Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey Ouma..." Momota looked at him as he held the boy up. He felt nauseous just looking at him.

Blood seeped through holes in the straitjacket-esque clothing the leader wore. Ouma looked like he was about keel over at any moment, looking even more deathly pale than usual.

He could feel the small boy's hands violently trembling, ichor dripping down onto the floor.

And Momota could only think of how he'd doomed him. Ouma was going to die all because of Momota Kaito, Luminary of the Stars. Ultimate Astronaut. The Hero.

He was going to kill his trembling, poisoned classmate. Because that was what Ouma willed.

This small, ill child had been plotting, violently scribbling in his red book even with his arm impaled. Both hands were put to work, not stopping as they shook. Not stopping even as Ouma's body seized up from the poison coursing through his body.

And Momota just thought of how absolutely STUPID he was. He'd hated Ouma, despised him, shot him with a crossbow and wished for him to die.

But now... as he felt the small figure spasm by his side. All he could think was how Ouma was a child like the rest of them.

A manipulative bastard.

A lying little shit.

A chaotic son of a bitch.

A killer whom had rid them of Iruma-san and Gokuhara-kun.

But a child like the rest of them.

A child who was too smart for his own good.

A child who was now throwing away his life for the rest of them.

So they could live.

Even though Harumaki had choked him and poisoned him. Even though Saihara had said plenty hurtful things to him. Even though Kiibo was always yelling at him. Even though Yumeno never passed and opportunity to scowl berate him.

Even though Momota had wished for him to die once or twice.

He really didn't want Ouma to die.

It was wrong.

He wasn't even sure if Ouma's words were the truth. It might have just been more and more lies as usual.

He would quite like to believe it was the truth. Maybe... just once he could believe in the boy who cried wolf.

As he listened to that shallow breathing. As he felt warm blood seep into his clothes and stain his unmarked skin.

He really wanted to believe.

But Momota Kaito really was an idiot no matter what. He couldn't tell if it was a lie or not.

Saihara would know.

He seemed to be able to tell by now.

"What!?" Ouma snapped, wincing as his body violently shook with a seizure.

"Do you... have any regrets?" He asked grimly, lips compressing into a thin line, "Before you die, that is. I just... I'd like to know since I am going to kill you, after all..."

"Regrets...?" Ouma stared at him for a second, his face was void of emotion. Completely blank. It was unnerving. Almost scary. The boy whom had always had expressive and exaggerated expressions on his face, now looking so empty. So lifeless. Momota would've thought him was dead if it wasn't for the slight wavering of his lip.

(If Momota saw the sheen of furious tears in his eyes, it wasn't noted.)

"Maybe... I do have one regret..." He sighed, wincing as he began peeling off the straitjacket-esque jacket, blood bonding it to his skin like glue, "I don't really see a big deal about it but maybe you can tell him for me before you die..."

Him?

"If that's what you want."

"I think my biggest regret is... actually I don't have any, I lied." Ouma giggled a little before pausing and eerily staring off into space, biting his lip hesitantly as he pressed the record button on the camera and turned on the hydraulic press at the same time.

Momota patiently lay under the press, not daring to make a noise as the metal deathtrap descended on him. He felt mortified as it slowly moved closer. What if Ouma didn't stop the press? What if he died right then and there? If it's already this terrifying, how would Ouma feel knowing it's not going to stop?

When it finally stopped, it was mere inches away from his face, it raised and Ouma was simply staring at the press, at how slowly it moved, probably thinking of his inevitable demise.

"Do you regret killing Iruma and Gonta?" Momota's voice wobbled as he spoke, getting up and helping the other.

"Maybe."

"I... don't think I expected you to answer anyways..."

"Maybe I do have one regret." Ouma somehow found the strength to scowl as he hobbled over to the hydraulic press, practically being held up by the astronaut. "I think it might be... not telling my beloved detective something."

Momota froze.

He watched as Ouma carefully lay on the jacket, shivering with cold and simply stared up into the metal.

The cold hard metal that would press against his body and end his life in a mere few minutes.

He still looked emotionless. Simply staring off.

(Momota didn't notice the small bits of salt water in the corner of his eyes. Or if he did, he didn't note it down.)

After receiving a small nod, Momota walked over to where the press would be operated.

He turned on the press and the camera at the same time, not nearly as perfect at Ouma but it would suffice.

"What did you wish you told my sidekick?" Momota murmured. It was quiet but in the empty hangar, with the only noise being the clunky machinery of the hydraulic press, Ouma heard him well enough.

"It's written i-in the... notebook. I guess I'll tell you though."

Momota didn't ignore the teartracks this time. The boy looked terrified. He could already feel the guilt welling up inside him. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to turn off the press and do something else.

He couldn't move. He was frozen as he listened for Ouma's next words. Watching as the slab of metal just got closer and closer.

"It would probably be..."

Closer.

"P-probab-bly..."

Closer.

"T-th...at... he-"

Closer.

Ouma let out a sharp giggle, not even bothering to hide the mingling horror etched onto his face..

"Probably that he was the most interesting..."

A sickening crushing noise followed.

Momota was sick. He was so sick. He froze as the blood gushed out, staining the floor around the press.

His hand trembled as he held it over his mouth. He was going to be sick.

He could feel the bile rising up, the acid burning the back of his throat as he rushed for the bathroom.

The sight of Ouma's filthy, bloodstained clothes just made it worse. He could feel the blood from his lungs begin to mingle with the raw acid he was throwing up.

But there wasn't time for that, he had to grab the book, read through it and get in the exisal. Momota had to wait and watch as his friends found what they would presume to be his body.

The thought just made him feel worse. Even after he'd done it, the noise just rung in his ears.

The splatter of blood. The bones crunching. The skin being pressed far until nothing remained. The body failing under the pressure.

The scent of the blood really got to him. He'd grown more accustomed to it over the past few weeks but that wouldn't even compare to the scene in front of him.

He could see some thin bone fragments slyly peeping out of the millimeter wide gap between the press and the floor. It was tiny, insignificant, barely visible to someone who wasn't all up close to the press like him.

It would've been insignificant, if only it wasn't for the fact that this was all because of Momota. He'd killed Ouma. He'd started the press and he'd been the one to watch as it got closer and closer to the boy who he'd wished would drop dead a few hours ago.

Maybe he would've been sick again if it wasn't for the fact he needed to open that book and start reading.

All of it was written in a mix of kanji and some english on the newer pages. English was quicker and Ouma had limited time left, of course he would write in the easier language.

It seemed he knew full well that Momota had spent some time in the Americas as a kid. It helped a little.

He flipped through the heavy book, reading and reading as every single possiblity, every single situation, they were all accounted for.

There were specific lines he should say if, perhaps, Saihara pointed out a key detail. If, perhaps, Harumaki noticed something wrong with the crime scene. If, perhaps, Kiibo said something about the facts.

Even if Yumeno made a stupid remark at some point, that was accounted for.

Holy shit, Ouma was amazing!

Momota couldn't help but be impressed. The, now deceased, boy was smarter than all of them took him for.

From the very beginning he'd been on their side, scheming, planning, manipulating them and their emotions.

He was all doing this to end the killing game. No matter the roadblock, no matter the victims or the murderer, Ouma had a backup plan for everything.

It was clear that Ouma Kokichi was a very paranoid person. That, they had all known from the start.

Gokuhara-kun was actually the one to point it out. Bringing up how, no matter how laid back and happy he seemed, "Gonta notice how Ouma is tense".

Truly and interesting day for them all.

It was the same day that Iruma was then murdered.

How ironic.

Now that Ouma was dead and the killing game continued, there was no doubt he'd lied about being the mastermind. It was interesting his motive behind that.

Momota really couldn't bring himself to care after all that's happened. This was something for Saihara, the real detective, to solve.

Ouma felt the tears slide down his cheeks as he finally admitted it.

He really liked Saihara.

Of course Momota was probably too much of a dumbass to look into the wording too much but he took joy in knowing he could still cause as much confusion as possible, even in his last moments.

It was something he'd known he couldn't pursue, Saihara surely hated him by now. But it didn't hurt to let the space idiot know. Sort of.

It's not like his beloved Saihara-chan would care anyways.

"Checkmate Shirogane."

Those were his final words, his final whispers that the idiot Momota clearly didn't hear.

He could barely hear it himself, the metal deathtrap inching closer until it touched the tip of his nose.

The agony lasted for a minute or so. Then, it all went dark.

Ouma Kokichi was alone, and he always would be.

But... atleast he wasn't boring.

That alone was the only thing he'd really cared for.

Now there was darkness and darkness only.

Kokichi wondered if this was what death really was like.

How boring.

He could feel his consciousness slip away.

And Ouma Kokichi, was no more.

Chapter Text

There were voices.

This was wrong.

Why were there voices?

Why was he alive?

Kokichi forced his eyes open, ignoring how heavy they felt against his body that dully ached.

That poison really was going to kill him and his plan would be ruined. Momota, Harukawa and himself would all die and it would be for nothing.

Saihara, Yumeno and Kiibo just had to deal with it he supposed. Maybe they'd figure out how to defeat Shirogane after all and escape.

He could only wonder.

It was odd.

He scanned his surroundings.

Kokichi was in some sort of bed, hooked up to machinery that beeped with his heartrate. A hospital bed.

There were people in the room.

A slender blond with inquisitive blue eyes who's gender he could not infact tell. They wore a suit of some kind, clearly expensive. Rich.

A tan woman with chocolate hair and large sapphire eyes. She was wearing a tracksuit jacket and sneakers, must be some type of athlete based off of the toned forearms. A swimmer.

A trembling girl with dark hair, dressed in strange attire, stumbling over her words as she checked the machinery. A nurse.

A woman with a lilac head of hair and leather gloves. She adorned a a small braid on the side. A detective.

The other three people seemed older than his nurse. Her name was Tsumiki Mikan and the others were Togami Byakuya, Asahina Aoi and Kirigiri Kyoko as he'd deciphered from the conversation he could barely hear.

"So what's the damage?" The blond asked, adjusting his glasses.

"The p-patient is Ouma Kokichi. T-The re-reasoning for their awakening is unknown so far, we are presuming they have been killed. They are the only one whom we have no information about.

The o-overall damage is : comminuted fractures in the ribs and left hand, thankfully internal organs are fine, heavy bruising around the neck, chest, thighs and upper arms, extreme damage to the nerves and bones in the hands and only slight damage in the feet, a ligament injury in the right hand, two punctures located in the upper arm and back, some sort of poison is still afflicted, a broken nose and three hairline fractures in the fingers. "

Not too bad for being poisoned, shot twice, choked and crushed with a hydraulic press.

Atleast his legs were okay. Partially.

He hadn't died as it seemed and the others were nowhere to be seen. Momota didn't stop the press, Kokichi just awoke somewhere else.

The killing game wasn't real. It was all a lie. It was virtual.

Yonaga knew about that.

She ended up dead.

And so did he.

But now, awoken and in pain, Ouma would make everything go his way. He would be the most whiny, annoying piece of shit to ever exist.

If he didn't get to die, Shirogane would sure wish he did.

But the other question was, if he wasn't dead, were the others still alive?

If the game really was virtual like Tsumiki-sensei had brought up with the others, then the others had survived.

Gonta was alive. Miu was alive. Shinguji was alive. Chabashira was alive. Angie was alive. Toujou was alive. Hoshi was alive. Akamatsu was alive. Amami was alive.

It seemed like heaven.

Soon Momota would join them.

And hopefully, Saihara will find the letter based off of his theories.

When he wakes up, there will be a little something in his pocket, he'd just have to find it.

It was hard to run to the dorms with the poison in his veins, creeping out the window and bolting at a speed even Harukawa wouldn't catch up with.

But soon, Saihara would know.

Yumeno would know.

Kiibo would know.

Harukawa would know.

That bitch Shirogane will know.

And he'll feel it.

Ouma will know when his plan works.

He will know when the panicked expression on Shirogane's face will be real again.

He will know when his plan works.

And Ouma Kokichi will know, when he can finally have the last laugh.

*

"Are they awake?" A sharp voice broke him out of his deranged thoughts.

The blond from before, who was supposedly male, was watching him.

Aquamarine blue pierced into him. Seeming to unveil his deepest secrets and most vile thoughts.

This man was obviously smart. Incredibly smart.

Kokichi let a small smile play on his lips. He'd always wanted someone who'd be on his level. Even Shirogane was pathetic compared to him.

He already had his suspicions as soon as Monokuma exclaimed in joy when her bathroom break was brought up.

Then he dug.

Writing notes, unveiling things on his huge whiteboard as soon as he got the bugvac. The electrobombs were always in use, one being thrown every four hours or so.

Shirogane had no idea. Monokuma had no idea and his game of chess simply continued.

Even now he was ruining the killing game.

Even now he wasn't there, the game of chess still continued. His pawns moved around the board, moving with his every desire. And soon it will all end.

The queen is the strongest piece. She can move wherever she wanted as far as she wanted.

Miu, the queen was taken off of the board. So was Gonta, the knight.

It was alright though. As long as the king made the last move.

When that final trial is instigated.

Saihara Shuichi was the king, opposing Shirogane Tsumugi.

All the pawns were dragged off of the board.

All he'd done was make his move and Kokichi had called checkmate.

*

"They may seem awake but they aren't fully conscious, looking around will be all they can do for the next forty-eight hours or so. It normally takes quite a while to recover enough to speak, much less walk." Tsumiki answered the earlier question, breaking his string of thought.

"They probably aren't even paying attention, the death is incredibly recent, happening only last hour by our estimation."

He already knew what he would do.

"T-The patient probably won't even be conscious in a few minutes. Leave them to s-stare until they get tired...the stress m-might cause some reactions."

"What have we deciphered about whom they're close to based on the others speech?"

"Iruma-kun and Gokuhara-kun both s-stayed by their bedside the past few hours after we decided it was s-safe to remove them f-from the virtual world, only leaving quickly to sleep for a few hours."

A pang of guilt.

"Iruma-kun constantly c-cusses them out, complaining about what a bother they are and Gokuhara-kun seemed s-solemn. They don't seem to be very well liked...the others mainly r-refusing to speak to any of us anyways. From the r-recovered footage, we barely get to see them at all but i-it seems Ouma-kun is very childish-"

"That's so mean!"

Everyone in the room froze, Asahina even dropped the donut she was eating. They all turned to stare at the purple haired terror.

"Tsumiki-chan that's so mean! I can totally do things other than stare! And I'm not childish, that filthy whore is completely wrong!" The girl looked like she'd seen a ghost.

Togami turned away, clearly fighting back a small laugh if the way his shoulders gently trembled said anything.

Kirigiri stared at him intently and Asahina looked overjoyed.

"Filthy whore..?" Kirigiri raised an eyebrow.

"That boring bitch Miu. I know she's the one who told you." He held eye-contact for a few moments before giggling. "Of course that's a lie! I just hate her so I'll take any opportunity to insult that dirty slut."

"Y-you weren't meant to have the ability to speak for another three days... even a week due to h-h-how small you are..." Tsumiki's hands trembled.

"I'm full of surprises." He smarted, ignoring the dryness of his throat and the taste of blood that lingered.

While the adults spoke, he held his mouth shut. Terrified even the slightest drop of blood would spill.

"Ouma-kun, how are you feeling? If you'd like to speak some more, I have a lot of questions to ask you." Kirigiri spoke up, pulling out a tiny notepad from her breast pocket.

(Shuichi always did the same.)

Ouma fought the urge to gag as he simply swallowed most of the blood, ignoring the small bit that dripped down as he opened his mouth.

"First can...c-can someone get me the antidote to strike-9 poison."

That look.

That horrified look.

He could've sworn her eyes were crimson for a second. Before she swiftly turned on her heel and ran out of the room.

She returned within less than a minute holding a small unscrewed vial and immediately pressing it to his lips.

Only after the vial was completely drained of anything she finally moved it away, watching intently as he immediately covered his mouth, choking down the liquid as best he could before letting out a few heavy coughs.

Kirigiri seemed unfazed, the urgency from before completely dissipating. She simply sat back down, clicking her pen and flipping to a new page, but he knew.

Kokichi noticed those eyes looking him over when he looked away. That anticipating gaze. It was one he was familiar with.

"The only information we have about you is your name. Please answer our questions." Asahina smiled at him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

The smile didn't leave her face as he batted at her weakly, simply distancing herself away from him.

"Okay, Ouma-kun. How old are you?" Kirigiri asked, glancing to the side as Togami and Tsumiki engaged in hushed conversation as they checked his vitals.

"My sixteenth birthday was a few weeks ago. June twenty-first."

"Thank you." She noted it down. "What is your sex and then your gender or preferred pronouns? Normally we wouldn't ask the first one but I'm afraid... since we do not have your medical records... "

"...And?"

