smiled with empty eyes, cried with hollow tears, and spoke in a vacant voice. Kimochi got the sense that there was nothing inside him.
Well, no one told lies without a truth to hide and Kimochi could admit to being curious.
He went to Hope’s Peak and asked Kokichi where Koharu's class was. His brother looked at him with surprised eyes. "Why?"
"I want to spend time with him," he answered honestly.
"At school?"
"I don't see him anywhere else."
Kokichi blinked at him a few times before writing down directions and handing it to him. "Knock yourself out, I guess. He's completely insufferable though. Trust me."
Kimochi just smiled at him and set out to find Koharu's classroom. The reserve course was in a different building than the talented students. There were less recognizable faces the longer he went on. It was a little astounding how big Hope's Peak actually was. He wondered if they could have gone their whole high school lives without ever meeting their lost siblings.
"Koharu, what are you wearing?" Kimochi turned to face the girl that spoke. She was looking at him with a bemused expression, like she wanted to help him but wasn't yet sure what he needed.
"Ah, you know Koharu then." He smiled at her and she seemed to relax, as if her entire world made sense again. "I was looking for him, but I've never been to this building before."
"Oh, that's fine. I'll take you there." She made small talk on the way and Kimochi indulged her easily. The girl seemed to have a favorable enough opinion of Koharu, as did Dice. Curious that.
It was easy to spot Koharu in his classroom with his carefully combed hair and glasses that Kimochi suspected to not be more than aesthetic. He was the center of attention, with soft words and bright smiles and an air of helplessness that Kimochi hadn't seen the few times they had met before. It was a bit odd to watch the class hover around him as if they were the planets to his sun but the role of the bright center of the universe seemed perfectly at home on Koharu’s shoulders.The girl moved to call out to him and Kimochi stopped her. "I don't want to interrupt him, don't worry."
It was a few minutes until Koharu noticed him, getting to his feet immediately. Strange how he seemed to direct his entire attention to Kimochi, as if the rest of his classmates ceased to exist. "What are you doing here Kimochi? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong," he answered as Koharu reached him. "I just decided to spend time with you."
"Oh?" Kimochi wasn't sure what the look in Koharu's gaze meant. Koharu seemed to be made of air currents and turning gears, fast moving and too ephemeral for him to grasp. "Well, class will be starting soon, so..."
"That's alright," Kimochi said. He took a seat behind where Koharu had been sitting and smiled at him.
Koharu's smile wavered. "Kimochi, you can't just invite yourself to class."
"I won't disturb you," he told him. "It'll be fine."
Koharu looked like he wanted to argue more but then the teacher arrived and he decided to just take his seat. No one bothered him, so he assumed whoever's seat he was in must have been free.
"Oh, do we have a new student?" The teacher questioned.
Kimochi stood and bowed. "Please continue with the lesson. I'd hate to hold everyone up." The class clamor that followed, consisting of whispers and coos as to how he was "just as sweet as Koharu" and "so well mannered" had more to do with the teacher's eagerness to let him pass than anything else, but that was fine. Kimochi hadn't intended to be denied, so it was nice that Koharu's apparent reputation enabled that.
Koharu ignored him for most of the day. Kimochi made it easy to do, remaining observant and quiet, watching his brother and mostly only speaking when spoken to. Koharu was oddly attentive to his classmates, helping those that needed help, demuring from compliments, and flashing nonstop smiles. It might not have been strange at all if it wasn't for the lack of attention he gave Kimochi. He mostly only paid attention to Kimochi when his classmates said something to prompt it and there was a lingering question in his eyes when he did so.
It was only after school, when Koharu was walking Kimochi out that he questioned, "What was that about?"
"I told you, I wanted to spend time with you," Kimochi answered. The reserve class was a lot calmer than the times he had sat in on Kokichi's class. Boring, but predictable. Normal. He'd have to bring a book if he wanted to do it again.
He was suddenly stopped by Koharu crowding him against a wall, staring into his eyes as if he could burn away any hints of artifice that Kimochi might show. "What do you expect to gain here?"
"Knowledge."
"What?"
"I never see you. I want to get you to know you," he told him. He smiled when the look on Koharu's face remained as intense and mildly uncomprehending as it began. "I promise it's not that complicated. I don't know anything about you, Koharu. I want to."
Koharu moved away from him. "Hmm. There are easier ways to accomplish that."
"No, I don't think there are," Kimochi replied. "Everyone has something different to say about you and the only thing our siblings agree on is that you're a liar. That doesn't tell me anything about what the lie might be or what else you are."
"And you're doing this out of what exactly?"
"Curiosity."
"I don't understand you," Koharu admitted.
He laughed. "Well, we just met. Takes more than a day to understand someone. At least, it does if they're interesting." There were people in Kokichi's class that he had understood in five minutes flat. People like that weren't as much fun though.
OoOoOoOo
Kokichi found him an hour after he'd gotten home, tossing himself onto Kimochi's lap and planting himself right on the book that he was reading. "So what were you doing with Koharu earlier, huh?"
Kimochi pushed him onto the floor, ignoring Kokichi's complaints as he checked his book. "You bent the page."
"You bent my bottom," Kokichi replied from the floor.
He rolled his eyes, smiling at Kokichi's pout. He closed his book, tucking it away beside him as he gave his brother his full attention. "Shall I help you up or do you want to stay there and pout longer?"
Kokichi ignored that to jump to his feet, climbing onto the arm of the chair as he should have done from the start, and resting his arms on Kimochi's head. He sunk down on the cushion slightly to make it easier. "Tell me about your search for Koharu!"
"I was just watching him," he shrugged.
"While he was in class?" When Kimochi only shrugged again, Kokichi laughed. "Wow, Kimchi, you're such a stalker."
"If I am, it's your fault Chichi. You're the one that's told me all these vague things about Koharu. What kind of twin would I be if I didn't investigate?"
"One that wasn't nosy as shit," Kokichi answered.
"Unrealistic."
Kokichi giggled, making himself comfortable by folding his arms on Kimochi's head and laying on them. "Read to me from the book that I broke."
He rolled his eyes, but pulled out his book anyway. By the time he finished the chapter, Kokichi had fallen asleep on him and there were three Dice members crowded around his feet. He closed his book, smiling as he leaned into Kokichi.
OoOoOoOo
The third day that he followed Koharu to school he got into a fight. Three fights, to be exact. It turns out that the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader had a short fuse and he took exception to Koharu accidentally bumping into him, and Kimochi took exception to him punching his brother in the face. This went on until the Ultimate Moral Compass commanded them to stop and they were all hustled away to the nurse’s office.
The second fight wasn't his fault at all. It turned out that the Ultimate Gymnast was quick to jump to conclusions, so when she walked in to find the Ultimate Nurse in a compromising position (that she put herself in) she blamed the boys in the room and attacked with no questions asked. Kimochi left them to it after a while to check on Koharu and make sure he was okay, the other two not really noticing that he had excused himself from the fight and Ultimate Nurse apologizing profusely.
Then he ran into Maki, who he assumed was looking for Kokichi. Her finding Kokichi was undoubtedly the worst option, but Kimochi was in a rather bad mood at this point and her picking him up by his shirt didn't do her any favors. He bit her hand, which seemed to shock both her and Koharu. They were late for class at this point, so he didn't want to give her any more of his time. She dropped him in surprise. He landed on his feet then he took Koharu's hand and they walked back to class.
Koharu was watching him most of the walk back, but that ended the moment they crossed the threshold of the classroom and everyone crowded around them asking Koharu if he was okay. Kimochi left him to it, taking the seat he'd claimed as his own and reading a book until the end of class.
"Why did you interfere?" Koharu asked once they left the classroom.
Kimochi gave him a confused look. "Because I didn't want you to get hurt."
Before either of them could say anything else, Kimochi found himself being caught up by Kokichi. Entering the room with the usual flourish, the crowd of students all quickly started to whisper between themselves again. Someone seemed to have recognized Kokichi, and in moments the entire class knew he was the Ultimate Supreme Leader. All eyes were on his brother, some were the normal curious expressions, other more alarming expressions immediately put the bearers on the didn’t like list. It was a bit strange they hadn’t associated Kimochi with the title, alarming even. However, as Kokichi walked over to him and Koharu, he pushed the thought from his mind.
“I heard the surprising news that I was in a fight today,” Kokichi told him, gazing at his nails in a fake nonchalance. “More than one, even!”
“Impressive pressive of you,” Kimochi said. He didn’t think word would travel quite so quickly.
Kokichi gave them both a subtle once over as he pretended to look at his nails. He must have been worried to come and find him and the reason why was revealed quickly. “In fact, I heard that I bit Harukawa.”
Kimochi glared at the mention of her and his response was nearly instant. “I bet she deserved it.”
“I don't doubt it.” Kokichi was still trying to appraise them, so Kimochi gave his brother a smile.
“I’m fine, Chichi.”
