Hypothermia in December đź’™
Chapter 1: Where is here and who am I?
Kokichi found himself shivering uncontrollably. The weather was cold enough but to add salt to the wound there was a heavy snowfall. He couldn't keep going for much longer. He hadn't dressed appropriately for the occasion. Thinking back on what had happened, Kokichi noted that he didn't even remember getting dressed at all or why he was even out in the snow.
The dark night sky above him only made him more scared. He couldn't remember anything at all. Where was he trying to get to? He had a car, why had he attempted to walk through the blizzard? This was a terrible idea, though he didn't even know if it was his. Maybe his parents or some friends had convinced him to come out here, he didn't know.
Kokichi had always been scared of night time. It was ominous and he knew something could easily be hiding just behind his short sight. Every noise freaked him out even if it was just the sound of nighttime animals trying to make it back home.
Before he knew it, he had even forgotten his own name. It had all gotten to be too much. Instead of continuing to walk, the boy had stopped in his tracks. His bare feet stood on the snow. What month was it? Did he even have parents or friends to persuade him to come out here in the first place? None of this made any sense.
His legs shivered for a few more seconds before he eventually fell to his knees, unable to even stand anymore. The snow was up to his thighs now that he was down. The shorts he was wearing weren't helping him stay warm at all. In fact they seemed to be extremely thin and tight to his small and fragile body. Were these even shorts at all? Maybe they had just been underwear. His fading consciousness made it harder and harder to tell.
His arms that had been holding him up on his knees gave out soon after and he found himself lying down in the snow. His skin was extremely fair and turning purple. The snow fell fast and started to cover his body. His bare back and unclothed legs were covered in a sheet of snow. It'd be a miracle if he made it out of this situation alive.
He felt his body almost started to heat up. "This is how I die" he thought to himself. No one would see him through the snow even if someone else somehow found themselves out to where he was in the middle of nowhere. He remembered one thing, the threat of hypothermia. He wondered why he started to feel warmth through his body before remembering that it was a side effect of hypothermia.
With what little life he had left, Kokichi tried to yell for help. The last thing he noticed was his speech being slurred, unable to even tell what he was trying to say. No one was coming to help him. With that he found his eyelids start to feel extremely heavy. He wasn't even able to attempt to try and keep them open.
——
Kokichi opened his eyes slowly. Unable to fully take in the bright lights surrounding him.
"Oh Shuichi!! I think they're finally awake!" A loud voice was heard yelling. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" Kokichi had tried to open his eyes to see who was talking to him but things were still a bit too bright and disorienting.
"Oh sorry, let me shut some blinds. You've been out for a while kid, how's you even end up in the woods anyways?" The mysterious voice shut the blinds, making the light problem significantly more tolerable. "Sorry, I shouldn't be asking so many questions at once, wouldn't want to confuse you even more." The voice apologized.
Kokichi was able to open his eyes enough to see a blurry and buff man in front of him. He had spiky hair that looked to be a dark purple. Kokichi's vision slowly began to focus. The man held a hand out to Kokichi, "my name is Kaito!" He said with a smile. Without any words, Kokichi held his hand out and shook the mans hand.
"Sorry again for the blinds, they were open to hopefully heat you up a bit. I read online that I shouldn't put you near a fire because sweating would only further the heat loss in your body. That why you only have a blanket and the sun." Kaito had put a hand on the back of his neck.
"I- m.. my." Kokichi tried to speak up but couldn't. He tried but not much came out. He wanted to tell the man his name since he had told him his own. But the smaller boy tried his best to even remember his own name.
"Hey don't push yourself too hard to speak kiddo. The internet also said you might have some speaking problems and memory loss. Listen, I'll give you a few minutes to yourself and I'll be right back." Kaito pat Kokichi on the head before exiting the room.
Kokichi looked around slowly. He felt exhausted. How was he alive? He lightly remembered being stuck in the snow and being unable to move himself but how would he have survived that? He had been wrapped in a blanket but underneath had nothing on at all. He vaguely remembered having at least some underwear and possibly shorts but now he had nothing.
One blind was still open, allowing the suns light to shine into the room. Kokichi tried his best to push himself to stand or at the very least to his knees but found it still to be too hard. The room he was in was somewhat large. There was a huge bed behind him. He was situated on the floor in front of a large leather couch with an unlit fireplace in front of him. There was a computer to the left of the fireplace, it had been left open and it looked like some website listing the effects of hypothermia was last visited. Maybe he died and this was heaven. The lights sure had been bright when he first woke up anyways.