"You are fairly androgynous, I cannot tell if you are a male or female."

Kokichi giggled a little. He loved being a mystery in every way possible.

"I'm a male. I don't really care about gender or shit but I guess I don't mind being referred to as other things I'm quite open to it actually, I think it's very interesting." He attempted to twirl a piece of hair around his finger but his hands refused to co-operate at all. He couldn't even twitch the ends of his fingers like normal.

"Noted." She scribbled a few sentences down.

"Are you feeling up for a few more questions? I swear we'll let you sleep after." the brunette spoke up.

"I'm perfectly fine." The lie slipped from his lips before he even had time to process the question.

"Now it's more medical related questions, these are being taken to actual doctors. Tsumiki is only a nurse."

"Do you have any illnesses or anything like that? Mental and Physical, Allergies too."

"I've been diagnosed with Anemia, AuDHD, BPD and POTS. I don't have any allergies." He would've lied on the average but he knew the effects that some types of medication could have on him because of that and did not want to have that experience again.

"I-I can confirm the anemia, it's extremely visible and his heartrate goes well over the minimum it's meant to increase with POTS." Mikan spoke up, moving closer and replacing the IV.

"Good to know. We will try and accommodate your needs so do not be afraid to speak up, it'll be no issue." Kirigiri said, Asahina happily nodding beside her.

"Have you ever suffered from any organ failure?"

"Nope."

"Do you sleep over six hours a night?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Why should I tell you?"

"Please co-operate Ouma-kun. This knowledge is vital so we may get a grasp on how healthy you are without having to do complicated tests that you aren't in the state for." Asahina pleaded.

"I sleep an average of four hours."

"Thank you." She grinned.

"Have you ever had a seizure?" Kirigiri asked.

"Yes."

"Do you smoke?"

The memory of Rantaro offering him a lighter was clear in his mind. It was his own packet, he'd held one between his fingers and rummaged through his many pockets looking for his trademark lighter.

He groaned as he couldn't find it, quickly noticing the small flame in his peripheral. The taller offered the lighter.

"Keep it." He'd been told.

"Sometimes."

"Have you consumed a large amount of alcohol in the past few months?"

A few empty vodka bottles. A cup spilt on the table. A strong smell. A pounding headache. The muttering of voices. His eyes watering. A tight embrace.

All he did was nod.

"Are you sexually active or have been in the past few months?"

The question caught him a little off guard. He'd snap at the chance to say no but he knew now.

With his memories steadily returning to him, it was obvious that there was no way in hell he was a virgin before the killing game.

(Of course the time with Saihara felt so routined, he'd done it too many times already.)

"Hey Kokichi?" Shuichi had paused for a second as he unbuttoned his own shirt.

"What?"

"Have you done this before?" The detective bit his lip.

Kokichi simply sighed, grabbing the detective by the hair and leaning in close.

"That's not an issue Shuichi. How about you just focus on fucking me till I can't speak properly."

The way the boy had yelped and pulled back, face flushing a furious shade of scarlet at the idea.

"I guess so."

"Are you feeling any pain right now? We didn't know if the painkillers would be enough."

“In pain” would be a severe understatement. The agitated wound in his back was putting him in utter agony. Being dragged along the floor specifically so he bleeds out was so painful his vision went black for a few minutes.

Momota even gently shook him, looking horrified incase he'd died before they finished the plan.

He felt that same red-hot pain now. Leaning on the bed with his wound was horrifically agonising. It was taking everything he had not to even show a simple crack in his facade.

These people couldn't be trusted. He was sure of that.

No one could be trusted.

"I'm fine."

"If you say so." She nodded. "That's all of the questions for now. Thank you. I'll be taking my leave now."

Kirigiri left, long hair swishing as she walked. The clacking of her shoes getting fainter and fainter.

"Me and Byakuya will probably leave too." Asahina latched onto the taller's arm excitedly. "I have this cute blue dress you'd look gorgeous in!"

Togami blushed slightly, but gave the tiniest nod he'd ever seen. Freeing himself of her grip, he followed behind. Closing the door as they left.

Now it was only him and Tsumiki in the room.

"How are you feeling Ouma?" She asked.

"Tired." He admitted, leaning on his side, trying to subtly ease the pain coming from the wound on his back.

"Right. S-sorry about your back, it wasn't safe to move you onto your side when you were unconcious but it must h-hurt a lot now, right?" She asked, adding something into his IV.

"Hm." He hummed, eyes feeling heavy already. Tsumiki had probably added a sedative.

"W-when you wake up, I'll a-ask Toujou-chan to make you something. Don't worry."

The last thing he felt was a bandaged hand gently stroking his hair before the world went dark again.

Chapter Text

"Hey, I'm going down to the library now, I think something might happen." He'd told Ouma, leaving the boy to carry on painting nails with Gokuhara.

"Alright, bye!"

ー

His heart dropped as a metal shot put fell right where he stood a second ago. The loud clanging noise just confirmed how heavy it really was.

Someone had just tried to kill Rantaro.

He turned as the secret door opened. A flash of blue hair in his peripheral and the world went dark.

ー

When he awoke again, there were three people in his vision.
A man with short pastel brown hair and washed-out hazel eyes. He wore a worried expression and had quite the rounded face.

A boy who seemed to be a 2-4 years older than himself. He had regular brown hair with mismatched eyes. One red, one green, the most odd thing was the pattern in them, a target radar shape.

A girl, seemingly the same age as the boy with target radar eyes, was the only one whom kept moving. She had choppy, uneven purple hair that almost appeared black, as well as pale grey-mauve eyes. She wore a nurse outfit that seemed a little too tight on her, fabric hugging her body in an odd way.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. The man with the hazel eyes was saying something to him. He looked quite kind.

His head was throbbing and his hair felt sticky. His body longed for sleep, eyelids already heavy with exhaustion.

But he couldn't sleep, not in front of these strangers. What would they do to him of they had him all alone and unconcious? He really didn't want to imagine.

Wasn't he meant to be dead anyways? Why was he alive? Where were the others? Where were Ouma, Saihara, Akamatsu and the others?

A sharp pain came from his hand and when he looked down he found the nurse was hooking him up to an IV.

These people seemed like they were helping him. Maybe, just this once Rantaro would allow himself to fall asleep, not like he really had a choice anyways. Maybe he could simply hope.

"Amami-kun."

Now he was sitting in a chair, his head bandaged and the pain reduced to a dull ache.

The people introduced themselves as Naegi Makoto, Hinata Hajime and Tsumiki Mikan.

Tsumiki-sensei had been taking care of him and making sure he was healthy. She was the Ultimate Nurse.

Naegi-san and Hinata-san were both the Ultimate Hope with Naegi-san originally being the Ultimate Lucky Student and Hinata-san originally being a reserve-course student at Hope's Peak Academy.

They explained to him how the world had been destroyed by the Tragedy and Enoshima Junko. How Hinata-san and Tsumiki-sensei had been put in a similar virtual killing game but theirs was because they were Remnants of Despair and were meant to be fixed but a Junko AI had gotten into the system.

How Naegi-san had also been put in a similar situation and ended up having his classmates fatally injured due to the real Enoshima Junko.

How they had found Amami's classmates' sleeping bodies.

"You are the Ultimate Survivor, correct?"

He hated that title. He did not want that title. It wasn't a brag or impressive.

It was simply a sign he wasn't targeted in the killing game. It was simply a sign he'd watched all his friends kill eachother and die one by one until it was only him and Shirogane Tsumugi.

"Wrong. I'm the Ultimate Adventurer." He'd missed that title, oh so much.

That was the title Amami Rantaro had earned. That was the title to brag about and use to impress.

"Ah, my mistake." Naegi-san chuckled awkwardly. "Can you please explain your Killing Game, the people inside and all your known memories?"

They sat there for over three hours simply listening to him explain everything that went on. Both his killing games, his twelve sisters, the other students and the Ultimate Hunt.

Hinata-san made notes the whole way, the scribbling of his pen not stopping once throughout it all.

Amami pitied him, his hand must've been really sore by the end of it.

Tsumiki-sensei was very timid but good at her job. She reminded Rantaro of his younger sister, always a stammering crying mess.

"W-Who do you think will awaken next?" He was asked as sedatives were yet again added to his IV drip.

"Most likely Tsumugi-chan. I'm fairly certain was the one who killed me and I trust Saihara-san, Akamatsu-chan and Ouma-kun to figure it out for me."

"I-I will go check on her now. I'll make s-sure to keep an eye on her. D-Don't worry Amami-kun." Tsumiki-sensei smiled warmly,  clasping her hands together.

Akamatsu-chan was the next one to wake up. She'd been executed for “killing” him.

When she'd explained her plan and the shotput ball in the vents everything became clear.

Tsumugi was most likely the mastermind and she'd taken the opportunity to frame Akamatsu-san and execute her. It was plausible, he'd been told by his elder sister.

"The second survivor is almost certain to become the mastermind of the next killing game, it's always someone different."

This was not the Tsumugi he knew. This was not the Shirogane Tsumugi whom had survived with him and stuck by his side.

She'd been brainwashed.

She was not his friend anymore.

This was a different person.

*

Akamatsu-san had been executed by being held up from the neck and forced to play a song on a huge piano until she suffocated.

There were still mottled bruises around her neck and her breathing was unusual.

Her vocal cords were damaged but she still managed to speak, even if it was rough.

Now they sat together round a table, Naegi-san and and another woman sat opposite them.

The other woman had a laptop open in front of her, typing away even as they sat down.

"Ah, Akamatsu-kun, Amami-kun. I'm here with my friend Fujisaki Chihiro, the Ultimate Programmer, today. He'll be helping with getting your friends out of the simulation and recording information."

Ah. So he wasn't a woman.

"We'd first like for Akamatsu to explain what happened after Amami's passing."

"Well... me and Saihara investigated the crime scene. Everyone was devasted and I was horrified when I realized that Amami-kun wasn't the mastermind. I thought I'd killed him even when I woke up.

Monokuma made us go into the elevator and go through the class trial and we were a mess. Shuichi didn't speak up at all even though he was the detective.

Infact... It was Ouma-san who took charge, he ended up getting us all to the final conclusion in a way. He noticed I lied but let it happen

In the end Saihara revealed my plan and I got executed. I never would've thought that it was wrong.

Maybe that's the reason I didn't play the black tiles... the mastermind was hinting at me not being blackened."

She explained it, fiddling with her sleeve. Rantaro still wasn't used to hearing her voice so raggedly.

He could only fear the fate of the others when they awokened.

They were staying in a facility now. Most of his classmates bodies had been recovered with the exceptions of Ouma, Harukawa and Kiibo.

They had daily checkups, visits from family and schedules to discuss what had happened in the killing games and what they'd witnessed.

He grew a little closer with Akamatsu as weeks passed. They spent most of their time together now, even having rooms right next to eachother.

A month had passed, Akamatsu was getting her blood drawn when they'd heard the news.

Hoshi-san had awakened.

There was a huge panic when he awoke because he simply wouldn't stop coughing his lungs out. He even went into cardiac arrest but thankfully survived.

He'd ended up getting off with pneumonia and mild bronchitis. Hoshi was actually a few feet taller than his counterpart in the simulation.

He recovered quickly and Akamatsu and himself were incredibly excited to see him again.

"Ah, Akamatsu, Amami. How are you doing?" The words were accompanied by a tiny cough but other than that he seemed pretty much the same.

"Hoshi-san! We're doing fine, thank you. What happened?" Akamatsu answered, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Ah. Toujou-san needed to get out so I allowed her to kill me. She had a whole country depending on her, or the motive video said she did."

Hoshi's words struck them both speechless. He'd never thought that the tennis pro would actually let himself die but it was to be expected.

The worst part was that it was Toujou who killed him. She was always helpful, doing anything for them without question and being a general sweetheart.

Toujou-san was the next one to awake the day after.

That horrible scream would never leave his mind. It was blood-curdling, terrifying, every second sounded horrifying.

He could almost feel her pain through it. The scream was goosebump inducing, he felt literal chills.

Akamatsu-chan paled like a sheet and he could see Hoshi-san slightly shaking.

Toujou-san had definitely had it the worst out of all of them. There were deep wounds all over her body, the nerves in her hands were extremely damaged and there was even the question if they were able to be repaired.

After a few weeks of treatment, she was finally ready to see them and talk to them.

The first thing she did was apologize to Hoshi. Insisting she was indebted to him for the rest of her life for doing something so horrible to him.

She told them she was relieved to be alive after all the false hope.

Her execution lasted nine hours

Nine hours of immense agony and yet she sat before them with a smile on her face.

When Naegi and Fujisaki came back they'd heard the rest of the story in full.

About Yumeno-san's magic show and Ouma-san yet again taking charge of the trial. How Momota and Harukawa were the accused and in the end Ouma had misdirected them just so they could find the truth.

How Toujou-san had been violently pestered. Her face blanked and she trembled when she described Ouma's aggressive questioning.

"That boy... he is far smarter than he lets on. A terrifying force to be reckoned with. At that moment I was filled with nothing but utter fear and hatred for him. His voice... the others didn't notice it but he wasn't just gleeful. It was something darker."

The word despair came to mind for some reason. He hadn't even been there, nor heard what Ouma-san had said but it just fit.

Toujou had even tried to run from her execution but it failed eventually, forcing her to climb a long thorny vine for hours on end as sharp circular saws lacerated her until half her clothes had been torn off.

It was horrifying to hear about. He could feel his palms itch as she described the thorns piercing every inch of her hands and legs, how they dug into her thighs with every movement.

He couldn't even imagine the agony and even Naegi-san, who barely reacted to hearing of Akamatsu's execution looked like he was going  to be sick.

"That's way more brutal than Monokuma was for us." Fujisaki-san murmured, typing away on his laptop.

"Yeah, it's almost as bad as Yasu-"

"Celeste." Fujisaki-san gave Naegi-san a gentle reminder.

"Ah right, my bad. It's almost as bad as Celestia's execution."

"What was their execution?" Akamatsu asked.

"Burnt alive at the stake like a witch." Naegi said.

From his knowledge, being burnt alive was one of the most painful things that could happen to a human being.

He pitied the Celestia woman.

"How brutal.

The gap between murders just kept getting longer and longer.

This time both Yonaga and Chabashira awakened. They both suffered from much less injuries than the rest of them.

Yonaga-san ended up with a mild concussion, a cut on the forehead and a deep incision on the back of the neck. Chabashira-san also suffered from the same neck incision, simply much deeper.

They'd been killed by the same person according to both their stories.

It took a while to calm down Chabashira-san and she refused to speak with Naegi-san at all, claiming she didn't want to trust a degenerate male until Tsumiki-sensei insisted that he was trustworthy and Akamatsu agreed to accompany her so she'd never be alone with him.

Yonaga was completely fine with them, insisting it was due to Atua's divine intervention she'd survived.

Fujisaki-san looked slightly upset when she brought up Atua and exchanged an odd look with Naegi-san and Tsumiki-sensei.

The next person to awaken took two days and it was none other than Shinguji-san.

Apparently they'd been boiled alive. The thought of it made him squirm. He'd been grateful that his death was essentially painless compared to the others.

They weren't permitted to see Shinguji-san even after a few weeks due to them being in a horrific mental state.

"But I want to see Shinguji-san!" Akamatsu insisted when the door was closed on them.

"Angie would also like to see Shinguji. She would like to forgive them." The girl with platinum hair said.

"I-I'm sorry, that will not be allowed." Tsumiki-sensei stammered. "Hajime-kun is with them and they're talking about Shinguji's traumatic experiences."

"Traumatic experiences...?" Chabashira-san looked up, her expression being more concerned than normal.

"Yes, s-similar to m-myself Shinguji-kun has a past of heavy abuse and has yet to realize it for what it was... Hajime is trying to make them see how they've been wronged."

Chabashira paled. Yonaga instantly seemed less lively and Akamatsu nodded her head.

"I think, before I was killed... Shinguji said something about their sister needing friends... does it have to do with that?" Yonaga-san twirled a piece of her almost-white hair round her finger.

"I-I wasn't really mean to tell you details but I'll tell you this so you can avoid mentioning it. Shinguji-kun was not treated very well by their s-sister in the slightest."

"I'll pray for him."

ー

It was a full two months later.

Shinguji and Yonaga had both been having extra sessions with Hinata-san and the psychiatrists due to their extra issues and problems with seeing how they'd been wronged.

It was a slow process but Shinguji did realize how badly their sister had been treating them fairly quickly.

While they still weren't completely okay or stable, they were now allowed to see them and speak to them.

The first thing they did was formally apologize to Chabashira-chan and Angie.

Angie easily forgave them and even insisted they'd stay the bestest of friends.

