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the-ouma-mansion · 1 year ago

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A Taste Of Kimchi

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.

Read more about the twins here!

#ELS Writing #Kokichi Ouma #Kimochi Ouma #Danganronpa V3 #The Ouma Mansion #ndrv3

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sunshinesere · 4 months ago

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Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone / This is How You Lose the Time War

#quotes #literature #this is how you lose the time war #amal el mohtar #max gladstone #literary quotes #love quotes #love #words #fragments #frases #poetry #writing #web weaving #dark academia #light academia

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eternaldeviants · 1 year ago

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Alley Cat and Street Rat - Chapter 1

Kokichi/Kaede, Kokichi & Dice, Kokichi & Angie, Kaede & Shuichi [Established relationship, Aged Up Characters, Miraculous AU, Thieves, Superhero AU]

Kokichi's life has been on a steady track for years, he goes stealing with Dice, he's dating Kaede, and he's been pretty good at keeping those two lives separate. When he ends up stealing some magical jewelry that grants him special powers, his life becomes a lot more interesting and his two worlds become a little harder to keep apart.

Shuichi's calm life seems to avalanche over night. It starts with a case coming across his desk about a group of thieves, escalates when he receives a strange present from his parents that give him strange abilities, and culminates when a supervillain calling himself Yokai starts terrorizing the city. As these separate problems combine into one when he takes up the mantle of a hero and learns the thieves he's chasing have the same abilities as the villain he's fighting.

Prologue

OoOoOo

"When are you going to introduce me to Dice?"

Kokichi raised his book so that he could look across the apartment to see Kaede was standing in the kitchen. He was hanging upside down off the edge of the couch, feet brushing against the wall where they were propped up on the back of the couch and his hair brushing the floor. Kaede still had her back to him as she focused on burning breakfast.

Well, Kokichi assumed that she would burn it because she was a terrible cook. She could rarely follow a recipe without trying to add something or getting distracted so that it ended up burned. The fact that she was keeping her eyes on the food would have been a good sign, but the fact that she had started this conversation meant that her mind wasn't really on it. He didn't mind though. They had poptarts in the cabinets that he could snag.

"I have introduced you to Dice," he replied. It was pretty much impossible for him to spend any significant time with someone without them colliding with Dice in some way. Dice were the most important thing in his life and while Kaede was steadily climbing higher on that list, she hadn't and likely wouldn't surpass Dice.

Kaede turned to glare at him over her shoulder. "Only, like, three members," she said. Technically five, but he wasn't sure she had realized that he had long recruited some of their former classmates. Though if he really thought of it, all of Dice had met her by now, she just didn't know it. There was no way Dice would ever let their leader date, let alone live with someone that they hadn't met and vetted to some extent. She was at a bit of a disadvantage when it came to spotting Dice members though. There were a lot of people that came up to her all the time, either because she was a Hope's Peak alumni or because she was a famous pianist, and it was hard to keep up when you met that many people a day. Or so he heard. Kokichi was pretty good at remembering people.

"So, what about it?" he asked.

"Three people isn't all of Dice," she complained. "I want to meet everyone."

Kokichi sighed and closed his book, tossing it up on the couch beside him. "What for?"

"What do you mean, what for?" she asked, voice becoming louder with incredulousness. "Because they're important to you. They're practically your family, right?"

"They are my family," he corrected.

"So why wouldn't I want to meet your family?" She asked, fully turning toward him and putting her hands on his hips. Definitely going to burn those eggs, or whatever it is.

Kokichi sighed loudly. "Sounds like a lot of work, to me."

"Kokichi," she said in a scolding tone. She walked away from the stove, big mistake, and kneeled down so that she could look him in his eyes. A silly thing to do when he was upside down. His expression went from scolding to soft in moments. "I want to be closer to you. You want that too, right?"

Kokichi met her eyes and said, "Your food is burning."

The calm expression was immediately replaced with panic as she got to her feet. "No, the omelet!" She ran over to the stove and began fussing around with the pan, trying to save the undoubtedly ruined meal.

Kokichi slid off the couch and onto the floor before rolling over and getting to his feet. "Poptarts are on the shelf," he told her helpfully.

Kaede gave him an exasperated look over her shoulder. "I don't want junk food for breakfast."

"And I don't want burned food," he said, walking to the cabinet and pulling out the box. "Guess our tastes are just too different."

"Don't eat that, she told him. "I'm going to make us a nice breakfast for once."

Kokichi gave her a flat look. "A nice breakfast of what? Cereal?"

Kaede frowned, looking back down at the mess in her pan. "Maybe it doesn't taste that bad?" she asked hopefully.

Kokichi looked her in the eyes as he ripped open his poptarts and took a bite of one. "Then you eat it."

Kaede made a sound of distress as she hung her head. Kokichi pat her shoulder as he walked by.

"Better luck next time, sweet cheeks."

"Don't call me sweet cheeks," she grumbled half-heartedly. She knew by now that objections basically guaranteed that he would use the nickname again, but it was a hard habit to break.

Kokichi watched from the couch as she scrapped the food from the pan, dropped it in the sink, and slowly trudged over to sit beside him. He held out his poptart for her to take a bite and Kaede sighed before doing so.

"See, it's not so bad," he said.

Kaede groaned and let her head fall onto his shoulder. He continued letting her take bites of his poptart

OoOoOo

It was mid-afternoon when Kokichi met up with Dice. They had a lot of meeting places within the city, the main one being in an area that had been dubbed Hideout Park. It was a completely normal park but after meeting there a few times, Joy had made a joke about it being their hideout and the name had stuck. It wasn't the largest park, but it was in a fairly busy area making their constant gathering seem very inconspicuous.

There was a path that ran through the park and a picnic table that sat to one side, known as the throne after he routinely used it as a chair instead of a table. Today was no different and Kokichi hopped up on the table as soon as he arrived. "Bow to your king!"

Joy was kneeling on the ground in a circle of dogs they were meant to be walking, trying to pet all seven of them with her two hands. She looked up at him, rolled her eyes, and continued trying to pet the herd of excited canines. Princess was sitting on the grass with one of the smaller dogs in her lap and she waved at him. Bishop and Ace both smiled at him, the latter trying to reach over Joy to hook leashes on dog collars.