Kokichi pointed at Koharu. “Hey, don’t go getting Mochi to fight your battles for you! What do you think he is, some kind of henchmen? Wrong!”
“Dice are the henchmen,” Kimochi joked quickly, receiving the flash of a smile from Kokichi.
“He involved himself, I didn’t ask him to do that,” Koharu replied.
“Then don’t be a damsel in distress so that he won’t have to save you,” Kokichi told him. And there lay the seeds of Kokichi worrying about their new brother. Neither of them fully knew what he was like and Kokichi hated it when people got hurt. At least, he hated it if it wasn’t funny.
“I’m fine, Chichi,” he insisted. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to him, you don't have to worry.”
Kokichi sighed and pet Mochi’s head. “Yeah, I know. Anyway, come on you two. I’m going to escort you home so that you don’t get into any more trouble.” He didn’t object, so the three of them walked home together while Kokichi pretended that he wasn’t fussing over them both.
OoOoOoOo
Being the only one not going to Hope's Peak made it easier to get away with what he did, too. Of course, if his siblings talked to each other, the process of elimination would root him out. Kimochi felt pretty confident that the chances of all his siblings successfully talking to each other was pretty small.
He explained it to Kanade once, his head in her lap and her back against a gravestone, "I think there are three languages among the four of us. I might be the only one that understands all of them."
She blew rings of cigarette smoke into the air. Her voice was always flat and steady, her expression mostly blank. It added a weight to her words, he found. "Does that even count if you aren't talking to them either?"
He frowned at her. "I talk to them."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure you tell them about your nightmares and shit everyday. Kichi gives you the lighters and knives you play with and Kou doesn't think you're scared of him and Ru isn't worried his sibling is stalking him or whatever," she drawled.
"None of that is true."
Kimochi supposed that she made a decent point. Kimochi thought he understood his siblings, but he wasn't doing any better at communicating than they were. Kokichi was spending his days trying to find time for two extra siblings and Kimochi felt like the leftovers. He didn't want to say that though. He knew that Kokichi still loved him and that he wasn't even the worst liked. That should be enough.
Kokichi had Kouchi to confide in and Koharu to prank and to hate and... Kimochi couldn't expect to be Kokichi's favorite anymore. The thought shouldn't leave a sour taste on his tongue. It was completely ungrateful and selfish. Kokichi would be ashamed of him, surely. It made him feel even more sick and twisted to think that the warm and crowded feeling he'd been remembering could be bad instead of the comfortable safety net that he wanted it to be.
He pulled Kanade's hand down to his lips until he could take a few puffs from her cigarette. "It'll stunt your growth," she told him.
"I'm already short. Not much left to stunt."
"What if you go backwards, Mochi. Can you afford that?"
He laughed, but it was watery and he was on the verge of choking on his own feelings. "If I shrink, will you hold me up to reach things on the top shelf?"
"No, I wanna watch you struggle," she answered immediately. The drawl in her voice rarely changed, but he always knew when she was joking or serious anyway. "I'd put even more things higher."
"What a terrible girlfriend you'd make," he told her.
She leaned down, lifting her hand out of his grasp to take a puff of her cigarette and blow smoke in his face. "You're no trophy wife yourself."
"You wish that you could wife me up."
She smirked at him as she sat back up, fingers combing through his hair. He considered talking to them, the strangers that wore his face, the dreams that he loved and tried his best to mirror. He stole Kanade's cigarette to distract himself from the sour taste that refused to leave his mouth.
OoOoOoOo
Kimochi decided to stay home the next day, not the least of which because Kouchi seemed worried about him and he didn't want to trouble him. It wasn't like he didn't have other things to occupy him anyway. He had articles to write and books to read and Dice members to attend to.
Kimochi was surprised a few days later when Koharu sought him out.
"Come with me," Koharu said. Kimochi wasn't sure if it was a demand or a request, but he excused himself from the conversation that he was in and followed Koharu anyway.
The outing consisted of Koharu taking him to a place, starting a conversation, pulling Kimochi into it, leaving him alone for five to ten minutes, and then returning to politely wrap up the interaction. Koharu did this about five times, returning each time with more than he’d left with. Kimochi ended the day with a Snickers, a phone charm, and a popsicle.
Kimochi thought he had a pretty good idea of what Koharu was like and why his siblings didn't like it. Koharu wasn't empty, he was just a mask.
As they walked home together, Koharu with notably fuller pockets and Kimochi with a popsicle in his mouth, he said, "My favorite flavor is strawberry."
Koharu looked at him for longer than was polite before he nodded. "Noted," Koharu said.
They didn't talk about it and when Kimochi retreated to his chair to read, Koharu decided to join him.
OoOoOoOo
Kouchi was the best choice to talk to. They already spent dedicated chunks of time together and as the Ultimate Preacher, he was used to others confessing to him. Kimochi decided it was easiest to forgo asking permission or providing a lead in. Instead, he just looked up from his book and asked, "Do you think I'm the worst one?"
Kouchi didn't even look up from his book. "How could I think that when Koharu is right there?"
Kimochi frowned. "Koharu's not that bad."
Kouchi did look up then. "Is that so?"
"Well, he likes all of us," Kimochi shrugged. "That matters."
Kouchi closed his book. It was odd how foreboding that felt. "Is there something on your mind, Kimochi?"
"I just said it."
"Something more?"
He pulled his legs up to his chest. "Do you love all of us?"
Kouchi raised an eyebrow at that. "Of course?"
"Would it be bad not to?"
Kouchi was quiet for a moment. He could see Kouchi studying him, trying to pull back his layers and find whatever writhing thing was living underneath his skin and poisoning him so that he could kill it.
"You can't kill it just by looking," Kimochi said softly. "It's burrowed too deeply."
"I see." Kouchi moved his knees, sitting right in front of Kimochi. "Kokichi loves you. I do, too. Nothing could ever make me stop."
"I believe you."
"You don't." Kouchi said it with so much conviction that it shocked Kimochi into sitting up straight. "You think there's a line. Kokichi has a line he doesn't want you to cross and you think he'll stop loving you if you do." He took Kimochi's hand. "I don't have a line, Kimochi. Nothing you do will be too much or too far."
He tilted his head, staring at the conviction in his brother's eyes and the serious expression on his face. If this was Kokichi, he would believe him. Kokichi didn't lie to him, not in ways that mattered. But this wasn't Kokichi so he felt the need to test it. To be sure. Kimochi threaded their fingers together so that Kouchi couldn't pull away and whispered, "Did you set the fire?"
There was an unshielded shock in Kouchi's eyes for a moment, but he covered it with confusion quickly. Just like he tried to cover the small way he jerked back by squeezing Kimochi's hand. "What fire?"
It didn't hurt that Kouchi would lie to him. It would only hurt if this was a lie. If there was a line and he was trying to trick him into tripping over it. "I thought I dreamed it," he confessed. "Staring at myself in front of the fire the day that he died."
"How could it have been me?" Kouchi asked.
Kimochi closed his eyes and rested his head on his knees. He didn't let go of Kouchi's hand. "That's it then. There is a line and if I cross it, you'll hate me. I'm asking questions and you already hate it."
"I didn't say--"
"I have eyes, Kou. You didn't like it. It's not the same line as Kokichi's, but it's a line. It's not fair to let me trip over it when I'd stop if you just asked."
"I did."
Kimochi opened his eyes. Kouchi was much closer than he expected. Also much more determined and honest looking.
"So what now?"
Kimochi looked at their hands, wondering if he was imagining the slight tremble there. "Now nothing. I didn't ask to be conditional. I just asked so that I'd know. I want to know what the rules are. That's all."
"You never told Kokichi about that, did you?"
"You told me not to."
Kouchi relaxed, he could tell. He pulled Kimochi into a hug. ‘Conditional’ popped into his head again, but he ignored it in favor of enjoying his embrace. "You can tell me anything, Kimochi. I promise you that."
"What if I hated you?" Kimochi asked. "You and the others, for taking Kokichi away from me." He didn't, but it was uncomfortably close to his feelings.
"Well, you have had him to yourself for a long time. It's only to be expected that you would hate us." Kouchi smiled at him. "I don't reciprocate that hate, though. I love you and Kokichi both."
"I like all of you," Kimochi told him. "I don't actually hate any of you."
"You are my precious baby brother. Even if you make a mistake, I'll forgive you. And you can tell me anything and no one has to know."
No one has to know. The promise he remembered from so long ago. This time, it didn't feel conditional.
Kimochi knew his twin very well. Ever since they were little, they had a habit of mirroring each other. There were many times when they were younger that Kokichi would mirror him when he didn't know what to do or how he felt about something. In turn, Kimochi mimicked Kokichi when he needed to lead or lie. They weren't the same, but they were both very good at pretending to be the same.