Chabashira eventually said she'd forgive but not forget. She understood quite well that Shinguji's sister was just like those "degenerate males" she'd become accustomed to encountering and in whole, they'd also been a victim of the killing game.

Fujisaki had been making extensive progress with his work. He'd found a way to hack into the mainframe of the virtual world and was slowly getting to see the episodes of Danganronpa.

It was a game show broadcasted on the Dark-Web and was mainly tuned into by lingering Remnants and Junko supporters.

The episodes were releasing once every month since Hoshi's awakening. There was a pattern to them, they'd release an episode right after someone got executed.

It wouldn't be too soon until they really got to see what happened after Shinguji's death. He could only hope that no one else died and they'd have to keep uploading on schedule so it wouldn't look odd.

ー

The next one to awaken was Iruma-san. She'd died of shock according to Tsumiki-sensei.

Quickly after, Gokuhara-san awoke.

It was the fastest he'd seen two people awake right after eachother. Gokuhara ended up being treated for venom and damage to the lower torso.

Kaede was glad to see Iruma-san again, she'd recovered almost as fast as Angie and was as vulgar as normal.

The first thing she did when awaken was cuss out Ouma-san.

They'd all thought he'd be the next one to awaken so it was quite the shock when Gokuhara came out of unconsciousness instead.

Fujisaki and Naegi yet again stopped by as soon as Gokuhara and Iruma were okay enough to sit up and speak for a long period of time.

"Can you two please explain what happened after the deaths of Yonaga, Chabashira and Shinguji?"

It was only Rantaro and Kaede in the room with her and the other two.

"I... after that trial I got terrified. I knew I had to make a move..." He'd never heard Iruma-san sound so timid and scared before.

"I had already made a plan, there was supercomputer. I worked all day all night on it. My victim was going to be Kokichi.

I think I would've succeeded if I didn't warn him."

She'd warned him...

It was really this sentence that put the realization into motion. They were all simply victims of the killing game. Forced to kill out of fear, for freedom, just to be denied it and be excruciatingly executed .

"The look on his face... he understood it too. I think he slipped up for a second, he looked so sad... I started feeling guilty.

I didn't really expect him to meet me on the roof in the silly virtual world I'd created in the computer. His avatar was programmed to freeze when I touched it. I was going to kill him with a hammer when Gonta appeared behind me and suffocated me. "

"I see." Naegi nodded, eyes flitting to Fujisaki's laptop.

"Thank you for telling us Iruma-kun. We'd like to speak to Gokuhara next so it would be appreciated if you went and fetched him." Fujisaki-san said, still typing away.

Iruma-san nodded, getting up and leaving swiftly, she was fiddling with a piece of her hair, clearly uncomfortable.

"By the way you two," Naegi-san spoke up. "We've successfully managed to remove the others' bodies from the pods without hurting them, they'll probably be arriving in a few weeks."

All sixteen players of the killing game had finally been brought together. It was relieving to hear that sentence, he was horrified if one of then awoke, injured and alone just to die one more time.

Gokuhara entered the room, he wore shoes now. It was an odd sight.

"Hello, Gonta is here to speak with you."

"Yes, Gokuhara-kun, can you explain what happened after the passing of Iruma-kun?"

"Well, Himiko tell Gonta that right hand is used for chopsticks and that is what you use to put special cords in but Gonta holds chopsticks with other hand so he get confused and mess them up. Then Gonta not remember what happen in Virtual World and Gonta not remember that he kill Miu.

In the trial Gonta really not know and Kokichi get really mad. Gonta never seen him so mad and everyone shocked. Kokichi very scary when angry. Everyone confused on who culprit and Kaito keep suspect Kokichi.

When Shuichi try solve mystery, Kokichi starts talking. He says his revenge is taking away all mystery solving fun and he says how Gonta and Kokichi find motive video, then Gonta agree with Kokichi to kill the others so save them from the outside world.

Gonta go with Kokichi on roof with not breaking toilet paper and when Miu shows up and try kill Kokichi. Gonta kill her.

When Gonta about to get executed, Kokichi starts crying. He says that he wants to be executed with Gonta and how he sorry but Gonta not want him die and wants everyone to be friends. "

It was a LOT to take in. He'd never even imagined one of them would call the trials "fun".

Maybe his mind was right for associating despair with him. It didn't add up though, if Ouma really was finding it fun, why would he beg to be executed along with Gokuhara? It was illogical.

The boy himself switched moods faster than anything. A compulsive liar who changes opinions every second.

He wouldn't be surprised if Ouma had some sort of personality or mood disorder. It would explain a lot.

"Thank you Gokuhara."

"By the way... do any of you know Ouma's gender or sex?"

Rantaro almost opened his mouth to answer instinctively but paused for a second. Ouma-san had never actually mentioned it, they'd just all assumed he was a male.

"What do you mean?" Kaede asked.

"Well, in the killing game, certain aspects of you had been changed, for example; Chabashira's hair, you and Shinguji's eyes, Hoshi's height, Toujou's clothing and Yonaga's curls. They've all been altered in some way." Fujisaki explained, pulling up some footage of the killing game as evidence. "In the others' case it would be Momota's hair, Harukawa's muscle, Ouma's androgynous look and Yumeno and Saihara have both had their hair colour changed."

It was odd to say the least.

He had noticed the details himself, how Chabashira's hair appeared more of a chestnut brown with a few green streaks.

How Kaede's eyes were actually a purplish-brown than a pinkish-maroon and Shinguji's were more grey than piercing yellow.

How Hoshi was a few feet taller than ingame.

How Toujou dressed a lot more finely, having lace and ruffles all over her dresses and outfits.

How Angie's hair was actually curly and hung far past her shoulders.

How Gokuhara was a few inches shorter and less muscly but that might've just been the effects of being still for so long.

How Iruma was covered in more scars, cuts and bruises compared to the perfectly clear skin she'd had in the game.

It was all these small details that made them, them. And in the end those were taken away too, fabricated with semi-fake pasts and personalities.

It was a relief when they were told that their talents really were their own and they really were ultimates. If they weren't, he wouldn't know what he would do.

Most of them still continued the same routine as always.

Wake up.

Get ready.

Checkups.

Practice your talent.

Eat.

More checkups.

Seeing Hinata-san.

Practice more talent.

Eat.

Sit around.

Sleep.

Every night as he pulled the covers over himself, Rantaro couldn't hope but worry over who'd awaken next.

And what fate they'd met.

Chapter Text

When he awoke again, Tsumiki was still by his bedside, checking his vitals every now and then.

She seemed to be eating something. The faint scent was nice, it smelt like a milder version of Toujou-chan's food.

"Ah! Ouma-kun, you're awake?" She squeaked, finally noticing his gaze towards her. "Would you like me to bring you some food? I'll ask Toujou to specifically make it for you."

He nodded as much as he could, pain still lingering throughout his whole body.

"Don't tell the others I'm awake yet, I want it to be a surprise."

"Alright, I'll make sure Toujou doesn't tell anyone else."

Tsumiki placed her bowl down and left the room, closing the door with a small click.

The room smelt heavily of disinfectant and the beeping of machines was annoying.

The white walls were more comforting, reminding him of his past. It was a little nostalgic. If he listened close enough, maybe he could hear the chatter of children.

He sat up as the door opened, Tsumiki and Toujou walked in. The maid came over to him with a smile, holding a tray.

She dressed much more elegantly in reality, ruffles and lace adorning every inch of her, she was also covered in tiny scars from head to toe. She seemed to be restless, scanning the surroundings and nodded towards Tsumiki who not-so-slyly put a small file in the girl's pocket.

"Ouma-san, I'm glad to see you doing alright. I've prepared this for you, I do hope it'll be tasteful."

"Yeah..." She placed the tray on his lap.

It was a bowl of katsu curry, strongly flavoured so he could actually taste it. He liked how Toujou would always flavour his food more than the rest, it was nice to eat something like a normal person.

He instantaneously reached for the chopsticks with the hand in the cast but flinched as pain shot up from his hands, his fingertips slightly twitched but refused to move.

Toujou and Tsumiki watched his struggle to move his hand, their pitiful glances doing nothing to help with his frustration.

"Ouma-kun, it would be better for you to not attempt to move your hands."

"Y-Yes, the nerve endings may become even worse and that h-hand also has a comminuted fracture, I'd advise against e-even trying to move it until w-we get the chance to perform surgery."

He simply shrugged, switching hands with ease. This time he could actually grasp the chopsticks. Red-hot pain shot through his entire body but the temptation of food was too much.

He managed to get a few bites in before Toujou gently gripped his wrist. She'd noticed the shaking and immediately moved to stabilize the limb.

"Don't pressure yourself Ouma-kun."

He stared at her.

"While you're eating I must say, I truly apologize for what I said to you right before I got executed. I was... overwhelmed with emotion."

"Hm? What did you say to me again? I don't really pay attention to what other people say." He lied between mouthfuls of food, taking small bites.

"I... I had called you the most detestable cretin I had ever met. I regret saying it and am formally apologizing now."

He hadn't really expected that. Especially not how genuine it was.

"It's okay, I guess. I didn't really care anyways." He attempted to shrug.

Toujou nodded, letting his hand free as he attempted to wriggle it out of her grasp. She bowed and left the room, leaving only him and Tsumiki.

"So... what's this about surgery on my hand?"

"Oh, yes. When Hinata-san and a few other colleagues arrive, we'll be able to perform surgery to h-hopefully fix your nerve endings and set the broken bones back in place. As of now, we've only been able to immobilize it which should hold for now."

Of course he'd need surgery. Most of the time comminuted fractures were severe enough for that.

"It's only been around about three hours since you first woke up incase you were wondering."

He noted that down. They should've found the body by now and his plan would be set into motion. They'd get through the class trial. Saihara would find his hints, Momota would follow the script and expose Monokuma and the mastermind and either succumb to his illness or get the cure, the killing game would end and they'd all live.

He really wasn't lying when he said he was the mastermind. He controlled what went on now, using people as puppets to achieve his goal.

This was not Shirogane's killing game anymore, even after he'd died. It was his. He still pulled them all along on strings, dangling from his fingers and bending to his desires.

The Ultimate Supreme Leader relied solely on other people to carry out his wills. After all, you can't play chess without any pieces.

"Ouma-kun."

"Hm?"

"I'd like to discuss your s-schedule while you eat." Tsumiki said, holding up a clipboard with multiple pages.

"That's fine." He said, nibbling on a clump of rice.

"A-Alright, well your surgery is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon so you won't be able to eat after this but it seems you have a small appetite anyways so that shouldn't be an issue.

After your surgery it should be around about a day until you awaken again and you'll spend a week in bed before we decide to start getting you to start p-physical therapy.

During that w-week Fujisaki-kun and Naegi-san will be here to speak to you about your experiences during the k-killing game and try and help us piece the whole story together.

W-when you're stable enough to walk, we'll start letting you see the others if you wish.

I know Iruma-chan a-and Gokuhara-kun have been protesting at the fact t-they haven't been able to see you, the three of you must be great friends if they're that d-desperate."

"Friends...?" The word left his mouth before he could even think about it.

Maybe he had considered them his friends at some point. No, they were his friends. And in the end he simply used them to carry out his plans, throwing away his most vital pieces and for what?

To live another day?

How selfish of him.

"A-After you finally get settled and are well enough to not need medical s-supervision at all times you can start staying in your designated room we've prepared here.

Then your daily schedule should be around about the same as Hoshi's, just with more checkups."

"Alright. Is that all?"

"I-I'd like to ask one more q-question if you wouldn't mind." She nervously tugged at an uneven piece of hair. "H-how did you die in the game?"

"Oh, I got crushed by the hydraulic press."

All the colour from her face drained.

"C-crushed?"

"Yeah."

"Your k-killer must've been... creative, I suppose." She muttered, lookin away as she added some sedatives into his IV, avoiding his gaze.

He snorted at the thought. Momota could never be smart enough to think of his plan, he was an idiot after all.

"Oh by the way, you shouldn't have to worry about anyone else dying for a while now, if everything goes well." He tipped her off.

"T-thank you. I'm going call Hinata-san and make preparations f-for your surgery." She took out a phone and dialed a number.

He couldn't really figure out what she was talking about as his consciousness began to fade but he made out the words; Ludenburg, Togami, Surgery and Cat?

It didn't matter really, probably some useless conversation between friends.

It was busy in the afternoon to say the least. Toujou herself was barely able to keep track of all the new people she'd seen since the awakening of Ouma.

Hinata-san had come and gone a few times. Togami-san and Kirigiri-san were also in his room for a while, Fujisaki-san came round to see them, Fukawa-san and Naegi's sister also stopped by. It was mainly the "Class of 78" as she'd heard Tsumiki refer to them as. Sometimes other Ultimates would also visit; the Ultimate Mechanic, Princess, Cook and Lucky Student appeared the most. Toujou found herself enjoying Ms. Nevermind's company very much.

It was very hectic on the specific day of Ouma's surgery. Togami-san and many others showed up and it seemed that there was another reason for it.

Asahina, who was watching them for the day and immediately got up and clung to the tall blond's side chattering away.

"Fujisaki-san." She approached the programmer who's eyes were glued to his laptop screen, he didn't even look up, simply giving her a hum of acknowledgement, "Do you know the reason it's been getting so crowded lately? I'm worried it won't be good for Yonaga and Ouma."

"I understand your concern Toujou and I'll make sure to bring it up to Makoto but there's been a concern about the rest of Japan and the others are having to do research from here so we can find out more and watch you all at the same time."

She didn't really understand what Fujisaki was talking about but could only hope the situation would clear up soon. Instead she chose to observe the many people around her to see if anyone was in need of service.

There were quite a few people who stood out to her in particular.

A woman with red eyes dressed in gothic lolita. She was very gorgeous. From what she'd heard so far, the woman was Ludenburg Celestia none other than the Ultimate Gambler.

She had lengthy black hair that fell down her back and framed her face in ringlets. Her nails were sharp, visible against her white gloves, her lipstick was a bloody red and for some odd reason a finely dressed cat sat atop her shoulder.

Ludenburg seemed to be speaking in rapid french, making conversation with Amami as he gently petted the grey cat.

Kirumi couldn't help but admire the woman. She was so proper and elegant. Holding herself with so much confidence, not wavering once.

As if noticing her gaze, the woman turned to look at her. Giving her a soft smile.

Toujou died a little inside when Ludenburg walked over to her.

She was so doll-like.

The maid had never seen anyone more unreal looking. Pale skin, striking red eyes, glossy hair, a figure and wardrobe to die for.

"I adore your heels. Where did you get them? They're very cute, suit your pretty face very well." Even her japanese was spoken with a small accent. She sounded almost robotic, pausing between every word.

"I got them as a gift from my cousin. I'll have to ask her myself. I apologize for not being of any help Ms. Ludenburg." She collected herself, trying not to fumble her words as this gorgeous woman complimented her.

"Please, call me Celeste and it's no issue. I simply noticed how our tastes in clothing are similar and decided to ask."

This woman really was someone to look up to.

"Ah, Celes. You've been talking to Toujou, huh? She's very efficient in everything she does." Kirigiri came over, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Really? The Ultimate Maid, am I correct?"

She simply nodded, trying to stand as straight as she could with Kirigiri's hand slightly weighing her down.

"How about you and I sit down and have tea someday? I'm sure you're a very interesting girl." Celeste pulled a small black slip from her sleeve. It was a card with her contact details. "I'm staying in Japan for quite a while so we'll have a lot of time to acquaint ourselves."

And with that, she walked off. The clicking of her heels echoed in the room.

Toujou could hear Kirigiri's tiny sigh of relief, the weight finally being lifted.

"I'm glad she seems to like you. She's very intimidating sometimes."

"She's...very elegant. I'd quite like to know how she does it."

"Well, truth be told, she's always been like this. Her poker-face is unmatched, always able to put on a stoic front despite the situation. They called her the Queen of Liars." Kirigiri said, deep in thought.

"She'd get along with Ouma in that aspect."

"Maybe." She hummed. "I do hope you end up getting to know Celeste. She keeps to herself quite a lot. It would do her good to have someone young she could mentor."

"She was your classmate at Hope's Peak right?"

"Classmate? Yes, she's also my fiancée."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you. Good luck Toujou."

And she was left alone in the middle of the room, nothing but her and that crazy scenario that'd just happened.

But now she had a new mission. It was for herself and herself only.

Toujou Kirumi would learn the ways of Ludenburg Celestia and become just as elegant.

And maybe she also wanted to pet the cat.

Just a little bit.

"Y-You can't keep a cat in here!"

"Well, why not?"

"It's unsanitary."

"Grand Bois Chéri Ludenburg is very clean. Infact I made sure of it. Unsanitary? Me? I'll skin you alive!"

"Celes..."

"My apologies."