"Hey boss," Bishop greeted.

"You're late," Ace told him.

"A king is never late," he declared. He looked around briefly to see if he could spot any of his other minions, frowning when he didn't. "Where's my good for nothing second?" he asked.

"Angie had a commission," Joy answered. "She took Raeve with her and Jack thought that he should supervise."

Kokichi sighed. "Typical." Angie, otherwise known as Brush once he had taken her under his wing, was more chaotic than she was reliable most of the time. Kokichi didn't need a reliable stick in the mud though, that's not what made her his second in command. No, he needed someone that could ride the same wave of chaos that he did, someone that was devious and reckless but not stupid. Lantern thought that he should be second in command because he was reasonable and usually tried to reign Angie in for that reason. The fact that he usually failed emphasized his lack of suitability to the role.

"Did you need her for something?" Ace questioned. His bleached blonde hair stood up at a 90 degree angle, but rather than make him stand out, he looked rather normal among them. A lot of people bleached their hair and used too much gel. Bishop was big and round with a bald head, Princess was smaller than even Kokichi with hair so long it nearly trailed the ground, and Joy had bright pink hair with shaved sides. Comparing them, Ace seemed like your typical delinquent.

"Kaede wants to meet you all," Kokichi said instead of addressing Ace's question.

Joy's face lit up. "We get to meet the mistress?"

"Don't call her the mistress," he said. "That makes me sound like some sleazeball."

"What does she want with us?" Ace questioned.

"The usual," Kokichi answered with a shrug, looking at his nails. "Torture, interrogation, intimidation."

Ace's eyes widened. "Wait, really?"

Joy snickered. "No way. He's kidding."

Ace looked at Joy. "But are you sure? I mean, if she's dating the boss then..."

"If she was like Kichi then she would have already met us by now," Princess said. She looked up at Kokichi. "Right?"

Kokichi smiled widely at her. "Some minions are brighter than others."

"Hey!" Ace yelled.

Kokichi laughed as he hopped off the table. "Enough messing around. We've got a job to do!"

They all nodded, getting to their feet and handing out the dogs leashes until they all had the dogs that they could handle. Dice Dog Sitting services had been a successful endeavor for them since before he graduated from Hope's Peak and it was enough for them to scrape by. Of course, their other endeavors went a long way as well.

"Onward!" he exclaimed.

"Onward!" they echoed him.

OoOoOo

The minute Kaede reached the table where Shuichi was waiting for her she let out a loud groan. She let her body fall into the seat and dropped her head onto the table, not caring at all if she got a few stares from the other patrons at the cafe. She and Shuichi always chose to sit outside where the noise was more acceptable and years of dating Kokichi had made her less uptight about causing small scenes in public. The same couldn't be said of Shuichi though, who looked around nervously before he even addressed her.

"Um, is something wrong?" he asked.

"Today was a disaster," she told him. "Again!"

Shuichi's eyes still glanced around but he kept the majority of his attention on her. He really did worry too much about what others thought of him, she wasn't being that loud. "What happened?"

"I ruined breakfast."

"Well, that's not new," he said. When she lifted her head to look at him, Shuichi tried to swiftly backtrack. "I-I mean, um, did Kokichi complain or..."

Kaede sighed again, deciding not to comment on his less than delicate reponse. "No, but he never complains. And he still doesn't want me to meet Dice either!"

"Did he say that?" Shuichi asked and Kaede could tell by the way his eyes sharpened and his lips thinned that he would be offended on her behalf if he did. The thought actually made her smile, just a little.

"Not in so many words," she told him. "But he did change the subject." The fact that the subject changed to her burning food was irrelevant. She folded her arms under her and sulked just a little. It wasn't fair that he had a secret organization and wouldn't tell her anything about it.

Shuichi lifted his hand to his lips as he thought, a habit that he still hadn't broken all these years later. "Maybe he has a good reason that he doesn't want you to meet them."

Kaede frowned. "What reason could he have? These people are his family and I live with him now!"

Shuichi held up his hand, leaning away from her glare. "It was just a suggestion! I don't want to-"

Kaede leaned closer to him. "But you're a detective, right? So detect something!"

Shuichi leaned further away from her. "Um, it doesn't really work like that."

Kaede sighed as she put her head back on the table. "Sorry, I'm just driving myself in circles here. Why doesn't he want me to meet them? Does he think they won't like me?"

"Well..." Whatever Shuichi was in the middle of saying was cut off by a scream. The two of them, as well as several other people in the cafe, stood up to look around for the sound. Several people were beginning to run past, though they still wouldn't see what was causing the commotion.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"It's a Yokai attack!" someone hastily spat out.

"What?" Kaede pushed herself away from the table as she got to her feet, trying to look toward what was happening.

Shuichi put a hand on her shoulder. "Kaede. We should go."

Kaede noded. "Right."

While the people around them were standing up and trying to lean over the cafe's rail to see what was happening, she and Shuichi went the other way toward the bathrooms.

Yokai, as he called himself, had been making random attacks on the city for a while now. No one was sure where he had come from, or what he wanted, but every time he made his move he was there and gone before anyone had the chance to do anything about it.

That was, until now. Kaede looked down at the small winged brooch that was clipped to her shirt. "Do you think we should?" he asked softly. She looked up at Shuichi, seeing the same indecision on his face before he nodded.

"If we can do something, then... we should try," he said.

Kaede smiled at him. "You're right. See you on the other side." They went separate ways, him into the male restrooms and her into the women's. She briefly looked around to make sure the place was empty before ducking into one of the stalls. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. "Alright, we can do this. Nooroo?"

Her kwami, a small purple plushie-like creature with large eyes and butterfly wings, floated out in front of her with a smile. "You'll be great, Master. I believe in you."