To some extent, Kimochi was better at it. Komochi didn't hide his feelings and if Kokichi was pretending to be him, it often made his twin feel far too bare and exposed. As a result, Kokichi very rarely pretended to be him. Kimochi, however, didn't have that problem. He didn't lie often, but that didn't mean that he couldn't. It didn't mean that he wouldn't. He'd had far more times that he pretended to be Chichi than the other way around and the only thing that would hold him back was that Kimochi no longer went to school with his brother.
Among Dice Kimochi knew exactly how Kokichi would act. Among his classmates things were a bit more... uncertain. He had a general idea, of course. Kokichi had told him enough stories, Kimochi had taken enough notes, that he knew which students his brother was close to and which he was not. He could even make educated guesses in most cases. There would always be holes in that way of acting though.
That was why, when Kokichi turned up sick, Kimochi had to spend a solid half hour debating the question of, "To pretend or not to pretend?"
Bishop had already put Kokichi to bed. Chichi was his cutest when he was sick. He was whiny and clingy and so honest that Kimochi almost didn't want anyone else to be allowed to see him. No one should see his brother when he was too vulnerable to protect himself. Even if the core group was trustworthy, he still only trusted half of them with an exposed Chichi.
Bishop was such a softie that Kimochi considered him more of a teddy bear for his brother than anything else. The big guy had been caught more than once picking Kokichi up like a baby and rocking him when he was really bad off, and you bet your ass that Kimchi had blackmail pictures of it that he never planned to really use. And Arisa would just pout and make sad noises at him if she wasn't allowed to crawl into bed with Kokichi, likely making herself sick in the process. It was a given that they were his brother's sick companions.
Karin was allowed, but she also had school and wasn't willing to skip on a dime like the rest of them were. So while she would be the best choice, she was out. That left either Disco or Jack.
Kimchi marched into the room and slammed a hand on the table between them as he demanded, "Which of you will watch Chichi?"
They looked at each other, having a silent conversation through facial expressions. Kimochi knew that it was some combination of "which of us has more absences" and "Do you fear the wrath of the king?" Kimochi graciously allowed it to go on for several minutes.
Jack was the one that spoke his soft objection. "Isn't Bishop with him?"
"You want to leave him alone with just Bishop?" he asked them.
They gave him various of the same confused look. "Aren't you going to look after Boss?"
Kimochi smiled, soft and serene. "Unfortunately, not. Kokichi has to be at school."
Pause for the silence. Pause for thought. Pause for realization. Queen would have tried to object immediately, but Kimochi outranked her. Dano would never and he just bowed his red haired head in concession. Jack, however, frowned.
"Did the boss say you could go to school for him?"
Kimchi leaned on the table more. "Chichi is sick." Which meant "no" and "I can do whatever I want" at the same time.
"You're not gonna--" Jack cut himself off, rethinking his words. Kimochi didn't care much for Jack. He was reasonable and useful, that was why he was so high ranked, but he was also a pain to Kimochi in particular. Oh well. This was the price for individuality. Some Dice members were simply not have his favorite. "I'll stay," Jack eventually said. "Just... be good."
"Hmm, I guess that means I shouldn't pretend to be Chichi after all."
Dano laughed. "Probably for the best."
"Okay! Guess I have to get ready for my first day at Hope's Peak!"
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Shuichi knew that they were in for a bad time as soon as Kokichi entered the classroom.
To be fair, most people felt that way when Kokichi entered the classroom. Maki let out a deep sigh when she noticed him before returning to whatever she was doing, Miu loudly insulted him (as she did with most of their classmates), and Kiibo (Kokichi's favorite target) usually winced or sighed. On the whole though, no one paid very much attention to the arrival, but Shuichi realized something that they didn't. Kokichi had arrived wearing a hat and cape, and the only time that had happened was when they'd met Kimochi.
That wasn't the only evidence that he had. He smiled brightly, but it wasn't his usual teasing look or the one that preceded mischief, it was just... nice. It reminded him of the smile Kaede gave him when she greeted him most mornings. He also went straight to Gonta's desk, ignoring both Kiibo and Miu without even giving Miu's vulgar greeting a glance. So even if he was maybe overreacting, he was pretty sure his theory of Kimochi having returned was correct and he was also not looking forward to what that meant for them.
Shuichi slumped down in his seat a bit, Kaito and Kaede both noticing and turning to look at him.
"Something wrong, sidekick?"
Shuichi shook his head, not wanting to say anything and bring attention to him in case Kimochi was still choosing a target.
"Good morning, Gonta!"
"Oh, good morning, Kokichi! You look different," Gonta said in greeting.
Kimochi laughed, holding out his cape with one hand and placing a hand on his hat with the other. "Do you like it?"
"Gonta think it look very nice."
Shuichi had noticed it before, but Kimochi didn't correct people when they called him Kokichi. It couldn't be that he was trying to pretend to be his twin since, despite looking exactly the same, he chose to dress differently.
Then Kimochi noticed him looking and Shuichi could have kicked himself for staring. Damn him for getting caught up in a mystery. If this had been Kokichi, he would have immediately run over to mess with all of them. Which wouldn't be so bad, since Kokichi tended to be harsher to Kaito and Maki than him and Kaede (and they brought it on themselves sometimes.) Kimochi just smiled and waved at him. Shuichi was so confused that he found himself waving back. Kimochi looked genuinely pleased by this.
Kaito seemed to connect Shuichi's weird behavior to Kimochi's attention (which was correct, but not for whatever reason he thought) and called out to him. "Hey, are you picking on my sidekick?"
Sometimes Shuichi thought he and Kokichi would have ended up good friends if Kaito wasn't always inserting himself between them.
"Me?" Kimochi asked, pointing at himself with genuine confusion. "No, I was just saying hi. Shuichi was watching me, you know."
He slid further down in his seat, pulling his hat over his face. It was too early to have this much attention on himself.
"Don't lie!" Kaito yelled.
Kimochi gave Kaito a blank look, identical to the one Kokichi sometimes wore. "So that's how you are, huh."
"What was that?"
Was Kaito looking for a fight or did he just not realize that Kimochi wasn't engaging him?
Kimochi looked at him again with a small smile. Oddly friendly looking. Then he skipped across the room, ignoring Kaito, to give more greetings. "Hello Rantaro and Kirumi. How are you both today?"
"Hey Kokichi," Rantaro greeted.
"If you require a favor, we only have a few minutes before class is to begin, but if you are sincerely asking, then I am fine," Kirumi responded.
"Do I really ask you for favors so often that it's the first thing you say to me?" Kimochi questioned.
Kirumi looked at him oddly. "Perhaps not, but neither do you pay me a special greeting."
"Do you want a special greeting?"
"That is not necessary."
"Alrighty then!"
Was he trying to gauge how the class reacted to him? To Kokichi? Would that factor into his revenge? He skipped off to the next desk. "Good morning Himiko! How are you?"
"Nyeh."
"Good to hear!"
He smiled at Tenko who immediately narrowed her eyes. "Degenerate male."
"Degenerate female."
Tenko slammed her hands on the table as she stood. "What did you call me?"
"Is that not how you prefer to be greeted?" he asked. "I thought the rule was to treat others how you wish to be treated."
"That doesn't apply to degenerates!"
"Hmm... that's a pretty mean thing to say about Gonta."
"What?" Tenko looked taken aback.
"He's a male too. Are you saying you hate him? You don't think he deserves kindness?" Kimochi asked. It was the most Kokichi thing he'd done all day, but it didn't have the same leading tone to it. Almost as if he was genuinely asking.
Gonta stood up. "Ah, did Gonta do something wrong?"
Kimochi walked away from the conversation he'd sparked between the two. "Good morning, Angie!"
"Good morning, Kimochi," Angie replied with a smile.
The entire class became quiet at that.
"Oh, so you noticed? I thought only Shuichi had."
"Atua told Angie that she would see you again soon."
"Really? Were you looking forward to it?" he asked. "I bet nobody else was!"
Angie hummed a little. "Atua thinks that Kimochi and Angie can get along just fine."
"Really? We should be friends then! I'm already friends with Gonta and Himiko."
"Nyeh?"
"Kimochi want to be friends with Gonta?"
"Alright," Angie agreed. "Then we're friends."
Kaito got Shuichi's attention by dropping his arm heavily around on his shoulders and pulling him close. "What the hell, Shuichi? Why didn't you tell me that brat was here?"
"U-um..."
"Probably because he didn't want Kimochi to be mad," Kaede answered.
Kimochi popped up between them just then, causing Shuichi, Kaito, and Kaede to jump. Kimochi laughed. "Shuichi doesn't have to worry. He's on the good list. For now anyway."
"The good list?" Kaede questioned.
"There's a good list and a bad list," Kimochi answered. "A list for people that I like and a list for those I don't. These are all different lists by the way."
"Why aren't the bad list and the list of people you don't like just one list?" Kaito questioned.
Kimochi smiled at him. "Nuance must be an utter mystery to you."
"What was that?"
"Just because I don't like someone, doesn't make them bad. And liking someone doesn't make them good."
"What's the difference?" Kaito insisted, getting louder.