Ouma had no idea what was going on. His whole body felt like it was on fire, his eyelids felt heavy and all the noise made his head pound.

There were too many people in his room. And a cat for some reason?

He cracked his eyes open a little bit to see who was there.

Togami, Tsumiki, Naegi, Fujisaki, whom Tsumiki had told him about previously, and a gothic woman with long shiny hair and a dressed up cat sat on her shoulder.

He supposed this was "Celes"

She was very gorgeous. There was something off about her though, that face of hers.

Of course a talented liar like himself could spot his own kind from miles away.

There was something all too familiar about her. It was discomforting. That soft smile plastered onto her face.

It felt like...

"What are you all doing in my room?" He stared up at them. A feeling like anger bubbling up inside him for no apparent reason.

"Ah! O-Ouma-kun!" Tsumiki fell into Togami, he held her upright by the sleeve.

"I trust you are feeling quite irritable after your surgery." The man spoke up, adjusting his glasses. "The anesthetic seems to have that effect."

"After you feel better, we'd like to talk to you about the events that transpired within the killing game." Fujisaki spoke up. "Specifically the events leading up to and after Iruma's dea-"

"If all of you don't get out I'm going to start throwing things." He seethed. It was like Gonta's trial. All this pent up rage at everything, he simply couldn't control his emotions.

His masks dropped out of his hands and shattered before he even had the chance to tell a lie.

For once Ouma Kokichi was being completely and utterly truthful. To the others. To the universe. To himself.

And the truth was; he was fucking angry and if one more thing pissed him off, he'd strangle them with his own bare hands.

"Ouma- EEEK!" Tsumiki cried out as a scalpel from the table was violently launched at her, narrowly missing her ear and digging itself into the wall beside her.

Naegi shooed them all out quickly, wanting to avoid getting his friends impaled by random surgical tools.

They still stood outside the door, hushed whispers and discussion.

Was it really that hard for him to get a few hours of peace? Kokichi almost missed the familiar silence of his dorm room where he lay for days on end, causing a slight panic for the others until they got used to it.

But here? He'd been awake for less than a day and couldn't get a moment to himself. Tsumiki's presence wasn't that much of a bother since she normally only sat in the corner of the room, holding her ipad and doing whatever nurses do in their free time.

It was odd that he'd lashed out though. He never did that. Maybe it was all the pain meds he was high out of his mind from or maybe he was losing his touch.

Of course it was the first option. Kokichi shared two Ultimate titles in it's own. Ultimate Liar and Ultimate Supreme Leader. He just didn't tell others about his second one because it wasn't relevant. He had two Ultimates purely because he was that good.

He was left alone for thirty minutes or so before there was a soft knock at the door.

"Ouma-kun? A-Are you alright in there?" Tsumiki asked, gently turning the door handle.

"I'm fine. You can come in now." He sighed, leaning on his side again.

Tsumiki entered the room, she was alone and the rest of the building was silent.

From what he'd been told, the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles really existed, it was essentially exactly the same as in the simulation.

In Kirigiri's exact words;

"The simulation partly affected reality and due to some odd reason the sixteen of you seem to be connected to it. Every time a new one of you awakens, your dorm room and research lab will go from a blank room, to what it looked like in the simulation."

It struck him quite odd but he'd be glad to go back to that dorm room. It was a place of comfort. One of the only places he didn't have eyes on him.

Constant surveillance was something he'd always hated.

It really set him off.

He'd never hated anything more in his sixteen years of existence on earth.

"Uh, Ouma-kun?" Tsumiki was by his side now, gently grasping his arm and gently turning his wrist towards herself. "I-Is it okay if I take the needle out? I need to make sure you don't get an infection."

This was the singular best sentence he'd ever heard spoken by the woman. The longer the IV stayed in, the more anxious he was becoming. IV's were, in his opinion, things created by a sadistic doctor purely to torture patients. IV's were definitely up in the detestable category along with bugs, surveillance and boredom.

"I don't really mind, do what you want. It was getting annoying anyways." He shrugged nonchalantly, poorly attempting to hide how eager he was to have it gone.

Tsumiki was none the wiser, simply taking the opportunity and gliding the needle out of the skin with ease. She held a cotton swab in one hand and held it over the wrist, while the other grabbed a bit of tape, tightly wrapping it round, securing the cotton and keeping pressure on the tiny pinprick at the same time.

"Tsumiki-chan? Can I go for a walk after tomorrow?" He pleaded, "I really want to stretch my legs."

"W-Well it's n-not to be recommended but you'll get up and leave a-anyways, won't you?" She sighed, looking at the proud grin on his face. "I'll a-allow you to walk to Momota-kun's room next door, but o-only if you eat all your meals and drink lots of water. I s-suppose you wouldn't want t-the IV back."

He smiled at her. Tsumiki was already wrapped around his finger. She was way more lenient with him than most doctors or nurses, he supposed she was a bit of a pushover but she wouldn't let him do anything too dangerous.

She was by far his favourite nurse.

"Should I ask Toujou to bring or make you anything?" She asked, messing around with some of the wiring on the heart-rate monitor.

He shook his head, sinking back into the warmth of the tons of blankets he'd begged Asahina to grab for him, apparently all his claiming of feeling cold persuaded her. It wasn't that he didn't feel the cold because he was consistently freezing in this tiny white room but more-so he could bear it, the chills were nothing compared to the icy streets of the european countries he'd visited.

"I n-noticed you freaked out when Iruma's... situation was brought up..." Tsumiki said, her voice a low whisper despite them being the only ones in the building. "I-I know what it's like to k-kill a friend... I've told Fujisaki-kun n-not to bring it up."

He'd never been more thankful for kind people. Now he was definitely sure Tsumiki was his favourite nurse.

"Thank you Tsumiki-sensei," She looked up with wide eyes before a smile spread on her face.

"I-It's no p-problem." Her cheeks flushed red. "My patients wellbeing is my first priority and that includes mental wellbeing too."

Maybe this wasn't so bad.

Chapter Text

"Toujou-san!"

The others all crowded round her as she got to the entrance. She had questions shot at her from all of them at once.

"Have you been to see the new person whom has joined us?" Shinguji questioned, standing further back than the others along with Amami.

"It's Kokichi isn't it!?" Iruma harshly poked a finger into her chest. "I sure hope it fucking is!"

"Who woke up Toujou-chan?" Akamatsu asked.

"Is it a degenerate male?!" Chabashira made punching motions.

"I will pray for whoever was murdered!" Yonaga declared.

"Gonta wanted everyone to be friends... Kokichi promise..." Gokuhara looked down sadly.

"Who died Toujou-san?"

"Yeah! Who died Toujou-chan?"

"Who died?"

"Toujou-chan?"

"Toujou-chan!"

"What's wrong Toujou-chan?"

That voice echoed through her mind, standing out against all the other cries of her voice.

It sounded so taunting, so painfully gleeful, so despairful.

She felt so enraged whenever she heard that sentence, it was like all that hatred was awakened within her.

Instantly, she slapped away Iruma's finger, trying to keep her composure.

"I'm sorry but I am not permitted to inform you all of who has awoken. You probably wouldn't be able to see them either way." She grimaced, remembering how badly beaten Ouma looked.

With a gloved hand, she reached into her pocket and recovered the file Tsumiki had so generously allowed her to have. It contained all the details of Ouma's injuries and things like that but with nothing that indicated his identity.

"I do however, have this file about them."

"Pass it here." She handed it to Akamatsu who promptly began reading it out-loud for the rest of them.

"Patient is suffering from many internal and external injuries as result of..." Akamatsu's face paled. She looked horrified. "As result of...being slowly...crushed with the h-hydraulic press-"

The tension in the air was thick enough to be cut with a knife. All of them looked extremely disturbed yet Toujou couldn't blame them, most of them had witnessed brutal executions and murders but to know this was done by one of their classmates... it was, a large indicator that things were not going well.

"The injuries include...comminuted fractures in the ribs and left hand, heavy bruising around the neck, chest, thighs and upper arms, extreme damage to the nerves and bones in the hands and only slight damage in the feet, a ligament injury in the right hand, two punctures located in the upper arm and back, s-strike 9 poison in the system, a broken nose and three hairline fractures in the fingers."

Everyone went silent as she finished. This was by-far the most damage any of them had received throughout the whole game. It was horrifically brutal.

"T-That's... brutal..." Chabashira finally spoke, fiddling with the ends of her skirt.

"Oh god..." Akamatsu herself looked like she was going to be sick.

"I think...I might slightly hope it's not Kokichi..." Iruma spoke up, nervously twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Gonta really not want to believe friends do that to eachother...!" He trailed off sadly.

"I have to admit, I am quite disturbed by how one of our classmates could do something so gruesome." Shinguji quipped, "I could only think of two people who'd be smart enough and have the guts to carry it out."

"Who-"

"Why Harukawa and Ouma of course!" Yonaga helpfully supplied.

"Yeah, Momota is too much of an idiot plus it would go against his whole hero complex thing, Himiko would never, Saihara is too wimpy, Kiibo would be scared of the press and Shirogane is too afraid of gore." Chabashira ticked them all off on her fingers.

"So you guys think Ouma or Harukawa are the killer?" Amami finally spoke up from where he stood in silence.

"Yea-"

"Guys?" Asahina-san approached them, smiling awkwardly. "The new episode got released, I think you'll want to see this..."

They all sat down in the huge classroom they'd converted into a common room. It almost exactly in the middle of the school and Togami-san paid for all and any new materials they needed.

There were multiple sofa's and chairs, all with one common aspect; They faced the huge TV propped up against the wall. Iruma, Souda-san and Fujisaki-san had all worked on it to be sure they could observe the killing game with no interruptions.

Togami-san, Fukawa-san and Naegi-san normally joined in when they watched, trying to figure out more about what went wrong. Fukawa-san normally turned away when murders or executions happened.

This week there was a double episode release. It would be Shinguji's murders and Gokuhara's one, along with some events that occurred after both trials.

They all watched intently as a few minutes into the episode, Yonaga went missing and Harukawa, Chabashira, Saihara and Momota all went looking for her.

ー

"She's not opening the door." Harukawa grumbled.

"Angie please open the door, we need to speak with you!" Chabashira was knocking again.

"I can open the door!" Ouma popped up from nowhere, Momota instantly yelped, moving backwards and falling into Chabashira who held him up by the sleeve for a second before dropping him onto the floor.

"You can?" Saihara asked, looking skeptical.

"You bet I can! The Ultimate Supreme Leader would never lie to you all!"

ー

All of them sighed in unison apart from Chabashira who was intently looking at a specific bit of the screen.

ー

"Stop messing arou-" Momota instantly snapped his mouth shut as Ouma pulled something small, thin and shiny out of his scarf.

Ouma fiddled around with the lock for a few seconds when there was a loud click and the doorknob turned with ease.

"Thank you slightly less degenerate male!" The Chabashira onscreen thanked him, moving for the door.

"Yeah, thanks Ouma. " Saihara thanked him with a smile.

The door opened quickly and the screen had that usual greyish staticky effect on it. The screen moved, pointing towards the upside-down wax effigies of the deceased at the time. Amami, Hoshi, Toujou and then finally the effigy of Akamatsu, impaled with a gold katana.

ー

"You've got to be messing with me." Naegi-san said, face paled at the sight of the katana.

"How nice of Monokuma to put in a few references." Togami-san said coldly, but his hand was nonetheless on Naegi's shoulder, it seemed to be a comforting gesture.

"M-Miu?" Kiibo cried out.

And that's when they all saw it. From the angle they were seeing it, There was Kiibo and Harukawa right next to her body, Saihara and Gokuhara were a little further back, looking horrified, but right there, fully in view for once, was Ouma.

His face was blank, devoid of emotion, he was frozen still, eyes glued to where Iruma's corpse lay. He wasn't even breathing, just standing there. So empty, so lifeless, so emotionless. There was no sign of his usual demeanor.

ー

It was horrifying when he turned to stare straight at the camera, it felt like they were all watching some sort of horror movie.

ー

"Kokichi? You okay?" On-screen Gokuhara approached him, timidly putting a large hand on his shoulder.

ー

"Kokichi look very scared." The real Gonta spoke up. "Was like this with bugs too. Gonta not like people who hate bugs but..."

His eyes flicked up to the screen.

"Gonta would never make Kokichi be with bugs if he knew how really scared he was."

ー

"Don't touch me." Kokichi snapped, pushing away Gokuhara's hand and walking over to where the others stood.

Momota ran down a few seconds later, breathing heavily.

"Kaito where have you been?!" Harukawa glared at him.

"I got kicked out of the game so-" He panted, "I went back to my dorm to rest, who's-? Oh my god Iruma!?"

"Wooow Kaito! You look really really suspicious right now!" Ouma said, placing his hands behind his head and smiling as if nothing had happened.

"Quit it Ouma..." Saihara murmured, gently tugging at the boy's sleeve.

ー

They all watched as Ouma participated in the investigation for once, helping Saihara with clues and interrogations. It was an odd sight to say the least. The worst part though, was the slight hostility he had towards Gokuhara throughout all of it. Treating him like he did the other participants for once.

It was quite confusing to say the least. Iruma, Saihara and Gokuhara were the only ones that Ouma seemed to genuinely enjoy being around, he never went anywhere without Gokuhara or Iruma after the first trial.

So it was weird to see him flat out ignore Gokuhara's queries and offers. It seemed like he was actually trying to ignore him.

"Why the hell is he acting like that!" Iruma was the one who pointed it out first.

"What do you mean?" Akamatsu asked, clueless.

"You weren't there so you probably don't know but-" Shinguji spoke up. "-While Ouma was quite rude towards the rest of us, he was almost never like that with Gokuhara, he'd insult him from time-to-time but that was barely anything compared to the onslaughts of things he'd say to the rest of us at times."

"You make it sound like he's super rude." Hoshi spoke up, "The kid was just more soft on Gokuhara with anything, he wasn't that bad unless you include the things he said to Iruma."

They made subtle conversation as the video went on in the background, only paying a little bit of attention to the trial.

ー

"Just spit it out already!" Momota's yell caught everyone's attention. Obviously things were getting heated now.

"You went to the roof, didn't you!?"

"Isn't that where he met up with Iruma?" Harukawa added.

"No, he didn't just meet her there." Yumeno pointed an accusing finger at Ouma, "He probably ki-"

"Okay, fine! I'll tell you if you wanna know that badly! Consider this my revenge." He interrupted her, quickly switching from annoyed to unbothered.

"Revenge?" Gokuhara looked scared.

"You got some balls lying to me. I'm gonna take away your fun for pissing me off, Saihara." Ouma had a twisted smile on his face, looking directly at the detective. "I won't let you do any detective work or deduction, or mystery solving, or anything!"

"Oh?" Saihara raised an eyebrow, looking slightly afraid.

"So I'll confess everything! You guys better listen carefully." He said, his expression yet again changing. From terrifying to an excitable child.

"Confess...!?" Gokuhara looked confused and horrified at the same time.

"A confession!? So you are the culprit after all!"

Things were just getting more and more confusing. Ouma's stand moved forward.

"I came up with the plan after Miu asked me to meet up with her." He was still smiling as though nothing was wrong. "She asked me pretty eagerly, too. So I decided to pry some info out of her. She gave me the rundown of the Virtual World, before she explained it to you guys. As I listened, I realized she was planning a murder."

ー

Iruma turned her face away in shame.

ー

"On me, no less..." Ouma held a finger to his lips, the nonchalant smile replaced with a smug smirk.

Something about it seemed off though. It didn't really reach his eyes as the rest of his dramatics did.

"When I investigated the Virtual World, I found out that a person can die from shock."

The cameras cut to the portrait of Iruma at her stand, three red crosses were painted over her face.

"Without a doubt, she planned to use that for my murder." Ouma was the main focus again. "So that's when I decided to prepare my *own* crime with her plan. I pretended to cooperate with her and lured everyone into the Virtual World. That's also why..." He had that sickening expression on his face again. "I worked together with Monokuma."

ー

Any feelings of comfort or warmth lingered no more. A cold terror seeping into their bones as Ouma yet again stared dead straight at the camera. Naegi-sam raised his eyebrows in surprise, Togami-san had a disgusted expression on his face and the students all exchanged worried glances.

It seemed Ouma was getting worse and worse every time they saw of him. How long was it before he snapped and killed someone with his own hands?

Toujou pressed her lips into a straight line. Was this really the same boy who sat in a hospital bed and struggled to even grasp chopsticks?

ー

"You.. worked together with Monokuma?" Momota was getting more and more visibly tense as Ouma spoke.

"The bear was now in view, releasing an overdramatic sigh.

I guess the jig is up. Yeah, everything he said is true. Kokichi came to me with an idea to make the killing game more interesting..."

