✧ Chapter 51 ✧
[ But the Only Way to Heal ]
♥*♡∞:｡.｡　　｡.｡:∞♡*♥
[ Kokichi's PoV ]

"He's supposed to be dead!" I paced around the room as Keebo packed the strange device away in a small metal box. "I'm pretty sure that strange person was that infamous Nagito Komaeda guy.. but.. ugh."

We were back in our dorm room, with that weird illusion world gone and Keebo playing around with a fidget cube. Still pacing around, I tugged at the sleeves of my long white shirt, feeling strange without my bandanna.

But that was the least of my worries since right now, Keebo and I had a lot to theorise about.

"What if it was a clone?" Keebo offered as I bit my thumbnail, careful not to nick the skin. "Or a disguise? Or a doppelgänger."

I stopped walking, looking at him with annoyance, "That was definitely Nagito Komaeda. It's the hair. But the real question is, how is he even alive? He and Hajime had their hearts impaled by knives in the Hospital-."

A sudden sharp burst of pain in my head made me gasp slightly. However, it passed just as quickly as it came. The rush was enough to make me clear my mind and the words I wanted to say, died in my throat.

What- what was that?

"Ouma? What happened? You stopped mid sentence." Keebo's rather faraway voice echoed.

That's right.. was.. I supposed to remember about those two students?

The Heartbreak Hospital.

What kind of Hospital was that?

"You're going to take the serum aren't you? But why? You've never fallen for anyone have you?"

Shuichi Saihara.

"I understand.. I cant stop you if it's your choice."

Reverse.. Serum? No.. there's more than that. There's three of them.

"You didn't have to hurt yourself because of me!"

With each word and sentence echoing in my mind, I pressed my palms against my head, trying to relive the pressure inside.

I had to stop thinking- was that what I had to do to stop the pain?

"I need him to love me! Don't you understand?!"

"Kokichi!"

I snapped out of my thoughts as a sharp pain on my neck scared me. "What the-?" I held my neck as Keebo seemed to be holding what seemed to be a taser. "What the frick did you just do?"

"Shocked you." the other boy replied casually. "You needed to snap out of.. whatever you're thinking about." His light blue eyes held so much concern, it made me feel guilty.

l dropped my hands to my sides, feeling breathless as I stared at the leather bound notebook in front of me. "Goddamnit, Keeboy, you could've killed me!" I exclaimed as he looked at the taser with a amused expression.

"Fukawa uses this.." he replied rather pathetically as he spun the stun gun around on his palm.

I rolled my eyes with annoyance. "Isn't she that half insane serial killer, half nerdy bookworm who's basically immortal."

"You liar, she's not immortal- why are we talking about her?"

I turned my mouth down, "Fine, just answer this question. Is there something called the Reverse Serum?" I tried my best to recall any fragment of memory, despite the growing headache which was starting to build up once more. "At a place called the Heartbreak Hospital?"

Keebo nodded hesitantly, "I've asked around and the other students told me that Love is forbidden on the island. I don't know why, but some said it was to prevent wars. Others said it was a confidential matter."

Confidential matter huh.. well that's stupid. Why start something as major as this, and yet keep it confidential?

Glancing at my bitten fingernails, I raised a hand and stubbornly bit the nail on my thumb, "I think I have a theory.. Nagito Komaeda and Hajime Hinata's deaths were faked."

With newfound confidence, I dropped my hands and headed over to a cupboard. It felt as if I've done this a million times; opening this boring old cupboard, taking down a stack of newspapers and shuffling through them.

"Uh.. Ouma?" Keebo asked as my hands kept searching for something. What was I looking for? I had to trust my instincts and see.. while my mind wandered.

Shuichi Saihara. The Ultimate Detective. That was all I could recall of him for now.

He was cute, as proved from the photographs, and that Program Keebo had brought me into.

The prospect of me actually kissing him seemed to be a dream. If I hadn't seen the Time Skip Program with my own eyes.. I never would've believed it.

What did Shuichi see in a liar like me? Was he insane? Did that mean he was at the Hospital with me, the day I left? So many questions.. so little time and equally little answers for them all.

A sudden page of a newspaper caught my attention, making me stop as Keebo continued talking in the background. Despite us being in a time where technology was so advanced.. newspapers were considered a thing of the past.

The newspaper I held was the Komahina case. Their wrists were tied together. However, now that I was looking at it again, I realised how the clues didn't seem to add up. They had their faces covered, and their bodies seemed to be different.

Does that mean, that the two law breakers were actually alive this whole time and..

I closed my eyes, trying to think. All the evidence pointed to one thing.

Their deaths were faked.

That was the only logical explanation for it. It seemed like the Hospital had covered their identities for a reason and instead, told the public about their deaths? That happens all the times in movies, doesn't it? But why would the Hospital cover their true identities for?

"Kokichi!"

I opened my eyes to find Keebo staring at me with a rather scared expression. "What? Oh.. sorry, I was just thinking." I didn't have the energy to lie, which was a surprise. I loved lying!