Kaede smiled back at it. "Alright, Nooroo. Wings rise!" There was a flash of light around her and she could feel the transformation as it spread over her. Once it was done, she opened the door and looked over herself briefly. She'd only transformed a handful of times before and she hadn't really gotten the chance to see how she looked any of those times. Red butterfly wings drooped behind her and there were wings on the side of her cap. She had a red mask over her eyes, with matching gloves and shoes, but her shoes and tights were black. The cane in her hand looked a bit more like a wand, a red butterfly emblem below the pommel.

Kaede only paused long enough to give herself a quick once over before she was pushing herself out the bathroom's window, and rushing toward where she heard the commotion.

Shuichi was only a few steps behind her. He looked a lot less elaborate than she did, dressed all black with a button up shirt tucked into slacks, a black cap pulled low on his head, and black fingerless gloves. The only spot of color was the blue of his mask, his hair that looked wilder and fluffier than normal, and the dog ears peeking out from the sides of his cap.

Kaede gave him an encouraging smile. Even though he'd done this a little more often than she had, he was still far from being an expert. "We can do this," she told him.

Shuichi pulled on his hat, much like he used to in highschool. "I hope you're right."

OoOoOo

They heard the screaming before they got to the scene. There was a web of string covering the area, thin in some areas but thick and black in others. At least, Shuichi thought that it was string, before he was able to spot Yokai standing in the center of it all. The man was dressed in a loose, flowing white top and golden hakama trousers, a giant paintbrush strapped to his back. He had skin that was pure white like it was made of marble, golden pupil-less eyes, and long trails of black hair which were connected to the trails of string all around them. All around the area, he could see people being accosted by this sentient hair, grabbing hold of limbs or wrapping around necks.

"Oh no," Kaede said as soon as she saw what he did. "We have to save them."

"I'll rescue as many as I can," he told her. "You need to distract him."

"Right." Kaede set her sights on Yokai and jumped into the hair, the red wings on her back coming to life to help carry up to the top of the building where Yokai waited.

Shuichi focused his attention on the first person he saw whose neck was being gripped by the hair. He pulled out his weapon, a small blue ball, and tossed it at them. It hit them and bounced back into his hand. "Fetch!" he called out and the person was teleported from where they were into Shuichi's waiting arms. The sudden weight brought Shuichi to his knees as he tried to hold up the person as they coughed and struggled to catch their breath, but he sighed in relief that the power worked like it was supposed to. He couldn't spare too much time though. He ran through the area, tossing his ball out at anyone that was in a bad spot and calling them safely to his side.

Once he'd rescued everyone that was in immediate danger, he turned his attention to Yokai and Kaede. Yokai was brandishing his giant paintbrush as a weapon and Kaede was using her cane to deflect the blows. She looked far from confident though, slowly backing up from Yokai's steady advances as he rained down blow after blow.

"Why are you doing this?" Kaede asked. "Why are you hurting people?"

Yokai ducked beneath her guard and jammed the end of his paintbrush into her stomach, making her double over. "I don't think that's any of your concern."

Kaede looked up at him, face contorted in pain. She still managed to fling her cane out toward his leg, causing him to hiss in pain. "It is my concern! I refuse to let you do whatever you want!"

Shuichi ran to get closer to her, jumping from cars to streetlights to make his way up to her side. He tossed his ball at her once he was close enough, knowing the projectile would travel faster than he would.

"Unfortunately for you, I wasn't asking for permission," Yokai said.

The ball returned to Shuichi's hand just as he noticed someone else coming toward them. No, coming toward her.

Shuichi didn't think, he just yelled. "Fetch!"

Kaede disappeared just as someone landed in her place, creating a crater in the top of the building. Kaede blinked several times in confusion as she appeared at Shuichi's side. "Wh-what?"

Shuichi turned his gaze back to the roof. While Yokai had appeared several times now, with ever changing abilities at his disposal, this was the first time that he'd ever had someone at his side. The girl was dressed in white, with brown hair that looped at the top to look like ears, a cat paw print on her top, and black and red paint surrounding her red eyes like a mask. She looked dangerous, the way she zeroed in on them and immediately took up a fighting stance, claws on one of her hands.

"Who are you?" Kaede questioned.

"Mauler," she answered curtly. "Don't get in our way."

"We're not going to let you hurt people!" Kaede responded.

"Then you'll get hurt," the girl answered. She kicked a chunk of concrete that had been dislodged by her attack, sending it straight at them. Shuichi and Kaede separated as they dodged. Shuichi landed on the top of a nearby car, while Kaede took to the air. The onslaught didn't stop, as Mauler punched the ground once again and began kicking more debris their way. Shuichi quickly dropped down behind the car to take cover while Kaede dodged in the air.

Unfortunately, they had both forgotten about the web of hair loosely covering the area around them. Shuichi didn't realize that he was trapped until the strands tightened around his limb, binding his arms to his torso and causing him to cry out. "Ack!"

"Cerber! Ahh!" Her cry was cut off as the hair wrapped around her leg and dragged her from the air, slamming her into the ground below.

"I feared that this would be a difficult task," Yokai said, standing at the edge of the building and looking down at them. "But it seems I overestimated you."

Kaede glared, trying to kick her leg free, but more tendrils were wrapping around her and closing around her other leg too. Her face was absolutely panicked and for a moment, Shuichi thought they were done for, that this would be their first and last attempt to use these powers, their Miraculous, for anything good. But then she cupped her hands together, a small light gathering in her palms, before she flung her arms out, releasing a small white butterfly. Kaede kept her gaze on Shuichi as the butterfly traveled to him, landing on his hair.

"Shuichi? Can you hear me?" Kaede questioned, her voice floating through his mind. He could see the white outline of butterfly wings around his face and her mouth wasn't moving, so this must have been part of her ability.

"I can hear you," he thought back to her. "How are you doing this?"

"Part of my abilities are to empower others," Kaede said. "I can give you the strength to save us. What do you need, Shuichi? Show it to me."

Shuichi tried to think, what could he do to get them out of here? The problem was that Yokai could trap them too easily, they needed a way to be able to escape his web and then they could take care of the rest. He imagined the ability he would need.

"Alright. I can do it," Kaede responded to him. "Just trust me."