Not too long after he had left, Kaito had returned with a second person trailing behind him. "Kaito this is insane, we have to taken them to a hospital!" The new person had tried to get his attention.
"Hello again mysterious person we found out in the snow last night, this is my friend Shuichi." Kaito has sat down next to him on the floor, handing Kokichi a warm cup.
"Why are you telling him my name? He could be some serial killer trying to kill us!" Shuichi paced back and forth.
"It's hot chocolate, I wasn't sure if you liked coffee. Do you need any help drinking it?" Kaito asked Kokichi, seemingly ignoring Shuichi's panic. Kokichi slowly shook his head yes, his limbs still felt extremely stiff. "Kaito this is stupid! We can't help them, we aren't doctors, we don't even know anything about them!" Shuichi began pacing again.
"Once they can move and talk again we can ask them if they want to go to a hospital but what if they don't want to? Not to mention that we don't even know if they're from here." Kaito held the hot cup up to Kokichi's lips.
"What if he doesn't move?! The hospital would be able to speed up the healing process! What if he becomes reliant on us or something?" Shuichi was obviously stressed.
After finishing the cup of hot chocolate Kaito began to speak again. "Do you wanna lay down and sleep? We have a pretty comfortable bed." Kaito pointed to the large bed Kokichi had noticed earlier. Kokichi slowly nodded his head again and Kaito hoisted him up bridal style and laid him on the bed. He slowly put a second blanket around Kokichi and told him that he would leave him alone for a while. Kaito left the room, pulling Shuichi out behind him.
Chapter 2: no where else to go
Kokichi sat up in the large bed. He had forgotten most of what had happened again. He remembered a tall buff man and hot chocolate but that was about it. He was able to move now though so that was a plus. He slowly slid off the bed and wobbled a bit before catching his balance. He looked around the room and saw a closet close the the bed. He made his way to it and opened it revealing a bunch of large shirts. They must have belonged to the man he remembered seeing earlier.
He grabbed a shirt and pulled it over himself. It was several sizes too big and had gone to a little above his knees. He felt like he would be able to exit the room now that he was somewhat clothed. He walked to the door and opened it slowly, peaking through a small crack he created in the door. He hadn't seen anyone so he decided to open it fully and walk out. It opened to a long hallway, instead of opening any of the closed doors he just decided to walk to the end of the hallway. It opened to a small kitchen connected to a living room.
The TV in the living room was left on but no one was around to be watching it. The kitchen had a smell of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven filling it. Kokichi made his way to the oven and opened it. A wave of heat caused him to back up quickly. A sharp feeling almost stabbed his back as he fell backwards.
"Who are you?" A woman moved out from behind him and stood above him with a sharp switchblade in hand. Kokichi opened his mouth to try and convince the woman to not hurt him but not much came out yet again.
"I- I-" he stammered.
"That doesn't answer my question!" The lady squat down in front of him and held the blade to his throat.
"Maki! Don't hurt them!" Kaito had came running into the room. She immediately stood back up and pocketed the switchblade.
"Who are they?"
"I'm not sure yet but I found them knocked out in the snow when I was shoveling last night, I don't think they're any threat to us." Kaito smiled warmly and walked to help Kokichi off the ground.
"Fine, but if they end up hurting anyone... I have many weapons." The lady, presumably named Maki walked away.
Kaito looked to Kokichi and laughed awkwardly, "sorry, she can be a handful. I see you found the closet. That's one of my shirts, but I don't mind. It's a bit big on you though." Kokichi found himself having to look up to the man. The shirt he had on had a large NASA logo on it though it didn't look like a shirt just anyone could buy from a store. Maybe he worked for NASA or something to that degree.
Kokichi tried to speak again, "th- thhhannkss." The word dragged out.
"Hey! You did it! You said a word." Kaito, without thinking, lifted Kokichi up and swung him around like a little child. Kokichi lightly hit Kaito, trying to get him to put him down.
"Sorry." Kaito sure apologized a lot, "we don't have too much to do at the moment, that freak snow storm last night blocked us in. Did you remember we had a snow storm last night?"