"Keebo, you gotta help me," I got to my feet and smoothed down the crinkles on my clothes out of habit. "If I'm not wrong.. Nagito Komaeda is still out there somewhere, and we have to find him. We need answers." I looked at myself in the mirror hanging in the corner.

Keebo looked slightly uncomfortable, but he nodded. "Alright, if you insist. But I have to tell you something.." he suddenly trailed off as I pulled on my usual checkered bandanna. I felt much better now that I was wearing it.

"There's two groups of people in the school, Ouma.." Keebo told me as he looked at the camera at the corner of the room nervously. I glanced at it as well, but the dull red button located on the side of it seemed to indicate that the camera wasn't activated.

He quickly took a deep breath to rush out, "One group consists of the Monokuma Traitors.. they work for Monokuma. The other half is called the Remnants of Love. They protect and fight for love. And Ouma.."

I raised an eyebrow, noticing the worried and anxious tone he had. "That's my name, so.. yep?" I said, trying to break the tense atmosphere. Keebo held out a box.

"I suppose it's time to officially say that I'm a traitor for both sides.."

Inside the box, there were two pieces of cloth. One of them seemed to be a black and white hoodie, with bear ears attached to them.

The other seemed to be a simple black hoodie, with a faint symbol at the back of the hood.

♥*♡∞:｡.｡　　｡.｡:∞♡*♥

[ Keebo's PoV ]

I didn't know how he'd take the news. Would he burst out laughing and say: "You're kidding! Good one, Keeboy! Now get to the good stuff!" like last time or would he punch me?

The old Ouma didn't resort to violence.

However, he looked absolutely confused and puzzled. "Excuse me? So you're a spy?" he asked me as I kept the box in my drawer.

"I guess you could say that. The past is past. But sometimes I couldn't help but think about my mistakes and regrets. The nightmares just make it a lot worse as well."

I waited for him to tease me, but somehow, he nodded as if he had expected it. He made a 'go on' gesture. I liked this quiet, honest side of Ouma. Or maybe not. I missed his energetic and hyperactive personality..

"I can recall my work at the Hospital," I admitted, "I used to work there, creating test Reverse Serums and I was part of the Monokuma Traitors group. I quit upon enrolling into Hope's Peak.. as stated by this file."

Pulling out a yellow folder, I handed it to Kokichi, who took it and immediately opened it up. He was so quiet, I wondered what was he thinking as he scanned the information of my profile. I could remember the first time I opened it, and discovered my past.

"I held onto my memories of the Hospital when I enrolled into Hope's Peak."

"And when I met you, and you said you were fighting for love, instead of against it. When you stood up to Miss Chisa in class and announced you hated the system.."

"You influenced me," Kokichi looked at me with confusion, which slowly turned to a expression I didn't recognise, "So I joined the Remnants."

He raised both eyebrows, "It doesn't seem like you're lying.. but what's the point of you telling me this? I don't see-."

"I've been with the Remnants since the beginning," I interrupted him, slightly uncomfortable by the irritation in his voice, "I might know where Komaeda is. If he's with Hinata, Nagito will always be close behind. They could be somewhere on this campus right now."

The purple haired boy scowled, "I don't have any memories of the Remnants or anything related to this stupid Hospital you're talking about."

"I don't even have any memories of Shuichi. I don't even know if I love him. You've showed me the proof but.. I don't feel love."

"Because you haven't met him." I argued, moving forward to reassure him but was stopped by his glare, "I'm sure that after you do, you'll fall in love again.!"

"How can I fall in love with a person I've never met, that's what I'm asking," Ouma's tone sounded angry and hurt, "All this, I'm fighting for literally nothing. I don't believe in what I used to. I don't believe in Love."

The words I wanted to say faded away in my mind as I processed what Kokichi had just said. He doesn't believe in-?

"Ouma wake up!" I seized him by the shoulders, staring at him, "Don't say that! I don't want my best friend to ever say that he gives up on-."

Kokichi hit my hand away, his face hidden in the shadow of his hair as he looked at the ground. "You're not my best friend. I don't even know you."

Where was this.. what did the Hospital do to him? It was like they changed his entire personality to something terribly different..

"Ouma.." I muttered as he walked past me and towards the door. Spinning around, I grabbed his pale wrist, making him freeze. "I don't want to lose you as a friend."

The tension in the air broke. It was as fragile as a piece of glass. As fragile as our friendship. But that doesn't mean I wasn't willing to mend it. I wanted our friendship back, even if it was unwillingly snatched away.

"Tell me how to help then."

He whispered these words so softly, I didn't catch it at first. His arm was still held back by me, but he didn't turn around. The clock ticked away in the corner, but I payed no attention to it. The longer we stayed here.. what will happen to Shuichi?

"Then afterwards.." His fists clench as he turned to me with Ouma's violet eyes filling with tears.

"Just.. leave me alone."

♥ End of Chapter Fifty-One ♥