"I do," he answered confidently.

Kaede smiled at him and then she called out, "Metamorphosis!"

Shuichi could feel her power rushing over him and closed his eyes against the bright light it produced. He could feel his abilities becoming stronger and he instantly understood how to use them. He tossed out his ball and yelled, "Chase!" As soon as his weapon hit the ground, he was teleported out of the tangle of hair and to the location his weapon had landed. "We did?"

"Good job, Cerberus!" Kaede said. "A little help here?"

Shuichi was knocked over before he could respond. He looked behind him quickly, pailing as he saw Mauler standing over him. "Forget about me?" she asked. She held up the hand adorned with claws. "Clout," she said quietly, causing her claws to glow with energy.

Shuichi quickly scrambled backwards before tossing his weapon. "Chase!" he yelled in panic. Her claws were inches from his face when he vanished and a crater was left on the ground where her fist had landed.

"You can't dodge forever," she told him.

No, he probably couldn't, Shuichi was very determined to try. He moved to put more distance between them, trying to avoid the web of hair as it lunged at him. When he was finally close enough to Kaede he tossed his ball out to free her. She slumped against him, giving him a weak smile. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet," he said. "I have no idea how to defeat them."

"I think I do," Kaede said. "We need to get that brush from Yokai. That has to be how he's using his power, right?"

"Maybe," Shuichi answered hesitantly. He couldn't think of anything else though and it would be easier to steal that than trying to take Mauler's claws.

"Ah, Look out!" Kaede yelled, pushing them both to the ground just in time to avoid being barreled into by Mauler. The woman was fast, immediately getting back to her feet and raising her claws.

"Clout!"

Kaede grabbed him around the waist and jumped into the air, out of Mauler's reach, her wings fluttering quickly as she struggled to keep them both in the air.

"Chase!" He yelled, teleporting them to one of the nearby buildings.

Kaede smiled at him, but it looked tired. "I think this power is taking a lot out of me. I'm starting to get a headache."

"Let's try and finish this quickly then," he said.

"Yeah." Kaede took a deep breath, putting on a determined expression. They both ran toward Yokai, splitting up once more and Mauler leapt between them. "Stay out of our way!" Kaede yelled, hitting the girl with her cane. The hit knocked Mauler back a few steps, but she was running at them again quickly. "Go on, Shu- er, Cerberus."

"Right." Shuichi turned to run toward Yokai, teleporting to get to the man more expediently.

"That's a rather interesting ability your friend has," Yokai said, tilting his head to observe him. "Cerberus, was it? The two of you never properly introduced yourself."

"Cerberus and Red Wings," Shuichi said. "Not that you'll need to remember it for long, since you'll be going to jail soon."

Yokai laughed, low and sinister. "I doubt that."

It was only the tilt of his head that alerted Shuichi to something coming toward him and he moved before he even saw what it was. A tendril of hair swept the area where he had just been standing and even after landing again, he wasn't safe. More and more tendrils swiped at him, trying to capture him. Shuichi was a bit out of breath trying to dodge them all while also trying to get into a position to throw his weapon. They caught up with him at the same time his weapon bounced off Yokai's brush, the strands tightening around his feet and causing him to fall.

"Fetch," he grunted, his hands tightening around the brush as soon as it materialized in front of him.

Yokai began walking toward him slowly as the hair tightened around his legs. "I wasn't going to bother with trying to take your Miraculous," Yokai began. "But on second thought, both of your abilities would be quite useful."

Shuichi pulled the paintbrush closer, looking around as he tried to decide what to do.

"Let me guess... you look rather like a wolf and the name would lend itself an air of viciousness," Yokai said calmly. "But no, that doesn't seem right with your attacks. The dog Miraculous? Am I right?"

"Chase!" Shuichi yelled, throwing his ball, but Yokai's hand whipped out to catch it.

"No, not this time," he said.

Shuichi took the moment of distraction to toss the paintbrush over the edge of the building. "Red Wings!"

Kaede leapt into the air, looking a bit worse due to the fight she'd been having with Mauler. Her hat had been knocked off and her wings looked a bit crooked, but they held her well enough to fly and she scooped the paintbrush into her arms. "Ah ha! Yes!" She grinned victoriously. "Give it up, Yokai!"

Yokai watched them both calmly as Mauler jumped to his side. "I could take her," Mauler said.

"No," Yokai said. "Let them have this victory. I learned some very interesting things this time. That's more than enough."

Mauler growled before nodding. "Fine." She backed up to the edge of the building before jumping off, shortly followed by Yokai. Kaede flew after them, looking around a few times before she turned to Shuichi. "I don't see them."

All at once, the web draped over everything disappeared, along with the brush in Kaede's arms. Shuichi blinked at his sudden freedom.

"What happened?" she questioned, landing beside him and helping him to his feet.

"They must have de-transformed," Shuichi said. "I guess we were right and he couldn't control the ability anymore."

Kaede sighed. "That was way harder than I thought it would be."

"Yeah, I never would have guessed that being a superhero was that exhausting," he agreed.

"Ugh! We didn't even get to have lunch," she groaned.

Shuichi chuckled. "I think we can give ourselves another hour, don't you?"

#ELS Writing #Oumatsu #Kokichi Ouma #Kaede Akamatsu #Danganronpa V3 #Alley cat and Street Rat #Shuichi Saihara #Fanfiction #Miraculous crossover

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imfinereallyy · 7 months ago

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El being wholesome with Steve. El being wholesome with Steve. The weird sibling duo we didn’t know we needed. I need more of it. I might do it….no I’ve done enough of them…

Okay, okay. But just picture this:

The kids trying to embarrass Steve all the time with photos and stories to Eddie, but El ruins it every.single.time. because she is so unbelievably wholesome when it comes to Steve.

Here is everyone pulling out scoops photos (which Eddie actually loves thank you very much) and sharing stories about his failed dates. Dustin tells Eddie specifically about the time he was teaching Lucas basketball and Lucas threw the ball too hard at the backboard and hit Steve in the face.