Kokichi shook his head. "Hey Shuichi come here!" Kaito had yelled, "do you think you'd want to go to a hospital little buddy?" Kokichi didn't know why Kaito kept calling him "little buddy" he didn't remember how old he was but he certainly wasn't a kid.
Nonetheless, Kokichi shook his head vigorously, he couldn't remember if he had a reason why but he had a bad feeling fill his stomach when Kaito mentioned a hospital. The boy from before walked back into the room with a book in his hand.
"I can call the hospital right now." Shuichi pulled out his phone.
"He said no." Kaito responded.
"What?"
"He said no Shu." Kaito looked back at the smaller boy standing in front of him.
"You don't want to go to a hospital?" Shuichi looked to Kokichi causing him to shake his head roughly again. Shuichi sighed and closed the book, setting it down on a table between the TV and the couch.
"I- I d-don't reeememmberrr mmmm- my nameee." Kokichi tried his best to speak actual English.
"Wooo! Look at them go!" Kaito pat Kokichi.
"I'mmm a boy." Kokichi crossed his arms, though he found it considerate that they all had been using they/them pronouns up until now. His sentences were slowly getting better as his body still took its time to heat up to a normal temperature again.
"Do you know why you were out in the storm last night in little to no clothing?" Kaito had asked. Kokichi preferred to not speak as much as he could so he shook his head as a reply.
"Do you know how old you are or where you're from?" Shuichi asked. Kokichi shook his head again in response. "Great all we know is that he uses he/him pronouns and that he has amnesia." Shuichi threw his hands in the air.
"I told you the internet said that memory loss was an effect of hypothermia!" Kaito argued.
"Yeah but I thought that would mean just the recent past not his entire life!" Shuichi face palmed before continuing his pacing from earlier.
"Well someone will have to call him in missing, maybe we should leave the news on to see if any TV announcement comes on about him." Kaito picked up the remote to the TV and changed channels to see just a newscaster taking about the weather. "Until then he can just stay here with us."
"Do you think Maki would like that?" Shuichi crossed his arms.
"He has no where else to go!" Kaito replied.
"A hospital! Somewhere with professionals! To someone who knows what to do!" Shuichi yelled. Kokichi covered his ears to stop himself from hearing all the yelling.
"Oh! I'm so sorry." Kaito hugged Kokichi tightly. "He doesn't seem to like all the yelling."
"I don't think that our problem." Shuichi sighed.
"Why are you being so rude?! You're never like this Shuichi." Kaito asked, still holding Kokichi close to him.
"You invited a stranger into our home and now he doesn't want to leave, sorry if I'm a bit on edge." Shuichi walked away from the conversation. Kokichi found himself holding his arm out as though he didn't want Shuichi to leave. Kaito ushered him to go and sit on the couch with him and the two sat there, waiting for anything to come on the TV that would give a hint to who Kokichi really was.
Chapter 3: On the News
Kokichi had inevitably fallen back to sleep while watching the boring news with Kaito on the couch. Nothing on the news pertained to Kokichi, though Kaito had stayed awake just in case.
Kaito didn't want to wake the sleeping boy who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. So he had stayed as still and as quiet as possible while still staying awake to watch for anything note worthy on the news.
——
A while later, Kokichi opened his eyes yet again to see the moonlight shine through the window. He lifted his head and got off of the couch. He noticed Kaito had fallen asleep and he didn't want to wake him.
Immediately his stomach started to growl. He didn't know how long it had been since he had eaten but it had surly been long enough. He walked back to the kitchen and noticed a plate sitting out with the cookies he had noticed baking earlier. He didn't want to steal any but as he stared at the plate his stomach turned, begging him to take even just one bite. He grabbed one, assuming the three people he was staying with wouldn't mind too much.
The TV suddenly got louder as a familiar voice was heard crying. "We just want to know if he's ok. I haven't seen him in almost 24 hours and I know that's not long enough for him to be considered missing but-" Kokichi paused and ran over to the TV, effectively waking up Kaito.
"Huh?" Kaito awoke, noticing Kokichi staring intensely at the TV.
"He's never been gone this long without telling someone, I know somethings up." It was a woman that Kokichi seemed to recognize on the TV. "Kokichi if you're somehow seeing this, please at least call home. We're worried about you."
"Is that you?" Kaito asked before the newsman displayed a picture of a happy looking boy that looked exactly like Kokichi.