Ouma faltered for a second, smirk being replaced with a scowl as his first name was used by Monokuma. It lingered for a singular second. Barely there, but there was no mistaking it.

"It was such a good idea, I decided to place a motive in the killing game simulator."

"You added a motive..?" For once, Saihara looked completely and utterly baffled by this case. He didn't even try and hide the visible confusion.

"And the secret of the outside world is the motive, right!?" He quickly regained his composure, looking a little more sure of himself as he pointed a finger towards the headmaster.

"No fair! Monokuma can't take sides!" Gokuhara cried out angrily.

ー

Everyone's demeanor changed from confused and afraid, to pissed off at both Ouma and Monokuma.

Monokuma's speech on how he didn't violate the rules droned on and with every second, Gokuhara appeared more restless.

ー

"Bullshit! No matter how you look at it, you guys are working together!" Momota was yelling again.

"Shhh, calm down." Ouma's voice had a taunting edge to it, he seemed laid back, too laid back for someone who was being accused of murder. "I'll explain my relationship with Monokuma, so let me finish my confession."

"I'm fine with that, but... you're confessing without much of a fight..." Harukawa said, narrowing her eyes skeptically.

"Nishishi, I told you, I'm gonna get in the way by taking away all the mystery-solving fun." He held his arms out, a grin on his face. "If I can't win this game, I'll make it boring for everyone! That's my revenge!"

ー

The room fell completely silent. Not even the quiet scratching of Fukawa-san's pen could be heard anymore. They all anticipated Ouma's words.

Toujou was holding her breath.

Gokuhara was looking down sadly.

Shinguji looked delighted.

Chabashira and Akamatsu looked equally nervous.

Iruma and Amami were both quite literally on the edge of their seats.

ー

"Well, then... The culprit is Gonta."

ー

Even the background music had stopped. Nothing was heard now and almost everyone was in shock.

The room was in an uproar. Togami paused the episode for when they were all focused again.

"How did he know!?"

"Ouma is super suspicious!"

"The beauty of the human mind is something to be appreciated. I too wish to know how Ouma figured it out."

"You'd all know, if you carried on watching." Togami's cold voice was quiet, but effectful. The room once again fell silent and the video was unpaused.

ー

"The truth is... Gonta and I worked together." The screen was split, the dark smile and the confused expression they both individually wore were both halved, sliding together to meet in the middle. "We formed a duo to end this killing game..."

ー

Everyone turned to look at Gokuhara who's head was still hung low.

ー

"As the Killing Game Busters!" Ouma looked maniacal and Gokuhara looked horrified.

"Wh-What Busters!?"

ー

It was painful to hear Gokuhara's voice crack like that. He sounded so utterly and genuinely confused it made Toujou's heart ache a little.

ー

"We must win this Killing Game, in order to end this Killing Game!"

"What you mean, "we"!?"

"By the way, I came up with the murder plan and Gonta carried it out." Ouma carried on, ignoring any and all questions Gokuhara asked.

"Gonta what!?!?"

"Why are you surprised by that than the first thing he said!?" Momota was still yelling.

"Cuz... Gonta have no idea what he's talking about..."

"C'mon, quit lying and tell us the truth!"

"Gokuhara is telling the truth! He's not someone who lies all the time like you!" Shirogane interrupted, looking just as angry as Momota.

"And no matter how naive Gokuhara may be... I doubt he would ever team up with Ouma..." Kiibo supplied.

"Yeah... Not after Insect Meet and Greet incident."

"Heh, it's obvious what he's trying to do." Momota looked all too confident. "Gokuhara doesn't understand the Virtual World so Ouma is trying to trick him! He's trying to sacrifice Gokuhara to escape from his crime!"

"Nyeeeh! You're a horrible person! How dare you use Gokuhara like that!" Yumeno also looked enraged.

"You're right... I'm sooorry... I did something horrible to Gonta..." Ouma's mood switched yet again, now he looked upset and guilty. "I didn't want Shuichi to hog all the glory, so I told everyone the truth!" That horrific smile yet again appeared on his face, no trace of the past guilt etched onto his features.

"Cut that out! I told you it's not gonna work!" Momota gritted his teeth together.

"Don't you think I could've pulled the strings and made Gonta carry out my commands?"

"It doesn't matter if it's possible or not... cuz I say it's just impossible!" Momota declared, making all the others visibly and audibly sigh.

"It does matter! There's no need to bring emotions into class trials!" Ouma said calmly. "All we need is cold hard logic... Riiiight, Saihara?"

"What...?" The detective said, in as much confusion as everyone else.

"U-Ummm... Gonta not understand what's going on. But still..." Gokuhara began speaking. "Gonta... not kill Miu. Gonta... really not know anything. And also... Gonta not tell lies. And Gonta not make trouble for others... Cuz that not how gentlemen act! That why Gonta *not* culprit!"

"Yeah, Gokuhara's not lying... I can tell just by looking at him!" Momota rushed to his defense.

"I already used my magic to check! Gokuhara's definitely not lying!" Yumeno assisted.

"Then lemme ask you guys... If it's not Gonta, then who's the culprit?" Ouma said, face blank.

"You, of course!" Momota angrily yelled.

ー

Everyone just groaned. They were completely and absolutely right for agreeing with Ouma in the second trial. Momota really was an idiot, they were just going round and round in circles, it was visible Saihara, Kiibo and Ouma were getting sick of it too.

ー

Ah-hahaha, c'mooon. There's already proof that I couldn't have killed Miu." Ouma said, a large grin on his face.

ー

"What on earth is he talking about?" Toujou asked, looking around at the others as a feeling of unease and confusion settled within her.

"Yeah, is he not literally the one with the most evidence pointing against him?" Amami pointed out.

"Well he's certainly very suspicious despite it." Shinguji cackled.

"God, you guys are idiots! No wonder you died so quickly. Pay attentions you whores!" Iruma yelled, wildly gesturing towards the screen.

"Listen to what the woman says you degenerate males!!"

ー

"...There's already proof?" Harukawa spoke up, clearly just as confused as the others despite her calm exterior.

"Oh? Did you forget already? Then, let me make it clear again..." Ouma said, his words laced with a condescending tone, "Why I can't be the culprit!" He pulled another horrifying face, looking almost inhuman as frustration slipped its way into his speech.

{NON-STOP DEBATE!}

ー

Yonaga squealed in joy as the words appeared on screen, clapping her hands excitedly. She simply adored that part of the episodes, it was much more enjoyable with the effects and music than in the trial just listening to people drone on until Saihara finally points out the mistake or agrees.

ー

"I am not the culprit! Didn't I prove that to you guys already? The clue is how Miu was killed."

"Iruma got strangled to death, right?" Gokuhara said.

"Toilet Paper was the murder weapon!" Yumeno added.

"Miu would've totally resisted if she was being strangled, right?" Ouma carried on making his case. "Then it would've been impossible for someone as weak as me!"

"Are you talking about the strength of your virtual avatar? That wouldn't matter if you strangled her from behind!"

ー

Gasps filled the room as Momota said something smart for once.

ー

"In which case, even if she did resist... The most she could've done is merely touch the culprit." Kiibo said sadly.

"Exactly. She couldn't struggle much. So you could've kept strangling her, no problem!"

"See? I told you I'm not the culprit." Ouma grinned, confusing everyone even more.

"How'd you arrive at that conclusion!?" Shirogane sounded genuinely concerned for the boy's mental state.

Saihara stood there thinking, his hand over his mouth as he motioned for everyone to repeat what they said.

*

"So you could've kept strangling her no-"

"That's wrong!" Saihara finally yelled out."

Ouma grinned smugly.

"Actually...maybe it wasn't possible for Kokichi to strangle Iruma."

ー

"He... he called Ouma by his first name?" Chabashira's eyes widened.

"What's the big deal about that? It's great that Saihara is making new friends...?" Akamatsu asked, her and Amami exchanging confused looks.

"Listen here you flat-chested lesbian, nobody. No-body. Nobody, calls Kokichi his first name apart from me and Gonta. Saihara over here, doesn't call anyone by their first names he only started doing that for Space Idiot and Sexy Killer Bitch because the jackass Momota forced him!" Iruma explained.

"So? Maybe be just...forgot?"

"Forgot they were out in public, you mean!" Yonaga chirped, Iruma holding back a laugh (and failing).

"Huh...?"

"Angie cannot speak of it. She swore upon Atua's name and Ouma will most definitely rip her tongue out and psychologically torture her!" Yonaga said, still with a serene smile.

"They're totally fucking." Iruma said smugly.

"Why would I genuinely not be surprised if you're right." Amami questioned, more to himself than anyone else. He looked very serious about this.

ー

"Why wasn't it possible?" Momota was asking.

"Miu modified my avatar so if she attacked me, I wouldn't be able to resist." Ouma finally reasoned. "If Miu touched me, then I'd be unable to move."

"Huh?"

"So I would've had to kill her instantly, such as stabbing or hitting. I couldn't have murdered her by strangulation because it'd be game over if she touched me."

"Wh-What?" Yumeno blinked slowly.

"Well...if you were using the, toilet paper you wouldn't need to touch her directly." Momota tried.

"But if you can't be touched while you're wrapping the toilet paper around her neck, then it would be impossible." Harukawa argued.

"Which means...as long as she died from strangulation, it couldn't have been me!"

"W-Wait! What if it was something besides strangulation, then? Like-"

It sure was a reach for the stars. Maybe that was why they called him Ultimate Astronaut.

"There's no doubt Iruma was strangled, We already discussed this." Harukawa spoke up again.

"Nishishi...Momota-kun is reeeeally desperate to make me the culprit! No matter how much you whine about it, you can't change the truth!" Ouma's words sounded casual, but there was something a little bitter about him.

His words were like a blade hidden in candy. A layer of sweet deceit hiding the cold hard truth.

"The culprit who killed Miu is Gokuhara Gonta! This is the truth you all adore so much!"

"N-No! Gonta not kill Miu!" Gokuhara cried out, desperation imbedded into every corner and crease of his body. "It true you gotta believe Gonta! Gonta would never hurt anyone!"

"I believe you. You've been risking yourself to protect everyone." Shirogane spoke for like the second time throughout the whole trial. "There's no way Gokuhara would kill! He won't even kill bugs!"

"I...I believe Gokuhara, too. I'm not going to listen to Ouma's lies..." Yumeno nodded in agreement.

"O-Of course! Who'd believe a liar like him!?" Momota sounded confident but the bead of sweat rolling down his forehead told another story. "He's lying about Gokuhara being the culprit, so there's no point talking about it!"

Momota, Yumeno, Gokuhara and Shirogane looked confident in their beliefs, on the other hand, Kiibo, Saihara and Harukawa looked uncertain. Then there was Ouma who looked like he was about to shoot himself due to the huge, large amount of boring.

"Right, Shuichi!? You think so, too, don't you?"

"Huh? Uh..."

Everyone's gaze was on the detective who instinctively looked away, avoiding eye contact for a second before meeting all their gazes as he spoke.

"I know how important it is to believe. But as the Ultimate Detective... I know we can't solve this case on belief alone."

"Huh?" It was Momota's turn to be shocked now.

"It's just that...something doesn't add up, I have this feeling...something's off." Ouma finally looked up, eyes shining with real excitement. "We can't keep going back and forth like this. We need to discuss this."

"What, you...wanna suspect Gokuhara?"

"Too bad, Momota. Looks like Saihara-chan agrees with me." Ouma grinned.

"N-No, I'm not trying to-!"

"Oh, the irony!" Ouma interrupted him before he got the chance to finish. "It's all thanks to Momota that Shuichi got his act together as a detective and now, Saihara-chan's intuition as a detective has made him more suspicious of others. Welp, can't be helped. That's just what a detective does."

"That's not it, Kokichi! I'm just trying to make sure that everyone survi-"

ー

"I feel like I'm watching my parents divorce again." Iruma says with a straight face.

ー

"Saihara... Gonta really not do it... Gonta...not culprit..." Gokuhara had tears streaming down his face. "Please...believe Gonta..."

Saihara clutched a hand over his chest, grimacing as he said nothing.

"...We might as well discuss it." Kiibo broke the silence, looking stressed.

"...What?"

"As a precautionary measure, that's all." He explained. "I think we need to seriously discuss whether Gokuhara was capable of committing this crime. Only then can we arrive at a logical decision."

"You guys... Why don't you get it? That's just what Ouma wants!" Momota pressed. "He's just trying to split us up! Shuichi! Open your eyes!"

"B-But-!"

"Sorry to ruin this tense moment, but you guys seem pretty evenly split right now." Monokuma interrupted. "So, the Ultimate Academy is proud to present, its very own morphenomenal trial grounds!"

"...So we're gonna do that again?" Harukawa's voice was soft, yet so authorative, it demanded attention.

"Shuichi, why...? Why don't you understand?" Momota pleaded. "Y-You're my sidekick...aren't you...?"

"Kaito..." Saihara murmured, before getting lost in thought again. Within a few seconds, he was looking confident.

All the stands moved, forming a staircase-like structure before, finally, moving into two rows facing eachother. On one side, was Momota, Harukawa, Yumeno, Shirogane and Gokuhara. On the other, Saihara, Ouma and Kiibo.

{COULD GONTA HAVE COMMITED THE CRIME?}

Debate Scrum START!

"Saihara, are you saying that Gokuhara is the culprit!?" Momota asks, crossing his arms disapprovingly.

"I can't say for sure he's the culprit. I'm saying we can't rule it out!"

"Gokuhara is such a sweetheart. He wouldn't hurt a fly!" It was Shirogane's turn now.

"Don't you realize these so-called sweethearts can commit crimes too?" Ouma reasoned.

"Could Gokuhara have even made it to the rooftop without being noticed?" Harukawa asked.

"The entrance hall is all that separates the rooftop from the mansion exterior." Kiibo pointed out.

"There should've been witnesses at the entrance hall!" Momota again.

"No, none of us were in charge of the entrance hall!" Saihara reminded him.

"But Ouma confessed he was working with Monokuma!" Momota was trying non-stop.

"I did cooperate with Monokuma but only on a temporary basis." Ouma chided.

"It's all a lie! Ouma is the one who killed Iruma!" Yumeno protested.

"That is impossible because Ouma's avatar had special settings." Kiibo sighed.

"Gonta not kill Miu! Honest!"

"The truth is, Gokuhara could've murdered Iruma!"

Saihara, Ouma and Kiibo pushed the agenda of the fact it was possible until the others finally quieted down.

"This is our answer!"

The debate scrum was won and everything in the courtroom went back to normal.

"In my opinion...as long as it is possible that Gokuhara is the culprit, we have to discuss it!" Saihara finalized.

"That's ridiculous... You're going to believe Ouma over Gokuhara?" Shirogane accused.

"That's not it at all. I just want the truth." Saihara declared, "If we're going to survive, I have to find the truth!"

ー

Momota was silent, just like the supposed "dead" classmates watching, along with Togami, Naegi and Fukawa. It was suffocating, there was no noise throughout the whole room, just the simple sounds of soft breathing as everyone's eyes were glued to the screen.

ー

"But...Gonta telling truth... Gonta r-really not culprit..."

"I...s-still don't think Gokuhara's lying..." Yumeno stammered.

"But didn't I tell you guys already?" Ouma wore that blank stare again, seemingly confused yet condescending at the same time. It was odd how he managed to do that. "If you're planning to expose a liar, then you'll have to expose them psychologically... Only then will they reveal their true self as a liar - hiding beneath a layer of deceit!"

ー

He repeated those words he'd said to them long ago, but this time his mannerisms appeared slightly different.

He seemed more... frustrated. Toujou glanced at Naegi-san who watched the screen closely, looking to be expecting something.

ー

"That's why it hurts my heart to prosecute Gonta like this!"

ー

Everyone was taken aback, even the people onscreen, for once, Ouma didn't seem like he was faking it. Although, no one really knew when it was a lie unless he was too dramatic.

Ouma was a walking landmine, nobody knew what he was thinking, feeling or what he was going to do.

The only person who could even vaguely read his emotions or lies was Saihara, but Iruma and Gokuhara were better at knowing when to leave him alone or when he was planning something. In the end, all their efforts did nothing to help anyone really understand the boy.

ー

"Gonta! If you understand, then do it right! Make logical arguments for the truth!"

"L-Logical arguments?" Gokuhara simply looked even more lost.

"It means, use your head to make arguments!" Ouma looked like he was trying to hold back on his increasing frustration. It wasn't working very well.

"Use...head..?"

"What I'm trying to say is...if you aren't the culprit, then you gotta prove that you aren't!" He was slowly looking more pissed off by the second.

"But...Gonta really not know..."

"I'm sick of hearing you say you don't know! God, why are you so dumb!?" Ouma was basically shaking with rage at this point.