So they are all poking fun at Steve in his and Robin’s apartment (because in every universe these platonic soulmates live together) and there is just El who randomly chimes in:

“Steve took me to this thing called a ren faire once. It was very fun. We both looked really pretty.”

Eddie absolutely melts at the story and gushes over the photos she has.

And everyone gets quiet every time, because no one wants to criticize El, but one time Max gently goes, “You know that’s like….nice right? We’re making fun of him.”

Everyone one expects her to being embarrassed or confused but instead she simple says.

“I know. I don’t like it. Steve’s nice.”

And she embarrasses everyone, except Robin and Eddie who are the only ones Steve never gets upset with when they make fun of him. They all mumble out apologies, and Steve turns to Dustin and goes:

“This is why she gets a special section in the freezer. All different flavors of eggos.”

El’s eyes get wide. “Even the blueberry ones?”

Steve gives her hair a tousle, “Especially the blueberry ones.”

#el and steve have a sibling relationship #steddie #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #el hopper #eleven hopper #the party stranger things #platonic stobin #my writing

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feral-ballad · 1 year ago

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Mohammed El-Kurd, from Rifqa; “Rifqa”

[Text ID: “I cried—not for the house / but for the memories I could have had inside it.”]

#mohammed el kurd #palestine #free palestine #trauma #home #homeland #loss #memories #excerpts #writings #literature #poetry #fragments #selections #words #quotes #poetry collection #typography

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frappegoddess · 8 months ago

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I originally said this in a reblog but, picture this

Bruce Wayne gets invited by BuzzFeed to read thirst tweets. They are all from his Justice League coworkers.

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Bruce, in a completely monotonous voice: @Superman says: I wanna suck Bruce Wayne's soul out through his dick and spit it back in his face.

Bruce, with a completely straight face: Poetic

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Cue the batkids watching this video after its been uploaded and gone viral on Twitter: Remember when Uncle Supes wrote that tweet about you when he was stoned off his ass??

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Said video was further used as blackmail by Tim, Jason and Steph. Duke couldn't look him in the eye for a week straight. Damian is yet to understand why the kids at school keep making jokes about his dad.

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The Justice League will never live it down

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chatonfils · 20 days ago

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Starting off by saying I hate “mom Danny” bc it tends to be p transphobic and misgendering, so if anyone adds it to my post I’m blocking them.

Tim making his Kon clone baby, but the cloning chamber isn’t stable enough for the fetus. He’s desperately trying anything that he think might work, when he comes across Phantom. Phantom who has experience with stabilizing clones.

Danny had heard whispers through the grapevine (Ellie who’d joined the Teen Titans as Phantasm) that there was someone attempting to make clones. He’d only meant to snoop and see if it was a Vlad situation. If any clones had been made and needed liberating. What he found was a newly minted Red Robin crying over a red blinking message on a cloning chamber. He warbled a quiet “please, Kon, I don’t want to live without you.”

Danny quickly realizing this wasn’t an attempt to replace and destroy, but actually someone grieving, in probably an unhealthy way, but who was Danny to judge, he’d once replaced Sam and Tucker with robots for less. So he decided to help Red Robin out. Sure, he hadn’t dealt with kryptonian dna before, but he was at least 89% sure halfa dna was way more complicated. And Red Robin had already figured out ways around the dna shenanigans, it was just the stability that wasn’t going well. Honestly, he didn’t think it would be as easy as an ecto dejecto like it had been for Ellie. But his parents had a lot of inventions that they’d started making to help out ghosts, once they’d realized Danny was Phantom. Maybe telling Red Robin about ghost IVF wasn’t his most thought through plan.

“I think what might help is an incubator.” Phantom had suggested.

Tim could only gesture at the cloning chambers that had failed him thus far. They were essentially huge incubators.

Phantom awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I meant, like, a living incubator. Like a surrogate.”

“Where am I going to find someone that I not only trust to carry the baby, but also would volunteer?” Tim raised an eyebrow at him. Hell, had Tim had the equipment to do so, he would have carried the baby, everything else be damned. He just didn’t want to be alone anymore.

Phantom blushed green and looked away. “It might take a little tinkering with the embryos to work with the physiology, but…. I could carry the baby for you. I mean, I’m trans, and even if I wasn’t, ghosts are kind of malleable in a reproductive sense. And there are options for IVF in ghost science. And like, my own clone is like my little sister. I’m also a protection spirit, so I would protect the baby with my entire afterlife. And I’m kind of rambling so you should say something before I embarrass myself.”

“You would be willing to carry a baby for me?” Tim was shell shocked by the offer.

“I mean, yeah. You’re a good guy. You’re not cloning him for a malicious reason. You’re just trying to bring back a piece of your friend because you love and miss him. Dedication that strong for someone who has left the living plain, is admirable. You realized early on that you wouldn’t be able to increase the speed in which the clone grew. You’ve been trying despite knowing that this clone will be a baby that’s going to be your child, and not just the friend you lost. And I wouldn’t mind giving up my body for a little bit so you can make your family.”

Tim certainly hadn’t meant to surge forward and kiss Phantom. “Thank you.” Tim pulled Phantom into a fierce hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

It took about a month for them to work out the kinks of making the baby safe for Danny’s body. In this time, Danny showing Red Robin his human form, and Tim revealing his own identity. It felt kind of wrong to keep his name from someone he intended to get pregnant with his child. Tim and Danny got close as they worked together on the baby. And there may have been a few more kisses shared between them. In the end, the baby ended up spliced with mostly Kon’s dna, some of Tim’s (to stabilize the kryptonian dna), and some of Danny’s (to keep the baby safe in the womb).

Once Danny was well and truly pregnant, he encouraged Tim to find Bruce. “I’ll keep the baby safe. You find your dad. If you need me for anything, I’m only a call away.” Tim hadn’t forgotten about Bruce, he’d just never thought it would take so long to set up cloning Kon. So much of his hurt and loneliness had fallen away in Danny’s presence, and Danny had let him hyper focus on making their baby.

“Probably terrible timing, but I’ve got to ask,” Tim swallowed nervously. “Be my boyfriend?”