Kimochi sighed. "I don't like Miu--"
"Hey!"
"But she's on the good list."
"What puts her on that list?" Kaede asked.
Kimochi's face was blank as he answered. "She never hurt my brother."
The bell rang after that and Kimochi went off to Kokichi's seat without another word, leaving them a little stunned and Kaito fidgety with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Class starts off as boring as Kimochi expected. The teacher talked, Kimchi realized that he already knew what she was talking about, and promptly took out a book and decided to read. When the teacher asked him to pay attention, he said a polite "No thank you" without looking up from his book and she eventually moved on.
He spent equal time actually reading as he did thinking of how he wanted to spend the rest of his class time. He knew these people, in a distant way, but they didn't know him. People got kinda weird about that sometimes. Kimchi didn't understand why, when he would happily just act like Kokichi if they wanted. There wasn't really a need to treat him differently. He hadn't insisted on being Kimochi or anything.
But as long as he was here, he wanted to make friends with them. The ones that he didn't already hate on behalf of his brother, at least. He was willing to give them all a chance. Just one.
At first break, he skipped over to Rantaro's desk, smiling at him. "Is it true that you do nails?" he asked. He knew that it was, but it was polite to ask.
"I do," Ranataro nodded. He had an indulgent look to him, all soft edges and awkwardness and the inability to say no. Kimchi wanted to steal him or be friends with him. "Do you want your nails done?"
He nodded enthusiastically. "Would you please?"
"Sure. How about during lunch?" Rantaro offered.
Kimochi pulled a chair to the other side of Rantaro's desk. "What if we do it now?"
Rantaro's smile wavered, but it didn't drop. "We have class Kokichi." A blink. "I mean, Kimochi."
"I don't mind if you call me Kokichi," he told him. "It must be hard having to correct yourself, right?"
Now Rantaro frowned. It made him a little sad to see it there when it didn't need to be. Why were people so weird about this? He shook his head. "That would be rude."
He just shrugged, holding his hand out on Rantaro's desk and wiggling his fingers. "What colors do you have?"
For a moment, Rantaro looked like he was going to pull out his nail polish, but then he stopped. "Class, Kimochi."
"I'll take notes for you if you need them," he said with a smile. "Don't worry about that."
"How do you propose that you will take notes if your hands are occupied?" Korekiyo asked, looking up from his own book to ask.
"I went over all this last week. It's no big deal."
"What do you mean you went over this already?" Miu asked loudly. "You steal Cockichi's text books in your free time?"
Kimochi turned to look at her. He met her gaze, held it, and waited. Her loud laughter tapered off when she realized he was staring.
"Hey, what's your problem?"
He didn't stop.
"Cut it out!"
He didn't blink.
Miu whimpered. "S-sorry."
Kimochi gave her a smile and nodded, turning back to face Rantaro and Korekiyo. "I help Dice with their homework a lot," he told them. He wiggled his fingers again. "Do you have black and white?"
This time, Rantaro dug out the bottles without complaint. He was probably distracted by the conversation. Kimochi expected at least one more objection.
Kirumi put her hand to her chin. "What school do you attend, Kimochi?"
"I don't."
The sound of confusion was echoed by more than just the three he was speaking to.
"You do not attend school, yet you can not only keep up with our curriculum but surpass it?" Kirekiyo questioned.
He shrugged. When the teacher returned, she stared at Kimochi, waiting for him to return to his seat. He stared back. She cleared her throat. He raised an eyebrow. The class was silent as they waited. Finally, the teacher just sighed and got back to it.
He softly knocked his shoulder with Rantaro. "Come on, Ranran. My nails."
Ranataro gave him a bemused smile, repeating the nickname under his breath before shaking up one of the bottles.
The teacher looked hard at Rantaro when he was bent over Kimochi's nails.
"Mr. Ouma," the teacher said. "If you keep acting out in this manner, I'm afraid a detention will be in order."
"No, I don't think so," he told her. "I'm exercising my talent right now, quietly even. I don't think this is a punishable offense."
She narrowed her eyes. "And what is stopping me from punishing Mr. Amami?"
He tilted his head. "Do you want to punish Amami?" She was silent. "Would that be a reasonable or satisfactory way to deal with your frustration with me?" Again the teacher said nothing, just glared. "I can't stop you, of course, you're the teacher after all. If you want to run the class with the heavy hand of an unjust fist, that is your right."
She let out a breath. "You're in top form today, Mr Ouma. You must think you have me backed into a corner."
"It would be disingenuous to imply that either of us is powerless in this situation, don't you think?"
Then Rantaro said softly, "I'm done."
Kimochi blew on his nails to dry them faster. "Thank you."
"Are you... feeling alright, Mr. Ouma?" The teacher questioned. "You're unusually quiet today."
He smiled at her, returning to his desk, and watching her avidly. She frowned, but continued with the lesson. He remained attentive the rest of the lesson and was pleased that his nails dried properly at the end of it.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Miu slammed her hand on his desk at the start of lunch. "Hey, why's that little twerp missing anyway?"
Kimochi stared at her until her aggressive demeanor began to waver. "You must believe that I am a creature of infinite forgiveness to keep speaking of my brother that way."
It was almost fascinating to watch the switch flip, to see her confidence crumble before his eyes into nothing. Even knowing that she was the type to fold under pressure, it was interesting to see in person. She shuffled in place, rubbing her legs together and fluttering her hands like she didn't know what to do with them. "Th-that's just the way that I speak," she countered in a much lower tone.
"Kindly do not do so to me," he told her. "Kokichi might enjoy you, but I do not."
"A-alright, sorry." She walked away with her tail between her legs.
"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Kaede asked.
He tiled his head at her. "Did I use any harsh words at her?"
"Well no..."
"Then I do not see what the problem is. I don't enjoy her speech, I told her so, using far kinder words than she has thus far directed at me." He leaned back, resting his elbows on his desk and placing his face in his hand. "Here's what I think. I think that you are all so caught up in how Kokichi treats her, and thus all of you, that you responded to her reaction rather than my words. Do you think that's true?"
Kaede seemed to become uncomfortable under the weight of his gaze, too. It was honestly fascinating. Kanade rarely reacted to him in such a manner. It made him want to pick apart the ways the two were different. To ripe open the seams and study their stuffing.
"I'll take your silence as a yes," he told her. "I think that is the greatest reason so many of you have a problem with Kokichi, in fact. You think of his past behavior and do not pay attention to his current. You look at the result and assume the cause."
"If he's always causing trouble, of course we're going to react that way," Kaito said. Always that one. Kimochi had already known that he had some hang ups with his brother, of course, but he didn't realize how exhausting he was likely to be.
"Does he always cause trouble or are you always barging in where you do not belong?" Kimochi questioned. "You were not invited to my conversation with Kaede, which was not hostile by the way, and yet you are attacking mine and my brother's character anyway."
"Just because I speak my mind doesn't mean that I'm attacking you," Kaito grumbled, scratching the back of his head.
Kimochi rose from his desk, moving to stand right before Kaito's. He leaned in very close to him, speaking softly. "My patience is thin with you in particular, Space Man. Here is your warning if you continue to annoy me." Kimochi's voice dropped, his smile didn't. "I am going to find what you love and take it. I will find what you fear and use it."
Kaito recoiled with a frightened expression. "The hell? Are you threatening me?"
He leaned back, tilting his head. "Is that something you cannot figure out for yourself?"
Kimochi skipped back to his desk to get his things. "Well, I'm off to lunch!"
OoOoOoOoOoOo
There were other Dice members at Hope' Peak. Kimochi and Kokichi both had all their members memorized, it would be easy enough to seek them out. He didn't though. Instead, Kimochi went to the roof, laid on the ground, and closed his eyes.
He'd almost forgotten why he stopped going to school and how much he wanted to punish his brother's class. He'd forgotten how easy it was to get his way when Kokichi wasn't around. He could get rid of all the people that hurt his brother, it wouldn't even be that hard. Kokichi wouldn't want him to, so he should at least give them a chance. Pulling the trigger too quickly wasn't good and he was supposed to be the more patient one between them.
"Angie found you!"
Kimochi opened his eyes, surprised to find Angie hovering over him. He smiled at her. "You did find me! You must be really good at hide and seek."
"Nya ha ha! Atua led Angie right to you!"
"Don't you think it's cheating to get help from a god?" he asked her.
"Would you consider it cheating to use Kokichi?" she asked with a smile.
Even if it was cheating, he would do it anyway. He nodded toward her, conceding that point. "So why were you looking for me?"
"Angie wanted to have lunch with you," she said as she sat on the grounds beside him, folding her legs. "Do you want to share?"
"Sure," he agreed. He remained in his same position, sprawled out on the ground, and Angie leaned over to feed him. After a few minutes of this, he spoke up. "You might make a good minion."
"Angie only follows Atua."
"What if I made Atua my minion?"
"Angie would like to know how you intend to enslave a god, Kimochi."