Everyone looked with absolutely mortified yet confused. The boy was so calm and collected a few sentences ago but he just seemed to absolutely snap as Gokuhara carried on speaking.

Momota winced at the yell, Yumeno and Saihara looked afraid, Harukawa and Shirogane were taken aback, yet instantly recovered, starting to look furious. Kiibo although also looking surprised and confused, seemed deep in thought.

"Gonta just wanna help everyone! Like true gentleman!" Gokuhara yelled back, tears yet again slipping from his eyes.

"You're a true gentleman!? More like a true dumbass!" Ouma actually looked more genuine than ever. It looked like he was finally losing his cool, his composure and mask of tantalizing emotions cracking.

"Hey! Now that's just bullying!" Yumeno stood up for Gokuhara.

"Bullying? Yeah, so what? That's what you do in this game, right?" All the previous emotion on Ouma's face disappeared within seconds, that slate of blankness making it's way back where it rarely lay until this specific trial. It was like he'd never been angry, he was just having a calm, collected conversation with the rest of them.

ー

But Toujou knew what she saw. That type of anger couldn't be faked. The way he shook, in his eyes was nothing but unfiltered raw rage. This was simply just another mask. Another worn out mask. That was starting to get cracks in it.

She could see it now, all the fabricated lies. Ouma really could control anything, other's perspectives, his own emotions, his own body language and now? He was going to take charge of the trial. Just as he'd done with any other.

They were just all too caught up in his web of lies to notice, The web he'd been weaving ever since they'd arrived at the academy. Now, they were all wrapped around his finger. She really hoped the others would realize this soon. Or else they might meet quite a nasty fate.

ー

"You guys blame and gang up on me but now you pretend to be good people?"

ー

That mask really was shattering. It was sort of...sad to watch, in a way. Ouma was clearly sick of it all. No one could've gone as long as he did without breaking character just a little.

ー

"N-No... I never ganged up-" It was quite pathetic at this point for any of them to deny mistreating Ouma. All of them had done it once or twice.

"Gonta, argue back already! Just make an excuse or...whatever!" He ignored her, focusing back onto Gokuhara and dropping the masks quicker than anything.

"Stop it!!! That's enough!" Momota was yelling again.

"...Hm? Stop what? You mean stop the game?"

ー

He was switching his emotions so fast Toujou couldn't even get a grip on one before it changed again. She was, too, getting frustrated, along with many others in the room. Iruma and Shinguji however, were watching the screen intently.

"Is he... having an episode of sorts?" Shinguji's voice sounded awfully quiet, even compared to how it usually did.

"Sure fucking seems so. Can never be too sure though."

All three adults in the room all immediately looked a little more on guard than before. Fukawa-san looked understanding and sympathetic, Naegi-san looked concerned and Togami-san looked more stiff.

"What do you mean?" Akamatsu raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this may be an incorrect assumption... but Ouma as we see him now, seems to be showing many signs of an episode of an individual who may be suffering from mood-changing disorders."

"Pretty sure he's simply lying again. You might be looking too deep into it Shinguji." Chabashira spoke up. "Look, he's doing that weird hair thing that he does when pretending he doesn't care!"

She pointed toward the screen, where Ouma was infact twirling his hair on the end of his finger. It was sort of like a telltale sign he was up to something.

ー

"Ooh, that's a low blow right there... Then just die in a hole for all I care! We wanna live so stop getting in our way!" He seethed, it was as though somebody had flipped a switch within him. Ouma had never really cared for any insults towards him, mainly just being overdramatic and waving the off but this time he was really screaming at Momota.

"Quit it. If you don't shut your mouth, then I'll shut if for you...permanently." Harukawa glared at him.

"Harukawa, please! Calm down!" Kiibo said, sweating profusely.

"Sorry...It Gonta's fault everyone so upset..." Gokuhara apologized, looking down sadly. "But...Gonta telling truth! Gonta really not culprit! Cuz Gonta not know anything! Really!"

"Cut it out already! That's all you've been saying this whole time!" Ouma's voice cracked a little at the end, clearly not used this type furious screaming.

"You're the one who needs to cut it out!" Shirogane said in her lowercase yell.

The focus was on Saihara again. His thoughts being displayed in the text box as he looked away, thinking deeply.

ー

"Wait, what did Kokichi say...?" Amami read it out loud for them. " 'All you've been saying this whole time' ...That's true about Gokuhara. This whole time, Gokuhara's been saying he doesn't know anything."

It played flashback scenes of Gokuhara's earlier speech when the body had been discovered and during Ouma's claim.

"But when exactly did he start using that defense...? Gokuhara started saying 'I don't know', after logging out of the virtual world."

ー

"That's it!" Saihara yelled out. "Did, Gokuhara get into an accident in the virtual world?"

ー

It was then they watched as the others onscreen discussed how Gokuhara could've forgotten by mixing up the cords. It was confirmed when Gokuhara finally said the words that sealed his fate.

ー

"Oh, but Gonta hold chopsticks with this hand..."

ー

They all stopped focusing as intensely as before. Listening to Shirogane's cries of denial and Gokuhara's explantion.

It was only when Ouma opened his mouth to speak again, everyone's undivided attention was on the screen. He wore the hollow glazed over look again, however...Toujou saw no faults in it this time.

ー

"That's enough, Gonta. We already know."

"Kn-Know what...?"

"We know that you totally forgot about teaming up with me...and killing Miu."

"W-Wait a minute! That lie! Gonta not kill Miu!" He teared up again. "Cuz...why would Gonta do that!?"

"Yeah, it's a lie! I'll never accept this!" Momota really couldn't keep his mouth shut. "And besides, Gokuhara's got no motive to kill Iruma!"

"...I already gave you my testimony on how I came up with the murder plan." Ouma was being a little too reasonable.

"And I'm saying I don't believe you!"

"Kokichi, if what you're saying is true, why did you plan it this way?" Saihara spoke up again. "You wanted to plan the murder yourself, but have someone else carry it out?"

"Is the person who planned it also included as a blackened with the perpetrator?" Harukawa inquired, her eyes lingering on the Monokubz.

"Nope! Only the person who actually commits the murder becomes the blackened!" Monokuma's squeaky voice rung out.

"Then there's no incentive to just plan the murder..." Kiibo looked deep in thought.

"But Gokuhara's such a gentle soul. Why would he agree to this?" Saihara looked confused once again.

"Hold on! That hasn't been decided yet!"

"Who cares about the motive? Let's vote for the culprit already." Ouma seemed to be attempting to derail the conversation.

They all intently listened as Saihara and Ouma crossed people off from the list of suspects, bringing up undeniable evidence. It was all going smoothly, they were being purely logical about it. Until, Saihara finished off.

"I-It's...it's...Gokuhara." He murmured.

"Sh-Shuichi!?"Momota yelped.

"Yup! Gonta is the only person who could've committed that murder!" Ouma said cheerfully, as if it were nothing, "You get it now, right? That's the truth we were all reaching for."

His condescending tone was only an indicator that something bad was on it's way.

"The thing you guys wanted so badly! A truth without any lies!" He was furiously yelling again. "Iruma Miu's killer...is Gokuhara Gonta!"

"...Ah!" Saihara winced.

"R-Really...? Did Gonta, really do it...?"

ー

From then on, it was mainly Saihara and Momota arguing. Saihara proved Momota wrong on everything, countering his claims with the cold hard truth.

The entire case ended up being settled. Onscreen they'd come to the correct outcome. Gokuhara really did kill Iruma.

It was just a pain that it ended up taking so long to figure out every tiny detail. It was one of the longest trials by-far. They all then listened as Saihara did his closing argument.

ー

"Gokuhara...this is the truth we've reached."

"S-Sorry...Gonta not really understand. Cuz, Gonta not smart boy..." He was teary-eyed and his voice wavered as he spoke. "But...if everyone agree, then...everyone probably right. Gonta...trust everyone!"

"Gonta..." Shirogane had also been crying for a while now.

"But...why? Gonta kill Miu...forget everything... Gonta even think he not do anything bad..." He was sobbing at this point, the tears making small drip noises as they hit the metal floor of the trial stands. "And then, Gonta try blame someone else and make everyone suffer! Wh-Why? Why Gonta do such terrible thing!?"

Momota was silent, closing his eyes and turning his head away in shame.

"Gokuhara...it's not your fault." Kiibo grimaced.

"It's Ouma's fault." Shirogane dabbed at her eyes with the end of her sleeve, glaring at the boy with the scarf. "He must've tricked Gokuhara."

"Huuuh? I totally didn't trick him." Ouma stated.

ー

It was voting time. Monokuma gave his stupid congratulations and Monotaro just wouldn't shut up.

The atmosphere was somber, the only thing other than Monokuma's incessant chattering was the loud sobs that came from Shirogane.

ー

"Hey Ouma...you said this would liven things up! What gives, huh?" Monokuma glared at him with those beady robotic eyes.

Ouma stayed silent. Face expressionless.

"You said you were gonna live up the killing game and class trial..." He bared his tiny claws. "And I said I'd put the motive - the secret of the outside world - into the killing game simulator."

Ouma giggled, tossing his hands behind his head.

"That was juuust a lie." His voice was cold.

"Oh, so it was just a lie."

It was like they both knew something the others didn't.

"He just laughed it off?" Yumeno, wiped a tear, glaring at Ouma furiously.

"Are you satisfied, Kokichi? I want you to tell us." Saihara demanded, looking at the nonchalant boy. "What is the outside world? Is it the motive you gave Gokuhara?"

"I plan to explain all of that...but it's more like, how do I say it...?" He struggled to find the words. "You guys are just gonna assume its a lie if you hear it from my cute lips..."

Ouma shook his head dissaprovingly.

"Oh, yeah! Then let's have Gonta explain!" He grinned.

"...Huh? Gonta?" Gokuhara stopped wiping his tears, pausing for a hot minute.

"Gokuhara doesn't remember anything, horw can you expect him to-" Kiibo tried to explain the absurdity of Ouma's request.

"Then, we should all go back into the killing game simulator!" Ouma didn't let him finish.

"What?" Saihara froze.

"Why don't we ask the Gonta in the virtual world?"

It was odd when Monokuma spoke up. Willingly doing something for them.

He programmed some sort of Alter Ego Gonta as he called it.

ー

Togami-san violently threw Naegi-san's shoe at the screen causing it to glitch out.

"Byakuya!"

"Togami-san, excuse me but what the fuck?!" Akamatsu yelled.

"I spent ages modifying that screen!" Iruma shrieked, quickly getting up and messing with the wiring.

"Don't you dare yell at him!" Fukawa spoke up.

The room was just filled with a cacophony of yells and accusations.

It was getting way to hectic until all of a sudden the TV turned back on, followed by a noise of triumph from Iruma.

ー

"I...know...it. A despair that makes you want to die." Ouma looked furious again. "A despair that makes you want to put everyone out of their misery."

He and Alter Ego Gonta seemed to be explaining something. Most likely, the secret of the outside world.

"Did you think that the kind Gonta would tell you about such despair from his own mouth?"

"But now we don't know any more than when we started..." Saihara mused.

"Now you know how Gonta and I formed the Killing Game Busters, right?" His voice was cool compared to the angry expression he had. "Then...can't you accept everything about this case? You can imagine the rest, right?

I...used Miu's plan and turned it against her... I hid Gonta away from sight...where Miu and I were supposed to meet."

ー

Toujou watched the scene unfold. How Iruma apologized and stumbled over her words. How Gokuhara cried as he finished her off. How Ouma stood there, cold and uncaring as he insisted Gokuhara shouldn't apologise.

Iruma looked at the screen sadly.

ー

"I like to think...we make a pretty good team." Ouma smiled.

"Good!? What's good about that!? You're the worst!" Shirogane yelled as tears fell from her eyes and dripped onto the floor.

"...That's whole story. That's...everything that happen." Alter Ego Gonta confessed.

"So in the end...you don't plan to tell us the secret of the outside world..." Harukawa hummed.

"Sorry! Gonta no can tell you that!"

"Well, I mean, hearing that story." Momota grimaced, clenching his fist. "It sounds like you were tricked by Ouma."

"But...Gonta did kill Miu... Gonta really did it... Sorry! Everyone, Gonta is so sorry!" Tears began streaming down his face again. This was by far the most emotional trial they'd had.

"G-Gokuhara!" Saihara choked.

"But...Gonta plan to save everyone fail..." Alter Ego Gonta also had small tears on his animated face. "Gonta not save anyone... Gonta just make everyone suffer more... Gonta is stupid! So stupid! How can Gonta call himself gentleman!?"

Everyone was silent, apart from Shirogane's sobbing cutting through the air again.

"Everyone...please forgive him." Ouma spoke up, looking genuinely downcast for once. "Gonta tried to save us all from despair by taking on the sin of killing us. But...you reached for the truth. And Gonta's plan failed. All of you could've been saved if you died without knowing anything..."

"So you're saying it was wrong to fight for the truth!?"

"Yes, it was." Ouma calmly stated, switching up yet again. "Atleast, Gonta and I think so. You should have all died ignorant. Gonta even killed Miu for that sake, y'know."

"Enough of your shit! You made him kill her!" Momota spat.

"No! Gonta is bad! Cuz Gonta kill someone! Gonta is murder! It's true!" Alter Ego Gonta cried. "Yes...Gonta make everyone suffer. That is true."

"Sorry! Gonta is sorry he fail everyone..." The real Gokuhara spoke up. "Gonta is sorry for being stupid! Gonta is sorry he make everyone suffer! Gonta so sorry!"

"W-We get it... You don't need...to apologize anymore..." Shirogane sniffed.

"You're all probably thinking that I should've taken on the dirty work and  not Gonta, right?" Ouma's eyes were wet. "Everyone...hates me...so the role of the villain is perfect for me... Yeah I know already! It should've been my responsibility!"

Harsh tears started falling from Ouma's eyes. They weren't crocodile tears like the norm but real tears of frustration and misery. They streamed down his face as he yelled.

ー

"I do suppose it was only a matter of time before he broke down. He was slipping up throughout the trial..." Shinguji spoke softly.

"I-It's kind of scary..." Chabashira murmured.

"Scary to watch him act like a real person." Amami said, drawing attention to himself.

"Wh-What?"

"It's strange to see Ouma have real human emotions because of how much he lies. You all got used to seeing him as something fundamentally different."

"None of you fuckwads realized he was a person too. Kokichi can get mad, upset and scared like the rest of us. He just hides it better than all of you could dream of." Iruma said, eyes glued to the screen.

"I guess we all did really give him the impression we didn't care." Hoshi said. "In that hallway he was laying in a pool of his own blood. It was splattered on the floor and no one even showed an ounce of concern. Just relief he wasn't dead before going on with their day."

"I guess Angie did forget he was human too."

"I don't think that was very good for his mental health. We must apologize to him when we get the chance." Toujou nodded.

ー

"Stop! It's okay! Everyone, please... Don't...blame Kokichi anymore..." Gokuhara sobbed at the sight of his friends turning on eachother. "Please..."

"Gonta...you...!" Ouma's eyes widened as Gokuhara came to his defense. He looked genuinely shocked for once.

"H-How nice can you be, Gonta? You really are...stupid sometimes..." Shirogane remarked.

"Y-You're right...Someone as stupid as Gonta could never be a gentleman-"

"Hey, so...are we done yet?" Monokuma interrupted.

"...What!?" Saihara blinked slowly.

"You guys are starting  to talk in circles, so let's just move onto the exciting stuff. Yes! The eagerly anticipated Punishment Time!"

"Wait! If you're going to punish him, then please...punish me too."

ー

"WHAT!?" Iruma's jaw fell.

"Is he crazy!?" Chabashira exclaimed.

"How pitiful." Shinguji shook their head sadly.

ー

"Kokichi...?"

"I'm prepared for it! If you're gonna execute Gonta, then I-"

"It's okay, Kokichi. Please let Gonta sacrifice himself...for everyone's sake." Alter Ego Gonta said. "That's all...Gonta can do anymore..."

"Just promise Gonta...that everyone forgive eachother and be friends. Okay?"

"..." Ouma looked frustrated, wiping at his tears. "...Alright, I promise."

"Alright! It's time to punish the Ultimate Entomologist, Gokuhara Gonta - I've prepared a very special punishment for him!" The bear cackled.

"U-Ugh...!" Ouma couldn't even hold back on the waterworks anymore. "W-Wait, please! I don't want this! Don't go, Gonta!"

"Don't cry, Kokichi... Gonta...is okay..." Alter Ego Gonta reassured.

"Yeah...Gonta not cry. Gonta's...really not scared... B-But...Gonta upset! Gonta upset...he no could protect everyone!" Gokuhara confessed.

"Gonta, you...! You...can't cry either!"