Danny’s lopsided smile, thawed Tim’s nerves. “I think I could work with that. I hope you don’t mind kids though, I’m kind of pregnant.”

Tim huffed a laugh. “I’ll keep in touch while I’m away. Please keep me updated on the baby.”

Danny pulled him into a proper kiss, “I will.”

I’m mostly imagining Tim getting bump update photos and falling in love with his increasingly pregnant boyfriend, while he finds Bruce.

I’m also imagining after Bruce is back, Tim being like, “anyways gtg, my boyfriend is in his third trimester and I don’t want to miss the birth of our baby.” And peacing out before any bats could react, let alone stop him.

And also maybe when Kon comes back, there’s maybe a poly relationship started.

Also thinking about Tim getting Danny pregnant without the science.

Danny gets Dad, Tim gets Papa, and if Kon joins, he gets Poppy.

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yjcorefourenjoyer · 2 months ago

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I fully believe that yj98 doesn’t tell ANYONE about their missions anymore.

they probably did in the past with their early ones, but after the 7th lie detector test, and 3rd time they had to get Jon and/or Wonder Woman’s lasso involved to prove they were telling the truth, they just stopped.

After you’ve heard one mission people usually think they’re lying and stop asking questions. All YJ have to say is ‘it was a Classic yj mission, do you really want to hear about it?’ and all other inquiries would be dropped. YJ themselves won’t bring it up, and you won’t believe them anyways, so what’s the point?

So you won’t believe what this leads to when Damian and Jon after being curious for a while, decided to answer “yes, we do wanna know” to them

now YJ has to deal with two teens and the justice league, who finally decides to look at them (and what they’ve done) for the first time…

#tim drake #Kon el #bart allan #cassie sandsmark #yj98 #young just us #young justice 1998 #young justice comics #damian wayne #jon kent #Yj98 uses their silly crazy missions as distractions so they don’t have to write reports.#And without reports nobody knows about the OTHER crazy missions…#The ones where they couldn’t have made it out alive.. and they didn’t.#yj’s aus

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theerurishipper · 3 months ago

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"Hey, Bruce. Just needed to pick up some— Damian, what happened to you?"

Damian glares across the room. Dick stares at his black eye, unabashedly confused. Bruce just fights the urge to sigh.

"He got into an altercation with Roy Harper," Bruce reveals finally, and understanding blooms on Dick's face.

"Ah."

"I was defending your honor, Richard!" Damian seethes, slapping away Bruce's hand. "And anyway, this is nothing compared to the tomfoolery that takes place atop the Watchtower. You should see them go at it, as though they were common schoolchildren and not respected superheroes holding the fate of the world in their hands."

"And how is that different from you starting a fight with Roy?"

Damian scoffs, face turning red. "He had it coming."

Dick smiles for a moment, and then sighs. "This whole situation is causing way too many problems, isn't it."

"I don't know," Tim says, a smirk on his face. "All of Young Justice is on your side, Dick. I'd say this whole ordeal has brought us all closer together."

Cass nods, grinning. "And we are more... united than ever."

Bruce is just glad someone is getting something out of this. Because he sure isn't.

"Well played, Grayson," muttered Roy, as Lian happily licked the large lollipop in her hand. Next to her was a little piece of paper that simply said 'Gotcha.' And all Roy could do was shake his head, amused.

"Well played."

First <- Part 14 <- Part 15 -> Part 16

Masterpost

Bonus:

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one-true-jeremy · 3 months ago

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Welcome to the place where I go absolutely insane about gay cube people, this mostly surrounds empires smp, the life series, and hermitcraft lol

my main is @theelectricalcity which is where I'll follow and block from, you can call me El

The cubes I'm interested in, the main ones will be bolded:

Scott Smajor

Joel Smallishbeans

Flower husbands

Boat boys

Jizzie

TangoTek

Desert Duo

Ranchers Duo

Grian

Cubes I dabble in (this is non exhaustive lmao):

Gem

Mumbo

Lizzie

Fwhip

Jimmy

I don't really have a DNI, but if you like toxic flower husbands, pls kindly leave my blog lol

Tagging-

#els chatting

#els art

#els writing

#els memes

#els silly reblogs

#intro post #els chatting #els art #els memes #els silly reblogs #els writing

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eternal-love-song · 5 months ago

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Dim Lights Backstage

After a bad sexual encounter, Miu retreats to the bathroom of her hotel for a breakdown. Kokichi and Angie pick her up and show her that they care.

Miu/Kokichi/Angie [Post VR AU, Unhealthy Coping Methods, Implied Sexual Assault, Rape Aftermath, Recovery, Angst, Hurt/Comfort]

Written for @dr-rarepair-week-blog

She threw up in the bathroom sink.

She hadn't been able to make it to the toilet fast enough and took the first option available. She hadn't had the forethought to hold her hair back and now there were a few gross strands clinging to the side of her face. She didn't think about that. She was thinking about how the tight, desperate grasp on the sink was the only thing holding her up right and that she could barely see what was in front of her through the haze of tears.

Fuck. She hated crying. It had been years since she'd done so, since she'd needed to. She'd a motto, "No regrets, no tears." Had promised that she wouldn't do anything that she didn't enjoy, not anymore.

God, she was stupid, wasn't she?

It took several deep breaths, deep gasping breaths that almost had her hyperventilating, but she pulled herself together enough to hobble her way to the door and lock it. She could still feel the burn between her legs, the hands on her skin, his hot breath on her ear, "Do you remember how it felt to be choked, Miu?"

Miu closed her eyes, still feeling the hot sting of tears and hating it, hating it, hating it. Why was there always some asshole trying to ruin her good time? And why did they always bring up…

She wanted to scream, but all that came out was a sob instead. She hoped that he was gone. She never wanted to see his face again, but if he wasn't… the door was locked. She could stay in this bathroom all night if that's what it took. All day. Long enough for hotel staff to come and kick her out if that's what it took. Anything so that she wouldn't have to be alone with that prick anymore.

