Ohito Nakakushi

Peach yelped in surprise as she and Ohito collided, looking absolutely terrified. However, when the shock she expected never came, Peach puzzledly looked at her collar,

“….I…It didn’t……Oh thank god, maybe it’s broken!”

She breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Ohito,

“Aaah, I’m so glad I can hug you now! How’re you holding up, Ohi-nii?”

Ohito winced when his butt hit the ground but seemed to recover quickly at the sight of Peach. Though he couldn’t interpret her immediate reaction, his smile finally faltered for a split second as she fell back. But she righted herself quickly, and he let out a little breath. He still seemed a little lost as he hugged back.

Ohito took a moment to let his nerves settle for the sudden interaction before starting to push himself up. Pain shot out from his tailbone. With a yelp, he quickly lowered himself again. Okay. Maybe he just needed to sit here for a little while.

His mind wandered about until he noticed Ayato coming up from a crouch near his feet.

Well, this sucked.

At the very least, the grace period after waking up had given Suba time to tuck her gun safely at her side (thank god there were no bullets, as suicidal as she could be she didn’t feel like losing another limb) and consider how she intended on planning out general existence until someone killed for this motive. She had stopped denying that a long time ago, that someone would inevitably kill over these motives - although she was unsure how easy it would be this time around, if some of these forbidden actions were as ridiculous as hers.

“This is bullshit.” Suba complained, walking up to the nearest person. She began to wave her hand around dismissively. “How does it expe– OWFUCKDAMMIT!”

She dropped her arm back down to her side.

“It’s interesting.” She shrugged, unsure of what to really say beyond that. God knows she couldn’t just say that it was a whole novel’s worth of ninja porn. Taking her mind off of the book, she managed a shy smile,

“Yeah, it’ll be nice to see her again…”

Of course, his mention of his mother possibly being in harm’s way due to the past motive… Peach remembered that she’d essentially sacrificed her own mother in turn. As she hugged her beloved, Peach felt the shiver Ohito had given, one following suit down her own back as well. She buried her face into his chest, her voice wavering as she whimpered out,

“….I’m scared. I want to go home.”

Ohito seemed jolted by the whine, but he swallowed.

“It’s o-okay... There’s n-nothing to be scared about... okay...? We’ll get home... We’re f-fine...”

“It’s um, …..N-Ninjas of Love. It’s uh, a romance novel. Kinda sappy, ehe…”

She couldn’t just let that spasm in his wrist go without some form of medical attention, but she didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with him. Her gaze fell on the book he offered her, and the mention of his mother did bring a smile to her face. Sweet Auntie Nariko, Peach hoped beyond all hope that she’d be okay out there.

“I haven’t heard of it, but I remember you and your mom reading together. Your mom is so sweet, when we…when we get out of here, we should go visit her together. For old times’ sake.”

Momoko softly rested her head and hands against his chest. She may not have gotten him to open up, but just knowing he was still alive and well, and right here in front of her made Momo feel like Hope truly was all they would need,

“……..I love you, Ohito.”

“Ah... I don’t really read romance, so... I guess that’s why I’ve never heard of it... But if you like it, it must be good...”

Peach was smiling. Okay, that was good. That was always good. Everything was fine.

“Yeah... I’m sure she’d like that... As long as she isn’t working or we surprise her... H-haha... And as l-long as she’s s-still... A-ah...” The past motive flickered in the back of his mind before he dismissed it and tightened his smile. “S-sorry! It’s n-nothing... She’s f-fine...”

He blinked at the sudden contact, and it took him a minute to realize he was supposed to hug back. He wrapped his arms around her lightly.

“Ah...! I love you, too...”

He rested his cheek against hers and shut his eyes. Everything was okay.

Mike had hidden it well, but Alastor and Katsuki’s death had hit him harder than he had given off.  Even though the “naive, heroic, selfless paragon of medieval heroism” was gone, having faded into his mind, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he had failed to keep everyone safe, to make sure everyone got out.

To that end, he had decided to lay down somewhere he wouldn’t be found, hide, and cry.  He couldn’t do it in public, since Alastor, Katsurou, Katsuki, and even Ayato had more right to feel sad then he did. (That last part stunned him for a while)

He had decided to lay under Peach’s bed, assuming that A: She’d be snuggling with ‘Ohi-Nii~” and B: Ohito was way too nervous to come to her room, and she would be the one to come to his.  He didn’t care about their relationship, but he did hope it would create an empty room.

He was checking every handle—only his ever seemed to turn for him—when one finally gave. If he had been paying attention—or able to—he probably would have realized it was because the door hadn’t been quite shut in the first place. As it was, he just wandered in.

He flicked the lights on before hearing the crying. Confused but apparently nothing more, he pulled back towards the hallway and looked around the room.

“Um... This is the wr-wrong room, isn’t it...? Sorry...”

Peach was glad she hadn’t hurt him, breathing a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted to do, especially now, was hurt him. However, the more he spoke, the more uneasy she felt.It seemed like he wasn’t all there as she answered a little stutteringly,

“Oh, u-um, yeah, I found a book….”