"Well then, let's give it everything we've got! It's... PUNISHMENT TIIME!" Monokuma sang.

"Gonta love you all...!"

"Gonta is so sorry...for being stupid!"

ー

You could hear Ouma's violent sobs in the background as Monokuma grabbed his hammer and hit the button.

Gokuhara's execution was gruesome.

For some reason, it didn't play anything after. For once, the episode ended purely on the execution.

The words; New Episode releases next week!!! flashed on screen.

They all dreaded what they would see.

Chapter Text

"Ouma-kun, it r-really isn't a good idea to have you u-up and about...right now!" Tsumiki protested.

"I really couldn't care le- argh!" He stopped, moving his arm off the wall.

Tsumiki shrieked, grasping his shoulders as he wobbled. Only retracting them after he began walking steadily.

"Y-You're going to put un-unnecessary pressure on your healing bones, this could i-increase the recovery period if you strain yourself too much." She carried on.

"Can you shut up already!" Kokichi snapped, wincing at every step he took.

He knew how bad this could be for him but he really needed to know if his plan failed or not. The fact it was a simulation should play out in his favor with what he'd learnt about the system.

It relied solely on the audience, if he succeeded then the whole thing should collapse. It was really a 50/50 chance. The detective could reveal his plan or he should get the hint and stay quiet.

He pushed open the door to Momota's room. If it was the 11037th outcome he'd predicted for his plan then Mr Luminary of The Stars should awaken in three minutes and forty-seven seconds. There was nothing to do other than menacingly hover over Momota's face until he wakes up.

He listened to the heart monitor speed up. He watched as Momota slowly opened his eyes, blinking to clear his vision. He watched as Momota opened his mouth to speak.

Then he slapped him.

"O-Ouma-kun!"

"What the fuck man!?" Momota choked, sitting up and coughing violently. "How am I? You- What-"

"So like basically the whole thing was a simulation and no one actually died." He grinned.

"Ouma, p-please." Tsumiki sighed. "Hello there Momota-kun. T-This might be crazy to hear but yes, Ouma is correct. You and fifteen o-others were put in a k-killing game simulation based off of the previous ones."

"Oh."

"I-In reality, you were Hope's Peak Academy students, w-when the Tragedy hit, you went into hiding as not to be captured by R-Remnants of D-Despair but in the end...y-you were caught and captured.

Over the next few days...you should get your o-original memories back. Two survivors of the original k-killing game will be in soon to talk to you about the e-events that transpired after the f-fourth trial since Ouma refuses to talk."

"What the actual fuck."

"Uh- Amami-kun?" Rantaro turned upon having his name called out. It was Akamatsu-chan. She walked over to where he stood, behind the dorms.

"Hey, what's up?" He answered, subtly slipping his lighter back in his pocket.

"Sorry, were you busy?"

"No, not really. What's wrong?"

"Well..." She paused, biting down on her lip. "I'm really worried about the person who woke up recently, I have no idea who it is but all those injuries..."

"I get it. I'm worried too, y'know? There's only a handful of people left and I dread to think who it was that passed." Rantaro sighed. "Saihara, Ouma, Kiibo, Harukawa, Yumeno, Momota, Shirogane... It's horrific."

"To be honest...I'm really worried for Saihara..." Akamatsu had grown very close to him within the short time they'd spent together, it was no surprise.

"I think both Saihara-kun and Kiibo-kun are who I'm least worried about, Saihara-kun is the supposed protagonist and Kiibo is meant to represent the audience so they're for sure safe."

"Yeah, but wasn't I the protagonist in the first two episodes? Look what happened to me..." She gently rubbed her neck, where the burns would forever be.

"Remember what Naegi-san told us though?"

"I was killed off for the sake of Saihara's "character" development..."

"Yep." He nodded, twisting his rings round.

"Hey, it's cold out here, why don't we go-"

"Angie has some news to deliver!" Yonaga came out of nowhere, throwing herself onto Akamatsu.

"What happened?"

"The next person has awakened!"

"Seriously?" He asked.

"Yup! Momota-kun woke up just a few minutes ago! He seems perfectly fine and is already up and walking!" Yonaga smiled. "I can take you to him if you want."

Rantaro and Akamatsu exchanged a look before following Yonaga.

"Dude. This is crazy."

"I am going to throttle you for exposing the plan like you did." Kaito might just get PTSD from the fourth trial.

"I'm sorry! Shuichi already figured out the entire plan!"

"I wrote a whole scenario for that."

"Oh."

"Yeah, Oh." Ouma rolled his eyes, yanking at Kaito's long hair. It felt odd for him to have it down like this.

"So uh, I see you got a lot of injuries." Kaito looked him over nervously.

A lot was an understatement. Ouma looked horrible, he was covered in bandages, a cast round one of his arms and a wrist brace on the other. His legs, which looked like they were about to buckle any moment, were mainly fine apart from an an ankle brace on the left leg.

He couldn't really decipher any other injuries or signs of them and if there were any then he definitely underestimated Ouma's ability to act even when compromised.

Although he should've known after the incident in the hangar. The arrow wound was still painful, thankfully Tsumiki-sensei immediately looked after it.

Apparently he was one of the quickest ones so far to get back on his feet and heal up. Since he'd died from choking on his own blood, there wasn't anything drastic needed, instead of his heavy lung disease transferring over, it was simple asthma.

Everyone got a milder version of what they'd died from according to Ouma and Tsumiki-sensei's explanations.

Amami-kun didn't have half his brains blown out, only a severe concussion and minor skull fracture.

Akamatsu-chan didn't have her neck completely snapped, only severe rope burns and complications breathing.

Hoshi-san didn't have lungs full of water, instead he got bronchitis.

Toujou-san didn't have every bone in her body snapped, only severe blood loss and an obscene amount of wounds and the same with the others.

Ouma had seriously gotten the worst of it but atleast he wasn't 2D. Kaito will never forget the horrifying image of the hydraulic press after he'd pressed the button.

It was burnt into his retinas. Even if it wasn't real he could still feel the bile rising in his throat after that sickening crunch.

"Yeah and if you even utter a singular word about anything that happened in the killing game concerning me to anybody I will dismember you and feed you to my pet dog."

"What...?"

"Are you really that stupid? Momota, you're not allowed to tell anyone what happened in the hangar.

You succumbed of your illness before you even got the chance to investigate. There's nothing to be spoken about me pretending to be the mastermind or anything after Gonta's trial, got it?" Ouma looked at him with an expression cold as ice.

There was malice in those eyes and Momota didn't doubt the threat for a second. He'd seen the means The Supreme Leader had gone to for what he wanted.

"As far as anyone knows, after the 4th trial we all did nothing, then you planned to defeat Monokuma but as you were brainstorming, I suddenly disappear and no one cares because of how often it happens but Saihara-chan and Kiibo-kun get worried and you search the school for hours until Harukawa-chan finds my dead body in the press.

Saihara-chan and everyone are so shocked but they all get to investigating but there are no clues at all! During the investigation, you leave to go to the bathroom and succumb to your illness."

The lie was actually so believable it might actually work. But there was one question he had.

"Why? Why do you want me to lie Ouma? I only worked with you to end the killing game."

"Use your fucking head Momota. We randomly wake up injured, coming out of a so-called simulation and there are a bunch of strangers telling us it's basically the despair apocalypse outside of this place, which is exactly the same as where we were before, just with a few added benefits.

We have no idea who they are and they might be dangerous so I personally need to keep anything about myself secret just like how you and the other should be!"

Of course. From what he'd observed so far, Ouma seemed to have doubts about pretty much anything and everything. It was kind of scary.

And he couldn't deny the fact Ouma had every right to be suspicious. Despite how kind and truthful Tsumiki-sensei seemed, she could have ulterior motives.

Kaito really was horrible at telling when someone was lying so he really could be better off listening to Ouma who actually had the talent to tell.

"Fine."

"Great! By the way, you also can't tell the other's that I'm awake." Ouma chirped, "You'll ruin the surprise!"

"O-Okay?" It was unnerving to see Ouma acting like his usual cheerful, not-evil self. The last time he'd seen this was before Chabashira's murder.

It felt like eons ago that he'd had a semi-normal conversation with the boy.

They sat in silence for a while, waiting for Tsumiki-san to bring her colleagues who would ask them about the events inside the killing game. He just supposed he'd go with Ouma's plan. If they were asking about it they clearly didn't have a way to view it.

It would actually be best to withdraw personal information, just like Ouma.

"Ah- Hi!" A short man holding a laptop entered the room, he wore a green jumper and had quite the feminine look about him, trailing behind him was a taller man with brown hair and washed-out hazel eyes and Tsumiki-sensei was there too, nervously smoothing out the crinkles in her skirt..

"Hello Momota-kun! Nice to see you again Ouma-kun, I hope you're in better spirits than last time we met." The man sat down opposite Ouma, opening his laptop which was decorated by an obscene amount of sanrio stickers.

"Lovely to see you Fujisaki-san." Ouma seemed more inclined to speak with the man who held the laptop, warily moving away from the other guy.

"T-This is Fujisaki-san and Naegi-san, they were p-participants of the original k-killing game the real Ju-Junko Enoshima held and have been the ones to deal with survivors of the o-other games." Tsumiki-sensei explained, gesturing to the two men with trembling hands.

"Now, if you don't mind, could the two of you explain what happened during the killing game right after the fourth trial." Naegi-san asked, sitting opposite them and beside Fujisaki-san.

Kaito turned to Ouma who simply blinked at him. The message was clear though; speak.

"Well uh, after the execution we were all devastated. No one spoke, only thing you could hear was the crying of Shirogane-san, Yumeno-chan, Shuichi and Ou- ow!" He winced as said boy violently stomped on his foot. "As I was saying, most of us were in tears, it was horrible. Reminded me of the first trial..."

"Everyone went off and did their own thing. We were all really downhearted since Gonta was probably the only truly optimistic one out of all of us. We were all sort of falling apart after losing so many of us."

"I eventually started putting my plan to take down Monokuma into action. Harumaki and Shuichi obviously agreed to participate since they're my amazing side-kicks." His heart ached at the thought of them, thinking he was really dead.

Maki's uncontrollable emotions and Shuichi's instability were sure to go haywire now.

"Like literally everyone agreed to the plan and we were working on getting something foolproof when all of a sudden Ouma disappeared."

"I actually got knocked out in the AV room, I was meant to meet with Saihara-chan there, but went early to prepare a few things when it happened." The other boy quipped.

"At first, none of us were really worried about him." Kaito made a show of sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with his good arm. "Cuz, Ouma always seems to disappear and show up randomly. After a few days, though, Shuichi confided in me and Kiibo that he was having a really bad feeling and insisted we search for Ouma. So, we did. And he was nowhere to be found."

"None of them decided to check the hangar, where I was essentially kidnapped! My attacker was smart enough not to use handcuffs or rope on me so they decided to immobilize me by using a crossbow from Harukawa-chan's lab and some Strike-9 poison from Saihara-chan's lab! I have barely any recollection of what happened after a few hours."

"Eventually, we all started getting really worried and rounded up everyone. We assigned different areas and floors to search between us. It wasn't long before Harumaki-chan came running, she lead us to the hangar and then ding dong dong ding a body has been discovered.

Everyone was shocked but as usual we had to investigate. The crime scene was...too harsh, Yumeno-chan, Shirogane-san and I ended up backing off, it was too gory for us to handle. I started feeling really sick and ended up heading to the bathroom where I wouldn't stop coughing. I wasn't too bothered by coughing up blood since it'd been happening for a dew weeks now but it was too much and I kicked the bucket."

"Thank you Momota-kun and Ouma-kun, I understand that must've been hard to talk about but we're glad you shared this information."

"It's not that big of a deal." Ouma murmured and to anyone else he'd seem disheartened and bored but Momota could hear that small lilt of amusement.

Lying was easier than he thought when Ouma was there. During the trial he mainly used the Exisal voice changer to hide his uncertainty. It really muffled most of his tone unless he overexaggerated.

Kaito was always a bad liar so the fact he'd just pulled off that big of a lie was kind of crazy. It was like the mere presence of Ouma just increased his confidence, it made bending the truth nothing more than child's play.

"We'll also have to discuss both your schedules, but for now you're free to go." Naegi-san nodded, gesturing for the two boys to make their leave.

Kaito got up, grasped Ouma's arm and led him out the room. As soon as the door closed, his hand was violently slapped away and Ouma walked off to his own room, leaving him alone and clueless in the middle of the hallway

Soon enough, Tsumiki-sensei emerged from the room. She looked around for a second, seemingly looking for Ouma, before noticing him lingering. She then offered to take him to see his friends who were all mainly in the dining hall.

According to the nurse, it had been just before most people woke up. He'd grown familiar with his classmates sleeping patterns in during the first week.

Amami-kun, Harumaki, Toujou-san and Ouma woke up far earlier than the morning announcement.

Akamatsu-chan and Yonaga were always one of the last people to come down and eat, usually still in their pajamas. Shuichi and Yumeno slept through the announcement, usually needing someone sent to their rooms to wake them properly.

He'd figured it out the hard way that absolutely no one in the killing game had a proper sleep schedule apart from Hoshi-san.

Kaito had eventually grown used to Shuichi's snappy attitude in the mornings, Yumeno-chan's ability to fall asleep standing and the even more horrific insults than usual that Iruma and Ouma would yell at eachother when the lack of sleep started catching up to them.

Thankfully Kiibo-kun, Harumaki-chan and Hoshi-san were all very calm in the mornings.

He supposed now he'd have to readjust his habits now that this crazy reality exists. It was so unbelievable. No one had really died. He was prepared to die. It was all a lie. He just couldn't wrap his head round it.

He followed Tsumiki down hallways and stairs, going through door after door until he reached an awfully familiar place.

The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles.

It was a very real place.

He found himself walking ahead of his guide. The walk was all too familiar. It was muscle memory. His legs just moved on their own.

"Momota-kun!" He felt a pair of arms wrap around his body, blonde hair obscuring his vision. A familiar chuckle came from in-front of him.

Akamatsu-chan finally pulled away, allowing him to get a good look at her and Amami-kun. She looked quite different than he remembered.

Her hair was much longer and more vibrant, bright pink highlights standing out against the sandy colour. Her arms and legs were covered in fading scars and there was a very nasty burn round her neck.

Amami-kun was matching with her hair-wise, the purple contrasted a little too well.

One detail caught his attention though; their eyes. Instead of the pink and emerald he'd grown accustomed to; Akamatsu had more purplish-brown eyes and Amami's were hazel, dotted with a few flecks of gold if he looked close enough.

"Oh my god, are you okay? What happened? Did you kill someone? Are the others okay?"

He was instantly bombarded with questions by Akamatsu who only stopped after Amami put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"My bad!" Her cheeks were dusted with pink. "Anyways, uh, hey there Momota."

Amami laughed softly, holding out his fist.

"Good to see you again, dude. It's been totally hectic these past few weeks."

"You'll never guess all the bullshit that happened on our side." He sighed, not leaving the other hanging. "It's unbelievable how everything went to hell after the fourth trial. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if someone killed themself." He refrained from saying the word again.

"It's seriously that bad!?" Akamatsu gasped, Amami crossing his arms with a grim look on his face.

"Like I said, everything is total hell."

"That's horrible... I really hope the others don't give up..."

Maki gently knocked on the door to Shuichi's dorm. She felt absolutely ruined but she needed to check on him.

Last time she saw the detective was a day or two ago when he was sobbing his eyes out at the trial, ever since he'd been cooped up in his room. Refusing to leave.

"Hey...Shuichi?" She said, fists clenched.

The door open a crack. He looked like a mess. His eyes were watering, his hair was all fluffed up and even his little ahoge seemed deflated. There were black streaks running down his face from where his eyeliner would normally be, the three triangles under his eyes ruined and reduced to meager blurs.

She pushed it open more, entering before gently closing the door behind her.

Maki hadn't seen the other boy this distraught since the first trial. Infact, he almost seemed more upset this time round.

"Maki..." His voice was hoarse.

She placed a hand on his back and sat with him on his bed, making soothing circular motions.

If she couldn't do anything for herself, maybe comforting Shuichi would be a good option, she had grown to care for him during the time they'd spent together as Kaito's sidekicks.

"It's all my fault Maki!" He sobbed into his hands, still having his emotional turmoil.

"No it's not, there's no way you could've known about Ouma-kun's insanely complicated plan and you didn't go off and tell him to kill himself, did you?"

"I might aswell have!" Wiping at his tears, Shuichi grabbed a crumpled up paper from his desk.

She took it with trembling hands, scanning over the words and soaking it all in.

It was a letter. A letter from Ouma-kun addressed to Shuichi.

The more times she read over the sentences, the more she understood the absolute torture that must be Shuichi's state of mind at the moment.