She pushed her hair from her face, only then noticing the mess that she had accidentally left there and frowning at it. God, it was so disgusting. She needed a shower, but didn't think she could walk the ten steps that it would take to get her there. Instead, she curled up on the bathroom floor and just sobbed harder.

It should have been fine. She should have been fine. She was a gorgeous girl genius. She was a fucking star! But all anyone wanted to talk about was "Do you remember how it felt to die?" "Hey, can I choke you?" "How do you feel about rope?"

How the fuck did they think she felt about it? How the fuck would they feel?

Why did they think it was okay to bring up her death every other second?

Fuck them! Fuck Team Danganronpa! The royalties didn't pay enough to put up with this shit. Not at all. Not even close.

She could still feel the throbbing at her core and it made her think she might be sick again. It felt good… at first. Before he decided to put a hand on her throat just to see how she'd react. Before he'd laughed at her panic and tried to hold her down.

"Don't be that way, Miu. It's just a little callback."

Yeah, a callback to her fucking death!

Miu pushed herself up and this time she made it to the toilet. Crawling on her hands and knees, but she made it. She even managed to remember to push her hair back this time. Not that it changed the mess that she'd already gotten on herself, but…

Miu pressed her head to the cold tiles of the floor as she curled up again. She hated how aware of her body she was at this moment. She felt her skin burning everywhere that he had touched her. She could remember what he fucking smelled like. She didn't think she'd be able to escape the memory of his cologne if someone paid her to invent a machine to wipe her own memory.

She wished that she had her phone with her, but she'd tossed it somewhere on the bed and hadn't grabbed it when she'd run off to hide in the bathroom. She lifted her head slightly and let smack back down, punishing herself for being so stupid. She should know better. Danganronpa fans were fucking insane. How could they not be? Even the ones that seemed normal were always so… "Isn't this what you wanted? You always talked about this kind of thing in the game, right?"

She smacked her head against the floor again, trying to get the thoughts out of her head. Go away. Go away! Think of anything else. Anything else, damnit!

It didn't work. All that happened was that tears ended up waterfalling from her eyes again. At least this time she was quiet, only her heavy, panting breaths echoing against the tiles back at her.

A loud bang at the made her freeze, her entire body clenched as a sob nearly broke free from her lips. She hastily pressed a hand to her mouth, suddenly desperately afraid to make a sound.

The door was locked. The door was locked. She was safe here. She had to be safe. She was safe, she was safe, she safe--

"Hey, tits for brains! You in there?"

It was Kokichi.

Just Kokichi.

Her body didn't untense. She squeezed her eyes closed, pressed her hand tighter to her mouth, and hoped that he would go away. She didn't need him seeing her like this.

It had been awkward at first, dealing with each other after the game. How do you look at the person responsible for your death, the person that you tried to killed, and say sorry? How do you accept that apology? Any apology?

You didn't, in Miu's mind. And he must have felt the same because neither of them had apologized to each other. But they had the same way of coping with things. They got drunk, got loud, and stood under as many bright lights as possible. Fuck hiding her shame like it was a dirty secret, everyone already knew what she was like! So she would be Miu fucking Iroma and screw anyone that tried to make her be otherwise!

So she kept running into him at the bars and parties and clubs. Only it wasn't just him that she kept running into, it was also that godfreak. Running into her in bathrooms, catching her necking behind clubs or drinking in VIP areas. Miu didn't believe in fate, but if they were going to keep ending up in the same places, it just made sense to start going out together, didn't it? No need to apologize when you shotgun into someone's mouth and put your tongue down their throat three minutes later.

It was better than an apology, it was a continuation. They could just skip over the part where they felt bad and get back to insulting each other and making stupid jokes and not walking on eggshells. And Angie was there, so they never forgot they were in the present instead of the killing game like she sometimes did when Kiibo was with her.

Angie hadn't been her friend. Angie never would have been her friend. She was a god freak that tried to rope them all into a cult and got her religion loving head bashed in. They weren't anything to each other. Or they hadn't been. Now she was someone to pass lipstick between in the bathroom, someone to watch her back when she wanted to get frisky in an alley behind the club because she was too horny not to pick up a stranger, but too paranoid to be in a room alone with them.

Were they friends now? Fuck if Miu knew! All she knew was that whatever they were, Angie was another unwanted voice at the bathroom door.

"You should answer or we'll start to get worried, Miu!"

Yeah, she wouldn't be doing that. She probably sounded like shit from all the heavy crying she'd been doing. Probably looked and smelled like it too. She was pathetic wasn't she?

The thought made her curl up more.

"He's not here anymore," Angie said, voice softer. "If that's what you're worried about."

"Do we need to key his car or something?" Kokichi asked. "Did you fall asleep in there?"

Miu stayed quiet, just hoping that they'd go away. In the morning… in the morning she swore she would be able to put all this behind her. To pretend that she didn't feel anything and he had just been a bad lay. Just someone that couldn't satisfy her instead of someone that made her feel disgusting and used and… Fuck!

Why was everyone trying to make her a victim? The killing game, these creeps, did she have any intrinsic value other than the joy derived from her suffering?

"Fuck it, I'm opening the door," Kokichi said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Angie asked.

"I'm not going to let her overdose on a bathroom floor."

"You think…"

Miu never heard the end of the statement as the door was suddenly slammed open. He must have picked the locks. She forgot that he could do that.

"Miu?" Angie was at her side immediately, hand on her shoulder. Miu refused to look at her or to uncoil. This was embarrassing, being seen like this.

"Ye-uck!" Kokichi said. He turned on the bathroom sink, likely trying to wash away the mess she'd left there. A moment later she heard the toilet flush, so he must have seen that too.

Kokichi kneeled down on her other side, but she closed her eyes tight and refused to even look at him. "What did he do to you?" His voice was dark, serious. Miu wasn't sure she'd heard him sound this way, so angry and threatening.

"Het hair is a mess," Angie commented, pulling the strands away from her face and likely getting her hands all gross. Her voice, in contrast, was very soft.

She heard the water in the tub turn on next. "That can be dealt with."

God, Miu wished they would just leave. Unfortunately, pretending that they weren't actually there didn't seem to be working.