She frowned a little, raising her hand to softly caress his cheek. Something wasn’t right. She could tell something just wasn’t right with Ohito, but since she was partly just so subconsciously glad to see him smile, Peach couldn’t place what it was that was wrong, though she could guess,

“…….Ohi-nii, you….you know you can talk to me, right?”

Her hand softly moved to his jacket as she played with the zip,

“You’ve been through a lot, Ohi-nii. And….And it’s okay if you need to let it out. I know I love seeing you smile, but you need to tell me what’s wrong….”    

“What is it? Maybe I’ve read it...”

Ohito blinked at the contact, his hand instinctively going to cover hers. A few moments in, his grip spasmed around her wrist. He let go and stammered an apology, though his expression wasn’t greatly impacted.

His unfocused gaze followed her hand as she toyed with the zipper. That was about all the thing was good for.

Suba was in the diner on the new floor, fiddling around with the jukebox. It wasn’t clear what she was doing to anyone in there - thankfully, there was no one in there. She was alone, taking Koins from who-knows-where and inserting multiple into the machine. After a moment of button-pushing and waiting for the machine to process her requests, she laughed a bit and returned to her booth.

At the booth, she already had a plate of food she had gotten from the order-it-yourself console before messing with the jukebox. Right as she sat down, someone walked in. She looked up, giving a coy grin that just screamed ‘I did something but you can’t prove that it was me’. 

“Hey,” she greeted the person, reaching her hand up to wave. And, right at that moment, the jukebox began to screech the beginning of Tom Jones’s “What’s New Pussycat”. A classic. “What’s up?” 

He jumped at the sudden blast of music and instinctively looked over.

He shifted a little, one eye trained on Ohito–almost unnoticeable through his long red bangs. His eyes were all puffy and bloodshot from crying, but he clearly didn’t care about himself all that much if he was plenty willing to break his own hand. He gave a grunt of acknowledgement again, quieter this time.

When Ohito ducked out of his room, he lowered his head back down onto his pillow and resumed his pity party.

Ohito put the tea together as quickly as he could. Honey would help with a sore throat, too, but given the rest of the meal... Well, hopefully Katsurou didn’t mind it being only a little sweet.

He scuttled back upstairs to Katsurou’s room—four flights was a long way to be carrying a breakable teapot, but he managed. He approached before lingering just outside the door again. It didn’t look like Katsurou had eaten, but maybe he’d had a little bit.

“Um... Can I... come in...?”

“No I’m not fucking okay!!” Ayato shot back at Ohito’s question and stumbled away even after Ohito had moved away from him. The pain subsided after a few moments so Ayato went to retrieve the game system he dropped. They had been acting weird, not getting as freaked out like he normally did. 

“Just do us both a favor and stay out of my sight”

Ohito jumped, wincing as more of the tubs clattered against each other behind his back. Speechless, it took him a moment to respond.

“Okay... Um... Sorry...”

If Ayato was the one hurt, then he was less enthusiastic about helping, but he couldn’t just not say anything. What if it was serious?

Peach let out a tiny startled squeak before realising she’d bumped into Ohito,  nearly dropping the book she’d taken to read, Ninjas Of Love,

“Oh! Ohi-nii! No, no, you’re not in my way!”

She smiled brightly and put the book behind her back, her cheeks flushed lightly,

“I didn’t hurt you did I? I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going-!”

She apologised, looking concerned despite the fact the bump was so soft it probably couldn’t have mustered more than a bruise. It was fair to say from her reaction that she was pretty shaken up by what happened with Katsuki. Given the eye contact, it wouldn’t be too hard to notice that she looked like she hadn’t slept at all; her reddened eyes and light shaking said it all.The fact she’d even forgotten to put on her blonde wig was probably the most alarming sign.

“Ah, good.” Upon recognizing Peach, a little bit of life came into his smile, but it still didn’t reach his eyes.

“No, of course not... I’m f-fine... H-haha...”

He glanced back down. Why was her hair red again? Was she okay? Maybe—no of course she was okay everything was okay there was nothing for her to be not okay about so she must have been okay

Making sure his smile didn’t falter--if it was Peach he needed to be happy she said she didn’t want to see him sad but it wasn’t like he was sad anyway so he’d just keep smiling—he glanced down at his own book. It was a pretty thick sci-fi-looking thing that he hadn’t read.

Oh shit…No he didn’t mean for that to sound like Peach was hurt!! Katsuki tried to look everywhere but Ohito when he smiled again. “N-Not what I meant…J-Just that…Y-You u-uhh…You should see her…S-She might be looking for y-you…I-I’m sure she’s fine..” 

Katsuki tried to stand. It was hard. Finding that using his legs after his entire midsection was halved and then having it back again was disorienting. “U-Uh…” He could still eat, right? He’d seen Ayaka snacking on things…

Katsuki nodded once. Feeling human would be nice for him…But he was worried about what Ohito might do. What…What was going on? This felt odd…

“H-haha! Okay.” Ohito rested a hand over his heart, his thin smile not swaying. “I didn’t think she was... After all, I... H-haha...”