"Charisma."
She smiled at him, bright and amused. Funny, he thought that she might be upset with him speaking about her god so flippantly. "I doubt that you have that much charisma, but if you wanted to serve Atua yourself--"
He made a buzzing sound to cut her off. "Bzzt! No thanks."
She shrugged. "Atua will reach those he wishes to reach one way or the other. Perhaps it’s through friendship with Angie that you will find your way."
Kimochi pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking at her more shrewdly. She reminded him of Kokichi, which made her dangerous. And that made her fun. "Tell me all of the things you've ever liked," he demanded.
Angie, as expected, didn't even question him. She just began a long list of things that she liked and why. Kimochi nodded along, trying to commit some of them to memory and completely block others. Angie had... some interesting likes.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Kimochi went straight to Kokichi's room when he got home, dropping his hat and cloak on the floor as he pushed himself under the blanket. His brother was asleep, Arisa curled up on the bed behind him laying atop the covers. He was careful not to wake her, but Kokichi was another story. He was a light sleeper even when sick, so it didn't surprise Kimochi at all when he felt his brother's arms wrap around him and start stroking his hair.
"How was it?" Kokichi questioned tiredly.
Kimochi closed his eyes. "I think I made a friend today."
"That's good, Mochi."
They laid in silence after that and Kimochi let himself slowly drift off to sleep. It was nice to be home.
Thank you for your letter, I was quite surprised to receive a letter from the King of Dice but it has in fact arrived in perfect condition. I thank you for clarifying some of the rules of the household, I will keep them in mind, especially as I do not wish to be a monkey. I hope you do not mind that I include some rules of my own towards the end of this letter for best cohabitation.
I will go over each rule to prove that I paid proper attention and have understood what they have meant.
I am saddened to hear the red armchair has been so thoroughly claimed already, it seemed cozy for reading in. However, it is rude to step into someone’s house if uninvited, especially with such dire consequences for it, so you will not have to worry about my stealing it. Though I inquire if it is ever possible to get temporarily sitting rights, it really does seem very cozy.
About the tea and cakes, I really am more of a coffee person actually. I do enjoy tea still but I am much more likely to be having cake and coffee. Either way, I cannot invite whoever is not around and I will not risk the travesty of cold cake searching. If you are in the area though, I would be happy to share with you.
Please do not fear me wishing to steal Kokichi away. I have dreamed about having siblings for nearly my entire life, and you should notice that plural. I do not wish to choose between the two of you, I desire you both in my life. You are both quickly becoming precious to me if that is not too forward to say. I would never choose one of you over the other, nor do I ever wish to make you two feel like you have to choose or that you are being replaced. You both matter to me in similar yet keenly different ways that cannot be so easily swapped. I thank you for bringing this worry to my attention and will be doing my best to assuage it in the future.
Unfortunately, I do not know how to do tax evasion. You will have to keep searching for that knowledge as I cannot supply it. Though I must admit to being curious about what we are even being taxed on, and if it’s a taxation truly worth the trouble of such a feat. With my limited taxation knowledge I do have one suggestion though, have you considered registering as a charity or non-profit? That would likely have a similar effect if my knowledge is to be believed.
I will keep the cuddles in mind, though I do not consider myself much of a touchy person I am thankful for the offer. However, I am as they say ‘no snitch’ and will thus not be informing you about unregulated illegal cuddles. Apologies in advance.
To finally answer the actual test question though, it has brought me endless relief to know you all. I am quite happy, though I do sometimes struggle to show it. Trust me when I say there is no place I would rather be than here with all of you. It warms my heart to know the trust put in me by allowing me to room in your mansion, and I will make sure it is not misplaced.
Now for my own rules, though there will be no test for these ones.
You are welcome in my room at any time, but if I am praying please wait until I am finished to talk with me unless it is quite important we talk immediately.
I have a high preference for salty things, please keep extra salt around in the kitchen for my use.
As I am already aware Dice has a strict no lockpicking policy, but I would like to reiterate to not try and get into any locked drawers.
Please do not remove the bookmarks from any of my books.
I am often up at odd hours, please do not be alarmed if you see me still awake or hear me walking around late at night.
I have hypnagogic sleep paralysis, please do not be alarmed if something seems off if you see me falling asleep. It will pass shortly and I will safely fall asleep.
I also cannot have dairy please keep this in mind for any future meals. Though if you see me indulging in ice cream or otherwise dairy products I must ask you to mind your own business.
Those are all the rules I can think of at the moment, though more may come up if I can think of any, but this shall cover the basics.
This is a letter from Dice's second in command, diligently scripted by the finest monkeys with the greatest typewriters, to impart upon you the grave and important news from your new clown kings. Please note at the end that there will be a test, you will be graded, and if you fail you will be designated as one of the monkeys and forced to script these welcome letters on our behalf.
So, rule number one! The red armchair is my house. I live there. I have seen you camping out at the base of it, waiting for the chance to swoop in and make it your own, but you must resist this temptation. It actually has my name on it, you see, so if you try and take it, then I will be forced to assume your identity as you have assumed mine. This will include your new name being printed on your forehead and me wearing your face mask around for a day minimum. Do you want to risk that? Was the risk of being a monkey not enough for you?
Rule number two! If you are ever filled with the desire to have tea or cake, can I come too? Please?
Rule number three! Have you ever wanted siblings before? I've had Kokichi the whole time and I didn't know I could have more than that. Does it ever seem big and scary to you? It seems like every time Kokichi comes home he finds a face to replace mine. Do you... want that? Do you want to steal him? To replace me?
You don't have to lie about it. I won't be mad. Kokichi is really cool, so I would probably want to steal him too, if he wasn't already mine.
Rule number four! You might be able to steal my brother, but you can't steal my chair. I meant it! I rule from that throne!
Rule number five! You're allowed to teach tax evasion. Kokichi might tell you that you aren't, but that's just a test. You can teach it to me.
Rule number six! If you want cuddles, that is my assigned task. I get paid to do that. Honest, it's on the payroll! Ask HR! I am the designated person to give and receive cuddles. If you would like cuddles or are in need of them, please remember to employ me. If you see someone initiating cuddles without me, please alert me quickly so that I can join in.
If you are a rebel and do not want to officially clock your hugs and cuddles, I am also authorized to give you secret, illegal hugs. These hugs will not be known to the government because I have smuggled them personally.
The government cannot stop me from giving cuddles!
Alright, those are all the rules, now it's time for a test. Are you ready? Are you really ready? Here we go!
Are you happy to be with us?
It's the most important question, so no cheating, okay.
You can think about it, if you need to.
I think that I'm happy to have met you, Kouchi. I think it's good that we found you.
From the King of Dice! (Not to be confused with the Dice King, of course.) Kimochi~
Kimochi was in an armchair across from the door when Kokichi came home. His legs were pulled up to his chest and a book was in his hand, but he closed it as soon as Kokichi closed the door. Kokichi was used to the intensity that Kimchi's stare had become lately and didn't flinch under it as he met his eyes. He held up a letter, letting Kimchi take it from his hands.
"I got into Hope's Peak Academy," he told him.
"You're still going to school then," he said, voice hovering around a disappointed tone.
"Yeah. It's cool if you don't though," Kokichi said with a shrug, leaning against the side of the armchair. "No one's gonna stop you."
Kimchi leaned to the side, closer to Kokichi himself. "When should our birthday be this time? During the school year or not?"
Kokichi thought about it for a while. "During."
Kimchi tilted his head from side to side as he thought. "Gemini."
"Cancer."
Kimchi smiled. "June 21st then." He sunk deep into his chair, lifting his book again. "I'm good with that."
Cake
The day that their mother died, Kimochi bought them a cake. Kokichi had been saving up money all year in hope's of buying something special, but he was pretty sure Kimchi had just taken money from their father's wallet while he was passed out.
Their father liked to drink. That had never been a problem when their mother was around to pick up the slack. He wasn't abusive, but he was the type to let himself blackout and slack off, and there was no way he'd be good at raising two kids on his own. Neither of them had thought of that yet. That thought would come a few days later when their father went out one night and didn't return for two days because he forgot there was no one watching his kids.
For now, their mother had died and Kimchi had bought them a cake. He snuck it up to their bedroom, lighting two candles and almost dropping the lighter until Kokichi showed him how it worked.
"Today is our birthday," Kimchi had told him. His voice was hushed and excited, manic rather than happy. Kokichi didn't have the words to point out that his twin didn't look happy when he smiled or that the brightness in his eyes seemed... wrong. What he did have was the ability to take his brother's shaking hands in his own and copy his smile. He was pretty sure that he felt the way his brother looked, but he didn't know how to say that either, so he just nodded.
"Happy birthday," Kokichi whispered.
"That's right. It's just our birthday and nothing else okay?"
Kokichi kept nodding. "Okay."