"Let's get you cleaned up, okay Miu?" Angie tugged at Miu gently and she reluctantly let her body unfurl. Angie pulled her closer and rolled her over, and Miu let the god freak manipulate her body like she was a doll. All the tension had abruptly fled from her limbs and she didn't think she had the energy any longer to move herself.

The shower came roaring to life.

Kokichi walked over to her, kneeling next to her. His hands worked swiftly to divest her of all her jewelry; earrings, necklace, bracelets, rings. Everything was removed and placed into a neat little pile on the bathroom floor.

"Can you get up?" he asked her. "Because we could carry you to the tub, but you might not want that."

Miu closed her eyes again. It bruised something in her to have him looking at her head on this way. She knew that she looked pathetic and the last person that she needed to see her this way…

Angie's arms closed around her in a tight embrace. "Oh Miu, you don't need to do that."

Kokichi reached out to stroke her cheek gently for just a moment, then he smacked her. Not hard, but the force was enough to make her open her eyes in surprise. "Too late to hide from me," he told her. His voice was forceful, but not harsh, not angry. His face was blank. "I've already seen you at your worst, so whatever this is… cut it out already."

Fresh tears came to her eyes. She hated it, but she also couldn't stop it.

He cared about her. He had always cared and she had tried to…

Angie pressed her face into Miu's neck, whispering in such a low tone that she wasn't sure it would carry to Kokichi. "Atua will take care of it. If he did something to you, then Angie promises that he will feel Atua's wrath."

Miu went still. If there was one thing she had learned about Angie, it was that she didn't make idle threats. She meant everything she said, even if she said it in a peculiar way. And Miu was pretty sure that her messed up god wasn't real, so…

"I can move," Miu said, fighting to get out of Angie's arms. It felt too warm, too… Too…

Why would she care? Why would they care? Why? Why would they…

Miu pushed herself to her knees. Kokichi's eyes were on her, intense and focused, the whole time. She couldn't read them. She crawled her way to the tub, Kokichi standing on one side of her and Angie on her knees on the other. They helped her into the tub and she closed her eyes against the shower spray on her face.

Kokichi pulled her face forward and to the side, pressing a makeup remover to her face and methodically cleaning her up. Angie's hands were moving through her hair, trying to rinse off the gross stands, waiting until Kokichi was done to start washing it.

"I want to know what happened," Kokichi said softly. "It'll just piss me off if I have to guess."

"It's stupid," she told him, because that's what she'd been telling herself. It only made sense to say it out loud too.

"You're stupid," he replied. "I didn't ask you if it was stupid. Who cares about that? He could have spilled coffee on you and I'd still say that you should tell me so that I can make his life fucking miserable for two months."

Miu swallowed around the lump in her throat. She wasn't good at accepting gestures of goodwill. They were usually condescending or fake. Not from Kokichi though. He was petty, spiteful. He could and would make a mountain of a molehill for no good reason, and just as easily make a mountain into an anthill.

"Angie will listen to whatever you have to say." With her whispered promise of vengeance still fresh in Miu's mind, she believed her wholeheartedly.

Miu didn't want to say it, but she let her hand wander up to her neck. Instantly, Kokichi's face went dark. She'd ranted on more than one occasion, whenever they were all just drunk enough, about what people said to her. About her. What they asked her.

It wasn't like she was alone in that. Kokichi had nearly had a full blown panic attack when someone tried to hold him or made jokes about crushing him. And Angie couldn't stand being alone, being in the dark, not after what had happened. The spotlight made her feel safer, but it wasn't any less of a stage to self destruct upon than it was for Miu and Kokichi.

"It doesn't matter," Miu told them. "Why should any of it fucking matter? I'm just a fucking sex prop with a DR logo stamped on my damn pussy for all these people care."

"You're not," Kokichi said firmly.

"I might as well be!" she yelled. "It doesn't fucking matter what I do or where I go. All I'll ever be is the bitch who got strangled by her own fucking device."

"No!" Kokichi yelled back at her, tears in his own eyes. "You're more than that you fucking bimbo!"

"No, I'm-"

"So what." Angie's voice cut through both her and Kokichi's yelling and they stopped to stare at her. "So what if you are. Maybe no one out there will see you as anything us, but everyone in here already does. Does that not mean anything?"

Miu deflated, Angie's words taking all the air out of her. "I don't… I don't know."

The water was starting to go cold. She was soaking wet, but at least her hair was clean. She didn't smell like regret and bad decisions anymore. She reached forward to turn the water off.

Angie reached out to turn Miu's head to face her, leaning up to kiss her cheek. "Angie sees you. Whatever they do to us, we'll still have each other. They won't take that. You'll never be alone. You don't have to keep doing this if it hurts."

"I don't know how to do anything else," she admitted.

Kokichi sucked his teeth, reaching into the tub to grab her hand, seeming to pull on it just to steal her attention for himself. "God, I'll fuck you myself if you're that hard up for dick. You don't have to keep trolling for it if it's gonna end up like this."

"You don't even like--"

"Who cares!" he said again, anger exploding out of him. "I'd do it for you! Can you get that through your whore head already?"

Angie takes her other hand. "Miu, we're here for you. It doesn't matter what you need from us or how broken you think you are, we'll do whatever you need us to. We love you."

Kokichi huffs and looks away, but there's a slight redness to his face. He waves his free hand between them. "What she said or whatever."

Miu didn't know what to do with this. The same way she hadn't apologized, she didn't think she would be able to return the sentiment. Not directly, like Angie had. All she could do was squeeze their hands and let a fresh round of tears fill her eyes.

#ELS Writing #Irounaga #Kokichi Ouma #Miu Iruma #Angie Yonaga #Danganronpa V3 #dr rarepair week 2024 #Irouma #Irunaga #Ounaga #Fanfiction #OT3s Are My Heart

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the-ouma-mansion · 11 months ago

Text

No one Has To Has Know

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.

#ELS Writing #kimochi ouma #kokichi ouma #kouchi ouma #koharu ouma #danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 #danganronpa oc #family oc #the ouma mansion

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