"Mhm." Kokichi nodded with a bit of a worried look on his face.
"Great, then we can take you in-"
"No!" Kokichi stood up.
"No?"
"I- I don't wanna!" Kokichi backed up so quickly he fell.
"Kokichi!" Kaito rushed over to Kokichi who was now rubbing the back of his head while lying on the floor. "Are you alright?!" Kokichi nodded his head to signify that he was ok.
"Why don't you wanna go back?" Kaito helped Kokichi off of the ground.
"I just..." Kokichi put his hands on his stomach, "bad feeling."
"I'm sorry kiddo." Kaito pat him.
"I'm not a kid..." Kokichi pouted a bit.
"How old are you?" Kokichi shrugged in response to Kaito's question. Old enough to know he's not a kid. "Something above 18?" Kaito questioned. Kokichi nodded in agreement. "Early 20s maybe."
"Probab... ly?" Kokichi didn't exactly know but it sounded somewhat correct. Kaito was going to speak again but was cut off by a large growl coming from Kokichi's stomach, he was still hungry.
"Food! Do you want something to eat?!" Kaito rushed over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. "What do you like to eat, we have a lot." Kokichi simply shrugged and walked over to the fridge. Kokichi pointed to a drawer near the bottom of the fridge. "There's fruit in there," Kaito responded, "you want fruit?" Kokichi nodded and Kaito opened the drawer.
Kaito stepped back, a bit surprised, he could have almost any food he wanted and he picked fruit? Kaito walked over to the wall and flipped on the kitchen light. Kokichi grabbed an apple and an orange and sat down at the table. "Here let me help." Kaito grabbed the orange and started to cut it up.
"Thanks." Kokichi said as he took a bite of the apple.
"What are you two doing up so late?" Shuichi yawned and rubbed his eyes to adjust to the light.
"We found out his name! It's Kokichi." Kaito smiled as he continued to cut the orange.
"Great, now you're getting attached to him." Shuichi pulled out a seat from the table and sat near Kokichi. Kokichi looked to Shuichi and scanned him up and down. Shuichi was pretty, not buff like Kaito but also not as skinny as Kokichi himself. Shuichi looked as though he did work out and he had decently long navy blue hair and one piece at the top that stuck up above the rest.
Kokichi found himself starring in the boys direction. He watched his lips move as he spoke to Kaito, the way his hair piece bobbed up and down as his head moved. Shuichi turned to see Kokichi starring at him and both of their faces turned a bright red.
"Well I don't think Maki would want Kokichi sleeping in our bed, how about he sleeps with you Shuichi." Kaito said, placing the freshly cut orange pieces in front of Kokichi.
"Me? W- why me?" Shuichi stuttered a bit, it was clear he was flustered.
"Or you could sleep on the couch, I think it would be rude to let the guest sleep on anything other than a bed." Kaito sat down across from Shuichi.
"He's not a guest he's- fine." Shuichi sighed in defeat. He knew he would never win against the persistent Kaito.
——
After Kokichi finished eating Shuichi took him to his room. "Here take these." Shuichi threw a pair of boxers and shorts to Kokichi. "I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you if you don't at least have underwear on."
Shuichi walked past him and slipped back into his bed. Kokichi waited for Shuichi to turn away from him and he slipped on the clothes Shuichi had given him. They were a bit bigger but not as big as Kaito's would have been. He was glad Shuichi was at least somewhat close to his size.
Kokichi slipped into bed next to Shuichi and kept a decent distance between them both. He didn't want to intrude more than he already had. Though he had to admit, the bed was much more comfortable than a couch or floor.
Chapter 4: curiosity killed the cat
Shuichi couldn't believe Kaito made him share a bed with this stranger. Not even just because he was a stranger anymore, he noticed the way Kokichi had been staring at him just before this. He felt the way his own face went red when it seemed as though Kokichi showed interest in continuing to stare at him, only stopping because he had noticed.
Kaito was getting attached to a stranger that had to go back home eventually and he didn't want to do the same. Though he had to admit the boy was a little cute and the thought of him stay wasn't the worst idea he's heard before...
He was getting ahead of himself, this was ridiculous. Shuichi had been so lost in thought he hadn't even noticed Kokichi get into the bed and fall asleep. Shuichi turned in bed to face Kokichi. The urge to hold him close was far too strong for someone Shuichi had just met.