Kimochi sang happy birthday three times until Kokichi stopped crying and sang along. He tickled him and blew raspberries on his cheek until Kokichi was laughing instead of crying. By the time they fell asleep, frosting on their faces and hands clasped, Kokichi no longer felt like his entire world was falling apart.
Friends
Kokichi loved his friends at Hope's Peak Academy. Everyday he came home with a story to tell. This classmate was so cool, that classmate was so lame, he dumped a bucket of water over this girl, he pretended to be a ghost to scare this guy. Kimochi found it very entertaining at first. But he also paid attention and he started to notice the things that he was pretty sure Kokichi didn't want him to. Scrapes and scuffs and strange marks that Kokichi tried to carefully hide.
Kimochi snuck around when Kokichi told stories to other Dice members, trying to log the things that Kokichi was too smart to tell him.
"Kokichi, what happened to your throat?"
"Haha. I was too slow and she caught me."
"Boss, what's on your head?"
"Don't worry about it. One of my classmates is just stronger than I thought."
"Are you limping?"
"Me? No way! You should have your eyes checked."
Kimochi began keeping a list of names and stories, to make sure he wouldn't forget anything he learned. A pattern emerged fairly quickly of who was and was not a problem, and Kimochi didn't like it one bit.
Kokichi liked catching Kimochi off guard, so he eventually caught Kimchi looking at his notes. Kokichi pounced on him when he was laying on the bed, snatching the notebook out of his hands to look at it, eyebrows climbing up in surprise. "What's this?"
Kimchi decided not to answer that. "Hey, would you be mad if I killed your classmates?"
Kokichi held his gaze for a long time before answering. "Yes and I think Bishop should follow you when you go out from now on."
"That's fair," he said with a shrug. Inconvenient, but fair. Kimochi thinks he should be able to get revenge on them, but he was willing to wait. They would slip up badly enough eventually and then Kokichi would leave them at his mercy.
Cold
"I'm pretty sure we're lost," Kimchi whispered. He was shivering and cold, but he'd forced Kokichi to wear the one pair of gloves between them, leaving him to rub his own hands together desperately for warmth.
Kokichi was the one that suggested they run away a few weeks later. They'd spent too many nights with hungry bellies for his liking and when the lights went off and didn't come back before their father did, he knew that they'd be better off taking their chances. It was Kimchi who had snuck their fathers wallet out of his pocket before they left, but there had been frightfully little actually in it.
"We're not lost," Kokichi told him. "I know exactly where we are."
Kimchi didn't look like he believed him, which was good since Kokichi was lying through his teeth. He definitely didn't know where they were and he definitely didn't know where they were going. Next time they ran away, Kokichi would wait until he could read a map properly at least.
"Fine, we're not lost," Kimchi said. "But we are cold."
Kokichi reluctantly nodded in agreement. He was shivering too hard to lie about it, even if the lie was blatant.
"If you cry, someone might take pity on us," Kimchi suggested.
"What if someone tries to kidnap us?"
"We'd be warm?"
Kokichi glared at him. Kimchi sighed and moved closer. He opened his coat, pulling Kokichi practically into his lap and wrapping the coat around him.
"What are you doing?" Kokichi asked.
Kimchi placed their faces right beside each other. It was the warmest he'd felt in days. "I'm gonna keep us warm, that means you need to think of a plan, okay?"
Kokichi nodded. "This is my fault."
"Even if we'd stayed, we would still be hungry," Kimchi said. "It would be dark and lonely and maybe dad would have forgot to come home one day anyway."
"It's not dark," Kokichi admitted. "And I'm never lonely if I'm with you, Kimchi."
Kimchi squeezed him tight. "And I'm not lonely with you. So... we'll be okay."
"We'll be okay," Kokichi repeated. He didn't know if he believed it, but Kimchi didn't lie like he did, so maybe it was true. And if it wasn't... Kokichi could find a way to make it true, right? He had to.
Party
Kimochi was bad at sleeping. They were both, honestly, but in different ways. Kokichi was a light sleeper that would wake up if you looked at him too hard and Kimochi was restless, tossing and turning a thousand times before finally falling asleep. Despite this, they usually slept better when they were together.
Unfortunately, they didn't often sleep together. Kimochi liked to go out at night and Kokichi had school, which dictated that some night he had to actually go to sleep if he wanted to function normally. On the bad nights, when they were plagued with nightmares and insomnia and restlessness, Kimochi would take Kokichi out. On these nights, Kimchi was Dice's Leader, leading Kokichi and whoever was awake at the time on one of their more strange adventures.
"So who's this?" Kokichi questioned as Kimchi spread a blanket out before a row of graves. Bubbles popped her gum as she sat down on the blanket immediately and Poker leaned forward to read the grave.
"Jasu Horagini."
"This," Kimchi said with a wide smile as he held out the bag of goodies they'd picked up from the convenient store. "Is our grandfather for the night. We're throwing him a retirement party."
Kokichi peeked into the bag, rooting around to see what he'd brought. "And tell us about our dear old grandfather." He pulled out a few generic cards, a pack of pens, and candles, throwing them all on the ground.
Bubbles picked one of the cards up, squinting at it in the darkness. "This is a birthday card," she said.
"No one said that we were good grandkids," Poker said immediately, snatching that card and claiming it for himself.
"So Grandpa Jasu used to be a Jazz player in his youth, a real passion for music. Once he met Grandma Anzu though, he decided he needed to pull himself together and get a stable job. He worked at his boring company for 45 years, had seven kids, and was the best baker at the company. Everyone loved him at the office and he celebrated every birthday."
Kokichi made a sound of delight as he pulled out the cupcakes and balloons. Poker immediately snatched the balloons while Kokichi fell to the ground on the spot to open the cupcakes and put candles in them.
"Grandpa was pretty cool," Bubbles said. She took the bag from his hands now that Kokichi was done with it, pulling out her phone to root through the rest. She tossed the lighter at Kokichi and immediately lit the candles on the cupcakes.
"What was the boring company?" Poker asked, pulling up his mask so he could see better as he scribbled on his card. He didn't have the good sense to take out his phone, moving closer to the candles for light.
He thought for a moment before deciding. "Blink incorporated," he answered. "They make black ink for pens. The name is a pun, but no one ever notices and Grandpa was always trying to explain the joke to everyone.
Kokichi snickered. "Grandpa told bad puns all the time, but they were bad because no one could ever tell they were puns. The company ruined his sense of humor.":
Kimchi smiled at his brother. "Now you're getting it."
"I bet his hearing started to go toward the end," Bubbles said. "So when he told puns, he'd be super loud and repeat them a bunch of times because he wasn't sure if anyone was listening."
Kokichi laughed. "He would! Hey, remember that time--" Kokichi launched into a story about Grandpa Jasu's work shenanigans while Poke blew up some balloons. Kimochi tied them to balloons, wrapping them around a small bouquet of flowers.
"Did you guys really just make up a whole life story about some dead guy?" A dry voice questioned. They all looked up to see a short haired blonde dressed in all black. She had what he thought was a cigarette in one hand and she was leaning against one of the nearby angel statues as she watched them.
"Excuse you, I didn't make up a thing," Kokichi said. "I was telling them about a cherished memory. Also, it's rude to crash a retirement party."
"I'm not crashing," she replied immediately. Her voice was so deadpan that it sounded like she was speaking at a drawl even when she wasn't. "I was invited. I'm a grandchild of one of his seven kids."
They all looked at each other before Bubbles reached down and pulled up the remaining cards. "There are extras, Her story checks out."
"Since you got here late," Kimochi added, "You have to tell a story about Jasu."
The girl shrugged, putting out her cigarette on the statue before moving closer. "Let me tell you about how Grandpa accidentally made my parents get divorced." Despite the setup, the story was actually kind of amusing. Kokichi argued with her about the details at numerous points, resulting in them all laughing.
Bubbles made a song that Jasu taught her while they ate the cupcakes, making sure to include multiple puns.
Poker claimed that grandpa taught him everything he knew about cards and once won a big prize gambling that he used to buy the family two new dogs.
By the end of the night, there were cards and balloons taped to the grave, as well as a pile of flowers that Bubbles picked around the graveyard.
That was how Kimchi first met Kanade Akamatsu, but it would hardly be the last.
Family
Kokichi and Kimochi had always been small. Kimochi was convinced that they always would be, but Kokichi liked to say that they would have a growth spurt one day and end up taller than even Dano. Kimochi didn't believe that. Dano was almost as tall as the adults, it would take a miracle for them to get that tall, let alone surpass that height. He wasn't sure that Kokichi really believed it either, since he liked to say things that were more than he liked to say things that were true.
What Kokichi didn't have in height, he made up for in presence. Kokichi felt big. Kimochi was sure how he did it, but his brother was so good at making himself seem like the biggest, most important person in a room when he really wanted to. That was how Dano and Arisu ended up following them around. Kokichi was bossy and big and the two of them would run all over the playground if he told them to. And he had before. Multiple times. Kimochi mostly watched, sometimes laughing about it with Karin, who was too smart to run around just because Kokichi told her to.