Eita was still on the clock, so it would be okay. Everything was okay.

“.............”

M-maybe Katsuki wasn’t hurt, either, then? Just... tired...? Y-yeah, that must have... been it... Haha...

Any other time and he would’ve smiled.

“Oh you didn’t need to do that for me, that’s so thoughtful of you!”

Not this time. He didn’t respond, there were no words he wanted to speak. In fact, he’d probably be okay with never speaking again. There wasn’t a point as far as he cared. He gave a grunt, a strained and hoarse grunt, be the only acknowledgement that he was aware Ohito was there. He didn’t even move, just stayed where he was.

“O-okay... If you’re not feeling well... um...” Ohito had no idea what was wrong with him—unlessitwasbutitwasn’t—but it sounded like his throat was sore, so...!

“I’ll... um... here...” He stepped inside tentatively, but Katsurou didn’t try to stop him. Okay. It was okay.

He took a deep breath, though his chest hurt for some reason, and put the tray of food down at the bedside table.

“Tea...? I’ll get some tea... Um, that should... H-haha...”

Katsuki would rather he leave, the smile on Ohito’s face really making it hard for him to stand. He couldn’t stand out of fear, really and there was obviously something wrong. Of course there was something wrong, he used his body to murder someone who would be okay after that?! 

Katsuki tried to back away again but found that he actually pressed up against a wall. Guess he couldn’t get out of this, huh?

Everything in him was telling him to get away.

“G-Go and f-find Peach…T-Talk to her and see h-her first..okay?”

“She’s not hurt, is she?”

She’d been fine last Ohito had checked, but if Katsuki couldn’t get up, maybe both of them had... gotten into something...? He felt he had an idea, but his head was starting to hurt and he refused to let it surface.

Normally, Katsuki would have looked up at the person talking to him and tried to make some type of nervous remark or apology…But upon seeing that it was Ohito of all people to come up to him with a smile scared the everlasting shit out of him. 

Why him of all people?! He felt guilty enough for using him to hurt Ayato and the guy passed out before he could find out who had done it! It caused a shiver to run down his spine as he sat up immediate and back himself through one of the seats there.

“I-I…D-Do you not..?!” It creeped him out of all things. How had he not known it had been him? Did nobody tell him?!

“Y-You…You have to stay away…” He was more terrified of what He might say than what Ohito could do. It’s not like he could hit him, but words hurt a lot. Emotionally-wise.

“Ah?”

Ohito pulled his hand back and gripped it to his chest. Did... that chair... K-Katsuki...

H-haha, of course not! If th-that was... and that... then Katsuki... then he... n-n-no, it wasn’t a g-ghost because then because then because then becausethenbecausethenbecausethen and thAT WAS WROng th-that wasn’t that it was wrong wrong WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG—

J-jut his imagination! Katsuki and the chair were, separate, e-everything was fine and he wasn’t—wasn’t—everything was f-fine!

Katsuki had reached the conclusion that he didn’t deserve to live occurred the moment Calypso told him he was hurting Katsurou by even committing the murder. That…That broke him. Effectively, him dying saved everyone from something terrible happening to them all. And he was okay with that. 

What they hadn’t seen on the screen was the fact that Katuski had laid there, bleeding out for 5 minutes in excruciating amounts of pain before succumbing to the blood loss and trauma from being bisected. Who knew the heartbreak of losing Katsurou was worse than dying? He was certain the other wouldn’t approach him when he saw him…He just had to accept that when he woke up in a couple of minutes.

Death was numb, blinding and oddly calming. The pain went away immediately and he felt at ease…No one else was there…Was there? 

He listened, and nothing. 

It was quick, but the moment Katsuki opened his eyes, he registered the blinding light of the ceiling as he laid there on the ground. He really hoped he didn’t come back as a ghost…He raised his hand and found it to be a bit transparent…Not all there. He groaned and closed his eyes again. Katsuki Sho was an idiot for thinking he could be the good guy and potentially save everyone from what Ayato and another person was planning, and he was sadly wrong. He hated the fact that he could only get a little information out of Ayato before he died and went back to his body. I-It wasn’t right! Katsuki tried to get angry at himself, but he couldn’t find the energy to do so.

So…He just laid there on the ground for a bit, rolling over to his side (surprised to find himself still together and not in two pieces) and held his knees close to his chest. He didn’t know how long he’d laid there. Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? For all he knew, no one had decided to murder after that and just live out the rest of their days. Katuski just hoped Katsurou hadn’t become reckless.

He left the pantry, appetite sated, only to find someone curled up on the floor. After a nervous glance around to make sure no one more capable was going to try to help, he scuttled towards the other student.

It was Katsuki. K-Katsuki w-was... w-wasn’t... Wh-what?

He shook it off and closed the rest of the distance.

“U-um, are you o-okay?”

He swallowed and offered a hand.