This wasn't normal for him...
Shuichi felt his stomach fill with butterflies as he starred at the sleeping boy. Oh how the tables had turned, he thought to himself. The threat of Kokichi opening his eyes and noticing him staring.
He shut his eyes and tried to not think about how much he wanted Kokichi to stay. He would have to go back to wherever he was from eventually... right?
——
Kokichi awoke and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked over and noticed Shuichi right up against the wall. He must have moved further away in the middle of the night.
Kokichi felt as though his presence in the home wasn't very wanted but he couldn't bring himself to leave. Kokichi slid off the bed and made his way back out to the kitchen. Seeing nobody there he opened the front door next to the living room and was met with a rush of cold wind.
It cut through his skin like little shards of glass blowing right at him. His skinny legs began to shiver quickly still he walked out further.
He bent down and scooped up some of the snow in his hand. His fingers quickly turned a bright red from the cold be he didn't seem to mind. He actually kinda liked the cold. It felt calming to him, the way it all laid flat and untouched.
Some nearby trees were draped in white carpets of snow as well. Every now and then a bird would land on a branch and some snow would fall from it. Kokichi walked closer to the trees. He seemed almost mesmerized, like this was his first time seeing the world before.
"Kokichi! What are you doing buddy you're only in a baggy shirt and underwear!" Kokichi turned his head to the noise to see Shuichi standing on the porch of the cabin.
"Get over here before you hypothermia again." Shuichi shouted again. Kokichi began to walk towards the house again before his legs gave out beneath him. Normally this would be terrible, and it still was, but all Kokichi could do was laugh at the situation.
"Kokichi!" Shuichi ran after him. "You have to be careful!" Shuichi rushed to help Kokichi back up to his feet. "Maybe we need to find some clothes that fit you."
"I like you." Kokichi laughed.
"Don't get attached to me." Shuichi rolled his eyes in response. He had already interacted with the boy much more than he would have liked to, he didn't need either of them to get attached.
"Too late!" Kokichi smiled. Shuichi looked at him with a surprised face but all Kokichi did was continuing smiling.
"Whatever." Shuichi noticed Kokichi hadn't started moving so he decided to simply pick him up and carry him instead. Shuichi carried him back into the house before practically throwing him on the couch.
Kokichi sat up to see Shuichi walk away back towards his room. He really didn't seem like one to talk, not to Kokichi at least. If it weren't for getting threatened with a knife he would probably say Shuichi didn't want him here the most but Maki really took the cake with that one.
Just like that Kokichi was all alone again. He tried to think of who the lady on the TV last night might have been but nothing came to mind. She had long strawberry blond hair and goggles on her head. She clearly didn't look like a parent, she even looked pretty young. Though she did say "home" so who knows.
Maybe he could figure out why he had a bad feeling about going home. Maybe he was bored and just got lost outside? Maybe the snow storm intrigued him and he went outside to enjoy it? No that seemed dumb, who would do that? Maybe he didn't like him environment at home and wanted to get away at all costs? The more he thought about possibilities the more lost he felt.
What's worse is he didn't even know his name until the lady on TV said it. How was he to even know where he was from? It obviously had to be somewhere close because he had to have walked here but why would he do that? There were so many unanswered questions and the only person that could answer them couldn't even remember his own name without being told!
He felt almost helpless, there wasn't much he could do. Other than go home of course, Kaito had suggested that. Plus, the sooner he went home, the sooner he could get out of Shuichi's hair. He didn't seem to mind bothering Kaito and he hadn't really interacted with Maki much but Shuichi was different. Kokichi genuinely felt bad for annoying him and almost every interaction they have has thus far ended with Kokichi feeling bad for annoying him.
"Hey kid." Maki opened a cabinet in the kitchen. "Wanna learn how to bake something?" Maki pulled out a large baking pan from the cabinet and looked to Kokichi.
Chapter 5:
"It's really not that hard." Maki almost laughed as Kokichi struggled to get the right amount of sugar to add to their cookies. "Any of those amounts would be correct it doesn't have to be exact." Major tried to show him.
"Well I want it to be exact!" Kokichi dumped out his measuring cup and tried again.
"We're going to be here forever if you keep insisting to do it this way! We still need flour and brown sugar."
"Fine." Kokichi put the cup of sugar into