Kimochi could get her to run around, but only because he didn't tell seven lies a minute or enjoy pranking people. As far as she knew, at least.
It was because they were small that people wanted to pick on them. It was because Kokichi felt big that people took it too far. Kokichi didn't bend. He laughed in their faces when they tried to bully him and was usually too fast to catch. Sometimes they wanted to bother Kimochi, too, but he didn't play with them the way Kokichi did and those just ended up with fights. Not that they could tell the difference between him and Kokichi most of the time, which further led to confusion around them.
Arisa wasn't fast though. She was small and a little clumsy and quick to cry. That was why people made fun of her. That was why Kokichi tried to protect her. That was why when the bullies had knocked Kokichi off the top of the monkey bars and pulled Arisa's hair until she cried, Kimochi saw red.
He didn't really remember running at them or punching them, but he did remember Dano having to pull him off the other boys, even though they were bigger and older. He knew someone was yelling about getting a teacher and the bullies had stopped fighting him. He knew that when he looked over at Kokichi, trying to comfort Arisa, that he looked at Kimochi like he was very worried about him and that look took all the fight out of his body.
Dano kept his hands on Kimochi's shoulders after sitting him on the edge of the sandbox, as if he was afraid that Kimochi would get up and attack someone again. Karin bandaged his knuckles really carefully, which he hadn't even noticed were bruised.
He looked at Kokichi. "You hate me?"
Kokichi made a face at him. "Don't be stupid."
"It's not a bad thing," Karin said. "Wanting to protect us. You just... that was really scary, Mochi. We were calling your name and you didn't respond to us at all."
Huh. He definitely didn't remember that.
Kokichi stepped away from Arisa's side to flick Kimochi on the forehead. "You're a loose cannon, Kimchi. That's why I'm the boss around here."
"Is that so?" he asked, smiling just a little bit.
Kokichi pretended to look really mad. "Are you trying to take over my position? Is the Prince trying to remove the King?"
"I would never."
"Good." Kokichi smiled at him before stepping back over to Arisu.
They didn't leave each other's side for the rest of the day, even when the teacher threatened to give them all detention. They stuck close together during that extra hour after school and Kimochi realized that his brother wasn't the only family worth fighting for.
Milestone
Kokichi was the official leader of Dice, but everyone knew that Dice actually had two people that were in charge. Kokichi had the final say, but it was just as likely for them to go to Kimochi if they had a problem. Usually, the two of them worked together to make sure that everyone was properly taken care of.
This only increased once he got into Hope's Peak Academy. Kimchi seemed to become twice as bust as soon as he stopped going to school. Kokichi couldn't count the days that he'd come home to find his brother surrounded by books, trying to research this or help someone with that.
Haru was failing chemistry and he'd asked Kimochi to do his homework so he wouldn't fail, and Kokichi in turn told Queen to tutor him so he'd actually learn something. Bishop liked to overwork himself, so Kimchi would steal his books and when he came to Kokichi for help getting them back, Kokichi sent him out on an errand while he "talked" to Kimchi. By now, Bishop recognized that it was a ploy between the two of them to make him relax, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Kimchi was a good writer and Kokichi was a chronic gamer, so he started doing work writing articles on games that Kokichi played. This resulted in free games for Kokichi and half the work for Kimchi, since Kokichi was good at explaining his thoughts for Kimchi to write down. Sometimes they argued over whether a game was good or not, but that just ended up with a more varied opinion to put in the articles and all parties ended up pleased. Kimchi took other online work, Kokichi knew, but he was never sure how much. Kimchi wasn't quite as impulsive and easily bored as Kokichi was, but he had similar habits of picking things up and dropping them at a dime. It didn't change the fact that Kimchi was a pretty stable source of income for them.
Not that the others didn't help. Several of them had part time jobs or did performances for money, but whenever Kokichi talked to him about it, his brother would just smile and knock their shoulders together. "Let me do this. You take care of the hard part."
Sometimes the hard part was Kimchi himself. The twins were remarkably similar, but that only meant that Kokichi knew all of the bad parts of himself were also in Kimchi. Kokichi would joke about doing awful things sometimes, Kimchi would mean it.
He still remembers the week before Kimchi stopped going to school, when Kimchi had sent Dice after someone that had been a pain in their ass. He remembers seeing Kimchi standing over someone with a baseball bat, a ring of fire around them, as he laughed darkly. "Do you still think I don't mean what I say?" he had asked. "Do you still think I'm lying about my organization? Do you think I was lying about making you pay?"
Kokichi to this day still wasn't sure if Kimchi was just trying to scare them or not. All he remembers is Kimchi smiling at him, surrounded by Dice members Kokichi had never seen before, and proclaiming, "Looks like your savior is here. They're your classmates too, Kokichi, what do you say?"
Kokichi was always good at wearing a mask. "I think we could let them off with just this warning if they begged, right?"
They did beg. Kokichi felt a little sick, but he didn't show it. They deserved to be scared after what they had done, but that was all that they deserved. And afterwards, once the fire was out and the bullies were gone, and Kokichi had given new orders to unfamiliar Dice members as if it was his birthright, he sat on the ground with his brother. Kimchi had placed his head in Kokichi's lap and laughed, sad and weak. "Do you hate me yet for being your evil twin?"
Kokichi answered like he had always answered, "Don't be stupid." Because even if Kimchi worried him sometimes, he still hadn't done anything unforgivable. Kokichi planned to keep it that way. He stroked his twin’s hair, watching as Kimchi closed his eyes but didn't relax. He rarely relaxed anymore. Kokichi hated it.
"Hey Kimchi..." he whispered. "Maybe... you need a break."
There was something dark and tired in Kimchi's eyes. "Are you sending me to jail?" he asked. It was meant to be a joke, but it didn't sound like one.
Kokichi didn't make it sound like one either. "Yeah. I'm sending you to jail."
Kimchi sighed. "I promise that I wouldn't have let them hurt anyone, Chichi. I would never ruin Dice for you, they know what the rules are."
And Kokichi believed him. Kimchi had never ruined anything of Kokichi's on purpose, except himself. He'd wrapped himself around his twin, holding Kimchi tightly as Kimchi held him back. "It's okay, I love you."
"I love you, too, Chichi," Kimochi whispered back. "I love you so much."
The class learn about Kokichi's twin brother, Kimochi.
[Hope's Peak Academy AU, Non Despair, Humor]
It was a normal day at Hope's Peak Academy. Miu was being her usual loud self, Kaede was trying unsuccessfully to get everyone to calm down, Kokichi had stolen something off of Maki's desk resulting in both her and Kaito trying to chase him down with many casualties in the process. Tenko had picked Himiko up and moved her bodily out of the way of the way of the chase, while Shuichi had been knocked over, Kaito throwing a "sorry" over his shoulder without stopping.
It was during this mad dash around the classroom that Kiibo noticed something falling to the classroom floor. A picture, it seemed, and a quick examination of the ten individuals shown revealed it to belong to Kokichi. The picture was quickly taken out of Kiibo's hands though, as Kaito noticed the picture and helped himself to it.
"Yo, Kokichi! What the hell is this?" Kaito asked, waving the picture around to get his attention.
Kokichi looked at him cautiously, waiting until Maki had stopped chasing him before looking at Kaito. "How am I supposed to see it if you keep waving it around?"
Miu, was close enough that she barely had to lean over to see, let out a loud laugh. "Heh, just a bunch of clowns."
That statement drew the rest of the class forward. Realization seemed to dawn on Kokichi's face as he grinned and moved closer to them. "Oh, that. That's just a picture of the loyal followers of my secret organization."
"Bullshit," Kaito said immediately.
"Oh, you're in this picture, too," Kaede said when she got a look at it.
"What?" Kokichi moved closer, snatching the picture from Kaito's hands to look at it himself. "Oh, that's just Kimchi."
"Who?"
"My twin," Kokichi answered with a shrug. He put the picture into his pocket where it was assumed to have come from.
"No way there's two of you!" Kaito said immediately, rejecting the idea. "You would have said something by now."
"Nishishi," Kokichi grinned at him. "Sure, that's a lie. Just like my organization and my talent, right?"
"W-well..."
"You can't blame us for being a bit skeptical," Korekiyo spoke up. "You have a reputation for stretching the truth, after all."
"I tell the truth all the time," Kokichi objected. "It's not my fault that none of you believe me." With that said, Kokichi ran out of the classroom.
No one realized that that was just the beginning.
OoOoOoOo
It was nearly two weeks later that Miu came rushing into the classroom with a manic grin on her face. "Holy shit, guys! I just saw Bakamatsu and Cockichi holding hands!"
"What?" Kiibo questioned, blinking at her.
"No way," Kaito said, moving across the room to her desk. "You must have seen that wrong. There's no way Kaede would hold hands with that little freak."
"Maybe Kokichi and Kaede like each other more than we think?" Gonta pondered out loud.