"I-I found it in my pocket right after the trial...it'd been there for hours but I never thought to check it. I could've played along! I could've stopped Kaito from dying!" He just cried harder, his entire body violently shaking.

Biting her lip, Maki wrapped her arms around Shuichi. His head rested on her shoulder and her shirt was immediately wet with his tears. She didn't mind though, it'd been covered in worse.

It was clear both the losses of Ouma and Kaito were really taking a toll on him. Not like she couldn't say the same. As long as she stayed strong everything would be alright. Kaito would want her to believe.

"It's not your fault Shuichi. You were obviously too upset to care about a stupid sheet of paper. You thought that your best friend was dead." She hummed softly.

"But now he is...! It's my fault. Kaito is dead because of me!" His voice was muffled against the fabric.

"Kaito knew what he was getting into when he agreed to work with Ouma. If anything, this wouldn't have happened if I didn't shoot Ouma. But in the end one is truly responsible but him, he was the one who planned his death."

She didn't mean it. She really didn't. As much as she hated Ouma, she couldn't help but know it was her own actions that ended up killing him.

He could've easily faked a murder scene and both would've lived but there was only one antidote for strike-9 poison. She sealed his fate that night with the arrow.

She'd never forget that look of utter terror he had worn for a split second. None of her targets had ever looked at her with such ferosity. Such bloodthirst. Such raw and unfiltered malice.

Those eyes would forever watch her. Judging her every move and word. He was always watching. Somehow.

"We all fell for his trap Maki...he w-wanted us to hate him and we did exactly that! He a-asked me, y'know?" She'd never heard such desperation from the other. His breathing was getting erratic and he pulled away from her embrace.

"In the virtual world. He asked for my co-operation. He was gonna ask me to work with him instead of Kaito."

She held his arms down when they instinctively reached to grab at his hair.

"Please don't, Shuichi...please..."

"I didn't even think twice about his offer. Thinking he was lying again." He shook his head, wrenching his arms out her grip. "Maybe I should've been nicer? Why do you think he killed himself instead of someone else? Because he thought we hated him."

"After Gokuhara and Iruma, he didn't have anyone to mess around with. That was all. None of us tried anything because of his whole mastermind shtick." She grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to look at her.

"Listen Shuichi. Kaito didn't even die from his execution. He was dying anyways, there was nothing we could do about it and Ouma was planning to die for ages. We both read that script and plan he wrote. It wouldn't be a stretch if I said he wanted to die."

"That's the issue! If only we'd talked to him more, or try and understood him this wouldn't have happened, he wouldn't have felt the need to end everything and l-lie about the mastermind and kill Kaito and a-and-" He was spiralling.

Maki could do nothing but watch as he choked over his own words, entire body wracking with harsh sobs.

"I-It'll be okay... we'll be alright..."

And as the hand with purple-stained fingertips caressed the soft fabric of the detective's shirt, she couldn't help but wonder which one of them she was trying to convince.

Chapter Text

"C'mon! I just wanna know already!" Iruma groaned, staring at the door expectantly.

"Give them some credit Iruma! You read about how badly injured they were, just like the rest of us." Akamatsu held her by the sleeve.

"Yeah..." Momota shuddered.

"It's been like two months! They should be fine by now." She protested.

"But remember what Mikan said?" Fujisaki chided.

"It could take up to half a year for them to be fully-"

"GUESS WHO'S BACK!!" The door swung open with tremendous force and then and there stood the person they'd all been waiting for.

Ouma Kokichi.

"Ouma-kun!" Tsumiki-sensei shrieked, coming up behind him, panting as though she'd been running a marathon.

"Kokichi!?" The inventor shrieked.

"Wow." Amami said in a deadpan.

"Ouma?" Akamatsu was bewildered.

"What in rantarnation..." Yonaga chimed in.

"How the fuck did you manage to get crushed by a hydraulic press?" Iruma asked the question they'd all been wondering.

The entire room fell silent, all eyes were on Ouma, who wobbled dangerously in the doorway.

"Uh...I felt silly...?"

*

"Here...hold him..." Himiko gently placed her dove in Maki's arms. The girl looked terrible but it wasn't her place to judge when she probably looked worse.

She placed the other in Shuichi's lap, he cradled it gently, listening to the small chirps.

"This one is Kei..." She traced a finger over his head, Maki looking fearful as he perched on her sideways-turned hand, small talons gripping her index finger tightly as the dove leant into Himiko's touch.

"I- uh...I named him...a-and, and Tenko named this girl," Himiko gestured to the one on her shoulder. "She's called Miruku..."

"What about the other two?" Shuichi softly hummed, relaxing slightly as the bird he'd been given snuggled up to his chest.

"The one you're holding is Riki... Uh, O-Ouma named him and this other one..." She murmured the words, beckoning down the fluffy white bird who was sat atop the cage. "She's Kobato..."

"He named them...?" Shuichi looked like he was about to burst into tears again.

"Mhm, he used to come by and pet them all the time so I let him name two," Himiko continued, "They were always super happy to see him..."

"They're very soft..." Maki whispered, also looking like she was about to cry.

"I give them a nice warm bath every week or two...then I wrap them in soft fuzzy towels so they don't get cold, when I was upset over Tenko... Ouma, Gonta and Iruma did it for me..."

"I'm sure they appreciated it very much," She was trembling, crimson eyes glistening with tears.

"Yeah..." Himiko wiped at her own eyes, brushing cerise strands out of her face.

The only sounds in the room was the quiet cooing of the doves and the small noises of crying.

*

"Uh, Kokichi? Can Gonta speak with you?"

Kaito watched as the boy froze, almost falling backwards into Angie.

"Sure Gonta! What's up?" He smiled. It looked hollow, empty, never reaching his eyes.

"This is probably stupid question but...did you manage to keep promise we make?"

Ouma faltered again, the smile on his face dropping almost instantaneously. He blinked a few times, murmuring something too quiet for anyone else to hear. Gokuhara's shoulders slumped and he wore a small smile. The giant put a hand on Ouma's shoulder.

"It okay Kokichi. Gonta sure you tried your best..."

The smaller nodded, looking like he was about to cry for a second before plastering a grin on his face as he demanded Gokuhara carry him around. Iruma walked by their side. It was an all too familiar sight.

Momota felt miserable looking at the scene. The three together again, arguing over some stupid topic. Ouma looked happier than he'd done so before everything went wrong.

Kaito wished his friends were there to see it. All he wanted was for Shuichi, Maki, Yumeno, Shirogane and Kiibo to join them now. It was bittersweet.

"Well that's nostalgic..." Chabashira walked beside him. "It's really sweet, Iruma and Gokuhara spent almost all their time by his side even after the simulation ended for them."

"I haven't seen Ouma this happy for months on end." He confessed, relaxing at the sight.

"Yeah, I've heard what you said to Akamatsu and Amami, I really dread the next screening." She shook her head, green and brown mixing together.

"What screening?" Kaito paused for a second.

"Oh, didn't they tell you?" She raised an eyebrow. "The killing game is being filmed and shown every month, the next release is delayed for a while but it's an extra long episode because they didn't show the aftermath of the fourth trial."

"I knew it!" Ouma exclaimed, popping up between them and almost falling over. "Wait...you guys watch it?" He looked blank, staring into their souls before Gokuhara and Iruma came over and kidnapped him.

"Oh, we're in deep shit." Kaito hid his face in his hands.

"I'm so confused." Chabashira commented but still gently patted him on the back.

"We're so fucked."

"That's rough buddy."

Kokichi bit his lip as he paced round his dorm. It was an exact replica, having everything his room held in the killing game too. It made no logical sense but he supposed he'd have to accept it as it was. There were far more important things to worry about.

The thought of his classmates seeing how he'd acted after Gonta's execution was dreadful.

He'd already hated stepping into that role and would rather die than do it again.

There was no way he'd allow it to happen.

He would find a way to stop it from happening.

He would.

That fateful night, Ouma Kokichi planned to end his own life to pay for all the sins he'd committed.

But it didn't work.

Maybe it would be better if he just killed himself in the real world before anything could happen.

It's not like the others would care anyways.

He'd already given enough reasons to hate him after the fourth trial and after the others saw that they'd probably be enlightened on how much of a horrible person he was.

It felt odd giggling to himself at the mere thought.

The straitjacket he wore must've had some symbolism to it, right?

He pulled at the ends of his hair, finally deciding to settle into his bed.

If he stayed in his room for the next week, no one would come knocking.

And if they did, he'd make sure to let them know it was a mistake.

"Oi! I-Idiot Momota!" Kaito turned at the mention of his name, he was about to snap about the nickname but Iruma looked way too bothered.

She looked anxious, frantically interlocking her fingers together as she practically trembled.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" He was taken aback at her sudden stressed demeanor.

Back in the killing game, she'd never allow herself to appear this downright terrified. He and Shuichi witnessed it only once and that was an accident in itself.

They'd been heading to the AV room to grab the jacket he'd left in there only to come across no other than Iruma who looked mid-panick attack and Ouma calming her down.

She was hysterical, sobbing and almost clawing at her hair but the leader simply sat there with a soft smile, gently holding her hands and saying things he couldn't hear.

He'd instantly turned when the door opened, glancing up with an odd look before slightly relaxing at the sight of the two of them and acting like nothing happened.

In the end, Shuichi closed the door, opting they come back for the jacket later.

He'd seen multiple instances where Ouma was easily able to calm someone down and change their entire mood.

Maybe it was the skill of an Ultimate Supreme Leader.

Iruma looked like she was about to have a full scale mental breakdown right in the middle of the grass.

"Hey, take a breather and try and tell me what's wrong." Kaito gently put a hand on her back, steering her in the direction of the dorms.

"I-I...I..." She simply couldn't articulate what she was trying to say, looking frustrated and overwhelmed.

"Do you want me to go find anyone? I can grab Akamatsu-chan or Ouma-kun for you."

"I've been l-looking for Kokichi all day... I seriously can't find him..." She was furiously wiping at her eyes before anything could even form.

"We could try his dorm? He's good at calming you down, right?"

The girl instantly flushed pink with embarrassment, looking like she might slap him at any moment.

Surprisingly, she only nodded. Following his steps as she took deep breaths as per his instructions.

He ended up knocking on Ouma's door very harshly, everything he heard from the others hinted that the boy was in his room and had been for a while now.

"Open up man!" He banged relentlessly, calling out Ouma's name repeatedly, getting more and more concerned by the second.

"Kokichi...?"

There was a few really loud thudding noises that simply made everything worse but the door finally opened.

They were both immediately ushered in. Barely getting a glimpse of Ouma who immediately shrunk away from the light.

The room was absolutely cluttered. It was a major mess. Not unlike the inhabitant of mentioned room, who looked two steps away from passing out.

There were boxes and files piled up in a corner along with binders and sheets of paper strewn all over the floor. Containers filled with things Kaito probably didn't even want to imagine.

The desk held many odd things atop it, microscopes, test tubes, prescription bottles, cameras, paperwork, half finished soda cans, literally anything. A handheld vacuum-cleaner-like object was on the neglected chair.

Almost even worse was the bin beside it, overflowing with paper and sweet wrappers, empty carbonated drinks bottles.

Then there was the objects from each case that somehow made their way into the real world.

Iruma's drone, the inner tube and Yumeno's magic stairs, Yonaga's Amami wax effigy that hung upside down for some reason, the bottle of poison Iruma was going to use to frame him.

It was a lot.

What caught his attention though, was the huge whiteboard, it had pictures of their entire class (and the Monokubz) separated into categories and with tiny notes. Shuichi was separated from the rest, something written underneath his picture.

The back was absolutely horrific to look at, crawled noted, calculations, angles, shapes, air friction. It was oddly eerie.

He decided to ignore the state of Ouma's room, there were other things to deal with.

Like the boy himself and Iruma-kun.

Kaito wasn't going to question the decapitated rubber horse head, the small Shuichi shrine in the wide open cabinet, the blood stains on the walls, floor and coating the weapons lying around. Nope. Not at all.

Iruma was almost hyperventilating, sat down on Ouma's bed, originally having a monopad atop the sheets but that was quickly kicked aside.

It was like the leader went into autopilot mode, asking questions and providing words of comfort.

Awkward as it was, Kaito was kind of touched to see it happen. The way Iruma began relaxing and how, despite how exhausted he looked, Ouma didn't falter once.

At the end of it, they were yelling insults as usual and the two were about to be kicked out of the dorm room.

But as soon as Ouma stood up and walked two steps, he fell to the floor with another loud thud.

They both froze for a second, waiting for him to get up and announce it was a prank but as the minutes ticked by he was beggining to get seriously worried.

He got to his knees to check for any signs of life. Grabbing at the wrist to check for a pulse only to touch what felt like ice cold metal.

Ouma had no pulse in neither his wrist or neck, despite it, he was still breathing.

What a mystery.

"Shouldn't we get someone?" He asked, looking up at Iruma.

"I dunno. Before, we'd just put him to bed and let Saihara and Toujou know and then he'd wake up soon." She shrugged. "The little shit's clearly anemic so it's normal for him to faint."

It was always odd to remember that now they're out of the killing game. There were adults around, people who actually helped.

But now, as he looked down at how lifeless Ouma looked, he couldn't help but remember the hangar.

The instance where Ouma fell down the stairs and didn't awaken for a few minutes.

The way he lay on the floor motionless, chest barely moving with his soft breathing.

He held his hand under the boy's nose, feeling the cool breath on his skin as he watched for the signs of awakening.

"Hey...you okay? It's not like I care or whatever but you seem like totally freaked out..." Iruma murmured, not meeting his gaze but crouching down beside Ouma the same. "He'll be fine, y'know? He faints all the time, whether it's exhaustion or low iron, he's fine..."

Her words were a clear attempt of comfort and he couldn't lie and say it didn't help.

It was like a reminder of how both Ouma and Iruma could be found unconscious in random rooms after overexerting themselves.

He himself had accompanied Shuichi as the detective carried Ouma to the dorms after he randomly fainted after sprinting round the entire dining hall.

Iruma was right, he was panicking for nothing. He wasn't in the hangar, this was perfectly normal.

Kaito watched as the inventor picked Ouma up with ease, clearly being careful not to aggravate any of his injuries. She placed him on his bed, gently pulling the cover over him.

"Let's go." She said softly. It was unusual to see this side of Iruma.

"Yeah, we should head back and let Toujou know incase something happens."

"Mhm..."

"Maki..." Now it was Shuichi approaching her rather than the other way round.

Of course he was grateful for her comfort and just her presence in general but it was clear she wasn't okay either.

None of them were.

"Please leave." She was backed up in the corner of the room. Maki looked like a mess; dishevelled clothes, hair loose and unbrushed, deep bags under her eyes which were reddened from all the crying.

The lights were off and her normally clean dorm looked straight out of a horror movie in this lighting.

He moved over to where she sat, leaning against the wall and squeezing in beside her.

"What's on your mind?"

It was his turn to lend an ear.

She simply seemed to sob harder. He'd never seen her this distraught, she'd clearly grown as attached to Kaito as he did and this was the worst outcome for all of them.

"I just wanna die at this point! There's nothing to live for, our class is dead, we're all trapped for eternity, we have no one and even Kaito's gone now!" She admitted, burying her face in her calloused hands, her nail polish chipped even worse than his own.

He really couldn't say he didn't feel the exact same way. Maybe it would be better if they were dead too.

All he could do was softly run his fingers through her hair and provide comfort just by being there.

He knew it helped her in a way. Her breathing seemed to ease up and she relaxed.

Sometimes all you need is someone to sit with you and share the burden of your problems.

And he'd rather have Maki here by his side than anyone.

It was just the two of them in this dorm. No one saw their sorrows and no one else would give them the type of comfort that came from simply being near eachother.

It was nice to pretend that sometimes there was no one in the world but them.

He got that feeling with a ton of people.

Ouma always liked to pretend specifically.

He'd grab a hold of Shuichi's hands and tell him that there's nothing to worry about because they were the only people ever.

"Because me and Saihara-chan are the only people ever! Of course that's just a lie! Or is it? Maybe I just love you so so much I'd be willing to pretend!"

He always used to get tired of hearing that phrase but he'd give anything to hear it one more time.

He'd give anything to see Kaito, Akamatsu, Ouma and the rest of his fallen classmates.

None of them deserved it.

That's why he was going to die, but not after finding the mastermind and making sure that the final wishes of his classmates will be fufilled.

The game certainly wasn't boring. But not in a good way.

There was nothing he could keep in life, and now, as he sat there beside Maki, breathing in the soft rose scent of her room as tears slipped down their faces, it was clear that no one was going to save them now.

He'd given up that dream long long ago.

Now he'd just have to do something.

Anything to find the mastermind.

Maybe just after he shed a few more tears.