"It's not really any of our business," Kirumi pointed out.
"Bullshit it's not my business," Miu replied, glaring at the maid. "If my classmates are getting busy behind my back, I wanna know about it."
"Your curiosity doesn't make you entitled to the knowledge," Kirumi said with a small frown.
"Maybe we should just ask them?" Shuichi suggested.
"That little runt would just lie!" Miu complained.
Maki rolled her eyes. "Then ask Kaede."
Miu took her advice to heart, cornering Kaede as soon as the girl entered the classroom. "Why were you holding hands with Kokichi, huh?"
Kaede took taken aback. "W-what?"
Kiibo placed a hand on Miu's shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Miu thinks she saw you and Kokichi holding hands."
"Um, no," she answered with a confused expression on her face. After a moment, recognition flooded her face and she smiled at them. "Oh, that must have been our twins. They've been hanging out lately." With that seemingly settled, Kaede went to her desk.
The rest of the class was much less convinced.
Kaito sighed. "What? Now she has a secret twin? That little gremlin must have gotten to her."
"I bet they're secretly dating," Miu cackled. "That's why they came up with this super lame lie."
"We shouldn't assume that," Shuichi said.
"If Kaede and Kokichi dating, Gonta happy for them!"
"I... agree with Shuichi," Kiibo said. "It's wrong to assume."
Miu rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Be in denial if you want."
They were quiet by the time Kokichi showed up, except for Gonta's well meaning cry of, "Congratulations, Kokichi! Gonta happy if you happy." That left the Supreme Leader confused.
OoOoOoOo
It was Shuichi that eventually asked, "Do you really have a twin, Kokichi?"
The Supreme Leader grinned widely at him. "Sure do! We're completely identical! He's always copying my style, can you believe it!"
"I don't believe it," Kaito insisted, butting into the conversation from two desk away.
"Nyeh, what's your twin like?" Himiko asked.
"Believe it or not, he's the evil twin," Kokichi answered with a smile.
"More evil than your annoying ass?" Miu asked.
Kokichi glared at her. "No one was talking to you, slut!"
"Eh!"
"Forgive me for saying so," Kirumi said. "But I find it hard to believe that your twin could be more difficult to deal with than you."
Kokichi teared up immediately. "Wh-what? M-mom... doesn't love me anymore... Wahh!"
Kirumi looked pained as Kokichi wailed at her loudly, regret written all over her face.
Rantaro placed a hand on Kokichi's head, which seemed to work as a switch since Kokichi stopped crying instantly. "Hey, I'm sure Kirumi didn't mean it that way."
"Yay!" Kokichi said, throwing his arms around Rantaro. "I knew someone here loved me!"
"I still don't believe it," Kaito insisted. "You haven't mentioned having a twin once before now. This has got to be some kind of prank."
Kokichi rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault that none of you ever cared enough to ask."
"He has a point," Tsumugi spoke up. "We've never really asked before, so..."
"Prove it," Maki demanded. "If your twin is real, there should be proof, right?"
Kokichi's expression went blank. "Are you all sure? I've protected you all from him so far, but if I let you meet him, then you're all on your own."
"I can't imagine him being worse than a degenerate male like you," Tenko said. "Not that I believe you in the first place."
"Well, you all asked for it." Kokichi said. "Tomorrow I'll let you all meet Kimchi!"
"What kind of name is Kimchi, anyway?" Kaito questioned.
"Short for Kimochi," Kokichi told them. "I call him Kimchi and Dice call him Mochi. Wars have been fought over his name, you know."
"Sounds made up to me," Miu grumbled.
"The only thing made up around here is your dignity, whore!"
The conversation devolved into bickering from there.
OoOoOoOo
The next day, Kokichi came to school wearing a hat, cape, and bright smile. "Good morning my dear classmates," he called out to them.
"You seem to be in a good mood today," Kiibo noted.
Kokichi skipped over to Kiibo, placing himself on the robot's desk. "Of course I'm in a good mood when I get to see all my wonderful friends."
"What the hell is this?" Miu asked, flinching away from Kokichi where she stood beside Kiibo. "The twerp is acting weird."
Kokichi frowned. "Hey now, there's no need for name calling."
Kirumi removed her glove and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. "He doesn't feel warm."
"I'm not feeling the love today," he told them. "I thought I would be welcome here."
Gonta stood up from his seat at that. "Ah, Kokichi no be sad. Gonta happy to see him!"
Kokichi smiled again. "I knew someone would be happy to see me. I missed you too, Gonta!"
"Wait a minute," Kaede said, walking over to Kokichi and staring him down. "You're... You're Kimchi, aren't you?"
Somehow, his smile got brighter. "You got me! So Kokichi really did tell you about me? That makes me soo happy! And I'm really glad to see you, Kaede."
Kaito got to his feet. "That's enough, Kokichi. We're not gonna fall for your little trick. Now knock it off. You're weirding me out."
He shook his head. "Kaito, Kaito, Kaito. Always such a disbeliever. Weren't you the one that wanted to see me in the first place?"
"Um," Shuichi spoke up. "Technically, Maki was the one that wanted proof."
His eyes brightened as he hopped off Kiibo's desk. "And where is our lovely Maki? I've wanted to meet her most of all."
Maki sighed from her desk, glaring at Kokichi. "You really think I'm gonna believe you're someone else just because you're acting a little differently. You look exactly the same, even if you are wearing a different outfit."
Kokichi frowned as he looked down at his clothes. "You don't like my cape?"
"I like the cape," Himiko said.
Kokichi smiled at her. "You were always my favorite."
Tenko pulled Himiko into her arms and shielded her from his sight. "Don't you get any ideas, degenerate!"
He laughed. "You're all just as much fun as Kokichi said you would be." He skipped closer to Maki. His back was to the rest of the class, so she was the only one that could see how his face became progressively darker. "I've heard that you're the most fun of all, Maki. Is that true? Do you play with my brother as much as he says?" He was standing right in front of her now and his voice dropped from the cheerful tone he'd ben using into something dark and threatening. Worse than anything they'd heard from Kokichi before. "Or was that just a lie to cover up how poorly you treat him. Are you a problem that I need to handle without him knowing, Maki Harukawa?"
Maki actually looked taken aback, prompting Kaito to step towards them. "Hey, what are you doing to Makiroll?" He grabbed Kokichi by the shoulder and spun him around. By that point, he was already wearing the bright expression from earlier again.
"Something wrong Kaito?"
Kaito picked him up by his cape. His eyes widened in surprise, feet kicking out beneath him. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"What is wrong with you today?"
Kokichi's eyes began to water, but rather than the wail they were used to, trails of tears began to roll down his face. "Why... are you doing this to me?" he asked them. "I just... wanted to be your friends..."
"H-hey..."
And then the real Kokichi walked into the room, pausing as he took in the sight before him. "What the hell are you doing to Kimchi!" Kokichi ran toward Kaito, pushing him and making him lose his grip on Kimochi. Kokichi leaned over his twin, wiping his tears. "Hey, what happened? What did they do?"
Kimochi shook his head. "N-nothing, they were great..."
"You don't have to lie to me, Kimchi," Kokichi said. "If they were mean to you, I'll make their life hell for the next three years."
"They weren't... all bad," Kimochi said. "Gonta was nice. And Himiko."
Kokichi glared around the room. "Do you guys really hate me that much?" he asked. "Kimchi was here for five minutes and you already..." He took his twin brother's hand, pulling him toward the door. "We're leaving. I don't want to see any of your faces."
As they left the classroom, Kimchi looked back at them. His expression was twisted and his grin was manic as he looked at them. "Goodbye class."
Everyone was silent until they were out of sight.
"Holy shit!" Kaito said. "What the hell was that?"
Kaede sighed. "That was Kimchi."
"That little shit really does have a twin!" Miu exclaimed.
"I don't know why you doubted it," Kaede said. "I told you guys."
"Well, yeah, but we didn't believe you," Kaito admitted, scratching the back of his head. "We thought you were just embarrassed to be caught holding his hand or whatever."
Kaede wrinkled her nose. "Why would I be embarrassed?" she asked. "I'm not the type to lie about stuff like that."
"She has a point," Rantaro pointed out.
"I suppose we should have taken Kokichi's words of warning to heart," Korekiyo said.
"Guys, there's something else I think we should worry about," Shuichi spoke up. He ducked his head a bit when all eyes were on his, but he continued, "Kimochi lied to Kokichi and Kokichi has no idea."
They all paused, absorbing the fact that Kokichi knew his twin was, in his own words evil, and still fell for the trick that the class had been able to make him cry.
Miu summed it up nicely when she loudly exclaimed, "Fuck!"
"Guess Kokichi has a blind spot where his brother is concerned," Rantaro said.
"Do you think he meant it when he said he would make our life hell?" Kiibo asked.
"Angie thinks that some of you should start praying to Atua before Kokichi returns to class."
For once, the class thought that maybe she was right.
